They also co-host a podcast called Outrage and Optimism, the title of which summarises her approach: anger must be used to galvanise people, reminding them that fear and upset should not quench positivity but stir them to act. In short, life will be better if we act decisively, and definitively and without fear.

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Figueres insists individual actions do make a difference, do add up. I asked her this week on The Drum how she managed to balance optimism and outrage, pessimism and paralysis, concern and despair. She told me: It is a very good question and I have always been of the opinion those of us who work on climate have focused way too much on the doom and gloom. In Australia, the bushfires have actually brought attention to that.

What climate activists have failed to do, she says is to capture peoples imaginations with a vision of what a new world could be like: What I think we have been lacking is to be able to paint the picture to really build out in people's imagination what is an economy like Australia going to be like 10, 15 years from now when it has moved over to renewables? What does it mean for the quality of cities? What does it mean for the quality of agriculture? What does it mean for the Great Barrier Reef? What does it mean for camping in the bush safely without having to worry about ... fires? It is a much, much healthier, longer term, stable economy that we can definitely build, and must be built. But we haven't painted that picture very well. Hence, if you do not have a visual destination of the positive world that you want to construct, it's very difficult for people to gravitate there.

So we must dream.

Obviously, the doom and gloom makes us concerned, helpless, hopeless, despair, grief, all that family of sentiments that are important because we have to understand what is out there, she said. But we have not been able to point to the fact that actually now in this decade we are in the most consequential decade of the history of humankinds. Because over the next 10 years we will decide whether we are at one half the global emissions in order to be able to move on to much, much better healthier, safer more stable world. That is going to be determined over the next 10 years. And Australia has to be part of that transformation.
By Ahmed Saeed, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

KERBALA, Iraq/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq condemned overnight U.S. air strikes on Friday, saying they killed six people and warning of dangerous consequences for what it called a violation of sovereignty and targeted aggression against the nation's regular armed forces.

President Barham Salih said repeated such violations could cause Iraq to unravel into a failed state and revive the Islamic State militant group. Iraq's foreign ministry announced plans to bring a complaint to the United Nations.

The United States defended the air strikes, saying all five targets were legitimate and stored Iranian-supplied weapons used by the Kataib Hezbollah militia to attack the U.S.-led coalition. Washington launched the strikes in retaliation for a rocket attack on Wednesday on a base north of Baghdad that killed U.S. and British troops.

"These locations that we struck are clear locations of terrorist bases," said Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the U.S. military's Central Command.

"If Iraqis were there and if Iraqi military forces were there, I would say it's probably not a good idea to position yourself with Kataib Hezbollah in the wake of a strike that killed Americans and coalition members," he told a Pentagon news briefing.

The Iraqi military warned the air strikes would have consequences while the foreign ministry said it summoned the U.S. and British ambassadors.

Long-standing antagonism between the United States and Iran have mostly played out on Iraqi soil in recent months, stoking deep-seated tensions between elements of Iraqi society who oppose the U.S. military presence and those who see U.S.-led coalition support as vital to preventing the resurgence of Islamic State militants.

McKenzie said the death toll from the strike appeared limited. Iraq's Joint Operations Command said in a statement that three soldiers, two policemen and one civilian were killed, according to an initial toll, and that four soldiers, two policemen, a civilian, and five militiamen were injured.

Story continues

"The pretext that this attack came as a response to the aggression that targeted the Taji base is a false pretext; one that leads to escalation and does not provide a solution," Iraq's Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

The civilians killed and wounded were construction workers at an airport building site in the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Kerbala, Iraqi religious authorities said.

McKenzie acknowledged that a structure had been hit near the Kerbala airfield but said it was being used to store weapons.

"That was a clear target," he said.

PROXY WAR

Around 5,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, most in an advisory capacity, as part of a wider international coalition formed to help Iraq drive back and defeat Islamic State militants.

But the Iraqi military said the new U.S. air attack went against "any partnership" under the coalition. "It will have consequences that subject everyone to the most serious dangers."

Iran's foreign ministry said on Friday that the "presence and behavior" of U.S. and allied forces in Iraq was to blame for attacks against them.

Iranian-backed paramilitary groups have regularly rocketed and shelled bases in Iraq that host U.S. forces and the area around the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

The United States, which believes Iran wants to drive it from the region, has conducted several strikes inside Iraq, killing top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah founder Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in January.

Many Iraqis say it is they who stand to suffer most from U.S.-Iranian tensions and some, including caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, have called for U.S. troops to withdraw.

McKenzie said he was confident the United States would be able to keep troops in Iraq.

He added that while the latest U.S. strikes would deter militia from waging similarly deadly rocket attacks, the risk from Iran and the groups it backs remained high.

"I think the tensions have actually not gone down," he said.

Parliament passed a resolution calling for all foreign troops to leave after Soleimani was killed. The recent air strikes could see those calls renewed.

Iraq has suffered decades of war, sanctions and sectarian conflict, including the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

Iraq is grappling with anti-government unrest in which almost 500 people have been killed since Oct. 1.

It also faces an unprecedented power vacuum after Abdul Mahdi stood down from most of his duties and his designated successor withdrew his candidacy.

(Reporting Ahmed Saeed; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein and Phil Stewart; Editing by Nick Tattersall, Mark Heinrich and Tom Brown)
By Azernews





By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijans state-owned rail-transport operator Azerbaijan Railways has invited German experts to strengthen control over the Laki-Gabala one-way railroad. The German specialists will be familiarized with the project's construction of the site as an independent audit.

During the meeting held on March 12, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC discussed the progress of implementation of the Laki-Gabala one-way railroad project.

Deputy head of Azerbaijan Railways Zaman Novruzov said that implementation of the project that is financed by the state budget began in 2018.

Speaking about the current situation of the construction process, he noted that significant work has been done on the construction of the railway bed and the underground bed, as well as the construction of bridges.

It should be noted that the total length of Laki-Gabala Railway Line is 43 kilometres.The total cost of the project is around $159m. It is planned to be completed in 2020.








In the past couple of months, panic has swept the entire globe as media houses document the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Cities in Italy and China have been shut down, major events have been cancelled as people deliberate the unfolding crisis.

READ ALSO: Habiba Hussein: DCI investigates how fired Nairobi MCA got nominated

Much more needed in preparing for coronavirus pandemic

Source: Original

READ ALSO: Machakos: Wachina 11 walioshukiwa kuwa na virusi vya corona wapatikana hawana

In its wake, there have also been news and rumours peddled round the clock online, but that dismal barrage in a sense only makes things worse. So far official figures put the number of confirmed cases slightly above 100,000 and 3700 deaths and 61,000 recoveries.

European countries where the coronavirus has just begun to spread are warning that their health-care systems arent prepared for an outbreak on the scale seen in China, South Korea or Italy. And that is applicable to our situation in Africa and Kenya in particular.

Africa now has more than 30 cases of the new coronavirus, ranging from Egypt to South Africa - including Nigeria, the continent's most-populous country - although it has so far been spared a major outbreak.

The continent has close links to China, where the infection originated in late December, but the cases in Africa have all so far been linked to Europe. They have mushroomed in the last week, which is of particular concern as it is feared that poorer countries on the continent may struggle to cope if it does spread.

The World Health Organization (WHO) admitted as much when it declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency earlier in February. So far the government has opened a quarantine centre in Nairobi.

But this is not enough, the communal nature of our activities and interactions means that we could be hit harder should an infected person land in the country, particularly the countryside.

The biggest challenge for the African setting would be testing suspected cases. Testing for a novel pathogen is not as simple as many assume.

Unlike other kinds of routine diagnostic tests, like urine tests that look for proteins, a coronavirus test must identify actual nucleic acid  single-strand RNA.

Testing for this kind of genetic material requires an RNA probe, which is a section of RNA that is complementary to a corresponding piece of known RNA in the 2019-nCoV virus.

But up until a few weeks ago, no scientists even knew the coronavirus existed, let alone had probes to test for it. Usually, the kinds of probes and reagents necessary to run this test in a clinical setting take years to develop and to apply for regulatory approval.

The government should intensify clear communication campaign on the risks to the public. As hospitals are the epi-centres, they need to know how to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.

Self-quarantine facility set up at Mbagathi Hospital. Photo: Ministry of Health.

Source: Facebook

As part of the preparedness training, simulation activities with isolation pods conducted in more health facilities. More importantly, we should have working equipment in those facilities.

Currently, there is no cure for this coronavirus, and treatments are based on the kind of care given for influenza (seasonal flu) and other severe respiratory illnesses, known as "supportive care.

These treatments essentially treat the symptoms, which often in the case of coronavirus involve fever, cough and shortness of breath. In mild cases, this might simply mean rest and fever-reducing medications such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) for comfort.

As the virus attacks the lungs, it becomes harder and harder for patients to get enough oxygen into their bloodstream to support their kidneys, liver and heart. In cases which pneumonia inhibits breathing, treatment involves ventilation with oxygen. Ventilators blow air into the lungs through a mask or a tube inserted directly into the windpipe.

A New England Journal of Medicine study of 1,099 hospitalized patients with the coronavirus in China found that 41.3% needed supplemental oxygen and 2.3% needed invasive mechanical ventilation.

Should the virus attack the country, a wave of very sick patients with pneumonia could outstrip not only the available beds but also the number of ventilators in the country.

Oxygen was recently added by WHO, to the list of essential medicines that all hospitals must-have. However, most health facilities still experiencing challenges.

There is no better time for the country to upscale the production and distribution of affordable production of oxygen in the health facilities, even as we pray that we will not be hit by the virus.

The writer is Dr Steve Adudans, the Executive Director Center for Public Health and Development

The views expressed here are his and do not represent the position of TUKO.co.ke in any way.

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.

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Walmart-owned Flipkart has sought regulatory approval for its food retail business, The Times of India reported.

Flipkart has filed an application with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), and the government may approve it within two-three months, sources told the paper.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Moneycontrol had in October 2019 reported that the ecommerce major had registered an entity called Flipkart FarmerMart. Flipkarts board has also approved an investment of Rs 2,500 crore to expand its grocery business.

Flipkart FarmerMart wont have physical stores and will be an online initiative at least in the beginning, sources told the paper.

The company will tie-up with kirana stores across India through Shadowfax, which provides last-mile delivery services, the report said.

It will also focus on deep agri-supply chain investment, especially at the farm gate level and will encourage demand-driven sowing, which will help farmers produce right fruits and vegetables and get paid as per market price, a source told the paper.

In India, 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) is permitted through the approval route.

Amazon already has a presence in Indias food retail space through its Prime Now service, having secured a food retail licence in 2017.
The Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Akwasi Agyeman has called on the public to just take necessary precautions in their day-to-day engagements and not to be afraid of the deadly Coronavirus.

According to him, although the industry is suffering, measures are been put in place to ensure stimulus packages are worked out.

Addressing the media in Accra, he said "We are monitoring globally as there has been cand up 9ancellations of flight3 and hotel bookings. Without counting, this should tell that there is a drop and the industry is suffering."

The Acting Chief Executive Officer also mentioned that financial and regulatory challenges are a few among other problems facing operators in the Hotel and Tourism industry.

He disclosed that the Authority has set up a committee called 'Corona Alert Committee' which will be meeting with operators and come up with a position paper for government to consider.

He pointed that since many companies have employed workers and are expanding their businesses, low patronages of their services will cause them to close down.

Speaking on measures at screening people who enter Ghana via borders, the Acting CEO revealed that some equipment have been provided to help check the virus.

"The nature of the virus is very tricky. It is difficult to tell who has high temperature. The media must be in the front line educating the masses on the virus," he emphasised.

Mr. Agyeman tasked the media to be circumspect on its reportage adding that misinformation will cause more fear and panic among foreign nations as well as locals.

He clarified that the coronavirus did not affect the year of return rather coming at the back of beyond the return.

The Acting Chief Executive Officer also disclosed that it is worrying the vast spread of the virus has many countries restricting movement of flights which in the end will result in huge lose in their hotel and tourism industry.

"We have already heard and seen alot. We are only counting on the Ghana Health Service but per the words of President Akufo-Addo last night, we feel emboldened that nothing will happen," he intimated.

In areas of the kitchen, the Ghana Tourism Authority says it is advising workers to always wear their protective gear.

He was positive that GTA will be checking staff health certification of hotels and tourist sites at their various assemblies.
Attorney General for Northern Ireland John Larkin QC is expected to be appointed a temporary High Court judge (PA)

Amnesty International has slammed the idea of a statute of limitations for all crimes committed during the Troubles as an "utter betrayal" of victims.

Speaking at meeting in Westminster on Thursday, Northern Ireland's attorney general, John Larkin QC, backed the implementation of a statute of limitations, as long as there is wider political support for it.

He also said a specialist judge should test whether Troubles-related crimes allegedly carried out by British soldiers should be prosecuted.

Mr Larkin stressed that law changes would be required if Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to fulfill his commitment to stop prosecutions of former army personnel, the Times reports.

Without new legislation, Mr Larkin said such cases would "trundle on and on because we have no statute of limitations. If he wants to change the law, then he should do so; if not then we will remain as we are."

He said a "certification" system would be his preferred solution to the issue, whereby legacy allegations against former soldiers would be assessed by a senior judge before being put before the courts.

"If you had a case involving a soldier who was 19 at the time and took a decision in the heat of the moment the judge could take a view on whether it was in the public interest to prosecute," he said.

"Cases that were granted a certificate would proceed, those that were not would be dismissed."

Grainne Teggart, Amnesty International's Northern Ireland campaigns manager, said the UK government "must not legislate for impunity" through a statute of limitations.

The effect of a statute of limitations would be to grant a blanket amnesty for human rights abuses committed by former members of the security forces," she said.

To place perpetrators of crimes committed during the Troubles above the law would be an utter betrayal of victims fundamental right to justice.

Veterans minister Johnny Mercer said he would introduce a bill next week to safeguard former soldiers from "vexatious legal claims".

Alliance Party MP Stephen Farry, however, challenged this narrative, stating it "undermines the criminal justice system which has the ability to weed out such claims".
There are only a couple of weeks left before the Sussexes bid their farewell to the royal family. However, Prince Harry looks like he is having trouble giving up everything before leaving the monarchy.

The Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 9 marked the last royal engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as senior working members of the royal family. But before they officially said their goodbyes to The Firm, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex received a standing ovation when they attended the Mountbatten Music Festival at the Royal Albert Hall.

What made their penultimate royal engagement more emotional was the fact that Prince Harry let his guard down and became visibly saddened during the event.

According to royal insider Omid Scobie, the emotional appearance of the duke stemmed from the fact that the venue was the last place where he got to wear his Captain-General of the Royal Marines uniform for the last time after spending his whole royal life to the military.

Scobie said that as soon as Harry gave up his royal duties and senior title in January 2020, it caused him to lose his military honors as well.

The Royal Editor-at-Large also pointed out that the situation seemed to be a tough pill to swallow, and seeing him going through a hard time instead of celebrating also made Meghan feel the same.

"It is, a source close to the couple tells me, a wound that will take time to heal for Harry," the royal insider said.

Sussexes Hurting?

Before the music festival, Harry and Meghan attended the Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London.

The event served as a ceremony dedicated to veterans, whom Prince Harry pledged to continue to support even during his new non-working royal life.

"It is understandable why his final military engagements were emotional for the Duke, as he had hoped to remain "part-time" in the royal family," Scobie said, referring to the fact that the Sussexes can no longer take royal duties since it is not allowed under the monarchy's constitution.

Since they will be facing new lives soon, the Sussexes are also expected to deal with massive changes. Although they have been smiling at the cameras in public, Harry and Meghan still cannot hide the fact that they are hurting.

To recall, Meghan reportedly cried when she said her goodbye to their royal staff -- a bittersweet move the Duchess had to do.

Prince Harry, according to royal expert Phil Dampier during his interview with Dan Wootton on talkRADIO, looked like he was having trouble during their final appearance with the royal family at Westminster Abbey while his wife seemed to have already loosened up.

"It was looking very difficult for Harry," Dampier said, referring to the contrasting emotions of the royal couple. "But Meghan looked very, very relaxed as she has done for the last few days in these last final engagements."

One thing is for sure, Harry might still be having contrasting emotions as of this moment, but he needs to deal with them to survive the life he wished for.
A suite of supports will be made available to businesses in Longford impacted by Covid-19, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Peter Burke said: I know that this is a worrying time for businesses and I want to assure them that my Fine Gael colleague, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys, her Department and agencies are working on their behalf to develop and deliver a range of supports to help them through this rapidly evolving situation.

Understandably, many businesses are very concerned about their cashflow in the coming weeks. I want to reassure them that there are a number of schemes that can help them meet their short-term working capital and liquidity needs.

The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation have put a range of supports in place, including:

 A 200m Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) Working Capital scheme for eligible businesses impacted by COVID-19. Loans of up to 1.5m will be available at reduced rates, with up to the first 500,000 unsecured. Applications can be made through the SBCI website https://sbci.gov.ie/

 A 200m Package for Enterprise Supports including a Rescue and Restructuring Scheme available through Enterprise Ireland for vulnerable but viable firms that need to restructure or transform their business.

 The maximum loan available from MicroFinance Ireland will be increased from 25,000 to 50,000 as an immediate measure to specifically deal with exceptional circumstances that micro-enterprises  (sole traders and firms with up to 9 employees) - are facing. Applications can be made through the MFI website https://microfinanceireland. ie/ or through your local LEO.

 The Credit Guarantee Scheme will be available to COVID-19 impacted firms through the Pillar Banks. Loans of up to 1m will be available at terms of up to 7 years.

The Chartered Accountant also highlighted the following supports for firms experiencing trading difficulties and short-term shocks:

 The Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection and the Department of Business, Enterprise & Innovation will provide a joint First Responder support service through the Intreo Offices and development agencies, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in each region to provide tailored supports for impacted firms, with objective of avoiding mass lay-offs and buying time for firms to work through the short-term disruptions.

 Firms that need to reduce hours or days worked can avail of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection Short Term Work Support by contacting their local Intreo Office, see https://www.gov.ie/en/service/ c20e1b-short-time-work- support/

 The full range of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Local Enterprise Office and Udaras na Gaeltachta grant supports will be available to firms to help with strategies to innovate, diversify markets and supply chains and to improve competitiveness.

Minister Heather Humphreys said: We are facing an unprecedented level of uncertainty, and businesses may want to access advice on how best to protect their businesses. A Finance in Focus grant of 7,200 will be available to Enterprise Ireland and Udaras na Gaeltachta clients that want to access consultancy support to undertake immediate finance reviews.

In addition, Local Enterprise Offices in every county will be providing vouchers from 2,500 up to 10,000 (with 50:50 match funding) to support business continuity preparedness, innovation and productivity. I encourage businesses to take advantage of these supports.

The Minister also welcomed the package of reforms for sick pay, illness benefit and supplementary benefit that is designed to ensure that employees and the self-employed can abide by medical advice to self-isolate where appropriate.

Minister Humphreys concluded: This situation is changing from day to day, and I will continue to work across Government, with the representative bodies and with the banking system to respond to ongoing developments in order to protect and support Irish businesses.
French English

PRESS RELEASE

Neuilly-sur-Seine, France  March 13, 2020

Important information on the date of the Bureau Veritas Annual General Meeting and the dividend payment date for the 2019 financial year

In an exceptional and evolving context of coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19), to ensure the health and safety of its employees, service providers and shareholders, and also to preserve shareholders rights to participate in the Annual General Meeting, the Bureau Veritas Board of Directors, which met on March 13, 2020, took the decision to postpone the date of the Annual General Meeting initially set on Thursday, May 14, 20201 to Friday, June 26, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. at Immeuble Newtime, 40-52 Boulevard du Parc, 92200, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.

Bureau Veritas will propose a dividend of 0.56 euro per share to be paid in cash on July 2, 2020 (shareholders on the register on July 1, 2020 will be entitled to the dividend and the share will go ex-dividend on June 30, 2020).

About Bureau Veritas

Bureau Veritas is a world leader in laboratory testing, inspection and certification services. Created in 1828, the Group has more than 78,000 employees located in more than 1,500 offices and laboratories around the globe. Bureau Veritas helps its clients improve their performance by offering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility.

Bureau Veritas is listed on Euronext Paris and belongs to the Next 20 index.

Compartment A, ISIN code FR 0006174348, stock symbol: BVI.

For more information, visit https://group.bureauveritas.com

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Check that this press release is genuine at www.wiztrust.com .





ANALYST/INVESTOR CONTACTS MEDIA CONTACTS Laurent Brunelle Veronique Gielec +33 (0)1 55 24 76 09 +33 (0)1 55 24 76 01 laurent.brunelle@bureauveritas.com veronique.gielec@bureauveritas.com Florent Chaix DGM Conseil +33 (0)1 55 24 77 80 +33 (0)1 40 70 11 89 florent.chaix@bureauveritas.com thomasdeclimens@dgm-conseil.fr

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1 As a reminder, in its press release dated February 27, 2020, Bureau Veritas announced that the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders would be held on May 14, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. at Immeuble Newtime, 40-52 Boulevard du Parc, 92200, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France and that the payment date for the dividend in cash would be May 25, 2020 (shareholders on the register on May 22, 2020 would have been entitled to the dividend and the share would have been gone ex-dividend on May 21, 2020).





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A Nigerian court on Friday ordered the release of a revered Islamic traditional ruler from detention after he was deposed and banished in a controversial practice dating back to colonial times.

Lamido Sanusi, the Emir of Kano, northern Nigeria's largest city, was abruptly removed from office on Monday by state governor Abdullahi Ganduje for "disrespect" and "insubordination".

Sanusi, 58, was banished under tight security to a small town in another state, in a tactic similar to that used by British imperial officials to punish rebellious leaders during the colonial period.

The move to hold him in exile sparked outcry from human rights activists and was challenged in court by Sanusi's lawyer.

At the hearing on Friday, Judge Anwuli Chikere of the federal high court in Abuja ordered that the deposed emir be released and allowed to move about freely.

"An interim order is hereby made releasing the applicant from the detention," she said.

The judge ordered the authorities to restore Sanusi's "rights to human dignity, personal liberty, freedom of association and movement in Nigeria, pending the hearing and determination of the applicant's originating summons".

The case was adjourned to March 26 for another hearing.

By tradition, the Kano emir is the second most senior Islamic ruler in Africa's most populous nation, after the sultan of Sokoto.

Emirs have no constitutional role in Nigeria, but they wield enormous influence over their subjects.

Sanusi, a former central bank chief who ascended the throne in 2014, has been an outspoken critic of political and religious leaders in his mainly-Muslim northern Nigeria, drawing flak of the authorities.

He had been at loggerheads with state governor Ganduje because of his criticism of the authorities and allegations he supported the opposition at elections last year.

The Kano State government named Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, the son of a former emir, as the new traditional ruler of Kano hours after dethroning Sanusi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Except the burden of that sacrifice will fall harder on some than on others. Calamities tend to bring existing inequities into sharp relief. Just as the risk from COVID-19 is not democratically distributed  the already vulnerable are more likely to succumb  neither is the burden of containment shared equally.

Going into this possibly inevitable lockdown, clearly some people are more prepared than others. Sorry, but I cant contain my scorn about Australias great dunny paper and pasta panic. Apart from making us (again) the worlds laughing stock, the stockpilers clearing essentials from the supermarket shelves do so at the expense of others. Such as the old and infirm. The cancer patients clinging to hand sanitisers for dear life. The poor families, living week to week, who cant afford to bulk buy.

How would the wartime generation who survived on rations view todays hoarders? Some hoarders try to deflect responsibility for their conduct by claiming they dont trust the government to manage the pandemic. Meanwhile, theyre straining the bonds of social trust with each unnecessary jumbo pack of Sorbent rolls.

And for millions of casual and gig economy workers without access to sick leave, a lockdown or self-isolation is riskier than coronavirus infection. Some employers say theyll pay casuals for wages lost during the crisis; but its luck of the draw. At a time of income stagnation, Christian Porters remark that casuals have already made provision for time off work would be funny, if he wasnt Industrial Relations Minister. Among the stimulus measures to ward off a coronavirus recession, the government is waiving the one-week waiting period for the sickness payment benefit, available for incapacitated casual workers. Launching the stimulus package, Scott Morrison noted many other countries dont have an equivalent benefit in their existing welfare systems. As if hes a long-time safety net advocate; as if such Newstart payments havent been set at unliveable levels.
SUWAYDA, Syria  Residents in the southern province of Suwayda have been taking to the streets since January amid popular anger, calling for improving the living conditions and loosening the security grip imposed on them by the Syrian government. Despite initiatives promising better conditions for the province where the security situation has been relatively calm, the popular demands are far from being met, as no actual solutions to the daily crises have been proposed. In fact, the security branches affiliated with the regime have been imposing more restrictions, by arresting people and recruiting young men in their ranks and fueling the situation by ignoring the appeal of the elders to stop the arrests and kidnappings amid harsh living conditions and ongoing demonstrations.

Mohammad al-Hammadi, a journalist from Daraa who works with local newspapers, told Al-Monitor that the regimes offensive in northern Syria to control the area and the ongoing arrest campaigns in the province of Daraa after the regime took control of it in 2018 have all affected Bashar al-Assads policy in Suwayda.

He noted that Assad now seeks to subjugate the province of Suwayda by imposing restrictions on its residents, especially since his control there has become less apparent lately. Assad is thus pursuing this policy to impose state prestige through a systematic blockade that brings the province back under the regimes control with minimal losses, Hammadi added.

The Syrian regime wants to escape responsibility from the deteriorating situation in Suwayda and blame it on local factions. Chaos has thus ensued, despite elders from the area constantly demanding that the government forces play their role effectively and hold those responsible from both sides accountable. Activists on social media have reported over 20 incidents of kidnapping and detention by unknown perpetrators in February.

As different parties show reluctance to make any concessions, there are concerns the situation might further escalate in the near future, notably after regime forces arrested a number of youths on the pretext of dealing with the Israeli government and being hostile to the Syrian regime, Hammadi added.

He said the successive security violations, arrests and many cases of kidnappings and murders, in addition to the arrogant method the security branches have opted for in dealing with these conditions that locals blame them for, contributed to adding fuel to the flames.

Suleiman Murshid, an activist from the city of Salkhad in Suwayda province, told Al-Monitor that the regime forces kidnapped in February a young man from Salkhad who is a member of a local faction called Sheikh al-Karama Forces. The latter retaliated by kidnapping six officers from the Syrian army and other members of the air intelligence branch in the city after a clash inside one of the city's communications centers.

According to Murshid, Sheikh al-Karama Forces stormed one of the regimes security headquarters on Feb. 23 after kidnapping the officers, in an attempt to find their kidnapped member and help him escape, since the regime had refused to release him or give them any information about his whereabouts.

He said that the regime forces responded to this kidnapping and armed attack against its security branch by calling in military reinforcements on Feb. 24 and vehicles carrying medium weapons, which were deployed throughout Salkhad.

Murshid pointed out that the regime forces erected checkpoints in and around the city, one of which was attacked by unknown individuals only hours after the regime forces were deployed near Tal al-Lawz, western Sarkhad. Clashes erupted but no significant losses on either side were reported on Feb. 24 hours after the military outposts were deployed in the vicinity of Sakhlad.

Sheikh al-Karama Forces published a statement on its Facebook page Feb. 23 claiming responsibility for the kidnapping of five regime officers and a soldier in response to the kidnapping of one of its members who was accused of collaborating with Israel.

The statement said that the faction is about to release the kidnapped in a goodwill gesture, calling on the security branches to release the faction member and desist from further arrests.

In the same statement, Sheikh al-Karama Forces accused the Syrian regime of betraying its people by protecting the Israeli borders, in addition to allowing Iranian militia and Russians to get involved in the Syrian war, killing civilians and displacing them, noting that the faction will remain on full alert until its demands are fulfilled and it is ready to respond to any attack.

A media official in Sheikh al-Karama Forces told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the statement clearly shows the factions intentions to carry out more kidnappings if the regime continues its arrests, refusing to reveal any future plans should the regime forces respond.

Speaking about solutions to the current conditions, Ryan Maarouf, editor of Suwayda 24 news website, told Al-Monitor that religious and social organizations and leaders of the local factions held a meeting Feb. 21, attended by several spectra from Suwayda to discuss the security situation and draw up a plan to reach a final solution and prevent further bloodshed and violence.

However, Maarouf said the meeting was fruitless, since tension immediately resumed and the regime forces kidnapped the Sheikh al-Karama Forces member on Feb. 23.

According to Maarouf, the meeting took place in the traditional leadership house of the Atrash family in the town of Ira, in western Suwayda, in the presence of a large number of prominent figures, in addition to senior Sheikhs al-Aql of the Druze community Yousef Jarbou and Hamoud al-Hinnawi, and the deputy bishop of Suwayda. Attendees called on the Syrian regime, represented in its departments in the province, to work on finding a solution to end the quarrel between outlaws and urging the competent authorities to disregard them. They further emphasized the need for security branches to adhere to controlling the situation and commit to achieving security and stability in the area, provided that the local community organizations support them in doing so, Maarouf added.

Maarouf concluded that the same figures had held similar meetings months ago, during which they called for a set of reforms and solutions that were not eventually implemented and chaos thus remained prevalent.
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Michigans third presumptive case of the COVID-19 coronavirus involves a patient from St. Clair County, according to the St. Clair County Health Department.

The patient is a middle-aged male who is in stable condition and isolated at his home, according to a press release from the health department.

The individual has a history of domestic travel, the press release said. This patient took proper precautions early on and had minimal community contact.

Dr. Annette Mercatante, the countys medical health officer, said the department does not want the community to panic. If you feel well, you do not need to be tested. Mildly ill people should be encouraged to stay home and contact their healthcare provider by phone for clinical guidance. Testing will be determined based on risk assessment.

The case adds to two presumptive positive tests announced Tuesday. Those first two were in Oakland and Wayne counties.

According to the state website, there are now 26 pending test results and 172 people being monitored.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency and issued recommendations to control the spread of the virus, including avoiding gatherings of 100 or more people, staying home when sick and practicing good hygiene.

Public universities and some private colleges have canceled classes.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

Read more on MLive:

Michigan governor asks Trump to open special Obamacare enrollment period during coronavirus threat

Heres a list of specific recommendations from state health officials

Huge Michigan tourist destination, The Henry Ford Museum, closing amid coronavirus

GM tells visitors to stay out of plants if theyve had cold or flu-like symptoms

Some Michigan jury trials, probation reporting canceled due to coronavirus outbreak
A COUNTY Limerick angler has come to the end of the line over a pipe carrying raw sewage into the river where he fishes.

Mikey Foley, aged 35, has vowed to block the pipe near the Peoples Park in Kilmallock if the problem isnt sorted in the coming weeks. He has seen human excrement flowing out and toilet paper and female sanitary products caught in weeds.

Ive been reporting this pipe for 10 years. It is coming and going. The local fishing club has done loads of work on the Loobagh to enhance the river for salmon and trout below Kilmallock but it's a waste of time when this kind of thing is happening above where we put in new spawning beds.

It's at the stage now that I'm going too block it up myself. If it starts flowing down the Main Street of Kilmallock then they might do something about it, said Mikey.

He has purchased bags of quick drying cement and expanding foam. Mikey says if the issue hasnt been sorted by the end of March he says he is going to put a stop to it.

Im sick of it. It is disgusting. All I want to do is enjoy a bit of sport on my day off and I cant do that down there. The smell is terrible.

There is great access there but I cant bring my 10-year-old daughter down to fish because it is horrible. I have fellows coming over from Tennessee in a few weeks to fish the system and I cant bring them there. It is embarrassing, said Mikey, who adds that if there was raw sewage flowing out of his house in Bruree, I would be before Kilmallock Court in the morning.

When I contact the council they pawn me off to Irish Water and when I contact Irish Water they pawn me off to the council, he adds.

Following a Limerick Leader media query sent to Irish Water, a spokesperson said: We have received reports of a discharge in this area and are working in partnership with Limerick City and County Council to investigate its source(s) and resolve the issue. We will provide a further update pending the outcome of this investigation.

When Cllr Mike Donegan learned of the raw sewage issue he immediately contacted Irish Water and the council.

He has put down a motion for next weeks Cappamore-Kilmallock municipal district calling on Irish Water to carry out urgent remedial works on the surface water pipe in the river Loobagh being used as a storm overflow from the public sewer at the rear of Deebert Close, Kilmallock.

Unfortunately, this is a recurring problem. It is linked to a storm overflow from the public sewer. Whenever there is a blockage in the sewer it overflows to the river.

The council have confirmed that they are going to complete a CCTV sewer survey on the pipe to identify the problem, said Cllr Donegan.

Mikey says he doesnt want to have to go on social media sites or the local paper to highlight this.

But nobody is taking any responsibility. All I want to do is practice my fly fishing down there in the hope of some day representing my country, said Mikey.

He explains that there is a Q rating system in Ireland to measure the quality of the water.

Q1 is the lowest and Q5 is the highest. There are only 20 Q5s, which is pristine water, left in Ireland. The Loobagh is a Q4 which is unbelievable and that is down to good farming practice and then you have raw sewage flowing into it.

There are new signs gone up on the river Loobagh walk from the council saying if you don't pick up your dogs dirt they will fine you 5,000 and on that same walk there is a pipe dumping raw sewage into the river, concluded Mikey.
A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry suggested on Thursday the U.S. military might have brought the coronavirus to the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been hardest hit by the outbreak, doubling down on a war of words with Washington.

China has taken great offence at comments by U.S. officials accusing it of being slow to react to the virus, first detected in Wuhan late last year, and of not being transparent enough.

On Wednesday, U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said the speed of China's reaction to the emergence of the coronavirus had probably cost the world two months when it could have been preparing for the outbreak.

In a strongly worded tweet, written in English on his verified Twitter account, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it was the United States that lacked transparency.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the U.S. lacked transparency and accused American military members of bringing the coronavirus to Wuhan. It came after U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said the speed of China's reaction to the emergence of the coronavirus had probably cost the world two months when it could have been preparing for the outbreak

A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry suggested on Thursday the U.S. military might have brought the coronavirus to the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been hardest hit by the outbrea. Pictured: Workers wearing protective gear carry rubbish bins while disinfecting the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market in Wuhan.

'When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!' Zhao wrote.

Zhao, an avid and often combative Twitter user, did not offer any evidence for his suggestion that the U.S. military might be to blame for the outbreak in China.

Earlier on Thursday, Zhao's fellow Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang criticised U.S. officials for 'immoral and irresponsible' comments that blamed Beijing's response to the coronavirus for worsening the global impact of the pandemic.

Asked about O'Brien's comments, Geng told a daily news briefing in Beijing on that such remarks by U.S. officials would not help U.S. epidemic efforts.

China's efforts to slow the spread had bought the world time to prepare against the epidemic, he added.

The U.S. Armed Forces Sports team marches during opening ceremonies for the 2019 CISM Military World Games in Wuhan in October

This chart shows how confirmed coronavirus cases have escalated in the U.S. since January

'We wish that a few officials in the U.S. would at this time concentrate their energy on responding to the virus and promoting cooperation, and not on shifting the blame to China.'

The coronavirus emerged in December in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province, where around two-thirds of global cases so far have been recorded. But in recent weeks the vast majority of new cases have been outside China.

The Chinese authorities credit firm measures they took in January and February, including to a near total shutdown of Hubei, for preventing outbreaks in other Chinese cities on the scale of Wuhan and slowing the spread abroad.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has pointed to a decision to limit air travel from China at the end of January to fend off criticism that it responded too slowly to the disease. Critics say Trump played down the disease in public and the federal government was slow to roll out tests.

'Unfortunately, rather than using best practices, this outbreak in Wuhan was covered up,' Trump's national security advisor O'Brien said during a think-tank appearance on Wednesday.

'It probably cost the world community two months to respond,' during which 'we could have dramatically curtailed what happened both in China and what's now happening across the world', he said.

More than 119,100 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus across the world and 4,298 have died, the vast majority in China, according to a Reuters tally. The United States has 975 cases and 30 people have died.

'We have done a good job responding to it but ... the way that this started out in China, and the way it was handled from the outset, was not right,' said O'Brien. (Reporting by Gabriel Crossley; Editing by Peter Graff and Alex Richardson)
The Odisha Assembly was adjourned till March 29 on Friday in wake of the coronavirus outbreak, even as members of the opposition BJP protested against the speaker's decision.

Speaker S N Patro announced adjournment of the ongoing budget session after a voice vote on a motion moved by government chief whip Pramila Mallik.

The motion moved by Mallik said the House may be adjourned till March 29 because of the spread of coronavirus across the world in an alarming way.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also declared it as a pandemic, she said, adding that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has also made a statement on the situation.

The motion also said the discussion on budgetary provisions of different departments which were listed till March 29 may be done away with and the budget passed without discussion on March 30 when the House reassembles.

While Congress members supported the motion, BJP lawmakers opposed the move saying that the situation in the state does not warrant such a drastic move.

"There is no need for adjourning the House as Parliament and assemblies in the several states are already in session. We can effectively face the corona challenge through proper discussion, if the House runs as per schedule," Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik said.

BJP MLA Bishnu Sethi said that by adjourning the assembly, the government is triggering "unnecessary panic" among people.

"We should not behave like escapists. Adjournment of the House gives a wrong signal. It gives the impression that we are scared of coronavirus. Adjournment of the House is not acceptable at all," senior BJP leader Jay Narayan Mishra said.

Opposition Chief Whip Mohan Majhi said though schools, colleges and cinema halls are shut in Delhi, Parliament and the Delhi Assembly are in session.

Majhi further alleged that the move to adjourn the House is aimed at skirting opposition criticism over deposits of Lord Jagannath in the cash-starved Yes Bank.

Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra, however, welcomed the move to adjourn the House, saying it was the right step.

Slamming the BJP for criticising the government's move, Mishra said that the saffron party is trying to derive political mileage out of the issue. Congress members S S Saluja and T P Bahinipati accused the BJP of adopting a double standard and said the saffron party's criticism in the state is not in conformity with the central government's guidelines on coronavirus.

BJD members Pradip Maharathy, D P Mishra and Bhupinder Singh said the step taken by the chief minister to deal with the threat of coronavirus is in the right direction and it will be followed by other states in the country as a model.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Disneyland recently sent out a statement where they revealed that they will shut down operations due to Coronavirus. It also stated that they will close parks in its Disneyland Resort in California, Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, and Disneyland Paris. In the statement, Disney revealed that will continue to pay the employees of the organisation during the closure.

The statement also said that there have not been any reported cases of coronavirus at Disneyland Resorts.

After carefully reviewing the guidelines of the Governor of Californias executive order and in the best interest of our guests and employees, we are proceeding with the closure of Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, beginning the morning of March 14 through the end of the month".

A spokesperson from Walt Disney also said that due to the caution and the safety of the guests, they will be closing down the theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Paris Resort.

It was reported that Disneyland Resort shall remain open till Monday, March 16, 2020, to help guests make necessary travel arrangements. It also said that they will monitor the situation and will take necessary advice from several and state officials and health agencies.

Also read | Rebel Wilson Looks Gorgeous In Her Recent Pics From Her Trip To Disneyland

As per reports, this will be the fourth time that Disneyland has closed ever since its opening on July 17, 1955. The first time Disneyland was shut was due to President John F. Kennedy's passing away as he was assassinated in 1963.

Post that, it was shut was during the 1994 Northridge earthquake when it was closed to check for damages. Then later Disneyland was shut after the attacks of 9/11.

Also read | Australia: 9-year-old Bullied Boy Cancels Disneyland Trip To Donate $475k To Charity

Apart from Disneyland, it was also reported that Universal Studios Hollywood will be shut starting from Saturday, March 14, 2020, and is expected to reopen on March 28, 2020. Check out Disneys statement on their Twitter handle.

Disneyland's statement on their Twitter handle

Also read | Japan: Disneyland Tokyo To Remain Closed Until Early April Amid Coronavirus Fears

Netizens react to Disney's news and appreciate their concern towards it. They also laud Disney for paying the employees at their time of closure. Take a look at some of the reactions of the netizens towards the issue.

Good call. Everyone needs to be staying home.  lacweal (@lacweal1) March 12, 2020

Longest closure in the park's history. This is some serious stuff.  GameplayXtreme + Disney (@RGameplayXtreme) March 12, 2020

Good! Thank you.  Rosie Postcard (@RPostcard) March 12, 2020

thank you for paying the cast members through this, people need that money  Green man (Querl Dox & Seteth) liker #Josi4Norris (@Silverjojo08) March 12, 2020

Also read | Avengers Campus To Let Disneyland Visitors Sling Like Spidey
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When is the best time to pass legislation mandating comprehensive sex education for public school students? Apparently, its in the wee hours of the morning.

After a heated debate in the House chambers of the Washington state Legislature, a vote was cast just before 2 a.m. SB 5395 passed in the Democratic-controlled house. It will now go on to the Senate (Democratically controlled) and then to Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat. When it becomes law, comprehensive sex education will be taught in all grades by 2023.

Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year all seventh-12th grade students will receive the latest comprehensive sex-ed curriculum. In school year 2022-2023, kindergarten through sixth grade students will receive age appropriate instruction.

Proponents indicate that the youngest students will learn social-emotional subjects, offering instruction on healthy friendships and avoiding unwanted touching. However, a page from the second grade curriculum shows explicit drawings on how to self-touch.

Republican state Representative Vicki Kraft reviewed the curriculum and was concerned that teaching fourth-grade students about vaginal, oral, and anal sex was far too explicit. Republican state Representative Mike Steele argued: We should leave some innocence for these children. Im not sure why were rushing to remove the innocence from our youth. We put so much on them already. I dont know why we think its appropriate to put more, to put such weight upon their backs at such young ages.

While the Republicans did everything to defeat SB 5395, even tacking on 220 amendments  due to the Democrat majority in the House, the amendments were defeated one by one. As was noted during the legislative debate, the sex education curriculum directs students to go to the Planned Parenthood website. Planned Parenthood has a vested interest in having another generation of kids needing their birth control supplies, STD testing, and abortion services.

Having reviewed the proposed curriculum, it is indeed graphic in its pictorial descriptions of sex acts. Another Republican representative, Robert Sutherland stated, Im offended at the pornography that were going to be forced to teach our children. Im offended at what this government is doing to the parents out there. The presiding House Democrat, Tina Orwall, banged her gavel at Sutherland and advised him to keep his remarks to the policy being debated. As if his concern wasnt warranted.

While the legislation provides a parental opt-out for their children, the majority of Washington State students will be learning far more than they need to know, and the ramifications will be seen in Generation Next.
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Ontario's right-wing populist Progressive Conservative government released a Roadmap to Wellness on March 3 that is ostensibly aimed at improving young people's access to mental health services. In reality, the roadmap amounts to a continuation of austerity that will do next to nothing to improve access to the care and therapy that hundreds of thousands of children and youth urgently need.

The headline measure was the allocation of a paltry $20 million to offer free therapy to children aged 10 and over who confront depression and other mental health problems. The government also announced the creation of a Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence, which it says will function as the central coordinating body for these services.

This is a drop in the bucket, given that in Ontario, as across Canada, mental health care is notoriously underserviced by the universal public healthcare system (Medicare), forcing those who can afford it to turn to private psychologists and other professionals.

A statement from Ontarios Child and Mental Health Lead Agency Consortium, which includes 31 mental health service providers across the province, denounced the government proposal. It contains little to nothing new for childrens mental health, said a statement issued by the Consortium. Nor does the strategy propose the level of additional funding investment needed to meaningfully enhance delivery of improved services for children and youth living with mental illnesses and addictions. The statement added that if the new measures are implemented as planned, they will not result in creating equitable and immediate access to mental health and addiction services.

The Ford governments continued commitment to austerity comes as demand for mental health services for children and adolescents is at an all-time high, according to a new report.

The report, released in late January by Childrens Mental Health Ontario and titled Kids Cant Wait, notes that youth mental health treatment wait lists have more than doubled over the last two years. Currently, 28,000 children and youth are on wait lists across the province, up from approximately 12,000 in 2017. Delays for mental health services can be up to two and a half years, with an average wait time of 67 days for counselling and therapy, and 92 days for intensive treatment.

Such delays in treatment are driven by chronic underfunding of mental health services as well as a sharp increase in need. In Ontario, according to experts, approximately one in five children and youth have a mental health challenge. Throughout the province an estimated 200,000 kids with mental health issues have no contact whatsoever with mental health services. Critical programs for treatment of children with the most serious mental health issues do not even exist in many rural, remote and northern communities.

A tragic outgrowth of this deplorable lack of support is the rise in youth suicides. In 2005, 146 people between the ages of 8 and 24 died by suicide in Ontario. In 2016, the figure was 181. Nationally, more than 5,800 Canadian children and youth have died by suicide in the past 13 years, some as young as eight years old.

Canada has the fourth highest youth suicide rate among the 29 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, yet Ontario has no strategy for suicide prevention.

Ontarios growing youth mental health crisis is ultimately bound up with the stress and pressures produced by deteriorating social conditions and the brutalization of capitalist society. Children and young people are growing up in a world dominated by the threat of war and environmental destruction, precarious employment, poverty, social inequality, and the devastating consequences of decades of savage austerity measures that have gutted public services.

Ontarios mental health crisis has been exacerbated by the austerity policies of Premier Doug Ford, who continues to starve mental health services of funding, even as he fraudulently claims that mental health is a priority of his government.

After taking office in June 2018, one of Fords first draconian measures was to cancel the previous big business Ontario Liberals' plan to provide a desperately needed $2.1 billion increase (over four years) in funding for mental health services, that was primarily aimed at providing better access to youth counseling in high schools. Even this funding package was hopelessly inadequate. It was announced in March 2018, fully eight years after a select legislative committee warned that more funding for mental health services was needed, and that a central agency should be established to coordinate them.

In truth, the Liberals offered the additional funding, which was announced less than three months ahead of the June 2018 provincial election, as part of a desperate attempt to distance themselves from the austerity policies they had implemented for the previous decade in order to avert an election debacle. This failed. The Liberals were reduced to just seven seats in the 124-member legislature.

Fords boast that his government will spend $1.9 billion on youth mental health services over the next decade is a fraud. Actually, it represents a massive rollback compared to the Liberals inadequate plan, with $335 million effectively cut from provincial mental health funding this year alone. Moreover, much of $1.9 billion is earmarked for police initiatives, that is, reactionary law enforcement programs.

The Patient Ombudsmanthe provincial body tasked with investigating complaints related to Ontario's healthcare systemreceived more than 2,400 complaints last year. Limited availability of mental health and addiction services and a lack of home care for the ill and aged were key complaints. Significantly, Ford has not bothered to name a new head of the Patient Ombudsman's agency in the almost two years since he took office.

The Tories attacks on mental health services are of a piece with their broader campaign to devastate Ontarios public healthcare system. One of Fords first measures upon taking office in 2018 was to consolidate Ontarios healthcare system into one central authority, giving the government the power to push through job and service cuts in the name of efficiency and to contract out the administration of parts of the public health care system to for-profit enterprises.

Fords election promise to end the routine practice of hallway medicine within a year and his recent gloating over the tremendous progress his government is making on tackling hospital overcrowding are strongly refuted by the miserable conditions reported by hospitals throughout the province. In January, overcrowding and long wait times at Brampton Civic HospitalCanadas largest hospitalcompelled city officials to declare a healthcare emergency. In the first six months of 2019, almost half of the provinces 169 hospitals and critical care facilities ran over capacity for at least a month.

These terrible conditions are set to worsen dramatically as the full impact of the coronavirus pandemic makes itself felt in Ontario and across Canada.

The healthcare cuts are an integral part of the Tory governments class-war assault. As part of Fords drive to make Ontario open for business by boosting profits for the corporate elite through stepped-up exploitation of the working class, the Tory government has slashed billions from critical essential services, including public healthcare, education and low-income support services.

Previous governments of all stripes had equally deplorable public health records. Between 1995 and 2002, Mike Harriss Conservative government laid off 6,000 nurses, closed 28 hospitals and eliminated over 7,000 hospital beds. During their 15-year rule, including almost three years between late 2011 and 2014 during which they were propped up by the New Democratic Party, the Liberals starved funding for mental health and addiction services, and froze hospital operating budgets for four years in a row.

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Ontario government escalates its assault on the poor

[4 February 2020]
EAST VINCENT  A request to rezone an agricultural property on Stony Run Road and West Bridge Street to allow housing to be built there has sparked a citizen awakening about development, complete with a petition to restrict it.

A large crowd attended the March 4 township supervisors meeting to voice concerns and get more information about the proposal.

On the agenda was a request by developer Jon Benson to rezone a portion of the 66-acre Ruth farm at 446 Stony Run Road.

The current low-density zoning would allow for about 40 homes.

An adjacent 98-acre parcel, shown on a map as the Keely Tract, is zoned rural conservation and would allow for fewer than 20 homes. Benson is only asking for a re-zoning of the 66-acre parcel on which he wants to put age-restricted housing.

Flagg said Benson has said he will provide the Keely tract to the township as open space.

After hearing multiple concerns raised by the residents at the March 4 meeting, township supervisors voted to hold the official re-zoning hearing on April 1. A vote may or may not occur at that meeting.

But before that happens, a special informational hearing has been scheduled for Monday, March 30, at the township building, 262 Ridge Road, at 7 p.m.

Township Manager Mary Flagg said well be trying to give some explanation about what the development process is, what the law says and what the townships responsibilities are.

After a brief planning commission meeting, Flagg said developers with eyes on three significant parcels, as well as the township planner, will be on hand to answer questions and explain the development process to those who attend.

Flagg said those developers will include:

The owners of the 148-acre Jones Motor tract, a former trucking company site at Route 724 and Bridge Street where the townships 2018 comprehensive plan indicates 366 mixed housing units are proposed, as well as 139,000 square feet of commercial development;

Richard Parry, developer of the now-completed 31-acre Washington Square project on Bridge Street, who has submitted a sketch plan for the Yeager tract on Route 724, with plans for a drug store, restaurant and apartments on the other side of a tributary of Stony Run Creek that bisects the property;

Benson, who Flagg said built the Kimberton Hunt project 20 years ago, and now wants to build age-restricted housing on the site of the Ruth Farm and donate an adjacent parcel as open space.

It is not immediately clear exactly what Benson, who is also the developer for the 143-unit senior housing project in Upper Pottsgrove Township that received approval in November, wants to build in East Vincent.

The most recent official mention of his plans can be found in minutes from the Sept. 17, 2019 planning commission meeting. Those minutes make mention of 146 housing units, but Flagg said she believes his plans have changed, although there is currently no formal submission.

The absence of concrete information about the proposal, as well as a flyer distributed throughout town, fueled concerns raised by residents at the March 4 meeting, an audio recording of which was provided to MediaNews Group.

That meeting was overseen Supervisors Chairman Ed Dracup, who is the only member of the board to be elected.

The other two members, John Funk and Christopher Canale, were appointed to fill vacancies created by the resignations of Mark Dunphy and Jane Peronteau in January.

During the March 4 meeting, Dracup struggled to keep public questions about Bensons plans restricted to the topic of scheduling a hearing for the rezoning request for April 1, the only matter on which a vote was to be taken that night.

He told the audience members Vernon Ruth has been trying to sell this property for a long time, and assured the audience we dont want to see the township destroyed any more than you do.

However, although Dracup said he is unlikely to vote on the zoning change request at the April 1 meeting, he refused to rule it out.

Flagg said the purpose of the April 1 meeting is to give Benson a hearing to make his case to the supervisors to change the zoning.

Some members of the audience complained it is difficult to get information from the township. Others complained that the proposal would add to the ever-worsening traffic on Stony Run Road and West Bridge Street.

Some said they came to the meeting with little information after receiving the flyer warning of the potential development project.

One audience member even asked the three supervisors to confirm that they have no conflict of interest in their business lives with Benson, a question Funk, who has served previously on the board, called a very inappropriate question to ask.

Many in the audience are likely members of two Facebook groups that have recently focused on township matters  East Vincent Voices, which is public, and EVT Advocacy Group, which is by invitation only.

Both groups have circulated an Internet petition which reads, in part:

We are without a full board of elected supervisors to make this important decision to change the current zoning to allow these developments where they are not currently allowed. Our zoning code is our first legal defense against over-development. As a community, we must come together and raise our voices to the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors by signing this petition and attending the meetings. We can no longer allow this magnitude of development to go unchecked with no true oversight.

Over-development will not benefit our township. Please join us in saying Follow the Current Zoning Ordinance by signing the petition.'

According to the posts, the petition has already garnered about 300 signatures.

West Bridge Street resident Jeanne Damon spoke to Digital First Media Thursday on behalf of the group which has named itself the EVT Advocacy Group.

Damon lives across Bridge Street from the proposed development and said she only became aware of it from a tiny legal posting on a stake barely visible from across the street.

She and other residents opposed the continuing care retirement community proposed for the property in 2006 and again in 2008.

If that had been built, it would have been five stories and 1,000 units in and of itself, and it would have changed the landscape of East Vincent Township forever, she said.

The discovery of that legal posting re-awakened her awareness, and of those she contacted, to the looming wave of development the township faces.

Its our own fault. We were sleeping, but we are fully awake now, said Damon.

Her concerns go beyond her own property, although Damon and her husband are worried about traffic and the developments impact on their private well.

She notes that the headwaters of Stony Run are on the property and it is classified by Pennsylvania as an high quality water, meaning the water is particularly clean and supports aquatic wildlife.

Damon said her group is taking a townwide view of development issues. Were focused on this project now because it is coming to a decision point, and our primary purpose right now is to make sure the township sticks with the existing zoning.

But this is more than just a group of West Bridge Street and Stony Run Road residents, she said. We are strategically looking at what we need to focus on town wide.

Flagg told MediaNews Group the people upset in the March 3 audience are being cranked up by a few manipulators in the background, adding, but thats fine. People should feel free to ask any questions they like.

She added, I hope the meeting on March 30th will bring some sanity back and provide some education about the development process.

What Does the Comprehensive Plan Say?

East Vincents new comprehensive plan was adopted in 2018 after a volunteer task force conducted a township survey and held public meetings on visions for the townships future.

Among the goals that plan set are:

Promoting development along the Route 724 corridor, which amounts to about 170 acres on 20 parcels;

Designate areas to accommodate future development at appropriate densities. Recognize existing protected lands and recommend additional conservation actions;

And to protect historic and natural resources to retain the townships rural character.

And that rural character of this 13.6-square mile township has changed over the last 28 years.

According to the comprehensive plan, since 1992, when work on the previous plan began, acreage developed for residential use in the township increased by nearly 2,200, or 198 percent.

In that same time period, the township lost 1,687 acres of land once used for agriculture, a loss of 41 percent; and another 47 percent, or 1,260 acres, of vacant or undeveloped land.

As it stood in 2017, 36 percent of East Vincents land is developed for residential use, the largest single use. Agriculture takes up 27 percent.

The plan notes that the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission projects another 1,900 residents, a population increase of more than 21 percent, in the next ten years.

The plan designates the eastern portion of the township along Route 724 and up against Spring City Borough where more road and sewer infrastructure exists, as the growth area.

It recommends steering development away from the more rural western portion of town.

Damon said the comprehensive plan anticipates 600 new homes being built within the next 10 years.

Weve got almost 1,000 homes planned in the township that could be approved in the next two years, she said. If were going to cram 10 or 20 years of growth into the next two years, where does it all stop?

Editors Note: Full disclosure, reporter Evan Brandt was invited to be a member of EVT Advocacy Group Facebook page and accepted the invitation in order to facilitate his reporting.
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Air India on Friday announced the cancellations of all flights to Kuwait and Italy till April 30 amid the coronavirus outbreak in these countries.

The carrier has also curtailed flight operations to South Korea, France, Germany, Israel, and Sri Lanka till April 30 in a bid to contain the lethal infection which has claimed 5,000 lives globally.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India is 82 including two deaths.

The central government on Wednesday announced the suspension of all visas to India till April 15, as part of the measures to contain the spread of novel coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After shopping, I was the last passenger to climb into a Port of Spain taxi when I heard the intermittent sniffles of a passenger seated next to me in the middle of the vehicle which was filled to capacity. I adjusted my claustrophobic seating arrangement so my face at all times was almost outside the window. Although the sniffling passenger was a short drop this passenger didnt get away unscathed.
At the beginning of February, the Washington Post and the German broadcaster ZDF reported on an espionage operation of enormous dimensions: Under the code names Rubicon and Minerva, Germanys Federal Intelligence Service (BND) together with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had monitored the encrypted government communications of almost half the countries on earth for decades.

This is proven by leaked CIA documents made available to the Washington Post, ZDF and Swiss broadcaster SRF. According to these documents, governments all over the world paid billions for encryption systems from Crypto AG, a Swiss company that was fully owned by the two secret services by 1970 at the latest, enabling them to break the encryption at any time.

The World Socialist Web Site wrote in early February about the so-called Crypto leaks: That US intelligence, in collaboration with its imperialist partners, was spying on the diplomatic communications of governments around the world for the past half-century is a significant revelation. While not surprising, it demonstrates in the most concrete manner the blatant criminality and gangsterism of US imperialism.

Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst)

The leaks comprise around 280 pages written by leading BND and CIA employees, including a detailed chronology of the espionage operation. The governments monitored by Germany and the US include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Argentina, Panama, and the Vatican, as well as allies such as Italy, Austria, Spain, and Portugal. The CIA internal report speaks of the secret service coup of the century.

In total, more than 120 countries used Crypto AG encryption technology between the 1950s and 2000s. The companys founder, Boris Hagelin, granted the CIA exclusive access to its technology in the aftermath of the Second World War. At the end of the 1960s, a Franco-German takeover attempt initially failed due to these relations. But under the Social Democrat/Free Democrat (SPD-FDP) government of Chancellor Willy Brandt, the BND and the CIA finally bought the company secretly in 1970. From then on, the entire profit from company sales illegally flowed into the black accounts of the secret services, where it served to finance other covert projects.

The Rubicon revelations provide insight into decisive turning points of the Cold War and the subsequent NATO campaigns in the Middle East. For example, the BND was informed early on about the coup preparations against Chiles social democratic president, Salvador Allende. After the 1973 coup supported by the CIA, both great powers had access to the secrets of General Pinochets bloody military dictatorship.

In the Falklands/Malvinas War between Argentina and Britain, Germany and the US supplied the British side with intercepted radio messages from their opponent, but remained silent about the crimes of the Argentine military junta, which terrorised the population between 1976 and 1983. As reported by ZDF, radio reconnaissance was the decisive factor in Prime Minister Margaret Thatchers decision to sink the Argentinean cruiser Belgrano, costing the lives of more than 300.

During the Israeli-Egyptian peace talks at Camp David in 1987, the United States monitored communications between President Anwar Sadat and his government in Cairo. Libya was also continuously monitored. When a bomb explosion in a Berlin discotheque in 1986 killed three people and injured 200 more, US President Ronald Reaganbased on evidence from the secret servicesimmediately accused the Libyan regime of the attack. A week later, this served the US government as a pretext for bombing the cities of Benghazi and Tripoli. According to the Rubicon documents, the BND played an essential role in this case.

Although the main suspicions against Crypto AG have been known among experts for many years, the new details of Operation Rubicon highlight the modus operandi of the imperialist powers. Its smooth running over several decades was the result of an international conspiracy at the highest levels of government. In addition to the heads of the BND and CIA, who report directly to the Federal Chancellery and the White House, respectively, the information known to date also points to confidants in Luxembourg and Switzerland, as well as Sweden, Israel and the member states of the so-called Five Eyes espionage alliance (US, Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand).

As reported in the Luzerner Zeitung, the takeover of Crypto AG was carried out by the law firm Marxer and Partner from Liechtenstein. Considered to be the unofficial Ministry of Justice of the Principality, the firm was already involved in the founding of the company in 1952. It acted as a trustee for the BND and CIA, and, with the help of asset-holding foundations and offshore shell companies, concealed the true owners of the public limited company. In 1993, the same firm finally handled the sale of the BNDs shares in the company to the CIA and transferred the money to black accounts of the German secret service.

However, the BNDs exit from Crypto AG did not mean a weakening of its ambitions or its possibilities. On the contrary, at that time, the company was simply no longer profitable due to the emerging digital competition. Moreover, the fact that the electronics company Siemens, in return for a share of the profits and at the behest of the BND, has provided all the managing directors of Crypto AG since 1970, points to a possible covert technology transfer.

Operation Rubicon exposes the criminality with which German and American imperialism pursued their interests during and after the Cold War. This has not changed since, as the revelations of whistleblower Edward Snowden have shown. Germanys return to aggressive great power politics will inevitably be accompanied by new crimes that will put operations like Rubicon far in the shade.

For example, the government-affiliated Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (German Institute for International and Security Affairs) describes the mass covert spying on over a hundred governments as one of the most successful espionage operations of the Cold War. The secret installation of back doors in encryption technologies was no surprise, but no longer represented a modern strategy. Regarding Western preparations for war against China, it added, it was also not possible to credibly warn of Chinese backdoors in mobile communications technology and at the same time install them yourself.

This line can now be found almost word for word in comments in the bourgeois press. Typical is an article by Tagesspiegel editor Frank Jansen. The operation, he writes admiringly, was a brilliant coup and the present amazement about Rubicon revealed widespread naivety. In the confrontation with secret services of authoritarian regimes, states cannot be vigilant enough. The Chinese technology company Huawei, for example, was a risk factor and belonged to the fabric of the communist dictatorship, in which secret services play a major role.

In reality, it is the BND, NSA and CIA who play this role. For decades, they have all been monitoring the population of the entire planet and, in the case of the BND, spying on foreign journalists, civil rights activists and oppositionists. International journalists associations have filed a complaint against this surveillance with the Federal Constitutional Court. During the court hearing in January, an editorial in Die Welt blatantly demanded that, in the interests of Germany, the BND not be placed in legal fetters.

Just like the Verfassungsschutz (secret service) and Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD), the German Foreign Intelligence Service has been systematically beefed up for years and given extensive new powers. The new BND headquarters in Berlin, the largest of its kind in Europe, is only the most striking symbol of these efforts.
At about 9:30am on Friday, the state confirmed that the governor was on his way to Awe.

El-Rufai said on Friday that he is on his way via an announcement on his Governor Kaduna Twitter handle. The tweet was accompanied by two photos of the governor sitting in his vehicle as he is being driven to Awe
Around the globe, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has sparked a major health crisis as many countries grapple with increasing confirmed infections and deaths. Italy, Iran, and South Korea struggle as they are the countries with the highest number of cases outside mainland China. But, health expert fears that there may be about 10,000 people infected with the coronavirus in the United Kingdom.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the current outbreak is the worst public health crisis for a generation and warned residents they would see the loss of loved ones before their time. In the UK, there are ten reported deaths linked to COVID-19, with 596 infections, up by 134 in just 24 hours.

Johnson said that the country is entering its second phase of the response to COVID-19. The virus has a foothold in the UK, with many local transmissions now occurring. The government is now focused on delaying the infection spread or 'flattening the curve,' rather than containing the virus.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser, added that with the number of confirmed cases, there might be between 5,000 and 10,000 people infected.

The country has suffered severe disruption in day to day activities, and it may take months before everything will go back to normal.

Bristol, England  Coronavirus (COVID-19) Health Information and Advice from the NHS (National Health Service). Image Credit: Kollawat Somsri / Shutterstock

No school closure

However, the government has not canceled events that draw large crowds, including sporting events as per other countries. Schools and universities are also still open.

Sir Patrick explained why these were their recommendations. He said that there are two trajectories of the outbreak  in one, the epidemic involves a sharp increase and the other, its trajectory is parabolic, or a gentle hill climb. To flatten and slow down the outbreak, normal activities should be continued.

On average, one person infects two or three others. You, therefore, have a very low probability of infecting a large number of people in a stadium, Sir Patrick said. Most of the transmission tends to take place with friends and colleagues. Not in big environments, he added.

Some ministers are considering banning major public events, but the prime minister said schools should not close unless they are advised to do so. Still, schools are urged to cancel trips abroad, and those with underlying medical conditions are advised not to go on cruises.

Those with symptoms to self-isolate

He recommends that those with persistent cough or fever should self-isolate for about seven days. Further, testing will only focus on detecting people with the virus in hospitals. Those with symptoms are no longer required to report to NHS 111 since the system is now strained. The government recommends they get information on the NHS website, instead.

Mr. Johnson added that the most critical period was still weeks away. He emphasized that the line of defense should be deployed at the right time to make the most of its effect.

The government encourages that the most important thing people can do to protect themselves remains washing their hands and practice respiratory hygiene. People should cough or sneeze into a tissue and throw it in a closed bin and wash your hands.

"In the coming weeks, we will be introducing further social distancing measures for older and vulnerable people, asking them to self-isolate regardless of symptoms," the government said.

"If we introduce this next stage too early, the measures will not protect us at the time of greatest risk but could have a huge social impact. We need to time this properly, continue to do the right thing at the right time, so we get the maximum effect for delaying the virus. We will clearly announce when we ask the public to move to this next stage," it added.

Global situation

The UK is not the only country reporting high transmissions and confirmed cases. The United States has topped 1,663 confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), while South Korea, Iran, and Italy are still the' hotspots' of the global pandemic.

Italy is so far the worst-shaken country next to China, with staggering 12,462 cases and 827 deaths. Iran comes in third with 10,075 confirmed cases and 429 deaths.

In South Korea, the measures the government imposed early on is working as the number of infections has slowed down. There are 7,869 confirmed cases but only 66 deaths.

In the Philippines, the number of confirmed cases has reached 52, within days. The President has ordered that the National Capital Region, where Manila is located, to be placed on community quarantine, with domestic air, sea, and land travel restriction to be imposed on March 15.

Schools are shut until April 22 in the metropolis, while other cities and provinces across the country have suspended classes until further notice. Festivals, mass gatherings, and concerts have been canceled to reduce local transmission of the virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak as a global pandemic. It reported four new countries with infections, including Turkey, French Polynesia, Honduras, and Cote d'Ivoire.
The question of whether Fiesta will go on in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak will likely be answered Friday.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Fiesta San Antonio Commission President Jeanie Travis will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Friday at the commissions office to discuss the Fiesta 2020 schedule, the commission said Thursday.

Speculation about whether the massive San Antonio festival would continue as planned has run rampant on social media in the wake of several high-profile event cancellations, including the South by Southwest Festival in Austin.

For weeks, local officials have wrestled with whether to postpone Fiesta  scheduled for April 16-26  or cancel it altogether.

On Wednesday, Nirenberg said he would prefer to postpone the sprawling celebration to sometime later this year.

Postponing or canceling Fiesta  slated to have more than 100 official events this year  would likely have a sizable effect on the San Antonio economy.

About 2.5 million people attend Fiesta, which generated more than $340 million in local sales in 2017, according to a study by the University of Texas at San Antonios Center for Community and Business Research. The majority of that sum  $188 million  was spent by out-of-town visitors.

The festival supported more than 3,400 full-time jobs that year, according to the commission.

Fiesta has been canceled before: during World Wars I and II.

Staff writers Lauren Caruba and Madalyn Mendoza contributed to this report.

Joshua Fechter is a staff writer covering San Antonio city government and politics. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports
Kate Beckinsale was forced to defend herself after SHE received an unwarranted backlash for sharing her story about Harvey Weinstein.

The actress revealed how he launched into a tirade at her for wearing a suit to his premiere after inviting her to bring her child over for a playdate with his child.

He then screamed at her that she was a 'stupid f**king C**T' for not wearing a tight dress on the red carpet.

'People think I gaily took my child to a rapist's house': Kate Beckinsale has hit back after receiving backlash for sharing her Harvey Weinstein story (pictured in 2004)

At the time, Harvey was not a known rapist and Kate said she went to his house because he was her boss and admitted he could be 'funny, creative and generous.'

But she hit back when people asked her why she went at all, why she didn't fight back, why she didn't tell people what happened and why she took her child.

One person wrote: 'Honestly I don't know why anyone would allow themselves to be put in one of those situations. Just leave.'

Kate replied: 'I did. It still happened.'

Reveal: On Wednesday, Kate had recalled a shocking encounter with Weinstein, hours after the disgraced mogul was sentenced to 23 years in prison (pictured at Miramax party in 2004)

Strong woman: Kate was forced to hit back at people who gave her an unwarranted backlash for telling her story and she acknowledged that we 'still have a long way to come'

Another wrote: 'Why did you show up is my question?'

Kate wrote: 'He was my boss. He had not so far been abusive, nor had I seen any evidence on the one movie I had worked on with him. He couched it as a playdate for our kids.

'I had no idea it wasn't that or that I had done anything that could be perceived as wrong.'

Another follower wrote: 'You did nothing wrong. Harvey Weinstein was the malefactor here. People trying to blame you have no idea what they are talking abot at best.

Worked together: Kate recalled how Weinstein had forced the cast of her hit 2001 movie Serendipity to go ahead with the New York premiere of the film mere weeks after 9/11 (pictured at the premiere) and had criticised her for dressing 'like a lesbian'

Support where needed: It's important to note that Kate did of course receive lots of positive messages from people as well

She replied: 'Oh I know. I think she thinks I gaily took my child to a known rapists house. I had no idea what was coming partly because the element of shock and surprise is one of the things he got off on.'

Another person wrote: 'Why did America and all the actors and actresses who worked with him glorify him then'

She replied: 'He was also very talented, could be funny, generous, creative. And then absolutely monstrous. If all abusers were just awful all the time I think it would be far less confusing and less painful.

'Ted Bundy took a minute to catch because he was also other things, you know.'

Emotional message: Kate's original post that seems to have caused so much division on social media, despite her bravely telling her truth

It's important to state that Kate did also receive a lot of positive messages as well following her brave decision to share her story.

The posts came after she recalled a shocking encounter with Weinstein after the disgraced movie mogul was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

The British actress penned an emotional Instagram message on Wednesday hours after Weinstein, 67, was sentenced in Manhattan criminal court following his convictions last month for forcibly performing oral sex on production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and third degree rape for the attack on Jessica Mann in 2013.

Kate recalled how Weinstein had forced the cast of her hit 2001 movie Serendipity to go ahead with the New York premiere of the film mere weeks after 9/11, before accusing her of 'ruining' the premiere in a shocking rant.

Kate shared two photos from the October 2001 premiere, showing herself and Weinstein on the red carpet.

She told her followers in the lengthy caption: 'These photos were taken at the premiere of Serendipity on October 5, 2001.

'We all refused to go because holding a premiere mere weeks after 9/11 with the city still smoking felt like the most insensitive, tone deaf, disrespectful idea possible.'

The actress revealed that 'Harvey insisted. We flew into New York and somehow got through it.'

The ordeal wasn't over as Kate revealed that the next morning Weinstein invited her and her then two-year-old daughter Lily, who she shares with ex Michael Sheen, over for a playdate 'with his similar aged daughter'.

'I said ok,' Kate wrote. 'I turned up and he immediately called for his nanny to take the babies to another room to play. I went to go with them and he said No, you wait here .'

Kate then went on to describe Weinstein's terrifying rant, as he accused her of ruining the Serendipity premiere with her choice of outfit, a white suit and tie.

'The minute the door closed he started screaming you stupid f**king C**T, you C**T you ruined my premiere. I had no idea what he was talking about and started to shake.'

'He said, "If I am throwing a red carpet you get in a tight dress, you shake your a** you shake your t**s you do not go down it looking like a f**king lesbian you stupid f**king c**t ."'

Remembering: Kate shared two photos from the October 2001 premiere, showing herself and Weinstein on the red carpet

Kate continued: 'The shock made me burst into tears. I tried to say "Harvey, the city is on fire, people are still looking for their relatives none of us even felt the premiere was appropriate much less coming out dressed like its a bachelor party."'

'He said, I dont care -its my f**king premiere and if I want p***y on the red carpet thats what I get". Screaming. Livid.'

Kate recalled that 'I managed to get myself and my child out of there and yes that was one of many experiences I had that there was no recourse for.'

She pointed out that while the incident 'falls under no felony I WAS punished for it, and for other instances where I said no to him for years, insidiously and seeming irreversibly.'

Run in: The ordeal wasn't over as Kate revealed that the next morning Weinstein invited her and her then two-year-old daughter Lily over for a playdate (Kate and Lily pictured in an Instagram photo)

Relief: Kate ended her statement by expressing her relief when she heard Weinstein's sentencing on Wednesday to 23 years in prison in a landmark #MeToo case (pictured in 2016)

Kate ended her statement by expressing her relief when she heard Weinstein's sentencing on Wednesday but cautioned that there are many other crimes that the convicted rapist will not be held accountable for in a court of law.

'Hearing that he has gone to prison for 23 years is a huge relief to me on behalf of all the women he sexually assaulted or raped, and I hope will be a deterrent to that sort of behavior in this and any other industry.'

'Having said that, the crimes that are not crimes, the inhumane bullying and sick covert abuse for which there is STILL no recourse no matter who you tell (and I did tell), these too need to go.'

'I hope and pray that we as an industry can start to actually outlaw all abuses of power and expose them and eliminate them, for all genders, forever. And Rose, brava.'

Not happy: Kate then went on to describe Weinstein's terrifying rant, as he accused her of ruining the Serendipity premiere with her choice of outfit, a white suit and tie

On Wednesday Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for sex crimes in a landmark #MeToo case that ended with six of his accusers sobbing and hugging each other from the front row of the courtroom.

Once one of Hollywood's most influential producers, Weinstein had faced the possibility of a maximum sentence of 29 years in prison.

The ex movie mogul, who is in poor health and will not be eligible for parole for 20 years, was sentenced to 20 years on the criminal sex act charge for forcibly performing oral sex on production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006.

He was sentenced to three years for third degree rape for the attack on Jessica Mann in 2013. His defense team slammed the punishment as 'obscene' and already vowed to appeal.

Kate previously spoke about her first encounter with Weinstein in an October 2017 Instagram post, revealing he came onto her when she was just a 17-year-old ingenue with school the next day.

Like many of his alleged victims, Beckinsale says Weinstein tried to assault her during a hotel room meeting early on in her career.

'I was called to meet Harvey Weinstein at the Savoy Hotel when I was 17. I assumed it would be in a conference room which was very common. When I arrived, reception told me to go to his room,' she wrote.

'He opened the door in his bathrobe. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed.'

Like many of his alleged victims, Beckinsale says Weinstein tried to assault her during a hotel room meeting early on in her career

A few years later, the British actress says Weinstein recalled their first meeting and asked if he had 'tried anything'.

'I realized he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not,' Beckinsale said.

Beckinsale, whose parents were both actors as well, says turning Weinstein down negatively impacted her career.

'I had what I thought were boundaries - I said no to him professionally many times over the years - some of which ended up with him screaming at me calling me a c*** and making threats, some of which made him laughingly tell people oh "Kate lives to say no to me."

'It speaks to the status quo in this business that I was aware that standing up for myself and saying no to things, while it did allow me to feel uncompromised in myself, undoubtedly harmed my career and was never something I felt supported by anyone other than my family,' she said.

Beckinsale also told the story of how Weinstein allegedly threatened a male friend of hers, after he warned another young actress about the producer's predatory behavior.

'I had a male friend who, based on my experience, warned a young actress who said she was going to dinner with Harvey to be careful. He received a phone call the next day saying he would never work in another Miramax film; the girl was already sleeping with Harvey and had told him that my friend had warned her of,' Beckinsale says.
ISME is calling for decisions to be made on the provision of liquidity in the Irish economy.

* We must take measures to ensure the survival of as many small enterprises as possible throughout this event.

* SMEs employ almost 70% of the workforce, any increase in business mortality will have a significant negative impact on employment levels.

* The retail panic-buying we have seen will be replicated just as quickly in the availability of credit, and the discharge of debt, unless there is confidence about the availability of liquidity.

ISME are in the early stages of the Delay Phase of managing the Covid19 pandemic in Ireland.

While most public focus has rightly been on public health measures to guarantee the wellbeing of citizens, we will also need to take measures to ensure the survival of as many small enterprises as possible throughout this crisis.

All businesses need cash to survive, but SMEs, which typically have higher payroll costs and lower margins than large enterprise, are particularly exposed to prolonged business slow-down.



There are about 250,000 small enterprises in Ireland, employing just over five people each. This represents almost 70% of the active Irish workforce. If the job mortality of Covid19 equalled that of the 2% of the disease itself, some 25,000 workers could lose their jobs. Any increase in business mortality will have a significant negative impact on employment levels. Reports from China suggest the emergence of a liquidity problem in areas most affected by Covid19, which is hurting both businesses and their lenders.



ISME CEO, Neil McDonnell said this morning;

'Nothing provokes worry and concern in the market quicker than the absence of liquidity. The panic-buying we have seen in our supermarkets over the last few days will be replicated just as quickly in the availability of credit, and the discharge of debt, unless there is confidence about the availability of liquidity.'



In Ireland, we know well the impacts of liquidity crisis on our banking sector, and indeed Ireland is still recovering from our last liquidity crisis a decade ago. It is important, therefore, for Government and the banking sector to appreciate the extent to which the SME sector will be squeezed in the coming weeks. The effects are already visible in the hospitality, travel wholesale and childcare sectors. These are all populated by viable businesses, but they will become very vulnerable over the next number of weeks if liquidity solutions are not found for them.



Service businesses, in particular, are being asked to maintain the net incomes of workers while at the same time they face dramatically lower, or non-existent, sales. The temptation for many SMEs will be to lean on the trade and squeeze their creditors. Ultimately this is a beggar-thy-neighbour approach, which will impoverish everyone.



In the same way the Taoiseach took a dramatic but necessary public health decision on 12th March, ISME is now calling for some equally dramatic decisions on the provision of liquidity in the Irish economy.
Spain, which has second-highest number of cases in Europe after Italy, joins other countries in declaring emergency.

Spain will be in a state of emergency for the next 15 days to better combat the coronavirus, a dramatic increase to the policy response that will allow authorities to confine people and ration goods.

The state of emergency, which Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Friday and will formally be decided by a cabinet meeting on Saturday, will give the government power to take wide-ranging measures, including temporarily occupying factories or any other premises except private homes.

Spain has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe after Italy.

The current Spanish tally stands at 4,209, up by about 1,000 cases from Thursday and seven times as much as on Sunday. About 120 people have died.

The government of Spain will protect all its citizens and will guarantee the right life conditions to slow the pandemic with as little inconvenience as possible, Sanchez said.

Unfortunately, we cannot rule out that over the next week we could reach more than 10,000 infections.

He did not spell out what specific measures the government will take.

Schools have already shut down across the country, with many cinemas, theatres or playgrounds also closing and trials suspended in several regions as normal life came to a halt in the euro zones fourth-largest economy.

Sanchez said he was confident the country would defeat the virus, urging all citizens to do their part.

Heroism is also washing your hands and staying home, he said, referring to health advice to slow the propagation of the coronavirus.

Catalonia, Spains second-richest region, ordered on Friday the closure of shopping centres with the exception of those selling food or essential goods, as well as gyms and nightclubs, a senior official said.

The Madrid region  Spains wealthiest  has also decided to close restaurants, bars and shops from Saturday, media including Efe news agency said, with only supermarkets and pharmacies allowed to remain open.

Spain joins Italy, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic and Bulgaria in declaring a state of emergency over coronavirus.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency to stem the infection as the death toll in his country rose to 41.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sits outside its headquarters ahead of the OPEC and NON-OPEC meeting in Vienna

By Swati Verma

(Reuters) - Oil prices are set to languish near current lows in coming months as the collapse of a deal among major producers to curb output hammers a market already reeling from falling demand due to the coronavirus, a Reuters survey showed on Friday.

Analysts in the snap poll slashed their forecasts of Brent crude prices <LCOc1> to $42 a barrel on average this year versus the $60.63 consensus in the February monthly poll.

The global benchmark is expected to average about $34.87 in the second quarter and $39.05 in Q3, before regaining some ground to $44.08 in the final quarter. The survey of 21 analysts forecast U.S. crude <CLc1> will average $30.37 per barrel in Q2 and about $37 for the year.

"The end of OPEC+ was long overdue and lower prices are here to stay at the very least for the next couple of quarters. Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude will need to get used to sub-$30 oil prices," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at broker OANDA.

Crude futures plunged over 30% at one point on Monday, the largest one-day slide since the 1991 Gulf War, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, known as OPEC+, failed to agree an extension to their output cuts. [O/R]

In a resultant Saudi-Russian price war and race for market share, Saudi Arabia slashed the official selling price for its crude grades to all destinations and plans record production in April.

(Graphic: Saudi slashes April oil prices to all destinations - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/GLOBAL-OIL-POLL/0H001R8GBCBL/eikon.png)

"Its (Saudi's) move to raise production and offer crude oil at deep discounts is an attempt to punish and pressure Russia while at the same time squeezing the U.S. shale industry and many other high-cost producers," said Florent Pele from Societe Generale.

U.S. shale producers, meanwhile, rushed to deepen spending cuts and reduce future production.

The OPEC+ deal collapse added to concerns of demand being squeezed by the rapid global spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which has paralyzed supply chains and triggered a rout in financial markets.

Story continues

Global oil demand is expected to mark its first quarterly decline for the first time since 2009, with most analysts predicting a drop of anywhere between 0.8 million barrels per day (mbpd) and 4 mbpd in the first half of 2020. For the year, a modest demand growth of 0.1-0.5 mbpd is expected.

"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 in a note.

(Graphic: Analysts cut oil price forecasts for 2020 - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/GLOBAL-OIL-POLL/0H001R8GCCBP/eikon.png)

(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; editing by Arpan Varghese and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
GUANGZHOU, China, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GAC MOTOR is poised to transform the Russian automobile landscape, and provides urban consumers more freedom and choice starting with its new GS8 luxury SUV launched late last year. The brand has also unveiled a range of exclusive offers for drivers.

The GS8 is the automaker's debut vehicle in Russia, and comes following the vehicle's resounding popularity in other regions. Available both in front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, the SUV houses power and performance in a spacious, sleek design, and comes equipped with GAC MOTOR's second-generation 320T engine and third-generation Aisin 6-speed AMT. Priced starting from 1,898,000 rubles for the front-wheel drive version, the entry-level GS8 boasts unbeatable value for money -- offering a reliable and comfortable urban driving experience.

"With the launch of the GS8, we are thrilled to be able to provide Russian consumers with better choice for their mobility needs. The front-wheel drive GS8 combines performance, style and comfort at an outstanding price point, making it the ideal vehicle for urban families," said Zeng Hebin, General Manager of GAC Motor International Sales Company.

Bold and avant-garde, the GS8's robust exterior features sharp body lines and straight waist lines. In contrast to its tough exterior, the spacious, light-filled interior seamlessly blends quality and luxury with inlaid gold trims, premium suede microfiber fabric and an oversized panoramic sunroof.

For families needing more space, the adjustable third-row seats can be completely lowered down to create additional storage space in the trunk. Meanwhile, GAC MOTOR has also integrated seat, steering wheel and front windshield heating in Russian GS8 models to deliver a more comfortable driving experience for the harsh and cold climate.

Backed by the rich production experience cultivated for years and long-term strong partnerships with Japanese auto brands of its parent company GAC Group, along with a global R&D network and the world's top suppliers, GAC MOTOR offers best-in-class design and manufacturing for Russian consumers.

In honor of GS8 launch, GAC MOTOR has announced a range of exclusive offers for GS8 owners in Russia. All GS8 owners enjoy a five-year or 150,000km warranty, along with one year of free roadside assistance service. In addition, the first 200 GS8 owners across the country will receive three years of free roadside assistance service, three years of free maintenance and free winter tires. And, while Russia increased scrappage fee at the beginning of 2020, GAC MOTOR will not increase prices on the GS8 until March 31, 2020.

Further to exclusive special offerings, GAC MOTOR will conduct several official roadshows to deepen product understanding for Russian consumers. Over March and April, GAC MOTOR plans to exhibit the GS8 in major shopping malls in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Vladimir, and is exploring options to open a new store in Saratov. These initiatives are the latest in GAC MOTOR's ongoing Russian market development plan, which will see the automaker releasing new models and forging new partnerships in Russia throughout the year. GAC MOTOR will also continue participation in the Russian Association of Auto Dealers (ROAD) annual meeting held in Moscow.

For more information, please visit:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GACMotor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gac_motor

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/gac_motor

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/GACMotorOfficial

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Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1123715/GS8_s_interior_seamlessly_blends_quality_and_luxury.jpg

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You will probably be fine, he said. If you operate under the assumption that you and your loved ones will be OK, your anxiety will be significantly lower than if you ruminate on possible catastrophic outcomes.
WASHINGTONLet me be perfectly clear: Sen. Bernie Sanders has lost the Democratic presidential nomination.

Barring Joe Biden forgetting his own name or being made into a hamburger by anti-dairy activists, Sanders has no credible chance after another primary-night trouncing on Tuesday.

What Sanders did in Burlington, Vermont, on Wednesday, therefore, was not a continuation of his presidential campaign but the beginning of a new campaign: that of spoiler.

And so today, I begin a new feature: the Spoiler Watch. It will track the campaign of vanity and self-aggrandizement the once-idealistic Sanders candidacy has now become.

Everything Sanders does from this point on  until he eventually (hopefully) throws his support to Biden  will be to the benefit of a grateful President Trump.

Trump won the presidency, in part, because disaffected Sanders voters never embraced Hillary Clinton after the Vermont independents scorched-earth campaign in the 2016 primary. Now, hes poised to do it again. He must not be allowed to succeed.

Sanders, in his speech on Wednesday, began with the right tone: Donald Trump is the most dangerous president in the modern history of our country and he must be defeated.

Sanders then went on to focus on Biden, naming the Democrat 13 times (compared to four mentions of Trump).

Joe, what are you going to do? Sanders asked, over and over, announcing his intention to re-litigate in Sundays debate the same issues  health care, income inequality, climate changethat have been debated thoughtfully and thoroughly to date.

Sanders admitted that Tuesday was obviously not a good night and that we are currently losing the delegate count and the electability argument. But, as in 2016, he said people should focus on things other than delegates.

Poll after poll, including exit polls, show that a strong majority of the American people support our progressive agenda, he declared, and we are winning the generational debate.

Sanders returned to his old chestnut about a phantom Democratic establishment conspiring to deprive him of what is rightly his. Today, I say to the Democratic establishment: In order to win in the future, you need to win the voters who represent the future and not simply be satisfied by winning the votes of people who are older.

Thankfully, Sanders tone was not as caustic as it has been. But it takes a certain amount of chutzpah for a guy to cite polls when the polls that actually matter  primaries  have gone emphatically against him. It takes even more chutzpah for a guy who has held office for 40 years (30 in Congress) to pretend hes not part of the political firmament. And its the pinnacle of chutzpah to suggest that he alone speaks for young people when theres little evidence of the youth revolution he advertised.

To the extent turnout is up in the 2020 primaries over 2016, it seems to be to the advantage of Biden. While Sanders had momentum against Clinton in 2016, the momentum now belongs to the former vice president. Yes, Sanders has done better among young voters, but when you put the whole Democratic electorate together  young, old, black, white, brown, liberal, moderate, urban, suburban  Biden has come out the clear winner.

To overcome Bidens delegate lead, The Posts Philip Bump calculates, Sanders would need to beat Biden by an average of 12 percentage points in remaining contests. But Sanders trails Biden nationally by nearly 20 percentage points and by 40 points in Florida, which votes next week.

Sanders could have declared victory Wednesday and dropped out of the race. He has succeeded in pushing the Democratic Party to the left, and his differences with Biden are less about ends than means. As Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a Sanders supporter, said this week: Bernie Sanders won the idea primary.

Yet Sanders, instead, extends the fight. Only ugliness this way lies.

There will be more of the suggestions from Sanderss supporters that the gaffe-prone Biden is senile. There will be more conspiracy theories about the hidden hand of the establishment  not actual voters  powering Bidens victory. And there will be more of what Elizabeth Warren called the organized nastiness from Sanders supporters.

In exit polls on Tuesday in Michigan, Missouri and Washington, 8 in 10 Sanders supporters said they would support the eventual nominee. If the goal is to beat Trump, Sanders should be persuading the two holdouts to support Biden, not encouraging bitterness among the eight.

Khanna and others who endorsed Sanders now risk being enablers of his spoiler campaign. They ought to remind him of the promise he made just last month: If I, or anybody else, goes into the Democratic convention with a substantial plurality, I believe that individual, me or anybody else, should be the candidate of the Democratic Party.

Excluding the unimaginable, Biden will be that candidate. Every day Sanders delays the partys healing is a contribution-in-kind to Trump.

Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank.

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Syracuse University is encouraging employees to work from home as much as possible and where appropriate during the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the country.

SU announced Tuesday it would shift coursework online beginning March 23, after next weeks spring break, and through at least March 30. Vice Chancellor Michael Haynie, appointed to oversee the universitys response to the coronavirus, said the measure was to protect students, staff and faculty, and to help prevent the spread of the virus.

The human resources department at the university today announced employees were encouraged to work from home if possible. The university would try to be flexible with employees whose jobs require them to work in person, officials said in a campus-wide email.

SU would give special consideration to anyone with an underlying health condition, or who cares for someone with a health condition, said Andrew Gordon, senior vice president and chief HR officer.

Employees can file requests to work online or for other accommodations using a new online process, SU announced.

SU also released guidance for supervisors, and for employees as they determine whether they should stay home.

Read more:

Syracuse University cancels more study abroad programs, deals with coronavirus fallout

Moms rejoice: SUNY ESF students pack up, move out amid coronavirus uncertainty

Cuomo: SUNY and CUNY schools to state distance learning in reaction to coronavirus

NY waives requirement to have 190 school days; decision to close up to districts

Coronavirus in NY: Cuomo says this is not going to be over in 30 days

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government, education and sometimes fun stuff like treasure hunters. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work
Even top officials at the department acknowledge the task of sealing the United States from the virus is impossible.

This has never been from Day 1 intended to be a hermetically sealed process, said Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, the acting deputy secretary of homeland security. We are trying to reduce and delay the biggest peak in the virus wave hitting on the United States of America. And all of these steps reduce and delay. They do not stop of the virus.

Viruses do not care about boundaries, he said.

Maggie McDow, 46, said she had swollen glands when she landed at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, one of the airports where travelers who have recently been in China or Iran are being funneled. Ms. McDow had flown from London, but before that, she had stopped in South Korea, a coronavirus hot spot.

Ms. McDow said she heard plenty of instructions from airport officials for those feeling ill in airports abroad. But when she reached the United States, she said, There was none of that. A customs officer stamped her passport, and she was on her way.
Christopher McGinley (center) is not seeking reappointment to the Philadelphia school board. McGinley, a district graduate who was also a teacher and principal in the school system and superintendent in Lower Merion, is leaving for personal reasons. Read more

Christopher McGinley, a veteran educator with extensive Philadelphia credentials, will not seek reappointment to the school board, officials confirmed Thursday night.

Earlier this month, Mayor Jim Kenney nominated him to a second term. McGinley chose not to seek a second term for personal reasons, said Claire Landau, school board chief of staff.

Board president Joyce Wilkerson hailed McGinley, who also served on the School Reform Commission.

 READ MORE: Read more: 'My heart is with traditional public schools,' new SRC member McGinley says

The district and board have benefited greatly from the wisdom and expertise he has brought to this work through his decades of experience in the classroom, as a school leader, as a superintendent, and much more, Wilkerson said in a statement. "His voice will be missed.

McGinley, whose grandmother spent her career as a janitor at Olney High School, grew up in Philadelphia and graduated from its schools, then taught in them. Eventually, he became an administrator in Philadelphia, then superintendent in Cheltenham and Lower Merion schools. He now works as an education professor at Temple University.

McGinley, who declares himself an activist educator on his Temple biography page, was unafraid to stake out positions contrary to others on the board. At the February board meeting, he voted against renewing a contract with Teach for America, citing the alliances that the organization has with wealthy funders dedicated to undermining public education, undermining the rights of workers, and driving for more and more privatization of public education.

Lisa Haver, a retired teacher and founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, hailed McGinley, whom she said made principled decisions in the interest of the citys schoolchildren. Her organization called on Kenney to fill McGinleys board seat with an experienced public school educator.
According to Voodymyr Vyatrovych, such actions of Leonid Kuchma and Andriy Yermak contradict the Constitution and other laws of Ukraine

MP from European Solidarity faction Volodymyr Vyatrovych submitted an appeal to the Security Service of Ukraine, NABU and the State Bureau of Investigation. He claimed that an act of high treason took place because of the agreements signed in Minsk on March 11 to create an advisory council with the participation of representatives of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republic. Vyatrovych stated this on Facebook page and published a copy of the statement.

What Kuchma and Yermak did in Minsk is high treason. I turned to the SBU, NABU and the SBI with a request to open criminal proceedings, Vyatrovych wrote.

The MP mentions the publication of mass media with reference to the document signed after the meeting.

"Such actions by the citizens of Ukraine, Kuchma and Yermak, are contrary to the Constitution and laws of Ukraine and testify to their support for the actions of the aggressor state aimed at relieving Russia of responsibility for the aggression," the statement said.

Vyatrovych requests to investigate the involvement of other officials in the signing of the document, including President Volodymyr Zelensky.

As we reported before, Trilateral contact group for solution of Donbas conflict (Minsk talks group) agreed on the creation of an advisory board. It will comprise of representatives of Ukraine and self-proclaimed 'republics' of Donbas (ten from each, with the right for decisive vote), Germany, France and the OSCE (one from each, with the right for conciliatory vote).
By all accounts, no single kobo has been messed up under the watch of Mr. President. From 2015 till date, no one ever questioned whether natural or material resources this country has was ever squandered even by one single Naira margin by Mr. President. This is the reason, prerequisites and values that carried my heart to Mr. President.
Since it started to affect the lives of people across the world, we have been closely monitoring the spread of COVID-19. The virus has been confirmed in all 21 countries where we work.

Dos Sok sits with her nieces Soriya Nang, 4 (right), and Nang Seima, 6, in Cambodia.

Despite quarantines, travel bans, and other measures taken to stop the spread of the virus, the impact on our work has been minimal. We have instructed our country teams to work with project families and their communities to share information and manage the potential impacts of the virus. As the situation develops, we will work diligently to ensure the families we work with can continue to end hunger and poverty in their communities.

We know this is a rapidly changing situation. Each country team is implementing response plans or putting those plans in place as the need arises.

We remain committed to the safety and well-being of our staff and project participants during this difficult time.

We also pledge to keep our supporters informed moving forward. Though we do not know what the coming hours, days and weeks may bring, we do know your support allows us to continue our work.

Thank you for ensuring we are able to feed more, empower more and do more for people around the world.
WTF?! Comcast has done it again - the company says it accidentally published the personal information of 200,000 customers, including names, addresses, and phone numbers. Affected customers have been given $100 in credits and the possibility to change their phone numbers at no cost, which is probably not enough. This has invited a lot of criticism on support forums and could lead to a class-action lawsuit.

According to a report from the Denver Post last week, the company accidentally made public the personal details of 200,000 customers in an online directory called Ecolisting, which is operated by Comcast and accessible to third parties.

The affected customers are Xfinity subscribers, and make up around two percent of Comcast's total of almost 10 million voice customers. The company discovered the issue in November 2019, and decided to shutter Ecolisting and compensate customers by offering them a $100 credit.

If you want, you can also ask Comcast to change your phone number free of charge, but customers have been complaining on the support forum that all of this isn't enough. The company told Ars Technica that it has sent emails to all affected customers to apologize about the issue, and in light of the complaints it has given them an additional $100 credit for the trouble.

The problem here is that Comcast customers have seen this before. A 2010 data breach affected 74,000 customers, resulting in a $33 million settlement in 2015. And more recently, its online customer portal partially exposed personal details like the social security numbers of 26.5 million customers.

Some Xfinity customers are looking to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office, and this comes at a particularly bad time when Comcast is being criticized for price hikes in its customers' bills for a streaming service that was advertised as a free perk.
Many people around the world are being told to stay at home and self-isolate under quarantine because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In some countries, only those with symptoms are being told to stay at home.

In other countries, wider quarantines are being introduced.

Here's what you should do if you have been told to stay at home because of the coronavirus.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Around the world, many people are being told to stay at home and self-isolate if they have any symptoms of the coronavirus, or if they are believed to be at particular risk from contracting it.

italy lockdown

Gino Verani, 87, eats biscuits at home in San Fiorano, one of the towns on lockdown in northern Italy due to a coronavirus outbreak

Reuters

In the UK, British people have been told to stay at home for at least 7 days if they show symptoms of the COVID-19 disease.

In some other countries, including Italy, even those without symptoms have been told to stay at home.

Here's what you should do if you have been advised to self-isolate because of the coronavirus.

What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

According to the World Health Organisation, the most common symptoms of the coronavirus are

Fever,

A cough

Shortness of breath and breathing difficulties

However, in more severe cases, symptoms can include:

Pneumonia

Severe acute respiratory syndrome

Kidney failure

Here's how the symptoms differ from the common cold, flu and allergies.

What does self-isolating mean?

Susan Hailey, 76, at right in background, who has tested positive for the new coronavirus, visits through a window with her daughters, Tuesday, March 10, 2020, at the Life Care Center in Kirkland.

Ted S. Warren / AP

In the simplest terms, self-isolating means staying at home. However, according to UK government guidance, there are certain rules you should observe while quarantined in your home.

You should stay at home for at least 7 days

Home

Courtesy of Charlie Perry

According to the guidance: "If you have symptoms of coronavirus infection (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home and do not leave your house for 7 days from when your symptoms started."

And staying at home means exactly that. You should not leave your home for any reason, beyond an emergency.

Story continues

You should not go to work, school, or public areas. You should not use public transport or taxis. You should not go for a walk.

Shop online for supplies if you can

Coronavirus

Reuters

You should not leave your house, even to get essential supplies. If possible you should use online shopping to buy groceries and medication. However, if that is not possible you should ask friends or relatives, or your employer for help.

But don't come into contact with the delivery person

delivery

Reuters

You should leave instructions, if possible, with the company delivering your items to either leave them outside in a safe area for collection. You should not allow them inside your home

Stay at least 2 metres (6 feet) away from others in your home

lonely woman alone sad isolated lone depress

Pascal Maramis/Flickr

You should also attempt to eliminate contact with other people in your home. This is particularly the case if you live with older people or those with long-term health conditions.

Sleep alone

sleeping sleep bed

via Van Winkle's

If possible you should not share a bed with another person to reduce the risk of transmitting the infection.

Regularly wash your hands

How to wash your hands

Yu Han/Business Insider

The infection can be transmitted onto surfaces within your home. To prevent infecting the people you live with, you should regularly wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds.

What to do if your condition does not improve

coronavirus NHS hospital

Peter Summers/Getty Images

You do not need to call the doctor to enter self-isolation.

However, if your symptoms worsen or you are no better after 7 days then you should seek out medical advice. In the UK your first step should be contact NHS 111 online, or call 111 if you have no internet connection.

For a medical emergency you should dial 999 in the UK, 911 in the US, or use one of the other emergency numbers listed for your country here.

Read the original article on Business Insider
An Italian couple and a Thai national have been admitted to an isolation ward of a government hospital here with symptoms of novel coronavirus, an official of the health department said on Friday. Two more people are also under observation at the isolation ward of the Beliaghata ID Hospital, taking the total number of patients admitted with symptoms of novel coronavirus at the facility to five, he said.

The Italian couple, in their mid 30s, came to India on March 5 and arrived in Kolkata recently, the official said, adding their blood and swab samples have been collected and sent for tests. Two other foreigners -- one from Malaysia and another from Australia -- who were visiting ISKCON in Mayapur have been admitted to a medical facility run by the organisation.

"These two persons had visited ISKCON, Mayapur for the Gour Poornima festival and they complained of fever following which they have been admitted to the hospital run by ISKCON. We are keeping an eye on the situation," the official said. In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the Purba Burdwan administration has asked three Italians, who have been in the district to organise a programme on women empowerment, to leave the area.

"We have asked them to leave because they have come from Italy where the coronavirus outbreak is severe. We have also found that they have violated the 14-day self-quarantine period after arriving in India on February 28. "We have not allowed them to hold their programme since it involves a mass gathering," the official of the district administration said.

Also read: Coronavirus: India vs South Africa matches to be played without spectators

Also read: Coronavirus Live Updates: No IPL matches in Delhi, JNU suspends classes till April
Ontario hospital officials have plans in place to postpone elective surgeries, reopen shuttered hospitals and draw on the provincial stockpile of ventilators in case there is a surge of critically ill patients with COVID-19 in the province.

The strategy, which includes rapidly increasing the number of available hospital beds across Ontario, will only be used as needed to protect the health-care system from being overwhelmed by very sick patients.

Health officials in Ontario have watched the new coronavirus sweep through other parts of the world, straining those countries health systems.

In China, the government has built more than a dozen new hospitals to treat patients with COVID-19, while in northern Italy, hospitals have run out of resources, including breathing machines, and are struggling to save all those with severe symptoms. On Thursday, Italy reported its death toll from COVID-19 had topped 1,000; less than three weeks ago the county had just nine cases of the coronavirus and no deaths.

Kevin Smith, President and CEO of Torontos University Health Network (UHN), said Ontario is preparing for the worst-case scenario but so far hasnt seen the need to increase capacity in hospitals. Currently, almost everyone in Canada diagnosed with COVID-19 is recovering at home, he said.

Our hope is we will continue to see that kind of recovery strategy without hospitalization, said Smith, who is hospital lead for the Toronto regions response to critical care needs.

But if that isnt the case, we are day-to-day, hour-by-hour, more ready than we were an hour ago or a day ago to treat a spike in patients in hospital.

Most patients with COVID-19 will have mild to moderate illness and will be able to recover at home. About 20 per cent of cases will have severe symptoms and need hospital care, with some requiring specialized treatment in intensive care units (ICUs). On Thursday, Ontario reported 17 new coronavirus cases bringing the provincial total to 59.

In a Thursday statement, the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians warned there is no surge capacity in Canadian hospitals, with many operating above safe capacity limits.

Clinicians in Toronto and across Canada are aware of the challenges the world is facing in caring for patients when demand exceeds a health systems capacity, said Dr. Robert Fowler, a critical care physician and chief of the Tory Trauma Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

We experienced that with SARS in 2003  too many sick patients in too short a time  plus the transmission of illness from patient to patient and health-care worker to health-care worker. We learned hard lessons from that.

And while Canada, and especially Toronto, is now much better prepared for a pandemic, health experts are still concerned about a sudden increase in patients with COVID-19 in Ontario, Fowler said.

Even though only a minority get critically ill, that may still overwhelm our system, even on a good day, he said, adding that in Ontario, the baseline for many intensive care units is to have one or two open critical care beds. Currently, Ontario has about 1,700 ICU beds spread out amongst its hospitals.

We operate our system with very slim margins of capacity. If Ontario happens in the same way as Europe, we could quickly exceed our capacity.

Should Ontario see a spike in hospital admissions due to sick patients with COVID-19, Fowler said the first thing hospitals will do is postpone elective or previously scheduled surgeries to free up hospital beds and staff. This measure will also keep people who otherwise dont need care out of hospital and reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

Hospitals may also clear entire wards of patients, if needed, to add additional beds to treat those with COVID-19, Fowler said.

Smith said he believes people will understand the need to postpone elective surgery because patients are already calling UHN asking whether they need to go ahead with an elective surgery in light of current public health recommendations to avoid crowded areas.

They are anxious about coming to hospital if they are not acutely ill.

Delaying elective surgeries also means the ventilators used for routine surgeries can be repurposed to help COVID-19 patients who need breathing assistance, Smith said.

Following the 2003 SARS outbreak, Smith said the provincial government stockpiled ventilators in preparation for a future pandemic and that these specialized breathing machines will be delivered to Ontario hospitals should the need arise during the outbreak of COVID-19. The province has also looked into purchasing additional ventilators and has plans to secure them, if needed, he said.

The province is also prepared to use both decommissioned hospitals and new, yet-to-open hospitals in Ontario if there is drastic need for additional hospital beds, Smith said.

Toronto General Hospital, a part of UHN, operates the largest organ transplant program in Canada. Smith said other hospitals have pledged to help ensure this critical service continues during a COVID-19 outbreak by taking in additional patients.

We will do our very best to ensure we dont see a dip in transplantation during this time, said Smith, adding that emergency cardiac surgeries and emergency cancer surgeries will also continue at UHN, which sees among the most complex cardiac and cancer patients in the region.

In a statement to the Star, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said Ontario health officials continue to monitor the situation and bolster response measures as appropriate. The province, in collaboration with Public Health Ontario and its federal, provincial and territorial counterparts, is getting the health system ready to respond to a number of scenarios associated with this virus, the spokesperson said.

Dr. Jerome Leis, Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Sunnybrook, said the province is working with hospitals, community partners and public health units to focus on the systems capacity to withstand a large increase in the number of patients during the pandemic.

We need to curb the peak of the pandemic, so it doesnt overwhelm our health-care system.

One such measure is out-of-hospital assessment centres that can quickly screen and test people who may have COVID-19. These dedicated test facilities, separate from hospitals but staffed by health-care workers, will help keep people away from already busy emergency departments. This will relieve pressure on hospitals and help keep potentially sick people away from patients and hospital staff.

Leis, co-author of a recent study that looked at data on COVID-19 testing in Toronto emergency departments, likens cases of COVID-19 in a pandemic to a large iceberg. The large, bottom of the iceberg are those who have mild illness, while the tip of the iceberg holds the sickest patients.

If the bottom of the iceberg is large  when there is community spread  the tip of the iceberg will also be large in proportion. And thats when the sheer numbers of sick patients can quickly outstrip the (health-care) systems capacity.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday is expected to deliver remarks on the deadly coronavirus outbreak, as President Donald Trump prepares to declare a national emergency, according to administration officials who spoke to NBC News.

The move by Trump would free up financial resources to assist Americans affected by the outbreak.

Pelosi is expected to address the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, legislation intended to help Americans cope with the expanding crisis.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday, saying it expects "to see the number of cases, the number of deaths and the number of affected countries to climb even higher."

The outbreak has been expanding rapidly in the United States, as New York, California and Washington have declared states of emergency and politicians announce self-quarantines. Markets have plunged in response to the coronavirus and its deepening effects on the global economy.

The coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, has spread to dozens of countries globally, with more than 135,000 confirmed cases worldwide and at least 4,977 deaths so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

There have been at least 1,701 cases in the United States and at least 40 deaths, according to the latest tallies from John Hopkins University.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday its inevitable that public schools across New Jersey face extended closures as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across the state.

Long term school closures are inevitable, Murphy said at a news conference in Ewing to provide the latest details on the coronavirus.

New Jersey has 1.4 million public school students, Murphy said.

The governor said a statewide announcement could come in a matter of days.

We had been and are now actively working with districts on extended closure plans to prepare for potential statewide closures, Murphy said. But we have to do it responsibly. We have to do it so that every kid and every family is taken care of so we dont leave families behind.

The news comes as Murphy announced the state has 21 new coronavirus cases, increasing the statewide total to 50 positive tests.

Public schools across the state have increasingly announced early dismissals or closures for coronavirus-related planning or cleaning, while several have shut down because someone associated with the school was possibly exposed to coronavirus.

Out of the states more than 600 school districts, 345 have closed, officials said.

According to state Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet, 354 school districts have already made the decision to close. That includes all public schools in Bergen County.

Murphy said surveys have been conducted to identify issues like access to nutrition for those students who receive free meals and internet access for online lessons. At least 15% of the states 1.4 million students may not have the access they need, he said.

The state reported its first coronavirus death on Tuesday when a 69-year-old man from Little Ferry in Bergen County died from the fast-spreading virus, officials said.

Bergen County, which announced Thursday that all schools would be closed at least two weeks, continues to have the most cases with 13, though the virus has now spread to 11 counties, prompting some to question whether New Jersey has already passed the point of containing coronavirus.

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NEW YORK, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE

NASHVILLE DIVISION

NORFOLK COUNTY RETIREMENT SYSTEM,

individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC., WAYNE T.

SMITH and W. LARRY CASH, Defendants. Consolidated

Civil Action No.: 11-cv-0433 Judge Eli Richardson

Magistrate Judge Joe B. Brown

SUMMARY NOTICE

TO: ALL PERSONS AND ENTITIES THAT PURCHASED THE PUBLICLY TRADED COMMON STOCK OF COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC. ("CHSI" OR "THE COMPANY") FROM JULY 27, 2006 THROUGH APRIL 8, 2011, INCLUSIVE ("CLASS MEMBERS"). CLASS MEMBERS MAY ALSO FILE CLAIMS FOR PURCHASES OF CHSI COMMON STOCK FROM APRIL 11, 2011 THROUGH OCTOBER 26, 2011.

THIS NOTICE WAS AUTHORIZED BY THE COURT. IT IS NOT A LAWYER SOLICITATION. PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY AND IN ITS ENTIRETY.

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to an Order of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, that a hearing will be held on June 19, 2020, at 8:30 a.m., before the Honorable Eli Richardson at the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Estes Kefauver Federal Building & Courthouse, Courtroom 874, 801 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203, for the purpose of determining whether: (1) the proposed settlement against CHSI and certain of its current and former senior executives, (collectively, the "Defendants") in the above referenced litigation (the "Litigation") for $53,000,000.00 in cash, plus accrued interest, should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable and adequate; (2) whether a Final Judgment and Order of Dismissal with Prejudice should be entered by the Court dismissing the claims against the Defendants in the Litigation; (3) whether the Plan of Allocation is fair, reasonable, and adequate and therefore should be approved; and (4) whether the application of Lead Counsel for the payment of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses and the Lead Plaintiff's reasonable fees and expenses incurred in connection with this Litigation out of the Net Settlement Fund should be approved by the Court.

If you are a Class Member as described above, your rights may be affected by the settlement of this Litigation. If you have not received a detailed Notice of Class Action Certification and Proposed Settlement and a copy of the Proof of Claim and Release, you should obtain copies by writing to Community Health Systems, Inc. Securities Litigation, c/o A.B. Data, Ltd, P.O. Box 173093, Milwaukee, WI 53217, 866-217-4457, or on the internet at www.CHSSecuritiesSettlement.com. The Notice contains details about this Litigation and settlement, including what you must do to exclude yourself from the settlement, object to the terms of the settlement, or file a Proof of Claim. If you are a Class Member, in order to share in the distribution of the Settlement Fund, you must submit a Proof of Claim and Release postmarked (if submitted by mail) or received (if submitted online) no later than June 27, 2020, establishing that you are entitled to recovery.

If you desire to be excluded from the Class, you must submit a Request for Exclusion postmarked no later than May 18, 2020, in the manner and form explained in the detailed Notice referred to above. All Members of the Class who have not timely and validly requested exclusion from the Class will be bound by any Judgment entered in the Actions pursuant to the Stipulation of Settlement.

Any objection to the settlement must be submitted to the parties listed below postmarked no later than May 18, 2020:

Court :

Clerk of the Court

United States District Court

Middle District of Tennessee

Estes Kefauver Federal Building & Courthouse

801 Broadway

Nashville, TN 37203

Lead Counsel for Lead Plaintiff and the Class :

Barbara J. Hart

Lowey Dannenberg, P.C.

44 South Broadway, Suite 1100

White Plains, NY 10601

Counsel for Defendants :

Gary A. Orseck

Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner

& Sauber LLP

2000 K Street NW, 4th Floor

Washington, DC 20006

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR THE CLERK'S OFFICE REGARDING THIS NOTICE. If you have questions about the settlement, you may contact the Claims Administrator or Lead Counsel for Lead Plaintiff and the Class at the address above.

Dated: March 13, 2020 BY ORDER OF THE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE

SOURCE Lowey Dannenberg, P.C.
Griffon Project Sale Completed to Fremont Gold Ltd. and Receipt of C$3,728,525 from Early Exercise of Warrants.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Liberty Gold Corp. (LGD-TSX) (Liberty Gold or the Company) is pleased to announce that it closed the sale of its Net Profit Interest (NPI) in the Regent Hill Property, Nevada, to Ely Gold Royalties, Inc. (Ely Gold).



Liberty Gold has also closed the sale of the Griffon Property, Nevada, to Fremont Gold Ltd. (Fremont) through a purchase-option agreement (the Option Agreement).

Terms of the Regent Hill Property NPI Sale include:

US$800,000 - received

2,000,000 two-year purchase warrants for Ely Gold common shares, exercisable at C$0.43 per warrant.

Terms of the Griffon Property Option Agreement include:

US$25,000 upon executing the Option Agreement (the Execution Date)  received.

US$25,000 and 2,500,000 Fremont common shares to be issued to Liberty following TSX Venture Exchange approval of the Agreement received.

US$50,000 and the number of Fremont common shares that will bring Liberty Golds total ownership of Fremonts issued and outstanding common shares to 9.9% on the first anniversary of the Execution Date.

US$50,000 on the second anniversary of the Execution Date.

US$75,000 on the third anniversary of the Execution Date.

US$100,000 on the fourth anniversary of the Execution Date.

1% NSR which may be repurchased by Fremont for US$1,000,000.

The Company also wishes to announce that since July 2019 to the date of this press release it has received a total of C$3,327,150 and C$401,375 from the early exercise of Liberty Gold share purchase warrants (Warrants) issued pursuant to the bought deal financings that closed on October 2, 2018 and January 26, 2018 respectively; the Warrants are exercisable for C$0.60 and C$0.65 respectively for a period of three years from issue.



With the sale of Liberty Golds 40% interest in the Halilaga copper gold Project in Turkey (see press release of November 18, 2019 ); the pending sale of the Kinsley Mountain project in Nevada (see press release of December 2, 2019 ); and the monetization of the Regent project NPI and the Griffon project, the Company can focus its exploration efforts on its core projects, the Black Pine oxide gold discovery in Idaho and the Goldstrike oxide gold deposit in Utah. The Companys intent is to continue to lower non-core project obligations and maximize exploration expenditures with no equity dilution to shareholders.

Story continues

ABOUT LIBERTY GOLD

Liberty Gold is focused on exploring the Great Basin of the United States, home to large-scale gold projects that are ideal for open-pit mining. This region is one of the most prolific gold-producing regions in the world and stretches across Nevada and into Idaho and Utah. We know the Great Basin and are driven to discover and advance big gold deposits that can be mined profitably in open-pit scenarios. Our flagship projects are Black Pine in Idaho and Goldstrike in Utah, both past producing open-pit mines, where previous operators only scratched the surface.



For more information, visit www.libertygold.ca or contact:

Susie Bell, Manager, Investor Relations

Phone: 604-632-4677 or Toll Free 1-877-632-4677

info@libertygold.ca



All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to Liberty Gold within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements that address potential quantity and/or grade of minerals, potential size and expansion of a mineralized zone, proposed timing of exploration and development plans, Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "planned", "expect", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intends", "believe", "potential", and similar expressions, or describes a "goal", or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "should", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made including, among others, assumptions about future prices of gold, and other metal prices, currency exchange rates and interest rates, favourable operating conditions, political stability, obtaining governmental approvals and financing on time, obtaining renewals for existing licenses and permits and obtaining required licenses and permits, labour stability, stability in market conditions, the receipt of staged payments. Many assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of Liberty Gold and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct.

Such forward-looking information, involves known and unknown risks, which may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including, risks related to the interpretation of results and/or the reliance on technical information provided by third parties as related to the Companys mineral property interests; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; current economic conditions; future prices of commodities; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; the costs and timing of the development of new deposits; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; the timing and success of exploration activities generally; delays in permitting; possible claims against the Company; labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, financing or in the completion of exploration as well as those factors discussed in the Annual Information Form of the Company dated March 27, 2019 in the section entitled "Risk Factors", under Liberty Golds SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com .

Although Liberty Gold has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Liberty Gold disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.
A leading prison boss has warned that inmates will die from coronavirus.

Andrea Albutt, president of the Prison Governors Association, said conditions inside jails were fertile breeding ground for Covid-19 as the outbreak worsens.

She said governors would attempt to keep (family) visits going for as long as they can, while weighing up the public health risk to prisoners and shortages of staff forced to self-isolate.

It comes as Boris Johnson warned on Thursday night that many more families will lose loved ones before their time as cases in Britain soared to 596 and deaths hit 10.

Boris Johnson warned of a deepening crisis at a coronavirus press conference / Getty Images

In a joint press conference following an emergency Cobra meeting with the governments top medical advisors, the Prime Minister branded the coronavirus pandemic the worst public health crisis in a generation and said up to 10,000 Brits could already be infected.

Ms Albutt told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Listening to the Governments specialists yesterday, they are saying the mortality rate is below 1% but in the vulnerable groups it is higher.

Well, in prisons we dont completely mirror society with our demographic of prisoners so we do have a higher number of people in the vulnerable groups, so they will be ill and there will be deaths.

We have approximately 85,000 people in our prisons and prisons are overcrowded, so when you have a lot of people in a small area, transmission of disease will obviously be easier.

Coupled with that, we have a significant ageing population  the vulnerable groups, the people the Government keeps telling us will be more susceptible and more ill with this virus.

Earlier this week top prisons charity the Howard League for Penal Reform wrote to the Ministry of Justice demanding a statement on measures to protect staff and inmatesm, warning of rife unhygienic conditions inside.

The government is facing criticism for not implementing as drastic social distancing measures as other European countries to stem the outbreak, as medical chiefs said UK cases could continue rising for another 14 weeks.

Ministry of State Lucy Frazer QC said in a statement yesterday: We have procedures agreed with our public health colleagues for protecting staff in the workplace but, like any member of the community, some prison staff may need to self-isolate in line with public health advice, or may become infected.
In one of the most entertaining moments from Survivor 40: Winners at War, Cagayan Sole Survivor Tony Vlachos built a ladder to retrieve breadfruit for his tribemates. After a tribe swap, Denise Stapley used his makeshift ladder to gather coconuts for everyone in a hilarious bonus scene.

Kim Spradlin, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Tony Vlachos, Denise Stapley and Jeremy Collins | Robert Voets

*SPOILER ALERT* This article contains information revealed in Survivor 40: Winners at War Episode 5.

Tony Vlachos built a ladder to retrieve breadfruit

On Survivor 40: Winner at War, 46-year-old New Jersey-based police officer, Tony Vlachos, made a 20-something foot ladder out of bamboo and twine to help him retrieve breadfruit for his Dakal tribemates.

After a few of his tribemates marched the ladder to the tree, Tony leaned his unstable creation against the tree and proceeded to climb it. The first rung nearly broke, and he asked someone to give him a boost up the ladder.

Even though Tyson Apostol and Sophie Clarke thought Tony was surely joking and would laugh and walk away at some point, he climbed the ladder and grabbed a few breadfruits from the tree.

Tony also yelled, top that to Yul Kwon, who also reached the fruit using a device he made from bamboo and string.

Survivor 40 Denise Stapley and Jeremy Collins swap to NuDakal

The fun times at Dakal lasted until Episode 5 when they dropped their buffs and swapped tribes. Tony, along with Kim Spradlin-Wolfe and Sandra Diaz-Twine, stayed together and were joined by former Sele members, Denise Stapley and Jeremy Collins, to create NuDakal.

Once they got back to the tribe, Jeremy talked to Kim, who was in the minority on the old Dakal with no clear alliances, although she trusted Sophie with half of her idol.

Tribes drop their buffs and switch things up in the game on this week's all-new #Survivor! Meanwhile, on Edge of Extinction, castaways try their best to stay warm and motivated to keep their game alive. pic.twitter.com/ghlI4uWOO8  SURVIVOR (@survivorcbs) March 9, 2020

She seemed willing to flip on Sandra and Tony, who both believe Kim is still working with them. Viewers will have to wait for NuDakal to attend Tribal Council to see which side the One World champ chooses.

Outside of strategizing, the new tribe also shared a hilarious moment featuring Tonys iconic ladder in a bonus scene.

Survivor 40 Denise Stapley used Tony Vlachos ladder to retrieve coconuts

On Day 13, NuDakal noticed coconuts located high in a tree, and Tony and Denise attempted to knock them down with a large piece of bamboo. It didnt work, so the Philippines champ suggested they bust out Tonys trusty ladder.

In a confessional, Denise described the ladder and explained she wasnt sure about the strength of the twine holding it together and thought Tony would snap it.

Jeremy Collins called the police officers makeshift ladder hilarious, so unsafe, so ridiculous, and the climbing angle was way off. He also noted it wasnt fire department Class A specific, would not pass any codes, and would be put out of service immediately.

Nonetheless, Tony climbed the ladder and almost reached the coconuts until it started creaking. He then said, see ya, and began making his way back down his makeshift ladder, causing Jeremy and Kim to laugh.

Because they were starving, Denise offered to climb up because shes smaller than Tony. She successfully reached the coconuts and threw three down to her tribemates until Sandra requested Denise return to the ground.

The Philippines winner noted the ladder felt more secure than she anticipated, and Tony jokingly asked Jeremy to say something about his ladder.

In another confessional, Jeremy explained he enjoyed the experience because it was fun to laugh and take a break from 100 mile-an-hour Sele to comedy hour at Dakal. Watch Survivor 40: Winners at War Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on March 13, 2020

2020/03/13

According to the latest figures from the NHC, March 12 saw 1,318 patients cured and discharged from hospital in China's mainland, bringing the tally to 64,111.

Q: The second sherpas' meeting of the G20 Riyadh Summit was held yesterday followed by a statement on COVID-19. Do you have any comment?

A: COVID-19 is now a pandemic. As a major international forum for economic cooperation and a mechanism in response to major global crisis, the G20 has special significance in enhancing international cooperation and response against the pandemic. Building on the recent statement of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, the G20 sherpas again send a strong signal of solidarity and cooperation to the world by their collaboration and consensus, which will help boost market confidence and international commitment.

China played an active role in the drafting and issuance of the statement. Here I'd like to stress the following three points.

First, since the pandemic knows no borders, the only right thing for the world to do is making concerted efforts. No country can keep itself away from the spread of the virus. We must overcome the difficulties together upholding multilateralism and the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind. We must inject positive energy into global cooperation by opposing unilateralism, finger-pointing and stigmatization.

Second, we support the G20 in once again leading international efforts against the pandemic. We must use all necessary fiscal, financial and structural policy tools to coordinate macro-economic policies at both demand and supply sides to promote the strong, balanced, sustainable and inclusive growth of the world economy.

Third, we firmly safeguard an open world economy. Measures taken by countries will inevitably impact trade and investment, but we must do our best to ease tensions in international trade, remove unilateral tariffs and jointly protect global industrial and supply chains from disruptions.

Through the G20 and other multilateral platforms, China will continue working with the international community to fight the epidemics. With the joint efforts of all countries, the victory will be ours.

Q: Some say it might be the US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. How do you comment on that?

A: In recent days we noticed many discussions on the origin of the COVID-19. We firmly oppose the unfounded and irresponsible comments made by certain high-level US officials and Congress members on this issue to smear and attack China.

The fact is, there are different opinions in the US and among the larger international community on the origin of the virus. China believes it's a matter of science which requires professional and science-based assessment.

Q: We saw reports that Beijing has announced to donate supplies to help Seoul, Tokyo, Yokohama and Tehran fight COVID-19. Do you know when the supplies will be delivered?

A: Yesterday officials from the Foreign Affairs Office of Beijing Municipality talked about the donation at a press conference on epidemic prevention and control.

I understand Beijing has been in close contact with friendly cities including Seoul, Tokyo, Yokohama and Tehran on COVID-19. At present these cities are facing an overwhelming challenge with strained resources for epidemic response. Beijing relates to their difficulties. It has decided to donate supplies to the four cities while meeting local needs to fight the virus. As we learn from the Beijing municipality, the supplies for Tehran have been delivered through Iran's embassy in China, and the donations for other cities will soon be sent.

I would like to point out that the virus is the common enemy of mankind and the pandemic knows no borders. The donation of prevention and control supplies by the Beijing municipality is the epitome of the assistance Chinese local governments provided to foreign cities. Recently, the local governments of Shanghai, Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Jilin, Anhui, Jiangsu and Henan have also provided material support for epidemic prevention and control to foreign countries via their sister cities. China stands ready to provide assistance to the best of its capacity to countries in need while making every effort to combat the epidemic at home.

Q: We learned that China and the ROK today established a cooperation mechanism for joint prevention and control against COVID-19, and its first video conference was held. What is China's comment?

A: This morning, the China-ROK cooperation mechanism on joint prevention and control of COVID-19 was formally established and held its first video conference.The Chinese side has released a readout.

The COVID-19 outbreak is a severe challenge faced by the international community. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China and the ROK, as close neighbors sharing weal and woe, have shown care for and offered sincere help to each other, which fully demonstrates the friendly sentiments featuring mutual assistance and solidarity. While making epidemic response at home, the two countries have strengthened exchanges and cooperation between departments and adopted a series of effective joint prevention and control measures. On this basis, it is very timely and necessary for China and the ROK to establish a joint prevention and control mechanism in response to latest developments in both countries and beyond. This is not only a positive measure to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, but also serves as a reference for other countries to join hands to fight the epidemic.

The first meeting of the mechanism this morning was efficient and results-oriented. Both sides appraised the epidemic response in the two countries and the exchange and cooperation conducted between their corresponding departments earlier, and discussed priorities and specific measures to strengthen joint prevention and control efforts in the next stage. Broad consensus was reached on reducing unnecessary movement of personnel, stricter border control on "four types of people" (confirmed cases, suspected cases, people who have close contact with the former two, and those who have fever), exchange of prevention and control guidelines as well as diagnosis and treatment technology, and taking good care of each other's overseas nationals, including international students. We hope both sides can make good use of this mechanism and the channels between corresponding departments to further strengthen communication and coordination in joint prevention and control endeavors in a bid to overcome the epidemic at an early date, improve the health and well-being of the two peoples, and maintain and promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation.

Q: Is it the Chinese government's position that it might be the US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan?

A: I talked about China's position earlier.

There are different opinions in the US and among the larger international community on the origin of the virus. China believes it's a matter of science which requires professional and science-based assessment.

Q: Venezuelan President Maduro said on March 12 that US sanctions have severely undermined the country's epidemic containment, asking the US to immediately lift its unjust, illegal sanctions. On the same day, however, the US Department of Treasury announced its decision to sanction TNK Trading International, subsidiary of a Russian oil company that trades oil with Venezuela. Do you have any comment?

A: It is known to all that the US sanctions on Venezuela have severely worsened the country's economy and people's life, making medical accessibility and other domestic issues more prominent. At this critical juncture where all governments and people across the world are fighting the pandemic, the US is still stubborn in sanctioning Venezuela, showing not the least respect for humanitarianism.

China has been calling for peaceful resolution of the Venezuelan issue through dialogue, as well as conditions for the country's normal development. We oppose foreign interference, unilateral sanctions and so-called long-arm jurisdictions. We call on the US to join international efforts, stop interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs and remove unilateral sanctions at the earliest time possible, which will contribute to Venezuela's peace, stability and development.
Japan's Parliament on Friday enacted a law that would allow Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency if the coronavirus outbreak worsens in the country.

The law is controversial because it can severely limit civil rights.

It allows Abe to order legally binding school closures, confiscate private property to build medical facilities, order shipments of emergency supplies and take other measures related to the outbreak.

Government officials said there is no immediate plan to declare a state of emergency, but Abe is expected to make a decision based on experts' latest evaluation of the outbreak.

Japan has 675 confirmed cases, not including 697 others from a quarantined cruise ship.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., stays in the race for the Democratic nomination, he's identified climate change as a top issue for young voters and argued that his rival, former vice president Joe Biden, is not willing to take the dramatic steps needed to save the planet.

But in his nearly three decades in elected office, Sanders' all-or-nothing approach means he has sometimesforgone legislative efforts to make near-term progress on climate.

Sanders has viewed global warming as a top priority for years, pressing for major cuts in the nation's emissions of greenhouse gases and a switch from fossil fuels to wind, solar and other renewables.

More than almost any other issue, Sanders' approach to climate change suggests how he would govern as president. While he's occasionally found common ground with like-minded Democrats, he has often rejected incremental steps toward potentially durable, bipartisan compromise.

And when bipartisan talks cratered a decade ago, Sanders concluded that the only option was to mobilize a grass-roots movement to demand a sweeping shift in how the United States produces and consumes energy.

The collapse of legislation in 2010 passed by the House that would have imposed a national cap on greenhouse gas emissions "even after significant compromises had been accommodated, only underscored for the senator the limits of politics as usual," Sanders spokesman Keane Bhatt wrote in an email.

"The failure of that process - of negotiating tepid reforms, engaging in political horse-trading, allowing key provisions to be watered down by political and industry insiders - all pointed to the urgency of building a powerful, popular, grass roots movement to hold Washington accountable," Bhatt added.

In doing so, Sanders has effectively moved the Democratic Party to the left on climate change. Nearly every major 2020 candidate - including Biden - has called for steeper carbon cuts than President Barack Obama endorsed and has backed the idea of banning all new oil and gas drilling on public lands and offshore. But it also raises questions on how he would enact sweeping policies to curb carbon emissions if he occupied the Oval Office.

Bipartisan Policy Center President Jason Grumet, who has worked on energy and climate policy for three decades,said Sanders considers himself a "big idea progressive" but he's not been focused on achievable, short-term goals.

The closest Congress came to passing major climate legislation came in the late 2000s, when several Senate Republicans were working with their Democratic counterparts. One of the most promising measures was a bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va., which by mid-century would have cut America's carbon output 63 percent compared to 2005.

Sanders preferred legislation he co-sponsored with then-Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that would have reduced U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050. That bill was unlikely to become law but reflected current science and was "designed to give a nudge to the next administration," said Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth.

Still, some centrists wanted to forge a bipartisan deal more quickly and they lined up behind the Lieberman-Warner bill. Sanders opposed it during a key subcommittee vote, arguing it was not stringent enough, though later backed it during a full committee vote.

Chelsea Henderson, who served as Warner's senior policy adviser for climate change, said that Sanders complicated negotiators' task in forging a compromise. While the bill made it to the Senate floor, it failed to overcome a Republican filibuster.

"We had anywhere between 10 and 15 Republicans willing to do something on climate change, and the something wasn't enough," said Henderson, who now serves as a consultant to Republicans seeking to address climate change. "I understand wanting to advance the most intense bill, but I never really felt like he was willing to broker a deal."

Sanders' aides noted that he offered four amendments to the ill-fated bill that were adopted, including one to support domestic manufacturing of renewable energy equipment and technology.

Sanders did score his biggest climate victory in 2007, working with other Democrats to help make buildings and transportation systems on the state and local level more energy efficient. The program received $3.2 billion during the Obama administration as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, though it has not gotten additional funding since.

Bill McKibben, a well-known climate activist and a fellow Vermonter, said in an interview that Sanders consistently challenged the idea that America could not wean itself off fossil fuels. Touting the idea of "10 million solar roofs," Sanders helped launch a federally funded program in Vermont aimed at improving solar panel efficiency in cold-weather climates.

"He would have town halls with a couple of thousand Vermonters in a high school gym on a Sunday morning and talk about climate change, or have me talk about climate change, and have an energy fair. So he's always been really interested in it, and willing to be outspoken," McKibben said.

But by the time Obama took office in 2009, Sanders had fully distanced himself from bipartisan efforts to address climate change. In June that year, the House narrowly passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which would have created a cap and trade system to reduce emissions.

Joseph Aldy, who served as special assistant to the president for energy and environment between 2009 and 2010, said the White House and its Senate allies were focused on getting Midwestern Democrats and centrist Republicans to produce a measure that could be reconciled with the House bill.

"I remember meeting with staff from a lot of different offices," Aldy said. "I don't remember Sanders's staff being that engaged."

Sanders was focused at the time on passing the Affordable Care Act, according to current and former Hill staffers.

The legislation never came to the Senate floor for a vote.

The Senate abandoned its effort to pass a climate bill in mid-2010, and Sanders joined McKibben and others in fighting a federal permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, slated to transport tar sands oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Under pressure from Democratic activists, Obama denied the permit in 2015, citing concerns over its impact on climate change. But President Donald Trump gave the project a greenlight in 2017.

Sanders co-authored the first "keep it in the ground" bill in 2015 aimed at blocking any new fossil fuel extraction from federal lands or waters. He helped craft the Green New Deal resolution, which would spend trillions of dollars in an effort to bring the nation's net greenhouse gas emissions to zero within a decade, and proposed eliminating the fracking of oil and gas nationwide.

None of those efforts have gained traction among Republicans needed for passage.

Since Trump took office, Sanders has routinely skipped hearings of the Environment and Public Works Committee, on which he serves. Of 82 hearings in the past three years he has attended two, according to committee records. He was the only minority member of the panel not to speak in an all-night speech-a-thon opposing Scott Pruitt, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Sanders' aides said he has focused on mobilizing grass-roots opposition to Trump in recent years, even when that's meant missing hearings or votes.

Left-leaning climate groups such as the Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion have endorsed Sanders, arguing that he is more committed to their cause than Biden. While Biden has endorsed "keep it in the ground" and the idea of rejoining a global climate agreement aimed at cutting the world's carbon output, his climate plan costs a fraction of Sanders' and imposes fewer restrictions on natural gas production.

"Leading with half-baked solutions that don't energize the base, and might fully rely on market mechanisms that do not solve the crisis, can actually further alienate the people we need to win transformative economic climate policy," said Lauren Maunus, legislative manager for the Sunrise Moment.

- - -

The Washington Post's Jose Del Real contributed to this report.
Maharashtra Higher and



Technical Minister Uday Samant said officials from the Higher department will visit universities and educational institutes across Maharashtra to resolve their issues.

The move will bring relief to students and faculty who spend a lot of time and money travelling to Mumbai to get their problems resolved, the minister said, during a press meet here on Thursday.

Samant was in Aurangabad to unveil a painting of former Chief Minister Yashwantrao Chavan at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University.

"Students and professors who live in remote areas have to travel all the way to Mumbai to get their problems resolved. This causes financial strain and is also time consuming," the minister said.

A team from the higher department will visit different universities and educational institutions in each district to hear their concerns, he said.

The visits will start from Gadchiroli district next month, Samant said.

The minister also spoke about establishing a dedicated institute to study saint culture.

"The state government has sought permission from the University Grants Commission to set up an institution dedicated to studying saint culture. But the matter is yet to be addressed," he said.

A committee has been formed to finalise the syllabus for this institute, which will be set up under Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kerala cop kicks, beats up passenger for travelling without ticket on train, video goes viral

Complete lockdown in Kerala? Here's what Health Minister has to say

Kerala under lockdown: 900 still under observation due to Coronavirus outbreak

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 13: Around 900 people are still under observation in Pathanamthitta after the district administration released a route map identifying places visited by the three-member family from Ranni which returned to Kerala from coronavirus-hit Italy last month, health officials said.

Around 16 squads led by the District Collector and the District Medical Officer (DMO) travelled across the the district to identify the places visited by the family and to track the contacts, a senior medical official of the state said.

"A flow chart was prepared with all the places visited by the family upon their return and have been mentioned in a map, so that people can voluntarily inform authorities if they had come in contact with them," state Health Minister K K Shailaja said.

46 people placed under quarantine in Kalaburagi after India reports first coronavirus death

The Minister told the Assembly on Friday that the patient flow chart was released as the family was not revealing everything to the medical department.

The Pathanamthitta DMO told PTI the authorities received hundreds of calls from various places in the district after the travel map of the family was released.

"Those who were at the place and time mentioned in the flow chart were asked to contact the health authorities. We have identified around 70 people on the first day itself. Next day, i.e on Thursday, we identified around 40 people who came in close contact with the Ranni family," the DMO said.

Till Thursday, the health department has kept 896 people under observation in the district. While 862 in Pathanamthitta were kept under home quarantine, 34 persons are lodged in the isolation ward.

A middle-aged couple and their 24-year-old son had reached Cochin International Airport on February 29 and allegedly failed to inform airport authorities about their travel history.

The three had tested positive on March 7 along with two of their relatives staying with them in Ranni, their hometown in Pathnamthitta district. On March 10, six other relatives, including aged parents and friends of the family which returned from Italy, had also tested positive.

The map covers the route taken by the family after they landed at Kochi airport till they reached Ranni and various places, including a church, post office, jewellery store, hypermarket, shopping complex and other places they had visited in the following days.

There are reports the family had also travelled in a bus.

Govt, RBI to take all necessary steps to quell 'fear sentiment' around coronavirus

Meanwhile, Pathnamthitta District Collector P B Nooh had said there was no need to shutdown the places visited by the family and the aim was to track down the last contact of the affected people.

The health department will also release such a map to identify those who came in contact with the recent positive patients from Kannur and Thrissur, officials said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 13, 2020, 14:30 [IST]
The Norwegian Embassy in Ghana has closed its offices after one of its staff tested positive for the Coronavirus  COVID-19. Ghana confirmed two cases of the deadly virus Thursday evening. The persons are said to have travelled from Norway and Turkey and arrived in Ghana about a week ago.



One of them is a Ghanaian while the other is a Norwegian.



The Norwegian Embassy in Ghana in a Facebook post confirmed the nationality of the Norwegian saying We can confirm that one of our colleagues has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.



It added that the person was in quarantine.



It said the Embassy was in close dialogue with the Ghana Health Service and routine contact tracing had commenced.



All staff are also in quarantine, and we are fully committed to assist with containment. The Embassy is closed to the public until further notice, but staff are operating from home, the Embassy said in its Facebook post.









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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Heavy rains and flooding have killed around 20 people in Egypt, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said Friday, in what he described as some of the worst weather in several decades.

In a statement posted on a government Facebook page, Madbouli said the bad weather had killed "around 20 people nationwide".

He urged local officials to declare Saturday a day off for schools and universities in order to allow the authorities to respond to the situation. "Egypt has not witnessed such weather conditions in some 35 or 40 years," Madbouli said.

Five people died in Zaraib, south of Cairo, when their homes were swept away, a security official said earlier Friday, adding that rescue workers were looking for more victims.

In Cairo, two people were electrocuted and killed, the Akhbar el-Yom daily reported on its website.

The bad weather, forecast to continue until Saturday, was also blamed for a train crash in the capital on Thursday in which 13 people were injured.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
And as the days ticked by into early March, police say a letter reportedly arrived at a New South Wales home. According to Detective Inspector Brett Ranford, the package contained house keys and a letter allegedly signed by both Sally and Mark. The contents of the letter have been kept secret by WA police, but it was worrying enough for the man to contact local officers and inform them he believed the pair were missing. It took three days, on March 8, for Sally and Marks bodies to be found in scrubland on his property, but Detective Inspector Brett Ranford said they had likely been there for at least a week. Major Crime Detective Inspector Brett Ranford. Credit:9 News Perth

They were found within metres of each other, and a long arm rifle registered to Mark was found close by. At this time we do not believe there to be any third-party involvement however it is important to stress that this investigation is ongoing and we're keeping an open mind, Detective Ranford said. While the circumstances of their deaths remain a mystery, friends and family of Mark and Sally Anne say what they want most from the ongoing police investigation is for those involved to keep their minds open, and for people to remember them as they had lived. Nic Walker and her sister Sarah Hughes were Sally Annes "makeshift" stepdaughters in the early 1990s, and remained close to her even after she and her father split. Ms Walker said one of her earliest memories of Sally Anne was when she was eight-years-old and her dads new girlfriend let her paint the nails of her pet sheep bright red, and take the animal for a walk through town.

She was a gentle and loving person, she said. Everyone who knew Sally loved her. She was the most gentle, soft-spoken person. Sally helped us get through a lot of things in our lives and made us feel that empathy for others. She taught us those qualities. The property where Ms Evans and Mr Westery were found. Credit:9 News Perth As for Mark, Ms Walker remembers her unofficial stepbrother as a genius. He was the most intelligent person Ive ever had the pleasure of knowing, she said.

Mark was like a big brother. He showed a lot of patience for me and he was a man well beyond his years even as a child. He was articulate. He taught me everything I know about science. We would make inventions as children, and he got his love of electronics from a kit my sister gifted him from when we were kids. She also remembers Mark as a successful entrepreneur, who had built up Agtronics as a business that pulled in a sizeable profit from working with machinery dealers and farmers across Australia. Founded in 1995, Mark funnelled more than $6 million into the venture, expanding to an office space in Malagas Mugul Road before downsizing again in 2015. Loading

The pair had reportedly experienced some financial difficulties before their deaths. Ms Walker said when she, her sister and her father heard the news of Sally Anne and Marks deaths, they were shocked. Then, they felt sick as the details trickled through. We fail to comprehend whats been written  it doesnt make sense to us. We refuse to believe it, and we believe there is more to it, she said. Even the shop attendant Sally Anne used to check in on every evening spoke highly of the mother and son.

"They seemed really close. She did everything for him," Rachael Carter said. "[She was] really motherly ... [she'd] just always making sure that I'm okay. She said she couldn't do that kind of thing because she was timid. "Now that I think about it, people who usually check on other people need the help themselves." Ms Walker said she and her sister would not give up until they had answers, and she had written to police to ask them to keep an open mind about the investigation. Both Ms Walker and Ms Hughes firmly believed neither Mark or Sally Anne would ever harm one another.
Letting everyone know we now have a covid-19 tag so you can use it when posting about anything corona virus related.

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awesome, thank you!

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ms_mmelissa It was all

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In other more juicy political news. Andrew Gillum just got caught in room with an escort who overdosed on meth.

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I didn't expect him to turn out to be such a mess even though I did judge him for signing onto CNN.

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The PnP jumped out.

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Lucky for him it happened at a time when it will be buried by other news.



Edited at 2020-03-13 08:36 pm (UTC)

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TINAAAAAAA?? NOOOOOOOO 

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Omg wait the other dude was an escort



Holy shit

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wow

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welp

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WHAT

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It was an escort? OMG! Scandy! He needs to have better assistants to keep his sexcapades on the low. He should hire me to do his PR..JK he should go to rehab.

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"I don't take responsibility at all." - The president  Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) March 13, 2020 Him saying this needs to be spliced in to every campaign commercial for the next 8 months.

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Yep, along with his comments about 'liking keeping the numbers down'

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it really does. it so does.



you think hamill's post is right? i know there is no way entirely to predict after the last election and all the shit that went wrong. but peoples own comfort usually weighs out. we all know this won't go well. how bad we dunno, but it's not gonna go well. i can't imagine him surviving this politically.

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Video of my question to @realDonaldTrump today on his administration's disbanding of the White House team responsible for coordinating responses to pandemics.



He called my question nasty & said he knew nothing about it.



I call it a relevant, fair, and truth-seeking question. https://t.co/ncYwqZ0Xtp  Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) March 13, 2020

. Yep plus @Yamiche follow up

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He's so fucking stupid. He doesn't realize that this response still makes him look like an ineffective jackass who doesn't know what's going on. He called himself out.

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Out there spreading Corona. This buffoon and his buffoons in the back.

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This dude is fucking senile. Like he must be. That or hes a psychopath.

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Make sure to sanitize your phones too everyone. Stay safe out there <3

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Yeah Ive been sanitizing it twice a day (before and after work).

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I'm also sanitizing my fitbit more than usual (i work in a hospital). And took my nose ring out while working because I have a bad habit of fiddling with it when it rotates around into the wrong position. I'm getting better though, I promise!

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I love playing with my nose ring. oops!

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I Always do this anyway

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I bought a PhoneSoap a few days ago! It's really given me peace of mind and I've been letting other people use it for their own phones, too.

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how do you do that without wrecking your phone?

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He shook hands with so many people. 



Also he was definitely on some kind of drugs/sick during the Oval Office address. There was such a stark contrast between that and today

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maybe he was loaded on Theraflu and Cocaina. LOL Bish is a wackadoo and mixing substances with medicine doesn't help his case LMAO



Edited at 2020-03-13 11:37 pm (UTC)

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I have no words. This is some weird fucking shit and the people running this country shouldn't even be in charge of a fucking Dollar General

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Lol he must have felt powerful making this statement. "to unleash the full power of the ..." haha.

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he sounds like he's talking about the death star

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lots of tests but no one will say when theyre coming very cool.



pence might as well have sucked trumps dick right then and there too jfc





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They've been a week away for three weeks now

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Were testing at the hospital I work at

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he so has the virus

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i wish him an ounce of luck

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a waste of a wish tbh

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I save that for the demon who comes to collect his soul.

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Why would you wish him an ounce of luck though? He doesnt even deserve that lol

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Oh, he so does.



This just happened in my country:



Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested negative for the coronavirus, after multiple reports claimed he tested positive for coronavirus.



The testing followed days after Mr Bolsonaro visited the United States, where he met with US president Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence at the American's Mar-a-Lago resort.



While a statement posted to Mr Bolsonaro's Facebook page claims he tested negative, his press secretary, who was also on the trip and pictured alongside Mr Trump, did testpositive for the virus, which has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation this week.



Place your bets on who he got it from...

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Yeah, that was the weirdest shit - you can have it and not show symptoms

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if anyone on the earth deserves the virus.........

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"To unleash the full power..." This sounds like it should be a line from Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith.

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I bet he thinks he needs to shout "I DECLARE A NATIONAL EMERGENCY" for it to happen. Similar to Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy.

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Ding ding ding

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That's what I thought. Hell of an opener.



Edited at 2020-03-13 10:20 pm (UTC)

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https://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20200313/amy-acton-is-calming-leader-in-coronavirus-crisis On the other hand, the doctor in charge of our Public Health Department here in Ohio has been pretty cool under pressure--she comes out every time the governor comes out to give a press conference she comes out and speaks in plain English and explains things calmly and knowledgeably. And that's the difference between someone like her and Trump--he's constantly proclaiming how much he knows when he doesn't know shit, and she speaks confidently so you know she knows what she's talking about.

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Can she be our President! LOL. I can't believe we have such weak leaders.

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Does he sound sick or am I overanalyzing?

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He is either sick or on adderall

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He def sounded ill or something

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TBH he's sounded like that for quite a long time now. I don't know if he's actually sick or he's just getting old man voice.

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tbh i thought he sounded sick at the last conference too

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It definitely sounds like it.

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He always sounds like that. Adderall is a thing with him. He's been sniffly and gravely voice for 3 years, nothing new.



But totally plausible he could also have c-virus given who he's been exposed to.

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I was about to say not as if he has been a chain smoker over like 40 years

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probably sick and high on adderall as usual.

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Remember how he fired the pandemic response team in 2018?



I remember.







I hate this. So much.



I just want a teeny tiny bit of competence. From someone. Please.

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how are people not making a bigger deal about this

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New Delhi: A nine-year-old girl who was allegedly raped and strangulated on the outskirts of her village in Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh on March 10 succumbed to her injuries while being treated at a hospital, police said. According to reports, the police are suspecting the involvement of people from the village or nearby areas.

"A minor girl died while receiving treatment at a hospital where she was admitted after being allegedly raped in Bihar police station limits on March 10. An FIR has been registered, an investigation is being done," Jyoti Narayan, Inspector General of Police (Law and Order), Uttar Pradesh told ANI.

Speaking on the incident, SP Vikrantveer informed that four teams have been formed under the direction of Additional SP North and culprits would be nabbed shortly.

Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure, security in the area has been beefed up with the heavy deployment of a police force.

Sources said that a forensic team along with a dog squad was on March 13 had visited the spot where the minor girl was found in an unconscious state, and closely inspected the site.

On March 10, the minor girl was allegedly raped in Bihar police station limits and was found in an unconscious state by locals. She was immediately taken to a primary health centre from where she was referred to the district hospital and finally taken to the Kanpur Halat Hospital by Advanced Life Support System Ambulance. However, on Thursday, the girl succumbed to her injuries during the treatment.

Congress leader and general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi took to Twitter to slam the Yogi Adityanath government of the state and brought out the fact that the crime against children and girls have increased in the present BJP regime. "The highest cases of crime against children have occurred in the BJP government of UP. Do these incidents have no effect on the government? The nine-year-old girl was raped and died during the treatment. How long will it last?" Priyanka Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.

Unnao in Uttar Pradesh has been regularly featuring in news since last few months for rape cases. In December 2019, a gangrape survivor was burnt alive after she allegedly refused to withdraw her complaint against the accused. She died of her burnt injuries while being treated at a Delhi hospital.
The other thing that I want to highlight is that many of our children in CPS rely upon the schools to eat every day, Lightfoot added at a City Hall news conference. Seventy percent of the CPS school community is low income families. They get at least two, and in some instances three meals a day at schools. So what we have been doing from the start of this is calibrating and balancing a lot of different data, a lot of different considerations. I want parents out there to understand that we understand this. We take it very seriously, and that if we get to a point where we feel its prudent to close schools, were going to do that in a way that mitigates and minimizes the burden that we will invariably be placing on individual households.
The French government has rewritten a part of its law to crack down on electric bike modifications, which it says pose a risk to public safety and increase the likelihood of accidents.

A new amendment, L317-1, makes it a crime to modify or hot rod e-bikes, something that applies to owners, importers, distributors, and dealers.

People who violate the new law can be fined up to $34,000 (30,000 Euros) and face up to a year in prison.

The French government has changed the law to make it illegal to make any alteration to electric bicycles that allow them to travel above 15mph

In France, e-bikes are generally considered any bicycle with an electric motor thats capable of speeds up to 15mph (25kmh), according to a report from Electrek.

Any bicycle that travels faster is legally classified as a moped, sometimes called speed pedelecs, which are bound by a different set of traffic laws and allowed to travel at speeds of up to 28mph (45kmh).

Violation of the law could also lead to the e-bike being immobilized until its owner can prove its been brought back to code.

It could result in the persons drivers license being revoked for up to three years.

While e-bikes have become popular in the last few years, theyve also prompted concerns about public safety.

In 2018, a 56-year-old woman, Sakine Cihan, died from head trauma after she was hit by an e-bike that was traveling at 30mph.

The mans bike was later found to have been illegally modified to be able to reach such high speeds.

People caught with e-bikes that can travel faster than 15mph in France face up to a year in prison, a fine of up to $34,000, and a three year suspension of their driver's license

The man who hit Cihan, 32-year-old bricklayer Thomas Hanlon, was cleared of charges related to the accident earlier this month, largely due to the fact that the woman had walked nine feet into the crosswalk against a red light.

The womans sister, Sehriban Tezerdi, urged the government to ban e-bikes in the aftermath.

Something urgently needs to be done before anyone else dies, she said.

In court they said she stepped out in front of the bike and that she walked straight into it. Im acertain its because these electric bikes are silent  they are silent killers  and there was no sound to alert her to its fast approach.

They need to be banned... I know it was an accident but there will be many more if something isnt done now.
As COVID-19 spreads throughout the United States, forcing the cancellation of countless mass gatherings, lawmakers are struggling to decide what to do about upcoming elections. Four other states will still go to the polls on Tuesday, but Louisiana has postponed its April primary to June, under the optimistic assumption that everything will go back to normal by then. But what if, as many scientists predict, coronavirus spreads widely through the spring and summer? And what if, come November, the nation is still in the grips of a pandemic? Could Donald Trump simply cancel the 2020 presidential election?

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The answer is no: Congress, not the president, has the power to move Election Day. And even if Congress did postpone the vote, the Constitution would terminate Trumps term on Jan. 20, 2021. If Trump sought to cancel the election and remain in office past that point, then, he would require not just a congressional act but a constitutional amendment. That scenario is extremely improbable.

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If the pandemic gets so severe that we cannot responsibly hold in-person elections, Congress should require states to allow no-excuse absentee balloting. But if Trump does not want to risk a loss at the polls, he can exploit a constitutional shortcut around free and fair elections. The president can ask Republican-controlled state legislatures to assign their electoral votes to himwithout allowing any citizen to cast a ballot for president. This maneuver would constitute an appalling assault on democracy. But it would be legal.

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As the 2016 election reminded the country, the president is chosen by the Electoral College, not the popular vote. There are 538 electors, and a candidate needs 270 of them to win. Currently, every state assigns electors to the candidate who won the popular vote statewide. (Two states add a twist thats irrelevant here.) But the Constitution does not require states to assign their electors on the basis of the statewide vote. It does not even require a statewide vote. Rather, it explains that each state shall appoint its electors in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct. In other words, each state legislature gets to decide how electors are appointedand, by extension, who gets their votes.

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Today, every state legislature has delegated this task to the people. But at first, state legislatures just did it themselves. In the first presidential election, for instance, the legislatures of Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, and South Carolina appointed electors directly. Eventually, every state moved toward the modern system. But the Supreme Court confirmed in 1892s McPherson v. Blacker that states were free to revert to the old method, and in 2000s Bush v. Gore, the court reiterated this point. The majority declared that the state legislature may, if it so chooses, select the electors itself, and retains authority to take back the power to appoint electors even after switching to a statewide vote.

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Put simply, it is perfectly constitutional for a state legislature to scrap statewide elections for president and appoint electors itself. It would also be constitutional for a state legislature to disregard the winner of the statewide vote and assign electors to the loser. And because the Constitution grants legislatures the authority to pick electors this way, Congress cannot stop them.

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Due in part to partisan gerrymandering, Republicans control the legislatures of 28 states. Collectively, these states have 294 electoral votes. Trump himself could not cancel the entire presidential election. But he could ask these GOP-dominated legislatures to cancel their statewide presidential elections and assign their electors to him. Its doubtful that we will face this situation in November. But imagine a worst-case scenario: The election is approaching, and the coronavirus remains rampant in our communities. States are unsure whether they have the personnel and resources to hold an election. Congress has failed to mandate no-excuse absentee balloting, and many states have declined to implement it. Or the postal service is so hard hit that it cannot reliably carry ballots to and from voters residences. Its not difficult to envision Trumps allies in state legislatures assigning their states electoral votes to the president, insisting that these dire circumstances justify pulling a constitutional fire alarm.

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There is one catch. This scenario presumes that state legislature have the power not only to pick electors, but also to direct them to vote for a specific candidate. States have long exercised this control over electors votes. But the Supreme Court will soon hear two cases brought by electors who assert that they have a constitutional right to vote for whomever they wish. They assert that state legislatures can appoint electorsthe human beings themselvesbut cannot then require them to vote for a particular candidate, or punish them if they do not. It seems unlikely that the court will grant faithless electors the ability to buck state legislatures and cast rogue votes. If the court does give electors this right, however, the entire system will be thrown into chaos. Statewide votes would become largely meaningless, because the 538 electors could vote their conscience no matter what the state legislature demands.

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Lets assume, though, that SCOTUS will not burn down the current system, and the court allows states to exercise their traditional authority to assign electors to candidates. This system permits legislatures to cancel or ignore the statewide presidential election and effectively decide the election. That shortcut to reelection would be profoundly anti-democratic. But so is the Electoral College itself, and we are still living with its consequences. Until both Republicans and Democrats agree to amend this Rube Goldberg machine out of the Constitution, it will remain a tool for autocrats to wield when they fear the majority has turned against them.
With the next Soyuz mission preparing to launch to the International Space Station, the crew has passed its final exams. But, while NASA's space station manager has made assurances that an earlier swap of the two Russian cosmonauts on the crew should pose no issues, concerns surrounding coronavirus will likely alter the mission's standard preflight quarantine.

In February, Russian cosmonauts Nikolai Tikhonov and Andrei Babkin, who were originally slated to launch on this mission alongside U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy, were replaced by cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner. The reason for the swap was left relatively vague, but it's known that the two cosmonauts were swapped for medical reasons. The new trio is set to launch on the Soyuz MS-16 on April 9.

Kirk Shireman, the space station's program manager at NASA, told SpaceNews that he didn't expect the swap to cause any major issues with the mission. "For a while, Chris Cassidy was training with Ivanishin and Vagner, so he knows them really well," Shireman said. "Sometimes, changing the crew a month out is disruptive, but in this case, they know each other pretty well."

Related: Coronavirus in the U.S.; Map, case counts and news

More: NASA monitors coronavirus for impacts to US space program

Additionally, despite the swap, Shireman told SpaceNews that the new crew has received similar training, "so, we're in good shape," he said. "We expect everything to go smoothly." He added that Roscosmos is not concerned with issues pertaining to the swap either.

Since the early days of NASA's Apollo project, a few outlier issues with astronauts getting colds and other mild illnesses in space led the agency to implement a two-week, preflight quarantine. This was done to ensure that astronauts are not exposed to any bugs that could interfere with their health once they arrive in space.

With current concerns across the globe surrounding the spread of coronavirus, which has been labeled a pandemic, Russian officials had suggested that this preflight quarantine might be extended and start earlier. Shireman confirmed to SpaceNews that the agency was discussing further steps and options, though details on exactly what this might entail and how early the quarantine will start have yet to be revealed.

"We expect them to take additional measures to make sure that quarantine is a little tighter," Shireman said. "We're ready to deal with that if it happens."

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
Rochester Montessori School is closed the rest of the month because of concerns about the coronavirus.

The school is the first in the Rochester area to close because of the coronavirus, and it is among only a few statewide to do so. Deborah Summerson, interim director of the school, said making the decision to close was something the school could do as a small, flexible organization.

"We had initially hoped to wait for public health officials or the district, but without knowing what their plan is, our concern is theyre not going to act as quickly as we believe is best to protect our community," Summerson said.

During a news conference Wednesday, Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Michael Munoz said the district would be meeting with teachers on Friday to prepare for the potential scenario of having to close. However, he said the district did not have any definitive plans to shut down at the time.

The Minnesota Department of Health released a brief statement on Thursday saying that it is "not recommending school closures at this time." The statement explained that none of the coronavirus cases in Minnesota have been among school-age children.

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"Very few cases worldwide have been in children," the statement added.

Rochester Montessori School, which goes through eighth grade, has just more than 200 students, which belong to roughly 150 families. Summerson said prior to the schools decision to close temporarily, they had about 10 families decide to take their students out of class.

The temporary closure will begin Monday. The school was scheduled to have its spring break from March 30-April 3, meaning the closure will extend the break from one week to three weeks.

Summerson said that because the situation is so fluid, the schools leadership has not addressed whether it will have to extend the school year to make up for the lost time.

"This was a very difficult decision," Summerson said. "It was not taken lightly."
Ravalli County remains free of confirmed coronavirus cases, but its getting prepared for what public health officials say is its inevitable arrival.

On Wednesday, the county commission voted to double the hours of the public health departments emergency coordinator and said it would approve additional staff should the need arise.

So far, the Ravalli County Health Department has only requested one novel coronavirus test. They have not received the results back yet.

Under the current procedure, the tests have to be transported to a Missoula hospital where they are then forwarded to a state lab. Public Health Nurse Karyn Johnston said there are strict guidelines the department is required to follow in deciding who is tested.

Johnston said her office is being inundated by phone calls  sometimes three to four an hour and sometimes they come three at one time  from health care providers, schools and the general public.

We are getting a lot right now, but I anticipate that were going to get a lot more, Johnston said.

On Wednesday afternoon, the commission was told Montana and three adjoining states  Idaho, Wyoming and North Dakota  did not have a confirmed case. By Wednesday night, Wyoming was no longer on the list. Neither was North Dakota.

South Dakota was on that list earlier this week, but it went from zero to five cases and one death in less than a day.

We are on a little island right now, said Neoma Greenfield, the public health departments emergency coordinator. Were not talking anymore about if it arrives here. Its when it arrives we need to ready.

Greenfield had been working half-time. The commission agreed Wednesday to make her position full-time for the next three months. Johnston said she also has a new nurse coming on board in mid-April, but told the board there may be a need for additional nurses before she gets here.

When we get a Covid-19 in our county, this will entail disease investigation and surveillance, Johnston said, referencing the disease caused by the coronavirus. It could end up being pretty widespread in the county.

Rocky Mountain Laboratory researchers found the new coronavirus can live in the air for several hours and on some surfaces for as long as three days, according to a study published Wednesday.

The study found the virus can remain alive for up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two or three days on plastic or stainless steel. Using a nebulizer device, the researchers also found the new virus can live in the air for several hours.

Were not by any way saying there is aerosolized transmission of the virus, but this work shows that the virus stays viable for long periods in those conditions, so its theoretically possible, said study leader Neeltje van Doremalen at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Hamilton.

Two Hamilton-based organizations decided to cancel events Thursday.

The annual Linda Massa Youth Home Gala scheduled for Saturday, March 14, is canceled.

While this annual event serves as an opportunity to gather with friends in support of the Linda Massa Youth Home and is the shelters biggest fundraiser, we believe it is in everyones best interest to err on the side of caution and do our part to contribute to worldwide efforts to slow the progress of the pandemic, said the Youth Homes executive director Skip Rosenthal.

Bitterroot Baroque canceled its Thursday, March 26, concert by a duo who would have traveled to Hamilton from Seattle and Oregon, which are areas affected by the novel coronavirus.

Greenfield said public health is getting a lot of phone calls from what they call the worried well with concerns about whether they should hold conventions, school events or whether they should go or stay home.

Im encouraging people to stay home if theyre sick, Greenfield said. You can still have your conventions, but everyone needs to follow the recommendations for appropriate hygiene and cleaning.

There is an opportunity to get in front of this so we take care of fear now so it doesnt grow exponentially when Covid gets to the county, because it is coming, she said. If by teaching people what to do now, we can get in front of this and have a smaller economic impact rather than doing nothing now and waiting for it to show up and then trying to decide what were going to do.

If you have any symptoms, stay home, Greenfield said. Dont go to the grocery store. Dont go to the movies. Practice social distancing until you dont have any symptoms. You keep us all safe when you stay home when youre sick.

Public education is going to be a huge part of this, she said. Just for people to understand that washing your hands with soap is actually better than using hand sanitizer. The soap doesnt have to have the words antimicrobial on it. That doesnt increase the ability to fight disease or germs any better than soap.

That fact is backed up by the Centers for Disease Control, which is where people should be getting their information about the novel coronavirus, Greenfield said. Both the CDC and Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services have good websites.

The CDC has a long-standing hand-washing campaign, she said. We need to remind people thats your best defense. The message is really simple, but we need to repeat it until people get tired of asking and getting the same answer.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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A free online, on-demand course from MasterWord Services originally designed to help medical interpreters avoid spreading germs between patients and others can also be helpful to the public during COVID-19 concerns.

MasterWord Services is based in west Houston and provides custom language services for the health care industry to make sure that people that speak other languages have a helpful experience with their medical providers and that details get communicated properly.

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Interpreters are not receiving the same training as medical professionals, and theyve not received the same level of preparation, said Ludmila (Mila) Golovine, MasterWord founder and president. So we wanted to make sure that interpreters whenever they work in hospitals are prepared and know how to deal with infectious diseases.

The course takes about an hour and 15 minutes to complete and is now available in English and Spanish, but MasterWord is also working on Vietnamese, Chinese and Arabic versions. Golovine is working to share the training with hospitals across the U.S.

This can benefit a lot of people as there will be increased number of patients at hospitals due to the coronavirus, and interpreters could be instrumental in facilitating care or in spreading the disease if not properly trained, Golovine explained in an email.

The course website has a thorough but more concise set of dos and donts that can help any person that wants to protect themselves and others by changing simple habits. For example, MasterWord recommends the gel in, gel out method of applying hand sanitizer gel before and after touching common surfaces. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourages people not to touch their faces, but this can be very difficult. The list says to carry tissues to scratch your nose and then quickly discard.

Renew Houston: Get the latest wellness news delivered to your inbox

Spanish-Speaking Medical Interpreter Mirna Bonales said interpreters can be both mechanical and biological vectors of infection if they are not careful because they visit different types of health care facilities with different types of patients. A mechanical vector (or carrier), she said, would be taking the METRO to the Texas Medical Center and having a person cough or sneeze, leaving droplets on your large bag and then carrying that into the hospital. Bonales said a better solution would be to wear a small bag that you can actually carry on your front and better protect. Being sick yourself makes you a biological vector.

Also, Bonales urged women to not put their purses on the floor because it allows them to pick up pathogens and carry them anywhere they go, onto places like their steering wheels.

I think another tip that is really important, that is really kind of controlling in leaving pathogens outside your door is making sure youre sure that you remove your shoes when you come home because now youve been walking along the hospital in different areas, Bonales said.

She suggested leaving them in the garage and spraying them with Lysol.

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MasterWord created the course a few years ago during an Ebola outbreak to prepare interpreters to protect themselves, patients, family members and those outside their work.

I think thats one of the things that differentiates MasterWord Services is we were aware that this gap existed, and it was us doing our, you know, part of the community, making sure that our interpreters are protected, that their families are protected and in essence, the entire community is protected. We want to make sure that they understand the hazards, Bonales explained.

She also wanted people to know that as the COVID-19 potentially spreads, some may not want to go to the hospital or other health care facilities for fear of the virus or getting sick, MasterWord medical interpreters can work remotely through phone or video and collectively speak between 250 and 400 languages.

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MasterWord has been sharing the online course for free with organizations and the public since the coronavirus hit the United States. Bonales said the response has been encouraging.

We want to make sure that people get the information. I think its in everybodys interest that we all are part of the solution in terms of really minimizing this kind of propagation of the virus that I think has caught the world off guard.

Golovine urged people to get online and take the course or study the list of tips at www.masterword.com/covid19.

You dont have to be part of a medical organization or belong to a particular union to be able to take this training and be trained in infectious control, she said. This is already down. Were sharing it.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
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.
Trump Nominates First Chaldean Assyrian for Federal Bench

Oakland County Circuit Judge Hala Jarbou. ( Oakland County Circuit Court) Washington -- President Donald Trump has nominated an Oakland County judge and the first Chaldean American to fill a vacancy on the federal bench in Western Michigan.

Trump tapped Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Hala Jarbou, a former federal prosecutor, to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, the White House said.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Jarbou would be the first Chaldean American to sit on the federal bench nationwide, said Martin Manna, president of the Chaldean Community Foundation in Sterling Heights.

"Judge Jarbou has been a public servant for more than 20 years and brings the highest level of integrity to the bench," Manna said.

"She also has the utmost respect from her peers. The federal appointment is the first-ever for the Chaldean community, and we couldn't be more proud."

Jarbou's nomination comes after the Trump administration has upset members of the Chaldean community in recent years by working to deport hundreds of the Iraqi Christians to Iraq -- despite claims from their families and attorneys that they will be targeted there by terrorists.

While visiting Warren in January, Trump said he would grant relief to Iraqi Christians facing deportation; however, it remains unclear who would be eligible to remain in the United States.

Immigration officials' efforts to deport the Iraqis has continued since Trump's remarks, according to lawyers.

Vice President Mike Pence met in late February with the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce ahead of a Troy rally to discuss possible relief from deportations for some Iraqi nationals.

Jarbou of West Bloomfield has served on the county bench since 2015 when she was appointed by former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican.

Since 2011, she has been a member of the conservative Federalist Society, which has worked with the Trump administration to identify conservative judicial nominees.

Jarbou recently presided over a case related to the green ooze that came out of the ground near Interstate 696 in December and has since kept a lane shut.

Jarbou previously was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan for five years. With that office, she prosecuted cases involving drug and firearms offenses, child pornography, and high-level drug trafficking, according to the White House.

Earlier in her career, she was an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office from 1997 to 2010, where she handled general felony offenses, homicides, child sexual assault and high-profile felony cases.

Jarbou graduated with a bachelor's in business administration from the University of Michigan and got her law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

Jarbou would fill a Western District seat that has been vacant for three years. Judge Robert Holmes Bell in Grand Rapids retired in early 2017.

Her nomination to the Western District follows the withdrawal of Michigan attorney Michael Bogren from consideration for the post last year after Republican senators objected to his record.
Advertisement

By The Associated Press

Mar. 13, 2020 | FRANKFORT

By The Associated Press Mar. 13, 2020 | 10:46 AM | FRANKFORT

Gov. Andy Beshear has urged senior centers in Kentucky to temporarily close for in-person activities.



It's another step to protect the elderly and others from the new coronavirus.



Nearly 200 senior centers prepare about 8,000 meals daily across Kentucky. They also provide daily programs and classes for those who visit.



Beshear said Friday that efforts are under way to ensure that elderly Kentuckians relying on meals from the centers will continue receiving them.



For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, but for a few people, especially older adults and those with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia.



Beshear is discouraging large gatherings - even at funerals .



He urged Kentuckians to practice "social distancing" to prevent the spread of coronavirus.



"Social distancing is not isolation, and isolation is not what we're asking for and it is not healthy. Kids ought to continue to have a schedule. So should adults. You should continue to get outside,"



There are 11 confirmed cases of the virus in the state. 118 people have been tested.


By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday sentenced disqualified UP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar to 10 years rigorous imprisonment, besides imposition of a fine of Rs 10 lakh for the death of Unnao rape victims father in custody, saying no leniency can be shown for killing a familys sole bread earner.



The disqualified UP MLA has already been sentenced to the remainder of his natural biological life for raping the minor Unnao girl.

District Judge Dharmesh Sharma also awarded 10-year-jail term to Sengars brother Atul Singh Sengar and five others for their role in the custodial killing of the father of the rape victim.



The court, which did not hold the accused guilty of murder under the IPC, awarded maximum sentence for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder to convicts under section 304 of the IPC after holding that there was not intention to kill.

Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his brother will have to pay Rs 10 lakh each as fine within three months to legal heirs of the deceased, including the rape victim, as compensation.



Considering the minor children (of the deceased) losing their father who was sole breadwinner of the family and keeping in mind the fact that the victims family has been uprooted from their native place, all the convicts in the case are being sentenced to maximum punishment, the order reads.

The court further said Sengar and the co-convicts, two police officials, being public servants were supposed to uphold the law but there was no denying the fact that they broke the rule of law.



The way crime has been committed, the victims father was beaten up and paraded, no leniency can be given to the convicts and therefore, I am sentencing all the convicts to the maximum punishment, the judge said.



The court also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to take appropriate disciplinary proceedings for medical negligence against doctors who had treated the father when he was injured and in judicial custody. The father of the rape victim was arrested at the behest of Sengar in the Arms Act and had died in custody on April 9, 2018 owing police brutalities in custody.

AS THE CASE UNFOLDED



June 4, 2017: The 17-year-old girl allegedly raped by BJP MLA Sengar.



April 3, 2018: Rape survivors father beaten up and arrested in a false case of illegal arms allegedly at the behest of Sengar.



April 9: Rape survivors father dies in custody.



April 10: Allahabad HC transfers rape case to CBI.



December 16: Delhi court convicts Sengar for raping. Acquits co-accused Shashi Singh.



December 20: Sengar sentenced to life imprisonment by court, a fine of Rs 25 lakh imposed on him.



March 4: Delhi court convicts Sengar and six others for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.



March 13: Delhi court sentences Sengar and others to 10 years in prison, directs ex-MLA, his brother to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation.
Uday Kotak-led Kotak Mahindra Bank on Friday said it will infuse equity capital of Rs 500 crore into Yes Bank under the RBIs bailout plan for the crisis-hit lender.

...the Bank has issued a equity commitment letter to invest Rs 500 crore (the equity commitment) in Yes Bank Limited for subscription of 50 crore equity shares of Yes Bank at a price of Rs 10 per equity share, Kotak Mahindra Bank said in a regulatory filing.

The commitment is pursuant to the scheme of reconstruction of Yes Bank proposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under Section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and is subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions, it added.

As per the RBI-approved reconstruction plan for Yes Bank, the countrys largest lender SBI will pick up 49 per cent stake in the cash-strapped private sector bank by infusing Rs 7,250 crore.

SBI will have to maintain at least 26 per cent shareholding for three years.

ICICI Bank and Axis Bank too said they will invest Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 600 crore, respectively, while largest mortgage lender HDFC Ltd will infuse Rs 1,000 crore.

All the investment plans outlined by these lenders on Friday will be for cash consideration.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the reconstruction scheme keeps at its core the protection of depositors interest, providing stability to Yes Bank and keeping a stable financial environment and banking system.

The RBI superseded Yes Banks board on March 5 and put the lender under a moratorium, restricting withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per account till April 3 due to its precarious financial condition and inability to raise much-needed capital.

Sitharaman said the moratorium on the bank will be lifted within three days of notification of the reconstruction scheme.
The document provides for ban on mass events with more than 200 people involved

Health Minister Illya Yemets introduced a bill on coronavirus, which should increase the effectiveness of the fight against infection. The official Telegram channel of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine reported that.

The bill prepared by the Ministry of Health provides for the following:

Simplification of the procurement of goods, works and services to prevent and combat coronavirus, which will speed up the process of purchasing personal protective equipment and test systems;

The ability for workers to do their housework;

The ban on holding mass events with the number of more than 200 people;

The ban on conducting state surveillance and control measures for the duration of activities related to the prevention and control of coronavirus;

Strengthening control of entry and exit to the territory of Ukraine;

Algorithm of forced isolation and self-isolation and liability for non-compliance with quarantine.

As we reported before, the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov said that since March 17, Ukraine will completely block air traffic due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He added that the NSDC prepared a list of preventive measures that will be implemented in the near future. It is also noted that the Verkhovna Rada will continue to work.
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.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- From the milkman to the mozzarella- and ravioli-makers, food industry purveyors are being impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which means that in addition to concerns around occupancy restrictions and event cancellations and loss of business, restaurants have to worry about delivery of the products they rely upon.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced he is sharply restricting passenger travel from 26 European nations to the United States, and Teresa Salzarulo Conforte, of Lioni Latticini Inc. in Union, N.J., said this move has temporarily changed the course of the decades-old family business owned by Giuseppe and Salvatore Salzarulo. As one of the largest cheese producers in the area and a massive supplier to Staten Island food establishments, this means some juggling.

Although the president has not banned imported product, she pointed out, our imported buffalo milk mozzarella is on hold because it was transported via air passenger planes as cargo. Because of the air restriction, we cant currently supply this product.

Instead, the Salzarulo family will domestically produce their buffala mozzarella -- made with imported Italian buffalo milk -- in their New Jersey manufacturing facility.

We currently receive frozen concentrated buffalo milk from Italy, which gives the product a better shelf life. This is the milk received from the Southern part of Italy, where our family is from. As of two days ago, production was still viable. People are working and still producing [in Southern Italy], said Conforte.

Here at Lioni, we are working together to ensure the health and wellness of our associates and customers," she said.

In fact, the company has changed its packaging to an all-encompassing container, an accommodation to New York City restaurants and retailers nationwide with self-serve formats. It affords for more sanitary food-handling.

Joe Badalamente, a comparatively smaller cheese producer in Port Richmond with his Joe Mozz shop, said that with markets, Everythings the same.

Although he said hes noticed that bakeries and catering halls have party cancellations -- which means less deliveries on items like ricotta cheese.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Peter DiMaggio, of Brioso in New Dorp, cant get fresh sardines for his famed Pasta Con Sarde. He is one of the few borough establishments to serve the fennel frond and sardine-centric Lenten dish made with the whole fresh fish. The product hails from Spain.

The Bronx fish market is fully stocked, say purveyors. But travel restrictions have put a crimp in imported product.

His fishmonger texted him on Friday: Due to the coronavirus, the president cancelled travel from Europe, and theres a strong possibility there will be no sardines next week -- no flights to put them on.

As for the Staten Island restaurant scene from a fishmongers eyes, its been slow. Dean Jacobi, of Blue Ribbon Fish at the New Fulton Fish Market at Hunts Point in the Bronx, said its the same in Long Island, where he lives.

Its awfully slow. Everybodys nervous. The restaurants are slow. The supermarkets are definitely busy, he said, on the flip side. His observation is that wedding venues are getting hurt around New York City with new restrictions on large crowd gatherings.

More Manhattan is affected than anything else  Manhattan is getting hammered with Broadway, MSG all those big venues closed, said Jacobi.

Milkman Jeff Milling, of home delivery service Udderly Delicious, said, My customers have definitely been ordering extra milk and eggs and are elated to know that the delivery will be there at their door and not having to go the supermarket to deal with uncertainty and crowds.

He added, I find Im selling a lot of meat and seafood now as people are looking to stock up on food."

He said that the New Jersey farm from which he sources the dairy product is unaffected, as they produce everything on the farm and are self-contained -- meaning that they are not relying on deliveries to enable them to complete orders.

- Cannoli ravioli is a new invention at Pastosa Ravioli in Eltingville. Pamela SilvestriPamela Silvestri

Danny De Rosas family business -- Pastosa Ravioli in Eltingville -- is the only ravioli manufacturer on Staten Island. This week hes seen demand spike in all of the shops pastas and has therefore stepped up the assembly line. Thursday the shelves were lean on inventory -- so pasta production was doubled for Friday.

Cheese curd for fresh mozzarella and other ingredients for Pastosas ravioli dough hail from the United States. Although eggs are scarce.

We pulled aside whatever eggs we need for the weekend and will have enough for ravioli -- just none for sale, said DeRosa.

Are Staten Islanders consuming more local beer in these last couple of weeks?

Jay Sykes, of Flagship Brewing Co., Tompkinsville, said, The truth is, it is too early to tell. I wouldnt be able to answer this question until next week or the week after. The beer-maker predicted a decrease in the on-premise booze consumption at the brewerys tap room.

As for off-premise, I think that all depends on the severity of the effects of the virus on the local population, said Sykes. We are in uncharted territory, all we can do is our part to stop the spread of the virus and react as best we can as the information becomes more clear.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

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Coronavirus: What you need to know about NYC schools

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NEW HAVEN  Yale New Haven Hospital has replicated the COVID-19 test and expects to put it into play as soon as Saturday or Monday, a tool it hopes can screen some 200 samples a day.

The hospital Friday said Dr. Marie-Louise Landry, who heads the hospitals clinical virology department, has been working for months on the problem of limited test kits available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Thomas Balcezak, chief medical officer at YNHH, said they were able to have labs produce most of the material needed to put together the molecular test with the exception of the nucleic acid from the virus itself, which is very limited.

Landrys lab, after it got all the necessary material, permissions and adapted the CDC instructions to its own equipment, was successful in the replication, Balcezak said. The last time-consuming aspect was conducting extensive quality control measures to understand how well it works.

We dont want to offer a test that doesnt work. That doesnt help anybody, Balzezak said.

The hospital has done 78 tests on patients, but it currently did not have more on hand before developing its own supply. The majority of the tests have been sent to the states public health department with a few to the University of Washington.

The hospital has also opened a call center at 833-ASK-YNHH for anyone who has questions.

The Yale New Haven Health System has an ambulatory, outdoor testing facility in Greenwich, which works well, Balcezak said, and they are looking to replicate that at other sites, including one in New Haven. People would be able to come and get tested without having to enter the hospital.

One possible site in New Haven was the former Strong School on Orchard Street, but Michael Pinto, the chief operating officer for the New Haven Public Schools, earlier on Friday said that decision was on hold.

I would just say that we have been in discussions, the city has been very cooperative and we will find a location. There are a number of properties we are looking at, said Marna Borgstrom, the president and CEO of both Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale New Haven Health System.

At the press conference, Borgstrom also said both the patient with the coronavirus at Bridgeport Hospital and the patient at Greenwich Hospital, have both been discharged to their homes for further recovery.

Separately, in coronavirus news effecting another hospital, Griffin Health Friday said a community-based physician, who is a member of its medical staff, has tested positive for COVID-19.

That physician was not in his office and did not see patients in the 24-hour period prior to exhibiting symptoms; therefore, public health officials determined that no action is needed with regard to the physicians patients or office staff at this time, according to the Griffin. The physician is being quarantined consistent with health officials recommendations.

Back at the YNHH press conference, Balcezak said across its health system it has an Intensive Care Unit capacity of around 270 patients, but he believed they can flex that up, if needed.

Dr. Richard Martinello, medical director for infection prevention, said for the overwhelming majority of people who do get sick, some 85 percent will experience very mild to moderate illness, with most of them well enough to stay home and recover there.

For the remaining 15 percent, the expectation is they will need to be hospitalized with 5 percent of the total infected population sick enough to need intensive care with many of them requiring a mechanical ventilator and other measures of life support.

Over the next several weeks, and potentially months, the hospital expects the infection to spread throughout the community.

Martinello and the other physicians at the press conference, as well as Mayor Justin Elicker, stressed the need for the general population to follow the public health directives that include: frequent hand washing, social distancing, keeping your hands away from your face and avoiding venues with large numbers of people.

If sick, the directive is to stay home from work and school, call your physician, but not show up at the hospital unless directed to do so.

Elicker dealt with facilities that are used by large crowds in an executive order he issued late Friday afternoon that takes effect on Sunday.

In an abundance of caution, and to reduce the spread of the virus, we are enforcing that all establishments have their occupancies reduced by half, the mayor said in a statement.

The city will require the following establishments, with a capacity of 16 or more, to halve their occupancy: motion picture theaters, symphony and concert halls, television and radio studios admitting an audience and theaters, banquet halls, casinos, nightclubs, restaurants, cafeterias, and similar dining facilities (including commercial kitchens), taverns and bars. The occupancy emergency order will be enforced by the New Haven Fire Department.

At the press conference he had already issued a recommendation that residents not attend large gatherings and said he was particularly concerned about bars that planned to hold events this weekend, even as the St. Patricks Day parade was canceled, as well as those set to celebrate St. Patricks Day Tuesday.

We want to insure that the public understands that we all play a role in either spreading or not spreading this disease ..., he said.

On another topic, Balcezak said they are learning best practices from colleagues across the world, who are experiencing the most cases. As an example, he said they heard Friday from a physician who worked at YNHH hospital and now runs a hospital in Wuhan, China, the original epicenter of the disease.

Dr. Steven Choi, chief quality officer for Yale New Haven Health and Yale School of Medicine, said the more standardization of the care processes, the better everyone will do with the epidemic.

As far as equipment is concerned, specifically ventilators, Balcezak said YNHH has far more than we need. He said there are more than 270 and there are other ways to stretch their capacity.

He added however, that they are a fixed resource that is hard to get if they exhaust their supply, which led back to a discussion of public health measures.

This is why slowing and then halting the spread of this disease is so important. If the numbers of infections reach the entire population of the state of Connecticut very rapidly ... then you will notice we are very quickly outstripping, not just the ventilators or ICU rooms, but the entire ability of the hospitals in the state of Connecticut just to admit these patients, Balcezak said.

Choi said the call center will serve the entire community and is available 7 days a day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., although it may run round the clock if needed.

To protect staff, Martinello said they try to get patients quickly into isolation rooms and and have staff wear appropriate protective equipment, including a respirator mask, eye protection glasses and gloves and gowns, which are standard for diseases other than the COVID-19.

Martinello said there are a lot of studies being done as to how long the virus can live on a surface. He said they dont expect it to be much different than other coronaviruses. He offered that the routine disinfectants that they use should be be as highly effective on this virus as on others.

Martinello said the alcohol waterless hand sanitizers that are widely used will also be highly effective, as is soap and water. He said the housekeeping staff are cleaning everything as they usually do, but paying special attention to high touch surfaces.

Choi was asked what treatments they may have learned about from doctors in countries experiencing the worst of the outbreak.

He mentioned anti-virals, immuno suppressants and reconstituted plasma where they take plasma from patients who have recovered and transfuse it to patients who are not recovering. He said he expects the majority of hospitalized patients will recover with the standard supportive care, such as oxygen, some form of airway support and IV fluids.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 22:42:48|Editor: yan

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BUCHAREST, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Friday appointed caretaker prime minister Ludovic Orban to form a new government.

The head of state made the decision after Florin Citu, caretaker finance minister, tendered his resignation as Prime Minister-designate on Thursday.

"The only proposal I have received is Ludovic Orban," said the president at Cotroceni Presidential Palace after consultations with the parliamentary parties and formations in a teleconference system, aimed at designating a candidate to the Prime Minister office.

According to the president, all political parties promised him that they will get involved in the parliament to fast-track the proceedings so that, in a very short time, possibly on Saturday, a vote of confidence may be taken in the new cabinet.

"Political battles and matches have no point in the current context," Iohannis said late Thursday after Citu's resignation, stressing that the number one priority these days is to protect peoples' health amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Citu tendered his resignation on Thursday, just 15 minutes before the joint plenary session of parliament meant to cast a vote on the investiture of his cabinet.
Morrisons has become the first major UK supermarket to agree to pay small suppliers immediately to ensure businesses do not collapse due to coronavirus.

Bosses at the grocer have also broadened their definition of what constitutes a small supplier to ensure more firms benefit.

The term will apply to firms with an annual turnover of up to 1million. Its usual definition of a 'small supplier' is one earning 100,000 a year or less.

Morrisons has become the first major UK supermarket to agree to pay small suppliers immediately to ensure businesses do not collapse due to coronavirus

The rules will be reviewed at the end of May. Until then 'small' suppliers will receive instant payment  subject to bank clearing times  instead of the current 14-day period.

Increasing the threshold will mean an extra 1,000 small food businesses will qualify for the payment terms, the supermarket added.

Chief executive David Potts said: 'We are Britain's biggest single food-maker and we want to be there for the smaller food-makers, farmers and businesses that supply Morrisons.

'We're a British family business and we will be doing our best to support them through this period.'

The move will put pressure on rivals to follow suit. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland were contacted for comment.
MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / Quebec Precious Metals Corporation (TSXV:CJC)(OTCQB:CJCFF)(FSE:YXEP) ("QPM" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Tony Brisson as full-time senior exploration manager, effective immediately.

Mr. Brisson has 25 years of experience in gold and base metals exploration, including senior positions with gold exploration companies in Quebec. From 2012 to 2015, he was the exploration manager at the Eleonore gold mine. His responsibilities included the management of extensive drilling campaigns. He is also a director of Opus One Resources Inc. and Radisson Mining Inc. In 2009, he received the Prospector of the Year award from the Quebec Mining Exploration Association. He is a member of the Ordre des Geologues du Quebec and Professional Geoscientists Ontario. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Geology (B. Sc.) from the Universite du Quebec, Chicoutimi.

"We are very pleased to strengthen our technical team with the nomination of Tony Brisson. His deep expertise in gold exploration, including the James Bay Eeyou Istchee territory in Quebec. He will contribute significantly to our exploration success." stated Normand Champigny, Chief Executive Officer of QPM.

The Company has granted to Mr. Brisson stock options (the "Options") exercisable into an aggregate of 200,000 shares of QPM. The Options have an exercise price of $0.19 per share exercisable within a five-year period.

About Quebec Precious Metals Corporation

QPM is a new gold explorer with a large land position in the highly-prospective Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory, Quebec, near Newmont Corporation's Eleonore gold mine. QPM's flagship project is the Sakami project with significant grades and well-defined drill-ready targets. QPM's goal is to rapidly explore this project to advance it to the mineral resource estimate stage.

For more information please contact:

Jean-Francois Meilleur

President

Tel.: 514 951-2730

jfmeilleur@qpmcorp.ca

Normand Champigny

Chief Executive Officer

Tel.: 514 979-4746

nchampigny@qpmcorp.ca

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Quebec Precious Metals Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/580501/Quebec-Precious-Metals-Appoints-Tony-Brisson-as-Senior-Exploration-Manager
NY Democrats Push to Extend 2020 Census Due to Coronavirus

New York House Democrats sent a letter Friday to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross asking the department to extend the time for filling out the 2020 census because of the growing coronavirus health emergency.

We write you today to impress upon you the necessity of extending the enumeration period for the 2020 Census due to the social disruption caused by COVID-19, the Members wrote. As states and local jurisdictions continue to dedicate resources to expanding their capacity to respond to this outbreak, there will be diminishing state capacity to administer the Census coupled with pragmatic challenges caused by the outbreak itself.

The representatives of various N.Y. districts emphasized the fact that resources will be pulled away from the Census to fight the outbreak as the virus spreads.

As Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci testified in front of the House Oversight Committee, he said we will see more cases, and things will get worse. We must take steps now to ensure that the 2020 Census is prepared to adjust to the new reality that we may soon face.

The Democratic lawmakers pointed to the likely coinciding of the census start date and the peak of the pandemic.

Social distancing will make enumeration practically impossible during the current allotted time frame. First and foremost, the April 1st start date for enumeration coincides with what could be the crescendo of the outbreak.

They highlighted the fact that the significant population of constituents will need a house visit by census workers, which will be challenging to conduct given the outbreak.

Enumerators have historically had difficulty breaking through the stigma of a government official knocking on your door thus suggesting the fear of transmission will only amplify this challenge.

The Congress members also said that social distancing will impact the number of people who fill out the forms, thus making the count inaccurate.

Eliminating large social gatherings typically used to raise awareness about the importance of the census in conjunction with reduced access to the Internet for marginalized communities will substantially impact the self-response rate and subsequently the accuracy of the overall count.

They continued, The homeless, for example, typically get counted in homeless shelters or other charitable organizations where they may receive mail followed by a counting of those physically on the street. If these sites are closed in order to prevent the transmission of the disease and unnecessary travel remains limited, many Americans like these will simply fall through the cracks of the Census.

They emphasized that lack of access to the internet and low income in their communities would impact the numbers who self-fill the forms, making the census workers jobs harder during the pandemic.

Nearly 10% of residents in Westchester County as well as 13% of residents statewide do not have access to the Internet at home. These individuals would need access to one of the Census Bureaus outreach sites that provide the public with an opportunity to access the Internet, they wrote. Moreover, 40% of households making less than $20,000 annually in New York State lack an Internet subscription meaning those unable to respond online are those most in need of being counted.

They ended by saying while the constitution requires the census, the dates can be extended in extreme situations and implored Ross to extend the Census completion date.
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, left, presides over an emergency meeting with top financial officials in Seoul, Friday, when local shares dropped sharply amid pandemic fears. Courtesy of Ministry of Economy and Finance



President Moon orders financial authorities to use all 'available cards'



By Lee Min-hyung



The Korea Exchange (KRX) temporarily halted stock trading once again Friday in reaction to the sharp downturn amid ever-growing fears over the coronavirus pandemic.



President Moon Jae-in held a special meeting with top economy and finance bureaucrats, including Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol and Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo. The President urged them to take "unprecedented" steps to proactively deal with the growing pandemic fears, as the local economy has been declared in "emergency mode" due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19.



"It is time to do unprecedented work, as the pandemic is special and different from other virus epidemics  such as MERS and SARS," Moon said, according to Cheong Wa Dae press pool reports.



The market crash came a day after the KOSPI and secondary Kosdaq plummeted Thursday when the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.



The main bourse started with a 6 percent drop before closing at 1771.44, down 3.43 percent. At one time, it fell below the 1,700-mark. The tech-heavy secondary market also suffered a painful opening and fell 12 percent at one time Friday morning. It closed at 524, down 7 percent from the previous day.



In response, the securities exchange operator activated a series of trading suspension measures stronger than the one used the previous trading day.



The KRX employed the circuit breaker on the KOSPI at 10:43 a.m. after the Seoul bourse plunged by more than 8 percent for one minute, halting stock trading for 20 minutes. This came shortly after the exchange operator activated a sidecar at 9:06 a.m. when the benchmark index dropped by 5 percent for a minute.



The activation of the circuit breaker has raised a sense of crisis in the local stock market.






Editor's note: the Women in Trades Expo has been canceled.

Margie Miller planned to be a nurse after high school, but after graduation, she traveled rather than going to college. In 1978, she found herself in Oklahoma, and because the contractor at a local power plant construction site was required to hire women and minorities, she got a job. Miller found out she liked working outside and liked building something with her hands and watching it take shape.

That job led to more jobs in construction and, eventually, her own roofing and remodeling business here in the Capital Region.

Now Miller works as an architectural rep at Curtis Lumber, putting her years in construction to use as a liaison between vendors and architects, engineers and designers. Although now removed from the day-to-day life of a work site, Miller says it is no longer a shock to see women in the construction trades, although it is still unusual.

According to a 2018 study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, women make up just 3.4% of construction trade workers. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that women are underrepresented in agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing, transportation and utilities, relative to their share of total employment.

The Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES, which  among other things  teaches both teenagers and adults construction skills, is holding a Women in Trades Expo on Tuesday, March 31. The expo is hosted by BOCES' Employment Training for Adults program. Construction and culinary arts are new to ETA and evolved as a direct result of requests from people in the industries asking for skilled workers, said Michelle Stockwell, supervisor of ETA.

"Our goal is to help fill the trades gap and help someone learn a new skill, improve their skills for a new position or reinvent themselves," she said.

The classes meet two evenings a week at BOCES's Henning Road location in Saratoga Springs, where high school students take similar classes during the day using the same equipment. Adult students must be 18, but there is no other requirement. ETA is a 100-hour program broken into four modules, each $700. Students come away with certifications in various employable skills.

There are 10 people, including three women, in the current module, Stockwell said.

Instructors and current students at the expo will conduct interactive demonstrations involving construction, HVAC, wiring, auto technology, machine tooling and welding.

While Miller won't be at the March 31 event, she regularly talks to student groups. She often shows off pictures of herself from her younger days, working on a roof.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

"It's not that people don't believe me when I tell them, but it's more meaningful to see a woman on a roof, hauling shingles," Miller said.

In 1998, Miller joined what was then called the Schenectady Builder's Association and in 2005 became the first woman president of a local homebuilders' association, the Capital Region Builders and Remodelers Association. She founded the local Professional Women in Building Council  a support group for women in the building trades that currently has 50 members, including Justina Auer, an interior designer who works as a project designer at Bennett Contracting, a residential remodeling company in Albany.

Auer graduated in 2009 from The Sage Colleges with a bachelor's degree in interior design and worked in custom cabinetry before starting at Bennett. Auer said the number of women in construction is low because traditionally, girls aren't encouraged to work with their hands.

"We're getting closer to equality on work sites," Auer said. "The men I work with are respectful, it's more about knowing your stuff. There are still a few out there who are rough around the edges or will drop a 'sweetheart,' but if it bothers you, speak up."

lhornbeck@timesunion.com  518-454-5352  @leighhornbeck
Good morning.

(Dont get California Today by email? Heres the sign-up.)

On Thursday, a day after the World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom made it official for Californians: Gatherings of 250 people or more anywhere in the state will have to be postponed or canceled, as will gatherings that are smaller, unless theyre taking place in venues where you can keep at least six feet away from anyone else.

[Get the latest on the coronavirus pandemic here.]

And for people who are older or who have weaker immune systems  meaning theyre at higher risk of getting severely sick or dying if theyre infected with the virus  events should be limited to 10 people.

Thats all according to a wide-ranging executive order Mr. Newsom signed on Thursday. The containment measures will be in place until at least the end of March.

I have the ability as governor to enforce this, he told reporters who, in accordance with social distancing guidelines, were spaced out in a briefing room. But I dont think well need to do that.
The Federal Government has filed a six count charges against Mr. Obinna Uzoh, his lawyer, Eziafa Samuel Enwedo, for allegedly forging court documents to remove Senator Ifeanyi Ubah from office as the duly elected senator representing Anamabra South Senatorial district.

Uzoh, Enwedo and others who are now at large, claimed to have obtained a judgment from the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), purporting to sack Ifeanyi Ubah, who represents Anambra South in the Senate, for allegedly giving false information to INEC about his academic qualifications.

But, in a six-charge filed on March 12, 2020, Enwedo was accused of working with three others, to forge documents relating to the suit in favour of Ubahs main opposition politician, Obinna Uzor.

Also named in the charge filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/78/2020, are the claimant in the said suit, Anani Anacletus Chuka; Aroh Ifunanya and Faith Samuel.

Investigations by the officers of the Nigerian Police Force under the leadership of the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu NPM, mni unearthed what may be described as an unprecedented fraud and scandal-webbed in massive fraud currently rocking the FCT High Court involving several judicial staff, lawyers and litigants.

The suspects are alleged to have mutilated the court register and cloned Suit No. Cv/3044/2018 which was allotted in 2018 to S & M Holdings Limited V Persons unknown filed on the 17th of October 2018) and affixed Suit No. Cv/3044/2018 to Anani Ana-cletusChuka vs Ifeanyi Ubah & Ors.

The suspects also forged the assignment directive of the Chief judge of the FCT High Court to purportedly assign the matter to Honourable justice Kawu.

A copy of the investigation report and charge sighted by our reporter shows that the suspects forged all the processes purportedly filed in the suit with a view to obtaining judgment in a false pre-election matter filed in 2019 but backdated to 2018.

Interaction with anonymous staff of the Court indicates that this level of massive fraud is unprecedented and that many heads will roll as the Chief judge is determined not to allow the reforms he has brought into the FCT High Court to position it as model for other courts to be rubbished by compromised staff.

The charge filed by the FG alleges that all the processes filed in the Suit were forged including the judgment. The purported filing fee receipt which was originally dated as 25th September 2019 was mutilated to read 19th October 2018.

A letter written by the office of the Chief Registrar of the FCT High Court confirmed that the filing of the cloned Suit No.Cv/3044/2018 was done on 25th September 2019. The date of judgment in the suit, 11th April 2019, predates the actual date of filing the suit.

Following a complaint, the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court Justice Isaq Bello who restated his commitment to rid the FCT High Court of bad eggs directed the Petitions Committee of the Court to investigate the matter during which startling revelations were made.

The committee commenced sitting on the 10th of March 2020 and concluding its hearing today. The staff of the FCT High Court who testified stated that the real suit filed by the suspect was in Suit No.Cv/2829/2019 which was filed on 6th September 2019 with the same identical processes filed by the suspects in Cv/3044/2018 based on which the obtained judgment.

Counsel to Senator Ubah C.N Nwigwe Esq at the concluding hearing of the committee on Thursday, 12th March, 2020, submitted that the court never sat for a day, the staff of the court and the judge sat down perhaps in a room and fabricated all the processes they put into the file and generated a judgment.

The letter from the Nigerian Bar Association which is an exhibit before this panel shows that the seal of the lawyers affixed on the processes had not been produced as at the date of filing, the Chief Judges staff have openly demonstrated that the assignment directive of the suit to justice Kawu was forged and the FCT that the recipe number endorsed on the originating summons was a receipt issued in September 2019 more than 11 months after the suit was purportedly filed and about four months after judgment was purportedly delivered makes this case the biggest judicial fraud in the history of Nigeria.

The suspects knowing that Suit No.CV/2829/2019 was time barred having been commenced after the conduct of 2019 elections connived with judicial staff to take a suit number that was already in existence, prepare processes and back date them to 2018, fabricate proof of service of those processes on Senator Ubah and INEC and the YPP and then generate a judgment in concert with judicial staff.

The Independent Natonal Electoral Commission has also confirmed that the purported stamp of the commission that was affixed on the proof of service of processes in Suit No. Cv/3044/2018 were forged as they do not have a staff of the commission known as Alhassan Sule in the legal services department and the stamp affixed purporting to be that of INEC is also forged.

The suspects will be arraigned next week on six count charges.

Meanwhile, National Examinations Council (NECO) has cleared Senator Ifeanyi Ubah of certificate forgery allegations, saying his school certificate is genuine.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2020) - Xtra-Gold Resources Corp. (TSX: XTG) (OTCQB: XTGRF) ("Xtra- Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce today that the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") has accepted a noticed filed by the Company of its intention to renew its prior normal course issuer bid for a further one year period. The Company intends to proceed with a normal course issuer bid to purchase up to 4,000,000 common shares of the Company (the "2020 Bid").

The Company is commencing the 2020 Bid because it believes that the current market price of its common shares may not fully reflect the underlying value of the Company's business and its future business prospects. The Company believes that the purchase of common shares for cancellation is in the best interests of the Company's shareholders by increasing the respective proportionate shareholdings and therefore increasing the respective equity interest in the Company for all remaining shareholders.

As of March 10, 2020 the Company has 46,704,117 common shares issued and outstanding. The 4,000,000 common shares that may be purchased by the Company under the 2020 Bid represent approximately 10% of the public float (42,858,262 as of March 10, 2020) of the Company. The 2020 Bid will commence on March 16, 2020 and will terminate on March 15, 2021 or at such earlier date in the event that the number of shares sought in the 2020 Bid has been repurchased. The Company reserves the right to terminate the 2020 Bid earlier if it feels that it is appropriate to do so.

All shares will be purchased on the open market through the facilities of the TSX, and payment for the common shares will be in accordance with TSX policies. The price paid for the common shares will be the market price at the time of purchase. Purchasing may be suspended at any time, and no purchases will be made other than by means of open market transactions during the term of the 2020 Bid.

Story continues

The maximum number of common shares that may be purchased on a daily basis is 5,298 common shares representing 25% of the average daily trading volume for the last six calendar months, except where purchases are made in accordance with "block purchases" exemptions under applicable TSX policies. The common shares purchased by the Company will be cancelled.

The Company has engaged Haywood Securities Inc. to act as broker through which the 2020 Bid will be conducted.

Previous purchases were made by the Company under a prior normal course issuer bid (the "2019 Bid"), the results of which are noted hereunder.

Results of 2018 Bid

Pursuant to a previous notice of intention to conduct a normal course issuer bid, under which Company sought and received approval from the TSX to purchase up to 4,000,000 Common Shares for the period of February 13, 2019 to February 12, 2020, the Company has purchased, as of January 31, 2020, 426,800 Common Shares on the open market at an average purchase price of $0.435 per share. As of February 29, 2020, the issued and outstanding number of Common Shares is 46,704,117 shares and the public float of the Common share is 42,858,262 shares.

About Xtra-Gold Resources Corp.

Xtra-Gold is a gold exploration company with a substantial land position in the Kibi Gold Belt, in Ghana West Africa.

Contact Information

For further information please contact:

James Longshore, Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: 416-628-2881

E-mail: info@xtragold.com

Website: www.xtragold.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53365
Rotunda Rumblings

Five and counting: Ohios fifth confirmed coronavirus case is a 55-year-old Trumbull County man who has no travel history outside the state and is being treated in intensive care, cleveland.coms Laura Hancock reports. Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton said 1% of Ohios 11.7 million residents are believed to have the virus. Were in a crisis situation now," she said. "Were moving quickly.

Schools out: DeWine announced a state-imposed spring break of at least three weeks for all Ohio public and private schools, beginning Monday after school. DeWine acknowledged that unless a child has a medical problem, the risk of death for a child from COVID-19 is not very high. But he noted that children can be carriers, reports cleveland.coms Rich Exner. We have to do this if we are going to slow this down, DeWine said. As for that always controversial topic of mandated testing: "If we cant have testing this year, we will not have testing this year. The world will not come to an end.

Mass effect: Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton signed an order Thursday banning most mass gatherings of 100 people or more in Ohio. As cleveland.coms Jeremy Pelzer reports, the order contains a significant number of exceptions, including religious services, airports, factories, retail and grocery stores, and normal office environments.

Out in front: DeWine has drawn bipartisan praise as hes emerged as a major public voice calling for aggressive action to stem the spread of the coronavirus, cleveland.coms Andrew Tobias writes. DeWines response is especially notable in that President Donald Trump and his administration at times have sought to downplay the virus seriousness.

Something to talk about: DeWines leadership was just one of the topics we tackled on a nearly all-coronavirus episode of This Week in the CLE, cleveland.coms weekly news and analysis podcast.

This will be on the test: The actual process of testing for coronavirus is technical, but Hancock simplified it. She also explains why there is a shortage of tests in Ohio and the U.S.

Frozen: Representatives from 15 major retailers, including Walmart, Walgreens and Target, told Attorney General Dave Yost that they are freezing prices even as the coronavirus pandemic has led shoppers to stock up on things like toilet paper and hand sanitizer. As Pelzer writes, Yost also noted that local government bodies can hold meetings electronically, though the public must have access and no votes can be taken.

U vote? Voting advocates plan to launch a text campaign to reach the 180,000 Ohioans whose voting locations have been moved from nursing homes over coronavirus concerns, Tobias writes. All Voting is Local plans to send texts on Monday, the day before the March 17 primary election.

Virus shuts DC offices: Following reports that a U.S. Senate staffer tested positive for the coronavirus, Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rocky River GOP Rep. Anthony Gonzalez announced Thursday that theyre shuttering their Washington, D.C., offices and having workers telecommute. Several other offices said they are limiting in-person meetings, according to cleveland.coms Sabrina Eaton.

Let it go: Ohio House staffers were instructed on Thursday to pick up their go bags  containing things like House policies, notebooks and pens  that they can use in the event that Speaker Larry Householder orders them to work from home.

Census and coronavirus: Coronavirus should have little impact on census 2020, at least in the early weeks, because of plans that were put in place well ahead of the first census notices now in the mail. For the first time, the census can be completed online or by phone. This means that it will be easier than ever to avoid a door-to-door face visit from a census worker, Exner reports. Yet one researcher notes that if follow-up visits to non-responding households are delayed from the May-June schedule, it could create some counting problems.

Suspended sentence: The Ohio Republican Party is suspending public facing campaign activities for one month because of the coronavirus, including stopping involvement in county Lincoln Day Dinners, often huge fundraising opportunities for local parties, cleveland.coms Seth Richardson reports. Most notably, Vice President Mike Pences planned March 23 appearance at the Summit County Republican Partys Lincoln Day Dinner is canceled.

Under new management: Former Vice President Joe Biden is replacing Ohio native Greg Schultz as his campaign manager, Richardson reports. Schultz, who has a lengthy background in Democratic politics in the state, will switch to an organizational and outreach role.

I got your back: Both Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders rolled out a list of Ohio endorsements Thursday, Richardson reports. Most notably, Ohio Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko backed Biden while state Sen. Mike Skindell threw his name in for Sanders. Skindell is Sanders first statehouse endorsement.

On brand: Ohio State University is trying once again to trademark the word the, as in THE Ohio State University, cleveland.coms Eric Heisig reports. OSU has asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reconsider a decision from September to reject its attempt to trademark the word.

Buckeye Brain Tease

Question: This American-established faith made Ohio its home briefly and even constructed a temple for worship in the state. Name the faith movement and the name of the religious organization that currently runs the temple.

Email your response to capitolletter@cleveland.com. The first correct respondent will be mentioned in next weeks newsletter.

Thanks for responding to last weeks trivia question: Its relatively well-known that eight Ohioans have been elected U.S. president. But how many Ohioans have served as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and who are they?

Last weeks answer:

Salmon Chase, Morrison Waite and William H. Taft.In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Chase, his former treasury secretary (and former Ohio governor / U.S. Senator from Ohio) to the Supreme Court. After he died in 1873, President Ulysses S. Grant, an Ohioan, appointed Waite, a Toledo attorney and former Ohio State senator, to replace him. And Taft, of course, was the 27th president of the United States before President Warren G. Harding, an Ohioan, appointed him to the high court in 1921.

Capitol Letter reader Bevan Schneck of Hilliard was the first to send in the correct answer. Thanks to everyone who responded!

Birthdays

Friday, 3/13: State Rep. Candice Keller; Andrew Kidd, economist for the Buckeye Institutes Economic Research Center; Mike Dovilla, former state representative

Sunday, 3/15: Ohio Sen. Bob Peterson; State Rep. Brian Baldridge

Straight from the Source

This is an unprecedented time ... Employers have to understand the demands on their workforce as it relates to families.

- Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, putting employers on notice Thursday to work with parents of children who will now be off school for 3 weeks because of the coronavirus.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free.
Advertisement

Ben Affleck and new girlfriend Ana de Armas are pictured looking very much inseparable during their recent trip to Costa Rica.

The couple - who haven't confirmed their romance but have been appearing very affectionate in public - were seen enjoying another blissful day strolling the beach together.

Bond girl Ana, 31, looked amazing in a black two piece and her hair loose as the 47-year-old Gone Girl star followed closely behind her.

New love: Ben Affleck and new girlfriend Ana de Armas are pictured on a beach walk in Costa Rica this week

The couple met on the set of their new movie Deep Water and look very comfortable in each others company.

The father-of-three was definitely in vacation mode as he wore a white t-shirt and navy swim-shorts while showing off a bit of stubble.

Ben and Ana met on the set of sexy thriller Deep Water directed by Adrian Lyne, who made Fatal Attraction, 9 1/2 Weeks, Indecent Proposal and Unfaithful.

According to IMDb, Ben stars as a well-to-do husband who allows his wife (Ana) to have affairs in order to avoid a divorce.

However, when her lovers start mysteriously disappearing, he become the prime suspect.

The movie was shot in New Orleans and is expected to open in theaters this November.

The romance rumors gained traction when Ben and Ana enjoyed a trip to Havana, Cuba, last week.

Romantic getaway: The 31-year-old Bond actress looked amazing in a black two-piece as Affleck, 47, followed behind her

Off duty: The father-of-three was definitely in vacation mode as he wore a white t-shirt and navy swim-shorts while showing off a bit of stubble

The couple looked close as they spent time in Ana's birthplace and happily posed for photos with fans who then shared the snaps on social media.

'Ana was his tour guide and took him to all her favorite places,' a source told People.

'Ben seemed to love the trip. He was in a great mood and very friendly,' the source added. 'He was approached by fans multiple times and happily posed for pictures. They visited several restaurants and enjoyed Cuban cuisine.'

Ana moved from Cuba to Spain at age 18 where she embarked on her acting career.

She married Spanish actor Marc Clotet in 2011 but they divorced two years later in 2013.

Just the two of us: As the sun set the couple changed their clothes, Ana into a flirty floral mini dress

Love: Last week the couple were spotted in Ana's native Cuba where they were pictured 'happily posing for photos with fans'

Heading out: The Argo star posed for a selfie with a fan at an airport in Costa Rica before getting onto a helicopter

Floral frock: Ana was seen preparing to hop on the aircraft which took the couple to another airport before coming back to the USA

Home: The actor was seen enjoying a cigarette while arriving back into Los Angeles on Thursday

Ben, of course, was previously married to actress Jennifer Garner with whom he shares three children.

They split in 2015 after a decade of marriage but only finalized their divorce in late 2018.

The Armageddon star has a well-documented struggle with addiction and sobriety and entered rehab in 2017 and then again in 2018 following an intervention by Garner.

Back to normality: The actress was spotted out in Venice, California on Friday holding her cute puppy

During his recent publicity tour for his new movie The Way Back, in which he plays a man struggling with alcoholism, divorce and mid-life disappointment, Ben told AP: 'For the last three years, 99% of my life Ive spent sober.'

'I dont know all the answers. Im only an expert in my own failings,' he added. 'But the more expert you become in your own failings, interestingly, the less likely you are to repeat them, Ive found. That is how my life has been getting better.'

'I have a better relationship with my kids today than I did three years ago. I have a better relationship with my ex-wife, I think, than I did three years ago. I think Im a better actor. I think Im a more interesting person because most of the growth that Ive had has come from pain,' he said.

Cuddled up: Earlier this week the couple looked close as they walked together on the sand
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 01:16:53|Editor: huaxia

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ANKARA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish and Russian military delegations have agreed on more details on the cease-fire in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, said Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Friday.

Turkey and Russia will establish joint coordination centers and the military activities in Idlib will be managed from these centers, semi-official Anadolu Agency quoted the minister as saying.

Joint patrols along the key M4 highway will begin on Sunday, he said.

"With these patrols on M4, we will make every contribution to the permanent cease-fire there," he stated noting that Russia was also in a positive attitude on these issues.

Akar also said there were "very good signs" that migration in the region had stopped and returns had begun.

Turkish and Russian officials were in talks in the past four days for the details of the cease-fire agreed on March 5 between Turkish and Russian leaders.

The protocol envisages the establishment of a security corridor 6 km north and 6 km south from the M4 highway in Idlib.
Bhutans Prime Minister Lotay Tshering hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership while accepting India's proposal to the members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to formulate a strong strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Tshering took to Twitter to support the call of Prime Minister Modi and urged the SAARC nations to coordinate in this fight. Bhutanese PM raised concern about smaller economies and displayed confidence in PM Modis leadership to achieve immediate and impactful outcome.

This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference. https://t.co/2RnokAJQOs  PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) March 13, 2020

Read: 'Leave No Stone Unturned': PM Modi Proposes SAARC Chalks Out Anti-Coronavirus Strategy

Read: PSL 2020: England Players To Leave Pakistan Immediately Over Coronavirus Outbreak

'Requires collective effort'

PM Modi had proposed that the SAARC countries could discuss the ways, via video conferencing, to keep citizens healthy. Nepals Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih also thanked Prime Minister for taking the initiative and welcomed the proposal.

I welcome the idea advanced by Prime Minister Modiji @narendramodi for chalking out a strong strategy by the leadership of the SAARC nations to fight Coronavirus. My government is ready to work closely with SAARC Member States to protect our citizens from this deadly disease.  KP Sharma Oli (@PM_Nepal) March 13, 2020

Thank you PM @narendramodi for taking the initiative on this important endeavor. Covid 19 requires collective effort to defeat it. Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort. https://t.co/2fxQxe9w1h  Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (@ibusolih) March 13, 2020

PM Modis proposal and quick response from SAARC members could revive the regional intergovernmental organisation which has been dormant since the bilateral relationship between India and Pakistan hit the nadir.

Read: Mamata Banerjee Felicitates Mohun Bagan For I-League Win; Spreads Coronavirus Awareness

Read: Coronavirus Scare: Indonesia Temporarily Bans Face Mask Export To Secure Domestic Supply
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau are in self-isolation as they await the results of her COVID-19 test.

Sophie recently returned from a speaking event in the UK, and last night she was experiencing mild flu-like symptoms, Justin Trudeau announced on Twitter. Shes feeling better, but following the advice of our doctor she is self-isolating as we wait on COVID-19 test results.

Out of an abundance of caution, I too will be self-isolating & self-monitoring until we get Sophies results back. But Ill be busy working from home. Today, Ill be speaking with some world leaders and joining ministers for a Cabinet committee discussion on COVID-19.

 Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) March 12, 2020

A meeting that the prime minister had scheduled with the premiers and Indigenous leaders was postponed indefinitely because of the coronavirus outbreak, the CBC reported.

The Prime Ministers Office said in a statement to the CBC that Trudeau is not planning on being tested for COVID-19 at this time, but he will be self-isolating and self-monitoring in the meantime.

The doctors advice to the Prime Minister is to continue daily activities while self-monitoring, given he is exhibiting no symptoms himself. However, out of an abundance of caution, the Prime Minister is opting to self-isolate and work from home until receiving Sophies results, the statement said.

Trudeaus announcement comes a day after actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson announced that they had tested positive for the virus in Australia. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, among several other members of Congress, also said he was self-quarantining.

For a list of all the major events affected by the outbreak, read TheWraps coverage here.

Read original story Canadas Justin and Sophie Trudeau in Self-Isolation While She Awaits Coronavirus Test Results At TheWrap
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Google Bangalore employees have been told to work remotely.

REUTERS/Hannah McKay

An employee in Google's office in Bangalore, India, has tested positive for the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, and has been placed in quarantine, CNBC reported on Thursday.

Google, as well as the property managers of other buildings in the surrounding office park, instructed employees there to go home immediately and continue working remotely, according to CNBC.

In an email to employees, Google said the individual had contracted the disease while traveling overseas and had been in the office Monday, but was initially asymptomatic and had passed temperature screenings, CNBC reported.

The earliest known case of a Googler testing positive for COVID-19 was first reported at the end of February by Business Insider. Shortly after, the company restricted all international employee travel in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, also first reported by Business Insider.

Earlier this week, Google advised all employees based in North America that they should work from home if possible, joining other companies in taking more aggressive measures to protect employees and communities as the outbreak worsens.

Google did not immediately return a request for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A 'green fairy' is handing out marijuana to 150 patients who need it for medicinal purposes.

The New Zealand man, who wished to remain anonymous, said many of his Queenstown clients have not been able to get effective medicine through legitimate means.

Although the medicinal marijuana scheme will see it legalised as of April 1, making it more accessible to the public, he claims doctors are not taking the new medicine seriously.

As a result, he believes people will continue receiving their prescriptions from him.

A Queenstown man has been dubbed a 'green fairy' for supplying medicinal marijuana to 150 people waiting for the drug to be legalised (stock image)

'Doctors arent keeping up or seem uninterested,' he told the Otago Daily Times.

'The black market is thriving.

'Im doing the job the government should be doing.'

A woman, 40, who has suffered from chronic arthritis since age 12, says the cannibis oil provided by the green fairy has been life changing.

She said conventional medicine has never worked for her and she was blown away by the level of relief she experienced.

But while she uses it twice a day, she holds concerns about taking it illegally and believes the drug and its dosage would be better regulated if she was accessing it through a doctor.

Aaron Murphy, a partner with medicinal cannabis cultivation business Medigrowth New Zealand, said doctors in the area still seem to be conservative on the matter despite the plant's legalisation steaming ahead.

He said if doctors failed to upskill on why and how to prescribe the product, people would be driven back to the black market.

The 'green fairy' said he believes the medicinal marijuana black market will continue to flourish as doctors are not keeping up with the changes or seem uninterested (stock image)

Murphy said although green fairies are acting in compassion, because the cannibis is not tested or regulated, doses may vary and may not always be effective.

Marijuana was used as by ancient cultures as a herbal medicine with origins tracing back to 500 BC.

It was criminalised in Australia during the 1920s as response to the United Nations 1925 Geneva Convention on transnational drugs.

Last year, the ACT became the first Australian state to legalise marijuana for personal use, allowing people to possess 50 grams per person with a maximum of four plants per household as of January 31, 2020.
BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan likened Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath to demon king Ravan and former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia to Vibhishan, a key character in the epic Ramayan.

Chouhan said to demolish Lanka (kingdom of Ravan) one needs Vibhishan, the younger brother of the demon king who deserted Ravan and sided with Lord Ram in the battle in the ancient Hindu epic.

The BJP national vice-president claimed his party workers were harassed ever since Nath took charge in November 2018.

I have told Nath that I will take revenge for each and every tear of my workers. BJP workers were harassed, their properties demolished, tribal lands were snatched, FIRs filed against them, the NSA (National Security Act) was invoked...

"If you had ruled well we would not have to come down on roads, Chouhan said, addressing a meeting organised to welcome Scindia at the state BJP office here.

Scindia quit the Congress on Tuesday and joined the BJP in Delhi the next day. The 49-year-old former Union minister was given a grand welcome by the BJP when he arrived here on Thursday.

We will take a vow today that till we set afire Lanka of your sins, injustice, atrocities, corruption and terror, we will not relax and sit quietly, Chouhan asserted.

But you need Vibhishan to set afire Ravanas Lanka, the former chief minister remarked amid laughter by people present at the gathering.

Chouhan said the Congress which used to address Scindia as "Maharaja" is now calling him mafia.

"Just in a day, he (Scindia) has turned mafia for them (the Congress) from Maharaja, he remarked.

However, taking a jibe at Chouhan, state Congress spokesman Narendra Saluja said, First they (BJP) called him a traitor and now Vibhishan. It is the biggest insult for any person.

But state BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal defended Chouhans remark, saying he was praising Scindia.

Addressing BJP workers, Scindia recalled that even his father (the late Madhavrao Scindia) was framed by the then Congress government in the hawala scam.

Promising to work hard for BJP workers, the former Lok Sabha member from Guna said, For your every drop of sweat, I will shed 100 drops of sweat and if needed I will give my blood for you.
[March 12, 2020] Aerial Applications Awarded Strategic Expansion with U.S. Air Force

Aerial Applications (www.aerialapplications.com), a software company specializing in GPU-accelerated data processing of drone imagery to make maps, was today awarded the US Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II B Strategic Fund Increase Pilot Program. The program brings together commitment from both the public and private sectors to help advance the U.S. National Strategic Science and Technology goals through strategic funding. The program involves a commitment from the Verizon (News - Alert) 5G First Responder Lab for continued product development and integration over the program's 4-year period. The announcement was made during the Virtual Spark Collider, Pitch Bowl, and STRATFI Showcase, in lieu of South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, by Dr. Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Known as a center of rapidly growing technology and innovation, Austin has been expanding its footprint with the Department of Defense as the new home of the Army Futures Command and is one of the three Air Force AFWERX Innovation Hubs along with Washington D.C. and Las Vegas. The program gives Aerial Applications 4 years and $6 Million of R&D funding to help advance the development of environmental monitoring bolstered by artificial intelligence to support an Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center innovation initiative. Their initial project, mapping the habitat of the endangered golden-cheeked warbler at Camp Bullis in San Antonio, Texas, will be expanded significantly to include other species and applied to 20+ different use cases in at least 12 locations. Using unmanned aerial vehicles, teams can rapidly create environmental maps that help achieve compliance with Department of Interior requirements. This transition from a manual inventory process to an automated one, will save an estimated $8-16 million per year for the Department of Defense. "Aerial Applications has been a fantastic and talented partner and are well positioned to deliver this advanced drone imagery and machine learning capability for multiple installation and mission support enterprise uses. We look forward as this innovative partnership grows over thenext four years," said Marc Vandeveer, AFIMSC chief innovation officer.



The Pilot Program also emphasized the need for Dual-Use solutions - meaning technology that would be used by customers beyond the Federal Government. Aerial Applications has been working with Verizon as part of its 5G First Responder Lab to create, test and refine 5G solutions for public safety. One such solution will leverage Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband and drone technology to monitor and prevent wildfires. "We're thrilled that Verizon's relationship with Aerial Applications helped accelerate their ability to win this award and continue to work in our 5G Lab in D.C. to develop six new integrated solutions for the Air Force," said Christian Guirnalda, Director of Verizon's 5G Labs. "The reason we created our 5G First Responder Lab program is to give innovators access to Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network to develop cutting-edge technologies that can ultimately save lives."

The selection process has involved a 3 round down select, beginning with hundreds of highly promising technology startups. Aerial Applications was honored to win the award over hundreds of highly promising technology startups. In this Air Force Small Business Innovation Research Phase 2 partnership, Aerial Applications expects to develop advanced artificial intelligence and mapping analysis tools. This will be widely applied to multiple different use cases across the DoD to help improve environmental protection and compliance. This award follows a number of recent achievements and partnerships for Aerial Applications. Last year, the D.C.-based software company closed a $4.5 million equity funding round just months after being named as part of the first cohort of companies in the Verizon 5G First Responder Lab. "We're excited and humbled to have earned this amazing opportunity to develop, deploy and scale our technologies. From wildfires to polar bears, we're proud to support Air Force missions in diverse environments and applications," said Aerial Applications CEO Joe Sullivan. "Our team can't wait to prove how drones and AI can save lives, help humanity tackle complex problems at scale, and make advanced geospatial intelligence accessible to everyone." About Aerial Applications Aerial Applications provides web-based data management, processing, and Al image analysis software as a service (SaaS (News - Alert)) for drone-enabled enterprises, using advanced acquisition and geospatial techniques to collect and refine big data. Our multi-stage proprietary system combines advanced algorithms with a simple, easy-to-use interface to provide an intuitive, powerful photogrammetry engine. Our cutting-edge technology and reliable, always-on data processing system means we can easily tackle time-critical, resource-intensive projects. We leverage drone, Al, and automation technologies to revolutionize infrastructure and environmental management and create a safer, more insightful, more meaningful work experience for humans. About Verizon 5G Labs At Verizon's 5G Labs we work with local innovators to grow the 5G ecosystem. Together, we explore the boundaries of 5G network technology, co-create new applications and hardware, and rethink what's possible in a 5G world. Verizon's 5G Labs are open for collaboration in New York City, Washington D.C., Cambridge (MA), Los Angeles and Palo Alto (CA (News - Alert)). About AFWERX Established in 2017 by the Secretary of the Air Force and reporting to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, AFWERX is a catalyst for agile Air Force engagement across industry, academia and non-traditional contributors to create transformative opportunities and foster an Air Force culture of innovation. The ultimate aim is to solve problems and enhance the effectiveness of the Air Force. About USAF IMSC The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center serves as the single intermediate-level headquarters staff supporting AF-wide installation and expeditionary support activities. AFIMSC's mission is to deliver globally integrated installation and mission support to enhance warfighter readiness and lethality for America's Air and Space Forces. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200312005892/en/

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[March 12, 2020] Personalized Video Provider BlueRush Announces "Business As Usual Program" to Lend Support During COVID-19 Crisis

TORONTO, March 12, 2020 /CNW/ - BlueRush Inc. ("BlueRush" or the "Company") (TSX-V: BTV), an emerging personalized video Software as a Service (SaaS) company, announces its "Business As Usual Program." The program, powered by BlueRush's IndiVideo platform, has been designed to assist with corporate communications amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 impacts the way companies interact and communicate internally and externally, IndiVideo can help companies maintain a personal connection with customers and partners while limiting close proximity contact. The program is designed to help businesses conduct business as close to usual as possible while prioritizing the needs of existing customers and prospects for COVID-19 communications above all other current initiatives. IndiVideo creates an interactive experience to maintain a significant level of two-way engagement at scale. For example, marketing teams can create customized and personalized video content to send to customers. The goal is to provide the same level of high touch service equivalent to an in-person experience and create the same business as usual effect. "During this particularly challenging time, BlueRush wants to do what we can to help. We feel that IndiVideo can help both our current customers and potential new customers to strategically fill the communications gap we are all currently facing," said Steve Taylor, CEO of BlueRush. "If you feel IndiVideo could be of help to your business - please reach out to us and we will make it our highest priority." About BlueRush

BlueRus develops and markets IndiVideo, a disruptive, award-winning interactive personalized video platform that drives return on investment throughout the customer lifecycle, from increased conversions to more engaging statements and customer care. IndiVideo enables BlueRush clients to capture knowledge and data from their customers' video interaction, creating new and compelling data driven customer insights.



For more information visit www.bluerush.com. Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Company's current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include, without limitation: changes in law; the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities; state of the capital markets; the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations; a novel business model; dependence on key suppliers and local partners; competition; the outcome and cost of any litigation; as well as general economic, market and business conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in disclosure documents filed by the Company with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE BlueRush Inc.

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They were being prepared for sending to the Arab Emirates and Rome

On Friday, March 13, smugglers, who were trying to take 1.5 tons of medical masks across the border, were detained in Boryspil. Ukraines Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, told this during an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers. The broadcast was provided by 112 Ukraine TV Channel.

"In the morning, a load was arrested in Boryspil, one and a half tonnes of medical masks, which were being prepared for sending to the Arab Emirates and Rome. This is one cargo, two cases. Contrary to the government's decision to ban it. Now the masks have been seized, criminal proceedings are ongoing, Avakov reported.

As we reported earlier, Ukraine will soon evacuate more of its citizens who currently stay in China. Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs claimed that on Thursday, March 12.

According to him, 41 Ukrainians are now staying in Wuhan; ten of them said they wanted to go home.

It is worth noting that the previous round of evacuation was held on February 19-20. 48 Ukrainians and 29 foreigners were successfully delivered to Ukraine.
(Photo : SpaceX-Imagery from Pixabay) Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch on Saturday to carry 60 more Starlink satellites. (Photo : skeeze from Pixabay) Astronomers believe the mega constellations could severely affect astronomy.

Although the world is almost at a standstill and many of the world's businesses and institutions are closing temporarily, and with lockdowns happening in Italy and China, SpaceX is business as usual as a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 Starlink satellites is scheduled to take off from the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday morning.

Project Starlink Constellation

According to CNet, the Starlink Constellation has around 300 low-Earth orbit satellites launched, and SpaceX, owned by tech mogul Elon Musk, plans to have over 1,500 LEO satellites on space by the end of 2020.

The company is on schedule and will likely have more launches coming soon, especially if they want to stay ahead of the competition and meet the FCC requirement to have at least 2,212 satellites already in space by the end of 2024.

The end goal of SpaceX is to send 42,000 low-Earth orbit satellites that will form the Starlink Constellation, which should provide a faster internet connection to just about anywhere in the world--even in the most remote location.

Protests from Astronomers

The first batch of satellites first launched in May 2019, and since then, swarms of astronomers have been voicing their concerns over the project.

According to a research study published by the European Southern Observatory stated that the mega-constellations from SpaceX, Amazon, OneWeb, and more could "severely affect" wide-field surveys, specifically the Vera Rubin Observatory that is currently under construction in Chile.

"The problem with the Vera Rubin is because of the brightness of the satellites it can actually saturate the detector and cause the whole image to be lost," one of the authors of the research, Andy Williams, said in an interview with Business Insider.

Several petitions have been made online by astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts to stop SpaceX from continuing its projects. As of writing, one of the petitions has already garnered 5,000 signatures and only needs 2,500 more to achieve its goal.

"We Will Not Cause Impact"

Despite the protests from astronomers, Musk had been steadfast in his decision to continue the Starlink project and had been adamant that the brightness problems will be dealt with.

During the opening day of the Satellite 2020 Conference on Monday, Musk addressed the controversy behind the Starlink project.

The SpaceX CEO spoke confidently that the project wouldn't have any lasting impact in the field of astronomy, saying, "I am confident that we will not cause any impact whatsoever in astronomical discoveries."

However, SpaceX has reportedly asked for a meeting with ESO.

ALSO READ: Google Maps Encourages Business Owners to Provide Changes Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

As of now, the scheduled Falcon 9 takeoff will be continued amid the protests and the ongoing battle with coronavirus. The launch will happen at 6:42 A.M. PT and will likely be streamed as with previous launches.

This is not the first time the company is using the Falcon 9 as it has already flown into space for a Starlink mission before.

SpaceX will attempt to recover the rocket's first stage and its nose cone with three different ships that will be waiting for the parts in the Atlantic Ocean.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A Google employee at its Bengaluru office has been tested positive for the novel coronavirus and the company has told all its employees to work from home.



After Dell India and Mindtree, this is the third case where an employee of a tech giant has been diagnosed with coronavirus in the country.



"We can confirm that an employee from our Bangalore office has been diagnosed with COVID-19. They were in one of our Bangalore offices for a few hours before developing any symptoms," a company spokesperson said in a statement.



The employee has been on quarantine since then, and Google has asked colleagues who were in close contact with the employee to quarantine themselves and monitor their health.



"Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking employees in that Bengaluru office to work from home tomorrow (Friday)," said Google.



Earlier, one employee from software major Mindtree and Dell India each were tested positive following their returns from the US.



India witnessed its first coronavirus death when Karnataka Health Minister B. Sriramulu on Thursday confirmed that a 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi in the state's northern region died of COVID-19.



The Union Health Ministry has confirmed 76 coronavirus cases so far.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chongqing Changan Automobile Co.,Ltd (Changan Automobile) said its Feb. auto sales slumped 73.7% from a year ago, versus the 79.1% decrease in China's overall sales announced by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).



It is not strange to see that all subsidiaries suffered substantial sales slide amid the coronavirus outbreak. Notably, Changan Ford was the least-hit one with a decrease of 39.9%, a pretty low level compared to most of OEMs in the country. The Sino-U.S. joint venture achieved growth in Jan. and last Dec. after a long-lasting downturn between 2018 and 2019. Thus, the relatively small base number protected it from be tremendously hit.



For the first two months, Changan Automobile saw its auto sales significantly shrank 34.8% year on year to 163,341 units. The sales of Changan's locally-born brand stood at 124,063 units, including 94,118 PVs. It is worth noting again that the YoY decline in Changan Ford's sales only reached 9.7%.

During the tough February, automakers on this land spared no efforts to combat against the coronavirus epidemic. Apart from the RMB10 million of cash donation, Changan Automobile leveraged its merits and resources in vehicle production, logistics and mobility services to offer favors to the battle lines.

Changan said its subsidiary Jiangling Motors transported two negative pressure ambulances to Wuhan as early as Feb. 1, and to-day has delivered a total of 1,400 ambulances. Besides, Kaicheng, a CV marque of Changan Automobile, has so far received 287 ambulances of orders.

In early Feb., the automaker joined hands with Changan Minsheng APLL Logistics Co., Ltd., a third-party automobile logistics provider 25.44% owned by China Chang'an Automobile Group, to delivered urgently needed medical supplies, such as mask and disinfectants, to Chongqing, Nanjing and Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital.

Its new energy unit, Changan New Energy Automobile, has teamed up with T3 Mobility and Chelai Travel to provide the frontline medical staff with free mobility services.
FLINT, MI--Community centers, residents and city officials are taking precautionary measures after two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the state Tuesday night.

There still have been no confirmed cases in Genesee County, however.

Mayor Sheldon Neeley held a press conference to discuss precautionary measures the city is taking to prevent the disease from spreading. His administration has not been shutting the water off due to nonpayment of water bills and will continue to practice that, he said.

Neeley still wants residents to pay their water bills.

Were asking residents to pay and use our online services as much as possible, Neeley said. We will waive all fees online. If you need to write a check or money order, please use the dropbox to do so.

The mayor is planning to meet with the Flint Community Schools Board of Education to discuss the situation. The city will not be holding public events with more than 30 people. Neeley said that could extend to City Council meetings.

The sense of caution extended elsewhere in the city Thursday.

Beverly Lewis, director at Hasselbring Senior Center, said her organization is cautious but not panicked. The center is getting direction from the governors office and the countys health department. Employees have been diligently wiping surfaces down multiple times a day, Lewis said.

My whole thing is I dont want our seniors panicking, Lewis said. The saving grace for them right now is that there are no known cases in Genesee County. Once, or if, it gets to Genesee County, thats when theyre going to start freaking out.

Lewis says she's having conversations with seniors that come into the building throughout the day.

"With each group, I'm making sure to tell them to wash their hands, cover their coughs and to use the resources we have," Lewis said.

There is concern about how the virus impacts seniors, Lewis said.

"That's why they're being extra precautious. According to all the reports (seniors) are the most susceptible. Right now, we're just holding on," Lewis said.

Operations at the senior center will be modified if a case is confirmed in Genesee County, Lewis said.

"I don't know if that'll be day-to-day or evening events, but we will be taking our direction from the health department and the governor's office," Lewis said. "The senior centers in the county will have a meeting tomorrow to strategize on what we need to do that we're not already doing."

Lewis said the center has already encountered a snag in supplies.

Im not able to find any aerosol or Lysol, Lewis said. I am going to be hitting Amazon to see if I can find some but I have tried everywhere and cant find any.

Lisa Gipson, a Flint resident and a mother of two children, says shes taking precautionary measures at home.

I cant control what happens when they get on that bus and go to school, Gipson said about her children.

Stores are running out of supplies, Gipson said. She went to Walmart and a dollar store this week and both stores were out of Lysol spray and hand sanitizer.

"I feel like it's going to be a huge urgency. We've seen it in the past with swine flu," Gipson said. "We still took measures to keep ourselves safe."

Gipson is constantly reminding her children to wash their hands and to wipe down the surfaces in the house like the remote, doorknobs and the fridge.

Im taking precautionary measures myself and doing what I can to keep my family safe at home, hopefully, that will help, Gipson said.

Gipson studies esthetics -- a branch of cosmetology concerning skin care -- at Mott Community College. Shes not sure how the coronavirus will impact a new salon that is supposed to open next week.

Everyone is nervous and understandably so, Gipson said. I hope that everyone stays safe and that no one else sees the worst of this.

Other community spaces in Flint, like the Berston Fieldhouse, remain open.

Bryant Nolden, executive director of Berston Fieldhouse and chair of the Genesee County Health Board, said the community space is being cleaned extensively every day. Hes spoken with the facilitys program directors and theyve communicated to parents that kids who arent feeling well should stay home.

We dont have a (coronavirus) case in Genesee County to date but we know that its just a matter of time so need to stay proactive, Nolden said.

A lot of activity has taken place at Berston in the last few days. Presidential candidate Joe Biden stopped by on Tuesday and American rapper Ice Cube was filming at the field house for the Clarissa Shields movie earlier this week.

"We're taking the lead from the health department if a case does occur in Genesee County," Nolden said. "We want to do what's deemed appropriate."

Like everyplace else, Berston is stocking up on hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes and disinfecting spray, but supplies are running out at stores. Nolden says he plans to scout supplies in bulk later today.

(Residents) are a little concerned but theyre being diligent and keeping an eye on whats going on, Nolden said.

Terry Davis, 51, owns a tree service in the city where he interacts with people often. Hes nervous about the virus spreading because he has a 13-year-old grandson and a 2-year-old granddaughter.

Im concerned because shes in daycare so you know thats a lot of germs there, Davis said.

Moving forward, Terry said hes going to be praying and keeping an eye on the situation as it develops.
The Union Cabinet on Friday is believed to have discussed statutory dues payment by telecom companies and the Supreme Court is likely to be appraised at the next date of hearing.

The Supreme Court had last month asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea Ltd and other telcos to clear within a month dues that arose out of its October 2019 order that non-telecom revenues have to be included for calculating spectrum charges and license fee.

The debt-laden, loss-making telcos however sought government intervention in relaxing terms of the payments, including staggered payments spread over multiple years.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) reportedly sought a legal opinion from the law officer which is believed to have figured at the meeting of the Cabinet on Friday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who briefed the media about the decisions taken by the Cabinet, directed queries on the issue to DoT.

DoT officials were tight-lipped about the deliberations, saying the matter was before the Supreme Court.

The Union Cabinet is understood to have discussed statutory dues payment by telecom companies at its meeting on Friday and it is widely-anticipated that Supreme Court will be appraised at the next date of hearing. The apex court is scheduled to hear the AGR matter on March 17.

Bharti Airtel has, so far, paid Rs 13,004 crore to the government in two installments. It has also deposited an additional Rs 5,000 crore as an "ad-hoc payment (subject to subsequent refund/adjustment) to cover differences, if any, arising from the reconciliation exercise with the DoT". The total payout by Bharti Airtel, however, is half of the Rs 35,586.01 crore liability estimated by the DoT.

Beleaguered Vodafone Idea has pegged its total dues to the government at Rs 21,533 crore -- less than half of what the Telecom Department has estimated. Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read recently indicated keenness to make a "new, good beginning" in India.

Vodafone Idea has so far paid Rs 3,500 crore out of the "self-assessed" liability of Rs 21,533 crore.

Minister of State for Communications Sanjay Dhotre, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha recently, had said the government has received part payment of about Rs 25,900 crore from various telecom operators towards statutory dues.

The adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liabilities arose after the Supreme Court in October last year upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-telecommunication businesses for calculating the annual AGR of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fees to the exchequer.

In all, 16 entities had owed the government Rs 1.47 lakh crore 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 Vodafone Idea accounted for about 60 per cent.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on



Friday accused Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar of giving "misleading" replies on budget, which he alleged, is unjust to Vidarbha and Marathawada regions.

Pawar, an NCP leader, also holds the finance portfolio in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadii (MVA) government and presented the state budget on March 6.

Fadnavis was speaking to reporters outside the state Assembly complex here after his partymen boycotted the business in the House.

Pawar's reply on the budget was "misleading" and it was merely a political speech and not a reply, the former BJP Chief Minister said.

"When we talked about the injustice meted to Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra, Pawar tried to suggest that funds are being given to these regions by allocating just regular funds," he said.

The state government only gives guarantee when cotton is purchased from farmers annually, but Pawar is "creating an illusion" of doing a favour to the state's cultivators, he alleged.

"He (Pawar) said road and health works will be carried out in the state, including in the Vidarbha region. If he thinks doing routine work means development of these regions, then it is completely wrong," Fadnavis added.

The BJP leader hit out at the MVA government for allegedly making "poor" allocation for the Marathwada water grid project at a time when the actual requirement is of Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 7,000 crore, given that tenders for the work are to be opened.

"While less money has been allocated to Vidarbha, there is a small rise in the allocation made to Marathwada. But a huge rise in funds given to Western Maharashtra," the BJP legislator said.

The budget presented by Pawar was the first annual financial statement of the MVA government but it does noteven mention the opening and closing balance, the former Chief Minister alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India's exports rose for the first time in seven months in February growing by 2.91 percent to $27.65 billion, according to the commerce ministry data released on Friday

New Delhi: India's exports rose for the first time in seven months in February growing by 2.91 percent to $27.65 billion, according to the commerce ministry data released on Friday.

Imports too grew by 2.48 percent to $37.5 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $9.85 billion as against $9.72 billion in February 2019.

Trade Data | April-February trade deficit at $143.1 bn Vs $173 bn (YoY) pic.twitter.com/jXNIRx9sN9  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 13, 2020

Oil imports jumped by 14.26 percent to $10.76 billion in February compared to 9.41 billion in the year-ago month.

Exports during April-February this fiscal dipped by 1.5 percent to $292.91 billion.

Imports during the period declined by 7.30 percent to $436 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $143.12 billion.
Doctors are pleading with the federal government to fast-track its promised $30 million coronavirus public information campaign, saying mixed messages about COVID-19 have contributed to anxiety in the community, including panic buying and a rush on tests.

"They just need to get on with it," Australian Medical Association ethics committee chair Chris Moy said. "We needed this earlier".

Doctors are calling for the government to roll out its promised coronavirus public information campaign. Credit:AP

"The lack of clarity and uncertainty has led to this problem where people are anxious and are not focussing on what they need to be focussing on."

Labor's health spokesman Chris Bowen on Friday called for the government to roll out its campaign across radio, television, newspapers and social media "as soon as possible".
US travel curbs on much of continental Europe announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday deepened the sectors misery that began after the virus emerged in China late last year and reduced traffic.

Sydney/Chicago: The fallout from the coronavirus spread across the Pacific on Friday, with Australian travel firms issuing profit warnings and Japanese carriers cutting capacity, while US airlines rushed to cut flights to Europe in the wake of new travel restrictions.

US travel curbs on much of continental Europe announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday deepened the sectors misery that began after the virus emerged in China late last year and reduced traffic.

United Airlines Holdings Inc warned of US travel disruption as the virus spreads domestically and major tourist attractions like Walt Disney Cos theme parks in California and Florida said they would close.

American Airlines Group Inc and United said they would continue normal flights to and from Europe for the next week but would be reducing capacity to Europe by around 50 percent in April.

American also said it was cutting international capacity by 34 percent for the summer travel season and accelerating the retirement of its Boeing Co 757 and 767 planes.

Delta Air Lines Inc also said it would significantly reduce its US-Europe schedule after Sunday as it continues to watch customer demand.

German airport operator Fraport said on Friday that passenger numbers at its key Frankfurt airport dropped by around 30 percent in the first week of March due to the coronavirus epidemic.

We have to assume that the strong decline in air traffic volumes will continue during the next few weeks and months, CEO Stefan Schulte said in a statement.

Air France KLM SA said on Friday that it had drawn down on 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) worth of its revolving credit facility to help its financial position.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a global industry group representing airlines, called on governments to consider extending lines of credit, reducing infrastructure costs and cutting taxes.

IATA last week estimated that the crisis could wipe out some $113 billion of industry revenue, in a forecast that did not include the US clampdown on European travel.

There is a heightened concern there will be increased airline bankruptcies in 2020 given the fallout from the coronavirus, Cowen analyst Helane Becker said.

We expect some governments to step in to help some airlines, but ultimately we expect more airlines to fail this year than last year, she said in a note to clients, citing Cirium data that 41 airlines with 324 aircraft went bankrupt last year.

Cash-strapped low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA said on Thursday it would cut 4,000 flights and temporarily lay off up to half of its employees due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Indian government said it would extend the deadline for submission of early bids for ailing state carrier Air India until 30 April in part due to the virus situation.

Asia-Pacific hit hard

Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd, Auckland International Airport Ltd, Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd and Corporate Travel Management Ltd said they would take hits to earnings from reduced travel demand.

Australias No. 2 carrier, Virgin Australia, said it would offer discounted fares and cut some flights from Sydney to Los Angeles as demand for trans-Pacific travel fell.

You will see us continue to be very disciplined with capacity as the situation evolves, Virgin Australia Chief Executive Paul Scurrah told reporters, echoing similar comments by rival Qantas Airways Ltd earlier in the week.

Virgin and Flight Centre joined a growing list of travel companies, which includes the big US airlines, that are freezing hiring, halting executive bonuses and offering unpaid leave.

Singapore will deny from Monday entry or transit to visitors who have been in Italy, France, Spain or Germany in the last 14 days, the health ministry said on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Singapore Changi Airport announced seat capacity for the month of March was down nearly 30 percent from what was originally scheduled.

CGS-CIMB analyst Raymond Yap said the global spread of the virus meant the fall in demand for Singapore Airlines Ltd regional flights was likely to spread to long-haul flights, hurting the take-up rate in the lucrative business and first-class cabins.

Japans ANA Holdings Inc and Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL) closed 7.6 percent and 13 percent lower respectively.

JAL said it would cut 1,468 domestic flights between 20 March and 28 March stemming from lower demand because sporting and cultural events had been suspended in Japan.

ANA will cut the number of daily flights from Japan to Los Angeles and New York and reduce operations to other cities in North America from Monday, it said. It also said there will be fewer flights to Europe including France, Germany and Belgium.
National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah was released on Friday from detention a couple of days after the Jammu and Kashmir administration renewed his detention under the Public Safety Act for another three months for the third time on March 11.

The release comes after much deliberation in the top echelon of the government. The top three in the government  the Prime Minister, defence minister and home Minister  have been keeping a close and continuous watch on the Jammu and Kashmir situation. The government did consider releasing the octogenarian leader but not allowing him into Kashmir till the law and order situation was agreeable, a senior government official, who didnt wish to be named, said. The matter was, however, left to Union home minister Amit Shah and the Jammu and Kashmir administration, he added.

Satisfactory law and order situation and return of normal life in the Jammu and Kashmir also contributed to the decision of releasing Abdullah, a second senior official in the Jammu and Kashmir administration, who didnt want to be named, said. The political narrative in Jammu and Kashmir have moved from restoration of special status to restoration of statehood. And, the Centre is not averse to restoring statehood, he added.

On August 5, the Centre scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and split the state into two union territories. Over 7,000 people, including mainstream political leaders such Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti  all former chief ministers of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir  were put under preventive detention. In Jammu and Kashmir, 450 people are still in detention.

The issue of detention of leaders of Jammu and Kashmir had been raised in Parliament and even internationally. But, importantly, it was felt that the situation doesnt warrant his detention anymore, a third senior official, who did not want to be named, said.

Last Sunday, former finance minister Altaf Bukhari along with ex-members of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Congress and the NC floated a new political outfit, Apni Party. The new political formation will be pushing for statehood, protection of employment for residents of Jammu and Kashmir and protection of their land rights.
SPRINGFIELD  In light of the coronavirus pandemic, the Most Rev. Mitchell T. Rozanski, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese, has suspended Masses and other activities in the states four western counties until further notice.

Catholic schools in the diocese will be closed for two weeks, the diocese announced on Friday afternoon.

All pastoral in-home and nursing home visits are to be discontinued unless the individual is in critical condition.

The suspension of services comes in the middle of the Lenten season, one of the most important periods of the liturgical year for Christians.

The bishop urged parishioners to view the dioceses televised Mass on Sunday, The Chalice of Salvation, which airs in Berkshire County at 6 a.m. Sunday on WXXA, Fox23, in Albany and elsewhere in Western Massachsetts on WWLP 22News at 10 a.m.

There will be two live streamed Masses, Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m. online at stagnescc.com.

The diocese said it is working with risk management and environmental consultants to develop a comprehensive response plan to help guide it in the coming days, weeks and months.

The Annual Catholic Appeal In-Pew Commitment Weekend has been rescheduled to April 18-19.

The Springfield diocese is comprised of more than 80 parishes serving 235,000 Catholics.

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Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has led the former Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi; his mother, Saudatu Hussein, and his three children out of Awe, Nasarawa State.

They left the community at about 4p.m for Abuja, where PREMIUM TIMES exclusively learnt they would be flown to Lagos to meet other members of his family.

Mr. El-Rufai, who arrived Awe at about 12:46p.m, joined Mr. Sanusi to observe Jumuat congregational prayer where the latter gave a 30-minute sermon on forgiveness, perseverance and holding trust in God as giver and taker of everything.

The former emir delivered his sermon both in Arabic and Hausa languages, before he led the prayer.

Mr. Sanusi had on Monday been dethroned by the Governor of Kano State, Umar Ganduje, who accused the former emir of disrespecting constituted authorities by not taking part in the states official activities.

The removal of the emir and his banishment to Awe in Nasarawa State had attracted widespread condemnation from many Nigerians including the founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Atedo Peterside.

Mr. Peterside declined to attend the roundtable organised on Wednesday by the Central Bank of Nigeria citing the banishment of Mr. Sanusi as his reason for doing so. He said such disregard for laws and human rights are part of disincentives to investing in the system.

Earlier, hours after Mr. Sanusis removal, the Kaduna State Government had announced his appointment into both its investment agency and as the governing council chairman of the state-owned Kaduna State University.

El-Rufais visit to Sanusi

The Kaduna State governor had earlier planned to visit Mr Sanusi on Thursday but was barred by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, who said the governors visit could spark crisis.

Mr El-Rufai had also notified his Nasarawa State counterpart, Abdullahi Sule, who welcomed the idea.

However, sources at both the Nasarawa State government house and the police headquarters in Abuja confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that the police chief had warned Mr. El-Rufai not to make the trip, and that if he did, he would be blocked.

While Mr El-Rufai had insisted he would visit his friend on Monday, a meeting he attended at the villa ran till late in the evening.

The development had discouraged the governor from visiting Awe again on Thursday and we were told to be prepared for the journey today, an aide of the Kaduna governor said.

When contacted on why the police chief took such stance, the spokesperson for the Nigerian police, Frank Mba, said he was not aware of such development, and that except his service is required on such matter by the IG, he could not comment.

According to Mr. Mba, both the governor and the police chief are not just senior citizens but also friends and brothers.

So whenever the duo want to talk, it would be a private discussion, and my own involvement would only amount to meddlesomeness, Mr. Mba said.

Meanwhile, shortly before the governor reached Awe, the Federal High Court in Abuja, had ordered the release of the deposed emir from the illegal post-dethronement detention and confinement imposed on him by the Kano State Government.

The court gave the order pending the determination of the case.

Mr Sanusi had on Thursday filed an application, asking the court to order his release.

The suit, filed on Thursday, was brought pursuant to section 34, 35, 40, 41 and 46 of the 1999 Constitution and Order 4 Rule 4 of the Federal High Court

Mr Sanusi asked for, An interim order of this Honourable Court releasing the Applicant from the detention and/or confinement of the Respondents and restoring the Applicants rights to human dignity, personal liberty, freedom of association and movement in Nigeria, [apart from Kano State] pending the hearing and determination of the Applicants Originating Motion.

Upon granting the above request, the former Central Bank Governor(CBN) also urged the court to make, An order granting leave to the Applicant to effect service of this order alongside the originating motion and subsequent processes on all the respondents.

The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu; the Director-General of the State Security Services(SSS), Yusuf Bichi; Attorney General of Kano State and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; are the first, second, third and fourth respondents respectively.

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Premised on eight grounds, the suit stated that, Applicants fundamental right to life, human dignity, personal liberty and moverment are seriously under challenge and continually being breached by the Respondents.

At the commencement of the case on Friday, the team of lawyers led by Lateef Fagbemi, in urging the court to grant their request, said the health of the applicant is a subject of concern.

Mr Fagbemi said, before the pronouncement of the kano state government deposing the applicant, the palace of the applicant was already evaded by the first and second respondents.

The lawyer further said that there is no criminal proceeding pending against the applicant and the applicant has offered not to go to Kano until the determination of the originating sermon.

Ruling on the application on Friday, the judge, Anwuli Chikere, granted prayers one and two respectively.

She further held that the respondents are to be served the originating summon within five days and the respondents to reply within five days.

Justice Chikere adjourned to March 26.

In court to witness the days proceedings was the ousted emirs sister, Zainab Sanusi, and his daughter, Khadija Sanusi.

El-Rufai speaks

During his four-hour stay in Awe, Governor El-Rufai said he was in the state to meet his childhood friend, and that his decision to take Mr Sanusi out of the town was backed by the court order.

Mr El-Rufai said based on the order, Mr Sanusi is free to move to anywhere in the world including Kano State.

He said, In Kaduna, we honour our traditional rulers because they are the custodians of our cultural values. We rever and respect them.

So, apart from being my childhood friend, traditional rulers deserve our respect.

A statement by the Kaduna State Government later on Friday suggested Mr Sanusi had gotten over his removal.

His Highness seems to have taken all that happened in his stride but has reiterated his commitment to enforce his fundamental human rights, the statement, which was signed by Muyiwa Adekeye, Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the governor, said.

Mr Sanusi, his mother and the three children who were with him in Awe, drove in the same vehicle with Mr El-Rufai as they moved from the community to Abuja airport enroute Lagos.
Former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who joined the BJP on Wednesday, will file his nomination papers for the 26 March Rajya Sabha polls from Madhya Pradesh in Bhopal on Friday, said a saffron party spokesman.

Bhopal: Former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who joined the BJP on Wednesday, filed his nomination papers for the 26 March Rajya Sabha polls from Madhya Pradesh in Bhopal on Friday.

Earlier in the week, the BJP had named Scindia as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh, where three seats are falling vacant, soon after he joined the party.

After resigning from the Congress on Tuesday morning Scindia joined the BJP in presence of party president JP Nadda in Delhi. Madhya Pradesh BJP Media Cell in-charge Lokendra Parashar said the 49-year-old former Lok Sabha MP will file his nomination papers on Friday afternoon.

Scindia filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls after garlanding the statues of BJP leaders, including Deendayal Upadhyaya and Rajmata Scindia, around noon on Friday, said Parashar. Scindia had arrived in Bhopal around 3 pm on Thursday, he said. This is the former Congress leader's first visit to the state capital after joining the BJP.

From the airport, Scindia went to state BJP headquarters, Deendayal Parisar, where he was accorded a welcome at a function. Of the three seats falling vacant in the state, two are held by the BJP and one by the Congress.
Very few people are seen in the area surrounding the Colosseum, which would usually be full of tourists, in Rome, Italy. Italy's tourism industry has been affected by a coronavirus outbreak, with hotels reporting mass cancellations even in cities with few or no cases of the virus. (Image: Reuters)
KALAMAZOO, MI  The annual Oberon Day celebration held at Bells Eccentric Cafe is canceled this year as coronavirus spreads elsewhere in Michigan.

The Kalamazoo-born business is asking people to celebrate the release of the favorite seasonal beer away from the cafe this year after an order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, issued on March 13, banning gatherings of 250 people or more.

Oberons opening day is canceled at Bells, Larry Bell said.

Related: Bells Eccentric Cafe cancels large events through April, monitors coronavirus

Bell said he was texting with Gov. Whitmer earlier this week and asked her if he would have to cancel the annual Oberon Day celebration that draws thousands to the popular downtown Kalamazoo hangout at 355 E. Kalamazoo Avenue.

Bell said Whitmer, a 2019 Oberon Day attendee, told him he would have to cancel.

Our pub will be open for normal business hours, but we have made the very difficult decision to not host a large gathering for Oberons release as in years past, Bells Brewery said in a statement. We know Oberon brings people together, but we are just not comfortable with the possible implications.

Bells Brewery informed its distributors and partners that they can begin releasing Oberon as soon as they get it and not wait until the original launch day of March 23, the company said.

We encourage everyone to celebrate where they feel most comfortable and enjoy a little sunshine wherever they can, Bells Brewery said.

Bell said its disappointing to cancel the party, but its the right thing.

Despite the business impact, Bell said he agrees with the governors decision meant to mitigate the spread of the virus.

We believe she has a good team and were going to listen to that team and implement their recommendations, Bell said.

As of noon on March 13, the state has not confirmed any positive cases of COVID-19 in Kalamazoo County.

Businesses and events across Michigan have been canceled as a precaution and to help stop the spread of the virus that was first confirmed in Michigan this week.

Founders Brewing, based in Grand Rapids, announced it would temporarily close its taprooms in Detroit and Grand Rapids.

Read more:

Michigan expands sick leave policy for state workers amid coronavirus outbreak

Police zone declared to prevent St. Patricks Day student parties in Kalamazoo

President Trump says he will most likely get tested for coronavirus fairly soon
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 17:45 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a66d1f 1 Business Bank-Danamon,Investree,financial-services,loan-disbursement,fintech,peer-to-peer-lending,partnership Free

Publicly listed private lender PT Bank Danamon Indonesia signed on Thursday a loan channeling agreement with financial technology (fintech) platform PT Investree Radhika Jaya. The partnership will focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by tapping into the segments growing number of businesses.

With the agreement, Bank Danamon will provide loan funding through the peer-to-peer lenders (P2P) platform, enabling SMEs to borrow with higher credit limits as if they are applying through a bank, Bank Danamon wrote in a statement.

We are giving our SME borrowers much easier access to their financing needs, and more importantly, we will continue our commitment to supporting the growth of Indonesian SMEs as the backbone of this countrys economy, Bank Danamon president director Yasushi Itagaki told a press briefing in Jakarta during the announcement.

Indonesia's approximately 64.2 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) play a huge role in the countrys economy as they accounted for 99.9 percent of total businesses in 2018. MSMEs also account for 61 percent of GDP.

Read also: Bank Danamon to get new boss following merger

Bank Danamon vice president director Michellina Laksmi Triwardhany said the partnership would allow the bank to tap into a new customer base, a different market segment than the bank had yet to cater to.

Danamon usually gives out loans worth Rp 2 billion to Rp 20 billion to SMEs, meanwhile in our partnership with Investree, the maximum loan will be Rp 2 billion, Michellina said.

The loan channeling scheme will cater to borrowers applying for loans worth between Rp 200 million to Rp 2 billion. The average loan ticket size would be under Rp 500 million, Michellina said.

This is aligned with our vision because Danamon prioritizes SMEs as one of our engines for business growth.

As the party who will be in charge of assessing prospective borrowers, Investree will implement several measures as forms of risk mitigation. It will utilize online information networks, for example, e-procurement and artificial technology, to help build its credit-scoring system.

We are looking into supporting infrastructures for the lending business, [including] SMEs credit-scoring, [which] is something that we are developing as we speak, Investree cofounder and CEO Adrian Gunadi told the audience at Thursdays announcement.

Read also: P2P lenders create thousands of jobs, reduce poverty: Study

P2P platforms have contributed Rp 60 trillion to the GDP as of June 2019, primarily through MSMEs, according to a study conducted by local think thank Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) and the Indonesian Fintech Lenders Association (AFPI).

Adrian said that his Investree had formed partnerships with three banks, including Danamon and two multifinance corporations. These institutional lenders contributed about 30 percent of the total lending portfolio as of December last year. The rest were from retail lenders.

The partnership agreement between Bank Danamon and Investree is the third of its kind as the two parties had joined forces in other initiatives in the past four years, namely on cash finance services and opening savings accounts.

Investree is up and running in three countries, namely Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, with almost 2,000 SMEs and 80,000 lenders connected to its platform, Adrian said. (ydp)
New Delhi, March 13 : After the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia from the party, the Congress has reassured its gen-next leaders that they will be given "prominent" positions to contain the exodus from the party.

The Congress has reposed faith in young leaders in the Rajya Sabha polls, the tickets for which were announced on Thursday. Many youth leaders are said to be upset with the party and feel sidelined for not been adjusted in the party apparatus.

Leaders like Milind Deora, Jitin Prasada and Sandeep Dikshit are said to be unhappy over the events. Milind Deora and Sandeep Dikshit has been speaking out on the party affairs.

Congress Chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that "all the gen-next leaders will be given prominent position in the party, many of them have got and some of them have been nominated to Rajya Sabha." Barring legal luminary K.T.S. Tulsi, Digvijaya Singh, and Phool Singh Baraiya most of the tickets have been given to youth leaders. Congress has given ticket to K.C. Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi from Rajasthan, Rajiv Satav from Maharashtra and Shazada Anwar from Jharkhand.

The Congress leader when asked about Scindia he said that "he put self above the party" but millions of Congress workers put the party first. The Congress received a big jolt after Jyortiraditya Scindia resigned, as he was seen as very close to Rahul Gandhi.

On Scindia's joining the BJP, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday had said: "It's a battle of ideology... Scindia has kept his ideology in his pocket and joined the RSS. But I know him personally since college days...Scindia has a different ideology... but he thought about his political future... but he may not find comfort in the party he has joined." "This is a fight of ideology. On one side it is Congress and on the other, the BJP-RSS," he said.

Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday had dismissed Scidia's claim that he was unable to meet him or interim party chief Sonia Gandhi, saying Scindia had access at all times to the Gandhi household.

After joining the BJP, Scindia hit out at the Congress, saying, "The Congress today is not the same as it was in its original form." He also accused the Congress of denying the ground reality. "I had a dream when Congress formed the government in Madhya Pradesh in 2018. Eighteen months later, none of the promises have been met, including the ones relating to the farmers," Scindia said.
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NORTHAMPTON  A city resident who was pepper-sprayed and arrested in 2017 for staging a one-man demonstration on the front steps of City Hall has filed a lawsuit against the city and the police department, charging the arrest violated both his civil rights and his right to free speech.

Erik Matlock filed the suit this week in Hampshire Superior Court. He is seeking $700,000 in damages for wrongful arrest, harassment, abusive prosecution and defamation.

He is also seeking handwritten letters of apology and admission of wrongdoing by each person named in the suit.

In addition to naming the city and the police department, the suit names Mayor David Narkewicz, Police Chief Jody Kasper, and police officers Clay Delano, Brent Dzialo, Andrew Carney, Kenneth Kirchner and Andrew Kohl as defendants.

Matlock, who is black and Native American, was arrested April 8, 2017, as he conducted a one-man demonstration on the steps to the Main Street entrance of City Hall.

The suit invokes the much-publicized 2013 arrest of another black man, Jonas Correia, outside a Pleasant Street bar, and states members of the police department have a history of attacking and pepper-spraying unarmed and non-violent black men and then accusing them of assault.

The city reached an out-of-court settlement with Correia in 2016, paying him $52,000.

Prior to Matlocks arrest, he sat silently on the top step of City Hall, holding a sign that read, Give back what you stole.

News accounts at that time reported that Matlock was protesting the state Department of Children and Families taking custody of his children. Police said they were dispatched to the scene after receiving several reports from people being intimidated by Matlock as they tried to enter City Hall.

Police reportedly asked him to move because he was blocking the entrance. When he refused, officers tried to carry him down the steps. Matlock resisted by clinging to the banister. Officers ended up using pepper spray on him and placing him in custody. He was charged with assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

He was acquitted of the charges in November 2018.

A passer-by recorded video that shows officers struggling with Matlock and placing him in a squad car. The video does not show the initial confrontation.

As officers loaded him into the cruiser, the video shows a number of people criticizing the police for the arrest. One man can be heard yelling why are you kidnapping this man? When the video was posted on social media, it increased the profile of the arrest, and more than 20 people showed up in district court the next day to show their support for Matlock at his arraignment.

The lawsuit charges that police used excessive force in arresting him, and that officers failed to properly flush the pepper spray out of his eyes, leaving him to suffer extreme and prolonged pain while he was held overnight at the police station.

It also charges that officers lied in their reports, failed to interview any of the witnesses to the incident, and defamed Matlock by portraying him in the press as the aggressor.

Kasper and Narkewicz are named in the suit for providing negligent supervision.

The mayors office said Friday that Narkewicz would not comment on the matter.

Kasper also declined, saying it is department policy to not comment on pending litigation.
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Linkedin Hugo Greenhalgh (Reuters) London, United Kingdom  Fri, March 13, 2020 21:01 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a78976 2 Health dating-app,LGBTQ,coronavirus,COVID-19,health,Grindr,Hornet,Tinder Free

Leading LGBT+ dating websites are warning users to take precautions to avoid contracting coronavirus but are expecting an uptick in traffic as millions of people move online to talk rather than meet face-to-face in bars and clubs.

Many, including Hornet, which has more than 25 million regular users, have recently added advisory notes on how to avoid contracting the virus which has infected more than 130,000 people globally and caused almost 5,000 deaths.

More than 100 LGBT+ rights groups this week called on US public health officials to address the heightened vulnerability of gay and trans people, warning that their frequently weakened immune systems can put them at greater risk.

"We've shared a variety of news articles over the past few days inside the app in addition to sending messaging," Sean Howell, co-founder of Hornet, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by email on Thursday.

Part of Hornet's advice is maintain a social network "but remotely".

"Social contact helps us stay mentally healthy and fights boredom," its note stated.

Scruff, which has more than 15 million members worldwide, said it had started to send out coronavirus tips from the World Health Organization (WHO) "in chunks of 100,000 until all users are alerted", which should be completed by Friday.

A spokesman for Grindr, the world's best-known gay dating app which has more than 4.5 million daily active users and was sold for $608.5 million earlier this month, declined to comment.

Read also: China tech firm to sell gay dating app Grindr for $608 million

Her and Fem, both aimed at women, did not respond to requests for comment.

Last week, Tinder, which has nearly 6 million subscribers, added an advisory note that users see when swiping between prospective partners to warn over coronavirus, which has been declared a pandemic by the WHO.

"Tinder is a great place to meet new people," the note said. "While we want you to continue to have fun, protecting yourself from the coronavirus is more important."

Dating apps, however, might prove to be a lifeline for the LGBT+ community as the coronavirus crisis deepens with the number of people moving online rising, operators said, although adding that exact numbers were as yet unavailable.

"I suspect we will see increases in traffic just like we do in the winter months," said Howell.

"Social and dating apps are often about meeting people (but) they're also about having community and maintaining it online when we can't do it in person."

Carl Sandler, chief executive and founder of Daddyhunt, which with company stablemate MR X has 4.4 million global users, said this was a time when dating apps came to the fore.

"Dating apps have a role to play even as people limit the numbers of (real life) contacts they have," he said.
Panic selling sent the market crashing yesterday, as the coronavirus continued to spread globally, having been declared a pandemic. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 appeared to be in free-fall, down nearly 10% for the day. The Nasdaq dropped more than 9 points.

Amongst the chaos, the Fed declared it would pump more than a trillion dollars to stabilize the financial system, in addition to the rate cut announced earlier. It could also announce another rate cut at its March 18 meeting, if not sooner.

But investors appear rattled and unwilling to consider the reality that is nowhere near as gloomy as its being made out to be. Theres obviously a virus impact on travel companies, as both individual and corporate travel is minimized. The impact on technology companies could turn out to be worse than anticipated although there are indications that the Asia supply chain is limping back to normal.

And a few companies might insist that people work from home as far as possible, to be on the safe side. This of course doesnt mean that all the factories are shutting down, people arent going to work anymore and production is coming to a standstill.

The other thing worth keeping in mind is the fact that valuations had been soaring beyond reason, not just on our favorite stocks, but across the board. So we should actually welcome the correction as many stocks are getting closer to reasonable valuations.

But still, if you think the markets too risky and want to get back into the market on a budget, here are a few that can get you far-

Trinity Industries TRN

Trinity Industries is a diversified industrial company based in Dallas, TX. The company owns market-leading businesses offering rail transportation products and services in North America.

At $16.10 a piece, TRN is now going cheap, despite its 2020 EPS estimate jumping 13 cents in the last 30 days. Additionally, the company usually tops analyst estimates, which means that theres further scope for appreciation.

Story continues

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. APAM

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. is an independent investment management firm that provides a broad range of U.S., non-U.S. and global equity investment strategies. The Company's manages investments primarily through mutual funds and separate accounts. Its clients include pension and profit sharing plans, trusts, endowments, foundations, charitable organizations, government entities, private funds and non-U.S. pooled investment vehicles.

At $20.01 a piece, APAM has dropped to its lowest valuation in the past year despite its 2020 EPS estimate increasing 15 cents in the last 60 days. Additionally, the company usually tops analyst estimates, indicating further scope for appreciation. Its 2020 revenue and earnings expected to be up 12.5% and 13.5%, respectively.

Orion Energy Systems, Inc. OESX

Orion is a leading power technology enterprise that designs, manufactures and implements energy management systems, consisting primarily of high-performance, energy efficient lighting systems, controls and related services, for commercial and industrial customers without compromising their quantity or quality of light.

At $3.26 a piece, OESX is also trading below its average level over the past year despite the fact that its 2020 EPS estimate grew 10 cents in the last 60 days. In the last four quarters, it has topped analyst expectations by 363.6%, so theres every reason to believe that another beat is ahead. The 2020 revenue and earnings are expected to grow 135.4% and 300%, respectively.

Superior Energy Services, Inc. SPN

Superior Energy Services serves the drilling, completion and production-related needs of oil and gas companies worldwide through a diversified portfolio of specialized oilfield services and equipment that are used throughout the economic life cycle of oil and gas wells.

At $1.52 a piece, the stock is trading at the low end of its trading range over the past year despite the fact that its per share loss estimate dropped $2.82 in the last 60 days (86 cents of this was in the last 30 days). Its also a company that usually tops analyst estimates. Its 2021 revenue and earnings expected to grow 4.4% and 73.3%, respectively.

Calix, Inc CALX

Calix is a global leader in access innovation. Its Unified Access portfolio of broadband communications access systems and software enables communications service providers worldwide to transform their networks and become the broadband provider of choice to their subscribers.

At $6.66 a piece, the stock is trading below its average level over the past year. Its 2020 EPS estimate has edged up a penny over the last 60 days and it has topped analyst estimates by 24.0% on average over the last four quarters. Its 2020 revenue and earnings expected to grow 7.2% and 250%, respectively.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. BCRX

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals is a leader in the use of crystallography and structure-based drug design for the development of novel therapeutics to treat cancer, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases and viral infections.

At $2.02 a piece, BCRX is trading at the low end of its trading range over the past year although both 2020 and 2021 per share estimated loss is down significantly (a respective 18 cents and 20 cents) in the last 30 days. it has topped analyst estimates by 18.2% on average over the last four quarters. While revenue for the year is expected to decline, 2021 revenue is currently expected to jump 34.6%. Earnings will grow 5.3% this year and 17.1% in 2021.

Molecular Templates Inc. MTEM

Molecular Templates is focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation immunotoxins called Engineered Toxin Bodies for the treatment of cancers and other serious diseases.

At $11.40 a piece, the stock is trading above its annual average, but is significantly off its high point. Considering that its 2020 loss per share estimate is down 46 cents in the last 30 days and its 2020 revenue and earnings are expected to be up 30.6% and 2.6%, respectively, this is a stock worth looking into.

Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2020

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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: Thackeray govt orders closure of theatres, gyms, malls

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, Mar 13: In a drastic step to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Maharashtra government ordered closure of cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools and malls in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Nagpur cities from Friday midnight.

Making the announcement in the state Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the government was invoking the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 from midnight.

Wherever possible, companies should allow employees to work from home in view of coronavirus threat, he said.

Thackeray announced that schools in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad areas will remain shut till further orders.

However, the SSC exams in those schools will continue as per schedule, he said.

He also informed the House that so far, 17 persons have tested positive for coronavirus in the state- three each in Mumbai and Nagpur, 10 in Pune and one in Thane. The chief minister also appealed to the people to avoid visiting malls.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 13, 2020, 18:17 [IST]
Kate Middleton has officially overtaken Meghan Markle as the biggest royal fashion influencer of this year.

When the Duchess of Sussex, 38, first joined The Firm in 2017, the 'Meghan Effect' saw shoppers go wild for anything she wore; but since Megxit, her fashion influence has dramatically declined, according to data compiled by LovetheSales.com.

Based on the popularity of her outfits from 2017 to 2019, Meghan's fashion choices lead to an average increase of 216 per cent in online demand.

However, since the announcement that she and Prince Harry are stepping down as senior royals, Meghan's influence on online fashion searches has dropped to just 31 per cent.

In stark contrast, Kate's 2020 looks so far have sparked a 159 per cent increase - a noticeable uplift from the 119 per cent average increase in searches for her outfits between 2017 and 2019.

In January, both Kate, 38, and Meghan stepped out wearing coats by Spanish brand Massimo Dutti - and while both proved popular, Kate's was searched for online eight times more than Meghan's.

Kate Middleton (pictured left at the Christmas Day service at Sandringham in 2018) has officially overtaken Meghan Markle (right) as the biggest royal fashion influencer of this year

The decline of 'The Meghan Effect'

From 2017 to 2019, the 'Meghan Effect' had officially outshone the 'Kate Effect' - but since Harry and Meghan announced their move to North America, her outfits haven't performed as well as previous years.

The decrease in the effect is particularly noticeable when it comes to the Duchess of Sussex's signature gowns - notably the red dress by London-born designer Safiyaa on Saturday.

The statement gown worn by Meghan to the Royal Albert Hall was very similar to a blue dress from the same designer which she wore in Fiji in 2018.

The blue gown had a much bigger impact on shoppers, with searches going up for 'Safiyaa gowns' by 223 per cent in the days after the state dinner.

By comparison, the red gown only sparked a 38 per cent uplift in searches for it over the last week.

Meghan Markle wore a blue dress by London-born designer Safiyaa in Fiji in 2018 (right), which performed far better than her red dress (left) by the same brand, worn last weekend at the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall in London

Kate's coat was more popular

In January this year, Kate wore a camel Massimo Dutti coat to a charity event in Cardiff, Wales. On the same day, Meghan released pictures of a secret visit to her Mayhew's charity earlier in the month, wearing the exact same brand.

But analysis based on the combined Google search queries and page views of Brits revealed that in the weeks after both pictures of the duchesses were released, Kate's look was far more popular.

In fact, the evidence showed that the Duchess of Cambridge's coat was searched for eight times more than Meghan's was.

In January, both Kate, 38, and Meghan stepped out wearing coats by Spanish brand Massimo Dutti. While both proved popular, Kate's was searched for online eight times more than Meghan's was

Kate's most influential look of 2020

The Duchess of Cambridge's most influential look of the year so far came on day three of her recent royal tour of the Republic of Ireland.

Kate donned the country's national colours on day three in Galway, looking stylish in a Alexander McQueen trench coat and a Suzannah London vintage polka dot dress.

The duchess teamed the look with a chic Jimmy Choo clutch bag and a pair of black Ralph Lauren suede boots.

While the outfit was a huge hit, it was the recycled coat by McQueen - one of Kate's favourite brands - that sent shoppers into a fashion frenzy.

Demand for Alexander McQueen shot up by 233 per cent online - and searches for trench coats have been up 93 per cent in the past week.

Kate Middleton looking stylish in a Alexander McQueen trench coat and a Suzannah London vintage polka dot dress in Galway, Ireland last week

Meghan's most influential outfit of the year

The Duchess of Sussex's most popular look of the year so far came from one of her last engagements as a senior royal in the UK, where she delivered a powerful speech in honour of International Women's Day at a school in Dagenham, east London.

Meghan wore a cream boucle jacket by ME and EM with black Alexander McQueen trousers, Jennifer Chamandi nude pumps and a Rejina Pyo weave bag.

She made the surprise engagement at the Robert Clack Upper School in Dagenham on Friday and urged schoolboys to 'protect the women in your lives'.

The cream jacket was a huge hit with shoppers, selling out within hours, and searches for 'boucle jackets' shot up by 92 per cent in the days after the event.

The Duchess of Sussex wore a cream boucle jacket by ME and EM, black Alexander McQueen trousers, Jennifer Chamandi nude pumps and a Rejina Pyo weave bag to an engagement in Dagenham last week

Brits love Kate's casual wear

Kate is often pictured in glamorous brands like Jimmy Choo and Alexander McQueen, but it's been her affordable looks in 2020 that have caught the attention of shoppers.

Out of 20 of her looks that have been analysed so far this year, 11 featured high street brands, with the likes of Mango, Zara and Reiss all benefiting from the duchess choosing their clothes.

The most notable beneficiary was British high street stalwart Marks & Spencer; the Duchess of Cambridge wore their incredibly affordable white trainers to a SportsAid event in February.

The vegan-friendly shoes, which cost just 29.50, were a massive hit with UK shoppers, sparking a 165 per cent increase in online demand.

They were searched for over 2,000 times and sold out in hours on the Marks & Spencer website. M&S has said the popular trainers will make a return in April.
The Indian government has moved to drastically limit the number of people it allows to enter the country, suspending visas for visitors from all other countries for at least a month in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The measure, one of the most far-reaching responses yet to the Covid-19 outbreak by any government, effectively bans all tourism to India until at least 15 April. It will be enforced from Friday onwards.

The announcement came as the number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 72 on Thursday, and amid mounting concerns that the countrys beleaguered health system and densely populated cities would make it extremely difficult to contain a fully fledged outbreak.

Announcing the move, the health ministry said that all Indian nationals are strongly advised to avoid all non-essential travel abroad, warning they could be subject to a 14-day quarantine upon their return. Indian nationals presently abroad are advised to avoid non-essential travel, the notice added.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
The "Eye of Africa" is visible near the top right of this image, which was taken by a camera based on the 108-megapixel camera in Xiaomis M10 Pro smartphone.

Chinese electronics firm Xiaomi went above and beyond to advertise its latest smartphone , sending the device's 100-megapixel camera into space.

The camera, which is based on the 108-megapixel Xiaomi M10 Pro quad camera, was integrated into a cubesat that launched in November 2019 .

Xiaomi used the quite brilliant orbital imagery for the Chinese launch of its new Mi 10 smartphones on Feb.13.

Related: Latest news about China's space program

The Xiaomi images show Earth from an altitude of around 307 miles (495 kilometers), where the Chinese-made cubesat travels at close to 17,450 mph (28,080 km/h).

Visible in one image is the Richat Structure, also known as the "Eye of Africa" and "Eye of the Sahara."

Spacety , a Changsha-based private company that provides end-to-end small satellite services, integrated the camera into one of its cubesats, which launched in November.

The teams from Spacety and Xiaomi together solved 343 problems over a period of 168 days to get the 108-megapixel camera ready for launch aboard the Xiaoxiang 1-08, or "Dianfeng," cubesat.

Digital photography has its roots in outer space. Eugene Lally, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, was the first to develop the concept of the digital camera . A JPL team led by Eric Fossum later developed a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor active-pixel sensor (CMOS-APS) for imaging in space and on Earth.

While the Xiaomi orbital exercise was part of an advertising campaign, there are practical uses for such projects. Spacety has been looking at ways to lower the cost of space missions, testing both industrial and consumer-grade instruments and devices for use in space. And using cubesats with small payloads can bring big results at low cost.

For example, the United States' LandSat 8 satellite, which launched in 2013, weighed 5,782 lbs. (2,623 kilograms) and returns images with a resolution of 98 feet (30 meters) per pixel from an altitude of 438 miles (705 km). Landsat 8 had a price tag of $855 million.

The Xiaoxiang-1-08 cubesat undergoing testing. (Image credit: Spacety)

Xiaoxiang-1-08 was manufactured and launched within 2019, with a mass of a few pounds. The Mi 10 camera returned images at a resolution of 197 feet (60 m) per pixel. Of course, Landsat 8 is far more capable, working for many years and observing Earth with its Operational Land Imager in nine spectral bands, compared with the three (red, green, blue) of the Mi 10.

Xiaoxiang 1-08 also carries other experimental payloads. These include a laser communications payload for Chinese firm Laserfleet and tiny, cutting-edge solid iodine thrusters for French startup Thrustme .

The cubesat rode to orbit aboard a Chinese Long March 4B rocket, whose primary payload was the Gaofen-7 optical Earth observation satellite. The rocket also tested grid fins like those designed by SpaceX for guiding the landing of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy first stages.

Following this success, Xiaomi and Spacety are exploring the potential of cooperation in space imaging. This collaboration could have uses in meteorological observation, environmental warning, marine science and even financial analysis, representatives of the companies have said.

Follow Andrew Jones at @AJ_FI . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
Infiniti Research, a leading market intelligence solutions provider, has recently announced the completion of its latest market intelligence engagement for an online education provider. This success story pinpoints the key challenges faced by an online education market client, the approach undertaken by the experts at Infiniti Research to help the client achieve their key objectives, and the business impact of the engagement.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005271/en/

Infiniti Helped an Online Education Provider Increase Student Enrollment by 37% (Graphic: Business Wire)

An online education market client, based out of San Francisco, wanted to efficiently market their online courses and increase reach to potential enrollments. They also wanted to integrate highly targeted online and offline tactics, validate the demand for their course in the target market, and devise a sound marketing strategy to improve online conversion. They approached the experts at Infiniti Research to leverage their expertise in offering market intelligence engagement.

Infiniti uses a unique combination of primary research expertise and traditional desk research, to provide clients with smart business insights and customer-oriented strategies. Request FREE proposal for more insights.

Our Approach: To help the client tackle the above-mentioned challenges, the experts at Infiniti Research conducted a market intelligence engagement, customer intelligence engagement, competitive intelligence assessment, and marketing strategy engagement. The engagement also involved conducting a thorough audit of the client's website and related social media footprints. The experts at Infiniti Research also segmented smaller representative audiences and conducted demo campaigns across all the channels.

Business impact of the market intelligence engagement for the online education provider:

Created targeted campaigns that led to a 35% increase in organic traffic in six months

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Recommended to transform online learning into a live-streamed "virtual classroom" environment

Increased student enrollment by 37%

You may also like to read some of our recent market intelligence solution success stories:

An Automaker Attracted 300+ New Customers and Increased Sales by 37% in Six Months with Market Intelligence Engagement

Examining Market Opportunities and Industry Challenges in the US electric Vehicle Market Using Market Intelligence Engagement

Market Intelligence Engagement Helped a Food Service Industry Client to Enhance CX by 2x and Increase Sales by 31%

Want to know how our services can help companies in the online education market strategize their business functions? Request more info and our experts will get in touch with you with comprehensive insights.

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Established in 2003, Infiniti Research, is a leading market intelligence company providing smart solutions to address your business challenges. Infiniti Research studies markets in more than 100 countries to help analyze competitive activity, see beyond market disruptions, and develop intelligent business strategies. To know more, visit: https://www.infinitiresearch.com/about-us

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005271/en/

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The Delhi police on Thursday said they have arrested the Popular Front of Indias (PFI) Delhi president, Parvez Ahmed and its secretary, Mohammad Illiyas, for their alleged role in the Delhi riots.

The two office bearers of the PFI have been arrested for funding the riots and for their conspiracy in the crime. They had incited the rioters and hatched a conspiracy to carry out the riots. There is evidence against them, a senior officer of the special cell said while requesting anonymity.

The officer said that the communication between the two arrested men with some political leaders too was under probe.

With this, the total number of PFI members arrested for the Delhi riots has gone up to three. On Monday, the special cell had said that they had arrested another PFI member, Mohammad Danish, for spreading false propaganda during anti-CAA protests.

Reacting to the latest arrests, Anis Ahmed, the PFIs general secretary, said that it was an attempt to malign the party and that the allegations were totally fabricated.

We had earlier issued a statement saying that such allegations would be made against us. It is nothing new. Similar baseless allegations against our office bearers were made in Uttar Pradesh and they were arrested, but the police couldnt prove anything. It will be the same situation here too, he said.

He said that the PFI was being targeted to save the real culprits, but the organisation wouldnt step back. We will be using legal and democratic means to get justice, he said.
John Wentworth, a chief deputy prosecutor in the Clackamas County District Attorneys Office, is the lone candidate in the race for the top job.

Without a challenger, Wentworth, 52, of Oregon City will effectively win after the May 19 primary. The race is nonpartisan. The deadline to file was March 10.

Wentworth succeeds longtime District Attorney John Foote, who said he plans to finish out his term, which ends in December.

The sleepy race for district attorney in Clackamas County stands in contrast to the one in Washington County two years ago. That race drew the attention of national criminal justice reform groups who helped fund the campaign of a local defense attorney Max Wall. Wall challenged Kevin Barton, who worked in the District Attorneys Office. Barton won. District attorneys are elected every four years on a staggered schedule statewide.

This year, the race for district attorney in Multnomah County also is contested. Mike Schmidt, executive director of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, and Ethan Knight, longtime federal prosecutor, are facing off.

Wentworth worked as a prosecutor in Coos County before landing in the Clackamas County District Attorneys Office, where hes worked for two decades. His annual salary is $178,670.54. A graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School, he is the father of two teenagers.

According to the Oregon State Bar, Wentworth was admitted to the bar in 1994 and has no history of complaints or discipline.

Wentworth said hes humbled by the support hes received from the community. He said his first priority is to assess what the office does well and what it can do better and dedicate my efforts to making those changes whatever they turn out to be.

No organization is perfect, Wentworth said in a text message to The Oregonian, though he demurred in citing specific areas hed target for improvement.

The Clackamas High School graduate recalled placing second in an essay contest sponsored by the Clackamas County Bar Association. The topic: search and seizure involving school lockers. Wentworth said he was a sophomore and remembered the thrill of meeting a deputy district attorney who gave the essay winners a tour of the courthouse.

And so here I am 35 years later or so and have an excellent chance of being the district attorney and I think about that and I think its really neat, he said.

Wentworth has handled several high-profile cases, including the trial of faith-healing parents Dale and Shannon Hickman. The Oregon City couple was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and received the mandatory minimum penalty of six years and three months in prison for failing to seek medical care for their son, David, who was born two months prematurely and lived less than nine hours after his birth in 2009. An autopsy found he had staph pneumonia and underdeveloped lungs.

He also helped prosecute Lynn Edward Benton, the former Gladstone police sergeant who was convicted of killing Debbie Higbee Benton. Benton was a salon owner who was found shot, beaten and strangled in a storage room in her shop in May 2011. Lynn Benton was sentenced to life in prison.

Wentworth also handled one of the resentencing hearings for Dayton Leroy Rogers, Oregons most prolific serial killer. Rogers death sentence has been overturned by the courts three times. He was again sentenced to death during his latest hearing.

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
On Friday, a drumbeat of school district closings were announced in the Capital Region, with many planning to transition to online instruction next week to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

Officials at Albany, Schenectady, Shenedehowa districts, which each serve around 10,000 children, announced the closures late Friday afternoon as the number of COVID-19 cases in New York continued to rise. Niskayuna, Bethlehem, Cohoes, Guilderland, Green Island, and North Colonie were among those releasing their own closure notices.

School districts have been planning for remote learning for some time, but officials were awaiting more guidance from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on whether districts would be penalized by the state if they failed to hold 180 days of instruction during the school year.

"We are leaning on our legislators and the Governor to act immediately, today, to allow school districts to shut down for two weeks without loss of millions of dollars and sanctions so that the global health experts can get a handle on this matter," Shenendehowa Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson tweeted Friday morning.

Cuomo said at a Friday afternoon press conference that the state would waive the 180-school day requirement, but stressed that school closures should be a "local decision."

While children appear to be largely spared by the illness caused by the novel coronavirus that in three months has infected nearly 140,000 worldwide and wreaked havoc in 139 countries, kids can still spread the illness and some experts say closing schools is the most effective way to slow the pace of transmission.

Concerns have been raised that closing schools will put a strain on low-income families who rely on districts for childcare or food services. The decision to close a school district is also bound to have rippling implications for other businesses and industries critical to addressing the public health crisis such as health care, the governor said.

"Most people don't have the staff to watch kids, so if the kids are home then the parents are home. If the parents are home, who is going to work in the hospitals?" Cuomo said at a press conference on Friday.

The one-to-two week school closures were announced in quick succession following the governor's announcement.

The districts have all set into motion plans to educate students remotely while making breakfast and lunch available at designated pickup locations. After-school activities have been canceled.

Guilderland and North Colonie schools closed today

Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements

The latest coronavirus numbers in NY

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Full coronavirus coverage

The state Education Department issued guidance this week for districts on how to continue to provide meals for low-income students and well as special education services. Schools that have a student test positive for COVID-19 are required to suspend classes for at least one day to clean the building.

Districts across the region spent the last week preparing for the possibility of remote instruction and have asked students to take home their Chromebooks and workbooks home Friday in case school is closed next week.

It's not a decision that can be made lightly, particularly for rural schools and those serving a large number of children living in poverty, school officials said.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Ballston Spa Superintendent Ken Slentz said the district was prepared to move instruction online if necessary, but many families cannot afford to miss work or hire child care. It will be difficult for teachers to coordinate with pupils in daycare or staying with a neighbor or relative.

There are so many cascading impacts from this decision, Slentz said. The situation is so fluid and the decisions that we've made yesterday may, in fact, be altered today.

Albany High School Principal Jodi Commerford sent a message to parents midday letting them know that students would be sent home with instructional materials like packets, workbooks, novels. Additional digital and print resources will be made available on the district website.

"While no decisions have been made at this time, we are preparing in the event that there may be school or district closures due to the current COVID-19 situation," she said.

By 4:3o p.m., the district sent parents a text message that schools would be closed until March 30. Schenectady City Schools will remain closed until the end of next week, officials said.

North Colonie and Guilderland closed schools on Friday so that teachers and staff train for remote teaching, only to cancel school hours later.

All Catholic schools in the Albany diocese will be closed from Monday to Friday. All teachers, staff members, and administrators will be expected to report to work on Monday to prepare content for the delivery of distance learning. Individual schools will be communicating with parents directly regarding how their distance-learning programs will function, the diocese said.

Some public school educators say the state should provide clearer and more decisive action about school closures. Districts are required by law to educate and provide services to students with disabilities, but superintendents say that special education classes often cannot be delivered online or over the phone.

"As far as I know, nothing has been addressed regarding how we could, would and should provide special needs services if students are at home," said Randy Squier, superintendent at Coxsackie-Athens Central schools. "I've been in contact with our attorneys and there has been no clear guidance."
Two new cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in Ukraine.

"Two new cases of coronavirus infection have been reported in Ukraine  an elderly woman in Zhytomyr region and a man in Chernivtsi region, whose wife stayed in Italy over the past 14 days," reads the publication on Ukraines Health Ministry Telegram channel Coronavirus_info.

The patients were isolated, they are provided with symptomatic treatment.

Earlier in Ukraine, one case of Covid-19 coronavirus was recorded in Chernivtsi city. Currently, the patient's condition is satisfactory.

As of March 13, 134, 829 coronavirus cases were confirmed in 127 countries and territories around the world and 1 international conveyance (the Diamond Princess cruise ship harbored in Yokohama, Japan). 70,395 patients recovered; 4,984 patients died.

On March 11, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved a plan to fight the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus infection in the country, which envisages a three-week nationwide quarantine in educational institutions and a ban on the holding of mass events.

The head of the World Health Organization officially characterized the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic.

ol
New Delhi: The Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill 2020 was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday (March 12, 2020), with 83 members voting in its favour and 12 against. On March 6, the Lok Sabha cleared the Bill amid a ruckus by the opposition.

The Bill proposes to amend the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957 and The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015.

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said the legislation will help bring more FDI in the coal and mining sector and boost the Indian economy. Joshi said the stress should be on exploiting coal reserves without harming the environment.

The Minister said the Bill was important as India should be optimally using its own natural reserves, instead of importing coal valued at Rs 2.7 lakh crore.

"The Act was enacted in 1957 for planned development of our rich minerals and also the coal reserves, one of the highest in the world," Joshi said.

He said the Act was amended many times but a landmark amendment was made in 2015. "The most important feature of this amendment is transparency and removing discrepancy in the allocation of the mineral compensations," he said.

The Minister said where there will be discretion, there will be corruption. "The method of the first-come-first-served system was shifted to e-auction. This was a game-changer and discretion was totally abolished," Joshi said.

The ordinance, which was cleared by the Union Cabinet in January, had brought amendments to the Act of 1957, and the Act of 2015. The ordinance was promulgated on January 10.

A new section 8B has been introduced in the Bill that extends various statutory clearances to previous allottees to the new lessees for a two-year period.

The Bill aims to open up the coal sector for commercial mining and allow domestic as well as global companies to invest. "We have to produce coal and reduce imports," the Minister said.

He also assured the MPs that the government will strengthen state-owned Coal India Limited, pointing out that India has one of the largest reserves of coal in the world.

The Rajya Sabha saw the division of votes on the Bill after Elamaram Kareem from CPI-M pressed for it. Thereafter, the Bill was passed with 83 votes.
Welcome to this weeks edition of the Surge, in which we rank  drumroll please  NEWS STORIES according to how they affect the 2020 election.





Heres the deal: After last weeks edition, when we said goodbye to our candidate friends, we solicited your feedback for stuff to rank this week now that everyones dropped out. We received plenty of feedback, and most of it was quite thoughtfulonly one, really, was a vaguely menacing threat (shout out to Chuck). Many of you wanted potential running-mate rankings, while others suggested ranking gimmicky candidates, gaffes, candidates likelihood to get the coronavirus, and potential first spouses.





We may do some of those in the future, but this week were trying NEWS STORIES, of which there are many to choose from. These are the storiesor storylines, if you willthat are having the most impact on the election this week. Maybe we keep this theme next week, maybe we dont. Maybe there wont be a next week? Because 
A laboratory technician prepares COVID-19 patient samples for semi-automatic testing at Northwell Health Labs, Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in Lake Success, N.Y: AP

Nicole Loher felt the symptoms come on all at once. She had a cough, body aches and due to an exercise heart monitor she wears on her wrist, could even see that her heart rate was elevated.

The 26-year-old New Yorker had also been in contact with someone who suspected they had contracted the coronavirus, so she did what all the health experts have advised and called the specialised emergency advice number.

But that call sent her down a bureaucratic dead end that many sick Americans have experienced in the past week as they try and fail to seek testing from their medical providers.

I was on the phone for 30 minutes with a woman who was reading off a prompt, she told The Independent of the call she made on Wednesday.

Her call was transferred to her local hospital board, who were unsure why she was transferred there. Confusion followed.

They went on a hunt to find someone who could help me. Turns out they only had two nurses on staff that are helping patients evaluate their symptoms on the phone, she said.

Three days later, her symptoms have not subsided, and she is still waiting for a call back.

doctors in NYC will only see high risk patients with a fever of 102 or above, despite being in contact with someone who has COVID19. & I can also confirm, there are NO thermometers left in NYC  pic.twitter.com/AH1CKjBg1F  Nicole Loher (@nicoleloher) March 12, 2020

Cases like Ms Lohrs have raised concerns that many cities across the US are not adequately dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, and that the true number of cases may be significantly higher than officials are admitting.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 1,678 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 414 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 5 to 41.

Story continues

I kind of just went into pure shock, Ms Lohr said after her failed attempts to get medical attention. I was taking stock of what I have and trying to mentally figure out what I may need help with.

The difficulty of getting tests is fast becoming one of the weakest links in the chain of the US governments response to the crisis.

The Trump administration has sent conflicting signals about who is able to receive tests for the virus. Donald Trump said last week that anyone who wants a test can get a test  but that has not been the experience for many.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a congressional committee on Thursday that the lack of testing was a failing.

The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we are not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But we are not, he added.

Experts have said the high frequency of testing by Chinese authorities played a key role in slowing its spread. In some of the worst-affected areas, peoples temperatures were monitored as they entered public spaces and sent for tests if it was elevated.

The White House has also appeared at times to downplay the importance of testing. A number of associates of the president have gone into quarantine after coming into contact with infect people, but Mr Trump has not yet been tested.

On Friday, Mr Trump appeared to blame his predecessor, Barack Obama, for the governments difficulties in testing.

For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped, Mr Trump wrote on Twitter.

President Obama made changes that only complicated things further. The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go! he added, without providing any evidence for the claim.

Meanwhile, the restrictions in testing in the US appear to be affecting even those who have travelled to countries with high rates of infection.

Michael Page, a 37-year-old NGO manager, returned from a work trip to Paris earlier this month with a cough. He contacted his physician to outline the symptoms and was brought in for a brief checkup.

They checked my lungs, ear nose and throat. But there wasnt even a question of getting tested for coronavirus, he said. It wasnt even brought up because there is absolutely no availability.

Not only that, there is no follow up, he added. "Ive been practicing social distancing but I can't test one way or another. You essentially cant get the test until you are at death's door.

He added: "I'm very fortunate that I have healthcare, I am in good health, and I have access to resources. But for people who don't, their government is absolutely failing them."
 Flash

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency for the city on Thursday due to a foreseeable COVID-19 outbreak, predicting that more than 1,000 cases could surface by next week.

The total number of confirmed cases in the city reached 95 on Thursday, doubling that a day before.

Twenty-two of the patients are currently hospitalized and the rest of them are in home isolation, city officials said.

"This is going to be a long, painful episode," said de Blasio in a press conference, adding that it may take six months for the city to deal with immediate effects of the outbreak.

Earlier in the day, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state will ban gatherings with 500 people or more, including Broadway shows, as a precaution against the coronavirus.

The ban will be in effect on Friday at 5 p.m. local time (2100 GMT).

Other cultural institutions, including Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Opera, announced Thursday that they would temporarily shut down.

New York state currently has over 200 COVID-19 cases and is the second most impacted state in the United States next to the Washington state.
First Republic Minister, Chief Mbazulike Amechi has lashed out at South-East governors, for the delay in setting up a regional securit...





First Republic Minister, Chief Mbazulike Amechi has lashed out at South-East governors, for the delay in setting up a regional security outfit.





According to the Sun, Amechi advised the people of the South East, to defend themselves if the governors are not up to task.





He made this call amidst growing insecurity in the country, urging Igbos to remain vigilant.





If others are forming their own security organisations and the South East governors feel their own security organisation is the one that will be supervised by the Inspector General of Police, it shows the kind of people and governments we have, he said.

Amechi also claimed the governors were unconcerned about security, because they are protected.





According to him, when he was a Minister in the First Republic, he was only assigned one police orderly, but today they move about with scores of policemen enough to form a police post or station in addition to members of Directorate of State Service (DSS).
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the ProSiebenSat.1 Media (ETR:PSM) share price has dived 39% in the last thirty days. That drop has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 51% in that time.

All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

See our latest analysis for ProSiebenSat.1 Media

Does ProSiebenSat.1 Media Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 4.09 that sentiment around ProSiebenSat.1 Media isn't particularly high. We can see in the image below that the average P/E (24.6) for companies in the media industry is higher than ProSiebenSat.1 Media's P/E.

XTRA:PSM Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

This suggests that market participants think ProSiebenSat.1 Media will underperform other companies in its industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

If earnings fall then in the future the 'E' will be lower. Therefore, even if you pay a low multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become higher in the future. A higher P/E should indicate the stock is expensive relative to others -- and that may encourage shareholders to sell.

Story continues

ProSiebenSat.1 Media's earnings made like a rocket, taking off 68% last year. Unfortunately, earnings per share are down 3.7% a year, over 3 years.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

Don't forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. So it won't reflect the advantage of cash, or disadvantage of debt. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.

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

ProSiebenSat.1 Media's Balance Sheet

ProSiebenSat.1 Media's net debt is considerable, at 107% of its market cap. This level of debt justifies a relatively low P/E, so remain cognizant of the debt, if you're comparing it to other stocks.

The Bottom Line On ProSiebenSat.1 Media's P/E Ratio

ProSiebenSat.1 Media's P/E is 4.1 which is below average (16.8) in the DE market. While the EPS growth last year was strong, the significant debt levels reduce the number of options available to management. If the company can continue to grow earnings, then the current P/E may be unjustifiably low. Given ProSiebenSat.1 Media's P/E ratio has declined from 6.7 to 4.1 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

But note: ProSiebenSat.1 Media may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
LOBAMBA  There is a need to check believers who will attend Easter services at Somhlolo for the coronavirus.

This was a submission made by Senator Chief Mvimbi Matse during the Ministry of Healths annual performance report for the current financial year. It took place at the House of Assembly yesterday.



The sitting became slightly different and took a turn as senators seemingly chose to discuss the flu-like virus instead of the contents contained in the ministrys annual report.



Senator Matse first questioned Minister Lizzie Nkosi on the ministrys preventive measures to combat the spread of coronavirus among believers who travelled into the country during the upcoming Easter services. He also queried what the ministry would do to ensure that dagga dealers and those using informal crossings did not contract the virus or let alone infect emaSwati.

We are soon approaching Easter services and I implore the ministry to see to it that Christians should get tested before they enter the Somhlolo National Stadium, the senator requested.



He said this would help detect infected persons and further prevent the spread of the disease.

Meanwhile, Senator Prince Hlangabeza expressed his dissatisfaction with the ministrys officials sitting arrangement in the August House. He expressed that the ministry should be exemplary in setting the tone when executing the precautionary measures.



Surprised



I was expecting to see each one of you sitting a distance away from each other but I am surprised that you are sitting next to each other as if nothing is going on, the senator said, much to the laughter of the portfolio committee members.

Before long, Senator Chief Mvimbi Matse was seen slightly moving away from next to the prince.



The prince further requested the minister to define the virus and said this while exhibiting a sombre mood. The senator also shared that he was appalled when he learned that the doctor who first discovered the virus died of it. The senator stated that it was disheartening when even health practitioners died due to the coronavirus and declared it as a serious health risk. He warned the ministry to do all it could to guard against the nation from contracting the virus.



Senator Prince Magudvulela declared his support for the ministrys supplementary budget to address the virus. The senator stated that he blessed the ministry to even spend money on advertisements, if it had to, to inform emaSwati on the preventative measures. He further stated that the onus was now upon emaSwati to take instruction from the ministry about the virus. He said every liSwati should do everything the ministry instructed to ensure their safety.



Senator Chief Ndzameya Nhlabatsi queried if there were other treatment methods the country had for coronavirus. He enquired, We have been hearing the ministry preaching about the washing of hands but arent there other ways to combat the illness?



Senator Chief Ngalokhulu Mabuza likened the virus to a Bible scripture in John 10 verse 10, where it is written that the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. However, he gave caution that the ministry should not only fix its focus on the flu-like virus but also be mindful of other illnesses and matters that affected it.
"During this difficult time, it is particularly important that the faithful have access to the grace and comfort of Holy Mass,'' the statement said. "While we observe restrictions on our in-person attendance at liturgies, I invite you to watch and participate in the celebration of Sunday, Saturday evening, and Daily Masses using the internet. The Archdiocese of Chicago will broadcast Mass in English from Holy Name Cathedral this weekend. This Mass can be viewed on our YouTube channel beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 14,'' the statement. said.
Businessman Jack Ma, Asias richest man, announced on Thursday he would donate 500,000 test kits for the Wuhan coronavirus and 1 million masks to the U.S. to help fight the outbreak.

Drawing from my own countrys experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are most effective in preventing the spread of the virus. We hope that our donation can help Americans fight against the pandemic! Ma said in a statement.

Ma is the co-founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba. He has also made donations through the Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma Foundation to other countries hit by the outbreak, including Italy, Iran, Korea, Japan and Spain.

Ma was revealed in 2018 to be a member of the Chinese Communist Party. The businessman has defended Premier Xi Jinpings attitude toward foreign firms who want to gain a foothold in China. In an interview with the BBC that same year, Ma said of international companies, if they come here they have to say OK, I follow the Chinese rules and laws.

The crisis presents a huge challenge to all humankind in a globalized world. The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by any individual country, Ma said. Rather, we need to combat the virus by working hand-in-hand. At this moment, we cant beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons.

The U.S. is facing a shortage of coronavirus diagnostic tests, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration with federal agencies for not preparing enough tests.

We have a serious deficiency in being prepared for testing, Senator Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) said on Thursday. We not only need a better system for later. We need a better system for now, and were going to focus on that as rapidly as we can.

More from National Review
Seven more quarantine facilities have been set up for for Indian citizens being brought to back from coronavirus-hit countries

A medic official pumps sanitizer on the hands of tourists to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, at Junagarh Fort in Bikaner. PTI

Jaipur: About 120 Indians, being evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Iran in an Air India flight, will reach Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on Friday and will be quarantined at an Army facility, a defence spokesperson said on Thursday.

"They will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility created under the aegis of Southern Command. The patients will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility under escort of civil administration," defence spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh said.

He said that another batch of approximately 250 people, to be airlifted from Iran on March 15, will also be quarantined at the Army facility in Jaisalmer.

The Ministry of Defence has set up seven more quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients, especially for Indian citizens being brought to back from coronavirus-hit countries.

The facilities have been set up at Jaisalmer, Suratgadh, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Deolali, Kolkata and Chennai.
Friday, March 13, 2020

Lets Start With Paint.



The weekend + springtime = the perfect recipe for getting projects done around the house. The Natural Resources Defense Council offers information on not only the biggest offenders when it comes to hazardous chemical exposure in renovation materials, but they also offer weblinks to finding safer building materials from sources that have banned those worrisome chemicals  places like Cradle to Cradle, HomeFree, Green Seal, BlueGreen Alliance, and more.

Worrisome Chemicals, You Say?

Yes, for starters chemicals like phthalates, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, and methanol. Also known as methyl alcohol, methanol is used in manufacturing as a solvent for fats, oils, and resins. Toxicity symptoms from exposure can range from headache to death. We must become aware of where we may be exposed (especially occupationally) through renovation, remodeling, and building construction.

Another of the thousands or so chemicals used in manufacturing today, methylene chloride is an extremely toxic chemical found in paint strippers. A 31-year old wearing a respirator and gloves died attempting to resurface a floor using a paint stripper containing methylene chloride. But hes not the only one. There were also 4 deaths in Michigan attributed to exposure to this chemical. But because of consumer awareness and activism, look who has joined in banning products containing this chemical: Lowes, Walmart, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Ace, Sherwin Williams, and even Amazon!

Interestingly, when the EPA banned it there was pushback from the chemical industry (which actually doesnt surprise me) while the alternative for methylene chloride is something called NMP  a chemical that can cause birth defects and reproductive issues.

Vinyl Flooring And Carpet.

Thinking about replacing your vinyl flooring or carpeting? If so, its extremely important for you to visit the Ann Arbor Ecology Centers Healthy Stuff website for product test results. Their vinyl flooring study found 58% of 65 vinyl floor tiles tested contained phthalates. They also tested carpet for chemicals in the PFAS family. But along with checking the Healthy Stuff website, you can also check your renovation products through the Consumer Product Information Database in the following categories (and more): Home Maintenance, Inside the Home, and Home Office.

Speaking Of Floors.

Can we really vacuum away toxic chemicals? The answer is yes. Some of the tiniest particles of chemicals found in our homes are also in the dust on carpet, rugs and furniture. And remember, children are more vulnerable to exposure as they spend more time on the floor, so theyll typically inhale or ingest more of this chemical-laden dust. Toxic-Free Future offers links to cleaning carpets without dangerous chemicals, tips for green cleaning carpets and floors, and more information on toxins in household dust. There is also a short YouTube video from the Environmental Working Group explaining how to reduce toxic chemicals in your household dust.

Remediating Mold.

As our climate continues to change and the summers get hotter, there seems to be a lot more flooding from heavy rains in certain parts of the country. Even Ann Arbor got over 6 inches of rain in July 2019 where the average is typically around 3.5 inches. So because of all of this added humidity and flooding, black mold is a becoming more and more of problem. However, the Natural Resources Defense Council offers solutions to remediating toxic black mold on a smaller budget.

The Art & Hobby Room.

Along with the chemicals in renovation materials, you may also want to consider toxicity in the materials that youre using for your hobbies and art. Toxic-Free Future provides information on adhesives, lead, glue, art paints, mineral spirits and turpentine but dont forget to also check your Hobby & Craft supplies for safety in the Consumer Product Information Database.

Bottom Line, Check Your Products!

Its not just the chemicals in our renovation products or those found in the art and hobby room. There are hazardous chemicals in our cleaning products and air fresheners, and even in our dishwashing products! Of 477 products that the Environmental Working Group tested, only 79 scored an A while over 53% of them scored a D or an F!

Additionally, you may want to consider the safety of your bath, shower, and laundry products at GoodGuide featuring over 75,000 products in their database. There is also an app you can download on your smart phone and simply scan the barcode of products while you shop!

Then back to the Consumer Product Information Database , where you can also check product safety for Personal Care products, those used on your Auto, in Landscaping/Yard, Pesticides, and Pet Care.
Elon Musk announced Tesla Inc. is scouting locations to build its in-development Cybertruck in the U.S., likely triggering a state-by-state competition similar to one he set off six years ago.

Tesla will add a factory to produce both the electric pickup and the Model Y crossover for customers on the East Coast, the chief executive officer tweeted last week. He didnt elaborate on which states Tesla is considering beyond saying it will be somewhere in the central U.S.

By publicizing Teslas plans to construct a factory for the truck, slated for production late next year, Musk, 48, is repeating a strategy used in 2014 to score a $1.3 billion incentive package from Nevada. The state lured the companys massive battery factory there after Musk held a bake-off in which Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas were the finalists that came up short.

Musk unveiled the Cybertruck in November and pitched it as a radically different option from the highly lucrative pickups produced by Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. A botched demo in which Teslas design chief cracked supposedly shatter-proof glass generated enormous buzz and prompted the company to sell T-shirts featuring the broken windows.

States with right-to-work laws that prohibit unions from requiring prospective hires to join their membership are likely to be contenders for Teslas facility, said John Boyd, principal of a manufacturing site-selection firm based in Princeton, N.J.

Id put Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas and Michigan on the list, Boyd said. This will be a trophy project for the automotive sector.

Tesla took advantage of its soaring stock price by raising $2.31 billion last month. The company disclosed just before announcing its equity offering that its annual capital expenditures budget will be as much as $3.5 billion through 2022, more than double what it spent in 2019.

Tesla stock last week was up more than 50 percent for the year.

Government incentives will play a role in Teslas decision-making on a plant location, along with logistics costs, access to big, talented workforces and quality of life, Musk told the Wall Street Journal in an email. TechCrunch reported the company is in talks with officials in Nashville, Tenn., citing a source familiar with the discussions.

The battle between states will play out as President Donald Trump, whos vowed to revive the American auto industry, looks likely to face off against Joe Biden, the vice president in the Obama administration, which backed General Motors and Chrysler through their 2009 bankruptcies.

Trump praised Musk in an interview with CNBC in January, calling the South Africa-born CEO one of our great geniuses and predicting he would build a very big plant in the United States.

Tesla recently completed construction of its newest plant in China and started delivering locally assembled Model 3 sedans to consumers in January. Its also planning a factory near Berlin.

Last month, Musk hinted that Tesla could build a factory in Texas. The Texas Enterprise Fund, created by the states legislature under former Governor Rick Perry, has become one of the largest payers of economic-development incentives in the nation.

Texas offered $2.3 million to entice SpaceX, the rocket company Musk founded and runs, to locate a launch facility in Brownsville, on the Gulf Coast near the Mexican border. Teslas chip team is based both in Palo Alto, Calif., where the carmaker is headquartered, and in Austin.

The companys sole U.S. auto-assembly plant is in Fremont, Calif., which makes the Model S, X and 3 and has begun producing the Model Y crossover.
Johnsons message, like almost every other email and statement from school districts, rang with the promise of plans. Officials vowed they would offer regular updates to families  at least twice a week in Loudoun County, once a day in Alexandria  and promised to send more detailed instructions on how virtual schooling would work. Emails spelling out plans for online classes or meal programs would come that evening, authorities said, or the next day  or just soon.
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Linkedin Made Anthony Iswara (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 19:38 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a73bb7 1 Business bank-tabungan-negara,BTN,dividend,profit,banking-industry Free

State-owned Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) announced on Thursday a plan to distribute Rp 20.9 billion (US$1.43 million) in dividends to its shareholders despite profits plunging last year.

The figure is equal to 10 percent of the banks profit of around Rp 209 billion in 2019, lower than last years dividends payout ratio of 20 percent. The government, which holds the majority stake in BTN, would receive a total of Rp 12.55 billion in dividends.

Meanwhile, 90 percent of last years profit will be used to strengthen the banks capital, BTN president director Pahala Nugraha Mansury said in a press conference on Thursday.

Our work foundation in 2020 is to determine the direction of our companys policy, which is to focus on improving business quality, he said.

This year, the publicly listed bank has aimed for a net profit growth of more than 90 percent year-on-year (yoy) to between Rp 2.5 trillion and Rp 3 trillion. It eyes a 6 to 8 percent growth in assets and an 8 to 10 percent expansion in loan disbursement, which will be bolstered by mortgage loans.

Read also: State-owned companies promise higher dividends, stock buyback to help economy

Last year, BTNs profits plummeted by 92.5 percent to around 209.26 billion from Rp 2.8 trillion in 2018 because nonperforming loans and costs of funds rose as weak economic activities took a toll on local banks.

The bank recorded a jump of bad loans in 2019 as its nonperforming loans ratio skyrocketed to 4.78 percent from 2.78 percent in 2018, nearing the 5 percent level considered healthy. Its loan loss provisions jumped 85.4 percent to Rp 6.16 trillion.

Meanwhile, BTNs costs of funds went up to 6.1 percent last year from 5.77 percent in December 2018. Its lending still grew 7.36 percent to Rp 255.82 trillion in 2019, higher than the broader banking industrys 6.08 percent growth, the lowest since 2009.

BTNs stocks, traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the code BBTN, closed at Rp 1,335 apiece on Friday, up 2.3 percent from the previous trading day. The stocks have slumped 40.67 percent in the past year, underperforming the broader benchmark Jakarta Composite Indexs 24.51 percent drop.
Amaravati: The Telugu Desam Party suffered yet another blow as its veteran leader and Chirala MLA Karanam Balarama Krishna Murthy on Thursday (March 12, 2020) met Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy here amid indications that he has switched loyalties to the ruling YSR Congress.

Murthy's son Venkatesh formally joined the YSRC but, because of apparent technical reasons, the former did not.

Former MLA Paleti Rama Rao also joined the YSRC on the occasion.

The father and son, besides Rama Rao, met Jagan Mohan Reddy at his residence here on Thursday evening and discussed Chirala constituency development issues.

Murthy is the third MLA of the TDP to switch sides to the YSRC in recent times, though the other two too had not formally joined the ruling outfit.

The TDP had won 23 seats in the elections to the 175-member assembly last year.

While Venkatesh spoke to the media later, his father left soon after meeting the Chief Minister.

We have decades of association with the TDP but, attracted by the welfare programmes of this government, we joined the YSRC. We have our father's support, Venkatesh said.

Murthy, a strong man for the TDP in Prakasam district, had previously served as an MP and an MLC as well.

Meanwhile, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu held a meeting with his party leaders from Prakasam district in the wake of the latest setback and appointed a new in-charge for Chirala constituency, party sources said.

All the three rebel TDP MLAs have not officially become members of the YSRC as they apparently want to avoid attraction of the anti-defection law provisions.

Jagan Mohan Reddy had also set a pre-condition that any legislator wishing to join his party should first resign from their post.

In fact, the first TDP MLA to crossover, Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan, used his suspension from the party as a ruse to seek recognition in the assembly as an unattached member.

Shocked by it, the TDP did not suspend Guntur MLA Maddali Giri when he too switched sides.

While three MLCs also jumped over to the YSRC from the TDP, one formally resigned from his post.

In recent days, many former legislators left the TDP and walked over to the YSRC.

The TDP suffered the biggest blow in Kadapa, the Chief Ministers' native district, where former minister Ramasubba Reddy and former MLC Satish Reddy quit the party.

While Ramasubba Reddy joined the YSRC, Satish is expected to follow suit.

In Prakasam district, another former MLA Kadiri Babu Rao too had joined the ruling party.

In Visakhapatnam district, while former MLA S A Rahman already joined the YSRC, another ex-legislator P Ramesh Babu is also expected to follow, having resigned from the TDP.
PIERRE, S.D. (AP)  A boost for "the big three"  the nickname in the South Dakota Capitol for teachers, state employees and support providers  was the big-ticket item on the budget lawmakers approved Thursday, but they also had money left over to fund a hemp program, build several university buildings and send a bit of money to counties to repair aging bridges.

The Legislature met into the night as they completed the main part of the session for the year. They concluded with a vote on the $4.9 billion budget that will take effect starting in July.

Not everyone was happy. Several especially conservative legislators voiced frustration with the budget-making process.

This year has been especially acrimonious, said Sen. Lance Russell, a Hot Springs Republican.

Rep. Taffy Howard, a Rapid City Republican, said that Gov. Kristi Noem undercut the process by announcing earlier in the week that the state could afford to fund 2% pay increases if they factored declines in Medicaid enrollment. Howard said the proposal didn't give lawmakers enough time to dig into the proposal or account for the potential of the COVID-19 virus outbreak to cause an economic downturn.

The Republican governor told reporters before the budget vote that it was based on conservative financial projections and she was confident the budget could withstand an economic slump.

She watched from the galleries of both the House and Senate as they voted.

Sen. Reynold Nesiba, a Sioux Falls Democrat, said the process was more open and transparent than it was last year.

The budget had a bit more wiggle room than lawmakers anticipated when they convened in January. Better-than-expected revenues and declines in Medicaid eligibility allowed lawmakers to send nearly $55 million to funds for state employees, teachers and people who work at community programs that are mostly funded by Medicaid. They also approved a nearly $13 million boost this year to the health insurance pool for state employees.

Here's a look at some other items they funded:

HEMP

As part of lawmakers' proposal to legalize industrial hemp, they approved a crucial demand from the governor  allotting $3.5 million that she says is necessary to responsibly startup and run a hemp program.

The governor wanted nearly $1.9 million in one-time funds to start-up the program, and a commitment of another $1.6 million to run it every year. Noem plans to spread the money across three state agencies, paying for up to 15 full-time staff positions, drug-testing equipment, drug-sniffing dogs and new drug storage space. The governor's office has argued the money is necessary for law enforcement to distinguish between hemp and marijuana.

UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS

The University of South Dakota will get a special $5 million allotment to build a School of Health Sciences. The building will allow the university to expand its medical programs.

Representatives from the Board of Regents told lawmakers the $5 million will allow them to get another $4.5 million in matching funds from a donor.

The School of Mines and Black Hill State University will also be renovating and expanding their libraries. The money will mostly come from a fund held by the universities for repairing and expanding facilities.

COUNTY ROADS AND BRIDGES

The Legislature used an unexpected excess of about $4 million to repair county and township roads.

After flooding hit many parts of the state last spring, many rural roads are still in disrepair. The Legislature sent the money as a way to help rural communities recover.

GOVERNOR'S PRIORITIES

Noem got most of what she asked the Legislature for this year for one-time spending items, including $3.7 million for addiction treatment and law enforcement targeted at meth, $4 million for corrections facilities, and $5 million for grants to expand broadband access to rural areas of the state.

WHAT ELSE

The statewide expansion of a crisis hotline will get funding at about $400,000 a year; lawmakers will put about $1 million towards a college scholarship fund for people studying to be teachers in South Dakota; and people who provide care at senior centers and special needs programs funded by government dollars will get over $2 million on one-time bonuses.

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The World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared the novel Coronavirus Disease  or COVID-19  a pandemic. It has now spread to 124 countries, and many governments have swung into action, imposing several restrictions on mobility, in a bid to contain the rampaging virus. In India, the central government took stringent measures, suspending visas issued, barring a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, until April 15. In addition, all Indians have been asked to avoid all non-essential travel abroad.

Follow our blog for LIVE updates on the coronavirus pandemic

In India, the tally of those who have tested positive now stands at 73. What does this mean for health and travel insurance policyholders?

Read on for answers to some commonly-asked questions.

Will my current health insurance policy cover COVID-19-related treatment?

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 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has already directed insurers to expeditiously process COVID-19-related claims in cases of hospitalisation, which is likely to make the process simpler for those who have regular health policies. But will things change, now that the WHO has labelled it a pandemic? Hospitalisation for COVID-19 will be covered like any other illness. The expenses that are medically prescribed will get covered, says Shreeraj Deshpande, Chief Operating Officer, Future Generali India Insurance. Most insurers have a similar approach. All our health policies will cover the medical expenses incurred on hospitalization for Coronavirus. At present, our policies do not exclude epidemics and pandemics, explains Subrata Mondal, Executive Vice President, IFFCO-Tokio General Insurance.

Central and state governments as well as local bodies have almost entirely taken care of the infected patients testing, quarantine and recovery so far. Right now, the government is incurring the expenses, so insurers have a minimal role to play. However, if individuals who are covered under indemnity-based health policies have to pay from their pockets for their hospitalisation, insurers will have to reimburse, says Amit Chhabra, Business Head, Health Insurance, Policybazaar.com. Indemnity-based health policies make good the actual expenses you have incurred on hospitalisation, either on a cashless or reimbursement basis.

If you visit a private hospital and are directed to a government facility on the basis of your symptoms, you will incur some charges. If an ambulance is needed, the charges, to the extent allowed in the policy, will be paid for. But it could be restricted to one ambulance transfer during the entire treatment period, says Ankit Sachdeva, Chief Technology Officer, Easypolicy, an online insurance aggregator.

New-age general insurer Digit has come up with a fixed benefit Coronavirus-specific policy, while IFFCO-Tokio is working on a focussed product. The regulator has already encouraged insurers to come up with such products. Digits product will pay the claim even if the government has paid for your medical expenses. It can come in handy to replace the loss of income, if any, though your priority should be to buy an adequate indemnity-based health cover.

What if I am quarantined at home?

In such cases, your cover is unlikely to get triggered. While health policies do cover domiciliary treatment  or treatment at home  they usually kick in only under extreme circumstances. It is applicable if no hospital is available for the treatment, it is not possible to shift the patient to a hospital or there is no space in the hospitals. If such a condition arises, only then will the domiciliary treatment clause get triggered, says Deshpande. On the other hand, if you have a health policy that covers outpatient department (OPD) expenses, home quarantine situations, too, will get covered.

Will the post-hospitalisation expenses be covered?

Health insurers typically cover post-hospitalisation expenses  including medicines and follow-up charges  up to 60-90 days after discharge. If you are hospitalised at a government facility, but have to incur expenses post discharge, your insurer will pick up the tab. But such claims will be considered in light of hospitalisation details received, because post-hospitalisation expenses are linked to hospitalisation, says Gurdeep Singh Batra, Head, Retail Underwriting, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.

Will my travel policy come to my aid if I cancel my trip in view of the government advisory?

First, find out whether your tour operator or airline is offering a refund or free rescheduling.

Next, in the case of travel insurance, you will have to go through your policy documents to figure out if your cover allows you to do so. Trip cancellation is covered under one of our travel insurance variants. If you have to cancel your trip due to the government advisory, you can file a claim, says Batra. So, it is not only the insurer, but also the product that you have chosen that will play a role.

If I am travelling to a country where the government advisory is applicable and contract the virus, will my travel insurance policy pay my hospitalisation bills?

If you wish to travel now despite a specific advisory against a particular country (for instance, China, Japan and South Korea), you might not be issued a travel policy in the first place.

Now, COVID-19 or any other contagious epidemic is not listed as an exclusion in policy documents, so technically the hospitalisation expenses are payable. But, in other countries, too, the governments are in charge primarily, due to the requirement of quarantine and testing at specific labs. If you have purchased the policy and travelled before an advisory was issued, though, you will be covered. It is not an exclusion, so it would be covered. However, we are not extending the policy tenure now, says Deshpande.

If you have undertaken the journey despite advisories, however, your claim settlement could be in doubt. Most travel policies have an exclusion clause pertaining to the advisories issued. If you travel despite the advisory, the hospitalisation claim related to COVID-19 will not be payable, says Batra. The government has also asked travellers to avoid non-essential international travel. But if you cannot avoid the trip, you can check if an insurer will issue a travel policy for other expenses that it covers such as accidental injuries or baggage loss, for instance.
The federal Liberal government imposed its own limits on incoming flights from overseas Friday  nothing as severe as Donald Trump's ban on foreign nationals arriving from Europe, but enough to signal to the United States that it need not erect a viral firewall along the Canada-U.S. border.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal Liberal government imposed its own limits on incoming flights from overseas Friday  nothing as severe as Donald Trump's ban on foreign nationals arriving from Europe, but enough to signal to the United States that it need not erect a viral firewall along the Canada-U.S. border.

International flights arriving from parts of the world where the COVID-19 outbreak is at its most severe will be directed to a select handful of Canadian airports, where passengers can be more readily screened for signs of illness, Transport Minister Marc Garneau told a news conference.

The move came just hours before the U.S. president declared the crisis a national emergency, and before his proclamation banning foreign visitors who recently visited any of 26 countries in Europe was scheduled to take effect at midnight.

That announcement, which came Wednesday in a rare prime-time address from the Oval Office, appeared to catch the Trudeau government off-guard and raised the possibility that the U.S. might close the Canada-U.S. border, which would have dire consequences for the Canadian economy.

Garneau and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced the new international flight policy after a cabinet meeting that was chaired remotely by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is working in self-imposed isolation after his wife tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Speaking from outside Rideau Cottage, his residence, Trudeau refused to rule out further measures, including forbidding travel to Canada from particular countries.

Trudeau also said he was speaking by phone with fellow G7 leaders to take joint action to address the economic downturn that the global pandemic has caused. Trudeau spoke with France's President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, after speaking with Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Italy's Giuseppe Conte in recent days. The Prime Minister's Office provided a readout of the call with Trump, noting they discussed the Canada-U.S. border.

Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Pablo Rodriguez responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons Tuesday March 10, 2020 in Ottawa. The leader of the government in the House of Commons says MPs have passed legislation to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and the Senate is expected to follow suit later today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

"We're not closing the door to any further steps but we will make those decisions based on what science tells us," Trudeau said  steps that could include closing the border, he suggested in an earlier interview with CBC.

Trump, during another memorable Rose Garden news conference, said he didn't discuss the possibility of closing the border when he spoke with the prime minister on Thursday. He did acknowledge the fact that Trudeau's wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, had tested positive for the virus.

He shrugged off questions about whether he should be tested, then abruptly declared he probably would. He repeatedly shook hands with a parade of business leaders, despite public health advice against it. And when asked whether his administration is to blame for a persistent shortage of available coronavirus tests in the U.S., he said this:

"Yeah, I don't take responsibility at all because we were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations and specifications from a different time."

He also said that the United Kingdom, which was initially exempted from the travel ban and which produces the largest number of annual visitors to the U.S. outside of Canada and Mexico, may soon have to be added, given the growing number of COVID-19 cases there.

Trump said he did discuss with Trudeau the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which the House of Commons finally ratified Friday before shutting its doors for five weeks to stem the spread of illness. The Senate quickly followed suit and the bill received royal assent, triggering a three-month window to hammer out the fine print.

"Canada is facing an unprecedented challenge from the coronavirus pandemic," Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said. "Getting NAFTA done was something that was entirely within the power of Canadian legislators to do, and something we were able to do to help the Canadian economy at this challenging time."

Ratifying the agreement, long a cornerstone of Trump's re-election hopes, will likely be of great help to Canada's efforts to keep the U.S. from closing the border prematurely, said David MacNaughton, Canada's former ambassador to the U.S.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a news conference at Rideau cottage in Ottawa, on Friday, March 13, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand

MacNaughton, whose tenure during the NAFTA negotiations offered valuable lessons on how best to exert Canadian influence in the era of Donald Trump, said it will be important to help the U.S. understand the potential domestic consequences of such a move.

"Closing the border, whether it's to individuals or to goods, would have a devastating impact on the U.S. economy," he said. "The last thing they need right now is to have another negative thing happen to the American economy."

Perrin Beatty, the president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, called ratification of the trade deal an important step towards guaranteeing Canadian access to the U.S., "particularly in a situation like this" when the impact of Trump's travel ban on Canada remains unclear.

"We still have people coming in from Europe into Canada and people here in Canada who are not Canadian citizens who may need to go into the United States. It's not clear how the Americans are going to be dealing with that," he said in an interview.

"Many of our truck drivers are new Canadians: are they apt to run into problems at the border?"

Beatty said both countries need to learn lessons from the U.S. decision to temporarily shut its border immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.

"What we discovered from 9/11 is that we were doing to ourselves what the terrorists couldn't do to us, and that was to impose an embargo on North America," he said.

Beatty said the current pandemic can't be allowed "to impose an embargo on North America, either, or partition North America and do damage their health of all three of our economies."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2020.
Sandra Hunter and some of her Dexter cattle with Dr Cliff Henry, National Trust area ranger

Conservationists are planning to return grazing livestock to a Co Antrim bay after almost half a century.

Portnaboe, meaning bay of the cow or cows, sits just below the Giant's Causeway visitors' centre.

Sheep were the last animals to have grazed this area over 40 years ago, and since then bramble and bracken has spread over the bay.

Ecologists believe the vegetation is having a negative impact on many of the wildflowers and insects that live there.

The National Trust has been working on removing bracken and bramble in the bay for several years but the conservation team believe livestock grazing would help promote biodiversity.

Local farmer Sandra Hunter will provide the grazing cattle.

She said: "I would be delighted to see a return of cattle to Portnaboe, my family have grazed livestock in the bays around the causeway in the past."

The project is led by North Coast area ranger Dr Cliff Henry.

He said: "The bays around here would certainly have been grazed in the past, but with so many tourists visiting the site this just hasn't happened for a very long time."
Were all a little obsessed over Netflixs new reality show Love Is Blind at the mo - its so dramatic yet so addicting at the same time.

In saying that, we also have SO MANY questions on how the whole thing works. Surely there have got to be some rules to contain all the craziness? Well, lucky for you weve done the hard yards because we couldnt handle not knowing, so weve tried our best to answer most of your burning questions about the ins and outs of the show.



Just a quick recap for those of you who arent familiar with the show yet (hint: youll def want to get involved in this one). The premise of the show is basically a group of men and women who go on a series of blind dates, with the intention of finding the one. The catch is that they arent allowed to see or touch each other, until after one of them proposes. Each of the singles are in their own specially-designed pod, separated from their date by a glowing wall.



The experiment lasts for 38 days, broken up into three different sections, starting with the dating period, which lasts 10 days. After getting engaged, couples go to paradise for a week to build their physical connection, then for the last few weeks, they live together in the real world while planning their weddings.



None of the contestants HAVE to get engaged though. Creator and producer Chris Coelen (who's also the creator of Married At First Sight - not surprised) said it was scary as a producer, because no one's required to get engaged or married.



"[On] a show like we do Married At First Sight, you sign up and you know, youre getting married to a stranger. Here, nobody had to do anything. It was if you find someone, if you choose. Which is so scary. They dont have to go through with the wedding ceremony,"



The cast members are separated into living facilities for males and females, but apparently the sleeping conditions arent great according to cast member Kenny: "We slept in trailers and they were correctional facility beds. The design was to just strip us down from our comfort level," he said. And they were also only getting about 4 hours sleep a night.



So when are they allowed to visit the pods during the dating stage? Whenever they liked! Some of the singles would visit each other multiple times a day, because "the more they got in there, the more they have these conversations! Deep conversations that they never had with family members or friends or people they've dated," executive producer Chris Coelen said.



Theyre also allowed to stay as long as they like in the pods, with Coelen saying the longest pod session was around four to five hoursand that was only cut short by a bathroom break.



"They were there pretty much 24/7. It's funny because we would encourage them to take [breaks], 'You gotta eat! You gotta get some sleep!' But they didn't want to, they wanted to stay in those pods," he said.



No one is allowed a phone, or any access to the internet just to make things more intense. All of the cast members' devices were confiscated during the first two parts of the experiment, so that they could focus all of their attention on their datesand couldn't communicate with people outside of the experiment.



And the pods are soundproof: We didnt want any sound to bleed through any other pods," Coelen said. "We basically had a small speaker in the front wall and you would hear the other person who was in the other pod. Theres no producers in there, theres nobody else. Its just you and the other person. That's it."



Its pretty common in reality TV for the hosts or producers to interfere and meddle with the process to allow for better TV, but this didnt happen in Love Is Blind: "We wanted them to make the decisions and them to control their destiny," Coelen said.



"They were never interrupted in terms of like a producer saying, 'Hey, talk about this, talk about that,' they just did what they wanted to do,"



To make the dates run a little smoother, alcohol was provided to the singles, with no restrictions on what the cast were allowed to drink.



The singles were encouraged to create dates they'd go on in the real world, and the producers would try their best to make it happen: "They'd say, 'I'd love to have a dinner of lasagna with this person.' So, we'd get them some lasagna!" Coelen said. Others played games or serenaded their date with the ukulele.



The original cast was between 40-50 people, but only 8 couples made it through to engagement, and only 6 ended up being featured on the show:



"It became evident as the process went on, from that big group of people, that there were some people that more people were gravitating towards then others. There was a certain point where we did a whittling down of people just to focus internally on the people who were really connecting, to allow them more time. We ended up having maybe 20-25 people in the pods at that point, said Coelen.



The producers were pretty picky with casting in the first place though, making sure that the people they were picking genuinely wanted long-term relationships. "There's a lot of good shows out there where people can find love, but it's not really that serious. We wanted people who are genuine about it," Coelen said.



They did have to be from Atlanta, Georgia though, making casting slightly more limited: "It's too difficult if you're from Tampa and they're from Portland, that just throws another wrench in. We wanted to give them a real shot at making their love and their marriage work,"

After matching up in the pod, the couples were sent away on an exotic vacation in Cancun, Mexico, so that they could match their physical connection to their emotional one. But they werent allowed to tell their family or friends they were engaged until after the Mexico trip.



After Cancun, the couples move into a "neutral ground" apartment that's provided by the show so that they can have a fresh start while planning their wedding. Then they make their FINAL decision at the wedding.

"At that point, you have to go to the altar. You have to get your wedding gown, you have to get your tux, you have to introduce your families, and go back to work. You have to live together and do the whole process and stand on the altar and either say 'I do' or 'I don't,'" Vanessa said.



And they even have to pay for their own weddings! You really would want it to be true love "Of course production supplies some of the basics but because these are their real weddings, it's up to them as to how to spend their money," said Coelen.



And as for the big question: Is the marriage real? Is it actually a legal marriage?



"If they choose to get married, yes, it's a legally binding marriage," Coelen confirmed.


FLORIDA - Amazon is looking to hire 100 people to operate a small "last mile" package distribution center on Route 5S just outside the city of Amsterdam.

The Montgomery County Planning Board approved the site site plan application referral from the town of Florida's planning board, the lead agency on the site plan approval process.

Amazon wants to use an existing 53,000-square-foot warehouse building at 1785 State Highway 5S for the facility, which would employ 100 people. The building was recently for sale for $1.5 million.

Montgomery County Executive Matthew Ossenfort said attracting Amazon is part of a larger effort by the county to attract other distribution and manufacturing companies.

"As other name-brand companies have before it, Amazon would find Montgomery County a wonderful place to call home," Ossenfort said. "An Amazon facility is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate how business, government and communities can work together to grow jobs, create opportunity and improve peoples quality of life."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Amazon is also building a full-scale, one-million-square-foot distribution facility in the town of Schodack. The "last mile" facility is more of a post-office like outpost for Amazon that gets packages to homes. The larger distribution facility sorts and packages items and serves as a warehouse for goods that Amazon sells.

The Daily Gazette reported on Amazon's interest in the site earlier this week.

A developer has also pitched building a one-million-square-foot distribution center near the same site that could also be a possible Amazon distribution center,
Since the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) was first detected regionally in Brazil two weeks ago, confirmed cases in Latin America and the Caribbean have now exceeded 300 and reached most countries. Three patients, one in Panama, another in Argentina and a third in Guyana, have died.

Despite having nearly two months to prepare for the inevitable arrival of the virus, the governments and ruling classes of Latin American failed to organize any significant response. Travel bans and controls at the ports of entry proved ineffective, with infected travelers being detected days and even weeks after arrival. Now, as countries shift toward mitigation efforts, these are characterized by disorderly quarantines of suspected cases, gradual suspension of classes, and the cancellation of large gatherings.

The late and deficient response in the region is being overwhelmed because it is guided by efforts to cover up, not address, the inequalities in access to testing and health care.

Latin Americas rampant poverty and social inequality make it especially vulnerable to the spread and impact of the Covid-19 virus. If anything, recent years have only seen the region become more prone to epidemics, as shown by 2019s Dengue outbreak, the worst in history, with over 3 million cases and an uptick this year.

Nahid Bhadelia, a Boston University specialist on outbreaks in Africa, Asia and Latin America, wrote in the Atlantic that the ease of transmission of the Covid-19 will exacerbate some of the greatest weaknesses of crowded low-resource health care facilities, including their inability to quickly identify and isolate patients who may have early symptoms resembling those of other common diseases.

The public health calamity looming over the region and its economic impact are already making regional currencies and stock markets drop by an order of magnitude. Brazils main stock market, Ibovespa, has lost nearly a quarter of its value over the course of this week, with trading halted twice because of the speed of the sell-off.

The country has confirmed at least 100 coronavirus cases, among the most recent being Fabio Wajngarten, the communications director for Brazils fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro, who is also being tested and is under isolation and medical observation. Both of them recently returned from a five-day trip to the US, where they met with US President Donald Trump at his Florida resort.

Bolsonaro's communications director Fabio Wajngarten (r.) with Trump in Florida.

The devastating economic impact of the pandemic and its laying bare of Latin Americas yawning social inequality can only lead to an intensification of the class struggle. This follows the mass strikes and protests last year in Puerto Rico, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Bolivia, Haiti and Brazil.

The most frequent (and panicked) statements by officials and the corporate press have been calls on the population not to panic. Capturing these fears succinctly, Americas Quarterly, published by the think-tank Americas Society/Council of the Americas, wrote: What if everybodys Instagram starts to fill up with long lines and patients suffering (or worse) in the hallways of the regions already overwhelmed public hospitalswhile the rich get decent treatment in private clinics?

While the journal adds that this contrast in treatment could become political dynamite, the situation is even more explosive under conditions in which the privatization of health care and gutting of public facilities have forced large sections of the working class to incur debt in order to access private clinics and laboratories. It takes months to get appointments for tests, consultations and even surgeries in public hospitals, while informal workers are not covered by state insurance. A 2019 study published in the Lancet found that 42.7 percent of health care expenditures in Latin America constitute out-of-pocket costs.

The ruling class and imperialism responded to the social upheavals last year by pushing the region to the brink of open dictatorship, including the killing of hundreds of protesters by the Chilean, Ecuadorian, Colombian and Bolivian militaries.

The global economic impact of the coronavirus, moreover, coincides with Latin Americas worst economic period in seven decades, largely due to the slowdown in China, now severely exacerbated by the pandemic. As China became South Americas number-one trading partner, and the region became Chinas second-largest destination for Foreign Direct Investment, the phrase When China sneezes, Latin America catches a cold won currency. It has now become a chilling warning.

In this context, the ruling oligarchies will be even more reluctant to dedicate the necessary resources for the containment and treatment of Covid-19 and for compensating workers for lost income. Instead, they are moving to crush all signs of popular protest. This has so far been signaled by the decision of the far-right Guatemalan government to impose a state of emergency, which militarizes public services like hospitals and schools and bans all demonstrations, even before any confirmed cases in the country.

Inequalities between countries are significant, with the Pan American Health Organization (OPS) sending teams of experts to aid the weakest health care systemsHaiti, Venezuela, Surinam, Guyana, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia and Paraguay. But the reality is that no health system in the region is prepared to manage a full-blown epidemic. All regional elites are notorious for their negligence in the face of frequent and predictable natural disasters and epidemics.

While rural and indigenous communities are deprived of even basic medical services, the explosive and disorganized urbanization of the entire region in recent decades has been met with social austerity and privatizations.

Public health systems have been a primary victim of social austerity to pay back financial vultures. As a condition for granting a $56 billion loan to Argentina in 2018, the International Monetary Fund demanded a 70 percent cut in the budget for prevention of infectious diseases.

The left president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico, where 12 coronavirus cases have been confirmed, has already warned that his governments response to the Covid-19 will be slow. After carrying out massive cuts to health care, including a 30 percent personnel reduction in the Health Ministry, Lopez Obrador still declared: We may have the budget, but its not executed because the government was not built to attend to the needs of the people.

On the other hand, according to a recent estimate by El Pais, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, which have 1.1 million doctors, could collectively hire 2.2 million more if they eliminated tax benefits for corporations.

Poor social infrastructure is also manifested in the water rationing in major cities and rural towns in Honduras, Peru, Venezuela and Costa Rica, affecting some hospitals without tanks. With the overnight depletion and overpricing of hand sanitizer, hundreds of thousands of workers and peasants have been left with absolutely no way to protect themselves from the deadly virus. Protesters in working class suburbs in Honduras and Costa Rica have responded this week with roadblocks.

OPS chief Carissa Etienne told a press conference last Friday that the whole region should expect these scenarios: initial outbreak centers, major propagations in closed quarters like prisons, refugee camps and barracks, and a massive community transmission, exacerbated by the flu/rainy season beginning in April in the tropics.

According to the most recent World Bank data, Latin America and the Caribbean have an average of 2.2 hospital beds per 1,000 people, ranging from 0.6 for Guatemala to 5.2 in Cuba.

Any effective response would need to be internationally coordinated to share resources and streamline the production and distribution of medical equipment, tests and vaccines. However, the crisis will only exacerbate the national competition between ruling elites to attract investments, including into the crisis-ridden pension systems, with much to gain from a virus that could wipe out the sick and elderly.

While Latin Americas ruling elites aim to unload the costs of the epidemic onto the backs of the working class, the International Committee of the Fourth International is calling on workers to counter with their own independent response, forming rank-and-file committees in workplaces and neighborhoods to ensure that all of societys resources are mustered to actually mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 on the entire population on the basis of social needs, not private profit.
[March 13, 2020] OFC 2020 Conference and Exhibition Wraps in San Diego, Presenting an Innovative Live and Virtual Experience

Taking an innovative approach to a blended in-person/virtual conference, OFC 2020 introduced a new experience for this year's registrants. With more than 90 percent of its 700+ technical presentations occurring despite coronavirus (COVID-19)-related travel restrictions, the global optical communications community came together to exchange information and move the field forward. The new technologies and advancements that fueled this year's conference will set the stage for the industry's next breakthroughs in 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, intra- and inter- data center equipment, disaggregation and more. An In-Person and Virtual Conference As it became apparent that Coronavirus restrictions would impact the in-person program, the OFC technical program chairs, Shinji Matsuo, NTT (News - Alert) Device Technology Labs, NTT Corp., Japan; David Plant, McGill University, Canada; and Jun Shan Wey, ZTE TX, USA, worked tirelessly to ensure the OFC program remained accessible and collaborative for the broader community. Through live-streaming and two-way remote participation, technical registrants unable to travel to San Diego remained an integral part of the event. "OFC 2020 has demonstrated that large conferences can engage participants across the globe utilizing the optical fiber communications technologies developed by experts in the field," said Wey, Plant and Matsuo. "The research and innovations enabled by the OFC community have made OFC 2020 the perfect opportunity to run a virtual conference experiment." "The travel restrictions that arose due to the Coronavirus created a new dynamic for this year's event," shared the Program Chairs. "But by partnering with OFC management, we were able to rise to the challenge and offer a way for continued global collaboration throughout the event." Plenary Session As in previous years, this year's plenary session was live-streamed, providing important insights to the broader optical communications community from three respected technical and commercial leaders in the field. Professor Sir David Payne, director, Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, UK explored the role of silica in the future of optical communications, emphasizing its potential and challenging the audience to think differently about ways to tackle technical hurdles. "Let me get to answer my initial question, 'Is there a future for silica?' Silica is not all done by any means. It's very hard to beat for optical components largely because it's a very refractory material," Payne concluded. Dr. Qi Bi, president, China Telecom (News - Alert) TechnologyInnovation Center, CTO, China Telecom Beijing Research Institute provided a lessons-learned overview of China Telecom's 5G deployment. "The ever-growing data rate of 5G is expected to revolutionize the way that we live and do business," Bi shared. "Vendors need to think how we can do an integrated approach instead of an independent approach so we can have a much better handle on system integration."



Dr. Benno Willke, research group leader, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Germany, rounded out the session with a visionary talk that discussed plans for a third-generation of gravitational-wave detector. Special Conference Programming

A commemorative event, "Celebrating 50 Years of Light-speed Connections," was held this year to recognize the importance of bringing low-loss optical fiber and room-temperature semiconductor lasers together in 1970 to transform global communications and enable light-speed connections across continents and oceans. Special programming featured a keynote address by Dr. David Welch, founder and chief innovation officer of Infinera (News - Alert) Corporation, Sunnyvale, California, U.S.A., whose talk gave a glimpse into the near-term future, a show-floor exhibit on the history of fiber optics and a reception. "Optical networks are central to global connectivity and global communication, and it has absolutely transformed our society and our world," Welch remarked. "In the end, life is about human-to-human activity. We may elect to utilize machines to facilitate better human-to-human connectivity, and I think that is the greatest contribution of the optical network: the expanse of our human-to-human connectivity." New this year, the Special Chairs' Session, Vision 2030: Taking Optical Communications through the Next Decade, featured visionary speakers who discussed past successes alongside forthcoming innovations. With this year as the marker of a new decade, the session outlined projections for the next ten years in areas such as photonic integrated circuits, silicon/nanophotonics, photonic integrated circuits, evolution of undersea cables, and 5G optical transport, among other topics. The Exhibit Many of the event's traditional exhibiting companies and their customers were impacted due to corporate travel bans, but some exhibitors and sponsors were able to attend to conduct business. "OFC is where we have significant opportunities to address the fiber optic community with products that expand the entire technology," Janis Valdmanis, general manager of the Ann Arbor, Michigan Business Unit of Thorlabs. "We're committed to being here supporting our customer base." "OFC is the ultimate," Pierre Leonard, CEO, JGR Optics. "You get everything from your raw material all the way up to your full system providers and everything in between, so this is the place to be." In addition, several high-profile sessions on the exhibit floor, including the Data Center Summit; Market Watch State of the Industry panel; and the Network Operator Summit keynote from Chih-Lin I, Chief Scientist, China Mobile, were livestreamed from the conference. These sessions showcased important industry and business programming. OFC 2021 OFC 2021 will continue to serve as the industry's premier optical communications event, which is set to take place 28 March - 1 April in San Francisco. For more information on OFC, visit ofcconference.org. About OFC The Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) is recognized as the largest global conference and exhibition for optical communications and networking professionals in the world. For nearly 50 years, OFC has drawn attendees from all corners of the globe to meet and greet, teach and learn, make connections and advance the communications industry. OFC captures the pulse of the entire optical networking and communications industry by featuring dynamic business programming, exhibitions by more than 700 companies, and high impact peer-reviewed research. OFC is managed by The Optical Society (OSA) and cosponsored by OSA, the IEEE Communications Society (News - Alert) (IEEE ComSoc) and the IEEE Photonics Society. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005376/en/

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Rome, Italy  Fri, March 13, 2020 21:03 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a7970d 2 World China,Italy,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19,health,bilateral-relations Free

Nine Chinese experts and several tons of medical aid have arrived on a special to flight to Italy to help the country fight Europe's most serious coronavirus outbreak.

China, the epicenter of the outbreak that first emerged in December, has said the peak of the epidemic has passed in the country after a steady decline in the number of new cases.

After battling the deadly epidemic for several months, it has also sent support to Iran and Iraq to help fight the illness.

On Thursday, a flight carrying medical experts and supplies arrived in Rome to help the hard-hit country, which has more than 15,000 cases and over 1,000 deaths -- the most outside of China.

The specialists had "been on the frontline since the first day in the epicenter of the virus", said Francesco Rossa, the president of the Italian Red Cross.

"The exchange of experiences with our researchers is important."

The team included the vice president of the Chinese Red Cross and a prominent cardio-pulmonary intensive care expert, along with pediatricians and nurses who worked on the virus outbreak in China.

The medical supplies included ventilators, respiratory material, electro-cardiograph machines and tens of thousands of masks, Rossa said.

Sporting face masks, the Chinese specialists were met by Italian health officials in Rome as they arrived for the visit.

In a phone call earlier this week, China's Foreign Minster Wang Yi told his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio that Italy would have Beijing's full support in battling the outbreak.

The outbreak has killed over 3,100 people in China and infected more than 80,000, the highest number globally.

Italy is the second-worst affected country, and has issued a nationwide lockdown in a bid to contain the pandemic.
Australia's Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton met and posed for a photo next to Ivanka Trump just days before he tested positive for coronavirus.

The pair posed for a photo in Washington, DC, on March 7 and Mr Dutton's hands were seen resting next to Ms Trump's left hip.

US Attorney General Bill Barr is also in the photo next to Ms Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter.

The meeting was part of a Five Eyes meeting with officials from Australia, the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand present.

Peter Dutton (pictured, third from right) also met with US president Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka (fourth from right) during his trip overseas

Mr Dutton, 49, is now in hospital after becoming the 200th case of the deadly respiratory infection to hit Australia. Three people have died.

It has sparked fears that the entire cabinet, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, will be forced to self-isolate after meeting Mr Dutton earlier this week.

But a spokesman for the prime minister insisted Mr Dutton was not contagious at the time of the meeting, so none of the cabinet ministers will be tested.

The cabinet met on Tuesday to discuss the budget, and will have been sat in close proximity, prompting calls for parliament to shut down.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

It is thought Mr Dutton then took a commercial flight back to Brisbane later on Tuesday.

He said in a statement that he woke up on Friday morning with 'a temperature and a sore throat' but 'feels fine'.

Mr Dutton then 'immediately contacted the Queensland Department of Health' and submitted himself for a test, which came back positive.

The politician had recently returned from a work trip to the United States.

'This morning I woke up with a temperature and a sore throat,' he said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

'I immediately contacted the Queensland Department of Health and was subsequently tested for Covid-19.

'I was advised by Queensland Health this afternoon that the test had returned positive.

'It is the policy of Queensland Health that anyone who tests positive is to be admitted into hospital and I have complied with their advice.

'I feel fine and will provide an update in due course.'

Peter Dutton (pictured, centre) is now in hospital in Queensland after being diagnosed with the coronavirus

Peter Dutton (pictured) was in the US on March 6 to meet with intelligence officials as part of the Five Eyes programme

Earlier on Friday, Mr Dutton didn't appear for his interview on the Today Show.

The show's host Allison Langdon said the politician was suffering from a 'stomach bug'.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is reportedly concerned that he's been exposed to people who have contracted the killer coronavirus, including a Brazilian official who tested positive for the disease days after meeting the President at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence met with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and his Press Secretary Fabio Wajngarten and sat down for a dinner together on Saturday.

On Thursday Wajngarten tested positive for COVID-19.

'He is very concerned about all the people he met who have it, including the Brazilian,' a source said to CNN on the president's concerns.

The president has still not been tested for the novel coronavirus, the White House said.
Three days in the creative wilderness with Francis Farewell Starlite, the reclusive muse to Kanye West, Bon Iver and Drake.

Also read: 25 Songs That Matter Now.

____
Prince Charles has waited longer than anyone to take the British crown, yet there has been considerable talk about Prince William becoming the next King of the United Kingdom. William is currently second in line and will presumably take the crown once Charles is gone. With a new set of polls in mind, what are the chances that William is named King over Charles?

Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth, Prince William, and Kate Middleton | Stefan Wermuth  WPA Pool/Getty Images

New Canadian poll reveals the royal familys popularity

A new poll from Research Co asked Canadians a series of questions related to the royal family. The most popular member of the royal family was Queen Elizabeth, with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry receiving the biggest drops in popularity since the same poll was conducted in 2019.

The poll also asked residents in Canada, a Commonwealth Nation, what they thought about the future of the British monarchy. According to Express, a large portion of individuals felt indifferent towards the royals, with many being of the opinion that the monarchy should be dissolved after Queen Elizabeth.

When it comes to who should be the next ruling monarch, more Canadians felt like Prince William should take the crown over Charles. In fact, William received 35 percent of the votes in the poll while Charles only received 25 percent.

Charles popularity took a major hit in the 1990s following his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, which ultimately led to the end of his marriage to Princess Diana. Charles has repaired his public image since then, but he still remains unpopular around the globe.

How do Americans feel about Prince Charles and Prince William?

Although the United States is completely separate from the British monarchy, many Americans have strong opinions about who should be the next King of the United Kingdom.

In a poll from Insider, over one thousand Americans were asked who they would like to see on the throne next. On the whole, Americans agree that Charles has the rightful claim to the crown, but most believe that William would be a better pick after Queen Elizabeth is gone.

Prince William received 42 percent of the votes while Charles only got 21 percent. The Prince of Wales barely beat his second son, Prince Harry, who got 18 percent. Even Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle got in on the action with 10 and 6 percent, respectively.

Although it is pretty clear that William is more popular than his father, what are the chances that he inherits the crown next?

This is one way Prince William could be the next King

While it is highly unlikely that Charles would abdicate in favor of William, it is not completely out of the question. Not only is Williams popularity a factor, but there is always the chance that Charles does not want to become King.

According to Express, royal expert Robert Blackburn, who wrote a book called King and Country in 2006, believes that it would not be that big of a deal if Charles passed the crown to Prince William.

If there was a feeling within the Royal Family, particularly with Prince Charles, that he would prefer not to be King and he would like to pass the throne to his son, then I think it would be perfectly reasonable to do that, he explained.

Charles will turn 72 years old this year, and with Queen Elizabeth in her 90s, it is only a matter of time before we find out if he plans on sitting on the throne.

Regardless of what Charles does in the immediate future, William will become King one day  and he is doing everything in his power to prepare for the day he wears the crown.

Prince William holds a special meeting

Once Charles sits on the throne, Prince William will likely receive new titles as first in line to the throne. He will also be required to run the Duchy of Cornwall, a role his father has been doing for decades.

With that in mind, William has reportedly been holding special meetings to prepare himself for the day he becomes the Duke of Cornwall. The meeting reportedly happened inside Kensington Palace and featured the secretary of the Duchy of Cornwall, Alistair Martin.

We do not know that the two talked about, but their meeting definitely had something to do with managing the vast estate.

Prince William and Prince Charles have not commented on the reports surrounding the royal line of succession or the future of the monarchy.




Corn, soybeans drop almost 2% as global markets recoil

As concerns over the economic fallout from the fast-spreading coronavirus dragged down equities and commodities, Chicago corn and soybean futures slid 2% on Monday, both extending losses into a third session.

"We have been worried that falling oil prices had prompted a more general exit from commodities," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

A sharp decline in oil prices is adding to concerns about demand for some of the agriculture products such as corn and soybean oil which are used in making renewable fuels.

The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 2% to US$3.68-1/2 a bushel by 0337 GMT, soybeans lost 2.1% to US$8.73 a bushel and wheat gave up 1.8% to US$5.06-3/4 a bushel.

Earlier in the session, wheat dropped to its weakest since mid-November at US$5.05-3/4 a bushel, while soybeans hit their lowest since February 24 at US$8.71 a bushel.

Global share markets tumbled 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 number of people infected with coronavirus topped 107,000 across the world as the outbreak reached more countries and caused more economic damage.

China's soybean imports in the first two months of 2020 jumped 14.2% on-year, official data showed on Saturday, as cargoes from the US booked during a trade truce at the end of 2019 cleared customs.

China, the world's top market for soybeans, brought in 13.51 million tonnes of the oilseed in January and February, up from 11.83 million tonnes a year earlier, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

Soy exports from Brazil, which had significant delays in February due to intense rains in coastal cities, are expected to gather pace in southern ports as the weather turns drier in the coming days, according to shipping data and climate forecasts.

Ukraine's grain exports have risen about 24% to 41.7 million tonnes so far in the July 2019 to June 2020 season, the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture said on Friday.

Wheat exports increased to 16.7 million tonnes, the ministry said, adding that Ukraine exported about four million tonnes of barley and 20.4 million tonnes of corn.

Large speculators trimmed their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week to March 3, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, switched to a net short position in CBOT wheat and trimmed their net short position in soybeans.
Information on oilseed rape growth stage, sclerotinia pressure and weather-based infection risk can help reduce sprays and improve timing, according to research.

With the crop about to enter its critical flowering period, AHDB has announced it will run its sclerotinia infection risk alerts service again this season to help growers better target sprays.

The levy board has also issued the spring update of the light leaf spot forecast, as well as predictive information on aphid activity.

Each spring, warm and moist soils cause Sclerotinia sclerotiorum to develop brown spore-releasing structures on the soil.

Carried in the wind, the spores can land on OSR, feed on petals and germinate. Even where spores are present and food is sufficient, conducive weather is required for infection to occur.

OSR is at the greatest risk of infection when relative humidity and air temperatures are high for more than 23 consecutive hours.

The ADAS-led project provided infection-risk information for 15 commercial sites, three times each week (201518), during the main risk periods.

Located across England and Scotland, some sites included monitoring of airborne spores and petal inoculum levels.

The researchers found that decisions based on inoculum levels and weather-based infection risk resulted in 26% fewer crops needing treatment.

Three of the sites included a fungicide timing trial. Under relatively high disease pressures, fungicides applied in response to alerts resulted in an average yield response of 0.3 t/ha (compared with the untreated control).

Where sprays were made routinely at early flower (in the absence of alerts), average yield increases were reduced to 0.22 t/ha.

Catherine Harries, who manages disease research at AHDB, said: In the absence of sclerotinia inoculum, oilseed rape is not at risk from infection.

"Where inoculum is found, weather largely drives infection risk and this is where our alerts service is particularly useful.

The UK areas where weather conditions are currently, or are forecast to be, suitable for the sclerotinia pathogen to infect crops are highlighted by the risk alerts service.

Typically, the optimum time for a single spray is just before mid-flowering on the main raceme and, since fungicides have protectant activity, should be applied prior to an infection risk alert.

Persistence of full-dose fungicides is approximately three weeks. If a spray is made earlier, or if the flowering period is extended, a second spray may be required under conducive infection conditions.

AHDBs light leaf spot spring forecast shows that the disease risk to OSR has increased over most regions, since the autumn preliminary forecast. This is due to the wetter than average winter for most parts of the UK.

The exception is eastern Scotland, which has reduced slightly due to drier weather than normal.

The regional disease forecast highlights the proportion of OSR crops with a disease resistance rating of 5 predicted to have more than 25% of plants affected by the spring.

With JanuaryFebruary air temperatures above the 30-year average, aphids are anticipated to take flight relatively early this spring.

In fact, the AHDB Aphid News service predicts that aphids will fly about 13 weeks earlier in Scotland and Northern England and about four weeks earlier over much of the rest of England.
A host of personal and professional stresses were swirling around the life of former McFarland City Manager John Wooner before he disappeared 
Sudan has rejected an Arab League resolution, expressing support for Cairo in negotiations with Addis Ababa on Ethiopias Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a move that raised eyebrows in the Arab League and alarmed Egyptian authorities.

The Arab League statement  the outcome of deliberations at a regular session of the Arab Foreign Ministers Council held March 5  expressed the pan-Arab bloc's rejection of any form of infringement on Egypt's historical rights to the waters of the River Nile. The statement further stressed the need for Ethiopia to adhere to the principles of international law, noting that Egyptian water security is an integral part of Arab national security.

The resolution, put forth by Egypt, was endorsed by all countries in the 22-member state organization, save for Sudan. An initial draft statement had cited the historical rights of both Egypt and Sudan to Nile waters; but Sudan, in a surprise move, requested that its name be removed from the text, saying it had not been consulted by Egypt.

An Arab League source who spoke with Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity denied that Sudan had not been consulted, insisting that the Sudanese diplomatic mission in Cairo had been handed the draft document March 1 (four days before the meeting). But we received no response from the Sudanese side prior to the meeting, he lamented.

The Arab League statement also lauded as fair a US-brokered draft agreement on filling and operating the dam. The league said the agreement serves the interests of the three countries, in reference to Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, which are engaged in the dam negotiations mediated by the US Treasury Department.

The US-sponsored talks, which started in mid-November, hit a glitch in late February when Ethiopia failed to attend what would have been the last round of negotiations in Washington. Ethiopia said it rejects the US Treasury's claim that an agreement had been finalized. The draft agreement was signed by Egypt but not by Sudan, which chose to side with Ethiopia, much to the chagrin of its northern neighbor.

Sudan, meanwhile, said the Arab League document was not in its best interests and cautioned against involvement of the Arab states in the Nile water dispute, fearing the Arab League resolution may lead to confrontation between them and Ethiopia. A Sudanese Foreign Ministry statement released March 6 said, The draft resolution does not serve the spirit of dialogue  to reach an agreement between the three countries  on the process of filling and operation of the dam.

The statement added that Sudan had submitted a proposal to amend the text in line with the goal of encouraging the parties to continue dialogue and avoid escalation of the dispute and polarization that does not serve the desired goal of agreeing to a road map that serves the water interests of the three countries. The statement also called on Egypt and Ethiopia to return to negotiations to reach a satisfactory agreement.

Khartoum completely rejects the internationalization of the Renaissance Dam issue, Tijjani Adam, the secretary-general of the Sudanese Energy, Mining, Electricity and Regulation Authority, was quoted by the Ethiopian News Agency as saying. He said, Internationalization of the dispute would not benefit the countries concerned and would only complicate things further and delay the expected solutions.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry expressed its "regret over Sudan's reservations to the Arab League document and said Sudan's permanent representative at the Arab League had received the draft statement several days before the ministerial meeting but had not commented on it. In a statement released to the press March 8, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Hafez said Egypt had acquiesced to the Sudanese request to have any mention of Sudan removed from the draft document. He added that amendments proposed by Sudan  if accepted  would have diluted the impact of the Arab League decision. Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. meanwhile, has visited a number of Arab countries in recent days to drum up support for Egypt and win regional allies in the country's dispute with Ethiopia.

Egyptian analysts and the country's largely pro-government media, meanwhile, rebuffed Sudan's controversial stance vis a vis the Ethiopian dam, saying that it showed a clear bias on the part of Egypt's southern neighbor in favor of Ethiopia. An opinion editorial published in the privately owned Raialyoum news website on March 5 slammed the decision by Sudan's military government to move away from the Arab fold and to publicly announce its choice to side with Ethiopia against Egypt at the Arab League. Some of the questions in bold print above the editorial were In whose interest is it to collude (with Ethiopia) to starve millions of Egyptians? Who is behind this dramatic shift in Sudan's official position?

Sudanese journalist Mohamed Mostafa Gamea responded to the criticism in an editorial published in the Sudanese Sama news website. The Sudanese are united in their position over the Renaissance Dam, a position that is in line with the revolutionary goal of (putting) Sudan's interests first, he wrote.

Sudan is a sovereign state and has the right to express its reservations and oppose what it deems harmful to the interests of its people.  The Sudanese position on the Renaissance Dam remains unchanged; we have written several articles in the past highlighting the benefits of the dam for Sudan and its people. Even during the era of ousted President Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese government and the people had supported Ethiopia in its right to construct the dam  not as a conspiracy against Egypt nor out of hatred for the Arabs or Islam as the Egyptian editorial states, but because the dam will benefit Sudan; it is in the country's higher interests to see the project completed, Gamea added in his article.

Sudan has supported Ethiopia's $6.4-billion dam construction project since 2013 when it gave the upstream country the green light to change the course of the Blue Nile, one of the Nile Rivers most important tributaries, in the conviction that Khartoum would enjoy a large share of the electricity generated by the dam. Sudan enjoys strong economic ties with Ethiopia and has repeatedly praised the latter's role in mediating a truce between Sudan's warring factions and its supportive role in bringing peace and stability to Sudan during the recent revolt that ousted Bashir.

For Egypt, meanwhile, the Nile River is a lifeline supplying more than 90% of the country's freshwater. Egypt considers Ethiopia's hydroelectric dam a national security threat, fearing the dam will threaten its already scarce water resources, despite assurances from Ethiopia that the dam will not disrupt the river's flow nor cause significant harm to the downstream countries. In a statement published on its official Facebook page March 4, Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry announced it would go ahead with plans to fill the dam despite the breakdown of the talks.

"Ethiopia as the owner of the GERD, will commence first filling of the GERD in parallel with the construction of the Dam in accordance with the principles of equitable and reasonable utilization and the causing of no significant harm as provided for under the Agreement of the Declaration of Principles," reads the statement, referencing the 2015 agreement on the dam signed in Khartoum between the three countries.

But Gamal Bayoumi, a former assistant to the foreign minister and secretary-general of the Arab Investors Union, blamed Sudan's overtures for disengagement from Arab states on the lack of experience of the new government in Sudan. Bayoumi lauded Egypt's response to the action as balanced and diplomatically correct.

Bayoumi told Al-Monitor that Egypt had dispatched its intelligence chief, Gen. Abbas Kamel, to Sudan after the recent failed assassination attempt on the life of Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. On March 9, the Sudanese premier survived an explosion  widely believed to have been an assassination attempt  near his convoy as he headed to his office in Khartoum.

The move was meant to send a clear message to Khartoum that Egypt stands with the transitional government in Khartoum in confronting terrorism and that the two countries share more than just a common border, they share a common destiny, Bayoumi added.
TORONTO - From school closures to travel restrictions to limits on large gatherings, Canada entered a new stage in combating the spread of COVID-19 this week with measures that various experts say will almost certainly have unintended consequences.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A empty classroom is pictured at McGee Secondary school in Vancouver, B.C. Friday, Sept. 5, 2014. From school closures to travel restrictions to limits on large gatherings, Canada entered a new stage in combating the spread of COVID-19 this week with measures that various experts say will almost certainly have unintended consequences. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

TORONTO - From school closures to travel restrictions to limits on large gatherings, Canada entered a new stage in combating the spread of COVID-19 this week with measures that various experts say will almost certainly have unintended consequences.

School closures in particular have come under scrutiny for their ability to adequately mitigate infection if millions of children are now in the community, many with less supervision and some possibly in the care of elderly grandparents who are at greater risk of complications from the emerging disease.

"There're always going to be those scenarios where there's unintended consequences, where people are harmed as a result of isolation or stopping everything, but these kind of measures are done on a population level," says infection disease physician Alon Vaisman, a doctor at Toronto General Hospital.

"For sure there are going to be individuals where it is worse for them but, you know, we look at cases in Italy and in (China's) Hubei (province) of what they did  it was a blunt tool to try to reduce the spread as fast as you can."

Ontario said Thursday it was shutting down its public schools for two weeks following the weeklong March break set to begin Monday, while Nova Scotia is requiring its public school children to self-isolate for two weeks if they travel abroad on their spring break, also running next week.

Meanwhile, Quebec will close schools and daycares for two weeks starting Monday, and is offering daycare services to health-care workers and others who provide essential services.

Alberta's chief medical officer stopped short of closing schools and daycares but joined Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec in banning gatherings of 250 people or more while Nova Scotia capped gatherings at 150.

On Friday, Canadians were also told to halt any non-essential travel out of the country.

Steven Hoffman, a professor of Global Health, Law, and Political Science at York University, cautioned the general public from interpreting these measures as indication the threat of COVID-19 has increased. The Public Health Agency of Canada website continued to label the threat to the general public as low Friday, but noted that could change rapidly.

"This might represent a turning point in the government's response to COVID-19 in Canada, but it doesn't represent a turning point in the way that the outbreak has changed," says Hoffman, who holds posts with several public health organizations including the CIHR Institute of Population & Public Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the WHO Collaborating Centre on Global Governance of Antimicrobial Resistance.

"We haven't had many instances of community transmission but certainly, this could be pointed to as the day when the government did take quite a lot more action. Although I think we should also raise the question of whether that's too much action, given the risk involved."

Hoffman described school closures as a particularly "extraordinary measure" that is less effective at containment and prevention but can dramatically slow transmission.

The fallout, though, is that millions of kids will not be learning, and many of their parents may not be able to go to work  including doctors and nurses, he says.

"There is a place for it and research shows that it can be a very effective strategy as part of social-distancing efforts. The key is to make sure you do it as close to the right time as possible, because otherwise the consequences of it could actually exceed its benefits," says Hoffman.

British Columbia health minister Adrian Dix acknowledged as much earlier this week when he dismissed the possibility of school closures, saying they would not prevent older children from gathering in groups, likely unsupervised and in public areas.

The province's health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reiterated Thursday schools are a place where young people can be kept safe.

"We know that sometimes the impacts of closing schools, particularly abruptly, can cause a lot of societal disruption and economic impact," she said.

Much is still unknown about COVID-19 but so far, children don't appear to suffer symptoms to the same degree as adults or older Canadians. Among Canada's dozens of reported cases, just a handful were below the age of 18 as of Friday.

However, children are an important factor in any disease outbreak because they are especially good at spreading disease  they are in contact with large numbers of other children at school, and are notoriously poor at hand hygiene, says Vaisman.

Given the fact most schools contain hundreds of kids, and sometimes thousands, limiting those contacts makes a lot of sense, he says.

"Kids can be carriers or they could be reservoirs of the virus," says Vaisman.

Meanwhile, the varying limits being imposed to large gatherings in each province point to the unique circumstances of each jurisdiction, says Vaisman, noting such decisions are based on the number of local cases and capacity of local hospitals.

"Somewhere along the way the risk goes down but it's hard to know where that cutoff should be. Should it be at 250? Should it be at 20? Nobody really knows the answer and it's just a matter of your jurisdiction's risk tolerance," he says.

The basic principle is the fewer people you're in contact with, the slower the spread.

"This blunt instrument of shutting everything down basically reduces human-to-human interaction."

But Hoffman worried about the social impact of forcing kids to stay home, noting that many families don't have caregiving options or the luxury of taking time off work.

"These sorts of measures always disproportionately affect those who are already facing conditions of marginalization, which is really the tragedy of all public health events. It really affects the least well-off the most," he says.

On the other hand, school closures and other social-distancing measures can reduce the burden on provincial health-care systems that may face increasing numbers of critically ill patients, says University of Toronto researcher Ashleigh Tuite, an epidemiologist at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Tuite notes Ontario's school closures have the associated impact of forcing many adults to stay home from work, since they must now take care of children. She says the combination of those two social-distancing measures can be dramatic.

"This proactive approach is quite admirable," says Tuite, who used mathematical modelling to assess how different public policy strategies would impact local spread of COVID-19.

"The alternate scenario is you wait until you start seeing overcrowding in the hospital and you realize, 'Oh my goodness, we're at capacity right now. We need to implement quarantine and social distancing and whatnot.' And at that point, it's basically too late."

Most cases of COVID-19 are mild or moderate, with many patients able to recover at home. But about 20 per cent of patients can suffer severe symptoms and require specialized, acute care in hospital.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2020.
Lisa Rinna sported a sweet tribute to her husband Harry Hamlin across her chest ahead of her 23rd wedding anniversary.

After stepping out for a yoga class in Los Angeles on Thursday, the 56-year-old Daytime Emmy nominee was seen carrying a Louis Vuitton purse with a custom monogram that read: Mrs. Hamlin.

For her active outing, the reality star looked effortlessly chic in black leggings, a cozy sweater and her signature spiked pixie cut under a bandana.

In love: Lisa Rinna sported a sweet tribute to her husband Harry Hamlin across her chest ahead of her 23rd wedding anniversary

The mother of two, who shares Delilah, 21, and Amelia, 18, with her husband, flaunted her toned figure and cheerful demeanor after breaking a sweat in a workout class.

The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills beauty hid her face under a pair of over-sized dark frames, as she carried her mat and a towel in one hand.

While the confident Days of Our Lives alum has starred on five seasons of RHOBH without a hitch to her marriage, her husband initially believed the reality show would be the end of their relationship.

Gym time: The mother of two, who shares Delilah, 21, and Amelia, 18, with her husband, flaunted her toned figure and cheerful demeanor after breaking a sweat in a workout class

Star power: While the confident Days of Our Lives alum has starred on five seasons of RHOBH without a hitch to her marriage, her husband initially believed the reality show would end their relationship

In an December the Mad Men actor told People, 'I said to Lisa, You cant do this. Everybody who does that show gets divorced. Its a horrible, horrible thing, to do that show.

While the Bravo star's husband says he has a divorce lawyer on speed dial, he's affirms he's still madly in love with Lisa.

'We listen to each other. Really listen to each other. The thing about listening is that its not something that comes innately to human beings,' he told the outlet.

Love at first sight: The pair first met when Lisa was working at a store selling sunglasses more than two decades ago

Hamlin gushed: 'Shes smart, shes the smartest person I have ever met. Shes smart as a whip. Our favorite thing is to hang out.'

The pair first met when Lisa was working at a store selling sunglasses more than two decades ago.

'We met in a restaurant. She was working at an eyeglass store doing the night shift selling sunglasses,' he recalled on The Jess Cagle Show. 'I happened to know the owner of the store, I was having dinner with him and she came in to deliver the keys when she closed the store at 10. Thats how I met her.'

The actor admitted he had sparks right away and was 'enchanted' by her presence.
Representative image

In the aftermath of the central governments decision to suspend most visas over the fear of spread of coronavirus, the international airlines are expected to reduce their services over the next one month - except certain categories - with effect from March 13, The Indian Express has reported.

Foreign nationals account for 50-70 percent of passenger traffic for overseas carriers operating to India, an official at a West Asian airline told the publication.

According to the report, Doha-based Qatar Airways, which operates to 13 cities in India, has reduced its services to some airports including Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. This has been done while all Indian carriers flying to Doha have already cancelled their flights due to Qatari government restricting entry of Indian nationals into Doha.

Oman Air considering reducing frequencies and operating smaller aircraft after studying passenger loads, said the report quoting a senior airline executive. The airline has witnessed a decline in bookings to its Indian stations over the past few weeks, said the official.

Catch coronavirus LIVE Updates

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

Besides foreign carriers, domestic airlines having a significant exposure to international routes are considering to reduce their operations, said the report.

Sabina Chopra, Yatra.com co-founder and COO - Corporate Travel & Head Industry Relations, said the latest suspension of visas from all countries to India was expected to have a substantial impact on the foreign tourist arrival in the country which was already witnessing a drop due to the prevailing situation.

"We have received close to 35 percent cancellation queries from travellers planning their trip to foreign destinations," she said adding airfares to affected destinations have dropped by 40 percent.

Coronavirus pandemic | Travel industry facing 80% cancellations, seeks relief: Trade body

Chopra further said, "There has been about 18 percent drop in hotel rates and we are receiving cancellation requests from various travellers who are wary of taking up trips domestically as well."

Air India is further looking to truncate its international flights in light of weak passenger demand, an airline official told the publication. The national carrier has already suspended its flights to Rome and Milan.

Air Tanzania has suspended its flights to Mumbai between March 13 and April 15 citing Indias visa restrictions, it said.

Also, RwandAir has said it is temporarily suspending flights to Mumbai till April 30, added the report.
Mumbai: 44 Indian citizens evacuated from Iran. Shifted to indian navy quarantine facility set up at #Ghatkopar #Mumbai. All required facilities set up by Western Naval Command, Indian Navy, in Mumbai on March 13, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai: 44 Indian citizens evacuated from Iran. Shifted to indian navy quarantine facility set up at #Ghatkopar #Mumbai. All required facilities set up by Western Naval Command, Indian Navy, in Mumbai on March 13, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai: 44 Indian citizens evacuated from Iran. Shifted to indian navy quarantine facility set up at #Ghatkopar #Mumbai. All required facilities set up by Western Naval Command, Indian Navy, in Mumbai on March 13, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai: 44 Indian citizens evacuated from Iran. Shifted to indian navy quarantine facility set up at #Ghatkopar #Mumbai. All required facilities set up by Western Naval Command, Indian Navy, in Mumbai on March 13, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Los Angeles, March 13 : Disney has postponed the theatrical release of "Mulan" amid growing concerns over coronavirus.

The live-action remake, starring Liu Yifei and directed by Niki Caro, was slated to release in North American theatres on March ch 13, 2020. (Photo: IANS)' /> Mumbai/New Delhi, March 13 (IANS) A flight carrying 44 Indians evacuated from the coronavirus-affected Iran arrived here from Tehran on Friday afternoon, officials said.

Besides the passengers, there are 17 crew members and the aircraft has been parked at an isolated area at Mumbai airport to avoid any contact with other passengers or flights.

Officials indicated that all the passengers would be shifted by an Indian Navy team to a quarantine facility.

It is not known whether there are any passengers showing symptoms of Covid-19, and further details are awaited.

An earlier report had stated that all the passengers have tested negative, but would be quarantined as per the existing health protocol for coronavirus.

Earlier, the second batch of Indian pilgrims arrived in India on Friday from Iran, Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar tweeted.

It was then reported that these 44 would be sent to a quarantine centre in Jaisalmer, but Col Sombit Ghosh, PRO Defence, told IANS that there is no confirmation about that.

Jaishankar praised the efforts of the medical team of the Indian embassy in Iran and Iranian authorities involved in the evacuation operation.

"Our efforts to bring back the others continue. @India_in_Iran and our medical team -- keep up the good work. Appreciate the support of Iranian authorities and their airlines." After Wuhan, Italy and Iran witnessed the worst outbreak of coronavirus. Many Indians, including students, pilgrims and fishermen, have been stranded in Iran amid the outbreak.

The government will carry out another evacuation, but the date is yet to be decided, a Ministry official said on Thursday at a press conference.

The Indian government has set up a testing lab in Iran where the screening and tests are being conducted and prospective cases are detected there itself before bringing Indians back from Iran.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Editors note: This story is archived. Please see The Chronicles FAQ on all Bay Area school closures with the latest information.

School districts across the country are facing pressure to shut down for at least three weeks as the coronavirus continued to spread across the region and state.

San Francisco announced on Thursday it would close all of its public schools for three weeks. The two largest districts in California  Los Angeles and San Diego  also issued a joint statement saying they would shut down for three weeks. The closures so far affect more than one million students in California who will be out of school in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, teachers are scrambling to continue instruction for their students while balancing their own family pressures.

San Francisco public school closure: What does it mean for your family?

Here are the latest updates on Bay Area school districts that have announced closures, and those that have announced they are considering it. Follow live updates on coronavirus news here, and see how many cases there are in the Bay Area and California in our exclusive tracker. To get regular updates on our coverage to your email, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter here.

Bay Area public school districts that have announced closures:

Alameda Unified: All schools are closed through April 3.

Antioch Unified School District: All schools are closed from Monday, March 16 to March 30, when classes are expected to resume. Three schools will be open for students who receive free and reduced lunch.

Berkeley Unified: All schools, serving 9,800 students, are closed from March 16 to April 3.

Dublin Unified: All schools close through Apr. 10.

Fremont Unified: All schools are closed through Mar. 27. The tentative reopening date is Monday, March 30, but that may be extended depending on recommendations from county and state officials.

Hayward Unified: All schools are closed through April 3.

Lafayette: All district schools are closed and may consider reopening no earlier than April 6.

Marin County: All county schools are closed for two weeks through March 27. The county is working on providing meals and resources to students during the closure.

Menlo Park City Schools: All schools are closed through April 5.

Millbrae Elementary School District: All schools are closed through March 27.

Mt. Diablo Unified: All schools are closed starting Tuesday, March 17 after a development day, with no students, scheduled for Monday. It is unclear how long schools will be closed.

Newark Unified: All schools closed through Mar. 27.

Oakland Unified School District: All schools are closed through at least April 5, which marks the end of the districts spring break. Officials said there will be 12 sites throughout the city where any Oakland child under 18 can receive free grab-and-go breakfast and lunch. The sites will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Mondays and Thursdays, and kids can pick up multiple days worth of food. The school district has also developed a learning continuity plan to help students stay current with their education and practice skills they have learned. The assignments will not be graded and no new information will be introduced.

Orinda Unified: All schools are closed through March 27.

Pittsburgh Unified: All schools, serving more than 11,000 students, are closed for two weeks through March 27.

San Francisco Unified: All 113 public schools, serving 54,000 students, are closed for three weeks starting Monday, March 16 through April 3. The district will provide free breakfast and lunch starting Tuesday for children at pick-up sites across the city. Mayor London Breed announced that the city's recreation centers and libraries will suspend regular programming to operate as emergency care facilities starting Monday. The facilities will provide recreation, learning and three meals a day. Social distancing protocols will be followed. Children of healthcare workers, disaster service workers and low-income families will be eligible.

San Leandro Unified: All schools are closed through April 3. Spring break will move to the week of March 30 and classes are expected to resume April 6. The district will continue to provide meals to those who rely on them, but did not provide more details.

San Mateo County: All schools in all districts are closed through April 3.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

San Ramon Valley Unified: All schools are closed through April 10, a period that includes spring break. Students who qualify for Federal Lunch Program can receive free lunch at two sites during lunch hours.

Santa Clara County: Public schools are closed through April 3, at the earliest.

Santa Cruz County: All public schools are closed through March 20 following news of a confirmed COVID-19 case at Rio Del Mar Elementary School.

Sequoia Union High School District: All schools are closed through April 3.

Solano County: All schools are closed through March 27.

South San Francisco Unified: All schools are closed through April 3.

Tamalpais Union High School District: Five campuses closed on Friday, March 13, for two weeks through March 27.

Walnut Creek: All district schools, serving about 3,600 students, are closed through April 3rd, at which point school district officials will reassess this health crisis. Officials have coordinated with teachers to develop a remote learning plan that will be in place for the next two weeks. During the closure, all schools will undergo a deep cleaning to ensure safety upon reopening.

West Contra Costa Unified: All schools, serving more than 30,000 students, are closed for three weeks through April 3.

This story is no longer being updated. See our comprehensive FAQ on all Bay Area school closures.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
In the wake of the Haryana governments decision to close all universities and colleges till March 31 amid a global coronavirus outbreak, educational institutions in Hisar have advised international students not to leave the country.

Campaigns have been launched to sensitise international students about the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).

Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU) spokesperson Devendra Arya said, There are two international hostels in the university  one each for boys and girls. There are 31 students at the boys hostel and 29 in the girls hostel. The university administration has asked students not to leave the country till further orders.

Arya said a team of medical personnel had conducted health checks and held awareness camps in hostels and on the university campus.

Most facilities are available on the campus hospital. We have also developed an isolation ward for suspected cases. No student has exhibited symptoms typical of coronavirus so far, Arya said.

Associate director of students welfare (ADSW) Manju Mehta said students have been asked to avoid shaking hands and told to use masks and hand sanitisers.

CCSHAU vice-chancellor KP Singh held a meeting of officials and said a quick-reaction team will keep a round-the-clock vigil.

There are around 15 foreign students at the Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology (GJU&ST). Public relation officer Bijender Dahiya said, We have received no cases so far. Nevertheless, the university administration is on alert.

Regular hostels to be vacated

Dahiya said that in line with the Haryana governments guidelines the varsity has decided to suspend all meetings, seminars and workshops on campus: We have also decided to postpone the Personal Contact Programme (PCT) for all distance learning students till March 31. Girls and boys hostels will be vacated for the time being. Only international students will stay on campus, that too under strict medical vigil.

Health awareness campaigns have also been launched at Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU).
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 23:11:05|Editor: yan

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LILONGWE, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Malawi President, Peter Mutharika, has dissolved his cabinet effective Friday, the country's Chief Secretary to the Government, Lloyd Muhara, announced in a statement.

Muhara said, "following the dissolution of the cabinet, and until the appointment of a new cabinet, all ministerial powers, functions and responsibilities shall vest in and be exercised by his Excellency the President."

The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) has since appealed to the public that all queries requiring the attention of cabinet ministers should be directed to the OPC.

The OPC has further requested all members of the dissolved cabinet to consult the Chief Secretary to the government for appropriate administrative arrangements.

The dissolution of the cabinet comes at the time when the country is expecting to hold fresh presidential election on May 19 following the Constitutional Court ruling on Feb. 3 nullifying the 2019 election.
Daniel Trumbower was working from home in Monrovia, Maryland, in early February when his wife called: A tornado warning had been issued for their town. Initially dubious  a tornado in Monrovia? Yeah, right  he looked outside to check the sky and saw a large, heavy-duty garbage can soaring through the air. He ran to his basement, where he remained while the house above him trembled and a roaring wind engulfed it. When he emerged several minutes later, he looked in disbelief at the destruction outside.

The road in front of Daniel Trumbower's house in Monrovia, Maryland, was blocked by a downed tree after a tornado ripped through the town in early February. Photo provided by Daniel Trumbower

"It looked like a war zone," said Trumbower, a certified financial planner and senior wealth advisor with Halpern Financial in Ashburn, Virginia. "I had a tree fall in my neighbor's driveway, our siding was punctured, shingles were all over the place. Debris was everywhere." Trumbower was grateful that his home suffered only external damage from the tornado  a nearby barn was leveled. He discovered, however, that his homeowners insurance didn't go as far as he thought. While his policy covers the cost of fully replacing his roof, that's not the case for the siding: It will only cover the cost of replacing the specific damaged spots, a type of approach that often results in a patchwork of mismatched siding. The experience showed Trumbower that just because you have homeowners insurance, it doesn't mean your policy covers what you'd assume it does when your property suffers weather-related damage.

"I was caught totally by surprise," Trumbower said, who is still in the claims process. The estimate he received to replace all the siding? $27,000. With weather events wreaking havoc on communities around the country  often in places unaccustomed to them  experts recommend that you review your own homeowners insurance in case Mother Nature's fury visits your neighborhood. "You should be meeting with your agent once a year to review your coverage and make sure there are no gaps," said Mark Friedlander, spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute. In early March, parts of Nashville and central Tennessee were hit by a tornado-spawning storm that killed 25 individuals, and damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and commercial structures. As impacted communities continue the long process of recovering and rebuilding, the cost of destruction is estimated at more than $1 billion, according to property-data provider CoreLogic.

And, tornado season is only getting started. States along the Gulf Coast  including Alabama, Mississippi and Florida  tend to have more activity earlier in the spring, while for states in the middle of the country, like Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, it's a bit later, according to NOAA. However, tornadoes can break out just about anywhere if conditions are conducive to their formation. And then there's water. A warmer and wetter spring is expected in the eastern half of the country, according to NOAA. After that is the Atlantic hurricane season, which starts June 1 and runs through the end of November. At the same time, though, the Southwest is expected to have a drier-than-normal spring, which increases the risk of wildfires. Last year was the fifth consecutive year in which the U.S. experienced 10 or more billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, according to NOAA. Depending on where you live and the weather that's typical for that area, your homeowners policy may provide coverage for some of the more location-specific events, and state law often dictates what's required of policies offered in their jurisdiction. Be aware that earthquakes  which also can strike anywhere with no warning  are not covered by standard homeowners policies, even in quake-prone California (you'd have to purchase separate insurance). Nor, typically, are other types of earth movement (i.e., landslides, sinkholes). Of course, insurance is often a balancing act with other expenses and financial obligations. Although your specific coverage should depend on your circumstances, here are some things to think about as you review your policy.

Different damage, different deductibles

While many perils are covered under the standard part of your policy, some weather-related events fall under a different part that comes with a different deductible. If you live in a state along the East Coast or Gulf of Mexico, there's a good chance your homeowners insurance policy has a hurricane deductible. Likewise, in states more prone to wind-related events  i.e., tornadoes  you're likely to have a wind/hail deductible. Either way, those amounts typically range from about 1% to 5% (with a minimum $500) depending on the specifics of your insurance contract. Some homeowners might opt for an even higher deductible if it's available. Generally speaking, the higher the deductible, the lower the premiums, and vice versa. More from Personal Finance:

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Why millennials may shrug at the stock market's troubles It's important to note that for those percentage-based deductibles, the amount is based on your insured value, not the damage caused. So if your home is insured for $200,000 and you have a 2% hurricane deductible, you'd be responsible for covering the first $4,000, regardless of the total cost of the damage. This means it's wise to have a plan to cover your share in the aftermath of a disaster. Trumbower, the financial advisor, said his experience demonstrated the importance of emergency savings. Even though his family could remain in the house because the damage was to its exterior, they had no power. With outside temperatures in the 20s, Trumbower headed to Costco for a generator ($700.) Additionally, the cost for emergency tree removal was $3,500, yet his insurance covered just $1,000 of it. "It shows how important it is to have that emergency money available," Trumbower said.

Flooding risk

Homeowners policies generally exclude flooding from coverage. Yet just one inch of water in your home can cause up to $25,000 worth of damage, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And, 1 in 4 flood insurance claims come from outside a high-risk zone. For coverage, you'd need separate flood insurance through either the federal National Flood Insurance Program or a private insurer. Be aware, however, that there are coverage exclusions and limitations. And, flood policies take 30 days to become effective. The average yearly cost is $700, although that can vary widely. While flooding is a common aspect of natural disasters, fewer than 15% of homeowners have flood insurance, said Friedlander, of the Insurance Information Institute.

Many homeowners have the misconception that flooding will be covered under their standard policy. Mark Friedlander Spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute

"Many homeowners have the misconception that flooding will be covered under their standard policy," he said. When a homeowner faces storm-related damage that is uncovered but in a federally declared disaster zone, there might be government programs that can provide financial assistance, including FEMA grants and Small Business Administration loans. However, that help is not guaranteed, and it likely wouldn't get you quickly back on your feet. For instance, after 2017s Hurricane Harvey, which dumped as much as 60 inches of rain in some spots in Texas, the average FEMA grant for individuals was $7,000, while the average claim through the National Flood Insurance Program was more than $100,000. Also that year, according to CoreLogic, serious delinquencies on home mortgages tripled in the metro areas of Houston, and Cape Coral, Florida, and quadrupled in San Juan, Puerto Rico  all of which were hard-hit by hurricanes. The next year, in 2018, the average flood claim was about $43,000, Friedlander said. "If you don't have flood coverage, ask yourself how you'd pay for that," he said.

If you're a renter

Even if you don't own your home, your finances are still at risk if a storm damages the house or building you live in. While the owner's insurance would cover the structure itself, you'd be responsible for your own property. Renter's insurance is an option for covering your belongings. It also can cover the cost of living somewhere else if you can't remain in your home after a storm or any other insured event. The national average for a policy with $40,000 coverage for personal property, a $1,000 deductible and $100,000 of liability protection is $197 a year (about $17 a month), according to an Insurance.com rate analysis.

Other odds and ends
PARMA, Ohio  Health officials have identified 56 people who came into close contact with the three people in Cuyahoga County confirmed to have coronavirus, Board of Health Commissioner Terry Allan said Friday.

Allan said he believes all 56 individuals are abiding by self-quarantines.

The Board of Health was unable to say where those 56 people came into contact with the three coronavirus patients, but said some of them encountered the coronavirus patients while traveling.

One of the patients, a man in his 50s, traveled on a bus with students to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington D.C. March 1-3. That man began feeling ill on March 6. University Hospitals collected a sample on March 8, and the state tested it the same day, Allan said.

See more coronavirus stories here.

The two other Cuyahoga County patients are a couple that went on an Egyptian cruise Feb. 24 through March 4. One person began feeling ill Feb. 29, and the other on March 5, Allan said. The couple returned to Cleveland March 5. University Hospitals collected specimens on March 7, and the state tested those specimens the following day.

County officials were told of all three positive tests results on March 9, Allan said.

Cuyahoga County and Ohio should anticipate more cases in the coming days, according to Allan.

He noted the cancellation of Clevelands St. Patricks Day Parade, and advised residents to stay home for the holiday, rather than celebrating at bars and restaurants.

See coronavirus cancellations here.

Read more Ohio coronavirus coverage:

Hypertension could be a leading factor in coronavirus deaths: Heres what to know

Coronavirus timeline: How the coronavirus spread from cases in China to Ohio in less than three months

Mad about coronavirus cancellations? Heres why mitigating the curve matters
DEVELOPERS can't build two-bed apartments around Dublin for under 463,000 unless the Government slashes its 30pc contribution to costs, according to the lobbying group for so-called "cuckoo funds".

Irish Institutional Property - the umbrella for institutional funds that since 2013 have grown to dominate residential apartment development and management- published new research yesterday breaking down the average build costs of approximately 10,000 units currently under construction along the capital's edge.

It said a typical two-bedroom apartment in a medium-rise building in suburban Dublin costs cuckoo-funded developers 301,600 to build - before land and tax costs and an 11pc developer profit margin are added. These take the typical sale price to 463,100.

Stephen Ashe, director of the Linesight consultancy that produced the report, said apartments become increasingly more expensive the higher the number of floors, so the analysis focused on buildings of five to eight storeys.

It excluded high-storey developments under way in central Dublin, which he said involved at times double the cost factors, which include land contamination and demolition work in tightly packed, high-traffic locations.

Properties subject to analysis stretched all along the M50 commuter belt and suburbs, including Blackrock and Portmarnock.

The typical two-bed apartment of 83 square metres, Mr Ashe says, costs 225,500 in pure construction costs including labour. Planning, professional fees and compliance add 24,000; development staff, legal support and administration 13,200; finance 11,900; and water and utility connections 6,100.

The report calculates that Government-set costs add more than 137,000 to sale costs, chiefly 12pc VAT and 65,000 in labour-related taxes. Developers' profit averages 52,700 per unit.

Glenveagh chief executive Stephen Garvey said institutional funds provided the only vehicle in today's housing market to finance large-scale apartment developments.

"None of this would be getting built without the role of institutional funds," Mr Garvey said. "Government contributes 40pc to my costs. We're not going to work for nothing. This is a base-line picture of what is possible in the market."
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There is a sense in which Gods promises are unconditional, in that our disobedience will not thwart Gods intention to be gracious, but there is also a sense in which those promises will be released only through the obedience of Gods people (Paul Carter).

The Bible is clear that God blesses His people. But its also clear that some blessings have conditions: If you do this, I will do that. Sadly, motivational preachers, teachers, and pastors only focus on the blessings of God without showing the other side of the coin. I have to keep my members happy and encouraged, they say. Yes, we should encourage, but we also must convict and confront if we are to be faithful ministers of the gospel.

Many come to church praising God but not prevailing with Him, worshiping but not walking in His promises, and praying but not seeing His power because of unrepentant sin: Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear (Isaiah 59:2). As its been said, It is possible to have a saved soul but a lost life.

We actually do a disservice to people if we fail to preach on the wonderful truth of repentance. I believe God will heal our land if we repent and turn to Him. I believe He will supply every need for those who, from a pure heart, honor Him with their resources. I believe God will bless you with a ministry if you are obedient in the small things. I believe God can honor a person with a spouse if they stop partying and seek His will rather than their own. And on and on it goes  where it stops only God knows.

Sin Fascinates Before It Assassinates

Scriptural truths must be balanced, but what does it mean to be balanced? When we speak of the attributes of God, we must remember that no one attribute is greater than another and no single truth of Scripture is truer than another. To genuinely help people, we must avoid the temptation to cherry-pick. We must preach the difficult truths as well as the joyful ones  the cross and the new life, hell and heaven, damnation and salvation, sin and grace, wrath and love, judgment and mercy, and obedience and forgiveness. We must preach that God is love but not forget He is also just. It is the love of God that compels us to share all His truth.

Jeremiah 5:25 is powerful and heart-wrenching: Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withheld good from you. He goes on to say in verses 30 and 31: An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end? False teachers are often a judgment on false converts and on those who love to have their ears tickled but not their hearts changed. (Here is one sure sign of a false prophet.)

When people follow their own plans, they walk backward and not forward. Disobeying God is a recurring theme from Genesis to Revelation and from the church in Acts to the church today. We must be relentless in our pursuit of God, ruthless in rooting out and dealing with our own sin, and quick to repent and seek the restoration of our fellowship with God when we fail.

The lukewarm church hates conviction. They say that they fear God, but they dont live like it. They indulge temptation rather than fight it. They enjoy sin rather than confront it. I call this group Las Vegas Christians  they have the appearance of glitter and beauty in the dark of night, but the bright light of the sun shows the dirty facade. They mock those who seek holiness and chide those who want to truly live for God.

Gods Word is clear: Blessings are hindered because of a sinful lifestyle. Whether its wine tasting at Bible studies, promoting craft beers at mens conferences, or an array of other missteps, the Las Vegas Christian is only concerned with pleasure and ease. They sit down to eat and drink, and rise up to play. Sin fascinates before it assassinates!

Disobedience Hinders Blessings

Indulging the flesh is always linked with disobedience, and disobedience does not produce blessings. But be encouraged  there is a way out, a way back to God  and that way out is repentance. To hit disobedience right between the eyes, we must go back to the old paths  the old paths of holiness and deep hunger for righteousness. This forward motion leads to the filling of the Spirit. You cant be filled with disobedience and the Spirit at the same time.

But even when we are obeying and being blessed, there is always a fight. A.W. Pink, in Gleanings from Joshua, said: It would indeed be strange if we apprehended how that on the one hand Canaan was a free gift unto Israel, which they entered by grace alone; and on the other, that they had to fight for every inch of it! Blessings come with a cost; there is often a price to pay.

Yes, God bestows prevenient grace on all, and He will bless people sometimes despite their actions. And it is true that He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45), but these are temporary, earthly blessings that pale in comparison to what He has in store for those who seek Him.

The resounding promises of Scripture are clear: He blesses those who follow Him, He fills those who seek Him, and He delivers those who cry out: But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill (Psalm 3:3-4).

Remind yourself of who God is, and cry out to Him today. His heart is toward reconciliation, and His will is to bless His children. If you need weekly encouragement, follow me on Facebook and YouTube, and find sermons here.
LEAD School, an integrated academic excellence system, with six owned and over 800 partner schools across India, will initiate LEAD School@Home program from Monday, March 16 to ensure continuity in learning for all its students. The measure has been taken in the wake of schools closures due to incidences of COVID-19 in the country.

With school closures in Delhi and Bengaluru and other state governments contemplating the same, the live online schooling is estimated to benefit over 3 lakh students in the coming days.

Under its program, LEAD School will conduct live online sessions for the unfinished portions of the curriculum. Given the integrated curriculum offered by LEAD School that combines technology and curriculum, a student from any class will essentially be able to pick up the lesson or chapter from where it was last taught in school before closure. This will help students pick up quickly and prepare for their exams without spending any extra time in redoing the entire lesson or unit.

Sumeet Mehta, Co-founder and CEO, LEAD School said, We believe that continuity and integration of learning is vital to our goal of imparting quality education to our children. While schools may have to consider closing due to outbreak of COVID-19, LEAD School is supporting all its partner schools to ensure that students do not stop learning. Our integrated system allows us to know the unfinished units in each grade across all our schools and helps us serve up the modules as required online for course completion before exams.

Additionally, students who are unable to attend live sessions will also have access to recorded sessions, which can be viewed as per their convenience. The LEAD School Parent App will provide students with the homework and assessments to ensure that no part of learning is missed out until their schools resume.

For information on live classes, homework and assessments, LEAD school students and their parents can call 86828 33333 or log on to http://bit.ly/LEADappforparent.
Whats going to happen is actresses and models will probably end up bringing their own makeup to shoots, or at least their own brushes, Westman said, adding: Im a freak about washing my brushes, but if youre in contact with all these people, makeup artists who have done shows in Milan? You dont really want to kiss those people who have been in Milan.
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The board of Kotak Mahindra Bank has approved an equity capital infusion of Rs 500 crore in troubled private lender Yes Bank.

Kotak Mahindra Bank will acquire 50 crore equity shares of Yes Bank at Rs 10 per share, the bank informed the exchanges in a release on March 13.

Earlier in the day, boards of ICICI Bank and HDFC also approved infusion of Rs 1,000 crore each, while that of Axis Bank approved an investment of Rs 600 crore, in Yes Bank.

Also Read | HDFC board clears Rs 1,000 cr equity infusion in Yes Bank at Rs 10/share

As per the restructuring scheme cleared by the Union Cabinet earlier today, the State Bank of India (SBI) will invest Rs 7,250 crore into Yes Bank to acquire a stake not exceeding 49 percent. There will be a lock-in period of three years during which the stake of SBI cannot fall below 26 percent.

Also Read | Axis Bank to invest Rs 600 crore in Yes Bank via equity

Other private investors will also have a lock-in period of

The authorised capital of Yes Bank has also been raised to Rs 6,200 crore from Rs 1,100 crore.
The First and Deputy First Ministers jointly insisted yesterday that the Executive chose not to close Northern Ireland's schools based on scientific evidence.

Speaking at a cross-party conference at the Department of Health's Castle Buildings following Boris Johnson's announcement that the UK will not be closing its schools, Michelle O'Neill did admit that school closures does remain "under review".

Education Minister Peter Weir added that his department, as well as the Executive as a whole, was guided by expert medical advice.

That advice recommended that closing Northern Ireland's schools could be "counter-productive from a public health point of view", said Mr Weir.

DUP leader Arlene Foster added that the Executive is attempting to "flatten the peak of the virus' impact".

"This is a very fluid situation and it is very important that we come together right across government," she said. "It's a whole of government issue, including local government.

"As an Executive we took the decision right at the start of this process and we continue with the position that we will always take our advice on medical evidence, based on scientific evidence, to act quickly and proportionately to protect public health.

"Those measures include the proposal that anyone with mild symptoms of Covid-19 should self-isolate for seven days and should do that as quickly as they identify those symptoms.

"Next week we will be revisiting some of the other issues but it's important that we do everything in a timely fashion."

Sinn Fein vice-president Ms O'Neill stated that it was a "very confusing time for people" but the scientific evidence was clear in regards to school closures.

"There will be heightened anxiety, people will be worried in terms of messaging, particularly with the decision to close schools on one part of this island," she continued.

"We have a situation here in the north where we are not at that stage yet. We collectively, as an Executive, are working together and taking every step necessary to make sure that we are fully prepared and we can do everything we can in terms of our response to this public health emergency.

"We are very much guided by the science that suggests that this is not the right decision at this time. We have taken the decision to keep that under review so we will work very closely to make sure that we keep that under review."

Meanwhile, an expert has said closing schools could increase the risks for elderly grandparents and reduce the number of NHS workers available for the frontline fight against coronavirus.

Keith Neal, emeritus professor of the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, said it was still too early to say whether steps taken in Ireland were a "sensible precaution or an overreaction for the current stage of the epidemic".
The compliance team occasionally receives questions about when a credit union can obtain a consumer report from a credit reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Section 604 of the FCRA explains when a credit reporting agency can provide a consumer report to a credit union (i.e., when a credit union has a permissible purpose to obtain a consumer report). For example, a permissible purpose exists under the FCRA when a member submits an application for credit to the credit union or when a credit union reviews a consumer report to determine whether a modification of the terms of an existing credit card account is warranted. This blog will examine an issue solely relating to firm offers of credit and prescreening. In this context, unsolicited means not initiated by the credit unions member: No application for credit was submitted by the member.

Firm Offers of Credit and Prescreening

In general, there is no permissible purpose to obtain a consumer report for marketing purposes. Despite that general prohibition, the FCRA permits credit reporting agencies to provide credit unions with consumer reports so credit unions can make unsolicited firm offers of credit to members. This process, also commonly known as prescreening, may involve the credit union establishing specific criteria obtained from information contained in a consumer report to qualify members for offers of credit that are unconditional but for verification of whether the members continue to meet the eligibility criteria.

What if a credit union runs prescreening campaigns in sequence, one after the other? Let us assume that a member receives a prescreened offer but chooses not to accept it. Four weeks later, the member receives another prescreened offer from the credit union and still has time to accept the first firm offer of credit. The member then decides to accept the first prescreened offer. Is that second prescreened offer unconditional? Possibly, but only if the member continues to satisfy the specific criteria that was used to develop the subsequent prescreened offer. If the member no longer satisfies the specific criteria because of the acceptance of the prescreened offer that came first in time, then the FCRA suggests the second prescreened offer is no longer unconditional.
Christchurch, March 13 : A year on from the Christchurch terror attack on two mosques that killed 51 people, New Zealand has "fundamentally changed", Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday.

Ardern was speaking here during events commemorating the March 15, 2019 attack that also injured 49 people, reports Efe news.

"A year on, I feel New Zealand and its people have fundamentally changed," Ardern said.

"I can't see how you could have an event like this and not (change)." Some of the city's Muslim community participated in Friday's prayers at Horncastle Arena to mark the attack, but thousands are expected to attend a national remembrance service to be held Sunday in Christchurch.

"The challenge for us will be ensuring in our everyday actions, and every opportunity where we see bullying, harassment, racism, discrimination, calling it out as a nation," she said.

"That is when we'll show we each individually have a role to play in making sure that New Zealand has changed fundamentally for the better." Ardern acknowledged the impact the attacks had on the Muslim community, as well as the generosity it has shown since.

While memorials are not traditional in Muslim communities, some of the public wished to mark the day in a remembrance ceremony, she said.

Speaking of the gun reform launched in the days after the attack, in which the government banned semi-automatic weapons and assault weapons such as those used in the shootings, the prime minister said 60,907 prohibited firearms had since been removed from circulation and NZ$102.2 million ($62 million) paid in compensation in a buyback scheme.

Two months after the attack, in which the Australian accused of the shootings live-streamed his assault for 17 minutes, Ardern launched the Christchurch Call effort along with French President Emmanuel Macron and other heads of state and government, as well as tech sector leaders.

The was aim to eliminate violent extremist content online. Ardern said on Friday the online circulation of videos of terror attacks had lessened since.

Asked if eliminating this type of online content was "too high a goal", the Prime Minister said, adding: "No, because I can't imagine signing up to anything that says 'eliminate just a little bit of terrorism and violent extremist content'." "It is a large aspiration, but that has to be our aspiration," she added.
Photo credit: Hearst Owned

From Town & Country

Photo credit: Marcia Straub





Pat Barnes is teaching his students how to not die in the woods. This is our emergency response, Barnes says, starting his lecture. Its a chilly evening in late September, just past dusk, and the group is standing on a dirt path behind the academic building of the Mountain School, an alternative-learning semester school and 416-acre largely self-sufficient farm in rural Vershire, Vermont, 30 miles south of Montpelier. Each semester the school enrolls 45 academically gifted high school juniors from around the country, with the mission of teaching them to take care of a place and work for the common good, as Alden Smith, the schools director, puts it. In addition to a rigorous, honors- and AP-level academic schedule and on-site farm training, the teenagers learn wilderness survival skills, the teaching of which Barnes leads.



All of you have your whistles and compasses around your necks, says Barnes, who also teaches environmental science, physics, and chemistry. Because thats how we spend our solo: with our whistles and compasses around our necks.

Photo credit: Hearst Owned

The solo Barnes refers to is a camping trip in the White Mountains, where, for three days and three nights, students will be entirely alone in the wilderness, with no more technology than a flashlight. The solo is a way to not only test their cumulative outdoor training but also to allow them to experience some solitude and self-sufficiency in an age of hyperconnectivity.

This semesters trip leaves a week from now, and the students are doing last minute preparations, including reviewing emergency response drills and getting used to being alone in the woods at night. Half the student body completed this exercise last night, and now its the other halfs turn.

Barnes teaches them that if you have a life-threatening injury, you should blow your whistle three timesloud.

And then wait how long to do it again? Barnes asks the group.

Five minutes, one boy calls out.

Story continues

Five minutes? Myca (pronounced Meeka), a 16-year-old girl from Westport, Connecticut, says, nearly laughing. Hes dying!

Five seconds, Barnes corrects him. One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand, four-one-thousand, five-one-thousand. And then?

Tweet! Tweet! Tweet! the students say in unison.

Barnes goes over the call-and-response tactic: The nearest student to hear the three whistles will blow her whistle once, both to signal that she hears the call for help and to likewise send the distress signal farther down the line of campers; it will then, hopefully, reach base camp, where faculty will be stationed.

Myca, did you hear three whistles? Barnes asks, as if it were a real emergency and she was the next camper in line.

Yes.

What should you do?

Whistle once.

Go ahead, whistle once!

Myca takes a breath and blows into her whistle as hard as she can. The high-pitched squeal slices through the air.

Oh, beautiful! Excellent! Barnes says. If you can hear the three whistles, you are close to the person who is having what they consider to be a life-threatening emergency: broken ankle, appendicitis, femoral bleedingyou know, spurting arterial bleedinghe uses his hands to suggest blood shooting out of his legany of those. If you can hear three whistles, make sure the message gets passed on, but then go and give aid. He looks around at his pupils. We will rehearse this even more. We want this to become muscle memory.

Photo credit: Hearst Owned

Barnes then leads the students into the woods, where they will split up, spread out along the on-campus trail, and try to endure 20 minutes of alone time in the darkness. They have just come from dinner, where Myca, over vanilla ice cream doused in maple syrup, showed some apprehension not only for tonights activity but for the concept of a solo camping trip in general.

Wait, you have to be, like, alone for 20 minutes? Myca said, spoon in hand, about to take a bite. I dont want to be alone in the dark! Literally my worst fear ever.

Now that theyre actually in the woodsBarnes wont let them use lights of any kindMycas fear starts to show. Myca, why are you apprehensive about 30 minutes? asks Jacob, whos from New Haven.

Its 20 minutes, okay? she retorts. Stop saying the number 30!

Do you have some sort of phobia of 30? Jacob says, clearly trying to provoke her.

Nopethe dark, Myca says. The team continues down the path.

Okay, folks, Barnes says, stopping the group. The goal for tonight is principally to give you some time on your own as the sky gets darker and darker, all right? Its a chance to sit and relax and listen to the sounds of the night, sounds you might be unfamiliar with, but also to get a sense of what it will be like to be out on the solo. He explains that as they keep walking he will periodically tap one of them on the shoulder. That person will stop, and Barnes and the rest will continue until the group is dispersed along the trail. After 20 minutes the first person who stopped will resume walking along the trail, collecting the group as he goes.

The first student is tapped (Bye, guys!), and the rest of the group walks on. Myca is the second student tapped by Barnes. Although no one can see her face, her groans are audible in the darkness. A faint crackling can be heard among the trees, an eerie stillness settles around her, and the arms of the trees hug the sky out of sight: complete darkness. Twenty minutes go by, and the first students to stop start moving again. It actually wasnt that bad, Myca tells them. A boy farther along jumps up and screams.



Photo credit: Mint Images - Getty Images

Aaaaaah! Myca yells. I hate you!

They keep walking until all the students are together. After a few minutes the group emerges into a clearing lit by moonlight. Oh my god! one student calls out. Look at the stars!

Theres the Big Dipper, one says.

And the Little Dipper! another shouts. All the kids stand in silence for a moment, looking up.

The following morning, just before 7 a.m., the students start trickling out of their dormshair wet from the shower, faces slack from fatigueto do their chores. Theres a cyclical, interdependent rhythm at the Mountain School, which was founded in 1984 as the countrys first semester school. The students are an integral part of its operations; without them the entire system would crumble. Thats part of the schools mission, after all: to allow students to be a part of a place that needs them as much as they need it.

They plant and harvest crops, care for the animals (cows, sheep, chickens, and others), take out the trash, do the dishes, clean the classrooms and dorms, manage the compost, and stack hay. They come here ready to commit to something that improves life for others, not just for themselves, Alden Smith says. We tend to draw kids that want to help the world, and we also have a curriculum that helps them practice doing that over and over again, every day.

The Mountain School may seem an unusual if not downright peculiar place for wealthy families (who can afford the $30,960 tuition) to send their children, but the experiences it provides can be eye-opening and even life-affirming for teenagers acclimated to the bubble of an upper class upbringing. When youre living in New York City and your kid is in trouble, you send them to a wilderness program. But these kids are up there to build life skills. Theres a distinction, says jewelry designer and Child Mind Institute co-founder Brooke Garber Neidich, whose daughter went to the Mountain School in the early 2000s. And its one semester when you arent talking about SATs or where youre going to college; thats not their conversation there. Its a great break.



Photo credit: 130920 - Getty Images

The concept of nature programs, academically related or otherwise, as a tool to help high schoolers prepare for adulthood has been current among well-to-do families for decades. At the turn of the 20th century Teddy Roosevelt promoted getting out in nature generally, and the Boy Scouts of America in particular, to reinforce the masculinity of upper class young men.



As the college admission process has become more competitive, however, the need for students to have a diverse range of experiences has become paramount. In addition, theres an element of pedigree within these types of programs, says Hilary Levey Friedman, professor of education at Brown and author of Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture.

She says that not only do students in programs like the Mountain Schools develop skills necessary for success in adulthood, they make lifelong connections within elite circles, which creates a cycle that perpetuates such programs sociological prestige. If kids going there did not go off to great colleges and careers, Friedman adds, getting into these programs would not be as competitive.

The Mountain School, which is owned by Milton Academy (a boarding and day school in Massachusetts), normally receives more than 100 applications for each semester, most of them the result of recruitment at dozens of schools with high-achieving students. The admissions process is need-blind, and theres usually an even split between public and private school students in each highly curated class.

Were trying to pack as much diversity as possible into the 45 kids: artists and athletes, students from different geographies, a certain ratio of boys to girls. We want students of color, people from different economic backgrounds, says director of admissions Emily Adler Boren. She adds that the Mountain Schools students are learning not only in the classroom and on the farm but from one another, too. One person can have a big impact on such a small group.

For Myca, who was born in New York City, lived in London as a child, and moved to Westport just before starting at Staples High School, the program was recommended by her mother Giselle Hantz, a lawyer turned art specialist at Christies. Myca had recently quit ballet and hadnt really found another passion, and I thought she would benefit from being challenged and expanded in this very different way, Hantz says.

Myca wants to be a doctor when she grows up, and she sees the Mountain School as a way not only to boost her resume but to gain some life experience outside Westport, where rich kids live in monotonous comfort (Ive never known where my food comes from, she admits) and where her father works in hedge fundinglike, banking, some sort of dad job.

Photo credit: Hearst Owned

Hantz agrees with Mycas assessment; she says the aim of sending kids from affluent communities like Westport to the Mountain School is simply to thrust them into a challenging experience. Its about getting kids out of this sort of coddled, protective environment, she says. Any kid of mine would benefit from a more Rousseau-like experience, where you mix physical work with the work of the mind.

Myca says she was hesitant about going to Vermont, but now that Im here and actually doing it, its really amazing. I think its cool that were participating in something that we benefit from. Everything is maintained by us.



Today is a day of heavy academics, so after breakfast Myca hustles over to the academic building, which is honeycombed with classrooms, for humanities. The class is taught by Jack Kruse, who has been a faculty member since the schools inception. The topic of todays discussion, Kruse announces, as if he were Julian Morrow from Donna Tartts novel The Secret History, is how to think about science and uncertainty, the synthesis of conscious thought, and the concept of truth in an inherently subjective world.

Its a pretty heady assignment given the age of his students, but they take to it. He has them chew on the topic in smaller groups and then distill their thoughts down to a paragraph or two.

Myca leads the discussion in her group. The topics we choose to focus on are based on our biases and our opinions and experiences, so, like, there might be a whole world of possibilities, but weve only researched one, she says, her peers listening intently. So things that are supposed to be completely objective are still slanted by our own biases.

After lunch and the rest of her classes (math, environmental science, and English), Myca sits on the lawn with Caroline Meliones, a Spanish teacher who is her adviser, to discuss next weeks solo. Meliones talks about mindfulness, and the way teenagers are overstimulated and disconnected from nature. Just sitting and watching and being in nature, she says, is a really powerful experience.

Meliones draws three concentric circles on a piece of paper, the smallest one hardly bigger than a dot. All the things I think can happenshe points to the largest circlewhat actually could happenthe second circleand what actually does happenthe dotthats the visual of the power of fear in the mind. She pauses. Does that make you feel more comfortable? Or are you still, like, Nu-huh?

No, that makes me feel more comfortable, Myca says.

Photo credit: Hearst Owned

Also, think about the future, to after solo, coming back on Saturday with all your friends, being like, That was so wild and crazy! I cant believe I did that! I cant wait to shower! I heard a crazy noise that I thought was a deer but it was just a stick falling! Having this experience that pushes you, that stretches you, not to the point of breaking or panic, but having this shared experiencethat you did that, that you persevered through something.

Myca says that she called a Mountain School alum earlier in the day for advice. I said, I am really hesitant about the solo. Do you have any words of encouragement? He just said, You are going to graduate college and get a job, and the chances of doing this in the future are slim to none, so now is the time to push yourself out of your comfort zone. 

Still, the contract for the solo sits unsigned at her feet. The last step is for Myca to sign it, committing to the trip. She puts it off, explaining that she needs another night to think about it.

Happy Farm Day! a student calls out in the dining hall the next morning. Farm manager Liana Horster addresses the group. I hope youre feeling as pumped as I am about today, she says. Our goal is to bring in all our storage cropsthats going to be thousands of pounds of produce. Were going to be bringing it in, washing it, culling it, packaging it, and storing it. Finally, after all these months and months of taking care of these crops, finally they are in a place where they are going to feed us. Today is that day.

The students eat quickly and then make their way up to the crop field, a six-acre plot atop a hill on the campuss south-facing slope. They split up into teams, each of which will handle a specific vegetable: potatoes, carrots, beets, radishes, and turnips. Myca is assigned to carrots, and she squats at a furrows end and begins pulling. With dirt-caked hands and dusty boots, she gawks at the organic carrots unique shapes. A truck makes trips to haul the vegetables down to campus to be cleaned and sorted; a smattering of trees in the distant hills beam a soft yellow as fall approaches the valley.



The students have picked all the vegetables by 11 a.m., so they switch to pulling weeds to prepare for the afternoon session, when a different group of students will spread compost, the first step in starting the process over again for subsequent semesters. After lunch Myca is assigned, along with two other students, to help assistant farm manager Gwynne Durham, who primarily takes care of the animals.



Photo credit: bob van den berg photography - Getty Images

Sheep are very prone to internal parasites, Durham tells them. You guys will wrangle them, and I will harvest some fecal material that we will put into a little bag. From there, she explains, the samples will be sent out for testing. If you start to feel jealous

of the poop picking? Myca interjects.

Durham smiles. I dont want to hear of any journal entries where youre upset that I hogged the best part!



They walk down to the field and herd the roughly 30 sheep into the barn. Durham shows the students how to wrangle a sheep: a modified headlock, holding an ear and gripping the chin. Its Mycas turn to catch a sheep.

What do I do? Just grab it? she asks. Durham gives her a quick Yep.

Can I get a little one? Myca asks. She goes after a lamb, gripping its neck and chin.

Im so sorry! she tells it as it tries to squirm away. Youre so tiny! Durham pulls a glove on, lifts the lambs tail, and successfully retrieves a sample.

The group finishes the task and takes the sheep back out to pasture. Myca stands with her arms outstretched, guiding them. For the rest of the afternoon they take down and reset grazing fences, shuffling the cows and sheep from one field to the next. At 5 p.m. the day is done, and all the students go swimming in a small pond at the schools entrance. Myca slowly wades in, shivering in the late afternoon shade. A glow falls off the mountains, engulfing the pond in a golden haze, the cattails lining its edges lit up like tiki torches in the slanting light.

Its a quick swim, and everyone rushes back to the dorms to change before dinner: shepherds pie, a fitting meal in light of the task they just completed. Myca, clad in sweatpants and slippers, sits with Meliones, her adviser. Upon finishing dinner, Myca follows Meliones to her faculty mailbox, where the solo contract awaits. Myca picks up a pen and finally, without hesitation, signs her name on the line.

For admissions and application information, visit mountainschool.org.

This story appears in the April 2020 Issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW



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By PTI

JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday said 1,433 travellers and persons in contact with suspected coronavirus cases have been put under surveillance in the Union Territory, which has reported one positive case so far.

With the cases of coronavirus on the rise in the country, Financial Commissioner of the Jammu and Kashmir Health and Medical Education Department Atal Dulloo took stock of measures put in place to prevent the spread of the disease in the Union Territory (UT).

He also inspected the facilities for suspected patients in two hospitals in Jammu.

"In UT of J&K till date, 1,433 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been put under surveillance, of whom 1,178 are under home quarantine," a Health bulletin issued by the UT administration said.

Of them, 17 are under hospital quarantine, 80 in home surveillance and 158 have completed their 28-day surveillance period, it said.

As many as 74 samples have been sent for testing and out of which, 29 are negative and only one have tested positive, while reports of 44 samples are awaited, it said.

The administration appealed to the people to voluntarily declare their foreign travel history.

Officials said coronavirus testing labs have been started in Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar and Government Medical College in Jammu.

Another facility at Government Medical College in Srinagar was operationalised on Thursday.

Control rooms and surveillance teams have been constituted in all districts, they said.

The government has strongly urged all social, religious and political organisations to avoid large gatherings.

"There is no need to panic, the public is advised to maintain social distancing; avoid un-necessary travel and use of public transport; and also take basic precautions, including personal hygiene, frequent handwashing with soap and observing coughing and sneezing etiquettes," the government advisory said.

Anyone with fever, cough and difficulty in breathing has been urged to seek medical care at the earliest, it said.

Dulloo inspected the isolation wards set up for coronavirus suspects at Government Medical College (GMC) in Jammu and Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital, and directed hospital authorities to follow proper guidelines.

He said that the government is closely monitoring the situation and effective measures are being put in place to contain the virus in Jammu and Kashmir.

Dulloo said there was no shortage of safety masks and other equipments.

Seven medicine stores have been closed for indulging in overcharging for masks and other protective gears, he said, adding that the Drug Controller Organisation has been activated to keep a check on such malpractice.

In India, 73 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been detected.
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has arrived Awe, Nasarawa State, to meet with Muhammadu Sanusi, the deposed emir of Kano.

Mr El-Rufai arrived Mr Sanusis abode in Awe at about 12:46 p.m. in a convoy of about six security and official vehicles.

He went straight into the house to have a meeting with the deposed emir.

There was a security barricade around the house preventing observers and journalists from going to meet the former emir.

Mr Sanusi was on Monday sacked as emir by the Kano State Government.

He was then banished to Nasarawa and had his freedom resticted by security officials.

On Friday, a federal court in Abuja ordered the police and the State Security Service to rlease Mr Sanusi.

The meeting between Mr Sanusi and Mr El-Rufai was still on at the time of this report.

After Mr Sanusis sack as emir, Mr El-Rufai appointed him into two offices including as the chancellor of the Kaduna State university.
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MIAMI (AP)  Princess Cruises, which had one of its ships quarantined off the coast of Japan last month, is suspending global operations through early May because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The cruise line, which is part of Carnival Corp., said Thursday that 18 cruise ships will cease voyages that were scheduled to depart between March 12 and May 10.





. . .
The global outbreak of Coronavirus has caused a stir in the world. It is now a topical issue of every discussion on television, radio and print media. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus, code-named COVID-19, has so far affected 93,166 persons in 77 countries with a death toll of 3,199 as at 17:00 GMT Wednesday, March 4, 2020.

The anxiety and panic over coronavirus outbreak

The nature of the disease and the mystery of its spread has caused so much panic and anxiety over the mode of its infection, especially when WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency. WHOs declaration increased the global perspective of the disease and equally created greater panic and anxiety, making anything that purports to relate to coronavirus a source of attention.

People are eagerly seeking an in-depth information mostly through digital means to protect themselves and avoid travelling to places affected with the disease. While a search is ongoing to find a vaccine or a cure, cybercriminals are taking advantage of peoples anxiety and fear to sell non-existing products, disseminate unsubstantiated claims and fake news and in the process steal valuable confidential data. There have been claims from multiple sources purporting to suggest that, certain anti-malaria medications have curative tendencies for treating COVID-19. Therefore, every online information with a caption coronavirus tends to attract fast attention of internet users and browsers. The word coronavirus is perhaps one of the most searched words on the internet today, and the reason is clear.

How cybercriminals take advantage of coronavirus panic

The despair and anxiety exhibited by people in the face of seeking for coronavirus information exposes inherent vulnerabilities that make humans easy targets of cybercrime. Cybercriminals are therefore taking advantage of the human fear and uncertainty surrounding the global health emergency to launch cyberattacks. As the world continue to fight to eradicate this contagious disease, cybercriminals are also busily exploiting peoples desperation for information as a potential for cyber-attack using various methods to distribute malicious software which will aid them in accessing unauthorized and steal confidential data, disrupting digital operations and making illicit ransom money from victims.

Mode of operation by Cybercriminals

One of the methods commonly used by these cybercriminals is social engineering. Social engineering is the art of exploiting human weaknesses to cunningly gather sensitive and confidential information from a person. Social engineering methods use psychological tricks to create deception for people to perform an action either knowingly or unknowingly resulting to giving up confidential information.

Social engineering targets human vulnerabilities, weaknesses and flaws including anxiety, desperation, confusion, persuasion, urgency, fear, loyalty, respect, compassion, honesty, etc.

What cybercriminal do with the outbreak of COVID-19 is exploitation of peoples fears of infection to spread dubious health advice, misinformation, malware and other cyber threats.

People are anxious to learn how to avoid contacting the virus as well as desperate for news of a possible containment of the spreading outbreak. This anxiety leads to an unusual clinging to digital systems to know more about the situation. As a result, any message that carries the subject coronavirus receives easy attention including spam emails, fake websites and malicious attachments which internet fraudsters use as avenue to steal information.

The activities of cybercriminals as related to the outbreak is alarming and therefore becoming a concern. WHO has reported on their website and has cautioned people against criminals disguising themselves as WHO to steal money or sensitive information. WHO has therefore advised that, people should verify the authenticity of every email received before responding to them.

Advice to help individual and corporate internet users to safeguard their online operations amid coronavirus scams

Until the battle is over, I will urge everyone to be vigilant especially with email with string of coronavirus as a subject, as it could be a potential cybersecurity threat. Be cautious with every email with unsolicited attachment such a Latest COVID-19 statistics, everything about coronavirus, coronavirus information pack or COVID-19 spread. All such suspicious emails should either be ignored or deleted. Never open a suspicious email or try to download its attachment except you are sure of the source.

Verify every information source. There is currently an overload of digitized information on COVID-19 outbreak purporting to be genuine and credible, and so the need to obtain authentic information cannot be over-emphasized. Since not all information out there is factual and correct, consumers of digital services must know who to follow in the cyberspace and where to search for the right information about coronavirus on digital platforms.

One of the creditable websites to find authentic information and guidance regarding the outbreak of coronavirus is WHOs website ( https://www.who.int ).

It is only natural that humans will continue to display desperation for information leading to the coronavirus control and eradication therefore it is very important for the public to exhibit caution, exercise calmness, and should not allow their desperations or anxiety over the spread of the disease to negatively influence their online behaviours.

Author: Seth Frimpong-Manso

Chief Information Security Officer, Opportunity International (Member, Institute of ICT Professionals, Ghana)

For comments, contact [email protected]

Mobile: +233 0247880121/0277440376
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World Health Organization officials are holding a press conference to update the public on the coronavirus outbreak.

The virus has infected more than 135,000 people and killed at least 4,977 worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The virus shuttered commerce across China and is hitting corporate earnings. It sent global stock markets spiraling, manufacturing slowed as factories close their doors and companies have been forced to cancel planned events around the world.

WHO officials declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on Wednesday.

"In the past two weeks the number of cases outside China has increased thirteenfold and the number of affected countries has tripled," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said after declaring the virus a pandemic. "In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths and the number of affected countries to climb even higher."

Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the COVID-19 outbreak.
C harles and Camilla have postponed their official Spring tour due to the coronavirus on the advice of the Government.

They had been due to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Jordan.

The official visits are expected to be rescheduled for a later date.

A Clarence House spokesman said: Owing to the unfolding situation with the coronavirus pandemic, The British Government has asked Their Royal Highnesses to postpone their spring tour to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Jordan.

It is understood both Charles and Camilla are in good health.

The tour could be replaced with engagements in the UK - though not those involving significant gatherings of people.

The trip was to be the first official royal visit to Cyprus for 27 years.

Charles was set to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 17 and 18.
OSLO, March 12 (Reuters) - Norway on Thursday recorded its first death from the coronavirus, Prime Minister Erna Solberg told broadcaster NRK.

Since Norway's first case of the virus was confirmed on Feb. 26, the total number of infected people had risen to 621 as of Wednesday.

The person who died on Thursday was elderly, Solberg said without elaborating. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Alison Williams)
UP: Elections not won on exit polls basis, results will be surprising: Kamal Nath

Madhya Pradesh govt crisis: CM Kamal Nath planning to buy more time to face floor test

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Bhopal, Mar 13: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath is all set to call on Governor Lalji Tandon on Friday amid buzz in political circles in the state and seek to postpone the session of the assembly.

If the state assembly is postponed, this move would gather more time to Kamal Nath to woo those rebel MLAs whose exit has reduced his government to a wafer-thin majority.

According to report, it is alleged that Kamal Nath is likely to inform the governor that a floor test, which is triggered by the exit of former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and 22 MLAs, is unlikely as the rebel MLAs are "missing".

Madhya Pradesh crisis: While Kamal Nath struggles to hold the govt, his MLAs live a luxury life

After the resignation of 22 rebel Congress MLAs, the opposition BJP would push for a floor test to prove the majority on the opening day of the assembly session.

Earlier, it was alleged that Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh seems to be enjoying their luxurious five-star stay at a resort in Jaipur while state Chief Minister Kamal Nath is stressed on how to save his government from the BJP.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

On Wednesday, it was said that Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs, who arrived in Jaipur by a chartered flight, are staying at the Buena Vista Resorts near the Delhi-Jaipur Highway.

It is known that this resort provides high-end luxuries and various other comforts to its visitors.

Congress govt facing crisis in MP as Kamal Nath underestimated new generation: Shiv Sena

To prevent BJP from poaching or call for "Operation Lotus", Congress have out their MLAs in this resort, which is located in a peaceful environment.

The Congress had earlier claimed that the party had shifted its 90 MLAs to Jaipur.
Over the past few years, many evangelicals have hesitated to give President Donald Trump their wholehearted approval, claiming they support his political stances but cant fully endorse his personal life.

In a new survey from Pew Research Center, white evangelicals have somewhat mixed views on the president. While they remain a core constituency of Trumps, and back him at higher rates than any other religious group, their enthusiasm wavers when it comes to his character and conduct.

Just 15 percent of white evangelicals say morally upstanding describes the president very well; a quarter say honest is a very good descriptor of him; and fewer than a third say they like Trumps behavior.

In most cases, the plurality of white evangelicals falls in the middle of the survey responses, with responders instead saying hes fairly moral or fairly honest or that they have mixed feelings about the way Trump conducts himself. Theres a sizable jump between the 12 percent of white evangelicals who believe Trump to be very religious and the 52 percent who say hes somewhat religious.

Evangelicals who defend Trump have sometimes stated that they arent looking for a pastor in chief and that they judge politicians by their policies rather than their personal piety.

Of course, morals still matter to evangelical voters, but according to Pew, they matter not quite as much as whether a leader is on their side.

While 63 percent of white evangelicals prioritize political leaders sense of morality and ethics, 67 percent say its just as important that they stand up for people with their same religious beliefs.

White Christians agree that the president is self-centered and not even-tempered, two traits where the majority of Americans across religious traditions were in consensus. But white evangelicals (81%), white non-evangelical Protestants (63%), and white Catholics (66%) are also most likely to stand by the president and say he fights for what I believe in.

Previous research found that before the last election, white evangelicals shifted the most on whether marital infidelity disqualifies a politician from holding office.

Researcher Gerardo Marti noted that religious voters care less about individualistic virtues, like being loving, truthful, and sexually pure, and more about political priorities. Trumps willingness to align with evangelicals to address issues like religious liberty and pro-life policies has earned him an in.

In the case of President Trump, observers should focus on discerning the orthodoxy of an actor who is perceived as religiously legitimate primarily because he engages in actions in support of religiously defined group interests rather than as a result of statements of belief or piety of behavior, he wrote in a Sociology of Religion article on the presidents unexpected orthodoxy.

Among Christians of color, its a different story. While nearly 64 percent of white Christians agree with Trump on most issues, Hispanic Catholics are half as likely (30%) and black Protestants a quarter as likely (15%) to say the same.

Additionally, black Protestants by far have the least confidence in Trumps honesty, intellect, and moral character.

Despite their differing politics, white evangelicals and black Protestants have a similar approach to Trumps leadership, sharing a scriptural belief that all authorities that exist have been established by God (Rom. 13:1). According to Pew, a majority in both traditions believe Trumps election must be part of Gods overall plan, but doesnt necessarily mean God approves of Trumps policies.

Overall, most white evangelicals believe the Trump administration has helped evangelical interests, and just 7 percent say it has hurt them.

Under Trump, the White House has regularly hosted pastors and evangelical leaders, spoken openly about the importance of prayer and religious liberty, enacted workplace conscience protections, and supported a string of other moves championed by evangelical figures.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 00:35:25|Editor: yan

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OUAGADOUGOU, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A third case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, health minister Claudine Lougue announced to the press Friday.

"Indeed there is a third confirmed case," said the minister, indicating that it's a person who was in contact with the couple already tested positive.

"We are in the process of taking stock of all those who have contact with the couple," said the minister.

Burkina Faso declared its first two cases of COVID-19 on March 9, the two patients are a couple and the wife recently returned from France.
STURGEON BAY, WI  The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a group of 10 people from an ice flow that broke loose in Lake Michigan near Green Bay.

WBAY-TV in Green Bay reports that several people and ice shanties were on the ice floe when it drifted from Sherwood Point, where Sturgeon Bay enters the larger bay.

The rescue operation included the Coast Guard's 140-foot icebreaker Mobile Bay, two Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters from Traverse City, an ice boat and 22-foot airboat from Sturgeon Bay and help from the Wisconsin DNR.

The officer in charge of the Sturgeon Bay Coast Guard station said there were two other ice rescues nearby at about the same time. Those people were helped by local first responders.

"Really, at this point, people just need to stay off the ice on the big bodies of water," Master Chief Petty Officer Justin Olson said in a statement to the YV station.

Warmer-than-average temperatures and recent high winds have increased the risk of ice breaking away on all the Great Lakes.
Mount Greylock Building Project Achieves LEED Certification

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  The Mount Greylock Regional School this week learned that the $64 million adddition/renovation project at the middle-high school achieved LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The council's approval of the project's sustainable elements ensures the district 2 percentage points on its reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

That should translate to about $1 million of the total share the state authority will contribute to the project when all is said and done, said Hugh Daley, a Williamstown Select Board member and part of the finance working group of the district's School Building Committee.

Daley pointed out that the $1 million reimbursement in question was factored into the budget for the building project that the district presented to Williamstown and Lanesborough in 2016.

In other words, the certification does not bring "new" savings, but it does help keep the project on budget.

"This achievement ensures that the project will be reimbursed at the maximum possible rate for our project," Daley said.

In announcing the certification this week, Mount Greylock Superintendent Kimberley Grady agreed that most of the elements that led to the LEED Silver certification involved selection of building materials or monitoring procedures that did not significantly add to the cost of the project.

On the other hand, in addition to increasing the MSBA reimbursement, LEED components like a design that "optimize[s] energy performance" will save the district in the operation cost of the new Mount Greylock.

"LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most widely used green building rating system in the world," according to the USGBC website. "Available for virtually all building types, LEED provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings. LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership."

Daley praised everyone involved in reaching the LEED Silver goal on the project.

"It is a very important accomplishment by the Superintendent, the Mount Greylock staff, and the project team," he said.
Lincoln Land Community College is extending its spring break a week in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Although classes are cancelled, the college will be open next week and staff will report to work as usual.

Faculty members will work next week to develop alternative delivery methods to ensure that they will be able to resume classes remotely beginning March 23.
No one needs to justify their clothing choice to anyone in general. It is quite common for Indian women to be dressed in ethnic wear in their day-to-day lives. But who would have thought that wearing ethnic dresses in the national capital would become a reason for discrimination in India!



In Delhis Vasant Kunj area a woman wearing an ethnic dress was reportedly denied entry.

Twitter

Sangeeta K Nag posted a video of the incident on Twitter where an employee of the bar was heard saying to her, ethnic is something we dont allow. In the video which is now viral she specifically asks the employee to reiterate their rules regarding ethnic wear.

The video was shared with the caption, Denied entry as ethnic wear is not allowed! A restaurant in India allows smart casuals but not Indian wear! Whatever happened to pride in being Indian? Take a stand!

@bishnoikuldeep My shocking experience with discrimination at Kylin and Ivy, Ambience Vasant Kunj this evening. Denied entry as ethnic wear is not allowed! A restaurant in India allows smart casuals but not Indian wear! Whatever happened to pride in being Indian? Take a stand! pic.twitter.com/ZtJJ1Lfq38  Sangeeta K Nag (@sangeetaknag) March 10, 2020

The dress code policy of the bar says, Dress code to be followed. Smart casuals only/ no shorts/slippers.

The video garnered a lot of criticism for the bar which then apologised.

Thank you for reaching out to apologise for the incident last evening @KhanijoSaurabh pic.twitter.com/NyEh3gusVz  Sangeeta K Nag (@sangeetaknag) March 11, 2020

Sangeeta posted the apology on Twitter part of which reads, 'It has come to my knowledge hat you were denied entry to the Ambience Mall Ivy bar, and I want to sincerely apologise for the same. This was a stance that a temporary staff member undertook and is NOT something that we, as a chain, condone. I will personally look into resolving this issue, to ensure that it doesn't report itself'.

Next time someone asks you for an example of irony, you know what to cite.
The government on Friday said in that there is no proposal to ban the export of or

During Question Hour, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, said, "There is no proposal to ban the export of or any meat or "



Replying to a supplementary, he said India and to the tune of Rs 70,000 crore.

In reply to another query, he said upkeep of cowsheds fall under the purview of states.

Not much aid could be extended to cowsheds from the Animal Welfare Board given its meagre Rs 4 crore budget which also takes care of salary and wages of employees, he said.
As part of precautionary



measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Friday said pilgrims have been advised not to take bath in the tank of the Lord Saneeswarar (Saturn) shrine near Karaikal.

Devotees would be screened for symptoms, if any, for the dreaded virus, he told reporters after presiding over a meeting to review measures to check spread of the virus in the union territory.

The temple attracts large number of devotees regularly and more particularly on Saturdays.

"Fortunately, the union territory has not reported any incident of coronavirus. However we do not want to remain slack," he said.

Of the 16 suspected cases of coronavirus, 14 people tested negative and results of the remaining two were awaited.

A multi-pronged action plan is being implemented to ensure that there was no spread of coronavirus anywhere in Puducherry, the chief minister said.

Health department officials were asked to keep close vigil at vulnerable points.

Six doctors from Puducherry and JIPMER have been trained in Delhi to handle coronavirus cases, he said.

"These doctors would train more than 100 doctors as we want to have sufficient manpower to meet any exigency," the chief minister added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Ethiopia refuses to be pressured by the United States into signing a deal with Egypt and Sudan over its controversial dam on the Nile River, says Ethiopias foreign minister.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Gedu Andargachew said the three countries need to resolve their differences without outside pressure.

In the talks held in Washington, D.C., around mid- February, we were pressured to quickly reach an agreement and sign a deal before resolving outstanding issues, Gedu said, adding that his delegation told U.S. officials at the time that Ethiopia would not sign an accord under such duress.

Then U.S. officials drafted and sent us an agreement, which we also opposed because the U.S. only has an observer status, he said. We are of the opinion that an agreement reached under pressure is not in the best interest of anyone party to the talks.

Tensions are rising over the impasse between Ethiopia and Egypt over the $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that Ethiopia is building on the Nile River, Africas longest river. The stresses escalated after Addis Ababa did not attend the latest round of talks held in Washington on Feb. 26, citing the need for further domestic consultations.

When Ethiopia did not attend the Washington meeting, Egypts foreign ministry criticized what it called Ethiopias unjustifiable absence  at this critical stage in the negotiations and added Egypt will use all available means to defend the interests of its people.

Following the unsuccessful Washington meeting, U.S. President Donald 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.

Ethiopia is now drafting its own proposal on how to resolve the standoff and it will be presented to Egypt and Sudan soon, said Gedu.

We wont subscribe to an agreement just because the U.S. and the World Bank came forward with it. We need to take time and sort out sticking points, he stressed.

The deadlock over the dam is getting increasingly bitter. Ethiopias top military officers visited the site of the dam Thursday and issued a statement in which they vowed to retaliate if there are any attacks on the dam, a veiled warning to Egypt not to try to sabotage the dam.

Ethiopias construction of the mega-dam, which will be Africas largest and produce 6.4 gigawatts of power and is now around 71% complete, has been contentious for years. Ethiopia says the power from the dam is crucially needed to help to pull many of its 100 million people out of poverty, while Egypt warns that filling the dams reservoir too rapidly in the coming years will threaten its fair share of Nile River waters.

Ethiopia seeks to fill the dam in seven years, but Egypt proposes it should be done more slowly, over a period of 12 to 21 years, to minimize the reduction of the flow of Nile waters. Egypt relies on the Nile River for agricultural irrigation and water for its population of about 100 million.

The U.S. and the World Bank were brought in to the talks after Egypts President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi last year pleaded with Washington and the international community to help find a solution to the long-running dispute.

Egyptian water experts and politicians know too well that our dam will not harm their interests. It will only generate electricity and wont consume any water, said Gedu.

We are building this dam inside our territory, with our water resource and using our own money, said the foreign minister in Addis Ababa. More than 65 million Ethiopians dont have access to electricity. This is not acceptable. We are trying to pull them out of darkness using the power generated from this dam.

Gedu said the main disagreement stems from Egypts refusal to accept the rights other countries have on the river. There are attempts to enforce colonial agreements but that will never be accepted by Ethiopia. I know the Nile River is Gods gift for Egypt. The same is true for Ethiopia and Sudan. Egyptians should come to terms with that.
The second confirmed coronavirus case in Nigeria has now tested negative. Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, broke the news in ...

The second confirmed coronavirus case in Nigeria has now tested negative.





Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, broke the news in Abuja on Friday.





With this development, Nigeria now has only one confirmed case of coronavirus who is currently being treated at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.





He said the index case  an Italian  is making good progress and should be released from hospital next week.

Ehanire had on Monday announced that the second case of coronavirus in Nigeria.





The patient was reported to have had close contact with the Italian man.





The newly confirmed case is an Ogun state contact of the index case but he has no significant clinical symptoms. This brings the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria to two, he had said.





Following recent experiences from other countries and evidence from newly published studies of known symptomatic infections, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) advised that samples be taken from all contacts of the index case for testing. It is in this process that this new case was detected.





Nigerias index case of coronavirus flew into the country from Milan, which has the highest record of the disease in Europe, on February 24.




By Akbar Mammadov

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has said that the Sumgayit events of 1988 were a provocation masterminded by extremist Armenian organizations to justify Yerevans intention to illegally annex Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region to Armenia. The ministry made the remarks in its Twitter account on March 12.

Twenty-six Armenians and Azerbaijanis were killed during the ethnic violence in Azerbaijans Sumgayit city in February 1988.

An official investigation has established that Sumgait unrest in Feb 1988 had been a well-prepared provocation masterminded by Armenian extremist organizations to discredit Azerbaijan & cover-up Armenias unlawful annexationist intentions, the Foreign Ministrys said in its Twitter post.

The ministry also said that Azerbaijanis Permanent Representative to the United Nations has submitted a letter to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly in connection with Sumgayit events.

The ministry attached the letter that was submitted to the UN on March 5.

The letter was written by Yashar Aliyev with reference to the letter dated 28 February 2020 from the Permanent Representative of Armenia, containing as its annexe the statement of the MFA of Armenia on the commemoration of the so-called anti-Armenian pogroms in the city of Sumgait in February 1998.

No doubt, the said statement, which cynically alleges that Sumgait pogroms marked the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict when Azerbaijan responded to the peaceful appeal of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination, is yet another illustration of a blatant falsification and deliberate distortion of facts, the document by the Azerbaijani representative reads.

In the first part of the document, it was emphasized that the unrest in Sumgait, stirred up during the existence of the Soviet Union in February 1988, was preceded by carefully orchestrated attacks at the end of 1987 on the Azerbaijanis in Khankendi and in Armenia itself, resulting in a flood of Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons. In addition to that, the document mentioned that the forcible deportation of Azerbaijanis from Armenia started in its Kafan and Mehri districts in November 1987. It reminded that on February 22, 1988, Armenians opened fire on a peaceful demonstration, killing two Azerbaijani youths in Azerbaijan near the settlement of Asgaran on the Khankendi-Aghdam highway.

The second part of the document stresses that Armenias claims for self-determination in Azerbaijan are groundless and flawed for a number of reasons. The illegality within the Soviet legal system of the attempted separation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region from Azerbaijan was confirmed at the highest constitutional level."

Moreover, the resolutions (822, 853, 874, 884) on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict adopted by the UN Security Council were noted in the letter that Armenias territorial claims and actions are unlawful and incompatible with the prohibition of the use of the armed force in international relations, and have nothing in common with the right to self-determination.

In the conclusion, the document emphasizes that the official investigation established that it had been a well-prepared provocation masterminded by the Armenian extremist organizations Karabakh and Krunk to discredit Azerbaijan and cover-up Armenias unlawful annexationist intentions and violent methods for their achievement.

The investigation found that one of the organizers and perpetrators of criminal acts committed in Sumgayit, which claimed the lives of 26 Armenians and Azerbaijanis, was Eduard Grigoryan, an Armenian and resident of the city. Among the evidence collected by the investigation, the testimonies of the witnesses, including Armenians, provide irrefutable proof of his role and direct participation in violence. E. Grigoryan was sentenced to long-term imprisonment. Besides him, in all, 92 persons were brought to justice for offences in Sumgayit, the document reads.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Washington: Former US Army soldier and WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning was released from prison on Thursday on a judge's order after being held since May for refusing to testify in an ongoing US investigation of WikiLeaks.

US District Court Judge Anthony Trenga in Alexandria, Virginia, ordered Manning released because the grand jury hearing the case had concluded.

Alexandria City Sheriff Dana Lawhorne told reporters late on Thursday that Manning had been released from the Alexandria Detention Centre.

Trenga rejected a request from Manning to cancel fines that he had imposed for her refusal to testify and ordered her to pay fines totalling $256,000.

A detention hearing for Manning scheduled for Friday was cancelled.

Needless to say we are relieved and ask that you respect her privacy while she gets on her feet, Manning's defence team said in an emailed statement.

On Wednesday, a spokesman for Manning's defence team said Manning had attempted to commit suicide and had been taken to hospital, where she was recovering.

Spokesman Andy Stepanian said that in spite of her imprisonment and the imposition of financial sanctions, Manning remained unwavering in her refusal to participate in a secret grand jury process that she sees as highly susceptible to abuse.

Prior to her recent incarceration for refusing to testify, Manning had served seven years in a military prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of US military messages and cables to WikiLeaks, before being released on the order of President Barack Obama.

WikiLeaks, an internet-based "dead letter drop" for leakers of classified or sensitive information, was founded by Australian citizen Julian Assange in 2006.

Assange is being held in a London prison as British courts consider a request from US prosecutors for his extradition to the United States. He is wanted on charges of conspiring with Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer system containing classified materials.
Mazoon Electricity Company, the leading electricity provider in Oman, said it has achieved a major milestone in Omanisation in 2019 with the 98.36 per cent of its employees being Omani nationals.



As part of its commitment to the implementation of its optimised In-Country Value (ICV) strategy, Mazoon Electricity is earnestly increasing Omanisation rates and developing the skills of the national workforce, said a statement from the company.



Persisting with its Omanisation plan as part of its principal strategy, Mazoon Electricity filled in more than 50 new vacancies with nationals in 2019 both in the technical and non-technical fields.



The Omani company, which boasts a 562-strong workforce, has been constantly encouraging its contractors to hire Omani talents who are serving almost half million customers across governorates under companys operation areas: Dakhiliya, South Sharqiya, North Sharqiya, South Batinah and Suwaiq in North Batinah governorate, it added.



Based on the previous years results, Mazoon Electricity remains focused on creating the right culture to motivate all its employees by including planned meetings, training programmes, management and mid management programmes to improve relationships and by defining employees roles and responsibilities.



"One of the elements introduced to improve employee satisfaction was the concept of the outpatient clinic, which is a modern training technique to treat corporate challenges," said a company spokesman.



It helps in analysing and treating obstacle to improve the vibes in a department. The goals of the out-patient clinic include team building, unifying and reducing misunderstanding between teams, he stated.



It also aims to develop skills which will help improve interactions between companys superiors and subordinates. It also proposes to build proficiencies for resolving conflicts and disputes between individuals and groups, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Other Developments

 Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences will shift classes online for the rest of the semester, according to a news release. The campus remains open.

 Pacific Power will not disconnect customers in Washington, Oregon and California during the COVID-19 emergency response, the utility said.

 Molina Healthcare, which serves those with Medicare, Medicaid and Washington Health Benefit Exchange insurance, will waive COVID-19 testing costs.
Dozens of Palestinians in Saudi Arabia are being tried before Riyadhs special terrorism court for their perceived links to the Hamas movement in Gaza, according to press reports.

Of the 68 defendants whose trials began Sunday, most were Palestinians arrested in April 2019, along with some Jordanians, according to the reports.

A wave of arrests targeting Palestinian students, academics and businessmen in Saudi Arabia began in February 2019. Amnesty International says that those detained have since been held without charges or access to legal representation, and that some were subjected to solitary confinement.

The Saudi government has not officially commented on the arrests or trials.

Those arrested include Dr. Mohammed al-Khodari, an 81-year-old doctor who is the official representative of Hamas in Saudi Arabia, and his son, Hani. As Al-Monitor previously reported, Kuwait had agreed to negotiate for the release of the detainees, including Khodari, who holds dual Kuwaiti-Palestinian nationality.

In September, the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor told the United Nations Human Rights Council that it had the names of about 60 Palestinians subjected to enforced disappearance in Saudi Arabia.

Prominent Saudi womens rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul is expected to stand trial in Riyadh next week.

She and at least 12 other women were imprisoned in May 2018 over their activism, including campaigning for womens driving rights and pushing to end male guardianship in the country.

In December, Saudi Arabia arrested more than 200 people for violating public decency in what marked the first such crackdown since Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman began loosening social restrictions in the ultra-conservative country.

This story contains additional reporting from Agence France-Presse.
The mother of an inmate who died by suicide at the Midland County jail filed a federal lawsuit Thursday, alleging officers knew her daughter had overdosed earlier in the day before placing her in an isolation cell, where she hung herself.

Angela Burrows filed the lawsuit on behalf of herself and the other heirs of Stephanie Gonzales, according to the suit filed in U.S. District Court. The suit names as defendants three jailers, one officer, Midland County and the city of Midland.

Gonzales was arrested June 17, 2018 on a public intoxication charge after someone reported seeing a woman walking in the street near Resthaven Cemetery, the suit states. It alleges Gonzales told the arresting Midland police officer, Blake Blanscett, she had taken 10 Xanax pills  which are often taken for anxiety --and had been diagnosed with PTSD, bipolar disorder and depression.

A portion of a police report included in the lawsuit states that Gonzales told Blanscett she was not suicidal.

The suit also alleges Blanscett did not conduct a proper mental health screening on Gonzales after bringing her into custody at the county detention center. A copy of a mental health screening form included in the lawsuit appears to show that Blanscett checked no when asked if Gonzales had a history of mental illness or was taking any medications.

Despite indicating negatively to those questions, Blanscett stated in a comments section that the inmate was diagnosed with PTSD, bipolar, and depression.

Blanscett also appears to have checked no when asked if Gonzales had recently been hospitalized, although the suit alleges she was wearing a hospital bracelet at the time of her arrest.

The suit goes on to outline the circumstances before Gonzales death. It states the jail supervisor, Monica Allen, was hesitant to accept Gonzales after learning she had taken Xanax.

According to the suit, which cites a statement made to the Texas Rangers, Allen allegedly told Blanscett, Whoa. Okay. Well, hold on. Im not taking her  let me go get a nurse to evaluate her first cause  I mean, did you take her to the hospital?

A nurse evaluated Gonzales at the jail and Gonzales allegedly told her she had taken the Xanax throughout the day, not all at once. Gonzales was then placed in an isolation cell, where she hung herself with jail-issued pants 2 1/2 hours after she was examined by the nurse.

Allen was in a separate section of the jail at the time of Gonzales death, according to the suit.

She said (in a statement to the Rangers) that supervisors were supposed to be in the back watching everyone but, due to being short-handed, she was at Booking One, the suit states.

Gonzales was left in her cell for more than an hour without a jailer checking on her, according to the suit. It states that surveillance footage shows it took 19 minutes for Gonzales to complete suicide.

A custodial death report filed with the Texas Attorney Generals Office states that the jail did not administer a suicide screening for Gonzales or place her on suicide watch. It states that a booking officer determined she was too intoxicated to answer suicide screening questions and did not fill out suicide screening form.

The day before Gonzales was arrested, she was brought to an emergency room because she was screaming and acting irrationally, the lawsuit states. She tested positive at the hospital for amphetamines.

The suit states the Rangers investigated Gonzales death, but does not indicate the status of that investigation. It states the Texas Commission on Jail Standards found that the jail violated minimal standards it its handling of Gonzales.

Gonzales death is one of two at the Midland County jail known to have been investigated by the Rangers in the last two years. It was reported last month there is an ongoing investigation into an inmates death by hanging in May 2019.

The suit states Burrows is seeking damages for herself, Gonzales husband and five children, as well as exemplary damages against the individuals named in the suit.
Sri Lankan acting High Commissioner to India Niluka Kadurugamuwa on Friday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal to chalk out a joint strategy to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

"This is a good initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fight against deadly coronavirus pandemic threatening the We welcome this timely initiative," Kadurugamuwa told ANI.

Kadurugamuwa noted that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksha has expressed his willingness to join the discussion and learn the best practices from the other SAARC members.

Modi on Friday had proposed that the leaders of the SAARC countries should chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus.

"I would like to propose that the leadership of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," PM Modi had tweeted.

Within hours, leaders of several SAARC nations endorsed PM Modi's proposal, promising their complete support towards the collective effort against the pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A medical team from India reached Italy on Friday to test stranded Indian nationals for the coronavirus so that they can be brought back.

IMAGE: Medical personnel wearing protective face masks help patients inside the Spedali Civili hospital in Brescia, Italy. Photograph: Flavio Lo Scalzo/Reuters

The death toll from COVID-19 jumped over 5,000 on Friday as the number of cases around the world topped 1,34,000.

Italy has more than 15,000 cases and over 1,000 deaths -- the most outside of China, the epicentre of the disease.

'Pleasure to welcome the medical team at the Embassy in Rome. Gearing up for the testing which starts this afternoon and will proceed through the weekend,' the Indian Embassy in Rome tweeted.

The Indian government on Wednesday said it was focusing on bringing back Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Italy and Iran after screening them.

The Indian mission in Rome said it was working actively with Indian ministries and local authorities in Italy to address COVID19 situation being faced by stranded Indians.

The mission said it was in continuous touch with stranded Indians in Rome, communicating and providing regular updates to students, working with community leaders to provide material support and food.

'In view of increasing number of calls received by the two Embassy hotlines, two more lines have been added for convenience of Indian nationals requiring assistance,' it said.

The embassy officials on Thursday met Indian students stranded at Rome airport and briefed them about measures being taken by the Indian government to help them.

The mission gave following helpline numbers: +39 3201749773 / +39 3248390031 / +39 3316142085 / +39 3311928713.

As per the Italian official estimates, more than 1,60,000 Indian nationals live in Italy.

Indian team in Male to help Maldivian authorities tackle coronavirus

A 14-member Indian composite medical relief team arrived in Male on Friday to support the Maldivian health authorities in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in China's Wuhan, India had evacuated nine Maldivians residing in the city, with the first seven evacuated on February 2, and the rest on February 27.

The Maldivians were quarantined for 14 days in New Delihi and were safely flown back into Maldives.

'The 14-member composite medical relief team with members from all corners of India has arrived in Male to support and assist the Maldivian health authorities in tackling the #Covid_19 situation,' the Indian High Commission in Male tweeted.

Maldivian Foreign Affairs Minister Abdulla Shahid thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sending the team.

'A very warm welcome to the Indian team of doctors, paramedics, specialists and technicians. The team will be working with our health specialists in combating this global challenge #COVID19. Thank you PM @narendramodi,' Shahid tweeted.

Currently there are eight confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Maldives, with four foreign nationals from Kuredu Island Resort, and two from Sandies Bathala and Kuramathi Maldives each.

Indian scientists in Iran not been able to establish makeshift lab

Indian scientists who are stationed in Iran to establish a makeshift laboratory for testing stranded Indians for novel coronavirus have not been given permission by authorities to do so citing security reasons, official sources said.

Swab samples of around 1,200 Indians have been brought to India from Iran so far for carrying out laboratory tests and check whether they are infected with the deadly virus.

Four scientists from ICMR-NIV, Pune are stationed in Tehran and are collecting the samples.

"They said they could not set up a makeshift lab facility as authorities there said they will not be able to provide them security. They are still stationed in Tehran and are collecting swab samples," a source said.

58 Indians were brought back home from coronavirus-hit Iran in a military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the first batch, while the second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims arrived from Iran's Qom on Friday.

An Iran Air flight carrying Indian pilgrims stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran landed at the airport in Mumbai on Friday afternoon, an official said.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working on plans to bring back the Indians stranded there.

India is preparing to set up a makeshift laboratory in Iran to test 1,200 of its citizens stuck in the country before evacuating them, officials said on Wednesday.

Those stranded in Iran are mostly students and pilgrims. Also, there are 1,000 Indian fishermen who are stranded in Iran.
Recovered coronavirus patients can be left with damaged lungs, researchers in Hong Kong have claimed.

A small study of 12 patients who were discharged from hospital showed that two or three had reduced lung function. They got out of breath easier when they took a brisk walk, the scientists said.

Scans of nine patients suggested sustained damage to their organs, however it is too early to say if this will last long term.

Current patients with COVID-19 have shown fluid or debris filled sacs in the lungs, which may get progressively worse as the illness develops.

Today deaths from the killer virus passed 5,000, which World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said was a 'tragic milestone'.

Recovered coronavirus patients can be left with damaged lungs, researchers in Hong Kong have claimed. Pictured, a patient waiting to be tested in Brescia hospital, Lombardy, Italy

Dr Owen Tsang Tak-yin, medical director of the authority's Infectious Disease Centre at Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung, studied discharged COVID-19 patients

A review of lung scans of nine infected patients at Princess Margaret also found patterns suggestive of lung damage. While unwell, patients' CT scans show air spaces in their lungs filled with a substance (pictured)

Dr Owen Tsang Tak-yin studied patients in Hong Kong, where 77 of the 134 patients diagnosed have recovered.

Globally more than 5,340 of the 140,910 infected have died, meaning the rest have either recovered, had mild symptoms or are still in hospital.

Hong Kongs Hospital Authority released the findings of the 12 patients on Thursday, according to the South China Morning Post.

WHY ARE THOSE WITH HEALTH CONDITIONS MORE LIKELY TO GET ILL WITH COVID-19? Data shows patients with pre-existing conditions are more likely to suffer severe illness and die because their immune systems are weaker. Those who have underlying conditions 'have less of a "safety net" to cope with the demands', Professor Naveed Sattar, an honorary consultant in cardiovascular and medical sciences, explained. He told MailOnline: 'If you are healthy, your buffer capacity is good. The rest of your body can cope with the stress. 'But if you have impairments to begin with, your systems break down.' In many patients with COVID-19, the lungs are unable to receive enough oxygen. This has a knock-on effect on other organs. Professor Sattar, at the University of Glasgow, explained the heart comes under a lot of strain trying to pump oxygenated blood around the body, including to the brain. Dr Hajira Dambha-Miller, a GP and clinical lecturer, said the blood is less able to circulate in people who have high blood pressure because their vessels are narrower. Not only does this slow the route of oxygen to organs, but it also means immune cells in the blood are not able to reach the virus as quickly as needed. 'If you've got diabetes', she said, 'you have high sugar levels and your blood becomes like treacle. 'Physically, its harder for the immune system to get to the virus. The virus bugs do a lot of damage before the immune system even realises it's there. 'When the body does kick in, it won't work as it should do. The immune cells are damaged because they've been saturated in sugar for years and don't work the way they should.' Dr Damnha-Miller said similar processes are impaired in the elderly. Advertisement

The medical director of the authority's Infectious Disease Centre at Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung said two to three of 12 patients were unable to do things as they had in the past.

He said: 'They gasp if they walk a bit more quickly.'

Dr Tsang and colleagues found a drop of 20 to 30 per cent in lung capacity was leaving the patients slightly breathless.

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness with symptoms of a persistent cough, which leads to a shortness of breath, and a fever.

In severe cases, it can cause pneumonia. The elderly and those with underlying health conditions are most at risk of serious illness.

A review of lung scans of nine infected patients at Princess Margaret also found patterns suggestive of lung damage.

While unwell, patients' CT scans show air spaces in their lungs filled with a substance, usually pus, blood, or water, known as ground glass opacity, doctors at The First Hospital of Lanzhou University in China have shown.

Ground-glass opacity is frequently associated with consolidation, which is thickening or swelling of soft tissue.

Such abnormalities are similar to those found in patients suffering from SARS and MERS.

Dr Tsang said exercise may help discharged patients to regain their lung capacity, particularly gentle cardiovascular exercise such as swimming.

The Radiological Society of North America have previously released scans of patients who died from COVID-19.

X-ray images and CT scans showed how the disease ravages its victims' lungs.

The scans showed white patches in the lower corners of the lungs which indicated ground glass opacity, which was particularly obvious in the scans of a 44-year-old man who worked at the Wuhan seafood market - thought to be the origin of the outbreak.

The man was admitted to hospital on December 25, 2019 after suffering from a fever and cough for almost two weeks. Doctors diagnosed the man with pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Despite being treated by doctors, he died a week later.

The CT scans of a 54-year-old woman who caught the coronavirus after travelling to Wuhan, China, show the same partial filling of air spaces.

The woman was diagnosed with severe pneumonia caused by the virus after suffering from a fever, cough, fatigue and chest congestion for a week.

The scan of a 45-year-old woman from Sichuan Province in China who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Japan shows white patches and a 'reversed halo sign' in the left upper lobe of her lung.

This is when fluid-filled sacs are surrounded by a complete ring of inflamed tissue, about two millimetres thick.

X-ray of a 54-year-old woman who developed severe COVID-19 pneumonia after visiting Wuhan

The shocking chest X-rays (pictured) of one coronavirus victim, a 44-year-old man who worked at the Wuhan seafood market thought to be the origin of the outbreak, clearly show ground-glass opacity - air spaces in their lungs filled with a substance, usually pus

In severe cases, COVID-19 can cause pneumonia. The elderly and those with underlying health conditions are most at risk of serious illness. Pictured, health workers wearing protective suits and a face masks in Brescia, Italy, while caring for an older patient
DUP leader Arlene Foster arrives at the Cabinet Office, Whitehall, London, for a meeting of the Government's emergency committee Cobra to discuss coronavirus. Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire

A multiplicity of errors and omissions led to Stormonts cash for ash green energy scandal not political corruption, a public inquiry has found.

The inquiry made some criticism of current DUP leader and NI First Minister Arlene Fosters role in developing the ill-fated Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme and also highlighted unacceptable behaviour by several of her partys special advisers.

But the probe, chaired by retired judge Sir Patrick Coghlin, said it would be wrong to blame specific individuals or groups for the design flaws that saw applicants perversely incentivised to burn excess heat to turn a profit.

He said responsibility should be shared among a wide range of people and public bodies. The report was particularly critical of the Stormont department in charge of the scheme, the then-named Department for Enterprise, Trade and investment (DETI).

Corrupt or malicious activity on the part of officials, ministers or special advisers was not the cause of what went wrong with the NI RHI scheme, albeit the inquiry has identified some instances where behaviour was unacceptable, stated the report.

Rather the vast majority of what went wrong was due to an accumulation an compounding of error and omissions over time and a failure of attention, on the part of all those involved in their differing roles to identify the existence, significance or implications of those errors and omissions.

It added: Responsibility for what went wrong lay not just with one individual or group but with abroad range of persons and organisations involved, across a variety of areas relating to the design, approval, management and administration of the NI RHI scheme through its life.

The RHI incentivised businesses and farmers to switch to eco-friendly boilers by paying them a subsidy for the wood pellet fuel required to run them.

But mistakes in its designs saw the subsidy rates set higher than the actual cost of the wood pellets  with applicants finding themselves able to burn to earn.

The controversy over the RHI led to the collapse of Stormont powersharing after the late Sinn Fein deputy first minister resigned in protest at Mrs Fosters handling of the affair in January 2017.

The RHI had left the administration facing an overspend bill of hundreds of millions of pounds. Subsequent cost-control steps have prevented that happening.

The report said it could give no guarantee the same mistakes will not be repeated.

The inquiry said the RHI scheme was a project too far for the Northern Ireland executive.

While motivated by the laudable aim of encouraging the use of renewables rather than fossil fuels in heat production, the Northern Ireland stand-alone scheme should never have been adopted, it stated.

Mrs Foster was the DETI minister at the time the scheme was developed in 2012.

The inquiry found she had been incorrectly informed by her officials that the project was value for money.

However, it criticised her for signing off on a draft regulatory impact assessment which highlighted risk but did not include adequate costing information.

While the minister should not have been presented with a document which lacked all the necessary cost information, she equally should not have signed it in those circumstances, it found.

The inquiry also highlighted concerns about Mrs Foster working arrangements with her then-special adviser Dr Andrew Crawford  particularly in respect of his role analysing key documents.

The arrangement between DETI minister Foster and her special adviser concerning the division of responsibility between them for reading, analysing and digesting important documents was ineffective and led to the false reassurance on the part of the minister, and potentially of officials, as to the level of scrutiny applied to detailed technical reports provided to the minister.

The report identified instances of unacceptable behaviour by Dr Crawford and other DUP advisers, including the partys current press office director John Robinson.

It criticised Dr Crawford for sharing confidential documents relating to the scheme to family members.

It criticised Mr Robinson for leaking emails relating to the involvement of civil servants in the scheme in order to divert the attention of the media away from their party.

The inquiry noted that a plan had been also been discussed with one of Mrs Fosters successors as DETI minister, Simon Hamilton, and other party advisers.

The report said the scheme was high risk. It said it was novel, technically complex and potentially volatile because of its demand-led nature and wide range of variable.

Yet the risks were not sufficiently understood by all those who should have understood them within the Northern Ireland government, the report found.

It said the department should never have embarked on the scheme and criticised the decision to diverge from the model employed in Great Britain.

The inquiry found that independent consultants CEPA recommended a payment rate for some boilers that was higher than the cost of heat production.

It said that error, which was not picked up by DETI officials, created a perverse incentive to produce excess heat, whether it was needed or not, in order to make a profit.

Officials in DETI failed properly to understand the damaging presence of the perverse incentive, which facilitated exploitation, throughout the period when the scheme was open to new applicants, it found.

The inquiry panel said there had been insufficient steps to protect Northern Irelands budget.

It found important DETI documents were inaccurate, incomplete or misleading in important respects.

The report said the department also did not devote adequate resources to the scheme, staffing its operation with junior civil servants who lacked specialist skills in the area.

It said there was a lack of properly tailored management processes within the department and ineffective internal governance systems.

The inquiry also criticised a lack of basic record-keeping at DETI, highlighting that minutes were often not taken at meetings.

It also found that the departments Assembly scrutiny committee had been ineffective at holding it to account.

The inquiry noted that other public and private bodies quickly identified the flaws and lucrative incentive built into the scheme.

The inquiry said bodies such as Invest NI and Action Renewables should have done more to alert DETI but found no conspiracy of silence, rather painted a picture of a silo culture between different parts of the public sector.

It said the Department of Agriculture, then led by Sinn Feins current deputy first minister in Northern Ireland, Michelle ONeill, should have made DETI aware of excessively generous rewards for participants.

The report praised Janette OHagan, a whistle-blower working in the renewables sector, who flagged concerns and criticised how she was treated.

The treatment fell well below the standard that she was entitled to expect, it found.

The report also found that Stormonts Department of Finance mishandled the process for granting approval for the scheme in 2014.

It said cost control measures implemented by then-DETI minister Jonathan Bell in 2015 made no impact because they were ill-considered.

Despite the fact they ultimately did not work, the inquiry said a delay in implementing the measures during 2015 was excessive.

The probe also criticised civil servants who shared information about imminent cost curbing steps to third parties before they were otherwise publicly announced.

In respect of ministerial special adviser, the inquiry found repeated failures to comply with the code governing their appointment.

It found that the relationship between energy regulator Ofgem and DETI was unsatisfactory and said the former had failed to pass important information to the latter.

The inquiry said the ultimate closure of the scheme in 2016 was not well managed.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 14:24:19|Editor: zyl

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TALUQAN, Afghanistan, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Three militants have been confirmed dead as a clash erupted in Khawja Ghar district of the northern Takhar province on Friday, a local police officer Noor Mohammad said.

The clash, according to the official, broke out after the police forces stormed a Taliban checkpoint on a road in the restive Khawja Ghar district early morning, forcing the militants to flee after leaving three bodies behind.

Two more insurgents were injured in the firefight that lasted for 30 minutes, the official said.

No police had been hurt, the official further said.

Taliban militants who are active in parts of Takhar province with Taluqan as its capital 245 km north of Kabul have not commented.
Friday the 13th has arrived and along with it, various tattoo parlours around Colorado have decided to call off the annual Friday the 13th tattoos event due to the recent Coronavirus outbreak. Various well-known tattoo parlours around Colorado were known to host an annual tattoo event, offering people to get their desired tattoos in just $13.

The annual Friday the 13th tattoos event in Colorado attracted an average of 600 people and reportedly the tattoo community of Colorado wished to ensure the safety of people attending the Friday the 13th tattoos annual event. Though the annual Friday the 13th annual tattoo event has been called off, one can still go and get a tattoo in Colorado to celebrate the spooky day. Below are some of the best tattoo parlours in Colorado where you can still get your desired Friday the 13th tattoo.

Also read: Tattoo ideas that are best-suited for your zodiac signs that you would want to get

Pens and Needles Custom Tattoo Company

The Pens and Needles tattoo company had announced that they will be giving away a special offer for tattoo enthusiasts on Friday the 13th. In a recent Facebook post by Pens and Needles Custom Tattoo Company, it was revealed that they will be offering their special $50 gift card for just $13 to the first 100 customers who walk in. Besides this, the remaining 50 customers can avail their $50 gift card for just $31. Check out tattoos by Pens and Needles Custom Tattoo company below -

Also read: Alaya F loves flaunting her wing tattoo and these pictures are proof

Marion Street Tattoo

Marion Street Tattoo parlour is reportedly well known for its Friday the 13th tattoos. The parlours host Friday the 13th tattoos event on almost each Friday the 13th around the year. But this time around, the Marion Street tattoo parlour has decided to call off the Friday the 13th tattoos event due to the recent health crisis. The tattoo parlour has now rescheduled their Friday the 13th tattoo events to July 31st, 2020.

Also read: Best travel quotes that make for really good tattoos to inspire your wanderlust

Endless Ink Tattoo & Piercing

Endless Ink Tattoo & Piercing will be going ahead with their Friday the 13th tattoos event in Denver, Colorado. The tattoo parlour's Instagram account revealed that they will be offering $13 tattoo deals on a first-come-first-serve basis. Besides this, the tattoo parlour will also be giving away free goodies for early bird customers.

Also read: Tattoos tend to fade, here are some tattoo aftercare instructions you should follow

Crimson Hilt Tattoo

Crimson Hilt Tattoo will also be offering Friday the 13th tattoos offering a $20 tattoo deal. The Instagram post made by the tattoo parlour informs that they will only be offering black ink tattoos for $20. The tattoo parlour has also advised people to stay back at home if they're feeling sick. Check out their post below -

Also read: Dwayne Johnson's tattoos on his Instagram could be an inspiration for your next tattoo

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
TUNIS, March 13 (Reuters) - Tunisia will require all people arriving from abroad to self-isolate for two weeks, state news agency TAP cited the Health Ministry as saying on Friday.

Tunisia has confirmed 13 cases of the coronavirus, mostly among recent arrivals from Europe, and the disease is expected to hit its crucial tourism sector hard.

Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh is expected later on Friday to address the country in a televised broadcast to announce new measures to tackle the virus.

(Reporting By Tarek Amara, writing by Angus McDowall, Editing by Catherine Evans)
Kathmandu/IBNS: Nepal Prime Minister KP Oli on Friday backed his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi's proposal to all South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations to chalk out a "strong strategy" to combat the deadly coronavirus.

Oli tweeted: " I welcome the idea advanced by Prime Minister Modiji @narendramodi for chalking out a strong strategy by the leadership of the SAARC nations to fight Coronavirus. My government is ready to work closely with SAARC Member States to protect our citizens from this deadly disease."

I welcome the idea advanced by Prime Minister Modiji @narendramodi for chalking out a strong strategy by the leadership of the SAARC nations to fight Coronavirus. My government is ready to work closely with SAARC Member States to protect our citizens from this deadly disease.  KP Sharma Oli (@PM_Nepal) March 13, 2020

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih posted: "Thank you PM @narendramodi for taking the initiative on this important endeavor. Covid 19 requires collective effort to defeat it. Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort."

Thank you PM @narendramodi for taking the initiative on this important endeavor. Covid 19 requires collective effort to defeat it. Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort. https://t.co/2fxQxe9w1h  Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (@ibusolih) March 13, 2020

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa called the move as a 'great initiative'.

He tweeted: "Thank you for the great initiative Shri @narendramodi - #LKA is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Lets unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe."

Thank you for the great initiative Shri @narendramodi - #LKA is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Lets unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe. https://t.co/fAiT5w3O8D  Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) March 13, 2020

Eight countries form the SAARC. They are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Maldives.

At a time when the world is witnessing major coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for SAARC nations to chalk out a strong strategy to fight the virus which is believed to have originated from China and then spread to different countries.

He further suggested that these strategies could be discussed, via video conferencing and by coming together SAARC nations can set an example to the world and contribute to a healthier planet.

In a series of tweets, PM said that South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure the health of its people.

He also said that the Government is trying its best at various levels to combat COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus.

Modi tweeted: "Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it. South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy."

In another tweet, he said, "I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus.

We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy. Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet."

India recorded its first death from the virus on Thursday. The deceased was a 76-year old man from Karnataka.

Three people from Kerala have, however, recovered.
An American Airlines flight from Paris arrives at Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday. The route is now suspended through May 6. Read more

Hits to the airline industry from coronavirus continued to reverberate on Friday, as American Airlines halted more international flights out of Philadelphia, and the CEO of Delta Air Lines warned of an unprecedented revenue impact."

Cancellations are rising dramatically" at Delta and outpacing bookings over the next month, according to an internal memo obtained by CBS News. The situation is fluid and likely to be getting worse, the airlines chief executive, Ed Bastian, wrote in the memo.

For American Airlines, the dominant air carrier at Philadelphia International Airport, routes are now suspended between Philly and four additional European cities: Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, and Zurich. The flights are expected to resume May 7, the company said.

Earlier this week, American announced it was halting service between Philadelphia and Rome, as Italy put into effect nationwide limits on public activity and travel. American said it expects the PHL-Rome service to start again May 7, as well.

The latest route changes follow President Donald Trumps announcement of a 30-day ban on travelers coming to the U.S. from 26 countries in Europe. The restrictions take effect starting late Friday night and do not apply to U.S. citizens or green-card holders, nor to their family members who are under 21.

Passengers whove been to China, Iran, or the restricted European countries in the last two weeks must enter the U.S. through one of 13 airports, where theyll undergo enhanced screening, the Department of Homeland Security said. Philadelphia is not on the list of entry airports.

American Airlines said it will contact customers directly about canceled flights and help reroute passengers through approved airports. The company is also offering to waive change fees for customers who purchased tickets prior to March 11 for travel to Europe, including the United Kingdom, through May 31.

American will keep operating some flights between other U.S. airports and Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris for up to seven days, so that passengers and employees can return home.

The company is taking additional steps to cut costs, including deferring hires of new pilots and flight attendants, and working with employee unions to offer unpaid leaves to those who volunteer.

We believe decisive actions like these continue to put us in the best possible position to manage through the current environment, CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom said in a joint memo.

The union that represents the companys flight attendants  the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA)  said it was discussing creative ways to soften the impact of scheduling cuts on workers and is in close communication with management.

I experienced 9/11 from the inside as our unions PR and media consultant, said APFA president Lori Bassani, "and I can tell you that as shocking and traumatizing as that event was, I believe this crisis is much more pervasive and far-reaching and our lives will once again be changed in unimaginable ways.
Public Health

More States, Large Districts Shut Down Schools over Coronavirus Fears

(Please find the updated version of this story here.) Washington, Louisiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon, as well as the District of Columbia, have all ordered public K12 schools closed amid fears over the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). In addition, several large school districts, including Atlanta, Austin, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle and Los Angeles  the second-largest district in the nation  have ordered schools shuttered.

The state closures seem by and large to have been implemented with very little or no coordination with school or district leaders, and none include concrete plans for delivering educational services during the closures.

Friday's Closures

Seven states have now announced closures today, Friday, March 13, to take effect Monday, March 16, for the most part. Those include Washington, Louisiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Wisconsin and Alabama.

Washington has expanded its school closures statewide until April 24. Previously, the closures only affected three districts. Now, all public and private schools will be closed as of Monday.

Illinois shut down all private and public schools, including charters, until at least March 30.

Wisconsin and Alabama are also closing their schools statewide, both of them starting March 18, a Wednesday. Both states are currently scheduled to resume normal school operations April 6.

Louisiana is shutting down schools until April 13. According to a proclamation the governor signed into effect today, schools are to continue providing essential services, such as meals, to the best of their ability. The proclamation calls for schools to offer distance education, where possible.The instructional minute requirement for the state is being suspended as well.

We are at an inflection point now and we are going to take bold action to minimize the further spread of this illness. That is why I am issuing this order today, ending all events of more than 250 people, closing our schools, and reducing the amount of face-to-face public interaction at state government buildings, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a prepared statement. In a separate executive order, I will grant Secretary of State Kyle Ardoins request to move our upcoming elections for April and May to June and July. The limits on gatherings of 250 people or more statewide is based on federal CDC guidance given the community spread which we are currently experiencing. These steps are necessary to protect the health and safety of the people of Louisiana from the risk of COVID-19.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered all K12 schools in his state to close for a minimum of two weeks. The time off will be used for cleaning and disinfecting and developing longer-term plans.

We are taking this action to keep Virginians as safe and healthy as possible, and to minimize exposure to COVID-19, said Gov. Northam, in a prepared statement. I recognize this will pose a hardship on many families, but closing our schools for two weeks will not only give our staff time to clean and disinfect school facilities, it will help slow the spread of this virus. This is a fluid and fast-changing situation. We will do everything possible to ensure that students who rely on school nutrition programs continue to have access to meals, and that the disruption to academics is as minimal as possible.



According to the department: "Virginia Department of Education officials are working closely with school divisions and the Department of Social Services to ensure students who qualify for free or reduced lunch programs are able to access those programs while schools are closed. The Department of Education will issue guidance and memos to superintendents across the commonwealth to provide specifics about the continuity of education, school nutrition, and updated public health guidelines."



We recognize this decision places burdens on many of our parents and families, especially for those who rely on school nutrition programs for access to healthy food for their children, said Secretary of Education Atif Qarni, also in a prepared statement. However, we believe closing Virginia schools is in the commonwealths best interest as we seek to stop the spread of COVID-19. Virginia will continue to explore and implement innovative approaches to provide meals to students who qualify for free and reduced lunch during this closure.

Finally, West Virginia similarly indicated it will continue to provide nutrition services during its school closures, which affects all pre-K12 schools in the state.According to the governor's office, "This comes after several measures were taken this week, including the canceling of all out-of-state travel and the suspension of all afterschool and school extracurricular activities. Though at this time there are no positive cases of COVID-19, this step was taken out of an abundance of caution. Child nutrition programs will continue throughout the school closure."

School employees, however, are expected to continue to report to work for the time being.

West Virginia is the only state that has not yet set a date for schools to resumenormal operations.

Thursday's Closures

Five states announced closures Thursday, March 12, to take effect Monday, March 16.

Maryland, which is closing schools for two weeks starting Monday and made the announcement yesterday, recommended that administrators work on plans for delivering educational services.

In Ohio, the news came as a surprise to at least some district administrators. According to local reporting, administrators at Cincinnati Public Schools had no idea of the plans for closure until the announcement was made to the public late yesterday. Schools in Ohio will be shuttered three weeks starting Monday.

Ohio State Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria issued a statement in response to the closures yesterday: We are especially grateful to schools that have proactively developed plans to keep learning going even if school buildings arent open. There is a lot of momentum in Ohios schools right now and we would hate to see that momentum stalled, although we understand that todays announcement does mean there will be disruptions.
Due to the disruption caused by the outbreak of COVID-19, Unacademy will conduct free live classes for students across exam categories including UPSC, banking, railways, among others. The popular education technology platform will host close to over 20,000 free live classes to ensure learners' education is not obstructed amidst the ongoing health concerns.

Gaurav Munjal, Co-founder and CEO, Unacademy said, "We are bringing together our entire network of educators to conduct free live classes for learners across the nation to help them crack their goals unobstructed. We want learners to utilise this time to take precautions against the coronavirus outbreak and learn from the comfort of their homes. We will support the education system in every way possible to weather the storm and provide these classes to each learner who wants to utilise Unacademy to study."

Unacademy will be hosting more than 700 free live classes per day across exam categories. According to the company, this is around three times the usual number of special/free classes they do generally. Considering these are online classes, there isn't any limit on the number of students who can join at a time. According to the company, Unacademy educators from across the nation will provide their time to this initiative and ensure the courses for various exams are on track. These classes are not limited to those who already have a subscription with Unacademy and are open to all.

Also read: Coronavirus bites into wealth of richest Indians; Ambani, Damani, Adani lose billions

To start with, these classes are being offered ?until March 31. However, if the situation persists, Unacademy will look at extending these free live classes to April and May as well. Videos for every live class will be available later after the class, as the recordings are always available on the platform.

"Through this initiative, we want to ensure that learners can completely focus on their health and safety and learn from the safe environment of their homes. We believe that the education and success of learners are of utmost priority and they must not be hindered by environmental, background, geographical economic or health reasons," said the company in a press statement.

Unacademy offers courses for all popular entrances such as UPSC, SSC and bank exams, railway exams, defence exams, JEE and NEET preparation, State PSC, NET exams, GATE, ESE and IIT-JAM, NEET PG, TET exams, Management & Foreign Studies, CA, CS & Law exams, CBSE and Personal and Skill Development. Started as a YouTube channel in 2010, it graduated into an online learning platform in 2015. The company has a network of over 10,000 educators, 13 million learners and subscriptions for over 30 exam categories.

Also read: Coronavirus Live Updates: Google employee tests positive in Bengaluru; staff asked to work from home

Also read: Coronavirus: Uber, Ola cabs go empty as office-goers work from home
coronavirus Open source

UNICEF health experts advise parents should know 6 things about coronavirus. The video with tips was published on Facebook page of the United Nations in Ukraine.

Virus transmission. Virus is transmitted through direct contact with respiratory droplets from an infected person and by touching serfaces that are contaminated/ Tell your children to maintain at least 3 feet of distance between themselves and people who are coughing, sneezing and have a fever. Symptoms. Symptoms of coronavirus can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia or breathig difficultes. More rarely, te disease can be fatal, but that's mainly among older people with pre-existing conditions How to protect yourself from the virus? Wash your hands frequently for at least 20 seconds using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub. Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, use your elbow or use a tissue and then throw it in the bin immediately after. Do masks help prevent the spread of coronavirus? Not really. If you don't have any symptoms, there is no need to wear a mask. Hand washing is actually more important. If you're coughing or sneezing, it's adised that you wear a medical mask to help protect others. Is the virus transmitted during the pregnancy? For now, there isn't enough evidence to suppose whether the virus is transmitted from a mother to her baby during pregnancy or what impact this might have on the baby. Is there a cure from coronavirus?

Today, there is no specific medicine to prevent or treat the new coronavirus. So the best thing you can do is practice basic hygiene.

Read about recommendations on what to do if you have coronavirus symptoms.
Louisiana Postpones Democratic Primary Over Coronavirus Fears

Louisiana confirmed it is postponing its Democratic primary next month over the outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, becoming the first state to take such a step.

The state scheduled its nominating contests to June 20 after scuppering its planned primary date of April 4, said Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin on Friday. Municipal elections will be delayed until July 25.

We want to protect the health and safety of all Louisianans by doing our part to prevent the spread of this highly infectious disease, Ardoin told reporters.

Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio have said they will hold primaries as planned on Tuesday, according to reports.

A spokesperson for 2020 candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, responded to the election postponement.

Voting is at the very heart of who we are as a democracy. As election officials working with public health officials are demonstrating throughout the country, our elections can be conducted safely, a campaign spokesperson said. If voters are feeling healthy, not exhibiting symptoms, and dont believe theyve been exposed to COVID-19, please vote on Tuesday, the statement said, referring to the other states voting contests next week.

Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden speak during a break at the Democratic presidential primary debate at the Charleston Gaillard Center in Charleston, S.C., on Feb. 25, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

If voters are members of an at-risk population, exhibiting symptoms, or have been exposed to a diagnosed case of COVID-19, we encourage them to explore absentee ballots and vote by mail options, the statement added.

The campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, 78, campaign hasnt yet issued a public comment.

COVID-19 has essentially placed Sanderss and Bidens campaigns on halt as the two have not been able to hold in-person campaign events and rallies. The debate between Biden and Sanders will be held in Washington Sunday without a live audience.

The United States has at least 1,700 cases of coronavirus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. At least 40 people have been killed by the disease, which first emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year before spreading to more than 100 countries.

As of Friday, the number of residents testing positive in Louisiana had jumped to 33, centered largely in the New Orleans area, according to the state health departments latest figures. The positive tests are awaiting confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. For some, especially the elderly and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Most people recover within weeks.

Currently, Biden is leading Sanders in the delegate count. According to estimates, Biden has about 880 delegates to Sanders 725.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council will convene on a session on Friday to decide if the state's borders should be closed because of the ongoing spread of the Chinese coronavirus. Ukrainska Pravda outlet reported that with a reference to the close circle of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"They plan to consider closing borders on the session (...)", the source said.

Other extra measures will be dicussed.

As we reported earlier, the local authorities of Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region (northern Ukraine) announced the emergency mode in this town. The decision takes effect on Friday, March 13. The reason is that a local woman turned out to be infected with the Covid-19, the Chinese coronavirus. It's one of the three cases currently confirmed by the Healthcare Ministry of Ukraine.

Previously, President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda decided to delay his visit to Ukraine because of the spreading Chinese coronavirus. Press secretary of the official Antanas Bubnialis told this to the press as quoted by Delfi. "The visit was scheduled for March 18-20", he said.
New Delhi: The government today informed Lok Sabha that India has not imposed a total ban on the entry of foreign nationals as part of efforts to check the spread of coronavirus.

Responding to a series of questions by members in Lok Sabha following his statement on COVID-19, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar clarified that "India has not imposed a ban."

"India has said that if people from certain countries who are coming here, they have to go through quarantine  in certain cases compulsory quarantine and in some cases discretionary quarantine -- and Indian citizens who are coming back will obviously come back to quarantine conditions if that is required," he said.

He was responding to a remark by NK Premchandran of the RSP that "the only country which is imposing a total ban is India."

According to the Union Health Ministry, the number of coronavirus patients in the country has risen to 74 with 13 fresh cases, including one foreign national.

Earlier, in his statement, the External Affairs Minister said that in view of the further spread of coronavirus, the government had on Wednesday decided to take "more stringent" measures regarding international travel.

"The reason for this is obvious - all the cases so far have come directly from those who have a travel history. In doing so, we are clear that we will do whatever must be done to ensure that the spread of coronavirus is restricted and the health security of India ensured," he said.

He said the measures approved by the Group of Ministers on Wednesday include suspension till April 15 of all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/International Organizations, employment, project visas. Visa-free travel facility granted to OCI card holders has also been kept in abeyance till 15 April.

"All incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany after February 15, 2020 shall be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days," he said.

It was also decided that any foreign national who intends to travel to India for compelling reason will have to contact the nearest Indian mission.

"Indian nationals are strongly advised to avoid all non- essential travel abroad. On their return, they can be subjected to quarantine for a minimum of 14 days," he said.

He also said that international traffic through land borders will be restricted to the designated check posts with robust screening facilities. These will be notified separately by the Union Home Ministry.
A newsagency has banned cash due to fears money could spread coronavirus.

Newsxpress in Toorak, in Melbourne's inner city, is only accepting card payments following concerns from staff about the handling of coins and notes.

Signs around the store read: 'Due to health concerns we will only be accepting credit or EFTPOS cards for the payment of items purchased.

'Cash will not be accepted.'

Newsxpress in Toorak, in Melbourne's inner city, is only accepting card payments following concerns from staff about the handling of money

The ban comes into effect on March 16.

One of the store's employees, Anna Balsecchi, told A Current Affair its a small step taken to stop the spread of coronavirus.

'I'm actually from Italy and my family is there and obviously the situation there is pretty crazy,' she said

'I guess if they knew before how it was going to end, they probably would have started better and bigger measures before  so we don't want to get to that point.'

Some customers were outraged by the move and vowed not to shop at the store until the ban was lifted.

Others said it was reasonable given the current health crisis.

One of the store's employees, Anna Balsecchi, told A Current Affair its a small step taken to stop the spread of coronavirus

There is not enough academic research to determine whether cash can be a carrier for coronavirus.

However environmental microbiologist Cameron Jones said it is entirely possible with the amount of contaminants currently on cash.

The move comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a ban on 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday and any 'non essential' international travel.

There is not enough academic research to determine whether cash can be a carrier for coronavirus

The government is taking the drastic move in the wake of growing evidence the coronavirus pandemic is spreading throughout the community.

'We will be advising against organised, non-essential gatherings of persons of 500 people or greater from Monday,' Mr Morrison said on Friday.

The number of cases across the nation has soared to 199 - up more than a third in just 24 hours, according to health officials.
Censorship takes many forms, but even the most restrictive countries can't block every single path for information they'd rather not get in (or out). Reporters Without Borders has identified a surprising new platform for hosting banned content: Minecraft.

The organization, collaborating with reporters, Minecraft pros and, of course, a creative agency, has produced an enormous in-game "Uncensored Library" that hosts a variety of suppressed reportage from places like like Saudi Arabia, Russia and Vietnam.

The structure is a giant neo-classical complex hosted on its own server, which Minecraft players can access freely by pointing their game toward "visit.uncensoredlibrary.com" in the server browser.

The library has a handful of wings, each dedicated to a different country, and each with a series of articles banned in those places, or their authors chased out or even killed. They're presented in plain text inside Minecraft's craftable books  not exactly the easiest way to take in these important essays and reports, but better than nothing.

There are documents from Nguyen Van Dai in Vietnam, Mada Masr in Egypt, Javier Valdez in Mexico, Alexander Skobov in Russia and arguably the most high-profile casualty to murderous, oppressive regimes in recent history, Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia. There are only a handful of recent articles at present, but there are also numerous documents describing the state of press freedom and oppression in 180 countries  the RSF Freedom Index.

Of course, this is not secure and private like an end-to-end encrypted chat group. A user accessing the library map might have their nickname, tied to a Minecraft account, be visible to other users, and their logs would reflect the visit. It seems unlikely Microsoft would give up that information to a curious government, but there is a certain risk involved. Fortunately, private duplicate servers can be and are already being established, as well as local copies.

As it stands, the Uncensored Library stands more as a proof of concept that information need not be delivered by traditional means in order to have a potential impact. Minecraft is one of the most popular games in the world, and can be used as an informational and promotional platform as well as just a fun place to hang out and build stuff. What other ways exist to get around the restrictions of governments that would rather their citizens not know the truth?
Health and police staff are enforcing a containment zone around the house of a 76-year-old man who tested positive for the coronavirus after his death in Kalaburagi, Karnataka. tion of ward 30 in Kalaburagi City on Friday.

Kalaburagi: A day after Mohammad Siddiqui of Kalaburagi became the first Indian to die of a coronavirus infection, his house in this city has been cordoned off, and officials have declared ward number 30 of the Gulbarga City Corporation as a containment zone.

An area within a 5 km radius of the mans house has been declared a buffer zone and the district administration has set up check-posts at several locations. The check-posts in ward number 30 are being manned by health, police and city corporation personnel.

Deputy commissioner Sharath, zilla panchayat chief executive officer Raja and other officials visited ward 30 today to check on the containment arrangements.

Mohammad Siddiqui, a 76-year-old man described as a religious leader in the community, died of lung complications on Tuesday after having been taken to Hyderabad for treatment. Tests on his blood samples, the reports of which were received after his death, showed him to have been coronavirus positive.

The death of the man has spurred the Karnataka government to order a shutdown of all public gatherings across the state.

The centre of Karnatakas concerns happens to be the area around Mohammed Siddiquis house here and all the people he came into contact in the community and in the several hospitals he was taken to for treatment.

A senior official in Kalaburagi told Deccan Chronicle that persons from within the containment zone will be asked to justify any travel outside, and advised to avoid it. If any of them have symptoms such as flu, cough and cold, they will be referred to a hospital.

The official also said people coming to the community wall also be advised not to visit. Visitors will be let in only in case of an emergency situation, or else turned away.
The incident happened shortly before 10 a.m. as a larger than normal crowd was waiting for the doors to open so they could stock up on household supplies amid the coronavirus spread, according to a Niles police commander.
Guangzhou R&F Properties Co., Ltd. (HKG:2777), which is in the real estate business, and is based in China, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the SEHK over the last few months, increasing to HK$15.18 at one point, and dropping to the lows of HK$11.16. 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 Guangzhou R&F Properties's current trading price of HK$11.40 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 Guangzhou R&F Propertiess 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 Guangzhou R&F Properties

What is Guangzhou R&F Properties worth?

The share price seems sensible at the moment according to my price multiple model, where I compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. Ive used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because theres not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stocks ratio of 3.88x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers ratio of 6.65x, which means if you buy Guangzhou R&F Properties today, youd be paying a reasonable price for it. And if you believe Guangzhou R&F Properties 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 Guangzhou R&F Propertiess 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 Guangzhou R&F Properties?

Story continues

SEHK:2777 Past and Future Earnings, March 13th 2020

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. Guangzhou R&F Propertiess earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 80%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? 2777s 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 2777? 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 2777, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for 2777, 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 Guangzhou R&F Properties. You can find everything you need to know about Guangzhou R&F Properties in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Guangzhou R&F Properties, 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.
Miss Everywhere, aka Courtney Act / Shane Jenek is profiled in Australian Story on Monday, discussing identity.

This episode is introduced by British comedian Matt Lucas.

Since appearing on Australian Idol in 2003, drag queen Courtney Act has gone on to become an international star, appearing on RuPauls Drag Race in America, winning Celebrity Big Brother in the UK and coming second on Dancing with the Stars last year in Australia.

But for much of Courtneys career there was a struggle going on between the glamorous drag queen and the man behind the make-up, Shane Jenek.

Courtney was an extreme and Shane was an extreme and I had just never thought that there was a place in the middle, Jenek tells Australian Story. Having those two separate identities can be quite unhealthy. I think it was for me.

The turning point came in 2014, when he was introduced to the concept of gender fluidity by Chaz Bono, who he met while filming RuPauls Drag Race.

The idea that gender exists on a spectrum and you can just express yourself freely and outside the confines of what it means to be a man or a woman was absolutely transformative, Jenek says.

Since then, Shane and Courtney have used reality TV, social media and performance to preach a message of acceptance and tolerance.

In an intimate portrait, Jenek talks candidly  as both Shane and Courtney  about his career and identity issues. He is joined by family and friends, including Matt Lucas, Ian Dicko Dickson and Ben Moir (aka drag queen Vanity Faire).

Producer: Greg Hassall

8pm Monday on ABC. (Update: Courtney will not appear on Q&A).
Now we know for sure: the left is evil, really evil. While President Trump has been on top of the coronavirus from day one, the usual suspects on CNN and MSNBC and at the New York Times and Washington Post all pretend he has not taken the disease seriously.

As they were busy impeaching the man, he was assembling a task force, banning incoming flights from China, and preparing for what has developed.

But the Democrats and their media talking heads are busy blaming Trump for the virus in every way they possibly can.

"The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see." Ayn Rand

So desperate to take this man down, the left has thrown any sense of decorum and civility to the wind. The barely sentient Joe Biden is actually using the virus to solicit donations to his pathetic campaign. Pelosi and her crowd are trying to get every wild spending program they can into the bill that should be dealing with only the ramifications of the virus.

"The welfare state is not really about the welfare of the masses. It is about the egos of the elites." Thomas Sowell

Every anchor and guest on CNN and MSNBC is cheering the spread of the disease. Now they want to rescind every travel ban Trump has put in place to slow the spread of the illness! Oh, and they also want known terrorists to be eligible to work for the TSA! The Democratic Party and their handmaidens in the media are gleefully sacrificing the safety of American citizens, purposefully tanking the stock market by encouraging panic in order to defeat Trump in November. Has a single Democrat spoken out for calm, reason, and unity to fight this epidemic? Not one. Each and every one of them is hoping for more deaths because they believe that more deaths will hurt the president. That is exactly how craven the left has become. Every American should be ashamed of his Democrat-elected officials, for they are a blight upon us as surely as the virus is a scourge.

Biden, Sanders, Pelosi and all their partners in this fabricated blame game are all fabulously wealthy; their lives will not be affected unless one of them comes down with the virus. Only then may they come to realize the error of their ways. But they can read the numbers. They know they are not likely to lose their lives to this event. They just cannot let this crisis go to waste. As usual, they assume that we the people are all idiots and cannot see through their despicable plan.

They are willfully fanning the flames of panic, knowing full well that it will devastate the economy. They assume that all this will bring about Trump's downfall. But will it? Who among us thinks that Biden or Sanders would have handled this crisis better? They still want open borders even though they know that that would massively spread the disease. It is doubtful that even a Democrat voter would watch what is happening and think they should vote for the senile Biden or the socialist Sanders. Had either of them been in the White House at this moment in time, this epidemic would surely have been much, much worse by now.

But the Pelosites do not care. For the Democrats, it is never about the people; it is only about their power to control a population for which they have contempt.

It is hard not to reflect on Any Rand's novel The Fountainhead because her book so clearly delineates the difference between good and evil people. The character of Ellsworth Toohey, an art critic in the book, is irredeemably corrupt. Howard Roark, the hero, is a good man, a man who believes in individualism and the soundness of his own mind. Unlike all those Sanders- and Biden-supporters, Roark has not surrendered his own good judgment. Toohey sees as his gift the ability to manipulate weaker minds and souls, but in fact, he has no talent, no gifts beyond crushing the souls of his followers. He is Stalinist by nature.

Sanders fits this description more than Biden, but only because Biden is now mentally challenged. His handlers are on the same page as Bernie. Bernie's essential communism is closer to the Toohey character. He wants to control the lives of others. He has acquired followers who blindly and stupidly think he will make their lives better. But Bernie never mentions the word "freedom."

"Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing." Ayn Rand

...or "liberty." Sanders, like the rest of the left, wants his supporters to give up their own values, the values with which they were probably raised, to give them over to identity politics of race, class and many genders.

Sanders is like a Jim Jones, a cult leader to his legion of devotees who have been seriously mis-educated to believe that what Sanders is selling is viable. Biden's handlers are equally in search of power and control of the population. The election of either of these men would be the end of America as would the implementation of even a fraction of the green new deal they both support. The end.

The Democratic Party has moved so far left that it might as well admit it is selling Venezuela-style socialism. Biden does not disagree with Sanders on anything but his overt honesty about his planned transformation of the United States. But...

"Civilization is the process of setting man free from men." Ayn Rand

Biden and Bernie are not about preserving civilization; they want to harness it, to corral us all into their socialist dream.

President Trump campaigned on the idea of making America great again. The eight years of the Obama administration did terrible damage to our republic and its institutions, the FBI, CIA, IRS, and DOJ. They were all weaponized and used to persecute and torment any opposition to that administration's agenda. Obama failed miserably to address the H1N1 flu epidemic in 2009; he waited until more than a thousand people had died to admit it was an epidemic.

Since the 1980s Trump has railed against our willing subjugation to China and we are now paying a terrible price for that sacrifice of our once cherished independence. How right he has been for all these decades and to have pushed against it since he became president.

Rand also wrote in The Fountainhood that

"Integrity is the ability to stand by an idea."

Trump has done that in spades. Shockingly to many, he is a man of principle and integrity unlike the bloviating and demented Biden and the Soviet-adoring Sanders. Americans will be wanting to keep him for many very good reasons, least of all his handling of the coronavirus crisis. We are all safer for his travel bans and his determination to see that American never becomes a socialist country.

"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it." Thomas Sowell

Neither Biden nor Sanders is an intellectual but they play ones on TV. Neither of them is an authentic, honorable man. Neither of them should get close to the Oval Office.

Illustration by DonkeyHotey, via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
[Bagpipe music] There are moments that seem bizarre, moments of fear   preparation and moments of emptiness. These are scenes from the world living with coronavirus. It has spread across cultures, languages and even out to sea. And despite these global differences, a number of shared experiences have emerged. There is grief over the dead. In Iran, hospital staff mourn a doctors death from the virus. In China, a quarantined building collapses, and a firefighter breaks down after pulling bodies from the rubble. In Italy, a man mourns the death of his sister. To try and save lives, authorities take precautions. They disinfect public areas and screen populations. This is just crazy. Around the world, people are afraid and on edge. Unbelievable. In Northern Ireland, routine construction work at an Apple Store is mistaken for virus-related activity. In Japan, tempers flare when a man sneezes on a train. One Italian takes the fear and adds humor. This is a circle to keep people at a safe distance. In fact, lots of people use humor to cope with the uncertainty or the stigma of being sick. In Australia, a run on toilet paper leads to lessons in self-defense. Hes going to show you how to deal with people stealing your toilet paper. There is also defiance, a conviction that life must go on despite the virus. Across rooftops in China, quarantined neighbors socialize. From a rooftop in Italy, a theater group performs poetry for an area where movement is restricted. On a quarantined cruise ship, theres songwriting to pass the time. In an apartment in China, too. But perhaps some of the most striking moments from the pandemic are those where little happens: the empty streets. Unbelievable. No traffic. The quiet airports. The places of worship without worshippers. Stores without goods. This is how it is across the globe as we prepare, grieve and wait for the next chapter of the coronavirus.
An art performance celebrates President Ho Chi Minhs 127th birthday. (Photo: VNA)



In particular, some of the main activities that will be held during the event include: the national celebration which is scheduled on the morning of May 18th by Hanoi in collaboration with central ministries, agencies and unions; and a national workshop scheduled on the morning of May 5th by the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics in coordination with the PCC Commission on Popularization and Education and Nghe An province.



A live television broadcast is scheduled to take place on the evening of May 19th, linking five locations of Hanoi, Tuyen Quang, Nghe An, Ho Chi Minh city and Dong Thap. In addition, an exchange of outstanding followers of President Ho Chi Minhs ideology, morality and style is scheduled to be held on May 17th, while an award ceremony of composing literature, art and press works on studying and following President Ho Chi Minhs ideology, morality and style is planned on May 13th.

The celebration which takes place in the year of many major holidays and important political events of the Party and the country requires rich and profound contents, being commensurate with the historical stature and the era of President Ho Chi Minh, a genius leader of the Communist Party and Revolution of Vietnam, a national hero and a great man of culture.

The celebration is also requested to meet the sentiments of the Vietnamese people toward Uncle Ho; encourage them to study and follow his ideology, morality and style; and urged the whole Party, people and army to successfully implement the Resolution of the 12th Party Congress, and successfully organizing the Party Congress at all levels and the 13th National Party Congress./.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Angry customers. Empty shelves.

An hour-long line that wraps around the store.

The coronavirus has turned the lives of shoppers on Staten Island into a nightmare -- with one customer telling us, All hell has broken loose!

The recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused shoppers to pack stores to stockpile food and supplies in preparation for what some believe will be a full-fledged outbreak on Staten Island.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Its been a familiar site on Staten Island for weeks -- a variety of items have flown off the shelves.

When the Advance/SILive.com visited Costco in New Springville on Friday, we were greeted by a line that stretched around the store. Customers grew impatient -- securing their place on line and guarding it -- making sure no one would cut them.

The manager of the store was outside greeting customers and thanking them for shopping. While he was doing this, he was keeping a strict count of people entering and leaving the store, at certain times placing a complete halt on the line, leaving customers standing still for about 10 minutes at a time.

A customer at Costco who was wearing gloves told the Advance/SILive.com that she werent sure if its worth it to stay due to the long lines.

This is crazy, I dont know if Im going to stay. I was at ShopRite last night the lines were crazy too," said Ella Lindsey. "I just left. I feel like I have to stay this time though, I need the stuff.

Inside the store, although the aisle werent filled to capacity, shoppers were rushing to grab their items and make their way to 40-minute-long check out lines.

One customer told us it took her over two hours to finish shopping.

One employee at Costco told us that theyve never seen anything like this.

Not only in my years working here, Ive never seen this anywhere at all," the employee said. "This is like a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

The employee also mentioned higher tensions among shoppers. There was a fight yesterday, a physical fight. Someone cut someone else and the other person wasnt happy.

TRADER JOES

When the Advance/SILive.com visited Trader Joes in New Springville on Friday morning, we were told by an exiting shopper to be prepared to wait for hours.

Cashiers could be seen pumping sanitizer in their hands after every customer. Other employees working stock were trying to replenish items, but the food seemed to be flying off the shelves as soon as it was put down.

Some shoppers at the store feared that the coronavirus was going to have a much bigger impact on our lives than we know.

Theyre going to shut everything down, its a matter of time before we have the roads and mass transit closed," said one woman who requested her name not be published. Its so scary. I need things because I need to get things for my sick father in Florida.

STOP & SHOP

Customers at the Stop & Shop in Port Richmond reported empty pasta and rice shelves in the store. When the Advance/SILive.com called the store to find out when new shipments were expected, a reporter was hung up on.

Empty shelves at Stop & Shop in Port Richmond due to shopping amid coronavirus. (Reader submitted photo)

As Advance/SILive.com reporters made their way through several stores on the East Shore Wednesday, people were on edge as news of confirmed cases spread.

Customers at the CVS pharmacy on Hylan Boulevard in Dongan Hills left the store empty handed as many were desperately searching for hand sanitizer and disinfectant sprays. A customer was also searching for Vitamin C, but to his dismay, was turned away by a store employee.

Almost every single customer is asking for a product thats sold out. When we dont have it they get angry at me, said Laura, an employee at the pharmacy. We are told to disinfect the counter with spray and we are after almost every customer, but people keep telling us to wipe down the counters. Theyre panicking.

When the Advance/SILive.com visited ShopRite in New Dorp on Wednesday, there was a limit placed on Lysol disinfectant spray. On Thursday night, toilet paper was completely gone at the ShopRite.

An employee at the ShopRite told us that theyve been told to prepare for this much volume for the weeks to come.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

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A police officer has been captured slamming a tiny blonde woman to the ground in a dramatic arrest.

The footage, believed to have been filmed in Queensland, shows two policemen struggling to control the woman in a car park.

The woman is pressed up against the police van before being slammed to the ground by an officer, who puts his knee over the back of her head on the floor.

'She just kicked me,' the officer says as his partner handcuffs her.

A police officer has been captured slamming a tiny blonde woman to the ground in a dramatic arrest

A crowd of people watching the dramatic arrest can be heard screaming out as the officers work to restrain the woman.

'You know this is going on social media?' the man filming says.

'Yeah, it can go on social media mate,' the policeman says. 'I don't come to work to get assaulted.'

'You didn't get assaulted, you just flipped her!' the man filming replies.

'She's bleeding!'

Bystanders continue to scream out from out of the frame, while the police call for back up on their radio.

The woman was pressed up against the police van before being slammed to the ground and handcuffed by the two officers

'You're a real big f***ing man hey,' one man says.

'Do you bash your daughter like that?' another woman yells.

The officers move the woman into the back of the van, where she screams in pain at one of the policemen who is pushing her inside.

'What is wrong with you c***?' the woman is heard screaming. 'You're hurting me stop!'

The man filming demands to see the officers badge numbers, before police close the woman in the back of the van.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Queensland Police for comment on the officers' arresting technique.
When Taji Karim-Reisch, 47, came down with a fever, a runny nose and wheezing breathing Tuesday, she called her doctor right away worried she might have been exposed to coronavirus.

I wanted to be cautious, said Karim-Reisch, a Nutley resident who works with a vulnerable population at a skilled nursing home in Essex County. Im not an alarmist.

Her quest for a coronavirus test turned into a four-day run-around, despite her need to take rheumatoid arthritis drugs that suppress her immune system  something health officials have said puts her at risk of becoming seriously ill if she did have COVID-19. As of Friday, Karim-Reisch has not been tested on the advice of her doctor and the Essex County Health Department. She said she was told to self-quarantine for 14 days  something she was already doing out of an abundance of caution.

My work would like me to get tested, but I cant, Karim-Reisch said Friday, occasionally pausing to cough. Theres no way to accomplish it.

Her situation is not unique. While state Department of Health officials have talked about the importance of testing  so that positive cases can be quarantined and anyone who came into contact with them checked out  they are also limiting testing to people who meet the criteria suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.

A limited number of available tests and the time it takes to perform them mean that unnecessary testing should be avoided. But the states health commissioner, Judith Persichilli, has also signaled that the state is transitioning from only trying to contain the epidemic to trying to also mitigate its effects as much as possible. Mild and moderate cases should stay home and may not need to be tested at all, Persichilli said during an update on the outbreak Thursday.

Some health experts believe that New Jersey has already passed the point of containing the virus, and that a failure to widely test in the earliest stages is a big part of the problem. While drive-through testing centers are popping up in California and now New York, other states have said they have limited numbers of test kits and some are useless, for now, as theyre missing critical components.

If enough people are walking around with the virus in public, "theres no reason to do contact tracing, Dr. David Cennimo, an infectious disease expert at Rutgers University Medical School, told NJ Advance Media.

New Jersey has 31 presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 as of Friday. Another 37 people are being monitored for coronavirus symptoms and awaiting testing, state officials said Thursday. Others, like Karim-Reisch, were told to self-quarantine though they havent been tested.

Questions sent to a Department of Health spokeswoman Friday morning were not answered by early afternoon.

Karim-Reisch said that while she would get tested if possible, she trusts her doctors opinion that she does not necessarily have to be tested. But she said going through the whole process  including trying to talk to health officials  has shown her how problematic it could be for someone who does not have access to health care or the financial means to stay home from work voluntarily.

She has insurance and a primary care physician who could see her the same day she developed symptoms. When she went into his office Tuesday, she said, his medical assistants wore gowns, gloves and masks around her as a precaution.

Karim-Reisch said her doctor was not overly concerned with her symptoms, perhaps because she had bronchitis two months ago. He said, Lets see how you do, she said, and has kept in touch with her during the following days.

When she still had symptoms Thursday, she called his office and was told she could call the states coronavirus hotline to talk to them about testing.

After about 15 minutes on hold, a representative said only her primary care physician could decide if she should be tested. She called her doctor again. Her doctors office spoke to the Essex County Health Department, she was told, which recommended self-quarantine for 14 days.

While CDC guidelines suggest prioritizing testing for those who are immunocompromised, Karim-Reisch said both her doctor and the local health department did not advise her to be tested.

The CDC guidelines recommend physicians use their judgement to determine if testing is necessary. In addition to immunocompromised patients, the CDC recommends prioritizing testing for symptomatic people who are 65 and older, have chronic medical conditions like diabetes, heart disease and lung disease, and have had close contact with a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case within 14 days of developing symptoms.

This week, private laboratories in New Jersey began coronavirus testing. A spokesperson for Gov. Phil Murphys office told NJ Advance Media that LabCorp does not need DOH approval to test samples, but LabCorps website says that like the DOH, they are using the same criteria from the CDC to determine who gets tested. They are also only accepting samples from physicians who order testing.

Hackensack Meridian Health, which developed new rapid-response coronavirus tests, also said it will follow CDC guidelines for who should be tested.

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Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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February is a short month. Even this year with leap day. So short. Maybe that is why I am so mad at what Company X did to me.

My health insurance company stole eight hours and six minutes from me in February. I will never get it back.

This is my story of trying to get Company X to pay its part of two drugs I take for seizures. Very important drugs. They always paid before. This year we had a problem. They told my pharmacy no.

I called to ask why. Over and over for so many days, they would transfer me to different people. Each had a different reason.

Some said they found I had another insurance company. That is true. I am covered under my dads insurance plus Company X Medicare because I have a disability. That has always been true. I never tried to hide it. The other company always paid part of the bill. Then Company X paid the rest. Not this year.

Some said my doctor had to tell them why I need these drugs for seizures. They didlast year. And in January. And again and again in short February.

Some said my pharmacy was making mistakes. I took the pharmacy a paper showing the right way. The pharmacy said that is how they do it. But they tried again. Company X denied. (From January 26 to February 24, my pharmacy had to try 39 different times to get my drugs for seizures.)

Every day when I called Company X, they sent me from customer care to pharmacy benefits. Then to clinical intake. Then to coordination of benefits. Some days in a different order. Everyone told me something different. Sometimes we fixed a problem. The next day we see it is un-fixed. Still, Company X tells my pharmacy no.

I told my dad this is like riding a merry-go-round. Get on. Go round. Get off. Same place. So confusing.

My dad sent in papers so the Company X people can talk to him. They lost the papers. They will not talk to him without the papers.

Some nice Company X people tried very hard to help me. They tried to explain in ways I could understand. They stayed with me on the merry go round. It did not help. But it felt good that someone cared. Lots of the Company X people seemed confused too.

Some Company X people did not try to help. One day one of them told me I needed to file an appeal. I needed to tell them I did not agree with their decision that I have two insurance companies. I told her I cannot do that. I do agree with that decision. I do have two insurance companies. It is true. Why would I appeal a decision that is right? She said that is the only way to fix the problem.

My dad said this is Kafkaesque. I said it is dumb. I asked to talk to someone else.

I do not know how this problem got fixed. I do not know which of my many, many phone calls worked. I do know that on February 20, Company X said it would pay its part for one of my seizure drugs. I made more phone calls. On February 24, it paid for the other one.

In February, I spent much time on what the Company X people called a brief hold. It was not brief. I listened to the happy voices telling me, medications are important and we care about your wellbeing and we understand your time is valuable.

The happy voices did not sound like the Company X people. They did not sound confused. The happy voices must live in a happy land. Maybe a magic land.

Maybe the happy voices can give me back my eight hours and six minutes?

The author is an anonymous patient.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
With schools still in session amid a flurry of coronavirus news and cancellations, Portland Rose Festival Court announcements continued Thursday with the crowning of Lincoln Highs princess.

Senior Anya Anand will represent Lincoln on the 2020 court.

The daughter of Kalla Anand and Anand Pashupathy, Anya Anand is Associated Student Body co-president, a member of National Honor Society, Asian Student Union co-president and Multnomah Youth Commission Committee co-chair. Juniors Natalia Bermudez, Kylie Jones and Kathryn Locke Harris were also candidates for the court.

The Rose Festival event was held for media only in Lincoln High Schools music room, with fewer than 30 people there, in accordance with Gov. Kate Browns order to restrict large gatherings at schools.

The Portland Rose Festival Foundation has been tracking and following the local and global news and responses to the virus, festival spokesman Rich Jarvis wrote in an email. The Rose Festival is staying in touch with local and state health and government officials and is ready to follow whatever protocol they are establishing and requesting.

Each year, the Portland Rose Festival names up to 15 young women to its court. They receive one-on-one mentorship from women executives and a $3,500 scholarship provided by The Randall Group. Beginning the first week of May, the court travels together for five weeks, visiting community events, senior living centers, youth organizations and more.

David Douglas kicked things off with its Rose Festival Court ceremony on Feb. 28, and the process continues Friday, when Central Catholic and St. Marys Academy crown their representatives. It will be the day after both schools announced they would close to students because of the coronavirus. Both ceremonies will be restricted to a smaller audience including family, friends and school and festival representatives.

The plan is to continue the process next week, with the final ceremony March 19 at Wilson High School. The queen of the Rose Festival Court is scheduled to be named June 6 just before the Grand Floral Parade takes to Portland streets.

In addition to the Lincoln princess, these are the members of the court so far:

Read more about Lincoln High Schools princess, as told to the Portland Rose Festival:

Senior Anya Anand was crowned as Lincoln High School's 2020 Rose Festival Court princess on Thursday, March 12, at the school. Juniors Natalia Bermudez, Kylie Jones and Kathryn Locke Harris were also candidates for the court.Portland Rose Festival

Future education & career plans: Anand plans to attend a four-year college and major in psychology, then complete medical school to become a pediatrician.

High School Activities & Honors: Anand is the Associated Student Body Co-President, a member of National Honor Society, Asian Student Union Co-President and Multnomah Youth Commission Committee Co-Chair. She has also been an AVID tutor and a We the Wild Youth Event Speaker.

Hobbies and special interests: In her spare time, Anand loves to sing, play the ukulele and write songs. She and her family travel and she enjoys learning about different cultures and perspectives. She loves to spend time with her school community and participate in many different activities.

What is your favorite place to visit in Portland and why? My favorite place to visit in Portland would probably have to be the Waterfront. I have so many vivid memories of biking with family and friends there, visiting the Saturday market, or walking along the bloomed cherry blossoms. Its a place that always reminds me why I love Portland so much.

What are you most proud of during your high school career? When I first entered high school, I didnt know a lot of people, and was very shy as a result of it. However, as high school went on, my confidence began to grow, and I started to take on more and more leadership roles, which is something I wouldnt have foreseen my freshman year, and something I am very proud of.

What is your favorite Rose Festival event and why? My favorite Rose Festival event would have to be the Starlight Parade. During my sophomore year, my friend invited me to come watch her perform as part of the dance team. It was so beautiful to see all the lights and energy and such an incredible community coming together. So many people from such diverse backgrounds and cultures were all there to be a part of the bigger community, and it was so heart-warming to be a part of something as powerful as that.

 Kjerstin Gabrielson, kgabrielson@oregonian.com, @KjGabrielson

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At a time of political and social volatility, jittery financial markets, and widespread protests, a novel written almost two decades ago has some rather prescient observations to make. Don DeLillos Cosmopolis met with decidedly mixed reviews when it was published in 2003, but it can be rewarding to re-read it now in the context of all that has happened since.

Theres little doubt that Cosmopolis comes across as odd. In a New Yorker review, John Updike commented on its lack of empathy, adding that the trouble with a tale where anything can happen is that somehow nothing happens. More savagely, Michiko Kakutani wrote in the New York Times that it was hokey and contrived, a major dud, as lugubrious and heavy-handed as a bad Wim Wenders film, as dated as an old issue of Interview magazine. (The 2011 film version by David Cronenberg was somewhat better received.)

In retrospect, such critical judgments seem over-egged. Certainly, Don DeLillos thirteenth novel is not among his better works, but many of its perceptions remain relevant. All the more remarkable considering that the books setting is pre-9/11 Manhattan, and it was written well before the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2011 Zuccotti Park Occupy Movement.

On the surface, Cosmopolis deals with a day in the life of Eric Packer, a filthy rich asset manager in his late twenties who, upon waking up in his palatial Manhattan high-rise, decides that he needs a haircut. (A cheeky and obvious link to one of the novels refrains of financial devaluation.) Packer is existentially connected to characters in films such as Wall Street, The Big Short and The Wolf of Wall Street, being monomaniacal about multiplying money. In his amorality, he can even be seen as allied to American Psychos Patrick Bateman.

Spectral and predatory planet

Seated in his spacious and technologically advanced stretch limo, he asks to be driven to a barbershop, ignoring the advice of a security officer who worries about heavy traffic because of a presidential visit. The limo stutters across town and on the way, Packer has a rendezvous with his wife, a liaison with another woman, and meetings with medical and company officials. He witnesses a violent and prolonged anti-capitalist protest, attends the funeral of a beloved Sufi rap star, and is targeted by a pastry assassin. All along, he bets against the rise of the yen until he meets his nemesis, a disgruntled ex-employee.

The characters come across as shifting ciphers, not intended to be real in a novelistic sense, and on many occasions, the dialogue is arch, if not stiff. Though there is much to dislike, there is also much to chew on. DeLillos satiric, sometimes parodic, skills are on full display, wrapped in a cool, detached style that can make him sound like a dispassionate prophet.

The planet of Cosmopolis is spectral and predatory. I think you acquire information and turn it into something stupendous and awful, Packers wife tells him, not entirely in disapproval. The interaction, even inseparability, between technology and capital is seen as a worthwhile objective. Numbers and charts are the cold compression of unruly human energies, every sort of yearning and midnight sweat reduced to lucid units in the financial markets. The yen rises and falls in a thrumming pulse against a backdrop of commerce and crowds, twin forces that shape every anecdotal moment.

In this society of the spectacle, violence and even death are seen as casual and inconsequential. At one point, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund is assassinated live on the Money Channel, and Packer expects that the awful scene will now be screened repeatedly until the sensation drains out of it.

Further musings follow, some by Packers chief of theory. Property, she tells him, is no longer about power, personality and display; the only thing that matters is the price. As for time, its a corporate asset: It belongs to the free market system. The presentis being sucked out of the world to make way for the future of uncontrolled markets and huge investment potential.

Outside the limo, protests start to rage. Store windows are smashed, policemen assaulted, and masked figures toss smoke bombs, almost like a scene from Todd Phillipss Joker. Inside, discussions continue on the nature of the people who create frenzy and mass convulsions, driven by thinking machines that we have no final authority over. Yet, they too are a part of market culture, invigorating and perpetuating the system they rail against.

Paranoid school of American fiction

As the vehicle and the novel progress, currencies tumble and banks fail. Packer dreams of living in a chip, on a disk, as data, in whirl, in radiant spin, a consciousness saved from void. Not so different from the dreams of some techno-futurists today. With typical bravado, he plans to extend the human experience toward infinity as a medium for corporate growth and investment, for the accumulation of profits and vigorous reinvestment.

Packer gets his comeuppance, experiencing the tics and frailties of the human body and the consequences of raw, unmediated experience. DeLillos vision, however, appears bleak, if not nihilistic. The forces that have generated Packers world are overwhelming, a far cry from a quieter time of empathy and genuine striving.

DeLillo was once famously referred to as chief shaman of the paranoid school of American fiction. With Cosmopolis, events seem determined to prove his vision right.

Sanjay Sipahimalani is a Mumbai-based writer and reviewer.
A woman admin of a WhatsApp group



and its member were given a stern warning by the police at Sangamner in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district on Friday over a "false" message posted in the group about a suspected coronavirus patient, an official said.

The police warning came after a medical officer of First Referral Unit (FRU) and Rural Hospital in Sangamner lodged a complaint against the admin of the WhatsApp group and its another woman member for "spreading rumours" about coronavirus, the official said.

The complaint said that the female member of the group named 'Buland Rajkarni' posted a message which read- "A suspected patient of coronavirus spotted at Sangamner bus stand and has been rushed to a local hospital. Requesting everybody to don't go to crowded places and put a mask or handkerchief on mouth."



"As the message was put in the group without verification of facts, it created panic. Therefore, the complainant demanded action against the group member and its admin," the official of Sangamner Police Station said.

"Accordingly, the city police called both the women and gave a stern warning to them asking them not to indulge in spreading such rumours," he said adding that both of them were allowed to go home later.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Identity and access management in 2022 - what will the future look like?

As we enter into 2022, there is still a level of uncertainty in place. Its unclear what the future holds, as companies around the world still contend with the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote working has been encouraged by most organisations and the move to a hybrid working system has become business as usual, for the majority of businesses. Some have reduced their office space or done away with their locations altogether. Following best security practices With all this change in place, there are problems to deal with. According to research, 32.7% of IT admins say they are concerned about employees using unsecured networks to carry out that work. Alongside this, 74% of IT admins thought that remote work makes it harder for employees to follow best security practices. This need to manage security around remote work is no longer temporary. Instead, companies have to build permanent strategies around remote work and security. The coming year will also create a different landscape for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Here are some key predictions for next year and what to start preparing for in 2022: The reality of SMB spending around security will hit home SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working, especially in comparison to their size. They had to undertake significant digital transformation projects that made it possible to deliver services remotely, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weve seen a shift in mindset for these companies, which are now more tech-focused in their approach to problem solving. According to our research, 45% of SMBs plan to increase their spending towards IT services in 2022. Around half of all organisations think their IT budgets are adequate for their needs, while 14.5% of those surveyed believe they will need more, to cover all that needs to be done. Identity management spending to support remote work For others, the COVID-19 pandemic led to over-spending, just to get ahead of things and they will spend in 2022, looking at what they should keep and what they can reduce their spending on. Areas like identity management will stay in place, as companies struggle to support remote work and security, without this in place. However, on-premise IT spending will be reduced or cut, as those solutions are not relevant for the new work model. Services that rely on on-premise IT will be cut or replaced. The device will lead the way for security We rely on our phones to work and to communicate. In 2022, they will become central to how we manage access, to all our assets and locations, IT and physical. When employees can use company devices and their own phones for work, security is more difficult. IT teams have to ensure that theyre prepared for this, by making sure that these devices can be trusted. Wide use of digital certificates and strong MFA factors Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication There are multiple ways that companies can achieve this, for example - By using digital certificates to identify company devices as trusted, an agent, or strong MFA factors, like a FIDO security key or mobile push authentication. Whichever approach you choose, this can prevent unauthorised access to IT assets and applications, and these same devices can be used for authentication into physical locations too. Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication. Understanding human behaviour Alongside this, it is important to understand human behaviour. Anything that introduces an extra step for authentication can lead to employees taking workarounds. To stop this, it is important to put an employee education process in place, in order to emphasize on the importance of security. The next step is to think about adopting passwordless security, to further reduce friction and increase adoption. Lastly, as devices become the starting point for security and trust, remote device management will be needed too. More companies will need to manage devices remotely, from wiping an asset remotely if it gets lost or stolen, through to de-provisioning users easily and removing their access rights, when they leave the company. Identity will be a layer cake Zero Trust approaches to security Identity management relies on being able to trust that someone is who they say they are. Zero Trust approaches to security can support this effectively, particularly when aligned with least privilege access models. In order to turn theory into practical easy-to-deploy steps, companies need to use contextual access, as part of their identity management strategy. This involves looking at the context that employees will work in and putting together the right management approach for those circumstances. For typical employee behaviour, using two factor authentication might be enough to help them work, without security getting in the way. How enterprises manage, access and store identity data There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time For areas where security is more important, additional security policies can be put over the top, to ensure that only the right people have access. A step-up in authentication can be added, based on the sensitivity of resources or risk-based adaptive authentication policies might be needed. There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time, so that it aligns more closely with those use cases. Identity management critical to secure assets in 2022 There are bigger conversations taking place around digital identity for citizenship, as more services move online as well. Any moves that take place in this arena will affect how businesses think about their identity management processes too, encouraging them to look at their requirements in more detail. Overall, 2022 will be the year when identity will be critical to how companies keep their assets secure and their employees productive. With employees working remotely and businesses becoming decentralised, identity strategies will have to take the same approach. This will put the emphasis on strong identity management as the starting point for all security planning.
The OECD Observer online archive takes you on a journey through half a century of public policy and world progress.

Since November 1962, the OECDs experts and leading guests offer insights on the questions facing our member countries with concise and authoritative analysis, and provide our audiences with an excellent opportunity to understand policy debates and consider solutions.

Each edition of the OECD Observer reports on a core theme of the OECDs on-going work, from economics and society through governance, finance, and the environment, and articles are bolstered by tables and graphs.
Huawei filed the largest number of European patents in 2019.

Huawei filed the largest number of European patents in 2019

According to the European Patent Office, Huawei filed the largest number of patents in Europe, at 3,524. Huawei was ahead of Samsung and LG, who filed 2,858 and 2,817 patents respectively. Qualcomm (1,668), Ericsson (1,616), and Sony (1,512) are other recognizable names that made the top ten patent filings list in Europe.

Huawei 2019 European patent filings come in the face of the US Trump Ban

2019 was a rough year for Huawei. The Chinese OEM saw its Android license revoked in the Trump Ban last May. That meant that Huawei could no longer use Googles Android software for its devices. Huawei has gotten a few reprieves from the US. These reprieves allow Huawei to buy from American clients and continue updating its Android devices. The company just received its fifth license extension from the US Department of Commerce this week, extending an olive branch until May 15th. At that point, the Commerce Department will consider another possible extension.

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With Huaweis Android license revocation, its patent filings are a sign that the company isnt slowing down. Even in the face of a national ban, Huawei still has much to research and develop. The OEM is known for its mobile devices such as phones, tablets, laptops, fitness trackers, and smartwatches.

Apart from these, Huaweis bread-and-butter is the 5G market, as the company always files a good number of patents in cellular technology. Huawei owns 15% of all standards-essential 5G patents globally, giving it more 5G patents than Samsung, LG, and even the US. And the company has already started researching 6G. 6G will usher in an age of holographic interactions with the world.

Uphill battle in 2020

Shenzhens Pride may face more trouble in 2020, though, due to both the US Ban and the coronavirus outbreak. The US Ban remains in effect, and Huawei is launching devices now without Google apps and services. When the Ban was first instituted last summer, Huawei saw mobile sales in Spain and Germany decline by as much as 40-60%. Its a sobering reminder that European users prize their access to Android apps and Google services. Devices that launch without them are pretty much DOA (dead on arrival).

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The coronavirus outbreak wont help the outlook, either. The disease, which started in Wuhan, China in what many believe to be an animal market, has now spread through China and many countries around the world. An estimated 100,000+ global citizens have been infected with the COVID-19 disease, with over 3,000 deaths worldwide. Many of these 3,000 deaths have occurred in China, Huaweis home country.

The Chinese market is expected to see significant smartphone sales drop due to the disease. Huawei has a privileged status in Beijing, and it will need those government subsidies to stay afloat during a difficult financial time.

Harmony OS

Its likely the case that some patent filings pertain to Huaweis Harmony OS, a fledgling operating system that Huawei says will take a few years to rival Googles Android. The company is not using Harmony OS too widely at this point, though the company has made it open-source to repel suspicion about its espionage activities for the Chinese Government in Beijing.

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Huawei is currently paying $1.5 billion towards app development at its AppGallery app store.
WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., says he and the House Democratic leadership have reached an agreement with the Trump administration and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on the nations coronavirus response.

"Well see when we take it to the floor (of the House), Neal said by telephone from Washington Friday.

Neal, chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee responsible for tax policy, said the bill also calls for increased testing and providing security for American families.

" For moment cushion for the American family dire to economic disruptions we know are coming," he said. Well talk about stimulus afterwards.

The package reportedly also includes extended paid sick leave for workers.

Neal heard about the need for such leave, and the need for sick workers to stay home, a week ago when he met with leaders from local hospitals.
Tri-State COVID cases surge, but number falls in Washington County

While the number of new COVID-19 cases in the Tri-State area skyrocketed in the past week, the number cooled slightly for Washington County.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke on volatility in stock markets during a press conference after the cabinet meeting. Sitharaman said that the government is continuously monitoring the impact of coronavirus on the economy.

"Government of India and state governments are continuously monitoring and making sure that timely, effective steps are being taken. Global markets have all had severe volatility and we are monitoring, " Finance Miniter stated during press brief.

"We are conscious of the developments. Together with RBI, we are closely monitoring. Each department is working best on ways to provide relief " said the Finance minister.

Nirmala Sitharaman also said that interaction and engagement with concerned sectors is happening almost on a daily basis. The losses in global markets need prior attentionin order to take required steps amid the fear of the coronavirus outbreak which might lead the world economy into recession. In order to take required steps amids fear the coronavirus outbreak which might lead the world economy into recession.

"RBI Governor recently recognised the need of the hour," stated the minister.

The BSE Sensex ended 1,325.34 points higher and the NSE Nifty settled at 9,955.20, up 365.05 points from the previous close, following a commotion in the markets wherein benchmark indices plunged more than 10 per cent each to trigger a 45-minute halt in trading.

The impact of the coronavirus outbreak has been huge on the world economy. Around 130,000 cases of the new coronavirus or COVID-19 have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 20:18:50|Editor: xuxin

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LUSAKA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government said on Friday that it will not ban travels to and from South Africa despite the presence of COVID-19 in that country.

South Africa is among countries in Africa that have recorded cases of COVID-19. South Africa is Zambia's important trading partner, resulting in frequent travels, an issue that has raised concerns from stakeholders.

Vice-President Inonge Wina said the government will only be able to restrict travels to and from South Africa after advice from experts.

"We have to wait for expert advice. As of now Zambians will continue traveling to South Africa," she said when answering questions from lawmakers in parliament.

Lawmakers expressed concern that the government has not restricted travels to and from South Africa despite confirmed cases of COVID-19 in that country.

Meanwhile, the government said it was mindful of the effects of the COVID-19 on the economy because it was part of the global economy.

The vice-president said it was for this reason that the government has put in place preparedness measures, including an emergency fund, to deal with any COVID-19 outbreak.
A group of mothers have been slammed for saying they will spend the $750 government handout from the Australian government on stockpiling toilet paper and canned food amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced on Thursday that from March 31, $750 would be given to paid to 6.5million low income earners to try and stop the economy slumping into recession.

The Australian women discussing their 'stockpiling' plans were criticised for being 'dole bludgers' who contribute 'nothing to the economy' on a regular basis, and told to stop hoarding supermarket products that are in short supply.

'Obviously some members do not like my post about using the one-off payment to go to Costco,' one of the targeted ladies wrote on Facebook.

'Some of the foul language and comments are uncalled for.'

Customers have been criticised for hoarding toilet paper so others can't buy it in store

A group of mothers have been slammed for saying they will spend their $750 government handout on stockpiling toilet paper and canned food amid the coronavirus pandemic

One of her detractors replied: 'The people who actually work get nothing but the ones that do nothing get extra money? It's not really fair.'

While Prime Minister Scott Morrison hasn't detailed exactly how the money should be spent, there are plenty of families planning on using it for food, winter clothing and even tattoos to support local business.

'It's your money you can do what you want with it, at least you're putting food on the table. My money is going towards getting winter clothes for the children,' one parent said.

The Australian women were criticised for being 'dole bludgers' who contribute 'nothing to the economy' on a regular basis, and therefore should not be hoarding supermarket products that are currently difficult to buy

What did the Australian government offer in its stimulus package? The Prime Minister and his Liberal deputy, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, announced that from March 31, $750 payments would deposited straight into the bank accounts of 6.5million Australians - or a quarter of the population. The lump-sum payments will cost $4.8billion and are expected to be delivered by Easter, as part of an overall $17.6billion spending package. The government is hoping it will generate $23billion in economic activity as part of an emergency measure to ward off a potential coronavirus recession. Overall, 3.6million pensioners who are either elderly or have a disability are receiving a payment. Parents with dependent children, where the main breadwinner earns less than $100,000 a year, are also getting the payments by virtue of being eligible for Family Tax Benefit B. Another 1.1million Youth Allowance recipients, either studying at university or completing an apprenticeship, are eligible, along with the unemployed on Newstart, war veterans and baby boomers with a health-care card. Advertisement

'Mine is paying my rego. So I can actually work. And my job relies on people spending money. So please spend it all,' said another.

A third added: 'It will help me get my car fixed, pay off the remaining balance of vetpay and get blood work done for my dog'.

A helpful stockpiler offered her best advice for making the most of the money, which she said could last upwards of three months if you choose your groceries carefully.

A helpful stockpiler offered her best advice for making the most of the money, which she said could last upwards of three months if you choose your groceries carefully

Firstly, she said that it's important to work out what you buy each week. Check the specials on these every time you're at the grocer, and when they are 20-50 per cent off, buy four to six weeks worth of it.

'You then just buy your normal groceries. Every week you should buy one to three items on your list in bulk as they go on special,' she said.

'One week you might get tonnes of shampoo, the next week you get tonnes of dishwashing tablets. If nothing is on special you buy an extra one or two of things that are never on special (like homebrand stuff) as your back up, and save the rest of your budget for next week when something new is on sale.'

Her second tip is to make sure there is two of everything in your pantry, one being used and the other as a backup.

That way if you have a tough week financially it will be okay because you can rely on your backups.

Her second tip is to make sure there is two of everything in your pantry, one being used and the other as a backup

Who gets $750? Recipients on Newstart, the disability support pension, carers' allowance, youth allowance, veterans support payments, family tax benefits and Commonwealth senior health card-holders. Australia's 2.4million aged pensioners are also getting the payment. The payments will be begin on 31 March and will be automatically deposited into bank accounts. The government has promised 90 per cent of the funds would be delivered by mid-April. Advertisement

'Basically what this means is you never buy expensive stuff at full price again,' she said.

At first it might seem expensive because you'll be buying a lot of one particular item but soon you won't need to purchase $30 laundry detergent because you will have boxes from when it was $15.

'I have stockpiles of razors, pads, toothpaste, shampoo, coffee, soft drink, nappies, wipes, toilet paper because of this method,' she said.

'I would say my weekly shop would be $240 if I didn't do this method but its $150 including my stockpiling budget.'
The Manitoba government launched its strongest salvo yet in the fight against COVID-19 on Friday, suspending public school classes, opening new screening sites and more strenuously discouraging international travel.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government launched its strongest salvo yet in the fight against COVID-19 on Friday, suspending public school classes, opening new screening sites and more strenuously discouraging international travel.

Classes will be suspended in the province beginning March 23 for three weeks, including a week on either side of spring break, Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced at an afternoon press conference, flanked by Premier Brian Pallister, Health Minister Cameron Friesen and chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin.

Don't stand so close to me: people in the crowd at the Cheltenham Festival in England are not practising good social distancing by being closer than a metre apart. (Tim Goode / PA)

"We believe that our schools are safe (but) that this is a proactive measure intended to limit the impact (of the coronavirus) on Manitobans as a whole," Goertzen said.

Late in the day, public health officials announced that a fourth person  a Winnipeg man in his 40s  had tested positive for the virus in Manitoba. They said it appears he was exposed to the virus through recent travel to South Korea, the Philippines and Japan.

At a news conference earlier Friday, Roussin told reporters that Manitoba was not looking to close schools at this time. He said such a move  in the absence of proven community transmission of the virus  had "large implications," including its potential impact on the health-care workforce and the fact that students may wind up gathering in other locations in any case.

However, Pallister said the government ultimately decided to lessen the potential impact of the virus by taking a more proactive approach while giving schools and parents time to adjust.

"We're giving notice to families to prepare," the premier said. "We're giving ourselves greater ability to have frontline workers, for example, prepare child care, if need be. We're giving greater opportunities for the system to adapt and to function better."

The school announcement came the same day that one of the four presumptive cases of the coronavirus in Manitoba was confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory. The three other cases remain presumptive.

Goertzen said teachers are being asked to be on the job the week before and after spring break to prepare lessons for students to do at home. So far, there is no plan to close child care centres in schools, he said.

The province opened two new COVID-19 screening sites Friday and asked Manitobans to cancel or postpone events with more than 250 people.

Two new screening sites  Mount Carmel Clinic (886 Main St.) and Access Transcona (845 Regent Ave. W) opened at noon Friday, bringing the number in the city to four. The other two are at Access Winnipeg West (280 Booth Dr.) and Access Fort Garry (135 Plaza Dr).

The screening sites aim to get people who may have COVID-19 out of crowded doctors' offices and emergency waiting rooms and somewhere set up to handle them, said Shared Health chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa. The access centres will continue their regular operations but are specially prepared for screening for COVID-19, she said.

"We would make sure we would manage those patients appropriately as soon as they come in the door," she said. Patients need a referral from Health Links before COVID-19 screening, she said. The next screening sites to open will be in northern and rural Manitoba and the province is also considering drive-thru screening sites  "whatever meets the needs of the community," Siragusa said.

Roussin said all Manitobans have a role to play in containing the coronavirus by washing their hands frequently, avoiding large crowds and curbing unnecessary foreign travel.

"I caution against any international travel at this point," he said.

"Those who are travelling internationally, including to the U.S., need to consider that by the time they return, they may be asked to self-isolate for 14 days," he cautioned, pointing to potential future edicts from health authorities.

Manitoba's first COVID-19 case, a woman in her 40s who recently travelled to the Philippines, was confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg Friday morning, Roussin said.

Health officials are trying to track down other passengers on Air Canada Flight 8622 from Vancouver to Winnipeg last Saturday who may have been exposed to the virus. A bulletin issued Thursday incorrectly listed the flight number as AC 8624.

Work is underway to increase capacity at Health Links to handle an increase in calls from the public. Staffing levels have been doubled and additional people are being pulled from other health areas and being trained, Siragusa said.

Caller options have been streamlined and there is now a dedicated COVID-19 number to press when contacting the centre.

By the afternoon press conference, Friesen said the number of Health Links phone lines had tripled to 104 from 35.

Steps are being taken at the Cadham Provincial Laboratory to increase testing capacity and reduce wait times for results. Siragusa said more than 500 lab tests have been conducted so far, and the people who test positive are being contacted right away.

Health authorities are recommending social distancing measures for all Manitobans, including minimizing prolonged close contact with individuals in public, avoiding greetings that involve touching such as handshakes, and disinfecting frequently used surfaces.

At Health Sciences Centre and long-term care facilities, "efforts are underway to share information," with families of residents to restrict visits from anyone who is ill or has potentially been exposed to COVID-19, said Siragusa.

Signs were being posted Friday at long-term care sites advising visitors are ill and anyone who travelled in the last 14 days not to visit - even if they dont have symptoms, said Siragusa.

Roussin said employers should review their business-continuity plans and take steps to ensure employees can stay home when ill and not demand sick notes from workers.

Roussin was asked about reports suggesting the possibility of airborne transmission of the virus. According to most data, the virus "is spread almost exclusively through direct contact and droplet spread and by symptomatic people," he said.

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Meanwhile, the Canadian Press reported that two Manitoba cabinet ministers were absent from the legislature Thursday after attending a Toronto mining conference where an Ontario attendee later tested positive for COVID-19.

The government would not confirm whether Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Eileen Clarke and Agriculture Minister Blaine Pedersen are self-isolating, citing privacy legislation. But it said all provincial employees who were at the conference have been asked to remove themselves from work.

Pallister refused Friday to comment on the situation, citing privacy legislation, "except to say there's good news on those two ministers."

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders

Legislature reporter After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020. Read full biography
Even as she was scrawling the letters onto a piece of paper Monday, Tami Campbell knew her son would never come home, would never read her words.



She left him the note anyway, to let him know she'd gone to the police station because she hadn't heard from him. She said she'd be back soon, but she was already sure he was dead. Deep down, she knew it as soon as he didn't return her text.



"He didn't respond, and he always responds," Campbell said Tuesday. "I didn't hear no more from him. That was ... I didn't know his last goodbye was his last goodbye. I always text him, 'Are you safe?' And I don't know why, that day I text him: 'Are you alive?' It was like I knew already."



Hours after she filed a missing persons report, Campbell learned that her only child, Ryan Hamilton, 20, and two of his friends were found shot to death in the Monte Carlo that Campbell had given her son.



The bodies of Hamilton, Vogels Anderson Jr., 19, and Devontae Watson, 18 were discovered around 8 a.m. Monday after someone complained that the Monte Carlo was illegally parked in an alley in the 8600 block of South Throop Street in Gresham.



Two were found inside the car, the third in the trunk. Hamilton was shot once in the neck, Anderson was shot once in the head and Watson suffered several gunshot wounds. Police have released few other details, including a possible motive.



Like Campbell, Anderson's mother had also worried when she did not get a text back from her son.



When Anderson didn't come home Sunday night, Sarah Wicks figured he was with his girlfriend, who attended the University of Illinois in UrbanaChampaign and visited him on weekends. Still, she thought it was unusual when he didn't respond to a text that night.



Then on Monday morning, Wicks saw a news story on Facebook under the headline, "Three bodies found," and her mind raced. "Three kids missing and we can't reach nobody," she said.



"What's hurting me the most, I really want to know who and why," Wicks said. "Why would y'all want to do this to them boys? They were good boys."



Anderson and Hamilton had been best friends since freshman year at Ralph Ellison High School, where Watson also attended. Wicks described the friends as "goofy kids," her son always cracking jokes and smiling. He even won a tooth brush for best smile in the 8th grade.



He had a voice that carried, and his family and friends called him "Stormy." He and his brothers were fortunate kids who "didn't go without," said Wicks, who added that she often traveled with her sons to new cities "so they know they have options."



Anderson was studying civil engineering in college, according to his father, Vogels Anderson Sr. He was a planner, a "take-charge type of guy," his father said.



"They had plans," Anderson said. "It's just baffling that we found them in the neighborhood over there."



Hamilton had just found out Friday that he got a job at Home Depot. His first day was supposed to have been Monday, the day his body was discovered.



It was more than a day before Campbell would make it to the Cook County medical examiner's office to identify her boy. She couldn't will herself to go to the morgue Monday.



"I'm afraid to see him today because I don't want to see a monster, I want to see my beautiful baby boy," she said. "He was not into trafficking drugs, and guns and gang stuff like that. He was just trying to find his way in this world."



When she did make it to the morgue Tuesday, she had to identify the boy who just a month ago was grinning ear to ear on a cruise ship that ferried mother and son around Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.



"I saw my baby ... he will never be coming home," she wrote in a text to the Tribune. "He has what looks like a cigarette burn to his left temple, his eyes were closed partially like he was half asleep, he had markings on his neck and his tongue was hanging out as if he was grasping/panting for air," she wrote.



"His beautiful face was still heavenly, the same," she said.



Hamilton's last weekend was all about celebration. After getting the Home Depot job offer, he went out with friends Saturday night and didn't return home until early Sunday.



When he woke up, he went for a walk with Max, the family's Jack Russell Terrier. He showered and put on an expensive outfit he just had to have for his 20th birthday in January. Campbell said she didn't know what made the clothes so special, but he loved them so she bought them. He was wearing them when he left the house.



"(He) said he was going out  it was daylight out  and said, 'Mom, bye,' " she said.



"If I had a known it was going to be my last time," Campbell said, her voice beginning to choke up. "I would've kissed him, I would've held him tighter if I had known. I would've called on Jesus to protect him "



Wicks said Hamilton and her son had plans to go to an indoor trampoline park that night with about eight other friends, Wicks said.



Wicks last saw her son at her house before they left for somewhere after 5 p.m. Sunday. Around 6 p.m., a friend spoke by phone to Hamilton and was told he and Anderson were heading down 79th Street.



Wicks said she called her son around 9 p.m.  it rang but he didn't answer.



Around the same time, someone called police to report the Monte Carlo was illegally parked in the alley on Throop. It's not known if police checked it then.



About 2 a.m. Monday, Campbell filed a missing persons report with the Blue Island Police Department. Officials told her the car had been recently spotted by Chicago police and the plates had been checked.
From ancient amazons to comic books, legends the world over are full of warrior women. In reality, the role of women in warfare has often been overlooked in the record of global events. Following is a list of 10 notable women who fought their way into wars and the history books from the first century to the second world war.

10. The Trung Sisters

Procession of elephants in the Trung Sisters' Parade in Saigon, 1957. Image credit: Press and Information Office, Embassy of the Republic of Vietnam / Public domain

First on this list is not one woman, but two. In the first century, about 40 CE, Chinas Hang Dynasty controlled much of modern day Vietnam. When local rulers rebelled, Chinese governors had them killed, including the husband of noblewoman Trung Trac. The warrior widow then recruited her sister, Trung Nhi, as well as tribal chiefs and their supporters to fight back. For three years the sisters fought off the larger and better armed Chinese forces, taking 65 citadels, and ruling over an independent state before they were finally defeated. Although ultimately conquered, the sisters bravery lives on.

9. Boudica 60 AD

Boudica statue, Westminster. Image credit: Paul Walter/Wikimedia.org

History remembers Romes great generals like Caesar and Scipio, but which woman was one of its greatest foes? In 60 CE the Iceni queen Boudica destroyed the Roman legion in Britain and caught the attention of Roman historians Tacitus and Cassius Dio. Trained in combat since childhood, the Celtic queen refused to submit when the Romans invaded England. She led a warrior force to destroy the capital of Camulodunum, massacred its inhabitants and humiliated the legionary army. She went on to capture both London and Verulamium. When reinforcements arrived and the Romans finally managed to defeat Boudica and her Britons, she took her own life to avoid capture.

8. Aethelflaed

Like Boudica, another British queen battled to defend her land from foreign invaders. This time they were Vikings, and the warrior was Aethelflaed, daughter of Alfred the Great. Married to the king of Mercia in the English midlands, the "Lady of the Mercians" did much of the governing due to her husbands old age. Aethelflaed ordered the construction of defensive forts and trained her soldiers. In 917 CE she helmed her army and took the Danish stronghold of Derby, then on to capture Leicster. When Wales launched a rebellion, Aethelflaed captured their queen and held her hostage until the Welsh submitted to her rule.

7. Freydis Eiriksdottir

Nearly 100 years after Aethelfled defeated the Vikings, one of their own, Freydis Eiriksdottir, fought her way into the history books. These books, called The Vinland Sagas, describe her as Erik the Reds daughter and sister to Lief Erikson, born about 970 CE. There are two versions of this fierce woman. The first, written closer to her lifetime, calls Freydis a brave warrior, battling while pregnant and fighting with the First Nations in Vinland, now Newfoundland in Canada. The second, written 200 years after her death, describes her as murderous and out to steal land. Whichever tale is true, Freydis was a powerful woman unafraid to take on her enemies.

6. Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc depicted on horseback in an illustration from a 1504 manuscript. Image credit: Musee Dobree / Public domain

This list would not be complete without the 13-year old girl who heard the saints voices calling her to lead her king to his throne and her country to independence. Captured and killed in 1430 she was accused of being a heretic and a witch, and condemned for dressing like a man, Joan of Arc had achieved what no other Frenchmen could. She had led France to victory over England, and saw Charles VII crowned at last. Arrested by the English, jailed, and put on trial she became the most famous woman, and warrior, in the world. In death Joan became not just a legend, but also a Catholic saint with numerous churches worldwide bearing her name.

5. Buffalo Calf Road Woman

Buffalo Calf Road Woman. Image credit: Pinterest.com

Although the histories of the North American peoples were not written, multiple sources and traditional storytellers describe the courage of Cheyenne warrior Buffalo Calf Road Woman. During the Sioux Wars of 1876, Buffalo Calf Road Woman fought under the command of Crazy Horse. She is credited with bravely saving her brother in battle, and she went on to fight at the Little Bighorn. Storytellers cite her as the Cheyenne warrior who struck Lieutenant Colonel Custer from his horse before he was shot and killed. What is certain is that Buffalo Calf Road Woman is an important figure in the history of the Plains Indians.

4. Naknano Takeko

Nakano Takeko Statue at Hokai-ji, Aizubange, Fukushima, Japan. Image credit: Torstein Barnhardt/Wikimedia.org

The onna-bugeisha, Japans warrior women, date back to 200 AD. Skilled in weaponry and martial arts, they trained to fight alongside men in battle and to protect their villages. The onna-bugeisha predate the samurai class by a thousand years, but the 1800s was a time of social upheaval as clans fought for independence from each other and western influence. Naknano Takeko , one of the last known onna-bugeisha, led her warriors in a failed attack against invaders in 1868 and died in battle. As Victorian values prevailed in the West at the time, reports of European men fighting these ferocious female warriors was omitted in western accounts of Japanese culture. Today, however, the history of these heroic women is reemerging

3. Maria Bochkareva

Mareea Bothckareva, Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst and women of the Battalion of Death, 1917. Image credit: Dorr, Rheta Louise Childe, 1872-1948/Public domain

Her name is unfamiliar today, but Maria Bochkareva was a global sensation during World War One. Ridiculed for attempting to enlist, she telegraphed the czar directly and went on to earn decorations for multiple acts of bravery. The first Russia woman army officer, Bochkareva helmed the 1st Russian Womens Battalion of Death on the Eastern Front. In 1918 she penned a wildly successful autobiography, and during her international book tour met with King George V, suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst, and President Wilson. Tragically the worldwide attention, including a $1000 gift from Theodore Roosevelt following his Nobel Peace Prize, made her the target of Bolshevik revolutionaries. Bochkareva was executed by firing squad upon her return to Russia.

2. Mary Greyeyes

Mary Greyeyes, a Cree from Muskeg Lake Reserve, served in the Canadian Womens Army Corps in Canada and Britain. In this staged Army publicity photograph, Greyeyes is seen with Harry Ball, a member of the Piapot First Nation dressed in the garb of a Plains Chief. Image credit: Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada

When Mary Greyeyes enlisted during World War, she wasnt intending to become a role model or national hero, she was emulating her older brother David. The Greyeyes children, all eleven of them, were born on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation reserve in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and sent to residential schools. When war broke out in 1939 and Greyeyes brother enlisted as a means of supporting the family, she joined too and became an unintentional icon. The first Indigenous woman to serve in the Canadian Armed Forces, she was stationed at war headquarters in London, England. Her story of family loyalty, patriotism, and aboriginal ancestry resulted in her frequently being featured in propaganda photographs and meeting dignitaries, including a young Queen Elizabeth II.

1. Cornelia Fort

Cornelia Fort. Image credit: U.S. Air Force photo/Public domain

On December 7th, 1941, flight instructor Cornelia Fort was giving lessons over Honolulu when an unexpected aircraft crossed her flight path. Fort veered out of the way and, checking over her shoulder, witnessed the first bombs dropped in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Fort recorded the event in the logbook, forever preserving that moment in history. She enlisted almost immediately in the WAFS, the Womens Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). A civilian branch of the Army Air Forces, Fort and 1074 other women flew during the war, training pilots, and transporting military aircraft. Tragically, Fort became the first female pilot in United States history to die in active service when another pilot clipped her plane over Texas.
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Stacey Dash went from being a beloved actress of the 90s cult-classic Clueless, to one of the most controversial subjects in the tabloids due to her political and social commentary. But before making her political stance known to the world, the former FOX News contributor was one of the most sought after models and actresses  both as a cover girl and as a real-life leading lady. Dash found herself in the arms of R&B bad boy Christopher Williams in a tumultuous relationship that fizzled out in flames.

Stacey Dash 1996 | Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

Who Is Christopher Williams?

Williamss musical roots run deep. Hes the nephew of jazz-great, Ella Fitzgerald  and his cousin is R&B crooner, Al B Sure. Raised in the Bronx section of New York, he began focusing on music after deciding the realities of street life were too risky.

He was the first urban act to be signed to the former rock and roll label, Geffen. Though Williams had a distinctive baritone voice unlike any other act at the time, his managers model was to follow the current trends in music, making his first major releases the New Jack Swing sound of the R&B genre. His first single did well but Williams struggled to develop his own identity as he was compared to Bobby Brown.

After transferring to Uptown Records and being surrounded by the likes of Mary J. Blige and Jodeci, Williamss career began to take off. In 1991, he was cast in a small role in the film New Jack City. With the film, Williams contributed to the soundtrack and released his first and biggest single, Im Dreamin.

He continued acting, with guest roles in New York Undercover, and Gunmen. He also starred in a number of off-Broadway productions throughout the early 2000s, including A Good Man Is Hard to Find, A House Is Not a Home, Men Cry in the Dark, and The Man He Used to Be.

Williams was dropped from Uptown Records after being deemed too difficult to work with. He was accused, and later admitted, to not knowing how to control his temper. He notoriously destroyed his label executives offices  smashing record plaques and breaking equipment  after becoming frustrated with industry politics. He believes he was blackballed by the industry as a result and only released two other albums on another label within the next 20 years.

Williamss resurfaced during season 6 of Real Housewives of Atlanta where he famously battled it out with Kenya Moore. He currently tours around the country and is recording new music.

Stacey Dash and Christopher Williamss relationship

Dash and Williams began dating almost immediately after he burst onto the music scene. She starred in one of his first music videos and the attraction between the two was instant. Both were on the rise in their respective careers and were viewed as a power couple  but behind the scenes, Williams and his camp said things were all but a fairytale.

From the beginning, Williams admitted in his episode of TV Ones Unsung that he had trouble being a one-woman man. His song Promises Promises detailed his disappointing behaviors and lack of keeping his word in his relationship. He says the song was written with Dash in mind.

I was speaking to Stacey Dash directly and wanted to write something where Im trying to figure out, How do we stay with one person, he said on Unsung. His former manager said their relationship was tumultuous, to say the least.

They were combustible  both of them. Youre talking about dynamite and super dynamite. You knew something was always going to explode, she explained.

But when Dash became pregnant, Williams says their relationship was already in ruins.

That was a very painful thing, again to make the decision to try and have a kid to rectify a relationship that was over, Williams said.

Dash admitted in a 2016 interview with PEOPLE that she contemplated terminating the pregnancy due to drug addiction  but that she ultimately decided to go through with having their son. Their son, Austin, was born in 1988.

They split and engaged in a custody battle over Austin that was later settled.
Panaji, March 13 : Tourism activity should take a backseat during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Friday.

When asked about what message he would like to send across to tourists, the Health Minister of Goa, one of the top beach and nightlife tourism destinations in the country said: "Sit at home".

"This is not the time for tourism... Sit at home," Rane said, soon after the BJP-led coalition government in Goa On Friday invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, to beef up efforts to combat the coronavirus threat.

"The whole of Europe is in shutdown. What tourism are you talking about? If you give me a free ticket to Mumbai, I will say, you go, I will not go," Rane also told the press conference, describing the viral pandemic as a "tsunami" like scenario.

Goa is considered one of the leading beach and nightlife tourism destinations in the country and attracted more than seven million tourists last year. The state is currently facing a dip in tourist footfalls on account of the global viral pandemic.
HILLSBORO, Oregon

March 13, 2020

Jagi Gill

$550 million

Mark Wagner

Hillsboro, Oregon

/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Acumed LLC today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Vivorte Inc. to be the exclusive distributor of the Louisville-based company's orthobiologics portfolio. Under the terms of the agreement, Acumed will employ its sales, marketing, and medical education expertise to distribute Vivorte's calcium phosphate-based bone allograft (Trabexus) and calcium phosphate-based biocement (Fortera). Vivorte will continue to utilize its product development and manufacturing capabilities to support the distribution."As a leader in the orthopaedic sector, Acumed is committed to providing the most comprehensive clinical solutions to our surgeons and this partnership with Vivorte allows us to deliver a best-in-class portfolio of orthobiologic technologies," said, Vice President/General Manager of AcuVentures at Acumed. "The Trabexus and Fortera products provide our surgeons the distinguishing features of ease of use, strength, and remodeling that are requisite in premier bone allografts and bone void fillers."The Trabexus product line is a self-setting calcium phosphate matrix with engineered allograft bone particles for optimized compressive strength and resorptive characteristics. Fortera is an osteoconductive biocement that combines industry leading compressive strength with superior flow characteristics. In the US alone, the orthobiologics market is estimated to be in excess of, of which the synthetic allograft market occupies a significant and growing segment., CEO of Vivorte, commented, "We have been pleased with the strong clinical support and adoption of our products in the market. Partnering with Acumed, we will reach more surgeons to the benefit of more patients, thereby extending the commercial footprint for our orthobiologic technologies. This works because the two companies share a common vision of delivering innovative solutions in a quality-first culture."About Acumed Acumed is a global leader in developing innovative orthopaedic and medical solutions to improve patient care. Acumed has more than three decades of experience in the orthopaedic industry, with the mission of aiding the afflicted through the ingenuity of our minds, the labor of our hands, and the compassion of our hearts. Founded in 1988, Acumed is headquartered in, with offices and a distribution network around the world. For more information, visit http://www.acumed.net.SOURCE Acumed LLC
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 14:35:01|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The global spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak will have an impact on China's manufacturing sector but at a manageable level, said a vice minister of industry and information technology on Friday.

Given the trend of industrial globalization, the spread of COVID-19 contagions overseas such as in Europe and the United States will surely affect China's manufacturing sector, Xin Guobin, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told a press conference.

The level of the impact would be subject to how long the pandemic would last and the outcome of joint global response against the outbreak, he said, noting that the global transmission of the virus has gone beyond expectation.

But Xin said he believes the impact would be manageable, considering China's sound fundamentals of industrial development, massive domestic market and complete industrial chain.

The ministry will pay attention to the potential shock, strengthen communication with other governments and encourage production resumption to eliminate the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, he said.
ESG  Environmental, Social, and Governance: These are the three central pillars utilized by investors on measuring the social and sustainability (non-financial) factors of entities in which they invest. Investors who focus on ESG incorporate these social and sustainability factors, along with financial factors, to assess risk and performance. Until recently, ESG has been implemented mainly by investors, but recently has moved more into the main stream with attention both at the state and federal level.

On September 20, 2019, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee passed H.R. 4329, the ESG Disclosure Simplification Act of 2019. The bill addresses environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures and would require issuers to describe the link between ESG metrics and long term strategy, in which ESG metrics would be included in disclosures. The bill does not seem to have momentum to become law under the current administration, but is being addressed at the state level. While the Federal government is remaining on the sidelines, states are embracing and passing ESG laws.

Rather than a single Federal approach like in Europe and Japan, the U.S. approach is being determined at the state and local level. The approach is expanding beyond Congress bill which pertains to issuers to include all institutions in which pensions or political subdivisions are investing. The individual approach leads to each state and locality having individual requirements, creating an endless set of rules and regulations. This approach is going to be more expensive and less efficient to manage, but that is the direction at this point.

California, amongst other states, has embraced ESG into regulations into the investing of pension funds. Other states include Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington; not to mention localities such as Boston, Chicago, New York City and Seattle.

Illinois is among the leaders to sign into law the Sustainable Investing Act, also known as HB 2460, which became effective in January 2020. The biggest difference from the others is that the new law requires all public or government agencies involved in managing public funds to develop, publish, and implement sustainable investment policies applicable to the management of all public funds under its control.

This is the point at which to question, how does it pertain to my financial institution? Governmental entities are now required to implement sustainable investment policies in which anyone participating in the investment of public funds (which includes financial institutions) will need to address. Financial institutions, in addition to issuers, will need to consider ESG criteria and be able to defend when soliciting funds that fall under the ESG requirements.

Co-author: Todd A. Terrazas

Sources

INSIGHT: States Take Lead on ESG Investment Regulations While Feds Stand Still

Bloomberg law, Ali Zaidi

Pending Federal ESG Legislation Could Yield Significant and Step-wise Change

Bloomberg law, Ali Zaidi

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Criteria

By JAMES CHEN

Reviewed By GORDON SCOTT

Updated Feb 25, 2020

ESG Disclosure Simplification Act of 2019

Congress.gov
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that the novel coronavirus outbreak was at the containment stage, adding that the Centre and the Delhi government had been working together to deal with it.

Addressing a one-day session of the Delhi Assembly, the chief minister said his government had been taking every step to check the spread of the pandemic.

"We have closed schools, cinema halls, universities... to contain the spread of coronavirus," Kejriwal told the Assembly. "We have been taking all precautionary measures and people have been supporting us."



"It is good that coronavirus is at the containment stage. The Centre and the Delhi government are working together to deal with it," he said.

Kejriwal underscored that healthy people do not need to wear masks and precautionary measures, especially regular washing of hands, could help deal with the deadly disease.

"If you wear a mask, you may touch it and there's is a fear of getting infected," the chief minister said. "Only infected people should wear mask."



Health Minister Satyender Jain said more than 500 beds had been readied for COVID-19 cases.

Private hospitals should be allowed to run testing laboratories, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Congolese man accused of attempting to steal an aircraft in Nairobi will remain in remand for two more weeks before the court decides whether to release him on bond.

Yannick Kamate Mushipay was in January of this year charged with three counts of attempted theft, forgery and fraud.

According to the charge sheet, Mushipay on October 22, 2017, at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with others not before the court, attempted to steal an aircraft valued at Sh600 million belonging to Aviation Link International Limited.

On October 27, 2016, at an unknown place in the country, with intent to defraud, Mushipay allegedly forged an aircraft bill of sale purporting it to have been signed and issued by Ibrahim Mohamed Ghouli of Aviation Link International.

The accused was also charged with obtaining registration of an aircraft by falsely pretending that he acquired it from Aviation Link on May 9, 2019.

In an affidavit dated January 21, the prosecution asked the court to deny the accused bail, arguing that he was a flight risk since he was arrested while exiting the country on January 9, 2020.

The court was told that Mushipay was fleeing the country knowing that he was under investigation having recorded a statement on October 22 last year for the crime he is currently facing.

The accused person is a foreigner with dual citizenship from DRC Congo and the United States and has no fixed abode in Kenya, if granted bond he may abscond court, the prosecution said.

The DPP further said Mushipay is likely to interfere with witnesses as he had threatened the complainant through text messages.

Through his lawyer Steven Nzaku, the accused argued said he is not a flight risk and has a fiancee in the country who is willing to stand surety for him.

Your honour, the prosecution merely alleges that the accused is likely to interfere with witnesses, there is no evidence of the said threats towards the complainant, the affidavits read.

Nzaku said there are no compelling reasons to deny his client bail. He assured that if granted bail, the accused will abide by the conditions that the court may deem fit to impose.

The case will be heard on March 26.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-13 17:16:16

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CALGARY, AB and SAN ANTONIO, TX / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / Nexera Energy Inc. (TSX Venture:NGY) (formerly Emerald Bay Energy Inc. (TSX Venture:EBY)) (the "Corporation", the "Company" or "Nexera") today announced that, further to its press release dated March 2, 2020 and further to the shareholder approvals received at its special meeting of the Company's shareholders held on February 28, 2020 (the "Special Meeting"), the Corporation will, effective March 17, 2020: (i) complete its consolidation of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Corporation on a "1 new for 15 old" basis (the "Consolidation"); and (ii) change the Corporation's name to "Nexera Energy Inc." (the "Name Change"). The Board of Directors believes that the Consolidation could lead to increased interest by a wider audience of potential investors resulting in a more efficient market for the Common Shares. The Name Change is being completed in order to better reflect the future business and operations of the Corporation.Effective March 17, 2020 (the effective date for the Consolidation and Name Change), there will be 23,606,891 Common Shares issued and outstanding (pre-Consolidation there were 354,103,367 Common Shares issued and outstanding). The exercise price and number of common shares of the Corporation issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options, warrants or other convertible securities will be proportionately adjusted to reflect the Consolidation. The Corporation's new stock symbol for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange will be "NGY".A letter of transmittal was sent to all shareholders advising them of the Consolidation (and Name Change) as part of the materials sent out for the Special Meeting. The letter of transmittal provides details to shareholders on how to surrender the old share certificates and obtain new share certificates representing the number of common shares to which they are entitled as a result of the Consolidation. Until surrendered, each share certificate formerly representing common shares will be deemed for all purposes to represent the number of common shares to which the holder thereof is entitled as a result of the Consolidation.About Nexera Energy Inc.Nexera Energy Inc. (TSX Venture: NGY) is an energy company with oil producing properties in Southwest Texas. Nexera is owner and operator of the Lavernia, Wooden Horse and Nash Creek Projects. Additionally, the Company owns and operates various working interests in the HugoCellR, Cotulla, and MarPat partnerships. The Company also owns 75% of Production Resources Inc., a South Texas oil company.For further information, please contact:Nexera Energy Inc. President, Shelby D. Beattie, by telephone at (403) 262-6000Email: info@ ebyinc.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements, usually containing the words "believe," "estimate," "project," "expect", "plan", "intend", "anticipates", "projects", "potential" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts.Information inferred from the interpretation of drilling results may also be deemed to be forward looking statements, as it constitutes a prediction of what might be found to be present when and if a well is actually developed. BOE's may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A BOE conversion ratio of 6 Mcf: 1 Bbl is based on energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of such information, which are considered reasonable by Emerald Bay at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect. Actual results achieved will vary from the information provided and the variations may be material. There is no representation by Emerald Bay that actual results achieved will be the same in whole or part as those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this document include statements regarding the Company's exploration, drilling and development plans, the Company's expectations regarding the timing and success of such programs. In particular, forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to: pipeline acquisitions and leasing; pipeline permits, pipeline construction, production estimates, drilling operations, completion operations, funding and development goals. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in the prices of oil and gas, uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of oil and gas reserves and projecting future rates of production and timing of development activities, competition, operating risks, acquisition risks, liquidity and capital requirements, the effects of governmental regulation, adverse changes in the market for the Company's oil and gas production, dependence upon third-party vendors, and other risks detailed in the Company's periodic report filings with the applicable securities regulators.SOURCE: Nexera Energy Inc.
A 38-year-old Revere man has been indicted for allegedly stealing $25,000 from a safe inside an Encore Boston Harbor guests hotel room, officials said Friday.

Angel Hiduchick was indicted Thursday by a Middlesex County Grand Jury on one count of larceny over $1,200 and one count of larceny from a building, according to the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. He will be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court at a later date.

Hiduchick got into the guests hotel room on Oct. 16, took the money from the safe and deposited the majority of the cash into his personal bank account, Healeys office said in a statement.

The charges follow a joint investigation between the Massachusetts State Police Gaming Enforcement Unit at Encore Boston Harbor and the Massachusetts State Police Gaming Enforcement Detective Unit.

Healeys Healeys Gaming Enforcement Division has a dedicated group of prosecutors and investigators who enforce the states Expanded Gaming Act of 2011. They investigate and prosecute illegal activity like gaming-related financial crime, organized crime, corruption and money laundering.
Wall Street has been witnessing wild swings over the past couple of weeks owing to the coronavirus scare. Weeks of panic selling sent the indices into a bear market in less than a month and put an end to the 11-year bull market.



In fact, trading on the three major indexes was halted for the second time this week after a decline of 7% triggered circuit breakers. More specifically, the U.S. stocks saw its worst performance on Mar 12 since the "Black Monday" on Oct 19, 1987. This is especially true as the deadly virus has spread more rapidly outside China leading to a broader sell-off. The sluggish trend is likely to continue as the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a pandemic. The disease has now spread to 114 countries, infecting nearly 130,000 people worldwide and causing over 4,700 deaths. In the United States, the death toll climbed to 39 with over 1,300 infections.



Additionally, President Donald Trump suspended all travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days beginning Mar 13 midnight, with the exception of the United Kingdom. The latest developments have resulted in further deterioration of fundamentals.



According to Goldman Sachs, supply chain disruptions due to the coronavirus outbreak will hit consumer spending and business activity. Deterioration in financial conditions will weigh heavily on global growth in the coming months. As such, Goldman lowered its year-end forecast for the S&P 500 and trimmed profit estimates for the second time in a month. It expects the benchmark index to drop to 2,450 by the middle of 2020, a 28% slump from its February peak. Earnings will decline at least 12% in each of the next two quarters as plunging oil prices and the spread of the coronavirus continue to hurt businesses.



The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), ratings agency Moodys and other financial institutions have also lowered their global growth forecasts over the last few days. The OECD cut global GDP by 0.5% to 2.4% for this year while Moodys revised down its global GDP expectations to 2.1% from 2.4%. Bank of America reduced its 2020 global growth forecast to 2.8%, which marks the lowest reading since 2009.



Amid the weak backdrop, there are some stocks that have survived the market crash. We have highlighted five of them. These stocks have the potential to withstand the storm, as reflected in their Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy) and a solid VGM Score of B or better.



You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Legg Mason Inc. LM  Up 19.6%



This global asset management firm is focused on the growth and preservation of clients' capital through its proprietary mutual funds and separately-managed accounts. It has an estimated earnings growth rate of 10.55% for the fiscal year ending March 2021 and a market cap of $4.3 billion. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a VGM Score of B.



Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited HMY  Up 10.1%



It is engaged in the exploration, extraction, and processing of gold. The stock saw positive earnings estimate revision of 7 cents over the past month for fiscal year ending June 2020 with an estimated earnings growth of 221.4%. With a market cap of $1.8 billion, Harmony Gold has a

Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of A.



Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc LL  Up 8.4%



This company operates as a multi-channel specialty retailer of hard-surface flooring, and hard-surface flooring enhancements and accessories. It saw solid earnings estimate revision of 35 cents over the past month for this year with an estimated earnings growth of 32.8%. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of A. Lumber Liquidators has a market cap of $230.9 million.



Charah Solutions Inc. CHRA  Up 3.8%



With a market cap of $64.6 million, this company is a provider of environmental and maintenance services to the power generation industry with operations in coal-fired and nuclear power generation. It saw positive earnings estimate revision of a penny over the past seven days for this year with an estimated earnings growth of 134.6%. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of A.



Barrick Gold Corporation GOLD  Up 2.1%



It is the largest gold mining company in the world. The stock saw positive earnings estimate revision of 7 cents over the past month for this year and has an estimated earnings growth of 49%. With a market cap of $33.4 billion, Barrick Gold has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of B.



Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2020



In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2020? Last year's 2019 Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolio returned gains as high as +102.7%. Now a brand-new portfolio has been handpicked from over 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Dont miss your chance to get in on these long-term buys.



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Australians in white collar jobs face being forced to work from home as employers respond to the worsening coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe.

Laptops are being ordered in bulk so more staff, and not just managers, can work remotely rather than commute to an office.

University of Sydney professor of gender, work and employment relations Rae Cooper said while most clerical and professional employees would excel working from home, a small minority would struggle to stay productive.

'There's also the issue around supervision,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

Australians in white collar jobs face being forced to work from home as employers respond to the worsening coronavirus pandemic. Laptops are being ordered in bulk so more staff, and not just managers, can teleport their output rather than commute to an office

'That's often a concern that managers talk about, worrying, 'How can I trust someone if I can't see them?'.'

Instead of working diligently, every hour of the day, these are the staff who would spend hours exercising or walking the dog instead.

'What a lot of people who work on a regular basis, in flexible working arrangements, tell us is that actually, they often do do that,' she said.

University of Sydney professor of gender, work and employment relations Rae Cooper said while most clerical and professional employees would excel working from home, a small minority would struggle to stay productive

The long hours spent on leisure wouldn't be an issue should staff perform their required tasks.

'Someone might be working from 7 o'clock in the morning, pop off to the gym for an hour at 11 to 12 and then come back and work through til six,' Professor Cooper said.

What other managers think of letting staff work from home John Symond, Aussie Home Loans founder and executive chairman: 'Australian workers are very responsible,' he said. 'They know they want to keep their job, they know they've got bills to pay. 'Most people enjoy their work and I'm sure they wouldn't jeopardise it. 'I trust our team and most organisations would feel the same way.' Max Moore-Wilton, former Sydney Airport chairman and Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary: 'These days companies and corporations and governments don't operate on the basis of the boss breathing down their neck,' he said. 'A lot of back-office operations, which are computer-based, could with a reasonable amount of goodwill work from home for a period of time.' Amanda Gome, online entrepreneur: 'Whether they're working from home or not, they're accountable. I've never seen productivity drop,' she said. Source: Phone interviews with Daily Mail Australia Advertisement

Nonetheless, some workers may be more likely to slack off at home if bosses didn't properly monitor their performance.

'Things go wrong, often, when people feel quite isolated,' she said.

'That can lead to other things spiralling out of control.'

This would be the case, especially if a group project was involved.

'If they're going off on a tangent, it can actually mean there's wasted work or there's a different focus that drags the rest of the team into a different space,' Professor Cooper said.

Employers are advised to set clear milestones so staff working from home stay focused.

'It's about clarifying constantly about what's going on,' Professor Cooper said.

In normal times, more senior staff are the ones more likely to work from home.

'One thing that we do know is that employers are much more likely to allow workers to work at home and work on a flexible basis if they're people that they trust,' she said.

'It's much more likely to be people who are high performers who do get the luxury, in inverted commas, of being able to do this.'
Exploration firm Tullow said the massive decline in oil prices could hit its plan to sell assets and in turn prevent lenders from approving semi-annual reserve-based loans or amendments to its debt covenants if required.

"Therefore, we have concluded that there is a material uncertainty, that may cast significant doubt, that the group will be able to operate as a going concern," it said in a statement.

Shares plunged 30pc on the news yesterday, compounding the declines in a stock that had already fallen around 90pc in the past six months.

The company said it has a final shortlist of candidates to replace Paul McDade, who resigned as chief executive in December, though the newcomer will face a massive task.

The company is to reduce its headcount by 35pc after it reported a loss after-tax of $1.7bn (1.5bn) last year, on the back of exploration write-offs and impairments.

Included in the write-downs is the decision by Tullow to increase its Uganda write-off by $500m. Revenue for the year also came in at $1.7bn, according to its annual results.

Tullow had free cash flow of $355m and its year-end net debt totalled $2.8bn.

The company has suspended its dividend and lowered its capital expenditure for this year by 30pc to $350m.

Tullow said yesterday the oil price slump may jeopardise its plan for $1bn asset sales designed to refill its coffers as the Africa-focused group's lenders may baulk at approving loans, threatening its future.

The company said it expects a slide in free cash flow to $50m to $75m this year at an oil price of $50 a barrel, but hopes to raise cash from the asset sales.

Free cash flow at the group had already fallen last year to $355m. Highly-indebted Tullow expects to break even at prices of $45 a barrel.

Brent crude was trading just below $34 a barrel early yesterday, down from above $70 at its January highs.

Tullow said it expected its debt facility to be confirmed this month at $1.9bn, of which it can still tap $700.

Additional reporting Reuters
On March 7th, an ongoing Coronavirus themed phishing attack was identified. This attack impersonates the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to trick victims to install Formbook (information stealing malware) on their machines.

The malicious messages appear as if they are sent by WHO, with updates regarding the Coronavirus outbreak, which makes the phishing messages look legitimate.

This attack was brought to our attention by Shai Zalaluchin, CTO, Cybrella, a Boston-based consulting company which specializes in advanced Cybersecurity solutions including risk management, penetration testing, yber training, and Cyber Intelligence

While it is difficult for any of us to believe, Zalaluchin said, there are those bad actors who try to leverage a global health crisis, a pandemic, to attack systems and steal data or disable those systems. We are committed to informing as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, about this threat.

Heres how the attack works:

1. The victim receives an email message (which seems to be from the WHO) with a .zip.

2. Within the .zip file, there is an additional .exe file called MyHealth.exe, which is referenced in the phishing email (as MY-HEALTH.PDF), tricking the user into executing the .exe file without paying attention to the fact it is not a .pdf file (as mentioned in the email).

3. The executable is actually GuLoader (a malware downloader), which when executed installs an encrypted file from Google (News - Alert) Drive.

4. The downloaded file is injected to the wininit.exe process (which is legitimate) in order to evade detection and maintain persistency in the system.

5. After the injected file is executed on the victim machine, it will try and steal a variety of credentials (web login credentials, banking login credentials, the clipboard content, etc.)

Any infection with the Formbook malware increases drastically the risk of identity theft, as well as compromising an array of accounts, including but not limited to online banking accounts, Zalaluchin explained.

The WHO issued an alert to be on the lookout for any criminals trying to impersonate them via various mediums (emails, websites, phone calls, text messages, etc.), and stated that the WHO will:

 Never ask you to login to view safety information

 Never email attachments you didnt ask for

 Never ask you to visit a link outside of www.who.int

 Never charge money to apply for a job, register for a conference, or reserve a hotel

 Never conduct lotteries or offer prizes, grants, certificates or funding through email

 Never ask you to donate directly to emergency response plans or funding appeals.

Name recommended the following mitigation strategy:

Immediately raise awareness of users, and instruct them to:

Never open suspicious emails. Any Act Now!, Urgent Alert or similar should be treated with caution, as they can be regarded as warning signs of a Phishing attempt.

Even if an email doesnt look suspicious, do not click on links in an email (or message boards \ mailing lists) or open attachments.

Pay attention to the actual URLs included in emails.

Never submit credentials on embedded forms \ forms you were directed to from an email (or other similar sources).

Ensure that anti-virus and other applications (such as the web-browser) are updated and have the most recent security patches applied.

Report anything suspicious for further investigation.

In addition, prior knowledge is key in raising awareness and preventing successful phishing attacks, Zalaluchin said. We must be constantly vigilant, including during emergencies like Coronavirus and future public health crises.

Edited by Maurice Nagle
Australians who refuse to self-isolate after contracting coronavirus could be jailed for up to a year or fined as much as $50,000.

People who are believed to have contracted the disease have been ordered to stay at home for 14 days, as well as those who have been in contact with anybody who has been in South Korea, China, Iran or Italy.

But some are ignoring the recommendations, putting the community at risk of catching the disease that has killed almost 5,000 people globally and infected at least 194 Australians.

While the instruction to quarantine at home is voluntary at this stage, Australians who have been told to self-isolate could be hit with a public health order and face massive penalties if they continue to interact with others.

Australians who refuse to comply with public health orders to self-isolate amid the outbreak of coronavirus could be hit with massive fines and even jail time (people wearing face masks outside St Vincents Hospital)

There have been 194 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia including three people who have died

Each state has varying punishments for breaches of public health orders.

In Western Australia, people who ignore a public health order could be hit with a $50,000 fine and spend up to 12 months behind bars.

MAXIMUM PENALTIES FOR BREACHING PUBLIC HEALTH ORDERS NSW - $11,000 fine and six months jail QLD - $13,345 fine SA - $25,000 fine WA - $50,000 and 12 months jail TAS- $8,400 fine VIC - $6,600 fine Advertisement

Under the South Australian Public Health Act, people who refuse to comply with policies could be forced to pay a maximum fine of $25,000.

In New South Wales, people who breach the public health order can be fined up to $11,000 and face six months behind bars.

Queenslanders that fail to comply with health orders could see fines of up to $13,345 along with other penalties.

In Tasmania, a maximum fine for disobeying rules under the Public Health Act is $8,400.

In Victoria, people could face a fine of up to $6,600.

A NSW Department of Health spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia, failure to comply with the Public Health Act is an offence.

'Novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a scheduled medical condition under the Public Health Act 2010,' the spokesperson said.

Under the South Australian Public Health Act, people who refuse to comply with policies could be forced to pay a maximum fine of $25,000 (patients outside Concord Hospital)

'This means cases of COVID-19 must be notified to the Secretary.

'In addition, a public health order can be made in relation to a person with COVID-19 or a person who has come into contact with COVID-19. A public health order can require a person to undergo treatment, notify contacts or order a person to be detained.

'It is an offence to fail to comply with a public health order.'

A spokesperson for the Victorian Department of Health said: 'We have been clear that some extreme measures will need to be taken to protect public health.

'None of these decisions will be taken lightly and must be proportionate to the threat.'

A doctor in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak saw up to 70 patients despite showing symptoms of the disease before testing positive.

The doctor, aged in his 70s and from Toorak, Melbourne, is now in isolation at his home after he was confirmed to have contracted the disease on Friday night following a trip to the United States.

People are seen lining up outside a coronavirus clinic in Sydney as the virus continues to spread

The doctor had started showing symptoms including a runny nose on a flight from Denver to San Francisco on February 27 before returning to Melbourne on February 29.

Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said she was 'flabbergasted' that the doctor continued to work even though he had been feeling unwell.

'I have to say I am flabbergasted that a doctor that has flu-like symptoms has presented to work,' she told reporters on Saturday.

'Our advice to the community is that if you have returned from overseas and are experiencing cold or flu like symptoms then please stay home, do not go to work, you should self isolate until such time as you are able to present to a doctor and get medical advice about whether you have COVID-19.'

Another man in his 20s in Hobart continued to work at one of the city's major hotels and even visited nightclubs.

The student arrived in Hobart on February 26 after travelling from Nepal and Singapore, and had been suffering cold-like symptoms in the days following.

He was put into isolation along with four members of his household and three friends.
In an interview with Vogue fashion, model Kaia Gerber who is politically outspoken said that members of her generation are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to politics.

"With all the information that's out there, we can't claim ignorance anymore. My generation sees it as their duty to educate themselves, to speak up -- we won't be silenced by anyone," Gerber said.

"We have ways of communicating with each other now that we didn't have before," she added.

Celebrating her first American Vogue cover, the interview was one of many conducted by the publication with models from around the world to celebrate today's global runway.

Previously Gerber has received support from her fans on social media for attending the March for Our Lives rally in Los Angeles two years ago, Fox News reported.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins announced that as the state grapples with the ongoing coronavirus outbreak her office will reduce staffing to skeleton or essential levels.

Effective Monday, March 16, onsite Suffolk District Attorneys Office staff will be reduced to skeleton or essential levels, said a spokesperson for the DAs office. The District Attorney remains acutely aware of her responsibility to keep all of the residents of Suffolk County safe and this staffing decision will in no way compromise that obligation.

Under the new measure, all prosecutors will request a 60-day continuance in cases in which the individual charged with a crime is not in custody. This request will include the Boston Municipal Court, the Chelsea District Court, the Juvenile Courts in Suffolk County and Suffolk Superior Court.

Prosecutors will request a delay in the empanelment of the next scheduled sitting of the special grand jury for an additional 30 days. The regular grand jury will remain sitting and intact and will in no way compromise the presentation of the most serious and violent cases.

In cases where a charged individual is in pre-trial custody, prosecutors will work with defense counsel to determine if an appearance in court is necessary.

The Suffolk County House of Correction and the Massachusetts Department of Correction are suspending visitation. However, the district attorneys office will also work with the community to make sure that families can remain in contact with those detained.

Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito also released new policies on Thursday to protect individuals served in community-based and congregate care settings from coronavirus of other respiratory illnesses.

Every individual, business and public agency has a duty to help flatten the curve of this pandemics growth. Criminal justice agencies are no exception, said Rollins. The temporary new policies we are implementing will help protect the health of our employees, their families, our victims and witnesses, individuals charged with crimes, and all who come in contact with our courts and the Criminal Justice System.

Rollins announced the policy updates hours after she joined other elected officials and Asian American civic leaders to condemn the rise in discrimination that the community has faced amid the spread of COVID-19.

This illness does not discriminate, but sadly, people do. Weve heard from many of our Asian brothers and sisters the hateful attitudes they have encountered, District Attorney Rollins said. We will not allow this pandemic to unleash an epidemic of bigotry and hate.

Asian American leaders in Massachusetts on Thursday condemned what they say is continued racism, fear-mongering and misinformation aimed at Asian communities amid the coronavirus pandemic that originated in China.

Related Content:
PROVO, Utah, March 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Corporate America is taking quick action to keep their employees safe from COVID-19. However, a new survey from VitalSmarts, a corporate training and leadership development company, shows that recently adopted work-from-home policies may lead to significant challenges as employees are ill-equipped to handle the changes.

According to the March study of 1,097 adults, a third of respondents say their organizations have a plan in place they are confident about and 43 percent have a basic planeven if it is "hastily assembled". Most plans center on remote work and travel restrictions. Specifically:

28 percent of respondents say their organization has already revised its work from home policy

43 percent of organizations have revised their travel policy

33 percent of respondents report having more online meetings

17 percent have a new plan for video-based meetings and sales calls

And yet, while these actions ensure employees' safety and health, they synonymously pose a risk to the vital signs of the business. Specifically, more than 1 in 5 (21.19 percent) employees don't feel their team members have good enough collaboration habits to work effectively from home. They also say 1 in 5 leaders are either very unprepared or unprepared to manage remote teams. Overall, 65 percent are concerned COVID-19 will influence their company's operations.

While leaders are acting with agility, researchers wonder if employees will be able to follow suit.

"The speed in which American businesses have responded to this outbreak is impressive," said Justin Hale, a productivity expert and researcher at VitalSmarts. "But if leaders aren't prepared to manage remote teams or if these teams don't have good communication and collaboration habits in place, the effects of this virus could disrupt team connectivity, morale and accountabilitynot to mention results."

A previous study from VitalSmarts about the impact of working remotely found that people who work from home have a significantly harder time addressing challenges. When they had concerns, 84 percent of remote employees said their concerns dragged on for a few days or more, and 47 percent admitted to letting them drag on for a few weeks or more. Remote employees also reported seeing larger, negative impacts on results like productivity, costs, deadlines, morale, stress and retention than their onsite colleagues.

"Our research over the past three decades proves the health and success of any team is determined by the speed and quality of communication between colleagues," says Hale. "Teams that can hold candid and effective dialogueminus the emotions and politicsexperience higher morale and results. Establishing these norms and skills with teams that are facing new 'rules', new spaces, and heightened emotions in the wake of COVID-19 is vital."

Hale adds that managers play a particularly important role, especially in times of uncertainty.

"When managers model stellar communication, especially when it's really transparent and timely, the rest of the team follows suit," says Hale. "The less managers leave their people guessing or wondering, the better. You can't overestimate the influence a manager has on his or her team's ability to engage in dialogue and create a collaborative and healthy cultureespecially when distance and technology are suddenly part of the equation."

Hales shares the following best practices for managing remote teamsskills that can help a leader mitigate the risks inherent in workplace changes brought about by COVID-19.

7 Skills for Managing Remote Employees

Frequent and Consistent Check-ins. Check in frequently and regularly with remote employees. The cadence of the check-ins can vary from daily to bi-weekly to weekly but should always be consistent and entail a standing meeting or scheduled one-on-one. Face-to-Face or Voice-to-Voice. The most successful managers insist on some face time with remote employees. If in-person meetings are not possible, at a minimum use video conferencing technology or pick up the phone to ensure colleagues occasionally see one another's face or hear one another's voice. Exemplify Stellar Communication Skills. You cannot overemphasize the importance of general, stellar communication with remote teams. The most successful managers are good listeners, communicate trust and respect, inquire about workload and progress without micromanaging, and err on the side of over-communicating. Explicit Expectations. When it comes to managing remote teams, be clear about expectations. Managers who are direct with their expectationsespecially when the "rules" of work have suddenly changedhave happier teams that can deliver to those expectations. People are never left in the dark about projects, roles, deadlines etc. Always Available. Successful managers are available quickly and at all times of the day. They go above and beyond to maintain an open-door policy for remote employeesmaking themselves available across multiple time zones and through multiple means of technology (IM, Slack, Skype, Email, Phone, Text etc.). Remote employees can always count on their manager to respond to pressing concerns. Technology Maven. Successful managers use multiple means of communication to connect with their remote workers. They don't just resort to phone or email but are familiar with video conferencing technologies and a variety of services like Skype, Slack, Zoom, GoToMeeting and more. They often tailor their communication style and medium to each employee. Prioritize Relationships. Team building and comradery are important for any team and remote teams are no exception. Good managers go out of their way to form personal bonds with remote employees. They use check-in time to ask about their personal life, families and hobbies. They allow team meeting time for "Water cooler" conversation so the whole team can create personal connections and strengthen relationships.

About VitalSmarts: Named a Top 20 Leadership Training Company, VitalSmarts is home to the award-winning Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountability, Getting Things Done, The Power of Habit, and Influencer Training, and New York Times best-selling books of the same titles. VitalSmarts has consulted with more than 300 of the Fortune 500 companies and trained more than 2 million people worldwide. www.vitalsmarts.com

SOURCE VitalSmarts

Related Links

http://www.vitalsmarts.com


Flight Centre has announced it will close 100 under-performing stores.

The travel agency also withdrew its earnings guidance as coronavirus cripples the tourism industry.

The company said it would look to transfer staff to other shops.

A spokesman told Daily Mail Australia: 'Staff will generally be assigned to other nearby shops that have vacancies.'

In a statement this morning, the company explained the decision, saying: 'Demand is softening significantly and the timeframe for recovery is unclear.'

The statement was titled: 'Key strategies to combat short-term coronavirus challenges.'

Flight Centre shares fell 12.5 per cent on Friday morning.

Scroll down for video

Flight Centre has announced it will close 100 under-performing stores

Managing director Graham Turner said: 'We are now seeing significant softening and expect this to continue into April at least.

'Within this uncertain environment, our priorities are to reduce costs, while also ensuring that we and our people are ready to capitalise when the steep discounting that is underway across most travel categories starts to gain traction and as the trading cycle rebounds.

'As we saw with both SARS and the GFC in Australia, the rebound can be relatively fast and strong after a fairly significant downturn in international travel.'

Earlier this morning the Prime Minister warned Australian businesses will struggle for the next six months due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Companies across the country are suffering as supply chains are disrupted, travel is restricted and people avoid going out in public while the virus spreads.

Top doctors have warned Australian is 'only weeks' behind Italy which ordered a complete shut down earlier this week to slow the contagion.

On Thursday Scott Morrison announced a $17billion spending plan to boost the economy and avoid recession.

He has now revealed the measures are designed to combat economic turbulence which he believes will last for six months.

'I don't want to see apprentices and small businesses losing their jobs because of the difficult time businesses will face over the next six months,' he told Alan Jones on radio 2GB on Friday morning.

Australian businesses will struggle for the next six months due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Prime Minister warned this morning. Pictured: Sydney shops empty

This map shows the total number of coronavirus cases across Australia as of Friday morning

Despite that warning, the Prime Minister told Australians to 'keep calm and carry on'.

He said he was looking forward to attending the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks NRL game on Saturday and that Australians should go about life as normal.

A quarter of Australians will be given $750 as part of Mr Morrison's $17billion bid to prevent a recession as coronavirus rocks the economy.

The cash will be handed out to 6.5million people including 3.6million pensioners, 1.1million students and working-age welfare recipients and 1.5million others including veterans and parents who receive family tax breaks.

The payments totalling $4.8billion will be begin on 31 March and will be transferred automatically through the tax system.

Scott Morrison (pictured today) has unveiled his $17billion stimulus package to prevent a recession as coronavirus rocks the economy

'Australians will spend that money and that money will encourage economic activity,' Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.

The measure is part of a huge stimulus plan - the first of its kind since the 2008 financial crash - to save thousands of jobs and companies as coronavirus pushes Australia towards recession.

Despite the announcement this morning, the Australian stock market continued to plunge as the World Health Organisation said the outbreak was a global pandemic and the US banned flights from Europe, excluding the UK.

Who gets $750? Recipients on Newstart, the disability support pension, carers' allowance, youth allowance, veterans support payments, family tax benefits and Commonwealth senior health card-holders. Australia's 2.4million aged pensioners are also getting the payment. The payments will be begin on 31 March and will be automatically deposited into bank accounts. The government has promised 90 per cent of the funds would be delivered by mid-April. Advertisement

Other measures in the package focus on helping small businesses and companies in the tourism industry that has been pushed to the brink by the virus.

The government will hand out tax-free cash grants of up to $25,000 to 7,000 small businesses who turn over less than $50million and employ people.

There will also be a 50 per cent wage subsidy for 117,000 apprentices worth $21,000 per apprentice. The cash will be paid to companies so they can afford to keep their young employees in work.

Instant asset write offs will be expanded so tradies can buy trucks and other equipment worth $150,000 on the taxman until 30 June. The previous limit was $30,000.

Mr Morrison also vowed to make sure casual workers who can't find work due to the virus will not have to wait to access Newstart's sickness payment.

There is also a $1billion fund to help tourism businesses affected by the downturn, similar to a disaster recovery fund. The ATO is also allowing affected businesses to delay their tax obligations for four months.

The Prime Minister said the package is worth $17.629 billion over the next four to six months, giving the economy a boost worth $22.9 billion or 1.2 per cent of GDP.

'This plan is about keeping Australians in jobs. This plan is about keeping a business in business, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, and this plan is about ensuring the Australian economy bounces back stronger on the other side of this and, with that, the Budget bounces back with it,' Mr Morrison said.

Travellers at Sydney Airport wear masks and gloves in a bid to avoid getting coronavirus
The three-time chief minister was detained along with about 1,000 others following revocation of Kashmirs autonomy.

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir  Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have released veteran politician Farooq Abdullah seven months after he was detained following the revocation of the Muslim-majority regions special status.

The 82-year-old leader is among the top mainstream leaders, a three-time chief minister and sitting parliamentarian, who was detained on August 5 when the Himalayan region was put under a strict military and communication lockdown hours before the Article 370, which granted the disputed region a measure of autonomy, was removed.

I am free today. Now, I will be able to go to Delhi and attend Parliament and speak for you all, Abdullah said while addressing reporters from his house where he was flanked by his family.

Abdullah said he was grateful to the people who spoke for our freedom.

This freedom will be complete when all leaders are released. I hope the government of India will take action to release everyone, he added. He, however, refused to answer any political questions.

His son Omar Abdullah, also a former chief minister, still remains in detention.

The revocation of Abdullahs detention order under Public Safety Act (PSA), a law under which a person can be detained for up to two years without bail, was issued on Friday by Shaleen Kabra, Kashmirs principal home secretary.

A right step

Farooq Abdullahs daughter, Safia Abdullah Khan, wrote on Twitter that my father is a free man again.

An official source told Al Jazeera that one of the reasons to release Abdullah, who is in his 80s, was his health situation. The official said Abdullah went through an eye surgery two weeks ago.

Being in an advanced stage of life he was not keeping well, the official said.

After the abrogation of Article 370, a law that had protected the demography of the Muslim-majority region, the Indian authorities launched a massive crackdown and detained political leaders, separatists and thousands of others.

While most of the people, including some political leaders have been released, many continue to be in detention, including two former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

Farooq Abdullah, who often termed Article 370 a matter of honour for the Kashmiris, was on September 15 booked under the PSA, a law that has been termed lawless by rights groups like Amnesty International.

Farooq is the son of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah  Kashmirs tallest leader. The Abdullah family has dominated the National Conference, the largest mainstream political party in Kashmir that has ruled most of the last 70 years in the region.

In a statement, the National Conference, said, Abdullahs release from detention will be a right step for the restoration of a genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir.

The process will receive a further fillip when party leader Omar Abdullah and other political detainees are set free. We urge the government to do so at the earliest, it said.

Earlier this month, the government restored full internet services since it was banned in August.
Coronavirus: France closes schools for at least 15 days Algeria takes same measure until April 5

(ANSAmed) - PARIS, MARCH 13 - Schools in France will close from Monday ''for at least 15 days'', probably until spring break, to contain the spread of coronavirus, the country's Health Minister Olivier Veran told radio Europe 1 on Friday. ''We are not closing schools light-heartedly'' and the duration of the closure will be ''as short as possible'' but ''we want a massive national halt'' of the epidemic, said Veran.



The minister explained that the choice to close nurseries, schools and universities - a plan that had been firmly denied a few days ago by Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer - was decided after a meeting of experts at the presidential palace.



President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday night gave an address broadcast on national television, announcing new measures against coronavirus.



The wide-ranging address included immediate measures to respond to the health emergency and more long-term objectives including new forms of solidarity and a new French and European model to respond to the challenges of the 21st century.



- Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has ordered the closure of all schools until the end of the school holidays scheduled on April 5, according to a statement released by his office.



The closure, according to a statement, also affects universities, private and Koranic schools, zaouie (Islamic colleges) and nurseries. The measure is aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus.



Algeria yesterday reported the first death of a coronavirus patient, a 67-year-old man who was being treated at the university hospital of Blida, followed by the death of another person who was connected to the same outbreak. The country registered five new cases for a total of 24 confirmed cases. In a tweet, the president urged Algerians to postpone trips to countries affected by coronavirus.



(ANSAmed)
A rchitectural salvage is a no-brainer, offering homeware that combines vintage charm and sustainability points often for a fraction of what youd pay to buy new.

But here in the capital, where space is tight and reclamation yards few, it can be near impossible to sniff out a supplier, let alone find a gem. Luckily, weve already got them all on speed dial...

For tiles, Maitland & Poate

Thought you werent into used tiles? Think again. London-based website Maitland & Poates immaculate offering of Spanish ceramics is the best, bar none. It boasts modest terracotta shapes, complex mosaics and decadently hand-painted gems, so a night on this tile haven is inevitable. (maitlandandpoate.com)

For doors, Dulwich Reclamation, SE26

Keep falling in love with doors that just wont fit? Peruse the stocks of this south London trove and ask fantastic carpenter Sherif to chisel your dream hatch into shape. Oh, and dont miss the concise edit of retro homewares  you can pick up vintage crockery for an absolute steal.

For a masterpiece, Lassco, SE1 and SW8

From ironmongery to ship fittings, its possible to find almost anything at Lassco. But if you happen to be after a real work of art, youre in for a treat. Hidden between rare Carolean plaster ceilings and an Alexander McQueen fire surround, youll find stuffed black marlins and marble busts galore  some of which are for sale at shockingly good prices.

For the whole hog, Retrouvius, NW10

If youre keen on making reclamation an entire lifestyle, Retrouvius is your new mecca. Founded by duo Adam Hills and Maria Speake, its got everything from knicknacks to gargantuan blown-glass windows and one-of-a-kind textiles. Plus, it offers a top-notch interior design and consultation service that has won the shop an award or two.

For wood flooring, Turgon, SW6
A successful business needs more than a good product: It needs good branding. While businesses understand the power of branding, scientists and public health officials underestimate how strong branding can promote their goals. Ignoring branding is especially unfortunate in the case of health crises, including the current coronavirus outbreak.

In business, most branding initiatives aim at maximizing product sales. The ultimate goal of public health campaigns, however, is to get large populations to behave in a way that would best promote public health outcomes. And effective branding can help.

Effective branding involves at least three important tasks: increasing awareness of a unique and unified identity, promoting accurate perceptions, and instilling a desire to buy the product or service. Unfortunately, the branding efforts surrounding the coronavirus have fallen short on all three fronts.

Increase awareness of a unique and unified identity. A classic way to increase brand awareness is to promote the brand via logos, slogans, distinctive color patterns, etc. These aspects of a brand are so important that many countries protect these manifestations of a brand via trademark laws. The best brands have unique names or pictures that allow consumers to easily identify the brand and its products. Think about Coca-Cola; not only is the name ubiquitous, the red and white color scheme is quickly and easily identified by consumers around the world.

So, what can we say about the brand awareness of the coronavirus? For one, there isnt even clarity about what to call it. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that the official name for the coronavirus disease is COVID-19. They also indicate that it was previously called the 2019 novel coronavirus. The WHO also comments that the virus is called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 or, for short, SARS-CoV-2. Putting aside what scientists call it, a quick Google trend search shows that most people are using the search term coronavirus, others point out that coronaviruses are instead a broader family of viruses, and still others call it the Wuhan virus. This lack of a unified global brand for the virus can create confusion and harm the brand awareness consideration.

Promote accurate perceptions. In addition to a large awareness, good brands have clear, consistent and accurate associations. However, many of the brand associations surrounding the coronavirus have led to several inaccurate perceptions.

For example, some have come to believe that the mere fact of a person being ethnically Asian means that they are contagious, toxic or risky. A Fox News anchor recently asked a guest on her show, Can you get the coronavirus by eating Chinese food? More concerning is the recent uptick in ethnically Asian individuals being harassed or assaulted around the world. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has insisted on referring to the virus as the Chinese coronavirus. Apart from being a blatant attempt to racialize the virus, this is poor branding practice. It creates associations with the virus that do not advance the public health. In short, whether or not as a statistical matter, at present, more Asians are infected, surely having a brand that risks exposing people to violence and harassment is not in the public health interest.

Other mistaken perceptions include thinking that there is a vaccine available for the virus (there is not, at present) or that hand sanitizer is ineffective as a precautionary measure (it is effective). Less consequential, but equally indicative of the confusion surrounding the coronavirus, are reports of Google searches for Corona beer virus. This only reinforces the idea that the branding efforts have not created accurate and useful associations, but rather have continued to spread misperceptions.

Instill a desire to buy the product or service. A good corporate brand creates a desire in consumers to purchase products or services. With branding a virus, the aim is not to sell products, but instead to get the population to behave in a way that promotes public health. But caution is in order: What we do not want is a virus branding initiative that merely spurs any action. A branding initiative that creates undue fear or panic might promote negative public health outcomes (e.g., hoarding face masks).

A successful virus branding initiative instead requires instilling the desire to take appropriate action. The trouble, however, is that the public might not know what counts as appropriate action with respect to public health. What that means is that a virus branding initiative should promote the desire to become curious  that is, the desire to learn about what would be the appropriate action (this is akin to corporate branding initiatives generating intrigue about their product). Furthermore, its equally important to include clear directions about where to find accurate information to resolve this curiosity. From there, its up to the public health experts to inform the public what the appropriate course of action would be.

Finally, brand trust in the corporate context is an important factor in creating customer loyalty. Brand trust matters in the virus context, too. By not being honest about the state of the coronavirus (as many officials have been shown to be), citizens ultimately come to lose trust in the public health expertise on which global health now depends.

Vikram R. Bhargava is assistant professor of management & entrepreneurship at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University, where his research focuses on business and technology ethics. Suneal Bedi is assistant professor of business law and ethics at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, where his research focuses on marketing ethics/law.
Josh Frydenberg has the sniffles (he insists it's not "the" virus) and is getting through his most important day since becoming Treasurer on three hours' sleep.

"I need some sugar," he says in the general direction of one of his hard-working aides. "Can I have a cup of tea with some sugar?"

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

It's Thursday and it's been four hours since the $17.6 billion stimulus plan he's been working on, day and night for the past two weeks, to help protect the economy from the coronavirus pandemic has been announced. He is determined to stay upbeat about its chances of success.

But, he concedes, things are a rapidly moving feast. "You don't prepare a line item in the budget for a global pandemic," Frydenberg says.
A US judge has ordered the immediate release of Chelsea Manning, the former American army officer who was remanded to prison after refusing to testify against WikiLeaks.

The ruling states that it is no longer necessary for her to testify and follows her attorneys announcement that she had recently tried to kill herself while imprisoned. She is reportedly recovering in hospital.

Ms Manning spent seven years in a military prison after leaking thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks before Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017.

Last year, she was held in contempt of court after refusing to testify before a federal grand jury as part of an investigation into Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. She has been jailed since May.

Mr Assange is fighting extradition from the UK to Virginia, where he faces charges under the Espionage Act.

In 2013, Ms Manning was charged with several offences following a leak of military and diplomatic documents, including videos of bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison after her conviction.

As a low-level intelligence analyst in the army with access to a classified computer system, Ms Manning retrieved thousands of documents spanning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, exposing abuses of detainees and attacks  including the Collateral Murder video in which two journalists are killed by a helicopter strike  in addition to sensitive conversations among intelligence officials. Her role in Cablegate revealed thousands of diplomatic cables across several decades.

Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Show all 12 1 /12 Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence torbakhopper/Flickr Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Garry Knight/Flickr Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence People hold signs calling for the release of imprisoned wikileaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning while marching in a gay pride parade in San Francisco, California June 28, 2015. Manning has appealed to an Army court to overturn her court-martial conviction, a court filing released on Thursday said. Reuters Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Around twenty activists associated with the Chelsea Manning support group rally in front of the White House in Washington DC, Sunday May 11, 2014. Stephen Melkisethian/Flickr Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Daily Chalkupy/Flickr Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Around twenty activists associated with the Chelsea Manning support group rally in front of the White House in Washington DC, Sunday May 11, 2014. Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Twitter Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Abigail Edward holds up a sign advocating the release of WikiLeaks whistle blower Chelsea Manning along the Gay Pride parade route in San Francisco, California on Sunday, June, 26, 2016. Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Demonstration for Chelsea Manning in London, England, United Kingdom. Chelsea Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning) is a United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses, after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly three-quarters of a million classified or unclassified but sensitive military and diplomatic documents. Manning was sentenced in August 2013 to 35 years imprisonment, with the possibility of parole in the eighth year, and to be dishonorably discharged from the Army. Manning is a trans woman who, in a statement the day after sentencing, said she had felt female since childhood, wanted to be known as Chelsea, and desired to begin hormone replacement therapy. From early life and through much of her Army life, Manning was known as Bradley; she was diagnosed with gender identity disorder while in the Army. Mike Kemp/Getty Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Chelsea M Queer Friends/Twitter Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Instagram Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Jil Love Revolution/Instagram

WikiLeaks, in concert with several news organisations, published the documents. Ms Manning said she hoped to ignite a global discussion about the US militarys presence in the Middle East and subsequent reforms, though her whistle-blowing ultimately led to her prosecution  and a charge of aiding the enemy, which could have resulted in her execution if convicted.

During her imprisonment and after her release, Ms Manning has been an outspoken advocate for government transparency and transgender rights and healthcare.

In his ruling on Thursday, Judge Anthony Trenga did not waive the $256k (200k) in penalties levied against her. The ruling says that enforcement of the accrued, conditional fines would not be punitive but rather necessary to the coercive purpose of the courts contempt order.

She was scheduled to appear at a hearing in a Virginia federal court today. That appearance has been cancelled.
Ottawa, March 13 : Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be quarantines for a period of 14 days after his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his office said in a statement.

Although the Canadian leader has exhibited no symptoms of the disease, "he will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days," but will not be "tested at this stage", Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying on Thursday night.

There was also no risk to those who have been in contact with the Prime Minister "recently", the office added.

Meanwhile, the First Lady "is feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild", the statement said.

Health care workers will "reach out to those who have been in contact with Gregoire Trudeau as they deem necessary".

Gregoire Trudeau has also issued a personal note thanking those who have reached out to her.

"Although I'm experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon," she said.

Gregoire Trudeau showed flu-like symptoms on Wednesday evening after she returned from Britain where she carried out speaking engagements.

Local media reported that the couple's three children have not shown symptoms.

While self-quarantining himself, Trudeau was expected to address the country on Friday.

"The Prime Minister will continue to fully assume his duties and will address Canadians tomorrow," the office statement said.

US President Donald Trump spoke with Trudeau over phone on Thursday, discussing developments related to the disease, the White House said in a statement.

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau is the 158th Canadian to test positive for the virus that was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on Wednesday.

The country has not reported any fatality so far.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
DES MOINES  An update Wednesday on Iowas controversial Medicaid managed care program from the Department of Human Services was encouraging for leaders of the Iowa House Government Oversight Committee, which held a similar hearing a year ago.

It left me feeling positive, said Rep. Ruth Ann Gaines of Des Moines, the committees ranking Democrat. I feel better than I did last year and in 2018.

Human Services Director Kelly Garcia and Medicaid Enterprises Director Michael Randol briefed the oversight committee on work theyve done to address concerns over prior authorization and timely payment issues. They told lawmakers they developed new processes and are meeting regularly with the private managed care organizations to ensure they are living up to the contracts.

The department is monitoring claims payments and denials and member grievances and appeals, Randol said.

Prior authorizations required for services and procedures, which have been the source of complaints, were reduced. More than a 500,000 Iowans rely on Medicaid for health care. In the years first quarter, 5.46 million claims were processed. About 210,000 required prior authorization, he said, and there were 441 grievances and 333 appeals filed.

That sounded like progress to Chairwoman Mary Ann Hanusa, R-Council Bluffs.

Weve heard a number of concerns from service providers and constituents about prior authorizations, Hanusa said. Prior authorizations comes up most frequently, and Im pleased to hear the department and the (private managers) are working to streamline that process.

For example, Randol said, in some cases the managers were approving more than 90 percent of the requests for prior authorization.

So we asked why have them? Are they necessary? he asked.

Randol doubts the prior authorization requirement will decrease sharply because Amerigroup already has removed more than 600 authorization codes.

He also addressed Gov. Kim Reynolds decision in January to withhold $44 million from Iowa Total Care due to issues related to incorrect payments to medical providers and the insurance companys record keeping. Iowa Total Care is one of the companies paid by the state to administer health coverage to thousands of Iowans under the Medicaid managed-care program.

The company was required to reprocess at least 75 percent of 900,000 claims and make system changes in order to be paid, Randol said.

Human Services met with the company three times a week until last week when the meetings were scaled back to twice weekly. In addition, the department met with Iowa Total Care after each check run to look at the number of claims received, rejected, denied and paid.

Human Services also looked at the top 10 denial reasons, the top 10 procedures most denied and the top three providers affected by the denials.

Randol said care providers will be surveyed before the state decides whether to release payment to the company.

Garcia spoke of her vision for community integration of people with intellectual disabilities. Very soon, she said her department will unveil a plan for serving that population. It will be done with providers, families and other stakeholders.

At the heart of this effort is a reinvigorated approach, from our perspective at DHS, to really have a vision around how we provide services to individuals with intellectual disabilities, Garcia said.

She anticipates a series of town hall meetings across the state to get input from providers and others about the challenges and barriers to that transition to community integration.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 02:29:35|Editor: xuxin

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Britain's Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock leaves 10 Downing Street after a press conference in London, Britain on March 12, 2020. The British government announced on Thursday that the country has switched from the "containment" phase to "delay" in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, which will see more "social distancing" measures. The COVID-19 outbreak is "the worst public health crisis for a generation," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters after an emergency COBRA committee meeting. (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua)

LONDON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The British government announced on Thursday that the country has switched from the "containment" phase to "delay" in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, which will see more "social distancing" measures.

The COVID-19 outbreak is "the worst public health crisis for a generation," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters after an emergency COBRA committee meeting.

COBRA, or COBR, meetings are named after Britain's Cabinet Office Briefing Room A on Whitehall. It gathers ministers, civil servants, the police, intelligence officers and others appropriate to whatever they are looking into in an emergency response.

UK's plan to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak includes four phases -- containment, delay, research and mitigate.

In the delay phase, the government will ramp up efforts to delay the spread of COVID-19, aiming to lower the peak impact of the novel coronavirus and push it away from the winter season.

Under the previous phase of "containment", local health authorities urged people to self-isolate only if they had the cough and fever but had also been to an affected country recently, or had contact with someone who had tested positive for the virus. But in the "delay" phase, anyone with a new continuous cough or a high temperature should self-isolate for seven days.

Starting from Friday, school trips abroad will also be banned, said Johnson. But "we will not close school now."

Johnson told reporters that advice on schools may change as disease spreads, adding that his government is considering banning major public events.

"This disease is more dangerous (than seasonal flu) ... I must level with the British public, many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time," Johnson warned.

As of Thursday morning, 590 patients in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of 134 in the last 24 hours, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.

Two more patients have died in London hospitals since Wednesday after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths in Britain to 10.
Workers in protective suits check id's of patients as they arrive by car at the State's First Drive Through COVID-19 Mobile Testing Center at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle, New York March 13, 2020.

New York will begin its first "drive-through" testing center for COVID-19 in New Rochelle, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office confirmed to CNBC on Friday.

Cuomo is touring the facility Friday morning, spokesman Will Burns said.

The number of confirmed cases in the state has reached 325 as of Thursday afternoon, according to the state's official website. At least 148 of those cases are in Westchester County, where the city of New Rochelle is located.

Earlier this week Cuomo deployed the National Guard to New Rochelle and created a one-mile containment zone to assist with the outbreak. Cuomo said schools in New Rochelle would be closed for two weeks beginning Thursday, and officials are adding a satellite testing facility within the containment area to test residents for the virus.
Photo: Unsplash/Artem Beliaikin

The spring edition of the Great Closet Cleanout expected to take place this Saturday has been postponed, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"In light of yesterdays direction by the BC Minister of Health officials to cancel any events that expects to host more than 250 people, It is with great disappointment that we have to postpone the Great Closet Cleanout tomorrow on March 14 at the Laurel Packinghouse," states a press release.

"The health, safety and well-being of our employees, vendors and guests remain our top priority and we are following the lead of both the BC and Canadian Public Health Authorities at this important time."

The Great Closet Cleanout takes place twice every year, in spring and fall, as the fashion season changes, to give ladies the chance to update their wardrobes, while also supporting local charities.

Organizers plan to reschedule the date in the near future. The event is a fundraiser for the Bridge Youth Recovery House, which once completed, will meet the extensive demand for youth recovery beds in the Okanagan.
By Olga Yagova and Gleb Gorodyankin

MOSCOW, March 12 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has stepped up efforts to squeeze Russia's Urals oil grade out of its main markets by offering its own cheap barrels instead after their long-standing deal to support global oil prices fell apart, seven oil sources said.

Market sources told Reuters that Saudi Aramco is trying to replace Urals in refiners' feedstock around the world, from Europe to India.

State-controlled Saudi Aramco is in talks with European refiners including big buyers of Urals oil including Finland's Neste Oil, Sweden's Preem, France's Total, BP, Azerbaijan's SOCAR, Italy's Eni, the sources said.

The tactic has already started to pay off, with refiners ordering extra volumes of Saudi crude for loading in April at "very attractive prices", the sources added.

"They (the Saudis) knock on all doors offering a lot and cheaply ..." a source with a Western oil major told Reuters. (additional reporting by Jonathan Saul in LONDON and Devika Krishna Kumar in NEW YORK Editing by Katya Golubkova and Alexander Smith)
York, Ryerson and the University of Toronto have all cancelled classes on campus amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Beginning Monday, York University president Rhonda Lenton said the school will be suspending all face-to-face instruction and will transition to online classes. They have also postponed or cancelled all non-essential events that are not part of an academic program.

I know this is an anxious and upsetting time for everyone, Lenton wrote in a press release Friday. Let me say, without reservation, that York will be there to support every member of the community as we face this pandemic together.

The University of Toronto also announced that classes will be cancelled at the St. George, Scarborough and Mississauga campuses, until April 3, and that teaching will be delivered through other means.

U of T president Meric Gertler said in a statement that libraries, residences, food services, health and wellness centres, athletics and recreation facilities will remain open.

Ryerson president Mohamed Lachemi announced that the school will cancel in-person classes and transition to online courses, effective Friday. Ryerson will also conduct exams by alternate methods.

Lachemi said students can expect to hear from their departments next week regarding future plans.

Staff across the university have been working extremely hard and have been in near constant contact with other universities and colleges, public health and public safety agencies, Lachemi wrote in a press release Friday.

McMaster University in Hamilton cancelled in-person classes and exams as of the end of day Friday.

There are unsettling times, said university president David Farrar in a letter posted on the McMaster website Friday morning.

Undergraduate and graduate students are expected to hear by March 18 how the remainder of their courses will be managed and grades assessed so they can complete their credits on time. Online classes is one potential option suggested in the letter.

Queens University in Kingston, Ont., confirmed that all undergraduate classes will be suspended for one week, after which they will communicate how the rest of the semester will move forward. The university said all operations and residences will remain open.

Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., announced it is suspending face-to-face classes and exams for the rest of the academic term. The statement suggested faculty members consider re-distributing the assessment for a course based on the material and work already completed.

Centennial College in Toronto suspended all classes next week. From March 23 to April 3 all courses will be delivered online and students will not have to attend campus. However, campuses will remain open during this time to allow students who require a computer to engage in online learning to utilize our open computer labs on campus.

George Brown College in Toronto will also be suspending all in-person classes from Saturday to March 22, including daytime and Continuing Education classes at all their campuses. This is to ensure the health and well-being of our community.

Earlier this week, Western, Laurentian and Ontario Tech universities cancelled in-person classes.

With files from Tom Yun and Hamilton Spectator
I'm not an expert on the new coronavirus by any stretch, but I study epidemics and have general knowledge and training that is applicable. Here are my thoughts on what's happening and what we should do:

First of all, we are going to see a tremendous increase in the number of cases of coronavirus in the coming days. This is not entirely because of some new pattern in the spread of the disease but rather due to a major change in the requirements to be tested.

Until recently, if you had a flu-like illness but had not recently traveled to China, Italy, South Korea or Iran, you could not be tested. This is just the way health care works; you get tested if you meet the case definition, and the case definition included travel.

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Now, you can be tested if you are sick and have a doctor's order to be tested, so expect things to feel a lot more panicky all of a sudden. We will see hundreds or thousands of new cases as testing increases.

Is the panic legitimate?

Sort of. But this is not the zombie apocalypse.

The death rate of 30 deaths per 1,000 cases is probably a wild overestimate. (The denominator is almost certainly wrong because it is confirmed cases, and we only confirm cases when we test for them.)

That said, even at 3 per 1,000 cases, this would be a big deal. By way of comparison, the death rate for seasonal influenza is between 1 and 2 in 1,000 cases. So, yeah, going from roughly 0x to 30x worse than a bad flu year? That's a problem.

Unlike flu, COVID-19 is not particularly dangerous for children, so thats some happy news. It is dangerous for older adults and those with lung conditions, so we need to be extra careful to protect those populations from exposure.

And for millions of Americans, getting any serious illness requiring hospitalization is a major problem because they can't pay for it. Our health care system is probably going to struggle to keep up with it all.

Story continues

With China basically closed, our global economy is going to take a huge hit; we may feel the shockwaves for years. Those are real concerns.

What can we do?

Our focus should be on slowing down the spread of this disease. We have a limited health care system, and the virus is spreading very quickly right now. We need to slow it down so that we have time to deal with new cases within the capacity of the system.

Here is my advice:

1. Wash your hands. Wash them so much.

The current best guess is that the new coronavirus is transmitted via close contact and surface contamination. COVID-19 can be transmitted by contact with contaminated surfaces. I have started washing my hands each time I enter a new building and after being in shared spaces (classrooms especially), in addition to the standard practice of washing after using the bathroom and before eating. Use soap and water. Hand sanitizer also kills this virus, as does rubbing alcohol (the main ingredient in hand sanitizer).

There is no need to be obsessive about this. Just wash your hands. A little bit more effort here goes a long way.

2. Dont pick your nose.

... Or put your fingers in your mouth, on your lips or in your eyes. Surface contact works like this: You touch something dirty  like an elevator button. Virus sticks to your hands. Then you rub your eye. Then you touch your sandwich and put the sandwich in your mouth. Now there is virus in your eyes and mouth. You may be thinking, but I dont pick my nose because I am an adult. An observational study found that people sitting at a desk working touched their eyes, nose or lips between three and 50 times an hour.

2a. If you're healthy, you don't need a face mask.

There has been a suggestion that face masks actually promote surface contamination because you're always adjusting them  and touching your face. I dont know whether thats true. But face masks should not be worn by the healthy public right now unless you are the person who is sick and you're on your way to or actually at the doctor's office.

The masks function is to prevent spit from flying out of your mouth and landing on things when you cough or sneeze. It flies out of your mouth and is caught in the mask instead. If you are the person who is sick and not on the way to the doctor, go home. Let the people who really need them have the masks. Like doctors, nurses and people who are sick.

The world is running low on masks. If everyone wants a mask so they can feel OK about keeping their Daytona Beach spring break plans and then hospitals in India can't buy them anymore, shame on us.

Coronavirus does not appear to be airborne in the sense that it doesn't remain floating around freely in the air for a long time, as with measles. You are probably not going to breathe it in, unless someone is coughing in front of you. And if someone is coughing in your face, feel free to tell them to go home and immediately move 6 feet away from them. (Yeah I know, if you have a toddler, this is hard advice to follow.)

3. Sanitize the objects you and lots of other people touch.

If you can't find hand sanitizer for coronavirus prep, you can make it at home. To make homemade hand sanitizer, use two-thirds cup of 99% rubbing alcohol and one-third cup of aloe vera gel. You can add 8 to 10 drops of essential oil like grapefruit, lavender or peppermint.

This is especially true of people outside your family. Think door handles, shared keyboards at schools and salad bar tongs. Best guesses are that the virus can live on surfaces for two to 48 hours, maybe even longer, depending on the surface, temperature and humidity.

Many common household cleaning products will kill this virus. However, white vinegar solution does not. You can make your own inexpensive antimicrobial spray by mixing 1 part household bleach to 50 parts cold tap water. Spray this on surfaces and leave for 10-30 minutes. Note: This is bleach. It will ruin your sofa.

4. 'Social distancing.' You're going to get so sick of this phrase.

This means keeping people apart from one another (preferably 6 feet apart and sanitizing shared objects). This public health strategy is our next line of defense, and its implementation is what will lead to flights and events being canceled, and schools and even borders closed.

For now, you could limit face-to-face meetings, especially large ones. Zoom is an excellent video conferencing option. If you spend time in shared spaces, see No. 1. Ask about the hygiene plan at your child's school. Keep your children home if they are sick. If you can telecommute, do that a little more. If you are someone's boss and employees could do their jobs remotely, encourage them to do so.

Avoid large gatherings of people if possible, especially if they are in an area with cases or places that lots of people travel to. If you attend group events and start to feel even a little bit sick within two to 14 days, you need to self isolate immediately. Like for a tiny tickle in your throat.

5. All your travel plans are about to be disrupted.

If you are considering booking flights right now, get refundable tickets. Most trip insurance will not cover cancellations due to a pandemic. Look for "cancel for any reason" trip insurance.

Considerations for risks related to the trip you are planning: How bad would it be if you got stuck where you are going for three to six weeks? How bad would it be to be isolated at home for two to three weeks upon your return? Do you have direct contact with people who are over 70 and/or have lung conditions? Are there cases in your area that you might be carrying to new places and groups of people?

6. If you are sick, stay home.

For the love of all that is holy, stay at home. Your contributions to the world are really just not that important.

7. There is a good chance school will be canceled and nonessential movement limited.

If someone in your family gets sick, your family will almost certainly be isolated for two to three weeks (asked to stay at home). You could start stocking up with essentials for that scenario, but don't run out and buy a years' worth of toilet paper. Again, not the apocalypse. Two weeks' worth of essential items is enough. Refill any prescriptions; check your supply of coffee, kitty litter and jigsaw puzzles.

8. When public health works, the result is the least newsworthy thing ever: Nothing happens.

If this all fizzles out and you start feeling like, "Wah, all that fuss for nothing?"  send a thank you note to your local department of public health officials for a job well done. They are working very, very hard right now. Fingers crossed for that outcome.

9. There are some positives here.

Malia Jones is a social epidemiologist and demographer by training with a master of public health and a doctorate in public health from UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She works as an assistant scientist in health geography at the Applied Population Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studies spatial patterns of infectious disease and spatial patterns in other human activities.

All this hand-washing could stop flu season in its tracks! We have an opportunity to reduce our global carbon footprint by telecommuting more, flying less and understanding where our stuff comes from.

We can use this outbreak to think about the problems with our health care system. We can use it to reflect on our positions of privilege and implicit biases. We can start greeting each other using jazz hands. I'm genuinely excited about those opportunities.

There is a lot we don't yet know about this virus. It didn't even exist several months ago. Stay tuned; it is an evolving situation. The World Health Organization has a decent frequently-asked-questions section.

May the force be with you.

Malia Jones is a social epidemiologist and demographer by training. She is an assistant scientist in health geography at the Applied Population Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studies spatial patterns of infectious disease and other human activities. This column originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Epidemiologist gives advice on fighting coronavirus
UPDATE: State officials announced Friday night, March 13 that the number of presumptive positive coronavirus cases in Michigan is now at 25, up from the 16 referenced in this story.

DETROIT, MI -- To help combat the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Archdiocese of Detroit is suspending all public Masses in churches under the organizations jurisdiction.

Notice about the Masses was issued Friday, March 13 in a letter from Archbishop of Detroit Reverend Allen H. Vigneron.

In a communication, archdiocese leaders said Masses would be temporarily suspended beginning Saturday, March 14 and ending April 6.

The cancellations include: Sunday and weekday public Masses, faith formation courses, communal Penance services, and all other parish events."

Mass will be available to you each day via live-stream and other media channels, church officials said. You can find these on our website www.aod.org. Be assured that our priests will be offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each day in private so as to harness and direct the great spiritual grace and power contained therein.

Four more adults have tested presumptive positive for coronavirus in Michigan, bringing the statewide total of COVID-19 cases to 16.

Archdiocese leaders said the decision to cancel Mass was not done lightly.

The communications addressed events including funerals, weddings, and baptisms and said they are to be held at the discretion of the pastor but are not to exceed 100 people in attendance.

Gatherings of more than 250 people are prohibited in Michigan under an executive order signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday that takes effect at 5 p.m.

Related: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer bans gatherings of more than 250 people as coronavirus spreads

The announcement comes on the heels of Whitmer closing all K-12 schools from March 16 to April 5. This includes all Catholic schools.

The Diocese of Grand Rapids canceled all weekend Masses through Sunday, March 29.

More on MLive:

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Founders Brewing Co. to close taprooms amid coronavirus pandemic

Grand Rapids Public Library closing all locations for foreseeable future due to coronavirus

Mitten Brewing hands out free pizza to students in wake of school closings
Eva Mendes looked ravishing in a skintight bright orange dress in an image she shared to Instagram on Friday.

The 2 Fast 2 Furious actress was laying down on her side, showing off her hourglass shape, as she had a matching pumps and a structured purse with an envelope close in front of her.

This comes after the 46-year-old actress turned fashion designer admitted she has 'struggled' with food in the past.

Bright idea: Eva Mendes looked ravishing in a skintight bright orange dress in an image she shared to Instagram on Friday. The 2 Fast 2 Furious actress was laying down on her side, showing off her hourglass shape

Pinup material: Her hair was worn in flattering curls giving her a Sophia Loren vibe

In the caption for the orange dress she noted it was a 'power' look. She was reclined on a beige and gold backless chair in what appeared to be a museum only there were no paintings, just framed prints.

Her hair was worn in flattering curls giving her a Sophia Loren vibe.

There are several other images of the star in dresses that she shared this week.

Another saw her in a green wrap dress called the 'Brenda.' Her hair was flowing as she walked in the snazzy number.

And then there was an image of Eva in a sleeveless dress that looks perfect for Easter Sunday.

Now with another look: And then there is this shift dress with a fruit pattern as she wears white heels and holds a green purse

Mendes has been helping design clothes for New York & Company for years now and seems to be an excellent fit for the brand.

She has opened up about her struggles with 'food' and 'many other things' in a candid Instagram post she shared a week ago.

The actress took to the photo-sharing site to respond to a fan who had praised her for acknowledging her fans and chatting with them on social media.

Eva thanked the follower for saying she 'looked amazing', but added that it 'takes a lot' for her to look so good and admitted she has her own inner struggles.

Now in green: Another saw her in a green wrap dress called the 'Brenda.' Her hair was flowing as she walked in the snazzy number

Eva went on to explain that she endeavours to be honest with her followers and shared that, like many women, she has a 'struggle with food.'

The star wrote: 'I try to post responsibly and I try to make sure I don't portray myself in a way that makes other women feel bad. Instagram can be hurtful in that way.

'Like with this picture, this is actually a campaign shot and it was retouched. So I want women to know that.'

She added: '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.'

Honest: The siren has opened up about her struggles with 'food' and 'many other things' in a candid Instagram post she shared a week ago

Responsible: The actress, 46, took to the photo-sharing site to respond to a fan who had praised her for acknowledging her fans and chatting with them on social media

Eva also shared: 'I take so much joy from connecting to other women. It means so much to me. Even just a quick exchange. I struggle with Social Media but I love the constant connection with women.'

Eva and her partner Ryan Gosling have been together since 2011 and share two daughters, Esmeralda, five, and Amada, three.

During the honest post she also touched on why she doesn't share pictures of her beau and their two young children on her social media.

Addressing the fan's request she post photos of the actor she explained: 'As far as Ryan, I'll only post flash backs of things that are already 'out there' (like pics from movies we did or stuff like that). My man and kids are private. That's important to me so thanks for getting that.'
One day after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei handed over Coronavirus control and prevention to the armed forces, General Mohammad Baqeri, Chief of the joint staff of the Iranian armed forces says his troops are planning to make sure that the people will leave roads and supermarkets in 24 hours.

Baqeri was tasked on Thursday by Khamenei to set up a Health and Medical Treatment Headquarters and use military forces to combat the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Reporting Baqeri's first news conference about confronting the outbreak, the official news agency IRNA referred to the HQ as the Imam Reza Health and Medical Treatment Headquarters.

Imam Reza, the 8th Imam of the Shiites who is buried in Mashhahd in northeastern Iran, is known to have authored a book of medicine entitled Teb al-Reza (Reza's Medicine).

It was at the news conference on Friday March 13 that Baqeri revealed the plan about emptying urban and inter-city roads and supermarkets of untimely travelers and panicked shoppers.

However, it is still not known if this means imposing lockdowns or quarantines on affected cities. Many citizens during the past days had demanded quarantines as a virus control measure and Iranians of various political affiliation criticized President Hassan Rouhani for refusing to do so.

Rouhani and his Health Minister Saeed Namaki have repeatedly voiced their opposition to the idea of quarantines.

In his mandate for Baqeri, Khamenei made an allusion to biological warfare against Iran without elaborating on who he thought was responsible and why nearly the whole world is affected by the virus. He told Baqeri to treat the headquarters' function as a military exercise in the area of biological warfare.

However, Baqeri, known to be one of the few pragmatist officers among Khamenei's aides, did not mention biological warfare in his news conference. The staff officer is known as a technocrat and rarely makes blustering statements like other IRGC figures. Perhaps, Khamenei hopes that Baqeri, with better managerial skills, can bring some order to the government's chaotic response to the epidemic.

Baqeri said on Friday that because of shortage of medical staff, and as doctors, nurses and paramedics are tired after several weeks of uninterrupted hard work, the Basij militia members and other volunteers are going to take part in a one-week training course in order to help nurses at hospitals.

Meanwhile, he said the Imam Reza HQ is planning to establish 1,000 medical centers, some of them makeshift facilities, as well as preparation centers for those who will be sent to hospitals later as well as recuperation centers for patients discharged from hospitals.

The preparation facilities appear to be isolation centers for those who have to wait for medical treatment and recuperation centers are meant to make sure that patients will not mingle with population for a period of time.

He also said that the HQ will provide masks and other medical and hygienic equipment for patients and medical staff.

Baqeri added that the HQ is going to launch a website during the next week which will monitor all Iranians for virus control.

The general took part in the last meeting of the previous Disease Control and Prevention Task Force which operated under Rouhani and his health minister, but it is not known if the HQ is going to replace the task force.

In the meantime, the Iranian Health Ministry's Spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told reporters that during the past day the total number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in Iran has reached 11,364 which indicates around 1,300 people have tested positive during the past day.

Jahanpur added 303 of the new cases were in Tehran, 192 in Mazandaran, 110 in Isfahan and 110 in Khorasan-e Razavi. He also said that with 85 new deaths during the past 24 hours, the official Coronavirus death toll in Iran has reached 514 which includes.

Independent research, including an investigative report by Radio Farad put the fatalities at around 1,000 four days ago.
As Israel scrambles to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 100 of its citizens, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday called for the formation of an emergency unity government.

It will be an emergency government for a limited time, and together we will fight to save the lives of tens of thousands of citizens, Netanyahu said during televised remarks.

What we need right now is national responsibility, and this responsibility supersedes all other considerations, he added.

The prime minister also announced the closure of all schools and universities until at least after the Jewish holiday of Passover, which concludes April 16. For now, preschools will remain open.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Israel has reached 109 and includes a 6-month-old baby who tested positive for the virus. The surge in cases prompted the Israeli Ministry of Health to mandate a 100-person limit on events, including weddings, funerals and bar mitzvahs.

On Monday, the government announced all citizens returning to the country from abroad would be required to quarantine at home for 14 days. Foreign arrivals will need to prove they have somewhere to self-quarantine in order to be allowed into the country.

The government has also temporarily closed to Palestinians crossings into Israel from the West Bank and Gaza, with a senior political source telling Al-Monitor that a pandemic in the already impoverished Gaza Strip is Israels greatest nightmare.

The outbreak of the coronavirus and calls for a unity government follow Israels third nationwide election in under a year. As with the previous two rounds of voting, the last elections on March 2 ended with both Netanyahus Likud and the centrist Blue and White party failing to secure the necessary 61 votes needed to form a new government.

Earlier Thursday, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett called for the country's political parties to overcome their differences and form a unity government led by Netanyahu.

"Israeli citizens, this is an emergency situation," Bennett said in a statement. "And at such an hour, an emergency government headed by Netanyahu is needed."

Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman called for a unity government consisting of only the Blue and White and Likud parties, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Netanyahu, the countrys first sitting prime minister to be tried in court, has faced calls to step down by his main rival, former army chief Benny Gantz.

Netanyahu was indicted in November on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust and is due in court for the start of his corruption trial next week.
Asias richest man announced his intention on Friday to ship 500,000 testing kits and 1 million masks to the U.S. in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Jack Mas charitable foundation and his China-based company's foundation, the Alibaba Foundation, have also sourced and donated supplies to other countries being hit by the virus, including Japan, Korea, Italy, Iran and Spain.

The donation comes amid testing delays across the U.S. as state officials scramble amid a shortage of lab materials  sparking concerns that health officials are undercounting the number of Americans with the virus.

Drawing from my own countrys experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are most effective in preventing the spread of the virus, the statement said. We hope that our donation can help Americans fight against the pandemic!

Mas announcement also comes as Trump aides and allies cast blame on China, with some officials calling it the Wuhan virus  a reference to the Chinese city that is the epicenter of the disease. National security adviser Robert OBrien has accused China of covering up a health crisis, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has labeled the outbreak the Wuhan coronavirus.

The crisis presents a huge challenge to all humankind in a globalized world. The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by any individual country, Ma said in the statement. Rather, we need to combat the virus by working hand-in-hand. At this moment, we cant beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 18:12:06|Editor: Lu Hui

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TOKYO, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Japanese government officials and those from the Bank of Japan (BOJ) reaffirmed their commitment Friday to continue to closely observe markets and intervene as deemed necessary to ensure financial stability.

The meeting between the officials was convened as coronavirus concerns continue to rock global stock markets and have caused increased volatility in currency markets of late.

"Financial and monetary authorities will be more vigilant than ever in monitoring market developments and closely cooperate with other members of the Group of Seven and the Group of 20," Yoshiki Takeuchi, vice finance minister for international affairs, told a press briefing on the matter.

"If necessary, we will take appropriate measures in accordance with the agreements of the G7 and the G20," Takeuchi said, with his remarks coming after the conclusion of the meeting between the BOJ, Finance Ministry and the Financial Services Agency.

Meanwhile, Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said that "uncertainty about the future" is one of the reasons global stock markets have been rattled to the point of triggering a string of major routs.

"Although stock prices are fluctuating greatly, it doesn't mean that the financial condition of Japanese companies is getting worse," said Aso.

He also intimated that firms would likely find more stability in the days and weeks ahead, once the global impact of the coronavirus was better known and could be factored into future business moves.

Aso rejected the idea that a tax cut might be necessary to underpin the economy, stating that this would not deliver the effect needed, and reiterated that the moves to protect jobs and support businesses financially, particularly small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), remained the government's priority.

Friday's meeting came on the heels of an emergency meeting convened on Monday between financial officials to address the market turmoil and followed closed-door talks held on Thursday between BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe.

The BOJ chief told reporters after the meeting that there would be no hesitation by the central bank in taking the necessary measures to combat market volatility if and when deemed necessary.

Following the World Health Organization (WHO) designating the coronavirus virus outbreak a global pandemic, and the United States issuing a sweeping ban on entry from travelers from mainland Europe from Friday, stock markets in Japan have tanked, in line with an ongoing global rout.

Earlier Friday, the benchmark Nikkei stock index lost more than 1,850 points at one point, dropping below the 17,000 threshold and marking the steepest one-day point decline since April 1990.

The BOJ said it is ready to inject 500 billion yen (4.71 billion U.S. dollars) of liquidity into markets through government bond purchases.

The central bank also said it would buy up to 200 billion yen (1.88 billion U.S. dollars) in bonds and lend 1.5 trillion yen (14.15 billion U.S. dollars) to financial institutions.

The BOJ is set to hold its monetary policy setting meeting next week.
"Many are now choosing to stay home unless necessary to reduce their risk of contracting the coronavirus," Harper said. "Everyone should take precautions to keep themselves safe and I will do my best to accommodate that goal."

Unlike McDermott, Harper also is cutting off handshaking for the time being to reduce the risk of passing on any illness.

"While I eventually want to shake hands with every resident in Northwest Indiana, that will have to be put on hold until the risk of infection is passed," Harper said.

At the extreme end of the scale, DeMotte congressional candidate Ryan Farrar is calling for all upcoming primary elections, including Indiana's on May 5, to be canceled or possibly replaced by a mail-in ballot.

"An election during a pandemic feels like a formula for disaster. Public health and safety should always be the top priority," Farrar said.

"Due to the coronavirus pandemic, our campaign will not be participating in any events or canvassing activities for at least 2 weeks," he added. "I encourage other candidates to take similar measures."

Indiana law does not authorize elections to be canceled or postponed.
The Democratic debate scheduled to take place Sunday in Phoenix has been moved to Washington, D.C., out of fears for the coronavirus, according to the Arizona Republic.

U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told the Republic he was informed of the move during a phone call Thursday morning with Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez.

Out of an abundance of caution and in order to reduce cross-country travel, all parties have decided that the best path forward is to hold Sundays debate at CNNs studio in Washington, D.C., with no live audience, DNC spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a written statement.
Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/12/2020 -- According to a new market research report "Critical Infrastructure Protection Market by Security Technology (Network Security, Physical Security, Radars, CBRNE, Vehicle Identification, Secure Communication, SCADA, Building Management), Service, Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Critical Infrastructure Protection Market estimated to grow from USD 110.41 Billion in 2017 to USD 153.16 Billion by 2022, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.8%.



Browse in-depth TOC on "Critical Infrastructure Protection Market"

80- Tables

41- Figures

169- Pages



Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=988



The Critical Infrastructure Protection Market includes various security technologies, which are essential for safeguarding critical assets, enterprises, and territories from physical attacks and cyber-attacks. Increased instances of physical attacks, such as terrorist activities, thefts, intrusion drones, and cyber-attacks which include malware, ransomware, virus, and Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) have driven the need for large scale adoption of CIP security devices and services. Moreover, stringent government regulations and adoption of best practices for CIP are expected to drive the market growth during the forecast period.



The network security segment is expected to play a key role in the Critical Infrastructure Protection Market



The network security segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The various network security solutions include identity and access management, risk and compliance management, encryption, firewall, antivirus/antimalware, intrusion detection systems/intrusion prevention systems, and DDoS mitigation. Network security solutions safeguard the critical systems network from malware, ransomware, viruses, worms, APTs, and zero day attacks.



The physical security segment is expected to have the largest market share and dominate the Critical Infrastructure Protection Market from 2017 to 2022, due to growing instances of physical attacks and natural disasters on industrial plants, oil fields, and ports.



The transportation systems vertical is expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the Critical Infrastructure Protection Market



The sensitive infrastructures and enterprises industry vertical is expected to contribute the largest market share from 2017 to 2022 in the Critical Infrastructure Protection Market, as video surveillance, video analytics, smart cards, biometrics systems, and intrusion detection systems are widely used at public places for physical security. However, the transportation systems segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2017 to 2022, in the Critical Infrastructure Protection Market due to increased instances of terror attacks, pirate activities on international waters and ports, and cyber threats due to malware, viruses, and persistent adaptive threats.



North America is expected to contribute the largest market share, whereas MEA is expected to grow at the highest rate



North America is expected to have the largest market share and dominate the Critical Infrastructure Protection Market from 2017 to 2022. The North American region is always under threat from criminals and cyber-attackers, which can disrupt the functioning of the critical infrastructural assets. Surveillance measures in public places and industrial sites have been tightened. Various airports, marine ports, and border control areas have adopted biometrics for access control. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is expected to grow at the highest CAGR as major oil field projects are set up in MEA, which require protection from physical attacks, cyber-attacks, and natural disasters.



Speak to Research Expert @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=988



The major vendors in the critical infrastructure protection market include BAE Systems (UK), General Dynamics Corporation (US), Honeywell International Inc. (US), Lockheed Martin Corporation (US), Northrop Grumman Corporation (US), Raytheon Company (US), Airbus Group SE (Netherlands), Hexagon AB (Sweden), Johnson Controls International plc (Republic of Ireland), Thales Group (France), Teltronic S.A. (Spain), OptaSense (UK), Motorola Solutions, Inc. (US), and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (China).



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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.



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Defense Minister of Ukraine Andriy Taran held a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom Melinda Simmons and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada Larisa Galadza, the ministrys press service reported.

"At the meeting, the Ukrainian defense minister stated about the continuation of the course towards the Euro-Atlantic integration, noting that it is a necessary component for strengthening the capabilities of the Armed Forces," reads the statement.

Taran also outlined five priority goals of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, which include: technological modernization of weapon systems; work on increasing professionalism; creation of decent conditions for military service; social protection of military personnel and raising the level of interaction of the Ukrainian Armed Forces with Alliance forces to further move towards NATO membership.

The minister stressed that these objectives would be achieved by developing and implementing the required state policy and efficient defense management to respond to military threats. "We are committed to continue the defense reform with new strength, energy, confidence and optimism. The priorities of the Defense Ministry are aimed at achieving reconcilability with the Alliance in key areas of activity," he said.

The parties also discussed prospective directions of cooperation in the military-technical and defense- industrial sectors aimed at increasing the operational capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and developing the country's defense infrastructure.

The heads of diplomatic missions of Canada and the United Kingdom assured the Ukrainian defense minister of continued comprehensive support and also proposed that an information campaign be launched to support Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, considering the fact that the Embassy of Canada and the United Kingdom are NATO Contact Point Embassies in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian defense minister thanked the foreign partners for the consistent support of the Armed Forces in protecting the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. In this context, the minister noted the success of the training missions ORBITAL (United Kingdom) and UNIFIRE (Canada).

iy
An employee working in Portlands tallest building, the Wells Fargo Center, has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to an email from the building management sent to its commercial tenants.

We would like to assure you the employee of the tenant is no longer at the building. Additionally, the tenant engaged a certified emergency services contractor and they completed a complete broad-spectrum disinfection of their entire floor, management firm Lincoln Property Company wrote in an email to Wells Fargo Center tenants Friday.

The email obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive did not identify the commercial tenant other than to say it occupies a full floor of the building.

Lincoln Property Group, which manages the building, declined comment when reached by phone Friday and immediately hung up. A subsequent call seeking comment on the email to tenants produced the same result.

Its not clear if the person who tested positive is among the 30 Oregon cases already identified by health officials. Thus far Oregon has had no deaths from COVID 19, the disease associated with the coronavirus.

The property management firms email said the Wells Fargo Centers custodial personnel are using a disinfectant on all hard surfaces in the high traffic areas of the building such as within bathrooms, lobby and reception areas, elevators (including Parking Garage shuttles), kitchens, and other general utility rooms used by large numbers of people.

The law firm Davis Wright Tremaine closed its Portland office in that building after learning about the positive test, managing partner Jeff Gray wrote in an announcement Friday. He said the person who tested positive is not a Davis Wright Tremaine employee.

The 40-story Wells Fargo Center building is Portlands tallest, 10 feet taller than the U.S. Bancorp Tower (Big Pink) at the north end of downtown.

Also on Friday, Davis Wright Tremaine said an executive legal assistant working at the firms Bellevue office has died unexpectedly after leaving the office Tuesday with flu-like symptoms. The firm said the 60-year-old woman was found dead at her home Thursday.

The firm said it doesnt know the cause of her death but has closed its Bellevue and Seattle offices indefinitely and asked its Bellevue employees to self-quarantine.

This article has been updated with additional information.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699

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Linkedin Belen Carreno and Jesus Aguado (Reuters) Madrid, Spain  Fri, March 13, 2020 22:29 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a7adb6 2 World Spain,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,health Free

Spain will be in a state of emergency for the next 15 days to better combat the coronavirus, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday, in a dramatic increase to the policy response that will allow authorities to confine people and ration goods.

The state of emergency, which Sanchez said will formally be decided by a cabinet meeting on Saturday, will give the government power to take wide-ranging measures including temporarily occupying factories or any other premises except private homes.

"The government of Spain will protect all its citizens and will guarantee the right life conditions to slow the pandemic with as little inconvenience as possible," Sanchez said.

He did not spell out what specific measures the government will take.

Schools have already shut down across the country, with many cinemas, theatres or playgrounds also closing and trials suspended in several regions as normal life came to a halt in the euro zone's fourth-largest economy.

Spain has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe after Italy. The current Spanish tally stands at 4,209, up by about 1,000 cases from Thursday and seven times as much as on Sunday. About 120 people have died.

Sanchez said the number of cases in Spain could jump to over 10,000 as early as next week but added he was confident the country would defeat the virus, urging all citizens to do their part.

"Heroism is also washing your hands and staying home," he said, referring to health advice to slow the propagation of the coronavirus.

Catalonia, Spain's second-richest region, ordered on Friday the closure of shopping centers with the exception of those selling food or essential goods, as well as gyms and nightclubs, a senior official said.

The Madrid region -- Spain's wealthiest -- has also decided to close restaurants, bars and shops from Saturday, media including Efe news agency said, with only supermarkets and pharmacies allowed to remain open. Authorities could not yet confirm this.
Ants are bristling with defense weaponry. Different species might sting their enemies, bite them with powerful jaws or shoot them with jets of formic acid. Some even explode.

But Myrmecina graminicola  an ant about the size of a sesame seed  doesnt want to get into all that. According to research published last week in Scientific Reports, if one of these ants encounters danger while its on a slope, it makes a practical choice: It tucks itself into a little ball and rolls away.

It is the only ant known to move in this way, and one of few rollers in the animal kingdom over all, said Donato Grasso, the papers lead author and an ant ethologist at the University of Parma in Italy.

Dr. Grasso and his colleagues first spotted this unique behavior while scanning the forest floor during a trip to one of their field sites in Fornoli, Italy. (Many entomology discoveries are made this way: When you are a biologist interested in insects, it is impossible not to look at the ground, Dr. Grasso said.)
BOZHOU, China, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Gujing Group ("the Company"), a leading spirit manufacturer, has announced that it will open up its quota for packaging suppliers to the world for the year 2020-2021.

Based in Bozhou, Anhui, one of the top 10 liquor producing areas in the world, the value of Gujing's brand "Gujing Gong" has reached nearly 147 billion yuan in 2019 and was ranked fourth nationally and ninth globally. In 2018, Gujing's revenue reached over RMB10 billion.

"Every year, we seek high-quality global suppliers," said Liang Jinhui, Chairman of the Board of Gujing Group. "This year, we hope to take the opportunity to further strengthen our global cooperation and promote the development of Chinese spirits internationally."

To be eligible, suppliers need to be a production company with an annual sales value of at least US$10 million. Suppliers also need to provide materials and present their operating licenses and last year's tax returns as evidence.

The company's selection committee will review applicants based on the scale of the company, production capacity and suitability. The scope of a supplier's participation in the bidding shall be determined based on the results of the evaluation. For qualified suppliers, the company will send invitations to them through e-mail or by phone.

The requirements of packaging materials include paper boxes and tote bags for printed materials. For bottles, the volume needs to be 500ml (HS code: 70109020) with caps of plastic or aluminum-plastic. The company is also planning to source high-quality raw material such as sorghum in a global scope.

Interested parties shall apply no later than 24:00 (GMT+8) April 20, 2020 via the following link: https://www.gujingglobal.com/message-type/contact-us_113_1.html

For more information, please visit www.GujingGlobal.com

About Gujing Group

Established in 1992 and listed in 1996, Guijing Group, with its history rooted in Gongxing Caofang, a distillery founded during the Ming Dynasty in 1515, has grown into one of the top eight Baijiu brands and Top 500 manufacturing enterprises in China. Gujing Gong Baijiu is developed using the "Jiu Yun Jiu technique", "the oldest existing distilling technique in the world" as certified by Guinness World Records.

Bright, sweet and smooth, the liquor offers a well-balanced flavor with orchid-aroma hints. The brand is valued at RMB 147 billion (21 billion USD) as of 2019, with annual revenue of RMB 10 billion (1.4 billion USD) in 2018.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1123707/1.jpg
The fallout from the coronavirus spread across the Pacific on Friday, with travel companies in Australia and New Zealand issuing profit warnings as US airlines rushed to cut flights to Europe in the wake of new US travel restrictions. US travel curbs on much of continental Europe announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening deepened the sector's misery that began after the virus emerged in China late last year and reduced traffic. United Airlines Holdings Inc warned of US travel disruption as the virus spreads domestically and major tourist attractions like Walt ...
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Government of St. Maarten has taken note of the notice by French President Emmanuel Macron and by extension the Prefet of St. Martin and St. Barths Ms. Sylvie Feucher related to school closures within all French territories. This decision does not affect schools on Dutch St. Maarten.

In previous discussions held with the Prefet, this topic was discussed at length, that given a situation where either side of the island were to have (2 on Dutch St. Maarten or 3 on French Saint Martin) confirmed and unrelated cases requiring hospitalization, that closure of schools would be the first phase of shut down to prevent further spreading of the virus. Prime Minister Jacobs stated, As that is currently not the case on either side, while the French side has to follow the lead of the state, St. Maarten will make that call when and if it is deemed necessary.

At this point, St. Maarten has not yet reached the threshold as agreed upon for school closure. The Collective Prevention Service (CPS) and the St. Maarten Red Cross has been actively involved in executing the COVID-19 awareness programs amongst the various stakeholders in the Education sector. Inspectors will continue to monitor, report and advise should school closures be necessary.

The general public is encouraged to remain calm, continue to use proper hygiene, washing hands often, keeping hands away from the face, and ensuring cleanliness in and around living areas. Parents are reminded to teach and re-enforce proper hygiene at home, and to keep sick children at home until they are well.

Follow Governments Facebook page Government of Sint Maarten for official updates.
WFG National Title Insurance Company has announced the appointment of Brian Hughes as president of its Arizona division.

Hughes brings more than 25 years of title and escrow industry experience to the role. He will report to the companys senior vice president and regional director, Rob Sherman.

Brian not only has a vast network of industry and customer relationships but has a reputation as one of the most reliable and accessible people in title and escrow in our region, Sherman said. He is a great fit for WFG, as he embodies our corporate commitment to collaboration and innovation.
A combination photo shows (top) people visiting the promenade on the Bund along the Huangpu River during the May Day holiday in Shanghai and (bottom) people wearing facemasks, amid concerns of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, along the Bund in Shanghai. (Image: AFP)
Students in the Danbury area will learn (or chill) from home for at least the next week as districts close schools to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

No students or staff are known to have been diagnosed with the virus as of Friday afternoon, but superintendents said the closures are necessary as a precaution to clean the buildings and minimize contact between people.

Meanwhile, libraries, senior centers, at least one Town Hall and various events are also closing throughout the region.

No district, town, or state has a playbook for these kinds of emergencies, especially as it impacts students and learning, Lorrie Rodrigue, superintendent in Newtown, said in a letter to families. However, more importantly, we need to make decisions with an abundance of care and precaution.

In Bethel, however, students, school staff and volunteer firefighters attended a national conference where an attendee has since tested positive for the virus.

The group is considered to be at low risk, the superintendent has said. There is no evidence the group came into contact with that attendee at the event, which was in Tampa, Fla., in the last week of February.

Closures vary in length depending on the district. Easton, Redding and Region 9 plan to close through March 20, although this could be extended, the superintendent said. Other districts have shut down until further notice.

The governor has waived the 180-day school year requirement for affected districts, but how superintendents plan to schedule the rest of the year varies. Schools are not permitted to go past June 30.

Brookfield Superintendent John Barile said the district does not plan to touch April vacation, but will likely add as many makeup days as possible through June 30.

Bethel expects to use April vacation if there are no health risks, and go to school until June 30, Superintendent Christine Carver said. That district started later than many others this year due to ongoing renovations to two of its elementary schools.

Effect on students

In many cases, students were sent home with materials or have access online, although not all districts appear to be requiring children to complete assignments.

New Milford Superintendent Kerry Parker directed families to the districts website where they could find links and recommendations to online learning websites for those who are interested in maintaining skills during our closure.

Virtual learning may be challenging for some, Superintendent Sal Pascarella said.

At this time, we do not have the ability to provide comprehensive and equitable online learning experiences as this requires a 1:1 level of technology access, he said in his letter to parents.

Danbury has a website with practice and learning resources by grade level, while paper packets are available for elementary-school students, Pascarella said.

In many districts, staff and teachers had been preparing alternative lesson plans for students.

But in Easton, Redding and Region 9s case, much of this work was not complete before the school Closed on Friday, Superintendent Thomas McMorran said.

To the degree that we are able to do so, our teachers will share ideas with families about activities that could be pursued at home by the students, he said in a letter to families.

Teachers will not assign lessons or collect and grade materials during the closure, McMorran said.

More Information School closings Bethel: Closed through March 27 Brookfield: Closed through March 27 Danbury: Closed for at least two weeks Immaculate High School: Closed through March 27 New Fairfield: Closed until further notice New Miford: Closed until further notice Newtown: Closed until further notice Region 9, Easton, Redding: Closed through March 20 Region 12: Closed through March 27 Region 15: Closed through March 27 Ridgefield: Closed until further notice Sherman: Closed until further notice See More Collapse

Students at Immaculate High School, the Catholic school in Danbury, will have full days of classes in their homes through technology and livestream teaching.

Immaculate High School is very well prepared for this distance learning as we have been doing this for our students on snow days for several years, as well as providing distance learning math programs to Catholic middle schools, and have recently added new tools to assist our faculty, spokeswoman Janine Azzi said.

In Danbury, grab-and-go meals will be available throughout the district beginning Wednesday. Times and locations will be announced. In the 2018-19 school year, 58 percent of the district qualified for free or reduced-price meals.

Before there were any confirmed COVID-19 cases in Connecticut, town and school officials took precautionary measures and stayed up-to-date on the virus.

For example, New Fairfield school buildings were undergoing extra cleaning, students were allowed to bring hand-sanitizer and disinfectant wipes to school, and teachers had been preparing lessons and activities for students to do at home in case schools closed, Superintendent Pat Cosentino said last week.

In Sherman  which has only one public school serving students in preschool through eighth grade  administrators had also been developing alternate school session plans.

In the event that we are out of school for some reason, we just want to make sure that we have some plans in place and ready to go, Superintendent Jeff Melendez said at a Board of Education meeting earlier this month.

Staff writer Kendra Baker contributed to this report.
Research found the ideal amount of work-from-home time is 1 1/2 days per week  enough to participate in office culture along with time for work.

Im writing this from the makeshift quarantine bunker in my dining room  sweatpants on, hand sanitizer nearby, snacking my way through my emergency rations. Im getting plenty of work done, but Im starting to get unnerved by the lack of stimulation. Its been hours (days?) since I interacted face to face with a human who is not related to me, and cabin fever is setting in.

Among the coronavirus many effects is a boom in people like me: office workers, shooed away from the office, trying to acclimate to a work-from-home lifestyle.

While the outbreak has already created inconveniences (and much worse) for millions of people in the form of travel restrictions, health scares and stock market turmoil, it has been an exciting time for some fans of remote work. They argue that quarantined workers are getting a glimpse of our glorious, office-free future.

This is not how I envisioned the distributed work revolution taking hold, wrote Matt Mullenweg, chief executive of Automattic, the software company that owns the WordPress blogging platform.

Mullenweg, whose companys workforce is fully distributed, sees a silver lining in the coronavirus. In his blog post last week, he wrote that it might also offer an opportunity for many companies to finally build a culture that allows long-overdue work flexibility.

I get where hes coming from. I was a remote worker for two years a while back. For most of that time, I was a work-from-home evangelist who told everyone within earshot about the benefits of avoiding the office. No commute! No distracting co-workers! Home-cooked lunch! Whats not to love?

But Ive been researching the pros and cons of remote work for my upcoming book about human survival in the age of artificial intelligence and automation. And Ive now come to a very different conclusion: Most people should work in an office, or near other people, and avoid solitary work-from-home arrangements whenever possible.

Dont get me wrong: Working from home is a good option for new parents, people with disabilities and others who arent well-served by a traditional office setup. I dont think we should ignore health guidelines and force people to work in an office during a pandemic. And Im sympathetic to the millions of teachers, restaurant workers and other professionals for whom working from home has never been a viable option.

But for those of us lucky enough to be able to work from home, coronavirus or no, a few words of caution are in order.

Fans of remote work often cite studies showing that people who work from home are more productive, like a 2014 study led by Stanford professor Nicholas Bloom. The study examined remote workers at a Chinese travel agency and found that they were 13% more efficient than their office-based peers.

But research also shows that what remote workers gain in productivity, they often miss in harder-to-measure benefits like creativity and innovative thinking. Studies have found that people working together in the same room tend to solve problems more quickly than remote collaborators, and that team cohesion suffers in remote work arrangements.

Remote workers also tend to take shorter breaks and fewer sick days than office-based ones, and in studies, many report finding it hard to separate their work from their home lives. Thats a good thing if youre a boss looking to squeeze extra efficiency out of your employees, but less ideal if youre someone trying to achieve some work-life balance.

Working in isolation can be lonely, which explains the popularity of coworking spaces like WeWork and The Wing. Even in Silicon Valley, where the tools that allow for remote work are being built, many companies are strict about requiring their workers to come into the office.

Steve Jobs, for one, was a famous opponent of remote work, believing that Apple employees best work came from accidentally bumping into other people, not sitting at home in front of an email inbox.

Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions, Jobs said. You run into someone, you ask what theyre doing, you say Wow, and soon youre cooking up all sorts of ideas.

Ill grant that office work has its downsides, even in healthy times. Commuting has been shown to make us less happy, and the open-plan office, a truly cursed workplace design trend that emphasizes airy spaces with rows of desks and little privacy, has made distraction-free focus nearly impossible.

But being near other people also allows us to express our most human qualities, like empathy and collaboration. Those are the skills that cant be automated. And theyre what produces the kind of meaningful interpersonal contact we miss out on when were stuck at home.

Theres an element of social interaction thats really important, said Laszlo Bock, the chief executive of Humu, a Silicon Valley human resources startup.

Bock, who was previously Googles top human resources officer, said that for most people, balancing office work with remote work is ideal. His companys research has found that the ideal amount of work-from-home time is 1 1/2 days per week  enough to participate in office culture, with some time reserved for deep, focused work.

The reason tech companies have micro-kitchens and free snacks is not because they think people are going to starve between 9 a.m. and noon, he said. Its because thats where you get those moments of serendipity.

In recent years, some companies with sizable remote workforces have experimented with ways to create office culture over a distance.

Automattic, Mullenwegs all-remote company, holds an annual weeklong staff retreat called the grand meetup, at which workers gather in the same place to socialize and work on group projects. At GitLab, an open-source collaboration platform, remote workers are encouraged to schedule virtual coffee breaks  purely social video conferences  with colleagues they dont know well.

If the coronavirus continues preventing people from going to the office, more companies may need to try tactics like these to help keep their workers happy and connected.

But some people may never be content with virtual water coolers.

Its a very personal decision that works for some and doesnt work for others, said Julia Austin, a former tech executive and professor at Harvard Business School. Some people are more productive and happy and find other ways to get social contact if they work from home. And some people arent happy working alone.

As a white-collar millennial, Im supposed to be cheering on the remote work revolution. But Ive realized that I cant be my best, most human self in sweatpants, pretending to pay attention on video conferences between trips to the fridge.

Ill stay home as long as my bosses and the health authorities advise. But honestly, I cant wait to go back to work.

Kevin Roose c.2020 The New York Times Company
With representatives from Baystate Health, Mercy Medical Center and other health care providers, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno will be holding regular meetings to discuss the appropriate response to the coronavirus pandemic.

I have been in constant contact with our public health and safety officials regarding the Governors decision of declaring a state of emergency to help address the COVID-19 situation, said Sarno. All of our city departments continue to take precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the public.

The situational update meetings will take at Springfield City Hall, Room 220 on March 16, 23 and 30 at 10:15 a.m. and will provide an update on the City of Springfields response to the coronavirus. They will also provide clarity on what the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are advising as precautionary measures.

These meetings are in response to Gov. Charlie Baker on March 11 declaring a state of emergency in Massachusetts and in addition to President Donald Trump who will be declaring a national emergency over coronavirus, freeing up tens of billions of dollars in funding.

City Council President Justin Hurst also announced Thursday that he has dropped plans for council meetings on the coronavirus, believing the council instead should unite behind weekly update meetings being conducted by the mayor.

Health Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris has been taking lead on the COVID-19 measures and guidance for the city will attend the meetings.

"We will continue to take a measured approach and as long as everyone uses common sense measurers and adheres to any public health precautionary advisories, we will get through this together, Sarno said.

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Ines Arrimadas faces a choice. Does the newly-elected president of centrist Ciudadanos take the party further to the right, thus continuing a transition that began under her predecessor Albert Rivera? Or should she re-establish Ciudadanos' centrist, progressive credentials and distance the party from far right Vox and the conservative People's Party (PP)? Either way, Arrimadas' overarching challenge will be to regain some of the party's former glory: in less than a year, Ciudadanos has slipped from third to sixth in the national party rankings, losing 47 of its 57 seats in congress in last November's general election, a disastrous result that prompted Rivera's resignation days later.

"Spain needs a centrist, liberal force more than ever," Arrimadas tweeted on Sunday night, after her appointment as party leader was announced (the 38-year-old lawyer won 77% of Ciudadanos' internal poll on who should replace Rivera). In its first incarnation in late 2015, when it burst onto the national scene with 13.9% of the vote, that's precisely what Ciudadanos was: a dynamic new force in the centre of Spanish politics, slightly to the right of the Socialists (the PSOE) but left of the ailing PP.

With clearly-defined stances against corruption and Catalan independence, Ciudadanos enjoyed widespread popularity in the two years that followed 2015's election. Under Arrimadas' forceful leadership in Catalonia, it secured the largest share of the vote (25.4%) in the north-easterly region's December 2017 elections, although a pro-independence bloc eventually formed the administration.

After last April's general election, Ciudadanos had an opportunity to join forces with the Socialists and form a national government with an absolute majority - the only combination of forces that would have enjoyed that luxury. It would have been a strong, centrist leadership, with Ciudadanos' liberalism balanced by the PSOE's socialism and much common ground shared by the two.

But the idea was rejected by Rivera, who showed an inflexibility for which he paid dearly afterwards. Three senior Ciudadanos members resigned over what they saw as a lurch to the right and a missed opportunity to form a progressive government with the Socialists. They also criticised Rivera for allowing a Ciudadanos-PP partnership to be propped up by Vox in Andalucia.

It seems clear, then, which way Jerez-born Arrimadas should take Ciudadanos if it's to start regaining some of its former prestige. Her ascent to the presidency itself could symbolise a return to progressive values: aside from Rosa Diez, head of a centrist group that gained five seats in congress in the 2011 general election, she is the first woman to lead a major political party in Spain. Now, Arrimadas has the opportunity to drag Ciudadanos away from the fringes and back to the epicentre of Spanish politics - a feat she can only achieve by retreating from the territory dominated by the PP and Vox.
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Family and friends of a local musician who was beaten to death packed a courtroom in Bangor Friday.

The man convicted of the crime was sentenced.

"I have lost my son forever."

40-year-old Jason Moody's mother sobbed as she addressed the court during the sentencing hearing for 30-year-old Donald Galleck.

Moody's sister also shared her loss.

"He wasn't sick until Donald killed him."

Bangor Police say Moody was found unconscious and bleeding on the side of the street in 2018.

He died 2 days later.

The medical examiner says Moody had massive head trauma to his brain and multiple jaw fractures.

Galleck was originally charged with murder. that was dropped to manslaughter in exchange for an Alford plea.

It means he doesn't admit to the crime but agrees there's enough evidence to convict him.

Robert Kearns says, "To get 8 years for taking someone's life is amazing to me. I don't understand the Alford plea but I think it needs to be changed because Jason Moody was a wonderful man and his family and us are never going to see him again but we are going to see Donald Galleck in 8 years."

Galleck spoke before Moody's family and friends.

Galleck says, "I feel that to apologize would be greatly inadequate, even insulting. There's no words to express the regret that I have for the things that happened that night."

State prosecutors didn't want to talk about the case but Galleck's lawyer says he is remorseful.

Wendy Hatch, defense attorney says, "He did not ask for that night to happen, he didn't want that to happen. So he just wanted to make sure the family knew this what not something that he planned or thought of in advance and is remorseful that it came to that."

Shannon Denbow says, "8 years is a joke compared to the manner and the loss of life."
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In view of the coronavirus



outbreak, the Bombay High Court on Friday asked lawyers and litigants in Maharashtra to come to courts only if it is necessary.

A ciruclar issued by the High Court's Registrar General said that "litigants, public and advocates in Maharashtra are hereby informed that they should avoid visiting court complexes unless necessary".

While visiting the high court, they should adhere to guidelines issued by the Health Ministry, it added.

So far, 17 persons have tested positive for the coronavirus in the state - three each in Mumbai and Nagpur, 10 in Pune and one in Thane.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A chef prepares a food delivery order at Wangfujing Quanjude restaurant on March 5, 2020 in Beijing, China. Zhao Jun | China News Service | Getty Images

BEIJING  In an indication of how deep the economic shock of the new coronavirus is, many of China's hardest-hit businesses are still struggling because their workers haven't returned. Meanwhile, many employees are getting their wages cut. Officially called COVID-19, the disease that emerged in the city of Wuhan in late December has since spread around the world in a global pandemic that has killed more than 4,600 people worldwide. The majority of deaths so far have been in China, which extended a Lunar New Year holiday shutdown by at least a week in more than half of the country in an effort to limit the virus' spread. Over a month later, the number of new cases has dropped drastically. Still, local governments are keen to prevent the highly contagious virus from re-emerging. Authorities have enacted strict, if sometimes confusing, measures to limit travel, quarantine visitors for 14 days and ensure people wear face masks when they go back to work. The economic strain of the virus' disruptions will likely cause 9 million people in China's cities to lose their jobs this year, with about 60% of them from the services industry, estimates Dan Wang, analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit. For 18 million to 30 million people in urban areas, they will likely see wages cut by 30% to 50%, she said.

Lack of returned workers

While state-owned companies and large industrial businesses have officially resumed work at a rate of around 90% or higher, small and medium-sized enterprises outside the virus' epicenter of Hubei province have only resumed work at a rate of about 60%, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Friday. For the smaller, privately-run businesses, that pick up in work is an improvement from just over 50% this time last week. Travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines have made it difficult for many people to get back to work. Businesses still face problems such as the inability of people returning to work, as well as stalled logistics operations, Xin Guobin, the ministry's deputy head told reporters, according to a CNBC translation of his Chinese remarks. He noted that small and medium-sized companies also lack capital and protective gear, while the resumption of work and production for businesses in the same supply chain are not in sync.

The return of (the) labor force is definitely a key factor why the recovery rate is so low for the recovery of the restaurant business. Gao Huan senior director at Alvarez & Marsal in Beijing

Within small businesses, one group the Chinese government has specifically talked up support for is the "80 million 'household' businesses that employ more than 200 million people nationwide." New policies include tax cuts and special loan terms. Among the 20 million enterprises in China's food and beverage industry, more than 95% of them fall into that "household business" category, according to analysis released this week by Qichacha, which runs a business information database.

Food and beverage struggles

These restaurants, bars and other eateries have felt the most immediate impact of the virus, many analysts point out. Anecdotally, even as Beijing's streets get busier by the day, there are still many stretches of closed storefronts, mostly restaurants. The municipal government has banned large group meals, and many restaurants that have managed to open are only allowed to seat two or three people together.

Not only are sales far below what they were last year, but the food and beverage industry is "extremely short of staff," said Gao Huan, a senior director focused on retail and manufacturing at consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal in Beijing. She noted anecdotally how many restaurant owners have to work in their own store kitchens right now. "The return of (the) labor force is definitely a key factor why the recovery rate is so low for the recovery of the restaurant business," Gao said. She estimates only about 40% are open, and some 20% of workers have returned. It's unclear what the exact return to work rate is, but the food and beverage industry is one part of the services sector that hires many people from less developed parts of China. For the poorest households in the country, the number of migrant workers who had returned to their jobs as of Mar. 5 was 52% of what it was last year, at 14.2 million, Su Guoxia, spokeswoman of the State Council's Poverty Alleviation Office, disclosed at a press conference this week.

Wage hits

The food and beverage industry isn't the only one dealing with employment challenges. The post-Lunar New Year period is typically a peak period for job changes, but Chinese recruitment platform Moka said its clients  which are mostly larger companies and internet firms  and job applicants are more conservative this year. In addition, new jobs typically offer a 20% to 30% pay raise, but for the first half of this year, there's little change in the offered salary, content marketing manager Yu Tingting said in an interview. Foreign firms in China, while getting back to work in-person or remotely, are also trying to cope with travel restrictions and slower economic growth in the country. Steven Lynch, managing director of the British Chamber of Commerce, said many member companies are cutting wages by roughly 25% to 50%. While some companies have benefited from government support, he noted that small and medium-sized enterprises are generally still struggling. "They haven't had money coming in for the last few months," he said. "A lot say they're close to going under because there's no customers coming in."

Growing risks from abroad
While most of the top tech companies are asking employees to work from home in Bengaluru, the state government has ordered all malls, cinema houses, populated areas and convention programmes in the city to be shut beginning Saturday. After a Google techie in Bengaluru tested positive on Thursday, the US-headquartered company closed its office in the city for a day asking all employees to work offsite as a precautionary measure. We can confirm that an employee from our Bengaluru ...

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Chinese social media star and property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang, who is believed detained, after an article critical of the government's response to the emergence of the coronavirus in Wuhan appeared online, in undated, recent photo.

Chinese social media star and property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang is incommunicado, believed detained, after an article critical of the government's response to the emergence of the coronavirus in Wuhan appeared online.

Overseas democracy activist Han Lianchao said via his Twitter account on Friday that Ren is currently being investigated by the Beijing municipal branch of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Commission (CCDI).

Citing "friends in mainland China," Han said Ren was detained on Thursday, and is being held at a CCDI training facility in a suburb of Beijing.

Several other prominent figures mentioned the disappearance of Ren, whose outspoken comments on social media have earned him the nickname "Cannon."

Private entrepreneur Wang Ying posted to his friend circle in the social media app WeChat: "My friend Ren Zhiqiang is incommunicado! ... Where are you?"

The post garnered concerned replies from Beijing Film Academy professor Cui Weiping, journalism professor Hu Yong, Tianjin history professor Li Dongjun, and economist Wen Kejian.

Ren's detention comes after an article hitting out at the government response to the coronavirus epidemic circulated online. The article was attributed to one "Ren Zhiqiang," but RFA was unable to verify whether he wrote it.

Beijing historian and current affairs commentator Zhang Lifan said the article could have been written by Ren, but it remains unclear who the author is.

Disciplined over criticism of Xi

He said Ren has been targeted by the CCDI before, for criticizing President Xi Jinping's insistence that the media serve only the Communist Party's agenda.

"A few years ago, he criticized [Xi's call] for the media to bear the same surname as the party, and was disciplined for it," Zhang said.

"Everyone knows that had to do with party censorship of the media, but this time we can only guess," he said. "People are just guessing that there's a link with this article."

The article, titled "The lives of the people are ruined by the virus and a seriously sick system," doesn't mention President Xi, but it takes aim at decisions made under his direct command, nonetheless, including the decision to go ahead with a mass Lunar New Year banquet for thousands of people that resulted in a huge cluster of COVID-19 cases in the weeks that followed.

"The emperor is holding up a piece of cloth, trying to cover up the fact that he is wearing no clothes at all, although his ambition to be a strong leader is naked enough," the article quipped.

"No criticism of the mass assembly of 170,000 people has emerged, and the truth has never been uncovered, nor the cause of the outbreak discovered," the article said.

"The covert propaganda around the decisions made during the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic will only deceive those who are willing to be deceived," it said. "It won't mend those families broken by ... lost loved ones."

The article also took issue with the accusation by police that eight Wuhan medical staff were "rumor-mongering" when they tried to alert the authorities about the serious disease caused by a new virus.

Xinhua puffery reports awarded

Xi has ordered China's media to follow the party line, focus on "positive reporting", and "speak the party's will and protect the party's authority and unity."

Ren was berated by state media in 2016 for causing chaos and for failing to stand up for the party, and for "pursuing Western constitutionalism."

Meanwhile, authorities issued an award to Liao Jun, a reporter in the Hubei provincial bureau of state news agency Xinhua, for her reporting of the epidemic, prompting angry comments online.

Liao had authored articles claiming that there was no human-to-human transmission of the virus in the early days of the epidemic, and hitting out at medical staff for "rumor-mongering" when they tried to warn people about COVID-19.

A Hubei resident surnamed Mao told RFA that Liao is very senior at Xinhua.

"She was the one who wrote the story about the eight medics accused of rumor-mongering," Mao said. "She also wrote one quoting experts as saying that there was no person-to-person transmission."

"She has also written a whole string of positive news items about the coronavirus epidemic ... she was awarded the highest honor," he said.

Asked about the online criticism of Liao, he said: "I don't think there's a whole lot to say about her as an individual, because she had to do those things. Everything she does is determined by her job and her identity [in the Communist Party system]."

Reported by Fong Tak-ho and Lau Siu-fung for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
An elderly Kentucky man has filed a lawsuit against local police officers after they dragged him out of his home while he was wearing a bathrobe and threw him to the ground as they looked for a shooting suspect.

Bodycam footage from the September 2019 incident was released after 71-year-old Frank Serapiglia filed the suit against officers from the Louisville Metro and Jeffersontown Police Department on March 5.

Officers had been knocking on the man's door after receiving a call that Serapiglia had allegedly shot his wife in the head.

She had made the call while in a 'delusional state,' according to the suit.

Scroll down for video

Bodycam footage from the September 2019 incident was released after 71-year-old Frank Serapiglia filed the suit on March 5

The man had been drinking coffee and reading the news at the time of the incident, WDRB reports.

Footage shows the scantily clad pensioner getting flung to the ground almost as soon as he opens the door. An officer can be heard screaming at the man as he asks what he had done wrong.

One of the officers handcuffed Serapiglia as another kneeled on the man's back.

'You ********, what the heck are you doing?' Serapiglia said to officers. 'Please, I can't breathe ... What the hell did I do?'

Officers had been knocking on the man's door after receiving a call that Serapiglia had allegedly shot his wife in the head

Footage shows them throw the man on the ground and cuffing him

Officer David Stettler with the Louisville Metro Police Dept informed Sgt Jerome Passafume that the man had been 'non-compliant' and failed to come outside.

He explained that when Officer William Kline grabbed Serapiglia, 'he lost his footing and fell to the ground.'

Kline agreed with the series of events Stettler depicted.

'As Dave said, he wouldn't come out, wouldn't get on the ground,' Kline said. 'We pulled him out and he lost his footing and fell.'

Officer David Stettler with the Louisville Metro Police Dept informed Sgt Jerome Passafume that the man had been 'non-compliant' and failed to come outside

The lawsuit mentions that body camera footage suggests an alternative series of events then the ones described in the official police narrative.

Serapiglia's wife does come out of the house, prompting officers to then report that there was no shooting at the house.

When finding out why he was being detained, Serapiglia expressed shock that his wife claimed he shot her.

He explained to police that she had recently been hospitalized, had seizures and suffered from mental health issues.

When finding out why he was being detained, Serapiglia expressed shock that his wife claimed he shot her

He explained to police that she had recently been hospitalized, had seizures and suffered from mental health issues

Serapiglia got into an argument with officers once it was realized he was not a threat, arguing that he did not have anything in his hands when they grabbed him.

The man was taken to the Norton Brownsboro Hospital Emergency room with multiple injuries, according to the suit.

Included among the injuries was head trauma.

Serapiglia is being represented by Attorney Thomas Clay who asserts that police should have known that the woman was not in danger.

The suit says that when she called police, the woman 'calmly but vaguely reported that she had been shot in the head but didn't know if she was bleeding. She did not sound like she was in any distress or in any pain.'
Air Force cadets arrive at the 2019 United States Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony at Falcon Stadium, May 30, 2019, at the United States Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Andrew Harnik/AP

The US Air Force Academy in Colorado made the decision "to begin an orderly dismissal" of a "large" portion of its cadets in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The military academy deemed it was unable to carry out social distancing for over 4,000 cadets.

The Academy said the decision was made in order to allow its senior class of Air Force and Space Force cadets to graduate on time.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, made the decision "to begin an orderly dismissal" of a "large" portion of its cadets in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Academy said the decision was made in order to allow its senior class of Air Force and Space Force cadets to graduate on time. Cadets undergo four years of military-based training, much of which follow a strict schedule.

The military academy deemed it was unable to carry out social distancing, a term used to refer to separating oneself from others in order to prevent the spread of the disease, for over 4,000 cadets.

"We did not make this decision lightly; we consulted with our medical professionals, sister service academies and local civic leaders, among others," the Academy said in its statement on Friday.

At least 72 presumptive positive cases of coronavirus were documented in Colorado, three of whom are in critical condition.

"It is just a matter of time before we have our first fatality here in Colorado," Gov. Jared Polis said.

Other military academies enacted measures to address the coronavirus concerns. The US Military Academy at West Point delayed cadets' return from spring break until March 29, and closed the grounds from visitors.

Military training sites for enlisted recruits also implemented heightened procedures for its screening process. New US Army recruits arriving at basic training will have their temperatures taken and be asked if they are experiencing other flu-like symptoms  including coughing, sore throat, and fatigue. If a recruit does exhibit symptoms, they will be taken to a medical department for more screening.

The Navy implemented a 14-day quarantine for its ships between port calls in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region in light of growing concerns.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath on Friday met Governor Lalji Tandon at Raj Bhavan in Bhopal requesting a floor test in the forthcoming session as political crisis in the state continued to deepen after 22 Congress MLAs quit the party earlier this week.

The chief minister handed over a letter to the Governor in which he alleged horse-trading of MLAs by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and requested him to ensure release of MLAs held in captivity in Bengaluru.

Nineteen Congress MLAs, who are staying at a resort in Bengaluru, including the six ministers, had on Tuesday sent their resignation letters to the speaker via email and later also to the Governor. In the evening, the original copies of the letters were handed over to Assembly speaker NP Prajapati by a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Bhopal.

Prajapati on Thursday issued notices to 22 rebel Congress members asking them to appear before him by Friday and explain whether they had quit voluntarily or under pressure.

The speakers decision comes as both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP are preparing for a protracted legal battle over what the former has called an attempt by the latter to poach its legislators and destabilise the state government . The resignations came as senior Congress leader Scindia exited the party and joined the BJP.
An Bord Pleanala has cleared the way for the demolition of one of Dublin's most famous cinemas, The Classic in Harold's Cross, to allow for a large mixed-used development.

The board rejected an app-eal by a number of parties, including a local community group, against the plans by building firm Garvagh Homes to develop shops, offices and 91 apartments on the former cinema site on the Harold's Cross Road.

Subject to a number of plann-ing conditions, the board said the development would not seri- ously injure the visual amenities of the area or affect the adjoining properties.

It said the project was also acceptable in terms of traffic safety and convenience.

The ruling will mark the end one of the capital's best-loved suburban cinemas, which closed its doors in 2003 after 50 years in business.

The Classic was famous for its regular Friday night screening of cult movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show for over 20 years, with many cinema-goers dressing up, singing and dancing throughout the film.

It was the last movie shown in the Classic before it was shut 17 years ago.

Planning permission for another proposed development of a smaller apartment complex on the site was refused in 2005.

The owner of Garvagh Homes - Northern Ireland developer Padraig Drayne - paid more than 8m for the former cinema site, which had a guide price of 6m when it was placed on the market in October 2018.

The plans were opposed by the Harold's Cross Village Community Council, which represents a number of residents' associations in the area.

The council claimed the apartment blocks, which will be up to five storeys in height and nearly 18 metres tall, represented over-development of the site.

Concerns

It pointed out that a similar development on the Harold's Cross Road was only granted planning permission after the council imposed a condition that a fifth-floor level be omitted due to concerns about the height of the building.

The community council said that decision had set a precedent.

The village council also said more than a third of the development consisted of studios and one-bed apartments, with no family homes in terms of three-bed apartments planned in the scheme.
Today, political activist Chelsea Manning's lawyers told the New York Times that she attempted to commit suicide, having been held since last year for not testifying in a grand jury investigation of WikiLeaks. She is currently hospitalized and the Alexandria Sheriff's Office reports that Manning's hospitalization was "handled appropriately" and that she is safe. [UPDATE: Manning has reportedly been released from custody, per an order from a federal judge: "the court finds Ms. Manning's appearance before the Grand Jury is no longer needed, in light of which her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose."]

Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, was called to testify against WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange before a grand jury, according to The Cut . Last May, she was detained in Alexandria, VA. Before the suicide attempt, Manning was scheduled to appear in the US Court for the Eastern District this Friday, where the grand jury would decide whether or not to confirm penalties against her. Though she is still recovering, Manning is expected to attend the court hearing.

Manning first made headlines when she was convicted in 2013 for sending top-secret government documents to WikiLeaks. She served seven years in prison, and was released in 2017.
Collective investor wealth in BSE-listed companies grew over Rs 3.55 lakh crore on Friday as benchmarks recovered after crashing over 10 per cent during the day.

Recovering over 5,380 points from its intra-day low of 29,388.97, the ended 1,325.34 points or 4.04 per cent higher at 34,103.48.

Trading was halted for 45 minutes in early session after the index hit its lower circuit limit.

The mayhem on had eroded investor wealth worth Rs 12,92,479.88 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,12,78,172.75 crore on the in early trade.

However, as stocks pared the losses, investor wealth grew by Rs 3,55,590.19 crore, taking the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies to Rs 1,29,26,242.82 crore at the end of the session.

The m-cap of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 1,25,70,652.63 crore on Thursday.

On the BSE, as many as 1,193 scrips declined, while 1,191 advanced and 164 remained unchanged.

Volatility heightened in global as benchmarks world over went into panic mode on fears of the coronavirus pandemic triggering a recession.

Domestic investors, however, began bargain hunting at beaten-down valuations, leading benchmarks in the positive territory.

Concerns over the economic impact of Covid-19 is expected to keep highly volatile in the near term, analysts said.

More than 1,30,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.

The number of coronavirus patients in India has risen to 75, as per the health ministry.
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - With the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak now a pandemic, countries should not let up on efforts to fight its spread, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said in Geneva on Thursday
Over the past several weeks, Coronavirus has grown to consume the news cycle and our daily lives. With more than 100,000 confirmed cases in more than 100 countries, its impossible to ignore. Given the unpredictability of the virus, its long incubation period and the reality that vaccines are many months away, this crisis is very real and the pressure on business to act is growing.

Health organizations must walk a fine line between communicating scientific risk while not generating undue panic. The Public Health Agency of Canada has assessed the risk to Canadians as low, but with a broad caveat that they are closely monitoring the spread of the virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) has established a lengthy myth-busters feature on its website. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  the worlds leading authority on the matter  directly acknowledges that much is still unknown about the COVID-19 virus.

What is not up for debate is the serious and immediate impact Coronavirus is having on business.

The realities of Coronavirus serve as a powerful shock to economic and political systems across the globe. Dozens of sectors have already been severely affected, top among them tourism and hospitality, aviation, technology, food services and consumer goods. We expect other industries to follow suit as the tenacious virus weaves deeper into workforces, manufacturing capacity and supply chains. Business continuity has been impacted and investor confidence shaken. The market has also spoken, with the epidemic triggering key drops in all indexes.

Given these urgent implications, what should business consider about how best to communicate?

This is a question that I and my Edelman colleagues across the globe have been addressing. The scope of the crisis demands collaboration. Were working in lock step with Dr. David Nabarro, Special Envoy to the WHO for Coronavirus, and with senior global business leaders in the World Economic Forum. Together, we are working out effective ways to communicate in these extraordinary circumstances.

There is no doubt that corporate leaders are in unchartered waters in determining the impact of Coronavirus on business. And, moreover, theyre struggling with how best to communicate to all stakeholders. This situation is far from business as usual. In looking for guidance, business executives should consider the results of the most recent Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual survey. It shows employees trust their employer above government and media. People trust those authorities closest to them. This clearly puts the imperative on companies to help employees decode COVID-19, and to stand alongside them through the journey.

CEOs must do this in a way that projects affirmative leadership and yet doesnt put them ahead of medical authorities. To be clear, this is not a problem that can be deferred to new HR policies or to amended operational processes. Communications around the Coronavirus require a deep dive into the very fibres that bind corporate culture.

Key to these corporate communications is to translate what employees need to know to keep themselves safe. Companies cannot assume their workers know what to do. Organizations need to gather credible information from leading authorities, contextualize it for their specific businesses, and communicate it quickly, transparency, and clearly.

What part of the operation can continue as per usual, what part cannot? How will work arrangements be amended, or halted? How will the voice of employees be heard, considered and responded to? What should employees do when they or a colleague feel sick? Hefty questions to be sure, and easier said than answered.

But if organizations dont rise to this challenge, employees may fall prey to what Nabarro calls an infodemic that has relied on the weaponization of information. Employees, and other key stakeholders could become confused, frustrated, apprehensive and angry. Not the ideal situation for managing through crisis. Companies will not be blamed for the virus, but they will most certainly be judged for ineffectual communications and lack of action.

Corporate communications around COVID-19  to employees, customers, and business partners  is not just about business continuity. Its not just about client retention, investor comfort or legal protection. It is  at its root  about doing the right thing. Its about shaping the information environment in a way that helps prevent propagation of the virus itself.

Its about saving lives.
Corks out-of-hours GP service will see some clinics close to focus care as part of contingency plans amid the coronavirus outbreak.

SouthDoc will now operate from seven treatment centres: Bandon, Bantry, Mallow, Midleton, Kinsale Road, Killarney and Tralee.

In an email to members, Joanne Montgomery, SouthDoc board chairperson, said other centres "will be locked up and sterile in case required".

"We are doing this to protect the health of us the members and our staff and thus being able to provide a continued service," she said.

Centres to be locked down include Blackpool, Clonakilty, Fermoy and Youghal.

Doctors will continue to be rostered to cover areas, she explained.

For example, a doctor covering Blackpool will be based in Kinsale Road and one covering Macroom will be based in Bandon.

"The reason for the consolidation of treatment centres is we expect a reduction in staff and doctor numbers as time goes on due to illness/self-isolation," Ms Montgomery said.

The nurses will triage out what they can. They will not be allowed to issue any appointments. All calls will come down as doctor advice

"The reason for this is each doctor has there own opinion on whether they should physically see a patient whether it be for an injury or a cough."

Meanwhile, student nurses are still to be placed in hospitals under HSE directive.

All scheduled clinical placements for nursing and midwifery are to continue, though those with underlying health conditions are advised to absent themselves from clinical placement.

The measure, which will see unpaid students working alongside paid staff amid the crisis, has been criticised by Fianna Fail TD Padraig OSullivan.

He urged the Minister for Health to consider compensating trainee nurses and midwives.

All other UCC placements, whether it be in accountancy or law, have been cancelled

"Understandably, nursing placements are continuing during the outbreak. However, I believe that at this time of high pressure and high risk we should be compensating trainees for putting themselves in the firing line," he said.

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A knifeman shot dead in central London last weekend after he allegedly threatened officers with twin 10-inch blades has been named by the police watchdog.

Hassan Yahya, 30, was killed in Westminster on Sunday night after three Tasers were fired in an incident which has not been treated as terror-related.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is investigating the shooting, believes the victim had run over Hungerford Bridge into Northumberland Avenue.

Wielding two large blades, Yahya was shot by City of London Police responding to an emergency call at around 11.30pm on the South Bank.

A knifeman shot dead in central London last weekend after he allegedly threatened officers with twin 10inch blades has been named by the police watchdog

Forensic officers are pictured above on the scene where a man was tasered before he was shot dead by police in Westminster, London last weekend (March 9, 2020)

Hassan Yahya was killed in Westminster on Sunday night after three Tasers were fired in an incident which has not been treated as terror-related (police in Whitehall, March 9)

The IOPC said police at the scene of the incident had recorded body-cam video. The footage has been passed to investigators, along with CCTV.

Full statement by the Independent Office for Police Conduct Our investigators attended the scene of the shooting and the police post-incident procedure. They have obtained accounts from officers on the scene and gathered CCTV and body-worn video footage. The investigation is at an early stage and we are still gathering information. The coroner has been informed, a post-mortem examination carried out and we are awaiting the results. Advertisement

It said it was awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination, and was yet to inform the man's next-of-kin. An inquest date has not yet been set.

IOPC regional director Sal Naseem said: 'It's important we establish exactly what happened. We've already gathered a substantial amount of evidence, including CCTV and officers' body-worn video, which will be carefully analysed by our investigators.'

Yahya acted suspiciously near the Royal Festival Hall, where he was cautioned by two Ministry of Defence police officers.

He did not stop, and they radioed for back-up after firing one Taser.

Metropolitan Police fired another Taser when he entered Northumberland Avenue. A third was fired before he was shot dead by a City of London officer.

Yahya was carrying two knives, recovered from Great Scotland Yard - a road connecting Whitehall and Northumberland Avenue, by Trafalgar Square.

In terms of armed officers, the nearby area between Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament is the most heavily-covered part of the UK.

No police officers or members of the public were injured during the incident.
NEW YORK, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- JLL Capital Markets secured a $545 million loan to finance 711 Fifth Avenue in New York on behalf of the development group led by SHVO, including Deutsche Finance America and BLG Capital. Goldman Sachs led the financing.

Bethlehem Engineering Corp. designed the 18-story building that was constructed in 1927 as the original headquarters of NBC. The historic building features 340,024 square feet of space, with 284,061 square feet of office space and 55,963 square feet of retail.

The property is located just steps away from Central Park and the world-renowned 57th Street luxury residential corridor, also known as Billionaire's Row. The prime corner location offers more than 124 feet frontage along the Upper Fifth Avenue Corridor, the second most expensive retail corridor in the world, and 154 feet of frontage along East 55th Street.

SHVO, Deutsche Finance America and BLG plan to increase the tenant experience at 711 Fifth Avenue through several value-add strategies. The owners are planning on building upgrades that include lobby renovations, mechanical repairs, and expansion of terraces and outdoor space.

The SHVO-led development team has acquired seven properties during the past 18 months, including 685 Fifth Avenue, 711 Fifth Avenue and 530 Broadway in New York; the Raleigh, Richmond and South Seas hotels on Miami Beach and 9200 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, Calif.

SHVO and its partners were represented by a JLL team led by Michael Tepedino, David Sitt, Robert Tonnessen, Kristen Knapp and Sophie Gaylor. Morris Missry of law firm Wachtel Missry LLP served as legal advisor for this investment, as well as for the seven other acquisitions by SHVO and its partners.

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients  whether investment advisory, debt placement, equity placement or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,700 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

For more news, videos and research resources on JLL, please visit the firm's U.S. media center Web page: U.S. newsroom.

About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $18.0 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 93,000 as of December 31, 2019. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.

About SHVO

SHVO is a residential, commercial, and hospitality real estate owner and developer known for acquiring, developing, and operating unique properties in iconic locations. SHVO's more than $7 billion portfolio includes revitalized landmarks, new ground-up developments, and mixed-use properties in the world's most sought-after locations, including Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, Chicago's Loop, and San Francisco's Financial District. Michael Shvo, Chairman and CEO, founded the firm in 2004 and is renowned as one of the real estate industry's most visionary leaders.

About Deutsche Finance America

Deutsche Finance Group ("DFG") is a Munich- based alternative asset manager established in 2005. With more than 100 employees, DFG has made investments of approximately 6 billion euros across more than 250 strategies in 46 countries. Deutsche Finance America ("DFA") is the U.S. direct real estate private equity business wholly owned by DFG and its principals established in 2018. DFA has acquired 11 properties with total capitalization of over $3.1 billion.

About BLG Capital Ltd.

BLG Capital Ltd. ("BLG") is an independently managed private equity real estate investment management company focused on investments in real estate assets and companies with under- lying real estate assets in Turkey and major global cities. One of the first of its kind in Turkey, BLG provides institutional investors specialized investment platforms to participate in the rapidly growing Turkish real estate market, as well as broader international hubs such as New York City, Los Angeles and Miami. Backed by a vertically integrated investment / development platform as well as a team of investment professionals with significant expertise in real estate investments, BLG differentiates itself through its unique vision of high-end, lifestyle-focused project design and attention to detail, combined with creative real estate asset management and execution capabilities. As a developer, BLG has developed over 11 million SF of unique real estate projects. To date, BLG has raised and invested over $1.3 billion of capital through its funds and direct investment vehicles, and has over $4 billion of gross AUM.

About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $18.0 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 93,000 as of December 31, 2019. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.

Connect with us:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/jll

https://www.facebook.com/jll

https://twitter.com/jll

https://www.instagram.com/jll

Contact: George Shea, Mark Faris

Company: Shea Communications

Phone: +1 212 627 5766

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE JLL
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.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Explained: The Indian advisory on coronavirus

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 13: The government's focus is on containing and controlling coronavirus the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday and advised Indians to stay put wherever they are and travel only under compelling reasons.

Responding to questions about IPL and other sporting events, it said the MEA's advise would be "not do it at this time but if the organisers want to go ahead, it is their decision".

"The government's immediate concern is to contain and control coronavirus. There is no need to panic. We advise Indians to stay put wherever they are and only travel under compelling reasons," Dammu Ravi, Additional Secretary, MEA and Coordinator (COVID-19), said at a press conference.

Beyond the lungs: How Coronavirus can affect your body

"We have also not issued any guidelines to airlines to stop or reduce flights. It's a commercial decision, we leave it to them to decide," he added.

To questions about organising sporting events, he said, "Think it is for the organisers to decide whether to go ahead with it or not. Our advice would be to not do it at this time but if they want to go ahead, it is their decision."

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the government has received requests from four countries for assistance in arranging protective gears.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

"We have received requests from Bhutan, Iran, the Maldives, Italy for assistance with masks and protective gears. We are processing it. Earlier, such request was received from China, and a package was sent," he said.

Coronavirus a pandemic: What does that mean and what changes now

Anil Malik, the Additional Secretary from Ministry of Home Affairs, informed reporters that there has been a decline of 40 per cent in number of people travelling to India in the last 20 days.

"The number of people coming to India dropped by 40 per cent in the last 20 days, the number will come down further," he said.
Re First case of COVID-19 confirmed in Sudbury, March 10

The city of Toronto somehow thought running a mining conference with 25,000 people that involved 132 countries at a time when one branch of the government is pleading with Canadians to work at flattening the curve of the COVID-19 infections.

Who was responsible for that decision I wonder? I saw Premier Doug Ford looking very proud to be part of this potential disaster. Mining by its nature involves mostly northern, often remote, communities in Canada with very basic health facilities. The first acknowledged coronavirus victim of this conference lives in my city. We have one hospital, and although it has everything the south may have, the hospital is chronically short of beds. The conference was only about protecting the economic interests of the city, a narrow, dangerous way to govern.

We can hope it remains just a blatantly stupid decision and with luck does not have dire consequences on regions with few medical resources.
New Delhi, March 13 : Ashish Kaul is back with his third book on terrorism in Kashmir called 'Rakht Gulab - The Blood Rose'. Union Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank released the book here on Friday.

'Rakht Gulab' has already created a sensation by being sold out on the first day itself on Amazon. It has been published by the iconic Rajhans Prakashan who have published numerous famous books.

'Rakht Gulab' marks a rare achievement for Ashish Kaul as his third bestseller in succession in under two years.

"It is a proud moment for me personally but I believe the battle for restoring true peace in Kashmir has just begun. The world has remained silent for far too long and ignored the state-sponsored, multi-pronged genocide of Kashmiri Pandits. I am working to shake the sleeping world's dispensation to the plight of our motherland," said Kaul.

The author said that till date he has interacted with about 5,000 students across the country with the objective of educating the youth about the incisive true story of terrorism in Kashmir and how nearly 1.20 lakh families were rendered homeless in a matter of 48 hours and five lakh people were directly or indirectly impacted the mindless violence in the valley.

"It is an irony that Kashmiri Pandits were labelled as refugees in our own country where as we are the only community in the world that are the greatest ambassadors of peace and brotherhood. Despite being massacred and rendered homeless we have stood as a beacon of peace, tolerance and human values to the entire world," said Kaul.

"The world at large must know the truth and 'Refugee Camp' is the book that will bring forth the follies of various governments that fuelled terrorism and strategic tools of ethnic cleansing," added Kaul. 'Rakht Gulab' is also a message of peace for the youth of India to take a stand against terrorism and come forward to participate in peace building measures underway in the valley.

The foreword of 'Refugee Camp' has been written by the former Chief Of Army Staff General J.J. Singh.

On the sidelines of the release, the minister was also presented with Kaul's earlier bestseller 'Refugee Camp'.

'Rakht Gulab' is Kaul's tribute to the state of Maharashtra and the great people of Maharashtra who came forward and supported Kashmiri Pandits by giving them love, dignity and above all access to professional education in the state.
If you feel left out at Easter because you don't have a sweet tooth, M&S has now launched cheese eggs for those who prefer a savoury treat.

Landing in shops across the UK today, the eggs are made with Barber's Farmhouse Cheddar and a vintage 18-month matured Red Leicester 'yolk'.

Each egg has been hand-dipped in a duck egg blue wax 'shell' and is roughly the size of large hen's egg. The 360g carton of six eggs costs 8.50.

Landing in shops across the UK today, the wax-covered cheese pieces, come complete with a 'shell' and are made with Barber's Farmhouse Cheddar and a vintage 18-month matured Red Leicester 'yolk' and come in a cardboard egg box

A Big Cheesy Egg costing 8.00 for 300g, (roughly the dimensions of a goose egg) will also be available in 250 M&S stores from next Wednesday.

Taking to social media this morning, fans said they were desperate to try the eggs, and wanted to rush to their nearest shop to pick some up.

'WANT' said one Twitter user, while another branded the treat 'the best'.

'These sound fabulous' added a Facebook user, while another simply exclaimed: 'Oh my god.'

Each egg has been hand-dipped in a duck egg blue wax 'shell' and is roughly the size of large hen's egg. The pack of six weigh 360g and cost 8.50

Taking to social media this morning, fans said they were desperate to try the egg, and wanted to rush to their nearest shop to pick some up

It comes as retailers expand their ranges to offer more savoury options to shoppers at Easter - amid studies showing up 55 per cent of British people prefer savoury snacks to sweet ones.

Research from M&S Food, dubbed its Easter Egg-xit poll, shows that although a quarter of British adults 26 per cent say they never get tired of eating chocolate at Easter, four in 10 say they actually prefer cheese.

M&S Product Developer, Rosie Eiduks told Femail, 'Delicious as it is, we know not everyone loves chocolate, and that the nation is actually divided between Team Sweet and Team Savoury.

'Those with a more savoury-tooth can sometimes feel left out of the fun at Easter, so this year, we wanted to create a must-have gift for cheese lovers too!'

Walkers have launched their first ever crisp Easter Egg, which comes with a snack bowl, a bottle of organic wine, two wine glasses, and a 5 credit for Amazon Prime Video in the package.

Following a similar study, Walkers have launched their first ever Easter egg made from crisps, in a move came after Sensations noticed an increase in internet searches for 'alternative Easter eggs', coupled with new research that revealed a third of the nation prefer savoury over sweet treats at Easter, and two thirds prefer a night in over a night out.

Each 'egg' contains a bag of crisps from the spicy Sensations range, and for 19.99, you get some extra treats for enjoying a night in with your sharing bag of Thai Sweet Chilli nibbles.

Alternative Easter eggs have grown in popularity in recent years as retailers seek to cash in on those who are not fans of chocolate.

Last year, Sainsbury's announced it was stocking the Cheesalicious Easter Egg, made from a solid 120g of cheddar from Lancashire farms, with a packet of oatcakes and sachet of chutney.

It followed a Blacksticks Blue variety that was sold by Asda in 2018.

And the craze for boozy advent calendars is also spilling into Easter, with treats such as bottles of gin with chocolate mini eggs on offer.
Arlington-based SkyWalker Property Partners purchased the first industrial asset for its Cash Flow Fever fund in a sale-leaseback transaction with AMACS Process Tower Internals for its 67,161-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing hub at 14211 Industry St. in southwest Houston. Owned by Rockwood Equity Partners, AMACS provides components for process towers and vessels in the refinery, petrochemical, gas processing and industrial sectors. AMACS signed a 15-year lease with annual rent increases as part of the transaction. Zane Marcell of JLL negotiated on behalf of the seller. Clint Holland and Gary Walker represented SkyWalker Property in-house.

JPL Ventures South Cherry purchased a 48,500-square-foot industrial property at 915 South Cherry St. in Tomball from American National Carbide Co. in a sale/leaseback transaction. Jonathan Sellers and Bryan Roberts of MHW Brokerage Services represented the seller. David Dunn of Dunn Commercial represented the buyer.

Raamco International purchased the Trails at Lake Houston, a 304-unit apartment complex at 13922 Woodson Park Drive in northeast Houston. Will Balthrope, Drew Kile, Jennifer Campbell and William Griffin of Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, represented the seller, The ValCap Group, and procured the buyer. Constructed in 2017 on almost 13 acres, Trails at Lake Houston is adjacent to the Generation Park development. Based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Raamco International has 20 apartment properties in the Houston area.

Fashion Glass & Mirror purchased a 3.2-acre property and signed a design-build agreement for a 44,980-square-foot facility in Clay Road Commerce Park, a joint venture development of InSite Realty and Urban Cos. near the Grand Parkway and Clay Road. Urban will handle design and construction of the facility, which is scheduled to break ground this month and finish in September. Rives Nolen, Steve Hazel and John Stavinoha with InSite represented the seller. David Buescher with JLL represented the buyer.

Houston-based Patrinely Group, in partnership with USAA Real Estate, plans to break ground on 10-story, 326,000-square foot office building at 650 Main in downtown Salt Lake City this spring. EnerBank USA will occupy 88,900 square feet on the top three floors, starting in early 2022. HOK is the architect.

Samsung C&T Corp. leased 3,974-square feet of office space at Republic Square, at 13501 Katy Freeway next to Terry Hershey Park in Energy Corridor. Jacob Aldridge of NAI Partners represented the landlord, Third Palm Capital.

Hoyer Global extended its lease for 22,549 square feet at Atrium at Nassau Bay, 2100 Space Park Drive. John Luck, Andy Iversen and Kaitlyn Johnson of Newmark Knight Frank represented the tenant. BLW Interests is the landlord.

SUQ Investments purchased a 6,300-square-foot office/warehouse at 3917 Osage St. from TFS Productions. The buyer plans to use the building as an office for its investment business and the warehouse for storage and a car collection. Farid Chatur of Apex Realtors represented the buyer. Cotton Munson of Davis Commercial represented the seller.

Wood Lane Partners leased 3,325 square feet at Glenroyal Warehouse, 5730 J Royalton. Gary Triplett of CMI Brokerage represented the landlord, Glenroyal Warehouse Park.

Summus Industries renewed 5,730 square feet at Two Sugar Creek, at 77 Sugar Creek Blvd., Sugar Land. Jay Wall III of Moody Rambin represented the tenant. Craig McKenna and Mathew Volz of Stream Realty Partners represented the landlord, 77 Sugar Creek De LLC.

Core Geologic leased 3,054 square feet at 16420 Park Ten Place for five years. Richard Maloof represented the landlord, Hartman Income REIT. J. Carter Breed. with J. Carter Breed Properties represented the tenant.

Willis DTP purchased 1.3 acres at 310 E. Powell St. in Willis. Bryan Roberts of MHW Brokerage Services represented the buyer. Robert Graham of Arrowstar Realty represented the seller, Araceli Ranch LLC.

KSM Development purchased 4.1 acres on Nichols Sawmill Road near Muescheke Road in Magnolia. Lex Parker of MHW Brokerage Services represented the buyer. John Nichols of Nichols Realty represented the seller.

CF Investments purchased a 108,740-square-foot shopping center on 10.9 acres at 10966 Grant Road in northwest Houston. David Luther of NewQuest Properties represented the buyer, WP Norchester LP.

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The government has been urged to freeze rent for people who cant work and are struggling to pay their bills during the coronavirus pandemic.

A petition calling for a rent holiday and to protect tenants from the threat of eviction has gathered more than 3,000 signatures, piling pressure on the housing secretary Robert Jenrick to act.

In the Budget this week, chancellor Rishi Sunak laid out a 12bn package of emergency measures to support businesses and workers through the crisis but it included no help for private renters who make up nearly a fifth of the British population.

The Acorn union, which supports tenants, workers and residents, launched a petition this week urging the government to enact temporary rent freezes for renters suffering with the virus or self-isolating for the period of their self-isolation and recovery.

The group also wants an immediate halt on section 21 and section 8 evictions.

A section 8 eviction is used where a tenant has fallen into arrears; a section 21 can be instigated by a landlord for no reason and often gives the renter just two months to vacate the property.



Acorn also wants a commitment that local authorities will not attempt to evict anyone for not paying their rent because they were off work due to coronavirus infection or self-isolation.

Millions of people are either self-employed, working on zero-hours contracts or likely to be entitled only to statutory sick pay of 94.25 if they cannot work, meaning there is a risk many will not be able to pay their rent.

The UKs sick pay is among the least generous in the industrialised world, amounting to just 20 per cent of the median wage. Across Europe, statutory sick pay averages 65 per cent of median earnings.

The pandemic is also shining a light on the UKs renting rules which give tenants fewer rights than in many other European countries.

At the same time, several high street banks have said that they will offer repayment holidays to people who are unable to pay their mortgage as a result of the pandemic. Acorn argues that renters should be offered the same leeway.

Prem Sikka, a professor of accounting at the University of Sheffield, said the government had provided basically nothing in the Budget to help the less well-off who may struggle financially because of coronavirus.

They said they would refund businesses for statutory sick pay of 94.25 a week for 14 days, Professor Sikka said. Thats not going to even cover the rent on its own.

A lot of families are in private rented accommodation. It is often overcrowded, they will find it impossible to self-isolate.

For council tenants there is an easy solution which is the government pays money for rent over to the council.

For private renters its more difficult  you have a whole variety of tenants from poor to posh. Help needs to be targeted at the poorer end.

He suggested doing this by using data the government already has on who is claiming in-work benefits.

The government needs to take charge and say, Weve asked you to isolate so we will help you.

 Coronavirus: Can herd immunity help the UK battle the outbreak?

Another method of getting help to people that need it most would be providing an additional one-off payment to universal credit claimants, Pro Sikka said.

This kind of financial help will be very beneficial to the economy because those who have less money tend to spend all of what they have on goods and services.

Richard Murphy, a chartered accountant and campaigner who runs Tax Research UK, believes any private renters who contract coronavirus should be able to live rent-free for up to three months.

He wrote in a recent blog post: Far too many people have too few savings to survive major periods of economic inactivity without massive prejudice to their short-term and long-term wellbeing.

Should the epidemic spread then as a matter of statutory right any tenant should be provided with a minimum three-month rent-free period to ease the stress upon them whilst this crisis lasts.

I would suggest that the grant of that extension should be automatic to anyone who does not make a due payment of rent on the required date during the period of the epidemic. They should be automatically granted this extension by the landlord without having to make any further application or to complete any additional paperwork.

A government spokesperson said: The government has always been clear that our priority is to put people first, which is why there is support in place to help affected people and minimise any social and economic disruption.

Weve announced a range of measures to support people and communities, including a 500m fund for households experiencing financial hardship and ensuring statutory sick pay is available from the first day people take off work.
New Delhi [India], Mar 12 (ANI): The Central government is is processing the request received from coronavirus-affected countries of Bhutan, Maldives, Iran, and Italy for assistance with masks and protective gear.



"We have received requests from some of the countries in the neighborhood in terms of providing them assistance for masks and protective gear. Requests are under process. In February we had sent a consignment to China," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a press briefing here.

"For instance, we have received requests (for protective gear) from Bhutan, Maldives, Iran, and Italy. In China, it has already been dispatched," he added.

India had earlier provided 15 tonnes of medical equipment to China -- the epicenter of the outbreak which has reported more than 3,100 fatalities from the infection. (ANI)


Over the past week, students at the University of California (UC) San Diego joined their counterparts at UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis in a wildcat strike for substantial cost of living adjustments. Graduate students at UC Berkeley are set to join the full teaching strike on Monday.

The latest actions follow the firings of 54 Santa Cruz graduate students by UC president, and former Homeland Security secretary under Obama, Janet Napolitano. An additional 20 Santa Cruz students have been told that there would be no positions available for them at the start of the 20202021 academic year.

Support for the strikers has spread across the US and internationally. Sympathy rallies were held in the past few days at the University of Maryland, University of Nevada-Reno and many other campuses.

A rally at UCLA

The strikers have expressed their desire to continue their actions even as UC campuses shut down and convert to online-only classes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The social conditions facing students is intersecting explosively with the measures taken by governments in response to the virus. On Tuesday night, police launched a violent crackdown on the campus of the University of Dayton in Ohio, where students were given only 24 hours to vacate their dormitories.

Under these conditions the United Auto Workers, which nominally represents graduate student workers, is working desperately to contain the strike and divert it into safe channels.

The UAW is demanding that students end their strike immediately, promising only to hold a separate vote for an unfair labor practices strike in April which would exclude the economic demands of students. The UAW has also filed a grievance with the state labor department over allegations that the university entered into negotiation with any party other than the Union over cost of living issuesin other words, that the university undermined the legally-sanctioned monopoly of the UAW by speaking directly to students.

The UAW is working with other unions active on UC campuses to isolate the strike as much as possible. On Monday, the American Federation of State and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) called off a strike of 100 workers at UC Hastings College of Law, which was set to begin Monday.

Jeff Herrera, AFSCME Local 3299 bargaining team member and UC Hastings library operations manager, claimed in a statement: This market-competitive agreement ensures that UC Hastings will be able to retain the skilled professionals it needs to serve students, while also ensuring our members will be able to live and work with dignity. In fact, the market-competitive agreement includes annual raises of only 3 percent, approximately equal to the rise in the Consumer Price Index in San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in America, where the college is located.

The World Socialist Web Site spoke to several students about the strike and the way forward for the students struggle.

Cheyenne is a first year PhD student in physics at UC Santa Cruz.

Its really sad how were at a university which talks about diversity and inclusion, how they want a broad student body from different backgrounds, but theres only one background, a wealthy one, that you can be if you can afford to live in Santa Cruz without crushing debt.

A lot of people across the campus are in support of the strike, Cheyenne continued. Everyone knows how crazy it is to live here. The university acts like a landlord, not a university. Student housing is twelve-hundred dollars a month for a shared apartment, which is not really a discount. Theres a lot of stories, maybe a few are apocryphal, about people being homeless.

Asked about the role of the UAW, Cheyenne said, There definitely is a sense and a feeling that the union is piggybacking off the work that UC graduate students have done. The union is considering a strike authorization vote after UC graduate students at Santa Cruz have literally put their livelihoods on the line for something that the union said they werent going to help them with.

Our union hasnt done much for us. We overwhelmingly voted down the current contract and were stuck with it anyway. We asked for help but didnt get it.

DJ, an undergraduate at UCSC, also spoke to the WSWS.

I blame the admins for not giving the graduates COLA [cost of living adjustment], because they definitely need it. Ive heard of people having to live out of their cars, and if you are going to hire people to work at your facility you have to pay them the right amount of money to live where theyre at.

I definitely feel like the amount the university gives us through financial aid is not enough for a lot of people that I know. A lot of people have day meal plans and they have to ration their things out, saying `Oh, I just wont go to dining today because I cant really afford to. They are all things I feel the university should be mindful of and care about, and instead they dont want to know whats going on and prefer to sit up on their ivory tower and go about their business.

When you hear about the administration getting bonuses, and the fact they hired cops from another county in order to police the situation instead of granting COLA, its ridiculous.

Asked about the class issues in the UCSC strike and more generally, DJ said, I think that class has been a very prevalent force, especially in the current election year.

The strike raises fundamental class issues which extend far beyond the university campus. Across the state and country, students and teachers have borne decades of budget cuts under bipartisan efforts to privatize education. With the apparent onset of a new financial crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, capitalism is preparing to make the working class bear the cost of the crisis. While the Federal Reserve has pledge $1.5 trillion to prop up stock prices, and the government spends $1 trillion each year in military adventures, students and teachers are told that there is no money for a living wage, free education or free healthcare.

In order to secure the basic social right to a livable wage and public education, the working class must take those vast sums of wealth out of the hands of private companies and capitalist parties.
Today lets talk about why Star Wars is an anti-war story.

The past couple weeks Ive been pretty excited about the new High Republic setting in Star Wars is going to start covering. Its a big deal and Ive written about it a few times now. I have noticed one interesting thing in a lot of the discussion around the new setting, though. Lets take a look.

But its Star WARS

As part of their announcement for the project, Lucasfilm put out a picture of what appears to be a brainstorming board from one of the writers meetings. Its divided into three categories which, as best I can tell, are what makes good fiction. What makes Star Wars Star Wars and random wishes they have for Star Wars. The very first point under the Star Wars category is not pro-war. A comment Ive seen come up a lot in relation to this goes along the lines of How can Star Wars be anti-war, its called Star Wars, its about WAR! Usually, the comment is in connection to a feeling that the writers here are pushing some sort of new agenda, twisting Star Wars to suit their own needs. Heres the thing however, much to the surprise of some, Star Wars has been an anti-war story from the get-go. Need convincing? Here are some thoughts.

The OT- Wars Not Make One Great

For all the action and adventure its coated in the original Star Wars carries pretty strong anti-war sentiments. Lucas has often talked about how the movies were conceived as a loose anti-Vietnam film. This is, after all, a story about a bunch of ragged freedom fighters going up against a massive technologically advanced Empire. While the movies depiction of war can be necessary at times, its not seen as a good thing. This becomes really clear in Lukes Jedi story. Not only do you have someone like Yoda saying wars not make one great (how you could think Star Wars was anything but anti-war after that I dont know) but you have Lukes ultimate victory coming only after he stops fighting and refuses to continue down the path of violence; its love not, war that wins the day of him.

The Prequels  So this is how liberty dies with thunderous applause.

If the Original Trilogy was sometimes subtle about being anti-war the Prequels shout the message from the hover-roof tops. This a trilogy that is all about how war perverts democracy and even the best intentioned people and organizations can become tools of evil during war. This is a story full of nods to how warmongers use war as an excuse to take power and enrich themselves and how the innocent suffer as a result. I dont think going into this too deep is necessary, the overarching plot is pretty clear here.

The Sequels  Not Fighting What We Hate

While the sequel trilogy doesnt wear its anti-war message as openly as the prequels its still quite visible. Of the three movies The Last Jedi  for all its faults  has the strongest anti-war message. Here again, we go back to playing with the idea that war is just a cycle perpetuated by the military-industrial complex. Both Lukes path and Rose and Finns storylines have strong anti-war elements. Lukes downfall was due to him reaching for violence to answer a problem, while his redemption is finding a non-violent solution to saving the Resistance. Rose, of course, makes the argument that you should fight to save things, not to destroy things, a quote which both echos ideas from Empire Strikes Back and contrasts Anakins downfall when he tells Padme that love cant save her.

Finns arc throughout all three movies is likewise full of anti-war messages. Its the arc that shows the most about the horrors of war and deals with child-soldiers and brainwashing. Finn rejects the evils of wars and eventually meets up with others who have done the same. These stories arent necessarily pacifistic  but they are clearly anti-war.

The Other Stories  The war left its scars on all of us.

Star Wars has been in the hands of many different authors and creators over the past decades. Not all of them, or every story, has dealt with an anti-war message. Its certainly not uncommon for the pageantry, the action, and the adventure to take over and carry people along for the ride. Still, a huge amount of Star Wars stories carry anti-war messages. Many episodes of the Clones Wars are pretty upfront about it, both in the senate storylines, the Clone storylines, and the Jedi storylines. Even in stories that dont deal with it a lot the bad guys are almost always a large conquering Empire, the Evil Sith are about power and aggression and violence and the good Jedi are peaceful.
New Delhi: Hours after the Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested 'Salman' alias 'Nanhe' in the murder case Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit Sharma during the northeast Delhi violence, the accused has revealed some chilling new details about the crime.

Sources in the special cell told ZEE News that the killers knew that Sharma was an employee of the Intelligence Bureau and his murder was planned under a conspiracy.

The sources also revealed that the accused stabbed Sharma 14 times, and later the rioters dragged him to suspended AAP councillor Tahir's house. Sharma was brutally attacked and tortured before his dead body was thrown into a drain near his home in northeast Delhis Chand Bagh.

Earlier an autopsy report of Sharma had stated: "Multiple abrasion.. deep cut.. by sharp edge objects." The panel of doctors, who carried out post mortem clearly stated that he was brutally and repeatedly stabbed, leading to his death.

While sources at the Delhi Police said that have also found some videos related to Ankit Sharma's murder case through which the accused are being identified. The videos surfaced after the Delhi Police appealed to the people to send videos. The videos have been taken by some of the locals there.

Meanwhile, two persons close to suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor, Tahir Hussain have been arrested for rioting. Both the accused were named along with Tahir Hussain in the FIR filed of the rioting incidents.

The Delhi Police had last week arrested the former AAP leader in connection with Ankit Sharma's murder the moment he reached a Delhi court to surrender.

In an FIR against Hussain, the Delhi Police had booked the expelled AAP councillor for Sharma's murder and inciting the violence in northeast Delhi.

The suspended AAP leader was sent to seven-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.

Hussain was named in the FIR filed by the family the IB staffer, who accused him of murdering the 26-year-old.

The Delhi in violence claimed the lives of at least 52 people and left more than 200 injured last month.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 22:43:29|Editor: huaxia

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MANAMA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming 2020 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix has been postponed along with the Vietnam Grand Prix amid COVID-19 fears, the Formula One announced Friday.

"The global situation regarding COVID-19 is fluid and very difficult to predict and it's right we take time to assess the situation and make the right decisions," said Formula One Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Chase Carey in a statement.

The race was scheduled to be held from March 20 to 22 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, with officials saying last week that it would not be open to spectators as a precautionary measure.

According to Bahrain's Ministry of Health, as of Friday, the total number of registered COVID-19 cases in the country increased to 210.

A total of 44 patients infected with the virus have been cured, the ministry added.
The African Impact Initiative (www.africanimpact.ca) is a non-profit organization with a mission of developing the African community through its youth.

Formed and supported at the University of Toronto since 2016, their projects have helped to provide African youth in Canada with better career opportunities and core skills. They also provide a platform for them to learn from experienced professionals, through their workshops and conferences.

As the organization grew, they began to tackle challenges back home as well through community development projects. Their first project in southern Nigeria was focused on improving healthcare outcomes for the Ikot Eko Ebon rural community. In partnership with Cottage Hospital and the Akwa Ibom government, they were able to increase the number of people in that village who received quality care by revamping their community hospital with equipment to address their pressing health issues. They also held a campaign, to educate the community members on what was now available in their local dialect.

While successful, this project revealed some of the challenges organizations face when trying to bring in solutions from outside. Sustainability was proving hard, due to travel costs and communication gaps. It was clear that they couldnt replicate this model in different African communities as easily as they had thought. This was what motivated their team to come up with the African Impact Challenge.

The goal of the African Impact Challenge is to enable sustainable development locally across the continent, by investing in youth and empowering them to solve identified problems through technology driven impact entrepreneurship. They are essentially trying to empower African youth to tackle their own challenges locally with technology. Guided by The Prosperity Paradox, it will be run in different African countries over the next 5 years. The goal is to successfully kick-start 10 innovations aligned with the selection criteria by 2025. The African Impact Initiative will be doing this by providing the capital, resources and mentorship necessary to begin from scratch with a $100,000 CAD fund.

The first version is taking place in Ghana, and they have partnered with Ashesi University, Ghana Technology University & University of Development Studies to rollout the applications. It is open to students in other universities as well. They have also partnered with BaseCamp Initiative to provide the co-creation space. Selected teams will participate in a paid summer incubator, which will bring their ideas to life and make them market ready; with funding of up to 20000 GHS available per team.

All Ghanaian youth are welcome to apply! This years challenge application is open until April 10th at 11:59PM GMT. Please check out the criteria and apply here: https://www.africanimpact.ca/the-african-impact-challenge

Pictures from the visit to Ghana in December 2019

The founder of African Impact Initiative (Efosa Obano) and the founder of BaseCamp Initiative (Sunita Kragbe)

The founder of African Impact Initiative (Efosa Obano) with the GTUC office of research services and innovation faculty (Prince Loko and Mabel Amachie)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Kazakhstan has introduced temporary restrictions on crossing of Kazakh-Russian and Kazakh-Kyrgyz borders amid coronavirus spreading, Trend reports with reference to Kazakhstans Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kazakhstans government made the decision to introduce temporary restrictions on using internal documents for Russias and Kyrgyzstans citizens when crossing Kazakh-Kyrgyz and Kazakh-Russian borders.

The prohibition is not applied to Kazakh citizens who wish to return from Kazakhstan and Russia.

On March 13, 2020, first two cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 4,700. Over 128,000 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 68,000 people have reportedly recovered.

Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. The symptoms include cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing. It is primarily spread through airborne contact or contact with contaminated objects. In mild cases, according to the Chinese authorities, treatment takes about a week, in severe cases - two or more.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.

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Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
The Government is trying to find a way to provide childcare for health service workers as services close today for more than two weeks.

Up to 70 people have now been infected with the coronavirus in Ireland, and one person has died.

Schools, colleges and childcare services have been shut by the government and people encouraged to work at home if possible due to the coronavirus.

However, healthcare workers now have to find a way of minding their children and coming into work.

The HSE has asked the Government to prioritise measures that will ensure staff can still go to work and have told unions to expect an announcement this morning.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said they have not yet found the solution.

Mr Varadkar said: "A lot of the parents of the children in those schools, in those childcare facilities are healthcare workers and we need them to be able to go to work.

"So that is something we are going to have to work on over the next couple of days to see if there is a way that we can find a means to prioritise childcare for those children. We don't have a solution to that yet, but we have identified it as an issue."

Meanwhile, Early Childhood Ireland has warned some creches could be forced to close permanently if they cannot reopen on March 30.

Up to 200,000 children and babies and 30,000 staff working in the sector are affected by the two-week closure.

Last night, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs confirmed early years funding would be ring fenced.

Frances Byrne from Early Childhood Ireland said if the period is extended, some creches could be forced to close:

Ms Byrne said: "Creches faced unprecedented challenges in 2019 and many of our members told us by the end of the year they were very much contemplating closure, that it was only going to take one more thing.

"We have been calling on Government, if that happens, that special measures would be introduced for the early years and school sector here in Ireland."
Gov. Charlie Baker announced that Massachusetts now can test an additional 5,000 more people in the state. His remarks that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal government need to allow more testing facilities across the Bay State has been heard with two commercial labs now given the authority to test affording the number of tests for COVID-19 to double.

Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp are now able to test for the virus at their facilities and were approved on Thursday. The tests take between 24 to 48 hours to do and the number of tests being done daily will double to 400 tests per day next week at the state laboratory.

During the press conference Baker told reporters that he felt that the federal government is not working fast enough but highlighted that Massachusetts has no other choice but to follow the rules.

Washington State started testing the virus without federal permission and was shut down. Baker, in no uncertain terms, said that this was not an option for the Bay State.

Massachusetts General Hospital is still waiting for the authority to test in its labs.

According to the Boston Globe, it would take the State Public Health Laboratory on Jamaica Plain Campus at least 25 days at full capacity to perform 5,000 tests.

On Thursday afternoon, the state Department of Public Health announced there are now 108 cases of coronavirus in Massachusetts. Six of those cases are confirmed by the CDC and 102 are presumptive.

DPH Commissioner Monica Bharel said to WBUR that the state has adequate supplies and staffing. She added the state had tested 400 people; it actually had tested 400 specimens, as most people require two tests.

As of Sunday, 1,707 Americans had been tested for the novel coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. South Korea, by contrast, has tested more than 189,000 people.

Compared to other South Korea, the US is woefully behind in its testing for the virus. South Korea seems to be about 700 times as high than the USs, according to Business Insider.

[The] 5,000 is additional on top of the several thousand we had before, said Baker. We certainly believe that we have what I would describe as an adequate supply today, but as I said in my remarks, we need the federal government, the CDC [but] the federal government in particular to give hospitals and testing facilities in Massachusetts, that have the capacity to test the material and the approval that they need to actually begin to test themselves.

Members of the medical community in Massachusetts have spoken out about the current limitations of testing, saying they havent been able to test everyone who presented with symptoms, including ones who have traveled recently.

One hospital has started sending swabs to a lab in California, while another is using couriers, and sometimes even its own infectious disease head, to transport samples from the Berkshires to Boston, according to Commonwealth Magazine.

Unless patients meet the criteria for testing under the CDC guidelines, patients wont get tested. The guidelines are:

Recently traveled to Iran, China, most of Europe or South Korea or come in contact with someone who has tested positive.

Symptoms include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, though there have been cases where people have tested positive with few or no symptoms.

Mike Leary, a spokesperson for the Berkshire Medical Center told MassLive on Thursday, echoing Bakers plea to the federal government that the commonwealth needs to have more resources and labs across the state to identify and subsequently combat the virus efficiently.

Seventy hospital employees - including 54 nurses - are under quarantine after treating coronavirus patients who arrived at the hospital earlier this month.

Medical staff wore face masks but not eye shields and gowns, as recommended for medical professionals treating COVID-19 patients.

Hospital staff who came into contact with the patients have been furloughed for 14-days, a spokesperson for the medical center said.

Massachusetts will continue to see a rise in positive cases of the virus as more people are tested.

The Department of Public Health announced the total broke into triple digits on Thursday, with 102 presumptive cases in the state and six confirmed by the CDC.

Of those 102 cases, 82 are connected to the Biogen conference held in Boston last month. Five of the cases are travel-related, eight are connected to Berkshire Medical Center and 13 are under investigation, DPH said.

Patients were hospitalized in 10 of the cases, DPH said. Patients were not hospitalized in 89 of the cases and whether or not a patient was hospitalized remains under investigation in nine cases.

Middlesex County - Massachusetts most populated county - has the highest number of cases as of Tuesday, with 49.

Norfolk has the second-highest number - 24 cases - followed closely by Suffolk County with 22.

Berkshire is the only county in Western Massachusetts reporting coronavirus cases so far. The Berkshires has nine cases as of Thursday. Essex County has two cases and Worcester County has one. The remaining case has yet to be tied to a specific region.

Related Content:
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday said the government has earmarked Rs 200 crore to combat the coronavirus threat in the state.

All educational institutions will remain closed in the state till March 31 except for holding examinations, the chief minister said in a statement in the state Assembly here.

The government also declared COVID-19 as a "disaster" for the state, he said.

"The Cabinet met this morning and declared COVID-19 as a 'disaster' for the state under the provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005 to adequately empower our public officials to combat the spread of the disease," Patnaik said.

He said an amount of Rs 200 crore has been earmarked to augment the Public Health Response Fund to combat the threat of the pandemic and for making required expenditure.

Non-essential official gatherings such as seminars, workshops and conferences are to be cancelled, the chief minister said.

He also said social gatherings and assemblies like religious functions, marriage receptions and parties are to be regulated by local authorities.

Cinema halls, swimming pools and gyms in the state are to be closed till March 31, Patnaik said.

He said the health and family welfare department and its directorates, as well as the collectors and the municipal commissioners have been authorised for making emergency procurement of necessary drugs and consumables and equipment to prevent and contain the spread of the disease.
By Trend

A law on genocide must be adopted in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani MP Elman Mammadov made such a proposal at the plenary meeting of the Azerbaijani parliament on March 13, Trend reports.

The MP stressed that the Armenians throughout the history committed more than one genocide against Azerbaijanis.

"I propose to put forward the issue of adopting the law on genocide into the Azerbaijani parliaments work plan," Mammadov added.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A Longford woman who is currently self-isolating after presenting with flu like symptoms to her GP has claimed Ireland's coronavirus crisis is far worse than what people are being told.

The mother of one, who lives on the outskirts of Longford town, started feeling unwell a week ago, said the level of community transmission is far greater than what health service chiefs are making known.

She said while she hasn't been formally tested for Covid-19, she has resorted to self-incubation just in case.

"My GP thinks so," she said.

"I presented with flu like symptoms a week ago. I got confirmation they (HSE) would test me and my doctor contacted me and gave me a number and said someone would be out to take a swab with the results being given in 36 hours.

After being prescribed a course of antibiotics for a dry cough and chest infection, the woman contacted her GP for a second time after her condition appeared to worsen.

Rather than attend her doctor's surgery in person, the woman sent an email spelling out her situation but was later told she would not be tested locally for suspected Covid-19 as that was being administered at a more central level.

"I got a call from the surgery saying that they (surgery) had been told they were not doing any tests and to contact an 1850 number," she said.

The woman, whose breathing appeared to become more laboured as she spoke to the Leader via phone, warned of how Ireland's coronavirus pandemic was only just beginning.

"The ports should have been closed, it's as simple as that. Today, there are eight flights coming in from Italy and that's just wrong.

"This will get worse and the thing is there is no containment in our community. That's the reality of it."
Manakin/iStock(NEW YORK) -- Hours after announcing Disneyland would close, Disney World was the latest attraction to be added to the list of places shutting down in the wake of the current novel coronavirus outbreak.



Disneyland and Disney California Adventure will close down to the public from March 14 through the end of the month amid the novel coronavirus spread, according to a statement from Disney Parks.



The Walt Disney Company said Disney World, in Orlando, Florida, will close March 15 through the end of the month.



The hotels on Disneyland Resort will remain open until March 16 to give guests enough time to make necessary travel arrangements, the statement read. Downtown Disney will remain open.



Unlike Disneyland, the hotels at Disney World will remain open "until further notice."



"While there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at Disneyland Resort, after carefully reviewing the guidelines of the Governor of Californias executive order and in the best interest of our guests and employees, we are proceeding with the closure," according to Disney Parks' statement.



Walt Disney will pay its employees during the shutdown, the company said.



Disneyland Paris will also be closing, and the Disney Cruise Line will suspend its operations on Saturday.



Guests can contact The Walt Disney Travel Company at 714-520-5050 with questions.



Walt Disney is the parent company of ABC News.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
We think intelligent long term investing is the way to go. But no-one is immune from buying too high. For example, after five long years the Orion Minerals Limited (ASX:ORN) share price is a whole 62% lower. That's an unpleasant experience for long term holders. And it's not just long term holders hurting, because the stock is down 60% in the last year. Furthermore, it's down 39% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders. This could be related to the recent financial results - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report.

See our latest analysis for Orion Minerals

We don't think Orion Minerals's revenue of AU$71,000 is enough to establish significant demand. You have to wonder why venture capitalists aren't funding it. So it seems shareholders are too busy dreaming about the progress to come than dwelling on the current (lack of) revenue. It seems likely some shareholders believe that Orion Minerals will find or develop a valuable new mine before too long.

Companies that lack both meaningful revenue and profits are usually considered high risk. There is usually a significant chance that they will need more money for business development, putting them at the mercy of capital markets. So the share price itself impacts the value of the shares (as it determines the cost of capital). While some such companies do very well over the long term, others become hyped up by promoters before eventually falling back down to earth, and going bankrupt (or being recapitalized). It certainly is a dangerous place to invest, as Orion Minerals investors might realise.

Orion Minerals had liabilities exceeding cash by AU$3.9m when it last reported in December 2019, according to our data. That makes it extremely high risk, in our view. But with the share price diving 18% per year, over 5 years , it's probably fair to say that some shareholders no longer believe the company will succeed. You can click on the image below to see (in greater detail) how Orion Minerals's cash levels have changed over time. You can see in the image below, how Orion Minerals's cash levels have changed over time (click to see the values).

Story continues

ASX:ORN Historical Debt, March 13th 2020

In reality it's hard to have much certainty when valuing a business that has neither revenue or profit. Given that situation, would you be concerned if it turned out insiders were relentlessly selling stock? I would feel more nervous about the company if that were so. It only takes a moment for you to check whether we have identified any insider sales recently.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Orion Minerals shareholders are down 60% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 4.4%. 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 18% 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. 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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 7 warning signs for Orion Minerals (of which 3 are concerning!) you should know about.

We will like Orion Minerals better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on 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.
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Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, although Amazon.com made losses for many years after listing, if you had bought and held the shares since 1999, you would have made a fortune. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Jervois Mining (ASX:JRV) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

View our latest analysis for Jervois Mining

How Long Is Jervois Mining's 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 Jervois Mining last reported its balance sheet in December 2019, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$12m. In the last year, its cash burn was AU$11m. Therefore, from December 2019 it had roughly 14 months of cash runway. While that cash runway isn't too concerning, sensible holders would be peering into the distance, and considering what happens if the company runs out of cash. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

ASX:JRV Historical Debt, March 13th 2020

How Is Jervois Mining's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

In the last year, Jervois Mining did book revenue of AU$7.1m, but its revenue from operations was less, at just AU$7.1m. Given how low that operating leverage is, we think it's too early to put much weight on the revenue growth, so we'll focus on how the cash burn is changing, instead. Its cash burn positively exploded in the last year, up 271%. Given that sharp increase in spending, the company's cash runway will shrink rapidly as it depletes its cash reserves. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.

Story continues

Can Jervois Mining Raise More Cash Easily?

While Jervois Mining does have a solid cash runway, its cash burn trajectory may have some shareholders thinking ahead to when the company may need to raise more cash. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash to drive growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations.

Since it has a market capitalisation of AU$128m, Jervois Mining's AU$11m in cash burn equates to about 8.4% of its market value. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.

So, Should We Worry About Jervois Mining's Cash Burn?

On this analysis of Jervois Mining's cash burn, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap was reassuring, while its increasing cash burn has us a bit worried. We don't think its cash burn is particularly problematic, but after considering the range of factors in this article, we do think shareholders should be monitoring how it changes over time. On another note, Jervois Mining has 5 warning signs (and 2 which can't be ignored) we think you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, 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.
To the annoyance of some shareholders, Canadian Tire Corporation (TSE:CTC.A) shares are down a considerable 37% in the last month. That drop has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 36% in that time.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E implies that investors have high expectations of what a company can achieve compared to a company with a low P/E ratio.

See our latest analysis for Canadian Tire Corporation

How Does Canadian Tire Corporation's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 7.27 that sentiment around Canadian Tire Corporation isn't particularly high. The image below shows that Canadian Tire Corporation has a lower P/E than the average (8.1) P/E for companies in the multiline retail industry.

TSX:CTC.A Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

This suggests that market participants think Canadian Tire Corporation will underperform other companies in its industry. Since the market seems unimpressed with Canadian Tire Corporation, it's quite possible it could surprise on the upside. It is arguably worth checking if insiders are buying shares, because that might imply they believe the stock is undervalued.

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. When earnings grow, the 'E' increases, over time. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. A lower P/E should indicate the stock is cheap relative to others -- and that may attract buyers.

Story continues

Canadian Tire Corporation increased earnings per share by an impressive 18% over the last twelve months. And it has bolstered its earnings per share by 10% per year over the last five years. So one might expect an above average P/E ratio.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

Don't forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.

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

Canadian Tire Corporation's Balance Sheet

Canadian Tire Corporation has net debt worth a very significant 118% of its market capitalization. This level of debt justifies a relatively low P/E, so remain cognizant of the debt, if you're comparing it to other stocks.

The Verdict On Canadian Tire Corporation's P/E Ratio

Canadian Tire Corporation has a P/E of 7.3. That's below the average in the CA market, which is 11.6. While the EPS growth last year was strong, the significant debt levels reduce the number of options available to management. If the company can continue to grow earnings, then the current P/E may be unjustifiably low. Given Canadian Tire Corporation's P/E ratio has declined from 11.5 to 7.3 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer invest in growth, this stock apparently offers limited promise, but the deep value investors may find the pessimism around this stock enticing.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold the key to an excellent investment decision.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Canadian Tire Corporation. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
The Friends of Vietnam Heritage (FVH) plans to host a walk on March 20, from Hoe Nhai Street to the iconic Long Bien Bridge.

The FVH walking tour will start from Hang Dau Water Tower and end at the iconic Long Bien Bridge.  Photo kienviet.net

Taking place from 9.30am to 12pm, the English-speaking tour will start from Hang Dau Water Tower to Hoe Nhai Street which hosts Hoe Nhai Pagoda, before getting into Hang Than Street  the route leading to Long Bien railway station and Long Bien Bridge under the arches.

Tour members will learn about the history of the area, the French influence, what the streets were famed for in the past and what their modern-day activities are.

To join, RSVP to Stella at stella@fvheritage.org.

Hanoi close tourist sites for disinfection Historical and cultural relic sites as wells as tourist destinations in Hanoi are temporarily closed for disinfection in an attempt to prevent further spread of COVID-19.
Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Thursday (March 12) decided to verify facts afresh in a complaint against former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his family, where they are accused of falsifying a property document while selling land.

The development came after Scindia quit the Congress and joined the BJP on Wednesday. Twenty-two MLAs who belong to his camp also tendered their resignations, threatening the survival of the Kamal Nath government in the state. "Yes, an order has been given for re-verification of facts in the complaint filed by Surendra Shrivastava," an EOW official told PTI.

An EOW release said Shrivastava on Thursday filed a new complaint against Scindia and his family, alleging that by falsifying a registry document, they sold him a piece of land at Mahalgaon which was smaller by 6,000 sq feet than the original agreement in 2009.

He had lodged the complaint first on March 26, 2014. But it was investigated and closed in 2018, the EOW official said. "As he again petitioned us today, we will re-verify the facts," the officer said.

Scindia's close aide Pankaj Chaturvedi alleged that it was political vendetta.

"The case had been closed for want of evidence. Now for vengeance, it is being reopened. We have full faith in the Constitution and law. We will get justice and Kamal Nath government a befitting reply," Chaturvedi said.
The government on Friday extended the deadline for submitting bids for buying 100 per cent stake in Air India till April 30.

The deadline was originally set at March 17.

The government had allowed access to the virtual data room of Air India to interested bidders late in February and allowed them further time till March 6 to pose queries.

Home Minister Amit Shah-led ministerial panel on Air India decided on extending the deadline for submission of expression of interest (EoI) by interested bidders till April 30.

While extending the date, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) in a notification said the changes are in view of the requests received from the IBs (interested bidders) and the prevailing situation arising out of COVID-19.

In January, the government restarted the divestment process of Air India and invited bids for selling 100 per cent of its equity in the state-owned airline, including Air India's 100 per cent shareholding in AI Express Ltd and 50 per cent in Air India SATS Airport Services Private Ltd.

The government had on January 27 issued the preliminary information memorandum (PIM) inviting EoI for sale of 100 per cent stake in Air India.

On February 21, it issued the first set of clarification answering queries regarding the 'confidentiality undertaking'.

Interested bidders for Air India should have a net worth of Rs 3,500 crore.

After its unsuccessful bid to sell Air India in 2018, the government this time has decided to offload its entire stake. In 2018, the government had offered to sell its 76 per cent stake in the airline.

Of the total debt of Rs 60,074 crore as of March 31, 2019, the buyer would be required to absorb Rs 23,286.5 crore, while the rest would be transferred to Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL), the special purpose vehicle.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
W hile coronavirus paranoia is prompting mask-clad commuters to avoid any hint of a cough or sneeze on public transport, there are still those who nonchalantly declare: I wont get it.

The rabid desperation for hand sanitiser - and empty supermarket shelves once stocked with toilet paper - can be seen as an indicator that swathes of the population are taking the prospect seriously. But despite the predictions - coinciding with repeated advice from officials to wash our hands and avoid touching our faces - there are those who seem aloof to the situation.

Optimism or optimistic bias  a feeling that positive things are more likely than negative to happen to us  may explain the phenomena.

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

Research shows that people overwhelmingly think that bad things are not going to happen to them, Dr Marie Helweg-Larsen, a professor of psychology at Dickinson College, told the Standard.

Optimistic bias refers to the mindset you are at less risk than other people.

Its everything from experiencing a natural disaster, to getting cancer to experiencing domestic violence. Whatever people think their risk is, [they think] its less than other people.

That said, this same mental stance could apply to the spread of Covid-19, despite research into that specifically not yet having been conducted. And though to those of an anxious persuasion this might seem delusional, Dr Helweg-Larsen adds that there is generally a level of rationalisation.

Its not that people who are older think that theyre less at risk than younger people to coronavirus, she said.

But if you ask their risk compared to other older people theyll think its less than that.

Its not a delusion, its like rose coloured glasses.

Workers, some wearing protective face masks, cross London Bridge / REUTERS

But why is it people feel that way? Dr Tali Sharot, who wrote a book on the optimism bias, explained that looking forward to good things intrinsically puts us in a better mood. The pure act of anticipation makes us happy.

In fact, without the optimism bias, we would all be slightly depressed, Dr Sharot, a professor cognitive neuroscientist at the University College of London's department of experimental psychology, said in a 2012 Ted talk.

Speaking to the Standard, Dr Sharot people said the thought process also gave people a sense of control.

They have more sense that they control the future than they actually do, she said.

Having such an outset can be a driver for success  if you believe you will do well, then you might work harder, which in turn could lead to prosperity.

Optimists are more successful in many different domains, she said.

It has a positive impact on your mental and physical health.

Dr Helweg-Larsen explained how some level of hope for the best can be necessary for day-to-day life.

Coronavirus Symptoms UK: What To Do If You're Showing Signs Of The Virus

If every time you put your keys in the car you think, today Im going to die in a car accident, that would be debilitating, she said. However, that shouldnt mean you go so far that you dont put on your seatbelt. Linking that to Covid-19, she said: People can say other people are overreacting.

They shouldnt then use that to go to northern Italy and then go to a nursing home.

There lies the crux of what can make the perspective an issue in this situation  coronavirus can impact others.

Smokers, for example, often display optimism bias. They know the risks of the habit but have justified why its okay for them to keep it up. And, though second-hand smoke is an issue, that decision largely hurts them more than anyone else.

However, if certainty you wont suffer from Covid-19 stops you from taking precautions against its spread, there may be a broader impact to that.

On coronavirus, your bad behaviour is affecting vulnerable people, Dr Helweg-Larsen said.

Dr Anneli Jefferson, a lecturer at Cardiff University whose research focuses on the philosophy of psychology and moral philosophy, said an issue in people's outlook may be weighing up their personal risk factor should they catch the virus, versus the ramifications for others.

"When people think of bad things happening, they think of the stereotypical person. They think of the stereotypical person who might get that," she told the Standard.

This could perhaps lead younger people who are in reasonable health to consider their risk of death from the virus low and therefore not think about the ramifications of becoming a carrier.

"On a personal level you perhaps don't really feel at risk," she said. "That doesn't mean you aren't a risk to others. I don't feel people are making that link  which is probably reinforced by the stereotypes."

Dr Sharot agreed that people would usually act upon personal risk  though said at the moment it did appear people were acting for the wider community.

"In many cases, people act because of the risk to themselves, she said.

"In this case you do see people acting for the common good."

Expanding on the underestimation of adverse outcomes to actions, Dr Sharot did suggest that perhaps people werent considering the broader impacts  some of which could add to their personal risk.

Referencing potential strains on healthcare systems, she said: There are other risks that might be underestimated. Maybe you won't be able to get treatment on other issues if you need it.

And on those wider hurdles, Dr Sharot said that perhaps mindset could also perhaps impact wider response plans. For example, members of governments the world over might be impacted by the bias  which could explain any delays in action to tackle the spread.

Optimism bias is something that most of us have, she said, suggesting studies showed it could be around 80 per cent.

That would impact people in government, as well as people making decisions for themselves.

On the widespread nature of the outlook she said that should the situation worsen its impact could dissipate.

If you feel at threat, the optimism bias really starts to go away, she said. Dr Sharot alluded that perhaps as areas become worse-hit, such as northern Italy, people might feel a more imminent threat.

The optimism bias is less likely to show in that case, if youre in a very threatening situation.

Giving her thoughts on why people might approach negative situations with optimism, Dr Jefferson suggested the reason might be simpler than some pontificate.

We just dont particularly like the thought of bad things happening to us, she said.

When there is opportunity and we can get away with not thinking bad things will happen to us we will go on the side that things will be fine.
New Delhi: Half a dozen states in the country are under lockdown for a few weeks to a month following state governments announcing a slew of emergency measures to stop coronavirus disease (Covid-19), but its not enough.

This has to become the new reality for all Indians over the next few months as the country must pull out all stops to prevent a surge in infections that inevitably follow a couple of weeks after the first trickle of cases, say public health experts. Because if they dont, the countrys health system will collapse under the load of an exponential spike in the number of patients needing intensive care.

Infection patterns from countries such as China and Singapore show that enforcing social distancing, early diagnosis, contact tracing, home quarantine and isolation measures to contain the infection can reverse the curve, while failing to do so will lead to sharp spike in cases and deaths, as we are seeing in Italy and Iran, said Dr K. Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India.

With 81 cases and one death, of which 78 across 13 states have occurred since March 2, all states have rolled out emergency infection-control measures because alarming levels of inaction have fuelled outbreaks in several countries, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). March 2 marked the start of the second wave of cases after the first three cases were reported from Kerala.

Social distancing

Unlike Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) viruses, the Sars-Cov-2 that causes Covid-19, is likely to be around for months, if not years, but the surge in cases can still be reversed, say experts.

Over the next two weeks, all Indians, irrespective of where they live, must prepare to stay at home as much as possible, while state governments, businesses and educational institutes must prepare for restrictions on study, work, travel and celebrate. Restricted travel, closed schools and colleges, staggered work hours or working from home, compulsory telecommunicating, and cancelled public gatherings, including religious festivals, will be the new reality for all everyone.

Restricting movement is essential to stop the infection from spreading from person to person, which is why the government revises travel advisories as the pandemic evolves and issues travel history of all cases to empower people to make informed decisions to protect themselves, and get tested, if needed, said Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, head, epidemiology and communicable diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

If India fails to contain cases now, the teetering health system will be pushed to the brink. Once community transmission begins and the source of the infection cannot be tracked, everyone with symptoms of fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and not just people who have travelled to outbreak areas and their close contact, will have to be screened.

With 80% cases getting mild symptoms, general practitioners (GPs) can be trained to guide people how to isolate themselves and rest at home. Delhi, for example, has directed all hospitals to establish flu corners to screen people with fever, cough and collect nasal and throat swaps for testing for Covid-19.

Heath systems collapse

This virus can test and overwhelm any countrys preparedness. India has not yet reported any community transmission, and must make use this window of opportunity to ensure the new cases plateau and then decline while preparing for the worst-case scenario by strengthening its health systems, said Dr Lalit Kant, former head of epidemiology and communicable disease at ICMR.

Indias overstretched health systems is already grappling with shortages of doctors, health workers and hospital beds, especially in rural areas and densely populated underserved states.

India has 1.1 million allopathic doctors registered with the Board of Governors/State Medical Councils/Medical Council as of December 2019. Assuming 80% availability, it is estimated that around 9.26 lakh doctors may be actually available for active service, said minister of state for health Ashwini Kumar Choubey in the Lok Sabha. For a population of 1.36 billion, this makes the doctor-population ratio at 1:1,457, which is lower than the WHO recommended norm of 1:1,000.

For people living in rural areas that are completely dependent on government hospitals and clinics, the government allopathic doctor-patient ratio is at 1:10,926. With intensive care unit (ICU) beds limited to district hospitals and medical colleges, rural India risks deaths in very high numbers.

Around 20% cases need hospitalisation, and 5% develop severe pneumonia that needs ICU. With cases rising, hospitalising and isolating every case will not be possible even if India creates additional capacity, like China did, said Dr Randeep Guleria, professor of pulmonary medicine and director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Intensive care scarcity

The training, accreditation and quality assurance of health professionals and health infrastructure also varies widely within states, cities and neighbourhoods. Health staff need to be trained in infection control and emergency protocols. If there are large clusters of cases, India will have to commandeer private hospitals and triage the most critical cases and postpone elective surgeries and procedures to free up hospital beds. You cannot do this without private sector participation, said Dr Reddy.

Hospitals will need to focus on the seriously ill and ICU beds must be freed and additional capacity added to meet a surge. Besides, identifying hospitals and trained medical staff, we will need to convert wards into isolated ICUs and ensure large-scale availability of ventilators to treat the 5% patents who need hospitalisation, said Dr Guleria.

The acute encephalitis syndrome outbreak during the monsoons in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar demonstrates what ICU shortages can do. All sick children need ICU care, which is not available locally, so they all end up at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, which collapses under the massive patient load, said Dr Reddy.

Training health workers

India has a little more than two million (2,048,979) registered nurses and midwives, most of whom need infection control training to care for patients with airborne infections. We need to a continuous supply of oxygen, personal protection equipment and ventilators and we need to train health workers to use this equipment while ensuring routine health programmes like antenatal care, immunisation and disease-control programmes are not affected, said Dr Kant.

Countries like Singapore, for example, plan to hospitalise only serious cases if there is a sharp increase. With larger numbers, the sensible thing will be to hospitalise only the more serious cases, and encourage those with mild symptoms to see their family GP and rest at home  isolate themselves. This way, we can focus resources on the seriously ill, speed up our response time, and hopefully, minimise the number of fatalities, said Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday.

Countries that act fast can reduce the number of deaths by a factor of 10. Apart from social distancing, we must get used to practising good personal hygiene, adopting new social norms and discouraging large gatherings, and generally, maintaining some physical distance from one another, said Dr Reddy.

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A proposed senior apartment complex in northwest Rochester is seeking $2.34 million in tax-increment financing support.

The proposed mixed-income development, known as Badger Hills Senior Housing Project, seeks to build 256 apartment units with expected rents ranging from $746 to $2,000.

Construction is planned north of Badger Hills Drive Northwest and approximately three blocks west of West Circle Drive.

Rochester Assistant City Administrator Terry Spaeth said the Coalition For Rochester Area Housing reviewed the proposal and recommended approval of the public financing support to the proposed rental housing geared toward residents 55 and older.

The plan also calls for 103 of the units priced for households earning 60 percent of the area's median income or less.

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On Monday, the Rochester City Council, acting as the citys economic development authority, will review the request following a public hearing.

The developer, Stencil Group LLC, initially requested $4.5 million in funding support on the $43.8 million project, but the coalition, which includes the city and Olmsted County, determined the request was too high.

Spaeth said Stencil Group agreed to defer a $1 million project developer fee to provide flexibility in financing the project, which made the lowered TIF amount feasible.

While TIF doesn't reduce the tax collected on a property, it documents that tax collected before development. A portion of taxes collected beyond that point is returned to the developer each year.

In the Badger Hills Senior Housing proposal, payments are expected to run approximately seven years with 95 percent of the TIF captured each year returned to the developer until the $2.34 million is reached.

The related development agreement requires the 103 apartments to maintain rents at 60 percent AMI for at least 15 years.

The proposal calls for 26 of the units to be priced for residents with incomes at 50 percent of the area median income and 77 at 60 percent.

Another 81 units will be priced for households at 80 percent of the area median income, while the remaining 72 apartments will be priced at market rate.

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Half of the planned apartments are expected to be 675-square-foot, one-bedroom units, while 40 are 550-square-foot studios, according to the TIF request. The remaining apartments are two-bedroom units, with total square footages ranging from 800 to 950.

Meetings during the week of March 16 include:

Rochester

 City Council study session, 3:30 p.m. Monday in the council chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 Fourth St. SE

 City Council, 7 p.m. Monday in council chambers of the Government Center. The meeting will be followed by a meeting of the citys Economic Development Authority.

 Fire Civil Service Commission, 3:15 p.m. Tuesday in room 104 of City Hall, 201 Fourth St. SE.

 Library Board, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in meeting room C of the Rochester Public Library, 101 Second St. SE.

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Olmsted County

 Parks Commission, 5 p.m. Tuesday in conference room A at 2122 Campus Drive SE.

 Civil Service Commission, 8 a.m. Wednesday in conference room 2 of the Government Center

 Environmental Commission, 7:15 p.m. Wednesday conference room A at 2122 Campus Drive SE.

 Human Rights Commission, 7 p.m. Thursday in conference room 4 of the Government Center.

 Planning Advisory Commission, 7 p.m. Thursday in board chambers of the government center.

Rochester Public Schools

 School Board, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the boardroom of the Edison Building, 615 Seventh St. SW.

 Rochester School Board Academy, 6 p.m. Wednesday in room 26 of the Edison Building, 615 Seventh St. SW.
The contest for Rajya Sabha (RS) seats is heating up between Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi allies Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress. Today is the last day to file nominations. The biennial RS elections will be held on March 26. Of the 55 seats in the RS going to polls later this month, seven are from Maharashtra. The confirmed candidates from the state are NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Union minister Ramdas Athawale, former Member of Parliament (MP) Rajiv Satav of Congress, former MP Udayanraje Bhonsle and former mayor of Aurangabad Bhagwat Karad of Bharatiya Janata Party.

While Pawar had filed his nomination on Wednesday, Athawale and Bhonsle did so on Thursday. BJPs Karad and Congresss Satav, whose names were declared on Thursday, will file their nominations today. Shiv Sena will field Priyanka Chaturvedi, reported news agency PTI.

The seven RS members from the state will be elected by the 288 legislators in the lower house of the legislature. To get an RS seat, a candidate requires 37 votes. BJP has 105 MLAs of its own and the support of another nine. To send four members to the RS, the support of 148 MLAs is needed. While Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena collectively have 170 members, the decision of who will get the fourth seat has led to a tussle between NCP and Congress.

NCP has 54 members in the Assembly and want to field two candidates  Pawar and Majeed Memon  who are retiring on April 2. With 44 MLAs, Congress wants to contest for the fourth seat.

We have a long list of senior leaders who need to be rehabilitated. Hence, we are demanding the fourth seat. Mukul Wasnik (former Union minister), Hussain Dalwai (RS member, retiring next month) and Rajni Patil (former RS member) are a few contenders from the party, said a Congress leader requesting anonymity.

A senior NCP leader said the decision on the fourth seat has already been made. It has been decided that the seat will remain with NCP and Fauzia Khan will be filing her nomination, said the leader requesting anonymity.

Insiders said Chaturvedis nomination had the approval of Sena scion Aaditya Thackeray. Senior Sena leader Diwakar Raote, who is a member of the legislative council in Maharashtra, was hopeful of getting the ticket but the party was not keen, said sources in the Shiv Sena.
The family of a Pacific Fair manager, shot dead more than 27 years ago as he tried to help a stranger on Christmas Eve, has pleaded for answers as police renew their investigation.

Police said Colin Woodhouse, 30, was driving home from Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast, where he worked as a manager, about 12.30am on December 24 in 1992 when he was shot on Quambone Street, Worongary, outside his car.

Queensland detectives are today launching a fresh public appeal into the killing of Colin Woodhouse on a Gold Coast roadside on Christmas eve 1992.

Minutes from home, he stopped to help a man standing next to a light-coloured sedan parked on the side of the road but was shot three times at close range.

Police believe the driver of the vehicle was Colins killer and that the sedan was staged to look broken-down to attract assistance.
A convicted felon has been charged in the Wednesday shooting of a Birmingham police officer during a traffic stop.

Kenneth Dewayne Whitehead, a 40-year-old southwest Birmingham man, is charged with two counts of attempted murder, the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office confirmed. Whitehead  one of three suspects detained in connection with the shooting  was also shot during the exchange of gunfire. He has not yet been booked into the Jefferson County Jail but his bonds will total $2 million.

Police identified Whitehead as the shooter. The State Bureau of Investigation led the shooting aspect of the investigation and obtained the warrants against Whitehead Thursday. Birmingham police have not yet announced any charges in connection with their part of the investigation. A current mugshot was not immediately available.

West Precinct Sgt. Anthony Tony Wheeler, a 35-year-old 10-year veteran of the force who was promoted to the rank of sergeant in July 2019, was shot multiple times. Police on Thursday said he is in stable condition and recovering from his injuries.

Birmingham police in a tweet said Sgt. Tony Wheeler is recovering after Wednesday's shooting. (Twitter)

Court records show Whitehead in 2005 pleaded guilty to robbery in Jefferson County. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with five to serve. According to the Alabama Department of Corrections, Whitehead had nine disciplinary infractions while serving his sentence at Bibb County Correctional Facility.

It wasnt immediately clear when he was initially released, but court records indicate his probation was revoked in June 2010 when he was arrested on felony charges of possession of marijuana and cocaine, as well as resisting arrest. The resisting charge was dismissed, but he pleaded guilty in 2011 to the drug charges and received a one-year, three-month suspended sentence.

According to ADOC, Whitehead was last released from prison on April 4, 2016.

The shooting happened at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday in the 1200 block of Tuscaloosa Avenue. Birmingham Police Deputy Chief Scott Praytor said Wheeler and another West Precinct sergeant stopped a vehicle in connection with an investigation into ongoing vehicle thefts in the area. There has been a series of thefts, Praytor said, involving trucks with trailers or unmarked wreckers stealing vehicles.

The vehicle stopped was a truck pulling another vehicle. The sergeants initiated the traffic stop to ensure they had the proper paperwork. When they did, Praytor said, a passenger jumped out of the vehicle and started to run, as did a second suspect.

Wheeler gave chase on foot. During the pursuit, Wheeler tripped. "The officer fell and was getting back up when the suspect fired,'' Praytor said. "He (the suspect) had the opportunity to escape. That just speaks to the mindset of some of the violent offenders we deal with out here.

Once the suspect fired shots, both Wheeler and the other sergeant returned fire. According to sources, the shooting was captured on video.

An officer could be heard on the police radio yelling, Shots fired. The dispatcher replied, Are they shooting at you? and then a 10-33-- the code for officer needs all possible assistance -- was broadcast citywide.

Wheeler was shot at least once in the leg. Fellow officers rushed him in a police cruiser to UAB Hospital, where he is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service transported Whitehead to UAB as well.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 19:50:40|Editor: huaxia

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URUMQI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Primary schools, middle schools and secondary vocational schools in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will start the postponed new semester on March 23, according to a statement issued by the regional education department on Friday.

The statement said students from graduation classes, who need to take exams for the next phase of their education, are allowed to return to school one week earlier.

All the schools are required to roll out their own plans to prevent and control the epidemic according to their specific conditions and ensure a safe campus environment for students.
As Covid-19 tips the travel industry into chaos, many airlines and cruise operators are offering unprecedented levels of flexibility in an effort to restore customer confidence and drive future bookings.

Many... but by no means all.

Ryanair did not waive its change fee until March 13, for instance (for March and April), while Aer Lingus stalled until 3pm the same day in offering an unlimited waiver for bookings in March, April and May.

The way companies are changing on the hoof, responding to developments and customer feedback, reflects an astonishingly fluid situation.

Our previous policy set earlier deadlines for guests to cancel their cruises, and that added unnecessary stress, conceded Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of the Royal Caribbean Group, for example.

When circumstances are as fast-changing as they have been recently, its good to know you have the option to take a rain check, Fain said.

The Irish Travel Agents Association wishes to extend our sincere thanks to our travel partner suppliers who are offering flexibility which can include free of charge changes to customers during these tough times," says Pat Dawson, its CEO.

"Our members are very grateful and will continue to support these suppliers," he added, calling on other partners to follow suit "as we try to navigate our way through this issue".

Change fees can range from 35 to as high as 90 depending on routes and methods of payment, but remember that passengers are liable for the difference in any fares due to date changes.

We are also keeping pages updated on the latest coronavirus travel advice, and you can learn more about your rights if an airline cancels a flight here.

Here's a selective list of the changes on offer.

Aer Lingus

"We want you to be able to book with peace of mind," says Aer Lingus, which began by waiving its change fees on any flights booked with the airline from March 6, 2020.

After complaints from Irish travel agents and customers to say it didn't go far enough, the airline now says it will extend its flexible change policy and waive fees on flight changes taking place up to May 31.

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Whatsapp A young woman in a face mask is seen near the departures board at the Sheremetyevo International Airport outside Moscow. Photo by Sergei Bobylev\TASS via Getty Images

You can implement changes up to March 25 using the 'Manage Trip' section on its website, but bear in mind that a fare difference may apply.

Guests booked to travel on Aer Lingus up to May 31 can also apply for a voucher for the full value of their travel, including taxes and charges, plus an additional 10%. The voucher can be used to book travel to / from any destination on the Aer Lingus network over the next five years.

*Update: On March 15, Aer Lingus requested that only customers due to fly with the airline within the next 72 hours contact its call centre, due to unprecedented demand.

Ryanair

Ryanair charges from 35 to 95 for a change, depending on the date, route and method of payment.

After sustained pressure, on Friday, March 13 it announced that it would waive change fees on all bookings for a two-week period until March 31. It has now further extended that through April.

"In the coming weeks we expect that Governments may impose further changes to our flight schedule and any effected customers will be notified by email," it says.

Note that if an airline cancels a flight, it is obliged to offer a refund, re-routing or rebooking at a later date.

British Airways

British Airways was one of the first out of the traps with its 'Book with Confidence' policy, and has now waived change fees for bookings made from March 3 to 31. It covers all routes with changes available right up to departure.

Emirates

The Dubai-based airline, similar to Aer Lingus, is allowing customers across its network the choice of changing their travel dates without fees on all tickets booked from March 7 to 31. Customers can change their booking to any date for travel within an 11-month date range in the same booking class without change penalties, it says.

easyJet

"Any easyJet customers who wish to change their travel plans can now transfer their flights to alternative dates and/or an alternative destination without a change fee," the airline says. The waiver applies to existing and new bookings until further notice. Customers can make changes to their booking online via the Manage Bookings section on easyJet.com or on the mobile app.

Etihad

"To to give you the freedom to change your plans if you need to, weve removed our date change fee on flights and holidays issued between March 8 and April 7 2020," the airline says.

Lufthansa Group

All bookings made on or before March 5 for travel through April 30, 2020 can be rescheduled free of charge up to 31 December, 2020. It's also waiving rebooking fees on flights purchased between 6 and 31 March, 2020. The Lufthansa Group airlines Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Air Dolomiti.

United

"We know people are taking a second look at their travel plans right now, and we want you to have flexibility when planning your next trip," United says. New flights booked in March can be changed for free over the next 12 months, and the airline is also waiving change fees for all tickets issued on or before March 2 with original travel dates of March 9 through April 30.

Turkish Airlines

The Istanbul-based carrier is offering "zero change fees" on tickets purchased between March 6 and March 24 (excluding tickets for domestic flights within Turkey and to/from Ercan Airport).

"Moreover, for tickets purchased before March 5, 2020, for flights taking place up to December 31, 2020, your first change request will be applied free of charge, provided that the change is completed by March 16, 2020," it says.

Passengers can make a change request up to 5 days prior to their flight. Domestic flights within Turkey and to/from Ercan Airport are excluded.

KLM/Air France

"If you have a KLM ticket starting with 074, issued on or before Tuesday 31 March 2020, and valid for travel between Wednesday 4 March 2020 and Sunday 31 May 2020, regardless of the destination, you can postpone your trip at no extra cost," is the message from KLM.

For Air France, "any booking made before 31 March 2020, you have until 31 May 2020 to postpone your departure date without change fees, subject to availability of the same fare. Your new trip must begin no later than 31 May 2020."

Other airlines

The ITAA is aware that the following airlines currently have policies for free of charge changes: American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, AirCanada and WestJet.

Cruise lines

Major cruise lines including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC will suspend sailing operations to and from U.S. ports for 30 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been announced.

The industry has taken a pummelling, with two high-profile clusters on ships and the US State Department noting that: "US citizens, particularly travellers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship".

Royal Caribbean Group has been allowing guests to cancel cruises as late as two days before departure with its 'Cruise with Confidence' policy. It allows guests with Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara and Silversea to cancel up to 48 hours before a sailing.

Guests will receive a full credit for their fare, usable on any future sailing in 2020 or 2021, the Group says. The policy applies to both new and existing cruise bookings with a sailing date on or before July 31, 2020.

Norwegian Cruise Line has a new 'Peace of Mind' policy, offering guests who book voyages through to September 30 the opportunity to cancel up to 48 hours prior to the sail date and receive a 100pc future cruise credit.

The offer is based on the amount paid towards the booking for use on any sailings through to December 31, 2022., and applies to all new guests as well as those already booked on voyages beginning March 10 of this year.

We understand travellers are thinking carefully about their next holiday, and we are here to reassure them that now is the right time to start planning, said Harry Sommer, its president and chief executive officer.

NB: This list is being updated.
For a typical family, the tax advantages of a 529 college savings plan outweigh the restrictions on how those funds can be spent, some experts say. In cases where a child doesn't go to college, families still have some flexibility in using the funds without paying a withdrawal penalty.

A 529 college savings plan allows families to save money for their child's college education in a tax-free investment account. If the money is used for anything outside of the qualified education expenses, the family must pay a tax penalty of 10% on the plan's earnings.

In recent years, new legislation has expanded the list of qualified expenses to include the costs of a private K-12 education and apprenticeship programs that can serve as alternatives to college, as well as other education expenses. These options are available to parents and grandparents in cases where a child or grandchild listed as the account's beneficiary does not attend college.

"There's a lot of flexibility for parents if their child decides not to go to college," says Garry P. Kohn, president and owner of Kohn Wealth Management Advisors LLC in Cincinnati. "First of all, they own the money. So worst-case scenario, they take the penalty, but they're still going to be ahead because they had tax-deferred growth for all of those years. The second thing is, they could save it for a grandchild or exchange it to other children tax-free."

[Read: How to Choose a 529 Plan on Your Own.]

Here are five ways someone can use 529 plan money without a penalty if the beneficiary doesn't go to college:

-- Change the beneficiary to a family member.

-- Make themselves the beneficiary.

-- Use the funds for apprenticeships.

-- Pay off student loan debt.

-- Put the funds toward K-12 education.

Change the Beneficiary to a Family Member

A simple solution is to change the beneficiary of the 529 plan to another child or grandchild. Account owners can do this once a calendar year without any tax penalties, Kohn says.

Story continues

"You can change the beneficiary to another eligible family member," Brett Tushingham, owner of Tushingham Wealth Strategies in North Carolina, wrote in an email. "This includes the beneficiary's siblings, children, nieces, nephews, in-laws or parents."

Make Themselves the Beneficiary

Researchers studying the future of work say current trends indicate workers will need to change jobs and reeducate themselves more frequently in the coming years as technology continues to develop.

As such, it may be useful for a parent to put leftover or unused 529 savings plan funds toward his or her own education.

"529s have increased their flexibility, but also their versatility that it was always a parent saving for a child or a grandparent saving for a child," says Paul Curley, director of college savings research at Maryland-based ISS Market Intelligence. "They can be used for your own career to accelerate, and we've seen more and more families using 529s to pay for things under that broader definition of education."

A parent can make himself or herself the beneficiary and use funds to attend colleges and programs that meet the typical accreditation requirements.

Use the Funds for Apprenticeships

Children who choose not to attend college may still withdraw 529 funds tax-free to propel their careers forward if they pursue an apprenticeship.

A congressional spending bill known as the SECURE Act, or the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, was signed into law by President Donald Trump in December 2019 and established an expanded list of qualified 529 expenses that includes apprenticeship programs. These programs are a way to continue education on a nontraditional path, which may include a partnership with a local company or industry professional.

[Read: Consider These Alternatives to a 4-Year Degree.]

To avoid penalties, the apprenticeship program must be registered with the U.S. Department of Labor.

"Some colleges and some universities do apprenticeships, and there are some qualifications for the apprenticeships but as long as it meets those qualifications, 529 money can be used tax-free," Kohn says.

Examples of such programs include those in the construction, health care and information technology industries.

Pay Off Student Loan Debt

The SECURE Act also added student loan payments to the list of options a family has for using 529 plan funds in the case of a child who does not attend college.

The spending bill established a lifetime limit of $10,000 per beneficiary and for each sibling that can be withdrawn from a 529 plan to repay student loans, including federal and most private loans. The money can be used without penalties or tax consequences.

[Read: What to Know About Paying Student Loans With 529 Plan Funds.]

Put the Funds Toward K-12 Education

Families who know their child won't be attending college or who have another child still in grade school can also take advantage of expanded 529 qualified expenses.

A 2017 law allows parents to withdraw up to $10,000 per year tax-free from a 529 plan for primary and secondary education tuition at private schools without incurring the typical penalty. This rule may vary from state to state.

Even in cases where a family does have to pay a penalty, Kohn says it's often still a financially smart move to open a 529 college savings plan as early as possible. He says it can open up other options for individuals who don't go to college or in cases where a family has 529 money left over.

After paying the penalty, he notes, a child "can take a nonqualified expense to start a career, start a business, purchase a home. You're dealing with after-tax dollars, so they can use that for anything."

Trying to fund your education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for College center.





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Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav wrapped a mask around the face of his younger sibling Tejashwi Yadav on Friday and handed over to him a bottle of hand sanitiser, a gesture aimed at protecting the little brother from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The maverick Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, who has formerly served as the Bihar health minister, played the protective elder brother at the residence of mother Rabri Devi, where Tejashwi Yadav spends most of his time.

The brothers, whose mutual affection gets marred by frequent political turf wars, posed for pictures with their face masks on.

Tejashwi Yadav urged the people of the state to remain vigilant, avoid crowded places and strictly follow guidelines issued by the government.

RJD spokesperson Shakti Yadav said a two-day training workshop for party workers at Rajgir in Nalanda district from Saturday had been cancelled.

Several senior leaders had arrived at Rajgir to take part in the training camp. It was, however, called off since booking of the convention centre, where the program was to be held, has been cancelled by the administration, Yadav said.

Meanwhile, Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan has also cancelled his statewide tour, "Bihar First, Bihari First".

Paswan, who was in Madhubani, has left for Patna and the tour, which was to culminate with a rally on April 14, will remain suspended till the situation was under control, according to a release.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Outspoken Ghanaian politician, Kennedy Agyapong has lashed out at Bishop Obinim and other pastors who claim that they have acquired a cure for the coronavirus pandemic.

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

According to Member of Parliament for Assin Central, the outbreak of the virus is a serious issue that no one must joke with.

In an interview on NET 2 TV and monitored by YEN.com.gh, Kennedy Agyapong said the pastors need to step aside so that people can think properly on how to deal with the virus should it show its ugly head in Ghana.

READ ALSO: Rare throwback photo of Akuapem Poloo pops up; fans react

I am hitting sixty very soon so Ive decided to control my temper and how I react to some issues but there are some people who are worth my insults. Even the word Coronavirus he could not mention it but he says hes had the cure. That Pastor who is in Tema Obinim. You see this kind of indoctrination. The thing is spreading so I beg of my brothers and sisters who are Pastors. We dont have to joke he said.

READ ALSO: Shatta Wale calls for more musicians to beef him

Kennedy Agyapong's comment comes after a video that went viral some few days ago of the leader of Gods Way Chapel International Bishop Obinim saying that he has been able to secure oil that fights against Codora virus.

Obinim later came out with another video to say that the "fake is news" to mean that the video was fake.

READ ALSO: If you want to live long don't cheat in relationships Prophet Kofi Oduro

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Kennedy Ohene Agyapong had made an allegation that a top female TV presenter leads slay queens to sleep with big men in and out of the country.

Kennedy Agyapong's comments come on the back of a leaked video of a romantic conversation between National Security Minister Albert Kan Dapaah and an alleged side chick identified as Chantelle Kujawu.

READ ALSO:

In a video sighted by YEN.com.gh, he alleged that the TV Presenter in question links the slay queens to the big men for cash and favours and later turns around to blackmail these big men.

Faces of Ghana: A Mysterious Voice Speaks to Me When I'm Working - Engineer Explains | #Yencomgh

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

Source: YEN.com.gh
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah was released on Friday after he spent over seven months in detention, with the government revoking the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) under which he had been held at his residence here.

Immediately after his release, Abdullah demanded that his son and former chief minister Omar and PDP's Mehbooba Mufti and other political leaders lodged in various prisons in the union territory and outside of it should be released at the earliest to allow political activities to take place.

The 82-year-old veteran politician had initially been taken into preventive detention on August 5, the day the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequently, the PSA was slapped on him on September 15 which was extended on December 13.

The December extension of PSA was due to end at midnight Friday and could have been extended for a maximum of six more months. However, it emerged that his PSA was extended on March 11 for another three months but was suddenly revoked Friday afternoon.

Abdullah, who was the first chief minister to have been booked under the PSA, appeared after 220 days before reporters and said, "Today, I am free but this freedom is not complete. It will be complete when other leaders like Omar, Mehbooba Mufti and others in outside jails are released."



The Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, Abdullah, who was flanked by his family members including his wife Molie Abdullah, expressed gratitude to all the people including the leaders of the country who raised the issue of his detention in Parliament.

"I would also like to express gratitude to every individual who prayed for us ... I will not speak on any political matter till others are released," he said, not accepting any questions from the scribes.

Abdullah, who underwent an eye surgery earlier this week, expressed hope that he would be able to attend Parliament so that he can raise the voice of the people there.

According to an order issued by the Union Territory's home secretary Shaleen Kabra, the PSA ordered by the district magistrate of Srinagar on September 15 and subsequently extended for three months each on December 13 and March 11 this year, stands revoked.

He was booked under 'public order' of the PSA, a provision that allows authorities to detain a person for three months without trial. This can be extended up to two years.

The decision to release the National Conference patron came hours ahead of the ending of his three-month detention period on Friday midnight.

Immediately after his release, the National Conference issued a statement welcoming the decision and also urged the Union Territory administration to release other political leaders including party vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah.

According to a statement issued by the National Conference (NC), the release of its patron from detention was the right step towards restoration of a genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir.

It said the process would receive further fillip when party vice-president Omar Abdullah and other political detainees are set free. "We urge the government to do so at the earliest," it said.

"As the pre-eminent political party of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference has played a key role in strengthening the voice of the people through democracy and will continue to do so," the statement said.

Officials said District Magistrate Shahid Iqbal Choudhary entered the residence of Abdullah, who underwent an eye surgery earlier this week, and handed over the release order to him.

Abdullah's son Omar as well as former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti were slapped with the PSA on February 6, the day on which their six-month term of preventive detention was to end.

Abdullah's release was welcomed by politicians who also hoped that other political leaders would be released.

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said he welcomed Abdullah's "belated release" and hoped that "...he will soon resume his rightful place on the front bench of the Lok Sabha, where he can address with his usual compelling vigour the issues facing his state and the state of the nation. His detention was a disgrace."



Iltija Mufti, daughter of incarcerated PDP president and former J and K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti demanded the release of all those detained following revocation of the special status of the erstwhile state under Article 370 of the Constitution.

"Time to release all detainees including thousands of young men languishing in jails outside J&K. This has gone on for far too long & must end now," Iltija tweeted.

Senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said Abdullah's release was long overdue. "The imposition of PSA on and detention of Dr Farooq Abdullah was illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional. We have all been concerned about his health and well being. His release was long overdue".

The CPI(M) in Jammu and Kashmir described Abdullah's release as a "step to correct one wrong among many wrongs".

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee said she prayed for the long life of Abdullah and hoped that the other two former chief ministers -- Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti -- will soon be released and "allowed to join the democratic process immediately.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A s the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Norwegian is the latest airline to be hit as it announced on Thursday evening that it is cancelling over 4,000 flights and implementing temporary layoffs to half of its staff.

In a statement on its site it said: Following the U.S. ban on travel from most of Europe and the escalating coronavirus situation, Norwegian has decided to ground 40 percent of its long-haul fleet and cancel up to 25 percent of its short-haul flights until the end of May. The changes apply to the companys entire route network.

The airline has announced it will cancel 40 per cent of its long-haul flights and 25 per cent of its short-haul offerings. From March 13 to 29, the majority of long-haul flights to the US from Amsterdam, Madrid, Oslo, Stockholm, Barcelona and Paris will be cancelled.

From March 13 to the end of May, all Norwegian flights from Rome to the US will be cancelled, and flights to the US from Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Amsterdam, Athens and Oslo will be cancelled from March 29 until the end of April.

Norwegians route from London Gatwick to the US is going ahead as normal.

It added that its short-haul flights will be heavily impacted, and customers booked on affected flights will be contacted to discuss their options.

Jacob Schram, CEO of Norwegian said in a statement: This is an unprecedented situation and our main priority continues to be the care and safety of our customers and colleagues. The new restrictions imposed further pressure on an already difficult situation. We urge international governments to act now to ensure that the aviation industry can protect jobs and continue to be a vital part of the global economic recovery.

The airline has also said it will implement temporary layoffs for 50 per cent of its staff due to the extraordinary market situation as a result of the coronavirus and subsequent dramatic drop in customers.

It said: During a pandemic it is Norwegians policy to prioritize and safeguard the health and well-being of employees while ensuring Norwegian's ability to maintain essential operations and continue providing services to our customers.

All departments will be affected by the temporary layoffs. We have initiated, in consultation with the unions, a discussion and mapping process and will then return with leave notices to affected departments, stations and employees.
The number of coronavirus patients in the country is 75, including the death of a 76-year-old man in Karnataka, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

The man from Kalaburagi had recently returned from Saudi Arabia.

"His sample has been confirmed for #COVID19", Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu said on Thursday.

Delhi has reported six positive cases and Uttar Pradesh 10 so far. Karnataka has five coronavirus patients, Maharashtra 11 and Ladakh three.

Besides, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each. Kerala has recorded 17 cases, including three patients who were discharged last month after they recovered from the contagious infection with flu-like symptoms.

The total number of 75 confirmed cases includes 17 foreigners -- 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian, the ministry officials said.

Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, the government on Thursday asked people not to panic, saying no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there has only been a few cases of local transmission so far.

Asserting that the safety and welfare of its citizens abroad have always been a priority for India, the government said three flights will be sent to Iran to bring back Indians from Iran.

With the novel coronavirus being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, Health Ministry officials said around 1,500 people who came in contact with the 75 infected people were under rigorous observation while over 30,000 people across the country under community surveillance.

"India presently has around 1 lakh testing kits. More testing kits have been ordered and they are in procurement," the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Florida woman confessed to killing her 81-year-old mother after an argument and then told investigators where to find the body, according to an arrest affidavit.

Crystal Kohler confessed to killing her 81-year-old mother after an argument, according to a police report. (Indian River County Sheriff's Office)

Crystal Kohler, 38, was arrested Monday night on charges of first-degree murder and grand theft auto.

She admitted to killing Carmelina Kohler after an argument in the elder woman's garage, NBC affiliate WPTV of West Palm Beach reported. Carmelina Kohler was reported missing Monday night, according to the Indian River County Sheriff's Office.

Her husband told authorities his wife and daughter had an appointment at a nail salon that afternoon, but his wife never returned home. Crystal Kohler did, however, according to a case report. She told her father she had come home to change her clothes because Carmelina told her she "looked like a bum," the report states. She later left in her mother's van, which her father reported stolen that evening.

Carmelina Kohler's cellphone was found Monday at an intersection.

During an interview with detectives, Matt Wilhelm, Crystal Kohler's ex-boyfriend, said she had shown up unannounced at his home Monday night and appeared distraught, the station reported. Wilhelm said she told him "the less he knew, the better."

Information he provided led detectives to a boat he owned at the Fort Pierce Marina where Crystal Kohler was, the station reported. She agreed to go with detectives to the sheriff's office where she became upset while being questioned about her mother's disappearance and requested an attorney, according to WPTV.

On Tuesday, she told detectives her mother was dead in the garage of her home and admitted "she was responsible for her death," WPTV reported, citing an arrest report.

Crystal Kohler is being held without bond in Indian River Count Jail awaiting a May 1 arraignment.
STAMFORD  Local health care providers are ramping up their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, with new initiatives including coronavirus testing at Stamford Hospital and medical-supply shipments to other affected areas, Stamford Hospital and nonprofit Americares executives said at a debriefing Friday, as elected officials including Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy pledged their support for those efforts.

Those interventions would bolster many sweeping measures already enacted at the local, state and national levels, as government officials and private-sector health care organizations try to contain a crisis whose toll has surged past 1,600 cases and 40 deaths nationwide  including about a dozen confirmed cases among Connecticut residents.

I take great pride and comfort in the fact that we are well-prepared for, and actually experienced in, handling these types of health care crises, Kathleen Silard, CEO and president of the Stamford Health system, which includes Stamford Hospital, said during a press conference in the distribution center at Americares headquarters at 88 Hamilton Ave.

A Stamford woman who returned Tuesday from a trip to Italy marks the citys first confirmed case, city officials said Thursday. She is being treated at Stamford Hospital.

Earlier this week, Stamford Hospital opened an isolated, fast-track screening area that separates coronavirus patients from the general population. On Friday, it launched a coronavirus hotline to respond to concerns of patients, visitors, physicians and other employees.

Virus testing is scheduled to start early next week on the grounds of the hospital. Patients will need a physicians note to be eligible for a test.

We began to mobilize in earnest about a month ago, ramping up all our measures as it relates to education of our staff, establish emergency incident-command structures and monitoring our supply levels very closely, Silard said.

Meanwhile, Americares has delivered nine shipments, totaling six tons of protective supplies.

Eight of those deliveries went to partner health clinics in New York and Washington states, California and Texas that serve low-income and uninsured patients. Another shipment of protective equipment and supplies is on its way to China, where the pandemic originated and has inflicted the deadliest impact.

More international and domestic shipments are planned, according to Americares officials.

At the same time, the nonprofit is keeping open its free health care clinics in Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport and Danbury.

Never before has it been so critical that Americares continue our life-saving work here in the United States and worldwide, said Americares CEO and President Christine Squires. That is why we are supporting health centers serving the uninsured with protective masks, gloves and other critical supplies in response to this new coronavirus pandemic.

In Hartford, Lamonts administration has enacted many measures  including a declaration of civil preparedness and public health emergencies on Tuesday, a move that gives the governor broad authority to respond to the virus spread.

On Thursday, Lamont announced an executive order whose provisions include a prohibition of all events in the state with more than 250 people; modifying the state law requiring schools to be in session for 180 days; clarifying visitor restrictions at nursing and convalescent homes; and authorizing the Department of Motor Vehicles to extend renewal deadlines to reduce crowds at branches.

Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said that they intended to advance a number of other new programs.

More Information Community members with questions and concerns about coronavirus can call Stamford Health's new hotline, at 203-276-4111. It is staffed every day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. See More Collapse

Folks shouldnt have to decide between taking care of somebody at a hospital or nursing home or taking care of their child because theres no school, Lamont said. Anybody whos feeling sick and feels like they shouldnt be at work  I dont want any excuses. Go home, be safe. Were going to do what we can in terms of day care, do what we can in terms of workers compensation, do what we can to help the small businesses.

Also on Friday, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency, which will help the federal government to access up to $50 billion in relief funds.

On March 6, Trump signed a related $8.3 billion bill that passed Congress with bipartisan and near-unanimous support.

Blumenthal and Murphy argue that additional emergency legislation needs to be passed by Congress.

We are hopeful that we will be back in Washington in 24 hours or 48 hours to vote on a second emergency-relief package  this one directed at individual Americans, Murphy said. Our job is to pass emergency sick leave and unemployment compensation to give confidence to Americans that were going to be there for them as a government.

The two Democrats have sharply criticized the Trump administration for its response to the virus.

Blumenthal also chastised Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The latter announced Thursday that the Senate would return next week to work on virus-focused legislation and not take a previously scheduled recess.

But Blumenthal said the Senate should have been in session Friday.

We lost two months, but we need now to confront this emergency, Blumenthal said. I think Sen. Murphy and I agree: We should not be here. We should be down in Washington, D.C. We should be enacting and legislating a package of economic and health care emergency measures that hopefully will be passed by the House (of Representatives) today. We should be there working over the weekend.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have denied permission for a Bahamian cruise ship to make a stop in the city for fear of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The agency in charge of welcoming the Silver Spirit cruise ship, which is registered in the Bahamas, said it is unclear about the ships next port of call after the rejection.

The Bahamas-registered luxury cruise liner had earlier requested authorization to dock at a port in Ho Chi Minh City for its passengers to disembark on Friday.

The ship carries 826 people, including 423 passengers and a 403-member crew.

The ships owner, captain, and deputy captain are all Italian.

According to its initial itinerary, after disembarking, the Silver Spirit passengers would visit Ho Chi Minh City and some neighboring localities.

However, the municipal Department of Health on Thursday raised concerns about the risk of COVID-19 spreading from the cruise passengers.

It proposed that the ship be barred from docking at the citys port.

The Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee approved the proposal on Friday morning.

Silver Spirit is a luxury cruise ship operated by Silversea Cruises, a privately owned luxury cruise line with its headquarters in Monaco.

The sixth ship of the Silversea fleet, she entered service in 2009 after the US$250 million shipbuilding.

It had docked in Vietnam several times before.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, had infected over 133,900 people and killed more than 4,900 globally as of Friday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Italy, the European country hardest hit by the virus, has reported 1,016 deaths over 15,113 COVID-19 infections, according to the same source.

The death toll from COVID-19 outbreaks in the country saw the biggest daily rise by 189, or 23 percent, in absolute terms on Thursday since the contagion first came to light on February 21, Reuters reported.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 44 infections, including 30 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, nine British citizens, one Mexican, and one Irish national.

Sixteen of the patients had recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26. The 28 active cases in the country are still being treated.

Patient No. 17, a Hanoi resident, was confirmed on Friday last week, 21 days since Vietnam had reported its last infection.

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The reality of coronavirus hit home around noon last Saturday when D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) greeted me at a Northwest groundbreaking with an elbow bump instead of the usual handshake. A mere seven hours later, Bowser would announce that two people in the District had tested positive for the virus. Bowsers announcement followed Maryland Gov. Larry Hogans report of confirmed coronavirus cases in Montgomery County. The counts have climbed since. As of Friday, 42 cases had been announced by the District, Maryland and Virginia.
One winter when I was little, some tough kids from up the block started packing a hill for sledding in the middle of the street. Gretchen was the one who had the diplomacy to get them to see their folly without incurring their wrathful boredom against me. She was gentle, with the sweet, thin lips of a little girl. Years of hard living would fail to make her mouth look mean. I didnt bring up the memory of her stepping into the February bitterness without a coat, her warm blue eyes melting the coldhearted kids into laughter before they began to dismantle the blockade. I didnt compare her sparkle to the snow, the sad vulnerable snow that melts, as Blake said, in all its prime.

Its not easy having to sparkle all the time, she said.

A couple days before finding her, Id started to remove paneling from the walls in my bedroom. Expecting to find perfectly intact plaster walls beneath, Id ignored my husbands warning that this was not a quick fix, and commenced tearing the panels down. But the plaster was riddled with fissures and needed to be torn down. Repair plans became demolition plans for some other day in the summer that lounged ahead.

When I returned to the room, it was not with the resolve that attends a dreaded but necessary means to an end. Demolishing the wall would be an end in itself, a reason to be by myself while the house was full of apologetic company.

We have no fitting rituals for the idiotic loss of life to overdose. I picked up a crowbar.

I swung randomly, finally making a crack into which I slid the chisel and hammered with a rage you cant unleash on a person. A sizable triangle of plaster let go of the lath, but it only revealed more of the expanse that remained. This would take forever.

In the empty room there was nowhere to sit and hold my head in my hands and cry pitiful ditches down my dusty face. Isnt that what I was supposed to be doing?

The door opened quiet as a cloud. Definitely not the style of my alpha husband, who would enter purposefully with supplies or advice: Thats not the right tool. Use this. If you had a little more patience, Id do this whole thing for you eventually.

Instead, it was my father-in-law, who stepped in with his own chisel, and handed me a pair of goggles.
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CHICO, Calif. - The council voted to cancel their next city council meeting on March 17th because of coronavirus concerns.

While there are no cases in Butte County the county did declare a local emergency, so the council still wants to take precautions.

Councilmember Ann Schwab created a motion to have only one meeting a month.

That meeting would only discuss essential government operations which are items that are needed to keep the city functioning. If there are none of those topics, then the meeting will be cancelled.

The council also agreed to only have attendance by city staff, they say they need to figure out a way to remotely include members of the body and public and/or limit the amount of people at the meeting.

They are going to revisit this motion of one meeting a month in the next 90 day.
President Donald Trump had a rough night Wednesday.

Not only was he forced to address the growing seriousness of the coronavirus - which hes been downplaying for weeks - but mics and cameras caught him in candid moments before and after his speech.

Wednesday night, Mr Trump addressed the nation, announcing a 30 day travel ban for individuals coming in from Europe. During the address he also mentioned cargo, would be banned, and had to quickly correct himself on Twitter following the address to quell confusion and concern over what was perceived to be a shipping ban.

Just as the address finished, a C-SPAN camera that was still broadcasting caught president Trump sitting quietly at the desk for a moment before letting out a long OK and exhalation before the camera zoomed out to reveal his staff waiting at the edges of the frame to remove his mic.

Before the address, C-SPAN also caught Mr Trump dealing with a stain. A voice can be heard saying Oh, f*** - Uh oh, I got a pen mark. Anybody have the white stuff  Do you see it? Which side is it on?

During his address, the president announced an unprecedented ban on "most foreign nationals" into the US from Europe beginning on 20 March and lasting a month, as health officials warn that the risk of community spread within the US poses a significant threat.

He compared the latest travel restriction to a similar ban on travel from China: "Now we must take the same action with Europe."

The pronouncement has been criticised as confusing and disorganised after the White House later clarified that many would be exempt from the ban and Trump himself was forced to tweet that it wouldn't affect cargo.

On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence defended it and said there was no confusion.

"I don't think there was confusion," Mr Pence told CNN as he was deployed to make the morning television rounds to defend the president's speech.

"We've recognised ... that the epicenter of the coronavirus has shifted ... to Europe. The health team came into the Oval Office, presented that to the president, and he made that decision on the spot after hearing all sides."
The Gujarat government on



Friday informed the legislative Assembly that over 78,000 less tourists visited the much-acclaimed 'Rann Utsav' in Kutch district in 2019 as compared to 2018.

While 5.16 lakh national as well as international tourists visited the famed destination in 2018, 4.38 lakh travellers attended the festival in 2019, a drop of 78,000, said Tourism Minister Jwahar Chavda in his written reply.

He was responding to a query by Shailesh Parmar (Congress) Rann Utsav, a music and dance carnival celebrated during winter months.

Responding to a sub-question regarding international tourists, Chavda said as against 8,186 international tourists in 2018, nearly half - that is 4,457 - came last year to enjoy the white sands of Rann of Kutch, indicating a drop of 3,729.

While a revenue of Rs 2.90 crore was generated by the festival in 2018, the income figure in 2019 stood at Rs 2.10 crore, Rs 80 lakh less, he said.

Rann Utsav, celebrated since 2005, was started by Narendra Modi when he was Gujarat chief minister to boost tourism.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mr Morrison said his advice applied to any destination offshore in what is known as a "level three travel advice" for all Australians leaving the country. "This is done to protect their health and to limit their exposure, given we have so many countries now that are affected," Mr Morrison said. "Only essential travel should be considered if you are going overseas from this point forward." As event cancellations picked up pace across the country, including Mandurah's Crab Fest and HBF Run for a Reason, he warned those organisations hosting large events should listen to the advice of health authorities. But he was waiting for advice about mass gatherings and testing regimes to come through from national authorities before commenting on what measures WA would implement. COAG was being briefed on these issues at the time.

"It's important that people really make sure they do everything they can to protect themselves," the Minister said. "If you are planning a large event it is up to you to take stock ... if you are unsure, seek the advice of medical authorities or the COVID-19 hotline." Mr Cook said two big concerns for WA was the shortage in protective gear for health workers, and the global shortage of the reagent used to conduct coronavirus tests in the laboratory. He revealed more than 2000 people had been tested so far in WA. WA now had 14 confirmed cases, and they were testing about 750 samples per day. Results were taking 48-72 hours.

"If people are experiencing any cold or flu-like symptoms you should self-isolate and seek medical attention," he said. A new laboratory was opening on Friday to increase the state's capacity to test. In terms of schools, the Minister said he was waiting to see sustained community transmission before considering closures. "When we have sustained community tramsission and acting on the basis of that ... the closure of schools is anticipated in our pandemic plans," he said. The Minister said WA would need to move at some point to an announcement that anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms should be isolating themselves without being tested, as the numbers of tests requested grew and resources could not cope.

"We are still at the point where if we can test people with flu-like symptoms who have travelled overseas or had contact with someone who has, then we can isolate them ... but there will come a time where we have to make the decision that anyone with symptoms must simply self-isolate," he said. Paramedics protected St John Ambulance paramedics in Perth will wear protective masks boss Michelle Fyfe has warned some people might feel are "confronting". The masks were reusuable as they were able to change the filters on them. She asked people to use the COVID-19 hotline and keep 000 for an emergency. "We have had a number of calls in relation to COVID-19 but we haven't seen a massive increase," she said.

Five new cases of coronavirus in WA were confirmed overnight and the Premier has warned people against travelling to Bali amid fears Indonesia many be under-reporting. WA Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson told ABC Radio Perth the initial information indicated there had been no community spread. Path labs are stretched. Credit:Sharon Smith "The information is just coming in now ... I haven't got full details on these cases, we believe they've come from overseas but we'll have to check that," he said. Dr Robertson said WA's pathology services had been stretched to the limit with staff conducting between 800 and 1000 COVID-19 tests per day.

Loading "[The tests] are not just coming in from the COVID clinics, they're also coming in from GPs and other hospitals," he said. "The fact were only getting a couple of cases out of thousands of tests suggests a lot of the people who are coming for testing through either their GPs or COVID clinics dont require testing." He said the strain on pathology services was causing some test results to be delayed, requiring people to self-isolate longer than the estimated 2-3 days. "People are obviously worried and that's understandable but it's placing an enormous strain on our pathology service to try and get these tests through and we can only do so many runs," he said.

"Each run has only 80 samples in it, were already doing 10 runs a day, they're working as fast as we can but it is overloading our pathology service. "We just have to ask for people's forbearance and their understanding that they are doing the best they can and if they don't get it in exactly 24 hours or 48 hours, we will get it to them as soon as we humanly can." 'Think twice before travelling to Bali': Premier Premier Mark McGowan has meanwhile expressed concern about the number of people travelling to and from Bali over fears Indonesia is under-reporting coronavirus cases.
One Indian national, who was brought back from coronavirus-hit Italy two days back along with 82 others, has tested positive for Covid-19. He was quarantined at an Army facility in Manesar, near Gurgaon. The man had been working in one of the restaurants in Italy for the past 14 years.

Authorities said that as per procedure, he has been shifted to an isolation facility at Safdarjung Hospital for further medical examination and recovery.

The government has evacuated its nationals from various coronavirus hotspots across the world. Most of them have been quarantined at the Manesar quarantine facility and the one established by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Chhawla, near Delhi.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), however, said on Thursday that evacuation does not mean bringing back everybody and people who test negative for the infection will be brought back first. We have to be clear that evacuation does not mean that we are trying to bring everybody. We need to understand that people who are not contaminated will be first brought in, MEA Additional Secretary Dammu Ravi said. He asked other Indians in countries witnessing coronavirus outbreak to stay put.

Responding to an emergency requirement to create and manage Indian and foreign nationals, the Indian Army had created a facility near Manesar where detainees can be monitored for two weeks by a qualified team of doctors and staff members to watch for any signs of infection.

So far, 455 individuals who have arrived from Wuhan (248), Japan (124) and Italy (83) have been quarantined in three batches at the emergency facility.

Sources in the Army said that the force is incurring an approximate expenditure of Rs 3.5 lakh per day in running the quarantine facility at Manesar, news agency ANI reported. The Indian Army has committed 60 personnel to run the facility.

To prevent mass outbreak, the facility has been divided into sectors, each with a maximum capacity of 50 people. All the detainees are required to wear a three-layered mask at all times.

After 14 days, persons with no symptoms are allowed to go home with their detailed documentation sent to the district/state surveillance units. Those found infected are shifted to isolation facilities for further medical exams and recovery.

Apart from playing games, watching television and having meals together within a barrack, people are not allowed to interact with the members of another barrack or sector.
Cars lined up at a parking lot along Beech Street in Wilmington, Del., on Friday to give samples for coronavirus testing. Patients will receive the test results in an estimated two to five days. Read more

The coronavirus is taking ever deeper roots in the Philadelphia region and across the country, and much of that spread, experts say, is due to shortages that have forced health officials to ration testing.

But the problems go deeper than a lack of test kits. Potentially infected patients are supposed to start the process of getting tested with their health-care provider, but many family physicians and urgent care clinics report not having the protective gear or the protocols needed to safely and correctly swab patients noses and throats, then ship the specimens to labs.

After weeks of panicking consumers snapping up face masks, some providers say they dont have the N95 masks they should wear to collect potentially virus-laden secretions.

 READ MORE: At the Pennsylvania Department of Health, 138 tests for a state of 13-million people.

President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency and pledged $50 billion to deal with the epidemic, which first surfaced in the United States in January. Once focused more on assuring the public that things werent so bad, White House staffers met Friday with representatives from Target, Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens, plus commercial labs and public health agencies, to talk about expanding testing, the Washington Post reported.

But health systems dont have time to wait for the funds and supplies to flow. Many have started to fill the voids created by a slow federal response.

For example, ChristianaCare, Delawares largest health-care system, on Friday became the first drive-through coronavirus swab collection site in the region. More than 50 cars lined up along the riverfront in Wilmington for the 10 a.m. start. After a few hours, samples for 536 coronavirus tests had been collected at no charge. Results will be available in two to five days.

Patients sitting in cars had to have symptoms such as fever and cough, but they did not have to meet any other criteria to give samples to nurses in protective gear. In contrast, until this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with state public health labs, restricted tests to people with coronavirus exposure through travel or contact with a confirmed case. Patients and physicians in Pennsylvania and across the country reported being denied tests even after the CDC loosened up guidelines.

Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health on Thursday opened a temporary, largely isolated facility designed to collect samples from patients with symptoms consistent with coronavirus, without accidentally exposing workers or hospital patients. The facility has separate parking and next-door access to the lab that will package and ship the specimens to LabCorp, one of three companies that this week began commercial testing.

On the first two days, more than 30 patients from the health systems 450 affiliated practices were swabbed, said Gerard Cleary, Abingtons chief medical officer.

Besides LabCorp, Quest and Roche this week began offering coronavirus testing services that doctors and hospitals can use without permission from the CDC or public health labs.

But the U.S. is a long way from the kind of testing on demand that places like South Korea have been offering to stop the spread of the virus. The problem with waiting for symptoms to test is that people can harbor and shed the virus, yet have no symptoms.

For now, companies like Roche are focusing on hot spots. In thoughtful collaboration with the CDC, we have aligned our current U.S. approach of targeting our limited supply to large, national reference labs, as well as limited deployment to regional hospitals in the most highly impacted areas," a company spokesperson said in an email Friday.

Jefferson Health, with an academic medical center in Philadelphia, expects to begin using the Roche service  but not for several weeks, Cleary said.
Lucknow: A poster war has erupted in Lucknow since the district administration put up hoardings of anti-CAA protesters, with the Samajwadi Party erecting banners of rape accused ex-Union minister Chinmayanand and Unnao rape convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar, also a former BJP leader.

Tweeting a picture of the hoardings, which stand right next to those depicting 53 anti-CAA protesters, SP leader IP Singh said: When protesters dont have any privacy and even after the orders of High Court and Supreme Court, Yogi Government is not taking down hoardings. So I have also decided to put up get some hoardings of named criminals, our daughters should be aware of them.

In another tweet, Singh wrote: People who will oppose hoardings will be supporters of Rapists and will be Anti Woman. Before doing a contempt of the High Court and Supreme Court and disobeying our Constitution the BJP should introspect themselves first. BJP is Anti Woman.

However, soon after the matter came to the notice of the Lucknow District Administration, the hoardings were removed and vigil was stepped up to avoid a repeat.

The hoardings carried pictures of Chinmayanand and Sengar along with the details of their criminal cases. Betiyan Rahe Savdhan, Surakshit Rahe Hindustan, is the message that the hoardings carried.

The Supreme Court on Thursday told the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh that its decision to put up hoardings identifying anti-CAA protesters has no backing in law. It, however, did not pass any interim order and said the matter would be heard next week by a three-judge bench.

A vacation bench of Justices UU Lalit and Aniruddha Bose told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, that it is a matter of "great importance". The bench also asked Mehta whether the state government has the power to put such posters.

The top court is hearing an appeal filed by the Uttar Pradesh government challenging the March 9 order of the Allahabad High Court directing the state administration to remove posters of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests.

The High Court had on Monday ordered Lucknow's District Magistrate and Police Commissioner to remove the name-and-shame hoardings with immediate effect, and 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.
China, where the COVID-19 cases are trending downward, is lending a helping hand to the world's worst-hit countries, returning the kindness that they have offered when China was at its nadir in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

HANGZHOU, March 12 (Xinhua) -- As cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are trending downward in China, other countries now have a major battle on their hands.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 110 countries and regions had reported 118,326 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, including 37,371 cases outside China.

When the COVID-19 outbreak began in China, goodwill offers of support and medical supplies from foreign countries, international organizations and people around the world poured in to help the country combat the epidemic.

Now China is returning the favor.

CONTINUED GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

China has been joining hands with the world to fight COVID-19 by donating medical supplies as well as sharing information and experience, among others.

Starting March 3, the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the National Health Commission and the Red Cross have held video conferences with health experts and government officials from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Italy, and 10 Pacific island countries to share China's anti-epidemic experience.

China has published seven guidelines on COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment and six guidelines on prevention and control, all of which have been translated into multiple foreign languages.

A video screenshot shows supplies to be sent to Iran in east China's Shanghai, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua)

According to the National Health Commission, China has so far shared such epidemic prevention and treatment guidelines with more than 100 countries and over 10 international and regional organizations around the world.

More than 20 technical exchanges have been held between China and those countries and organizations through teleconferences and other means to share China's anti-epidemic experiences in a timely manner.

Meanwhile, since March 7, China has sent a number of teams consisting of voluntary medical experts to Iran, Iraq, and Italy to support local epidemic prevention and control.

China has also provided some countries with detection kits and donated anti-epidemic supplies through the Red Cross and other channels.

As of March 11, the Chinese government has donated 1.1 million masks and other medical materials to the Republic of Korea, a batch of detection kits, 5,000 sets of protective suits and 100,000 masks to Japan, and 5,000 detection kits and 250,000 masks to Iran, as well as 12,000 detection kits to Pakistan.

While holding a phone talk on March 10 with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that even though China still needs a large amount of medical supplies, China, despite its difficulties, stands ready to provide Italy with medical supplies and accelerate the export of supplies and equipment to meet Italy's urgent need.

Photo taken on March 5, 2020 shows a batch of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to be sent to Italy in Qingtian, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua)

"With openness, transparency and a high sense of responsibility for global public health security and people's well-being, we will continue information-sharing with the international community," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a news briefing Wednesday.

"We would like to collaborate with other countries in medicines, vaccines and testing reagents, contributing China's wisdom and proposals to securing an early global victory over the virus."

GOODWILL GESTURES OF CHINESE PEOPLE

A cargo plane loaded with 3.86 million pieces of disposable masks, N95 respirators, goggles, latex gloves, and other protective clothing left east China's Zhejiang Province for Italy Wednesday to help overseas Chinese in Italy fight the novel coronavirus.

"Since the outbreak, overseas Chinese of Zhejiang origin have tried every means to purchase epidemic prevention materials and support their hometown to fight the epidemic," said Zhang Weiren, vice-chairman of the Zhejiang Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. "Overseas Chinese are now in difficulty, and their relatives in the motherland should give them the utmost support."

While holding a phone talk with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Tuesday, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said that the overseas Chinese living in Italy have played an active role in the fight against the epidemic, and Italy will continue to take full care of their health and safety.

On March 4, experts from Wuhan Tongji Hospital shared with doctors from Nicuarda Hospital in Milan, Italy, the experience of treating COVID-19 patients in Wuhan via video conference.

In the over one-hour exchange, Wuhan experts shared in detail the key points of prevention and control, the protective measures of medics and the Tongji treatment plan for patients.

Photo taken on March 1, 2020 shows medical supplies, including masks, gloves and protective suits, donated to Italy by Lishui City, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua)

In the meantime, Chinese non-governmental organizations are moving to help hard-hit regions across the world combat the epidemic.

The Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma Foundation have donated millions of masks and other medical supplies to hard-hit countries such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Iran.

"We have received tremendous help from many countries over the past month when we were in urgent need of supplies," said Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba in an open letter. "We've just been through this, and we know what we should do at the very moment."

On Wednesday, Ma said on the Chinese social media platform of Weibo that the two foundations will donate another 1.8 million masks and 100,000 testing reagents to Italy, Spain and some other European countries that have seen rising cases of COVID-19.

"It's lucky that our eWTP smart logistics hub at Liege Airport, Belgium, still operates well at this difficult time. More medical supplies can get to where people need them the most through this lifeline," Ma said.

Jack Ma Foundation has also allocated a scientific research fund of 100 million yuan (about 14.29 million U.S. dollars) to support Chinese and overseas research institutes to expedite the creation of a vaccine against COVID-19.

Alibaba Group announced that free access would be offered to its artificial intelligence computing power for public research institutions around the world to develop COVID-19 vaccines and new drugs.

Medical supplies donated to Piemonte of Italy are loaded up at Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 11, 2020. (Xinhua)

ONLINE EFFORTS

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise and spread around the world, China is also gearing up to offer online help for overseas Chinese.

Chinese embassies in Italy and Japan have opened free online medical consultation services at Alibaba Health to assist overseas Chinese.

East China's Zhejiang Province is home to over 2 million overseas Chinese all over the world, half of whom are in European countries.

On March 10, the internet hospital platform of Zhejiang launched health consultation services for overseas Chinese. Nearly 70 hospitals at the platform provide services for overseas Chinese in hard-hit countries, including psychological counseling assistance.

Zhejiang has also launched such services on China's social media platforms. Wencheng County has set up 24 WeChat groups to provide health consultation services to more than 10,000 overseas Chinese.

Chinese medical doctors have also reached out to help overseas Chinese that are stranded in European countries through WeChat counseling.

Zhao Hong, a doctor at the Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University in east China's Anhui Province, was invited to a WeChat group consisting of overseas Chinese from Anhui by her husband, who currently works at Anhui Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese.

A doctor provides online consultation service to overseas Chinese in Italy, at Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 8, 2020. (Xinhua)

"My husband asked me to share knowledge of the virus with and offer counseling to the stressed-out overseas Chinese who are trapped in Italy due to the epidemic," said Zhao.

After a brief self-introduction, Zhao spent two hours explaining the symptoms and course of the disease as well as the prevention and control measures. Despite the 7-hour time difference between China and Italy, Zhao answered everyone's question in the group with patience.

"Thank you so much for your information. It really reassured us," said a member of the group.

Zhao has been invited to two more WeChat groups composed of Chinese nationals in Belgium, continuing her spreading of virus-related information.
Former supermodel Janice Dickinson and her husband Robert Gerner hit their local CVS pharmacy on Thursday amid the nationwide coronavirus panic in Los Angeles.

While shopping, the 64-year-old reality star bared a grim expression and sported a black and grey Dodgers' bomber jacket and denim jeans.

Gerner, 71, was seen close to the New York-born, Florida-raised beauty's side and held their bags in a pair of light-wash jeans and a grey long sleeve.

Stocking up: Former supermodel Janice Dickinson bared a grim expression, while sporting a black and grey Dodgers' bomber jacket and denim bottoms at her local CVS pharmacy amid the nationwide coronavirus

The No Lifeguard on Duty author, who showed off her thin legs, appeared deep in thought, as she clutched her Louis Vuitton wallet and trailed behind her love on the way out of the store in a pair of comfortable sneakers.

Their preparations for the coronavirus come as California's Governor Gavin Newsom cancelled all gatherings of more than 250 people and Disneyland announced it will close starting Saturday.

All schools in the LAUSD area have been closed for two weeks.

Dickinson's fourth husband Gerner, whom she met on a blind date in 2012, worked as a psychiatrist before surrendering his doctor's licence in 2016.

Preparing for the worst: The reality star appeared deep in thought, as she clutched her Louis Vuitton wallet and trailed behind her love on the way out of the store

The one: Gerner, who she met on a blind date in 2012, is her fourth husband and previously worked as a psychiatrist before surrendering his doctor's licence in 2016

Dickinson's morning outing marks the first time she has been seen in public since Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 26 years in prison.

The brunette beauty was an early champion for the #MeToo and Times Up movements, which helped convict her assailant Bill Cosby, who raped the model in 1982.

The former ANTM judge, who graced the cover of Vogue 37 times, was one of 61 brave women to come forward about being drugged and raped by the 82-year-old comedian, who's serving 3-10 years in a Pennsylvania prison.

The self-proclaimed 'world's first supermodel' appeared on ABC's The Bachelor to judge a Revolve fashion show in January.

In 2017, she enjoyed her honeymoon with Gerner after she recovered from breast cancer and he healed from a collapsed lung.

Stunner: She is the self-proclaimed 'world's first supermodel'; seen in May, 2019 at the American Icon Awards

Her man proposed in 2012 after Gerner's son set them up just three months prior, but they put their plans on hold when she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer in March, 2016.

Thankfully, after undergoing two lumpectomies and completing a course of radiation therapy, Dickinson was declared cancer-free in August 2017.

In October, Gerner suffered a collapsed lung and several broken ribs after plunging 15 feet from the roof of their house in Tarzana, California while doing repairs.

Despite this they continued on planning a wedding and tied the knot in an intimate ceremony at the Beverly Hills home of Dickinson's friend, Suzan Hughes three years ago.
In a sentence simply no one could have seen coming before last week, on Thursday night former Presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! to a mostly empty audience due to coronavirus. In his opening monologue, Buttigieg explained how the bizarro scenario took place joking that Iowa Caucus app REALLY screwed everything up before explaining that Kimmel asked him to guest host because he had to shoot Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, a show, he quipped, that rival Mayor Michael Bloomberg has won about 56 thousand times. Mayor Pete, clearly always up for a challenge, agreed to guest host well before every thing on earth - including his live, studio audience - was cancelled due to coronavirus.

Nevertheless, he persisted (sorry, wrong political catch phrase) with attempts at both topical and self deprecating humor. About his lack of an audience? Buttigieg said, When you dont have a real audience - you have to fake one. Just like Trumps inauguration. Zing! The randomness of his being asked to guest host for Kimmel? You know some people have been skeptical about me hosting a show like this, said Buttigieg. Well, a lot of people said Id never get elected President  and I showed them! A knee slapper. Dropping out of the Presidential race? As you know, I dropped out of the Presidential race last week - which was unfortunate. But what can I say? Some candidates know when its time to get out of the race, and some candidates are Tulsi Gabbard. The hits just keep coming!

The monologue ended with a pre-taped segment of currently unemployed Mayor Pete applying for a job at a Wetzels Pretzels and being relegated to passing out samples (hopefully this was filmed pre-coronavirus outbreak) and earning himself the title Pretzel Pete. While the lack of an audience made an already pretty awkward situation that much more awkward, Pete and his pleated pants got the job done. That being said he should definitely send a fruit cake to the editors who hilariously plugged in clips of people laughing hysterically to all his jokes which helped fill out the thin room. Check out Pete Buttigiegs guest hosting gig above and decide for yourself whether hes got a future in Late Night.
Just as I was about to go to Paris last night on a long-planned vacation, President Trump announced a travel ban between the United States and Europe for the next 30 days. His myopic attempt to curtail the spread of coronavirus was made worse by his referral to Covid-19 as a foreign virus rather than a global pandemic as declared by the World Health Organization. It was another painful example of xenophobic leadership  not to mention a move that totally ruined my travel plans.

At the time of Trumps speech, my Air France flight from New York to Paris was scheduled to depart as usual. But Italy had a countrywide lockdown, and Germany was on the brink of doing the same. I feared France was next.

All signs, and my Jewish mother, told me to postpone as the day progressed. As a 38-year-old Brooklyn freelance writer and Democrat, spending $500 to go to Paris with my best friend was a big deal. Having survived a jarring break-up, I thought this would be my respite. With Covid-19 on the backburner, I'd prepped supplies for the germ-fueled flight: disinfectant wipes, face mask, latex gloves, vitamin C and zinc supplements. Yet surmounting pandemic paranoia made my French escape sound worse than my heartache.

Many airlines leaned into this government-mandated travel restriction. Air Frances website is offering the lenient policy allowing any rebooking to be made before May 31st to be waived of change fees. Upset, I didnt know if this real-life Contagion would be behind us by Memorial Day.

I realize how near-sighted it was for me to complain about postponing my trip of leisure when the number of people sick and dying was sweeping the globe. While younger people are less at risk, my parents, in their 70s and newly retired, were visiting the Left Bank for six weeks. If they were stranded abroad for an extra month without enough medication, complications could become dire.

This week, Frances Culture Minister, Franck Riester, tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. Today the French President, Emmanuel Macron, addressed the nation and said that schools would close until further notice, calling Covid-19 Frances worst health crisis in a century. French people, like Americans, have already been urged to work from home, avoid crowded spaces, and refrain from the traditional double-kiss greeting.

While in Paris, I appreciate the solitude amongst the masses: sitting alone at a cafe channeling my inner Gertrude Stein, smoking (a vice I reserve for Paris)  but eating a rationed baguette holed up in an Airbnb while the city goes under quarantine doesnt have the same je ne sais quoi about it.

 EU commission spokesperson criticises Trump travel ban

Parisian friends tell me the local temperature is split: one buddy claims business as usual. Another warns of impending border closing and potential two-week quarantine upon return. A chef in the city informed me that much of his business depends on travellers and theyre feeling the hit. Yesterday, another colleague in the fashion world trend-forecasted this situation, giving me word to try and get my parents home before Friday. Our joie de vivre is being hit with a heavy dose of reality.

Trumps message had a predictable response: panic. Incessant calls to my parents woke them up at three in the morning in France. I urged them to come home three weeks early and they are getting on a flight this afternoon. Charles de Gaulle is flooding with crowds of travellers trying to do the same. Stateside, masked guards are taking peoples temperatures upon arrival.

Staying local and riding the MTA in New York doesnt seem to be a sanitary alternative, but it feels safer to be near home base. Hunkering down with forced social disengagement and a home-cooked meal (if the supermarket shelves remain stocked) and spring-cleaning my closet could be a better mode of self-care than my planned girls trip away. Ill have to tell myself that.

Hopefully, as warmer weather nears, the virus will die off and Paris will accept my travel voucher. Avoiding what wouldve been airport purgatory, my suitcase remains packed in my living room, making me part of the Covid-19 zeitgeist. If we dont enter lockdown in New York City, find me unapologetically wearing a beret and eating steak frites at the local French restaurant.

Meanwhile, stay tuned to see how Trump can justify a travel ban when he met with a Brazilian delegate at Mar-a-lago last Thursday who tested positive for coronavirus.
A drive-thru Covid 19 test facility is understood to have opened in Cork city with medical staff in protective clothing swabbing referred persons through their car windows.

Contractors worked in recent days to bring two disused buildings at St Mary's Campus in Gurranabraher on the northside of the city up to speed for usage by medical personnel.

Cork Kerry Community Healthcare declined to comment on the latest developments on the grounds of the campus in the city.

They referred media queries to a PR company employed by Cork University Hospital. They, in turn, directed questions to the HSE.

A spokesperson for the South South West Hospital Group said that the health service is involved in a significant range of preparations for the rapidly evolving situation related to Covid-19.

Central to these preparations is the provision of Covid-19 testing facilities that respond to the needs of our patients and staff.

"Each testing facility and mode of testing has been carefully considered and risk assessed with appropriate adjustments as deemed necessary.

"There is a very understandable level of concern however, we would like to reassure the public that all National Guidance and Standard Precautions for Infection Prevention and Control in relation to Covid-19 are being stringently adhered to.

"In addition, there is no increased level of risk of exposure to the community that are in the vicinity of any such testing facility." (This story was updated when this statement was received at 3.50pm.)

In a statement about the works issued earlier this week Cork Kerry Community Healthcare said that "all parts of the health service are involved in a significant range of preparations for this rapidly evolving situation. "

The statement added that a range of plans were in place and various measures were under consideration to prepare for a range of different scenarios.

The HSE later added: "Where demand requires it the HSE is setting up pop-up testing centres run by the national ambulance service for the local community in the local community."

The buildings that were worked on were formerly used for services for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

They needed new doors, insulation, and painting before they could be reopened for use.

The drive-thru testing in St Mary's is understood to be by referral only and is not open to random members of the public.

Meanwhile, the NHS in the UK is set to "ramp up" facilities nationwide so 10,000 tests can be carried out each day.

Health officials have said sending people to such sites rather than hospitals or doctors reduces the risk to the wider public.

Those referred to the drive-through hubs in the UK for swabbing will arrive in their own car, and will not enter the building. They will be swabbed outside by specially trained nurses, under a purpose-built awning. Similar systems will be in place in Ireland.

A person who receives the test should remain self-isolated until they receive their results.

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(CNN)  Some smells automatically bring a smile to our faces: Puppy breath. New car smell. The aroma of fresh-baked cookies.

For moms, it's the scent of their babies. Research shows most moms find the smell of their bundle of joy irresistible, while babies find their moms' odor unique -- one more way nature strengthens a bond that assures survival of the species. In fact, 90% of new moms can pick out their baby by smell within 10 minutes to an hour after birth.

But do we continue to like the smell of our children as they age?

Not so much, a new study finds, especially when those children are teenagers in or past puberty.

"This has something to do with the changed composition of the infantile sweat due to the increased release of sexual hormones," said professor Ilona Croy, who studies the sense of smell at the Dresden University of Technology in Germany.

The sweet smell of babies

It's possible that all women are evolutionarily wired to respond favorably to "new baby smell."

A 2013 study found the reward centers of the brain lit up in a small group of new moms and women who had never given birth when they smelled pajamas that newborn infants had worn for two nights. The PJs had been frozen and were presented to the women some six weeks later. None of the women were related to the babies.

Of course, the bonding benefits are not available to parents who cannot smell, either due to a physical or psychological issue.

"We did a study where we could show that mothers who have -- because of various mental disorders -- problems bonding with their child, show an abnormal olfactory perception," said Croy.

Ordinarily "mothers prefer the odor of their children before the odor of others," she added. "Those mothers are neither able to identify their child, nor do they prefer it."

The new study blindfolded 164 German mothers and asked them to smell body odor on clothing from their own child and four unfamiliar, sex-matched children. Clothing samples consisted of onesies that infants had slept in for one night, or cotton T-shirts slept in for one night by kids up to age 18.

Moms accurately picked out a strange child's developmental level from the smell 64% of the time; success rate was even higher when the child was their own.

Mothers also scored higher when identifying odors in children who had not yet hit puberty, and found those much more pleasant -- "sweet" was the most common response, said Croy, who supervised the study.

The 'stinky' smell of teens

Stronger, "high intensity" body odor samples were identified as coming from children in, or past, puberty.

"Body odor is perceived more intensively due to the developmental changes," explained lead author Laura Schafer, a doctoral student in Croy's lab. "Pleasantness and intensity perception are often negatively related."

In fact, moms got it wrong if an older child past puberty had a "pleasant" smell, classifying those odors as coming from a younger, pre-pubescent child.

Schafer said the study may be the first to investigate whether parents can determine a child's developmental maturity by smell. Putting this in context with prior research, she said, the implications for parent-child bonding as children grow could be significant.

"Many parents report that their baby's odor smells pleasant, rewarding and adorable," Schafer said. "This suggests infantile body odors can mediate affectionate love towards the child in the crucial periods of bonding.

"This seems to decline with increasing age," she added, which could be interpreted as a "mechanism for detachment, when the child becomes more independent and separates itself from parental care."

So perhaps we are evolutionarily supposed to find our children stinky as they age, so we'll let go and allow them to become independent?

"Smelling can be an unconscious factor that can influence perception and thus also the relationship," Schafer said, adding that parents shouldn't be "irritated if they do not find the smell of their own child in puberty very pleasant."

"It is important to note, however, that the entire relationship between parents and child is, of course, always a complex interplay, where both several senses and, of course, contextual conditions play an essential role."

This story was first published on CNN.com "Babies smell 'sweet,' teens stink and blindfolded moms can tell the difference, study says"
The first modern hotel in Birmingham (The Magic City) was built in 1914 by two prominent businessmen, Robert Jemison, Jr. and George Crawford Major Tutwiler, who was the main financial supporter through his Tutwiler Coal and Coke Company.

The hotel was originally built in order to convince the American Iron and Steel Institute to have its annual convention in Birmingham. At the time it was erected there were no other luxury hotel accommodations and the Tutwiler would be considered one of the finest hotels in the country. Today a portion of it remains but at a different location. Originally the hotel was built on the corner of 20th Street and 5th Avenue North in downtown Birmingham.

Like all luxury hotels of the time it had a spectacular era of galas, famous guests and historical events. Several high-profile events were held there such as Tallulah Bankheads post wedding party.

Another was a press conference held by Charles Lindbergh on his nationwide tour with the Spirit of St. Louis. He was promoting aviation after his Atlantic crossing from New Jersey to Paris in 1927.

Unfortunately, like many other grand hotels of the era that have been razed, the Tutwiler also slowly deteriorated to the point where it was closed and faced demolition. In 1974 it finally reached the point where the original hotel was imploded.

After a 12-year absence the name Hotel Tutwiler rose like a phoenix out of its ashes and took over the Ridgely Apartments a few blocks away on Park Place, thus reinstating the absence of the name Hotel Tutwiler from its downtown landscape after an absence of 12 years.

In 1985 the City of Birmingham was awarded an Urban Development Act grant and with some private financing the old hotel was re-opened. The original marble floors, exterior and vaulted railings were maintained in its renovation. Many modern amenities such as a fitness center, business center, signature restaurant and suites have been added. Only a swimming pool is missing but the hotels history of offering rooms with a view was included as all of the 149 rooms feature expansive windows that show off the city scape of the modern Birmingham.

Like all grand luxury hotels of the past the Tutwiler has its stories of its resident ghost. The hotels story is that Major Tutwiler, who formerly lived at the Ridgely Apartments, decided to stay at the new Hotel Tutwiler and that his spirit has the bad habit of knocking on doors at late hours and is known as The Knocker. Other tales claim he sometimes causes havoc in the bar and restaurant.

One story goes that a bartender got in trouble because he allegedly left the lights and stoves on after closing hours for several nights. The manager came in early one morning to discover that someone had prepared a large meal and drank a bottle of wine. Thus, developed its tradition of the staff addressing the ghost of Major Tutwiler with the words Goodnight Major and asking him not to mess up the kitchen.

The hotel is now officially the Hampton Inn & Suites Downtown Tutwiler Birmingham, Alabama. It is located at 2021 Park Place, Birmingham, Alabama 35203.

Centrally located and reasonably priced, a stay at the Tutwiler gives a visitor an enjoyable historical trip to the past era if you dont meet the ghost of Major Tutwiler or hear from The Knocker.

------

Jerry Summers

(If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com


A local governing body in Sikkims Lachung, one of the most sought after tourist destinations, announced a ban on the entry of people from other states on Thursday, a week after foreigners were barred from the state in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Highlights No case of coronavirus has been reported from Sikkim, which shares a border with Nepal, West Bengal and Bhutan Sikkim had decided on March 5 not to issue inner line permits (ILP) to foreigners Hotel owners have said the ban will hit the tourism industry

The local Dzomsa, a body equivalent to the panchayat system, adopted a resolution to stop the entry of tourists and workers from other states till April 15. The decision was taken considering the outbreak of coronavirus throughout the world, the Lachung Dzomsa said in the resolution signed by its head pipon.

The Lachung Dzomsa has taken the decision on health ground. Most of the domestic tourists are voluntarily cancelling or postponing their tour to Sikkim, BS Panth, Sikkim tourism minister, said while speaking to HT.

The resolution passed by the Lachung Dzomsa has also requested the state government to stop issuing new work permits for Lachung region.

Sikkim, which shares a border with Nepal, West Bengal and Bhutan, has not reported any case of coronavirus so far. Bhutan has reported one confirmed case of infection.

In 2019, more than 12 lakh tourists visited Sikkim while the number of foreigners stood at 1,33,388. Many people from other states come to north Sikkim to work as casual and skilled labourers and require work permits.

There is no panchayat system in places like Lachen and Lachung in north Sikkim. They have Dzomsas as the local governing body established under Sikkim Government Gazette Extraordinary Notification. They have administrative powers and the state government cannot overrule decisions taken by Dzomsas.

The Lachen Dzomsa is likely to take a similar decision soon, an owner of a hotel in Lachen said on condition of anonymity. Lachen is also a hotspot for tourists.

Lachung Dzomsas decision has come as a shock. It will badly affect tourists who are in the region and hit the business as well, Avijit Sengupta, the owner of Magellan which runs six hotels including one each at Lachen and Lachung, said.

Some tourists were allowed to stay at Lachung on Thursday but they will have to vacate on Friday, he said.

Lachung is one of the most sought after tourist destinations in Sikkim and there are hundreds of tourists at present, said Tanmoy Goswami, a tour operator.

Though other parts of Sikkim are allowing Indian tourists, the ban on their entry to Lachen and Lachung will hit the industry, said Goswami.

Sikkim had decided on March 5 not to issue inner line permits (ILP) to foreigners but imposed no restriction on the movement of people from other states.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Pramod Giri I am working with Hindustan Times since 2001 and am posted in Siliguri, West Bengal, as Principal Correspondent. I have been regularly covering vast area of northern parts of West Bengal, Sikkim and parts of Nepal and Bhutan. ...view detail
As I write this, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia, have ordered their schools to close because of the rapidly spreading coronavirus. Reports of more closures are coming in seemingly by the hour. These are uncertain and unnerving times. There is no blueprint emerging from the federal government for how to respond to a health crisis of this magnitude. The leaders of state and district education systems are on the front lines, working to protect the health of school communities, meet students basic needs, minimize disruptions, and provide academic instruction all while responding to breaking developments in real time. In this environment, basic community health dwarfs other priorities and concerns.

I lead Chiefs for Change, a bipartisan network of state and district education chiefs who oversee systems that collectively serve more than 7 million students. For the past two weeks, we have been working closely with our members, helping them develop their COVID-19 response plans and connecting their operations and communications teams with each other to facilitate the sharing of information, protocols, and strategies. Todays education leaders are facing unprecedented challenges with this virus. While it is impossible to state everything that is needed, here are five things our members are asking for:

Forecasts and reliable information. How long will this epidemic last? Will schools need to close for a matter of weeks? Could it be months, or even longer? When will COVID-19 testing kits be widely available, and when can we expect a vaccine?

These are just some of the questions that lie at the heart of the decisions education chiefs have to make. While so much remains unknown, we need experts to provide accurate, thorough, and up-to-date informationand we need state and federal policymakers to be serious and levelheaded. They must put aside partisan differences and come together for the good of our nation.

See Also: Coronavirus and Schools

Awareness and recognition of the enormous and complex challenge. Susan Enfield, one of our members and the superintendent of Highline Public Schools in suburban Seattlethe epicenter of the U.S. outbreaktweeted earlier this week: Its 9:00 pm & I finally have time to send this message: to every vendor, solution partner, researcher, education advocate, etc. please stop. Just stop. My WA superintendent colleagues & I confronting school closure need to focus on our communities. Let us do our jobs.

Our chiefs need supportbut they also need the space to make thoughtful decisions about what their school communities need, and how much of it and when. Now is not the time to pitch new products, promote an agenda, or otherwise exploit the crisis. COVID-19 is not a forcing event for innovation. Its a global and national health crisis. Our chiefs and their teams are on the ground and working around the clock. They are deeply connected to students, teachers, and families. Follow their lead. Give them what they are asking for.

Regulatory flexibility where it will increase equity and serve students best interests. Chiefs need flexibility in order to meet immediate needs and plan for an uncertain futurebut these times also demand we remain vigilant and serve all students. The federal government should suspend or ease regulations where doing so would advance equity and support students well-being. Many children, for example, go hungry if they dont go to school. It is where they get lunch, often breakfast, and even snacks that serve as dinner.

Chiefs are working to figure out how they will continue to feed their students by setting up distribution centers and, in some cases, arranging home deliveries. The federal government has granted waivers to at least 17 states for providing meals while schools are closed and has promised to expedite the processing of other requests. It has also indicated that it will consider waivers for schools that are unable to meet certain benchmarks due to absenteeism or extended closures. These are sound responses. While COVID-19 is itself indiscriminate, this crisis may disproportionately affect the most disadvantaged students, exacerbating the already persistent inequities in public education. We must keep equity at the core of every decision.

More funding and collaboration to support digital learning. Without knowing how long school closures will last, chiefs are devising new ways to ensure students keep learning. Families cant be expected to fill the shoes of their childs teachers. Parents and caretakers are facing extreme stress themselves. They must continue to work, juggle responsibilities, and meet obligations. In addition, most dont have the training to take on the extraordinary task of fulfilling their childs academic needs.

Many systems are considering virtual learning, including those that dont routinely use online learning or have flexible remote-learning systems. It must be noted that the transition from the classroom to the cloud is not an option for all students. One issue is that online-learning programs may not effectively serve children with disabilities. Another is that many students dont own computers or other devicesand they dont have a way to get online. Yet, given the reality our country is facing, virtual learning will undoubtedly be a part of many systems response plans. Congress should, therefore, approve federal funding to give students the hardware and connectivity they need to learn with digital platforms. Telecom and technology companies should act swiftly and do whatever possible to support the expanded availability of their products and services.

Mechanisms to share what works. In this rapidly evolving situation, educators need a way to learn what others are doing and share ideas. Our top priority at Chiefs for Change is supporting our members and other systems leaders. In addition to providing ongoing and intensive supports, we have posted curated resources on our website that we believe provide sound guidance. We are updating the page on a regular basis.

Schools are the soul of our communities. Children are dealing with separation from teachers and friends they love; disruptions to their sense of security and routine; and a range of emotions, including anxiety, frustration, anger, and fear. As Superintendent Enfield said, schools are where many students feel most safe, loved, and seen. This weighs heaviest on her heartas I know it does for educators all across this country.

State and district education chiefs, under immense pressure, are doing some of the hardest and most important work in this crisiswith an astonishing lack of clarity from the federal government and without the resources to monitor the spread or trajectory of the virus. Their work to protect and serve us did not begin and will not end with school closures. These leadersand our nations childrendeserve all the support we can give them.
Washington: US President Donald Trump and visiting Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar greeted each other in the traditional Indian way of 'namaste' at the White House here on Thursday, which they said was necessary in the current times of coronavirus.

Trump and Varadkar, who is of Indian-origin, joined their palms in the 'namaste' pose when reporters asked them in the Oval Office as to how they greeted each other.

We did not shake hands today. We looked at each other and said what we are going to do. You know, sort of a weird feeling, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House along with Varadkar.

When another reporter asked if they shook hands, Varadkar joined his hands in the 'namaste' pose, showing the reporters how he greeted the president. Trump too joined in with the 'namaste' pose.

"I just got back from India. And I did not shake any hands there. And it's very easy, because they go like this," Trump said as he showed reporters the 'namaste' pose for the second time in quick succession.

Trump also showed the Japanese way of greeting  the bowing of head. "They (India and Japan) were ahead of the curve," he remarked, even as he said bowing and 'namaste' gave him a strange feeling.

"I have never been a big hand-shaker, you probably heard. But once you become a politician, shaking hands is very normal. It's a very strange feeling when people walk up and say 'hi', he said.

It almost feels impersonal or feels like you're being rude, but we just can't afford to think like that for the next few weeks, Varadkar told reporters.

The World Health Organisation on Thursday said coronavirus "is a controllable pandemic". The number of COVID-19 cases in the world stands at 125,293, with over 4,600 deaths.
On Thursday, convicted rapist and expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar had created some drama inside a Delhi court after he broke down, saying if he had done anything wrong, he should be hanged and acid poured in his eyes.

This was during the hearing on the quantum of sentence in the case related to the murder of Unnao rape survivors's father. Senger was earlier convicted for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the death of the Unnao rape victim's father.

BCCL

Sengar, who argued for himself claimed before District Judge Dharmesh Sharma that he has no involvement in the murder of the victim's father who died in judicial custody on April 9, 2018. "Give justice to me or else hang me, put acid in my eyes if I have done something wrong," he told the judge.

But the meltdown failed to impress the judge who on Friday sentenced him to ten years in jail. The MLA and his brother Atul Singh Sengar have also been asked to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation to the victim's family. Five others, including two police personnel, have also been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in the case.

On Thursday, the judge told Sengar that he has already been held guilty and he cannot deny his involvement as the records clearly suggested that he was on the call with the police officials when the victim's father was being beaten up in custody.

BCCL

Sengar said he has two daughters and requested the judge that he be let-off. "You have a family. Everyone has. You should have thought all this while committing the crime but you went on to break all the laws?" the judge had asked.

According to the CBI, on April 3, 2018, there was an altercation between the rape victim's father and one Shashi Pratap Singh. The charge sheet filed on July 13, 2018, said the victim's father and his co-worker were returning to their village, Makhi when they asked Shashi for a lift.

Shashi denied them the lift, triggering an altercation among them, the CBI had alleged adding that Shashi called his associates, following which Kuldeep's brother Atul Singh Sengar reached the spot along with others and beat up the woman's father and his co-worker. The woman's father was subsequently taken to the police station by them where an FIR was lodged against him and he was arrested.

The charge sheet said that all this while, Kuldeep Sengar was in touch with the district police superintendent and Makhi police station in-charge Ashok Singh Bhadauria. Later, he also spoke to the doctor who examined the rape victim's father. Before he died, the father who was admitted to a hospital after his health deteriorated had given a statement saying Atul had tortured him in jail.

In December, the four-term MLA was sentenced to jail for the "remainder of his natural biological life" for raping the woman in 2017 when she was a minor.

BCCL

He also faces another case, related to an alleged assassination attempt on the victim, in July 2019 after a truck rammed into the car she was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer leaving two of her aunts dead.
As the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues, The Wiggles are the latest in a long list of entertainers to cancel their upcoming concerts.

In a post on Instagram on Friday, the children's musical group announced the remainder of their Sydney tour dates would be postponed.

'Hello everyone - As the situation with Coronavirus (Covid-19) is ever evolving and recommendations are changing on a daily basis, we have now made the decision to postpone the remaining Sydney shows of our Fun And Games Tour,' they wrote.

Cancelled: As the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues, The Wiggles are the latest in a long list of entertainers to cancel their upcoming concerts. Pictured (L-R) Lachlan Gillespie, Emma Watkins, Simon Pryce, Anthony Field and Captain Feathersword

They then listed the dates affected, with 14 of their shows needing to be postponed.

The band said they were 'disappointed' they wouldn't be able to go ahead with the tour, especially knowing how much their fans were looking forward to it.

'We are disappointed we won't be able to perform for you and know how excited your little Wiggles fans were to see the show,' they continued.

Casualty of coronavirus: In a post on Instagram on Friday, the children's musical group announced the remainder of their Sydney tour dates would be postponed

'We are disappointed we won't be able to perform for you and know how excited your little Wiggles fans were to see the show,' they wrote

But they insisted they had a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of everyone in attendance.

'We appreciate your understanding that these situations can evolve so quickly and we have a duty of care to do what is in the best interest of our audience and employees,' they added.

While only the Sydney tour dates have been affected at this stage, The Wiggles said they would be 'closely monitoring the situation'.

Not happening: The Wiggles listed the dates affected, with 14 of their shows needing to be postponed

'We are responding appropriately as the situation evolves and will provide further updates on our website with regards to the rest of the tour,' they continued.

While the rescheduled dates are yet to be announced, The Wiggles said they were happy to issue refunds for fans unable to attend or in the event they have to cancel the concert completely.

Their announcement came just hours before Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced gatherings of more than 500 people would not be advised starting from Monday, March 16.

Just the beginning: While only the Sydney tour dates have been affected at this stage, The Wiggles said they would be 'closely monitoring the situation'

'We will be advising against organised, non-essential gatherings of persons of 500 people or greater from Monday,' he said in a press conference on Friday.

The number of cases across the nation has soared to 199 - up more than a third in just 24 hours, according to health officials.

Despite this, Mr Morrison said he wants people to go about their 'normal everyday business'.
This weekend, a special board will fly for the Ukrainians who are stuck on the border between Italy and Slovenia. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated this, the broadcast was conducted by the channel "112 Ukraine".

We successfully evacuated citizens from China. And this weekend (March 14-15), a special board will return the Ukrainians who are stuck on the border of Italy and Slovenia home. But I urge all Ukrainians to return in the next three days, - Zelensky said.

He added that everyone who returns will have to undergo a medical examination. If signs of the disease are detected, they will be sent for observation.

As we reported before, As of March 13, Europe became the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Currently, Europe has become the epicenter of a pandemic, where more cases and deaths are recorded than in the rest of the world, with the exception of China. Now more cases of infection are reported daily than the numbers of people infected in China at the height of the epidemic," - the statement said.
Image Day 2 with Donald  captured on the couch at his home. Credit... Clare Toeniskoetter/The New York Times

Times reporters and Daily producers will continue to report on the coronavirus from the field, taking every possible precaution to limit their exposure and staying in close consultation with leaders of The Times.

Were not entirely sure what the next few weeks will bring in this fast-evolving situation. But were determined to keep covering the story of this pandemic, a story of enormous consequence that requires as much information and perspective as possible.

And we want to hear from you. At the end of Fridays show, we asked for your questions about the virus and how to navigate this new reality. Leave us a voice message at 646-598-6012. And be sure to tell us your name and where youre calling from.

You can find the latest updates on coronavirus here.

Talk to Michael on Twitter: @mikiebarb.

Im glad shes still my senator

For Tuesdays episode of The Field, our producers Jessica Cheung and Austin Mitchell traveled to Massachusetts with Astead Herndon, a political reporter for The Times. The team wanted to understand how Elizabeth Warrens campaign unraveled, and broadly, how a contest that started with historic diversity has come down to a race between two men, 70 plus, both white.

Jessica shared why they were driven to make this episode, and how they found one of the voters that you heard from:

After seeing Warren drop out of the race outside her house  the same place she announced her bid for the presidency  we wondered how she went from front-runner status to finishing so behind, not only in the early state races, but also in her home state.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 10:36:22|Editor: zyl

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LJUBLJANA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia's National Assembly will convene on Friday evening to approve Slovenia's new center-right government as soon as the final four ministerial nominees undergo their hearings before the relevant parliamentary committees, according to the Slovenian Press Agency STA.

The government, the third one to be led by Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) leader Janez Jansa, is expected to meet for its first session soon after it is sworn in to adopt additional measures designed to curb the coronavirus spread in the country.

Jansa announced Thursday that the new government would form a crisis headquarters at its first session and take sweeping lockdown measures.

This was in response to an urgent appeal by Slovenian infectious disease specialists for public life to be brought to a standstill as the Slovenian government declared a coronavirus epidemic on Thursday after the number of COVID-19 cases rose to 96 in the country.

Last month, Slovenian President Borut Pahor nominated Jansa as the country's prime minister after four parties had reached an agreement on forming a center-right coalition.

Jansa formally nominated his 16-member cabinet on March. 6.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 01:03:24|Editor: yan

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BANJUL, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Gambia's government has announced in a statement on Friday the suspension of all the overseas travels of the public officials with immediate effect as a way of preventing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) from entering in the country.

"As part of the efforts to curb risks of spreading the Coronavirus, the Office of the Secretary General has sent out a circular informing all Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Clerk of the National Assembly, Heads and Directors of Government Departments and Agencies, Managing Directors and Director Generals of Public Enterprises and Public Institutions, that all overseas travels by public officials are suspended with immediate effect, including those already issued with travel clearances," the statement stated.

The decision to suspend all overseas travels is due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout the globe, the statement added.

"The relevant government authorities are actively monitoring this global health menace and will advise the Office of the President accordingly to review the suspension at the appropriate time," according to the statement.

The Gambia is yet to record a single case of COVID-19, but people are urged to take precautions to prevent the virus in the country, with west african countries such as Senegal, Nigeria, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and recently Ghana and Guinea have all recorded cases.
LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2020 / There are many things that no one learns in school. There are day-to-day things that adults go through that children are not taught in school. Indeed, there are areas such as taxes, credit, saving and others that no high school graduate knows of. This is why the education system is failing.

Stephen Liao is a celebrity consultant and an expert in credit and investing. He got into this business after he realized the education system had failed him. His parents are immigrants from Taiwan and China, and he was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. While he went to public school, he interned for Apple, GE Corporate, and GE Digital, before turning 18.

Nonetheless, he graduated with a low GPA from high school, he went to University of Cincinnati for two semesters and then transferred to Stanford for two semesters. While at college, he founded the social media tech startup Moves Inc., which received 20 million daily impressions on platforms such as Snapchat. When Stephen turned 20, he dropped out of Stanford and focused on what he was learning from his startup, as well as specializing in travel hacking and gaming the credit card system.

"Over the next year, I got over 200 credit cards, built over three million dollars in credit lines, and traveled to different cities for meetings. Along the way, I learned how to do ultra luxury things like private jets, yachts, and mega mansions for cheap. I also started working with influencers and building their credit, which helped build my following." Stephen shares.

Every day, Stephen leverages his own credit lines to invest in different businesses, not limited to real estate, oil, funds, and some startup projects. He also does consulting for top celebrity clients such as Lil Pump, Tai Lopez and Vitaly. Stephen also has some free courses on credit that he shares through his webpage.

"I was motivated to get into my business because I was really bad at school. I am very goal and completion driven, but when I was in school, I wanted to travel the world and take advantage of the 80 or so years we have on this earth. I was lucky enough to have interned with companies like Apple and GE, and see what school was preparing me for to see that I didn't want it." Stephen says.

Story continues

After seeing that what the education system was suggesting for him was not what he wanted, Stephen had to find a different "WHY." And that big motivation for him was being able to change and improve the current state of education and its system.

"I love education and learning, I just hate the system. A lot of people stop learning the day they graduate or leave school, and that alone is a failure of the school system." Stephen believes.

Additionally, Stephen sees that everyone is different, which is why not every curriculum works for every person. He thinks it is as if a doctor would prescribe the same medication to everyone, which would be malpractice. Likewise, prescribing the same education to everyone is malpractice.

Stephen can grab people's attention on Instagram and influence them with his ideas about education and the flawed system. He can pivot his followers attention to what he considers important. Similarly, we ourselves can be influenced by what we see.

"Listen to the people that are doing what you want to do." Stephen advises.

Stephen also advises to prioritize having the right mindset and learning to trust your gut and mentors. Moreover, he advises to "just do it. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, next best time is right now." He thinks that people need to eat, live and breathe their business, and keep going.

"It is also important to note that fear, although it is irrational, it is also important. It helped drive me and push me forward when I dropped out of college. I feared embarrassment and shame, and feared that my family would laugh at me. They probably would not have, but just the thought of that kept me going." Stephen says.

For Stephen, success is having a good balance of wealth, health, love and happiness. The latter is the ultimate determination of success, though, because no matter how much wealth, health or love you have, if you are unhappy, it may not be worth it.

"My next project is making a big enough boom in the media space to get everyone's attention on education. I am currently talking to a couple of states on their education policies and working on implementing more modern ways to educate." Stephen shares.

To follow Stephen's push for a better education system, and also get to know more about luxury travel and credit, go here.

About VIP Media Group

VIP Media Group is a hybrid PR agency. Their diverse client base includes top-class entrepreneurs, public figures, influencers, and celebrities.

CONTACT:

Paula Henderson

202-539-7664

phendersonnews@gmail.com

SOURCE: VIP Media Group





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/580419/Meet-Stephen-Liao-The-Young-Entrepreneur-Who-Wants-To-Revolutionize-The-Education-System




South Africa: Implement PIC report recommendations, says President Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for the implementation of the various recommendations contained in the damning report into alleged improprieties at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).

The release of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry report on Thursday comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa received the document in December 2019. The commission was chaired by retired Judge Lex Mpati, supported by Emmanuel Lediga and Gill Marcus.

In the report, the Commission details findings against some current and former members of the PIC Senior Management and Board.

The Commission largely attributes improprieties to the PIC Senior Management for failure to manage decision-making in a professional and honest manner, and failure to abide by due processes and relevant prescripts, the President said in a statement issued on Thursday.

The Commission showed that the impropriety was worsened by the fact that the PIC Board was not functioning well, and Board involvement in investment decisions compromised their ability to exercise oversight over the PIC.

The Commissions report makes recommendations that require urgent attention and action by different State institutions, including the criminal justice system, National Treasury and the reconstituted PIC Board.

To this end, and in keeping with the recommendations in the report, we will be forwarding it to the National Prosecuting Authority and all relevant regulatory authorities for their consideration, said President Ramaphosa.

The President released the report, together with a high level roadmap on the way forward. Different State institutions, including the Board, will further communicate the details of the implementation plans.

National Treasury, the Presidency said in the statement, has been tasked with developing a detailed plan of action for itself and the Board of the PIC, and with monitoring the implementation of this plan.

It will report to the Presidents office on progress in implementation steps at regular intervals.

Said President Ramaphosa: The Commission implicates a number of individuals in wrongdoing. The Commission gave relevant persons the opportunity to be heard at the hearings it held. Any follow-up investigations, based on the recommendations made, will follow due process and therefore give them further opportunity to be heard before any steps are taken against them.



President Ramaphosa appointed the Mpati Commission to inquire into:

Whether there was any impropriety in the investment decisions at the PIC and associated improper personal gain by parties;

The governance and operational model of the PIC;

The allegations contained in information on the PIC by James Nogu (and others) and the ramifications thereof;

Human resources-related matters such as victimisation and remuneration including performance awards;

Possible political interference in the operations of the PIC; and

The manner in which the PIC handled regulatory aspects with regards to key legislation such as the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act and other legislation.



Disregard of policies

In the report, the Commission of Inquiry has made adverse findings on numerous transactions and on actions of various individuals in investment decisions.

The Commission highlights widespread disregard of PIC policies and processes on the transactions by PIC Management and certain Board members. Involvement of employees and non-executive Board members in investee companies must be reviewed.

The Commission recommends that the relevant Delegations of Authority be reviewed by no later than June 2020.

The management of conflicts of interest also require review.

Potential criminal behaviour has also been highlighted, which should followed up by law enforcement agencies.

These practices have led to situations in which the PIC lost a lot of funds, which must be urgently recovered. Civil actions will be instituted in this regard.

The Presidency said it is also worrying that the Inquiry shows that the PIC has not shown the urgency to salvage whatever money it can recover.

The PIC must recover all the monies utilised in irregular transactions or unlawfully paid out. The National Treasury will be tracking developments in this regard, the Presidency said.

Where relevant, the statement said, the PIC and Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) should jointly investigate whether monies were paid and properly accounted for, and whether any of these monies should be recovered. The Commission recommends this be done within 6 months of the reports publication.

Straightening out the GEPF

The Commission recommends that certain steps be taken at the GEPF to secure its own position such as a review of the role, relationships, nature and frequency of meetings between the GEPF and PIC, and ensuring appropriate interaction at the required level actually takes place.

Additionally, the report shows that there is a large number of assets that are in distress, and the PIC should urgently devise a stronger mechanism to deal with this and recover whatever it can.

The report has also found that it is highly likely that some sections of the FAIS Act have been contravened. The Commission suggests that parties or former parties could have contravened laws dealing with issues such as corruption and bribery, protected disclosures, electronic interceptions and sections of the Companies Act.

Criminal matters will be referred to the relevant authorities.

The Commission also recommended that the PIC ensure that all pre- and post-conditions for all investments made have been fully met and implemented, and that effective processes and systems are in place to properly monitor the investment post disbursement.

In this regard, those responsible for failing to implement conditions precedent to investments ought to be held to account.

President Ramaphosa said: I trust that the implementation of the actions above and the detailed steps set out in the report shall put the PIC in a much stronger position to face the future and be an institution we can all be proud of.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Many progressives and conservatives have long supported a federal paid-leave policy. And the intense concern brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic may make it harder for an already-too-tempted Trump administration to resist the large number of calls for this new entitlement  at least as it would apply to workers who may become sick or must stay home to care for family members. As a Washington Post reporter recently worried, the absence of such a policy could make a widespread coronavirus outbreak here worse than it would be in a comparable country that takes sick leave seriously.

Its one thing to support temporary provision of sick leave paid for by the government when we face a public-health crisis. During emergencies, taxpayers, workers, employers, and Americans in general may be willing to bear a short-term burden that would be unacceptable during normal times. (This explains why even private companies such as Uber are temporarily offering paid leave to their drivers.) But it would be deeply misguided to use COVID-19 as an excuse for a permanent policy change.

Panic is no friend to sound policymaking. If Congress rushes through a universal paid-leave plan, it could fail to target those people who actually lack such a benefit from their employers  a smaller number of workers than many paid-leave advocates acknowledge  and overwhelmingly benefit those companies that already provide paid leave. And if it permanently adopts such a measure, many employers will reduce their privately supplied coverage in response. Such crowding-out is what has already happened in states where paid-family-leave programs were adopted, with many companies that once voluntarily provided paid leave as part of their workers employment packages now requiring employees to first tap all the available taxpayer-provided benefits, which in turn has produced larger-than-expected budgetary costs for state governments.

Of more immediate concern, several features of the various current proposals out there make them poorly suited to help control the spread of the coronavirus. For instance, the Healthy Families Act (HFA) proposed by Senator Patty Murray (D., Wash.) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.) would require all employers to allow workers to accrue seven days of paid sick leave and to provide an additional 14 days available immediately in the event of any public health emergency, including the current coronavirus crisis. That sounds good in theory, but symptoms manifest themselves between two days and two weeks after contraction of the virus, a period of time during which asymptomatic carriers will not take leave and may unknowingly spread the disease. This is particularly important in the absence of widely available testing for those who fear they may have been infected.

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Of course, its true that when workers without paid leave dont work, they arent paid, so they may be reluctant to stay home even if they start to exhibit symptoms. Its also true that if more workers had paid sick leave, fewer sick workers would show up to work and fewer people would become infected. Considered in isolation, this outcome is, of course, good. But it cannot be considered in isolation.

Obliging companies to permanently provide paid sick leave to workers who dont currently have it would impose eventual reductions on their take-home pay. The provision of such benefits isnt costless. We can be sure that in the long run  after the coronavirus fades from the headlines  mandated paid leave would inflict a pricey and permanent toll on workers who would prefer to receive more of their compensation as take-home pay and less as paid leave. Such workers, being disproportionately low-income, would be the least able to bear even marginal reductions in take-home pay.

This negative effect would exist even if leave benefits were paid for through the government and financed with a payroll tax split between employers and employees, as they would be in the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act also proposed by DeLauro and Murray (and in other such proposals). Payroll taxes are highly regressive, and existing ones already impose a heavy burden on a majority of Americans. Unfortunately, the requirement that part of the tax be paid by employers is a legalistic formality: Economics dictates that the cost of this part of the tax, too, will over time fall on workers in the form of lower wages.

Yet many support the FAMILY Act, probably because, like the HFA, its been around as a proposal for years. As currently designed, it would provide payments for up to three months at a time to eligible people who, among other things, take leave from work because they have serious health conditions or need to care for immediate-family members who are seriously ill. But it would do little to encourage coronavirus-related leave.

Why? For one thing, it does not include a requirement that all employers extend paid leave. For another, it does not provide job protection to workers who dont already qualify for the similarly titled Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (and who must work mostly full-time for firms with over 50 employees). That means it wouldnt cover many workers who currently dont have paid leave. For a third, it would almost certainly take a weeks-long or months-long application process before benefits could start being paid out. That is whats happening in Washington state, where, only a few weeks into the adoption of a new paid-leave program, the huge volume of applications has led to wait times of at least a month to process claims  a month during which workers without enough savings are unlikely to forgo work and the vital income it provides.

The spread of coronavirus is a serious problem, and it requires a serious policy response. We must not further enfeeble American workers by using it as an excuse to enact permanent government mandates and entitlements that risk unleashing unintended negative consequences.

 Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Donald J. Boudreaux is a professor of economics at George Mason University and a senior fellow with the Mercatus Centers F. A. Hayek Program.

More from National Review
Le gouvernement a decide de mettre en place un plan soutien afin de donner un coup de pouce aux differents secteurs economiques du pays a cause de la pandemie du Coronavirus qui touche leconomie mauricienne.

Cabinet has agreed to a Plan de Soutien to give the necessary support to economic operators across all sectors of activities, including local manufacturing and SMEs so as to minimise the adverse impact of COVID-19. At the macroeconomic and cross-sectoral level, the following measures would be taken:

(a) the State Investment Corporation (SIC) Ltd would launch an Equity Participation Scheme to assist enterprises to overcome their financial difficulties in the wake of COVID-19;

(b) schemes under the Investment Support Programme Ltd and SME Equity Fund Ltd would be reviewed;

(c) a Revolving Credit Fund of Rs 200 million would be established at the Development Bank of Mauritius Ltd to help companies with turnover of up to Rs 10 million to ease their cash flow difficulties up to 31 December 2020;

(d) enterprises being affected by COVID-19 would be entitled to a double tax deduction on their investment in Plant and Machinery for the period

1 March 2020 to 30 June 2020;

(e) all work permits that would expire this year would be extended automatically up to 31 December 2021;

(f) to minimise human contacts, Government would give full support to promote the Work at Home Scheme that was announced in the 2018-2019 Budget Speech; and

(g) an e-Government Digital Bureau would be set up to fast track the provision of public services through electronic means.

At the sectoral level, the following measures would be taken:

(i) the Passenger Fee on Air Ticket would be suspended for tourists from

Reunion Island, Australia and South Africa up to 31 July 2020;

(ii) the Environment Protection Fee of 0.85% charged on the monthly turnover of hotels, guest houses and tourist residences would be suspended up to 31 July 2020;

(iii) the training levy would be reduced from 1% to 0.5% for operators in the tourism sector as from 1 April 2020 up to 31 July 2020;

(iv) Air Mauritius Ltd would pursue its promotional fare strategy to attract tourists from Reunion Island, UK, South Africa and Australia. Fares for travel from and to Reunion Island would be reduced by 50% while for the other destinations the reduction would be 40%. These reductions would be applicable up to 31 July 2020;

(v) hotels would provide a discount ranging from 15% to 35% for tourists from Australia, Reunion Island and South Africa;

(vi) port charges imposed by the Mauritius Ports Authority and Cargo Handling Corporation Ltd would be waived for all exports up to

31 December 2020;

(vii) the Freight Rebate Scheme would be extended for exports to South Africa and Tamatave up to 31 December 2020;

(viii) the Speed to Market Scheme would be extended for exports of the manufacturing sector to Africa, Japan, Australia, Canada and the Middle East up to

31 December 2020;

(ix) to boost local production of food crops and ensure greater food security for the population, sugar estates would be requested to also put at the disposal of small planters additional rotational land for the cultivation of crops like potato, onion, pulses and other vegetables;

(x) seeds for the cultivation of potato, garlic, bean and onion would be provided through the Seed Purchase Scheme. In addition, the Agricultural Marketing Board would purchase at a guaranteed price, products such as potato, garlic and onion on a long term basis;

(xi) an amount of Rs100 million has been earmarked to encourage local production of food crops; and

(xii) funds to the tune of Rs208 million are being made available to the Ministry of Health and Wellness for the acquisition of new medical accessories and equipment, of which Rs108 million have already been disbursed.

A number of actions has already been initiated, namely:

(a) the Agricultural Marketing Board has taken precautionary measures to increase significantly its Strategic Buffer Stock in potato, onion and garlic;

(b) five new schemes are being launched by SME Mauritius Ltd, namely, the Internal Capability Development Scheme, the Technology and Innovation Scheme, the SME Marketing Support Scheme, the Inclusiveness and Integration Scheme, and the SME Utility Connection Assistance Scheme.

An Implementation and Monitoring Committee under the chair of Mr Dev Manraj, GOSK, Financial Secretary, and comprising representatives of both the public and private sector has been set up.
Emily Ratajkowski and her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard have spent the past two days hunkered down at home watching Netflix's reality dating show Love Is Blind.

The 28-year-old supermodel, who wed her husband in 2018, took a break from her self-quarantine to walk her beloved dog Colombo in a black crop top and form-fitting leggings on Friday.

As the bombshell strolled the streets outside of her apartment, she flaunted her taunt midriff and beamed, as her pup made a four-legged friend.

Fresh air: Emily Ratajkowski, who wed her husband in 2018, took a break from her self-quarantine to walk her beloved dog Colombo in a black crop top and form-fitting leggings on Friday

Still so in love: At one point the model and the filmmaker stopped for a kiss

While the stunner stuck to a classic all-black ensemble, apart from her white trainers, her other half wore a bold printed t-shirt and a blue and white Nike bomber jacket.

A few minutes into their romp around the block, the Good Time producer handed their fur child's leash to Ratajkowski, who stayed warm in an over-sized denim jacket.

She seemed to enjoy the fresh air on the particularly sunny day in the city, after taking precautions against the spreading coronavirus outbreak, which President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Friday.

All smiles: As the bombshell strolled the streets outside of her apartment, she flaunted her taunt midriff and beamed, as her pup made a four-legged friend

Feeling good: While the stunner stuck to a classic all-black ensemble, apart from her white trainers, her other half wore a bold printed t-shirt and a blue and white Nike bomber jacket

Working from home: Colombo is soaking up the quality time with the model, as she walks him around the city

Earlier in the day, she posted a sultry picture, snapped by her husband through a floor-length mirror in their bedroom, in matching white ensembles.

'Finished Love Is Blind (um, wow), ate two frozen pizzas w/ ranch, made calls from bed & took family selfies,' the I Feel Pretty actress captioned an Instagram of herself.

In the picture, the brunette beauty flashed her enviable abs in a cropped white turtleneck and low-waisted sweats, while kneeling on her bed.

Staying careful: Emily Ratajkowski has been documenting her self-quarantine on social media over the past two days, which has included enjoying some reality TV and quality time with her husband and pup

Family-of-three: Earlier in the day, she posted a sultry picture, snapped by her husband through a floor-length mirror in their bedroom, in matching white ensembles

Like his model wife, McClard sported a comfy look, which included a hoodie and loose bottoms.

Also featured in the picture was her pup, who the model revealed is turning one next week.

On social media, the model asked fans to comment any advice on how to celebrate her canine, captured hearts with his puppy-dog-eyes and adorable expressed in her most recent post.

Dog mom: Ratajkowski has frequently talked about her love for her pooch Colombo, who she adopted in May

On Thursday, the dog mom documented herself binge-watching Netflix from home and later revealed Friday would be her first day working remotely.

The New Yorker's cautious behavior comes one day after Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in the city and attempted to calm the panic by reiterating Manhattan would not be quarantined.

He made the decision on Thursday afternoon saying the last 24 hours had been 'very, very sobering' and that the world had been turned 'upside down' in just a day.

Careful: The New Yorker's cautious behavior comes Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in the city and attempted to calm the panic by reiterating Manhattan would not be quarantined

In addition to a widespread of misinformation, grocery shops in NYC were cleared of produce by frantic shoppers and hit with long lines.

Ratajkowski is among millions, who are being strongly encouraged to work remotely amid the coronavirus crisis, which has infected more than 132,000 people around the world and killed at least 4,600 people.

The model, who was recently named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, has 25.6 million Instagram followers, and is known for baring her incredible curves in barely-there bikinis and cropped tops.

Hard worker: While still was still just a 'working model' in 2011, Ratajkowski recalls being on set and finding creative solace with her Instagram account, before later using it to organically grow her brand

While still was still just a 'working model' in 2011, Ratajkowski recalls being on set and finding creative solace with her Instagram account, before later using it to organically grow her brand.

'I had so little control over my own image. I didn't get to style; I didn't get to creative draft; I didn't get to choose. Instagram was my way of doing my own creative direction,' she told the business magazine.

Now, social media is her main outlet for line Inamorata, which she hopes to grow and expand even further in 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 20:03:39|Editor: huaxia

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File photo taken on Oct. 18, 2018 shows Katerina Sakellaropoulou speaking at an event of the Association of the Greek Prosecutors held in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Vasilis Repanis/Xinhua)

Chinese President Xi Jinping said he highly values the development of China-Greece relations, and stands ready to establish a sound working relationship with President Sakellaropoulou in a bid to make new progress in the China-Greece comprehensive strategic partnership.



BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sent a congratulatory message to Katerina Sakellaropoulou on her inauguration as Greece's new president.

In his message, Xi points out that China and Greece are good friends of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation who help each other and learn from each other's civilization.

Recalling his successful state visit to Greece at the end of last year, Xi said he is satisfied with the fruitful results achieved in the cooperation of jointly building the Belt and Road by the two countries and is confident in the prospect of bilateral cooperation.

Xi said he highly values the development of China-Greece relations, and stands ready to establish a sound working relationship with President Sakellaropoulou in a bid to make new progress in the China-Greece comprehensive strategic partnership. 
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The government may have extended the timeline to sell Air India. But clearly, this may not be the right time to sell the national airline.

Ask those who have done mega deals, and they will tell that sometimes, timing can be everything in an acquisition.

One could start by asking the Tata Steel management.

The steelmaker has been struggling with its ambitious acquisition of Corus in 2007, and the $13 billion deal remains India's biggest. It was done when the commodity cycle was near its peak, but soon afterwards there was a meltdown from 2008 on wards.

Since then, the Tata Steel management has tried nearly everything - from shedding some of the assets to attempting a joint venture with another steelmaker - but nothing has worked so far in Europe.

In the aviation industry itself there are at least two promoters who would have wished they hadn't done the acquisitions that they did.

Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal acquired Air Sahara in 2007, for Rs 1,450 crore. It was an expensive deal, but it was a price that Goyal was eager to pay to keep a rising competition - Vijay Mallya and his Kingfisher Airlines - at bay.

Air Sahara was a loss-making airline to start with. Goyal tried turning it around by rechristening it JetLite, the low cost arm of Jet Airways. Despite the airline veteran's ambitions, JetLite remained small with a fleet of less than 10 aircraft. It losses widened to over Rs 300 crore in 2018.

Air Sahara was one big reason why Jet Airways debt mountain kept growing, eventually leading to its downfall in April 2019.

Ironically, Kingfisher too couldn't survive after an expensive acquisition, this time of Air Deccan in 2007. Both these acquisitions were followed by the global slowdown.

Fast forward to 2020.

When the government announced its second attempt to sell Air India in January this year, the world economy - and India's - were already on a slow trajectory.

More importantly, the aviation sector in India had just seen one of its slowest years in 2019. Otherwise the world's fastest growing market, the Indian aviation industry grew by just 3.74 percent in 2019, in terms of passenger traffic.

The sentiment, given that Jet Airways was in suspension since April 2019, wasn't great either.

Nevertheless, the divestment announcement and the new, and friendlier, set of conditions, created some excitement. A few names also made the rounds - Tata Sons, the Adani Group and IndiGo, to name a few.

But the virus has infected the remaining optimism too. If the global wealth funds were interested in Air India, they would be thinking twice after seeing the bloodbath of the last couple of weeks.

Most of the major airlines, including Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Emirates, have either announced grounding of fleet or asked employees to go on unpaid leave, or both. One budget airline in the UK has already collapsed.

In India, within days of the virus resurfacing in the country, IndiGo said its bookings were down by up to 20 percent. Vistara, the joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, also said its routes have been hit. IndiGo and its peer SpiceJet have announced sales in a season which would have otherwise seen the start of peak business.

The disruption from the virus will force those interested in Air India, to rework their math. A severe slowdown now means that it will take that much more time and resources to finance Air India's debt, and also limit capital that will be needed to turn around the airline's operations. For instance, some of its fleet needs to be replaced and that comes expensive.

For all you know, Air India may still manage to get a suitor or two. But the valuation will take a beating.

So, should the government call off the process ?

Not really. But it will be prudent to pause it for the moment, and resume when the conditions are better. After all, there is no point in selling your jewels for cheap.
ATHENS  Greeces first female president, a former high court judge, was formally sworn in to office Friday, nearly two months after the countrys parliament voted overwhelmingly to elect her.

The ceremony for Katerina Sakellaropoulou, 63, took place in an almost empty parliament, as part of measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Only a handful of officials and a limited number of journalists were present.

Greece has shut down schools, universities, cinemas, theaters, gyms and nightclubs, and authorities have warned people to stay home and avoid large gatherings in an effort to contain the outbreak. The ceremony was covered live on state television.

After the swearing-in to the largely ceremonial post, Sakellaropoulou placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the square outside parliament, before a presidential honor guard. Despite the warnings about the virus, a small crowd gathered to watch, standing behind a security cordon across the street.

The prime minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis is the active chief executive.

The new president headed the Council of State, the countrys highest administrative court, since 2018. She takes over the five-year presidency from veteran conservative politician Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

In a brief speech at the presidential palace, Sakellaropoulou spoke of the battle against the coronavirus and the recent migration crisis as the countrys two main challenges.

Greece must continue to adhere to its democratic principles and laws, moving toward a future of prosperity that will have room for us all, she said.

In a clear reference to neighboring Turkey, Sakellaropoulou said Greece was being called on to thwart the aggression of those who, using human pain, want to harm our national sovereignty.

Turkey recently declared its borders to Europe were open, and encouraged thousands of refugees and other migrants to try to push into Greece. Clashes with Greek border guards have frequently broken out, and Greece has come under criticism for occasionally using heavy-handed tactics in response.

Greece, Sakellaropoulou said, must secure the integrity of our borders while also defending and fulfilling our humanitarian duty toward defenseless and desperate people.

She also called on all Greeks to strictly adhere to all guidance given by health authorities to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Elena Becatoros is an Associated Press writer.
Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi has reportedly begun moves to dethrone some prominent traditional rulers in the state.

This is coming following the successful dethronement of Malam Muhammadu Sanusi as the Emir of Kano by the state governor, Umar Ganduje.

According to reports, Governor Fayemi has also set machinery in motion for the removal of the 16 Pelupelu (Paramount) traditional rulers in the State.

The governor issued a query to all the 16 prominent Obas, giving them 72 hours to explain why they should not be removed for shunning government functions since last year.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Governor Fayemi had earlier been sued by the 16 traditional rulers, challenging his appointment of the Alawe of Ilawe Ekiti, Oba Adebanji Alabi, as chairman of the State Traditional Council.

The traditional rulers said the appointment of Alawe of Ilawe, outside the 16 Obas as chairman, was a clear violation of the Ekiti State Chieftaincy Law.

Since the crisis, the Obas have shunned meetings of the council of Obas and government functions as part of measures to show their grievances.

In a latter dated March 11, 2020, Fayemi issued a query to all the 16 prominent Obas over their absence from meetings of the traditional Council of Obas and government functions.

He gave them 72 hours to explain why they should not be removed for shunning government functions since August 2019.

The query was issued on Wednesday by the Bureau of Chieftaincy Affairs on the order of Governor Fayemi.

Reacting to the possible sack of the 16 Obas, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Yinka Oyebode, said the governor has no intention to remove any Oba.

He said the letter issued to the monarch was an administrative thing by the bureau just to inquire about the wellbeing of the monarch after they have been absent from meetings for a while without permission.

ALSO READ: Governor Fayemi Approves Six Months Maternity Leave For Nursing Mothers In Ekiti State
Mexican health officials say the virus would spread from the US to Mexico, as confirmed cases remain low in the country.

Mexican Deputy Health Secretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell has said authorities would consider mechanisms to control the flow of people entering Mexico from the United States in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The possible flow of coronavirus would come from the north to the south. If it were technically necessary, we would consider mechanisms of restriction or stronger surveillance, Lopez-Gatell said at a news conference on Thursday.

More:

Mexico has so far confirmed 15 cases of coronavirus with no deaths, a fraction of the more than 1,000 cases in the US, where more than 40 confirmed deaths have resulted from the virus. That has led some in Mexico to see contagion from the US as a threat.

The spread of the virus turned the usual US-Mexico border issue on its head. The administration of US President Donald Trump has pushed for limiting crossings along the border since his 2016 campaign. Earlier this month, he floated the idea of closing the USs land borders due to the coronavirus, but reversed course just days later.

Health officials in the US have warned that a lack of concerted efforts to stop community spread of the coronavirus inside the country could pose significant health risks.

California has seen at least 50 cases and four deaths since the outbreak of the virus. No cases are confirmed in bordering Baja California, a Mexican state.

Low numbers

Some health experts have cautioned that the number of confirmed cases in Mexico is artificially low due to a lack of testing in both countries, according to the Reuters news agency.

Lopez-Gatell denied there were further cases circulating inside Mexico at the news conference.

The pandemics global death toll has reached almost 5,000, while the global number of cases has surpassed 132,000, according to the United Nations health agency. About 68,000 victims have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the virus.

While China and South Korea, another country hit hard by the virus, have announced a slowing of new cases in recent days, European states are closing borders and preparing for a strain on public health resources.

Trump announced a ban on travel from nations in Europes open-border Schengen zone, beginning on Saturday. The ban does not apply to US citizens or legal residents.

It will also allow UK citizens to travel to the US. The UK has documented at least 500 cases of the virus.

Trump heralded the travel restrictions as strong steps to contain the virus, while public health officials have questioned their efficacy.
Pregnant Big Brother Naija reality star, Nina Ivy has taken to social media to complain about her new look and how she has added weight.

Information Nigeria recalls the light skinned Imo born beauty sparked controversy after she got married to her mystery husband by proxy.

On Thursday, Bambam had taken to Twitter to lament about her experience as a first time mom.

Nina Ivy also followed suit to complain about her swollen nose, fat face and how chubby she is because she is pregnant.

Read Also: Sleeping With Your Brother In-law Is Not Cheating  Pastor Veronica (Photo)

See the tweets below:

https://twitter.com/ninaivy_/status/1238375739747115009?s=21

https://twitter.com/ninaivy_/status/1235664938468864015?s=21
Mumbai, March 13 : With seven candidates, including two women, in the fray for the seven Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra, the stage is set for all getting elected unopposed, on the last day of filing nominations, here on Friday.

Among the prominent leaders who have filed their nominations are Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Republican Party of India (A) President and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale and Bharatiya Janata Party's Chhatrapati Udayan Raje Bhosale, the 13th descendent of the Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The others include Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi, who had quit the Congress last year, AICC General Secretary and Congress leader Rajiv Satav, BJP's Bhagwat Karad and NCP's Fauzia Khan.

On the final day of filing nominations, only seven candidates remained the fray, the scrutiny will take place on March 16 and the last date for withdrawals is March 18, paving the way for all the nominees getting elected without a contest.

The retiring members are NCP's Pawar and Majeed Memon, Congress' Hussain Dalwai, Sena's Rajkumar Dhoot, BJP's Amar Sable and BJP-supported independent Sanjay Kakade.

Both the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of Sena-NCP-Congress and Opposition BJP are contesting as per their respective strength in the 288-member assembly and all the candidates will sail through without necessitating a contest.

The requisite number for a RS seat is 37 votes and with the current party positions in the state, the Sena and Congress will get one each, NCP two and the BJP will get three, including Athawale who is supported by the party.

The MVA's total strength is 170, including Sena's 56, NCP's 54 and Congress' 44, while the BJP has 105 plus the support of around nine other MLAs.

While Pawar is renominated by NCP, the party has fielded a Muslim woman and a former minister Fauzia Khan for the second seat.

The Congress decided against re-nominating Dalwai and opted for a younger face, Satav, while the Sena has nominated a woman this time - 40-year old Priyanka Chaturvedi.

IANS (19-04-2019) had first reported that she would be nominated to the RS after she quit the Congress during the Lok Sabha elections, Thackeray tied a 'Shiv Bandhan' on her wrist and welcomed her into the party as a deputy leader.

Barring Pawar and Athawale, the remaining five candidates are anew faces' with the respective parties decided against re-nominating the outgoing members.
After a Google employee was tested positive for novel coronavirus at its Bengaluru office, the tech giant has urged its employees to work from him. The company in a statement said the employee has been quarantined and the company has asked others who came in contact with him to quarantine themselves.

"We can confirm that an employee from our Bangalore office has been diagnosed with COVID-19. They were in one of our Bangalore offices for a few hours before developing any symptoms. The employee has been on quarantine since then and we have asked colleagues who were in close contact with the employee to quarantine themselves and monitor their health," a Google India statement said.

Like other countries, the virus outbreak has brought India to a standstill, with most industries and corporate houses bracing for losses worth billions of dollars. To stop the virus from spreading further, the companies, as part of precautionary measures, are encouraging employees to work from home. The biggest such examples are e-commerce giant Amazon Inc and Twitter Inc.

Two days back, a Mindtree employee in Bangalore was tested positive for coronavirus. The software major's employee had recently returned from an overseas trip. Rao said the employee, who is a software engineer had, was exercising caution and had isolated himself on return from the foreign trip. Mindtree has sent out a series of advisories on safety measures at workplaces to its employees across the country as well as overseas. Other tech companies like Wipro and Tech Mahindra are also adopting work-from-home models.

The country on Thursday reported the first death of a 76-year-old man from Kalburgi, Karnataka. He died on his way from Hyderabad to Karnataka, and doctors were treating him for symptoms like breathlessness, cold and cough. With this, the number of infected persons in India has touched 79, including one death. COVID-19 has so far claimed 4,600 lives while more than 126,000 people have been infected globally.

Also read: Coronavirus Live Updates: Indian economy will be destroyed if strong action is not taken, says Rahul
Seventy-five Texans from the Grand Princess cruise ship now are quarantined at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland after a second charter plane brought in more evacuees early Thursday.

The total number of people quarantined at a hotel on the base now is 149, but that is expected to decrease soon. All arrived from Oakland, Calif., where they were taken off the cruise ship because of the spread of the novel coronavirus among the 3,500 people on board.

The second plane carrying 51 people, all Texans, arrived at 4:48 a.m. Thursday. The first planeload of evacuees came in Tuesday night.

In between the two flights, the federal government abruptly amended its evacuation plans for the Grand Princess.

On ExpressNews.com: In abrupt reversal, federal officials to only quarantine Texans at Lackland

After receiving pushback from San Antonio and Texas officials about how to handle Lacklands third round as a coronavirus quarantine site, federal officials agreed to move some evacuees to their home states so only Texans ultimately are quarantined there.

None of the 74 residents of other states who were brought to Lackland before the evacuation process was altered has been relocated yet. Mayor Ron Nirenberg said a series of planes would be moving evacuees to and from Lackland this week until only Texans remained there.

It is not clear exactly how many Texans ultimately will be quarantined at Lackland, but local officials put the estimate at 90. Evacuees will be monitored for coronavirus symptoms for two weeks.

More Information Local hotline Call the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District for information about the coronavirus: 210-207-5779 (Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., English and Spanish) See More Collapse

Nirenberg and other officials had raised concerns about bringing more evacuees into San Antonio as the city is preparing for potential community spread of the coronavirus, which was declared a pandemic this week by international health officials.

Federal officials altered their evacuation process midway, after Gov. Greg Abbott declared the state hospital that has been treating evacuee coronavirus patients only would accept Texans going forward.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

The quarantines are overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a statement, CDC spokesman Joe Smith said the distribution of passengers across the military bases that are hosting evacuees, including installations in California and Georgia, could fluctuate as people continue to leave the ship.

Before they were taken off the ship, passengers were screened for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus, and other medical problems, Smith said. They also are screened at the end of the gang plank and upon their arrival at military bases.

At Lackland, the evacuees are restricted to the hotel, which is fenced and already has been used to quarantine more than 200 people from China and the Diamond Princess, a sister ship of the Grand Princess.

As of Wednesday, fewer than 10 people from those two groups were hospitalized with the virus in San Antonio.

Lauren Caruba covers health care and medicine in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba
Read about Donbas conflict, coronavirus pandemic and quarantine in Ukraine, MH17 case trial, oil prices, Crimea and other important events of the week

About Donbas conflict

This week, Ukrainians witnessed quite concerning developments in Donbas, as parties to the Minsk talks group agreed to create the advisory board agreed on the creation of an advisory board. It will comprise of representatives of Ukraine and self-proclaimed 'republics' of Donbas (ten from each, with the right for decisive vote), Germany, France and the OSCE (one from each, with the right for conciliatory vote). Russia now acts as an observer, not as participant in the process  thus, lifting from itself all responsibilities for the ongoing aggression against Ukraine. In fact, now Ukraine and the self-styled republics are now considered equal participants in the negotiation process. Besides, the respective document states the necessity of a comprehensive political solution to the conflict, however, it says nothing about the need of an immediate and stable ceasefire and living up to all security conditions that are necessary for the political process.

At least three Ukrainian military servicemen deceased this week.

Workers of Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU) managed to prevent the case of illegal arms traffic in Luhansk region, namely in the area of Joint Forces Operation. The law enforcers detained two defendants at the checkpoint on Lysychansk-Bakhmut roadway, as they drove a van. The seized arsenal included three grenade launchers, a mounted machine gun, six heavy machine guns and almost 3,000 ammunition cartridges of various calibers.

The HQ of the Joint Forces Operation reported that a group of snipers of the regular Russian army came to Dombas; they appeared to be the cadets who arrived in the combat area to pass their "final exam". "The occupants wounded one of our defenders by the aiming fire. The injured soldier was provided with the necessary aid urgently. Such criminal activity was not left without a response. The Ukrainian military, using the permitted armament, destroyed the firing points of the enemy, the message said.

Illegal armed formations of Russian militants attacked the residential area in Mariinka, Donetsk region. The local school students were evacuated to the bomb shelter. The armed gangs used small arms and grenade launchers.

About coronavirus and pandemic

The first fatality is confirmed in Ukraine; a 71-year-old woman, resident of Zhytomyr region, northern Ukraine succumbed to the disease. Another several cases of infection with Covid-19 are confirmed in this country; most recently, a student from Kremenchuk (Poltava region, central Ukraine) was hospitalized with a suspicion for the virus.

The National Security and Defense Council ruled that the state border of Ukraine will be closed for foreigners for two weeks. Earlier, Foreign Ministry urged the citizens to abstain from traveling abroad.

State leaders delay their visits to Ukraine in the view of the spreading coronavirus; that included Georgias Salome Zurabishvili and Lithuanias Gitanas Nauseda.

Express tests for the Chinese coronavirus arrived in seven hospitals across the Ukrainian capital.

About MH17

On March 9, the trial in the case of Boeing 777 downed in July 2014 in Donbas and killing 298 men, women and children on board has begun. However, no one of the defendants appeared in court.

Besides, the court in case of downed Boeing MH17 named the main target of militants. Moreover, a Dutch trial of four men accused of shooting down flight MH17 six years ago has put the spotlight back on Russia's covert war in east Ukraine.

The prosecution asked to investigate Russia's possible manipulation of images. Moreover, lawyer Jerry Skinner filed the lawsuit against Russia and its President Vladimir Putin on behalf of 40 families of the relatives of the victims of the MH17 crash.

Meanwhile, the families of MH17 victims held the silent protest outside the Russian Embassy against Moscows lack of cooperation in the investigation into the downing of the passenger jet.

About Serhiy Sivokho

Serhiy Sivokho, the advisor to the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council on reintegration and restoration of Donbas, was attacked during the presentation of the National Platform for Reconciliation and Unity.

Sivokho received a stroke in his back and fell down to the floor.







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Such a reaction was caused by Sivokhos statement on the presence of a hybrid war in Ukraine. Bodyguards helped him get out of the conference.

About economics

On Monday, March 9, oil prices decreased by over 30%. One collapse was followed by the next one - all world exchanges on this day showed the worst results since the 2008 global crisis. It started on March 6, when OPEC+ countries failed to reach a deal on oil production cuts. Due to the spread of Covid-19, and the growing concern of investors about lower demand for gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, world oil prices have fallen sharply.

The collapse in oil prices and the coronavirus epidemic have led to a sharp fall in the value of GDP warrants in Ukraine - by 9.2% and a rise in the yield of Eurobonds only by 1.1%.

On March 12, National Bank sold $350 million on interbank market to prevent hryvnia hike. It is believed that this kind of situation in the financial markets is driven by a psychological factor, primarily due to the spread of coronavirus in the world.

About Crimea and Crimean Tatars

This week, the issue of the water supply to annexed Crimea was raised once more. Permanent Representative of Ukraine in Crimea Anton Korynevych stated that the water supply is not feasible.

Concerning the prisoner swap, leader of Crimean Tatar people, MP Mustafa Dzhemilev stated that Crimean Tatars, included in the list for the possible future prisoners exchange, may refuse to participate in it if they will be swapped for bandits.

Meanwhile, four Crimean Tatars were detained after the searches by Russian security forces in Crimea.

About sports

Oleksandr Usyk and Dereck Chisora had their first face-off during the press conference that was held in London. The boxers were very composed and showed respect for each other.

Shakhtar Donetsk FC outplayed VfL Wolfsburg in its homeland. The Miners were able to snatch victory out of Wolfsburgs hands in the second half of the match.

Ukraines Elina Svitolina triumphed at the WTA tournament in Monterrey, Mexico. She defeated Marie Bouzkova from the Czech Republic in 3 sets (7:5, 4:6, 6:4).
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said Department of Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda has been nominated on its central board.

"The Central Government has nominated Shri Debasish Panda, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi as a Director on the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India vice Shri Rajiv Kumar," the central bank said in a statement.

The nomination of Panda is effective from March 11, 2020 and until further orders, it added.

Also read: Coronavirus impact: RBI mulls liquidity-boosting measures as markets nosedive

Also read: 'Was in talks with RBI, Finance Ministry to takeover Yes Bank': Rana Kapoor
STOKE-ON-TRENT, England, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Steelite International, the world-leading manufacturer and supplier of award-winning tableware and buffet solutions for the hospitality industry announces the acquisition of William Edwards Limited. The announcement comes on the heels of Arbor's acquisition of Steelite International, announced in December of 2019, fuelling Steelite's expansion and global product offerings.

William Edwards Limited, founded in 1993 by William Edwards in Stoke-on-Trent, is known globally for its fine bone china servicing famous brands across the world. This includes collaborations with Michelin-star chefs like Brett Graham and Tom Kerridge to design stunning yet practical tableware collections. Their excellent reputation in servicing four and five-star hotels is second to none and includes a roster of high profile customers, including Jumeirah, Rosewood London, Claridge's, Four Seasons Hotel, The Connaught, The Dorchester, and the Historic Royal Palaces.

"We are so pleased to welcome William Edwards and his team at WE Limited to Steelite International," said John Miles, President, and CEO, Steelite International. "Our goal with all our iconic brands is to provide customers with exceptional quality, creative design, and unparalleled service; William Edwards is a perfect fit!"

"WE Ltd are very excited to be joining Steelite International," said William Edwards. "We see this as the perfect fit for our ambitions of future worldwide brand growth. The combination of Steelite International's unrivaled global reach, with both of our U.K. based factories in Stoke-on-Trent working in unison, will undoubtedly allow our passion and creativity in tableware to thrive in the future."

The acquisition of William Edwards Limited will strengthen Steelite's position in the luxury tableware sector, while at the same time powering William Edward's growth in the development, design, and manufacturing of luxury dinnerware. Both Steelite and William Edwards will continue to operate from their current facilities in Stoke-on-Trent, the heartland of England's ceramics industry, since the late 1700s.

About Steelite International

Steelite International is the leading manufacturer and supplier of award-winning tabletop and buffet products for the global hospitality industry. Listening to customers has allowed Steelite to offer innovative solutions in china, metal, glass, wood, melamine, and buffet. Dual headquarters, located in New Castle, PA, and Stoke-On-Trent UK, along with a 500,000 square foot manufacturing facility, enables Steelite to service over 140 countries. Steelite is committed to providing the best in functionality and design while minimising the effect on our environment. www.steelite.com

About William Edwards

A passion for shape, design, and traditional British craftsmanship is the inspiration behind every piece of William Edwards chinaware. Established in 1993 by William Edwards, a graduate of The Royal College of Art London, William Edwards specialises in the design and manufacture of fine bone chinaware for both luxury hospitality and retail clients worldwide. www.williamedwards.co.uk

For more information contact:

Kimberly Matienzo

Steelite International

330-383-3356

kmatienzo@steeliteusa.com


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BRUSSELS - A group of European Union countries has agreed to take in at least 1,600 migrant children in Greece travelling without their parents, with the first unaccompanied minors likely to find homes in Luxembourg as soon as next week, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said Friday.

There are currently over 42,000 migrants living in overcrowded camps in the Greek islands, including about 5,500 unaccompanied minors. According to the police agency Europol around 10% of them are younger than 14.

Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal have offered to take them in, and Johansson said that at least two other countries expressed an interest in getting involved during a meeting Friday of EU interior ministers. She did not name them.

Earlier this week, Johansson said that migrant children travelling alone face violence, abuse and exploitation. Many of them just disappear from the asylum and reception centres and we dont know where they are. I am afraid that many of them fall into the hands of criminals.

She said Friday Greek authorities have told her that quite a few are going to school each day, although some are dropping out, several choosing to try vocational training instead. She said that a lot are living in quite OK conditions, but some fall off the radar.

Greece requested help to care for lone child migrants last September. The EUs executive commission also asked for assistance from member countries but none was forthcoming. Johansson suggested that tensions between Greece and Turkey over migrants might have spurred countries into action.
Glossier has announced it has temporarily closed the doors of all of its stores in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement shared on the cosmetic companys Instagram account and website, the firms founder and CEO Emily Weiss stated that they came to the difficult decision to close all stores for at least the next two weeks to help mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

Weiss outlined that this measure affects the companys permanent and temporary stores across New York, Los Angeles, London and Atlanta, in addition to delaying the scheduled opening of a new shop in Arizona.

The latest WHO situation report states there have been more than 125,000 cases of the virus confirmed across the world, in addition to more than 4,600 deaths.

This obviously a fluid situation, so well be monitoring and adjusting our plans and timeline accordingly, Weiss said.

From a company perspective, by closing our stores, well sacrifice some near-term business goals, but were prepared to put public health ahead of our bottom line.

Weiss explained that the companys offline editors, who are salespeople in stores, are the living embodiment of our brand and ethos.

So well be compensating them for their scheduled time throughout our planned two weeks of closure, she said.

The chief executive also cited an article published in Atlantic titled Cancel Everything, in which the pieces author Yascha Mounk writes that anyone in a position of power or authority, instead of downplaying the dangers of the coronavirus, should ask people to stay away from public places, cancel big gatherings, and restrict most forms of nonessential travel.

Weiss stated that as a first-time CEO running a five-year-old startup through its first global crisis, she read the article with a heavy heart.

She explained that she decided to take action by closing the Glossier stores now, as opposed to closing the shops in response to fewer customers walking through the door amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Weiss continued, praising the companys incredible online editors and stating that the firms 250-person HQ team has been working hard since 2014 to create the ultimate beauty e-commerce experience.

She explained that the company is going to try to use this moment to spin up new, creative ways to foster community and connection, such as with the use of its FaceTime programme it trialled a few years ago where consumers could take enquire about products.

Were not alarmists, were realists, Weiss said at the end of her statement.

While this may not be the right decision for every company, its the one where we feel we can make an impact.

Weiss concluded her message by issuing some choice words to other business owners, saying: Remember your core values during this time  this is when they matter most.

She then directly addressed Glossiers customer base telling them to remember the power of adaptability.

Stay present, be responsible, and try to lean into warmth and openness when you want to close off and pull down the shades. This is a time for us to remember our humanity.

The World Health Organisation recommends that people clean their hands regularly and thoroughly, washing them for at least 20 seconds with water and soap or hand sanitiser.

If you have any coronavirus symptoms or have recently travelled to an affected area, contact the NHS helpline on 111 and do not visit your GP or hospital.
We are speaking by cellphone when the bus crammed with passengers from the doomed Grand Princess cruise ship begins to roll slowly on the tarmac of an unknown airport to a pair of 737s from an unknown airline for a trip to an unknown destination.

Everything is unknown because of COVID-19.

Theyre not telling us anything, Santa Fe resident Carolyn Wright says. They are literally not speaking to us. Its mind-boggling. We are being treated like cargo.

Its Wednesday evening, four days after she and travel companion Beryl Ward were supposed to return home to New Mexico, six days since their otherwise wonderful two-week cruise to Hawaii became a trip into the Twilight Zone with the discovery of the coronavirus lurking among the 3,533 passengers and crew aboard ship.

While the rest of us wonder where to buy our next roll of toilet paper, they are among the 21 New Mexicans from the Grand Princess who have wondered when the rolls of government red tape and secrecy will end.

Weve just been shuffled around arbitrarily and are given no concrete information about our situation, Wright says. They have taken away any control we might have over our lives. They have given no thought to worried friends and relatives waiting back home.

After spending the last seven days confined to their state rooms as per orders from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  with a total of just 20 minutes allowed on deck in all that time, drug-store face masks on, social distancing enforced  Wright says she and other passengers are packed into the bus with no apparent concern for close contact in close quarters save for the two rows cordoned off between them and the bus driver.

We called over the CDC worker and asked why people were not spaced 6 feet apart. He said, Dont worry, with this virus its safe,' Wright says. We asked why the driver got safe distance. And the CDC man says, Well, you can get off the bus if you dont like it.'

And, oh, how she wishes she could have.

Meanwhile Wednesday evening, Cindy and Mark Rizzo of Los Lunas are wishing they could get off the ship, their luggage taken somewhere that morning, Cindys anxiety medication out, the halls outside their cabin eerily silent.

In the days since the ship docked Monday at the Port of Oakland, they could hear other passengers yelling, stomping down the hallways refusing to stay in their rooms, throwing their food trays. Now they hear nothing, not even the announcements from the captain.

Were being treated like animals, like outcasts, Cindy Rizzo says. No one tells us anything.

With no information forthcoming, both the Rizzos and Wright have reached a breaking point. They have asked friends, Facebook followers and journalists like me to beg Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to bring them back to New Mexico so that whatever COVID-19 testing or quarantine is necessary can be done closer to home. Passengers from other states, such as Nevada, are bringing their residents home, they say. The Rizzos traveling companions from Texas have already been flown home to Texas. Why cant New Mexico do the same for them, they ask.

Earlier Wednesday, Lujan Grisham held a news conference to declare a public health emergency because of COVID-19. She took a question from a reporter about the New Mexican passengers on the Grand Princess and announced that they are to be taken to San Antonio, Texas, where they will be tested for the virus, then decisions made about their quarantine.

Neither Rizzo nor Wright know anything about that plan.

When that decision point came, the guidance the governor had from the CDC and federal officials was that this would be an orderly process, that they would be tested, isolated for the requisite period and brought home after that, governors spokesman Tripp Stelnicki says.

Only that isnt happening.

Just after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, Wright and Ward land at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station near San Diego  not San Antonio after state and federal officials decided that only Texas residents would be flown there. That information makes the news, but not the passengers affected.

No one told us anything, Wright says. Just here you are. Get used to it. We have a right to know what is happening with our lives. We are not cattle.

Both Wright and Rizzo refute Lujan Grishams news conference contention that she has spoken personally with each New Mexican on the ship. But minutes after the news conference, Rizzo says she received her first call from the governor, who promised to get medication sent to her.

Ive already had two panic attacks, Rizzo says. So I hope so. And getting information to us on what is happening would be even better.

By 2:30 a.m. Thursday, Rizzos medication arrives. Wright and Ward are finally going to bed in what Wright describes as a very nice hotel with a wonderful staff somewhere near Miramar. It is, they are told, to be their home away from home as they quarantine for the next two weeks.

Still some hiccups with the planning end  for example we must wear masks any time we interact with staff, but they dont have any masks for us, she says. But the people on the ground seem to genuinely care and are working nonstop.

Later Thursday morning, Lujan Grisham and her staff are rethinking the decision not to bring New Mexicans home. They have learned that Texas will not take non-Texas passengers. As soon as Lujan Grisham is given the phone number of New Mexican passengers she has not yet spoken with, she makes a call to them.

That includes Wright.

The news is good.

They are chartering planes to bring us all home! she tells me excitedly. They are still trying to find where everyone is, and Im sure the organization is going to be difficult and time-consuming, but they are shooting to actually have us leave California by late tonight or early tomorrow morning. We will still be thrilled, even if it takes a bit longer than that. Just the fact that she has reversed herself and is now willing to let us self-quarantine is making me feel downright giddy!

Stelnicki confirms that Lujan Grisham has changed her mind, given the poor handling of the passengers.

Knowing what we know now Im sure the governor wouldve made a different choice, he says. The state will find a way to get them home, tested, etc.

By Thursday afternoon, Rizzo is also hearing the news.

Praise God and all of you whove been our voice through this, she says.

Both the Rizzos and Wright say they have been on numerous cruises. But this is one they will remember for a long time  and will try to forget.

And so they wait to come home and whatever awaits them in New Mexico. Its the best trip of all.

UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @jolinegkg. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.
The Company's RegA Filing was Recently Qualified And Company Is Expanding Its Team To Effectively Handle Expansion Of New Business Ventures

MALIBU, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / Green Stream Holdings Inc. (OTC PINK:GSFI), a holding company of Green Stream Finance, Inc., a company that focuses on currently unmet markets in the solar energy space through its innovative proprietary solar product offerings, financed for customers via its public and private partnerships, today announced that it has made additions to its management team, hiring Richard Charles Rodgers as its Chief Lending Officer & Joseph Vala as its Chief Executive Of Business Development.

Mr. Rodgers will maintain the Company's loan portfolio ensuring that all requirements are completed for loans, create the lending policies and makes reports on the statuses of the loans and coordinate with Company clients.

Mr. Vala, will be the lead executive for new business acquisition and overall project development.

The Company will be adding their respective resumes on the Company website.

"We at Green Stream are pleased to officially welcome Mr. Rodgers and Mr. Vala to our team as we are anticipating a significant rise in customer acquisitions, now that the RegA has been qualified. Their expertise will enable us to seamlessly process, acquire and incorporate new clients as we accelerate our expansion plan to generate revenues and the resultant value for our shareholders."

On another note, please visit Green Stream Holdings Inc.'s newest website regarding the Company's solar construction projects at: www.greenrainsolar.com.

Please direct any investor or press enquiries regarding any of our solar current and planned solar projects throughout the nation to info@greenstreamfinance.com.

About Green Stream Finance, Inc.

Green Stream Finance, Inc., a Wyoming-based corporation with satellite offices in Malibu, CA and New York, NY, is focused on exploiting currently unmet markets in the solar energy space, and is currently licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Colorado, Hawaii, and Canada. The Company's next-generation solar greenhouses, constructed and managed by Green Rain Solar, LLC, a Nevada-based division, utilize proprietary greenhouse technology and trademarked design developed by world-renowned architect Mr. Antony Morali. The Company is currently targeting high-growth solar market segments for its advanced solar greenhouse and advanced solar battery products. The Company has a growing footprint in the significantly underserved solar market in New York City where it is targeting 50,000 to 100,000 square feet of rooftop space for the installation of its solar panels. Green Stream is looking to forge key partnership with major investment groups in order to capitalize on a variety of unique investment opportunities in the commercial solar energy markets. The Company is dedicated to becoming a major player in this critical space. Through its innovative solar product offerings and industry partnerships, the Company is well-positioned to become a significant player in the solar space.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking information 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. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. That includes the possibility that the business outlined in this press release cannot be concluded for some reason. That could be as a result of technical, installation, permitting or other problems that were not anticipated. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Green Stream Finance, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. Except for any obligation under the U.S. federal securities laws, Green Stream Finance, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Company Contact/Address

Green Stream Finance Inc. & Green Rain Solar, LLC

16620 Marquez Avenue

Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Phone: 310-230-0240

For All Inquiries Contact:

info@greenstreamfinance.com

SOURCE: Green Stream Holdings Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/580576/Green-Stream-Holding-Inc-GSFI-Adds-Chief-Lending-Officer-Chief-Executive-of-Business-Development
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has relaxed certain norms for Other Service Providers (OSPs) till April 30 to facilitate work from home (WFH) amid the coronavirus outbreak.

These include exemptions in requirement of security deposit and agreement for WFH facility for OSPs (IT and IT-enabled services companies), as well as the need for prior permission for offering the facility.

Industry body Nasscom and leaders of the IT industry had requested the government to relax the norms to facilitate business continuity that is posing to be a major challenge for the sector.

Nasscom, in a tweet on Friday, thanked Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and his team for "the much needed relaxation".

"The industry is extremely grateful for this," it said while sharing the government order.

According to the order, DoT has decided to grant certain relaxations for a period of up to April 30, 2020 for OSPs in respect of WFH.

One of the exemptions include the requirement of authorised Service Providers Provisioned secured VPN (PPVPN). VPN refers to virtual private network.

"During this period, the OSPs are permitted to use secured VPN configured using 'static IP' address by themselves for interconnection between Home agent position and OSP Centre with pre-defined locations," it said.

The document added that in this regard, the agents at home shall be treated as Extended Agent Position of the OSP.

The document said in case of violation of terms of WFH facility by any agent/employee or by the OSP during this period, the OSP shall be subjected to a penalty of up to Rs 5 lakh per WFH location which is in violation.

In addition, the OSP registration is also liable to be cancelled.

"Other terms and conditions of OSP registration including maintaining of all logs of the activities carried out by the Extended Agents shall remain unchanged," it said.

On Thursday, state-owned Software Technology Parks of India had issued an advisory to enable around 18-20 lakh employees of IT units registered with it to work from home.

Over 80 people (including 17 foreign nationals) have tested positive for coronavirus. A 76-year-old man from Karnataka became the country's first coronavirus fatality on Thursday.

The pandemic -- whose epicentre is at Wuhan in China -- has infected over 1.31 lakh people in 116 countries and territories and claimed more than 4,900 lives.

While the outbreak has disrupted businesses, corporates across sectors are asking their staff to work from home and adopting technologies like telepresence and video conferencing to ensure business continuity.

However, many organisations are struggling in operationalising WFH for their employees, owing to the onerous compliance and technical requirements under the prevailing OSP regime.

These requirements included establishing PPVPN connectivity, sharing pre-defined locations of extended agents (employees), and providing high monetary security deposits, among others.

Keshav Murugesh, Chairman of Nasscom and WNS Group CEO, said the industry body will encourage its members to adhere to the amended clauses and prioritise their implementation.

"Companies should encourage employees to leverage telepresence and video conferencing to enable seamless engagement. While ensuring that there is minimal disruption to business, we also recognise that the health and safety of employees is of paramount concern," he added.

Murugesh said the two-fold objective is to ensure employee well-being while hedging negative impact on the industry's overall productivity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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MONTREAL, March 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - In response to the COVID-19 (also known as Coronavirus disease) outbreak around the world and in Canada, VIA Rail Canada's (VIA Rail) is enforcing special health and safety measures for its passengers and employees.

For the moment, the Public Health Agency of Canada has assessed the public health risk associated with COVID-19 as low for the general population in Canada, but it could change rapidly. Therefore, at the moment, all of our trains are operating normally coast to coast, but this could change as the situation evolves.

''The health and safety measures of our passengers and employees is our top priority and we are focusing our efforts accordingly. At this point, all hands are on deck. All employees, whether in train stations, on board, in maintenance or call centres, are trained and informed on what they have to do to for safety and prevention'', declared Cynthia Garneau, President and CEO. '' The situation requires us to remain vigilant and to ensure we minimize the risk of contamination to the best of our ability. VIA Rail is deploying additional preventive and reactive measures to its corporate Illness Control Plan''.

Contamination management

We have strict cleanliness and hygiene protocols for our trains, which entails regular and thorough cleaning of all hard surfaces in our cars including vestibules and washrooms (tray tables, armrests, doors, walls, windows, counters, etc.).

As for our stations, we have increased daily cleaning and disinfection. Special attention is being paid to hard surfaces like door handles, handrails, elevators, washrooms, switches, and more.

The current cleaning products we use have been approved by Health Canada and have are effective against COVID-19.

Hygiene

Masks are being distributed to all major stations in our network and placed on board our trains. These disposable masks will be prioritized for passengers showing symptoms.

Anti-viral products, such as hand sanitizer, are being distributed on board trains and in stations. We have also acquired more prevention equipment and we will be ready for distribution and deployment when it will be required.

Messages in our stations and on board our trains invite passengers to exercise vigilance and good judgment and follow the usual guidelines for good hygiene. If they experience symptoms, we encourage them to avoid traveling in order to reduce the spread of infections.

Additional measures will be ready to deploy should the situation change.

Flexibility for clients

Passengers who choose to change their travel plan will be accommodated. For maximum flexibility, passengers can cancel or modify their reservation at any time prior to departure during the month of March and April and receive a full refund in addition to not incurring any service charges, regardless of when they purchased their ticket. This includes all travel up to and including April 30, 2020, as well as any travel after April 30, 2020, if their outbound train is on or before April 30, 2020.

Dedicated committee and communications

Daily communications are provided to keep passengers and employees informed. A multisectoral committee is proactively meeting on a regular basis and giving updates to all employees, including frontline - those who work in our call centres, stations, ticket offices, on board trains and in our maintenance centres  to keep them informed and remind of what to do if the level of risk changes.

VIA Rail continues to closely monitor the development of COVID-19 and we remain in close contact with public health agencies and the federal and provincial governments.

The most recent updates are available on our website.

About VIA Rail

As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and all its employees are mandated to provide safe, efficient and economical passenger transportation service, in both official languages of our country. VIA Rail operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking over 400 communities across Canada, and about 180 more communities through intermodal partnerships, and safely transported over 5 million passengers in 2019. The Corporation has been awarded five Safety Awards and three Environment Awards by the Railway Association of Canada since 2007. Visit the "About VIA Rail" section at https://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.

Follow VIA Rail

Twitter @VIA_rail

Facebook viarailcanada

Instagram @viarailcanada

VIA: The Blog

SOURCE VIA Rail Canada Inc.

Related Links

http://www.viarail.ca/


DANBURY  The case of a former local priest accused of sexually assaulting two boys is scheduled to resume in two weeks.

Jaime Marin-Cardona, 51, is charged with three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, three counts of risk of injury to child and three counts of illegal sexual contact. He pleaded not guilty to all nine charges.
Tuti Nurkhomariyah, a journalist with RMOL Lampung, was verbally assaulted by Lampungs governor, Arinal Djunaidi, at a press conference on March 3. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) call on the Lampung official and others in his office to respect journalists undertaking their professional duties.

Dozens of journalists and heads of provincial agencies attended the press conference held by the Lampung governor on March 3, during which he asked if there were journalists in attendance from local online media outlet RMOL Lampung. Tuti Nurkhomariyah, a journalist with RMOL Lampung, raised her hand only to be told to just write the good news. The governor then went on to make references to Nurkhomariyahs clothing and said: Especially when you already don the hijab. Listen and follow. Do not risk your own life.

Following the press conference, four male adjutants requested the RMOL Lampung journalist meet with the governor. During that meeting, Djunaidi complained about an article shed written on the intervention of businessmen in the local election. She was then asked to apologise for the story by one of the adjutants. Distressed by the intimidation, Nurkhomariyah said she did so under duress in order to exit the meeting as quickly as possible.

Djunaidi has a noted track record of verbally attacking and harassing the media in Lampung. Dating back to 2016, while he was secretary of Lampung Province, Djunaidi harassed Noval Andriansyah, a journalist at the Tribun Lampung for interviewing Djunaidi after he allegedly attacked a worker at the Raden Inten II airport.According to AJI,Djunaidi verbally assaulted another journalist working for Kupas Tuntas in 2019 who was covering a story on working conditions at the Maritime and Fisheries Agency of Lampung.

AJI said: It is inappropriate for a governor as a public official to threaten journalists. Governors cannot intervene in journalism or ask what journalists can and cannot write. He also needs to respect journalists, as it is guaranteed by the Press Law.

The IFJ said: The governor of Lampung seems to have established a disturbing pattern of unacceptable media bullying, which brings the provincial leadership into an extremely negative light. The IFJ reminds the governor of his obligations in engaging with members of the media in a professional and respectable manner and complaints against the media should be dealt with by the Indonesia Press Council.
South Dakota reports highest active case count since pandemic started

Tuesday's report included testing conducted over the weekend. Another 4,110 people tested positive for the disease.
STAMFORD  A 28-year-old photographer hired for a Stamford girls quinceanera party late last year has been arrested for sexually assaulting the 15-year-old victim, police said.

Gerardo Vasquez, of Manitou Trail, White Plains, was extradited from New York and charged with second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. He is being held in lieu of a $200,000 court-appearance bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges early Friday afternoon.

Stamford Police Department Youth Bureau Sgt. Joseph Kennedy said the assault was reported by the girls mother in early November. Kennedy said Vasquez was hired to photograph the quinceanera, the coming-of-age celebration for Latina girls. During the festivities, Vasquez had the girl go into a back room under the guise of photographing her alone and that is when the sexual assault occurred, Kennedy said.

A couple days later, the girl confided the sexual assault to a counselor at her school and the allegation was relayed to the girls mother, who reported it to police two days after the party, Kennedy said.

He was obviously aware of her age because he was hired for the quinceanera, Kennedy said.

Kennedy said Vasquez never knew he was under investigation and a sting to lure him out was hatched between the White Plains Police Department and the girls family in the hopes of making an arrest.

Kennedy said a deal was struck between the family and Vasquez to purchase an album of photographs that he took at the party and a meeting was was set up in White Plains to purchase it on Feb. 28. When Vasquez showed up for the meeting, he was taken into custody on a fugitive from justice warrant.

Vasquez was transported to Stamford Thursday and booked on the charges.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life in Athens and around the world. The Red & Black asked University of Georgia students how the virus has affected them and if they are taking any precautions to protect themselves from the virus.
China and the United States are in a feud over the origins of the novel coronavirus that has infected 125,048 people and caused 4,613 deaths.

With American officials terming the deadly virus as "Wuhan virus", Beijing deflected the blame of being the epicentre and try to reframe itself as an efficient country that took timely steps to stop the spread of the virus, according to the media reports.

China has been rejecting that the city of Wuhan is the epicentre of the deadly virus, this comes after the cases in China started dropping while it soared aboard.

Moreover, Spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry Zhao Lijian took to the Twitter blaming American forces for bringing the pandemic to Wuhan.

He said, "It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! The US owes us an explanation!"

Researchers were able to zero down on the epicentre of the virus to a seafood market in Wuhan, Chinese authorities had also confirmed the market as the origin of the virus, however, Beijing has been refuting claims that China is the epicentre of the virus.

Scientists believe that the virus spread in the market when it was transferred from an animal to human beings, in December last year.

The Health Organization has said that while the exact path the virus took between the animal host and humans is still unclear.

WHO has declared the novel coronavirus as a pandemic with 125,048 confirmed cases globally and 4,613 deaths as per the latest data made available by WHO.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The West Bengal State Election Commission convened a meeting with all the major political parties on March 16 in view of the upcoming civic polls, an official said here on Friday.

The poll panel has invited 10 political parties and asked them to send two representatives each at its office for the meeting.

The commission will also take opinions of the political parties regarding fixing of poll dates.

"We have issued letters to the political parties for Monday's meeting on the upcoming polls to be conducted in 111 municipal bodies in the state," a senior official of the state election commission said.

The coronavirus outbreak will be taken into account before the dates of the elections are finalised, the official said.

The elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and other civic bodies are likely to be held in the state mid- April unless the virus scare derails the plans, sources said.

The state government is keen on holding the elections between April 12 and 26, sources had indicated earlier.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It has been reported that Portugal may be put back on the UK's quarantine list due to a rise in coronavirus cases, a move that the boss of British Airways' parent company has said would cause further "chaos and hardship" for travellers.

In mid-August, France was added to the list of countries with quarantine measures.

When travellers return to England from the locations included on the list, they are required to spend 14 days in self-isolation in order to reduce risk of Covid-19 transmission.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) states that in July, a "small increase" in positive cases for Covid-19 was noted, adding that this "continues to level off"

From 4am on Saturday 15 August, it became compulsory for the hundreds of thousands of British holidaymakers returning from France to self-isolate. Other impacted countries include Malta and the Netherlands.

Monaco, Aruba and the Turks & Caicos Islands are also off the safe list  a list of countries the government deemed safe enough for Britons to visit without having to quarantine.

Those countries join Spain, Belgium and many other countries that are now effectively off-limits to many UK travellers.

Heres everything you need to know about what you can and cannot do in quarantine.

What can you do and not do while self-quarantining?

If you are in quarantine, you must stay away from others and stay at the address provided on the public health passenger locator form you used when you travelled.

You cannot go out to work or school or visit public areas. You should also not go shopping for food or anything else.

If you require help buying groceries, or other shopping or picking up medication, you should ask friends or relatives or order a delivery for you.

In England, you may exercise but only within your home or garden. You cannot leave your home to walk your dog and will need to ask friends or relatives to help you with this.

Can you have visitors?

You cannot have visitors if you are in quarantine unless they are providing emergency assistance, medical assistance, or veterinary services.

Can you leave the house?

In England, you can only leave your accommodation in limited circumstances, including needing urgent medical assistance, needing access to basic necessities like food and medicines (but only in circumstances where you cannot arrange for these to be delivered).

Or if you need to go to a funeral of a family member or someone you live with.

Do other people in the household need to self-quarantine as well?

The people youre quarantining with do not need to stay at home unless they travelled with you.

Its important to still avoid as much contact with other people as possible to avoid the risk of transmitting coronavirus.

The government advises staying in a well-ventilated room with a window to the outside that can be opened, separate from other people in your home.

Who should self-quarantine because of coronavirus?

The UK government requires everyone who has returned from a country that is not on its list of travel corridors  countries where Britons can travel to and from the UK without having to self-quarantine afterwards  to quarantine for 14 days.

Additionally, if you transit through a country that is not exempt you will be required to quarantine for 14 days.

What is the penalty for not self-quarantining?

In England, if you do not self-isolate after returning from a country that is not on the safe list, you can be fined 1,000.

Additionally, if you do not provide an accurate contact detail declaration  or do not update your contact detail form in the limited circumstances where you need to move from the accommodation where youre self-isolating to another place to continue self-isolating  you can be fined up to 3,200.

You can read more about what the government advises regarding quarantine here.
Aspo Plc

Stock Exchange Release

March 12, 2020 at 2 pm

Invitation to the Annual Shareholders meeting of Aspo Plc

The shareholders of Aspo Plc are invited to attend the Annual Shareholders Meeting to be held on Tuesday, April 7, 2020, at 10.00 a.m. at the Scandic Marina Congress Center, Katajanokanlaituri 6,

FI-00160 Helsinki, Finland. Reception of registered participants will start at 09.00 a.m.

Aspos shareholders can follow the Annual Shareholders meeting by webcast. By following the meeting by webcast, a shareholder does not attend the meeting nor can use the right to request information in accordance with the Finnish Companies Act nor exercise his/her voting rights. To follow the webcast, a shareholder must sign in with a Finnish bank ID or mobile certificate.

Matters on the agenda of the Annual Shareholders meeting

1. Opening of the meeting

2. Calling the meeting to order

3. Election of persons to confirm the minutes and to supervise the counting of votes

4. Recording the legality of the meeting

5. Recording the attendance at the meeting and adopting the list of votes

6. Presentation of the Financial Statements, Consolidated Financial Statements, the Management Report and the Auditors report for the year 2019

CEOs review including Sustainability report

7. Adoption of the Financial Statements and the Consolidated Financial Statements

8. Resolution on the use of the profit shown on the balance sheet and the payment of dividend

The Board of Directors proposes that EUR 0.45 per share be paid in dividends for the 2019 financial year and that no dividend be paid for treasury shares held by Aspo Plc. The parent companys distributable funds totaled EUR 44,009,796.24, of which the profit for the financial year amounted to EUR 15,456,798.52. There are a total of 31,123,129 shares entitling to dividends on the publication date of this financial statement release. The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual Shareholders Meeting would decide the dividend payment as follows:

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The dividend will be paid in two installments. The first installment of EUR 0.22 per share will be paid to shareholders who are registered in the shareholders' register maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy on the record date of April 9, 2020. The Board of Directors proposes that the dividend be paid on April 20, 2020.

The second installment of EUR 0.23 per share will be paid in November 2020 to shareholders who are registered in the shareholders' register maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy on the record date. At its meeting to be held on October 29, 2020, the Board of Directors will decide on the record and payment dates of the second installment, in accordance with the rules of the Finnish book-entry securities system. According to the current system, the dividend record date would be November 2, 2020 and the payment date would be November 9, 2020.



Before the Board of Directors implements the resolution of the Annual Shareholders Meeting, the Board of Directors must, in accordance with the Finnish Companies Act, assess whether the companys solvency and/or financial position has changed after the resolution of the Annual Shareholders Meeting so that the requirements for dividend distribution in the Finnish Companies Act are no longer fulfilled. It is a prerequisite for the implementation of the resolution of the Annual Shareholders Meeting that the requirements in the Finnish Companies Act are fulfilled.

9. Resolution on the discharge of liability to the members of the Board of Directors and the CEO

10. Adoption of the Remuneration Policy

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual Shareholders Meeting adopts the Remuneration Policy. The Remuneration Policy is attached to the invitation of the Annual Shareholders Meeting.

11. Resolution on the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors, the Audit and the Remuneration Committee

The Shareholders Nomination Board proposes that the compensations of the Board members remain unchanged and Board members receive the following monthly remuneration:



EUR 2,700 per month for members

EUR 4,050 per month, for the Vice Chairman

EUR 5,400 per month, for the Chairman

In addition, the Nomination Board proposes that the meeting fees paid to members and chairs of the Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee remain unchanged. The Nomination Board proposes that a meeting fee of EUR 700 per meeting be paid to members of the committees and a meeting fee of EUR 1,050 per meeting be paid to chairs of the committees. If the chair of a committee is also the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Nomination Board proposes that the fee paid to the chair of the committee be the same as that paid to members of the committee. Board members having a full-time position in an Aspo Group company are not paid a fee.

12. Resolution on the number of members of the Board of Directors

The Shareholders Nomination Board proposes that the Board of Directors will have six members.

13. Election of the members of the Board of Directors

The Nomination Board proposes that Mammu Kaario, Mikael Laine, Gustav Nyberg, Salla Poyry and Tatu Vehmas, current members of the company's Board of Directors, be re-elected as members of the Board and Heikki Westerlund be elected as the new member of the Board for the term closing at the end of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting 2021.

Consents to the appointments have been received from all proposed board members. The Board of Directors elects the Chairman and the Vice Chairman from among themselves. The proposed board members have informed the company that, in the event they are elected, they intend to elect Gustav Nyberg as Chairman of the Board and Mammu Kaario as Vice Chairman of the Board.

14. Resolution on the charter of the Shareholders Nomination Board



The Nomination Board proposes that section 4 of the Charter of the Shareholders Nomination Board be amended as follows. Item to prepare to the Annual Shareholders Meeting a proposal on the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors is proposed to be amended as follows: to prepare to the Annual Shareholders Meeting the proposals on the Remuneration Policy regarding the Board of Directors and other remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors.

15. Resolution on the remuneration of the Auditor

The Board of Directors proposes that remuneration be paid to the auditor according to an invoice approved by the company.

16. Election of the Auditor

The Board of Directors proposes that Deloitte Oy be elected as the companys auditor until the following Annual Shareholders Meeting. Deloitte Oy has announced that Jukka Vattulainen, APA, will act as the auditor in charge.

17. Authorization of the Board of Directors to decide on the acquisition of treasury shares

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual Shareholders Meeting authorize the Board of Directors to decide on the acquisition of no more than 500,000 of the treasury shares using the unrestricted equity of the company representing about 1.6% of all the shares in the company. The authorization includes the right to accept treasury shares as a pledge.

The shares shall be acquired through public trading, for which reason the shares are acquired otherwise than in proportion to the share ownership of the shareholders and the consideration paid for the shares shall be the market price of the Aspos share in public trading at Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd at the time of the acquisition. Shares may also be acquired outside public trading for a price which at most corresponds to the market price in public trading at the time of the acquisition. In connection with the acquisition of the treasury shares, derivative, share lending, or other agreements that are normal within the framework of capital markets may take place in accordance with legislative and regulatory requirements.

The authorization includes the Boards right to resolve on a directed repurchase or the acceptance of shares as a pledge, if there is a compelling financial reason for the company to do so as provided for in Chapter 15, section 6 of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act. The shares shall be acquired to be used for the financing or execution of corporate acquisitions or other transactions, for execution of the companys share-ownership programs or for other purposes determined by the Board.

The decision to acquire or redeem treasury shares or to accept them as pledge shall not be made so that the shares of the company in the possession of, or held as pledges by the company and its subsidiaries would exceed 10% of all shares. The authorization is proposed to be valid until the Annual Shareholders Meeting in 2021 but not more than 18 months from the approval at the Shareholders Meeting.

The Board of Directors shall decide on any other matters related to the acquisition of treasury shares and/or accepting them as a pledge.

18. Authorization of the Board of Directors to decide on a share issue of treasury shares

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual Shareholders Meeting authorize the Board of Directors to decide on a share issue, through one or several installments, to be executed by conveying treasury shares. An aggregate maximum amount of 900,000 shares may be conveyed based on the authorization. The authorization is proposed to be used for the financing or execution of corporate acquisitions or other transactions, for execution of the companys share-ownership program or for other purposes determined by the Board.

The authorization is proposed to include the right of the Board of Directors to decide on all the terms and conditions of the conveyance and thus also includes the right to convey shares otherwise than in proportion to the share ownership of the shareholders, in deviation from the shareholders pre-emptive right, if a compelling financial reason exists for the company to do so. The authorization is proposed to be valid until the Annual Shareholders Meeting in 2021 but not more than 18 months from the approval at the Shareholders Meeting.

Treasury shares may be transferred either against or without payment. Under the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act, a directed share issue may only be carried out without payment, if there is an especially compelling reason for the same, both for the company and in regard to the interests of all shareholders in the company.

The Board of Directors shall decide on any other matters related to the share issue.

19. Authorization of the Board of Directors to decide on a share issue of new shares



The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual Shareholders Meeting authorize the Board of Directors to decide on a share issue for consideration. The authorization is proposed to include the right of the Board of Directors to decide on all of the other terms and conditions of the conveyance and thus also includes the right to decide on a directed share issue, in deviation from the shareholders pre-emptive right, if a compelling financial reason exists for the company to do so. The total number of new shares to be offered for subscription may not exceed 1,500,000. The authorization is proposed to be valid until the Annual Shareholders Meeting in 2021 but not more than 18 months from the approval at the Shareholders Meeting.

20. Closing of the meeting



ANNUAL SHAREHOLDERS MEETING DOCUMENTS

The aforementioned proposals of the Board of Directors and the Shareholders Nomination Board, this invitation to the meeting, the Remuneration Policy as well as the consolidated financial statements, the annual report and the auditors report will be on view on Aspo Plcs website at www.aspo.com on March 13, 2020, at the latest. These documents will also be available at the Annual Shareholders Meeting and copies of them will be sent to shareholders upon request.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PARTICIPANTS TO THE MEETING

The right to participate and registration

The right to attend to the Annual Shareholders Meeting is restricted to those shareholders who, on the record date March 26, 2020, are recorded as shareholders in the companys shareholder register held by Euroclear Finland Ltd. A shareholder whose shares have been entered into his/her personal Finnish book-entry account is registered into the companys shareholder register. Changes that take place in shareholdings after the record date set for the Annual Shareholders Meeting will not affect a shareholders right to attend the Annual Shareholders Meeting or exercise his/her voting rights.

Shareholders wishing to attend the Annual Shareholders Meeting must notify the company on Thursday, April 2, 2020, by 16.00 p.m. at the latest either

through Aspos website www.aspo.com

by telephone to +358 20 770 6887 MondayFriday 9:0016:00 or

in writing to the address: Aspo Plc, P.O. Box 70, FI-00501 Helsinki, Finland

In connection with the registration a shareholder shall give his/her name, personal ID, telephone number, and the name of a possible accompanying assistant or proxy representative and the personal ID of a proxy representative. The personal information is used only in connection with the Annual Shareholders Meeting and with the processing of related registrations.

A shareholder attending the Annual Shareholders Meeting has the right to request information with respect to the matters to be considered at the meeting in accordance with Chapter 5, section 25 of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act.

Following the Annual Shareholders Meeting by webcast

Aspos shareholders can follow the Annual Shareholders meeting by webcast. By following the meeting by webcast, a shareholder does not attend the meeting nor can use the right to request information in accordance with the Finnish Companies Act nor exercise his/her voting rights. To follow the webcast, a shareholder must sign in with a Finnish bank ID or mobile certificate.

Registration to follow the meeting by webcast commences on March 12, 2020 and ends on April 2, 2020, at 16.00 p.m. The registration link can be found at Aspo Plcs website at www.aspo.com.

Proxy representative and power of attorney

A shareholder may participate in the Annual Shareholders Meeting and exercise his/her rights at the meeting by way of proxy representation.

A proxy representative shall produce a dated proxy document or otherwise in a reliable manner demonstrate his/her right to represent the shareholder at the Annual Shareholders Meeting. When a shareholder participates in the Annual Shareholders Meeting by means of several proxy representatives representing the shareholder with shares at different securities accounts, the shares represented by each proxy representative shall be identified in connection with the registration for the Annual Shareholders Meeting.

Possible proxy documents should be delivered in originals to Aspo Plc, P.O. Box 499, FI-00101 Helsinki, Finland, or by sending the proxy documents by e-mail at yhtiokokous@aspo.com before the last date for registration. The original proxy document should be presented at the AGM at the latest, if required. A proxy form will be available at Aspo Plcs website at www.aspo.com.

Holder of a nominee registered share

A holder of nominee registered shares is advised to request without delay necessary instructions regarding the registration in the shareholders register of the company, the issuing of proxy documents and registration for the Annual Shareholders Meeting from his/her custodian bank. The account management organization of the custodian bank will register a holder of nominee registered shares, who wants to participate in the Annual Shareholders Meeting, to be temporarily entered into the shareholders register of the company on April 2, 2020 by 10.00 a.m. at the latest. With respect to nominee registered shares the temporary entry into the shareholders register is considered as registration for the Shareholders Meeting.

A holder of nominee registered shares has the right to participate in the Annual Shareholders Meeting by virtue of such shares, based on which he/she on the record date March 26, 2020 would be entitled to be registered in the shareholders register.

Other information

Aspo Plc has on the date of this invitation to the Annual Shareholders Meeting, on March 12, 2020, a total of 31,419,779 shares and votes.

Helsinki, March 12, 2020

ASPO Plc

Board of Directors

For further information, please contact:

Aki Ojanen, CEO, Aspo Plc, tel. +358 400 106 592, aki.ojanen@aspo.com

ATTACHMENTS:

Aspo Plcs Remuneration Policy

Invitation to Annual Shareholders' meeting

Distribution:

Nasdaq Helsinki

Key media

www.aspo.com

Aspo is a conglomerate that owns and develops business operations in Northern Europe and growth markets, focusing on demanding B2B customers. The aim of our strong corporate brands  ESL Shipping, Leipurin and Telko is to be the market leaders in their sectors. They are responsible for their own operations, customer relationships, and their development. Together they generate Aspos goodwill.

Attachments
Three Indian workers grievously attacked their sponsor in Sharjah, robbed him of 4kg gold biscuits before fleeing to Mumbai, according to a media report.

The 57-year-old Bangladeshi sponsor, SD, is now battling for his life in hospital, the Gulf reported.

The crime was meticulously planned at SD's gold shop in Al Mareija, police said, who examined CCTV footage in the area, where in two of the workers are seen attacking SD, hitting him with a steel rod, while one is standing outside the shop keeping guard.

The Indian workers caught a flight to India within an hour of the attack, the report said.

Along with the gold, the workers, for whom an arrest warrant was issued and Interpol informed, picked up their passports from SD's locker.

The victim's eldest son Shishir Kumar Das, 23, told Gulf that he went to his father's shop at around 3 pm on Friday.

When Das and his brother could find SD, they alerted Al Gharb Police.

With a duplicate key, they managed to enter the shop and found SD on the ground, bleeding. SD had a deep cut at the back of his head and his neck had strangulation marks. He was rushed to Al Qassimi Hospital at around 2.17am.

SD, a cancer patient since 2018, is battling for his life. He came to UAE in 1993 and has two children.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has revoked the Public Safety Act against former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, paving way for his release from detention. In an order, state Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra said the PSA invoked on Abdullah on September 17 and further extended on December 13, has been revoked.

Welcoming the move, the National Conference said it will be a right step for the restoration of a genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir, the party said in a statement here on Friday. The NC said the process will receive a further fillip when party vice-president Omar Abdullah and other political detainees are set free. "We urge the government to do so at the earliest," it said.

"As the pre-eminent political party of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference has played a key role in strengthening the voice of the people through democracy and will continue to do so," the statement said.

His daughter Safia Abdullah Khan expressed happiness over Twitter and said, "My father is a free man again." The three-term chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state was under house arrest for months.

Speaking to media after his release, Abdullah said: I am grateful to the people of the state and country who spoke for my freedom. I would like to thank everyone and every individual who prayed for my freedom, said 82-year-old Abdullah. This freedom will be complete only when all the other detained leaders - including former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah - in various buildings are released, he added. I hope the Government of India will take action soon to release everyone.

Iltija Mufti, daughter of incarcerated PDP president and former J & K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti demanded the release of all those detained following revocation of the special status of the erstwhile state under Article 370 of the Constitution. "Time to release all detainees including thousands of young men languishing in jails outside J&K. This has gone on for far too long & must end now," Iltija tweeted.



Several mainstream leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, including Farooq's son Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have been also put under house arrest following the abrogation of Article 370 in August that granted special powers to the region. Abdullah was the first chief minister against whom the PSA was invoked.

BCCL

The stringent Act was slapped against him on September 15, hours before the Supreme Court was to hear a petition by MDMK leader Vaiko who claimed that Abdullah had been illegally detained. He was booked under 'public order' of the PSA, a provision that allows authorities to detain a person for three months without trial. This can be extended up to two years.
They're just days away from becoming parents for the first time when they welcome their baby girl into the world.

And Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson enjoyed one last date night before their new arrival as they headed out for a low-key dinner in West Hollywood on Thursday night.

The actress, 33, and the actor, 41, looked happy and relaxed as they grabbed a quick bite to eat after confirming they are set to have a girl.

Not long now! Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson enjoyed one last date night before their new arrival as they headed out for a low-key dinner in West Hollywood on Thursday night

The Queen & Slim star displayed her bump in a casual grey hoodie, worn with a tan-coloured teddy coat, leggings and trainers.

Jodie went makeup-free to showcase her naturally radiant complexion as she and her husband made the most of some alone time ahead of the birth.

Joshua opted for an equally casual look for the couple's outing, teaming a navy cargo jacket with a white T-shirt and jeans.

The appearance of the parents-to-be came after they confirmed the gender of their first child last weekend.

Parents-to-be: The actress, 33, and the actor, 41, looked happy and relaxed as they grabbed a quick bite to eat after confirming they are set to have a girl

Jodie referred to her baby as 'she' alongside a sweet Instagram video clip of her 'dancing' inside her tummy.

She said: 'Favourite moments with baby. Can you see her dancing in there? Every time I try to record she stops.'

Joshua confirmed the birth is just days away in an interview on Thursday with NBC's Access, saying: 'We're 19 days away, so I'm kind of out of time for sympathy weight.'

The couple have been dating since late 2018 and got married in a secret ceremony in December 2019.

The actress recently gushed over her romance with Dawson's Creek alum Joshua, saying she felt 'ready' for a baby after realising she'd found 'the right person' for her to spend the rest of her life with.

Bumping along: The Queen & Slim star displayed her bump in a casual grey hoodie, worn with a tan-coloured teddy coat, leggings and trainers

Responding to a fan on Twitter who asked her how she knew she was ready for a child, the pregnant actress wrote: 'I don't think you're ever 'ready'... but there were definitely certain boxes i wanted to tick before committing to it.

'The most important for me: being w/ sum1 i knew would be a great life partner. life has many variables, but once i knew i'd met the right person, i felt unafraid.' (sic)

The couple have not publicly confirmed their marriage, and Jodie previously said she wouldn't be commenting on speculation as she wants to let people 'assume whatever they want'.

When asked about the rumours, she said: 'I haven't said to anybody, "Yeah, we got married". People are assuming whatever they want, but when people tell me "Congratulations", I say "Thank you".

The up and coming star admitted her reluctance to open up about her marriage came due to the backlash she has received backlash for 'possibly marrying a white man'.

It's a girl! Jodie revealed the baby's gender via her Instagram Story over the weekend when she referred to her as 'she'

'Somebody's mumma': The model cradled her burgeoning baby bump as she shared another sweet video on Instagram last week

In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Jodie explained: 'There was this wave of people who were upset that I was possibly married to a white man. In America interracial dating or marriage is not something that is as accepted.

'Certain people feel strongly against it, in both communities. I felt it from the black community. It is so complicated.

'I don't want to give it too much energy. The horrific things that people were saying... I'm learning there are certain things I have to really keep for myself.'

The British-born star also revealed she and Canadian Joshua want to raise their baby outside of the U.S because of 'fraught racial dynamics' and rising 'white supremacy'.

She said: 'The racial dynamics over here are fraught. White supremacy is overt. It's the reason I don't want to raise my kids here. I don't want my kids to grow up doing active shooter drills at school.'
The document engineering startup Docugami has secured a $10 million seed funding round, and has appointed Bob Muglia as investor and board member of the company.

FREMONT, CA: The Seattle-area document engineering startup, Docugami, has secured a $10 million seed funding round. This round of funding was led by Silicon Valley venture fund SignalFire, and NextWorld Capital and others also participated in this round. The former head of both Microsofts Office and Azure businesses, and the former CEO of Snowflake, Bob Muglia is appointed as a significant investor and board member of the company.

Several other investors like the former head of Google Apps, Greg Badros; Shishir Mehrotra, CEO of Coda; Kevin Reigelsberger, former president of Avalara; Alan Smith, partner, Fenwick & West; Barry Abbott, partner, Lane Powell & Associates; and Fenwick & West Investments are also included in the funding

Docugami was founded in March 2018 by Jean Paoli and four other senior engineering leaders from Microsoft. The company harnesses a broad range of artificial intelligence techniques, including natural language processing, image recognition, declarative markup, and other approaches, to enable businesses of all sizes to radically improve how they create and manage documents for greater insight, efficiency, and business impact.

Chief executive officer of Docugami, Jean Paoli, says that SignalFires deep technical roots and hands-on approach are an excellent fit for Docugami. He also mentioned that they are on a mission to solve the document and dark data issues that have plagued businesses of all sizes for decades, and this massive infusion of seed funding will enable us to expand our data science team to add product capabilities and build our sales and marketing muscle to grow their customer base rapidly.

The team of Docugami is excited to have Bobs insights and experience as the company embarks on a period of rapid customer growth and technical innovation.

Jean Paoli, the CEO of Docugami, is considered as a pioneer in the field of document engineering. He is one of the inventors of XML and also started several billion-dollar businesses for the company. Previously, he started two startups with INRIA, the famed National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation in France.

Read More: Shailesh Manjrekar, New Head of AI and Strategic Alliances of WekaIO

Subramanian on Simplifying Enterprise Architecture
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah walked out of his Gupkar residence on Friday, seven months after he was put under detention following the abrogation of Article 370 by the central government. I am free, I am free, he said while addressing the media persons gathered outside his home.

Abdullah was detained in August last year after the Centre stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and bifurcated it into two union territories.

I am grateful to the people of the state and country who spoke for my freedom. I would like to thank everyone and every individual who prayed for my freedom, said 82-year-old Abdullah.

This freedom will be complete only when all the other detained leaders - including former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah - in various buildings are released, he added. I hope Government of India will take action soon to release everyone.

Abdullah also said that he will not make any political statement till the time all the leaders are released.

The NC chief was released after the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday revoked the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against him with immediate effect.

Abdullah was under preventive detention since August 5 last year, the day the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. He was the first chief minister against whom the PSA was invoked. The stringent Act was slapped against him on September 15, hours before the Supreme Court was to hear a petition by MDMK leader Vaiko who claimed that Abdullah had been illegally detained.

The decision to release the National Conference patron came hours ahead of the ending of the three-month period on Friday midnight.

Immediately after his release, the National Conference issued a statement welcoming the decision and also urged the Union Territory administration to release other political leaders including party vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  Philippines Airlines, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia will begin a new round of flight suspensions in compliance with the current administrations new travel limitations, which aim to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease or COVID-19.

The air carriers will be cutting domestic flights to and from Manila from March 15 to April 14.

Our international flights and domestic flights on routes to and from Cebu, Clark and Davao (other than Manila) shall continue to operate within the period, PAL said in a statement Thursday, shortly after President Rodrigo Duterte announced the fresh round of travel restrictions.

PALs international flights from Manila will continue during the period, it added.

Flights not bound for Manila out of other AirAsias hubs in the Philippines--Clark, Cebu, and Kalibo--will continue their normal operations, AirAsia said in a statement Friday.

Cebu Pacific also canceled their domestic flights to and from Metro Manila. However, they will still continue to operate flights from their hubs in Manila, Clark, and Cebu.

Affected customers of the two budget airlines may also rebook with no additional fees or get a refund.

On Thursday, Duterte, upon the recommendation of experts from the Department of Health, quarantined Metro Manila, the region with the highest number of COVID-19 cases. For thirty days, trips by land, domestic air, and domestic sea will be suspended in an effort to reduce close contact between people. The disease is spread though small droplets from the nose or mouth when people infected with the virus cough or sneeze.

Duterte also expanded the countrys COVID-19-related travel ban. Non-Filipinos who come from countries with local transmissions of the virus will not be allowed entry into the Philippines, except Filipino citizens, their foreign spouse and children, permanent residents and holders of diplomatic visas.

Prior to the new restrictions, the country only denies entry from foreign travelers coming from China, Hong Kong, Macau and the South Korean province of North Gyeongsang.

Three more COVID-19 patients have died, the Department of Health announced Thursday, bringing the death tally in the Philippines to five. The number of COVID-19 cases in the country now stands at 52.
C anadian leader Justin Trudeau's wife has tested positive for coronavirus.

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau was feeling well but would remain in isolation, a statement from Mr Trudeaus office said.

The Prime Minister will not be tested for Covid-19 despite his wifes diagnosis because he has shown no symptoms, it added.

But they will both remain in isolation for a planned period of 14 days.

"The Prime Minister is in good health with no symptoms. As a precautionary measure and following the advice of doctors, he will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days," the statement from his office read.

His office said the doctor's advice to the prime minister is to continue daily activities while self-monitoring, given that he is exhibiting no symptoms himself.

"Also on the advice of doctors, he will not be tested at this stage since he has no symptoms. For the same reason, doctors say there is no risk to those who have been in contact with him recently," the statement said.

The office said he would resume his duties on Friday.

Mr Trudeau's wife issued a statement thanking those who have reached out.

"Although I'm experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon," she said.

"Being in quarantine at home is nothing compared to other Canadian families who might be going through this and for those facing more serious health concerns."

Though self-quarantining himself, the prime minister is spending the day in briefings, phone calls and virtual meetings from home.

This includes speaking with other world leaders and joining a special Cabinet committee discussion on the coronavirus.

Mr Trudeau spoke with US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday.

British Columbia's health officer Dr Bonnie Henry said it is strongly advised that people do not travel outside Canada, including to the US, and said anyone who chooses to do so should self-isolate for 14 days upon return.

"That means no trips to Disneyland, no trips to Paris or Berlin or Boise," British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix said.

"Anyone who chooses to travel outside of Canada must stay away from work or school or 14 days upon their return. That responsibility is what we owe to our fellow citizens."

Canada has more than 140 confirmed cases, with one death - an elderly nursing home resident in British Columbia.

The United States has had 40 deaths, with more than three-fourths of them in Washington state.
The president of the University of Texas at Austin announced Friday that his wife has tested positive for COVID-19.

Gregory Fenves's wife, Carmel Martinez Fenves, is the first member of the university's community to contract the virus.

In a statement, Fenves said a second member of his family  who works at the university  is also presumed to have the virus.

The president has been tested and all three individuals are in self-isolation.

READ MORE: 2 people diagnosed with coronavirus in Travis County

"If you have had close contact with me or my family members or another person with COVID-19 and you are not exhibiting symptoms, we strongly recommend that you self-isolate starting today," Fenves wrote.

Fenves has compiled a list of individuals who were recently in close contact with them. UT Health Austin nurses will contact the people on that list who are affiliated with the university to screen them for the virus.

School officials canceled classes and closed the university Friday.

According to Fenves, he traveled to New York City with his wife last week for several events with alumni and students before returning home Saturday. Carmel started exhibiting mild flu-like symptoms after the trip and received the positive test results Friday.

On Friday morning, Austin Public Health confirmed two presumptive positive cases in Travis County: a man in his 60s and a woman in her 30s.

Mark Dunphy is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read him on our breaking news site, MySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mark.dunphy@express-news.net | @m_b_dunphy
Wilaya of Auserd, March 14, 2020 (SPS)  the First International Youth Forum of Solidarity with Western Sahara, has wrapped up its works in the presence of Saharwi Prime, Buchraya Hamudi Bayun along with senior high official of SADR government and Frente POLISARIO and delegation participating at this international solidarity event.

Speaking at closing ceremony, Sahrawi Prime Minister, said that the holding of the forum in the Saharwi Refugee Camps and the liberated Territories is strong show of solidarity and support to the just struggle of the Sahrawi people, expressing his thanks to the participating delegations.

In the closing statement whose works culminated in the international community, the forum's participants called for an urgent solution to the Sahrawi issue in accordance with the General Assembly and Security Council resolutions related to the Sahrawi issue.

The international community is called to find an urgent solution to the Sahrawi issue in accordance with the General Assembly and Security Council resolutions related to the Sahrawi issue. The final comunique says

The closing statement renewed its call to put an end to the grave violations of human rights committed by the occupying power against the defenseless Sahrawis, calling on international organizations specialized in the field of human rights to pressure the international community to find a UN mechanism to monitor and report on human rights.

The statement stressed the need to create a young international network aimed at gathering information about developments in the Sahrawi issue.SPS

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From being popular as an action star to steeping his foot in comedy, Akshay Kumar has gone on to be regarded as one of the most versatile actors in Bollywood. He is also one of the highest-paid celebrities. While 2019 has been a successful year for the actor, his hands are occupied for 2020. The actor has some major films lined up for 2020, including Sooryavanshi, Prithviraj, Bachchan Pandey and more.

Apart from the aforementioned movies, Akshay Kumar's Airlift remains to be one of the acclaimed movies of his career. Helmed by Raja Krishna Menon, the film features Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur in pivotal roles. Here are some of the most interesting trivia on the historical drama flick:

Akshay Kumar's movie Airlift Trivia

After the mission was completed successfully, Air India made its way into the Guinness Book of World Records for essaying the duty of a civil airline that assisted the evacuation of the highest number of people ever.

Airlift is about the biggest evacuation operations in Kuwait assisted by Indians during Saddam Hussein's reign.

ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar Makes A Special Appearance In Nupur Sanon's 'Filhall' Cover

Akshay Kumar took Arabic lessons for the depiction of his role as a Kuwait-based businessman.

Airlift is also the first Indian movie that is centred around the Gulf War.

Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur began filming for the movie for a very long time. They began the shooting on February 2015 and the film was released in 2016.

ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar's 'Housefull 4': Interesting Facts And Trivia About The Film

Purab Kohli, who essayed the role of Ibrahim Durrani in the film, collaborated with Akshay Kumar for the very first time.

The movie was such a superhit that it was declared tax free by the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Kangana Ranaut was first approached to essay the role of Amrita Katyal but she declined the request and later the role was offered to Nimrat Kaur.

ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar: Times When He Stood Up And Spoke About Social Issues

ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar's Best Scenes From 'Khakee' That You Must Check Out

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
On Tuesday March 10, the Philippines government led by Rodrigo Duterte suffered two significant set-backs in its attacks upon the independent media network ABS-CBN.

These attacks by Duterte against critical media have taken a form familiar in modern authoritarian states - that of attrition by litigation and state regulation.

Like most media organisations in democracies, Philippine television network ABS-CBN  the countrys largest broadcaster - operates under a license issued by the national government - commonly referred to as a legislative franchise in the Philippines. The problem with such a system is that this legislative franchise operates for a fixed period in the gift of the legislature, and ultimately the President. ABS CBN has been regarded as critical of Duterte. Conveniently for the hostile Duterte government, the ABS CBN networks franchise expires on 30 March 2020.

Because significant legal uncertainty surrounds the whole licensing process, the extension nevertheless will continue to have a chilling effect on the operation of ABS-ABN and its 10,000 employees. The ABS-CBN critics in the congress have pushed back vigorously  challenging the legality of the extension. It remains to be seen whether a challenge to the NTCs decision will be taken to the Supreme Court.

Of course, Duterte would like nothing more than to have the network in friendlier hands. He has effectively invited the network to relinquish its licence. Echoing the sentiments of Viktor Orban, Duterte was quoted recently as saying: ABS-CBN, your contract is about to expire. If I were you, youre better off selling it, he said. I will make sure that you will remember this episode of our times forever.

As well as a vocal national and international campaign by media and human rights organisations including the IFJs affiliates of the South East Asian Journalists Union (SEAJU) network, even Dutertes daughter Sara Dutere-Carpio has made a statement opposing the cancellation of the ABS-CBN licence. A change.org petition has now collected almost 200,000 signatures.

The congressional Committee on Legislative Franchises began its deliberations on the ABS-CBN franchise renewal issue on March 10. Contrary to the wishes of Dutertes most strident supporters, it flagged a request for a provisional permit from the National Telecommunications Commission [NTC] to permit a temporary extension of the licence. In a welcome move which undercut Dutertes supporters, the NTC acted swiftly yesterday and announced that an extension would be granted. While a significant victory, this is, in reality, only a reprieve.

The precarious legal position of the network serves to emphasise the structural threats to the Philippines free media presented by a regulatory regime which provides no ongoing guarantees for broadcast licence holders. There is, at least, a real doubt that the franchise can be extended without a specific legislative act despite the fact that the NTC will follow recent legal advice of the DOJ (Department of Justice) that the continuation is permissible barring a gross violation of the NTC rules and regulations.

Under any reasonable system of regulation, license holders would get significant notice of any change in circumstances affecting their license conditions, and a guarantee that licence revocation would or could occur upon a proper basis - in other words, not upon political grounds. A broadcast licence is a significant property interest which should only be put at risk for a justifiable, and legally coherent, cause.

Not content with the onslaught on the franchise expiry, however, a second - equally threatening option - has also being directed by the Philippines government against ABS CBN.

In early February 2020, Dutertes Solicitor-General, Jose Calida, filed a "quo warranto" petition in the Philippines Supreme Court to revoke the existing franchise of ABS-CBN, saying the network had violated the ownership rules set by Congress. A "quo warranto" petition is a legal procedure directed to a person or entity which, it is alleged "usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises a public office, position or franchise," under the Rules of Civil Procedure.

Calida claimed that the network committed violations of the conditions on the licence set by Congress in 1995. The essence of that complaint is that restrictions on foreign ownership of the media have been breached by the issue of financial instruments known as Philippine Deposit Receipts [PDRs] to foreigners, which meant giving control and voting rights to them. ABS-CBN has vigorously rejected these allegations.

The case alleges that ABS-CBN had allowed foreign investors to "take part in the ownership of a Philippine mass media entity" despite being prohibited by the Constitution. These are similar charges to some of those brought against Rappler last year.

Calida, a long-time political crony of Duterte before his elevation to Solicitor-General, is quoted as saying he wanted to put an end to highly abusive practices of ABS-CBN. These so-called practices have been pointed out by the Philippines press and experts in the area of media regulation as having gone unnoticed for years, if not decades.

Calida also alleges that ABS-CBN exceeded its franchise when it launched its TV Plus subscription service and the KBO Channel without approval from the National Telecommunications Commission.

The Court petition asks that ..[t]he legislative franchises of ABS-CBN Corporation and its subsidiary, ABS-CBN Convergence, must be revoked. A franchise is a special privilege granted by the State, and should be restricted only to entities which faithfully adhere to our Constitution and laws," Calida said in a statement. Calida claims that there is no politics involved in the laying of the charges.

ABS-CBN has earlier denied Calida's allegations and insisted it had complied with all laws governing its franchise. It also reiterated that its PDRs "were evaluated and approved" by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange prior to its public offering. It issued a detailed rebuttal of the numerous charges against it in a 58-page submission to the Supreme Court on Monday, February 24.

To add insult to injury, Calida also sought a gag order against ABS-CBN to prevent it from discussing the case. This was roundly condemned by press freedom organisations and ABS CBN. Gag orders are only granted in extremely limited circumstances - for example, to prevent terrorist attacks - and the Solicitor Generals application in this case goes well beyond existing legal authorities.

In the second significant blow to Calida and Duterte on Tuesday, the Supreme Court deferred consideration of Calidas "quo warranto" petition and significantly, the gag order. The hearing of the petition has been deferred until April 14. This deferral, at the very least, undermines the hyperbolic claim of urgency advanced by Calida in favour of the gag order.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has been staging a series of protest actions, calling the threats against ABS-CBN an affront to press freedom and freedom of expression. The NUJ said the issue  proves that this government will do whatever it takes to shut down a network that the President doesn't agree with. Freedom of speech is at stake here. If you silence the media, the people are in peril because they will lose a platform where they can get the information that they need.

Until recently, the Philippines under President Duterte had not quite fully conformed to the complete playbook of modern authoritarianism. Unlike other fully-fledgedilliberal democracies of the modern era, in its early days Dutertes government had not yet unleashed a systematic campaign of attrition and repression against its free press. In countries like Russia, Venezuela, Turkey and Hungary, outright censorship had often been side-stepped in favour of enfeebling media organisations by entanglement in a web of government regulatory intrusion. The same ultimate impact could be achieved without outright censorship. The current legal assault on ABS-CBN follows this pattern.

When the small, on-line media publisher Rappler was attacked by Duterte it was perhaps easy for some to see the attack as a singular, get square against Rapplers trenchant criticism of Dutertes so-called war on drugs. Any such assumption can no longer stand. The final piece of the framework of illiberal democracy in the Philippines is now being put in place by Duterte. Press Freedom and civil society hope and expect that the Supreme Court will be a bulwark against this disturbing development.

Jim Nolan is the International Federation of Journalists pro-bono legal counsel for the Asia-Pacific and a regular legal observer on key cases in the region.
Triple J will today unveil its listeners' favourite songs of the past decade, just weeks after a record-breaking Hottest 100 countdown and sweeping changes were made to the broadcaster's lineup.

Station boss Ollie Wards said the inaugural Hottest 100 of the Decade is part music countdown, part "time capsule".

"It's such an amazing chance to look back," he said. "We'll more than likely do it again in 10 years."

Triple J content director Ollie Wards. Credit:ABC / Daniel Boud

Half of the songs set to appear in Saturday's countdown are from Australian artists. Kanye West, Alt-J, Ball Park Music, Gotye, Tame Impala, Rufus Du Sol, Arctic Monkeys and Gang of Youths are tipped to make the top 10, according to prediction website 100 Warm Tunas. The website says Covered In Chrome, by Australian indie act Violent Soho, will likely take out the top spot.
EDMONTONThere are no full-time physicians in the isolated northern Saskatchewan community of Waterhen Lake First Nation.

The community depends on a doctor who visits about twice a month. Sometimes, residents can fulfill an additional appointment via video conference, in what is known as Doc in a box.

Ester Sunchild, a registered nurse on the reserve, worries what that might mean if the First Nation is hit by COVID-19. Sunchild and her fellow health practitioners met this week to discuss their pandemic response.

As a community member, I am worried about my family.  And I worry about the ones who are at risk, she said. The ones with diabetes, chronic lung diseases, renal failure, the ones who are immunocompromised.

Indigenous peoples were significantly overrepresented among Canadians who were affected by H1N1 in 2009. Representing approximately 4.3 per cent of the population, they accounted for 27.8 per cent of all hospital admissions reported to the Public Health Agency of Canada during the first wave of the pandemic, according to a report from the National Collaborating Centres for Public Health.

In 2009, Macleans magazine reported that the national H1N1 infection rate was 24 per 100,000 people among the general population. Among First Nations people, the rate was 130. In Nunavut, the rate was more than 1,000 per 100,000 people.

This week, Manitoba NDP MP Niki Ashton criticized the federal government for not including the minister of Indigenous services in its coronavirus committee. She said the disproportionate rate of H1N1 infection in Indigenous communities was directly linked to Third World living conditions and the lack of access to private health care on reserve.

When we hear the federal government telling people to wash their hands, how do you do that when theres no running water? she said at an Ottawa news conference.

As of February, there were 61 long-term drinking water advisories on reserves nationwide.

On Thursday, CBC News reported the federal government was prepared to use isolation tents and temporary shelters for screening and testing in Indigenous communities. The Public Health Agency of Canada forwarded questions to Indigenous Services Canada, which did not respond.

Sunchild, who has been a nurse for about 25 years, remembers what it was like in 2009 when the H1N1 influenza virus swept through Saskatchewan First Nations. During that pandemic, Sunchild says, she worked constantly, sometimes until 9 or 10 p.m., while also worrying about her own family getting sick.

When we had that pandemic with the H1N1, you had to pull nurses from other communities to come and help.  If we were to have that coronavirus here, it would be hectic, she said, adding they would probably have to hire more nurses as they currently only have three in their clinic, although a fourth is set to arrive soon.

Indigenous peoples in Canada face a higher risk of serious or fatal outcomes from viruses that cause respiratory problems, such as COVID-19, says Anna Banerji, an associate professor and infectious disease expert at the University of Toronto. Her research has shown how First Nations and Inuit peoples in Canada have some of the highest rates of lower respiratory tract infections (such as pneumonia and acute bronchitis) in the world.

We dont know how this virus will impact people in remote communities, Banerji said. There are a lot of elders in these communities that have health issues.

While there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 on First Nations in Canada or in the territories, Banerji is concerned that COVID-19 could spread rapidly in some Indigenous communities due to issues some face such as overcrowded housing, malnutrition, poor sanitation, inadequate ventilation in households and lack of access to health services.

Overcrowding in general is a problem in many Indigenous communities across Canada, Banerji said. In some communities, for example, in the North and in Nunauvut, it's critical. And so if there is a virus there, it could spread very quickly among households.

There are also underlying health conditions that make contracting COVID-19 much more dangerous, Banerji said. Diabetes, obesity, smoking and chronic lung disease put a person at greater risk of experiencing serious complications or even death. All of these factors are more widespread among Inuit and First Nations people who live on reserve. All are connected to poverty and the legacy of colonization, Banerji said.

Sunchild said the infrastructure issues Banerji says put communities at risk of higher rates of infection are all common on Waterhen Lake First Nation. There are about 1,000 band members who live on reserve, which is located four hours north of Saskatoon.

There is overcrowding, you can have 10 people in a house. And there is a lot of poor ventilation, we do see a lot of mould. And that causes a lot of health problems, she said.

She said during the regular flu season, transmission rates in the community are high.

Even with just your regular influenza season, we do see a lot of people with the flu, Sunchild said. We work from Monday to Friday. By Friday, were tired. Because we see patient after patient after patient.

Often, they have to get medication from the nearby larger urban centres of Meadow Lake or Cold Lake, about an hour or two drive away, or order from Prince Albert. Sunchild worries the clinic wouldnt be able to meet the communitys health needs if there were a major outbreak.

Because there are other First Nations in the North that deal with the same pharmacy, I don't know if they can keep up with the demand, she said. That's one thing I think about.

For more serious medical procedures, residents have to travel to Edmonton or Saskatoon, said Dustin Ross Fiddler, a councillor at Waterhen Lake First Nation.

When you have a barrier like that, because it is a barrier, you have people who dont reach out.  Because they know the burden of possibly having to be transported to Saskatoon or Edmonton, he said.

He said hes worried what that might mean if people in the community are infected with COVID-19, or if theres an outbreak.

One of the major concerns is that necessary goods at local service centres, such as propane and chemicals needed to allow water treatment, will become more scarce and less accessible. The First Nation is looking into how to stay stocked on important supplies.

Being a remote First Nation  if those services start to break down, were going to have a lot more issues on our hands on top of the declining health and the possible outbreak, such as a potential water shortage, Fiddler said.

During the H1N1 pandemic, Manitoba was hit particularly hard, noted Michelle Driedger, a professor at the University of Manitoba. She has researched how public health agencies communicated risk messaging during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak.

Driedger, who is Metis, said its hypocritical for public health agencies to tell people one of the most important things they can do to avoid infection is wash their hands when many Indigenous communities dont have clean drinking water.

If hand washing is your first line of defence and you don't have a reliable water system, that is already compromising your ability to try to fight infection, she said.

She, too, has observed infrastructure limitations in Indigenous communities in Manitoba, although they vary from place to place.

In a lot of these communities, drug stores arent available like they are in urban centres, Driedger said. In some of these communities, like some of the Metis communities that I work with, they don't even have a grocery store.

Several communities in the North are fly-in communities, which means by the time infected individuals arrived in Winnipeg for H1N1 treatment, their condition was already much more severe.

Fiddler is hopeful the federal government prioritizes the health and safety of Indigenous communities.

We often feel like, as First Nations in the North, that were not as heavily considered.  We need some sort of guarantee that were not to going to be put on the back shelf when Canadas dealing with a crisis such as this outbreak.

Read more about:
With two cases of coronavirus now reported in the state, St. Francois County Health Center (SFCHC) is receiving many calls from concerned citizens.

Although St. Francois County has no confirmed cases at this time, the health center is investigating every call and concern.

We understand there is much concern around COVID-19 and for good reason; however, it is important for the public to remain calm and look to credible sources to stay informed, said SFCHC Director Amber Elliott. "The health center will be conducting investigations on any suspected illness. The public will be notified of any confirmed cases.

SFCHC Communicable Disease Nurse Tiffany Roth explained what happens when health officials are alerted to a possible COVID-19 infection.

For suspected cases, the process is for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) to evaluate the persons symptoms and travel history, said Roth. Based on that information, DHSS determines if testing is warranted.

If approved, a specimen is sent through the State Public Health Lab for testing, she said. If the case does not meet the criteria for testing, the healthcare provider can send a specimen through private labs that offer the test.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), persons at the highest risk for developing complications from COVID-19 are older adults and people who have serious medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, or suppressed immune systems. People at the highest risk should take extra care to prevent the risk of becoming ill with COVID-19.

There is currently no vaccine for COVID-19. More than 20 COVID-19 vaccines are now in development but could take months to be approved for use.

The best way to prevent the illness is to avoid being exposed to the virus. Other preventative measures include regular hand washing, avoiding contact with sick people, staying home when you are sick, and covering your cough or sneeze.

If you have fever, cough, or shortness of breath and have traveled to an affected area, please self-isolate and call your healthcare provider, Roth added. The risk to healthy adults and even children is low for COVID-19; however, those people can still spread the disease to those at the highest risk. We want to minimize disease transmission as much as possible to protect the most vulnerable.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has activated a statewide public hotline for citizens or providers needing guidance regarding the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.

The hotline opened on March 11 and can be reached at 877-435-8411. The hotline is being operated by medical professionals and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

For additional information about COVID-19, visit www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html. For preparedness information, please visit www.ready.gov.

The governor reported the second case of coronavirus in Greene County.

Also on Thursday, Kansas City and St. Louis banned all public events with more than 1,000 attendees.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson announced the city's ban and declared a public health emergency. The ban will be in effect until further notice but includes exceptions for daily activities at schools and churches.

According to the Associated Press, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas announced a similar ban shortly after organizers canceled a St. Patrick's Day parade in the city. St. Louis and Springfield also canceled their parades.

The Department of Corrections on Thursday announced Missouris 20 state-run prisons will be closed to visitors for the next 30 days. Attorneys will be permitted to visit their clients. The agency said none of the estimated 26,000 inmates has been diagnosed with the virus.

A DOC spokesperson told the Daily Journal Thursday afternoon that there are no suspected cases in DOC.

According to the Associated Press, several universities in the state have been moving classes online due to the virus that WHO has now labelled a pandemic, while Missouri Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden said on Twitter late Wednesday that the chamber was cancelling its session next week.

Meanwhile, the German agribusiness giant Bayer AG has reopened a suburban St. Louis campus after an employee whose illness prompted the closure tested negative for the virus.

Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.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.
Hungarian oil and gas company MOL has inaugurated its newest MOL Bubi docking station in Kis Rokus utca, District II, near Millenaris Park, growing the number of the companys bike-sharing stations to 157.

Public transport company BKK director Ivett Varga noted that the company is planning to give MOL Bubi a greater role in the capitals transport system. She added that several related innovations are in progress.



The new station is part of the Millenaris Szellkapu development. The terminal and docks were financed by the investing company, while BKK was responsible for the design, licensing and system integration. The latter company is also tasked with operating the new station.



MOL Bubi users can now enjoy some 2,071 bicycles at MOLs stations. Information about the bike-sharing network, registration, and tickets is available here.



Photo courtesy of MOL Bubi
Oil prices have fallen nearly 50 percent since the start of the year and the short-term outlook isnt looking very promising as OPEC and Russia continue to boost supply.

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Friday, March 13th, 2020

It has been a horrific week for oil prices, and crude is down about 50 percent since the start of the year. Oil rebounded a bit on Friday following movement in the U.S. Congress to pass a coronavirus economic relief bill. Nevertheless, the near-term looks dire for oil markets, with supply rising quickly as demand continues to collapse.

Oil prices could stay in $30s for months. According to the 21 experts surveyed by Reuters, WTI Crude prices are set to average $30.37 a barrel in the second quarter this year and $37 for the full year.

Russia aims at U.S. shale. According to the Wall Street Journal, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Rosnefts chief executive prior to the collapse of the OPEC+ negotiations if Russian oil companies can withstand low oil prices. Igor Sechin replied that low oil prices are great because they will damage U.S. shale. Outwardly, Moscow does not link its motivations to an intention to harm U.S. oil companies, but Russia had grown wary of the OPEC+ cuts, which contributed to a 4-mb/d increase in U.S. shale over the past three years. Also, multiple reports suggest that U.S. sanctions on Nord Stream 2 and Rosneft stoked ire in Moscow.

BofA: Russia can withstand low prices. Russian companies can ensure sustainable production until oil hits $15 to $20 per barrel, Karen Kostanian, a Moscow-based oil and gas analyst with Bank of America, told Bloomberg. Related: Why 2030 Isnt The Magic Year For Electric Vehicles

Chinas oil trader tries to back out of deals. Unipec, the trading arm of ChinasSinopec, is trying to avoid taking delivery of at least four supertankers of oil for April, according to Bloomberg.

Premier Oils balance sheet under strain. Premier Oil (LON: PMO) could lose $1.2 million per day with oil prices below $40 per barrel, according to Bloomberg.

Oilfield service job cuts expected. Between 1,500 and 3,000 oilfield service jobscould be on the chopping block in the next two months, according to Primary Vision.

Shale drillers want 25% discounts from oilfield services. U.S. shale drillers are demanding price cuts from service companies, according to Reuters. Parsley Energy asked service providers to reconsider your pricing, and help them achieve an at least 25% reduction in costs. But oilfield servicers are arguably in a worse position. Anyone dumb enough to ask for a discount today is a (expletive), a drilling executive who did not want to be identified told Reuters.

Occidental slashes dividend by 86 percent. Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY)slashed its dividend for the first time in 30 years this week. The reduction of 86 percent comes just two weeks after CEO Vicki Hollub said that the dividend was one of the defining characteristics of the company. This is genuinely frustrating and disappointing to see, especially after the repeatedly, consistently stated commitment to the dividend from management, Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov wrote in a note.

Hedges offer shale drillers a lifeline. A study of 30 shale drillers accounting for 38 percent of total U.S. oil production finds that roughly 50 percent of their output is hedged an average price of $56 per barrel. If WTI averages $40 this year, the hedges would save the companies a combined $10.5 billion; or $17 billion if WTI averages $25.

Oil-producing countries at risk of downgrade. The collapse of oil prices could set off a wave of sovereign credit downgrades. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Nigeria and Angola are at most risk. Related: Big Oil Prepares To Suffer In 2020

Equinor reports case of coronavirus offshore. Equinor (NYSE: EQNR) said that one of its workers at an offshore installation in Norway tested positive for the coronavirus. The Martin Linge field is scheduled to start production at the end of the year.

More mandatory cuts possible in Alberta. Crude-by-rail shipments from Alberta could fall by as much as 400,000 bpd next month, which will contribute to a buildup of storage in the province. Albertas Premier Jason Kenney said that mandatory cuts could be coming. We will use the curtailment tool responsibly to ensure at least a survival price for our producers, Kenney said. Layoffs in Canadas oil industry are also in the offing. We, unfortunately, do expect to see a number of layoff announcements coming from the energy sector in the next two or three weeks, Jason Kenney told reporters.

Oil industry spending cuts. Shale drillers announced a series of immediate cuts to capex this week, hoping to weather the downturn. More cuts, layoffs and bankruptcies are likely. Globally, Wood Mackenzie estimates that the oil industry could see $380 billion in cash flow vanish if Brent averages $35 per barrel this year, relative to $60.

U.S. postpones SPR sale. The U.S. Department of Energy was scheduled to sell 12 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), but canceled the sale in the wake of the downturn. Now, some industry lobbyists are pressing the government to instead buy oil for the SPR to help soak up some surplus.

Shale credit under stress. Roughly $110 billion in shale debt has fallen into distressed territory, according to the FT. That is 12 percent of the $936 billion in bonds issued by U.S. oil and gas companies. There is definitely a significant amount of default risk, Michael Anderson, a strategist at Citi, told the FT. A lot of bonds are in the danger zone, he added.

50 oil tankers in Nigerian waters. Nigeria has about 50 cargoes of oil sitting offshore in international waters.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
WASHINGTON (JTA)Joe Biden made an appearance via video and Mike Bloomberg turned up in person. So did Mike Pence. Even the coronavirus got a shoutout.

Despite threats of a boycott by Democrats and anxieties about communicable diseases, this years annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was a busy, bustling and bipartisan affair.

Still, the names that loomed largest were the ones that did not make an appearance: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.

Sanders, the Vermont senator who is currently the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, announced last week that he would boycott the AIPAC conference, saying the organizations provides a platform for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights.

Trump has snubbed AIPAC since 2016, when its leadership rebuked the then-presidential candidate because he had directly attacked President Barack Obama in his speech. Attacking a sitting president is a major no-no for a lobby that makes bipartisanship and a willingness to work with all administrations its brand.

Their absences this week underscore the increasing threat to the viability of a pro-Israel posture that depends on bipartisanship. Trump who has probably had the closest relationship of any president with an Israeli government, does not need to appear at AIPAC to burnish his pro-Israel credentials. And Sanders is nurturing a wing of the Democratic Party willing to redefine the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways antithetical to traditional pro-Israel postures.

AIPAC always asks conference participantsan estimated 18,000 this yearto keep it civil. But this year, in addition to the recorded requests at the outset of plenary sessions, two top board members took to the stage and pleaded for comity.

One was Amy Friedkin of San Francisco, a past president who is close to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The other, Alan Franco of New Orleans, has been a major giver to Republican campaigns.

The best way to persuade us is with facts, not fire, is what Friedkin said AIPAC had told its speakers, and she and Franco urged activists to refrain from cheering those who attacked political rivals.

Fire at times overwhelmed the facts.

Pence listed Trumps Israel-related movesmoving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, cutting funding for Palestinians and leaving the Iran nuclear dealand accused Sanders of openly and repeatedly attack(ing) Israel as a racist state. Sanders has said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a racist, but has never said Israel is a racist state. The Jewish lawmaker said recently that denying Jews the right to self-determination is itself racist.

Pence culminated his speech with a call to re-elect Trump.

The most pro-Israel president in history must not be replaced by one who would be the most anti-Israel president in the history of this nation, Pence said. Thats why you need four more years of President Trump in the White House.

The call for Trumps re-election earned Pence a standing ovationa display that was likely to unsettle the leadership of a lobby that cultivates a careful distance from direct politicking at its events.

But Trump also found himself on the wrong side of an applause line from Bloomberg, another Democratic presidential hopeful. Anti-Semitism can be found both on the right and the left, the former New York mayor said, but there is one fact that we cannot ignore: Presidential leadership matters. It sets a tone. It is either inclusive or exclusive, divisive or uniting, incendiary or calming.

Throughout the passageclearly meant as a swipe at Trumpthe crowd applauded.

There were some moments that bolstered AIPACs efforts to navigate a bipartisan path in a time of profound division. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who dropped out of the presidential stakes last year, got what was until that point the most extended applause for a barnstorming speech upholding U.S.-Israel ties.

I see it as my duty to protect the bipartisan nature of this relationship of Israel with the United States, said Booker, who peppered his speech with Hebrew phrases. As long as the people of Israel have to live under the threat of indiscriminate violence  we must always as a matter of human values stand for Israels security and defense.

Following Sanders scorched earth statement last week, there was a rush of announcements from moderate Democratic candidates that they would attend or speak at the conference. Bloomberg spoke at the conference. Biden, the former vice president, addressed the throng by video, as did Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who dropped out of the presidential race on Monday. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was set to deliver a video address but dropped out of the race before his scheduled remarks. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator, had already said she would not attend.

The difficulties of sustaining a robust relationship with Democrats were in evidence on the main stage and in side panels. On Monday morning, four strategiststwo Democrats and two Republicansdelivered predictions on what the coming year would bring.

One of the Republicans, Brad Todd of Tennessee, predicted Pelosi would no longer be speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in January, which drew loud applausea startling response considering Pelosis closeness to an array of AIPAC-aligned figures like Friedkin.

A side panel titled African-American Leadership in the U.S.-Israel Relationship was mostly preoccupied with the difficulties of pitching pro-Israel to the black Democratic constituency.

The reaction of some of my family members was really visceral and I was in shock, Sherry Boston, a Democrat and a county prosecutor in Georgia, said of the time she told friends and family that she was set to tour Israel.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, had urged Sanders not to boycott, but said the tone of the conference helped validate the lobbys critics.

That two states for two peoples is controversial is extremely troubling, Jacobs said, referring to the reluctance at the conference to address Trumps recent peace plan, which Democrats say closes off a two-state outcome by sanctioning Israels annexation of part of the West Bank.

An AIPAC-sponsored off-site session for peace builders, or backers of two states, was well attended and drew appearances by AIPAC CEO Howard Kohr and President Betsy Berns Kornbut was closed to press.

Korn, in an opening speech that praised Trump for his Israel-related moves, thanked the administration for releasing a peace proposal that was developed in consultation with the leaders of Israels two major political partiesphrasing that lauded the process and elided over the plans content.

The difficulty of garnering bipartisan support was evident as well in the legislative agenda that AIPAC activists are taking to Capitol Hill on Tuesday. AIPAC generally unveils new initiatives with its agenda, but none of the measures this year are new or innovative: support of defense assistance to Israel, AIPACs sine qua non; a letter and a resolution urging an expansion of Iran sanctions (the Trump administration has expanded sanctions nonstop); and letters decrying the International Criminal Court for targeting Israel.

Kohr in his addressmostly a broadside against Sanders that did not name the candidatesaid that our deepest desire is that Israel reaches an enduring peace with the Palestinians, leading to two states for two peoples, but Palestinians were for the most part absent from the conversation.

A side session called Promoting Palestinian Prosperity included four panelists who were American or Israeli. When a questioner asked why no one on the panel was Palestinian, one of the panelistsBrad Gordon, a top retired official of the lobbyagreed that it would have been a good idea to invite one.

Ahead of the event, there was anxiety among conference organizers that the coronavirus scare would depress turnout and leave the impression that people were staying away because AIPAC was unpopular.

Those fears were not borne out: The halls were packed and AIPAC boasted of preparing 25,000 hot dogs among other kosher delicacies for those attending.

Activists were alerted ahead of their arrival that AIPAC had consulted with health experts and taken appropriate measures like increasing the number of hand-sanitizer dispensers, adding additional cleaning crews to disinfect high-traffic areas, and deploying signage to encourage hand-washing and other recommended behaviors.
SPRINGFIELD  Aminah Bergeron was headed towards a career in computer software coding, but then she went to NASA.

I got to see people working on a rocket that will actually be launched into space. That is what I want to do now. I want to build rockets, said the the 26-year-old engineering transfer student from Westfield.

Bergeron joined community college students from across the country at the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) Onsite Experience program at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia earlier this month.

According to a NASA press release, the Minority University Research and Education Program funds NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars. The program is committed to engaging underrepresented and underserved students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) with authentic learning experiences to sustain a diverse workforce.

NCAS not only inspires community college students to advance in STEM fields, but it also opens doors for future careers at NASA. NCAS alumni often move on to NASA internships and ultimately enter the NASA workforce. It is rewarding to see the progression of a student from NCAS participant to NASA colleague, said Torry Johnson, project manager for the program.

Bergeron heard about the opportunity through an email sent to engineering students by Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh, and STCC professor and chair of the Civil Engineering Technology program and the adviser for the colleges chapter of the Society of Women Engineers.

She sends out these emails about opportunities particularly for women in science and way at the bottom I saw the word NASA and I had to look into it and apply, Bergeron said.

Virginia - Aminah Bergeron, a student at STCC, was able to spend a week at NASA building a Mars rover.

McGinnis-Cavanaugh said the emails are a way of informing female students of opportunities for research programs, scholarships and more.

Aminah called me about it right away and she was super excited and eager to apply, she said. There is a big STEM world out there with a lot of opportunities, but our students often times dont have exposure to those opportunities."

The NASA trip was not just a tour of the campus, but a chance to work with a team to design a prototype Mars rover, among other tasks.

As part of the application process, Bergeron created images of a 3-D model of a Mars rover, which she submitted to NASA. She also successfully completed a five-week online course which lead to a visit to a NASA center. Bergeron also received help from another faculty member at STCC, Karen Hachadourian, who wrote a recommendation letter to NASA on Bergerons behalf.

While at NASA students were part of teams that established fictional companies interested in Mars exploration. Each team was responsible for developing and testing a prototype rover, forming a company infrastructure, managing a budget and developing communications and outreach.

We all had different responsibilities. I was focused on design since I was the only person on my team to do the 3-D model, but I also helped with other aspects, she said. We hardly got any sleep, but it was worth it. Our team won the competition the first day which included having the rover pick up some rocks and detect minerals.

Virginia  Aminah Bergeron, an engineering student at STCC, spent a week at NASA with other community college students from across the country. (Photo submitted by Aminah Bergeron)

The event includes briefings by NASA subject matter experts, information on how to apply for NASA internships and a tour of NASAs facilities.

I think I was one of the only people to choose the 3-D course, the other two course options included a lot of reading and writing papers and I will choose numbers over words every time. Numbers I can understand, words scare me a bit, she said.

McGinnis-Cavanaugh said students like Bergeron are paving the way for younger female engineers. While there are more women in STEM fields it is still an uphill battle, especially in the engineering field.

There is still a big gender divide in STEM. Engineering in particular is where the disparity is the greatest. Only about 18-20 percent of engineers are women. Its definitely still an issue in the elementary grades. In middle school girls lose interest and by high school they have already decided on another career path," she said. Its a very complex issue. There are cultural reasons, and societal ones. Girls are bombarded by conflicting messages of what they should be doing and what they should look like. Its unfortunate because all sorts of diversity benefits every field and that includes gender diversity."

Bergeron hopes to pursue her bachelors degree in computer science. Her dream is to go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After college, she said she would love to work for the space agency.

This experience changed my life. I met so many other people who have the same interests and goals as me and now we have a Snap Chat group and we talk all the time, she said. We are actually going back down to NASA this summer to see the rocket launched into space.

Virginia - Aminah Bergeron, an STCC student, (right holding NCAS sign) attended at NASA.

Bergeron said the trip has changed her outlook on her career.

Before this I always loved NASA and planets and space, but now that I know I could actually be the person who builds a rocket I have to do it. Its my dream to say I made something that actually went to space, she said.

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(Bloomberg) -- The increase in quarantined customers has forced food delivery companies to balance a potential boom in orders alongside the risk of spreading sickness to both customers and drivers.

Both Uber Technologies Inc. and Deliveroo have said theyre setting aside funds to compensate drivers who might fall ill or are forced to be quarantined.

London-based Deliveroo budgeted several million pounds to compensate drivers for lost earnings due to the disease, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the preparations are private. The company will compensate impacted drivers for 14 days above the U.K. statutory sick pay rate, the person said.

Uber has said it will offer drivers in the U.S., U.K. and Mexico compensation for a period of time if theyre diagnosed with Covid-19 or placed in quarantine, and the company is planning to implement the program worldwide.

In a message sent to U.K. customers, Deliveroo Chief Executive Officer Will Shu said the company was launching a no-contact service, letting customers ask drivers to leave their food on doorsteps rather than pass it from one hand to another. Uber said Wednesday that users could leave a note on the app asking for a similar drop off.

The person familiar with Deliveroos strategy, due to roll out next week, said riders will also be able to elect a no-contact delivery if they choose.

Read more: Boutique Economy Slammed as Virus Makes Personal Touch Toxic

Deliveroos other provisions include ordering hand sanitizer on behalf of drivers, and letting customers in some areas of the U.K. order kitchen and household products from supermarkets via the app.

Takeaway.com said that from Friday all its deliveries from restaurants in Europe would be made contact-free. Delivery couriers are being instructed to ring the customers doorbell and to leave the delivery bag at the door, a spokesperson for the company said in an email.

The workers funds have been set up at time when ride-hailing companies are challenging attempts by lawmakers and unions to increase benefits to drivers. In the U.K., the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain has challenged companies such as Uber on whether drivers should be entitled to overtime and holidays.

Story continues

If sick pay is the right thing to do in a pandemic when the world is watching, its the right thing to do, period, said Greg Howard, secretary for IWGBs couriers and logistics branch. That Deliveroo told the press about this fund before it said a word to its riders is indicative of its priorities.

In the U.S., Uber and its rivals are also appealing a new law that may end up classifying their workers as employees.

Tensions are rising among those workers in areas hardest hit by the virus. A letter from unionized delivery staff in Milan, Rome, Naples and Bologna on Thursday called for a strike because it said they lacked adequate rights to protect themselves given the health risk.

Our life and health are worth more than a pizza, a sushi or a sandwich, groups including the Bologna Riders Union wrote in a Facebook post.

Governments have also taken steps to protect gig-economy workers, who are often considered contractors and dont automatically get access to sick pay or other benefits from the companies they work for. U.K. finance minister Rishi Sunak pledged a 30 billion pound ($39 billion) stimulus package on Wednesday to help fight the impact of the coronavirus, promising statutory payments to everyone whos been told to self isolate and more generous welfare packages. French labor minister Muriel Penicaud said in an television interview with LCI that the government is reviewing measures to provide financial relief to precarious workers hit by the crisis, including food delivery riders.

Read more: Italy Shuts Down Shops, Restaurants After Virus Toll Rises

The data so far is showing that as people spend more time at home, theyre getting take out more often, UBS Group AG analyst Hubert Jeaneau said in a note published Thursday. In Italy, where officials ordered a country-wide lock-down thats shut nearly everything except grocery stores and pharmacies, customers could still order takeout meals from apps like Deliveroo, Glovo and Just Eat.

Still, that trend could quickly reverse, Jeaneau said. In China, fear of being infected by sick drivers caused many customers to stop using delivery services, with some building complexes halting access to food delivery drivers. Meituan Dianping and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the two biggest delivery companies, also introduced no-touch delivery to help combat concerns.

This can turn negative we think, if there are concerns around contact with food preparation and/or riders, Jeaneau said in the note. Customers may also be out of luck if drivers are taken off the road or restaurants are shut, he said.

(Updates with details on rider elections in 6th paragraph, Takeaway.com in 8th, union comments in 10th)

--With assistance from Alessandro Speciale, Helene Fouquet and John Follain.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nate Lanxon in London at nlanxon@bloomberg.net;Natalia Drozdiak in Brussels at ndrozdiak1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Amy Thomson

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.
Omicron variant of COVID-19 identified in Antrim, Charlevoix counties

The omicron variant of COVID-19 has been identified in one Antrim County resident and one Charlevoix County resident.
Offaly County Council has issued a Covid 19 public notice on their services to the public.

In a statement on Friday, OCC said: "Offaly County Council has reviewed arrangements for access to its services arising from the statement by An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar on March 12. Non-essential meetings and events have been postponed. Services to the public will remain available at our offices during normal opening hours; however, we are asking that attendance at our offices is avoided where possible. This to protect the public and staff and is in line with government advice."

"We have a range of services available online at www.offaly.ie or you may wish to contact us at customerservices@offalycoco.ie or Tel: 057-9346800. Out of hours please contact 1890 750 750

Other contacts available for direct queries are:

Birr Municipal District birrmd@offalycoco.ie 0579124900

Edenderry Municipal District edenderrymd@offalycoco.ie 0469731256

Tullamore Municpal District tullamoremd@offalycoco.ie 0579352470

Housing housing@offalycoco.ie 0579346800

Planning planning@offalycoco.ie 0579346800

Motor Tax motortax@offalycoco.ie 0579346800

Roads roads@offalycoco.ie 0579346800

Environment environment@offalycoco.ie 0579346800

Cash Office cashoffice@offalycoco.ie 0579357414

Irish Water 1890 750 750

You can check the council website and social media channels for regular updates.

If you have any concerns in relation to Covid 19 please check www.hse.ie.

"The above provisions will remain in place up to and including Sunday, 29 March 2020, and will be subject to review pending further announcements by Government," OCC said.
Below is the transcript of a CNBC Exclusive and First on CNBC interview with Pierre Poignant, Group CEO, Lazada. The interview will play out in CNBC's latest episode of Managing Asia on 13 March 2020, 5.30PM SG/HK (in APAC). If you choose to use anything, please attribute to CNBC and Christine Tan.

Christine Tan (CT): As part of the founding team and now CEO of Lazada, do you remember the day Alibaba made the announcement in April 2016 that it was going to buy a controlling stake in a company?

Pierre Poignant (PP): It was a milestone as part of a broader journey. I think our goal is to build the largest e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia. Our dream goal is to serve 300 million consumers. I think Alibaba coming in as a backer, we could look further and say, hey, we will be able to achieve this.

CT: So, it was another leg of growth for you?

PP: It was another leg of growth for us. It was an access to a massive ecosystem, access to a lot of technology, a lot of resources, which we are still only starting to capture some of the synergies.

CT: Alibaba has pumped in something like $4 billion into the company. How much have you benefitted from Alibaba's know-how in e-commerce and how much have you changed your business model as a result?

PP: A major milestone in terms of synergies and working together was in 2018 when we deployed Alibaba technology. Being on the same platform has enabled us to tap into the resources of Alibaba in terms of personalization of the platform and the ability to handle consumers' and sellers' data. We are now using the cutting-edge platform in the world. It has also enabled us a much faster pace of innovation because we can just take some of the components from the Alibaba ecosystem and deploy them in Southeast Asia. Overall, it has also helped us to grow our seller or supply base because a lot of seller brands have been attracted by the platform and hopped onto the bandwagon.

CT: What else in Alibaba's arsenal do you want to tap on?

PP: In the future, I think we really work on business synergies. To give you an example - last December, we started to enable our brands to sell into China. During 11/11 and we had a hair care brand Ellips from Indonesia that started to sell into China, getting 40x sales in one day. We also have a lipstick brand called Sunnies Face from the Philippines now selling into Tmall Global - top three in the category of lipsticks in Tmall Global. That's just an example that showed the huge potential for Southeast Asian brands to tap into new market opportunities.

CT: You think having all that access to Alibaba's e-commerce know-how and knowledge has put Lazada light years ahead of its competitors in the industry in Southeast Asia?

PP: We have the largest consumer base in Southeast Asia. We are also the fastest growing platform. We just closed five quarters of above 100 percent growth. So, we believe we will continue on that trajectory, yes.

CT: So, the answer is yes?

PP: Yes.

CT: What does it mean to be under Alibaba's control and ownership? I understand at the beginning, Alibaba brought in some Chinese executives to help run some of these markets for Lazada. Were Lazada employees used to the Chinese way of doing things? How difficult was it to integrate two very strong and distinct corporate cultures?

PP: So, I think integration is as you rightly point out about technology, and as I mentioned, people. And then afterwards, through battles and objectives, we get there together and build the joint culture. So, of course, in that process, there are hiccups. There are tensions sometimes. I would be lying if

CT: What kind of hiccups and what kind of tensions?

PP: You mentioned it yourself, when you have two distinct culture with people with strong ideas, strong minds coming from different background, when they discuss about strategy, sometimes they disagree. They disagree on what needs to be done. That's the kind of tension we had.

CT: So, Lazada has over 30 warehouses in 70 cities in Southeast Asia. How much have you leveraged on Alibaba's expertise when it comes to building your logistics and your supply chain?

PP: Logistics has always been a core asset of Lazada. That was one of the reasons why Alibaba invested. Since the integration, in terms of technology, we've leveraged a lot of the tech from Alibaba. We are also leveraging their expertise in design of warehouses. For example, we are building a mega center in Thailand and another one in Malaysia. So, a lot of synergies.

CT: You make it a point to own your own supply chain. Why is that?

PP: What is very important in e-commerce is to deliver very good consumer experiences. To do so, being able to control the logistics, being able to control the parcels, how they flow in the network gives us a very strong competitive advantage.

CT: Isn't it also more expensive as a result?

PP: If you design the logistics network tied with the platform, we can be more efficient than just relying on third-party players.

CT: A large population of Southeast Asian consumers, they don't have bank accounts. They still pay a lot of the deliveries by cash and you are trying to solve this problem by offering an e-wallet, a payment system which you've merged with Alibaba's Ant Financial. What's the progress have you made shifting consumers from cash to online payments?

PP: Yes, you're right, 70 percent of the consumers are underbanked in Southeast Asia. We've done this as a big opportunity. We have the largest cash-on-delivery network in the region and that enable 85 percent of the consumers, when they experience Lazada for the first time, buy cash on delivery. But now we're rolling out a wallet. Today there is around 10 million users, 10 million active buyers on our wallet and we see very fast growth in all of our markets using this technology.

CT: How much could you shift online payments in the next few years?

PP: Ultimately, when we look at five, 10 years down the road, we believe more than 80 percent of the payments would be online.

CT: So, after its founding in 2012, Lazada now has 60 million active buyers. What are your revenues like? How fast are you growing?

PP: Today, we are on a trajectory for the five past quarters to grow triple digits across all our markets. In terms of revenue, we don't disclose this number. We are focusing on the engagement from consumers and the engagement from our sellers on our platform.

CT: Are you profitable?

PP: When it comes to profitability, what matters is to have a very clear plan and business model, which we are extremely confident of in the future for profitability. Today we're still investing in this market. Our goal is to grow our consumer base to more than 300 million consumers in Southeast Asia, and that will take time.

CT: Is there a timeframe you look to, to be profitable?

PP: We have clear plans in place to be profitable in the coming years, but we're also very reactive to the market and the opportunities around us in terms of growing our consumer base.

CT: I understand that e-commerce adoption in Southeast Asia is only a meagre 3 to 4 percent. How much could this grow for you in the next couple of years?

PP: If we look at China for example, we are above 15 percent already. I believe a lot of the fundamentals in Southeast Asia are very similar to what's happening in China. So, we are confident that we will triple, quadruple this number in the next couple of years.

CT: Where is that growth likely to come from? Which Southeast Asian market?

PP: Today, the fastest growth is coming from Indonesia for us. But we are also seeing countries like Vietnam getting into e-commerce very quickly. These are our two biggest pillars today.

CT: You've got lots of local competition coming from Indonesia especially - Tokopedia, Bukalapak, Sendo in Vietnam, Qoo10 here in Singapore. Do you think Lazada has what it takes to dominate every single market in Southeast Asia?

PP: We believe we have the fundamentals and the right strategy to win Southeast Asia and to win in every single market, yes.

CT: What about Indonesia?

PP: Indonesia is our largest market, fastest growing.

CT: But you are not number one there?

PP: We've been present in Indonesia since 2012. We have for example an initiative  an online shopping festival in 2012. Since then, Indonesia has been the largest market for Lazada. Today, it's our fastest growing market. Today, we're the largest fashion player in Indonesia, which is our strongest category. We have the largest logistics network in Indonesia.

CT: But can you be the number one largest e-commerce player in Indonesia?

PP: We believe we'll become number one, yes.

CT: After Alibaba bought over Lazada, you went and went you went ahead and acquired online grocery store RedMart. How lucrative is the online supermarket business.

PP: RedMart is a very important part for our offering in Singapore. If you're live in Singapore, RedMart is a beloved brand with all of the Singaporeans. So, we don't look at RedMart as a sliver of the business, we look at the Singaporean business alone. What groceries bring is a lot of engagement, a lot of recurring consumers. It helps to build up the basket, build up the wallet share of e-commerce in Singapore. In that, we've been extremely successful.

CT: Are you open to acquiring other online grocery stores in some of the other markets in Southeast Asia?

PP: We don't have anything specific coming up, but we are always open to opportunities in Southeast Asia, yes.

CT: In terms of integration, I understand there were some issues when you tried to integrate RedMart app into your Lazada platform and some users were unhappy as a result. What happened? What went wrong? What were some of the mistakes you made?

PP: RedMart had a very grocery specific experience in terms of technology. Lazada was more general merchandise kind of technology. When we brought RedMart into Lazada, there were actually some user experience issues. We listened to our consumers who provided us very direct feedback. And we incorporated a lot of these changes. I believe we've addressed most of the concerns in terms of user experience. We are improving month on month.

CT: So, you've got your grocery business. You've got your e-commerce business. You've got your LazMall which takes care of brands. You've got a little bit of a gaming business called LazGames. What other categories do you want to get into next?

PP: What we see very promising today are digital goods, for example, our digital services where we sell services that users can redeem offline afterwards. This is a very, very fast-growing category for us.

CT: So, Pierre, you're the third CEO in Lazada eighth year history. You've been the startup's Chief Operating Officer before being appointed CEO in December 2018. How has the management and leadership of the company changed since it was bought over by Alibaba?

PP: I am a founder of this company and I have deep passion for Lazada. In many ways, the way we run the company has not changed that much. What we want is to achieve our dream. What we want is a build a great company, and that has not changed.

CT: You're French, graduated from M.I.T., you worked at McKinsey offices in Paris and Singapore before joining the startup as Chief Operating Officer, now the CEO. How would you describe your management style?

PP: The job of a CEO is to run the business, so what matters is setting the direction, making quick decisions and getting results. That's number one. The other thing that is very important as a CEO is to build your team. The way I work with my team is to basically empower my colleagues a lot in what they want to achieve, and that's what I really enjoy doing. Last but not least, I think it's all about the culture. As a founder of the company, I have deep passion for Lazada. I love the company. I want to see the company succeed. That's what drives me every day when I wake up. And I want this passion to resonate in all the Lazadians.

CT: You report to Lucy Peng who is the Executive Chairwoman, formerly part Alibaba's Ant Financial. What's it like to report to a Chinese e-commerce giant? What's it like?

PP: Lucy has been the Chairwoman of Lazada for more than two years now. Working with Lucy is very, very interesting. She decides the dream goal for you, and she worries a lot about the people. How do we make sure we build the greatest team? How do we make sure we empower our colleagues? This is what matters a lot to her, and I've learnt a lot from her on these aspects.

CT: You talk about a lot of vision and empowerment, but reporting to Alibaba, is it all about numbers as well?

PP: At the end of the day, we run a business, so we need to get the results. So, of course, our shareholders look at that very closely. But Alibaba also knows what it takes to build a successful e-commerce company. So, it's not about the quarterly results, it's not about the sales numbers, the vanity numbers that I can show every quarter, it's about do I have the right fundamentals in the platform to be successful in the future in the next three, five, 10 years? That's what matters to Alibaba.

CT: You're in charge of 9,000 employees at Lazada, what's your employee profile like? I'm curious.

PP: Lazadians reflect the diversity of Southeast Asia.

CT: You called them Lazadians?

PP: Yes!

CT: Interesting.

PP: Lazadians reflect the diversity of Southeast Asia. We have a very, very diverse population. We have people from six countries of Asia that have different backgrounds, different languages, different alphabets, different religions, different beliefs. But you also have people from all around the world, we have more than 50 citizenships at Lazada. A lot of the colleagues are very young, and they are all very passionate.

CT: Younger than you?

PP: Yes, I'm part of the old ones, yes.

CT: And finally, as CEO of Lazada, what impact do you want to make?

PP: I mentioned it to you before, I love the company. I founded the company. What gets me going is to make the company successful and have an impact in our ecosystem in different economies. Ten years from now, I want to turn back and say, "We made a difference in the digital economy of Southeast Asia." We are creating new businesses. We created new opportunities, and we changed the way people consume.

END

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As the coronavirus outbreak continues to wreak havoc all over the globe, one thing has become abundantly clear: Donald Trump and his cult of GOP lawmakers in Washington are too blind to govern in a time of crisis.

In the not-so-distant past, a global pandemic would have quickly unified leaders on both sides of the aisle, but this MAGA-infected Republican Party will have none of it. They refuse to leave their political sandboxes and act like rational adults.

Thats, of course, because the GOP continues to take its cues from the most dangerous and incompetent president in history.

Since the beginning of this fiasco, Trump has been downplaying the outbreak, even calling it a hoax. By believing him, as his red hat-wearing supporters always do, they are putting the rest of the country at risk.

Trump has also dedicated his precious time to attacking the media and blaming Democrats, because he instinctively believes anything that hurts the stock market  and thus, his reelection effort  must be a plot to overthrow him.

Not for a moment can he fathom that his response to this crisis  right up to his dumpster fire Oval Office address on Wednesday night  has been an unmitigated horror show.

But, again, this is not only a Trump problem. This is a complete system failure on the part of the Republican Party.

As former Obama official Tommy Vietor said, Republicans are actively harming our response to this global crisis by blindly following Trump as he takes this country off a cliff.

Democratic lawmakers on Thursday proposed a coronavirus relief package that includes free testing, paid medical leave, food assistance and more. GOP leadership should have jumped on this opportunity to take action, but they announced their opposition right away.

There is the possibility that Congress and the White House will soon reach some type of deal on a coronavirus relief package, but its appalling that they had to be dragged into it kicking and screaming.

Meanwhile, the number of nationwide cases continues to rise and the U.S. testing capacity is still dangerously far behind where it should be. Not to mention the fact that the stock market is spiraling out of control and the odds of a recession seem to grow each day.

Some top economists claim the United States is already in a recession.

This global health crisis shows us how unfit Donald Trump is

Donald Trump isnt fit to be president of the United States even in the best of times, but this global health emergency has shown all of us just how dangerous he can be when an actual crisis hits his desk.

Its hard to tell whether the presidency is too big for him or if hes just too small for it, but it is clear that he shouldnt be anywhere near a position of power at any level of American government.

And the Republican Party, paralyzed by cowardice and blind partisanship, would rather whistle past the graveyard than responsibly deal with this emergency as quickly as possible.

At the end of the day, the GOP knows that if they sound the alarm now, it would be an acknowledgement that their dear leader has completely bungled this  and, boy, they couldnt do that.

So the American people are forced to wait out this crisis as Donald Trump  the chaos president  and his cult-like mob of sycophants in Congress try to convince us that this is all fine, nothing to see here, Trump is doing A-plus work.

The least any of them could do is let the adults handle things for the next eight months until voters can send them back to where they belong.

Lives depend on it.

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A corridor connecting the United Nations Secretariat and the General Assembly was virtually empty on Thursday, March 12, 2020, after the organisation cancelled many meetings and asked many of its staff to work from home. (Photo: Arul Louis/IANS) Image Source: PK

United Nations, March 13 : Located in the middle of New York that is facing the coronavirus threat, the world organisation of 193 nations is hunkering down to meet the crisis with a test for Security Council cybermeetings, limiting participation in sessions, cancelling meetings and encouraging staff to work from home.

The UN headquarters has been placed in Phase2 of the three-level response activation system "which is an active risk reduction mode", Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said on Thursday.

Guterres has ordered the cancellation of all but the charter-mandated meetings of the UN at the headquarters till the end of April and has also asked countries to drop their side events, he said.

India's UN Mission cancelled a Women's Day event last week at which International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Chief Economist Gita Gopinath was to have participated.

Dujarric said that as of Thursday, none of the 3,000 staff members at the headquarters had tested positive for the disease and none of the missions have reported any infections among its personnel.

A centre for people from around the world, the UN headquarters faces an added risk from being located in New York City, which has 96 cases with 146 more clustered in a suburb.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency and on Thursday banned meetings of more than 500 people.

General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande has asked missions to limit participation at meetings to two New York-based members, his spokesperson Reema Abza said.

That would help keep the numbers below 500 at the Assembly-related meetings with 193 member countries.

The Security Council held a test of a cybermeeting on Monday as a backup should the UN building be shut down.

China's Permanent Representative Zhang Jun, who is the Security Council President for this month, said that its 15 delegations have been asked to "scale down" participation by reducing the number of those attending the meeting.

About 40 per cent of the staff at the headquarters is expected to telecommute and provisions have been put in place for key staff to operate remotely in case of a shutdown.

Dujarric said that he was equipped to run the daily briefings from his living room.

Diplomats have generally been exempted from President Donald Trump's restrictions on travel from Europe to the US, but Guterres has suggested minimising travel.

The UN has banned visitors from entering the headquarters building and suspended tours of the facility.

The meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women that was scheduled for this week with the participation of several hundred people from around the country was suspended.

The Youth Plenary scheduled for March 31 to prepare for the 75th anniversary of the UN has also been suspended.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
President Donald Trump insisted that travelers coming into the United States will be screened for the coronavirus before entering the country.

Trump announced a travel ban during a televised address from the Oval Office. He said there would be exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings, NPR reports. Adding, U.S. citizens will be directed to a limited number of airports where screening can take place.

Travelers, including one man wearing a protective mask, walk in Terminal A at Tegel Airport before the Trump European travel ban goes into effect | Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Despite the announcement, Madison Hildebrand from Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles said no one screened him when he returned from a trip to Thailand. Nobody searched or asked me anything too!! he shared on Twitter along with a retweet of a Daily Mail article about the travel ban.

This New York Times reporter observed the same thing

New York Times reporter Mike McIntire had a similar experience at an airport as Hildebrand. He tweeted about his travel experience. Just arrived at JFK from Paris. Zero screening, testing or even questions related to coronavirus (and the Global Entry scanner spit out someone elses entry receipt for me, and the guy behind me got mine, and so on), he wrote.

Just arrived at JFK from Paris. Zero screening, testing or even questions related to coronavirus (and the Global Entry scanner spit out someone elses entry receipt for me, and the guy behind me got mine, and so on)  Mike McIntire (@mmcintire) March 12, 2020

Adding, My wife went through regular customs and was asked if shed been to China, but that was it. No one asked me a single question, and any other screening was nonexistent.

McIntire also asked a flight attendant how the current state compared to post-9/11. Final note: An experienced flight attendant on our get-away plane from Europe said he hasnt seen anything like this since 9-11, in terms of chaos, panic and sky-rocketing fares. He fears it will only get worse, he shared.

Bravolebrities react differently

While one Bravoleb went into panic mode, another one decided to keep calm and carry on. Alexis Bellino from The Real Housewives of Orange County hit Costco yesterday and stockpiled as many supplies as she could grab. She observed that many others were doing the same thing as panic has clearly arrived in Orange County.

Many of Bellinos Instagram followers werent pleased to see the former Housewife hoarding supplies. And you are the problem why its nothing left in the selves for people, one person remarked on her Instagram post.

Meanwhile, in Charleston, South Carolina, Patricia Altschul from Southern Charm had a different experience at her local Costco. Altschul is no stranger to disaster relief preparation. Charleston was the target of a monstrous Category 5 hurricane this fall. Altschul approached the coronavirus, in the same manner, she approached the hurricane: with champagne. Getting prepared in case the coronavirus hits @costco, she wrote. Reza Farahan from Shahs of Sunset also noticed Altschul brought the right bag along for the shopping trip too. Birkin at Costco! Love you @pataltschul , he responded to her post. Also, Courtney Skippon from Below Deck added, This is how I provision as well.

Altschul also included the bubbly for hurricane prep too. Stocking up on hurricane supplies at @costco #champagne #batteries #pet #toys, she shared on Instagram and included a snapshot of her shopping cart.
KAMPALA  Uganda has restricted visitors from some countries with what it terms high cases of coronavirus, including China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, South Korea, and Spain.

Government has decided to ask travelers from the affected countries not to come to Uganda because the high cases they are reporting can easily be imported into the country, the countrys Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said.

A revised advisory released by the Health Ministry increased the number of high-risk countries from 7 to 16, including the United States and the United Kingdom. The other countries include the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Austria, and Malaysia. In the new statement, travelers from these countries are urged to consider postponing non-essential travel to Uganda.

Dr. Aceng said those who insist on visiting Uganda from these countries would have to self-quarantine at their own cost for 14 days either at home or at a government facility. Ugandans in affected countries are not exempt from the travel restriction.

President Museveni has since urged foreign tourists coming to Uganda to consider the current world crisis caused by the spread of Coronavirus, and stay away as the country joins international efforts to combat the pandemic to stabilize the crisis.

Theres no shortcut about Coronavirus, the President said.

Lets loose the money and save lives, Mr. Museveni said, cautioning companies and those dealing with foreign tourists already in the country to follow precautions put in place to avoid catching and spreading the deadly virus.

The President was talking during a meeting with investors and the business community at Entebbe on Thursday, March 12.

Uganda also postponed the 2020 United Nations G77 and China Summit scheduled for mid-April in the capital of Kampala due to the coronavirus threat, the minister said.

More than 6,000 delegates from 136 member states were due to attend.

Rwanda Air, Kenya Airways and Moroccos Royal Air Maroc are among some African airlines that have suspended flights to China. Ethiopian Airlines, however, tweeted that it will keep operating flights to China while adhering to international standards to ensure the safety of its passengers.

Important Facts:

The pandemic:

The formal declaration by the WHO of COVID-19 or any other infectious disease as pandemic tells governments, agencies and aid organizations worldwide to shift efforts from containment to mitigation. It has economic, political and societal impacts on a global scale and the WHO takes extreme care when making tis determination.

Quick Facts about Coronavirus:

As of March 13, the official numbers count excess of 120,000 cases in at least 114 countries. Eight countries, including the U.S., have more than 1,000 cases each, with China the most hit.

Precautions for the Public:

UNICEF and WHO emphasize:

Avoid touching surfaces unnecessarily. Wash hands with soap often. Sneeze responsibly in tissue and get rid of them immediately. Use sanitizers. Avoid crowded places.

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Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javadekar will brief media on the outcome of the cabinet meeting at 3 pm on Friday.

Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet is scheduled to meet today.

According to Union Cabinet sources, Joint Secretaries of all five ministries, including Ministry of External Affairs, Health, Civil Aviation, Finance and Commerce will address a press conference every day.

The press conference comes at a time when the country is facing economic slowdown, coronavirus scare and Yes Bank crisis.

There are speculations that the Cabinet might give a nod to Reserve Bank of India's reconstruction scheme for the troubled Yes Bank.

The State Bank of India had said on Thursday that it will buy 725 crore shares of Yes Bank at the price of Rs 10 per share, subject to regulatory approvals.

The Opposition has been targetting Centre over handling of economy and coronavirus outbreak. So far 73 people were tested positive for COVID-19 in India.

World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday had declared the coronavirus outbreak a 'pandemic' and expressed deep concern.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To the annoyance of some shareholders, Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga (MCX:MRKV) shares are down a considerable 30% in the last month. Indeed the recent decline has arguably caused some bitterness for shareholders who have held through the 37% drop over twelve months.

All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). Investors have optimistic expectations of companies with higher P/E ratios, compared to companies with lower P/E ratios.

View our latest analysis for Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga

Does Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga's P/E of 3.25 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. We can see in the image below that the average P/E (6.5) for companies in the electric utilities industry is higher than Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga's P/E.

MISX:MRKV Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga's P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Since the market seems unimpressed with Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga, it's quite possible it could surprise on the upside. It is arguably worth checking if insiders are buying shares, because that might imply they believe the stock is undervalued.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Generally speaking the rate of earnings growth has a profound impact on a company's P/E multiple. That's because companies that grow earnings per share quickly will rapidly increase the 'E' in the equation. And in that case, the P/E ratio itself will drop rather quickly. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.

Story continues

Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga shrunk earnings per share by 45% over the last year. But over the longer term (3 years), earnings per share have increased by 4.8%.

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

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. Theoretically, a business can improve its earnings (and produce a lower P/E in the future) by investing in growth. That means taking on debt (or spending its cash).

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.

So What Does Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga's Balance Sheet Tell Us?

Net debt totals 17% of Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga's market cap. That's enough debt to impact the P/E ratio a little; so keep it in mind if you're comparing it to companies without debt.

The Verdict On Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga's P/E Ratio

Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga's P/E is 3.2 which is below average (7.2) in the RU market. The debt levels are not a major concern, but the lack of EPS growth is likely weighing on sentiment. Given Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga's P/E ratio has declined from 4.6 to 3.2 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer invest in growth, this stock apparently offers limited promise, but the deep value investors may find the pessimism around this stock enticing.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. If it is underestimating a company, investors can make money by buying and holding the shares until the market corrects itself. 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.

But note: Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Volga may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Yulia Tsvetkova posted delicate drawings and embroidered images of vulvas on a social media page called "Vagina Monologues" that she hoped would help lift the taboo on women's bodies. Instead, the Russian artist and campaigner for women's and LGBT rights has been put under house arrest for the posts. Since she was detained in November, the 26-year-old has been waiting to stand trial for distributing pornography online, a charge which carries a jail term of between two and six years. In Russia, distributing pornography is illegal and the law is regularly enforced. She has a hearing on extending her house arrest on Monday. Her case has prompted international attention with Amnesty International last month declaring her a prisoner of conscience facing "absurd charges." She said that judgement was important to her, because many people had suggested it was her fault she was slapped with the "shameful" charge. "It gives me confirmation that yes, my case is politically motivated," she said by phone from her home in the Far East city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Tsvetkova believes the authorities are using the pornography charge as a pretext for cracking down on activists, particularly in the LGBT community, because it is easy to pin on people and carries a long sentence. By comparison, Russia's legislation on gay propaganda to minors, which has been used to prevent numerous gay pride events, carries a maximum sentence of 15 days in police cells. Although Russia decriminalised homosexuality in 1993, homophobia remains widely socially acceptable. Recent constitutional amendments proposed by President Vladimir Putin and backed by parliament include a clause that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. - LGBT crackdown - Another LGBT activist in the nearby city of Khabarovsk, Sergei Arnautov, has been arrested on the same pornography charge for allegedly posting gay porn videos on a social media account, according to Russian television. "It's possible that there is a new method in the Far East -- if they can 'close' a case with this charge, they will try in other cities," Tsvetkova says. Her lawyer Yakov Pushkaryov said he had often defended people charged with pornography but this was the first time the defendant was an activist. He said he couldn't comment on the likelihood of Tsvetkova being convicted but said "we are doing all we can to prevent this." The charge has also been used against a transgender woman called Michelle in the western Bryansk region who was sentenced to three years over posts of drawings allegedly showing naked minors. The courts threw out the verdict and ordered a retrial. For Tsvetkova, the pornography charge is a major escalation after she was twice prosecuted for "propaganda" of gay values to minors. The first charge came over a children's show she directed called "Blue and Pink," which criticised gender stereotypes, and the second was for a social media post of a drawing of same-sex couples with children. Tsvetkova says she is one of just a handful of activists in her city best known for producing military aircraft. She previously hosted readings, lectures and a children's theatre at a community centre which she eventually closed under pressure last year. She also kept a feminist blog and worked on sex education for children, offered support for LGBT teenagers and held showings for a LGBT film festival. - 'Death threats' - The "Vagina" page, marked as suitable for people over 18, was something she spent little time on but did for six months as a "hobby," she says. She says she has received death threats from a shadowy homophobic group called Saw because of the page, and a vociferous anti-LGBT campaigner, Timur Bulatov, boasts online that he reported her to police. Tsvetkova's case has angered many Russians and at a protest on International Women's Day in a Moscow park, young women held home-made placards with slogans in support of her including "We are all Tsvetkovas" and "In my country there shouldn't be criminal cases over drawings of vaginas." "My vagina isn't pornography" read a placard held by Nadezhda Aronchik, a 26-year-old activist. "It's clear that the case is fabricated," she said. "They are prosecuting her for her pictures that absolutely aren't pornography." Tsvetkova faces an extension to her house arrest later this month and it is unclear when her trial will begin. She says she is trying to keep her spirits up, despite being unable to visit a dentist to get treatment for a severe toothache. "Looking at the statistics on guilty verdicts in Russia, I have very few chances," Tsvetkova says. "I'm not under any illusions." But, she says, "I can't sit every day crying about my future. I'm trying to believe in a miracle." Although Russia decriminalised homosexuality in 1993, homophobia remains widely socially acceptable
Photo: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

There are certain things you are Very Much Not Supposed to Do at times like this, and Andrew Cuomo was doing them. He was shaking hands. He was touching his face. And not in index finger on the temple kind of a way, but full on in the way of a very tired and very frustrated person. He squeezed the bridge of his nose. He rubbed his eyes with his palms. The governor was camped in a conference room in Albany on Tuesday afternoon, just as down in Washington, D.C., Donald Trump was telling reporters, Just stay calm, it will go away, while his top health official was saying that in point of fact Americans should prepare for a long and debilitating crisis. Cuomo was on the phone, calling various hospital administrators and health officials from around the state, trying to figure out how soon they could get a coronavirus test up and running, and running a finger across his forehead in a universal sign of nervousness.

The mood in the room, however, was light. Speaking to one health-care executive, Cuomo adopted (or tried to at least) the Irish brogue of the person on the other end of the line. Im from County Cork, yea. Im coming right there to play footie.

Quickly, he would cut to the chase. New York by that afternoon had passed 200 cases, and Cuomo was trying to prod the federal government to let the state administer its own tests. He calls it peeling the onion, but it is more like a dicing.

Who has the authority to do this?, he asked. Do you? You just said you did. And, at another point, to a different administrator in a series of calls that take up most of the afternoon: I dont want it get caught up in the bureaucracy. That would take months. Or again: You have to strip it down to what it actually is, and then you have to get it done. If we do this right it would be a big deal.

It is hard not to notice in the midst of all this war-gaming of a crisis, that Andrew Cuomo is happy. He seems to have an energy, a spring in his step that the usual Albany back-and-forth sucks out of even the most hearty souls.

Im not happy, he clarified when the question is put to him later in his office. I like opening airports. I like cutting ribbons at construction sites. I like passing legislation. This isnt happy, its adrenaline. When a bear is charging at you, if you are not energized, you are dead.

Cuomo will forever remain a difficult figure to like: a cravenly political governor whose significant liberal accomplishments have come about through mercurial wheeling and dealing. He doesnt aim to inspire, he aims to deliver, preferably with the other sides throat cut along the way. But in moments like this, when the world is gripped by panic and other parts of the government are flailing, Cuomo is in his element. Every day it is something new. A containment zone around New Rochelle. Wrestling new powers from the Legislature to combat the crisis. And, as ugly as it looks, getting state prisoners to manufacture hand sanitizer because somehow the entire country has run out.

This isnt wrangling with the legislature over Medicaid reimbursement rates or property tax caps. But Cuomoism from the get-go has been about proving that government can solve concrete and material problems. Do thatfix the roads, build the schools, and clean up after disasters, whether it be Hurricane Sandy or snowstorms in Buffalo or taking over the rebuilding in Puerto Ricoand you can convince people that the rest of the government they pay for can solve other, more entrenched problems.

Coronavirus, the governor believes, is not that kind of problem. Yes, its a virus, and its highly contagious, but it can be isolated and contained and it will run its course. His frustration is aimed at the federal government, which is operating like a shambolic merchant of chaos and so has made a manageable crisis into an unfolding, cascading series of disasters.

And so first you need to test, Cuomo told me on Tuesday. As it stood, if someone felt sick, and if epidemiological investigators determined that person had contact with someone with the disease, a State Police cruiser would come and pick up a sample and drive it to a lab in Albany. At most, it could test 200 samples a day. Two hundred! Its nothing. Thats covers just the neurotic people in my own family, he said.

The governor has been through this before. He spent eight years at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, dealing with one disaster after another, then in New York its been the same thing: floods, blizzards, hurricanes. He still remembers a time 25 years ago, in Florida, when a state trooper was directing traffic from people fleeing a hurricane, and one driver wouldnt heed his stop sign, just kept driving, knocking the trooper down and nearly running him over.

The panic is the problem. I have to get home, my kids are at home, I have to get out of here, a hurricanes coming. Whether its a fire, a flood, whatever it is. Here the panic, the anxiety, its people getting afraid to get on a public bus. They could be afraid to get on a subway. They could be afraid to be in Manhattan. The panic could be more destructive than the virus.

And he credits the federal governments response with fueling at least some of the panic. This one says this, that one says that, Trump says everythings fine, this one says no its not, this one says well have a vaccine tomorrow, the other one gets on and says its going to be a year, Cuomo said, adopting the voice of the confused television viewer. Now Im nervous. It sounds like a science-fiction movie. Who am I supposed to believe? What is the truth?

People have to understand this is not a death sentence, he added. Its just not.

Conversations about the virus began internally late last year. In February, once it was very clear that the disease was coming here and that there would be almost no federal response, Cuomo gathered fifty advisers  health officials, lawyers, government operations specialist, health insurance regulators  to game out what was coming and how the state should react. Would they need to quarantine people? Under what legal authority? How would they enforce the quarantine? And so on down the line, everything from how to transport sick patients to what this would mean for the subway and rail networks in the state. Even before the first case was announced, he had wrested special powers from the Legislature to deal with the coming crisis. This week, the administration set up a war room, filled with maps and

white boards, coordinating on tasks; like getting three testing

machines that were manufactured in Singapore shipped to New York

in the fastest manner possible.

You know how when you get into a car and sometimes it says operating mode and sport mode and all-wheel-drive mode?, he said to me on Tuesday. Well, government has to shift the gear in a situation like this. You go into -emergency-management mode. Emergency-management mode is a totally different mode then normal operating mode. Its not agency by agency; its a swat team of senior officials who come together. You mobilize the entire government.

On Wednesday, Cuomo watched Trumps halting Oval Office address, the one that made it clear, if it wasnt already, that this was something Trump had definitely not signed up for when he ran for president. Immediately after, he appeared on his brother Chris Cuomos CNN show, slamming the presidents speech. This is a massive governmental mobilization that you need a real government to handle. This is not political. Youre not going to do this on Twitter. This is government, baby, he said on CNN. Were beyond wash your hands, my brother. There is going to have to be major shifts in society short term.

By the next day, he was in his office, talking to lawyers, talking to leaders of business. He was preparing for those shifts. Broadway theaters were going to go dark. Bars and restaurants would have to operate at 50 percent capacity. The landscape was changing dramatically: Even the testing issue had by then become largely irrelevant, he said, just two days after he told me it should be the states priority. It was now time to prepare for a strain on the health system. He put an order in that forbade people from visiting their relatives in nursing homes. He asked for retired and former doctors and nurses to report for duty. School was still in session even as some states closed entire school systems, because doctors and nurses with children were needed on the job. Elective surgeries were ordered to be delayed. They had been keeping the fires contained by dousing the field with water, but the fire line was certain to be broken. What had happened in China, and South Korea, and Italy was certain to happen here, too, but we could be ready.

And there was shift too, he thought, coming in politics. Cuomo had been challenged in 2018 by Cynthia Nixon, the star of Sex and the City who had not a days worth of experience in government but who still managed to get a third of the vote from him in the Democratic primary. In the midst of the most hectic and terrifying week of his governorship, he could not resist getting in a dig:

Government, presidential elections, it was tweets, it was all one-liners, it was all personality, character, celebrity. Thats what politics had become. And all of a sudden you have changed the lens, he said while an aide brought him a large Dunkin Donuts coffee. Government is about real capacity and real consequences and really knowing what youre doing and real leadership. Elect the people who know what theyre doing, because you elect somebody because they are a celebrity, or because they have a great slogan, and then you ask them to perform. What do they say? I never told you I could perform. I told you I was good looking. I told you I tweeted a lot. I told you I had a great slogan. I never told you I was competent. And by the way, its really serious. Its not about celebrity and slogans. That is a stark shift. This is government at wartime.

*A version of this article appears in the March 16, 2020 issue of New York Magazine.
The Seattle area is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the US. Of the 1,635 cases reported in the country since the Covid-19 first appeared in January, 457 of them are in Washington, including 41 deaths.

Still, Schneider and her friends weren't tested for the coronavirus, she said. Their doctors thought they had the flu, but the flu tests were negative.

"At this point, we were all getting a little frustrated that they weren't allowed to be tested for coronavirus, or the doctor wasn't even suggesting" they be tested for it, Schneider said.

So, one of her friends told her about a Seattle flu study. Participants sign up online and send in a nasal swab from a kit that's part of the study. Recently, she said, they started testing for coronavirus, too, and "that's how I ultimately found out."

Schneider said she recovered after staying home, resting and taking over-the-counter medications.
AFCA data showed that 1,445 complaints lodged to the EDR body between July and December last year related to home building insurance, accounting for more than 30% of all general insurance complaints in Australia during the covered period.

AFCA said most home insurance complaints were about incorrect premiums, misleading information about a product, a rejected claim or a claim that an insurer may have taken too long to decide on, and failure to adhere to instructions, mozo.com.au reported.

The suburb of Thuringowa in Queenslands coastal city of Townsville posted the highest number of complaints by postcode  an unsurprising outcome considering that the city was hit hard last year by flooding, which led to an estimated $1.243 billion worth of damage, according to the Insurance Council of Australia.

Heres some good advice brokers can offer customers to ensure they dont end up frustrated during claim time:
NEW YORK, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine today revealed that Radiant Plumbing & Air Conditioning is No. 244 on its inaugural Inc. 5000 Series: Texas list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing Texas-based private companies. Born of the annual Inc. 5000 franchise, this regional list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the Texas economy's most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses.

"Being selected to this inaugural ranking of Texas companies demonstrates how important customer experience and company culture are," said Brad Casebier, president and founder of Radiant Plumbing & Air Conditioning. "Offering an excellent customer experience and creating an environment that supports our team members has been essential to Radiant's growth and success. We're looking forward to continuing to thrive in Austin as we deliver service, excellence and experience to the community."

The companies on this list show stunning rates of growth across all industries in Texas. Between 2016 and 2018, these 250 private companies had an average growth rate of 294 percent and, in 2018 alone, they employed 36,000 people and added $11 billion to the Texas economy. Companies based in the largest metro areasDallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antoniobrought in the highest revenue overall.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000 Series: Texas, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, metro area, and other criteria, can be found at inc.com/inc5000-series-texas-2020 starting March 13, 2020.

"The companies on this list demonstrate just how much the small-business sector impacts Texas's economy," says Inc. editor in chief Scott Omelianuk. "Across every single industry, these businesses have posted revenue and growth rates that are beyond impressive, further proving the tenacity of their founders and CEOs."

The winning companies on the Inc. 5000 Series: Texas list will be announced at the Inc. Founders House event at SXSW on March 13, 2020.

About Radiant Plumbing & Air Conditioning

Radiant Plumbing & Air Conditioning is an award-winning, family-owned plumbing and HVAC company, offering premier home service to the greater Austin area. Radiant strives to be a model for local businesses by providing outstanding customer experiences and some of the best jobs in Austin. Radiant also believes in giving back to the community through contributions to charitable organizations involved in water safety and distribution. For more information visit https://radiantplumbing.com or call 512-263-9988.

CONTACT:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

(865) 977-1973

[email protected]

More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Regional Series

Methodology

The 2020 Inc. 5000 Regional Series is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2018. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2018. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2018 is $1 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons.

About Inc. Media

The world's most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

SOURCE Radiant Plumbing & Air Conditioning

Related Links

https://radiantplumbing.com


The Midland Daily News remains committed to thoroughly covering the community while doing everything possible to ensure the wellbeing of our employees and customers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Newspaper management is continually monitoring developments regarding the novel coronavirus outbreak, and we are following guidance from the state of Michigan and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Sunny and windy. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Windy and partly cloudy this evening. Mostly cloudy with diminishing winds after midnight. Low 29F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 00:11:06|Editor: huaxia

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ADEN, Yemen, March 13 (Xinhua) -- At least five Yemeni civilians were killed during a shelling carried out by the Houthi rebels in the country's southwestern province of Taiz on Friday, a government official told Xinhua.

The local government source who asked to remain anonymous said that "the Houthi fighters fired a missile which struck a civilian vehicle in traveling in a densely populated neighborhood east of Taiz."

The Houthi-fired missile left around five civilians killed including women after destroying their vehicle in Taiz, the source said.

A number of other artillery shells fired by the Houthi rebels landed on the same residential neighborhood causing injuries among the civilians, according to the government source.

The city center of Taiz is currently under the control of the Yemeni government, while the outskirts of the city and areas in the countryside of the province are still witnessing armed confrontations between pro-government forces and the Houthi rebels.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa.
(TNS)  A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Oklahoma Department of Securities over a massive December 2018 data breach that allegedly caused the names, Social Security numbers and other personal information of more than 300,000 people to be published to the internet.The department caused the data breach by negligently misconfiguring a new firewall that it was installing with the aid of a consultant, the lawsuit alleges.The lawsuit also alleges that the department waited several weeks to notify law enforcement about the data breach, which resulted in valuable evidence being lost."Only after news reporters began asking questions and public exposure became inevitable did the department notify law enforcement and begin investigating the data breach," the lawsuit states. "By then, the access logs for the compromised server had been overwritten and irretrievably lost, destroying valuable evidence of the extent of the harm.""The department, with advice from OMES (the state Office of Management and Enterprise Services), also concocted a story about a then non-existent 'active investigation' in order to avoid having to publicly admit its failure to respond to the data breach and to justify withhold(ing) information from the reporters making inquiries," the lawsuit says.The lawsuit credits Forbes Magazine and Dale Denwalt, a reporter for, with bringing information about the data breach to light.Rattan Consulting Inc., a company hired by the Oklahoma Department of Securities to help configure the firewall, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed Monday in Oklahoma County District Court.The lawsuit was filed by former financial advisor Ryan Larson, who now lives in Utah, and Austin Mims, a financial advisor who lives in Ohio. Both stated they were registered with the Oklahoma Department of Securities and were among the more than 300,000 individuals whose personal data was exposed on the internet. They are seeking class-action status for the lawsuit so that their attorneys can represent not only them, but all the other individuals who had their data exposed.The personal data that was exposed "included more than 30 years of files, dating back to at least 1986, containing information such as plain text passwords, system credentials, social security numbers, financial account numbers, and personal identifying information such as gender, height, weight, hair color, eye color, date of birth and state and county of birth," the lawsuit states.The personal data was exposed over the internet for at least 13 days before the breach was detected by an outside cybersecurity research firm which notified the department, according to the lawsuit.Larson and Mims said the department took about five months to notify them of the data breach, which increased their risk of becoming victims of identity theft.Mims "has had multiple fraudulent inquiries and at least (one) fraudulent credit line opened in his name, and has spent hours of his time vigilantly reviewing his credit reports and contesting fraudulent activity," the lawsuit states.The Department of Securities offered victims 12 months of identity theft monitoring, but the lawsuit claims that is inadequate because the fraudulent use of information obtained through data breaches often continues for years.The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and injunctive relief.
Story Highlights 54% think U.N. is doing a poor job; 43%, a good job

40% want U.N. to play major role; 24% leading; and 33% minor role in world

More Democrats than Republicans view U.N. positively; prefer major role

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Although Americans' opinions of the job the United Nations is doing have improved, for the 18th consecutive year, more Americans think the U.N. is doing a poor job of trying to solve the problems it has had to face than say it is doing a good job -- 54% vs. 43%. Democrats remain more likely than Republicans to offer a positive job rating of the U.N.

Despite the weak job assessment, 64% of U.S. adults continue to think the U.N. should play a significant role in the world.

Americans' Views of U.N. Job Performance Remain Weak, Differ Among Partisans

Gallup first asked Americans to rate the U.N.'s job performance in 1953 and continued to do so periodically until 2000. Since then, the measure has been consistently tracked at least once a year. Before 2003, Americans' job evaluations of the U.N. were marked by long stretches of negativity and shorter periods of positivity. The last time a majority of Americans gave the U.N. a good job rating was in early 2002, shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The latest reading, from a Feb. 3-16 Gallup poll, is consistent with last year's job rating, which was a 10-percentage-point increase over the prior year and the highest since 2003.

Democrats are much more positive in their views of the U.N. than Republicans are, as they have been for years. However, both groups show improved opinions of the international governing body compared with 2018. In 2020, 30% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, along with 55% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, think the U.N. is doing a good job. Republicans' opinions of the United Nations are their most positive since 2002.

The current 25-point gap, though sizable, isn't the largest in recent history. The 2017 gap was 41 points -- the highest in the past 20 years.

Most in U.S. Want U.N. to Play Significant Role in World

Although most Americans rate the U.N.'s job performance poorly, a solid majority nonetheless say they would like to see it play a significant role in the world, as they have throughout Gallup's history of asking this question since 2001. Currently, 24% think the U.N. should have a leading role and 40% a major role. At the same time, 33% would prefer that the U.N. play a minor role.

In the nine times that Gallup has asked the question, as many as 75% and as few as 62% have said they want the U.N. to take a major or leading role on the world stage.

Just as Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say the United Nations is doing a good job, they are also more inclined to call for it to play a leading role in the world. More than four in five Democrats and Democratic leaners want the U.N. to take a leading (29%) or major (55%) role. But just over half as many Republicans and Republican leaners prefer a leading (18%) or major (27%) role, and 51% favor a minor role.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.
Iran reported 85 new deaths from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours taking the total death toll to 514 in the country. Iran is the fourth most affected country due to coronavirus after China, South Korea and Italy.

Earlier, on Thursday (March 12, 2020) Iran has also asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $5 billion in emergency funding to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

China which is the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak has reported 80,814 and more than 4000 have died due to coronavirus in the country. Italy and South Korea which are the most affectd country after China have reported 15,113 and 7,979 cases respectively.

Meanwhile, a second special flight with 44 Indians from coronavirus-stricken Iran arrived in India on Friday (March 13, 2020). The flight had landed in Mumbai and from here the evacuees will be flown by special aircraft to Jaisalmer.

Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took to twitter to welcome the stranded Indians back home. He wrote: "Second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims has arrived today from #Iran. Our efforts to bring back the others continue. India_in_Iran and our medical team - keep up the good work. Appreciate the support of Iranian authorities and their airlines."

The passengers on board will be kept in an isolation room at the airport in Mumbai and then the Indian Army will take them to Jaisalmer by a special aircraft. The evacuees will be set up at the Indian Army quarantine facility created in Jaisalmer.

The total number of coronavirus cases globally has gone high up to 135,866 and 4,992 have died due to the deadly virus. More than 70,000 recovery cases have also been reported globally.
TANZANIA, Tanzania - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to extend the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, welcoming encouraging developments toward peace and a reduction in political violence by the warring parties after six years of civil war.

The council demanded that all parties to the conflict immediately end all fighting in the country, engage in political talks and implement a permanent cease-fire called for in several agreements but never implemented.

It threatened sanctions against those who take actions that undermine the peace, stability, and security of South Sudan.

There were high hopes that South Sudan would have peace and stability after gaining its long-fought independence from neighbouring Sudan in 2011. But the worlds youngest nation slid into ethnic violence in December 2013, when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, his former vice-president who belongs to the Nuer people.

Numerous attempts at peace failed, including a deal that saw Machar return as vice-president in 2016  only to flee the country months later amid fresh fighting. The civil war has killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced millions.

Intense international pressure followed the most recent peace deal in 2018, and on Feb. 22 a coalition government led by Kiir, with Machar as his deputy, was formed.

The Security Council called the beginning of a national unity government a significant step towards sustainable peace. It welcomed the spirit of compromise and political will demonstrated by the parties in order to create the conditions necessary to advance the peace process.

The U.S.-sponsored resolution extends the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force until March 15, 2021, and maintains its overall force levels at a maximum of 17,000 troops and up to 2,101 international police personnel.

The peacekeeping missions main mission remains the protecting of civilians, delivering humanitarian aid, supporting the implementation of the 2018 peace agreement, and monitoring and investigating human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.

The Security Council expressed urgent concern over the nearly 3.9 million people displaced within South Sudan and the countrys humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 5.29 million people facing severe food insecurity ... and 7.2 million in need of life-saving assistance.

U.S. Mission senior adviser Michael Barkin told the council after the vote that this was the first time in many years that the forces mandate was renewed in the context of positive developments.

The United States reiterates its support for the decision by South Sudans leaders to form a new transitional government, Barkin said. We also recognize the hard work of implementing the peace agreement is just beginning, and we urge the transitional government to begin this reform process immediately.

Germanys deputy ambassador, Jurgen Schulz, encouraged implementation of outstanding critical tasks so South Sudans people can finally profit from the benefits of durable peace.

He said Germany was pleased the resolution includes a reference to the adverse effects of extreme weather on South Sudan, which saw a swarm of locusts last month, but disappointed a reference to the security implications of climate change was not included. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations on the text were private, said the U.S. and Russia objected.
Doctors and nurses on the front lines of the fight against the spread of the coronavirus in New England are warning of the dire consequences of a lack of testing kits for Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. Nurses and other hospital workers are also being placed in danger by a lack of proper equipment to protect them from Covid-19.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Republican, said Thursday that state public health officials now have the capacity to conduct four times as many tests as they did a week ago. But the new number of tests, 5,000, is woefully insufficient to test those who need and are seeking testing.

Massachusetts is one of the states with the highest number of Covid-19 cases, with state officials confirming on Thursday that the official tally of cases had jumped to 108. As in other states, however, health care professionals are warning that the real number is many, many times higher and that community spread is already well under way.

The majority of these cases stem from a leadership conference of executives of Biogen, a biotech company based in Cambridge, held at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf hotel February 26-27. Several days later, some conference attendees began to experience flu-like symptoms.

Numerous individuals connected to the conference went to Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) or to their doctors requesting testing, but were rebuffed because they did not meet the criteria for testing at that time: symptoms in addition to recent travel to a breakout area or contact with someone known to have the virus.

A paramedic walks out of a tent that was set up in front of the emergency ward. (Claudio Furlan/Lapresse via AP, file)

According to the Boston Globe, on March 4, a significant number of people from Biogen came to the Emergency Department of MGH seeking testing. Dr. Paul Biddinger, chief of the division of emergency preparedness at the hospital, told the Globe, For each person we talked to the [Department of Public Health] staff about these patients and whether or not they meet testing criteria.

Some were tested and some were not. Biddinger said that some of the Biogen walk-ins became very frustrated that they couldnt get the test and that there were some challenging discussions.

By March 6, MGH and Brigham and Womens Hospital set up temporary testing facilities in their ambulance bays to test those connected to the Biogen conference. The vast majority of Massachusetts residents seeking testing, however, are unable to get tested.

David Dildine, a physician working in outpatient urgent care in the Boston suburbs, gave his personal observations in a Facebook post Wednesday. I have seen three patients with symptoms and exposure to others who have tested positive for the virus. I have been in touch with Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) multiple times in the past few weeks. What I have experienced has scared me. I have never been an alarmist. I didnt feel like this about Ebola, Zika or EEE. This is different. 

There have been other posts about what is going on in Italy and speculation about the devastation this will cause to our healthcare system. There has been reporting about the shortage of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers which could have been prevented. These and other stories have caused me to lose sleep.

Dildine has been frustrated by the MDPHs response to requests for testing, continually getting busy signals when phoning in. MDPH does not have the capacity to handle this. I can only speculate about the response of other states with less robust public health infrastructure.

He posts that secondary contacts to the Biogen case are still not being tested: I do not believe we have contained that cluster and expect it to become widespread in MA in the coming weeks. I agree with others who suspect this has been spreading in the community. We dont know because we arent testing.

The World Socialist Web Site spoke to Christine Pontus, associate director in Nursing/Occupational Health at the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), about the concerns of nurses during the coronavirus outbreak.

Were just getting a handle on it, she said. Its hard to get a handle on it because we have a limited amount of testing kits, so thats one concern. Weve been told that the kits will be available and that the CDC [Centers for Disease Control] will be coming up with protocols for when and how to test and how to contain it.

Pontus spoke about the lack of protective equipment for hospital staff. A concern for nurses is the PPE, personal protective equipment, she said. So, whats been happening is that some are advocating for surgical masks as opposed to what the bedside nurse knows as the N95, which OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] has been pushing in the past in infection prevention, for a tighter fit. It allows people to get a pretty good fit, so that viruses and particles cant get through.

She said that some hospitals are now saying theyre low on the N95s: Theyre saying theres not enough of them and you dont need them unless youre with a person whos positive. But how do you know whos positive? because there arent enough tests to know.

Why do we want to put hospital workers at risk? I understand that there are differences and variances and if youre using social distancing you dont have to be on top of the patient, but a bedside nurse is at the patients side.

She added, And if a patient is positive we want to know how to don and doff [PPE], put this stuff on and take it off correctly. Because you can infect yourself. So, there needs to be training. But with the short staffing across the board, were rushed on an everyday basis, never mind the crisis. And when people are rushed mistakes are made.

Pontus described that current hospital cutbacks are exacerbating a situation that is already flawed. She said, We dont have a backup system because weve been lean, weve been cut to the bone. Weve been operating with just a minimum amount of supplies. She said cutbacks are being made on a daily basis if the patient load exceeds what the estimates were by the bean counters, or the computer people who are doing this.

She said that decisions in the hospitals are not being made on the basis of sound public health principles and worker health safety issues. She asked: How about just scientific, sound health care principles? How about occupational health and safety principles? Just put that into the equation.

How about nursing principles? How about medical and infection control principles? Seriously, all these principles, these specific areas of science have been ignored. And theyre being ignored because their voice was drowned out by a larger voice.

Im an older nurse and Im not afraid to say it. The beauty of age is been there, done that, seen it. Im not saying Im a know-it-all, but Ive seen better. And I think a lot of health care professionals would agree with me.

Asked what she sees as the main driving force of this lack of preparedness, Pontus said, Profit. Its the bottom line. Everyones being driven to march to the bottom line. Youve got people dictating and telling people to do things based on the bottom line, financials. Im not an accountant, Im not a financial person, but I can see whats going on here.

Pontus said that nurses have been doing what they can to keep the health care system going, and its been bled dry. She said that all the workers in the hospitalfrom the orderlies, to the people in the offices, to the doctorswere being affected.

Yes, absolutely, every department, every worker, she said, adding, But my concern is that the nurses spend the most time with the patients at the bedside. The whole system has been affected by it, to the point that it affects the kitchen, what patients eat. Ive had nurses tell me that they dont have applesauce to give the pills at night because some of the hospitals run out.

Im board certified as an occupational health nurse. So, yes, every time I pick up that phone, every time I go to a meeting at the hospital, Im practicing my profession. Ive been practicing nursing for over 35 years.

Pontus said that standards differ from hospital to hospital, Because not every hospital has the same equipment, the same standards of operation, the same staffing. [At the richer hospitals] the lawyers, the financial people, they come in. Theyre running these hospitals.

She said the stress in the medical profession is becoming overwhelming due to the understaffing and cutbacks: A lot of physicians will tell you that its hard to be a doctor. Its just hard to practice your profession nowadays. Its hard for nurses to practice what they know. Because you know what you have to be doing and you cant. Its just difficult to be in the medical system.
President Donald Trump listens as he tours the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Widespread Testing for Coronavirus Coming in Next Week or Two: US Official

Widespread testing for the new coronavirus will arrive in the United States in a week or two, a top U.S. public health official said.

What is clear now is we need to blanket the country, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, told reporters on Thursday.

The old system for testing for infectious diseases worked well in the past but doesnt work any longer, he said.

President Donald Trump on Twitter Friday said testing would soon happen on a very large scale basis.

All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go! he added.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci testifies at a Senate hearing regarding the coronavirus in Washington on March 3, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Trump said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studied the testing system for decades but made no changes, hoping that a pandemic never happened, and President Barack Obama made changes that only complicated things further.

The old system was designed for a patient-doctor relationship, Fauci said. Federal agencies would give state and local authorities tests and those officials would dole out tests to doctors, who would then administer the tests on patients.

The system is not really geared to what we need right now, Fauci told lawmakers in Washington earlier Thursday. That is a failing. It is a failinglets admit it.

The idea of anybody getting it easily, the way people in other countries are doing it, were not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes, but were not, he added. Were not able to answer the broader questions of: how many people in the country are infected right now.

Fauci later clarified what he meant, telling ABC News, I didnt mean it failed in the sense of what it was originally designed for, for which it worked very well.

A lab technician begins semi-automated testing for COVID-19 at Northwell Health Labs in Lake Success, New York on March 11, 2020. (Andrew Theodorakis/Getty Images)

Now, authorities need to essentially blanket the country to find out how many people were actually infected, he said.

The new system is being designed and will be introduced soon, Fauci told reporters, citing information from a White House Coronavirus Task Force meeting.

It will not be months. It will be weeks, he said.

We are going to fix it. We have to admit that in the beginning we didnt have what we needed but now we will fix it, he told ABC.

A lab technician begins semi-automated testing for COVID-19 at Northwell Health Labs in Lake Success, New York on March 11, 2020. (Andrew Theodorakis/Getty Images)

Another issuerestrictive testing guidelines that only allowed the testing of a limited number of peoplewas solved recently with the removal of those restrictions, Fauci said.

One ongoing issue is whether to test people who show no symptoms, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, told lawmakers. He said officials werent recommending people get tested without the advice of a doctor or public health official, though Vice President Mike Pence, head of the task force, has said U.S. officials want to make tests available in stores like MedCheck and CVS.

The CDC has started testing people who show flu-like symptoms who got to the emergency room in six cities, officials said, and have plans to expand that surveillance to other places.

If you do that on a broader scale throughout the country, youll start to get a feel for what the penetrance in society is, Fauci said.
By Nathan Layne

WILTON, Conn, March 13 (Reuters) - When residents of Wilton, Connecticut, first learned one of their own had contracted coronavirus, they naturally worried about infections spreading across their quiet New England hometown.

But they did more than worry; they also offered their help. Neighbors began dropping off groceries for the patient's wife and their four-month old twin boys. Some pitched in by delivering medication, while others sent flowers to cheer up the household.

"That's classic Wilton," First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice said. "There are some advantages to being in a small town because we all know each other and trust each other."

It's not just Wilton. Across the United States, a fast-spreading virus that has infected at least 1,600 Americans, killed at least 47 and upended daily life has also drawn people together in ways emergencies sometimes do.

From celebrities to teachers, from New York to New Mexico, a week in which coronavirus created waves of anxiety, it also gave rise to acts of kindness.

Take Atlanta's close-knit East Atlanta Village. Within an hour of posting on a blog her offer to help the elderly and anyone who was house-bound, Meredith Lipman said she had already heard from about a dozen neighbors willing to pitch in.

"People just want to join in and do the same thing, help me do this," said Lipman, a teacher at a local school for the deaf.

In New York's Brooklyn borough, Jane Trachet, 41, organized a food drive for a soup kitchen and women's shelter where supplies were running low. Soon after posting a plea for donations to a Facebook group, she collected four large Ikea bags, packed with tuna, peanut butter and toiletries.

Author Shea Serrano, a popular Twitter user who frequently engages with his fans on social media to help pay small bills, put out an offer to provide financial help to those impacted by coronavirus.

"Ain't nothing to it  me and my internet friends mostly spend all our time making fun of each other on the internet but sometimes we like to try and put some good energy in the universe  that's why we did it," Serrano told Reuters.

Story continues

It's a reaction that frequently occurs in times of crisis. Whether the aftermath of a natural disaster, a mass shooting or the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, small and large acts of generosity often follow tragedy.

Vaile Wright, director of clinical research at the American Psychological Association, says that reaching out to assist others helps many people regain their footing in times of crisis. "One way to counter that feeling of anxiety and lack of control is to engage in acts of kindness," she said.

FILLING THE VOID

Rabbi Jonathan Leener sensed his synagogue members needed a way to congregate while keeping a safe distance from one another. So he organized a virtual "hang" on Facebook before sunset on Friday, when Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, begins and the observant refrain from using electric devices.

"We were trying to think creatively about how to fill this huge void," Leener said, referring to the inability to congregate as usual for worship. "Some ritual or gathering to mark this kind of bizarre moment that we are experiencing."

Others have sought to address the problems created by school closings, which have left children who depend on school lunch and without other resources vulnerable.

Using grant money from the state of New Mexico, the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in Taos County is running broadband internet to low and moderate income families free of charge to allow students to work from home after schools were closed. Local non-profits and schools are seeking donated and borrowed devices for the children.

Resource concerns are generally not top of mind in Wilton, an affluent suburb of New York City. But to the wife of the coronavirus patient, who is in a medically induced coma at a nearby hospital, the community's support has been a lifeline. She and her twins remain quarantined at home.

"They have just come out of the woodwork and gone above and beyond," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect her family's privacy. "I hope to pay it forward to another resident in the future who is of need." (Reporting by Nathan Layne; Additional reporting by Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico, Rich McKay in Atlanta, Brad Brooks in Austin, Texas, and Maria Caspani, Gabriella Borter and Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
A British mum-of-four who died after testing positive for coronavirus while on holiday in Bali has been named as Kimberley Finlayson

Tributes have been paid to the 52-year-old, who was travelling with her family in February when she came down with a fever.

She reported herself to Indonesian health authorities and was later transferred to Balis biggest hospital in a critical condition.

She died early on Wednesday morning, the head of Balis Covid-19 taskforce Dewa Made Indra confirmed in a statement.

The 52-year-old was co-founder of FMC, a dental publishing and communications company based in Shenley, Hertfordshire.

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

Friends and colleagues have remembered her as a whirlwind of energy and ideas in a statement shared on Dentistry.com.

She approached the world with an infectious passion, creativity and determination that will forever be written into the fabric of the business, it reads.

But for all her many successes, Kimberley preferred to step outside of the limelight, allowing others to take the lead as the public face of her carefully-planned successes.

It goes on: She championed her family with the same fierce pride with which she approached her business, and her four children were the centre of her world.

Kimberley leaves behind a legacy that will live on for decades to come.

Health authorities in Bali said she had been suffering from four pre-existing conditions, including diabetes and hypertension, when she contracted the deadly Covid-19 virus.

She became Indonesias first recorded death from the disease, officials confirmed.

She leaves behind her husband Ken and their four children, who were kept in quarantine following her illness, according to local reports.

Her husband has since tested negative for the infection and is expected to leave hospital on the weekend, Australian news site 7news reported.
"I'm officially declaring a national emergency," he said. "Two very big words."

He said this will "unleash the full power of the federal government".

We will defeat this threat, Mr Trump said.

When America is tested America rises to the occasion.

Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020 AFP via Getty Images A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading Reuters This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020 AFP via Getty Images Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House Reuters A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami, via Reuters General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes UEFA via Getty Images A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer PA Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP

It comes after 41 people diagnosed with the virus in the United States have died.

The US president also urged every state to set up emergency centres to help fight the virus.

Coronavirus: WHO says Europe now 'the epicentre of the pandemic'

Amid the announcement, he also said the UK could be added to the list of European countries included in the US travel ban.

He told reporters during a White House press conference on Friday that the UK exemption had been made after being "recommended to me by a group of professionals".

However, he said the UK's rising number of cases could result in a re-think of that decision.

He said: "We are looking at it based on the new numbers that are coming out and we may have to include them in the list of countries that we will, you could say ban or whatever it is, during this period of time, but yeah their numbers have gone up fairly precipitously over the last 24 hours so we may be adding that and we may be adding a couple of others and we may frankly start thinking about taking some off."

It comes after the US put in stringent measures on travel as it aimed to contain the spread, including banning travel to and from Europe, thus far excluding the UK.

The World Health Organisation said Europe has now become the epicentre of the pandemic as many Asian countries have begun facing a downturn in the number of new cases being confirmed there.

Many European countries have taken the decision to ban large gatherings and to shut schools and suspend sporting events.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Government will continue to hold off on some of the most extreme anti-virus measures on the advice of health and science experts.

Mr Trump continued the conference by revealing some $50 billion will be made available across the states to tackle the crisis there.

The declaration of a national emergency, a seldom-used presidential power, enables the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist state and local governments.
Cross-border freight forwarder Nuvocargo announced it has acquired Oncarriage, an Atlanta-based customs broker and third-party logistics provider.

The acquisition gives Nuvocargo access to several key government licenses in the United States  including a customs broker license that normally takes up to three years to obtain, said Nuvocargo CEO Deepak Chhugani.

"We acquired Oncarriage about 10 or 11 months ago, and that kind of helped us a great deal  we inherited some licenses that sometimes are quite difficult to get," Chhugani said in an interview with FreightWaves. "The customs broker is licensed by the U.S., so we can import products into any port in the United States."

With the acquisition of Oncarriage, Chhugani said, his New York-based startup has been able to grow at a 70% clip month-over-month since its founding in August 2019. Today, the company has around 15 employees in New York and Mexico City.

The digital freight forwarder and licensed customs broker has been working with shippers to move cargo between the U.S. and Mexico for a growing number of clients.

"We are starting first with U.S.-Mexico trucking," Chhugani said. "My co-founder has built software for tech-enabled businesses; we think we have a unique mix to bring technology and digitization to cross border-logistics."

The trade of goods and services between Mexico and the U.S. totaled almost $700 billion in 2018. Nuvocargo's clients range from companies in construction, beverages and spirits to fast-growing, early-stage startups. Chhugani said.

One customer is Mexico City-based Grupo Calidra, one of the country's biggest producers of raw construction materials.

"Exporting from Mexico to the U.S. is a confusing process, with a lot of regulations, security concerns and a dozen potential points of failure," Juan Sebastian Munoz, director of innovation at Grupo Calidra, said in a statement. "Nuvocargo is the first freight forwarder with a single dashboard to track everything end to end, and a fully bilingual team that can coordinate every detail from start to finish on both sides of the border. It's a huge improvement on the old way of doing things."

Story continues

Chhugani said he sees a lot of opportunity in bigger sectors between the two nations, such as beverage, auto parts, construction, furniture and electronics.

"We think there's really big pockets where we can really add value. And there's kinds of moderate complexity shipments where you really need to get things right and you need a partner that's focused on precision, and visibility," Chhugani said.

Nuvocargo's backstory is unusual. Chhugani is a native of Ecuador, but his father is from India.

"I grew up in Ecuador; my Spanish is better than my English," Chhugani said. "I grew up in a logistics family. My dad, in his late 20s, left India to move to Ecuador to start a small logistics business that was helping Latin American retailers find suppliers abroad, and then move the goods and then finance them. So it's kind of like a mom and pop version of what we're building today."

Chhugani originally founded Nuvocargo as The Lobby, a New York-based startup that helped job candidates connect with insiders at leading financial institutions for career and hiring advice.

The Lobby raised $1.2 million in funding and attracted a lot of interest and a core group of very enthusiastic users, but growth was slow. Chhugani ultimately decided to radically pivot the company into a completely different area  Nuvocargo.

Chhugani said for the future, he sees a lot more growth opportunities.

"We think that Mexico has some very obvious attractive qualities. It's the same time zone as the U.S. There's a very shared understanding of different things in terms of work norms and cultures. It's very close to the U.S., and a lot of things happen on truck. That means shipments get there faster, "Chhugani said. "Things like the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and now unfortunately the coronavirus, given who might have been on the fence about considering Mexico as an option, I think these things can be triggers and catalysts to get them to make the move because changing your supply chain is a very big decision."

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 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Turkish visitors not allowed at parliament amid outbreak

Turkey this week confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus amid advisories to take necessary measures to avoid spreading the virus.

Turkeys parliament has barred visitors through March 31 as a precaution against coronavirus, the Parliament Speakers Office said on Friday.

"During this period, the work of parliament will continue, and the parliamentary staff will carry out their duties," said the statement, adding that after March 31, the measure will be reevaluated.

RULING PARTY MEETINGS WERE ALSO CANCELED

It noted that parliament will also not accept any visitors for the weekly parliamentary group meetings.

Separately, the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party has pre-emptively cancelled next week's parliamentary group meeting.
T he Foreign Office (FCO) has advised against all but essential travel to certain regions of Spain, including the capital Madrid.

The city and its surrounding area, along with La Rioja and the municipalities of La Bastida, Vitoria and Miranda de Ebro, should now be viewed as areas of community transmission, the government department said.

The updated advice to British travellers came as the Spanish coronavirus death toll surged into three figures on Friday.

The country has confirmed more than 4,200 cases of Covid-19, including 120 deaths  the second-highest virus count in Europe after Italy.

Coronavirus cases: The spread outside China

The FCO is not currently advising against travel to other areas of Spain, or suggesting that British nationals in the country leave, as transport routes out remain open.

A spokesman said airlines were continuing to run flights as normal to and from these areas.

However, the department also warns on its website: "People intending to travel to Spain should consult their airlines and tour operators."

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It comes as the Spanish government enforces drastic new measures to curb the spread of the pandemic.

Earlier this week, authorities banned all flights from Italy and warned against domestic and foreign travel.

Schools and universities will be closed across the country for at least two weeks, while the prison service cuts back visiting rights across its facilities.

In Madrid and the surrounding area, which have collectively reported some 2,000 cases, the regional health authority said it would take control of private hospitals and convert some hotels into medical centres ahead of an expected jump in infections.

Occupancy rates at Spanish hotels have fallen dramatically, with some left empty, and there are "no new bookings" due to the coronavirus epidemic, a top official at Spain's hotels federation CEHAT said.

"A tsunami has arrived," said CEHAT Secretary General Ramon Estalella.

"A meteorite has fallen on us and we have to see how we survive."

Spain's government is expected to declare a "state of alert" over the crisis, according to national broadcaster La Sexta television.

The move would last 15 days and allow the government to implement wide-ranging and restrictive measures, including confining people or ordering evacuations.

On the economic front, funds will be directed to central and regional health authorities, prices of drugs and medical equipment will be capped, and the tourism sector will also receive financial support.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told a news conference on Thursday: "These are difficult moments but we will overcome them.
SAGINAW, MI  The Saginaw County Health Department has confirmed five people have been tested for the coronavirus in Saginaw County. Four of the tests came back negative and the results of the fifth test is pending.

On Thursday, March 12, officials with the Health Department announced the developments in a press release.

As of today, we do not have evidence of localized transmission in Saginaw County; however the state is taking aggressive measures to control the spread of the disease and we are awaiting additional guidance from the State of Michigan and MDHHS (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services), Saginaw County Health Officer Christina Harrington said in the press release.

Tests for the coronavirus were taken at a Covenant Healthcare hospital in Saginaw, according to Saginaw County Health Department Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Cari Hillman.

Despite the cases of coronavirus being reported in Michigan, officials with the health department are urging citizens not to panic.

Since the cases have been confirmed, colleges and schools across the state have made some changes to how they operate, following the recommendation of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to limit public gatherings to less than 100 people.

Hillman said there is a set of criteria an individual has to meet in order to be tested for the coronavirus.

Those are if the person has traveled outside the country to one of the countries with a high volume of the illness, is showing symptoms of the illness, made close contact with a person who has coronavirus and tests negative for influenza. Finally, a physician will have to make the recommendation for the person to get tested, Hillman added.

A person can get coronavirus from close contact with another person (within roughly six feet or two meters away) or when a person with the illness coughs or sneezes. It also may also be possible to get coronavirus by touching a surface that has a virus on it and then touching your eyes, lips or mouth, according to a press release from the health department.

Here are some tips to prevent the spread of the virus:

Always cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.

Stay home if you are sick and advise others to do the same.

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 warm water for at least 20 seconds.

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus

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Thursday, March 12: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Bay City, Saginaw and Midland schools cancel group gatherings, field trips amid coronavirus threat
Health authorities are on edge as more than 5,000 followers of the Shincheonji sect in Daegu have now been released from self-quarantine with its founding anniversary approaching. Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin told reporters on Thursday, "March 14 is a very special day for Shincheonji followers." He urged the sect's followers to "set an example" by abiding by regulations against mass gatherings. By Thursday, 5,647 sect followers were let off from self-quarantine in Daegu after they tested negative for coronavirus.

Police officers block the entrance of a Shincheonji church in Daegu on Thursday.

The sect had emerged as a hotbed of coronavirus infections in Daegu last month, prompting city officials to obtain a list of its 10,434 members there and order them to quarantine themselves and be tested. Saturday marks the 36th anniversary of the dubious sect, and previous anniversaries have been marked with huge gatherings, the last two at Jamsil Olympic Stadium in Seoul, which were attended by over 10,000 followers. A Shincheonji follower said, "We are not going to celebrate our anniversary this year." But health authorities said it will be difficult to stop smaller gatherings to celebrate the occasion. Kwon said, "Holding secret gatherings or large rallies could seriously complicate efforts to stem the spread of infection. This is a strong warning against them." The sect was founded by Lee Man-hee, who claims to be the Second Coming and have a special key to interpreting the Bible. Its 300,000-plus followers are typically secretive about their affiliation unless they swarm out to proselytize.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases stood at 7,979 as of Friday morning, up 110 from a day earlier. Some 177 were discharged and declared cured, the most since the outbreak started. It is the first time that the daily number of the cured has exceeded that of infections. Read this article in Korean
PITTSBURGH, March 13, 2020 - Inspired by a tactic cancer cells use to evade the immune system, University of Pittsburgh researchers have engineered tiny particles that can trick the body into accepting transplanted tissue as its own.

Rats that were treated with these cell-sized microparticles developed permanent immune tolerance to grafts -- including a whole limb -- from a donor rat, while keeping the rest of their immune system intact, according to a paper published today in Science Advances.

"It's like hacking into the immune system borrowing a strategy used by one of humanity's worst enemies to trick the body into accepting a transplant," said senior author Steven Little, Ph.D., William Kepler Whiteford Endowed Professor and Chair of chemical and petroleum engineering in the Swanson School of Engineering at Pitt. "And we do it synthetically."

The advantage of a synthetic approach rather than cell-based therapy, which is currently in clinical trials, is that the treatment logistics are much simpler.

"Instead of isolating cells from a patient, growing them up in the lab, injecting them back in and hoping they find the right location, we're packaging it all up in an engineered system that recruits these naturally occurring cells right to the transplanted graft," said lead author James Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the Pitt School of Medicine.

The microparticles work by releasing a native protein secreted by tumors, CCL22, which draws regulatory T cells (Treg cells) to the site of the graft, where they tag the foreign tissue as "self" so that it evades immune attack.

Microparticle-treated animals maintained healthy grafts for as long as they were monitored -- a little under a year, equivalent to about 30 human years. All it took was two shots to effect seemingly permanent change.

In a companion paper published recently in PNAS, the researchers showed that these engineered microparticles can train the immune system of one strain of rat to accept a donor limb from a different strain. This new paper shows that the effects are specific to the intended donor. Skin grafts from a third strain were rapidly rejected.

Today, transplant patients take daily doses of immunosuppressant drugs to avoid rejection, leaving them vulnerable to cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases and a host of other ailments that come along with a weakened immune system.

"These drugs hammer the immune system into submission so it can't attack the transplanted organ, but then it can't protect the body either," said coauthor Stephen Balmert, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the Pitt School of Medicine. "We're trying to teach the immune system to tolerate the limb, so that a transplant recipient can remain immunocompetent."

The risks of lifelong immunosuppression are particularly problematic when the transplant isn't a life-saving procedure. Doctors and patients have to consider whether the benefits outweigh the risks.

"The ability to induce transplant tolerance while avoiding systemic immunosuppression, as demonstrated in these innovative studies, is especially important in the context of vascularized composite transplantation where patients receive quality-of-life transplants, such as those of hands or face," said coauthor Angus Thomson, Ph.D., professor of surgery and immunology in the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute at Pitt.

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Additional authors on the study include Wensheng Zhang, Ph.D., Ali Aral, M.D., Abhinav Acharya, Ph.D., Yalcin Kulahci, M.D., Jingjing Li, M.D., Heth Turnquist, Ph.D., Mario Solari, M.D., all of Pitt; and Vijay Gorantla, M.D., Ph.D., of the Wake Forest School of Medicine.

This research was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01-AI118777 U19-AI131453, R01-HL122489, T32-AI074490), National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Medicine (R01-DE021058), the Department of Defense (W81XWH-15-2-0027 and W81XWH-15-1-0244), The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation and the National Cancer Institute (T32-CA175294).

To read this release online or share it, visit https://www.upmc.com/media/news/031320-treg-biomimetics [when embargo lifts].

About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth among all American universities in total federal science and engineering research and development support.

Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www.medschool.pitt.edu.

About the Swanson School of Engineering

The University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering is one of the oldest engineering programs in the U.S. and is consistently ranked among the top 25 public engineering programs by U.S. News & World Report. The Swanson School has excelled in basic and applied research during the past decade with focus areas in sustainability, energy systems, advanced manufacturing, bioengineering, micro- and nanosystems, computational modeling and advanced materials development. More than 130 faculty members serve nearly 4,000 undergraduate, graduate and PhD students across six departments: bioengineering, chemical and petroleum engineering, civil and environmental engineering, electrical and computer engineering, industrial engineering, and mechanical engineering and materials science.

http://www.upmc.com/media

Contact: Erin Hare (Health Sciences)

Office: 412-864-7194

Mobile: 412-738-1097

E-mail: HareE@upmc.edu

Contact: Paul Kovach (Engineering)

Office: 412-624-0265

E-mail: PKovach@pitt.edu
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Most physicians have spent decades training for the day that they see their first patient or perform their first surgery. This extended time involved to become a physician does not leave a lot of spare time in college or medical school for most physicians to take any significant coursework in economics, finance, or investing. Yet, physicians have a tremendous amount of knowledge with regards to all aspects of health care, including patient evaluation and physiology, medical technology, and electronic health records. We recognize the relevant positives and negatives and the benefits and shortcomings of current medical technology and computer-based patient care platforms.

Most physicians have keen insight into what is currently working for them and their patients, and what might be done to improve the status quo. This knowledge and insight is a major reason why startup companies with new technology, and venture capital investors, often look to partner with physicians and bring them on as investors and advisers. There is a growing desire and need for physicians to be more actively involved in venture capital funds and physician networks for this purpose.

Over the past decade, I have become keenly interested in evaluating a variety of investment opportunities, and a majority of these have been in the medical technology field, where a physicians expertise lies. I have been involved in two separate venture capital groups, including my current role as a general partner and chief medical officer in a venture capital fund and network focused exclusively on medical technology. Through an expanding group of clinician investors, this fund can comprehensively evaluate companies that are looking for investment, and, as importantly, looking from clinical input from a network of experienced advisers. By diversifying the funds investments over many companies, the investment risk is also mitigated. Physicians make up the majority of investors and advisers, but the network also includes dentists, therapists, nurses, health care executives, etc.

There is incredible synergy in working with a diverse group such as this, and not a day passes that I fail to learn something new in this area. I would urge any physician to look for opportunities outside of direct patient care to utilize your experience and knowledge in this manner; it can be a very rewarding (and educational) activity that meshes very well with physicians skillsets.

Chris Kager is a neurosurgeon.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
All Bexar County traditional public school districts and some area school districts, private and public, are extending Spring Break as a precaution against coronavirus, affecting hundreds of thousands of students.

School officials said theyd reassess next week whether to reopen campuses on March 23, as did Pre-K 4 SA, the city-funded early childhood education program.

IDEA, the largest charter school network in San Antonio, is scheduled to resume classes March 30.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

All UIL competition is suspended through March 29, the University Interscholastic League announced, but rehearsals and practices may be held at the discretion of the local district.

Most districts told parents they are finalizing distance-learning options for students. Notifications sent across the county said schools later will announce procedures for the distribution of food to address childrens nutritional needs during the break.

This was not an easy decision to make, and we know this poses a hardship and inconvenience for many families. However, we are hoping this will help slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep our community safe, letters send to parents said.

More Information Schools and districts that have now extended spring break: Alamo Heights ISD Boerne ISD Comal ISD East Central ISD Edgewood ISD Harlandale ISD Fort Sam Houston ISD Judson ISD Lackland ISD North East ISD Northside ISD Randolph Field ISD San Antonio ISD Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD South San Antonio ISD Somerset ISD Southside ISD Southwest ISD IDEA Public Schools Great Hearts Saint Mary's Hall New Frontiers Public Schools The Montessori School of San Antonio St. Luke's Episcopal St. George Episcopal Archdiocese of San Antonio Catholic schools Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools San Antonio Academy BASIS Charter Schools Central Catholic High School See More Collapse

Mayor Ron Nirenbergs emergency declaration, prohibiting gatherings of 500 or more people, was a deciding factor, North East ISD spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor said.

That essentially is a school, Chancellor said.

In other areas, schools have been exempt from the restriction because students generally are in classrooms with smaller class sizes.

On ExpressNews.com: Coronavirus in San Antonio: What residents need to know

On Friday morning, city officials said a local patient who was not part of the evacuees being quarantined at Lackland had tested positive for COVID-19. The patient contracted the virus during travel and did not get it through community transition, they said.

A growing number of parents urged schools to extend this weeks Spring Break. But school closures can have big implications for families seeking child care and wraparound services like meals, and for schools as they explore plans for remote learning.

Heather Eichling, program assistant for the Humanities Collective at Trinity University, said she was fortunate to be able to work from home, because the Trinity campus has shut down and the universitys students are finishing the semester online.

That gives Eichling more time supervising her 7-year-old son, whos in the dual-language program at Lamar Elementary School in San Antonio ISD. Her husband, a research policy analyst at Methodist Healthcare Ministries, also can work from home.

But many other dual-language parents are immigrants who arent getting enough information in Spanish, adding another communication roadblock, Eichling said. She was trying to help the vice principal reach about 50 families Friday who didnt have social media or text messaging.

Its worrisome for me because its coming at such short notice for our families, even families who have the means, Eichling said. Ive been worked up all day about how communications going to come out from the district and how the families are going to get that in time.

SAISD and other South Side districts have such high poverty rates that they offer free breakfast, lunch and, in some cases, afternoon snacks and dinner to all students, reimbursed by the federal government. In Northside ISD, 49 of 120 campuses offer free meals to all students under the same federal program.

Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox

Some school districts are providing pickup options for students to receive meals during the break. Somerset ISD, in its announcement, said it was working on a plan to deliver meals to students without transportation. Southside ISD is setting up a curbside pickup option.

Texas is seeking waivers of federal regulations for school-lunch programs to give districts flexibility to provide food to children during closures, Gov. Greg Abbott said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved the waiver so districts can keep serving students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced.

Pre-K 4 SA officials are working with the San Antonio Area Food Bank to provide meals during its closure.

Schools in other cities, including Dallas ISD, have mandated online learning as they close.

But in San Antonio, more than 23 percent of households lack broadband internet, the U.S. Census Bureaus American Community Survey says. SAISD found, after surveying high schoolers last year, that 42 percent lacked a reliable internet connection, a number that climbed as high as 76 percent at Lanier High School on the West Side.

Charter Spectrum on Friday announced it would offer free broadband and Wi-Fi access to homes with students in K-12 schools and colleges who dont have service, according to an announcement from Charter Communications Vice President of Legislative Affairs Virginia Zigras. Families may call 1-844-488-8395 to enroll, and installation fees will be waived.

Krista Torralva covers several school districts and public universities in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | Krista.Torralva@express-news.net | Twitter: @KMTorralva
The White House and Congress have been in talks on Tuesday about measures to boost the U.S. economy and its laborers' salaries in the advent of the novel coronavirus, but here was no recent sign of a deal yet.

The coronavirus outbreak has affected the global economy. In the U.S., it has thrown into relief the profundity of inequality and the records of people living on the edge in the world's largest economy.

Small businesses with its workers employed continue to be impacted by the coronavirus as fears of a worsening pandemic grow.

According to experts, few in this economy could be hit harder than America's small business community. Thus, small businesses are asking for assistance from Washington.

Sporting and cultural events across the country have been canceled.

Producers said they anticipate to resume theater shows on April 13, said a statement from The Broadway League, an organization of theater owners and producers.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared measures meant to strengthen an economy reeling from the new coronavirus outbreak. They are also downplaying the current situation.

A travel ban was imposed on mainland Europe for 30 days. Trump stated trade would be halted, but he later backtracked the latter part.

The U.S. president and Congress are making efforts towards new legislation to strengthen the U.S. economy with competing priorities.

Democrats in the House of Representatives would like to focus legislation on helping families that may be impacted by school and workplace closures.

Also Read: Tips for Preparing to Stay at Home Amid Coronavirus

Clarifying that the U.S. economy remains strong, Trump urged Congress to provide Americans with immediate payroll tax relief. The pandemic has disrupted businesses, particularly the travel industry, and sent Wall Street plunging.

COVID-19 or the novel coronavirus is a highly contagious, and sometimes fatal respiratory illness, which has alarmed health officials and spurred calls within Congress for efforts to expand testing and avert an economic meltdown.

Vice President Mike Pence, who is the main superior of the White House's coronavirus task force, said, "We had a good reception on Capitol Hill. We're going to be working with Republican and Democratic leadership to move a legislative package."

The COVID-19 outbreak has been an equalizer of different social status, from rich to poor. Many Americans cannot obey expert advice to stay home and not go to work in case they show symptoms. They either do not have any sick leaves or do not have enough paid sick leaves and cannot afford to miss a paycheck.

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) is included in those who want fast action to protect America's economic backbone as part of a massive stimulus bill.

"We know that there has to be an appropriate response for the owners as well as the employees to make sure that these small businesses stay whole," according to Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA).

Analysts at Cowen, an investment bank and financial-services company, noted that "declining consumer confidence, potentially severe retail-traffic declines, and temporary store closures are evolving risk factors that depend on uncertain variables like the geographic spread of the virus and the timing of containment/eradication solutions."

Related Article: WHO Declares Global Coronavirus Pandemic: Epidemic vs. Pandemic, What's the Difference?

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World Death Toll From Coronavirus in Italy Tops 1,000

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ROME The Italian government said Thursday that the number of deaths from the new coronavirus has exceeded 1,000 in the country, with more than 15,000 people having tested positive for the virus.

Despite Italys efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus with an unprecedented lockdown of the whole country, the number of deaths from the pneumonia-causing disease is increasing at a rapid pace.

Read more.

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The West Contra Costa Unified School District will close schools for three weeks beginning Monday in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The district announced Thursday that although there are no confirmed cases of students or staff who have tested positive at its schools, several may have had contact with potential positive cases. Students will be dismissed at noon Friday while staff will work the whole day.

San Francisco Unified School District is among other districts around the country that decided Thursday to close schools due to the virus, which is also known as COVID-19.

"This was not an easy decision, but the uncertainty surrounding the outbreak has increased the confusion and anxiety in our community," WCCUSD Superintendent Matthew Duffy said in a news release. "It is my hope that this closure will help arrest the spread of the disease."

The district is moving its spring break up from the week of April 6 to March 30, so classes are set to resume on April 6 pending new information about the pandemic.

District officials said for the first two weeks of the closure, students in second through 12th grades will have laptops and tablets to continue instruction and guidance by teachers via online tools, while first grade and younger will receive packets to take home.

The district is also offering meals to students at several schools during the closure. The meals can be picked up at Pinole Valley, De Anza, Richmond and Kennedy high schools, Helms and DeJean middle schools, and Nystrom, Riverside and Montalvin elementary schools between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

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.
03/13/2020

Photo (c) Anatoliy Sizov - Getty Images Young people seem to love the TikTok app, but two Republican lawmakers say it has no place in the U.S. government workplace.

Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rick Scott of Florida have introduced legislation that seeks to ban employees at the State Department and Department of Homeland Security from accessing the app on official government devices.

TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that includes Chinese Communist Party members on its board, and it is required by law to share user data with Beijing, Hawley said.  As many of our federal agencies have already recognized, TikTok is a major security risk to the United States, and it has no place on government devices.

TikTok is a platform for the display of short videos. Scott said that when government employees access TikTok on government devices, it poses a threat to national security.

TikTok is very popular among American teenagers, but its use among middle-aged government employees has yet to be demonstrated. In 2019, the company said its 26.5 million monthly active users in the U.S. averaged in age between 16 and 24.

But the app came under closer U.S. government scrutiny last year after its parent company spent $1 billion to acquire the U.S. social media app Musical.ly.

Concern unfounded

A spokesman for TikTok dismissed the legislation, saying the lawmakers concerns are unfounded. The company said it plans to open a transparency center in the U.S. to give technology experts better insight into the companys privacy practices.

In December, TikTok was accused of gathering American users data and transferring it to servers in China. The company vigorously denied the charges. A month earlier, the U.S. Army said it would launch a security assessment of TikTok with the aim of allaying concerns raised by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D - NY) and other officials.

"National security experts have raised concerns about TikTok's collection and handling of user data, including user content and communications, IP addresses, location-related data, metadata, and other sensitive personal information," Schumer wrote in a November 7 letter to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy.

TikTok says it doesnt store user data in Chinese servers. Rather, it says it stores all U.S. user data in the U.S., with backups in Singapore.
Eight Romanian citizens in Italy will be brought back to the country this evening with an aircraft of the Romanian Air Forces. Upon arrival, they will be taken by the Public Health Directorate and placed in quarantine.

"As a result of the joint efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), the Interior Ministry and the National Defence Ministry (MApN), eight Romanian citizens in the Italian Republic will be brought back to the country this evening. They are non-resident Romanian citizens in Italy, being there either as tourists or as a result of an emergency medical treatment and who have been affected both by the quarantine of the entire territory of Italy, and by the measures adopted by the Romanian authorities to suspend flights and road transport of people to and from Italy. They had no real alternative to continue their stay on the territory of the Italian Republic," a MAE statement issued on Friday evening informs.Upon arrival, the eight citizens will be taken by the Public Health Directorate and placed in quarantine at a unit in Bucharest, in agreement with the measures adopted by the Romanian authorities for the citizens coming in Romania from Italy, the MAE mentions.The MApN also announced that a C-27J Spartan aircraft of the Romanian Air Force is carrying out a flight on the Bucharest-Rome-Bucharest route on Friday, at the request of the Emergency Situations Department with the Interior Ministry, to return eight Romanian citizens to the country from the Italian Republic.The transport is carried out in compliance with the measures for the protection of the personnel and the technique, mandatory in such situations, the MApN underscores. AGERPRES
Manitoba has one of the highest rates of kidney failure in Canada and across the world. That leaves a large number of people across our province on dialysis and awaiting kidney transplant.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba has one of the highest rates of kidney failure in Canada and across the world. That leaves a large number of people across our province on dialysis and awaiting kidney transplant.

Kidney transplant is a lifesaving option for these individuals and offers the best possible outcomes for patients living with renal failure.

However, kidney transplant, like any major procedure, is not a walk in the park. It is a major operation that takes additional recovery time related to the compatibility of the transplanted organ.

Although more than 1,700 kidney transplants happen in Canada each year, the factors that best predict the long-term success for a given donor-recipient pair are still being studied by physicians and researchers.

For many years, matching donor and recipient kidneys was done in much the same way: six different proteins were compared and the recipient would be given a score from zero to six to indicate how many mismatches they had compared to the donor.

In the last five years, with advances in the areas of genetics and protein modelling, researchers have established the ability to examine the individual building blocks that make up those proteins  like the pages that go into a book.

It allows us to understand how similar, or different, those proteins are by looking at each individual block that makes up the protein. This provides an important piece of information which informs the transplant process as well as the therapy that will be needed following the procedure.

Research done in Manitoba has shown that using this new, more precise way to match kidneys provides a higher degree of accuracy when predicting whether or not the organ may be rejected.

Not surprisingly, if a kidney is rejected by the immune system, this can limit its function and even lead to kidney failure.

The goal of improved organ matching is to gain better insight into the level of risk for rejection and help to appropriately tailor care plans and medication therapy.

Since the medications used to facilitate organ transplant act on the immune system, hindering its function, we prefer  where possible  to prescribe less medication in order to reduce the chance of infection or other medication side-effects.

On the other hand, if we know in advance that the match will take more medical therapy to be accepted, we can plan ahead with higher doses of those medications and put together a maintenance plan to address side-effects and help keep patients safe as they adjust to the transplant.

Either way, we know that kidney transplant offers the best possible health outcomes for an individual, regardless of the chance of organ rejection. This new tool has the potential to help reduce that rejection rate in tests done in Manitoba and we look forward to testing it further.

In addition to helping us select the correct medications and create individualized care plans for patients, understanding the donor-recipient mismatch in greater detail could, in the future, allow doctors to select donor-recipient pairs that are better matches. This would help reduce rejection rates, reduce the need for high doses of immune suppressing medication, and lead to kidney transplants that last longer.

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This Manitoba-led research, which started here 2013 and has continued to develop, is being rolled out internationally to be tested in other populations. Once validated in other regions, it could become a new way of evaluating donor and recipient matches in transplant programs around the world.

This more in-depth screening process can be easily done using existing technology and can, for the most part, be applied broadly at little additional cost.

This work, and our continuing research, aims to create more opportunities for successful, long-lasting kidney transplants as the need for kidney transplants continues in Manitoba and across Canada.

As many as one in 10 Manitobans lives with kidney disease, but many may not know it since kidneys can lose up to 80 per cent of their function before symptoms are experienced. Get to know your kidneys at knowyourkidneys.ca.

To become an organ donor visit signupforlife.ca

Dr. Chris Wiebe is a nephrologist with Transplant Manitoba and Manitoba Renal Program as well as an associate professor with the Rady faculty of health sciences, University of Manitoba.
All political parties are urging Brisbane residents to sign up for postal votes for the council election on March 28 to avoid mass gatherings amid fears of further COVID-19 cases in Queensland.

More than 54,000 residents have so far requested a postal vote ahead of the Monday 7pm deadline, while the Electoral Commission Queensland said they were monitoring the situation.

Postal votes are an option for residents keen to avoid the crowds, but applications must be in by Monday at 7pm. Credit:Fairfax Media

Earlier in the week, commissioner Pat Vidgen said the ECQ had provided advice to its temporary election staff and asked voters across the 77 Queensland councils to take "normal commonsense precautions" on election day.

On Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced gatherings of more than 500 people would be discouraged in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 within the community.
Louisiana has 33 presumptive coronavirus cases as of Friday morning, the governor's office said in a press release.

It includes 23 Orleans Parish residents, with at least five cases at Lambeth House, a retirement home in Uptown New Orleans.

Gov. John Bel Edwards and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell are scheduled to hold a joint news conference at 3 p.m. Friday with updates about the situation.

As of 9 a.m. Friday, this is where the patients live:

Orleans Parish: 23

Jefferson Parish: 3

St. Tammany Parish: 2

St. Bernard Parish: 1

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St. Charles Parish: 1

Terrebonne Parish: 1

Caddo Parish: 1

Lafourche Parish: 1

The totals are based on information from the Louisiana Office of Public Health. The cases are considered presumptive until confirmed by the CDC. It normally takes the CDC to confirm cases.

Want more news about the coronavirus in Louisiana? See our full coverage.

Coronavirus cases among Lambeth House residents jump to at least 5, facility says The number of residents who were presumed to have the new coronavirus at Lambeth House retirement home in Uptown New Orleans had jumped to at 
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Travel industry under siege as coronavirus contagion grows FILE PHOTO: People wear masks at the international terminal at LAX airport in Los Angeles

By Jamie Freed and Tracy Rucinski

SYDNEY/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The fallout from the coronavirus spread across the Pacific on Friday, with Australian travel firms issuing profit warnings and Japanese carriers cutting capacity, while U.S. airlines rushed to cut flights to Europe in the wake of new travel restrictions.

U.S. travel curbs on much of continental Europe announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday deepened the sector's misery that began after the virus emerged in China late last year and reduced traffic.

United Airlines Holdings Inc warned of U.S. travel disruption as the virus spreads domestically and major tourist attractions like Walt Disney Co's theme parks in California and Florida said they would close.

American Airlines Group Inc and United said they would continue normal flights to and from Europe for the next week but would be reducing capacity to Europe by around 50% in April.

American also said it was cutting international capacity by 34% for the summer travel season and accelerating the retirement of its Boeing Co 757 and 767 planes.

Delta Air Lines Inc also said it would significantly reduce its U.S.-Europe schedule after Sunday as it continues to watch customer demand.

German airport operator Fraport said on Friday that passenger numbers at its key Frankfurt airport dropped by around 30% in the first week of March due to the coronavirus epidemic.

"We have to assume that the strong decline in air traffic volumes will continue during the next few weeks and months," CEO Stefan Schulte said in a statement.

Air France KLM SA said on Friday that it had drawn down on 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) worth of its revolving credit facility to help its financial position.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a global industry group representing airlines, called on governments to consider extending lines of credit, reducing infrastructure costs and cutting taxes.

IATA last week estimated that the crisis could wipe out some $113 billion of industry revenue, in a forecast that did not include the U.S. clampdown on European travel.

Story continues

"There is a heightened concern there will be increased airline bankruptcies in 2020 given the fallout from the coronavirus," Cowen analyst Helane Becker said.

"We expect some governments to step in to help some airlines, but ultimately we expect more airlines to fail this year than last year," she said in a note to clients, citing Cirium data that 41 airlines with 324 aircraft went bankrupt last year.

Cash-strapped low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA said on Thursday it would cut 4,000 flights and temporarily lay off up to half of its employees due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Indian government said it would extend the deadline for submission of early bids for ailing state carrier Air India until April 30 in part due to the virus situation.

ASIA-PACIFIC HIT HARD

Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd, Auckland International Airport Ltd, Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd and Corporate Travel Management Ltd said they would take hits to earnings from reduced travel demand.

Australia's No. 2 carrier, Virgin Australia, said it would offer discounted fares and cut some flights from Sydney to Los Angeles as demand for trans-Pacific travel fell.

"You will see us continue to be very disciplined with capacity as the situation evolves," Virgin Australia Chief Executive Paul Scurrah told reporters, echoing similar comments by rival Qantas Airways Ltd earlier in the week.

Virgin and Flight Centre joined a growing list of travel companies, which includes the big U.S. airlines, that are freezing hiring, halting executive bonuses and offering unpaid leave.

Singapore will deny from Monday entry or transit to visitors who have been in Italy, France, Spain or Germany in the last 14 days, the health ministry said on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Singapore Changi Airport announced seat capacity for the month of March was down nearly 30% from what was originally scheduled.

CGS-CIMB analyst Raymond Yap said the global spread of the virus meant the fall in demand for Singapore Airlines Ltd regional flights was likely to spread to long-haul flights, hurting the take-up rate in the lucrative business and first-class cabins.

Japan's ANA Holdings Inc and Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL) closed 7.6% and 13% lower respectively.

JAL said it would cut 1,468 domestic flights between March 20 and March 28 stemming from lower demand because sporting and cultural events had been suspended in Japan.

ANA will cut the number of daily flights from Japan to Los Angeles and New York and reduce operations to other cities in North America from Monday, it said. It also said there will be fewer flights to Europe including France, Germany and Belgium.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney and Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Additional reporting by Anshuman Daga in Singapore, Sudip Kar-Gupta; in Paris, Thomas Seythal in Berlin and Chang-Ran Kim and Tim Kelly in Tokyo; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Stephen Coates)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 06:06:09|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A Lebanese security source told Xinhua on Friday that unidentified people punctured the oil pipeline that runs from Iraq to Lebanon via Syria in the Wadi Khaled area located in Akkar, northern Lebanon.

The source pointed out that the aim of the attack was to extract oil, refine it manually, and sell it on the black market.

The security source noted that this is the third time that the pipeline has been punctured during the past two years.

Export of oil through the pipeline stopped decades ago, but it still contains large quantities of crude oil.

This pipeline is one of the oldest oil transport lines from Iraq and has a diameter of 12 inches.
People are buying up toilet paper faster than stores can restock shelves.

Toilet paper is just the latest in a list of items, including masks and hand sanitizers, that stores are stocking up on due to coronavirus concerns.

Toilet paper has nothing to do with the virus but is considered a staple of impending emergencies. CNN reports a few reasons people buy things like toilet paper during an emergency, even when the emergency has nothing to do with the item.

One of the reasons, CNN reports, is that people resort to extremes when there are conflicting messages about the risk and how seriously they should prepare for it.

Frank Farley, a professor at Temple University and former president of the American Psychological Association, also told CNN that its natural to want to over-prepare  and it gives people a sense of control.

After all, if we run out of [toilet paper], what do we replace it with? he told CNN.

Social media has documented a huge increase of people going to the store to stock up on a number of items, including toilet paper.

This was the line for the registers at Costco in Boston heights, where I used to work. It was pretty much all the way to the back of the store. pic.twitter.com/mBm3XlMPpx  Tall Emily (@tallEmily62) March 13, 2020

Just when I decided to catch up on stocking toilet paper, the panicking masses beat me to beef and chicken too! #Covid_19 #COVID19 #Boston #CoronavirusPandemic #Costco pic.twitter.com/BbkBRcOewG  Ahmed Ghoneem, MD MSc (@a_h_ghoneem) March 12, 2020

Went to 4 grocery stores and can confirm there is no toilet paper left in the state of Massachusetts pic.twitter.com/Ksk6X0Ed5U  Sarah Burns (@pityhugcomics) March 12, 2020

Stop and Shop Kingston Massachusetts.

All paper towels and toilet paper gone. pic.twitter.com/tUvMlLuvot  Wahaz (@wahaz) March 13, 2020

Sorry kids, got the whiskey in time but missed out in the last roll of toilet paper in Massachusetts. Its weird here, man. pic.twitter.com/uBWaM15iCW  Kenny Z (@kennethaz) March 12, 2020

A warehouse style supermarket, central Massachusetts, 10 pm on a weekday. This aisle is usually fully stocked with toilet paper. Many other categories of items are similarly depleted. pic.twitter.com/35hTiVTWZz  Gordon Arnold (@garnold360) March 13, 2020

So where can you get it?

Double-check your local stores. The stores will continue to restock as they can. There are also places you can get it without ever leaving your home. Although some of them are low in stock.

Amazon:

Target:

BJs delivery through Instacart:

Scott 1100 Bathroom Tissue for $30.39

Charmin Toilet Paper ultra strong for $27.29

Scott Comfort Plus Tissue for $30.99

You can also always go the reusable route. And yes, thats a thing.

Related Content:
Several foreigners in Assam have said they are facing problems as the tourism sector in the state grappled with the dwindling number of visitors amid the spread of coronavirus.

No positive cases of coronavirus have been detected in Assam but there is an alert after a 76-year-old US tourist, who had taken a seven-day cruise on the Brahmaputra in the state along with his partner and was later tested positive for coronavirus in Bhutan last week.

A Greek national had a difficult time in Majuli, the worlds largest island on the Brahmaputra, on Thursday when she was refused transport by local auto-rickshaw drivers for fear of contracting Covid-19.

The woman was trying to reach a screening centre for coronavirus set up by the local authorities. She finally managed to reach her destination when a scooterist offered her a ride.

A Spanish tourist also faced problems in Silchar, the headquarters of Cachar district, when hotels refused to give him a room.

The district administration had recently issued an order asking hotels to submit daily records of visitors to police and health officials. They were asked to be extra careful in giving accommodation to foreigners.

I tried nearly 20 hotels, but they all said no. So, finally, I went to the local police station for help. They kindly offered me a room in a government rest house, Pablo Fernandez said while speaking to local journalists.

The Spanish tourist, who had visited several countries on a bicycle, had reached Silchar on Wednesday. Reports say that a preliminary screening of the tourist at a local hospital had shown no symptoms of coronavirus.

There were 37 people on board the cruise ship MV Mahabaahu, of whom four including the infected man and his friend were US tourists. The others were staff or crew members of the tour operator who owns the ship.

The state administration had quarantined 741 people who had come in contact with the US tourist during his time in Assam when he visited Guwahati, Majuli, Jorhat and Kaziranga National Park.

Tests conducted for nine of the 741 people, who showed some symptoms of coronavirus, have tested negative. Twenty-two foreign tourists had travelled with the US tourist on the cruise ship MV Mahabaahu.

Tests conducted for 9 of the 741 people, who showed some symptoms of coronavirus, have been found negative.

The fear of coronavirus is adversely affecting the tourism sector in the state, which was already reeling under protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) since December last year.

The tourism sector has been very badly hit due to coronavirus. There has been a drop in both domestic and forensic tourists by around 80-90% in comparison to this period last year, Sachin Goswami, an adviser to the Tour Operators Association of Assam, said.

Three states in the northeastArunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkimhave already banned the entry of foreigners as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus.

While Mizoram has sealed its borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, Manipur has also closed border points with Myanmar as a safety measure.

India reported its first coronavirus death on Thursday as more than 70 have been infected by the virus.

HIGHLIGHTs

The state is on alert after a US tourist, who had taken a seven-day cruise on the Brahmaputra and was later found to be coronavirus positive in Bhutan last week.

The state administration had quarantined 741 people who had come in contact with the US tourist during his time in Assam.

Tests conducted for nine of the 741 people, who showed some symptoms of coronavirus, have tested negative.

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: The Tamil Nadu government on Friday



announced that pre kindergarten, LKG and UKG classes in public and private institutions would remain shut upto March 31 in view of the coronavirus scare.

A government notification, while stating this, also said that institutions bordering Kerala, which had reported the most number of coronavirus positive cases in South India, should declare holidays for students upto Class V.

"In Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Theni, Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Nilgiri districts, there will be no classes for students upto class V till March 31, it said.

Earlier,Chief Minister K Palaniswami reviewed the state's preventive measures as a follow up to the March 6 exercise.

However there was no official word on what transpired at the meeting held at the Secretariat.

Health and Family welfare minister C Vijayabhaskar, who was also present, said the Union Health Ministry was in constant touch with the state government and monitoring its preparedness to control the outbreak.

"As you may be aware WHO announced #Covid19 as pandemic. The Health and Family Welfare Ministry is in constant touch with TN Health and monitoring our preparedness ", he said in his social media accounts.

"I appeal to the public to cooperate with the Government actions, avoid travel and practice hygiene measures. If there are any symptoms, visit a doctor", he said.

The Chief Minister had on March 12 had sought to allay fears over coronavirus, saying the state was home to the best medical practitioners in the country and people need not panic



Vijayabhaskar has been reviewing the measures taken by the department ever since the state reported its first incident on March 7, in which a 45-year-old engineer tested positive for COVID19.

He had urged people to cooperate with the government initiatives and also advised against taking up travel and also to follow hygiene measures.

Tamil Nadu had reported its first coronavirus case on March 7 when a 45-year-old engineer from Kancheepuram had tested positive after returning from Oman.

However, he tested negative and is expected to be discharged in the coming days.

Chief Secretary K Shanmugam had said the government has instructed private hospitals in the state to set up isolation wards and state transport corporations and the Railways to screen passengers.

"..since neighbouring two states (Kerala and Karnataka) have reported high cases of coronavirus, Tamil Nadu has to be extra cautious in screening people moving inter state," he had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Katy Independent School District has extended spring break for at least another week while it further evaluates the new coronavirus situation in Katy and the greater Houston area.

The school closures will last through at least Sunday, March 22, and may be extended depending on the situation in later days. According to a district press release, all campus events, field trips, student trips and UIL practices and competitions are on hold beginning Friday, March 13.

Because the safety of students, staff and families is a top priority, Katy ISD have decided to act out of an abundance of caution to protect everyones health and wellbeing by postponing the return from spring break by at least one week, the release said.

The decision comes from several weeks of monitoring the situation and communicating with health officials that have offered advice and guidance, according to the release.

The district release said the extra time away from school and events will allow it to continue to study and monitor how COVID-19 is spreading within the area and provide ways for those that need to self-quarantine to do so before the start of school.

Since the information and impact on the Houston area is rapidly changing, Katy ISD will release updates for students, staff and families through next week.

Although classes will be out, Katy area children ages 0 to 18 years can still get school breakfasts and lunches at the campuses listed below from 9 to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday starting on Monday, March 16, according to the district website. Enrollment in a Katy ISD school is not a requirement. All meals will be served grab and go outside the cafeteria near the schools bus porch.

Bear Creek Elementary Bethke Elementary Golbow Elementary Hutsell Elementary Mayde Creek Elementary Memorial Parkway Elementary Sundown Elementary West Memorial Elementary Williams Elementary Tompkins High School

As parents may have concerns and questions regarding instruction, attendance and exemptions during the longer break, the Katy ISD Health Update webpage has answers.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
The current outbreak of an extremely contagious respiratory sickness is making its rounds on a global scale. It is clearly taking its toll on almost every business sector. In particular, hitting the bottom-line of establishments in the travel, hospitality, lifestyle and retail sectors.

The current outbreak of an extremely contagious respiratory sickness is making its rounds on a global scale. It is clearly taking its toll on almost every business sector.

In particular, hitting the bottom-line of establishments in the travel, hospitality, lifestyle and retail sectors.

For those in the travel and hospitality sector, the instinct is likely to protect revenue loss through price-slashing or discounts, or to lower costs such as reducing employee headcounts or shortening business hours, etc.

But there is also the other side, where a silver lining awaits.

Using SARS Or H1N1 As Predictor On Normalisation After COVID-19

An important factor to have in mind when the SARS or H1N1 outbreak occurred over a decade ago, it was at a time when social media was limited to LinkedIn and Myspace. The global digital information infrastructure too did not have the same convenience and immediacy of the online communication as what we have today.

In other words, during those periods of contagious outbreaks, travellers wanting to go on their leisure or business trips could not immediately check on day-to-day news for situation updates.

On the other hand, the actual business recovery and normalcy from SARS were relatively quick:

- Within one month after Hong Kong was declared SARS-free, the travel market and hotel occupancies rebounded back to 70%. It even surpassed the pre-SARS 12-month average within 2 months (South China Morning Post, 19 February 2020).

- Guangdong showed 70% hotel occupancy, mere weeks after they were removed from the WHO list of areas with local transmission (STR, 14 February 2020).

- In Singapore, hotel occupancy rates rebounded within 60 days of being declared SARS-free (South China Morning Post, 19 February 2020).

Recent research conducted by Kantar China Insights supports this. For example, while travel has been one of the heaviest hit industries in China due to COVID-19, with more than 90% of respondents cancelling or reducing travel plans, the industry is expected to rebound quickly (Kantar China Insights, 13 February 2020).

For those who have had to cancel plans, the wanderlust urges are hard to contain; the survey showed that 45% of respondents mentioned travel as activities they were itching to do. Overall, respondents ranked travel as number 2 on their list of activities to immediately resume after the epidemic passed.

This is reflected in the after-effects of past outbreaks that came back even more favourably for the travel and hospitality industry.

The formidable medical systems that were set in place during the respective outbreaks has also led to reduction in reaction time for governments, as well as responses to containing COVID-19. Mr Parag Khanna, a geopolitical scientist, recently mentioned in an interview,

Japan, Singapore and Korea, you can trust all three of them to get it under control because theyre rich countries with really good healthcare, even Italy too. Medical systems have improved. The ability to deploy health screening was instantaneous, be it distribution of surgical masks or temperature checks installed at every building, at the airport for everything, literally instantaneous, overnight. ( Skift, 4 March 2020

For example, in Singapore, the government has already announced a slew of measures to assist the travel and tourism sector, as well as for workplaces, to help recover efficiently from COVID-19 (The Straits Times, 18 February 2020).

Measures For The Hotel and Travel Industry

According to industry watchers, a rational approach would be to bite the bullet, sit back and start taking stock of the business in terms of reviewing inventories and operational and non-operational procedures. Industry experts emphasize the importance of a robust revenue management strategy that will support the business long-term.

The bottom line for hotels operating across the APAC region is, less of a time to panic and more of a time to plan.  AccomNews Australia, 2 March 2020

From a revenue management standpoint, cutting rates and cancelling all projects may have some impact for the short-term, but its a proven fact that this short-term solution does not drive demand. Instead, it will just eat away at the already tight bottom-line.

Competing properties might follow the footsteps of others in cutting on prices, but may not be in a favourable position to increase prices when recovery starts. Understandably, one will also have to contend with resistance from the general public, that the normalisation of rates is a form of price increase.

It may take a few minutes to lower rates but it can take literally years to bring that ADR back up again. - Revenue Hub, 4 March 2020

To learn more about the impact of cutting prices, take a look at the article on from Master of Science Thesis in International Tourism Management; titled The Impact Of Swine Flu (2009 H1N1) On The Tourism Market. It shows tourism providers' reactions to the decreased demand following the H1N1 crisis.

Hotels with a loyal customer base and a strong brand image which focused on providing a high-quality service and increased their marketing expenditure, did very well. While hotels, which implemented measures against quality or strong image, cut costs and, as a consequence, had to reduce prices, performed the worst. -

What Can Hotel & Travel Brands Do Before The Storm Passes?

Focus on Driving Direct Bookings

Hotels and travel brands can shift their focus to their domestic market, offer staycations, chase for business events, etc. Hotels can be more aggressive with book direct marketing instead of totally depending on OTA (online travel agents) that eats into revenue percentage.

This is not the time to cut your marketing budget; the strategy would be to reroute it instead to focus on current customers.

Using loyalty programs, hotels can improve the relationship with their repeat customers while ensuring direct bookings. This also allows for better management of inventory and rates.

Tweak Travel Cancellation Policies

Many cruise liners have relaxed their cancellation policies in the wake of COVID-19. This helps in allaying customers fears, as they are then less likely to cancel immediately or refrain from booking entirely.

For many potential customers who want to travel but are currently unable to, they might be more malleable to booking in advance, as long as cancellation policies are favourable.

Be Prepared for Recovery And Plan Strategies For Next Two Quarters

Most hotel, travel or hospitality brands are usually too busy to review budgets for a brand revamp or website update. During this temporary lull period, their marketing teams can get together to actively initiate their plans and press-start that long overdue branding activities.

For brands looking to expand into other markets, this would also be a good time to begin planning for their marketing strategy.

For example, for hotels looking to diversify their portfolio across other countries, this would be the right time to start the production processes for concept, content, promotion campaign matrices, etc.

Instead of waiting for restrictions to be lifted before restarting their marketing campaigns, brands that can appear business-as-usual will be first to receive a positive response from their global guests.

By showing their solidarity with global travellers, brands are cultivating that vital goodwill, especially with regular guests who must be feeling rather blindsided.

When the restrictions lift, the expectation is that the global guests, especially the FIT segment, will flood back out, right into the brands that are most welcoming.

The aim is hence to continue maintaining your brand presence through your online and offline channels. Distribution and marketing can go a long way with a plan to convert them later.

IPPWORLDs Faith In The Hotel and Travel Industry

As a service provider of creative translation and multilingual content management for the travel, hotel, hospitality, lifestyle and retail sectors, IPPWORLD have weathered the storm during SARS as well as H1N1 outbreaks.

Indeed, history has shown that these storms certainly will pass; even though we are in present times caught in the eye of Covid-19 storm.

To support our hotel and travel clients capitalise on this downtime to revitalise their global online and offline marketing content, we at IPPWORLD wish to reciprocate, in a modest way, during such unexpected low season.

As a show of faith that the industry will rebound, IPPWORLDs gesture is an offer of short-term discounted rates for development of localised content.

This offer is specially extended to establishments engaging with or marketing to global travellers or consumers in their respective preferred native languages.

Our proposed offer on reduced rates are for specific transcreation and localisation work scopes and applies to all orders received from March 2020 until the end of May 2020.

To initiate this temporary measure, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our Global Business Director, Joanne Chan (joanne.chan@ippworld.com, or via LinkedIn)

As a dedicated service provider for this industry, we are definitely in it together with our clients. We are confident that the industry will and can overcome this situation and to bounce back, even stronger.

About IPPWORLD

As a Language Service Provider, IPPWORLD (http://www.ippworld.com) is a global transcreation (creative translation) agency that assists travel, hotels, hospitality and lifestyle brands, as well as various businesses enhance their engagement strategy in global markets. We provide end-to-end Multilingual Localisation and Transcreation solutions for website content and online booking information. Transcreation encourages higher readership amongst native-language speaking communities, helps drive conversions, grows revenue and builds brand loyalty. To understand how you can better connect with global audiences through transcreation, drop us a mail at info.singapore@ippworld.com, or connect with Joanne Chan on Linkedin.

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 2022 Hospitality Trends
Ukraine's hryvnia slumps to UAH 25.86 to U.S. dollar on March 13

09:57, 13.03.20 42522

The official forex rate against the euro for Friday is fixed at UAH 29.05 per euro.
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen warned Friday against imposing unilateral travel restrictions to fight the coronavirus epidemic, as some member states have done.

She spoke after the Czech Republic announced that it would ban all foreigners from entering the country and all Czechs from leaving as of Monday.

Other member states including Austria, Slovenia and Hungary have suspended the rules of the passport-free Schengen travel zone and reimposed border checks, particularly with worst-hit Italy.

"Certain controls may be justified, but general travel bans are not seen as being the most effective by the World Health Organization," von der Leyen said, calling instead for health screening at borders.

"Any measure that is taken must be proportionate. What we can do and what we should do is to carry out health screening measures." Such tests could be carried out either at borders or within member state territory, she said.

Home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson will present proposals on screening to a meeting of the 27 EU interior ministers later on Friday.

The European response to the virus has stepped up dramatically in the last 24 hours with several countries including France, Ireland and Belgium closing schools and universities.

Italy has imposed the continent's toughest response to a pandemic that has killed 1,016 people and infected more than 15,000 in the peninsula in less than three weeks.

The government has shut all shops except for pharmacies and groceries in the hope of stemming contagion and easing the burden on Italy's overstretched hospitals.

Von der Leyen said the EU was also taking steps to deal with a shortage of protective equipment such as masks, after several countries including Germany and France abruptly banned exports to guard their own supplies.

"It is not good when member states take unilateral action, because it always causes a domino effect and that prevents the urgently needed equipment from reaching the patients, from reaching hospitals," she said.

"Ultimately it amounts to reintroducing internal borders, at a time when solidarity between member states is needed." She said that after talks, Paris and Berlin had relented and are now "willing to adapt their national measures, as we requested".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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THALWIL, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / u-blox (SIX:UBXN), a global leader in wireless and positioning technologies, today announced its financial results for the full year 2019.Financial Summary- Revenues of CHF 385.1 million compared to CHF 393.3 million last year, a decline of 2.1%- Gross Profit (adjusted) of CHF 175.1 million compared to CHF 177.9 million last year, a decline of 1.6%, and resulting in a gross margin of 45.5% versus 45.2% last year- EBIT (adjusted) of CHF 43.1 million, compared to CHF 60.4 million last year- Net Profit (adjusted) before minority interests of CHF 32.0 million, compared to CHF 48.2 million last year- Cash flow from operating activities of CHF 77.3 million compared to CHF 36.3 million in 2018- Free cash flow of CHF 10.5 million (CHF 21.3 million before acquisitions), compared to CHF -27.0 million last year- EBITDA (adjusted) of CHF 71.7 million, compared to CHF 81.2 million last year- CHF 127.4 million of cash and cash equivalents at year-end 2019, compared to CHF 136.3 million at year-end 2018Business Highlights / Achievements- Sold 500 millionth GNSS receiver, demonstrating the ever-greater role of satellite positioning in consumer, industrial and automotive applications.- Acquired the Bluetooth module business from Rigado in July 2019, which broadened u-blox's short-range product portfolio, adding a large number of new customers, new distribution relationships, and a team of talented engineers.- Expanded existing partnerships with Sapcorda and Kudelski to grow u-blox's wireless services business to provide customers with even greater capabilities.- Continued to make significant investments into R&D, given that u-blox is currently capitalizing six new platforms across all technologies.For more information, please refer to the online versions at:Press release at website2019 annual report and video summaryPresentation (PDF)Conference call and webcast detailsThomas Seiler, CEO and Roland Jud, CFO, will host a conference call and webcast with analysts and investors Friday, March 13, at 10:00 AM CET. A live slide presentation will be available for viewing during the call from the link below.To participate, please dial the following number approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the call:Switzerland / Europe: +41 (0) 58 310 50 00United Kingdom: +44 (0) 207 107 06 13United States: +1 (1) 631 570 56 13Webcast Participants' Links:Pre-Registration Link: https://ccwebcast.eu/links/ublox200313/indexl.html The webcast will be available at the u-blox website after the event.About u-bloxu-blox (SIX:UBXN) is a global provider of leading positioning and wireless communication technologies for the automotive, industrial, and consumer markets. Their solutions let people, vehicles, and machines determine their precise position and communicate wirelessly over cellular and short range networks. With a broad portfolio of chips, modules, and a growing ecosystem of product supporting data services, u-blox is uniquely positioned to empower its customers to develop innovative solutions for the Internet of Things, quickly and cost-effectively. With headquarters in Thalwil, Switzerland, the company is globally present with offices in Europe, Asia, and the USA.Find us on www.u-blox.com , Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter @ublox and YouTubeu-blox contact:Gitte JensenInvestor RelationsPhone +41 44 722 7486u-blox AGZurcherstrasse 688800 ThalwilSwitzerlandPhone +41 44 722 74 44Fax +41 44 722 74 47info@ u-blox.com Financial calendarAnnual general meeting: April 23, 2020Half year results 2020: August 21, 2020Analyst day 2020: November 25, 2020DisclaimerThis release contains certain forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the u-blox Group to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include risks related to the success of and demand for the Group's products, the potential for the Group's products to become obsolete, the Group's ability to defend its intellectual property, the Group's ability to develop and commercialize new products in a timely manner, the dynamic and competitive environment in which the Group operates, the regulatory environment, changes in currency exchange rates, the Group's ability to generate revenues and profitability, and the Group's ability to realize its expansion projects in a timely manner. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this report. u-blox is providing the information in this release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in it as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.This press release is published in German and English. Should the German translation differ from the English original, the English version is binding.SOURCE: u-blox AG via EQS Newswire
With just two weeks left for the automobile sector to switch over to the new emission norms, two-wheeler dealers in the country are sitting on BS-IV inventory worth over Rs 3,800 crore. Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada) says a very high number of two-wheeler dealers will not be able to fully liquidate their BS-IV inventory and its members have expressed inadequate support from their original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for 100 per cent liquidation of this stock.

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Local Syrian Baath Party branch formations have been frozen, as those who were nominated were deemed to favour Iran too much reports Al-Modon.

The recent decision by the national leadership of the Syrian Baath Party to freeze the elected party branch formations in the governorates has revealed the outlines of a struggle between movements within the party, caused by the Russian-Iranian competition over party appointments.

According to Al-Modons sources, the decision to cancel or freeze the election results at the party branch level will not include all the Syrian governorates, but rather will include some areas and not others. Foremost among those included is the Qalamoun area in Damascus countryside, along with some people in Damascus, Homs and Lattakia.

What is certain, according to the sources, is that Russia objected to the placement of a large number of figures affiliated with Iran at the head of the branches and party branches after formal elections. Russia fears an increase in Iranian influence in the remaining institutions of the state, given that the new formations will be the decision-makers in these areas, rather than the civilian government institutions.

The sources said that what had aroused the Russians anger was the appointment of figures known to be affiliated with Hezbollah and Iran, particularly in the border areas with Lebanon (the Damascus and Homs countrysides), which have witnessed disputes between local area leaders, based on their relationships with Iran or with Russia and may turn into something like a direct clash.

In the same context, the journalist and writer Ziyad al-Rayyes told Al-Modon that the formations are likely to be modified so that names are replaced with othersespecially those that have a good relationship with Hezbollah.

Quoting sources in the party, he said that the freeze decision was aimed at creating a balance of influence with Iran by introducing figures secured by the Russian side.

He said: There is a conflict within the party between an Iranian-affiliated movement on the ideological and intellectual level, and a second movement affiliated with Iran, concerned with financial corruption and bribes from businessmen and mafias.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
The Junta de Andalucia regional government and the regional business confederation, CEA, have joined forces to try to turn Andalucia into the first region of Spain without single-use plastic bags.

The regional president, Juanma Moreno; regional minister responsible for Sustainable Development, Carmen Crespo; and the head of the CEA, Javier Gonzalez de Lara, signed an agreement in Malaga on Tuesday to introduce alternatives to plastic bags and not wait for an EU ban to come into place in January 2021.

"We all have to make an effort and become, from a business and social point of view, a region that is at the leading-edge of Europe," said Juanma Moreno, pointing out that Andalucia is the only European region with a coastline on two seas.

Gonzalez de Lara stressed that many companies have "made a huge effort to innovate and to offer alternatives that aren't overly expensive and which guarantee hygiene and product traceability".
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By PTI

LOS ANGELES: Paramount Pictures has delayed the release of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt's horror thriller "A Quiet Place Part II" indefinitely amid coronavirus outbreak.

The film, a sequel to 2018's horror hit directed by Krasinski, was slated to bow out worldwide on March 18, with a UK premiere scheduled for March 19 and a North American release set for March 20.

"After much consideration, and in light of the ongoing and developing situation concerning coronavirus and restrictions on global travel and public gatherings, Paramount Pictures will be moving the worldwide release of /A Quiet Place Part II',"the studio said in a statement posted on Instagram.

"We believe in and support the theatrical experience, and we look forward to bringing this film to audiences this year once we have a better understanding of the impact of this pandemic on the global theatrical marketplace."

Paramout has not set a new release date for the movie yet. Krasinski, who has penned and directed the sequel, also released a statement on his Instagram.

"One of the things I'm most proud of is that people have said our movie is one you have to see all together. Well due to the ever-changing circumstances of what's going on in the world around us, now is clearly not the right time to do that. As insanely excited as we are for all of you to see this movie .I'm gonna wait to release the film till we CAN all see it together! So here's to our group movie date! See you soon," he wrote.

"A Quiet Place II" also features Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, while Krasinski has a cameo appearance.

The film is the latest addition to the list of movies that have been delayed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Sony Pictures recently pushed the global release of "Peter Rabbit 2" to August, while the new James Bond movie "No Time to Die", which was set to arrive in cinemas in April, has been postponed to November.

Many events around the world have been cancelled or postponed amid the outbreak, including film festivals and music concerts.

"A Quiet Place II" is exclusively distributed in India by Viacom18 Studios.
Rebalancing the oil market in a context of dropping demand and rising supply will take a while, energy expert Daniel Yergin told media, as quoted by Reuters.

With demand subdued more than usual because of the coronavirus pandemic and the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia adding more barrels to the market, it will be difficult for the market to rebalance, Yergin said.

Its a problem of an oil price war in the middle of a constricting market when the walls are closing in, IHS Markits vice chairman said, adding that Normally demand would solve the problem in a way, because you would have lower prices that act like a tax cut and it would be a stimulus. But not in this case because of the freezing up of economic activity.

Whats more, Yergin noted that the low prices at the pump that President Trump cheered on Twitter are not that good of news.

Low gasoline prices ... dont do much when schools are closed, people are cancelling all their trips, and people are working from home.

Quarantines are expanding internationally as the coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19, marches on. Fears for economic growth have spiked on these developments, with governments considering various aid packages for businesses that will be affected by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Russia has plans to raise production by 300,000 to 500,000 bpd from next month and Saudi Arabia is aiming at adding close to 3 million bpd to daily production in an attempt to force Russia to reconsider its position on production cuts.

According to some, such as Continental Resources Harold Hamm, the oil war is actually an attack on U.S. shale, which is more sensitive to price movements than both Russian and Saudi oil producers. Yergin, however, has rejected this explanation for the Saudi-Russian game of chicken.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top reads From Oilprice.com:
The 19th edition of Tribeca Film Festival has been postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus scare.

The annual fest was slated to run from April 15 to 26 throughout New York City, and, for the first time ever, in New Jersey, reported Deadline.

"We founded the Tribeca Film Festival as a way to heal our community after the devastation of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. We were determined to overcome our fear and anxiety by joining together. It is in our DNA to march forward while caring about our community.

"We have made the difficult decision to postpone the 19th Tribeca Film Festival (April 15-26) based on the announcement by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that events of 500 people or more are banned due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. We are committed to ensuring the health and safety of the public while also supporting our friends, filmmakers and storytellers who look to Tribeca as a platform to showcase their work to audiences. We will be back to you shortly with our plans,' Jane Rosenthal, co-founder and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises, said in a statement.

A future date for the festival has yet to be announced. This year's narrative feature program includes 124 filmmakers from 33 countries, including 95 world premieres. The shorts section had 64 short films from 20 countries.

"Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President" was set to open the festival on April 15.

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected more than 130,000 people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A spike of 13 new coronavirus cases in Thailand has been traced to a group of friends who shared cigarettes and whiskey while partying during a night out.



Dr. Sukhum Kanchanapimai, the health ministry's permanent secretary, said that the new cases were caused by party-goers who became infected while enjoying Bangkok's nightlife. He told reporters: 'There was inappropriate behaviour, sharing drinks, cigarettes and not avoiding social activities after returning from an at-risk country. Don't share cigarettes and drinks.'



According to a report by Thai PBS World, the group repeatedly met to socialise in Bangkok on February 21, 27 and 29.



Dr Sukhum Kanchanapimai told the publication that the friends had been 'drinking from the same glass of whiskey and smoking the same cigarette in an enclosed air-conditioned room for a long time'. As of today, Thailand raised its official coronavirus count by five cases, bringing the total to 75 with one death. Thirty-five people have recovered and been discharged from the hospital so far.













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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Caesar, who smuggled thousands of photos of executed prisoners out of Syria, testified in front of Congress about the abuses happening in Syria reports Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

A Syrian military defector detailed the humanitarian disaster of Syrias civil war before the US Senates Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, as the conflict approaches its tenth consecutive year.

The defector, who goes by the pseudonym Caesar and wore a blue hood while testifying behind closed doors in Washington, DC, was once a forensic photographer in Syrias military police.

After photographing thousands of bodies held in two military prisons in Damascus, Caesar secretly duplicated the photos and sent copies out of Syria through members of the opposition in 2013. Caesar was eventually smuggled out of the country when his safety was at risk.

My daily work was mixed with pain and sorrow due to the painful scenes that I saw every day on the bodies of the victims including men, women, and children, Caesar said Wednesday. The signs of torture were clear on their brittle bodies including burning, strangulation, and whipping with cables.

Since his exit from Syria, Caesar has advocated for the United States to pass the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, legislation which imposes sanctions on entities that conduct business with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad government.

The bill passed last year, but did little to curb the bloodshed in Syria.

Killing has increased in the same places and in the same ways and at the hands of the very same criminals, Caesar testified. And the reason simply is that the Assad regime considered the inaction of the international community and the mere statements of condemnation as a green light for him to continue his crimes against the Syrian people [].

Also present at the hearing were Raed Al-Saleh, head of the Syria Civil Defence  also known as the White Helmets  and Omar Alshogre, a representative of the Syrian Emergency Task Force.

I do not wish to sit here in 2025 detailing the suffering of yet another unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in Syria, said Saleh. As we enter the tenth year of war, the world has run out of words. Now is the time for action.

The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act (H.R. 31/S. 52) has been signed into law by President Trump as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Alshogre, a Syrian war survivor, recalled his arrests and brutal torture by regime forces throughout his teenage years in Syria.

After witnessing his cousins deaths at the hands of prison guards, Alshogre narrowly escaped with his life when his mother bribed officials to smuggle him out of jail when he was supposed to be executed.

According to media reports, the testimonies left US senators nearly speechless.

The Idlib province, Syrias last opposition bastion targeted by Assads aggressive military campaign, may see a ceasefire between Turkey and Russia, two main players in the conflict.

Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, facing death amid heavy bombardment or forced to endure freezing temperatures in the exposed, makeshift camps.

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.
Society is not ready for projects such as the National Reconciliation Platform. However, assistant NSDC secretary Serhiy Sivokho's project launch has been thwarted not because the initiative is bad as such. Here's why it failed.

First: the "Platform" presented by Serhiy Sivokho is a social tool for Donbas reintegration: "first we return our people, then territories". But will people go for dialogue if security issues haven't been resolved in Donbas? This is the same as holding elections at gunpoint of armed militants, supported by armed Russian mercenaries.

In general, this proven method works very well. And its success lays in the fact that the "majority" remains passive about Zelensky's plan, while waiting for everything to be resolved by itself

Second: was there enough time to communicate the very idea of a "platform" in Ukraine? The idea is worth a nationwide discussion, so some backstage or office meetings are not enough.

Third: the "active minority" effect has worked again. In general, this proven method works very well. And its success lays in the fact that the "majority"(the one that supports President Zelensky and sees ending the war in Donbas as priority demand to him) remains passive about Zelensky's plan, while waiting for everything to be resolved by itself. The "minority", on the other hand, is more mobile, clearer in its messages, and ready to act and face resistance.

Thus, the "majority" seems to be out there, but for some reason they don't go out on rallies to support the conditional "Zelensky plan" or be it the "Sivokho platform". As a result, the "active minority" is more often seen in the media, and it seems that it's in control of the situation.

In order for the National Reconciliation Platform to succeed, it must receive an all-Ukrainian legitimacy instead of being agreed in someone's office

Fourth: there is a feeling that when it comes to the issue of Donbas return, our society is immediately fragmented into small groups divided by interests. To resolve this problem, authorities need to understand and present a "state project" for Donbas. That is, to try to reconcile the private and the universal, to unite all spheres of society in the pursuit of a common goal, with a common baggage of values clear to every citizen. After all, for many Ukrainians, don't understand what the "Sivokho platform" is why anyone needs it amid continued enemy shelling

In order for the National Reconciliation Platform to succeed, it must receive an all-Ukrainian legitimacy instead of being agreed in someone's office. And it mustn't be done in a rush. All this is a matter of communication quality, through which trust is built. And it is this communication that allows authorities to play long. This is exactly what is needed in this situation, as there will be no quick decision on Donbas.

Taras Semeniuk is an analyst with KyivStratPro
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Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 11:03 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a4dbee 1 National COVID-19,coronavirus,outbreak,isolation,Achmad-Yurianto,health-ministry,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia Free

The Health Ministry said a 33-year-old man identified as Indonesias 27th confirmed COVID-19 patient had contracted the coronavirus from Case 20, who caught the disease from the countrys first confirmed case.

Weve gotten a report from our contact-tracing officials. He [Case 27] was in close contact with Case 20, who is in the same cluster as Case 1. We have solved the riddle, the ministrys disease control and prevention director general, Achmad Yurianto, said during a press briefing on Thursday.

Case 27 raised a concern on the first possible community transmission in the country, after the government announced on Tuesday that the citizen with no link to certain confirmed cases or travel history to affected countries tested positive for the virus. Yurianto earlier said the patient did not contract the virus abroad, and his exposure to the coronavirus was vague.

Yurianto, also the governments spokesperson for all coronavirus-related matters, said the ministry was tracking and identifying all people who could have come in contact with Case 27.

Read also: COVID-19: Possible community spread sparks fears of wider contagion in Indonesia

He went on to say that the Health Ministry had been monitoring 12 new suspects, all of whom had been admitted to hospitals isolation wards and were waiting to be tested.

"We are monitoring 12 new suspects. I cannot reveal too much details but basically all of them had shown mild symptoms of COVID-19, such as a fever and cough, Yurianto said.

Some of them had been in close contact with the new confirmed cases, while others voluntarily went to health facilities because they had recent travel history to affected countries.

As of Thursday, Indonesia announced 34 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Three of the cases have since recovered, while one, a British woman, died in Bali. Meanwhile, two patients admitted to the hospital for exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms died on Thursday. (nal)
An ITBP-run quarantine centre here released 112 people, comprising 76 Indians and 36 foreigners, on Friday after they all tested negative for coronavirus, a senior official said.

They were evacuated last month from Wuhan in China and admitted on February 27 to the special centre of the border guarding force in Chhawla area of south-west Delhi, one of the biggest quarantine centres in the country set up to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Two tests were conducted on these inmates, the first one on the day they were brought here and the second on the fourteenth day. All the 112 samples have been found negative and hence it was decided to allow them to leave for their homes and other destinations," ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said.

The inmates were seen off by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General S S Deswal.

This was the second batch to have positively cleared the quarantine at the ITBP centre since the global outbreak of the virus.

Earlier, 406 people were brought to this centre and were subsequently released last month following negative test results.

Addressing the inmates, Rai said the Narendra Modi government is committed to combat the pandemic as he presented a medically-authorised release certificate, a rose and an ITBP calendar to each one of them.

Among the 36 foreigners, 23 were from Bangladesh, six from China, two each from Myanmar and Maldives and one each from Madagascar, the United States and South Africa.

"A medical team led by our chief medical officer Dr A P Joshi was on the job 24x7 and they were happy by the fact that all can go home now," Pandey said. "This is the biggest coronavirus quarantine centre in the country as it can cater to 1,000 patients and till now it has catered to 518 people," he said.

The ITBP spokesperson further said the facility has now been enhanced with the creation of two segments. Any person suspected to have exposure to coronavirus will initially be kept at the primary enclosure and on the basis of their symptoms will be sent to the isolation area or general quarantine, he said.

While talking to reporters, a Bangladeshi woman said she was "grateful" to India for evacuating her and her family members from China.

M Singh, an Indian citizen, said it was comforting when they were evacuated from Wuhan, the epicentre of coronavirus, and subsequently quarantined under medical experts here.

"I am thankful to all the government arms who helped us, be it the Indian Embassy in Beijing, the Indian Air Force, the ITBP and other government officials. Their support has been super fantastic. We are happy to go home safely now," Singh said.

He added that the doctors at the centre have advised them to go into another round of self-quarantine for 14 days as a matter of precaution.

The ITBP, with a strength of about 98,000 personnel, is primarily tasked to guard the 3,488-kms long Line of Actual Control (LAC), apart from rendering a variety of duties in the internal security domain of the country.

It functions under the Union home ministry.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) over the worsening of the situation in Italy regarding the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 suspends flights from Kyiv to Rome and Milan.

The press service of the airline reported that PS305/306 flights PS305/306 between Kyiv and Rome will be annulled in the period from March 15 2020 through April 8, 2020.

UIA said that PS311/312 flights between Kyiv and Milan will be canceled between March 15, 2020 and April 14, 2020

PS335/336 flights between Kyiv and Venice were canceled for the period from March 12, 2020 through April 12, 2020.

Passengers of canceled flights can apply for new booking or return of funds for the ticket at the place where it was purchased.
A man accused of helping hold up a Sprint store in Montrose was captured Thursday after a pursuit into Houstons Third Ward.

A trio allegedly robbed the store just before 3 p.m. in the 2000 block of Westheimer, near Shepherd Drive, according to Houston Police Department Lt. Larry Crowson. Officers quickly caught up with the three as they drove away in a silver sedan, Crowson said.
- Enhanced productivity and delivering superior customer experience are primary triggers for adoption of workplace transformation

- Choosing the right solutions, data security, and organizational buy-in are key concerns

- Digital transformation tops the workplace modernization agenda for organizations

BENGALURU, India, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Infosys Knowledge Institute (IKI), the thought leadership and research arm of Infosys (NYSE: INFY), today published a global research report on the workplace transformation landscape titled, 'Drive Change from Within.' The research revealed that CEOs are now prioritizing on driving a workplace transformation roadmap and contributing to its development in the organization.

Infosys surveyed more than 1,300 senior leaders from banking, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, telecom, and energy and utility firms, with revenues of more than $1 billion, for this report. The study offers a detailed view into how transforming the workplace can lead to the growth and success of an enterprise in today's competitive landscape, market dynamics, and customer expectations. It also provides perspectives on workplace transformation trends, adoption of various contemporary tools, transformation benefits, and apprehensions, across organizations.

Key findings of the survey:

45 percent respondents believe that CEOs are the most influential in driving a workplace transformation roadmap.

57 percent of organizations consider digital tools (e.g. enterprise productivity suites, enterprise communication software etc.) to have the maximum impact on workplace transformation. The impact of digital tools on workplace transformation is ranked higher than that of physical elements (e.g. co-working, smart buildings, etc.) and cultural changes (e.g. training & upskilling, work-life balance, etc.), which are at 38 percent and 15 percent respectively.

Organizations strongly believe that digital workplace transformation can improve collaboration across teams (86 percent), and provide superior customer experience (84 percent).

Adoption of the workplace transformation strategy is well underway with more than 80 percent organizations already having a well-defined strategic roadmap in place.

55 percent of respondents reckon choosing the right solutions/technology is a significant concern before embarking on workplace transformation. During implementation, data security (77 percent) and obtaining a buy-in across the organization (74 percent) were stated as the biggest challenges.

The ability to drive alignment with business outlook (60 percent), leverage the latest technologies (55 percent) and manage cultural change (53 percent) are seen as the top advantages of working with external partners for workplace transformation.

While workplace strategy and implementation is prevalent across industries, Banking, Financial Services & Insurance, Retail, Consumer Goods, Logistics, Communications, Media and Technology sectors lead the pack.

Ravi Kumar, President, Infosys, said, "The current multi-generational workforce demands a workplace that is highly collaborative, productive and engaging. Therefore, today organizations are utilizing the power of digital technologies to create a modern workplace where employees aspire to grow not just as individuals but as a focused network of teams. This entails reimagining employee experience and engagement in a meaningful way, while encouraging collaboration and ensuring information security. This report reinforces that workplace transformation has moved beyond physical infrastructure and has become a key priority for the C-suite who are looking to empower their employees with the right set of digital tools and fresh experiences."

John Laherty, Senior Research Analyst, NelsonHall, said, "The paradigm shift in the workplace transformation space has made it imperative for organizations to provide their employees 'consumer-like' experiences. The research report by Infosys, 'Drive Change from Within' highlights the fact that companies are embracing digital tools and technologies in order to foster collaborative workplaces which will culminate into increased efficiencies. Organizations today stand to gain from building workplaces that enable employees to utilize their true potential, increase their productivity and provide a seamless user experience without compromising on security. The first movers in this transformation journey can use this competitive edge to their advantage and get more value from their workplace, faster."

For a full copy of the report, please visit: https://www.infosys.com/services/microsoft-cloud-business/insights/workplace-transformation-research-study.html

Survey Methodology

Over 1,300 senior leaders from banking, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, telecom, and energy and utility firms, with revenues of more than $1 billion were surveyed for the study. These business leaders represent some of the leading organizations operating across the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and AustraliaNew Zealand (ANZ).

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 46 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over three decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements mentioned in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectations intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.

LOGO: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/633365/Infosys_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Infosys
A postal worker in the right place at the right time, saved a life Read more

This article originally appeared in The Inquirer on Oct. 16, 1997.

By David E. Wilson, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT

The dignitaries were all lined up, awards in hand and speeches ready to go.

The postal workers had set aside their work for a moment and gathered in the front room of the post office on High Street.

The Anderson family  Thomasa and Dwight and their children, 15-month-old Aleah, Jeremiah, 2, and 4 1/2-year-old Isaiah  posed for the television cameras.

Just one man was missing from the group yesterday morning.

Barry Petty  the postal carrier who saved the life of Isaiah Anderson last month by scooping his still body from the deep end of a swimming pool and breathing into his mouth  stood in the back of the room, rocking on his feet.

Barry! yelled a colleague.

Get up there! yelled another.

Petty relented, and the stream of laurels poured forth.

 READ MORE: A South Jersey pediatrician finds his clients have grown to love him

 READ MORE: Fifty years later they got the wedding of their dreams

There probably isnt anything more important in the entire world than what you did," said Diane Allen, an Assembly member from the Seventh District.

It was not your regular tour, and you were an hour late, said Mayor Herman Costello. "There was a reason for it.

If you didnt believe [in a higher power], you must believe now, he said.

Most appreciative, of course, was Thomasa Anderson.

I just prayed to God, and thank him that he sent this person to rush into that pool and get my son out, Anderson said, her eyes welling with tears. She embraced Petty.

Petty, in standard hero fashion, couldnt bring himself to take full credit. But he allowed himself, if only briefly, to bask in the glow.

It feels really good, said Petty, 40, who has been a postal carrier for 12 years. I never expected all this. The greatest thing is to see him out of the hospital  To see something like this is a miracle.

Fellow postal workers broke into a chant: Barry! Barry! Barry!

Police and emergency workers agree that if Petty hadnt been delivering mail at that hour on Lancaster Avenue in Burlington Township, a section served by the Burlington City post office, Isaiah Anderson most likely would not be alive today.

About 3 p.m. on Sept. 25, Andersons babysitter, a woman in her 60s, came running to the door as Petty walked by, screaming for help. Petty burst into the house, ran out the back door and saw Isaiah lying motionless under about 8 feet of water. Isaiahs brother, Jeremiah, was walking around the perimeter of the pool.

Petty, a CPR instructor, dived in and pulled Isaiah to the surface. He did not feel a pulse and immediately began trying to resuscitate the boy. Isaiah was taken by helicopter to Cooper Hospital-University Medical Center, where he spent the next two weeks recovering.

Thomasa Anderson, who was at work at the time, rushed over to the house and then on to the hospital.

At the ceremony yesterday, Anderson said that her two sons must have squeezed under the fence or through the gate of the pool, which was fenced off but uncovered.

Anderson said that Isaiah suffered brain damage from the accident, and was receiving speech and occupational therapy. He is scheduled to enter kindergarten next year.
Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

The Houston Chronicle Best Dressed Luncheon and Neiman Marcus fashion presentation scheduled March 25 at the Post Oak Hotel will be rescheduled.

The event, sponsored by Womans Hospital of Texas, benefits the March of Dimes and honors 10 of the Houston's most philanthropic and stylish women.
San Francisco escalated its accusations of deceptive and unsafe building inspections against a former city building commissioner Thursday, saying he and his engineering firm evaded inspection-permit requirements for nine residential properties and stole more than $420,000 from their clients through check fraud.

Rodrigo Santos, the defendant in the citys lawsuit, has long-standing political connections. He was appointed by Mayor Willie Brown to the citys Building Inspection Commission in 2000, was named president of the commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2005, and was appointed to the City College Board of Trustees by Mayor Ed Lee in 2011.

City Attorney Dennis Herreras initial lawsuit in September 2018 accused Santos and his firm, Santos & Urrutia Associates, of sidestepping city permit requirements for excavations on three properties in order to save time and money, and gain an advantage on competitors. The updated suit, filed Jan. 22 and partially unsealed Thursday, added six properties and a claim of defrauding clients out of more than $420,000 in a three-year scheme that involved more than 200 forged checks.

San Francisco and California have building codes for a reason. They keep people safe, Herrera said in a statement. These defendants endangered both their workers and unsuspecting San Franciscans. They cut corners and put peoples lives at risk to line their own pockets.

Santos lawyer, David Ericksen, said, We are actively defending against the allegations, and added that Santos has denied each claim in the lawsuit.

Santos, a civil engineer by training, was a prominent member of the Coalition for Responsible Growth, a now-defunct political action committee that raised money for moderate candidates in San Francisco. An online flyer for a 2011 mayoral debate and cocktail reception listed him as the groups president.

The lawsuit alleged a variety of deceptive practices.

At three homes, Herreras office said, the firm obtained city permits for small-scale projects, like bathroom or kitchen remodeling, but actually performed more extensive work  excavations that added lower levels to single-family homes  which would have required a lengthier review by the city and higher fees.

In the process, the firm undermined the foundations of at least three neighboring properties and endangered construction workers, the suit said. It said Santos & Urrutia eventually obtained the proper permits after being caught and cited by the Department of Building Inspection, but continued falsifying its reports and working beyond the scope of its permits.

At four homes, the suit said, the firm used identities of other contractors, with specialized state licenses to oversee trench work, to deceive city inspectors into believing the work was being overseen by qualified contractors.

There is a substantial risk of harm to construction workers descending into such trenches, and the firms tactics increased that risk, the suit said.

At seven properties, the suit said, the firm purported to give the city special inspection reports on the quality and safety of its construction materials and work, but instead submitted fake reports from an engineering technician who forged civil engineer stamps and signatures. The city has ordered new inspections of all the properties and repairs of any defects, Herrera said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The suit alleged multiple acts of misconduct at several of the nine residences.

In the $420,000 theft complaint, the suit said Santos persuaded clients to sign checks to city departments while leaving the amounts blank. Santos then filled in a monetary sum, forged a city department endorsement on the check and then deposited it in his own account, the suit said.

The firms other cofounder, Albert Urrutia, is also a defendant in the suit, along with the engineering technician who allegedly signed the phony inspection reports. The suit seeks civil penalties that could amount to millions of dollars, restitution for the check fraud victims, and repairs for any defective work performed by the firm.

Chronicle staff writer Dominic Fracassa contributed to this report.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
Photo credit: Isaac Brekken - Getty Images

From Popular Mechanics

The MQ-9 Reaper drone is the backbone of the Air Forces armed drone fleet.



As the U.S. shifts to preparing for high-end fights against major adversaries, the Reaper is coming up short.

The Reapers replacement will likely be a more stealthy, survivable drone capable of evading missile defenses.

The U.S. Air Force wants to replace the services fleet of Reaper attack drones with something new capable of surviving in hostile airspace. Although highly successful at what it does, the MQ-9 Reaper is easily shot down and would not survive over a battlefield protected by modern air defenses.

The MQ-9 Reaper drone was first introduced in 2007. Bigger, faster, more heavily armed than the original Predator drone, the Reaper has excelled in flying missions over places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. In uncontested airspace the Reaper can linger for hours, waiting for the right moment to unleash a Hellfire missile or laser-guided bomb. The Reaper is the largest known armed drone in the Pentagons inventory. In addition to the Air Force, the CIA operates a small number of Reapers reportedly involved in using the "Flying Ginsu" Hellfire R9X missile.

But in contested airspace, its a different story. The Reaper lacks the equipment modern warplanes have to keep them alive over the battlefield, including missile warning systems and anti-missile chaff and flares. In particular the insect-looking Reaper lacks stealth, with sensor pods and weapons hanging off wingtips producing a large radar signature. If an enemy missile launches against a Reaper, theres little the remote pilot can do about itif he or she even notices the launch.

The Pentagon is shifting from smaller, low-end fights in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere towards larger, higher-end brawls potentially with countries such as Russia and China. Realizing the Reaper's vulnerability, Air Force is cutting its buy of Reaper drones to 337, according to Military.com , with the final 21 drones purchased this year. The Air Force will lay out its vision of a replacement, one that can operate in contested airspace, in the 2022 budget.

Story continues

What will replace the Reaper? A replacement will likely be stealthy, to keep it off radars and minimize it as a target against radar-guided missiles. A flying wing design, like the B-2 and B-21 bombers, is possible. One benefit of the flying wing is a large fuselage for stowing fuel and weaponsa stealthy aircraft must conceal everything within the shape of the aircraft.

The key for the new drone is affordability. Stealthy aircraft get expensive very quickly, and one great advantage of drones over manned aircraft is that they are cheaper. The Reaper costs $64 million each, versus $95 million for a F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. If the Air Force wants to replace Reapers on a 1:1 basis, the replacement will have to be cheap enough to be purchased in large quantities.

Source: Military.com

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Canadian PM to be in quarantine after wife tests positive for COVID-19

OTTAWA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be in isolation for two weeks after his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, tested positive for COVID-19, the Prime Minister's Office said Thursday.

The prime minister exhibits no symptoms of the virus, said the office in a statement, adding that "he will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days," but will not be tested "at this stage."

There is no risk to those who have been in contact with the prime minister "recently," the office said.

Trudeau's wife "is feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild," it said.

Health care workers will "reach out to those who have been in contact with Mrs. Gregoire Trudeau as they deem necessary," the statement said.

The prime minister's wife issued a personal note thanking those who have reached out to her.

"Although I'm experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon," she said.

Trudeau's wife showed flu-like symptoms on Wednesday evening after she returned from Britain where she carried out speaking engagements.

Local media reported that the couple's three children have not shown symptoms.

While self-quarantining himself, Trudeau is expected to address the country on Friday.

"The Prime Minister will continue to fully assume his duties and will address Canadians tomorrow," the statement said.

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Trudeau over phone on Thursday, discussing developments related to the disease, the White House said in a statement.

As of Thursday, Canada has reported more than 140 cases, according to the country's Health Ministry.
MSP for milling copra raise to Rs 9960 per quintal and ball copra to Rs 10300 per quintal for 2020 season

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for copra for 2020 season. The MSP for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of milling copra has been increased to Rs 9960 per quintal for 2020 season from Rs 9521 per quintal in 2019 and the MSP for ball copra has been increased to Rs 10300 per quintal for 2020 season from Rs 9920 per quintal in 2019. This will accrue a benefit of Rs 439 per quintal in the milling copra and Rs 380 increase in the Ball Copra.

This is to ensure a return of 50% for milling copra and 55% for ball copra over the all India weighted average cost of production.

The approval is based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

The increase in MSP for copra for 2020 season is in line with the principle of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times the all India weighted average cost of production which was announced by the Government in the Budget 2018-19.

It assures a minimum of 50% as margin of profit as one of the important and progressive steps towards making possible doubling of farmers' incomes by 2022.

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India (NCCF) will continue to act as Central Nodal Agencies to undertake price support operations at the MSP in the coconut growing states.

Last year when there was crash in prices in Tamil Nadu, the timely intervention by Govt of India through purchase at MSP, this pushed the market sentiment upward benefitting the copra farmers.

India is number one in production and productivity of Copra in the World.

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Hyderabad, March 13 : Telangana government is planning to develop three greenfield airports and revival of three brownfield airports in the state, Industry Minister K.T. Rama Rao said on Friday.

The greenfield airports are proposed at Bhadradri-Kothagudem; Jakaranpally in Nizamabad district and Gudibanda village in Mahabubnagar district. The brownfield airports are planned at Mamnoor village in Warangal Urban district; Basanthnagar in Peddapally district and Adilabad.

The state government has appointed Airports Authority of India (AAI) as consultant for preparing techno feasibility studies for existing airstrips (brownfield) and feasibility studies for the greenfield airports.

The minister revealed this at Wings India 2020, the civil aviation event which began Friday at Begumpet Airport here.

He said the state government was planning to re-activate old airports, create greenfield airports and establish a chain of heliports to connect the remote parts of the state.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said they were actively working with various stakeholders to make the Warangal airport functional. He hoped that this would will boost regional air transport and support the Mega Textile Park and the Information technology hub launched in Warangal.

"We have requested Ministry of Civil Aviation to include Warangal Airport under RCS-UDAN scheme," he said.

He noted that Warangal falls within the concession zone of 150 km agreed with Hyderabad International Airport and the Airport land is under the custody of Airport Authority of India.

"With the blessings of Ministry of Civil Aviation, all stakeholders have agreed to work together to operationalise Warangal Airport soon with an operating model similar to Bidar Airport model," he said.

KTR said the government was also planning to establish a world-class Aerospace University in partnership with industry and global universities.

The minister said the state see Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) as a great opportunity for investment and high value employment creation and aspire to be a hub for airline and engine MROs activities.

"The state currently has two MROs operated by GMR and Air India. We are in active discussion with various OEMs and operators and are told that our ecosystem offers the best infrastructure and skill base for MROs in India." He noted that Telangana is the first state to come up with its own Drone policy to develop an ecosystem for the drone/UAV industry.

The state government is actively working with start-ups and industry partners to pilot drone use-cases in healthcare, agriculture, mining and law enforcement, he said.

The minister said the state envisioned Telangana Drone city to support drone testing, skilling R&D and commercialisation.

Stating that Telangana made massive growth in aerospace sector in the past five years, he said Hyderabad emerged as the most preferred aerospace manufacturing destination in India for Global OEMs.

Leading Aerospace majors such as Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, GE, Safran, Rafael, Elbit etc have established their mega manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad.

Amongst leading Indian players, TATA group does more than 90 per cent of their Aerospace manufacturing from Hyderabad. Adani Group and Kalyani Group are also expanding their Aerospace and allied projects in Telangana, he added.
A woman accused of slashing another womans face with a knife will plead guilty to two misdemeanors as part of a deal with prosecutors, lawyers indicated in Natrona County Circuit Court on Friday morning.

Danielle N. Rickert, 24, has not yet entered the pleas, and her attempt to do so on Friday was denied. Instead, a judge ruled in favor of a prosecutors request to postpone the proceedings so that Rickert is not extradited before she can be sentenced in a different local case.

Police arrested Rickert in January, alleging that she stabbed another woman in the face. The injured woman, according to police, was trying to help Rickerts romantic partner kick Rickert out of a shared Casper home. Rickert, police alleged, physically abused her partner, which prompted the attempt to throw her from the house. At the time of the alleged attack, Rickert was awaiting sentencing in a felony forgery case. Although lawyers had reached an agreement to cap Rickerts sentence, the additional violation of law allowed prosecutors to invoke a provision of the plea deal that means Rickert could face up to 10 years in the felony case.

She is not expected to serve any additional jail time for the alleged stabbing.

On Friday morning, Rickert appeared in court wearing a red jail uniform indicating she is being held in administrative detention in Natrona County Detention Center. Such assignments frequently indicate that a person has violated jail rules.

Francis McVay, the public defender who appeared Friday morning on behalf of Rickert, told Judge Steven Brown that Joe Cole, the lead attorney in the public defenders Casper office, had agreed with Assistant District Attorney Ava Bell to allow Rickert to plead to a single misdemeanor count of battery and another misdemeanor count of domestic battery. She would be sentenced to the time she has already served in jail.

McVay opposed a motion filed by Bell that requested Rickert be held until after she is sentenced in the forgery case.

District Attorney Dan Itzen  who appeared at the hearing with a law student who is completing an externship with the prosecutors office  told the judge that if Rickert pleaded guilty on Friday and the judge imposed the agreed-upon sentence of time served, she would likely be extradited to Cheyenne or Colorado, where she would answer to criminal cases she still faces. He asked the judge to continue the misdemeanor hearing until March 27, the day of the felony sentencing.

McVay then provided the judge a copy of an email outlining the plea agreement. That email, McVay said, did not indicate that the agreement included any stipulation to delay the deal pending sentencing in the forgery case.

This is the state simply trying to change a plea agreement, McVay said.

Brown declined the request, noting that the email was not equivalent to a more formal written plea agreement, which attorneys typically sign. In ruling in favor of the prosecution, the judge noted that neither of the attorneys  Bell and Cole  who struck the deal was present at Fridays hearing.

The apparent victim of the attack underwent surgery while Rickert was still sought by police. She appeared in court shortly after Rickerts arrest in January. During that hearing, prosecutors charged Rickert with a single felony  aggravated assault  and a count of misdemeanor domestic battery.

The alleged victim posted on Facebook, accusing Rickert of slicing her face. She also included a picture of herself wearing a hospital gown, with a large gash on the lower side of face that extended to her mid-chin. She was not present at Friday mornings hearing.

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Julie Levitt, Susan Bernstein and Hope McCormack, Jewish Pavilion program directors, are planning "Seders for Seniors" to celebrate Passover in elder-care communities throughout the greater Orlando area. Each program director works with the communities they visit to ensure a traditional holiday meal. Recipes are shared with the community chefs that do not have Jewish cooking experience. Can you smell the chicken soup with matzo balls? The seniors will soon.

Who will ask the four questions? Usually an 80-year-old is the youngest in attendance. Life in elder care communities is different than living at home where seniors are often surrounded by children and grandchildren on holidays. The Jewish Pavilion makes that seniors can continue to enjoy Jewish holidays where they live sure and no one is forgotten.

Do you want to help a senior enjoy Passover next month? To volunteer, call the Jewish Pavilion at 407-678-9363.
New Delhi, March 13 : The Union Cabinet on Friday approved a reconstruction plan for cash-strapped Yes Bank, under which the State Bank of India will pick up 49 per cent of the equity, while private investors will be allowed to buy the rest.

According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Cabinet decided that the SBI will hold at least 26 per cent stake in the private bank for a minimum period of three years. Similarly, the other investors will also be mandated to have a similar lock-in period for 75 per cent of their investment in the bank.

The authorised share capital of the Yes Bank will be revised upwards from Rs 1,100 crore to Rs 6,200 crore.

Besides, Sitharaman indicated that the details of the scheme will be notified soon.

She further said that Yes Bank's moratorium will be lifted at 16.00 hours, after three working days of the scheme being notified.

The office of the administrator shall also stand vacated after seven days from the cessation of moratorium and the new Board will take over the bank.

Prashant Kumar, former SBI CFO, is the current administrator.

In addition, she said, the new Board will have two members from the SBI.
Amid coronavirus uncertainty, parents are flocking to at least one dormitory in Syracuse to collect their kids and belongings.

Its not summer yet, but SUNY Environmental College of Science and Forestry students are preparing for an extended stay at home. The college, along with other SUNY schools around the state, has announced it will shift coursework online indefinitely to stymie the spread of COVID-19.

How is everyone feeling about the sudden change in plans?

Happy! one mom proclaimed. Well, happy -- but not, said Jennifer Kazmierczak, who came from Saratoga Springs to pick up her son Markus Friday.

Im sad for him to be missing out," she said, noting that the spread of the virus was also increasingly concerning.

Markus Kazmierczak had planned to take a train home for spring break and return as usual after a week. But as news unraveled about colleges and universities shutting down in response to the coronavirus, plans changed rapidly. The freshman natural resources major started to pack up and found a friend to give him a ride. Then, the family decided it was best to pack up everything and move out of ESFs Centennial Hall. Mom had to take the day off from work to make the roundtrip.

Centennial Hall at ESF is open to students who are opting to stay in Syracuse during spring break. Students who leave wont be able to return until after the campus resumes in-person classes, but the campus remains open for those who choose to stay.

ESF and other SUNY schools have not yet said when students will be allowed back in their residence halls if they leave for spring break.

That led Kazmierczak and others to plan for the worst.

Eileen Gelardi, who was helping her daughter Emily, a freshman environmental biology major, said they were heading home to Long Island.

Its 10 hours round trip for us so even if classes resume, its easier to bring all this back than have to come back to collect it at the end of the semester, said Eileen.

Freshman environmental science major Alex Gauld agreed, saying professors had also suggested to students that it might be a good idea to move out of the dorms now if that was an option.

At Syracuse University, students have been advised that classes will shift online until at least March 30. Officials there will reevaluate whether to resume residential classes as that date approaches.

SU students did not appear to be in as much of a crunch to vacate their dorms Friday morning.

One ESF family who made the four-hour trip from Connecticut wasnt so happy about the predicament. Dad grumbled the school was blowing coronavirus concerns out of proportion.

Grandpa Jim loaded boxes into the back of a truck, musing about stores running out of toilet paper.

Panic, he observed. Were doing this just in case. Lots of uncertainty right now.

Editors Note: This article has been updated to include information about ESF students who choose to remain on campus. While many students opted to leave Friday, the campus remains open for those who choose to stay.

My daughter is coming home!!! She is NOT happy...but secretly I am...hee hhhee Posted by Laurie Wirth on Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Looks like we will be having a blue springs Syracuse university location in our house. Cant say I am sad she will be home a bit longer. Posted by Kristen Sloan Crosslin on Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government, education and sometimes fun stuff like treasure hunters. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992

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There is one thing about a bitter loser, which I freely admit I am: We dwell on our setbacks, keeping us up nights for decades after a defeat, more than our victories.

The writing is on the wall with my man, Bernie Sanders, and I am one heck of a sourpuss right now.

Dont expect me to just get over it anytime soon.

The mainstream media took for what seemed like fiendish joy in its 24/7 hatchet jobs on the man who I consider the only candidate who tried to give a voice to the voiceless.

There was no other end game for Sanders beyond seeing people put roofs over their heads, food on their tables, send their kids to college, breathe cleaner air and have the same kind of health care as the rest of the civilized world.

Oddly, exit polls around the country show that most voters support this progressive (not socialist) agenda.

And yet, mostly out of concocted fear  and younger voters not putting down their iPhones long enough to vote  Sanders is slip sliding away.

The party establishment has dutifully lined itself up behind Joe Biden, a nice enough chap who has been running for president, unsuccessfully, since I was in college (thats a long time ago, as I turn 55 March 23).

To put it in perspective, The Simpsons was not yet a series (having only appeared on an episode of The Tracey Ullman Show) when he first ran in 1987-88.

I have nothing against Biden, really, but Id like to know what he stands for  on anything  in terms of the issues.

And, it seems, no one really cares.

Me, I care. If you seek substantive change, so should you.

I fear hes like the knife you bring to a gunfight, the spray can you use on a raging forest fire or the whiffle ball bat you bring to a game of hardball.

What really galls me the most is that Pennsylvania is identified as a battleground state (along with Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Florida).

By the time this horrendously flawed primary/caucus season gets to us (not to mention New York state) in late April, we will have zero say in choosing the nominee.

It is particularly irksome when you consider that the Philadelphia suburbs are circled as a major hot spot in the presidential general election.

And yet, red states that will never go blue in the general election got to sign and seal the deal for Biden (with the help of his on-air campaign workers in supposedly neutral media).

For a sore loser such as I, this will never sit right.

After Sanders rolled in Nevada, a winnable state in November with a diverse population, he was dubiously dubbed as the frontrunner.

In what appeared to be telegraphed through their teleprompters, the talking heads on the all-news networks were playing Taps for Biden when, in fact, they all knew he was going to win South Carolina, after which they could call him the comeback kid and drone on and on and on about how he cornered the market on the black vote.

The problem with the whole flawed process, the one that leaves Pennsylvanians (and others) with zero say, is the difference between how white and black voters are viewed by alleged experts.

White voters are sliced and diced up a million different ways  by age, by income, by education level, by geography, etc.  while black voters are unscientifically culled together and tossed into one voting bloc for analysis.

But who says that a rural black voter in South Carolina or Alabama has the same wants and needs as, say, a black voter with whom he or she has nothing in common (other than skin color) in Detroit, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh or Cleveland?

This mindset has a real chance to cost the Democrats  those of us with noble ideals but new and improved ways to lose  the ultimate prize.

Plain and simple, Biden  like Hillary Clinton before him  will be christened as the nominee on a false positive.

Consider that no Democratic presidential candidate has won a state in what is considered the heart of the Deep South (Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana) in the New Millennium.

States along its rim/outer core (Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky) have similar outcomes (Oklahoma, like Mississippi, not gone for a Democrat in the general election since before the signing of the Civil Rights Act).

The only exceptions, in terms of rim states with different demographics (transplanted residents), are Florida (won by Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012) and North Carolina (won by Obama in 2008, but not 2012).

And, in both of those states, Hillary Clinton lost in 2016.

What does this tell you? All these states have significant black populations, but their collective vote gets magnified in the primary season only to be trapped in the presidential election, making one wonder two things:

1) Is the electoral college flat-out racist?

2) Is the way the Democrats anoint their champion a wise one, strategically?

Biden got around 60 percent of the black vote in the Deep South, and that is put in a context as being the ultimate difference between himself and Sanders, and yet it will likely add up to zero  in terms of electoral votes  when it matters most.

The onus will be on swing states such as our own, and yet we didnt even get to choose in the primary because of the horrendous scheduling.

Yeah, Im bitter that Sanders is all but done, but not just because he was my candidate.

Its the how and why he was systematically marginalized that will be keeping me up nights.
Gandhinagar, March 13 : The scheduled two-day Gujarat visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been postponed amid coronavirus outbreak and after first death in the country due to coronavirus.

The country witnessed the first casualty due to the deadly coronavirus on Thursday and owing to the spreading global threat, the Central government has issued an advisory to avoid mass gatherings and public gatherings for government programmes have also being cancelled.

PM Modi was expected to visit his home state on March 21 and 22. He was expected to inaugurate several development works carried out in the state.

"But owing to the current situation over COVID-19, the Prime Minister's visit has been postponed. We have just received a letter for the PMO informing that. The visit has been postponed for now and the next dates will be declared later," said Nitin Patel, the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat.

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Highlights Uber has released their fourth edition of Lost and Found Index For the first time, Mumbai has emerged as the most forgetful city in India Phones, cameras, wallets are among the most common items left behind

Are you someone who often forgets things here and there? Do you usually need reminders on where you kept what? Have you ever got down from a cab and realised a significant amount of time later that you left something behind? If the answers to these questions are yes, yes and yes, dont fret - youre definitely not the only one. As it turns out, people leave quite a few things behind after their rides. Uber has released their fourth edition of Lost and Found Index and some of the things left behind may leave you surprised.

In a release, Uber shared that for the first time Mumbai has emerged as the most forgetful city in India. Kolkata and Prayagraj take the second and third positions, respectively.

Whats interesting is that the one thing most people cant live without these days is the most common item left behind in cabs. Can you guess what were talking about? Well, its the humble phone that tops this list, followed by cameras, wallets and even glasses.

Uber has also shared a list of the 20 most unique items in their lost and found inventory. Youll be surprised by the item that tops this list - an acrylic artificial tooth.

Someone also left behind an AC remote. Other things on this list are mangoes, medical prescriptions, a broom, an Icebox with injection, and even a tricycle. A game of Tambola was also left behind and were wondering if it was to play during an exceptionally long drive because thats a genius idea.

According to the insight collected by Uber, Fridays and Thursdays are the days when people usually forget things.

The cab company shares this insight every year in an attempt to inform riders about Ubers in-app options in case they forget something during a trip.

Have you ever left something behind? Did you get it back?

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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand  Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Friday that New Zealanders have become more engaged with the Muslim community in the year since a gunman killed 51 people at two mosques.

Ardern was in Christchurch attending events to mark the anniversary of last years March 15 massacre, which she has described as one of New Zealands darkest days. On Friday she attended a special joint prayer with members of both mosques that were attacked, and on Sunday, she plans to attend a national memorial.

Among those speaking during the prayer service was Al Noor mosque survivor Farid Ahmed, whose wife Husna was killed in the attacks.

Hate does not achieve any gain for the hater, or for anyone, he said afterward. If there are any differences, there is another way, and that way is the peaceful way. We should talk, we should dialogue, we should ask one another questions, and we should not be afraid of one another.

Ardern said people had told her they had visited mosques for the first time in the wake of the attacks and had found themselves more openly discussing differences of faith.

A year on, I believe New Zealand and its people have fundamentally changed. I cant see how you could have an event like this and not, Ardern said. But the challenge for us will be ensuring that in our everyday actions  and in every opportunity where we see bullying, harassment, racism, discrimination  calling it out as a nation.

Some questioned why the memorial event on Sunday, which would pack thousands of people into an arena, was still going ahead after Ardern and other officials chose to cancel a festival in Auckland celebrating Pacific culture due to fears over coronavirus.

Ardern said that with only five confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand, there were no signs yet of a community outbreak. She said the Pasifika Festival was canceled out of a specific concern the virus could spread to Pacific islands that dont have the health infrastructure to cope with an outbreak.

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Ardern drew attention to laws changed in response to the attacks. The deadliest types of semi-automatics are now banned, and in a nationwide buyback, gun owners turned in about 60,000 of their newly outlawed weapons for cash.

Image: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Announces New Gun Legislation (Kai Schwoerer / Getty Images file)

She also talked about her work on trying to eliminate terror attacks from being shown online, after the gunman livestreamed the Christchurch attacks. Ardern brought some nations and tech companies together to work on the issue in what she named the Christchurch Call, which she said had helped start a new crisis response protocol.

As a result of the protocol and that coordination in those events where social media platforms have been used to broadcast attacks, the circulation of those videos had been far, far diminished, she said.

Arderns empathetic response after the attacks and her message of unity resonated around the world last year. Images of her wearing a hijab and embracing members of the Muslim community created a lasting impression for many.

The man accused of the attacks, 29-year-old Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, is due to stand trial in June on charges of terrorism, murder and attempted murder. If found guilty, he would face a sentence of life imprisonment.
Leo Varadkar emerged into the sunshine outside Blair House, the US president's guest residence, yesterday afternoon with a clear message to the Irish people back home: calm down.

"People don't need to engage in any panic-buying whatsoever, that's not necessary. That may create a problem in fact that doesn't exist," he said.

It was ironic that standing in the exact same spot seven hours earlier, the Taoiseach's announcement that schools and colleges would close for two weeks and a series of emergency measures be implemented triggered the panic back in Ireland.

Empty

"As a general rule, outside of work, people should seek to reduce social interactions as much as possible," he had said as dawn broke over Washington.

He then went about a series of bilateral engagements, while shelves emptied across Ireland.

The Taoiseach insisted later that retailers had assured the Government that supply chains are strong and "any shelves that are empty this evening will be filled again tomorrow".

But it was little wonder that he wrapped up what was already one of the shortest St Patrick's Day missions to the US by a Taoiseach in recent memory early in order to return home to grapple with the unfolding crisis.

Decisions on how to compensate businesses forced to shut and how to help healthcare workers who need childcare now creches and schools are closed will all need to be taken.

Mr Varadkar defended his decision to come to the US.

"In a very short visit, I was able to have the crucial meetings that I needed to have and still be in touch with the office back home," he said.

But the pomp and ceremony of the St Patrick's Day celebrations were ditched with no shamrock ceremony and not even a handshake between the Taoiseach and US President Donald Trump at the White House. "It's sort of a weird feeling," Mr Trump said as Mr Varadkar offered the namaste gesture in the Oval Office.

The two leaders held a meandering 25-minute Q&A with journalists where Mr Trump did the vast majority of the talking. He did not rule out extending the controversial travel restrictions on people coming from Europe, but said he believed the virus will "go away".

Mr Varadkar said the president had "acted decisively" as he secured an assurance that the ban on people travelling to the US from 26 European countries will not impact Ireland.

Despite widespread criticism of Mr Trump's unilateral action, Mr Varadkar said: "We've acted just as you've acted decisively in the last couple of days."

Reluctant

Mr Trump said Irish citizens will always be welcome in the US, declaring: "We love the Irish people."

He described the Fine Gael leader as "a very special guy" when asked if he would like to see him return to the White House as Taoiseach next year.

Mr Varadkar was understandably reluctant to reciprocate the endorsement ahead of November's US presidential election battle.

Later at a lunch hosted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Capitol Hill, he urged all countries to work together to combat the spread of the virus.

"Covid-19 reminds us that we, humans, are not masters of our world," Mr Varadkar said.

"This is a problem that is global. The virus knows no borders and we all have to work together to combat it."
New Zealand's leader Jacinda Ardern admitted Friday there was "much more" her country could do to tackle white supremacists a year after the Christchurch mosque massacres.

Ardern was widely praised for her compassion towards the Muslim community after a lone gunman attacked two mosques on March 15 last year, killing 51 in New Zealand's worst modern mass shooting.

But she said some in the South Pacific nation continued to espouse the views of the Australian attacker, a self-avowed white supremacist who targeted Muslims at Friday prayers.

"New Zealand is not free of those groups who define themselves as extremist white supremacists, those groups exist here," she told reporters.

"The responsibility we have is to combat not only that existence, but the precursors to that existence. There is much more that we can do," she said.

Ardern, who was speaking ahead of a national memorial service on Sunday, said the best way to honour victims was to call out racism, bullying and discrimination.

"People will feel safe when they feel supported," she said.

"When they feel the community is looking after them and when they feel they are not facing discrimination or jibes in the street or comments that make them feel unsafe." Ardern said the March 15 attacks "fundamentally changed" New Zealand, she hoped for the better.

"I would like to think there is a growing resolve amongst New Zealanders that we wish to be defined by what we are not as much as what we are," she said.

Her remarks come after police arrested a 19-year-old man this month over a threat against one of the mosques attacked last year.

"It is unfathomable to me that, after everything the Muslim community has experienced, we have people who are... (making) threats against our Muslim community," she said.

Ardern later joined more than 1,000 Muslims for their Friday prayers as the Al Noor and Linwood mosques held a combined service and were joined by fellow Muslims from around New Zealand.

Nasir Ali, who flew in from Auckland with his family, said it was important to share the "sorrow and hardship" and keep the memory alive.

"We need to keep it on the radar that this sort of tragedy and this sort of extremist ideology does exist and we need to continue to be vigilant about it," he said.

Farid Ahmed, whose wife was killed by the gunman, said 12 months on he was still at a loss to understand why the killing occurred.

Ahmed has publicly forgiven the gunman and said he refuses to be cowed.

"I feel I could die anytime and I should not be afraid because I have got my freedom not to be afraid. No one or nothing can take that away," he said.

"The lesson is that hate does not solve any problem. If there are differences there is another way and that is the peaceful way." "We should talk, we should dialogue, we should ask one another questions and we should not be afraid of one another."



Taj Mohammed Kamran, who was shot three times while his friend beside him was killed by the gunman, said he felt safe at the Friday prayers because of the large police presence.

"But I was sad because my friend was not there," he added.

The alleged mosque attacker Brenton Tarrant, an Australian national, is due to go on trial on June 2 facing terrorism charges plus 51 counts of murder and 40 of attempted murder over the killings.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Despite continuing to film in Spain after massive concern over the coronavirus pandemic, actress Denise Richards confirmed she is finally coming home on Friday.

Over the past three days, the 49-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills received a number of comments urging her to come home ahead of the US' travel restrictions, which take in effect at midnight.

While the ban does not apply to travelers from the UK and Ireland, or to US citizens, Richards shocked followers by remaining in Europe.

Coming home: Actress Denise Richards confirmed she is finally on route back to America, after fans urged her stop shooting in Spain among the US' travel restrictions to fight the spreading coronavirus outbreak

'Airport in Spain is empty,' the mother-of-the three wrote on a lengthy Instagram Story over a picture of herself wearing a surgical mask and messy bun. 'So sad all the businesses all over the world being affected by this.'

She added: 'The kids with school, many people suffering, and lives lost. Not to mention the anxiety, panic and hysteria. I know masks don't stop it, but better than nothing.'

She concluded her emotional caption by thanking her fans for being concerned about her safety overseas and said she was praying for 'everyone's health' too.

Reckless: The LA resident waited over a week to come home after California declared its state of emergency over the novel coronavirus

Drawing concern: Richard's post on set in Spain prompted a panicked fan to comment: 'Come home before Friday travel ban from Europe to US! it will be 30 days then!'

The LA resident waited over a week to come home after California declared its state of emergency over the novel coronavirus.

As panic spread over the rising number of cases both nationwide and in Spain, Richards nonchalantly posted pictures of herself on set in a number of period costumes.

'Takes a village,' she wrote with a heart emoji on Instagram in a gold and grey gown during a fitting on Thursday.

Richard's post on set prompted a panicked fan to comment: 'Come home before Friday travel ban from Europe to US! It will be 30 days then!'

Safe: The LA resident waited over a week to come home after California declared its state of emergency over the novel coronavirus

In addition to sharing beautiful scenery pictures from the country, she also posed with her co-star Jane Seymour sporting crowns and elegant evening wear ahead of shooting on Wednesday.

Staying Spain was a risky move for the actress, as the country is battling the second-worst outbreak in Europe after Italy.

On Friday, the country announced a state of emergency, in the wake of at least 120 deaths and 4,200 people infected there.
China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding Limited (HKG:3836), which is in the specialty retail business, and is based in China, saw significant share price movement during recent months on the SEHK, rising to highs of HK$4.35 and falling to the lows of HK$3.29. 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 China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding's current trading price of HK$3.34 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 China Harmony New Energy Auto Holdings outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

View our latest analysis for China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding

What is China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding worth?

The share price seems sensible at the moment according to my price multiple model, where I compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. In this instance, Ive used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stocks cash flows. I find that China Harmony New Energy Auto Holdings ratio of 8.34x is trading slightly below its industry peers ratio of 11.08x, which means if you buy China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding today, youd be paying a decent price for it. And if you believe that China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding 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. So, is there another chance to buy low in the future? Given that China Harmony New Energy Auto Holdings share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us an opportunity to buy later on. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

Story continues

Can we expect growth from China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding?

SEHK:3836 Past and Future Earnings, March 13th 2020

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. China Harmony New Energy Auto Holdings earnings growth are expected to be in the teens in the upcoming years, indicating a solid future ahead. This should lead to robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? 3836s 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 3836? 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 an eye on 3836, 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 3836, 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 China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding. You can find everything you need to know about China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding, 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.
The mayhem on Dalal Street eroded investor wealth worth Rs 12,92,479.88 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,12,78,172.75 crore on the BSE at 10:20 AM.

New Delhi: Investor wealth worth nearly Rs 12 lakh crore was wiped off in less than 15 minutes of trade opening on Friday, with benchmarks crashing over 10 percent on mounting fears over coronavirus pandemic.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted 3,380.59 points, or 10.31 percent, to 29,397.55. It hit an intra-day low of 29,388.97, falling up to 3,389.17 points.

Trading was halted for 45 minutes in early session after the index hit its lower circuit limit.

The BSE and NSE benchmark indices, however, pared most losses with the Sensex trading 835.40 points, or 2.55 per cent, lower at 31,942.74, and the Nifty was down 253.25 points or 2.64 per cent at 9,336.90 at 1040 hours.

The mayhem on Dalal Street eroded investor wealth worth Rs 12,92,479.88 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,12,78,172.75 crore on the BSE at 1020 hours.

The m-cap of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 1,25,70,652.63 crore at the end of trading on Thursday.

Traders said besides global selloff, incessant foreign fund outflows also weighed on investor sentiments.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,475.29 crore on Thursday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

On the BSE, 1,279 scrips declined, while 193 advanced and 40 remained unchanged.

Volatility heightened in global markets as benchmarks world over went into panic mode, insinuating a freakish selloff.

Bourses in Shanghai dropped over 3.32 percent, Hong Kong 5.61 percent, Seoul 7.58 per cent and Tokyo cracked up to 7.97 percent.

Wall Street lost 10 percent in overnight trade.

More than 1,30,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.

The number of coronavirus patients in India has risen to 74, as per health ministry log.
Nigerian politician and lawmaker, Dino Melaye is finally a thespian as he has bagged a movie role in a new series titled Silent Prejudices (Season 2).

The senator took to his Instagram page to reveal he is presently on the set of the Nollywood movie series which also features former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode and his wife, Precious.

According to reports, the movie, which exposes the evils associated with the Osu caste system in the Southeastern part of Nigeria, is currently being shot at various locations in Abuja.

Read Also: Dethroned Emir Sanusi Leads Jumat Prayer; Departs Awe With El-Rufai

See the post below:
Very interesting reading

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin: Colleagues,

Let us get down to work. Mr President, the LDPR faction is the most active here. Colleagues, please register. Please turn on the registration mode. Please note that registration is on. Please show us the results of the registration. There are 428 deputies present and 22 are absent. We have a quorum.

I give the floor to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Volodin, State Duma deputies,

Mr Speaker informed me about the discussion that took place here during the second reading of amendments to the Constitution.

Considering the fact that the discussion was of a fundamental nature and that it was my initiative, as you know, to have a broad discussion on the possible amendments to the main law of Russia, I found it necessary to speak out here, at the State Duma, without delay on the most important proposals voiced here today, and I informed the Speaker about this.

Colleagues, but I would like to begin by thanking the members of the working group, State Duma deputies and Federation Council members, who participated directly and very intensely in developing amendments to the Constitution.

Let me repeat, these amendments are long overdue; they are necessary and, I believe, will be useful for Russia, for society and for our people, because they are aimed at strengthening our sovereignty, our traditions and our values  the foundation of our life; at expanding and specifying social guarantees, which means fully developing the social character of our country, and, in general, creating conditions for the confident, progressive and evolutionary development of Russia in the long historical term.

I agree with the previous speakers: the world is indeed changing. And not just because of the rapid, explosive in fact, development of technology, but literally of all spheres of life. These changes are cardinal and, I would say, irreversible. We can see how difficult the situation in the global policy, security and the global economy is. We are also battling the coronavirus now, oil prices are fluctuating, together with the national currency exchange rate and stock exchanges.

However, I would like to use this floor to say I have absolute confidence that we will get over this, and do so with dignity. The economy will grow stronger, and the most important industries will become more prominent and competitive. But we must work, and work together, consolidating our efforts.

However, all this is creating additional risks for us or, as they say, challenges. At the same time, there are those who want to deter Russia and are ready to use any method for this, which we know and have pointed out more than once.

In fact, the policy of deterrence has been used for a long time now, as we well know, and those who are pursuing it have said so openly and without being embarrassed. They are waiting for us to make a mistake or to slip up, losing our bearings or, worse still, getting bogged down in internal dissent, which is sometimes fanned, fuelled and even financed from abroad. It is even possible to calculate exactly how much money is allocated for this. This is something you can calculate.

I know that Russias leading political forces have largely similar views on these matters. This was clearly indicated once again during my recent meeting with the leaders of the State Duma factions at the Kremlin, which began on March 5 and ended on March 6, as Mr Zyuganov pointed out after taking a look at his watch.

At the same time, it is obvious to everyone that, unfortunately, many things in the country have only been tacked together hastily, as people say, and that we remain vulnerable in many respects. I am referring to political stability, ethnic and religious accord, as well as economic and social development. This is why our work on the amendments has provoked a question, which is being discussed increasingly more actively, about the further forming of the supreme institute of state power in Russia, or more precisely, presidential power.

The President is the guarantor of the Constitution or, simply put, the guarantor of the countrys security, domestic stability and, as I said before, evolutionary development  I repeat, evolutionary development, because we have had enough revolutions. Russia has fulfilled its plan when it comes to revolutions.

By the way, I saw during my trips across the country that these questions worry our people no less than they do you, State Duma deputies. Their concern is understandable. I have no doubt that the day will come when the supreme, presidential power in Russia will not be so personified, if I may say so, that it will not be connected to a certain individual. But this is exactly how it was in our previous history, and we must take this into account.

I am fully aware of my responsibility to the people, and I see that the people, or at least the majority of our society are waiting for my personal assessments and decisions on key matters of the development of the Russian state, both now and after 2024.

Therefore, I will formulate my position in an abundantly clear, honest and straightforward manner, including my opinion on the specific proposals that have been made here and were generally raised during the discussion on amendments to the Constitution.

As regards the position of Alexander Karelin on the need for new early elections to the State Duma:

My point of view on this issue is known. If the citizens of Russia vote for the amendments to the Fundamental Law, including the transfer of some presidential powers to the State Duma and the Federation Council, such changes should enter into force immediately after the publication of the adopted amendments and, hence, the State Duma would receive its expanded powers there and then.

This raises the question, do the current members of the State Duma have the right to accept these new powers? I think the answer is certainly positive. Why? There are all the legitimate legal grounds for this. Of course, in the final count this is your decision. But if there is no consensus on this issue in parliament, and the Speaker told me there is none, I do not see the need for early elections to the State Duma.

Let me say again that if people go to the polls on April 22 and vote, they will reaffirm the new authority of the State Duma. The people, the only source of power, will have their say. So that is settled.

Let me repeat, this deals with substantial expansion of the parliaments authority, and this is the road to closer work between the representative and executive branches of power. This, colleagues, is how I planned it. This will enhance their reciprocal responsibility for the results of their work or failure.

I believe such changes are justified and sufficient at the current stage of our social development. In effect, this is a major step forward in developing our democracy.

I would like to return to the issue that I mentioned at the beginning. We have indeed reached the line and before we cross this line we must, according to many participants of this discussion, make a decision on a fundamental and sensitive issue concerning the highest level of state authority, which is presidential power. I think and I strongly believe that a strong presidential vertical for our country, for Russia is absolutely necessary. And todays economic situation, as I have just pointed out, and the situation in other spheres such as security is another reminder.

First of all, it is necessary for stability. Of course, there are other options, which we are well aware of, such as parliamentary government, which is widely common in the world. However, at the current stage of our development it is not suitable for us. Look at what is happening in the European countries with a traditional parliamentary democracy. Some of these countries cannot even form their governments for years, without any exaggeration. For Russia, this is absolutely impossible and completely unacceptable.

Now, for example, granting other bodies of power such as the Security Council or the State Council  which are all the more so not directly elected by the people  with certain serious powers of a presidential nature would be, in my opinion, wrong and unacceptable, even dangerous.

Firstly, it has nothing to do with democracy. Secondly, it will inevitably result in the division of society. I am certain that Mr Zhirinovsky, who came forward with this proposal as far as I am aware, having a lot of experience as a politician will agree with me. In Russia, it will inevitably result in the duality of power, a public divide, and will affect the fate of the country and the people in the most negative and perhaps tragic way. So let us not take this road.

There have been proposals and ideas to amend the Constitution to extend the term of the current President, your humble servant, to do so on condition people vote (if they do) for this amendment.

Yes, the national vote is to take place in April. But in this case, the authority of the President would be extended as a result of a clear-choice election. I think this is also wrong and should not be done. Russian citizens must have an alternative at any election, including the presidential election. All elections must be open and competitive.

Generally speaking, the proposals made by Valentina Tereshkova (we have deep respect for her, and I would like to congratulate you, Ms Tereshkova, on your recent birthday once again) are also understandable. The first is to remove from the Constitution the number of terms for which the countrys top official may be elected. A similar idea was voiced at my recent meeting with the public in St Petersburg. This is exactly what one veteran suggested. I said then that I did not wish to return to Soviet times. I will be straight, this remark was inappropriate because there were no elections in Soviet times. Everything was done behind the scenes, or as a result of some inter-party procedures or intrigues. There were no real elections then. Now the situation is very different. This is true. It is necessary to go and vote. This is a different situation.

Strictly speaking, it would technically be possible to cancel the restriction on the number of terms, all the more so since it does not exist in many other countries, including our neighbours. They have no restrictions on the number of presidential terms. Incidentally, the amendment to the Constitution that limits the number to two presidential terms only appeared overseas, in the United States, in 1947. It was only in 1951 that it was voted for and ratified by all states. 1951 is not that far off, just yesterday in terms of history, I will explain why.

Incidentally, there are precedents for elections for more than two terms, including in the United States. And why? Look: the Great Depression, huge economic problems, unemployment and poverty in the US at that time, and later on, World War II. When a country is going through such upheavals and such difficulties (in our case we have not yet overcome all the problems since the USSR, this is also clear), stability may be more important and must be given priority. All the more so, let me repeat, when a country still has many problems.

But when the political, economic and social spheres gain internal stability and maturity, when the country becomes, undoubtedly more powerful and less vulnerable from the outside, then the possible alteration of power, of course, becomes more important. This is necessary for the development of the country. We do not adopt amendments for a year, or two years or even ten years, I hope; but for a longer historical term, at least 3050 years. For this long term, society must have guarantees for the regular change of power. We should think about the generations to come. This is why I do not believe it is viable to delete the restriction on the number of presidential terms from the Constitution.

In fact, the second proposal means lifting restrictions against any person, any citizen, including the current president, from taking part in an election in the future. In the course of transparent and competitive elections, naturally. And, naturally, only if Russian citizens support this proposal, this amendment, and say yes during the general vote on April 22.

In fact, this amendment will only be possible under one condition: if the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation provides an official ruling that this amendment does not contradict the principles and the main provisions of the Constitution.

Let us not forget, we are not adopting a new Constitution but only important amendments, which are still separate amendments. Let me stress once again that I do not believe it viable to change the Constitution in general, because it still has a lot of potential  on the contrary, it has proven its effectiveness  even to solve the issue of presidential power. This is why I am repeating this: if the Federal Assembly adopts the law on amendments to the Constitution as it is now, it must be sent to the Russian Federation Constitutional Court for an assessment and an official ruling.

And, to conclude my speech, I would like to once again thank the State Duma deputies and the Federation Council members for their active and substantive work on the amendments to the Constitution. I would like to sincerely thank the Russian people for their support. I have felt it over the years. It would have been difficult and even impossible to do anything without this support, especially during the most difficult time at the beginning of the 2000s.

I know that we have not managed to do everything we planned. I understand the criticism I hear, including that related to a number of difficult decisions. But I would like to assure you that I have and always will go by the current and long-term interests of Russia in my work. And exceptionally by the will of our people. By the way, this is why I have proposed holding a general vote for our people to decide on these amendments to the Constitution.

And, to our people, I would like to say: it will be as you vote on April 22, my friends. You and I, against all odds, have done a lot to make our country stronger. I am sure that together we will do many more good things, at least before 2024. Then we will see.

Thank you.

Yes, very interesting to read

WtR
Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Q2 2020 Earnings Call

, 8:30 a.m. ET

Contents:

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Greetings, and welcome to the Jabil Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

It's now my pleasure to introduce your host, Adam Berry, Vice President, Investor Relations for Jabil. Please go ahead, sir.

Adam Berry -- Vice President, Investor Relations

Good morning, and welcome to Jabil's second quarter of fiscal 2020 earnings call. Joining me on today's call are Chief Executive Officer, Mark Mondello; and Chief Financial Officer, Mike Dastoor.

Please note that today's call is being webcast live, and during our prepared remarks, we will be referencing slides. To follow along with the discussion and view the slides, you will need to be logged in to our webcast on jabil.com. At the end of today's call, both the presentation and a replay of the call will be available on Jabil's Investor Relations website.

During today's call, we may be using forward-looking statements, including among other things, those regarding the outlook for our business. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. An extensive list of these risks and uncertainties are identified in our forward-looking statements and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2019, and other filings. Jabil disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Now, before we begin, I'd like to take a few minutes to discuss the agenda and objective for today's call. As a reminder, on February 25, 2020, we announced that the COVID-19 outbreak would negatively impact our second quarter results relative to the guidance that we had provided on December 17, 2019. And as forewarned, our second quarter results were in fact below our initial range of expectations driven by approximately $53 million in direct costs associated with labor, supplies and supply chain inefficiencies, all caused by the disruptive impact of COVID-19.

As customary, Mike will walk through our second quarter results, while also detailing the intra-quarter sequence of events that resulted in a material deceleration in earnings toward the end of the quarter. Although demand remained strong and our manufacturing capacity continues to improve each day, the overall impact of COVID-19 on our business is still yet to be determined. Consequently, we're going to deviate from our standard quarterly call format in two distinct ways. First, we're currently not in a position to provide third quarter or fiscal '20 guidance or outlooks for each of our end markets in fiscal '20 as usual. Second, following Mike's prepared comments, we will move directly into Q&A in an effort to efficiently address your questions. We do, however, expect to resume to our normal cadence of call in the future.

As Mark expressed in our press release, on February 25, our first priority throughout this global pandemic has been the safety of our people. It simply makes sense to take care of our people and we believe it's in the best interest of shareholders too. I can speak on behalf of everyone in this room when I thank all of those who jumped into action with a typical Jabil energy. The team's swift response and hard work allowed us to be in a position to report our second quarter results today.

With that, I'll now hand the call over to Mike.

Michael Dastoor -- Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Adam. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. As Adam stated, our Q2 results were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Before I cover our Q2 results, I'd like to take a moment to walk you through the dynamics that unfolded during the quarter. We began Q2 with a stronger-than-anticipated start to the fiscal quarter. As we moved into February, demand held [Phonetic], but our ability to meet demand was greatly diminished as virus containment efforts ramped in China. During the quarter, we incurred approximately $53 million in direct costs associated with the COVID-19 outbreak.

I'd now like to provide you with the makeup of these costs. First, we incurred additional labor costs in Q2. During February, we strategically made the decision to compensate our employees who are restricted and quarantined. These factors contributed to higher labor costs than we expected going into the quarter. Second, our factory utilization in China was negatively impacted in February due to travel disruptions and restrictions. To add further context to the higher labor costs and lower utilization, February began with the Chinese New Year holiday being extended by 10 to 14 days depending on location. Most of our larger sites in China began to come back online later than anticipated and by February 14, we were only operating at 45% to 50% capacity. We exited the quarter at approximately 80% utilization in China.

Third, during the quarter, we also incurred lost revenue associated with both upstream and downstream supply chain disruptions, which impacted our worldwide footprint. And finally, in an effort to keep our employee base safe and healthy, we incurred unanticipated cost to procure necessary supplies to keep our people safe. Items such as face masks, hand sanitizers, thermometers and personal protection equipment.

I would like to highlight that February was an anomaly. Under normal circumstances, if demand diminished, our variable cost would have been materially lower as we would have adjusted our cost to the demand environment.

Turning now to our Q2 financial results. Net revenue for the second quarter was $6.1 billion. GAAP operating income was $91 million and our GAAP diluted loss per share was $0.02. Core operating income during the quarter was $159 million. Net interest expense during the quarter was $52 million. Our core tax rate for the quarter was 26.6% in line with expectations. Core diluted earnings per share were $0.50. It's worth noting that the additional costs associated with the outbreak negatively impacted our diluted earnings per share by approximately $0.25.

Now, moving to our GAAP results. As expected, we incurred $30 million in restructuring and severance-related charges in Q2, predominantly associated with the 2020 restructuring plan we announced in September of last year. This plan continues to remain on track and as a reminder, is expected result in an incremental cost savings benefit of $25 million, mainly in the second half of FY'20. Also, during the quarter, we incurred a one-time non-cash impairment charge of approximately $12 million in connection with the sale of an investment in the optical networking segment.

Now, turning to our second quarter segment results. Revenue for our DMS segment was $2.3 billion. From an end market perspective, we experienced good demand in the healthcare and mobility end markets. Revenue for our EMS segment was $3.8 billion. From an end market perspective, we saw additional strength in the semi-cap space while demand in the balance of the business came in largely as expected.

Turning now to our cash flows and balance sheet. During Q2, our total days of inventory came in at 70 days, an increase of 13 days sequentially driven mainly by idle capacity and supply chain constraints due to COVID-19. Higher inventory levels during the quarter were offset slightly by lower days of sales outstanding at the end of the quarter, driven mainly by lower February sales.

Cash flows provided by operations were $63 million in Q2 and net capital expenditures totaled $205 million. We exited the quarter with a total debt-to-core EBITDA level of approximately 1.7 times and cash balances of $697 million.

Jabil has over $3 billion of global revolver credit facilities and at the end of Q2 over 90% of these facilities were available. During Q2, we repurchased approximately 1.8 million shares for $72 million as part of our two-year $600 million authorization we announced in September.

In closing, as always, Jabil's number one priority is the health and well-being of our employees. We are also focused on providing the best possible service to our customers. We take our responsibility as a global corporate citizen very seriously. These values motivate our teams to take significant measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and minimize business disruption in this very challenging environment.

I'll now turn the call over to Adam.

Adam Berry -- Vice President, Investor Relations

Thanks, Mike. As we begin the Q&A session, I'd like to remind our call participants that per our customer agreements, we will not address any customer or product-specific questions. We appreciate your cooperation. Operator, we're now ready for Q&A.

Questions and Answers:

Operator

Thank you. We'll now be conducting a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Our first question today is coming from Jim Suva from Citigroup. Your line is now live.

Jim Suva -- Citigroup -- Analyst

Thank you very much. If I heard correctly, you gave some utilization rates, and I believe did you say 80% was as you exited the quarter or as you stand now? And maybe you can update us of kind of where you stand now, because it's been a couple of weeks since the quarter has ended? Then I'll probably have a follow-up. Thank you.

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Hey, Jim. Maybe stepping back to -- if we go back to Chinese New Year, as people were coming back to our factories in China immediately after that with various quarantine protocols, our factories mid-February we're running probably between 10% and 20%. As we indexed through mid-February, it moved to 40% to 50%, and I think Mike said in his prepared remarks, as we exited the month, we are closer to 80%. As we sit here in mid-March, our China factories are actually near normal. And we have some pockets around the globe where factories are suboptimal, but, I would say, from a utilization perspective, suboptimal by only 5% to 10%. Most of that is due to supply chain issues. In some odd way, as we sit today, I think China is the least of our concerns. But again, as we look forward in terms of overall global factory utilization, we're able to accommodate all the demand that's in front of us as long as we can get parts.

Jim Suva -- Citigroup -- Analyst

Perfect. And then that would led exactly to my follow-up question was, is now the concern kind of focused on, hey, it's great efforts that China is recovering is now that kind of efforts keeping an eye on your other locations outside in case this spreads, and it sounds like you kind of alluded to, yes. But any thoughts on, I guess, that would be the next thing that you're watching and working on?

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, that's fair. If you think about what Mike said, we had this $50 million hit to core earnings in Q2, that was broken out by -- again, we had one-time quarantine infrastructure costs, idle labor, incremental labor costs largely around China. The factory inefficiencies in China for -- just kind of big picture, factory inefficiencies in China were largely due to labor shortages, that's mostly behind us now. Factory inefficiencies globally, not so much labor shortages but supply chain constraints. And again, we've got some pockets of inefficiencies, but largely our footprint is up and running.

So what else is really interesting in this, Jim, is in relatively short order, our team garnered significant experience in dealing with COVID-19 at the very front-end of this pandemic because of our presence in China. And in terms of our actions and approach, we've shared our experiences openly with customers and competitors, and our playbook is ready and actionable if things get notably worse in North America and Europe.

Jim Suva -- Citigroup -- Analyst

Thank you so much for your details. And I concur that the actions you are taken to care for your people are first and foremost, most important. Thank you so much.

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. Thanks, Jim.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Adam Tindle from Raymond James. Your line is now live.

Adam Tindle -- Raymond James & Associates, Inc. -- Analyst

Okay. Thanks. Good morning. Mark, it sounds like obviously the supply and capacity site is incrementally better. So I just wanted to touch on demand. I think in the February release you had mentioned that there was no change in product orders. So I just was hoping for an update on that with the heart of the question being investor fear would be how to mitigate potential negative leverage, given you've done a good job getting utilization back up, but if we have order cuts coming, how do you think about that for potential deleverage?

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. Thanks, Adam. If I might take the liberty, let me expand my answer and talk about kind of both sides of the equation, if I could, Adam. One is, is on the cost side. So, again, Mike and during my response to Jim, talked about kind of what made up to $50 million. The $50 million in February was not for a full month. So, if I were to kind of extrapolate the $50 million for February on a monthly run rate, if that continue to be about $60 million, $65 million against our core line per month. With all the work our team has done on the cost side, Adam, again we see China getting better, and we think business interruption costs in China, they have declined and will remain a much lesser extent relative to what we experienced in February.

As we see North America and Europe, we think the potential for North America and Europe is to get a bit worse. You see kind of all the social dislocation taking place and whatnot. So what we've done on the cost side is, it's a really foggy kind of opaque landscape, if you will, but kind of on a weighted average blended average basis, for the month of March, we're planning on about $10 million to $20 million of business disruption and interruption costs across our footprint, and for April, we think it'd be much the same.

Coming back to your specific question, if I think about demand in and of itself, this gets more difficult. But what I can tell you in terms of how we're budgeting and talking about the business internally in terms of cost and actions, we've haircut demand for March. We're going to haircut demand further for April. And then beyond April, it's really dependent on the -- what I would say is, the control and containment of the virus. And then also the fear is directly related to the virus. So, as everyone has seen this week, the macro backdrop, the landscape are changing day by day and then the associated actions are compounding hourly. So that's kind of what's inside our head on how we're thinking about the business for the next 60 to 90 days.

Adam Tindle -- Raymond James & Associates, Inc. -- Analyst

Okay. And just to clarify, was that $50 million or so of virus related expenses excluded in the $0.50 of non-GAAP EPS?

Michael Dastoor -- Chief Financial Officer

No. It's included in the $0.50, Adam. If we hadn't included it, our EPS would have been $0.75.

Adam Tindle -- Raymond James & Associates, Inc. -- Analyst

Yeah. It would have been a pretty nice quarter. Okay. And then just as a follow-up, Mike, can you maybe update us on cash flow, given the new forecast? Do you have any feel around that? Do you think still $500-plus million for the year? And also capital allocation, given obviously we're in a very new share price range. I think you previously were going to do $250 million of buybacks in fiscal '20 and $350 million in fiscal '21, does it make sense to maybe change that weighting?

Michael Dastoor -- Chief Financial Officer

So I'll answer the second question first. We'll continue to monitor and be thoughtful about our capital allocation policy, while cash is extremely important, the share price is absurdly cheap right now. So we're trying to balance that and we'll keep cash in mind, of course.

For your first question, I think from a cash standpoint, we're pretty good. I think we had a great bank facility transaction in January. We -- I think we had a $500 million senior note, $3 billion of bank credit facilities and we've converted a lot of our short-term debt into long-term debt. So the timing is very opportunistic. It was lucky as well that it happened well before the COVID-19 outbreak started. We feel really good about our cash flow. And free cash flow, is it going to be in the $500 million range? Right now, as it stands, yes, probably in the $400 million to $500 million range. It's all about demand, Adam. Right now, while we're not seeing huge cuts from our customers, that could change at any point in time. I think Mark talked about the social distancing, that will have an impact going forward. We just don't know the magnitude and extent of it at this time.

Adam Tindle -- Raymond James & Associates, Inc. -- Analyst

Understand. Well, thank you very much.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question today is coming from Paul Coster from J.P. Morgan. Your line is now live.

Paul Chung -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Hey, guys. It's Paul Chung on for Coster. Thanks for taking our questions. So, just a follow-up on customer demand, and kind of the haircuts you're baking in. Are those more on kind of faster product cycle products? And are these kind of being pushed out maybe a couple of months out? Or if you could confirm if any of these products are being canceled?

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

It's too early to tell. I just think -- I think it's really prudent for us to kind of haircut the business a little bit starting in March-April. So, there is no -- there has not been an exact science to it. And even if we tried to take some type of fine scalpel and figure out what sectors, what business, it's impossible. So, again, my commentary was really around -- we can say absolutely nothing or we can try to kind of bring in to the heads of the leadership team. And my commentary around demand is things are very murky. We are planning for demand to soften a bit. And again, we're running internal cost and actions accordingly.

Paul Chung -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Got you. And then on kind of new customer discussions, are you seeing more preference for Americas production or Europe or with intentions of kind of avoiding potential areas more sensitive to tariffs? Are you seeing any trends there now more customers motivated to do so? And then how does that kind of impact your operating margins longer term?

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

We -- I think we talked, either the December call or the September call, the first half of this year, we are experiencing, I don't know, $10 million to $15 million in terms of bringing up additional capacity in places like Vietnam, Penang and Mexico. That still holds. What I would tell you is, those kind of costs are minimal and very finite. In terms of how all this impacts our margins in terms of moving business around, I don't think it has much of an impact long-term at all because of our global footprint. So, whether customers want to be served in China, Southeast Asia, Mexico, North America, being US, and then Europe, we're in really, really good position based on our footprint. I think today, our footprint is well optimized.

Paul Chung -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Great. And then my last question. So if you could just talk about the pricing environment? We know that Flex is kind of focusing more on that higher margin business kind of turning away some of the lower margin one. Is that kind of creating a floor on margins for new business? What would kind of be the alternative to Flex besides Jabil for like scale volume if you could talk about the dynamics there and how that kind of benefit you guys? Thanks.

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. I don't know, if -- margin is good for the industry. So I think if Flex is doing their thing and I heard some of their comments earlier this week, if they are focused on raising margins, I think overall, that's good for the industry.

Paul Chung -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Thanks, guys.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Mark Delaney from Goldman Sachs. Your line is now live.

Mark Delaney -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

Yes, good morning. Thanks very much for taking the questions. The first question was on the component availability topic. I wasn't sure if you could provide any context relative to sort of the past periods of supply chain disruptions, be it tariffs or Thai [Phonetic] floods or tsunami? And just what you're seeing today and some similarities with what you're seeing today versus some of those past examples? And on that topic, are there any particular end markets or component types that you're most concerned about?

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, Mark, I think it's across the board. What I will tell you is, supply chain was quite normal December, January. We started getting some fairly strong signals, especially around China and Asian suppliers that they were having a hard time with labor as people are coming back from Chinese New Year. We started hitting some real soft spot specific to supply chain late February. But what's been amazing to me is between our scale, our relationships and our overall actions and activities with the supply base in, call it, two weeks, our team has been deployed on the phones and this could have been a very elongated deep divide [Phonetic], if you will. We see it, again, finite in terms of when it will get completely back to normal, that's TBD. And again, the good news is, China is getting back to normal pretty quick.

In terms of suppliers in Europe and North America, I think we still have to go through that cycle a bit. But as I said in the opening of Q&A, all of our global factories are running near, what I'd characterize normal utilization, a few pockets being up 5% to 10%, but our supply chain team is doing a wonderful job.

Mark Delaney -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

Thanks for the details there, Mark. And I also wanted to follow-up on your comment about some of the haircutting of the forecast. Do you think you're getting double orders and so that's why you're haircutting? Or potential end demand weakness and so you're a bit more just trying to proactively think about potential demand destruction? So just trying to think through how you guys are managing that? And is there any sort of rough quantification about what percent you're haircutting these forecasts? Thanks.

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. I'll stay away from percentages just because I don't even know that they make any sense. We're -- I think about the current conditions, Mark, I think about the virus, the associated fears, the actions and then maybe in terms of demand, I think about it maybe appropriately about the possible in actions, both by corporations and consumers, say, over the next three, four, five, six months. We just don't know what that's going to be. So, again, to take our demand signals, which today are holding reasonably well and just extrapolate that directly with no haircut, I just don't think that makes any sense.

And I'll go back to just this week alone, if you look at what's happened in the US in terms of professional sports, concerts, group events and whatnot, some way, shape or form, that's going to have to have an impact on small business, etc. So, again, I think it's the prudent thing to do. And let's just hope that this is finite, and I think it will be temporary. It's just a matter of the definition of finite and temporary, does this last three months or does it last 12 to 18 months. But what I do know is, the team we have in place is probably the most experienced in the business. The team's resilient, proven. We've been through this before in '07, '08. Those of us that have been around a long time around here for the tech wreck [Phonetic] and one thing our Company knows how to do is manage variable cost and customer care in tough times.

Mark Delaney -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

Thank you.

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Steven Fox from Fox Advisors [Phonetic]. Your line is now live.

Steven Fox -- Fox Advisors -- Analyst

Thanks. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Mark, I was wondering if you could share with us your travel policy going forward, and whether it could affect ramping new programs.

And then secondly, could you talk about the precautions you're taking to prevent infection inside your plants on a global basis? And then I had a quick follow-up.

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Sure. Those are great questions. I -- our call today is a bit unique, as Adam said, in terms of structure, form and content and I love to talk about the business. But I think in times like this in many ways, saying less is saying more, especially, I don't believe in saying a lot of stuff when we just don't have a good clarity. But one is, your questions are really good lead in. I always talk on our calls about thanking our people and our number one priority and Adam and Mike both hit this is the safety, health and well-being of our folks. And a special thanks to everybody on our team.

We had -- even though we clipped [Phonetic] $50 million out of our core results, I got to acknowledge we had near-perfect execution this past quarter and that was split between taking just incredible care of our people, great care of our customers, all while reacting with, I don't know how I would say, it's speed and purpose to these disruptions is amazing. And if I think about certain line items, when we talk about speed and purpose. One is, out of nowhere when folks are coming back from Chinese New Year, our team in China set up quarantine centers and quarantine space that was really, really first-rate. We immediately streamlined testing and protocols partnering with local hospitals. We went through it, what I would characterize as extreme sanitization and disinfection in our Asian sites and we're now doing that in our US and European sites.

Our HR team combined with our business partners and our technical folks have set up a comprehensive education and awareness for all of our employees. Our travel restrictions have been, I think, a very fine balance between keeping our people safe and conducting business in a very, very thoughtful way. We've had policies put in place in terms of reducing visits to our factories. And then -- and again, what I would characterize as Jabil ingenuity, we've been producing our own surgical masks for our folks in Asia and throughout the world, if needed.

And in an earlier Q&A question, Steve, I made the mention, I think that really positions us well if things don't get worse in North America and Europe, that's a fantastic outcome. If things do get worse in North America and Europe, we've already written the playbook and again, it's ready to go. And I'll say it again, in some odd way, as we sit here today China is the least of our concern. So, that's kind of what we've been up to.

Steven Fox -- Fox Advisors -- Analyst

Thanks for that. That's really helpful. And then just as a quick follow-up. Mike, you mentioned the credit line that's available. Have you tapped it in the current quarter? And could you sort of talk about your plans to and whether there would be any restrictions on accessing that cash if you needed to?

Michael Dastoor -- Chief Financial Officer

So we're not aware of any restrictions. We tap in, tap out as required. Obviously, we move funds around internationally, and globally. We're in 30 countries. So we do move funds around pretty efficiently. So no issues there at all, Steve.

Steven Fox -- Fox Advisors -- Analyst

Thank you. Good luck going forward.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Ruplu Bhattacharya from Bank of America. Your line is now live.

Ruplu Bhattacharya -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst

Hi. Good morning, everyone. As valuations have come in, can you give us your thoughts on maybe growth inorganically? Your thoughts on M&A? And what are some of the things you look for in targets?

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Hi, Ruplu. I think we start with -- we're always in the market shopping, that's headed up by our strategic team led by Courtney. So, we've got our toes in the water constantly looking at M&A. Our strong, strong preference is smaller deals that help us in terms of capability and align with our strategy. We felt for the last 18 months that price tags on almost everything we looked at were ridiculous and therefore, we've pared back some of our M&A activity.

I would never want prices to come down based on something like COVID-19 because of the impact it has on individuals and families and whatnot, and it really does look like it's a pandemic. But if -- I think COVID-19 aside, I think what's happened in the last couple of weeks, it just felt to us like the market was overbought to begin with independent of the virus. So, if we can see prices get back to normal. I think our activity in the M&A world will pick up. I -- we're not out shopping for a big billion dollar deals, but there is some things we'd like to do in terms of increasing capabilities.

I will tell you that assuming we get to the other side of this virus, stuff still needs to get built. I mentioned earlier, our factory optimization is exceptional. Let's remember that, all our factories are wrapped in a wonderful IT network that's very unique. And then, when I think about both organic and M&A, Ruplu, secular trends in markets like 5G, healthcare, advanced handsets, electric transport, disruption in retail, machine learning, 3D additive, blah, blah, blah, although demand might be soft for a bit of time, those secular trends haven't changed. I think they remain intact and that will be really good for us.

Ruplu Bhattacharya -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst

Okay. Thanks for that. And Mark that makes sense. Maybe on the cost side, can you remind us what are some of the costs that are under your control? And how should we think about SG&A as a percent of sales going forward as you try and control some of these costs? And, I guess, related to that, you've talked about rationalizing your mobility footprint, can you just update us on the status of that? Thanks.

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Okay. That was a little bit. Let me just think my way through that. So, let me start with your SG&A question. I think 100% of the time when most all companies but I'll speak specifically for us. When you go through a decade of tremendous growth, I think you tend to get a little bit fluffy in terms of cost and overhead. On a relative basis, we still run this Company at around 4% SG&A, which is, I think, fabulous. I'd like to see that come down a little bit. So we are always watching costs. When you have a catalyst like this, I think it has a sharpen our pencil.

The nice thing is, well before COVID-19 occurred, Mike and I talked about, I think it was on the September call about some restructuring for this year that was kind of to continue to shape and optimize our factory network. So in some odd way, we're out in front of that already. We'll use this opportunity to take a look at opex, infrastructure costs, a little bit further in terms of headcount. But I feel good about how we're positioned. And I certainly feel really, really good about our Company's ability to react and act in a very kind of agile swift way. So, overall, I feel good about how we sit today.

Ruplu Bhattacharya -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst

Okay. Thanks for that. And then maybe just on the mobility rationalization of your footprint, is that more or less done? And any areas of capex spend this year or next year that you want to highlight?

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

I don't really want to get into capex at the moment. We're evaluating that and Mike addressed some of that in his prepared remarks. In terms of -- instead of mobility footprint, I think the way I would address your question, if I still may is, Mike laid out a pretty good detail on the September call about the restructuring that we have in place, that's going to plan, in fact, we're a bit ahead of plan and we'll continue to see that through.

Ruplu Bhattacharya -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst

Okay. Thanks for all the details, and thanks for taking my questions. Appreciate it.

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. Thanks, Ruplu.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question today is coming from Shannon Cross from Cross Research. Your line is now live.

Shannon Cross -- Cross Research LLC -- Analyst

Thank you very much for taking my question. Can you talk a bit about the strength you saw in the beginning of the quarter? I realized a lot has changed since then. But I'm curious about your cloud business and if you saw some of the continuity of strength from first quarter come through in the second. And then I have a follow-up. Thank you.

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. Hey, Shannon. I think the crazy thing is December and January, I think we put this in the press release, I don't remember, I know Mike just alluded to it, we got off to a really nice start. And the interesting part of that is really kind of across the board. So our cloud business is operating slightly above plan. Our -- the mobility side of our business, the demand is quite strong. And when I say demand is quite strong, I would take the liberty to characterize that is Jabil's demand. And I think there's two components of that. I think overall end demand is holding pretty well in that market, but the amazing work our team has done in that area, we continue to pick up some market share, which is also driving our demand. And then when I look at our EMS side of the business, the strength to the start of the quarter was kind of peanut buttered across six or eight different sectors.

Shannon Cross -- Cross Research LLC -- Analyst

Great. Thank you. And then, Mike I had a question. You're, I think, 1.7 times leverage. Just curious, I guess, a little bit back to the acquisition, but then any thoughts of maybe levering up a little bit given where the stock price is at. I know you guys tend to be pretty conservative. But I'm curious if the recent dislocation provides somewhat of a opportunity. Thank you.

Michael Dastoor -- Chief Financial Officer

Yeah. We'll continue to monitor and be thoughtful of that capital allocation policy that I talked about earlier. We do have an allocation methodology laid out, and we will stick to that. And as opportunities come up, we'll definitely go in and have a look.

Shannon Cross -- Cross Research LLC -- Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Matt Sheerin from Stifel. Your line is now live.

Matthew Sheerin -- Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated -- Analyst

Yes. Thanks and good morning. A question regarding your commentary about the inventory and working capital. It sounds like that's fairly under control in terms of the component issues that you've been seeing. But should we expect the inventory levels to remain a fairly high here relative to the progress you saw in recent quarters just because you and your customers may tend to be more conservative and want to keep some inventory on hand?

Michael Dastoor -- Chief Financial Officer

Yeah. I think as the COVID-19 spreads in other parts of the world and supply chain constraints continue, we will see a little bit of a spike in inventory. February was a bit of a perfect storm as well. We were running at 30%, 40% capacity, that is highly unlikely in the rest of the world at this stage. Now, that could change. So there will be a little bit of a spike, but not as much as February.

Matthew Sheerin -- Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated -- Analyst

Okay. And in terms of impact on your free cash flow, and I know you've had some pretty fairly robust free cash flow targets for the year. I guess, along with the rest of your guidance that sort of off the table at this point.

Michael Dastoor -- Chief Financial Officer

I wouldn't say it's off the table. We're still targeting that number. Remember when demand falls and revenue goes down, our working capital from a dollar standpoint actually improves. So there's a nice little EMS paradox that goes on with our type of business, which gives a little bit of a natural protection.

Matthew Sheerin -- Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated -- Analyst

Okay, great. And then, as you look, and Mark, you talked about relative strength on the mobility front and everybody has been looking forward to the next generation cycles and product cycles later this year. Any change in terms of things you're doing with customers in terms of pilot programs and R&D and that sort of thing as you prepare for the end of the year?

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

No. I'd say that's business as usual.

Matthew Sheerin -- Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated -- Analyst

Okay. Okay. Thanks very much and thanks for all the details.

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Matt.

Operator

Thank you. We reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to management for any further or closing comments.

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Thank you for joining us. This now concludes our call.

Operator

[Operator Closing Remarks]

Duration: 42 minutes

Call participants:

Adam Berry -- Vice President, Investor Relations

Michael Dastoor -- Chief Financial Officer

Mark T. Mondello -- Chief Executive Officer

Jim Suva -- Citigroup -- Analyst

Adam Tindle -- Raymond James & Associates, Inc. -- Analyst

Paul Chung -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Mark Delaney -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

Steven Fox -- Fox Advisors -- Analyst

Ruplu Bhattacharya -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst

Shannon Cross -- Cross Research LLC -- Analyst

Matthew Sheerin -- Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated -- Analyst

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'It's like a ghost town here': Inside the containment area in New Rochelle

Candace Jones was shocked and slightly fearful when she first heard the news that the National Guard was coming to New Rochelle, N.Y., because of the spread of the novel coronavirus. But as she drove her car up to one of their food distribution stations Thursday, she thanked the soldiers for their help.

"We are very grateful, New Rochelle  we need it. They put three schools out of business for two weeks and there's a lot of kids that need to eat," said Jones, mother of a 11-month-old and a 13-year-old.

She works at one of three schools shut down within the containment area in the suburb just north of New York City. The containment area was instituted this week by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Westchester County, which includes New Rochelle, is home to 148 of the state's 325 cases of COVID-19.

Schools and places of worship are closed, and other large gatherings are cancelled. On Thursday, the New Rochelle school board announced all schools would be closed until March 25.

On Friday, a drive-thru testing facility opened in a park in New Rochelle, about six kilometres from the containment area. Believed to be the first of its kind on the U.S. east coast, the facility will operate by appointment only, with those in or near the containment area given first priority.

The new measures  the latest steps in the effort to contain the spread of COVID-19  marked an escalation in government efforts to encourage social distancing and limit in-person contact in an area that's seen a huge spike in cases on the doorstep of one of the country's most densely populated cities.

The National Guard arrived in New Rochelle on Thursday to begin their mission to help deal with the spread. Their deployment consists of assisting in food distribution and cleaning public facilities.

Steven D'Souza/CBC

Unlike strict quarantines and lockdowns in China and Italy, anyone is free to come and go from the area. But with hundreds in self-isolation, the streets feel empty. Along the main strip, traffic passes by banks and stores that are closed.

Story continues

"It's sad, it's dead, it's like a ghost town here," Jones said as she picked up a food for her family that should last three or four days.

WATCH | Steven D'Souza reports from the New Rochelle, N.Y., containment area:

She works at Albert Leonard Middle School, one of three inside the containment area, which stretches out in a 1.6-km radius outward from the Young Israel Synagogue in New Rochelle. That's where the cluster of cases can be traced back to, originating with a single patient, a lawyer from New Rochelle who works in Manhattan. He was the state's first case of community spread when it became clear he had no link to any of the countries hit by the virus.

At three sites on Thursday, the National Guard set up tables outside to hand out some of the estimated 181,000 kilograms of food gathered by local agencies to help the estimated 2,800 children affected by school closures in the area. Many of those children rely on free or reduced-cost breakfast and lunch programs offered through the schools.

"We're really trying to eliminate the insecurity of where that next meal is coming from," said Daniel Bonnet, director of WestCop New Rochelle Community Action Center, one of the distribution sites just outside the containment area.

Steven D'Souza/CBC

Each family is given a bag containing rice, macaroni and cheese, canned goods and other non-perishable foods, enough to help a family of four for at least three days. Local restaurants have also chipped in with prepared meals.

Louis Andrade came to volunteer and help hand out food. "This is the time you stand up and support the families that are significantly impacted," he said, noting that no one is turned away.

Kenny Rivera lives and works outside the containment area but was still able to pick up food.

Steven D'Souza/CBC

"I don't think everybody is as scared as some people are," said Rivera, who was happy to see the National Guard troops weren't armed.

"One thing people were really concerned about was seeing soldiers with weapons  so far, so good. I heard a couple of people were freaked out by helicopters that flew overhead," he said.

'It's not going to be martial law'

At his barbershop inside the containment area, Vinny Aizza said business is down 85 per cent, even though he washes hands in between each customer and offers to wear gloves as he cuts their hair.

"It's definitely affected business, It's definitely making everybody scared," Aizza said of the containment area.

He welcomes the idea of the National Guard.

"If they help to come and clean businesses and give products, maybe it'll make people feel safe. Then it'll be all right, as long as it's not martial law, which I don't think it is," he said.

Steven D'Souza/CBC

Driving through the containment area, Virginia Capozi stopped her car to make sure the message was getting out that life was continuing as normal.

"We don't need to instil fear in the people. We need to keep calm, we need to keep vigilant, but fear and panic don't help anyone," she said.

Social distancing and reducing density

Experts say social distancing, limiting personal human interaction through measures like closing schools, working from home or banning large public events can help break the chain of transmission and slow the spread of a virus like COVID-19.

In an urban area as densely populated as New York City and its surrounding areas, New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo said people will always be within a short distance of someone else so more aggressive measures, like the containment area, are needed.

"The spread is not going to stop on its own. It is fully dependent on what we do. We're going to make our own destiny. And like it or not we're going to have to make some tough decisions and we're going to have to start to act united to reduce the density," he told CNN on Wednesday.

A further effort to reduce density led Cuomo to ban all public gatherings of 500 people or more beginning Friday afternoon. The ban applied immediately to Broadway, where theatres of 500 seats or more were shuttered until April 12, joining a long list of venues in New York City shutting down to stop the spread of the virus.

Living life as normal

Sarah Langlois brought her two-year old and four-year old into the containment area Wednesday to get ice cream, determined to continue life as normal.

"For the most part, as long as you don't have any underlying health conditions, you're acting like everything is fine," said Langlois, who is also expecting a third child. "It hasn't really affected us, we went to the doctor's office, we went to the library this morning and here for lunch and ice cream."

Langlois lives a block outside the containment area, but her four-year old's school is inside the area, so she questions how effective it will be.

"We have students who are in school and their sibling's schools are closed so I don't see how it's containing anything," she said, speaking to CBC the day before the school board shut all schools city-wide. "My husband took Metro North [commuter rail] to work today, he's in the city every day, I don't think it's going to do much, seems like more political grandstanding."

Stephen Madey lives on the south side of New Rochelle and said he thinks it's only a matter of time before the containment area is expanded.

"Everything is going to get worse before it gets better," Madey said, noting the area will get through this, "as long as people stay calm and use universal precautions  washing hands and ensuring you're clean and sanitizing the best you can."
DETROIT -- Non-factory workers with General Motors and Ford are being asked to work from home as much as possible as the auto companies hope to limit the potential spread of coronavirus.

If the nature of your work allows for it, we are asking all GM employees and contract workers to work remotely, beginning Monday, March 16. This policy applies globally, apart from our team in China, which has existing protocols in place," wrote GM CEO Mary Barra in a letter to employees.

Barra went on tell employees to consult with their managers about how their position fits in to the plans to work from home. According to Fox 2 Detroit, Ford says it will respond accordingly if any factory workers tests positive for coronavirus.

The announcements come a day after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer closed all schools in the state start Monday. Several businesses across the state and globally have instituted similar programs to instruct employees to work from home if possible.

These are important steps to lower the probability of spreading the coronavirus to coworkers, families and communities and to relieve the burden on public resources. It also helps conserve critical resources like cleaning crews, medical staff, and supplies so they can be deployed where they are most needed, Barra wrote.

Barra went on to say that as transportation options continue to be limited, customers will look to them to ensure they reliable transportation and parts if necessary and it is vital that the company is able to meet consumer need.

Of course, not all of our teams are able to work remotely. We are taking every precaution to ensure our teams remain safe and are adjusting manufacturing, Global Product Development, Customer Care and Aftersales and Contact Center work schedules to allow for additional cleaning, Barra wrote. Given the current drop in use of public transportation and extensive flight cancellations, our customers are looking to us more than ever to ensure they have the vehicles, parts and services they need. Thank you to everyone for helping to ensure that we continue to deliver.

Fiat Chrysler has yet to make an announcement of its own on any sort of similar plans for employees.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

For more of MLives coverage of the coronavirus:

CDC warns those over 60: stock up and stay home as coronavirus spreads

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Michigan confirms 12 total coronavirus cases

All Michigan schools to close as coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

Possible coronavirus exposure locations named across Michigan
Calling Jyotiraditya Scindia a "power-hungry" leader, Chhattisgarh Minister and Congress leader TS Singh Deo on Friday said that if someone joins another party to occupy the top position of the state that he should never become a Chief Minister.

When enquired if Deo has any plans to join the BJP in the future, he quickly said that he would never be able to relate himself with the "ideology" of the party.

"People may make claims but I will never join BJP, even if I get 100 lives I will never associate with that ideology. A person who joins BJP for not being able to become Chief Minister should never become a Chief Minister," he said while speaking to media in Raipur.

"A single person does not remain as captain forever, Kapil Dev got his chance when Gavaskar was there. Currently, Virat Kohli is the captain but in T20 there are different captains. Will Kohli join Pakistan's team if he is not made the captain? This is beyond understanding."

On Wednesday, Scindia joined BJP in New Delhi in the presence of party President JP Nadda. He had resigned from Congress a day earlier after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He will file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections on March 13.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Armenias government has decided to close all schools, universities and kindergartens until at least March 23 as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases reached 13 in the country on Friday.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian held consultations with his cabinet and other agencies today after interrupting his vacation and suspending campaign rallies ahead of next months constitutional referendum to discuss further measures to contain the spread of the highly contagious and potentially deadly disease in Armenia.

In a live broadcast on Facebook after the meeting Pashinian announced the suspension of classes in all schools, calling on all citizens to show individual responsibility in following all basic protective measures against the new coronavirus known as COVID-19 that has already affected nearly 140,000 people around the world (with more than 5,000 deaths) and has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

We will get back to the issue on March 18 or 19 and will extend the suspension if necessary, he said. We also urge citizens to avoid as much as possible organizing and participating in mass events, especially those citizens who have [coronavirus-like] symptoms.

In another related development Armenias soccer federation announced on Friday that all tournaments held under its umbrella will be suspended until March 23.

Armenia identified its first coronavirus patient on March 1. The infected person was an Armenian citizen evacuated from Iran. He was immediately hospitalized and 31 other people who might have had close contacts with him were placed under a two-week quarantine then.

On March 11, three people who had arrived from Italy, including two Armenian citizens and one Italian working in Armenia, also tested positive for COVID-19. Fifty-seven people were placed under quarantines. The following day two members of the extended family of one of the Armenian patients, a woman from Echmiadzin, also tested positive and were isolated. Another five patients were identified on Friday, including from among those quarantined after having contacts with the woman.

It turned out that after returning from Italy the woman participated in an engagement party for her son in the town situated about 20 kilometers to the west of capital Yerevan. The party was attended by more than three dozen people, according to reports.

Pashinian said that the woman, who had been properly registered upon returning from Italy and was under the monitoring of health officials, later concealed from authorities the fact that she developed coronavirus symptoms, including fever.

She hid it not only form the state, but also from her family, as she deemed it important for her  as this is part of our tradition  to attend a family members engagement party Before the party itself the woman was in contact with her hairdresser, a jeweler And now we have a situation when her cousin and husband have already tested positive for coronavirus and other people she had contacts with are under quarantine, said Pashinian, adding that by saying this he was far from intending to blame the citizen for what happened under the circumstances.

He said his government could not have possibly prevented a case like that, calling for individual responsibility of citizens. State administrative bodies can take numerous measures, but if a person wants to bypass these measures, he or she will find the way to do that. But it is important that each of us show a responsible approach in this situation, Pashinian said. The conclusion that we arrived at following our discussions is that our main message to our citizens should be that they realize their individual responsibility in this period of epidemic.

The prime minister reiterated that basic steps like temporarily refusing to shake hands and greet each other by kissing may prove effective in containing the spread of the deadly virus.

Earlier this week the Armenian government announced that a charter flight from Rome to Yerevan will be organized on March 15 to evacuate Armenian citizens from coronavirus-hit Italy.

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian said on Thursday that a 14-day quarantine regime will be instituted for all citizens to be brought to Armenia from Italy.

Earlier this month Armenia also re-introduced a visa regime and tightened controls at the border with neighboring Iran, another coronavirus hotspot in the world.
The Himachal Pradesh Assembly reconvened nearly half-an-hour later than the scheduled time after lunch break on Friday.

The House was to reassemble at 2 pm for the ongoing budget session after the scheduled one-hour lunch which started at around 12.58 pm.

Some of the members from the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress arrived in the House but neither Speaker Vipin Parmar nor any of his representatives had returned by then.

The opposition Congress members left the House after waiting for some time.

Meanwhile, Jawalamukhi MLA Ramesh Chand Dhawala came in the House at 2.21 pm and sat on the Speaker's chair to conduct the proceedings but there was a lack of quorum as at least one-third of the total members were not present.

Congress legislator Harshwardhan Chauhan, who was present in the House at that time, protested against the delay in restarting the proceedings and left.

Dhawala then informed the House that the speaker had just left for lunch as he was busy filling nomination papers of BJP leader Indu Goswami for Rajya Sabha.

Dhawala said, "I was directed to conduct the proceedings of the House but the required quorum is not present."



He then pressed the bell for calling the MLAs in the House and several members of BJP and Congress, including leader of opposition Mukesh Agnihotri and senior member Asha Kumari, arrived.

Kinnaur MLA Jagat Singh Negi expressed willingness to raise a point of order for holding a discussion on the delay, but Dhawala did not allow it.

He reiterated that the speaker had just left for having lunch.

Dhawla then asked Jubbal-Kotkhai BJP legislator from Narinder Bragta to express his views on the budget and the proceedings restarted at 2.28 pm.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
San Francisco, March 13 : An Indian-American teenager is helping raising awareness against domestic abuse, and believes that doing so was "the key to preventing future atrocities", a media report.

Following the mission of the decades-old organization Maitri, a non-profit organization that helps female victims of domestic violence and human trafficking in North America and Asia, a group of teens led by Alisha Gupta held an event to expand awareness to youth throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, the India-West newspaper said in a report on Friday.

A senior at Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California, Gupta told India-West: "The taboo around topics such as gender inequality, relationship abuse, and toxic masculinity are their biggest detriment.

"And, it's in our ability to break those generalizations that demonize the abused and instead encourage them to speak up about their experience and get the help they need." That, she added, was the purpose of the event in order to educate the community on the signs to detect society's stigmas and instill among them the courage and confidence to take a stand.

Her social awareness and intolerance towards injustice in society have primarily driven her works and passions, she added.

At the event, Maitri President Sonya Peliao spoke passionately regarding a South Asian approach to these topics and the importance of communication between parents and their children.

"I am extremely hopeful this convention will raise the awareness we need to put an end to society's stigmas," Gupta added.
Colleges and universities in Southeast Texas became the latest in a growing number of institutions closing down or opting for work from home Thursday as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19, which has been declared a global pandemic.

K-12 schools in Southeast Texas have not closed their doors yet, although schools across the Houston area announced they would cancel classes or extend spring break in response to growing concerns about the coronavirus.

Students at Lamar University reacted to an afternoon email that said they would return to class online instead of in person with a mixture of understanding and concern at the precautionary measure taken after discussion with the CDC.

For me personally, I didnt pay for online classes, said Daijia Pugh, a freshman studying chemical engineering. I paid to be in class, and I work best that way. So, Im more worried about how that transition is going to be.

In addition to moving classes online, the school made the decision to cancel university-sponsored travel and events and cancel all summer study abroad programs. Lamar offered refunds to students who already paid.

The actions were announced in a letter from university President Ken Evans, who said the guidance was meant to prevent any possible exposure.

Lamar freshman Cody Grissom said he wasnt sure teachers were completely prepared to make the transition to fully online classes. Other students, including senior Zach Thibodeaux, who is studying industrial engineering, already take most or all of their classes online.

Thibodeaux is worried nonetheless, since he has family in Houston, where several cases of the virus have been confirmed.

Im worried about it, but its inevitable, I guess, he said. Tomorrows going to come. You just got to be ready for it.

Evans said in response to concerns about the transition to online schooling that students and teachers will have options.

Its not just purely online, Evans said. We do have other modalities like Zoom and Blackboard, so there are other ways of teaching beyond just online.

The Lamar Institute of Technology announced late Thursday night that they too would move classes to online after break until at least March 30th, in addition to canceling travel and large group gatherings.

Due to COVID-19, we are dealing with some challenging times, LIT President Lonnie Howard said in a letter to staff and students. But LIT is at its strongest when we work together for the betterment of our students.

No K-12 school in the region had canceled classes as of press time Thursday night.

While Beaumont ISD opted not to cancel classes, the district suspended all travel and district-related events outside school in response to the pandemic.

Beaumont ISD has determined that, in the best interest of our students and staff, all school-related events, including sporting events and practices, will be suspended until further notice, BISD spokeswoman Hannah LeTulle said. This decision was made in response to the travel required to compete in these events and the suspension status of our competing districts. Currently, there are no confirmed cases of the coronavirus at Beaumont ISD, and school will resume as usual. Any changes as a result of new information will be immediately shared.

After the switch to online classes at Lamar University, unaffiliated Lamar State College Port Arthur and Lamar State College Orange announced they too would suspend classes next week as a precaution.

In light of recent developments regarding COVID-19, Lamar State College Port Arthur has opted to take a proactive effort to safeguard its students by canceling classes scheduled for March 16-20, LSCPA spokesman Gerry Dickert wrote in a news release.

Dual enrollment students and those taking classes through the Woodrow Wilson Early College High School will attend classes as planned since those classes are managed by the Port Arthur Independent School District, according to LSCPA.

Lamar State College Orange extended students spring break, originally scheduled for March 16-20, through March 27.

Classes are expected to resume on March 30 under a schedule to be determined by instructors and administration. A return to regularly scheduled classes is expected by April 13, unless circumstances dictate otherwise.

Hardin-Jefferson ISD said it was business as usual, and Lumberton ISD said procedures for a pandemic were built into its emergency operations plan, but schools have not closed.

Coordination between the school district, the Hardin County Health Department, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Centers for Disease Control will drive our decision-making and processes, spokeswoman Gretchen Scoggins said.

While Silsbee ISD plans to return from spring break as planned, the district will no longer accept deliveries from restaurants for lunch and will monitor the situation to decide if other adjustments are needed.

Other schools shared messages with parents emphasizing that they would continue to focus on sanitization and were in contact with the CDC and other officials.

Jacob Dick and Kim Brent contributed to this report.

isaac.windes@hearstnp.com

twitter.com/isaacdwindes
My office was also tasked with preparing  at home and around the world  for the next health emergency, no matter its origin. In 2014, even before the first cases of Ebola came to light in Guinea, the Obama administration launched the Global Health Security Agenda, which now includes more than 60 countries, to accelerate epidemic preparedness. That effort, bolstered by $1 billion from the U.S. government in an emergency spending bill to fight Ebola, led to major gains in global capability to combat the Ebola outbreak and prepare for the next pandemic, which turned out to be covid-19. We began building, measuring and tracking capacities each country had, such as the strength of their national laboratory systems and their abilities to detect and report disease, stand up emergency operation centers, build an epidemiology workforce, and maintain safe and secure practices. We spurred the use of transparent, measurable assessments of progress, and we leveraged our diplomacy with other countries to finance and fill gaps. At the same time, we strengthened international biosurveillance networks to help alert us to future potential pandemics.
A civil servant said reporting Alex Salmond to police after an alleged sexual assault would have been "unthinkable" due to the upcoming Scottish independence referendum.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard the former first minister of Scotland got on top of the woman on a bed, kissed her "sloppily and haphazardly" and murmured she was irresistible.

Mr Salmond is on trial over accusations of sexual assault, including an attempted rape. The 65-year-old denies all 14 charges.

He is accused of assaulting the woman at the first minister's official residence, Bute House, in late 2013, around nine months before the vote.

The complainer, known as Woman F, said she was concerned any police proceedings might get into the "public sphere".

"That would have been unthinkable, partly because of the political context. Our job involved protecting the first minister and his reputation," she said.

"This was a run-up to a referendum on independence, everything we did outward-facing had potential ramifications," she added.

Woman F told the court Mr Salmond said the pair should go to his bedroom for work as it was cold. He then brought out a bottle of white Chinese spirit called Maotai and she drank a little.

She said he kept trying to top up her glass while he drank "steadily" until it was empty.

When she got up to leave, she said Mr Salmond told her "firmly" but not "aggressively" to get on the bed. She added: "I felt quite panicked."

After sitting on the edge of the bed, the woman said Mr Salmond got on top of her and began to kiss and touch her and murmured that she was "irresistible".

The complainer said: "The first minister was lying on top of me, he had his hands under the skirt of my dress and ran them over my thighs and my bottom. He was also running his hands over the bodice of my dress and over my breasts.

"He was kissing me around my face, quite sloppily and haphazard."

The official earlier said she had thought Mr Salmond was going to "take things further" but later apologised after a meeting was arranged.

"I thought that he was going to remove my tights and my underwear, that he would be pushing the encounter physically further," she added.

She said: "The first minister told me that he was sorry for what had happened, it had been unacceptable. He said he had been drinking more than usual, not just that night but in general due to stress."

Gordon Jackson QC, representing Mr Salmond, put it to her the incident had been a "sleepy cuddle", which the complainer rejected.

The trial continues.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 18:43 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a6d826 1 City coronavirus,COVID-19,Istiqlal-Mosque,Friday-prayer,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia Free

The management of Jakarta's historic Istiqlal Mosque took several measures on Friday to keep the facility clean amid the threat of the coronavirus. The measures included removing the mosque's prayer rugs, which could contain and transmit the virus, as well as disinfecting the building's interior.

"We heard that in Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, the virus was transmitted via prayer rugs. So we removed them all. Saudi Arabia is doing the same thing [at the Great Mosque of Mecca]," Istiqlal Mosque grand imam Nasaruddin Umar said.

Read also: COVID-19: Indonesian Mosque Council tells ailing Muslims to pray at home

President Joko Jokowi Widodo and a number of his aides, including Religious Affairs Minister Fachrul Razi and Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto visited the Mosque Friday morning to see how the process was going.

Minister Fachrul Razi suggested that other mosques in the country follow suit to prevent further spread of the deadly coronavirus. However, he emphasized that religious activities in the country would continue to run normally despite the WHO declaring coronavirus a pandemic and urging aggressive action from all countries to fight it.

Read also: Catholic churches across Rome shut due to virus

Friday prayers in all provincial capitals of Iran, which is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases, have been halted to contain the virus. Meanwhile Tajikistan, which has no reported cases so far, has suspended Friday prayers, aljazeera.com reported.

"Friday prayer will still be held normally, but we suggest that congregations avoid physical contact while greeting, like handshaking and such," Fachrul said, adding that sick people should stay at home rather than be in the crowd. (vny)
By Jamie McGeever

BRASILIA (Reuters) - As if things were not difficult enough for markets in Brazil, whose stocks and currency are among the world's worst-performing this year, an unexpected twist in the country's fragile politics threatens to make the situation even tougher.

Brazil's Congress voted late on Wednesday to overturn an earlier veto on spending by right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, adding an as yet unbudgeted 20 billion reais a year ($4.2 billion) to social assistance for elderly and disabled people, known locally as "BPC."

Brazil's government is in its seventh consecutive year of budget deficit, which is pegged at 124 billion reais this year. If the 20 billion-reais additional spending cannot be clawed back from elsewhere, the budget will be blown.

Bolsonaro's administration has made it an economic priority to fix the nation's public finances, in large part via aggressive spending cuts.

While the extra spending will provide a welcome fiscal boost to the struggling economy, analysts say it puts the government's budget goals and economic reform agenda in serious peril, greatly diminishing the appeal of holding Brazilian assets.

"The economy and markets will suffer from a lack of confidence in the government, and the president's capacity to deliver at a time of crisis," said Creomar de Souza, founder of Brasilia-based consultancy Dharma Political Risk and Strategy.

"This appearance of division between the president and Congress is not good at all," he said.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley said the vote marked a major turning point and recommended clients reduce their exposure to Brazilian credit and the currency.

"The timing of this decision could not be worse. Such a serious setback for the reform agenda along with a more-than-challenging global backdrop will keep Brazilian local assets under pressure in the weeks to come," they said.

On Thursday morning, Brazil's real slumped below the 5.00 per dollar level for the first time ever, bringing its depreciation so far this year to a staggering 20%.

Story continues

Only a week ago, when the real was trading around 4.60 per dollar, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said the real could sink as low as 5.00 per dollar "if we (politicians) really mess up."

BAD BLOOD IN BRASILIA

Guedes and his team argue that shrinking the budget deficit, national debt and public sector would lay the foundation for lower borrowing costs and a surge in private-sector investment, confidence, spending and ultimately economic growth.

The government cut its 2020 economic growth forecast on Wednesday, but insisted it would not relax its fiscal discipline, particularly an existing spending cap, to give a boost to an economy hit by coronavirus outbreak and tumbling oil prices.

According to Treasury Secretary Mansueto Almeida, the 20 billion-reais hole in the budget created by the BPC vote on Wednesday cannot be filled.

"We don't have the resources for new mandatory expenditures of 20 billion reais per year," he told Reuters. "To do this we would need to cut a corresponding amount of public investment, which is the only discretionary expense that could quickly be reduced that much."

Brazilian public investment, including on such key areas as infrastructure and education, is already its lowest on record.

Analysts at Barclays said the BPC vote marked the most serious blow yet dealt by Congress to the Bolsonaro government, noting that the new expenditure, coupled with plunging oil prices, could put the deficit well above target.

They said Bolsonaro's apparent backing for a controversial public rally in Brasilia favoring his administration - and widely seen as opposing Congress - scheduled for Sunday, March 15, has not been well-received among lawmakers.

"Bad blood appears to be widespread in Brasilia. We view this significant blow as a loud signal of discontent from Congress to the President," Barclays said in a note to clients on Thursday.

Hammered by international market volatility and this latest domestic political blow, Brazilian stocks sank 16% on Thursday, bringing their cumulative decline so far this year to 38%.

(Reporting by Jamie McGeever in Brasilia; Editing by Christian Plumb and Matthew Lewis)
Alexander studied with Morris Louis in 1953, during the one semester the Color School exemplar taught at Howard University. Alexander may have learned how to stain canvases from Louis, but that technique is not central to his style. Indeed, the pictures in this show, mostly from the 1950s and 60s, dont follow any one style. While primarily abstract, they sometimes include representational elements, and appear to be influenced by a range of European and American modernists. There are even glimmers of Pop Art in the primary-color canvases, which deploy red, blue and yellow with the directness of Warhol or Lichtenstein.
[March 13, 2020] Glancy Prongay & Murray Reminds Investors of Looming Deadline in the Class Action Lawsuit Against of Align Technology, Inc. (ALGN)

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") reminds investors of the upcoming May 1, 2020 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action filed on behalf of Align Technology, Inc. ("Align" or the "Company") (NYSE: ALGN) investors who purchased securities between April 24, 2019 and July 24, 2019, inclusive (the "Class Period"). If you suffered a loss on your Align investments or would like to inquire about potentially pursuing claims to recover your loss under the federal securities laws, you can submit your contact information here or contact Charles H. Linehan, of GPM at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, via email [email protected] or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com to learn more about your rights.



On July 24, 2019, Align announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2019, revealing significantly declining sales volumes for its Invisalign products and drastically reducing its growth projections for the third quarter and full year of 2019. The Company's Chief Executive Officer attributed the decline "to softness in China related to a tougher consumer environment." On this news, the Company's share price fell, $74.26, or over 26%, to close at $200.90 per share on July 25, 2019, thereby injuring investors.

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that they had exaggerated the Company's performance in China; and (2) that Chinese demand for the Company's products materially declined. Follow us for updates on Twitter (News - Alert): twitter.com/GPM_LLP. If you purchased or otherwise acquired Align securities during the Class Period, you may move the Court no later than May 1, 2020 to request appointment as lead plaintiff in this putative class action lawsuit. To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact Charles Linehan, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005036/en/

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A local pulp and paper union Thursday filed a grievance against Longview WestRock mill managers for adopting a coronavirus policy allowing supervisors to count potentially infected employees as unexcused if they do not use sick days to cover absences.

The policy itself appears fairly common for employers in the area, including the Nippon Dynawave Packaging mill in Longview. It also appears to follow the WestRocks general sick leave policy.

But it raises questions many workers are dealing with during the coronavirus outbreak: What should I do if I feel sick but Im out of leave? And should there be special sick leave for COVID-19?

Washington state sick leave law requires employers to offer one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours an employee works. That time accrues throughout the year, and employees can roll over up to 40 hours of sick time into the next year.

Employees can use sick time for a mental or physical illness; to take care of a family member with a mental or physical illness; if a childs school is closed by order of a public health official; or for instances of domestic violence.

The law, however, does not offer specific guidance on what happens once employees exhaust their leave, and it doesnt require anything from employers once a workers leave is depleted, said Tim Church, spokesman for the state Department of Labor & Industries.

Employers and employees are working together to figure out how best to apply the law to the rapidly evolving coronavirus situation, he said. There also are other types of leave, such as short-term disability or unemployment insurance, that could apply in place of paid sick leave. (A chart of which state leave programs apply under various COVID-19 scenarios is attached to the online version of this article.)

I believe that most employers recognize how challenging this situation is and are going to do the best they can do the right thing, Church said. Our hope would be that they work together with their employees to gauge their specific situations and see what they can come up with as a solution.

Union representatives with the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers Local 153 say WestRock implemented a coronavirus-related policy without consulting the union. The company is required to bargain any policy and language changes to a contract, said Nick Boehler, chairman for the union standing committee.

WestRock has kind of gone their own way on just telling us what they want to do, Boehler said.

Company spokesman John Pensac said WestRock is following Center for Disease Control guidelines for travel and health.

We are emphasizing that employees should actively monitor their health, stay home when feeling ill and consult their doctor if they exhibit any symptoms associated with the coronavirus, Pensac said in a prepared statement Thursday.

He did not return additional request for comment about the grievance.

According to the union, WestRock wants any employee with a fever to go to a nurse. If the nurse determines the person is sick, the company will ask the employee to go to the doctor.

That would be considered an unexcused absence unless the employee uses paid sick leave, according to minutes from meeting between the union and company human resources officials.

In its grievance, the union asks the company to cover the cost for tests and lost work time for an employee suspected of having COVID-19, if the company requires them. It also wants to remove or hold any negative attendance mark if it arises because of a suspected coronavirus infection.

Legally, the company can send a sick employee home, but it is not required to excuse that absence, according to L&I. An employee can use paid leave to excuse the absence, if its available.

We are fortunate in Washington that we have this paid sick leave law, but its going to help some people more than others, Church said. Clearly if people have saved up their leave and carried over some from last year, then they will have it and be able to use it. Not everyone has been at their job that long or has been able to store up leave. For those folks, it might be more of a hardship.

Boehler said he is worried WestRocks approach could deter workers from following recommendations to reduce risk and prevent spread of the disease because they are afraid to get written up for an unexcused absence.

Whats going to end up happening is the guys and gals that work down there are likely not going to turn it in if they think they can work ill for a while, Boehler said.

That concern is one shared by other branches of AWPPW, which are dealing with similar policies at Nippon Dynawave Packaging. AWPPW Local 633 president Lowell Lovgren said the company is sticking to standard procedure for sick days so far. That means if the company tells an employee to stay home and that worker doesnt have sick pay left, they can be written up.

Nippon Dynawave agreed to excuse write-ups only if the worker is ultimately diagnosed with COVID-19, Lovgren said. Employees diagnosed with COVID-19 would qualify for short-term disability, said Mark Jewett, chairman of the AWPPW Local 580 standing committee. (Both locals represent members at the plant.)

Local 633 would likely file grievances for anyone written up for staying home for coronovirus concerns but isnt diagnosed, Lovgren said.

Anyone who doesnt feel healthy shouldnt be down there potentially infecting (others).  Its just a common-sense thing, Lovgren said.

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D isney theme parks in the US and France are closing their doors amid growing fears over the spread of coronavirus.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Walt Disney Company said three members of staff had tested positive for the disease in France and that resorts in Paris and in America will shut this weekend until the end of the month.

The company said the measure was in "an abundance of caution and in the best interest of our guests and cast members" as the Covid-19 virus spreads around the world.

If you have booked a holiday to one of Disney's theme parks, here is how you can get a refund for your trip abroad.

Which Disney theme parks have been closed?

The company is shutting its theme parks as a precaution during the coronavirus outbreak / AFP via Getty Images

The theme parks affected are Disneyland Paris Resort in France and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

However, the company stated its hotels at these two resorts would "remain open until further notice".

They added: "The retail and dining complexes, Disney Springs at Walt Disney World and Disney Village at Disneyland Paris will remain open."

Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, will also be shutting this month, in accordance with the governor of California's executive order.

The company added that the hotels at their California resort will remain open until Monday, March 16, while Downtown Disney will stay open.

How long will the parks be shut?

The parks in Florida and Paris will start to shut "at the close of business on Sunday, March 15" with the closure expected to last until the end of the month.

In California, the closure will start on the morning of Saturday, March 14 and will last until the end of the month.

The hotels there will remain open until March 16.

Can I get my money back if I have a holiday booked?

Disney say "modification and cancellation" fees have been waived until the middle of April if customers wish to change the date of their booking.
As coronavirus cases continue to climb in Spain, the government on Thursday announced a relief package to deal with the growing health and economic emergencies.

Speaking via video conference, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the Socialist Party (PSOE) said his government will inject 1 billion into the health system and transfer a further 2.8 billion to regional authorities to help them shore up their healthcare services.

The announcement came as the number of infections in Spain rose to 3,000 and deaths reached 84, with a further 189 people declared as having recovered from the Covid-19 disease. Meanwhile, investor fears caused Spains blue-chip Ibex 35 index to plunge by a record-setting 14.06%.

We will overcome this. Spain will recover its vitality, but we need to minimize the effects and that is the goal of these initial measures, and of those that will follow Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez

Sanchez said that besides the health package, the government will also introduce measures to provide economic relief to businesses, including a six-month moratorium on tax payments for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the self-employed.

This is an important measure that will facilitate the injection of 14 billion into the productive system, said Sanchez, whose Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias is currently quarantined at home after the latters partner, Equality Minister Irene Montero, tested positive for the coronavirus.

The travel industry will also be eligible for a 400 million credit line from the state-owned lender Instituto de Credito Oficial. Hotel occupancy rates are already down by 80% in the Mediterranean provinces of Valencia and Castellon, while travel agencies are being flooded with cancellations, according to Eva Blasco, president of the business association CEV Valencia. This week Valencia authorities decided to postpone the world-famous Fallas fiestas to avoid creating large crowds.

The sudden health crisis is rapidly altering the economic and political scenario in Spain, where only a week ago it would have seemed impossible for the center-right party Ciudadanos (Citizens) to offer Sanchez support to get his budget passed. Yet that is what happened on Thursday, when Ciudadanos leader Ines Arrimadas said her group would be willing to support an emergency spending plan. Sanchez quickly took up the offer with a call for an extra-social budget.

We are going to analyze all the measures that the opposition suggests and which seem beneficial for the population, in light of this situation that is new to the world and for which we have no instruction manuals, said the Socialist leader, who heads a coalition government with the left-wing Unidas Podemos.

The sudden health crisis is rapidly altering the economic and political scenario in Spain

The PM said measures have also been introduced allowing state agencies to purchase basic goods and services to ensure there are no shortages. Supermarkets have seen a spike in panic shopping this week, particularly in Madrid.

On Thursday Sanchez recommended remote working and the closure of schools across the country, not just in the high-transmission areas  Madrid, La Rioja and parts of the Basque Country. He also said people should avoid travel whenever possible.

We all have an opportunity to do something very important for the others, to follow official recommendations in our personal and family space, and to act responsibly and with discipline, he said. We will overcome this. Spain will recover its vitality, but we need to minimize the effects and that is the goal of these initial measures, and of those that will follow.

Asked whether there are plans to place the Madrid region in lockdown, the government leader avoided a direct answer. We need to convey calm and serenity, he said. We will take the measures that need to be taken in coordination with regional governments and in line with experts recommendations.

English version by Susana Urra.
People wait at an intersection with their hired electric scooters in the streets of the Israeli coastal town of Tel Aviv on May 30, 2019. - Israelis in the countrys economic capital Tel Aviv have embraced electric scooters and their smart-phone rental systems, using them to zip along Mediterranean beaches and avoid heavy traffic in a city where the Jewish Sabbath prevents public transport on weekends. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Portland-based micromobility startup Ride Report just closed a $10 million round led by Unusual Ventures to better facilitate relationships between cities and operators.

Ride Report works by monitoring micromobility vehicles across cities -- currently 60 worldwide -- to enable legislators to better understand the impact micromobility has on their respective cities. Ride Report, in partnership with operators, offers cities data, reporting and monitoring tools to support policy guidance.

"Micromobility is entering a difficult point in its history," Ride Report CEO William Henderson told TechCrunch . "We're very bullish on the needs that citizens and residents have around more efficient modes of transportation that get them from point A to point B, but there are some growing pains."

That's why Ride Report is focused on building a more collaborative and trusting relationship between private operators and public entities. With the additional funding, the plan is to grow the team and start focusing on emerging markets.

"The good news is everyone is kind of in the same boat when it comes to how to manage micromobility," Henderson said. "It's such a new thing that there isn't really a playbook. That's good news because it's rare in working with government officials and regulatory bodies that you have so much room to experiment. There will be unique constraints in Europe around privacy and GDPR, but I'm excited about that aspect because Europe has shown the way forward for the U.S."

Ride Report currently works with 70 cities, including Portland, Oregon, Austin, Texas and New Zealand. On the operator side, Ride Report works with 19 companies including Bird, Lime and Lynx.

"Were entering an era of cooperation thats going to open up the entire micromobility sector," Unusual Ventures Partner Andy Johns said in a statement. "That gets to the core of what Ride Report is about and their belief in the future of mobility -- that operators and cities will increasingly work together to help the industry grow."

Ride Report is not the only company trying to help cities make sense of micromobility. Populus, which has $3.85 million in funding, helps cities access vehicle and trip data from shared-mobility operators. But there seems to be room, given the sheer number of micromobility companies operating throughout hundreds of cities.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13

Trend:

The same ethnic, cultural and religious affiliation of the Turkmen and Azerbaijani peoples has provided the two countries with centuries-old good and friendly neighborliness and the development of their relationship, Azerbaijani MP Naqif Hamzayev said.

The MP noted that cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, especially in recent years, has continued to grow.

"Good results have been achieved in the economic, humanitarian, transport and other fields under the leadership of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev," Hamzayev added.

"The recent official visit of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to Baku, the meetings of the heads of state during the visit, the exchange of views on the further development of cooperation between the two countries in all areas, the signing of agreements on important areas of cooperation testify to the high level of relations," the MP said.

"The essence of the agreements reached and the documents signed as a result of the discussions at the highest level provide grounds for further expansion of bilateral cooperation in the near future," Hamzayev said.

"Good and friendly neighborly relations between the two countries have also been successful in the implementation of major energy and transport projects," the MP said.

"It is clear that the friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are directly related to Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus," the MP said.

"The shortest and most convenient way to connect Central Asia with the Caucasus is through Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan via the Caspian Sea," Hamzayev said. "Thus, friendly relations between these countries allow the countries of the region using the aforementioned route to easily export goods to the world market, as well as to transport the imported goods in the shortest and cheapest way."

"This is a factor that directly affects the economies of the countries and the welfare of the population," Hamzayev said. "The friendship between the two countries helps to strengthen the atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding in the Caspian Sea basin as a whole."

"The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, a product of the initiative and political will of the president of Azerbaijan, has contributed to the wider use of Turkmenistan in the heart of the Eurasian continent," the MP said. "This line will allow Turkmenistan to enter European markets with minimal costs and generate revenues."

"The multilateral reforms carried out in Azerbaijan, the steps taken towards the development of the non-energy sector, and the results have always been interesting for native Turkmenistan," the MP said.

"At the same time, Azerbaijan has always focused on the path of glorious development and construction that Turkmenistan has recently followed," the MP said.

"Mutual trust, friendship and fraternal relations between the leaders of the two countries opened up wide opportunities for cooperation, development of relations between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan and made it necessary for closer relations between the two countries," the MP said.
I wrote this past December about House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiffs acquisition of telephone records used in the committees impeachment inquiry report here (part 1), here (part 2), here (part 3), and here (part 4). In those posts I tried to infer the underlying facts from the impeachment inquiry report. We were nevertheless left hanging. How did Schiff do that?

Kim Strassel follows up this week in her Wall Street Journal column Adam Schiffs Surveillance State. She reports on a pointed letter from Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr, which landed Thursday at the House Intelligence Committee. She writes:

Chairman Schiff spent months conducting secret impeachment hearings. His ensuing report revealed that hed also set up his own surveillance state. Mr. Schiff issued secret subpoenas to phone carriers, to obtain and publish the call records of political rivals. Targets included Rudy Giuliani and another attorney of the president, the ranking Republican on the Intelligence Committee (Rep. Devin Nunes) and a journalist (John Solomon). Impeachment is over, but Mr. Carr hasnt forgotten this abuse of power, and his letter, which I obtained, calls for answers and reform. The FCC takes call privacy seriously, only recently having proposed some $200 million in fines on phone carriers for failing to protect customer data. Mr. Carrs message to Mr. Schiff is that Congress doesnt get a pass. It is not automatically entitled to a secret and partisan process that deprives Americans of their legal right to maintain the privacy of this sensitive information. Mr. Carr doesnt dispute that Congress may, in at least some circumstances, have the legal authority to obtain call records under the Communications Act. The offense, he writes, was denying his targets the right to fight the subpoenas: Courts long ago established a process for Americans to seek judicial review before Congress obtains and then publishes documents in response to a congressional subpoena.

Carr calls out the devious and abusive aspects of Schiffs subpoenas: He issued them secretly. He didnt notify his targets, and Republican committee members were barred from telling the public what they knew about the subpoenas. Worse, he deceived one of his targets. He sent a subpoena for call records to Mr. Giuliani on Sept. 30 and suggested Mr. Giuliani had two weeks to work with the committee, even as Mr. Schiff was already secretly demanding Giuliani call records from a phone carrier.

What does Schiff have up his sleeve? She adds that Carr asks: Is Mr. Schiff continuing to issue secret subpoenas? And what else is he sitting on? The impeachment report indicates the committee obtained nearly 4,000 pages of confidential call records, nowhere near what Mr. Schiff published. Who elses life is getting ransacked at this moment?

Kims column is posted with the excellent video below. In the video, Kim cuts to the chase: This was an incredible abuse

I found a copy of Carrs letter on Carrs Twitter feed (below).

Chairman Schiff has been collecting Americans private call records through a secret & partisan process. He even published some of them in the Impeachment Report. These sensitive records are protected by federal law. His conduct raises serious concerns & Ive asked for answers https://t.co/WrdGf1n1P2  Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) March 12, 2020
WHO Declarers Coronavirus A Global Pandemic

BE CAUTIOUS, BUT DO NOT PANIC

This week, the World Health Organization's Director-General formally declared that COVID-19, otherwise know as Coronavirus, a global pandemic. The WHO addressed its decision to officially characterize the virus as a pandemic on their official twitter page stating: "We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction." As of Thursday morning, the WHO has confirmed 124,518 known cases, with 4,607 deaths across 118 countries and territories. It is undeniable that these numbers will continue to grow and that this virus will fundamentally change many of our day to day lives, such as the increasing number of school closures, shopping for home essentials, cancellation of large scale public events, and the recent news that President Trump is restricting all international air travel from Europe, with the exception of the United Kingdom, for 30 days. However, it is imperative that during this time we keep a clear head and that we do not panic. We are learning about the virus every day, and panicking will not help the situation. We should also avoid any questionable information, rumors and false claims of a cure found on social media.

Late Thursday morning, Governor Lee, in an effort to address the growing concerns of many Tennesseans and fellow legislators, held a press conference declaring a state of emergency in Tennessee. Governor Lee stated: "We believe there clearly will be more cases," and "this emergency declaration is an important next step in our efforts to treat and mitigate the impact of this disease." The Governor's declaration will give the State of Tennessee access to additional federal funding to help fight the virus, on top of the ten million promised to the state by the federal government. Based on current information from the Governor's office and the Tennessee Department of Health there are no reported cases of Coronavirus in Chattanooga or Hamilton County.

Research conducted by the World Health Organization found that individuals over the age of sixty and those with underlying conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are at the highest risk of contracting the virus. Healthy children and young adults are much less susceptible to the illness, and for many of those persons who test positive ultimately make a full recovery. For a more detailed account of the virus, symptoms, and how to prevent its spread, please copy and paste the link to the World Health Organization. The current Coronavirus outbreak is not something that will go away in a few weeks, and will most likely get much worse before getting better. We must remember to stick together as a community and help those who are at a high risk of contracting the disease. Together, we will overcome the Coronavirus.

Legislation to Watch

An interesting bill that I have been personally keeping up with is HB2778, by Representative Sexton J, otherwise known as the "Bible Bill". As introduced, HB2778 would designate the Holy Bible as the official state book of Tennessee. As a devout Christian, I firmly believe that having the Bible join other official state symbols like the Raccoon, Tulip Poplar, and Iris would demean the power and legacy of the holy book. I also fear that if this legislation becomes law, it will marginalize many Tennesseans that practice religions other than Christianity. While this is one nation under God, this is also a nation of many different backgrounds and faiths. Another issue I have with designating the Bible as the official state book is that this legislation is constitutionally suspect and will undoubtedly end up in court. I am not the only one here at the legislature that believes in the unconstitutionality of the bill. In 2016, this bill was debated for several days before narrowly passing out of both chambers before ultimately getting vetoed by the then Governor Haslam.

Community Spotlight

Members of the local Hamilton County Delegation and I were pleased to meet with 35 members of Leadership Chattanooga on their day on the hill Wednesday. We spoke a length about how to increase their community and governmental involvement.
Foreigners will be banned from entering and Czechs will be prevented from leaving.

The Czech government has said it would ban all foreign travellers from entering  and all Czechs from leaving  the country, as of March 16, in a bid to stem the coronavirus spread.

As of midnight Sunday-Monday, we ban all foreigners from entering the Czech Republic and, at the same time, all Czech citizens from leaving the Czech territory, Interior Minister Jan Hamacek told reporters on Friday.

Its a very tough measure but we think it may fundamentally contribute to stemming the spread of the coronavirus.

The measure does not concern foreigners with permanent residence or a residency permit for more than 90 days in the European Union member state, which has 117 confirmed cases of the virus and no deaths.

200313060357818

The government also ordered a mandatory two-week quarantine for people coming to the Czech Republic from 15 risk countries as of Friday at noon, with the exception of transit travellers.

These countries include China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark and France.

The government has also designated the act of spreading coronavirus as a crime, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said.

On Thursday, the Czech government declared a 30-day state of emergency.

It has also closed schools across the country, as well as theatres, cinemas, galleries and museums and banned gatherings of more than 30 people with the exception of funerals.

Restaurants will be forced to shutter from 19:00 GMT to 05:00 GMT and all gyms, swimming pools, clubs and libraries will also be closed to the public.

On Friday, the government also banned prison visits.
Boris Johnson has postponed the May 7 elections for one year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The British government said on Friday that the UK Prime Minister has delayed the local, mayoral and police and crime commission elections until May 2021.

Mr Johnson made the decision over concerns that voters would be heading to polling stations during the height of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Both the Electoral Commission and the Labour Party had called on Mr Johnson to take action in delaying the votes.

A Government spokeswoman said: We will bring forward legislation to postpone local, mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections until May next year.

We will also work with the devolved administrations to ensure that they have the necessary powers to do the same.

Ministers had appeared to be pushing on with plans to hold the vote after the Electoral Commission polling watchdog recommended the delay.

Chief executive Bob Posner called for a delay until the autumn, in a letter to the Government which was later backed by Labour.

Mr Posner highlighted real risks over voter turnout and safety, as well as candidates ability to campaign.

Mr Johnsons move is the most significant delay to polling since then-prime minister Tony Blair suspended the local and general elections in 2001 over the foot and mouth outbreak.

Votes were due to be held in about 118 councils across England, while Londoners were to choose their mayor.

The Association of Electoral Administrators, which represents election chiefs, had warned there may not be enough staff to keep all polling stations open due to sickness or self-isolation.
Vatican City (AFP) - Some of Rome's Catholic churches reopened Friday after Pope Francis voiced displeasure with the Italian authorities' push to shut them because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The rare standoff between the 83-year-old pontiff and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's government came as Italy's death toll reached 1,266.

The Mediterranean country has suffered more than half the COVID-19 fatalities reported outside China and has seen the toll grow by hundreds each day.

Conte has responded by shuttering most shops and all restaurants and other public places in the hope of stemming contagion and easing the burden on overstretched hospitals.

Italians have been told to avoid going outside without a good reason and machine-gun toting soldiers now patrol city streets.

But churches have stayed open in the overwhelmingly Catholic country throughout what many now call Italy's biggest crisis since World War II.

That changed when the vicar of Rome said Thursday he could no longer withstand government pressure and was closing all Catholic places of worship across the Italian capital.

The Rome diocese lists slightly over 1,000 churches -- about 900 of them Catholic ones.

The pope's response was unusually swift and blunt.

"Drastic measures are not always good," the Argentine-born pope said in livestreamed Friday morning prayer.

- 'Not closing doors' -

He prayed for "pastors to have the good judgement... not to leave the holy, faithful people of God alone."

The vicar of Rome then issued a statement explaining that he had had "a further meeting" with the pontiff in which it was decided to let at least some churches to reopen their doors.

Vicar Angelo De Donatis said he ultimately decided that closing churches "will sow confusion" among the faithful and see some "feel even more isolated".

His decree explained that all of Rome's churches would remain closed to tourists.

Story continues

But smaller houses of worship would open in some places specifically for the faithful.

"Dear priests, we rely on your wise discernment," the Rome vicar wrote.

"Help everyone feel like the Church is not closing its doors on them."

Yet Rome now stands a deserted city in which almost nothing functions and barely anyone ventures outside.

Much of Italy is the same.

A clip that went viral from the Tuscan city of Siena showed mostly elderly voices joining in a traditional choir song that rang out from their windows and over the empty streets.

A similar scene with more upbeat signing played out in one of the residential highrise areas of the southern city of Naples.

And people danced on their balconies to the "Macarena" in northern Turin.

The pope urged priests Friday "to have the courage to go out and see the sick, bringing the strength of the word of God".
Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, housing advocates and left-leaning lawmakers are calling on the state to halt housing evictions until the outbreak subsides.

On Thursday, 24 state senators, including New York City progressives Sens. Julia Salazar, Michael Giannaris, Alessandra Biaggi, Jessica Ramos and Brad Hoylman, signed a letter addressed to Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, asking that the New York Courts institute an immediate moratorium on evictions throughout the state. The letter also cites previous instances, including after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and superstorm Sandy in 2012, when evictions were frozen due to public emergencies.

Permitting evictions to continue will unnecessarily and unreasonably increase health risks from COVID-19 for New Yorkers, the letter reads. Many individuals who are evicted from their homes will be forced to live in public spaces, in shelters, or in other temporary and often precarious circumstances  limiting their ability to self-quarantine and increasing their exposure to others.

We just sent this letter signed by 24+ NY State Senators urging the courts to issue a moratorium on evictions immediately.

This is a crucial step to protect vulnerable New Yorkers from choosing between protecting their health & defending their homes during this state of emergency pic.twitter.com/eCv4ehAsI5  Julia Salazar (@JuliaCarmel__) March 12, 2020

The Housing Justice for All campaign, an alliance of progressive advocacy groups, has also been circulating a petition online that calls for the suspension of evictions in the state, as well as a statewide rent freeze and the freezing of utility shut-offs. New Yorkers who face homelessness or day-to-day housing insecurity are at a higher risk of being exposed to the virus, becoming ill, and suffering catastrophic health outcomes, the petition said. Evictions and homelessness significantly worsen the threat posed by COVID-19.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams have also expressed their support for pausing evictions while the state is still in the midst of a public health crisis. And New York City Mayor Bill de Blasios administration is currently trying to assess what is within its legal jurisdiction in terms of suspending evictions, since the mayor declared a state of emergency on Thursday. "(We're) in discussions with the court system about what we could do under different kinds of authority," Deputy Mayor Vicki Been told reporters on Thursday. Where we have the capacity to stop anything, we have."

During an appearance on WYNCs The Brian Lehrer Show on Friday morning, de Blasio said that the city is looking into the possibility of halting evictions and encouraged listeners to call 311 if theyre currently facing an eviction or having trouble paying their rent. For everyday people, anyone threatened with eviction should be calling 3-1-1. the mayor said. And we can provide, in many cases, a free lawyer to stop it. If folks, particularly if they're lower-income, are unable to pay the rent there are times when we can get them some immediate financing, some immediate money to help pay the rent immediately to keep them in their apartment.

De Blasio also said that the city is trying to work with the real estate industry to find a solution that works for everyone. However, landlord groups such as the Community Housing Improvement Program, have asked that decisions regarding the freeze of evictions not be made hastily.

We simply request that property owners are not asked to bear a disproportionate part of the burden, the Community Housing Improvement Program said in a statement. Rents pay for property taxes, insurance, mortgages, maintenance, and the salaries of building supers and staff, the organization said in a statement. Most CHIP members own just a few buildings and they operate as a small business. Missing an entire month of revenue would have a devastating effect on their ability to pay their expenses.

Late Friday afternoon, after this story was initially posted, Gothamist reported, "In a memo released on Friday, Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks wrote: 'Effective immediately, we have imposed a one-week moratorium on evictions in New York City, subject to further extension upon review. Simultaneously, we are directing that until further notice, the New York City Housing Court decline to issue new eviction warrants when a party has not appeared in court.'

"On top of that ban, some top property owners with the Real Estate Board of New York said they would stay evictions for the next 90 days, with an exception for 'criminal or negligent behavior that jeopardizes the life, health or safety of other residents.' The property owners represent more than 150,000 rental units across the city."
The government of Jammu and Kashmir, on March 13, issued orders revoking detention of former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah.



Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary Planning, Jammu & Kashmir: Government issues orders revoking detention of Dr Farooq Abdullah. pic.twitter.com/hgcCOQNzcg

 ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

In a circular, signed by Shaleen Khan, Principal Secretary to Government, and Gurpreet Singh, Deputy Secretary to Government, it was mentioned that the detention was to be revoked with immediate effect.

In exercise of powers conferred under Section 19(1) of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978, the Government hereby revokes the detention order dated September 15, 2019, by district magistrate of Srinagar, extended for a period of three months dated March 11, 2020, of Dr Farooq Abdullah with immediate effect, read the Government order.

Abdullah was under preventive detention since August 5 last year, the day the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. He was the first chief minister against whom the PSA was invoked.

The stringent Act was slapped against him on September 15, hours before the Supreme Court was to hear a petition by MDMK leader Vaiko who claimed that Abdullah had been illegally detained.

He was booked under 'public order' of the PSA, a provision that allows authorities to detain a person for three months without trial. This can be extended up to two years.

The decision to release the National Conference patron came hours ahead of the ending of the three-month period on March 13 midnight.

Immediately after his release, the National Conference issued a statement welcoming the decision and also urged the Union Territory administration to release other political leaders including party vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor welcomed the decision and said the detention was a disgrace. Taking to Twitter on March 13, the senior leader said, "Welcome the belated release of Dr Farooq Abdullah. I hope he will soon resume his rightful place on the front bench of the Lok Sabha, where he can address with his usual compelling vigour the issues facing his state and the state of the nation. His detention was a disgrace."

National Conference leader Davinder Rana in Jammu: also reacted, saying imposing Public Safety Act (PSA) on Farooq Abdullah was a wrong decision. "I welcome the decision to revoke it. All other political detainees should also be released so that the voice of Jammu and Kashmir can reach everywhere," Rana was quoted as saying.

(With inputs from PTI)
Coronavirus 1) Johnson braces the public for severe disruption

Summoning up a Blitz spirit, Mr Johnson warned the public that the measures planned by the government will cause severe disruption across our country for many months, but promised Britain would pull through After confirmed cases rose yesterday by 140 to 596, the biggest daily rise yet, Mr Johnson said this was just the tip of the iceberg. The true number of cases is higher, perhaps much higher, than the number of cases we have so far confirmed with tests, he said. Government modelling suggests that the real figure is 5,000-10,000. While Professor Whitty stressed that the initial containment stage had slowed the rate at which cases rise each day  slower in Britain than some other countries  there was now no chance of stopping the virus spreading.  The Times

Many families in Britain will lose loved ones before their time, he warns  Daily Telegraph

Johnson rules out cancelling public gatherings for now despite Scotland ban  The Sun

Military is on stand-by as MoD officials draw up emergency contingency plans  Daily Mail

More:

COVID-19 to become yearly virus  Daily Express

Local elections face delay until the autumn  FT

Coronavirus kills in an average of 18 days  Daily Telegraph

Latest advice  HM Government

>Today: MPs Etc.: Coronavirus Count

>Yesterday: VIdeo: WATCH: I must level with you. Families are going to lose loved one before their time. Johnsons Coronavirus press conference.

Coronavirus 2) Brexit talks postponed as travel restrictions bite

The second round of Brexit trade negotiations will not take place in London next week, as the UK and EU explore ways to keep talks going despite increasing travel restrictions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. In a joint statement on Thursday, London and Brussels said face-to-face negotiations would not take place as planned. Given the latest COVID-19 developments, UK and EU negotiators have today jointly decided not to hold next weeks round of negotiations in London, in the form originally scheduled. More than a hundred trade experts from Brussels were due to arrive in London next week to continue from the first round of talks that Michel Barnier, the EUs chief negotiator, said revealed very serious divergences between both parties.  FT

UK and EU agree to dial down rhetoric in Brexit talks  The Guardian

Comment:

Dont be surprised if this virus delays Brexit  Jeremy Warner, Daily Telegraph

>Today: ToryDiary: Lagarde, von der Leyen and Merkel have all failed to take charge of Europes response to the Coronavirus

>Yesterday: Ben Robacks column: How coronavirus could derail Trumps economy-focused campaign

Coronavirus 3) Hunt breaks ranks to challenge Governments strategy

Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has revealed he is surprised and concerned Boris Johnson didnt lockdown parts of Britain to tackle the coronavirus national emergency as debate rages over whether the PM has gone far enough to protect the 66million population from the pandemic. Mr Hunt, who is now chair of the Commons health and social care select committee, believes the Prime Minister must do more to encourage social distancing  and was particularly concerned care homes are not being told to ban visitors. The official number of coronavirus cases in the UK yesterday jumped by 134 to 590 with 10 deaths  but the Governments chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said the true number was probably up to 10,000 cases and growing rapidly.  Daily Mail

Health expert brands UKs coronavirus response pathetic  The Guardian

Global death toll from coronavirus nears 5,000  Daily Mail

Has the Government got its strategy right?  Daily Telegraph

Westminster:

Seventh MP self-isolating after lunch with Dorries  The Sun

Parliament panics as Cabinet minister awaits results  Daily Express

>Today: Paul Maynard MP in Comment: The Coronavirus and airlines. Theres an urgent need to suspend the slot allocation rules.

>Yesterday:

Coronavirus 4) Iain Martin: Crisis has revealed Johnsons true colours

In truth, Mr Johnson is not Churchill. He is much better understood as a follower of the Ancients, who thinks that the most important lessons in leadership come from Greek and Roman civilisation. In a different context, Paul Goodman, editor of the website ConservativeHome, observed earlier this year that Mr Johnson is a pre-Christian figure. In other words, he regards Christianity, with its restrictive moral codes, as a relatively new sect that turned up in Rome in the first century AD and ruined things. One historical parallel with his leadership style on coronavirus is Fabius Maximus. The Roman general was known as the delayer and deftly declined to deploy his entire armies against Hannibals superior forces.  The Times

Johnsons coronavirus plan protects the NHS, and that is vital  Prof Hugh Pennington, The Sun

Global response shows that the nation state is back  Fraser Nelson, Daily Telegraph

The Government should not be allowing sporting events to continue  Steven Fletcher, Daily Mail

Editorial:

The Prime Minister is gambling  The Times

>Today: Iain Dales column: The virus may give a permanent boost to home working  as employers learn to trust employees to do it

Budget: Sunak has postponed tax rises with painful autumn budget expected

The Chancellor is expected to deliver a painful Budget in November following his multibillion pound giveaway this week. Previous tax-raising plans were shelved in light of the coronavirus crisis, a source familiar with Treasury discussions told The Telegraph. Difficult decisions will now be delayed until later in the year, the source said, adding: The next Budget will be the painful one. On Wednesday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled an 18 billion spending spree in addition to an emergency 12 billion of measures in response to the coronavirus health crisis. It marked the biggest loosening of the purse strings since Norman Lamonts pre-election giveaway Budget of 1992, the Office for Budget Responsibility said.  Daily Telegraph

Spending spree creates 1 trillion state, say economists  The Times

Budget lifts 200,000 out of the pensions taper  FT

Coronavirus:

Think tank: 12bn relief package for small businesses may be too late  Daily Telegraph

Sunak sets up five schemes to help SMEs survive virus  FT

Worst day for markets since Black Monday crash of 1987  The Times

Comment:

Egocentric budget gives Johnson everything and councils nothing  Simon Jenkins, The Guardian

>Yesterday:

Jenrick announces planning overhaul to help Brits build up

Brits will be able to build extra storeys and rooms onto their homes without any planning permission in a major overhaul of red tape unveiled yesterday. Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick revealed he is drawing up a regulations bonfire in a bid to finally deliver the 300,000 new homes a year needed to solve the housing crisis. A new planning blueprint will also boost councils power to use compulsory purchase orders to seize land that developers have failed to build on. Mr Jenrick told MPs yesterday that home ownership seems like a dream out of reach for too many still Instead of bulldozing the green belt, the new strategy is centred on filling the nations existing towns and cities with many more homes than now.  The Sun

Housing Secretary outlines reforms including greater use of brownfield sites  FT

Policy of building homes on flood plains to be reviewed  The Guardian

Comment:

Its time to bring our planning system into the 21st century  Robert Jenrick MP, Daily Telegraph

Editorial:

There was a hole in the budget where supply side reform should have been  The Times

>Today: James Palmer in Local Government: My plan to offer 100,000 homes in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Attorney-General calls for more protection for veterans

A specialist judge should assess allegations of crimes by British soldiers in Northern Ireland before giving the go-ahead for prosecution, the provinces senior law officer has said. John Larkin, QC, Northern Irelands attorney-general, backed the creation of a statute of limitations on all criminal offences in the province, provided there was wider political support for the move. He said yesterday that Boris Johnsons commitment to curb legacy prosecutions of former army personnel would succeed only if the government changed the law. Johnny Mercer, the veterans minister, said that he would introduce a bill next week to protect ex-personnel from vexatious legal claims.  The Times

Judge says police should be forced to be neutral during investigations  The Times

Comment:

Mets failure to learn from its mistakes is a national scandal  Sean ONeill, The Times

I stayed quiet for Scotland, Salmond accuser tells court

A civil servant whom Alex Salmond is accused of sexually assaulting has told a court that she did not report him to the police because she feared damaging the campaign for Scottish independence. The woman alleged that Scotlands then first minister attacked her in December 2013, about nine months before the referendum. The High Court in Edinburgh heard yesterday that Mr Salmond allegedly got on top of the woman on a bed, kissed her sloppily and haphazardly and murmured that she was irresistible. She was able to leave and immediately texted a senior colleague who, during a conversation about a day later, told her that what had happened could be a crime, the court was told.  The Times

Women told not to work with ex-SNP leader alone at night  FT

Comment:

Secession would be disastrous  John Lloyd, FT

>Yesterday: Henry Hills Red, White, and Blue column: Davies pivots in a devosceptic direction as he relaunches his leadership

News in Brief:
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has urged Americans not to worry about the fast-spreading coronavirus and continue to fly on domestic airline routes.

He added that he would fly home to Los Angeles if he wasnt so busy.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, he said that the Trump administration was ready to provide liquidity to airlines hit hard by travel restrictions and cancellations in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Mnuchin said that he is in close touch with the chief executives of US airlines and the administration viewed the ability of airlines to continue to fly as a top priority.

I think the airlines want to make sure that they can continue to provide domestic travel. They also want to make sure that they keep as many workers employed as they can, he said.

If I werent so busy working I would be going home to Los Angeles and I would be perfectly comfortable getting on a commercial plane this weekend. Despite the fact that we told people to shut down travel a little bit, people can travel in the domestic US, he said.

Mr Mnuchin's comments come just a day after a passenger flew from New York's JFK International Airport to Palm Beach in Florida, knowing he was unwell, only to receive a text message confirming he had the coronavirus during the flight.

The passenger has been banned by JetBlue, who operated the flight.

Last nights event put our crewmembers, customers, and federal and local officials in an unsettling situation that could have easily been avoided, and as such, this customer will not be permitted to fly on JetBlue in the future, the airline said on Friday.

NBC News reports that passengers on the plane were held on the tarmac at Palm Beach International Airport for two hours before they were eventually released and told to monitor themselves for any symptoms.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has warned that airlines could collapse if the coronavirus crisis lasted another two or three months.

IATA Chief Alexandre de Juniac told Reuters that revenue losses internationally would be probably above the $113bn figure the group had forecast a week ago, before the Trump administrations announcement of US travel curbs on much of continental Europe.

The Europe travel ban is causing a headache for airlines and travellers alike, as the number of passengers rebooking and cancelling travel plans overwhelms systems.

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

In addition, airlines have had to completely revise their schedules.

American Airlines will reduce international capacity for the summer season by 34 per cent, including a 50 per cent reduction in April transatlantic capacity. Flights to and from Europe will continue to operate for up to seven days to ensure customers and employees can return home. There will also be a reduced service to South America, including a suspension of flights to Argentina.

Delta Air Lines will suspend flights to continental Europe from Minneapolis, Portland, Indianapolis, Orlando, Raleigh, and Salt Lake City  these cities connect to Delta's European hubs in Paris and Amsterdam.

United Airlines is cagier about which routes would be suspended, but told Business Insider that it wants to maintain daily service to as many UK, Ireland, and continental European destinations as possible. It will continue to serve London with 18 daily flights.

United also said on Thursday that it had borrowed $2bn to cope with the disruption caused by the pandemic.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  The coronavirus disease outbreak is a crisis with no solution in sight, said President Rodrigo Duterte when he addressed Filipinos Thursday night on the status of COVID-19 in the country..

You choose to be a part of government and there is a crisis with no solution in sight. Walang solusyon [there is no solution] unless there is a vaccine by the grace of God na may makita o maimbento ng ating mga scientists [that our scientists may have found or invented], he said in his speech.

The country is seeing a rise in its confirmed cases of the viral disease with 52 infected individuals. The death toll now stands at five, including a Chinese man and four Filipinos.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic as the number of cases outside China has increased 13-fold over the past two weeks and the number of affected countries has tripled.

The WHO estimates that it may take more than a year for a vaccine for the novel coronavirus to be developed.

Worldwide, the virus has killed more than 4,700 and infected over 127,000 people, according to the Johns Hopkins University global tracking of cases.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, which is related to the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, but is not as deadly, with the fatality rate standing at around three percent.

WHO said 80 percent of patients only experience mild illness and eventually recover. It added that some 14 percent experience severe illness while five percent were critically ill.

In line with the increase in recorded infections, Duterte placed the entire Metro Manila under a "lockdown to contain the disease, and emphasized the importance of social distancing, including in mass transportation. The alert level of the country was also raised to Code Red, Sub-level 2, which is the highest alert level for COVID-19.

For Manila, ayaw namin gamitin yan pero --- kasi takot kayo sabihin lockdown [For Manila, we dont want to use that because you are scared to say lockdown]. But its a lockdown, Duterte said.

He stressed that the viral disease is spreading all throughout the country and there is no cure.

Wala naman tayong mabili sa mga botika, pharmacy, to buy the medicines to cure COVID-19, he said.

[Translation: We cant buy (medicine) in drug stores and pharmacies to cure COVID-19.]

What do we have now?

Despite the lack of vaccine and cure for the deadly virus, Filipino scientists from the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health were able to develop a test kit for the virus, with funding from the Department of Science and Technology.

The Food and Drug Administration has already approved the local test kits for field validation. At least four selected hospitals known for their expertise in treating infectious diseases will begin validating the local test kit to make sure it is safe for public use, one of the product developers said Thursday. The field validation study, which may be completed within two to three weeks, is one of the two pre-conditions set by the FDA for the kit to become commercially available, and for it to gain approval from WHO.

Right now, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine has to process every test, but the demand for testing does not match its capacity.

The new kit is six times cheaper at P1,320 per test than the current kit imported by RITM, which costs P8,500 each.
This job expired on 12 May 2020.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 3F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 3F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has asked quarantined caretaker Prime Minister Ludovic Orban to try to form a new government after opposition parties indicated that they would back him.

Orban, who is the leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), lost a confidence vote in parliament last month.

Iohannis said he held talks with political parties by teleconference because Orban's entire caretaker government has self-isolated since a PNL lawmaker was confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus at the center of a deadly pandemic.

Romanian media quoted sources as saying Orban tested negative for the virus, which can lead to the pneumonia-like COVID-19 illness.

Iohannis said all party officials assured him that a new Orban government would be approved and sworn in in record time, possibly as soon as March 14.

Orban told a news conference at parliament earlier on March 13 that he would be quarantined in a state-owned villa, communicating with the ministers, who are self-isolated at home, by phone and e-mail.

The PNL leadership and all its senators have also been asked to self-isolate.

Orban's 3-month-old center-right minority government was ousted in a no-confidence motion on February 5 and has remained in a caretaker role. Orban's cabinet replaced a leftist government beset by corruption scandals.

Local elections are due in late spring or early summer, and parliamentary polls should be held later this year but could take place earlier if efforts to form a new government continue to fail.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Romanian Service, digi24.ro, g4media.ro, and AP
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Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano, Rizki Fahcriansyah and Ary Hermawan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 13:11 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a57938 1 SE Asia Singapore,Indonesia,COVID-19 Free

The Indonesian government has complained that Singapore insists on withholding the personal information of several Indonesian citizens believed to have shown COVID-19 symptoms in Jakarta and tested positive for the lethal virus in the city-state.

Jakarta said it was facing difficulties in tracing and isolating those who might have had contact with the patients, now being treated at Singaporean hospitals.

We have asked for the identities of the Indonesian nationals from Singapore. They did not give us the names. How are we going to conduct the tracing in Indonesia? Singapore is adamant on not disclosing their identities, the secretary of the Health Ministrys Disease Control and Prevention Directorate General, Achmad Yurianto, told reporters on Thursday night.

At least five Indonesian nationals tested positive for COVID-19 in Singapore and are being treated at local hospitals. An 64-year-old Indonesian man known as Case 147 arrived in Singapore on March 7 only to be tested positive for the disease the next day.

He reported an onset of symptoms on March 3 while he was in Indonesia. He had a fever when he arrived at Seletar Airport, and underwent a COVID-19 swab test at the checkpoint. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection in the morning of March 8, Singapores Health Ministry said.

On Monday, Singapore reported two more imported cases from Indonesiaa 65-year-old male Indonesian national, identified as Case 152, and a 65-year-old Singaporean national, identified as Case 153, who just visited her sister who had pneumonia in Indonesia.

Case 152 reported an onset of symptoms on Feb. 28 while he was in Indonesia and had sought treatment at a hospital in Jakarta on March 2. He went to [Singapore General Hospital] on March 7, the ministry said.

Case 153 is likely to be an imported case involving a 65-year-old female Singaporean citizen who had been in Indonesia from Feb. 25 to 28. She reported that while she was in Indonesia, she had visited her sister who had pneumonia, it added.

Even after the three cases grabbed media headlines, Singaporean authorities reported at least three more imported cases from Indonesia, one of whom was a family member of Case 152.

Case 170 is a 56-year-old Indonesian woman who arrived in Singapore on March 9 and tested positive for COVID-19 on March 10. She had reported early symptoms on March 6 in Indonesia prior to her departure. The woman, who is related to Case 152, has since been put in isolation at Singapore General Hospital.

Her departure from Indonesia indicates that the government did nothing to trace those who might have had contact with Case 152.

Case 181  a 83-year-old Indonesian man  and Case 182  a 76-year-old Indonesian woman  both arrived in Singapore on March 9 and were both confirmed to have been infected with the novel coronavirus on March 12. They are members of the same family and have since been put under observation at Gleneagles Hospital.

Critics have said that the fact that Indonesia has exported cases shows that the local government is still failing to detect cases and raises concerns that the number of confirmed cases in the country could be much higher than what has been reported.

It may also reflect the low public confidence in the country's health care system.

3. Kasus 147 Singapura



Dari kronologinya, Kasus 147 ini sampai secara khusus terbang ke Singapura untuk dites COVID-19 dan dirawat di Singapura.



Apakah @KemenkesRI tidak malu kalau warga Indonesia sampai mengungsi ke negara lain untuk dites dan dirawat untuk COVID-19 ini? pic.twitter.com/dCf4lhCjjl  KawalCOVID19 (@KawalCOVID19) March 10, 2020

The Twitter-based community movement set up to raise awareness on the coronavirus, @KawalCOVID19, writes: Isnt the Health Ministry ashamed that an Indonesian national has to migrate to another country to be tested and treated for COVID-19?

Yurianto, however, dismissed the claim, saying that he believed that the Indonesian nationals treated for COVID-19 in the neighboring country did not contract the virus in Indonesia, or that they might have influenza-like illnesses but still tested negative for coronavirus.

It is possible that when they sought medication here they were still negative, he said.

The Singaporean Embassy in Jakarta told The Jakarta Post on Friday that the Singaporean Health Ministry had a patient confidentiality and privacy policy.

However, it added that there are no restrictions for COVID-19 patients from Indonesia or other countries from contacting their embassies. It is up to them to decide whether they want to do so. The Singapore governments first priority is the well-being of the patients.

In the wake of the rising number of imported cases in Singapore, the local government issued a policy highlighting the need to prioritize resources at our public hospitals.

From March 7, foreigners who are short-term visit pass holders who seek treatment for COVID-19 in Singapore will need to pay for their treatment, the nations Health Ministry said.

Indonesia, with a population of more than 250 million, has reported 34 confirmed COVID-19 cases, while Singapore, with a population of around 6 million people, has reported more than 180 cases.

While Jakarta has been criticized for its poor handling of the outbreak, Singapore has been lauded for its COVID-19 strategy.
Schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will not reopen for at least the next two weeks, with the latter having further delayed the back-to-school date until April, due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Hanoi chairman Nguyen Duc Chung on Friday morning decided to let all kindergarten, elementary, middle school and vocational school students in the capital city stay home through March 29.

Students attending universities and colleges will also take the same break.

Meanwhile, high school students in the capital are to only stay home through March 22, at least for now.

According to Chung, the new complications of COVID-19 in Hanoi, where five infections have been reported in a week, create a high risk of community spread.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has also extended the closure of schools, saying students safety is its top priority.

According to a new direction issued by the committee on Friday morning, all K-12 students, as well as university and college students, in the southern metropolis will not return to school till at least the end of April 5.

After this date, the Peoples Committee will review the COVID-19 situation to decide on the back-to-school date.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has postponed the end of the 2019-20 school year until July 15, while a national exam for high school students will take place from August 8 to 11, a month later than initially planned.

This is the second delay after the MoET earlier this month said the 2019-20 school year would be finished by June 30 while high school students would take the national exam on July 23-26.

An alley is in lockdown in Cau Giay District, Hanoi after the citys fifth COVID-19 infection was confirmed there in March 2020. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

Students in Vietnam had been scheduled to return to school on February 3 following the Lunar New Year holiday, but the COVID-19 pandemic 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 133,900 people and killed more than 4,900 globally, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 45 infections, including 31 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, nine British citizens, one Mexican, and one Irish national.

Sixteen of the patients had recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26. The 29 active cases in the country are still being treated.

Hanoi has reported five cases, while there have been five infections in Ho Chi Minh City.

Patient No. 17, a Hanoi resident, was confirmed on Friday last week, 21 days since Vietnam had reported its last infection.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Being diagnosed with any number of neurological diseases can be scary, not only due to the progressive nature of many of these conditions, but also because they often cannot be detected until their later stages of progression.

Following the failure of a variety of potential therapies for Alzheimers within clinical trials in the past few years, there is an increasing interest in early detection of neurological diseases, with hopes that earlier treatment will be more effective. This has given birth to a wealth of companies interested in identifying biomarkers of early neurological disease progression to enable timely diagnoses and treatment. One such biomarker is eye-motion, with a variety of studies reporting that progressive neurological diseases can heavily impact the way the eye moves.

Current eye-tracking technologies, however, cannot detect subtle disruptions in eye-motion that may be associated with early disease states That was the motivation for the new eye-tracking system that has enabled C. Light Technologies to delineate between different stages of disease severity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

We recently sat down with Dr. Christy Sheehy and Dr. Zachary Helft, co-founders of C. Light Technologies, a Berkeley, California firm, to discuss how their platform works and how they hope to revolutionize the field of neurology.

Mohammad Saleh, Medgadget: Can you tell us about your background and how you each came to be a part of C. Light Technologies?

Dr. Christy Sheehy: My background is primarily in the optical engineering and ophthalmic space. I worked in industry for a while at Corning as a System Test Engineer. They helped me to get my Masters in Optical Engineering, and then I decided that I wanted to transition from more of a manufacturing and testing position to a biomedical area.

I decided to pursue a PhD and I applied to UC Berkley for their Vision Science program. My particular area of study was creating new ophthalmic devices for assessing eye health.

The core technology behind C. Light stems from my dissertation work. It was during my graduate program there that I met my co-founder, Zach.

Dr. Zachary Helft: Christy and I have very different areas of expertise. Im more of a neurophysiologist.

I was studying visual restoration approaches to retinal blinding diseases. That was my introduction to her technology, because we were using it in our lab.

During the course of my PhD program, I began to really appreciate how much of the brain was truly involved in, not only seeing, but controlling the eyes and how much of the world we experience. Before coming to UC Berkley, I was at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where I was making drugs for macular degeneration. I got to see science be applied to help people live better, happier lives on a large scale.

Medgadget: Give our readers an overview on what C. Light Technologies is and how youre working towards your mission.

Sheehy: We are a neurotechnology and AI company. Weve created a novel 10-second retinal eye-tracking scan to assess brain health and were starting out within the multiple sclerosis field. The big vision is to be able to utilize the eye as a window into neurological health. We always like to say that the back of the eye is also the front of the brain. By looking at the retinal structure and how it moves, were able to have granular feedback of disease state on a very fine scale.

Medgadget: How does your technology differ from standard eye-tracking technologies currently on the market? What are you doing differently?

Sheehy: Typical eye-trackers on the market utilize the pupil, which is the front of the eye, as the feature to track. Pupils are generally a 2-4mm a hole through which light enters into the rest of your eye. By going to the retina, the very back surface of the eye, it allows us to have a sensitivity increase. This is because we image the retinal cells  we look at the photoreceptor layer where our rod and cone cells are. By resolving these at around one micron, we have very fine features that we can then use for the tracking. Compared to typical off-the-shelf pupil-trackers, were about 120x more sensitive in the features that were able to pick up for eye motion.

An image of a retina acquired by C. Lights platform

Medgadget: Are you tracking cellular structure, cell physiology, or a mixture of those two?

Sheehy: By imaging the cellular structure, it allows us to have extremely fine details that we can monitor as the eyes move. We record a video for 10 seconds, we watch how these cellular structures move over time, and extract the eye motion from those videos.

Medgadget: So the technology behind C. Light consists of both the AI algorithm and a unique measuring device that youve developed?

Sheehy: Yes, the device that we use is the core technology of C. Light and was exclusively licensed from UC Berkley. Thats the technology that I developed during my PhD. The patent is for the optical design and the way in which we do retinal imaging. We combine that innovative approach with AI for the full solution.

Medgadget: Do you envision this technology in an ophthalmologists or a neurologists office? And how does the cost compare to other eye-trackers on the market?

Sheehy: Were looking at this as a part of a neurologists clinic. Weve been working with an optical manufacturing firm to assess the commercialization at scale and roughly how much a device like this would cost. The price range is typically between $5,000 and $7,500. Compared to other retinal imaging devices and cameras, thats quite low. Typically, those devices run between $20,000 to $60,000.

Medgadget: Tell us more about this technology driving your companys success. Do you require an extensive training dataset?

Sheehy: Weve done some work comparing controls to the MS population, as well as comparing the MS population to itself. That is  patients with a low disease burden compared to more severe disease. Our algorithm is driven by a feature-based approach and is built on the study of about 115 subjects. We can look at particular features and elicit supplementary information to be interpreted by the neurologist. As we expand and acquire more data, we can transition to a convolutional neural net or different types of approaches to explore the larger dataset. However, even with this relatively small number of datapoints from 115 patients, were able to see around an 86% accuracy of predicting neurological disability when we combine our method with a 25-foot walk and a fatigue survey. With eye-tracking alone, were at about 82% accuracy. Were extremely excited to have such a high accuracy with a relatively small patient sample. Usually, AI algorithms need training sets consisting of hundreds of thousands of scans.

Medgadget: How can you do all of this in just 10 seconds?

Sheehy: We extract the eye motions from the video about 500-1000 times per second, depending on which type of algorithm were running. This allows us to acquire a wealth of data in a very short time from any given individual. All of that data is then fed into our machine learning algorithm, giving us hundreds of thousands of data points that we can use from a short ten-second scan. Thats what drives our ability to be fast  its our ability to capture a lot of information in a very short period of time.

Medgadget: How does a clinician or patient interact with your platform? Do you provide guidance to whoever is interpreting the data?

Sheehy: The overall approach of using feature-based neural networks allows the data to be much more interpretable to those looking at our data. The goal is to allow a physician to compare a particular patients eye motion compared to a control population, as well as compared retrospectively to themselves. We are in our early stages with our prototype device, which has been deployed at two research institutions. So the specifics of the readout that a physician will receive is yet to be finalized. We will be conducting physician interviews to tease out exactly the type information that would be most useful to a clinician in different scenarios.

Medgadget: How has this solution impacted patients lives so far?

Sheehy: Our first MS study was recently published. Weve shown that eye-motion detection with our device can distinguish between different levels of disability.

Medgadget: Beyond multiple sclerosis, I understand that C. Light Technologies has plans to tackle a variety of different conditions?

Helft: We have an Alzheimers study currently open. Weve only collected data from less than 10 patients thus far, so were unable to draw any meaningful conclusions just yet. We know, though, that eye-motion is affected in late-stage AD with a large-magnitude. Our theory is that large eye-motion abnormalities start off as small ones early in the disease progression. We also have an ongoing study looking at concussions with 50 patients and 50 age-matched controls. Future plans include looking at Parkinsons, epilepsy, and ALS. So many different neurological disorders manifest as in some type of eye-motion abnormality because so many different areas of the brain coordinate together to generate motion of the eye. Our job will be to determine how early we can detect those changes using our incredibly accurate eye-tracking technology. We also need to determine the level of specificity that we can delineate between diseases using this technology  which is why were focusing on MS patients who are already diagnosed. We can bring extreme value to these patients by determining their disease progression and providing feedback on whether their current medication is effective.

Medgadget: Down the line, do you see this more as a predictive or diagnostic tool? Where do you see this technology in 10 years?

Helft: We want this to be one of the earliest warning indicators, so that we can get patients into a neurologists office even before any severe symptoms begin. Right now, neurologists only see sick patients. We want to create an opportunity for neurologists to join the likes of cardiologists  theyre able to detect that something is headed in a bad direction and start to work on preventing the disease.

Sheehy: We definitely hope to be a platform technology for neurological health. Wed like to have enough data for MS, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, and concussion to delineate between them. Our big vision is to provide a preventative solution for the neurology field. We want to enable individuals to enjoy their life and their loved ones longer and provide patients and families with powerful information to inform patient care and decrease their stress as they go through the diagnosis.

For more information on C. Light Technologies, check out their website or read a related study in Multiple Sclerosis Journal: Fixational microsaccades: A quantitative and objective measure of disability in multiple sclerosis
The U.S. attorneys office for the District of Maryland said that from December 2016 through April 2017, Hart and a co-conspirator ran a prostitution business that recruited women to engage in sex acts. Prosecutors said Hart supplied the women with heroin and crack cocaine and threatened to withhold drugs if the victims displayed any sign of disobedience or tried to leave the locations where the commercial sex acts occurred.
A Delhi court on Friday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to take disciplinary action against doctors who had treated the father of the Unnao rape survivor when he was injured in custody.

District Judge Dharmesh Sharma while sentencing expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, his brother and five others to ten years rigorous imprisonment, directed the state government to take action against the doctors for medical negligence.

"The state of Uttar Pradesh shall take appropriate disciplinary proceedings against the doctors concerned whose gross medical negligence led to the death of the victim in terms of inquiry report proved on the record," the judge noted in his order.

The court had earlier, while hearing a plea filed by the victim, refused to direct the CBI to initiate a probe against the doctors saying it was the prerogative of the premier investigative agency to conduct the prosecution.

However, the court had said that if during the course of the trial any evidence surfaces about the role played by any of the doctors in the entire episode, appropriate orders would be passed.

The plea, filed by advocate Dharmendra Mishra, alleged that the doctors at the district hospital had deliberately not examined the father of the woman properly at the behest of Sengar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell MYCELX Technologies Corporation (LON:MYX), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

What Is Insider Buying?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.

View our latest analysis for MYCELX Technologies

MYCELX Technologies Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

CEO & Executive Director Connie Mixon made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK248k worth of shares at a price of UK0.55 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being UK0.47). Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

While MYCELX Technologies insiders bought shares last year, they didn't sell. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Story continues

AIM:MYX Recent Insider Trading, March 13th 2020

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.

Insider Ownership of MYCELX Technologies

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. MYCELX Technologies insiders own about UK1.4m worth of shares. That equates to 15% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About MYCELX Technologies Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded MYCELX Technologies shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders do have a stake in MYCELX Technologies and their transactions don't cause us concern. 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. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in MYCELX Technologies.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

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.
Across the board, gender issues were ignored.

 Julia Smith, a health policy researcher at Simon Fraser University

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As the coronavirus snakes its way around the world  canceling events, shuttering offices and suspending classes  some health experts worry that the crisis could put women at a disproportionate risk, exacerbating gender, social and economic fault lines.

Typical gender roles can influence where men and women spend their time, and the infectious agents they come into contact with, as well as the nature of exposure, its frequency and its intensity, declared the World Health Organization in a 2007 report. In other words: The roles that women have in society could place them squarely in the viruss path (although some early studies of coronavirus cases in China suggest men have a higher death rate).

Around the world, women make up a majority of health care workers, almost 70 percent according to some estimates, and most of them occupy nursing roles  on the front lines of efforts to combat and contain outbreaks of disease. In Chinas Hubei Province, where the current coronavirus outbreak originated, about 90 percent of health care workers are women. In the U.S., that number is around 78 percent.
Persons aged 10 to 39 years are in the area of the lowest risk

People aged 80+ are in the area of the highest risk of Covid-2019 coronavirus infection, Ukraines Ministry of Health reports.

"According to the analysis and modeling of a possible option of Covid-2019 coronavirus spread in Ukraine, conducted by National Security and Defense Council, persons aged 10 to 39 years are in the area of the lowest risk, for which the probability of disease is 0.2%. For 40-49-year-olds - 0.3%, respectively, for 50-59-year-olds - 1.3%, for 60-69-year-olds - 3.4%, for 70-79-year-olds - 7.8%. 80+, the figure is 13.5%," the report says.

As we reported earlier, on March 13, the first death of a person infected with a coronavirus was recorded in Ukraine.

A 71-year-old woman from the Zhytomyr region who was hospitalized on March 12, with a laboratory-confirmed case of Covid-19 died on the next day.

The Ministry noted that the woman was in the group of risk.

The relatives of the woman and persons whom she contacted with stay under the supervision of doctors.
The shock announcement that the United States is suspending travel into the US from 26 European countries in a bid to halt the spread of novel coronavirus increases the global restrictions on worldwide travelers.

With the World Health Organization declaring the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday, countries around the world have been revising their entry policies.

Below are the restrictions in place at some key destinations. We'll be expanding this story with more country details shortly.

United States

The US ban only applies to the 26 countries in the Schengen Area free movement zone: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The island nations of UK and Ireland are not included in the ban, despite there being COVID-19 cases in both countries.

Trump said Wednesday that there would be "exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings."

Later, guidance issued from the Department of Homeland Security clarified the ban did not apply to American citizens or their family members.

The US already has other restrictions in place.

Passengers who've been in China and Iran in the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter.

US citizens who've been in China in the past 14 days can enter the US, but will be directed via one 11 airports where they'll undergo health screening. The airports include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York (JFK or EWR), San Francisco, Seattle and Washington.

Australia

Despite speculation on Thursday that, following the move by the United States, Australia would follow suit and widen its travel restrictions to Europe, it wasn't the case.

Passengers who have transited through or been in China in the last 14 days are not allowed to enter or transit through Australia. This does not apply to airline crew, Australian nationals and their immediate family members, or New Zealand nationals resident in Australia.

Passengers who have been in Iran, South Korea or Italy this month are not allowed to enter Australia for 14 days, from the time they exited those respective countries.

This does not apply to Australian nationals, permanent Australian residents, or their immediate family members, who are instead required to self-isolate for 14 days.

Austria

Austria has introduced border checks and placed a ban on all arrivals from Italy, China's Hubei Province, Iran and South Korea, with the exception of those with a medical certificate no more than four days old that confirms they are not affected by coronavirus.

However, travel through Austria is possible, as long as no stops are made in the country.

China

On Wednesday, Beijing announced a 14-day mandatory quarantine on all international travelers arriving in the Chinese capital.

Meanwhile, international business travelers will be required to stay at a select number of designated hotels in Beijing where they will be tested for the virus. They will not be allowed to leave until their test results have been returned.

Countrywide, passengers arriving from Iran, Italy, Japan or Korea and traveling to Beijing, Guangzhou, or Shanghai are subject to quarantine for 14 days.

Croatia

Apart from Croatian nationals, passengers and airline crew who have been in China's Hubei Province, Germany's Heinsberg County, Iran, Italy, or South Korea's Daegu City and Cheongdo province in the past 14 days will be placed in quarantine for 14 days. Nationals will be required to self-isolate.

Other than Croatian nationals, passengers and airline crew who have been in all other regions of China and South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore will be required to self-isolate for 14 days.

Czech Republic

On Thursday, the Czech Republic declared a 30-day state of emergency and barred entry to non-residents from coronavirus-affected countries, as well as partially closing its borders. Outbound travel to high-risk countries is also banned.

The ban applies to visitors from China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, UK, Norway, Denmark and France, and will come into force on Saturday, state broadcaster Radio Prague International reported in a tweet.

Greece

Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Twitter on March 1 that the country wouldn't be accepting any new asylum applications for at least one month due to the coronavirus outbreak. This move was to "increase the level of deterrence" at the country's borders "to the maximum."

Hong Kong

Passengers who have been in or through South Korea or China's Hubei Province in the past 14 days are not allowed to enter Hong Kong, and neither are Chinese nationals with a passport issued in Hubei.

Hong Kong nationals and residents are exempt. Instead, they face a 14-day mandatory quarantine.

Passengers arriving from or having been in China, Iran or Italy's Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Veneto regions in the past 14 days are subject to the quarantine.

Starting March 14, this will be extended to passengers who've been in France (Bourgogne-Franche-Comte and Grand Est), Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia), Italy, Japan (Hokkaido) or Spain (La Rioja, Madrid and Pais Vasco).

Passengers who have been in China, Iran or Italy's Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Veneto regions are not allowed to enter if their permitted stay in Hong Kong is less than 14 days. Hong Kong passport-holders are exempt.

India

India is now suspending all tourist visas and enforcing a 14-day quarantine on all travelers, including returning Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, South Korea and Spain.

Indonesia

Apart from Indonesian nationals and residents, passengers and airline crew who have been in China, or affected regions of Italy, South Korea and Iran in the past 14 days are not allowed to enter or transit through Indonesia.

Italy

Passengers arriving as tourists are not allowed to enter via airports in the following areas: Alessandria, Asti, Lombardy, Modena, Novara, Padova, Parma, Pesaro and Urbino, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Treviso-Venice, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Vercelli.

Japan

Japan is banning entry on passengers who have been in affected regions of China, South Korea or Italy within the last 14 days. Japanese nationals are exempt, as are their spouses and children, if the relations are verified.

Macau

The Macau government has introduced several measures including denying entry to visitor who have been to China's Hubei province within the past two weeks, unless they can provide a medical certificate stating they have not been infected with coronavirus.

Travelers who have visited South Korea, Italy or Iran in the 14 days prior to their arrival are required to undertake a 14-day medical observation at a designated venue.

Those who've traveled to Germany, France, Spain and Japan within 14 days of arriving will need to submit to a medical examination as well as a 14-day medical observation at a designated venue.

Residents of Macau currently in any of the affected areas will be requested to self isolate for two weeks upon their return.

Malaysia

Malaysia has imposed a ban on travelers from affected areas of China, Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy and Denmark. In addition, all Malaysians returning from any of these countries are required to self-quarantine at home for 14 days.

Norway

Anyone traveling to Norway from outside the Nordic region must self-isolate for two weeks, according to the Norwegian Health Directorate. The restrictions put in place March 12 are scheduled to last until March 26.

Russia has imposed "a high alert regime" in its capital Moscow, requiring Russians returning from China, South Korea, Iran, France, Germany, Italy and Spain to "self-isolate" for 14 days.

Tourist visas for Italians will be suspended from March 13, excluding business, humanitarian, service and diplomatic visas.

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan government announced Thursday a cancellation of visas on arrival, but it has not yet been confirmed when this will be put in force. Passengers arriving from Italy, Iran and South Korea will be quarantined for 14 days.

South Korea

Visitors who have been in China's Hubei Province in the past 14 days, and passport holders from that region, are not permitted entry.

Korean visas issued by the Wuhan Consulate in the Hubei Province are invalidated, as are visas issued to nationals of Japan (at Korean Diplomatic Missions in Japan) before March 9, 2020. This does not apply to airline crew.

Thailand

Thailand has suspended its visa exemption policies for travelers from Hong Kong, South Korea and Italy, while visa on arrival has been stopped for 18 countries: Bulgaria, Bhutan, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Malta, Mexico, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and China.

Under the new measures, travelers must apply for visas in advance and present a medical certificate proving they are free of coronavirus.

Turkey

Passengers who have transited through or been in China, Iran, Iraq, Italy or South Korea in the past 14 days are not allowed to enter or transit through Turkey. Turkish nationals and residents are exempt.
Groups representing the most vulnerable small companies, including tourism, hospitality, and retail firms facing into the Covid-19 storm, say they are angered by the Governments decision to allow Revenue collect a regular Vat payment at the end of next week.

Neil McDonnell, head of business group Isme, said he was absolutely underwhelmed and predicted the Government will be forced into an immediate U-turn over the looming Vat payment after it emerged that Revenue did not plan to defer the payment for small firms after all.

Adrian Cummins, head of the Restaurants Association of Ireland  which has warned that its members will go out of business as the State goes into an effective lockdown in the coming weeks  called for a moratorium on the Vat payment.

A specific aid package for the tourism and hospitality sector needs to be in place by Monday morning, Mr Cummins said.

Limerick Chamber of Commerce said it was essential that the Government allows deferral of the payments that fall during this period of confinement when business is interrupted.

Our membership has already felt the commercial hit of Covid-19, and many will struggle to keep their doors open in the coming weeks, it said.

The angry responses came after the Revenue said it was providing new measures to help SMEs  small firms generating less than 3m in annual revenues  facing cashflow difficulties.

In new measures, firms facing difficulties should submit their tax returns on time, Revenue said, but will not face late payment penalties for their Vat bills payable for January and February  due at the end of this month, nor on their employers PAYE payments for March.

It also said it had suspended debt enforcement activity until further notice.

Revenue issued key advice earlier this week to businesses experiencing tax payment difficulties, and appreciates that such difficulties can cause worries for businesses in terms of their ability to keep an otherwise good tax compliance record on track.

It is important that businesses know that Revenue has a long history of working very successfully with taxpayers to resolve their tax payment difficulties, it said.

In a joint news conference, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Business Minister Heather Humphreys welcomed the new measures offered by Revenue for SMEs and detailed the range of supports they had announced earlier this week to help businesses to survive the crisis.

Ismes Mr McDonnell said that new figures published yesterday by the Central Bank which showed that Irish banks charge SMEs an average of over 4.6% for their loans  up from around 4.3% a year earlier  showed again that small firms here were being charged among the costliest loans in the eurozone.

The scale of the crisis for businesses was again starkly illustrated as IAG-owned British Airways warned that its survival was at stake and the BA chief executive told staff of plans to cut jobs and ground aircraft to tackle the worsening situation caused by coronavirus.

IAG also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia, and Vueling.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

With growing concern over the COVID-19 pandemic, K-12 public schools across New Mexico will shut down for three weeks starting Monday.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the New Mexico Public Education Department and the state Department of Health announced the temporary closure late Thursday.

Superintendents and school leaders were informed of the decision in a call with officials from the governors administration on Thursday night.

Students and staff are still expected to go to school Friday, though the states largest school district, Albuquerque Public Schools, doesnt have classes due to previously scheduled parent-teacher conferences. Superintendent Raquel Reedy said on Thursday that those conferences would happen virtually or over the phone.

As of now, students are scheduled to go back to school April 6.

The decision to close came abruptly.

Just moments before education leaders found out schools would close, Reedy was telling reporters that the district would keep its doors open.

Schools are safe havens for our students. They provide critical, social and community services, including regular meals, counseling, health care, and before and after childcare, Reedy had said before the closure announcement from the Governors Office.

It was a similar situation at Las Cruces Public Schools, which had also held a news conference just about an hour and a half before the closure decision, reiterating at that time that schools would remain open.

We knew it was a possibility, but it was a little surprising that it was later in the day and the decision wasnt made sooner, LCPS spokeswoman Kelly Jameson said. We understand that the fluid situation means decisions are being made at a moments notice and with the best interests of all concerned.

Both APS and LCPS are working on a way to get students meals during the closures.

Making sure kids were fed was top of mind for Kristi Samuelson, a special education teacher at Washington Middle School.

She said many of the schools students are dependent on the food they get at school.

Our parents are blue-collar workers. They are working at restaurants, and Walmart and shoe stores  those arent closing. They will still have to work and if they dont work, how will they eat? Samuelson said.

She said there are still unknowns, such as whether teachers will have to work in the summer or if schools will have to make up the days.

Monica Armenta, an APS spokeswoman, said the district is working out logistics, including food options for students, and finalizing expectations for staff beyond Friday.

The district is still in the information-gathering phase, Armenta said.

To my knowledge, this is unprecedented, she added.

Shellmarie Harris, APS Executive Director of Educational Technology, said the district has online resources for students to access supplemental learning to continue their education at home.

Armenta said APS stands behind the states decision.

We agree with the PED and Department of Health that the threat is greater than the other hardships we will face as a district as result of this decision, Armenta said.

The Las Cruces Public Schools spokeswoman said the district is planning a deep clean of facilities and, after Friday, staff wont have access to school buildings.

Veronica Garcia, superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools, said her district has been preparing for this.

Weve been working on pandemic prevention, preparation, response and recovery for a couple of weeks. We have plans in place already to deal with this for continuation of operation in our district, she said. I understand why they are doing it. I can see where some people might wonder, based on the number of cases, but I think the strategy is to contain infection and spread.

Should schools turn to online classes, Garcia said most students have access to iPads or laptops and about 90% have access to the internet. The district also plans to provide Wi-Fi hotspots if needed.

The call to close schools comes a day after Lujan Grisham declared a public health emergency after the first cases of COVID-19 surfaced in New Mexico. As of Thursday night, New Mexico had six presumptive positive tests for the new coronavirus.

Zachery Sedlak, a local parent with two kids, including a 7-year-old first-grader at Los Ranchos Elementary School, was very surprised about the move to close schools. He said the measures taken against coronavirus in the state have ramped up faster than he expected.

In a statement, state Education Secretary Ryan Stewart said the move was a proactive measure to help curb any potential community spread of the virus.

We have seen other states take this measure after they have experienced community spread of this virus. New Mexico is going to be proactive and do everything we can to prevent the potential spread of the virus. I have been in communication with all of our superintendents about this proactive step, and we are all going to work together to address this public health challenge, Stewart said in the statement.

Lansing Freeman, a La Cueva High School teacher, said the shutdown didnt come as a shock as hes been tracking the COVID-19 developments internationally and nationally.

My colleagues and I have been talking about this all week, he said.

He was told hed get more information from his school Friday.

More details about the statewide closures are also expected Friday when the governor and other state officials will hold a news conference.

We are advising the public of this forthcoming announcement tonight so that parents and students can prepare for this upcoming change and begin to make arrangements, Lujan Grisham said in a statement Thursday. We will be informing the public of additional measures that the state will be taking to ease the burden on families and educators, and ensure that children continue to be fed and cared for.

Journal staff writers Matthew Reisen and Elise Kaplan contributed to this report
CHICAGO  A jury convicted a man Friday of first-degree murder in the 2018 shooting death of a Chicago police commander.

With its verdict, announced after just three hours of deliberation, the jury signaled that it had no trouble rejecting the argument made by Shomari Legghette's attorney that Legghette did not know Cmdr. Paul Bauer was a police officer and shot him in self-defense.

Bauer, a popular 31-year veteran of the police department, was walking to City Hall on Feb. 13, 2018, when he heard a call on his radio that a man was running for officers. Prosecutors told jurors that Bauer, 53, gave chase and caught up to Legghette. During a brief struggle that caused the two men to topple down a stairwell at the state government building in the city's downtown Loop, Legghette pulled out a gun and shot Bauer several times.

He did so for no reason other than his own desperate attempts to avoid police, to avoid custody, to avoid what even began as an attempt to have a simple conversation," Cook County Assistant States Attorney Risa Lanier said in her statement to open the trial earlier this month.

Legghette's attorney contended that it was reasonable for Legghette to react the way he did when confronted by a total stranger. But after attorney Scott Kamin suggested to the jury that the 46-year-old Legghette might testify, the trial ended without him taking the witness stand.

Before retreating the jury room, Lanier told jurors that the only explanation for what unfolded that afternoon was murder.

The defendant may have run, he may have struggled, he may have even shot his way out, but today his flight from justice ends, Lanier said during her closing argument. Today what he cannot escape is the truth.

Legghette faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison under Illinois law.

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Two commercial medical testing labs are now doing coronavirus tests in Pennsylvania, creating greater opportunity for someone with possible coronavirus symptoms to be tested, Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvanias secretary of health, said Friday.

I think the addition of the commercial labs is very important, she said.

Levine further said she expects some hospital and health system labs in Pennsylvania to soon be doing their own coronavirus tests in-house.

The vast majority of coronavirus tests so far in Pennsylvania have been done at the state health departments lab, using test kits provided by the federal government.

Theres been a national shortage of tests, causing concern some people with coronavirus werent tested. That would result in an undercount of cases, and create the possibility some people with coronavirus avoided government-imposed isolation intended to prevent them from spreading it.

Levine sought to assure Pennsylvanians the state isnt hampered by any shortage. However, she acknowledged the state has relaxed earlier standards, which caused the state to deny tests to people with possible symptoms but who lacked travel history in coronavirus-impacted area, or exposure to someone with the coronavirus. That has opened the door to more testing.

We have tests available as we speak, she said.

Levine stopped short of saying she was certain a shortage of tests hasnt caused Pennsylvania to miss opportunities to identify and isolate people with coronavirus. She said she cant promise that didnt happen somewhere in the United States, but our ability to test has improved.

Levine further stressed that the two with commercial labs, Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp, now testing for coronavirus, a doctor who believes a patient should be tested can obtain a test from one of those labs without needing approval from the state.

If the person tests positive, the state will be notified, she said.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office (Niall Carson/PA)

Leo Varadkar has discussed the issue of the undocumented Irish in America during his meeting with the US president.

The Taoiseach, who is in Washington DC for the traditional St Patricks Day visit, raised the issue in an effort to resolve the problems for Irish citizens in the US.

A Bill which could give Irish citizens access to thousands of US visas every year was passed by the US House of Representatives on Monday.

The plan to add to the E-3 visa programme will now be voted on by the US Senate.

President Donald Trump greeted Leo Varadkar with a namaste gesture (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Varadkar travelled to the White House on Thursday where he held discussions with Mr Trump.

Asked if Irish citizens will always be welcome in the US, Mr Trump said: Always, always.

Just like your Prime Minister (Taoiseach). They will not only be welcomed  loved.

We have millions (of Irish citizens). It changes every year. I think its actually bigger now.

Mr Varadkar said there are more than 35 million Americans who claim Irish heritage.

Mr Trump replied: Its got to be one of our biggest. We love the Irish.

Asked if he will discuss the inclusion of Irish citizens in the E3 Visa Bill, Mr Trump said: We are going to be looking at that, we are gonna (sic) be talking about that today. Its a very important part of our conversation today.

Speaking later, Mr Varadkar said President Trump has committed once again to assisting us over the E-3 visa issue.

Seeing if he can use his influence on Senator Blunt and Senator Cotton to see if we can get that through in the next couple of days which would be great, but we are more or less where we were this time last year on that, but hopefully we can have some progress too, he said.

The pair also discussed the threat of coronavirus and the decision to impose a ban on people travelling from some European countries to the US.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is in Washington for a St Patricks Day visit (Niall Carson/PA)

The President said the reason the UK was not included in his Covid-19 travel ban was down to its strong borders.

Mr Trump said: It has got very strong borders and they are doing a very good job.

They dont have very much infection at this point and hopefully they will keep it that way.

Mr Trump said he hoped the pandemic would work out well for everyone, but added there was reason to briefly restrict some movement between parts of the world.

It is a world problem and we do need separation in terms of, you have some areas that are very heavily infected and you have some areas that are not.

We do need separation for a little period of time.

Mr Varadkar said one of the reasons Ireland was exempted from the ban was the presence of US border security in Ireland, at Dublin airport.

I was through it myself yesterday. They were asking the right questions, he said.

Mr Varadkar is taking part in a number of other formal engagements in Washington DC before he returns to Ireland on Thursday night.
MONTCALM COUNTY, MI  For the monks of New Melleray Abbey, crafting a casket for Vayda-Kay Vasquez, the little girl slain in Montcalm County, was a work of mercy.

This is the least (the monks) feel they can do, Marjorie Lehmann, administration director at Trappist Caskets, said Thursday, March 12.

Its a beautiful act of love.

The Roman Catholic monks donate handcrafted, all-wood premium caskets for children because its such a grievous event, Lehmann said. They believe no parent should have to bury a child. They hope their gift helps.

The monks believe its a work of mercy," she said.

It brought Shawnerie Russell to tears. She is a grandmother to Vayda. During those dark days after Vayda was killed, it meant so much that someone they didnt even know cared for them.

Were so thankful for everything they have done, she said.

It was really awesome. We never expected it. It was just amazing that they were willing to do that for us.

The monks will plant a tree in honor of Vayda in their nearby woods, put her name on a plaque and have a prayer service for her later this year. She and her family will always be in their prayers.

Russell called Trappist Caskets in Iowa after she heard about their donation.

I said, We really appreciate it. It was absolutely awesome.

Her granddaughter was killed early March 2. Russell said the girl was at a babysitters house.

State police investigators are still hard at work on the case, Lt. David Cope said. An autopsy showed the girls death was a homicide but police have not shared specific details.

Russell acknowledged that some in the family are frustrated that no one has been charged.

Russell, whose son, Christopher Sanchez, is the girls father, wants the killer caught. She urged patience.

Me and my son are just being patient because we want them to do this right. Nail the person, so they dont get out. We want it done right. We dont want the wrong person (arrested).

She said she wants justice.

In her mind, that means the killer would never see daylight again.

Also on MLive:

Grandma remembers most perfect child, police call toddlers death suspicious

Man held without bond in killing of girlfriends 8-month-old child

Attackers jump out of car to beat, rob man on U.S. 131 in St. Joseph County
Kate Beckinsale has told of her huge relief at Harvey Weinsteins prison sentence after revealing how she was punished by the former movie mogul.

Weinstein, 67, was sentenced to 23 years in prison by a judge in New York after being convicted of assaulting a production assistant at his apartment in 2006, and third-degree rape of another woman in 2013.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles have started the extradition process to bring the disgraced Hollywood film producer to California.

Kate Beckinsale posted this image on Instagram (Kate Beckinsale/Instagram)

Beckinsale, 46, posted an image of herself on Instagram at the 2001 movie premiere for Serendipity.

She wrote: We all refused to go because holding a premiere mere weeks after 9/11 with the city still smoking felt like the most insensitive, tone deaf, disrespectful idea possible.

But Harvey insisted. We flew into New York and somehow got through it. The next morning Harvey called me and asked if I would like to bring my less than two-year-old daughter to his house for a playdate with his similar aged daughter. I said OK.

I turned up and he immediately called for his nanny to take the babies to another room to play. I went to go with them and he said: No, you wait here.

The minute the door closed he started screaming you stupid f***ing c***, you c**t you ruined my premiere.

Kate Beckinsale starred in the Weinstein-produced movie Serendipity (John Stilwell/PA)

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I had no idea what he was talking about and started to shake.

He said, If I am throwing a red carpet you get in a tight dress, you shake your ass, you shake your tits, you do not go down it looking like a f***ing lesbian you stupid f***ing c**t.

The shock made me burst into tears. I tried to say, Harvey, the city is on fire. People are still looking for their relatives. None of us even felt the premiere was appropriate, much less coming out dressed like its a bachelor party.

He said, I dont care  its my f***ing premiere and if I want p***y on the red carpet thats what I get.'

Beckinsale said she managed to get myself and my child out of there and yes that was one of many experiences I had that there was no recourse for, and falls under no felony.

A courtroom sketch of fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

But I was punished for it, and for other instances where I said no to him for years, insidiously and seeming irreversibly.

She wrote: Hearing that he has gone to prison for 23 years is a huge relief to me on behalf of all the women he sexually assaulted or raped, and I hope will be a deterrent to that sort of behaviour in this and any other industry.

Having said that, the crimes that are not crimes, the inhumane bullying and sick covert abuse for which there is still no recourse no matter who you tell (and I did tell), these too need to go.

Beckinsale previously told how a robed Weinstein offered her alcohol when she was just 17.

Scores of women have accused Weinstein of sexual assault and he was found guilty of two attacks following a high-profile trial.

One of the actresses who alleged he attacked her, Mira Sorvino, said she cried tears of amazement after he was sentenced.

She tweeted: I literally cried tears of amazement, gratitude that the justice system has worked on behalf of all of his victims today.

The US actress is one of many famous women to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct, alongside the likes of Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lawrence.

23 years. Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for his crimes of rape and sexual assault. I literally cried tears of amazement, gratitude that the justice system has worked on behalf of all of his victims today.  Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) March 11, 2020

Rosanna Arquette, another of his high-profile accusers, told of her gratitude to all the silence breakers, including McGowan, and all the survivors of Weinstein and the brave women who testified.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles filed sexual assault charges against Weinstein in January and have now begun the process of extraditing him from New York to their jurisdiction.

A spokesman said: The Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office has begun the process of extraditing defendant Weinstein to California to face the sexual assault charges that were filed in January.

No arraignment date has been set. Once a date has been set, our office will notify the public.

Weinstein was charged with one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint.

The disgraced moguls sentencing was praised as a major moment for the silence-breakers and for women battling everywhere for their right to work in a safe workplace without fear of abuse and harassment by Times Up UK, part of the global movement against sexual harassment.

And Fieldfishers Jill Greenfield, who is running the UK civil litigation against Weinstein, said that his sentencing is a hugely positive step for UK victims.

Ms Greenfield, a personal injury solicitor, added: They provided background information to the DA before the trial, and written submissions for consideration for sentencing by Judge Burke.

There is some satisfaction for them having had their say and in knowing that the court in New York took into account what happened to them in the UK.

Now Weinstein is locked up, it must be time to question the enablers around him, who allowed his abhorrent criminal behaviour to go unchecked for so long.

Civil proceedings for the UK victims continues.
The province's first three presumptive COVID-19 cases were reported Thursday, as testing for the disease ramps up in Manitoba.

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The province's first three presumptive COVID-19 cases were reported Thursday, as testing for the disease ramps up in Manitoba.

The novel coronavirus is "on the move and rapidly progressing," Health Minister Cameron Friesen said Thursday morning at a hastily-called news conference at the Manitoba Legislative Building.

Hours after announcing the province's first presumptive case of coronavirus, two more cases in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority area were reported. Two men, both in their 30s, were apparently "exposed to the virus through recent travel," a Manitoba Health bulletin said.

Test times Click to Expand The Cadham Provincial Laboratory tests take 24 hours from the time a lab sample is received and accepted. For example, if Cadham received the sample on Tuesday at 6 p.m., and was accepted by the lab at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, the test results wouldnt be ready until 8:30 a.m. Thursday, a provincial government spokeswoman said. The provincial lab is open seven days a week. If the test is positive, confirmation from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg is expected to be available within 24 hours after the sample is received, a Health Canada spokeswoman said.

Manitoba's first case involves a Winnipeg woman in her 40s, who recently travelled to the Philippines.

Public health officials advised passengers on certain airline flights March 7-8 may have been exposed to COVID-19:

 Philippines Airlines Flight PR466 to Incheon, South Korea, from Manila: rows 48 to 54;

 Air Canada Flight AC0064 to Vancouver International Airport from Incheon: rows 30 to 36;

 Air Canada Flight AC8624 to Winnipeg from Vancouver: rows 24 to 29.

"People who may have been on these flights in the rows indicated... are asked to self-isolate and monitor themselves for symptoms for 14 days since their last known contact or exposure," a Manitoba Health news release said.

If someone develops a fever higher than 38 C (100.4 F), cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, or any other symptoms at any time during the 14-day period, they should call Health LinksInfo Sante at 204-788-8200 or 1-888-315-9257 (toll-free), or 911 if it is an emergency. Be sure to advise health officials about travel and/or exposure history.

In announcing Manitoba's first COVID-19 case, Friesen said the health-care system followed all "proper protocols and took all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of all involved, including the patient, staff and other patients."

"At this time, all public-health protocol related to contact tracing are being observed. Health officials are in regular contact with the patient," he said. "I can report that the individual is at home in isolation and in stable condition."

The woman had a positive COVID-19 test result from the Cadham Provincial Laboratory, and her samples were sent to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg for additional work. "That testing will take approximately 24 hours," Friesen said.

Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin said the woman had been back in Canada for "a few days," and was self-isolating at home after being tested. Health officials were notified Thursday morning she had tested presumptive positive.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a global pandemic and the Canadian government announced it was putting $1 billion into the virus fight.

On Thursday, Manitoba's health minister wanted to allay public fears as testing ramps up and more cases of COVID-19 are identified.

"The vast majority of people who contract COVID-19 will experience mild to moderate symptoms and they will recover," Friesen said. The risk of severe outcomes is greatest for people over 65 years of age and people with underlying medical conditions and/or compromised immune systems, provincial officials said.

Related Items Click to Expand Articles Mar 12, 2020: Manitoba announces first three cases of COVID-19 Carol Sanders and Larry Kusch

Manitoba has had time to prepare, said Friesen. Earlier this week, Manitoba approved $35.2 million in funding to purchase personal protective equipment, and became the first province to join a national consortium in a bulk purchase of gloves, masks, respirators, gowns and sanitizers.

Friesen and Roussin told Manitobans to get armed with solid information, protect themselves and each other  and buck up. They repeatedly urged Manitobans to observe frequent handwashing and social distancing, coughing and sneezing into their sleeves, to avoid shaking hands, and to stay home when sick.

They advised the public to avoid close, prolonged contact with crowds  within two metres of someone for more than 10 minutes  and to self-monitor if they're not feeling well, and self-isolate if they're tested for COVID-19 and waiting for results.

"All Manitobans have a role to play," said Roussin. "If you are going to attend a large, crowded event, consider that  especially if you're at a high risk."

As of Wednesday, 403 tests had been completed for the virus in Manitoba. Earlier this week, there were 40 tests conducted per day; that's now been ramped up to 500 per day, Friesen said.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Health Minister Cameron Friesen said this morning a woman in her 40s, who recently travelled to the Philippines and lives in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority's area, has tested positive for COVID-19. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

Two screening locations in Winnipeg have been set up for those who've been directed for COVID-19 testing by Health Links: Access Winnipeg West and Access Fort Garry.

More screening sites will be added soon, with plans being made for locations outside the city, Shared Health chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa said Thursday. Those who require screening after-hours will be directed to urgent-care sites and emergency departments.

"It's very important for the public to understand that testing is for symptomatic patients only," Siragusa said. "Those individuals who may have been exposed to COVID-19, but who are are not displaying symptoms, should not visit health-care sites unless it's absolutely necessary."

If they do develop symptoms, they need to contact Health LinksInfo Sante to "ensure patients go to the right place and sites are ready and have the necessary precautions in place," the nursing chief said.

The health-care system is "scaling up resources" over the next few days, with more staff being brought in to handle the high volume of calls at Health Links, said Siragusa.

"We ask for Manitobans' patience as we address this issue," she said, calling it an "unprecedented public health challenge."

Manitoba Liberal MLA Jon Gerrard (River Heights) said during question period Thursday concerned constituents have complained they couldnt get through to Health Links, and were getting a busy signal all afternoon.

"Health LinksInfo Sante is understandably experiencing very high call volumes at the moment, with longer-than-usual wait times," Shared Health said in a statement. "A mitigation plan to address the higher-than-normal call volumes is being implemented."

Siragusa said a "robust system response" is underway across Manitoba, with more front-line health-care staff being recruited and another 20 ventilators on order, in case they're needed.

Friesen thanked health-care officials co-ordinating and leading the COVID-19 response and workers on the front lines and behind the scenes. "We have been well-served," he said.

Manitoba's first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 was not unexpected, said Roussin.

"The system was prepared to rapidly identify the first case and to rapidly isolate and eliminate the possibility of further spread," the doctor said. "We are not helpless against this virus... Fear and panic will not help against COVID-19 but preparation and credible information will."

The chief public health officer said employers also have a role to play.

"Employers should review their business continuity plans and ensure their employees can stay home when ill without facing unnecessary burden, such as the requirement for sick notes," said Roussin.

Allowing people to work from home when they're not ill is another step employers could take, he said, as well as cancelling all non-essential work-related travel outside Manitoba, and holding virtual meetings online rather than gathering in close quarters for a prolonged period.

All travellers need to beware, said Roussin.

"Things are changing quite rapidly," he said. "Do you have plans for what you would do if you or a family member became ill while away? What would you do if you had to be quarantined while away?"

Concerns about COVID-19 overshadowed concerns about the 2020 budget that was supposed to be delivered this week at the Manitoba legislature.

On Thursday  after the Opposition again used legislative tactics to delay tabling of the budget  Premier Brian Pallister accused the NDP of "playing on the fears of people."

"At times like these, you don't play to peoples fears," Pallister told reporters. "That's what the NDP is doing by stoking fear around our budget.

"It's an excellent budget (and) they've deprived Manitobans of the the opportunity to see it."

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said delaying the budget has nothing to do with stoking COVID-19 fears and everything to do with a healthy democracy.

"Nothing that we do today impacts the government's ability to respond to COVID-19," Kinew said. "On Tuesday, we enabled $35 million to purchase masks, gowns, gloves and sanitizer to help the province prepare for COVID-19.

"We are doing our work as Opposition after having taken care of those responsibilities."

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Henry Olah, 4, leaves Merion Elementary with his sisters, Eloise and Margaret and their mom Annie Olah during early dismissal on Thursday. The Lower Merion School District will be closed for the next two weeks along with other Montgomery County schools as part of a state order to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Read more

Prolonged school closures became a reality in the Philadelphia region Thursday, as Gov. Tom Wolf ordered a shutdown across Montgomery County in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The governors order also resulted in the Philadelphia School Districts deciding that 63 city schools would be closed Friday because many of their teachers reside in Montgomery County, whose residents have been advised to avoid nonessential travel and to not report to work. The decision was made public in a statement late Thursday that listed the 63 schools. The statement only referenced Friday and did not indicate whether the schools would reopen next week.

The schools are all over the city, and include Central and Roxborough High Schools, Olney Elementary, and Girls High.

The governors move, announced as part of broader countywide closures lasting two weeks, echoed cancellations at K-12 schools around the country, and came as Maryland and Ohio closed schools statewide.

Im actually relieved that the governor got involved in this, said John Toleno, superintendent of the Upper Merion Area School District. It takes the pressure off all of us to decide how to handle closures.

It also touched off another ripple effect in Chester County, where the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District announced that it would also close for two weeks, because 25% of its teaching staff lives in Montgomery County. Superintendent Richard Gusick told parents in a letter Thursday night that to remain in keeping with the spirit of Wolfs containment action, those teachers shouldnt come to work.

As a result, we will be unable to operate our schools with such a limited number of staff, Gusick said.

For parents who still have to report to work, the closures spurred worry and a scramble for child care.

Theyre putting us in the position to make this choice  whats more important, my job or my family? said Kathryn Lajara, a special-education teacher in Philadelphia and the mother of two children, ages 12 and 9, in the Wissahickon School District. With just three personal days for the entire school year, Lajara said, she was worried about what might happen if she had to go beyond the days in her bank.

Wolf announced the closure order based on the concentration of coronavirus cases in Montgomery County. He said it applied not just to school districts, but pre-K, higher education and private schools.

Many colleges already have extended spring break and moved instruction online, but have kept their campuses open and their employees working. Some officials said they were seeking clarity on how the order would affect them.

Before Thursday, school districts had been making day-to-day decisions about closures for cleaning after potential exposure to coronavirus and for planning for remote learning. Some have been surveying families on whether they have internet access at home.

 READ MORE: How area schools are planning to instruct thousands of students in the event of long-term coronavirus closures

Several Montgomery County school districts said they were not planning to give students formal assignments during the closures, in part because they didnt want to further burden parents or other caregivers. Instead, they planned to provide enrichment activities for students.

These closures are going to impose some stress on our parents and community, said Upper Dublin Superintendent Steven Yanni, noting day cares would be closed as well.

Limited technology also hindered the prospect of virtual lessons for some: In Norristown, "it was not feasible for us to turn around and say were going to expect virtual learning for the next two weeks, said Superintendent Christopher Dormer. He said school leaders would likely encourage students to read daily or do math exercises on websites.

Toleno, in Upper Merion, said it would be difficult to require students to complete work during the absence.

Its really a road I dont want to walk down. Youre moving into a personal space, he said, noting it would be tough to verify whether students had legitimate excuses for not doing work  like family illness, or child care issues.

Superintendents said they were told by state officials they would be able to seek waivers for the lost school days.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera said Montgomery County parents should consider the next two weeks almost like snow days.

So when you wake up in the morning and we say school is closed because of snow, the plan around having those kinds of emergency days is the same, he said.

 READ MORE: Colleges are going completely online amid coronavirus spread. How will that even work?

The Pennsylvania Education Department said federal officials had granted approval for schools to serve meals off-site to low-income students. These meals will be available at no cost  and make it possible for kids to receive nutritious meals and snacks while schools are temporarily closed, the department tweeted Thursday.

Montgomery County schools said Thursday they were still determining how students in the meal program might continue to receive food.

Philadelphias decision to keep schools open drew fire from people who questioned the wisdom of doing so, especially in the face of the citys ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people. Northeast High School, for instance, educates 3,500 young people.

Joey Ippolito, who teaches at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts and lives in Plymouth Meeting, said he feels lucky that his wife can work remotely while their two children stay home. But he worries about bringing germs home to his family, or even exposing his students.

The answer were being given is pretty glib. Theyre saying, Were tougher than the virus, Ippolito said. Are you kidding me? This is a pandemic.

Other schools continued to announce cancellations Thursday. Friends Select, a Philadelphia private school, said it would switch to distance learning beginning Monday, and told families to plan for at-home learning to potentially last until at least April 10. Others canceled field trips, musicals and sporting events.

Upper Darby Superintendent Daniel McGarry said leaders think the national movement toward limiting large gatherings is necessary to keep our students, families and communities healthy."

Staff writer Susan Snyder and Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA contributed to this article.
You can still post and receive letters and packages.

An Post is carefully monitoring the situation regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus). Detailed Business Continuity Plans are in place and we are working closely with the HSE Expert team, the Health Threats Coordination Group and international postal organisations.

 In order to help keep Irelands supply-chains running, An Post is working to ensure the continuity of mails, parcels and post office services over the coming weeks.

 Mails & Parcel collection and delivery services will operate as normal (except to countries to which services are suspended - currently China and Mongolia).

 Delivery times may vary as we strive to facilitate flexible working times for staff.

 The HSE advises that there is no evidence of a risk of contracting the virus that causes Covid-19 by handling money, mails or parcels.

 All Post Offices will remain open for business as usual.

 Special arrangements for post office customers unable to collect their regular DEASP payments (e.g. Pensions) are now in place. A nominated Temporary Agent may collect the payment on their behalf, on production of necessary ID and documentation  Details at the Post Office or anpost.com.

 State Savings and An Post Money Current Account services are working normally

 Please see anpost.com for updates

At this difficult time for everyone, our objective is to ensure the health & safety of staff, the continuity of business for An Posts customers and to assist the national effort wherever possible said An Post CEO, David McRedmond.

Also read: Cancelled events in Leitrim as a result of Covid-19 restrictions
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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: SC to limit functioning drastically

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 13: The Supreme Court has decided to limit its sittings starting Monday in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The functioning would be drastically limited. Few Benches would function to hear matters of urgency only. It is however unclear how long these preventive measures would be in force.

Total confirmed cases of Coronavirus in India spikes to 81

Meanwhile Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry said till now, there are 81 confirmed cases in India, out of which 64 are Indians, 16 Italians and 1 Canadian national.

The Government has brought 42,296 passengers under community surveillance, out of which 2,559 were symptomatic and 522 hospitalized including 17 foreign nationals, the health ministry also said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 13, 2020, 17:44 [IST]
A North American Development Bank employee alleges in a lawsuit that she was sexually harassed by ex-managing director Alex Hinojosa, who was fired for inappropriate behavior last year.

Office assistant Rebecca Reyna also accuses the bank of retaliating against her after she complained about the alleged harassment.

Reyna, 36, seeks unspecified financial damages in her lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in San Antonio. Hinojosa, 64, is not a named defendant.

NADBank is taking the position that it has sovereign and diplomatic immunity from the lawsuit because it is an international institution, said San Antonio attorney Lorna R. Griffin, who represents Reyna.

Our client hopes to demonstrate that they should not be immune  that no employer should be immune to the (law) when it comes to something as serious as sex discrimination, Griffin said Friday.

NADBank finances water, sewer, landfill, road, stormwater, renewable energy and other projects on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The bank is equally funded by both governments and was established by legislation that was part of the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed in 1992.

Hinojosa denied the allegations against him but declined to comment on the lawsuit because he had not seen it.

Bank representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Hinojosa served as managing director of NADBank from November 2017 until July. The bank did not elaborate on the circumstances of his dismissal, other than to say he was terminated for engaging in inappropriate behavior that violated the banks personnel policies. He had been deputy managing director since 2012 before being promoted.

On ExpressNews.com: Banker flies planes, play Conjunto and oversees a $2 billion bank established by NAFTA

NADBank hired Reyna the month before Hinjosas promotion. Her duties included front desk reception, kitchen and break room maintenance and ordering office supplies.

Hinojosas alleged harassment started shortly after Reynas hiring, the suit says.

Hinojosa subjected (Reyna) to forced sexual contact, groping and inappropriate remarks of a sexual nature, the complaint states. Because Hinojosa threatened (her) with termination, (she) complied with his demands.

Reyna began to refuse sexual contact with Hinojosa in July 2018, the suit says, but he continued to subject her to a sexually hostile work environment.

Hinojosa warned Reyna that she would not be believed if she reported his conduct to bank officials, the suit adds.

Nonetheless, the suit says, bank general counsel Lisa Roberts questioned Reyna about the relationship with Hinojosa and directed her to avoid the CEO.

Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox

Afterward, Hinojosa confronted Reyna, shook his finger at her and said, Bad girl, the suit continues. Diana Rojas, the banks human resources officer, observed the interaction, the suit says.

Reyna then complained of the alleged harassment to Rojas, but Rojas did not act, according to the complaint.

Hinojosa proceeded to call and text Reyna throughout that weekend, saying that he told her not to say anything and to tell bank officials that they were just friends. He also threatened to interfere with custody of her minor son by contacting her ex-spouse.

The next week, the suit says, Reyna turned over Hinojosas harassing text and voicemail messages to Roberts and Rojas.

Around July of last year, Reyna says, she was subjected to a six-hour interrogation by an outside law firm. She was not represented by an attorney or told that she could obtain a lawyer.

Reyna says she later learned that Hinojosa resigned from the bank in July.

Late that month, Reyna says, she was placed on probation for a year by then-acting managing director Calixto Mateos-Hanel and Roberts for allegedly not reporting her harassers unlawful conduct, the suit says. Reyna was not eligible for pay raises, bonuses or promotions during the probation.

On ExpressNews.com: Former SWBC CEO sues for gender discrimination, retaliation

The probation was unlawful retaliation, the suit adds.

Reyna alleges that the harassment and retaliation violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law, among other things, prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin. She also is suing for discrimination under the Texas Labor Code.

Before suing NADBank, Reyna filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Texas Workforce Commissions Civil Rights Division.

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
CINCINNATI, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE:CBB) ("Cincinnati Bell" or "the Company"), together with Macquarie Infrastructure Partners ("MIP"), today announced an agreement through which a MIP-controlled subsidiary will acquire all outstanding shares of Cincinnati Bell for $15.50 per share in a cash transaction valued at approximately $2.9 billion, including debt (the "Transaction"). MIP is a fund managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets ("MIRA"). Certain Special Opportunities funds ("Ares Funds") managed by the Private Equity Group of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) ("Ares Management") have agreed to provide equity financing for the Transaction.

Pursuant to the agreement, each issued and outstanding share of Cincinnati Bell common stock will be converted into the right to receive $15.50 in cash at closing of the Transaction. The Transaction price of $15.50 per share of Cincinnati Bell common stock represents a 101% premium to the closing per share price of $7.72 on December 20, 2019, the last trading day prior to the date when Cincinnati Bell's original merger agreement with Brookfield Infrastructure (NYSE: BIP; TSX: BIP.UN) ("Brookfield") was executed, a 172% premium to the 60-day volume weighted average price up to and including December 20, 2019 and a 7% premium to Brookfield's prior binding agreement to acquire the Company.

The Transaction follows the determination by Cincinnati Bell's Board of Directors, after consultation with its legal and financial advisors, that the MIP proposal constituted a "Superior Proposal" as defined in Cincinnati Bell's previously announced merger agreement with Brookfield. Consistent with that determination and following the expiration of the negotiation period during which Brookfield declined to propose an amendment to the merger agreement, Cincinnati Bell terminated that agreement. In connection with the termination, Cincinnati Bell has paid Brookfield a $24.8 million break-up fee.

Lynn A. Wentworth, Chairman of the Cincinnati Bell Board of Directors, said, "After carefully evaluating MIP's revised offer, we are confident that this transaction is in the best interest of Cincinnati Bell and its shareholders. Importantly, the new transaction price of $15.50 per share represents a 7% increase from our previous merger agreement with Brookfield at $14.50 per share and a 101% premium to Cincinnati Bell's closing per share price of $7.72 on December 20, 2019, the last trading day prior to the date when the original merger agreement with Brookfield was entered into. This underscores the robust and disciplined process that we executed to ensure immediate and maximum value creation for our shareholders."

Leigh Fox, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cincinnati Bell, continued, "This transaction with MIP represents an exciting opportunity to enhance our financial position and expand our resources to better serve our customers. MIP exhibits deep telecommunications expertise and a strong track record of investing in capital intensive businesses, which will be critical as we deliver on our strategy to drive next generation, integrated communications through an expanded fiber network as well as our IT services platform. We firmly believe this transaction will allow us to enhance our services and drive long-term value for our customers in Hawaii, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, and across North America."

"Given the significant investment that the Company has made into its fiber network, Cincinnati Bell represents a truly differentiated platform compared to other network providers," said Karl Kuchel, Chief Executive Officer of MIP. "We are pleased to partner with the experienced management team to continue to expand the fiber footprint and bring high bandwidth connectivity to homes and businesses in the Company's service territories. The investment in Cincinnati Bell represents an exciting addition to our portfolio of fiber and communications infrastructure assets, both in the United States and globally."

"On behalf of the Ares Special Opportunities funds, we are excited to partner with two world class organizations in Cincinnati Bell and MIRA," said Scott Graves, Partner, Co-Head of Private Equity and Head of Special Opportunities.

MIRA is one of the world's leading alternative asset managers and a highly experienced investor in the communications infrastructure industry. For more than two decades, MIRA has partnered with investors, governments and communities to manage, develop and enhance assets relied on by more than 100 million people each day. As of September 30, 2019, MIRA managed $135.6 billion in assets that are essential to the sustainable development of economies and communities, including; 155 portfolio businesses, ~600 properties and 4.7 million hectares of farmland. For more information, go to www.mirafunds.com.

Ares Management is a leading global alternative investment manager operating three integrated businesses across Credit, Private Equity and Real Estate. Ares Management's global platform had $149 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2019 and employs approximately 1,200 employees in over 20 offices in more than 10 countries. Please visit www.aresmgmt.com for additional information.

The Transaction, which is expected to close in the first half of 2021, is subject to certain customary closing conditions, including the approval by Cincinnati Bell's shareholders, expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and receipt of certain other regulatory approvals. Cincinnati Bell will file a current report on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission containing a summary of the terms and conditions of the proposed acquisition as well as a copy of the merger agreement.

Advisors

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Moelis & Company LLC are acting as financial advisors to Cincinnati Bell and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, and BosseLaw PLLC are acting as legal advisors to Cincinnati Bell.

The Bank Street Group LLC is acting as the financial advisor to MIP, Goldman Sachs & Co LLC is leading the financing arrangements, and White & Case LLP is serving as lead legal advisor. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is acting as legal advisor to the Ares Funds.

About Cincinnati Bell Inc.

With headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE: CBB) delivers integrated communications solutions to residential and business customers over its fiber-optic and copper networks including high-speed internet, video, voice and data. Cincinnati Bell provides service in areas of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Hawaii. In addition, enterprise customers across the United States and Canada rely on CBTS and OnX, wholly owned subsidiaries, for efficient, scalable office communications systems and end-to-end IT solutions. For more information, please visit www.cincinnatibell.com. The information on Cincinnati Bell's website is not incorporated by reference in this press release.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This communication may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the proposed acquisition of Cincinnati Bell by MIRA. In connection with the proposed acquisition, Cincinnati Bell intends to file relevant materials with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including Cincinnati Bell's proxy statement in preliminary and definitive form. Shareholders of Cincinnati Bell are urged to read all relevant documents filed with the SEC, including Cincinnati Bell's proxy statement when it becomes available, because they will contain important information about the proposed merger and the parties to the proposed merger. Investors and shareholders are able to obtain the documents (once available) free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov , or free of charge from Cincinnati Bell at investor.cincinnatibell.com or by directing a request to Cincinnati Bell's Investor Relations Department at 1-800-345-6301 or [email protected].

Participants in the Solicitation

Cincinnati Bell and its directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be "participants" in the solicitation of proxies from shareholders of Cincinnati Bell in favor of the proposed merger with MIRA. Information about Cincinnati Bell's directors and executive officers is set forth in Cincinnati Bell's Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A for its 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 19, 2019, and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, which was filed with the SEC on February 24, 2020. These documents may be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above. Additional information regarding the interests of these participants which may, in some cases, be different than those of Cincinnati Bell's shareholders generally, will also be included in Cincinnati Bell's proxy statement relating to the proposed merger with MIRA, when it becomes available.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain of the statements in this communication contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and results that are subject to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about the industries in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "predicts," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "endeavors," "strives," "will," "may," "proposes," "potential," "could," "should," "outlook," or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to projections of future financial performance, anticipated growth and trends in businesses, and other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) the risk that the proposed merger with MIRA may not be completed in a timely manner or at all; (ii) the failure to receive, on a timely basis or otherwise, the required approval of the proposed merger with MIRA by Cincinnati Bell's shareholders; (iii) the possibility that competing offers or acquisition proposals for Cincinnati Bell will be made; (iv) the possibility that any or all of the various conditions to the consummation of the merger may not be satisfied or waived, including the failure to receive any required regulatory approvals from any applicable governmental entities (or any conditions, limitations or restrictions placed on such approvals); (v) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger, including in circumstances which would require Cincinnati Bell to pay a termination fee or other expenses; (vi) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the merger on Cincinnati Bell's ability to retain and hire key personnel, its ability to maintain relationships with its customers, suppliers and others with whom it does business, or its operating results and business generally; (vii) risks related to diverting management's attention from Cincinnati Bell's ongoing business operations; (viii) the risk that shareholder litigation in connection with the merger may result in significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability and (ix) (A) those discussed in Cincinnati Bell's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and, in particular, the risks discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in Item 1A, and (B) those discussed in other documents Cincinnati Bell filed with the SEC. Actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Cincinnati Bell undertakes no, and expressly disclaims any, obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any reason, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE Cincinnati Bell Inc.

Related Links

http://www.cincinnatibell.com


Mariana Costa

Blue Sky Agency has named Mariana Costa executive creative director. Costa joins Blue Sky from VMLY&R, where she was a group creative director. She previously served as a creative director at DDB, associate creative director at McCann Erickson and senior art director at FCB Chicago, working with such brands as Reebok, IAMS, Unilever, Verizon Wireless and Pfizer. In her new position, Costa will be responsible for leading Blue Skys creative team and collaborating closely with all departments to produce fully-integrated, cross-channel campaigns.

Jenn Miller

Gatesman has promoted Jenn Miller to senior vice president. Miller was previously director of analytics at the agency, and has worked to establish and grow the agencys marketing intelligence practice. Before coming to Gatesman in 2018, she was a business analytics manager at PNC. Under Jenns leadership, marketing intelligence progressed into a formidable practice area at Gatesman, said Gatesman president Shannon Baker. Were able to fully realize our marketplace-driven model and unearth insights faster and validate hypothesis with proven data points.

Yaffa Cohen-Ifreh

Vitech, which provides cloud-based administration software, has brought on Yaffa Cohen-Ifrah as senior vice president of marketing. Cohen-Ifrah comes to Vitech after serving as chief marketing officer and head of corporate communications at Sapiens, a company offering software solutions for the insurance industry. In this role, she was responsible for all aspects of the companys global marketing strategy, including brand strategy, messaging, communications, public relations and demand generation. At Vitech, she will oversee and execute marketing and communication strategies, themes, messages and plans, in alignment with broader company objectives and strategies.
A drunk Chinese thug has been captured on camera knocking out a female anti-coronavirus officer with one single punch after she asked him to put on a face mask.

CCTV footage shows the intoxicated resident, known by his surname Li, savagely hitting the community worker who is filming on her phone. He even kicked the officer after she fell to the ground.

Mr Li, 50, has been detained by local police since the incident happened yesterday.

A drunk Chinese thug, Mr Li, has been captured on camera knocking out a female anti-coronavirus officer with one single punch after he was asked to put on a face mask

The drunk resident was stopped by the female officer, known by her surname Liu, after he was trying to enter a residential complex in Jiaozuo city of Henan Province in central China.

Mr Li became furious after Ms Liu advised him to put on a face mask, according to a police statement released on Thursday.

He started verbally abusing the officer before punching her in the face.

In another video filmed by Ms Liu, the drunk man is seen swearing at the female officer while being held back by others.

The man has been detained and an investigation is underway, according to police.

Ms Liu suffered severe injuries and was admitted to a local hospital.

CCTV footage shows the intoxicated resident, known by his surname Li, savagely hit the worker who is filming on her phone. He even kicks the officer after she falls to the ground

China has ordered its citizens to wear face masks regularly in public as a precaution against the novel coronavirus.

Communities around the country have also set up checkpoints guarded with anti-coronavirus officers while millions are under lockdown.

This comes as China sees only eight new coronavirus cases today, which is the lowest since the outbreak started in January.

A patient infected with the coronavirus (left) can be seen receiving acupuncture treatment for the illness at the Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China. Chinese President Xi Jinping said authorities had 'basically curbed' the disease in the city where the virus broke out, Wuhan

Medical staff celebrate after all patients were discharged at Wuchang Fangcang hospital, a temporary hospital set up at Hongshan gymnasium to treat people infected with the coronavirus and COVID-19 disease, in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, 10 March 2020

A man wears a protective suit and escorts a face mask-wearing passenger as she leaves the Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing

Beijing has ordered people arriving in the city from any country to go into 14-day quarantine as China reported an increase in imported coronavirus cases, threatening its progress against the epidemic.

China has made major strides in its battle against the virus, prompting President Xi Jinping to visit Wuhan, the central city at the heart of the global epidemic, on Tuesday and declare that it has 'basically curbed' the spread of the disease.

The virus has infected nearly 81,000 people in China so far, with a large majority having already recovered. The national death toll rose to 3,172 today.

South Korea: The team take a swap from the patient's mouth while they remain in the car

The global death toll from the new coronavirus has passed 5,000 and the outbreak has spread to over 100 countries.

Europe is now the 'epicentre' of the coronavirus outbreak, the World Health Organisation said today, with makeshift hospitals springing up from Italy to Russia as panic spreads across the continent.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Europe was reporting more daily cases than China did at the height of the outbreak there.
More than 200 American colleges and universities from California to New York state have moved classes online to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. In addition, schools are cancelling study abroad programs to protect their students.

The University of Washington became the first major American university to move classes online for its 50,000 students. President Ana Mari Cauce said, Starting Monday, March 9, classes will no longer be meeting in person. She said the decision was made because of the continued spread of COVID-19 in the area and with the advice of public health officials. At least 25 people have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in the state of Washington. Most of those who died were from a nursing home near Seattle.

Ohio State Universitys President Michael Drake told its 68,000 students that the school is suspending face-to-face instructionand other similar classroom settings and moving to virtual instruction, effective immediately and through at least Monday, March 30.

Harvard Universitys President Lawrence Bacow announced that the school will start online instruction for all classes by March 23, the first day of classes after spring break. The goal, he said, is to avoid having students spending time together.

In the state of New Jersey, classes are cancelled at Rutgers University through March 22, and will then move online. The university asked students to leave campus as soon as possible.

With the latest announcements, more than 200 American colleges and universities have cancelled in-person classes or moved them online to avoid the spread of the new coronavirus. The schools include major schools like Stanford University in California, Princeton University in New Jersey, New York University, Rice University in Texas and the University of California, Berkeley. Smaller colleges cancelling in-person classes include Amherst College in Massachusetts, Skidmore College and Touro College in New York, Rowan University in New Jersey and Everette Community College in Washington state.

Bryan Alexander of Georgetown University in Washington D.C. is tracking the effort to move classroom instruction online. He said in an email to VOA, Campuses are quite reasonably worried about their populations' safety, about that population infecting others, and being sued. With growing numbers of cases, he believes more colleges will move their classes online, especially in areas most affected by the virus.

Cancelling study abroad programs

The U.S. Education Department has made it easier for colleges to move instruction online. A March 5 announcement says the department is providing broad approval to institutions to use online technologies to accommodate students on a temporary basis.

It also asked colleges to help students in study abroad programs that were cancelled because of the spread of coronavirus.

The University of Pittsburgh in the state of Pennsylvania cancelled all study abroad programs in France, Germany and Spain for health and safety reasons.

One of the affected student is Matthew Biederman. He told VOA, Classes were supposed to start, but Pitt notified me last Tuesday that I had to return back to the states within the week. He added, I am now in social isolation for two weeks as I try to plan how to recover my lost semester. The college has promised to help him with finding new classes or other learning programs for the summer.

Other colleges, including Villanova University, Syracuse University and New York University, have pulled back their students from programs in Italy. The University of Colorado, Boulder, has suspended its programs in China and South Korea. The new coronavirus started in China and spread to infect many people in South Korea.

Alexander, the Georgetown University professor, believes the experience could push more colleges to develop online education. He warned, however, that might not happen if students have poor online experiences, or if the coronavirus fades into being just another flu strain.

Susan Mackay-Kallis teaches communications at Villanova University. She agreed that, One of the results of COVID-19 virus will be that it will increase the speed at which Universities gear up for online teaching and learning.

Mackay-Kallis, however, believes that online learning will never replace the experience for students who are able to live in a different culture, possibly meet students from around the world, speak a different language, eat a different cuisine, and just generally have an immersive educational experience.

I'm Mario Ritter.

Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

abroad adv. in or to a foreign country

instruction n. teaching

virtual adj. taking place on computers or on the internet

sue v. to bring legal action in a court against someone or something

accommodate v. to provide needed or wanted aid or services

isolation n. the state of being alone and separated from others

fade v. to lose force or strength

strain n. a specific kind of closely related living things including germs

gear up v. to prepare

cuisine n. the kind of food of an area or country

immersive adj. something that involves a person completely
BEIJING, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Mar. 13, 2020, CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund ("CEFIF") announced that it joined a $36 Million Series B+ financing round in Fenbeitong, a renowned corporate expense management start-up in China, alongside Eight Roads, Glade Brook Capital, Ribbit Capital, IDG Capital and China Growth Capital.

Fenbeitong helps companies to better manage and control their expenditures through technological innovations. Founded in 2016, the fast-growing company has already established itself as an industry leader and has served over 1,000 corporations.

The company will use the funds to double the size of Fenbeitong's product research and development team and further improve its customer experience. The company will also seek more channel partners and cooperate with cross-industry players, expending their business into more first and second-tier cities in China.

"In the U.S., we have seen unicorns like Brex, Divvy, and TripActions quickly rising up in the corporate expense management sector, taking market share from traditional industry giants such as American Express and SAP Concur. Through technology innovation, they combine multi-functions into one platform where customers can manage their corporate credit card payment, business travel expenditure and other expenses. The innovative service model has earned the approval of a growing number of companies," said Mr. Lan Xi, founder of Fenbeitong. "The same trends are happening here in China. We have achieved triple-digits growth in revenue over the past two years and expect to maintain this strong momentum in 2020."

"As an existing investor and business partner, we are very pleased to be part of Fenbeitong's growth journey since its A+ round," said Dennis Cong, Managing Partner at CEFIF, "We are bullish on the Fintech-enabled B2B corporate services market and Fenbeitong marks one of our key investment in this sector. We look forward to working with more companies that have the potential to disrupt and innovate this industry."

About CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund

Founded in February 2016, CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund ("CEFIF") is a venture fund investing in FinTech companies globally. CEFIF has an equivalent of USD 1 billion in the total committed capital. The Fund was recently named "Top 9 Fintech Unicorn Investors" globally by CB Insights and listed on "Most Active Fintech Investors 2019" by Financial Technology Partners. The fund was also nominated for "Top Fintech Equity Investor" Award at LendIt USA Annual Conference.

www.cefintechfund.com

About CreditEase

Founded in 2006, CreditEase is a Beijing-based world-leading FinTech conglomerate in China. It specializes in inclusive finance and wealth management with a dominant position in credit technology, wealth management technology, insurance technology, etc. Main business sectors of CreditEase include Yiren Digital, CreditEase Wealth Management and CreditEase Insurance. Better tech, better finance, better world.

Contacts:

CreditEase Corporate Communications

Shirley Xu [email protected] , +86-21-60938721

SOURCE CreditEase

Related Links

http://www.cefintechfund.com


Farooq Sahab suggested me to speak with Pakistan but I will speak to the youth: Amit Shah in Srinagar

If normalcy to be brought in Kashmir, Article 370 has to be reinstated: Farooq Abdullah

Farooq Abdullahs detention revoked by Jammu and Kashmir govt after 7 months

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 13: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah who was detained post the abrogation of Article 370 under Public Safety Act, has been released from detention after over seven months in custody under the Public Safety Act or PSA, a stringent law that allows detention without trial.

He was charged under the PSA, which enables detention without trial for up to two years. He was charged with "disturbing public order" under the law, which means shorter detention of three months.

The government had made 27 charges against the former chief minister of J&K while detaining him under the PSA.

He has also been accused of violating freedom of speech by inciting violence.

In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, he had said that it was the Indian government and not the terrorists who had done it.

Delhi violence: Money laundering case against suspended AAP leader Tahir Hussain

The government has also cited his speech in a political rally in which he said that the people should be ready for a mass struggle after the elections to seek freedom from India.

J&K National Conference Abdullah is the second politician to be detained under the PSA after the abrogation of Article 370. Bureaucrat turned politician, Shah Feasal was also detained under the PSA.

The Public Safety Act allows for detention up to two years in the case of persons acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the State, and for administrative detention up to one year where any person is acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order.
AIB has announced the suspension of planned fees for contactless payments.

The bank said they made the decision in light of the current Covid-19 outbreak.

The decision to impose the new fees was originally announced on Tuesday, and drew a backlash on social media, especially on Twitter.

AIB had planned to introduce 1c charges for customers who make contactless payments from May 30, 2020.

A quarterly maintenance fee of 4.50 for current accounts was also planned.

Finding out AIB plan to charge for contactless payment :/ pic.twitter.com/5Tzm7r8JPO  Anne-Marie Regan (@AnneMarieRegan1) March 13, 2020

The Irish taxpayer saved AIB with their hard earned taxes.



The experts have advised us to use contactless in current @V2019N context.



AIB raised charges on contactless payments this week.#todaysor  Marie Tess  (@TesstessToron) March 13, 2020

Aib to charge for contactless payments unless you have 2,500 constantly in your current account.

So if you don't much money you get charged, if you are rich you don't.

Thanks a bunch.

This is the bank largely owned by the State ie - us, after we bailed them out.  Ms F Tutu (@Ms_F_Tutu) March 10, 2020

Sinn Fein spokesman for Finance Pearse Doherty was also critical of the new fees.

He said: "The last thing workers and families need in uncertain times are further stealth charges on customers like that announced today by AIB, a State-owned bank."

Banks must play their part in providing relief to those affected.

In a brief statement this evening, the bank said: "In the light of the current Covid-19 outbreak AIB is suspending the planned introduction of the contactless fee."

AIB was the third bank to charge for contactless payments, following Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank.
The United States and China had signed Phase One of the Economic and Trade Agreement, the process to end the nearly two-year-old trade war between the worlds two largest economies. The agreement reads like a charter of demands that the US has made on China in several key areas. A critical analysis of the agreement and the implications for the two countries are presented.

On 22 March 2018, United States (US) President Donald Trump signed the Presidential Memorandum Targeting Chinas Economic Aggression, signalling the beginning of a trade war between the two largest economies.1 Trump initiated this action arguing that China violates intellectual property rights (IPRs) belonging to American firms. But, while his action against China was taken to protect [US] domestic technology and intellectual property from certain discriminatory and burdensome trade practices by his countrys largest trade partner,2 the President also indicated that his aim was to reduce the trade deficit immediately by $100 billion.3 Almost 22 months later, Trump signed an Economic and Trade Agreement with China, signalling a temporary pause in the trade war (USTR 2020). This agreement was termed as Phase One, indicating that a second phase of this agreement would start as soon as the current agreement kicks in.4 Dimensions of the Trade War
The NSDC will hold a meeting on Friday to consider the issue of closing borders and stopping air traffic with a number of countries.

The Cabinet of Ministers, Ukraine's government, has adopted a decision on the temporary closure and termination of pedestrian traffic at some border crossing points.

The relevant motion was submitted by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov during an external extraordinary government meeting on reforming the urban planning system of Ukraine, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

Read alsoWoman hospitalized with coronavirus in Ukraine's Zhytomyr region in serious condition

According to Avakov, there is a list of these crossing points, and it is proposed to finalize it after the meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine.

At the same time, entry will be allowed for citizens of Ukraine and those who have a residence permit.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the NSDC would hold a meeting on Friday to consider the issue of closing borders and stopping air traffic with a number of countries.
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Bengaluru: In the wake of fresh cases of Covid-19 reported in Karnataka, Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty has urged the Karnataka government to take steps to shut malls and theatres, saying the coronavirus multiplies in air-conditioned areas.

In a letter to the government, she said preventive measures should be taken to control the spread of coronovirus before it gets worse.

Murty, who also leads the State government-constituted Karnataka Tourism Task Force, said she has discussed the current situation with Chairman and Executive Director of Narayana Health, Devi Prasad Shetty.

She suggested closure of all schools and colleges with immediate effect, malls, theatres and all air-conditioned areas where the virus multiplies, and allow only essential services like pharmacy, grocery and petrol bunks.

It is not scientifically proven that the virus dies in high temperature, she said pointing to spread of the virus -- despite heat -- in peak summer in Australia and Singapore, which have summer all 12 months.

I request you to vacate one government hospital with at least 500 - 700 beds for this purpose (to deal with coronavirus cases), which requires oxygen lines and pipes, she said.

Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic and CSR arm of software major Infosys, would do the civil work and Devi Shetty has agreed to share resources like medical equipment, she added.

We would like to work with the government proactively so that we can prevent this as early as possible, Sudha Murty said.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus positive cases in Karnataka is five, including the 76-year old man from Kalaburagi who died on Tuesday night.
(Repeats Thursday's story with no changes to text)

* Thai rates jump to $470-$495/tonne this week from $460-$467

* Indian rupee drops to near record low

* Bangladesh could miss 'Boro' production target of 20 mln tonnes

* Dry season in Thailand could extend through June - govt

By Brijesh Patel

BENGALURU, March 12 (Reuters) - Drought conditions in Thailand stoked concerns of a supply shortage and lifted rice export prices to a more than 6-1/2 year high this week, while strong domestic demand amid a coronavirus outbreak pushed Vietnamese rates to more than a one-year peak.

Thailand's benchmark 5% broken rice <RI-THBKN5-P1> prices rose to $470-$495 per tonne on Thursday, their highest since August 2013, versus last week's $460-$467 range.

"Many rice mills are refusing to sell due to uncertainty over supply during this dry season," a Bangkok-based rice trader said, echoing the concerns of others.

Many parts of the country's rice growing area have been hit by drought and traders said higher prices were also denting overseas demand.

The Thai government has said this year's dry season could extend beyond the usual period of April through to June.

In Vietnam, rates for 5% broken rice <RI-VNBKN5-P1> rose to $400-$405 on Thursday, their highest since November 2018, compared with $390-$400 a week earlier.

"Domestic demand has been strong over the past week as families are rushing to stockpile rice in anticipation of the further spread of the new coronavirus," a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said.

"This massive stockpiling has forced exporters to raise their prices due to scarce supplies," the trader added.

Vietnam's rice exports in the first two months of this year rose 31.7% from a year earlier to 928,798 tonnes, according to government customs data released on Wednesday.

In top exporter India, rice export prices extended their losing streak due to a depreciation in rupee despite strong demand from African countries.

Story continues

India's 5% broken parboiled variety rates <RI-INBKN5-P1> edged lower to $363-$367 per tonne this week from last week's $367-$371.

The Indian rupee was trading near a record low on Thursday, raising exporters margins from overseas sales.

"Demand has been slowly improving from African countries. Prices are moderating due to the weak rupee," said B V Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters Association (REA).

India's rice exports in 2019 fell 18.1 % from a year ago to their lowest in eight years, government data shows, as demand from key Asian and African buyers moderated.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh could miss its target of 20 million tonnes for the "Boro" summer variety rice crop this season, as many farmers who were upset about low prices switched to other crops, insiders said.

Boro contributes more than half of Bangladesh's typical annual rice output of around 35 million tonnes. (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka, Khanh Vu in Hanoi and Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok; editing by Kirsten Donovan)
Saudi Arabia is snapping up more and more oil tankers as the kingdom prepares to flood the world with crude causing a surge in the cost of transporting crude.

The worlds largest exporter, which began hiring extra ships almost as soon as a pact with Russia to limit oil supplies fell apart, has now provisionally hired 25-30 giant carriers to load late this month or early next, according to six shipbrokers and executives involved in the market. Its rare for Saudi Arabias state tanker company to book other companies ships as its doing now. The cargoes in question would be enough to supply France for about a month.

The Saudis forays into the tanker market come at a time when the country has told customers it will massively ramp up deliveries to regions including Europe at heavily discounted prices. The bookings have caused a ship shortage as well as a surge in tanker earnings and the shares of owners like Frontline Ltd. and Euronav NV. Crude is trading deep in a so-called contango price structure, where spot barrels are so cheap that traders try to store them at sea for sale at higher prices later.

Its a great time to be a tanker owner, said Burak Cetinok, head of research at Arrow Shipping Group Ltd., a ship broker in London. The near term prospects for the tanker market are exceptionally positive.

The tankers booked by Bahri, Saudi Arabias tanker company, have so far mostly been for loading in late March or early April, one of the people said. Its commonplace for at least some charters to fall through for a mix of commercial and operational reasons. Of the 25-30, the vast majority are Very Large Crude Carriers, or VLCCs, each designed to transport 2 million barrel cargoes, the people said.

Fell apart

A deal that Saudi Arabia had been proposing to restrict oil supply fell apart on March 6 when Russia declined to back the plan. A day later, Saudi Arabia announced huge crude-price discounts for refiners, and by Wednesday it was clear the kingdom would ship far more than normal.

Earnings from benchmark tanker rates jumped 700% the past week to $243,000 a day, according to data from the Baltic Exchange in London.

Over the past week, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates have all indicated plans to lift supply in the coming months. Thats pushed charter rates to their highest level in 5 months, with tanker owners hoping to profit as long as the price war goes on.

Fundamentally, the current spike in rates is driven by a surge in Saudi oil production and hence can be seen as an oil supply push, Clarksons Platou analysts including Frode Moerkedal said in a note.

Traders are inquiring about crude tankers to store oil, following the return of a so-called super-contango structure. In such markets, companies can buy oil cheaply, store it on ships for a period of time, and then sell it at a higher price later, potentially making millions.

Frontline said earlier in the week that both oil traders and majors had been inquiring about such floating storage options. Vitol and Shell were among the companies looking to book ships with options for storage this week, according to fixture reports seen by Bloomberg. Product tanker company Torm A/S said it has recently received several floating storage requests across various fuel markets. The surge in freight rates has diminished the appeal of storing.

Frontline is up 44% this week, Euronav 23%, while DHT Holdings Inc has gained 26%. Torm has rallied 20%.

Like floating storage, some vessels may also sail slower in order to reach their destination later, when a cargo is likely to be more valuable, Robert Hvide Macleod, the chief executive officer of Frontlines management company said. Though oil tankers are generally contracted to sail at 13 knots, one newbuild supertanker was seen sailing from Asia to Europe at about 2 knots slower than that speed with a cargo on board.

The freight rates soared because first older vessels were hired as floating storage, which removed a factor that limits a surge in shipping rates, and secondly charterers rushed to secure tonnage to haul additional Saudi oil, according to Brian Gallagher, investor relations manager at Euronav.

It looks like it will persist into April loading programs meaning tanker markets will benefit well into the second quarter, he said.

Despite resurgent optimism among shipowners, there are still reasons to be cautious. Last time rates reached these levels, requests to book ships were subsequently canceled, with the market then dropping. On Friday, Chinas top oil trader was said to be trying to get out of loading some cargoes from the Middle East after the most recent spike in freight.

Still, with Saudi Arabia continuing to underpin the market, some owners are starting to believe that this time may be different.

Not only is Bahri going on a chartering spree, but also the traders and other majors are also joining the party, said Randy Giveans, a shipping analyst at Jefferies. We expect rates to remain near these record high levels for at least the next few weeks.
Boris Johnson has sent out army experts from the Ministry of Defence to help councils and emergency services make sure their coronavirus plans are up to scratch.

Some 38 non-uniform MOD personnel have been assigned to Local Planning Forums across the UK.

Those forums are tasked with putting in place local plans to deal with extraordinary events and the experts will help to assess the effectiveness of what has already been put in place.

Ministry of Defence experts have been assigned to Local Planning Forums across the UK to help assess their coronavirus response plans

Boris Johnson yesterday announced a toughening of the UK's response to the deadly outbreak

Downing Street confirmed the move today and said the staff who have been sent out have 'logistical expertise' and are well-versed in how best to respond to pandemics.

It comes after Boris Johnson announced new measures yesterday to try to stem the spread of the deadly disease.

The latest recommendations include telling anyone with a persistent cough or fever to self-isolate for seven days and to advise the elderly against going on cruises.

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said today: 'In line with the government's action plan, 38 non-uniform MOD planners are going to be helping in local areas to provide support to public services, local authorities and emergency services in preparing their response to the coronavirus outbreak.

'The work that they are doing could include helping to test existing plans and develop new plans specific to this situation.'

The 38 experts have already been dispatched to their assigned forums.

The government's original coronavirus 'action plan', published on March 3, paved the way for the staff to be assigned.

It stated: 'The Ministry of Defence has put in place plans to ensure the delivery of its key operations in the UK and overseas.

'There are also well practised arrangements for Defence to provide support to Civil Authorities if requested.'

Downing Street insisted the MOD staff were 'definitely not' helping to come up with potential public disorder contingency plans.

He said: 'Maintaining public order is a matter for the police and always has been.'
Mulan created so many backlashes and backlashes to said backlashes that hardly anyone noticed that the film's costume designer is decidedly not Chinese, and bragged about researching the project by looking at the "Chinese department" of various European museums-- meaning that the look of Mulan was informed thanks to colonial thievery. She also mentions that the costumes were fashioned after clothing from the Tang dynasty, even though the movie takes place during the period of Northern and Southern dynasties; a fact also ignored by the wildly inaccurate set design.

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Despite the fact that Disney was hoping to combat piracy by releasing Mulan in China on the "same day as the rest of the world" that's obviously not going to happen. And despite the fact that it premiered in the U.S. to positive reviews, Disney has canceled its European premiere. Meaning that Mulan almost certainly won't get that sweet Lion King money currently supporting whatever freaky vices Jon Favreau indulges in.

You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter!
NEW YORK, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CEPRES, the leading provider of investment analytics & data solutions for Private Markets, was honored with the prestigious award for Best Data Management Solutions Provider, European Awards, by Private Equity Wire readers for the second consecutive year. The Award is based on the independent voting of Private Equity Wire readers.

CEPRES introduced its new CEPRES Platform in November 2019, now addressing the full spectrum of Private Market participants - Asset Servicers, Consultants, Fund of Funds, Advisors, Placement Agents and more, in addition to the traditional LP and GP professionals. This made it possible, for the first time, for all these market participants to collaborate in a single, secure online environment.

Through CEPRES, they can process and securely exchange all their investment data and content in the same interactive, multimedia, digital platform, with CEPRES' Digital Data Hub at the core of the platform, offering automated Data Collection and Streamlined Data access, as well as Managed Data Services.

Dr. Daniel Schmidt, Founder and CEO, comments "We are very proud to receive the award for the second, consecutive year, and see our vision for the future of Data Management in Private Markets confirmed: offering a one-stop-shop with our platform solution, with fully secure and fully automated data collection or managed data services at its core. We uphold data ownerships rights and stand for data accuracy and integrity, and will continue to do so."

Christopher Godfrey, Chief Innovation Officer, adds "In Private Markets, access to data is more challenging than any other asset class, but needed to make informed decisions - which is what our customers come to us for. By solving the data challenge with secure, primary data access, CEPRES provides streamlined, smooth investment workflows and decision making between parties. By applying digital solutions, especially in the current market environments, we hope to bring more confidence to all participants, and thank all Private Equity Wire readers for their continued support!"

About CEPRES

CEPRES is the leading digital platform for investment analytics & data solutions for private capital markets. CEPRES began in 2001 as the Center of Private Equity Research and was the first to 'look-through' private market funds to underlying deal and asset performance. Today, our award-winning online platform securely connects thousands of professionals in the largest private investment network in the world.

CEPRES combines the most secure digital data exchange with sophisticated SaaS solutions and expert analysis frameworks to empower LPs, GPs and related professionals. Through CEPRES, decision makers can secure their investment data to gain true insights on their portfolio of funds down to single operating assets within a confidential yet fully flexible framework.

The CEPRES Platform is built on the Digital Data Hub, a secure data exchange network connecting all market participants. Institutional Investors (LPs), Fund Managers (GPs),

Advisors, Asset Servicers and other investment professionals interact on one integrated

platform optimized for their own use cases.

To date over 2,750 GPs & LPs have securely exchanged investment data of over 7,800 funds and 80,000 deals worth over $28,2 Tr. in Enterprise Value.

For further information visit www.cepres.com.

For more information or to schedule an interview contact:

Birgit Wiggert

Tel: +49 (0) 89 232 495 610

[email protected]

SOURCE CEPRES Corp.

Related Links

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Associations and businesses have begun to speak out---in both opposition and support---of a new piece of auto glass legislation introduced in Connecticuts General Assembly.

The bill, HB 5294, looks to establish an auto glass temporary license to allow auto glass companies doing business in the state to perform auto glass work in the event of a state disaster or emergency.

The legislation would allow state auto glass companies to hire up to 15 unlicensed auto glass technicians on an emergency basis.

According to the proposed legislation, the temporary license shall be utilized by an auto glass company that employs out-of-state employees who perform automotive glass work, and whose qualifications are substantially similar to, or higher than, those of this state.

If passed, those who obtain an auto glass temporary license will have to provide a list on a form prescribed by the commissioner, stating each out-of-state employee that the auto glass company may use to perform work in this state in the event of a state disaster or emergency.

The states own Automotive Glass Work and Flat Glass Examining Board (AGWFGEB) is among those opposing the legislation.

The AGWFGEB is against HB 5294 because it appears to put profit over Connecticut drivers safety, the examining board said in a release regarding the new bill.

The Connecticut Glass Dealers Association (CGDA) also opposed the new bill and calls for legislators to vote against HB 5294.

We ask that you vote against this bill, and put consumer safety first. We come to you asking for your leadership and action, and to call on Connecticut Glass Dealers Association (CGDA) with any questions or resources you may need to further understand this bill, said Jessica Olander, CGDA executive director, in a release.

The prospect of Connecticut allowing auto glass companies to use unlicensed technicians who have not been vetted through the States normal procedures is of great concern to the Auto Glass Safety Council (AGSC)," said Seth Maiman, AGSC legislative and government affairs director.

"Our concern about safety rises exponentially when we consider how many cars now have Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) that require complex recalibration during the replacement of auto glass," Maiman said. "Connecticut has been a national leader in advancing safety with stringent training requirements and we hope that this legislation will be defeated.

If passed, the bill looks to add the following to the states current auto glass law:

The Commissioner of Consumer Protection may, in the event of a state disaster or emergency, and upon payment of an $1,800 licensing fee, grant an annual auto glass temporary license to an auto glass company that employs individuals who perform automotive glass work and does business in the state, a portion of the proposed bill reads.
With last weeks new certainty that the novel coronavirus is loose and being transmitted in Houston, the regions medical providers are bracing for the current handful of known cases to blaze into an outbreak like nothing in modern memory.

We had been saying, Its not a matter of if, its a matter of when, said Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health. Thats not the case anymore. Its now.

By shutting down events and closing schools, officials aim to flatten the curve  to stop too many people from getting sick at the same time and overwhelming the regions hospitals and medical providers.

Much about the highly contagious new virus remains unknown, and projections of its future behavior vary wildly.

Based on scenarios from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the New York Times estimated that anywhere from 2.4 million to 21 million people in the United States could require hospitalization, potentially crushing the nations medical system, which has only about 925,000 staffed hospital beds.

For most people, the virus is expected to be mild. But up to 20 percent of cases  mostly people over 60 or with underlying medical conditions  may require hospitalization.

If everyone gets sick more or less at once, area hospitals almost certainly would not have enough rooms, critical care or ventilators. In Italy, where officials waited to control the outbreak, an extraordinary surge of cases has left the medical system on the verge of collapse.

Based on Harris County estimates, County Judge Lina Hidalgo said recently that if 30 percent of Harris County residents were to become sick at the same time and 20 percent of those people needed hospital care, medical infrastructure would be overloaded.

We simply do not have enough hospital capacity to assume all of those people, Hidalgo said. We cant afford to have a sudden spike in cases.

Even the best case  a slowed outbreak that continues for months  is almost certain to pose significant challenges to the areas hospitals, clinics and doctors offices.

Were planning for a surge as community spread continues, said William McKeon, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center. We have a strong, united view: Go after it fast, assume the worst.

TMC hospitals have been following COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, since it emerged three months ago, said Houston Methodist Hospital CEO and President Marc Boom. Its a situation we drill for, prepare for.

Boom participates in a daily COVID-19 strategy call for the CEOs of all eight TMC hospitals  a level of coordination never before needed, even to face threats such as Hurricane Harvey.

We do it with one of those Skype things, with televisions, Boom said. Normally, with a hurricane, wed have 30 people in a room watching as it makes landfall. COVID-19 is much slower-moving, more drawn out. We have maybe six or seven people in there. Lots of people teleconference in, and we sit 6 feet apart  social distancing, practicing what we preach.

The hospitals plans include increasing the number of hospital beds available  and in particular, the number of critical care beds for patients needing intensive care. Intermediate ICUs and recovery rooms may be converted to critical care; tentlike mobile ICU units may be set up in parking lots.

The medical centers hospitals have similar coordination calls to share information, such as sources of supplies, or ways to conserve or find substitutes for hard-to-find personal protective equipment such as N95 protective masks. McKeon said he is reaching out to Houstons business and research labs, asking them to assess whether, if needed, they could contribute some of their own PPEs to hospitals.

The virus poses particular threats to hospital personnel, who will be working long hours under stressful conditions  and facing coronavirus-related personal problems such as a lack of child care due to school closures. In the worst scenario, seen in China, medical personnel become ill themselves, and their colleagues have to take care of them.

Testifying before Congress earlier this month, Dr. Peter Hotez, a Baylor College of Medicine vaccine researcher and infectious disease specialist, urged that special attention be paid to hospital workers.

If health care professionals are out of work because theyre sick, or if theyre being taken care of by other health care professionals in ICUs, thats a disaster, he said.

To date, COVID-19 testing has been a major weak spot in the U.S. response, with too few tests available and too few labs able to process them. Far more cases are expected to be diagnosed soon, as commercial labs such as Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp come online with the tests.

As soon as demand and test-processing capability make it reasonable, TMC institutions plan to begin drive-thru testing like that being done in Colorado, McKeon said. But he cautioned that even those sites have serious limits: If it takes 15 minutes to do a test, and we run a test site 12 hours a day, thats only 48 tests per day.

To slow spread of the virus, many area providers plan to shift as many consultations as possible  in particular those not related to coronavirus  to telemedicine platforms, such as the hospitals apps. Similarly, hospitals are beginning to ban would-be visitors, encouraging them to videochat with their loved ones instead. This is the time to bond by FaceTime, said Susan McLellan, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Theres only one way I want to look back on this, McKeon said. Did we do everything we could to stem the tide? I hope that were so blessed that people will someday say, Those measures were too draconian.

Julie Garcia contributed to this report.

lisa.gray@chron.com

twitter.com/lisagray_houtx
Johnny Depp got some moral and legal support from an old flame in his defamation case in Virginia against ex-wife Amber Heard.

Winona Ryder, who was engaged to Depp during their four-year courtship, came to the defense of the Pirates Of The Caribbean star by filing a declaration claiming she found it hard to believe he would ever commit an act of domestic violence.

'I do not want to call anyone a liar but from my experience of Johnny, it is impossible to believe that such horrific allegations are true,' she said during her legal declaration that was obtained by The Blast.

'I find it extremely upsetting knowing him as I do.'

Winona Ryder defended ex-fiance Johnny Depp's character during her legal declaration in his defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard

Depp filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife in March 2019 over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018, in which she claimed she was abused by Depp.

As part of the suit, Depp claimed that Heard had in fact physically abused him during the marriage rather than the other way around, a claim Heard has denied.

During the opening of Ryder's declaration, she gave a brief history of her relationship with Depp that began back when they first met in 1989 and included starring together in the 1990 romance fantasy Edward Scissorhands.

'I knew Johnny very well years ago. We were together as a couple for four years, and I counted him as my best friend, and as close to me as family. I count our relationship as one of the more significant relationships of my life. I understand that it is very important that I speak from my own experience,' the Stranger Things star stated.

'I obviously was not there during his marriage to Amber, but, from my experience, which was so wildly different, I was absolutely shocked, confused and upset when I heard the accusations against him,' Ryder said of Depp on her legal declaration

Defending his character: Ryder and Depp were engaged during their four-year courtship from 1990 to 1994, which included starring together in the quirky fantasy film Edward Scissorhands

Eventually Ryder, 48, gave her thoughts about Heard's accusations of domestic abuse during her two-year marriage to Depp.

'I obviously was not there during his marriage to Amber, but, from my experience, which was so wildly different, I was absolutely shocked, confused and upset when I heard the accusations against him.'

The actress added, 'The idea that he is an incredibly violent person is the farthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved. I cannot wrap my head around these accusations.'

Ryder maintained that the man she knew during their romance was never violent or abusive towards her or anyone else.

Depp and Heard, who were married from 2015 to 2017, reached a settlement and finalized the divorce in January 2017, which included the dismissal of the restraining order and Depp paying her $7 million, which she donated to charity

'I truly and honestly only know him as a really good man- an incredibly loving, extremely caring guy who was so very protective of me and the people that he loves, and I felt so very, very safe with him,' the Reality Bites star explained.

She did add that she didn't want to go as far as to call 'anyone a liar.'

Depp and Heard were married in February 2015. She ended up filing for divorce in May of 2016, along a temporary restraining order against him, stating in a court declaration that he had been verbally and physically abusive during their relationship.

The two sides reached a settlement and finalized the divorce in January 2017, which included the dismissal of the restraining order and Depp paying her $7 million, which she donated to charity.
I think that it is likely, given what we are seeing around the world, and the fact that we have people all over the world, that there are more, Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, the joint staff surgeon, said during a news briefing. That is an important detail because the low average age and good health of U.S. troops means that they are better able to withstand the virus if they get it. But it also means that they are more likely to become carriers who do not show symptoms, yet may infect other people.
This Morning viewers were left 'heartbroken' by the tale of two dogs who survived horrific cruelty on the streets to become much-loved pets.

Kasey Carlin, from Brighton, gave five-year-old Maggie a new home last year after the animal was tied to a box in Lebanon and shot 17 times. She also had her ear cut off and her jaw broken, before being left with bullet wounds all over her body and no eyes.

Appearing on the show today with vet Dr Scott Miller Kasey told how she also rescued one-year-old puppy, Millie, from Russia who lost her nose after being brutally attacked by children.

Millie was left in terrible condition when she had her 'face bashed in' and was shot twice, with two pellets remaining in her head.

Viewers were moved by the story, with many praising Kasey for giving the animals a new 'lease of life'.

Kasey Carlin,Brighton, gave five-year-old Maggie (left) a new home last year and recently re-homed Millie (right). She appeared on This Morning with vet Dr Scott Miller (pictured right)

Ms Carlin with Millie. After weeks of fund-raising and sending emails to the Russian animal sanctuary Vyberimenya, she negotiated the dog's evacuation to the UK

'After all these poor dogs have been through, they still give lots of love', wrote one.

'These two pups would break your heart,' said another.

A third commented: 'Those dogs on This Morning. So sweet someone gave them a lease of life.'

Kasey told how she stumbled across Millie through Instagram, where she runs therapy dog Maggie's hugely popular account, and made the decision to save the dog after seeing the 'horrific' condition she was left in.

She said: 'Maggie has a big following and through that we found Millie and the first video I saw of her was just horrific. We fund-raised the surgery within six days

Viewers were moved by the story, with one insisting their 'heart was broken' after hearing about the animals, while another praised Kasey for giving the animals a new 'lease of life'

Despite her severe injuries, Dr Miller said that it was clear Millie 'wanted to survive' and now is 'enjoying life' with Kasey.

He told: 'Millie here was a few months old when she was cruelly attacked by some children. She had her face bashed in and when they thought they had gone too far, they tried to shoot her. But it didn't work.

'She still has pellets in her head, even now. What you can see is a dog that clearly wanted to survive. When you see injuries like that, sometimes it is the best thing to have the dog put to sleep.

'This was a dog that had treatment and showed massive response. What we have now is a dog that's so affectionate, so sweet, and she's enjoying life.'

The puppy, Millie (pictured above), has found a forever home in Brighton after being born as a stray in Russia and undergoing life-changing surgery

Millie is pictured with her older sister Maggie. Maggie is now a trained therapy dog while Millie is 'enjoying her life'

Born as a stray in Russia, Millie was found dying on the streets by animal activists.

When Millie was rescued from the cold, she was attempting to claw the rotten mess of her snout away from her own face.

After weeks of fund-raising and sending emails to the Russian animal sanctuary Vyberimenya where Millie was based, Kasey was able to negotiate Millie's evacuation to the UK.

She made the negotiation via Google translate with the help of her employers, the Wild At Heart Foundation, an animal rescue organisation looking to tackle the world's 600 million stray dog population.

Since arriving in the UK a little over a month ago, Millie has undergone further surgeries to help her lead a normal life

Kasey gave five-year-old Maggie a new home last year after the animal was left in horrific condition, she is now a therapy dog

Since arriving in the UK a little over a month ago, Millie has undergone further surgeries to help her lead a normal life.

Her right eye was removed - because it was underdeveloped after bullet shrapnel became embedded during her painful formative months - and she had a new nose attached.

Dr Scott went on: 'What I get when I look at this face, is the fact that animal cruelty still exists in this world

'The dogs don't hold it against us. They're so affectionate, even though we've been so horrible to them.'
Hundreds of Thai pro-democracy demonstrators marched to parliament on Friday to demand that lawmakers amend the constitution to pave the way for a fresh election in order to remove Thailands military-based government from power.

For two hours, protesters waved Thai flags, held signs and chanted slogans denouncing the government headed by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, a former junta chief.

If Prayuths government refuses the amendment, we will go to the streets to protest, demonstrators vowed.

They called on the government to reestablish the 1997 constitution, widely seen as the nations most liberal one. They want it to replace the 2017 constitution, whose electoral provisions were drafted in a way to allow Prayuth and many members of the old junta to retain power after a general election last year.

The March 2019 polls were the first held in Thailand since the former army chief led a military coup that toppled the government of Yingluck Shinawatra five years earlier.

After the polls, Prayuth was elected as prime minister by parliament. His election was aided by the 2017 constitution, which allowed the votes from the 250-member senate hand-picked by his junta to combine with the votes from the lower house.

One of the coordinators of Fridays march, Yingcheep Atchanont, a program manager for iLaw, a civil and political rights research and advocacy group based in Bangkok, said the protesters were calling for democracy and equality in Thailand.

There are more people joining in the movement today than we expected. We know that it is not easy, but the outbreak of COVID-19 cannot stop us from trying to make a difference here, Yingcheep told BenarNews, referring to the global pandemic. Now the ball is in their court, we have to wait and see what will happen next.

Upon reaching the parliament building in Bangkok, the protesters presented a letter outlining their demands to Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, a Prayuth adviser.

In addition to his role with the prime minister, Pirapan leads a 49-member House committee examining possible amendments to the 2017 constitution.

Pirapan told the protesters that MPs would consider their demands.

We will look into the proposal and make sure to include it in our study, Pirapan said.

Anusorn Unno, a lecturer at Thammasat University who joined the protest, said the new constitution needed to be changed.

It was designed to give the power to the junta. We have to put pressure on MPs because they do not intend to amend the law, they want to stay in the power for a very long time, he told BenarNews.

The protesters took to the streets in defiance of Thailands strict public gathering law which prohibits more than 10 people to congregate at any one time.

Anusorn Unno of Thammasat University submits the protesters demands to Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, an adviser to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, in front of parliament, March 13, 2020. [Nontarat Phaicharoen/BenarNews]

FFP

Their action followed a series of protests on university campuses in February, where thousands of Thai students called for democracy to be truly restored. The students also protested an order by the Constitutional Court to disband the opposition Future Forward Party (FFP).

Those protests were allowed because the public gathering law is not applicable to campuses.

On Friday, Human Rights Watch called on Thailands government to drop what it called politically motivated criminal charges against Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the auto-parts billionaire who founded FFP.

Earlier this week, the Election Commission announced it was seeking criminal charges against Thanathorn for running for parliament even though he was not qualified because he held shares in a media company. Thanathorn could face a decade in prison if convicted of the charges.

Since the Constitutional Court wrongfully dissolved the Future Forward Party, Thanathorn has faced a barrage of arbitrary legal actions from agencies packed with military junta-appointed personnel, HRW Asia director Brad Adams said in a news release on its website.

By eliminating opposition parties and threatening their leaders with prison terms, the Thai government is heading down the path of neighboring countries where autocratic, single-party rule has thoroughly destroyed any pretense of democracy or respect for human rights, he said.
MIAMI  The scene was jarring: The mayor of a major American city communicated with the citizenry via video on a big screen at City Hall to deliver frightening news. He was placing himself in isolation in case he had contracted the coronavirus.

By the next day, his test results were in. Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami became on Friday one of the first American elected officials to confirm he has Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Mr. Suarez, 42, was tested after having come in close contact earlier this week with a top adviser to President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil who disclosed his coronavirus diagnosis on Thursday. A delegation from the South American country had visited Florida and also met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach estate.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / Korea Times file



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's attendance at this week's artillery fire exercise has added to speculation that he has been away from Pyongyang for an extended period of time due possibly to coronavirus concerns.



According to state media reports, Kim supervised the coastal artillery drill on Thursday, just days after he oversaw a similar exercise on March 9. These drills followed two more artillery exercises held on March 2 and Feb. 28 with the leader in attendance.



The North did not disclose the location of Thursday's exercise. But considering the three previous drills took place either in the eastern coastal cities of Wonsan or Sondok, the latest one is also believed to have happened along the east coast.



The short interval between these drills has raised speculation that Kim might be staying in east coast regions, rather than shuttling between Pyongyang and the east coast. Some media reports have speculated that he could be away from the capital city due to coronavirus fears.



Kim's last public appearance unrelated to the military was when he presided over an expanded politburo meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party to discuss measures to ensure the coronavirus doesn't spread into the country.



State media did not say when the meeting took place, but considering Kim's activity is usually reported a day after it happened, the meeting is believed to have been held on Feb. 28, the same day when Kim attended an artillery exercise.



An official of South Korea's unification ministry also said that the politburo meeting could also have taken place in a place other than Pyongyang "given that the politburo meeting and the drill have been held shortly after another."



Experts said Kim's absence from Pyongyang may be related to the new COVID-19 virus.



"Given that around 10,000 people are being quarantined in the North, an outbreak in Pyongyang is also possible ... we have to keep the possibility open that he is staying away from Pyongyang because of the spread of the virus," said Yang Moo-jin, professor at the University of North Korean Studies.



Yang said, however, that such a possibility is not high, and Kim's absence from Pyongyang "can also be seen as an expression of his confidence over the new virus ... that the virus situation is possible to overcome."



In late January, North Korea declared the launch of a national emergency system against the new virus, calling such preventive efforts a "political matter" that could determine the fate of the country.



Since then, it has stepped up efforts to prevent an outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in the country, shutting down its border with China, where the virus originated, and toughening quarantine procedures for foreigners.



Concerns are lingering, however, that North Korea could be vulnerable as it shares a long and porous border with China, where the virus originated, and lacks key medical supplies and infrastructure to test and treat infected people. (Yonhap)


By PTI

PARIS: The G7 will hold an extraordinary meeting via videoconference next week to bolster the international response to the coronavirus outbreak, the French presidency said Friday, also proposing enhanced EU border control.

The meeting of the Group of Seven nations will seek to coordinate action against the virus in the spheres of health, economy, finance and research, the presidency said.

It said the event was initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron who discussed it with US counterpart Donald Trump by telephone Friday.

The United States, current chair of the G7, and others in the group "all gave their agreement," it added.

The G7 is made up of the US, Canada, France, Germany, Britain, Italy, and Japan.

Macron also proposed that the European Union reinforce border control in the visa-free Schengen area or even close them in heavily-affected or high-risk areas, said the presidency.

The French leader discussed the matter by telephone Friday with EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Disney announced it has postponed three of its upcoming theatrical releases, including the much-anticipated live-action remake of Mulan, in the wake of the growing coronavirus outbreak.

'As you know this has been a rapidly evolving situation and I wanted to make you aware that we are postponing the releases of Mulan, The New Mutants, and Antlers out of an abundance of caution,' Disney said in a statement on Thursday.

'We truly believe in the movie-going experience, and we are looking at new potential 2020 release dates to be announced at a later date.'

Growing concerns: Disney delayed the theatrical releases of the films The New Mutants, Mulan and Antlers due to the growing coronavirus outbreak

Mulan, which is an adaption of Disney's 1998 animated film of the same name, had been scheduled to hit theaters in the US on March 27.

The premiere had previously been postponed in China, where it was expected to be a box-office bonanza, due to the initial outbreak that was mostly in the Asian country.

Disney also scaled back it's London red carpet event at Thursday's UK premiere but the screening of the film still went forward with such stars as Liu Yifei, Yoson An, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Jason Scott, Gong Li. and director Niki Caro in attendance.

Horror superhero film: The New Mutants had been set to drop April 3 before it was pushed back because of COVID-19

Science fiction horror film: Searchlights Antlers had a April 17 release before it was delayed

Most recently, The New Mutants, had been scheduled to drop on April 3.

The horror film in the superhero genre stars Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlier Heaton, Alice Braga, Blu Hunt and Henry Zaga.

Originally it was expected to have an April 2018 release, but production problems forced it to be pushed back, along with the studio not wanting it to go up against other superhero releases like Deadpool 2 and Dark Phoenix.

The New Mutants was also delayed by Disney after the studio acquired Fox.

Live-action remake of 1998 animation: Mulan been scheduled to hit theaters on March 27

Searchlights Antlers had a April 17 release before it was delayed.

The science fiction horror film stars Keri Russell Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Amy Madigan and Rory Cochrane.

So far there's no word on any exact dates of then the films will premiere in theaters.

As part of the flurry of closures, Disney is shutting down Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure on March 14 through the end of the month, as well as it theme parks in Florida, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Disney also announced Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure will close March 14 through the end of the month, as well as it theme parks in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo: (pictured) scattered visitors at Disneyland in Anaheim on Thursday

Currently movie theaters are closed in China, Denmark, Norway, Greece, Italy, Poland, states in India, Lebanon, and Kuwait. They remain open in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Australia, and Brazil.

At last check on Thursday, March 12, the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) has reported more than 1,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US; of those cases, there have been 36 deaths.

Globally there have been almost 125,000 cases reported to the World Health Organization (WHO), which declared the outbreak a global pandemic on Wednesday, March 11.
Even if Erin Hooley weren't an entrepreneur, she'd have her hands full. "I got married at 19, became a mom at 20, and had six kids by the age of 28," says the now 34-year-old founder of Bailey's Blossoms, a Rhome, Texas-based children's apparel company that she founded out of her garage in 2008.

Yet she doesn't just make time to run her company. She has managed to grow it into a brand that's quickly becoming a midpriced kids' fashion mainstay with $6 million in sales in 2018, up 205 percent from 2016. That growth landed Bailey's Blossoms at No. 74 on the inaugural Inc. 5000 Series: Texas list, a ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the Lone Star State. Bailey's joins a number of women-owned, consumer-focused companies on the list that are showing impressive growth, such as Everlywell, a health company that offers at-home testing kits, and Maggie Louise Confections, a maker of high-end chocolates.

What's more, Bailey's Blossoms is thriving in an increasingly crowded market. It's a considerable feat, given the lack of room for growth in the kids' clothing market, according to Alexis DeSalva, a Chicago-based analyst for retail and e-commerce with market-research firm Mintel. Bailey's price points--many shirts fetch less than $15 and dresses typically go for less than $30--give the company a competitive advantage.

Here's how Hooley grew her business from a few handmade items sold on Etsy to the 30-person operation it is today.

Identify areas for improvement and adapt--quickly.

While Hooley had begun selling handmade kids' accessories and costumes on Etsy, in 2011, a change in her husband's career forced her to retool. Her husband, who was an executive for a large multinational corporation, was assigned to work in Brazil. The move forced Hooley to give up her business, but it also gave her two years to reconceive it. Upon returning to Texas in 2013, she revived the company--this time, selling craft kits and making videos showing people how to assemble them. She cleaned out the couple's savings--$35,000--so she could buy in bulk from the Chinese suppliers she found through Alibaba. In three months, as promised, she restored their savings.

Meanwhile, she kept getting inquiries from people who loved her designs but didn't want to make them themselves. By 2015, Hooley had switched to ready-to-wear kids clothes and had about $600,000 in annual sales, making her Etsy store one of the largest children's shops on the e-commerce platform for handmade and vintage items and craft supplies. Half of her garage was an office, the other half was a playroom, and a handful of other moms would come by to work during the day, bringing their kids with them. She had six kids, a fast-growing company, and no nanny. "I didn't think life could get any better," says Hooley.

Build your own brand, not someone else's.

In 2015, Hooley learned--the hard way--that she'd been building the Etsy brand at the expense of her own. In 2015, Etsy changed its handmade policy, redefining the allowable relationships between sellers and their manufacturing partners. Hooley was no longer able to sell on the site. At the time, 85 percent of her company's sales had originated from Etsy. "There was no going back," says Hooley. She went to tell her staff that the company couldn't go on. Hooley remembers her customer-service manager, who was then eight months pregnant, saying: "Are you telling me that after I have this baby, I'm not going to have a job?"

Hooley couldn't do it. Instead, she asked her staff to message everyone who had ever bought anything from the company and explain that the company's products would now be available exclusively on the Bailey's Blossoms website. While the company was no longer on Etsy, Bailey's staffers could still--for a time--send messages to customers by replying to their orders. So instead of messages that said "Thank you for your order," the staff wrote to everyone saying that Bailey's Blossoms would be available exclusively on its own site. By the end of the second day, sales on the Bailey's site quadrupled, easily beating her best day ever on Etsy.

When she started digging into the results, she noticed that on social media, influencers had been showing off her clothes and tagging Etsy as the source. "The light bulb went off: We had been building someone else's brand," she says. She promptly made sure everything she did was branded Bailey's Blossoms, including the packaging used to ship products.

She encouraged customers to tag Bailey's site and started watching social media more closely. The first year after she left Etsy, Hooley says sales were up 233 percent over the prior year. By 2017, her husband had quit his corporate job to become her chief financial officer.

Keep customer feedback top of mind.
Ask Dr. Land: How can pro-life Christians also support capital punishment?

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Question: There was a recent New York Times Magazine article about conman Paul Skalnik and how his false testimonies sent dozens to jail and 4 people to death row. In Florida, where death sentencing was/is popular, there have been 29 death-row inmates exonerated by the time of the article's publication. There was also a study that estimated 1 in 25, 4.1 percent, of inmates sentenced to death are innocent. Even if the state kills one innocent person, isnt that too much? As Christians who talk about killing innocent babies, how can we then go and support capital punishment when there are many instances where the judicial system have been wrong?



I am frequently asked this question both by fellow Christians as well as non-Christians. The short answer is that the Bible clearly authorizes and teaches capital punishment. During the Mosaic Covenant capital punishment was mandated for a variety of offenses. However, the death penalty both pre-dates and post-dates the Mosaic Law and Covenant. As far back as Genesis, God told Noah, Whoso sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man (Gen. 9:6). Here, God reveals the foundational reason why capital punishment is appropriate at least for the murder of a fellow human being  each of is us created in Gods image, and thus human life must be uniquely reverenced in comparison to the respect due the rest of creation.

The New Testament also affirms the governments right to employ capital punishment as one of the options available to fulfill their divinely ordained responsibilities. The Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of Gods Holy Spirit, speaking of the civil magistrate, declares, For he is the minister of God to thee for good, but if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil (Rom. 13:4). The use of the word sword in verse four is a reference to the sword used to execute Roman citizens found guilty of a capital crime.

For nearly two millennia now, this passage has been seen by most Christian faith traditions both as authorizing governmental authority and authorizing their right to use lethal force to punish evil doers, domestically through the criminal justice system and internationally through the military in just war conflicts with other nations.

But what about Jesus commands to love and forgive your enemies? Just the other day I was discussing this issue with a Christian colleague who immediately objected to my reference to the Apostle Pauls Epistle to the Romans, responding, Well, capital punishment may meet the standards of Holy Scripture, but it doesnt survive an encounter with the supreme 'love ethic' of Jesus who commanded us 'to love and forgive our enemies.'"

I responded that there was no conflict. He was making the mistake of succumbing to the red letter fallacy of elevating the very words of Jesus above the rest of the New Testament. As one of my other colleagues once said, All the words of the New Testament are important, but the very words of Jesus take precedent. Such logic mistakenly has led many Christians to set up a false dichotomy between Jesus and the Apostles Paul, John, and Peter in the rest of the New Testament.

In fact, if you really give the very words of Jesus precedence, then you will reject all such false dichotomies. In the Gospel of John, Jesus preparing His disciples for His departure into Heaven after the Resurrection, says, And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you (John 14:16-17 emphasis added).

Jesus then continues to explain the coming Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would come in an entirely new and indwelling way in every believer. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:25-27).

Jesus also tells His disciples, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. . . . When he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he will receive of mine, and shall show it unto you (John 16:12-15).

In other words, Jesus teachings to His disciples though recorded with supernatural accuracy, were limited by the then current limited spiritual cognition of His hearers. Those limitations were removed when they were indwelled, spiritually transformed, and filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

This amounts to Jesus Himself pre-authenticating the rest of the New Testament (Acts-Revelation) and giving it the authority of a more complete revelation since the previous limitations of His listeners were now a thing of the past. So, if we are going to give special attention to the very words of Jesus, He is telling us to look to Acts through Revelation to interpret the Gospels much in the same way we use the New Testament to interpret the Old Testament. All Scripture is inspired and God-exhaled (2 Tim. 3:16). While we do not believe in progressive inspiration, we do believe in progressive revelation. All of the Bible is equally inspired by God. However, the New Testament builds upon the revelation of the Old Testament just as Acts through Revelation builds on the Gospels.

So, there is no contradiction between Gods revelation through the Apostle Paul and the historical accounts and teachings of Jesus in the four Gospels. How do we integrate the Gospels with the Epistles? Well, for example, if someone murders my wife, I have no right to hate or seek vengeance on that person. As a Christian, I must ask our Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit to help me to forgive and love that person. At the same time, I have the right to expect the divinely mandated civil government to fulfill its responsibilities and obligations by penalizing evil doers and punishing that person to the fullest extent of the law.

Lastly, it must be said, if we are going to support the use of capital punishment for crimes such as murder, then we have to be as dedicated to capital punishments just and equitable application as we are to its use. When we look at the history of the United States, we must acknowledge that capital punishment has not been applied equally. Historically, you have been far more likely to be executed in America if you were poor, an ethic minority, or a man. That must change. I believe we have made substantial progress concerning gender bias and ethnicity, but not as much on poverty. The O.J. Simpson case is living proof that someone can get away with homicide if they are rich enough. And sadly, poverty and minority ethnicity are still too often combined in our society.

With those caveats, yes, I believe Christians can and should support capital punishment in crimes such as homicide that are proven beyond the shadow of a doubt and the perpetrator is convicted by a jury of his peers.






Al individuals will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility created in Jaisalmer

New Delhi: An Air India flight, with 150 Indians being evacuated from Iran, will be reaching Jaisalmer on Friday, where they will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility created, the force said.

"Individuals will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility. Another batch of 250 people being air evacuated from Iran on 14 March will also land and quarantined at the Army facility at Jaisalmer," Indian Army said.

"In the next two to three days, we are expecting more citizens to come back to India. We have prepared new facilities at places including Jodhpur, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Kolkata, Jaisalmer, Chennai and Deolali where we can quarantine these people," Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said earlier in the day.

Follow LIVE updates on Coronavirus Outbreak

The disease, which originated in Chinese city of Wuhan in December, last year, has spread to more than 100 countries across the world, infecting over 1,20,000 people globally.

India has reported over 73 cases of infection. Earlier on Wednesday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
Tom Reel/Staff photographer

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said 39 confirmed cases of COVID-19 are known across Texas, though dozens more Texans have been tested.

"I am declaring a state disaster for all counties in the State of Texas," Abbott said at a noontime press conference.
Glasgow, United Kingdom  Scotlands multi-election winning first minister may be getting on with her day job, but she will surely have one eye on disquieting events happening within walking distance of her Scottish Parliament office in Edinburgh.

Nicola Sturgeons predecessor as leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) and Scotlands former head of government, Alex Salmond, 65, has been standing trial since Monday for a string of sexual and indecent assault allegations, all of which he denies.

Sturgeons one-time friend and mentor took Scotland to the brink of Scottish independence in 2014, but how the expected four-week court case might impact the current SNP chief is unknown as the underlying politics of the trial threatens to polarise the party itself.

But such is her standing in Scotland, the United Kingdom and across Europe that all eyes are trained on 49-year-old Sturgeon, as well as the man in the dock.

Anyone whos seen Nicola Sturgeon perform  whether it be on the Scottish, British or international stage  knows that she is one of the UKs most formidable politicians, able easily to wipe the floor with many of the leaders of other parties shes up against, Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, told Al Jazeera.





Sturgeon joined the SNP, then just a fringe party, as a 16-year-old  and soon embarked on a law degree at the University of Glasgow. She failed in her electoral attempts to enter the UK Parliament, but when the devolved Scottish Parliament opened in 1999 she was elected as part of the bodys first batch of newly crowned MSPs.

In 2007, the SNP  under Salmonds leadership  broke the stranglehold of the Scottish Labour Party to become the Scottish Parliaments party of government. While Salmond assumed the role of Scotlands maiden SNP first minister, Sturgeon became his deputy.

Victory in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election was followed three years later by Scotlands first independence referendum, which saw Scots reject sovereignty by 55-45 percent. But after Salmond stood down in late 2014, Sturgeon secured Scotlands highest political office.

Today, having led her party to three consecutive UK general election victories in Scotland, and success in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, Sturgeon remains electorally imperious.

In the context of the United Kingdom, there is some understandable envy that she is clearly the most competent head of government of any of the UK nations, Natalie Bennett, the former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, told Al Jazeera.

Yet not everyone would agree, with critics highlighting her mixed domestic record on health and education. And despite pushing for a second independence vote  after Scotland opted to remain in the EU in the 2016 Brexit referendum while Britain as a whole voted to leave  she has been repeatedly rebuffed by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a Conservative and Unionist who has refused to sanction a legally binding poll, highlighting the limits of her power.

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The Scottish Parliament will also be holding an inquiry into how Sturgeons Scottish government handled complaints against Salmond. The ex-first minister successfully sued his former administration in Edinburgh last year, following its flawed inquiry into sexual harassment claims against him, and he was awarded costs of more than 500,000 ($623,000). How this, too, might play out for Sturgeon, who is the first woman to hold the title of Scottish first minister, is again unknown.

But that has not stopped many from discussing an SNP future without Sturgeon at the helm. For her part, Sturgeon has said she has no intention of going anywhere, and is looking ahead to fighting the next Scottish Parliament election in 2021.

Yet Scottish independence advocates are watching the trial, where one of the complainants is an SNP politician, with great interest.

I know theres been a lot of talk about how things might go during the Salmond trial, and how it might impact on her, which is why some people have been positioning themselves to possibly step into her shoes, says author and independence supporter Lesley McDowell. But Id be very, very sorry to see her go.

Follow Alasdair Soussi on Twitter: @AlasdairSoussi
Brazils Jair Bolsonaro Says He Tested Negative for Coronavirus

Son Eduardo Says Media Outlets Are Spreading 'Fake News'

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced he tested negative for the Wuhan coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, on Friday following reports that claimed he had tested positive after his spokesman was confirmed to have contracted the virus.

On his Twitter account, Bolsonaro made the confirmation. His son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, also wrote that the result for [Bolsonaro] for coronavirus  was NEGATIVE.

A report from a Brazilian newspaper made the claim that he tested positive for COVID-19, which was disputed by the younger Bolsonaro.

Too much lies and little information, he wrote on Twitter on Friday morning. Coronavirus exam done with the team that were with JB in USA have not yet been completed There are always those people who tell lies in the media and if the story is confirmed they say I told you! if not will be just 1 more fake news.

His press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive for the virus earlier this week. They had dinner with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend, and photos showed the Brazilian president meeting with Trump during their dinner. He also shook hands with him afterward.

President Donald Trump (C) speaks with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (L), alongside national security adviser Robert OBrien (R) during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on March 7, 2020. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Wajngarten, meanwhile, had posted a photo standing near the president while holding and wearing Make Brazil Great Again hats.

It came after Brazils government said he was being tested and monitored for the virus, which emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year before spreading across its borders to more than 100 other countries.

The Trump administration also confirmed that Trump was with Bolsonaro and Wajngarten.

The White House is aware of public reports that a member of the Brazilian delegations visit to Mar-a-Lago last weekend tested positive for COVID-19; confirmatory testing is pending, Grisham said in a statement. Exposures from the case are being assessed, which will dictate next steps. Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time.

As stated before, the White House Medical Unit and the United States Secret Service has been working closely with various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First & Second Families, and all White House staff healthy, she added. To reiterate CDC guidelines, there is currently no indication to test patients without symptoms, and only people with prolonged close exposure to confirmed positive cases should self-quarantine.

Trump said this week that he was told about Wajngarten contracting the virus.

We had dinner together in Florida, at Mar-a-Lago, with the entire delegation, Trump told McClatchy. I dont know if the press aide was there, if he was there, he was there. But we did nothing very unusual.
Open source

On March 12, Russian occupants landed two attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas. That resulted in a combat wound for a Ukrainian serviceman, the press office of the Joint Forces Operation HQ reported.

The enemy used grenade launchers and machine guns to attack the emplacements of Ukrainian government forces. A sniper pair worked in the combat area, too.

One attack was observed in the area of Vodyane, Donetsk region; another one took place near Zaitsevo, Luhansk region.

Earlier, the HQ of the Joint Forces Operation reported that a group of snipers of the regular Russian army came to Dombas; they appeared to be the cadets who arrived in the combat area to pass their "final exam". "The occupants wounded one of our defenders by the aiming fire. The injured soldier was provided with the necessary aid urgently. Such criminal activity was not left without a response. The Ukrainian military, using the permitted armament, destroyed the firing points of the enemy. The losses of the enemy to be specified, the message said.
Cabinet has also approved 4% hike in dearness allowance for central government employees.

Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javadekar briefed media on the outcome of the cabinet meeting on Friday, 13 March 2020.

The cabinet approved the reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank. The bank board will take over after the 7 days once the moratorium is lifted through the notifications. Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had announced a draft scheme of reconstruction for the cash-starved lender.

Further, the cabinet approved an increase of 4% in Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from 1 January 2020. This is over the existing rate of 17% of the basic pay/pension.

The cabinet also approved rehabilitation and upgradation of various National Highways covering a total length of over 780 kms in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Copra for 2020 season has been increased to Rs 9,960 per quintal for 2020 season from Rs 9,521.

The cabinet also approved scheme for "Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products" (RoDTEP) to make Indian exports cost competitive and create a level playing field for exporters in International market. The RoDTEP scheme will be implemented with end to end digitization.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A former McDonald's worker in California who is accused of spitting on a hamburger that was served to a uniformed police officer will stand trial, a judge ruled.

Tatyana Hargrove was arrested in November 2019 and faces a felony charge of willfully poisoning food, online court records show.

Prosecutors allege that while working at a McDonald's in Bakersfield the then-21-year-old rubbed a hamburger bun on the floor and then spat on it as she prepared a meal for a city police officer at the drive-thru, NBC affiliate KGET reported.

Tayana Hargrove (KGET)

She also allegedly shouted, Black lives matter" and referred to officers as "pigs," according to the outlet.

The officer did not get sick from eating the burger and did not seek medical treatment.

A judge dismissed an earlier misdemeanor battery charge but at a hearing on Thursday ordered her to go on trial for the felony count. Her arraignment is scheduled for March 23.

Hargrove's attorney, Lexi Blythe, argued that there isn't enough evidence against her client because her back was to the camera while she was making the officer's order, KGET reported. Blythe also said it's not known if cleaning products had recently been used on the floor.

Prosecutor Gina Pearl told the judge that one of Hargrove's coworkers said they heard her draw saliva into her mouth as she was making the food. Video also caught Hargrove wiping her mouth afterward, Pearl said.

Prior to the November 2019 incident, Hargrove had filed a federal lawsuit against the Bakersfield Police Department alleging that she was beaten and arrested in 2017 by two officers while riding her bicycle.

The suit says that one of the officers approached Hargrove with his gun drawn although she had done nothing wrong. The officer proceeded to question Hargrove about where she had been and demanded she turn over her backpack, which she refused to do after asking the officer if he had a warrant.

The two police officers "violently retaliated," according to the lawsuit. One of them snatched Hargrove off her bike and punched her, the suit says. The other officer allegedly released his K-9 dog on Hargrove. The girl screamed for help as the dog bit her in the leg, the lawsuit claims.

"Even though she was completely innocent of a crime, Hargrove was maliciously arrested and detained overnight," it says. The case went to trial, and a jury ruled in favor of the City of Bakersfield.
Mnuchin Vows Massive Amount of Liquidity to Counter Coronavirus Market Turmoil

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said his office was working closely with the Federal Reserve to ensure an ample supply of liquidity to markets that have been rocked by the coronavirus epidemic.

Mnuchin told CNBC in an interview Friday that he and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell were in constant conversation about financial crisis management tools that could be deployed to counter the virus-driven fallout.

We dont have the same authorities we had before Dodd-Frank and the financial crisis, but we do have authorities and we will be looking at using those, Mnuchin said, noting that the Fed had already announced the injection of over a trillion dollars of short-term liquidity into markets, in what he said was an unprecedented move.

The New York Federal Reserve said Thursday it would make $1.5 trillion available for overnight lending markets and start purchasing a broader range of U.S. Treasury securities as part of its monthly purchases. The central bank offered $500 billion in a three-month repo operation on Thursday and will offer an additional $500 billion in one-month repo and $500 billion in three-month repo loans on Friday.

Well be rolling out other programs, Mnuchin said. There will be a massive amount of liquidity.

No Stigma

The Treasury Secretary also encouraged banks to borrow from the Feds so-called discount window, which is a monetary policy tool banks have often been reluctant to use.

Theres no stigma about going to the discount window, Mnuchin said. They should feel free to draw from the discount window. Thats another great source of liquidity for them to lend to companies.

A Fed research note explains the stigma dynamics: For decades, banks have demonstrated some reluctance to use the discount window in this manner out of concern that the act of borrowing might send a negative signal about their financial conditions to their counterparties, their competitors, their regulators, and the public.

At various times, the Federal Reserve has made adjustments to discount window operating procedures in an effort to reduce stigma, but stigma likely persists today, the note says.

Mnuchin also said the Trump administration was considering a range of alternatives to ensure the economy does not seize up in the face of coronavirus-related travel disruptions, event cancellations, and business closures.

Were going to look at every tool in the toolbox, he said, adding that the Trump administration was considering a temporary suspension of student debt payments amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Thats on our list of 50 different items were bringing to the president for a decision, Mnuchin told CNBCs Squawk Box after being asked if he would consider a three-month suspension of payments.

The president is all about action, action, action, he added.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the Treasury Department would defer tax payments without interest or penalties for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted, aiming to provide more than $200 billion of additional liquidity to the economy.

Trump also said the Small Business Administration will provide capital and liquidity to firms affected by the coronavirus by providing low-interest loans to small businesses in affected states and territories, effective immediately. He also suspended all travel from Europe, with a few exceptions, to the United States for 30 days starting on Friday.

Earlier, Trump signed an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to combat the spread of the virus and develop vaccines for the disease.

Mnuchin also told CNBC that he believes the stock market plunge will be short-lived and so represents an attractive buying opportunity.

This is a short-term issue. It may be a couple of months but were going to get through this and the economy will be stronger than ever, he said.

I look back at people who bought stocks after the crash in 1987, people who bought stocks after the financial crisis. For long-term investors, this will be a great investment opportunity, he added.
Six Flags Fiesta Texas has announced it is closing until the end of March due to coronavirus concerns.

The amusement park posted on to its Twitter account that it will close Saturday until the end of the month when it will re-evaluate the situation. The park has also hired an infectious disease specialist for advice, Fiesta Texas said in a news release.

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"While there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at this property, the safety of our guests and team members is always our highest priority," Fiesta Texas said, adding that it will continue to monitor the conditions and follow guidance from local and federal officials.

SeaWorld San Antonio has followed suit and announced Friday afternoon that starting March 16 it will temporarily close all of its theme parks through the end of the month.

Essential personnel, including the animal care experts, will continue to look after the health, safety and nutritional needs of the animals at the park, SeaWorld said. Animal rescue and rehabilitation operations will also continue.

Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resort will also close its waterparks in New Braunfels and Galveston until the end of March.

In a news release, the resort said it believes this was the right decision for its guests, associates and community.

"Our guests and associates are considered family. We have their wellbeing at the forefront of our decision making," the resort said in the release.

The Schlitterbahn Resort hotels will remain open.

The resort said it will work with guests who have prepaid tickets or booked rooms during the closure period. Refunds and rebookings may be requested by emailing requests@schlitterbahn.com.

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
The Madhya Pradesh government on Friday ordered closure of private and government schools for an indefinite period in view of the coronavirus threat, said a senior official.

The private and government schools will remain shut till further orders but examinations of different classes would be held as per the schedule, he said.

An official statement issued by Principal Secretary, School Education Department, Rashmi Arun Shami, said all private and government schools would observe holiday temporarily till the next order.

The order has been implemented with immediate effect, said officer.

However, teachers and non-teaching staff will have to attend schools during this period, the order stated.

So far, no confirmed case of the novel coronavirus has been found in the state.

The step to close schools has been taken as a precautionary measure to avoid any outbreak of the disease in view of positive cases reported from different parts of the country, the official said.
To have that happen, you need the volume, and you need the scale at the lab level, he said.

Dr. Alexander L. Greninger, an assistant professor at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, the center of the nations outbreak, said his lab had already been talking to Roche about expanding its capacity and was obtaining the equipment needed to begin using the commercial test. The Washington lab is testing about 1,500 patients a day, and the Roche approval will significantly expand that.

In an interview, Dr. Thomas Schinecker, the chief executive of Roche Diagnostics, said developing such a test normally takes years. Several other testing companies, including Hologic and Cepheid, have also said they were developing commercial tests for the virus.

With the approval, he said, we can really do a lot more testing in a much shorter period of time.

The company has been installing new equipment around the country in anticipation of the F.D.A. approval, and Dr. Schinecker said that all of the major American testing companies already had the Roche testing systems.

The F.D.A. said a 24-hour emergency hotline was now available to help public and private labs process and validate tests, staffed by F.D.A. employees who field calls about potential problems with getting controls for tests or with swabs taken from a patient, among other subjects. In the first day that the hotline has been up, the F.D.A. has received dozens of calls, an F.D.A. spokeswoman said.

Beyond Roche, the Department of Health and Human Services also announced it would award over a million dollars to two other companies, DiaSorin Molecular and Qiagen, to speed up the development of one-hour tests. The tests are a potentially significant overhaul of the current federal diagnostic model, which requires swabs from patients be sent to laboratories for testing. That takes hours at a minimum.

Doctors have been clamoring for point-of-care coronavirus tests allowing results to be produced where patients are received, similar to how people are tested for the flu or strep throat.

We are working with the private sector at an urgent pace to make these tests available on as many diagnostic platforms as we can in the coming weeks, Rick A. Bright, the director of the biomedical research unit at the Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement.
Washington: US Attorney-General William Barr has not been tested for COVID-19 despite meeting a week ago with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who has been diagnosed with the virus.

The White House said that President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, who also met Dutton, was working from home for the day but would not go into self-quarantine.

Dutton announced on Friday that he was in hospital in Brisbane after testing positive for coronavirus.

He was in Washington D.C. last week, where he met with Barr, Ivanka Trump and other White House officials about efforts to prevent online child exploitation and intelligence sharing.
The first case of novel coronavirus can be traced back to November 17 last year in China's Hubei province, which subsequently became its epicentre as it rapidly spread at home and abroad before Chinese health officials could identify the deadly virus, according to a media report on Friday.

IMAGE: Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Photograph: Reuters

Chinese authorities have so far identified at least 266 people who were infected in 2019.

All the 266 individuals came under medical surveillance at some point, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

The first case of someone in China suffering from COVID-19 can be traced back to November 17, the report said quoting government data.

A 55-year-old from Hubei province could have been the first person to have contracted the viral infection on November 17 last year and cases rapidly began piling up since then, it said, without revealing the gender of the individual.

The Hubei province is under lockdown since January 23 after it became a battleground for the novel coronavirus.

The total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the hard-hit province so far is 67,786, which showed the extent of the spread of the virus in the area.

Hubei's capital Wuhan, the ground zero, has so far reported 49,991 confirmed cases, including 2,436 deaths, the local health commission said on Friday.

According to the Post report, scientists have been trying to map the pattern of the early transmission of COVID-19 since an epidemic was reported in Wuhan in January, two months before the outbreak became a global health crisis.

Understanding how the disease spread and determining how undetected and undocumented cases contributed to its transmission will greatly improve their understanding of the size of that threat, it said.

Since November 17, one to five new coronavirus cases surfaced each day.

By December 15, the total number of infections stood at 27 -- the first double-digit daily rise was reported on December 17 -- and by December 20, the total number of confirmed cases reached 60, the report said.

On December 27, Zhang Jixian, a doctor from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, told China's health authorities that the disease was caused by a new coronavirus.

By that date, over 180 people had been infected, though doctors might not have been aware of all of them at the time, the report said.

By December 31, the number of confirmed cases rose to 266.

On January 1, the numbers jumped to 381.

Dr Li Wenliang, a 29-year-old whistle-blower who later died of COVID-19, was warned by local police when he first wrote about the virus on social media on December 31.

While the government records have not been released to the public, they provide valuable clues about how the disease spread in its early days and the speed of its transmission, as well as how many confirmed cases Beijing has recorded, the report said.

Scientists are now keen to identify the so-called "patient zero", which could help them to trace the source of the coronavirus, which is generally thought to have jumped to humans from a wild animal, possibly a bat, it said.

Of the first nine cases to be reported in November -- four men and five women -- none has been confirmed as being "patient zero".

They were all aged between 39 and 79, but it is not known how many were residents of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

It is possible that there were reported cases dating back even earlier than those seen by the Post in the government data, it said.

Interviews with whistle-blowers from the medical community suggest Chinese doctors only realised they were dealing with a new disease in late December.

According to the World Health Organisation, the first confirmed COVID-19 case in China was on December 8, but the global body does not track the disease itself but relies on nations to provide such information.

A report published in medical journal The Lancet by Chinese doctors from Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, which treated some of the earliest patients, put the date of the first known infection at December 1.

Dr Ai Fen, the first known whistleblower, told People magazine in an interview, which was later censored, that tests showed that a patient at Wuhan Central Hospital was diagnosed on December 16 as having contracted an unknown strain of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the total confirmed coronavirus cases in China reached 80,813 on Thursday.

The number comprised 3,176 deaths, 13,526 patients undergoing treatment and 64,111 individuals discharged after recovery, China's Health Commission said on Friday.

The report tracing back the first COVID-19 case to November 17 came amid a war of words between China and the United States over the origin of the virus.

On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian alleged that the US army might have brought coronavirus to Wuhan, while reacting to US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield's reported remarks that some flu patients may have been misdiagnosed and actually had coronavirus.

Zhao tweeted, "CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!"

He, however, did not elaborate about his allegation against the US army.

In a televised speech on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said coronavirus started in China and spread to other places.

On Monday, foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang condemned US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for branding the coronavirus as "Wuhan virus" and termed his remarks as "despicable behaviour" and an attempt to stigmatise the Communist country.
Ministry of Health says claim of coronavirus in Cancun is false

Cancun, Q.R.  The Ministry of Health says a letter circulating across social media claiming a positive case of coronavirus in Cancun is false.

The head of SESA (Secretaria de Salud Quintana Roo) responded to the circulation of the letter, referring to it as fake news, reminding the population to better inform themselves through official means of state health authorities.

The announcement came from SESA head Alejandra Aguirre Crespo, who posted the reaction on social media, confirming that the official data of Covid-19 in Quintana Roo still stands at zero confirmed cases.

She explained that from February 28 to 7:00 p.m. Thursday, March 12 there have been a total of 17 suspected cases, 12 negative and five under study.

She says a letter on SESA letterhead that appears signed by the state governor claiming a positive case of coronavirus in Cancun is completely false, calling it an apocryphal document.
CIC dismisses appeal seeking disclosure of reports by SBI to Centre, RBI regarding electoral bonds

SBI gets nod to invest Rs 7,250 crore in Yes Bank

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 13: The country's largest lender State Bank of India on Thursday said it has received approval to buy Rs 7,250 crore worth of shares in crisis-hit Yes Bank.

"The executive committee of central board (ECCB) at its meeting held on March 11 accorded approval for purchase of 725 crore shares in Yes Bank at a price of Rs 10 per share subject to all regulatory approvals," SBI said in a regulatory filing.

The bank's shareholding in Yes Bank will remain within 49 per cent of the paid-up capital of the private sector lender.

Last week, the Reserve Bank of India had announced a draft scheme of reconstruction for cash-starved Yes Bank.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

ICAI will review Yes Bank's financial statements

The scheme said the strategic investor in the bank will have to pick up 49 per cent stake and it cannot reduce holding to below 26 per cent before three years from the date of capital infusion.

The scheme was announced a day after the RBI imposed a moratorium on the bank, restricting withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per depositor till April 3.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has reported 12 cases of coronavirus in the occupied city of Horlivka in Donetsk region.

He said this at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Friday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We now have tentative information on 12 cases of coronavirus that is spreading in Horlivka. Therefore, we are introducing tighter controls with occupied territories," he said.

According to Avakov, if a citizen of Ukraine lives in Horlivka and has a place of registration there, he or she may not enter mainland Ukraine while the quarantine is in place.

Three cases of coronavirus have been reported in Ukraine so far: two in Chernivtsi region and one in Zhytomyr region.

According to the COVID-19 Interactive Map-19 of the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, 128,343 people were infected with coronavirus worldwide as of early March 13, 4,720 died, 68,324 recovered.

op
Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency funding to help it fight the coronavirus outbreak that has hit the Islamic Republic hard, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday. The escalating outbreak in Iran - the worst-affected country in the Middle East - has killed 429 people and infected 10,075. The outbreak has damaged Iranian businesses and is bound to hit its non-oil exports after many neighboring countries and trade partners shut their borders.

The IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, "has stated that countries affected by #COVID19 (coronavirus) will be supported via Rapid Financial Instrument. Our Central Bank requested access to this facility immediately", Zarif said in a tweet. Iranian Central Bank chief Abdolnaser Hemmati wrote on his Instagram page that "in a letter addressed to the head of IMF, I have requested five billion U.S. dollars from the RFI emergency fund to help our fight against the coronavirus".

Iran's economy was already battered by U.S. sanctions that curb oil and gas exports crucial for government revenues. A slowdown in economic activity caused by the virus outbreak and a sustained closure of its borders are expected to lead to a contraction this year, analysts have said.

As Iran's clerical rulers struggle to contain the coronavirus outbreak, Tehran has blamed the United States and its "maximum pressure" policy for restricting Iran's ability to respond effectively to the virus. In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Zarif repeated Iran's demand for U.S. sanctions to be lifted, Iranian media reported.

U.S. officials have said that the sanctions do not target medicine for Iran and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month said the United States had offered to help Tehran face the outbreak. Iran dismissed the offer as ridiculous. U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Also read: Oil prices decline for third straight session, Brent crude set for worst week since 1991

Also read: Coronavirus Live Updates: Google's employee tests positive in Bengaluru; staff asked to work from home
President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro has positive analysis for the coronavirus as Jornal O Dia reported citing the sources in the presidential administration.

The initial test for coronavirus of Bolsonaro showed the positive result, the media reported.

Currently, the president expects the results of the second test.

Other large Brazilian mass media do not report that his initial results showed a positive result.

Officially, no information about the results of the analysis is provided.

On the eve, it was confirmed that the worker of Bolsonaru, who is responsible for communication in his administration, has coronavirus. Besides, they visited the U.S. together, where they met U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President of the U.S. Mike Pence.

The White House stated earlier that they will not pass the test for the coronavirus as they did not have close contact with the infected Brazilian.

As we reported, in 48 hours, Ukraine will close its border for foreigners for two weeks. Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will warn all the institutions and all countries that the border of Ukraine will be closed for two weeks.

Officially, one woman died in Ukraine. Two cases of Covid-19 confirmed.
This photo provided by the North Korean government shows a military drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Monday, March 9, 2020. AP



North Korea's recent engine testing suggests the regime may be ready to test a more advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that could pose a greater threat to the United States, a U.S. general said Thursday.



Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, commander of the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, offered the assessment in a written statement to the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces ahead of a hearing on fiscal year 2021 priorities for missile defense and missile defeat programs.



"Kim Jong-un has demonstrated the capability to threaten the U.S. homeland with nuclear-armed ICBMs," he said, referring to the North Korean leader. "In 2017, North Korea successfully tested an apparent thermonuclear weapon as well as two ICBM designs capable of ranging most or all of North America  feats only the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council had previously achieved."



O'Shaughnessy recalled that after the North's last ICBM test in November 2017, Kim declared the research and development phase of the country's strategic weapons program complete and vowed to begin serial production and deployment of these new systems.



In the past year, the general said, North Korea tested several new short-range missile systems and demonstrated advancing technologies that could eventually be incorporated into its strategic systems.



In December, the general also recalled, Kim stated it was time to take offensive measures to ensure the country's sovereignty and security and threatened to soon unveil a new strategic weapon.



"While Kim did not specify what this new weapon would be, recent engine testing suggests North Korea may be prepared to flight test an even more capable ICBM design that could enhance Kim's ability to threaten our homeland during a crisis or conflict," said O'Shaughnessy, alluding to the two apparent engine tests conducted at North Korea's western satellite launching site in December.



The general described USNORTHCOM's ballistic missile defense mission as a "no-fail mission."



"North Korea continues to openly threaten the United States with nuclear-capable ICBMs," he said, "and it is essential that our ballistic missile defense system continues to provide a reliable and lethal defense against a potential missile attack by North Korea or Iran, should Iran decide to develop ICBM technology."



Late last year, North Korea threatened to send an unwanted "Christmas gift" to the U.S. in protest of stalled denuclearization negotiations between the countries.



Many expected the "gift" to be an ICBM launch in the wake of its presumed engine tests, but there was no major provocation around Christmas and there have not been any since. (Yonhap)


Abby Cohen is sick to her back teeth of being labelled 'that victim of the Strictly curse' after her childhood sweetheart, former rugby international Ben Cohen, left her for his Strictly Come Dancing partner Kristina Rihanoff six years ago.

'I'm bored of the subject,' she says. 'My whole world fell apart when Ben made the decision to end our marriage. It's like a bus has hit you. I was broken  completely broken.

'One moment you're a family unit, the next you not only lose your husband but your children when they're with their dad.

Moving on: Abby Cohen has revealed she has found a new love, six years after her ex husband Ben Cohen, left her for his Strictly Come Dancing partner Kristina Rihanoff

'I couldn't handle being in the house without them. I'd go to the home of my best friends Scott and Georgie Bayliss in the next village and just sit on their sofa, staring at the wall, while Scott tried to convince me everything would be OK.

'I didn't believe him. I'd just cry so much. But now I honestly don't remember being that vulnerable woman.

'I thought, 'I won't  I can't  ever recover' but...' Then her face lights up like, dare I say it, the Strictly glitterball.

Romance: Ben Cohen's ex-wife Abby has found love with a new man, going 'Instagram official' with him earlier this month

Kristina Rihanoff and Ben Cohen were partnered on Dancing on Ice six years ago

Today, Abby has a new life with her 12-year-old twins Harriette and Isabelle in a new home, and a career as a successful photographer.

Last week she went 'Instagram official' after posting a joyous photograph of herself in the arms of her boyfriend of a few months, Dave, with the caption 'Windy, Rainy, Sunshine and this perfect man'.

'I use Instagram as an advertising tool for my business,' says Abby. 'When I downloaded the picture, I was struck by the lens flare  when the light hits the back of the lens. I hardly recognised myself, I looked so happy. I haven't looked like that for a long time.

Way back when: Abbey pictured with her ex husband Ben when they were childhood sweethearts aged 17

'I put it on Instagram without really thinking. When I woke up the next day, loads of people had started to follow me. Then a publicist I use for my work called to say, 'You've got a new boyfriend'.

'I thought, 'Everyone still labels me Ben's ex' but I'm not that Abby any more. I'm me. I've got my two girls. My life. I've finally met a really nice man. I want to be known as 'Abby the good photographer' or 'Abby the great mum'. I'm very different. I'm stronger.'

This is the first interview Abby has given since the life she once knew ended six years ago.

She probably doesn't really want to be here, in a swish London hotel room. The 41-year-old is a deeply private woman who prefers a ride in the countryside around her Northamptonshire home.

'I don't like being the centre of attention. I posted that photograph innocently, not thinking it would be plastered everywhere.

'When the Strictly curse is brought up, I find it really difficult as it brings back the dark feelings I had then. I was in such turmoil. I've worked really hard and had all sorts of therapy to get through that misery.

'This is my first and only interview on the subject and I hope it will draw a line under it.'

In truth, the glitz of BBC1's Strictly, on which Ben appeared in 2013, is a world away from the contented family life he and Abby built together after meeting when they were 16.

State of affairs: Ben left Abby for his dancing partner Kristina, leaving his ex-wife distraught after falling victim to the Strictly curse (pictured in 2019)

'Ben and I had a lovely marriage,' she says. 'We were just Abs and Ben. We had no problems and he was always loyal to me. He was a really good husband who just happened to be a famous rugby player.

'I was immensely proud of him. He did his job and came back to our little bubble where I had my horse.

'I did eventing and ran a livery yard from our home. Our door was always open and there was a fridge full of food.

'I guess we weren't used to that showbusiness world. It's different, isn't it? I don't like it. I don't watch Strictly. But it's what Ben chose to do in his career, so...' She shrugs.

Abby doesn't want to throw brickbats at her former husband. Their daughters both idolise him.

'He's a great dad to them,' she says. 'All I'll say is, I was married to Ben and he got paired up with a dancer and now he's with that dancer.

'I'd supported this man throughout his career. We were going to grow old together but Ben chose a different path and I didn't fit in with that, sadly. I was left behind.'

She adds: 'It took me a long time to accept, as it would any woman who has married her childhood sweetheart. It was like I was lost in a boat at sea, not knowing where the shore was. There was a huge storm and I wanted to find dry land but I didn't know which way to go.'

Such was Abby's distress that she went grey almost overnight. She now knows she suffered a breakdown, although much of the detail of what happened is a blur of tears, sleepless nights and pain.

'I can't even remember what year I got married,' she says. 'I only know it was July 13, which is ridiculous.

Blended family: Abby and Ben share twin daughters Harriette and Isabelle, 12, while Ben welcomed a third child, Mila, in 2016 [all are pictured]

'I think when you suffer absolute heartbreak, your brain has the ability to block it out. 'I felt such massive despair. It hurts. It's just b****y awful. You want out. You want to shut your eyes and not wake up.'

Abby is rightly proud of having put herself together again. She wants to reassure those stricken with grief that 'the sun does come up again'.

'For me, it didn't come up for a very long time,' she says. 'But I had an incredibly supportive family and a really good network of loyal friends. Without their support, I don't know what would have happened.

'You wake up at night and it's there in your solar plexus.' She clasps the pit of her stomach. 'It's crushing. Your heart keeps beating fast. You sweat. You can't breathe. There were times I felt really vulnerable.

'I'd wake up at 3am and phone my brother Oz. He and my dad massively supported me.'

Abby is a creative soul with a mind that jumps around  and for a time, her racing mind drove her half mad.

Out with the old: Abby was married to the rugby player-turned-Strictly contestant for 11 years (pictured in 2014  the year they split)

'It consumes you 24/7,' she says. 'I remember going to see a therapist who said, 'Try to give your brain a break from it for a few hours every day  so at 4pm, don't think about it until 6pm. Then try to add half an hour every day.'

'She told me, when I thought of a dark moment, to picture it in black and white. She said keep all your happy times in colour. So when I was on my horse or with my family, those were vibrant, happy thoughts and saturated in colour. Strictly  everything that happened during my breakdown  was all grey.

'Eventually, the grey thoughts go to mush and disappear.

'I gradually recovered but I was kicked in the face a few times. I lost our chocolate Labrador, Rolo, to cancer at the time the marriage ended, and three years later, I had to have my horse Barney put down  he broke his leg.

'That was very difficult. He was 27. Ben bought him for me when I was 20. We based our home around horses. Before my children, he was my child.

'The house had gone, everything had gone. Other than the children, he was our last tie.'

Her eyes fill with tears. 'You get to a point where you think, 'Enough is enough. What else can go wrong? What did I do to deserve this?' You try to evaluate what has happened and you can't find any reason for it. The only way, after that, is onwards and upwards.'

Work helped, she says.

Photography began as a hobby. When the livery stables went with the sale of the family home, Abby decided to make it her career. She was encouraged by local jeweller Steffan Suter, who texted each day to check how she was.

'He's a lovely, eccentric man. Ben and I got our wedding rings from him. He'd message me saying, 'How are you? What's your score today on a scale of one to five?'

'If I said, 'Oh, it's a two,' he'd say, 'Right, let's meet for a coffee.' He believed in my photography and challenged me to photograph 40 of their [jewellery] pieces.'

She fiddles with the rose gold stirrup bracelet that was designed by Steffan's wife Julles.

'Photographing jewellery is tough because every edge has a shine or curve, so the lights have to be just right.

'He threw me in the deep end, so I researched it and... she smiles. I suppose he was my therapist without me realising it.

'You have to move forward and photography gave me that break.

'I think the change happened when I stopped trying to fight something I had no control over. I began to feel better as I became increasingly obsessed with my job. I built a studio in our new home. I lost myself in there for hours. It really is my passion.

'It's as addictive as exercise. You know when you get that adrenaline high after a run? That's how I feel when I do a shoot and make my clients happy.

'I began to let go of the past and realise, it's happened. I can't get my old life back. Ben has moved on. He's happy. He made his choice. I've got to accept that he wants to be with a new person and won't be coming back.

Strictly curse: 'Once I began to accept that I couldn't change things, I started to feel better and the sun came out' Abby said (Kristina and Ben pictured together in 2018)

'Once I began to accept that I couldn't change things, I started to feel better and the sun came out. I think my biggest regret is spending all those years crying  I don't know how my body produced as many tears as it did.

'Five years was a long time to be sad.'

Abby is now co-hosting a makeover show with the Duchess of Cambridge's hairdresser Richard Ward, make-up artist Lisa Armstrong and stylist Erica Matthews for Mail Plus TV, in which she helps guests with their photographs for online dating sites.

'When Richard phoned to ask me, I thought, 'Yes, I can do that,' she says. 'I can empathise with the guests. I've been on the floor and I'm ready to meet someone new.'

'It's only recently I've felt ready. When you're single, to start with it's bloody awful. You don't get invited to things and feel like an outcast.

'Ben had been my sweetheart since I was 16. I'd never done the dating thing. People asked the whole time, 'Have you met anyone yet?' It drives you mad. I'd lost so much confidence.

'Rejection is the worst thing  you go through these feelings of 'I'm not nice, not pretty enough'. Then, as you get your self-worth back, you start to think 'maybe I am attractive'.

Researching for the show, Abby was on various dating apps when she met 46-year-old Dave. They both swiped right and have been seeing one another for a few months.

She continues to glow as she talks about her boyfriend.

'I'd begun to despair of ever meeting anyone. I just remember walking into the pub to meet him  it was a really cold and windy night and I wasn't feeling in the dating mood; I was hoping it would be a quick drink, then head home and back to square one. The modern dating game is pretty brutal.

'Within minutes of meeting him, I knew it was going to be good. He's tall, dark and handsome but it was more than that. His kind and thoughtful nature was what bowled me over  we clicked.

'I remember lying in bed that night, hugging myself and thinking 'thank God'. I knew I'd met someone I could fall in love with again, which I'd thought I never could. I just knew. As Ben used to tell me, my intuition is always right.

'But I'm no longer the Abby Ben married. I'm very different. I have so much more confidence.

'I now appreciate that when you're living with someone who's in the limelight, you begin to exist as an extension of them, rather than a person in your own right. We were together from such a young age, then he became famous so quickly, you feel as if you're living in their shadow. It's ...'

She fumbles for the right words. 'I wasn't really myself. I wasn't Abby. I was Ben's wife.

'Now I've found myself and I actually quite like who I am. I'm that happy girl in the Instagram photograph with a colourful future ahead of her.'
Photo: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

One of the more confusing questions pollsters have asked Democratic voters to answer this year is whether they would prefer their candidate return to Obamas policies versus pursuing a more liberal (or conservative) course. A modest plurality picked the Obama option. You couldnt find a bigger believer in Obamas legacy than me  I literally wrote a book touting it  and Im not even sure how Id answer that question. Obama policies could mean any one of the following:

1) The policy status quo as of January 20, 2017

2) The policies Obama implemented plus the policies he proposed but were blocked by Congress or overturned by conservative courts

3) The policies Obama would be proposing if he were running for president now

The ambiguity about this question reflects the larger confusion about Biden and the return to normalcy he promises. Bidens rhetorical emphasis seems to imply his plan is no more than the first definition of Obama-ism, winding the clock back to the moment before Donald Trump took the oath of office. But the truth is that Biden has a domestic agenda that, while nowhere near as radical as the Bernie Sanders platform, is almost certainly to the left of anything even a Democratic-run Congress would pass.

Last summer, Biden assured a group of donors that nothing fundamental will change in their lives under his plan. Outraged progressives seized on the words, often skipping right over the fundamental, reimagining the line as a promise that nothing would change for the rich:

Here's Joe Biden, literally telling the mega-rich that if he's elected, nothing will change. pic.twitter.com/I1CecQBWq9  Dante Atkins (@DanteAtkins) June 19, 2019

Biden was not saying that. His point was that he was asking them to take a hit to their after-tax income in return for buying social peace, but that the sacrifice would be finite  he would not confiscate their homes or end their livelihoods. Indeed, last week the Tax Policy Center published its analysis of Bidens plan to increase taxes on the rich. The plan would raise $4 trillion over a decade, making it  if enacted  one of the largest wealth transfers in American history.

TPCs has a chart illustrating the effect on after-tax income. One-percenters would see their annual income drop by 10-15 percent:

Now, as Biden promised, that still wouldnt be a fundamental change in their lives. They would still have a lot of money  more, in most cases, than they enjoyed a decade ago. But it is still a very sizable change, one that would likely meet with bitter and even hysterical resistance from the rich when introduced in Congress.

There is plenty more liberal meat on the bones of Bidens program. He is proposing more generous subsidies and medicaid funding along with a public option in order to achieve universal health care; a combination of $1.7 trillion in clean energy investment and a suite of tighter regulation to bring emissions to zero by 2050; a combined $2 trillion in new spending on early education, post-secondary education, and housing, a $1.3 trillion infrastructure plan, and a $15 minimum wage.

There is more Biden could be proposing to advance the liberal agenda. Ive argued he should adopt some of Elizabeth Warrens anti-corruption and financial regulation plans, including a financial transaction tax. Eric Levitz has some ideas of his own, including marijuana legalization. If he can carry a Democratic majority into the Senate, a lot of possibilities will open. Campaign proposals only go so far, though. The limits of his legislation will be set by the 50th Senator, and the limits of his executive action will be set by the fifth Supreme Court justice. That would have been true under a Sanders or Warren administration, too.

Obama effected a great deal of progress, especially in the first two years, before Republicans took back Congress and blockaded major legislation. The slow-paced last six years of Obamas presidency helped spur the Bernie movement, with its ambition of summoning a mass army of non-voters that would force the likes of Mitch McConnell to open the way to left-wing reforms.

The failure of the Sanders campaign to inspire anything like such a voter uprising, and the all but certain end his campaign is facing, should bring the left back to reality. But reality doesnt mean nothing. It means that, with the possibility of full control of government comes the opportunity for meaningful progress again. Biden mostly casts himself as a return to normalcy. But what he is promising as well is a continuation of the liberal tradition of Roosevelt, Johnson, and Obama.
For everyone whos heeding the authorities advice to slow the spread of the coronavirus by avoiding large public gatherings, theres at least one small comfort: We have more at-home viewing options than ever before. If you plan on being home with kids during spring break, for example, you can check out Disney Plus, the streaming service thats packed with family friendly choices.

Disney Plus launched in November, boasting a wide range of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars content, along with National Geographic shows and others, courtesy of the Hulu and ESPN Plus subscription bundle.

In addition to popular movie franchises, Disney Plus has, like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, added original series and movies. There are decades of movies and shows to sort through, but heres a guide to some newer fare, along with a few older titles, that are worth catching up on.

(How do I get Disney Plus? A subscription is $6.99 a month; a bundle that includes Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus is $12.99 a month)

The Mandalorian

Easily the most talked-about original on Disney Plus, this story is set in the Star Wars universe, and follows a bounty hunter (played by Pedro Pascal), whose adventures are a cross between science fiction and classic Westerns. Star Wars fans have gobbled it up, but so has anybody who laid eyes on The Child, aka Baby Yoda, who has become an adorable pop culture sensation. Adding to the buzz factor are such talents as Werner Herzog, Giancarlo Esposito, Taika Waititi and Nick Nolte (youll recognize his growly voice).

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

The title is definitely a mouthful, but being self-referential is what this lighthearted comedy-musical is all about. Its the story of students at East High, the school where 2006s hugely popular High School Musical TV movie was filmed. Well, now, its 13 years later, and the school drama department is staging its own production of the original musical, complete with new faces playing the roles of Gabriella, Troy, Sharpay, Ryan and more.

Encore!

We stay in musical theater territory with Encore, a reality series spin on the putting-on-a-show idea. Kristen Bell (whose Disney credentials include her providing the voice of the adult Anna in Frozen) is an executive producer, and the series follows former castmates of, yes, a high school musical. We watch as these now-grown former thespians try and re-create their original performances in such productions as The Sound of Music and Beauty and the Beast. It isnt always easy, but thats showbiz, folks.

Forky Asks a Question

An unlikely hit among many Disney Plus subscribers, this short-form series features the lovable spork, Forky, introduced in Toy Story 4. In the short animated episodes, Forky (voiced by Tony Hale), asks such questions as What is love?, What is a pet?, What is money?, and What is a friend? The episodes are sweet and reassuring, and feature Forky getting advice from assorted pals, including Ham, the piggy bank.

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made

This humorous but insightful movie version of Stephan Pastis bestselling book, is, on one level, a fanciful tale of 11-year-old Timmy (Winslow Fegley), who is obsessed with operating his own detective agency, helped by his partner, a polar bear. On another level, its a subtle lesson in how a thoughtful boy uses his imagination when hes faced with challenges hes not quite able to make sense of yet.

Director Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) nicely balances comedy and lesson-learning, and Portlanders will get a kick out of seeing our city presented in a quirky, yet down-to-earth way. The fine cast also includes Craig Robinson, Ophelia Lovibond, Kyle Bornheimer and Wallace Shawn.

The World According to Jeff Goldblum

The actor and musician gets to follow his curious mind on various paths, as episodes involve Jeff Goldblum exploring topics and items that seem ordinary, until he discovers some of the people and ideas involved. For example, Goldblum visits with Tyler Malek, co-founder of Salt & Straw, the ice cream empire that was founded in Portland.

Gravity Falls

This animated series isnt new (it ran on the Disney Channel from 2012 to 2016), but heres a chance to watch a series that critics have favorably compared to, of all things, Twin Peaks.

This comedy-mystery focuses on kids who spend the summer with their great uncle in the fictional Oregon community of Gravity Falls, which  in that great Northwest pop culture tradition  has all sorts of unexplained, oddball things going on. The voice cast includes Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal.

The Simpsons

When the classic animated series, created by Portlands own Matt Groening, first started streaming on Disney Plus, it prompted a loud outcry. Fans were irate because the streaming service was showing the episodes in the wrong format, which, as Variety reported, cropped out key details from older episodes. Responding to the complaints, Disney Plus issued a statement promising to make the first 19 seasons (and some Season 20 episodes) available in the original aspect ratio, for viewers who want to watch that format. Unfortunately, that wont happen until early 2020. Doh! In the meantime, fans can watch zillions of episodes featuring Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and the rest of the Springfield gang.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Hours after the BJP named its two candidates for elections to the Rajya sabha from Haryana, the Congress decided to field former state Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's son Deepender Hooda for the Upper house, paying heed to the demand from its party MLA in the state.

All three Rajya Sabha seat aspirants from Haryana -- Dushyant Kumar Gautam and Ram Chander Jangra of the BJP and Hooda of the Congress -- will file their nomination papers for the elections on Friday -- the last day fixed for the purposes.

While the BJP named its candidates earlier in the day, the Congress announced 42-year-old Hooda's name late in the evening.

Earlier, amid a race between Haryana Congress president and veteran leader Kumari Selja and former state Chief Minister Hooda's son for nomination to the Rajya Sabha seats, a senior party leader had batted for the latter's candidature.

Batting for the junior Hooda's nomination against the current Rajya Sabha MP Selja, whose term expires next month, Rohtak MLA B B Batra had claimed the majority of Congress legislators from the state wanted Deepender to be nominated.

The Congress has 31 MLAs in the 90-member Haryana assembly and the majority of them are loyalists of Hooda, who, party sources earlier claimed, had been vigorously pushing for his son's candidature to the Upper House.

Deepender had been a three-time MP from Rohtak. In 2014, the Congress could manage to retain only the Rohtak seat, losing all other nine Lok Sabha seats from Haryana.

However, in 2019, Deepender narrowly lost to BJP's Arvind Sharma as the saffron party won all ten parliamentary seats from the state.

Notably, the two Rajya Sabha vacancies are due to resignation of BJP's Ram Kumar Kashyap and the expiry of Congress leader Kumari Selja's term next month. A third vacancy which has necessitated a bypoll rose following the resignation of former Union Minister and BJP leader Birender Singh.

In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the BJP has 40 MLAs while its alliance partner JJP has 10. The main opposition Congress has 31 members while out of seven independent MLAs, six have extended support to the BJP-JJP government. The INLD has one MLA while one member belongs to the Haryana Lokhit Party.

Both the BJP and Congress are poised to bag one seat each but a keen contest is expected as the saffron party has fielded two candidates.

After the BJP named its candidates, backward community leader Jangra and party vice president Gautam said they have been working for the party like ordinary workers and have always accepted whatever duty was assigned to them.

The two leaders thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda for their nomination and also expressed their gratitude towards Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Gautam said over the years, he has worked for the party in various positions and will continue to work in the spirit based on 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas (Taking along all for progress of all).

"Our party and the government led by it has been working for the country's development and we believe that the fruits of development should reach the last man in the queue," he told PTI.

Jangra, who hails from Meham in Rohtak district, said the BJP has always given him love and respect ever since he joined the party in 2004.

Before joining the BJP, he was associated with Haryana Vikas Party, led by former Chief Minister Bansi Lal. However, when the HVP merged with the Congress, he joined the BJP.

Jangra, who was appointed as the chairperson of the Haryana Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections Kalyan Nigam in 2015 by the Khattar government, has also served as Haryana BJP's vice president and the state president of its OBC cell.
(Photo : Soe Zeya Tun on Reuters ) Coronavirus Secret Cure: Blend These Herbs and Drink it, Says Indonesia President Joko Widodo (Photo : Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash) Coronavirus Secret Cure: Blend These Herbs and Drink it, Says Indonesia President Joko Widodo

If you are looking for a cure or how to battle against Coronavirus or COVID-19 that is widely spreading today, Indonesian President Joko Widodo might have an answer to this question. The president recommended and shared a recipe that he commonly drinks every day in order to protect his body from the virus. Are you willing to try it?

How to cure Coronavirus? Indonesia President shares his secret!

If you believed that medicinal herbs could cure diseases, President Joko Widodo thinks so. As reported via Bloomberg, President Widodo has a tip for all people battling to cure or prevent getting the viral disease Coronavirus that now infected over 100,000 people around the world.

Widodo said in a statement posted on their website that he has been drinking a specific type of tea that makes his body more immune to getting the disease. A common drink in Southeast Asia called 'Jamu,' is a mixture of red ginger, lemongrass, turmeric, and Curcuma, a type of tumeric native to Southeast Asia.

As explained, Widodo has been drinking Jamu three times a day since the spread of the virus and has not felt any negative effects on his body, aside from the fact that he interacts with a lot of people every day.

"I drink the mixture instead of tea now," Jokowi said in the statement. "I give the drinks to my guests, be it the morning, afternoon, or evening."

Jamu was said to be a native herbal medicine used in Asian countries that claim to cure diseases, from common flu, uric acid, and even stomach ache. Aside from that, Jamu drink also claims to have an effect on sexual factors for men, which increases stamina.

As of now, medicinal herbs are not yet verified by the World Health Organization or any health experts that can cure or battle against Coronavirus or COVID-19. However, President Widodo claimed that demand for this blended mixture is now increasing than before and even advised citizens to grow their own herbs in order to have their supply for the common herb ingredients.

Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country and was criticized for its lack of proper medical care for all confirmed cases of Coronavirus. As of now, the country has recorded 34 confirmed cases and one death reported on Wednesday, Mar. 11.

Is there a cure for Coronavirus?

Currently, the World Health Organization has not yet confirmed any medicinal cure for the widespread COVID-19. There were reports of potential ones, but the confirmed patients around the world are taking no certain medicine.

Despite this, the agency said that the proper way of battling against the virus is self-cleaning such as regular washing of hands, no touching of face and mouth with your hands, and social distancing from people that are sick or crowded places.

Or you can try Widodo's recommendation.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
With the right mindset and experience, having trained numerous aspiring associates to survive and thrive in the Singapore real estate industry, Jimmy Poh has reformulated the path of becoming a trusted advisor.

SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / MARCH 12, 2020 / Singapore, being one of the most important locations right now in the real estate investment industry, has developed quite the reputation as being the center for regional real estate property investments, which makes being an advisor one can trust such a vital asset to anyone looking to profit off of property ownership. In Singapore, as a trusted advisor, one is mandated to be able to elegantly convince a client and be able to advise accordingly. There is a need for one to be able to give clear paths for a client to take and be able to deliver and fulfill the promises made. With his much-appreciated expertise in the real estate industry, Jimmy has continually redefined the path to become a trusted advisor. He has set up a systematic program to help thousands who have a knack for becoming trusted advisors.

"Friends and family members thought I was crazy when I've ventured out into the world of real estate advisory," says Jimmy. But his unique approach to "always putting clients' needs and wants before your own' made him highly reputed among clients within a short period. Besides, he has an unmatched impact and influence on people and a good charm and demeanor, qualities that make him one of the best. He is also working on what is known as Marina One Residences, which is a collaboration between Singapore's Temasek and Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional Berhad. As Jimmy so succinctly puts it, "in an industry that's as dynamic as Singapore, property developers need to place the interests of people on top, and Marina One Residences is a fine example for that. That's exactly why it's gaining good momentum in the industry as the best buy at the moment."

Marina One Residences has an attractive entry psf. With the future transformation plans of Marina Bay being identified under the URA Master Plan 2019, it stands out as a good investment opportunity, historically what appears in the URA Master Plan will be realised. With the government's focus on The Greater South Waterfront (GSW), the future of the southern coastline will be flourished with Residential and Commercial properties inline with the lifestyle and recreation concepts envisioned in the next 10 to 15 years, which further enhances the value of Marina One Residences as the sole property that is nearest to the southern waters today. The vast majority of land space in front of Marina One Residences will propel its prices up a notch when the land is finally filled with newer and higher-priced, sea-facing prime properties.

As a person who has diverse experience, Jimmy possesses such a strong passion in real estate which is coupled up by his dedication and enthusiasm all of which will make your property search experience in Singapore fun and successful. "On becoming a trusted advisor, the client is fully reliant on you and you should be able to put their interests in front of your own as well as work hard to understand the clients' needs. I don't want to just help my associates succeed in the industry, I intend to train them to become better and more responsible as a person as well" explains Jimmy. He has made it his mission to train steadfast achievers, groom sophisticated leaders, and build dynamic divisions. His vision is to lead an extremely dynamic group that empowers its realtors to be the best they can be.

Jimmy plays a key role in the Preeminent Group, which is the largest group in ERA Singapore in terms of the number of agents and revenue growth. Finding him as a true leader with capable mentoring skills, Jimmy was appointed as the group's trainer right after his first year in the industry, something that's rare and difficult to come by for most people. In January 2020, Jimmy has once again proved himself to be one of the Top 1% within the company, achieving 40th position out of 7000+ realtors. With a good attitude and knowledge about how to bind his time, Jimmy intends to lay down a simple and effective mentorship program that would help thousands to become trusted advisors.

More details about Jimmy's profile can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/jimmypoh

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SOURCE: STARTUP FORTUNE

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/580525/Real-Estate-Mentor-Jimmy-Poh-Redefines-the-Path-to-Become-a-Trusted-Advisor
Amritsar, March 13 : Fearing apprehensions of travel ban on Indian devotees visiting Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan as a precaution against coronavirus, Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, on Friday asked the government of India not to impose the ban.

"Unless the government (of India) is going to impose a travel ban on all foreign countries, it should not impose any ban on the devotees visiting the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara to pay obeisance," Akal Takht chief Giani Harpreet Singh told the media here.

The 4.1 km corridor links Dera Baba Nanak town in Gurdaspur district with Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Shakargarh tehsil in Narowal district of Pakistan.

Officials told IANS since the scare of coronavirus, the number of devotees visiting daily to Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara has drastically reduced.
Gov. Tom Wolf is ordering the closure of all schools in Pennsylvania for two weeks as the state takes sweeping measures aimed at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus.

The order affecting more than 1.7 million school children in public and private schools came as confirmed cases in the state leaped to 33 from 22, including the first patient under age 18.

Wolf ordered all schools, day cares and other facilities closed in hard-hit Montgomery County, in the Philadelphia suburbs, home to more than 800,000 people.

Other states that have been ordered to close schools include Michigan, Virginia, Rhode Island and Oregon.
Appeals Court Orders Rehearing on Don McGahns Case

A federal appeals court has approved a request from the U.S. House of Representatives for a new hearing in their effort to compel former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify before Congress.

The full panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted the House Judiciary Committees petition for rehearing en bancor before the full courtin an order on Friday (pdf), just two weeks after a three-judge panel ruled that McGahn did not have to comply with the committees subpoena. Fridays order also vacates the previous ruling issued on Feb. 28 (pdf).

A hearing or rehearing before the full court, or en banc, is not ordinarily ordered unless en banc consideration is necessary to secure or maintain uniformity of the courts decisions or the proceeding involves a question of exceptional importance .

McGahn, who was viewed as a key witness in then-special counsels Robert Muellers Russia investigation, was subpoenaed by the committee in April to provide documents and appear before lawmakers as part of the investigation into alleged obstruction of justice by President Donald Trumpsomething that Mueller failed to establish in his investigation. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

House Democrats have launched a slew of investigations, which included the subpoena of McGahn, in an effort to find information that could lead to the impeachment of the president.

The White House blocked his appearance in May, asserting executive privilege over the documents. This prompted House Democrats to subsequently sue McGahn in August in an attempt to enforce the subpoena.

In November, a district court judge ruled that McGahn must testify before the House, saying that executive branch officials are not absolutely immune from the compulsory congressional process, even if the president expressly directs the officials non-compliance. This prompted the Justice Department (DOJ) to appeal the decision to the appeals court.

The appeals court ruled 2-1 on Feb. 28 that McGahn was not required to testify, agreeing with the DOJs argument that the Constitution bars federal courts from resolving disputes between the legislative and executive branches.

If federal courts were to swoop in to rescue Congress whenever its constitutional tools failed, it would not just supplement the political process; it would replace that process with one in which unelected judges become the perpetual overseer[s] of our elected officials. That is not the role of judges in our democracy, and that is why Article III compels us to dismiss this case, Judge Thomas Griffith, a President George W. Bush appointee, wrote in the majority opinion.

Throughout the case, DOJ attorneys have been arguing that the federal court should not referee the dispute between Congress and the Trump administration. Meanwhile, the House attorneys case was that the information provided by McGahn would assist with informing how the then-Senate impeachment trial against the president would proceed. The attorneys added that the testimony was also required for the committee to perform its oversight and legislative functions. Trump was acquitted of the two impeachment charges during the Senate trial in early February.

Fridays decision comes three days after the same court ruled that House Democrats can have access to grand jury materials from Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled 2-1 on March 10 to uphold a lower courts decision to give the House Judiciary Committee access to grand jury information redacted from Muellers 448-page report, including transcripts or exhibits referenced in the redactions.

Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao did not participate in Fridays decision. Oral arguments for the rehearing is scheduled for April 28.
Downing Street today insisted the deadly coronavirus outbreak will not derail trade talks with the EU, vowing the Brexit transition period will not be extended.

The UK split from Brussels on January 31 this year with the two sides entering a 'standstill' transition period lasting until the end of 2020 during which a trade deal is supposed to be agreed.

The disruption caused by the worsening pandemic has prompted growing speculation that the current timetable for talks will have to be pushed back.

But Number 10 said Boris Johnson still believes a comprehensive trade deal can be struck between the two sides by December 31.

The claim comes after planned face-to-face talks in London next week were cancelled, with the UK and EU now exploring the possibility of conducting the discussions remotely, using video conferencing technology.

Downing Street today insisted Boris Johnson, pictured yesterday, will not agree to an extension of the Brexit transition period despite coronavirus disruption

The Brexit divorce deal which took the UK out of the bloc earlier this year does include a transition period pressure valve.

It allows the transition period, during which the UK must abide by all EU rules, to be extended but only if both sides agree to the move.

The deal states that a decision on any extension must be taken by the middle of this year.

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman today categorically ruled out pushing back the talks deadline, raising the prospect of the two sides going their separate ways at the end of the year without having a complete deal set in stone.

The spokesman said: 'It will be possible to do the trade talks.

'Both the EU and the UK are fully aware of the timetable which they are working towards.'

The spokesman said the Prime Minister is 'fully confident' the UK will have the resources and capability to conduct trade talks even during the expected peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

Asked if the end of 2020 deadline was feasible given the global pandemic, the PM's spokesman simply replied: 'Yes.'

And on the possibility of the EU and UK delaying making a decision on an extension until later in the year, the spokesman said: 'Not happening.'

Numerous senior EU figures, including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, said before the coronavirus outbreak that the end of 2020 Brexit talks timetable was not achievable.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission pictured in Brussels today, warned even before the coronavirus outbreak that the EU did not believe a trade deal could be struck by the end of 2020

The two sides issued a joint statement yesterday saying the second round of negotiations would not be going ahead as planned.

The statement said: 'Given the latest COVID-19 developments, UK and EU negotiators have today jointly decided not to hold next weeks round of negotiations in London, in the form originally scheduled.

'Both sides are currently exploring alternative ways to continue discussions, including if possible the use of video conferences.'
(Alliance News) - European Metals Holdings Ltd on Friday reported a narrowed first half loss, as the explorer continues to focus on its Cinovec project.

In the six months to December 31, the mineral resources explorer recorded a USD1.5 million pretax loss, narrowed from the USD2.1 million loss seen in the same period the year before.

This is despite the company's professional fee costs doubling to USD1.0 million from USD565,398.

The narrowed loss can be explained by European Metals' share based payment expenses dropping to USD45,230 in the first half from USD909,898 the year before.

"During the period the company focused on continued progress in the development of the globally significant Cinovec lithium/tin project in Czech Republic. The most significant step in the ongoing development of the Cinovec project is the potential partnership with CEZ Group, one of Europe's largest power utilities. This potential partnership was announced early in the period and has been the primary focus of the company since then," European Metals said.

Czech-headquartered CEZ holds an option to acquire 51% of the Cinovec project, but this option expires on March 31. European Metals has expressed confidence CEZ will proceed with the transaction and become an "integral part" of the development of Cinovec in the future.

European Metals has an exploration licence for the project until December 31.

Shares in European Metals were 2.1% lower in London on Friday morning at 11.50 pence each.

By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
New Delhi [India], Mar 13 (ANI): Two more SAARC nations -- Bangladesh and Afghanistan -- on Friday endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal to chalk out a joint strategy to combat the coronavirus outbreak.



Welcoming the proposal, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she looks forward to a constructive dialogue with SAARC leaders who have already "consented to discuss the way forward at this testing time for the region and the world."

"HPM Sheikh Hasina welcomes the proposal and look forward to a constructive dialogue with @narendramodi @ibusolih @PM_Nepal @PMBhutan @GotabayaR n others HOSs/HOGs who already consented to discuss the way forward at this testing time for the region and the world," Bangladesh's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi said that the government has welcomed the proposal and readiness of the other SAARC members to work together devising a unified strategy to fight the coronavirus in the region.

"The Afghan government strongly welcomes the proposal of HE The Prime Minister of India and readiness of the other SAARC members to work together devising a unified strategy to fight the Coronavirus in the region," Sediqqi tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi on Friday had proposed that the leaders of the SAARC countries should chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus.

"I would like to propose that the leadership of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," PM Modi had tweeted.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan Envoy to India, Tahir Qadri, said, "In response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for creating a robust strategy for SAARC nations, aiming at tackling #CoronavirusPandemic, I would like to acknowledge his call. United we stand, divided we fall!"

Within hours, leaders of Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, and Sri Lanka had endorsed PM Modi's proposal, promising their complete support towards the collective effort against the pandemic. (ANI)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday said he has tested negative for the new coronavirus, after a scare over a trip on which at least one infected member of his staff rubbed shoulders with Donald Trump.

"The Armed Forces Hospital and (diagnostic laboratory) Sabin have returned a negative test result for COVID-19 for the President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro," said a post on the far-right leader's Facebook page, along with a picture of him flashing an obscene arm gesture at the press.

"He tested negative full stop," Bolsonaro's son Eduardo told Fox News.

Earlier, Brazilian media reported Bolsonaro had tested positive, a day after his press secretary was found to have the infection following a trip to the United States.

After the reports, Eduardo Bolsonaro on Twitter said results of the coronavirus test for the delegation that travelled to the US were not yet ready. His tweet came after a columnist for the Rio de Janeiro daily O Dia reported that the president's first test had been positive.

Bolsonaro met US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida during his three-day trip to the US starting from March 7.

Earlier, a Brazilian official who met Trump and Vice President Mike Pence just days ago tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Brazil government confirmed on Thursday that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, has tested positive for coronavirus.

Wajngarten accompanied Bolsonaro on a trip to the US over the weekend, where he met Trump, Pence and other White House officials at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

Bolsonaro's medical team "is adopting all the preventive measures necessary" to ensure the president and his delegation on the trip, as well as other aides, are in good health, the government said, adding that it had notified US officials about Wajngarten.

The White House said on Thursday that Trump and Pence had no plans to undergo testing.

Earlier in the day, Bolsonaro cancelled his attendance at an event in Mossoro, Rio Grande do Norte state, reportedly due to concerns over the pandemic.

(With inputs from IANS, Reuters and AFP)
Cairo, March 13 : The number of confirmed coronavirus cases across the Middle East has exceeded 10,000, an alarming situation posed by the raging pandemic.

In the worst-hit Iran alone, the confirmed cases totalled to 10,075 on Thursday, roughly three weeks after the first cases were reported on February 19, with 429 fatalities, reports Xinhua news agency Iran has been trying its best to implement necessary measures in accordance with WHO guidelines such as securing standard quarantine, banning public gatherings, and suspending schools.

But years of sanctions imposed by the US has made the situation worse in Iran, which faces severe shortage of medical supplies.

This has prompted Tehran to call for international help to lift the US sanctions.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday wrote a letter to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, calling for removing all the unilateral US sanctions.

In his letter, a copy of which was sent to all international organizations' chiefs and foreign ministers of all countries, Zarif highlighted the need for lifting all "illegal" sanctions to help Iran combat the virus.

Also on Thursday, Iran's central bank said it has asked the International Monetary Fund for a $5 billion loan to help in its fight against the pandemic.

Although Iran continues to make headlines as the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, some other countries in the region were also facing the threat from the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Qatar and Bahrain now have the most confirmed cases in the region after Iran, with 262 and 189, respectively.

In Israel, 109 people have been confirmed infected with COVID-19 after 12 new cases were detected on Thursday.

The United Arab Emirates on Thursday, which was one of the first countries in the Middle East to be affected by the COVID-19, announced 11 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total number to 85.

In Iraq, a total of 83 cases have been confirmed so far, of whom eight have died.

In Egypt, 13 new cases were reported on Thursday, raising the total number to 80. It has also confirmed two deaths.

Kuwait has recorded a total of 80 confirmed cases, after eight new infections were reported on Thursday. The government suspended the commercial flights to and from the country on Thursday.

Lebanon on Thursday reported its third COVID-19 death, while a total of 71 cases have been confirmed.

A day earlier, Lebanon allocated $39 million from a loan offered by the World Bank for the fight against COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Algeria, with 26 confirmed cases and two deaths, and Morocco, with six confirmed cases, agreed on Thursday to suspend bilateral flights as a precautionary measure against the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Responding to the call for help from the region, China, which has accumulated rich experience in containing the disease, has lent a hand to the countries.

Two Chinese medical teams having been assisting Iran and Iraq in their fights against the coronavirus, in addition to the donation of much-needed medical supplies to several countries in the Middle East.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
FORT DRUM, N.Y.  About 40 soldiers returning to the Fort Drum army base today from a nine-month deployment to South Korea will enter a two-week quarantine, according to officials.

Soldiers from the 59th Chemical Company, which is stationed at Fort Drum, will be quarantined for 14 days in empty barracks and will be monitored by health care professionals, according to a Fort Drum news release.

If any soldier shows signs of COVID-19, he or she will be isolated immediately to begin treatment, officials said.

South Korea has seen more than 7,800 infections with the virus and 60 deaths, according to CNN. That makes it one of the countries with the most confirmed cases in the world, though it has tested more than 230,000 people.

There are no confirmed cases of the virus at Fort Drum, and no one has presented symptoms that would require testing, military officials said.

Patrick Lohmann covers breaking news and other topics. He can be reached via email at PLohmann@Syracuse.com or via phone at (315)766-6670.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed Covid-19 pandemic and international community's response to it during his phone calls with his counterparts in Israel and United Kingdom, Benjamin Netanyahu and Boris Johnson, on Wednesday and Thursday.

Modi received a call on Wednesday from Netanyahu

The leaders reviewed the excellent progress in bilateral relations. They also exchanged views on the global situation in the context of Covid-19 pandemic, Raveesh Kumar, the MEA spokesperson, said.

Follow live updates of coronavirus cases in India here

The Prime Minister also received a call on Thursday from his UK counterpart.

Modi and Johnson exchanged views on the Covid-19 epidemic. Modi expressed concern on UK Health Minister Nadine Dorries testing positive for Covid-19 and wished her a speedy recovery.

The two leaders expressed their desire to further strengthen the India-UK Strategic Partnership in the new decade. They agreed that it would be useful to formulate a comprehensive road-map towards this objective, the MEA spokesperson said.

The leaders expressed their satisfaction at the cooperation between India and the UK in the field of climate change, especially with reference to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), he added.
Police in Barcelona have issued an alert to aged 'vulnerable' people after two women and a man dressed in medical lab coats posed as 'coronavirus' doctors and went to an aged person's house with intent to steal but pretended they were there to carry out medical checks.



The resident called police after suspecting they were not real doctors but the suspects fled before officers showed up.



Police in the Catalan area of Barcelona have now launched a warning to the public not to be deceived by thieves capitalizing on the Coronavirus outbreak to break into homes.



The death toll from coronavirus in Spain is now 84 and the number of cases have risen to nearly 3,000 but Police have warned that patients in self isolation will be phone called by doctors before any visit.









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:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) ("PSH") today announced that it has purchased, through PSH's agent, Jefferies International Limited ("Jefferies"), the following number of PSH's Public Shares of no par value (ISIN Code: GG00BPFJTF46) (the "Shares"):

Trading Venue: London Stock Exchange Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 13 March 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 32,805 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 1,372 pence 17.09 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 1,326 pence 16.52 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 1,355 pence 16.88 USD Ticker: PSHD Date of Purchase: 13 March 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 37,833 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 17.36 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 16.90 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 16.95 USD Trading Venue: Euronext Amsterdam Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 13 March 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 39,685 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 17.70 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 16.38 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 17.11 USD

PSH will hold these Public Shares in Treasury. The net asset value per Public Share related to this buyback is 27.70 USD 21.13 GBP which was calculated as of 9 March 2020 (the "Relevant NAV"). After giving effect to the above buyback, PSH has 202,363,141 Public Shares outstanding, or 208,062,642 Public Shares calculated on a fully diluted basis (assuming that all Management Shares had been converted into Public Shares at the Relevant NAV). Excluded from the shares outstanding are 8,593,609 Public Shares held in Treasury. The prices per Public Share were calculated by Jefferies.

The number of PSH Management Shares and the one special voting share (held by PS Holdings Independent Voting Company Limited) have not been affected.

About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) is an investment holding company structured as a closed-ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005453/en/

Contacts:

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The Himachal Pradesh police on Friday arrested the registrar of Solan-based Manav Bharti University (MBU) in an alleged fake degree scam, taking the number of varsity officials held in the case to three.

Anupama Thakur, the registrar of the private university, was held after her anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a city court, Solan Superintendent of Police Abhishek Yadav said.

Earlier the varsity's assistant registrar, Munish Goel, was arrested on March 8 and two days later, its data entry operator Pramod Kumar was nabbed from his native village in Haryana's Karnal district.

Goel and Kumar have been remanded to police custody till March 16, the SP said.

He said the registrar will be produced before court on Saturday to seek her police custody.

Yadav told PTI that the university's owner Raj Kumar Rana might also be arrested in the case.

The SP said, "The fake degree scam is a huge one."



The officer further said he would be able to share the entire information about the scam after the investigation is complete.

"At this point of time, I can only say that MBU has been found involved in fake degree scam since its establishment in Solan," Yadav said.

MBU was established in 2009 under the Himachal Pradesh Private University (Establishment & Regulation) Act and is owned by Manav Bharti Charitable Trust.

Giving a statement in the state assembly during ongoing Budget session on Wednesday, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had said it was evident from the documents seized from the Solan university that they were playing with students' future by issuing fake degrees for long.

Earlier, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri on February 27 had pointed out that there were reports about the involvement of two private universities of the state in a fake degree scam.

Replying to it, Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj had then said that the University Grants Commission (UGC) had received a complaint alleging that 18 private universities, including two in Himachal Pradesh, were selling fake degrees.

The state police was probing the matter and strict action will be taken if any university is found selling fake degrees, he had added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DES MOINES  Iowa trails supporters and business leaders called on the Legislature to consider all opportunities to invest in trails, including Gov. Kim Reynolds plan to fund the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund.

The governor is out there in a big way, driving a plan for investment in trails, Brandi Horton of the national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy said at a rally on the Capitol steps Thursday morning.

We dont want to lose this opportunity, Horton said about the governors plan to provide a dedicated funding stream of up to $171 million annually for water quality, wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation, including significant and sustainable money for trails.

Horton  joined by representatives of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, state departments of Public Health and Economic Development, AARP, Bike World and Iowa Rivers Edge  praised Iowas 2,000 miles of multiuse trails.

A trails conservancys analysis found that Iowas trails have a $1.09 billion economic impact  $657 million in direct spending and $453 million in health care costs avoided.

In addition to the money trail users spend on food and lodging, Forrest Ridgway of Bike World talked about the jobs created and the taxes paid.

His three business locations in Ames, Urbandale and West Des Moines pay about $150,000 a year in taxes, Ridgeway said, and he attributes much of his business  and taxes  to Iowas trail system.

Funding for trails is not an expense, but something we invest in, he said.

Its not just the economic impact, said Andrea Boulton of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.

Iowans want to create vibrant, people-focused places to live. Funding the outdoor trust would provide an opportunity to create those places, she said.

Weve waited 10 years since voters approved the creation of the trust, Boulton said.

The fate of Reynolds proposal is unknown, but Rep. Andy McKean, D-Anamosa, called trail funding rural economic development.

For too long, he said, Iowa has chased smokestacks and awarded questionable tax credits instead of investing in what keeps people in Iowa, such as quality-of-life projects.

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife Sophia Gregoire Trudeau has tested positive for coronavirus after she showed flu-like symptoms upon return from the United Kingdom, according to local media.

IMAGE: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau. Photograph: Reuters

Trudeau himself, who has been in voluntary self-quarantine, is said to be "in good health," reported RT.

Sophie's tested positive on Thursday night, according to Trudeau's office.

A statement put out by the prime minister's office said that Sophie will "remain in isolation for the time being."

"Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau was tested for COVID-19 today. The test came back positive," the prime minister's office said in a statement.

"Following medical advice, she will remain in isolation for the time being. She is feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild," it said.

"The prime minister is in good health with no symptoms. As a precautionary measure and following the advice of doctors, he will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days," but will not be tested.

"The prime minister will continue to fully assume his duties and will address Canadians tomorrow," the statement added.
Crimean resident accused of treason to stay in detention for 3 more months

 RAPSI

12:46 13/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 13 (RAPSI) - The Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow has extended detention of Crimean resident Ivan Yatskin charged with treason until June 16, his attorney Nikolay Polozov has told RAPSI.

Defense has objected to the extension claiming that the defendant needs medical aid outside the detention facility and has four minor children.

According to investigators, Yatskin has collected state secret information in Crimea to further transfer it to the Ukrainian intelligence officers. The man pleads not guilty.




When a system is under stress  as our health services are now  cracks and strains become apparent that may otherwise have been easy to overlook. Australia's response to coronavirus is constrained by the fundamentals of our health system, which are hindering management of the pandemic.

Primary care in Australia, which should be the front line of any service response (in contrast to a quarantine or social-distancing response), is delivered via a 1950s-style, GP-centric, fee-for-service model. It is already widely regarded as not fit to respond to the changing epidemiology of the increased prevalence of chronic disease in Australia and our response to coronavirus shows it is not fit to respond to an infectious disease pandemic either.

A microscope image shows a sample of COVID-19 isolated from a patient. Credit:NIAID-RML

The initial advice from health authorities in Australia was that people who had travelled to certain countries and exhibited flu-like symptoms should seek testing from their GP. This advice reflects the GP-centricity of primary care in Australia, including that there is no systematic approach to paying for testing by any other provider.

The media over the past few weeks has been dominated by representatives of general practitioners and the broader medical profession bemoaning the lack of personal protective equipment, poor distribution of masks, and the failure of public health authorities to provide regular updates on the pandemic.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the release of the deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, from the post-dethronement detention and confinement the state government had imposed, pending the determination of the case.

Mr Sanusi had on Thursday filed an application, asking the court to order his release.

Mr Sanusi was deposed following a resolution of the Kano State Executive Council on March 9, on allegations of insubordination.

Following his sack, he was taken to Awe in Nasarawa State and has been detained in an apartment in the town.

The suit, filed on Thursday, was brought pursuant to section 34, 35, 40, 41 and 46 of the 1999 Constitution and Order 4 Rule 4 of the Federal High Court

Mr Sanusi asked for, An interim order of this Honourable Court releasing the Applicant from the detention and/or confinement of the Respondents and restoring the Applicants rights to human dignity, personal liberty, freedom of association and movement in Nigeria, [apart from Kano State] pending the hearing and determination of the Applicants Originating Motion.

Upon granting the above request, the former Central Bank Governor(CBN) also urged the court to make, An order granting leave to the Applicant to effect service of this order alongside the originating motion and subsequent processes on all the respondents.

The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu; the Director-General of the State Security Services(SSS), Yusuf Bichi; Attorney General of Kano State and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; are the first, second, third and fourth respondents respectively.

Premised on eight grounds, the suit stated that, Applicants fundamental right to life, human dignity, personal liberty and moverment are seriously under challenge and continually being breached by the Respondents.

At the commencement of the case on Friday, the team of lawyers led by Lateef Fagbemi, in urging the court to grant their request, said the health of the applicant is a subject of concern.

Mr Fagbemi said, before the pronouncement of the kano state government deposing the applicant, the palace of the applicant was already evaded by the first and second respondents.

The lawyer further said that there is no criminal proceeding pending against the applicant and the applicant has offered not to go to Kano until the determination of the origination sermon.

Ruling on the application on Friday, the judge, Anwuli Chikere, granted the prayers one and two respectively.

She further held that the respondent are to be served the originating summon within five-days and the respondents to reply within five-days.

Justice Chikere adjourned to March 26.

In court to witness the days proceedings was the ousted emirs sister, Zainab Sanusi, and his daughter, Khadija Sanusi.

Many Nigerian lawyers have condemned the dethronement and banishment of the emir to Nasarawa, saying he was not granted fair hearing before the dethronement and such banishment violates his freedom of movement.

The dethronement

The Kano State Government said on Monday that it dethroned Mr Sanusi because of insubordination.

Usman Alhaji, the Secretary to the Kano State Government, stated this in a statement circulated to journalists.

Many see the Kano governments action as Governor Abdullahi Gandujes way of getting at Mr Sanusi who had been accused of working against the governors re-election last year.

In his statement, 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.

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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.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Vatican already has temporarily suspended Masses in Rome in wake of the coronavirus, so will the closings spread to Roman Catholic churches and other houses of worship on Staten Island?

Various faith communities on the Island have started to reevaluate their services and events in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Mass will continue to be offered publicly in most cases, contingent on emergency restrictions regarding large gatherings, according to a statement from Monsignor Joseph P. LaMorte, vicar general and moderator of the Curia that was released to the media by the Archdiocese of New York on Friday afternoon.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

However, Roman Catholics may choose whether to attend in the wake of the coronavirus.

In light of the serious health risks to vulnerable populations, and mindful of the instructions of medical professionals, the Archdiocese of New York has urged the faithful to use their prudential judgment on whether or not to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days during the coronavirus outbreak," the statement said. This is in keeping with the teaching of the Church, which has always exempted those with serious medical issues which would prohibit them from attending Mass, as well as for all people in times of general emergencies.

However, parishioners are urged to take precautions, such as receiving Holy Communion wafers only by hand and forgoing sharing the chalice. Participants should wash and use sanitizers on hands before and after Mass and refrain from shaking hands. Holy water should be changed frequently in fonts. Many Island parishes began implemented these safety measures at last weekends Masses.

Those who are unable to attend Mass may worship via radio, television, or the Internet. Mass from Saint Patricks Cathedral in Manhattan will be broadcast and available on many cable systems via the Catholic Faith Network and its website, live streamed on the Saint Patricks Cathedral website, and broadcast on radio on The Catholic Channel of Sirius XM (Channel 129).

This weekends Masses are canceled in New Jerseys largest Catholic diocese and the faithful are not obliged to go to church on Sundays until further notice, according to the Advances sister website NJ.com.

However, daily Mass will continue in the Archdiocese of Newark.

Meanwhile, the Diocese of Rome canceled the celebration of all public Masses until April 3.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has requested that crowds be limited to no more than 500 or a seating capacity of no more than 50 percent, which poses issues at houses of worship that have large congregations or host major events.

The popular Annual Interfaith Breakfast at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center in Tompkinsville that was scheduled on March 19 has been canceled due to the coronavirus.

The center is encouraging members to worship at home and is following the recommendations by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to limit crowds, said Imam Dr. Tahir Kukaj.

We are asking our members to stay home and offer their prayers at home due to the fact that their safety and well being is a priority at this time, said Imam Kukaj. As for those that decide to go to the mosque, their stay is limited time-wise and in numbers, much less than we used to have them before, during the regular days.

We ask our members to pray to God Almighty for the safety and well being of all New Yorkers and all mankind. We urge our members to follow the instructions that come from elected officials in this regard.

Temple Emanu-El in Port Richmond is making changes in the way that congregants worship due to the coronavirus.

We have not cancelled our Shabbat services this week, said Rabbi Gerald Sussman. We will however take necessary precautions including social distancing and other sanitary measures. We will re-evaluate next week.

Temple Israel Reform Congregation in Randall Manor also is carefully monitoring the situation with services and religious classes continuing at this time.

Given the number of college and event cancellations already taking place on Staten Island, we know you share our concern about what the future holds for our community in the weeks and months ahead, said in an email to the congregation from Rabbi Michael Howald and the co-presidents. As of today, we still intend to hold services as scheduled on Shabbat evening and morning.

The letter suggests specific safety measures for congregants, including that members not attend activities if they are ill.

We are monitoring the guidance provided by health authorities as we continue to decide, on a week by week basis, whether to hold gatherings within our building, the email said.

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We all were just excited to have one of the last few parties of the quarter and be off campus, Harrison said. She said investigators appear to have made efforts to trace those who interacted with the man at the mixer, and have asked them to self-quarantine. Those who did not interact with him, like herself, were simply told to monitor their health and alert authorities if they came down with symptoms, she said.
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.
A health desk is set up to screen travelers for signs of the coronavirus at Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport in Agartala, India, on Jan. 31, 2020. (Reuters/Jayanta Dey/File Photo)

First Coronavirus Death in India Involves 76-Year-Old Man

A 76-year old man who passed away in India on Wednesday from suspected COVID-19 has been confirmed to have contracted the disease, the government in Indias southern state of Karnataka said on Friday, according to local media reports.

Mohammed Hussain Siddiq was being treated at a hospital in the Indian city of Kalaburagi after experiencing breathlessness and other cold-and-flu symptoms. He had returned from Saudi Arabia on Feb. 29 where he had been visiting for a month.

The man was tested by a Kalaburagi hospital on March 9 and diagnosed with mid zone Viral Pneumonia while being identified as a suspected COVID-19 case.

However, when his family insisted that he be discharged from the hospital, authorities let him leave and he was taken by family members to Hyderabad, Telangana, only to be admitted to a private hospital there later. He died on Tuesday.

The necessary contact tracing, isolation and other measures as per protocol are being carried out. Telangana government has also been informed since he went to a private hospital there, the Karnataka health department said. It added that it was trying to trace those who had been in contact with him.

India so far has detected 74 confirmed cases of the virus. It has a population of 1.3 billion.

The New Delhi government ordered schools, theatres, and cinemas to be closed for the rest of the month in an effort to limit the risk of a potential epidemic in the country. Other regions including Uttrakhand, Chhattisgarh and Manipur have done the same, the Hindustan Times reported.

India also said on Wednesday that it would cancel almost all visas until April 15. The ban on foreign visitors includes Indian nationals who reside abroad. However, there are exemptions for diplomats, officials, and members of international organizations such as the United Nations. Meanwhile, Indian nationals have been told to avoid all non-essential travel abroad.

The move follows last weeks decision by the country to bar entry to nationals from China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, and Japan.

The novel virus that causes the disease COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, a city of about 11 million people in Chinas Hubei Province, in early December 2019. The virus is in the same family of pathogens that causes the flu and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, coughing, and difficulty breathing, although Chinese researchers have noted other symptoms, such as fatigue, diarrhea, chest pains, and headaches.

Melanie Sun and Reuters contributed to this report.
(Photo : Pixabay)

Apple and Google have announced that they would not permit apps that aren't from recognized from establishments like governments or hospitals to avoid health information. Lawmakers, however, urged tech giants to protect data from health apps.

In a CNBC report, Apple and Google employees told app developers that anything health-related --- including coronavirus infection --- must be released by official health organizations or government. Another developer was given a written response that "apps with facts about current medical facts need to be submitted by a recognized institution," the report added.





ALSO READ: Are You Using Mental Health Apps? They Might Be Sharing Your Data





Lawmakers urged tech giants to protect data from period tracker apps





USA Today said lawmakers told tech companies to make sure menstruation and fertility monitoring apps are not sharing customers' information without their consent.

Apple, Google, and Samsung's top executives acquired letters from New Jersey Democratic lawmakers. The authorities are asking for the major app vendors to stop allowing the monitoring apps to share customers' health statistics with third parties when users begin to open those apps.

Research conducted by Consumer Reports found that some of the most famous period tracker apps proportion users' fitness records with marketers for targeted advertising and marketing and even health researchers without their earlier consent. A separate study by Privacy International, a U.K.-based charity added 61 percent of menstruation apps automatically transferred records to Facebook as soon as the consumer opened the app.





ALSO READ: Menstrual Tracker Apps Share Sensitive Data With Facebook, Research Finds





Women use menstruation and fertility tracking apps to screen menstruation, save you pregnancy or to boost their possibilities of conceiving. Many of those apps require users to input information on their sexual activity, menstrual cycle, and birth control usage. And that doesn't exclude personal statistics such as complete name, e-mail address, age, and weight.

Lawmakers are urging the tech giants to get rid of duration monitoring apps answerable for a "severe invasion of privacy" and to share more facts at the privacy standards and sharing notices of the length tracking apps available on their platforms.

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, U.S. Rep. Bonnie Coleman and U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill --- who wrote the letter --- said the companies are aware of the security breaches. The lawmakers added tech giants also know the cases where user's personal information and data were sold without the user's explicit consent and knowledge.

"The continued failure of your industry to be out front on these issues and consider the best interests of your users, especially on reproductive health data, shows either a glaring disregard for privacy concerns or gross incompetence," the letter states.





Apple, Google's opaque process

Apple manually monitors every single iPhone app before they become available to download on Apple's platforms. The tech giant relies on a document referred to as the App Store Review Guidelines to justify their selections to software program groups approximately what's allowed on iPhones.

Developers who had coronavirus apps, for example, rejected by Apple, cited a certain guideline number 5.2.1. The guideline said that apps should be submitted by the person or legal entity that owns or has licensed the intellectual property and other relevant rights.

Apple's App Store rules have drawn grievance for being inscrutable. Some competitors claimed Apple has too much power, given that the App Store is the best manner to distribute software programs for iPhones to the public.

Google Play, Google's Android app store, has a rule against apps that take advantage of a natural disaster" or appears to "profit from a tragic event without a discernible gain to the victims."













 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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.




Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 08:04:34|Editor: Liu

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WASHINGTON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon confirmed Thursday night that the U.S. military conducted strikes against a Shia militia group's facilities across Iraq, as a response to Wednesday's rocket attack on Iraq's Camp Taji military base that had killed two U.S. soldiers and one British service member.

"Earlier this evening, the United States conducted defensive precision strikes against Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH) facilities across Iraq," the Department of Defense said in a statement.

The statement noted that the strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities to degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against coalition forces, adding that these weapon storage facilities include the facilities that had housed weapons used to target U.S. and coalition troops.

"The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies," Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said in the statement.

There were 14 others wounded in the rocket attack on Iraq's Camp Taji, north of the capital city of Baghdad, according to the statement.

The U.S.-led coalition force said Wednesday that approximately 18 rockets struck the base, adding that Iraqi Security Forces had found a rocket-rigged truck a few miles from the Camp Taji.

The United States claimed that KH was responsible for numerous attacks against U.S. and Coalition Forces in Iraq, including a rocket attack on an Iraqi base near Kirkuk (the K1 base) in late December 2019 that had killed a U.S. civilian contractor and injured four U.S. service members.

The rocket attack on the K1 base led to the U.S. airstrike against senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and the subsequent Iranian missile strike retaliation.

Over 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support Iraqi forces in battles against the Islamic State, mainly providing training and advising for them.
MIAMI -- Mayor Francis Suarez confirmed Friday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and will be self-isolated for up to two weeks, according to the Miami Herald. Suarez says that while he feels strong, he is mostly concerned about the people hes interacted with in the last several days.

If we did not shake hands or you did not come into contact with me if I coughed or sneezed, there is no action you need to take whatsoever, Saurez said. If we did, however, touch or shake hands, or if I sneezed or coughed near you since Monday, it is recommended that you self-isolate for 14 days, but you do not need to get tested. After speaking with medical personnel, I will continue to follow Department of Health protocol and remain isolated while I lead our government remotely.

While there is no way of knowing exactly when and where and from whom he got the virus, Suarez was involved in meetings with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his staff when they visited Florida last week. One of the members of Bolsonaros staff, Fabio Wajngarten, the communications secretary, tested positive for coronavirus Thursday.

That staff member and several others in Bolsonaros staff met with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. on Saturday. So far, President Trump has said hes not concerned about the meeting and will not be tested for the coronavirus. Other politicians who met wit the Brazilian contingent include Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Sen. Rick Scott.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

 Always cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.

 Stay home if you are sick and advise others to do the same.

 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 warm water for at least 20 seconds.

 Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, if soap and warm water are not available.

 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces (computers, keyboards, desks, etc.).

 Its not too late to get your flu shot! While the influenza vaccine does not protect against COVID-19 infection, it can help keep you healthy during the flu season.

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

For more of MLives coverage of the coronavirus:

CDC warns those over 60: stock up and stay home as coronavirus spreads

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Michigan confirms 12 total coronavirus cases

All Michigan schools to close as coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

Possible coronavirus exposure locations named across Michigan
Half of passengers who were infected with coronavirus on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship were showing no symptoms when they were diagnosed, new research has revealed.

Scientists from Japan, the US and UK drew the shock conclusion after looking at data on 634 cases that had been confirmed by February 20, when almost all of the 3,700 people on board had been tested.

They found that 328 of those were showing no symptoms when the test result came back positive, compared to 308 people who were.

The coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship at Yokohama Port near Tokyo on February 26

Because infected passengers were immediately taken off the ship, they say it is possible that a number of them went on to develop symptoms afterwards  but they have no access to this data.

After calculating for biases in the data they do have, researchers concluded that at least 18 per cent of coronavirus patients worldwide will likely show no symptoms.

They say that while there is little laboratory evidence that people without symptoms can transmit coronavirus, anecdotal evidence from affected countries suggest it is possible.

This creates problems in predicting the spread of the disease and slowing it down, because so far government efforts have focused on testing and isolating people with symptoms.

Scientists from Japan, the US and UK found half of those who tested positive had no symptoms. They looked at data on the 634 cases that had been confirmed by February 20

They add that 18 per cent is also likely an under-estimate, since their sample size was largely older  between the ages of 60 and 70  and more likely to have underlying conditions.

This means they could be more likely to develop symptoms.

The most common symptoms of coronavirus include persistent cough and fever, progressing to a flu-like illness and eventually pneumonia in a minority of serious cases.

In conclusion, researchers say their analysis highlights the potent transmissibility of the virus, especially in confined settings.

A failed quarantine on board the Diamond Princess ultimately led to almost 700 people getting sick and six people  all elderly and with underlying conditions  dying from the virus. Pictured, Carl Goldman on a stretcher after he was evacuated

To further mitigate transmission of COVID-19 and bring the epidemic under control in areas with active transmission, it may be necessary to minimise the number of gatherings in confined settings, they write.

Their research was published Friday on open-access peer-review portal Eurosurveillance.

A failed quarantine on board the Diamond Princess ultimately led to almost 700 people getting sick and six people  all elderly and with underlying conditions  dying from the virus.

At one point, the outbreak on the Princess constituted the worst outbreak outside of mainland China until world leaders decided to evacuate their citizens almost two weeks after isolation started.

Japan itself now has 639 cases of the virus  fewer than on board the ship.

Alan and Wendy Steele (pictured), passengers on the Diamond Princess, appeared on This Morning on March 9 after they recovered from the virus

The cruise industry has been hit especially hard by the virus, since passengers are confined to close spaces where diseases spread easily and are largely elderly.

Another Princess Cruises ship  the Grand Princess  had a confirmed coronavirus outbreak on board last week after 21 people tested positive.

Learning the lessons of the Diamond Princess, countries were quick to evacuate their citizens back to their home countries. Evacuations were all-but complete by Friday.

Another Princess Cruises ship  the Grand Princess (pictured on March 12)  had a confirmed coronavirus outbreak on board last week after 21 people tested positive

The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic today soared past 5,000 as Europe continues to battle its escalating crisis.

A total of 3,176 people have died in mainland China, followed by 1,016 in Italy, and 514 in Iran  the three countries with the highest number of deaths.

Since COVID-19 was first detected in December, more than 134,300 people have been infected in 121 countries and territories.

Cases have also soared past 600 in the UK, after Wales confirmed 13 people had been diagnosed today.

Europe has rapidly become the new epicentre of the killer coronavirus, with a total of 28,549 cases.

Travel across the 51 states has been partially suspended to curb the epidemic which largely stemmed from an outbreak in northern Italy.
According to BSNL officials, the new payment facility developed by the company will enable its partners, especially prepaid sellers, to buy service immediately for sale.

New Delhi: State-owned BSNL in partnership with State Bank of India launched a UPI-based payment platform, Bharat InstaPay.

According to BSNL officials, the new payment facility developed by the company will enable its partners, especially prepaid sellers, to buy service immediately for sale.

"This digital payment platform is an initiative of BSNL powered by SBI, which shall enable all types of channel partners of BSNL for doing all their payment transactions digitally on a 24-by-7 basis," BSNL said in a statement.

Before this service, BSNL vendors had to wait for payment settlement to buy various telecom services that they sold in market. This used to get further delayed on non-working days.

BSNL said Bharat InstaPay will help its partners do digital transactions on a real-time basis.

"This will not only improve BSNL's credibility towards partners, it will also help in growth of partners' business at a faster pace. A one-time online verification process has been introduced, which is to be done by the partners themselves by visiting newly designed Bharat InstaPay portal. All transactions, then, can be carried out without any human intervention on a 24-by-7 basis," the statement said.
The "Jimmy Kimmel Live" show has been broadcasting on air for 17 years now. Aside from the famous comedian being the main man of the show, the program is also known for conducting fun interviews with the biggest names in Hollywood, music industry, and even political personalities.

For the past decade and a half, the talk show is received well by the audience, which made it a regular late-night program on ABC.

But on Monday, a former member of the show's pool of writers took to Twitter to expose the alleged dark and homophobic culture of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and the host itself, who favors male workers than female.

Homophobic Culture

In a Twitter thread using an "anonymous account," former ABC writer Jack Allison started the expose by revealing the homophobic culture of the people working for the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" show.

"For me, it kinda feels like news if the gay presidential candidate hosts a show where the writers were saying "f*ggot" openly in the writers' room until they hired a gay writer. In 2015," Jack wrote.

For me it kinda feels like news if the gay presidential candidate hosts a show where the writers were saying f*ggot openly in the writers room until they hired a gay writer. In 2015  anonymous account (@jackallisonLOL) March 9, 2020

The former writer's revelation came after he learned that former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg would be a guest host in the show.

He believes that it is a big deal since Mayor Pete is an openly gay man and the staff has a history of discriminating homosexuals behind-the-scene.

Mental Health-Shaming Workplace

In a separate Tweet, Jack claimed how the other staff excluded him or made him feel left out when he filed a mental health leave in the past. Allison said that the 52-year-old veteran host also revealed to him that his co-workers did not believe his mental health reasons for going on vacation.

The former writer also posted an alleged screen capture of the email sent by Kimmel himself explaining how the other staff is not convinced with his mental health breakdown.

"Some in the ranks were angry at you for using depression as an exaggerated excuse to save your job and for taking advantage of my nature," Kimmel was allegedly quoted in the email.





I had a mental breakdown at @JimmyKimmelLive and took one single day off for mental health. Then I was ostracized for nearly a year before I quit. Later, Jimmy told me on email that my bosses (including his wife) pushes me out because they didnt believe me about my mental health  anonymous account (@jackallisonLOL) March 9, 2020

Heres jimmy on record saying the staff of the show didnt believe me about my mental health struggles because I had the audacity to stand with the writers and tried not to be embarrassed when I came in after a day of literally contemplating suicide pic.twitter.com/qa2cjMonzC  anonymous account (@jackallisonLOL) March 9, 2020

Biased Gender-Based Compensation

In another Tweet, Jack shared how Kimmel allegedly shamed him for openly telling a female co-worker that she is being paid $1000 (per week) less than how much he is earning when they are clearly doing the same thing.

"When I gave you a raise and a good deal of praises and asked you to keep it between us, you did the opposite," Kimmel wrote based on the screenshot of an email Jack claimed the host sent from June 2018.

"Not only did you violate my trust, you made others feel bad about themselves."

Heres @jimmykimmel shaming me for the time I told a female coworker she was being paid $1000 per week less than me for the same work pic.twitter.com/y0wdQd6cum  anonymous account (@jackallisonLOL) March 9, 2020

Twitter's Reaction

While social media users were surprised by Jack's revelations, he also earned praises for having the guts to speak up and expose some disgusting truth about the show.

In a follow-up Tweet, the ex-writer confessed that going on full "real talk" about the show's culture messes him up. He also expressed gratitude to the kind messages sent by other Twitter users.

"I gotta be honest that talking about the Kimmel stuff really does fuck me up. I really appreciate all the kind messages," Jack wrote.
Anger is building among the residents as they allege police are swooping down on the neighbourhood and picking up innocent young men on rioting charges.

One of the most tragic aspects of Aas Mohammads funeral was that his family could not even see his face properly before the final send-off.

Aas, 30, had stepped out of his house, in MustafabadsShakti Vihar, on 25 February to buy smokes, on a day when North East Delhi was under siege from communal assailants.

He never returned. Thirteen days later, on 9 March, he became the latest victim in the violence that engulfed the capital in the last week of February, claiming 53 lives. Aas is survived by a nine-year-old son and two daughters aged seven and four.

He took 10 rupees from me to buy bidis, saying hell be back in five minutes, said his 60-year-old father Mohammad Tehseen Alvi.

Alvi, a garment hawker, was barely recovering from the grief of losing his daughterAas sisteron 26 January this year to a complicated delivery. He never imagined he would lose his son so senselessly to communal violence.

On the eve of Holi, flames from the Holika pyre leapt in the sky in the lane across Alvis house, even as a steady stream of visitors came by to offer condolences.

I cant even kiss my son good-bye, wailed his mother, Zeenat, as the body was taken away for the funeral, amid repeated pleas from the family to see his face for one last time.

Manveer Singh, the investigating officer at Gokulpuri Police Station, where Mustafabad falls, said Aas was among the three unidentified bodies lying at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital mortuary.

The body, he added, was retrieved from the drain behind the Gokulpuri Police Station on 1 March, where it had floated after the rain.

On 6 March, the post-mortem was conducted at the RML Hospital, following a Delhi High Court order instructing all government hospitals to preserve the bodies of those who died in the riots, after collecting DNA samples and filming the post-mortem.

The post-mortem report states that Aas died due to fatal blows on his head with deadly weapons, and mentions the case registered against rioters for murder and destruction of evidence under Sections 147/148/149/302/201 of the IPC.

Before the post-mortem report came out, however, the police said he died of drug abuse, as a bottle of Avil and a syringe were found on his body. His family mentioned he was an addict, and there were no external injuries on the body, Singh told me initially.

Aas family members denied stating this to the police. Aasuncle Haji Bhullan said the articles could have been planted as his nephew did not have a history of drug abuse.

After he went missing, Alvi claimed he filed a missing persons complaint with the help of a lawyer but the papers did not reach the police station.

He said he and other family members were terrified to go to the police station to file a complaint. I searched for my son everywhere except at the police station because I heard they were detaining people who went there, he said.

In the intervening week, an exasperated Alvi dialled 100 twice and lodged a complaint about his missing son. They took the details but no action was taken, he said.

On 9 February, when Alvi visited the Gokulpuri Police Station, he was shown a photo of a body lying in the drain.

I identified him by his jacket. His face was unrecognizable, Alvi broke down while recounting. Aas did not own a phone, nor was he carrying any ID at the time.

On the charges of negligence by police, SHO of GokulpuriPS Pramod Joshi said that he was not aware of the complaints made by Alvi and that he would look into the matter. We put up notices and pamphlets across localities, on the Delhi Police website, even in Doordarshan, to identify the body. We also notified 15 police stations in the area, he said.

Aas was a garment seller who tried his hands at running a tea stall and a spice business in the past. He later started hawking garments on a cart.

His friends described him as a kind and simple man. He worked hard and gave all his earnings to his family. He didnt even have an interest in phones, shared Muammar, a friend who lived nearby.

We never imagined such a thing could happen here. Only innocent people have died in this violence, he said.

Aas youngest daughter, Saima, suffers from congenital hearing problems and cannot speak. Son Rehan and daughter Sonam had been told he was away at work. But the children cried when their fathers body arrived.

The joint family lives in Mustafabad, one of the worst-hit neighbourhoods in the Delhi violence. Primarily settled by Muslims, a disproportionately high number of the victims who were killed in the violence hailed from here.

Now, anger is building among the residents as they allege police are swooping down on the neighbourhood and picking up young men on rioting charges.

Our men are being killed and our men are being arrested. Yeh zulm ki hadd paar kar rahe hai (they are crossing the limits of cruelty), one of the mourners remarked. In all, 53 people were killed in the riots, most of them Muslim.

The drain in which Aas body was found is connected to the drain from where 11 bodies have been recovered. Locals revealed that rioting mobs ambushed people walking on the drain bridge, hacked them and threw their bodies into the open drains crisscrossing the colonies of Shiv Vihar, Bhajanpura, Khajoori Khas and Mustafabad. Many feel the number of deaths will go up as the drain cleaning proceeds.

On 11 March, the Delhi HC directed authorities to preserve the unidentified bodies for two more weeks from the date of publication of their names on the Delhi Police website.
The Redemption of John T.: a plot-driven story of a young great athlete who became a member of a street gang under a local Mafia family. The Redemption of John T. is the creation of published author John Billecci, a man who began writing at the age of sixty, shortly after retiring from ConocoPhillips San Francisco Bay Area Refinery where he was a firefighter, lab tech, and union leader.

Billecci writes, The Redemption of John T. is the story of a young man who was a great athlete but, due to his reputation as a young thug in his hometown of San Francisco, turns to become a member of a street gang under the control of the local Mafia family. His intelligence and cunning wits bring him success, and he rises rapidly in the Mafia family. The story follows his ascension to the very pinnacle of the Sicilian-American Mafia. It is at his pinnacle that for the first time in his life, he finds love and shortly thereafter has a miraculous recovery from a bullet wound that caused him to have an epiphany and wherein he finds his redemption.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, John Billeccis new book shares an extraordinary redemption story of a young man that will inspire the readers to never lose hope and urge them to thrive in changing their life.

With this book, Billecci allows the readers to see that redemption is not impossible as long as one never stops finding the love for himself and believe that he will be saved from darkness.

View a synopsis of The Redemption of John T. on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase The Redemption of John T. at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about The Redemption of John T. contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
As the new coronavirus spreads, schools across the country are closing their doors and encouraging parents to help kids complete schoolwork at home until risk of catching or spreading COVID-19 have passed.

For parents, the question is, how? TODAY Parents sought advice from homeschooling parents on how to teach kids at home.

Fox Sports reporter and host of the "Players with Lindsay Czarniak" podcast Lindsay Czarniak, wife of TODAY co-anchor Craig Melvin, shared one of her survival techniques on Instagram this week: a hand-written schedule outlining her kids' "school" day at home.

"This was more for me than the kids but with a couple weeks of hunkering down ahead for them I followed the advice one of my son's teachers shared," Czarniak wrote in her post, joking that "Recess/PE was waaay too long but I had a meeting."

Journalist and college professor Alissa Wilkinson solicited help from homeschooling parents on Twitter, asking for advice for "people who are going to be trying to 'do school' at home for the next month," and received suggestions ranging from knocking out difficult subjects first thing in the morning to making sure to get up and get dressed before starting schoolwork to optimize success.

Do any homeschool parents / formerly homeschooled people have advice to offer people who are going to be trying to "do school" at home for the next month?  Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) March 12, 2020

For parents who, like these moms, are asking, "What do I do now?" we talked to moms who homeschool and rounded up 12 tips for homeschooling your kids  even if just temporarily  during the coronavirus pandemic.

1. Hold a family meeting

Heather Bowen, a mom of two from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, says when facing an unexpected homeschool situation, family planning is key.

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"Talk to your children about this 'new normal,' and communicate with them that while they may be at home, there are still assignments that must be completed in a timely manner," said Bowen, who blogs about homeschooling her daughters, Shaylie, 15, and Nevaeh, 14, at Mom for all Seasons. "Since your child is coming from a structured school environment, I would definitely continue on with providing structure for both them and you."

Heather Bowen has been homeschooling her two daughters, Shaylie, 15, and Nevaeh, 14, since 2009. (Heather Bowen)

2. Create a daily schedule

Bowen says it's important to have set hours for school, meals, chores and other daily activities.

Maria Chamberlain, a mom of seven who has been homeschooling for 29 years, agrees.

"Many routine activities are now disrupted, and that's going to be an emotional process for everyone," Chamberlain told TODAY Parents. "Kids are going to be disappointed, as are parents, not to have their normal routine."

Chamberlain, who lives in Strafford, New Hampshire, suggests talking together as a family about the coronavirus outbreak and how it's affecting everyone.

Maria Chamberlain has seven children and has been homeschooling for nearly 30 years. (Megan Currier)

"Then, decide on a schedule together as a team," said Chamberlain. "Let the kids help plan it and it will run smoother."

3. Ask your school district for support

"I would highly suggest that you reach out to your local school district and determine what resources, in terms of curriculum, online learning platforms, supplies, etc., are available to you," Bowen suggested. "Talk to your child's teacher and find out exactly what is expected from them in terms of assignments and school work during this time."

4. Help kids create a learning environment

Leah Duke, a Montana mom of three who has been homeschooling since 2004, says it's important to remember that each child learns differently and may perform better in a different work environment.

"Help them create their own work space  at the kitchen table, on their bed, in a comfy chair in the living room  and know that you may find a rotation works well for different subjects, especially for those students accustomed to visiting a different classroom and teacher for math, English and electives," said Duke.

Leah Duke, who lives in Montana, has been homeschooling her children since 2004. (Dylan Duke)

5. Don't be afraid to bribe 'em

"Some students are self-motivated," said Duke. "But some may need time limits or incentives like, 'You need to finish ABC before you can XYZ.' Not every student is a morning person, but it's much easier to accomplish what you need to first thing, before the whole day slips by, so that's a great case for building incentives into your new routine  just as we encourage our children to eat their vegetables before they can have a slice of cake."

Bowen suggests incentives like time with electronics or playtime once schoolwork is complete, and suggests making expectations clear to kids so there's no confusion about what they need to get finished to earn their reward.

"For younger children, a dry erase board, where you can list out all assignments and chores for the day and then check them off as they go, may be most effective," added Bowen.

6. Take breaks

Amber Mathison, founder of ABC's to ACT's, an online educational resource for parents, teachers and homeschoolers, says downtime is just as helpful in getting through the school day as a schedule.

"Whether it's while they're changing classes or while they're waiting for other students to finish their work, your child has several moments of downtime throughout a normal school day," said Mathison. "Remember to give them the same while they're at home. Believe me, when you're struggling through a math assignment, a quick 15-minute break can do wonders for both your patience and their ability to get through the material."

7. Make it fun

Florida mom Wendy Moores has been homeschooling her daughters, Melody and Anika, since they were in fifth grade. Today, Moores' daughters are in college and asked to continue homeschooling for their collegiate years.

Moores says everything is an opportunity to learn, and being at home with your kids gives you the chance to try some outside-the-box ways to absorb information.

"Grocery shopping can be lessons on everything from color, shape and sizes for the young ones to multiplication and percentages for your older ones," said Moores. "Taking a long walk can be a lesson in botany or biology. And those experiences that you seek out become field trips that will be a blast and something special because you are schooling your children."

Wendy Moores with her daughters, Melody and Anika, who are now homeschooling through college. (Wendy Moores)

Moores also recommends taking lessons outdoors.

"There were days that my daughters and I were crawling up the walls, said Moores, "so we did our spelling practice out on the driveway with chalk and we gathered rocks in our yard to practice math."

9. Give kids the reins

"At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter all that much if they finished their math work before their science," said Mathison. "Let them decide which subject they'd like to dive into first, or better yet, grab a spiral notebook or a piece of paper and simply write out the assignments they need to finish for the day. Let them work through the list in whatever order they'd like, checking them off as they go."

10. Do your own homework

Moores said in her eight years of homeschooling, she's learned the importance of taking time to make a plan of her own for how she will handle the flow of her days.

"You need to do your homework so you can show them how to do theirs," said Moores. "Schedule out lessons and read their textbooks before they do. Have a good lesson planner as a scheduling tool  that's a must."

11. Hold a daily wrap-up meeting

Erica Arndt, who blogs at Confessions of a Homeschooler, said one key to her success as a home educator is a daily meeting.

"I find it helpful to have a 10-15 minute daily wrap-up meeting at the end of the school day to go over my children's work," said Arndt, who has been homeschooling her 17-, 15-, 14- and 11-year-old children since they were in preschool. "They each pick a time slot and I sit down with them one-on-one. We discuss any questions that they had, check to make sure everything was completed and grade anything that needs grading."

Erica Arndt has been homeschooling since her oldest, now 17, was in preschool. (Erica Arndt)

"Daily meetings help me stay on top of grading so I am not overwhelmed," the Colorado mom continued. "And, it helps my children get a clear sense of accomplishment for today and know what will be required tomorrow."

12. Give yourself grace

"You've been thrown into a situation that is unfamiliar and somewhat scary," said Mathison. "Your 'school day' will not be perfect, and that's OK. Just try to remember that you're both adjusting to something new and there will be some bumps along the way."

"This may be an unexpected occurrence," added Moores, "but I would be so bold as to say that it will be the blessing you never thought you wanted."

Related video:
The police on Thursday arrested two members of the Popular Front of India for their alleged involvement in communal riots amid anti-CAA protests in the North East Delhi, in which over 50 persons were killed, officials said.

IMAGE: Charred remains of vehicles set ablaze by rioters during communal violence over the amended citizenship law at Shiv Vihar area of the riot-affected north east Delhi. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo

The accused have been identified as PFI president Parvez and secretary Iliyas, they said.

The two were arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police, the officials said.

The police had on Monday arrested 33-year-old Mohammad Danish, a PFI member and a resident of Trilokpuri, for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to incite communal riots in North East Delhi.

Sources said some documents recovered from him also established the PFI role in providing logistical and financial support to protesters.

It was through these documents that police came to know of the roles of Parvez and Iliyas in the riots.
The Maharashtra Industrial



Development Corporation (MIDC) will soon purchase and distribute power at low tariff rates, state Industries Minister Subhash Desai told the Legislative Council on Friday.

Desai made the announcement while replying to a calling attention raised by NCP's Kiran Pawaskar.

"The state-run Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) charges around Rs 9-10 per unit, while neighbouring states supply power at Rs 6-7 per unit," Desai said.

To break this pattern, the state plans to procure a power distribution licence for MIDC to keep tariffs on lower side, he said.

The MSEDCL claims that it has to give power subsidies to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore to farmers every year, making electricity costlier for industries, he said.

"We don't want to affect the growth of industries in the state in the name of subsidising power tariffs for farmers," the minister said.

Once the MIDC gets power distribution rights, the state will be able to purchase power at lower rates and facilitate industries, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In both of his books, Daley depicts Republicans as partisans bent on eviscerating the democratic vision that Obama so nobly enunciated in 2008. Daley maintains that the party of Lincoln willingly embraced gerrymandering and a variety of other vote-suppression tactics, such as voter purges, voter ID laws, reductions in early-voting days and closures of polling places. The goal: discouraging nonwhite and young voters from voting against Republican candidates. But while Daley is appalled by the GOP game plan, he also admits that the Democrats and Obama allowed it to happen. In Ratf**ked, he describes the Democratic National Committees headquarters in Washington as looking like a partly folded map or an accordion. All of which seems apt, of course, for a party that has been played like one and that badly needs to stop the bleeding and find direction.
Doctors and experts are calling for the NHS to cancel planned surgeries and non-urgent activity to help hospitals prepare for an expected coronavirus surge.

As the government moves to the next phase of its plans to limit the spread of the disease, the NHS has been warned to expect an increase in demand for intensive care beds.

Senior doctors and hospital bosses have called for operations to be cancelled to allow time to establish makeshift intensive care wards and to practise treating coronavirus patients. Some of those infected are seriously ill with pneumonia and need oxygen and ventilation care.

The Royal College of Anaesthetists said it would back moves to give staff more time to prepare, while the president of the Intensive Care Society said hospitals needed to be taking the issue seriously but time for training was still variable across the system.

The Nuffield Trust think tank said cancellations could be sensible as thousands of extra patients may need intensive care. But it also warned the decision had to be taken locally rather than nationally.

Meanwhile, hospitals are being told to prepare for nationwide cancellations over the next few months, according to the Health Service Journal.

It reported that NHS England had asked hospitals to assess patient risk in case non-emergency work has to be cancelled.

Sarah Jane-Marsh, chief executive of Birmingham Womens and Childrens Hospital, said: After a morning going through all of the relevant information, its definitely time to step up into full incident mode to best protect our patients, families and staff, and hopefully to provide mutual aid to our partners.

Dr Helgi Johannsson, council member of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, told The Independent: We are likely to be embarking on a time when intensive care units in the UK are going to be extremely stretched. Anaesthetists do a lot of intensive care in their training and the skill set of anaesthetists and intensive care doctors overlap considerably.

The RCoA would be very supportive of any measures that allow anaesthetists to familiarise themselves with the policies and protocols of their intensive care units. We would also support time being given to ensure staff are fully trained in the additional measures required for caring for Covid-19 patients.

We recognise that every hospital is different and it may be necessary for elective work to be postponed to allow for this training.

He added it was important the medical community adopted a cooperative and unified approach to the crisis and that clinicians followed the advice of experts within government.

Ganesh Suntharalingam, president of the Intensive Care Society added: Reducing elective surgery to cope with Covid-19 admissions may be necessary in time. However, hospitals should already be taking the issue seriously and looking at releasing staff time to train and prepare, and our members tell us that this varies significantly between trusts.

Helen Buckingham from the Nuffield Trust said cancelling planned treatment was one way the NHS could quickly free up beds and this often happens to manage pressures in winter.

She said: As the health service gears up for increases in the numbers of critically ill patients needing hospital care, its a sensible option to consider  even though it does come at a cost to those patients who will have to wait longer for care.

But she said a blanket decision across the NHS may not be the best option.

On social media, many doctors and intensive care consultants have called for all non-urgent operations to be cancelled. Meanwhile, the government is under pressure over lack of action to prevent the spread of the virus.

The number of cases in the UK has now jumped by more than 134 cases in a day to 590 with two more deaths of elderly patients who tested positive for the virus.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was not concerned about the possibility of being exposed to the coronavirus after dining last week with a Brazilian government official who has since tested positive for the disease

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was not concerned about the possibility of being exposed to the coronavirus after dining last week with a Brazilian government official who has since tested positive for the disease.

The day after announcing curbs on travel to the United States by European Union residents, Trump brushed off concerns about his possible exposure to the virus, which has sickened more than 126,000 people in a worldwide pandemic.

Lets put it this way: Im not concerned, Trump told reporters while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who had been at the dinner with Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, has been tested for coronavirus and is awaiting the result, his son Eduardo wrote on Twitter, adding that the president was not showing any symptoms.

Brazilian officials on Thursday confirmed that Brazils communications secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, has the coronavirus and is now under quarantine at his home.

White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said Trump and Pence had almost no interactions with the Brazilian official and that they do not require being tested at this time.

She said the White House medical unit and the US Secret Service are ensuring that every precaution is taken to ensure the good health of Trump and Pence, their families and staff.

We are monitoring the situation closely and will update everyone as we get more information, she said.

The coronavirus pandemic and fallout is shaping up to be perhaps the greatest crisis of Trumps presidency. The front-runner seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Trumps bid for re-election later this year, former Vice President Joe Biden, spoke on the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday afternoon.

Weingarten had been on an official visit to the United States with Bolsonaro and posted a photo on Instagram of the meeting at Trumps Mar-a-Lago club last Saturday, showing him standing next to Trump while wearing a Make Brazil Great Again cap Vice President Mike Pence was next to Trump.

Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S Paulo reported that Bolsonaros test results were due Friday. It added that other cabinet ministers on the trip will also be tested.

US Senator Rick Scott of Florida on Thursday said he would quarantine himself after meeting with a member of Bolsonaros staff during the visit.

While I do not believe I interacted with the infected person, that individual was in the same room as me, Scott said in a statement. The health and safety of the American people is my focus and I have made the decision to self-quarantine.

Bolsonaros son Eduardo, a federal congressman who also attended the meeting at Mar-a-Lago, said on Twitter that he was on his way to get tested. Four days ago, he posted a photo of himself standing behind the U.S. president, next to Trumps daughter, Ivanka, and close to his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Brazils foreign minister, defense minister and Brazils chief national security advisor were also in the image, along with the Brazilian president.
Demand curves slope in a downward direction. This means that the higher the price, the less of an item, or good, or service, will be sought. The more road blocks, hurdles, thumbtacks placed in the way of any given action, the less likely it is to occur. Economists do not agree on many things, but on this insight, there will be nary a dismal scientist who will not acquiesce.

Yet there are several public policies in place that are incompatible with this commonsense understanding.

Consider first residential rental units. New York City, San Francisco, Cleveland, and another half-dozen major cities are now offering free legal advice to tenants threatened by eviction. At present, this benefit is afforded mainly to those accused of a crime who cannot afford a lawyer, on the grounds that such legal aid is needed to provide equal justice for rich and poor alike. Now it is being extended to renters.

Some commentators even think this strengthens the hands of tenants and reduces homelessness. They reckon, however, in the absence of downward-sloping demand curves. They think only in terms of immediate, not long-term effects. Yes, give them free legal advice, and fewer people will be evicted  one point for the tenant.

But look at this from the point of view of the landlord, or the would-be investor in residential real estate. It now becomes more difficult to evict non-paying or obstreperous tenants. Will they be more or less likely to build, upgrade, repair apartment dwellings? To ask this question is to answer it. They will tend to seek greener pastures elsewhere. They will try to convert extant dwellings into condominiums, commercial space, etc. But with less residential housing available, the situation of renters will become more dire, not less. Remember that downward-sloping demand curve: with a lowered supply, rents will rise, not fall, and a given square footage will accommodate fewer people, not more. More homelessness, here we come.

The same analysis applies to other efforts to "help" tenants. Under economic freedom, landlords may demand as much as several months' worth of security deposits. This will indemnify them if there are damages. It will also protect them from bankruptcy, since it typically takes months to evict non-payers. This problem arises especially during the Christmas season; judges are particularly reluctant to toss people out onto the street during these times. Curiously, they do not at all have the same attitude regarding robbers during December. But what are non-paying tenants other than thieves of accommodation?

Next, consider the labor market. In France in particular, and other countries as well, the law makes it more and more difficult to fire employees. The authorities want to protect workers, and they also do not relish increased unemployment statistics. This "remedy" of theirs also fails to take into account downward-sloping demand curves; it looks only to the immediate run, avoiding long-run effects. For when barriers are placed in the way of laying off wage-earners, less of it will occur.

How do rational profit-seeking entrepreneurs react? Why, by not hiring workers in the first place! Instead of offering full-time employment, they take on only part-timers. Firms resort to contracting out to smaller firms, or to the individuals themselves. The latter take on what are called "gigs" so as to escape these unwarranted legislative enactments.

These laws are also discriminatory. Workers can quit with no by-your-leave. Unless and until employers can sever relationships with employees as easily, justice, to say nothing of full employment, will not prevail.

If society really has the best interests of tenants and employees, it will not in effect charge higher "prices" for them. The very opposite policies would be pursued.
The Telugu Desam party boss Nara Chandrababu Naidu, once a tall leader in the country, now losing his ground in the state of Andhra Pradesh itself. Out of 175 seats, TDP won only 23 seats, three (Vamsi, Maddali Giri, and Karanam Balaram) out of these few seats have left the party and are with TDP now. TDP to have at least 18 seats to keep opposition status. As per the rule, the 10% of members must be there to be recognized as the opposition. TDP now has only 20 MLA seats. if three persons ditch the party, the party leader Chandrababu Naidu will lose the leader of opposition states in Andhra. the leader of the opposition enjoys cabinet minister rank and enjoys good security, office in Assembly and other things like salary and allowances. Chandrababu Naidu is likely to lose all of them since the ruling YSRCP opened the gates for new joinings from TDP. Key leaders are defecting to the ruling party before the local body polls. MLCs and other leaders are no exception to it. Party MLC Dokka Manikya Varaprasad and party Visakha Urban unit president and former MLA S A Rahaman have left the party and joined the ruling YSR Congress. A senior leader from Jagan Mohan Reddys home turf Kadapa district and former MLC S Satish Reddy, former MLA from Prakasam district Kadiri Baburao too have deserted the party giving a rude shock.

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Also read: Coronavirus in India: KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan says players, spectators health first

Senior political analyst Ankababu said If Jagan allows new joinings, Naidu would definitely lose his leader of opposition status. three persons already jumped and three to four sitting MLAs may join YSRCP from TDP. mainly from Prakasam and Visakhapatnam districts due to many reasons mainly they will be benefited financially. the leaders have business interests in Andhra. and even if Naidu loses the opposition leader status he may not lose the present security cover since Naxal threat is impending and He is under NSG cover. Even if TDP loses, BJP cannot benefit as expected by some central leaders.. many YSRCP leaders off the record told the NewsX that Naidu will lose the status. Before the general election, YSRCP opened the flood gates for new joinings and before the local body polls again a large number of joinings are happening. Even the young leader of BJP Vishnuvardan Reddy told NewsX that Naidu will lose the leader of the opposition status since Jagan Mohan Reddy wanted to strengthen his own party and Chandrababu while he was in power he allowed 23 YSRCP MLAs to join TDP and some of them were made ministers also.

Andhra Minister Dharmana Krishna Das recently said Naidu will soon lose his status as the Leader of Opposition. His fate now depends on just three MLAs. It completely depends on how Jagan feels. if He wants to strip Naidu out of Cabinet rank, its not at all a big deal. moreover, Jagan will definitely payback since when he was the leader of the opposition, his 23 MLAs were taken by Naidu. and then-Speaker Kodela Shiva Prasad Rao did not take any action on the defected MLAs. but Jagan said, he wont take any TDP MLA into his party, they can join the party after resigning from TDP and MLA post. if he abides by this rule, the MLAs who wish to join YSRCP should resign first. The TDP is accusing Jagan is misusing his power by targetting the MLAS income sources and raids by the authorities.

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You are in essence our local board, said Smith whos appointed by House leaders to serve in a non-voting advisory role on the DUAB. When the community takes the time to drive down here, you dont let them speak You have to calm the waters. Theres a big disconnect.
Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., pauses during a Bloomberg event on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020.

Microsoft said Thursday that its annual Build developer conference in Seattle, set to run from May 19-21 will be held online instead of in person, a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC in an email. The change was made as the coronavirus continues to spread around the U.S.

Build is one of Microsoft's biggest events, where the company announces new technology across various product lines. Microsoft held Build for the first time in 2011. Prior to that, the company brought together thousands of people for its Professional Developer Conference and Mix events. Around 6,000 people were expected to attend last year's Build event.

"The safety of our community is a top priority. In light of the health safety recommendations for Washington State, we will deliver our annual Microsoft Build event for developers as a digital event, in lieu of an in-person event," a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC. "We look forward to bringing together our community of developers in this new virtual format to learn, connect and code together. Stay tuned for more details to come."

Washington state, where the conference has been held for the past few years, has been hit particularly hard by the disease, with 31 deaths, more than in all of Japan, according to Johns Hopkins University data. More than 125,000 cases have been logged globally, according to the World Health Organization.

Microsoft earlier opted to hold two smaller events online instead of in person: the MVP Summit for handpicked non-employees and the WSLConf for discussing the Windows Subsystem for Linux technology. Facebook and Google also recently decided not to hold in-person developer events this year.

There were warnings Build might be restructured.

On March 2, Microsoft updated its Build website with a message showing that it was staying on top of health information but had not decided to cancel the event.

"In light of the global health concerns due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Microsoft is monitoring public health guidance in relation to in-person events," the message said. "At this time, global health authorities have not issued guidance to avoid travel to this location. We are looking carefully at our event calendar as well as our presence at industry events in the coming months. We are not taking decisions lightly, but the health and well-being of our employees, partners, customers and other guests remain our ultimate priority."

On March 11, the same day the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee banned gatherings of more than 250 people in three counties, one of which contains Seattle.

The Verge reported on the news earlier.

WATCH: Microsoft surprises investors by warning it will miss guidance amid outbreak
A Court of Appeal judge, Justice Bright Mensah, has expressed worry over the decision by the former second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson P. Asiama, to travel to Nigeria at the time the country has recorded cases of the deadly coronavirus.

Dr. Asiama who is on trial together with some five others for allegedly causing financial loss to the state had applied for his passport which he deposited with the court registrar as part of his bail conditions.

Appearing before the court yesterday, his lawyer, Simon Alimley, although did not state the reason for his client's trip, indicated that it had become very important for Dr. Asiama to make the trip.

However, the judge expressed concern about the increasing cases of the virus and was particularly concerned about Dr. Asiama's health, as well as that of the public.

Although the state did not oppose the application for his passport to be released, Hilda Craig, a Senior State Attorney, stated that we have been magnanimous enough not to oppose the application.

She then suggested that Dr. Asiama should quarantine himself for a few days upon his return.

Justice Mensah released the passport and ordered Dr. Asiama to return it to the court registrar and also write to the Attorney General upon his return to Ghana.

Trial

Dr. Asiama and the Former Chief Executive Officer of insolvent UT Bank which is now defunct, Prince Kofi Amoabeng, and four others, are before the court facing some 42 charges including causing financial loss to the state.

He is accused of allegedly causing financial loss to the state by approving GH460 million liquidity support for UT Bank without following laid-down procedures.

He and the others pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled against them and they were granted bail by the court.

They were ordered to deposit their passports with the court registrar and had to apply to the court before it was released.

---Daily Guide
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 17:37:35|Editor: Lu Hui

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TOKYO, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Japan on Friday passed a special bill enabling Prime Minster Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency if necessary to bolster measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 as the number of infections continue to rise nationwide.

To better combat the COVID-19 outbreak, the special bill was passed by the House of Councillors, after clearing the House of Representatives a day earlier and gaining Cabinet approval prior to that.

The newly amended law, which will be valid until February 2022, is a revision of an existing law on novel influenza that came into force in 2013 and has been made applicable to the government's ongoing efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Under the amended law, the government has extended powers once a state of emergency has been declared by Abe in particular parts of the country.

Such powers include regional governments being authorized to instruct local people to stay at home, issue closures to schools and restrict the use of locations that facilitate large groups of people gathering together or cancel large scale events all together.

Local governments will also have the authority to demand that supplies deemed essential to combating the spread of COVID-19 be sold to them or requisitioned, and regional authorities will also be able to temporarily commandeer private land or facilities for the purposes of providing medical care.

Previously, the prime minister did not have the legal grounds to forcibly close schools or cancel events, although Abe had requested such measures to be taken in a bid to try and contain the virus.

The number of coronavirus infections in Japan increased to 684 as of 15:00 p.m. local time on Friday, with eight more cases being reported earlier in the day, the health ministry and local governments said.

A total of 26 people have died from the disease, with Hokkaido Prefecture in northern Japan reporting the highest number of COVID-19 infections at 136 cases. Osaka Prefecture has 89 confirmed cases and Tokyo 75, according to the latest information from the health ministry and local authorities.

While the Japanese government has conceded that "clusters" of infections have appeared in some parts of the country, a government panel of medical experts has said that an "explosion" of cases has been prevented.
Russia is finally getting its new Project 12701 Alexandrite-E class MCM (mine countermeasures) ships into service. Construction began on the first ship in 2011 and was to enter service by 2015. That was delayed a year because of the 2014 sanctions (in response to the Russian attack on Ukraine) prevented the importation of some crucial components. As of early 2020, four of the new MCMs are in service and three more are under construction. The navy wants forty of these vessels to protect ports, and especially naval bases, from naval mines. While mines are expected in wartime there is also the risk of Islamic terrorists getting their hands on them and using them right now. Iran and pre-2003-Iraq have tried to use these weapons clandestinely in peacetime but this was not a widespread practice. However, the threat remains. Nations that are not prepared to cope will see their seaborne commerce disrupted along with their economy in general. A lot of nations are currently in need of help here.

The Alexandrite class ships displace 890 tons and have a fiberglass hull as protection against magnetic mines that detect metal ships. These new mine hunters have a max speed of 31 kilometers an hour but when working, and searching, move much more slowly. The ships have a max endurance of ten days and a crew of 45. Armament consists of one multi-barrel 30mm autocannon, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, machine-guns and small arms for some of the crew. Mine clearing equipment consists of sensors and USVs (unmanned surface vessel) operated remotely to get a closer look at bottom mines and then smaller UUVs ((unmanned underwater vessel) for planting explosives to destroy bottom mines. There are flail systems to clear and detonate surface mines.

One reason Russian built these new MCMs is that there is an active export market for MCMs. India is a prospective export customer because currently India only a few operational but elderly MCM ships. At the same time, India is buying Australian mine-detection systems that can be mounted on any ship to detect mines. Western nations are also using such systems on helicopters as well as ships. The MCM solution most popular in the West is USV/UUV systems that can be used from any warship or from shore in a threatened port. The USV/UUV gear can be flown in quickly since a closed port is a disaster that gets worse the longer the mines have it shut down.

USV/UUV equipment has greatly improved since the 1990s. For example in 2017 an Israeli firm demonstrated its new Seagull USV system carrying out MCM missions (finding and destroying bottom mines) off the Belgium coast in rough weather. Seagull is designed to operate in Sea State 5 (six meter waves and 38 kilometer an hour winds) conditions and survive Sea State 7 (nine meter waves and 59 kilometers an hour winds).

Each Seagull system consists of two Seagulls and a base station operated from shore or on a ship for the three people needed to operate Seagull and its sensors and explosives. One Seagull carries several types of sensors (sonars and others) while the other Seagull carries a minisub for getting a closer look at bottom mines, or wire-guided torpedoes for destroying subs or bottom mines. Each Seagull USV is 12 meters (39 feet) long, has a top speed of 57 kilometers an hour, a payload of 2.5 tons and can stay at sea for up to four days at a time. The Seagull USVs can operate up to a hundred kilometers from base stations. Each Seagull system costs $30 million but can do the work of a manned MCM (mine countermeasures) costing three times as much or, when it comes to ASW (anti-submarine warfare) operations, frigate or corvette costing ten times as much. Seagull is a lot cheaper to maintain and operate and puts far fewer personnel at risk.

Seagull is not a radical new concept but rather the result of decades of unmanned aerial, land and naval vehicle development. The Israelis have been in the lead in most categories. For example in 2013 an Israeli firm presented a larger (11 meter/34 foot) version of the older nine meter Protector USV. This one was armed with a water cannon and Spike missiles. The 2013 model was more stable in rough seas and can stay out for over 12 hours at a time.

Ever since the end of the Cold War a growing number of naval officers and civilian experts have been urging that more attention be paid to dealing with naval mines. These warnings had an impact. For example in 2012 over 30 other nations conducted a joint mine clearing exercise in the Persian Gulf. Numerous separate events were directed at dealing with Iranian attempts to block the entrance (Straits of Hormuz) to the Persian Gulf. The impact of that exercise led to others held annually ever since. While Iran is the most immediate naval mining threat, they are not alone. North Korea, China and Russia much larger naval mine stockpiles, but these three are not boasting of how and when they would use them,

Iran insists that because of its mines and other weapons it will have no trouble blocking the export of oil via the Straits of Hormuz. Some 35 percent of the world's oil shipments pass through these straits, which comes to about 15-20 tankers a day (plus a dozen or more non-tankers). The Persian Gulf, in general, is a busy waterway. It is 989 kilometers long and the average depth is 50 meters (maximum depth is 90 meters). Naval mines are Iran's best bet if they want to shut down the straits. The Iranian problem is that they have a small navy, an obsolete air force, and a poor track record when it comes to shutting down tanker traffic in the Persian Gulf or the Straits of Hormuz. They tried once before, in the 1980s, when they were at war with Iraq. Iran quickly discovered that laying mines in wartime was difficult because the enemy was actively trying to prevent that. So Iran and Iraq began attacking each other's tanker traffic early on with other weapons, in an attempt to cut off each other's oil sales (and, thus, military purchases). Iran didn't want to shut the Straits of Hormuz because it needed the oil revenue more than Iraq, which was getting billions in aid from other Arab states. So each country concentrated on attacking shipping in the Persian Gulf. Over 500 ships were attacked, 61 percent of them tankers. Only 23 percent of the tankers attacked (mainly with anti-ship missiles) were sunk or immobilized. The attacks, using fighter-bombers and warships, only hit about two percent of the ship traffic in the Gulf. Iran lowered its oil prices to cover the higher cost of ship insurance and, in 1986, Russia and the United States intervened to protect Kuwaiti and Iraqi tankers (which were taking most of the damage).

The Iranian military is in worse shape today than it was in the 1980s and would not last long trying to attack ships with mines. That leaves the Straits of Hormuz. This is actually a wide (about 30 kilometers) deep channel. Normally, shipping sticks to narrow (a few kilometers wide) channels, going in and out, to avoid collisions. The main Iranian threat has always been seen as naval mines because the one place where Iran has a good chance of planting a lot of mines is the Straits of Hormuz.

The Arab states have a lot of mine clearing equipment and more numerous air and naval forces than Iran. In addition, there are the United States and NATO forces in the area. The problem was that all these mine clearing forces had not, until 2012 practiced under realistic (wartime) conditions. In short, it has long been unclear exactly what it would take to deal with Iranian mines in the straits. Many of those questions were finally answered in 2012 and during subsequent mine clearing exercises.

For an Iranian mining attempt to work they would have to get the mines onto the bottom of the straits and then prevent the rest of the world from clearing those mines. That would be difficult, as would Iranian attempts to plant additional mines. Such attempts would not be impossible as Iran has small submarines and speed boats along with sailors willing to carry out suicidal missions to deliver the mines. Even that may not be sufficient, as this sort of fanaticism failed against the Americans in the 1980s. While Iran has worked to overcome its shortcomings, most of the solutions appear to be publicity stunts mainly meant to make the Iranian population feel better.

Iran has a few thousand naval mines and that is a small arsenal compared to Russia (over 200,000), China (over 100,000) and North Korea (over 50,000). It is generally agreed that all these mines are a serious danger. While often ignored, naval mines are a formidable weapon. But these passive weapons just don't get any respect. The historical record indicates otherwise.

Modern naval mines were widely used for the first time over a century ago, during the Russo-Japanese war (1904- 1905). These were contact mines, floating in shallow water and kept in place with an anchor and chain. When the tide was right they would be just below the surface, ready to explode whenever struck by a ship. Some 2,000 of these mines were used to destroy sixteen ships during the Russo-Japanese war. That's one ship lost for every 125 mines used.

During World War I (1914-18), modern mine tactics and clearing methods evolved. Thousands of mines were laid to provide defensive barriers against enemy movement in the North Sea. Mines were also used offensively by secretly placing them across known enemy sea routes. More than 1,000 merchant and warships were lost because of the 230,000 mines used. That's over 200 mines used for every ship lost.

During World War II there was a major effort to develop better mine clearing methods to deal with an even larger number of mines. During World War II 2,665 ships were lost or damaged by 100,000 offensive mines. That's one ship for every 37 mines. Some 208,000 mines were used defensively to inhibit enemy movement and tie up his resources.

Naval mines achieved several striking successes during World War II. In the Pacific naval mines proved more destructive to the Japanese war effort than the atom bombs. During a 10 week period in 1945, 12,000 mines were placed off the Japanese coast by American bombers. These destroyed 1,250,000 tons of Japanese shipping (670 ships hit, 431 destroyed). That's 18 mines for each ship hit. The Americans had air superiority, so losses during these 1,500 missions amounted to only 15 planes, most of them accidents. Had these missions been flown against the opposition, losses would have been between 30 and 60 aircraft, plus similar losses to their fighter escorts. Either way, it was a stunning success for naval mines,

A conventional submarine campaign was also waged against Japanese shipping using mines. Comparisons between subs using mines and torpedoes are interesting. A hundred submarines were involved in a campaign that ran for 45 months from December, 1941 to August, 1945. Some 4.8 million tons of enemy shipping was sunk with torpedoes. For every US submarine sailor lost using submarine launched torpedoes, 560 tons of enemy ships were sunk. During the mine campaign, 3,500 tons were sunk for each U.S. fatality. On a cost basis, the difference was equally stark. Counting the cost of lost mine laying aircraft (B- 29's at $500,000 each) or torpedo armed submarine ($5 million each), we find that each ton of sunk shipping cost six dollars when using mines and fifty-five dollars when using submarines. This data was classified as secret until the 1970s. It indicates that mines might have been more effective than torpedoes, even if the mines were delivered by submarine.

The Germans waged a minelaying campaign off the east coast of the United States between 1942 and 1944. Only 317 mines were used, which sank or damaged 11 ships. This was a ratio of 29 mines used for each ship hit. More importantly, eight major ports were closed for a total of 40 days. One port, Charleston, South Carolina, was closed for 16 days, tying up not only merchant shipping but the thousands of men, warships, and aircraft dealing with the situation. American submarines also waged a limited mine campaign in the Pacific. For 658 mines used, 54 ships were sunk or damaged (12 mines per ship). No subs were lost. Considerable Japanese resources were tied up dealing with the mines. On the Palau atoll, the port was closed by the mines and not reopened until the war ended. Even surface ships were used to lay mines. Three thousand mines were laid by destroyers. Only 12 ships were hit but these were barrier fields, not the ambush type mine fields that a submarine can create by sneaking into an enemy held area.

In Korea during the early 1950s, the Soviets provided North Korea with 3,000 mines, many of 1904 vintage. These were used to defend Wonson harbor. It took several weeks for UN forces to clear these, at a loss of a dozen ships hit. Half of these ships were destroyed.

During the Vietnam War over 300,000 American naval mines were used, primarily in rivers. The vast majority were not built as mines but were aerial bombs equipped with magnetic sensors instead of fuzes. These bombs/mines used a small parachute to ensure that no damage occurred on landing. In shallow water, these makeshift weapons sat on the bottom and performed as well as mines until a timing system deactivated the or the battery was exhausted. While modern bottom mines have long-lasting batteries, there is still a limit (several years) that they can remain active.

In 1972 Haiphong Harbor was mined with 11,000 of these "destructors," as the US air force called them, and less than a hundred conventional mines. Haiphong Harbor was shut down completely for months, and it took years to clear out all the American mines. The "destructor" mine design was so successful that it is still in use, using more modern electronics and batteries, as the Mk 62 mine.

During the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqis laid over a thousand mines off the Iraqi and Kuwaiti coast. The predominantly US naval forces did not have sufficient mine sweeping resources to deal with this situation and had a helicopter carrier and cruiser hit and damaged while trying to clear the area. This effectively prevented any US amphibious operations, although the Marines were not going to be used for a landing anyway. It took over a month of mine clearing after the fighting ceased to eliminate all the mines. In the meantime, two U.S. warships were damaged by these mines. In 2003, the Iraqis again tried to use mines but were hampered by prompt American, British, and Kuwaiti action.

In any future war, naval mines will again surprise everyone with how effective they are. It is feared that terrorists might get their hands on some bottom mines, but so far, there do not appear to have been any attempts.

The U.S. Navy has systems similar to the Israeli Seagull and has many helicopters equipped for mine clearing. But the navy is having a very difficult time maintaining its force of MH-53E helicopters. These aircraft are the only ones that can tow a sled containing naval mine detecting gear. This sort of thing is called AMCM (Airborne Mine Countermeasures) and is considered essential in areas, like the Persian Gulf, where the enemy (Iran) might use a lot of naval mines that would have to be cleared quickly in wartime.

The MH-53E is an update of the original 1960s era CH-53 and entered service in the early 1980s. Fifty MH-53Es were built and they have been worked hard ever since. Thats why only 30 are left and few of them are fit to fly at any one time. Originally the navy planned to retire the MH-53Es in 2008, but replacements (lighter sleds that could be pulled by smaller and more modern helicopters) did not work out as expected. So retirement was pushed to 2012, then 2017 and currently the navy hopes to keep some MH-53Es operational into the 2020s.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to develop lighter equipment for the mine hunting task. Some of these projects have had limited success. The AQS-24A mine-hunting system looks like a torpedo with extra fins and attachment. It is lowered into the water and dragged by the helicopter at speeds of up to 34 kilometers an hour. The AQS-24A contains a high-resolution sonar that seeks out mines that lie on the sea bottom, waiting for ships to pass over. The bottom mine then detonates if a ship type it was programmed to attack is detected. The U.S. Navy has been using this mine hunting approach since the 1980s. The original sled system went through several major upgrades and is considered very reliable and effective. The MH-53E sled can carry more equipment and sweep a larger area faster.

The U.S. Navy has also developed a complementary system, ALMDS (Airborne Laser Mine Detection System). Designed to operate from the MH-60S helicopter, ALMDS uses a Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging blue-green laser to detect, and identify naval mines near the surface. Unlike the AQS-24A, ALMDS operates from the low flying, and smaller, helicopters. Surface mines are either moored (via a chain to the bottom) or floating (a favorite terrorist tactic), and many float just below the surface. The laser works very quickly and enables the ALMDS equipped helicopter to quickly check out large areas for surface mines. Terrorists have used naval mines before, of the floating variety. Navies tend to use the more sophisticated, expensive and hard-to-get bottom mines (that lie on the bottom, in shallow water).

American allies have also developed new mine detection and clearing tools and some of the new U.S. equipment uses foreign tech. While new mine designs have become more effective, the basic problem is that the many older mine designs are still very dangerous, especially for the unprepared.
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SEATTLE  The Wallingford Inn, at 4450 Green Lake Way N., sold for $2.1 million, according to King County records.

The seller was SMW Investment LLC, which acquired the property out of foreclosure in 2010 for $1.2 million.





. . .
Disqualified UP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar was on Friday handed down 10 years rigorous imprisonment, besides imposition of a fine of Rs 10 lakh, by a Delhi Court for the death of Unnao rape victim's father in custody, saying "no leniency" can be shown for killing a family's "sole bread earner".

Sengar, who has already been sentenced to the "remainder of his natural biological life" for raping the minor Unnao girl, was stripped of his membership on February 25 as the lawmaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly following his conviction in the rape case.

Pronouncing the sentence in a packed courtroom, District Judge Dharmesh Sharma also awarded 10 years jail term to Sengar's brother Atul Singh Sengar and five others for their role in the custodial killing of the father of the rape victim.

The court, which did not hold the accused guilty of murder under the IPC, awarded maximum sentence for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder to convicts under section 304 of the IPC after holding that there was not intention to kill.

Sengar and his brother will have to pay Rs 10 lakh each as fine within three months to legal heirs of the deceased, including the rape victim, as compensation.

"Considering the minor children (of the deceased) losing their father who was sole bread winner of the family and keeping in mind the fact that the victim's family has been uprooted from their native place, all the convicts in the case are being sentenced to maximum punishment," the court said in its order.

The court further said Sengar and the co-convicts, two police officials, being public servants were supposed to uphold the law but there was no denying the fact that they broke the rule of law.

"The way crime has been committed, the victim's father was beaten up and paraded, no leniency can be given to the convicts and therefore, I am sentencing all the convicts to the maximum punishment," the judge said.

The court also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to take appropriate disciplinary proceedings for medical negligence against doctors who had treated the father when he was injured and in judicial custody.

The father of the rape victim was arrested at the behest of Sengar in the Arms Act and had died in custody on April 9, 2018 owing police brutalities in custody.

On March 4, Sengar, his brother and five others were convicted for the death of the victim's father in judicial custody.

The court, which sentenced all the convicts to maximum punishment under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and some other offences under the penal laws, also said that the four daughters and a son of the deceased has lost the protective cover of their father.

Besides ten years in prison for culpable homicide, Sengar, his brother, the then in-charge of Makhi Police Station in Unnao Ashok Singh Bhadauria and then sub-inspector K P Singh, Vineet Mishra, Birendra Singh and Shashi Pratap Singh have been also sentenced for other offences as well.

They have been sentenced under the following sections of IPC: five years under 120 B (criminal conspiracy), seven years under 193 (Punishment for false evidence), two years under 203 (giving false information respecting an offence committed), two years under 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), seven years under 211 (false charge of offence made with intent to injure), one year under 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), one month under 341 (wrongful restraint) and three years under Section 25 of the Arms Act.

While awarding the sentence, the court made it clear that all the jail terms to the convicts shall run "concurrently".

The court had earlier acquitted other accused -- constable Amir Khan, Shailendra Singh, Ram Sharan Singh and Sharadveer Singh -- giving them the benefit of doubt in the custodial death case.

On December 20 last year, Sengar was sentenced to jail for "remainder of his natural biological life" in a separate case for raping the minor daughter of the deceased in 2017.

The CBI had examined 55 witnesses in support of the case and the defence had examined nine witnesses. The court had recorded the statements of the rape victim's uncle, mother, sister and one of her father's colleague who had claimed to be an eyewitness to the incident.

According to the CBI, on April 3, 2018, there was an altercation between the rape victim's father and one Shashi Pratap Singh. The charge sheet filed on July 13, 2018, said the victim's father and his co-worker were returning to their village, Makhi, when they asked Shashi for a lift.

Shashi denied them the lift, triggering an altercation among them, the CBI had alleged adding that Shashi called his associates, following which Kuldeep's brother Atul Singh Sengar reached the spot along with others and beat up the woman's father and his co-worker.

The woman's father was subsequently taken to the police station by them where an FIR was lodged against him and he was arrested for allegedly possessing illegal fire arms.

The charge sheet said that all this while, Kuldeep Sengar was in touch with the district police superintendent and Makhi police station in-charge Ashok Singh Bhadauria. Later, he also spoke to the doctor who examined the rape victim's father.

The case was transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the directions of the Supreme Court on August 1 last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trinity College Dublin is offering a partial refund to students in college accommodation who return home.

The university is encouraging all students, whether Irish or international, to go home, if it is possible to do so.

Students have been advised that anyone who decides to vacate their accommodation permanently for the remainder of the term should write to the Accommodation Office, to let them know.

A pro rata refund will be provided at the end of the academic year the college has told them.

It comes after Leo Varadkar said the country's schools, colleges and childcare facilities are to close in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking in Washington, Mr Varadkar said all indoor gatherings of more than 100 people and outdoor events involving more than 500 should be cancelled.

Home working is encouraged and socialising should be limited.

"Where possible teaching will be done online or remotely. Cultural institutions will close as well," the Taoiseach said.

"Our advice is that all indoor mass gatherings more than 100 people, and outdoor mass gatherings, more than 500 people should be cancelled.

"Arrangements are to be made to ensure that everyone entering Ireland thorough our ports and airports is fully informed and self-isolates if they develop symptoms."

Prior to the university closing, two Trinity College students tested positive for coronavirus.

The second student confirmed yesterday to have Covid-19 was based outside the main campus and is now being treated in hospital.

Trinity was advised of the case this evening and has sent a message to staff and students.

The HSE has begun the process of tracing anybody who has been in contact with the male student, who did not live in university accommodation.

The college said it would continue to take all actions necessary to contain the spread of the virus.

The university said it would keep other possible measures under review. The present policy of delivering lectures online from Monday will continue and all students and staff should follow the guidelines around social distancing and good hygiene.

Our goal should be to decrease the number of instances that lead to students, staff, and visitors coming together in large groups in close proximity with each other.
New York: The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, welcoming "encouraging developments" toward peace and a reduction in political violence by the warring parties after six years of civil war.

The US-sponsored resolution extends the mandate of the peacekeeping force until March 15, 2021, and maintains its overall force levels at a maximum of 17,000 troops and up to 2101 international police personnel.

United Nations peacekeepers from Rwanda in Juba, South Sudan's capital. Credit:AP

The council demanded that all parties to the conflict immediately end all fighting in the country, engage in political talks and implement a permanent ceasefire called for in several agreements but never implemented.

It threatened sanctions "against those who take actions that undermine the peace, stability, and security of South Sudan".
[March 13, 2020] Lawful Interception Market 2020-2024 | Increasing Vulnerability to Crime and Terrorism to Boost Market Growth | Technavio

The lawful interception market is expected to grow by USD 1.95 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/20200313005094/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Lawful Interception Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) The rapid development in communications infrastructure has encouraged lawbreakers to find new areas of exploitation and shift toward online exploitation activities. Electronic communications are taking on new forms and are broadening into larger audiences, and data volumes are soaring. This creates opportunities for cybercrime, in turn, intensifying the challenge for law enforcement agencies and service providers to protect security breaches. With the increase in security threats, lawful interception has become a priority. The use of lawful interception helps to counteract crime and terrorism. Moreover, also it helps to ease and improve the investigation process for collecting evidence and aids in better inspection. Such factors are likely to fuel the demand for lawful interception during the forecast period. To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR41531 As per Technavio, vendor compliance with standards and regulations governing lawful interception will have a positive impact on the market and contribute t its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyses other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024.



Lawful Interception Market: Vendor Compliance with Standards and Regulations Governing Lawful Interception The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI (News - Alert)) offers standards such as ETSI TS 101 331, which guides the lawful interception of telecommunications in the area of co-operation by network operators, access providers, and service providers. It allows systematic and extensible communication between network operators and law enforcement agencies over defined interfaces, in compliance with national legislation. Also, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS (News - Alert)) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) together define a number of standards such as J-STD-025-A/B (Voice, CDMA), T1.678v2 (VoIP), ATIS-1000013.a.2009 (IAS), and ATIS-0700005 (VoIP, MM), which help network operators and service providers comply with CALEA. Some of the major vendors of lawful interception solutions, such as Utimaco (News - Alert) GmbH and IPS S.p.A. offer products that are compliant with ANSI/ATIS and ETSI standards. Thus, adherence to the standards will eventually help in increasing the sale of the lawful interception solutions.

"The increasing number of government initiatives supporting lawful interception will be a major factor that will 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 Lawful Interception Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the lawful interception market by application (services, devices, communication content and network technology), and geographic segmentation (North America, APAC, Europe, South America and MEA). The North America region led the lawful interception market in 2019, followed by Europe, APAC, MEA and South America. During the forecast period, the North America region is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to factors such as the rise in the number of criminal activities. 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: Application Services

Devices

Communication content

Network technology Geographic Segmentation North America

APAC

Europe

South America

MEA Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005094/en/

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When photographer Ponch Hawkes went looking for images of naked older women on the internet, she found acres of blank space, then a rich vein of whats termed granny porn.

The whole panorama, from the 50s onwards  there wasnt anything, she says. The odd life model. You are more likely to find a drawing. Then you look more, and you find 500,000 images of Young man fing old woman.

I grew up with a sense of shame about my physical appearance. Now I am honouring it, appreciating it, taking care of it. Immersion in a dance and movement practice has finally enabled me to land in my skin. Credit:Ponch Hawkes

Hawkes hit on this surprising corner of the internet when she was commissioned to take 500 portraits of women over the age of 50  an act she didnt recognise as radical until she realised how few such images existed. For a society preoccupied with the female body, interest drops off precipitously after 50. For every woman, its on your mind, the question of body image and body hatred, and there isnt any material about that for older women.

The project began as a health initiative, the brainchild of Martha Hickey, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Melbourne and Royal Womens Hospital. Hickeys clinical area is menopause, and many of her patients are women facing early menopause.

"Id recently left a 36-year relationship that involved domestic abuse. I was ready to shed my skin, find myself. I jumped into the Flesh After Fifty project with this force. I removed victim and replaced it with a strong woman who loves her body and self. I got my identity back. Credit:Ponch Hawkes

I have been struck over the years by how much their fear of becoming an old woman added to the distress of the experience, Hickey says. Those two words in combination; there is nothing good about them. We really needed to change the message for younger women about what it is to become an older woman.
Up to 20,000 people in Wales could die amid the coronavirus outbreak in a worst-case scenario, the country's health minister has said.

Vaughan Gething laid bare the scale of the challenge the Welsh NHS is facing in a press conference in which he also announced non-urgent surgical procedures and outpatient appointments would be suspended.

Mr Gething gave the worst-case figures while responding to criticism about his repeated refusal to ask the Welsh Rugby Union to postpone Wales's Guinness Six Nations clash against Scotland in Cardiff on Saturday, following the union's own decision to do so 24 hours before kick-off.

Up to 20,000 people in Wales could die amid the coronavirus outbreak in a worst-case scenario

On Thursday, he had said 'science doesn't tell us that it really makes a difference' that cancelling large events could save lives.

On Friday, Mr Gething said: 'This is actually about how we make choices based on the best scientific advice available, based on the best advice of our chief medical officers.

'That's going to be the way the government behaves, because our priority is to save as many lives as possible. And it should not get away from the fact that is what we are talking about.

'In an average flu season across the UK, there are 8-10,000 deaths. In the worst-case scenario, as you know in Wales, for coronavirus could be over 20,000 deaths.

'That's the choice we are making in how to use our resources.'

Mr Gething announced non-urgent surgical procedures and outpatient appointments would be suspended to ease pressure on the Welsh NHS and free up resources.

The country's health minister Vaughan Gething announced non-urgent surgical procedures and outpatient appointments would be suspended

He said: 'I'm choosing to act now before we see a significant surge in demand so that our services can be ready to act as we move towards the peak.

'A larger number of people requiring high levels of care are highly likely over the coming weeks.'

Health and social care providers will have permission to relax targets and monitoring arrangements, he said, as well as to cancel internal and professional events, including study leave, to free up staff for preparations.

Health boards will also be able to suspend NHS emergency service and health volunteer support to mass gatherings and large events.

Access to cancer and other essential treatments such as renal dialysis would be maintained, he said.

Responding to Mr Gething's announcement, Darren Hughes, director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, said his organisation wanted to reassure the public NHS organisations were 'well prepared' to provide care.

The Welsh Rugby Union decided to postpone Saturday's Six Nations clash with Scotland despite the health minister not asking them to

Mr Hughes said: 'We are pleased that the minister has taken the action today following feedback from NHS chief executives and medical directors to ensure that preparations to Covid-19 are planned, co-ordinated and proportionate.'

Earlier on Friday, Public Health Wales said a further 13 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the country, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 38.

The official number of people tested for the virus now stands at 945, while those suffering a cough or high temperature are being asked to self-isolate at home for seven days.

The new cases include four people in the Caerphilly area and two in the Swansea area.

The other seven cases are in the local authority areas of Anglesey, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Flintshire, Monmouthshire, Newport, and Powys.

The Welsh Government said it would extend delivery hours for supermarkets and food retailers to ensure the food industry is able to respond to increased demand by shoppers during the outbreak.

Local Government Minister Julie James said a temporary relaxing of planning conditions which currently restrict night-time and early morning deliveries would allow retailers access to deliveries throughout the day and night.

Ms James said: 'Given the exceptional challenges facing Wales and the United Kingdom as a whole from Covid-19, it is vital deliveries of food, sanitary and other essential products over the coming weeks can be made as quickly and safely as possible, minimising disruption to the supply chains on which communities depend.

'We are working closely with the UK Government and food industry representatives to ensure supermarkets and other food retailers are able to respond to the outbreak as best as they can.'
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has temporarily suspended visitation at all facilities statewide until further notice due to the ongoing threat of the coronavirus, according to a Friday statement from the TDCJ.

"While we understand the value and significance of the visitation process at our facilities, we also understand the importance of providing and maintaining a safe and healthy environment for all involved," the statement read.
Jersey City has given bars and restaurants selling alcohol a 10pm curfew in a bid to slow down the spread of deadly coronavirus.

Mayor of the New Jersey city Steve Fulop said this would quell large, uncontrolled crowds in venues such as nightclubs, as 1,700 cases and 41 deaths from the killer bug are confirmed in the US alone.

The executive order - to be in place for at least one week - also instructs any venue that can fit more than 25 to use a sign in sheet to monitor who comes in and out.

Mayor of Jersey City Steve Fulop (centre) issued an executive order giving bars and restaurant selling alcohol a 10pm curfew in a bid to slow down the spread of deadly coronavirus

Speaking at a press conference Fulop said: 'Logically, one would discuss an uncontrolled environment like a nightclub where you have 1,000 people coming at night.

'So, if we can minimize interaction in that sort of environment where it is difficult to track people, we think it is prudent to take those steps now.

'We dont know who is coming in and coming out and we want to err on the side of caution.

'We are in uncharted territory, so we are going to be more aggressive than most [] we want to be proactive.'

New York City residents getting last remaining food at Costco in Queens just hours after State of Emergency declared

Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center is empty after the last tour group left Thursday

Events in the city - including the St. Patricks Day Parade - have been cancelled as the state confirmed six new cases of the bug that has infected more than 131,000 and killed 4,000 worldwide, NJ.com reports.

New Jersey now has 29 cases.

The measures enacted in New Jersey come as a state of emergency was declared in New York City and a lock down was placed on a suburb of Philadelphia.

New York's roads and streets became increasingly more deserted yesterday as Broadway was shut down until April 12 and all large gatherings were suspended.

Disneyland will temporary close the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim in response to the threat posed by the coronavirus

Few people are seen at San Francisco's popular Fisherman's Wharf tourist destination on Thursday as the coronavirus has negatively affected a wide range of industries all across the nation and 150 million cases are predicted

Empty shops and passenger areas at Newark Airport Terminal B on Thursday as the U.S. outbreak worsens

The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, the New York Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall all canceled events through March 31.

Areas normally flooded with tourists stood silent as panic shopping gripped the city.

The generally bustling Times Square was empty as increasing numbers of employees worked from home and others sheltered from the outbreak.

Panicked New Yorkers rushed to stock up on essentials forming long lines and clearing shelves of produce.
The Sheridan woman who tested positive for the novel coronavirus is isolated at her home and is doing well, health officials said Thursday. Meanwhile two people in a nearby community college district are under quarantine for at least two weeks.

The middle-aged woman  the first person in Wyoming to test positive for the disease caused by the virus  has not been identified. She said that she was feeling somewhat better at the time of her positive test result, said Dr. John Addlesperger, chief medical officer for Sheridan Memorial Hospital.

At this point in time it looks like a pretty mild infection, he said.

She came to the hospitals urgent care because she was concerned about a number of symptoms: fever, cough, aching and a runny nose. She was treated, diagnosed and initially tested at the facility. Then, because she was not significantly ill, she was sent home and told to self-isolate.

Addlesperger said her exposure to others in the hospital was limited. In a previous statement, the Sheridan hospital said it was closing its cafeteria and cafe until further notice.

We have a triage station in the emergency room that triages patients with suggestive symptoms for COVID-19, he said. So the people were wearing personal protective equipment.

It took around 30 hours to get the test back from the state lab.

The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a respiratory illness, symptoms of which include fever, cough and shortness of breath. It comes from the broader family of coronaviruses, which causes illnesses like SARS and the common cold.

On Wednesday evening, the Health Department announced that the woman had tested positive for COVID-19 after traveling within the United States. Neighboring states have had larger caseloads, including more than 40 in Colorado and one death in South Dakota. The Wyoming Health Department has declined to provide additional details about the patient, including where she traveled to. Addlesperger also declined to say where she had been, other than she had traveled locally and within the country over the last couple of weeks.

Kim Deti, a spokeswoman for the state Health Department, said Thursday health officials have identified close contacts and they are being quarantined. She said the individuals were cooperative and she didnt believe an order was necessary to enforce the isolation.

We arent recommending additional steps, she added. The close contacts will be tested.

Two under quarantine

Two people in the Northern Wyoming Community College District  a student and a faculty member  are being quarantined, according to a Thursday afternoon statement from district President Walter Tribley. They were placed under quarantine Thursday and will remain there for a minimum of 14 days, he said.

The district included Sheridan College, Gillette College and Sheridan College in Johnson County. When asked which college the quarantined people attended and worked at, a representative for Sheridan College said no additional information could be provided.

Addlesperger of Sheridan Memorial Hospital did not know if there were more people quarantined.

We are in contact with local and state healthcare officials and incorporating information from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help determine our best course of action, Tribley said. We are keeping the safety of our students, employees and communities at the forefront of our decision-making, however our core mission is education and we will do everything possible to ensure students reach their goals.

A crisis management team for the district was set to meet Thursday evening to discuss next steps. The school has canceled all college-sponsored travel.

Negative tests

As of Wednesday evening, the state had run 16 negative tests for the disease, which causes respiratory issues and is characterized by a fever, cough and shortness of breath. Deti said she didnt have updated numbers or results from Thursday. Gov. Mark Gordon also said there had been 17 tests  one positive, 16 negative  in a Thursday evening news conference.

Sheridan Memorial Hospital had conducted two negative tests before the woman tested positive, Addlesperger said.

He said the 24- to 48-hour range has been the norm for receiving results, but that that number could soon shrink.

Its an evolving process, he said. I know the state and the labs are looking at different ways to speed that up and consolidate samples, so were thinking thats going to improve over time. Also, private labs are coming online now and offering the test. So were going to have other testing resources other than just the state lab.

Despite a national shortage, the Sheridan hospital is currently well-stocked on the culture medium that is used to send swabs to the state lab for testing. A hospital spokesman said the facility has a complete inventory of the culture kits, but that he could not say how many were in the inventory.

However, the number of tests being conducted in Sheridan could soon be on the rise.

We have had to make adjustments to deal with the volume, certainly everyone is quite concerned and so theyre calling us frequently, Addlesperger said. A lot of people are coming to be screened, not clearly understanding really who needs to be tested. So were really working on community communication. Were working with our health department and our county to develop public information systems that will help communicate.

Even so, he said things havent changed much for the hospital since the positive test.

Weve been working for weeks getting our infection prevention protocols (prepared) and assure that theyre all in place and that we have the equipment and the facility structure to take care of patients safely, Addlesperger said. And weve been saying in our community conversations that we need to assume that there is virus in our community and we need to take all the precautions that are recommended by the state health department and CDC. So, we havent significantly changed our approach, our protocols.







Photos: Empty shelves and shuttered events as coronavirus reaches Wyoming

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Brandon Foster Managing editor Brandon Foster is the Star-Tribune's managing editor. He joined the Star-Tribune in 2016 as the University of Wyoming sports reporter after graduating from the University of Missouri and covering Mizzou athletics for two years. Follow Brandon Foster Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
[March 13, 2020] Huawei Powers Thailand Telemedicine Video Conference Solution to Fight Covid-19 BANGKOK, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Huawei has donated its Telemedicine Video Conference Solution to Thailand hospitals and Disease Control Department, to support Thailand people's fight against COVID-19. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul visited the IT Center of DDC. Through the Telemedicine Video Conference System, the Prime Minister expressed his regards to the medical staffs at Bamrasnaradura Hospital, Banplee Hospital, the Suvarnabhumi Airport, and thanked for their contribution. "I also want to express our gratitude for Huawei to help improve the efficiency of Thailand's fight against COVID-19with their technological expertise. I wish Huawei could keep contributing to Thailand's digital transformation and improve people's lives in the future," said the Prime Minister. The donations, totaling around 10 million baht, include seven sets of Telepresence Systems and 200 mobile user accounts, powered by Huawei's CloudLink Platform. In less than one week, Huawei's project team managed to complete the installation of the systems at all five locations. The platform will enable medical experts across Thailand to work with frontline medical staff to conduct remote online consultations with patients, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment. More importantly, doctors and nurses could monitor the patients' condition anywhere on smart devices, therefore reduce the risk of being infected. In addition, the remote teleconsultation and interactive training enabled by the system could also help improve the disease control ability of different areas in the country. "I want to pay my homage to all the countermarching people in this outbreak interdiction war! Time is quiet, behind is everyone's selfless pay! Huawei will make every effort to support this battle. Thailand ????!" said Abel Deng, CEO of Huawei Thailand. SOURCE Huawei

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Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo has sworn in Justice Ijeoma Agugua, as the first female Chief judge of the state.

Speaking at the ceremony on Friday in Owerri, Uzodinma reiterated his resolve to make the state judiciary one of the best in the country.

Judiciary is an important arm of government, and if our democracy must grow with its attendant dividends, we must have an efficient judiciary.

This is why every government must take seriously the leadership and membership of the judicial arm of government, he said.

Uzodinma reassured that the judiciary will enjoy full autonomy as enshrined in the Constitution under his watch.

I am not unaware of the little bickering here and there in the past, the past government in the state could not foster a robust relationship with the judiciary, in my own time, it will be different, he said.

While congratulating the Acting Chief Judge on her appointment, Uzodinma urged her to improve on all those things her immediate predecessor put in place and possibly drive new ideas that will take the state judiciary to greater heights.

The Imo judiciary must be the best under my watch, I will give you all the necessary support to ensure that you have an outfit worthy of commendation, he said.

Agugua, however, thanked Uzodinma for towing the path of justice and for being gender-friendly.

You have today used your office faithfully in accordance with the spirit and internment of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and your Oath of office, she said.

Agugua replaced Justice Paschal Nnadi, who retired from service. Until her appointment, she was the administrative judge in the state high court.
OSLO, March 12 (Reuters) - The Norwegian central bank will offer extra liquidity to banks in the form of three-month loans amid market turmoil caused by the coronavirus outbreak, it said on Thursday.

"The loans are being offered to ensure that the policy rate passes through to money market rates," Norges Bank said in a statement. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
As the coronavirus outbreak spreads, the impact is starting to be felt throughout Pennsylvania - such as when Governor Tom Wolf announced the closing of all schools K-12 in the state for two weeks.

And as the state braces for the disease, the nonprofit organization Central Pennsylvania Food Band is preparing to assist those who are most vulnerable - not just to the disease itself, but to those who will suffer disruptions of public meal programs or loss of income.

I can only speak from my own experience and what Ive learned, but I dont think anyone has seen a crisis quite to this extent, because it really affects everybody everywhere, said Amy Hill, director of community engagement at Central Pennsylvania Food Bank in Harrisburg. And the unknown is the greatest challenge. But we certainly have been sort of called upon to rise when a need has arisen.

One such example, Hill said, was during the federal government shutdown of 2019, during which hundreds, if not thousands, of federal employees were facing empty cupboards because their paychecks were frozen for a long time.

The closing of schools throughout the state is likely to send many families scrambling - particularly those with students who may rely on the free school lunches from programs such as the National School Lunch Program. While those programs arent supplied by the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Hill said that the organization was on standby to assist if needed.

When schools are closed, it certainly causes a lot of hardships for parents on a good day, Hill said. But we heard from the Department of Education that Pennsylvania received a waiver to allow schools to continue serving meals to students through the National School Lunch Program and other federal programs that give them reimbursement for those meals.

The schools who operate with those federal programs may now choose to focus on non-congregate setting meals - in other words, distributing meals to students without putting them all in a cafeteria together, raising their collective risk of infection. Students or parents may be able to pick up those free school lunches and take them home.

Were calling around now to the schools and the different programs to find out what each of their contingency plans are, Hill said. If theres any need for us to provide some assistance, we certainly will do that. Each school will have its own protocol for dealing with those types of things.

But school lunches arent the only meals that may be disrupted during coronavirus shutdowns. As with the federal government shutdown in 2019, the closing of businesses may lead to loss of income - which could mean people finding cupboards bare before the pandemic subsides.

Theres a genuine concern as this crisis unfolds and businesses shut down, people who rely on that paycheck might lose a shift or two, Hill said. That causes further pressure in their family budgets, where they could run out sooner than later.

And senior citizens - the group most susceptible to the coronavirus most severe symptoms - are also often the beneficiaries of food programs, whether in highly socialized settings or in the form of personal meal deliveries. And that means expanded precautions for the Food Bank, and for all of their partner groups who disperse the food directly to those in need.

One such partner group is New Hope Ministries, a charitable group that offers, among many other services, basically a small grocery store for low income individuals and families to come and get help with food, according to executive director Eric Saunders.

Were there to make sure people get through the month and they can eat healthy, Saunders said. Our major focus over the next couple of weeks is going to be trying to stay open. Particularly our food pantries, to make sure nobody in our community goes hungry.

With warehouses in Mechanicsburg, Dillsburg, Hanoer and Littlestown, Saunders said, New Hopes stores are certainly well stocked. But if they start running low, he added, we can always rely on the Central Pa. Food Bank to restock us.

But anywhere people gather in large groups increases the risk of spreading the disease. Rather than allowing those most vulnerable to the disease risk infection, Hill said that the affiliated food pantries were looking into new sanitation guidelines and ways to minimize crowds of people congregating to collect food, perhaps in the form of car service or door-to-door deliveries -- in other words, she said, making sure nobody has to go hungry trying to protect themselves in the midst of the coronavirus.

Were going to be working with partner agencies around the region to make sure that while theyre taking precautions to protect everyone from exposure to coronavirus, theyre still able to fulfill their mission, Hill said. Certainly senior citizens are among the highest risk group, so making sure that those who really rely on that box of food to help fill their pantries, were continuing to make sure they get it.

That grocery store experience I described may have to change a little bit, as we get into social distancing and schools shutting down and local businesses closing their doors," Saunders said. "Were already gearing up to offer a drive-by service, where we can have zero contact but we can still offer help to people. If someone has an emergency need, if they were quarantined or home-bound, we would do our best to get help to them.

Its really an unprecedented challenge that we have, but like with any challenge, were going to stay committed to the mission as best we can, Hill said.

And with such an unprecedented challenge, she said, there was a very simple step that people could take to assist with such an unprecedented challenge: donate.

Probably the thing that we could use the most is financial contributions, she said. I think thats always true. And again, minimizing the person-to-person contact that everyone is recommending. Gathering food is always welcome, but you can sit at home and go online to make a donation. And those dollars we can use to meet the needs, purchase things that arent donated, to make sure that if we have to do extra mobile distributions or something, we have all the resources in place to do that.

Its a little bit scary to think about us ramping up services at a time when the stock market is in free fall and people have kind of slowed down their giving activity," Saunders said. "Were hoping that the community will remember to support local charities like New Hope and many other good charities in the area, who are providing services to people in need. Were going to be open for business, even if we have to do it at arms length.

And provided that they are not sick and dont have reason to believe theyve been exposed to infected individuals, volunteers are always needed at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank - in fact, now more than ever.

We want to make sure we get the message out, one, that help will be available," Hill said. "But also, were noticing a lot of volunteer groups that we really rely on are making decisions and some of them are canceling. Were going to need volunteers to help us keep up with our mission. We probably are going to need some extra volunteers.

We want people to take care of themselves and all that, but were not closing up shop for this, Hill said. Were going to take every precaution, but were going to keep doing what we do. We really are in the crisis business, helping people in need when something isnt going right or is out of the ordinary in their lives. With this, we just have the added challenge of making sure that were protecting people and that were not exposing people unnecessarily.

We are still operational," she added. "If youre scheduled to come and volunteer, and youre not sick, youre still very welcome here.
A employee at its office has been tested positive for the novel and the company has told all its employees to work from home.

After Dell India and Mindtree, this is the third case where an employee of a tech giant has been diagnosed with in the country.

"We can confirm that an employee from our Bangalore office has been diagnosed with COVID-19. They were in one of our Bangalore offices for a few hours before developing any symptoms," a company spokesperson said in a statement.

The employee has been on quarantine since then, and has asked colleagues who were in close contact with the employee to quarantine themselves and monitor their health.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking employees in that Baengaluru office to work from home tomorrow (Friday)," said

Earlier, one employee from software major Mindtree and Dell India each were tested positive following their returns from the US.

India witnessed its first death when Karnataka Health Minister B. Sriramulu on Thursday confirmed that a 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi in the state's northern region died of COVID-19.

The Union Health Ministry has confirmed 76 coronavirus cases so far.
A federal appeals courts ruling that climate change can be addressed only by elected officials, not the judiciary, is being challenged by 24 members of Congress, who say the crisis has become so politicized that the courts must step in and demand action.

A lawsuit by 21 young people, accusing the government of violating their constitutional rights to life and liberty by repeatedly approving coal, oil and gas extraction, was heading toward trial before it was halted in January by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The 2-1 ruling said the problem was grave but so complex that any solutions must come from Congress and the president.

Lawyers for the youths have asked the appeals court for a new hearing before an 11-judge panel, saying judicial intervention is essential when governmental conduct catastrophically harms Americas children. That request drew support Thursday in a court filing by eight senators and 16 House members, all Democrats.

History shows that, left to their own devices, the political branches have become entrenched and incapable of devising a plan to respond to the current consequences and future threat caused by climate change, the Congress members said. The court cannot shy away from its duty to interpret the Constitution and protect the youth plaintiffs.

The signers included three House members from the Bay Area  Jared Huffman of San Rafael, Barbara Lee of Oakland and Jackie Speier of San Mateo. Their legal team is led by attorney Joe Cotchett and includes former Republican Rep. Pete McCloskey.

The suit was filed in 2015 by plaintiffs ages 8 to 19. Relying on the public trust doctrine  which makes the government responsible for managing natural resources, like land, air and water, for the benefit of its inhabitants  the youths sought court orders requiring federal officials to take steps toward achieving a carbon-free economy by mid-century.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

While the crisis is real, the appeals court majority said, the remedy would require a fundamental transformation of this countrys energy system, if not that of the industrialized world. That is beyond the power of the courts to order or enforce, said Judge Andrew Hurwitz, reluctantly concluding that the youths must instead present their case to elected officials and the voters.

In dissent, U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton of Santa Ana, temporarily assigned to the appeals court, said the judiciary could and should order the government to take meaningful action to reduce global warming  to do something to help the plaintiffs even if short of a complete solution. Thursdays filing by the Congress members endorsed Statons view.

Our nations youth, the group most impacted by the climate crisis, is powerless to elect officials and has no voice in the political branches, they said. Because elected officials have failed in their responsibility to curtail the effects of the climate crisis, the representatives asserted, the court must step in.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and NC patron Farooq Abdullah on Friday thanked parliamentarians who "fought for my freedom" from detention and said he will be able to take a decision on future only after other leaders are released.

Abdullah also expressed hope that he would be able to attend Parliament.

"I am free... Hope others political leaders would be released soon. Thank all parliamentarians who fought for my freedom. Will be able to take decision on future only after other leaders are released," Abdullah, the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, told reporters from the terrace of his residence here.

He was flanked by his family members, including his wife Molie Abdullah.

Abdullah was under detention since August 5 last year when the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two union territories.

"I would also like to express gratitude to every individual who prayed for us... I will not speak on any political matter till others are released," he said.

He was the first chief minister against whom the Public Safety Act was invoked.

The stringent Act was slapped against him on September 15, hours before the Supreme Court was to hear a petition by MDMK leader Vaiko who claimed that Abdullah was illegally detained.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The office housing Torontos Emergency Operations Centre is preparing for a city under COVID-19.

Between 40 and 50 agencies are represented at the centre.

While the office has existed for some time, Toronto Fire chief Matthew Pegg told reporters Friday morning that it is an integral part of Torontos emergency preparedness.

We deploy and use this facility on an as-required basis as situations happen throughout the city Pegg said. The city has now moved to what it refers to as a level two operation, which means support staff are on site 24 hours a day.

Weve assembled key leaders and key decision-makers from all of the citys divisions and agencies in order to give us the ability to ... deal with issues as they come in, he said.

One example of the emergency planning done there is preparation for the possibility that there will be a reduction in the number of city staff available due to the outbreak.

The EOC takes updates as they become available  often by the minute, Pegg said  and disseminates the information to the citys decision-makers.

Any key actions that are required as a result of that happen here, he said.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday called on the U.S. government to respond to the coronavirus outbreak by passing a "big stimulus package" that offers health-care guarantees and injects money at the "grassroots level."

In an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer, the Massachusetts Democrat explained that her far-reaching proposal addresses everything from COVID-19 testing to student loan holders to workers and businesses. The total package would cost $750 billion, up from the $400 billion original plan she presented last week.

"We need to show that we have a government that understands the scale of this problem and understands that the approach to it is to get money ... Down into the hands of the people who will put it down at the grassroots level and help support this economy from the ground up," she said in a "Mad Money" interview. "So that's the basic approach."

Warren, who put out an initial proposal earlier this month, counted off three policy guarantees intended to stop the spread of the deadly virus that has infected at least 1,323 people and led to at least 38 deaths in the United States as of Thursday. Those steps include boosting the number of and making coronavirus tests free to everyone, ensuring that a vaccine, when developed, will be free to all and earmarking a "pot of money" to cover workers that call off sick or to care for an infected individual.

"Those are good for all of us in terms of our health and reduce the amount of contagion," Warren said. "They are also good for us economically, so that's where I start every part of this."

Warren, who ended her campaign to seek the Democratic nomination for president a week ago, included not just employees but employers in her plan. The plan includes a measure to allocate low-interest or interest-free loans to help businesses weather through the health crisis as many consumers limit their time outside the house. Companies would be required to keep workers on payroll.

"That will help the economy in multiple ways [to] keep these businesses open so that when people are venturing out again and we are putting money in from the other direction  They'll have open stores to come to and goods to buy," she explained. "This keeps the circle going and that's what we want to do in this economy."

In efforts to increase the amount of money that consumers are spending in the economy, the senator wants to get more money into the hands of student loan borrowers and social security recipients. That includes canceling college debt obligations at least for the next three months, while increasing social security and disability payments by $200 a month "at least for a year," she said.

"If you assume we're only going to spend a certain amount of money here, I'd much rather see us target it rather than an across the board that disproportionately advantages rich folks," she said.

Warren has an additional week to try to woo her colleagues in a bitterly divided Washington to include her proposals in a response package. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell earlier Thursday canceled the Senate's recess scheduled for next week as lawmakers in both chambers work to hash out a plan to address the economic impacts of the pandemic.

In his announcement, McConnell said he hopes "Congress can pass bipartisan legislation to continue combating the coronavirus and keep our economy strong."

Over in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been in negotiations with the Trump administration. House Republicans opposed a response plan their Democratic colleagues presented in the afternoon.

Last week, Trump signed a wide-reaching spending bill that put $8.3 billion towards prevention efforts and research to develop a vaccine to combat the deadly disease.

When asked by Cramer whether she thought Vice President Joe Biden or Sen. Bernie Sanders  the remaining Democratic hopefuls  was better equipped to handle the outbreak, Warren deflected. The senator has yet to endorse a candidate since leaving the race.

"Right now I'm pushing the administration to do a better job," she said. "That's the urgency of this moment. Let's talk about what we can do tomorrow."
" " A boy leads his class in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag at an elementary school in 1940. Esther Bubley/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images

Every American schoolkid can recite the Pledge of Allegiance by heart, even if they have no idea what "indivisible" means or they think the whole thing is a tribute to some guy named "Richard Stans."

The author of the Pledge, which was originally written as part of a patriotic marketing campaign, would likely be amazed that his 22-word statement  which did not include "under God"  remains a classroom staple more than 125 years after its creation.

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in the late 1800s, a time of tremendous social upheaval in the United States. Industrialization drew masses of people away from farms and into crowded cities while an unprecedented wave of immigrants, most of them penniless and uneducated, poured in from Europe. Like today, politicians and public opinion were split on the threat immigration posed to what it means to be "American."

In 1892, a former Baptist pastor named Francis Bellamy was working as an assistant editor at a magazine called the Youth's Companion, a national publication for kids and their parents. Bellamy was also a Christian Socialist, a group striving to create a more just and equitable society through Christian values. Bellamy believed that one of the best ways to "Americanize" and peacefully incorporate these waves of immigrants was through patriotic programs in the public schools.

The very idea of public schools hardly existed in America before the Civil War, says Charles Dorn, a professor of education at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine and co-author, with Randall Curren, of "Patriotic Education in a Global Age."

"The 1870s and 1880s were really the first time that people began thinking of public schools as a place where you can do things to create a better society," says Dorn. "For example, you can create more patriotic Americans if you get them when they're young and you start teaching them to be loyal to the United States."

Even though Bellamy was a fan of patriotism in public schools, he didn't write the Pledge of Allegiance with the notion that it would be recited daily by every school kid in America. His most pressing concern was selling magazines.

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The Marketing of the Pledge of Allegiance

Bellamy and his bosses at the Youth's Companion wanted to capitalize on the upcoming Columbian Exposition, the 400th anniversary of Columbus' first journey to the New World. So, they teamed with patriotic civic groups like the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) to sell American flags to their subscribers, which numbered half a million nationwide.

The magazine also decided to print a patriotic program that schools could recite on Oct. 21, 1892, the national Columbian Celebration, and they tasked Bellamy with writing it. A Pledge of Allegiance was only one component of the program, which included parades, patriotic songs and tributes to Civil War veterans.

The magazine could have published an existing pledge of allegiance written in 1885 for the first Flag Day (June 14) celebration. That pledge, penned by George T. Balch, was already being recited in some schools, and read: "I give my heart and my hand to my country  one country, one language, one ag."

According to Dorn's book, Bellamy thought Balch's pledge was "pretty but childish" and decided to write something with more historical heft. Bellamy's original verse went like this:

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Reflecting years later on his word choice, Bellamy said that the flag in his pledge represented the Republic, and Republic was a "concise political word for the Nation," a nation proven "indivisible" by the triumph of Lincoln and the Union cause in the Civil War. He was tempted to end the pledge with the slogan of the French Revolution: "Liberty, equality, fraternity," but decided it was "too fanciful."

"But we as a nation do stand square on the doctrine of liberty and justice for all," said Bellamy, according to The New York Times. "That's all any one nation can handle. So those words seemed the only roundup of past, present, and future.''

" " Schoolkids in Southington, Connecticut, give the "Bellamy Salute" while saying the Pledge of Allegiance, 1942. Library of Congress

The Companion's marketing campaign was a roaring success. During the 1892 national Columbian Celebration, tens of thousands of public school students in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. recited Bellamy's Pledge of Allegiance in unison. Afterward, school boards in towns across the country began incorporating the Pledge into their morning flag-raising ceremonies.

Along with reciting the Pledge, Bellamy instructed students to salute the flag using a hand gesture that modern readers would find flat-out shocking. The "Bellamy Salute," as it was known, directed that "the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the Flag." In practice, the salute looked strikingly like the one favored decades later by Adolph Hitler. More on that in a minute.

Dorn says that in the decades after its publication, Bellamy's Pledge of Allegiance became wrapped up in nationalist sentiments. It's no coincidence, for example, that New York became the first state to mandate the recitation of the Pledge in 1898 exactly one day after the U.S. declared war against Spain. More state laws requiring the Pledge in schools were passed when America entered World War I.

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"Under God" and Other Revisions

The Pledge of Allegiance underwent its first major revision in 1923, when delegates at the National Flag Conference, organized by the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution, decided that "my flag" was too vague and could be misinterpreted by immigrants as the flag of their home country. First, they changed it to "the flag of the United States," and then a year later tacked on "of America" to clear up any and all confusion.

In 1942, Congress officially adopted the Pledge of Allegiance as part of the Federal Flag Code. Later that same year, Congress dropped the Nazi-esque Bellamy Salute and replaced it with instructions to place the right hand over the heart.

Finally, in 1954, after lobbying from the Catholic Knights of Columbus (and other groups) Congress added the words "under God" to the Pledge. The Cold War-era logic, Dorn says, was that U.S. schools were under the threat of infiltration by "godless Communists." Signing the change into law on Flag Day, 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower said this inclusion would "strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource in peace or war."

At the time, there was no big dissent to adding "under God." But in subsequent decades, there have been lawsuits concerning whether this amounted to a government "establishment of religion," violating the Constitution's First Amendment. So far, the courts have disagreed.

Now That's Interesting Mandatory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools has been the subject of three Supreme Court cases.
Update: 4:43 p.m., March 16

Alabama has picked up 1 confirmed case of coronavirus from this morning. The new case is in Montgomery.

The current count stands at 29, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. There are 17 cases in Jefferson County; three each in Shelby and Tuscaloosa counties; two in Montgomery counties; and one each in Baldwin, Elmore, Lee and Limestone counties.

Update 1:10 p.m., March 16:

The number of cases now stands at 28, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. There are 17 cases in Jefferson County; three each in Shelby and Tuscaloosa counties; and one each in Baldwin, Elmore, Lee, Limestone and Montgomery counties.

Update from 10 a.m., March 16:

Dr. Brian Harris, state health officer, said Monday morning the states number of coronavirus cases remains at 22.

The greatest number of cases - 12 - is in Jefferson County.

Thats not surprising given the population of Jefferson County, he said, adding that most of the testing in the state has taken place in that county.

The current number of cases include:

Jefferson County  12 cases

Tuscaloosa County  3 cases

Shelby County  2 cases

Baldwin County  1 case

Elmore County  1 case

Lee County  1 case

Limestone County  1 case

Montgomery County  1 case

The positive case from Lee County involves a healthcare worker from East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika. You can read more on the case here.

Earlier:

Alabama now has 22 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the latest figures from the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Sunday nights total includes:

Jefferson County  12 cases

Tuscaloosa County  3 cases

Shelby County  2 cases

Baldwin County  1 case

Elmore County  1 case

Lee County  1 case

Limestone County  1 case

Montgomery County  1 case

Sunday nights numbers reflect the first reported cases from Shelby and Lee counties.

There have been no deaths in Alabama.

Earlier:

As of Sunday afternoon, Alabama has 13 cases of coronavirus.

Cases have been reported in the following counties:

Jefferson  7

Tuscaloosa  2

Baldwin  1

Elmore  1

Limestone  1

Montgomery  1

The case reported as out of state was removed from the Alabama total. According to the ADPH, it recently removed our one out of state case because states do not count residents of other states in their counts (for all diseases, not just COVID-19). We have already contacted the health department in that state and that state is now counting their resident, who has returned there.

Earlier:

The number of coronavirus cases in Alabama continues to grow.

The state now has 12 confirmed cases, including five in Jefferson County. Numbers released from the Alabama Department of Public Health on Saturday showed the following cases:

Baldwin County  1

Elmore County  1

Jefferson County  5

Limestone County  1

Montgomery County  1

Tuscaloosa  2

One additional case is listed as being out-of-state.

North Baldwin Infirmary has released information on the Baldwin County case.

The patient is currently isolated at home and staff who cared for the patient exercised universal precautions to protect themselves and others from contracting the virus, the hospital said in a statement.

Infirmary Health has revised its visitor policy to allow for only two visitors per day. All visitors and vendors must enter through the designated point of entry.

There are no coronavirus-related deaths in Alabama.

Nationally, there are 2,800 coronavirus cases with 58 deaths. The virus has been reported in every state but West Virginia.

Alabama Coronavirus Urgent Alerts | Subtext

Alabama Coronavirus Urgent Alerts: AL.com is providing free text alerts as a public service to keep you updated on the most critical news around this public health crisis.

Earlier:

Alabama now has six coronavirus cases.

One of the cases is in Jefferson County. Another case, a civilian employee at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, was announced earlier today.

The Jefferson County case involves someone who traveled internationally and returned home where they were tested by their private physician. Cases have also been reported in Limestone, Elmore and Tuscaloosa counties. The ADPH lists another case as out-of-town, but has not provided information on that person.

Earlier:

Alabamas first coronavirus patient has been confirmed as a civilian employee at Maxwell Air Force Base.

The Montgomery-based installation said the person had returned home after traveling to Illinois and reported not feeling well. He is being held at off-base medical agencies who are monitoring and treating the individual.

Col. Patrick Carley, 42nd Air Base Wing Commander confirmed the civilian employee is the first coronavirus case in Alabama. Alabama Department of Public Health announced earlier today the state has its first case of COVID-19, a respiratory virus that was first detected in China in December 2019.

The individual is being evaluated and treated by health care professionals. The continued safety of our community is of upmost importance. We are working with our base medical staff and other off base health care agencies to ensure we mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in accordance with established CDC and DOD guidelines, Carley said.

Harris said the person had preexisting conditions but did not provide other details on the patient.

Earlier:

Alabama has its first case of COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus.

State Health Officer Scott Harris said the person is in Montgomery County and recently traveled out of state to an area where coronavirus is present. That is the only positive test in the state at this time, Harris said.

The age and their previous health status will not be released at this time. Harris said the patient did meet Centers for Disease Control guidelines for screening. The person, who is isolated at home, is in a high-risk category due to chronic health conditions.

The Alabama Department of Public Health has worked hard to prepare and has anticipated receiving a report of the first case of COVID-19 in an Alabama resident," he said during a press conference in Montgomery this morning. We continue to recommend that people be prudent and encourage them to use proper hygiene behaviors such as handwashing, not touching their faces with unwashed hands, covering coughs and sneezes, and staying home if they have fever."

As a precaution, it is suggested that any gatherings of more than 500 people be postponed or canceled.

At this time, Harris said no additional recommendations were being made related to school or business closures but he advised people avoid large gatherings.

Until todays announcement, Alabama was one of only a handful of states with no confirmed cases of coronavirus. There are more than 1,663 cases nationally with 40 deaths. Thirty-one of the deaths have occurred in Washington state.

Gov. Kay Ivey said the state has taken precautionary measures and made preparations in the case that the virus would eventually reach our state. As I have emphasized time and again, the safety and health of Alabamians is paramount."

Alabamians are smart and savvy, and I know they will continue taking appropriate precautions to prevent the spread to themselves or others. We have taken a calm and collected approach in preparation for this first confirmed case, and we need to remember that calm and steady wins the race. Alabamians should not be fearful, but instead, use commonsense to watch out for themselves and others. We will remain engaged on the matter and continue prioritizing the health and wellbeing of all Alabamians," Ivey said.

Alabama has confirmed its first #Coronavirus case. Please see my full statement below. Learn more here: https://t.co/ZLxo0FasyT. @ALPublicHealth will have a live press conference at 10 a.m. today. @CDCgov @WhiteHouse #alpolitics pic.twitter.com/z8yzcSNKPt  Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) March 13, 2020

The new coronavirus was first detected in China in 2019. At this time, its unclear how easily the virus spreads between people but the rapid transmission had led to travel restrictions across the globe.

Symptoms of COVID-19 range from mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath that appears anywhere between two to 14 days after exposure. Older adults and people with severe chronic health conditions are considered at higher risk for more serious illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

AL.com live updates: You can follow live updates here.

How to protect yourself against COVID-19
The Lithuanian leader planned to come to Ukraine on March 18-20

Open source

President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda decided to delay his visit to Ukraine because of the spreading Chinese coronavirus. Press secretary of the official Antanas Bubnialis told this to the press as quoted by Delfi.

"The visit was scheduled for March 18-20", he said.

Besides, the President is also supposed to decide whether he would join the working session of the European Council in Brussels in late March.

Nauseda also wanted to visit the king of Belgium; but it remains uncertain whether the meeting will take place.

Earlier, President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili canceled her visit to Kyiv for the same reason.

As we reported, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry persistently urges citizens to refrain from traveling abroad. The press office of the authority reported that on Thursday, March 12.

"This, first of all, concerns the People's Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Japan, as well as (...) tourist destinations that are popular among Ukrainians - specifically, the Italian Republic, Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Republic of Greece, the Federal Republic of Germany, Egypt, the UAE, the Republic of Turkey, the Kingdom of Thailand, Israeli state and others", reads the message.

Those who are now staying abroad - in the countries where the cases of Covid-19 are registered, are required to show maximum awareness and cautiousness. The Ministry calls on the citizens to abide by the requirements of the local authorities, avoid visiting the dangerous areas and report on their whereabouts to the closest diplomatic institution of Ukraine.
After announcing that they were stepping down from royal duties, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their first appearance in the UK last Thursday at the Endeavor Fund Awards.

During the engagement, fans couldn't help but notice how happy Meghan Markle and Prince Harry appeared as they walked to the event amid the heavy rain. Royal fans even describe Meghan as "glowing" as she strut in her tight blue dress, wearing heavy make-up.

Pregnancy Theories

Due to the "glow" that Meghan radiated that night, royal fans were quick to point out their speculations and theories, many of those include that Archie might be a big brother soon.

Fans took it to social media to discuss their speculations. Twitter was filled with assumptions and wishes that the Duchess of Sussex is now bearing her second child with Prince Harry.

Some even noticed changes in Meghan's body, a Twitter user even said that Meghan's rear seemed fuller and looked a lot like how it did when she was conceiving Archie.

British online betting company Ladbrokers even stated that there is a 10 out of 11 chances that Prince Harry and Meghan will soon be announcing a pregnancy, at least within the year. According to their spokesman, Alex Apati, if the latest odds are anything to go by, people should not be surprised if Meghan reveals the coming of baby number two this year.

Read also: Royal Family Keeps Calm Amid Coronavirus Threats, Queen Elizabeth At Risk?

Mountbatten Music Festival

Meghan and Harry were also at the Royal Albert Hall as they hit the Mountbatten Music Festival last Saturday.

Despite deciding to leave the royal life, Meghan and Harry looked royal in every inch during the event as the Duchess walked in res Safiyaa gown which turned heads and matched her husband. Harry, on the other hand, sported his red coat and military regalia, looking dapper as usual.

The event was to mark the 80th anniversary of the formation of Britain's Commandos and also marked the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The event aimed to raise money for The Royal Marines Charity.

Final royal engagement

In the past weeks and months, the couple has been the favorite topic of talks after they announced that they were stepping down from their royal duties and moved to Canada with their son Archie.

On Monday, March 9, the couple attended their last engagement as senior members of the royal family, as they celebrated the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey along with their fellow royals. The service intended to celebrate the Commonwealth of Nations that was constituted bu the countries that were previously part of the British Empire.

The event was the first time that the Royal Family appeared with both Meghan and Harry in public after the infamous Megxit announcement.

After having completed their engagements and final royal duties, Meghan and Harry are expected to go back to Canada and live a life away from the pressures of being royal.

Related article: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Likely to Divorce Following Megxit

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Mobile handset sales are likely to fall by 8-15 per cent his quarter due to the impact of coronavirus on the supply chain. Sales are likely to dip by up to 30 per cent in the quarter ending June, which is when the full impact of the outbreak is likely to show up.

Market intelligence firm TechArc has predicted a fall of 25-30 per cent on-quarter decline in the mobile handset sales in April-June quarter, as mentioned in a report in The Economic Times. The firm also predicted that stocking up of inventory is not likely to happen at the desired rate due to the supply chain issue. International Data Corporation (IDC) has also lowered the shipment estimates for the current quarter, as mentioned in the report.

While CyberMedia Research (CMR) has predicted a potential decline of 8-10 per cent in the first quarter, Counterpoint Research has estimated an overall dip of 15 per cent. CMR has also predicted a sharper impact in the second quarter for the smartphone market.

Also read: Shortage of smartphones due to coronavirus? Xiaomi, Realme, Apple face supply constraint

CMR also estimated that both smartphone and feature phone shipments grew in January but remained flat on February. The report mentioned that analysts predict sales of 31-32 million phones in the first quarter, indicating a flat growth on year.

Smartphone brands such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo and Vivo assemble the devices in the country. However, they are dependent on China for mobile phone parts including battery, memory board, printed circuit board and display. As per reports, Apple is one of the worst sufferers due to shortage of component supply. Apple's newer models such as iPhoneXR and iPhone 11 are entirely shipped from China.

Also read: Coronavirus impact: So far so good for smartphone industry

Also read: Coronavirus impact: Apple iPhone sales tumble in China in February
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got thanks from Canada's premiers Friday for $11-billion in federal funding to confront the health and economic impact of the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus  but heard that much more will be needed to weather the crisis.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (668 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got thanks from Canada's premiers Friday for $11-billion in federal funding to confront the health and economic impact of the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus  but heard that much more will be needed to weather the crisis.

Trudeau, who is in self-isolation after his wife tested positive for COVID-19, held a 90-minute conference call with provincial and territorial leaders.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a news conference at Rideau cottage in Ottawa, on Friday, March 13, 2020. Trudeau got thanks from Canada's premiers Friday for $11-billion in federal funding to confront the health and economic impact of the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus  but heard that much more will be needed to weather the crisis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand

That was instead of the in-person, day-long meeting that had originally been planned.

While the first ministers were speaking over the phone, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced that the federal government is making $10 billion available to businesses through a credit facility program.

That's on top of the $1 billion announced last week for provincial health care systems, research, protective equipment, support for workers and businesses and economic stabilization.

Several premiers welcomed the steps, but said there will need to be more.

"In our view, these are prudent and necessary moves but they are likely just first steps in what will ultimately be needed to protect public health, safety, jobs and the economy," Alberta Premier Jason Kenney told a news conference after the phone call.

He suggested "vigorous federal economic stimulus measures" will be needed on a scale similar to that provided during the 2008 financial crisis, which Kenney pegged at about two per cent of GDP, or about $40 billion.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford welcomed the billions Ottawa has already ponied up but also said more is needed.

"I joined my fellow premiers to press the federal government on the need to provide reassurance to Canadian businesses and Canadian families during this time of economic uncertainty," Ford said in a written statement following the call.

"We urge the federal government to work with the provinces to deliver the fiscal stimulus necessary to maintain stability and confidence in the Canadian economy."

A joint communique issued late Friday by the first ministers indicated that both federal and provincial governments are committed to spending what's required to revive the staggering economy.

"As the number of countries affected by COVID-19 increases, the risk of a domestic and international downturn also rises, given the impacts on supply and value chains, commodity prices, global financial markets, export markets and tourism," the communique said.

"First ministers agreed to take action and to support Canadians' economic well-being, including through fiscal measures where appropriate to mitigate economic impacts."

British Columbia's John Horgan said Trudeau told premiers that federal support for the provinces and territories will be allocated according to need, not on the usual per-capita basis. The lion's share of COVID-19 cases so far in Canada are among residents of Ontario and B.C.

Trudeau also heard calls to tighten controls over the entry of foreign visitors into Canada from Quebec Premier Francois Legault, Kenney and other premiers.

Horgan told a news conference that Canadian citizens returning from abroad are being asked to self-isolate for 14 days, so the country "should also be ensuring we're doing that for travellers who come" to Canada.

He said the federal government had already "responded to that in large measure" by announcing earlier Friday that international flights will be allowed to land at a limited number of airports to ensure better screening.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said he was reassured by the call, in which he said first ministers shared with one another the various actions they're taking to try to curb the spread of COVID-19.

"I am bolstered in my confidence that as a nation we are dealing with the issue in an open and in a proactive way," he told a news conference.

Among other things, Pallister said first ministers discussed the need to support Canadians who don't qualify for Employment Insurance benefits and are not able to afford to take time off work, put their kids in daycare or stay in isolation for two weeks.

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"I am very interested in and will pursue that conversation further with the federal government and my colleagues as to how we can better address some of those in high needs situations," he said.

Morneau indicated earlier Friday that the federal government is looking at ways to get financial support directly to Canadians who need it and will have more to say on the matter next week.

"First ministers agreed that no one should have to be concerned about job security and financial hardship should they require self-isolation," the final communique said. "They discussed ways to work together to support Canadian workers and businesses by providing supports such as sickness benefits."

Pallister said he suggested during the call that there may be at least one way in which federal, provincial and territorial governments can save money, by banding together, where possible, to get "volume discounts" on things like personal protective equipment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 13, 2020.

 With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Winnipeg and Dirk Meissner in Victoria.
A Dutch trainee driving instructor who caused "pandemonium" on an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin when he made a hoax coronavirus claim has been given a two-month prison sentence.

Former boat captain and ski instructor Job van den Broek (30) pleaded guilty yesterday to an air-rage charge after he delayed Wednesday's flight EI 605 from Amsterdam because he would not end a phone call.

He was flying to Ireland to get a connecting flight to Los Angeles to propose to his girlfriend, Judge Conal Gibbons heard at Dublin District Court.

Sentencing, he said Van den Broek thought there were special rules for him and he told a fiction to the flight attendant that his mother had the virus.

The accused buried his head in his hands as the sentence was handed down. However, the business graduate was granted appeal bail, which he took up soon after the hearing.

Van den Broek refused to get off his phone after cabin crew pleaded with him to finish his call so they could give the flight safety demonstration.

Anxiety

He later lied to cabin crew, telling them that the reason he was using his phone was because his mother had the virus and he had been in contact with her. He would not deny that he had it too, the court was told.

Cabin crew were reduced to tears and pandemonium broke out among passengers.

Judge Gibbons said his crime was unbelievable while the world was in a state of fear and anxiety because of Covid-19.

He described the case as "the most exceptional of exceptional circumstances".

After touching down at Dublin Airport's Terminal 2 at 1.49pm on Wednesday, the plane was put into quarantine for an HSE inspection.

Van den Broek had been taken to Ballymun Garda Station and held overnight.

He was charged that being a person on an Aer Lingus aircraft in flight, within the jurisdiction of the State, he engaged in behaviour of a threatening, abusive or insulting nature.

Defence solicitor Michael French confirmed his client was pleading guilty.

Detective Garda Gary Dillane told the court that Van den Broek made no reply when he was charged just after 7.30pm on Wednesday.

The officer said there was an issue on board the flight "which caused hassle for cabin crew a number of times".

Cabin crew began crying and passengers overheard and it caused upset, disruption and inconvenience.

When the plane landed gardai had to be called and arrived at "a hostile situation on the aircraft".

The court heard Van den Broek thought it was a joke and wanted to have his photo taken with gardai and HSE staff.

In evidence, Van den Broek, who had no previous convictions, told the court he was sorry and wanted to clear the air with the Aer Lingus staff, who refused to accept his remorse.

Van den Broek claimed he had been trying to tell the att-endant "it was a personal call and I mentioned she could have coronavirus".

Defence solicitor Michael French pleaded for leniency citing his client's previous good record.

The judge set appeal bail in his own bond of 1,000. Legal aid was also granted.
Five months on, what do we now know about COVID-19 and how the body reacts? What complications can happen? And how long does recovery take?

Reed ended up in hospital and, after a full day of testing, he says doctors told him he had a "new kind of pneumonia". Fortunately, he was fit and healthy: his life didn't appear to be in danger. Steroid inhalers helped reduce inflammation in his lungs and, more than a month after that first sniffle, Reed recovered. When he called the hospital in early January to ask more about his test results, they told him what was about to hit headlines around the world in just a matter of days  a new kind of coronavirus had been identified in humans. Reed was one of the earliest suspected cases.

"It was hard to breathe," Reed says. "Even walking to the bathroom, I felt like I was running out of air. My ears hurt from it, I lost my balance at times. It started to get scary, like the worst flu I've ever had."

At first, Reed seemed to just have a cold. A week on, then early December, he was already feeling better when a fever hit, and a cough. His whole body started to ache. Another week went by. He thought he was on the mend until the cough became deeper, seeming to settle at the bottom of his lungs. He felt weighed down too.

Connor Reed, 25, knows well the racking cough and spiking fever of the illness now called COVID-19. He says he came down with it late last year in the centre of the initial outbreak, Wuhan in China. He still lives just a 20-minute walk from the wet market where it's believed the strain jumped from wild animals into humans .

How it plays out depends on the two factors important to any invasion: the strength of your defences and the strength (or dose) of what youve been hit with.

A cough, a clammy forehead, shadows on the lungs. Most people infected in the viral pandemic now sweeping the globe will come down with only a mild case of the mystery illness. Some wont know theyve had it at all. But when it's bad, it can mount an attack on the whole body  and start a storm in the lungs.

Early studies suggest this virus might be better at hacking into that receptor than SARS, which is why it's more infectious, says Professor Sharon Lewin, director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.

All three attack the lungs as well as the sinuses, sometimes developing into viral pneumonia  and, because they're new, our immune system is caught unprepared, with no memory of the virus. The virus behind COVID-19 is about 75 per cent similar to the SARS strain, so alike it is even called SARS 2 or SARS-CoV-2, and thought to bind to the same cell receptors (ACE2), which, it turns out, are found in large quantities in the lungs.

The four main coronaviruses found in humans tend to colonise only the nose and throat. Collectively, they cause about one in four cases of the common cold and symptoms are mild: a runny nose, a sore throat, sometimes a cough or a fever. But since 2003, three dangerous coronavirus illnesses have emerged in humans: SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which also spawned global panic when it exploded onto the scene 20 years ago, the more deadly but less common MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) and now the latest, COVID-19, which has already infected more than 3 million people and killed about 200,000.

You cant see the virus with the naked eye  its just nanometres wide. But when someone is infected they can shed it, shooting viral particles at least a metre into the air in water droplets from their nose and mouth, usually through coughing or sneezing. Viruses infect a new host by harnessing our own cellular machinery to replicate. To get in, they need the key  a receptor within a cell they can bind to. Which cell a virus latches onto largely determines where it will spread throughout the body  and helps guide treatment.

Connor Reed, 25, in Wuhan, China. Having recovered from one of the earliest suspected cases of the coronavirus COVID-19, he is hoping to return to Brisbane, Australia. Credit:Facebook

Still, infectious disease physician and microbiologist Professor Peter Collignon says its not yet clear whether everyone gets the new virus in their lungs. Finding it down there isn't a tipping point [for severity] by any means. Some children have it in their lungs but display no symptoms," he says. "But it might not have travelled all the way down from the upper respiratory area in every case."

"Early on, you had doctors in China diagnosing just off chest scans because you can see that lung inflammation, even if it's not severe," Professor Lewin says. Now, Sydney scientists have developed a fast training tool to help frontline healthcare workers spot the tell-tale signs of COVID-19 on lung scans .

But both methods of testing can return false negatives  a throat or nasal swab can miss the virus because it's actually replicating lower down in the lungs. A blood testcan be performed too early  some people will take up to nine days to produce antibodies to fight off a virus  or it could confuse the antibody response with another virus.

The new strain has already been found in the lungs, nose, throat, even in faeces, says infectious disease expert Professor Raina MacIntyre. It can hitch a ride in the bloodstream to other organs such as the kidneys, liver, intestines as well as the heart, brain and central nervous system, too.

To find the virus, doctors need to catch it in the act , either by swabbing a sample directly from the nose and throat or in lung phlegm or by singling out the bodys immune response to the infection in a blood test.

In the case of COVID-19, Professor Collignon says patients generally appear to have mild symptoms for the first week or so. In severe cases, they can intensify into bad pneumonia during the second and, in rarer cases, the infection will turn unexpectedly deadly.

With early symptoms deceptively similar to the common cold or flu, one sign of infection may be a loss of smell (and an accompanying reduction in taste), as the virus attacks that part of the respiratory system. Sometimes people infected with the virus who otherwise feel fine will find they cannot smell as usual  although experts say the effects are likely not permanent and the sudden loss of the sense is far from a "test" for the virus. (Not all patients report losing smell and the symptom is also associated with some other viruses).

A patient might also complain of chills, headaches or a sore throat, and nausea or diarrhoea have also been reported, though not in the numbers seen during SARS. Less than five per cent of cases so far involve a blocked nose.

Based on data given to the WHO in China, most patients seem to have:

Hollywood actor Tom Hanks offered an early public glimpse into life as a COVID-19 patient on March 11 when he revealed he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had both tested positive while in Australia shooting his latest film From hospital isolation on the Gold Coast, Hanks wrote of the illness's onset: "We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too."

Much of what we know about COVID-19 comes from data of the first 55,000-odd cases in China given to the World Health Organisation , which found more than 80 per cent of people could fight off the illness without serious complications, though many still developed pneumonia. Lungs cleared, coughs eased and fevers broke. Anecdotally, some people have likened the infection to "three weeks in hell", racked by chills and struggling to breathe, while others have reported only a sore throat, a small cough, even no symptoms at all.

Falling blood oxygen levels put pressure on other organs, in particular the heart. More systems can start to fail, and blood pressure too, which, if it falls low enough can tip the body into septic shock, a whole-body infection.

As the immune system ramps up its defences, blood vessels start to leak and the lungs can be flooded with cellular debris, making it harder for them to pump oxygen to the rest of the body  and harder for patients to draw breath. "They start to drown," Professor Collignon says.

On scans, they call it ground glass  a white mist over the usual empty black of the lungs. In some cases, there are bright spots, eerily similar to the honeycomb-shaped lesions left by SARS but mostly COVID-19 makes a finer and more-even pattern across both lungs. This inflammation is a sign the body is fighting back against the virus  in that battle, the lungs are ground zero. But Professor Collignon warns sometimes the collateral damage can be worse than the bug itself.

CT scans from a 77-year-old man with COVID-19 in China over 10 days, showing ground-glass opacity of the lungs and lesions. The man died 10 days after the final scan. Credit:The Lancet medical journal

Recently, doctors have also begun to report more cases of patients hit by "silent hypoxia" - seemingly mild cases, recovering at home, suddenly crashing. The reason? Their oxygen levels were dangerously low but they weren't getting the usual warning signs such as difficulty breathing.

At the WHO, assistant director-general Bruce Aylward warns when danger strikes, it's often fast-moving. Doctors report patients can go downhill quickly during those "critical" second and third weeks and urge people with or suspected to have the virus to monitor their symptoms, particularly their breathing and fever. Infectious diseases physician Sanjaya Senanayake says he's seen patients develop "bad shortness of breath" around the second week of symptoms. "Then if they're going to get very sick, about two-and-a-half days later, they [usually] start to develop fluid in their lungs."

"Even if the virus spreads to the heart or the kidneys and damages them, the real cause of death is still probably going to be oxygen levels falling and setting everything else off," Professor Collignon says. "If you're an older person or already unwell and those organs are weaker, it can be the straw that breaks the camel's back."

While there is a theory that people with already compromised immune systems might escape this effect and so cope with an infection better than expected, Professor Collignon warns they are especially vulnerable to the other big killer  co-infection.

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Usually being hit with two bugs at once is rare, though not impossible. But as the virus chews through cells, it leaves the lungs less able to filter out germs picked up from the nose and throat  and wide open to a case of the flu or even a bout of bacterial pneumonia. (The first man to die from COVID-19 in Thailand was reportedly also sick with dengue fever.) During the deadly 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, most victims died not from the original virus but due to these second-wave bacterial pneumonia infections. Fortunately, medicine has advanced a lot since then (and discovered antibiotics), making such complications much easier to treat.

So who is at risk of serious complications?

Based off that first big data set out of China, the WHO estimated about 20 per cent of cases became severe, requiring medical intervention for serious breathing difficulties and falling blood oxygen levels. Of those, 6 per cent were pushed into critical care  as multiple organs began to fail alongside the lungs or septic shock set in. About 3.4 per cent died. But experts expect the real death rate is actually much lower, given so many mild cases will likely go undiagnosed.

Still, as the virus has spread across the world, taking hold in Europe and the US with particular ferocity, WHO spokeswoman Dr Margaret Harris says that the number of people requiring medical intervention (such as ventilation) is actually more like 30 per cent than 20. "And even if you don't need to go to hospital, it's [usually] not mild, it's still pneumonia. I've had colleagues absolutely slammed by it, struggling to breathe and exhausted for weeks."

Older people and those with other conditions such as diabetes or heart disease are most at risk of fatal complications. ("Over the age of 50, the immune system starts to fall apart," Professor MacIntyre explains). But in Italy, where the virus gained a particularly deadly foothold, doctors have also warned that younger patients (in their 30s, 40s and 50s) have arrived at overwhelmed emergency departments needing help to breathe.

Data since compiled from elsewhere in Europe and North America also reflects a concerning number of hospitalisations among people under 55, prompting warnings for younger adults to take COVID-19 more seriously. In Australia, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has said many of those in ICU with the illness have been younger without other risk factors. "This is not just an old person's disease," he said. Australians in their 20s have seen the highest number of coronavirus infections of any age bracket.

Fortunately, very few children have been diagnosed or suffered serious cases globally  a phenomenon also observed during SARS. Still, they are not immune and some have died from the illness, including the heartbreaking case of a six-week-old baby in the United States.

Smokers are considered more at risk, as early studies show the same cell receptors (ACE2) the virus hijacks in the lungs increase with cigarette smoke. But pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers so far do not appear in any heightened danger, as they were during the last pandemic, the 2009 swine flu. Still, they should take precautions as they are known to be more susceptible to other common respiratory viruses.

Whatever your personal vulnerability, the dose of virus you first receive  say, from touching a contaminated door knob versus caring for an infected person over several days  also plays a big part in how your body copes. "The higher the dose the faster you will get sick, and the harder it will be on you," Professor MacIntyre says.

That could explain why otherwise young and healthy medical workers have died from the disease. Li Wenliang, the 34-year-old doctor who blew the whistle on early cases of COVID-19 in China, went through a gamut of treatments after falling ill himself, including antivirals, antibiotics, even having his blood pumped through an artificial lung, but he died weeks later. As with SARS, clusters of severe infection are emerging in hospitals and households as people come into sustained close contact.

What other complications are emerging?

In hospitals from China to Italy to New York overrun with COVID-19, doctors have reported other mysterious complications in patients, though at much lower numbers. What starts as a respiratory problem suddenly morphs into a seizure or a heart attack. Others are hit with strokes or blood clots, even down in their toes. Some go into kidney failure.

Australian neurologist Dr Thomas Oxley recalls operating on a COVID-19 patient in New York in April - the man had been doing fine at first, he was 44, healthy, at home during the city's lockdown. Then suddenly he was in Oxley's hospital with a giant clot in his brain - he had had a stroke.

Oxley, who has just published clinical data on a cluster of strokes among young COVID-19 patients, says the virus is not just behaving like your typical respiratory illness. Doctors are finding it is spreading in the heart, kidneys, gut, blood vessels, even the brain itself. As he sucked out the clot from inside the skull of that 44-year-old man, Oxley says another began to form even before his eyes.

"This isn't like anything else we've seen before. There was a few reports of strokes and clotting with SARS in Singapore, but this looks pretty unusual," Oxley says. "We know the virus latches onto ACE2 and that's in a lot of places. If you follow it around the body, you can hunt down the virus."

When Australian opera singer Helena Dix was rushed to hospital with COVID-19 complications late last month, doctors told her she was famous.

"Not for my high notes, unfortunately  it was for the size of the blood clot in my lungs," she says. "They said it was one of the biggest they had ever seen. They couldnt believe I was still breathing."

Australian opera singer Helena Dix, performing in Norma for Melbourne Opera last year (left), and in a British hospital (right) after developing a large blood clot in her lungs. Credit:Robin Halls

But Dix had been training for just such an emergency all her life without realising it - performing all around the world as a talented soprano.

"Singers are the Olympic athletes of breathing," says Dix, who is now recovering at her home in Britain. "What was so terrifying about this was I had to use all my exercises, everything I knew about breath, and it still ... took it away."

So why is this happening? One theory is that inflammation, likely caused by the body's same over-zealous immune response, disrupts the natural clotting mechanism of the blood vessels.

"Of course, ACE2 is found in the walls of blood vessels too so our working theory is that it attacks the vessels and starts an inflammation cascade," Oxley says. "Our hospital [Mount Sinai] has now updated its guidelines so every COVID-19 patient sick enough to be in ICU is now being put on powerful blood thinners right away."

Senanayake agrees clotting is now one of the main mysteries facing doctors treating COVID-19, though the cases still appear to be low and mostly among severe patients. In Australia, where total infections are relatively few, health authorities say they are yet to see patients suffering from strokes or clotting. Both Senanayake and Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Nick Coatsworth, say it's unclear what is causing it  it could well be part of the usual stress of a serious infection on the body and long stays in ICU.

"We're seeing other strange [complications] and neurological symptoms too," Oxley says. "Seizures and confusion, really bad fatigue, kind of a haziness."

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How do doctors treat COVID-19?

Despite the breakneck speed of global research, a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19 is still not a guarantee and is likely at least a year away. And, while antivirals and therapies that block diseases such as malaria, Ebola and HIV are being trialled against the new disease in some parts of the world, including Australia, treatment right now is largely about managing complications  providing oxygen, keeping up fluids and monitoring how the body is coping. Antibiotics don't work on the virus as it is not caused by bacteria but they can be deployed against secondary infections. If breathing starts to fall, respirators and other measures will kick in to keep the lungs going.

As Professor Lewin explains, doctors have a key choice when treating any new virus: is it better to block it directly with antiviral therapies that stop it replicating in our cells or should they instead help the body recover, dampening down the body's immune response using drugs such as Interferon, to minimise the fall-out damage?

"Sometimes that can help but sometimes it means the infection overwhelms," Professor Lewin says. "It didn't work with SARS but there's been some success with MERS. Already for this, there's been candidate [therapies] that look good in test tubes, but we need [results] from our trials.

No vaccine exists for either SARS or MERS  the former died out within about nine months so an inoculation never hit the market while the less common MERS has struggled to attract research funding since it emerged in 2012. After the big Ebola outbreak of 2014, a global group formed to speed up research into vaccines and MERS was recently identified as a priority. "Then this new one hit," Professor Lewin says. Nobel-prize-winning immunologist Professor Peter Doherty sighs a similiar accelerator program for drug therapies should have been set up too.

The Doherty Institute has now launched a major international trial with New Zealand, meaning most COVID-19 patients in the region will be able to opt in for an experimental drug. During the last pandemic, swine flu, experts say two anti-virals that already worked on the illness helped keep the death toll relatively low, even though it spread to about 20 per cent of the world's population. Finding a treatment could be a gamechanger this time too.

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But Professor Collignon warns against rushing the science - without large, well run-trials, small studies can miss big problems on roll-out.

Experts have also been wary of increased pressure on hospitals if severe coronavirus cases hit wards all at once. While Australia's healthcare system is strong compared to other countries, its population is also older, Professor MacIntyre notes, meaning more demand for intensive care. To slow the spread of the virus and avoid a "pinch" around flu season, Australia has followed other countries in rolling out stricter containment measures such as quarantining suspected cases, shutting down gatherings and ordering people to stay home except for essential reasons. So far it's working - a surge in new infections in mid-March has now dramatically flattened. But the world is still holding its breath for a second wave, even as it slowly wakes back up from lockdown.

What happens if I have to go to intensive care?

On March 27, Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed he had himself tested positive for coronavirus. At first, his symptoms were mild, a fever and a cough. But when his temperature remained high more than 10 days later, he was moved to hospital, and from there into intensive care.

Most people with COVID-19 end up in hospital because they're having trouble breathing, says the head of the Alfred Hospitals intensive care unit, Associate Professor Steve Mcgloughin. Once admitted and getting oxygen via a mask, a persons condition may improve  but others will need ventilators or other machines to keep their lungs and organs working.

Anyone whos had a general anaesthetic will have relied on a breathing machine known as a ventilator, whether they know it or not. But Dr Suzi Nou at the Australian Society of Anaesthetists says that while a patient having routine surgery will need a ventilator for minutes or hours  perhaps a few days in ICU  a patient with COVID-19 might need one for as long as 10 days. Around the world the machines are now worth their weight in gold.

Opera singer Helena Dix used singing in hospital to help test her breathing and keep her spirits up.

On April 12, Johnson left hospital, crediting its staff with saving his life as "it could have gone either way". He recalled how two ICU nurses watched over him around the clock, adjusting his oxygen. The reason, in the end, my body did start to get enough oxygen was because for every second of the night they were watching and they were thinking and they were caring.

For some, oxygen is not the only concern, as the complications outlined above take hold.

How long does recovery take and is damage permanent?

Symptoms tend to clear up within a fortnight in mild cases or six weeks for more serious cases, Senanayake says.

Australian researchers have now mapped the body's immune response, identifying the antibodies it recruits to defeat the new virus, in some people starting the fight within just three days of the initial infection.

University of Sydney infectious diseases expert Robert Booy says there's "no doubt" the virus particularly affects the lungs in the days and weeks following a case. Scarring, even in the heart, might be detected for months or years in certain patients, he says. But it's too early to know for sure how often the illness will lead to this kind of permanent damage  such as the lung tissue scarring seen in some severe SARS and MERS patients.

Doctors studying the virus expect the small subset of patients with neurological symptoms including confusion, stroke and seizures could experience more long-term impairment. But University of NSW senior medical virologist Professor Bill Rawlinson says that, while it's still guesswork right now, most of the evidence points to a majority of patients making a full recovery.

Is a person immune after catching the virus?

Our immune system has a memory but it's not perfect. Successfully fighting off a virus generally leaves us armed with antibodies ready for round two should it comes back, which usually gives us at least a period of immunity (if not always a lifelong shield).

But with COVID-19, there are still questions about how many antibodies patients produce and how long they might last  some early studies have found disappointingly low numbers. Common coronaviruses such as the ones that give you a cold tend to go away for at a few months or a year before we become susceptible again. Studies of MERS-CoV has found antibodies still present in survivors more than 18 months after recovery, and some survivors of SARS retained antibodies for many years though actual immunity time is not clear.

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For COVID-19, there have already been cases of people cleared of the virus, only to test positive again days later or, in the case of one woman, more than a month down the line. But while experts say it's possible to be reinfected, it's more likely the virus was still in their system. Some studies have even suggested it can lie dormant in other parts of the body for weeks, with the longest period of infectiousness so far recorded as 37 days. "But in some cases, when people are returning persistently positive tests after getting better, they might be finding dead virus," Senanayake says.

Amid a shortage of testing kits worldwide, Australia has so far only been retesting frontline staff in health and aged care to confirm their recovery. That means official recovery data remains patchy. Most patients are instead told to wait 72 hours after symptoms disappear (provided they have already isolated for 10 days from illness onset).

A federal government spokesman said a patient who keeps testing positive after symptoms vanish is not necessarily still infectious. "There have been case reports of patients testing positive for a couple of weeks post-symptom resolution, but are viral culture negative  meaning they are unlikely infectious for very long after symptoms resolve," he said.

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Back in Wuhan, Reed was cleared to leave his own home quarantine months ago but, along with tens of millions of people in China, he'd spent the first three months of 2020 under lockdown. On April 8, the streets finally reopened. Residents waved flags and sang songs as they left their homes for the first time in 11 weeks. While the local government did not appear to pick up early cases of the virus, Reed says China took the right step, however extreme, in shutting down parts of the country. The government's data says new infections have all but stopped within its borders, even as new frontiers of the virus rage in the US and Europe.

"In Italy, it seems to be a similar thing to Wuhan," Reed says. "The virus was there but people didn't notice; it was brewing quietly for a while and then it suddenly exploded. Now they've followed China with lockdowns. Australians need to take this seriously."

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.

With Felicity Lewis

This article was originally published on March 13 2020 and was updated in May 2020 to include new research.
JERSEYVILLE  The estranged wife of Roger Carroll, a Jersey County man on trial for the 2010 killing of an East Alton woman, testified Wednesday that her husband called himself a monster, abused her and threatened to kill her.

Other witnesses who took the stand as the trial progressed included victim Bonnie Woodwards stepdaughter, Heather Woodward, criminologists, relatives of Woodward and a police officer.

Roger Carrolls wife, Monica Carroll, and Heather Woodward had lawyers present in the room while testifying because they had reached agreements with the prosecution in exchange for their testimony.

Monica Carroll testified that her husband told her in 2018 that he was a monster. He trapped her in a room of their Jerseyville-area home, used a Taser on her from 10 to 12 times, punched her and threw her to the floor, she testified.

He told me he would kill for me. He told me he was a monster. He said he used to be able to control his anger, but not anymore, she said.

She went to the Jersey County Sheriffs Department to report the attack that touched off a new look at the 2010 investigation. All of the specifics have not been made public.

After the confrontation, she decided to talk to police about the events surrounding Woodwards disappearance and death. Before the domestic case in 2018, she told authorities she thought Bonnie Woodward was in hiding, but she refused to sit for a formal interview.

After the domestic incident, she was willing to talk about the death, but Circuit Judge Eric Pistorius ruled previously that under the spousal privilege rule she was not allowed to testify about what her husband told her about the events surrounding Woodwards disappearance and death. She said she has filed for divorce, but the matter has not been settled.

She said she, Heather Woodward, Roger Carroll and son Nathan Carroll went to visit her parents in Goreville just before June 25, 2010. She said Roger and Nathan left unexpectedly early. She said when she turned a day later, she noticed a huge burn pile on the property.

Verna Patterson of Goreville, Monicas mother, testified that Roger Carroll and Heather Woodward took a long walk, just the two of them, for about an hour just before the unexpected early departure the next day.

Heather Woodward was 17 when she and her stepmother, Bonnie Woodward, went missing. Officers have testified at previous hearings that the defendant used the teenager as bait because he decided Bonnie Woodward was a bad person. Relatives of the victim said she was a good, hard-working, responsible mother.

Heather Woodward, now 27, testified that she was living with Bonnie Woodward in 2010, but that she was unhappy in that situation and went to live with a teacher. She said that after about a week, she moved in with the Carrolls in Jerseyville at Roger Carrolls suggestion. The two knew each other from church.

Heather Woodward testified that Roger Carroll instructed her not to tell police she had been staying at the Carroll property. She said that, while staying with the Carrolls, Roger made the rules, and he instructed her not to use a cellphone or computer.

Sgt. Mike ONeill testified that police executed a search warrant for the Carroll property in September 2010. They found 30 guns in the home and 200 rounds of ammunition, he said. Among the guns was a Stoeger Cougar 9mm revolver, which Nathan Carroll identified as the murder weapon.

ONeill said the weapons are still in the possession of Alton Police Department. He said that when Alton police heard about the 2018 domestic dispute between the Carrolls, it was a break in the case. He said that, after that incident, Nathan Carroll showed him on the Carroll property the location at which the victim was shot, the burn pile and the creek in which Roger Carroll dumped the ashes and what was left of the victims body.

ONeill admitted under cross examination from defense attorney Dave Fahrenkamp that the evidence about the guns and the property could point to the younger Carroll, but, taken with all the other evidence, Roger Carroll was the suspect.

In other testimony, a witness identified Roger Carroll as the man standing next to Bonnie Woodwards truck just before she disappeared June 25, 2010.

Ill never forget his face; his eyes told it all, said Wanda Bousley, a former co-worker at Eunice Smith Nursing home in Alton.

Roger Carroll was charged April 12, 2018, with first-degree murder in the death of Woodward.

The case originally was investigated as a missing person case after people called police and said Woodward failed to come home or to work and her Chevrolet Avalanche was left in the employee parking lot of the nursing home.
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The new Batman explains why he's saying goodbye to Gotham and hello to New York City

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Los Angeles, March 13 : Marvel Studios has suspended production on "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" after director Destin Daniel Cretton was advised by a doctor to go in self-isolation due to coronavirus concerns.

Daniel Cretton, the filmmaker directing the action-adventure feature that is shooting in Australia, has self-isolated on the recommendation of a doctor, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

Cretton has a newborn baby and decided to get tested for COVID-19.

"In an abundance of caution," according to a note that was sent to the crew, Marvel and parent company Disney have decided to suspend first unit production, "until he gets the result this coming week".

"'Shang-Chi' is not shutting down," said insiders, and second unit and other production aspects will continue to move ahead.

Australia has 156 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to the government. Three people are known to have died from the virus in Australia. "Shang-Chi" isn't the only movie affected by the pandemic. Earlier this week, Warner Bros halted pre-production on its Elvis Presley biopic after star Tom Hanks tested positive for COVID-19.

"Shang-Chi" stars Simu Liu as martial arts master Shang-Chi, with the movie poised to be the first major Hollywood motion picture to star a superhero of Asian descent. Awkwafina and Tony Leung also star. It has a February 12, 2021 release date.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
CALABASAS, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / The Aish HaTorah World Center is one of Architect Jeffrey Cooper's most complex and historically significant works. Aish HaTorah College of Jewish Studies (known simply as "Aish") was founded in 1974. The World Center is a 40,000 square foot, 6-story new building, built from Jerusalem stone. It is situated on an ancient building site, located directly across from the Western Wall, the holiest site in the Old City of Jerusalem. Millions of visitors come to the Western Wall ("Har HaBayit") each year. The World Center is strategically located only 100 yards from the Western Wall itself, the heart and center of the Jewish world. The building was donated by Leslie Dan, the well-known Toronto philanthropist. Aish HaTorah hosts a variety of educational programs for those visitors who wish to learn more about their Jewish culture and heritage.

The Building's Symbolism

The building has two entries; an Upper Entry from the Jewish Quarter and a Lower Entry from the Western Wall Plaza. Upon entering the Upper Entry, Jeffrey Cooper says the first striking feature one sees is a stunning glass "Chihuly" sculptural chandelier, hanging boldly below the building's large dome. This two-story colored glass sculpture is made from dramatic curves of navy blue, flaming red, orange, and yellow glass, through which the sun reflects from the skylight dome above. The blue and navy reflections symbolize the "drops of water" that the famous Talmudic Rabbi Akiva observed had made an indentation in the rock, as they dripped steadily over time. He reasoned that if water, one of the softest mediums on earth, could change the shape of rock, one of the hardest, then the fire of Torah (Jewish Wisdom), represented by the flaming red, orange, and yellow, part of the sculpture, could soften a man's heart.

The "Chihuly" custom chandelier at the Upper Entry Dome



How the Project Began

"I'm extremely honored to have my name associated with the Aish World Center in Jerusalem. The sole purpose of this project is to energize and educate the Jewish people in the very place that housed the Ancient Temple of King Solomon, the wisest of all men," Jeffrey Cooper says. Before designing the complex structure, Mr. Cooper met with the late actor and Hollywood icon, Kirk Douglas in L.A.. Mr. Douglas had donated funds for the Theater located in the project. He was impressed with Jeff Cooper's theater designs for George Lucas and for the Director's Guild of America. He recommended Cooper to Rabbi Noah Weinberg, the founder of Aish. Mr. Cooper traveled to Jerusalem to meet with Rabbi Weinberg. Cooper presented his unique design proposal to the Rabbi and to the Aish Board of Directors. As part of the design concept, Jeffrey Cooper proposed creating a unique lower entrance to the new building, through an ancient rock tunnel formation, a geological feature dating from the time of King David.

Cooper's Entry Tunnel in the Ancient Rock Formation

Jeffrey Cooper envisioned this natural "tunnel" would serve to connect the theater level of the Aish HaTorah World Center directly to the Western Wall plaza below, where millions of visitors per year come from around the world to see the remnants of the ancient Temple. The idea was revolutionary, because it would allow visitors direct pedestrian access to the Aish HaTorah World Center, through a very unique and unforgettable historical feature. Once inside, they could experience special presentations in the Kirk Douglas Theater. The tunnel entry would also draw visitors into the building and arouse their curiosity. Then they could participate in outreach classes given by the College of Jewish studies, at the upper levels of the building accessible by elevator and stairs.

Impressed with the idea and with Jeffrey Cooper's resume, Rabbi Weinberg immediately hired him as the Architect. However, Rabbi Weinberg had one condition. Cooper must move to Israel during the design phase, to coordinate with the local engineering team and to personally supervise the complex historical restoration challenges of the site. Jeffrey Cooper agreed and moved his entire staff to Israel to complete the drawings.

"Unique" Features of the Project

In addition to the Kirk Douglas Theater and the lecture halls, the project was designed to have a beautiful Banquet Facility whose arched windows overlook the Western Wall Plaza below. Mr. Cooper worked hard with the Israeli government's Antiquities Committee ("Rishut Hatikot") to preserve and incorporate many pre-existing historical elements of the site into the design. These include underground water cisterns, which date back to the time of the Second Temple. Running through one portion of the stone foundation is an ancient aqueduct, used to bring water to the First Holy Temple. Architect Jeffrey Cooper included historical elements from other periods, such as a beautiful re-created stone archway from the Crusader period. The upper levels of the building contain many lecture halls and classrooms outfitted with the most up-to-date presentation technology. Jeffrey Cooper's Firm prepared its drawings with a high level of detail, both in English and in Hebrew for the local contractors.

"Rooftop of the World"

The building's famous rooftop observatory features an unparallelled outlook of the ancient city. Jeffrey Cooper says the observation deck was awarded "One of the Top Ten Panoramic Views in the World." It features 360-degree views of the most important sites in the Holy Land -The Western Wall Plaza, the Temple Mount with its Golden Dome, the Mount of Olives, the City of David. The Jordanian Hills serve as a backdrop, and visitors can see the Judean Desert in the distance. Since its completion, the crowning rooftop feature has been visited by both political leaders and celebrities from around the world, including Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and, most recently, U.S. Vice President, Mike Pence who announced President Trump's Mideast Peace Plan.

View from the rooftop of the Aish HaTorah World Center

During the 13 year construction period, other local architects and interior designers joined the team and contributed their talents to the beautiful and historic building. Aish now operates 35 branches on five continents, teaching young Jews and people of all faith about the richness of Jewish history and culture.

Ironically, just 8 months before the final completion of the project in 2009, Rabbi Weinberg passed away. He was fondly remembered at the opening ceremony conducted by the Chief Rabbi of Israel. Jeffrey Cooper was awarded a beautiful brass sculpture of the building, during this moving ceremony in Jerusalem. Over 2,000 people attended in a night to remember.

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View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/580170/Architect-Jeffrey-Cooper-Announces-the-10th-Anniversary-of-the-Opening-of-the-Aish-HaTorah-World-Center-in-Jerusalem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 09:33:32|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

China stands ready to share its experience with other countries, carry out joint research and development on drugs and vaccines, and offer as much assistance as it can to countries where the disease is spreading, Xi said.

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday spoke with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres over phone, urging the international community to take urgent action in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

Xi recalled that since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease, Guterres has written to him to extend sympathies and express appreciation of China's prevention and control measures, and has publicly voiced support for China's anti-epidemic efforts on multiple occasions.

The Chinese president conveyed his gratitude to the UN chief, pointing out that as Chinese people often say, a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Thanks to arduous endeavors, China has been witnessing a domestic trend in which the situation of epidemic prevention and control is making sustained progress and the order of life and production is being restored at an increasing pace, Xi said.

For the next step, he added, China will act as prudently at the end as at the beginning, and carry on its prevention and control efforts in an unrelenting, solid and meticulous fashion, and meanwhile earnestly advance all aspects of work in economic and social development.

Technicians work on the manufacturing line of China's ARJ21 aircraft at a factory in Shanghai, east China, March 6, 2020. The factory of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. in Shanghai has resumed production amid epidemic prevention and control efforts. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

The Chinese people will definitely prevail over the COVID-19 epidemic and will also definitely realize its intended targets for economic and social development, Xi said. "I am fully confident in that."

Xi stressed that the Chinese people's hard work has won precious time for and made important contributions to other countries' epidemic prevention and control.

Noting that with COVID-19 having recently occured and spread in a number of countries, the situation is worrying, he urged the international community to take urgent action and carry out effective international cooperation in joint prevention and control, so as to form a strong concerted force to beat the disease.

China stands ready to share its experience with other countries, carry out joint research and development on drugs and vaccines, and offer as much assistance as it can to countries where the disease is spreading, Xi said.

He added that China supports the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) in mobilizing the international community to enhance policy coordination, expand resources input, and particularly help developing countries with poor public health systems prepare themselves for prevention and response.

China, he said, has announced a 20-million-U.S.-dollar donation to the WHO in support of its efforts to organize international actions against the epidemic.

The epidemic has once again demonstrated that mankind is a community with a shared future that shares weal and woe, Xi stressed, adding that in the era of economic globalization, COVID-19 will not be the world's last major emergency, and various traditional and non-traditional security issues will constantly bring about new tests.

Photo taken on March 1, 2020 shows medical supplies, including masks, gloves and protective suits, donated to Italy by Lishui City, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua)

The international community has to see humanity as one community with a shared future, look out for one another, and join hands to tackle risks and challenges and build a beautiful planet, said the Chinese president.

Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, Xi said China supports the international community in taking that as an opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to multilateralism, and reinforce and improve the global governance system with the United Nations at the core.

The Chinese side, he added, will continue supporting the work of the world body.

For his part, Guterres said he is very pleased with and congratulates China on the significant decrease of COVID-19 cases in China.

The UN chief said he believes that with firm determination and strong resilience, China will both overcome the epidemic and restore economic order in a rapid manner, which not only serves the interests of the Chinese people, but also represents an important contribution to the world.

The United Nations thanks China for helping countries currently in difficulties to fight against COVID-19, said Guterres, adding that the world body appreciates China's sharing of experience in epidemic prevention and control with developing countries and provision of such valuable assistance as medical supplies, vaccines and medicines.

He said that China's support is crucial to multilateralism, and that the United Nations hopes to further deepen its cooperation with China in climate change, sustainable development and various other fields, and looks forward to China playing an important leading role in international affairs. 
3,000 Cambodian and Chinese troops join 19-day military exercises seen as a gesture of solidarity amid health emergency.

Cambodia is set to kick off its annual joint military exercise with China on Saturday, with thousands of soldiers expected to join despite events being cancelled around the world amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This years Golden Dragon annual exercise will take place at a military training site in the southern Kampot province and will focus on counterterrorism and humanitarianism.

During the first exercise in 2016 at least 280 Cambodian soldiers and 97 Chinese troops attended the drills.

This year, 3,000 soldiers, including 265 troops from Chinas Peoples Liberation Army, will participate in drills scheduled until April 1.

The drills will also showcase military equipment, such as tanks, artillery, guns and helicopters.









The event comes amid the unexpected emergence of the coronavirus infection, which originated in China at the end of 2019. As of Friday, there were more than 3,000 people killed in China and close to 81,000 infected, with almost 63,000 recovered, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University.

Last week, Cambodia reported its first official case from Siem Reap. Three British passengers on a tourist boat on the Mekong River were also infected with the virus and remain under quarantine on the boat.

The disease has since spread quickly to other parts of the region as well as other parts of the world. Cambodias neighbouring countries Vietnam and Thailand have each reported dozens of cases.

In response, the Cambodian government has cancelled a gathering for Khmer New Year that was to take place in April in Angkor Wat near Siem Reap.

Message of friendship

The military exercise, however, is another story.

Sebastian Strangio, author of soon-to-be-released In the Dragons Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century, said that China and Cambodia holding the military exercise fulfils a symbolic function.

Its possible that both sides deem the risk to be low enough that the Golden Dragon exercises can safely proceed, he told Al Jazeera in an email.





However, with events being cancelled across the globe, it is clear that pushing ahead with the event carries a strong message of friendship. Since the beginning of the epidemic, Hun Sen has gone out of his way to demonstrate solidarity with his patrons in Beijing, even at risk of facilitating the further spread of the disease.

Briefly after the virus caught global attention, Prime Minister Hun Sen promised to visit the outbreak site Wuhan. When that trip was cancelled, he visited Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in a gesture of solidarity.

So far, the Cambodian government has not cancelled flights from China.

Coronavirus threat

Earlier this month, ruling Cambodian Peoples Party spokesman Sok Eysan was quoted by Radio Free Asia as saying that there had been no case in Cambodia yet, therefore there was no risk in holding the exercise.

In February, a Chinese traveller was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus and put under quarantine in coastal town Sihanoukville.

Now that it appears to have gained a hold on the virus within China, the Chinese government wants to send a message of business as usual. The Cambodian government can demonstrate its support to a powerful patron. Both can consolidate a relationship that they view as serving their mutual interests, Strangio said.

Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen (right) with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (left) during a military ceremony in Beijing in 2017 [File: Greg Baker/AFP]

Defence Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat, the Ministry of Health, and council of ministers spokesman Phay Siphan could not be reached for comment.

Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy at the University of New South Wales, echoed Strangios assessment.

The decision to hold the fourth annual Golden Dragon joint military exercise is part of a larger strategy of demonstrating support for China against criticism by the international community over Beijings handling of the Covid-19 epidemic. Hun Sen went to Beijing to meet President Xi Jinping in February to show solidarity, he said.





Thayer said this served to lobby for the resumption of garment industry supplies after the industry had been disrupted due to the coronavirus outbreak. But not only Cambodia was gaining from this exercise, he said.

China reinforces its relations with the Cambodian government and military, and thus ensures continued public support for China in general and Chinese foreign policy in particular,  he said.

This often takes the form of Cambodia defending and promoting Chinese interests in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In short, Cambodia has become the poster boy for Chinas Belt and Road Initiative.

The Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh did not respond to requests for comment.
Auserd (Saharawi Republic), March 11 2020 (SPS)  The First International Youth Forum of Solidarity with Western Sahara, kicked off Wednesday, organized by the UJSARIO in the Saharawi refugee camps from the 11th to 13th March 2020, under the theme: Sustainable future for Saharawi youth, the fair political resolution of the conflict, human rights, natural resources and the Wall of Shame in Western Sahara, with the presence of delegates from numerous international youth organisations.

During the opening session, the delegates had the opportunity to listen to an official opening speech by the Saharawi President of the Republic and Secretary-General of the Frente POLSARIO, Mr. Brahim Ghali, followed by statements of various participating delegations, including the African Union, WFDY, IYUSI, International Peace Council, and various countries delegation, mainly Algeria, South Africa, Venezuela.

During the first day, the participants had the opportunity to attend specialised lectures presented by Senor Saharawi Experts tackling the political issue, human rights, the question of the natural resources, the military wall, youth and women participation to the resistance among other.

Today, the delegates will participate to a Tribute to 4 personalities of youth movements who were instrumental in the support of the Saharawi cause, before they gather anew in specialised workshops to exchange views on the various subjects mentioned above.

It is also expected that the delegates will visit the Moroccan military wall in Western Sahara to have an idea about the dangers that it represents for the environment and the people.

The Forum is also expected to come up with resolutions and letters that will be addressed to various international institutions to present the position of the international youth towards this last case of decolonisation. (SPS)

090/500/60 (SPS)
After being in home detention for over seven months, Farooq Abdullah was released on Friday with the government revoking the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) against the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister.

IMAGE: National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah along with his wife and daughter addresses media at his residence in Srinagar after his release on Friday. Photograph: Umar Ganie

The 82-year-old National Conference leader was initially taken into preventive detention on August 5 last, the day the Centre abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and later slapped with the PSA.

Walking out of his Gupkar road residence in Srinagar where he was kept under detention, Abdullah demanded that his son and former chief minister Omar and People's Democratic Party's Mehbooba Mufti, also a former CM, and other politicians lodged in various prisons in the union territory and outside should be released at the earliest to allow political activities.

"Today, I am free but this freedom is not complete. It will be complete when other leaders like Omar, Mehbooba Mufti and others in outside jails are released," a frail looking Abdullah said, appearing before reporters at the lawns of his home after spending 220 days in detention.

According to an order issued by the Union Territory's home secretary Shaleen Kabra, the PSA ordered by the district magistrate of Srinagar on September 15 and subsequently extended for three months each on December 13 and March 11 this year, stands revoked.

Abdullah was booked under 'public order' of the PSA, a provision that allows authorities to detain a person for three months without trial. This can be extended up to two years.

Officials said District Magistrate Shahid Iqbal Choudhary visited the residence of Abdullah and handed over the release order to him.

Abdullah, a Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, was the first chief minister to have been booked under the PSA.

"I would also like to express gratitude to every individual who prayed for us ... I will not speak on any political matter till others are released," Abdullah said.

The NC leader, who was flanked by his family members including his wife Molie Abdullah, daughter Safia and grandson Adeem, did not take any questions from the media.

Abdullah, who underwent an eye surgery earlier this week, expressed the hope that he would be able to attend Parliament so that he can raise the voice of the people there.

Abdullah visited his father Sheikh Abdullah's grave, located on the banks of the Dal Lake at Hazratbal here, shortly after being released from his 221-day detention on Friday.

Accompanied by his wife Moile, grandson Adeem and other members of the family, Abdullah offered prayers at the grave of his father.

Dressed in a black kurta, a traditional 'Karakuli' cap and dark sunglasses because of a recent eye surgery, Abdullah spent some time at the grave.

He could not offer prayers on his father's death anniversary on December 5 last year as he was in detention under the PSA.

Immediately after his release, the NC issued a statement welcoming the decision and also urged the Union Territory administration to release other political leaders including Omar Abdullah, who is party vice president.

The NC said the release of its patron from detention was the right step towards restoration of a genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir.

It said the process would receive further fillip when Omar Abdullah and other political detainees are set free.

"We urge the government to do so at the earliest," it said.

"As the pre-eminent political party of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference has played a key role in strengthening the voice of the people through democracy and will continue to do so," the statement added.

Omar as well as Mehbooba Mufti were slapped with the PSA on February 6, the day when their six-month term of preventive detention was to end.

Abdullah's release was hailed by political leaders who also hoped other politicians under detention would be released.

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said Abdullah's release was 'belated'.

Tharoor hoped the NC stalwart will soon resume his 'rightful place' on the front benches of the Lok Sabha, where he can address with his usual compelling vigour the issues facing his state and the state of the nation. 'His detention was a disgrace.'

Iltija Mufti, daughter of Mehbooba Mufti, demanded the release of all those detained following revocation of the special status of the erstwhile state.

'Time to release all detainees including thousands of young men languishing in jails outside J&K. This has gone on for far too long & must end now,' Iltija tweeted.

Senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury said Abdullah's release was long overdue.

'The imposition of PSA on and detention of Dr Farooq Abdullah was illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional. We have all been concerned about his health and well being. His release was long overdue.'

The CPI-M unit in Jammu and Kashmir described Abdullah's release as a 'step to correct one wrong among many wrongs'.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee said she prayed for the long life of Abdullah and hoped that the other two former chief ministers -- Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti -- will soon be released and 'allowed to join the democratic process immediately'.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram hit out at the Modi government for keeping Abdullah under detention for seven months, alleging that 'despotism and arbitrariness' constitute the rule of law in the Union Territory.

'Dr Farooq Abdullah, welcome to freedom. What was the justification to keep him in detention without charges for 7 months? If there was justification (there was none), what is the reason for releasing him today?' Chidambaram said.

'Despotism and arbitrariness constitute the Rule of Law in J&K. And this virus is spreading to many states in India,' the former home minister said.
A hearse carries out the body of Philadelphia Police SWAT Cpl. James OConnor IV from the emergency room entrance at Temple University Hospital in North Philadelphia on Friday. O'Connor was fatally shot early Friday while serving a warrant, according to Commissioner Danielle Outlaw. He was the first officer killed in the line of duty in Philadelphia in five years. Read more

A Philadelphia SWAT team officer was fatally shot early Friday in the citys Frankford section as he was trying to arrest a man suspected of committing a murder in 2019.

Cpl. James OConnor IV, 46, was struck in an arm and shoulder when at least one person began firing through the closed door of a second-floor bedroom as officers sought to secure the rowhouse, Homicide Capt. Jason Smith said at an afternoon news conference.

OConnor, a 23-year veteran of the force, was a married father of two whose family has deep roots in the Police Department, officials said. His father also was a city cop, and his son is an officer in the citys Sixth District. His daughter serves in the Air Force, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said.

It was the first time in five years that a Philadelphia police officer was killed in the line of duty. As city officials unveiled unprecedented measures to combat the rapidly expanding coronavirus outbreak, the early morning incident attracted an outpouring of grief.

We just want everybody to know its a very sad day, not just for officers here, but its a very sad day for the family, who is here and who is mourning and is still trying to stomach all this, Outlaw said outside Temple University Hospital, where OConnor died.

Mayor Jim Kenney choked up while asking residents to pray for OConnors relatives. He ordered all City of Philadelphia flags to be flown at half-staff for 30 days in OConnors memory.

Its a tough job, and [officers] do their best for us every day, Kenney said. This is a bad day.

Smith said OConnor was shot about 5:40 a.m. on the 1600 block of Bridge Street when he and other Special Weapons and Tactics officers, along with members of a homicide fugitive task force, entered the two-story white and brick rowhouse.

Officers had been trying to serve an arrest warrant for Hassan Elliott, 21, wanted in a March 2019 robbery and murder around the corner from the house. Before they could reach him, more than a dozen bullets flew through the door.

OConnors colleagues returned fire, and two people behind the door were wounded, police said. One of them, Khalif Sears, 18, had been wanted as a second suspect with Elliott in the 2019 killing, Smith said.

Sears was still hospitalized but was expected to survive and face murder charges. Four other people were in the house at the time, Smith said, one of whom was struck by gunfire but was quickly treated and released into police custody.

Investigators found at least nine firearms and drugs in the house, Smith said. All of the people inside were being questioned at the Homicide Unit as police sought to determine who pulled the trigger.

OConnor was taken to Temple, where he was declared dead at 6:09 a.m. A large contingent of officers converged on the medical center in the predawn hours, soon joined by Outlaw  in just her second month as the citys top cop  Kenney, and other city officials.

OConnor was the first Philadelphia officer to be fatally wounded in the line of duty since March 5, 2015, when Officer Robert Wilson III was killed in a gun battle with a pair of robbers inside a North Philadelphia video game store.

Elliott, whom OConnor had been seeking to apprehend, had been arrested at least twice in recent years.

According to court records, Elliotts adult criminal record began in June 2017, when he was arrested for gun and drug offenses. He pleaded guilty in January 2018, and received a nine- to 23-month jail sentence but was immediately paroled to three years probation, the records say.

In January 2019, he was arrested for drug possession, according to Jane Roh, spokesperson for the District Attorneys Office.

Roh said Elliott appeared in court for that case on Feb. 6, 2019, and again on March 1 of that year. The second time, prosecutors believe, Elliott left the courthouse and on the same day took part in the shooting death of Tyree Tyrone on the 5300 block of Duffield Street in Frankford.

Authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on March 26. But Elliott stopped showing up in court, according to Roh, and prosecutors dropped the drug case, which had been scheduled to go to trial March 27. The court records for his possession case were not publicly available.

Roh said the decision to withdraw the drug charges had no bearing on public safety because the homicide warrant was far more serious.

But John McNesby, president of the police officers union and a frequent critic of District Attorney Larry Krasner, was not appeased.

During an afternoon news conference at Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 headquarters in Northeast Philadelphia, McNesby said Elliott should have never been out on the street, and blamed Krasner for creating a revolving door for criminals by enacting policies that have sought to reduce the prison population.

McNesby also said members of his union had blocked Krasner from entering the hospital Friday morning.

He was told by my people he wasnt welcome, and the family did not wish to see him, said McNesby, who was inside the hospital when Krasner arrived.

Roh called it sad and frankly ghoulish that anyone, much less an authority figure, would choose to spread lies for personal or political gain in response to this tragedy.

Hours after the shooting, a heavy police presence remained at the shooting scene.

Patrice Bailey, 65, who has lived on the 5300 block of Hedge Street for 18 years, stood on her front porch in disbelief.

This is a ... shame, just sad, she said. The man was trying to do his job and got killed.

Rock Murray, 70, who lived next door to Elliott, said the alleged gunman moved in last year and had been a bad neighbor ever since.

I dont know the gentleman, but I know he was a fool, because he used to be outside at 3, 4 in the morning acting like a jackass, Murray said. Him and his friends, high. So, whatever he gets, he deserves."

Meanwhile, well-wishers and mourners streamed into OConnors red-brick rowhouse on a tidy and quiet Northeast Philadelphia street.

Sgt. Stephen Jones of the Willistown Township Police Department in Chester County, a friend of the fallen officer, drove to OConnors home Friday morning after hearing the news from a mutual friend.

We grew up together in Kensington. Hes my best friend, said Jones, 49, after emerging from the familys home and walking toward his car.

Jones said OConnor graduated from North Catholic High School and started in the Police Academy while in his early 20s. OConnor had been married to his wife for almost 25 years, according to Jones, and recently became a grandfather after his son, James V, and his wife had a baby.

Joe Sullivan, who stepped down recently as deputy commissioner and had overseen SWAT operations for years, said OConnor was straightforward and honest  a man who loved his unit and helped resolve many volatile situations without incident.

In SWAT, its not about rank, its about knowledge and experience  and he had both. He died leading his operators, Sullivan said, calling OConnors death an incredible loss to the city, the department, and his unit.

Inquirer staff writers Mike Newall and Joseph A. Gambardello contributed to this article.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the correct police district where Sgt. James OConnor IVs son works. It is the Sixth District.
A heartless dog owner who beat his rescue Staffy will not serve any jail time.

Daniel Ljubas, a father from the Gold Coast, repeatedly hit his dog named Cash after he dug up irrigation pipes in his backyard last June.

The Southport Magistrates Court heard on Thursday that Cash was tied to a backyard tap and left for 45 minutes, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

Daniel Ljubas repeatedly beat his pet Staffy named Cash (pictured) across the head and grabbed him by the neck for digging up pipes in his Gold Coast backyard last June

The rescue dog was left on a short chain and had no shelter or water when it dug up the pipes.

Witnesses in the street said they heard yelping and thudding noises coming from the backyard.

A neighbour who lived in the same complex, Bryce Harrington, said he was woken up by the sounds of a dog in distress.

He looked out of his window and saw Ljubas hit the Staffy multiple times on the head and grab it by the throat.

Ljubas did not dispute the allegations against him and did not deny tying Cash to the tap.

The young father initially told the RSPCA that he had only hit Cash three times 'on the a***'.

He pleaded not guilty to failing to provide appropriate accommodation or living conditions and was cruel to an animal by causing it unnecessary or unreasonable pain.

Ljubas (pictured) was found guilty of animal cruelty and sentenced to 12 months probation

Ljubas's defence solicitor, Colin Greatorix, said: 'He believed that smacking a dog was not an act of cruelty. He's learned a bitter lesson.'

Magistrate Michelle Dooley found Ljubas guilty on both charges and sentenced him to 12 months probation.

Ljubas must also undergo an anger management course and pay thousands of dollars in costs.

He will not be allowed to own an animal for three years.

The solicitor for the RSPCA, Tracey Jackson, said they were happy that the Staffy would be able to find a new home.
If there ever was a moment that showed us the need for all people to be able to get health care regardless of their income, this is that moment, Bernie Sanders tweeted on Thursday afternoon. In response to the coronavirus pandemic this month, many journalists have similarly argued that our underpreparedness for the coronavirus is proof that safety-net programs like universal health care are not just humane but smart. Medicare-for-all is usually presented as a moral argument, wrote Helaine Olen in the Washington Post a few weeks ago. But this situation isnt simply immoralit leaves us all hurting.

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This emerging consensus on the left reminded me of something I read in historian Nancy Tomes The Gospel of Germs, about the way late-19th and early-20th-century American culture responded to the revelation that germs cause disease. Some Progressive Era reformers, arguing for the financing of social programs in American cities, leveraged their new understanding of germ theory to try to convince elites to care more about the health of the poor. In his 1895 article The Microbe as a Social Leveller, Cyrus Edson, a physician and New York City health commissioner, made the case for what he called the socialism of the microbe, the idea that to care for others was also to protect oneself: It is not only in material things that the prosperity of each is dependent on that of his fellows. Disease binds the human race together as with an unbreakable chain.

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As another infectious disease reshapes American life, is now the time for this century-old argument to finally convince Americans that collective health security benefits everyone? I called up Beatrix Hoffman, a historian who has written about health care social movements in books including The Wages of Sickness: The Politics of Health Insurance in Progressive America and Health Care for Some: Rights and Rationing in the United States Since 1930, to talk about the precedents. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Slate: Ive seen a lot of people online making the point that the coronavirus is a good argument for social programs like Medicare for All and paid sick leave. I was very curious to know more about other times this argument might have been made, in connection with other infectious diseases.

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Beatrix Hoffman: Yes, what youre describing has come up a lot in the last century. But when you ask me, has the United States ever expanded services based on this argument that epidemics can affect everyone? My answer is, the argument has been made, but it has not been successful. There have been a few times when its been partially successful, but its mostly been a losing argument, because of our political culture and the forces against universalism.

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But yes, in the Progressive Era, this argument was floated a lot by people proposing health coverage and paid sick leave. This was the movement for compulsory health insurance, which overlapped with the public health movement, but was more in the spirit of some of the Progressive Era reforms that were successful, like workmens compensation.

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Its so interesting that this is coming to the fore again, because the compulsory health insurance movement was actually more about sick pay than it was about health care. Thats because early-20th-century medical care just wasnt all that expensive, and it wasnt all that effective. So the main concern of workersand this was a movement by, and on behalf of, working peoplewas that when they got sick, they didnt get paid. Sickness could lead to poverty; sickness was terrifying for that reason, as well as the physical reason.

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Were they making the argument to elites that they should careif not out of charity for their fellow man, then at least out of self-protection?

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Yes, people did make that argument. There was something called National Negro Health Week, a public health movement spearheaded mostly by African American women in the South around the turn of the century. They had a slogan: Germs know no color line. The argument was, OK, you dont care about us, but if our communities get sick, then yes, it can spread to more affluent communities. It was a very calculated way for them to bring in the self-interest of elites, to get them to provide more funding for sewer and water facilities in poor neighborhoods.

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The argument has been made, but it has not been successful.  Beatrix Hoffman

Oh yes! I read this article about sanitation in Atlanta, by Stuart Galishoff, that had that slogan as its title: Germs Know No Color Line: Black Health and Public Policy in Atlanta, 19001918.

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Yes. Theres also a book called Sick and Tired of Being Sick And Tired, by Susan L. Smith, thats about these black womens health movements in the first half of the century.

So is this what you were thinking of when you said that sometimes people achieve partial success? Because if I was reading the Galishoff article correctly, that argument was successful in getting Atlanta to fund sanitation in poor neighborhoods.

Yes, thats one example. In the early 20th century, the situation with Typhoid Mary also led to a new regime of restaurant inspection.

But of course, Typhoid Mary was different because she wanted to go to work and she was punished for doing so. The majority of food service workers, of course, didnt have that choice. They may have preferred to stay home when sick, but they just simply couldnt.

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Then, as now, people arguing against sick pay would say, These workers are just malingering. The reformers arguing for paid sick leave would make the argument that without it, workers would do something called the malingering of healththat theyd pretend to be healthy, even though they were clearly sick, and go to work and infect middle-class people who were consumers.

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So they tried that argument! But it wasnt strong enough to win the debate.

The National Consumers League is another examplean organization that really scared middle-class people about the idea that women who had tuberculosis might spread it to them when they did their laundry. That didnt lead to reforms for the workers.

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This, of course, is like the famous Upton Sinclair quote about aiming to hit the public in the heart and instead hitting them in the stomach. Those readers were more concerned about what they were ingesting than the conditions of the workers who were producing the food.

So this debate over compulsory health insurance was happening in the 20s and 30s?

No, the teensreally, 1915 through 1920. It was a state-level debate that came close to passage in New York state and was debated in several other states. There was a referendum in California, which failed.

Did the 191819 influenza epidemic affect that conversation at all?

Its such a good question. I had it the whole time I was writing! I was amazed at how few references there were to the flu. I think its partly what I said earlierthe fact that medical care could do nothing for that influenza. Nursing care could do something. I did see some arguments to that effect, because the proposal in New York for compulsory health insurance would have included nursing care. But on the whole, there was just a whole lot more discussion of tuberculosis than of influenza.

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Were seeing all the consequences of our historical choices now.  Beatrix Hoffman

I dont know why. Maybe it was because the influenza epidemic was covered upomitted, for example, from the Armys official medical history of the warand people were really reluctant to talk about it. Thats a whole other set of research questions there.

I read a lot about flu last year around the anniversary of the pandemic, and people are curious now, like, What effect did the 191819 flu have on people after it was all over? And I think the answer is Not as much as you would expect! It seems historians agree that people really wanted to move on.

Yes, its complicated. Some instances of official cover-up, but then also more complicated issues, where it was so cognitively dissonant that this had happened. The scale of loss had been so catastrophic that people were almost in shock. It seemed so un-American! Like, We won the war. Lets focus on that instead.

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I want to add one more thing about the fact that we dont talk very much about collective health in this country. Around 1920, there was a strict separation between public health and medical care in the United States that was very deliberate and I think added to our inability to pull together all of the resources we need. The American Medical Association worked really hard to make sure that the mandate of public health was different from what physicians did. Any attempt by public health agencies to actually provide care as opposed to diagnosis was, they said, unfair competition, and they succeeded in eliminating most publicly funded provision of care.

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Did you see the quote from CDC Director Robert Redfield yesterday? That they dont want the government to be testing for the coronavirus, because they dont want to get between the patient and the doctor?

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Thats a perfect example, yeah.

You must be going crazy, seeing all these things youve researched, in the news.

Yes, were seeing all the consequences of our historical choices now.

Do you have any hope or advice for people who want to use this moment to make an argument for something like Medicare For All or paid sick leave? Or are you pretty grim about it?

Im concerned that there will be some emergency measures, like delivering the test for free, but when this is over, are we just going to go back to having deductibles and copayments be a barrier to getting basic health care for the majority of people?

But at least weve been talking about it more than we ever have in my memorynot just health care but paid sick leave. I just hope that this conversation will lead to some really lasting changes. Because now were seeing that the lack of universal health care is deadly, and the right to stay home for a few days and not lose your paycheck is a public health issue too.
The Delhi High Court on Friday decided to hear only urgent matters from March 16 in the wake of coronavirus scare in the country and not insist on personal appearance of parties unless it is indispensable.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the high court's eight-judge Administrative and General Supervision Committee headed by Chief Justice D N Patel and the president and honorary secretary of the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) "to contain the spread of pandemic coronavirus".

It was decided that all possible preventive and remedial measures be taken to combat the impending threat of COVID-19, including making available sanitisers be made available in the courts for visitors and staff, "particularly those manning windows where there is constant public dealing".

Subsequent to the meeting, an advisory was issued by the high court in which it said that its functioning from March 16 shall be restricted to urgent matters and "the court master shall give dates in routine matters before the court assembles".

In the meeting, it was also decided that members of the Bar may not issue visitors pass and the high court would not insist on the personal appearance of the parties unless it is indispensable.

The Supreme Court also took a similar decision a few hours before the high court's.

The high court issued a separate advisory for regulating entry of litigants in all the district courts in the national capital.

In this advisory, it said that courts should not insist on presence of the parties "unless it is unavoidable" and should take appropriate measures to regulate entry of litigants and general public in the court complex to avoid crowding.

"Thermal scanners (non-touch) may be procured at the earliest, handlers be trained and they be put to use at the existing check points," the advisory said.

"Till the present situation persists, no adverse/default orders be passed in matters where parties are found to be absent," the advisory further said.

It said that in criminal matters, trial courts should consider "favourably" the request for exemption from personal appearance of the accused.

"The facility of video conferencing be put to optimum use for the purpose of recording of evidence," the advisory said, adding, "Instead of physical production of undertrial prisoners (UTPs) from jails, facility of video conferencing be availed of."



It said in civil matters, wherever possible, service of local commissioners be availed for the purpose of recording of evidence after obtaining consent of both the parties.

It said that unnecessary crowding in the lock up in the court premises be curtailed and appropriate steps be taken in this regard in consultation with the jail authorities.

The advisory said that judge in-charge of the trial courts shall ensure that medical dispensaries in the court complex are "well equipped to tackle the present emergent situation".

It said that sanitisers be made available in the courts for visitors, staffs "particularly those manning windows where there is constant public dealing".

"Housekeeping agency/staff be asked to ensure that highest level of hygiene is maintained in the court complex and disinfectants are sprayed on a regular basis," it said, adding a dedicated team comprising of senior judicial officers and others be constituted in each district court complexes for taking stock of the situation on a day-to-day basis.

"All the possible preventive and remedial measures be taken to combat the impending threat of COVID-19," it said, adding, "No function/election or any other event be permitted to be held/conducted till further orders".

The advisory said that district court bar association may also issue necessary directions to ensure that there is no crowding in the court complexes.

It said that judge in-charge of mediation centre of all the district court complexes would also ensure that mediation proceedings are held only in cases that are of urgent nature.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The King of Prussia Mall remains open, despite Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's recommending the closure of all nonessential retail in the county where it is located. Read more

King of Prussia Mall, the largest mall on the East Coast, remains open, despite the Pennsylvania governor recommending the closure of all nonessential retail in Montgomery County, where it is located.

Mall management said in a message on its website Friday that the mall is leaving it up to individual stores to decide whether to stay open through the coronavirus pandemic.

With respect to Gov. Wolfs statement, the governor did not mandate store closures and did not define what nonessential retail is, the statement read.

Wolf and Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said they considered supermarkets, pharmacies, and gas stations to be essential.

King of Prussia Mall is owned and operated by SIMON Property Group, which did not return calls and emails for comment.

The states own wine and spirits stores will also be staying open. After consulting with the governors office, we have determined not to close any stores or limit hours at this time, spokesperson Elizabeth Brassell said.

Asked why any private retailer should close if Pennsylvanias own liquor chain is exempt, Brassell replied: We cant speak to how anyone else operates. Last year, the PLCB set record profits on total sales of $2.67 billion, according to the agencys most recent quarterly report.

Meanwhile, three of the Philadelphia regions biggest employers are telling employees to work from home due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Starting Monday, Independence Blue Cross will require all associates in its Philadelphia-area and New Jersey offices to work remotely until at least April 15.

Comcast on Friday encouraged headquarters employees in the Philadelphia region to work remotely through April 12  if they have virtual work capabilities and can maintain important business functions. The Comcast Center campus will remain open for those who cant work remotely, though the company is strongly discouraging external visitors.

The University of Pennsylvania is recommending that employees work remotely, beginning Monday and lasting at least through March 31. Penn, including its vast health and hospital system, is Philadelphias largest private employer, with more than 18,000 faculty and staff and more than 23,000 employees in its health system. The directive appears to cover the entire enterprise. Locally, Comcast and Independence employ roughly 12,000 and 6,000, respectively, according to a 2019 bond offering by the city.

As retailers ignored Wolfs request to close, the Department of Health suggested that merchants rethink.

Before utilizing his full authority to compel businesses to close for the purpose of protecting the publics health, it is the governors hope that they will heed his strong recommendation to mitigate the spread of this disease, said Nate Wardle, a health department spokesperson.

The Willow Grove Mall and Plymouth Meeting Mall, both owned by PREIT, have closed for the duration of the virus threat.

In New Jersey, the Cherry Hill Mall remains open and also stated on its website that individual merchants can decide whether to shut down.

The mall is owned by PREIT (NYSE:PEI), a publicly traded real estate investment trust.

One manager of a store in the King of Prussia Malls luxury wing  a stretch that includes Bulgari, Tiffanys, Christian Louboutin, and Cartier  said the mall sent a letter to merchants saying the decision to close would be left up to each individual retailer. Shops that go on hiatus would not be fined if they decided to shutter for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.

Were taking it day by day, said the manager, who did not wish to be identified. Approximately 50 stores have closed, so already theres much less foot traffic.

AJ Moore Exclusives on the second floor of the King of Prussia Mall hadnt had a customer all week. Its super scary to walk in here and see an empty mall, said the owner, AJ Moore, 41. Im paying $3,300 a month here, and I havent made any money in days.

Shes been in business at the mall since November and is used to making $2,500 a week. Now she will try selling her wares, most of it clothing and jewelry she makes, on Facebook or Instagram, she said.

Airlines cut back

Hits to the airline industry from coronavirus continued to reverberate Friday, as American Airlines halted more international flights out of Philadelphia, and the CEO of Delta Air Lines warned of an unprecedented revenue impact."

Cancellations are rising dramatically" at Delta, and outpacing bookings over the next month, according to an internal memo obtained by CBS News. The situation is fluid and likely to be getting worse, the airlines chief executive, Ed Bastian, wrote.

For American Airlines, the dominant air carrier at Philadelphia International Airport, routes are now suspended between Philly and four additional European cities: Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, and Zurich. The flights are expected to resume May 7, the company said.

Earlier this week, American announced it was halting service between Philadelphia and Rome, as Italy put into effect nationwide limits on public activity and travel. American said it expects the PHL-Rome service to start again May 7.

Back in Montgomery County, Claire Gawinowicz, of Oreland, said she was struck by the number of open retailers, restaurants, and breweries near her residence.

I think theyre in denial. Im baffled, said Gawinowicz, a 66-year-old retiree who described herself as immune-compromised after a bout with breast cancer. No one is following Gov. Wolfs directive. How effective is his message about closing if none of the stores are listening.

For people like me, with a compromised immune system, its really unfair. I really feel I cant leave my house now. Theyre being selfish, she said. The virus will never stop spreading if people dont follow the important messaging.
Iran on Friday warned US President Donald Trump against taking dangerous actions after American forces launched airstrikes that they said targeted a pro-Iranian armed group in neighbouring Iraq.

Iraq military says on Friday that US strikes kill five troops and one civilian.

The United States cannot blame others for the consequences of its illegal presence in Iraq and the nations reaction to the assassination and killing of Iraqi commanders and fighters, foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.



Instead of dangerous actions and baseless accusations, Mr Trump should reconsider the presence and behaviour of his troops in the area, he added.

The statement was issued hours after the Pentagon said the US had launched strikes against the Kataeb Hezbollah armed faction.

The United States said the strikes targeted five weapons facilities across Iraq.

It said they were carried out in response to the killing on Wednesday of two Americans and a Briton in a rocket attack on Taji airbase.

Wednesdays attack was the 22nd on US installations in Iraq, including the American embassy, since late October.

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At the same time, the organization stated that it is very important to achieve solidarity with all peoples and countries worldwide in the fight against coronavirus

Open source

Head of the mission of the World Health Organization, Caroline Brown, on Friday following her visit to Azerbaijan, said it was premature to make predictions on the timing of the decline of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic in the world, as the Interfax-Ukraine reports.

A pandemic is the spread of a new disease on a global scale. That is, when a new virus appears and most people do not have the immunity against it, the disease spreads rapidly around the world.

"It is too early to make predictions about the decline of the pandemic around the world, in particular in Azerbaijan, as the work on the study of the virus is ongoing. But it is very important to achieve solidarity with all the peoples and countries in the world in the fight against coronavirus," Brown said.

According to her, within five days, WHO specialists examined hospitals in Baku and other regions of Azerbaijan, and meetings were held with representatives of various structures to prepare a Strategy to Combat Coronavirus.

Brown added that Azerbaijan has been provided with tests to detect coronavirus.

As we reported before, Ukrainians who stayed in countries where the coronavirus epidemic is observed will be sent for observation upon returning home.
Health body says Europe has more coronavirus cases than world combined, excluding China, as countries tighten borders.

Europe is now the epicentre of the coronavirus infection, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, saying it was impossible to know when the outbreak would peak.

Europe has now become the epicentre of the pandemic, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a virtual press conference on Friday.

Excluding China, the continent now had more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, he said.

More cases are now being reported every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic.

The virus, which first surfaced in China in December, has now killed more than 5,000 people, a tragic milestone, according to Tedros.

Cases worldwide have topped 132,000, according to WHO, which is the health agency of the United Nations. About 68,000 victims have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Maria Van Kerkhove, who heads the WHOs emerging diseases unit, said it was not possible to predict how the pandemic will develop.

Its impossible for us to say when this will peak globally. We hope that it is sooner rather than later.

Their comments came as countries across the world tried to limit the infections spread, tightening borders, closing schools and cancelling events.

Tedros said such measures could help, but stressed that countries needed to take a comprehensive approach.

Not testing alone. Not contact tracing alone. Not quarantine alone. Not social distancing alone. Do it all, he said.

He stressed the need to do more to detect, protect and treat cases.

You cant fight a virus if you dont know where it is, he said, calling on countries to find, isolate, test and treat every case, to break the chains of transmission.

Every case we find and treat limits the expansion of the disease, he said. Do not just let this fire burn.

Any country that looks at the experience of other countries with large epidemics and thinks that wont happen to us is making a deadly mistake.

Michael Ryan, who heads the WHOs emergencies programme, stressed that so-called social distancing measures, including banning public gatherings and school closures, are not a panacea.

They are not going to stop this on their own, he said.

Borders tightened

Travel to the US from most of Europe was suspended for 30 days beginning Friday, a move that has led to anger and confusion among some in the continent.

Turkey will from Saturday suspend flights to Germany, France, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands until April 17.

The Czech government will ban foreign travellers from entering and Czechs from leaving from March 16.

Several European countries and airlines have limited travel to and from Italy, the continental centre of the pandemic.

The number of people who have died after catching the virus has risen to 1,266 in Italy, the worst-hit country after China.

Italy recently imposed a weeks-long national lockdown after previous attempts to quarantine affected areas to limit the infections spread failed.

Meanwhile on Friday, Spain, which has the most coronavirus cases on the continent after Italy, joined a growing list of European countries to declare a state of emergency over the health crisis.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (CSE: REO) - Reservoir Capital Corp. (CSE: REO) ("REO" or the Company) is pleased to announce that, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Kainji Power Holding Limited ("KPHL"), it has entered into a share sale and purchase agreement (the Agreement) with Olocorp Nigeria Ltd. (OLOCORP) and its major shareholder Eric Olo (EOLO) and his sister Clara, jointly the Vendors, pursuant to which REO shall acquire the remaining 40% equity stake in OLOCORP (the Transaction) in a Transaction that will compensate the Vendors with 46 million new REO common shares (REO Shares).



About Olocorp Nigeria Limited

OLOCORP is a limited liability company registered in Nigeria in 2013 for the main purpose of holding shares in NSP, and currently owns 7,297,297 NSP shares. The consummation of the transaction will bring REOs equity in OLOCORP from 3 million shares to 4,999,999 shares (out of 5 million total shares outstanding) while the remaining 1 OLOCORP share will be held in trust by one of REOs representatives due to a legal obligation to have two shareholders. Therefore REO will control 100% of the equity of OLOCORP as a de facto wholly-owned subsidiary.

Details of the Transaction

According to the Agreement, REO will acquire from the Vendors the remaining 40% equity stake in OLOCORP in exchange for a consideration of $2.415 million in form of 34.5 million REO Shares to be issued to the Vendors and their designated beneficiaries (the New Shareholders) at a deemed price of $0.07 per share.

Furthermore, forming part of the Agreement, EOLOs existing Convertible Loan Note of $530,000 from an earlier agreement (Earlier Agreement) (see News Release dated November 11, 2019) will be converted upon closing the Transaction via the issuance of 8,000,000 new REO shares to EOLOs beneficiaries and a promissory note of $200,000. In addition, EOLOs last remaining cash instalment from the Earlier Agreement of approximately US$180,000 will be converted upon closing the Transaction into 2,500,000 additional new REO shares issued to EOLOs beneficiaries and a promissory note of $100,000. Lastly, as per the provisions of the Earlier Agreement, EOLO shall be issued an additional 660,000 new REO shares as a special bonus issue upon the final consummation of this Transaction giving 100% ownership and control of OLOCORP to REO & KPHL and potentially another 340,000 new REO shares as a further bonus if the transaction is fully consummated by April 21, 2020.

Upon completion of the Transaction, REO will have at least 575,007,377 common shares outstanding, and up to a maximum of 575,347,377 shares if certain conditions are met. The REO Shares issued under the Transaction are subject to a minimum four-month hold period and restrictions on transfer under Canadian securities law. Some other terms and conditions provide guidance and incentives for potential follow-on transactions by mutual agreement which will be subject to contract.

OLOCORP MD Eric OLO stated, I am confident that this transaction will prove to be a good investment for myself, the Ichange Foundation which I support, and all of REOs stakeholders whom will benefit immensely from the consolidation of African Clean Power Assets into a professionally managed structure with a strong cooperation culture

REO CEO Lewis Reford stated, We welcome the addition of another 3.7MW, bringing our net operating capacity to 46.3MW, as well as assuming the full control of our Nigerian subsidiary Olocorp Nig Ltd.

REO Chairman Engr. Vincent Gueneau stated, This transaction shows our continued commitment and drive to delivering on our Vision, Mission, Strategy and Investment Policy as well as on creating a desirable co-investment vehicle where owners of equity stakes in producing clean power companies will feel comfortable contributing a portion of their shares as a hedge into a balanced portfolio managed by like-minded peers and professionals, in the spirit of cooperation which is ancestral in Africa and across the world.

About Reservoir Capital Corp.

REOs asset portfolio comprises minority indirect economic interests in clean power assets (currently 4 hydro power plants) representing 42.7 MW net operating capacity prior to the above transaction, increasing to 46.3 MW upon its consummation.

REOs latest 9 months Financial Statement (ended Sept 30 and filed on Nov 28, 2019, available on www.sedar.com) shows a dividend income from the companys investments of $1,000,649 and operating cash flow from continuing operations of $716,890 during the period.

REOs Vision & Mission is to assemble a balanced portfolio of producing and near-production clean energy assets ( with a current focus on Hydro & Geothermal ) in growing economies ( with a current focus on Africa ).

REOs strategy to achieve its Vision is to approach shareholders of privately held quality assets and offer them diversification, liquidity and exposure to a growing portfolio assembled following a disciplined investment policy.

REOs investment policy consists essentially in taking carefully selected minority economic interests in quality clean power assets in key geographies, targeting regular dividend income over long periods, while offering the potential for capital gain in the medium term.

Forward Looking Statements and Further Information

Certain information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements, and forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs regarding future events of management of REO. This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements as to management's expectations and the possible completion of intended future investments. These statements generally can be identified by use of forward-looking words such as "may", "will", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", poised to, hope, "plans," "intends", "believe" or "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations.

REO does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update all or any of the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements, unless and until required by applicable securities laws. Additional information on the Company, including identifying risks and uncertainties, is contained in REO's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are always available at www.sedar.com and on the Companys website, www.reservoircapitalcorp.com . Investors are cautioned that trading in the securities of REO should be considered highly speculative. The CSE have neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

For any clarification, one may contact:

Lewis Reford

CEO, Reservoir Capital Corp.

Telephone: 416-399-2274

Email: ceo@reservoircap.team

NEITHER THE CSE NOR THE INVESTMENT INDUSTRY REGULATORY ORGANIZATION OF CANADA ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
SAN FRANCISCO  Bill Gates is stepping down from the board of Microsoft, the software giant he helped found more than four decades ago.

Mr. Gates said on Friday that he would also step down from the board of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by his close friend, Warren E. Buffett.

I have made the decision to step down from both of the public boards on which I serve  Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway  to dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities including global health and development, education, and my increasing engagement in tackling climate change, Mr. Gates wrote in a LinkedIn post.

For decades, Mr. Gates was the face of Microsoft. Known for his technical acumen and ruthless business practices, he helped to establish Microsofts Windows software as the primary system for the personal computer. Microsoft said Mr. Gates would remain a technical adviser to the company.
Leo Varadkar emerged yesterday afternoon into the warm sunshine outside Blair House, the US president's guest residence, with a clear message to the Irish people back home: calm down.

"People don't need to engage in any panic-buying whatsoever, that's not necessary. That may create a problem in fact that doesn't exist," he said.

It was ironic that, standing in the exact same spot seven hours earlier, Mr Varadkar's announcement that schools and colleges would close for two weeks and a series of emergency measures implemented triggered the panic back in Ireland.

"As a general rule, outside of work, people should seek to reduce social interactions as much as possible," he had said as dawn broke over the US capital. He then went about a series of important bilateral engagements at the White House and on Capitol Hill, while queues formed at supermarkets and shelves emptied around Ireland.

The Taoiseach insisted later in the day that retailers had assured the Government that supply chains are strong and "any shelves that are empty this evening will be filled again tomorrow".

But it was little wonder that he last night completed what was already one of the shortest St Patrick's Day missions to the US by a Taoiseach in recent memory early in order to return home to grapple with the unfolding crisis.

Decisions on how to compensate businesses forced to shutter and help healthcare workers who need childcare now creches and schools are closed will all need to be taken.

He defended his decision to come to the US. "In a very short visit, I was able to have the crucial meetings that I needed to have and still be in touch with the office back home," he said.

But the pomp and ceremony of the annual St Patrick's Day celebrations was ditched with no shamrock ceremony and not even a handshake between the Taoiseach and Mr Trump at the White House. "It's sort of a weird feeling," Mr Trump said as Mr Varadkar offered the namaste gesture in the Oval Office.

The two leaders held a meandering 25-minute Q&A with journalists where Mr Trump did the vast majority of the talking. He did not rule out extending the controversial travel restrictions on people coming from Europe beyond 30 days, but said he believed the virus would "go away".

Mr Varadkar said the president had "acted decisively" as he secured an assurance that the ban on people travelling to the US from 26 European countries in the Schengen zone would not affect Ireland.

Despite widespread criticism of Mr Trump's unilateral action, Mr Varadkar said: "We've acted just as you've acted decisively in the last couple of days."

Mr Trump said that Irish citizens would always be welcome in the United States, declaring: "We love the Irish people."

He described the Fine Gael leader as "a very special guy" when asked by the Irish Independent whether he would like to see him return to the White House as Taoiseach next year.

"I would always like to see him, I know they have other people that I know and I get along with very well. We get along with the country but this is a very special guy."

The Taoiseach was understandably reluctant to reciprocate the endorsement ahead of November's election battle where Mr Trump is likely to face former US vice-president Joe Biden who is winning his battle to be the Democratic nominee.

Later, at a lunch hosted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Capitol Hill, Mr Varadkar urged all countries to work together to combat the spread of the virus. "Covid-19 reminds us that we humans are not masters of our world. This is a problem that is global. The virus knows no borders and we all have to work together to combat it," he said.

In particular, he urged the US to devote its scientific resources towards developing better tests and eventually a vaccine.

By contrast, Ms Pelosi struck a more light-hearted tone in her remarks. "Everybody wants to be Irish on St Patrick's Day," she said. "In San Francisco we start celebrating one after Valentine's Day until one day before Cinco de Mayo."

But no one was celebrating among the Irish delegation.

The grave look on the faces of Irish officials as they arrived outside Blair House moments before the Taoiseach's early-morning announcement said it all.

"Pay attention," said one as he pointed to the podium where Mr Varadkar delivered a short statement that will be centre-stage when RTE is compiling 'Reeling in the Years 2020'. It may become a footnote given the scale of this crisis, but the optics of the Taoiseach delivering this unprecedented announcement from the US - and not the steps of Government Buildings - are not great for this caretaker Government.

The formation of a new administration will be further hampered by the decision to ban mass gatherings which Mr Varadkar admitted was a "complication" for the holding of party conferences to ratify any programme for government. He also said there were "real issues" about appointing a new government at this time with a new set of ministers, advisers and officials that need to read into their briefs.

However, he added: "It's my view that the Covid-19 crisis shouldn't prevent a new government being formed if there is a majority in the Dail to do that. But in the meantime the Government will continue to do its job."

The Taoiseach, who has already resigned, arrives back in Dublin today to face into arguably the biggest crisis that has ever confronted the head of an Irish government, and one that shows no signs of abating.
Joy Parker of Madison said the nursing home where her mother lives has been slowly restricting visitor access over the past two weeks, but on Thursday announced that it would be closing its doors to all visitors at 5 p.m.

I think its good to have precautions, said Parker, whose mother, Wanda Tarwater, lives at the South Hampton Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Owens Cross Roads. It does hit the elderly the most, and when it gets into a facility like that, theres really no end. If anything needs to close, those types of facilities should be the first ones to close.

Nursing homes across Alabama are already restricting visitors in an effort to protect residents from COVID-19, a coronavirus that has proven lethal at much higher rates among the elderly, making nursing homes particularly vulnerable.

Nearly all of the 31 COVID-19 deaths in Washington are associated with a handful of nursing homes in the Seattle area.

Most nursing homes have also begun prohibiting volunteers and church and school groups from visiting, at least for the near future, said John Matson, a spokesman for the Alabama Nursing Home Association, which represents 216 of Alabamas 231 nursing homes.

Thats just too great a risk to put on our residents and staff, he said. He said many nursing homes are connecting residents with their family via phone calls and video chat services like Skype and FaceTime.

About 25,000 nursing home residents live in Alabama, and nursing homes employ about 31,000 staff statewide.

The key word for us is prevention, said Matson. We want to prevent COVID-19 from ever getting inside a nursing home, and were doing everything we can to prevent it from entering.

As of Thursday evening, Alabama has not yet reported a confirmed case of COVID-19 but public health officials have said they expect to see confirmed cases as the state begins testing more people.

Dr. Shane Lee is the medical director of a nursing home in Perry County and one in Hale County. He said his nursing homes are not allowing visitors for the next two weeks.

Well reassess toward the end of the 14-day period, he said. The risk for the nursing home is going to be exposure from staff and visitors, and to a lesser extent, new patients.

He said his have their temperatures checked at the beginning of each shift and sign off that they havent had any symptoms of illness or exposure.

Centers that havent closed their doors completely have begun screening visitors more closely, said Matson.

All of our nursing homes have procedures to limit visitation, said Matson. If you visit a nursing home, youll most likely be met at the door by someone who will as a series of questions and maybe take your temperature. If you meet certain criteria, youll be asked politely to leave.

Lauren Goodman is the executive director of McCoy Adult Day Care in Birmingham. She said the facility doesnt plan to close but is monitoring the situation. She said staff have also implemented several new policies, including limiting visitation of volunteers and of anyone who has traveled recently.

We have enhanced our cleaning procedures to include hourly disinfection of all client areas, she said.

Her staff are getting training on CDC cleanliness guidelines, and any staff with symptoms of illness will be asked to leave.

The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs operates four veterans homes statewide  in Huntsville, Pell City, Alexander City and Bay Minette. The Alabama VA hasnt prohibited visitation for families, but it has been screening all employees and visitors. Anyone with symptoms of illness, or who has traveled internationally in the past 14 days wont be allowed entrance.

If a nursing home resident exhibited signs of COVID-19, Matson said, the nursing home physician could take a specimen and send it to a certified lab to be tested.

Lee said he has not had a problem getting access to tests for nursing home patients.

If nursing home resident were to test positive for COVID-19, said Matson, as long as the persons symptoms were mild, the person would remain at the nursing home under quarantine. Thats the guidelines the association has been given by the CDC and the Alabama Department of Public Health, he said. If the patients condition worsens, the patient would be transferred to a local hospital.

Matson has not heard of family members pulling their loved ones out of nursing home care because of COVID-19 fears, but he warns against it.

We are encouraging family members to leave their loved one at the nursing home because its a protected space, he said. Because we care for people who are so medically fragile, we practice infection prevention year-round. And were in the middle of flu season, so we were already on heightened awareness.

Matson recommends family members stay in touch on a regular basis with the nursing staff caring for the loved one, to get updates when visiting is not possible.

Parker said she plans to do that. She and her family used to schedule lunches with her mother at her nursing home, but thats not an option now. Her mom is not verbal and would not be able to communicate by phone. Parker said the family will take their new normal one day at a time: Theres no perfect situation here.
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- After a search that lasted nearly a year, the Notre Dame College Board of Trustees has named J. Michael Pressimone as the schools next president.

Pressimone, according to an NDC release, comes to the college as a noted relationship builder with a reputation for teamwork, collaboration and an ability and passion for bringing students, faculty, staff and community together to achieve mutually beneficial goals.

Pressimone succeeds former NDC president Thomas Kruczek, who retired in May 2019. The new president will officially assume his duties at NDC on July 1.

John Galovic, a longtime NDC faculty and administrative leader, has served as interim president since Kruczeks departure.

A Baltimore native, Pressimone will be the 15th president in NDCs 98-year history. He comes to South Euclid from his current position as president of Fontbonne University in St. Louis, a position he has held since 2014.

He holds an associate of arts degree from Catonsville Community College (now known as the Community College of Baltimore County); a bachelor of fine arts from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; a master of arts in leadership in higher education from Regis University in Denver; and a doctorate in higher education and organizational change from Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill. In 2018, he received the Benedictine University Alumni Achievement Visionary Award.

Pressimone was a first-generation college student, as are about 40 percent of the students who attend Notre Dame College.

We are delighted that after a thorough and thoughtful national search, Dr. Pressimone emerged as the best fit to be Notre Dames next president, Ann Hawkins, chair of the Notre Dame College Board of Trustees, said in the press release. The number of outstanding candidates who came forward reflects the colleges reputation for quality education, service to students and respect for the mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame.

I have complete confidence in Dr. Pressimone as our next president, and I look forward to working with him, as I am sure the entire college community does.

I would also like to thank Dr. John Galovic for his outstanding service to our college during this transition period," Hawkins added. "He has provided exemplary leadership, unselfish service and tireless energy in making sure our programs and operations continued without missing a beat.

During his career, Pressimone has written in support of greater diversity and inclusion in both the news media and for his campus constituency. He is active in the interfaith community working to promote harmony among all people of faith. In the wake of community unrest following the 2014 death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and the Stockley verdict in 2017, he hosted gatherings of community leaders who were committed to exploring non-violent responses.

I am honored to join the Notre Dame College community as we begin our important work together," Pressimone stated in the NDC release. "My wife, Cathy, and I felt a strong connection to the mission and the beautiful work begun by the Sisters of Notre Dame nearly 100 years ago. As we met more and more Notre Dame College colleagues, it was clear that the college was a place that would marry our passion for this work with a community of hope and optimism and dedicated to serving a wonderfully diverse student population. I am anxious to hit the ground running.

At Fontbonne, Pressimone expanded educational access for the underserved through the creation of the Fontbonne Promise program, which provides free education to academically able students who lack the ability to pay.

Working with faculty and external funders, Fontbonne addressed the crisis of sex and human trafficking through the establishment of the Center Against Human Trafficking and Exploitation. Pressimone also spearheaded the effort to purchase the former John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Manchester, Mo., more than doubling the universitys real estate holdings.

Pressimone and his wife of 38 years, Cathy, are the parents of 12 children and grandparents of six, with three more grandchildren on the way.

Read more from the Sun Messenger.
All workers and office bearers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will have to undergo screening for coronavirus before attending the meet of its highest decision-making body in Bengaluru, a senior office bearer said on Friday.

The annual meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) will be held in Bengaluru from March 15-17 to decide on the organisation's future course of action.

The Health ministry on Friday put the number of coronavirus cases in the country at 75, which includes a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi in Karnataka who became the country's first coronavirus fatality. The state has five coronavirus patients.

Taking note of the rising threat of coronavirus, RSS's Prachar Pramukh (joint publicity chief) Narender Thakur said it is mandatory for RSS workers and office bearers to undergo screening for coronavirus before attending the ABPS meeting.

Even security personnel and journalists covering the meeting will be screened, he said, adding the Sangh has made all necessary arrangements in this regard.

Apart from Karnataka, Delhi has reported six positive cases and Uttar Pradesh 10. Karnataka has five coronavirus patients, Maharashtra 11 and Ladakh three.

Besides, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each. Kerala has recorded 17 cases, including three patients discharged last month after they recovered from the contagious infection with flu-like symptoms.

The 75 confirmed cases include 17 foreigners -- 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian who was in Uttar Pradesh.

The government has asked people not to panic, saying no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there has only been a few cases of local transmission so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Experts have cast doubt on the governments policy of letting large numbers of the British population catch coronavirus in a bid to create "herd immunity", warning it may not work and people could be susceptible to catching it again.

On Friday, the UKs chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said a level of herd immunity  where a significant proportion of people recover and become immune to the infection  was desirable and could protect the public in the event the virus became a seasonal infection.

He told Sky News: Communities will become immune to it and thats going to be an important part of controlling this longer term.

About 60 per cent is the sort of figure you need to get herd immunity.

But leading scientists and officials warned there is no guarantee people will become permanently immune to the Covid-19 virus, and said it is too soon to know what could happen as the virus spreads through the population.

Dr Nicola Rose, head of virology at the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, said: Obviously contain and delay is the approach being taken in the UK and in a number of different countries. The approaches are really to buy time in context of the healthcare system and time for vaccines to be developed.

We dont know how the pandemic will evolve. With flu for example it comes and goes in waves. This may well be the case here. We really dont know whether there will be herd immunity or not.

As the virus goes through a population, people may start to develop their own immunity. It is early days really with this virus to understand what that looks like. I think were a long way from what we would technically call herd immunity.

She said it would only be after people had been infected and their immune response analysed that the true picture could be established around whether people were immune to further infection.

Professor Hanneke Schuitemaker, global head of viral vaccine discovery for Janssen Vaccines, said: We dont know how long natural immunity will last. And if people who have experienced the infection will be protected forever thereafter or whether we will need vaccines to support them that gives continuous protection against reinfection.

On the variation between different countries attitudes on how best to tackle the virus, she added: I think all governments should look at countries where measures have failed and try to do better. And thats why I dont understand why we dont have a European approach.
Dhaka, March 13 : Police in Bangladesh has arrested two men for selling a fake anti-coronavirus vaccine, it was reported on Friday.

One of them, Nazrul Islam Rubel, 27, a native of Mymensingh district, advertised the "vaccines" through a loudspeaker at Ganda union in Kendua Upazila of Netrokona district throughout Wednesday and Thursday, bdnews24 quoted the police as saying.

Rashedul Islam, 35, a so-called doctor from the same district, started selling them on Thursday afternoon.

On hearing about the incident, the police arrested the two men from the spot and recovered the "magical ayurvedic type medicines" from them.

They were sentenced to two years in jail.

In South Asia, India (75), Pakistan (20), Bhutan (one), Maldives (two), Afghanistan (seven) and Nepal (one), Bangladesh (three) have reported cases.

On Thursday, India became the first country in the region to report a death due to the disease.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
As scientists across the globe grapple to find a cure for coronavirus that has claimed nearly 5000 lives, two persons in Bangladesh have been jailed for two years for selling COVID-19 "vaccines", a media report said on Friday.

Nazrul Islam Rubel, 27, a native of Mymensingh district, about 115 kilometres from Dhaka, advertised the "vaccines" through a loudspeaker at Ganda union in Netrokona district throughout Wednesday and Thursday, police said.

Rashedul Islam, 35, belonging from the same district, started selling the "medicines" at Paharpur Eidgah ground at Ganda on Thursday afternoon, Kendua Police chief Mohammad Rasheduzzaman was quoted as saying by bdnews24.

The police arrested the duo and recovered the "magical ayurvedic type medicines" from them, he said.

The two were sentenced to two years in prison by Kendua Upazila Nirbahi officer and executive magistrate Al Imran Ruhul Islam, the report said.

The deadly coronavirus virus that reportedly originated in Wuhan city in China in December has claimed 4,925 lives and infected 131,500 people across 116 countries and territories.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday characterised the COVID-19 outbreak as a "pandemic" and expressed deep concern over its "alarming levels" of "spread, severity, as well as inaction".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
University again receives honors for sustainability efforts

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill.  For a third consecutive time, Southern Illinois University Carbondale is gaining national recognition for one of its numerous sustainability efforts.

Thats according to the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS), which recently announced the universitys silver star ranking.

The Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) uses a ranking system, which takes into account the universitys sustainability efforts in four comprehensive areas: academics, planning and administration, operations and engagement.

Campus-wide effort

The accomplishment is the result of campus-wide efforts, according to Geory Kurtzhals, sustainability director. Students, faculty, staff and administrators play a part in the course of their daily actions and numerous campus departments and units support or help facilitate research, educational opportunities and operational improvements that are vital.

The STARS reporting process gives us an opportunity to engage people around campus who impact sustainability each day and may not realize it, Kurtzhals said.

"STARS is a great strategic tool universities can use to provide for structure, guidance and inspiration, said Karen Schauwecker, sustainability program coordinator.

We consider ways to integrate sustainability in all of these areas on campus, and consider solutions that are adeptly fit for our unique institution," she added.

In addition, the Sustainability Office and its strategic initiatives as well as the campus Green Fee and the many diverse projects it funds play a major role in earning the designation. Since created in 2009 as the result of a student-led initiative, the Green Fee, paid for by student fees, has allocated more than $2.2 million in funding for 193 diverse projects.

Last month, the university reaffirmed its longstanding commitment to sustainability with the signing of the Second Nature Climate Commitment by Chancellor John M. Dunn.

Numerous other initiatives in place

SIU embraces sustainability in a wide variety of ways. Several sustainability working groups are in place featuring students, faculty and staff working collaboratively to find ways to be more sustainable in these areas:

Air and climate.

Energy.

Food.

Transportation.

The Saluki Green Action Team (SGAT) is a campus-wide group committed to making a more sustainable future. Their goal is increasing awareness of individual and group actions to help reduce the universitys carbon footprint.

"We encourage everyone to sign up for our weekly Green Action post, containing tips and reminders of things you can do to contribute to sustainability on campus and in our community," , Schauwecker said.

This years SGAT posts are focusing on ways that our everyday actions and community participation can align and contribute to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Schauwecker said.

Numerous initiatives regularly taking place on campus include reusable water bottle giveaways, green tours, recognition of the Environmental Ambassadors who volunteer at least 30 hours for environmental causes, Earth Day celebrations, and much more.

Honors keep coming

This is the third time SIU has earned the Silver STARS ranking from AASHE, initially achieving recognition in 2013 with a repeat award in 2016 and again this year.

Other sustainability-related honors include:

Tree Campus USA  received annually each year since 2016 from the Arbor Day Foundation.

Bicycle Friendly University  a four-year bronze designation awarded by the League of American Bicyclists in 2016.

Princeton Reviews Guide to Green Colleges  included the last seven consecutive years as well as in 2011.

Accredited Arboretum, level II  the first university in Illinois to achieve this accreditation from the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program, SIU is now featured in the Morton Register of Arboreta.

Still growing

SIU has much to be proud of but continues to look toward the future, Kurtzhals said.

We are proud to have been yet again recognized with a silver rating, but we also know there is still much work to be done, Kurtzhals said. I hope that faculty, staff and students will take time to review the report to determine how they might be able to positively contribute to a more sustainable campus.

Learn more about SIUs extensive efforts to become a greener, more sustainable campus, at www.sustainability.siu.edu.

"We look forward to strengthening our programs and commitment to sustainability through collaborative engagement across campus," Schauwecker said.
Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  The Filipino science community remains largely underappreciated and underfunded. Within the last five years, the Department of Science and Technology has faced a consistent decrease in their annual budget allocation, posing great difficulty for scientists and researchers in the Philippines.

In a brief online statement released on March 11, Senator Panfilo Ping Lacson expressed his frustration about the matter and called for an increase in the presently miniscule budget allocation for research and development in the Philippines. For the same five-year period, the DOSTs average budget is only 20 billion or a meager 0.56% against the trillions of pesos that we pass every year as our national budget, he wrote.

While the limited financial support poses great challenge for the community, Filipino scientists and researchers continue to attain breakthroughs  and all for the service of the general public.

Their latest achievement is a test kit to detect cases of novel coronavirus, an essential tool today as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country continues to rise at a rapid rate. The detection kit is expected to aid Filipino frontliners in confirming positive cases of the virus.

Dr. Raul V. Destura, the deputy executive director of the Philippine Genome Center, spearheaded the development of the SARS CoV-2 detection kit. Photo by JILSON TIU

The GenAmplify COVID-19 rRT-PCR Detection Kit was developed by a team of scientists from the Philippine Genome Center and the University of the Philippines Manilas National Institutes of Health  the same team that developed the Lab-in-a-Mug test kits for dengue. Leading the core team of 15 members was the conductor of the symphony: Dr. Raul V. Destura, a microbiologist and infectious disease specialist who currently serves as the deputy executive director of the Philippine Genome Center. His research is geared towards developing low-cost technologies for the control of infectious diseases in the Philippines and the generation of new knowledge to find sustainable and equitable solutions to disease of poverty."

Destura believes that it is his and his colleagues responsibility to assist the efforts of the government in providing technology to help our nation, as well as develop technologies to aid in the labor of our frontliners in times of crisis such as the COVID-19 outbreak.

Hindi siya madali, pero pinilit nating kayanin dahil gusto nating ipakita din na kaya nating gawin dito sa ating bayan, na i-address ang pangangailangan ng bansa natin, he says. Destura adds that the intention is to remind fellow Filipino scientists to dream bigger.

The Thermal Cycler is used in conducting the test of COVID-19 and is available in most hospitals in Manila, but the expensive equipment will most likely not be available in provincial hospitals. Photo by JILSON TIU

The team started developing the test kit in January, immediately after scientists from China released the whole genome sequence of the virus and disseminated the information to scientists from other countries. Destura explained that all research organizations from across the globe who had the information started on the same foot and were provided with the same timeline to address the needs of their respective countries.

Very important na sa simula pa lang ng mga ganitong situation, involved na ang scientific community, he notes.

Destura was hands-on with the test kit development. When asked about the specifics of his tasks, he shared that he was the one to validate, challenge, and resolve the teams findings. Im the one that gives them solutions when theyre hitting a wall.

Assisting him through the process was his co-developer, Joy Ann Santos, university researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, National Institutes of Health, whom he said had to stay in the laboratory longer than he did.

The SARS CoV-2 detection kit is currently being manufactured and stockpiled by Manila HealthTek, Inc., and will be used for field testing coupled with gene sequencing at the PGC. Using the local GenAmplify will only cost around 1,320 per test, an affordable alternative to the high-cost foreign-made kit. Around 200 GenAmplify can be produced within a week. Photo by JILSON TIU

In managing a team of scientists, he noted two things: one needed an idea and an experimental design. He also emphasized on the need for collaboration inside the laboratory. The process of developing this new technology was very tedious as it does not solely end on one positive result. Rather, the team is required to repeat every step to recreate the tool 40 to 60 times more in order to ensure effectiveness.

The budgetary restrictions did not go unnoticed. Lagi namang problema yan sa Pilipinas, said Destura. However, the scientist prefers to keep it optimistic when looking at the situation. Ang maganda, na-train tayo to do the best with what we have. So financial management of resources is very important in managing research labs. Talagang kailangan mo lang talagang ibigay ang lahat despite our restrictions and limitations.

The development of the COVID-19 rRT-PCR Detection Kit is also a promise of better accessibility to the public, as it will be made available at lesser cost compared to its existing foreign-developed counterparts. GenAmplify will likely cost around 1,320 per test, whereas foreign-made kits are at 8,500 per test. So we are one with the government in providing this technology, para sana maging accessible sa lahat, Dr. Destura said.

A scientist at the Philippine Genome Center demonstrates how the laboratory works at the center.

There still remains the need, however, to remind everyone that the developed technology is not a cure to the novel coronavirus, but rather a tool for detecting positive cases.

He shared the likelihood of a vaccine for COVID-19 being developed by the European team, and expressed his hope for the Philippines to one day have its own vaccine development capacity.

His takeaway from the experience as the lead scientist in the project is quite simple: We [scientists] are also a citizen of this country. We are also bound to respond to the countrys needs. Its our duty, actually. We are scientists, then we should be scientists. Were not politicians. Were not artists.
ATLANTA (March 13, 2020) ... The Carter Center and the University of La Sabana in Colombia, in association with the Gabo Foundation, are now accepting applications for 2020-2021 Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism in Latin America.

Since 2013, these two organizations have worked to grant two annual fellowships to journalists to investigate and produce in-depth journalistic projects that shed light on major mental health challenges in the region. Last year, the fellowship expanded beyond Colombia to other Latin American countries and received the largest number of applications since it launched.

The program is open to bilingual (English and Spanish) journalists who work for Latin American media, in any format or platform, and who have at least three years of professional experience and reside in Latin America (except Puerto Rico). They must have the support of their media organization through a letter signed by an editor or director.

Fellows will receive $7,000 each to support their project and the opportunity to attend an expense-paid training in mental health journalism in September 2020 at The Carter Center in Atlanta. In some cases, applicants may apply in pairs for one scholarship and the prize will be divided. Fellows will be advised by top journalists and mental health experts during their fellowship.

The deadline to apply is June 30, 2020. Find the application and additional details here: http://bit.ly/3cRWiDl.

The fellowship is administered by an interdisciplinary team made up of the faculties of communication and medicine of the University of La Sabana, in Bogota, Colombia. The Carter Center offers training, educational material, advice, evaluation tools, and technical assistance to La Sabana to develop a sustainable program adapted to the needs of Latin America.

La Sabana administers the program for Latin America and is responsible for the process of selecting journalists, organizing conferences and training for the media, adapting the program to respond to local needs, and developing an evaluation of regional strategies.

Since 1996, The Carter Center has awarded fellowships to more than 220 journalists, who have been trained and connected with resources and experts to increase the quality and accuracy of mental health reporting around the world. The program currently operates in Colombia (which now includes journalists from other Latin American countries), the United States, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, and previously New Zealand, South Africa, and Romania.

Rosalynn Carter fellows have produced more than 1,500 stories, documentaries, books and other journalistic work. Their projects have won multiple Emmy Awards, Pulitzer Prize nominations, and other prestigious awards.

More Information

Follow @CarterFellows on Twitter to learn more about Carter Fellows work.

For more information, follow the University of La Sabana and its faculty of communication on Twitter @unisabana and follow the Carter Center Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts.

Contact: In Atlanta, Rennie Sloan, rennie.sloan@cartercenter.org

Contact for fellowship questions: carterfellows@cartercenter.org

###

"Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope."

A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
Morocco - Mobile Infrastructure, Operators and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Sydney, March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communications focus report on Morocco outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets.

Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Morocco-Mobile-Infrastructure-Operators-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses





Synopsis

Moroccos mobile market is one of the more mature in the region, with a penetration rate of about 125%. All three mobile network operators offer fixed-line or fixed-wireless services and have developed mobile data services based on the extensive reach of LTE infrastructure. Growth in mobile data traffic is supported by the popular use of smartphones, which account for about 80% of all mobile phones in use.

The mobile operators are the main providers of internet services, accounting for the great majority of all internet connections. The issuing of LTE licences in 2015 included conditions to ensure that services covered at least 65% of the population by 2020, while the promotion of broadband accessibility nationally is also supported by the National Broadband Plan through to 2022 and by the Maroc Digital 2020 strategy. The extensive deployment of mobile broadband infrastructure will further consolidate the dominance of mobile players in the broadband sector in coming years.

The incumbent telco Maroc Telecom has undergone a strategic review following its acquisition of Etisalats mobile businesses in several markets in the region. These additional international markets, including Chad in mid-2019, are providing a welcome boost to the companys overall revenue.

This report analyses Moroccos mobile telephony sector, including statistics, assessments of recent regulatory measures, details on licensing regimes and spectrum auctions, and profiles of the major players.

Key developments:

MNP process amended to make number portings automated;

Inwi launches Moroccos first m-payment service;

Orange Maroc launches Orange Money;

Inwi and Maroc Telecom trial 5G technologies;

Report updates include the regulator's market data to December 2019, telcos' financial and operating data to Q4 2019, recent market developments.

Story continues

Companies mentioned in this report:

Maroc Telecom, Orange Morocco (Medi Telecom), Inwi (Wana)

Table of Contents

Market analysis

Mobile statistics General statistics Mobile voice Mobile data SMS MMS Mobile broadband

Regulatory issues SIM card registration Licensing GSM 3G 4G (LTE) Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs)

Mobile infrastructure Analogue networks Digital networks 5G 4G (LTE) 3G 2G

Major mobile operators Itissalatt Al-Maghrib (IAM, Maroc Telecom) Orange Morocco (Meditel) Inwi (Wana)

Mobile content and applications Mobile payments, m-banking Satellite mobile

Appendix  Historic data

Related reports





List of Tables

Table 1  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration rate  2009  2024

Table 2  Change in the number of prepaid and contract subscribers  2012  2019

Table 3  Change in the proportion of prepaid and contract subscribers  2012  2019

Table 4  Mobile market share of subscribers by operator  2011  2019

Table 5  Fall in the average price per minute for mobile services  2012  2019

Table 6  Average mobile traffic per subscriber  2012  2019

Table 7  Change in mobile network voice traffic  2005  2019

Table 8  Fall in the number of SMS sent  2005  2019

Table 9  Growth in the number of mobile internet connections, by type  2011  2019

Table 10  Change in market share of mobile internet subscribers by provider  2015  2019

Table 11  Growth in the number of active mobile internet connections, and penetration  2008  2019

Table 12  Growth in the number of mobile number portings  2011  2019

Table 13  MTRs by operator  2011  2019

Table 14  Maroc Telecoms mobile subscriber base and market share  2011  2019

Table 15  Change in the number of Maroc Telecoms mobile subscribers by platform  2012 - 2019

Table 16  Decline in Maroc Telecoms ARPU  2009  2019

Table 17  Change in Maroc Telecoms domestic mobile revenue  2005  2019

Table 18  Change in Orange Moroccos mobile subscriber base and market share  2009  2019

Table 19  Orange Morocco revenue  2015  2019

Table 20  Change in Inwis mobile subscriber base and market share  2011  2019

Table 21  Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate  2000  2009

Table 22  Historic - Average SMS cost  2010  2015

Table 23  Historic - Multiple SIM card use among mobile subscribers  2012  2016

Table 24  Historic - Smartphone penetration  2012  2016

List of Charts

Chart 1  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration rate  2009  2024

Chart 2  Change in the number of prepaid and contract subscribers  2012  2019

Chart 3  Change in the proportion of prepaid and contract subscribers  2012  2019

Chart 4  Mobile market share of subscribers by operator  2011  2019

Chart 5  Fall in the average price per minute for mobile services  2012  2019

Chart 6  Average mobile traffic per subscriber  2012  2019

Chart 7  Change in mobile network voice traffic  2005  2019

Chart 8  Fall in the number of SMS sent  2005  2019

Chart 9  Growth in the number of mobile internet connections, by type  2011  2019

Chart 10  Change in market share of mobile internet subscribers by provider  2015  2019

Chart 11  Growth in the number of active mobile internet connections, and penetration  2008  2019

Chart 12  Growth in the number of mobile number portings  2011  2019

Chart 13  Maroc Telecoms mobile subscriber base and market share  2011  2019

Chart 14  Change in the number of Maroc Telecoms mobile subscribers by platform  2012  2019

Chart 15  Decline in Maroc Telecoms ARPU  2009  2019

Chart 16  Change in Maroc Telecoms domestic mobile revenue  2005  2019

Chart 17  Change in Orange Moroccos mobile subscriber base and market share  2009  2019

Chart 18  Orange Morocco revenue  2015  2019

Chart 19  Change in Inwis mobile subscriber base and market share  2011  2019

Nicolas Bombourg

nbombourg@budde.com.au



Within Australia

(02) 8076 7665



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+44 207 097 1241


The samples of 13 people, who had come in contact with a coronavirus positive patient in Maharashtras Nagpur, were sent for test on Thursday, officials said.

The city had reported its first positive case of coronavirus on Wednesday after the IT professional, who had come from the United States on March 6 and got himself admitted at Mayo General Hospital.

His throat swabs were sent for the test and at around 9pm on Wednesday it came back positive. He is currently under treatment at the local government-run Mayo Hospital.

The samples of three others, who were admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital, have also been sent for test. There are three other cases in the city, taking the total number of suspected patients in Nagpur to 16.

The IT professionals relatives, including wife and daughter, have also been admitted to the hospital and their samples were sent for test, Dr Sajal Mitra, dean of the Government Medical College, said.

We are expecting their report by late night or tomorrow (Friday). They have been kept in the hospital under observation, Dr Mitra added.

The man did not show any symptom initially but developed a fever, which he thought could be because of jet lag but it persisted. He came to Mayo Hospital on Wednesday morning and doctors advised him to get admitted and his throat swab samples were sent for test.

His daughter, a Class 8 student in a CBSE school in a west Nagpur locality, had stopped attending classes for the last three days. When the parents of other students came to know that her father had tested positive for coronavirus, they approached the school management for sanitisation of the school immediately or suspend the classes.

The management agreed to sanitise all the classes and also tried to convince other parents on the issue by writing a letter in this regard.

District collector Ravindra Thakre and the deputy director of health services Dr Sanjay Jaiswal have asked people not to panic but take care by following all guidelines issued from time to time by health bodies.

Nagpur University has decided not to hold seminars, workshops, conferences by any of its departments or affiliated colleges to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Dr Neeraj Khaty, the registrar of the university, said the decision was taken after the district collector advised them not to hold such gatherings in coming days in view of the prevailing situation.

There are 14 confirmed coronavirus casesincluding nine are from Pune, three from Mumbai and one each from Thane and Nagpurin the state.

The Maharashtra government has also announced a series of measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray asked district administrations to cancel all government programmes and not allow gatherings for political and religious events.

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(Natural News) Saudi Arabia is imposing a fine of up to 500,000 Saudi riyals ($133,000) on people who do not accurately disclose information concerning their health and their travel arrangements. These measures, announced Monday, will be conducted on entry points into the country, including airports and land borders.

These measures come after several travelers failed to mention to the authorities that they had visited Iran upon returning to Saudi Arabia via other states in the Gulf. This failure to disclose past travel gave the kingdom its first cases of the coronavirus. Authorities have said that most of their COVID-19 cases come from people who had returned to the country from either Iran or Iraq, or interacted with people who visited one of those two nations.

The Ministry of Interior, in a press release published by the state-controlled Saudi Press Agency, announced that all entry into and exit from the Qatif Governorate is temporarily restricted. Furthermore, all work in both government offices and private institutions has been halted as a precautionary measure to lower the risk of transmission of infection  with the exception of emergency services and institutions that provide basic needs such as pharmacies, supply stores and gas stations. Al-Qatif Governorate, located within the countrys Eastern Province, is a stronghold for the kingdoms minority Shia Muslim population.

Saudi Arabias health ministry said that at least 15 of the countrys COVID-19 cases have come from the Qatif governorate.

The kingdom has also imposed travel restrictions on 14 countries. These include neighboring Gulf states such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates; other Middle Eastern states like Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Turkey; European states like France, Germany and Spain; and countries that were hit exceptionally hard by the coronavirus outbreak like Italy and South Korea. (Related: Irans VP infected by the coronavirus  many top officials are also sick or DEAD.)

As per this decision, all travel  air and sea-based  to the 14 countries will be suspended. Several land borders have also been closed, such as the causeway linking eastern Saudi Arabia to the island state of Bahrain.

All the travelers coming to the kingdom by international flights, managers and workers of other transportation means have to respect local and international health directives, said Saudi Arabias public prosecutor in a statement.

Saudi Arabia acts quickly to try and control the outbreak within the kingdom

To help the worldwide efforts to combat the coronavirus, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia personally donated 37.5 million Saudi riyals ($10 million) to the World Health Organization. The kingdom has pursued other directives to help combat COVID-19s spread within their own country, such as the historic freeze on pilgrims coming to the country to visit Mecca and Medina, Islams two holiest cities. This ban covers foreign Muslims, Saudi citizens and residents of the kingdom alike.

Saudi authorities event went so far as to clear out parts of the Great Mosque of Mecca so that they can begin sterilizing the place to minimize the risk of an outbreak. Images and videos shared by both state news outlets and people in social media showed the white tiled parade grounds surrounding the Kaaba almost empty, a very rare sight. The Kaaba is the great black cube at the center of the Great Mosque which happens to be the most sacred site in all of Islam.

Saudi authorities have also asked imams (Islamic priests) to limit their sermons during Friday prayers to 15 minutes. The Ministry for Islamic Affairs has also banned any food and beverages in mosques and spiritual retreats. All schools across the country are also being suspended. This suspension covers all public and private learning institutions, including universities and educational and Koranic activities at mosques. State media reported that distance learning measures would be implemented in schools to limit the effects of the disruption in classes.

As of press time, Saudi Arabia has 20 coronavirus cases. The kingdom confirmed four of these cases early on Monday. Four of the patients are in intensive care units. Three of the ICU cases are stable, while one is in critical condition.

Sources include:

News.Trust.org

SPA.gov.sa

GulfNews.com 1

MiddleEastEye.net 1

GulfNews.com 2

MiddleEastEye.net 2

English.AlArabiya.net
While coronavirus pneumonia patients are mainly being treated for their physical ailments, Wuhan, central Chinas Hubei province, has also taken various measures to provide psychological assistance for patients who need them.

(Photo/Xinhua)

To date, the National Health Commission of China has sent over 300 psychological medical workers to Wuhan to ensure that patients mental health is also being attended to.

Facing the epidemic and the possibility of losing loved ones, pneumonia patients may feel anxious and lonely, and even suffer from insomnia and anorexia, which requires medical intervention, said Cheng Ming, a member of the national psychological team sent to Wuhan.

A recent survey conducted by the Wuhan No.1 Hospital on 226 pneumonia patients suggests that 26.4 percent suffered from moderate or severe insomnia and 10.5 percent are under moderate or serious pressure.

We mainly talk with the patients about their problems by phone or WeChat, and sometimes face to face to those with serious problems, said Cheng.

To help the patients protect their mental health, the Wuhan No.1 Hospital, together with other medical teams from around China, established a special hospital that provides assistance for patients suffering mental crises and sleep disorders.

The mental intervention group under the hospital checks and evaluates the mental status of the patients on a regular basis and provides intervention for those with serious insomnia and depression. It has so far evaluated more than 500 patients and intervened in over 100 people by phone and WeChat.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2020) - Ely Gold Royalties Inc. (TSXV: ELY) (OTCQB: ELYGF) (FSE: A2JSL0) ("Ely Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed its purchase of a 15% net profit interest ("NPI") from Liberty Gold Corp. ("Liberty Gold") and its subsidiary Pilot Gold USA Inc., ("Pilot Gold", and together with Liberty Gold, the "Seller"), announced on December 18, 2019 (the "Transaction").

The principal entitlement under the NPI is the right to 15% of the net profits from the recovery and sale of minerals from certain unpatented mining claims located in Mineral County, Nevada, USA (commonly referred to as the Regent Hill Property). The interest also includes the possibility of bonus payments for each AuEq oz. (consisting of any of gold, silver, platinum and palladium metals), if any, from the Regent Hill Property placed on leach pads after the first 115,000 AuEq oz. Quarterly bonus payments per AuEq ounce will be based on a pricing grid providing for payments coming into effect when the monthly average gold price per ounce for each applicable quarter are US$1,400 or more, commencing at US$5.775 per AuEq ounce and increasing to as much as US$29.05 per AuEq ounce if the monthly average exceeds US$1,800 per ounce.

Under the terms of the Transaction, Ely Gold a paid cash consideration of US$800,000 and issued 2,000,000 share purchase warrants to the Seller. Each warrant entitles the Seller to purchase one common share of Ely Gold for a period of two years at an exercise price of CAD$0.43.

The Seller is at arm's length to the Company (and its affiliate Nevada Select Royalty Inc.). No finder's fees, broker's fees and/or commissions were paid in connection with the Transaction. All securities issued and issuable in connection with the Transaction will be subject to a hold period expiring June 19, 2020.

Qualified Person

Stephen Kenwood, P. Geo, is a director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Kenwood has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release. The Company does not intend to file a technical report supporting disclosure with respect to acquisition of this royalty interest.

About Ely Gold Royalties Inc. Ely Gold Royalties Inc. is a Vancouver-based, emerging royalty company with development assets focused in Nevada and Quebec. Its current portfolio includes 36 Deeded Royalties and 22 properties optioned to third parties. Ely Gold's royalty portfolio includes producing royalties, fully permitted mines and development projects that are at or near producing mines. The Company is actively seeking opportunities to purchase existing third-party royalties for its portfolio and all the Company's option properties are expected to produce royalties, if exercised. The royalty and option portfolios are currently generating significant revenue. Ely Gold is well positioned with its current portfolio of over 20 available properties to generate additional operating revenue through option and sale agreements. The Company has a proven track record of maximizing the value of its properties through claim consolidation and advancement using its extensive, proprietary data base. All portfolio properties are sold or optioned on a 100% basis, while the Company retains royalty interests. Management believes that due to the Company's ability to generate third-party royalty agreements, its successful strategy of organically creating royalties, its equity portfolio and its current low valuation, Ely Gold offers shareholders a low-risk leverage to the current price of gold and low-cost access to long-term mineral royalties.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Signed "Trey Wasser"

Trey Wasser, President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Trey Wasser, President & CEO

trey@elygoldinc.com

972-803-3087

Joanne Jobin, Investor Relations Officer

jjobin@elygoldinc.com

647-964-0292

FORWARD-LOOKING CAUTIONS: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding its current assets, including future mineral production prospects and revenue gains, and Company acquisitions of additional royalty interests. These matters are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks of declining precious metals prices, failure of projects in which the Company has an interest may underperform current management forecasts, the Company may not be able to identify suitable new royalty acquisitions, and the political uncertainties and regulatory or legal disputes or changes in the jurisdictions where the Company carries on its business that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effect.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53399
Richmond-area schools are closing in response to the spread of the coronavirus in Virginia.

Richmond Public Schools and Henrico County Public Schools are closing for at least two weeks, school leaders in both districts announced Thursday.

The decisions come amid rising concerns about the virus, with the number of cases in Virginia nearly doubling from Wednesday to Thursday (nine to 17). Two of the cases are in Central Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Health, and Gov. Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency for Virginia.

"We are taking this unprecedented step to help limit the spread of the virus," Richmond schools chief Jason Kamras said. "I know it may seem extreme, but all signs indicate that doing so will help the broader Richmond community  and our health care system, in particular  weather this pandemic."

The closures will start Monday, with school still in session Friday and meals available at some schools across the district. Roughly 15% of children in Richmond face food insecurity, according to Feeding America, a national nonprofit.

Kamras said the district is asking teachers to send students home with work "for the next several days" and added that RPS will distribute work packets Monday on the school system's website and at food distribution centers, which will be open from 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. on weekdays.

School administrators have also been encouraged to send students home with library books and other reading materials.

"One of the very best things our students can do during this closure is read," Kamras said.

Also starting Monday, Henrico schools will close for two weeks and Hanover County Public Schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday.

We realize this creates many questions about how students will continue their learning, said Henrico schools spokesman Andy Jenks, adding later: "During this unprecedented experience, we will continue to do everything possible to ensure the health and safety of our community."

Teachers and staff, Jenks said, will report Monday "to continue their preparations" with virtual learning becoming available for all grades starting Tuesday.

Dr. Danny Avula, the director of the Richmond and Henrico Health Departments, said a decision like this seemed very far away a couple weeks ago, but similar actions are being taken across the country.

These are the kinds of bold decisions that were going to need to make if were going to stem the spread of disease and not overwhelm our healthcare system, Avula said.

According to Education Week, at least 10,600 K-12 schools across the country have closed or are scheduled to close because of coronavirus, as of Thursday evening. That includes a handful of states that have also mandated statewide school closures.

Chris Whitley, the spokesman for Hanover schools, said the main reason Hanover is closing for two days instead of two weeks is to give school leaders, teachers and staff time to prepare instructional materials for students in the event of a long-term closure.

As a proactive measure, we are planning for any school closings and lost instructional time that may occur, he said. This temporary closure will also allow our staff to conduct further and more extensive cleaning of our buildings and buses to help prevent the spread of illnesses.

Chesterfield County Public Schools announced earlier Thursday that schools will be closed to students Friday.

"While many are focused on individual positive test results, we are just as concerned about potential exposure, the subsequent 14 days of self-quarantine that are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, and the instructional time potentially lost in such a case," said a statement from the school division. "Our schools need time to proactively prepare lessons should it become necessary to close for an extended period of time.

Chesterfield teachers are still expected to report to schools Friday to begin preparing lessons in case schools have to be shut down for an extended period.

Schools aren't the only part of local government shutting down.

On Thursday, the Richmond City Council canceled meetings through March 22. Its Land Use, Housing and Transportation and Finance and Economic Development Standing Committees will not meet next week. A budget work session and full meeting of the council is still scheduled for Monday, March 23.

With concern over the virus already causing economic ripples, two Richmond councilwomen - Kimberly Gray, the 2nd District representative and a Richmond mayoral candidate, and Reva Trammell, the 8th District representative - called for a 60-day moratorium on utility shut-offs for nonpayment.

It is imperative that city residents have uninterrupted access to water and power so that they can wash their hands frequently, engage in essential personal hygiene measures and help children and seniors to do so as well, according to a joint statement. They also need uninterrupted access to internet and phone service.

The School Board is still scheduled to meet Monday, with an agenda entirely devoted to the response to the coronavirus. The agenda also contains a budget transfer request of $553,000 for supplies and services related to the virus.

Many in our community have challenges with food insecurity, challenges with internet access, may have a hard time getting time off work to help care for their kids but thats why we have to do everything in our power as a school division to try and provide support, said Scott Barlow, who represents the city's 2nd District.

Richmond students are scheduled to return March 30 for only one week before the districts spring break.

jmattingly@timesdispatch.com (804) 649-6012 Twitter: @jmattingly306 - Staff writes Samuel Northrop, C. Suarez Rojas, John Ramsey and Mark Robinson contributed to this story.
A senior police watchdog is suing Home Secretary Priti Patel over claims he is paid less than a black female colleague because he is a white man.

Matt Parr, one of five HM Inspectors of Constabulary who oversee the UK's police forces, says his 140,000-a-year pay packet is too low compared to his fellow inspector, Wendy Williams, who earns 185,000.

Ms Patel, however, insists the lower salary is due to a Home Office drive to reduce salaries for senior staff.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr (left) is suing on race and gender grounds as he is unhappy with his 140,000-a-year salary. He joined the inspectorate in 2016, a year after Wendy Williams (right) joined on a 185,000-a-year pay packet

Lawyers for Priti Patel had tried to have the hearing held in private, claiming details of pay negotiations were private,

But in a victory for press freedom, Mr Justice Griffiths ordered that the entire case be heard in public and the final judgment published in full so all can understand the arguments in the case.

Setting out Mr Parrs claim, the judge said: 'Mr Parr is one of five people currently appointed to the office of one of Her Majestys Inspectors of Constabulary (HMI).

'In 2018, he began proceedings in the Employment Tribunal, claiming equal pay and, further or alternatively, alleging race and sex discrimination.

Lawyers for Priti Patel, pictured outside Downing Street, had tried to have the hearing held in private. However Mr Justice Griffiths ordered it be held in public

'His named comparator is the HMI appointed before him, who is a woman of BME (black or ethnic minority) heritage.

'The Home Secretary admits that he does like work within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 and that he is paid less, but contends that the reason for the discrepancy in salaries, which are apparently individually negotiated for each HMI, is a pay policy which aims to reduce senior salaries.'

According to the Home Office, Mr Parr, a former Royal Navy rear admiral, was appointed in 2016 to oversee, among others, the National Crime Agency and Londons Met Police, and is currently on a salary of 140,000.

The previously appointed inspector was former chief crown prosecutor, Wendy Williams, in 2015, who is currently earning 185,000-a-year, according to the official government website.

The case first went before a tribunal last June, when an order was made that evidence of pay negotiations with Ms Williams be heard in secret and left out of the final judgment.

But when the full trial of Mr Parrs pay claim began in January, the order was overturned after the tribunal said the public would never be able to understand the case without hearing the details of the negotiations.

The decision prompted Ms Patels appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, where her lawyers argued that the decision to overturn the secrecy order was wrong because the tribunal did not have a general power to review the earlier decision.

It had also got its decision wrong on 'the merits' in deciding that open justice prevailed in the face of human rights arguments on behalf of Ms Patel.

Ms Williams herself had written to the tribunal, objecting to disclosure of her pay negotiations, which she said were 'strictly private and confidential,' said the judge.

Mr Parr in his Royal Navy rear admiral uniform. He joined HM Inspector of Constabulary in 2016 and oversees the inspection of Met Police and the National Crime Agency, among other organisations

She said she was 'extremely concerned' that information about negotiations surrounding her appointment were to be used without her consent.

And she referred to the potential impact it could have on her role and credibility with the organisations which she oversees and inspects if they were to become aware of her salary negotiations.

Dismissing Ms Patels appeal, Mr Justice Griffiths said: 'The confidentiality alleged in this case was not a matter of any state secret, or sensitive policing, or public interest immunity, or private discussions of public policy, or anything of that sort.

'The salaries of the respondent (Mr Parr), and of the comparator (Ms Williams), and of all the HMIs, were also in the public domain, so no question of confidentiality arose there.

'It was not the salaries, but only the pay negotiations with the comparator, which were said to be confidential and to require protection.

'Since the final salary was public, it was not obvious why the negotiation of the salary, although confidential, was confidential in a way that required protection to the extent that "the public will be simply unable to understand the central argument", in the words of the second tribunal.'

The judge said the second tribunal, which overturned the secrecy order, had more information in front of it than the first, having had 1,000 pages of documents submitted.

It had also heard argument from a barrister, who cited cases involving the open justice rule, whereas Mr Parr had been in person at the first hearing.

The case will return to the employment tribunal for Mr Parrs pay claim to be heard in full.
BRASILIA: A Brazilian government official who attended a meeting at Donald Trump's resort in Florida on Saturday and posted a photo of himself standing next to the U.S. president has tested positive for coronavirus, the Brazilian government said on Thursday (March 12, 2020).

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's communications secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, is in quarantine at his home, the communications office said in a statement.

Trump said he was not worried that he may have been exposed to the virus.

"Let's put it this way: I'm not concerned," Trump told reporters earlier on Thursday while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office.

Bolsonaro's medical team were taking all preventative measures to preserve the health of the Brazilian president, the statement from the president's communications office said.

In the photo posted on his Instagram account, Wajngarten is standing next to Trump wearing a "Make Brazil great again" cap. Vice President Mike Pence was next to Trump.

Brazil's Health Ministry confirmed 60 cases of the virus in the country as of Thursday, it said on Twitter. The country has not yet reported any deaths from the fast-spreading pandemic.
New Delhi, March 13 : Following the shutting down of university campuses in various parts of the US in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the government on Thursday advised Indian students to avoid international travel.

The Consulate General of India in New York in its advisory asked the students to either stay put in on-campus housing or move in with friends unless it is necessary. The campuses which have closed are now offering online classes to the students in the US.

The government advised the students who are staying in on-campus housing and have been asked to leave by the school authorities, to check with the university if they can stay back. "If the universities are not accepting applications or have not approved applications for continued housing, ask friends if they will be able to host for the period for which the university has shut down," the advisory said.

The consulate asked the students to check with their respective university about how to avail of health services, international student services, and any other essential services which are impacted in case on-campus services are suspended.

The consulate has advised the students to avoid all non-essential travel internationally and domestically. "In case students do plan on international travel, they should check with designated school officials (DSOs) how any possible future international travel restrictions may challenge their F1 or J1 visa status," the advisory said.

The government in its advisory told students that they will be subjected to medical screening upon arrival and may be put in quarantine for a minimum of 14 days, in case they plan to return home in India.
Nonprofit Seeks to Provide Computers to Iraqi Assyrian Schools

While Christian schools in Iraq continue to suffer, a non-profit that promotes positive engagement in the Middle East is aiming to provide computers to Assyrian Christian schools.

In partnership with the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, the Philos Project is trying to raise $25,000 to install computer labs for Christian schools throughout northern Iraq.

Iraqi Kurdistan has seen a drastic decrease in educational funds, said Juliana Taimoorazy, advocacy fellow for the Philos Project and founder of Iraqi Christian Relief Council.

"These schools don't have what they need from a technology perspective," she said.

"It's really debilitating because they're unable to type on Word for example, physically or create spreadsheets. Everything they're doing is by theory. I mean, you can imagine how integral computers are in our daily lives," she said, pointing to the fact that most homes in Western culture have a computer.

She said that out of 23 Christian schools in the area, the project will provide computer labs for five of them. The Christian schools range from elementary to high school.

These computer labs will consist of printers, projectors, and at least five laptops, electrical wires, and internet routers.

For four years, these schools in Iraq have requested Taimoorazy for new computers because scarcely any families have this technology themselves and the few schools that do have these machines own computers that were manufactured around 2004.

"I kid you not, they have books. They study book to book through pages [on how to] create spreadsheets, how to turn it on and off, how to do a cut and paste, how to create a graphic for example, or attach a graphic into the word document," she said.

Taimoorazy, who is the granddaughter of a survivor of the Armenian genocide, has also been persecuted in Iraq for her faith. She said Christian children not only face difficulties to obtain their education but they have also been persecuted. During her time in Iraq, she talked about times when she was not allowed to play with Muslim children and moments when she was ridiculed for her faith.

She said that since the invasion of the Islamic State funds for Christian schools have drastically decreased.

"People started giving to life-sustaining projects like food, tents, and repairing their homes, if they're going back to their homes. The amount of money that was allocated for schools, for teachers or transportation or printing books and translating books from Kurdish to Assyrian or Syrian, it's dropped to really a very, very low level."

Among other hardships that these schools face, she said educators continue to teach without being paid and some students are not able to access school because of a lack of transportation.

However, she said they are strong-willed people with a deep respect for education. Some of the students are even trilingual, understanding Turkish, Arabic, and Kurdish. She said that while parents will struggle with the basic necessities, these families will sacrifice to further their children's education.

"They're actually resilient children, but they haven't seen anything but war, devastation, hunger, and yet they have such love, profound love for education," she said.

"[These] people will grow up to go out there in the world to serve humanity and based on their own experience, based on the trauma that they've gone through, they can be even more impactful. I come from a traumatized generation ... We suffer from collective and generational trauma. We have been persecuted. My great grandparents were persecuted."

She expressed hope that the worldwide Christian community and people of goodwill will take this project seriously. She stressed the importance of offering these children equal opportunities in technology, noting that, in order to be successful, these children must have hands-on experience with computers.

"We have to remember what John Paul II said that 'the Church breathes with both lungs' and we cannot forget the right lung of the Church, which is Eastern Christianity. So my plea to the Catholic world, to the Christian world in the West is not to forget their brothers and sisters in the East, and to really help these young minds, these young children to lead dignified lives," she said.
DeNovix Inc. is the newest sponsor at Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs with the placement of two key pieces of laboratory instrumentation. DeNovix has provided a CellDrop FL Automated Cell Counter and a DS-11 FX+ Spectrophotometer / Fluorometer for use by the facilitys resident companies.

Scientists at Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs test the DS-11 FX+ Spectrophotometer. Image credit: DeNovix

Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs is a fully equipped, co-working and shared lab space that provides startups with the infrastructure and equipment needed to build their biotechnology companies. Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs is designed to be Bostons premier co-working facility for life science startups. Launched in 2018, the facility currently is home to 24 companies.

Support from industry-leading sponsors like DeNovix helps our resident companies to have access to state-of-the-art equipment to allow them to generate meaningful data essential to their research programs. DeNovix provides practical and robust equipment designed to minimize the use of consumables without compromising results. Dr. Christine Kressirer, Site Director of Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs and an employee of BioLabs

Less than a decade ago, DeNovix was a start-up company with a handful of people and some great ideas. Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs is a thriving innovation center and we want to help their resident companies by placing state-of-the art DeNovix equipment at their fingertips. Both CellDrop and the DS-11 Series are used in a number of life science workflows, so we know both instruments will be involved in helping start-ups convert their ideas into successful companies. Kevin Kelley, DeNovix Business Director

Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs now able to count cells without costly plastic slides thanks to the DeNovix CellDrop FL Automated Cell Counter. Image credit: DeNovix

CellDrop Automated Cell Counters eliminate the requirement for consumable plastic slides. The instrument incorporates DeNovix patented DirectPipette Technology providing a simple Load, Measure & Wipe Clean workflow to cell counting. CellDrop FL is a top-of-the-line dual fluorescence and brightfield model and includes pre-installed software for cell counting, viability and transfection efficiency assays.

The DS-11 FX+ Spectrophotometer / Fluorometer is used for DNA, RNA, protein and other biomolecule quantification. The instrument requires only 1 microliter of sample for sample quantification via UV-Vis spectroscopy. The instrument also includes an integrated fluorometer which allows for sensitive and specific quantification of biomolecules via fluorescence quantification assays. The DS-11 FX+ was named the SelectScience Reviewers Choice Life Science Instrument of the Year in 2017 and 2018.

All DeNovix instruments include a high-definition touchscreen interface. Wi-Fi, USB, and Ethernet connectivity allow users to easily export data via email, network printers or USB drive.
A Massachusetts judge approved a $143 million class action settlement Thursday for residents and business owners affected by natural gas explosions in Massachusetts in 2018.

The settlements approval comes days after Columbia Gas of Massachusetts pleaded guilty to causing the explosions that killed one person, injured dozens of others, and damaged or destroyed more than 100 buildings.

This community suffered greatly in the wake of the explosions, and the compensation that residents and businesses will receive from this settlement will go a long way in healing the Merrimack Valley, the lawyers leading the class action suit said in a statement.

Columbia Gas is also on the hook for a $53 million criminal fine  the largest ever imposed for breaking a federal pipeline safety law. Its parent company will sell off the Massachusetts operation. Rival utility Eversource has said it plans to acquire the assets.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded last year that Columbia Gas poorly planned a routine pipeline replacement project in Lawrence, causing natural gas overpressurization that led to the explosions and fires in homes and businesses on Sept. 13, 2018.

The board also determined that the utility inadequately responded to the disaster, which resulted in a prolonged recovery effort in which residents and businesses were without natural gas service for heat or hot water, sometimes for months through the winter.

The class action settlement is meant to compensate residents, property owners, and businesses in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover.

Roughly 175,000 people were estimated to be eligible for payments, but only about 11,000 claims were submitted as of mid-February, attorneys said. The deadline to file a claim was extended until April 27, the lawyers said.

The average payment for a family of four is expected to be about $8,000, the lawyers said.

The settlement is separate from an $80 million deal reached earlier with the three communities to address infrastructure damage.

It is also separate from settlements the company reached with two Lawrence families, including the family of Leonel Rondon, the 18-year-old who died when a chimney collapsed on his vehicle in the driveway of a friends home.

Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera was among those who objected to the payout plan.

He argued that the roughly $24 million designated for the lawyers was too high. The lawyers have said their fees are below the rates typical of such a case.

(Pic Credit: Pixabay)
Qantas Airways is paying back millions of dollars to hundreds of corporate and administrative staff after admitting it had underpaid them for several years.

Almost 640 workers have so far been repaid $7.1 million in wages and entitlements, as well as $2 million in interest and $1000 bonuses by the airline, which is in the midst of a crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Qantas has admitted to underpaying its workers millions of dollars. Credit:Dallas Kilponen

Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said her office had accepted an enforceable undertaking from Qantas to repay the workers after the airline reported the issue to the regulator in February last year.

"Qantas has come forward and admitted to breaching the Fair Work Act for several years and significantly underpaying hundreds of its employees several million dollars," Ms Parker said in a statement on Friday.
DENVER, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney James L. Gilbert, founder of The Gilbert Law Group and one of the top product liability lawyers in the country, recently received his tenth recognition by Super Lawyers. Run by Thomson Reuters, the company identifies high-performing attorneys in a multitude of practice areas across the country. Being named to this list distinguishes Mr. Gilbert as one of the top 5% of the state's product liability attorneys.

Super Lawyers narrows down each year's selections through a patented 4-step process meant to provide a comprehensive view of each candidate. To even be considered, an attorney must be nominated by a peer from a nearby firm. Candidates are then rated by independent parties based on 12 characteristics that are key to identifying those who go above and beyond. The top scorers go on to an evaluation by a Blue Ribbon Panel; those who receive the best endorsements are selected to that year's list for their state.

As a 10-time recipient of this award, Mr. Gilbert has cemented his reputation for excellence among independent researchers and evaluators. He is also highly regarded by his peers, and has been invited to join exclusive organizations including:

The Inner Circle of Advocates (Top 100 Lawyers in the United States )

) The International Academy of Trial Lawyers

The International Society of Barristers

With decades of experience, Mr. Gilbert has proven his ability to help clients prevail in complex product liability cases again and again. He also advocates for local and national communities that need help through his charity work. The Gilbert Law Group has partnered with organizations including the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Special Olympics, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Denver Rescue Mission, and many others. Mr. Gilbert is thankful for the opportunity he's been given to change so many lives for the better.

Led by experienced product liability attorney James L. Gilbert, The Gilbert Law Group has been serving Coloradans for more than 3 decades. The firm is known nationwide as the first to host an in-house engineering department and as a pioneer in using new technologies in the courtroom. Consistent hard work and successful results have earned the team 4 years of recognition by U.S. News and World Report's "Best Law Firms," and Mr. Gilbert himself was invited to join the elite, 100-member Inner Circle of Advocates. He and his team have recovered over $500 million for clients in complex product liability cases and are not afraid to take on cases other lawyers can't. The firm can be found online at www.thegilbertlawgroup.com.

SOURCE The Gilbert Law Group

Related Links

https://www.thegilbertlawgroup.com


TORONTO, March 13, 2020 /CNW/ - Ontarians know that they can count on the commitment of the province's health- care workers to provide the best and safest care possible under challenging conditions, including under the current Pandemic COVID-19 outbreak. This is why nurses and other front-line health-care workers are calling on the Ontario Government to ensure health-care staff  and their patients  are kept safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, say the unions that represent more than 250,000 health-care sector workers in Ontario.

Patient care is the priority, but the unions say, health-care staff can only do that if they themselves stay healthy in order to continue to provide high-quality care. Front-line members are telling their respective unions that that personal protective equipment supplies are not readily available in some workplaces. It is imperative that front-line health-care staff have complete confidence in their own safety and access to full protective equipment and training in order to do the best for patients.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak spread to Ontario, the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA), the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) have been urging the government and health-care workplaces that all precautions must be followed, and protocols for personal protective equipment for registered nurses and health-care workers must be implemented. Staff must be fully trained, equipped and supported.

Following a leaked document that showed the government is watering down guidelines regarding the appropriate level of personal protective equipment for front-line health-care workers, the union leaders released a joint statement yesterday (https://www.ona.org/news-posts/20200311-covid19-joint-statement/). The unions say they are deeply concerned about the lax guidelines issued and scarce availability and appropriateness of personal protective equipment (PPE) for protection during the pandemic.

Many Ontario health-care staff have lived through SARS and learned many lessons about infection control and best practices, and they have solutions and want collaboration and frankness with government during this difficult period, say the unions.

Visit us at:

www.ona.org; Facebook.com/OntarioNurses; www.Twitter.com/OntarioNurses

ochu.on.ca; https://www.facebook.com/ochucupe/

Quotes from Four Health-Care Union Leaders

"As we learned all too well during SARS, without clear scientific evidence about transmission, every precaution must be taken to protect all front-line nurses and health-care workers," says ONA President Vicki McKenna, RN. "When the science is conflicting regarding transmission of this virus, and dismissing our concerns risks repeating what happened during SARS  further spread and the death of two registered nurses  we simply cannot let history repeat itself."

OCHU/CUPE President Michael Hurley is urging the province to apply the precautionary principle and treat "COVID-19 as though transmission is airborne, which is a position supported by many credible, respected medical and infectious disease organizations. We must also ensure that there is a sufficient supply of personal protective equipment for health staff from nurses at the bedside to cleaners fighting infection. Our front-line members tell us that PPE supplies are not readily available in some workplaces. As this crisis deepens, it will be critical for the safety of the people who receive care that the health staff don't get sick themselves."

OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas says front-line health care workers need to be supported. "The government must provide the necessary tools and resources for our front line health care workers to protect and care for Ontarians during the COVID-19 crisis. I call on the Ford government to ensure these tools are made immediately available."

"As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow, it is time for the Ontario government to stop issuing recommendations, and instead work with us to create clear and mandatory directions to all healthcare providers," says SEIU Healthcare President Sharleen Stewart. "Without that much-needed consistency, frontline healthcare workers, their families, and the people they care for, will continue to be put at risk."

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association

For further information: Stella Yeadon, CUPE: Cell: 416-559-9300; [email protected]; Sheree Bond, ONA: Cell: 416-986-8240; [email protected]; Warren (Smokey) Thomas, OPSEU: Cell: 613-329-1931; Corey Johnson, SEIU, Cell: 416-529-8909; [email protected]

Related Links

www.ona.org


One of Brisbane's two female candidates for lord mayor, the Greens' Kath Angus, says "fundamental sexism" has been on show while out doorknocking across the city.

Ms Angus since her campaign began she had encountered high rates of online trolling, verbal abuse, and criticism of female candidates for prioritising family life.

The Greens lord mayoral candidate, Kath Angus, said she had copped criticism that she was "running just on being female". Credit:Facebook

"... We do have this fundamental sexism in society where we are more likely to vote for men, and nothing highlights that sexism more than when we go out doorknocking," she said.

"We start engaging with women and we have to hear, 'Oh, I have to talk to my husband before I vote'.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has reached a deal with the White House to pass legislation that provides free testing for coronavirus patients, including uninsured people, as well as paid sick leave and family leave for up to three months.

In a statement, she said: "This legislation is about testing, testing, testing. To stop the spread of the virus, we have secured free coronavirus testing for everyone who needs a test, including the uninsured. We cannot fight coronavirus effectively unless everyone in our country who needs to be tested can get their test free of charge."

Speaker Pelosi said they also have "secured paid emergency leave with two weeks of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave" as well as unemployment insurance, a Medicaid expansion, and food security plans for poor families impacted by the outbreak.

Her announcement came after Donald Trump announced his declaration of a national emergency under the Stafford Act, relinquishing millions of dollars in FEMA funds and mobilising testing centres and health workers across the US to respond to Covid-19 cases.

Next, the Senate must pass the bill, while Congress begins work on a "third emergency response package to protect the health, economic security and well-being of the American people," Ms Pelosi said.



"We will do so in continued consultation with scientists, researchers, health care professionals, public health officials and community leaders, so that we can craft the most effective, evidence-based response," she said.

Democrats have urged lawmakers and the White House to provide paid sick leave for millions of impacted workers forced to self-isolate or quarantine.

House Democrats had several rounds of meetings this week with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and administration officials but a deal had yet to be reached until Friday afternoon.

But the president appeared to express doubts about a deal, relying on his well-tread attacks on his opponents while in the middle of a crisis, telling reporters outside the White House that he didn't believe House Democrats "are giving enough" despite assurances from Republican allies.

He said: "We are negotiating. We thought we had something, but all of the sudden they didn't agree to certain things that they agreed to. So we could have something, but we don't think they are giving enough. They are not doing what's right for the country."

As the deal was announced, the president also announced that Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and MSC cruise lines "have all agreed to suspend outbound cruises" for the next 30 days, effective at midnight.

The deal and emergency declaration marks a remarkably sharp turn in the White House response to the pandemic after he told reporters days ago that the virus was likely to be diminished once a handful of patients were treated, and after he had slammed Democrats and the media for allegedly relying on politically motivated panic to undermine his administration.

Just two days ago, he had addressed the nation to announce a ban on most travellers entering the country from Europe, despite public health officials warning that the outbreak already posed a threat within the US without any significant public health response protocol. The president showed no signs of declaring an emergency then.

And only yesterday, Senate Republicans blocked an attempt from Democratic Senator Patty Murray to introduce a measure for paid sick leave.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cancelled the Senate recess set for next week and could take up the new legislation as soon as Monday.

The battle over paid sick leave has emerged as a crucial message among the Democratic presidential campaigns, as Bernie Sanders underlined the need for such a policy as Americans brace for impact from cut hours, layoffs or hospitalisation with a surge in illnesses.

In remarks on Thursday, Joe Biden said the lack of paid medical leave is a "national disgrace" as he called for the White House to adopt his own platform.
T he Maldives government has built a coronavirus quarantine resort.

The luxury hotel was built in just 10 days by around 50 workers on an island called Villivaru in the Kaafu Atoll, according to the South China Morning Post.

There are 30 air conditioned rooms available for tourists who test positive for COVID-19.

Quarantine and doctor care will be free of charge for patients and includes three room service meals, a flat-screen television and a fully stocked minibar.

There are currently eight confirmed cases of the virus confirmed in the Indian Ocean island nation.

The resorts of Kuredu, Vilemendhu, Batalaa and Kuramathi had all been placed under quarantine with the UK Foreign Office advising against all but essential travel to the affected islands. As of March 12, restrictions on Kuredu Island Resort, Sandies Bathala and Kuramathi Maldives had been lifted.

Two staff members at the Kuredu Island Resort & Spa were the first to test positive for the virus and are thought to have contracted it from an Italian tourist. The hotel has been placed on lockdown with all guests and staff unable to leave the island.

"The temporary restrictive measures will continue until such time that the authorities release the island from its quarantine period," reads a statement on the website for Kuredu Island Resort & Spa.

"At this time there will be no flight in or out of the island. The island is well stocked with the essentials and we are confident in the care that will be provided to all."
UPDATE: All Michigan schools to close as Coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Kalamazoo, and all Michigan K-12 schools, will close next week by order of the governors office in an effort to protect residents from the coronavirus pandemic.

News broke of Gov. Gretchen Whitmers order shortly after a Kalamazoo Public Schools meeting Thursday, March 12, in which district leaders talked about tracking the moving target of the outbreak.

District leaders are working diligently to prepare for the risk of coronavirus, Kalamazoo Public Schools Interim Superintendent Gary Start said.

This is probably the biggest health issue Ive seen in my 36 years, Start told the Board of Education.

Start gave tips on proper hygiene and outlined precautionary steps the district is taking to prepare for the virus that was confirmed in Michigan Tuesday evening.

Multiple events across Kalamazoo have been canceled in fear of the risk of the virus in Michigan. Wednesday, March 11, all public universities and some private schools canceled in-person classes and moved instruction to online. Some Washtenaw County school districts canceled classes as a precaution against spread of the virus.

Cancellations of classes and events across the community came in the days after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency as the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in Michigan.

As Thursdays meeting began, there were three presumptive positive cases in Michigan. Before the meeting adjourned, the number had grown to 12 total presumptive cases, according to a Michigan State Police news release.

Related: Gov. Whitmer declares state of emergency as first coronavirus cases confirmed in Michigan

The district has increased cleaning in the classrooms and is disinfecting school buses, Start said.

Start said he is most often asked about the possibility of the district closing. The superintendents of the countys nine school districts are in constant contact" and are relying on the guidelines from Kalamazoo Countys health department, he said.

Were doing the best we can, Start said.

The CDC advises school administrators to use common-sense preventive actions for students and staff, including encouraging people to stay home if sick, covering coughs and sneezes and using proper cleaning and hand-washing protocols.

Schools, working together with local health departments, have an important role in slowing the spread of diseases to help ensure students have safe and healthy learning environments, the CDC website reads.

Board President Patti Sholler-Barber thanked Start and the administrators for the work theyve done to prepare for this virus, should it reach Kalamazoo County.

The board discussed unintended consequences of a district closure, including students access to food, parents taking time off of work and equitable access to educational materials, including internet.

Its not just a toggle switch where you just close, Sholler-Barber said, emphasizing the complexities of shutting down a 13,000-student district.

There is an endless list of variables and things that administrators must consider in this situation, Start said.

Start said the districts program to feed students during the summer months could be mobilized in the case of the district closing. As for online learning, a big hurdle is providing internet access for all students, he said.

Board Vice President TiAnna Harrison said she was confident in the senior leaderships ability to handle this situation.

I know that any decision thats made in the district is going to be in the best interest of students, Harrison said.

Start said the district has extensive crisis plans that cover a variety of types of emergencies, but its a challenge to make a concrete plan in the case of coronavirus.

Its a very rapidly changing landscape, Start said.

Board Treasurer Ken Greschak said hes holding out hope that the virus doesnt cause a district-wide closure.

Certainly we want to keep our students safe. Thats goal one, Greschak said.

A district closure would create a whole lot of hurt for a whole lot of people, he said.

Schools should consider closure if a person becomes infected with the virus, according to the CDC. Districts must consider ways to ensure students get fed and have access to learning materials, the CDC said.

Board Member Tandy Moore said she was disappointed in the boards discussion of the issue and asked for more details on the districts plan because closure of the district is imminent.

We need to be as ready as we can for when we close, not if we close, Moore said. Its coming. That is what the data shows. How are we preparing for that eventuality?"

Start assured the board that the district is taking the issue seriously and working diligently to do whats best for students. The district will excuse students absences should their parents choose to keep them home, Start said.

To protect yourself, health officials urge Michigan residents to take basic precautions such as thorough hand-washing with soap and water and avoiding touching their eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. COVID-19 symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus. They include fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Related: What Michigan residents need to know about coronavirus

Michigan is the 38th state to have a confirmed case of coronavirus COVID-19. Nationwide, there have been almost 1,000 reported cases and 31 deaths.

For the latest information, visit Michigan.gov/coronavirus or CDC.gov/coronavirus.

Also on MLive:

WMU medical school takes precautions against coronavirus, cancels events

Michigan governor asks Trump to open special Obamacare enrollment period during coronavirus threat

Some students head home, others stay behind as WMU cancels in-person classes
Reuters

Two Republican senators on Thursday introduced a bill aimed at banning federal employees from using Chinese social media app TikTok on their government-issued phones, amid growing national security concerns around the collection and sharing of data on US users with China's government.

The bill by Senators Josh Hawley and Rick Scott comes as several US agencies that deal with national security and intelligence issues including the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have banned employees from using the app.

It is also the latest attempt to rein in technology companies by Hawley, who has repeatedly clashed with big tech companies.

"TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that includes Chinese Communist Party members on its board, and it is required by law to share user data with Beijing," Hawley said. " As many of our federal agencies have already recognized, TikTok is a major security risk to the United States, and it has no place on government devices."

The app has been rapidly growing in popularity among US teenagers and allows users to create short videos. About 60 percent of TikToks 26.5 million monthly active users in the United States are aged 16 to 24, the company said last year.

In November, the US government launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Cos $1 billion acquisition of US social media app Musical.ly.

A TikTok spokesman said the senators' concerns were unfounded and that the company is increasing its dialogue with lawmakers to explain its policies. He added the company has announced plans to open a transparency center in Los Angeles, which will give third-party experts insight into the company's efforts around data privacy, security and moderation practices.

(Also read: TikTok is launching a content moderation center in a bid to boost transparency)

TikTok has been on the defensive as lawmakers and law enforcement agencies take a closer look at its data security practices amid concerns it engages in censorship at the behest of the Chinese government. The company previously said US user data is stored in the United States and that China does not have jurisdiction over content that is not in China.

In November, Hawley unveiled a bill that would bar companies from China, Russia or other countries that present national security concerns from transferring Americans' data back within their borders - where it could be used to spy on the United States.

The bill also prevented the companies from collecting data that is not necessary for the operation of their business, such as phone contacts or location in the case of TikTok.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Handshake to Namaste: How coronavirus is changing etiquette

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Mar 13: With the latest number of COVID-19 cases in the world stands at 1,25,293, with over 4,600 deaths, the coronavirus is reshaping social and workplace norms, and keeping one's distance is now the polite thing to do.

Now that the deadly coronavirus is a certifiable pandemic, Keeping your social distance, avoiding crowded places - and above all, don't shake hands, refuse every peck on the cheek and definitely avoid hugging.

In the weeks since the coronavirus' outbreak, hand-wash has become a global obsession, and now everyone's preaching hand hygiene.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

Coronavirus Scare: Handshakes on hold, Namaste makes a global comeback

Handshakes are often seen as a vital part of a job interview and a way to respectfully greet clients, colleagues and customers. However, dodging a handshake or a hug can be awkward, but experts say there are poised ways to avoid physical greetings in these troubled times.

The history of the handshake is believed to date back to the 5th century BC in Greece. It was seen as a symbol of peace, demonstrating that neither person was carrying a weapon.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI),''Handshakes have the potential to transmit infectious organisms directly between individuals." A 2014 study suggests that a single handshake transfers 124 million live bacteria on average.

So what replaces the handshake?

If someone reaches out to shake your hand, either socially or in business, one can politely decline it by doing Namaste, elbow bump, a prayer gesture, foot shake and Japanese way of greeting -- the bowing of head.

Proponents believe that the namaste greeting will help reduce the transmission of coronavirus due to current worldwide health concerns.

However, world leaders have already found a replacement for the handshake:

Tanzania's President John Magufuli was pictured tapping feet with the leader of the opposition party Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad earlier this week.

Mohammed Barkindo, secretary-general of oil-producing group OPEC, was videoed doing the foot shake with the Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

Recently, US President Donald Trump and visiting Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar had greeted each other in the traditional Indian way of 'namaste' at the White House on Thursday, which they said was necessary in the current times of coronavirus.

Trump and Varadkar, who is of Indian-origin, joined their palms in the 'namaste' pose when reporters asked them in the Oval Office as to how they greeted each other.

Explained: Why MEA is not keen on bringing back 'everybody' from coronavirus-hit countries

"We did not shake hands today. We looked at each other and said what we are going to do. You know, sort of a weird feeling," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House along with Varadkar.

When another reporter asked if they shook hands, Varadkar joined his hands in the 'namaste' pose, showing the reporters how he greeted the president. Trump too joined in with the 'namaste' pose. "I just got back from India. And I did not shake any hands there. And it's very easy, because they go like this," Trump said as he showed reporters the 'namaste' pose for the second time in quick succession.

Trump also showed the Japanese way of greeting -- the bowing of head. "They (India and Japan) were ahead of the curve," he remarked, even as he said bowing and 'namaste' gave him a strange feeling.

"I have never been a big hand-shaker, you probably heard. But once you become a politician, shaking hands is very normal. It's a very strange feeling when people walk up and say 'hi'," he said.

"It almost feels impersonal or feels like you're being rude, but we just can't afford to think like that for the next few weeks," Varadkar told reporters.

It should be noted that the World Health Organisation on Thursday said coronavirus 'is a controllable pandemic'.
Fiesta San Antonio has been postponed due to concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak and the coronavirus, the Express-News has learned.

The 11-citywide party will be rescheduled to begin Nov. 5, a source confirmed.

Earlier in the morning, Nirenberg had issued a new public health emergency prohibiting large gatherings of 500 people or more. This came in the wake of the first travel-related case of COVID-19 in San Antonio, which was discovered last night.

RELATED: Mayor confirms first travel-related case of coronavirus in S.A.

Prior to the announcement, officials assured the public that the situation was being monitored and the celebration was expected to unfurl as usual across the city from April 16-26 with more than 100 official events. But as the virus continues to spread worldwide, the plan of action changed, and the cultural festival and charitable event will be postponed until the fall.

Fiesta has an economic impact of more than $340 million, supports 3,464 full-time equivalent jobs and is attended by about 2.5 million people, according to the Fiesta Commission. The blow to nonprofits like the San Antonio Conservation Society is expected to include staff cuts, the elimination of grants and dropping programs. The society organizes Night in Old San Antonio, a Fiesta headliner which raises $1.5 million for the organization, chairwoman Terry Schoenert said earlier.

Worldwide events and emergencies have canceled Fiesta in the past, though the celebration was not as large as it is today. 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, during World War II.

This is a developing story. Keep checking back for updates.

Richard A. Marini is a features writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | rmarini@express-news.net | Twitter: @RichardMarini
Contract talks between the City of Toronto and the union representing 20,000 city staff  including 90 per cent of Toronto Public Health workers  are at a critical stage the union said Friday afternoon.

The stakes are high  failure to reach a deal by 12:01 a.m. will put the workers in a legal strike or lockout position as the city gears up to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. They also include staff in homeless shelters, city-run daycares, recreation staff and more.

A work stoppage could result in a dramatic curtailment of city services.

Kevin Wilson, spokesperson for Local 79, said negotiators for both sides bargained until about midnight Thursday and resumed talks Friday morning.

The parties continue to negotiate toward a deadline. Negotiations are now at a critical stage, he said. Local 79 will be making no further comment until there is either an agreement or talks adjourn.

On Friday morning Mayor John Tory said the city will not lockout the workers at this critical time and he expressed cautious optimism they can agree on new terms without a work stoppage.

Were sitting at the table, theres a pathway to a deal, a lot of issues have been resolved, Tory told CBC Radios Metro Morning.

The workers contract expired Dec. 31, as did that of CUPE Local 416, the outside workers, which negotiated a new deal late last month after talks that went past the countdown to a possible strike or lockout.
F oreign secretary Dominic Raab has welcomed US air strikes against an Iran-backed militia that killed British and American soldiers in Iraq.

Mr Raab called the attacks on the Iranian-sponsored Shia militia group Kataib Hezbollah "swift, decisive and proportionate" in a statement.

Lance-Corporal Brodie Gillon was killed on Wednesday in a missile attack by Kataib Hezbollah, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Two American soldiers also died in the attack. 14 more service people were injured.

And the US defence department said on Thursday evening that American counter strikes had targeted weapons storage facilities, to hamper the group's military efforts.

Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon / Ministry of Defence/PA Wire

Mr Raab said: "The response to the cowardly attack on Coalition forces in Iraq has been swift, decisive and proportionate.

He added that work to identify the people responsible for the attack on Ms Gillon was ongoing.

Mr Raab continued: UK forces are in Iraq with Coalition partners to help the country counter terrorist activity and anyone seeking to harm them can expect a strong response.

Ms Gillon's killing was the first time a British soldier has died from enemy fire since the UK and its allies began the operation to counter Islamic State in 2014.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace said: "The coalition stands shoulder to shoulder in Iraq."

"Our forces work together to help the country resist the malign activity of terrorists."

US defence secretary Mark Esper / AFP via Getty Images

Mr Wallace added: "When we and others are attacked we reserve the right to defend ourselves.

"We support the right of the United States to defend themselves, as they have done.

"We reiterate that those who seek to harm our armed forces can expect to receive a strong response."

The US defence department described yesterday's attack as "defensive precision strikes".

US defence secretary Mark Esper said: The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies

"As we have demonstrated in recent months, we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region.

The original attack was filmed and posted on Twitter by Iraqi journalist Ali Al Dulaimy.

Mr Al Dulaimy told the PA news agency through a translation tool: "I heard screams and panic at the American forces inside the camp, and they were rushing to extinguish the fires that devoured the camp.

There were soldiers shouting and sirens."

The US state department has designated Kataib Hezbollah a "foreign terrorist organisation" since 2009.

In December last year the group killed an American contractor in a military base in Iraq, prompting counter strikes from the US.

These were followed by protests outside the US embassy in Tehran.

In January 2020 the US launched an air strike that killed Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, leaders of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, which include Kataib Hezbollah.
Caterpillar Inc. CAT, the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, is grappling with a host of headwinds at the moment  a weak manufacturing sector, the coronavirus crisis and the oil price rout. Caterpillars global retail sales recorded a decline of 11% in the three-month period ended February 2020  levels last witnessed in December 2016  thanks to weak performance across all regions and segments. This marks the third consecutive month that Caterpillars global retail sales have been in the negative territory.



The Resource Industries segments sales declined 7% in February  the fourth straight month of negative growth. Sales in the Construction Industries segment were down 11%  the third consecutive month of decline. Sales in the Energy & Transportation segment declined 4%. The segment has been contracting for five consecutive months.



Caterpillars fourth-quarter 2019 top line failed to impress investors. Sales declined across the board, thanks to weak demand and consequently dealers continued to lower inventory. Nevertheless, the company delivered year-over-year improvement of 3% in earnings per share (EPS) driven by strong cost control measures.



Muted Guidance



For 2020, Caterpillar expects adjusted EPS between $8.50 and $10.00. The mid-point of the guidance indicates a decline of 16% from 2019. End user demand is projected to decline by about 4-9% compared with 2019 and dealers are anticipated to continue reducing inventories.



However, the company had provided this guidance before the coronavirus outbreak took the shape of a pandemic. We expect a downward revision in guidance shortly, taking into consideration the impact of the coronavirus and plunging oil prices.







Downward Estimate Revisions



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Caterpillars 2020 earnings is pegged at $9.34, suggesting a decline of 15.6% from the prior year. The estimate has gone down 1% over the last 30 days. Further, Caterpillar has a trailing four-quarter negative earnings surprise of 0.12%, on average.

Story continues

Price Performance





Over the past year, Caterpillar shares slumped 31% compared with industry and the industrial products sectors decline of 26% and 16.8%, respectively. Meanwhile the S&P500 dipped 3.4%.



Moreover, the stock carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).



Factors Hurting Caterpillar



Slowdown in Industrial Production: The U.S.-China trade tensions and waning global demand has taken its toll on the U.S manufacturing sector, and Caterpillar isnt immune to the trend. Industrial production declined 0.3% in January following a dip of 0.5% in fourth-quarter 2019. Further, the U.S Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) as per the Institute for Supply Management remained below 50 (indicating contraction) for five months in a row till December. Although the index has climbed to 50.9 in January followed by 50.1 in February, it remains to be seen whether this recovery will sustain considering the closures due to the coronavirus outbreak, which is spreading across the United States as well.



Coronavirus Outbreak: The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared the coronavirus outbreak as pandemic. The virus has spread across more than 100 countries and per WHOs situation report as of Mar 12, 2020, the global number of coronavirus cases is at 125,048.



The impact of the outbreak on customer spending, travel restrictions, factory closures in China, disruption in global supply chains, among others, are expected to weigh on the global economy. Per the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the coronavirus outbreak could cut global economic growth in half and push several countries into recession. The organization projects meager growth of 2.4% in the world economy this year  the lowest rate since 2009.



Global Oil Price War: Oil prices have tumbled as Saudi Arabia initiated a price war and boosted its oil production significantly in retaliation to Russias refusal to lower its crude production at the OPEC meeting. Notably, oil prices were already under pressure due to the coronavirus outbreak, which led to travel restrictions and consequently impacting demand for fuel. This scenario, in turn, will impact Caterpillars oil and gas business.



5 Industrial Stocks That Have Better Prospects



Though Caterpillars prospects may not appear impressive at the moment, there are some Industrial Products stocks that hold promise despite the overall weakness in the sector.



Our proprietary methodology comes in handy while zeroing in on these stocks. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) offer good investment opportunities. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Here are five stocks that fit the bill.



Tennant Company TNC: Based in Minneapolis, MN, this company designs, manufactures, and markets floor cleaning equipment worldwide. It has a long term estimated earnings growth rate of 10%. It has a Zacks Rank #1 and a VGM Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings has moved up 37% in the past 30 days, suggesting growth of 40.7% from the year-ago quarter. The company has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 26.60%, on average.



Brady Corporation BRC: Milwaukee, WI -based Brady Corporation manufactures and supplies identification solutions and workplace safety products to identify and protect premises, products, and people in the United States and internationally. The Zacks Ranked #2 stock has a long term estimated earnings growth of 7.50%. It has a VGM Score of B. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 8%. The estimates have moved up 1% over the past 30 days. The company has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 10%, on average.



Myers Industries, Inc. MYE: This Akron, OH.-based company manufactures and sells polymer products for industrial, agricultural, automotive, commercial, and consumer markets in the United States and internationally. It has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 has gone up 2% over the past 30 days, indicating year-over-year growth of 12.8%. The company has a trailing four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 7.5%.



Regal Beloit Corporation RBC: This Beloit, WI-based company designs, manufactures, and sells electric motors, electrical motion controls, and power generation and transmission products worldwide. It currently has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings has moved up 1% in the past 30 days, indicating year-over-year growth of 6%. The company has a long-term estimated earnings growth of 10%.



Amcor Plc AMCR: Based in Zurich, Switzerland, Amcor develops, manufactures, and sells various packaging products for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal care, and other consumer goods end markets worldwide. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Amcors fiscal 2020 earnings has gone up 5% over the past 30 days, suggesting year-over-year growth of 3.3%. The company has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 7.9%, on average. The stock has a Zacks Rank#2 and a VGM Score of B.



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Courts have begun implementing coronavirus contingency plans after a Victorian trial was adjourned on Friday following a juror exhibiting symptoms.

The County Court civil trial was adjourned after one of the jurors notified the court before they came in that they had COVID-19 symptoms.

It comes as the Federal Court said it would limit face-to-face hearings to essential cases only, running others by telephone, and delay appeals.

A County Court spokesman said the ill jury member sought medical advice and testing for the virus as a precaution. Other jury members will be told of the result.

"The County Court is operating as usual and closely following state and Commonwealth government advice regarding the coronavirus disease," the spokesman said.
Coronavirus outbreak: The first death due to coronavirus has been reported in national capital Delhi on Friday night. The deceased was a 69-year-old woman who contracted the deadly virus from her son. The son is a confirmed case of COVID-19 and has travel history to Switzerland and Italy and is under quarantine at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi.

Earlier today, Health Ministry confirmed that the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached 81, with new cases emerging in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. In a press briefing on Friday, Health Ministry's Lav Agarwal said that contact tracing of confirmed cases is being actively pursued, which has led to identifiaction of 4,000 contacts, who have been put under surveillance. He further added that stated have been asked to check exorbitant prices of face masks, and even drastic measures could be taken against such cases.

The Karnataka government has announced the closure of all the malls, cinema halls, pubs and night clubs in wake of coronavirus crisis in the state. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has urged people to maintain basic hygiene, saying everyone should educate each other. Also, as many as 46 people have been placed under quarantine in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, after coronavirus claimed the life of a 76-year-old man, district officials have said. The Centre government on Thursday confirmed the death of a 76-year-old man who recently visited Saudi Arabia. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also said a total of 11 confirmed cases of coronavirus had been reported in the state. Haryana, Odisha and Chhatisgarh have also banned social gatherings as part of precautionary measures to contain its outbreak. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also said the government had decided to ban any sports activity where people will gather in huge numbers like IPL. COVID-19 has so far claimed 4,600 lives while more than 126,000 people have been infected globally.

Check out all the latest updates on the novel coronavirus outbreak on BusinessToday.In live blog

10.25 PM: First coronavirus death in Delhi

A 69-year-old women from West Delhi, who was tested positive for COVID-19, passed away on Friday. She was the mother of an active patient of COVID-19.

Her son had travel history to Switzerland and Italy between February5-22 and she contracted the flu-like virus from him. He initially was asymptomatic, but developed fever and cough as time passed. He reported to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on March 7, 2020. As per protocol, the family was screened and since he and his mother had fever and cough, both were admitted.

The deceased woman had diabetes and hypertension. Her sample was collected on March 8, 2020. Her condition worsened on March 9, 2020 as she developed pneumonia and had to be shifted to intensive care unit (ICU). Her sample also tested positive for COVID-19. Since March 9, 2020 she was having respiratory fluctuations and was provided ventilatory support. However, died on March 13 (Friday) due to co-morbid conditions at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Her death has been confirmed by the treating physician and Medical Superintendent.

All the precautionary measures as per protocol including screening, quarantine of the contacts has already been taken up by the Delhi's Health Ministry and status is being monitored.

7.22 PM: Health Ministry has quashed a fake official memorandum in its name declaring holidays in schools, colleges, educational insititutes and certain workplaces in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim. The Ministry has said that necessary action under extant law is being initiated.

7.19 PM: Bihar government has decided to close all schools and colleges, both private and state-run, along with coaching institutions till March 31 amid the coronavirus scare. The Nitish Kumar government has also shut down cinema halls till the same date.

6.14 PM: In view of coronavirus contagion, Supreme Court has mandated that functioning of the courts from Monday (March 16) shall be restricted to urgent matters with such number of benches as may be found appropriate. No persons except lawyers who are going to act in the matter either for argument or for making oral submissions or to assist along with one litigant only, shall be permitted in the court room, the top court further said.

Supreme Court: No persons except lawyers who are going to act in the matter either for argument or for making oral submissions or to assist along with one litigant only, shall be permitted in the court room. #CoronavirusPandemic https://t.co/9B1iW8AWlK ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

6.12 PM: All malls, theaters, gyms, swimming pools in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur, Pimpri-Chinchawad to be closed starting midnight today till March 30, says Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray amid coronavirus scare.

6.10 PM: BCCI Sources: India vs South Africa ODI matches in Lucknow and Kolkata have been called off due to coronavirus, BCCI sources told ANI.

6.09 PM: Maharashtra government declares coronavirus an epidemic in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Nagpur. -- (PTI)

6.08 PM: No private laboratory has been authorised to take or test samples for COVID-19 in the NCT of Delhi. All such samples will be collected as per guidelines of Government of India and these will be sent to designated laboratory by the Nodal Officer by the designated hospitals of the Department of Health and Family Welfare Department, Govt. of NCT of Delhi of the concerned District under intimation to District Surveillance Officer (050) of concerned District.

6.05 PM: Seven people from Punjab, believed to be from Ludhiana district, who returned from coronavirus-affected countries like Italy have gone missing, sources say. They did not appear for mandatory COVID-19 scanning. Meanwhile, authorities are tight-lipped on the matter.

5.59 PM: Number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra reaches 17. This includes 10 in Pune, three each in Mumbai and Nagpur, and one in Thane.

5.50 PM: Matter of Indo-Pakistan border (Kartarpur corridor) is under consideration, status quo remains, says Malik.

5.45 PM: 220 Indian students in Milan our priority



Dammu Ravi, MEA: Around 220 students are in and around Milan, Italy, our priority is to bring them back. If any other students are left behind they can contact our missions, and we wil lsee what next we can do. https://t.co/2TeGEGInL6 pic.twitter.com/4oEFkvjB4j ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

5.41 PM: "Testing capacity is not an issue. We hope we continue to remain a state where we have reagents," says Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar of Indian Council of Medical Research.

5.37 PM: It's not a health emegency: Health Ministry

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry on invocation of Epidemic Act by the Centre: It is important to understand that it is not a health emergency. We are trying to support initiative taken by the state in terms of managing the situation. #CoronavirusPandemic pic.twitter.com/GSPmxrJeAY ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

5.35 PM: States have been asked to act against exorbitant prices of masks, and drastic measures will be taken, if needed, says Agarwal.

5.33 PM: New cases have been found in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, says Agarwal.

5.31 PM: Air India flight to go to Milan on Saturday

Rubina Ali, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation: Air India would be taking flight to Milan (Italy) to bring back Indians stranded there. The flight would take off tomorrow afternoon and would be landing on Sunday morning at Delhi Airport. #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/A7af06REQV ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

5.26 PM: Visa-free entry for denizens of Nepal and Bhutan to continue.

5.26 PM: Border haats in parts of northeast India and along India-Bangladesh border will remain suspended till further notice, says Malik.

5.24 PM: International traffic from land will be regulated through only 19 immigration check posts out of 37, says Home Ministry's Anil Malik.

5.17 PM: We now have 81 cponfirmed cases of COVID-19, says Agarwal.

5.15 PM: One flight with 44 evacuees have landed in Mumbai today and another flight is expected to land in Delhi tomorrow, said Aggarwal.

5.13 PM: So for Government of India has evacuated 1,031 persons, including 48 foreign nationals, said Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal.

5.12 PM: Health Ministry press briefing on preparedness against COVID-19 begins.

4.14 PM: Donald Trump on coronavirus

"For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped. President Obama made changes that only complicated things further...."

4.12 PM: Bihar govt closes schools, colleges till March 31

All schools, colleges, and coaching institutes will remain closed till March 31 in view of #CoronavirusPandemic. Students of govt schools will get the money for mid-day meal in their bank accounts till their schools are closed.

4.08 PM: Sensex rebounds 1,325.34 pts to end at 34,103.48; Nifty rallies 365.05 pts to 9,955.20.

4.08 PM: Air India cancels flights to Italy, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea and Sri Lanka till April 30, says an Airline official. -PTI

3.55 PM: The Karnataka government has announced the closure of all the malls, cinema halls, pubs and night clubs in wake of coronavirus crisis in the state.

3.52 PM: As many as 900 people under observation in Kerala's Pathanamthitta as health officials release a roadmap after three members of a family returned of coronavirus-hit Italy.

3.45 PM: Bulgaria declares state of emergency over coronavirus

The Bulgarian parliament voted unanimously on Friday to declare a state of emergency until April 13 to contain the spread of coronavirus after the number of confirmed cases in the country more than tripled to 23. The Balkan country confirmed its first death of a patient due to the virus on Wednesday, and on Thursday the number of confirmed cases jumped to 23 from 7.

3.35PM: Bihar government closes all schools, colleges, and coaching institutes till March 31 in view of coronavirus pandemic "Students of government schools will get the money for mid-day meal in their bank accounts till their schools are closed," Bihar government said.

3.30PM: 44 Indian citizens have been evacuated from Iran and shifted to Indian Navy quarantine facility at Ghatkopar in Mumbai.

3.20PM: Delhi government, on Friday, stated that, "No person/institution/organisation will issue any information regarding coronavirus in print or electronic media without the permission of the Ministry of Health or Delhi government. If anyone found to be doing this, it will be considered a punishable offense".

3.15PM: All public libraries, gyms, swimming pools, water parks in urban areas and aanganwadis will remain closed till March 31 in Chhattisgarh.

3.10PM: Karnataka bans large public gathering for another one week

Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa has banned malls, cinema halls, pubs, wedding ceremonies and other large gatherings in the state for another one week.

3.05PM: A man in Army's Manesar facility tested coronavirus positive

At the Indian Army's Manesar quarantine facility, one male individual who had returned from Italy on March 11 has been tested positive. He was employed in one of the restaurants in Italy for the last 14 years.

2.59 PM: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till April 15, as a precautionary measure against the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) situation. "We are concerned and sensitive about all our stakeholders, and public health in general, and are taking all necessary steps to ensure that, all people related to IPL including fans have a safe cricketing experience," the BCCI says in a statement.

2.53 PM: Total 46 people placed under quarantine in Kalaburagi after coronavirus claims 76-year-old man's life, say district officials.

2.30 PM: Aviation regulator DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has asked international airlines to consider waiving ticket cancellation charges, amid coronavirus outbreak.

2.18 PM: All libraries, gyms, swimming pools, water parks to be closed in Chhattisgarh till March 31, says the Chhatisgarh government.

2.16 PM: Dispersal of 112 people evacuated from Wuhan starts

Dispersal of 112 people who were evacuated taken from Wuhan, China, and were housed at ITBP's Chhawla Quarantine Facility in New Delhi, have started after they were found negative for the virus. The group includes 76 Indians and 36 foreign nationals including 8 families and 5 children.

2.05 PM: Drug and food control dept has conducted surprise inspection and raids on chemist shops and godowns in view of reports that fake sanitisers and recycled masks are being sold in markets across the country.

2.03 PM: UP CM on coronavirus cases in the state

Yogi Adityanath: "We are preparing five labs in Uttar Pradesh. There are 11 positive coronavirus patients in UP so far. A total of 10 patients have been being admitted in Delhi at Safdarjung Hospital, while one patient has been kept at an isolation ward at KGMU in Lucknow."

1.59 PM: UP steps up precautionary measures

UP CM Yogi Adityanath says as many as 4,100 doctors have been trained in the state, adding that isolation wards are ready in every district. During a press conference, he said: "As many as 820 isolation beds have been reserved in government hospitals and 438 in medical colleges."

1.56 PM: Kenya confirms first coronavirus case

Kenya has confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus, Minister of Health Mutahi Kagwe said on Friday. The patient, who was diagnosed on the night of March 12, had traveled back to Kenya from the United States via London, Kagwe told a news conference. -- Reuters

1.55 PM: The Delhi government School Teachers' Association has demanded complete shutdown of schools and postponing of examinations in view of coronavirus.

1.48 PM: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar chairs a high-level meeting on coronavirus in Patna.

1.47 PM: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired a meeting over coronavirus pandemic at Lok Bhawan today.

1.36 PM: Second batch of Indians from Iran reaches India

The second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims has arrived today from Iran. Our efforts to bring back the others continue. "@India_in_Iran

and our medical team -- keep up the good work. Appreciate the support of Iranian authorities and their airlines," says External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

1.35 PM: Jamia Millia Islamia has also cancelled all face-to-face classes, conferences and seminars till March 31. Teachers will interact online. Examinations to continue.

1.30 PM: Leave no stone unturned to ensure people are healthy: PM Modi to SAARC nations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the planet is battling the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. "At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it. South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population, should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy. I would like to propose that the leadership of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy."

1.19 PM: 707 employees of Noida private company placed under watch

As many as 707 employees of a Noida factory have been placed under watch after a Delhi resident, who works at the company, tested positive for the coronavirus. The authorities have disinfected the entire factory premises. "The patient, a resident of Delhi, has a travel history to France and China," says Chief Medical Officer Anurag Bhargav.

12.55 PM: Hotels industry suffers losses

Hotels wear a deserted look in South Delhi where most foreign tourists and business executives stay. Occupancy has come down to less then 40 per cent due to coronavirus, say hotel owners.

12.50 PM: Cinema halls wear deserted look

Deserted cinema halls in the national capital amid the COVID-19 fear. After notice by the Delhi government on Thursday, all cinema halls have been shut down till April 1.

12.49 PM: Uttarakhand issues advisories to hotels

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat says the state government has issued advisories to all hotels regarding safety measures to be taken while allowing foreign tourists in hotels. "All schools have been closed until March 31. Do not fear as no case of coronavirus has been reported here," says Rawat. -ANI

12.48 PM: All latest chess events postponed

Hisham Al Taher, General Secretary, Asian Chess Federation: As a precautionary measure, all events have been postponed until the end of June. Asian Amateur Chess Championship scheduled for this April in Muscat is postponed until further notice after the end of June.

12.47 PM: Tom Hank says he, wife taking 'one day at a time'

12.40 PM: It should not be taken lightly: Hema Malini on coronavirus

"Everybody should be careful and secure themselves and not travel overseas. It is good that visas have been cancelled. I have seen people joking about it on WhatsApp, like 'corona, marona', it should not be taken lightly," says actor and parliamentarian Hema Malini.

#WATCH BJP MP Hema Malini on #CoronaVirus: Everybody should be careful & secure themselves and not travel overseas. It is good that visas have been cancelled. I have seen people joking about it on WhatsApp, like 'corona, marona', it should not be taken lightly. pic.twitter.com/cbVtqVrBPW ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

12.38 PM: There should be no ticket sales: Maha health minister on IPL

Rajesh Tope has said if the BCCI approached it regarding the fate of IPL matches, the government's stand would be "there should be no ticket sales". He was speaking to reporters here about the coronavirus situation in the state, where 14 persons are confirmed to have been infected so far. The Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament is to start in Mumbai on March 29. Asked whether it would proceed as per the schedule in view of the virus threat, Tope said, "There was discussion in the cabinet... tickets will (likely) not be sold. They (organisers) have two options, either postpone or hold matches without spectators. "IPL revenue model is two per cent from ticket sales and 98 per cent from televised rights. If the BCCI asks us, our stand is there should be no ticket sales," he added. - PTI

12.34 PM: All big events, conferences, and sports gatherings have been banned in Delhi till further notice, says Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia: All big events, conferences, and sports gatherings have been banned in Delhi till further notice. https://t.co/30z8sEzuZb pic.twitter.com/FH9aQRo0SR ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

12.30 PM: Odisha shuts down all public activities

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said all educational institutions will remain closed till March 31 except for holding examinations. "Cinema halls, swimming pools, and gyms are also to be closed till 31st Marc," he said.

12.24 PM: Buses to be disinfected: Delhi govt

"Buses coming from other states into Delhi to be disinfected at all ISBTs to control the spread of coronavirus," says the Delhi government.

12.22 PM: Do Namaste, says Mamata

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee says urges people not to t shake hands until coronavirus goes. "It's a human to human contact thing, not human to animals. Do Namaste."

12.21 PM: JNU suspends classes, exams till March 31

Jawaharlal Nehru University: All lectures, class presentations and examinations at JNU are suspended till 31st March. Conducting any event, such as seminars, conferences&workshops, in the campus during this period should be postponed.

12.18 PM: All India Chess Federation postpones all national championships till May 31 in view of coronavirus pandemic. - PTI

12.15 PM: When to practise home quarantine?

Home quarantine is applicable to all contacts of a suspect or confirmed case of COVID19. Check out the visuals.

Stand Together To Fight #COVID19 !



Check out the video??to know when to practise home quarantine !



Home quarantine is applicable to all contacts of a suspect or confirmed case of COVID19.



Use & share Govt helpline

+911123978046 & email ncov2019@gmail.com



#HelpUsToHelpYou pic.twitter.com/Nh0z2fJgj8 Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) March 13, 2020

12.08 PM: Coronavirus can't transmit through animals: Maneka Gandhi

"I received many complaints against some govt health depts that they have issued advisories over coronavirus advising people to not touch animals. This virus can not transmit through animals nor they can have it. I appeal to these depts to not spread lies."

Maneka Gandhi, BJP: I received many complaints against some govt health depts that they have issued advisories over #Coronavirus advising people to not touch animals. This virus can not transmit through animals nor they can have it. I appeal to these depts to not spread lies. pic.twitter.com/lk0qPNxZ3N ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

12.07 PM: Film industry hits hard due to coronavirus

Akshay Kumar Katrina Kaif-starrer action film Sooryavanshi's and big-ticket Hollywood films such as Fast and Furious and A Quiet Place's releases stand postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hollywood films such as Vin Diesel's Fast and Furious 9: The Fast Saga and A Quiet Place 2 have been postponed.

Also read: Coronavirus: Akshay Kumar's Sooryavanshi, Vin Diesel's Fast and Furious release postponed

11.56 AM: Are dogs and cats at risk of coronavirus?

The World Health Organisation says: "There is no evidence that companion animals or pets such as cats and dogs have been infected or could spread the virus that causes COVID-19."

11.51 am: Anurag Bhargav, Chief Medical Officer, says an employee of a private firm in Noida has tested positive for coronavirus. The patient, a resident of Delhi, has a travel history to France and China. -- ANI

11.49 AM: US approves coronavirus test to boost screening capacity

The US Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization for a coronavirus test made by Swiss diagnostics maker Roche (ROG.S), a move aimed at boosting screening capacity to help contain the growing epidemic. The tests provide results in 3.5 hours and can produce up to 4,128 results in 24 hours, Roche said on Friday. "Roche is committed to delivering as many tests as possible and is going to the limits of our production capacity," Roche said. - Reuters

11.44 AM: Here's a list of all #COVID19 Helpline numbers from various States/UTs. Please keep handy and share with others also.

#CoronaVirusUpdate:



Here's a list of all #COVID19 Helpline numbers from various States/UTs. Please keep handy and share with others also.#SwasthaBharat#HelpUsToHelpYou pic.twitter.com/jkxGztli2N Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 12, 2020

11.39 AM: Swamy seeks ATF tax cut

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy says he has requested Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to cut AFT tax. "Today I met Hardip Puri the MoCA to urge him in view of Coronavirus to cut Airline Turbine Fuel taxes, which is presently at a world highest at 40% of airline costs. Puri said he agreed and is seeking GST Council urgent meet for a comprehensive tax cut for our airlines," he tweeted.

11.38 AM: Plea in Delhi HC for judicial intervention to deal with coronavirus

A plea was moved in the Delhi High Court on Friday seeking its "intervention" to deal with the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The petition was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar that allowed it to be listed on March 16. "We seek intervention of the courts regarding coronavirus outbreak," the lawyer, who mentioned the plea, said to the bench. -- PTI

11.37 AM: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to brief foreign diplomats today on efforts India is making to fight coronavirus. - ANI

11.35 AM: Professional Golf Tour of India postpones all tournaments due to coronavirus pandemic. Many sports event have been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak in India.

11.34 AM: The Delhi government orders shutting of all public swimming pools in the city with immediate effect till March 31 in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

11.31 AM: Kerala Startup Mission has started coronavirus awareness campaign using 2 robots in Kochi. Jayakrishnan T, founder and CEO of Asimov Robotics,"Robots are crowd pullers, so we can spread our message effectively. They are distributing hand sanitizers,masks&sharing info about pandemic."

Today I met Hardip Puri the MoCA to urge him in view of Coronavirus to cut Airline Turbine Fuel taxes, which is presently at a world highest at 40% of airline costs. Puri said he agreed and is seeking GST Council urgent meet for a comprehensive tax cut for our airlines Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) March 13, 2020

11.30 AM: Movement at Attari board stopped indefinitely

The movement of people and commodities from Pakistan at the joint check post at Attari near Amritsar in Punjab was suspended indefinitely on Friday as a precautionary measure against coronavirus, officials said. - IANS

11.15 AM: Health and Family Welfare Department, Govt of Delhi, says the operations of all public swimming pools in Delhi to be suspended till 31st March.

11.10 AM: Rahul Gandhi says govt is in a stupor

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has slammed the Modi government for not doing enough to contain the outbreak of deadly coronavirus. "I will keep repeating this. The coronavirus is a huge problem. Ignoring the problem is a non solution. The Indian economy will be destroyed if strong action is not taken. The government is in a stupor," he tweeted.

Kerala Startup Mission has started #Coronavirus awareness campaign using 2 robots in Kochi. Jayakrishnan T,founder&CEO of Asimov Robotics,"Robots are crowd pullers, so we can spread our message effectively. They are distributing hand sanitizers,masks&sharing info about pandemic" pic.twitter.com/XA8uIOEqXo ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

11.00 AM: Rides go down by a third for Ola, Uber

Cab aggregators Uber and Ola have been impacted due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rides have gone down by a third over the last week in Bengaluru after major companies advised its employees to work from home and restrict travel that is not pressing. The major chunk of the business for Uber and Ola comes from metros, where the companies have taken a beating, as mentioned in a report in The Economic Times. In Bengaluru, a drivers' association has urged the state governments to persuade lenders to waive off repayments of loans on taxis.

Also read: Coronavirus: Uber, Ola cabs go empty as office-goers work from home

10.50AM: Chelsea's Callum becomes first Premier League player to test positve for coronavirus

England football club Chelsea has confirmed that its player Callum Hudson-Odoi was tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

10.45AM: New travel advisory won't affect movement of Nepalis to India: Indian embassy

India's revised travel advisory and visa restrictions related to COVID-19 will not affect the Nepalis movement to India, the Indian mission in Nepal said.

10.40AM: All CRPF programmes in connection with CRPF Raising day and passing out parade of 51st batch of Directly Appointed Gazetted Officers (DAGO) have been postponed amid coronavirus outbreak.

10.35AM: BBCI invites franchises for IPL's governing council meeting

The Board of Cricket Council is all set to decide the future of Indian Premiere League (IPL) amid cronovirus pandemic. The BCCI will convene a meeting with all franchises for IPL's governing body on Saturday, March 14. The board has mainly two options-- either postpone the IPL or play it behing the closed doors.

10.25AM: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to brief foreign diplomats today on efforts India is making to fight coronavirus.

10.23 AM: Savitribai Phule Pune University asks teachers, other staff members to use face-recognition method to register attendance instead of contact-based biometric system to prevent the coronavirus spread. - PTI

10.22 AM: Schools, colleges shut till March 31 in Chhattisgarh in view of the coronavirus outbreak in several parts of India.

10.17 AM: Around 120 Indians, being evacuated in Air India flight from coronavirus-hit Iran, will reach Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district on Friday and will be quarantined at Army facility, says a defence spokesperson. -- PTI

10.16 AM:Aussie cricketer Kane Richardson tests positive

Aussie cricketer Kane Richardson has dropped from the 1st ODI against New Zealand after he was tested positive for coronavirus.

10.10 AM: 11 new cases in Thailand

Thai Officials reported 11 new cases in the country, taking the national tally to 70. One person has died.- Reuters

10.07 AM: Coronavirus cases across the world

China

Deaths: 3,169

Confirmed cases: 80,796

India

Confirmed cases 79

Deaths: 1

Rest of the world

Confirmed cases: 45,000+

Deaths: 1,400+

9.55 AM: Australia Grand Prix suspended

Formula One has confirmed that Australia Grand Prix has been cancelled amid the coronavirus outbreak. Australian Open was slated to be held on March 15.

9.45 AM: Indian rupee drops to record low

The Indian rupee dropped to a record low on Friday, weighed down by worries over the coronavirus pandemic that has prompted investors to dump riskier assets and move towards safe havens. The dollar stood tall as investors scrambled for the world's most liquid currency amid deepening panic while the euro nursed losses after the European Central Bank disappointed by not cutting rates. The partially convertible rupee dropped to a record low of 74.5075 against the dollar before recovering slightly to trade at 74.4445 by 0355 GMT. -- Reuters

9.44 AM: South Africa tour of women's team suspended

The South Africa tour of the women's team has been suspended until further notice. The three-match One-Day men's international series against New Zealand will proceed as scheduled, however fans will not be admitted into the venue.

9.42 AM: All Wuhan evacuees tested negative: ITBP

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) says after completing requisite quarantine period, all Wuhan evacuees tested negative in coronavirus test at ITBP Quarantine Facility, Chhawla, Delhi. All 112 at the facility, including 36 foreign nationals, will start leaving the facility today.

9.39 AM: Google employee in Bengaluru test positive for coronavirus

We can confirm that an employee from our Bengaluru office has been diagnosed with COVID-19. He was in one of our Bengaluru offices for a few hours before developing any symptoms. The employee has been quarantined since then. Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking employees in that Bengaluru office to work from home from tomorrow. We have taken and will continue to take necessary precautionary measures, following the advice of public health officials.

9.29 AM: Stock trading halted for 45 minutes: The 30-share index BSE Sensex has hit a fresh 52-week low at 32,493.10 on Friday, the 50-share index NSE Nifty has dropped to the intraday low of 9,508.00.

I will keep repeating this.



The #coronavirus is a huge problem. Ignoring the problem is a non solution. The Indian economy will be destroyed if strong action is not taken. The government is in a stupor. https://t.co/SuEvqMFbQd Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 13, 2020

9.21 AM: First coronavirus case at UN headquarters

A Philippine diplomat in New York has tested positive for the new coronavirus. It's the first confirmed case at United Nations headquarters. The diplomat had visited the UN headquarters on Monday and showed symptoms of flu.

9.19 AM: Iran seeks $5 billion emergency funding

Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency funding to help it fight the coronavirus outbreak that has hit the Islamic Republic hard, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday. The escalating outbreak in Iran - the worst-affected country in the Middle East - has killed 429 people and infected 10,075. The outbreak has damaged Iranian businesses and is bound to hit its non-oil exports after many neighboring countries and trade partners shut their borders. - Reuters

9.07 AM: Railways advisory on coronavirus

The Indian railways has asked people to hands clean and use soap or alcohol based hand sanitiser to wash hands at regular intervals. "Avoid touching your nose, eyes and mouth," the Railways tells passengers.

Trading in NIFTY has stopped for 45 minutes due to lower circuit limit after the market fell over 10% in the initial trade pic.twitter.com/hYG8wxDaOO ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

9.06 AM: Shiv Nadar Schools to be closed till April

To keep our children safe, the Shiv Nadar Schools, Noida, Gurugram and Faridabad will close w.e.f 16th March 2020...March 13 is the last working day for the School. We intend to reopen the school for the new academic session in April as planned. You will receive communication from the respective school heads with regard to the examination, assignments and work engagement of your child.

9.02 AM: Nepal cancels climbing expeditions to Mount Everest

The Nepal government has announced to cancel all climbing expeditions to Mount Everest from March 14 until April 30, BBC reported. Earlier, China had already cancelled all expeditions from Chinese-controlled side of the mountain.

8.57 AM: Coronavirus update from Bihar

No coronavirus case has been reported from Bihar till now. To tackle the menace, Patna Medical College and Hospital has cancelled leaves of all doctors and staff till further order. The Bihar Industries Association has also cancelled 'Bihar Start Up Conclave', scheduled for March 14.

8.45 AM: Judges to take call on extending vacation

CJI on Thursday held a meeting with Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Lalit, Attorney General, Solicitor General, members of Secretary Supreme Court Bar Association and Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association and other officials of Ministry of Health and Ministry of Law. The judges will finally decide on extending vacation today.

8.40 AM: Confirmed COVID-19 cases reach 9 in Pune

Total 9 patients have been confirmed positive for the deadly coronavirus in Pune. The NIV lab in Pune is examining other 11 samples, says Pune district collector Naval Kishor Ram.

8.30 AM: Defence ministry mobilises resources

Ministry of Defence has mobilised all necessary resources to support the national effort towards the management of COVID-19 cases. At present, military is running two medical facilities at Hindon, Ghaziabad and Manesar, Haryana, and a total of 265 civilians are under military supervision at these two facilities. As per DG AFMS, a batch of 124 cases have completed their 14 days of isolation at Manesar facility, have tested negative and are ready to leave the facility. More facilities at Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Suratgarh, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Kolkata are geared up to absorb more citizens likely to arrive in India over the next few days.

8.29 AM: India-SA ODIs to be played without spectators

After holding discussions with the MYAS (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports) and MOHFW (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare), the BCCI on Thursday announced that the remaining two one-day internationals (ODI) of the three-match series of South Africa tour of India, 2020, will be played without any public gathering including spectators.

Keep your hands clean & use soap or alcohol based hand sanitizer to wash hands at regular intervals. Avoid touching your nose, eyes and mouth. Take precautions to protect yourself from #CoronaVirus #NoToCorona #coronavirusindia pic.twitter.com/Rq2bRQPQzA Western Railway (@WesternRly) March 12, 2020

8.24 PM: 150 Indians evacuated from Iran to reach India today

An Air India flight with 150 Indians being evacuated from Iran will reach Jaisalmer today, where they will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility. Post initial screening, they will be transferred from the airport to the quarantine facility. The government will evacuate another batch of 250 people from Iran tomorrow.

8.15 AM: All classes cancelled at IIT-Delhi

IIT-Delhi Director V Ramgopal Rao says in view of the COVID situation, IIT-Delhi has decided to cancel all classes, examinations and public gatherings with immediate effect on the campus until March 31, 2020.

NEWS: The remaining two ODIs of the ongoing series between India and South Africa to be played behind closed doors #INDvsSA



Read More here https://t.co/OU1BLRfg0v pic.twitter.com/r0QQNTJUlX BCCI (@BCCI) March 12, 2020

8.14 AM: Jair Bolsonaro is being monitored for coronavirus

Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is being monitored and tested for coronavirus, Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported on Thursday, without citing sources.Reuters was not able to confirm the information. Bolsonaro returned this week from a visit to the United States where he met with Donald Trump. - Reuters

8.11 AM: Press Secretary for Brazil's President Brazilian tests positive for coronavirus

Fabio Wajngarten, the press secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, felt ill on his return from the United States and is being tested for coronavirus, according to local media outlets. Wajngarten posted a picture of himself with Trump on Instagram a few days ago.

In view of the COVID situation, IIT Delhi has decided to cancel all classes, examinations and public gatherings with immediate effect on the campus until March 31, 2020. Please inform all concerned.@iitdelhi@MHRD pic.twitter.com/PAqpSMkN5a V.Ramgopal Rao (@ramgopal_rao) March 12, 2020

8.08 AM: Actor Amitabh Bachchan on coronavirus outbreak

"Concerned about the COVID 19 .. just doodled some lines .. in verse .. please stay safe," says actor Amitabh Bachchan.

8.4 AM: Trudeau's wife tested positive for coronavirus

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie, are in self-isolation after she fell ill and was tested positive for the coronavirus, while school was canceled in Ontario to limit the spread of the outbreak. Justin Trudeau, 48, is exhibiting no symptoms. Working from home, he spoke with US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and joined a special Cabinet meeting on the coronavirus by phone, his spokesman said. - Reuters
Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called on political actors to produce resolutions and recommendations to propel the country forward amid growing dissatisfaction over his rule
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For people with mental health conditions, finding a medication that works without causing severe side effects is often a matter of trial-and-error. This can contribute to a lower adherence to treatment regimens and poorer health, as well as increased costs to the health care system.



Pharmacogenomics can improve a persons health by helping them know ahead of time whether a drug is likely to be an effective treatment and be safe for them to take without triggering an adverse reaction. This is one of the strongest examples to show how precision health holds real potential to end the trial-and-error approach to therapy.

However, there are still many questions to be answered before there can be wider adoption of pharmacogenomic testing in a clinical setting. In a new $1.5 million project, supported by funding from Genome BC, Genome Canada and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, University of British Columbia researchers, Dr. Stirling Bryan and Dr. Jehannine Austin, are investigating if pharmacogenomic testing should be routinely used in BC for people with depression.

Our goal is to gather the necessary information to assess the improvement in patient health, as well as whether the testing is good value for money for the health system, said Dr. Jehannine Austin. The multidisciplinary team we have assembled includes people with diverse backgrounds and skills, including patient partners with lived experiences.

The work will involve reviewing existing studies to learn from the research of others and collecting BC specific information from the records kept by the health care system. The team will also apply extensive stakeholder engagement, talking to patients, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, counsellors, and others providing care for patients with mental health conditions in BC.

We want to gain insight into the typical experiences of patients, said Dr. Stirling Bryan. This information will be used in a simulation model, where we can count the health benefits to patients and the costs of changing practice to include routine use of pharmacogenomics testing for depression.

Pharmacogenomics shows significant potential for delivering precision health care, said Dr. Ellie Griffith, Sector Director, Health at Genome BC. If the findings indicate that pharmacogenomics testing provides value to both patients and the health care system, this information could be used to bring a positive change to how we care for patients with depression in BC.

MSFHR is committed to partnering on strategic initiatives enabling BC researchers to generate and apply much needed research evidence in areas of high priority to our provinces health system, says Dr. Bev Holmes, President and CEO, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.

Genome British Columbia leads genomics innovation on Canadas West Coast and facilitates the integration of genomics into society. A recognized catalyst for government and industry, Genome BC invests in research, entrepreneurship and commercialization in life sciences to address challenges in key sectors such as health, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, agrifood, energy, mining and environment. Genome BC partners with many national and international public and private funding organizations to drive BCs bioeconomy. www.genomebc.ca

Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR), funded by the Province of British Columbia, is BC's health research funding agency. MSFHR helps develop, retain and recruit the talented people whose research improves the health of British Columbians, addresses health system priorities, creates jobs and adds to the knowledge economy. Learn more at www.msfhr.org .

Genome Canada is a not-for-profit organization that acts as a catalyst for developing and applying genomics and genomic-based technologies, to create economic and social benefits for Canadians. Genome Canada connects ideas and people across public and private sectors to find new uses for genomics, invests in large-scale science and technology to fuel innovation, and translates discoveries into applications and solutions across key sectors of national importance, including health, agriculture, forestry, fisheries & aquaculture, energy, mining, and the environment. www.genomecanada.ca

Contact:

Brad Lyle

Communications Manager

Genome BC

Mobile: 778-999-8195

Email: blyle@genomebc.ca

@genomebc #genomebc

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/67a12dc9-4e60-428e-90f3-266063386ee1
Public schools in the nations capital will close for two weeks starting Monday, according to reports.

The Washington Post says Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced the closure Friday morning, saying schools plan to resume normal operations on April 1.

U.S. states that are closing schools include Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



Philadelphia school district has closed 63 schools on Friday because of staffing shortages caused by Governor Tom Wolfs efforts to curb non-essential travel for those in Montgomery County.

Southern York County School District and the School District of Lancaster are closed on Friday after being informed of possible coronavirus exposures.

More:
The Lauders Primary School gave a Garifuna-inspired presentation as part of the opening of the Conference.

If Dr Cleve Scott gets his way, there may be a category Garifuna in the 2020 Census Questionnaire.





Vincentian born Scott gave the keynote address on the topic, Yuremei and the Garifuna: The problem of syncretisation, identity crisis and ethnicity, at the opening of the Seventh International Garifuna Conference, held at the National Insurance Services Conference Room last Wednesday.





The lecturer, in an address that was delivered with sheer rawness embellished by the use of video clippings, pleaded for the revival of the Garifuna story, and that it ought to be included on the schools curriculum.





Dr. Scott pointed to the issue of the Windrush generation, which faced deportation from England after having contributed to the reconstruction of that nation following the Second World War. He also alluded to the policy of deportation which persons of Caribbean parentage face in the United States of America.





With respect to the use of the word exile, Scott has a different perspective as it pertains to the Garifuna people who were removed from their homeland in St. Vincent and the Grenadiers and sent to Roatan Island first. As far as Dr. Scott is concerned, these citizens were "banished.





He cites it as a "travesty of justice, and is convinced that this is a historical wrong that must be corrected.

Room was also found for highlights of the population sector of persons of East Indian and Portuguese descent, as contributing to the making of the Vincentian story.





And as though inviting controversy, Scott encouraged cognizance of the instances whereby one may be considered to be genetically white, but culturally black.





Columbus arrival to the area also formed part of Dr. Scotts presentation and he noted Britains war with the local population was intended to deprive the indigenous people of their land.





He surmised that the subsequent condensation of the Vincentian nationhood is a conglomeration that also includes European, African, Native American and Amerindian.





"All is not lost, said Dr. Scott.





"We can use history to construct the future.  We have to find ways of continuing this fight, he outlined, and described the fight as an inward look.





"We have a great future, once we know how to harness it, Dr. Scott insisted.





Dr. Scotts feature presentation was preceded by addresses from: David Darkie Williams - President of The Garifuna Heritage Foundation; Professor Velma Newton - Project Director, Improved Access to Justice; Deborah Dalrymple, Head of Site, the University of the West Indies Open Campus; St. Clair Jimmy Prince  Minister of Education; and Cecil Mc Kie  Minister of Culture.





The Conference is slated to round off today Friday March 13 at the Peace Memorial Hall.
People who are engaging in bulk purchasing or panic buying are wasting their money and causing unnecessary problems, Business Minister Heather Humphreys has said.

Speaking to reporters in Dublin alongside Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, Ms Humphreys said she welcomed the decision of the Revenue Commissioners to give reliefs to viable businesses who are likely to encounter cashflow problems in the coming days.

But pressed by reporters about the continued instances of large numbers of people appearing at major supermarkets, she said the government has ensured proper supply chains of food are in place.

There is no need to do this. You are wasting your money, act normally, there is no need to be bulk buying. Go about your business as normal, she said.

She also ruled out any wholesale closure of non-food stores as has been the case in Italy.

Asked about the impact of the crisis on government formation talks, Mr Donohoe said the work of containing the struggle of the virus is taking priority today and tomorrow, hinting that contacts with Fianna Fail could occur as early as Sunday.

He said detailed contacts would have to occur ahead of the Dail's next sitting next Thursday when emergency legislation will be tabled for passage.

Mr Donohoe said he and his officials will be engaging with AIB and other banks in the coming days over its decision to introduce new charges for people using contactless payments, at a time when cash transactions are being actively discouraged.

We will be engaging with all the banks on this and all other issues, said Mr Donohoe who would not go as far as criticising the bank.

I will have a variety of different issues that I will have to raise with the banks in the coming weeks, he said.

Mr Donohoe said he welcomed statements from the Central Bank of Ireland and Revenue Commissioners, which seek to give clarity and reassurance to those businesses and households impacted by the outbreak of COVlD-19.

Revenue outlined a number of measures, dealing with, among other things, VAT returns and tax clearance certs, as well as detailing advice aimed at assisting SMEs who may be experiencing cashflow and trading difficulties as a result of the impact of COVlD-19.

Acknowledging people's concerns is the first step in assuaging them. People should be reassured that Ireland is coming at this from a position of strength and that everything that can be done is being done to deal with this public health crisis. We can, and we will, get through this, he said.

It is true to say that both the societal and economic response to the COVID 19 outbreak is evolving rapidly. However, this is not reflected in the available economic data. Data on economic developments is published with a lag which can extend to be weeks or months depending on the indicator, he added.
Farmers in Changde, a city in central Chinas Hunan province, are assisting their peers from Hubei province to take care of their businesses. They are doing this because the owners are currently under quarantine due to the novel coronavirus epidemic.

A local farmer in Li county, Changde, central Chinas Hunan province, tends Xie Qiangguos crayfish pond. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

Xie Qiangguo returned to his hometown in Shishou, a county-level city in Hubei, before the Chinese New Year holiday. He was worried about his crayfish stock, which could die off due to a lack of proper care and management. He shared his worries together with 26 farmers from Shishou.

Luckily, farmers of Li county in Changde, where Xies crayfish cultivation business is located, have been helping people like Xie raise their crayfish, knowing they could not return to work on time.

Xies crayfish business is located at a rice-crayfish cultivation cooperative in Li county, which has more than 4,200 mu, or 280 hectares of land for crayfish breeding. 28 farmers from Shishou city contractually use 233 hectares of the land thereat.

Jiang Zhengdong makes a video call to Xie Guoqiang, showing him his crayfish pond. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

Seeing this, Jiang Zhengdong, head of the cooperative, called on his fellow villagers to help the Hubei farmers cultivate their crayfish.

The work is tedious as they have to make sure the water volume is suitable, feed the crayfish on a regular basis, and disinfect the ponds.

When he was not occupied, Jiang would like to make a video call to Xie, letting him see the status quo of the crayfish so that the latter could feel reassured. The two also made further cultivation plans together.

Jiang expressed that they have bought feedstuff with their own money, saying if Xie couldnt come back to sell the crayfish, he will look for sales channels for Xie.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 23:58:56|Editor: huaxia

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JERUSALEM, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Israel reduces military training as part of the efforts to slow the coronavirus spread, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman said on Friday.

Israeli army will immediately stop all reserve units' ground training until mid-April, the spokesman said.

The IDF emphasized that exceptional reserve training will need a special approval by the head of IDF ground forces.

A total of 17 Israelis tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 126.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 17:14:44|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday issued a report on human rights violations in the United States.

Titled "The Record of Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2019," the report said the facts detailed in the document show that "in recent years, especially since 2019, the human rights situation in the United States has been poor and deteriorating."

The State Council Information Office released the report based on published data, media reports and research findings. It began by citing a quote from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a speech on April 15, 2019: "We lied, we cheated, we stole ... It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment."

"The remarks of U.S. politicians have completely exposed their hypocrisy of adopting double standards on human rights issues and using them to maintain hegemony," read the report.

The United States released annual reports to "distort and belittle" human rights situation in countries and regions that did not conform to U.S. strategic interests, but turned a blind eye to the "persistent, systematic and large-scale" human rights violations in its own country, the report said.

Consisting of foreword and seven chapters, it detailed facts on human rights violations in the United States relevant to civil and political rights, social and economic rights, discrimination suffered by ethnic minorities, discrimination and violence against women, living conditions of vulnerable groups, and abuses suffered by migrants, as well as U.S. violations of human rights in other countries.

The lack of restraint in the right to hold guns has led to rampant gun violence, posing a serious threat to citizens' life and property safety in the United States, the report said.

"The United States is a country with the worst gun violence in the world," read the report. In total, 39,052 people died from gun-related violence in the United States in 2019, and a person is killed with a gun in the United States every 15 minutes, figures showed.

Wealth polarization in the United States hit a 50-year high in 2018, the report said. In 2018, the wealthiest 10 percent held 70 percent of total household wealth. The bottom 50 percent saw essentially zero net gains in wealth over the past 30 years, it noted.

Regarding discrimination suffered by ethnic minorities in the United States, the report said the political structure and ideology of white supremacy in the United States have caused ethnic minorities to suffer all-round discrimination in various fields such as politics, economy, culture and social life.

Since 2016, white supremacy in the United States has shown a resurgence trend, leading to racial opposition and hatred, it noted.

Women in the United States face severe discrimination and violence, according to the report. Women in the United States were 21 times more likely to die by firearm homicide than women in peer nations, it noted, adding that sexual assault cases against women kept increasing.

About the living conditions of vulnerable groups, the report said tens of millions of U.S. children, elderly people, and disabled people live without enough food or clothing, and face threats of violence, bullying, abusing and drugs.

"The U.S. government not only has insufficient political will to improve the conditions for vulnerable groups but also keeps cutting relevant funding projects," read the report.

While levels of extreme poverty worldwide had dropped dramatically, the poverty ratio of U.S. children was about the same rate as 30 years ago, it said.

The report noted the increasingly strict and inhumane measures taken by the U.S. government against immigrants in recent years, in particular, the "zero-tolerance" policy, which caused the separations of many immigrant families.

Many unaccompanied immigrant children were held in overcrowded facilities, without access to adequate healthcare or food, and with poor sanitation conditions, the report said.

It noted grave abuses at detention facilities for immigrants, including injecting them with sedatives, keeping them in handcuffs, and depriving them of clothing and mattresses.

The United States also wantonly trampled on human rights in other countries and was responsible for many humanitarian disasters around the world, according to the report.

The economic embargo against Cuba and the unilateral sanctions against Venezuela imposed by the United States had been a massive and flagrant violation of the human rights of people in these countries, the report said.

The United States withdrew from several multilateral mechanisms, including the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Global Compact on Migration, shirking off its international obligations and making troubles to the international governance system, it noted.
Amidst the rising scare of the deadly Coronavirus, the Ministry of Health issued a fact check on one of the fake office memorandum that has been doing rounds on social media. According to the document being circulated, the Ministry of Health and Family had declared a holiday from March 14 to March 21 to all schools, colleges, educational institutes and workplaces having more than 10 employees in the state of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim, in wake of the novel Coronavirus. The circular also mentioned that a fine of Rs 5,000 would be applicable if the organisations fail to comply with the directive.

However, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on Friday has clarified that the circular doing rounds is fake and no such notice has been issued by the ministry. Here is the clarification issued by the Ministry:

READ | Sourav Ganguly Issues First Statement After IPL Gets Postponed & India-SA ODIs Cancelled

88 positive cases confirmed so far

Amid the novel Coronavirus breakout, 88 positive cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the country. Out of these, 3 from Kerala were treated and discharged, and in addition, 7 more from Safdarjung have also recovered while 64 cases of the 81 confirmed are of Indian nationals, 16 Italian nationals, and one Canadian national, said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary Health Ministry on Friday.

READ | CM Uddhav Declares 'Coronavirus Epidemic In Maharashtra'; Schools In Pune & Pimpri Shut

Speaking to media on Friday, Lav Agarwal said, "It is important to understand that it is not a health emergency. We are trying to support the initiative taken by the state in terms of managing the situation. We have 56 collections centres. We hope we continue to remain in the same state where not many tests are to be done."

READ | India Records First Novel Coronavirus Death As Deceased Kalaburagi Man Tests Positive

'1131 people evacuated so far'

Elaborating on the steps taken by the government to rescue citizens stranded abroad, Agarwal said, "So far the government has evacuated 1,131 people including 48 individuals from countries such as Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, United States, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru. Till date, 890 evacuees from these 19 affected countries have been discharged, after 14 days of isolation and having tested negative."

READ | Karnataka Bans All Large Gatherings Including Marriages For 1 Week Amid COVID19 Scare
More than 270 complaints have been filed against businesses who are illegally raising their prices amid the spread of coronavirus in New Jersey, the states top law enforcement officer said Thursday.

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said the Division of Consumer Affairs is cracking down on price gouging  when businesses and merchants increase the price of products more than 10 percent to profit off the publics concern  by sending out 55 investigators to inspect storefronts around the state.

"We have declared a zero-tolerance policy for price gouging and other unfair business practices that prey on consumers concerned by the COVID-19 pandemic and we must use every available resource to enforce the laws that protect New Jersey consumers, he said.

State officials announced six new cases of novel coronavirus Thursday, bringing the total of positive cases in New Jersey to 29. Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency on Monday, triggering the states Price Gouging Law.

But the Division of Consumer Affairs received about 100 complaints in the last 24 hours alone, Grewal noted.

County and local consumer protection personnel were called upon to join forces to swiftly investigate and put a stop to any merchant seeking to take financial advantage of consumers trying to stay safe and protect themselves and their loved ones from the spread of this virus, he said.

Im w/ Prosecutor @JakeHudnut + JCPD issuing tickets for price gouging. We wont accept people taking advantage of residents. Tissues, Clorox, cleaning items, all doubling +. Rubbing alcohol went from $2.99 to $6.99. People sometimes can be terrible in how they treat eachother.. pic.twitter.com/GarSAkAW35  Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) March 12, 2020

The Division of Consumer Affairs has already sent warnings to at least 10 businesses caught price gouging hand sanitizer and face masks, and also partnered with the Bergen County Prosecutors Office to investigate a dangerous spray sanitizer sold at a 7-Eleven in River Vale.

Store owner Manisha Bharade is accused of mixing, bottling and selling a fraudulent spray sanitizer that burned four boys, officials said. She was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and deceptive business practices, and officials are investigating the stores other sales further.

Consumers should also be wary of products that claim to cure or prevent coronavirus, or other offers related to the disease. The virus, which was discovered in December 2019, currently has no known cure or vaccine.

Businesses caught price gouging face a $10,000 fine for the first offense, and $20,000 for subsequent offenses.

The Division of Consumer Affairs has set up a voicemail box for price gouging complaints related to coronavirus, which can be reach at 973-504-6240. Complaints can also be filled out on the divisions website.

COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus, has sickened more than 1,300 people around the country and is responsible for at least 39 deaths, including the death of a 69-year-old Little Ferry man.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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"I esteem biography, as giving us what comes near to ourselves, what we can turn to use." Samuel Johnson

Donald Trump inspires almost universal disapproval and scorn among wordsmith professionals in the mental health field. He has been the target of diagnoses ranging from "pathological narcissism" to "bipolar disorder" to "dementia."

At last we can be grateful among the torrent of books about the president for one that justifies what Dr. Johnson called the "epidemical conspiracy for the destruction of paper."

Sheldon Roth, M.D. has performed an important service, not just to history, but to the field of depth psychology. He has demonstrated ways in which it can illuminate the deep motivational wellsprings of a unique individual like Donald Trump. His psycho-biography, Psychologically Sound: The Mind of Donald J. Trump, makes real and clear the truth of Wordsworth's observation that "the child is father to the man."

Trump is in the middle of a remarkable first term during which he has disrupted the various myths of our present-day wordsmith Utopians. Their favored story has been of American decline, a decline well deserved by a racist and sexist country. Donald Trump utterly dismissed this story, laughing at its politically correct absurdity. His humor offends them while shattering their belief that presidents should be austere and solemn. How did he manage to prevail in reviving American optimism, growing the economy while destroying the ISIS caliphate and reversing our appeasement policies toward Iran and China? And he did all of this under constant siege by the wordsmith graduates of our elite universities and journalism schools. Laughter and optimism helped.

Dr. Roth has chosen to assume that there are discoverable psychological reasons why Donald Trump beat all rivals to become a disruptive president. Trump's personal psychology, Roth shows, met the psychological needs of a country that had lost its confident stance toward the future. It's why his slogan, "Make America Great Again" (MAGA), worked. His flawed humanity possessed skills that met the historical moment.

Dr. Roth's book does not make a political argument. Instead, it explores the roles played by Donald Trump's mother, father, siblings, and mentors in shaping his psychological life. It looks with a unique perspective at the role of fantasies and dreams, through exploration of a movie, Citizen Kane, that sank deeply into the young Trump's psyche. Movies draw much from dreams and can function as borrowed dreams and fantasies for viewers. Dr. Roth utilizes dream analysis as applied to Trump's favorite movie to deepen our understanding of his lifelong drive to succeed in shaping his life. Dr. Roth also notes the psychological strengths Trump gained from exposure to the Rev. Norman Vincent Peale's sermons. Those sermons shaped not only his conscious ability to sell a positive agenda, but his fundamental unconscious stance toward life and his version of the American dream as a constant striving toward excellence.

Another major psychological influence was the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. Trump has been intrigued by Jung's ideas for many years. Jung's theory of archetypes, representatives of universal character types, seems quite relevant to Donald Trump. Dr. Roth elucidates how identifications with the hero and wise man archetypes provide him with confidence and strength to challenge conventional wisdom. Roth's perspective stimulates the reader to utilize his own archetypal perspective.

The cartoonist Scott Adams was one of very few who predicted Donald Trump's win in 2016 based on assessment of his persuasion skills. He also predicted that Trump's win would "punch a hole in reality" for half the country, whose sense of reality included certainty that Hillary Clinton would be president. Punch a hole it did; however, people don't readily accept that their sense of reality is wrong in major ways. This is especially true for wordsmith intellectuals, including psychotherapists. Number-smiths live in a world of quantitative probability, so they can more easily adjust to blows to their assumptions about reality.

One of the first things clinical practitioners do with patients is assess their sense of reality. What happens if the therapist's own sense of reality is broken? Defensive denial occurs, reinforced by projection and insistence that the person responsible for undermining conventional "reality" is really deranged.

The response that Donald Trump has elicited from so many in the mental health profession has exposed something profoundly important about the profession: the left utopian political activism that has engulfed it. It has been overrun by small-minded professionals who think their job is to find a reductionist label from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual so they can collect an insurance fee. In addition, the individual is now seen as the hapless victim of unjust social forces. Freud's tragic view of flawed human nature has been displaced by a Rousseauian view of innocence deformed by unjust society. Organized psychiatry and psychoanalysis are now issuing formal apologies for the supposed "harm" they have caused to the various certified victim groups. Psychiatry and psychoanalysis once focused on the individual. Now social activism takes precedence. There is the possibility, admittedly slight, that Donald Trump's disruption of psychiatry can lead to something welcome  the restoration of the individual mind and psyche to the center of clinicians' concerns.

If such a revitalization occurs, Dr, Roth's beautifully written book will be a milestone. If no such revitalization takes place, his psycho biography will still rank as a work of art, along with Bate's biography of Samuel Johnson, Leon Edel on Henry James, Erik Erickson on Luther, and Freud on Leonardo.

Dr. Roth's book belongs in the Western humanist tradition. It demonstrates how artfully depth psychology can enlarge our understanding, rather than reducing, labeling, and demonizing the singular Donald Trump. It offers hope that the profession can recover from the devastation wrought by political correctness, utopian politics, and pseudo-science.

Long before psychoanalysis discovered methods for understanding depth psychology, Samuel Johnson wrote: "If nothing but the bright side of characters should be shown we should sit down in despondency ... the sacred writers related the vicious as well as the virtuous actions of men; which had this moral effect, that it kept mankind from despair."

Dr. Roth has presented all sides, "the vicious and the virtuous," of Donald Trump  and thereby brought him close to us in his full humanity.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court



directed the state government to take decision on the resignation of assistant professor Sumer Singh Solanki, the BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate, on Friday itself.

Solanki resigned from his teaching post on Thursday and filed nomination papers for the Upper House from Madhya Pradesh as BJP candidate on Friday.

The direction was given by a division bench of Justices S C Sharma and Shailendra Shukla on Solanki's plea. The bench asked the government to inform it about the decision on March 16.

Solanki rushed to the court alleging that the Congress government in the state was not taking decision on his resignation which he had submitted on March 12.

The elections for the Upper House of Parliament will be held on March 26.

Solanki was serving as assistant professor (history) at Shaheed Bheema Nayak Government Postgraduate College, Barwani.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

The University of New Mexico is extending its spring break for two weeks in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials announced Friday.

New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology have also announced that their spring breaks will be extended as the schools grapple with the coronavirus.

All three universities were scheduled to be off next week and for students to return March 23. NMSU and Tech have since pushed that date back to March 30.

UNM is trying to balance both student academic success and public health, UNM President Garnett Stokes said in a video announcing that the schools break will be extended through April 5, the same as public K-12 schools in the state.

We will use this three-week period to plan and prepare for some of the changes this pandemic will necessitate, including for the continued academic success of our students and the health of our university community, she said.

UNM Provost James Holloway emailed a dispatch across campus on Thursday night that said closing the school could be significant to students  especially those in a precarious financial place.

Some are at financial risk, and their ability to complete a college degree is delicate and easily derailed, too often forever, he wrote. For many, we are their only provider of room and board, of health care, and of employment. While a few universities around the country are closing, this course can cause harm that may even be irreparable.

Holloway said that experts from across the university, including health and academic leadership, are creating a strategy to continue educating while also taking safety measures to slow the spread of the virus.

Our strategy remains unchanged  to simultaneously do what we can as part of the national effort to flatten the curve of daily infections and reduce the burden on health care during this COVID-19 pandemic, while also recognizing that we must support our students to progress in their academic work, Stokes said.

Western New Mexico University has extended spring break and will be having online-only classes starting March 30. New Mexico Highlands University and Eastern New Mexico University have also announced their spring breaks will last an extra week, according to the universities websites.

Officials at Central New Mexico Community College did not respond to calls for comment on Thursday and Friday. The community colleges website said throughout the day Friday that an announcement on classes would be made later, but it was not.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Friday said the state government is fully prepared to deal with novel coronavirus.

There are enough isolation wards, medicines, masks and quarantine facilities to tackle any situation, he said.

People entering the state from abroad are being screened at airports and those entering from neighbouring Nepal are being screened at eight points in the border districts, Rawat said.

"Though there has been no confirmed case of coronavirus in Uttarakhand so far, we are fully geared up to deal with any eventuality," he told reporters.

A total of 22,968 people have been screened at eight points in districts bordering Nepal, including Banbasa and Tanakpur in Champawat district, Dharchula, Baluakot, Jauljibi, Jhulaghat and Dyura in Pithoragarh district and Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar district.

About 41,508 people have been screened at Dehradun, Pantnagar and Pithoragarh airports but no suspects were identified, Rawat said.

Seventeen people have been kept under watch in isolation wards as a preventive measure in the state out of which 12 have tested negative and reports of five people, four of whom are from Dehradun and one from Nainital, are awaited, he said.

A total of 337 isolation beds are reserved for coronavirus cases at different hospitals and there are six quarantine facilities at Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat and Pithoragarh, he said.

Though prepared to deal with the deadly virus we are keeping a vigil and we will take decisions as the situation requires, Rawat said.

The number of coronavirus patients in the country is 75, including the death of a 76-year-old man in Karnataka, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The most visible piece of legislation passed this session had the blessing of utility and environmental donors. The Virginia Clean Economy Act preserves most of the carbon-emitting generators in Virginia, perhaps for their entire useful lives, but it will also ask ratepayers to finance a major offshore wind installation and multiple square miles of new solar fields, with the utilities owning most of those projects and reaping a generation of profits.
Mercury Public Affairs is tapping former British officials to help lobby for Q Cyber Technologies and its better known subsidiary the NSO Group as the Israeli spyware company faces a global backlash over accusations that it helped authoritarian regimes spy on dissidents. In addition to five US citizens retained in January to help fight against lawsuits in the United States, Mercury has now added three people in its London office to the account.

Mercury Vice President Toby Denselow, a former aide to British lawmaker Glenda Jackson, and Senior Vice President George Tucker, a former British diplomat, joined the account in January but their filings were only made public by the US Justice Department this week. They join former Labour Party staffer Louis Rynsard, whose work on the account was already known. Mercury did not respond to a request for comment.

NSO has multiple connections to Great Britain. London-based private equity fund Novalpina took control of the company last year, and four Novalpina executives were served with the lawsuit that Facebook and WhatsApp filed in US federal court last year accusing the company of using WhatsApp servers to send malware to 1,400 users with country codes from 20 countries, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Mercury has been handling public relations on the matter, this week distributing court filings from NSO lawyers at King & Spalding accusing Facebook and WhatsApp of lying to the court. The firm also faces legal scrutiny in Britain, where Saudi comedian Ghanem Almasarir has sued Saudi Arabia alleging that Riyadh targeted him with NSO software while he was living in London.

Meanwhile, Labour Party politicians have been asking questions about the British governments relationship with the spyware company. NSO attended a Security and Policing trade fair in southern England this month, prompting a complaint from Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who accused the government of helping despots hunt and kill dissidents. Meanwhile, Tom Watson, then a member of parliament serving as shadow secretary for digital affairs, raised the issue of the WhatsApp data breach and NSOs role during a speech to parliament in May 2019, as did Drew Hendry, a Scottish National Party lawmaker.

NSO has also come under fire in the European Parliament. Eva Kaili, a member from Greece, asked the European Commission for answers about NSO in November. In December 2018, Marietje Schaake, then a member representing the Netherlands, asked the European Commission questions about the company. In the United States, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, announced in November plans to investigate whether the firm hacked Americans.
A court sent suspended councillor Tahir Hussain to three-day police custody on Friday in connection with the alleged killing of Intelligence Bureau official Ankit Sharma during the communal violence in northeast last month, sources said. Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Kumar Gautam remanded Hussain to police custody till Sunday after the expiry of his seven-day custody.

Hussain was arrested on March 5 after a court in dismissed his plea seeking to surrender before it in connection with the case and was later sent to seven-day police custody the next day.

The suspended Aam Aadmi Party councillor had moved the surrender application before the court, saying that he was willing to join the investigation and wanted to surrender in the case.

Hussain has been booked in the murder case of the IB staffer in northeast during the violence over the new citizenship law.

The ruling had then suspended him for alleged involvement in the violence, which has left at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

The family of Sharma (26), who was found dead in a drain near his home in riot-hit Chand Bagh area, has accused Hussain of being behind the killing. On the complaint of Sharma's father, the police registered an FIR against Hussain, who has rejected the charge.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control. Frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at local residents and police personnel.
Mumbai, March 13 : In the latest promo of "Khatron Ke Khiladi Season 10", host Rohit Shetty can be seen severely admonishing contestant Tejasswi Prakash, and threatening to throw her out of the show. This is because Tejasswi accused him of favouritism.

In the promo, after Tejasswi alleges favouritism, Rohit Shetty reacts saying: "Don't cross your limit. I've not reached here by roaming around with my car. I've worked hard to reach here. You have to respect that. I will throw you out of the show." However, Tejasswi, who has quite a fan-following among the audience, received support on Twitter.

Reacting to the promo, one fan wrote: "Hope it's just a prank only, and why #TejasswiPrakash have to leave the show she is performing better than others #KKK10."

Another fan commented: "She is correct if she is taking a stand against favoritism. Stunts should be fair to everyone #TejasswiPrakash #KhatronKeKhiladi10 #KKK10."

Another fan expressed: "No offence to other contestants but I agree with #TejasswiPrakash when there is no elimination what is the need of that dangerous wax stunt anybody who was in her place will react like that only and yeah she will not go anytime soon."

Meanwhile, this week's tasks have been designed to test contestants both individually and as team players. Contestants will be divided into two teams, with one team receiving an extra advantage. A showdown between captains Karan Patel and Tejasswi Prakash will irk Rohit Shetty and he will lose his calm. Rohit will also ask captain Tejasswi Prakash to back off.

Will this go down well with Tejasswi's fans or will they voice protest on social media? Time can tell!

-- Syndicated from IANS
The trial of a former British soldier over a fatal shooting during the Northern Ireland Troubles may take place over Skype, a court has heard.

A lawyer for Dennis Hutchings applied for an adjournment over concerns that the 79-year-old would not be able to attend his trial in person for health reasons.

It comes as the killer bug threatens other courtrooms, with a legal source telling MailOnline a barrister from Southwark Crown Court and another from Inner London Crown Court are self-isolating.

Another source has revealed a defendant at the Old Bailey has contracted the virus.

Belfast Crown Court was told Hutchings is receiving medical treatment and his doctor said it is not safe for him to travel, particularly with coronavirus spreading across the UK.

A HM Courts and Tribunals Service spokesman told MailOnline that plans are in place to keep courts running and anyone involved in coronavirus-hit cases would be informed if their involvement might be affected in any way.

A lawyer for Dennis Hutchings (pictured) applied for an adjournment over concerns that the 79-year-old would not be able to attend his trial in person for health reasons

Hutchings, from Cawsand in Cornwall, a former member of the Life Guards regiment, has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of John Pat Cunningham (pictured) in 1974

Hutchings, from Cawsand in Cornwall, a former member of the Life Guards regiment, has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of John Pat Cunningham in Co Tyrone in 1974.

Mr Cunningham, a 27-year-old man with learning difficulties, was shot in the back as he ran away from an Army patrol near Benburb.

Hutchings, who is on dialysis twice a week for renal failure, is facing charges of attempted murder and attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.

Judge Mr Justice O'Hara told the court on Friday that a video-link will allow Hutchings to participate fully in the trial and that the court could sit two days a week if the accused is willing to participate in the trial by Skype.

Defence lawyer Ian Turkington said however that there could be a visibility challenge.

Hutchings, who is on dialysis twice a week for renal failure, is facing charges of attempted murder and attempted grievous bodily harm with intent

He said his client wants to be present in court for his trial, adding that there is no suggestion that the pensioner is using his illness as a 'tool to delay' the proceedings.

Mr Justice O'Hara said: 'Let's get on with it.'

Mr Turkington told the court: 'It's not safe for him to travel. The consultant said he should not travel and the reason for that is clear - between buses, trains, airports, airplanes and hotels, and backwards and forwards.

Seafood smuggler avoids jail due to coronavirus threat Gilbert Khoo, 67, smuggled endangered elver eels from a Gloucestershire barn to the Far East. Khoo would import the live animals from Spain, hide them under hauls of chilled fish in the UK and ship them to Hong Kong and Malaysia via Heathrow. Gilbert Khoo, 67, was only handed a suspended prison sentence at Southwark Crown Court Border Force caught wind of the 53million operation when they opened a package bound for Hong Kong containing 600,000 eels in 2017. Most of the rare baby eels had died, while the remaining 290,000 were released back into the wild in Spain. Last month he was found guilty of six offences relating to the smuggling operation, which had made Khoo a fortune, the court heard. But his lawyers have successfully argued he should not be sent to prison due to the threat of coronavirus. Advertisement

'He would prefer to be here for his trial. If the court insists that (Skype) is the way forward ... but it is not his expressed wish.'

The trial was also delayed last week over concerns for Hutchings' health and the threat of coronavirus.

Mr Justice O'Hara said on Friday that the country is potentially weeks away from the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak and asking for further delay could see the trial put back to September.

The judge added that a few months' delay is significant as the defendant is 79 and the shooting happened decades ago.

The defence lawyer said the court would have to look at 'all eventualities and possibilities'.

'These are serious allegation against a man of good character,' Mr Turkington added.

'To face these in his living room somewhere in England is not the preferred method of standing trial.

'We are in uncharted territory.'

Mr Turkington asked the judge for a delay to consider the steps needed for his client to participate in a trial through Skype.

The judge adjourned the case to Monday March 23.

Meanwhile, the case of two former paratroopers accused of shooting an Official IRA man in Belfast in 1972 has been put back.

Soldiers A and C have been charged with murdering Joe McCann, who died close to his home in the Markets area of Belfast.

The case has been adjourned until April 3 for arraignment.

A HM Courts and Tribunals Service spokesman said: 'We have well-established plans in place to ensure we can continue to deliver key services, protect the public and maintain confidence in the justice system.

'People should continue to use their courts and tribunals as usual and any changes to individual hearings will be communicated directly to those affected in the normal way.'
The five men who tragically died when a light aircraft they were travelling in crashed in horrific weather conditions have been identified.

The twin-engine Cessna slammed into a beach on Wednesday after its third attempt to land at Lockhart River Airport, in Queensland's far-north.

The pilot was aged 38 while the four passengers, from the Queensland government's building unit QBuild in Cairns, were aged 49, 57, 62 and 63.

Five men tragically died when a light aircraft they were travelling on slammed into sand dunes in far-north Queensland. Pictured is one of the victims Wayne Ganter, 63,

Wayne Brischke, 57, was a grandfather of two children and a father of three

The eldest was health and safety officer Wayne Ganter, 63, who had spent years in the construction industry, according to The Cairns Post.

He was described by his son Jake as 'loyal, honest and hardworking'.

The grandfather of five and father of three was remembered as a family man who put the needs of others before himself.

'He taught us to be conscientious and brave, and we know that's how he would have been in his last moments,' Jake said.

The other men were named locally as Mark Rawlings, 49, Wayne Brischke, 57 and Henry Roebig, 62.

Another victim, Henry Roebig (right), was described as a father of two and a grandfather with a love for the great outdoors

Mr Roebig, a father-of-two and grandfather, would be remembered for his love for the great outdoors, friends said.

Wayne Brischke was a grandfather of two children and a father of three.

Mr Brischke's life had sadly been marked by tragedy in recent years after he lost his wife to cancer in 2013 and both his parents in a car accident in 2009.

Friends and family of Henry Rawlings paid tribute to the man who always 'lived his life to 110 per cent'.

Henry Rawlings was remembered as a man who always 'lived his life to 110 per cent' and who was always there to give his mates a hand

'We have tragically lost you but you will always hold a special place in our hearts. Such an amazing mate, always there to give your mates a hand and have a laugh,' a woman wrote.

While another said on Wednesday he was the 'soul of the party' but still had time to listen to others.

'He always had time to listen to all of our stories, problems & drunken banter without judgement or malice,' a woman said.

'I reckon heaven needed a beautiful man like you & that's what god's plan was this morning.'

Five people are dead after a plane carrying government workers crashed in wild weather. Pictured is a Cessna 404 similar to the crashed aircraft

Incredibly, a sixth man was set to fly on the doomed flight but was pulled off the last minute.

Rescuers are expected to work over the weekend to retrieve the bodies of the men from the plane.

Cape York police Inspector Mark Henderson it was a 'catastrophic scene' and the crash site could only be accessed via water.

The wreckage of the plane was found by police on a beach at 1:20pm on Wednesday near the town of Lockhart River on Cape York in northern Queensland

'We are challenged with the tides. High tides are up against the dunes which are preventing access and it is some five kilometres down from the Lockhart River boat ramp,' he said.

'The dunes back onto thickery and onto a swamp. It makes access extremely difficult. There is no other access to it via the ground other than light boat during high tide times.

'We will work throughout the day and into the weekend to bring closure for the families.'
Microsoft has cancelled its biggest event of the year because the spread of coronavirus.

It will instead hold its annual developer conference, called Build, as a "digital event".

It comes after Facebook and Google also cancelled their developer events and committed to hold them virtually instead. Apple has not announced its annual Worldwide Developers Conference event, but that is also widely expected to be postponed or cancelled.

The firms have instead said they will hold the events virtually, allowing participants and the press to watch events from home, over the internet.

The Microsoft Build conference had been scheduled to take place between May 19 and 21 in Seattle and is traditionally used to unveil updates to Windows software, as well as new computing hardware.

Microsoft said in a statement it was following health and safety recommendations to help prevent the further spread of the Covid-19 virus.

"The safety of our community is a top priority," a Microsoft spokeswoman said.

"In light of the health safety recommendations for Washington state, we will deliver our annual Microsoft Build event for developers as a digital event, in lieu of an in-person event.

"We look forward to bringing together our community of developers in this new virtual format to learn, connect and code together.

"Stay tuned for more details to come."

Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK The usually busy Royal Mile in Edinburgh is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 13 March Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Ho bart's Amusement Arcade in Westward Ho!, Devon is offering toilet roll and soap as prizes in grabber machines Rob Braddick/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK An empty platform at Farringdon Station in London the morning after the Prime Minister said that Covid-19 "is the worst public health crisis for a generation" PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Shopkeepers Asiyah Javed and husband Jawad from Day Today Express, in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk are giving away facemasks, antibacterial hand wash and cleaning wipes to the elderly in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A usually busy street in Cambridge is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 2 March James Linsell-Clark/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitiser dispenser is seen inside the stadium during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on 8 March Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Maaya Indian Kitchen in Milton Keynes is offerig customers a free roll of toilet paper with every takeaway order SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Oliver Cooper[L], was sent home from school for selling spurts of handsanitiser to fellow pupils at 50p a time. He poses with mum Jenny Tompkins by their home in Leeds Ashley Pemberton/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in London on 12 March EPA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A member of the public is swabbed at a drive through Coronavirus testing site set up in a car park in Wolverhampton Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A passenger wears a protective face mask as she travels on a bus in the City of London AFP/Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A Southampton fan wears a face mask before the match against Newcastle United on 7 March Reuters Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A loudspeaker placed in grounds of St Mary's Catholic Church in Broughattin, Dundalk, County Louth ahead of funeral mass later this morning. The loudspeaker has been placed in the grounds after the Catholic Archdiocese said that funerals and weddings should not exceed 100 attendees within the church building PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitising station set up outside Cheltenham Racecourse during day four of the Cheltenham Festival on 13 March PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK People wearing protective face masks walk across London Bridge on 11 March AFP/Getty

Microsoft's announcement continues following the cancellation of E3  the annual video games convention in Los Angeles, which had been scheduled for June and attracts around 100,000 visitors. The company had been expected to show off its new Xbox Series X at the gaming conference.

Google and Facebook have also cancelled their developer conferences, which had been due to take place in May, with both now expected to have online events instead.

On Thursday, Twitter confirmed it had made it mandatory for all staff globally to work from home as it increased its efforts to curb the spread of the virus.




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CNN Philippines (March 13)  A female diplomat at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York City has tested positive for the coronavirus disease or COVID-19, prompting a lockdown of the whole diplomatic office, the mission said in a statement Thursday.

The Filipino diplomat was at the UN headquarters for 30 minutes on Monday but she was asymptomatic. The following day, she manifested flu-like symptoms and was later confirmed to have the viral illness, it added.

Deputy Permanent Representative Kira D. Azucena, the Mission's Charge d'Affaires, informed health authorities in the UN and the New York City health department about the matter and they were advised to self-isolate. She also informed other mission to the UN about the situation.

"As of today, the Philippine Center in New York housing the Philippine Mission is on lockdown until further notice and its employees have been instructed to self-quarantine and to seek medical attention should they develop the symptoms," the statement said.

It added the staff currently isolated is in good condition and other employees who may have been exposed to the COVID-19 patient "have been instructed to self-quarantine and to seek medical attention should they develop the symptoms."

The delegate did not have contact with UN staff during her stay at the UN headquarters, but met two other staff members from another mission, CNN reported.

UN Medical services is reaching out to them," CNN cited UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric as saying.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin also said in a post on Twitter on Friday she had gone to another state before contracting the virus.

"It was after celebrating her birthday with friends during a light rain and she'd just come from Florida."

Over 90 Filipinos overseas have been confirmed to have the fast-spreading disease, a majority of them linked to the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

Worldwide, COVID-19 has left more than 4,700 people dead, mostly in China. It has also sickened over 128,000 people globally as of Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University's global tracking of cases.

In the Philippines, three more COVID-19 patients have died, the Department of Health announced Thursday, bringing the death tally to five. The number of COVID-19 cases in the country now stands at 52.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, which is related to the virus which causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, but is not as deadly, with the fatality rate standing at around three percent.

According to the WHO, 80 percent of patients only experience mild illness and eventually recover. It added that some 14 percent experience severe illness while five percent were critically ill.

To prevent infection, authorities are urging people to practice regular hand washing, cover the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and avoid close contact with those who show respiratory symptoms.
The G7 will hold an extraordinary meeting via videoconference next week to bolster the international response to the coronavirus outbreak, the French presidency said Friday, also proposing enhanced EU border control.

The meeting of the Group of Seven nations will seek to coordinate action against the virus in the spheres of health, economy, finance and research, the presidency said.

It said the event was initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron who discussed it with US counterpart Donald Trump by telephone Friday.

The United States, current chair of the G7, and others in the group "all gave their agreement," it added. The G7 is made up of the US, Canada, France, Germany, Britain, Italy, and Japan.

Macron also proposed that the European Union reinforce border control in the visa-free Schengen area or even close them in heavily-affected or high-risk areas, said the presidency.

The French leader discussed the matter by telephone Friday with EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Indian Police Service (IPS) Association on Thursday strongly condemned an article published by New York Times (NYT) on the conduct of police in Delhi riots, terming it "a combination of biased reporting, dangerous innuendo and outright lies".

In a series of tweets, the IPS Association said, "We strongly condemn the article in New York Times on the conduct of Police in Delhi riots, which is a combination of biased reporting, dangerous innuendo and outright lies. The article is clearly a concerted effort to denigrate and defame Indian Institutions."

"Indian Police forces are professional bodies that do their duty without fear or favour. Our personnel are neither Hindus nor Muslims. They are Indians, serve Indians and during critical times they have also sacrificed their lives for Indians, the IPS body said in a subsequent tweet.

The IPS' statement came after the NYT carried a story title 'How Delhi's Police Turned Against Muslims' on its website.

"India's policing culture has long been brutal, biased, anti-minority and almost colonial in character, a holdover from the days of British rule when the police had no illusions of serving the public but we're used to suppressing a restive population," the newspaper reported.

At least 53 people including Intelligence Bureau (IB) official Ankit Sharma and a Police Head Constable Rattan Lal died while around 200 people sustained serious injuries in the violence that raged North-East Delhi last month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To the annoyance of some shareholders, Rexnord (NYSE:RXN) shares are down a considerable 38% in the last month. Even longer term holders have taken a real hit with the stock declining 19% in the last year.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E implies that investors have high expectations of what a company can achieve compared to a company with a low P/E ratio.

Check out our latest analysis for Rexnord

Does Rexnord Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 13.02 that sentiment around Rexnord isn't particularly high. We can see in the image below that the average P/E (16.0) for companies in the machinery industry is higher than Rexnord's P/E.

NYSE:RXN Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

This suggests that market participants think Rexnord will underperform other companies in its industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. You should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. 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. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.

Rexnord's earnings per share were pretty steady over the last year. But EPS is up 13% over the last 5 years.

Story continues

A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank

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

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.

So What Does Rexnord's Balance Sheet Tell Us?

Net debt is 32% of Rexnord's market cap. While that's enough to warrant consideration, it doesn't really concern us.

The Verdict On Rexnord's P/E Ratio

Rexnord has a P/E of 13.0. That's around the same as the average in the US market, which is 13.3. When you consider the lack of EPS growth last year (along with some debt), it seems the market is optimistic about the future for the business. What can be absolutely certain is that the market has become significantly less optimistic about Rexnord over the last month, with the P/E ratio falling from 21.0 back then to 13.0 today. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for a contrarian, it may signal opportunity.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. 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.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Rexnord. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Kenya and Ethiopia confirmed their first cases of the new coronavirus on Friday, a woman who had returned to Nairobi from the United States and a Japanese national in Addis Ababa.

Authorities in Nairobi banned all major public events and said they would restrict foreign travel in the wake of East Africas first reported case, while the mayor of Addis Ababa urged citizens to avoid close personal contact.

Sub-Saharan Africa has so far been less badly hit by coronavirus than Europe, China or the United States, thanks in part to rapid screening. Most of the reported cases have been in foreigners or people who had traveled abroad.

But concerns are growing about the continents ability to handle a potential rapid spread of a virus that has infected 127,000 and killed 4,700 worldwide.

Kenya, the richest economy in East Africa and a hub for global firms and the United Nations, is the 11th country in sub-Saharan Africa to confirm a case of COVID-19, bringing the total number of reported cases to 40.

Ethiopia is Africas second-most populous nation, with 109 million citizens. Addis Ababa, like Nairobi, is a regional transit hub.

Kenyan Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said the patient, a 27-year-old Kenyan, was diagnosed on Thursday after traveling home via London on March 5.

He said the government had traced most of the people she had been in contact with, including fellow passengers on her flight, and a government response team would monitor their temperatures for the next two weeks.

The Ethiopian case was a 48-year old Japanese national who arrived in Ethiopia on March 4, the health ministry said.

Health Minister Lia Tadesse said there were no plans to cancel any flights. Addis Ababa mayor Takele Uma Banti said on Twitter that people should avoid meetings and hand contacts.

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NEW YORK - Seven weeks have passed since the first U.S. case of coronavirus was announced, and the government is failing to account for what could be thousands of additional infections because of ongoing problems with testing.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/3/2020 (670 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A medical personnel holds a kit for the test for Coronavirus outside one of the emergency structures that were set up to ease procedures outside the hospital of Brescia, Northern Italy, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. 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. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)

NEW YORK - Seven weeks have passed since the first U.S. case of coronavirus was announced, and the government is failing to account for what could be thousands of additional infections because of ongoing problems with testing.

"The system is not really geared to what we need right now," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert at the National Institutes of Health. "That is a failing. It is a failing, lets admit it."

The effort initially was hobbled by delays in getting testing kits out to public health labs, but the stumbles have continued, leading scientists to conclude that the virus has taken root in more places than government officials say.

U.S. health officials, for example, promised nearly a month ago to tap into a national network of labs that monitor for flu. That system is only just getting started.

Large-scale testing is a critical part of tracking the spread of infectious diseases and allocating resources for treatment. The lack of comprehensive figures means U.S. health providers could quickly be overwhelmed by undetected cases.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported about 1,260 U.S. illnesses  a number that trailed independent researchers, who are adding reports from individual states more quickly.

But some experts believe any number based on test results of individual patients is a dramatic undercount. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles this week estimated that the true count of infections was close to 9,000  about two weeks ago.

"I expect there are more infected individuals now," said one of the researchers, Dr. Jonathan Braun. "This means that the level of disease in the U.S. is much greater than has been reported by actual testing."

The problem, these experts say: The U.S. simply isn't testing enough people.

There are no official numbers from the federal government on the countrys overall testing capacity. One of the only comprehensive estimates comes from Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former FDA commissioner who is now a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank .

As of Thursday, his group estimated U.S. labs could process results for more than 20,000 patients per day. The figure is based on a combination of publicly reported information and historical estimates from government, private and academic labs. It reflects the total number of patient results that could be processed in a day, not the current number being run.

Whatever the actual number, the U.S. effort is trailing other nations.

South Korea, a country one-sixth the size of the U.S. in population, is reportedly testing 15,000 people per day. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield noted that officials there are using automated, high-volume testing systems capable of processing thousands of samples at a time. In contrast, the equipment used by most U.S. state and local labs requires technicians to manually process each sample in small batches, sometimes 100 or fewer per day.

The testing process in the U.S. requires mixing various chemicals to setup chain reactions that extract genetic information from patients swabs. Each lab must fine-tune the process on its own equipment, something experts have likened to perfecting a new recipe.

Unlike countries with centralized, government-based health care systems, the U.S. response is fragmented between public labs and private efforts by hospitals, universities and diagnostic companies.

U.S. officials have boasted of shipping well over 1 million tests to labs across the country. But its unclear how many have actually been used on patients, because tests have gone to some private labs and hospitals that don't report into the CDC, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters earlier this week.

Azar said the government is working to set up a system to combine government testing figures with those of outside laboratories.

Government officials have pledged that large private testing companies like Quest Diagnostics will drastically expand U.S. capacity. A Quest spokeswoman on Wednesday said it could take up to six weeks to ramp up to testing tens of thousands of samples per week. The company expects to complete several thousand tests by the end of this week.

On Feb. 14, the CDC's Dr. Nancy Messonnier said the agency planned in the coming weeks to use labs in five cities to provide a good look at whether coronavirus might be appearing. The idea: When patients test negative for flu, their specimens would go through coronavirus testing to see if the new bug caused their symptoms.

"Results from this surveillance would be an early warning signal, to trigger a change in our response strategy" if cases started appearing, she said.

But earlier this week, nearly a month after the announcement, doctors and scientists were still awaiting word on whether that surveillance system was up and running.

On Thursday, the CDC revealed that some labs had begun the testing. But the list of test sites had changed, and the agency did not explain why.

In its initial announcement, the CDC said the work would begin in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle. On Thursday, it said it instead had begun in Chicago and four sites in California  Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Clara.

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Five other locations are working to get surveillance testing going, a CDC spokeswoman said. They are New York City; Orange County and Solano in California; and the states of Hawaii and Washington.

The agency did not immediately detail what the so-called sentinel testing sites have found.

___

Perrone reported from Washington. Lauran Neergaard in Washington also contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This is an update of a story posted at 12:45 p.m. Friday.

WEST SPRINGFIELD  The man shot and injured by Massachusetts State Police troopers outside a West Springfield motel as been identified as a 42-year-old Framingham man who was wanted on a warrant related to child pornography, state police said.

The man, Enrique Gonzalez, was shot by state troopers Friday morning outside the Express Inn, 1557 Riverdale St., said state police spokesman David Procopio.

Procopio said troopers with the state police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section and the Special Tactical Operations unit assembled outside the hotel after tracking Gonzalez there. Troopers had developed information that Gonzalez was likely to be armed.

Before they could move in on his room, troopers saw Gonzalez leave the motel and head for the parking lot toward a car. When troopers moved in and ordered him to surrender, he bolted toward the rear of the property.

Procopio said Gonzalez fired one shot at troopers, and they returned fire, striking him. No one else was injured.

The nature of Gonzalezs injuries were not disclosed, but Procopio said that he was conscious and alert after the shooting while he was being treated at the scene by two medics who are part of the special tactical team.

Gonzalez was rushed to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield following the shooting, where he is under guard, Procopio said.

He was wanted on two warrants issued by Worcester District Court for photographing a child in a sexual manner, and for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, subsequent offense.

Police have recovered the firearm.

The shooting is being investigated by state police detectives assigned to the office of Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, which is a standard procedure in any officer-involved shooting.

It is unclear what additional charges will be filed against Gonzalez or when he will be arraigned.
Syracuse restaurants and their employees are taking proactive measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

There are currently more than 137,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide and 1700 in the U.S. The virus has devastated the economy  from Wall Street and large corporations all the way down to small, local businesses. Restaurant and cafe owners and workers, who often see hundreds of customers daily in a fast-paced environment, can be at a higher risk for exposure.

Here is what some Syracuse staples are doing to stay clean and help their employees:

This batch of Ethiopian coffee roasted for about 12 minutes at Recess Coffee. Teri Weaver | tweaver@syracuse.comTeri Weaver | tweaver@syracuse.c

Recess Coffee

To prevent the spread of germs for both customers and employees, Recess Coffee is following the lead of Starbucks and no longer accepts customers personal mugs, said Courtney Shaut, the barista trainer for all Recess locations. They will still give customers a 25 cent discount for bringing in their mugs, but will only serve coffee in paper cups or their dishware.

We definitely get some dirty cups, said Shaut. I don't want to touch it and we don't have time to regularly wash each and every single one that comes in, or sanitize it properly

Employees are sanitizing their iPad register every 30 minutes, washing their hands every time they brew a pot of coffee and only touching dishware thats been used by customers if they have vinyl gloves on. They also have installed hand sanitizing stations for employee use at both locations.

Were like harassing each other if we touch our faces, said Shaut. If you cough, go wash your hands, if you sneeze, wash your hands.

Recess is also not doing cupping classes, or coffee tasting classes, for any training baristas or wholesale partners, said Shaut. She said there are no penalties for Recess employees not coming in if they are sick, but they have to try and find shift coverage on their own.

Since Syracuse University announced they will stop all in-person classes, Recess has seen an increase in business, said Shaut. She said a group of professors came in together Thursday morning to work remotely.

Im just like, wow  youre not my regular Thursday morning crowd, she said. Maybe they dont have WiFi, which we have, or anywhere else to go.

Bleu Monkey

Marshall Streets sushi staple, Bleu Monkey, has stocked up on hand sanitizer for both employees and customers, said owner Andrew Tsang.

Tsang said he plans to stay after closing time every night this week and personally sanitize the restaurant. He said in the event of a large-scale coronavirus outbreak in Syracuse, he would temporarily close Bleu Monkey.

Everyone just stay safe, he said. be careful and clean, and good luck.

Alto Cinco

Westcotts Alto Cinco has had trouble keeping a large stock of hand sanitizer, said Jesse Sterritt, the restaurants operations manager. He said they have ordered supplies to make their own hand sanitizer, and have upped cleaning and sanitizing the restaurant.

Anytime anybodys got free time, theyre wiping down everything with sanitizer, said Sterritt.

The restaurant's policy is for employees not to come in while they are sick, Sterritt said, and they are enforcing that rule more recently. Though employees will try to find coverage if they arent able to come in, managers will help them find someone to take shifts, he said.

Sterritt said his biggest concern is the economic impact of the coronavirus. He said he is unsure if Alto Cinco would close in the event of a large-scale outbreak in Syracuse, and that they would have to play it by ear.

I think people are kind of panicking to some degree, instead of being proactive, he said. It ties in with, you know, that whole mentality of going and buying 100 rolls of toilet paper that you're never gonna use. If people react that way, then it could have a huge impact.

Beer Belly Deli

Beer Belly Deli, the Westcott neighborhood deli and pub, is taking preventative measures in their food preparation, said Ned Spencer, bartender at the restaurant. They have ordered extra gloves for their cooks and sanitize all kitchen supplies with bleach water at the end of the night.

Spencer said Beer Belly Deli plans to add sanitizing napkins to tables and is stocking up on plastic cups for customers who do not feel comfortable using the restaurants dishware. They are also stocking extra soap and hanging signs in their bathrooms reminding customers to wash their hands.

Beer Belly Deli has no plan to shut down, said Spencer, and is only working on preventative measures.

Spencer was not worried about the coronavirus at first, but said the increased media coverage has made him nervous. He said hes not nervous about catching it at Beer Belly Deli, but is worried about students contracting and spreading the virus once they are back from spring break.

So many of our students are very intertwined in this neighborhood, he said. A bar in North Syracuse might not have the same huge problems if a bunch of SU students are sick.

Rise n Shine Diner

Danielle Mercuri, owner of Rise n Shine Diner, said the restaurants cleaning is relatively unchanged with a slightly heightened sensitivity. Mercuri said the diner had been sanitizing thoroughly prior to the virus outbreak, and employees are now wearing vinyl gloves at all times.

Mercuri said she outsources sanitizing to Trade-mark Restoration, a residential and commercial cleaning company that comes into the restaurant every night after closing time. The cleaning company also installed air purifiers in Rise n Shine.

It was the only thing I could think of that would help the situation without everyone just standing still and not going anywhere, Mercuri said.

If the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that restaurants temporarily shut down, Mercuri said she would close Rise n Shines doors. The diner currently employs around 48 people at two locations, she said.

We also have to think about our employees as well, she said. In the event we have to shut down, what would they do? You know, hopefully the government will step in.

Cafe Kubal

Cafe Kubal instituted a sanitation plan at the company's seven locations to prepare for a coronavirus outbreak, said Operations Manager Rachael Smith. This includes sanitizing all iPad registers, door handles and surfaces touched by customers and baristas, with timers set to make sure that these surfaces are sanitized hourly.

Were trying to take the extra steps necessary to stop the distribution of any sort of bacterial disease or virus," Smith said.

The Upstate Golisano Childrens hospital location has always had slightly higher standards set by the hospital, and is instituting the sanitation plan in addition to those standards. Smith said they would consider closing Cafe Kubal locations only if it was the best options for the safety of the customers

Its not just Kubal, it's all the local businesses, said Smith. Local businesses I think will see quite a hit from all of this. If people are choosing to stay home and work, well definitely see a drop in sales.

Disclaimer: The reporter for this story works for the University Ave. location of Cafe Kubal.

Are you a local restaurant owner or manager? If youd like to talk about your prevention measures, reach out to Natalie Rubio-Licht at nrrubiol@syr.edu.
Per essere ancora piu chiaro riporto anche questo commento:

Dillo a me.

Io ci lavoro con la gente "colta e studiata".

Sono le persone piu ottuse che si possano immaginare.

Hanno acquisito quattro nozioni nel loro ristretto campo dello scibile, pensano che in esso si esaurisca lintera conoscenza umana e se con i loro occhi vedono qualcosa che contraddice le nozioni che hanno appreso, la negano senza pensarci due volte.

Mi piace citare, a questo proposito, cio che Dietrich Bonhoeffer diceva sulla stupidita in "Resistenza e resa":

"Se vogliamo trovare il modo di spuntarla con la stupidita, dobbiamo cercare di conoscerne lessenza. Una cosa e certa, che si tratta di un difetto che interessa essenzialmente non lintelletto, ma lumanita di una persona. Ci sono uomini straordinariamente elastici dal punto di vista intellettuale che sono stupidi, e uomini molto goffi intellettualmente che non lo sono affatto. Ci accorgiamo con stupore di questo in certe situazioni, nelle quali si ha limpressione che la stupidita non sia un difetto congenito, ma piuttosto che in determinate situazioni gli uomini vengano resi stupidi, o piuttosto si lascino rendere tali. Ci e dato osservare, inoltre, che uomini indipendenti, che conducono una vita solitaria, denunciano questo difetto piu raramente di uomini o gruppi che inclinano o sono costretti a vivere in compagnia. Percio la stupidita sembra essere un problema sociologico piuttosto che un problema psicologico. E una forma particolare degli effetti che le circostanze storiche producono negli uomini; un fenomeno psicologico che si accompagna a determinati rapporti esterni".
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 23:57:13|Editor: yan

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ABUJA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The second confirmed COVID-19 case in Nigeria has tested negative to the virus, said the country's health minister Osagie Ehanire on Friday.

The second case had been cleared from the virus and would be allowed to go home after the secondary screening, said Ehanire at a news conference in Abuja.

The health minister had earlier this week confirmed the second case was a contact of the index case and not a new importation into the country.

The case was one of the 40 people who had contact with the index case in Nigeria, an Italian that is now under clinical follow-up following isolation.

Ehanire said Nigeria would continue to screen all incoming travelers, and select those that fit the case definition for secondary screening.

"Following the declaration of a pandemic and increasing spread in countries, we have begun a review of our case definition," he added.

No death has been recorded since Nigeria announced on February 28 that the country recorded the index case of COVID-19.
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved reconstruction scheme for private sector lender Yes Bank as proposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the moratorium will be lifted within three days after the notification is issued.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said State Bank of India (SBI) will invest for 49 per cent equity in Yes Bank and other investors are also being invited.

"There will be a three year lock-in period for all investors. However, the lock-in period for SBI would be only for the 26 per cent of the shareholding," she told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

The authorised capital of the lender has been increased to Rs 6,200 crore from Rs 1,100 crore, said Sitharaman.

The scheme has been approved with the objective of protecting depositors' interest and providing stability to Yes Bank as well as to the entire financial system, she added.

"A new board will be constituted and two directors from SBI will be made its members. Seven days after the notification to lift the moratorium, the administrator will vacate his office."

On Thursday, SBI said it will invest Rs 7,250 crore in Yes Bank, which is much higher than Rs 2,450 crore it had planned initially for 49 per cent stake in India's fourth-largest private sector bank.

On March 5, the RBI imposed a moratorium on Yes Bank, restricting withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per depositor till April 3 in view of its poor financial health due to bad loans.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An ongoing Toronto murder trial has been postponed mid-trial until June 8, a judge ruled Friday as courts grapple with responding to concerns about COVID-19.

On Friday afternoon Superior Court Justice Brian OMarra made the challenging decision to postpone the murder trial of Abdirisaq Ali and Tanade Mohamed with two or three weeks of evidence left to go, sending the jury away until June 8.

Future jury trials were suspended Thursday night until an unspecified later time, according to the Ontario Chief Justice, but the decision whether to continue ongoing jury trials has been left to the discretion of the trial judge.

This will allow for clarification of the public health issues, OMarra said, as well as giving the best chance to complete the trial with the jury that has already heard much of the Crowns evidence.

I am confident you want to carry though and complete this job, he told the jurors.

Meanwhile, another Toronto murder case  Kalen Schlatters trial for the first-degree murder of Tess Richey  continued, with the jury expected to begin deliberations next Friday at the earliest.

Ali and Mohamed are on trial, accused of killing Tyler McLean and Zemarai Khan Mohammed in the early hours of Oct. 1, 2017, in a parking lot across from the Rebel nightclub on Polson Street. Both men have pleaded not guilty to two charges of second-degree murder.

It is a perfect storm of circumstances, OMarra said. The trial had faced other delays due to health issues and necessary legal arguments, he said. As a result, although the trial was expected to end this week, the Crown has not yet closed its case.

OMarra said he did not want to be the messenger of doom but public buildings have begun to close, and the courthouse could eventually be closed as well. He said trying to resume the trial any earlier than June would not be enough time, given the uncertainty of the situation.

Schlatters trial will continue with closing arguments next week with the jury expected to begin deliberations Friday at the earliest.

Superior Court Justice Michael Dambrot told jurors they will have the option to use taxis to come to and from court. Since some courtrooms will not be in use next week, he will arrange to have one of them made available for jury deliberations so that jurors dont have to be in a small jury room.

Were going to do our best to keep you all healthy, he said.

It is unclear how many ongoing jury trials are being postponed or have had mistrials declared. The Superior Court of Justice expects to have an answer next week.

The court website provides information on who to contact should an accused or witness be unable to attend court as a result of self-isolation due to possible exposure to Covid-19. The website stresses the importance of accused persons contacting the court to avoid a warrant being issued.

Anyone who has been summoned for jury duty no longer needs to come to court unless told otherwise.
Marinated Salmon at Woollahra's Bistro Moncur. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer I bet not many journalists were prefects because we dont like authority  I remember the headmistress standing up on the day they announced the head girl, saying that shed prayed, and that God had given her the answer. I remember thinking, Come off it! Ive got nothing against your prayer system or your belief system, but God did not tell you who to make head. That didnt happen! New Hall School was housed in the Tudor hunting lodge of Beaulieu, an estate acquired by Henry VIII in 1517 from Thomas Boleyn, father of Anne Boleyn. Henrys rupture with the Catholic church had been plotted under that very roof, but the nuns who taught there never acknowledged as much. The much-married king was still persona non grata. That was a lesson in putting the blinkers on, says Ferguson. Tudor history was all around us but there was no mention of [what had happened] where we were. There was something essentially bogus about the intellectual structure of the place. Ferguson is not Catholic. Her parents sent her there rather than away because it was a good school near the Essex village of Little Baddow, where theyd eventually settled.

Adventure-seeking lies deep in the family DNA. Her maternal grandfather, John Dean, set up a bus company in Africa. Her mother, Marjorie, a nice middle class girl defied her parents orders and went out to Kenya as well. There she met Sarahs father, Iain, a trainee pilot turned businessman working for Dunlop. Iain and Marjorie eloped to his native Scotland to marry in the face of family disapproval (Dean considered Iain unsuitably racy for his daughter). The rift lasted some years. Fergusons parents settled in Nigeria but the outbreak of war with Biafra forced the family back to the UK when she was still a toddler, and she and her two older brothers slotted back into British upper middle class life. In her early teens she discovered poetry, one of her unwavering passions. She began an unlikely correspondence with the poet Philip Larkin, and his poems  not horses or rock bands  were tacked up on her pinboard. The pair exchanged four to five letters over a year or more. 'Dear Mr Larkin, why do you think life is first boredom and then fear? I think its very nice!' Sarah Ferguson, aged about 14, to poet Philip Larkin Ferguson had stumbled across his work in a book shed won for English.

One of his lines is, Life is first boredom, then fear. And I wrote to him [she puts on a self-mocking voice] saying, Dear Mr Larkin, why do you think life is first boredom and then fear? I think its very nice! She thinks she was around 14. Her mother later threw the letters out in an over-enthusiastic clean up, to Fergusons enduring regret. I have poetry for every occasion, she says, in those clipped tones so familiar to ABC viewers. I have it in my head  Whatever you are experiencing, as the vicissitudes of our lives get richer, its a comfort, its a balm, a massive balm. I would give up my sight before I gave up my poetry. She checks herself. Is that really true? I just would hate to give it up, I would be lost without it. She taught herself a lot of Shakespeare at home too. Not because I was a nerd, but because I loved it. Current affairs was a constant backdrop growing up, but it was theatre, not journalism, which first drew her. While studying English at Kings College London she and a colleague wrote, funded and staged a musical about sexual assault. They called it You Cant Thread a Moving Needle (referencing the comments of a judge who had dismissed a rape case). Ferguson insists the production was execrable. Yet it played for two weeks at the Edinburgh Festival. Looking back, shes astonished at her own chutzpah.

It was a bloody mad thing to do. It never occurred to me that anything could stand in my way. Not because I was horribly over-confident, but because it hadnt registered that people could try and stop me doing what I wanted to do. Whatever gift that is, its a good one. Too hot for her preferred souffle, Ferguson chooses a chicken terrine as her second course. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Two years ago Ferguson wrote On Mother, a short but lyrical book about the sudden death of Marjorie, purveyor of that gift. Her mother had fallen at home, and died in hospital after an emergency operation, before her children were even made aware of the accident. She died alone, which is wrong. A kind, good person. My mother educated me to go and live, and not think again, she says. She set me free completely, which was a wonderfully generous thing to do. Sometimes, though, Ferguson admits envying those who are simply racinated. (Reader, I had to look that up: it means putting down roots.) That willingness to leap in, to just do it, impelled her to travel to Australia in 1992, soon after meeting Jones in Paris where shed been working on arts documentaries.

He was the ABCs London correspondent. She came recommended as a Paris-based fixer. The connection was instant. It was some peculiar form of recognition  Aha! There you are, she says. The pair have two grown sons, in addition to Jones child from a previous relationship. Sauteed Ricotta Gnocchi. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Weve dawdled over the entrees: marinated salmon for her, and my beetroot salad with goats curd, celeriac and hazelnuts. Conversation wanders into its second hour. She likes Moncur for the best souffle in town but not today, given the humidity. She orders chicken terrine as a main instead and I opt for sauteed ricotta gnocchi. Conversation, mostly driven by Ferguson, ranges across a dizzying array of topics: Christopher Hitchens book on Thomas Paines Rights of Man, French playwright Jean Anouilhs adaptation of the Greek tragedy, Antigone; what artificial intelligence might do to the continuum of the human condition; encounters with Germaine Greer (whom she knew through friends at university); and the TV series Succession, about power and betrayal in the family of a media mogul. The sometimes tortuous ethics of journalism get a work-over too. Shes a huge fan of The Circus, a documentary series which goes deep behind the scenes of the byzantine American political system.

'I was interested in what happens in your head when you are ordained  what makes you act with such gross impunity.' Ferguson is relishing how television is stretching its legs, in long-format documentaries and drama. In 2015, she took leave from Four Corners to write and front an acclaimed three-part series: The Killing Season, about Labors leadership ructions, and another hard-hitting series on domestic violence. I now think 45 minutes [standard Four Corners length] is so short you cant do a thing with it, she jokes. But the most ground-breaking yet, she believes, will be her new series on paedophilia in the Catholic church, Revelation, which starts later this week. She acknowledges the fantastic work other journalists have done before her. But I wanted to see what this looks like now, and what justice delayed looks like. Terrible things were done to children, to thousands of Australian children, and I want to understand every piece of that. And the story is not finished.

To get up close, Ferguson had to persuade the gate keepers of the legal system, together with victims, and a paedophile priest, along with a second perpetrator, a religious brother, to let her cameras into two trials. Its the first time its been done anywhere in the world. Jones, who worked with her on the series, believes Fergusons painstakingly crafted letters were key to getting that access. Loading She was also determined to speak to the perpetrators outside the court setting, another rarity. I was interested in what happens in your head when you are ordained  what makes you act with such gross impunity, she says. Its not enough to say, this is what they did, you have to understand why they did it and [ how] it was covered up ... When the church swoops in and protects you immediately theres a hint of something wrong, all it does is reinforce that glorious moment in ordination when you are made above ordinary men.
Welsh Government announce new measures to relax supermarket delivery hours during Coronavirus outbreak

This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 13th, 2020

The Welsh Government is taking immediate action to allow delivery hours for supermarkets and other food retailers to be extended to ensure the food industry is able to respond to increased consumer demand during the Coronavirus outbreak, Local Government Minister Julie James has announced today.

The measures relax planning conditions restricting night-time and early morning deliveries, allowing retailers to accept deliveries throughout the day and night where necessary.

The Welsh Government has instructed local planning authorities to temporarily relax the enforcement of these rules to provide the food industry with greater flexibility.

Local Government Minister, Julie James, said: Given the exceptional challenges facing Wales and the United Kingdom as a whole from COVID-19, it is vital deliveries of food, sanitary and other essential products over the coming weeks can be made as quickly and safely as possible, minimising disruption to the supply chains on which communities depend.

The measures I am announcing today will help ensure stores can remain open to serve the local community.

We are working closely with the UK Government and food industry representatives to ensure supermarkets and other food retailers are able to respond to the outbreak as best as they can.

These measures are temporary, which will be withdrawn once the immediate urgency has subsided.

Sara Jones, Head of the Welsh Retail Consortium, said: It is very encouraging Welsh Ministers have listened to our representations and moved swiftly to work with local authorities to grant greater flexibility in shop and warehouse delivery times. Retail supply chains remain robust, however our grocery and pharmacy members in particular are dealing with very high demand for certain products and want to take every step possible to ensure the good stock levels in depots and the supply chain are delivered and on shop shelves at the earliest opportunity. These measures will contribute to ensuring everything possible is done to keep the shelves stocked.

In these challenging times customers should be reassured that retail supply chains remain robust. We will continue to work closely with the Welsh and UK Governments to ensure the right measures are put in place to alleviate the ongoing challenges presented by coronavirus to the industry.
As far as the leaderboards go for the Coronavirus or COVID-19 epidemic, no region has been hit harder than the very epicenter, China itself. With 80,000 cases to deal with, you wont see us booking a ticket to the republic any time soon - although one man thinks differently.



Meet Dr. Amish Vyas, a native of Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, who instead of giving in to pressure to return to his home country, decided to stay in Guangdong and help the virus victims. Working hard at a medical camp for suspected coronavirus victims, Vyas has lived in the important port city for over half a decade, and came to China to become a plastic surgeon - a lucrative trade in the country, where an estimated 16.3 million people go under the knife each year.

He spoke in an interview of his commitment to the medical profession despite the risk of coronavirus infection: "As a Surgeon, I'm not afraid of any infection, he admits. "I would like to say to my fellow physicians and surgeons that we are all one team, all over the world."

Perhaps one of the more emotional angles to this story came out when Beijing-based news network CGTN interviewed Vyas mother Kavita Vyas, in mid-February this year.

I talk daily with my son, she shared. I am in a dilemma now, but it's my son's passion, and he had a promise to himself to serve and help people. His passion is for national and health-related issues, and if it's his passion then we also have to promote and support it.

On being asked how her son reacted when asked to return to safety, she said, This morning I asked him to come back, but he said if there is a war in the country, would any brave soldier run away? Then I was left speechless.

Another interesting twist to Vyas heroic story is that it mirrors another character from India-Sino history - yet another Indian doctor, who sacrificed his safety for a greater cause in China - Dwarkanath Kotnis, one of five Indian doctors dispatched to China during the Sino-Japanese war of 1938.

 Wikimedia

Widely revered through the Chinese administration, his death in 1942 was addressed by the likes of Mao Zedong, with a statue and memorial erected in his honour at Hubei - one of the worst affected cities during the outbreak.
Murder of IB staffer Ankit Sharma a pre-planned conspiracy

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 13: The Delhi Police have found evidence to suggest that the murder of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma was a pre-planned one.

Sources in the Delhi Police tell OneIndia that the killers had sought to isolate him and then kill him. It was a clear attempt to send out a message to the establishment the source also said. The police is also questioning, suspended Aam Admi Party councillor Tahir Hussain in this regard.

The autopsy report of the martyred Intelligence Bureau official, Ankit Sharma says that the body had multiple abrasion, deep cuts caused by sharp objects. Multiple abrasion, deep cuts by sharp edge objects, the report said. This suggests that Sharma was stabbed multiple times.

Multiple abrasions, deep cuts by sharp objects says Ankit Sharmas autopsy report

The police have booked AAP leader, Tahir Hussain for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. The case was booked following a complaint given by Ankit's father, Ravinder Sharma.

Sharma had joined the IB in 2017. He was found dead in the Chand Bagh area, which was affected by communal riots. His body was found in a drain. His mother said that some people took him and two others and killed them.

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Story first published: Friday, March 13, 2020, 13:34 [IST]
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will attend the second convocation of AIIMS Rishikesh on Saturday, the institute's director said.

Those attending the convocation would have to go through a thermal screening in view of the coronavirus threat, AIIMS Rishikesh Director Ravikant told reporters here on Friday.

Shah will be the chief guest of the convocation which will be presided over by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan, while Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat will be the special guest, he said.

During the convocation, 252 students will be conferred with degrees and 132 with certificates by Shah, Ravikant said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
What just happened? With the US coronavirus outbreak forcing many people to work and study from home, AT&T has become the first ISP to suspend data caps for its broadband internet customers.

With so many companies telling employees to work from home, and schools and colleges switching to online-only classes, households are consuming more data than ever before. Additionally, canceled events and fears over social gatherings mean more people are opting to stay at home, resulting in more streaming and general internet use.

As reported by Motherboard, while some AT&T internet customers have no usage caps, others are limited to between 150 GB and 1 TB per month. Exceeding those limits can result in fines of up to $10 for every extra 50 GB used.

It has been claimed that internet data caps are there to prevent congestion, but we know this isnt true; theyre really just another way to squeeze more money out of people.

Many of our AT&T Internet customers already have unlimited home internet access, and we are waiving internet data overage for the remaining customers, a company spokesperson told the publication.

As a result of the #coronavirus people across this country are going to be asked to move work and learning online. So NOW is a really good time for the FCC to take action to get our nation's broadband providers to lift data caps and remove overage fees. https://t.co/1qJV7whVsR  Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel) March 12, 2020

Following Motherboards report, 17 senators sent a letter to the CEOs of eight ISPs demanding the suspension of broadband data caps and associated fees or throttling for all communities affected by COVID-19. It also asked that they work with public school districts, colleges, and universities to provide free, or at-cost, broadband options for students whose schools close due to COVID-19 who dont have access at home.

Another ISP, Comcast, has announced that it will support Americans through the coronavirus pandemic through its Internet Essentials program for low-income users. The plan will give new customers 60 days of complimentary internet service, which is normally $9.95 per month, and speeds will increase from 15/2 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps for all new and existing customers.
In a favourable draw, India on Friday were pitted against Finland for their Davis Cup World Group I tie in September.

India had lost 1-3 to Croatia in the Davis Cup Qualifiers while Finland beat Mexico 3-2 in World Group Play-Offs.

It's an easy draw for India since none of Finland's singles player features in top-100. Emil Ruusuvuori, ranked 101, is their best player while others are not even in top-400.

Henri Kontinen is ranked 30 in the ATP doubles chart.

"Yes, it's a favourable draw for us. But in Davis Cup World Group, no team is easy. We have enough time to prepare, I am sure will qualify for next stage," India captain Rohit Rajpal told PTI.

The winner of the tie, scheduled for September 18-19/19-20 will advance to the Davis Cup Qualifiers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A lab technician begins semi-automated testing for COVID-19 at Northwell Health Labs in Lake Success, New York, on March 11, 2020. (Andrew Theodorakis/Getty Images)

House, Senate Introduce Bills for Free Coronavirus Testing

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democratic senators introduced a bill aimed at making coronavirus testing free for anyone, even if they dont have insurance, as did several lawmakers in the House of Representatives.

The new virus, which causes a disease called COVID-19, has quickly spread in some states, with the main clusters being in Washington state, California, New York, and Massachusetts.

The Free COVID-19 Testing Act would waive cost-sharing for COVID-19 diagnostic testing and related health care services for people with insurance and cover the cost of lab fees for people without insurance.

The bill would also give the state incentives to cover testing and related services through their Medicaid programs and bar private insurers from imposing limits for testing.

Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the bill along with Schumer.

It is not only morally wrong if people are forced to forgo testing because they cant afford it, but also a serious risk to everyone in their community. Time is of the essencethis legislation must be passed without delay, Schumer said in a statement.

A woman wearing a protective mask uses hand sanitizer on arrival at Los Angeles International Airport on March 12, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Congress first and foremost responsibility is to make sure were doing everything we can to keep people safe during this coronavirus outbreak, and that means making more test kits available and making sure that Americans dont have to choose between taking a test or forgoing it because they cant afford it, Smith added.

Reps. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) introduced a bill in the House that would provide free testing for people without insurance.

We cannot risk American lives for the sake of corporate profits. Our highest priority should be to mitigate and contain the spread of the virus, Cardenas said in a statement.

The bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to to reimburse laboratories providing coronavirus testing for the uninsured, appropriating $1 billion for that purpose.

Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that insurance executives agreed to waive all copays on coronavirus testing and extend coverage for virus treatment in all their insurance plans.

President Donald Trump told reporters earlier this month that his administration was going to look at what to do for people without insurance because they have a big problem.

Were going to be looking at the uninsured and see if we can help them out.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said officials were working with Congress on programs to help hospitals as they care for uninsured people with COVID-19.
The US Department of Defense said Thursday it wants to reconsider its decision to award a multi-billion-dollar military cloud computing contract to Microsoft in a bidding process Amazon claims was tainted by

A judge last month issued an order at Amazon's request temporarily blocking the US military from starting work on the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract, or JEDI.

In a filing late Thursday in a federal court, government attorneys asked for the matter to be "remanded," or sent back, to the Pentagon "for 120 days to reconsider certain aspects of the challenged agency decision." It is up to the court whether the case is remanded or proceeds.

The DoD attorneys said the motion came in response to the judge stalling the awarding of the JEDI contract on the grounds Amazon Web Services (AWS) would "likely be able to show" that the department erred in evaluating its proposal.

"We are pleased that the DoD has acknowledged 'substantial and legitimate' issues that affected the JEDI award decision, and that corrective action is necessary," an AWS spokesperson said in a statement.

"We look forward to complete, fair, and effective corrective action that fully insulates the re-evaluation from political influence and corrects the many issues affecting the initial flawed award."



Amazon argues it was shut out of the deal because of President Donald Trump's vendetta against the company and its chief executive Jeff Bezos.

It is seeking testimony from the president and other top officials on the reasons for awarding the $10 billion, 10-year US military cloud computing contract to Microsoft.

"DoD wishes to reconsider its award decision in response to the other technical challenges presented by AWS," the government attorneys said in the filing.

"A remand here is in the interests of justice because it will provide the agency with an opportunity to reconsider the award decision at issue in light of AWS's allegations, this court's opinion, and any new information gathered." The JEDI program will ultimately see all military branches sharing information in a cloud-based system boosted by artificial intelligence.

An earlier court filing by Amazon detailed alleged errors that ended with Microsoft being chosen over its AWS cloud computing division, part of the technology group led by Bezos.

Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, is a frequent target of the US president, who claims the newspaper is biased against him. Amazon was considered the lead contender to provide technology for JEDI, with AWS dominating the cloud computing arena and the company already providing classified servers for other government agencies including the CIA.

Amazon argued in court documents that the Pentagon's choice of Microsoft was mystifying if not for Trump's repeated "expressed determination to, in the words of the president himself, 'screw Amazon.'" The protest filed in the US Court of Federal Claims urges that the rival JEDI bids be re-evaluated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Alabama-based private lab was granted approval Thursday to begin testing for the novel coronavirus and will take samples at drive-thru locations in Vestavia Hills and Bessemer.

Assurance Scientific Laboratories, based in Vestavia Hills, said in a statement that it is currently accepting patient samples to test for the virus, known as COVID-19, and that testing results would be available within four hours.

The lab will be capable of running 10,000 samples a week with room for increased volume, as needed, the company said. Alabamas chief health officer said Thursday that 50 patients have been tested for the virus throughout the state and that there are no confirmed cases yet.

Im proud of the tireless effort our lab put into expediting the delivery of the COVID-19 testing. It was evident that our team was on a mission to do our part, said Mary Beth Minyard, director of microbiology at Assurance. Im sure physicians across the state will be relieved there is now an Alabama-based commercial lab that can offer this rapid testing for their patients. No one wants this spreading any quicker than it already has."

Assurance was granted approval to test for COVID-19 under the FDAs emergency use authorization, the company said.

Tests can be ordered by healthcare providers through the companys website, email at clientservices@assurancescientific.com or phone number at 855-319-4459. Patients who do not have a doctors order for a coronavirus test can go to either drive-thru location where Assurance will have a provider available ... to assess individuals and determine testing needs.

The drive-thru locations -- at 2868 Acton Rd. in Vestavia Hills and 727 Memorial Drive in Bessemer -- were created by Assurance because healthcare professionals were concerned about exposure to the virus in clinics and waiting rooms.
Heidi Klum is concerned she has coronavirus after falling sick on the set of America's Got Talent - but has not been able to get a test amid widespread shortages of kits in the US.

The 46-year-old TV host, who is based in New York City but has been in Pasadena, California to film the talent competition, revealed she really wants to take the test and has tried 'two different doctors' with no success.

Heidi posted a selfie video on Instagram while she lay in bed on Friday, her voice sounding croaky, to explain to her followers why she was not filming America's Got Talent.

Concerned: Heidi Klum, announced on Instagram on Friday that she is sick with a fever, chills and cough but has not been able to get a coronavirus test. She fell sick on Tuesday on the set of America's Got Talent in Pasadena

The model said it 'started with a chill, feeling feverish, cough, runny nose...' before adding, 'Um I'm just not feeling good so that's why I've stayed home to not infect any other people.

'I hope it's just a cold, I would love to do the corona test but there just isn't one here. I've tried with two different doctors and I just can't get one.' the former Project Runway host added.

'Stay safe everyone, stay home if you don't feel good,' she ended her message.

The German-born star fell ill on Tuesday just before going on stage with co-hosts Sofia Vergara, Simon Cowell and Howie Mandel to film auditions for America's Got Talent at the Pasadena Civic auditorium near Los Angeles.

'Um I'm just not feeling good so that's why I've stayed home to not infect any other people.

'I hope it's just a cold, I would love to do the corona test but there just isn't one here. I've tried with two different doctors and I just can't get one.' Heidi revealed

The judges apologized to the audience by saying that the model had come down with a case of food poisoning.

Initially, taping for AGT continued with a studio audience but it was reported on Thursday that they have suspended tapings with audiences 'until further notice'.

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet on Friday with major laboratory company executives to discuss efforts to ramp up testing for the coronavirus, two sources briefed on the matter said, as the outbreak in the country widened.

The German-born model is pictured on Tuesday just before she fell ill on the set of America's Got Talent, just minutes before going on stage

Filming just started: Heidi joins Sofia Vergara, Howie Mandel and Simon Cowell are co-hosting the new season of America's Got Talent

The pace of U.S. testing for the highly contagious virus that is sweeping the world has been heavily criticized. Trump said on Friday that testing in the United States will soon happen on a large scale, but did not provide any details.

On Thursday, the top U.S. official on infectious diseases, Anthony Fauci, told Congress that people cannot get tests for the coronavirus easily and the U.S. testing system is not meeting the country's needs.

The United States has tested a much smaller percentage of people than other major countries with significant outbreaks of coronavirus, which can cause the sometimes fatal COVID-19 respiratory illness.

Failing: The US doesn't appear to be testing for COVID-19 as much as other countries
SEYMOUR  While there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Seymour, or the Valley at large, school officials in Seymour, Ansonia, Derby and Shelton have decided to close school to help slow the potential spread.

All Seymour schools: Bungay, Chatfield-LoPresti, Seymour Middle and Seymour High schools will be closed starting Monday, March 16, with plans to reopen March 30. Seymour was the last Valley school to shutter its doors, in light of the coronavirus. Ansonia, Derby and Shelton schools all closed March 13. As of now, Ansonia and Derby schools plan to reopen March 30, but Shelton schools have not set a return date.

Seymour Superintendent of Schools Michael Wilson, in a letter to parents Thursday night, said he has been monitoring the situation with local and regional health officials, and decided to shut down out of an abundance of caution.

Over these last several days, we have seen an escalation in the concern across the state, Wilson wrote in his letter.

The Director of the Naugatuck Valley Health District has stated there are no confirmed cases in the Valley, he wrote. While this is positive news for us, the threat of the virus impacting the Valley is still potentially there. Therefore, in an effort to be overly cautious and to take on an abundance of precautionary measures to help ensure that our students and staff remain healthy, we will be closing schools for two weeks (March 16-27).

Wilson said he will remain in constant contact with local and state health officials, as well as review daily updates from the CDC in order to respond safely and responsibly to the new information as it becomes available.

We understand that an extended closure of schools can place a burden on families and we empathize with you on that, Wilson said.

We also want to convey that it is the State Department of Educations recommendation to close schools outright and to not implement a distance learning model at this time. The rationale is that providing educational access to the curriculum for all learners is very difficult to accomplish through a digital platform, he said. As a district, we will continue to work as a team with our State Department of Education with the potential for distance learning opportunities in the future.

Wilson said the lost days will be made up as if they were used during the year for inclement weather days. The two week closure will place Seymours last day of school at June 25. Gov. Ned Lamont said no schools will go past June 30 as their last day of school.

Wilson encouraged parents to continue to check for updates online at Seymour Schools Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SeymourPublicSchools/ or the districts website at https://www.seymourschools.org/.

Anyone with questions about the virus can call 2-1-1.

We will get through this together as a team, Wilson said. We remain positive and hopeful that we will resume our normal school routines on March 30, 2020. Please make every effort to keep your families safe and healthy.
DENVER  The Colorado State Patrol and Department of Transportation have increased traffic enforcement along an expansion project on Interstate 25 after a rise in crashes.

Data from the transportation department shows about 390 crashes occurred the year after construction started in central Colorado, which is more than 100 more than the year before, Colorado Public Radio reported Wednesday.

About 66% of those crashes happened when a driver rear-ended the vehicle in front of them, which Colorado State Patrol Maj. Tim Keeton said is caused by speeding, tailgating or a combination of both.

The expansion project started in September 2018 along an 18-mile stretch between Monument and Castle Rock. Construction is expected to conclude in 2022.

The State Patrol has started enforcing more crash-prevention measures, including aerial tracking and lowering the speed limit.

Were there to make sure its safe for everyone, said Trooper Josiah Ii, one of many who will track vehicles from the air. And believe me, we want that road back open and flowing smoothly.

Pilots also report where crashes occur and help direct law enforcement and first-responders.

The State Patrol has also announced the rush-hour speed limit will be lowered Thursday in the construction zone from 60 mph (97 kph) to 55 mph (89 kph).

Please, keep an eye out for those signs and follow them, said Steve Harelson, transportation department chief engineer. Theyre for your safety.
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The Archdiocese of Chicago announced Friday that its schools will close starting Monday amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Archdiocese, more than 71,000 students are enrolled in its 205 K-12 schools.

Statewide, education officials estimate that classes for at least 129,000 additional students have been canceled. A spokeswoman for the Illinois State Board of Education said that total is based on schools or districts to voluntarily report their decision to the state.

Chicago Public Schools, the nations third-largest school district, has not announced any district-wide closure plans. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday that officials are constantly discussing their approach to schools but do not yet feel a shutdown is necessary.

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.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday that he was not ordering schools in the state to close.
A federal grand jury indicted 17 suspected MS-13 gang members and associates whose charges include a racketeering conspiracy, attempted murder and other crimes in San Francisco, authorities said Friday.

Officials arrested six people on Thursday during coordinated stings that stretched from Daly City to San Francisco, while the rest were already in custody, said David Anderson, the U.S. attorney for the San Francisco office.

The defendants belong to MS-13s 20th Street Clique, Anderson said, which claims a chunk of San Franciscos Mission District as territory to rob, extort and traffic drugs, among other acts of violence.

I just want to pause on that for a moment, Anderson said, demonstrating a map of the claimed area Friday while talking to reporters. The defendants claim part of our city as their territory.

Those indicted were identified as: Rogelio Belloso Aleman, 26; Edwin Alvarado Amaya, 22; Fernando Romero Bonilla, 22; Kenneth Campos, 30; Evert Galdamez Cisneros, 22; Luis Velis Diaz, 21; Ronaldy Dominguez, 24; Oscar Espinal, 29; Wilfredo Iraheta Landaverde, 20; Kevin Reyes Melendez, 26; Missael Mendoza, 19; Christian Quintanilla, 19; Elmer Rodriguez, 30; Marvin Osegueda Saravia, 19; Kevin Ramirez Valencia, 22; Alexis Cruz Zepeda, 26; and Kevin Guatemala Zepeda, 23.

Fourteen stand accused of conspiring to racketeer for the purpose of preserving the power, territory, reputation, and profits of the local MS-13. The indictment described 10 incidents stretching back to 2017, when authorities opened an investigation.

In one incident, three of the defendants allegedly fired eight shots from two guns in the area of 21st and Hampshire streets, giving the victim five entry and exit wounds and a fractured tibia.

In another incident in the area of 24th Street and Potrero Avenue, two of those charged allegedly approached an individual sitting at a bus stop and stabbed him. The victim was stabbed 15 times and lost two liters of blood.

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.

Violence is at the core of the organization, Anderson said.

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott and Homeland Security Special Agent Tatum King joined Anderson at the news conference to announce the indictment. Authorities also confiscated two handguns and a machete.

San Francisco is suffering from gang violence and gang claims on our public spaces. Our parks and playgrounds and other public spaces do not belong to transnational criminal organizations, Anderson said. Our public spaces belong to all of us.

Alejandro Serrano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alejandro.serrano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @serrano_alej
As Canada navigates its way through this exploding global coronavirus crisis, we have the benefit of learning from the turbulent world swirling around us.

From Asia and Europe, we can see how tough and decisive actions are necessary to limit the peril, and from America, we can see how a complacent and inept response can make it so much worse.

This challenge is not, as Donald Trump initially said, a little like the regular flu that like a miracle, will disappear. Instead, as the World Health Organization described it on Wednesday, the world is in the grip of a global coronavirus pandemic that is certain to cause many deaths in the weeks and months ahead.

Experts say the eventual death toll could be in the millions if urgent action by governments isnt taken.

As if to reinforce this point, Italy this week announced a virtual lockdown within its borders as the number of deaths soared well beyond 1,000 people, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that up to 70 per cent of the countrys 83 million people could eventually be infected by the virus.

Even more incredibly, between 70 million and 150 million Americans are expected to contract the coronavirus before the end of the outbreak, according to Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician of the U.S. Congress and the Supreme Court.

Given these dire predictions, is there any chance for positive outcomes to emerge from this deadly crisis?

Yes, there could be  and at least five come to mind.

1. Ending Trumps presidency.

Politically, if not medically, the most prominent victim of the coronavirus will likely be Donald J. Trump. Polls taken this week indicate that his approval rating among Americans, already dismal, has nosedived since this crisis began. And so has the U.S. economy. Trumps mishandling of this outbreak has highlighted the utter incompetence of his administration at a time when the resurgent Democrats appear to be uniting behind Joe Biden. Trumps presidency will soon be history.

2. Rebuilding public health agencies.

The U.S. coronavirus outbreak is about to get much worse  exposing a public health system that has been decimated by the Trump administration. Compared with other countries, there is still little capacity in the U.S. to adequately test for the disease. According to CNN, only 11,000 tests in total have been performed on Americans since the crisis began, compared with the 10,000 people a day who are tested in South Korea. As American deaths start to mount, the day of reckoning to determine why this happened is certain to follow.

3. Valuing an international response.

This global health crisis is being compared to the 2008 financial crisis in its profound and enduring potential impact. But in 2008, there was a far more international response, led by the United States. Trillions of dollars were spent to achieve financial security. But in this era of Trump  where an obsession about borders and narrow national interests dominates  there has been no global strategy. Eventually, the world will learn from that.

4. Strengthening key global organizations.

As the coronavirus threat started to emerge, there were alarm bells from the World Health Organization  but global support for the WHO, particularly from the U.S., has been negligible. It asked for $675 million to lead the international response but has received only a fraction of that. In fact, the Trump administration last month, well after the coronavirus outbreak started, indicated that it will be cutting the annual funding of the WHO in half. That cannot continue.

RELATED STORIES World Analysis Donald Trumps response to coronavirus has Canada feeling the heat

5. Remembering why public servants matter.

Although political leaders have inevitably dominated the public debate about coronavirus in their respective countries, they often arent always listened to. The people the public wants to hear most from are the health and medical professionals. In matters of life and death, it is the truth, not the spin, that people want.

In the United States, the best example of that is Dr. Anthony Fauci, who at 79 is the countrys leading expert on infectious diseases. As Americas explainer-in-chief, he has also corrected several of Trumps inaccuracies.

With all due respect, Fauci told a congressional hearing on Wednesday, I have served six presidents and have never done anything other than tell the exact scientific evidence.

As the world tries to figure out how to survive what may very well become one of this centurys darkest moments, we should be thankful that people such as Fauci and his counterparts in Canada and Europe are on the job.

Tony Burman , formerly head of CBC News and Al Jazeera English, is a freelance contributing foreign affairs columnist for the Star. He is based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyBurman

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KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.  This morning in Gov. Browns address concerning coronavirus, she stated that all events or gatherings of more than 250 people are canceled.

This includes churches and after speaking to multiple churches throughout Southern Oregon, NewsWatch 12 learned that many are encouraging vulnerable populations to attend services via livestream.

Klamath Christian Center is just one of many churches making adjustments this weekend. They usually have multiple Sunday services and because of the coronavirus they expect to have less attendance than usual; because of that they feel confident that they will be under the 250-person cap for their Sunday morning services.

For those that choose to come to Sunday service, bypassing the livestream option, there will be notable differences.

We also provide a social time with snacks after the service; were going to be eliminating that, said Scott Hines, the senior pastor at Klamath Christian Center.

Communion will not be offered.

We havent had communion since the coronavirus. We normally offer it the first Sunday of the month and we didnt this month because of coronavirus, said Hines.

Hines says they are also implementing changes to encourage social distancing.

Were setting up more chairs in our sanctuary and were going to encourage people to spread out so that way they have more space, said Hines, wed like people to sit every other chair, that way they have that three-foot space thats been recommended.

One concern that comes with less attendance is the potential financial impact.

Of course, were concerned about the financial side of it, just like all the businesses are, said Hines, This is a huge thing for our economy and were concerned like everyone else.

Hines says, despite the warnings, changes and unavoidable impacts, theres still a lot to be optimistic about.

I think I dont think this is a negative thing for churches. I think this is a great opportunity for us to respond to the needs of people around us and the needs of the people in our community and we want do what we can to help, said Hines, The church has never been about a building, its always about people and relationships. People gathering together in homes was the way the church got started.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  Patients needing care may be allowed to move in and out of Metro Manila even though the travel ban to and from the region starts this Sunday, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Friday.

In a press briefing, Nograles said the inter-agency task force tackling the novel coronavirus pandemic is set to include exemptions to the restrictions announced by President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday night.

Duterte read portions of the resolution adopted by the task force that puts Metro Manila under a month-long community quarantine beginning Sunday, as authorities raised the alert on COVID-19 to the highest level amid rising cases in the country. Over 12 million people living in Metro Manila would not be allowed in and out of the country's economic and political center by land, as well as local air and sea travel, until April 14.

Ifi-flesh out pa natin ang details kasi the general rule is starting March 15, travel to and from Metro Manila ay tigil na, but maglalagay kami ng exceptions, Nograles told reporters in Malacanang. Pag-uusapan natin yung sa pasyente, yung sa cargo and supplies  obviously, hindi makakarating dito yan kung walang driver at helper so maglalagay tayo ng exceptions.

[Translation: We will still flesh out the details because the general rule is starting March 15, travel to and from Metro Manila will stop. We will have exceptions. We will talk about patients, cargo and supplies  because these shipments wont reach the region without a truck driver and helper, so we need to include exceptions.]

READ: Food, cargo shipments allowed despite travel restrictions  DTI

He added that key government officials who will need to travel across provinces will also be allowed free movement despite the travel ban. Some businessmen and key officers in the private sector could also be given leeway.

Sa private sector, ima-map out natin anong companies, industries ang exempted tapos paano ipo-profile yung workers  galing saan, tapos anong proof ang ipapakita [In the private sector, we will also map out which companies and industries are exempted, as well as how to profile workers  where they are coming from, and what proof they should present to authorities], Nograles added.

It has to be very clear to the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) and to our police and to our local government units, sa mga mayors at enforcement authorities, kung ano ang exceptions to the rule and how they will fall under these restrictions, the official said.

READ: PNP to man checkpoints in Metro Manila 'lockdown'

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez earlier clarified that employees living outside the region who report to Metro Manila-based companies will be allowed entry, provided that they show their company IDs as proof that they are traveling for work.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, which is related to the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, but is not as deadly, with the fatality rate now around 3 percent. Five people died in the Philippines due to the disease. Two have recovered, while 48 are admitted at various hospitals in the country as of March 12.
The deadline to nominate your company for our 2020 Top Workplaces competition has been extended to May 15, 2020.

Every week, most full-time employees spend almost as many waking hours with co-workers and managers as they do with family and friends.

So, what is your employer doing to make your workplace the kind you want to go to every morning? How good are the pay and benefits? What are the amenities like?

And given the coronavirus outbreak, what steps are your bosses taking to help you stay healthy?

Its time for the San Antonio Express-News Top Workplaces survey. So if you think your workplace deserves to be nominated, we want to hear all about it. Visit mysa.com/nominate to fill out the survey.

Here are a few rules and factoids:

Any organization with 35 or more employees in the San Antonio area is eligible to participate (can be public, private, nonprofit, government)

Workplaces are evaluated by their employees using a short 24-question survey.

Companies will be surveyed through May.

The deadline for nominations is May 15.

Website for nominations:mysa.com/nominate

Phone number for nominations: 210-348-3758

Energage, the research partner for the project, conducts Top Workplaces surveys for 51 major metro newspapers and surveyed more than 2 million employees at more than 7,000 organizations in 2019.

The 2019 Top Workplaces were Broadway Bank (large employers), JB Goodwin Realtors (midsize employers) and Rheumatology Associates (small employers).

Last years program by the numbers:

1,123: Number of organizations invited

Number of organizations invited 134: Number of organizations surveyed

Number of organizations surveyed 101: Number of organizations recognized

Number of organizations recognized 47,817: Number of employees represented by surveyed organizations

Number of employees represented by surveyed organizations 48,009: Number of employee invited to the survey

Number of employee invited to the survey 29,703: Number of employee survey responses

greg.jefferson@express-news.net
Pro-union Tartine workers are claiming a victory after Thursdays election in San Francisco, but getting the final results could take months and require litigation.

It was a tight election: 89 wanted to join International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and 84 didnt want to join the union among those who voted at the original Tartine Bakery, Tartine Manufactory and Tartine in the Inner Sunset. The SFO location is already unionized. The Berkeley location is scheduled to vote on Friday and could unionize independent of the San Francisco locations.

While the union just needed a simple majority, challenges from both sides are likely to bring major delays. The union challenged 22 of those votes, suspecting the people who cast them werent eligible to vote, while Tartine challenged two. The sealed votes will be sent to the National Labor Relations Board and wont be unsealed until a hearing, unless both sides agree to unseal them early.

Tartine wants to unseal the votes now, speculating that most of the 22 votes the union challenged will be against unionizing.

The process from here can take weeks, months or potentially years to resolve in court, unless the union agrees to unseal them all, Tartine co-owner Elisabeth Prueitt said via email. I dont know why they are claiming victory.

The Tartine union organizers declined The Chronicles request for comment Thursday night.

Were hopeful that the owners will accept the victory of the workers and abide by that, ILWU organizer Agustin Ramirez told Mission Local.

After the election, the National Labor Relations Board will send a letter to Tartine and ILWU listing the challenged voters and asking the parties to submit a statement, explaining why that individual is or isnt eligible to vote. The board will determine if an investigation or hearing is needed  but there could be more objections, drawing out the process further.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Pro-union Tartine workers are fighting for better wages, more benefits, better scheduling and a voice at a company they believe is growing too corporate. They widely accused Tartine co-owners Prueitt and Robertson of union-busting in the weeks since first announcing their intent to unionize.

The owners admit they dont want the union, arguing the bakery already provides a strong working environment and that the economic reality of the industry means the workers wouldnt get what they want. Others in the restaurant industry think Tartine might close in the process.

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 03:02:45|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Health Ministry on Friday confirmed that there are a total of 93 COVID-19 cases across the country, after detecting 10 news cases, one of them died later.

A statement by the ministry said that the 10 new cases are, five in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, two in Wasit and one in each provinces of Karbala and Babil, in addition to another one in Najaf, who died later in the day, bringing the total number of deaths to nine.

The ministry also said that 24 infected people recovered and left the hospitals.

Meanwhile, a meeting by the Iraqi crisis committee, headed by the Iraqi Health Minister Jaafar Sadiq Allawi, decided to ban the entry to Iraq of travelers from Qatar and Germany, except for official delegations and diplomatic missions, the ministry said in a separate statement.

The ban of travelers from the two countries brings the number of countries, which travelers banned from entering Iraq, to 15.

The crisis committee also decided to prevent the movement of citizens between the Iraqi provinces from March 15 to 25, with the exception of goods and emergency cases, in addition to preventing religious visits with large gatherings, the statement said.

The Iraqi authorities have been taking a series of precautionary measures against the spread of COVID-19.

Late on March 7, a Chinese team of experts arrived in Baghdad as part of China's assistance in confronting the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.

The team, which was sent to Iraq by the Red Cross Society of China, includes seven experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The team is expected to stay in Iraq for one month to help the government tackle COVID-19.
On Monday, March 16, at 10:00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host an online conference on the subject: "GfK: Expert Evaluation of the Share of Grey Import of Electronic Appliances in 2019." The GfK research company with the assistance of the European Business Association will present the results of an expert poll on evaluation of the share of grey import of household appliances and electronic appliances. The presentation will be broadcast online: https://youtu.be/pp4PFuGaDj4. Participants: Head of B2B and Strategic Research of GfK Tetiana Sytnyk, Manager of Consumer Electronics Committee of the European Business Association Victoria Kulikova, Director General of the Association of Ukrainian Importers of Household Electronic Appliances Sofia Araslanova, Director of Law Department of Samsung Yevhen Shkola (8/5a Reitarska Street). Please, send your questions to the participants by e-mail: oksana.myronko@eba.com.ua, during online broadcast: https://youtu.be/pp4PFuGaDj4 or in Viber: (063) 700 6572.
Chilling new details have emerged about a suspected murder suicide of a 'reclusive' mother and son who were found dead next to a rifle.

Sally Evans, 65, and son Mark-Anthony Westney, 40, were found dead at his property in Greenough, near Geraldton, Western Australia just after 1pm on Sunday.

The gun found near them was registered to Mr Westney, who put $6million into a business and was struggling financially.

Police believe no third party was involved in their deaths.

The pair who had adorable nicknames for each other - Ms Evans being called 'Honey' and Mr Westney, 'Ants' - were reported missing on March 6 after Ms Evan's ex-husband received a letter in the mail from them.

The news of the 'reclusive' pair's deaths sent shockwaves around the community as friends spoke of the close relationship between the mother and son.

Their remains of Sally Evans, (right) 65, and Mark-Anthony Westney, (left) 40, were found dead at a property in Greenough just after 1pm on Sunday

Ms Evans was described as a natural mother, who was a 'gentle and loving person' and would do anything for her son.

'Everyone who knew Sally loved her. She was the most gentle, soft-spoken person. Sally helped us get through a lot of things in our lives and made us feel that empathy for others. She taught us those qualities,' Ms Evan's stepsister Nic Walker told WAtoday.

Ms Evans would also occasionally stop at the petrol station and buy her son a pineapple splice while he waited in the car. She would always check in with the night shift worker.

Friends said Mr Westney took after his mother and was gentle and quiet. He was also remembered as being intelligent.

'Mark was like a big brother. He showed a lot of patience for me and he was a man well beyond his years even as a child. He was articulate,' Ms Walker said.

No one noticed they were missing as the petrol station assistant swapped shifts and didn't know Ms Evans had stopped coming in.

The mother and son were found dead beside a gun at Mr Westney's property in Greenough, 400km north of Perth

It was her ex-husband who raised the alarm after receiving a letter from them in early March.

'Indications are that they had been there for several days,' Major Crime Squad Detective Inspector Brett Ranford told reporters on Tuesday.

On hearing the devastating news, the petrol station attendant said the pair were 'really close' and was full of praise for Ms Evans.

'[She was] really motherly ... [she'd] just always making sure that I'm okay. She said she couldn't do that kind of thing because she was timid,' the attendant said.

'Now that I think about it, people who usually check on other people need the help themselves.'

Mr Westney was an entrepreneur who built up his farm equipment repairs company from scratch.

He put $6million into the business and expanded before downsizing in 2016.

A post mortem is underway and police are still trying to find out whether they had any family in WA.

Lifeline - 13 11 14
C Shivakumar By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: After the government suspended visas for foreign nationals till April 15, Chennai International Airport, where there was a 26 per cent dip in passenger arrivals this month due to coronavirus pandemic across the globe, maybe operating frugally. Chennai airport sources told Express that 13 international flights have been cancelled and there will be 30 to 35 per cent reduction in air traffic. However, sources said the impact will be more and it will be known only after Friday.

While officials said there will not be a total lockdown of international airport, but with Ghost flights operating in the sector, there hardly would be any foreign passenger arrivals. Not only that even visa-free travel guaranteed to OCI Cardholders will be kept in abeyance till April 15, 2020. Interestingly, the government advisory also warns Indian nationals abroad to avoid non-essential travel and said they will be quarantined for 14 days once they reach the airport. Similarly, Indian nationals, who are planning to travel abroad, have been advised against it as they may also risk being quarantined once they return to India.

The advisory is likely to have a major impact on Indians planning summer vacation. Vignesh, who is to get married on March 21 and planned a trip to Maldives, has now cancelled his trip. So have many persons, who were planning summer vacation abroad. I heard reports of tourists in two resorts in Maldives being quarantined. So, I have cancelled my trip. I would travel after everything settles down, he said.

T Natrajan, CEO, GRT Hotels and Resorts and secretary of South India Hotels and Restaurants Association (SIHRA) said there is uncertainty among hoteliers. There has been 15 to 20 per cent cancellations in star hotels following the advisory from government, he said. Worried over the situation, he said it will have an impact as travel is being restricted on international sector and local people are afraid to travel.

Rangachary, honorary advisor to SIHRA, said March and April are a lean season and hotels will not be much affected. This would be a temporary setback. The only blow will be that conferences and events will stand cancelled, he said. Tamil Nadu Hotel Association president Venkadasubbu said 80 per cent reservation has been cancelled in many hotels. Everywhere reservations are getting affected, he said.

Beena Menon, Director of Craft-a-Break Holiday Pvt Limited, said the entire travel industry is hit following the coronavirus outbreak. There have been cancellations and travel operators are finding it difficult to pay back the money which they had taken as advance. We have made a policy not to take advance as there is uncertainty, she says. However, hotels could feel the pinch if coronavirus pandemic extends beyond July, sources said.
Irans foreign minister demanded Thursday that the United States immediately halt what he called a campaign of economic terrorism and lift sanctions, saying they have made it increasingly difficult for the country to export oil and virtually impossible to import medicine and medical equipment, including to identify and treat coronavirus patients.

Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that U.S. sanctions have also left thousands of Iranians stranded abroad and severely disrupted air links with Europe.

And he said they have led to what he called Googles immoral censoring of a new government app designed to help Iranians identify potential symptoms of the COVID-19 virus.

He said it is imperative that the government of the United States immediately halt its campaign of economic terrorism against the Iranian people and lift all sanctions it has illegally imposed on my country, in violation of the Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers which the U.S. pulled out of in 2018.

To this end, Zarif said, It is imperative that the United Nations and its member states join the Iranian people in demanding that the government of the United States abandon its malign and fruitless approach against Iran. The new coronavirus, COVID-19, has swept across Iran, with the Health Ministry announcing Thursday that in the past 24 hours 75 people had died and more than 1,000 new cases had been confirmed, bringing the death toll to 429 and confirmed cases to 10,075.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned about the coronavirus outbreak in Iran and the U.N. system is providing support.

But the U.N. chief is also very aware of the shortage of medicine and medical equipment that makes it much more difficult to contain the outbreak in Iran, and he appeals to all member states to facilitate and support Irans efforts in this critical moment, Dujarric said.

Zarif said it is unconscionable that the U.S. government has not only increased its maximum pressure campaign just as the virus has spread and is killing our most vulnerable citizens, but that it additionally has the audacity to lecture us on containing the coronavirus as it itself is evidently incapable of containing its onslaught. He sharply criticised the U.S. bullying others to refrain from engaging in legitimate trade with Iran and said even if foreign suppliers are found and required items can be purchased with our assets abroad, myriad U.S. shipping, insurance, financial and banking sanctions make such trade nonviable which is a violation of the 2015 Security Council resolution and international humanitarian law, amounting to a crime against humanity. Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, Zarif said inaction by some countries led to a reduction in the value and quantity of imports from Europe of all pharmaceutical goods, from medical disinfectants to breathing appliances.

And he said imports are now at a lower level than before the 2016 implementation of the Iran nuclear deal.

While other nations debate how to control the spread of the virus  and while their economies suffer and fear takes hold among their populations  our people not only suffer from its effects without the full benefits of adequate medical equipment and supplies, but also the many other ways in which U.S. economic terrorism had devastated many households prior to the inception of COVID-19, and only made worse since its arrival in Iran, Zarif said.

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?? Reporte  Esta es la situacion del coronavirus en Peru hasta las 16:00 horas del 13 de marzo.



Para mas informacion, visita: https://t.co/ATXAITDSWN pic.twitter.com/ERDFeBV7Tq
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GIS - 13 March, 2020: Government is doing its utmost best to reduce the consequential impacts of the pandemic COVID-19 on the Mauritian economy and has come up with a financial support plan to the tune of some Rs 9 billion for economic operators across all sectors of activities including the Small and Medium Enterprises who are affected by the significant economic slowdown. Government is doing its utmost best to reduce the consequential impacts of the pandemic COVID-19 on the Mauritian economy and has come up with a financial support plan to the tune of some Rs 9 billion for economic operators across all sectors of activities including the Small and Medium Enterprises who are affected by the significant economic slowdown.

The Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Renganaden Padayachy, made this statement at a press conference held this evening in Port-Louis.

He underlined that the Plan has been conceived with the help of institutions such as the Bank of Mauritius (BoM), the Economic Development Board, Business Mauritius, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority and the Mauritius Export Association, amongst others, to mitigate the adverse impacts of COVID-19.

The Minister observed that on the stock market, several countries are being affected by the imbalance created in supply and demand following the outbreak of COVID-19. He stated that there is considerable impact on the global economic growth adding that Mauritius can experience a negative impact of 1% to 6,5 % on its Gross Domestic Product.

To this end, he said, several fiscal and monetary measures are being put at the disposal of economic operators at the macroeconomic and cross-sectoral level. He stated that the BoM has already communicated guidelines on Credit Impairment Measurement and Income Recognition following a decrease of 0,5% in the key repo rate. A Special Relief Amount of about Rs 5 billion, he added, has been made available by the BoM for which disbursement will be made through commercial banks from 23 March to 31 July 2020.

Other measures include: an Equity Participation Scheme by the State Investment Corporation Ltd to assist enterprises to overcome financial difficulties; a Revolving Credit Fund of some Rs 200 million at the Development Bank of Mauritius to help companies with turnover of less than Rs 10 million; and a double tax deduction on the investment in Plant and Machinery for the period 01 March to 30 June 2020. Schemes under the Investment Support Programme Ltd and SME Equity Fund Ltd will also be reviewed for greater efficiency.

Moreover, the Finance Minister stated that all works permits expiring this year will be extended automatically up to 31 December 2021. As regards minimising human contacts, Government will promote the Work at Home Scheme and will set up an e-Government Digital Bureau for the provision of public services through electronic means.

With regard to measures taken for the tourism sector, he highlighted that the Passenger Fee on Air Ticket will be suspended for tourists coming from Reunion Island, Australia, and South Africa up to 31 July 2020. Air Mauritius Ltd will extend its promotional fare strategy to attract tourists from Reunion Island, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia while hotel operators will provide a discount from 15 to 35% for tourists from these countries.

Speaking about the exports sector, the Minister stated that the Freight Rebate Scheme will be extended for exports to South Africa and Tamatave and that the Speed to Market Scheme will be broadened to include exports of manufacturing to Africa, Japan, Australia, Canada and the Middle East up to 31 December 2020.

As for the local production, he announced that an amount of Rs 100 million has been earmarked to encourage local production of food crops and urged owners of sugar estates to put, at the disposal of small planters, additional land for cultivation of crops and vegetables.

Minister Padayachy also stated that a sum of some Rs 208 million has been made available to the Ministry of Health and Wellness for the acquisition of new medical equipment in the wake of the COVID-19.

An Implementation and Monitoring Committee under the chair of the Financial Secretary, Mr Dev Manraj, comprising representatives from public and private sectors has been set up to ensure effective implementation of the support plan, he added.
Sir Patrick Coghlin is making a statement on his inquiry report at Stormont

The Renewable Heat Incentive Inquiry report, which will be published on Friday, has cost the taxpayer an estimated 7m.

Sir Patrick Coghlin's report into the cash-for-ash scandal, which brought down the last power-sharing Executive, will be released at 2pm. The retired judge will then make a statement at Stormont.

Senior officials in the Department of Finance received the report on Thursday, but sources said that Sinn Fein Finance Minister Conor Murphy did not. There is speculation that it will be heavily critical of the Civil Service.

Key witnesses at the inquiry, including DUP leader Arlene Foster, have already seen the parts of the report referring to them.

The demeanour of senior DUP figures suggests they believe it contains nothing which will endanger Mrs Foster's leadership. She is expected to publicly respond to the findings this afternoon.

Lawyers for key witnesses will receive the full report on Friday morning. It is understood to run to over 550 pages.

Speaking ahead of its publication, UUP leader Steve Aiken said: "Despite the current challenges of Covid-19, the RHI report potentially represents the most significant critique of the last 10 years of DUP/Sinn Fein misrule.

"That a devolved democracy has been undermined by unacceptable political practices, coupled by a Civil Service that forgot its first role of 'speaking truth to power', is a sad indictment, both of our political system and, more widely, of how Northern Ireland is run."

Mr Aiken added: "Hopefully, the report will lead to a fundamental change in the culture of government. However, we have seen little willingness so far that the main protagonists are prepared to embrace badly needed reform."

Meanwhile, a poultry farming couple, who asked not to be named, have criticised the DUP's handling of RHI.

They said they had joined the scheme in 2015 in good faith and had benefited from the improvement in their chicken houses.

"We have, however, been financially crippled by the decreases in tariffs and are deeply saddened by the lack of integrity of our government, who made binding promises which they have now broken," they said.

"Over the past few weeks we have emailed Mrs Foster several times as we see her as our guarantor with the bank.

"This is because she signed the letter which our bank took as sufficient security to give us the necessary loan. We can no longer make repayments and were seeking guidance from her. Mrs Foster said that she could not comment until after the publication of the inquiry report."

The couple said that Mrs Foster had directed them to the Department for the Economy. But they said that Minister Diane Dodds had told them it was "too early to meet with folk such as ourselves".

The DUP has been asked for comment.

The RHI Inquiry heard oral evidence between November 2017 and April 2018. A total of 63 witnesses appeared before it. The transcripts of their evidence amounted to 17,054 pages.

A further 459 witness statements were received, while 815 section 1 notices compelled recipients to produce evidence.

A total of 1.3 million pages of evidence was submitted to the inquiry, plus 11,000 spreadsheets.

Sixty-nine lawyers were involved in the hearings, and 54 staff were employed by the inquiry.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will not be tested for coronavirus despite spending hours behind closed doors this week with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who was in a Brisbane hospital on Friday night after contracting the disease.

Mr Morrison's office moved to play down fears up to 20 senior members of the federal government would be forced into self-isolation over the next fortnight, after confirmation they were exposed to a confirmed COVID-19 case during Tuesday's meeting of federal cabinet in Sydney.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has tested positive for the coronavirus. Credit:AAP

But Mr Morrison has cancelled his plans to attend the Cronulla Sharks opening NRL match, just hours after he had vowed to join the crowds at Sydney's ANZ Stadium this weekend.

A government spokesman confirmed Mr Dutton had attended Tuesdays meeting of federal cabinet in Sydney and Thursdays meeting of the National Security Committee via video link.
New Delhi, March 13 : In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, Jamia Millia Islamia has decided to suspend its "face-to-face" classes with immediate effect till March 31.

In a notice, the university administration said, "The face-to-face/ group interaction or gathering of the students to be avoided till 31st March." "Teachers should make study material available to students, who need any assistance, online. Teachers should contact the students via email for reference of study material available online," the notice added.

The university also decided to close all schools run by it till March 31, but said board examinations would continue as per the schedule.

"Seminars/conferences to be postponed with immediate effect and the stay in guest houses is to be restricted till March 31. University examinations will continue to be conducted as per schedule," the university said in the notice.

Earlier in the day, other universities and academic institutions like IIT-Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) also took precautionary measures against the outbreak deadly virus.

The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi on Friday had asked its students to leave the hostel rooms till March 31 with the exception of foreign students and PhD scholars.

While the Jawaharlal Nehru University, also announced the suspension of all academic activities, including class presentations and exams, lectures, seminars, conferences and workshops, till March 31.

Over 70 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in India.

The coronavirus outbreak was first reported in December last year in Wuhan city of China. The disease has affected more than 100 countries and has been declared a pandemic by World Health Organisation (WHO).

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The director of Cheltenham race course Ian Renton has defended the decision to go ahead with the annual racing festival.

"We took significant precautions and racegoers are heeding our advice," he told RTE radio's Today with Sean O'Rourke show.

"We have followed our own government's advice," he said.

A lot of people had chosen not to attend the festival, added Mr Renton.

Earlier on RTE's Morning Ireland Minister for Health Simon Harris said that as of now the UK is not deemed an infection area so no measures will be taken with regard to people returning to Ireland from Cheltenham.

Tanaiste, Simon Coveney, speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, said that in his view if Cheltenham had been held in Ireland it would not have gone ahead.

The British government is following the advice of their own health officials while the Irish government is following the advice of Irish health experts, he said.

Mr Coveney said: "Our position is supported by the WHO and the ECDC and our own public health workers."
The rising numbers only show whats been tested for.

As of Thursday morning, state officials said New Jersey has 29 presumed positive cases of the coronavirus, officially called COVID-19. Of those, one person has died.

That number is expected to rise. There are currently 37 potential cases that will be tested by the states Public Health and Environmental Laboratories, according to the officials.

But the state lab only has the resources to test 400 people, New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said at a Wednesday press conference.

The state is in the process of acquiring more tests, DOH Assistant Commissioner Chris Neuwirth previously said, but for now, the limited resources means that there are strict criteria for who gets tested by the state.

Private companies like LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics have begun handling tests as well, taking some pressure off the state lab. And on Thursday, Hackensack Meridian Health announced new rapid-response coronavirus tests that the healthcare network will use.

Nationally, the U.S. has struggled to match testing levels seen in other countries. There have been 11,079 specimens tested for the coronavirus nationwide by either federal labs or local public health labs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But an individual patient typically submits at least two specimens for testing, so the number of actual people tested for the virus is likely much lower.

According to the BBC, South Korea has tested more than 200,000 people and continues to test about 20,000 people each day, while the United Kingdom has tested nearly 30,000 people and tests about 1,000 people each day.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a House of Representatives committee on Wednesday that that the U.S. needs to bolster testing in order to better understand who has the virus, according to NPR.

When asked Thursday about the number of tests done in New Jersey so far, Persichilli downplayed the issue and said that the importance of widespread testing was the subject of debate at national and international levels.

Testing positive does nothing to impact the clinical treatment of the patient, Persichill said. She noted that because there is no cure for the coronavirus itself, patients could only be treated for symptoms.

Can I get tested for the coronavirus?

Because of the limited amount of tests available at New Jerseys state lab, patients must meet certain criteria in order to be tested. That criteria include showing symptoms of lower respiratory illness, having contact with someone who is known to have the corona virus and travel to an area with a Level 2 travel health warning from the CDC within the last 14 days. As of Thursday, those countries were China, Iran, South Korea, Italy and Japan.

If a patient meets the criteria, the healthcare provider will notify the patients local health department, which will then notify the DOH. Both of those authorities need to review the case before giving approval for the patient to be tested for the coronavirus.

If a patient does not meet the criteria but is still sick, healthcare providers are advised by the DOH to test for more common illnesses and urge the patient to stay home from school or work.

Hackensack Meridian is also being selective about who is tested by the networks new resources. In a statement Thursday, officials for the health network stressed that strict protocols will be followed in determining which patients are eligible for COVID-19 testing, and urged patients to first consult with their doctor.

The private companies appear to be following similar guidelines. According to LabCorps website, patients must meet the same criteria to have specimens tested by their facilities.

Alexandra Altman, a spokesperson for Gov. Phil Murphys office, previously told NJ Advance Media that LabCorp is not required to get approval from the DOH and local health departments before conducting a COVID-19 test, and that LabCorp can test whatever is sent to them by individual healthcare providers.

How many people can be tested each day?

Even with the limited number of tests, Neuwirth said Thursday that New Jerseys state lab can test about 40 to 60 people each day.

Its enough right now, today, based on the volume that were seeing, Neuwirth said.

Hackensack Meridians rapid response tests allow the network to test 24 people every eight hours, according to a statement released Thursday.

It is unclear what the testing capabilities of private labs like LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics are.

How long do tests take?

Until Thursday, all tests in New Jersey took one to two days to process before giving results. That timetable remains the same for tests done by the state lab.

But Hackensack Meridians newly announced rapid response tests, which the network began using on Thursday, process results in just hours. Initially, these new tests will be available at hospitals in the Hackensack Meridian network.

Whats the relationship between the state and private testing companies?

New Jersey officials have had trouble communicating and coordinating with the private testing companies, according to a NJ Spotlight report.

Persichilli touched on that communication trouble at Thursday afternoons press conference, when she noted that it is unclear how many New Jerseyans are being tested by private labs.

We do not know how many specimens are at the commercial labs, Persichilli said.

Private lab testing presents another challenge to the state: It can slow down the process of investigating how a person may have contracted the coronavirus, and how they may have spread it. One of the newly reported cases  a 16-year-old girl from Englewood  is an example. Persichilli said the girl had her specimens tested by LabCorp, and that the state still had few details about her case.

When the specimens go to the commercial lab, theres a real lag time before we get information on that case, Persichilli said.

What about the CDC confirmation tests?

The final piece in the testing puzzle is in Atlanta, where New Jersey sends positive COVID-19 results from its state lab to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be tested again for confirmation.

But so far, the CDC has not returned results for any tests submitted by New Jersey, Neuwirth said at Wednesdays press conference. He added that the CDC has still not given an explanation for the delay.

Until that confirmation testing is done and reported by the CDC, New Jerseys COVID-19 cases remain presumed positive.

The CDC did not respond to questions from NJ Advance Media.

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QIAGEN gains BARDA funding for approval process of QIAstat-Dx test kit for SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

?

First syndromic testing solution to get U.S. agency?s development support in novel coronavirus response

QIAstat-Dx Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 Panel test kit will rapidly differentiate novel coronavirus from 21 other pathogens implicated in respiratory syndromes

Further expanding QIAGEN?s global mobilization to scale up testing supplies for the COVID-19 response

QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced it will develop a new QIAstat-Dx test kit to differentiate the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus from 21 other serious respiratory infections and will receive advanced development support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services\-\- Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). Accelerated development of the QIAstat-Dx test kit further expands QIAGEN?s global mobilization for the emergency, which already includes a dramatic increase in production of components for a full range of U.S. and international testing protocols.

QIAGEN?s QIAstat-Dx solution to help in the response to COVID-19 disease becomes the first syndromic testing product selected for development through ASPR\-\-s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) streamlined selection process, known as an easy broad agency announcement (EZ-BAA). BARDA will contribute $598,000 to accelerate QIAGEN\-\-s evaluation of the testing cartridge that detects the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The QIAstat-Dx kit will be a molecular testing panel designed to aid in the diagnosis of patients with respiratory syndromes, in about one hour, by differentiating the novel coronavirus from 21 other bacterial and viral respiratory pathogens. QIAGEN?s panel will include assays targeting two genes used to detect the pathogen behind the disease, Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).?The virus was provisionally called 2019-nCoV when it first surfaced.

?The coronavirus emergency goes to the heart of QIAGEN?s mission and expertise. Our team is partnering with customers and public health authorities worldwide to quickly scale up capacity for coronavirus testing, and also to make available the Sample to Insight QIAstat-Dx respiratory panel with SARS-CoV-2 detection,? said Thierry Bernard, Interim CEO of QIAGEN and Senior Vice President, Head of the Molecular Diagnostics Business Area. ?We have scaled up production to respond to the rapid spread of COVID-19, moving to 24-hour, seven-day-a-week operations at two key sites, investing to expand capacity by 70% and adding staff. Our top priority is producing the QIAamp and EZ1 sample technologies recommended in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control guidelines for testing, as well as the new QIAstat-Dx cartridges. We are working closely with laboratories, hospitals and other customers around the world to assess their flexibility, timing and quantity needs.?

QIAGEN is aggressively managing supply chains and customer service to help address the pandemic. The company has worked with customers to help support laboratory-developed tests, including applications for QIAGEN automation systems. Unlike other companies, QIAGEN is not facing supply chain interruptions from China or other markets. For customers facing delays or allocations, QIAGEN is working out individualized supply plans and alternative workflow solutions.

The HHS funding and QIAGEN?s discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are the first steps to adding the QIAstat-Dx syndromic testing solution to U.S. efforts to contain the outbreak.

In the rapidly evolving global response to the coronavirus outbreak, the regulatory status of the QIAstat-Dx Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 Panel will vary by location. The panel will be available with CE-IVD marking in Europe and other markets in the coming weeks.

The QIAstat-Dx system was introduced in Europe in 2018 and in the United States in mid-2019. It enables fast, cost-effective and easy-to-use syndromic testing with Sample to Insight workflows. A technician simply loads a clinical sample (such as a swab) into a single-use QIAstat-Dx cartridge and places it in the analyzer. QIAGEN chemistries for sample processing and analysis are built in, and the QIAstat-Dx instrument delivers results in about one hour.

Further information on QIAGEN?s response to the coronavirus outbreak can be found?here.

Forward Looking Statement

Certain statements contained in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. To the extent that any of the statements contained herein relating to QIAGEN\-\-s products, launches, regulatory submissions, collaborations, markets, strategy, taxes or operating results, including without limitation its expected net sales, net sales of particular products (including anticipated sales of its QuantiFERON latent TB Test, its portfolio of next generation sequencing solutions and QIAstat-Dx), adjusted net sales, adjusted diluted earnings per share results, product launches (including anticipated launches of digital PCR products, a new version of its QuantiFERON-TB test, QuantiFERON-TB Access, the QIAstat-Dx panel for respiratory conditions and a CE-IVD marked panel for meningitis), placements of QIAsymphony modular PCR instruments, improvements in operating and financial leverage, currency movements against the U.S. dollar, and plans for investment in its portfolio and share repurchase commitments, are forward-looking, such statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with management of growth and international operations (including the effects of currency fluctuations, regulatory processes and dependence on logistics); variability of operating results and allocations between customer classes; the commercial development of markets for our products to customers in academia, pharma, applied testing and molecular diagnostics; changing relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic partners; competition; rapid or unexpected changes in technologies; fluctuations in demand for QIAGEN\-\-s products (including fluctuations due to general economic conditions, the level and timing of customers\-\- funding, budgets and other factors); our ability to obtain regulatory approval of our products; difficulties in successfully adapting QIAGEN\-\-s products to integrated solutions and producing such products; the ability of QIAGEN to identify and develop new products and to differentiate and protect our products from competitors\-\- products; market acceptance of QIAGEN\-\-s new products and the integration of acquired technologies and businesses; and the other factors discussed under the heading ?Risk Factors? contained in Item 3 of our most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F. For further information, please refer to the discussions in reports that QIAGEN has filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. Our sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials. Assay technologies make these biomolecules visible and ready for analysis. Bioinformatics software and knowledge bases interpret data to report relevant, actionable insights. Automation solutions tie these together in seamless and cost-effective workflows. QIAGEN provides solutions to more than 500,000 customers around the world in Molecular Diagnostics (human healthcare) and Life Sciences (academia, pharma R&D and industrial applications, primarily forensics). As of December 31, 2019, QIAGEN employed approximately?5,100?people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at?http://www.qiagen.com.
The Exchequer is likely to see continued rises in corporation tax receipts for the next few years after hitting a record high in 2019, the former head of the State's budget watchdog has said.

The State collected 10.4bn in corporate taxes last year as overall revenues also hit a record of close to 60bn, allowing the Government to post a small budget surplus for the second successive year as well as covering rising health costs and infrastructure spending.

"At least in the near term, it will continue to rise," Seamus Coffey said at the Irish Tax Institute yesterday when asked about corporation tax. He left the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council at the end of last year.

Both the Department of Finance and the Council have said there is a risk the surge in corporation tax receipts, which rose by 7.6bn between 2011 and 2019, was unsustainable and both have highlighted dangers to this source of revenue from changes to the global tax system.

Under Mr Coffey, the Fiscal Advisory Council warned between 2bn and 6bn of the revenues from corporation taxes could not be explained by the country's normal economic activity.

Almost 8 in every 10 of corporate taxes is paid by a handful of US multinationals headquartered here and who use Ireland as a base to sell goods and services, benefiting from the State's low corporation tax rates.

Changes to the global tax code could see them pay more taxes where they sell products, which should mean less money for the State.

The Department of Finance estimates there could be an 800m-2bn hit to State finances from 2022 onwards as a result of these changes.

Mr Coffey said the impact would depend on whether additional tax payments to be made would "come from the Irish part or the residual US profit".

He also forecast there would be more onshoring of intellectual property here as the "double Irish" tax schedule expires in December. "It looks like more IP will be coming to Ireland," Mr Coffey said.
Some 250,000 images from historical, religious and cultural volumes are a "treasure" now accessible to everyone. For Fr Goh, they bear witness to "the cultural exchange with the Jewish and Muslim worlds and to the Franciscan mission in the Holy Land. They represent dialogue through science, education and medicine. The most famous is a chorale donated by Henry IV of England.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews)  The ancient books of the Custody of the Holy Land will soon be available online, accessible to everyone, a real "treasure" made up of more than 250,000 images.

The project is not meant to remember the past with nostalgia, but rather to ensure a future for the books kept on these increasingly technological shelves, read the Custodys website.

More than a thousand volumes, some ancient stored in the General Library of the Custody of the Holy Land will be remotely accessible.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Fr Lionel Goh (picture 2), director of the General Library of the Custody of the Holy Land, said that "the preservation of manuscripts and books" is important "not only for the content" but also for cultural exchange with the Jewish and Muslim world.

It allows us to reconstruct "the ties of the past 800 years. In spite of religious and political conflicts in the Holy Land, these volumes "bear witness to dialogue through science, education, medicine.

In a certain way, these books and manuscripts come to define our Christian character in the Holy Land" as a "devout" people linked to prayer, Fr Goh explained.

Christians are compassionate people who take care of the elderly and the sick", making a great contribution "in education and training of skilled workers.

Last but not least, they do great work as "mediators of peace between the West and the Middle East.

For Fr Goh, These books are truly a bridge between cultures, peoples, space and time what is more, this project is important because our manuscripts go back from the 12th to the 18th century and the have suffered damage from time and use.

To preserve them, we had to capture the images now, before they vanished. Indeed, they are "unique" manuscripts.

Many of them are "handwritten and unique in the world, including the oldest liturgical texts "used by the first Franciscans of the Holy Land, the most famous one being a chorale in three volumes (originally six) donated by King Henry IV of England.

Still others are volumes on "spirituality" used by the friars in the past and "Sermons of the Church Fathers", as well as "scientific manuscripts and books on medicine and grammar".

Many of these have added value because "they testify to the life and mission of the Franciscans in the Holy Land for the past 800 years. They constitute a bridge between peoples and cultures".

Christian Media Center project manager Ewa Dalicka-Witakowska explains that these are texts of a different nature: from history books to works on theology, including religious poetry and texts dedicated to travel and pilgrimages, as well as miscellaneous documents.

The books come in 18 Eastern and European languages, such as Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, English, Ethiopian, French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin, and Turkish.

Ph.D. candidate Justyna Kurowska has done painstaking work, leafing through the books page by page and getting the photographer to take a picture of each, analysing every image and then putting them together in a single file that contains the entire volume.

For some texts, the operation was simple, but for others it was more complicated and required more time and care.

" The material must be handled with care, the fragile pages must be turned with care, she says. The Franciscan friars have collected here books dating back to the 12th century, either handwritten or produced with the technique of mobile printing.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 21:03:05|Editor: xuxin

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Mutahi Kagwe (C), cabinet secretary for health, speaks during a press conference in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, March 13, 2020. Kenya's Health Ministry announced on Friday the country's first case of COVID-19, making it the 15th African nation to report an infection. (Xinhua/Fred Mutune)

NAIROBI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The announcement of the first COVID-19 case in Kenya on Friday ignited measured anxiety while shining a spotlight on the capacity of the country's public health infrastructure to respond to the viral disease.

Kenya became the first country in East Africa to confirm a COVOD-19 case that was detected from a 27-year-old female citizen who traveled back to the country from the United States on March 5.

Mutahi Kagwe, cabinet secretary for health, said the patient was confirmed positive to the viral disease at the National Influenza Laboratory Center on Thursday night.

According to Kagwe, the patient had visited the main referral hospital where she sought treatment for symptoms that mimic COVID-19 and was placed in an isolation ward after testing positive to the disease.

"The patient is clinically stable, has normal temperatures but will not be released until she turns negative," Kagwe said during the announcement of the first COVID-19 case in Kenya.

He said the government will intensify contact tracing of persons the patient had interacted with and encourage them to self-quarantine in order to contain further infections.

Kagwe said the entire state machinery had been mobilized to strengthen the response to the first case of COVID-19 that will be a litmus test on Kenya's ability to withstand jitters linked to a global public health emergency.

"The government will continue to strengthen measures to halt further spread of the disease in the country," said Kagwe adding that an emergency team has already reactivated coronavirus mitigation strategies in the wake of a new case.

He announced radical measures to contain the highly contagious disease that includes a ban on public gatherings, prison visits, inter-school sporting activities and restricted travel overseas for civil servants and citizens.

Kagwe said that investors in the public transport sector will be involved in the promotion of respiratory hygiene targeting commuters and urged individuals with symptoms linked to COVID-19 to self-quarantine and seek medical assistance.

"We are urging members of the public to maintain proper respiratory hygiene, avoid crowded places and report promptly to nearby health facilities if they experience fever, headache and dry coughing," said Kagwe.

He said the government will take legal action against individuals who peddle falsehoods and rumors about COVID-19 through social media platforms.

The Kenyan government swung into action immediately the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the country in order to reassure the jittery public and financial markets.

President Uhuru Kenyatta held an emergency meeting with the National Security Council to discuss effective measures that should be rolled out to contain public anxiety linked to the epidemic that is gradually spreading in the Sub-Saharan African region.

During the meeting, Kenyatta announced that additional medical personnel will be recruited to enhance surveillance and management of detected cases.

"Government officials at all levels will be tasked with ensuring that mitigation measures like public awareness on hygiene and discouragement of mass gatherings and meetings are observed," Kenyatta said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

Kenya has been ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) among the seven African countries at risk of COVID-19 given its status as a regional trading and transportation hub.

The East African Nation on March 6 launched an isolation and treatment center for the viral disease that has already affected strategic sectors of the economy like tourism, manufacturing and financial services.

Experts said the announcement of the first case of COVID-19 will test the resilience of Kenya's economy and public health infrastructure.

"The economy will definitely experience some bumps as the country deal with aftershocks of COVID-19 that include reduced spending and travel," said Eliud Muriithi, a Nairobi based financial expert.

He said that visionary leadership combined with enhanced surveillance, diagnosis and treatment of the disease is key to calm jitters among citizens and investors.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah was released from detention after 7 months. Abdullah was locked since the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir.

Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah standing outside his house after being released

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and patriarch of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC), Farooq Abdullah, who was locked at his own residence in Gupkar by the Government since the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, was released on Friday, March 13, after a period of 7 months. Addressing the media outside his residence, Farooq Abdullah said he is free now. Thanking the government and people of the country for immense support, 82-year-old Abdullah said he is am grateful to the people who raised voice and prayed for his freedom.

He further said that freedom would be complete once all other detained leaders including former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah would be out. He demanded quick actions from the Government to release all the detained leaders.

Abdullah was released hours after the Jammu and Kashmir administration revoked the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against him which was imposed on September 15 after a MDMK leader Vaiko who claimed that NC leader was detained illegally.

Srinagar: National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah released from detention pic.twitter.com/eUgs3pH8y8  ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

Farooq Abdullah, a five-time parliamentarian and a member of the present Lok Sabha, became the first Chief Minister against whom the Public Safety Act (PSA) was imposed.

Also read: Coronavirus in India: How to make hand sanitizers at home?

Also read: Coronavirus in India: KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan says players, spectators health first

Earlier, on orders of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, several Jammu and Kashmir leaders were taken into custody before the Home Minister tabled the bill to scrape Article 370 on August 5.

Soon after Farooq Abdullahs release, the National Conference, in a tweet, welcomed the governments decision and said that other leaders should also be released at the earliest.

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There are a few legends who have witnessed the two world wars and chronicled the happenings around the globe at that time. One of these was Serbian author and novelist Ivo Andric (nee Ivan Andric), who went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961. The Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer passed away on March 13, 1975.

As we observe the 45th death anniversary of the writer, heres looking back at a few interesting facts about him.

Ivo was born in Austrian-occupied Bosnia on October 9, 1892. Being an active member of several youth organisations, Ivo was arrested by Austro-Hungarian police in charge of plotting the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914.

He completed his studies after the First World War ended and also obtained his Ph.D in 1924. After working as a diplomatic officer for several years, Ivo was appointed as Yugoslavias ambassador to Germany. However, it ended soon after Germans invaded the country.

During World War II, he stayed underground at a friends apartment and wrote some of his most important works, including Na Drini cuprija (The Bridge on the Drina).

Some of Andrics literary influences included Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Nietzsche, Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann, Victor Hugo, Guy de Maupassant, Joseph Conrad and Henrik Ibsen, among others.

While he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in October, 1961 by the Swedish Academy, later documents would reveal that he was selected over writers like JRR Tolkein, Robert Frost, John Steinbeck and EM Forster.

He wrote mostly about his life in Bosnia under Ottoman rule. The Belgrade apartment, where he spent much of his last years, was converted into a museum after his death.

Here are some inspirational words from Yugoslavias only Nobel laureate that have been inked in our hearts forever:

Forgetfulness heals everything and song is the most beautiful manner of forgetting, for in song man feels only what he loves.

What can and doesnt have to be always, at the end, surrenders to something that has to be.

One shouldnt be afraid of the humans. Well, I am not afraid of the humans, but of what is inhuman in them.

What doesnt hurt - is not life; what doesnt pass - is not happiness.

Between the fear that something would happen and the hope that still it wouldnt, there is much more space than one thinks. On that narrow, hard, bare and dark space a lot of us spend their lives.

There is no rule without revolts and conspiracies, even as there is no property without work and worry.

Sadness is also a kind of defence.

When I am not desperate, I am worthless.

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Dana Born named SIOP Fellow

Dana Born, PhD has been named a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP).

Dr. Born was granted Fellow status by the SIOP Executive Board at its most recent meeting.

The profession of industrial and organizational psychology addresses the full range of human interactions in organizational settings. Members of the profession may be researchers, teachers, practitioners or administrators. They work in several settings including in business, government, consulting, and academia. SIOP Fellows may be recognized for outstanding contributions to the profession in any of these areas.

As a military officer, Dr. Dana Born was the first at many things. She was the first female aide to the first female Secretary of the Air Force, the first female general officer in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, the first female service academy graduate general officer, and the first female dean of the United States Air Force Academy.

Dr. Born's current teaching at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government focuses on leadership, something she exhibited during the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon, where she was a squadron commander. Dr. Born has been a leader in I-O psychology as well, using that foundation to create and implement policy for the Department of Defense.

SIOP has been recognizing the outstanding contributions of members by granting Fellow status throughout its history. To be considered for SIOP Fellow status, a member must be nominated by another member, and endorsed by at least three more SIOP Fellows. A member who has been active in the Society for ten years or more is eligible based on meaningful, sustained and unusual impact on the field.

###

About SIOP

The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is an international professional organization with an annual membership of more than 10,000 industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists. SIOP's mission is to enhance human well-being and performance in organizational and work settings by promoting the science, practice, and teaching of I-O psychology. Learn more about the Society at http://www. siop. org

This story has been published on: 2020-03-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The three giant drug distributors are negotiating a deal with the states to end thousands of opioid lawsuits nationwide, in which they would pay $19.2 billion over 18 years and immediately submit to stringent monitoring requirements to assure that suspicious orders for prescription opioids would be halted.

But although pressure is building to settle the costly, protracted litigation and bring relief to communities hit hard by addiction and overdose deaths, another group of plaintiffs is objecting strongly to the terms of the deal. Cities and counties, which have brought far more cases than state governments, say they are being blindsided by state attorneys general because the proposed agreement would give states control over the money that would trickle down to them.

So far, 31 states plus the District of Columbia have tentatively agreed to the deal, while 19 states, including Florida, Connecticut and West Virginia, have not.

According to a confidential 21-page outline of the deal obtained by The New York Times, the companies would pay in full only when all plaintiffs  including the cities and counties  have withdrawn their lawsuits. Even after a majority of states sign up, the companies would guarantee payment of just 55 percent of the money and would release the remaining 45 percent only when each state can confirm that its cities and counties are on board.
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.

In March 2019, a shooter livestreamed on Facebook as he attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing more than 50 people and injuring many more. The livestreams slipped through the platforms content moderation systems, allowing thousands of people to view, download, and redistribute the horrific footage. In the aftermath of the attacks, Facebook and YouTube removed millions of copies of the videos in an effort to stifle their viral spread, but platforms struggled to keep the videos offline.

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It was just one of a series of horrific violent episodes that have circulated on social media platforms like Facebook Live, Instagram, and even Amazons gaming platform, Twitch, in the past year. In response, governments and tech companies are forming new partnerships and strategies to keep violence from going viral online and to prevent it from being broadcast in the first place. But the strengthening of relationships between tech companies and law enforcement agencies illustrates the risk of content moderationhistorically a zone of private regulationbeing co-opted to facilitate law enforcement and digital surveillance.

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As platforms develop more robust ways of identifying and ferreting out violent content, they also whet the appetites of police and intelligence agencies that might benefit from those capabilities.

Facebook, Twitch, and most other mainstream social media platforms ban the dissemination of violent content, but their content moderation systems arent always able to keep up. Once a video proliferates, its nearly impossible to entirely remove it from the internet and the world. Current content moderation entails chasing after prohibited content, rather than preventing its upload in the first place. And many content moderation workers are underpaid contractors working under abysmal conditions, as the scholar Sarah Roberts has documented. When moderation workers have to look at dozens of horrific photographs and videos each minute, they will inevitably make mistakes, and some banned content will slip through. Facebook and other big social media platforms are working on artificial intelligence and machine learning methods to detect and prevent violent content from ever being posted, but those techniques are still fairly rudimentary.

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One response is the call for more collaboration between platforms and government actors. In May 2019, a group of dozens of nations, tech companies (including Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter), and civil society organizations adopted the Christchurch Call, committing to accelerate research into and development of technical solutions to prevent the online dissemination of terrorist and extremist violence. These collaborative arrangements bring together a mix of enhanced content moderation efforts, automated technologies, and law enforcement input.

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The tech industrys hope is that by developing new techniques and technologies to comply with government pressures, the sector can stave off strengthening calls for harder regulation. The tech industry is touting its private development of automation and artificial intelligence as a promising answer to the proliferation of online violence. But private sector investment is driven in no small part by government pressure. As platforms develop more robust ways of identifying and ferreting out violent content, they also whet the appetites of police and intelligence agencies that might benefit from those capabilities.

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Accordingly, the tech sector is doubling down on investments in automated technology to address the challenges of moderation at scale. A separate tech industry consortium, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, has created a shared database of hashesdigital fingerprintsto identify violent terrorist videos and keep them from being shared across social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, as well as other online services.

New automated moderation techniques will create ripe new sources of information for both private and public sector surveillance of users. The more platforms automate their content moderation techniques, the more data they can easily and quickly aggregate about users who attempt to post prohibited contentmapping their relationships, associations, and networks. For example, New Zealand police could ask Facebook to provide a list of all the users who attempted to repost the Christchurch video, or a list of all the users who watched one of the streams. Platforms could be asked to share this information with law enforcement in response to subpoenas, warrants, or other less-formal demands.

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Consider, for example, social medias response to the changing relationship between the United States and Iran. Soon after the United States designated Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization, Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram began deleting the pages and profiles for IRGC officials and associates. In the wake of the United States killing of IRGC commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a January 2020 strike, Facebook and Instagram also began deleting posts that expressed support for Soleimani.

From a platform perspective, deleting these posts and pages is the quickest and easiest way to ensure that companies are not punished for hosting unlawful content. And if the chief policy goal is to stop dangerous ideas from spreading, then Facebook and Instagrams approach offers a highly effective silencing technique.

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But from a law enforcement perspective, deleting these posts and pages might also deprive authorities of useful sources of intelligence. As Instagram and Facebook build out their capacity to automatically identify support for terrorist organizations, law enforcement might want to use these pages as honey pots, ensuring access to key information about those who engage with this content. This information could be used to map networks of terrorist sympathizers or help shed light on the diffusion of dangerous propaganda. Or it might simply help law enforcement identify and monitor those who have viewed dangerous content.

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Information from social media platforms has long been a critical asset for law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Using search warrants and subpoenas, law enforcement agencies frequently get access to user data in the course of investigations. These demands are limited by privacy laws and the Fourth Amendment, which protects individuals against unreasonable government searches and seizures. As platforms redesign their content moderation rules and systems, law enforcements influence is equally widespreadbut less constrained by formal rules.

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In some cases, police needs and automated content moderation systems are converging. London police, for instance, have partnered with Facebook to provide images from body-worn cameras in order to train Facebooks artificial intelligence system to detect first-person footage of shootings. If we want Facebook to be able to identify and filter out unlawful violent content, as the consensus seems to hold, then this kind of cooperation is critical.

But law enforcement also influences the design and implementation of content moderation systems in more subtle and alarming ways. In 2016, Israeli authorities attributed a wave of violence in part to Palestinian incitement on Facebook and sharply criticized the platform for sabotaging law enforcements efforts to take down posts from Palestinian users. The Knesset considered a law that would have required Facebook to take down inflammatory content. According to the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, Facebook responded to the rising pressures by cracking down on Palestinian posts and pages. While the law ultimately was shelved at the eleventh hour, Facebook has reportedly continued to work closely with Israeli law enforcement to identify violations of its community standards. Or some of them. Last year, the Jerusalem Post reported that incitement by Israeli posters against Palestinians has remained a major problem on the platformone that neither Facebook nor Israeli law enforcement appears eager to address.

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Even as the relationships between policing and platforms grow more embedded, they have remained pretty opaque to the public. Surveillance technologies are rarely subject to the same public oversight and control mechanisms as other government contracts, as Catherine Crump has shown. And when these relationships are unofficial, informal pressures on platforms tend to take place through backdoor channels that are less amenable to public scrutiny.

Though we often think of content moderation and surveillance as two entirely separate issues, the extent of law enforcement pressure on private content moderation shows how entwined they are. Together, platforms and law enforcement are capable of identifying individualsboth online and offfor monitoring and surveillance to an unparalleled degree. And the push for automated content moderation adds to these capabilities, expanding the wealth of data about users, their relationships, their interests, and their engagement with online content and creating new sources of data that are highly relevant to law enforcement investigations. Platforms abilities to identify, track, and control our online behaviors might be unsettling, but they are a gold mine for law enforcement. The good thing is that the tech sector might do more to limit the spread of horrific content on social media. But it would be wise to remember that its users interests might be different from law enforcements preferences.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
As the real story behind her domestic violence case against Johnny Depp unveils little by little, Amber Heard is also getting even creepier in the eyes of netizens.

It started when photographs of Heard and her current girlfriend, Bianca Butti, emerged on Twitter. On March 6, people saw the couple arriving at the LAX in Los Angeles, California.

As seen in the photographs, they were walking inside the airport hand in hand. However, most people online observed and took notice of the appearance of Butti, whom people mistook for Johnny Depp.

Butti the Second Depp?

Daily Mail reported how Butti sported a Depp-vibe outfit: starting from a grey hat, black bomber jacket, and dark-colored jeans. She even paired with the "Aquaman" star who wore a tan coat, white blouse, black skirt and knee-high black leather boots.

Because of Butti's recent photos, fans of the 56-year-old "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor expressed how "sickening" it is to see how Heard tries hard to make her girlfriend look like her ex-husband.

One fan said, "There are a lot of pictures of her girlfriend dressed almost exactly like Johnny."

"The b*tches Amber Heard and Ms. Butti are both creepy. Justice for Johnny Depp," another one wrote.

Not only is it weird, but it is disturbing. Not just because of the fact Bianca Butti is dressed similarly to Johnny Depp, but because this is another form of abuse; publicly mocking Johnny Depp. Amber Heard wore a similar outfit to this one when she was with Johnny Depp. pic.twitter.com/H1Aw4xr2nC  Natalia (@Natalia79894069) March 8, 2020

The two only started dating in January 2020 when they visited Palm Springs together and got photographed kissing. The intimate meet-up was followed by their PDA-filled moment at the 2020 Women's Day March in Los Angeles, California, where they stepped out together hand-in-hand.

The 33-year-old actress even introduced Butti to a friend at the star-studded pre-2020 Oscars party in Los Angeles, saying, "this is Bianca, my new girlfriend."

Heard Also Did the Same to Tasya?

Netizens truly have eagle eyes that they even saw how Heard also did the same thing to Tasya van Ree.

One fan pointed out that if people would look at the actress' former partner, she indeed had the Johnny style at all times.

Aside from the outfits, the American photographer -- like Depp -- also allegedly became a victim of physical assault when she was still with Heard.

On September 14, 2009, a police officer who was on duty at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport claimed that he personally saw the "London Fields" actress getting physically abusive of Tasya. According to the witness, Amber grabbed and hit the artist before pulling the necklace off of her neck.

TMZ reported that authorities arrested Heard, but she only spent one night behind bars.

Amber got released the following day since Seattle-based prosecutors did not press charges as the victim and perpetrator were residents of California and were only passing through the Washington State via Seattle.

However, years later, Tasya released a statement in an attempt to clear Amber's name.

"In 2009, Amber was wrongfully accused of an incident that was misinterpreted and over-sensationalized by two individuals in a power position," Tasya said before she confirmed that they remain close even after the incident and that she has "utmost respect" toward her.
NEW YORK, March 13, 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
A former TMC MLA on Friday threw his hat into the Rajya Sabha poll arena as an Independent candidate, in an apparent attempt by West Bengal's ruling party to force a contest with the joint Left-Congress nominee.

Dinesh Bajaj filed his nomination papers minutes before the 3 pm deadline.

TMC candidates Arpita Ghosh and Mausam Noor also filed their papers during the day. The party's other two candidates, Dinesh Trivedi and Subrata Bakshi, had filed their nomination papers on March 11.

Polling will be held for five Rajya Seats from West Bengal on March 26 and but for Bajaj's nomination candidates of all parties would have got elected unupposed.

A senior Trinamool Congress leader, who did not wish to be named, said Bajaj will get the surplus votes the TMC has.

Leader of the Opposition Abdul Mannan of the Congress said Bajaj has been fielded by the TMC to defeat the joint Left-Congress candidate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya of the CPI-M to "help" the BJP. The saffron party, however, is not contesting the election.

"Their gameplan has been exposed but Bhattacharyya will win," Mannan said, adding that he has more than the required first preference votes for an easy win.

In West Bengal, a candidate requires 49 first preference votes for a straightforward victory in the Rajya Sabha election, and the CPI(M) and Congress together have 51 MLAs.

The 294-member House at present has 207 MLAs who had won the 2016 polls on TMC tickets. Over 20 MLAs of the Congress and CPI(M) later switched over to the TMC and the BJP.

Also, around 10 MLAs of the TMC are either not in touch with the party or have crossed over to the BJP, according to party sources. None of them has, however, been disqualified under the anti-defection law.

Bhattacharyya, a former Kolkata mayor, had filed his nomination papers on Thursday. He had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 from Jadavpur seat, which the TMC won.

While Noor lost from the Malda North seat in last year's Lok Sabha polls, Ghosh had unsuccessfully contested from Balurghat and Dinesh Trivedi, a former railway minister, from Barrackpore. Bakshi did not contest from Kolkata South, the seat he had won in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

With Bajaj entering the fray, analysts say, the TMC will try to persuade some opposition MLAs to cross vote to clinch the fifth seat and further humble the fledgling Congress-CPI(M) alliance.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
December's operation targeted the 'Ndrangheta families based in the southern Italian city of Locri in the Calabria region - the rural, mountainous and under-developed 'toe' of Italy's boot and the heartland of the worldwide crime group.

Despite intense police attention and frequent arrests, the 'Ndrangheta - which derives its meaning from the Greek word for 'heroism' - has continued to extend its reach.

Notoriously ruthless, the 'Ndrangheta has surpassed Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Naples-based Camorra to operate on all continents thanks to the wealth it has amassed as the principal importer and wholesaler of cocaine produced in Latin America and smuggled into Europe via north Africa and southern Italy.

That trade is worth billions and previous police operations have indicated that the 'Ndrangheta has well-established links with Colombian producer cartels, Mexican crime gangs and mafia families in New York and other parts of North America.

In 2016, a suspected 'Ndrangheta boss, Ernesto Fazzalari (left), was arrested after two decades on the run, fleeing a life sentence for murder. A year later, another suspected boss of the crime clan, Santo Vottari (right), was detained in Calabria having been on the run for a decade

The organisation's tight clan-based structure has made it hard to penetrate, but police have made some in roads in recent years.

In 2015, 163 people were arrested in a major crackdown on the notorious mafia gang, which by that time had become the most powerful crime organisation in the country.

In another sting that year, police snatched assets worth 1.4billion from the 'Ndrangheta, which included more than 1,500 betting shops, 82 online gambling sites and almost 60 companies.

In 2016, one of Italy's most wanted mafia bosses Ernesto Fazzalari was arrested after two decades on the run, fleeing a life sentence for murder.

The 'Ndrangheta member was captured in an apartment in a remote part of the southern region of Calabria.

On the run since 1996, he was convicted in absentia in 1999 of mafia association, kidnapping, illegal possession of weapons and a double homicide linked to a bloody 1989-91 feud which left 32 people dead in his home town of Taurianova.

His arrest was hailed by the government as a significant victory for the state in its battle against the powerful mafia group.

Last year, another suspected boss of the crime clan, Santo Vottari, was detained in Calabria having been on the run for a decade.

He was arrested hiding behind a trap door of a bunker having gone to ground over a 2007 massacre in Germany.

Vottari was convicted in absentia in 2009 of being one of the heads of an 'Ndrangheta clan whose feud with local rivals culminated in the Duisburg killings.

He was given a prison term of 10 years and eight months, two years after he went on the run.

Vottari was one of 31 people sentenced to prison terms in 2009 in connection with the Duisburg killings, which happened after a vendetta between two clans based in the same village, San Luca, spiralled out of control.

The feud between the Nirta-Strangio and Pelle-Vottari clans reportedly began with an egg-throwing prank in 1991. Reprisals escalated after the killing, on Christmas Day, 2006, of Maria Strangio, the wife of clan leader Giovanni Nirta.

The feud was blamed for at least 16 deaths in total, with the killings in Germany bringing it to international attention.

Giovanni Strangio was convicted in 2011 of being the mastermind and one of the authors of the Duisburg killings.

He was sentenced to life in prison. Seven others were given life sentences linked to the feud at the same trial.

Notoriously ruthless, the 'Ndrangheta has surpassed Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Naples-based Camorra in influence thanks to its control of Europe's cocaine trade.

The organisation is made up of numerous village and family-based clans based in the rural, mountainous and under-developed 'toe' of Italy's boot.

The name 'Ndrangheta comes from the Greek for courage or loyalty and the organisation's secretive culture and brutal enforcement of codes of silence have made it very difficult to penetrate.

But authorities claimed a major breakthrough last year when they captured Ernesto Fazzalari, whom they described as the last senior 'Ndrangheta fugitive still at large.
The Indian Navy said that the 44 Indians rescued from Iran have been shifted to the Naval quarantine facility at Mumbai.

An Indian Navy spokesperson today tweeted, "44 Indian citizens have been evacuated from Iran and shifted to Indian Navy quarantine facility at Ghatkopar in Mumbai."



#COVID19

44 Indian citizens evacuated from Iran. Shifted to @indiannavy quarantine facility set up at #Ghatkopar #Mumbai. All required facilities set up by #WesternNavalCommand, #IndianNavy.@SpokespersonMoD@MEAIndia#MoDAgainstCorona#SayNo2Panic#SayYes2Precautions https://t.co/bWU9ricLpt pic.twitter.com/53Mjfd8Zw7 SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) March 13, 2020 S Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, India said in a tweet, "Second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims has arrived today from Iran. Our efforts to bring back the others continue. @India_in_Iran and our medical team - keep up the good work. Appreciate the support of Iranian authorities and their airlines." Second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims has arrived today from #Iran. Our efforts to bring back the others continue. @India_in_Iran and our medical team - keep up the good work. Appreciate the support of Iranian authorities and their airlines. Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 13, 2020

On Thursday, Jaishankar had also said that no person can be brought back into the country if they are untested as the nation's health security has to be ensured during a severe epidemic situation and that the spread of the virus is prevented by a very detailed tracking procedure.

He said that no foreign national would be banned from coming into the country, but people from certain countries might have to go through quarantine first while answering a question on Indians stuck in Iran.
Russian armed formations continue to violate ceasefire in Donbas. As a result of their attacks, four Ukrainian soldiers were killed and sixteen more were wounded only in three days, on March 8-10.

Last few days were marked by serious aggravation of the security situation along the contact line in Donbas. On March 8, the Russian armed formations hit a Ukrainian military truck, leaving one serviceman dead and three wounded. Next day, they dropped grenades from the UAV on a medical truck, which had an explicit marking of the Red Cross on its roof. On March 10, the Russian proxies launched an anti-tank guided missile to hit another Ukrainian military truck, killing two people and eight wounded, Ambassador Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna, said at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting.

He added that on March 10, the Russian proxies launched an anti-tank guided missile to hit another Ukrainian military truck, killing two people and eight wounded. The attack was carried out of the residential area, using civilians living in it as a human shield to prevent possible response by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Overall, in those only three days, Ukrainian military losses reached 4 servicemen killed and 16 wounded.

Civilians also continue to bear the brunt of hybrid war led by the Russian Federation in eastern Ukraine: on 9 March, residential area of the village of Verkhniotoretske was shelled by Russian proxies from grenade launchers. Earlier, the SMM reported on a shelling, which took place on 2 March in Krasnohorivka, when a woman was injured. I wish to draw a particular attention of participating States to the incident reported by the SMM on 6 March, on a 57-year-old man who reportedly stepped on an antipersonnel mine in Russia-occupied Pionerske: the man had passed away from heavy bleeding before the ambulance arrived, Tsymbaliuk said

He underscored that Ukraine had urged many times the Russian side to stop using strictly banned anti-personnel mines in the parts of Donbas it occupies. We severely condemn the ongoing violations of the norms of international humanitarian law, including fire at medical vehicles, use of anti-personnel mines, shellings from residential areas, and many others, which are widespread in Russia-occupied parts of Donbas, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna said.

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FARMINGTON - The American Red Cross strongly urges healthy, eligible individuals who are feeling well to give blood or platelets to help maintain a sufficient blood supply and prevent shortages as concerns about the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, rise in the U.S.

According to the Red Cross, cold and flu season has already impacted the nations ability to maintain its blood supply. As the number of coronavirus cases grows in the U.S., the number of people eligible to give blood for patients in need could decrease further.

Were asking the American people to help keep the blood supply stable during this challenging time. As communities across the country prepare for this public health emergency, its critical that plans include a readily available blood supply for hospital patients, said Chris Hrouda, president, Red Cross Blood Services, in a statement. As fears of coronavirus rise, low donor participation could harm blood availability at hospitals, and the last thing a patient should worry about is whether lifesaving blood will be on the shelf when they need it most.

Donors can make an appointment to donate blood now by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device. Blood donors with type O blood and platelet donors are especially needed right now.

MacLaren joins Gunn Historical Museum team

WASHINGTON  The Gunn Historical Museum in Washington, Connecticut recently hired Kate MacLaren as the new museum assistant. Prior to starting her position at the Gunn, she completed internships at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut and at Canterbury Shaker Village in New Hampshire. She also worked in the university archives at Rochester Institute of Technology, where she earned her bachelors degree in Museum Studies. Her museum interests center on collections, archives, and cataloging, in addition to an overall passion for research and writing. Having grown up in Litchfield, she says she has a deep appreciation for history, historic architecture, and small-town living.

The Gunn Museum is dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing the objects and stories which illuminate the history of Washington. The current exhibit Washington Connecticut - An American Story is open for viewing Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. Admission is free. The Museum is located at 5 Wykeham Road in Washington. Call 860-868-7756 or view www.gunnmuseum.org for more information.

Internship/scholarship program offered

WINSTED  The Winsted Water Works education and outreach team is partnering with the James McCarthy Scholarship Fund to provide an internship/scholarship program.

Both agencies are seeking two qualified individuals interested in discovering the crucial role a water operator plays in the treatment of drinking water and wastewater. This program will cover all things water, starting at the reservoir with filtration and disinfection, exploring distribution and collection, and finishing at the wastewater treatment plant. Their vision is to introduce someone to the water industry and provide them with training and education so that they may be prepared to compete for a career in this essential and highly rewarding field. The deadline to apply is April 1.

The position runs from June 22-July 17 for the first intern, and July 20-Aug. 14 for the second intern.

People age 18 to 65 can apply, until April 1;

Direct questions to: Marty Cormier 860-309-0695 mcormier@townofwinchester.org or bmccarthy229@yahoo.com

If hired, the intern must have a background check, a Winsted Water Department waiver, and pre-employment physical, drug and alcohol screening.

Interns must complete the four week work study program with satisfactory reviews from all three department Superintendents in order to be eligible for the Gateway scholarship.

The interns will report each morning to the Department of Public Works building located at 189 Rowley St., Winsted, where they will receive their directives for the day. This position is part time with a schedule of Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

According to the agency, Interns will gain valuable field experience. The internship will begin at our Crystal Lake Reservoir where the interns will spend one week learning of the hydrological cycle, source water protection, filtration, disinfection and many mechanical aspects of the drinking water treatment process, officials said. Our interns will spend weeks two and three in the drinking water distribution and wastewater collection systems where they will accompany our maintainers and get a true hands-on view of these systems. The final week of the internship will be at the wastewater treatment plant where the interns will get a comprehensive overview of treating the collected wastewater to the point that it can be released to the watercourse and returned to the hydrological cycle. We will work with the interns to hone their leadership and communication skills, as well as to make professional connections within the water works community.

Through experiential field trips and interviewing professionals in environmental careers, interns will learn about urban and natural water systems. Community engagement is an integral piece of the work we do. Interns will interact with the public on a daily basis and will gain a firm understanding of the importance that community relations plays in our industry. At the end of a successful internship, students will synthesize their experience by being awarded the James McCarthy Scholarship and complete the water management course at Gateway Community College.
Leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations on Friday endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal to chalk out a joint strategy to combat the coronavirus outbreak, promising their complete support towards the collective effort against the pandemic.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that his country is ready to join the discussion and share its learnings and best practices to combat the outbreak.

"Thank you for the great initiative Shri @narendramodi - #LKA is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Let's unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe," he tweeted in response to PM Modi's call to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Modi on Friday had proposed that the leaders of the SAARC countries should chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus.

"I would like to propose that the leadership of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," PM Modi had tweeted.

Within hours, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said he has no doubt that under PM Modi's leadership the region would see the immediate and impactful outcomes.

"This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference," Tshering tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi had also said that SAARC countries can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.

"Our planet is battling the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it," PM Modi said in another tweet.

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih also came forward in response to Modi's proposal.

"Thank you PM @narendramodi for taking the initiative on this important endeavor. Covid 19 requires a collective effort to defeat it. Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort," he wrote on the micro-blogging site.

PM Modi asserted that South Asia should fight against the virus to ensure people's safety.

"South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Asylum seekers in some direct provision and emergency accommodation centres will find it impossible to self-isolate or practise social distancing, a west coast advocate for refugees has warned.

Co Clare public participation network (PPN) co-ordinator Sarah Clancy has written to Mr Flanagan, requesting that directions on how those living in Direct Provision and emergency accommodation can self-isolate if necessary be given as soon as possible.

Ms Clancy, who works for an umbrella organisation representing NGOs, was re-directed to the Department of Justice press office when she tried to raise the issue earlier this week.

Several asylum seekers in a centre on the east coast said they had been directed to posters on the Covid-19 restrictions but given no other information.

Ms Clancy is particularly concerned about the situation of over 30 men sharing dormitory accommodation in the Central Hotel, Milltown Malbay, Co Clare.

However, owner Pat Kelly said you neednt worry yourself about here when contacted.

Mr Kelly said there was room for self-isolation if necessary, and said any further inquiries should be directed to the Department of Justice.

The Central Hotel is one of a four facilities accommodating asylum seekers in Clare.

In her letter to Mr Flanagan, Ms Clancy said that two of the facilities are in close proximity to confirmed cases of coronavirus.

As a result, she said there were considerable concerns in the community for how the situation might be managed for those in institutional living circumstances who are currently sharing sleeping quarters.

We would greatly appreciate your immediate attention to this situation and we would like to indicate our availability to assist on the ground with sharing official information or making arrangements for the above if necessary, she said.

Ms Clancy also sent a copy of the letter to the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS), the wing of the Department of Justice responsible for procurement and overall administration of State-provided accommodation for people seeking international protection and suspected victims of human trafficking.

IPAS was formerly known as the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA).

Earlier this week, the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) warned of the potentially devastating impact of the virus in direct provision, claiming some centres would not be able to cope.

It also said overcrowding in some centres would make self-isolation impossible.

Doras Luimni also noted that people in most accommodation centres would be unable to self-isolate as they also share kitchens, living areas and bathrooms.

The Department of Justice said that as of the weekend of March 1, there were over 7,200 people in such accommodation - with 5,645 persons in direct provision accommodation centres and an additional 1,633 persons in emergency accommodation.

Any information received from the HSE is circulated to all our centres, the department said, and arrangements were being made for translation and distribution of posters.

In addition, the department will be contacting all applicants in temporary accommodation to ensure that they have an appropriate understanding of the HSE guidelines, and of who they can call if they have any questions or concerns, it said.

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The Union Cabinet on Friday approved reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank under which SBI will acquire 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden private sector bank.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Union Cabinet has approved the reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank as suggested by the Reserve Bank.

On March 5, the RBI imposed a moratorium on Yes Bank, restricting withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per depositor till April 3.

The RBI also superseded the board and placed it under an administrator, Prashant Kumar, former deputy managing director and CFO of SBI.

Giving details about the scheme, Sitharaman said SBI will invest for 49 per cent equity in Yes Bank and other investors are also being invited.

There will be a three year lock-in period for all the investors, she said. However, the lock-in period for SBI would be only for the 26 per cent of the shareholding.

The authorised capital of the lender has been increased to Rs 6,200 crore from Rs 1,100 crore, the finance minister said.

Sitharaman said the scheme has been approved with the objective of protecting the interest of depositors and providing stability to Yes Bank as well as to the entire financial system.

The moratorium on the bank will be lifted within 3 days of notification of the reconstruction scheme, while its board will be in place in 7 days, she said.

On Thursday, SBI said it will invest Rs 7,250 crore in Yes Bank, which is much higher than Rs 2,450 crore it had planned initially for 49 per cent stake in the private sector lender that began operations in 2004.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nintendo of America is the latest game company to urge employees to work from home, this time after an employee working in its Redmond offices tested positive for the coronavirus.

Notably, Nintendo is allowing staff in Washington and California (two U.S. states that have been hit especially hard by the outbreak) to work from home as a "precautionary step" following the test.

"We have determined that the individual had contact with other employees and we have notified those employees to the situation," a Nintendo rep told The Hollywood Reporter. "All impacted employees are now self-quarantining, whether they are experiencing symptoms or not."

This comes more than a week after fellow Washington-based game companies Bungie and Microsoft made a show of rolling out remote work infrastructures and allowing their staff to work from home for an extended period. Around the same time, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that while he wasn't a big believer in staff working from home, "one unexpected consequence [of the coronavirus outbreak] is a lot of us who are skeptical about remote work are gonna be less skeptical about it."

Update: An earlier version of this story mistakenly implied that Nintendo of America had instituted this work from home policy in response to the positive coronavirus test, when in fact the company announced it last week.
Amsterdam: Taxpayers could be forced to inject tens of billions of dollars into Europe's biggest airlines to prevent them from collapsing under a "crisis of unprecedented proportions" triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The outbreak has thrown the European aviation industry into its greatest fight for survival since the eruption of a volcano in Iceland closed vast swathes of airspace in 2010 and, before that, the September 11 terror attacks triggered a plunge in demand.

Some of the biggest players - British Airways, Air France, Ryanair, KLM, Lufthansa and eastJet - have implemented mass cancellations and a raft of other emergency financial measures amid near-empty short-haul flights and the shock US travel ban against more than two dozen European countries.

Mark Manduca, the associate director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa research at Citi, said airlines were "burning through cash" and the consequence could be a rapid consolidation of the continent's aviation sector.
Iran's Military To 'Empty Roads' As Coronavirus Cases Top 11,000 Infections, 514 Deaths

03/13/20

Source: Radio Farda

One day after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei handed over Coronavirus control and prevention to the armed forces, General Mohammad Baqeri, Chief of the joint staff of the Iranian armed forces says his troops are planning to make sure that the people will leave roads and supermarkets in 24 hours. Baqeri was tasked on Thursday by Khamenei to set up a Health and Medical Treatment Headquarters and use military forces to combat the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).



Official Iran's statistics on coronavirus as of March 13th

Infections: 11,364

Deaths: 514

New Cases: 1,289

Recovered: 3,529

Reporting Baqeri's first news conference about confronting the outbreak, the official news agency IRNA referred to the HQ as the Imam Reza Health and Medical Treatment Headquarters.



Imam Reza, the 8th Imam of the Shiites who is buried in Mashhahd in northeastern Iran, is known to have authored a book of medicine entitled Teb al-Reza (Reza's Medicine).

It was at the news conference on Friday March 13 that Baqeri revealed the plan about emptying urban and inter-city roads and supermarkets of untimely travelers and panicked shoppers.



General Mohammad Baqeri

However, it is still not known if this means imposing lockdowns or quarantines on affected cities. Many citizens during the past days had demanded quarantines as a virus control measure and Iranians of various political affiliation criticized President Hassan Rouhani for refusing to do so.



Rouhani and his Health Minister Saeed Namaki have repeatedly voiced their opposition to the idea of quarantines.



In his mandate for Baqeri, Khamenei made an allusion to biological warfare against Iran without elaborating on who he thought was responsible and why nearly the whole world is affected by the virus. He told Baqeri to treat the headquarters' function as a military exercise in the area of biological warfare.



However, Baqeri, known to be one of the few pragmatist officers among Khamenei's aides, did not mention biological warfare in his news conference. The staff officer is known as a technocrat and rarely makes blustering statements like other IRGC figures. Perhaps, Khamenei hopes that Baqeri, with better managerial skills, can bring some order to the government's chaotic response to the epidemic.



Baqeri said on Friday that because of shortage of medical staff, and as doctors, nurses and paramedics are tired after several weeks of uninterrupted hard work, the Basij militia members and other volunteers are going to take part in a one-week training course in order to help nurses at hospitals.



Meanwhile, he said the Imam Reza HQ is planning to establish 1,000 medical centers, some of them makeshift facilities, as well as preparation centers for those who will be sent to hospitals later as well as recuperation centers for patients discharged from hospitals.



The preparation facilities appear to be isolation centers for those who have to wait for medical treatment and recuperation centers are meant to make sure that patients will not mingle with population for a period of time.



He also said that the HQ will provide masks and other medical and hygienic equipment for patients and medical staff.



Baqeri added that the HQ is going to launch a website during the next week which will monitor all Iranians for virus control.



The general took part in the last meeting of the previous Disease Control and Prevention Task Force which operated under Rouhani and his health minister, but it is not known if the HQ is going to replace the task force.



Iranian Firefighters disinfect the streets in Tehran, March 13 2020

(see more photos by Asghar Khamseh, IRNA)

In the meantime, the Iranian Health Ministry's Spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told reporters that during the past day the total number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in Iran has reached 11,364 which indicates around 1,300 people have tested positive during the past day.



Jahanpur added 303 of the new cases were in Tehran, 192 in Mazandaran, 110 in Isfahan and 110 in Khorasan-e Razavi. He also said that with 85 new deaths during the past 24 hours, the official Coronavirus death toll in Iran has reached 514 which includes.



Independent research, including an investigative report by Radio Farad put the fatalities at around 1,000 four days ago.
(WLFI)  Closings, delays, and alternative services that WLFI has been sent. We encourage viewers to check with your church for any changes to services.

If you would like to include your church, contact us via Report It.

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Antioch Church, Frankfort - All events and services are canceled until March 30th. To be reexamined at that time.

Bethany Evangelical Free Church in Rensselaer - will continue online service for this week (4/20) and at least through the first Sunday in May (5/3). Find the service on Facebook under Bethany Church Rensselaer.

Bethany Presbyterian Church (Lafayette) - closed for public worship. Check out our YouTube channel for weekly worship videos, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzLTy0Fi_1hSOHuX-WlhVFA

Bharatiya Temple & Cultural Center of Greater Lafayette - closed for public worship and all events currently canceled. Live-streaming replacements found on https://btccgl.org/

Brady Lane Church - online services only from now until May 17. You can find our services a www.bradylanechurch.org and look under the media tab for messages. Our current Sunday service is viewable beginning at 8:30 am on Sunday morning and is also available on YouTube.

Buck Creek United Methodist - All worship services canceled until further notice. Our 9 a.m. worship service on Sundays is now being live-streamed through Facebook @buckcreekUMchurch and also at buckcreekumc.online.church.

Caley United Methodist Church - No in-person gatherings, worship or meetings, from March 29-May 3 (at the earliest)

Calvary Chapel (Lafayette) - Sunday Worship: closed to the public; but, will be live-streamed at 10:30 a.m. until further notice. Live -stream address https://livestream.com/focusingonexcellence/events/9039756/videos/202943257

Calvary Church (West Lafayette) - The church is closed to the public but will provide live-stream Sunday services on March 15, 22 and 29 at 10:20 a.m. You can find the live-stream and information on resources at https://yourcalvary.info/covid19.

Central Presbyterian Church - All services and activities at Central Presbyterian Church, 31 N 7th Street, Lafayette, IN 47901 are canceled March 15, 2020. Please visit our website at ww.centralpreschurch.org for information on digital worship as it is made available.

Chapel of the Good Shepherd- Moving to online worship beginning March 15th

Christ United Methodist Church - Christ United Methodist Church will be canceling our Sunday worship service for March 15th.

City of God Church - canceled its worship services for this weekend. We are live streaming our service at 10 AM at cogchurch.online.church.

Clarks Hill Christian Church - Clarks Hill Christian Church Now Open for Worship and all other operations. Food Pantry: Wednesdays - 6:00pm-7:00pm

Sunday's - Immediately Following Worship approximately after 11:00am.

Covenant Church - Church has canceled in-person services for Sunday, March 15. We will provide a live-stream service at 9:00 a.m., March 15, which can be accessed from our website, www.covenantepc.org.

Crestview Community Church (Lafayette) - The church is closed to the public but will provide live-streaming on Sunday at 10:30 am on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/C3LAFAYETTE/.

Eastside Assembly of God - services have been cancelled through April 30th. Watch online at eastsideag.org at 10am

East Tipp Baptist Church - All Sunday services and events for this week are canceled

Elmwood Church of Christ - All activities and services at Elmwood Church of Christ are canceled until further notice. The food pantry is still open for its regular hours.

Elston Presbyterian Church - All in-person worship services, bible studies, and other activities are canceled until further notice. An audio recording of the weekly worship service will be available on our Facebook page each Sunday.

Evangelical Covenant Church - All activities and services at Evangelical Covenant Church are canceled until further notice. We will live-stream worship at 10:30 am at ecclife.net/stream

Faith Church, Lafayette - Faith Church, Lafayette - Beginning May 31, we will offer both online streaming services and public worship services at Faith West, Faith East, and the Northend Community Center. Please do not feel any pressure to return to public worship services. If you are older or have pre-existing health challenges, please consider staying at home and worshipping with us online. We will offer different types public worship services, you may select from lower-risk families with children, lower-risk adults and teens, higher-risk individuals, or online at www.faithlafayette.org.

Federated Church of West Lafayette - Suspended all activities through April 30th. At that time, we will reassess and inform you of our next course of action. Services will be streamed on YouTube Channel "Federated Church of West Lafayette" Sundays at 10:30 a.m., accessible from our web site https://federatedchurch.net/..

First Baptist Church, Wolcott - No services through the month of April.

First Christian Church in Lafayette - Sunday service canceled until further notice. Can stream service on Facebook at 10:15 a.m. The service will also be live streamed on our Facebook page, YouTube channel and Twitter.

First Christian Church in Rensselaer - In-person worship canceled until May 1. Church will be live-streaming Sunday service.

First Presbyterian Church (Monticello) - Activities and worship services are canceled until April 12. The church office will still be open.

First United Methodist Church (West Lafayette) - No in-person Sunday services through March 31st. Online services can be found at fumcwl.org. Also, we are doing live streaming at 11:00 am on Sundays on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssg03qkJZ40

Good Shepherd Baptist Church (Lafayette) - Services canceled until further notice. Join us on Facebook

Grace Lutheran Church - Streaming Sundays at 9:30 am.

Grace United Methodist Church, Lafayette - We are closed for public worship, but please check out our church Youtube Channel for worship videos. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJHUxknZsUudEoTvykR4I7A

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church - worship live-streamed on Facebook. Services from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church can be viewed at www.holytrinitylafayette.com

Immanuel Reformed Presbyterian Church - closed, will be streaming services online.

Kossuth Street Baptist Church - Worship gathering and connection hour is canceled this weekend. Can access virtual worship gathering at www.ksbc.net.

Lafayette Community Church - no in-person worship gathering on Sunday, March 22nd. Live stream worship will be available at 10:15 a.m. via our website, https://lafayettecc.org/news/live-stream/.

Lafayette First Church of the Nazarene - closed for today and next week. Pre-recorded service offered on "Lafayette First Church of the Nazarene" YouTube Channel.

Lamb of God Lutheran Church (Lafayette) - Closed for public worship, moving to online services. Check website weekly for worship and bible study at www.lambofgodlafayette.com

Locust Grove Community Church - Services and Tuesday bible study canceled for the next three weeks.

Meadow Lake Presbyterian Church (Wolcott) - March 15 Sunday service canceled.

Memorial Presbyterian Church of Dayton - will be closed both for Sunday School and Worship on Sunday, March 15, 2020

Monon United Methodist Church - No in-person gatherings, worship or meetings, from March 29-May 3 (at the earliest)

New Richmond Christian Church - All services and Freedom Program are canceled until further notice, online services will be available each Sunday

Northview Church - online worship services only for the next four weekends. Small group gatherings and other church activities will continue. More information at northviewchurch.us

Otterbein UMC - Building is closed, but were online! Please visit www.otterbeinumc.org or www.facebook.com/OUMCchurch

Oxford United Methodist Church - No Sunday services until further notice.

Pyrmont Church of the Brethren - No services

Redeemer Lutheran Church - will be closed until further notice. You can worship with us online via our website: redeemerwlin.org on Sundays and Wednesdays during Lent.

Rensselaer Area Ministerial Association - weekly Lenten Luncheons on Wednesday canceled for the remainder of the Lenten season

Riverside Covenant Church - Riverside Covenant Church in West Lafayette is closing our building to all activities until further notice

River City Church - online services only, no weekend services

Rossville Presbyterian Church - All worship services, study groups, and meetings canceled through April 6.

St. Alexis Orthodox Church - All Liturgies and services are canceled until further notice.

St. Andrew United Methodist Church - Online worship on Sundays at 10 a.m. No in-person worship for forseeable future

St. James Lutheran - No Saturday or Sunday services. Streaming 10:30 a.m. Sunday services.

St. John's Episcopal Church - All in-person parish activities, including Sunday worship, are cancelled until further notice. The St. John's office is also closed. Sunday worship continues via Zoom. Visit www.stjohns-laf.org for more information.

Trinity United Methodist Church - Due to COVID-19, Trinity is suspending all on-site church activities through April 20 and will reassess the situation mid-April to determine a precise date to resume activities. Church and community members are encouraged to continue to connect with the church online. A new weekly YouTube sermon is posted each Sunday morning and we continue to offer prayer groups and discipleship opportunities via Zoom. To access the sermons and Zoom gatherings, simply go to the homepage of the church website: www.trinitylafayette.org

The Unitarian Universalist Church, Tippecanoe County - no service or other public events for the moment. We are working on setting up streaming services, but it won't be for March 15.

White Horse Christian Center - We have suspended all public meetings until further notice. Join us for our livestream family worship services available at http://www.whcc.net/livebroadcast

White Oak United Methodist Church - No in-person gatherings, worship or meetings, from March 29-May 3 (at the earliest)
She is a successful society businesswoman and mother-of-five whose children are already forging their own successful paths in life, so Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece is certainly well placed to be offering parenting advice.

The fashion designer, 51, shares five children with her royal husband, Prince Pavlos of Greece: daughter Olympia, 23, and four sons: Constantine, 21, Achileas, 19, Odysseas, 15, and 11-year-old Aristidis.

Together the family enjoy a life befitting of the world's mega wealthy, splitting their time between their stunning Upper East Side New York home and holidays around the world. Recent jaunts have included a ski trip to exclusive St Moritz, Switzerland, and a shooting holiday on the English moors.

But while Marie-Chantal, whose own family was arguably even wealthier than the royal one she married into, has always enjoyed the finer things in life, she explained that when it comes to parenting things are surprisingly simple - and do not change based on how much money you have in the bank.

Society supermum: Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, centre, with her husband Pavlos and their children (from left) Odysseas, 15, Olympia, 23, Aristidis, 11, Achileas, 19 and Constantine, 21, in a photo taken at Christmas. The mother-of-five shared her advice on parenting

For the well-heeled society supermum claims the key to raising successful children is to simply teach them the value of having good manners and conducting themselves in a courteous fashion.

'It's statistically proven that children who have beautiful manners do better in life,' she explained in an interview with Hello! magazine. 'That child will be remembered for being polite.'

Marie-Chantal shares her insights into raising children in her new book, Manners Begin at Breakfast: Modern Etiquette for Families, released this week.

In her interview with Hello!, she explained that it is important to start teaching children these lessons from a young age.

She said: 'I believe children should be taught from a young age how to behave in a caring and mindful way. They need to be taught to be aware of others and to be instilled with these simple values when they are still so sponge-like.'

Fashionista: Olympia, a model who's become a regular fixtures on front rows around the world, revealed that she had always been raised to be hardworking and have good manners. Pictured, at New York Fashion Week last month (left) and on holiday in Japan last year (right)

Social media star: Marie-Chantal's middle child, Achileas, 19, boasts almost 200,000 followers on Instagram. He shared this snap of him with a friend on a recent ski trip

'Once children are older the lessons are much harder to just accept. I certainly like to think Olympia has taken it all on board,' she said, referring to her eldest.

Olympia, a model who's become a regular fixtures on front rows around the world, agreed that she had always been raised to be hardworking and have good manners.

And it appears her mother's lessons are paying off. She is barely in her 20s but already Olympia has a global profile most women twice her age could only dream of having, but yet has managed to avoid any major public misstep.

And it looks as though her two oldest brothers are set to follow in her footsteps. Here, a look at Marie-Chantal's accomplished children.

OLYMPIA, 23

Society belle: Olympia is barely in her 20s but already Olympia has a global profile most women twice her age could only dream of having. Pictured, in St Moritz last month

Model and socialite Olympia, 23, is one of the ringleaders of the next generation of society movers and shakers.

The blonde beauty was recently seen on a St Moritz ski trip with a gaggle of equally well-heeled young women - including two Greek shipping heiresses - and popped up on the front rows of fashion week shows last month.

Olympia also enjoys a close relationship with her cousin, Talita von Furstenberg, and they appear frequently in each other's glamorous Instagram snaps.

But it is not all just parties and glamorous appearances for Olympia, she also graduated from New York University's Gallatin School, which allows students with broad interests to shape their own majors.

CONSTANTINE, 21

Lower profile: Constantine was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, before moving to the US to study at the prestigious Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He stays out of the spotlight - and off social media - more than his siblings. Pictured, in an Instagram snap

Named after his paternal grandfather, Prince Constantine is second-in-line to the former Greek throne, after his father.

Constantine was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, before moving to the US to study at the prestigious Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

Marie-Chantal and Pavlos relocated the entire family to New York four years ago, partly so they could be closer to Constantine and Olympia while they were studying.

Unlike his older sister, Constantine stays largely out of the spotlight and posts sparingly on social media. However he does appear in photos shared by his mother and siblings.

Constantine is extremely well connected to European monarchies. He counts King Felipe of Spain, the Duke of Cambridge and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden among his godparents.

ACHILEAS, 19

Destined for greatness: Achileas is a frequent Instagram user, where he shares posts of his family, friends, and five-star holidays with his 196,000 followers. The 19-year-old posted this adorable snap of him and Olympia to celebrate her birthday last year

Jet-set: Achileas prompted comments of envy when he shared this photo from a boat trip in Greece last summer. The girl in the photo is Lila Grace Moss, daughter of Kate Moss

He is still finding his way, but early signs suggest Achileas might follow his sister and become a figure on the global social circuit.

The 19-year-old is a frequent Instagram user, where he shares posts of his family, friends, and five-star holidays with his 196,000 followers. Among his circle of friends is Lila Grace Moss, the 17-year-old daughter of model Kate Moss.

He is clearly close to his siblings and has shared several sweet posts talking about how much he loves them.

The talented teenager has also hinted that he might want to appear on screen one day, and has already made a guest appearance on US soap opera the Bold and the Beautiful.
The women of Shaheen Bagh demanded on Friday a fair probe in the communal violence in northeast Delhi and a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the victims.

"There should be an inquiry about how the people came to Delhi from UP and during the violence," a group of women at the site said at a late-night press conference. "We want a fair probe into the violence in Jaffrabad, Shiv Vihar and Maujpur."



The communal clashes that broke out in northeast Delhi on February 24 and continued till February 26, claimed at least 53 lives and left over 200 people injured, besides inflicting massive damage to properties and businesses.

The women said their protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Register of Citizens, National Population Register and police action at the Jamia Millia Islamia completed its 90 days at Shaheen Bagh on Friday.

"On Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Rajya Sabha that no Muslim needs to be scared. We want to tell the home minister that not only Muslims, but other minorities are also scared," a protester said.

The Centre should also pass a resolution against the contentious citizenship law and NRC in Parliament, and revoke the amendments to the Act, a protester demanded.

As a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic, the women said the protesters were being provided with masks and hand sanitisers.

"The woman are regularly cleaning their hijabs. No need to be scared of coronavirus," the protesters added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
URBANA, Ill. - Edamame may be a niche crop in the United States, but growers and processors still need the best possible information to make sound management decisions. That's why USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and University of Illinois researchers are making new plant density recommendations for machine-harvested edamame, at less than half the rate suggested by seed companies.

"Until now, edamame processors and growers had no research-based information to determine crop density. While some seed companies make recommendations, the basis for these recommendations is unclear," says Marty Williams, ecologist with USDA-ARS and the Department of Crop Sciences at Illinois.

Seed companies recommend plant densities from 80,100 to 139,200 plants per acre, and at $11 to $22 per pound of edamame seed, the cost adds up very quickly. Williams says these recommendations may be based on what works for grain-type soybean, but they're not necessarily appropriate for edamame, which is harvested while pods are bright green and seeds are still immature.

To get a better handle on what's realistic and profitable for the crop, Williams and crop sciences graduate student Daljeet Dhaliwal planted four edamame cultivars at five densities, ranging from 10,000 to 160,000 plants per acre. They measured multiple growth, harvest, and processing characteristics for each cultivar at all five densities, over two years. Finally, they derived the economically optimal planting density (EOPD) based on the cost of seed, yield of marketable pods, and sales price.

"Results identified that the EOPD for machine-harvested edamame ranged from 35,200 to 48,600 plants per acre," Dhaliwal says. "That's less than half of what's recommended by seed companies."

Lower densities were more profitable, in part, because increasing plant density led to a lower ratio of pod mass to vegetative mass.

"We showed that higher plant densities change the architecture of the crop. For the most part, as plants are added beyond the EOPD, the crop is less suitable for mechanical harvest. It's taller, with more leaf area, and fewer marketable pods. Obviously, we need enough plants to utilize available resources, but there are diminishing returns beyond the EOPD," Williams says.

The new report underscores that edamame agronomy is not interchangeable with grain-type soybean. For the U.S. edamame market to maximize profitability and become competitive with China, Williams says, growers and processors should follow research-backed recommendations specific to the unique aspects of the crop.

###

The article, "Economically optimal plant density for machine-harvested edamame," is published in HortScience [DOI: 10.21273/HORTSCI14642-19]. The Department of Crop Sciences is in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois.
Of course, our PM can go to the footy. He will be in a private box with tested and trusted friends, with a private toilet and guards to keep others at a distance, and with no vulgar problems with parking or public transport. A leading example to aspirational voters. Michael Harrington, Bonnet Bay Quarantine and restricted socialising is more about stopping the spread, so people who feel their own health and their willingness to accept risks is paramount need to rein in their egos and consider their community responsibilities. Do you hear me, PM, as you go to the footy? Simon O'Brien, Rushcutters Bay On the morning that COVID-19 deaths top 1000 in Italy and GPs in Australia call for a ban on public gatherings, how responsible is it for the Prime Minister to say he'll attend the start of the footy season? His disregard for climate science is legendary. Let's hope he doesn't make the same mistake with coronavirus. Simon Wright, Orange At last our health crisis and economic crisis have been addressed seriously in prime ministerial words. But actions speak louder  and our PM is off to the footy. No wonder were confused. Anne Garvan, Chatswood West Announce a ban of gatherings of more than 500 on Friday but dont implement it till Monday, which just happens to let the PM go to the footy. Good example matters. Jim Doyle, Concord West

Gravity rules There is an old adage that the sharemarket goes up by the stairs and down by the elevator. Seems it is still true (''Longest ever bull market ends in savage sell-off'', March 13). Jack McCann, Wollstonecraft News photos of sharemarket traders with their heads in their hands as shares tumble makes one wonder whether they are feeling guilty for their panic selling or have forgotten the anti-virus advice to stop touching their faces. James Mahoney, McKellar ACT ALP dodged a bullet I'm almost glad the PM pulled off the ''miracle'' grants-assisted election win. Imagine the hysterical hue and cry if the economy was tanking, stimulus was required and Labor was in government. Martin Frohlich, Adamstown Heights

No Rooster-boosters NRL games may be played in front of empty grandstands (''NRL fans could be locked out of stadiums'', smh.com.au, March 13). This will be yet another advantage to the Sydney Roosters, who do this already on an almost weekly basis. Simon Squires, Hornsby Ray Warren calling the Eels-Bulldogs game on Thursday night: "There may be a few empty seats, due to the virus, but it's a healthy crowd." That's a relief. Patrick McGrath, Potts Point Loo paper panic reveals we have lost control Waleed Aly is right. The true reason for our toilet paper panic is very important ("Paper trail of panic, in loo of reason'', March 13). We live our lives in a delusional world assuming life is predictable and controllable. It will take just one trauma to show us this view is false. We have to learn to live with adversity and even the possibility of adversity. Sometimes it takes a trauma for us to learn this fundamental truth. Mark Porter, New Lambton

It's the people, stupid Is there a strategy? I naively thought the strategy was harm minimisation to humans but no, it is harm minimisation to the economy, which as we all know, exists independently of the wellbeing of people. Yes, Prime Minister, keep major gatherings open, don't close schools and universities, wait until we are at the stage of France or Italy. A thought: how about you do a few calculations on the cost of not cancelling major gatherings, closing schools et cetera? And perhaps you could include, as well as the economic cost, the social cost. This is the opportunity, PM, for you to go down in history as a great leader. Kay Dunne, Bondi I have just listened to our Prime Minister and all he can offer is fiscal help during our pandemic.

Doesnt he realise that, yes, we are worried about that but that we are more interested in how the government will deal with the pandemic? Where were the offers and ideas about health and about containing infection? What does the individual do? What is the government offering to help people through their concerns about actually contracting the virus? Where is the leadership? But, of course, we are nothing but an economy. Victoria Slocombe, Lindfield So, expertise counts now? I am amazed that politicians during this health crisis implore us to listen to the experts' advice, which I see as being the right thing to do. Yet, in the climate change emergency, it seems to be listen to me, not those elites, nor the scientists. David Singleton, Lane Cove North

I'm prepared to "spend up" with my $750 to save the nation, providing the PM is prepared to reduce our greenhouse emissions to save the planet (''Frydenberg calls on nation to spend the stimulus cash'', March 13). Bruce Gall, Canberra Households have been advised to spend up big after they receive their cash. Can I suggest installing a water tank or making a downpayment on solar panels? Both require the skills of various tradespeople and can help the environment at the same time. Robyn Lewis, Raglan Footy will kill elderly There will have to be tough decisions about who will have access to intensive care beds if needed in this pandemic (''Doctor warns of 'tough' decisions about access to care in a pandemic', smh.com.au, March 13). The Australian government has promised to protect the public, yet an NRL game attracting a huge crowd was allowed to go ahead in NSW on Thursday. The virus will spread unchecked through the most populous states and when a crisis of health beds occurs, it will be those seriously afflicted elderly who will be left without. We should hang our heads in shame. Elizabeth Kroon, Randwick

Where's the seriousness? It is exactly 14 days since we returned to Sydney from Japan. We passed through Customs as fast as weve ever done before. No screening, no temperatures taken, nothing. So if we were one of the first countries to recognise the seriousness of the virus, as the PM has said, why werent returning overseas travellers part of this seriousness? Rod Bartlett, Woonona The government should ''self-isolate'' the entire country by locking down our borders. It shouldnt be too difficult as the government tells us it already has an effective stop the boats program. So there would be a need to close the legal entry points to all only until such time as an effective medically based coronavirus vaccine is developed, instead of relying on a hit or miss, dollar-based strategy. Graham Tooth, Kings Point I am one of many elderly people who has cancelled an overseas holiday because of the coronavirus. Even though in my case travel insurance was paid for in November, there is no refund of the cost of the booked trip. Travel companies have collected many thousands of dollars, as have insurance companies. At the very least, insurance companies should refund most of the premiums since there is no travel to be covered. Helen Scanlon, Northbridge

Hanks, in advance Donald Trump's original approach to the COVID-19 outbreak was to dismiss it, and lump it with the fake news he rambles on about. Now that it has hit someone from Hollywood, something he can relate to, he might realise that the scientists were right to be worried. When Tom Hanks recovers, can he please make a disaster movie about rising sea levels and Trump tower being washed away in a storm surge so that the US President can see the impacts of climate change, and start to listen to the experts? Please Tom, get well soon (''Hanks for nothing as Tom goes viral'', March 13). Frank Gasparre, Eastwood Bum note for musos The cancellation of the Blue Mountains Music Festival due to the threat from COVID-19 may be a sensible public health measure but it is a disaster for musicians. The government must surely allow all musicians immediate access to social security benefits, and Australian radio should ramp up Australian content to 100 per cent and send a few royalties to musicians on the way. Colin Hesse, Marrickville I love the Easter Show, but not this year. Tim Schroder, Gordon

A royal flush Following on from the great toilet roll wipe-out, I have begun a rationing system for the number of squares to be used, depending upon the job at hand: you've got to know when to hold 'em; know when to fold 'em (Letters, March 13). Alicia Dawson, Balmain Another aspect of why we can conclude that history is not repeating itself is that during the 2008 GFC, toilet paper was worthless. In the COVID-19 crisis, toilet paper has become priceless. Des Samuels, Killarney Heights Well, $750 is nice but still can't find any toilet paper to buy. Henry Spirek, Orange I noticed a sign in a shop window in Neutral Bay that read: We take cash and also toilet rolls." Made my day. Carolyn Wills, Cremorne

Our local newsagency has a sign on the door: No toilet rolls kept on the premises. David Stewart, Newcastle East I dont know what horrified me more this morning: waking up to discover a leak in my brand new bathroom vanity, or discovering that all the toilet rolls in my small stash therein had become waterlogged and rendered useless. Justine Fischer, Moss Vale Moving parts It's now been proven that when one country sneezes, the world catches a cold. How good are globalisation and free trade? William Bourke, Wollstonecraft Postscript

As today's letters clearly demonstrate, COVID-19 is first and foremost in our minds, so much so that today's pages are entirely dedicated to the virus. Readers have voiced their concerns about the government's response, specifically its economic response, and the PM's comment that he would be going to watch his beloved Sharkies. Many, such as Janetta Gilbert of Kirrawee, asked what is Australia doing to limit the spread. "Obsessing about toilet paper and the economic impacts," was her response. Correspondents wrote calling for more action from the PM in relation to measures focusing on health rather than money. "It seems to me that Scott Morrisons reluctance to ban all major events in this country is because he wants us to keep spending. Is he more concerned about avoiding a recession than the health of the nation?" asked Gillian Baldwin of Windradyne. The late change of mind left many asking ''why wait till Monday?'' Correspondents wrote of feeling "powerless". "The repeated announcement that the over-70s are the most likely to die from the coronavirus is not good psychologically, and not good news for many Herald letters writers either," Lorna Denham of Cardiff Heights assumes. "Thankfully, many recent letters have offered information and advice about dealing with the virus (buy chocolate, not loo paper!) for which many will have been grateful." The (short) toilet paper letters continued to roll in, and brightened up our days. This contribution by Doug Walker of Baulkham Hill nicely described a scene being played out in supermarkets everywhere: "Forlornly, with an empty trolley, searching vainly for two- or three-ply. Meanwhile, those who arrived slightly earlier carry their trophies triumphantly to the checkout  colourful multipacks of precious rolls, deserving to be flushed with success." Happy writing.
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, Mont., March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sandfire Resources America Inc. (Sandfire America or the Company TSX.V: SFR and OTCQB: SRAFF) is pleased to advise that it has achieved two key permitting milestones for the Black Butte Copper underground mining project in Montana.



Today, two Montana Government agencies have each issued important components of the overall permitting process for the Black Butte Copper project which are key to the Company receiving a Record of Decision (RoD) for its Mine Operating Permit (MOP).

First is the release of Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MTDEQ). The MTDEQ commenced the EIS in September 2017 and released a Draft EIS in March 2019. Issuance of the Final EIS signals that the MTDEQ, and its independent third-party environmental consultants, have completed all environmental reviews related to Black Butte Copper and all issues raised during the public comment period have been responded to.

Second, the Department of Natural Resources & Conservation (MTDNRC) has issued a Preliminary Determination (PD) in response to the water right owners application to modify their irrigation water rights to include leasing water for mitigation for the Black Butte Copper project. The proposed water right modification maintains water balance in the Sheep Creek drainage area.

The PD will also address the Companys request for a groundwater permit and a high flow water right to capture spring run-off and store in a reservoir, which will provide water to replenish stream flows year-round. The issuance of the PD triggers a comment period for other water rights holders prior to a Final Determination.

The achievement of these key milestones requires the MTDEQ to release a Record of Decision (RoD), whether positive or negative, for Black Butte Coppers MOP after a minimum of 15 days. Issuance of a positive RoD would require the MTDEQ to finalize a bond calculation within 40 days- paving the way for the commencement of construction at Black Butte.

In a press release released today, DEQ Director Shaun McGrath stated, The Final EIS represents a thorough evaluation of the potential impacts of this proposed project. Our review was informed not only by the DEQ scientists working on the project, but also by the thousands of comments submitted throughout the process. It was truly an extensive effort and we appreciate the publics interest and participation.

Sandfire Americas CEO and VP of Project Development, Rob Scargill, said: We are delighted to have achieved these key milestones, which represent the culmination of a robust and lengthy permitting process. Together with our team of Montana-based environmental consultants, we have demonstrated that a modern underground mine can be developed and operated while fully protecting the environment and water resources.

Sandfire America Senior Vice President Jerry Zieg, who has managed the permitting process with the MTDEQ and MTDNRC, said: Ive devoted much of my career to bringing our copper discovery at Black Butte 35 years ago to fruition for my hometown and community. I look forward to the day that the state issues its Record of Decision for our mining permit, and I commend the MTDEQ and MTDNRC for their professionalism and hard work.

Bankable Feasibility Study

All the technical studies have now been completed for the Black Butte Project Feasibility Study, which commenced in October 2018. The Company released an updated Mineral Resource in October of 2019 for use as the foundation for the Feasibility Study.

GR Engineering Services, SRK Consulting and others are now completing documentation of the technical sections. Once the RoD is published, the Company can ensure that the designs and financial modelling in the Feasibility Study are consistent with the permit requirements.

Financing

Following a review of financing options by the Non-Executive Independent Directors, the Company entered into to an unsecured loan with our majority shareholder, Sandfire Resources Limited, to provide US$2 million to cover anticipated expenditures through completion of the Feasibility Study. This is in addition to the US$3M borrowed in the fall of 2019. On release of the Feasibility Study, the Board will consider the Companys mid-term and long-term financing options.

QUALIFIED PERSON

Jerry Zieg, Vice President of Exploration for the Company, is a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101 and has reviewed, verified, and approved the data disclosed and information of a scientific or technical nature contained in this news release.

Contact Information:

Sandfire Resources America Inc.

Nancy Schlepp, VP of Communications

Mobile: 406-224-8180

Office: 406-547-3466

Email: nschlepp@sandfireamerica.com

CAUTIONARY NOTE

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain disclosures in this document constitute forward looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding receipt of a RoD, the completion of the BFS, permitting timelines and the Companys plans for advancing the Black Butte Copper Project including financing, anticipated expenditures and expected outcomes. In making these forward-looking statements, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable, including that the Company will receive required regulatory approvals, that the Company will continue to be able to access sufficient funding to execute its plans, that the Company's exploration and development activities on the Black Butte Copper Project will not be materially affected by actions of environmental activists or other special interest groups, and that the results of exploration and development activities are consistent with managements expectations. However, the forward-looking statements in this document are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors, including factors relating to the Companys operation as a mineral exploration and development company and the Black Butte Copper Project, that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, including that results of exploration and development activities will not be consistent with managements expectations, delays in obtaining or inability to obtain required government or other regulatory approvals or financing, interference with the Company's exploration or development activities by environmental activists or other special interest groups, ailure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, the risk of accidents, labor disputes, inclement or hazardous weather conditions, unusual or unexpected geological conditions, ground control problems, earthquakes, flooding and all of the other risks generally associated with the development of mining facilities. 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. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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.
Full text: The Record of Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2019

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday issued a report on the human rights situation in the United States.

The report, titled "The Record of Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2019," was released by the State Council Information Office.

Please see the attachment for the document.

Full text: The Record of Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2019
Major airlines are not offering refunds for all international flights, despite Australians being warned against all overseas travel as the government ramps up its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Level 3 travel advice was implemented for all countries on Friday, meaning all non-essential overseas travel should be avoided. It is just one step below the highest Level 4 "do not travel" warning.

"This is done to protect their health and to limit their exposure, given we have so many countries now that are affected by the coronavirus," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and WA Premier Mark Mcgowan speak to the media on Friday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Qantas only considers giving refunds on international flights when a Level 4 warning is issued, like the one in place for China. At this stage, travellers will not be offered full refunds for all international flights because the federal government only advised against going overseas, rather than banning it.
The first case of novel coronavirus can be traced back to November 17 last year in China's Hubei province, which subsequently became its epicentre as it rapidly spread at home and abroad before Chinese health officials could identify the deadly virus, according to a media report on March 13.

Chinese authorities have so far identified at least 266 people who were infected in 2019. All the 266 individuals came under medical surveillance at some point, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

The first case of someone in China suffering from COVID-19 can be traced back to November 17, the report said quoting government data.

A 55-year-old from Hubei province could have been the first person to have contracted the viral infection on November 17 last year and cases rapidly began piling up since then, it said, without revealing the gender of the individual.

The Hubei province is under lockdown since January 23 after it became a battleground for the novel coronavirus. The total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the hard-hit province so far is 67,786, which showed the extent of the spread of the virus in the area.

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

Hubei's capital Wuhan, the ground zero, has so far reported 49,991 confirmed cases, including 2,436 deaths, the local health commission said on March 13.

According to the Post report, scientists have been trying to map the pattern of the early transmission of COVID-19 since an epidemic was reported in Wuhan in January, two months before the outbreak became a global health crisis. Understanding how the disease spread and determining how undetected and undocumented cases contributed to its transmission will greatly improve their understanding of the size of that threat, it said.

Since November 17, one to five new coronavirus cases surfaced each day. By December 15, the total number of infections stood at 27 -- the first double-digit daily rise was reported on December 17 -- and by December 20, the total number of confirmed cases reached 60, the report said.

On December 27, Zhang Jixian, a doctor from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, told China's health authorities that the disease was caused by a new coronavirus.

By that date, over 180 people had been infected, though doctors might not have been aware of all of them at the time, the report said.

By December 31, the number of confirmed cases rose to 266. On January 1, the numbers jumped to 381.

Dr Li Wenliang, a 29-year-old whistle-blower who later died of COVID-19, was warned by local police when he first wrote about the virus on social media on December 31.

While the government records have not been released to the public, they provide valuable clues about how the disease spread in its early days and the speed of its transmission, as well as how many confirmed cases Beijing has recorded, the report said.

Scientists are now keen to identify the so-called "patient zero", which could help them to trace the source of the coronavirus, which is generally thought to have jumped to humans from a wild animal, possibly a bat, it said.

Of the first nine cases to be reported in November -- four men and five women -- none has been confirmed as being "patient zero". They were all aged between 39 and 79, but it is not known how many were residents of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

It is possible that there were reported cases dating back even earlier than those seen by the Post in the government data, it said.

Interviews with whistle-blowers from the medical community suggest Chinese doctors only realised they were dealing with a new disease in late December.

According to the World Health Organisation, the first confirmed COVID-19 case in China was on December 8, but the global body does not track the disease itself but relies on nations to provide such information.

A report published in medical journal The Lancet by Chinese doctors from Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, which treated some of the earliest patients, put the date of the first known infection at December 1.

Dr Ai Fen, the first known whistleblower, told People magazine in an interview, which was later censored, that tests showed that a patient at Wuhan Central Hospital was diagnosed on December 16 as having contracted an unknown strain of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the total confirmed coronavirus cases in China reached 80,813 on March 12. The number comprised 3,176 deaths, 13,526 patients undergoing treatment and 64,111 individuals discharged after recovery, China's Health Commission said on March 13.

The report tracing back the first COVID-19 case to November 17 came amid a war of words between China and the US over the origin of the virus.

On March 12, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian alleged that the US army might have brought coronavirus to Wuhan, while reacting to US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield's reported remarks that some flu patients may have been misdiagnosed and actually had coronavirus.

Zhao tweeted, "CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!"

He, however, did not elaborate about his allegation against the US army.

In a televised speech on March 12, US President Donald Trump said coronavirus started in China and spread to other places.

On March 9, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang condemned US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for branding the coronavirus as "Wuhan virus" and termed his remarks as "despicable behaviour" and an attempt to stigmatise the Communist country.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka.

Wednesday, March 11

4:40 p.m.  A deputy assisted Michigan State Police responding to a 13-year-old Lee Township girl who was sending/receiving inappropriate messages on her phone. The sheriff's office and MSP have both been out to the same residence for issues with the girl misusing her phone before. The deputy and trooper advised the girl's 40-year-old mother to take the phone away from the 13-year-old and to delete her social media apps.

4:05 p.m.  Officers performed a warrant arrest in the 200 block of West Ellsworth Street.

3:18 p.m.  Officers performed a warrant arrest in the 200 block of West Ellsworth Street.

3:06 p.m.  Officers responded to a retail fraud in the 900 block of Joe Mann Boulevard.

2:04 p.m.  Officers performed a warrant arrest in the 300 block of Walter Court.

1:16 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to an Edenville Township residence in regard to two subjects arguing in the roadway as reported by a neighbor. Deputies made contact with a 17-year-old girl who advised she broke up with her 17-year-old boyfriend and went to his home to get her personal items. When she started to leave in her car, he jumped on the hood to keep her from leaving. She then gave him a ride home and left. The boyfriend gave a similar account.

12:20 p.m.  Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 400 block of South Saginaw Road.

11:15 p.m.  A 41-year-old Jerome Township woman was arrested for no operator's license after a routine traffic stop.

11:01 a.m.  Officers responded to a report of family abuse/neglect in the 1400 block of South Saginaw Road.

10:17 a.m.  A 47-year-old man was arrested for driving while license suspended in the city of Midland.

10:09 a.m.  Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Rockwell Drive and East Patrick Road.

8:26 a.m.  Officers responded to a car-deer crash in the area of North Saginaw Road and Dublin Avenue.

8 a.m.  Officers responded to a report of criminal sexual conduct in the 3900 block of Bay City Road.

6:26 a.m.  A deputy arrested a 47-year-old man for three outstanding contempt of court warrants out of Midland after making contact with him at his Greendale Township home. The deputy was conducting follow up on a different criminal case at the time of contact.

2:18 a.m.  Officers responded to an assault in the 700 block of Jefferson Avenue.
We were notified yesterday that one of our employees in Chicago has tested positive for COVID-19. Our employee is recovering at home and has our full support, OHerlihy said in an emailed statement. BMO employees identified as having been in proximity to the individual have been contacted and are in self-quarantine. The floor in the tower at 111 W. Monroe that the employee worked on has undergone deep cleaning and sanitizing, and we have enhanced cleaning procedures in place for the entire building. Were actively monitoring the situation and taking guidance from public health authorities.
VANCOUVER, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - C21 Investments Inc. ("C21" or the "Company") (CSE: CXXI andOTCQB: CXXIF) today released a shareholder letter from Sonny L. Newman, President and CEO, to the Company's shareholders. The letter follows below and can also be accessed from the Company's website at www.cxxi.ca.

March 13, 2020

Dear Fellow Shareholders,

I want to take this opportunity to comment on the very difficult market conditions at this time as well as any potential effect the Novel Coronavirus may have on our business operations. As I stated in my letter dated February 10, 2020, C21's business remains strong. We continue to integrate where necessary and work on strengthening our balance sheet, including the acquisition of the recent Phantom Farms real estate. Further, we continue to consolidate our Oregon operations to our Bend locations, which will continue to decrease expenditures and lease liabilities moving forward, as well as free up extraction equipment for use in our Nevada operations. In the near term we will report our year-end financials that will highlight our continued strong operations.

C21 is one of only a handful of U.S. public multi-state cannabis operators that generates positive operating cash flow. We currently trade at just over 1x EV/Revenue1 (trailing quarter annualized) and our EV/EBITDA2 is approximately 5x (trailing quarter annualized), which places us well below our peers and represents a substantial disconnect between our share price and our financial performance. Our operations are self-sustaining, which is paramount in the difficult market conditions that the cannabis sector continues to face. We remain one of very few public companies to avoid a dilutive equity raise during the downturn in the sector. Since stepping in as CEO, I am proud of our track record to pivot and right-size the business to meet the changing dynamics of the sector. I am also proud of our work towards achieving short-term and long-term profitability benchmarks.

The Coronavirus is impacting businesses across the globe. In addition to focusing on the health and safety of our customers and employees as our paramount concern, we have also been proactive in supply chain procurement for packaging supplies in case of any interruptions. We are very fortunate to have a loyal customer base in both Nevada and Oregon, particularly our hyper-local customer base in Northern Nevada. For example, 95% of our Nevada retail customers are from in-state. In addition, 75% of our revenue is generated from our own in-house products, which is significant if there were to be any strain on third-party supply. To date, there has been no material difference in our customer transaction levels or consumer habits due to the Coronavirus.

There is little doubt that the cannabis sector has faced strong headwinds, which impacts all public cannabis companies despite their operating performance. And now the macro-economic tides are impacting all sectors based in large part on the significant and justified concerns over the Coronavirus. During these difficult times, we will continue to focus on strong business fundamentals. We are continuing to evaluate all strategic alternatives open to us to service our debt and fund future growth. Presently, our primary objective is to secure a favorable debt facility.

We recognize how difficult these current market conditions are on our shareholders and I would like to make a point of thanking you all for your continued loyalty under the circumstances. We believe the market will soon reward cannabis companies and by extension, their shareholders, that operate with sound fundamentals and discipline. Our executive team holds substantial equity in the Company and we will continue to work diligently with our top priority as the preservation of shareholder value.

Sincerely,

Sonny Newman

President & CEO, C21 Investments









1 Revenue is referenced in US dollars. 2 EBITDA is a non-IFRS financial measure, in which IFRS does not prescribe any standard definition. As a result, the Company's EBITDA as discussed herein is not necessarily comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.

The CSE has not accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About C21 Investments Inc.

C21 Investments is a vertically integrated cannabis company that cultivates, processes, and distributes quality cannabis and hemp-derived consumer products in the United States. The Company is focused on value creation through the disciplined acquisition and integration of core retail, manufacturing, and distribution assets in strategic markets, leveraging industry-leading retail revenues with high-growth potential multi-market branded consumer packaged goods. The Company owns Silver State Relief and Silver State Cultivation in Nevada, and Phantom Farms, Swell Companies, Eco Firma Farms, and Pure Green in Oregon. These brands produce and distribute a broad range of THC and CBD products from cannabis flowers, pre-rolls, cannabis oil, vaporizer cartridges and edibles. Based in Vancouver, Canada, additional information on C21 Investments can be found at www.sedar.com and www.cxxi.ca.

Cautionary Statement:

Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements in this news release and shareholder letter include the future performance of the Company's Oregon and Nevada operations given the recent and continued economic instability due to the coronavirus, the continued performance of our retail operations and customer habits, the impact of the continued integration of Oregon operations on the performance of the Company, the performance of our Company brands, the future economic performance of the Company, the future performance of the cannabis sector and the Company's share price relative to its financial performance and the rest of the cannabis sector.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by C21 Investments. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because C21 Investments can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, consumer acceptance of the Company's products, the failure to execute on its acquisition and expansion strategies, competitive factors in the industries in which C21 Investments operates, the Company's inability to finance current or future operations, prevailing economic and regulatory conditions, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of C21 Investments. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change after such date. C21 Investments disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities regulations.

Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release.

SOURCE C21 Investments Inc.

Related Links

https://www.cxxi.ca/


Drug possession case against Russian man closed following ECHR ruling

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

16:17 13/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 13 (RAPSI)  The Timiryazevsky District Court of Moscow dropped prosecution of Alexander Borisov, who had been charged with illegal storage of psychotropic substances on a large scale following a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), attorney Leonid Solovyev told RAPSI on Friday.

According to the lawyer, a prosecutor petitioned for the case termination and a right to rehabilitation. During the last hearing, he withdrew all accusations, Solovyev said.

Earlier, the Supreme Courts Presidium based on the ECHR ruling overturned a 4-year sentence given to Borisov. The Court in Strasbourg held that Russian authorities had violated the applicants right to a fair trial and awarded 8,000 euros to the Russian man.




John Boadu

13.03.2020 LISTEN

Some nine aspirants from 44 constituencies in the Ashanti Region have been dropped from the upcoming New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Primaries.

The party did not announce the names of the affected aspirants but NPP General Secretary John Boadu explained that the reasons for their disqualification were made known to them.

He said most of them were disqualified over lack of proper services which the party calls 'nurturing the constituency', adding that the dropped aspirants could still appeal against the vetting committee's ruling if they were dissatisfied.

John Boadu, who is the head of the Ashanti Regional NPP Vetting Committee, disclosed that five aspiring candidates voluntarily withdrew from the contest. Besides, he insisted the process in the Ashanti Region was peaceful.

Press Statement

Meanwhile, the party has given the green light to 106 out of the 121 aspiring candidates that were contesting parliamentary seats in 44 constituencies in the region to campaign for the primaries.

A press release signed by the Ashanti Regional NPP Secretary, Sam Pyne, said, One hundred and six (106) candidates comprising 12 females and 94 males have been given the nod to contest.

According to him, 14 aspiring candidates are going unopposed and said the vetting committee had completed its work and submitted its report to the party at the national level.

Out of the 121 aspiring candidates, 106, comprising 12 females and 94 males, have been recommended to the National Executive Committee (NEC) for consideration, he said, adding that five aspiring candidates voluntarily withdrew from the contest; nine aspiring candidates have not been recommended for various legitimate reasons.

---citinewsroom
By Akbar Mammadov

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has urged restraint amid escalation of situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border and the line of contact between the troops.

We urge the sides to exercise restraint, refrain from using force and intensify the negotiation process aimed at reaching a settlement by political means. I can assure you that we will continue to monitor this topic and provide prompt comments on this subject, Maria Zakharova said on March 12.

Russia is a member of the OSCE Minsk Group that has been mediating the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1994. Other co-chairing countries are the United States and France

Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijans breakaway region which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The Minsk Groups efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Mumbai/New Delhi, March 13 : A flight carrying 44 Indians evacuated from the coronavirus-affected Iran arrived here from Tehran on Friday afternoon, officials said.

Besides the passengers, there are 17 crew members and the aircraft has been parked at an isolated area at Mumbai airport to avoid any contact with other passengers or flights.

Officials indicated that all the passengers would be shifted by an Indian Navy team to a quarantine facility.

It is not known whether there are any passengers showing symptoms of Covid-19, and further details are awaited.

An earlier report had stated that all the passengers have tested negative, but would be quarantined as per the existing health protocol for coronavirus.

Earlier, the second batch of Indian pilgrims arrived in India on Friday from Iran, Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar tweeted.

It was then reported that these 44 would be sent to a quarantine centre in Jaisalmer, but Col Sombit Ghosh, PRO Defence, told IANS that there is no confirmation about that.

Jaishankar praised the efforts of the medical team of the Indian embassy in Iran and Iranian authorities involved in the evacuation operation.

"Our efforts to bring back the others continue. @India_in_Iran and our medical team -- keep up the good work. Appreciate the support of Iranian authorities and their airlines." After Wuhan, Italy and Iran witnessed the worst outbreak of coronavirus. Many Indians, including students, pilgrims and fishermen, have been stranded in Iran amid the outbreak.

The government will carry out another evacuation, but the date is yet to be decided, a Ministry official said on Thursday at a press conference.

The Indian government has set up a testing lab in Iran where the screening and tests are being conducted and prospective cases are detected there itself before bringing Indians back from Iran.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Gatherings of more than 250 people are prohibited in Michigan under an executive order signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday.

The order goes into effect 5 p.m. on Friday, March 13, and lifts on Sunday, April 5 at 5:00 p.m. It applies to events and gatherings in shared spaces like rooms, halls, cafeterias, auditoriums, theaters and galleries.

The order allows for exceptions for the purpose of industrial or manufacturing work, mass transit or the purchase of groceries or consumer goods.

This is about protecting the most people we can from the spread of coronavirus, Whitmer said.

My administration will continue to do everything we can to mitigate the spread, and to ensure our children, families, and businesses have the support they need during this time. We are going to get through this, but we must be flexible and take care of each other.

Violations of the order are a misdemeanor.

But a line in the order also notes This prohibition does not abridge protections guaranteed by the state or federal constitution under these emergency circumstances.

The move comes after Whitmer closed all K-12 school buildings March 16 - April 5. They are slated to re-open on April 6.

There are now 12 presumptive positive cases of coronavirus in the state. In a press conference late Thursday, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Deputy for Health and Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said she expects there are more people with cases and expects there to be community transmission of the virus.

"Prohibiting large assemblages is the smart thing to do to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Khaldun said in a press release.

Coronavirus symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus. They include fever, cough and shortness of breath. For most, the symptoms are mild, but it poses a serious danger to others.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus has sickened 1,215 people and resulted in 36 deaths, nationally.

Some of the states planned large events, including concerts and sports, had already announced cancellations.

Governors in other states, including Oregon, New York and Ohio have also banned large gatherings.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

Read more on MLive:

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Hakeem Odumosu, Lagos state commissioner of police, says Princewill David, the UBER passenger who jumped into the lagoon, did so to escape justice for killing his girlfriend.

The police boss said this on Thursday at the commands headquarters in Ikeja, while revealing that David killed his girlfriend after a disagreement between them in a hotel.

While parading David with some other suspects, the police chief said the 28-year-old suspect immediately booked the cab-hailing service to third mainland bridge where he could commit suicide and escape from the crime he committed.

Read Also: Young Man Rescued From Jumping Into Lagos Lagoon

He had an altercation with his girlfriend and killed her in a hotel and went to jump into the lagoon to escape justice for the crime he committed, the police commissioner said.

David was said to have booked the taxi from Igando and had told the driver to pass through the third mainland bridge. Upon getting there, he asked the driver to stop that he needed to ease him.

The driver, who sense there could be trouble, drove close to the section where officials of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) were stationed to inform them of his passengers strange behaviour.

David was said to have jumped out of the car into the lagoon and reportedly landed on a floating wood beneath the bridge. He was reportedly rescued by the security officers.
ROME  The local chef did not expect police to swoop in when he paused to take a picture of this city's renowned Spanish Steps, which for once were free of hordes of tourists as a result of Italy's sweeping coronavirus lockdown.

But officers handed Andrea Misseri a fine of between 60 and 80 euros (around $70 to $90) because he didnt have the correct permission to leave his home.

Image: Andrea Misseri (Matt Bradley / NBC News)

The fine now can happen if you're going anywhere without any reason, so at the moment its like a curfew, he told NBC News right after the incident on Thursday. Its too strict.

Italians throughout this country of 60 million are coming to terms with the new reality that has been imposed by the nationwide restrictions on movement aimed at slowing the spread of the deadly disease.

The mood on the streets of Italy's capital was uncertain, where people remain unsure as to how they will cope stuck at home for days-on-end and with many anxious about their next paycheck.

Misseri, for one, does not think Italians will cope well with social isolation.

More than two weeks, they cant handle, he said, adding that those who did not work for the government or big corporations were particularly concerned about what would happen to their jobs and pay.

The coronavirus has already affected the Italian economy, which saw stocks slide almost 17 percent on Thursday the biggest one-day loss in value on record. The Italian government was due to approve Friday a plan of how it will spend the first package of around $13.5 billion out of $28 billion set aside to tackle the economic impact of the virus on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Italys President Sergio Mattarella called for solidarity during the crisis and not moves that may hinder its action after the European Central Bank disappointed markets with its measures to contain the fallout from the outbreak.

Image: An empty tram in Milan. (Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images)

Italy is going through a difficult situation, our experience with the outbreak of the coronavirus will probably be useful for all European countries, he said.

Story continues

Meanwhile, some Italian factory workers went on strike Thursday demanding that their factories be closed until March 22 because of the virus. Three unions representing metalworkers issued a joint statement saying factories should be cleaned and reorganized to make sure they are safe, adding that workers were quite rightly scared, according to ANSA, an Italian news wire service.

But some are also trying to keep positive.

Hand-painted banners adorned with the slogan "everything will be alright" have begun appearing in different Italian cities. And back at home, those stuck in their apartments across the country are learning to adjust to the new rhythm of life cooped up at home.

In Milan, writer Andrea Ballocchi, 50, and his wife Grazia are trying to instill a sense of normality for their children who are following their school lessons via Skype.

We try to keep a normal rhythm and to let children respect regular timetables otherwise they feel they are on holiday, said Ballocchi by telephone.

We are resisting, he said.

Matt Bradley, Bill O'Reilly, Lidia Sirna and Claudio Lavanga reported from Rome; Michele Novaga from Milan; and Saphora Smith Caroline Radnofsky.
The Sydney Royal Easter Show has been cancelled as authorities escalate measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The agricultural show is among Australias largest annual events, attracting upward of 900,000 visitors typically over two-weeks.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday said non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people should not proceed from Monday to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Royal Agricultural Society of NSW chief executive Brock Gilmour says the decision to cancel the show  scheduled to start in three weekswas a huge disappointment that would cost the society tens of millions of dollars.

We survived the 1919 Spanish flu pandemic, we survived the Great Depression and we survived World War II, Gilmour told reporters on Friday.

We will survive coronavirus. The show will be as big, bold and exciting as ever in 2021.

The Easter show is something to look forward to for rural communities that have suffered tough times on the land in recent years.

Theyve been going through drought for so many years, and then you overlay that with the bushfires, Gilmour said.

Our exhibitor numbers this year were strongpeople wanted to be there for their mental health. Its just a terrible situation.

The show generates $250 million worth of economic activity in NSW every year, Gilmour said. Organisers will now turn their attention to planning for next year.

Next year the show will be a huge hit. Im expecting a million people through the gate. It will be huge.

By Steven Trask
Adekeye said that El Rufai and His Highness later drove to the mosque where the latter led the Jummaat prayer, adding that hundreds of well- wishers lined up the road of Awe to hail His Highness on his way to the mosque and back to his residence.
Sydney: A senior Australian politician tested positive for the new coronavirus and entered hospital quarantine on Friday, days after returning from a meeting in Washington attended by US Attorney General William Barr.

"This morning I woke up with a temperature and sore throat," said Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, an influential member of the government and a key architect of Australia's controversial immigration laws.

"It is the policy of Queensland Health that anyone who tests positive is to be admitted into hospital and I have complied with their advice."

Dutton said he feels "fine" but his diagnosis will raise concerns about whether other members of the cabinet and Prime Minister Scott Morrison may have been infected.

It is not yet known when Dutton contracted the virus.

He recently returned from the United States.

Dutton was in Washington a week ago for a meeting with members of the FiveEyes intelligence alliance -- Australia, the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.

His counterparts there included US Attorney General William Barr.

Australia has seen around 184 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and three fatalities.
BAGHDAD - Iraqs military said five security force members and a civilian were killed early Friday in a barrage of U.S. airstrikes launched hours after a rocket attack killed and wounded American and British servicemen at a base north of Baghdad.

An Iran-backed Shiite militia group vowed to exact revenge for the U.S. strikes, potentially signalling another cycle of tit-for-tat violence between Washington and Tehran that could play out inside Iraq.

U.S. officials said the airstrikes intended targets were mainly weapons facilities belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, the militia group believed to be responsible for Wednesdays attack on Camp Taji base.

However, Iraqs military said the strikes killed three Iraqi army commandos and two federal police officers. A Shiite endowment in the holy city of Karbala said the strikes resulted in the death of one civilian in an airport complex being constructed by the endowment.

A gaping crater was left in the wake of the U.S. airstrike outside Karbalas defunct airport. Iraqi forces inspected an area covered in shards of glass and debris.

Kataib Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the airstrikes. But Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iran-backed militia group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., vowed to retaliate with an eye for an eye in a statement Friday.

The Iraqi military statement also said the U.S. strikes wounded five militia members belonging to the Popular Mobilization Units, an umbrella group that comprises an array of Iraqi militia groups, some of them Iran-backed.

Wednesdays attack on Camp Taji was the deadliest to target U.S. troops in Iraq since a late December rocket attack on an Iraqi base that killed a U.S. contractor and set in motion a series of tit-for-tat attacks that brought Iraq to the brink of war.

American airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah led to protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad then killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top commander responsible for expeditionary operations across the wider Mideast. Iran struck back with a ballistic missile attack on U.S. forces in Iraq, the Islamic Republics most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

The U.S. and Iran stepped stepped back from further attacks after the Soleimani incident. A senior U.S. official said in late January, when U.S.-Iran tensions had cooled, that the killing of Americans constituted a red line that could spark more violence.

Iraqs military and senior officials condemned Fridays airstrikes, saying they were in breach of the countrys sovereignty, potentially reversing an ease in U.S.-Iraq diplomatic tensions that reached fever pitch following the assassination of Soleimani on Iraqi soil.

The pretext that this attack came as a response to the aggressive action targeting Taji Camp is a false one, and leads to escalation without providing any solutions to control the situation, the statement said.

Iraqs caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has already ordered an investigation into the rocket attack on Camp Taji, calling it a very serious security challenge and hostile act.

Iraqs presidency said the continual violations of sovereignty constituted a serious weakening of the states capabilities during a time when the country is facing unprecedented challenges politically, economically and by the coronavirus pandemic.

The statement called on the international community to support Iraq in respecting its sovereignty.

Senior political leaders Ammar al-Hakim of the Hikma Movement and Muqtada al-Sadr, head of the Saeroon bloc, warned against turning Iraq into an arena for conflict and called for restraint.

In Baghdads Tahrir Square, the hub of a six-month protest movement, crowds gathered to reject the U.S. strike.

We condemn the attacks on the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) facilities in Iraq, said Ali Muften, a protester. America and Iran threaten each other but ultimately Iraqis are the victims.
Hyderabad: The world's largest aircraft manufacturer Airbus on Thursday forecast that India will need nearly 1,900 new aircraft by 2038 and the country's air traffic growth will be 7.7 per cent, almost twice the expected world average of 4.3 per cent.



India's domestic traffic growth over 2018-2038 period is projected at 8.2 per cent, one of the world's highest. The international traffic growth for the country is pegged at 5-7 per cent.



Anand Stanley, President and Managing Director, Airbus India & South Asia told a news conference here on Thursday that they were bullish on the Indian market but their forecast was conservative and has taken into account cyclical events like coronavirus.



He said out of 1,880 aircraft required, 1,670 will be small and 210 in medium and large categories.



Some 1,440 aircraft are for growth and 440 are needed to replace aircraft that will be retired. Taking into account the 440 retirements, India's existing domiciled fleet of 510 aircraft will quadruple to 1,950 by 2038, he said.



The news conference was organised on the first day of Wings India 2020, Asia's largest event on civil aviation.



On average one Airbus aircraft will be delivered to India every week for the next 10 years.



Anand said India was set to become one of the world's largest economies, with some of the world's fastest growing cities in terms of GDP including Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru.



"In the next 20 years air transportation is expected to be a key enabler and a beneficiary of this economic growth. Rising wealth and urbanisation, and the Indian government's ambitious regional connectivity programmes are all growth drivers," he said.



He said with world-class engineering and training centres and 45-strong supplier network, Airbus' industrial footprint in India set new standards among international aircraft manufacturers.



"Today, every Airbus commercial aircraft is partly made in India and we are working to double our sourcing volumes from the country to more than US$ 1 billion by 2025," he said.



Annual sourcing from India currently stands at $650 million per year. Airbus currently employs 7,000 people in India including 1,500 engineers.

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To judge by the gyrations of the worlds sharemarkets, the coronavirus has us either off to hell in a handcart or the markets are panicking about something bad thats happening, but theyre not sure whats happening, how long it will last or how bad it will end up being. Id go with the latter.

So would Reserve Bank deputy governor Dr Guy Debelle. He said in a speech this week that theres been a large increase in the financial markets "risk aversion and uncertainty".

The Reserve Bank deputy governor Guy Debelle is as much in the dark about the economic impact of the virus as the rest of us. Illustration: Matt Davidson Credit:

"The virus is going to have a material economic impact but it is not clear how large that will be. That makes it difficult for the market to reprice financial assets," he said.

Thats central-bankerspeak for "theyve got no idea what will happen". Which is hardly surprising, since no one else has, either. More from Debelles speech as we go.
The Saintes' courthouse, southwestern France, ahead of the trial of retired surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec. Photo: AFP via Getty Images

A retired French surgeon who may have raped or sexually abused as many as 349 children over his near 30-year career stands trial today in what could be France's biggest paedophilia case.

In the first of hundreds of legal complaints against him to come to court, Joel Le Scouarnec (68) faces accusations of the rape and sexual abuse of four children between 1989 and 2017.

Allegations against him, in which some say he attacked them while they were under anaesthetic, cover the three decades he practised in hospitals in central and western France. They include charges that he raped a six-year-old girl living in his neighbourhood; raped a young relative and sexually assaulted another; abused a child patient and indecently exposed himself.

The former specialist in abdominal surgery faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted on the first set of charges in the court in the town of Saintes.

In 2005, Le Scouarnec was convicted of possessing images of child sexual abuse. He was given a four-month suspended prison sentence.
Judi Dench declared that we could all do with some 'levity' and 'cheering up'. The great dame enters that spirit with a deliciously comic masterclass as clairvoyant Madame Arcati in a new film version of Noel Coward's 1941 dark comedy Blithe Spirit.

It features Charles Condomine, a playboy novelist who invites the eccentric medium to conduct a seance which inadvertently conjures up Elvira, the writer's first wife. The marvellous conceit is that the husband is the only person who can see the ghost.

'The secret is,' Judi told me, 'that Madame Arcati certainly believes in herself and her powers, though she exaggerates one thing.'

Pictured: Dame Judi Dench in in new film adaption of Noel Coward's classic Blithe Spirit

That would be an ability to fly.

'She tries to fool an audience in the theatre. She's supposed to be levitating. I was whisked around on pulleys in Richmond Theatre. I felt like a Marvel superhero.'

Then she laughed: 'Actually, I am a Marvel superhero - but you knew that.'

As an aside, she said: 'Who wouldn't like flying?' - then lamented that she missed out ever playing Peter Pan. She said that Richard Eyre, director of the current play revival starring Jennifer Saunders in the Arcati role, wrote to Judi.

'He said, "We're doing the same play" and I said, "Well, almost" because they're very different.'

The picture, on release from May 1, is a beautifully crafted confection directed by Edward Hall, who is making his feature film directing debut, with Dan Stevens as the errant author, Hollywood actress Leslie Mann as the malevolent spectre Elvira, and Isla Fisher as the second Mrs Condomine.

Pictured: Dame Judi Dench in in new film adaption of Noel Coward's classic Blithe Spirit

Hall and writing and producing team Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft updated the female voices, giving them a 21st-century attitude but retaining the tone of the world of the play. 'In a menage a trois we wanted them all to give as good as they got here,' said Ms Leonard.

In the stage version, argued Leonard, the two wives accepted Charles's behaviour without too many questions. 'I don't think any of us would do that now. They have to be grounded in their own strength,' she explained.

She observed, though, that the only one grounded in an emotional truth is Judi's spiritualist. Madame Arcati is seeking to see Donald, her true love again, who was killed in the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War. The moments when she's seeking to be reunited with her beau are very poignant. The part's more expanded and much deeper than it is usually played on the stage.

Judi has played Coward's roles before, but the film marks her first stab at Madame Arcati. She met the great wit when she was an ingenue at the Old Vic.

She said: 'Coward kind of adopted me and took me to so many first nights. To this day I have never forgotten his aftershave.' She also felt the two wives are the stronger characters in the film. 'They're in the way all the time. They are wicked.'

Hall revealed he had been working on the screen project for several years.

'It was like trying to get an octopus into a string bag after drinking vodka; there are so many moving pieces to put together,' he said, laughing as he remembered Coward wrote it in six days.

He said that he looked closely at the David Lean film, released 75 years ago, and used it as a blueprint. It helped him understand his movie.

'It should have the shape and feel and appearance of a tight-lipped period, British comedy, but the action of the story sort of throws a wrecking ball at it, so people find themselves doing the most ridiculous things and behaving in the most ridiculous way,' he told me.

It is ridiculous. Gloriously so.

Terry Gilliam is to direct a production of the musical Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine

Director and Monty Python member Terry Gilliam is to direct a production of the musical Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine.

It will run at the Old Vic for several weeks over the holiday season in December and January.

It's a brilliantly inspired choice for a show about the flip side of fairy tales.

Composer and lyricist Sondheim described the 1987 show as being a 'picaresque adventure peopled with fantastic creatures', which seems perfect for Gilliam, who made the surrealistic gems Brazil and Time Bandits.

Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, James Corden and Emily Blunt featured in the big-screen version of Into The Woods in 2014.

Neither the Old Vic nor its external spokesperson would divulge any aspect of the show, saying I would have to wait for an official announcement.

Watch out for...

Jasper Britton, who will play Arthur Wicksteed the randy doctor (a part created by Alec Guinness) in a revival of Alan Bennett's 1973 farcical comedy Habeas Corpus, which runs at the Menier Chocolate Factory from May 15.

Pictured: Jasper Britton in Alan Bennett's 1973 farcical comedy Habeas Corpus

The production, to be directed by Patrick Marber (he who staged Tom Stoppard's heartbreaking masterwork Leopoldstadt at Wyndham's Theatre), will also feature Matthew Cottle as Canon Throbbing - get the saucy picture?! - Jonathan Cullen, Catherine Russell, Kirsty Besterman and Abdul Salis.

Isobel McArthur, who perfectly understood that Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest novels ever written - but wondered what it would look like if all the roles, including the chaps, were performed by a cast of six women.

McArthur, who also plays Mrs Bennet and Mr Darcy, introduced a few words which I suspect Ms Austen hadn't heard of back in polite Georgian England.

It has pop songs, too. The show, left, is sheer delight. The company also includes Tori Burgess, Felixe Forde, Christina Gordon, Hannah Jarrett-Scott and Meghan Tyler.

I caught it at the Oxford Playhouse on Wednesday, where it's running until tomorrow.

It plays the NST City Theatre, Southampton, from next Tuesday.
As nations across the globe struggle with the spread of the novel coronavirus, Bahrain has ordered the release of hundreds of prisoners, part of a thinly veiled effort to contain the pandemic, rights groups contend.

On Thursday, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa issued a decree granting pardon for 901 prisoners. A further 585 inmates will serve out the rest of their sentences in rehabilitation and training programs, the state-run Bahrain news agency reported.

As of today, there were 210 cases of COVID-19 reported in the small Gulf kingdom, which has a population of nearly 1.7 million, making it one of the countries with the highest rate of the virus per capita. It is the fourth most densely populated country in the world. Fellow Gulf neighbors Kuwait and Qatar have seen a big jump in confirmed cases this week but no deaths have been recorded in any of the Gulf Arab states so far.

Formula One (F1) announced today that the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, a major car racing event that was due to take place March 20-22, had been postponed over coronavirus worries. Rights groups charge the government uses the event to sportswash rights abuses. It is regrettable that it took a global pandemic to compel F1 to take drastic action, while human rights abuses linked to the race continue to be ignored, said Sayed Ahmed Alwadei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.

Some 77 of a total 165 Bahraini citizens repatriated from Iran by air Tuesday tested positive for the virus. Bahrain accused Iran, one of the worst hit by the virus, of biological aggression, saying Iran had covered up the extent of COVID-19's spread.

Fatima Yazbek, a Bahrain activist affiliated with the Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, said she had received information via a fellow activist of a suspected case of coronavirus at Bahrains notorious Jaw prison, but that authorities were turning a deaf ear. Inmates say this Pakistani prisoner who arrived three days ago has high fever, fatigue and is coughing continuously.

Yazbek told Al-Monitor that prison guards were taking no measures to protect fellow inmates, including six political prisoners being held in the same building as the Pakistani. Bahrain authorities have been accused of risking inmates' lives by them denying medical treatment. In light of the miserable conditions of prisons in Bahrain, there are serious concerns of the virus spreading. The cells are not well ventilated, they are overcrowded and lack regular sterilizing, she said.

The Bahrain authorities, rights groups argue, shared such worries by granting its biggest amnesty ever since the 2011 uprising calling for the fall of the Al Khalifa family. The countrys Shiite majority, who remain poor and disenfranchised by the Sunni monarchy, drove the protests, which were bloodily suppressed with the help of Saudi troops. Bahrain blamed the unrest on Iran.

The US Navys 5th fleet is based in Bahrain and Washington has said little about the continued crackdown on dissent, which has seen hundreds of Bahrainis stripped of their citizenship and rendered stateless, and the dissolution in 2017 of the kingdoms last opposition bloc, the secular-left National Action Society, on charges of inciting terrorism and promoting the violent overthrow of the government.

Commenting on news of the royal pardon, the London-based rights group Amnesty International observed, 1,500 prisoners released for supposedly humanitarian reasons. Real reason: #COVID19. Govt itself has admitted overcrowding, broken toilets, insect infestation, generally bad hygiene, conditions in prisons.

Bahrains government said that those released were selected in light of international human rights treaties. Yet Amnesty noted that "every single rights activist (#NabeelRajab etc.) imprisoned for conduct protected by these treaties is still imprisoned. The message is clear.

Nabeel Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, is among the kingdoms most prominent political detainees. The human rights defender was sentenced to five years in prison in February 2018 for speaking up against torture in Jaw prison and for lambasting Saudi Arabias role in the Yemen conflict in his Twitter feed. He has been in jail since June 2016 serving a separate two-year sentence for airing similarly critical views.

Yazbek agrees that the king was likely spurred less by a sudden burst of magnanimity than pragmatism. They have thousands in prison and oil prices are declining.
A US commander has assessed that North Korea is likely to conduct more Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) tests, posing a greater threat to the United States.

Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, United States commander of the Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy has submitted his assessment to the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, that says, "North Korea's recent engine testing suggests the regime may be ready to test a more advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that could pose a greater threat to the United States."

In 2017, after its first ICBM test, the leader of North Korea Kim Jong-Un declared the research and development phase of the country's strategic weapons program complete and vowed to begin serial production and deployment of these new systems.

North Korea has tested several new short-range missile systems and demonstrated advancing technologies that could eventually be incorporated into its strategic systems.

In December, Kim stated it was time to take offensive measures to ensure the country's sovereignty and security and threatened to soon unveil a new strategic weapon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Public health officials are recommending people keep their distance from one another as the first positive tests for coronavirus in Manitoba were confirmed Thursday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Public health officials are recommending people keep their distance from one another as the first positive tests for coronavirus in Manitoba were confirmed Thursday.

While social distancing may be simple way to help minimize the virus spread, avoiding public spaces is easier said than done for some residents.

Jerson Salas relies on Winnipeg Transit; he doesnt have any other way to get to and from his construction and casino jobs. Waiting for a No. 15 bus downtown and wearing a moustache-print medical mask after a medical appointment, Salas said hes keeping to himself amid virus fears.

"I stayed home for a couple days and don't really go out as much  I just go pretty much to where I need to work and then go back home," he said.

Manitobas chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, announced the provinces first presumptive COVID-19 case  a 40-year-old Winnipeg woman who recently travelled to the Philippines  Thursday morning.

Jerson Salas needs to use the bus to get to work, but has been keeping to himself otherwise. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

Two additional positive test results  two men in their 30s believed to have contracted the virus while travelling  were announced by the province in a late-afternoon statement. There was no information provided on whether those cases were connected.

"All Manitobans have a role in protecting ourselves and our communities," Roussin said, adding residents should start applying "social distancing" strategies.

Social distancing involves minimizing prolonged, close contact with others in public, avoiding handshakes and other touch-centric greetings, disinfecting surfaces, avoiding large gatherings and thinking carefully about travel plans.

Manitoba Health defines prolonged, close contact as more than 10 minutes within two metres of other people  conditions that are difficult to avoid on public transit.

"If you're forced to, and you have to go somewhere, then you really don't have a choice, do you?" Salas said.

Some people waiting in bus shelters downtown were taking some basic precautions, but most arent ready to panic yet.

Tanya Thind isnt more worried about COVID-19 than about any other viruses just yet, but is prepared by carrying hand sanitizer and not touching things on the bus. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

"For the most part, I feel like people aren't really coughing in my face, so it's fine," said student Tanya Thind, who was waiting for a bus outside the University of Winnipeg.

Thind said she has to go to school and cant avoid crowded spaces, but added that she isnt more worried about COVID-19 than about any other viruses just yet.

"I have a whole bunch of hand sanitizer with me all the time, and I try not to touch too many things on the bus," she said.

But 90-year-old Susan Burns, who just returned from a family trip to California, is concerned about being out in public.

"I do believe it really is frightening," she said, waiting at a bus shelter. "It's worse for children and old people, and I'm old people."

(Based on available evidence, children do not appear to be at higher risk for COVID-19 than adults. While some children and infants have been sick with COVID-19, adults make up most of the known cases to date.)

Susan Burns is being cautious by wearing gloves in public spaces, washing and sanitizing her hands often and practising good cough hygiene. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

Burns was out and about Thursday for the first time since returning from the U.S. last weekend. Shes being cautious by wearing gloves in public spaces, washing and sanitizing her hands often and practising good cough hygiene.

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.

"I'm not too worried about Winnipeg, but like I said, I wear my gloves and I'm not going to touch anything until I get home now," she said.

For its part, Winnipeg Transit hasnt taken any precautionary measures yet, but that could change as the city looks to the province for guidance on best practices.

Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service assistant chief of emergency management Jason Shaw told a press conference Thursday the city is studying its operations to decide how to respond to provincial social distancing policies.

"That may include some of the things that have been mentioned already in terms of additional cleaning inside city properties," Shaw said.

The city plans to provide further updates as information becomes available.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca
Kylie (left) and Kendall (right) Jenner, pictured at the Met Gala in May 2019, are currently on holiday together. (Getty Images)

Kylie and Kendall Jenner posed up a storm during a recent trip to the Bahamas.

Kylie shared a series of Instagram posts featuring her and her sister on their break and it wasnt easy to tell which one was the model.

Her first post shows the sisters laying on the beach in contrasting bikinis.

Kendall has opted for a lime green double strapped bikini while Kylie went for a floral print low-back one piece.

The caption read: Rise and f***ing shine, a reference that video which did the rounds on social media late last year.

The video - which was later turned into a meme - showed the 22-year-old singing rise and shine to her daughter, Stormi.

Read more: Kylie Jenner poses at Marie Antoinette

The post - which attracted 7.5 million likes - was shortly followed by another series of photographs.

In the series, Kylie and Kendall, 24, are wearing matching tropical-inspired swimwear.

The post features three different shots. In the first, Kylie is seen in the forefront while Kendall has her back to the camera. The second shows them both in a sisterly embrace and the third is a zoomed out version of the second.

In all three theyre posing on the steps of what looks like a mansion.

The beauty mogul captioned the photo DAY 1 with a green heart emoji.

Read more: Kendall Jenner criticised for using animal as accessory

A stampede of celebrity adoration came flooding in as soon as the photos were posted, including some comments from their ever-doting sisters.

OMG beautiful sisters, Kim Kardashian commented. Shook shook, their other sister, Khloe Kardashian, added.

Demi Lovato led the reams of people appreciating Kylies humour with the rise and shine caption.

This caption, she wrote with a raised hands emoji.

Story continues

Read more: Twitter divided over Kendall Jenners latex outfit

The pair have now returned from their holiday but it hasnt stopped the sisters drip-feeding us the images since her return.

Kendall shared a photo of herself on a sun lounger wearing a teeny tiny bikini $69 by Sommer Swim.

Younger sister Kylie has also shared numerous poolside pics, including images of herself in a brown Gucci bikini and an asymmetric one-piece by French fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier.

She also used her Instagram Stories to address the size of her toe in the last image she posted of her and Kendall.

In the photo, Kylies middle toe is noticeable shorter than the rest of her toes. It prompted fans to ask her what was going on.

She explained that she broke her middle toe in school and it has never healed in quite the right way.

Be right back, were searching for flights to the Bahamas.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Style UK:
The government of Vietnams effort to combat trade fraud has been highly appreciated by trade partners as Vietnams exports to important markets continue to be welcomed.

Serious violations committed by Excel Co Ltd, a 100 percent Chinese invested enterprise, which makes bicycles for export, have been discovered.

Serious violations have been discovered

The officials of the Post-customs Clearance Inspection Agency at the General Department of Customs (GDC) found that the company imported 100 percent of bicycle and electric bicycle parts from China and assembled them in Vietnam for export.

The components imported to Vietnam had not undergone any manufacturing process before they were exported from Vietnam to the US, and were labeled as Vietnamese products in order to enjoy preferential tariffs.

Reports on Chinese investments in Vietnam show a sharp increase recently. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), investments from China and Hong Kong are increasing rapidly as a result of the US-China trade war.

After referring to the current regulations on goods origin, the agency concluded that the products of the company, established in 2018, did not meet the requirements to be considered products with Vietnamese origin.

The company acknowledged the violations, the representative of the agency said, adding that all the products in violation have been seized.

Excel Co Ltd is not alone. The agency also discovered fraud committed by three other bicycle and one woodwork assembling companies in order to enjoy Vietnamese origin.

It named a series of 100 percent Chinese invested enterprises in the watchlist for origin fraud, inspected ninr enterprises and directed nine provincial and municipal customs agencies to inspect another 24 enterprises.

The discoveries by GDC show that origin fraud has become a significant problem in the context of the escalating trade war. They also show Vietnams strong determination to ensure a level playing field for businesses.

Reports on Chinese investments in Vietnam show a sharp increase recently. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), investments from China and Hong Kong are increasing rapidly as a result of the US-China trade war.

The investments from China have increased by 1.65 times, and from Hong Kong 2.4 times compared with 2018. China (including Hong Kong) has jumped to the first or second position among the 125 countries and territories having foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam, which had never occurred before.

In 2016, capital from China, not including Taiwan, to Vietnam was $3.51 billion only. It surged to $3.64 billion in 2017, $5.64 billion in 2018 and continued increasing sharply in 2019.

Not all foreign investors follow illegal purposes when making investment in Vietnam. However, the host country always has to be vigilant in the current complex geopolitical context.

Nguyen Tien Loc, director of the Post-customs Clearance Inspection Agency, said the agency is focusing on Chinese invested enterprises because of the high risk for origin fraud. In the US-China trade war, many Chinese enterprises are flocking to Vietnam under the cloak of investors to export their products to the US to evade tax.

Warning of the abnormality of the foreign capital flow to Vietnam, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has sent a document to provincial peoples committees, asking local authorities to provide information and urge relevant agencies to monitor foreign investment changes (new investment, M&As and foreign ownership ratio) in production and business fields related to products prone to trade remedy and tax evasion avoidance measures.

This aims to minimize the cases of Vietnamese goods being investigated for trade remedy avoidance, especially origin fraud through investment in Vietnam; and to prevent foreign enterprises from exploiting Vietnam as a transshipment point to export goods to third countries.

The warnings by Vietnamese agencies, including GDC, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and MPI, are very necessary to prevent Vietnam from not getting involved in the trade war.

In early July 2019, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved a plan on strengthening state management of avoidance of trade remedies and origin fraud. A lack of vigilance would force Vietnams economy to pay a heavy price.

Luong Bang

Vietnam eyes sustained fight against trade fraud, cross-border smuggling Drastic measures are needed to sustain the fight against trade fraud and smuggling of goods into Vietnam from Cambodia, speakers told a conference in HCM City on Thursday.
Hundreds of thousands of UK jobs could be axed within weeks because of coronavirus.

Airlines, hotels and restaurants say they will have no choice but to cull staff and reduce working hours.

Up to 50million jobs could be lost globally because of the pandemic, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Alex Cruz, the boss of British Airways, said his airline was fighting for its survival, job cuts were inevitable and the situation was more serious than 9/11.

He told staff in a memo: 'We are suspending routes and will be parking aircraft in a way that we have never had to do before. Please do not underestimate the seriousness of this for our company.'

Half a million seasonal jobs in holiday parks, hotels and tourist areas have already been 'frozen', and 'hundreds of thousands' more are at risk due to a coronavirus cash crunch for UK bars, cafes and restaurants.

Alistair Darling, who was chancellor during the 2008 financial crisis, said the Government must consider massive bailouts for airlines and other firms hit by the virus.

The former Labour minister told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'As this intensifies, as it carries on, and I wouldn't criticise the Chancellor for doing this, he will need to go back to the House of Commons - I had to do it several times during the financial crisis - they must do whatever it takes to keep the economy going.'

Asked if that included 2008 bank-style bailouts for companies and industries which in the weeks ahead could face financial difficulty, for example airlines, Lord Darling said: 'I think they shouldn't close the door to anything at the moment.

'The Bank of England has, for example, made considerable funds available to be disbursed through the banking system to provide loans to companies, particularly small and medium sized enterprises.

'But the government does have to have an eye on as we come through this, and we will, at some stage we will recover, we need to make sure we have still got the basic economic infrastructure that will work.'

Alistair Darling, who was chancellor during the 2008 financial crisis, said the Government must consider massive bailouts for airlines and other firms hit by the virus

Alex Cruz, BA boss, said his airline was fighting for its survival, job cuts were inevitable and the situation was more serious than 9/11

Dozens of airlines have cancelled flights as travel restrictions continue to tighten and worried holidaymakers choose to stay at home.

Low-cost airline Norwegian Air has cancelled more than 4,000 flights and said it plans to lay off up to half its staff.

Easyjet and Ryanair have cancelled hundreds of flights, while Virgin Atlantic has admitted some of its planes are 'almost empty'.

In the UK, unions warned a swathe of airlines were preparing to announce job cuts.

Tim Morris, a civil air transport secretary for Unite, said: 'The aviation industry was in crisis even without coronavirus. This is a perfect storm for our members.'

Yesterday the European Union condemned US President Donald Trump's decision to suspend all travel from the Schengen area of Europe for 30 days.

People at risk of losing their jobs flooded social media to lament their vulnerable work situations

Insurers Aviva, Direct Line and Churchill suspended the sale of travel insurance to new customers, and Axa said new policies will not cover disruption caused by the virus.

The impact of coronavirus is already placing the hospitality sector, which employs 3.2million people, under serious strain.

Hotels are just a third full and sales in city centre bars and restaurants are down by a half, said Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality.

She added: 'This is a question of survival for hospitality businesses. In two months they will run out of cash, putting hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk.'

High streets are braced for a collapse in the number of shoppers, with new figures yesterday showing footfall has fallen by a tenth in some spots.

Hays Travel, which bought 550 Thomas Cook stores in January, has asked staff to take unpaid leave. The pandemic could also deal a 'hammer blow' to the UK recording industry and 'threaten the livelihoods of many people', UK Music said.

BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, due to take place in Dundee in late May, was cancelled and The Who, Madonna and Miley Cyrus have all abandoned live dates.

Cineworld said a widespread drop in demand could force it out of business in an update to the market this week.

Theatregoers cancelled bookings to shows across the country, as playhouses prepared for a change in Government advice that would see thousands of performances cancelled. The widespread uncertainty is also likely to hit the housing market.

A reporter for The Times detailed how she was trying to dissuade her chef flatmate, who had been ill, from going into work

Bosses lined up to criticise Chancellor Rishi Sunak's first Budget for not doing enough to protect businesses from going bust.

Jonathan Downey, founder of London Union, which operates food and drink markets in London, said: 'We need the Government to do something drastic if businesses are to survive and jobs be saved.

'Not even the best businesses can survive this level of catastrophic collapse and the Government needs to act now.'

Germany has pledged a big 'bazooka' of unlimited cash loans to business hit by coronavirus.

The UK Government has promised to guarantee 1billion of loans. In a sign of the severity of the crisis for the aviation industry, America's Delta Airlines said it was in bailout talks with the White House.

Workers left in the lurch took to Twitter to announce they had lost their jobs due to the outbreak.

One woman from Scotland had been set to start a new job as an air steward with EasyJet but was informed her employment had been withdrawn.

'I was meant to start my new job as Easyjet Cabin Crew on Monday but I've just been told my employment has been withdrawn due tot he corona virus,' she wrote.

'Does anyone know of any jobs in West Lothian, Edinburgh or Fife?'

A reporter for The Times detailed how she was trying to dissuade her chef flatmate, who had been ill, from going into work. 'My flatmates have all been ill, and under new gov advice will have to stay home.

'One is feeling better and I'm trying to dissuade her from going back to work as a chef tomorrow. The catch? 18 a day sick pay if she stays home. Not enough to live on in London,' she said.

Another person said she was 'officially panicking' following the announcement of job cuts by British Airways.

A zero-hour contractor took to Twitter to announce they had been left 'essentially unemployed' after their work closed indefinitely.

Another commented: 'Coronavirus and self employment where it's your only source of income don't mix well.'

One woman said the virus's impact on wineries and the tourism industries has 'crushed' any income she was going to make this month 'and possibly next month', alongside the hashtag '#cantaffordthis'.

Heathrow saw a 4.8 per cent year-on-year decline in passenger numbers in February due to coronavirus, raising more concerns over job losses.

And in the UK alone there are fears an estimated 1.5million self-employed and gig economy workers could face financial ruin because of the deadly disease.

Some delivering food, parcels or working in cafes, restaurants may avoid self-isolating if they have coronavirus symptoms because they fear going unpaid, unions have warned.

Some delivering food, parcels or working in cafes, restaurants may avoid self-isolating if they have coronavirus symptoms because they fear going unpaid, unions have warned

People on zero-hours contracts and other casual workers risk losing income and missing out on sick pay if they stay at home for the recommended two-week period.

More than 4.7million people - or one in ten working-age adults - work in the gig economy, according to research published by the Trade Union Congress.

And Citizen's Advice say that 1.5million of them - around one in three - don't qualify for sick pay.

It came as ministers warned that coronavirus could push more people into poverty unless the UK and Scottish governments protect low earners

The GMB union revealed the case of a delivery driver who was forced to stay off work, unpaid, after coming in to contact with a customer considered to be high-risk.
Launching a scathing attack on the Centre over its handling of the economy and coronavirus, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged the government is in a 'stupor' and said the Indian economy will be destroyed if no strong action taken to deal with the lethal infection.

"I will keep repeating this. The coronavirus is a huge problem. Ignoring the problem is a non-solution. The Indian economy will be destroyed if strong action is not taken. The government is in a stupor," Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

The Congress Wayanad MP, who has been targetting the Centre over an economic slowdown and not paying proper heed to coronavirus outbreak, on Thursday said 'timely action is critical as COVID 19 is a serious threat to people and economy'.

"The Coronavirus is an extremely serious threat to our people and our economy. My sense is the government is not taking this threat seriously. Timely action is critical," he wrote on Twitter.

Gandhi also claimed that government is looking unprepared to tackle coronavirus."There is no preparation with respect to coronavirus. The Indian government is sleeping. They do not realise that coronavirus is spreading in this country. And it is going to have devastating consequences. Our Prime Minister is sleeping," he had said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.Coronavirus, which originated in the Wuhan city of China, has so far spread to more than 100 countries infecting over 1,20,000 people. India has confirmed 73 cases of the lethal infection.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nigeria Government has said there are currently no plans to impose a ban on travellers from any country, over the spread of the coronavi...
(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, MARCH 13 - Garlic prices have gone up over the past few days in Tunisia after local consumers rushed to buy this product over its alleged beneficial antimicrobial properties presumed to help fight coronavirus. At the central market of Tunis and in many supermarkets in the capital, garlic prices on Thursday were between 20-25 dinars per kilo and are expected to further increase in the coming days. Garlic is used to increase immunity or reduce the effects of the flu, which has similar symptoms of the new virus, whose spread has been declared a ''pandemic'' by the World Health Organization (WHO).



Online publications have multiplied over the past few days wrongfully suggesting that garlic could in some way protect against the virus, prompting Tunisians to buy it.



''This unjustified race to buy it has increased prices'', said Yasser Ben Khalifa, direct of the antitrust authority at the trade ministry, stressing some difficulties to obtain provisions on the world market (usually from China).



''The correct prices should be 12 or 13 dinars'', said the official to the AFP, saying prices should drop when Tunisian garlic hits the domestic market at the beginning of April.



Khames Nabli, who has a drugstore in a southern district of the capital, said he has stopped selling it because ''prices have increased so much over the past few weeks that I haven't bought it anymore''. He said he gets a few for personal consumption.



Faced with a proliferation of allegations on the therapeutic properties of garlic, the WHO published a disclaimer on its page on fake remedies, saying garlic is healthy and can have antimicrobial benefits but there is no proof that it can protect people against coronavirus.



There are currently 13 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in Tunisia. (ANSAmed)
Multi-agency report highlights increasing signs and impacts of climate change in atmosphere, land and oceans

Posted on 13 March 2020 by Guest Author

This is a re-post from the WMO

New York / Geneva, 10 March 2020 - The tell-tale physical signs of climate change such as increasing land and ocean heat, accelerating sea level rise and melting ice are highlighted in a new report compiled by the World Meteorological Organization and an extensive network of partners. It documents impacts of weather and climate events on socio-economic development, human health, migration and displacement, food security and land and marine ecosystems.

The WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2019 includes input from national meteorological and hydrological services, leading international experts, scientific institutions and United Nations agencies. The flagship report provides authoritative information for policy makers on the need for Climate Action.

The report confirms information in a provisional statement issued at the UN Climate Change Conference in December that 2019 was the second warmest year in the instrumental record. 2015-2019 are the five warmest years on record, and 2010-2019 the warmest decade on record. Since the 1980s, each successive decade has been warmer than any preceding decade since 1850.

2019 ended with a global average temperature of 1.1C above estimated pre-industrial levels, second only to the record set in 2016, when a very strong El Nino event contributed to an increased global mean temperature atop the overall warming trend.

We are currently way off track to meeting either the 1.5C or 2C targets that the Paris Agreement calls for, said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a foreword.

This report outlines the latest science and illustrates the urgency for far-reaching climate action. It brings together data from across the fields of climate science and lists the potential future impacts of climate change  from health and economic consequences to decreased food security and increased displacement, he said.

The report will be launched at a press conference given by the UN Secretary-General and WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas at UN headquarters on 10 March.

Given that greenhouse gas levels continue to increase, the warming will continue. A recent decadal forecast indicates that a new annual global temperature record is likely in the next five years. It is a matter of time, said WMO Secretary-General Taalas.

We just had the warmest January on record. Winter was unseasonably mild in many parts of the northern hemisphere. Smoke and pollutants from damaging fires in Australia circumnavigated the globe, causing a spike in CO2 emissions. Reported record temperatures in Antarctica were accompanied by large-scale ice melt and the fracturing of a glacier which will have repercussions for sea level rise, said Mr Taalas.

Temperature is one indicator of ongoing climate change. Changes in the global distribution of rainfall have had a major impact on several countries. Sea levels are rising at an increasing pace, largely due to the thermal expansion of sea water as well as melting of the largest glaciers, like in Greenland and Antarctica. This is exposing coastal areas and islands to a greater risk of flooding and the submersion of low-lying areas, said Mr Taalas.

Climate indicators

Greenhouse Gases

In 2018, greenhouse gas mole fractions reached new highs, with globally averaged mole fractions of carbon dioxide (CO2) at 407.80.1 parts per million (ppm), methane (CH4) at 18692 parts per billion (ppb) and nitrous oxide (N2O) at 331.10.1 ppb. Preliminary data indicates that greenhouse gas concentrations continued to increase in 2019.

A preliminary projection of global fossil CO2 emissions using data from the first three quarters of 2019, suggests that emissions would grow +0.6% in 2019 (with a range of -0.2% to +1.5%).

Oceans

Marine heatwaves

More than 90% of the excess energy accumulating in the climate system as a result of increased concentrations of greenhouse gases goes into the ocean. In 2019, ocean heat content down to a depth of 2 kilometres exceeded the previous record highs set in 2018.

Ocean warming has widespread impacts on the climate system and contributes more than 30% of sea level rise through thermal expansion of sea water. It is altering ocean currents and indirectly altering storm tracks and melting floating ice shelves. Together with ocean acidification and deoxygenation, ocean warming can lead to dramatic changes in marine ecosystems.

In 2019, the ocean experienced on average nearly 2 months of unusually warm temperatures. At least 84% of the ocean experienced at least one marine heatwave.

Ocean Acidification: In the decade 2009-2018, the ocean absorbed around 23% of annual CO2 emissions, cushioning the impacts of climate change but increasing ocean acidity. The change of pH reduces the ability of marine organisms such as mussels, crustacean and corals to calcify, affecting marine life, growth and reproduction.

Ocean Deoxygenation: both observations and models indicate that oxygen is declining in the open and coastal oceans, including estuaries and semi-enclosed seas. Since the middle of the last century, there has been an estimated 1%2% decrease (77 billion145 billion tons) in the global ocean oxygen inventory.

Marine Ecosystems: Deoxygenation alongside ocean warming and acidification is now seen as a major threat to ocean ecosystems and the wellbeing of people that depend on them. Coral reefs are projected to decline to 10%-30% of former cover at 1.5C warming, and to less than 1% at 2C warming.

Sea level has risen throughout the satellite altimetery record (since 1993), but the rate has increased over that time, mainly due to melting of ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica. In 2019, the global mean sea level reached its highest value on the record.

Ice: The continued long-term decline of Arctic sea ice was confirmed in 2019. The September monthly average extent (usually the lowest of the year) was the third lowest on record with the daily minimum extent tied for second lowest.

Until 2016, Antarctic sea ice extent had shown a small long-term increase. In late 2016 this was interrupted by a sudden drop in extent to extreme low values. Since then, Antarctic sea-ice extent has remained at relatively low levels.

The Greenland ice sheet has recorded nine of the 10 lowest surface mass balance years in the last 13 years. And 2019 was the 7th lowest on record. In terms of total mass balance. Greenland lost about 260 Gt of ice per year over the period 2002-2016, with a maximum of 458 Gt in 2011/12. The loss in 2019 was 329 Gt, well above the average.

Glaciers: Preliminary results from the World Glacier Monitoring Service indicate that 2018/19 was the 32nd consecutive year of negative mass balance for selected reference glaciers. Eight out of the ten most negative mass balance years were recorded since 2010.

Climate-related Impacts

The report devotes an extensive section to weather and climate impacts on human health, food security, migration, ecosystems and marine life. This is based on input from a wide variety of United Nations partners. (See in Editors note for full list)

Health

Extreme heat conditions are taking an increasing toll on human health and health systems.

In 2019, record-setting high temperatures from Australia, India, Japan, and Europe negatively affected health and well-being. In Japan, a major heat wave event resulted in over 100 deaths and an additional 18 000 hospitalizations. In France over 20 000 emergency room were recorded for heat-related illnesses between June and mid-September and during two major summer heatwaves, there were a total of 1 462 excess deaths in the affected regions.



Changes in global vectorial capacity for dengue virus vectors,

calculate using historical climate data.

Changes in climatic conditions since 1950 are making it easier for the Aedes mosquito species to transmit dengue virus, increasing the risk of the occurrence of disease. In parallel, the global incidence of dengue has grown dramatically in recent decades, and about half of the world population is now at risk of infection. In 2019, the world experienced a large increase in dengue cases.

Food Security

Climate variability and extreme weather events are among the key drivers of the recent rise in global hunger and one of the leading causes of severe crises. After a decade of steady decline, hunger is on the rise again  over 820 million people suffered from hunger in 2018. Among 33 countries affected by food crises in 2018, climate variability and weather extremes a compounding driver together with economic shocks and conflict in 26 countries and the leading driver in 12 of the 26. In light of this, the global community faces an enormous challenge to meet the Zero Hunger target of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The food security situation deteriorated markedly in 2019 in some countries of the Greater Horn of Africa due to climate extremes, displacement, conflict and violence. By late 2019, about 22.2 million people, (6.7 million in Ethiopia, 3.1 million in Kenya, 2.1 million in Somalia, 4.5 million in South Sudan, 5.8 million in the Sudan) were estimated to be severely food insecure, only slightly lower than during the severe and prolonged drought in 2016-17.

There was exceptional dryness in March and much of April followed by unusually heavy rainfall and floods in October-December. The unusually heavy precipitation in late 2019 was also a factor in the severe desert locust outbreak in the Horn of Africa region - the worst in over 25 years, and the most serious in 70 years for Kenya. This is expected to spread further by June 2020 in a severe threat to food security.

Displacement

More than 6.7 million new internal disaster displacements were recorded between January and June 2019, triggered by hydrometeorological events such as Cyclone Idai in Southeast Africa, Cyclone Fani in South Asia, Hurricane Dorian in the Caribbean, and flooding in Iran, the Philippines and Ethiopia. This number was forecast to reach close to 22 million in 2019, up from 17.2 million in 2018. Of all natural hazards, floods and storms contributed most to displacement.

High impact events

Floods

More than 2 200 lives were reported to have been lost in various flooding episodes in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar during the monsoon season, which started late but finished with rainfall totals above the long-term average.

The 12-month rainfall averaged over the contiguous United States for the period for July 2018 to June 2019 (962 mm) was the highest on record. Total economic losses from flooding in the United States in 2019 were estimated at US$20 billion.

Very wet conditions affected parts of South America in January. There was major flooding in northern Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil, with losses in Argentina and Uruguay estimated at US$2.5 billion.

The Islamic Republic of Iran was badly affected by flooding in late March and early April. Major flooding affected many hitherto drought-affected parts of east Africa in October and early November.

Drought

Drought affected many parts of southeast Asia and Australia, which had its driest year on record, influenced by the strong positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole.

Southern Africa, Central America and parts of South America received abnormally low precipitation amounts.

Heatwaves

Australia finished the year where it started: with extreme heat. The 2018-2019 summer was the hottest on record, as was December. Australia's hottest area-averaged day on record (41.9C ) was on 18 December. Australia's seven hottest days on record, and nine of the 10 hottest, occurred in 2019.

Two major heatwaves occurred in Europe in late June and late July. In France, a national record of 46.0C (1.9C above the previous record) was set on 28 June at Verargues. National records were also set in Germany (42.6C), the Netherlands (40.7C), Belgium (41.8C), Luxembourg (40.8C) and the United Kingdom (38.7C), with the heat also extending into the Nordic countries, where Helsinki had its highest temperature on record (33.2C on 28 July).

Wildfires

It was an above-average fire year in several high-latitude regions, including Siberia (Russian Federation) and Alaska (US), with fire activity occurring in some parts of the Arctic where it was previously extremely rare.

The severe drought in Indonesia and neighbouring countries led to the most significant fire season since 2015. The number of reported fires in Brazils Amazonia region was only slightly above the 10-year average, but total fire activity in South America was the highest since 2010, with Bolivia and Venezuela among the countries with particularly active fire years.

Australia experienced an exceptionally prolonged and severe fire season in the later part of 2019 with repeated major outbreaks which continued into January 2020. As of early 2020, 33 deaths had been reported and over 2000 properties had been lost, while a total of about 7 million hectares had been burnt in New South Wales and Victoria.

Daily total wildfire CO2 emissions generally followed the 2003-2018 average, according to the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service ECMWF Global Fire Assimilation System dataset. The largest increases above the 17-year mean in July, August, September and the end of December corresponding to the peak activity of wildfires in the Arctic/Siberia, Indonesia and Australia respectively.

Tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone activity globally in 2019 was above average. The Northern Hemisphere had 72 tropical cyclones. The 2018-19 Southern Hemisphere season was also above average, with 27 cyclones.

Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall in Mozambique on 15 March as one of the strongest known on the east coast of Africa, resulting in many casualties and widespread devastation. Idai contributed to the complete destruction of close to 780 000 ha of crops in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, further undermining a precarious food security situation in the region. The cyclone also resulted in at least 50 905 displaced persons in Zimbabwe, 53 237 in southern Malawi and 77 019 in Mozambique.

One of the years most intense tropical cyclones was Dorian, which made landfall with category 5 intensity in the Bahamas. The destruction was worsened as it was exceptionally slow-moving and remained near-stationary for about 24 hours.

Typhoon Hagibis made landfall west of Tokyo on 12 October, causing severe flooding.
UPDATE: Pennsylvania cases now total 41; 2nd county asked to go on lockdown

CORRECTION: The first pediatric case of the new coronavirus in Pennsylvania is in Monroe County, not Montgomery County. The post and map have been updated to reflect this.

UPDATE (12:55 p.m.): Fridays total was originally reported as 28 after a moring new release. During its daily briefing, the Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed a total of 33 presumptive cases of the new coronavirus. The headline, post and map have all been updated to reflect this new information.

Pennsylvanias count of presumptive coronavirus cases jumped by 11 since Thursday, bringing the total of both presumptive and confirmed cases to 33, the state health department announced Friday.

All new cases were reported south of the Lehigh Valley, in counties where the new coronavirus was already known.

Six new cases were announced in a news release at 11:30 a.m.; five more, including the states first pediatric case, were announced an hour later at the departments daily media briefing.

The first child in Pennsylvania to be sickened by the new coronavirus was reported in Monroe County. It is the Poconos countys third reported case.

Four new presumptive cases are in Montgomery County, which now has 17 and is on state-ordered lockdown. Four more are in Delaware County, which now has five, and two were identified in Philadelphia, bringing the total there to three. Aside from the new Monroe County case, all others so far reported in the state are adults who are either being cared for at a hospital or in isolation at home.

The federal Centers for Disease Control also confirmed results from six more state tests. The CDC had to this point only confirmed two Pennsylvania tests as results mount. The confirmations affirm the virus that causes COVID-19 is present in four Montgomery County cases and one case each in Delaware and Wayne counties.

The CDC has not yet confirmed a coronavirus case in Northampton County, the only one known so far in the Lehigh Valley.

The Pennsylvania health department says that of the 278 people who have been tested, 138 were negative. However, there are still 112 tests pending results.

These are the main symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.CDC

Anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19  fever, cough and shortness of breath  should contact their health care provider or call ahead to a local emergency room, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine said. Doctors can order tests either through the health department or through private labs that now offer them.

Barring that, anyone with symptoms can also call the state health department at 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1-877-724-3258).

If you do not have any symptoms, you do not need to be tested at this time. If you have mild symptoms ... that could be a cold, that could be allergies, you do not need to be tested at this time," Levine said in Fridays media briefing.

MORE: How to get tested for coronavirus in the Lehigh Valley

The World Health Organization reports that the coronavirus has infected more than 127,000 people and killed 4,700.

For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov or www.nj.gov/health 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.
Former state Liberal MP and Casey councillor Gary Rowe has conceded he should have declared a conflict of interest over a $10,000 donation from controversial planner John Woodman who was pushing a controversial rezoning at the time he made the donation.

The states anti-corruption watchdog also heard how Mr Rowe became a friend of an executive from property giant Leighton, which owned the Cranbourne West land and was pressing for it to be rezoned from industrial to the more lucrative residential.

Casey councillor Gary Rowe pictured in February before the council was sacked. Credit:Justin McManus

On Friday, Mr Rowe told the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission that Mr Woodman had handed him around $10,000 after a fundraiser at Crown Casino which was held ahead of the 2016 council elections.

It was handed to me by Woodman and he said These are the proceeds from ticket sales, Mr Rowe said of the money generated by the event, which Mr Woodman had organised.
Walt Disney World in Orlando is joining its California counterpart Disneyland Resort in closing its parks to the public.

Concerns over coronavirus prompted Disney to make the rare move to close its parks. The parks will shutdown starting this Sunday through the end of the month. Hotels at Walt Disney will remain open until further notice, as will the shopping complex Disney Springs.

Disney Cruise Line is also suspending new departures beginning Saturday through the end of the month.

The Walt Disney Company said cast members will be paid during the closure.

Universal Orlando is also closing its theme parks, shuttering on March 15.

We anticipate remaining closed through the end of March but will continue to evaluate the situation, company officials said.

Hourly staffers will be paid for any work scheduled through March.

Here are other coronavirus updates:

There are more than 1,663 coronavirus cases in the U.S. with 40 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Thirty-one of the deaths have occurred in Washington state.

The 40th death occurred Thursday. The patient was a 73-year-old Kansas man who lived in a long-term care facility in Wyandotte County and had underlying health conditions.

As of Thursday afternoon, there were no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Alabama.

Canadian prime ministers wife tests positive

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has been placed in isolation after testing positive for coronavirus.

Mrs. Trudeau is feeling well with only mild symptoms, officials said. She will remain in isolation for 14 days. The Prime Minister has no symptoms and is not being tested but is also being quarantined for two weeks. He will continue his duties during the quarantine.

18 cases in Tennessee

Tennessee now has 18 cases of coronavirus.

The greatest number of cases  8  are in Williamson County south of Nashville.

The Tennessee State Public Health Laboratory has tested 88 people with 79 negative results.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has declared a state of emergency over the outbreak, allowing for additional federal funding.

Mississippi universities move to online classes

Students at Mississippis eight public universities are adjusting their schedules due to coronavirus.

Alcorn State University, Delta State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi State University, Mississippi University for Women, Mississippi Valley State University, the University of Mississippi and the University of Southern Mississippi are adding an extra week to spring break. The universities have observed spring break this week.

Once spring break is over, classes will be taught online for a period of time. How long that will be will depend on conditions, officials said.

Cruise lines suspend operations

Princess Cruise Lines is suspending operations for 60 days.

All operations will be suspended March 12 to May 10. Guests who have cruises booked during that time will have the option to transfer their money to a future cruise. The company also said it would offer general future cruise credits.

Viking Cruises has cancelled at its sailings through April 30. Guests can either request a total refund or a voucher for a future cruise valued at 125 percent of the original payment.

Evangelist cancels event

Evangelists Joel and Victoria Osteen have canceled a Mississippi event due to concerns over coronavirus.

The event was scheduled for March 13 in Jackson, Miss.

The cancellation came at the recommendation of health officials who asked that large gatherings be limited.

Jack Daniels Distillery cancels tours

Jack Daniels Distillery is suspending tours starting March 16. Operations at the distillery will continue as normal but Miss Mary Bobos Restaurant and the Lynchburg Hardware and General Store will close temporarily.

Existing tour reservations happening before Monday will be honored. All previously purchased tickets are refundable.

Heres more on AL.coms coverage of coronavirus:

Alabama private lab gains approval to test for coronavirus

Who is getting tested for coronavirus in Alabama?

Auburn and Samford end lectures, universities cancel travel as Alabama prepares for coronavirus

For the latest on coronavirus, follow AL.coms live updates here.
A Cork respiratory paediatrician has warned that school closures will only be effective at slowing down the spread of Covid-19 if children are not mixing with each other.

They will give it to each other silently and pass it on to our loved ones, Dr Muireann Ni Chronin warned. What we do now will contribute to how this develops in Cork.

Situations must be avoided where children will interact at all costs, she stressed.

If the community respond to this, it will shut it (coronavirus) down more than anything else we do in hospital.

From my experiences in the hospital this last week I would say that coronavirus is closer to all of us than we realise and the degrees of separation for all of us is getting narrower."

The consultant also said that the children will get through this critical period no problem.

Paediatric hospitals in Italy were empty at present, she said, after three weeks of school closure as the usual viruses stopped circulating.

Remember, with coronavirus children are vectors, not victims. In most epidemics, young children are the transmitters.

Please see below a very powerful message from a Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician at Cork University Hospital. This message reflects the urgency for national action - we need to look after and protect each other @roinnslainte @SimonHarrisTD @Education_Ire pic.twitter.com/valsnflnKj  Joe McHugh (@McHughJoeTD) March 13, 2020

It comes as the HSE's Psychological Services issued practical advice for parents and guardians when talking to children and teenagers about the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, healthcare professionals who provide critical care in Ireland are expecting significant challenges in the coming weeks because of the demand for their services.

We aim to provide care of an appropriate nature to our patients as always, but we do expect that we will have to make triage decisions, which will be challenging, they said.

At all times, we will communicate with the patient and their families.

Intensive care will need to be directed to those patients who are most likely to benefit, and in this instance, to save the most lives.

She added that the people of Italy and China had taught us many lessons and we in Ireland needed to learn from their experience.

The statement is signed by Dr Catherine Motherway, president of the Intensive Care Society of Ireland, Dr John Bates, dean of Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland and Ms Serena O'Brien, chairperson of the Irish Association of Critical Care Nursing.

The message in full from Dr Muireann Ni Chronin, consultant respiratory paediatrician at Cork University Hospital

"I hope you all stay safe during this difficult time . The children will get through this no problem. Paediatric hospitals are empty in Italy at present after 3 weeks of school closure as the usual viruses stopped circulating.

"Remember with corona children are vectors not victims. In most epidemics young children are the transmitters. Therefore for school closure to be effective its really important that the kids arent mixing with other kids while out of school.

"They will give it to each other silently pass it on to our loved ones. What we do now will contribute to how this develops in Cork.

"Avoid situations that the children will interact. If the community respond to this it will shut it down more than anything we do in hospital.

"From my experiences in the hospital this last week I would say that corona virus is closer to all of us than we realise and the degrees of separation for all of us is getting narrower.

"Im not that good at social media but if this could be shared as widely as possible with parents in cork it will help. This message needs to go viral to stop the virus."

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
A Choctaw County plant is helping to meet the nations demand for toilet paper in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

As nervous shoppers strip grocery and variety store shelves of tissue, Georgia-Pacifics Naheola mill is working to churn it out. The Naheola mill currently employs more than 900 people. It produces retail bath tissue and paper towels, and also makes bleached paperboard used to make Georgia-Pacifics Dixie plates, cups and bowls.

Everything from panic buying to hysteria to uncertainty about the spread of the virus are being given as reasons, but shoppers across America are buying large quantities of toilet paper. Eric Abercrombie, a spokesman for Georgia-Pacific, said the company is seeing two times the normal demand on its retail side.

However, the company says its existing inventory should be enough to meet demand. How? Georgia-Pacific also has a business-to-business side, which supplies offices, theme parks, hotels, restaurants and resorts. As Americans curtail travel and social activities to stem the spread of the virus, the company expects that demand to shrink. While the market picks up in one sector, it is slowing in the other.

Were a market-based company, so well continue to review and adjust to meet any demand, Abercrombie said.

At the same time, Georgia-Pacific also manufactures hand sanitizer products for businesses and the medical industry. Abercrombie said demand for hand sanitizer is currently ten times the normal amount.

Another reason the company is able to meet the demand is that the Naheola mill last year saw a $120 million investment that specifically targeted its toilet paper capability. Georgia-Pacific has pumped more than $500 million into the mill over the past six years, and about $1.6 billion into its Alabama operations.
tvN's new drama "Memorist" features the dashing actor Yoo Seung-ho, whose role is an investigator who possesses supernatural powers to see more than what meets the eye.

Yoo Seung Ho started his career at the age of 7 when he was featured on a mobile company commercial. In an interview with Vogue Korea in 2012, he confessed that he came from a poor family. The actor also discontinued his studies to hone his acting skills.

His breakthrough came when he starred in the 2002 movie "Way Back Home." Here, he portrayed the role of a young city boy who was forced to spend his summer vacation in the countryside with his deaf-mute grandmother. His impressive acting skills in this project earned him praises and the title "Nation's Little Brother."

Soon enough, he received many offers on televisions and films, and he has been taking on a variety of characters since then. In fact, to perfect his role as a murderer in "Warrior Baek Dong-soo," he trained martial arts and swordplay.

A few of his notable roles in dramas include Kang Bok Soo in "My Strange Hero" (2018), Kim Min Kyu in "I'm Not a Robot" (2017), and Crown Prince Lee Sun in "The Emperor: Owner of the Mark" (2017).

In his current drama, he is a detective with a special ability to see other people's memories. While his goal is to be able to give a realistic performance in any character given to him, Yoo Seung Ho ensures to act and build his body like the way an investigator should. The actor added that he needed to gain weight for this particular role and that he is aware that his face got plump as well.

"Memorist" is the drama version of the hit webtoon of the same title, created by Jae Hoo. His co-star in the drama, Lee Se-young, plays the role of Han Sun Mi who works as one of the brilliant profilers in the team. The actress' strong and fierce character shows in her still shots. Together, their goal is to find the culprit and murderer in every case they handle.

Don't miss every episode, which airs on Wednesday and Thursday night, and discover the mystery with the main characters in this suspenseful series.
Mumbai, March 13 : Cracking the whip, the Maharashtra government on Friday ordered closing of all accounts in private and cooperative banks and shifting them to public sector banks (PSBs).

A notification to this effect was issued here asking all government departments, state public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies to comply by the month-end.

The move came two days after one government department -- National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project -- was ordered to close its accounts with Axis Bank and shift it to the State Bank of India.

The move came a week after the Yes Bank crisis erupted and it came to light that Rs 1,125 crore of three civic bodies was stuck in the bank.

The government has directed shifting of all salary, pension and other accounts to one of the 11 nationalised banks by April 1, as part of the efforts to ensure safety and security of public funds.

Interestingly, the move came a day after the Reserve Bank of India had sent an appeal to all state governments to reconsider any moves to close their accounts with private banks and shifting them to PSBs.

Justifying the move, the state has cited two reasons, one being that all Central government schemes would be processed through nationalised banks.

Ironically, the order also refers to the RBI's directive on October 31, 2019 to switch accounts to nationalised bank.

Banking sources revealed that there was a virtual flood of deposits coming into government banks, particularly the SBI, after the RBI moratorium was slapped on Yes Bank.

The RBI'S letter to states said that such a move (to shift accounts from private banks to PSBs) could have implications on banking and financial stability.

"We would like to point out that the RBI has adequate powers to regulate and supervise the private banks and by using these powers it has ensured that the depositor's money is entirely safe," the RBI had said.

It further sought to allay states' apprehensions by pointing out that the regulation works in a way to ensure that depositors money is entirely safe.

"It is precisely to retain depositors' confidence in private sector banks and mitigate their hardship that after the imposition of a moratorium on Yes Bank, the RBI has drawn up a draft scheme without delay and we are making every effort to the finalisation of the scheme," the central bank said.

It is expected that all state departments, public corporations, civic bodies and autonomous bodies will shift their accounts from private banks to PSBs over the next couple of weeks.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.majmi@ians.in)
Were not shy about knocking Gov. Andrew Cuomo for squeezing every last drop of public relations value out of a news event, whether it be announcing a New York State Fair attendance record or towing a motorist stranded by a snowstorm.

So we will go out of our way to praise Cuomo for his competent and proactive handling thus far of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in New York state. In contrast to the federal governments fumbling response, Cuomos messaging to the public has been clear, consistent, frequent and reassuring.

His actions to flatten the curve  to slow down the spread of virus so the health care system isnt overwhelmed with sick people  are firmly grounded in science and longstanding public health practices.

This unpredictable pandemic could yet go sideways. If it does, you want Cuomos steady hand at the wheel of state government.

The governor was on coronavirus early. He made his first public statement about COVID-19 on Jan. 24, one day after Chinese authorities sealed of Wuhan City, the epicenter of the disease, and three days after the first U.S. case was confirmed in Washington State. As a major port of entry for international travelers, it was only a matter of time before the virus was identified in New York.

The states first case was confirmed March 1. Since then, the governor has conducted daily (and sometimes two or three) briefings to update the number of cases  trading places with Washington State for the most infections in the nation. Cuomo also uses his appearances to urge New Yorkers to observe reasonable public health measures like avoiding public gatherings, hand-washing and staying home when theyre sick. His administration has been quick to knock down rumors and disseminate facts.

Cuomo declared an emergency on March 7. He pressed the Legislature to approve $40 million in emergency funding for efforts to contain the outbreak. He ordered health insurers to waive co-pays for patients seeking a COVID-19 test. He pushed the federal government to let state and private labs in New York begin testing for the virus  permission that was granted Friday  and contracted with 28 companies to ramp up testing within the state. On Friday, he opened the first drive-through testing facility in New Rochelle, where a cluster of cases led Cuomo to declare a containment zone in the city.

That is just one of the unpopular, but necessary, decisions the governor has made. Cuomo also banned large gatherings of people, told Broadway it had to go dark, and leaned on St. Patricks Day parade organizers in cities around the state to postpone their events.

In all his public statements, from news conferences to frequent appearances on national TV, Cuomo has delivered facts, projected calm and counseled people not to panic. "When you see the big changes coming, don't be nervous, because it is part of a plan," Cuomo told CNN. Yes, it is going to be a disruption, yes, you will feel anxious, but it is going to be okay at the end of the day."

Thats the message the country needed to hear  didnt hear  from President Donald Trump in his address to the nation Wednesday. The president conveyed misinformation about a travel ban with Europe and whether insurers would waive co-pays for treatment of coronavirus. A speech meant to inspire confidence instead sent the financial markets into a tailspin.

Cuomo and state government have stepped in and stepped up to fill the federal governments gaps in leadership, testing and messaging in the fight against COVID-19. Their challenge is to keep up the intensity of the response for however long the virus remains a threat.

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The Senate will be in session next week to work on coronavirus legislation and will not go on a previously scheduled recess, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Thursday.

'The Senate will be in session next week,' McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, wrote on Twitter. 'I am glad talks are ongoing between the Administration and Speaker Pelosi. I hope Congress can pass bipartisan legislation to continue combating the coronavirus and keep our economy strong.'

This comes as Republican senators up for reelection did not want to go home without passing an economic relief bill. Many Republicans believed that they would be in an untenable position politically if Democrats in the House passed their own bill and the Senate left town without acting.

The House is expected to pass its bill Thursday afternoon, though Republicans in the Senate have expressed opposition to it.

The question now is whether Democrats and the Trump administration can reach a deal that paves the way for Congress to send the President a new legislative package to sign to respond to the spread of coronavirus and how quickly that could happen.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at her weekly news conference that House Democrats plan to bring their coronavirus response package to the floor for a vote even as she noted that negotiations continue with the Trump administration in an effort to reach a consensus deal.

Pelosi said that Democrats are 'addressing' some Republican concerns in their coronavirus response legislation, saying the Trump administration's suggestions have so far been 'very reasonable.'

If a consensus is reached and the House passes legislation on Thursday, the Senate could take it up next week. Canceling the planned recess period will at least ensure that senators will not be returning to their home states for a full week while coronavirus legislation sits idle.

On Wednesday night, Democrats released a legislative package that would provide support to families affected by the pandemic, including paid sick leave, free testing and funding increases to food security programs.

The package comes as officials in Washington race to find ways to combat the impact of the novel coronavirus, which as of Thursday has infected more than 1,300 people in the US and led to 39 deaths in the country. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he we was sharply restricting travel to the US from more than two dozen European countries in an effort to slow the pandemic's spread.

But Congressional Republicans have reacted critically to a legislative package released by House Democrats on Wednesday night, creating uncertainty over whether Congress would be able to move legislation across the finish line.

This story has been updated with additional developments Thursday.
With death toll surging past 1,000 in Italy and the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, the European country has gone into a complete shutdown to combat the deadly disease of coronavirus that has gripped the world in the past few weeks.

As nationwide quarantine has halted Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte informed about the total lockdown in the country with an exception of food stores and pharmacies, BBC reported.

Amidst the news of chaos and panic coming from the country, Pornhub, an adult content website, has announced a month-long free premium subscription for Italians stuck at home to encourage them to stay indoors and curb the spread of the deadly disease.

Pornhub announced the free service in a statement and also informed that it would be sending its March proceeds from Modelhub to support Italy in these testing times.

"Pornhub is donating its March proceeds from Modelhub to support Italy during this unfortunate time (model earnings will remain untouched). Italy will also have free access to Pornhub Premium throughout the month. Forza Italia, we love you! Orange heart," Pornhub wrote on Twitter.

Pornhub is donating its March proceeds from Modelhub to support Italy during this unfortunate time (model earnings will remain untouched). Italy will also have free access to Pornhub Premium throughout the month. Forza Italia, we love you! pic.twitter.com/DD0nYDyrJ4  Pornhub ARIA (@Pornhub) March 12, 2020

It also added that the Italian customers opting for the premium subscription would need no credit card input to avail their services.

Pornhub will allow people living in Italy to access Pornhub Premium for free throughout the month of March, as the whole country is in #lockdown, and will donate part of their earnings to help Italy fight the #Coronavirus emergency. #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/qDnFiAzIgE  Francesco (@Flanas07) March 12, 2020

The move by the adult website was widely hailed by Twitterati.

PornHubs brand > your brand. This is genius & hysterical. pic.twitter.com/19xDIWT8kJ  Jack Appleby (@JuiceboxCA) March 12, 2020

Meanwhile, Pornhub is offering quarantined Italians free access to its premium service pic.twitter.com/3fuBCNGCgd  Maru (@Mepbon) March 12, 2020

PornHub is such a nice company. They donate to charities, give away scholarships, run campaigns to help the environment and spread awareness about saving bees! Now, they're allowing everyone who lives in Italy to access Pornhub Premium for free. PornHub is honestly amazing.  (@bIinkaholic) March 12, 2020

Free @Pornhub premium memberships for those in Italy as they deal with the coronavirus outbreak. The website will also be donating $ to help them combat the virus pic.twitter.com/R039ZEB5uw  Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) March 12, 2020

how are we living in a dimension where pornhub dot com is taking more action to fight coronavirus than the president of the united states https://t.co/RiibcDtcFH  paul rudd (@philsadelphia) March 13, 2020
China sends medical experts and hospital equipment to help in Italy's Coronavirus emergency.

A team of top Chinese doctors landed in Rome last night as part of China's effort to help Italy tackle the country's escalating Coronavirus outbreak.

The nine experts, led by the vice-president of the Chinese Red Cross, Yang Huichuan, and Liang Zongan, a distinguished professor of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, played a crucial role in managing the Coronavirus emergency in China.

The doctors brought with them 31 tons of medical aid including respiratory machines, tens of thousands of masks and other vital hospital equipment, to be distributed by the Italian Red Cross.

The Chinese ambassador to Italy, Li Junhua, joined Francesco Rocca, the president of the Italian Red Cross, to welcome the team to Rome.

"This is a concrete and rapid response, activated within 48 hours" - said Rocca - "The presence of the team of experts who will be able to bring their knowledge to our health professionals is very important as we unite with a common goal: to defeat the virus."

Rome mayor Virginia Raggi tweeted: "Many thanks to the embassy and all the Chinese people for their help against #Covid19. I welcome the team of doctors who arrived from Shanghai to Italy yesterday to help us stop this terrible epidemic. Together we will make it. #Andratuttobene" [Everything will be ok].

The arrival of the team came the same day that China recorded just 8 new Coronavirus cases compared to the 2,651 new infections and 189 more deaths in Italy.
Ontario now has 60 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Here's what you need to know

A day after the World Health Organization officially declared the global COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, Ontario has announced new measures to prepare for the spread of the virus in this province.

Here's what you need to know about the number of cases, new screening centres and the events impacted:

18 new cases in Ontario, including a baby

The number of COVID-19 cases jumped dramatically on Thursday morning, with health officials confirming 17 new cases in Toronto, Peel, Waterloo and Halton.

Late Thursday night, the Prime Minister's Office announced that Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, has tested positive for COVID-19.

The PMO says she is feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild. It also says the prime minister is in good health with no symptoms.

Five of the total 59 cases have been resolved.

Health officials say one of the cases is a baby boy, who was in close contact with another patient and attended North York General Hospital in Toronto. The province says it doesn't appear that any of the cases were due to community transmission.

Among the new cases are an Oakville resident in her 40s who travelled to Colorado earlier this month and started experiencing symptoms on March 7. She went to hospital in Burlington on March 10 for testing and was confirmed to have the virus the following day. She is now in isolation at home.

The woman also recently travelled to Costa Rica, having travelled there from Toronto on WestJet Flight 2644 on March 7. She travelled back to Toronto on WestJet Flight 2643 on March 9. Passengers on those flights are asked to monitor themselves for symptoms for 14 days and report to a public health unit if they develop signs of the virus.

WATCH: Dr. David Williams says children travelling on March break increase the potential of bringing back an infection:

Also confirmed Thursday is a second case of the virus in Hamilton, Ont. Few details are available about the case now but the case is not connected to a doctor who was revealed to be the city's first case Wednesday.

Story continues

Two new instances of the virus were confirmed in Waterloo, Ont. The cases include a woman in her 60s, who got sick on a cruise that left Puerto Rico on March 1 and developed symptoms after returning home on March 8. She was tested in hospital and has since been released with mild symptoms.

A man in his 40s was also confirmed infected. Waterloo health officials believe he contracted the virus while visiting Las Vegas. He developed symptoms after returning home and was also released after testing.

CBC

At an afternoon news conference on Thursday, chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams urged parents to think carefully before taking their children on March break as this would increase the potential of bringing back an infection and introducing it into various settings, including schools and daycares.

"I'm saying that those who travel, especially when it comes to March break, if you choose to take your children with you , when you come back you're going to be asked to keep the children out of public settings, in the home setting in isolation for the 14-day period and not introduce them into the school system or into the daycare system until you complete that 14-day period," Williams said.

"The parents can continue to self monitor but if they develop symptoms, or you and your child develop symptoms and prove to be positive, then of course you will all be contacts to that case and you will be in isolation for a further 14 days until that whole situation is resolved."

Screening centres at 6 Ontario hospitals

Ontario is setting up dedicated coronavirus screening centres at six hospitals around the province in coming days, the Ministry of Health said Thursday.

"As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve globally, Ontario is taking further action to ensure the province's health care system is positioned to continue to safeguard the health and well-being of Ontarians," the ministry said in a news release.

The first assessment centres will be established at the following hospitals and health facilities:

Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness

The Ottawa Hospital

North York General Hospital

Mackenzie Health (in Vaughan)

Scarborough Health Network

Trillium Health Partners (Mississauga)

The centres will be located in separate spaces to protect other patients. Further screening centres will be set up in the coming weeks, the ministry adds.

The Ministry of Health has approved new physician billing codes for telephone assessments, which will allow doctors to do more evaluations that way rather than having people come into their clinics.

The province is also in the early stages of planning to establish at-home testing.

Yesterday, the Ontario government announced a $100-million contingency fund to help health authorities tackle the pandemic in the province.

Toronto activates emergency operations centre

On Thursday, the City of Toronto activated its emergency operations centre, operating at Level 2, with Fire Chief Matthew Pegg announcing a task force of about 50 people from different city agencies co-ordinating on preparations for a possible escalation of the virus. Pegg said that task force will operate around the clock.

Speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon, the city's medical officer of health Dr. Eileen de Villa said anyone returning from travel is urged to avoid public or group gatherings, and to monitor themselves for symptoms. She did not discourage people from travelling over the March Break, however.

Event organizers are also urged to consider whether they can postpone or hold their events virtually, but the city has not implemented any sort of ban. De Villa is encouraging people to avoid shaking hands.

"Bans are fairly blunt instruments," said de Villa, insisting the best measures for protection remain personal hygiene including hand washing.

Upcoming jury trials suspended

On Thursday night, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice announced that upcoming jury trials in the province have been suspended due to COVID-19.

"Ontario Superior Court of Justice has suspended jury selection for future trials at this time. Jury panels for upcoming matters are being directed not to attend court," the court said on Twitter.

St. Patrick's Day Parade cancelled

Organizers of Toronto's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, scheduled for Sunday, March 15, have decided to cancel this year's parade in light of the virus.

"We're dealing with a serious health issue globally and I think we've got to do our part and contain this as best as possible," said Shaun Ruddy.

This is the first time in 33 years that the parade has been cancelled, Ruddy said.

"We're really disappointed and for obvious reasons we wish we could have the parade but the climate just doesn't allow that," he said, adding it "will be back bigger, better and stronger than ever next year."

Are you concerned you may have COVID-19? It's important to know the symptoms before seeking medical attention. Here's a guide from the World Health Organization:
Messiah Lifeways in Mechanicsburg on Thursday afternoon restricted all visitors to the main entrance, the latest in the increasing number of precautions being taken across senior residential areas to protect residents and staff from the coronavirus pandemic.

Messiah Lifeways, home to about 800 elderly residents, is also screening all visitors to its personal care and skilled nursing areas.

The protocol was likely to change at any moment, spokeswoman Katie Andreano said.

We are being very cautious and taking precautions along the guidelines from the CDC and the Department of Health, she said. We know our residents are more vulnerable than others in the population.

Across Pennsylvania, nursing homes also have implemented strict guidelines restricting visitors, including family members.

Senior residential centers such as Messiah Lifeways typically also have independent living housing for residents.

As of Thursday, Pennsylvania had 22 positive coronavirus cases.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



Globally the virus has infected more than 125,000 people and has killed more than 4,600.

The state Department of Health recommends nursing homes implement a no visitor policy in areas there there are known coronavirus cases. This includes Montgomery County, where the bulk of the states coronavirus cases have emerged, and its neighboring counties: Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Berks and Lehigh counties.

However, the state health department also said it supports any nursing home that decides a policy barring visitors is appropriate.

The virus appears to impact elderly people more severely. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that people older than 80 with major illnesses have the greatest risk and should take extra precautions.

The grim reality is that for the elderly, COVID-19 is almost a perfect killing machine, Mark Parkinson, president and chief executive officer of the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living told CNN this week. In our facilities the average age is 84, and everyone has underlying medical conditions. So when you combine those factors together, we are dealing with perhaps the greatest challenge that we ever have had.

Senior residential centers across Pennsylvania are encouraging family and friends to stay away from the centers, particularly those that have skilled nursing and assisted living components.

Willow Valley Communities in Lancaster is requesting that visits to the community be minimized.

The sprawling senior retirement community has implemented protocol for visitors to its campuses.

Like many other communities, Willow Valley is screening and restricting access to people who have traveled overseas to certain countries or taken cruises; show physical symptoms or have come into contact with anyone under COVID-19 investigation.

Other residential and nursing facilities that have rolled out strict visiting protocols include, Susquehanna Valley Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Normandie Ridge/Albright Care Services and Manor Care, which runs 10 facilities across the state.

All have issued advisories to residents and family members restricting access to its campus. In most cases, entrance has been restricted to a main entrance and visitors are being screened.

The numbers of COVID-19-related deaths to date show the vulnerability of the older population demographic: As of Wednesday, 23 residents from a Kirkland, Washington, nursing home had died. That represents more than two-thirds of all COVID-19 deaths nationwide.

More than 30 other residents at the nursing home have tested positive, and several dozen employees are showing signs of infection.

Social isolation hits the elderly population particularly hard. Andreano said the precautions are meant to protect everyone, including Messiahs 500 staff members.

The nature of this situation is evolving quite quickly so the advice changes fairly often, she said.

She said no resident was exhibiting signs of the coronavirus at this time.

In addition the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has also restricted visitors to its six veterans homes for the foreseeable future.

So-called compassionate cases involving residents in critical condition are being exempt. In those cases, visitors are being screened and given limited access to their specific residents room.

Our residents are predominantly older and many have multiple complex health conditions, so we are taking this extra precaution to minimize their risk of exposure to COVID-19, said Maj. Gen. Anthony Carrelli, Pennsylvanias adjutant general and head of the DMVA.

We realize family and friends want to spend time with their loved ones, but we hope they understand that this temporary inconvenience is prudent and necessary to minimize the risk of exposure. We apologize in advance and thank everyone for their cooperation.

There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in any of the six veterans homes.

Andreano said the mood among Messiah residents is mixed.

As with everybody else in the population, she said. Some are more concerned than others. We are doing everything we can to provide accurate and timely information. We are looking to provide support and guidance.

 A roundup of event cancellations/postponements.

 A list detailing how colleges and schools are altering their schedules.

 Five surprising facts about COVID-19 from Dr. Nirmal Joshi

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Open source

The global pandemic of the coronavirus may end by June if countries mobilize to fight it as Reuters reported citing senior Chinese medical adviser.

As it is known, the pandemic is the spread of the new disease on the world scale. In other words, when the new virus appears and the majority of people do not have immunity against it, the disease quickly spreads all over the world.

The medical adviser noted that China has passed the peak of infections and the new cases in Hubei declined to single digits. As it is known, about two-thirds of the cases of infection with coronavirus in the world are spotted in the central province Huber, where the virus appeared for the first time in December 2019. But during the last weeks, the majority of the new cases were spotted outside China.

The Chinese authorities believe that they assumed strict measures, including almost complete isolation of Hubei, in this way, they prevented large outbreaks in other cities. Besides, the government of China urges other countries to do the same and take a leaf from China.

Broadly speaking, the peak of the epidemic has passed for China. The increase of new cases is falling, spokesman for the National Health Commission Mi Feng said.

Zhong Nanshan, the governments senior medical adviser, stated that if countries will treat the outbreak seriously and will be ready to assume firm measures, the outbreak will finish in the world during a few months.

My advice is calling for all countries to follow WHO instructions and intervene on a national scale. If all countries could get mobilized, it could be over by June, he said.

Earlier, WHO announced the world coronavirus pandemic. WHO has conducted outbreak assessments around the clock and is concerned about the alarming rate of spread and complexity of the disease, as well as the level of inactivity.

As we reported, the Kyiv state administration introduced a ban on holding mass events in the capital with the participation of more than 60 people until March 31 due to the spread of coronavirus.
D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said his officers have been trained in dealing with the virus, and many carry protective clothing because they often interact with people at risk for hepatitis, influenza and other infectious diseases. He said officers who come in contact with someone showing signs of the virus can ask them if they will put on a mask, and if they refuse, the officers will put one on themselves.
The Cynthiana Democrat has been in existence for 152 years and prints about 5,000 copies for distribution every Thursday morning. Last Sunday, it ran 18,000 copies of a special edition  its first in over two decades. Why? Because the area had just become ground zero for COVID-19 in the state.

On March 7, the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the state of Kentucky was reported from the small town of Cynthiana. Despite their fear and confusion, locals quickly jumped into action to help, and so did the towns weekly newspaper. Becky Barnes, editor of the Cynthiana Democrat, knew that information had to reach the people as soon as possible.

We are very fortunate that we have a newspaper and a radio station both in our county, said Barnes. We are part of the community, and we are our communitys newspaper. We are their source of information. And you know, I like to think that the newspaper is important to those readers who wouldn't get that information otherwise.

The recent special edition of the Cynthiana Democrat. (Courtesy Cynthiana Democrat)

In a county with a large population of elderly residents, not everyone has access to the internet. So Barnes and her small team at the Cynthiana Democrat put together a four-page broadsheet on everything they could regarding COVID-19 and best practices in a national emergency.

We put this section together and I feel like the community responded. If you did not receive one, we asked Where are you? and we if we couldn't go hand deliver them ourselves, we put them in an envelope and mailed them out, said Barnes.

The special edition of the paper that was published on Sunday contained information that the state and county had issued about the lone case of coronavirus in the area.

At this point, the entire state of Kentucky has a total of 11 cases of confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which six are from Harrison County, which includes Cynthiana. Along with those six confirmed cases, there are probably over 100 other people in the county who are self-isolating out of fear of possible exposure, said Mayor James Smith. Theyre watching to see if they develop symptoms.

Story continues

In a town of 6,300 where gossip can spread just as fast as a worldwide virus, this news hits close to home. So when we tell you, you know, theres six confirmed cases, most of this community knows who those people are, says Mayor Smith. And it makes it a whole lot more real.

From the moment the news broke last Sunday about the coronavirus case in Cynthiana, the mayor and townspeople have been lauded for their response to the situation, and for setting an example for other communities.

Even though all classrooms in the county were closed on the following Monday, teachers are still reporting to schools to help hand out food to those students who depend on their school lunches. You can pick your kids meals up at the school. You can pick those up, kind of like a drive-through thing, laughs Barnes. Our school personnel are out on the sidewalks handing out bags of their lunch meals to them. The administrators are kind of trying to make it fun, and so some of them are dressed up like pizzas or different things.

Teachers, administrators and staff keep the mood light while ensuring students get the food they need. (Robin Smiley)

Local restaurants are still open and have adapted to make sure customers can get food at home. Theyve instituted curbside service. So you can call ahead, place your order and pull right over and not even get out of your car. Some of them are offering delivery, says Mayor Smith. Some of our restaurants are offering free meals and delivery to those 100 or so people who are shut in and being isolated.

Cynthiana, 45 minutes north of Lexington, promotes itself to tourists as a quaint escape for your soul. Its a place where you can get away from big city, says Smith.

If you come to our downtown, we have no empty buildings because we have nice little shops and restaurants in every single building. Our economys been doing great, says Smith. But, he adds, that contributes to some of the fear that we have. We have so many small businesses and we've done so well and come so far in five years. Were scared that it just lingers on. Or, you know, a month, two months, that will undo everything that we have built in the last five years.

Mayor Smith says, That's the beauty of a small town. We know one another, thats good and bad. The good part is that because we know one another, we care about one another, and anything that we can do to help someone else through this, theres somebody willing to do that.

In a small town like this theres no room for politicizing the issue. I dont see where anybody could have any other motivation other than saving peoples lives and responding in the best way that they know how. Politics is not entering into our decisions here locally. Not one little bit, says Smith. So maybe the example we're setting here locally is an example that they can take to Washington, D.C.

Harrison County superintendent Harry Burchett, left, and Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles arrive at a local school to distribute lunches for kids. (Robin Smiley)

Im just so proud of this community in the way it has responded. Cynthiana is my hometown and I love it and Im so proud to be from Cynthiana, Harrison County and just proud to be a Kentuckian, says Barnes.

Looking back over the last seven days, Mayor Smith admits to a roller coaster of emotions. Theres the concern and fear, and on the other side, I'm very, very proud of how this community has come together and helped one another and loved one another through this.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
South Africa: Health confirms eight new Coronavirus cases

The Health Department has confirmed eight new cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of cases to 24.

At this point, I wish to also bring it to your attention that there are more positive results that have come out.

The NICD [National Institute for Communicable Diseases] and NHLS [National Health Laboratory Service] are now verifying the information and these results. Thereafter, we will make a formal announcement, said the Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, on Friday in a statement.

Of the confirmed cases, four are from Gauteng and include two males and two females.

In Gauteng, the patients include a 39-year-old female, who had travelled to Switzerland and Austria; a 50-year-old male, who had travelled to Austria; a 21-year-old female, who had travelled to Italy, and a 57-year-old male, who had travelled to Switzerland.

In KwaZulu-Natal, two cases were confirmed. They include a 79-year-old male, who had travelled to Greece and Italy, and a 52-year-old male, who had travelled to Switzerland.

Two cases were also confirmed in the Western Cape. These include a 50-year-old male, who had travelled to Switzerland and Austria, and a 46-year-old male, who had travelled to Italy.

The patients have now been informed and tracing of their contacts is underway.

To ensure accuracy and avoid unnecessary panic, I wish to emphasise to the media and the public to await and rely on our formal announcements, and thereafter publish.

We also continue to stress the importance of observing and respecting the privacy of the patients and their families, said Mkhize.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday declared the closure of all schools and colleges where examination process is not going on till 22 March in view of coronavirus scare.

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday declared the closure of all schools and colleges where examination process is not going on till 22 March in view of coronavirus scare and asserted that all precautions are being taken to check the spread of the disease.

"All schools and colleges associated with the basic, secondary, higher education and vocational colleges, where examination process is not on, have been closed till 22 March," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told newspersons.

Click here for Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates

Wherever the examination process is underway it will go on as per schedule. The concerning people have been instructed to take all precautionary measures and maintain hygiene, the chief minister said.

So far, 11 coronavirus cases have been reported from the state of which 10 are being treated in Delhi and one in KGMU, Lucknow, he said, adding that these include seven from Agra, two from Ghaziabad and one each from Noida and Lucknow.

Yogi, who convened a high-level meeting of senior officials to deliberate on coronavirus, said an alert in this regard had been declared about a one and a half months ago and necessary advisory was also issued.

Isolation wards have been set up in all the 75 districts and medical staff of doctors, paramedical, the nursing staff is being provided the necessary training.

Stressing on adopting all precautions to check the spread of the disease, especially at airports on Indo-Nepal border areas, he said there is an effort to avoid mass gatherings for which an appeal was made to the BCCI for the India-South Africa match slated in Lucknow on Saturday.

The match will now be held without spectators but would be telecast live, the chief minister said.
Montgomery County officials are still expecting residents to appear for jury summons this week at the Conroe courthouse despite the declaration of a local disaster related to fears about the community spread of the new coronavirus.

With three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county, Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough moved to sign the order prohibiting county events where 250 people or more will be gathering. However, the order, which went into effect Friday, does not apply to court operations.

This is a very fluid situation, so anything we say now concerning plans we have in place may be different tomorrow, said Montgomery County District Attorney Kelly Blackburn in an email Thursday. In short, we are taking steps to protect the well-being of our employees while at the same time doing everything we can to make sure the community stays safe.

Blackburn did not detail what specific plans were currently in place to protect employees or what measures were being taken to safeguard the community.

Harris County has already changed its courthouse proceedings and suspended jury summons effective Friday through March 20 and canceled civil trials for the months remainder. Brazoria County, bordering Harris County to the south, suspended its jury summons from Monday through March 23.

Packed court

When news about the first confirmed patient rolled through the county on Wednesday afternoon, business went on as usual at the Lee G. Alworth Building located at 207 West Phillips. An annex to the county courthouse, a skywalk connects both buildings in downtown Conroe. Scores of people walk through the entrance doors of the Alworth Building daily.

On the third floor, a former U.S. Army sergeant facing DWI charges sat waiting for the veterans assistance court. A 40-year-old Harris County resident, Carlos Molina shrugged off concerns about the risk of a COVID-19 community spread taking place at the courthouse.

The court gets packed, Molina said, but also noted, Im not too worried about it.

Defendants regularly come to the courthouse from throughout Montgomery County, and like Molina, from Harris County and other neighboring counties. Just last week during a criminal docket call in the 435th District Court, defendants squeezed next to each other in the courtroom pews.

Only a few yards or feet away, sat Montgomery County Jail inmates brought in to face the judge. The Montgomery County Sheriffs Office announced Thursday evening the immediate suspension of jail visits.

The threat of infection did not appear to worry at least one female employee at the courthouse who pointed to the hand sanitizer at her immediate disposal as a means of protecting herself from the virus.

There are at least seven hand sanitizer dispensers for public use on the first floor of the Alworth Building. But on Thursday morning as the second of three coronavirus cases in Montgomery County was confirmed, the two dispensers in the buildings main lobby were empty as consumer demand cut off their replenishment.

Multiple other hand sanitizer dispensers are scattered throughout the courthouses annex and main buildings, including inside courtrooms.

No lifestyle changes

Longtime Montgomery County attorney Larry Foerster knows the 83-year-old courthouse well. The 71-year-old held the position of county attorney, is a former assistant district attorney and is currently legal counsel for the Montgomery County Hospital District and a few county cities. Foerster made a rough estimate of how many people are at the courthouse on any given business day, including for jury duty, and came up with a figure in the 200 to 300 range.

Come Thursday morning, Foerster was representing a client at probate court on estate matters, which he said can bring people to the courthouse from throughout the county and outside Texas. He said he did not recall there being anyone who failed to appear for court despite the apparent spread of the virus.

Foerster brushed off anxieties about COVID-19. As chairman of the Montgomery County Historical Commission, he made sure to spotlight previous viral diseases that have rocked the county. He referred to an early 1900s yellow fever outbreak he said killed 10 to 25 percent of the countys population.

A spate of coronavirus developments struck the Houston region Thursday, including the cancellation of the Montgomery County Fair and Rodeo due to the outbreak. Nonetheless, Foerster remained unnerved.

I havent changed my lifestyle at all because of this except maybe washing my hands more frequently, Foerster said.

One thing worrying Foerster about COVID-19 is the crimp it could cause in a road trip he and his wife are taking soon. He wonders if some of the museums and landmarks they plan on stopping at will be closed for fear of community spread.

It could screw up my vacation, he quipped.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

twitter.com/jrgzztx
Australian company PMB Defence Pty Ltd and Greek company Systems Sunlight S.A. have signed subcontracts with Naval Group Australia to design the main storage batteries for the Attack class submarines through a competitive process.

Australian company PMB Defence Pty Ltd and Greek company Systems Sunlight S.A. have signed subcontracts with Naval Group Australia to design the main storage batteries for the Attack class submarines through a competitive process.

Attack class SSG (Picture source: Royal Australian Navy)

Contracts for the design of the Main Storage Batteries Stages 1 and 2 for the Attack Class submarines have been awarded, another major milestone for the program.

PMB Defence, based in Adelaide and Sunlight, based in Greece have been contracted to provide design, prototyping and qualification activities for the Main Storage Batteries. Both organisations will provide Naval Group with the data necessary to select one as the preferred MSB design for the Attack Class program in 2022.

The Main Storage Batteries are responsible for supplying power to the propulsion system of the submarine and to other equipment on-board the ship. They directly impact the safety of the submarine when diving, making them a critical piece of equipment for the platform.

Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC said the design of the main storage batteries is one of the Top 5 critical equipment items to the overall design of the Attack class submarine.

The Attack-class submarine is a future class of submarines for the Royal Australian Navy based on the Shortfin Barracuda proposal by French shipbuilder Naval Group (formerly known as DCNS) to replace the Collins-class submarines. The class will enter service in the early 2030s with construction extending into the late 2040s to 2050. The Program is estimated to cost $50 billion and will be the largest, and most complex, defence acquisition project in Australian history.

Further contracts will be awarded for the manufacture of the batteries in Australia following selection of the preferred battery design.
As the Long Beach Unified School District commits to keeping classes in-person, the city a new testing site opens for LBUSD employees and students only. The city is also ramping up its own testing efforts with a new 3,000-person per day testing site.
Whistleblower Chelsea Manning, who was jailed for refusing to testify against WikiLeaks before a grand jury, was released on Thursday (local time).

The order comes a day after Manning attempted suicide inside the Alexandria Detention Center in Virginia, reportedly by using a bedsheet to hang herself, RT reported.

The grand jury that Manning was summoned to testify before had concluded its work and was discharged on March 12, US District Judge Anthony Trenga wrote in the order, adding that her appearance is no longer needed and "her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose."

The former military officer had been held since May last year, when she was taken back into custody for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.

Manning, who had earlier served nearly seven years in prison for the massive leak, objected to the questioning in a court appearance in March that was apparently part of a continued effort by federal prosecutors investigating WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The whistleblower was subsequently held in contempt and a federal appeals court rejected her argument for release -- that her rights were violated by the subpoena proceedings, and the federal prosecutors purportedly seeking to entrap her -- in April.

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, a sentence which was commuted by former US President Barack Obama in 2017, following which she was released.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Inspired by historical Minerva classic wristwatches from the 1940s and 50s and the spirit of neo- dandy style, Montblanc unveils three novelties within its Heritage product line.The trend is for todays stylish gentleman, fondly called neo-dandies, to be attentive to details that make a difference, whether it is the feel of a certain fabric, the cut of a jacket, the choice of colours, or the finishing touches to the ideal outfit. Genuinely passionate about sartorial details, these men master the art of being well dressed with flair and look for authenticity and aesthetic harmony, which can sometimes be anti-conformist. They embody the spirit of sophisticated elegance and are the essence of the Heritage product line.



Paying tribute to historical and classic Minerva wristwatches from the 1940s and 1950s, the Heritage timepieces combine the elegance of watchmaking past with todays bold design codes. The new models feature fully polished 40 mm and 42 mm cases, curved horns with facets, and are fitted with sapphire crystal glass boxes for an elegant vintage look. Reminiscent of the neo-dandy style, special attention has been paid to dials with distinctive colours, such as salmon, tobacco-brown, British-racing-green and they include technical finishes such as two-tone decoration, a domed-shape, and lacquer coatings that require dexterity and expertise to apply. Other details feature dots as indexes, curved Dauphine hands enhanced with SuperLuminova, a rack minuterie with SuperLuminova small dots every five minutes, and old- school international payphone indications of 3, 6 and 9 minutes. In line with the collections spirit, the timepieces are adorned with Sfumato alligator straps of various colours from British-racing-green, to grey and tobacco-brown that complete the overall design. Like with all the Heritage timepieces, these new wristwatches are water resistant to 50 meters.

Montblanc Heritage Manufacture Pulsograph Limited Edition 100 pieces

The highlight of the Maisons product line is the Heritage Pulsograph Limited Edition 100, a timepiece inspired by what collectors call the doctors watches, that were used by doctors in the past to check a patients heart rate. Following the launch of the Montblanc Heritage Pulsograph Limited Edition with a salmon-coloured dial, the Maison is now unveiling a brand-new model in an 18 K rose gold 40 mm case with a distinctive smoked tobacco-brown dial and matching Sfumato alligator strap, reinforcing the trendy vintage style. On the case back, the sapphire crystal reveals the high level of hand-finishing of the Montblanc Manufacture monopusher chronograph Calibre MB M13.21. This high-end movement is composed of a large balance wheel with 18 screws that beats at the traditional frequency of 18,000 A/H, a column wheel and horizontal coupling, the iconic V-shaped chronograph bridge whose designed was patented in 1912, and the emblematic hand-decorated Minerva arrow. To match the 18 K rose gold case and the tobacco-brown dial, the calibre MB M13.21 features rose gold-coated plate and bridges.

Heritage Manufacture Pulsograph Limited Edition  Montblanc

The refined tobacco-brown dial features several vintage design codes from the 1940s and 50s: a domed smoked lacquered dial with graine hour ring and sunray finishes, 18 K rose gold-coated luminescent Arabic numerals and dots for indexes, 18 K rose gold-coated luminescent dauphine hour and minute hands, 18 K rose gold baton-shaped hands for the seconds and the chronograph indications, rack minuterie, and old school international payphone indications of 3, 6 and 9 minutes on the chronographs minutes counter. The timepiece comes with a matching tobacco-brown Sfumato alligator strap, completing the overall vintage design.

Montblanc Heritage Monopusher Chronograph

Joining the Heritage product line is this new edition in stainless steel with a salmon-coloured dial. The Heritage Monopusher Chronograph is one of the technical pillars of Minerva savoir-faire, offering an accessibly-priced model at the centre of the collection. This timepiece features the latest chronograph design with a domed, salmon-coloured dial with black rhodium-coated Arabic numerals and dots for indexes. Other features include a blue rack minuterie, black rhodium- coated luminescent dauphine hands for the hours and minutes, and contrasting blued steel baton hands for the seconds and the chronograph indications, providing great visibility. A closer look at the minute chronograph counter at 3 oclock reveals an indicator for 3, 6 and 9 minutes  a vintage touch from the days when we used coin-operated telephones and needed to track the length and cost of a call. This timepiece comes in a 42 mm stainless steel case with polished and satin-finishes, curved horns, a domed sapphire glass box, and the distinctive Minerva Manufacture embossing on the case back. The timepiece is completed with a matching grey Sfumato alligator strap from the Richemont Pelletteria in Florence, Italy.

Heritage Monopusher Chronograph  Montblanc

Montblanc Heritage Automatic

The new Montblanc Heritage Automatic comes in 18 K yellow gold with a brand-new lacquered British-racing-green dial and matching Sfumato alligator strap for a vintage look. This new colour combination is enhanced by yellow gold details on the dial, including 18 K yellow gold-coated curved Dauphine hands that have been enhanced with SuperLuminova, along with applied Arabic numerals and dots for indexes that are also in yellow gold. Providing great flair, the dial has been lacquered  a technique that requires expertise and dexterity. The 40 mm case is fitted with a domed sapphire crystal and an elegant British-racing-green Sfumato strap from the Richemont Pelletteria in Florence, Italy. Like all the Montblanc Heritage Automatic models, the timepiece is powered by the Calibre MB 24.27, an automatic movement with a 42-hour power reserve, and is water resistant to 50 metres.
Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  As more and more young designers turn to local culture and heritage for inspiration, the market becomes saturated with terno sleeves and indigenous textiles. Young fashion designer Gabbie Sarenas operates in the same realm, but what she brings to the table is her meticulous attention to detail. And this doesnt just shine in the craftsmanship of her work, but also in the sheer playfulness of each piece. With contemporary silhouettes and delicate, hand-embroidered patterns, Sarenas work is always fun. She describes her brand as specializing on local material as statementwear for both men and women.

Shes also a natural storyteller. On her website, she describes some of her pieces as pages of culture immortalized, created to tell the romance of heritage. As such, her collections dont just incorporate local textiles and fabrics; they often tell of local folklore and rituals. In her 2017 fall-winter collection called Pagtanom, she paid homage to Filipino rice farmers and their fertility rituals. Meanwhile, Veronica, a more personal collection made in memory of her late grandmother, incorporates Filipino garments such as the tapis, barong Tagalog, and the duster.

Armi Millare in Veronica tapis by Gabbie Sarenas. Photo courtesy of GABBIE SARENAS

A look from Gabbie Sarenas' collection called "________, Nagmamahal, _______." Photo courtesy of GABBIE SARENAS

Martin Del Rosario in a Luna Bow Blouse by Gabbie Sarenas. Photo by JL JAVIER

As part of CNN Philippines Lifes series of Q&As with Filipino creatives, we spoke to Sarenas to talk about her work, creative process, and the principles that guide her and her brand. The interview has been edited for clarity.

What do you think are the essential traits of a creative person, especially in your field?

I can't stress these enough: curiosity, grit, trust, respect, sensitivity, critical thinking, patience, and discipline.

What is the core philosophy that guides your work? How does your day usually go?

The objective is to champion Filipino creativity through fabric, embroidery, and story. I am a firm believer in the incubation of ideas, so continuous education is important  be it on your own or from different perspectives.

My day [varies], but the week will revolve [around] light to heavy research, fittings, sourcing, customer service, art viewing/gallery-hopping with friends, and some hobbies not totally related to my work. I do my best to keep it holistic and well-rounded for my sanity.

Tell us about your latest work.

Apart from custom work, [Im] just gathering information for this year or maybe the next. Ideas just sprout out of nowhere.

Do you look back at your past work? Why or why not?

Yes, especially when I go blank. Going back to your past work grounds you when you feel overwhelmed  it reminds you of why you do what you do, your objectives and goals. The look can change and/or progress, but your heart doesn't.

You mentioned to me that you turn to two people  your tita and designer Hindy Weber Tantoco  when youre stuck in a bind. Do you consider them your mentors? Do you think it's important to have one?

I consider both mentors and friends. Apart from the fact that they're older than me, theyre women who are self-made and women of principle. I see that they practice what they preach yet they're cool and easy-going  they know how to fight their battles. It's important to have different figures in your life but you have to choose wisely on who you let into your circle. Their principles affect you and can also influence you. It's an energy thing.

What inspires you?

I get inspiration from beautiful things, emotional things, empowering people, things that grow, whys and hows, problem solving. I like to read, I like to learn, I ask a lot of questions. I like art and asking about the process, I like creative problem solving and/or critical thinking.

How important is social media in your work?

Instagram is an important tool for us as we can release work in real time. It gives us the ability to reach out to clients and potential clients in a few clicks  locally and internationally.

What skills do you wish you had?

Painting, drawing accurately or realistically, business skills (math!), playing the piano... and the list goes on.

What do you think are the biggest challenges faced by people in your field today? How do you overcome them?

There are many challenges that people in my field face regardless of their stage. Based on experience, it starts with how to start and what direction to take. Finances would be another, finding the right people. Then the copying issues come to play, as well as how to keep the business afloat.

I havent fully overcome those but I just always go back to my goals and objectives. For me, it always works. We will always have problems with money and finding more people but we make it work.

What myth about your field of work would you like to debunk?

Maybe that fashion is easy.

What have you learned from work that you've applied to other areas of your life?

Maybe [becoming] curious and observant, and [learning the importance of] covering all your bases.
The Shanghai coordination mechanism holds its first meeting on March 12. Photo: The People's Bank Of China Shanghai Headquarters

Even as Chinas financial regulators focus on fighting the coronavirus and getting the country back to work, they arent neglecting their other responsibilities and tasks.

Despite the disruption caused by the epidemic, the general office of the Financial Stability and Development Committee (FSDC), a cabinet-level cross-agency committee that oversees the sprawling financial sector, has already set up local coordination mechanisms at eight provincial-level central bank branches, less than two months after the initiative was first announced.

The aim of the local groups is to improve coordination among local regulators as part of the governments strategy to rein in financial risks. They are chaired by the heads of central bank branches, although they will be answerable to the FSDCs general office.

As of Thursday, the general office of the FSDC had set up local coordination mechanisms at eight provincial-level central bank branches  in Shanghai and the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangsu, Gansu, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shandong and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The general office of the FSDC is chaired by PBOC Governor Yi Gang, while the committee itself is headed by Vice Premier Liu He.

Jin Penghui, a deputy director of the PBOCs Shanghai headquarters and head of the PBOCs Shanghai branch, has been named as the convener of its coordination mechanism, according to a Thursday statement (link in Chinese) from the Shanghai PBOC. Members include officials from the municipalitys finance department, and the local branches of the banking, insurance and securities watchdogs, as well as those from the local financial regulatory bureau and Shanghais development and reform commission.

The local coordination mechanism of the FSDC can be understood as a limb of the FSDC at the local level, a subordinate body, a source from a provincial-level branch of the central bank told Caixin. The FSDC has responsibility for financial coordination, and even has the power to hold local authorities, financial institutions and relevant regulators accountable for wrongdoings or mistakes.

The establishment of regional FSDC coordination mechanisms is a key step in the implementation of a policy laid out in the 2017 National Financial Work Conference to strengthen central and local financial collaboration. The committee is responsible for strengthening financial supervision coordination and addressing regulatory shortcomings, but it has taken time to work out how the body implements its local supervisory and accountability responsibilities.

One of the primary tasks of the new local coordinating mechanisms at the moment is epidemic control and ensuring the implementation of relevant financial policies to support enterprises as they resume work and production. Financial risk prevention and control is also a top priority with a focus on strengthening regulatory coordination as well as information and data sharing among local authorities.

Zhang Yuzhe, Guo Yingzhe contributed to the report.

Contact reporter Timmy Shen (hongmingshen@caixin.com, Twitter: @timmyhmshen) and editor Nerys Avery (nerysavery@caixin.com)

Caixin Global has launched Caixin CEIC Mobile, the mobile-only version of its world-class macroeconomic data platform.

If youre using the Caixin app, please click here. If you havent downloaded the app, please click here.
Workers in protective suits get ready while waiting for people to be tested as they arrive by car at the state's first drive through COVID-19 Mobile Testing Center at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle, New York, on March 13, 2020. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

New York Opens Drive-Through Coronavirus Testing Center

New York opened a drive-through coronavirus testing center on Friday in New Rochelle, the center of one of the largest clusters of the new illness in the nation.

Its not only faster and easier, its also smarter and safer. Because youre not exposing people to a person who may be positive, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a press conference at the center.

Residents in the area call ahead, book an appointment, and drive to the facility, which has six lanes. The facility can handle about 200 cars a day.

The center is the first of its kind on the east coast, according to Cuomos office. Other drive-through testing facilities have opened in Washington state and Colorado, with plans to offer such testing at hospitals in Connecticut.

The two-pronged approach to slowing the spread of the new virus includes reducing concentrations of people and widespread testing, Cuomo said.

You want to find the positive cases, because you want to be able to isolate those positive cases, and then find out who that person may have been in touch with so you can get them the assistance that they needed.

Workers in protective suits check patient identification at the states first drive through COVID-19 Mobile Testing Center at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle, New York, on March 13, 2020. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

Cuomo earlier this week implemented a containment zone in part of New Rochelle to try to contain the outbreak in the town, which sits in Westchester County just outside New York City. Schools, businesses, and houses of worship were closed and residents were asked to largely stay at home, apart from picking up meals from a station manned by the National Guard.

New Rochelle residents who are under quarantine would be the first tested at the new drive-through.

New York banned mass gatherings, or those with 500 or more people in attendance, on Thursday. And events, gatherings, or places of business with less than 500 individuals in attendance are being required to cut capacity by 50 percent.

The state has hundreds of cases, with the majority in Westchester County. New York City also has a high number of cases, prompting Mayor Bill de Blasio to declare a state of emergency on Thursday.

We have 95 confirmed cases of COVID-19. We know thats going to grow quickly. We are taking new precautions that every New Yorker will feel in their daily lives, he said in a statement.

Measures include a ban on gatherings of 500 or more people and restrictions on smaller gatherings.

The illness primarily affects elderly people and those with underlying conditions, Cuomo emphasized, echoing health experts. For around 80 percent of patients, the new illness resolves without medical intervention. The others require hospitalization. Some of them require intensive care.

People who become sick are asked to stay home and contact their healthcare provider or health authorities.

Ways to avoid the virus, which cases the COVID-19 disease, include frequently cleaning hands, regularly disinfecting highly-touched objects and surfaces, and avoiding sick people.
After falling to a record low just two weeks ago, mortgage rates are surging higher again. This as real estate agents try to deal with a new normal in what was supposed to be a busy spring housing market.

The average rate on the 30-year fixed fell to 3.13% on March 2, the lowest ever recorded by Mortgage News Daily. That rate is now back up around 3.65%, as yields on mortgage bonds rise and lenders keep rates higher as a way to handle overwhelming refinance demand.

Applications to refinance a home loan jumped 79% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications for home purchase loans were up just 6% for the week.

The jump in rates comes just as real estate agents in some parts of the country cancel open houses scheduled for this weekend. Fears of the coronavirus have some sellers pulling back and some buyers taking their searches entirely online.

"At the moment we are telling our sellers that open houses are not recommended," said Jane Fairweather, a real estate agent at Long & Foster in Bethesda, Maryland. "To keep agents and buyers safe we are choosing not to hold opens for now."

In a quick survey, 16% of Realtors reported seeing a drop in buyer interest related to the coronavirus and 1 in 4 sellers are changing how they market their homes, some going entirely online, according to the National Association of Realtors. Just 3% of Realtors said they had clients remove their homes from the market due to the coronavirus.

As with everything in real estate, reaction is local, with some markets not seeing as much of an effect.

"While my business is still busy so far, I have heard that there are some slowdowns in other areas. It may be coming still and it just has not hit me yet though," said Laura Barnett, a RE/MAX agent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Higher-priced housing markets are likely to see more of an effect, as buyers are more influenced by moves in the stock market. The recent rout already has New York City buyers pulling back, and that is the case in other major metropolitan markets.

"The immediate effect has been to the downside, concern and fear associated with the unknown," said Steven Cohen, an agent at Keller Williams in Boston. "Aversion to congregating at open houses and worry that asset devaluation, equity devaluation will bring the overall economy down, including the value of real estate."
Two boards advising parents to drop off and pick up their children outside the building are placed in front of the Brueder Grimm school in Berlin, Germany, March 13, 2020, after authorities updated on coronavirus COVID 19 measures in Germany.

REUTERS/Martin Schlicht

Germany offers "unlimited" loans to all German companies affected by the coronavirus in an effort to protect its economy from collapse.

Angela Merkel's government announced the radical measure on Friday.

The German Chancellor has warned that 70% of German people could contract the COVID-19 virus.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The German government is offering loans of unlimited size to all companies that want them in a radical step to keep the country's economy afloat amid the growing coronavirus crisis.

Germany announced the decision on Friday in a bid to ensure the COVID-19 virus doesn't result in businesses collapsing and jobs being lost.

"There is no upper limit on the amount of loans that [the state development bank] can issue," finance minister Olaf Scholz said, according to the Financial Times.

"We have said it should be unlimited."

Both small and large businesses will be offered loans along with the opportunity to defer billions of euros in tax.

Germany, like several other European countries, has taken a number of steps in an attempt to combat the spread of coronavirus.

Schools have been closed in a number of German states, while major sporting events are taking place behind closed doors.

In Berlin, the country's capital, the beginning of the summer semester has been postponed, with lecturers and students who have visited areas deemed high-risk to self-isolate for two weeks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned earlier this week that up to 70% of the country's population of around 58 million people could catch coronavirus.

"When the virus is out there, the population has no immunity and no therapy exists, then 60 to 70% of the population will be infected," Merkel said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"The process has to be focused on not overburdening the health system by slowing the virus's spread. It's about winning time."

As of Thursday, Six people in Germany had died after testing positive for the virus.

Read the original article on Business Insider
An accountant has been banned from contacting his ex-girlfriend for two years after he offered to pay her child maintenance, on condition she slept with him.

Father-of-two Adam Wood sent messages to Katie Hall outlining his indecent proposal after they broke up and she began a new relationship.

During a bombardment of 77 aggressive texts Wood suggested to Miss Hall he would pay Child Support Agency payments for their daughters if she had some sort of sexual contact with him.

The 33-year-old also would became obstructive during weekend access visits, either being absent when he was supposed to collect his children or calling Miss Hall at the eleventh hour to say the visit was off.



Police were called in after Miss Hall, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, found 113 missed calls from Wood on her phone.

She told officers how her ex-partner who worked for an online retail firm threw temper tantrums during their seven-year on-off relationship and would smash furniture up and destroy her clothes.

She had also received injuries as a result of him pushing her head into a mirror and he had been given been given a warning about his behaviour in 2017.

In a statement Miss Hall said: Im exhausted by it all and sick and tired of going into work every four weeks with the same problem and to try to explain to my daughters why their father cant have them at the weekends.

I dont see any solution to Adam hes not being reasonable. I ended the relationship as we were constantly arguing and it didnt matter what I did  it wasnt right for him.

My priorities are my daughters and he doesnt seem to care how his behaviour impacts on his daughters and my life. I cant go on like this. His behaviour is not right or a good example to set for our girls.

At Bolton Magistrates Court, Wood, from Westhoughton, admitted harassment without violence and was issued with a restraining order.

He was also ordered to complete a programme on Building Better Relationships plus 150 hours unpaid work.

The court heard the pair met in 2010 and began dating shortly afterwards but Miss Hall said Woods behaviour deteriorated following the birth of their first child.

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The program consists of two parts. The first part provides special financial support for volunteers, community workers, and social workers who have been infected as a result of participating in the prevention and control of the epidemic. Among them, those diagnosed of "severe" and "critical" infected community workers will receive RMB 50,000 guaranteed financial support. The family members of the deceased community workers due to infected by Covid-19 will receive RMB 250,000 as compensation. The second part of the program provides special insurance protection from WeSure for all volunteers, community workers, and social workers who have been participated in the epidemic prevention and control nationwide.

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, 146 million volunteers are working in the field and take daily risk of getting infected through close contact with medical staff and a significant amount of residents. By March 8, 53 urban and rural community workers died in the fight against the Covid-19 outbreak, which significantly raised the demand for protection on the group's safety and essential benefits.

"WeSure is actively responding to the call of the country to help prevent and control the Covid-19 outbreak," says Alan Lau, CEO of WeSure. "In full recognition of the sacrifices made by these community workers and volunteers in this race against time, WeSure is fully leveraging the advantages of Internet insurance to support these heroes, so that we can defeat this epidemic together."

Moreover, WeSure is also reviewing its previous insurance products and establishing specific policies to protect people and personnel directly affected by the outbreak. Covering three different stages - early outbreak, epidemic, and controlled decline - WeSure is providing a variety of financial and insurance products that aim to protect people's safety and rights during this unprecedented time.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, WeSure has launched efforts to support the fight against the epidemic, insuring 15 million people including medical staff, pharmacists, small merchants, frontline media reporters and WeSure's existing policyholders. WeSure joined hand with partners such as WeChat Pay, AXA Insurance, DXY.com, People's Insurance of China, TK.CN, China Pacific Insurance to provide users with a series of special outbreak protection. At present, hundreds of COVID-19 claims have been completed, with compensation exceeding 3 million yuan. The outbreak of the epidemic also has dramatically stimulated the demand for insurance products. During the pandemic, WeSure added 25 million active users.

Utilising resources and technologies, WeSure seeks to honor the community workers and volunteers who are helping to protect the country, winning the battle against the epidemic together.

About Tencent WeSure

WeSure Insurance Ltd. is Tencent's insurance platform. Leveraging Tencent's strengths of data-driven and social connection, WeSure works with well-known insurance companies to provide users with high-quality insurance services. Users can make insurance purchases, inquiries and claims directly on the firm's vastly popular instant messaging and lifestyle platform, Tencent WeChat and QQ.

For more information, please visit Tencent WeSure's LinkedIn page.

SOURCE WeSure

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Some suspected robbers have attempted to break into a house in Barcelona, Spain, disguising as doctors searching for coronavirus patients.

Metro News reports that the suspect, two women and a man, dressed in white coats rung a bell in a bid to gain entrance to the house, pretending they were carrying out medical checks for the disease.

The resident quickly called the police after suspecting that they were not real doctors but were said to have escaped before the police arrived.

Catalan police have cautioned people, especially pensioners and the aged, to be wary of thieves trying to take undue advantage of the viral outbreak.

Read Also: Coronavirus: No Need To Impose Travel Ban Yet  FG

They added that patients on self-isolation in their homes will be contacted by their doctors before any visit.
While residents can leave their homes, they are not allowed to leave their urban core.

Four towns in Spains northeastern autonomous region of Catalonia have been put under quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 66,000 inhabitants of the localities of Igualada, Odena, Santa Margarida de Montbui and Vilanova del Cami cannot leave their urban core although they can leave their homes, the civil protection agency said in a statement on Thursday, citing instructions from Catalonias governor.

Catalonias Health Minister Alba Verges told reporters that authorities would be focussing on Igualada, a town of 40,000 inhabitants which is only 70km (40 miles) from the regional capital Barcelona, as the number of cases was growing rapidly.

There are currently 58 cases in Igualada, 38 more than on Wednesday, he added.

Spain reported more than 3,000 cases as of Friday, with 84 deaths as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

As the European Union strives to deal with the pandemic, Italy, the worst-hit country in Europe, has told its 60 million population to stay at home until April 3, allowing travel only for the most urgent work or health reasons.

The government in Rome has also ordered all shops considered non-essential to be shut down across the country.

Schools closed in France

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that schools in France would close indefinitely to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and urged people aged above 70 and the infirm to stay home.

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On Thursday, United States President Donald Trump announced a 30-day ban on travel from mainland Europe, excluding the United Kingdom.

Since the coronavirus first emerged in late December 2019, more than 125,000 cases have been recorded in scores of countries and territories across the world, killing more than 4,600 people.

The worst affected countries are mainland China with some 80,000 cases and more than 3,000 deaths. Italy follows with approximately 15,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths.
T he Prince of Wales commended the courage of the Australian people as they battled the catastrophic bushfires.

In a passionate address he spoke of his admiration for the determination and resilience of the Australian people as they faced an apocalyptic vision of hell sweeping the country.

Speaking at a City of London Corporation and the Australian High Commission fundraising dinner for the Australian bushfires relief effort, Charles spoke of his pride at the way Aussies tackled the crisis risking their own lives to save their neighbour.

Prince Charles said: I care about what I can only imagine must have seemed like an apocalyptic vision of Hell that the Australian people have been through over these past, desperately trying, few months.

Charles spoke of his admiration for the determination and resilience of the Australian people / Getty Images

Amidst the horror and the sorrow, I have, above all, felt the greatest possible sense of admiration for the extraordinary determination and resilience of the Australian people.

The manner in which firefighters and other emergency services, as well as countless thousands of volunteers, in their own unique, Antipodean way, have risked their lives to defend neighbour and stranger alike, represents, it seems to me, the very essence of the Australian character.

The Prince added: At times we saw that enduring spirit of Aussie mateship tested by exhaustion, by the greatest pressure and by the gravest danger.

It is not surprising that the firies helmet now stands alongside the diggers slouch hat as a powerful symbol of the courage, resilience and generosity for which Australians are renowned.
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Alkem Laboratories share price was up more than 9 percent intraday on March 13 after the US drug regulator issued an establishment inspection report (EIR) its unit in Himachal Pradeshs Baddi.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued an EIR for the firms Baddi unit, which was inspected from February 17 to 21.

The company got USFDA nod for Dabigatran Etexilate Mesylate, CNBC-TV18 said.

At 1234 hours, Alkem Laboratories was quoting at Rs 2,470.60, up Rs 88.50, or 3.72 percent, on the BSE.

The share touched its 52-week high of Rs 2,720 February 19, 2020 and 52-week low of Rs 1,660.35 on June 28, 2019.

It is trading 9.31 percent below its 52-week high and 48.57 percent above its 52-week low.
What shapes our attitudes to animals? Curiously, given that humans are the only species with a learned sense of right and wrong, our early role models in this process are often the storybook creatures that authors invest with their own notions of morality.

Its hard to think of a famous animal yarn that doesnt follow the enduring formula. In Watership Down (Richard Adams, 1972), a young rabbit called Fiver uses his gift for foreseeing good or bad events to help his peers escape the destruction of their warren and find a new home.

Illustration by Simon Letch. Credit:

In Charlottes Web (E.B. White, 1952), Charlotte the hairy barn spider saves Wilbur the pig from slaughter by writing cryptic messages about his virtues in her web. (As in spiderweb, kids.)

Another classic, The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame, 1908), deals with the selfless efforts of Mole, Rat and Badger to stop their crazy mate, Toad  an appalling driver  from wiping out himself and others in his new horseless carriage, while the allegorical Animal Farm (George Orwell, 1945) uses pigs, horses and other animals  some  more equal than others  to parody Joseph Stalins betrayal of the Russian Revolution.
A 15-year-old Baton Rouge boy accused of fatally shooting a 74-year-woman during a botched Dec. 30 burglary at her home near Tiger Bend and Antioch roads was indicted on a second-degree murder charge Thursday.

Xavier Cade, of 1520 Curtis St., faces a minimum sentence of life in prison with the chance to seek parole after serving 25 years if he's convicted as charged in the nighttime slaying of Angela Haymon, a wife and great-grandmother.

+2 74-year-old woman shot, killed by teen intruder in Baton Rouge, EBRSO says A 74-year-old woman checking out a noise on her carport was shot dead by a teenager during an attempted armed robbery, according to the East B

"My office has met with the Haymon family and will continue to do so," East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III said after the grand jury. "We will also meet with the defendant's attorney and we will receive and review any and all information that we are provided to reach a fair and just resolution to this tragedy."

Cade, who will be tried in state district court, is currently being held in a juvenile detention facility. Moore said no decision has been made on whether to request that he be transferred to Parish Prison. The local public defenders office, which represents Cade, had no comment on the indictment.

Cade's 16-year-old brother, Jerome Cade, is accused of taking part in the burglary at Haymon's residence and also is being held in juvenile custody. A juvenile court judge last month found probable cause only for an attempted burglary charge against Jerome Cade.

That finding doesn't preclude Moore's office from trying to prosecute Jerome Cade in district court on more serious charges.

"We will wait on further testing of evidence before making a final decision," the district attorney said.

Haymon was checking out a noise under her carport on Morel Avenue in the Antioch Villa subdivision when she was allegedly shot to death by Xavier Cade. She was shot in the chest.

Her husband heard the gunfire from inside the house, went outside to confront the teens and shot Xavier Cade in the back while Cade was fleeing the scene. Cade got help from a neighbor and was hospitalized, then arrested after undergoing surgery.

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During a juvenile court hearing last month, it was disclosed that a hunting rifle used in the fatal shooting had been stolen one week earlier from a vehicle parked right across the street from Haymon's house.

New info on killing of elderly Baton Rouge woman: Teen allegedly stole gun from car across street A hunting rifle used in the December fatal shooting of a Baton Rouge great-grandmother had been stolen one week earlier from a vehicle parked 

Items associated with the rifle were later found in the brothers' shared bedroom, an East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office detective testified. Their family lives just around the corner from where the shooting occurred.

Xavier Cade told his mother he was trying to break into cars when the deadly confrontation occurred, testimony at the hearing revealed. Octavia Cade said Xavier told her he was under the carport when the victim came out of the house yelling for the boys to leave and then grabbed the rifle he was holding, causing the weapon to go off in the process.

Octavia Cade also testified that Xavier told her after the shooting that he "just wanted a car." She acknowledged he had taken her car without permission multiple times in the past. She also said he had no history of violence.

Octavia Cade said Haymon's retired husband was her co-worker. She described him and his family as "wonderful people."

East Baton Rouge Juvenile Court Judge Gail Grover determined last month that probable cause existed against both Cade brothers: second-degree murder for Xavier, and attempted burglary for Jerome.

Xavier had been arrested on counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and armed robbery, and Jerome on counts of principal to both first-degree murder and armed robbery.

Xavier's case has been assigned to state District Judge Beau Higginbotham.
After a panel of arbitrators produced a deal that ended San Antonios six-year contract stalemate with its fire union, firefighters in Houston saw a potential road map to end their own prolonged logjam with City Hall here.

The response from Mayor Sylvester Turner, however, has been a resounding no.

Turner often cites a downgrade in San Antonios credit rating as part of his rationale against the idea.

That downgrade by Fitch, one of three main credit rating agencies, however, was in response to a voter referendum that gave San Antonios firefighters the power to unilaterally send contract talks with that city to arbitration.

The San Antonio deal ultimately produced by arbitration largely was seen as a win for the city. Fitch and S&P Global remain skeptical of the arbitration process, but both have lauded the new contract. S&P Global said it should help preserve the citys stable credit quality. San Antonios leaders have welcomed the outcome, and even union leadership has called it a great deal  though it fell well short of what they had asked for.

Houston has been in a similar stalemate with its fire union since 2014. The union has used the San Antonio breakthrough to renew calls for Turner to agree to arbitration. Council member Amy Peck echoed that request at a city council meeting last month.

It solves the problem, said Marty Lancton, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association.

The union here does not have the power to force arbitration; in Houston and other cities, the two sides must agree to use the process.

Turner steadfastly has refused.

In addition to the citys credit rating, the mayor cites concerns about the process itself, saying arbitration would be equivalent to outsourcing one of the citys primary responsibilities.

Quite frankly, the people elected me to do my job. Theyre paying me to do my job, and not to farm my job out to anyone else, Turner said. Even though the end result was fine, when you do binding arbitration you take it totally out of our budgetary process, and you leave it up to someone else to determine the fate of Houston taxpayers. Were not going to do that.

The ratings agencies, while positive about the San Antonio deal, share Turners procedural concerns.

I think the issue with arbitration is that is removes the local governments ability to control their own budget, said Karolina Norris, associate director on the south local government team for S&P Global.

The Houston Fire Departments fiscal 2020 budget is $507 million, roughly 20 percent of the citys operating fund.

Steve Murray, lead Houston analyst for Fitch, said in reference to the San Antonio contract, I dont know if we could draw a conclusion from one deal.

Fitch is owned by Hearst Corp., which also owns the Houston Chronicle.

San Antonio was the first large Texas city to produce a public safety contract through arbitration, a process in which three independent panelists produce a deal both sides must accept. The new, five-year contract gives firefighters a total of 17 percent in compounded pay raises and requires them to pay toward their health care for the first time, offsetting much of the cost for the city. It adds a projected $23 million increase over five years to the citys $1.3 billion operating fund, which analysts called minimal.

Credit ratings affect cities ability to finance debt. When they are downgraded, they have to spend more money on financing and less to construct roads, sidewalks and facilities. It is not clear whether San Antonio has suffered financially in that regard. The other two agencies  S&P and Moodys  maintained the citys AAA rating when Fitch issued its downgrade.

The ongoing stalemate in Houston means there likely will not be movement until there is more clarity in two active court cases.

Like San Antonios union, firefighters in Houston pursued a referendum to give them leverage in negotiations. While San Antonio sought power to send talks to arbitration, Houston firefighters in 2018 went straight to voters for a raise, asking the public to make their pay equal to higher paid police of similar rank and seniority.

Voters approved the measure, known as Prop B, but it was later declared unconstitutional when the police union argued it conflicted with a chapter of the Local Government Code. That portion of state law lays out the collective bargaining process and says firefighters should receive comparable pay to that of the private sector.

The firefighters have appealed that case.

There also is an active case dating back to when the two sides first reached impasse in 2017. The union sued the city, accusing it of negotiating in bad faith.

The city asked a judge to dismiss the suit and was rejected. It has appealed the ruling, asking higher courts to review certain parts of the collective bargaining process.

That is where the union says the city is contradicting itself. In the Prop B case, the city is arguing there is already a process to negotiate pay: collective bargaining. In the impasse case, the city is asking a judge to declare key parts of collective bargaining  the standard of pay and the judicial mechanism to enforce it  unconstitutional.

Theyre arguing two different, legally incoherent opinions, Lancton said.

The city points to a letter it filed saying it still supports collective bargaining, but the union says the two provisions the city is arguing against represent the heart of the process.

Turner has said he is prepared to return to collective bargaining, and said it is up to the union to agree to that.

The union provided the Chronicle a letter showing it requested collective bargaining on Feb. 7, conditional on the city dropping its appeal in the impasse case or a judge ruling on the matter.

Im not going to get into no tit-tat now, Turner said.

dylan.mcguinness@chron.com
The HSE says changes to scheduled appointments in hospitals over the next week are being reviewed in the context of the coronavirus Covid-19 outbreak.

However, the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group said on Friday that broadly the advice is the hospital will contact patients if there is any change to outpatient appointments and if you have a planned procedure, as would be the norm, please contact the Hospital ahead of attending.

The HSE hospital group, which oversees hospitals in Dublin, Kildare, Laois and Offaly, says that if you have newly acquired respiratory symptoms: please consider not attending for an appointment at a healthcare centre and contact your GP or HSE Live.

The group also appealed to people not to visit hospitals as health authorities need to protect our most vulnerable.

The DMHG says that if you have new onset respiratory symptoms and need advice health authorities urges people to pick up the phone and call  HSE Live 1850 24 1850 (8am  8pm / 10  5pm at weekends). The HSE says your GP or Out of Hours Service can be called to discuss your symptom's / concerns.

The HSE urges people to please do not present to your A&E / Emergency Department without doing this.

Please contact www.hse.ie

Information regarding service disruption will be updated on the following link - https://www2.hse.ie/services/ hospital-service-disruptions/ hospital-service-disruptions- covid19.html
OTTAWA - Internal government documents about the Boeing 737 Max are raising new questions about Canada's aircraft approval process.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Boeing 737 Max jets sit parked in Renton, Wash. on Dec. 16, 2019. Internal government documents about the Boeing 737 Max are raising new questions about Canada's aircraft approval process. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Elaine Thompson

OTTAWA - Internal government documents about the Boeing 737 Max are raising new questions about Canada's aircraft approval process.

The documents, made public at a parliamentary hearing Thursday, reveal that Transport Canada test pilots voiced concerns about a key flight-control system going back more than three years before system flaws led to worldwide grounding of the plane.

The department's queries about the Max jet's anti-stall system emerged in a 2016 debriefing, but direct answers were never provided by Boeing Co. or the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, resulting in certification the next year despite the questions remaining "open."

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The plane's MCAS software, which automatically pushes the nose of the aircraft down in certain circumstances, has identified as a key factor in two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed all 346 people on board, including 18 Canadians, and triggered a grounding of the jet in March 2019.

Several weeks after the first crash in October 2018, Transport Canada again pushed Boeing for more information about a potential defect that could have "catastrophic" consequences, but allowed the aircraft to keep flying.

Under a longstanding bilateral agreement, Cancada outsources much of its aircraft review process to the U.S. regulator, which in turn had passed on part of its oversight to Boeing itself.

On Thursday, Conservative MP Todd Doherty asked Transport Minister Marc Garneau at the federal transport committee hearing why the plane was certified given the concerns. In a heated exchange, Garneau said the issues raised by Transport Canada simply amounted to questions, and that Doherty failed understand the approval system.

Canadian regulators now plan to conduct their own review of changes Boeing is making to the anti-stall system.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2020.
Webb County will continue to man and operate its offices for the foreseeable future, while making a great effort to sanitize its public spaces and encouraging employees not to come into work if they are feeling ill, Commissioners Court decided at an emergency meeting held Friday morning.

49th District Court Judge Joe Lopez said the countys judicial courts will plan to follow the recommendation of the Office of Court Administration in Austin, which is to continue providing all essential services, especially magistration and removal hearings, since people will continue to be arrested as COVID-19 spreads.

He expects that the Office of Court Administration will order the courts to suspend jury selection, which in Webb County brings 280 to 290 people together into a large room. The county has already sent out notices for its next jury selection on March 23, but it will likely be canceled, he said.

Grand juries, however, will continue to function because the groups are much smaller, only about 12, Lopez noted.

And ongoing trials will continue, he said. He asked any members of the public, juries or witnesses to let the court know if they are feeling sick.

Commissioners Court voted to cease any business-related travel for departments they oversee. However elected offices, such as the sheriff, will be able to make that decision for the department it oversees.

For instance Sheriff Martin Cuellar noted that his employees travel outside the county often, and they will have to continue to do so to pick up prisoners.

The Sheriffs Office also sent out memos to arresting entities such as Laredo Police Department that new inmates be examined outside the jail before they bring them outside, Cuellar said.

Medical Examiner Dr. Corinne Stern recommended that they close the countys community centers completely. Webb County announced that afternoon that they will close all community centers starting Monday, March 16 until further notice.

Many of the countys most vulnerable people get food from community centers. Border Area Nutrition Counil will continue to provide food to the elderly during this time, and community center employees will deliver the food to most participants that are on a route schedule, according to a news release. The South Texas Food Bank will continue their Kids Cafe services and provide a snack lunch, according to the county.

The court also approved a policy for employees: anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 will get paid leave for 14 days, or until their test comes back clear. If an employee tests positive for flu or another illness, they will have to use their accrued time, said Human Resources Director Ernesto Guajardo.

And if someone an employee lives with tests positive for this novel coronavirus, the employee will also receive paid leave from the county and told not to come into work until cleared.

The county cant force anyone to get a test, Guajardo said. But they can tell them to see their physician, and only to come back to work once they are medically released.

The county will also divert 25 of their employees from the Road and Bridge Department to add to the staff that is cleaning and disinfecting county spaces. Furthermore, the court voted to hire two professional janitorial companies to clean county buildings after hours.
A more recent publication of this set of statistics is available. Latest publication: Index of turnover in industry 2021, November

Published: 13 March 2020

Turnover in manufacturing decreased by 3.5 per cent in January

According to Statistics Finland, working day adjusted turnover in manufacturing (TOL BCD) decreased in January by 3.5 per cent year-on-year. Among the main industries, turnover decreased most from the previous year in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, by 20.1 per cent, and in the forest industry, by 10.6 per cent. Seasonally adjusted turnover in manufacturing (TOL BCD) decreased by 4.5 per cent compared to December.

Annual change in working day adjusted turnover in manufacturing (BCD), % (TOL 2008)

In January, growth in turnover was strongest in the industry of mining and quarrying, up by 8.1 per cent from the previous year. Turnover in the metal industry increased by 6.3 per cent and turnover in the food industry by 4.6 per cent in January.

Annual change in working day adjusted turnover in manufacturing by industry, January 2020, % (TOL 2008)

Export turnover grew in almost all main industries in December

Working day adjusted export turnover grew in December most in the electronic and electrical industry, by 53.6 per cent, and in the metal industry, by 28.6 per cent. Export turnover also grew from the previous year in the food industry, by 8.6 per cent, in the chemical industry, by 7.8 per cent, and in the textile, clothing and leather industry, by 5.0 per cent. Export turnover decreased in December in two main industries: export turnover in mining and quarrying was 23.6 per cent lower and export turnover in the forest industry 13.5 per cent lower in December than one year before.

Annual change in working day adjusted export turnover and domestic turnover in manufacturing by industry, December 2019, % (TOL 2008)

Correspondingly, domestic turnover decreased in December in almost all main industries. Domestic turnover decreased most in the forest industry, by 11.6 per cent, and in mining and quarrying, by 8.0 per cent, from the year before. In December, domestic turnover was growing only in the electronic and electrical industry, by 2.8 per cent, and in the food industry, by 0.5 per cent.

Trend series of turnover, export turnover and domestic turnover in manufacturing (BC), January 2007 to December 2019-January 2020, % (TOL 2008)

The index of turnover in industry describes enterprises whose main industry is manufacturing. The calculation of the indices is based on the Tax Administrations self-assessed tax data which are supplemented with data obtained with Statistics Finlands sales inquiry. The monthly turnovers of manufacturing enterprises can vary considerably, especially in the metal industries. The variation is mainly due to invoicing practices. The final invoice for major machinery deliveries and projects may be recorded in the sales of one month, even if the delivery had required the work of several months or years.

The factors caused by the variation in the number of weekdays are taken into account in adjustment for working days. This means taking into consideration the lengths of months, different weekdays and holidays. In addition, seasonal variation is eliminated from seasonally adjusted series, on account of which it makes sense to compare observations of two successive months as well.

In terms of turnover, data for the latest month are preliminary and are released at a delay of around six weeks. The data may become significantly revised particularly on more detailed industry levels in coming months. Export turnover and domestic turnover are, for the time being, still released at a delay of two and a half months.

Source: Index of turnover in industry 2020, January, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Maija Sappinen 029 551 3348, Heli Suonio 029 551 2481, myynti.teollisuus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Mari Yla-Jarkko

Publication in pdf-format (340.4 kB)

Updated 13.3.2020

Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Index of turnover in industry [e-publication].

ISSN=1798-596X. January 2020. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 11.1.2022].

Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tlv/2020/01/tlv_2020_01_2020-03-13_tie_001_en.html
A fighter jet attached to an aviation brigade of the air force under the PLA Eastern Theater Command takes off for a round-the-clock flight training task on February 27, 2020. (eng.chinbamil.com.cn/Photo by Fu Gan)

By Zou Zhaoxia and Duan Chong

BEIJING, Mar. 13 -- The Chinese PLA Air Force issued Regulations on Air Force Aircraft Painting and Marking (Trial) recently (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations).

It is known that the low visibility of aircraft painting and marking in the air is a practical requirement and development trend for actual combat, so as to reduce the probability of visual discovery. The newly issued Regulations fully correspond to such a requirement and set clear standards for the painting and marking of various aircraft of the PLA Air Force.

The Regulations consist of five chapters and 16 articles, which require newly-developed combat aircraft to be fully painted with low-visibility coating, and those old aircraft on active duty to apply unified marking painting. Requirements for special markings, such as national flag, "Chinese Air Force" and "Red Cross" are also included.

It is informed that in order to make sure the new Regulations scientific, targeted and operable, the drafting team of the Regulations has carried out in-depth analysis on domestic and foreign air forces aircraft painting and marking cases, and fully drew on the opinions of all parties.

The new Regulations will be implemented in 2020 in a gradual manner. It will play an important role in strengthening the aircraft painting and marking management and adapting to actual combat requirements at present and in the future.
Sri Lanka on Friday temporarily banned entry of people coming from Iran, Italy and South Korea as a precaution against the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic.

The travel ban will be in effect for two weeks, starting from tomorrow, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said.

"All airlines are strongly advised not to carry passengers during these two weeks to Sri Lanka from Italy, Iran or South Korea," a senior CAA official said.

The island nation has so far reported two COVID-19 cases.

As part of measures to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Education Ministry on Thursday announced the closure of all schools across the country till April 20.

The government has also temporarily stopped the visa on arrival policy applicable for 48 countries, including India, and also appealed to the public to avoid non-essential foreign travel.

All Sri Lankan nationals arriving from Italy, South Korea and China are being sent to quarantine centres set up in the eastern province.

The deadly viral strain that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has so far claimed over 4,920 lives and infected more than 126,000 people across 116 countries and territories, prompting a wave of travel restrictions across the globe.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The University of Texas at Austin confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, Friday morning, President Gregory L. Fenves said.

In a letter to the university community, Fenves said that it was his wife Carmel who tested positive for the virus after traveling to New York for several events with alumni and students last week.

After the trip, Carmel started exhibiting mild flu-like symptoms. She tested negative for the flu yesterday and was then tested for COVID-19. This morning at 5:30 a.m., we received the news that she had tested positive, Fenves wrote. This news came several hours after local health officials had announced two other, separate cases in Travis County.

UT officials had already announced this morning that classes are canceled.

Fenves said a second member of his family, who also works at UT, is presumed to have the virus as well. All three of them, Fenves included, are now in self-isolation.

Under normal circumstances, I would not describe the details of an individuals illness. However, given the widespread impact of COVID-19, Carmel and I wanted to share this information with you so members of our community can take proper precautions, Fenves wrote.

The university president stated that he and his wife have compiled a list of people who they might have come into close contact with. UT Health Austin nurses will contact those people and screen them according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, Fenves said. He also encouraged anyone who has had contact with him, his family or another person with the coronavirus to self-isolate for 14 days since their last contact with a person if they are not experiencing symptoms. Those experiencing symptoms should contact their doctor or university health services.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust.

The university is working around the clock to adjust to this rapidly evolving situation, and we will communicate with you every step of the way, which will include our upcoming plans for campus operations next week, Fenves wrote.

In addition to UT-Austin, Texas Southern University and Houston Community College announced today that classes are canceled for the day.

After announcing an extension of its spring break Thursday, Houston Community College again made an announcement via Twitter Friday, canceling classes through spring break. Classes will resume online on Wednesday, March 25 and there are plans to reschedule tests, according to officials. The decision follows HCCs announcement that there was a possible exposure to coronavirus at two buildings.

Texas Southern University suspended classes Friday due to expanded concerns related to coronavirus. Classes will resume online on March 23 following the universitys spring break next week.

San Jacinto College announced Friday that classes will be canceled and its campus will be closed next week from March 16 through March 20 in order to allow faculty and staff time to prepare for migrating classes and providing services on line. Employees are still required to report to work, and child care centers will still be open on its central and north campuses.

Other colleges made similar decisions earlier this week in the hope of protecting their communities from the spread of the virus:

Rice University, which canceled classes this week, announced Thursday that it will merge all of its classes online March 23. Its campus will be closed to most undergraduate students by end of day March 25.

Texas A&M University canceled its classes for next week and announced Thursday that classes will resume online starting March 23. They will run through April 28. The campus and its services will remain open, but meetings and events will be limited to 50 people at a time

South Texas College of Law Houston canceled all on-campus classes and will resume with online courses Friday.

Baylor University will extend its spring break through next week and resume classes online from March 23 through April 3.

Prairie View A&M University suspended its classes until March 23 as faculty prepare courses for online education.

The University of Houston, UH-Downtown and UH-Clear Lake canceled classes and will resume courses remotely or online March 23.

UH-Victoria and UHV-Katy began weeklong spring breaks early at noon Thursday, canceling all in-person and online classes but keeping offices open.

The University of St. Thomas in Houston announced Thursday that it had canceled all its classes after noon and all classes for Friday. Classes will resume online after its spring break for at least a week starting March 23.

Lone Star College, which has spring break this week, has extended the break by another week, according to a university release. Classes will resume March 23.

Intern Savana Dunning reporting from Austin contributed to this report.

brittany.britto@chron.com


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Linkedin Yulia Savitri (The Jakarta Post) Palembang, South Sumatra  Fri, March 13 2020

South Sumatra's Serjiabo village head Heriyan has a lot on his plate when it comes to managing village funds.

He said village heads lacked understanding of financial administration and management, slowing down overall budget absorption. They also worry about punishments stipulated in the current provision if they fail to manage the money well despite their lack of expertise on the matter.

"Technical problems have delayed the disbursement of village funds. There are regulations on developing a village, yet villages lack technical experts and advisors," he said during a meeting in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Feb. 28.

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency approval for a new coronavirus test that promises to vastly increase the speed and rate of testing across the country, according to officials.

The new tests run on the pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AGs cobas 6800/8800 systems, which, according to Bloomberg News, are capable of performing 4,128 and 1,440 tests daily, respectively.

Thomas Schinecker, who leads the companys diagnostics unit, told the news outlet in an interview: We are increasing the speed definitely by a factor of 10.

We definitely extended the capacity of the testing significantly throughout the US, he added.

The companys shares were 11 percent above their normal rates after news of the FDAs decision to grant emergency approval for the tests was reported on Friday, according to Bloomberg News.

The pace of US testing for the highly contagious virus that is sweeping the world has been heavily criticised. Donald Trump said on Friday that testing in the United States will soon happen on a large scale, but did not provide any details.

On Thursday, the top US official on infectious diseases, Anthony Fauci, told Congress that people cannot get tests for the coronavirus easily and the US testing system is not meeting the country's needs.

The United States has tested a much smaller percentage of people than other major countries with significant outbreaks of coronavirus, which can cause the sometimes fatal COVID-19 respiratory illness.

Dr Fauci told MSNBC he expects to see testing availability ramp up within a week.

The New York State Department of Health can authorise certain laboratories to begin testing for the coronavirus, the FDA also said on Friday.

The agency is granting this flexibility due to the urgent public health need for additional testing capacity in the United States. Boosting testing capacity is crucial to assessing the scope of the US outbreak and identifying where it is spreading most rapidly.

More than 1,700 cases of coronavirus and at least 40 deaths have been reported in the United States, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University and local public health authorities.

Reuters contributed to this report
Gabon and Ghana confirmed their first cases of coronavirus on Thursday, becoming the ninth and tenth countries in sub-Saharan Africa to register positive cases.

In a statement, Gabons government said its case was a 27-year-old Gabonese man who had returned from France on March 8.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia Announces Travel Ban From 50 Countries

Ghanas health ministry said its two cases had returned recently from Norway and Turkey.
Even as the virus was killing dozens of people a day there, government propaganda was touting the China model while ridiculing efforts by the United States to combat natural disasters. Now that other parts of the world are suffering, China is making well-publicized efforts to offer help, sending teams to Iran and Italy to deliver supplies and offer advice. And it has imposed travel bans from some destinations hit by infections  a measure the government decried as excessive when China suffered it.

Yet it would be foolish to believe that Chinas decisions have been mainly based on crude authoritarianism. One neednt defend every one of its measures on medical grounds; those are matters that health care professionals might debate for years to come. But its worth acknowledging that not all of Chinas failings are unique to its political system, and that some of its policies were motivated by serious concern for the public good and executed by a highly competent civil service.

For example, before condemning the decision of Chinese officials in early January to dismiss the threat of a looming epidemic, remember that at that time the coronavirus was not reported to have caused any deaths. Contrast this with, say, the United States today: Despite having had a free flow of information for weeks and witnessed thousands of deaths in China as evidence, parts of Americas political establishment  including at the White House  have pushed a disinformation campaign to downplay the risk.

And if you think its too easy to criticize President Trump, remember my airport experience in London. Or consider Germanys decision earlier this week to hold a mass sporting event in the middle of its outbreak zone. Or Japans decision to let people walk off an infected cruise ship without proper testing. Some of these countries are now backpedaling, trying to explain away their blase attitudes, but thats weeks late.

Chinas leaders did fumble at the very start, yet in short order they acted far more decisively than many democratically elected leaders have to date. Authoritarian or not, they also want the publics approval. Chinese leaders may not face voters, but they, too, care about legitimacy, and that hinges on performance for them as well.

Aspects of Chinas quarantine  especially when they prevented the elderly and disabled from receiving medical care  were unnecessarily crude. But overall, I dont think the measures were unpopular. The government worked hard to get people to buy into the necessity of tough measures. It bombarded the public with social media posts, stories, billboards, radio shows and articles about the risks posed by the virus. In one park in Beijing, a recording on a loop admonished people to: Wash your hands thoroughly. Avoid meeting up friends. Keep a safe distance.

In my experience living in China for weeks during the peak period of the lockdown and talking to various groups beyond the disgruntled elites, people were frustrated, even exasperated, by the containment measures  but they largely supported them, too.
Ex-board member of Inter RAO to remain in detention in espionage case till mid-June

 Moskva city news agency, Alexander Avilov

17:21 13/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 13 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court on Friday extended detention of ex-board member of Inter RAO energy holding Karina Tsurkan charged with espionage for three months, the courts press service told RAPSI.

She will stay detained until June 14.

The Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction in February overturned a lower courts order on the release of Tsurkan. The woman was retaken into custody in the courtroom.

In January, the First Court of Appeals changed a restrictive measure of Tsurkan from detention to a restraining order. She was in particular banned from leaving home at night, communicating with witnesses in the case and using communications tools.

In November 2019, the Moscow City Court upheld seizure of the defendants 451 million rubles ($7.3 million) deposited on bank accounts. In total, provisional measures are implemented against Tsurkans assets worth nearly 1 billion rubles.

In November 2018, the court seized bank accounts of the woman amounting to 500 million rubles.

According to attorney Ivan Pavlov, investigators believe that in August 2004 Tsurkan became an agent involved in confidential and unofficial cooperation with a Moldovan secret service.

In April 2015, while staying in Moscow she allegedly received a digital version of a document on project prepared by the Ministry of Energy. The project was allegedly related to the actions of Russian energy companies in the sphere of international cooperation. In September of the same year, she allegedly transferred the document to a secret service.

Tsurkan could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The woman denies wrongdoing and claims that she does not know representatives of foreign secret services and did not see the document in question. She also asked to provide her evidence in the case.

Aside from being the holdings board member, Tsurkan also headed its trading department.
March 12 (Reuters) - Italy and South Korea, two countries outside China that have been hard hit by the new coronavirus, have reported dramatically different numbers of deaths as a proportion of cases. Why are these not comparable?

Calculating mortality rates during a disease epidemic is fraught with pitfalls.

This is in part because the numbers of deaths and patients constantly change. In part it's because not every single case will be detected - some will be so mild they never get noticed. And in part it's because there can be a significant time lag between when someone is infected and when or if they die.

"What you can safely say is that if you divide the number of reported deaths by the number of reported cases, you will almost certainly get the wrong answer," said John Edmunds, a professor at the centre for mathematical modelling of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

That's why World Health Organization (WHO) officials - who said last week that 3.4% of the people worldwide confirmed as having been infected with the new coronavirus had died - were careful not to describe that as a mortality rate or death rate.

"In an unfolding epidemic, it can be misleading to look at the naAve estimate of deaths so far divided by cases so far," said Christl Donnelly, a disease specialist at Oxford University and Imperial College London. "This is due to the delay from the time it takes for individuals to progress from being diagnosed as cases to dying."

With COVID-19 - the infection caused by the new coronavirus - the time between onset of disease and death is fairly significant, at around two to three weeks or more.

So the sum involved would need to compare the number of deaths at a given point with the actual case numbers from some weeks beforehand.

(Reporting and writing by Kate Kelland, editing by Sara Ledwith)
95% of large companies outside Hubei have reopened, 60% of small and medium-sized ones. Spending on 5G infrastructures and networks to stimulate the economy. Structural reforms are needed for economists. Favor migrant workers to increase consumption.

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - China's deputy minister for industry, Xin Guobin, said today that 95% of large companies outside Hubei province have resumed operations. The reopening rate for small and medium-sized industry is 60%.

The Beijing government is committed to bringing production back to pre-coronavirus levels. Most analysts predict a sharp slowdown in GDP in 2020, with high chances of a contraction in the first quarter of the year - the first time since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976.

Xin announced plans to build ultrafast internet (5G) networks and other infrastructure projects. This is President Xi Jinping's treatment, which focuses on spending on large infrastructure - in particular new high-speed rail routes - to stimulate the country's economy, retracing what has been done in the recent past. To overcome the 2008 mortgage crisis, China launched a construction program to the tune of 4000 billion yuan (512 billion euros).

According to a group of government economic advisors it is a risky policy given teh current economic climate. The 2008 stimulus overheated the Chinese economy, resulting in huge debt for local governments. Zhang Bin, senior researcher at the Social Academy of Sciences, says that this is the time for major structural reforms, and that the authorities must work to strengthen consumers' purchasing power.

Consumer spending contributed to 58% of Chinese growth in 2019. The National Statistical Office reported on 11 March that the consumer price index grew 5.2% in February, compared to the same period last year. To increase citizens' spending power, Zhang suggests allowing migrant workers to settle legally in the urban and industrial areas where they are employed. In China, only those who have permanent residence can access basic healthcare and social services. For example, a migrant who needs to be treated is forced to return to the (usually rural) area tehy originate from.
Former Big Brother Naija housemate, Gifty Powers has slammed the Nigerian government while praising Ghana.

The reality TV star pointed out that Ghana should be called the Giant of Africa, and not Nigeria.

Gifty said this as she shared a screenshot of an article stating that Kotoka International Airport is Africas best and most improved airport.

READ ALSO  Dont Touch Your Kids After Having Sex With A Different Man  Gifty Powers

In response to the article, Gifty then wrote in part: Honestly ehn, Ghana should be called the giant of Africa, because they make good use with their heads and not with their belly/selfish interest.

See Photo Here:
Phuket, Thailand, 13 March 2020  Marriott Internationals hotels and resorts in Phuket and Khao Lak recently joined forces to host an important event aimed at raising awareness about road safety among local schoolchildren.

Following the success of similar activities in Phuket in 2019, a Helmet Painting event was held in Khao Lak for the first time on 11 March 2020, at Wat Khomniyaket School. This CSR initiative saw representatives from nine leading Marriott hotels join hands to help educate approximately 50 students about the importance of wearing a helmet while traveling on a motorcycle.

A total of 50 motorbike helmets were handed out to the fourth, fifth and sixth grade schoolchildren, who were able to paint the helmets with their own creative designs. Through this initiative, Marriott aims to play a part in reducing deaths and injuries caused by not wearing helmet.

According to data provided by the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation and Save the Children, approximately 93 percent of children across Thailand dont wear a helmet when riding to and from school by motorcycle with their parents or siblings. This means that every day, millions of Thai kids are risking their lives simply by going to school.

This valuable project forms part of Marriotts ongoing CSR activities. Nine Marriott hotels and resorts from Khao Lak and Phuket were involved in this event, including:

JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa; Le Meridien Khao Lak Resort & Spa; Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort; Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa, Nai Yang Beach; Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa; Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach; The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa, Phuket; JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa; and The Naka Island, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Phuket.
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Friday he will most likely be tested for the novel coronavirus, as questions swirled about why he, his top aides and his family weren't doing more to protect themselves and others after repeated exposure to COVID-19.

Trump has now had multiple direct and indirect contacts with people who have tested positive for the pandemic virus, which on Friday prompted him to declare a state of emergency as schools and workplaces across the country shuttered, flights were canceled and Americans braced for war against the threat.

ALSO READ: Donald Trump declares state of emergency in US as coronavirus cases exceed 1,700

Trump spent time last weekend at his private club in Florida with a top Brazilian official who later tested positive. And late Friday, news broke that a second person at Mar-a-Lago  who attended a fundraiser with Trump Sunday  tested positive, according to two Republican officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss private health matters. Several top administration officials, including Attorney General William Barr and Trumps daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump, met last week with an Australian Cabinet minister who on Friday was confirmed positive.

Multiple lawmakers and citizens across the country who have had the same degree of exposure have opted to voluntarily quarantine themselves and get tested out of an abundance of caution.

But Trump, who has long tried to minimize the threat posed by the virus, insisted Friday  contrary to the advice of many medical professionals  that he did not need to isolate himself because he wasn't exhibiting symptoms. He conceded that he would most likely" submit to testing fairly soon," but continued to flout public health officials' advice by repeatedly shaking with attendees hands during a Rose Garden press conference on efforts to combat the pandemic.

ALSO READ: Europe now 'epicentre' of COVID-19 pandemic - WHO

Even so, Trump told the nation, All Americans have a role to play in defeating this virus."

Anyone can be a carrier for the virus and risk transmission to older Americans and those with underlying health conditions, Trump said, adding, We must take all precautions and be responsible for the actions that we take and that we see other people take."

The president, according to two people close to the White House, has been reluctant to take the test for fear it would project weakness or worry. Trump has wanted to appear in full control during the crisis, especially as he tries to calm stock markets amid historic drops, and has expressed concerns that taking personal steps could undermine that appearance.

Asked whether he was being selfish by refusing to isolate himself to avoid potentially infecting others and what advice he had for people who may be receiving contradictory messages, Trump said, I think they have to listen to their doctors."

Trump spent time last weekend with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaros communications director, Fabio Wajngarten, who has tested positive for the virus. Wajngarten posed for a photo with Trump and attended a birthday party held for Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is dating the presidents eldest son. Trump and multiple top administration officials were present.

ALSO READ: Ohio likely has 1,00,000 coronavirus cases

The White House stressed that Trump had almost no interactions" with Wajngarten while at Mar-a-Lago and therefore did "not require being tested at this time.

Republican officials declined to name the second person who had tested positive at the club and it was unclear how much time Trump had spent with that person.

In addition to his direct exposure, Trump has also had repeated contact with lawmakers who chose to isolate themselves after being exposed to people who later tested positive. That included Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who traveled aboard Air Force One with the president Monday and found out about the positive test mid-flight; South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was working from home after spending time at Mar-a-Lago and attending his own meeting with Peter Dutton, Australia's Minister for Home Affairs; and Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who also interacted with the Brazilian delegation.

White House spokesman Judd Deere said Ivanka Trump, who met with Dutton, worked from home Friday out of an abundance of caution," but said Dutton had been asymptomatic during their interaction, so the White House Medical Unit determined she was "exhibiting no symptoms and does not need to self-quarantine.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said she'd received the same instructions, in accordance with CDC guidance.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise those who have been in close contact with a person with symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19" to remain home and practice social distancing, but experts' guidance has been mixed when it comes to those who are not exhibiting symptoms.

People who are exposed to the virus dont show symptoms immediately; there is an incubation period of anywhere from two to 14 days. And the CDC is most concerned with close contact, which it defines as being coughed on or within about 6 feet of someone who is sick for a prolonged period of time. The CDC doesnt consider it risky to walk past someone with the virus or to be briefly in the same room with them.

Many doctors across the country, however, have been advising those with any exposure to take precautions. And Trump, who is 73, is considered to be at higher risk of developing serious complications because of his age.

The president should get tested, even if he is not exhibiting symptoms, said Stephen Morse, a Columbia University expert on the spread of diseases.

Anyone whos infected is a risk of spreading it to other people, he said. That can be true of people who are infected but dont have symptoms.

Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at the George Washington University Milken School of Public Health who once served as the health commissioner for the city of Baltimore, said COVID-19 is highly transmittable and anyone who comes within six feet of someone who is infected could become infected and spread it, without even knowing they are sick.

We are at a time of an international public health emergency," she said, so everybody should abide by public health guidelines, no matter their position or their title.

Any administration official with known exposure, she said, should follow the same guidance as anyone else" and be self-quarantining and monitoring their symptoms.

As for the president, she said, in order to be the commander-in-chief of the country ... he needs to take care of himself."
There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Midland County as of Thursday noon, said Fred Yanoski, Midland public health director/health officer.

He did stress, however, that any large gatherings, conferences, and sporting events, which could attract more than 100 people in a shared space, should be considered for cancelation or postponement. He also said people who have respiratory symptoms, should stay home and call their health care provider's offices in advance of a visit.

These recommendations are part of interim recommendations released this week by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) regarding COVID-19 community mitigation strategies for all communities in Michigan.

Here is the complete press release, issued by the MDHHS for all of Michigan:

Community mitigation strategies are crucial to slowing the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Michigan, particularly before a vaccine or treatment becomes available. These strategies provide essential protections to individuals at risk of severe illness and to health care and other critical infrastructure workforces. Preventing a sudden, sharp increase in the number of people infected with COVID-19 will help minimize disruptions to daily life and limit the demand on health care providers and facilities.

These recommended strategies apply at the individual, organizational, and community levels. They apply to businesses, workplaces, schools, community organizations, health care institutions, and individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and health profiles. Everyone has some measure of responsibility to help limit the spread of this disease. Even individuals who are healthy can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 to others.

Michiganders have been preparing for COVID-19 for weeks, and all individuals should continue to take the following basic personal-hygiene measures to prevent the spread of the virus:

 Wash your hands often with soap and water or use hand sanitizer;

 Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands;

 Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing;

 Avoid handshakes;

 Avoid contact with sick people who are sick;

 Stay home when you are sick.

Michigan must take further action, however. To help avoid a rapid increase of cases in the state, MDHHS recommends implementing now the following community mitigation strategies. Please note, guidance for health care providers is not addressed in this document, but is available at www.Michigan.gov/coronavirus.

Individuals and families at home:

1. Learn about the signs and symptoms of COVID-19. Symptoms include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing.

2. If you have respiratory symptoms, STAY HOME WHEN YOU ARE SICK. Call your health care provider's office in advance of your visit.

3. Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, like doorknobs, keyboards, cell phones, and light switches.

4. Communicate and reinforce best practices for washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes.

5. Be prepared if there is COVID-19 in your household or a disruption of daily activities in your community. For example, maintain a supply of medications, food, and other essentials in your house. Consider alternative shopping options such as curbside pickups or online deliveries.

6. Access services as much as possible online or by phone.

Individuals at risk of severe illness:

These individuals include, but are not limited to, older adults and persons of any age with underlying medical conditions, such as persons with a blood disorder (e.g., sickle cell disease or a disorder being treated with blood thinners), an endocrine disorder (e.g., diabetes mellitus), or a metabolic disorder (such as inborn error of metabolism); those with heart disease, lung disease (including asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), chronic kidney disease, or chronic liver disease; those with a compromised immune system (e.g., those who are receiving treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy, who have received an organ or bone marrow transplant, who are taking high doses of immunosuppressant, or who have HIV or AIDS); those who are currently pregnant or were pregnant in the last two weeks; and those with neurological or neurologic and neurodevelopment conditions.

1. Individuals at risk of severe illness should stay at home and keep away from others who are sick, except in exceptional circumstances. Wash your hands often, particularly after contact with high-touch surfaces. Avoid crowds and closed-in settings with little air ventilation as much as possible. Avoid cruise travel and non-essential air travel.

2. Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, like doorknobs, keyboards, cell phones, and light switches.

3. In households with individuals at risk of severe illness, provide a protected space for those individuals and have healthy people conduct themselves as if they were a significant risk to those individuals. For example, healthy people should wash their hands before feeding or caring for an at-risk individual.

4. Have a plan for if you get sick, and stay in touch with others by phone or email.

5. Watch for symptoms and emergency warning signs that require immediate medical attention.

6. Family members and caregivers can support older adults by knowing what medications they are taking and ensuring there is an extra supply on hand.

7. Family members and caregivers can support older adults by monitoring food and other necessary medical supplies (e.g., oxygen, incontinence, dialysis, and wound care supplies) and by creating a back-up plan for securing those essentials if they run out.

Assisted living facilities, adult day care programs, and senior living facilities:

1. Encourage personal protective measures among residents, clients, and staff, including handwashing and covering coughs and sneezes.

2. Encourage residents, clients, and staff to stay home (or in their private quarters) when sick and to notify program administrators of illness.

3. Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, like doorknobs, keyboards, cell phones, and light switches.

4. Ensure hand hygiene supplies are readily accessible throughout the facility.

5. If caring for an individual living in a care facility, monitor the situation, ask about the health of the other residents frequently, and know the protocol if there is an outbreak.

6. Implement social distancing measures as feasible, such as reducing large gatherings, altering meal schedules to reduce mixing, and limiting programs with external staff.

7. Limit visitors to only those who are absolutely necessary and implement screening of visitors for temperature and respiratory symptoms.

8. Maintain contact with individuals at risk of severe illness who are no longer able to attend day care programs.

Universities and colleges:

1. Educate students and the community about COVID-19 and preventative hygiene practices.

2. Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, like doorknobs, keyboards, cell phones, and light switches.

3. Encourage staff and students to stay home when sick.

4. Cancel or postpone large gatherings, conferences, and sporting events (e.g., greater than 100 people in a shared space).

5. Consider tele-learning opportunities, as feasible.

6. Communicate and reinforce best practices for washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes.

7. Students and faculty at risk of severe illness should implement plans for distance learning.

Schools and childcare facilities:

1. Educate students and the community about COVID-19 and preventative hygiene practices.

2. Encourage staff and students to stay home when sick.

3. Report influenza-like activity, absenteeism, and potential school dismissals to public health officials.

4. Separate sick students and staff from others until they can go home. When feasible, identify a "sick room" through which others do not regularly pass.

5. Communicate and reinforce best practices for washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes.

6. Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, like doorknobs, keyboards, cell phones, and light switches.

7. Consider having students eat meals in their classrooms as opposed to a cafeteria-like setting, or alter meal schedules for smaller-group gatherings.

8. Limit large gatherings such as assemblies and limit inter-school interactions.

9. Alter schedules for recess and entry/dismissal to reduce the mixing of large numbers of students and staff.

10. Schools with students at risk of severe illness should consider implementing plans for distance learning for those students, to the extent feasible.

Workplaces:

1. Encourage employees to stay home when sick and to notify supervisors of illness.

2. Communicate and reinforce best practices for washing hands covering coughs and sneezes.

3. Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, like doorknobs, keyboards, cell phones, and light switches.

4. Ensure hand hygiene supplies are readily accessible throughout the workplace.

5. Encourage staff to tele-work when feasible, particularly individuals at risk of severe illness.

6. Implement social distancing measures as feasible, including limiting in-person meetings.

7. Limit large work-related gatherings (e.g., staff meetings and after-work functions).

8. Limit non-essential work travel.

9. Cancel or postpone large gatherings, conferences, and sporting events (e.g., greater than100 people in a shared space).

10. Discourage employees from eating meals in a large group setting, such as a cafeteria.

11. Tailor continuity of operation plans to the COVID-19 threat.

Community and faith-based organizations:

1. Identify safe ways to serve those who are at high risk or vulnerable through outreach and assistance.

2. Encourage staff and members to stay home when sick and to notify the organization of illness.

3. Communicate and reinforce best practices for washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes.

4. Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, like doorknobs, keyboards, cell phones, and light switches.

5. Ensure hand hygiene supplies are readily accessible.

6. Implement social distancing measures as feasible.

7. Reduce in-person gatherings and activities, especially for organizations with individuals

at risk of severe illness. Consider offering video or audio of events.

8. Determine ways to continue providing support services to individuals at risk of severe illness while limiting group settings and exposures.

9. Avoid large gatherings (e.g., greater than 100 people in a shared space) or move to smaller and staggered gatherings.

10. For organizations that serve high-risk communities, cancel gatherings of more than 10 people.

Other mass events:

1. Cancel or postpone large gatherings, conferences, and sporting events (e.g., greater than 100 people in a shared space).

2. Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, like doorknobs, keyboards, and light switches.

3. Communicate and reinforce best practices for washing hands and covering coughs and sneeze

The most up-to-date guidance on these and other mitigation strategies is available at www.Michigan.gov/coronavirus. This matter is rapidly evolving and MDHHS may provide updated guidance.
South Africa now has 24 cases of COVID-19, Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize said on Friday.

The minister revealed that all the new cases contracted the disease during trips to European countries, including Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Greece.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Dont Shake Hands, Dont Hug For Now  Aregbesola

So far, all infected patients in the country have a history of trips to Europe.

More suspected cases will be verified soon, Mkhize said.

On Thursday, Mkhize revised the number of infected cases from 17 to 16, after a 32-year-old male in Free State Province, had mistakenly tested positive.

Of the eight new cases, four are in Gauteng Province, two in KwaZulu-Natal and two in Western Cape, Mkhize said in his Friday announcement.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered the states public schools to cancel classes through March 31 in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. The move comes hours after school boards in the Ashland, Lake Oswego, Reynolds and Tigard-Tualatin districts voted to do the same.

Browns order takes effect Monday. Portland Public Schools, the states largest district, in a note to parents billed the cancelation as an extended spring break.

In a statement, the governor said she had worked hard to keep schools open.

However, I have heard from superintendents, school board members, teachers, parents, and students that it has now become impossible to functionally operate schools due to workforce issues and student absences, Brown said. Schools are experiencing critical shortages in staff, and superintendents are concerned for school personnel who are at elevated risk such as those over age 60 and those with underlying medical issues.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced schools in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties will close for six weeks, affecting 600,000 students. Oregons statewide closure will affect nearly 583,000 kids, according to enrollment estimates from the state Department of Education as of February.

Brown asked school administrators to spend the final two days of March preparing to reopen schools April 1 and ensuring they have adequate cleaning supplies. She also asked school districts to develop plans to keep serving food to students despite the closures.

On Wednesday, Brown had ordered the cancellation of events and gatherings of 250 or more people without calling for school closures as part of that mandate. The decision perplexed parents and teachers, many of whom pressed their local districts to consider closing schools on their own.

Private schools, including St. Marys Academy and Central Catholic and Jesuit high schools, were the first to announce long-term closures ranging from two to four weeks.

Those institutions announced their closures alongside notices that students will use school-issued tech to take classes online.

But not all public schools can afford to provide students with computers or tablets for the purposes of distance learning, one of several reasons officials at the state and local level offered in justifying keeping classes open.

Some low-income students also rely on school lunch and breakfasts as a lifeline. The Tigard-Tualatin district will serve to-go meals at Metzger and Tualatin elementary schools.

While young children and teenagers are among the least vulnerable to the virus  the majority of fatalities have been recorded in people older than 60  public health experts have said preventing crowds from gathering is one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the disease and keep hospitals and health care workers from becoming overwhelmed by serious cases.

Some health experts contend preventative measures, such as closing schools before a virus is confirmed among the student population, could stem its spread and help ensure hospitals and health care centers dont get overwhelmed.

--Eder Campuzano | 503-221-4344 | @edercampuzano Do you have a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email Eder at ecampuzano@oregonian.com or message either of the social accounts above. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.

Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLives coronavirus newsletter:
Kathmandu, March 13

Nepali Congress Central Office has directed party leader Shekhar Koirala to return to Kathmandu. Party spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma passed the message in direction of party president Sher Bahadur Deuba.

The decision came after Koirala, who had reached in Gorkha on Friday to meet party cadres, was said to have been organising factional meetings even when the government had directed not to organise mass meetings.

Following the notice, the sources said they have re-briefed leader Koirala on the partys circular.

The partys 14th general convention is to be held next year. Koirala is a potential candidate for the party president and has been going around the nation to meet the party cadres.

It is said Deuba section started opposing Koirala after the latter had voiced that the upcoming Nepal Press Union general convention in April should not be postponed despite the governments notice to postpone and cancel every mass gathering following the COVID-19 fears.

The party has shown its support to the governments notice and cancelled its events.

A source said, Amid the fears of the virus spread, where one should be spreading awareness, a doctor going around avoiding all the directions is not suitable.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13

Trend:

Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) has delivered systems for testing for coronavirus to Turkmenistan, Trend reports with reference to Rospotrebnadzor's statement.

The statement said the systems have already been delivered to 10 countries of the near and far abroad. They were developed by The State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology of Russia (also known as the Vector Institute).



"This contributes to strengthening of collective capacity of the countries of the region in the fight against a new epidemic," the report said.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 4,700. Over 128,000 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 68,000 people have reportedly recovered.

Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. Several countries are developing a vaccine against the new virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
He is expecting a baby girl with his wife Jodie Turner-Smith.

And Joshua Jackson has revealed that their first child will make her debut very soon.

'Were 19 days away, so Im kind of out of time for sympathy weight,' the actor, 41, said in an interview Thursday with NBC's Access.

Soon: He is expecting a girl with his wife Jodie Turner-Smith. And on Thursday, Joshua Jackson told NBC's Access Thursday, the couple's first child is due in 19 days (pictured February 2)

As for how his actress wife is doing, Jackson said she hasn't really been having any strong cravings, explaining: 'It only really lasted for two days (and it) was an Oreo milkshake.'

Turner-Smith confirmed the gender of her unborn baby via her Instagram Story over the weekend.

The Queen & Slim star shared a video showing the baby moving around or 'dancing' inside her tummy and referred to the unborn child as 'she'.

The British actress and model shared: 'Favourite moments with baby. Can you see her dancing in there? Every time I try to record she stops.'

Firstborn: British actress and model Turner-Smith, 33, confirmed the gender of her unborn baby via her Instagram Story over the weekend sharing a clip of her moving in her tummy

'Somebody's mumma': The Queen & Slim star has been dating Dawson's Creek alum Jackson, 41, since late 2018 and it's believed the couple tied the knot in a secret ceremony in December

Jackson and Turner-Smith have been dating since late 2018 and got married in a secret ceremony in December 2019.

Turner-Smith recently gushed about the Dawson's Creek alum Jackson, saying she felt 'ready' for a baby after realizing she'd found 'the right person' to spend the rest of her life with.

Responding to a fan on Twitter who asked her how she knew she was ready for a child, she wrote: 'I don't think you're ever 'ready'... but there were definitely certain boxes i wanted to tick before committing to it.'

She went on: 'The most important for me: being w/ sum1 i knew would be a great life partner. life has many variables, but once i knew i'd met the right person, i felt unafraid.' (sic)

The celebrity couple have not publicly confirmed their marriage.
Opinion Article

13 March 2020

Did you ever find it challenging to decide the right career for yourself?

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I did when I was a student and even later in my mid-career. The reality is that many of us, especially when we were still college students, have difficulty in making the decisions regarding the major and our potential career paths. Some of us may still experience such a struggle even after we have completed a degree program.

The difficulty of making a career decision as well as the corresponding psychological and emotional compression have resulted in a frequent job change and high turnover among the recent graduates.

The hospitality and tourism industry, for example, has long been struggling with attracting and retaining talents. The accommodation and food services segment has the highest "quits rate" among all industry sectors, defined as "the number of quits during the entire month as a percent to total employment" by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Adolescents and college students are hence highly encouraged to seek career advice at school. Hospitality students often counsel with their professors and instructors, especially those with managerial experiences and good industrial connections.

A good number of professors and instructors, however, might not have gone through formal training in career counseling to assist students with career decision-making difficulties (CDD). Studies that provide insightful information regarding what leads to CDD can be helpful in this regard.

The research study

I worked with Drs. Ning-Kuang Chuang at Kent State University and Patrick Lee at Cal Poly Pomona on a project entitled: Assisting students with career decision-making difficulties: Can career decision-making self-efficacy and career decision-making profile help? The full paper was published in the Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport, & Tourism Education

The hypothesis

Through a review of the current literature, we proposed one hypothesis for statistical analysis:

Career-decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) and career decision-making profiles (CDMP) have the predictive ability of CDD when controlling the background information (i.e., work experience in the hospitality industry, transfer status, upper- or lower-division classes, and work hours).

The data and the analysis

We administrated a survey with the students enrolled in selected classes from two hospitality programs, one at Cal Poly Pomona and the other at Kent State. We distributed a total of 420 surveys and received 273 valid questionnaires, at a return rate of 65%.

The survey comprises two sections. The first section lists questions about the participants' background information. The second section includes the questions designed to measure the three key constructs, namely CDD (36 items for 10 difficulty categories), CDMSE (25 items for 5 subscales), and CDMP (36 items for 12 profiles).

The above scales were adopted from the literature in career counseling. After assessing the reliability and validity of the scales, we performed descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and sequential regression analysis.

Highlights of the findings

In terms of CDD, General Indecisiveness, Lack of Information about Various Occupations, and Dysfunctional Beliefs were considered the top areas that affect students' decision-making process.

Self-Appraisal and Planning were rated the highest among the CDMSE subscales.

In CDMP subscales, Aspiration for an Ideal Occupation, Locus of Control, and Effort Invested in the Process received the highest mean scores. At the same time, Information Gathering, Procrastination, and Dependence on Others were rated the lowest.

Descriptive Statistics

Results of the correlation analysis

Students holding a full-time job during school years rated lower on CDD.

The longer work hours students had, the higher they rated on CDMSE.

Students who rated higher in CDMSE tended to experience lower CDD.

When looking at the subscale of CDMP, CDD is positively related to Procrastination, Information Gathering, Dependence on Others, Desire to Please Others, and Intuitive, but negatively related to Speed of Making the Final Decision, Locus of Control, and Aspiration for an Ideal Occupation.

Results of the sequential regression analysis

CDMSE and CDMP explained 27.2% and 25.6% of the variance in CDD, respectively.

CDMSE - Goal Selection (negatively or "-"), CDMP - Locus of Control ("-"), CDMP - Effort Invested in the Process (positively or "+"), CDMP - Procrastination ("+"), and CDMP - Speed of Making the Final Decision ("-") were significant predictors of CDD.

The implications

Support students with workshops regarding decision making

Share real examples about how others learn from their mistakes and grow from failures

Conduct a series of workshop, ideally each workshop or series for one specific career track (e.g., career tracks in hotels, restaurants, event management, and food retails)

Invite alumni or guest speakers of different career tracks to share their work experience and career paths

Encourage them to explore multiple career options and let them know there is more than just one way to succeed

Avoid adding pressure to students in making a career decision by saying that their destination will solely be determined by their career decision

Now that we have found out the significant contributors to CDD, we can make suggestions to help those struggling with making a career decision. For example, because Lack of Readiness - General Indecisiveness, Lack of Information - Occupations, and Lack of Readiness - Dysfunctional Beliefs were rated the top three subscales affecting CDD, career counselors and advisors may:

Referring to the results of the sequential regression analysis, academic programs may

Encourage students to gain more work experience if it is not affecting their academic performance, such as taking multiple summer internships

Assist students in assessing their interests and provide the career options that align with their interests

Provide the career options that align with students' preferred lifestyle

For those who tend to attribute their success to the external factors, share with them the inspirational real-life examples and let them know their hard work can help them reach their goal

Encourage those who have already invested much time in the decision-making process to setback from time to time, allowing them to reflect on what they have achieved before making a new move

Help those who usually wait until the last minute to set a timetable and make sure they complete the tasks according to the timetable

Follow up with those who typically wait until the last minute to do things to ensure they begin completing certain tasks before the deadlines

Allow those who can make quick decisions without difficulty to make their own decisions with minimal advising

Provide tips on how to make quick decisions for those who are incapable of doing so

Recalling your own experience, did you ever struggle with making a career decision? If so, what challenged did you face when making a career decision? How did you deal with those challenges at the end?
Is anybody overseeing devices like this? said Dr. Gayle S. Smith, a pediatrician in Richmond, Va., who said she had treated a Brezza-fed baby for failure to thrive. Or, she added, is it babies who are supposed to fail to thrive in large enough numbers before regulators intervene?

Mr. Contract said the machines were safe and met F.D.A. requirements for materials that come into contact with food.

Dr. Jacqueline Winkelmann, a pediatrician in Orange, Calif., said she had seen babies admitted to a hospital for weight loss because they were given bottles that had been mixed incorrectly by hand.

I believe the Baby Brezza Formula Pro is a great way to ensure baby gets the right amount of nutrients in every bottle, said Dr. Winkelmann, who consults for the Betesh Group.

The Betesh Group began selling automated formula-dispensing machines in 2013. The devices took off in 2018 when the company introduced a new model, the Baby Brezza Formula Pro Advanced. About half a million of the Brezza machines have been sold in the United States, the company said. Several similar machines are also available, with brand names like Baby EXO and Zomom.

To use the Brezza machine, people fill compartments for water and infant formula powder. They also set the machine to their desired number of ounces and specific type of formula. Mr. Contract said the devices can save parents several minutes per formula bottle, a welcome convenience in the middle of the night.

On BabyList, a popular site for expectant parents, more than 60,000 people  or about 6 percent of users  included the Brezza machines on their baby gift registries last year. Many parents swear by the devices.
(The foreign minister corrects list of countries to 15 from 18)

PRAGUE, March 13 (Reuters) - The Czech government will require people returning from all high-risk countries to quarantine themselves, widening a requirement so far only applied to those returning from Italy, Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said on Twitter on Friday.

The list on Friday named 15 high-risk countries including neighbouring Germany and Austria, Petricek said. He took retracted an earlier announcement that the list also included the United States, Japan and Greece. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Catherine Evans and Jon Boyle)
Drivers on busy Irving Park Road at Ravenswood Avenue on the North Side will see closures due to construction on a Metra railroad bridge over the next two weeks.
(TNS)  The Texas Democratic Party Thursday unveiled its new "Texas Partisanship Model," which it says will allow it to predict with greater accuracy the partisan leanings of virtually every registered voter in Texas.The party said that includes some 600,000 registered voters for whom it previously lacked partisanship scores but nearly two-thirds to three-fourths of whom they believe to be likely Democratic voters."We are building the biggest Democratic movement this state has ever seen. Our Texas Partisanship Model is going to be our X factor in November," said Texas Democratic Party Targeting Director Hudson Cavanagh.Cavanagh was brought on board last fall to build the new model by Lauren Pully, who the state party had hired in May as its director of data and analytics."By making these innovative and unique investments, we built our own machine learning model that will help campaigns across the state prioritize their precious resources and time," said Cavanagh, who previously worked in New York City for BounceX, a global behavioral marketing company. "We are proud to reimagine what a state party data team can achieve. Simply put, this is how we win."A partisanship score is a number from zero to hundred that indicates the partisan leanings of a voter. It is used by the party and individual campaigns to best target both persuasion and get out the vote efforts.For Democrats, the most partisan Republicans would rate a zero and the most partisan Democrats would score 100.Cavanagh said that in the past, Texas campaigns relied on national data based on national trends. The new model, he said, incorporates in real time voter contacts by Democratic campaigns up and down the ballot in Texas, and can adjust to fast-changing circumstances in the political environment in Texas."Trends that might have held in 2018 might not be holding in 2020 and having real time feedback is really powerful," Cavanagh said."No other state has ever built one of these in house and maintained it for just the purpose of applying it to one state," he said."On every single axis we've evaluated it, it's outperformed the national models," Cavanah said. "This is because we are asking a fundamentally clearer and simpler question than the national model. Instead of trying to predict the entire United States' partisanship, and then applying that method to Texas, we said, let's just focus on Texas."But former Texas Republican Party Chairman Steve Munisteri, who is now advising the party as well as the reelection campaign of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the announcement sounded like more of what he said has been the relentless hype from Democrats about all they are doing to make Texas competitive in 2020.""I'm surprised to hear that they are just now doing that, that they are just now acquiring Texas-specific information for Texas voters," Munisteri said."The Republican Party uses RNC (Republican National Committee) voter scores for virtually anyone who has ever voted," Munisteri said. But he said that data has always been augmented by Texas-specific data gathered on the ground by Texas Republicans."Everything they're describing is Politics 101," Munisteri said. "We do it. They do it. We just don't talk about it. So enough already. Let's just who wins."Joshua Blank, research director at the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said that announcements like this are mostly intended to underline the seriousness of Democratic efforts in Texas.He said it sounded like what they are doing is "the job of a state party, they all just don't roll it out as a press release.""At the end of the day, the election is not a technology contest, it's a contest about mobilizing your voters to the polls," Blankd said. "Whether or not the Democrats have made an advance in the technology underlying that process, ultimately the real work is actually getting voters to vote, something that the Democratic Party, particularly the Democratic Party in Texas, has had a challenge with in the last 20 years."Jeremy Smith, who worked with the state party to develop Register2Vote, a non-profit he heads that created a method of streamlining voter registration in Texas and nationally, said of the latest party effort, "I think what they are doing is wise and smart and aggressive and interesting.""Whether or not it is better is unproven but my supposition is that it has to be better than the national models and it could make a very big difference in Texas," Smith said.
The goal is to bring something different.

This is what Yjastros: The American Flamenco Repertory Company has done since 1999.

Its latest show is titled El Fuego Fatuo and is being presented at 8 p.m. Friday, March 13, and 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

The performance features Esperanza Fernandez of Seville, Spain, and the musical group Revozo, led by Vicente Griego and Cesar Beauvallet.

Esperanza was going to be in the country, and weve had contact with her in the past, says Marisol Encinias, associate director of the National Institute of Flamenco. We asked her to sing in this concert, and its a great addition to our program.

Yjastros is taking Spanish composer Manuel de Fallas famous work El Fuego Fatuo and bringing it to life.

Fernandez and Revozo will lend themselves to the display of flamenco and stunning musical compositions.

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This seasons concept is to celebrate the fuego fatuo, the persistent fire that is the spirit of flamenco, Joaquin Encinias, Yjastros artistic director, says in a statement. By sharing de Fallas timeless melody, we honor the spirit that undoubtedly inspired this beautiful song. We do this through the cante of Esperanza Fernandez, music of Revozo and Vicente Griego, and the group and solo dance choreography resting on the artists of Yjastros.

Marisol Encinias says Yjastros will also present a new work by Natalia Gonzalez, Lobo.

We have never performed it before, Marisol Encinias says. Joaquin and the dancers got the piece up to be performed. It has some interesting music, and it goes between tango argentino and modern music. Her brother, Hector Gonzalez, created a track for it. There is some interesting imagery, and were excited to get some new work out to the world.

Marisol Encinias says being able to get Fernandez to sing in the performance is great.

Shes a Gypsy from Sevilla and comes from an important family in flamenco, she says. Shes drawn to Cuban music, and being able to work together and work with Cesar (Beauvallet) has been amazing to watch.

The show has 12 pieces, though each performance is short.

Marisol Encinias wants to push Yjastros further now that the foundation for the company is solid.

Everything we do is mission-based, she says. This creates a foundation, and we offer a strong education component. The vision of Yjastros is to be a national company. We have an archive of over 60 works, and it continues to grow with each new season. This company has the potential to grow so much further. Its taken a lot of hard work over the last two decades to get where we are. Were still reaching for the stars.

Yjastros: El Fuego Fatuo

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, March 13; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 14

WHERE: Albuquerque Journal Theatre at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 Fourth SW

HOW MUCH: $30-$60, plus fees at nhccnm.org or 724-4771
The Netflix film will make you rethink your need for a certain kind of closure in a world that has so little of it. Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

Audiences gravitate to the police procedural subgenre for closure, catharsis (i.e., to watch the bad guys get it), and reassurance that our institutions will triumph over savagery through science, steadfastness, and empathy for victims and their loved ones. A film like Lost Girls is a different beast. Its an anti-police procedural. Based on Robert Kolkers book about the Long Island serial killer believed to have butchered between ten and 16 female sex workers (whose bodies lay for years on a stretch of Gilgo Beach), Liz Garbuss movie challenges the traditional presentation of police competence and commitment, and suggests a connection between murderous misogyny and patriarchal indifference.

Garbus and the screenwriter Michael Werwie make their protagonist not a detective but the mother of one of the victims, Shannan Gilbert, whose disappearance in 2010 indirectly led to the discovery of other human remains. Her name is Mari (Amy Ryan), and shes seen working two menial jobs in Ellenville, New York, where she struggles to house, feed, and emotionally support her two younger daughters with varying degrees of success. (A double-edged promo for Heinz Ketchup: Mari waiting  and waiting  for a half-empty bottles contents to slide down into anothers. A symbol of stasis, the futility of life in the gig economy, and good ketchup.) Although Mari and the 24-year-old Shannan have reconciled after a long estrangement, its an uneasy relationship, and Mari is stunned to learn her daughter disappeared while on an outcall to the private Long Island community of Oak Beach. Theres so much she didnt know  or didnt want to know.

The first section of Lost Girls centers on Maris attempt to get the police to put Shannan in the system in either New Jersey (her home) or on Long Island, a process that youd think wouldnt leave them so fuddled. Then she has to overcome Suffolk County detectives implicit contempt for women engaged in a high-risk business. The emergence of a lengthy 911 recording of Shannan screaming for help doesnt seem to embarrass the department for taking an hour to arrive at the scene  it makes them double-down on their contention that Shannan was on drugs and likely wandered into the reeds and drowned. Its tough to watch cops on TV (in this case, Netflix) and not want to scream, Why arent you acting like cops on TV? The most cathartic moment comes early, when Mari staples an entire sheaf of Missing posters on the departments bulletin board and the chief cant ignore her any longer. After that, the murk only deepens.

Its a brave performance by Ryan  hard, un-ingratiating. Framed by bedraggled, peroxide-blond locks, Maris face is a mask of anger and something else, something thats harder to describe. Is it shame? Mari once put Shannan in foster care while struggling with her own addiction, but insists to investigators that she did the best she could for her daughter. Does she believe that? She still struggles to give her children what they need: Her middle daughter (the marvelously transparent Thomasin McKenzie) literally begs for attention. Ryan surprises me every time I see her. She doesnt interpret her characters for us or maybe even for herself. She has radar for emotions that will remain inexplicable.

Two male characters represent the Suffolk County Police. Dean Winters projects a familiar brand of smugness and condescension (he calls Mari feisty) as a cop based on James Burke, who is said to have blocked FBI involvement for years. (Burke was later imprisoned for brutality and a cover-up in an unrelated case.) Gabriel Byrnes Richard Dormer, the Suffolk County Police Commissioner, is an altogether stranger portrait. Byrne brings a bleary, Hibernian gravity to a man who turns out to be the antithesis of every driving movie cop youve seen. Dormer takes zero initiative  hes only reactive and barely even that, and he refuses to acknowledge his own limitations. His and Ryans scenes are meant to be deeply unsatisfying and they are: a nakedly vulnerable woman versus a powerful empty suit. You might shudder when Mari blasts him for the departments failure to obtain surveillance camera tapes from one of Shannans last known locations and all he can do is hang his head: Is he impotent and inept or projecting impotence and ineptitude to close down the discussion? Both, probably.

The male actors have a major challenge: Because the case remains unsolved, none can be certain if his character is the murderer or a a red herring. The johns, conspiracy theorists, and wary bystanders all seem to have screws loose, their private beach community a petri dish for social awkwardness. As Dr. Peter Hackett, the peerless Reed Birney adds to his long list of characters who look so comfortably patriarchal that you think at first, He must be a very good father, and then, Thank God this creep is not my father. His Hackett is a man who boasts of being a rescuer of helpless young women but at the same time seems as if hes auditioning to play Hannibal Lecter. He plainly enjoys fucking with peoples heads.

An accomplished documentary filmmaker whos drawn to enigmatic figures  from unknowable killers to celebrities as beyond our ken as Marilyn Monroe and Bobby Fischer  Garbus is both in and out of her element. In her fictional debut, she resists cinematic tricks, seeming to arrive at scenes along with her characters. Nothing feels over-planned, pre-chewed. The ambiguities are allowed to sit, unshaded by talking heads proposing theories. Even when family members of the killers other victims arrive on Long Island to rally and march through Oak Beach (to the owners horror) and share their memories of the young women theyve lost, the sense of aloneness persists. Help does not arrive in the form of Sherlock Holmes, Will Graham, et al.

What I miss from Garbers Lost Girls is the extraordinary breadth of Kolkers book, which began as a feature for New York Magazine. Kolker didnt cleave to the true-crime template or put all the emphasis on identifying the killer. The mystery Kolker knew he could solve was what brought these young women  alike in some ways, unalike in others  to the remote spot on the Long Island shore where they would lose their lives. In addition to Shannan Gilbert, he gives us heartbreaking accounts of the childhoods of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello, all of whom had struggled with family trauma, depression, and/or addiction before advertising their services on Craigslist. None of them could be summed up by the word prostitute. Kolkers voice was distinctive for its easy, nonjudgmental tone. His humanism was a relief from the lurid tabloid details of the case and the peculiar listlessness  the lack of curiosity or empathy  of the Suffolk County investigators.

So, to be fair, is Garbuss. She makes you wince in pain when Mari arrives at the scene of a grisly discovery and a man in front of her says, Is it the body of that hooker? Some scenes might have been brilliant with a little more shaping, like the ones between Ryan and Lola Kirke as a dour young woman who resolves to leave the life but continues to drift in and out of it, her idea of what constitutes freedom always in flux  like her emotions. Maris youngest daughter, Sarra, who struggles with mental illness, seems to exist just outside frame. We know theres something wrong but cant begin to conceive of whats sprung on us in a nightmarish closing credit.

But Garbus brings off something extraordinary in a film that sets out to leave us sad, enraged, and profoundly unsatisfied. Lost Girls makes us want to rethink our need for a certain kind of closure in a world that has so little of it. It makes other true-crime movies  and true-crime docs, several of which have been made about this case  seem not just sensationalistic but misleading in ways meant to hide the ugly truth: that the institutions meant to protect the least powerful in our society are dysfunctional bordering on diseased. The anti-procedural may be our greatest hope for change.
Dear Editor:

The unsigned Viewpoint of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Feb. 21, 2020, expresses the general condemnation of the publication of xenophobic material. Admittedly, words that reflect bigotry or hatred, whether of Jews or anyone else may indeed be contrary to Jewish principles. However, whether or not articles are worthy of being called out requires careful subjective judgment.

An example is the publication of the picture showing the IfNotNow #Jewish Resistance rally in New York City. The alliance of this organization (and its equally sponsored affiliates) with the worst enemies of Jews and Israel is nauseating but appropriate news. The people who run such rallies hasten to accuse AIPAC of Islamophobia and other forms of bigotry which is preposterous.

The facts that Harvard students form an anti-Zionist organization while J Streets president embraces Abbas, are also disquieting news, but we need to know about them.

The national leaders of the Jewish federations have also expressed views that violate some principles that are inconsistent with what some of us consider Jewish, as has the local branch. JCRC should be advised that disagreement with them is not per se xenophobia.

David G. Danziger

Winter Park
In its meeting on Friday, the Cabinet approved Reserve Bank of India's draft reconstruction scheme for the troubled Yes Bank. Talking to media after the Cabinet, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that moratorium on Yes Bank will be lifted within three days of notification of the reconstruction scheme, and a new board will be constituted within seven days, with two directors from SBI.

"SBI will have a lock-in period of three years for 26 per cent for shares. Private investors are also being brought in. They will also have a lock-in period of three years, but it will be for 75 per cent of investment they bring," said the Finance Minister.

RBI has stated in its revival plan that State Bank of India (SBI) would hold 49 per cent stake in the troubled bank after its infusion. The bank would not become a part of SBI but would operate as a separate board-run entity. On Thursday, SBI promised to infuse Rs 7,250 crore in Yes Bank.

Commerce Minister announced Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products scheme for importers, which will follow the protocols set by the World Trade Organisation. This scheme will be provided to the people as a transferable digital script under Digital India framework to minimise human intervention, Goyal said.

The Cabinet also approved 4 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) for central government employees.

Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javadekar will brief the media on the outcome of the Cabinet meet at 3:30 pm on Friday. The Cabinet meet, which happened today, was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The press conference comes amid multiple crises including the coronavirus pandemic and reconstruction of Yes Bank.

Follow BusinessToday.In for live updates from cabinet press briefing:

4:12 PM: We are working closely with RBI and will take measures, where necessary, says FM Sitharaman.

4:12 PM: Global markets had severe volatality and we are consciously monitoring them, says the FM on impact of coronavirus.

4:08 PM: Concerned departments and state governments have been continuously monitoring coronavirus and ensuring that effective timely steps are being taken to take care of the Indian interests, says the FM.

4:06 PM: This scheme will be provided to the people as a transferable digital script under Digital India framework to minimise human intervention, says Piyush Goyal.

4:04 PM: This scheme adheres to WTO provisions on export subsidies and refunds, as mentioned in the Union Budget, says Piyush Goyal.

4:02 PM: Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products scheme approved by Cabinet, says Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

4:00 PM: Moratorium on Yes Bank will be lifted within three days of notification of the reconstruction scheme, says the FM. Within seven days, new board will be constituted, with two directors from SBI, she adds

3:58 PM: "SBI will have a lock-in period of three years for 26 per cent for shares. Private investors are also being brought in. They will also have a lock-in period of three years, but it will be for 75 per cent of investment they bring," says FM Sitharaman.

3:55 PM: Key features of the Yes Bank revival plan will be revealed once the official notification comes, says the FM, adding that authorised capital has been raised from Rs 1,100 crore to Rs 6,200 crore to accomodate immediate and subsequent raising of capital requirements.

3:51 PM: Cabinet has approved reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank as proposed by RBI, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The decision to provide a recinstruction scheme keeps at its core a protection of depositors' interest, providing stability to Yes Bank, and keeping a stable financial environment, banking system, she further says.

3:49 PM: Under a World Bank project, upgradation of 780km of national highways and maintenance will be undertaken, says Javadekar. It will be a green highway project, he further says.

3:46 PM: 30 urea fatories will get fixed cost at a rate of Rs 350 per metric tonne, says Javadekar. This will help increase urea production in India and reduce dependency on imports, he further says.

3:45 PM: Increase in copra MSP will help with market stabilisation, says Javadekar.

3:42 PM: MSP for copra increased; to benefit 30 lakh farmers, says Javadekar.

3:41 PM: 4% dearness allowance hike for central government allowance, says Javadekar.

3:40 PM: Important decisions on Yes Bank and export taken in Cabinet, says Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.

3:32 PM: Watch the press briefing on Cabiney decisions live here:

3:30 PM: The press briefing is about to start.

3:22 PM: Key among the agenda for today's Cabinet meeting would be approval for RBI's reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank.

3:10 PM: Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javadekar will brief the media.

3:09 PM: The press briefing on Cabinet decisions taken today is scheduled to start from 3:30 PM.

Also read: 7th Pay Commission: Modi cabinet raises DA by 4% for central govt employees

Also read: Cabinet may take up Yes Bank revival plan on Friday

Also read: Coronavirus Live Updates: Indian economy will be destroyed if strong action is not taken, says Rahul
Representative Image

Monthly auto sales came in negative in February, data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) revealed. With domestic passenger vehicle sales declining 7.6 percent year-on-year to 251,516 units, the auto industry is showing no signs of improving.

Within the PV space, domestic car and van sales have fallen 8.7 percent and 32.7 percent, respectively. However, exports have risen by 8.8 percent to 55,437 units, with utility vehicles leading the charge with a 46 percent rise from last year's figure.

Sales of two-wheelers fell 19.8 percent, with motorcycle sales accounting for 22 percent of the decline and scooters riding in at 14.2 percent. Exports in February rose 15.6 percent to 311,759 units.

Three-wheeler sales and exports have also seen a decline of 31 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively. Domestic commercial vehicle sales have seen the biggest YoY drop of 32.9 percent to 58,670 units, while exports touched a low of 19.6 percent.

With sales and exports seeing drastic declines, production, too, in all categories have taken a hit. PVs have seen the smallest decline, with a cut of 9.4 percent, while production of CVs plummeted 40.1 percent. Two-wheeler and three-wheelers saw a production cut of 18.3 percent and 23.7 percent, respectively.

Though production declined by 18.14 percent, exports supported by two-wheelers and PV sales rose 11.05 percent.

At the start of the year, the auto industry body was bullish on a revival following the 2020 Auto Expo. However, given the transition to Bharat Stage-VI emission norms and the coronavirus pandemic, SIAM expects production to be hampered as 10 percent of the raw materials are imported from China by most manufacturers in India.

Commenting on the February data, Rajan Wadhera, President, SIAM, said: The decline in wholesale despatches is primarily due to economic slowdown and lower production of BS-IV vehicles. Some upside on the registration numbers of VAHAN can be attributed to last minute purchase by customers trying to advance purchase of BS-IV vehicles"

He feels supply chain disruptions from China may impact production plans for companies going forward. "The auto industry is grateful to the government for issuing a notification of force majeure for coronavirus and 24x7 clearance of shipments at all customs formations, he added.
Despite a slump in the global economy as a result of the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday insisted the time was not ripe for the call for the devaluation of the Naira.

Since the breakout of the deadly virus, the world economy, including that of the United States and Europe, has been unsettled, with most economic activities virtually grounded.

Crude oil prices at the international market have nosedived to unprecedented low levels.

In a few days, crude oil prices, which averaged $51.81 per barrel, declined close to $30 on a day the world now remembers generally as Black Monday.

With the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) failing to reach a deal with its Non-OPEC allies last Friday on further production cut, the consequence could only be imagined.

The proposal by OPEC to cut output by another 1.5 million barrels per day in addition to the previous 2.1 million barrels per day was the groups attempt to strengthen the market and boost crude oil price.

But, the resistance by their allies, led by Russia, torpedoed the effort and exposed the market to the worst price decline since 2016.

Nigeria, which was already grappling with a low production capacity, is facing a different challenge, with oil price dropping by almost 50 per cent of the benchmark approved in the 2020 Federal Budget.

The prospect of a massive drop in oil revenue not only pushed the countrys economy into another tailspin but has led to pressures of a huge budget deficit and call for the devaluation of the Naira.

Time not ripe

Regardless, the CBN in reaction to recent calls for the devaluation of the Naira in response to the current global economic challenge said the time was not ripe for such an intervention.

The Central Bank of Nigeria wishes to note with displeasure, the rumours and speculative activities of unscrupulous players in the foreign exchange market, borne out of the impression that the CBN is on the verge of devaluing the Naira, and triggering panic in the FX Market, the apex bank said in a statement by its spokesperson, Isaac Okorafor

These rumours are false, unwarranted and calculated to serve their dubious and selfish ends, Mr Okorafor added.

The CBN said it has commenced investigations in collaboration with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and related agencies to uncover the unscrupulous persons and FX dealers behind the panic call.

Further threats

The bank threatened to unleash the full weight of its rules and regulations against those behind the culprits, including, but not limited to, being charged for economic sabotage.

For nearly four years, Mr Okorafor said the CBN has maintained relative stability in all segments of the foreign exchange market.

The interventions, he noted, enabled investors, households and other economic agents to plan and to conduct their genuine foreign exchange transactions with relative ease.

He said the introduction of several foreign exchange management measures coupled with complementary interventions in food production and manufacturing drastically reduced food importation and removed the huge pressure on the foreign exchange market.

He said the outbreak of the coronavirus led to global economic slowdown, fall in the price of crude oil, and less inflow of dollars into Nigeria, with the associated public health concerns leading to factory closures in China.

Also, he said, the fast-spreading virus also caused a substantial drop in imports, widespread travel restrictions around the world, and cancellation of many conferences, sporting events, business travels, and FX orders.

Yet no cause for alarm

The size of Nigerias foreign exchange reserves remains robust and comfortable, given the current realities of Nigerias genuine and legitimate FX demand.

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As such, the CBN remains able and willing to meet all genuine demand for foreign exchange for legitimate transactions, the official said.

Mr Okorafor assured that the CBN was also working with the fiscal authorities to properly and accurately mention the immediate and expected impacts of the coronavirus in order to respond comprehensively.

He said despite the current circumstances and macroeconomic fundamentals, the CBN does not intend to devalue the Naira.

The CBN will invoke the full weight of applicable sanctions on any persons and authorised dealers found to be involved in such disruptive and speculative market behavior, the CBN warned.

The deadly coronovirus, which started in December, from Wuhan, China has since spread to many countries across the world, leaving behind massive human and economic losses in its trail.

Over 4,000 people have died globally from the disease which has spread to over 100 countries.
LIMERICK Chamber of Commerce CEO Dee Ryan has urged the people of Limerick to continue supporting local businesses in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Ryan communicated the Revenue's announcement made this afternoon of:

Suspension of application of interest on late payments for January / February VAT

Suspension of application of interest on late payment of both February and March PAYE employers liability

All debt enforcement activity suspended until further notice

Current tax clearance status will remain in place for all businesses

"We welcome these measures which should be of immediate assistance to business," said Ms Ryan, "we continue to lobby on reimbursement of costs for employers regarding sick pay and other business supports."

"Most members are now instituting remote working practices. We are updating our website regularly with tips on making this transition a success. Members in the retail and hospitality sector are scenario planning for further drop in demand and some are considering curtailment of opening and closing hours.

"It is prudent to be making these plans, in the meantime I urge you, whilst observing hand hygiene and social distancing measures, to please continue to support your local businesses.

"Undoubtedly we have a challenging few weeks ahead of us," she continued, "the Chamber has suspended all public events and face to face meetings but remains open and available to assist you with your queries in this period on 061 415180.

"We recommend that you check your insurance policies regarding business interruption," she said.

Ms Ryan also passed on a mental health advisory note from the HSE regarding concerns over Covid-19 to be circulated to staff.
Since February 19, when the first resident at Life Care Center (LCCK) in Kirkland, Washington, was diagnosed with the coronavirus disease, also known as Covid-19, the nursing home has become recognized nationwide as the epicenter for the infection.

Twenty-six residents of the nursing home have died since February, with two more dying on Sunday. While 19 of those deaths have been identified as linked to Covid-19, the cause of the other seven deaths has not been explained. LCCK states that it experiences four to seven deaths in a normal month of operation.

Kirkland is a suburb located east of Seattle, and both are in the larger King County area which has reported, as of Wednesday afternoon, 234 confirmed Covid-19 cases along with 26 deaths, all connected to LCCK. Another two deaths and 75 confirmed cases are scattered in the rest of the state.

On Wednesday, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, announced restrictions on gatherings of more than 250 people in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, a move aimed at sports, concerts and other cultural events. The measure reportedly will not affect retail stores.

In an email after the press conference, he ordered schools in Seattle to close as of Thursday for at least two weeks. Two schools had previously temporarily closed in order to clean in response to individual students or staff coronavirus symptoms. Inslee did not empower health officials to enforce quarantine measures.

The shutdown of schools for nearly 54,000 students will present a crisis to the working class, especially the large low-wage retail sector that has expanded widely in Seattle in the last couple of decades. The burden of scrambling to find, as well as pay for, child care will fall hardest on this layer. As well, many low-income students rely on the schools to provide food and health services.

The disease has spread rapidly to other long-term nursing homes in the area. These homes are particularly vulnerable due to the compromised health of generally older residents and rehab patients.

Nursing homes in Washington state have also been instructed to limit visitors to residents. Coronavirus cases are now reported in 11 nursing home facilities in the state.

On Tuesday, American Health Care Association President Mark Parkinson urged even stricter guidelines, calling for visits to be eliminated entirely to nursing homes. We are encouraging all people, including family members and loved ones, to not visit nursing homes and assisted living facilities, he said Tuesday.

A spokesman for LCCK reported Wednesday that 60 of its residents had tested positive for the coronavirus, an increase over the previous two days of 26 new cases. Another 5 have test results pending. The home retains 47 of its original 120 residents, 26 of whom tested positive with another 65 hospitalized, though the home does not have accurate information as to their situation after being hospitalized.

In addition, out of 180 workers at the home, 70 had reported symptoms with 30 of those having been tested. At this point all residents reporting symptoms have been tested. However, employees had to wait until March 9 for testing to begin. Meanwhile, ostensibly healthy employees within the facility remain untested, although the virus has been reported to have an incubation period of about 14 days during which no symptoms may appear.

Washington state has experienced the majority of deaths within the US related to the disease, 29 of 37, and the bulk of confirmed cases, 366 compared to 1,000 nationally as of Wednesday afternoon. These numbers are quickly increasing due to the rapid the spread of the coronavirus. King County reported an increase of 64 percent from Monday to Tuesday, with 74 more cases.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing reported Monday that an employee at its massive Everett, Washington facility tested positive for Covid-19. Boeings statement did not indicate any plans to extend testing to this employees coworkers, instead asking all coworkers who were in close contact to remain home to self-quarantine and self-monitor.

While Washington health officials publicize the numbers of cases at 366 statewide, Inslee has warned that the figure is closer to 1,000, if not more. He also predicted that the state could see many more infections at the rate it is expanding.

Inslee was criticized on Tuesday by a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner for failing to act forcefully. Contrasting New York Governor Andrew Cuomos mobilization of the National Guard and containment of the city of New Rochelle, Scott Gottlieb, a former Trump administration official, said, Governor Cuomo is taking some of the strongest and sensible mitigation steps in the US. It stands in stark contrast to Washington state, which has been slow to act forcefully in Seattle. Gottlieb did not expand on what such forceful actions might look like.

The actions, or lack thereof, at the state and national level have been characterized by confusion, lack of coordination, gross indifference and a lack of adequate funding for the public health care system. Since 2000 in Washington state, funding has dropped as the Democratic Party-controlled legislature and governor have cut funding sources and reduced requests for increases.

A 2016 budget request for $30 million by a coalition of local public health officials and the state Department of Health prophetically warned: If new funding is not provided to begin stabilizing local health jurisdiction ... the state and local communities will not be protected from disease outbreaks. Inslee cut that request to $12 million and the legislature cut it again to $6 million.

Infectious disease researchers in Seattle, having collected a large sample of influenza nasal swabs for a separate project, requested permission to test them for the coronavirus. Officials at the state and federal level refused since the subjects had not given permission for that test. Even after the lead researcher proceeded to test the samples despite lack of approval, and found positives for coronavirus infections, they were blocked. Realizing the enormity of the crisis, officials finally relented, but with a criminal delay of weeks.

The very ability to test a vastly growing cohort of suspected cases has been undermined by the initial refusal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to allow testing outside of its laboratories, restricting the ability of a local agent to provide more timely results.

Christine Miller, a public health researcher from Seattle, told the WSWS, Statements from the Trump administration and other officials have been aimed at reassuring the population that there are a sufficient number of test kits in the communities. For example, they asserted they can test 500-1,500 a day in Seattle. However, an interesting article in the Atlantic makes clear that authorities have not been willing to share how many tests have actually been completednationwide.

According to the Atlantics research, only about 1,900 actual tests had been confirmed as of March 7. In addition, labs are limited in the number of tests they can process daily, another number which has not been shared widely. So, it is a misconception that most of the population in the US is okay. To actually give a sense of the magnitude of coronavirus it would be necessary to publicize how many people are being tested, as well as to test many, many more people.

It is a fallacy, which was openly stated by Trump, that this is a national problem. We live in a world with constant movement of people across borders, through all modes of transportation every minute. While scientists have tried to quickly estimate the contagiousness of this virus to help guide policies, they have shared the following numbers relatively early on.

Consider that an infectious disease with a known incubation of up to 14 days and, according to WHO, has a reproductive number estimated to be between 1.4 and 2.5 (meaning a single infected person will transmit the virus to 1.42.5 people)and keep in mind that the common flu has a reproductive number of 1.3, according to Worldmeterwithout containment, it seems inevitable that the novel coronavirus would affect thousands, if not millions of people.

Once cases were seen outside of China there should have been a quicker response by all governments and health authorities involved which should have immediately produced more test kits, provided necessary resources to testing labs, and comprehensive training. There was such a response with H1N1 so the spread was more quickly contained, and the impacts managed.

Solutions through science and medicine are there, Miller said, but they have been inhibited by politics. First of all, to approach this as a national problem is leading to a global catastrophe. Secondly, members of the leadership of in the US government proudly state their disbelief in in science. The ball has been set in motion.
: Digital payments player PayPal on



Friday said it has unveiled an 'ElderCare@PayPal' initiative offering holistic wellness for parents of its employees.

The company said the initiative was part of its efforts to provide employees with a supportive environment and covers parental health including physical and financial conditions.

In a statement, the company said the programme would also cover tier II and III cities besides major cities and towns.

"At PayPal, inclusion as our core value is not only about including employees in every aspect of their work life, but about practising inclusion of their families as well," PayPal India, Head-HR, Jayanthi Vaidyanathan said.

"Our new ElderCare initiative is another step over and above our suite of programmes around child and partner care. The programme offers special initiatives and services for their parents and parents-in-law," Vaidyanathan, also senior director, Human Resources at PayPal India, said.

Some of the benefits of the programme include comprehensive health check, counselling assistance, home visit of doctors or physiotherapists, yoga sessions among others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"Our staff has been and will continue to be diligent about taking the necessary precautions against the spread of coronavirus and other infectious diseases," said Dr. Monteic A. Sizer, executive director of Northeast Delta Human Services Authority.

In response to the recently reported presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Louisiana, Northeast Delta Human Services Authority is encouraging regional citizens to be mindful of developing information and implement provisions to help avoid the spread of illness.

"Our staff has been and will continue to be diligent about taking the necessary precautions against the spread of coronavirus and other infectious diseases," said Dr. Monteic A. Sizer, executive director of Northeast Delta Human Services Authority. "We are encouraging our staff, patients, contractors, and the general public not to panic, but instead follow credible sources of information to stay informed and take the necessary precautions against this threat."

Northeast Delta HSA serves as the region's foremost safety net provider of intellectual and physical disability supports, behavioral and primary healthcare services, and an array of prevention and housing-related services in northeast Louisiana. As such, the agency interacts with many vulnerable populations in the area, including seniors, children, people with behavioral healthcare issues, and those with compromised immune systems. Thus, Northeast Delta employees have been encouraged to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves, as well as their clients, family members, co-workers, and other members of the community.



"Our clients and the communities that we serve trust us, and they look to us for hope, help, and credible information during times like this," said Sizer. "We need them to know that our agency is closely monitoring the situation. We have updated our Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP). I am briefed regularly by agency staff, and we will continue to be highly responsive to all information and recommendations passed down from the Governor's Office and the Louisiana Department of Health."



Northeast Delta will be sharing pertinent information from credible sources on its social media platforms and further distributing it throughout the agency's clinics and vast community networks. Individuals seeking additional information about the coronavirus and recommended precautions are encouraged to visit the Louisiana Department of Health's website at https://ldh.la.gov and the Louisiana Governor's Office website at https://gov.louisiana.gov.
The coronavirus outbreak in Iran is among the most severe in the world and by far the largest in the Middle East, with official figures saying some 500 people have died and more than 11,000 are infected.

But there are several indications the outbreak in the Islamic republic -- whose government is known for its opaqueness and censorship -- is far worse than authorities are admitting.

Since the start of the crisis, parliament members and local officials in some of the major epicenters of coronavirus in the country have said the real number of dead and those infected is being grossly understated by the clerical regime that rules Iran.

There are also numerous reports of hospital staffs being warned not to discuss the numbers of deaths and infections from coronavirus with the media.

Amid widespread public distrust of the government, the authorities have given daily updates on the number of coronavirus deaths and infections in Iran while reassuring the public they're acting swiftly to contain the crisis.

But many Iranians believe officials failed to take decisive measures from the beginning of the outbreak, which has claimed the lives of several state officials -- including an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- and infected many others, including two vice presidents, more than 20 parliament deputies, and former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, a top foreign-policy adviser to Khamenei.

Velayati, a pediatrician, is also president of Tehran's Masih Daneshvari Hospital, a leading center for the treatment of people infected with the coronavirus.

Major Underreporting?

Iran reported its first two deaths on February 19, indicating that the outbreak erupted days earlier and that the authorities failed to inform the public about it as it was trying to get voters to take part in the February 21 parliamentary elections.

Well-known Iranian public-health expert Kamiar Alaei, the co-founder and co-president of the New York-based Institute for International Health and Education, said the real number of coronavirus infections in Iran could be five times higher than official figures.

Alaei, who helped implement an HIV-prevention program in Iran before he was arrested with his brother and sentenced to prison on accusations of spying, said a mix of state secrecy as well as poor data collection were behind Iran's underreported figures.

"If you look at the numbers -- and a deputy health minister also said a few days ago -- most of the reported cases are those [who are] hospitalized while about 80 percent of those infected with coronavirus have light symptoms and only about 15 percent go to the hospital," Alaei told RFE/RL, citing a Chinese study. "Therefore, the figures that are being released only represent about 20 percent of the reality of the society."

According to such reasoning -- that the actual figures are some five times higher than the Health Ministry is reporting -- the March 13 official figure of 11,364 people infected would mean there could be some 56,000 coronavirus infections in Iran.

That would make it second in the world after China, which has registered 80,815 cases.

Disparity In Numbers

On March 8, a news site affiliated with Iran's state-controlled television quoted Mohammad Hossein Ghorbani, a Health Ministry official in Gilan Province, one of Iran's worst-hit regions, as saying that 200 people had died from coronavirus just in Gilan.

The same day, a Health Ministry spokesman said the countrywide death toll stood at 194.

Shortly after publishing Ghorbani's comments, which were widely quoted by other media, the Young Journalists Club issued a "correction" that said Ghorbani actually said 21 had died in Gilan from the coronavirus and that the 200 dead included people who had died from other illnesses, including heart and respiratory problems.

That incident follows accusations the government has covered up the extent of the disease's spread in the country amid reports that hospitals and health-care workers have been overwhelmed by the crisis.

On March 9, Kashan Governor Alireza Mortezai said in an interview that in just his city and Aran Bigdol -- both in Isfahan Province -- 88 people had died from the coronavirus and more than 1,000 people had been infected.

The same day, the Health Ministry reported only 601 infections in the entire province of Isfahan. It listed the death toll for the entire country as 237.

Earlier, on February 24, Qom lawmaker Ahmad Amirabadi-Farahani claimed that the death toll from the disease in the holy Shi'ite city he represents was about 50 people -- four times higher than the official number of dead from coronavirus for the entire country.

Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, who a day later announced he had contracted the coronavirus, insisted the death toll in the country was only 12.

Ali Vaez, the director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group (ICG), said that while Iran's response was catching up with the standard results issued on the coronavirus by the World Health Organization (WHO), "[Iranian officials'] numbers are still unreliable at best, untrue at worst."

"The Islamic republic has institutionalized mendacity in ways that the people no longer trust the government, even if their lives depended on it," Vaez told RFE/RL, adding that "the culture of lies has cultivated widespread cynicism throughout society."

Failure To Quantify

Alaei said in that order to contain the outbreak, Iran needed to improve its data-collection ability and be transparent about the outbreak. "More people need to be tested," he said. "When only about one-fifth of the real cases are being reported, how can the situation be controlled as [many] of those infected don't even know it themselves."

"WHO said it has provided Iran with 100,000 test kits while Russia also announced it will give Iran 50,000 [test kits]," said Alaei, who added that Western countries should provide Iran -- which is facing crippling U.S. economic sanctions -- with more tests.

Prominent analyst Abbas Abdi, one of the Iranian students who stormed the U.S. Embassy in 1979, wrote in a piece published in the reformist Etemad daily this week that the Health Ministry did not want to admit that it doesn't have enough tests. "As a result, they are silent, and they satisfy themselves with releasing the official figures, which they know do not match reality," he said.

The coronavirus outbreak has exacerbated the country's economic woes, prompting a request to the International Monetary Fund for a $5 billion loan to help fight the virus.

On March 9, health officials reportedly issued a directive telling hospitals that all deaths with strong clinical signs of the coronavirus should be registered as definitive fatal cases of the disease. Since then the number of reported deaths has increased.

A tally by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, based on statements by local officials and local news reports, found that since the beginning of the outbreak in Iran until March 9, 927 people had died after contracting the coronavirus.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur, who gives daily updates to the media about the crisis, has denied accusations that Tehran has been hiding real figures.

Asked about the inconsistencies between official numbers and figures by local officials, Kianpur said his ministry did not have any reason to cover up the extent of the outbreak in the country, claiming that "misunderstandings" were among the reasons for the discrepancies in numbers.

"But of course we can't consider someone to be infected without testing [them] and having laboratory evidence," he said on March 10.
The UK's Global Navigation Satellite System vital to the nations interests is being thrown into doubt by Whitehall inertia

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2020 / Of the unexpected consequences of Brexit, being forced out of Galileo the European Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is perhaps the one with the greatest potential to cause catastrophic problems for Britain's security, military, political, commercial and economic interests, let alone the effect on day-to-day life for the general public.

Until leaving the EU Britain had been the leader in the Galileo project, a vital competitor to the US GPS and Russian GLONASS systems. Now we are in the unenviable position of either having to pay our way to be allowed to use one of these systems, or to take control of our own destiny by creating the UK GNSS.

Up until a few weeks ago we were forging ahead with the latter option. In 2018 a feasibility study was announced by then Prime Minister Theresa May while new PM Boris Johnson has reiterated his support for the project time after time, announcing it in the Queens Speech in December 2019 and reportedly giving it his full backing in Cabinet as recently as 28th February.

But why do we need UK GNSS at all? I'd like to say its simple but in fact its very complex, which is perhaps one of the reasons that Whitehall seems to be running scared right now.

Access to GNSS signals is vital for modern economies and the UK's reliance on it continues to grow as new applications are developed. The UK Governments own Blackett Review in 2018 identified a reliance on GNSS across critical national infrastructure including time-location based systems, communications and military requirements for location, surveillance and weapons delivery.

The overall effect of the loss of GNSS timing signals on the UK infrastructure, such as ATM machines, power and utilities distribution, cargo handling, timing for various communication systems, transport and rail systems has been estimated at 1b per day. In fact 11% of the UK's GDP is directly supported by satellite navigation systems.

Any loss, or even restriction, of GNSS services to the UK would be disastrous for the economy but also for national security. The UK military has a critical requirement to access an encrypted system. It can access GPS via a NATO agreement and may able to buy into Galileo but crucially it would not control the encryption codes, leaving the defence of the country open to the political will of either the US or French governments.

At a time when the UK needs to step up and assert its place on the global stage being at the behest of a foreign government for vital defence requirements seems to fly in the face of our current reality. There is no doubt that a UK GNSS would eliminate any political risk and reduce the military risk.

With all this in mind the Government elected in December has been understandably supportive of the UK GNSS project, identifying three key policy aims for it:

Capability

Deliver a new, UK-controlled space capability that will strengthen national resilience and provide secure and assured position, navigation and timing services anywhere in the world to support a wide range of UK strategic objectives (e.g. humanitarian aid missions, trade deals).

Global Standing

Demonstrate the UK's role as a major global actor with global reach and influence, boost our standing as a credible international partner for allies, and affirm the UK's status as a Tier 1 military power.

Prosperity

Boost UK prosperity by providing new high-tech economic opportunities in the UK space sector, and stimulating innovation in sectors such as security, CNI and defence which rely on space-based position, navigation and timing services.

So why now are various departments involved, (BEIS, MOD and Cabinet Office) seemingly either at loggerheads or running scared and trying to back away from investing in a crucial piece of Britain's infrastructure?

Can it be the cost? A budget of 5bn has been identified; 3bn to build and launch 24 satellites by 2025 and a further 2bn to operate the system for a further five years. Compared to a potential loss of 1bn per day it seems a tiny price to pay. And putting it in context with the infrastructure spend on HS2 for example, now estimated at well over 100bn or Crossrail at over 18bn, it looks like incredibly good value for money.

It's not the technology, the UK was at the forefront of Galileo and has 50 leading edge companies ready to start work including Inmarsat, CGI, SSTL and Airbus.

Indeed, industry and the UK Space Agency have already been working closely with the MOD on a potential design that would be significantly less complex than Galileo. The UK GNSS system is planned to have 24 satellites in Medium Earth Orbit to provide an open navigation and timing service as well as an encrypted position and time service designed for public service authorities or the military.

Does the sudden reluctance to take the next step therefore come down to either a lack of confidence within the Cabinet Office or the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, in their capability to deliver a complex project?

Or is the issue one of traditional civil service inertia, being unwilling to step away from the status quo that would see the UK sign up to whatever the Americans thought best for us. After all it could be a bargaining chip in forthcoming trade talks.

The Cabinet Secretary has recently talked about a cheaper alternative to UK GNSS, but no such alternative exists. It is just a delaying tactic introducing chaos with proposals and counter proposals for a variety of systems that have previously been discarded as not meeting user requirements for a global robust system.

We are at a crucial time for the future of the UK as an economy and as a major player on the global stage. We cannot afford to retreat into a bunker mentality reliant on other nations to supply us with vital technology which could be denied to us at any time.

UK GNSS is a stepping-stone enabling a robust future for Britain, it ensures our hands and our actions for both business and the military are not tied to a foreign power. UK GNSS is at a vital stage, where delay by Whitehall could kill the project, however to give the country the freedom of action it has been looking for during the whole Brexit project it is vital for the nation that it go ahead.

Currently the only thing stopping the UK Space Agency signing contracts due to start in April with British businesses to forge ahead with the project is the Cabinet Office. The Prime Minister therefore needs to stand behind British industry, be seen to be protecting the future of the economy and defence, create some certainty and throw his full weight behind UK GNSS, approving the project without delay.

As Boris lets get it done....

Clive Hemsley

Henley-on-Thames

Oxfordshire

Contact:

Clive Hemsley

Work: +44 (0) 770 2494 424

clive.hemsley@livedesigns.co

SOURCE: Clive Hemsley

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/580462/Britains-Economy-Security-at-Risk
TEL AVIV, Israel and SAN FRANCISCO, March 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Odo Security , a leader in zero trust network access (ZTNA) and management, today announced it is offering free subscriptions to its market-leading secure remote access solution, OdoAccess, to companies for use by their employees based in countries impacted by the Coronavirus health crisis.



We have been inundated with calls from people under enormous pressure to develop solutions for meeting the COVID-19 threat to business continuity. In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, companies are taking precautionary measures and asking their employees to stay at home. However, they need to find a way to keep their businesses running as this unfortunate circumstance continues for an unknown period, said Or Zilberman, CEO of Odo Security. At Odo Security, we are doing our part by offering our industry-leading remote access solution to affected organizations at no charge during this crisis. We want to help companies keep their network secure and their people productive while they work from home."

Odos clientless solution offers the most comprehensive remote access solution on the market. With its 3-minute deployment, enterprises can immediately provide employees working from home with easy, reliable and secure remote access to web applications, servers, and databases located in any environment, avoiding common security and connectivity issues associated with VPNs. Whats more, employees can access these resources safely using company-issued or personal devices.

The coronavirus outbreak can affect more than employees located in countries where the outbreak is widespread. Employees may be asked to stay at home because they have recently traveled to countries where the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued outbreak alerts , or, as one news poll found, the employees may end up stranded in those countries. Even in relatively unaffected areas, companies are beginning to ask employees to work remotely as a precautionary measure. Either way, making it possible for those employees to work securely from any location and device is critical to business continuity and reducing the spread of the virus.

Story continues

Odo will be monitoring World Health Organization updates closely and extending the free subscription until the threat to people and businesses subsides. Read Odos Secure Remote Access Guide to learn how to maintain business continuity while employees work from home during the Coronavirus crisis. The offer is currently available to affected organizations that register with Odo Security before June 1, 2020. Additional terms and conditions apply. For more information please contact info@odo.io .

About Odo Security

Odos zero trust access platform enables organizations to simplify, secure and scale remote access to internal resources across hybrid-cloud and on-premises infrastructures. Odos agentless and clientless solution enables security teams to easily manage privileged access to any application, server, database and environment, providing full visibility across all user activity and eliminating the need for VPNs. For more information, please visit www.odo.io

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The first trailer for the Quiz has been released, and it offers fans their first glimpse at ITV's three-part drama based on the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire coughing cheat scandal.

Michael Sheen takes centre stage in the preview as egendary presenter Chris Tarrant, while Succession star Matthew Macfadyen plays the army man who cheated his way to 1 million pounds with the help of his wife Diana.

Quiz will show how Charles and Diana used a few perfectly placed coughs to cheat their way to becoming millionaires on the titular quiz show, and how their crime was exposed and turned into a national scandal.

Scroll down for video

Exciting: The first trailer for the Quiz has been released, and it offers fans their first glimpse of Michael Sheen as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host Chris Tarrant

The trailer with a glimpse of the moment Charles comes face-to-face with Chris for the first time, ready to play for the top prize of 1 million.

It hints that it could be other forces that push Charles to try and cheat his way through the show, as someone tells him: 'The man who asks the questions may be king, but the man who knows the answers is God.'

As Millionaire's lights dim and the signature music plays, Charles and Diana (played by Sian Clifford) arrive at the ITV Studios for their appearance, but it seems that from the beginning The Major wasn't pulling the strings in his plan.

Exciting: The ITV drama is based on the crimes of Major Charles Ingram, who used perfectly placed cought to cheat his way to the top prize on the show

Quiz man: Michael (left) will take on the role of Chris Tarrant (right at the trial in 2003) in the series. The veteran host has always said he had no indication Charles was cheating

Setting the stage: The trailer will also show how ITV executives reacted to the scandal, after crew members began to notice some was array during the recording

Scheming: Major Charles took to the hot seat to try and cheat his way to the top prize, though the drama hints that he may not have been so convinced by the idea

Diana says on the phone: 'He's going to need all the help he can get,' while Celador Television Chairman Paul Smith (Mark Bonnar) adds that Millionaire is helping people make 'life changing decisions.'

Charles famously cheated his way to the top prize with the help of fellow contestant Tecwen Whittock (played by Michael Jibson) who coughed after hearing the correct answer for each multiple choice questions.

The coughs would not have been heard by viewers at home watching the show (which was never aired apart from during an ITV documentary) as a majority of the sound was focused on the hot seat.

Shocked: Celador Television Chairman Paul Smith says in the trailer that Millionaire helps people make 'life-changing decisions'

Dramatic: Diana famously watched her husband from the audience, and may have accidentally exposed their crime, as she coughs in the trailer

Later in the trailer, Charles insists that he's a 'commissioned officer in the British Army with standards,' but still appears to go ahead with his plan.

Diana can then be seen watching her husband in the Millionaire audience, appearing to cough during one pivotal question.

In an ITV documentary based on the scandal, that moment came when Charles was playing to win 32,000 and neither he nor Whittock could decide whether to answer Craig David or A1.

Busted! The trailer shows several crew members spotting the abnormalities during Charles' appearance on the show

Scared: Charles famously cheated his way to 1 million, and even during his trial repeatedly proclaimed his innocence

Shocked: The trailer shows the stunned reaction of some of ITV's big bosses, when they realise that Charles is cheating

Quiz will also show the aftermath of Charles 'win,' as he and Diana are shown being interrogated by police officers, and claim that producers told him to dither on each answer in an attempt to build tension.

The trailer then hints that Charles could have used a rigged machine to make it through the Fastest Finger First round, when contestants had to put four answers in the correct order in the quickest time to reach the famous hot seat.

Throughout their trial and in its build-up Charles and Diana repeatedly insisted they hadn't cheated, even when they were convicted of deception.

Not us! The trailer shows them being interrogated by the police, with Charles claiming producers asked him to take his time with each answer to build tension during filming

You're nicked! The trailer ends with Charles and Diana being arrested, setting the stage for the drama to show their trial and conviction

Explosive: Charles tried to cheat his way to 1 million on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in 2001, with the help of Tecwen Whittock (pictured during the recording which never aired)

Drama: Whittock (above) was sat just feet away from Charles in the studio, and would cough to indicate each correct answer

In line with Chris' claims that he had no idea Charles was cheating when he recorded the show, Michael's version of the presenter appears in the trailer jokingly saying: 'I hope I notice if someone is going to steal a million quid two feet in front of you.'

Chris famously testified against Charles during his trial, and said in the documentary that he was amazed when he learned about the crime from ITV crew members.

The trailer ends with a furious reaction from ITV executives after learning that Charles had cheated, while the Major furiously appears in court saying he didn't lie his way to 1 million.

After a four-week crown court trial in 2003, Charles and Diana were convicted of deception, and Ingram was given a 20-month suspended prison sentence.

His two accomplices were given 18-month suspended sentences for their part in the scam.

Quiz will air next month on ITV.
With the birds singing, the sun peeking through the clouds and bluebonnets in full bloom, Friday in Brenham did not look at first glance like a town much bothered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the roadsides were not lined as one might expect during spring break with visitors looking for wildflowers, and Blue Bell Creamerys famous ice cream parlor and visitor center are closed until further notice.
Rodeo cancelled

Regarding Houston cancels rodeo after visit by man who tested positive for COVID-19, (A1, March 12): Mayor Sylvestor Turner better be glad that his election is over. Because what he has done probably wouldnt get him re-elected. What are our kids supposed to do with their animals now? They have been raising these animals for months, waiting for their chance at the livestock show and be eligible to receive scholarships to attend college. Now most of them probably wont even break even on their expenses. What does the mayor plan on doing now? Is the city going to step up to the plate and help these youngsters of Texas?

Jeff Tobolka, Highlands

Heres a question for the city and county officials who shut down the Houston Rodeo:

What is the economic cost of the cancelation? How will you compensate those whose income is diminished by your decision? You admitted that most of the population is not at risk. Many of them are rodeo workers, and some come from my little county, planning for months for rodeo income. Yet, you deny these healthy people the opportunity to make a living.

Suppose even healthy people get sick, a future which you obviously expect? If they are not making a living, how will they pay for medical care?

All of you, of course, get paid every month, rain or shine, sick or not. I wonder how seriously you have considered the situation of others, of people who cannot depend on regular, guaranteed incomes. My guess is that you havent even thought of them.

A cynical person might conclude that you were thinking of a reason besides public health for declaring a state of emergency. If you declare an emergency, you can get the federal dollars authorized by Congress. Congratulations.

Gael Plauche, Navasota

In defense of the media

Somebody had to give us information that is factually based on science, and let us know what we are facing so we can take appropriate measures as much as possible. Of course this is a situation that took us by surprise. If only we had some sort of pandemic government agency that could have prepared us for such an event!

Toy Halsey, Houston

Expanding Medicaid

Regarding Steps the governor should take on COVID-19, (A19, March 11): Andrew White took the words right out of this 86-year-old Texans mouth. We need an emergency expansion of Medicaid. Poor Texans have been suffering the lack of timely medical care and then dying needlessly for years because they lacked this insurance. If this had been in place, the governor would not have to ask the private insurance companies to bail us out. Gov. Abbott could put a feather in his and President Donald Trumps cap if he were the first Republican governor to obtain emergency Medicaid expansion from this Republican administration and save some Texans lives.

Britt D. Davis, Katy
Coronavirus: A Complete Guide Covering Helpline Numbers, How It Spread, Symptoms & More Classroom oi-Vipul Das

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a broad family of viruses that cause diseases ranging from common cold to more serious diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a modern strain previously unexplained in humans.

Coronavirus is zoonotic, mainly it is spread between animals and humans. Health Minister tweeted the State Wise Coronavirus Helpline Numbers for instant support.

Coronavirus State Wise Helpline Numbers

Below given is the list of all COVID19 Helpline numbers from various States/UTs. Keep it handy and use it immediately if any case occurs.

SL NO STATE & UT HELPLINE NUMBER 1 Andhra Pradesh 0866-2410978 2 Arunachal Pradesh 9436055743 3 Assam 6913347770 4 Bihar 104 5 Chhattisgarh 077122-35091 6 Goa 104 7 Gujarat 104 8 Haryana 8558893911 9 Himachal Pradesh 104 10 Jharkhand 104 11 Karnataka 104 12 Kerala 0471-2552056 13 Madhya Pradesh 0755-2527177 14 Maharashtra 020-26127394 15 Manipur 3852411668 16 Meghalaya 108 17 Mizoram 102 18 Nagaland 7005539653 19 Odisha 9439994859 20 Punjab 104 21 Rajasthan 0141-2225624 22 Sikkim 104 23 Tamil Nadu 044-29510500 24 Telangana 104 25 Tripura 0381-2315879 26 Uttarakhand 104 27 Uttar Pradesh 18001805145 28 West Bengal 3323412600 29 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 03192-232102 30 Chandigarh 9779558282 31 Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 104 32 Delhi 011-22307145 33 Jammu 01912-520982 Kashmir 01942-440283 34 Ladakh 01982-256462 35 Puducherry 104 36 Lakshadweep 104

How Coronavirus Spreads?

Below highlighted points shows that in what way Covid 19 spreads:

Among people in close contact with each other

Respiration droplets formed while an infected individual is coughing or sneezing.

People are considered to be more infectious when they're most (the sickest) symptomatic.

This spread could be possible until patients report symptoms; records have been made of this happening in the latest coronavirus, although this is not known to be the main form the virus spread.

A human might be able to get COVID-19 by contacting a surface or item that has the virus on it and then contacting their own mouth, nose, or probably eyes, although this is not considered to be the primary way the virus spreads.

Coronavirus Vaccine

Within the coming days, scientists of Israel are scheduled to declare that they have completed development of a new coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine.

Symptoms of Coronavirus

Recorded diseases varied in cases of reported coronavirus disease from mild symptoms to serious illness and death (COVID-19). 2019. The symptoms below may occur 2-14 days after infection.

Severe Cough, Fever and Shortness of breath

Repeated chest pain

Bluish skin and lips

Pneumonia is one of the major symptoms that can be caused by infection.

Severe respiratory syndrome

Kidney failure is also the crucial symptoms of Coronavirus

Preventive Measures for Coronavirus

There is no coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine available at present. It's safer to stop being exposed to this virus to prevent disease. Below stated are the some of preventive measures to protect yourself.

Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, particularly after

you are coming from a public area or touching any place or surface

Use a Hand Sanitizer and keep it always with you

Avoid rubbing unwashed hands to the head, nose and mouth.

Avoid close contact with people who are infected

If COVID-19 is spreading throughout your community, maintain distance between yourself and other citizens.

If you are sick, it's better to stay at home and protect yourself from being affected

If you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or a mask

Use a face mask whenever you are going to a crowded area

Drink warm water and try to stay under the sun, it will kill the virus if you are infected

Avoid eating outside or roadside foods and try to eat fresh foods

Try to maintain a strong immune system that is the best preventive measure of Covid-19

How to know whether you are infected or not?

A doctor in Thailand suggested an easy trick to test yourself. Which will let you know whether you are safe or infected.

Take a deep breath and hold it for 10-15 seconds

In this duration, if you face some problems like chest pain or cough, then it is confirmed that you are infected.

If this case occurs it is suggested to you to contact your nearest doctor immediately.

What to do if you are infected?

If you are infected with COVID-19, follow the measures below to help keep the disease from spreading to others in your home and neighbourhood.

If you are infected with Covid 19 it is recommended to stay at home and avoid to go outside

Avoid to go to a public area and stop using public transportation services

You can stay in a particular room as far as possible, far away from any people in your house. If available you can also use a separate toilet.

When you are infected with COVID-19, you must avoid interaction with pets and other animals.

Call the healthcare provider immediately, which helps the healthcare provider to take action in order to avoid contamination or exposure to others.

Always use a facemask if you are infected and stop sharing any personal items or food in the public or among the loved one

Clean your personal area and high touch surfaces of your house every day.

Patients with reported COVID-19 will stay under precautions for home isolation until the risk of secondary transmission to others is deemed to be minimal.

52 Labs in India to get Self Tested

The Indian Medical Research Council (ICMR) has an authorised list of 52 laboratories where people suspected of having novel symptoms of coronavirus (Covid-19) can be examined. Scroll down and get the full list of the same.

Andhra Pradesh:

1. Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati

2. Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

3. GMC, Anantapur, AP

Andaman & Nicobar islands

4. Regional Medical Research Centre, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar

Assam

5. Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati

6. Regional Medical Research Center, Dibrugarh

Bihar

7. Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna

Chandigarh

8. Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh

Chhattisgarh

9. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Raipur

Delhi-NCT

10. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Delhi

11. National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi

Gujarat

12. BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad

13. M.P.Shah Government Medical College, Jamnagar

Haryana

14. Pt. B.D. Sharma Post Graduate Inst. of Med. Sciences, Rohtak

15. BPS Govt Medical College, Sonipat

Himachal Pradesh

16. Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

17. Dr.Rajendra Prasad Govt. Med. College, Kangra, Tanda, HP

Jammu and Kashmir

18. Shere Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar

19. Government Medical College, Jammu

Jharkhand

20. MGM Medical College, Jamshedpur

Karnataka

21. Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute, Bangalore

22. National Institute of Virology Field Unit Bangalore

23. Mysore Medical College & Research Institute, Mysore

24. Hassan Inst. of Med. Sciences, Hassan, Karnataka

25. Shimoga Inst. of Med. Sciences, Shivamogga, Karnataka

Kerala

26. National Institute of Virology Field Unit, Kerala

27. Govt. Medical College, Thriuvananthapuram, Kerala

28. Govt. Medical College, Kozhikhode, Kerala

Madhya Pradesh

29. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Bhopal

30. National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH), Jabalpur

Meghalaya

31. NEIGRI of Health and Medical Sciences, Shillong, MeghalayaMaharashtra

32. Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur

33. Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Mumbai

Manipur

34. J N Inst. of Med. Sciences Hospital, ImphalEast, Manipur

Odisha

35. Regional Medical Research Center, Bhubaneswar

Puducherry

36. Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry

Punjab

37. Government Medical College, Patiala, Punjab

38. Government Medical College, Amritsar

Rajasthan

39. Sawai Man Singh, Jaipur

40. Dr. S.N Medical College, Jodhpur

41. Jhalawar Medical College, Jhalawar, Rajasthan

42. SP Med. College, Bikaner, Rajasthan

Tamil Nadu

43. King's Institute of Preventive Medicine & Research, Chennai

44. Government Medical College, Theni

Tripura

45. Government Medical College, Agartala

Telangana

46. Gandhi Medical College, Secunderabad

Uttar Pradesh

47. King's George Medical University, Lucknow

48. Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

49. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh

Uttarakhand

50. Government Medical College, Haldwani

West Bengal

51. National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata

52. Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research, Kolkata

About Author

Vipul Das has done BCA and is covering Business, Classroom, Personal Finance, Investment articles for goodreturns from the last one year.
The British and Irish Governments have both insisted they are dealing with coronavirus in the right way after they announced radically different approaches to tackling the pandemic.

In a surprise announcement on Thursday morning, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that all schools, colleges and childcare centres in the Republic will close for two weeks. He also said all large indoor and outdoor gatherings should be cancelled, and encouraged home working and limited socialising.

It was expected that Boris Johnson would announce similar measures later, but during his conference late on Thursday afternoon the Prime Minister said that while the UK will move to the delay phase of the virus, he is not currently closing schools.

Mr Johnson told reporters at a Press conference in Downing Street that there was no need to close schools now as the scientific advice "is that this could do more harm than good".

Mr Johnson said he is still considering whether to cancel major sporting events and mass gatherings.

He said this may change at some point while in the future, if somebody is taken ill, their entire household could be told to self-isolate.

Mr Johnson said: "We've all got to be clear, this is the worst public health crisis for a generation.

"Some people compare it to seasonal flu, alas that is not right. Due to the lack of immunity this disease is more dangerous. It is going to spread further and I must level with you, I must level with the British public: many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time."

Meanwhile, in a joint announcement between First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, it was revealed that the Stormont Executive was only given a "10 minute" warning ahead of Mr Varadkar's statement.

Sinn Fein's vice-president added that the Executive will "probably" have to make a decision about closing schools in the future.

Virologist Dr Connor Bamford said he believed there were different arguments for both strategies and it was too early to say which government has made the right decision.

Thursday's drama came as:

The Public Health Agency revealed there were two new presumed positive cases of coronavirus in Northern Ireland, bringing the total to 20.

Two more patients died in UK hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths to 10, NHS England said.

Health Minister Robin Swann told Stormont's Health Committee that deaths should be expected in Northern Ireland.

Another 27 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the Republic of Ireland, bringing the total to 70.

The UK Government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said up to 10,000 people could be infected with coronavirus.

Queen's University Belfast announced that all large-scale events would be postponed with immediate effect.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina FA and the Slovakia FA asked Uefa to call off their Euro 2020 play-off matches against Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

All GAA and rugby in Ireland, including the Danske Bank Schools Cup and Ulster Rugby, was postponed until March 29.

Down Royal Racecourse said its St Patrick's Day race meeting on March 17 will run behind closed doors.

With the Republic taking more stringent action than the UK, Downing Street defended the UK-wide approach being taken by the Prime Minister and adopted in Northern Ireland.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman was asked whether Northern Ireland would now be treated differently from the rest of the UK in response to the Irish move.

"In terms of our own response, we have said that we want it to be a UK-wide response and we have been working with the four chief medical officers and devolved administrations," the spokesman said.

Asked about the difference in the approach in Dublin, the spokesman added: "We follow our own advice, they will do the same."

Mr Varadkar was also asked for his view on the different approach being taken to coronavirus here.

"Northern Ireland is a different jurisdiction from the Republic of Ireland and they are making some different decisions," he said.

"For example in Northern Ireland the schools are staying open whereas in the Republic they are closing. We are different jurisdictions, different decisions will be made but we are going to keep in very close contact so that we inform each other of decisions we're making and our thinking behind them."

Reacting to Thursday's contrasting approaches by the two governments, Alliance Party health spokeswoman Paula Bradshaw felt that Northern Ireland was taking the lead from Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride, rather than the Prime Minister.

The South Belfast MLA said she was confident that the decision to keep Northern Ireland's schools open was made by medical professionals here, rather than in England.

"We have a lot of bright brains and I suppose people have been saying in the last few hours that we're taking the lead from Boris but I don't think that's the case," she continued.

"Dr Michael McBride is a very intelligent man and he's surrounded by a lot of experts.

"The decision for Northern Ireland would very much have been made by people here who know how our health service works, know what our infrastructure is like and [are] very much across the detail of what will work when the time comes to move into those phases of closing and restricting access."

However, People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said it was "patently absurd" that the Republic is taking the "sensible strategy" to close schools while Northern Ireland is not.
Online gambling firm Betway has been hit with a record fine of 11.6m for failing to protect gambling addicts and to prevent people betting with stolen money.

Campaigners called for Betways licence to be suspended pending further investigation after the industry regulator found one VIP customer deposited over 8m and lost more than 4m over a four-year period.

Another customer lost 187,000 in two days after Betway failed to carry out adequate checks, the Gambling Commission said.

A probe by the commission found that Betway allowed 5.8m to flow through its business which was, or could reasonably be suspected to be, proceeds of crime.

The actions of Betway suggest there was little regard for the welfare of its VIP customers or the impact on those around them, said Richard Watson, executive director at the Gambling Commission.

The Betway case is the largest penalty package against a gambling firm ever in the UK and comes as regulators ramp up pressure on the industry to do more to protect customers.

Under particularly close scrutiny is the widespread use of VIP schemes which companies use to ensure customers who gamble large sums keep making bets.

These lucrative customers are assigned relationship managers who offer bonuses and encourage them to gamble if theyve not done so for some time. Many of these customers have been found to have a gambling problem and in several cases have been found to be using stolen money to fund their habit.

Mr Watson added: We are pushing the industry to make rapid progress on the areas that we consider will have the most significant impact to protect consumers.

The treatment and handling of high value customers is a significant piece of that work and operators are in no doubt about the need to tackle the issue at speed.

We have set tight deadlines for when we expect to see progress and if we do not see the right results then we will have no choice but to take further action. This case highlights again why progress needs to be made.

Adam Bradford, director of the Safer Online Gambling Group, said: This is clearly a case where Betways licence should be suspended pending further investigation.

It is completely unacceptable that such systemic failures are continuing to happen. These small fines are a drop in the ocean set against the backdrop of a multibillion-pound industry which is exploiting those who really cannot afford to gamble as chronically as this.

Questions need to be asked right at the top of Betway, and to see the company continue to trade today is a bitter insult to gambling addicts and their families.

Other large fines recently meted out by the Gambling Commission include 7.1m for Daub Alderbey in 2018 and Ladbrokes Coral Group having to pay 5.9m in 2019.

William Hill faced a penalty package of at least 6.2m in 2018 for breaching social responsibility and money laundering rules.
Second batch of 44 Indians evacuated on Friday from coronavirus-hit Iran will be quarantined at an army camp in Jaisalmer beginning Friday afternoon and all requisite preparation had been made, said Rajasthan government.

Additional chief secretary, health, Rohit Kumar Singh said that all the evacuees have tested negative but they will be kept in isolation for two weeks as per the protocol.

As per the protocol, they will be kept in isolation at the Army Hospital for 14 days. Collector Jaisalmer has been provided all requisite support and logistics by us, Singh said.

An Air India flight is expected to bring the evacuees to Jaisalmer from Mumbai, where they landed from Iran at noon on Friday.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government is coordinating with the Iranian government to facilitate the return of around 2000 Indians stuck there.

The first batch of 58 Indians were brought back on Tuesday and two more batches will be evacuated in the next few days.

A special isolation ward has been created at the military station in Jaisalmer, where the Indians will be quarantined for check-ups. Several teams of doctors from around the country have been stationed at the military station.

The army and air force officials held a meeting on Thursday to review the special arrangements. The facility has been built to accommodate 2000 people.

Meanwhile, some locals have put on messages on social media alleging the government was treating people in Jaisalmer as guinea pigs by exposing them to potentially virus-infected people.

Health experts say Jaisalmer was chosen for the quarantine facility because it has low population density and high temperatures.

There have been three confirmed coronavirus cases in Rajasthan so far including two Italian tourists and one local.

Singh said the state had three running testing facilities at Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jhalawar of which SMS Jaipur has done most of the testing- a total of 362 samples, three out of which tested positive for coronavirus.

The Jodhpur facility had tested only three samples so far and all of them turned out to be negative while the Jhalawar facility was yet to test any sample, said the officer.

Singh said the State health department had so far managed to trace 35 passengers of the Spicejet flight from Dubai on February 28 that carried the 85-year-old man who has tested positive. Other passengers are still being traced, he added.
Bengaluru: The Congress MLA from Chittapura constituency in Karnataka, Priyank Kharge said the death of a coronavirus-positive man from Kalaburagi due to medical negligence on the part of private hospitals in Hyderabad.

"Once the coronavirus-infected person landed in Hyderabad for treatment, he didn't get treatment and (was) asked to go another hospital. He was taken to four or five hospitals in Hyderabad before being admitted to a private hospital," Priyank Kharge alleged.

Instead of treating him, the doctor forcibly asked him to move to another hospital. (It is) due to the lack of medical attention on the part of doctors and state government that he died, Kharge said in the Karnataka Assembly.

Health and family welfare minister B Sreeramalu said he was not aware that the deceased person did not get proper medical attention in Hyderabad. However, he said, the state government is in constant touch with Union Health Ministry.

The deceased persons dead body was received at the Karnataka border and his burial was conducted in accordance with guidelines of the Centre, he added.
Widespread flooding caused by heavy rain across large swathes of Egypt on Thursday and Friday has killed at least 20 people, the cabinet said, describing the weather as exceptional and unprecedented.

The cabinet said in a Friday statement that Egypt has not seen such conditions for 35 to 40 years.

The deaths include at least eight people who were killed in building collapses in a working-class neighbourhood in the El-Zarayeb area of the 15 May suburb in southern Cairo, local MP Amr Al-Ashkar told Ahram Online.

The buildings were sited near spillways and so were the first to be affected by the heavy rain, he said, adding that an urgent committee has been formed by the social solidarity ministry to tackle the problem and emergency aid has been handed out to affected families.

Some of the other fatalities were electrocuted as they walked through flooded streets, officials said.

Most of the worst weather was concentrated on Thursday, with rain and accompanying thunderstorms receding into Friday afternoon.

Photos and video footage shared online showed flood waters still inundating major roads, damaged apartments and submerged cars on Friday, however.

Schools and universities nationwide will remain closed on Saturday to allow authorities to deal with the impact of the flooding.

Cairos main drinking water company said on Friday afternoon that it was resuming water supply to all areas, having strategically cut off parts of the network on Thursday to allow drainage systems to tackle the influx of rainwater.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the recent crisis has underscored the need to restructure the country's crumbling sewage and drainage systems to deal with the exceptional conditions in light of climate change.



Improved weather



Weather conditions in Egypt improved on Friday afternoon as the stormy winds, thunder and lighting, and torrential rainfall that hit the country the day before began to abate.

The bout of bad weather is expected to largely clear by Saturday.

A number of vacuum trucks were deployed around Cairo and in other parts of the country on Friday to tackle the floods.

Railway services, the three lines of Cairo's metro, and maritime navigation have been proceeding as normal since Friday morning, the transport ministry said.

Train movement was partially suspended on Thursday night after a collision between two trains in Cairo. The first line of the metro had also been suspended due to the weather.

According to the transport ministry, the Red Sea ports of Nuweiba, Safaga, Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada and Suez, and the ports in Alexandria governorate, remain closed.

Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the accumulated rainwater has been drained from a number of archaeological sites, including the Pyramids of Giza and El-Muezz Street in Islamic Cairo.

The council will follow up until the severe weather ends, he said.

The governor of Alexandria, Mohamed El-Sherif, called upon governorate residents not to leave their homes on Friday unless absolutely necessary.

The region has seen torrential rain, he noted.

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LANSING, MI -- Officials expanded the states sick leave policy for employees amid the spread of coronavirus.

State of Michigan officials announced Friday, March 13, an expansion of the sick leave policy to include care for a child and for isolation to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, said Janine Winters, state personnel director.

The expansion of the policy comes on the heels of four new presumptive positive cases of coronavirus in Michigan.

All K-12 schools in the state are closed under order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer amid a state of emergency declaration. There are now a total of 16 cases in the state, and Whitmer has banned any gatherings of over 250 people.

Related: Michigan confirms four more coronavirus cases, bringing total to 16

Employees can use sick leave to care for their children whose school or daycare has been closed because of the public health emergency. The expanded policy also now includes absences for isolation of the employee or to care for a family member isolation, the state said.

Coronavirus symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus. They include fever, cough and shortness of breath. For most, the symptoms are mild, but it poses a serious danger to others.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus has sickened 1,215 people and resulted in 36 deaths, nationally.

Also on MLive:

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Kalamazoo schools will feed students during mandated closure, superintendent says

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer bans gatherings of more than 250 people as coronavirus spreads
A Delhi court on Friday sentenced expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar to 10 years' imprisonment in the murder case of Unnao rape victim's father.

District Judge Dharmesh Sharma directed both Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his brother Atul Singh Sengar to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation to the victim's family.

The victim's father had died in judicial custody on April 9, 2018.

The court had on March 4 convicted Kuldeep Singh Sengar for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the death of the Unnao rape victim's father.

Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted by the court along with seven others in the case, had denied any involvement in the death of victim's father and had asserted that he has done no wrong.

On December 20 last year, Kuldeep Singh Sengar was sentenced to jail for remainder of his natural biological life in a separate case for raping the woman in 2017 when she was a minor.

Along with Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the then in-charge of Makhi Police Station Ashok Singh Bhadauria and then sub-inspector K P Singh, the court had held -- Vineet Mishra, Birendra Singh, Shashi Pratap Singh, Suman Singh and Atul (Sengar's brother) -- guilty of committing offence under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The other sections read with it are 166 (public servant disobeying law to cause injury to a person), 167 (public servant framing incorrect document to cause injury), 193 (false evidence), 201 (disappearance of evidence), 211 (false charge of offence made with intent to injure), 218 (public servant framing incorrect record to save person from punishment), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC.

The court, however, had acquitted other accused -- constable Amir Khan, Shailendra Singh, Ram Sharan Singh and Sharadveer Singh -- giving them the benefit of doubt.

The CBI had examined 55 witnesses in support of the case and the defence had examined nine witnesses.

The court had recorded the statements of the rape victim's uncle, mother, sister and one of her father's colleague who had claimed to be an eyewitness to the incident.

According to the CBI, on April 3, 2018, there was an altercation between the rape victim's father and one Shashi Pratap Singh.

The charge sheet filed on July 13, 2018, said the victim's father and his co-worker were returning to their village, Makhi, when they asked Singh for a lift.

When Singh denied, an altercation ensued among them, the CBI had alleged.

Singh called his associates, following which Kuldeep Singh Sengar's brother Atul Singh Sengar reached the spot along with others and beat up the woman's father and his co-worker, the CBI claimed.

The woman's father was subsequently taken to the police station by them where an FIR was lodged against him and he was arrested.

The charge sheet said that all this while, Kuldeep Singh Sengar was in touch with the district police superintendent and Bhadauria.

Later, he also spoke to the doctor who examined the rape victim's father.

The case was transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the directions of the Supreme Court on August 1 last year.

In July, 2019 a truck had rammed into the car the rape victim was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer. Two of her aunts died in the incident.

She was airlifted from a hospital in Lucknow and brought to AIIMS in Delhi. The victim has been provided accommodation in the national capital and is under CRPF protection.
Bonnie Michaels, a Portage resident, and some of her family have been aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship that was quarantined on the coast of California due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

She said via phone Wednesday they will soon disembark and will be under further quarantine, likely in Texas.

The ship docked in a port in Oakland on Monday, where passengers and crew members who needed immediate medical attention were unloaded, according to Associated Press reports. As of Monday, 21 people aboard the ship had tested positive for the virus, two passengers and 19 crew members.

Michaels, who is retired, was traveling with 13 members of her family on vacation. Six have already disembarked the ship and have been taken to Miramar Military Base in San Diego for testing and an additional quarantine before they will be allowed to return home to Montello, Endeavour and Augusta.

Michaels, her mother, sister and niece and her family remain on the cruise ship and have been told they will disembark by Wednesday night, and will be taken by chartered bus and airplane to San Antonio Texas, where they will be tested and placed in quarantine for up to 14 days.

The group has not yet been informed when they can return to Wisconsin.

I think were one of the last few groups of people to get off the ship, said Michaels. Were told two weeks, but they told us it depends on our health. We would rather be home, of course, and self quarantine.

Michaels said no one in her family is currently sick or showing any symptoms of coronavirus, and none of them have been tested.

Michaels said she and her family have tried to keep anxiety and frustrations at bay.

We were a little anxious in the beginning about what they were going to do with us, because we had no idea, and they didnt really know, said Michaels. There were tears and a little frustration, but that passed. I think for the most part weve kept our spirits up, weve kept our sense of humor, because what else can you do?

During the quarantine, Michaels said passengers were required to stay in their cabins at all times. Meals were delivered to each room three times a day. Michaels said passengers can request coffee, snacks or drinks from the bar at any time in addition to their meals. The cabins had TVs as well.

We have been cooped up in our rooms for about a week, said Michaels. They have let people a few at a time go out to get a little exercise. We were lucky enough to have a little balcony, so we are able to go outside on our balcony whenever we want.

Passengers on the ship have been able to stay in touch with friends and family off the ship, and have been able to use their cell phones since they have docked. Michaels said her family has started a Facebook group to provide updates and stay in contact with those not on the ship

The trip was intended to be a two-week cruise, which embarked from San Francisco and traveled to the Hawaiian Islands. The ship was scheduled to visit the coast of Mexico but that was cancelled because of the quarantine, Michaels said.

Michaels said Princess Cruise Lines has reimbursed all passengers for the trip and will cover the costs of buses, airplanes and hotels until they have returned home from the trip and any additional quarantines.

Additionally, the cruise line has provided passengers a trip voucher, which will cover another trip up to the price they paid for the current trip.

Michaels said she plans to use the voucher.

We already have another cruise planned for next May. We are going on a cruise to the Caribbean. And I will be cruising on Princess again. I will take advantage of that offer, Michaels. I will not let this stop this, as long as they let us travel. Were going to keep cruising because thats what we like to do.

Overall, Michaels said she and her family have been happy with the how the cruise line and government officials have handled the situation.

I am very satisfied with how Princess cruises has handled all of this, said Michaels. We understand this is not an everyday situation. I cant say anything bad about how weve been treated.

There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 in Columbia County, and the countys Public Health Officer Susan Lorenz does not think the return of Michaels and her family to the county will change that.

Lorenz said the health department is encouraging people to practice containment and preparedness precautions in similar ways they would for influenza, such as rigorous hand-washing and increasing distances in social interactions.

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11 new coronavirus cases were reported on March 12, while the number of helplines increased. The coronavirus also caused the postponement of several scheduled court trials.

A man disinfects stands at the Bratislava open-air market, Trhovisko Mileticova, on March 12, 2020. The marketplace was closed a day before. (Source: TASR)

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This is your overview of news from Slovakia on March 12.

For all the news about the coronavirus in Slovakia click here.

Read more about the election and post-election coverage.

Coronavirus in Slovakia updates

11 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Slovakia on March 12. Altogether 21 people have been confirmed to be infected in Slovakia in total. Another Slovak living in Tyrol is also said to be infected.

The government introduced tough measures amid the coronavirus pandemic. It decided, for instance, to close schools, bars, ski centres and water parks, and all three international airports for two weeks. Border controls will also be in place. Read more about the measures.

The Orthodox Church has changed its mind and cancelled masses until March 23. The outgoing Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer) labelled its earlier decision not to abolish masses as selfish. (SITA)

The Slovak parliament has adopted restrictions regarding the entrance to the building. Only MPs, parliament employees and other authorised persons will be allowed access.

The number of helplines run by the Public Health Authority (UVZ) and its regional branches will increase. There are currently 36 helplines in operation.

The private carrier RegioJet, operating trains and buses between Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will suspend its services between the two countries from 7:00 on March 13 through April 5. The company will automatically return money to customers who have already bought tickets without any additional costs.

The Slovak Lines bus company will suspend its international bus routes from March 13 to March 26. The lines from Bratislava to Vienna, Budapest, and Hainburg will be affected. The bus operator will send e-mails with instructions to its customers.

The Foreigners Police will work under a restricted regime. Be sure to check on the changes.

President Zuzana Caputova asked people to act responsibly. By ignoring recommendations, people may threaten others, she said. She also called on politicians to avoid personal attacks and disputes.

 There is no reason for hopelessness and panic.  President Zuzana Caputova

Regional governments imposed some restrictions on public transport. They also demanded more ambulances that could take samples at peoples homes.

OTHER NEWS

The Constitutional Court agreed to take five of the 13 judges, detained on March 11, into custody. The final decision on their custody will be made by the Specialised Criminal Court. The court saw no reason to prosecute the remaining eight judges in custody. They remain charged, though. The voting was secret and it took place at a closed session.

The trial concerning the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee set for March was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, while dates set for April remain valid. Also some proceedings involving Miroslav Marcek, who admitted to murdering Kuciak, have been scrapped. (TASR)

Marian Kocner reportedly funded the Hlavnespravy.sk website, known for spreading fake news, and its editor-in-chief was aware of it. (.tyzden)

The council of judges of the Supreme Court (NS SR) will meet next week to resolve the current situation at the court. One of 13 Slovak judges detained on March 11 was its acting president Jarmila Urbancova, which means that the court remains without its president and the deputy president. (TASR)

The Public Procurement Office (UVO) rejected an appeal from the Interior Ministry regarding public procurement worth 100 million to purchase body cameras for police officers. UVO said the ministry breached the law when it failed to describe the subject of the procurement in detail and in an unbiased way. (TASR)

The average nominal monthly wage increased in January 2020 compared with January 2019 in food and beverage service activities by 12.6 percent (564), retail trade by 8.9 percent (805), transportation and storage by 6.4 percent (1,055), industry by 5.6 percent (1,171), selected market services by 5.1 percent (1,026), information and communication by 4.7 percent (1,992), accommodation by 2.8 percent (797), construction by 2.2 percent (726) and in wholesale by 1.4 percent (1,070). It only decreased in sale and repair of motor vehicles by 0.7 percent (amounted to 1,080), the Statistics Office reported.

Read more from The Slovak Spectator

PS/Spolu has submitted an election complaint. What are the odds the results might change? Read more

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The incoming PM Matovic critical of outgoing government's attitude about coronavirus Read more
New Delhi [India], Mar 13 (ANI): The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday said that so far 81 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in India out of which 64 are Indians, and the rest are foreign nationals.



Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Ministry, while briefing media here, said: "Till now, there are 81 confirmed cases of coronavirus in India, out of which 64 are Indians, 16 Italians and one Canadian national."

"Contact tracing of these cases is being actively pursued. So far, this has led to the identification of more than 4,000 contacts, who have been put under surveillance," he added.

The government has brought 42,296 passengers under community surveillance, out of which 2,559 were symptomatic and 522 hospitalised including 17 foreign nationals.

"So far the Government of India has evacuated 1,031 persons including 48 nationals from countries such as Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, United States, America, Madagascar, Srilanka, Nepal, South Africa, and Peru," said Agarwal. (ANI)
The Mizoram government on Friday



banned mass gatherings and social events to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, officials said.

All government departments, churches, educational institutions and non-government organisations have been asked to avoid mass gatherings and organising big events as a preventive measure, a senior official said.

Chief Minister Zoramthanga has also appealed to the churches to avoid organising conferences and pilgrimages, for the time being, he said.

The state government has also urged people not to travel to other states or abroad, the official said.

However, shopping malls, schools and colleges will remain open, he said.

Meanwhile, Mizoram University has postponed its convocation which was scheduled to be held on March 17.

The university has also asked its affiliated colleges to avoid organising events on their campuses.

The central committee of the Young Mizo Association (YMA) has postponed important events of its branches and units which were scheduled later this month.

The state excise and narcotics department has also postponed a written examination for recruiting constables, which was scheduled on March 28.

On the other hand, at least three more persons were arrested for allegedly spreading fake on social media about coronavirus infection in the state, police said.

Eleven persons were earlier arrested in this regard and later released on bail. One more person was arrested on Thursday.

All the 15 persons have been booked under Section 505 (1)(b) (causing fear or alarm to the public) of the Indian Penal Code, a police officer said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
by Susai Sebastian

The vicar general of the Archdiocese of Delhi explains the significance of the period that leads to the resurrection of Christ. Conversion is a lifelong process. One must change one's life to resemble Jesus. The recent sectarian violence in the capital is like Christs crucifixion when he continues to suffer in the suffering of his children.

New Delhi (AsiaNews)  Lent is a time when "I need to die; my selfishness and my sin must succumb. Resurrection thus means coming into a new life. I become a new person and a new creation, said Fr Susai Sebastian, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Delhi, speaking to AsiaNews.

In what follows, he talks about what it means to be a priest during Lent, helping people to overcome the umpteenth "crucifixion of Christ", symbolically embodied in the latest anti-Muslim riots that followed the recent amendment to Indias citizenship legislation.

I would like to talk about what it means to be a priest during Lent.

Lent is a time of renewal, fasting, prayer and embracing others. Some aspects of Christian life mark the period of Lent, which leads to conversion, understood not only as baptism and growth in the Christian life, but also as a lifelong process, a personal experience of Jesus who wants life, every moment of our life. We must accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and He shall guide every moment and aspect of our life.

Jesus thus becomes the personal Teacher and Lord of my life, and I must listen to his wisdom that turns to and speaks to me with the Word of God and the Bible. He speaks to me when I preach in church and when I celebrate Mass. This makes me grow in resembling Jesus himself. In the end, it is what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: " So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect, hence, have compassion as God is compassionate.

Jesus himself was compassionate. He was the face of the compassionate Father. The more I experience Jesus, the more intensely I always return to him. I change my life to resemble Jesus in order to be loving, caring and forgiving.

This is what I have to experience during Lent. In doing so, a death process begins: every day I need to die; my selfishness and my sin must succumb. Resurrection thus means coming into a new life. I become a new person and a new creation; by the same token, I become a new creation by welcoming Jesus into my life through baptism.

Thus, Lent is renewal, but also the way by which the Church reminds us all not to forget the fundamental values of our Christian faith which are: repentance, forgiveness, praying, fasting, embracing others through works of charity.

For this reason, the recent riots in Delhi have left us shocked and saddened. Human beings have become so cruel to other human beings that they have forgotten God's teaching that we are all brothers and sisters. Our task as Christians is to generate peace and harmony among people, as God was so caring to us that he sacrificed his Son. This is what the Archbishop of Delhi Anil J Couto did when he met in prayer with other religious leaders. What happens during Lent is nothing less than the [symbolic] crucifixion of Jesus as he continues to die because of violence.

On 5 April, Palm Sunday, the Archdiocese will hold the annual Way of the Cross along the streets of the capital. Thousands of people will carry the cross in procession for about seven kilometres to the heart of the city. We will stop at the 14 stations to pray for the current situation, fir it is Jesus who continues to suffer in the suffering of his children. We will hold a special prayer for all coronavirus victims, in particular for Italy, which has been badly affected.

(A.C.F. contributed to this article)
In recent years, the development of quantum computers beyond the capability of classical computers has become a new frontier in science and technology and a key direction to realize quantum supremacy. However, conventional quantum computing has a serious challenge due to quantum decoherence effect and requires a significant amount of error correction in scaling quantum qubits. Therefore, the exploration of fault-tolerant quantum computation using quantum states topologically protected against local environmental perturbations is an important endeavor of both fundamental value and technological significance for realizing large-scale quantum computation.

Majorana zero-energy bound states (ZEBSs) in condensed matter systems such as superconductors are such rare quantum states with topological protection against local perturbations. These so called Majorana zero modes (MZMs) are charge neutral and obey non-abelian exchange statistics and serve as the building block of topological qubits. MZMs are theoretically predicted to exist in the vortex core of p-wave topological superconductors or at the ends of one-dimensional (1D) topological superconductors. Being a ZEBS, one of the main characteristics of the MZM is the differential conductance peaks for tunneling at zero bias voltage. Experimentally, the current Majorana platforms include the following. One is using a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator proximity-coupling to an s-wave superconductor to realize the superconducting topological surface states and detect the vortex states by applying a magnetic field. The other one is using a 1D spin-orbit coupling nanowire proximity-coupling to an s-wave superconductor to detect zero-bias conductance peaks at the ends under an external magnetic field. However, the complicated fabrication of the hybrid structures, the extremely low temperature and the applied magnetic field required for observation present great challenges to the possible application of MZMs.

Recently, Professor Wang Jian's group at Peking University, in collaboration with Professor Wang Ziqiang's group at Boston College, discovered MZMs at both ends of 1D atomic line defects in two-dimensional (2D) iron-based high-temperature superconductors and provided a promising platform to detect topological zero-energy excitations at a higher operating temperature and under zero external magnetic field. Wang Jian's group successfully grew large-area and high-quality one-unit-cell-thick FeTe 0.5 Se 0.5 films on SrTiO 3 (001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technique, which show T c (~62 K) much higher than that (~14.5 K) in bulk Fe(Te,Se). By in situ low-temperature (4.2 K) scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS), the 1D atomic line defects formed by the missing topmost Te/Se atoms can be clearly identified on the monolayer FeTe 0.5 Se 0.5 films. The ZEBSs are detected at both ends of the 1D atomic line defect (Figure 1), while the tunneling spectra in the middle of the line defect recover to the fully gapped superconducting states. As the temperature increases, the ZEBS reduces in intensity, and finally vanishes at a temperature (around 20 K) far below T c . The ZEBS does not split with increasing tunneling barrier conductance and becomes sharper and higher as the tip approaches the film, showing the robust property. Moreover, on the shorter defect chain, the coupling between the ZEBSs at both ends leads to reduced zero-bias conductance peaks even in the middle section of the atomic line defect chain (Figure 2). The positive correlation between the zero-bias conductance and line defect lengths can be deduced from the statistics. The spectroscopic properties of the ZEBSs, including the evolution of the peak height and width with temperature, the disappearing temperature of ZEBS, the tunneling spectra in tip-approaching-sample process, as well as unsplit property are found to be consistent with the MZMs interpretation. Other possibilities such as Kondo effect, conventional impurity states or the Andreev zero-energy bound states in nodal high-temperature superconductors can be excluded in general.

Professor Wang Ziqiang's group at Boston College proposed a possible theoretical explanation by extending the band theory of the Shockley surface state to the case of superconductors. Due to the large spin-orbit coupling, the 1D atomic line defect in monolayer FeTe 0.5 Se 0.5 film may become an emergent 1D topological superconductor and a Kramers pair of MZMs appearing at the ends of the line defect protected by time-reversal symmetry. Even without time-reversal symmetry along the line defect, the 1D topological superconductor can also be realized with a single MZM located at each end of the chain. This work, for the first time, reveals a class of topological zero-energy excitations at both ends of 1D atomic line defects in 2D high-temperature superconducting monolayer FeTe 0.5 Se 0.5 films, which show the advantages of being a single material, higher operating temperature and zero external magnetic field, and may offer a new platform for future realizations of applicable topological qubits.

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The paper was published online by Nature Physics on March 9, 2020 (DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-0813-0). Links to the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-0813-0. Professor Wang Jian at Peking University is the corresponding author and Chen Cheng at Peking University is the first author of this paper. Professor Wang Ziqiang's group at Boston College are theoretical collaborators. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Key Research and Development Program of China, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Natural Science Foundation, and the US Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences.
SYDNEY, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Mclaren became the first team withdrew from the 2020 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix after a team member was tested positive for the COVID-19.

The team said in a statement on its twitter that the team member was tested and self-isolated as soon as he started to show symptoms and will now be treated by local healthcare authorities.

Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Andrew Westacott confirmed on Wednesday that three F1 team personnel are undergoing test and self-isolation. The number of cases under investigation rose to eight according to media reports on Thursday. Besides McLaren, the team Haas and unnamed teams also have staff waiting for the test results.

According to the statement from McLaren, the team already informed the F1 and the FIA of the decision. "The decision has been taken based on a duty of care not only to McLaren F1 employees ad partners, but also to the team's competitors, F1 fans and wider F1 stakeholders," it said.

The four-day event inaugurated on Thursday amid concern of spreading COVID-19 epidemic. There had earlier been concerns about whether Ferrari would take their place on the venue due to fears about their members being exposed to the coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

The confirmed cases in the state of Victoria, where the Albert Park sits, reached 27 till Thursday, according to the state's health department.
The regional government of Madrid has ordered the closure of all bars and restaurants, as well as gyms and nightclubs, from midnight on Friday, in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The spread of the virus in the Spanish capital continues out of control with 600 new cases from Thursday to Friday, taking the region's total above 2,000, explained the regional Health Minister, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, in a radio interview on Friday morning.

Deaths in the region have gone up to 40, with 190 people in intensive care.

The Madrid regional deputy president, Ignacio Aguado, called on the central government to take "stricter measures" to control the movement of people in Spain as a whole.

"If Italy is as it is, we have a margin of 15 days to avoid reaching that situation," he said.
Peter Dutton shook hands with Ivanka Trump, met with the entire Australian Cabinet, caught three flights and opened a university while potentially infected with coronavirus.

The Home Affairs Minister was admitted to hospital after testing positive to Covid-19 on Friday.

Experts believe that a person with the deadly respiratory virus can be infected for up to 14 days before they display any symptoms.

It means that Mr Dutton may have been contagious up to two weeks ago when he appeared on the Today show alongside Karl Stefanovic and Alison Langdon on February 28.

Just three days ago he met with Scott Morrison, treasurer Josh Frydenberg and other senior politicians to discuss the coronavirus stimulus package.

The government's official advice is that people should self-isolate if they come into contact with a known case of the virus.

Despite this, no other cabinet ministers, or Prime Minister Scott Morrison, will go into quarantine.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton speaks to Prime Minister Scott Morrison 10 days before being diagnosed with coronavirus. Mr Morrison will not quarantine himself despite being in contact with Mr Dutton just days before he was diagnosed

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton (third from right) was diagnosed with coronavirus just days after he met Ivanka Trump (fourth from right). Ivanka Trump is the daughter of US President Donald Trump. Picture taken March 5 in Washington DC

Mr Dutton took a commercial flight to the United States to meet security ministers from the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network in Washington on March 5.

He then delivered a speech to dozens of officials in Washington DC.

A day later, he posed for pictures with his counterparts from across the Five Eyes alliance - New Zealand, the UK, the US and Canada.

Peter Dutton was in Washington DC to discuss ending child exploitation. Days before being diagnosed with coronavirus he met counterparts from the Five Eyes intelligence sharing alliance countries, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Great Britain

Peter Dutton (second from right) with US Attorney General William Barr (centre). He is with Acting Secretary for Homeland Security Chad Wolf, Britain's Minister of State for Security James Brokenshire, Canada's Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair, and New Zealand's Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister for Children Tracey Martin

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday that medical advice to the government was that Peter Dutton was only infectious in the 24 hours before he began showing symptoms. Mr Dutton said he felt fine until Friday morning when he woke with a temperature and sore throat

He also met with US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, as well as America's attorney general William Barr.

He returned to Australia on the weekend and flew to Brisbane - again on a commercial flight, likely connecting via a 14 hour flight from Los Angeles.

Just days later on March 9, he attended the opening of a new campus at the University of Sunshine Coast - meeting with university officials and students.

On March 9 Peter Dutton addressed a crowd of 430 invited guests to open the University of Sunshine Coast's new Moreton Bay Campus

Peter Dutton (far right) on the Today Show on Friday 28 February, 14 days before he was diagnosed with coronavirus. Mr Dutton missed his regular Friday appearance yesterday with hosts saying he was sick with a 'stomach bug' before the coronavirus diagnosis was announced

Ivanka and US Attorney General William Barr (left) posed with Australian minister Peter Dutton (right) at the White House on March 5. He has since tested positive for the virus

WHERE PETER DUTTON WENT BEFORE TESTING POSITIVE TO CORONAVIRUS February 28 Peter Dutton appears on the Today Show alongside hosts Karl Stefanovic and Alison Langdon March 5 Peter Dutton travels to the United States to meet security ministers from the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network in Washington DC There he delivers a speech to dozens of officials Mr Dutton meets with President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and American attorney general William Barr March 6 Mr Dutton poses for pictures with counterparts from across Five Eyes alliance including people from New Zealand, the UK, the US and Canada March 7 Mr Dutton returns to Australia and travels to Brisbane, likely connecting via a 14 hour flight from Los Angeles March 9 Mr Dutton attends the opening of new campus at the University of Sunshine Coast There he met with students and university officials March 10 The Home Affairs Minister then attended a Cabinet meeting in Sydney, coming into contact with all other Cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Scott Morrison Mr Dutton then took another flight back to Brisbane from Canberra March 12 He appeared at the National Security Committee meeting via video link March 13 Mr Dutton wakes up with a temperature and a sore throat and tests positive to coronavirus He was admitted to Brisbane hospital Advertisement

The Home Affairs Minister then attended Tuesday's Cabinet meeting in Sydney, coming into contact with all other Cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Mr Dutton then took another flight back to Brisbane from Canberra.

On March 12, he appeared at the National Security Committee meeting via video link.

It was the next day, Friday March 13, when he says he woke up with 'a temperature and a sore throat', got tested, was found to have coronavirus, and was immediately admitted to a Brisbane hospital.

Mr Dutton said he 'feels fine'.

Medical experts say coronavirus is the most contagious when symptoms occur, but it can also spread beforehand.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said expert medical advice to the Government is that Mr Dutton was only infectious for 24 hours before the onset of symptoms.

Mr Morrison's office played down fears that up to 20 senior members of the Federal Government would be forced into isolation in the next two weeks.

Queensland Health would now conduct the appropriate contact tracing, the Prime Minister's spokesman has said.

New Zealand's Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin will isolate herself and get tested after she met Mr Dutton in the US, Stuff NZ reported.

Mr Dutton's coronavirus diagnosis comes as Mr Morrison announced a ban on mass gatherings of more than 500 people to try and stop the spread of the virus.

The AFL and NRL said they would play games without spectators on Friday to stop the spread of the virus.

The Grand Prix, the Melbourne Comedy Festival and the Royal Easter Show have all been cancelled.

A new bipartisan war cabinet of national leaders has also been set up to tackle the epidemic.

A new bipartisan war cabinet of national leaders has also been set up to tackle the epidemic.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (left) is waiting for the results of his test after one of his aides tested positive for the virus on March 6. He and Trump are shown shaking hands on March 7

Mr Trump, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (left) and Ivanka (right) among a table of dignitaries at Mar-a-Lago. One of Bolsonaro's aides tested positive for the virus that day

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

A new bipartisan war cabinet of national leaders has also been set up to tackle the epidemic.

Mr Morrison used a COAG meeting on Friday to announce the formation of the first national cabinet to assess if the ban on mass gatherings should be extended to schools, universities workplaces train stations and airports.

The coronavirus is making an impact on governments around the world with increasing numbers of politicians and those in their close circles being diagnosed.

US President Donald Trump has come in contact with a growing number of people who have themselves been in contact with confirmed cases of Covid-19.

On March 6, Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro attended an event with President Trump and his daughter Ivanka at Mar-a-Lago just hours after one of Mr Bolsonaro's aides tested positive for the virus.

Case numbers of coronavirus around Australia. Queensland health will be 'contact tracing' Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton who has been diagnosed with the virus

President Trump is said to be 'very concerned' about potentially coming into contact with the virus.

As of Friday night there were more than 1,700 cases of coronavirus in the US and 41 people have so far died from it.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is now in isolation after his wife tested positive.

UK Health minister Nadine Dorries has been diagnosed with the virus.

At least six British MPs are now in isolation including an unnamed Cabinet minister and Edward Argar who was filmed coughing and looking visibly ill while addressing MPs in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
- The patient with first case of coronavirus in the country is a Kenyan citizen who returned from the US via London UK on Thursday, March 5

- The Ministry of Health said blacks are not immune to COVID-19 as it advised citizens to maintain a high level of hygiene

- The govt suspended all public gatherings including the Nakuru BBI rally after the first case of the infection was recorded

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has warned Kenyans to stay at home if they feel unwell after the country recorded the first case of the dreaded coronavirus.

The case was that of a Kenyan citizen who jetted back to the country from the US via London, United Kingdom.

READ ALSO: Gideon Moi hosts over 1,000 delegates from Central Kenya ahead of major announcement

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe gives an update on the first ever cornavirus case to be recorded in Kenya. Photo: KMPDU.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Government bans public servants from non-essential foreign trips

Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi on Friday, March 13, the CS asked persons with a cough or sneeze to stay at home.

"Stay at home if you feel unwell with symptoms like fever, cough and difficulties in breathing," Kagwe warned.

He further urged citizens to maintain a high level of hygiene by covering their mouths and noses while coughing or sneezing.

The government also suspended all public gatherings after the first case of the infection was recorded.

READ ALSO: Mbunge afukuzwa bungeni kwa hofu ana virusi vya corona

These include the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) rally which was to be held in Nakuru county on Saturday, March 21.

Kenya became the first country in Eastern Africa to report the first case of the disease that has so far killed 4,900 people and infected over 134,000 others in 127 countries and territories worldwide.

Coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China in January 2020. Photo: NYT.

Source: UGC

The virus originated in Wuhan, China and has now being confirmed in nearly all the continents globally.

Here are some of the reactions from Kenyans.

"Our government is still allowing flights from corona hotbeds into our country Flight 5Y- KZE ," Lincoln observed.

"We are not ready for coronavirus," Maryanne Wangui opined.

"Kenya's first coronavirus case has been imported from the US. Yet, flights from the US have not yet been barred," Mihr Thakar wondered.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly

Kenya's street boy covers Ed Sheeran's Perfect | Tuko TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
LIVE UPDATES: A timeline of coronavirus in San Antonio

FAQ: Express-News readers top questions about coronavirus in San Antonio answered

COVID-19 MAP: Our exclusive tracker listing every case in Texas and the U.S. | Full coverage

How many COVID-19 cases are there in San Antonio?

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg on March 13 confirmed the citys first case of novel coronavirus that was not related to the evacuees at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

Before the March 13 announcement, there were 11 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in San Antonio. All were among people evacuated to the city from elsewhere, including Wuhan, the Chinese city where the disease first emerged, and the Diamond Princess cruise ship where passengers were quarantined after several fell ill.

The graph below is updated daily with the latest COVID-19 counts in Bexar County

How are public officials responding?

Effective at 11:59 p.m. March 24, residents in San Antonio and the countys suburban cities must stay home except to make essential trips, such as picking up groceries and medicine, getting gas or seeking health care.

Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a series of directives on March 19 that limit social gatherings to no more than 10 people, close all schools and restrict bars and restaurants. The Governor has yet to issue a statewide shelter-in-place order.

Mayor Nirenberg declared the first public health emergency on Friday, March 13. On March 18, the Mayor ordered bars and restaurants to close to further reduce the spread of the virus. Restaurants can continue operating drive-throughs and filling take-out orders for curbside pickup or delivery under Nirenbergs fourth public health emergency declaration.

San Antonio got the first drive-thru testing site in the state. Gov. Greg Abbott credited Mayor Nirenberg and his team for leading the way on the issue.

Bexar County ceased calling people in for jury duty for the next several weeks.

Gov. Abbott declared a state of disaster March 13 over the coronavirus pandemic.

READ: Declaration of Public Health Emergency

Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer

Will Fiesta be canceled?

Fiesta San Antonio has been postponed to Nov. 5, according to Jeanie Travis, the president of the president of the Firesta San Antonio Commission. This is the first time it has ever been postponed.

Fiesta Oyster Bake has been canceled. "As of now, Fiesta Oyster Bake will NOT occur in 2020. See you in April 2021!," organizers wrote on Facebook.

What about schools and universities?

All of Bexar Countys independent school districts, in their second week of an extended spring break, announced on March 17 they will continue to keep campuses closed for two more weeks. This list of closures continues to be updated.

All of the citys major higher education institutions have extended Spring Break by a week and most will move to online-only classes for an indefinite amount of time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

What are the symptoms?

The most common symptoms of coronavirus are cough, fever and shortness of breath. In some cases, the virus causes severe respiratory illness.

Current data on the virus suggests the elderly and immunocompromised are more susceptible to serious complications and children are at a lower risk.

READ MORE: How to tell if you have a cold, the flu, or coronavirus  and what to do about it

Why are coronavirus evacuees coming to Lackland?

Todd Trumbull

Since February, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland has housed about 400 evacuees during a federally mandated 14-day quarantine due to possible exposure of the coronavirus while on board cruise ships.

The American evacuees have come from two cruise ships. The first round of evacuees came from the Diamond Princess in Japan in February. They were released The latest round that arrived Thursday morning included 75 Texans from the Grand Princess cruise ship.

In this video, military reporter Sig Christenson explains why the military is best equipped to manage the virus quarantine.

What precautions are being taken in health care settings?

Now Playing: Sig Christenson is a senior reporter who covers the military for the San Antonio Express-News. He is currently reporting on the coronavirus evacuee situation at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. Video: San Antonio Express-News

Methodist Hospital's Specialty and Transplant Facility has been screening all visitors at the front door before they enter the hospital. Individual's are asked several questions related to the Coronavirus before they are allowed to enter.

For the past several weeks, officials in San Antonio have been overwhelmed by one coronavirus crisis after another, making it one of the few cities in the United States beset by such challenges.

Metro Health will rely on operating guidelines developed in response to the 2009 pandemic of H1N1, commonly known as swine flu. The department is in the process of adapting the 114-page document into a respiratory disease plan for the novel coronavirus.

The plan outlines the logistics of handling widespread illness in the community, including responding to recurring phases of a pandemic.

How can I help?

The San Antonio Food Bank has launched a coronavirus preparedness campaign to provide a 14-day food supply and a preparedness kit to 300,000 households. More information is available at safoodbank.org/cvprep.

The South Texas Blood & Tissue Center has warned that the community blood supply is at risk of collapse due to widespread cancellations of blood drives. But people can schedule appointments to donate, allowing for social distancing. To schedule an appointment visit southtexasblood.org/give-now.

While Meals on Wheels San Antonio does not anticipate a disruption in service, it is preparing additional meals and is in need of volunteers and donations: mowsatx.org/coronavirus.

The Nonprofit Council has turned its Big Give SA website into an emergency relief platform for nonprofits across South Texas: thebiggivesa.org.
The price war between the top two producers of crude is heating up as oil has worst week since 2008 financial crisis.

Correction: In the original version of this story Al Jazeera misstated Goldman Sachs estimate of the oil surplus by April. The story has now been corrected to reflect the accurate estimate of 6 million barrels per day.

Saudi Arabia is preparing to flood markets with oil at prices as low as $25 per barrel, specifically targeting big refiners of Russian oil in Europe and Asia, as its price war with Moscow heats up, sources told Reuters news agency on Friday. This comes as oil closes on its worst week since the 2008 financial crisis amid a coronavirus outbreak that continues to threaten demand and crude producers promising more supply.

The sources speaking to Reuters, from oil majors and refiners that process crude in Europe, said Saudi state oil company Aramco told them it would supply all requested additional volumes in April.

Oil prices have halved since the start of the year. Last Friday, tensions between the worlds top oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia, flared into an all-out price war after Russia and OPEC failed to reach a new deal on supply cuts. Riyadh retaliated by opening its taps and pledging to pump record volumes of oil into the market.

Sources previously told Reuters that Saudi Arabia is also seeking to replace Russian oil customers with Chinese and Indian buyers, although not all refiners received volumes for which they had asked. Tanker rates soared as Saudi Arabia provisionally chartered around 31 supertankers to take extra oil, including to the United States, where Russian oil is usually less in demand.

Russia has so far said it is not planning to come back to the negotiating table despite feeling the pressure from the extraordinary Saudi moves. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday that his country saw no grounds so far for returning to discussions with its OPEC+ partners, and can increase its oil production by a modest 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April.

By contrast, Saudi Arabia has pledged to raise output by 2.6m bpd in April. Fellow Gulf producers such as the United Arab Emirates have joined in the battle for market share and announced production increases. Saudi Arabia has made a deep cut to its official selling prices for oil. Arab Light and Arab Medium barrels were offered at selling prices of $25 to 28 per barrel on a CIF Rotterdam basis, traders said.

Russias main blend, Urals, has been offered slightly higher than $30 per barrel on a CIF Rotterdam basis, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

We are happy with our allocation. The requests for April were confirmed. I look forward to May if prices remain that attractive, a trader with a European oil company involved in the talks told Reuters.

European oil refiners including Total, BP, Eni and SOCAR have all had allocations for additional Saudi crude oil supplies in April confirmed, the sources said.

Goldman Sachs said it now expected a record high oil surplus of 6 million bpd by April, in a global market that usually consumes about 100 million bpd.

The avenues for a quick off-ramp to the Saudi-Russia price war appear to be closing, RBC Capital Markets analyst Helima Croft said.
A mother-of-five issued a stark warning urging people not to kiss young children after her six-month-old son was rushed to hospital with potentially life-threatening herpes.

Stephanie Shady, 32, from central Pennsylvania, feared for her baby Lincoln's life after he fell ill with the herpes simplex virus, which causes painful sores all over his face.

The strain, which can be fatal to babies, was picked up after he was kissed by someone with a coldsore.





The stay-at-home mother and her butcher husband Justin, 36, first noticed blistering on Lincoln's face on last month but within hours, one side of his face was covered in painful red sores.

Stephanie Shady, 32, from central Pennsylvania, feared for her baby Lincoln's life after he fell ill with the herpes simplex virus, which causes painful sores all over his face. She is pictured with her husband Justin, and five children. Lincoln and Lyric (baby twins), John and Carter, five-year-old twins, and Thomas, six

Lincoln, who already suffers with skin condition dermatitis, was crying in pain, so the couple took him to the hospital where doctors diagnosed him with the herpes simplex virus (HSV1).

Stephanie said: 'We don't know who, but someone kissed Lincoln and he got the herpes virus.

'He had dermatitis too, but I started to notice it spreading and I could tell he was in a lot of pain so I took him to the ER.

'It looked like an infection but all the blisters were popping and there was pus.

'It just looked so bad and we had no idea what it was. It took over half of his face.

'I thought it was just a regular infection at first, but when I found out he'd tested positive for herpes, I couldn't believe it had started from a kiss.

Lincoln, who already suffers with skin condition dermatitis, was crying in pain, so the couple took him to a hospital where doctors diagnosed him with Herpes. His facial sores are pictured

Stephanie with her twin sons Lincoln and Lyric. The stay-at-home mother and her butcher husband Justin, 36, first noticed blistering on Lincoln's face on last month but within hours, one side of his face was covered in painful red sores

What is HSV-1 and why is it so dangerous in infants? The herpes simplex virus is highly contagious and spreads via cold sores or genital ulcers in adults. Even if the sore is no longer active, the virus can remain in saliva and infect others. Herpes can be very serious in newborns due to their immune systems not being strong enough to fight off the infection, earning the virus its nickname of the 'kiss of death' in infants. If the virus spreads to a baby's organs, nearly a third die even if they have been treated. Treatment usually involves antiviral drugs given intravenously. To reduce the risk of a baby being infected, people should not kiss infants if they have a cold sore and should wash their hands before touching them. Advertisement

'I was very shocked when doctors told me it could have been fatal.

'I just couldn't figure out who had kissed him and when.

'No one can believe that this can happen just from a kiss, but it did.'

When he arrived at the hospital, Lincoln was rushed to the emergency department, given antibacterial cream and discharged the same day.

He spent the next seven days at home and after visiting his local doctor every two days, he was eventually diagnosed with the herpes simplex virus by a dermatologist.

After the diagnosis, the youngster was pumped with antiviral medication for 10 days and antibiotics, and the sores have just started to heal one month later.

The herpes virus is especially dangerous for babies under six months old because their immune systems are still developing, and one third of babies who develop the virus don't survive.

Lincoln is now being treated by an ear nose and throat specialist to make sure his hearing hasn't been damaged permanently by the virus.

Lincoln is now being treated by an ear nose and throat specialist to make sure his hearing hasn't been damaged permanently by the virus. He spent the next seven days at home and after visiting his local doctor every two days, he was eventually diagnosed with the Herpes Simplex Virus by a dermatologist.

Pictured: Stephanie and Justin's sons, from left, Thomas, six, Lincoln, six months, Lyric, six months, John, five and Carter, five

Stephanie, also mother to Lincoln's twin, Lyric, five-year-old twins, John and Carter and Thomas, six, still does not know who passed on the virus to her son.

She added: 'Be very careful who kisses your children. Try to avoid letting people touch or kiss them.

'People should ask if they can touch your child and respect the parent's decision.

After the diagnosis, the youngster was pumped with antiviral medication for 10 days and antibiotics and the sores have just started to heal one month later. The herpes virus is especially dangerous for babies under six months old because their immune systems are still developing and one third of babies who develop the virus don't survive.

'I was always that person who said it wouldn't happen, but it ended up happening and Lincoln ended up in pain.

'Doctor didn't think it was any of us in the house because we don't have active coldsores, but we could have given it to him without knowing.

'Most people respect when we ask them not to touch our children but sometimes, we have to be mean about it.'

Stephanie, also mother to Lincoln's twin, Lyric, five-year-old twins, John and Carter and Thomas, six, still does not know who passed on the virus to her son. Pictured: Lincoln
You've probably seen posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that say you can self-test for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, by holding your breath for 10 seconds. According to medical experts the Associated Press interviewed, those posts aren't accurate. And it's precisely that type of misinformation the UK government hopes to combat by turning to some of the same people who help spread them: social media influencers.

The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) will provide 500,000 (approximately $623,000) to the Humanitarian-to-Humanitarian (H2H) Network, an organization made up of approximately 50 other groups that fought misinformation during the Ebola outbreak in 2013.

In addition to other initiatives, the network will work with social media influencers to pass on accurate information and advice to young people in Southeast Asia and Africa. Some of the individuals it plans to work with include Bianca Gonzalez, a health expert from the Philippines with more than seven million Twitter followers, and KlikDokter, an Indonesian health blog with approximately four million Facebook followers.

According to the government, a lot of the misinformation spreading on social media is leading people to inaccurate advice. In one instance, the government says people in West Africa received WhatsApp messages claiming to come from the Canadian Health Ministry that said drinking warm water can prevent infection. "These pose a serious risk to health and can speed up the spread of the virus, by stopping people taking simple practical, preventative steps like washing their hands," the DFID said.

Compared to some of the other ways we've seen organizations use the reach of influencers in the past, this is a smart and proactive way to get information to young people who usually don't turn to traditional media for their news coverage. In some ways, however, governments are fighting a losing battle when even newspapers are spreading false claims.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina expressed hope that NC president Farooq Abdullah, who was released from home detention on Friday, would continue with his "good services" for the country and work for the betterment of the people of the Union territory.

He also hoped that the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister would expose Pakistan's nefarious designs, besides keep on hitting "anti- and anti-social elements" who are bent upon causing bloodshed in the valley.

After being in home detention for over seven months, Abdullah was released on Friday, with the government revoking the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) against him.

The 82-year-old Conference (NC) leader was initially taken into preventive detention on August 5 last year, the day the Centre abrogated of the Constitution that granted a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and later slapped with the PSA.

Reacting to the development, Raina said, "I hope he (Abdullah) will contribute in strengthening and maintaining peace, harmony and brotherhood in Jammu and Kashmir."



"Abdullah is a sitting member of Parliament and was the chief minister and a Union minister for years.... There is a constitutional obligation on him to strengthen the Indian nationalism and nationalist forces in Jammu and Kashmir," he told PTI.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said he hoped that after the revocation of PSA, Abdullah would work for the betterment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and to strengthen democracy in the region.

"We also hope that he will expose the nefarious designs of Pakistan and keep on hitting the anti- and anti-social elements, who are bent upon causing bloodshed in the Kashmir valley," he added.

Raina said the NC chief should utilise his energies for the betterment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir as it was his constitutional obligation.

"He is a law-abiding person and I hope that he will keep on continuing with his good services for India and the people of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

Reacting to the development, former Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Kavinder Gupta said, "I hope he (Abdullah) will not indulge in the of hatred and speak for holding a dialogue with Pakistan (for resolution of the Kashmir issue) anymore."



"Until now, there was no interference of these leaders, there was peace in Kashmir. The government might have reached an understanding with him (Abdullah) and reviewed the situation, before taking the decision to release him," he told PTI.

Gupta said he hoped that the former chief minister would talk about peace so that Kashmir was rid of the three-decades-long violence.

"They were behind all this (violence)," he said.

Gupta said the government would also review the cases of other leaders and release them, except those who were facing charges ahead of the resumption of the political process in the Union territory.
Cyprus limits entry to country

In the last hour, the Cypriot government has announced that only its citizens, along with other Europeans working on the island and people with special permits will be allowed into the country for a 15-day period beginning on Sunday.

President Nicos Anastasiades announced the move in a televised address on Friday.

Nationwide school closures have also been extended until 10 April.
Google Store Support, as well as Pixel Support, are warning customers that wait times are going to be longer than usual, due to the Coronavirus.

The Google support team is working with a smaller team of specialists than usual, due to the Coronavirus. Which is resulting in longer wait times. And it is letting everyone know with a big yellow banner when they visit the support site.

Google support isnt the only one working with a limited team

With the threat of the Coronavirus, a lot of companies are working with a smaller team of employees than usual. While some are able to work from home, not everyone is. And employers are telling their employees that if they are sick, to stay home. As coming to work could cause even more issues for the employer.

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Many companies are paying their employees, even if they arent working. As that is one of the main reasons that people come to work sick. They cant afford to stay home and not get paid. This is because the majority of Americans do live paycheck to paycheck. And without a paycheck, they could fall behind on bills and even end up not being able to pay their rent or mortgage.

Google has also told all of its employees in North America to work from home. As have many other tech companies in the US. Including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft. However, there are some employees that have come down with the Coronavirus, which has resulted in less people working on its support team here.

Wait times are still pretty normal though

As of the time of writing this, support times for both Google Store and Pixel support teams are closer to the normal time-frames. Which includes chat being about three to five minutes, a callback in about two minutes and email support between 18 and 24 hours.

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But it is still a good idea by Google to let everyone know that wait times could be longer than usual due to the Coronavirus. As customers can and will get upset, when they have to wait quite a bit longer than usual to get some help.

And Google is pretty good about under-promising and over-delivering. For example, if Google says it might take five minutes to get a response over chat, and its actually closer to two minutes. Youre not going to complain. Youre going to be happy and get your problems solved. So this is a good route for Google to take.
The reason for the delay  the closing of the border between the countries by Slovenia

Open source

Three buses with Ukrainians aiming home are stuck at the border between Slovenia and Italy as 112 Ukraine host reported

The host also reported that the buses are held up as Slovenia closed its border for entrance from Italy. According to people in the buses, the Italian side allowed them to leave its territory but they did not succeed to cross the border of Slovenia.

The Ukrainian diplomats hold talks with Austria to solve the issue. They ask permission for the buses to cross the territory of Austria. There are about 50 people at each bus.

As we reported, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has temporarily suspended work of a number of border-crossing points and terminated pedestrian crossings through a number of border-crossing points, but has left it possible for Ukrainian citizens and people with certificates of temporary admission to return back to Ukraine.

On March 12, the Healthcare Ministry officially confirmed two new cases of Chinese coronavirus in Ukraine. Thus, currently, there are three coronavirus cases in Ukraine.
The cattle rustlers were asleep, resting ahead of a raid, when automatic gunfire tore through their camp. Ambushed by rival herdsmen, encircled and outgunned, they were cut down, one by one. Koba Ngacho was lucky. Shot three times and left for dead, the young rustler was found alive in the carnage, the bullets having missed his vital organs, and airlifted to Juba for surgery. "I'm grateful to be alive," the 20-year-old told AFP as he was wheeled to one of the few operating theatres in South Sudan equipped to deal with complicated gunshot injuries. In February, after months of protracted negotiations, President Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar joined forces in government, drawing a line under a long-running conflict that left around 380,000 people dead. South Sudan's civil war may have been declared over. But armed violence has anything but slowed in the troubled young country awash with guns, and riven by ethnic turmoil. Hospital wards overflow with young men like Ngacho -- not soldiers, but farmers and herdsmen disfigured by machine gun fire in brutal fighting over land, cattle and revenge. These clashes between communities have surged even as violence between Kiir and Machar's forces has eased. Thousands of armed men from the Nuer and Murle communities have been fighting in Jonglei, an eastern state, since February, leaving towns in ashes and untold dead and injured. UN special envoy to South Sudan, David Shearer, who toured the conflict-ravaged region this month, said bodies were lying in the open and women and children had been abducted by both sides. - 'Unconscionable' - "This is unconscionable," he told reporters in Juba on March 9 after visiting Pibor, where 8,000 civilians -- mainly women, children and the elderly -- have sought shelter at a UN base. Large-scale battles between government and rebel forces ebbed considerably in the aftermath of a September 2018 ceasefire between Kiir and Machar, who is once again vice-president in a unity government with his old rival. But in 2019, the International Committee of the Red Cross actually treated more patients for serious gunshot wounds than the previous year -- 769 compared to 658. The fear is that 2020 could follow the same trajectory. Since December, UN peacekeepers have been deployed to Jonglei, greater Tonj in the northwest, and Rumbek, in central South Sudan, where ethnic violence has left scores dead and wounded, and thousands more on the run. Every bed is taken at the ICRC ward at Juba Military Hospital, where Ngacho, a Murle cattle raider from Jonglei, nervously awaits his turn. "I don't know if these wounds will heal, or if I'll walk again," he says. Many here endure multiple rounds of surgery to put their bullet-riddled bodies back together. His Ethiopian surgeon, Dr Belayneh Assefa, assures he'll recover. Thirteen other patients have arrived in the past two days, all victims of a vicious cattle raid, and he is busy. "During the dry season, we will have an influx of patients," Dr Assefa tells AFP, as a team of surgeons operate on a 26-year-old man with gaping gunshot wounds. "He is lucky to have survived this." - Lucky ones - Especially so in South Sudan, where healthcare is non-existent in remote parts, and there are about 180 doctors for a population of 12 million. Only the lucky few gunned down in remote bush conflicts get medevaced to Juba. The rest take their chances at local clinics or simply bleed out in the field. "Natural triage has often worked, rather sadly, before patients can get to definitive care. Patients who would be described as red -- needing immediate surgery -- may well have already perished," said Dr Colin Berry, an ICRC anaesthetist. Left unchecked, these local conflicts risk spiralling further out of control, prolonging misery in a country that has known little but war since its independence from Sudan in 2011. The EU, among others, has urged Kiir and Machar's government to "redouble efforts" to calm tensions. But the pair have been busy haggling over key positions in their administration. A new cabinet was announced late Thursday, but the seats of state governors remain unfilled. "The absence of authority at the state level has caused a vacuum of power and decision-making... emboldening those involved in the recent violent intercommunal clashes," Shearer said. A new army of their combined forces, meanwhile, is not ready to deploy and restore security to areas where lawlessness has allowed violence to flourish. - Revenge - The fighting in Jonglei followed bad floods in the region in late 2019 which wiped out livestock, and left cattle-rearing communities desperately short on assets. Herders like Ngacho resorted to cattle raiding -- a generations-old phenomenon in South Sudan, but one that has turned increasingly deadly. Spears and other traditional weapons have been replaced by easily-available automatic rifles, a poisonous legacy from decades of war. Raids turn into wholesale massacres, spurring vicious cycles of retribution. Margaret Malweyi, the Kenyan head nurse at the ICRC ward, said patients from rival clans flown to Juba were sometimes placed in separate wards so "they don't again start fighting". Others, once recuperated, would "go back home and want revenge", she said. "They get shot again, then they come back here (and) we treat them," Malweyi told AFP, surrounded by young men in wheelchairs and stretchers, nursing grisly wounds. Those who pull through confront an uncertain future. Some have lost limbs, or will never walk again. For others, the trauma leaves indelible scars. "I don't want to go back," said Peter Majok, a softly-spoken 22-year-old, propped up in a wheelchair after being shot by cattle raiders. "If I go home... they'll come and shoot me." Hospital wards overflow with young men disfigured by machine gun fire There are few operating theatres in South Sudan equipped to deal with complicated gunshot injuries South Sudan's civil war may have been declared over but armed violence has not slowed Map of South Sudan.
Australian stocks staged a dramatic recovery in late trade on Friday, recovering earlier losses of more than 8 per cent to close up more than 4 per cent.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finished the session with a mammoth gain of 234.7 points, or 4.4 per cent, at 5539.3.

Having tumbled to 4873.7 in early trade, hitting the lowest level since early 2016 and extending the losses from the record high hit less than a month ago to more than 30 per cent, the index staged a remarkable recovery into the close, gaining more than 10 per cent in the space of 90 minutes.

Its one of those days where everyone is looking for the smoking gun, but in reality we don't need one, said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.

This reeks of portfolio flow where a fund has stepped up and bravely put some money to work and the market is caught on.

The bid through the afternoon has been relentless, resulting in the biggest daily range and reversal off the low ever.

Reflecting the scale of the recovery, the total value of turnover during the session stood at a mammoth $18.2 billion, the highest on record.

All sectors aside from utilities and REITs finished higher, a remarkable outcome considering the losses across all industry groups earlier in the day had exceeded more than 2 per cent, in some cases substantially more.

Despite the late flurry of buying, the benchmark index still shed 10.9 per cent for the week, the second largest decline on record, only surpassed by the 15.6 per cent fall seen in October 2008 during the peak of the GFC.

It was a bright end to an otherwise ugly week for local investors.

The unprecedented market volatility reflects uncertainty over the impact the coronavirus outbreak will have on the global economy, and what policymakers, particularly governments, will be able to do to cushion the blow.

Market sentiment will remain jittery in the near term as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to accelerate, said Tai Hui, chief Asia market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management. For markets to be less anxious, we need to see the number of new infections stabilise, as we did see with China and South Korea. We also need to see fiscal and monetary policy support implementation.

Given the heighted uncertainty, Mr Hui said he is not looking at specific time or valuation to advise investors to jump back into equities, but instead is looking for the right conditions.

John Abernethy, founder and executive director of Clime Asset Management, said that despite elevated uncertainty, serious buyers were slowly returning to buying shares.

Id say most sensible investors are accumulating now on the basis that this will pass within six to nine months, and 2021, 2022 will be growth years for the Australian economy, he said.

However, he acknowledged the threat posed by the coronavirus means investors are in uncharted waters.

Its the first time in living history, and certainly a long time, that its been a health issue which has driven markets down, not an economic or financial issue, Mr Abernethy said.

AMP Capitals chief economist Shane Oliver agrees the investment outlook is extremely uncertain.

I think whats happened is that investors are having trouble trying to price how long the disruption will go for, and what sort of impact that will have on Australian businesses, in terms of them remaining solvent, being able to pay their debts and so on, Dr Oliver said.
Trinity School of Midland has joined Midland Christian in extending spring break for another week.

Trinity officials made the announcement Friday afternoon.

Remote learning for students in preschool through grade 12 will begin March 23, according to an emailed statement.

On-campus classes, as well as all activities and co-curricular activities and meetings through March 30, are cancelled or postponed, according to the release.

Midland College and the University of Texas Permian Basin also have announced spring break extensions.
The smell of death hangs over the centre and not just because the seafood shop puts out bins of dull-eyed fish on ice. Cafe Surry doesnt even bother to replace lightbulbs when they blow now and so Annie and all the others sit in a dim twilight zone on a bench seat patched with red duct tape. Recently, a huge poster was hung outside the building: Surry Hills Residences, it says, beside pictures of food and interior decoration that you might find in fancy magazines. Residences, providores, restaurants, boutiques, offices. Annie doesnt need a posh providore any more than the old Europeans who sit on the benches outside Coles for hours and natter do, any more than Patrick does. The little bearded Irish man spends hours every day leaning up against the counter at Adventure Shoe Repairs Key Cutting and Gifts, talking footy with big, gentle Andrew, the shoe repairer, a Roosters man. Patricks mobility scooter, festooned with Bunnies flags and colours, is parked beside the shop more often than its not. An artist's impression of a re-imagined Surry Hills Shopping Village. Credit:Toga Andrews boss, David, has had his shop here since the early 1980s, when the centre opened as Redfern Mall. Even then, the area was changing: terraces were still cheap, but trendies were moving in. David remembers the 1991 meeting where tenants voted to change the centres name. Gentrification was giving Surry Hills a sheen, and everyone wanted a part of it. David voted against the name change. Its Redfern, he says, still disgusted nearly 30 years later. Some said business improved, but it didnt change how people talked about the centre. Property journalists affixed adjectives to it  infamous, notorious. Others described it with glib monikers  Murder Mall, Methadone Mall. Some dick went a step further and started an Instagram account  @themurdermall. It posted photographs of locals sleeping rough, or sprawled on the footpath out of it. The account promoted T-shirts printed with a sketch of a man looking smashed and the words I survived Murder Mall.

The account promoted T-shirts printed with a sketch of a man looking smashed and the words I survived Murder Mall. But now the developers want to change the way people think about it. Theyre going to keep the heritage-listed, Federation-era former Bank of NSW building on the corner and write a new Surry Hills story. Theyre going to add a curated mix of quality stores and food offerings, a unique mix of residences, Parisian-style laneways and pocket parks and turn one of the citys most degraded areas into a much more inviting environment, a safe place. An architect tendering for the project told a journalist that he thought locals would be pretty keen to see something positive happening there. He said the shopping centre was not contributing to the area. Most days, 80-something Annie walks a kilometre from her home to the centre. Its her lifeline, her safe place. Theres never been a murder here. This is my neighbourhood too, my local shops. Theres nothing scary about it. The noisiest thing about it is its humanity. But still, for years I only ever passed through, grabbing groceries, dropping off shoes for repair, picking up the newspapers. The cafe? I didnt think the coffee would be any good. I didnt stop and so didnt know the half of it. The day I sit down for a toasted cheese sandwich and a vanilla malted milkshake, a fuller picture emerges. Muzak, Little River Bands Lonesome Loser, hums in the distance. I am not the only one alone.

Table for one: a little old lady in black with a bobby pin holding back neat grey hair, eating cream cake, glancing at a magazine with a pretty girl and Greek writing on the cover. Table for one: another little old lady, dishevelled in floppy purple cardigan, boobs to her waist, cheese on toast and a pot of tea, jaw thrusting rhythmically as she chews. Table for one: a thin man in a brown cardigan, hair slicked to his skull, grey in the face, cant be well. At the table next to me a middle-aged woman with short grey hair is on her phone. Hi, its Sue, Sue Buckingham, she says. She flicks through battered notebooks on the table in front of her and says something about a memorial service. They might group around the piano and you can accompany them. Ive got the hymns here, its just simple stuff like Come As You Are  thanks ... God bless, bye bye. Shes brisk. No mucking around. Sue starts to eat her sandwich. I interrupt, introduce myself. There have been too many deaths, she says immediately. Next to her notebooks  turns out theyre her precious diary and address book  is a little camera. A lunchbox is on the table too and she pulls it towards her. Its filled with photographs of people. She tells me about the people: Thats Jenny. Jenny works from half-past-five in the morning at a sheltered workshop for four hours and then comes here. I dont know how many sisters shes got, about six, but they were all fostered separately. Lost touch with each other.

This girl here, Kylie, was very upset recently. Kylies best friend Allison died. Thats Jess. Jess is a newcomer to the lunch and coffee group and tries to help all sorts of people, especially the drinkers down in the park. Lucy. Lucy was on TV a few years ago in a program they did about ice users. People keep saying why on earth is Lucy still alive but nobody knows why Lucys still alive. John, John died at the end of June. His funeral is going to be next Tuesday. He was found deceased in his bed. He was 71. He was obese. Probably a heart attack. He lived with mental illness. Thats Les. Les is really afraid that hes going to be next.

Sharlene, whos a trannie. I remember when Sharlene was Charles. I learn that Sue co-founded Davids Place, a Kings Cross-based community that looks out for the vulnerable and marginalised across the inner-city. It was created to be a place where Jesus would have liked to hang out. But Sue doesnt talk much about religion with the people who come together informally twice a week at Cafe Surry. If people feel they are loved and accepted and can really sink into that, theyre going to be able to do other things, theyre going to be able to reach out and ask for help they might need. If people feel they are loved and accepted ... theyre going to be able to reach out and ask for help they might need. Sue pauses, her attention is on something over my shoulder. Oh, look, this is the local drug dealer coming along, but you didnt hear that from me. I ask her if she means the man with the grey hoodie and tatts. She doesnt. Shes talking about the older guy with a walking stick stopped at the newsagencys lotteries counter. Sue starts to tell me about the next photo in her box but is interrupted. Les speeds over on his motorised scooter and whispers to her. Another man, in a state, is right behind him. Gaz just bashed the shit out of me. Saying that I lied to him, said that  A police officer is behind him. Liam, maybe tell your friend about it later  we need to get your statement.

One day I stop for a chat with David and Andrew at Adventure Shoe Repairs. Patrick is in position, leaning against the counter, and someone else is here too; a big tattooed bloke with a long beard and longer ponytail. A skull and crossbones badge is pinned to his Akubra. On the lapel of his vest is another badge that says white trash. He tells me I can call him Snake. His handshake is bone-crushing. Snake used to be a bouncer in the Cross but hasnt been back in ages. Didnt recognise it last time he went, he says. This is our pub with no beer, Snake says. We lean up here and talk. Andrew lifts his head from examining a sole: Can you write something telling them not to close the centre? Then he shrugs. You cant stop progress. A muted bell goes off somewhere. Thats my medication alarm, Snake says, and fumbles in his pocket. Snake has tears tattooed under his left eye. Its frightening a lot of people, David says of the centres uncertain future. I return to the cafe. I order a cheese, ham and tomato sandwich, a latte. Sue is handing out photographs. I can see now that the photographs are the connective tissue of this place. They start conversations. They give people something to hold on to about themselves that someone else thought was worth capturing. The photographs catch their smiles and the more difficult stuff that lies beneath is, in that moment, forgotten. For years, Sues lunch group has been discussing what they will do when the centre finally closes. Its tricky.

People in this area cant afford an awful lot and yet there was everything here they needed, says Sue. If they replace this place with something trendy people are not going to feel at home and they wont be able to afford the prices. It means theyre not going to have anywhere where they can gather, so they are going to become very isolated. People in this area cant afford an awful lot and yet there was everything here they needed. Sue Buckingham There are indicative videos on the developers website showing the new shopping centre. They feature young, cool people  with friends in restaurants, drinking wine, jogging in parks. They dont look like any of the people Ive met in the shopping centre. No one looks like Les or Liam or Annie. Thin, isolated Annie who, on the day I meet her has taken two buses to visit the gravesites of her husband and only child, a son who mixed with the wrong crowd. You couldnt tell him, she says. I miss the two of them. I loved my husband and son. She doesnt have any brothers or sisters. I look after me-self, she tells me. She says department of housing people havent been for a while to look at the maintenance issues shes reported. I think now that the oversized blue windcheater keeping her warm was probably a charity-shop find.
The Government will introduce a Bill to protect veterans from vexatious legal claims next week, a defence minister has announced.

Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer said he will introduce a Bill next Wednesday "that meets our manifesto commitment on the issue" and warned that days of lawyers "trying to rewrite history in order to make money are over".

But North Down Alliance MP Stephen Farry raised concerns that the proposal "undermines the criminal justice system".

On Armistice Day the Tories promised that if they won the election they would change the law to protect veterans from vexatious legal claims and prosecutions against British soldiers accused of wrongdoing on the battlefield.

This includes against allegations of abuse or unlawful killing.

Tory MP and former chair of the defence committee Julian Lewis asked: "When will the Government be bringing forward the promised legislation, and I have in mind the promise made on Armistice Day last year during the election campaign, to stop the repeated re-investigation of veterans in the absence of any compelling new evidence?"

Mr Mercer replied: "I can confirm to the House that I will be introducing a Bill on Wednesday next week that meets our manifesto commitment on this issue.

"This Prime Minister has made it absolutely clear that the days of lawyers running amok in our services and our veterans' community trying to rewrite history in order to make money are over."

But the issue of what to do with killings that took place during the Troubles has proved controversial.

Mr Farry said: "I do challenge this narrative of vexatious claims being made against veterans, particularly in relation to Northern Ireland.

"It undermines the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland, which has the ability to weed out such claims."

He added: "If we end up putting in place some sort of measure to give unnecessary protection and warping the rule of law, that may end up de-legitimising and undermining the integrity of their service that they are rightly very proud of."

Mr Mercer said he would "tread down this path with utmost care".

Describing it as "a challenge", he added that "what we are going to do is ensure that the balance and fairness in this process is restored so that those who have served their country and done nothing wrong can retire from their military service in peace".
Tequila is easily one of the most popular liquor anywhere in the country and in the world. This party drink is made from agave plants and is exclusively produced in Mexico. Tequila is known for being the main ingredient in a good margarita and for great "liquid courage" shots as well.

Types of Tequila

Blanco tequilas taste the purest and are commonly a blend of earthy and semi-sweet tones. They are rested in stainless steel tanks for no more than 60 days.

Joven tequilas are typically not purely agave. These types are often colored and flavored with caramel, glycerin, and other additives. They were widely popular until the late 1900s where people began to crave tequilas that were higher in quality.

Reposado tequilas are aged for two months in wooden casks. The aging process gives the liquor a nice and mellow flavor that's light on the tongue.

Anejo tequila is often aged in white French oak or bourbon barrels for a year, with some going for three. These liquor tend to taste smooth with a little hint of caramel from the oaks.

Extra-Anejo tequila is also called muy anejo (extra-old). These tequilas spend three years in barrels. The process creates a flavor profile that can rival some of the best and oldest whiskeys in the market.

Drinking Tequila

Tequilas are one of the most versatile drinks in the market. It's often enjoyed as a shot, some enjoy it straight, while some take it with lemon and salt.

Cocktails with tequila as their base are very diverse. It can range from shaken drinks to juice highballs/

This liquor goes great with Mexican food as well as barbecues and summer parties. And what's a party without awesome and unique shot glasses to serve your tequila with? Impress your guests with these one-of-a-kind tequila shot glasses that your neighbors will surely envy you for.

Looking for a fun party gift? This 2-piece mini toilet shot glass set certainly fits the bill. If you're a baker, these shot glasses would make the most perfect cake topper to shock even the calmest of guests. Imagine all the toilet jokes you can crack up with this. Don't forget to say "bottoms up!"

Throw a perfectly pink and extremely posh tequila party with this set of Himalayan Salt shot glasses. Each "glass" is hand-carved to perfection and naturally resists the growth of bacteria. Save up on salt as these give your drinks the extra flavor.

Channel your inner gang-vibe with these literal "mug shot" shot glasses. The set includes big names like Al Capone, John Dillinger, Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano, Machine Gun Kelly, and Pretty Boy Floyd. The glasses are thick and an absolute steal for an affordable price. For maximum experience, wear a clean, black tuxedo before getting drunk.

Get yourself this 3-piece pack of ring shot glasses that are designed for the best bachelorette party experience. These ring pop glasses are made of ceramic and can hold 1.5 oz of liquor each. It's also a great collectible and novelty gift for anyone who loves to party with flair.
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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 08:31 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a396df 1 Business COVID-19,economic-slowdown,stimulus,economic-stimulus-package,finance-ministry,Sri-Mulyani,pre-employment-card Free

The government is speeding up the disbursement of training funds for workers on top of announcing individual and corporate tax breaks, as well as relaxing import restrictions to cushion the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presidential Regulation No. 36/2020, issued last week, will expedite the governments preemployment card initiative, which will subsidize training programs for laid-off workers, Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister secretary Susiwijono Moegiarso said on Thursday.

The program will be launched in the fourth week of March in three regions whose tourism businesses have been severely affected by the drastic drop in Chinese tourists, namely Manado in North Sulawesi, Bali and the Riau Islands. It was previously slated for launch next month in Greater Jakarta.

In line with the President's [Joko Jokowi Widodo] instructions, we will launch the preemployment cards in the fourth week of March. Why? This is part of our effort to combat COVID-19, Susiwijono told reporters in Jakarta.

On Wednesday, the government announced more economic stimulus to minimize the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, including individual and corporate tax breaks, as well as the relaxation of import restrictions.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said workers in the manufacturing industry would not have to pay income tax for six months, while companies would be able to defer their income taxes and import duties for the same length of time. Reimbursement of overpaid taxes would also be expedited.

This is all targeted so that industries can get space in the extremely tight situation. Their burden will really be minimized by the government, Sri Mulyani told reporters in Jakarta after a coordination meeting.

Moreover, hundreds of goods previously restricted for import would be allowed, and the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) would be simplified, she added.

Manufacturing industries have complained of disruptions in the supply of raw materials that have crippled factories across Indonesia. Twenty to 50 percent of raw materials for the countrys industries are sourced from China, Indonesias biggest trade partner.

Sri Mulyani said that the government planned to reduce the number of restricted import goods by up to 50 percent to spur business activities that had been hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. As many as 749 harmonized system (HS) codes are to be scrapped, she added.

This aims to ease the importation of raw materials amid the spread of the coronavirus, she explained.

Items included in the list of restricted import goods include ceramics, soybeans, corn, textiles and textile products, vaccines, health equipment, telecommunication tools and equipment, footwear and food supplements, among many others, according to the Customs and Excise Office website.

The government is to also relax regulations related to the BPOM, Sri Mulyani said without giving more details.

Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said the stimulus involving import taxes was intended to help industries meet their needs for raw materials.

This is related to the import duty for raw materials. In principle, we have already agreed on how much it will cost, Agus said, while declining to provide the figure. We will decide the new economic package in the next few days.

Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said the government was finalizing the supporting regulations to enact the policy.

We hope to implement the stimulus package in April after preparing the legal background, Airlangga said after the same coordination meeting.

The government in February introduced its first Rp 10.3 trillion (US$717.87 million) fiscal stimulus package to support the tourist industry and improve consumer spending to counter the economic impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.

Bank Indonesia has predicted that weakening economic activity, especially tourism, exports and imports, will drag down the countrys economic growth to 4.9 percent.

Sri Mulyani said she estimated that the COVID-19 disruption could shave 0.6 percentage points of the growth off gross domestic product (GDP). Indonesias GDP grew 5.02 percent in 2019, the weakest in four years.

Yustinus Prastowo, the executive director of the Center of Indonesian Taxation Analysis (CITA), said the government could afford to widen its budget-deficit-to-GDP ratio to its self-imposed threshold of 3 percent to provide fiscal room to contain any potential shock stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Right now economic growth needs to be prioritized at the cost of tax revenue, but state budget credibility needs to continue to be maintained because its important, Yustinus said.

Business players welcomed the governments fiscal incentive.

Nonfiscal incentives are also needed in the form of facilitation of debt restructuring. There needs to be a macroprudential policy correction so banks can lend easier, said Shinta Kamdani, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) vice chairwoman for international relations. (est)
In the face of a pandemic of facts, tabloid reporters appear to be self-quarantining to avoid all contact with reality.

"Coronavirus Cures Finally Found!" screams this week's 'National Enquirer' cover, which might be confusing to anyone who read last week's 'Enquirer' claim: "We've found a cure!"

But unlike last week's "cure" (an untested vaccine in development, unproven to work and at least a year from production) this week the mag offers readers a "miracle pill and kitchen treatments that work!"

That's right  you can cure coronavirus with just a few simple ingredients you'll find in your fridge.

"The right foods and vitamins can help attack the virus, some doctors say," reports the expert medical team at the 'Enquirer.'

To cure the virus simply "eat lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans and nuts, which enhance your immunity." Foods high in zinc  meat, shellfish, legumes, seeds and nuts  are "highly recommended." And "herbal tea" is reportedly "a deterrent for the virus."

Presumably the virus comes along, sees you sipping chamomile tea, thinks to itself: "Jesus, that smells awful," and goes off to infect somebody else.

By all means boost your immunity any way you can, but don't expect it to be a "cure" for COVID-19, and even the 'Enquirer' concedes "there is no vaccine for the coronavirus and . . . no known cure."

As for the rag's vaunted cure with a "miracle pill"? That would be a zinc tablet, proven to help combat previous known coronaviruses, but its effects on the novel coronavirus are as yet unknown.

The report concludes: "We can't kill the virus, but we can make your immunity stronger."

Maybe try throwing a legume at the coronavirus when you see it approach. That might work too.

"Coronavirus Is Killing The Pope!" claims the cover of the 'Globe.' " Francis, 83, needs MIRACLE to survive!"

Then again, 'Globe' reporters admit that they have no idea whether the pontiff is COVID-19-positive or not. The Pope simply cancelled some public services and has admitted to having a cold  allowing the 'Globe' team of psychically-trained medical experts to report on the "shocking fear" that the Pope has coronavirus.

Italy has certainly been hit hard by the coronavirus, so naturally "alarm bells clanged when the pope was seen coughing." No doubt tabloid thoughts and prayers are with the Holy Father.

The Royal soap opera continues with Prince Harry and Meghan in their final episodes on the long-running hit show before leaving to star in their own spin-off series: 'Harry & Meghan: SVU' (Self-Victimized Unit).

In this week's episode the Queen is doing a lot of begging and pleading behind closed doors, speaking confidentially to Harry and Meghan while only inviting reporters from the 'Enquirer' and 'Us' magazine to sit in on the conversation.

At least we now know what Her Majesty and Prince Harry discussed in last week's four-hour heart-to-heart chat: "Queen begs Harry: Divorce Meghan & Save Our Family," reveals the 'Enquirer.'

Why would anyone, least of all the Queen, think that losing the sixth in line to the throne  soon to be eclipsed by King Charles III and eventually by King William V and his brood of heirs  would destroy the Royal Family is beyond comprehension. It's certainly bad PR optics to see any defections from The Firm, but we've seen 'Dynasty' successfully spin off 'The Colbys,' 'The Cosby Show' spin off 'A Different World,' and 'Breaking Bad' spin off 'Better Call Saul,' so 'Harry & Meghan: SVU' stands at least a decent chance in the ratings.

In the 'Enquirer' version of events, the Queen is gunning for Meghan: "She told Harry dumping his American bride was the only way to save the royal family  and himself!" The Queen believes Meghan is using her "royal connections to become queen of Hollywood." Certainly sounds like something the Queen would say, if her script was being penned by the writers' room from 'Days Of Our Lives.'

In true Rashomon style, 'Us' mag offers a different version of events inside the same palace room: "Queen "Begs Harry: 'Please Don't Go!'

The mag's cover promises to reveal "Harry's regrets & cruel snub to William. 'Selfish' Meghan's latest act of betrayal."

Alas, like TV's 'The Batchelor' always fails to live up to its promise of "the most dramatic season ending ever," 'Us' fails to deliver the goods.

Harry's regrets? "Harry misses his brother and Kate." Could that be any more anti-climactic?

Harry's "cruel snub" to William? There was "a lot of distance" between the brothers at a recent Commonwealth Service. But the mag reports that "Harry flashed a warm smile" while "William offered a quick head nod, then he and his wife turned their backs on Harry and Meghan." Which sounds more like William snubbing Harry, despite what the scriptwriters intended.

As for Meghan's "latest act of betrayal"? She dared to post Instagram photos of her visit to London's National Theatre on the same day that Prince Charles' wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, gave a speech about domestic violence, stealing Camilla's thunder. Not the most politic behavior, perhaps, but hardly a betrayal on the level of shooting J.R., though you wouldn't know it from reading 'Us' magazine.

The 'Globe' devotes its main cover story to the renegade Royals: "Unwanted & Unwelcome  Harry & Meghan Shunned!"

But no, it's not a repeat of past stories claiming that the Royal duo have been "exiled" and "banished" from the U.K.

This week the Royal couple are "West Coast Pariahs," supposedly unwanted in Vancouver and Hollywood.

Yet far from being shunned by locals on Vancouver Island where they have been living in Canada in recent weeks, Harry and Meghan have been embraced by residents who have fiercely protected their privacy and respected their desire not to be hassled. A recent poll reported that a majority of Canadians don't want to pay the couple's hefty security bill, which could be as much as $25 million a year  but that's not quite the same as shunning them. One might be quite happy to have a nice dinner out with Harry and Meghan, but that doesn't mean you want to pick up the bill.

And in Hollywood Meghan is allegedly "stirring resentment . . . by scheming to become the highest-paid actress in the world."

What actress wouldn't dream of becoming the planet's highest-paid star? If that spurred resentment in Hollywood nobody there would be speaking to anyone else.

What's more, after a career that rose by the age of 35 to the modest backwater of cable TV legal drama 'Suits,' Meghan is probably the last person to imagine that at the advanced age of 38 she's likely to become a leading lady commanding "$38 million" for every role, let alone becoming "a Tinseltown superhero" in a blockbuster action adventure movie. Don't hold your breath waiting to see Meghan replace Gal Gadot as the next Wonder Woman.

The 'Globe' team of medical experts bring us a strangely true story, yet still manages to get it wrong under the headline: "No-Booze Gal Pees Pints of Alcohol!"

Physicians at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center diagnosed a diabetic patient with high glucose levels and a yeast infection in her bladder as the world's first recognized sufferer of urinary auto-brewery syndrome  she brewed alcohol in her bladder.

The unnamed patient was repeatedly denied a liver transplant because doctors thought she wouldn't quit drinking after finding traces of ethanol in her urine, despite her protestations that she didn't consume alcohol.

Tests showed that the high sugar and yeast content in her bladder was fermenting alcohol  but it's not as if her urine was pure ethanol, and so she wasn't peeing pints of booze despite the report's wishful thinking.

Thankfully we have the crack investigative team at 'Us' magazine to tell us that Selena Gomez wore it best, that Sarah Michelle Gellar describes herself as "empathetic and kind," that actress Britt Robertson carries sunglasses, keys and cleansing wipes in her Jo Ann Page Leather backpack, and that the stars are just like us: they haul their luggage, walk their dogs, and take public transportation. Thrilling, as ever.

As usual, the week's strangest tabloid story is a rarity, in that it's apparently true.

The 'Globe' reports that nine-year-old Brianna Smith of Lockport, Illinois, has been kept awake at night by voices emanating from her bedroom walls.

It turns out that the girl's home acts as a giant receiver for the local Christian radio station AM 1160.

The station sent out an engineer who ripped apart the wall but couldn't find the wiring and metal serving as an impromptu speaker, and the noises continue.

But what is the world coming to when a Christian radio station won't claim that the sound of evangelists preaching gospel in a bedroom wall isn't an Act of God?

The family has been advised to hire an expert broadcast engineer to resolve the problem. That's just the sort of thinking that's putting perfectly good exorcists out of business.

Onwards and downwards . . .
Gladys Berijiklian looked horrified when Scott Morrison ignored coronavirus advice and went in for a handshake on Friday.

The NSW Premier and the Prime Minster were meeting with medical professionals to discuss Australia's response to the spread of the virus.

Ms Berijiklian appeared shocked when Mr Morrison tried to shake her hand during the meeting which was being held at Parramatta Stadium, in Sydney's west.

Images showed Ms Berijiklian appearing shocked as Mr Morrison went in for the handshake at Parramatta Stadium, in Sydney's west

However she quickly recovered and the pair instead gripped forearms. The pair also shared a laugh after the awkward moment.

Advice from bodies such as NSW Health suggests people avoid shaking hands, hugging and kissing others.

Australia's chief medical officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, last week disputed that advice.

He said the advice is for people who have recently been to heavily infected areas such as mainland China or Italy.

However he did say people should exercise caution and not touch other's faces.

However she quickly recovered and the pair instead gripped forearms. The pair also shared a laugh after the awkward moment

NSW HEALTH ADVICE FOR CORONAVIRUS Avoid shaking hands, hugging and kissing

Stay 1.5m away from others

Avoid small gathers in enclosed spaces

Stay away from gatherings of more than 500 people

Avoid visiting vulnerable people - including people in hospitals, aged care homes or infants

Wash hands for 20 seconds

Practice social distancing Advertisement

Following the Council of Australian Governments meeting the federal government announced new measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Mr Morrison announced the government will effectively ban 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday - and has warned Australians not to travel overseas.

'We will be advising against organised, non-essential gatherings of persons of 500 people or greater from Monday,' Mr Morrison said.

But Mr Morrison stressed the government's ban only relates to 'non-essential organised gatherings' and doesn't include schools, university lectures or catching public transport.

He said people should go about their 'normal everyday business'.

The move has been hailed by infectious diseases experts, who say it will be critical in slowing the virus's spread and help prevent overloading hospital intensive care units.




Jeonju, a southwestern South Korean city, said Friday it will pay half a million won each to about 50,000 citizens suffering economic losses from the coronavirus outbreak.







The capital of North Jeolla Province said about 50,000 economically vulnerable citizens, including unemployed people, will receive an "anti-disaster basic income" of 527,158 won (US$430) per person, as part of its efforts to overcome the city's economic fallout from COVID-19.







The local government said the cash will be paid in the form of debit cards in April and should be spent in the city within three months.







Jeonju is a city about 250 kilometers south of Seoul with a population of 650,000.







It will be the first time for a South Korean local government to pay residents a basic income related to the coronavirus outbreak.







The city's announcement came amid the ongoing debate on the provision of anti-COVID-19 basic income, triggered by South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo who recently proposed doling out 1 million won per person to all South Koreans to help overcome the coronavirus crisis.







Lee Jae-myung, governor of Gyeonggi Province, has expressed support for Kim's proposal, while Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has suggested providing gift certificates worth 600,000 won each to households in the low- and middle-income brackets.







The COVID-19 outbreak has so far infected nearly 8,000 people and killed about 70 in South Korea, wreaking havoc on small businesses nationwide and driving many of them to the brink of their worst-ever crisis as people are increasingly staying away from public places.







Jeonju and the surrounding North Jeolla have so far reported seven confirmed cases of the epidemic.







According to Jeonju officials, the municipal council on Friday approved the city government's emergency supplementary budget of 55.7 billion won, including 26.4 billion won earmarked for the basic income payment.







The city government requested a per capita basic income of 500,000 won, but the council increased the amount to over 527,000 won, they noted.







It will separately spend 27 billion won on financially supporting the city's small businesses hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.







"It is hoped that the (basic income) will greatly encourage low-income households suffering from the economic crisis. Non-regular and part-time workers and other citizens facing income reductions will be led to overcome the crisis through the support measures," said Jeonju Mayor Kim Seung-su. (Yonhap)


Christchurch (New Zealand) (AFP) - New Zealand's leader Jacinda Ardern admitted Friday there was "much more" her country could do to tackle white supremacists a year after the Christchurch mosque massacres.

Ardern was widely praised for her compassion towards the Muslim community after a lone gunman attacked two mosques on March 15 last year, killing 51 in New Zealand's worst modern mass shooting.

But she said some in the South Pacific nation continued to espouse the views of the Australian attacker, a self-avowed white supremacist who targeted Muslims at Friday prayers.

"New Zealand is not free of those groups who define themselves as extremist white supremacists, those groups exist here," she told reporters.

"The responsibility we have is to combat not only that existence, but the precursors to that existence. There is much more that we can do," she said.

Ardern, who was speaking ahead of a national memorial service on Sunday, said the best way to honour victims was to call out racism, bullying and discrimination.

"People will feel safe when they feel supported," she said.

"When they feel the community is looking after them and when they feel they are not facing discrimination or jibes in the street or comments that make them feel unsafe."

Ardern said the March 15 attacks "fundamentally changed" New Zealand, she hoped for the better.

"I would like to think there is a growing resolve amongst New Zealanders that we wish to be defined by what we are not as much as what we are," she said.

Her remarks come after police arrested a 19-year-old man this month over a threat against one of the mosques attacked last year.

"It is unfathomable to me that, after everything the Muslim community has experienced, we have people who are... (making) threats against our Muslim community," she said.

- 'The peaceful way' -

Ardern later joined more than 1,000 Muslims for their Friday prayers as the Al Noor and Linwood mosques held a combined service and were joined by fellow Muslims from around New Zealand.

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Nasir Ali, who flew in from Auckland with his family, said it was important to share the "sorrow and hardship" and keep the memory alive.

"We need to keep it on the radar that this sort of tragedy and this sort of extremist ideology does exist and we need to continue to be vigilant about it," he said.

Farid Ahmed, whose wife was killed by the gunman, said 12 months on he was still at a loss to understand why the killing occurred.

Ahmed has publicly forgiven the gunman and said he refuses to be cowed.

"I feel I could die anytime and I should not be afraid because I have got my freedom not to be afraid. No one or nothing can take that away," he said.

"The lesson is that hate does not solve any problem. If there are differences there is another way and that is the peaceful way."

"We should talk, we should dialogue, we should ask one another questions and we should not be afraid of one another."

Taj Mohammed Kamran, who was shot three times while his friend beside him was killed by the gunman, said he felt safe at the Friday prayers because of the large police presence.

"But I was sad because my friend was not there," he added.

The alleged mosque attacker Brenton Tarrant, an Australian national, is due to go on trial on June 2 facing terrorism charges plus 51 counts of murder and 40 of attempted murder over the killings.
Hundreds of people gathered for Friday prayers in New Zealand (March 13) to honor the lives lost in the attack on two mosques in Christchurch last year.

The shootings left 51 people dead and widely seen as an attack on the Muslim community.

Aya al-Umari's brother Hussein died in the attack.

She gazed at the flowers and tributes outside the Al Noor mosque, but could not bring herself to go inside.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) SISTER OF HUSSEIN AL-UMARI, AYA AL-UMARI, SAYING:

"It really feels like yesterday, the emotions are still raw. We live it day in and day out. But this year-on anniversary, it's just an opportunity for us to come together as a country and reflect on the hate that happened which caused the loss of lives, and ultimately my brother as well."

In an emotional press conference on Friday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that the country has 'fundamentally changed' since the shootings, but that there is much more work to be done.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER JACINDA ARDERN, SAYING:

"The challenge for us will be ensuring that in our every day actions and every opportunity where we see bullying, harassment, racism, discrimination - calling it out as a nation. That is when we'll show that we each individually have a role to play in making sure that New Zealand has fundamentally changed for the better."

Ardern was praised across the globe last year for her response to the attacks.

In their wake, the country outlawed the weapons used by the gunman within weeks.

Ardern said a Sunday memorial marking the anniversary is still supposed to go ahead as scheduled, but acknowledged that could change if the coronavirus situation in New Zealand grows worse.

Brenton Tarrant, an Australian national, faces 92 charges related to the Christchurch attacks.

He has pleaded not guilty and will face trial in June.
President Franklin D. Roosevelts infamous February 1942 Executive Order 9066, authorizing the internment of approximately 120,000 persons of Japanese descent from the West Coast  citizens and aliens alike  remains a tremendous blight on the nations history. Yet, virtually unremembered is that on March 13, 1942, Roosevelt issued an order that could have led to the evacuation and ultimate internment of 160,000 persons of Japanese descent from what was then the Territory of Hawaii. (Statehood came in 1959.)

But that order was thwarted, thanks to a combination of circumstances and individuals. This moment offers a valuable reminder that the lessons of history are found not only in events that happened, but also in those that never came to pass.

Following the Pearl Harbor attack, the U.S. Army placed Hawaii under martial law with suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Military authorities thus wielded tremendous powers over all aliens and citizens never duplicated on the West Coast. Fears of an actual Japanese invasion there were soundly grounded. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, planned to annihilate American aircraft carriers at the Battle of Midway and then seize the Hawaiian islands and use their civilian population of over 460,000 as a bargaining chip to secure a quick negotiated peace. In addition, the Roberts Commission Report on Pearl Harbor had publicly branded persons of Japanese descent on Hawaii as disloyal. Although the Commission received conflicting testimony, they chose to include in their public report only language implicating persons of Japanese descent in aiding the Japanese attack. The historian David Kennedy has identified this portion of the Roberts Commission Report as the decisive blow leading to the West Coast internment. Editorial opinion had run about five to one favoring fair treatment of the Japanese prior to the Roberts Commission report. After its publication, editorials dramatically pivoted to six to one against.

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In Washington, Navy Secretary Frank Knox and the President were set to treat Hawaiis Japanese population the same way as their mainland counterparts. Serious examination fell upon schemes that either the Japanese could be uprooted from Oahu and relocated to another island or alternatively shipped to camps on the mainland. But the size of Hawaiis population of Japanese descent, numerically and proportionately, created diverse tugs on wartime policies. Extensive pre-war investigations convinced local Army and FBI authorities that they had identified those of suspect loyalty. Further, General Walter Short, the Army commander prior to Pearl Harbor, had announced that so long as they remained loyal, the Japanese population would be treated fairly. Shorts replacement, Lt. Gen. Delos C. Emmons, reaffirmed this policy on Dec. 21, 1941, after a careful investigation confirmed there had been no act of sabotage and only one act of disloyalty on the small island of Niihau Island, where a Nisei (first-generation born in the U.S.) husband and wife had aided a downed Japanese pilot. The local Hawaiian population killed the pilot in an altercation and the Nisei husband committed suicide. Local U.S. authorities rightly dismissed the possibility that this event was evidence of a larger pattern of disloyalty.

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Other factors also played important roles in preventing internment in Hawaii. First, Gen. George C. Marshall, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, informed Gen. John J. DeWitt, the Armys West Coast commander, that a mass evacuation of Japanese citizens and aliens from Hawaii might impose shipping demands that would damage the urgent war effort by diverting men and materials. Then there was the relatively tolerant racial climate in multi-ethnic Hawaii and the key role people of Japanese descent  about a third of the total population  played in the local economy. Moreover, while the proportion of persons of Japanese descent was incomparably higher in Hawaii than on the West Coast, the reinforcements rushed to the islands had radically changed the ratio between persons of Japanese descent and soldiers. By June 1942, the Army garrison alone numbered 122,000 men (i.e. not counting sailors or Marines), about one soldier for every four civilians.

But in this story the real unsung hero is Emmons. Historians who have examined his conduct concluded that while Emmons gave lip service to the need for an evacuation, he really staged a shrewdly calculated deliberate delaying action, raising one obstacle after another to any mass evacuation scheme. This required no small degree of moral courage. His predecessor, Gen. Short, had been relieved of command after Pearl Harbor and vilified for his failures. If Emmons had been a soldier of lesser character, he might have sought to win favor and elevation in rank or position by appearing a willing hand implementing the orders from Washington. The path he followed carried no small risk of having his career blighted or ended by obstructing Washingtons plan. But he held to his course of preventing mass evacuation. He was also fortunate. The U.S. Navys victory at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 lifted the threat of invasion. By July, Emmons proclaimed the conduct of Hawaiis Japanese population was highly satisfactory. In the end, after scaling down the target figures drastically, Emmons transferred only 1,875 Hawaiian residents of Japanese ancestry to the mainlandprotecting the other 98%.

Sometimes it is not the path history takes but the one not taken that teaches the most important and enduring lessons.

W.W. Norton

Richard B. Frank is the author of the recently published Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War, July 1937-May 1942.
The worsening coronavirus outbreak gripping the nation has prompted some of President Trumps closest allies and aides to self-quarantine at home  while other prominent supporters continue to minimize the risk in public.

Ivanka Trump and Attorney General William Barr worked from home Friday, the White House reported, after Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton announced on Twitter that he had tested positive for the coronavirus after developing symptoms of COVID-19. Both the presidents daughter and the Attorney General met with Dutton in Washington on March 5 in Washington.

But when interviewed Friday on Fox & Friends, Liberty University president and Trump confidant Jerry Falwell Jr. made his case that fears about the coronavirus have been overblown and are being used against the president.

Its just strange to me how many are overreacting. The H1N1 virus in 2009 killed 17,000 people; it was the flu also, I think, and there was not the same hype, Falwell said. You just didnt see it on the news 24/7, and it makes you wonder if theres a political reason for that. You know, impeachment didnt work and the Mueller report didnt work, and Article 25 didnt work, so maybe now this is their next ... attempt to get Trump.

H1N1 was an unusually virulent flu virus. COVID-19 is not a form of flu.

President Trump with Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. (Steve Helber/AP)

Falwell then wondered aloud whether the coronavirus was a Christmas present from North Koreas Kim Jong Un and the Chinese government.

It really is something strange going on, he said, his voice hoarse from an apparent cold.

Conservative radio host and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Rush Limbaugh has, for weeks, also been portraying the coronavirus as nothing more serious than the common cold.

This, Im telling you, when I tell you  when Ive told you that this virus is the common cold, when I said that, it was based on the number of cases, Limbaugh said on his March 11 broadcast. Its also based on the kind of virus this is. Why do you think this is COVID-19? This is the 19th coronavirus. Theyre not uncommon.

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In fact, while there are seven different types of coronaviruses that affect humans  some of which do cause more mild cold symptoms  COVID-19 is short for Coronavirus Disease 2019, the year it was first identified.

A day later, Limbaugh suggested that the hype surrounding the coronavirus was a chance for Trumps enemies to destroy the U.S. economy for the benefit of the Democratic Party.

Robert Jeffress, a Texas preacher who has been one of Trumps most visible evangelical supporters, as of Friday was planning to hold a signing for his latest book, Courageous, at his 13,000-seat First Baptist megachurch in Dallas on Sunday.

Radio personality Rush Limbaugh. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

But the response to the virus from Trumps most ardent defenders on Capitol Hill has been markedly more cautious.

Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have gone into self-quarantine after coming into contact with persons who have tested positive for the virus.

Cruz, who first came into contact with a person infected with the virus at the Conservative Political Action Conference, extended his self-quarantine on Friday after learning he had met and shaken hands with a Spanish politician in his office who has since tested positive for COVID-19.

Im still not feeling any symptoms. Im consulting with medical officials. But, for the same reasons I initially self-quarantined  out of an abundance of caution and to give everyone peace of mind  I am extending the self-quarantine to March 17, Cruz said in a statement. COVID-19 is a serious public health hazard. All of us should resist panic, and we should listen to the doctors and the science. Medical professionals tell us social distancing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of this virus, and we should take every step possible to protect our health and be safe.

On Thursday, Graham announced that after spending the weekend at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, he had undergone a test for the virus and gone into self-quarantine. Graham interacted with an aide to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who later tested positive for the virus. Trump was also photographed standing next to the official.

In the House, Trump supporters Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., have all self-quarantined.

Gaetzs case has drawn additional interest because he traveled with Trump on Air Force One to a fundraiser in Orlando, and seemed to mock those who had expressed concern over the virus by wearing a gas mask while at work in the Capitol building.

Reviewing the coronavirus supplemental appropriation and preparing to go vote. pic.twitter.com/wjJ4YY4VZz  Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 4, 2020

A day after posting the gas-mask photo, Gaetz responded to the news of the first death from coronavirus in Florida, of a person who lived in his district.

I am extremely saddened to learn of the first fatality on 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. It is important to know that this individual was quarantined shortly after developing symptoms, Gaetz continued, adding, Please continue to take necessary precautions to minimize your exposure to any illness, including coronavirus.

The president and vice president have not been tested for the coronavirus, according to the White House.

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 Monday statement.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Industrial property giant and the country's largest listed trust Goodman Group has raised 1 billion ($1.7 billion) through the sale of assets in central Europe in line with its strategy of focusing on major capital cities.

It will use the funds to increase its exposure in Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Italy. Goodman sold the warehouses, based in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, to European-based logistics group GLP.

Goodman is one of the major landlords across the world for online giant Amazon. In Sydney, Amazon is based at the Goodman Centenary Distribution Centre in Moorebank.

Amazon's warehouse at Goodman Centenary Distribution Centre in Moorebank, Sydney.

Philippe Van der Beken, chief executive of Goodman Europe, which owned the properties in partnership with the Goodman Group, said there remains strong demand for industrial property. "We will continue to focus on owning high-quality properties and building out our significant development pipeline in these markets, where barriers to entry are high and land is scarce," he said.
13 Mar 2020, 12:49 PM

COVID-19 claims first life in India; global death toll touches 4,600Several days after the first positive case of novel coronavirus was reported in India, the country on Thursday reported the first death of a 76-year-old man from Kalburgi, Karnataka. The deceased, named Siddiq, had recently travelled to Australia. He died on his way from Hyderabad to Karnataka, and doctors were treating him for symptoms like breathlessness, cold and cough. With this, the number of infected persons in India has touched 79, including one death.

Yes Bank fallout: RBI cautions states against abandoning private banks

In the wake of Yes bank crisis, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stepped in to restore faith in private banks. After its action against Yes Bank, the central bank noticed that some state governments had advised bodies under them to move their deposits and accounts to 'more' secure public sector banks. Reacting to this development, the RBI has written to state governments, advising them to not panic.

Coronavirus: Amazon restricts sales of hand sanitizers and face masks because of swindling prices

At a time when prices for hand sanitizers and face masks are on an all-time surge, Amazon has taken a stand. The e-commerce platform has started restricting the types of sellers on its platform. All products pertaining to coronavirus -- face masks, hand sanitizers, disinfecting wipes and sprays, isopropyl alcohol which are sold by third party sellers are being restricted, The Verge reports. According to Amazon, the remaining inventories of these products in its fulfilment centers are eligible for reimbursement of the return of disposal fees

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's wife tests positive for coronavirus

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie, are in self-isolation after she fell ill and was tested for the coronavirus, while school was canceled in Ontario to limit the spread of the outbreak. Justin Trudeau, 48, is exhibiting no symptoms. Working from home, he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and joined a special Cabinet meeting on the coronavirus by phone, his spokesman said on Twitter.

Coronavirus outbreak: First batch of 120 evacuees from Iran to reach Jaisalmer today

The first batch of 120 Indians will reach Jaisalmer today from Iran. The evacuees will be quarantined at the Army facility, a defence spokesperson said. Another batch of 250 people will be airlifted on March 15 and will be quarantined at the Army facility in Jaisalmer. The Ministry of Defence has set up seven more quarantine facilities for coronavirus patients.

Retail inflation falls to 6.58% in February as food prices cool down

Retail inflation, calculated on the basis on Consumer Price Index, slipped down to 6.58 per cent in February as prices of food came down sharply, showed data released by National Statistics Office (NSO) on Wednesday. This comes as a relief to the Indian economy, which registered 7.59 per cent retail inflation in January.

Also read: Coronavirus: Wuhan reports single digit new cases for second day straight
Early Friday morning, Donald Trump took to Twitter to let the world know exactly who was responsible for the U.S.'s disastrous response to the on-going coronavirus outbreakthe Centers for Disease Control and former president Barack Obama. He claimed that the CDC knew it "would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic" and that Obama "made changes that only complicated things further." This is after, in 2018, his administration dismantled the global health security team left in place by the Obama administration to confront pandemics like this, and cut 80 percent of the CDC's efforts to prevent global outbreaks.

But Trump claims that under his leadership, the CDC is now in shipshape: "Their response to H1N1 Swine Flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now. The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!"

Like many of Trump's statements about how his administration is handling the COVID-19 outbreak, this isn't accurate. The Department of Health and Human Services, for example, has been imposing extremely strict guidelines for who can and can't access the limited coronavirus tests available, essentially guaranteeing that people only get tested once they've already developed symptoms and causing delays that likely resulted in hundreds more people getting infected.

It's particularly ironic that Trump brings up the H1N1 outbreak of 2009 though, which the Obama administration declared a national emergency. Commonly called swine flu, it was a kind of influenza that resulted in 12,000 deaths in the U.S. alone. As states struggled to deal with the spread of the disease, the federal government loosened restrictions so that state governments could use Medicaid funds to help with testing. Right now, the Trump administration is stonewalling that same process for the coronavirus, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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Medicaid is the federal and state program that helps poor people get health care, and it's a massive safety net with tough restrictions for how it can be used. The Trump administration hasn't taken any steps to help states access the funds for the coronavirus outbreak, despite the fact that it's been made available in the past for other disasters, like after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and the H1N1 outbreak. Per the Times:

One reason federal health officials have not acted appears to be President Trumps reluctance to declare a national emergency. Thats a key step that would clear the way for states to get Medicaid waivers to more nimbly tackle coronavirus, but it would conflict with Trumps repeated efforts to downplay the seriousness of the epidemic. Another element may be ideological: The administration official who oversees Medicaid, Seema Verma, head of the governments Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has been a champion of efforts by conservative states to trim the number of people enrolled in Medicaid.

Seema Verma was appointed to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) after a stint working as a consultant for vice president Mike Pence back when he was governor of Indiana. In Pence's Indiana, she helped push a plan that expanded access to Medicaid for childless adults, but only under a waiver that allowed the state to start charging premiums. Verma has spent years helping conservatives find ways to undermine public health programs like Medicaid, as Mother Jones exhaustively detailed last year. Her work at CMS so far has consisted largely of finding ways to let states avoid using Medicaid money, like inventing state-imposed spending caps, which constrict the flow of funds without the administration explicitly cutting the budget for Medicaid. Under her leadership, CMS has approved multiple requests by Republican-led states to start imposing work requirements for Medicaid, and in Arkansas alone that's expected to strip health care from 30,700 to 48,300 people.

Speaking to Fox News on Thursday night, Verma repeatedly refused to answer whether or not America would be facing a shortage of ventilators and intensive care units as the current outbreak escalates. Health professionals coordinating the outbreak response in Italy recently published a letter saying that hospitals there were overwhelmed due to "a very high number of ICU admissions, almost entirely due to severe hypoxic respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation." Each time Verma was explicitly asked about equipment shortages, she responded instead by praising Trump.

According to the Times, state leaders are likely unwilling to criticize Trump's coronavirus response out of fear that he'll lash out at them personally or even deny their state funds in the future. In February, Washington state governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, tweeted, "I just received a call from @VP Mike Pence, thanking Washington state for our efforts to combat the coronavirus. I told him our work would be more successful if the Trump administration stuck to the science and told the truth." Speaking to reporters later at the CDC in Atlanta, Trump said, "I told [Mike Pence] not to be complimentary of that governor because that governor is a snake. So Mike may be happy with him but I'm not, OK?"

Heart of An Assassin: How Daniel Craig Changed James Bond Forever

For our money, he's the best Bond yeta searching soulful actor who managed to turn the campy secret agent into a three-dimensional character. Now as the world gears up for Daniel Craig's final film as 007 nears, he offers some rare reflection on the franchise he redefined and the icon he reimagined.

Originally Appeared on GQ
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In a country with the formal trappings of a democracy, Russian President Vladimir Putin has held onto power for over 20 years while adhering to the letter of the law, or at least the constitution as it applies to the presidency -- and arguably even to its spirit.

This time, it's different.

When he stepped out of the Kremlin in 2008 and back in four years later, Putin was abiding by the rules and using a loophole -- as he essentially called it with a snicker this past December, when he offered his first hint that big changes to the constitution were coming -- that was entirely legal and certainly not designed with him in mind.

In 1993, when Russia adopted its post-Soviet constitution, Putin was head of the external relations committee at the St. Petersburg mayor's office and was perhaps best-known for a legislative probe that called for his firing over an alleged multimillion-dollar kickback scheme.

True, placeholder President Dmitry Medvedev's move to change the constitution months after his inauguration in 2008, extending future presidential terms to six years, did turn out to be tailored to Putin -- who would be facing the end of his presidency this May if terms were still four years long, like in the United States.

But other than that, it was all done by the book -- which is what Olympic pole-vault champion and Putin supporter Yelena Isinbayeva called the Russian Constitution after she was appointed to a committee charged with handling the changes: "a very important book."

There was, of course, a great deal of anger over Putin's decision to return to the Kremlin in 2012. The September 2011 announcement that he and Medvedev would trade places the following year sparked protests that grew larger after a December Duma election that was marred by allegations of widespread fraud in favor of the United Russia party, which is Putin's main political lever nationwide.

2008, 2024 -- 2036?

He weathered those protests, however, securing a six-year term in March 2012 and then, as expected, another one in 2018.

That set up the same problem he faced in 2008, with his more advanced age adding a twist: If he were to sit out the 2024 election and run again in 2030, he would be 77 years old at the start of a new six-year term.

Putin likes to use the Russian expression "Feel the difference," often pausing for effect after uttering it, and there is a palpable difference between the path he took in 2008 and the one he has laid out for himself long in advance of 2024.

Back then, he adhered to the existing constitution, something he has seemed very careful to do until now. This time, the constitution is being altered for the express purpose of giving him the option of remaining in power until May 2036 -- when he will be 83 and, if he is still president, will have the longest reign in Russia since Peter the Great.

Putin will presumably still claim that he is adhering to both the letter and spirit of the law. In 2008, he said he had decided on his first day as president that he would "not violate the existing constitution." And in fact, he hasn't violated the existing constitution this time --- he is changing it instead.

He is also taking great pains to make it all look not only legal but unremarkable. In his appearance at the State Duma on March 10 to back a proposal that he be allowed to run again, he made statements that seemed aimed at portraying an obviously momentous change in the constitution as a run-of-the-mill procedural issue -- but that it seems safe to say fooled nobody.

Precondition Or Punch Line

First, he rejected the more straightforward of two proposals delivered by Valentina Tereshkova, the former cosmonaut who was the first woman in space and is now a ruling-party lawmaker -- that presidential term limits be scrapped altogether. Then, in backing her second proposal -- that the adoption of an amended constitution set the needle on the number of terms he has served back to zero -- he said it would be fine as long as it is approved the Constitutional Court.

For Putin's opponents, and many other Russians, that sounded much more like a punch line than a precondition.

Even senior officials such as Medvedev have voiced concern that Russian courts are beholden to the executive branch. And the chairman of the Constitutional Court, Valery Zorkin, happens to have been one of the most prominent figures to call for constitutional changes since Putin's reelection in 2018 thrust the "2024 Question" to the fore.

An opinion article Zorkin wrote for the official government newspaper a few months after Putin's inauguration was seen by some analysts as a sign that Putin was toying with the idea of changing the constitution to prolong his tenure in office.

Back To Zero

Meanwhile, much of the procedure by which Putin's constitutional amendments will go from submission to the Duma to adoption as law in just over three months -- and about six weeks in the case of the amendment allowing him to rule until 2036 -- is essentially made up, legal experts say.

If the idea of an impartial decision by the Constitutional Court came as a punch line, the premise behind the rule that will enable Putin to run for two more terms if he chooses was widely treated like a joke. And critics unleashed a hailstorm of biting humor in response, posting mocking memes playing on the word used to describe resetting his term count to zero: "obnuleniye,'" or annulment.

One Facebook post -- later removed -- showed Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin's tomb on Red Square, but bearing the word "Obnulenin" instead of just Lenin.

An opposition deputy showed up for the Moscow City Duma vote on Putin's constitutional changes wearing a T-shirt with a crude mashup mixing "obnuleniye" with a slang word meaning "f***ed up."

There were also jabs referencing the coronavirus pandemic, including one that went: "Coronavirus quarantine means Putin is barred from leaving the presidency until 2036."

Peter The Great And The Point Of No Return

If Putin does extend his stretch as president or prime minister until then, he will be Russia's longest-ruling leader since Tsar Peter the Great -- the Westernizer who wrenched Russia into the global mainstream and built the stately, European-style city where Putin grew up 250 years later: St. Petersburg, the Window on the West.

Putin has sometimes spoken of Russia as being part of Europe, but in recent years has increasingly criticized the West and suggested that the values championed in Washington and Brussels are misguided. And with the constitutional changes, observers say he may be taking Russia to an entirely different place -- with few prospects for a rapid return once he is gone.

INFOGRAPHIC: Putin's Long Reign

"A new Russia is taking shape which is more disdainful of democracy -- and takes its cue from many other countries and regimes around the world in being so. Undemocratic but stable China is now openly deemed a more powerful model than Europe," Alexander Baunov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, wrote in an article published on March 11.

"There may still be discussion about a constitution which is still European on the page, if not in reality. But this is a very different kind of Russian state, unashamedly authoritarian in design," Baunov wrote. "If Russia ever wants to return to the European model, it will have to dismantle the entire political legacy that this regime has built."
A former N.J. teacher and superintendent who lost his state licenses is offering to help schools come up with remote learning plans as districts are scrambling to make sure students and teachers are ready for online learning in the wake of the coronavirus in New Jersey.

I am a small business owner who attempts to offer relevant services to a market that I continue to be in, said Jason Jay Eitner. My COVID package is a combination of tabletop exercises, vetted websites and templates, budget workups and presentations for best practices in the COVID era.

Eitner, who taught social studies in East Brunswick and later served as an administrator in Washington Township, Hopewell Valley and other New Jersey districts, has a controversial history.

While serving as CEO of an Allentown, Pa., charter school, Eitner was accused in November 2019 of stealing $42,000 from the school.

He was charged with theft and receiving stolen property. The case is still pending.

Previously, the Mount Laurel man, 40, was accused of harassment and abuse of power as the top administrator at Camden Countys Waterford Elementary School. After complaints from several teachers, Eitner separated from the school in 2017 after five months of paid leave.

There are three separate pending civil lawsuits filed by teachers.

After the Allentown theft allegations, in December 2019, Eitner agreed to relinquish his New Jersey teaching and principal licenses.

Eitner told NJ Advance Media that he knows he has critics in the state, but he has a right to run his business.

I want to direct [educators] to services that are meaningful and effective and affordable, he said. My goal is not to capitalize or fear monger. I think theres enough of that out there.

His education consulting company, Eitner Education, is making a special offer to school districts.

Attention Superintendents and BOE members: Do you have a physical, active plan in place yet should the coronavirus land in your district? EitnerEDU is offering a full plan that will be 100% tailored to your needs starting at $7500.00. No scramble - no haste - you can get back to doing your main job and have a go-to if you need it, Eitners company said in Facebook and Twitter posts.

The Twitter post, after receiving criticism, was removed. The Facebook post remained.

The social media posts offered a 20% discount for districts that would use certain federal funds to pay the company.

Helping school districts with contingency plans is potentially a lucrative business.

The states Department of Education sent a memo to superintendents last week saying that virtual learning can be used to continue teaching students who are affected by any school shutdowns without having to add extra instruction days at the end of the year.

The memo said every district must create a plan to provide equitable instruction, including appropriate special education services.

We would be in uncharted territory, said Steve Baker, spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, the states largest teachers union.

The New Jersey School Boards Association said school districts must be cautious in securing services to help with closure and online learning.

Some might be facing an urgent situation right now in preparing for remote learning; however, it is critical that they make purchasing decisions in the best long-term interests of the education program, said Frank Belluscio, the organizations communications director.

Eitner said hes qualified.

He said hes received 36 inquiries about the coronavirus prep assistance service, the majority of which were private schools. He said none of the inquiries came from public schools in New Jersey, but he did hear from several out-of-state public schools.

No school has hired him yet for a coronavirus plan, he said.

Eitner said he realizes he is educational radiation in New Jersey. He said he wouldnt expect a public school in New Jersey to hire him.

I would warn them that I have a lot of critics out there and youre going to get a lot of grief if you hire me, he said.

He said he wanted to be clear that hes not offering a magic solution for schools.

The last thing I want to be portrayed as is some charlatan who has the latest and greatest pill, Eitner said. Anyone who says they have the magic bean so your school will be corona-free and there will be no hiccups in your plan, thats ridiculous.

Eitner acknowledged that he has a lot of critics on social media.

I have a lot of people who dont like me. They want to make sure that I dont work ever again in any capacity, he said. I am loved and I am loathed. Predominantly Im loathed because I make decisions that not everyone likes.

The bottom line is Im great at what I do and Im effective at what I do, he said.

NJ Advance Media Research Editor Vinessa Erminio contributed to this report.

Have you been Bamboozled? Reach Karin Price Mueller at Bamboozled@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KPMueller. Find Bamboozled on Facebook. Mueller is also the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Stay informed and sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.
A British coronavirus patient who died in Indonesia earlier this week has been named as 53-year-old publisher Kimberley Finlayson.

Friends of the mother-of-four paid tribute to her 'passion, creativity and determination' after she died in hospital on the island of Bali.

She is the first British person to be named as a victim of coronavirus.

Mrs Finlayson was admitted to hospital in a critical condition and already suffered from lung disease and diabetes before she was diagnosed with Covid-19, Indonesia's government says.

Her husband has reportedly tested negative for the virus but is expected to remain in hospital isolation in Bali for several more days.

British tourist Kimberley Finlayson, pictured, died in hospital in Indonesia this week after being diagnosed with coronavirus

Tributes were paid to Mrs Finlayson on the website Dentistry.co.uk, which hailed her work as a publisher in the dental industry.

Friends paid tribute to her 'passion, creativity and determination that will forever be written into the fabric of the business' which she helped to found.

'She demanded much from her people, yet gave back so much more. Her generosity outmatched even her determination to excel.

Husband Ken Finlayson (pictured) has reportedly tested negative for the virus but is expected to remain in hospital isolation in Bali for several more days

'She championed her family with the same fierce pride with which she approached her business, and her four children were the centre of her world.

'Those fortunate enough to know her will remember a whirlwind of energy and ideas - and an ability to make things happen that few can match.'

Reports in Indonesia said she was cremated on Wednesday.

Local officials said her husband Ken was due to return to the UK soon, but Australian network 7News reports that he is still in hospital.

Sources said he had initially tested negative for the virus, but would need to be tested again to confirm the result.

According to local media, the couple had stayed at a hotel between February 29 and March 3.

On the latter date, Mrs Finlayson was reportedly taken ill with a fever at a private hospital.

On March 9, which was Monday his week, she was moved to the Sanglah hospital where she later died.

Reports say at least one hotel connected to the couple has quarantined staff and ordered a deep clean.

Indonesia's government said the 53-year-old tourist with diabetes and lung disease had died in hospital, believed to be the Sanglah hospital in Bali (pictured)

Mr Finlayson is expected to remain in the Sanglah hospital, where his wife had also been treated, for several more days.

The couple's four children were not with them on holiday in Bali, it is reported.

Achmad Yurianto, a government spokesman on efforts to contain the virus, previously said that the British tourist had contracted the virus abroad.

Mrs Finlayson had already been in critical condition when she was admitted to a hospital, the health ministry official said.

According to the Bali Post, she was cremated on Wednesday at the Mumbul crematorium on the island.

She was cremated 'according to the procedure for handling corpses for people infected with infectious diseases due to viruses', it is reported.

Countries including China have previously ordered virus victims to be cremated quickly to stop the spread of the virus.

The British woman was reportedly cremated at this crematorium complex in Bali (pictured) after she died following a positive test for coronavirus

A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Indonesia and are in contact with local authorities.

'Our sympathies and thoughts are with her family at this difficult time.'

UK officials have not confirmed her cause of death, but the Indonesian government says she had tested positive for coronavirus.

Her death follows that of a British national who had travelled on the ill-fated Diamond Princess cruise ship before it was quarantined in Japan.

The unnamed Briton died in hospital in Japan last month after being taken off the ship following a positive test for coronavirus.

Three other Britons also tested positive on board the ship. Two of them are still in hospital in Japan while one has returned to the UK.

There are 596 confirmed cases on UK territory, including 10 deaths, but Boris Johnson said yesterday that the true figure is likely to be higher.
[March 13, 2020] CynergisTek's Seasoned Privacy Investigators Leverage Artificial Intelligence for the Detection of Snooping Related to the Coronavirus

CynergisTek, (NYSE AMERICAN: CTEK), a leader in cybersecurity, privacy, and compliance, has updated its Patient Privacy Monitoring Services (PPMS) to support the proactive identification of insider snooping related to cases of the coronavirus/COVID-19, which has taken over the headlines. Information related to cases such as who has been tested or who has been diagnosed is extremely valuable during these moments when there are a lot of unknowns and misinformation. This will lead to curiosity from the workforce around those seeking care for associated symptoms, ultimately compromising the patient's privacy in a time of need. While CynergisTek's specialized privacy and security experts have been using unique tools, techniques, and procedures to support the ongoing privacy of patients through the standard PPMS services, to better support existing PPMS clients, customized rules have been developed to specifically identify insiders' behavior related to the coronavirus. This is the same methodology used to historically monitor activity around VIP patients (actors/actresses, government officials, athletes, and the like). Additionally, a new level of service has been developed to support organizations that may only have the resources to support activity related to the coronavirus/COVID-19 versus the more comprehensive services provided by the fully comprehensive PPMS suite of services. "Our clients are on the frontline of the COVID-19 response," said Caleb Barlow, CEO of CynergisTek. "As they scale, they are opening up access to medical records or staff and vendors that are working remotely, turning up temporary facilities, and deploying telemedicine solutions. Each of these initiatives comes with inherent security and privacy risks. We started scaling our Privacy Operations Center in November of last year and we are leveraging that additional capacity to handle inbound requests for privacy monitoring related to COVID-19."



The PPMS service, provided by a team in the Privacy Operations Center housed in CynergisTek's Austin, Texas headquarters, has a unique approach that can effectively identify and manage client privacy incidents using near real-time data with a low rate of false positives. As part of the service, CynergisTek will proactively identify aberrant activity within the medical record, support the health system with related investigations, and provide training to reduce the overall number of patient privacy violations across the enterprise. Through these methods, CynergisTek can support an organization's needs as it relates to protecting the privacy of patients impacted by the ongoing coronavirus/COVID-19 situation. To learn more about CynergisTek's Patient Privacy Monitoring Services, visit https://cynergistek.com/privacy/patient-privacy-monitoring-services/.

About CynergisTek, Inc. CynergisTek is a top-ranked cybersecurity firm dedicated to serving the information assurance needs of the healthcare industry. CynergisTek offers specialized services and solutions to help organizations achieve privacy, security, and compliance goals. Since 2004, the company has served as a partner to hundreds of healthcare organizations and is dedicated to supporting and educating the industry by contributing to relevant industry associations. The company has been recognized by KLAS as a top performing firm in healthcare cybersecurity and was awarded the 2019 Top Healthcare Cybersecurity Consultants in Black Book IT Advisory Outcomes Survey. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of CynergisTek that can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "may" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties relating to product/service development, long and uncertain sales cycles, the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection, market acceptance, future capital requirements, competition from other providers, the ability of our vendors to continue supplying the company with equipment, parts, supplies and services at comparable terms and prices and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are or will be described in greater detail in our Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. CynergisTek is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005364/en/

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 16:42:09|Editor: huaxia

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by Zhao Jiasong, Huang Yan and Ding Li (intern)

CHENGDU, March 13 (Xinhua) -- When two women love the same man, there is always the potential for tension and conflict, especially when it's between a mother's love and that of his girlfriend.

Relationships with in-laws are always difficult, not only for Chinese, but for people around the world.

Tian Xue (pseudonym) was "stranded" at her boyfriend's home due to the novel coronavirus outbreak when she visited during the Spring Festival holiday, which started on Jan. 25 this year.

She never expected she would live with her boyfriend's parents for weeks and even make a best friend through the process.

Tian, 27, and her boyfriend are both from southwest China's Sichuan Province. On Jan. 28, she set out from her home in Dazhou for Luzhou, the city where Tian works and her boyfriend's family lives.

The trip was longer by more than an hour because she was asked to take temperatures at the checkpoints temporarily set up along the highway.

PROLONGED FAMILY VISIT

Tian had planned to stay with her boyfriend's family for four days before the spring semester began. However, the school postponed opening due to the epidemic. The following traffic control and quarantine regulations also delayed her plan to return to Dazhou.

All intercity traffic was suspended. One option was to ask her boyfriend to drive her home. If so, her boyfriend would have been quarantined at home for 14 days before he could return to work.

That was never part of Tian's plan. She and her boyfriend have been together for six months, during which she met his parents twice.

The mother did not think it was a good idea to leave Tian alone in her residence amid the outbreak.

"I've never imagined what it could be like to live with his parents before marriage," said Tian. "I was kind of nervous and embarrassed."

The young man and woman thought they should be less intimate when living under the same roof as the senior couple.

But soon, Tian noticed that the mother did not mind expressing her affection for her husband when she walked with Tian around in the compound.

"I end up being a keen listener of their romance," said Tian.

One day, Tian's boyfriend was getting up on the wrong side of the bed and got annoyed at her instead, which "really made me mad," she said.

But to her surprise, her boyfriend got an earful from his mother and apologized to her.

As both of them are teachers, Tian always had a lot to say with her boyfriend's mother.

The mother, one day, said, "I feel like I finally have a daughter."

"She is always tender and kind-hearted to me," Tian said.

DISTINCTIVE LIVING HABITS

"I felt stressed out the first day my boyfriend started his work and left me indoors with his parents," Tian recalled.

Noodles were never her choice for breakfast, but they were exactly what the hospitable parents prepared for her every morning.

Thanks to her boyfriend's coordination and constructive advice for each side, Tian, who often skipped breakfast when she was alone, now often wakes up due to the aroma of food from the kitchen.

The gifts Tian prepared for her boyfriends' parents were also very much appreciated.

"At the beginning, I asked my boyfriend what to buy for his parents," Tian said. "Later, I found that they like whatever I pick up for them."

"I appreciate my boyfriend for his role between his parents and me," she said.

Tian sometimes makes some pastries and hot pot for the family.

As many Chinese are rolling up their sleeves and picking up new skills in the kitchen while they are required to stay at home, Tian learned to cook and bake while following food-making videos on social media, and always surprised the family with the milk tea and cakes she made.

SAME OCCUPATION

As many primary schools, high schools and universities in China are opting for online courses to ensure students keep studying during their prolonged winter vacation; teachers switched to online teaching.

Tian is no exception. Teaching students who will be taking the college entrance examination in summer, she is even more nervous than her students.

"My students keep asking me questions on WeChat, and it seems I'm working all day long," she said.

But some students' negative feedbacks made her sad. Her boyfriend's mother was by her side to cheer her up.

"She praised me for being fully-prepared before class and logical when giving the lectures," Tian said. "She told me I didn't have to expect what I taught could meet the needs of every student."

"She has become a good listener and tutor to me, but more, a best friend," she said.

The unexpected virus outbreak has disrupted many people's routine life and work. But people have also got more time to spend with their loved ones.

"I have communicated more with my boyfriend and his parents," Tian said. "I'm lucky to get to know his wonderful family."
At 5:57 p.m. Friday Australian Eastern Standard Time, the first of many group messages came screeching in: The Australian governments most polarizing minister, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, had tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the countrys 156th confirmed case.

Dutton announced the news on Twitter himself, explaining that he had woken with a temperature, had gotten tested, had been found to be carrying the virus, and was subsequently admitted to the hospital. (He feels fine.) Dutton quickly became the No. 1 trending topic in Australia, not to mention a front-page story on the New York Times and Washington Post websites, thanks to the photo that quickly emerged of the Australian official standing smiling next to Ivanka Trump and Attorney General William Barr on a trip to the U.S. just six days prior.

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Peter Dutton was also in very close contact with Ivanka Trump and the US attorney-general https://t.co/8IpVcpjKCb  Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) March 13, 2020

The virus, it seems, is now literally and metaphorically circling the White House, with Dutton just the latest in a string of infected world leaders who have met with members of the Trump administration.

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Duttons diagnosis was met with glee by many here in Australia. Its not a stretch to say he is the most openly hated member of the conservative Liberal Partythe sort of politician who prompts articles such as A Brief Timeline of Every Fucked Up Thing Peter Dutton Has Done. Close readers of Australian politics may recall his role in the 2018 leadership spill that ousted the more moderate leader Malcolm Turnbull over his willingness to act on climate change, with Dutton ultimately being foiled by a majority of his own right-wing party. The former cop is known for his barely concealed dog-whistle racism, whether thats suggesting people are afraid to go out to dinner in my state due to African gangs or joking about island nations being destroyed by rising sea levels. But its his hard-line immigration policies that no doubt bring him the most vitriol. His Home Affairs mega portfolio is responsible for overseeing Australias draconian refugee detention regime, one which he has worked to make more secretive in his time at the helm, while actively fighting against introducing humane medical transfer laws or allowing them to be used. In his years in the role, Dutton has become known for suggesting suffering detained refugees are lighting themselves on fire or getting raped purely as tactics to reach the mainland.

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Imagine, if you will, that Stephen Miller had just been diagnosed with the coronavirus, and you can perhaps begin to understand the online reaction.

Australian Twitter exploded, going from frustration with the governments newly announced large-gathering ban (which wont kick in until Monday for highly suspicious reasons) and sadness at the cancellation of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival to uncontained mirth.

BREAKING coronavirus has tested positive with peter dutton.  simon holmes a court  (@simonahac) March 13, 2020

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There were gags about thoughts and prayers, Dutton the zombie, and Dutton the potato (yes), and suggestions that the comedy festival had been called off because nothing could top this. There were a number of references to his despicable work, including to the I stopped these boat trophy the prime minister keeps on his desk. Christmas Island began trending (along with there is a God), a reference to the draconian detention center where Duttons government has kept both refugees and, more recently, Australians in quarantine returning from overseas.

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The Betoota Advocate, the popular satirical outlet that recently fooled Maggie Haberman with a picture of Tom Hanks and Wilson, summed it all up with its headline: Report: omg lol.

There were many iterations of best day ever and finally something good has come of this, along with comparisons to the fact that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaros press secretary had tested positive for the coronavirus. There were calls for Dutton to suffer, to die, for the rest of the government to get it too.

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I have to admit, my gut reaction was one of involuntary satisfactionof which I immediately felt sickened and ashamed. Peter Dutton is an undeniably terrible person, and his diagnosis does seem like some kind of cosmic justice. I completely understand the impulse to take pleasure in it. But its one we need to control.

An extra case of the coronavirus in Australia, or anywhere, is not something to be celebrated, especially considering the terrifying way the virus spreads. The new coronavirus is believed to be more contagious than the flu: One person infects 2.2 people on average, so one extra case means on average 2.2 extra cases, and then 4.84, and so on exponentially. In the case of Dutton, a man who has spent the past few days traversing the world and the country, meeting with other people who are also traversing the world and the country, we ought to be concerned, not delighted.

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Amid the laughter, there has been little room for concern over those close to Dutton, or the hundreds of public servants or workers who might have come into contact with him during his incubation period. (Despite many claims to the contrary, the virus can be spread by people yet to show symptoms.) There was not much thought for his family, or his staff, or even just those who sat next to him on flights. A member of Parliament having it would also seem to indicate that the countrys population is far more heavily affected than the 156 reported cases. If Dutton has it, how many people in the community must? (Of course, Dutton may have been at higher risk of catching it and passing it on than most, given his travel.) While we here in Australia are lucky to have access to free and widely available testing, Duttons access to a quick turnaround test that allowed him to get same day results was still highly privilegedmany more of us (me included) are spending days in self-isolation, awaiting our results, so numbers among the majority will take even longer to register. Duttons news should be sobering, not side-splitting.

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This is not to beg sympathy for Dutton, but just to say that hate begets hatewishing him harm feels spiteful and inhumane, even if he has caused harm to so many. There are great examples on Twitter of how to express dislike for Dutton without celebrating his ill-health. Founder and CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Kon Karapanagiotidis, a true Peter Dutton enemy, tweeted, Yes what he is doing to refugees is monstrous, but if we are about being better, living by values, compassion & decency this applies to everyone, not just those that we like.

And if Dutton having the coronavirus is karmic payback, what does that mean for all those others who contract it and die?

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I am aware that people are just blowing off steam here, and perhaps Im especially sensitive right now. As someone caring for a terminally ill, 75-year-old, diabetic father on chemoa true Petri dish of immunocompromisationI now live in genuine terror of the spread of this virus, convinced that Im going to get it if I leave my house or see my friends. Its hard to find the joy in yet another high-profile case.

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Humor has become an acceptable way to deal with the horror that seems to be buffeting the world on a daily basis, and Australians, as natural jokers, are better at it than most. This situation is rich in irony, and many are reaping that irony with genuinely clever plays on words. But theres something particularly sadistic in the way the celebration is unfolding here. Putting aside the schadenfreude, is there actually anything inherently funny about Peter Dutton having the coronavirus? People are defending their right to laugh at this, but are jokes derived from someone contracting a deadly illness really worth laughing at? We seem to have conflated anger with humor, hate with joy, schadenfreude with happiness.

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Im far from the only one feeling conflicted on the left, though in the avalanche of jokes and memes, it can sometimes feel like it. There are a handful of iterations of does celebrating this make me a bad person? and nah this is fine going on in my feeds, with many tweets preemptively slamming takes like this or anyone showing sympathy for Dutton. Im not asking for sympathy. Im just suggesting this isnt funny to those of us truly terrified by this virusor to the refugees it seems. When BuzzFeed Australia immigration reporter Hannah Ryan asked several people in detention for their reaction to Dutton getting the coronavirus, all said they would pray for his recovery, saying they understood the definition of suffering, even as they acknowledged the pain he had wrought upon them.

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Even as I write this, I am trying to imagine how I might feel, what kind of hypocritical positions I might contort myself into, if the only potential exception to this rule I can think of contracted the virus: Donald Trump (something that seems more likely by the day). As former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum wrote in the Atlantic, the president has actively made this crisis worse; more people will get sick and suffer directly because of his words and actions. It puts Duttons plight in perspective, really. While he has no doubt caused much suffering, its harder to say his actions directly contributed to the spread of the virus (other than his head-scratching decision to go on a trip to the U.S.). But Im fairly sure it still wouldnt be funnynot in the true sense of the wordif Trump, who until recently was refusing to get tested despite being in direct contact with a confirmed case, contracted a disease whose spread he did little to monitor because he thought higher numbers would hurt his reelection prospects, as he leads a country that is potentially the least prepared in the world.

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Its terrifying, and strangely exhilarating, to consider exactly what Duttons diagnosis means, who else he may have given the virus to, how much more complicated this makes things. Journalists are digging through where the very senior Dutton has been in the past week while infectious, having attended a Cabinet meeting alongside the prime minister, who then met with all the state premiers and the chief medical officer, who all (theoretically) will now need to self-isolate. Its crazy. As writer Van Badham suggestsno joke!the whole executive branch really should go to Christmas Island. Having members of the government trying to lead our response being infected with coronavirus is no laughing matter, no matter how you feel about that government.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
With the outbreak now a full-blown pandemic, many of our precious Easter holiday plans are looking precarious.

But what happens if you can't go, or don't want to go and will travel insurance cover you?

Here we talk you through everything you need to know.

With the outbreak now a full-blown pandemic, many of our precious Easter holiday plans are looking precarious (stock photo)

What if I get the virus and can't travel?

You should be able to make a claim for financial losses on your travel insurance policy. You will likely need a note from a doctor or your employer.

You should also be able to make a claim if it is a close family member or travelling companion who falls ill  or, in the very worst case, dies. If you do not have travel insurance or your policy does not include cancellation cover, contact your travel provider.

They may allow you to rearrange your trip as a gesture of goodwill or offer a part refund. This may be subject to a cancellation charge.

What if my accommodation or flight is cancelled?

You should receive a full refund or be re-routed free. If you booked through a travel agent, they should organise a refund or alternative travel. If your journey involves two flights and you booked each leg separately, you may only receive a refund for the one that is cancelled.

You will not be entitled to any additional compensation as the reason for the disruption is beyond the airlines control.

If just your flight is cancelled, contact your accommodation provider to see if they will refund you. Otherwise you may be able to claim the cost on your travel insurance, providing you have cover for consequential losses.

What if my destination is now off limits?

If the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advises against all but essential travel there, airlines, cruise companies and tour operators should offer you a full refund or alternative travel. For accommodation, car hire or excursions, your travel insurance may cover the cost.

If you travel against FCO advice this will likely invalidate your insurance policy. If your cruise itinerary is changed you may be able to get a refund or credit, but this is not guaranteed and it is likely your trip would need to be significantly impacted.

Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 area looked clear of all but a few passengers earlier today. Pictured: Information on passengers arriving from northern Italy

What if I don't want to risk travelling?

Insurers will not cover what they term disinclination to travel  even if the reason is a legitimate concern such as a pandemic.

So if the FCO has not advised against all but essential travel to your destination  as it has with China and Italy currently  you may struggle to make a claim.

The exception may be if your doctor has advised you not to travel to an area because you have an underlying medical condition. But insurers will make decisions on a case-by-case basis and you will need a doctors note.

If you have failed to inform your insurer of pre-existing medical conditions, they could refuse your claim. It may also be worth asking the tour operator or airline if they will offer you alternative dates as a gesture of goodwill.

I haven't booked travel insurance - can I still get it?

The Association of British Insurers had said that someone buying travel insurance now should be covered if the FCO later advises against travel to that country.

However, experts say it is now highly unlikely that holidaymakers will be able to find a policy without an exclusion for coronavirus-related claims. Some insurers have even stopped selling travel cover. If you have an annual policy you should check with your insurer before booking trips.

Ensure you have travel disruption cover. It would also be sensible to opt for a policy with scheduled airline failure protection.

Insurers will not cover what they term disinclination to travel  even if the reason is a legitimate concern such as a pandemic. Pictured: Heathrow on Thursday

Will my credit card provider pay out?

If you are struggling to get a refund for a cancelled flight, accommodation, car hire or excursion you may be able to claim your money back.

Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, your lender is jointly liable for spending over 100 if you do not receive the goods and services promised.

If you paid by debit card you may be able to ask your bank to reverse the transaction by making a chargeback request.

What if I paid using air miles?

If you booked a flight using air miles and now need to cancel, you should get your points back under standard cancellation rules. You may need to pay an administration fee. If you booked a hotel using loyalty points, you should usually get them back if you cancel 48 hours in advance.

Will my insurer pay if I'm stuck abroad?

First contact your tour operator or airline to see if they can move your return date or help with accommodation.

Should your trip be cut short or if you are confined to your hotel on medical advice, you may also be able to claim for curtailment.

If the Government advice is to come home, call your airline and the FCO for information about possible repatriation flights.

You should also be able to make a claim if it is a close family member or travelling companion who falls ill  or, in the very worst case, dies (stock photo)

What if an event I'm going to is axed?

You should receive a refund  although you may encounter difficulties if you bought them via a third party. You have more protection if you purchased tickets as part of a package holiday.

If the event is going ahead but you dont want to go, refund requests will be decided by the organiser. You may be able to resell the tickets.

Will my EHIC still cover me in Europe?

The European Health Insurance card is expected to remain in force until the end of December and should work as normal if you get coronavirus. An EHIC will not cover any private medical healthcare or costs such as mountain rescue in ski resorts or repatriation. It is not valid on cruises.

I was about to book my summer holiday  should I go ahead?

The outbreak is expected to peak in the UK at Easter. There is no guarantee when things will go back to normal travel-wise.

With travel providers desperately trying to attract customers with cheap deals, it might be tempting to book in the hope that everything will be fine in a few months.

However, it will now be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find a travel insurance policy that will provide cover should you later need to cancel as a result of the virus. It may not be worth the risk.
Plans for National Forest running the length and breadth of Wales unveiled

This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 13th, 2020

The Welsh Government has unveiled plans for a new National Forest running the length and breadth of Wales.

Backed by 5m in this years Budget, the National Forest will create areas of new woodland and help to restore and maintain some of Wales unique and irreplaceable ancient woodlands.

And a further 10m of Glastir Woodland creation and restoration funding will be available to increase tree planting across Wales.

The National Forest will be a connected ecological network running throughout Wales, which will play an important role in protecting nature and addressing biodiversity loss the government says.

It is claimed it will also help to boost tourism in Wales, drawing inspiration from the development of the Wales Coast Path.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said: Today we plant the seeds of our ambition.

We want to work with farmers, voluntary organisations, councils, environmental experts and local communities to translate our ambitions into immediate action and a shared long-term commitment.

There is no escaping the huge environmental challenges the world is facing  the February floods have brought that home to us in Wales in the most devastating way.

We have a responsibility to future generations to protect nature from the dangers of our changing climate but a healthy natural environment will also offer protection to our communities from the dangers we ourselves face.

In planting, growing and protecting the right network of trees we can increase our resilience to flooding.

Trees improve air quality, they remove harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, they provide material for construction, they regenerate soil for food, they clean the water in our rivers and they provide a home to all the life that finds shelter in their canopy.

We have described our ambition for a National Forest that extends the length and breadth of Wales.

As well as significantly increasing our support for tree planting immediately, we will also be undertaking extensive engagement so this can be a collective effort with government, business and communities all working towards a shared goal.

Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs (and Wrexham AM) Lesley Griffiths, said:The National Forest will provide an important means of strengthening the ecological networks which sustain our ancient woodlands and other vital habitats for wildlife.

Creating extensive new networks of woodlands is a challenging and long-term ambition, however, the idea is gathering momentum, with many organisations and communities across Wales already getting involved.

Accelerating the rate of tree planting in Wales requires a whole range of measures and the significant increase in Glastir funding announced today is a major step forward.

I know Welsh businesses, communities and, particularly, our farmers and foresters, will want to help create the National Forest.

In the coming year we will be engaging widely so we are able to design the program in a way which allows everyone to make their contribution.

Hannah Blythyn, Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government who planted trees at Coed Y Felin, near Mold to mark the unveiling of the plans, said:

Our forests play a vital role in sustaining both our wildlife and our communities.

By investing in community woodlands like Coed Y Felin as part of the National Forest, we can create new opportunities for people to experience nature in their own communities as part of our wider efforts to reform and improve access.

The National Forest will be supported by 5m of new funding  this includes 1.5m to support community woodlands.

A further 10m of funding for Glastir woodland creation and restoration is being announced today  applications for funding open from March 16 and will go towards increasing tree planting across Wales.
The Finance Minister must consider measures to help businesses suffering a downturn in trade as a result of coronavirus, Alliance has said.

North Down MLA Andrew Muir said action from Conor Murphy such as deferring rates payments for the next few months would go a long way to protecting jobs and livelihoods.

He was speaking after the Chancellor scrapped business rates for thousands of small businesses in England over the next year. But Mr Murphy said it would cost an extra 200m for Stormont to do the same.

"We may be fortunate to get half of that as a consequence of the announcement in England, but that will still leave us with over 100m shortfall," he told the BBC.

Mr Muir said Mr Murphy should come up with alternatives.

"They could take the form of a number of actions - a uniform drop in non-domestic rates payable or taking a lenient view on businesses struggling to pay, meaning either a rates holiday or a deferral of payments until the economy recovers from this pandemic," he said.

He said rates revaluations could be suspended for sectors badly hit by the crisis, such as hospitality.
Lungelo Ndhlovu

BINGA, Zimbabwe (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Anyone driving through Binga, in western Zimbabwe, is greeted by a vision of the past dotted along the tarred road: thatched homes built on stilts, two meters above the ground.

The elevated structures - called ngazi - were the traditional homes of the indigenous Tonga people who live in the district until a push for modernity in the 1950s led them to swap the wooden huts for brick homes built on the ground.

Now, as the area experiences increasingly intense droughts and flash flooding linked to climate change, the Tonga and others living near the Zambezi River, along the border with Zambia, are looking to the lessons of the past and switching back to homes on stilts.

Elias Mudenda, a villager from Siachilaba, 50 km (30 miles) from Binga, said that in the past three years 50 families in his community have built ngazi alongside their brick homes. He built two of his own in 2017.

Today, the ngazi structure is very common along the banks of the Zambezi, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Climate experts note that Zimbabwe as a whole is getting hotter. In March 2019, the country suffered five consecutive days of temperatures on average 2 to 4 degrees Celsius above the normal March high of 32 degrees.

During hot weather, the height of the stilt homes and the air flow around them helps keep people within them cool, explained Christopher Tshuma, heritage education officer at the BaTonga Museum in Binga, which promotes Tonga culture.

The higher you go, the cooler it becomes, he said, noting that temperatures in the region around Binga can reach a stifling 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit).

The elevated huts also protect occupants and their belongings from the flash floods that have become increasingly common in recent years due to bouts of unusually heavy rain that can last days.

(The Tonga) were very innovative and clever in that they used their natural environment to find solutions to flooding, Tshuma told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

SANDY SOILS

Built on poles made from mopane - a strong indigenous tree - ngazi are usually lined with wood, grass or reeds to provide warmth.

The thatched roofs are made of bundles of grass that serve as insulation and are so tightly woven that they make the huts both waterproof and windproof, said Mudenda.

While there is no data on how many stilt homes have been built in Binga over the past few years, Mudenda said many people in the area made the switch because brick houses built on the regions sandy soils could not stand up to worsening floods.

Homestead foundations keep shifting underneath our brick homes, causing the walls to crack, he explained. Some tried to dig deeper foundations to support their houses, but it was no use.

Tapiwa Magidi, an exploration geologist with Zimbabwes mining ministry, confirmed that flooding and drought are exacerbating the instability of soil in the area.

During droughts, there is a lack of vegetation to hold the soil together, hence the sandy soils are not strong enough to support strong structures, he explained. Thats why you will find some houses cracking or falling down.

IN SHOCK

Binga district is known for being arid and dry, but over the past two years the area has been experiencing unpredictable flooding as well, according to Farai Marinyame, acting district development coordinator.

In February, heavy rains displaced more than 200 families and killed one person, as they washed away roads, crops and livestock.

Communities are still in shock because they were not expecting such a magnitude of rainfall, Marinyame said.

Some communities around Binga are still in dire need of food aid and shelter, he noted, adding that the Zimbabwean government has offered to relocate the affected villagers to areas on higher ground and build them new houses.

Locals say all the homes destroyed by the floods were traditional brick structures, while all the stilt homes were left standing.

But even if their homes withstood the pounding of flood waters, many villagers still found themselves stranded, noted Gayson Siampongo, project officer for the Basilwizi Trust, a local community development organization.

Poor quality roads washed out and telecommunications were so poor that, in some cases, villagers (had to) walk 11 km just to access mobile phone networks, Siampongo said.

Still, paying attention to indigenous knowledge - like the elevated houses - can help keep villagers from losing everything during flooding, said Nathan Nkomo, a director in the Civil Protection Unit.

But there is the need to blend (indigenous knowledge) with scientific knowledge to come up with suitable infrastructure above the ground and protect communities from flood disasters, he told Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview.

Other flood-prone areas could learn from the revival of stilt homes in Binga, said Matilda Mlotshwa, development coordinator for Nkayi district.

Located about 350 km (217 miles) south of Binga, Nkayi also sits on sandy soil where most buildings shake down when it rains too much, Mlotshwa told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In Nkayi, we dont have elevated homesteads like in Binga. But because of recurring flooding there is the need for ngazi-style elevated structures to be built by our communities, she said.

Reporting by Lungelo Ndhlovu, Editing by Jumana Farouky and Laurie Goering.
Ivanka Trump met with an Australian politician just days before he tested positive for coronavirus.

The presidents daughter, together with attorney general Bill Barr, held a meeting with Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton at the White House on March 5.

A week later, on March 13, he revealed Mr Dutton had tested positive for the virus after returning to Australia.

Mr Dutton is the latest in a series of visiting dignitaries who have come into contact with associates of president Donald Trump, and found later to have been infected.

He wrote on Twitter: "This morning I woke up with a temperature and sore throat. I immediately contacted the Queensland Department of Health and was subsequently tested for COVID-19. I was advised by Queensland Health this afternoon that the test had returned positive.

"I feel fine and will provide an update in due course," he added.

Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK The usually busy Royal Mile in Edinburgh is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 13 March Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Ho bart's Amusement Arcade in Westward Ho!, Devon is offering toilet roll and soap as prizes in grabber machines Rob Braddick/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK An empty platform at Farringdon Station in London the morning after the Prime Minister said that Covid-19 "is the worst public health crisis for a generation" PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Shopkeepers Asiyah Javed and husband Jawad from Day Today Express, in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk are giving away facemasks, antibacterial hand wash and cleaning wipes to the elderly in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A usually busy street in Cambridge is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 2 March James Linsell-Clark/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitiser dispenser is seen inside the stadium during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on 8 March Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Maaya Indian Kitchen in Milton Keynes is offerig customers a free roll of toilet paper with every takeaway order SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Oliver Cooper[L], was sent home from school for selling spurts of handsanitiser to fellow pupils at 50p a time. He poses with mum Jenny Tompkins by their home in Leeds Ashley Pemberton/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in London on 12 March EPA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A member of the public is swabbed at a drive through Coronavirus testing site set up in a car park in Wolverhampton Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A passenger wears a protective face mask as she travels on a bus in the City of London AFP/Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A Southampton fan wears a face mask before the match against Newcastle United on 7 March Reuters Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A loudspeaker placed in grounds of St Mary's Catholic Church in Broughattin, Dundalk, County Louth ahead of funeral mass later this morning. The loudspeaker has been placed in the grounds after the Catholic Archdiocese said that funerals and weddings should not exceed 100 attendees within the church building PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitising station set up outside Cheltenham Racecourse during day four of the Cheltenham Festival on 13 March PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK People wearing protective face masks walk across London Bridge on 11 March AFP/Getty

A day after her meeting with Mr Dutton, Ms Trump met with her father and the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

One of Bolsonaro's aides later tested positive for the virus, and Bolansaro has now also tested positive, according to reports.

Despite interacting with a number of people who later became infected, the White House said Mr Trump does not currently have plans to be tested.

Two Republican lawmakers who interacted with his delegation announced they will self-quarantine for two weeks, however. Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who met Bolsonaro in Miami, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, announced Thursday that they will isolate themselves.
in Madhya Pradesh has



been infected by the coronavirus, Chief Minister Kamal Nath quipped on Friday in the backdrop of crisis faced by his government following resignation by 22 rebel Congress MLAs.

The Kamal Nath government, which assumed office in December 2018, plunged into crisis after a rebellion by a section of Congress MLAs earlier this week.

"The coronavirus to yahan me hai...baad me dekha jayega (the coronavirus is here in .. will see later)," Nath said when asked about threat of the viral infection in Madhya Pradesh.

The chief minister was speaking to reporters outside Raj Bhavan after meeting Governor Lalji Tandon.

The Congress has alleged that the BJP is trying to topple its government in the state, a claim stoutly rejected by the opposition party.

Amid the ongoing political crisis, Nath called on Tandon and submitted a three-page letter alleging horse- trading by the BJP.

After former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress, 22 party MLAs, including six ministers - most of them said to be his supporters - resigned from the assembly, pushing the Nath government in major crisis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 21:04:06|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has released a regulation to ensure full and strict governance over the Party.

As an important measure taken by the CPC Central Committee, the promulgation of the regulation aims to improve the responsibility system of exercising strict Party self-governance, the office said.

All localities and departments were asked to study and implement the regulation, enhancing political awareness and improving their abilities to perform duties and overcome risks and challenges, so as to advance the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance, said the office.

It also urged Party committees or leading Party members groups at various levels to assume the primary responsibilities in exercising full and rigorous governance over the Party.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Olivia Humphrey's global streaming empire Kanopy started in 2008 with a bold idea, a spare room at the front of her house and a copy of Starting a Business For Dummies borrowed from Scarborough library. And despite its old-fashioned mining-focused investment culture and a lack of government support she thinks WA is primed for its next rags-to-riches startup success story. Kanopy founder Olivia Humphrey returned to Perth early this year. Credit:Joe Armao Kanopy is known as the art-house and indie Netflix, where users can access the streaming platform's video collection for free through partnered university and public libraries. After the company moved to the US in 2013, it has since partnered with thousands of universities and public libraries across the world and has more than 30,000 titles on its app. But a combination of homesickness and the desire to raise her son in Australia saw Ms Humphrey step down as chief executive in 2018, sell the company to a private equity firm and return to Perth in January. Her return has thrilled WA's startup scene, which has been battling a lack of interest and investment for more than a decade.

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Several people WAtoday interviewed for this series were excited Perth finally had its own tech success story return to the city, hoping this would embolden the next generation of entrepreneurs in the same way famous iron ore families such as the Forrests and Hancocks have done for mining. Frontier spirit: When being on the edge forces creativity While she doesn't know what her next venture will look like, Ms Humphrey knows something for sure: Perth is the right place for it, just as it was the right place to launch Kanopy. Loading "In Perth, there is this sort of frontier land vibe, this real entrepreneurial spirit," she said. "I think the environment here is very conducive to startups." Ms Humphrey said she would have never launched Kanopy in her home city of Sydney, where she was "too intimidated" by the city's big media companies. But she didn't think twice about starting it from Perth. "In Sydney, everybody works for big companies. For me, I was less fearful of doing my own thing," she said.

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"I'm not sure what I'm going to do next but I know it is going to be something very interesting and I wouldn't be able to do that without having had the experience of taking a company to the US, selling it and coming back. "I've got access to this power, this capital, this support network that is phenomenally strong and huge in the US that I can access from here in Perth." Electro Aero founders Josh Portlock and Richard Charlton see Perths government and investment challenges as an incentive to be leaner and focus on revenue-generating. Joshua Portlock and Richard Charlton founders of Electro Aero at their Jandakot headquarters. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola Despite battling government bureaucracy and lacking US market experience to back them up, Electro Aero in 2018 became the first company in the world to obtain certification for an electric light sport aircraft and to complete the first cross-country flight of a certified electric light sport plane. And inside a hangar at Jandakot Airport they have now teamed up with the University of Western Australia to develop the worlds first electric hydrofoil personal watercraft. "We've achieved so much more with so much less here than a Silicon Valley company that is just blowing money left, right and centre," Mr Portlock said.

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"We've learned to be lean and proven that we can actually make products and sell them." Although the startup scene is small in WA, it is growing. In the past seven years, flexible workspaces in Perth have grown from 500 square metres to an estimated 23,000, home to 12 incubators, 52 coworking spaces, 26 programs, and 16 major annual events. In Perth, there is this sort of frontier land vibe, this real entrepreneurial spirit. I think the environment here is very conducive to startups. Olivia Humphrey, Kanopy founder Funding options are also improving. Venture capital funds such as 808 Ventures, Lateral Capital Ventures and Betterlabs have come onto the scene, giving hope to the local scene. The optimism of small operations fresh on the scene is palpable. Stephan Dahinden launched his SimplyEstate website 15 months ago with the aim of simplifying the legal nightmare that is estate planning, following the deaths of his own family members.

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He understood why companies left the state to get closer to customers or markets but said in his experience Perth had been an ideal location. "It's also good to attract people and skill because of the good climate, great lifestyle, and the costs are quite reasonable," he said. SimplyEstate founder Stephan Dahinden. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola "There is a lot going on in terms of pitch nights, seminars and workshops around various aspects of building up your business." From Super Pit to Silicon Beach: Bringing back Perths brainpower Rohan McDougall, the director of commercialisation at Curtin University, said Perth's brain exodus wasn't necessarily a bad thing. While he said WA had probably been a victim of its own mining success and failed to diversify its economy, business stints in the US and other emerging markets contributed to the growth of the state's skill set.

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Mumbai, March 13 : Actor-filmmaker Sohum Shah has started shooting for Reema Kagti's upcoming web-series, which marks the OTT debut of Bollywood star Sonakshi Sinha. Sohum plays a police officer on the show.

"When I got the script, I really liked it and read it in one go. After that I met Reema and we discussed this character. She explained the character to me and I brought some ideas on the table which she liked a lot. From there on I started working on my character. I did some reading session with Reema and the whole cast," Sohum said.

He added: "I am wearing police uniform for the first time in my life so I started working out to change my body. I have done an intense research on how a policeman speaks, how they work and everything about their mannerism. I have also done some dialect session and workshops as well." Apart from the web-series, Sohum will be seen playing actor Abhishek Bachchan's brother in "The Big Bull" directed by Kookie Gulati.

The web series, to be streamed on Amazon Prime, also features Vijay Varma and Gulshan Devaiah.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
FLINT, MI-- Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley on Thursday declared a state of emergency amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Neeley also asked the state for resources to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the city, which last declared an emergency during the water crisis.

Neeley said declaring a state of emergency makes it easier for the city to get funding.

The resources for the coronavirus outbreak include more equipment for first responders and financial relief that would ensure residents water would stay turned on.

We need additional resources from the county, state and federal government. Money has been dispatched to the state of Michigan, Neeley said. We are not asking for more than whats needed.

Neeley didnt specify a dollar amount. City officials are still trying to determine a figure, he said.

At an earlier press conference, Neeley said he wouldnt turn off residential water service. Now, he will also try to reconnect water services if they were previously turned off.

Its critical for washing and bathing, Neeley said. Any reconnections to a person who hasnt been connected to our water services in the last five months must be occupying a home. This is not a free for all.

Neeley is still asking residents to pay what they can for their water bills.

Were asking residents to pay and use our online services as much as possible, Neeley said. We will waive all fees online. If you need to write a check or money order, please use the dropbox to do so.

The mayor said he is also planning to meet with the Flint Community Schools Board of Education to discuss the situation. The city will not be holding public events with more than 30 people. Neeley said that could extend to City Council meetings.

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A long-serving, senior Revolutionary Guard general has died of coronavirus in Iran on Friday, March 13.

Lt. General Nasser Shaabani was a member of Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) for 37 years and had held many senior posts and commands in Irans elite military force.

His record includes deputy commander of IRGCs Sarollah unit in Tehran, which is tasked with protecting the regime particularly against internal dissent. He was also commander of IRGC in the western province of Kermanshah, where his forces fought against the opposition Mojahedin fighters in the 1980s, who were based in Iraq and had crossed into Iran to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

Shaabnai also led operations against leftist opposition groups in the years immediately following the establishment of Irans clerical regime.

The coronavirus epidemic has hit the Islamic Republic establishment, killing several well-known politicians and clerics. Currently, two of Supreme Leader Ali Khameneis close aides are quarantined with the virus. President Hassan Rouhanis first deputy Eshaq Jahangiri is also infected and several ministers, as well as members of parliament.

The government says that as of March 13 more than 11,000 people have tested positive for the virus and more than 500 have died. But independent sources, including Radio Farda have estimated at least double of that number have fell victim to coronavirus.
Motorcyclist killed as he hits back of parked truck

PHUKET: A teenage motorcyclist died when he crashed into the back of a parked trailer earlier today (Mar 13), police have confirmed.

accidentsdeath

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Friday 13 March 2020, 12:32PM

The wreckage of the bike that crashed into the parked trailer, killing the boy. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The incident occurred around 2am this morning on a dimly lit, three-lane section of Thep Krasattri Rd near Soi Ko Kaewi 7, Moo 2.

Capt Chatree Wetrangsri of Phuket Town Police Station was called to the scene around 2:30am and was joined by officers from Phuket Mission Hospital and Kusoldharm rescue workers.

According to police reports, 41-year-old Aungkan Khunte, a native of Surat Thani, had parked his Phuket registered TPI cement truck, registration number 70-0731, at the side of the road before heading to a nearby shop.

On returning to his truck, and given it was the middle of the night, he decided he would sleep until the morning, commented Capt Chatree.

Police woke Aungkan to inform him a motorcycle had crashed into the back of his parked trailer and the driver had been killed, added Capt Chatree.

Police discovered the damaged red MXS model Honda motorbike, registration number 1 Kga 7406, at the right-hand side rear of the trailer.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. He had suffered serious wounds to his head, despite the fact he had been wearing a helmet. He was not carrying any identification although police estimate him to be between 16-18 years of age.

The driver had been wearing headphones when the incident occurred and his broken phone was found nearby. He was carrying a bag containing several pictures of, what is believed, to be the victim himself.

His body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital and the trailer was taken to Phuket Police Station for further investigation.

Police refused to disclose any more details at this point.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco Unified School District will close all its schools for three weeks starting on Monday in response to the novel coronavirus, school district officials announced Thursday.

The closure will last through a regularly scheduled spring break and students are expected to return on Monday, April 6.

On Thursday evening, SFUSD announced Glen Park Elementary School was to close immediately after the district learned from the Department of Public Health seven students from the school reported respiratory illnesses.

The DPH is testing the students for COVID-19.

The closure for all schools comes after district officials announced Wednesday evening it would close Lakeshore Elementary School after four students and some of their family members each developed a respiratory illness, school district officials said.

"It is likely that we will see many more COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks and coming months and this will require a measured, sustained response," Dr. Vincent Matthews, SFUSD Superintendent said. "We need the time to plan, prepare, and train staff on how to operate schools during this epidemic."

"Instead of doing reactive school-by-school closures, we're going to focus the next three weeks on how we can provide essential support for our community in this new reality," he said.

During the three-week closure, all activities on school campuses like childcare, health services, extracurricular activities, and enrichment programs will also be canceled.

District officials are exploring ways the city and community organizations can support families and students during the two weeks before the already-scheduled spring break.

"Children have not been shown to be a high-risk group for serious illness from this virus, however, they can transmit the virus to those most vulnerable," Board of Education President Mark Sanchez said.

Department of Public Health officials are recommending families in need of childcare refrain from leaving children with elderly family members.

Matthews said the decision to close all schools was not taken lightly.

"We have been in a reactive mode. The school-by-school closures are reactive," he said. "We know that we need time to prepare for this new world right now."

"We've been talking about this for weeks," Sanchez. "We want to be preemptive and we want to be proactive."

The four students at Lakeshore elementary are being tested for the coronavirus, or COVID-19. The students and their families are under quarantine.

According to Matthews, Lakeshore remains the only SFUSD school to have any students under quarantine.

During the three-week break, Matthews said the district's schools will be thoroughly cleaned and staff will also take the time to order cleaning and sanitizing supplies, which he said are currently on back order.

He added the district is in discussion with the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom and the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond regarding funding if a prolonged closure is necessary.

Earlier this week, the Archdiocese of San Francisco announced it would close 90 Bay Area private schools, with a handful located in San Francisco, after a student at one of their schools tested positive for COVID-19.

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.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As the coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads, with five positive cases confirmed on Staten Island this week, the Staten Island Greenmarkets will remain open this weekend.

GrowNYC, the entity that coordinates the farmers markets, issued a statement Thursday that all of our markets are currently operating as normal.

On Saturday the Mall Greenmarket will be open at Ring Road, from 9 a.m. to 1 pm., with the Orchards of Concklin of Rockland County, N.Y.

The St. George Greenmarket will be open Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the top of Hyatt Street and St. Marks Place. Producers include: Rabbit Run Farm; American Pride Seafood; Francescas Bakery; Stoney Mount Ranch from Schuylkill County, Pa. and NJJersey Farm Produce from Hunterdon County, N.J.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

There are modifications at the markets, as per GrowNYC, such as no sampling of products until further notice.

Hand sanitizer will be offered at the market managers stations. Staff handling credit and debit cards or processing SNAP transactions must wear protective gloves. Sick staffers are mandated to stay home. And the market management will provide reminders to farmers about proper food handling.

In addition to following general public health guidelines, GrowNYC encourages patrons to wash all produce before using and to keep reusable produce bags washed and clean.

We hope customers wont be too frightened to come out to the market, said cheesemaker and goat farmer Dan Torrison of Rabbits Run Farm.

He added, We think theres a less chance of customers getting the virus at the Greenmarket than there is at their local bodega or grocer.

Torrison said he doesnt want to downplay the seriousness of the situation, adding, People should be cautious, covering their face if they cough or sneeze and washing their hands often throughout the day.

There are 50 open-air Greenmarket locations in New York City, a conduit for 250 regional farmers who sell through them.

Eighty-five percent of our farms report that they would not be in business if not for the ability to sell directly to New York City shoppers," GrowNYC reported. We are, and have been since the beginning of COVID-19, in constant contact with city health officials, and we continue to follow their guidance.

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To reduce Nigerias out-of-school children, the worlds highest, every Nigerian lawmaker needs to donate a share of their quarterly allowances to return the children back to school, a lawmaker said Thursday.

When Ndudi Elumelu (PDP, Delta) said this on Thursday, on the floor of the House of Representatives, there were murmurs which lasted for about 20 seconds. It took the intervention of House Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, before normalcy was restored.

Mr Elumelu noted that this should be done on the basis of each lawmakers constituency. By this, each lawmaker should be made to cater for the out-of-school children in their constituencies, using their quarterly allowance, he said.

If Mr Elumelus suggestion is to be adopted, it means senators, for instance, would have to part with a fraction of their quarterly 40.5 million running cost, at 13.5 million monthly  an amount that is exclusive of the 700,000 monthly consolidated salary and allowances which they also receive.

Special Plenary

Thursdays plenary was devoted by the green chamber to hatch a way forward on the menace of out-of-school children.

Although accurate data are scant in Nigeria, UNICEF says Nigeria has about 10.5 million children that are not in school, the highest by any country.

Mr Elumelu was worried about this figure, and noted that apart from drawing funds from the allowances of lawmakers, state governments also need to prioritise free education to the highest level.

He urged the private sector to take it as their social responsibility to establish foundations aimed at reducing out-of-school children.

Section 18, subsection 3 of the 1999 constitution mandates the government to eradicate illiteracy, and when practicable, provide free, compulsory and universal primary, secondary and university education, as well as free adult literacy programme.

Chinedu Obidigwe (APGA, Anambra) said the and when practicable clause weakens this provision of the nations law. He called for an amendment, and to that, the House Speaker said the constitution amendment committee could see to amending the clause to shall.

Already, a bill to make education a fundamental human right has been read for the second time in the green chamber. With it, if passed, any child denied free education in any government-owned primary schools, can sue the defaulting school.

On his part, Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau) questioned the governments role in getting children out of the street.

He said that while complacency on the part of parents to enrol their wards in school cannot be overlooked, the government, too, has failed in its responsibility to educate its people.

Is the government living up to its responsibility to provide basic amenities (in our schools)? he asked. It (is because it) doesnt affect us, and our children are in foreign schools.

Mr Gagdis claim has sticking semblance with a recent report which identified a host of Nigerian political leaders whose wards are enrolled in across schools abroad. This is happening while institutions in the country have series of challenges ranging from incessant strike to infrastructural decay to grapple with.

 And Almajiris too

The lawmakers also took out time to address the Almajiri system of education in Nigeria.

The Almajiri system is popularly associated with kids begging on the streets in many Northern Nigerian states.

Many of these kids are sent by their parents to live with and study Quranic education at a teachers place.

Speaking at the opening of the debate, the speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, described the system as failures of policy development and implementation.

He added that the vagaries of culture and religion have contributed to the plight of these young kids.

We have come here today to consider the matter of the millions of children in our country who are out of school, and who, as a result, are denied their fundamental right to receive the training and skills acquisition opportunities that will allow them to have better lives than their parents before them, and provide a better future for their offspring.

We are here to consider the failures of policy development and implementation, the vagaries of culture and religion that have contributed to the plight of these young people.

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We are here to advance solutions to this problem, he said.

Mr Gbajabiamila said the house will act in the best interests of Nigerians by ensuring that the solutions presented at the debate are formulated into actionable policy plans to be implemented diligently, with haste, stating that this is a commitment the house made in its Legislative Agenda.

We will live up to this and all other commitments which we have freely made before God and the Nigerian people who have chosen us to represent them here in this hallowed chamber.

On his part, Toby Okechukwu said there is need for the cultural practices aiding the children from being put out of school to be addressed. He added that being the closest to the people, cultural and religious institutions and leaders have a role to play in tackling the menace.

Obinna Chidoka (PDP, Anambra) said girls should be properly provided for. Adequate sanitary provision should be made for schools. Our educational curriculum should take into cognizance our cultural practices.

The Almajiri kids make a large chunk of Nigerias 13.2 million out-of-school children.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how about eight million of Nigerias out-of-school children are in 10 Northern states and Abuja.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2019 announced plans to ban the Almajiri Quranic education system in Northern Nigeria. He, however, said he will not do so immediately.

The Kano and Nasarawa State Governments recently announced a ban on street begging by the Almajiris.

According to Kano State governors spokesperson, Abba Anwar, the effort was to fully consolidate the free and compulsory primary and secondary school education in the state.

Resolution

Part of the resolution of the house while passing the motion was that the House Committee on Basic Education should carry out a holistic investigation into the matter of Nigerias out of school children to ascertain amongst other things, the current figure of out of school children in Nigeria, including specific numbers in each state of the federation.

The other was an assessment of the federal government expenditure on basic education over the last 10 years to identify how and what these funds have been spent on and the status of all ongoing capital projects by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) across the country.

The house also resolved that the Committee should convene a special public hearing to receive and consider the views, submissions and concerns of stakeholders and citizens, on the matter of out of school children in Nigeria to identify the unique cultural, religious, social and economic factors that cause school dropout and failure to enroll children in schools across the country.
Elon Musk is set launch at least 12,000 Starlink satellites into low-orbit to blanket the world with high speed internet, but the plan is causing quite the stir among astronomers and stargazers  the devices are blocking their views of the night sky.

Now, a group of designers have taken matters into their own hands with a petition asking the public to say no to the irresponsible practice of littering the night sky.

Created by Under Lucky Stars, the firm hopes to gain 100,000 signatures over the next 30 days which will be given to policy experts and officials at the White House to determine what the next steps will be.

So for 1,000 people have put their name on the petition in order to stop the company SpaceX from cluttering the night sky with light pollution.

However, Under Luck Stars is not the first to come forward with complaints about the Starlink satellites  scientist have already raised concerns over just the 240 that are currently in orbit.

Scroll down for video

Elon Musk is set launch at least 12,000 Starlink satellites into low-orbit to blanket the world with high speed internet, but the plan is causing quite the stir among astronomers and stargazers  the devices are blocking their views of the night sky (pictured)

They form a constellation of thousands of satellites, designed to provide low-cost broadband internet service from low Earth orbit.

The constellation, informally known as Starlink, and under development at SpaceX's facilities in Redmond, Washington.

Its goal is to beam superfast internet into your home from space.

While satellite internet has been around for a while, it has suffered from high latency and unreliable connections.

Starlink is different. SpaceX says putting a 'constellation' of satellites in low earth orbit would provide high-speed, cable-like internet all over the world.  which is also hindering the views of the night sky.

Starlink satellites form a constellation of thousands of satellites, designed to provide low-cost broadband internet service from low Earth orbit

So for 1,000 people have put their name on the petition in order to stop the company SpaceX from cluttering the night sky with light pollution. However, Under Luck Stars is not the first to come forward with complaints about the Starlink satellites  scientist have already raised concerns over just the 240 that are currently in orbit.

Under Luck Stars designs maps showing alignments of starts in a place or time a person chooses.

It could be at a time of birth, engagement, wedding and other memorable occasions.

Zoltan Toth-Czifra, founder of Under Lucky Stars, said: The crisis of massive industrial pollution of drinking water sources in the 1960s prompted the Clean Water Act of 1972 and saved our most precious resources.

'Corporations need boundaries. They need to be told they cannot treat our common treasures like our rivers and our night sky as their own. 

And they need to know we are watching them. This is what this campaign is all about."

Under Luck Stars designs maps showing alignments of starts in a place or time a person chooses. It could be at a time of birth, engagement, wedding and other memorable occasions

SpaceX, Elon Musks company, began launching the satellites in 2019 and they have since become the brightest objects in the sky.

SpaceX plans to launch hundreds, potentially thousands, into our low-orbit throughout this year.

While the satellites will become dimmer once they reach their final orbits, the devices will still be noticeable in non-light polluted areas, Under Lucky Stars explained.

A study by the European Southern Observatory into the impact of satellite constellations - such as Starlink - found most telescope arrays could mitigate against the problem - but some would still be affected.

Wide-field surveys - particularly those done with large telescopes such as the US National Science Foundation's Vera C Rubin Observatory - would be most affected.

Up to half of exposures with the Rubin Observatory would be 'severely affected', depending on the time of year and the time of night, the study found.

'Mitigation techniques that could be applied on ESO telescopes would not work for this observatory although other strategies are being actively explored.'

The system of satellite broadband coverage is due to go live in the northern United States and Canada later this year and expand to global coverage by 2021.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modis proposal to the members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to formulate a strong strategy in order to fight the novel coronavirus. Rajapaksa took to Twitter to thank PM Modi for the great initiative and urged everyone to united in solidarity in the face of a global pandemic.

Thank you for the great initiative Shri @narendramodi - #LKA is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Lets unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe. https://t.co/fAiT5w3O8D  Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) March 13, 2020

Read: 'Leave No Stone Unturned': PM Modi Proposes SAARC Chalks Out Anti-Coronavirus Strategy

Earlier, PM Modi had proposed that the SAARC countries could discuss the ways, via video conferencing, to keep citizens healthy. In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister urged South Asian nations to leave no stone unturned in the fight against the deadly virus ensuring the wellness of citizens.

Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it.



South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 13, 2020

Read: Mamata Banerjee Felicitates Mohun Bagan For I-League Win; Spreads Coronavirus Awareness

Other members welcome proposal

Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives also joined the bandwagon to welcome PM Modis proposal and urged other SAARC members to coordinate in this fight. Nepals Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih thanked Prime Minister for taking the initiative. PM Modis proposal and quick response from SAARC members could revive the regional intergovernmental organisation which has been dormant since the relationship between India and Pakistan hit the nadir.

This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference. https://t.co/2RnokAJQOs  PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) March 13, 2020

Read: Coronavirus Scare: Indonesia Temporarily Bans Face Mask Export To Secure Domestic Supply

Read: PSL 2020: England Players To Leave Pakistan Immediately Over Coronavirus Outbreak
A Pakistani news anchor, while reading about the recent and fatal F-16 crash report, mistakenly said that the deceased pilot could have 'ejaculated' instead of saying 'ejected'. The anchor, who is reportedly from an Urdu language station in Pakistan, made a mistake while also hailing the deceased F-16 pilot, Wing Commander Nauman Akram. The video has been doing rounds on several social media platforms after it went viral and triggered childish giggles.

In the video, the anchor can be heard saying, The pilot didnt ejaculate but rather utilised the crucial time to take the jet into a less populated area.

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This particular video has received almost 32,000 views and has garnered thousands of likes. Several internet users have also left hilarious comments. One user even wrote, This is a proper parody country.

This is so funny. Poor thing didnt know what she said! Wonder how News Channels passed it. pic.twitter.com/pF9514pq1c  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) March 12, 2020

OMG  this is downright funny.  Shambhudeep Hore (@MaverickJourno) March 12, 2020

READ: Twitter Users Come Together To Help Woman Find 'missing' Father Of Her Kids

Happens when you use English words while speaking your mother tongue to sound knowledgeable or sophisticated.#IYI  Yadvendra Jadon (@YadvendraJadon) March 12, 2020

COOL     FOOL      Ayush Jain (@jainayush10) March 12, 2020

READ: Video: Prince Charles Ditches Handshake, Switches To 'namaste' Amid Coronavirus Scare

She said the word so fluently and lovingly  that I'm confused about the proper word at the place..  amarjeet kumar (@amjeet786) March 12, 2020

F-16 jet crash

On March 11, Pakistani fighter pilot Nauman Akram died when his F-16 jet crashed in a wooded area near Islamabad during a rehearsal for an upcoming military parade in Islamabad. According to reports, Akram steered the aircraft towards the wood in Shakarparian instead of ejecting as, otherwise, the jet could have led to a crash in a populated area and cause casualties.

READ: Mutant Pig Born With 'human-like Face And Hair' Breaks Internet, Watch Video


(TNS)  PHILADELPHIA  Before spring break, Mark Rimple, who teaches a historical music class at West Chester University, collected his students' renaissance-age instruments for maintenance, assuming he would return the lutes, viols, recorders and sackbuts (funny-looking trombones) when the students returned.But they won't be coming back for class. Rimple will have to come up with another mode of instruction."It's not going to be ideal for the students," he said. "But it's the only option we have right now."Professors and instructors across the country are grappling with how to teach courses to thousands of students who will spend the next few weeks learning exclusively online after dozens of schools ranging from small schools to major universities have announced they're asking students to leave campus and finish courses online as the coronavirus spreads.Universities are now working to drastically scale up their online offerings using technological platforms that have never been tested at such high usage levels, all while trying to accommodate students without access to high-speed internet or unlimited data.West Chester, the largest school in the Pennsylvania state system, was the first major university in the region to announce it is moving to virtual learning for the remainder of the semester. Temple, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Delaware followed suit on Wednesday as officials in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware announced new cases of the coronavirus and the World Health Organization designated the spread as a global pandemic.Some schools, including Villanova, Penn State, Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore, will move learning online and reevaluate at a later date. The campuses will remain open, but all students who can go home are being asked to do so. Earlier this week, Rutgers, Princeton, Rowan and Stockton also announced transitions to remote learning.In an email to the Haverford community, school president Wendy Raymond acknowledged officials are "traversing uncharted territory.""Though we have endeavored to anticipate likely problems and questions," she wrote, "the operational plan is a work in progress and will no doubt require refinement and modification over the coming weeks."Most schools already use a variety of tools to deliver education online, including learning-management systems that allow for instructors to communicate with students, post assignments, archive notes and manage discussion forums.One of the most popular tools is Canvas, a cloud-based platform used by major schools including Rutgers and Penn State. Some other colleges "self-host," meaning they manage their own server. Among the most popular platforms is Blackboard, which has both self-hosted and cloud-based offerings.Schools that self-host are more likely to see glitches in the coming weeks, said Phil Hill, an education technology consultant and partner at California-based firm MindWires. Hill said cloud-based platforms like Canvas are "built for scalability," but "any campus that is hosting these systems" could face challenges related to heavy usage.He also warned that even cloud-based platforms aren't a panacea  some schools are recommending instructors communicate with students using Zoom, the videoconferencing platform. Zoom is also popular for people who work from home, another group that's skyrocketing in size as communities work to limit social contact amid the spread of the coronavirus. "(Zoom) is getting such heavy usage," he said.Officials at Blackboard said any institution's ability to rapidly scale up their systems depends on what was in place before. The biggest concern "is the pace with which these institutions are moving online," said Brent Mundy, senior product director of Blackboard Learn. He said the platform can handle the influx, but the biggest problem for schools will be "their ability to train faculty, reorient students, (and) retool their help desk."Instructors should avoid simply moving their courses online by posting videos of lectures and keeping assignments largely the same, higher education experts said. Cathy N. Davidson, founding director of the Futures Initiative at the Graduate Center CUNY, said instructors should try to offer "synchronous" learning, in which students in a class are online at the same time and responding to material in real time.She warned the next few weeks "won't be perfect." But offering additional collaboration for students is "one simple thing you can do with very limited technology to make it a little better and a little more human so (students) don't feel alienated."As for the technology? "The systems aren't remotely designed for this quantity of response," she said.Amy Slaton, a professor of history at Drexel University whose scholarship focuses on equity in education and technology, said online learning can easily default to a "very top-down kind of model, where faculty provide material as if students are empty vessels."She recommended instructors offer telephone and Skype office hours in addition to being reachable online.Rimple, president of the faculty union at West Chester and a professor of music theory, history and composition, said the university is working through how to offer some learning experiences, including clinicals, choir, and science labs."We're going to have to meet these one-by-one and come up with solutions the best we can," he said, noting that the school has given professors two weeks to prepare. He estimated more than half of professors at West Chester have done some form of online teaching in the past.John Baker, CEO of D2L, a Canada-based company that owns cloud-based learning-management platform Brightspace, said the company has "no trouble" scaling to meet the needs of "100% of our clients going 100% online," but they're working now with clients to develop more advanced methods of instruction, including proctoring exams online.Penn announced it plans to conduct final exams online, as will Drexel, which is on a quarter calendar and has final exams next week. Emma Frandsen, a freshman at Drexel, said her biggest concern about moving exams online is that professors will anticipate cheating and make the tests more challenging.Miranda Russo, a junior, agreed, saying "ethically, I don't think it's right to make all exams online because that encourages students to utilize outside sources, and gives them an unfair advantage as opposed to students in other quarters."But any unfair advantage has less to do with testing and more with access, some experts said. Slaton said we tend to assume online education is "more democratic," but, she said, "there are a lot of ways the coronavirus emergency is going to make those inequities more pronounced."She said colleges must accommodate students without access to high-speed internet or unlimited data plans. Some platforms, like Brightspace, have off-line modes that would allow a student to in theory use public internet access to download lectures or assignments and then view them later while they're off-line.Slaton also noted students with disabilities could have additional challenges, as some platforms don't automatically have features like closed captioning or audio transcription.She encouraged institutions of higher education to reflect on "notions of rigor" in a time of such mass community uncertainty."One possible approach is just to really encourage thinking that says 'it's not the amount of content that we provide, it's the quality of the pedagogy,'" she said. "If the school covers less, that is really OK. We do not need to disadvantage students with conventional notions of what counts as rigor. We can be more flexible than we tend to be."2020 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
13.03.2020 LISTEN

Ghanaians in Georgia celebrated Ghanas 63rd Independence in grand style at the Horizon Event Center in Norcross, Georgia on March 7, 2020. The theme for this years celebration is The Year of Return. A theme chosen to highlight the Ghana governments Year of Return campaign celebrating the resilience of the African over the past 400 years while creating the enabling environment to welcome all people of African origin to Africa, especially Ghana.

In her eloquent address, the President of the Ghana Council of Georgia, Ms. Yvonne Horsley McCowin, highlighted the common bond that Africans have with our brothers and sisters living in the diaspora. She encouraged those who havent made the trip yet, to take advantage of the red carpet welcome that awaits them in Accra, Ghana upon arrival.

The Keynote speaker at the event, United States House of Representative member Congressman Hank Johnson, shared his memorable trip to Ghana as part of Speaker Nancy Pelosis delegation to Ghana.

Honorable Hank Johnson again called on the Government of Ghana to endeavor to resolve the case of the murdered journalist Ahmed Hussein Suale emphasizing that democracy has no place for silencing those who speak out against corruption.

The biggest applause of the night came when Congressman Johnson said he will consider acquiring Ghanaian citizenship in the future because if he feels a kinship to the country.

The event was attended by Nananom dressed in elegant fugu and Kente clothes. The Nananom elegantly entered the hall to Adowa music and dancing. Also in attendance were local political dignitaries and over 300 Ghanaians.

Based in Atlanta, the Ghana Council of Georgia was established in 2009 to serve as the gateway through which citizens and interested parties can be directed to establish links within the affiliate associations in the Ghanaian community in Georgia. The Council comprises of any registered Ghanaian based association or society in the state of Georgia, USA. For more information, please contact Yvonne McCowin at [email protected]

or http://www.ghanacouncilofgeorgia.org/

Source: Dr. Ali Yallah, Executive VP, Ghana Council of Georgia.
As the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases and deaths continue to rise in the United States, Americans are hunkering down and more and more schools, sports leagues and amusement parks are closing.

There are at least 2,028 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and 48 coronavirus-related deaths, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and ABC News reporting.

Globally there are over 137,000 cases and over 5,000 deaths.

Tune into ABC News Live at noon ET every weekday for the latest news, context and analysis on the novel coronavirus, with resources from the full ABC News team.

Today's biggest developments:

Trump declares national emergency Dr. Fauci says spread will 'get worse before it gets better' US death toll rises to 48 Trump administration, Pelosi agree to spending bill Europe now 'epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic' Italy fatalities jump by 250 in 24 hours

Here's the latest on the developing situation. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates.

12:21 a.m. Trump physician says quarantine, COVID-19 test 'not currently indicated' for president

Despite coming into contact with multiple people who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, President Donald Trump's physician said late Friday night that a home quarantine or COVID-19 test are "not currently indicated."

Last week while hosting the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, Trump came in close contact with at least two people who later tested positive for the virus, according to Trump physician Dr. Sean Conley.

One person only had a brief interaction with the president --a handshake and photograph-- and began to show symptoms three days after the interaction. The other shared a table with the president, but Conley said that person was symptom-free until Friday. Both interactions are defined as "low risk" for transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Story continues

"Given the president himself remains without symptoms, testing for COIVD-19 is not currently indicated," Conley wrote Friday. "I will continue to closely monitor and care for the president."

9:43 p.m. Montana, Puerto Rico announce 1st cases

There is now only one state in the U.S. without a coronavirus case.

Montana announced its first four presumptive cases on Friday evening, meaning the only state not to announce one is West Virginia. The four cases include one man in his 40s, two men in their 50s and one woman in her 50s.

"We've been monitoring this rapidly evolving situation and vigorously preparing for COVID-19 to reach Montana, making todays news unsurprising," Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said. "As our public health officials work relentlessly to prevent further spread, I urge all Montanans to continue efforts to plan and follow public health recommendations to take the proper precautions."

Puerto Rico also announced its first three confirmed cases. A 71-year-old man from San Juan tested positive, as well as a 68-year-old woman -- referred to as an Italian resident -- and her husband, 70. All were listed in stable condition, according to the governor's office.

9:17 p.m. 2nd death reported in Santa Clara County, Calif.

A woman in her 80s from Santa Clara County, California, who had been hospitalized on March 9, died on Friday to mark the second death in the county.

"The Public Health Department is saddened to share this news and expresses its condolences to her family," the county health department said.

The death was the fifth in California, second-most in the U.S. behind Washington.

It was also at least the 48th total death in the country.

8:43 p.m. Agreement on bill comes after all

After a brief delay following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement of a coronavirus funding bill, the president tweeted that his administration had come to an agreement with the Democratic leader.

"I fully support H.R. 6201: Families First CoronaVirus Response Act, which will be voted on in the House this evening. This Bill will follow my direction for free CoronaVirus tests, and paid sick leave for our impacted American workers," President Donald Trump tweeted.

I fully support H.R. 6201: Families First CoronaVirus Response Act, which will be voted on in the House this evening. This Bill will follow my direction for free CoronaVirus tests, and paid sick leave for our impacted American workers. I have directed....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020

....the health and well-being of American families FIRST. Look forward to signing the final Bill, ASAP!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020

7:45 p.m. No deal on Families First Coronavirus Response Act?

Less than an hour after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that an agreement had been reached with the Trump administration regarding the coronavirus relief bill that was proposed this week, the brakes are being pumped on the deal.

A senior White House official told ABC News that the bill was still being reviewed, which was echoed by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

"I think they thought there were some things in there that weren't in there or vice versa," he said as he walked to the speakers office.

Hoyer says Democrats might still vote on their bill tonight: "We've got a really good bill. I want to bring it to the floor. I want to pass it tonight, send it to the Senate, so they can act on it as soon as possible.

Some provisions introduced in the legislation include providing emergency paid sick leave for two weeks and family and medical leave up to three months, expanding SNAP benefits for households to afford food that children would normally receive at school and increases in federal funds for Medicaid.

The funds proposed for the bill will come from an $8.3 billion emergency coronavirus spending package proposed earlier this month.

Today, we will pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act after reaching an agreement with the Administration. This legislation builds on the action that House Democrats took last week to put #FamiliesFirst with our strong, bipartisan $8.3 billion emergency funding package.  Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) March 13, 2020

7:41 p.m. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau exposed to virus

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency tasked with protecting American consumers buying financial products and services, is ordering its employees in Washington, D.C., and New York City to work from home through the end of next week because of "potential exposure."

In an email obtained by ABC News, staff were told the move was necessary "because we have received reports of potential exposure to COVID-19 from individuals who work or have been in these locations.

It's at least the second federal building closure this week. Earlier this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission's office directed its employees to telework because of a suspected case involving one of its workers.

The offices will be "deep cleaned next week and access to the building is restricted," the email stated.

The order applies to all employees who have telework agreements in both its Washington, D.C., headquarters and its New York regional office. Agency employees at other locations are encouraged to "make full use of all workplace flexibilities, especially telework," the email stated.

6:15 p.m. New York City mayor keeps public schools open

As public, private and charter schools across the country have announced closing amid the increasing reports of coronavirus, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio continues to push back on shutting down the New York City's educational facilities.

At a press conference on Friday afternoon, de Blasio reported that 89% of students were in attendance on Monday, but by the end of the week the rate dropped to 68%.

There was also a slight uptick of teacher absences.

As of Friday, at least 46,000 schools nationwide are closed, are scheduled to close or were closed and later reopened, affecting at least 26 million students, according to Education Week.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo shut down the public schools in New Rochelle -- in the epicenter of New York's COVID-19 outbreak -- on Tuesday for two weeks.

The superintendent of Denver Public Schools made a "difficult decision" on Thursday to extend spring break from March 16 until April 7.

Florida and Wisconsin public schools were shut down on Friday for the rest of the month, while the governor of Louisiana closed all public schools until April 13.

Boston announced it was closing public schools late Friday, joining other major cities, like Houston, Miami, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles, which have instituted closings for an extended period of time.

6:12 p.m. Idaho reports 1st novel coronavirus case

The Department of Health and Welfare and Gov. Brad Little announced that Idaho has its first COVID-19 patient.

The patient is a woman over 50 from Ada County who returned from a conference in New York where three people from the event tested positive for coronavirus. The woman contacted her doctor, and a laboratory test later confirmed she has the virus.

"She is self-isolating at home and is doing well," said Elke Shaw-Tulloch with the Idaho Department of Public Health at a press conference.

Now, the only U.S. states that haven't reported cases are Montana and West Virginia.

5:32 p.m. 6 additional deaths reported in Washington

The death toll in the U.S. rose to at least 47 on Friday as Washington state announced six more deaths.

The state has by far the most deaths of any in the country: 37.

Thirty-two people have died in King County, with five new reported deaths on Friday, while the sixth death was reported in Snohomish County, officials said.

No further details were given on those who died.

5:27 p.m. Guest at Mar-a-Lago fundraiser tested positive for COVID-19

A guest who attended a fundraiser event on behalf of President Donald Trump's campaign on Sunday has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to an email obtained by ABC News.

"We unfortunately write today to notify you that an attendee at the Trump Victory-sponsored event you attended at Mar-a-Largo on Sunday, March 8," the joint committee between the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee wrote in an email sent today.

While the entire Trump family was at the event, a senior campaign official tells ABC News the donor did not interact with the president.

"The attendee had no direct interaction with the president or the first family at this event and the VP did not attend this event," an RNC official said.

A Brazilian official who met with Trump while at the resort on March 7 also tested positive.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden at the White House, March 13, 2020, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP)

4:56 p.m. All major amusement parks in Florida closed

Starting on Monday, all major theme parks in Florida will be closed through the end of the month.

Tampa-based Busch Gardens said in a statement on Friday that it will be closed until April due to the global pandemic.

"During this time our animal care experts will continue to look after the health, safety and nutritional needs of the animals in our care," the statement read. "Our animal rescue and rehabilitation operations will also continue to operate."

Busch Gardens is part of the SeaWorld family of companies. SeaWorld closed all of its parks -- in Orlando, Florida; San Diego and San Antonio -- earlier in the day.

Disney World and Universal closed its parks on Thursday.

4:53 p.m. Colorado reports the 1st death

An 80-year-old woman is the first person in Denver with the coronavirus to die, public health officials said.

"While we were expecting this day, it doesn't make it any less difficult to hear and share this news," said Governor Jared Polis in a statement. "As a state we are in mourning and our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of the Coloradan we lost."

The woman, who lived in El Paso County, had underlying health conditions.

4:23 p.m.: Major cruise lines suspend voyages for up to 30 days

Norwegian Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruises announced voluntary suspension of all cruises set to embark within the next 30 days.

"The safety, security and well-being of our guests and crew is our highest priority," said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian, in a statement issued on Friday.

All current trips on Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises will end immediately and guests on board will be disembarked and assisted with travel arrangements.

Norwegian Cruise Lines will continue services after April 11.

Royal Caribbean cruises will also suspend cruises for the next 30 days, but will allow guests on cruises that departed U.S. ports before midnight Friday and international cruises to continue their scheduled itineraries. Ships that already left U.S. ports and are at sea will finish their itineraries as planned.

Guests with upcoming trips during the suspension dates are asked to contact their travel agent or the cruise line for more information on refund offers.

3:37 p.m.: Trump declares national emergency

PHOTO: Members of a cleaning crew high-five before entering the Life Care Center of Kirkland, the Seattle-area nursing home at the epicenter of one of the biggest coronavirus outbreaks in the US, in Kirkland, Washington, March 12, 2020. (David Ryder/Reuters)

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Friday which he said "will open up access to up to $50 billion" to fight COVID-19.

"The secretary of HHS [Health and Human Services] will be able to immediately waive provisions of applicable laws and regulations to give doctors, hospitals, all hospitals and health care providers maximum flexibility to respond to the virus and care for patients," Trump said at the White House.

Trump also announced private sector partnerships to "accelerate our capacity to test for the coronavirus."

"We want to make sure that those who need a test can get a test very safely, quickly and conveniently," the president said.

The FDA approved a new test from Roche Diagnostics which is expected to make "up to half a million additional tests" "available early next week," Trump said.

PHOTO: A pedestrian wears a face mask during the coronavirus outbreak while crossing West 34th Street in New York City, March 12, 2020. (John Minchillo/AP)

Trump said the FDA also hopes to authorize an application from Thermo Fisher within 24 hours, which he said would create 1.4 million more tests next week and 5 million within a month.

"At the same time, we've been in discussions with pharmacies and retailers to make drive-through tests available in the critical locations," he said.

3:15 p.m.: Los Angeles, San Diego, Pennsylvania, West Virginia schools close

All Pennsylvania schools will close for 10 business days starting on March 16 to try to stop the spread of COVID-19, the governor announced.

California's two largest school districts, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the San Diego Unified School District, will close their doors on Monday. The two districts teach more than 750,000 students combined.

Coronavirus map: Why flattening the curve for coronavirus matters

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced he will close his state's public schools, saying the "risks outweigh the good."

West Virginia is just one of three states, along with Idaho and Montana, without any confirmed coronavirus cases.

2:17 p.m.: New York cases soar to 421

PHOTO: A tourist crosses the 7th Avenue at Times Square on March 13, 2020, in New York. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

New York state now has 421 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the highest in the country, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

That total includes 154 people in New York City, he said.

Of the 421 people, 50 are in the hospital, the governor said.

"There could be tens of thousands of cases," he warned. "My guess is there are thousands of cases or people who had coronavirus, didnt even know they had the coronavirus, had symptoms, resolved, moved on, and never knew they had it."

PHOTO: A man in a surgical mask walks through Manhattan's Broadway Theatre district after Broadway shows announced they will cancel performances due to the coronavirus outbreak in New York, March 12, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

1:53 p.m.: Italy fatalities jump by 250 in 24 hours

Italy saw 250 more fatalities from the coronavirus in just 24 hours, the Italian Civil Protection Authorities said Friday.

That brings the total number of infected in Italy to 17,660 since the outbreak began on Feb. 21, and the number of related deaths to 1,266.

PHOTO: Empty chairs and tables are lined up outside a restaurant in St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, March 9, 2020. (Anteo Marinoni/AP)

1:05 p.m.: Miami mayor tests positive

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Friday that he has coronavirus.

The mayor added that he feels "completely healthy and strong" and will "remain isolated while I lead our government remotely."

How to avoid panicking in coping with coronavirus outbreak

"If we did not shake hands or you did not come into contact with me -- if I coughed or sneezed -- there is no action you need to take whatsoever," Suarez said in a statement. "If we did, however, touch or shake hands, or if I sneezed or coughed near you since Monday, it is recommended that you self-isolate for 14 days, but you do not need to get tested."

Suarez attended events in Miami on Monday and Tuesday with a Brazilian government official who later tested positive for coronavirus, a city of Miami spokesperson told ABC News.

The mayor gave welcoming remarks both times but did not spend any significant amount of time with the Brazilian delegation at either event, the spokesperson said.

Trump also met with that Brazilian official over the weekend at Mar-a-Lago.

12:11 p.m.: Europe now 'epicenter'

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "Europe has now become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China."

He urged other countries on Friday to look at the actions taken by "China, South Korea, Singapore and others," which, he said, "clearly demonstrates that aggressive testing and contact tracing, combined with social-distancing measures and community mobilization, can prevent COVID-19 infections and save lives."

"Our message to countries continues to be: You must take a comprehensive approach. Not testing alone. Not contact tracing alone. Not quarantine alone. Not social distancing alone. Do it all," he said. "Any country that looks at the experience of other countries with large epidemics and thinks 'that wont happen to us' is making a deadly mistake. It can happen to anyone."

11:25 a.m.: Drive-through mobile testing center opens in hard-hit New Rochelle

New York state's first drive-through COVID-19 mobile testing center opened in the city of New Rochelle Friday.

PHOTO: Workers in protective suits wait for people to arrive by car as Governor Andrew Cuomo opens the State's First Drive Through COVID-19 Mobile Testing Center at Glen Island Park, in New Rochelle, New York on March 13, 2020. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

The center will test up to 200 people on Friday and that number could reach 500 per day, the governor said.

A one-mile radius "containment area" was established in New Rochelle to try to stop the virus from spreading.

10:25 a.m.: Boston Marathon postponed

The 2020 Boston Marathon is postponed until Monday, Sept. 14, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced Friday.

9:43 a.m.: Sen. Ted Cruz extends quarantine

Sen. Ted Cruz has decided to extend his self-quarantine.

While the senator's elected self-quarantine ended Thursday afternoon, he said he then learned Thursday night that "he had a second interaction" with someone who tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

PHOTO: The Rotunda at the U.S. Capitol is empty after the last tour group has passed through, March 12, 2020, in Washington. The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center suspended all public tours until the end of March due to COVID-19. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

"On March 3, I met in my D.C. office with Santiago Abascal, the leader of the Vox Party in Spain. We met for about 20 minutes, sitting together at a conference table. We shook hands twice and took pictures together," Cruz said in a statement Friday. "My understanding is that Mr. Abascal tested positive for COVID-19 last night. His staff have informed us that he was asymptomatic at the time of our meeting and that several days after our meeting he had extended interactions with another individual who has also tested positive."

Im still not feeling any symptoms," Cruz went on. "But, for the same reasons I initially self-quarantinedout of an abundance of caution and to give everyone peace of mindI am extending the self-quarantine to March 17, a full fourteen days from my meeting with Mr. Abascal."

Cruz is one of nine members of Congress who have elected to self-quarantine.

7:45 a.m.: DC public schools to close

PHOTO: A worker uses a spray to disinfect the Reverend Francisco Schmitz School, in San Jose, Costa Rica, on March 12, 2020. The school will remain closed for 15 days, after one of its teachers was diagnosed with the coronavirus. (Ezequiel Becerra/AFP via Getty Images)

Washington, D.C., public schools will shutter from Monday, March 16, through the end of the month, said Mayor Muriel Bowser.

After spring break next week, students will learn through "distance learning" the rest of the month, the mayor said.

Children will have access to meals on the days schools are closed, the mayor said.

7:34 a.m.: Australian official tests positive after meeting with Ivanka Trump

Australia's minister for home affairs, Peter Dutton, said Friday he's contracted coronavirus, one week after he was seen meeting with President Trump's daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, in Washington, D.C.

Dutton said in a statement, "I feel fine and will provide an update in due course."

Dutton "was asymptomatic during the interaction" with Ivanka Trump, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement Friday.

"Exposures from the case were assessed and the White House Medical Unit confirmed, in accordance with CDC guidance, that Ivanka is exhibiting no symptoms and does not need to self-quarantine," Deere said. "She worked from home today out of an abundance of caution until guidance was given."

Yesterday  Home Affairs @PeterDutton_MP joins @IvankaTrump, Attorney General Barr & our five eyes partners  to fight online child exploitation. We heard from 9 brave survivors & announced principles that technology companies should implement to protect children online pic.twitter.com/3ifeJnGJPI  Australia in the US  (@AusintheUS) March 6, 2020

Attorney General William Barr was also at the meeting with Dutton and Ivanka Trump.

A Justice Department spokesman said Barr is "staying home" Friday.

"The AG is feeling great and not showing any symptoms," the spokesperson said, adding that the "CDC is not recommending he be tested at this point."

7:16 a.m. Fauci says spread will "get worse before it gets better"

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told "Good Morning America" Friday that the coronavirus spread will "get worse before it gets better."

PHOTO: Healthcare workers from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment test people for COVID-19 at the state's first drive-up testing center on March 12, 2020, in Denver. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

"There's no doubt that we have not peaked yet," Fauci said.

"It will be at least a matter of several weeks. It's unpredictable, but if you look at historically how these things work, it will likely be anywhere from a few weeks to up to eight weeks," Fauci said. "I hope it's going to be in the earlier part, two, three, four weeks, but it's impossible to make an accurate prediction."

Fauci urged Americans to adapt to physically separating, calling it "one of the very effective ways you can really mitigate the spread."

As many Americans say they're not getting access to COVID-19 tests, Fauci told "GMA": "I think in the next week or so you're gonna see an acceleration in the availability of tests."

As for when people should request testing, Fauci recommended that the public follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and how to protect yourself: coronavirus explained

What to do if you have symptoms: coronavirus symptoms

Tracking the spread in the US and worldwide: coronavirus map

PHOTO: A street performer sits alone at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Jeff Chiu/AP)

5:42 a.m. Charles Barkley in self-quarantine, awaiting COVID-19 test results

NBA Hall of Famer and TNT broadcaster Charles Barkley announced Thursday night that he is self-quarantining and is awaiting results from a coronavirus test.

Barkley, in a phone interview with his co-hosts of NBA on TNT, said he felt sick after returning to Atlanta from a trip in New York City.

I talked to a couple people at Turner and a couple doctors and they told me to self-quarantine for the next 48 hours. I started yesterday, this is my second day," Barkley said.

I havent been feeling great and they didnt want me to take any chances ... I went and took the coronavirus test late this afternoon, I have not gotten the results back," he said. "So Im just kinda in limbo right now. Im really hoping it was just a bug.

The NBA is suspending the 2019-2020 season due to the coronavirus. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday night play would be suspended for at least 30 days and the league intends to resume play this season when it's safe.

3:18 a.m. Oregon, Michigan close all schools

Officials in Oregon and Michigan said Thursday night they are closing all K-12 schools in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Oregon schools will be shut down through the end of March while Michigan schools will be closed until at least April 5.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said she understands the burden closing schools puts on families and students, but the move was necessary for public safety.

Ohio's public, private and charter schools will be closed from March 17 through April 3, while all public schools in Maryland will be closed from March 16 to March 27.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has ordered all private and public schools to close for six weeks in three counties: Snohomish, King and Pierce. Classes must end no later than March 17 and remain closed until April 24.

ABC News' Kirit Radia, Josh Hoyos, Will Gretsky, John Santucci, Josh Margolin, Jordyn Phelps, Katherine Faulders, Scott Withers, Anne Flaherty and Kelly McCarthy contributed to this report.

Trump declares national emergency, US coronavirus deaths rise to 48 originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
SAN FRANCISCO  The Defense Department said on Thursday that it would re-evaluate the awarding of a $10 billion cloud computing contract to Microsoft after sustained protest from Amazon, which had contended that it lost the deal because of potential interference from President Trump.

In a legal brief filed to the Court of Federal Claims, the Justice Department requested the reconsideration after Amazon argued in federal court that its offerings and pricing had been incorrectly assessed by the Pentagon. The Defense Department requested 120 days to reassess the award. The judge in the case, Patricia E. Campbell-Smith, is expected to allow the re-evaluation to go forward, though she has not yet made an official ruling.

The reconsideration is the latest twist in the enormous contract, known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, which was considered to be a prize for technology companies.

Amazon, a cloud computing giant, had widely been considered the front-runner to win the contract before it was awarded to Microsoft in October. Amazon then pushed to overturn the decision, arguing that President Trump interfered because of his dispute with Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the owner of The Washington Post. The Washington Post has aggressively covered the Trump administration.
The European Union has criticized President Trumps decision to ban most European travellers from entering the United States for 30 days. From midnight Friday Washington time, all foreign nationals who have entered the EUs border-free Schengen zone in the last 14 days will be barred from entry


Half Year Accounts

Perth, Mar 13, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - During the half-year ended 31 December 2019, Altech Chemicals Ltd ( ASX:ATC ) ( FRA:A3Y ) continued with stage-1 and stage-2 construction activities at the site of its proposed high purity alumina (HPA) plant in Tanjung Langsat, Johor, Malaysia.In October 2019, the EPC contractor consortium (German engineering firm SMS group and its Malaysian subsidiary Metix) formally handed-over to Altech the completed stage-1 facilities. The facilities consisted of the maintenance workshop building; all site retaining walls; and the on-site stormwater detention tanks. At the time of facilities hand-over the contractor consortium had completed approximately 100,000 lost time injury free working hours with zero first aid or medical treatment incidents and zero lost time injuries - a testament to the professionalism of the consortium and the various sub-contractors working on the site. During the latter part of the period covered by this report, construction activities moved to the electrical sub-station, whilst stage-2 engineering works and the ordering of 3rd party engineering packages was on-going.Funding for the stage-1 and stage-2 construction and for corporate and other head-office costs during the half-year was provided from the issue of additional equity (shares) by the Company. During the period Altech raised $3.7 million (net of costs) via share placements to existing shareholders MAA Group Berhad (Melewar group) ($2.0 million), Deutsche Balaton / Delfi ($600,000) and to a range of professional and sophisticated investors, many of whom are long-term shareholders. In December 2019, the Company also initiated a share purchase plan (SPP) whereby all existing shareholders could apply for up to $30,000 of new Altech shares at a price of $0.0975 each, free of any brokerage or other transaction costs. The SPP closed in January 2020 and was well supported with a total of $2.8 million raised.The Company continued with its efforts to finalise overall project financing for its HPA project during the half-year. On 18 July 2019, the Company announced that it had launched a German project equity strategy whereby Altech would acquire a 29% shareholding in a Frankfurt Stock Exchange listed company Youbisheng Green Paper AG (since renamed to Altech Advanced Materials AG)(AAM) and Altech would sell an option to AAM for EUR500,000, providing the opportunity for AAM to acquire a shareholding of up to a 49% direct interest in the Company's HPA project for US$100 million (via subscribing to shares of Altech Chemicals Australia Pty Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Altech which currently holds 100% of the Company's HPA project).Completion of Altech's acquisition of 29% of AAM was announced on 16 August 2019, and the Company issued 19,513,204 fully paid ordinary shares and made a cash payment of EUR500,000 as part consideration, a balance of EUR1,229,000 (the deferred consideration) was due on 1 March 2020, but has been now deferred to 1 September 2020 by agreement with the vendor, Deutsch Balaton AG. Following completion of the acquisition, Altech's managing director Iggy Tan and alternate director Uwe Ahrens were appointed to AAM's 3-person supervisory board, and the Company also finalised the sale of the option to AAM with the EUR500,000 of sale funds received. The option is exercisable by AAM in whole (a 49% project interest) or in part (a minimum 20% interest) up until 1 January 2021. During the half-year AAM advised Altech that it had commenced the process of raising funds to position it to exercise its option. AAM is aiming to initially raise up to EUR 69.4 million (~A$113.7m) of new equity via a 40:1 rights offer to existing shareholers followed by a placement of shares to external investors.Senior project debt provider, German government owned KfW IPEX-Bank remains committed to the provision of a US$190 million loan facility for the Company's HPA project and the Company continued to work with preferred mezzanine lender Macquarie Bank during the half-year to secure a US$90 million mezzanine loan. In addition to these two facilities the HPA project requires approximately US$100m of further funding to position it for financial close, as in addition to the total project capital cost estimate of US$298m published in the project Financial Investment Decision Study (ASX announcement 23-Oct-2017), the senior lender requires pre-funding of a contingency reserve account of US$28 million, a debt service reserve account of a similar amount, pre-funded working capital of US$21m and various bank fees and lending charges need to be funded. The Company anticipates that the exercise by AAM of its US$100m option to acquire a 49% project interest would be a catalyst for project financial close. The Company is supporting AAM with its capital raising efforts via joint presentations to potential investors, providing data-room access and various due diligence reports, and arranging for the placement of alternate director Uwe Ahrens (a German national) in Germany from January 2020 to assist in raising project awareness and promoting connections with potential European end users of HPA.The outlook for HPA demand and pricing continues to be positive and in July 2019 the Company announced the results from an updated base-case HPA demand forecast published by London based CRU Consulting. In its report CRU has forecast both mid-term (2020-23) and long-term (2026-28) supply gaps for HPA, driven by forecast increased demand for high quality 4N+ HPA from the lithium-ion battery industry (ceramic coated battery separators) and also synthetic sapphire producers (light emitting diodes).In December 2019, Altech was pleased to announce that the Ministry of Finance, Malaysia had approved the application by the Company's wholly owned subsidiary Altech Chemicals Sdn Bhd, for an Investment Tax Allowance (ITA) under the high technology category for the Company's HPA project. The ITA is awarded for a period of 10 years following commencement of operations and modelling by Altech shows that application of the allowance is likely to result in no profits tax on Malaysian statutory business income until after year 10 of operations, which is important as it will make all earning available to service debt or provide for dividends.To view the report, please visit:About Altech Chemicals Ltd

Altech Chemicals Limited (ASX:ATC) (FRA:A3Y) is aiming to become one of the world's leading suppliers of 99.99% (4N) high purity alumina (Al2O3) through the construction and operation of a 4,500tpa high purity alumina (HPA) processing plant at Johor, Malaysia. Feedstock for the plant will be sourced from the Company's 100%-owned kaolin deposit at Meckering, Western Australia and shipped to Malaysia.



HPA is a high-value, high margin and highly demanded product as it is the critical ingredient required for the production of synthetic sapphire. Synthetic sapphire is used in the manufacture of substrates for LED lights, semiconductor wafers used in the electronics industry, and scratch-resistant sapphire glass used for wristwatch faces, optical windows and smartphone components. Increasingly HPA is used by lithium-ion battery manufacturers as the coating on the battery's separator, which improves performance, longevity and safety of the battery. With global HPA demand approximately 19,000t (2018), it is estimated that this demand will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% (2018-2028); by 2028 HPA market demand will be approximately 272,000t, driven by the increasing adoption of LEDs worldwide as well as the demand for HPA by lithium-ion battery manufacturers to serve the surging electric vehicle market.
Greece's first female president, a former high court judge, was formally sworn in to office Friday, nearly two months after the country's parliament voted overwhelmingly to elect her.

The swearing-in ceremony for Katerina Sakellaropoulou took place in an almost empty parliament, as part of measures being taken to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Only a handful of lawmakers and a limited number of journalists were present.

Greece has shut down schools, universities, cinemas, theaters, gyms and nightclubs, and authorities have warned people to stay home and avoid large gatherings in an effort to contain the virus outbreak. The country so far has 117 confirmed cases and one death. The presidential swearing-in ceremony was being covered live on state television.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis nominated Sakellaropoulou as a non-partisan candidate who would enjoy broad support from across the political spectrum. All major parties voted in favor, with Sakellaropoulou being elected to the largely ceremonial post in a 261-33 vote in January, well above the 200 votes required. Six lawmakers were absent.

Greece has a low number of women in senior positions in politics, and Mitsotakis had been criticized for selecting a nearly all-male Cabinet after he won general elections in July 2019. In the current Greek Cabinet, all but one of the 18 senior positions are held by men.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Additionally, agencies are encouraged to consult with local public health officials and the CDC about whether to extend telework flexibilities more broadly to all eligible teleworkers in areas in which either such local officials or the CDC have determined there is community spread. Agencies are also encouraged to extend telework flexibilities more broadly to accommodate state and local responses to the outbreak, including, but not limited to, school closures, the memo says.
Ukraine can't afford any dragging in IMF talks  central bank chief

23:45, 13.03.20 3734

Smolii has stressed that in the face of increasing turbulence in world markets, it is critical to seal a cooperation program with the IMF.
Im sure you recall the absolute trainwreck of a farewell party that Philadelphia Inquirer staffers threw for Stu Bykofsky back in July.

If you dont, a quick refresher:

Bykofsky spent 47 years writing for the Inky, then took a summer buyout as the company looked to trim down its budget for what seems like the 400th time in the past five years. At the farewell gathering, architecture critic Inga Saffron took a few pot shots before referencing a 2011 column Bykofsky wrote about a trip to Asia, bringing up, quote, his taste for child prostitutes in Thailand. That resulted in a super awkward exchange in which Bykofsky called Saffrons comments a total fucking lie and a sack of shit lie, among other things.

Anyway, hes now suing Saffron and the Inquirer for defamation, via Victor Fiorillo at Philly Mag (who broke the original story last year) 

Bykofsky filed the lawsuit in Philadelphias Common Pleas Court on Wednesday, accusing both Saffron and the Inquirer of defamation. In the lawsuit, Bykofsky says that he specifically told management that he did not want any kind of send-off or party for his retirement. But once he saw that one had been assembled, he claims that he reluctantly attended. The suit goes on to say that Saffron went on a savage rant against Mr. Bykofsky, impugning his journalistic methods, making false claims of sexism, alleging felonious conduct, and citing supposed gratuitous attacks leveled against women.

Awesome. What a fucking mess.

Heres video of the exchange in question:

Seems like one of those things that youd let slide as you head off into retirement, but if Stu felt like he was shit on and slandered, then its his prerogative to sue.

The 2011 column in question is still archived online, for what its worth. I read it twice and thought it came off as a maybe a little raw, but not exactly offensive. Hes basically talking about a trip to see a friend in Thailand, and he describes the sex worker scene there, but I didnt get vibe that he had a taste for child prostitutes.

Stu Bykofsky  Thai hospitality, with a dark side
When Sen. Istifanus Gyang (Plateau-PDP) sponsored a bill to amend and pin down the minimum qualification for Nigerias presidential candidates and governors, he had no idea how far the piece of legislature will go if it eventually scales through.

Now past its second reading, the bill may ultimately damage lifes dreams of many Nigerian politicians.

The most affected will be PDP veteran presidential candidate Atiku Abbakar.

The former VP has just a plain old diploma all his lifein civil service and politics. And the Gyang bill is seeking the Higher National Diploma as the minimum.

So the billionaire, if hes still bent on shooting for Aso Rock in 2023, must beef up his educational qualificationby enrolling for a four-year-long programme which he must complete in 2023.

Thats is starting from scratch.

His educational arc, going by public records, was somewhat choppy: He finished secondary school in 1965, passing English and literature, and flunking physics, chemistry, and maths. That result made him drop out of the Nigeria Police College in Kaduna, heading straight to the Kano School of Hygiene in 1966 where he got his first diploma in 1967. Same year, he applied for a law diploma at the Ahmadu Bello University Institute of Administration.

That was the highest scroll he ever got. And with it he rose in civil service to the level of deputy comptroller-general in the Nigeria Customs Service, and soared in politics as vice president and PDPs deep pocket and shot-caller.

He has been contesting for Nigerias top job for about two decades, presenting the law diploma to INEC as part of his qualifying documents. He might have bee planning t dust it up for the 2023 presidential race for which he is the most experienced and financially capable among the PDP wannabes.

Section 131 (d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) currently provides that a person is qualified as presidential aspirants if he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent. Atiku, thus, makes the cut.

But the amendment that Gyang seeks has a new turn to its wording: If he has been educated up to at least HND level or its equivalent.

At about 74 now, Atiku could renew his quest for knowledge, and begin to burn the midnight oil again. After all, education starts from the cradle and ends in the grave.

But studying to qualify for the next general election in 2023 will tax every nerve of his ageing body.

He, however, could have foreseen this, and has been swotting for a degree or a higher diploma or its equivalent.

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Helen Cadbury was only twelve when she went with her father, Richard Cadbury, and sat at the back of the hall watching the volunteers talking with the people coming into the hall from the local neighbourhood. Some of them looked poor and even hungry and some, sadly, were affected by alcohol.

Richard had built a big hall where Christians could invite men, women and children from the neighbourhood to come and hear about the love of God. There, depending on their circumstances, they would be given a meal and maybe even clothes. Many were poor and in difficult circumstances. Richard cared very much for poor people and did a lot to help them.

The preacher finished explaining how people, through trusting in the Lord Jesus and what he had done on the cross, they could have their sins forgiven and get right with God. He then asked all those who wanted to publicly declare that they were putting their trust (faith) in Jesus Christ to stand up. Helen knew that having Christian parents did not make her a Christian. She understood that Jesus had died on the cross to give her eternal life with him in heaven. She longed in her heart to know God the way her parents did, so she stood up, along with others, and went to a small room behind the stage where someone would pray with her. There in the room was her father who joyfully prayed with her.

Helen came from a Christian family. Her grandfather, John Cadbury, founded the well-known Cadbury cocoa and chocolate company in Birmingham. The family were strong believers and really cared about the welfare of those who worked for them and other underprivileged people in their community.

Bible in her desk

At school Helen kept a Bible in her desk. She took it out at break times to show other girls verses about how to become a Christian and how God would want them to live. It wasnt easy carrying a Bible in the playground so Helen and her Christian friends had pockets made in their dresses for carrying a Bible or a New Testament. These girls were always ready to share their faith with the other girls. In 1893, when Helen was 16, the group was called The Pocket Testament League and it had a membership of 60 girls.

However, what started with lots of zeal and enthusiasm became dormant for a number of years as the pressures of life pushed in. Helen went to college and there absorbed sophisticated thinking about Christianity. The anti-God rhetoric of many of her lecturers caused her to have grave doubts about the reality of Christianity. She no longer believed that the whole Bible was the true word of God.

After her father's death she began helping her mother, at the big hall her father had built. Gradually her views came back to what she had believed as a schoolgirl when she first gave her life to God. Helen saw the love of God being lived out before her eyes through her mother and the others who were helping the poor.

Little did she know in those early years as she was sharing the Good News with others that one day she would marry the famous evangelist and song leader, Charles Alexander. Together and with some other evangelists they revived The Pocket Testament League.

They produced many stories about people whose lives were wonderfully transformed through reading the Bible. One such story is of Captain Mitsuo Fuchida, the Japanese commander who led the attack on Pearl Harbour and Darwin.

It is estimated that over 100 million portions of Scripture have been distributed by the Pocket Testament League. It is still going strong today! http://tptl.org.au/

Many people across the world have become followers of Jesus, all because a young girl was concerned about the spiritual needs of others.
The weekly seat capacity of domestic and foreign carriers on China and South-east Asian routes declined up to 100 per cent in March over December due to the deadly pandemic, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).

However, at the same time, capacity to countries like the UK and France rose by 18.7 per cent, the data showed.

According to the CAPA, as against a total of 6,555 and 8,668 seats operated by Indian carriers and foreign carriers on the India-China route on the week commencing December 2, 2019, the number of seats dropped to 247 and 1,246, respectively on the week commencing March 9, 2020, which was 96.2 per cent and 85.6 per cent decline, respectively.

The number of international passengers arriving at the country's airports has reduced to around 62,000 per day from 70,000 in the wake of the outbreak, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri had informed Lok Sabha on Thursday.

He said the count might further come down to around 40,000 following the travel advisory issued on Wednesday.

There are 30 international airports in the country and on an average, these aerodromes receive about 70,000 international passengers.

On an average, something like 70,000 passengers come to different airports in the country.

The number of seats operated by overseas operators on the India-South Korea route declined 100 per cent in that week as compared to 2,586 seats operated in the first week of December last year while the capacity by the Indian carriers dropped 50 per cent seats to 512 as against 1024 on the week, starting December 2, the said.

The capacity operated by India carriers on India-Japan route fell by 25 per cent while by foreign operators it rose 9.2 per cent in the second week of March, it said.

The number of seats flown by India airlines on India-Hong Kong routes dropped 100 per cent while by overseas carriers by 50.6 per cent in the week commencing March 9 as compared to the seats operated by both Indian and foreign carriers on the week, starting December.

The traffic on India Thailand routes also fell drastically with the Indian carriers reducing the capacity by 64.5 per cent and foreign operators by 21.4 per cent in the period, as per the data.

The number of weekly seats operated by both Indian and foreign airlines on India-Malaysia and India-Kuwait also dropped significantly.

The traffic on India-Italy route operated by the Indian carriers declined by a massive 42.9 per cent while it remained flat for the overseas airlines at 1,799 seats per week.

However, the weekly domestic carriers operating on India-UK route saw an 18.7 per cent jump in weekly traffic while the foreign carriers had a 2.3 per cent increase during the week commencing March 9 as against the week started on December 2.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Third case of coronavirus infection has been detected in Kazakhstan, Kazakhstans Minister of Healthcare Yelzhan Birtanov said at a press conference on March 13, Trend reports.

Birtanov said that it is a woman who is a Kazakh citizen and who arrived in Kazakhstans Nur-Sultan from Italy on March 12, 2020.

She was immediately put on quarantine straight from the airport, said the minister.

On March 13, 2020, first two cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 4,700. Over 128,000 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 68,000 people have reportedly recovered.

Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. The symptoms include cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing. It is primarily spread through airborne contact or contact with contaminated objects. In mild cases, according to the Chinese authorities, treatment takes about a week, in severe cases - two or more.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky declares that it is inadmissible to make money off the situation with coronavirus and to inflate the prices of rapid tests.

"There are things that you simply can't make money off: it's war and people's health. The price of some tests exceeds UAH 10,000 in pharmacies now," he said at an off-site meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Friday.

Zelensky said that a "separate conversation" would be held with producers and suppliers regarding speculative prices.
Thousands of people have died, the US response has infuriated European allies, and has gone on a propaganda offensive.

The new is shaping up to be a cataclysmic event with far-reaching consequences in global politics.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected more than 130,000 people globally, strikes a world already in flux with the rise of nationalists such as US President Donald Trump who have scoffed at the rules of the "globalist" order.

"When the dust settles on the COVID-19 world, we won't be in the same place that we were just a week ago," said Jon Alterman, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"We know that governments will shake as citizens judge them to have fumbled in their response. We know that economies will be disrupted and some economies are likely to collapse," he said.

Trump, who initially dismissed the risks of COVID-19, late Wednesday abruptly imposed a 30-day ban on most travel from mainland Europe and vowed to confront the "foreign virus".

Leaders from the European Union voiced outrage at the move, which triggered chaos at airports, and said that they had not been consulted -- which Trump acknowledged.

Kelly Magsamen, the vice president for national security and international policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said Trump's move would only increase questions about Washington's historic leadership role.

"I think a lot of partners and allies are saying, can the US be relied upon to lead on major global challenges -- whether it's a pandemic or whether it's climate change or nonproliferation?" she said.

"It's going to have effects on other dimensions of our relationship."



COVID-19 first emerged late last year in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan -- likely at a market that sold exotic animals for their meat -- and Beijing initially tried to suppress the news including by detaining the doctor who sounded the alarm.

But in the past week has sought to turn its COVID-19 response into a sort of soft power, with President Xi Jinping visiting Wuhan to trumpet success at containing the spread.

has sent medical equipment to Italy, the second-worst hit country, and Spain, highlighting its authoritarian model as decisive.

It has also used the crisis as leverage against the United States, which has been seeking to combat Beijing's influence in all areas.

An article in the state-run Global Times unsubtly hinted that China could stop exports of face masks and other medical gear if the Trump administration keeps pressing to restrict its tech giant Huawei.

China as well as Russia has also promoted unfounded conspiracy theories to discredit the United States. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian suggested on Twitter that the US military may have brought the new to Wuhan.

The Trump administration, which has offered USD 100 million in aid worldwide to help other countries deal with the pandemic, has in turn sought to associate China firmly with COVID-19.



ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks of the illness as the "Wuhan virus" and Republican Senator Tom Cotton has vowed that the United States will "hold accountable those who inflicted it on the world."



Michael Green, who was the top Asia advisor to former president George W Bush, doubted that China would ultimately find many buyers for its "arguments about the failures of democracy." But he added: "That does not mean that the US will win this information battle."



"While the Japanese and others in Asia are not getting the shock treatment that the Europeans got overnight, there is a very strong sense of questioning American leadership right now," said Green, now a senior vice president at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

In one example, Green pointed to the stalemate in talks over South Korea's contributions to US bases, with Trump irritating the ally by insisting on much higher payments.

One broader effect, Green said, may be a shifting political narrative.

Xi, once seen as untouchable in China, has faced criticism as netizens cheer on doctors -- much like Americans across party lines have hailed Anthony Fauci, the 79-year-old veteran head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Trump's 2016 upset win, Britain's vote to leave the European Union and other populist victories had been seen as proof "that the technocrats failed" following the Great Recession of the late 2000s and the Iraq war, Green said.

"I think it's very possible that the macro result this time could be that the political populists failed and it's the technocrats who emerge as the heroes," Green said.

"We'll see. But that may be how political history turns in this chapter.



(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.)
We've been urged quite a lot in recent months to #BeKind to one another in a social media setting, but now we need to step up and do it in the real world.

The coronavirus response in Ireland was stepped up on Thursday as 27 new cases brought the total to 70 and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced a partial shutdown of the country.

Also read: An Post announces special arrangements for customers in receipt of DEASP payments

Schools, colleges and childcare facilities are closed but shops remain open. While people are told to reduce social gathering, we are all still permitted to go out, albeit with precautions.

The Longford Leader is appealing to the people of the county to #BeKind to one another by adhering to the advice of the Government and the HSE. Stick to the social distancing protocols and, most of all, think of others when you're going about your daily lives.

Ministers and industry experts have said the supply chains for supermarkets are not going to be severely impacted by this response. The shelves will be stocked and we are all permitted to go out and get groceries. What we don't need to do is stockpile supplies.

Also read: Flaherty wants Longford County Council to take sympathetic view on payment of rates #Covid19

Someone buying in bulk in the morning will impact upon the shoppers coming later and therein lies our problem. We are creating panic for ourselves when there is no need. Think of an elderly person receiving their pension today. They couldn't go shopping yesterday and may arrive to a severely depleted supermarket. That's not fair and we all have a responsibility to that end. Buy as normal.

Older people are the most vulnerable to the coronavirus so we should endeavour to help them. Can you pick up their shopping or medicines for them to reduce their trips into the community? Can you put them at ease in some way that will reduce their anxiety? If you can, do it.

Has your community group come out with an inventive way to help tackle the spread of coronavirus? If so, let us know at newsroom@longfordleader.ie and we will share it with our many readers.

Just like the snow storm of 2018 and other big national responses, this outbreak presents an opportunity for us to show the best of humanity. We've done it in the past, so let's make sure we do just that again in Longford.

Also read: Longford shoppers assured that country has never been more prepared to continue to supply all grocery outlets
Ailing NMC Health has admitted it may have found evidence it was involved in fraud.

The FTSE 100 hospital operator, which runs high-end medical facilities in the Middle East, had engaged former FBI director Louis Freeh and his company to conduct an independent review after it was attacked by short-seller Muddy Waters.

The business admitted yesterday that the probe had discovered evidence leading to suspected fraudulent behaviour in relation to some elements of NMCs previous financial activities.

NMC Health engaged former FBI director Louis Freeh and his company to conduct an independent review after it was attacked by short-seller Muddy Waters

The company said it had notified authorities in the UK and the United Arab Emirates of the suspected illegal activity.

Ever since Muddy Waters published its damning dossier on NMC at the end of last year, the hospital group has begun to unravel.

The company admitted that it did not know how many shares its founder, Indian-born billionaire Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, and other major investors actually owned in the company.

Just this week it discovered it had taken out 2.1billion in secret debt facilities which its board had never approved.

Its shares have been suspended since February 27.
At the top of a staircase covered in dirt and sequins, several dozen Indian artisans hunched over yards of fabric, using needles to embroider garments for the worlds most powerful fashion brands. They sewed without health benefits in a multiroom factory with caged windows and no emergency exit, completing subcontracted orders for international designers. When night fell, some slept on the floor. They were not working for a factory employed by fast fashion brands: companies whose business model is premised on producing trendy clothing as cheaply as possible. Unknown to most ...
Wilmington, Del.

Joe Biden blasted President Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday and outlined how he would combat the threat differently by relying more heavily on global alliances and listening more closely to the recommendations of scientists.

"This administration has left us woefully unprepared for the exact crisis we now face," Biden said in an 18-minute speech from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.

The coronavirus has upended the presidential campaign at a crucial moment. Just as Biden is beginning to pull away with the delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination, in-person campaign activities are virtually ground to a halt. And many Americans who would otherwise be tuned into politics are instead preparing for what might happen if they become infected or asked to remain home for weeks at a time.

As financial markets spiraled, Biden sought to look past the turbulent Democratic primary and portray himself as a soothing counter to the chaos of the Trump era. Standing before a bank of American flags, he mixed indictments of Trump with his own policy proposals and the kind of national cheerleading and encouragement that he sees as critical aspects of the presidency.

"No president can promise to prevent future outbreaks, but I can promise you this: When I'm president we will be better prepared, respond better and recover better," Biden declared. "We will lead with science, listen to the experts, will heed their advice. We'll build American leadership and rebuild it to rally the world to meet the global threats that we are likely to face again."

Biden touted "the ingenuity of our scientists and the resourcefulness of our people," and he hailed the nation's "decency" and "spirit." But he coldly exempted Trump from such praise: "I'll always tell you the truth," Biden said. "This is the responsibility of a president. That's what is owed the American people."

But Biden faced limits in presenting himself as Trump's alternative. The former vice president hasn't yet won the Democratic nomination. After Biden's plans were announced, his sole leading Democratic rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, also scheduled remarks.

"If there ever was a time in the modern history of our country when we were all in this together this is the moment," Sanders said in Burlington, Vermont, where he said the current White House was characterized by "incompetence and recklessness" that threatens "the lives of many, many people."

Sanders led voting in the first three nominating contests, only to watch Biden score a blowout in South Carolina that has carried over to more than a dozen primaries in March.

Both Democratic candidates used their remarks to recommend specific policies. Sanders, nodding to his signature demand for universal healthcare, pressed the need for all affected Americans to have access to the care they need, and he called for Trump to declare a national emergency. Biden paired his speech with the release of a litany of proposals and promises, including a call for Congress enact paid medical leave.

Yet it was the former vice president who most conspicuously postured as an almost shadow president, willingly assuming the unofficial mantle of Democratic Party leader as he not-so-subtly emphasized on of his fundamental arguments: that he'd be ready on Inauguration Day for whatever challenges make their way to the Oval Office.

Tim Miller, a Republican consultant who's part of a movement to defeat Trump, said that's exactly the tack Biden should take.

"He needs to be out there reinforcing his main message of stability and trust," said Miller, who worked for Trump rival Jeb Bush in 2016.

In some ways, the dynamics recall the financial crisis that mushroomed late in the summer of 2008. The meltdown further damaged outgoing President George W. Bush and his Republican Party. But that unfolded weeks before the election  Biden must keep making his case for nearly eight months.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 21:54:44|Editor: xuxin

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Greek lawmakers wearing gloves are seen at the sworn-in ceremony of Katerina Sakellaropoulou in Athens, Greece, March 13, 2020. Katerina Sakellaropoulou was sworn in on Friday as Greek president at the parliament, Greece's national broadcaster ERT reported. The former top judge is the first female head of state in the history of modern Greece. (Thanassis Stavrakis/Pool via Xinhua)

ATHENS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Katerina Sakellaropoulou was sworn in on Friday as the President of the Hellenic Republic. She is the first female head of state in the history of the modern Greek state.

The 63-year-old former top judge took the oath of office at the Greek parliament during a ceremony broadcast live on national broadcaster ERT.

Inside the parliament were only about 100 political leaders, MPs, high-ranking officials and other guests, instead of 1,000 attendees in such a ceremony usually.

It was due to emergency measures aimed at containing the novel coronavirus epidemic, which has infected 117 people in the country to date.

As a precautionary measure, there were no handshakes when attendees congratulated her.

After the ceremony, Sakellaropoulou laid a wreath at the monument of the Unknown Soldier in front of the parliament building, before leaving for the handover ceremony at the presidential mansion.

"I hope that the election of a woman in the country's highest post for the first time will give a boost to improve all women's role within the family and society," she said after being welcomed by her predecessor Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

As the sole candidate, Sakellaropoulou was elected on Jan. 22 with 261 votes in favor in the 300-member parliament.

She is the 8th Greek president since 1974 when democracy was restored and the 13th president in the history of the Hellenic Republic.

The post of president in Greece is mainly ceremonial. According to the Greek Constitution, the president is elected for a five-year term and can be re-elected only once.

Sakellaropoulou was president of the Council of State, Greece's highest administrative court, before taking the new role.
The Utah legislature on Thursday passed two abortion bills, one a measure that would ban most abortions if Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide, is ever overturned.

The stringent bill, which would impose felony charges on a doctor who performs an abortion or a woman who performs one on herself  except in cases of rape or when the life of the mother is threatened  comes as many states pass laws meant to spark court challenges they hope will end with the Supreme Court reconsidering legalized abortion.

Utah lawmakers also passed a bill that would require abortion clinics and other medical centers to cremate or bury fetal remains, which abortion advocates say harms abortion rights but opponents say is a more respectful way to dispose of the remains.

A third bill, which would have required a mother seeking an abortion to be shown an ultrasound before she could undergo the procedure, passed the Senate even after a bipartisan group of six female Utah senators protested by walking out of the chamber. The bill later stalled in the House, however.

Republican Governor Gary Herbert, who has opposed abortion in the past, declined to say whether he would sign or veto any of the bills, but did say the womens gesture was a loud message.

I think it was a loud message and one I think we, as men, ought to take hard look at. Are we listening? Are we getting all the information we need to?

Republican Senator Curtis Bramble, who sponsored the ultrasound bill, argued that the woman seeking an abortion could look away from the ultrasound images if she wished.

If you are going to take the life of a child, if you are willing to terminate that life through an abortion, it seems appropriate that you get the best information about the development, the stage of development, heartbeat  we are talking about a human being, Bramble said.

Last year, Utah passed a ban on abortions after 18 weeks of pregnancy, which has been ensnared in court challenges since then along with similar abortion bans in other states.

More from National Review
[March 13, 2020] Wipro cited as a Leader and Star Performer in Everest Group's PEAK Matrix Assessment 2020

Wipro (News - Alert) Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced that it has been positioned as a 'Leader and Star Performer' in the Everest Group PEAK Matrix for Verification and Validation (V&V) Engineering Service Providers 2020 report. Everest Group assessed seventeen leading engineering service providers on their V&V capabilities across four service lines - mechanical, embedded, network and software. The evaluation criteria included market adoption, portfolio mix, value delivered, vision and strategy, scope of services offered, innovation and investments and delivery footprint. Wipro emerged as a 'Leader' for its vision, capabilities and market impact across all the service lines and a 'Star Performer' for top-quartile year-on-year improvement. Wipro's investments in upgrading existing physical infrastructure and establishing new labs adhering to global standards enable it to cater to V&V requirements across multiple industries. Akshat Vaid, Vice President, Everest Group said, "Wipro has been positioned as a Leader in the Verification and Validation (V&V) space on the back of significant investments in dedicated V&V infrastructure, including the Tarang labs. The company's development of solution accelerators and frameworks involving themes such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and analytics to provide predictive analysis of test data and enhance V&V service delivery has also helped create meaningful differentiation in the market. Customers have acknowledged Wipro's V&V engineers' technical skills, and they appreciate the value of Wipro's engineers' expertise in test automation." Supriyo Das, Vice President and Global Practice Head - Software Engineering, Industrial and Engineering Services, Wipro Limited said, "We are thrilled with this recognition. Product complexity is ever increasing with growing digital adoption, proliferation of software across industries, need for seamless end user experience and minimal product recalls. At Wipro we have invested in infrastructure, talent, industry focused solutions and strong partnership to help our customers overcome these challenges. Our investments in new-age technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML), Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Certification & Compliance Labs and taent has started reaping benefits. We are confident that our offerings and solutions powered by Wipro EngineeringNXT platform will continue to meet and exceed expectations of customers. This recognition is a testimony to our commitment towards achieving excellence."



To view the full report, click here. Wipro's Industrial & Engineering Services (IES) is the driver for our Engineering Services portfolio. IES facilitate over 500 clients across multiple industries / verticals with a platform to innovate and engineer products, platforms and technologies at scale. This platform of services offerings combines the maturity of engineering processes, the passion for latest technology and the access to a diverse ecosystem to deliver value to customers at various stages of the product or platform life cycle. This is termed as "EngineeringNXT" by Wipro.

URL-https://www.wipro.com/engineeringNXT/ About Wipro Limited Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help our clients adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have over 175,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents. Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a bold new future. Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200312005907/en/

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As March 31 draws closer and closer, the world is about to see exactly what Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have planned for their lives post-royal exit. A source explained that the Sussexes are likely to split their time between Canada and California this year. Since the couple announced that they'd be stepping back from royal life back in January, they've been living in Canada and while rumors of a Los Angeles home base have surfaced in the past, sources say that it's more than likely that the Sussexes could be soaking up the sunshine this summer.

"This is what Meghan and Harry have always wanted  to create their own life," a source close to the royal family told People. "It's got to feel like an immense relief to get out of the U.K. and go down their own path."

People adds that a home in Los Angeles makes sense, since it's where Meghan grew up and it's where her mother, Doria Ragland, lives.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

RELATED: The Real Reason Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Traveled to the U.K. Without Archie

Meghan's friends also live in Southern California and the magazine notes that they've been up to visit her in Vancouver.

"They love being in Canada, but they are looking at houses in L.A., too," a second source noted. "They'll likely have houses in both places."

Back when she still ran her own blog, The Tig, Meghan wrote about how she would always be a California girl at heart.

"I was born and raised in Los Angeles, a California girl who lives by the ethos that most things can be cured with either yoga, the beach or a few avocados," one entry read.

"Harry is looking straight ahead at his future with his family," another source close to the couple reiterated. "They will be spending time in California and in Canada. Hes not looking back."
Ireland's central bank is considering allowing lenders release capital set aside to counter downturns amid the coronavirus crisis, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

The regulator may cut the so-called counter-cyclical capital buffer from the 1% it is set at currently, Bloomberg News reported. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
The Berman Law Group today announced that it has filed a federal class action lawsuit against the Peoples Republic of China, Hubei Province, the City of Wuhan, and several Chinese government ministries, on behalf of residents and businesses in the United States and the State of Florida. The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of Florida, and seeks billions of dollars in compensatory damages for those who have suffered personal injuries, wrongful deaths, property damage and other damages due to Chinas failure to contain the COVID-19 virus, despite their ability to have stopped the spread of the virus in its early stages.

As we have alleged in our complaint, Chinese officials knew by January 3rd that COVID-19 was transmitted human to human and patients started dying a few days later, said Matthew Moore, the Firms class action attorney. Yet, they kept telling the people of Wuhan and the world at large that everything was fine, even holding a public dinner in Wuhan for over 40,000 families on January 18th.

This could have been contained while Chinese officials instead attempted to put a positive narrative on the unfolding epidemic for Chinas own economic self-interest, continued former Florida State Senator Joseph Abruzzo, the firms Director of Government Relations. When you read about the rising death tolls, and see the almost complete halt to normal life and travel, remember that China waited seventeen critical days before sharing the COVID-19 genome sequence with other nations, as the complaint makes clear.

This is an ambitious complaint against a world super-power, said Russell Berman, co-founder of the firm. But, as we have alleged, China has unleashed a pandemic upon the world, and the harm is now exponentially multiplying every day here in the U.S. and Florida  our firm isnt afraid to take them on and get the justice that is deserved. It is the Chinese government that should be paying damages for economic stimulus to the United States not the American People.

The complaint highlights the fact that the number of cases is growing more out of control each day, and further alleges that the Chinese government knew of the dangers and how easily the virus passed by human to human transmission in early January, said Jeremy W. Alters, a non-lawyer and Chief Firm Strategist at The Berman Law Group.

The Berman Law Group looks forward to fighting for the rights of people and businesses across Florida and the rest of the country, who are now becoming sick or caring for loved ones, dealing with financial calamity, and navigating this new world of panic and social distancing and isolation. If you have been diagnosed by a medical professional with Coronavirus (COVID-19) or, have been economically impacted by the Coronavirus, contact The Berman Law Group for more information at 1-800-375-5555 or help@thebermanlawgroup.com.

The case, currently pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is titled: Alters, et al. v. Peoples Republic of China, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-21108.

About the Firm: Established in 2008, The Berman Law Group has expanded to numerous offices in Florida and across the U.S., after quickly garnering a well-deserved reputation as an indefatigable and fearless defender of its clients rights. The firm is headquartered in Boca Raton and has four other offices in Florida, as well as offices in New York City, Atlanta, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. For additional information see: https://www.thebermanlawgroup.com/.
A passenger receives a temperature check before boarding a flight in Tokyo on January 21.

Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

Just over 80% of coronavirus cases are "mild," according to an analysis from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. But that doesn't mean patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19  the disease caused by the coronavirus  have it easy.

"COVID-19 causes more severe disease than seasonal influenza," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, said in a briefing last week.

Case studies conducted so far of patients with mild COVID-19 show most come down with a fever and dry cough. They may also experience fatigue and muscle aches. (A small percentage have abdominal pain and diarrhea a day before the fever begins.)

On average, a patient's symptoms start around five days after exposure to the virus. Nearly 98% develop symptoms within 11.5 days, though about 1% start showing symptoms after 14 days. Within a few days of symptoms appearing, those infected may experience shortness of breath. Many have headaches. About 40% of patients' lungs begin to produce fluid.

The disease's symptoms are more severe for those with preexisting conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Here's what characterizes a mild case of COVID-19.

The severity of COVID-19 cases is a spectrum. Cases are categorized as "asymptomatic," "mild," "severe," or "critical." "Mild" refers to patients that don't need to be hospitalized.

Coronavirus lab testing

AP Photo/John Minchillo

Patients with severe cases are more likely to have shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and fluid in their lungs. Usually, they'll require care from a medical professional.

Story continues

Mild cases can develop into severe cases if the viral infections in patients' respiratory tracts worsen.

Critical cases will need medical care from a hospital, often in the ICU. These patients can exhibit respiratory failure, septic shock, and organ failure.

Fever presents in 99% of COVID-19 patients, according to a study of nearly 140 patients at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University. So almost all mild cases involve a high temperature.

An Afghan health worker in protective gear checks the temperature of a man during Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani inauguration as president, at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan March 9, 2020. REUTERS:Mohammad Ismail .JPG

Mohammad Ismail/Reuters

The fever is usually the first symptom to arrive, the research found. An increase in body temperature is a sign the immune system is fighting an infection.

Bacteria and viruses survive well in normal body temperatures of around 98.7 degrees Fahrenheit, so a mild fever of around 100.4 degrees (and a more severe fever of 103 degrees) is a way to fight off pathogens.

A cough occurs in between 80% and 60% of COVID-19 patients, arriving in tandem with a fever at the onset of the disease. It's usually a dry cough.

Man coughing_By Jojo Photos:Shutterstock

Jojo Photos/Shutterstock

The study from Wuhan University found that a dry cough occurred in 60% of patients.

However, a study of 191 COVID-19 patients by doctors at two hospitals in Wuhan, China, found that 80% of patients had coughs.

In addition, about 40% of patients began to get "sputum" in their lungs, a mixture of saliva and mucus, within a few days.

About one-third of patients also experience dyspnea, or shortness of breath, according to the study.

About 40% of coronavirus patients experience extreme fatigue.

In this Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, photo, medical staff prepare beds at a temporary hospital which transformed from an exhibition center for accepting patients who diagnosed with the coronaviruses in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. Ten more people were sickened with a new virus aboard one of two quarantined cruise ships with some 5,400 passengers and crew aboard, health officials in Japan said Thursday, as China reported 73 more deaths and announced that the first group of patients were expected to start taking a new antiviral drug. (Chinatopix via AP)

Associated Press

Because the coronavirus affects multiple bodily systems  the upper and lower respiratory tracts and immune system  the body gets tired and achy. Myalgia, or muscle pain, was present in 35% of cases studied.

Less common symptoms include gastrointestinal issues. In some cases, patients have reported vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, but these issues do not seem to be common.

italy coronavirus

Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP

Gastrointestinal symptoms  though rare  usually develop early in the disease's progression.

One patient with abdominal symptoms was initially placed in a surgical ward in a hospital in China because doctors didn't suspect COVID-19. The patient then transmitted the virus to at least 10 healthcare workers and four other patients.

Patients with preexisting conditions are more likely to develop more severe cases.

wuhan coronavirus medical staff india hospital

Medical staff with protective clothing work inside a ward specialized in receiving potential coronavirus patients, at the Rajiv Ghandhi Government General hospital in Chennai, India, January 29, 2020.

P. Ravikumar/Reuters

Patients already diagnosed with heart disease who contracted COVID-19 had a death rate of more than 10%. Diabetes was the preexisting condition with the second-highest fatality rate of 7%.

Patients with the most commonly reported preexisting condition, hypertension (high blood pressure), had a death rate of 6%. Coronavirus patients with cancer had a similar death rate, according to case studies.

According to early studies, 1.2% of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic, which means those patients experience no symptoms at all. However, they may still spread the virus.

Coronavirus COVID-10 drive through testing Denver

Jim Urquhart/Reuters

The report from the Chinese CDC found that 1.2% of patients are asymptomatic. (That's counted separately from the 80% who have mild cases.) A higher portion of asymptomatic cases was found on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where 380 of the 691 people tested positive but showed no symptoms.

That means the real number of asymptomatic patients could be higher, since patients who don't realize they're sick don't seek testing or medical care.

If you suspect you have the coronavirus, call your doctor before leaving the house.

coronavirus hospital doctor healthcare workers masks

Kaylen Smith demonstrates how to don the protective gear that must be worn when dealing with patients with an infectious disease as Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston prepares for coronavirus patients, February 27, 2020.

Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus a pandemic on Wednesday. The virus has spread to more than 110 countries.

Read the original article on Business Insider
In February 2002, Yoko Ono took the stage with the B-52's during a New York performance of "Rock Lobster." The story about how she got there is fascinating and I'm surprised this is the first time I'm hearing of it. It begins in June 1980 when John Lennon heard the song and was inspired to start making music again after a long creative lull. The song's unusual backing vocals reminded him of Yoko Ono's style.

John Lennon, in a 1980 Rolling Stone interview:

"I was at a dance club one night in Bermuda Upstairs, they were playing disco, and downstairs, I suddenly heard 'Rock Lobster' by the B-52's for the first time. Do you know it? It sounds just like Yoko's music, so I said to meself, 'It's time to get out the old axe and wake the wife up!' We wrote about twenty-five songs during those three weeks, and we've recorded enough for another album."

Writer Brian Scott MacKenzie:

"Rock Lobster" lit a fuse of inspiration that flared into Lennon's 2-LP set Double Fantasy (1980), plus a posthumous release, Milk and Honey (1984). Without the B-52's, our world might lack "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)," "Watching the Wheels," "Woman," "(Just Like) Starting Over," and "Nobody Told Me."

Atlanta Magazine (2013):

"I said, 'That's Yoko!,'" Lennon recalled that fall in an interview with the BBC. "I thought there were two records going at once or something. Because it was so her. I mean, this person had studied her I called her and I said, 'You won't believe this, but I was in a disco and there was somebody doing your voice. This time, they're ready for us!"

Ok, maybe they weren't. But in a 2018 People interview, Kate Pierson says she and Cindy Wilson intentionally included "Ono-isms" into "Rock Lobster":

Cindy and I added the fish sounds  [demonstrates inimitable ululation]  that sound Cindy does at the end. But we also incorporated some [Yoko] Ono-isms in our fish sound. She was really an inspiration to us. We listened to Elephant's Memory and we were into Yoko, genuinely. So that was like an homage to Yoko. It was just all out of jamming, because nobody would sit down and go, "Hey, let's add Yoko Ono fish sounds."

In the same interview, Fred Schneider says, "I love Yoko's work  we all did  so it was just a thrill. Then we got to meet Yoko. She's become very friendly and I see her a couple times a year."

Thanks, Veek!

Image: YouTube
Future British governments could be unable to repeal new laws on workers rights, the environment, and health and safety, under the terms of the EUs proposed Brexit trade deal.

A leaked draft of the agreement drawn up by the European Commission and seen by The Independent insists that future levels of protection brought in by both sides must be maintained as a condition of UK access to European markets.

The plan goes further than a simple non-regression pledge to maintain existing rules at the point of Brexit, and means any future UK government that brings in new social rights could see its changes become untouchable, as long as they are endorsed and matched by Brussels.

The rule is the latest bid by the EU to ensure Britain does not unfairly deregulate itself into Singapore-on-Thames after Brexit, to unfairly undercut European businesses with lower standards.

The draft document also includes a demand that the UK notify Brussels in advance of any plans for major new regulations, before they are proposed to the UK parliament.

And it also shows that the bloc is standing by a requirement that the UK commit in writing to staying the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights  which Boris Johnson has so far refused to sign. The document says both parties must have a continued commitment to respect the European Convention on Human Rights.

The stipulations are likely to be resisted by UK negotiators, who have accused Brussels of trying to hold Britain to conditions that it is not holding other countries with free trade agreements. But EU officials are adamant that the UKs proximity to and links with Europe require a strong level playing field of regulations.

Article LPFS.2.28 of the draft agreement, headlined Future levels of protection states that where both parties have increased ... the level of labour and social protection above the level referred to in Article LPFS.2.27 [Non-regression of the level of protection], neither party shall weaken or reduce its level of labour or social protection below a level of protection which is at least equivalent to that of the other partys increased level of labour and social protection.

The commitment would mean that if a future UK government brought in new rights and those rights were matched by the EU, they could not be repealed by a later UK government  without ripping up Britains trade deal with the EU.

Another section, titled Early information on planned regulatory measures, states that Each party shall make publicly available ... at least on an annual basis a list of planned major regulatory measures that its regulatory authority reasonably expects to propose or adopt within a year.

The rule, which also requires the two sides to provide a brief description of the regulations scope and their estimated time for adoption, appears to require the UK to notify Brussels of new regulations before they are proposed to the British parliament.

Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Show all 37 1 /37 Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro-Brexit supporters celebrating in Parliament Square, after the UK left the European Union on 31 January. Ending 47 years of membership PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Big Ben, shows the hands at eleven o'clock at night AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro Brexit supporters attend the Brexit Day Celebration Party hosted by Leave Means Leave Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage smiles on stage AFP/Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square People celebrate in Parliament Square Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A Brexit supporter celebrates during a rally in Parliament square AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Police form a line at Parliament Square to prevent a small group of anti-Brexit protestors from going through to the main Brexit rally PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Nigel Farage speaks to pro-Brexit supporters PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square JD Wetherspoon Chairman Tim Martin speaks as people wave flags Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters wave Union flags as they watch the big screen AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit Party leader, Nigel Farage arrives Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters gather AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Ann Widdecombe speaks to pro-Brexit supporters PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters wave Union flags as they watch the big screen AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square People wave British Union Jack flags as they celebrate Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro-Brexit demonstrators celebrate on Parliament Square on Brexit day Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A pro-Brexit supporter jumps on an EU flag PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A man waves Union flags from a small car as he drives past Brexit supporters gathering AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A pro-Brexit supporter pours beer onto an EU flag PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square An EU flag lies trampled in the mud Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty

Nathalie Loiseau MEP, former French minister of European affairs and member of the European Parliaments UK Coordination Group told The Independent: No one can ignore now that the times ahead of us are challenging and that they require more cooperation, not less, more solidarity, not less, more coordination, not less.

The way we envisage the future EU-UK relationship is based on our understanding that being independent doesnt prevent us from deciding freely to be stronger together. This is why common high standards are so important, for the safety and security of consumers, in order to preserve jobs, to protect businesses which are about to be severely challenged.

My message to the British authorities: ideology doesnt save jobs and it doesnt save lives. The time is right for good old British pragmatism and to join forces.

The UK plans to publish its own draft for the proposed agreement shortly, with chief negotiator David Frost having said he will make the text available before round two next week. The next round of talks, which was due to be held in London, has, however, been postponed in its originally intended form because of the coronavirus outbreak. Alternative measures are expected to be taken, possibly involving videoconferencing.
We've been urged quite a lot in recent months to #BeKind to one another in a social media setting, but now we need to step up and do it in the real world.

The coronavirus response in Ireland was stepped up on Thursday as 27 new cases brought the total to 70 and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced a partial shutdown of the country.

Schools, colleges and childcare facilities are closed but shops remain open. While people are told to reduce social gathering, we are all still permitted to go out, albeit with precautions.

The Offaly Express is appealing to the people of the county to #BeKind to one another by adhering to the advice of the Government and the HSE. Stick to the social distancing protocols and, most of all, think of others when you're going about your daily lives.

Ministers and industry experts have said the supply chains for supermarkets are not going to be severely impacted by this response. The shelves will be stocked and we are all permitted to go out and get groceries. What we don't need to do is stockpile supplies.

Someone buying in bulk in the morning will impact upon the shoppers coming later and therein lies our problem. We are creating panic for ourselves when there is no need. Think of an elderly person receiving their pension today. They couldn't go shopping yesterday and may arrive to a severely depleted supermarket. That's not fair and we all have a responsibility to that end. Buy as normal.

Older people are the most vulnerable to the coronavirus so we should endeavour to help them. Can you pick up their shopping or medicines for them to reduce their trips into the community? Can you put them at ease in some way that will reduce their anxiety? If you can, do it.

Has your community group come out with an inventive way to help tackle the spread of coronavirus? If so, let us know at justin.kelly@offalyexpress.ie and we will share it with our many readers.

Just like the snow storm of 2018 and other big national responses, this outbreak presents an opportunity for us to show the best of humanity. We've done it in the past, so let's make sure we do just that again in Offaly.
A gang of evil men who sexually exploited and raped a Sheffield girl when she was just 15 years old have been jailed for 70 years.

Four of the gang, Jasim Mohammed, 37, Nzar Anwar, 40, Kawan Ahmed, 31, and Shangar Ibrahimi, 30, who were said to have treated the vulnerable youngster as 'a piece of meat', were all found guilty by a jury of raping the youngster between 2010 and 2012.

A fifth defendant - Saba Mohammed, 41, - was also jailed for perverting the course of justice.

Jasim Mohammed, left, raped the girl 10 times over the course of 10 months and was jailed for 25 years. Kawan Ahmed, who raped the girl twice received an 18-year jail term

Nzar Anwar, left, was sentenced to 15 years while Shangar Ibrahimi, right, received a 12-year jail term

The victim, who had already suffered abuse as a child prior to 2010, revealed in a victim impact statement read out by prosecutor Peter Hampton how she is still reeling from the impact of the rapes which had and continue to have a 'devastating' impact on her life.

The woman, who is now in her 20s, said: 'This has scarred me for life and the experiences will never leave me.

'The impact this has had on my life is devastating. My childhood was robbed and because of the trauma I've ended up with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and emotionally unstable personality disorder.

'I have flashbacks of all the abuse I suffered and because of what happened I don't sleep, I don't eat and I've felt suicidal in the past. I have scars from the injuries I've suffered in the past and I suffer on a daily basis because of how my childhood was controlled and managed by these men.'

Judge William Slater described the complainant as an 'extremely vulnerable and troubled young girl'.

Saba Mohammed, 41, was jailed for four years after being convicted of perverting the course of justice

She was referred to social services at a young age and arrived in Sheffield as 'lonely and friendless having been rejected by her family'.

These vulnerabilities were exploited and she was effectively pimped out by a woman who introduced her to the group of Kurdish men who would go on to rape her.

A social worker who knew the victim said: 'She just wanted people to like her and love her. She has very complex issues dating back to childhood. She would try to cling on to anyone who tried to be nice to her and she could not see that some people did not have her best interests at heart.'

Judge Slater sentenced Jasim Mohammed - who raped the victim ten times over a ten-month period - to 25 years.

Kawan Ahmed received an 18-year jail term for two rapes, while Naza Anwar was sentenced to 15 years for one count of rape and one of perverting the course of Justice.

Shangar Ibrahimi was sentenced to 12 years for one count of rape, while the final member of the gang, Saba Mohammed, was jailed for four years for perverting the course of justice.

The five defendants showed no emotions as their fates were sealed and once her attackers had left the courtroom, Judge Slater turned to the victim to praise her courage and bravery for speaking out about the horrific abuse she suffered.

He said: 'You've shown great courage in participating in this trial process. In extremely difficult circumstances both you and those close to you have conducted yourself with great dignity and restraint.

'All I can hope is that things get a little better for you with the passage of time.'

The five defendants were also handed restraining orders which prevent them from contacting the victim for an indefinite length of time.
Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/11/2020 -- The global Armored Vehicle Market is projected to gain momentum from the rising political tensions and security challenges over borders in several countries. Fortune Business Insights published this information in an upcoming study, titled, "Armored Vehicle Market Size, Share and Global Trend By Product type (Armored Personnel Carrier (APC), Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), Main Battle Tank (MBT), Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP)), By Mobility (Wheeled, Tracked), By End-User (Defense, Commercial) and Geography Forecast till 2026."



The study further mentions that technological advancements, such as the introduction of automation and robotics, mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles, and AI-driven vehicles would affect the market positively. Besides, the increasing adoption of sensors equipped with video surveillance and cameras for 360- degree field of vision is expected to drive the armored vehicle market growth during the forthcoming years.



Request a Sample Copy of the Market Research Report:



https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/armored-vehicle-market-101817



List of the most renowned organizations present in the armored vehicle market. They are given below:



Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co.

Oshkosh Corporation

Textron, Inc.

Rheinmetall AG

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Lenco Industries, Inc.

BAE Systems plc

The Kalyani Group

General Dynamics Corporation

Ukroboronprom

Diehl Defense GmbH & Co. KG

Thales Group

UralVagonZavod

NORINCO

Navistar, Inc.

IVECO

Elbit Systems Ltd.

Other key market players



Highlights of the Report



Extensive analysis of the armored vehicle market trends, growth drivers, barriers, opportunities, and challenges.

Detailed information about all the segments present in the market.

In-depth data about the competitive landscape, such as joint ventures, innovative product launches, contracts, agreements, and acquisitions.



Rising Investments in R&D Activities to Favor Growth in Asia Pacific



In terms of geography, the market is fragmented into South America, North America, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Europe. Amongst these, Asia Pacific is anticipated to exhibit the highest CAGR on account of the increasing investments in research and development activities in countries, namely, India and China, for defense operations.



Also, rising terrorist activities would propel growth in this region. Apart from that, the ongoing development to design technologically advanced armor vehicles is likely to drive growth. Lastly, many industry giants present in the region, namely, Hyundai Rotem (South Korea), Shaanxi Baoji Special Vehicles Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (China), and JCBL Armoring Solutions (India) would fuel growth.



Europe, on the other hand, is expected to showcase a significant growth backed by higher expenditure on the defense sector for enhancing security by adopting land force vehicles. North America is projected to experience considerable growth in the coming years because of the development of highly advanced armored vehicles equipped with strong ballistic capabilities. Additionally, the governments of this region are investing huge sums in the defense sector. The U.S. also houses various renowned manufactures, such as Oshkosh Corporation, Textron Inc., and General Dynamics Corporation. They would also contribute to the growth of the armored vehicle market size in this region.



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Research Methodology



Key Industry Developments



The market consists of several small, medium, and large enterprises. They are constantly striving to gain the maximum armored vehicle market share in the coming years. Many countries are also participating in launching armored vehicles to tighten security. Below are a couple of the latest industry developments:



December 2019: Finland, Latvia, and Estonia announced that they have signed an agreement to prospect the possibility of jointly developing an armored wheeled vehicle platform. It was signed by Latvian Defence Minister Artis Pabriks, Estonian Defence Minister Juri Luik, and Finnish Defence Ministry Secretary-General Jukka Juusti. The development of a common armored vehicle platform would also surge the security of supply, interoperability, and value for money.



May 2019: China introduced its latest armored vehicle at the Beijing Civil-Military Integration Expo 2019. It can fire 12 suicide drones to conduct reconnaissance operations and launch attacks on targets. Beijing Zhongzi Yanjing Auto Co Ltd. designed the 4x4, 2.4 meter-wide, 5.7 meter-long off-roach vehicle. It is capable of adapting to the changing demands of highly mobile troops with a maximum speed of 125kmph. It can operate in harsh terrains, including mountains and jungles. It is equipped with the 'missile-vehicle integrated technology' and carries 12 pneumatic launch tubes.



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Most Rev Nicholas Okoh



According to The Punch, the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, has stopped the use of one cup for the sharing of wine during Holy Communion as one of the steps to stop the spread of the dreaded coronavirus.

The church has also suspended handshakes and hugs which are hitherto being used for the exchange of peace during the services.

The churchs General Secretary, Gershinen Dajur, disclosed this in a letter addressed to all archbishops and bishops of the church on Friday on behalf of the churchs Primate, Most-Revd Nicholas Okoh.

The letter read, His Grace, the Most Revd Nicholas D. Okoh has directed that certain steps be taken as guides against contacting and communicating the virus among our people.

Let the church be encouraged to trust God who is well able to help us in our times of trouble (Psalms46:1). This is the time to trust and obey God than to be anxious and panic (Phil 4:6-7).



Since this virus is communicable, the church is to prayerfully put on hold the sharing of one chalice to all during Holy Communion. Other smaller communion cups should be used for individual communication.

Also, handshakes and hugs during the exchange of peace should be substituted with non-contagious gestures such as hand waving, mutual bowing, or making the sign of the cross, etc.

Let everyone be encouraged to observe good personal hygiene through proper washing of hands with soap or hand sanitiser; covering of mouth with a handkerchief when sneezing or coughing etc.



Okoh also asked parishioners to read, study and implement important safety tips from the World Health Organisations website or that of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on how to handle oneself in a time like this.

These are temporary guides given in good spirit to help us while we navigate our way through the challenge of the pandemic of COVID 19.

Please do not oversimplify, underrate, overrate, overreact or over spiritualise this issue of COVID 19.

From lightning, fire, and tempest; from earthquake, drought, and flood; from famine, plague, and pestilence. Good Lord, deliver us, the letter added.
Drew Angerer

Fox News brass has prohibited its employees from all non-essential business travel amid the coronavirus outbreak. But some of the networks hosts are sending viewers the opposite message: Theres never been a better time to travel!

In a memo to staff on Thursday, Fox News executives Suzanne Scott and Jay Wallace warned employees of COVID-19s dangers and announced an internal policy prohibiting all non-essential business travel since last Monday, advising staff to work from home, and reducing in-studio guest bookings.

The company also shared with employees a CDC advisory page cautioning against traveling to Europe and abroad. The advisory noted that while the agency does not generally issue travel restrictions in the U.S., cases of COVID-19 have been reported in many states, and some areas are experiencing community spread of the disease. Crowded travel settings, like airports, may increase your risk of exposure to COVID-19, if there are other travelers with COVID-19.

Despite these official warnings, and the internal Fox News policy, some of the networks hosts have decided to encourage their viewers to pick up and travel.

During Fridays broadcast of Fox & Friends, co-host Ainsley Earhardt said that sparsely booked flights and near-empty airports mean Its actually the safest time to fly. She added, Everyone that I know thats flying right now, terminals are pretty much dead. Ghost towns.

Besides claiming its the safest time to flyduring a pandemicEarhardt also gushed over the comfort and extra space passengers will enjoy on these emptier flights. Remember back in the day when you had a seat next to you possibly empty? Earhardt excitedly noted. You could stretch out a little more. Its like that on every flight now.

Earhardt wasnt the only prominent Fox News host actively encouraging viewers to travel by air. Primetime host Laura Ingraham, apparently from her seat on a United Airlines flight to Chicago, tweeted that it was a great time to fly if not in at-risk population, essentially cutting an ad for the airline as she praised the cleanliness of the plane and the wonderful flight attendants.

Story continues

Earlier this week, meanwhile, Fox Business Network host Charles Payne found the silver lining to plunging oil prices and stocks by noting that gasoline will be much cheaper for American consumers. His advice to viewers: Go somewhere.

The irony of course is anyone watching this is like, Well, does that mean my gas prices are going to go down? Payne said on Mondays Americas Newsroom. The answer is yes. Now, the bigger question now for American economists and this stock market is, are you going to take advantage of it and go somewhere?

Later that day, on Paynes FBN show, Fox News contributor David Webb was briefly distracted during a segment on the coronavirus response, boasting on-air that he was busy booking a flight. After apologizing and again noting hed just scheduled a flight, Webb loudly coughed.

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Is your child a little fashionista in their own right?

For some parents, getting the kids dressed and out the door can be a huge ordeal. For others, it can be one of the most fun parts of the day.
Popular Caribbean Cannabis Infused Product Introduced

NORWOOD, Mass., March 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MariMed Inc. (MRMD:OTCQX) (the Company or MariMed), a leading multi-state cannabis and hemp operator focused on health and wellness, announced today the launch of Tropizen Pique, a popular Caribbean cannabis infused hot sauce, in Massachusetts by its licensed subsidiary ARL Healthcare. Through a partnership with Tropizen, a licensed cultivator and manufacturer of medical cannabis products in Puerto Rico, Tropizen Pique is the first cannabis product formulated in Puerto Rico to be sold in the United States. It will be available for purchase in adult and medical-use dispensaries across Massachusetts this month.



Tropizen Pique, a unique cannabis infused culinary product for the U.S. market, will be sold in 2oz bottles targeting 100mg of THC. It includes a .5 tsp serving spoon to allow for microdosing of 5mg of THC per serving. Designed and formulated by professional chefs and culinary experts, the recipe contains three varieties of locally grown peppers and a mix of spices and herbs. It will be infused with a full spectrum cannabis extract onsite at ARLs New Bedford production facility. Already an extremely popular infused product, over 85% of the dispensaries in Puerto Rico feature Tropizen Pique to meet strong consumer demand. The formula has been specially developed to optimize its distinctive flavor and preserve freshness throughout the transportation process to the U.S.

According to MariMed Chief Innovation Officer, Dr. Jokubas Ziburkus PHD, The chemicals in peppers can contribute to an enhanced entourage effect when combined with specific concentrations of the terpenes in full-spectrum cannabis. Additionally, some peppers may contain capsaicin, which not only give peppers their spicy taste but can also provide analgesic properties. Tropizen Pique Hot Sauce represents the frontier of product development currently happening in lockstep with the scientific study of the cannabis plant and its beneficial synergies and healthcare applications.

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Ryan Crandall, Chief Product Officer and SVP of Sales at MariMed, commented, As part of our product expansion strategy, MariMed is committed to producing unique, delicious and safe products for consumers. Tropizen Pique hot sauce is truly unique in the rapidly evolving cannabis edibles product category. We expect it will appeal to both new and experienced users looking for delicious products that are created with a culinary focus in mind. And, by using a delivery method designed for measured dosing, users can manage their consumption closely to control the desired effect.

Marni Meistrell, Co-founder of Tropizen added, We are very excited about partnering with MariMed to make this product accessible to consumers and patients in Massachusetts. Tropizen Pique represents an innovative and convenient way for consumers to add cannabis to their daily lifestyle. Crafted using only fresh ingredients, the distinctive Tropizen Pique formula is the result of a two-year development process that not only reflects Puerto Rico's culinary culture but also exemplifies the essence of our company philosophy and approach.

Tropizen Pique hot sauce will be available in both adult and medical-use dispensaries around the state, including ARLs Panacea Wellness Dispensary in Middleborough.

To be added to the email distribution list, please email MRMD@kcsa.com with MRMD in the subject.

About MariMed:

MariMed Inc., a multi-state cannabis operator, is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of people through the use of cannabinoids and cannabis products. The Company develops, owns, and manages seed to sale state-licensed cannabis facilities, which are models of excellence in horticultural principles, cannabis cultivation, cannabis-infused products, and dispensary operations. MariMed has an experienced management team that has produced consistent growth and success for the Company and its managed business units.

The Company is at the forefront of science and innovation through research developed by its lab technicians and medical advisors resulting in industry-leading products and brands, including "Kalm Fusion" and "Betty's Eddies." These precision dosed products are focused on specific medical symptoms and are licensed and distributed across the country.

In 2019, with the enactment of the 2018 US Farm Bill, MariMed formed MariMed Hemp, a wholly owned subsidiary, to leverage its seed to sale cannabis platform and experience into the emerging hemp-based CBD industry. MariMed Hemp has developed and is marketing a portfolio of CBD brands and products to multiple retailers and direct to consumers both domestically and internationally. For additional information, visit marimedinc.com.

Important Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This release contains certain forward-looking statements and information relating to MariMed Inc. that is based on the beliefs of MariMed Inc.'s management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events, including estimates and projections about its business based on certain assumptions of its management, including those described in this Release. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, including, among other factors, changes in demand for the Company's services and products, changes in the law and its enforcement and changes in the economic environment and developments in, and the outcome of, GenCannas Chapter 11 proceeding. Additional risk factors are included in the Company's public filings with the SEC. Should one or more of these underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as "hoped," "anticipated," "believed," "planned, "estimated," "preparing," "potential," "expected," "looks" or words of a similar nature. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. None of the content of any of the websites referred to herein (even if a link is provided for your convenience) is incorporated into this release and the Company assumes no responsibility for any of such content.

All trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

About Tropizen

Tropizen is one of Puerto Ricos leading cannabis cultivation and manufacturing companies, providing all-natural, highly effective infused edibles, topicals, concentrates and flower to dispensaries island wide. Strict quality control and lab testing ensures patients are consuming pure and safe products with accurate and consistent dosing. Its full spectrum cannabis-infused gummies, pilones, hot sauce and protein bites are known for their delicious flavor and balanced effects. Tropizen is committed to producing an extensive array of products using locally sourced ingredients to serve the needs of patients while supporting local communities.

For more information about Tropizen please visit www.tropizen.com .

Company Contact

Jon Levine, CFO

MariMed Inc.

Tel (781) 559-8713

Media Contact

Jo McCarran, SVP Creative & Branding

MariMed Inc.

jmccarran@marimedinc.com

Annie Graf

KCSA Strategic Communications

agraf@kcsa.com
The City of Winnipeg is taking another step in its journey of reconciliation.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg is taking another step in its journey of reconciliation.

Shortly after the the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was released early in June 2019, Winnipegs executive policy committee tasked public service staff with preparing a review that details the citys existing responses to the reports more than 200 calls for justice, and suggests further measures that can be taken to address the inquirys calls.

That report is now finished, and the document being brought before the committee next Tuesday outlines Winnipegs pre-existing and possible future responses to 108 calls for justice that fall under city jurisdiction.

"Taking that step forward is really critical because many people have been silent on the final report and the calls for justice," Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, MMIWG liaison unit manager at Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, said in an interview Thursday.

"I think the City of Winnipeg even committing to doing this and coming out with the document speaks volumes."

Some measures discussed in the review have been in the works since 2015, when the city began responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canadas 94 calls to action aimed at redressing the legacy of residential schools in Canada. Now the city is looking into how it can expand on initiatives already in place, or add more programming within current budget limits.

"I want to see adequate programming to support especially vulnerable Indigenous women and girls that is culturally appropriate, to have those safe spaces for them to go to and to ensure that theres adequately funded service providers who are there to strengthen and empower and support vulnerable Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse people," Anderson-Pyrz said about her hopes for the citys response plan.

More than 9,400 city employees have already taken mandatory Indigenous awareness training, though this latest review recommends enhancing these training opportunities in the future.

The Indigenous Youth Strategy, Oshki Annishinabe Nigaaniwak, works to provide access to cultural programming, support, employment and literacy, and the review recommends finding ways to bolster the strategys programming and funding to better address the calls in the national inquiry report.

Under the policing banner, Winnipeg Police Services counter-exploitation unit has been working with several groups to ensure the agency and lived experience of Indigenous women and girls is taken into account, and has drafted a proposal to create and fund an ongoing social worker position in the 2020-23 budget.

Anderson-Pyrz hopes to see more of these specific financial commitments as the city develops more tangible plans.

"Theres already such a strain on the current services and supports that are provided within the City of Winnipeg, if they want meaningful action they have to be ready to commit those financial resources," she said.

Beyond the initiatives the city has already started rolling out, the report offers a number of suggestions for future actions that city administration can get moving on right away, including the development of an employee campaign to garner awareness of the inquirys final report; improvements to Winnipegs current data collection methods; partnership with Winnipeg Transit to improve safety measures and staff training; and specific recommendations to support Inuit and Metis peoples in the city.

Mitch Bourbonniere, program director for grassroots Indigenous youth advocacy group Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatawin, finds the reports recommendations in line with a positive culture hes seen among the citys top brass in addressing the needs of Winnipegs Indigenous communities, but notes theres always more work to be done, especially in educating the general public about the severity of the MMIWG crisis.

"These are people with lives and families. I think we need to keep in the forefront that this city still has a lot of issues we need to deal with," Bourbonniere said in an interview Wednesday. "Were never doing all that we can."

In his work, largely with the communitys at-risk youth and youth in care, Bourbonniere said there are opportunities for low-cost measures to help keep vulnerable community members safe. Transit, as an example, is "underused as a resource," he said.

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These kinds of suggestions, coming directly from community members with lived experience of the issues facing Indigenous people in Winnipeg, are what Anderson-Pyrz wants to see more of as the city continues to respond to the inquirys report.

"It really needs to be emphasized that the families and survivors, and two-spirited and gender-diverse people who are impacted need to be part of the process because they have the answers, they know the solutions, they have the lived experience," she said.

"If you dont have that lived experience and you dont know exactly whats happening on the ground...you could be missing a lot of really important factors that come into play."

If the report is approved by executive policy committee next week, the Indigenous relations division will begin consultation with other departments and community members to explore ways to implement the recommendations in the near future, a spokesperson for the city said in an email Wednesday.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers
WESTPORT  With the coronavirus crisis continuing to evolve rapidly, First Selectman Jim Marpe said town facilities will remain closed through March 31.

At this time, the town does not intend to impose a mandatory quarantine, but strongly encourages self-isolation for everyone, Marpe said in a news release on Friday. For the benefit of all our residents, neighbors and friends, anyone who believes they may have come into contact with COVID-19 must self-isolate.

A Westport woman tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on Thursday, according to the Westport-Weston Health District.

Businesses should encourage online interaction, social distancing in their facilities and direct delivery of services, Marpe said.

It should be assumed that COVID-19 is everywhere, the news release states. Please consider contacting and staying in touch with neighbors or friends who may be particularly vulnerable, keeping social-distancing at the forefront of any interaction.

The Westport Center for Senior Acitvities, the Parks and Recreation office, and town hall are also closed to the public. These town facilities will remain closed and public meetings are canceled at least through March 31.

During this time, in an effort to maintain essential services during this shutdown, staff will be available during business hours, the news release states. While departments will have limited staffing, the public may email or leave voicemail messages with specific town hall deparments. Please allow sufficient time for a response.

Additionally, the Westport Libary has announced it will remain closed indefinitely.

The health and well-being of our patrons and staff is the highest priority of the Westport Library, Executive Director Bill Harmer said in a statement on Friday.

Harmer said the library has hired a cleaning company to do a two-day deep disinfectant of the building.

All the evidence points to the fact that things are giong to get worse before they get better, he said. The virus likely to spread exponentially and our infrastructure, doctors offices and hospitals, are woefully unprepared to handle the onslaught that is coming.

During the closure, Harmer said the library will continue to provide email support.

The Board of Education said in a statement that other school districts in the area have closed to slow the spread of COVID-19.

We strongly recommend our families practice social distancing while our students and faculty remain out of school, the BOE said. We understand the impulse to get together but even small gatherings  even having just a couple of close friends over, even with people you and your children have spent a lot of time with  undermine the efficacy of our community-wide effort to slow trnmision of disease.

The health district also discouraged social gatherings  large and small.

Those who continue to congregate without appropriate personal protective equipment and do not diligently practice the simple protective measure of washing hands, etc., are the ones who will be getting sick, the health district said in a statement.
Satellite image 2020 Maxar Technologies.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has hit Iran especially hard.

Burial pits are being expanded so rapidly that they're visible from space, based on satellite images taken by the private space technology company Maxar Technologies and first reported by the Washington Post.

The images show that new trenches have been dug at a cemetery in Qom, Iran, and what appears to be a pile of lime, which is sometimes used in mass graves to prevent decay and manage odor.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Burial pits have grown so large amid a devastating coronavirus outbreak in Qom, Iran, that they're visible from space, satellite imagery shows.

Along with China and Italy, Iran has been hit especially hard by coronavirus.

Dozens of lawmakers have been infected, as have senior officials  including the Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri. And an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died from the novel coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund for $5 billion in emergency funding to help it fight the coronavirus outbreak.

Iranian Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour on Friday said 514 people have died of the virus in Iran and 11,364 have been infected, per Fars News Agency. But media reports have suggested the Iranian government has not been forthcoming about the death toll, in an effort to mask the devastating scale of the outbreak.

The rapid expansion of mass graves in Iran underscores why there is skepticism about the Iranian government's official death toll.

02_overview of beheshte masoumeh cemetery_qom_29oct2019_ge1

Satellite image 2020 Maxar Technologies

Source: Washington Post

Back in late October, the satellite imagery suggested significant portions of the cemetery were not being used.

01_beheshte masoumeh cemetery_29oct2019_maxar

Satellite image 2020 Maxar Technologies.

But it was clear more of the cemetery was being used by early March  just weeks after the first coronavirus case was declared in Iran on February 19.

March 1

Satellite image 2020 Maxar Technologies.

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Iranian authorities dug two new trenches, both about 100 yards, that were visible from space. The images suggest that graves are being hurriedly dug, which underscores the scale of the outbreak in Iran  and the difficulties officials are having in quelling it. The newly dug lines can be seen in the middle plot of graves on the right side of the image.

Qom cemetery

Satellite image 2020 Maxar Technologies.

What appears to be a pile of lime is also visible. Lime is sometimes used in mass graves to help slow decay and reduce odor, and Iranian authorities have said they're using it in the burials of coronavirus victims.

Qom cemeberty lime

Satellite image 2020 Maxar Technologies.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Business Insider
BERLIN, March 12 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by phone with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj on Thursday, a German government spokesman said in a statement, urging him to move quickly towards signing a ceasefire.

The phone call came days after Khalifa Haftar, military commander of the opposing side in Libya's civil conflict, visited Merkel for talks in Berlin.

"They discussed the current political and military situation," the statement read. "The chancellor stressed, as she did on Tuesday in her conversation with General Khalifa Haftar, the importance of signing the ceasefire that was recently agreed in Geneva by representatives of the conflict parties." (Reporting by Thomas Escritt Editing by Paul Carrel)
L Brands, the owner of Victorias Secret and Bath & Body Works, said on Thursday that Sarah Nash would be its new chair, replacing Leslie H. Wexner, the retail mogul who founded and ran the company for decades before coming under intense scrutiny for his ties to the sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.

Ms. Nash, the chief executive of Novagard Solutions and a longtime investment banker at JPMorgan Chase, will begin the role after the completion of the sale of Victorias Secret to a private equity firm, the company said. L Brands said last month that Mr. Wexner would step down as chief executive and chairman on the closing of the sale but would retain a board seat as chairman emeritus.

The appointment of a woman in the role is a significant step for a company that was heavily criticized for Mr. Wexners close ties to Mr. Epstein and revelations about an entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment at Victorias Secret. The details emerged at the end of an otherwise illustrious career for Mr. Wexner, an 82-year-old billionaire who had been called the Merlin of the mall.

Still, the newly composed L Brands will oversee only Bath & Body Works  not Victorias Secret. Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm that has been buying struggling retailers for the past decade, will own 55 percent of Victorias Secret after the sale is completed.
Food delivery app Deliveroo has announced it will be launching a no-contact drop-off service as the UK enters the delay phase of its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

In an email to all customers sent on Friday 13 March, the takeaway service explained that in light of the uncertainty we all face in our daily lives with the outbreak of COVID-19, they will be taking new steps to ensure the continued safety of customers, riders and restaurants.

The email, sent on behalf of Deliveroo founder Will Shu, explained that the company would be providing restaurants with additional packaging and seals for orders and that they will also commence a no-contact service.

The new option will enable customers to request that their order be left on their doorstep, removing the need for direct contact for both parties, Deliveroo explains.

Shu also announced that in addition to their usual takeaways, customers will now be able to order other kitchen and household products, should they require them when they are self-isolating.

Addressing concerns about the welfare of employees working on zero-hour contracts during the pandemic, Deliveroo explained that riders who are diagnosed with Coronavirus and find that they are unable to work during this period are eligible for financial support.

Throughout this time, well be relentlessly focussed on doing everything we can to support the restaurants and riders working with us, and to bring you safe deliveries from the best restaurants across the country, wrote Shu.

Deliveroo has its headquarters in London and currently operates in over 200 cities across 12 countries worldwide and employs 30,000 drivers.

When contacted by The Independent, delivery service Just Eat confirmed they are "introducing contactless delivery" in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Takeaway app Uber Eats also confirmed to The Independent that customers can continue to request their orders be left on their doorsteps and said they are looking into "new product features to make this process even smoother, which we hope will be helpful to everyone on the platform in the coming weeks.

According to the World Health Organisation's latest situation report, there are currently over 125,000 recorded cases of coronavirus worldwide and 4,600 people have died from the disease.

Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK The usually busy Royal Mile in Edinburgh is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 13 March Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Ho bart's Amusement Arcade in Westward Ho!, Devon is offering toilet roll and soap as prizes in grabber machines Rob Braddick/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK An empty platform at Farringdon Station in London the morning after the Prime Minister said that Covid-19 "is the worst public health crisis for a generation" PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Shopkeepers Asiyah Javed and husband Jawad from Day Today Express, in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk are giving away facemasks, antibacterial hand wash and cleaning wipes to the elderly in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A usually busy street in Cambridge is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 2 March James Linsell-Clark/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitiser dispenser is seen inside the stadium during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on 8 March Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Maaya Indian Kitchen in Milton Keynes is offerig customers a free roll of toilet paper with every takeaway order SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Oliver Cooper[L], was sent home from school for selling spurts of handsanitiser to fellow pupils at 50p a time. He poses with mum Jenny Tompkins by their home in Leeds Ashley Pemberton/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in London on 12 March EPA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A member of the public is swabbed at a drive through Coronavirus testing site set up in a car park in Wolverhampton Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A passenger wears a protective face mask as she travels on a bus in the City of London AFP/Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A Southampton fan wears a face mask before the match against Newcastle United on 7 March Reuters Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A loudspeaker placed in grounds of St Mary's Catholic Church in Broughattin, Dundalk, County Louth ahead of funeral mass later this morning. The loudspeaker has been placed in the grounds after the Catholic Archdiocese said that funerals and weddings should not exceed 100 attendees within the church building PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitising station set up outside Cheltenham Racecourse during day four of the Cheltenham Festival on 13 March PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK People wearing protective face masks walk across London Bridge on 11 March AFP/Getty

Public Health England and the World Health Organisation recommend that members of the public wash their hands regularly, cover their mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and avoid close contact with anyone who appears unwell, to reduce spread of the disease.

The Independent has contacted Deliveroo for further comment.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2020) - Dunnedin Ventures Inc. (TSXV: DVI) (the "Company" or "Dunnedin") announces that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $2,800,000 (the "Offering"). The Company also anticipates changing its name to Kodiak Copper Corp and consolidating the Company's common shares on the basis of one (1) new post-consolidation common share for every five (5) pre-consolidation common shares.

Claudia Tornquist, President and CEO of Dunnedin stated, "With the closing of this private placement in exceptionally difficult market conditions we are now fully funded for the upcoming drill program at our 100% owned MPD copper-gold porphyry project in South-Central BC. We will commence preparatory work immediately for what will be an exciting summer exploration program at our MPD copper-gold porphyry project. The recent discovery of the high-grade Gate Zone just below the shallow historic drilling horizon has kicked the door wide open for further discoveries and the potential expansion of this compelling new target. We are looking forward to creating value for our shareholders through discovery in 2020."

The Company has issued 10,364,929 non flow-through units at a price of $0.07 per unit, 1,333,167 flow-through units at a price of $0.09 per unit and 18,614,000 charity flow-through units at a price of $0.105 per unit (each a "Unit") through the Offering. Each Unit consists of one pre-consolidation common share and one-half-of-one common share purchase warrant entitling the holder to acquire an additional pre-consolidation common share at a price of $0.11 for a period of twenty-four months. The common share purchase warrants issued as part of the Units are subject to accelerated expiry in the event the common shares of the Company trade on the TSX Venture Exchange at a closing price of $0.25 per pre-consolidation share or more for twenty consecutive trading days.

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In connection with the closing of the placement the Company paid finders' fees of $118,668 and issued 1,579,353 common share purchase warrants exercisable at the same price as the placement warrants to acquire common shares of the Company to eligible parties who introduced subscribers to the placement. All securities issued in connection with the private placement are subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period from the date of issue, expiring on August 13, 2020.

Proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund the Company's exploration programs on its wholly owned, advanced-stage copper porphyry exploration projects in British Columbia and Arizona, and for general corporate purposes.

It is planned to change the Company's name (the "Name Change") to Kodiak Copper Corp ("Kodiak") and to consolidate the Company's common shares on the basis of one (1) new post-consolidation common share for every five (5) pre-consolidation common shares (the "Consolidation"). It is anticipated that Kodiak's common shares will trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol ("KDK").

Dunnedin will hold a special and annual general meeting of the Company's shareholders on March 25, 2020, at which the Company will seek shareholder approval to the Consolidation. Subject to receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval it is then anticipated that the Consolidation and Name Change will become effective on or about April 1, 2020.

Common shares and warrants issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be issued on a pre-Consolidation basis and will be consolidated pursuant to the Consolidation. The exercise price and number of common shares issuable upon the exercise of Dunnedin's outstanding stock options, warrants or other convertible securities will be proportionately adjusted to reflect the Consolidation in accordance with the terms of such securities. Where the Consolidation results in a fractional common share, the number of common shares will be rounded to the nearest whole common share.

Dunnedin has also granted an aggregate of 4,825,000 stock options to management, directors and consultants of the Company, exercisable at C$0.07 per pre-consolidation share for a period of five years.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States. The 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.

For further information please contact Mr. Knox Henderson, Investor Relations, at 604-551-2360 or khenderson@dunnedinventures.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Dunnedin Ventures Inc.

Claudia Tornquist

President & CEO

About Dunnedin Ventures Inc.

Dunnedin is focused on its portfolio of 100% owned copper porphyry projects in Canada and the USA. The Company's most advanced asset is the MPD copper-gold porphyry project in the prolific Quesnel Trough in south-central British Columbia, Canada, where the Company made a discovery of high-grade mineralization in 2020. Dunnedin also holds the Mohave copper-molybdenum-silver porphyry project in Arizona, USA, near the world-class Bagdad mine. The Company's Trapper copper-gold porphyry project is located in the northern Golden Triangle region of British Columbia. All three of Dunnedin's porphyry projects have been historically drilled and present known mineral discoveries with the potential to hold large-scale deposits.

The Company also holds the advanced-stage Kahuna diamond project in Nunavut, Canada. Kahuna hosts a high-grade, near surface inferred diamond resource and numerous kimberlite pipe targets.

Dunnedin's founder and chairman is Chris Taylor who is well-known for his gold discovery success with Great Bear Resources. Dunnedin is also part of the Discovery Group of Companies led by John Robins, one of the most successful mining entrepreneurs in Canada.

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.

Forward-Looking Statement (Safe Harbor Statement): This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "expect", "estimate", "objective", "may", "will", "project", "should", "predict", "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward looking statements concerning the planned completion of the Private Placement, the Consolidation, and the change of the Company's name. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements because the Company cannot give any assurance that they will prove correct. Since forward looking statements address future events and conditions, they involve inherent assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of assumptions, factors and risks. These assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to, assumptions and risks associated with conditions in the equity financing markets, and assumptions and risks regarding receipt of regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Management has provided the above summary of risks and assumptions related to forward looking statements in this press release in order to provide readers with a more comprehensive perspective on the Company's future operations. The Company's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward looking statements and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits the Company will derive from them. These forward looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE U.S.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53383
Fearing the coronavirus could result in blood shortages across the state and nationwide, the American Red Cross is urging healthy Hoosiers to donate blood or platelets.

Red Cross officials fear fewer people might donate during the outbreak, which could impact the stability of the blood supply patients rely upon to get lifesaving transfusions. The number of donors has already dipped because of the cold and flu season as it commonly does.

Were asking the American people to help keep the blood supply stable during this challenging time. As communities across the country prepare for this public health emergency, its critical that plans include a readily available blood supply for hospital patients, said Chris Hrouda, president of Red Cross Blood Services. As fears of coronavirus rise, low donor participation could harm blood availability at hospitals, and the last thing a patient should worry about is whether lifesaving blood will be on the shelf when they need it most.
Two of the 129 passengers who arrived by the 4.35 am Spice Jet flight SG0052 from Dubai were taken to the governments quarantine facility on arrival at Pune International Airport, Lohegaon, as per the heightened response to the novel coronavirus outbreak globally.

The 129 passengers included 74 men, 41 women, 10 children and four infants arrived by the flight, the Pune district administration said in a release. These passengers included 11 foreigners and no suspected cases of COVID-19 were detected at the airport, the administration said.

Two Indian nationals- a 26-year-old woman and her one year old infant were sent to the government quarantine facility at Naidu Infectious Diseases Hospital after the woman voluntarily disclosed that both had cough. All other passengers were advised to stay in isolation at home. The entire operation was handled by the Pune district administration, government health authorities, airport officials and the police, the release said.

At 3 am, four ambulances stood waiting near the D2, VIP exit even as the Dubai flight was scheduled for arrival at 4.35 am. The flight, however, arrived at 4.05 am with a team of medical staff and police escort waiting on standby at the airport.

At 5.25 am, one passenger was brought out by a medical staff in protective clothing to a waiting ambulance. A team of government doctors was present at the airport and was in close coordination with the team waiting in the ambulance outside.

On Thursday evening, Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar had said at a press briefing that passengers arriving by the Dubai - Pune flight with a history of visiting seven high risk nations post February 15, would be placed under institutional quarantine for 14 days. This would mean quarantine at a government hospital or a government-designated quarantine facility in Pune. The list of high risk nations includes China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany. Passengers who travelled to any of these countries after February 15 would be taken to quarantine facilities in the city, irrespective of whether or not they have any symptoms, Mhaisekar had said.

Other passengers without travel history to the high risk nations would be advised isolation at home, he had said.

The usually bustling Pune Airport was completely deserted outside the arrival gate without any taxi or autorickshaw drivers waiting for passengers.

My son is on this flight which is from Dubai. This was his stop over flight from Seattle, USA, where he is studying. I pre-poned his tickets so that he could travel home today, as he is an OCI (overseas citizen of India) card holder and is studying at a university in US, said Anil S who came from Chinchwad to pick his son.

Suraj Sonawane, a tea seller at the airport said, For the past 15 days, the airport has had a deserted look, ever since the news of the coronavirus outbreak. Even I dont want to take any risk by continuing to work here.

A small group of autorickshaw drivers at the pre-paid autorickshaw stand lamented at the sharp drop in their earnings due to the rapidly changing situation. Business has been affected badly and though we want to help people reach their destinations, there are not many passengers, said Ajit Bondge, an auto driver.

The passengers who arrived from Dubai trickled out slowly almost after an hour after they were thoroughly screened inside.

Its a long queue inside for screening passengers; there are two counters where they are using an apparatus, a kind of thermal screening to gauge our temperature. The flight was 75 per cent full, one passenger said.
The Manitoba government launched its strongest salvo yet in the fight against COVID-19 on Friday, suspending public school classes, opening new screening sites and more strenuously discouraging international travel.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government launched its strongest salvo yet in the fight against COVID-19 on Friday, suspending public school classes, opening new screening sites and more strenuously discouraging international travel.

Classes will be suspended in the province beginning March 23 for three weeks, including a week on either side of spring break, Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced at an afternoon press conference, flanked by Premier Brian Pallister, Health Minister Cameron Friesen and chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin.

Don't stand so close to me: people in the crowd at the Cheltenham Festival in England are not practising good social distancing by being closer than a metre apart. (Tim Goode / PA)

"We believe that our schools are safe (but) that this is a proactive measure intended to limit the impact (of the coronavirus) on Manitobans as a whole," Goertzen said.

Late in the day, public health officials announced that a fourth person  a Winnipeg man in his 40s  had tested positive for the virus in Manitoba. They said it appears he was exposed to the virus through recent travel to South Korea, the Philippines and Japan.

At a news conference earlier Friday, Roussin told reporters that Manitoba was not looking to close schools at this time. He said such a move  in the absence of proven community transmission of the virus  had "large implications," including its potential impact on the health-care workforce and the fact that students may wind up gathering in other locations in any case.

However, Pallister said the government ultimately decided to lessen the potential impact of the virus by taking a more proactive approach while giving schools and parents time to adjust.

"We're giving notice to families to prepare," the premier said. "We're giving ourselves greater ability to have frontline workers, for example, prepare child care, if need be. We're giving greater opportunities for the system to adapt and to function better."

The school announcement came the same day that one of the four presumptive cases of the coronavirus in Manitoba was confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory. The three other cases remain presumptive.

Goertzen said teachers are being asked to be on the job the week before and after spring break to prepare lessons for students to do at home. So far, there is no plan to close child care centres in schools, he said.

The province opened two new COVID-19 screening sites Friday and asked Manitobans to cancel or postpone events with more than 250 people.

Two new screening sites  Mount Carmel Clinic (886 Main St.) and Access Transcona (845 Regent Ave. W) opened at noon Friday, bringing the number in the city to four. The other two are at Access Winnipeg West (280 Booth Dr.) and Access Fort Garry (135 Plaza Dr).

The screening sites aim to get people who may have COVID-19 out of crowded doctors' offices and emergency waiting rooms and somewhere set up to handle them, said Shared Health chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa. The access centres will continue their regular operations but are specially prepared for screening for COVID-19, she said.

"We would make sure we would manage those patients appropriately as soon as they come in the door," she said. Patients need a referral from Health Links before COVID-19 screening, she said. The next screening sites to open will be in northern and rural Manitoba and the province is also considering drive-thru screening sites  "whatever meets the needs of the community," Siragusa said.

Roussin said all Manitobans have a role to play in containing the coronavirus by washing their hands frequently, avoiding large crowds and curbing unnecessary foreign travel.

"I caution against any international travel at this point," he said.

"Those who are travelling internationally, including to the U.S., need to consider that by the time they return, they may be asked to self-isolate for 14 days," he cautioned, pointing to potential future edicts from health authorities.

Manitoba's first COVID-19 case, a woman in her 40s who recently travelled to the Philippines, was confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg Friday morning, Roussin said.

Health officials are trying to track down other passengers on Air Canada Flight 8622 from Vancouver to Winnipeg last Saturday who may have been exposed to the virus. A bulletin issued Thursday incorrectly listed the flight number as AC 8624.

Work is underway to increase capacity at Health Links to handle an increase in calls from the public. Staffing levels have been doubled and additional people are being pulled from other health areas and being trained, Siragusa said.

Caller options have been streamlined and there is now a dedicated COVID-19 number to press when contacting the centre.

By the afternoon press conference, Friesen said the number of Health Links phone lines had tripled to 104 from 35.

Steps are being taken at the Cadham Provincial Laboratory to increase testing capacity and reduce wait times for results. Siragusa said more than 500 lab tests have been conducted so far, and the people who test positive are being contacted right away.

Health authorities are recommending social distancing measures for all Manitobans, including minimizing prolonged close contact with individuals in public, avoiding greetings that involve touching such as handshakes, and disinfecting frequently used surfaces.

At Health Sciences Centre and long-term care facilities, "efforts are underway to share information," with families of residents to restrict visits from anyone who is ill or has potentially been exposed to COVID-19, said Siragusa.

Signs were being posted Friday at long-term care sites advising visitors are ill and anyone who travelled in the last 14 days not to visit - even if they dont have symptoms, said Siragusa.

Roussin said employers should review their business-continuity plans and take steps to ensure employees can stay home when ill and not demand sick notes from workers.

Roussin was asked about reports suggesting the possibility of airborne transmission of the virus. According to most data, the virus "is spread almost exclusively through direct contact and droplet spread and by symptomatic people," he said.

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Meanwhile, the Canadian Press reported that two Manitoba cabinet ministers were absent from the legislature Thursday after attending a Toronto mining conference where an Ontario attendee later tested positive for COVID-19.

The government would not confirm whether Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Eileen Clarke and Agriculture Minister Blaine Pedersen are self-isolating, citing privacy legislation. But it said all provincial employees who were at the conference have been asked to remove themselves from work.

Pallister refused Friday to comment on the situation, citing privacy legislation, "except to say there's good news on those two ministers."

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders

Legislature reporter After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020. Read full biography
KAMPALA, Uganda - Ugandan security forces are holding a retired army general and presidential aspirant for allegedly urging a foreign government in the region to help oust President Yoweri Museveni from power.

Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde, a former spy chief and security minister under Museveni, faces treason charges stemming from his comments allegedly asking Rwanda to support him in removing the current leadership with or without the ballot, police said Friday.

Tumukunde was taken for questioning late Thursday after a group of police and the military conducted a search of his property in the capital, Kampala. Police in a statement Friday cited the impact of the inflammatory and provocative rhetoric by the suspect on the security forces as well as the public.

Tumukunde, who is yet to be formally charged in a courtroom, told an interviewer on March 4, If I was Rwanda I would wish to support people who want to cause change in Uganda. Tumukundes remarks came after he wrote to electoral authorities announcing his plan to run for president. Tumukundes lawyer told reporters Friday that the Rwanda comments were the basis for the treason charges.

Relations between Uganda and Rwanda have been tense in recent months as the two neighbours accuse each of aggressive behaviour and the border remains closed. Rwanda insists rebels opposed to President Paul Kagame are getting support in Uganda, which in turn accuses Rwandan security agencies of operating unlawfully in the country.

Along with the pop star known as Bobi Wine, Tumukunde is among several Ugandans who have recently announced they would seek the presidency in elections set for 2021. Museveni, who took power by force in 1986 and has since won election five times, is widely expected to run again. His opponents, concerned that he wants to rule for life in a country that has never seen a peaceful transfer of power, want him to retire.

Tumukunde, 61, fought alongside Museveni in the bush war that brought the current government to power. Although widely seen as a regime insider and close to some members of the first family, Tumukunde has in the past expressed opposition to Musevenis attempts to prolong his stay in power. In 2005 he was forced to resign his parliamentary seat and then arrested over spreading harmful propaganda after he opposed ultimately successful efforts to remove presidential term limits.

After many years without being deployed, he was later rehabilitated and given a higher rank in the army before retiring in 2015. Tumukunde served on Musevenis re-election team in the 2016 polls and then was named minister in charge of national security, one reason many Ugandans are skeptical about his anti-Museveni stance.

It would be difficult for him to get even a sympathy vote, said Asuman Bisiika, an independent political analyst. Even as a candidate he is still looked at as a Museveni person. His candidature is way, way off the trail.
Waukesha, WI (53187)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. High 27F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

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Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 23F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Henry Tumukunde held on treason charges, accused of seeking backing from Rwanda to remove President Yoweri Museveni.

Ugandan police have arrested Henry Tumukunde, a retired general who plans to stand for president, for suspected treason.

In a statement on Friday, police said Tumukunde, a former ally of longtime President Yoweri Museveni and ex-security minister, was accused of enlisting the support of a neighbouring country to support him in removing the current leadership  an apparent reference to Rwanda.

Appearing on television last week, Tumukunde, 60, had said: If I was Rwanda, I would wish to support people who want to cause change in Uganda.

Relations between Uganda and Rwanda have been strained for more than a year over accusations that they support each others dissidents.

My offices and residence under siege. Being put under arrest under presumed treason charges, the 60-year-old wrote on Twitter late on Thursday.

Uganda is due to hold a presidential election early next year.

Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, has already been endorsed by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) to stand for re-election.

The 75-year-old president has been accused by government critics and rights campaigners of using tactics including intimidation by security forces to maintain his grip on power.

One of his opponents will be Bobi Wine, a pop star and member of Parliament whose large support base among the youth has fuelled worry in the governing party and provoked a security crackdown on his supporters.

His rallies have frequently been dispersed by security forces using tear gas, beatings and arrests.
Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy on Friday said that a disputed area along the Assam- Meghalaya border is being monitored continuously and neighbouring Assam has been requested to maintain status quo.

Following recent reports that senior Assam officials had visited Umwali village on February 19 to carry out a survey for construction of a police outpost, villagers gathered at the spot and opposed the attempt to set up the structure, Roy said.

The area is a bone of contention between the two north-eastern states. Meghalaya claims it to be part of West Khasi Hills district, while Assam asserts that it falls under its Kamrup (Rural) district.

Following the incident, the deputy commissioner of West Khasi Hills district had taken up the matter with the deputy commissioner, Kamrup (Rural) district, requesting him to maintain status quo and ensure peace and tranquility in the border area.

The governor was addressing the Assembly on the first day of the budget session.

After a chief secretary level meeting on June 20, 2019, the state government had requested Assam to have a chief ministerial level meet on the border issue after the budget session in April, the governor said.

Roy also said the state government is committed to ensure the security of its citizens, irrespective of the community they belong to.

The governor's assurance came in view of the recent violence arising out of a clash between two groups at Ichamati and its fallout in Shillong city.

"Protection of life and liberty is a fundamental right in our Constitution...The government has taken all necessary steps...to provide adequate security to all citizens, irrespective of the community they belong to," Roy said.

He said the state has witnessed agitation and protests by various NGOs against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) and the demand for implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state.

Mentioning that "overall" agitations against the CAA and demand for ILP were effectively handled by the state police, Roy, however, said in an unfortunate incident that took place on February 28 in Ichamati, Lurshai Hynniewta, a Khasi Student's Union member, succumbed to his injuries following the clashes.

The clashes broke out during an anti-CAA and pro-ILP meeting organized by the KSU in East Khasi Hills district close to the Indo-Bangladesh border.

After the clashes, curfew was imposed in Shillong and adjoining areas and mobile internet services were suspended in six districts.

"The police was swift to take action and eight people were arrested following the incident," the governor said while informing that a magisterial inquiry has also been ordered.

He said the government has released an amount of Rs 2 lakh as ex-gratia to the next of kin of the deceased KSU member adding that the medical expenses of those who were injured will also be borne by the government.

The government has also sanctioned Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased who was stabbed to death at Iewduh, from the Chief Minister's Special Grant.

He said all persons who were injured in the assault and stabbing incidents in Shillong are being treated in hospitals.

Expressing concern over the recent incident of mob lynching in Syntung area, the governor said such occurrences tend to mar the reputation of the state as a peaceful tourism destination.

On coal mining in Meghalaya, the governor said, the state government is committed to promote scientific and secure coal mining by complying with all statutory central legislations pertaining to environmental protection and safety of mine workers.

Efforts by the government to resolve coal mining issues culminated in the landmark judgment by the Supreme Court in which it was held that both private owners of land and community owners have surface as well as sub-soil rights.

There are different types of land ownership in Meghalaya -- some are privately owned by individuals, some are owned by a clan and some by a community.

In addition to consultation with various stake holders and experts to secure environment-friendly coal mining, the state government has also conducted sensitisation programme in West Jaintia Hills to educate mine owners about the procedures to be followed while starting coal mining.

The state government is also committed to restore the environment, damaged by coal mining in the state, Roy said.

The state has been collecting 10 per cent of the value of coal being transported as per orders of the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT) and depositing it in the Meghalaya Environment Protection and Restoration Fund (MEPRF).

Meghalaya had earlier admitted that a large number of mines were operating illegally in the state.

A total of 15 miners were trapped on December 13, 2018 in an illegal coal mine in East Jaintia Hills district when water from a nearby river gushed into it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Psychological stress has been proposed as a risk factor for melanoma, but clinical evidence is limited. A recent British Journal of Dermatology study funded by the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology looked for a potential link between the death of a partner, which is one of the most stressful life events, and melanoma. The research was carried out by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark.

In the study, which included information from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Danish nationwide registries, investigators found that partner bereavement was linked with a decreased risk of being diagnosed with melanoma, but with an increased risk of dying after being diagnosed.

"The study findings are interesting and may relate to bereaved people no longer having someone to help with skin examinations, leading to delays in diagnosis, although we cannot rule out stress being important in melanoma progression," said senior author Sinead Langan, PhD, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

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He reiterated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to focus on good hand washing and avoid touching your face, and to avoid being around those who are sick, particularly if you are over age 60 or have another medical condition that might put you at higher risk for complications related to the virus. Vulnerable people should also avoid high-risk exposure situations, such as large gatherings of people, he said.
More than 1.3 million K-12 students  from kindergarten to 12th grade  across the US have been impacted by school closings related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Globally, countries are announcing they're shutting down schools for weeks at a time as a way to prevent the spread of the novel virus.

Education Week has been keeping a tally of the K-12 school closures across the US since it started to impact different districts.

On Wednesday, more than one million students were impacted by school closures, according to the database. This number then rose to over 1.3 million students on Thursday as more and more schools closed their doors.

Washington state, specifically areas around Seattle, have been hit the hardest with 373 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 30 deaths.

This influenced the state to take drastic action to stop the spread of the virus, including shutting down some of its public schools. Seattle Public Schools is one district shutting down its schools for two weeks in response to the coronavirus.

Ohio also announced it would be closing all K-12 schools - which includes public, private, and charter - for three weeks starting on Monday. This closure is expected to last for three weeks and comes after the state confirmed five cases of the virus. Washington DC's school district will also close its K-12 schools starting Monday.

States like New York are avoiding completely closing down public schools because of the number of students who rely on them for a meal each day. Two schools in the Bronx, New York City, will be closed for 24 hours because of a suspected coronavirus outbreak. Mayor Bill de Blasio said he is hoping the schools will open back up once they're disinfected.

Around the world, nearly 377 million students have been impacted by the coronavirus shuttering their schools, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Besides K-12 schools closing in the US, universities are also finding their own way to handle the pandemic. More than 100 colleges and universities have shut down or switched to online classes, according to one list created by Bryan Alexander, who's on the faculty of Georgetown University.

In total, at least 21 states have partial closure in some or all of their K-12 schools.
If anyone had predicted a few months ago that Rahul Gandhis closest aide and buddy Jyotiraditya Scindia would quit the Congress and join the BJP, no one would have believed it.

Scindia is not an ordinary Congress leader. He was in the inner circle of Rahul Gandhi, with the former Congress president claiming Jyotiraditya was one chap who could walk into my house any time. In fact, insiders claim Scindia had a meal with Rahul Gandhi a few days ago before the latter left for Milan.

It is then a mystery why Scindia is complaining about lack of access to the leadership. A disgruntled Scindia has obviously chosen to look for greener pastures as the BJP has offered him not only a Rajya Sabha berth but also a place in the Modi cabinet. Indeed, it comes as a reward for a man who felt he was languishing in the Congress.

The Congress leadership, meanwhile, is in shock after Scindias exit. A senior Congress leader admitted that though they were aware of Scindia sulking after he lost the 2019 polls, they did not expect him to desert the party.

Scindia, known as Maharaj to his followers, showed his clout when 22 Congress legislators quit with him, plunging the Madhya Pradesh government into crisis.

As the BJP gets ready to snatch the reins to power, Nath is making all-out efforts to save his government. And there are some who are hopeful. For instance, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar said: "Some people have confidence in the capacity of Kamal Nath and feel a miracle can happen.

Scindia has been nursing a grouse since the time the party leadership chose Nath instead of him to be the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh 16 months ago. The idea to quit the party must have entered his head then.

Madhya Pradesh is also known for its factionalism. Scindia was upset that his followers were not getting support despite his recommendation as the powerful Digvijaya Singh-Kamal Nath duo had teamed up against him and marginalised him.

Scindia obviously did not see any future for himself in Congress. He was feeling boxed in, both in his home state and also at the national level. His exit was to come sooner or later and the Rajya Sabha elections just triggered it.

For the BJP, Scindia is indeed a big catch. His grandmother  Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia  was the main patron of the party in the eighties and nineties. As one BJP leader claimed, Scindia was not the only prize; he also brought with him the bonanza of the Madhya Pradesh government. Hence, it was sweet revenge for the BJP to bring down the Nath government.

Now that Scindia has quit, the Congress has to decide what next. The danger is not just Scindia leaving, as leaders bigger than him have left the Congress earlier, but that others could also desert the sinking ship.

Such a situation had arisen before Sonia Gandhi stepped in to arrest the erosion in 1997. The immediate priority is to check this trend.

There are already rumours that more leaders in Rahul Gandhis inner team might look for greener pastures. The BJP would embrace them as importing these established leaders into the BJP is one of the strategies of the saffron party, be it Himanta Biswa Sarma or Sanjay Singh.

The Congress leadership has to look inwards about why leaders like Scindia, who have been encouraged all through, are quitting the party.

Scindia was one of the names doing the rounds for the role of the party president when Rahul Gandhi quit in August last year. The party is shrinking and sinking. Demoralisation has already set in after the successive defeats in the Lok Sabha polls and it would become worse now. There is thus a desperate need to correct the situation.

The Congress has seen many ups and downs  including worse phases  but the leadership always managed to bring it back on track. This is exactly where the present leadership has failed.

In fact, the leadership crisis is one of the reasons for this state of affairs. Sonia Gandhi wants her son to lead the party but Rahul Gandhi is a reluctant leader who plays truant often with his disappearing acts.

Some disgruntled Congressmen are blaming Sonia Gandhi for her putra moh. There is a perpetual war between the old guard and the younger leaders for control of the party. Scindias exit is an example. The leadership has lost the loyalty of the Congress workers and leaders. The party will go down further if the Congress leadership does not address the rot.

(The author is a political analyst. Views expressed are personal)
Last night I sat down and watched the opening to the NRL Indigenous All Stars v Maori All Stars. Take 7  minutes out of your day and watch the spine tingling opening to the match.

From the moment Quaden Bayles (the nine year old boy bullied because of his dwarfism) led the Indigenous All Stars out, to the stirring openings of the respective teams, you could not but feel a sense of pride the way the NRL have promoted and allowed this concept to flourish. The passion of the players to represent their culture provides an excellent way to show the validity of an indigenous voice.

Months ago my sons and I watched in complete silence the confronting Adam Goodes documentary The Final Quarter. We wait with nervous anticipation to view The Australian Dream. Both detail the controversial series of events in Goodes life towards the end of his AFL career. Regardless of your point of view, the treatment meted out to one man should be an awakening to us all. Madman films describes The Australian Dream succinctly: From shy country kid to two-time Brownlow medallist and Australian of the Year, Goodes is an inspiration to many. The footy field was where he thrived; the only place where the colour of his skin was irrelevant. Goodes world fell apart when he became the target of racial abuse during a game, which spiralled into public backlash against him. He spoke out about racism when Australia was not ready to hear the ugly truth, retiring quietly from AFL heartbroken.

My four years teaching in Alice Springs and the four short trips I have made to the Torres Strait taught me a lot about the significant issues facing indigenous Australians. The friendships I forged continue through social media, but from the comfort of my home here on the Sunshine Coast, it is easy for me to feel disconnected from the harsh realities of what ex-students of mine, my footy mates and their families endure daily. Yet, I also saw and heard, I continue to see and hear, the great strides indigenous leaders, indigenous men, women and children, are making to change their lives and the lives of their families. Many of these success stories continue to be ignored and the voice of indigenous people continue to be suppressed and not heard.

Five of seven Closing the Gap targets not on track

This week we were again confronted with the annual Closing the Gap report into Indigenous health, education and employment. Again, many indigenous leaders and people have been left frustrated at the slow progress of improvement in vital areas.

Frustratingly, action from the government on Indigenous health has stalled and they have slashed the vital resources needed to achieve meaningful progress. Now, more than ever, we need to hold the government to account and ensure they maintain focus and commitment needed to close the gap. (Oxfam 2020)

The 12th Closing the Gap report, tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, shows Aboriginal children still trail far behind non-Indigenous children in literacy, numeracy and writing skills. The report also shows the country is on track to meet just two of seven government targets to reduce the disparity in health, education and employment outcomes.

While literacy scores for Indigenous students have slightly improved in the past decade, at least 20 per cent are still behind the national benchmark. The report does not measure adult reading and writing skills, but shows Indigenous employment rates still trail far behind the rest of the country.

Gains in Indigenous health have been the same or smaller than those for non-Indigenous Australians  meaning gaps are persisting and, in the case of child mortality, widening.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Closing the Gap report proved a "top-down, government-knows-best approach had failed to deliver what was needed. New targets and an overhaul of the framework would be led by Indigenous Australians  a project that has been underway for several years. Closing the Gap has never really been a partnership with Indigenous people. We perpetuated an ingrained way of thinking passed down over two centuries and more, and it was the belief that we knew better than our Indigenous peoples. We don't."

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese told Parliament that politicians, cannot keep coming back here, year in, year out, wringing our hands. The problem was not that the targets were too ambitious, they were not, they were modest. The failure to meet the targets  is our failure, not theirs."

Support National Close the Gap Day March 21

National Close the Gap Day on March 21 (NCTGD) is a national day of action to pledge support for achieving Indigenous health equality by 2030. Each year the support for NCTDG continues to grow and last year people all over the country took part in events to create awareness of the Close the Gap Campaign. NCTGD aims to bring people together, to share information  and most importantly  to take meaningful action in support of achieving Indigenous health equality by 2030.

With continued support from the public, this day can ensure the Australian Government continues to work with Indigenous communities, commit additional funding and invest in real partnerships.

The Christian church has had a positive role in the lives of many indigenous people, but also has been the cause of much of the pain, oppression and hurt in people. Our Christian Prime Minister has the opportunity to stand against racial sin and facilitate a lasting legacy of his leadership.

Key Messages

Everyone deserves the right to a healthy future; particularly in a rich country like ours. Yet depending on where they are around the country, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples can live 10, 15, sometimes 20 years less than other Australians. Past and present governments have created barriers to good health for Indigenous Australians, and this is having a profound impact on families and communities.

But it doesnt have to be this way.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities already have many of the solutions to these problems. They are simply asking that they be heard. We need our politicians to start listening and supporting them with the resources they need.

The image of God is in all people. There are many times we are quick to judge and not see people the way God sees them. We can be the people who challenge our employers and our politicians to seek to increase opportunities for indigenous people, to access the resources they need to live with dignity, to live with sufficiency, rather than scarcity and the spirit of oppression surrounding many.

Lets call out what racism, privilege and injustice is to God  they are sins and we need to ask forgiveness for the hurt caused in the past.

Racism, the expectancy of privilege and injustice can cripple the image of God in human beings. Through restoration and reconciliation, we can face the future together.

I stand with my aboriginal brothers and sisters.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ordered the release of the dethroned Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II , who was banished to Awe, a town in Nasarawa State, f ollowing his dethronement on Monday, 9th March 2020.

Justice Anwuli Chikere granted the interim order following an ex parte application moved by his lead counsel, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) on Friday.

The judge also ordered that the order for the release of the deposed monarch should be served on the respondents to the application.

The respondents to the application are, the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Adamu; the Director-General of the Department of State Service, Yusuf Bichi; the Attorney-General of Kano State, Ibrahim Muktar and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN).

The judge fixed March 26 for further hearing of the main suit challenging his detention.

The former Emir had on Thursday approached the court seeking an interim order of the court directing his immediate release from detention.

He prayed the court to order his release from the detention and or confinement of the respondents and to restore his rights to human dignity, personal liberty, freedom of association and movement in Nigeria, (apart from Kano State) pending the hearing and determination of the applicants originating summons.
There's no shortage of theories about the type of running mate who would improve Democrats' chances of beating President Donald Trump in November: The unity approach suggests pairing a moderate such with a progressive to bring both wings of the party together. With two men as the last viable candidates standing, there's talk of putting a woman on the ticket - a female vice president would still be a first, even if it looks like a silver medal. A battleground-state strategy proposes a choice from a closely contested state needed to win the electoral college, such as Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania.

But in 2020, one option should really stand out from the rest: a black vice president.

This year's election is likely to be decided by turnout more than by flipping voters from Trump's column to the Democratic column. And black voters are central to any hopes Democrats have for retaking the White House. Black voting behavior, with its especially high level of electoral solidarity in general elections is one of the most unique phenomena in contemporary American politics. So, while turnout is notoriously difficult to predict, a black vice-presidential selection stacks the deck in the party's favor to increase enthusiasm, voter participation and chances of victory.

The buzz has been present for some time. Prominent members of the Congressional Black Caucus described the pairing of former Vice President Joe Biden with California Sen. Kamala D. Harris as the "dream ticket." Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who not long ago confirmed her interest, is frequently mentioned and has been considered a contender ever since she and Biden met for a private lunch last spring. Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Florida gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Florida Rep. Val Demings, who rose on the national stage as a House impeachment manager earlier this year, have all been mentioned as potential choices.

We already know that picking a partner to win his or her state doesn't work. Kyle Kopko and Christopher Devine analyzed more than a century of election returns and found that "the vice presidential home state advantage is, essentially, zero." Lyndon B. Johnson didn't even deliver the South for John F. Kennedy, who likely won there thanks to his years-long courtship of disaffected southern white Democrats who'd defected to Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. More recently, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was unable to get Mitt Romney over the top in 2012, and Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., didn't help John F. Kerry in 2004.

Both Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have indicated they would select a woman as vice president, likely in hopes of winning more female voters. Two major-party presidential nominees, Walter Mondale and John McCain, have taken this approach - it didn't work: In 1984, Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro lost women by 10 points, a margin that snapped back to just 4 points with two men on the Democratic ballot in 1988. Similarly, in 2008, McCain and Alaska's then-Gov. Sara Palin lost women by 14 points. (Palin's well-documented missteps didn't help.) Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's bid to derail Trump's 2016 primary momentum by preemptively announcing Carly Fiorina as his running mate also fell terribly flat.

But where home-state candidates and white female running mates have failed, a black vice-presidential candidate could, and likely would, increase the nominee's chances of success.

History holds no evidence of this claim because neither major party has ever had an African American, or any person of color, as its vice-presidential candidate. But political science scholarship provides clues to the advantages to be gained.

Part of the reason Trump won in 2016 was that Hillary Clinton was unable to create the enthusiasm for her candidacy that Barack Obama generated in 2008 and 2012. When paired with the implementation of restrictive voting laws and inefficient processes in several states, the result was a 7 point drop-off in black turnout. Since Trump's election, black voters have played a key role in victories by Democratic candidates in Kentucky, Virginia and Louisiana gubernatorial races, and Alabama's special senatorial election in 2017.

Political scientists Amir Fairdosi and Jon Ragowski found that black Democratic candidates significantly increase turnout of black voters across the ideological spectrum - the candidate's presence alone is associated with a 5.4 percent increase in turnout probability. Numerous studies, such as one from University of North Carolina professor Christopher Clark and another from Yale University economist Ebonya Washington, show that state black executive and legislative candidates mobilize disengaged black voters, making them 22 percent more likely to vote and raise turnout 2.3 percentage points for every black congressional or gubernatorial Democrat on the ballot.

Recent elections, including 2018, when Gillum and Abrams ran, suggest similar outcomes. Black voter participation rates in presidential elections were at historic highs in 2008 and 2012 when Obama was at the top of the ticket. Further, black female candidates receive even higher levels of support from black women, an especially important bloc given the outsize role of black women in electoral organizing, participation and Democratic support.

The achievable turnout advantage offered by a black running mate may only be on the margins, but that is often where elections are won. Though Clinton received close to 3 million more votes in 2016, Trump's victory was decided as a result of less than 80,000 votes in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In these states, the black population centers of Detroit, Philadelphia and Milwaukee are all represented by black legislators.

Past results don't guarantee increased turnout. Scholarship suggests that the observable increased turnout when black candidates run are more a function of party outreach and mobilization, but that's not necessarily a hindrance. A black vice-presidential candidate is more likely to prioritize and be more effective at reaching out to black voters, leading to increased turnout - perhaps sufficiently to secure a Democratic victory in those battleground states.

Previous presidential nominees have flirted with the idea of a black running mate. Mondale considered mayors Tom Bradley of Los Angeles and Wilson Goode of Philadelphia before choosing Ferraro. The Rev. Jesse Jackson was floated as a running mate in both 1988 and 1992, but his selection was deemed too risky. And Clinton considered both Booker and Patrick to be her running mate in 2016. This time, a black vice presidential nominee could stir up some of the same racial resentment that helped elect Trump in 2016. And, of course, black candidates aren't interchangeable - Abrams, Booker, Demings, Harris, Gillum and Patrick each present distinct advantages and risks.

But the lesson from 2016 is that the Democratic Party can't afford to play it too safe in hopes that the Trump presidency will implode or that partisan and unaffiliated voters will reject Trump en masse. A black vice-presidential candidate can unlock the party's unique and proven advantage, one that should not be squandered in what looks to be a close election.

More to the point, the Democratic nominee's chance at winning the election hinges on his ability to mobilize black voters. Based on what is known about catalysts for black voter participation, an active and engaged African American running mate offers the nominee and the party the best chance of getting black voters to the polls in higher numbers, especially in the states that matter most.

- - -

Johnson is a senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy.
With tech companies wise to many of the tactics that Russia's now-infamous troll farms used to seed disinformation during the 2016 election, those campaigns are getting creative.

According to a pair of reports out from Facebook and Twitter, a disinformation campaign run by individuals with links to Russia's Internet Research Agency (IRA) is back and focused on the U.S., but this time it's being run out of Africa.

"This network was in the early stages of building an audience and was operated by local nationals  some wittingly and some unwittingly  in Ghana and Nigeria on behalf of individuals in Russia," Facebook explained in its blog post.

CNN apparently conducted its own deep investigation into the operations in Ghana and Nigeria, going so far as to even tour one of the houses where a group of Ghanaians worked to craft posts targeting American social issues.

Surprisingly, Graphika, a social analytics firm that specializes in disinformation, observed that these campaign did not focus on the U.S. election or presidential candidates specifically, but when candidates did come up in the content "it was through the lens of human rights, tolerance and racism."

Graphika Chief Innovation Officer Camille Francois notes that the Russia-based campaign relied on a Ghana-based NGO as a kind of proxy and that at least some of those involved were likely not aware of the true nature of their work.

"That operation shows us the appetite of foreign actors to use proxy groups in increasingly creative way," Francois told TechCrunch. "It also shows information operations can be based anywhere"

Most of the accounts were created in the second half of 2019 and the content they generated addressed issues around race, particularly tensions between black and white Americans. According to Facebook, the campaign concentrated on topics like black history and black excellence, but also "content about oppression and injustice, including police brutality."

Story continues

Facebook detected 49 Facebook accounts, 69 Facebook Pages and 85 Instagram accounts participating in the campaign. On Facebook, the relatively nascent accounts accumulated roughly 13,500 followers. On Instagram, the accounts had a following of around 265,000.

On Twitter, 71 accounts linked to the Russian-run operations in Ghana and Nigeria spread similar messages in an effort to "sow discord by engaging in conversations about social issues, like race and civil rights."

It's alarming  if not surprising  that Russian efforts to inflame existing social divides in the U.S. continue, but Twitter offered a useful reminder that most disinformation in the country comes from within, not from without.

As weve seen since 2016, Russia is not alone in its quest to manipulate conversations through social media. In fact, during the 2018 U.S. midterms, we saw more domestic attempts to spread disinformation than foreign.https://t.co/cLpqdzcXyk  Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) March 12, 2020

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Guest column: We were proved innocent, but get little from a stingy Louisiana
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Expressing the readiness of his government for a floor test in the Assembly, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday accused the BJP of holding 22 Congress MLAs in captivity.

Nath met Tandon and submitted a letter to him accusing the BJP of being involved in horse-trading and holding the Congress MLAs in captivity.

Nath met Tandon in the midst of political crisis in the state triggered by the resignation of the 22 Congress MLAs three days ago. He met the governor at around 11 am and submitted the three-page letter to him.

In the letter, released by a Congress spokesman to the media, Nath expressed his readiness to hold the floor test during the budget session beginning from March 16.

Nath also mentioned the sequence of events from the intervening night of March 3 and March 4 to March 10, and claimed there were incidents of horse-trading during this period.

In these circumstances, the very edifice of democracy is in danger, Nath wrote in the letter. Nath also told the governor to use his office to ensure the release of Congress MLAs held in captivity in Bengaluru.

Nath, whose government is teetering on the brink of a collapse following the rebellion, reached Raj Bhavan to meet Tandon, who arrived here on Thursday night from Lucknow.

The chief minister briefed the governor about the current political situation in the state, Congress sources said.

The ruling Congress has alleged that 19 of the rebel Congress MLAs, including ministers, have been held "captive" by the BJP in a resort in Bengaluru, a charge denied by the opposition party.

Nath's meeting with the governor comes amid unconfirmed reports that six ministers, said to be close to former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, will be coming to Bhopal from Bengaluru to hand over their resignation letters in person to the Assembly speaker.

Attempts to contact these ministers proved futile. Scindia joined the BJP on Wednesday, a day after quitting the Congress.
Members of the medical team spray disinfectant to sanitize outdoor place of Imam Reza's holy shrine, following the coronavirus outbreak, in Mashhad, Iran February 27, 2020.

Public health efforts to control the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran are "evolving in the right direction," but "more needs to be done" to stop the spread as cases exceed 10,000, the World Health Organization said Friday.

"We are all still students of this new virus," Dr. Richard Brennan, WHO Regional Emergency Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, said in a statement released Friday. "We need to track its spread closely and quickly apply proven public health measures, such as early detection, early isolation and treatment, contact tracing, and risk communications,"

"More works also needs to be done to protect health workers," Brennan added. "The fight against coronavirus in the Islamic Republic of Iran is ongoing, and everybody in the country is engaged in this response."

Since Iran reported its first two cases of the virus on Feb 19., the number of confirmed cases has ballooned to more than 10,000 with at least 429 deaths, according to WHO data.

A WHO-led team of experts concluded a support mission to the country on Tuesday, the agency said Friday. Iran public health officials have done "solid work" in areas of case management, laboratories and risk communications, Brennan said. "We are also impressed by the engagement from other sectors of the community."

But Brennan added health officials need to advance epidemiological data collection and analysis, which are "key to getting a better understanding of the evolution of the outbreak and appropriate control measures."

Over 30 labs across Iran have the capacity to run tests and at least 20 more will be added, Brennan said. WHO has also provided enough kits to test at least 110,000 people and "seven tons" of protective equipment and supplies, he said.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on Wednesday.

During a press conference, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu said several countries have been able to suppress and control the outbreak, but he scolded other world leaders for failing to act quickly enough or drastically enough to contain the spread.

"We're deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction," he said at the time, just before declaring the pandemic. "We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear."

Earlier this month, Iran's health authorities began manning checkpoints to limit travel between major cities amid the virus outbreak and shut down schools and universities.
Friday the 13th often calls for celebrating this occasion in a different yet 'spooky' way. One of them is inevitably by marking the occasion by some unique tattoos. The day often marks several people flocking around Arizona to commemorate this 'unlucky' day with Friday the 13th tattoos.

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There are also some tattoo parlours which offer pre-drawn tattoos for $13 but with a compulsory tip of $7. The other tattoo shops also tend to offer tattoos of larger size for $31 while the other parlours have several discounts on the prices of the tattoos. If you wish to get Friday the 13th tattoos, these are some of the shops you can visit on this special day.

Here are the Tattoo shops with Friday the 13th specials

Cardiff Giant Tattoo

Cardiff Giant Tattoo is giving out 'silver-dollar size' tattoos for $31. The designs primarily include snakes, dice, hearts, skulls and roses. However, it is important to note that the artist will only accept cash and the tooth gems as well as the body piercings will also cost $31. It is located at 119 West, McDowell Road in Phoenix, Arizona.

Gypsy Rose Tattoo

Gypsy Rose Tattoo is offering several arms and leg designs for the Friday the 13th tattoos. However, it is important to note that the shop prefers the customers to show up and join the queue instead of calling for an appointment. The tattoo shop is located at 1505 East in Pheonix, Arizona.

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Artistic Tattoo

The tattoo artists in Artistic Tattoo will take special care in inking the Friday the 13th tattoos for $20 which will be about 1.5 square inches. However, the customers will be limited to only two tattoos at a time and the artists will only be accepting cash. The shop is located at 664 West, Camelback Road in Pheonix, Arizona.

Love and Hate Tattoo And Piercing

Love And Hate Tattoo And Piercing is one of those few shops in Arizona who are taking reservations for the Friday the 13th tattoos. The tattoos will be of $60 and the $13 from that will be going on a charity. The shop is located at 322 West, MacDowell Road in Phoenix, Arizona.

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Ivanka Trump self-isolated at home on Friday, not going into the White House, after she was photographed with Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton days before he tested positive for coronavirus.

The White House said Dutton was 'asymptomatic' during his interaction with the first daughter and Ivanka Trump, who serves as an adviser to President Donald Trump, is showing no symptoms, doesn't need to self-quarantine and stayed home out of an abundance of caution.

'The White House is aware that Mr. Dutton tested positive for COVID-19. He was asymptomatic during the interaction. Exposures from the case were assessed and the White House Medical Unit confirmed, in accordance with CDC guidance, that Ivanka is exhibiting no symptoms and does not need to self-quarantine. She worked from home today out of an abundance of caution until guidance was given,' White House Deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.

The statement did not say if the first daughter had been tested for the disease.

Ivanka Trump, Attorney General Bill Barr, and Dutton were photographed together on March 5 as part of a meeting between officials from the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US.

The next day, she attended an event at Mar-a-Lago with her father and Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, the same day that one of Bolsonaro's aides tested positive for the virus.

Barr also stayed home Friday from the Justice Department.

The attorney general 'felt great and wasn't showing any symptoms,' his spokeswoman Kerri Kupec told the AP. She said the CDC did not recommend testing at this point.

Senator Lindsey Graham has self-quarantined because he was at Mar-a-Lago at the same time as the infected aide Fabio Wajngarten. His office on Friday said he also met with Dutton on March 5 in his Senate office.

Dutton confirmed on Friday morning, March 13 - a week after their meeting - that he had tested positive after returning to Australia.

He has since been being treated in the hospital and the severity of his condition remains unknown. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in isolation after his wife tested positive.

Scroll down for video

MARCH 5: Ivanka and Barr posed with Australian minister Peter Dutton (right) at the White House. He has since tested positive for the virus

MARCH 7: Trump, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro (left) and Ivanka among a table of dignitaries at Mar-a-Lago. One of Bolsonaro's aides tested positive for the virus that day

Trump has not addressed whether or not he has been tested since spending time with Bolsonaro.

The White House said earlier this week that he had not.

As of Friday morning, there were more than 1,700 cases of coronavirus in the US and 41 people had died from it.

The government has predicted that as many as 150million Americans will eventually become infected.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House coronavirus expert, said on Friday morning in an interview on 'Good Morning America' that he did not want to comment on Trump's condition or whether or not he should get a test.

He said that if it were him, however, he likely would.

'I leave that to the president's White House physician who is an extremely competent individual who I know well, and the decisions there were between what would be a potential patient and the physician,' he said.

Bolsonaro is waiting for the results of his COVID-19 test. He and Trump are shown shaking hands on March 7

'Likely I would, but I'm not sure. It depends on the circumstances. We should follow the guidelines of the CDC about when you are at a risk what you should do,' he added.

Fauci went on to say that the current state of crisis could last for up to eight weeks.

Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for coronavirus on Mach 6

Meanwhile, Flights from Europe to the US are stopping at midnight on Friday.

Americans who are overseas will be able to come home unless they too test positive for the virus in which case, according to comments made by the president, they will not be allowed to board planes.

A state of emergency has been declared in New York City, Broadway has shut down and large gatherings of more than 500 people have been banned.

Businesses have been told they must operate at half their legal capacity - putting enormous strain on shift workers and small business owners, some of whom have been advised to shut up shop until the chaos subsides.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday the situation may last for six months.

MARCH 7: Wajngarten (right) posed for photos with President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence at Mar-a-Lago just days before he recieved his positive test results

This is the rate of growth of coronavirus cases in the US since January. Experts are predicting that 150million will become infected
Wilmington, Delaware: Joe Biden hs delivered a forceful rebuke of US President Donald Trump's leadership amid the coronavirus crisis, seeking to project steadiness and resolve from his perch as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Joe Biden speaks out about Donald Trump's handling of coronavirus. Credit:Bloomberg

In his own speech about the pandemic, Senator Bernie Sanders, Biden's main rival, also flamed the President's response. He provided a long list of policy proposals aimed in particular at helping low-income and working-class families, providing a glimpse of the extraordinary measures he might take if he were president.

"The crisis we face from the coronavirus is on a scale of a major war," he said at a news conference in Burlington, Vermont. "And we must act accordingly."

Taken together, the candidates' blistering denunciations of Trump's handling of the outbreak signalled that the coronavirus has fully overtaken the 2020 race, forcing the candidates to cancel events and propose new ways of campaigning, putting fresh political pressure on Trump, and placing matters of public health and trust at the forefront of the contest.
He was discharged against medical advice and taken to a private hospital in Hyderabad

New Delhi: The Kalaburagi man who tested Covid-19 coronavirus positive after he died was discharged against medical advice (DAMA) from a hospital in Bidar on the demand of patients attendees, said a statement issued by the Central government.

In the hospital, the patient was provisionally diagnosed as "mid-zone viral pneumonia" and "suspected Covid-19".

"Though Kalaburagi district health officer met the patient's relatives and requested them to shift the patient to an isolated ward within GIMS, according to the instructions of the deputy commissioner of the district, the relatives did not heed them and moved the patient without the officer's knowledge to Hyderabad," a statement issued by the government said.

"The sample was collected on March 9 by Viral Research Diagnostic Laboratory, GIMS, Kalaburagi to rule out Covid-19 and the sample was dispatched to the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories, BMC&RI, Bengaluru," the statement said. The patients attendees insisted on discharging him before the test results were out.

Later, the man was discharged from the private hospital in Hyderabad and died while he was being brought back on the way to GIMS in Kalaburagi on March 10.

The man visited Saudi Arabia on January 29 and returned to India a month later on February 29.

"While he was asymptomatic on his return, he developed symptoms of fever and cough a week later and died on Tuesday," the government said in the statement.

The central government on Thursday said that the death of the 76-year-old man from Karnataka is confirmed to be caused due to co-morbidity and was also tested positive for Covid-19.
After Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered all state schools to shutter for seven days over coronavirus worries, she said Friday that she and school district leaders will work to mitigate the impacts, including lining up child care for health care workers and other employees on the front lines of the public health crisis.

The closure order is effective Monday and runs through April 1 and affects more than 580,000 students.

Brown and state schools chief Colt Gill said districts will arrange to provide that child care and prepare and distribute free meals, but they did not have details about how those services will be provided.

He said the Oregon Board of Education is poised to consider changing state rules regarding minimum instructional hours. And he said he wants school districts to consider holding classes on days they have previously planned not to or to extend the school year further into June.

Gill said there are no plans to change state testing time lines, which he said are already quite flexible.

Gill said Oregon has received one of two waivers it requested from the federal government to allow schools to prepare meals and hand them out to children to eat at home.

Federal rules normally require school meals to be served on site, he said. School districts will make individual decisions about how they will make meals available for pick up or deliver them to locations nearer students homes, he said.

This will look different district to district in Oregon," Gill said. "Some will be ready to provide this on Monday and some will not.

Officials in the Tigard-Tualatin district announced Thursday that Metzger and Tualatin elementary schools would provide to-go meals for students who need them. Portland Public Schools on Friday released a list of schools that will serve meals during the break.

Brown acknowledged it is a trying time for Oregon families, both due to the outbreak and the closure of schools.

She expressed extreme anger and frustration at Vice President Mike Pence and other Trump administration leaders who she said have offered repeated false assurances, dating back to March 4, that they would deliver badly needed protective equipment and testing resources. She said the feds have delivered zero, zilch, zip.

Coronavirus is exposing cracks, and I would say even canyons, in our healthcare system, she said.

Brown said her sudden turn-about from schools should remain open on Thursday morning to schools should close Thursday evening was prompted when superintendents, who universally told her Wednesday they did not want to close schools, told her on Thursday that they didnt have enough staff and enough safety for their employees older than 60 or with underlying medical issues to keep schools open.

Our schools are truly the hearts of our communities. Our families build their daily lives around them. Our schools provide critical services for many of them, like medical services and free and reduced meals," the governor said at the morning press conference, which was conducted by phone to prevent a crowd of journalists from gathering. "They are needed now more than ever.

Faced with questions about whether she made the call to close schools soon enough, she noted that Oregon was just the fourth U.S. state to mandate universal school closure following Ohio, Maryland and Kentucky. After she made her announcement Thursday night, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee did the same, making his state the fifth to mandate all schools close.

Brown acknowledged the lengthy closure will make the coronavirus crisis very personal for all school-aged children in Oregon. We must support our childrens emotional well-being as best as we can, she said.

Brown pledged to do everything I can to press the federal government for all the resources we need.

Gill said all school employees should return to work on March 30 to spend two work days getting information and training on how their school will operate amid the continuing health crisis.

He said that could include ways to cope with staff absences, supply shortages and the desire to maintain several feet of space between people. He said educators should also make plans for how they will educate students who need to stay home on quarantine for 14 days.

We need this time out so our schools can prepare plans for how they will go back to work April 1 with students in classrooms," Gill said.

Brown said it is possible that subsequent developments will mean closures will extend beyond March 31.

Gill said districts should make plans for how they would respond if their particular school district needed to lengthen its closure period. He also said the seven-day break provides time for state and local officials to draft those plans, as well as stock up on cleaning supplies.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that in communities with substantial community spread of coronavirus, the mitigation strategy should consider including a school closure of four to eight weeks. Inslee has ordered Washington schools to close for six weeks.

Browns announcement that she was ordering close schools came late Thursday as an about-face to her stance just 13 hours earlier. At that time, she ordered an end to gatherings of more than 250 people yet insisted schools should keep classrooms open as planned. Some parents and teachers, perplexed by the decision, pressed districts to announce closures on their own.

In the intervening hours, the Portland teachers union publicly called for the states largest district to announce closures.

The governor pointed to rapidly changing conditions to explain why state response to the growing pandemic has changed daily.

Heres the challenge: These are unprecedented times. There is not a clear roadmap here," Brown said.

Brown said school employee absences and the risks to the health of employees over 60 or with underlying medical conditions were key drivers.

We are left with little choice in light of staff capacity and operational concerns," she reiterated Friday morning.

As an example, she said that 40% of Portland Public Schools substitute teachers are older than 60, so they were often unwilling to fill in for sick teachers.

New guidance released by the CDC on Thursday says that, according to early modeling, closing schools for about two weeks, as Oregon plans to do, doesnt change the trajectory of how fast and how far coronavirus spreads, nor does it lessen the demand for hospitalizations.

Brown acknowledged that advice.

I want to be very, very clear. This closure will not stop the spread of Covid-19," she said.

A short closure is warranted in the case of a student or school employee testing positive for COVID-19, the CDC says, to trace the persons close contacts and test some of them. The national health agency also noted that closing school for about two weeks can be helpful in the case of highly elevated employee absences.

School boards for the Lake Oswego and Tigard-Tualatin districts held emergency meetings and voted to close their schools hours before the governors announcement. The Ashland and Reynolds districts also announced emergency closures Thursday night.

Private schools, including St. Marys Academy and Central Catholic and Jesuit high schools, were the first to announce long-term closures ranging from two to four weeks.

Oregon families were already planning for schools to be closed from March 23 to March 17, which was designated as spring break more than a year ago.

--Eder Campuzano | 503-221-4344 | @edercampuzano Do you have a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email Eder at ecampuzano@oregonian.com or message either of the social accounts above. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.

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As March break week begins, Ontarios top doctor has warned residents against leaving the country unless absolutely necessary and recommended the immediate suspension of all events with more than 250 people to fight COVID-19.

Chief medical officer Dr. David Williams also called on colleges and universities Friday to consider putting classes online, which the University of Toronto, York University and others have since announced.

As the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to evolve globally, I am asking all Ontarians to immediately take a number of enhanced measures over the coming weeks, he said in a statement.

Ontario announced another surge in cases Friday morning, an increase of 20 to a total of 74, on top of a surge of 17 Thursday. Details of several cases were not revealed, so it is not known if they were travel-related or if community person-to-person spread is beginning.

Williams urged residents to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada as the new coronavirus that originated in China takes deeper hold in a number of countries, including the U.S., where at least four of Fridays new cases had travelled recently.

Two others involved travel to Egypt and one, case number 66, is a woman in her 40s who travelled to England  a description that fits Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is ill and self-quarantining in Ottawa while her husband is in self-isolation.

Williams escalated his previous days warning about large gatherings, lowering the threshold of concern to 250 people from 1,000 because of the risk of attending public gatherings and calling on residents to keep their distance from others to manage the spread of illness.

He urged licensed child-care centres to actively screen children, parents, staff and visitors for any novel coronavirus symptoms and travel history that may be related to areas hit by COVID-19.

It is critical that we keep COVID-19 out of our child-care spaces, Williams added.

He noted most people who contract the virus will have mild illnesses but it remains important to stay home from work and school if sick to limit the spread, particularly to the elderly and others of any age at increased risk of serious illness because of underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and lung problems.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission warned employers have a duty to accommodate employee needs related to COVID-19.

An employer may not discipline or terminate an employee who is unable to come to work because medical or health officials have quarantined them or have advised them to self-isolate and stay home, the commission said in a statement.

Employers should be sensitive to other factors such as any particular vulnerability an employee may have (for example, if they have a compromised immune system).
The Lagos House of Assembly has inaugurated a committee headed by Ibrahim Layode to look into the crisis surrounding the suspension of four lawmakers by the House.

Tunde Braimoh, the House Committee on Information, Publicity, Strategy and Security, made this known on Friday in Lagos.

The House had on Monday passed a resolution sacking two of its principal officers and suspended two members indefinitely for alleged gross misconduct, insubordination and action that could destabilise the House.

Their replacements were announced shortly afterwards.

NAN reports that Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, said the punitive measures followed the voice votes by the members present during plenary.

Mr Obasa said the principal officers that were removed included the Chief Whip, Rotimi Abiru, and the Deputy Majority Leader, Olumuyiwa Jimoh.

The speaker also said that the suspended members were Moshood Oshun (Lagos Mainland Constituency II) and Kazeem Raheem Adewale (Ibeji Lekki Constituency II).

Mr Braimoh told newsmen that the committee headed by Mr Layode (Badagry Constituency II) was looking at an amicable solution to the crisis rocking the House.

He said that conflicts were an inherent part of human nature and that when they come, there were mechanisms to resolve them.

Those who are being reprimanded are our colleagues, they are not outcasts and we belong to the same political party.

We are mindful that the image of the House is at stake and we want to tell you that the people affected are not outcasts, they are our colleagues.

All issues about offices, access and others would be addressed by the committee, he said

Mr Braimoh explained that the way the two suspended principal officers were replaced was normal.

He said the only two offices that were constitutionally recognised were those of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, adding that others were done in-house.

Mr Braimoh said there was nothing to worry about as the election of the new principal offers were done according to the laid down procedure.

He explained further that their suspension was done according to Order 10 Rules 68 to 72 of the Business Rules of the House.

He said: In law, it is believed that the fact of a matter speaks for itself, and that all is well with the Lagos State House of Assembly.

There is no problem that is beyond solution.

It is just that when things are working there could be some disagreement here and there but that does not mean that we will go for the jugular, Mr Braimoh said.

Also, the new Deputy Majority Leader, Noheem Adams, said that his emergence as the Deputy Majority Leader was based on the decision of the House.

The new Chief Whip of the Assembly, Mojisola Miranda, said the House is one big family.

Mr Miranda said she was not desperate for the office, but a call to service.

(NAN)

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Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the state flag on all commonwealth facilities, public buildings and grounds to fly at half-staff to honor Philadelphia SWAT Corporal James OConnor, who was killed in a shooting Friday.

The flag will be lowered until sunset, the governors office said, and again on the day of OConners funeral.

OConner, 46, was shot and killed early Friday as he served a homicide warrant at a home in the citys Frankford section. Two people in the home were wounded by return fire from another officer, officials said.

Several people were arrested.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
TEHRAN, Iran, March 13

Trend:

Sugar importers in Iran are now able to clear their goods from the customs without having a Government Trading Corporation license, the CEO of Government Trading Corporation of Iran Yazdan Seif said in a letter to the head of Iran's Customs Administration, Trend reports via ILNA.

The decision is reportedly being made due to change in priorities for imports and exports of the country.

Due to halt of allocation of foreign currency at the official rate (42,000 rials per US dollar) for imports of sugar, its import restrictions will be lifted.

Secretary of Iranian Sugar Factories Syndicate, Bahman Danaie has recently told Mehr News Agency that this decision will lead to increase in sugar prices in the country.

"This is not a good time to remove the allocation of foreign currency at official rate to import this essential commodity, said Danaie in an interview with Mehr News Agency.

This decision in the interest of production and industry, but it will create a severe shock in the market on the verge of Nowruz and Ramadan," he said.
With health officials and state governments pressing for COVID-19 testing to ramp up quickly to contain a deadly virus that has shut down much of American life and killed thousands worldwide, President Donald Trump on Friday morning lashed out at the man in the White House before him and a federal agency thats been headed by his own administrations appointees since 2017.

For decades, Trump said, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped.

For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped. President Obama made changes that only complicated things further.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020

The New York Times reported earlier this week that red tape had limited testing capabilities across the country, and multiple outlets have reported that the U.S. lags significantly behind other countries when it comes to testing.

The COVID Tracking Project on Friday showed 13,000 people have been tested in the U.S., but several other countries impacted by the disease are conducting far more tests per million people. VOX, citing the COVID Tracking project, reported on that as of March 11, the U.S. was testing 23 people per million compared to 347 people per million in the United Kingdom, 615 in Taiwan, 2,800 in Guangdong, China and 3,600 in South Korea.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told lawmakers at a House hearing Thursday that the nation had failed to meet its testing capacity, NBC reported.

The system is not really geared to what we need right now, Fauci said. That is a failing. Lets admit it."

Trump on Friday went on to tweet about President Barack Obama, arguing without specifics that he made changes that only complicated things further.

Their response to H1N1 Swine Flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now, Trump tweeted. The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!

The New York Times reported that a former Obama White House official argued the coronavirus crisis was Trumps emperor has no clothes moment.

A former Obama White House responds to Trump blaming the president:

This is Trumps emperor has no clothes moment. All of his go-to tricks that hes used when his back is up against a wall, like attacking Hillary or tweeting distractions arent going to solve this crisis...1/2  Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 13, 2020

All of his go-to tricks that hes used when his back is up against a wall, like attacking Hillary or tweeting distractions arent going to solve this crisis, the official said.

The Associated Press reported that the federal governments initial efforts showed delays in getting testing kits out to public health labs, and many scientists have concluded that the virus is already in more places than currently reported.

As of Thursday, the CDC reported about 1,260 U.S. illnesses  a figure that trails independent researchers, who are tallying totals from states more quickly, AP reported. The COVID Tracker showed 1,583 positive test results as of Friday morning.

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have estimated that about 9,000 people may have been infected by two weeks ago, AP reported.

In Massachusetts, state officials say testing facilities are working 24 hours a day.

Monica Bharel, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, said about 400 people have been tested for COVID-19 in about two weeks. As of Tuesday afternoon, the number of presumptive cases spiked to 91, with one confirmed. Seventy stem from Biogens conference in Boston. The number more than doubled the total of 41 announced on Monday.

Under questioning Thursday from Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, CDC Director Robert Ray Redfield confirmed that the costs of COVID-19 testing and treatment would be covered for uninsured patients.

Related Content:

Coronavirus testing facilities in Massachusetts working 24 hours a day as new labs wait for approval from FDA

Coronavirus in Massachusetts: As number of COVID-19 cases grow, hospitals look to prevent exposure and ease burden on health care system

Massachusetts coronavirus update: Schools closing or changing schedules for Friday, March 13
Public Health Wales & Health Board fire back at misleading information on social media about Maelor  it is NOT in lockdown

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Mar 12th, 2020

Public Health Wales and Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board has called out the social media rumour mill surrounding Coronavirus, with one specific rumour doing the rounds tonight being fact checked.

Public Health Wales and Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board said, Following todays announcement by Public Health Wales we are aware of misleading information circulating on social media and would like to clarify that Wrexham Maelor Hospital is not in lockdown.

It is unclear why people use social media to make up complete lies. This week has seen Wrexham.com subject to similar, with people stating they had read information on here that we had literally not published.

Locally, rumours of confirmed cases have stepped up over the course of the last two weeks with the last four days seeing multiple claims of a range of issues in the area. As before, Wrexham.com are working off Public Health Wales information which is currently being updated daily, with all queries on confirmed cases to any health board in Wales are being put upwards to them.

Public Health Wales are the lead agency for managing the response to the Coronavirus and the process of identifying and contacting close contacts of any new cases in Wales is underway, with all appropriate action being taken to protect the publics health

The public can help protect themselves and their communities by following Public Health Wales advice particularly washing hands and using a tissue for symptoms associated with cold and flu.

They added, Can we remind people that if you have a cough, cold or fever please do not come in to hospital to visit friends or family.

Up to date official information can be found on the Public Health Wales website: https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/latest-information-on-novel-coronavirus-covid-19/

Wales NHS have launched a online symptom checker for those worried about coronavirus. People who think they may have symptoms of COVID19 are being urged to use the new service as a first port of call. You can find it here. They added, 111 is very busy so bear with us especially if youre awaiting a call back. While waiting the best idea is to stay home
The Cayuga County Sheriff's Office has temporarily suspended visitation due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Sheriff Brian Schenck said Friday that contact and non-contact visits between jail inmates and members of the public will be suspended. Programming provided by individuals who aren't employed by the sheriff's office won't be permitted.

In-person meetings between inmates and their attorneys will be non-contact until further notice, according to a news release.

"We appreciate the public's patience and understanding as we do our part to limit the spread of COVID-19," Schenck said. "It is our hope that these changes to our procedure will be short term."

Several county jails in New York already suspended visitation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Onondaga County Sheriff's Office on Friday announced that it was eliminating contact visits at its facilities until further notice. At the Onondaga County Justice Center in Syracuse, secure non-contact visitations will be allowed during regular visitation hours. At the Jamesville Correction Facility, established phone and video visitation systems will be available.

State prisons, meanwhile, were continuing to allow visitations with a screening program in place. The state prison corrections officers union, New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, on Friday called on the state to suspend inmate visits. The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision had not responded to a request for comment as of 5:30 p.m. Friday.

While there aren't any confirmed cases of the virus in Cayuga County, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that 421 New Yorkers have tested positive for COVID-19. Fifty people are hospitalized, including 18 patients who are in intensive care units.
The Jagged Fork Opens

Breakfast, lunch, and brunch at 414 S. Main

by Shelley Daily

From the March, 2020 issue

The Jagged Fork opened in January in Marnee Thai's former space on the ground floor of the 414 S. Main high-rise after an eight-month renovation, offering breakfast, brunch, and lunch.



"I've had my eye on Ann Arbor," says Mike Kemsley, one of four business partners who've launched four other Jagged Fork locations in the Detroit suburbs in the past five years. After considering Cafe Felix's former spot, he got a call that Marnee Thai's owners were looking to close after thirteen years in business. The partners bought some of the restaurant's assets and took over its lease.



"Everything is new," Kemsley says, of the light, airy "urban-city" interior he designed himself. He calls it a "California-meets-New York vibe." Booths, two-tops and seating for a half-dozen at the bar (the liquor license is expected soon) accommodate about seventy-five customers. Kemsley says U-M employees who frequent the other Jagged Fork locations, as well as downtown businesspeople, have provided word-of-mouth advertising. "We were on a forty-minute wait last weekend."



Kemsley says the restaurant is known for its huge portions and its stuffed French toast, breakfast burgers, salads, sandwiches, crepes, and egg dishes. "Everything is made from scratch," he says, including "our tamales, our cream cheese, and all of our sauces."



Kemsley met two of his business partners, brothers Stavros and Francesco Adamopoulos, when he was a third grader in Livonia, and they became lifelong friends. The Adamopouloses grew up in the restaurant business--their parents owned Hercules Family Restaurant in Farmington Hills. Another partner, Tom Teknos, runs the Hudson Cafe in downtown Detroit.



With a vacancy next door, Kemsley is already thinking about expansion and possible dinner options. There's reason for his optimism: in January, a ten-story high-rise was approved for development across the street, at Main and William.



Business "is good now," Kemsley says, "and we hope it's great in the next one to two years."



The Jagged Fork, 414 S. Main, daily 7 a.m.-3 p.m., (734) 929-2402, thejaggedfork.com



[Originally published in March, 2020.]








Students wear protective masks in the wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Chikmagalur on March 13, 2020. The first coronavirus death in India was recorded in Karnataka. (PTI)

Udupi: Two Manipal University students admitted to hospital with symptoms of COVID-19 have been declared negative.

The students from Manipal, one from Kuwait and the other who had returned from the US, had flu-like symptoms and were kept in an isolation ward in Manipal on Thursday. Their samples were sent to the lab at Shivamogga. By Friday evening, officials received the result declaring the two cases as negative for COVID-19.

The result of another Manipal student who was admitted to hospital on Friday is awaited.

Meanwhile, on Friday a person from Shirva village in Udupi district who had recently returned from Japan has been quarantined.

Officials said he had tested negative before coming to India. But as he had stomach pain and diarrhoea, he was under treatment at the government hospital in Udupi. The samples have been sent for testing and the results are expected in a day or two.

Meanwhile, as the fever of a woman from Sagar taluk of Shivamogga district under treatment at Manipal has not yet decreased, officials have sent the sample again to the lab.

The woman had had health issues during her visit to Mecca and was provided treatment there. She had come to India and was under treatment in Shivamogga. But as her fever continued she was admitted to Manipal on Wednesday.

Officials said the samples of the woman were sent to the lab two days ago and she was declared negative. But as the temperature has not yet decreased, the health department officials preferred to get a second opinion and sent her samples again for retest.

In Dakshina Kannada district, samples of six suspected cases were sent to the lab. Of these results of four have arrived and all the four have been tested negative.

In Uttara Kannada district there have been no suspected case.

However to educate citizens, collect self-declaration forms and to have thermal scanning of suspected commutes, Uttara Kannada district administration has opened help desk at all the 12 Taluk center bus stands and at four major railway stations- Karwar, Gokarna, Murudeshwar and Bhatkal.

Two other help desks have been opened at Murudeshwara and Gokarna.

"Details of all foreign nationals staying in the district will be collected through schools. The details of all patients who have visited medical practitioners (both govt and private) will also be collected on a daily basis by health department officials," Uttara Kannada Deputy Commissioner Dr K Harish Kumar said in a press statement.

For isolation centers and hospital facilities, two private hospitals have also been identified along with naval base health facilities.
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) share price has dived 42% in the last thirty days. Indeed the recent decline has arguably caused some bitterness for shareholders who have held through the 49% drop over twelve months.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E implies that investors have high expectations of what a company can achieve compared to a company with a low P/E ratio.

Check out our latest analysis for Provident Financial Services

Does Provident Financial Services Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 7.74 that sentiment around Provident Financial Services isn't particularly high. If you look at the image below, you can see Provident Financial Services has a lower P/E than the average (10.9) in the mortgage industry classification.

NYSE:PFS Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

This suggests that market participants think Provident Financial Services will underperform other companies in its industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. You should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Generally speaking the rate of earnings growth has a profound impact on a company's P/E multiple. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. A lower P/E should indicate the stock is cheap relative to others -- and that may attract buyers.

Story continues

Provident Financial Services's earnings per share fell by 4.4% in the last twelve months. But EPS is up 7.4% over the last 5 years.

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

Don't forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

Is Debt Impacting Provident Financial Services's P/E?

Provident Financial Services's net debt is considerable, at 112% of its market cap. This level of debt justifies a relatively low P/E, so remain cognizant of the debt, if you're comparing it to other stocks.

The Verdict On Provident Financial Services's P/E Ratio

Provident Financial Services has a P/E of 7.7. That's below the average in the US market, which is 13.3. When you consider that the company has significant debt, and didn't grow EPS last year, it isn't surprising that the market has muted expectations. Given Provident Financial Services's P/E ratio has declined from 13.3 to 7.7 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold the key to an excellent investment decision.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with modest (or no) debt, trading on a P/E below 20.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
English Finnish

Next Games Corporation Company Release March 13, 2020 at 11:15 EET



Next Games' Annual Report 2019 has been published and is available on the company's website at www.nextgames.com/reports .

The annual report consists of the Board of Directors' Report, Financial Statements with notes, Corporate Governance Statement and Remuneration Statement.

Next Games Annual General Meeting 2020 is planned to be held on Wednesday May 20, 2020 in Helsinki.

Additional information:

Annina Salven

CFO

+358 (0) 40 588 3167

investors@nextgames.com

Certified Adviser: Danske Bank A/S, Finland branch, tel. +358 10 546 7938

About Next Games

Next Games (Helsinki Nasdaq First North: NXTGMS) is the first publicly listed mobile game developer and publisher in Finland, specializing in games based on entertainment franchises, such as movies, TV series or books. The developers of the critically acclaimed The Walking Dead games redefines the way franchise entertainment transforms into highly engaging service-based mobile games. In summer 2018, Next Games launched The Walking Dead: Our World, which utilizes cutting edge AR technology and is powered by Google Maps. Currently Next Games is working on multiple new games based on popular entertainment franchises including, Blade Runner Nexus, for the popular Blade Runner franchise and a mobile game based on Netflixs Stranger Things. For more information head to www.nextgames.com

Attachment
The old Spanish flag from General Franco's dictatorship flew outside Malaga city hall last Sunday as British director John Madden shot part of his latest film project, Operation Mincemeat.

The Local Police were the most useful allied forces for the director of the World War Two-era film, cordoning off the Paseo del Parque and the roads surrounding the historic building. Instead of the usual traffic, there was a constant stream of 1940s vehicles (to the delight of passing fans of vintage cars) flowing under the Franco-era ensign.

Madden, who directed Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love, could be seen taking various shots of a man dressed as an official walking into city hall.

The scenes were all carefully choreographed with dozens of vehicles and extras walking by. During one take, the man crossed the street in uniform carrying a mysterious briefcase.

After several takes outside city hall, the satisfied film crew moved on to the pavement and inside the entrance to film the mysterious official in more detail.

The script of the wartime drama, Operation Mincemeat, is based on a real-life secret operation that took place in 1943. British intelligence services managed to wrongfoot Hitler by faking the death of a Royal Marine carrying incorrect information about the planned Allied invasion of Southern Europe. The Germans fell for the trap, wrongly believing the Allies would launch the attack via Greece rather than Sicily.

The supposed Marine was in fact a homeless man who was already dead. His body was dropped into the sea off Andalucia to be found near Huelva by a fisherman. The Spanish authorities then passed the fake information he carried to the Germans.

Colin Firth and Kelly MacDonald have leading roles. A release date has not been set.
BAY CITY, MI  Local jails in Bay and Saginaw counties are doing what they can to address the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe.

Right now, what weve been doing is talking with the Bay County Health Department, said Bay County Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham. If we knew somebody had it, we wouldnt bring them into the jails general population. Wed quarantine them. Weve got a separate area wed house them in. We would make a private block or cell area where we would house them.

Cunningham added his staff is following protocols established by the countys insurance company, Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority.

Were watching our sanitation, our air flow, sterilizing the place, making sure we dont get it going, he said. At this point, we dont have anybody were suspecting of carrying coronavirus in the Bay County Jail.

The jail can house a maximum of 249 inmates. There are currently about 180 there, the sheriff said.

Visitation from inmates loved ones has only been done via video conferencing for more than a year.

There really isnt an issue for visits, as we dont really have the public coming in here, Cunningham said. Its all done through video visitation, so that isnt even a concern for us right now.

On the other hand, mental health workers, rehabilitation counselors, and chaplains often do visit the jail in person.

We might have to look down the road on doing some video with them so they arent coming in, if we were having a problem here, Cunningham said.

Staff at the Saginaw County Jail are likewise in communications with the Saginaw County Health Department, said Undersheriff Mike Gomez.

Weve been in contact with them since the beginning, he said. They basically told us what we need to do to keep the germs down. They sent us a list of things to do  hand-washing, sanitizing.

Gomez added staff have been talking with other area jails to share ideas.

Were considering limiting outside people coming in, as those would probably be the ones bringing things in the jail, he said. With visitors such as lawyers, clergy, and teachers, they may be limited to video visitations, he said.

Were looking to see whats going to work for us, he said. Medically, if we end up with someone in there thats contagious, weve got some protocols thatll probably work for us.

Gomez declined to specify what those protocols are.

The jail has a capacity to house 513 inmates and there are around 390 in there now, Gomez said.

Our medical staff screens everybody who comes into the jail, he continued. If someone doesnt feel well, we have mechanisms in place for them to notify our corrections officers and theyll get in and be seen. We have a doctor who comes in a couple times a week. If we have people starting to get sick, well have him come in more, as need be.

The Michigan Department of Corrections has canceled all in-person visitations at state correctional facilities. That includes the Saginaw Correctional Facility near Freeland.

Related:

More doors, fewer bars: A look inside the new $35 million Saginaw County Jail

Saginaw Health Department says 4 people test negative for coronavirus, 1 test pending

Michigan confirms third case of coronavirus

Thursday, March 12: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Bay City, Saginaw and Midland schools cancel group gatherings, field trips amid coronavirus threat
WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI  Two Washtenaw County residents with presumptive positive cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, are recovering at home after their diagnosis, county health officials said.

The two cases, identified by the Washtenaw County Health Department on Thursday, March 12, are an adult male who traveled to New York and an adult female who traveled through Europe.

The health department is identifying and notifying those who have had close contact with these people, according to a news release issued Friday, March 13. Individuals in contact with these patients should be alert to the possibility of symptoms, officials said.

Coronavirus symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus. They include fever, cough and shortness of breath. For most, the symptoms are mild, but it poses serious danger to others, officials have said.

The health department also released several locations of possible exposure related to these individuals. Anyone who has been to these locations on this date should be alert for symptoms of COVID-19, officials said.

Monday, March 9

 Detroit Metro Airport, 9000 Middlebelt Road, Romulus, North Terminal, approximately noon to 1 p.m.

 The Hair Spot, 1512 North Maple Road, Ann Arbor from 5:15 to 5:45 p.m.

 The Ann Arbor YMCA, 400 West Washington, Ann Arbor from 6 to 7:00 p.m.

Additionally, the Oakland County Health Division announced a low-risk, possible exposure by a resident from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 7, at the Tap Room, 201 West Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti.

There are no ongoing exposure concerns at these locations, officials said.

Michigan currently has 12 presumptive positive cases of COVID-19. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered all schools to close through at least April 6 to prevent potential spread.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
The Chinese regime accused the United States of bringing the coronavirus into China.

Doctors at a Wuhan hospital recounted how they first alerted superiors after discovering the coronavirus and were silenced. Now, they are seeing co-workers die from the infection.

The U.S. stock market suffered a record low on March 12 amid fears surrounding the coronavirus. The Dow saw its worst day since 1987.

Subscribe to our Youtube channel for more first-hand news from China

For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter
File photo / Hearst Connecticut Media /

TORRINGTON  Friendly Hands Food Bank, 50 King St., Torrington, is now providing a weekend supplemental food assistance to anyone in need in the northwest Connecticut area.

The program will provide food items to help sustain people through the weekend. The program will be offered on Saturday, 10 a.m. to nooon at the food bank on King Street starting Saturday, March 14 and continuing through the public school shutdown.
A judge ordered Thursday that former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning be released from jail.

It came after her legal team said Wednesday she tried to take her own life the same day, but was transported to a hospital where she is recovering.

Manning has been in jail since May 2019 for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. She was scheduled to appear in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday for a hearing on a motion to terminate the civil contempt sanctions stemming from that refusal.

In the motion filed last month, Manning's lawyers argued that Manning has shown during her incarceration that she can't be coerced into testifying before a grand jury.

Manning served seven years in a military prison for leaking a trove of documents to WikiLeaks before President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her 35-year sentence in 2017.

The judge left in place more than $250,000 in fines he imposed for her refusal to testify to the grand jury.
In 1956, with the Cold War underway and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization recently established, West Germany formed a federal intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst, known as the BND. Its primary function was to confer with foreign governments, particularly the United States, about whatever information it could gather on the Red Army, the military force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. When the BND was created, it lacked a legal framework. In 1968, a law was passed, affirming that, to promote national security, the agency was free to wiretap communication as long as it didnt violate German citizens right to privacy. That law has since been expandedin 1990, 2001, and, most recently, 2017, when the government formally approved warrantless surveillance of foreigners. And with that, after years of gathering intelligence without much scrutiny, the BND suddenly found itself under the spotlight: six international journalists, alarmed about the implications for their work, brought a complaint against the BND in Germanys constitutional court.

The group, which includes prominent investigative reporters such as Khadija Ismajilova, of Azerbaijan; Blaz Zgaga, of Slovenia; and Raul Olmos, of Mexico, sued at the end of 2017, with the support of the German journalists union and nongovernmental organizations including Reporters Without Borders. The existing rules around surveillance are so broad that they in fact allow the BND a lot of leeway in the surveillance of internet communication, Bijan Moini, a lawyer representing the complainants, says. Journalists in Germany enjoy legal protection of their right to private communication, but foreign reporters emails, text messages, and calls with sources are liable to be caught in the net of the BNDs surveillance overseas. In January, over a two-day public hearing at the German constitutional court, in Karlsruhe, members of the international press made their case against the BNDs policy. Judges are expected to announce a verdict in April.

RECENTLY: Governments of the world just ramped up spying on reporters

The BNDs work is defined as strategic surveillance, or surveillance that aims to gather as much information as possible but that doesnt necessarily lead to action on leads. None of the journalists involved in the lawsuit have, as far as theyre aware, been surveilled by the BND, but its mandate makes it likely that they will be at some point. In 2017, the German magazine Der Spiegel obtained documents revealing that the BND had consistently spied on media organizations including the BBC, Reuters, and the New York Times. Der Spiegel reported that, since 1999, the BND had been tracking about fifty phone numbers, fax numbers, and email addresses belonging to journalists around the world.

Awareness of the BNDs practices peaked in 2013, when Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower, revealed, among other things, that the BND was involved in unregulated surveillance programs and that it had cooperated with the National Security Agency to spy on targets in Europe. His leaks ignited a national debate about surveillance that prompted German lawmakers to promise more regulationhence the 2017 law. The rationale, German officials said, was that the BND needed the ability to monitor international terrorism, proliferation of weapons, and international organized crime. But the implications for press freedomand the protection of sourcesbecame apparent immediately.

It was shocking to us, Daniel Mobrucker, a German journalist who helped Reporters Without Borders file the lawsuit, says. Mobrucker coordinated with members of the press and their newsrooms to sign up complainants. Many more sought to express their outrage. We had thirty to forty international organizations protesting the law, which is quite outstanding, Mobrucker says.

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From the start, the lawsuit aimed to impress upon the German court that the reporters most at risk under BND surveillance are those who come from countries unfriendly to members of the press. Zgaga, for one, wrote about Slovenian arms sales to Croatia and Bosnia in the nineties, when an embargo was imposed by the United Nations; after his story was published, he found himself subjected to spying and threats by Slovenian officials. He accepted it then, as a regrettable consequence of his chosen profession. But in 2017, he moved to Leipzig as part of a program for journalists in danger, run by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom. In the case against the BND, he saw an opportunity to do something about government intimidation of reporters. We are living in such dark times that every journalist should expect with very high possibility that he is being surveillednot by one, but by many countries, he says.

The lawsuit also called attention to the stakes for Germans. Journalists source protection becomes collateral damage, Christian Mihr, director of Reporters Without Borders Germany, says. And German reporters, collaborating on projects with foreign colleagues, would be subject to surveillance, too. Take the example of Ismajilova, Mihr points out: She helped uncover the Azerbaijani Laundromat, a scheme in which members of the Azeri elite used shell companies to pay off European politicians and engage in other illicit activities. Ismajilovas newsroom, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, worked on the story with a number of international news organizations, including the Suddeutsche Zeitung, a German national newspaper. She is not protected by the law, and she has been participating in transnational projects, which, from what we know, clearly are of interest to the BND, Mihr says. Any BND surveillance of Ismajilovas communication with German colleagues could be on filein violation of Germans right to privacy.

The fact that the journalists case was heard by the court at alllast year, just two lawsuits received hearings, out of thousands filedgives the complainants reason for optimism. Besides, theyre not opposed to all spyingthey just dont want it to undermine journalism. It was pretty clear that the court understood the problem, Mihr says. What we want is to adapt intelligence surveillance to the digital age.

ICYMI: Im not under quarantine. Am I?

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Cecilia Butini is a freelance journalist based between Germany and Italy. She covers migration, politics, the environment, and human rights for a variety of publications.
Despite pleas from the Reserve



Bank against it, the Maharashtra government on Friday issued a circular asking all its departments to shift their accounts to nationalised banks.

In the wake of reports of such moves being mulled by some states, the Reserve Bank had on Thursday written to state governments not to shift away from private sector lenders, flagging its concerns on financial stability.

The fiasco at Yes Bank, a private sector lender, has led some state governments to think on these lines.

"All the government offices, public undertakings, corporations are advised to ensure that all their banking- related businesses should be undertaken with nationalised banks itself," a government resolution from the Finance Department said.

It added that all the accounts opened with private or cooperative banks for holding any money for government schemes, excluding for salaries and allowances, should be shut by April 1.

Giving out a list of 11 nationalised banks, it asked officials to ensure that employees' salaries and allowances are paid only through the state-run lenders from April.

It also appealed to pensioners to shift their accounts to the nationalised banks and gave out a list of 13 banks with which the state government has an arrangement.

The GR also asks corporations and undertakings to ensure that their investments are made with the nationalised banks itself.

"We strongly believe that such a move can have banking and financial sector stability implications. We would like to point out that the RBI has adequate powers to regulate and supervise the private sector banks and by using these powers it has ensured that the depositors' money is entirely safe," the RBI had reportedly said in the letter to all the chief secretaries.

"...apprehension on safety of deposits in private sector banks is highly misplaced and..such reactive decision will not be in the interest of stability of financial system in general and banking system in particular," it had added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
" " Playwright William Shakespeare immortalized the assassination of Julius Caesar in the play "Julius Caesar," which tells the story of Caesar's assassination on the steps of the Senate and included the now-famous line: "Beware the Ides of March." (Painting: "La mort de cesar" or "The Assassination of Caesar" by Vincenzo Camuccini) Wikimedia Commons

The Ides of March isn't exactly tops when it comes to well-known dates on the calendar, but thanks to a murder in ancient Rome and a play written by William Shakespeare, people are still proclaiming "Beware the Ides of March." This infamous day has become synonymous with betrayal, lost loyalty and unwelcome surprises. So, what is the Ides of March, and should it really make us wary?

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A Day of Division and Debt

Ancient Romans, those clever folks who brought us aqueducts and amphitheaters, also developed the predecessor to our modern calendar. The name they developed for the first day of each month, Kalends, eventually led to the modern word "calendar." Ancient Romans also determined that one day each month would be known as "Ides," a day that often corresponded with religious observances.

According to this calendar, the Ides fell on the 13th day of the month, with the exception of October, July, May and March, when the Ides occurred on the 15th. It was the Ides of March that became a real stickler: It presented a deadline on which citizens were expected to settle all of their debts. It became a day of celebration for those who received payment and a day of woe for those who paid. For some, it was probably both.

The concept of Ides was closely tied to the way the people of ancient Rome tracked the passage of time. The Latin roots of "ide" mean "to divide," and in keeping with this sentiment, the Ides took place about midway through each month. The Ides also corresponded with the rise of the full moon. This worked well for a while, as the lunar cycle and the calendar months matched up as expected. Eventually, however, this notion of tracking time based on lunar events created a mismatch between the calendar dates and the full moon.

A solution was presented in about 45 B.C.E., when days were added or removed so the calendar would stay in sync with astronomical seasons, such as solstices and equinoxes. The resulting Julian calendar, named posthumously for the military general and politician Julius Caesar who declared himself ruler of the Roman Republic in 43 B.C.E., was based on Earth's revolutions around the sun. It was a 365-day year divided into 12 months with an additional day added every four years to resync the calendar  an event now known as a Leap Year.

"What is interesting is that the change came about after Caesar had spent some time in Egypt, specifically in the city of Alexandria," says Kelly-Anne Diamond, Ph.D., a visiting assistant professor in the history department at Villanova University, in an email. "The Egyptians had developed previously a calendar of 365 days. However, they did not add that extra 1/4 day, so the Egyptian calendar drifted one day every four years."

Through ancient writings, including those of the philosopher Plutarch, it was recorded that Caesar sought help from expert mathematicians  such as the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria  in adjusting the calendar.

"This is important to note, because ancient Egypt does not always receive the credit it deserves as part of the foundation of western culture," Diamond says. "Usually the story begins and ends with Julius Caesar, and relegated to the footnotes is the fact that the Egyptians were technologically savvy and passed on their wisdom to the Roman world."

For a time, this Julian calendar seemed to propose an ideal solution  until people realized that an extra day every four years was too many, and a modified Gregorian calendar was developed in 1582. The Gregorian calendar is now used as the official civilian time-tracker in most parts of the world. Even so, the Ides of March from the Julian calendar are still part of our collective consciousness, thanks in large part to Caesar's untimely death and a Shakespeare play that immortalized it. Since Caesars assassination, the middle of March has become synonymous with bad tidings, unwelcome omens and disaster.

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A Day to Beware

In 44 B.C.E., about one year into Julius Caesar's rule of Rome, things seemed to be going well. Caesar had a number of military victories under his belt after taking over parts of Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland, and he was generally quite popular among his constituents. Caesar had appointed several political leaders that comprised Rome's senate, but tensions were building. Members of the Senate worried that with Caesar's mounting popularity and his recent self-appointment of "dictator in perpetuity" would lead to a disastrous political outcome for Rome. Members of the Senate feared Caesar would disband the Senate and rule of his own accord without their input.

The brewing opposition to Caesar's rule came to a head on the Ides of March  March 15  in 44 B.C.E. when about 40 Roman senators stabbed Caesar to death as the group was on its way to a sporting event at the Theatre of Pompey in Rome. The conspiracy, led by Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, was kept under wraps by the dozens of senators involved.

"Julius Caesar ... managed to anger enough people that he was taken out by his own Senate for the greater good," says Kate Wiswell, historical hobbyist and author, in an email interview. "Sadly, his removal did not usher in the revolution people had hoped for, because they fought so much about how to replace him that they ended up with yet another empirical Caesar just like him."

After a period of public outrage and a series of civil wars, Caesar's nephew Octavian began calling himself Caesar Augustus and claimed rule of what would become the Roman Empire, ending ancient Rome's brush with a government ruled by representatives of the people.

Now That's Interesting St Nicholas, on whom the figure of Santa Claus was based, was born on the Ides of March in 270 and shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis died on the Ides of March in 1975.
Apparently, all the people who died because of Coronavirus could've just had haldi, nimbu, and rasam to prevent the deadly virus. Who knew?



No, I'm not trying to be insensitive, I'm just showing the reality of the uncles of Twitter who have nothing better to do than pass off desi nuskhas like they're recommended by actual doctors and overall, just crack jokes on the virus that has claimed the lives of thousands of people so far.



Yes, top doctors and scientists of the world are yet to find a cure for Coronavirus, but these desi uncles and aunties are rooting for things that everyone already has at their homes as the ultimate weapons, just because a Whatsapp forward told them so.



On the bright side, there's no harm in consuming stuff like turmeric and lemon, but it's very dangerous to actually believe that it will make you immune to getting infected.

But, all we can do is laugh at the Uncles of Twitter India, or as they have been dubbed, UTIs.



Okay, there's a lot to unpack here. Vivek Agnihotri saying that as a matter of fact is just plain stupid. Harsh Goenka is just cracking one of the worst jokes I've ever read.



The worst for the last - Devdutt Pattanaik's tweet is just straight up so problematic and I'm disappointed in all the people who actually liked the tweet. Your castism is showing.

Summed up -

brahmin, marvadi, kayastha. all united in their tomfoolery.  (((Dominique Fisherwoman))) (@AbbakkaHypatia) March 12, 2020

bengali uncles are really a different kind of deranged. pic.twitter.com/nhrz7Jg2vf  (((Dominique Fisherwoman))) (@AbbakkaHypatia) March 12, 2020

A south indian brahmin maami, a karhade brahmin uncle, a baniya from calcutta and a bengali baidya walk into a bar... pic.twitter.com/kOPy7AXebq  (((Dominique Fisherwoman))) (@AbbakkaHypatia) March 12, 2020

Rasam IV drip in ICU for UCs please. If they are NRI turmeric latte  pariahkite (@pariahkite1) March 12, 2020

whatever may ur ideology but if u r brahmin , ur mind is always full of shit & nonsense . https://t.co/XL0QptXQN6  Lone_wolf007 (@Lonewolf0076043) March 12, 2020

These morons with their gigantic fucking audiences are a public health hazard. https://t.co/H8BsMiymRA  Siddharth Agarwal (@WhyEnggWhy) March 12, 2020

if that happens I will take pan indian path yatra  (((Dominique Fisherwoman))) (@AbbakkaHypatia) March 12, 2020

The fact that they've both got 1k and 3k shows the level of IQ ppl have!!!  Captain SM (@SaMEntrenador) March 12, 2020

A recent upsurge in cases of UTI (Uncles of Twitter India) ... Beware ! https://t.co/JWyFNBtilo  Sherin Jo (@Sherin_Jo) March 12, 2020

Bengali uncles are on another level, truly.Yes, don't wear a mask, just spread the virus, who cares, right? Another desi nuska - just turn vegetarian.Now is not the time to lick your government and PM's ass, read the room.How India will beat the virus.Hmm.Facepalm, yes.Exactly.Everyone will.The perfect gif, and a scary thought.Useful.Beware.It's unbelievable.
SYRACUSE, N.Y.  The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse is relieving people of the obligation to attend Sunday Mass, and encourages sick and elderly parishioners to stay home.

The following statement was released:

Masses throughout the Diocese of Syracuse will continue to be offered at this time. However, due to the serious health crisis caused by the coronavirus, Bishop Lucia hereby dispenses Catholics in the Diocese of Syracuse from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass beginning immediately until further notice (Code of Canon Law, c. 87). Those with underlying health conditions are especially encouraged to remain at home.

The diocese has released a response to coronavirus on its website, and the Rev. Douglas J. Lucia has issued new directives following health department guidelines.

Lucia is asking congregations to pray the Novena Prayer for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, and observe Mass on television or online if they cannot attend in church.
All Marion County schools are supposed to be closed by March 16, and the city will restrict non-essential gatherings of more than 250 people in the wake of the new coronavirus.

Mayor Joe Hogsett announced the measures at a press conference March 12.

Public schools and mayor-sponsored charter schools were closed March 13, and the city is asking all other schools  private and parochial  to close by March 16.

Schools are tentatively scheduled to reopen April 6.

Local government will work with school districts and service providers to make sure meals continue to be available to students.

Indianapolis Public Schools will distribute meals in the parking lots of seven schools 11 a.m.-1 p.m. March 13:

 George Washington High School

 Arlington Woods School 99

 Brookside School 54

 Carl Wilde School 79

 Eleanor Skillen School

 James Whitcomb Riley School 43

 Charles Warren Fairbanks School 10

Gov. Eric Holcomb has issued a 20-day waiver off of the 180 days schools are normally required to be in session. Those days dont have to be used consecutively, and the governors office is encouraging schools to prepare for more long-term solutions such as implementing e-learning days and remote classrooms.

Schools will be on spring break for some of the scheduled closure.

Holcomb also banned gatherings of more than 250 people, and Hogsett said hes directing the Marion County Public Health Department to implement those restrictions locally.

Along with those measures, Hogsett also announced the parks department has suspended all senior programming, and the city-county council is working on a way to include online engagement at meetings so people dont have to be physically present.

Hogsett has also directed the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to issue summonses instead of making arrests for nonviolent misdemeanors. That is subject to officer discretion.

To those who argue these policies will be disruptive, Hogsett said, my answer is simple. They better be. This virus and the threat it poses to our city, state, and country is massive. Left unchecked, it has the potential to wreak untold damage on our families and the very social safety net that protects our most vulnerable residents.

Update: The Indianapolis Public Library will suspend services, programs and special events at all locations and the bookmobile after 5 p.m. March 14.

The InfoZone branch at The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis will close at 5 p.m. March 13.

The librarys online collection is still available.

The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis will close March 14-28. The museum staff will issue an update on whether it will reopen on or before March 28.

The reopening of Riley Childrens Health Sports Legends Experience will be postponed, and the museums preschool will close temporarily. All programs and events scheduled through March 28, 2020 will be postponed.

Anyone who has purchased tickets in advance can apply the value to a ticket of equal or greater value through Dec. 31. For up-to-date information on the museum closing, childrensmuseum.org/coronavirus visit for updates and follow The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis on social media.

Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter at @Ty_Fenwick.

News In Brief
Tentative April 16 date for resumption of vintage airliner tour

EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wisconsin  (March 12, 2020)  The national tour for the Experimental Aircraft Associations 1929 Ford Tri-Motor aircraft will pause for one month in consideration of the current coronavirus/COVID-19 situation and the health of flight crew and passengers.

A tentative date for resumption of the tour is April 16 in Hickory, North Carolina, although the situation will be continually monitored for any changes. The month-long suspension of the Tri-Motor tour will cancel planned stops in Gainesville, Florida (March 19-22); Apalachicola, Florida (March 26-29); and Milledgeville, Georgia (April 2-5).

As much as EAA thoroughly enjoys bringing the history of early aviation to communities through our Ford Tri-Motors national tours, the health and safety of our guests, crews, and volunteers is the top priority, said Sean Elliott, EAAs vice president of advocacy and safety. Given the uncertainty of the situation throughout the country regarding the transmission of the coronavirus, we made the decision to pause the tour at this time and begin again next month.

All pre-booked flight reservations are being fully refunded.

EAAs national Tri-Motor tours feature the 1929 Ford 4-AT-E, which has a colorful history. It has served as an airliner for Eastern Air Transport, a Cuban airline, and the government of the Dominican Republic. The airplane has also had roles in two movies  The Family Jewels (1965) starring Jerry Lewis, and Public Enemies (2009), starring Johnny Depp.

The airplane has been taken on tour annually since 1991. More information on the aircraft and tour is available at FlyTheFord.org.
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Deutsche Post (ETR:DPW) share price has dived 37% in the last thirty days. Even longer term holders have taken a real hit with the stock declining 29% in the last year.

All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

See our latest analysis for Deutsche Post

How Does Deutsche Post's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 9.98 that sentiment around Deutsche Post isn't particularly high. If you look at the image below, you can see Deutsche Post has a lower P/E than the average (12.0) in the logistics industry classification.

XTRA:DPW Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

This suggests that market participants think Deutsche Post will underperform other companies in its industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, 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. And in that case, the P/E ratio itself will drop rather quickly. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.

Story continues

Deutsche Post increased earnings per share by an impressive 22% over the last twelve months. And earnings per share have improved by 2.8% annually, over the last five years. With that performance, you might expect an above average P/E ratio.

A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank

Don't forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.

Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.

How Does Deutsche Post's Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?

Net debt totals 17% of Deutsche Post's market cap. It would probably deserve a higher P/E ratio if it was net cash, since it would have more options for growth.

The Bottom Line On Deutsche Post's P/E Ratio

Deutsche Post has a P/E of 10.0. That's below the average in the DE market, which is 16.8. The company hasn't stretched its balance sheet, and earnings growth was good last year. The low P/E ratio suggests current market expectations are muted, implying these levels of growth will not continue. Since analysts are predicting growth will continue, one might expect to see a higher P/E so it may be worth looking closer. Given Deutsche Post's P/E ratio has declined from 15.8 to 10.0 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer invest in growth, this stock apparently offers limited promise, but the deep value investors may find the pessimism around this stock enticing.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Deutsche Post. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
The history of Russia has been dominated by totalitarian leaders who have created ongoing episodes of massive oppression of human rights. The Soviet era (1922-1991) was among the worst, with dictators Lenin and later Stalin perpetrating crime after crime against the people. Finally, when the Soviet Union crashed in the early 1990s, there was hope for a new birth of freedom and liberty in Russia.

But then came Vladimir Putin, the former Soviet KGB (secret police) officer, taking the helm as the new leader of Russia. Not surprisingly given his background, Putin has been involved in a wide variety of human rights violations in Russia and beyond.

Alexander Motyl, a political science professor at Rutgers University has summarized Putin as a war criminal, noting that following the bombing of two apartment buildings in Moscow by unverified attackers in 1999, Putin waved the Russian flag of supposed patriotism and blamed Chechnya (the evidence points more closely to this act being done by Russias own State Security forces, known as the FSB). Putin then launched a massive Russian air and land campaign that reduced much of the Chechen capital (Grozny) to rubble. The death toll was at least 25,000 civilians and many more thousands of Chechen citizens lost their homes and possessions and have become refugees.

Then in 2004 when Chechen terrorists locked up hundreds of schoolchildren and their teachers as hostages in a school, Russian authorities refused to negotiate and used military forces to storm the school. More than 330 people died and another 550 were wounded. Among the dead were 184 children.

Motyl also cites Putin as the prime supporter of the Russian and pro-Russian terrorists in eastern Ukraine where more than 10,000 have been killed there.

In the tradition of secret police liar, Putin has recently attempted to fabricate new history and incredibly has publicly accused Poland of starting WW II. Putin has ignored the facts that the Nazis invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, from the west and the Soviets invaded Poland from the east on Sept. 17, 1939. No revisionist garbage from Putin can change the reality that these two evil empires (the Nazis and the Soviets in partnership) savaged Poland and six million Poles were killed in WW II (By percentage, the highest number of deaths of any nation in that war).

Aside from Putins lies and international meddling, according to Human Rights Watch, Russia today is more repressive that it has ever been in the post- Soviet era. And violence is common! Just since 1993, 58 journalists in Russia have been killed and 33 of these criminal actions were never pursued by law enforcement.

The picture of widespread human rights abuses inside Russia today includes:

* Restricting free expression, assembly, speech, and objective news coverage

* Expanding the definition of political activism to include environmental and health issues and therefore classify such nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as foreign agents in order to fine or terminate them

* Ongoing discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities, the LGBT community, people with disabilities, and women

* Use of excessive and sometimes lethal force by law enforcement

* Violence against women

* Human trafficking

* Lack of due process in politically motivated cases

* Executive control over the judiciary

* No punishment for government abuse of human rights

And now, the very foundations of the USA are also under attack by Putin, who clearly directed serious Russian meddling in the 2016 USA election. Who says so? The Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency in a declassified report which concluded that Putin and the Russian government targeted the 2016 presidential election, paying social media trolls in efforts by Russian government agencies and state-funded media to sway public opinion.

These propagandistic, Russian-generated election ads were designed to create hostility between Americans with certain messages designed to encourage extremist/hate groups. The bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has now affirmed that the CIA, FBI and NSA findings about Russian meddling were fairly and professionally done and that there were in fact Russian attempts to sow discord, undermine democratic institutions, and interfere in U.S. elections.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., has sounded this serious alarm: Russia is waging an information warfare campaign against the U.S. that didnt start and didnt end with the 2016 election. Russias goal is broader: to sow societal discord and erode public confidence in the machinery of government. By flooding social media with false reports, conspiracy theories, and trolls, and by exploiting existing divisions, Russia is trying to breed distrust of our democratic institutions and among our fellow Americans.

In summary, Putin is just one more despicable Russian totalitarian despot, an ongoing violator of human rights  and certainly he is no friend of the USA. Putin is a tyrant who deserves neither respect nor admiration from anyone.
The suspects abandoned the car after it crashed, killing one woman and injuring another

Blood has been found in the getaway car used by a gang fleeing a hit and run which resulted in the death of a teacher in south Dublin on Tuesday night, the Herald can reveal.

Detectives now believe this DNA evidence will play a key role in the prosecution of the criminals involved.

Special needs assistant Jacqueline McGovern (54) was killed when she was hit by an out-of-control car in Killiney following an armed robbery at a Centra just minute s earlier.

"Blood detected in the abandoned car is key. Gardai have a clear idea who was behind this crime. Now this vital DNA is crucial to proving it," a senior source said last night.

Pub

The Herald understands that the three raiders thought to be involved in the shocking crime are from the Ballybrack, Sallynoggin and Monkstown areas.

The trio, all young men in their early 20s, are known to gardai for involvement in crime, including violent disorder.

The Herald revealed yesterday that gardai are probing whether the gang who killed the innocent teacher during their getaway went to a local pub in the aftermath of the incident.

Three men were in the speeding car after two of them had carried out the robbery at Centra shop, Barnhill Stores, on Barnhill Road in Dalkey, minutes before the crash.

Ms McGovern and her friend and colleague Audrey Behan (51) were injured when the getaway car hit them at 9.20pm on Tuesday night at the junction of Ballinclea Road and Avondale Road.

The friends had been out for a walk when the incident took place.

The women were rushed to St Vincent's Hospital, where Ms McGovern later died.

Ms Behan's injuries are not believed to be serious and she is expected to make a full recovery.

There were indications last night that the large convenience shop did not have CCTV in operation during the robbery, as it was in the process of being replaced.

The raiders, armed with a knife, held up staff at the store on Tuesday at around 9.10pm.

The duo threatened the workers and made off with the contents of the till, believed to be a couple of thousand euro. Following the crash, the three thieves "miraculously" walked away, sources said.

However, detectives stationed at Dun Laoghaire have now identified the pub - close to the scene of the fatal crash - where the raiders hid out in the aftermath. Gardai have now obtained CCTV from this premises.

"The three men were reported to have been in a local bar drinking pints after this robbery occurred, and they were rattled by all accounts," a source said.

"The Nissan Almera used by the gang was mangled following the crash. The getaway vehicle has not been taxed or insured since last April."

Its last registered owner was interviewed extensively on Wednesday.

He told gardai he had sold the car on for a small sum. His account has been accepted by gardai and they say he is not involved in any criminality.
The global coronavirus crisis has forced an uncountable number of closings and cancellations in the Chicago area. On Thursday, state officials announced a ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people for the next 30 days as part of an effort to try and contain the rapidly spreading coronavirus in Illinois.
If NASA astronauts land on the moon as planned in 2024, they'll have an advantage their Apollo predecessors lacked: insights gathered by tiny robotic spacecraft that visit the moon before them.

NASA has announced the first two such projects selected to fly as part of the Artemis program to land astronauts on the moon: Lunar Flashlight and the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE). The missions represent the next step for the small spacecraft, known as cubesats, which became available for Earth orbit in the 1990s as electronics and sensors shrank to allow bread-box-sized (or slightly larger) satellites to perform scientific work. Since then, cubesats have become so powerful that they are used regularly for Earth observations. And the first interplanetary cubesats successfully flew to Mars in 2018 with the NASA InSight mission, so the spacecraft are becoming hardy enough for deep-space missions.

Thanks to their diminutive size, cubesats are both easy to pack on a rocket and cheap to launch. They often ride along with larger satellites. As NASA's Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the moon in 2024, NASA is planning to launch the first lunar cubesats in 2021 .

Related: NASA's Artemis moon program just photobombed a spacewalk (photo)

"In the case of lunar exploration, cubesats are proving themselves to be increasingly capable platforms to precede human explorers on the moon and Mars," Christopher Baker, small spacecraft technology program executive within NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, said in a NASA statement .

The agency has said that a total of 13 cubesats will fly on the first flight in the program, Artemis I, which is currently scheduled for the second half of 2021 after timeline slips. That mission will send an Orion spacecraft on an uncrewed loop around the moon to test lunar technologies ahead of human landings.

One of those cubesats will be Lunar Flashlight , a collaboration among several NASA centers, which will look for ice deposits in permanently shadowed craters of the moon and try to estimate how much ice is there, using lasers. Explorers hope that water ice can address needs for drinking water or rocket fuel. (Water is also heavy to tote from Earth, so the ability to get water from lunar ice would reduce the cost of future exploration missions.) Another satellite with ground-penetrating radar, or some rover missions, could follow Lunar Flashlight to better characterize the depth of the deposits.

The second newly confirmed cubesat, CAPSTONE , is a commercial collaboration. And this cubesat won't launch on a NASA rocket; instead, it is scheduled to fly on a Rocket Lab Electron vehicle in early 2021. CAPSTONE will fly in the same lunar orbit planned for NASA's Gateway space station , to test entering the unusual orbit. Orbiting the moon is further complicated by mass concentrations under the lunar surface that perturb orbits, and NASA doesn't want to risk launching the larger and more expensive Gateway without a test. "No spacecraft has been placed there," Baker said. "We want to measure what it takes to get into and remain in that orbit," particularly fuel, he said.

CAPSTONE will also test future navigation without reliance on tracking from Earth, by figuring out the satellite's position relative to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter . This technique will allow missions to venture deeper into space without needing constant contact with Earth.

NASA is also looking at the possibility of using swarms of cubesats that work together to make observations and solve problems. Baker suggested that these cubesats could be used as a "quick reaction" tool to let researchers respond to the most pressing data as it comes in.

"Frankly, given the pace of the small spacecraft community, [along with] our academic and industry partners, there may well be an underestimation of what we can accomplish in the next five years," he said.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Skywell, a young NEV brand launched in late 2019, has also joined a string of mask-producing automakers, which have already included such companies as SAIC-GM-Wuling, BYD and GAC Group.

With over RMB1 million to be invested, the disposal mask production lines were expected to be operational in early March, featuring a designed capacity of 300,000 to 500,000 units per day, the startup said in late Feb. via its WeChat account.

The outcome would be used to ensure employees' safety after Skywell, Sky-well New Energy Automobile Group (the brands parent company) and relevant suppliers and partners resume operation. Besides, some of masks would be donated to Xuzhou, a major city in Jiangsu Province, for the public good, and sold to local residents at a fair price, the EV maker stated then.



Skywell and its first strategic model simultaneously came into the public's view in last December. Featuring a tagline Skywell: All is Well, the brand is set to manufacture all-electric passenger vehicles.

Less than a week after the name laid bare to the public, the startup said it planned to roll out four all-new models based on two platformsthe BE platform targets affordable BEV models and the CE will be available to mid- & full-sized models in higher positionover the next five years.

Jiangsu Skywell Automobile Co.,Ltd, the operator behind the brand, was founded on November 1, 2019, and is wholly-owned by the aforementioned Sky-well New Energy Automobile Group, according to the company information search platform Tianyancha. Its business scope extends to cover the R&D, manufacture and sale of complete vehicles and auto parts, as well as the NEV-related technology development and transfer.

Tianyancha still shows that Huang Hongsheng, the founder of the leading global television brand Skyworth, serves as the legal representative of Jiangsu Skywell. In 2010, Mr. Huang set up Sky-well New Energy Automobile Group, which was granted the access of PV manufacturer by China's MIIT in 2017 and passed the inspection for the access of NEV manufacturer (photo source: Skywell).
Another area event celebrating the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethovens birth will take place Sunday, March 8, and it offers the chance to see the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra and a dynamic soloist in concert.

The orchestra, led by maestro Philip T. Ventre, will perform a Beethoven program at 2 p.m. in the new Ann and George Colony Hall at Choate Rosemary Hall, featuring two masterworks, Symphony No. 3 Eroica and Piano Concerto No. 5, also known as Emperor.

The WSO opens the program with the Eroica, first publicly performed in 1805, Ventre says in an email. The powerful and ground-breaking piece, composed while Beethoven was battling his hearing loss, ushered the musical world into the Romantic Era and changed the form of the symphony for the next two centuries, noted Ventre.

The majestic Emperor Concerto, first performed in 1811 in Vienna, demands virtuoso performance by the soloist and subtle orchestral colors and changes leading to a triumphant conclusion.

Karine Poghosyan, an Armenian-American pianist who has done two other solos for the WSO, will be the piano soloist for the concerto. She has has appeared as a soloist in Carnegie Hall and with concert orchestras in the United States, Canada and in Vienna, Austria.

The Emperor is the absolute epitome of Beethovens Heroic Period, Poghosyan said in an email exchange. It truly has it all  deep soulful lyricism, bright touches of humor and, ultimately, the most empowering message of victory we all so often need.

Tickets ($25) are available on the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra website, by calling 203-697-2261 or at the door an hour before the concert. Shuttle buses will be available for audience using spaces on the Choate campus and at the Moses Y. Beach School.

The Wallingford Symphony was founded in 1974 by Ventre and Terrence Netter, director of the Paul Mellon Arts Center. In addition to its regular season, the WSO presents special concerts in Wallingford and has presented concerts in nine Connecticut communities, including the outdoor summer July Pops Concerts in Wallingford for 45 years and in Madison for 27 years.
By Jason Nark | The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA  In the parts of Cape May County, N.J., 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 2nd Congressional District, called the sanctuaries ridiculous. A Vineland 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.

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.

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 right 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.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has lodged its second FIR against Rana Kapoor, founder and former MD and CEO of Yes Bank, officials said. Along with Kapoor, the central agency has charged his wife Bindu Kapoor, Avantha Group promoter Gautam Thapar, and others with cheating, forgery and corrupt practices in the fresh FIR.

The new FIR alleges that Rana Kapoor conspired with other accused to obtain illegal gratification in the form of a bungalow at New Delhi's Amrita Shergill Marg by paying a mere Rs 378 crore through Bliss Abode, a company where Bindu Kapoor held one of the two directorial posts.

"This property was immediately thereafter mortgaged to IndiaBulls Housing Finance Ltd for a loan of Rs 685 crore. It was further alleged that much less consideration than the market value was paid to Avantha Realty for relaxation in other existing loans of Avantha Group of companies, and for advancing new or additional loans to Avantha Group of companies," a CBI spokesperson told India Today.

According to sources, the Amrita Shergill Marg bungalow in question was owned by Gautam Thapar. It was allegedly mortgaged when Thapar took a loan from Yes Bank. He subsequently defaulted on loan and the bank then decided to sell the mortgage property. Incidentally the minimum bidding price was set at Rs 379 crore. Bindu's Bliss Abode then purchased it for Rs 380 crore. Agencies suspect that this was a kickback where expensive real estate was purchased for a fraction of the price.

Avantha Realty had allegedly availed a loan of 500 crore from Yes Bank, sources say. Yes Bank, instead of going through the due procedures mandated by RBI to recover the loan, allegedly sold the property to Bindu Kapoor's firm for mere Rs 380 crore.

CBI is also conducting searches in Mumbai and Delhi-NCR at location related to Rana Kapoor, Bindu Kapoor, as well as offices of Avantha Realty and Bliss Abode.

Also read: Infographic: What is the ED case against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor?

Also read: Yes Bank crisis: ED alleges Rana Kapoor bought properties in India, US, UK with Rs 5,000 crore kickbacks

Also read: Yes Bank crisis: ED puts Rs 20,000 crore NPAs blame on Rana Kapoor
: China-headquartered BYD Company on



Friday said it uas unveiled the largest face masks plant aimed at serving the demand in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

BYD is proud to announce that it has created the world's largest mass produced face mask plant. The plant is now running at full capacity and is able to produce 50 lakh masks and three lakh bottles of disinfectants per day, a company said in a statement here.

The company said the plant would allow the firm to alleviate severe shortage that has affected hospitals and agencies across China in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.

A special task force was appointed by BYD chairman and president Wang Chuanfu consisting of leaders from various divisions and more than 3,000 engineers were involved in research and development, design among others.

With the company making about five to 10 new mask- producing machines on a daily-basis, the number of masks produced by BYD was increasing from approximately three lakh units to five lakh units per day.

BYD currently has a total production capacity of 50 lakh masks per day, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a statement issued on March 7, the Property and Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB) canceled their conference planned for March 8-11 at the Gaylord National Hotel after discovering that someone tested positive for coronavirus the week prior. The virus has been named SARS-CoV-2, and the disease it causes has been named coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated COVID-19. Venture Construction Group (VCG) is an avid supporter of the mission and work of PLRB, and supports their heightened level of caution during this epidemic. VCG planned to be a Diamond Event Sponsor and exhibit at the expo.

The decision to cancel was not an easy one. We know that many people were disappointed while many others were relieved. At the end of the day, the decision was based on concerns for the health and safety of the participants and others which is our top priority when holding events, says Tom O'Dowd, senior marketing and exhibits manager, PLRB.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the virus spreads from person-to-person, between people who are in close contact with one another, generally within 6 feet, and through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs. Some spread might be possible before people show symptoms. It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes.

In late February, CDC's Dr. Nancy Messonnier said, "The fact that this virus has caused illness -- including illness that has resulted in death -- and sustained person-to-person spread is concerning. These factors meet two of the criteria for a pandemic."

According to a report by CNN, there are now over 115,800 cases, including 1,000 in the U.S., and over 4,200 deaths worldwide attributed to coronavirus. In one day last week, the number of new cases outside of China was nearly 9 times higher than the number of new cases in China, where the virus originated. This virus has found a foothold on every continent except for Antarctica. In several countries, the number of cases continues to climb.

Committed to safety, we fully support the decision to cancel this conference, says Sandra Lawson, director of operations, Venture Construction Group.

VCG is providing work-at-home options for administrative staff members throughout the country, and safety sanitization programs are being utilized on all jobsites and equipment.

The PLRB Claims Conference and Insurance Services Expo is a four-day conference that provides access to 14 education tracks with 100 sessions taught by industry leaders. Industry professionals and service providers from all over the U.S. attend.

About Venture Construction Group

Founded in 1998, Venture Construction Group (VCG) is a licensed general contractor and an award-winning leader in construction, restoration, renovations, roofing, storm damage repairs, and 24/7 emergency services. VCG services commercial and residential properties throughout the East Coast, Greater Mid-Atlantic Region, Gulf Coast, and Midwest. Operational excellence is our mission in every project we undertake, and we pride ourselves on providing exceptional customer service. Specializing in commercial projects, VCG assists property management companies, condo associations, multi-family structures, hi-rises, retail/business plazas, government facilities, hotels, and resorts with comprehensive general contractor services, restoration, mitigation, specialty construction, historical restoration, remodels, property repairs, and rebuilds due to fire, flood, water, wind, hail, and hurricane damage. VCG has earned prestigious awards including the Construction Business Owner Award, Pro Remodeler Forty Under 40 Award. VCG is committed to operational excellence and exceptional customer service. CEO Stephen Shanton is a proud member of the prestigious Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). Entrepreneur Magazine hails YEC Consists of Some of the Most Well-Respected Minds in Entrepreneurship. Shanton is a proud member of the WindStorm Insurance Network and is a WIND Certified Umpire, WIND Certified Appraiser, and WIND Certified Fellow. VCG is an exclusive certified National Storm Damage Center Preferred Contractor, Certified Member of the United Association of Storm Restoration Contractors, Certified Member of Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) Industry Members Association (EIMA), Certified Member of National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractor, Mule-Hide Legacy Contractor, Certified CertainTeed Contractor, and Duro-Last Certified Contractor. VCG credentials have been vetted and screened through independent third party Global Risk Management Solutions. With offices nationwide and a solid reputation throughout the country, we are able to respond to your needs with quality, ease, and top-notch service. For more information, call 866-459-8348 or visit us online at http://www.VentureConstructionGroup.com.

About Property & Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB)

The Property & Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB) is a not-for-profit association of property and casualty insurance companies that provides research and educational services for member companies and affiliates. Our mission is to encourage productivity and efficiency in the property and liability loss and claim adjustment processes of members and the industry as a whole. PLRB disseminates information on property and liability issues among members and within the insurance industry. PLRB promotes education and new and beneficial developments within the property and casualty insurance industry. Learn more at http://www.plrb.org/.

Media Inquiries:

Alicia Orta Stanford

Elev8 Consulting Group

Ph: 386.243.5388

Em: info@elev8cg.com

Web: http://www.elev8cg.com
SPOKANE VALLEY  Westwood Middle School Future Business Leaders of America students received 24 trophies over seven events at the annual Northeast Regional Winter Conference held Feb. 6 at Spokane Valley Assembly of God Church.

The middle school had seven attending students place in the top-six in their events, advancing to the state Business Leadership Conference in Spokane this April. Three students placed in five events or more: Nico Rojas Nunez (six events), Kyleigh Greer (five events) and Gretchen Schmitt (five events), with Nunez taking first in Elevator Speech and second in Digital...
Shoppers queue up to pay for items at the Tesco store in Airside. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Many supermarkets across Dublin saw shelves empty yesterday as shoppers stockpiled amid the coronavirus crisis.

Retailers cautioned that, while they had sufficient supplies of even high- demand goods, panic buy- ing could make keeping shelves full an unnecessary struggle.

"Ireland is prepared to continue to supply all groc-ery outlets for the coming months. There is no reason for Irish citizens to have any concern," said David Fitzsimons, chief executive of lobbying group Retail Excellence.

Brexit

"The industry has never been more prepared, having planned for a hard Brexit.

"Social media images of empty shelves sensationalise the matter. These shelves are restocked every evening."

Such messages failed to deter the hoarders, who snapped into action after the Government announced nationwide shutdowns of schools and events attracting large gatherings. Shops will remain open.

By the afternoon, most fresh produce, bread, eggs, milk and pasta were gone, along with hoarders' most prized goods - antibacterial washes and wipes, bleaches and toilet roll.

At Tesco in Cabra, shelves were bare.

Lidl in Glasnevin offered any fruit you wanted - as long as it was pear. The veg section tempted with vacuum-packed beets. All bottled water had gone.

"We bought into the panic when we saw everything go wild on social media. The pictures got us racing here," said electrician Dan Coleman beside his wife, Tina.

They were too late. In lieu of toilet rolls, they put kitchen towels in their basket.

"We'll make it work!" Mr Coleman said.

Customers arriving for their usual weekly shop looked aghast at the retail ruins.

"This is ridiculous," said Paula Mulvey, searching for anything tasty alongside her husband, Chris.

"Don't these fools who picked the place clean understand that the shops are still open in Italy? What do they think is about to happen here?" she asked.

Her husband, a truck driver for another supermarket chain, said his own deliveries had increased in size and scale in the past week - a sign that the Covid-19 crisis has been driving strong grocery sales to supply Dublin's sudden bunker mentality.

Punches

"There's no chance we'll run out of stock. We have four months' worth of ambient goods," Mr Mulvey said.

"People who bought all the fresh produce today will be hard-pressed to eat it all before it goes bad."

At that moment, his wife got a friendly tap on the shoulder from a friend - who had just arrived from the relative war zone of Tesco Cabra.

"There's nothing left there!" Claire Hickey said.

"I heard there was murder down there," Mr Mulvey said.

"It wasn't so bad. No punches were thrown," Ms Hickey replied.

"We were really just laughing at each other as we couldn't find anything worth buying and saying how crazy it all was."
[March 13, 2020] STL Academy Wins Asia Book of Records for a First-of-its-kind Largest Online Workshop on Optical Fibre Technology

HYDERABAD, India, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- STL Academy, an endeavour by STL (NSE: STRTECH), to create an ecosystem of optical fibre professionals, recently won the coveted Asia Book of Records for conducting F-Tech 2.0, the largest online workshop on optical fibre technology in Telangana. F-Tech 2.0 was a 2-day live web series on Fibre Technology and Fibre to the Home (FTTH). In India, nearly 70% of towers are still to be fiberized. The government and telcos are heavily investing in dense fiberization for backhaul and last-mile connectivity. To expand the country's fibre footprint, STL Academy envisions to build a skilled workforce of optical fibre professionals. As one of the initiatives, STL Academy conducted F-Tech 2.0, in association with T-Fiber, TASK and CMR Group of Institutions. The workshop was broadcasted from CMR college, Kandlakoya, Hyderabad, from 10 am to 4 pm on 5th and 6th March 2020. Over 40,000 students from more than 45 engineering colleges across Telangana attended the workshop. Several eminent guests including Honourable Shri Malla Reddy (Minister of Labour, Employment, Women and Child Development), Shri Sujai Kaampuri (MD- T-Fiber), Shri KS Rao (CEO- Network Software and Services, STL) and Shri Shrikant Sinha (CEO- TASK) were present at the inaugural ceremony.



STL Academy will soon conduct an online assessment and shortlisted students will receive a globally recognised proficiency certificate. Also, they will be issued fibre proficiency smart cards (valid for 2 years) that enable future opportunities in fibre technology and deployment with leading telcos. Commenting on the setting of a new record, Anjali Byce, CHRO, STL said, "We are delighted to win the prestigious Asia Book of Records. With F-Tech 2.0, we wanted to inspire young minds to discover the incredible opportunities in optical fibre technology. It was overwhelming to see over 40,000 students from more than 45 colleges attend the workshop." She further added, "The world is moving towards the digital future, and by nurturing this young talent and creating a skilled workforce, STL is aiming to build a digital infrastructure for the country."

"Congratulations to STL Academy for winning the Asia Book of Records for this unique online workshop in Telangana, said Sujai Karampuri, MD, T-Fiber. At T-Fiber, we envision providing digital infrastructure and high-speed broadband connectivity in Telangana. STL has been one of our key partners in realizing this vision. Initiatives like F-Tech 2.0 gives us access to the ecosystem of skilled optical fibre professionals and bolsters our goal of Digital Telangana." About STL STL is a global leader in end-to-end data network solutions. We design and deploy high-capacity converged fibre and wireless networks. With expertise ranging from optical fibre and cables, hyper-scale network design, and deployment and network software, we are the industry's leading integrated solutions provider for global data networks. We partner with global telecom companies, cloud companies, citizen networks and large enterprises to design, build and manage such cloud-native software-defined networks. STL has innovation at its core. With an intense focus on end-to-end network solutions development, we conduct fundamental research in next-generation network applications at our Centres of Excellence. STL has a strong global presence with next-gen optical preform, fibre and cable manufacturing facilities in India, Italy, China and Brazil, along with two software-development centres across India and one datacentre design facility in the UK. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/876464/Sterlite_Technologies_STL_New_Logo.jpg

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Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden walks with supporters at a march in Clear Lake, Iowa, on Aug. 9, 2019. Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia

(Jewish Journal via JNS)-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden spoke to attendees of the annual AIPAC Policy Conference in a video address on Sunday, stating that he will always support Israel, but that he also believes in a two-state solution for the Palestinians.

Biden said that while he couldn't make the conference because of the ongoing Democratic presidential primary, he had decided to send a video message because AIPAC's "voice matters to me." He also pledged to combat anti-Semitism, and said he never participates in or supports boycotts of Israel.

"I will always call out anti-Semitism, whether it comes from the left, right or center," he said, adding that every generation has to fight for America's values to ensure that the country doesn't give in to hate.

The former vice president also said he will always recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.

"'Israelis wake up every morning facing an existential threat from their neighbors," he said, citing the constant threat Israel faces on its southern border with the Gaza Strip.

He urged Gaza-based terrorist groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to end their constant rocket attacks against Israel, and called on the Palestinian Authority to cease inciting terrorist attacks against Israelis.

However, he also advocated for a two-state solution with the Palestinians, receiving huge applause from attendees for making the statement.

"You don't have to be anti-Palestinian to be pro-Israel," said Biden, calling the situation in the Palestinian territories a "humanitarian crisis." Citing "Palestinian dignity," he also stated that Israeli annexation of settlements is an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

Biden called for unity among both Republicans and Democrats, concluding his address by saying, "There is nothing we cannot achieve when Israel and the United States stand together."

This article first appeared in the Jewish Journal.
UC San Diego researchers discover the enzyme SPRK1's role in reorganizing the paternal genome during the first moments of fertilization -- a finding that might help explain infertility cases of unknown cause

A sperm enters an egg, an embryo develops and eventually a baby is born. But back up a second -- how does the mother's half-genome actually merge with the father's half-genome to form one new human genome? Turns out researchers don't really know that much about these relatively brief, yet crucial, incipient moments in fertilization.

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that the enzyme SPRK1 leads the first step in untangling a sperm's genome, kicking out special packing proteins, which opens up the paternal DNA and allows for major reorganization -- all in a matter of hours.

The study published March 12, 2020 in Cell.

"In this study, we were simply interested in answering a fundamental question about the beginning of life," said senior author Xiang-Dong Fu, PhD, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine. "But in the process we've uncovered a step that might malfunction for some people, and contribute to a couple's difficulty conceiving. Now that we know SPRK1 plays a role here, its potential part in infertility can be further explored."

Sperm can be up to 20 times smaller than a normal cell in the body. And while sperm carry only half as much genetic material as a regular cell, it needs to be folded and packaged in a special way in order to fit. One way nature does this is by replacing histones -- proteins around which DNA is wound, like beads on a necklace -- with a different type of protein called protamines.

Fu's team has long studied SPRK1 for a completely different reason: its ability to splice RNA, an important step that enables the translation of genes to proteins. They previously showed that SPRK1 is over-activated in colon cancer, and they developed inhibitors to dampen the enzyme.

But back in 1999, shortly after Fu published a paper that first described the enzyme's role in RNA splicing, a research group in Greece noted similarities in the sequence of amino acid building blocks that make up SPRK1 substrates (the proteins upon which the enzyme acts) and protamine. Fu thought about it for years, but didn't have the expertise and tools to study sperm development. In 2015, Lan-Tao Gou, PhD, was interviewing for a position as postdoctoral researcher when Fu realized that with Gou's experience in spermatogenesis, he finally had the right person for the job.

"I said to Lan-Tao, let's do something nobody else is doing. I have a theory and you have the expertise," Fu said. "So we borrowed the equipment we needed and leveraged the core facilities we have here at UC San Diego.

"And, surprisingly, everything we tried supported our hypothesis -- SRPK1 leads a double life, swapping protamines for histones once sperm meets egg."

According to Fu, SPRK1 most likely started out playing this role in early embryogenesis, then later evolved the ability to splice RNA. In this way, SPRK1 gets to stick around even when it's no longer needed for embryogenesis.

Fu, Gou and team next want to determine the signals that instruct sperm to synchronize with the maternal genome.

"We have a ton of new ideas now," Fu said. "And the better we understand every step in the process of spermatogenesis, fertilization and embryogenesis, the more likely we are to be able to intervene when systems malfunction for couples struggling with reproductive issues."

###

Additional study co-authors include: Do-Hwan Lim, Wubin Ma, Brandon E. Aubol, Yajing Hao, Jun Zhao, Zhengyu Liang, Changwei Shao, Xuan Zhang, Fan Meng, Hairi Li, Michael G. Rosenfeld, Pamela L. Mellon, Joseph A. Adams, UC San Diego; Xin Wang, Xiaorong Zhang, Ruiming Xu, Dangsheng Li, and Mo-Fang Liu, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are checking information on 12 cases of coronavirus infection in the occupied territory of Donbas. Ukraines Interior Minister Arsen Avakov stated this at the government meeting.

"We now have preliminary information about 12 cases of coronavirus in Horlivka," he said.

Earlier, in connection with the spread in cases of ARD diseases in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, caused probably by the coronavirus, the Commander of Joint Forces temporarily restricted the crossing of the checkpoint from March 7.

According to Avakov, it is proposed to restrict entry into the territory controlled by Ukraine from the territory of occupied Donbas, but the final decision has to be made upon the results of today's meeting of the National Security and Defense Council.

"We propose a 100% restriction regime for foreign citizens, and we propose to allow in the citizens of Ukraine who have registration in the unoccupied territory," the Interior Minister said.

He also specified that if a citizen of Ukraine has a registration in the occupied Horlivka and lives there, then he cannot be allowed to the territory under the control of the authorities.

It was also reported that Russia had decided to send Ukrainian with coronavirus symptoms to Donbas. The man is a citizen of Ukraine, who lives in the occupied territory and illegally possesses a Russian passport. JFO headquarters noted that this case indicates that Russia is not ready to take control of the situation even in its territory if the epidemiological situation worsens.

Viktor Lyashko, the Deputy Healthcare Minister of Ukraine said that body temperature screening continued on border checkpoints in Ukraine; over 1.6 million people have been tested so far.
The states community colleges and colleges of applied technology comprising the College System of Tennessee were given broad flexibility Thursday to alter their classes and other operations as needed locally to protect students, faculty and staff from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including extending spring breaks before transitioning to online classes where possible.

All 13 community colleges and 27 colleges of applied technology in the system, governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents, are taking further precautions against the spread of the virus  including cancelling out-of-state work-related travel and large meetings and events on campus, suspending study-abroad trips through May 31, instituting deep cleanings of facilities, and notifying students, faculty and staff to stay home if they are sick or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.

Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor Flora W. Tydings discussed the systems latest measures in a conference call with college presidents Thursday. Because several colleges are located in rural areas and smaller cities with no reported COVID-19 cases in their regions, the presidents have authority to choose a number of operating options that reflect conditions in their areas. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides separate guidance for higher education institutions that do not have COVID-19 cases in their communities and for those that do.

Most of the community and technical colleges are on spring break this week. Pellissippi State Community Colleges spring break is next week. Each college will communicate its operating decisions to its students and broader community; several are already doing so.

Options available to presidents include:

Extending spring break for an extra week for students, then transitioning to online classes when possible, at least through April 3. Colleges in communities where COVID-19 cases have been identified are expected to exercise this option.

Hybrid approaches that move lectures and similar classes to an online environment and retaining in-person classes for laboratories and hands-on technical education programs but with revised schedules and precautions that limit students to 10 or 12 per classroom depending on size and social distancing guidelines that maintain at least 6 feet between persons. Campuses could stagger class schedules to accommodate these precautions.

Continuing regular class schedules but with heightened precautions following all CDC guidelines. Smaller colleges in rural areas may choose this option.

The call with presidents followed an earlier call in which Tennessee Department of Health officials briefed leaders of the states higher education institutions on the COVID-19 situation.

The health, safety and welfare of our students, faculty, staff and their families are always our top priorities and we believe these new precautionary measures are necessary to protect our college communities, Chancellor Tydings said. I also believe we are being student friendly by helping students continue their educations when possible, while protecting their health. While there will likely be disruptions and inconveniences, we have a responsibility to help protect the communities we serve, including those who may be particularly vulnerable to the virus.

We asked our college presidents last week to begin preparing for a possible shift from in-person to online classes. Similar measures are being implemented at other public and private colleges and universities, not only in Tennessee but across the nation, Dr. Tydings said.

The new measures follow steps taken earlier by the colleges to limit exposure by students, faculty and staff to COVID-19, including halting student study-abroad travel to countries designated as high-risk areas by the U.S. government and curtailing domestic travel. Todays actions cancelled all remaining study-abroad trips through May, all out-of-state work-related travel and large meetings and conferences.

The TBR system office is assisting the colleges in their preparations for more online classes. TN eCampus, an online education partnership among TBR colleges and other Tennessee universities, has operated out of the system office for several years.

The Board of Regents, Dr. Tydings and the presidents will continue monitoring the situation and make further decisions later this month about how classes will operate for the remainder of the academic year.

On Wednesday, Dr. Tydings cancelled the College Systems SOAR (Statewide Outstanding Achievement & Recognition) events that were scheduled in Nashville for March 24-25. The SOAR conference recognizes and celebrates the systems outstanding students, faculty, staff and supporters. An alternative recognition event will be scheduled later.

Thus far, the only confirmed COVID-19 case involving a member of the systems campus communities is an adult male student of Nashville State Community College, who attended classes at Nashville States East Davidson Campus in Donelson and its Southeast Campus in Antioch. The student self-reported to the college on Wednesday afternoon after receiving notification of a positive COVID-19 test. Nashville State immediately contacted health authorities. Working with the college, health officials began contacting students and faculty with whom the student may have come in contact. The college, which is on spring break this week and was already deep cleaning its campuses, closed the two campuses today and Friday for deeper cleaning.

The college strongly encourages its students, faculty, staff and community members who have recently been on both campuses to watch for symptoms of the disease and to notify their health care providers if symptoms arise. For further information, visit Nashville States website at https://www.nscc.edu/

In addition, Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis was notified Monday afternoon that two radiologic technology students may have been exposed to a COVID-19 patient during their clinicals at a Memphis hospital last week, before the college went on spring break this week. The two students reportedly had subsequent contact with other students and faculty members in the radiologic technology program. Those exposed will self-quarantine for 14 days, as recommended by the CDC. Southwest is deep cleaning its Allied Health Building during its spring break and has communicated with its college community.

Further information on the College Systems response to COVID-19 is available at https://www.tbr.edu/general/novel-coronavirus-covid-19-information.

CDC guidance for higher education institutions is available at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-ihe-response.html

General CDC guidance on COVID-19 is here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission.html




The press views it as a retaliatory strike for the militia attack on the US military base in Iraq, which resulted in three fatalities

Air strikes hit the positions of pro-Iranian Shia militia in Iraq on Thursday, March 12. The missiles reportedly destroyed five weapon storage sites. BBC reported that, with the reference to the Pentagon.

"The Iranian proxy group Kataib Hezbollah is the only group known to have previously conducted an indirect fire attack of this scale against US and coalition forces in Iraq," Central Command chief Gen Kenneth McKenzie said as quoted, reporting to the U.S. Senate Committee.

The U.S. authority confirmed that the airstrikes were deployed with the use of a drone.

"The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies. We will take any action necessary to protect our forces," US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said as quoted by BBC.

The American side blamed the pro-Iranian militants for previous attacks on the military bases in Iraq.

Last month, Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the Islamic republic must become strong enough to ward off the enemys threats and prevent a war. Arab News reports this with reference to AFP.

We must become strong so that there will not be a war, become strong so that enemys threats will end, Khamenei told a gathering of air force commanders and staff aired on state television.

We do not want to threaten anyone... this is to prevent threats, to maintain the countrys security, he added.
In times of crisis, when the federal government seems to be lagging or confused in its message, people often look to alternative leaders for reassurance and guidance, as they did with Rudolph W. Giuliani, then mayor of New York, after the 9/11 attacks. (Mr. Giuliani is now Mr. Trumps personal lawyer.) That was what Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont was trying to convey in his speech about the gravity of the coronavirus threat on Thursday. And it was what Mr. Biden meant to do in his address on Thursday  to hold himself up as a reassuring, steady alternative to Mr. Trump, to show that he was competent, sympathetic, forceful and presidential. Ill always tell you the truth, he said. This is the responsibility of a president.

Recent American history has certainly provided enough disasters that required presidents to rise to an occasion: not just the 9/11 attacks but also the 2008 economic crisis, countless gun massacres, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, for starters.

Presidents need to be straightforward and candid from the beginning, said David M. Litt, who worked as a speechwriter in the Obama White House. They need to admit the early shortcomings in their response, lay out what steps they will take to improve, and then provide regular updates.

The number one thing you have to do is figure out how to address the problem  and to make it clear where you can and cant solve it, Mr. Litt said. Dissembling about it  as in Mr. Trumps assertion, earlier in the crisis, that coronavirus would just go away, or his claim that it was just like the flu, or his blatant contradiction of his own experts on how long it would take to come up with a vaccine  is never helpful, Mr. Litt said.

You have to be honest about it, that you cant bring the number of cases down to zero, he added. A good response would be where you say that people will suffer and in some cases die  and thats awful and graphic  but the least you can do is explain the situation.

That is what the current British prime minister, Boris Johnson, did in a recent news conference. Until recently, he has tended to play down the threat as much as Mr. Trump has; on Thursday, his expression somber and his voice grave, Mr. Johnson said the coronavirus was the worst public health crisis for a generation.
A woman is accused of masterminding a home invasion in Gloucester Township with her ex-boyfriend as the target, but the crime led to the fatal shooting of a man who was a bystander, authorities alleged Thursday.

A grand jury voted to indict Chamberlin Robinson, 41, of Vineland and Rosalee Gomez, 36, of Franklinville, for the murder of Kevin Carter, 26, of Gloucester Township, according to a joint statement from Camden County Prosecutors Office and Gloucester Township Police Department.

The pair was originally charged with Carters murder in January but now face additional charges following their indictments.

Gomez set up the home invasion and drove Robinson and two others, who have not been identified, to the Yorkshire Road home the night of Oct. 23, 2019 to perform the crime, the office said.

Carter arrived at the house and was fatally shot by Robinson after he didnt comply with demands, police said.

After the shooting, Gomez dropped Robinson and the other two men off in Millville before going to get money to pay them for carrying out the home invasion, authorities said.

Gomez was arrested by the United States Marshals Service at her home on Dec. 31 and was taken to Camden County Jail. She remains there awaiting trial, along with Robinson.

They were indicted on one count of first-degree felony murder, two counts of second-degree burglary, and one count of second-degree conspiracy to commit burglary, prosecutors said.

Robinson was also indicted on one count of first-degree murder and weapons-related charges.

Anyone with information that could help identify the others involved in the home invasion were asked to call Camden County Prosecutors Office Detective Jeremy Jankowski at 856-580-5950 or Gloucester Township Police Detective Scott Obermier at 856-228-4500.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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WASHINGTONThe Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation released a new report that aims to address the failure of institutions and governments to come to terms with 14-year-old allegations of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China.

Organ Procurement and Extrajudicial Execution in China: A Review of the Evidence by researcher Matthew Robertson was introduced on March 10 at a forum in Washington. It argues that there has been a polarization among approaches to the subject of organ harvesting in China.

On the one hand, international medical bodies have focused on bringing China into the international system of transplantation. Meanwhile, NGOs, activists, scholars, and private investigators have concentrated on the question of whether prisoners of conscience and other non-death-row prisoners are being killed for their organs.

One group argues for inclusion, the other for sanctions and moratoria.

Meanwhile, international human rights organizations have, for a variety of reasons, mostly not engaged on the topic. The main media outlets and academic studies of China have remained silent.

Amid this state of affairs, Western governments have been confronted by two sharply divergent sets of messaging and have been unequipped and unprepared to adjudicate between them, Robertson said.

Robertsons report seeks to loosen this logjam by reviewing the evidence, taking advantage of the fact that the volume of quality evidence and the sophistication with which it can be analyzed has grown significantly since the allegations were first made.

His review of the evidence, however, is more than just an analysis, as Robertson adds a significant volume of new evidence drawn from Chinese primary materials.

At the same time, Robertson seeks to respond to the strongest versions of the concerns, doubts, and counterarguments raised about the claims of forced organ harvesting from innocents.

In sum, this report marshals what is known and seeks to use this knowledge to persuadeto gain a hearing for the claims Robertson sets forth, and in doing so, ensure that the burden of response should now be far greater.

Robertson, a doctoral student at the Australian National University in Canberra, formerly reported on organ harvesting for The Epoch Times, winning a coveted Society of Professional Journalists award for his work.

Tribunal

The first speaker at the forum, attending via a video, was Sir Geoffrey Nice QC of the United Kingdom, who led the Independent Tribunal into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience in China. That tribunal released its final report on March 1.

Nice, who led the prosecution of Yugoslavias Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes, stated that any person or organization that interacts in any substantial way with the Peoples Republic of China should recognize that they are interacting with a criminal state.

Nices remarks were supported by a 562-page report by the tribunal that references years of research, witness testimonies, and supporting statistical data, submitted as oral accounts or documentary evidence, by more than 50 experts.

The tribunals final report, released March 1, highlights the evidence gathered and conclusions reached by the seven-member international group of experts who made up the panel in their effort to investigate organ procurement and extrajudicial killing in China.

Complementary

Robertsons report complements and supports the tribunals efforts, which also sought to address a failure to address the allegations of forced organ harvesting.

There was a question that needs to be answered, but it isnt being answered for some reason, Nice said.

That central question was whether or not China has been engaging in a wholesale industry of forced organ donations from both living and deceased prisoners, from which it then has made huge profits from domestic, as well as foreign, patients needing transplants.

The question of whether criminal offenses related to organ donation and transplantation in China had happened has been in the public forum for a long time, Nice said.

The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC), an Australian NGO, first approached Nice in 2016 and then other potential tribunal members to form an independent group to determine Chinas culpability in the forced organ trade.

Nice saw that there are certain advantages in a peoples tribunal.

First, he said, it can be composed of people who have no personal interest in the matter at hand. We are completely unpaid, he said, so there is no way we could lose our independence.

ETAC said that there had been significant controversy over the claims against China. They approached Nice in December 2017 to form a group that would hear all the evidence, toward determining whether international crimes had been committed.

Nice made sure there was a clear division between them and us, ETAC Executive Director Susie Hughes said.

When the report and judgment were ready to be announced, we didnt know the result until 24 hours in advance, she said.

Nice said, The conclusion is obvious. Forced organ transplantation has been happening on a significant scale since 1999, and the principal victims have been practitioners of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong, the report says. Uyghurs, an ethnic Turkic people who primarily live in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Province, have also been victimized.

It could be genocide, he said. The report stops short of calling the organ harvesting genocide because of the difficulty in showing that the Chinese regime had the intent to destroy the groups of Falun Gong practitioners or the Uyghurs.

Explosion in Activity

In his remarks, Robertson outlined some of the compelling evidence that points to forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, including the increase in transplantation after the Chinese regime began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999.

The number of liver transplants performed on an emergency basis  or on demand expanded significantly post-2000, Robertson said. This is an extremely strong indication of a blood-typed pool of living donors able to be executed on demand.

In the year 2000, the transplant system basically exploded in activity, Robertson said. Thousands of doctors and nurses were trained. The number of hospitals that were doing transplants went from less than 199 to up to 1,000 by 2000.

And yet, through the 2000 period, the death penalty is going down.  And then you look at other possible prisoner populations.  So, for example, the evidence is consistent with organ harvesting of Falun Gong, blood tests in detention, including repeated blood tests. Thats very consistent with  cross-matching  with the potential recipients blood.

In other words, living people are being pre-qualified as donors to needy recipients for life-saving kidneys, hearts, livers, and lungs.

The tribunal report cites a conversation with a spokesperson at a Beijing hospital, who said that surgery can be arranged within one or two weeks.

It goes on to say: Such waiting times are not compatible with conventional transplant practice and cannot be explained by good fortune. Predetermining the availability of an organ for transplant is impossible in any system depending on voluntary organ donation. Such short-time availability could only occur if there was a bank of potential living donors who could be sacrificed to order.

Hearings in US Congress Since 1996

The forum heard statements from several experts in the field, including Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey.

Noting that the tribunal in which Nice had led the prosecution against Milosevic had become a model for holding bad players to account, Smith told the audience, In 1996, I chaired the first congressional hearing ever on human rights abuses and organ harvesting in China.

That hearing was bolstered by the evidence of two Chinese doctors who came here and who didnt go back, thank God, Smith said.

Indeed, the record of that hearing shows that Dr. Qian Xiaojiang, a former doctor in Anhui Province, concluded his testimony by saying: To conclude, I believe that without the use of organs from executed prisoners, over 90 percent of Chinas transplant surgeries would be unthinkable. Traditional Chinese conceptions preclude people from donating part of their bodies.

Twenty-four years ago, Smiths hearing focused on the organ-transplant industry as supplied by executed prisoners.

Todays organ atrocities focus on prisoners of conscience, particularly those who practice Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), a spiritual discipline that involves meditative exercises and teachings based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Forced organ donations are also said to have been committed among the Uyghur population, who have been subjected to forced internment and re-education in recent years.

Following the Chinese Communist Partys ban of Falun Gong in 1999, harsh and inhumane measures were takenextrajudiciallyto force adherents to renounce both their beliefs as well as their practice of Falun Gong exercises.

Previously, Falun Gong had enjoyed widespread support throughout society, including among Party members. Official estimates found that by 1999 there were 70 million to 100 million practitioners in China.

Chinese human rights activist Yu Ming, who arrived in the United States last year, gave an account of the abuses he was subjected to while in prison and labor camps.

In secretly recorded video footage, in which he played the role of a patient needing a transplant, he documented conversations with Chinese doctors and medical staff who quoted prices and, most importantly, very short wait times for various organs.

In one clip, the doctor asks repeatedly, Youre not a journalist, are you?

Yu told The Epoch Times that he would like to see the names of his torturers published.

Time to Act

Louisa Greve, director of global advocacy for the Uyghur Human Rights Project, asked if there should be a ban on exchanges and training conferences with transplant doctors from China.

We need to think about the policy responses we need to be working on, Greve said.

Robertson offered a call to arms in his conclusion to his report.

As far as elite opinion is concernedthat is, in human rights organizations, the China field, the medical community, the executive branches of Western governments, and the major media corporationsthese allegations could happily remain in limbo, he said.

We urge observers to examine the evidence  consider our suggestions, reflect on the ethical justification for doing so, and act.

From The Epoch Times
There are two pending cases of COVID-19 in Kenosha County as of this morning, said Liane Blanck, population health project manager for the Kenosha County Division of Health.

It is a pending case as soon as a test is ordered. It is called a PUI  person under investigation, Blanck said. There are two pending cases in Kenosha County.

If someone has symptoms associated with COVID-19  fever, cough and shortness of breath  Blanck said they should contact their primary care doctor so they can be evaluated.

Dont just show up at the emergency room, Blanck said. They would prefer you call first. You can also call 911.

Blanck said there have been 89 cases of influenza-associated hospitalizations in Kenosha County this season.

No confirmed positive cases in county

There are no confirmed positive cases in Kenosha County. Jen Freiheit, director of the county Division of Health, said there are steps people can take to prevent the spread, particularly in long-term care settings.

Long-term care facility visitors and employees are encouraged to follow the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), including following strict handwashing procedures and, in many cases, wearing gowns and gloves while working with residents who are sick.

Freiheit said the following are examples of how you can help protect long-term care residents, as well as prevent the spread of coronavirus throughout the community:

Family and friends should not visit a long-term care facility if they have any symptoms of respiratory illness. Those symptoms include cough, fever, sore throat, runny nose, and/or shortness of breath, even if the symptoms are mild.

Anyone who has traveled to an area with active coronavirus cases, including affected areas within the United States, should not visit a long-term care facility until 14 days after return from travel.

To connect with loved ones, ask administration at the long-term care facility how they might be able to assist with communications by telephone, email, text, Skype or Facebook.

Long-term care facilities are being asked to stay in close contact and follow the guidance of the Kenosha County Division of Health and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. In response to this, signs may be posted in the entryways at local facilities, and visitors may be screened for entry, Freiheit said.

These are all efforts aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19, Freiheit said. We realize these recommendations might be difficult for people in long-term care facilities and their families and friends, but they are aimed at protecting the public health of our community at large.

For more information, visit the CDCs coronavirus disease information page at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov and the state health departments website at https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/disease/covid-19.htm.

The Kenosha County Division of Health continues to monitor the 2019 coronavirus very closely for further developments to ensure that public health is safeguarded.

For further updates, follow the Kenosha County Division of Health on its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/KenoshaCountyHealth.

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On Friday, the government of Afghanistan welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modis proposal for the SAARC nations to jointly chalk out a strategy to tackle the novel coronavirus. This was confirmed by Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesperson of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. PM Modi contended that such a collaboration would set an example for the rest of the world. Acknowledging the PMs appeal, Tahir Qadri, Afghanistans envoy to India highlighted the importance of nations being united at this juncture. Barring for Pakistan, all other SAARC members have responded positively to Indias initiative.

Read: Sri Lankan President Accepts PM Modi's Proposal To SAARC Nations On Coronavirus Crisis

Afghanistan Envoy to India, Tahir Qadri: In response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for creating a robust strategy for SAARC nations, aiming at tackling #CoronavirusPandemic, I would like to acknowledge his call. United we stand, divided we fall! pic.twitter.com/cBXe2Lom3s  ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus.



We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy.



Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 13, 2020

Read: 'Leave No Stone Unturned': PM Modi Proposes SAARC Chalks Out Anti-Coronavirus Strategy

The coronavirus crisis

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19- the novel coronavirus has affected nearly 118 countries in the world. Presently, there are 1,32,536 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of 4,947 people. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to deal 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.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak as 'pandemic'. Meanwhile, India has suspended all visas, barring for a few categories such as diplomatic and employment apart from keeping in abeyance the visa-free travel facility to OCI cardholders till April 15. Moreover, the Centre has strongly advised Indians to avoid all non-essential travel abroad. So far, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India is 88, officially more than any other SAARC member nation.

Read: PM Modi Talks To British PM Boris Johnson, Discuss Coordinated Efforts To Tackle COVID-19

Read: 'Say No To Panic, Say Yes To Precautions': PM Modi Tweets Guidelines On Coronavirus
The passed a resolution against the Population Register (NPR) and the Register of Citizens (NRC) on Friday.

The resolution "earnestly" appealed to the Centre to withdraw and not carry out the whole exercise of and NPR "in the interest of the nation, particularly when the economy is witnessing the worst-ever downslide and unemployment is witnessing a terrifying growth, and with the threat of the corona pandemic looming large".

It also said "should the Government of India insist on going ahead" with the exercise, it should be restricted to carrying out the NPR only with its 2010 format and no new fields added to it.

Delhi joins the list of the assemblies of Puducherry, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal in passing resolutions either against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) or the or the NPR.

At a special daylong session of the Delhi Assembly, which was held to discuss the NPR and the NRC, Chief Minister requested the Centre to withdraw the documents since those were inter-linked.

"Me, my wife, my entire cabinet do not have birth certificates to prove citizenship. Will we be sent to detention centres?," he asked.

The (AAP) supremo challenged Union ministers to show their birth certificates issued by the government.

He asked the MLAs to raise their hands if they had birth certificates, following which only nine legislators in the 70-member House raised their hands.

"Sixty-one members of the House do not have birth certificates," Kejriwal said, adding, "Will they be sent to detention centres?"



He claimed that with the NPR being implemented from next month, not only Muslims, but also Hindus who do not have birth certificates issued by a government agency will be affected.

"If you are a Muslim and do not have documents, you will be sent to a detention centre. If you are a Hindu from Pakistan, you will be given citizenship. But if you are an Indian Hindu and do not have documents, you will still be sent to a detention centre," the chief minister said.

Claiming that Aadhaar cards and voter identity cards will not be accepted during the NPR exercise, he stressed that only birth certificates issued by a government agency will be accepted.

Kejriwal hit out at the BJP-led Centre for creating an issue over the NPR and the at a time when the country's economy was not in a good condition.

"At a time when the economy is not in a good situation and there is unemployment, instead of looking for solutions to these problems, imaginary issues like CAA, NRC and NPR have been created... I do not know who will benefit from this," he said.
The government on Friday approved a scheme for reimbursement of taxes and duties, which were not refunded previously, to exporters with a view to give boost to the country's dwindling outbound shipments.

A decision to approve the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

The reimbursement of taxes such as duty on power charges; VAT on fuel in transportation, farm sector, captive power generation; mandi tax; stamp duty on export documents; CGST and compensation cess on coal in power production; central excise duty on fuel used in transportation would make Indian products competitive in global markets, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in September last year had said this scheme will incentivise exporters at an estimated cost of Rs 50,000 crore to the exchequer.

These measures are compliant with the WTO (World Trade Organisation) norms. India is a member of WTO, which frames norms for global trade, since 1995.

Goyal also said sectors and products under RoDTEP scheme will be notified in a phased manner and the MEIS benefits for those sectors and items will be withdrawn.

This scheme was announced by Sitharaman in her Budget speech on February 1.

Goyal said with the rolling out of this new scheme, the Merchandise Export Incentive Scheme (MEIS) will be "phased out".

It is proposed to digitally refund to exporters, duties and taxes levied at the Centre, State and local levels.

Goyal said duties/taxes/levies not refunded in any other scheme will be refunded under this new scheme, which will be rolled out soon by the Department of Revenue.

The move assumes significance as a WTO dispute resolution panel has ruled that MEIS was not in compliance with the global trade norms.

Under the WTO rules, certain duties like state taxes on power, oil, water, and education cess are allowed to be refunded.

Further, the commerce minister said as India has graduated from the category of the least developed countries, it cannot give subsidies for exports.

So far, exporters have been getting refund under duty drawback and GST paid on raw materials or intermediates.

The scheme, he said, will help in providing a level playing field to domestic exporters in the international markets.

The ministry will hold a detailed consultations with stakeholders concerned for inclusion of products, which would avail refund.

The Department of Revenue will priorities and soon fix RoDTEP rates for different goods/sector and will notify in a phased manner and accordingly MEIS will be rolled back for those items.

"It will be given to exporters through transferable scrips. All the process will be online to minimise human interface," he said.

"Stakeholders meeting will be held for fixing the rates. We will take data and see what all cost they bear," Goyal said adding "We will use the next 6-8 months to talk to the industry, work out the input taxes which do not get refunded".

A monitoring and auditing mechanism will be put in place.

The country's exports contracted for a sixth month in a row by 1.66 per cent in January to USD 25.97 billion.

During April-January 2019-20, exports slipped 1.93 per cent to USD 265.26 billion, while imports declined 8.12 per cent to USD 398.53 billion, leaving a trade deficit of USD 133.27 billion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
We will share additional information as soon as it becomes available, she said in the campus memo. UM will work with every student to make sure their needs are met.

Anderson said students with academic, financial or housing concerns should reach out to the Global Engagement Office for support. Students who believe they need an exception to the notice or have special circumstances that have not been considered also are encouraged to reach out to the Global Engagement Office.

Thursday, the Montana Commissioner of Higher Education directed all campuses to transition to online or remote teaching "in every instance possible" following spring break.
KALAMAZOO, MI  Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Karianne Thomas announced Friday afternoon that a police zone would be put in place Saturday in an effort to thwart large crowds that are predicted to gather for annual St. Patricks Day celebrations in off-campus student areas.

Over the past several years it has become a tradition in Kalamazoo for local college students to gather to celebrate this holiday, Thomas told reporters at a March 13 media briefing. KDPS has planned for this event this year as it has in years past, but now we find ourselves in a unique time where a worldwide pandemic has been declared.

In prior years, crowds of between 4,000 and 6,000 people having gathered together to consume large amounts of alcohol, while throwing simultaneous house parties, taking over entire blocks, open areas and parking lots, Thomas said.

The chief said this year with universities and colleges across the state ceasing in-person instruction, the department has received credible information that students in Kalamazoo will host a "statewide house party.

That has prompted Kalamazoo Public Safety and its law enforcement partners to brace for an even larger gathering.

Citing the 12 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state, and the governors ban on gatherings exceeding 250 people, Thomas said law enforcement officials have more considerations in managing large crowds outside of traditional safety for party-goers.

In declaring a police zone, Thomas said, areas where the gatherings have traditionally occurred or where they law enforcement believes they could be held will be blockaded off and only verified residents will be allowed inside the police zone.

Thomas did not disclose the boundaries of the police zone or the time frame in which it would be in effect, stating that it could compromise the intelligence law enforcement is gathering.

People who trespassed that zone could be charged with violating a police zone, she said.

Our goal is to prohibit a large gathering in order to protect the safety of our students, visitors and our first-responders, Thomas said. We are all trying to slow the spread of COVID-19.

"By limiting these large gatherings it is one of the many ways we can do that. We do not want anyone to be infected, to carry the virus to different parts of the state or to infect our first-responders whose strength is imperative to weathering this current crisis.

Western Michigan University President Edward Montgomery told MLive that the university planned to send an announcement to students later Friday afternoon, reinforcing the message that WMU has been working to put student safety first.

Its why weve taken the action to going online (classes), Edwards said. "The Public Health Department has said social spread, avoiding large crowds is one of the best things we can do to protect peoples health.

"So, we are encouraging people to keep that in mind, to think about their safety, think about their futures and of the futures of their fellow students, and that getting together in large crowds is both against the law in these particular circumstances  because people are concerned about your safety  but is also not smart.

Theyre smart people, so we hope they follow that advice.

Also on MLive:

New Kalamazoo ordinance targets nuisance parties and rolling X-trains

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer bans gatherings of more than 250 people as coronavirus spreads

Michigan confirms 12 total coronavirus cases

Western Michigan Universitys St. Patricks Day party drew big crowd, led to several arrests (with videos)

Kalamazoos Lafayette Avenue area has a history of partying, disturbances
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 05:46:05|Editor: huaxia

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ROME, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A charter flight carrying a 9-member Chinese aid team, along with tonnes of medical supplies, arrived at Rome's Fiumicino Airport on Thursday night, in part of China's efforts to help Italy contain the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The Airbus A-350 wide body airliner, from China Eastern, landed around 22:30 local time at the cargo zone of the airport, greeted by a crowd of local experts from the Italian Red Cross and delegates from the Chinese Embassy to Italy.

The expert team departed Shanghai earlier in the day, taking with them intensive care and medical protective equipment.

The team was organized by the National Health Commission and the Red Cross Society of China. It is the third expert team sent abroad by Chinese authorities following previous teams sent to Iran and Iraq.
Artist Zilia Sanchezs Soy Isla (I Am An Island) Retrospective Comes Ashore

The first time I experienced Zilia Sanchezs artwork was in 2018, and Im furious about it. Lot 250: El silencio de Eros (Antigona) rose off the stark wall as if animate with breath beneath the canvas skin. (Sanchez calls the surface bodies of her signature stretched paintings.) There, showing briefly in a Sothebys contemporary art auction, before transferring from one private collection to another, I saw her. Lines, distinct as sculpted marble, formed a whisper of the tragic mythological figure Antigone. Her presence a flushed pink against a steely blue, silent no more. I heard her, felt Sanchezs hand pull me toward the epic form, hanging 72 x 41.2 x 9 inches; one in her series Topologias eroticas (Erotic Topologies). Sensual. My heartbeat in my ears. First, I felt awe, then fury. The piece before me was dated 1990. How had I not encountered Zilia Sanchez before?

At age 93, Sanchez, who currently lives and works in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has been making abstract art for decades. Long overlooked, her first retrospective of over forty bodies of work is now showing at the El Museo Del Barrio. Soy Isla (I Am an Island) showcases artwork by the prolific Cuban artist from the 1950s to present, including her stretched canvases, paintings, works on paper, sculptures, graphic illustrations, and ephemera.

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Theres a current fetish of the elderly artist, Susanna Tempkin, Curator for El Museo, says in an interview, noting Sanchez long overdue recognition, along with noting Carmen Herrera and Luchita Hurtados lauded exhibition, I Live I Die I Will Be Reborn, now showing Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

It is my responsibility, Tempkin continues, to stop the phenomena of discovering artists in their nineties. We are overdue to celebrate these figures. But it is our responsibility to be providing support, especially to women artists, who have systematically and institutionally been neglected, and to start really embedding that in our practice of looking at their work, while they are younger, and helping them by creating platforms to support them in our institutions.

Born in Havana in 1926, Sanchez learned to love painting sitting beside her father, who she describes as a Sunday painter. She was mentored by her neighbor Victor Manuel, a first-generation vanguard Cuban painter. She grew to become an artist, exhibiting at the revolutionary Sociedad Cultural Neustro Tiempo and prestigious salons in Cuba.

Azul Azul (1956)

Upon her fathers death, in 1955, the vision for her signature sculptural paintings was inspired by a bedsheet, drying in the wind on rooftop of her childhood home, blown around a pipe the fabric retained its form. Sanchez applied that technique to stretching canvas around armatures and then painting the geometric surfaces. Material holding shape became Sanchezs medium to explore concepts, indicated by the titles of works and series, of loss, silenced women, cycles of the moon, and the topology of eroticism.

In Embodied Spaces of Zilia Sanchez, the exhibitions accompanying catalog, Dr. Vesela Sretenovic, the lead curator for Soy Isla, describes Sanchezs work as lingering between the intimate and the epic.

Under Tempkins curation, the Soy Isla retrospective diverted from the exhibition previously shown at The Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., and Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico. Instead of presenting the work chronologically, El Museo presents a more thematic grouping of heroines and women warriors, tattoos, many moons, a self-portrait, and vitrines quietly showcasing poetry books Sanchez contributed illustrations and covers to in the 60s and 70s, one on Cosmic Feminist Poetry.

Walking through the galleries of Amazonas (Amazons) and Toyanas (Trojan Women), the bodies of works are unmistakably and delightfully physical. Theres Construccion: Topologia erotica (Construction: Erotic Topology), dated 1973. Then Lunar con tatuaje (Moon with a Tattoo) dated first in 1968 and then again 1996, revealing Sanchezs penchant to continue to work on a body, giving more life to lunars multiple meanings of either a beauty mark or the moon and the evolving natures of tattoos. Subliminal is breathtaking. Amidst the artwork, the surrounding undulation, I feel as though Im enveloped in Sanchezs topologies.

Lunar con Tatuaje (1968-96)

Like two plumes of smoke rising on a bright day, Juana de Arco (Joan of Arc) (1987) features two painted panels billow nearly to the ceiling. The immensity of the body brings to mind the historic magnitude of the titles heroine, and as I look closely at the curves, crevices, lips, and nipples, the sensation of surveying the landscape around the open legs of a love with whom I want to forget time.

Lest I read too much into the artwork based on my own point of view. In her essay, Decoding Homotextuality in the Work of Zilia Sanchez Carla Acevedo-Yates, associate curator at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, delves into the idea of a works narrative being coded with sexuality.

A homotexual work is one that, although it may not be intentionally created as homosexual, reveals a complex, codified hermeneutics in which desire and sexual and gender difference are inscribed, she writes. Homotexuality, a word coined by Rudi C. Blyes in Images of Ambiente: Homotexuality and Latin Art 1810-Today (2000), embraces artworks potential reception as a site of homosexual meaning, regardless of the overt intentions of the artist.

Topologia erotica (1960-71)

Sanchez, who identifies as queer, once referred to her paintings as bisexual. She calls herself una furia, a fury, in an interview with Sretenovic, joining the howl of contemporary feminist artists declaring that eroticism is a pledge of equality and gender liberation, a power to speak.

Hear her before Soy Isla retreats on March 22, 2020.

Zilia Sanchez: Soy Isla (I Am an Island) will be on view until March 22 at El Museo Del Barrio. Curated by Dr. Vesela Sretenovic, Phillips Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art // Organized by The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC.

Visit EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO: 1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street // New York, NY // 10029

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Food delivery service GrubHub has said that it is temporarily suspending collection of up to $100 million in commission fees from independent restaurants and delivery drivers nationwide that are impacted by the pandemic.

The move will provide immediate cash relief to restaurants that make up the majority of GrubHub's over 350,000 partners and drive more than 80 percent of its orders, the company said on Friday.

It comes as increasing containment measures across the country send many restaurants into financial free fall, with dine-in traffic dropping steeply.

In New York, restaurants are shutting their doors across the state after sales fell up to 70 percent in the last week and the state issued rules cutting legal occupancy numbers by half.

GrubHub delivery man in Manhattan is seen in a file photo. GrubHub has said that it is temporarily suspending collection of up to $100 million in commission fees

GrubHub said it expects dine-in traffic in U.S. eateries to reduce by 75 percent over the next few weeks.

'We have seen revenue decrease in the past week as a direct result of our customers staying home,' said Darnell Johnson, owner of Chicago's Home of Chicken & Waffles.

Chicago-based GrubHub said that as the pandemic spreads, restaurants will rely on pickup and delivery orders to stay in business.

'Independent restaurants are the lifeblood of our cities and feed our communities. They have been amazing long-term partners for us, and we wanted to help them in their time of need,' Grubhub CEO Matt Maloney said in a statement.

GrubHub did not specify a time frame for resumption of collections, but a source close to the company told DailyMail.com that it would be worked out with businesses over time as the crisis unfolds.

Chicago-based GrubHub said that as the pandemic spreads, restaurants will rely on pickup and delivery orders to stay in business

Earlier this week, rival Postmates said it would waive off commission fees from small businesses in San Francisco due to decline in sales and traffic.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who on Thursday declared a state of emergency in the city, applauded GrubHub's move.

'Banding together during hard times, putting people over profit, and supporting our local businesses is a model we should all follow, and I thank Grubhub for leading the way,' said de Blasio in a statement.

Coronavirus had killed 42 people and infected at least 1,930 people in the U.S. as of Friday afternoon.
Cinemas, stadiums, town squares and other public gathering places are devoid of people as the coronavirus spreads to at least 118 countries around the world.

As of Thursday, the Johns Hopkins University tracker says 1,26,258 people have contracted the disease and 4,638 have died across the globe. The vast majority of the victims have been in China but the country said on Thursday that it had only 15 new cases.

The outbreak also claimed its most high-profile victim so far when Hollywood star Tom Hanks announced he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had tested positive. The couple, who are in Australia where Hanks is making a film about Elvis, said they had felt a bit tired, like we had colds before being found to be positive

Here's a look.

A view of an empty street amid the lockdown across all of the country, imposed to slow the outbreak of coronavirus, in Naples, Italy. Photograph: Ciro de Luca/Reuters

Empty seats of a bullfighting arena pictured after the events were suspended, following an outbreak of coronavirus disease in Cheongdo county, which has been designated as a 'special care zone' since the coronavirus outbreak, near Daegu in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Moored gondolas on an empty Grand Canal are seen in Venice amid the unprecedented lockdown across of all Italy imposed to slow the outbreak of coronavirus, in Venice, Italy. Photograph: Manuel Silvestri/Reuters

Empty chairs are seen on a beach which is usually full of tourists, amid fear of coronavirus in Phuket, Thailand. Photograph: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters

General view of Kaaba at the Grand Mosque, which is almost empty of worshippers, after Saudi authority suspended umrah (Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca) amid the fear of coronavirus outbreak, at Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Photograph: Yasser Bakhsh/Reuters

The holy shrine of Hani Bin A'rwa is seen empty from pilgrims, following an outbreak of the coronavirus, at the Kufa mosque, in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq. Photograph: Alaa al-Marjani/Reuters

A view of an empty movie theatre after Kerala state government ordered the closure of theatres across the state till March 16, amid coronavirus fears, in Kochi, India. Photograph: Sivaram V/Reuters

Empty cafe of Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel is seen in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photograph: Kham/Reuters

A worker mops inside an empty restaurant on North Avenue in New Rochelle, New York, US. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

General view as the match between Borussia Moenchengladbach v FC Cologne at Borussia-Park kicks off behind closed doors while the number of coronavirus cases grow around the world. Photograph: Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

Empty National Theatre is seen in Prague, as the Czech government bans events hosting more than 100 people to contain the spread of the new coronavirus disease, Czech Republic. Photograph: David W Cerny/Reuters

A deserted St Peter's Square as Pope Francis gives his weekly general audience via transmitted video a day after the Vatican closed the square and Basilica due to coronavirus concerns, as seen from Rome, Italy. Photograph: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

The Cathedral of Turin is eerily empty. Photograph: Massimo Pinca/Reuters

The hemicycle showing a few MEP's during a monthly plenary session of the European Parliament, shortened due to coronavirus outbreak, in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters
US President Donald Trump declares national emergency over COVID-19 as WHO chief calls Europe new epicentre of pandemic.

United States President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, opening the door to providing what he said was about $50bn in federal aid to fight the disease.

On Friday, the World Health Organization warned that Europe has now become the epicentre for the pandemic, called COVID-19, reporting more daily cases than China did at the height of its outbreak.

The pandemics global death toll has reached almost 5,000, while the global number of cases has surpassed 132,000, according to the WHO, which is the health agency of the United Nations. About 68,000 victims have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the virus.

The WHO declared the outbreak a pandemic as Italy tightened its strict quarantine and the US imposed a ban on flights to Europe.

Meanwhile, the virus has spread to at least 18 countries on the African continent, with Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Guinea all confirming their first cases on Friday.

Here are the latest updates:

For Saturday, March 14 updates click here.

Friday, March 13

20:34 GMT  US stocks surge; Dow Jones up 1,985 points

Wall Street roared back from its worst day in 30 years with a broad rally that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average nearly 2,000 points higher  its biggest point gain ever  after Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency.

The Dows gains doubled in the last half-hour of trading as Trump made his remarks, giving the index its biggest percentage gain since 2008 and capping a rally that recouped many of the losses from a day earlier.

19:48 GMT  Qatar confirms 58 new cases

Qatars health ministry has confirmed 58 new cases of coronavirus, taking the Gulf states total number of infections to 320, state news agency QNA reported.

Fifty-four of the new cases are related to the cases identified earlier among expatriate workers, and most of these cases have already been in quarantine, it said. The other four cases are related to travel contacts.

19:32 GMT  Trump declares national emergency over coronavirus

US President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency in an attempt to thwart the spread of the new coronavirus in the country.

Announcing the decision at the White House, Trump said this will allow him to unleash the full power of the federal government, including freeing up to $50bn to assist state and local efforts.

Trump said he was also giving Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar emergency authority to waive federal regulations and laws to give doctors and hospitals flexibility in treating patients.

Trump speaks at a news conference about the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic in the Rose Garden at the White House on March 13, 2020 in Washington, DC [Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP]

19:28 GMT  Cyprus shuts borders to non-European for 15 days

Cyprus will shut its borders for 15 days to any individual other than Cypriots, Europeans and persons with special permits in a precautionary move against coronavirus, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Friday.

The measure would come into effect March 15, he said in a state address.

18:57 GMT  Poland to block entry to foreigners from Sunday

Poland will ban foreigners from entering the country from Sunday and impose a 14-day quarantine on its citizens returning home in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

The state will not abandon (its citizens). However, in the current situation we cannot allow ourselves to keep borders open to foreigners, Morawiecki told a news conference.

Morawiecki also said shopping malls would be forced to close some shops, and restaurants, bars and casinos would be shuttered. Public gatherings would be allowed only if no more than 50 people were present.

18:48 GMT  Louisiana first state to postpone presidential primary

Louisiana became the first state in the United States to postpone a scheduled presidential primary election because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Voters in Louisiana were due to vote on April 4 in both Democratic and Republican primaries to select candidates for the November general election.

Secretary of State of Lousiana Kyle Ardoin said the vote will now take place on June 20.

18:39 GMT  Tunisia suspends prayers in mosques

Tunisia will immediately suspend prayers in mosques, close cafes at 4pm every day, and ban all cultural, sports and economic gatherings to combat the spread of the coronavirus, Tunisian Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh said.

The government has also closed Tunisias maritime borders, suspended all flights to and from Italy, in addition to reducing flights with Egypt, Germany, Britain and France.

Officials carry out disinfection as a precaution against COVID-19 at Al-Zaytuna Mosque in Tunis, Tunisia [Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu]

Tunisia has confirmed 16 cases of the coronavirus, mostly among recent arrivals from Europe, and the disease is expected to hit its crucial tourism sector hard.

18:33 GMT  Syria bans shisha, closes schools over virus fears

Syrian authorities have announced measures aimed at preventing coronavirus from reaching the war-torn country, including school closures and a ban on smoking shisha in cafes, state media reported.

Damascus ordered the closure of all public and private schools, universities and technical institutes until April 2, SANA reported.

The government also cut civil servant staffing by 60 percent, slashed working hours and suspended the use of fingerprint scanners for public employees for a month, SANA said.

18:23 GMT  Denmark to close borders to foreigners

Denmark will close its borders as of noon on Saturday for non-citizens in a move to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Danish prime minister said.

All tourists, all travel, all vacations, and all foreigners who cannot prove a creditable purpose of entering Denmark, will be denied entrance at the Danish border, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.

The closure would not apply to the transport of goods, including foods, medicine and industry supplies.

18:10 GMT  India reports second death from coronavirus

India reported its second death from coronavirus, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

The patient was a 68-year-old woman with diabetes and hypertension and died in the countrys capital, New Delhi.

India, which has a population of 1.3 billion, has so far reported 82 confirmed cases of the virus.

18:00 GMT  Trump preparing to invoke emergency powers

United States President Donald Trump is preparing to invoke emergency powers as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the US, according to two people familiar with the planning who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It was still unclear on Friday, however, precisely what mechanism Trump would use to free up additional federal resources for testing and treatment as well as help those struggling with the economic effects.

I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House. Topic: CoronaVirus!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020

17:21 GMT  Saudi Arabia suspends counting 2020 census

Saudi Arabia is suspending the counting phase of its 2020 general census until further notice because of the coronavirus outbreak, the General Authority for Statistics said in a statement.

The decision came as a precautionary measure over fears of coronavirus spread, the statement added.

Saudi Arabia on Friday reported 24 new cases of coronavirus, including 14 Egyptians, bringing the total in the kingdom to 86, state news agency SPA said, citing the health ministry.





17:10 GMT  London and Boston Marathons postponed

The London Marathon, which was scheduled to take place on April 26, has been postponed until October 4.

The Boston Marathon, originally scheduled for April 4, has been pushed back by five months and is now expected to take place on September 14.

The 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon has been postponed and is now scheduled to take place on Sunday 4 October 2020. Full statement: https://t.co/Jw0EbptGgw#LondonMarathon pic.twitter.com/r18eXLmZSH  Virgin Money London Marathon (@LondonMarathon) March 13, 2020

Find out which other sports events have been cancelled or suspended due to the coronavirus.

17:08 GMT  Italy hits one-day record with 250 new deaths

Italy has recorded its highest one-day death toll yet from cases of the new coronavirus, according to official data.

There were 250 deaths recorded over the past 24 hours, taking the total to 1,266, with 17,660 infections overall, a rise of 2,547 since Thursday evening.

16:15 GMT  Brazils Bolsonaro tests negative for coronavirus

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he had tested negative for the new coronavirus, after a scare over a trip on which at least one infected member of his staff rubbed shoulders with US President Donald Trump.

The Armed Forces Hospital and [diagnostic laboratory] Sabin have returned a negative test result for COVID-19 for the President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro, said a post on the far-right leaders Facebook page.

16:07 GMT  WHO chief: Europe now epicentre of virus pandemic

The head of the World Health Organization said Europe, not China, is now the epicentre of the worlds coronavirus pandemic.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva that more cases are now being reported every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic.

He noted that 5,000 people have lost their lives, a tragic milestone.

He said Europe now has more reported virus cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China.

15:28 GMT  Louvre Museum in Paris closed

The Louvre Museum in the French capital, Paris, said it was closing until further notice because of the coronavirus.

The closure of the museum, which had 9.6 million visitors last year, would come into effect from 17:00 GMT on Friday.

This came after the French government banned all gatherings of over 100 people to limit the spread of the virus.

Macron said France is just at the beginning of the emergency. [Thibault Camus/AFP]

15:25 GMT  Venezuela confirms first two coronavirus cases

Two people in Venezuela have tested positive for the coronavirus, marking the first cases in the South American country to be confirmed.

Early today, two cases were certified, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said in a televised statement. One 41-year-old citizen was traveling in the United States. The other was traveling in Spain.

Classes at public and private schools will be suspended starting on Monday, she added.

15:15 GMT  #ToiletPaperApocalypse : What explains coronavirus panic buying

Dubbed #ToiletPaperPanic and #ToiletPaperApocalypse online, there is no shortage of videos capturing the mass hysteria that has swept up globally as shelves are cleared.

Canned goods, water bottles and pasta shelves have similarly been emptied out.

So, why are we seeing panic buying across the globe? Read more here.

15:05 GMT  Spain to declare state of emergency over virus

Spain will be in a state of emergency for the next 15 days to better combat the coronavirus, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, after infections soared over 4,200 with 120 dead.

There will be a cabinet meeting tomorrow to declare a state of alert across the country for a period of 15 days, Sanchez said.

Unfortunately, we cannot rule out that over the next week we could reach more than 10,000 infections, he said.

The state of emergency will give the government power to take wide-ranging measures including temporarily occupying factories or any other premises except private homes.

15:03 GMT  Canadian Parliament shuts until April 20

Canadas Parliament has agreed to shut down for more than a month while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau governed remotely from his home, in self-imposed quarantine after his wife tested positive for the new coronavirus

Canadas House of Commons voted to shut down for at least five weeks to help ensure lawmakers do not contribute to the spread of the virus.





14:25 GMT  Pakistan shuts all educational institutions

Pakistan has announced a countrywide shutdown of all educational institutions over fears of coronavirus spread, according to the education minister.

The announcement came after a meeting of the national security council attended by civilian and military leadership.

In a meeting of the National Security Committee presided over PM Imran Khan, it has been decided to close all educational institutions in the country till April 5. This includes all schools and universities, public and private, vocational institutions and madaris.  Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) March 13, 2020

It has been decided to close all educational institutions in the country till April 5. This includes all schools and universities, public and private, vocational institutions and madaris, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood tweeted.

13:46 GMT  Greece shuts all museums and ruins over coronavirus

Greece will close all its museums and archaeological sites, including the entire Acropolis that looms over Athens, until the end of the month due to the impact of the coronavirus, its culture ministry said.

Greece, with 117 confirmed cases and one fatality by late Thursday, has also cancelled public gatherings and shut down schools, theatres, cinemas and gyms.

Separately, the Hellenic Olympic Committee on Friday decided to suspend the remainder of the Olympic torch relay through the country to avoid attracting crowds because of the coronavirus.

A full moon rises above Greek Parthenon temple, covered by scaffolding, at the Acropolis archaeological site in Athens [File: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP]

13:23 GMT  Guinea reports first case

An employee of the European Union delegation in Guinea has tested positive for coronavirus, a delegation spokesman said on Friday, in Guineas first confirmed case of the virus.

The patient had self-isolated after she felt ill upon returning to Guinea from Europe, spokesman Alimou Sow told Reuters. Guineas government has not yet commented on the matter.

13:21 GMT  Sudan reports first coronavirus case

Sudan has reported its first confirmed coronavirus case, a man who died on Thursday and had visited the United Arab Emirates in the first week of March.

The man, in his 50s, died in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, the health ministry said in a statement.

Sudan on Thursday stopped visa issuance and flight services to eight countries including Italy and neighbouring Egypt over fears of the coronavirus outbreak. Bus trips to Egypt have also been suspended.

13:20 GMT  Spains coronavirus tally jumps to 4,209 cases, 120 dead

The Spanish health ministry said the number of coronavirus cases in the country jumped to 4,209 from Thursdays figure of 3,004, as the disease spread mostly in Madrid, the Basque Country and La Rioja regions.

The death toll from the coronavirus epidemic in the country has increased to 120 from 84 the previous day.

Health authorities in the Madrid region said the number of cases rose to 2,078 on Friday.

13:13 GMT  Dutch coronavirus infections jump to 804, deaths double

The number of deaths of people with the coronavirus in the Netherlands has doubled to 10, Dutch health authorities said.

The number of infections rose to 802 from 614 a day earlier, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health said in a statement.

13:12 GMT  Prince Charles cancels trip to Bosnia, Cyprus, Jordan

The United Kingdoms Prince Charles and his wife Camilla have cancelled their tour of Bosnia, Cyprus and Jordan after being advised to do so by the British government, a spokesman for the royal couple said on Friday.

Queen Elizabeth IIs eldest son and heir had been due to visit from next Wednesday onward, but his office said the tour had been called off owing to the unfolding situation with the coronavirus pandemic.

Britains Prince Charles and Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall, in the background, leave after attending the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London [Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP]

12:41 GMT  F1: Bahrain and Vietnam Grand Prix postponed

The Formula One races in Bahrain and Vietnam have been postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Bahrain Grand Prix was scheduled to be held next week  at an empty track  and the inaugural Vietnamese Grand Prix was set to be held in Hanoi on April 5.

The first four races of the Formula One season have all been called off. The season-opening Grand Prix races in Australia and China were previously postponed.

The Bahrain Grand Prix race was scheduled to be held next week [File: Hassan Ammar/AP]

No new dates have been set for the races, but governing body FIA says it expects to begin the Formula One season in May when it reaches Europe with the Dutch Grand Prix.

12:38 GMT  Iran security forces to empty city streets

Irans security forces will empty the streets of its cities in the next 24 hours in a drive to fight the spread of the new coronavirus, state news agency IRNA reported on Friday.

Iran is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic outside China, with a death toll of 514, and a total of 11,364 diagnosed infections.

A firefighter wearing protective clothing, mask and goggles, sprays disinfectant on the Tabiat bridge pedestrian overpass in Tehran, Iran [File: Ali Mohammadi/Bloomberg]

12:37 GMT  Czech Republic bans entry and exit

The Czech Republic will ban entry to the country to all foreign nationals as well as ban its own citizens and permanent residents from travelling abroad to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said.

The restrictions are to take effect as of Monday.

Special regulations and exemptions will apply to truck drivers, diplomats and commuters who live or work 50 kilometres from the border with Germany and Austria.

12:35 GMT  English Premier League suspended until April 4

All elite football matches in England, including the Premier League, have been suspended until April 4 due to the coronavirus pandemic, English football governing bodies said.

Following a meeting of shareholders today, it was unanimously decided to suspend the Premier League with the intention of returning on April 4, the Premier League said in a joint statement.

The English Football League (EFL), which oversees all professional tiers of English soccer below the top-flight, had announced the suspension of all football activity earlier in the day.

The Football Association (FA) said the professional game in England would be postponed until April 3 at the earliest.

The Premier League, FA, EFL and WSL have collectively agreed to postpone the professional game in England Full statement: https://t.co/XcDyzBp4Ol pic.twitter.com/cmYjoY3LRR  Premier League (@premierleague) March 13, 2020

The mens and womens FA Cup competitions have also been suspended.

This is Saba Aziz in Doha taking over from my colleague Tamila Varshalomidze.

12:32 GMT  France to ban gatherings of more than 100 people

The French government has moved to ban gatherings of more than 100 people in public places in French territory to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told TF1 TV.

We are going to pass this limit on gatherings of 100 people, he told TF1.

12:26 GMT  North Korea had military on lockdown for 30 days

North Korea had its military forces on lockdown for about 30 days, and in one instance, they did not fly a plane for 24 days even though the country has not confirmed any cases of coronavirus, the head of United States forces in South Korea said.

Their armed forces has been fundamentally on lockdown for about 30 days and only recently have they started routine training again, General Robert Abrams told reporters at the US Pentagon, adding that he was fairly confident the country had cases of the virus.

North Korea, sandwiched between China and South Korea, has not confirmed any coronavirus cases, but has stepped up border checks and imposed quarantine measures.

12:22 GMT  EU to set up $41m coronavirus investment initiative

The European Union will establish a 37-billion-euro ($41m) investment initiative as part of a package of measures to cushion the blocs economies from the impact of coronavirus, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

The EU will also guarantee eight billion euros ($8.9bn) in loans to 100,000 firms to support the corporate sector, von der Leyen said.

I am convinced that the European Union can withstand this shock, she said. But each member state needs to live up to its full responsibility and the European Union as a whole needs to be determined, coordinated and united.

11:58 GMT  Moldova to suspend flights to Europe

Moldova will suspend all flights to European destinations from Sunday for two weeks to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Ion Chicu told reporters at a briefing.

There are six confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Eastern European country, with no deaths recorded.

11:56 GMT  Rome cardinal rolls back on decree closing churches

A Rome cardinal abruptly modified his decree closing churches in the Italian capital in order to contain coronavirus after Pope Francis criticised drastic measures by churchmen.

Cardinal Angelo De Donatis issued a new decree less than a day after his initial one, which was widely criticised by common Catholics. Under the new decree, many of Romes churches will remain open.





11:50 GMT  Iraq puts Germany and Qatar on coronavirus entry ban list

Iraq has banned entry to travellers from Germany and Qatar, its health minister said, bringing the total number of countries on its entry ban list to 13 as it tries to stem the spread of coronavirus.

The ban does not extend to Iraqi citizens and foreign diplomats, Health Minister Jaafar Allawi said in a statement. Iraq has so far recorded 83 cases of coronavirus, eight deaths, and 24 recoveries.

Allawi, who heads the governments coronavirus task force, also banned domestic travel between provinces from March 15 to 25 with the exception of emergencies, trade and employees commuting to work.

Big religious gatherings during the Islamic month of Rajab (February 25  March 24) were also banned.

11:35 GMT  Ethiopia confirms first coronavirus case

Ethiopia has confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus, the countrys public health institute told Reuters news agency.

Takele Uma Banti, the mayor of the capital Addis Ababa, tweeted that a Japanese citizen was the person affected.

We should avoid meetings and hand contacts, the mayor wrote on Twitter.

11:20 GMT  China sends medical supplies, experts to help Italy

A team of nine Chinese medical staff arrived with some 30 tonnes of equipment on a flight organised by the Red Cross Society of China.

In this moment of great stress, of great difficulty, we are relieved to have this arrival of supplies. It is true that it will help only temporarily, but it is still important, said the head of the Italian Red Cross, Francesco Rocca.

We have a desperate need for these masks right now. We need respirators that the Red Cross will donate to the government. This is for sure a really important donation for our country, Rocca said.





11:17 GMT  Czech Republic bans foreign travellers from March 16

The Czech government said it would ban all foreign travellers from entering and all Czechs from leaving the country, which has 117 confirmed cases of the virus, as of March 16.

As of midnight Sunday-Monday, we ban all foreigners from entering the Czech Republic and, at the same time, all Czech citizens from leaving the Czech territory, Interior Minister Jan Hamacek told reporters.

11:03 GMT  Iran: Coronavirus cases reach 11,364, death toll 514

Iran says it has registered 85 more coronavirus deaths in the country, bringing the total to 514. Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases reached 11,364.

10:50 GMT  Lebanon banks to close to sanitise against coronavirus

Lebanons banks will close on Saturday to take steps to sanitise branches and prevent the spread of coronavirus, the countrys banking association said in a statement on Friday.

Lebanon has so far recorded 77 cases of coronavirus and three deaths, according to the health ministry.

10:40 GMT  Trump: Testing will soon happen on very large scale

United States President Donald Trump said coronavirus testing in the US will soon happen on a large scale, but did not provide any details on how that would be accomplished.

The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go! he wrote in a tweet.

Kenyan nurses in protective gear at the Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi [Njeri Mwangi/Reuters]

10:38 GMT  Pasta, toilet paper and flour sold out in some London supermarkets

An increasing number of supermarket shelves in London were empty as people rushed to buy pasta, toilet paper, flour and frozen food after the government ordered people with coronavirus to isolate themselves.

British supermarket bosses have urged people not to panic and said they can keep shelves stocked, but anecdotal evidence from across London indicates many people are hoarding basics.

10:35 GMT  Ukraine to block entry in rebel-held areas

Ukraines government decided to ban citizens registered in the separatist-held territory in the eastern Donbass region from entering government-controlled areas.

The authorities in Kyiv are also gearing up to close border checkpoints with countries bordering the European Union in the west, but have not yet specified how many would be closed or when the closures would happen.

The decisions need the final approval from the national security and defence council, which is chaired by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and will meet later on Friday.

Consumers shop in the near-empty aisles of a supermarket in London in the United Kingdom [Justin Tallis/AFP]

10:17 GMT  Champions League, Europa League matches postponed

All Champions League and Europa League matches scheduled for next week have been postponed, European footballs governing body announced.

This includes the remaining UEFA Champions League, Round of 16 second leg matches scheduled on 17 and 18 March 2020; all UEFA Europa League, Round of 16 second leg matches scheduled on 19 March 2020; all UEFA Youth League, quarter-final matches scheduled on 17 and 18 March 2020, the UEFA said in a statement posted on its website.

Further decisions on when these matches take place will be communicated in due course.

Read which other sports events have been affected by the coronavirus.

10:08 GMT  Start of IPL cricket tournament postponed

The start of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament has been postponed until April 15 as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus, the Indian cricket board said.





10:05 GMT  Everton football players self-isolate

Evertons first-team squad and coaching staff are self-isolating after a player reported symptoms of COVID-19, the Premier League club said, without naming the player.

Everton Football Club can confirm that, as a precautionary measure, its entire first-team squad and coaching staff are undertaking a period of self-isolation following medical advice, the United Kingdom-based club said in a statement.

09:42 GMT  Airline SAS to cut, suspend US flights

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) said it would cut flights to some United States destinations and suspend traffic to others in the wake of new US travel restrictions over the coronavirus starting on March 14.

From March 14 onward, SAS will operate a reduced schedule on routes between Copenhagen and Chicago and New York and between Stockholm and New York, it said.

Flights between Copenhagen and San Francisco will operate according to schedule until March 17 and the airlines flights to other US destinations will be suspended from March 15 to 31.

A member of Sofias municipality disinfecting the market for Chinese goods in Sofia, Bulgaria [Nikolay Doychinov/AFP]

09:40 GMT  Bulgaria declares state of emergency over coronavirus

The Bulgarian parliament voted unanimously to declare a state of emergency until April 13 to contain the spread of coronavirus after the number of confirmed cases in the country rose to 23.

The state of emergency will allow for travel bans to and from countries with large coronavirus outbreaks and for the closing of schools and universities. It will also permit police to intervene when imposed isolation of infected people is not observed.

The foreign ministry banned travel to Iran and advised Bulgarians to cancel any non-urgent travel to Spain and South Korea.

09:34 GMT  Chelseas Hudson-Odoi says he recovered

I had the virus for the last couple of days, which Ive recovered from, Chelsea football forward Callum Hudson-Odoi said in a video message out on Twitter.

Hudson-Odoi, 19, displayed cold symptoms on Monday morning and has stayed away from the club since then. His test result was returned on Thursday night.

The English Premier League club said: Chelsea personnel who had recent close contact with the player in the mens team building will now self-isolate in line with Government health guidelines. These will include initially the full mens team squad, coaching staff and a number of backroom staff.

Chelsea said Hudson-Odoi was doing well and looking forward to returning to the training ground as soon as it is possible.

Thank you for all your good wishes, as I said in the video Im feeling good and hope to see you all soon!! pic.twitter.com/hn5d0ikm60  Callum Hudson-Odoi (@Calteck10) March 13, 2020

09:25 GMT  Spain: Catalonia puts four towns under quarantine

Four towns in Spains northeastern autonomous region of Catalonia have been put under quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read more here.

09:20 GMT  Lithuania to close all schools, universities, kindergartens

Lithuanias government said it will close all schools, universities and kindergartens in the country for two weeks to limit the spread of the new coronavirus.

09:16 GMT  Tokyo to postpone opening ceremony of Olympic aquatics centre

The Tokyo metropolitan government said it would postpone the opening ceremony of the Olympic aquatics centre due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The opening ceremony had been planned for March 22, Tokyo said in a statement.

09:05 GMT  Cases rise in the Netherlands to 614

Dutch health authorities say the confirmed cases of the coronavirus rose to 614 in the Netherlands.

The countrys Prime Minister Mark Rutte said his government will introduce new measures to trace the new coronavirus cases.

08:55 GMT  Kazakhstan confirms first coronavirus cases

Two Kazakh citizens have tested positive for coronavirus after returning from Germany, Healthcare Minister Yelzhan Birtanov said, the first cases of the disease in the Central Asian country.

The patients are staying in a specialised hospital in Almaty, Kazakhstans biggest city, he told a briefing.

Customers wearing protective masks visit a local food market in Almaty, Kazakhstan [Pavel Mikheyev/Reuters]

08:50 GMT  Armenia shuts educational institutions until March 23

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia would shut educational institutions immediately over coronavirus fears until March 23.

Armenia has recorded six cases of coronavirus, according to the health ministry, but 30 people who have been quarantined since March 1 will be tested again for the virus.

08:45 GMT  Wild ride: Markets recoup some losses after virus-driven rout

Asian financial markets slumped on Friday after Wall Street posted its worst single-day crash since 1987, but quickly recouped losses as policymakers ramped up efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak and its economic effects.

Read more here.

08:31 GMT  How Italy, South Korea differ in tackling coronavirus outbreak

In Italy, millions are locked down and more than 1,000 people have died from the coronavirus.

But in South Korea, which was hit by the disease at about the same time, only a few thousand are quarantined and 67 people died.

Read more here.

08:25 GMT  Czech Republic widens quarantine

The Czech government will require people returning from all high-risk countries to quarantine themselves, widening a requirement so far only applied to those returning from Italy, Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said on Twitter.

The list named 15 high-risk countries including neighbouring Germany and Austria but also the United States and Japan.

Masked shoppers stand near the Apple logo in Beijing, China [Ng Han Guan/AP]

08:10 GMT  Apple reopens all its branded stores in China

Apple Inc has reopened all 42 of its branded stores in China, more than a month after they were shut due to fears over the coronavirus outbreak, the iPhone makers Chinese website showed.

Apples China website has listed the opening times for all stores, which vary from 10am to 11am local time. The website had previously carried an advisory saying not all stores were open.

08:05 GMT  Indonesia records second death

Indonesias President Joko Widodo says the country registered its second coronavirus-related death.

07:35 GMT  Kenya confirms first case

Kenya registered its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus, Minister of Health Mutahi Kagwe says.

The patient, who was diagnosed on the night of March 12, had travelled back to Kenya from the United States via London, Kagwe told a news conference.

07:15 GMT

Hello, I am Tamila Varshalomidze in Doha. Taking over from my colleague, I will be updating you on the coronavirus for the next few hours.

An electronic stock board showing Japans Nikkei 225 and the New York Dow index in Tokyo [Eugene Hoshiko/AP]

07:10 GMT  Australian home affairs minister tests positive

Peter Dutton, Australias home affairs minister, said he entered hospital quarantine after testing positive for the new coronavirus.

This morning I woke up with a temperature and sore throat, said the minister, a key architect of Australias controversial immigration laws.

It is the policy of Queensland Health that anyone who tests positive is to be admitted into hospital and I have complied with their advice.

06:30 GMT  China spokesman suggests coronavirus originated from US

Zhao Lijian, a top spokesman of the Chinese government and senior foreign ministry official, posted on social media on Friday a report published in a Canada-based conspiracy website suggesting that the coronavirus originated from the US.

 This is so astonishing that it changed many things I used to believe in. Please retweet to let more people know about it, Zhao wrote on Twitter.

His post accompanied an article with the headline: A shocking update. Did The Virus Originate in the US?

Earlier, Zhao also posted a video of the US Congress hearing, suggesting that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was caught on the spot saying that patient zero had been in the US.

05:57 GMT  Turkey confirms second coronavirus case

Turkeys health minister has announced the countrys second case of the coronavirus, which is linked to the first case.

He is from the immediate circle of our first patient, who was followed up as soon as the diagnosis was made, Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter on Friday.

We have taken the necessary measures to keep the possible spread of the virus within these limits. We will overcome this problem together, he added.

04:59 GMT  Indonesia to ban face-mask exports

Indonesia will temporarily ban the export of face masks to safeguard domestic supply amid the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters news agency reported on Friday.

We will issue a temporary export ban for mask products to meet demand from domestic industries and consumers, Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto told reporters.

The ban will be in place until the government is satisfied local supply is adequate, he said.

Face mask prices have jumped in some parts of Indonesia as buyers stock up on protective supplies such as masks and hand sanitisers due to worries about the coronavirus.

There are an estimated 34 cases in Indonesia, with one death and two recoveries.

04:20 GMT Chinas first coronavirus case traced back to November 17

The South China Morning Post reported that the first case of someone in China suffering from the coronavirus was traced back to November 17.

The Hong Kong-based newspaper cited government data from China.

The exclusive report said that a 55-year-old man from Hubei Province may have been the first person to have contracted the deadly disease in mid-November last year.

South Korea reported 177 fully recovered patients were released on Thursday, and more than 110 new cases [Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters]

03:35 GMT  South Korea sees more virus patients released than new infections

South Korea  which once witnessed the largest coronavirus outbreak outside China  saw its newly recovered patients exceed fresh infections for the first time on Friday, as it reported its lowest number of new cases in three weeks.

The country confirmed 110 new cases on Thursday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, taking the total to 7,979.

But 177 fully recovered patients were released the same day, it added.

South Korea has an advanced medical system widely available to all, and has embarked on a huge coronavirus testing drive.

03:35 GMT  F1 cancels season-opening Australian Grand Prix

As thousands of fans queued to get into the Australian Grand Prix for the first Formula One weekend of the season, the teams and drivers were packing up to leave.

Concern over the coronavirus left organisers with little choice on Friday but to cancel the season-opening race, particularly after McLarens withdrawal because a team member tested positive for the COVID-19 illness and following heavy criticism from six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Principals of nine F1 teams and organisers met overnight and concluded with a majority view of the teams that the race should not go ahead, a joint statement by motorsports governing body, the organisers and F1 said.

Chinese labourers work at a construction site in Chinas Guizhou province on Wednesday [China Daily via Reuters]

03:19 GMT  Most of larger Chinese firms outside Hubei resume work

Chinas Vice Industry Minister Xin Guobin said on Friday the work resumption rate outside of Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, is about 60 percent for small and medium firms and more than 95 percent for larger firms.

Xin, speaking to reporters at a State Council briefing, said China will coordinate with other countries to push forward on business resumption even as the pandemic stokes uncertainty about the return to normalcy.

The country is trying to get back to work after imposing strict restrictions on transport and people to slow the spread of infections.

03:17 GMT  Hong Kong records fourth coronavirus death

An 80-year old man became the fourth patient in Hong Kong to die due to the coronavirus, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting a Nethersole Eastern Hospital spokeswoman.

Hong Kong has so far confirmed around 130 coronavirus cases.

02:57 GMT  Filipino diplomat first known coronavirus case at UN in New York

A female diplomat from the Philippines mission to the United Nations tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, according to a note sent to UN missions, making her the first known case at the world bodys New York headquarters, Reuters reported on Friday.

As of today, the Philippine Mission is in lockdown, and all personnel are instructed to self-quarantine and to seek medical attention should they develop the symptoms. We are assuming that all of us have been infected, wrote Philippines acting UN Ambassador Kira Azucena in a message seen by Reuters.

According to the online UN directory of diplomatic staff, there are about 12 diplomats at the Filipino mission, which is on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin posted on Twitter that the diplomat was young, spritely and doing well, adding that she had recently returned from Florida.

The infected is doing well; she's young, spritely, smart and taking some doctor prescribed meds. Thank you. I just talked to Kira. https://t.co/lwb8VWtDz8  Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) March 13, 2020

02:52 GMT  China coronavirus deaths reach 3,176, infections hit 80,813

Chinas National Health Commission reported on Friday at least seven new coronavirus deaths as of the end of Thursday, pushing the total number nationwide to 3,176.

Beijing also reported at least eight new confirmed cases during the same period, pushing the total number of cases to 80,813.

At least 68,000 patients have reportedly recovered from the infection.

01:54 GMT Friday  Canadian PM Trudeaus wife positive of coronavirus

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus wife, Sophie, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to the prime ministers office.

Trudeaus office had earlier said that the Canadian first lady returned from a speaking engagement in Britain and had mild flu-like symptoms, including a low fever, late on Wednesday night.

The prime minister is quarantining himself at home.

Read more here.

Personal message from Sophie. pic.twitter.com/rXVilM6dxH  Cameron Ahmad (@CameronAhmad) March 13, 2020

01:37 GMT Friday  Japan says Olympics on track despite Trumps suggestion to postpone

Japan is on track to hold the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as planned, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said on Friday, after US President Donald Trump suggested a possible delay of a year.

Suga did not confirm or deny whether Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed Trumps comments in a phone call earlier on Friday.

The two leaders spoke for about 50 minutes about the coronavirus pandemic, among other topics, Suga said.

A senior government spokesman is set to brief reporters on the talks shortly.

They did not talk about travel restrictions between Japan and the United States while I was present, he said, adding he left the talks before they ended.

00:27 GMT Friday  Saudi Arabia detects 17 cases of coronavirus, total at 62

At least 11 of the new cases of coronavirus infections in Saudi Arabia involve Egyptian citizens [File: Amr Nabil/AP]

Saudi Arabia detected 17 new cases of coronavirus, 11 of whom were Egyptians, state news agency (SPA) said on Friday.

This brings the total number of cases detected in the kingdom to 62, SPA added.

23:55 GMT Thursday  Major Mexican university to suspend classes until further notice

Mexicos Tecnologico de Monterrey university said on Thursday it would suspend all academic events and classes at its campuses from next week until further notice to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The university, one of the most important in Mexico, said in a statement the suspension would take effect from March 17. It would review the measures after the week of the Semana Santa Easter holidays, which ends on April 12, the university added.

Separately, Mexicos National Autonomous University (UNAM), said it would be tightening preventative measures against the spread of coronavirus, but was not suspending classes yet.

22:00 GMT Thursday  Portugal orders schools, nightclubs shut due to coronavirus

On Thursday, Portugals government ordered the shutdown of all schools nationwide starting on Monday to contain the coronavirus epidemic until further evaluation on April 9, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said in a televised address.

He also said cruise ship passengers would not be allowed to disembark, except for those residing in Portugal. Nightclubs in the country will be shut, and there will be capacity restrictions on entry to shopping malls and restaurants.

21:55 GMT Thursday  Belgian government says schools, restaurants, clubs to close due to coronavirus

Belgiums government ordered schools, cafes, restaurants and some shops to close due to the coronavirus, following decisions by France and other European countries to limit all but essential activities.

The measures take effect from Friday at midnight central European time and run until April 3, although schools are set to be shut for five weeks, including during the Easter holidays, Belgiums caretaker Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes told a news conference.

There is no lockdown, Wilmes told reporters, stressing that supermarkets and pharmacies would remain open and other shops would only be required to close on weekends. We want to avoid the Italian situation and avoid lockdowns.

Im Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur.

You can read all the updates from yesterday (March 12) here.
(Newser)  Joe Biden's campaign has formally requested Secret Service protection for the candidate, reports Fox News. A congressional official tells CNN that House and Senate leaders from both parties have been informed of "a formal request for USSS protection" with "disposition of the matter expected soon." The Department of Homeland Security will decide on the request after consultation with congressional leaders. The move comes after multiple security scares on the Biden campaign trail.

story continues below

After Jill Biden and senior campaign adviser Symone Sanders tussled with anti-dairy protesters at a campaign event in Los Angeles earlier this month, the candidate told Today that Secret Service protection seemed "increasingly" necessary. "I don't like to  throw them out" a la President Trump, but "I do think the idea of jumping on a stage is just not permissible," Biden said. "The last thing we need is anybody hurt." Protesters have disrupted several others events attended by the former vice president this month, reports ABC News. Biden said his wife had also grabbed a protester in New Hampshire. "I didn't even see him coming behind me," he told Today. (One state has just postponed its primary.)
Unlike the Mauna Loa, the biggest volcano of Hawaii, Mexico has the smallest volcano in the entire planet, known as the

. The size of the volcano is only around 13 meters and is located near the vicinity of Puebla City. Its size is smaller than most of the famous statues around the world, like the Statue of Liberty. The famous volcano is actually a geyser and has existed because of the Popo eruption in Mexico. Indigenous individuals used to store their food inside the small volcano to maintain its freshness. The name of the volcano was inspired by a bowl for storage.
Washington (AFP) - A US judge on Thursday ordered former US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning released from jail, a day after a support group said she tried to kill herself.

She had been imprisoned since May 16 last year for refusing to appear before a grand jury targeting anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

Because the grand jury was discharged on Thursday, "the court finds that Ms Manning's appearance before the grand jury is no longer needed, in light of which her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose," US District Judge Anthony Trenga wrote in his decision from Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington.

However, the judge ordered Manning, 32, to pay $256,000 in fines levied for her refusal to testify.

Under the order detaining her last year, Manning was to be held either until she agreed to testify or for the life of the grand jury, but no longer than 18 months.

Manning's leaks years earlier of classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan made her a hero to anti-war and anti-secrecy activists, and her actions helped make WikiLeaks a force in the global anti-secrecy movement.

"I object to this grand jury... as an effort to frighten journalists and publishers, who serve a crucial public good," Manning said in a letter to the court last year, according to the Sparrow Project support group.

Manning has also said she answered all questions about her involvement with WikiLeaks years ago.

The Sparrow Project said on Wednesday that Manning was recovering in a hospital after trying to commit suicide.

Manning was ordered to testify last year for an investigation examining actions by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2010.

At the time Manning, a transgender woman then known as Bradley Manning, was a military intelligence analyst.

She delivered more than 700,000 classified documents into WikiLeaks's hands. The documents exposed cover-ups of possible war crimes and revealed internal US communications about other countries.

Sentenced in 2013 to 35 years in prison, she was released in May 2017 after the commutation of her sentence by president Barack Obama.
A New Jersey 7-Eleven owner was arrested after police said she sold makeshift hand sanitizer that chemically burned four children.

Facebook/River Vale Police Department

A New Jersey 7-Eleven owner has been charged with child endangerment and deceptive business practices after police said she sold makeshift hand sanitizer that burned four children.

Authorities said the owner sold roughly a dozen bottles of the bootleg sanitizer before officers arrived and seized her remaining supply.

NorthJersey.com reported that the owner created the mixture by combining commercial sanitizer with water and selling it in spray bottles.

State prosecutors issued a warning to retailers who "try to make a quick buck by exploiting others" during the coronavirus pandemic.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

New Jersey prosecutors have charged a 7-Eleven owner, alleging she sold bootleg hand sanitizer that caused chemical burns on at least four children.

The River Vale Police Department posted a photo of the makeshift sanitizer sold in spray bottles and marketed as "Spray Sanitizer."

The owner, Manisha Bharade, has been charged with child endangerment and deceptive business practices. NorthJersey.com reported that Bharade had created the bootleg sanitizer by mixing commercial sanitizer with water.

Authorities said they were alerted to the issue after a photo on social media showed "a young boy with apparent burns to his arm and leg."

Officers then went to the store and seized the remaining products. They said roughly a dozen of the spray bottles were sold to customers on March 9.

"Our first priority is to make the public aware that they should not use this item if they purchased it at the River Vale 7-Eleven," Lt. John DeVoe said in a statement.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal tweeted a warning to retailers who "try to make a quick buck by exploiting others" during the coronavirus pandemic that has killed 31 people in the US so far, sickened at least 1,150 others, and prompted people to stockpile items like hand sanitizer.

Story continues

"Let me be perfectly clear. If you try to take advantage of our residents during a public health emergency, we will hold you accountable," Grewal said.

Read the original article on Insider
The quarantine area at the Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, March 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

A 25-year-old man in Saigon's Tan Binh District has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, becoming the country's 45th infection, the Health Ministry confirmed Friday.

The man went to the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control to report that he had come into contact with an infected businesswoman in Binh Thuan Province.

He worked with the woman and her husband, and had dinner with them in the south central province on March 3. He returned to Saigon the next day in a private car with three others.

On March 10, after learning that the businesswoman had tested positive for the virus, he isolated himself at home. On March 12, he developed symptoms of a stuffy nose and sore throat; and went to the district health center to get it checked.

He was quarantined at the health center before being taken to the Cu Chi field hospital for centralized quaratine in outlying district Cu Chi in a specialized ambulance.

His samples were tested at the city's Hospital of Tropical Diseases and the results came back positive Thursday night for the first time. The samples were taken to the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City Friday to double check. The infection was confirmed the same day.

Health officials have investigated and quarantined those whod coming into close contact with the man. They also disinfected his home and neighborhood.

The businesswoman, 51, had flown from Ho Chi Minh City to New York on February 22, transiting at the Incheon International Airport in South Korea for three hours.

On February 29, she flew back from Washington D.C., transiting at the Doha International Airport in Qatar. She landed at the Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC on March 2 and took a car home to the resort town of Phan Thiet in Binh Thuan.

On March 5, she developed high fever and a cough. Four days later, she was admitted to the Binh Thuan General Hospital and placed under quarantine pending Covid-19 tests. She was confirmed positive on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the 59-year-old husband, 28-year-old son, two-year-old granddaughter, an in-law and 12-year-old neighbor boy of the woman also tested positive. A day earlier, her house-help, an employee and daughter-in-law were confirmed infected.

So far, Binh Thuan has recorded nine infection cases, making it the worst hit locality in the country.

Two streets in Phan Thiet have been locked down since Friday as nine people in the area tested Covid-19 positive.

Vietnam has recorded 29 infection cases over the past week, according to the health ministry's data, after going 22 days with no new infections. All 16 Covid-19 patients recorded until then had been discharged from hospitals by February 26.

The Covid-19 outbreak has thus far spread to 127 countries and territories around the world, killing close to 5,000.
Hospitals across San Antonio are curtailing access to their facilities and screening visitors for symptoms of the novel coronavirus, a signal that the local health care system is gearing up for community spread of the virus.

University Hospital announced Thursday  a day after the virus reached pandemic levels  that it will begin funneling visitors to three entrances at the hospital and close all others starting at 5 a.m. Friday.

Anyone coming into the hospital will be screened for symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever, cough and shortness of breath. Visitors will also be asked about recent travel history to areas that have high transmission of the virus.

Only those who pass the screening will be allowed to enter through the main entrance and the adult and pediatric emergency room entrances.

On ExpressNews.com: Calm the panic: With impending release of cruise ship evacuees, San Antonio health officials begin pivot to community coronavirus plan

Patients at University will also be limited to two visitors per day. Visitation rules may be even more stringent for units or floors where there is a large concentration of patients with compromised immune systems.

The hospital is encouraging friends and family to limit face-to-face visitation and instead contact patients through other means, such as calls, texts or video messaging.

The measures are similar to those implemented at Methodist hospitals last week. Visitors coming to limited entrances at that systems hospitals will also be assessed for potential symptoms and travel history. If they are symptomatic, they will be turned away and told to self-quarantine at home, said Allen Harrison, president and CEO of Methodist Healthcare.

On ExpressNews.com: Not a question of if, but when: U.S. health officials gear up for community coronavirus spread

Volunteers are being asked to avoid patient units. All large meetings and gatherings have been postponed, and business travel has been suspended for the next 30 days.

Health care workers are also being instructed to use appropriate conservation of personal protective gear to maintain adequate supply.

As of Wednesday, patients were limited to two visitors daily, Harrison said.

While the new policies may seem strict, he said exceptions may be made for extenuating circumstances, such as for families saying goodbye to a dying loved one.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

Baptist Health Systems precautionary changes for visitors, which take effect Friday, are along the same lines, including taking visitors temperatures as they enter. Entry points have been adjusted, and additional hand sanitizing stations have been set up.

COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized in Baptist facilities, as well as those under suspicion of having the virus, will not be allowed to have visitors.

Lauren Caruba covers health care and medicine in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 11 : President Donald J. Trump meets with bank CEOs about Coronavirus COVID-19 response in the Cabinet Room at the White House on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 in Washington, DC.

WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump pressed Congress on Friday to include a nine-month payroll tax holiday in the coronavirus relief package that is being finalized in the Democratic-led House.

TRUMP TWEET

But after several days of intense negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the bill that's coming together does not include a suspension of payroll taxes.

"I think we're very close to getting this done," Mnuchin told CNBC on Friday morning.

Unlike Trump, however, Mnuchin did not expressly endorse a payroll tax cut. Instead, he said on "Squawk on the Street" that Trump is committed to helping individuals, "whether it's through the payroll tax cut or whether it's through another means."

The uncertainty over the payroll tax cut raises the question of how far the president would be willing to go to force Congress to include the provision in the bill. A White House spokesman on Friday did not immediately respond to questions from CNBC about the president's intentions.

Mnuchin also sought to play down public fears of air travel, telling CNBC, "I'd get on a commercial airline and fly to LA if I wasn't working 24 hours a day."

Trump, in an Oval Office address Wednesday night, had asked lawmakers to consider implementing payroll tax relief amid the U.S. response to the virus. But even some Republicans have been reluctant to endorse this, in large part because payroll taxes fund programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Democrats have resisted, saying it doesn't help people who have lost their jobs.
In response to concerns about community spread of the COVID-19 coronvirus, organizations and state agencies continue to cancel or postpone events. Among the latest are:

 The City of Rio Rancho and its Mayor Gregg Hull, who has signed a resolution declaring a local health care emergency, announced effective Saturday, March 14, that a number of city facilities will close until further notice. The facilities, and associated services, include Meadowlark Senior Center; Cabezon Community Center; Haynes Community Center; Star Heights Recreation Center; Sabana Grande Recreation Center; Rio Rancho Aquatic Center; Loma Colorado Main Library; and Esther Bone Memorial Library. For more information, go to www.rrnm.gov/covid19.

 The Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico (PERA) offices in Albuquerque and Santa Fe will be closed until further notice, the agency said Friday. Its anticipated the closures will last until state public schools resume normal operations. Essential services will continue and PERA retirees will continue regular, monthly retirement benefit payments throughout the period that our offices are closed. Go to www.nmpera.orgfor updates.

 The 69th annual Brother Mathias Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner scheduled for Saturday, March 14, at St. Pius X High School has been canceled, according to the Good Shepherd Center. If you pre-ordered tickets, call 505-243-2527, extension 303, for a refund.

 The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and South Valley Regional Association of Acequias have postponed the Primer Agua event at Atrisco Acequia Madre in Albuquerque on March 21.

 The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has postponed the March 14 Governors Special Hunt Auction and Banquet, the April 3 Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout stocking in the Rio Grande Gorge and the March 18 Taos meeting for the Wildlife Corridors Action Plan.

 The United States Association of Martial Artists has canceled its 2020 Grand Internationals tournament and seminars, which was to be held March 13-15 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Albuquerque. Information about rescheduling of the event will be available on the USAMA website at www.usamartialartists.org or on the organizations Facebook page.

 The 2020 Albuquerque Journal New Mexico Spelling Bee, scheduled for March 21 at Albuquerque Academy, has been canceled. Spelling bee officials are working with businesses to extend the deadline and reschedule the event, which will be posted in the Albuquerque Journal.

 The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium has canceled its annul fundraiser concert, auction and raffle on March 15 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. The grassroots organization tries to raise awareness and funds for people suffering from the effects of radiation stemming from the July 1945 nuclear blast test at Trinity Site on what is now White Sands Missile Range. The event has been rescheduled for July 26.

 The Friends of the Albuquerque Public Libraries has canceled this months book sale on March 14, held at the main public library at 5th Street and Copper NW. For further information call 768-5167.

 Sagebrush Church has sent out a message indicating no church events were going to be canceled, but those who may be feeling ill or who wish to avoid crowds can view Sunday services streaming live on the church website, www.sagebrush.church, or can watch it on YouTube via the churchs app.

 The Office of the Assessor has cancelled this months annual veteran outreach event for March 19. Assessor Tanya R. Giddings reminds property owners that the Assessors Office website is an excellent source to answer personal and property exemptions and other property assessment questions. Visit the website for useful online tools at www.bernco.gov/assessor, or contact the Assessors Office at 505-222-3700.

 The Placitas Artists Series event for March 15  the 2 p.m. visual artists reception and the 3 p.m. Shtrykov-Tanaka Duo concert, have been canceled.

 The March 25 Roswell storm-spotter class has been canceled by the National Weather Service.

 The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department has closed all New Mexico State Parks to overnight camping through April 9, unless extended. Scheduled events during this time have also been canceled or postponed, but all 35 state parks will remain open for day use.

 Meow Wolfs Santa Fe exhibit House of Eternal Return will be closed at least until March 31. Concerts and events at the venue are canceled until at least April 15, and refunds for those events are available. The companys business offices will remain open.

 The New Mexico Technology Council has postponed its Women in Technology Awards event previously scheduled for March 26. A new date has not been set.

 New Mexico Taxation & Revenue has indefinitely suspended its public tax workshops for businesses until further notice.

 New Mexico Department of Veterans Services has indefinitely suspended all public events until further notice.

 The New Mexico Business Coalition has indefinitely postponed a business and social hour it had scheduled March 18 with keynote speaker House Minority Whip Rep. Rod Montoya.

 The Santa Fe Community Convention Center has canceled the Home Show, previously planned for March 14-15; the Mayors Ball previously planned for March 21; and the 2020 Business Expo, previously planned for April 2.

 Albuquerque Economic Development has postponed its Quarterly Investors Luncheon on March 19th.

 Sandoval Economic Alliances Quarterly Luncheon scheduled for March 17 has been postponed and tentatively rescheduled for next month.

 New Mexico Tech is extending its spring break through the week of March 23.

 For a list of cancellations or postponements happening in Valencia County, visit the list compiled by the Valencia County News-Bulletin.
WASHINGTON  The Defense Department is still holding the coronavirus largely at bay, even as it cancels or scales back exercises and ponders how to cope with the traditional summertime job moves by thousands of service members.

As of Tuesday, three active duty service members had confirmed cases of the virus, officially called COVID-19, Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, the senior medical officer on the Joint Staff told reporters at the Pentagon. Of those, one is in South Korea, one in Italy and one in the United States. All are doing well at this point, Friedrichs said. In addition, one Defense Department civilian, four dependents and one Pentagon contractor have also been confirmed as having contracted the virus, and six additional people are being evaluated as presumptive cases, he said.

By contrast, as of Tuesday there were 808 total cases in the United States, according to a running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. However, Friedrichs said that the Defense Department numbers likely represent an undercount, given how quickly the disease is spreading. But he said he couldnt estimate what the actual number of cases might be.

South Korea is experiencing one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks outside China. (Woo Jang-ho/Yonhap via AP)

Friedrichs attributed the Defense Departments success  so far  in avoiding any serious outbreaks in part to the militarys relatively young and healthy population, whose symptoms often amount to no more than a mild cold, as well as to the departments constant reinforcement of common sense measures like frequent handwashing and checking on the health of ones peers if they appear unwell.

In addition, Friedrichs cited the militarys long-standing plans for how to combat infectious disease outbreaks. The military is good on planning, he said. Were also good on trying to decrease risk.

One way the military is mitigating risk is by reducing its participation in some large multinational training exercises. U.S. Africa Command announced Tuesday that the African Lion 2020 exercise, which involves U.S., Moroccan, Senegalese and Tunisian forces, among others, and is scheduled to begin March 23, would only include those parts of the exercise that do not require troops to be lodged in close quarters.

Story continues

In late February, the U.S. and South Korean militaries canceled their annual joint training exercises, one of a series of what Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman described as highly aggressive and effective steps that Army Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, has taken to minimize the risk to his troops in South Korea, which is experiencing one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks outside China. But the virus has not resulted in any dramatic reduction in readiness or the ability of our forces, according to Hoffman. Rear Adm. William Byrne, vice director of the Joint Staff, told reporters that U.S. forces in Korea are continuing to conduct small-unit training. Were maximizing every opportunity to maintain our readiness, he said.

But the scale of the outbreak in South Korea, where there have been more than 7,500 confirmed cases, persuaded the U.S. Army to halt all movement of soldiers in and out of the country, where about 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed. Some soldiers and their families on the peninsula, who had been preparing to move to new military assignments in the United States or elsewhere, had already shipped their household goods and furniture when the Army issued its order, which is effective through May 6 or until further notice, according to a U.S. Forces Korea statement.

The Army likewise banned all movements of soldiers to and from Italy, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases (9,172 as of Tuesday) in Europe. The Armys actions underline the tough decisions that the military will have to take regarding those countries and others with the approach of summer, the time of year when military personnel traditionally change duty stations. The Pentagon is weighing its options, given the danger of personnel contracting the virus during international or cross-country air travel. The movement alone can put people at risk, Hoffman said. High-level meetings between the services are ongoing in order to come up with a department-wide policy, he said.

Meanwhile, Defense Department research facilities, in coordination with other government agencies, are experimenting with a variety of medications in the hope of developing an effective treatment for the coronavirus, Friedrichs said. The department is also working to develop better tests for the virus as well as to come up with a vaccine, he said.

Of the three, new testing capabilities are probably going to be the easiest to deliver, followed by the countermeasures, he said, adding that developing a vaccine will take the longest. That typically takes months and sometimes years to develop a safe and effective vaccine, Friedrichs said.

At a press conference on Monday, he explained that any potential vaccine would first have to undergo safety testing, then more widespread testing to evaluate its effectiveness before being released to the general public.

The departments response to the virus is reaching the uppermost levels of command and the innermost parts of the Pentagon. On Monday, senior leaders in the Pentagon held a meeting that would normally include as many people as you can cram into a room, but instead was spread between several rooms connected by video-teleconference, Hoffman said. During the meeting, he added, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley sat six feet apart, the recommended distance to avoid transfer of the virus. Everyone should practice good social distancing, Friedrichs said.

To that point, Hoffman chided the journalists at Mondays press conference for sitting too close together. When some of the same reporters turned up for Tuesdays press conference, they found their chairs placed several feet apart from each other.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
New Delhi: Sitting on a thin mattress in one corner of the New Mustafabad Eidgah, Kashif is engrossed in his English lessons inside a palpably sullen relief camp in northeast Delhi. His family was uprooted from Shiv Vihar Gali Number 21 after their home was set on fire by rioters two weeks ago.

The five-year-old diligently studied as a fracas broke out between two women over collection of relief material. They were loud, but his attention didnt waver. English is his favourite subject, his mother said as her eyes welled up. He always got excellent, very good in his report cards, but everything is reduced to ashes now. We are so poor; how do we rebuild our sons dreams? she asked.

Kashif has not been eating properly since the February 25 carnage. He also does not sleep at night, and spends his day writing letters to Allah. His mother rued that his boy hasnt shed a tear even a week after the riots. He has mostly been numb, contrary to his playful nature. Kashifs friends were around him, but he spoke to none in the camp.

The Eidgah has been converted into a relief camp by the Delhi government, in association with the Wakf Board, to shelter hundreds of riot victims who have been displaced in the course of the communal violence.

The entrance to the relief camp.

Riots Through the Eyes of Children

Twenty minutes into the visit, Kashif revealed English isnt the only thing he is passionate about. I want to become the chief minister to help my country, said the boy said as his eyes glared for the first time. He then pulled out a chit from under his mothers dupatta, which was folded and used as a pillow, that had a heart-rending message: God, please make everything fine again. The child is in upper kindergarten (UKG).

When the rioters came for Kashifs house, they blew the first gas cylinder in his study room after cutting open the main door to the entrance. The family had moved up to the terrace by then and, one hour into the havoc, they were forced to run for their lives.

One of the many letters that Kashif "wrote to Allah"

Meanwhile, 12-year-old Ifra, a student in Rajdhani Public School, which suffered heavy destruction in the course of the riots, said she was writing her social studies examination when the turmoil began on February 24 around noon. There was horrible noise outside. During the exam I wasnt thinking about my paper, but how to be alive after I left the classroom, would I ever reach home, was my mother even alive. And then we also heard buses burning at the bus stand outside my school. We were too scared and I left questions worth over 25 marks unanswered. In no time, they began pelting rocks at our school, the girl said. She was later rescued by five of her cousins and missed three examinations since the riots.

When she reached home, it was already ransacked. A day later, it was burnt down.

Since class 2, I wanted to become a doctor and open a hospital for poor people like us. How will I become one now? They burnt my books. My dreams are shattered and all I think of now is my house burning, said the class 7 student. Beside Ifra lay her three-year-old cousin, who has been running a fever for the past six days. The toddler keeps repeating only one word, ghar (home)", her mother said, caressing her babys head.

Inside a Childs Mind

As one entered the tent, a pile of unkempt clothes were heaped together and kept aside for the victims, and behind it was a makeshift washroom that had a long queue, showing the vulnerability of the riot-torn children.

A camp is not a home, said Ifra. Since we fled, I havent changed my clothes, revealed the girl, who likes to wear dresses, gowns and umbrella frocks tailor-made by her mother.

Like Ifra and Kashif, many other students whose families have suffered in the riots are also living through the same horror.

On Sunday night, 14-year-old Faraz had completed his mathematics homework, which had to be submitted on Tuesday. I took three days to complete the problems because I am weak in maths. Par main check nahi kara paya kyunki sab jal gaya. Bohot bura laga (but I could not get it checked because everything got burnt. I felt horrible), said Faraz, a class 8 student of Manav Convent Public School, fiddling with his mothers scarf as she prayed. Their house, too, was torched.

Its a shame that we could not protect our own children. They are the unnecessary victims, an elderly woman, a former resident of Karawal Nagar, said while staring at the grim faces of the children narrating the brutal events they witnessed unfolding in front of their eyes.

A medical facility set up for the riot victims inside the relief camp.

At least four schools were vandalised and burnt in northeast Delhi during one of the most gruesome riots in decades.

Most of the children News18 met recalled the explosion of gas cylinders inside their homes, which they said have been indelible in their minds. The destruction of local mosques and attack on their schools were among the other disturbing events that the children recapitulated.

They should have thought that even we want to become something in life. This time a week ago I was in my school, studying, but now we are here in this camp. Sitting and sleeping with everybody, without any books. I was studying to build a future and now I missed so many exams. Hamein kuch banne ka haq hai ki nahi (don't we have the right to become something)? asked Alisha, a Judo practitioner who was set to participate in her school tournament on that day.

Alisha and her family were displaced after a mob attacked their neighourhood near Shamshan Ghat, Shiv Vihar, and began ransacking their home. The family is now uncertain if the house remains or was set afire.

We feel terrible about this sudden change of environment. I want to go home and study, go to school and participate in Judo. I always wanted to become a soldier; I feel happy when I see women soldiers, said the class 7 student. She came third in her class in the December exams, her mother added. Even yesterday, she played with the neighbours child and now we are here, she said.

As News18 moved to Bhagirathi Vihar, another riot-hit region in northeast Delhi, we found the roads still strewn with stones and a large portion of the wall adjoining the canal broken. The pattern of the damage was similar: locks of houses broken, then marauded and burnt in a line.

Inside one of the lanes was Anishs house. This four-year-old saw everything. Its unbelievable, said the childs uncle who sat beside him with a hand fan.

A completely gutted electric-rickshaw garage beside Anish's house in Bhagirathi Vihar.

Rioters barged into Anishs house and burnt his father and uncles motorcycle in front of him. The boy has not been going to school ever since the violence broke out and has been looking for his missing toys and his tricycle that was gutted along with other vehicles.

While Anish looks for his toys, four-year-old Sama believes her father has gone out to get gifts for her. Her 28-year-old father, Asim, and 17-year-old uncle, Faizal, were murdered on February 26 near Ganga Vihar, just a few minutes from their house that is situated in the crowded byways of Old Mustafabad. Asim left behind two daughters and his pregnant wife, apart from his elderly parents.

A narrow lane leading to Sama's house in Old Mustafabad.

The Worst Sufferers of Violence

A 2005 UNICEF report on Childhood Under Threat define children as among the first and worst affected by conflict, whether directly or indirectly. Even if they are not killed or injured, they can be left with deep emotional scars and trauma from direct exposure to violence or from dislocation, poverty, or the loss of loved ones, said the report.

Children witnessing something like slums burning, people getting butchered in front of their eyes, becomes source for a psychological trauma. Even for adults it is difficult to cope, but they soon go about their lives and have better coping mechanisms. However, it is different for children. Their symptoms of trauma take time to show and eventually aggravate, Dr (Prof) RP Beniwal, senior psychiatrist at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences & Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, told News18.

In an individual case study of the children that News18 spoke to, Dr Beniwal threw light on the impact of psychological trauma emanating from gruesome episodes of riot-related violence.

Not necessarily do children show symptoms of mental illness immediately after suffering from the disaster. We have a name for this type of trauma  post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is the stress that follows after a traumatic experience. For these children, these events definitely leave a mark on their minds (psychological sequel). When we experience trauma in the formative years of childhood, somewhere its effect is felt in the process of growing up with the burden of responsibilities. Around the 20s or 30s they can be vulnerable to a trigger the most, he added.

A case in point here is Ifra, who is an aspiring doctor but could not finish her exams and saw destruction happening in her school, he added. She can show symptoms of fear, phobias, anxiety and depression, etc, later in her life. Its very hard to assess a childs mind because they dont usually open up about their mental disturbances and dont show the symptoms of these mental illnesses properly. It takes time. But as they grow up, this trauma affects their performance across fields. They fail to express themselves. They are more prone to startled reactions as they recall these events with palpitation, perspiration and restlessness, he said.

For these riot victims, especially, its a series of traumatic events and not one. Imagine, she (Ifra) saw violence in her school, then rushed home to find it burnt, then they had to flee and have been staying at a relief camp henceforth. There is no certainty as to when they will again be able to build their homes and go to school regularly. So there hasnt been any end to their misery. Its sustained and persisting trauma. So these children are more vulnerable to having a long-lasting impact on their mind, body and soul. Also, children remember their homes, so this transition is not easy.

A crowd waiting for relief material oustide the Eidgah, which has been converted to a relief camp.

Persisting trauma can also cause other anxiety disorders like separation anxiety, phobic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, dissociative disorder and other major mental problems, Beniwal said, adding that the childrens past events automatically get linked to future events and trigger them.

Regarding the drastic change in behaviour in five-year-old Kashif, the doctor said, Not everyone shows the same symptoms. Especially for this child, he is clearly in shock. If a child becomes completely opposite of his character, its a clear sign of psychological shock.

As News18 enquired about the possibilities of future psychological complications that little Sama may face, he said, Her fathers murder is a trauma-inducing event in life. In future, there can be psychotic, manic depressive or schizophrenic episodes. They may forget things now, but later it can become a source of psychological disorders as they begin to connect the dots gradually with adolescence.

Coping Mechanism

Healing is pivotal in mitigating the impact of terror in children as the sudden change of the peaceful environment is difficult to accept. Here comes the role of timely therapeutic intervention, an important aspect of relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and reconciliation, said Dr Beniwal.

Timely counselling of children and their parents is key to the process of healing. We must understand that their parents are also victims of the same riot, hence, we need to be imparting psychoeducation and therapy to them, and they can then help the children to cope. The child victims must be counselled at the earliest, he said.

However, for immediate and temporary relief, constant engagement any type of activity is vital, he said. At the moment, it is advisable that children dont stay alone and are kept busy in constructive activity and in games of their choice. They should be encouraged to share their experiences and keep interacting with others because when you keep it within yourself, you seethe. When you share, you involve other people in your pain, it acts like catharsis. Besides, they must be indulged in physical activities including yoga, pranayam, Dr Beniwal said.

The effort should not be to sweep the matter under the rug or suppress the pain, but to confront it and slowly battle it out by taking help from professionals and loved ones, he added.

The psychiatry expert explained the role of the government in facilitating counselling sessions for these riot-hit children. The government must take the initiative to motivate the adult victims to consult for better mental health, along with their children," he said. "Its like a physical wound. If you ignore it becomes septic and spreads all over your body. It also has multiple effects on the society as whole."

(All names of the child victims have been changed as per guidelines)
Donald Trump has blamed former president Barack Obama and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for delays in tests amid the coronavirus pandemic, despite the president controlling the agency for the last three years.

The Trump campaign also attacked former vice president Joe Biden for the previous administration's response to the H1N1 "swine flu" outbreak in 2009 and 2010, amid criticism of the president's current response to the Covid-19 crisis as cases climbed to 1,700, including 41 deaths.

Kathleen Sebelius, who led Obama's health department from 2009 to 2014, said it was "unfortunate" that the president cast blame on his predecessor instead of taking responsibility as the virus reaches a pandemic.

Last week, Mr Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the coronavirus has impacted only a "very, very small number" of people, while the swine flu outbreak sickened 60 million people over two years and falsely claimed that the Obama administration "didn't do anything about it."

But the Department of Health and Human Services declared the H1N1 outbreak a public health emergency on 26 April 2009, when there were only 20 confirmed cases of the virus at the time. Two days later, the administration requested Congressional funding to combat the virus, ultimately making more than $7bn in federal funds available for the vaccine and public health response.

Six months later, the president declared a national emergency, after the death toll reached 1,000. Over two years, there were nearly 13,000 swine flu-related deaths despite the two emergency declarations under the Obama administration.

Trump campaign press secretary Kayleigh McEnany blamed those deaths on Mr Biden while he "was in charge" of the epidemic. "By contrast, [Mr Trump] has led, taking unprecedented action to stop the coronavirus [and] protect Americans!"

By contrast, more than 1,700 people in the US are confirmed to have the latest coronavirus, and at least 41 people have died following the outbreak, after it was first confirmed in the country in January. The president called for congressional funding a month later, as the CDC confirmed at least 35 infections

Following Mr Biden's remarks on Thursday that addressed the president's response to the virus, including his ban on most travel from Europe into the US despite the urging of public health officials that the outbreak's threat already exists within untested communities throughout the country, Mr Trump's campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said Mr Biden exhibited "terrible judgment and incompetence in the face of public health issues" and was merely using his platform to "stoke citizens' fear" and "capitalise politically".

On Twitter, the president attacked his political foe and pointed to his approval ratings, saying: "Sleepy Joe Biden was in charge of the H1N1 Swine Flu epidemic which killed thousands of people. The response was one of the worst on record.

The attack came just two days after he called for an end to political partisanship in his national address aimed at calming the public.

The president also falsely claimed that the CDC's response was "a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now."

He said: "Changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!"

On MSNBC, Ms Sebelius said: "It's really unfortunate to have a president who continues to try to deny that we have an urgent health crisis in this country and find somebody else to blame ... Two days ago it was the Europeans at fault, now I guess it's somehow President Obama and our administration at fault."

Ms Sebelius said her agency's response "worked hard" to obtain a vaccine, coupled with global information sharing and a nationwide vaccine campaign that she says ultimately lowered the death toll to one much smaller than annual flu epidemics.

She said: "The economy did not shut down, we didn't have massive panic, but told people what we knew and what we didn't know and coordinated globally with our neighbours and partners on every step along the way ... So I have no idea why the president would choose at this moment to try and find blame somewhere else for some other epidemic."
As the coronavirus continues to spread in New Jersey, the state Legislature is scaling back its public hearings Monday and announcing plans to vote on emergency proposals to help residents, schools and businesses cope with the outbreak.

The state Assembly canceled most of its scheduled hearings but will vote on those emergency bills at the Statehouse in Trenton, while the state Senate plans to close its committee meetings to the public.

Assembly leaders said the lower house will act on seven bills related to the coronavirus Monday, including legislation requiring insurance carriers to cover the entire cost of coronavirus testing in the state and authorizing no-interest loans to businesses in the state struggling to make payroll.

Another bill would ensure remote or virtual public school classes count toward the states 180-day mandated school year, although the state Department of Education already has given its blessing if a district has been directed by state or local health officials to close schools.

The Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee will hold hearings on the bills at 11 a.m. The chamber canceled all other committee hearings Monday.

If the measures advance, the full Assembly would vote on them at 2 p.m. that day.

The state Senate, meanwhile, announced Thursday it would carry on with its scheduled hearings next week but bar members of the public from attending. Credentialed media are allowed to attend.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, said state leaders expect coronavirus cases in New Jersey to increase in the coming days, weeks, and foreseeable future

It is critically important that we work diligently to contain the spread of coronavirus, while at the same time ensuring that government continue to function on behalf the people of the New Jersey," Coughlin said in a statement.

For that reason, the speaker said, the Assembly plans only to consider time-sensitive and vital legislation next week.

Doing so will allow us to reduce the occasions of large gatherings, while also advancing measures to meet the challenges that the pandemic has created, Coughlin added.

The bills  some of which are still being drafted  would:

Require insurance carriers in the state to cover the cost of coronavirus testing with no co-pay or deductibles.

Make sure insurance carriers in the state provide coverage for business interruption.

Permit the state Economic Development Authority provide zero-interest, short-term loans to help businesses in the state make payroll

Ensure no employee in the state is fired as a result of having to be quarantined.

Allow any remote or virtual classroom instruction set up because of closed schools in the state to count toward the minimum 180 days required for a school year.

Permit students eligible for free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch plans to keep receiving meals if schools in the state are closed.

Create a fund to reimburse schools in the state for any cleaning related to the virus.

Coronavirus is not going away anytime soon, and there is action the Legislature can take to minimize its overall impact on New Jersey, Assembly Minority leader Jon Bramnick, R-Union, said. We need to help our constituents. Thats the bottom line.

Its unclear if members of the Senate, the upper house of the Legislature, are working on similar bills. So far, only one  the 180-day school year measure  is on a Senate committee agenda.

All bills must be passed by both the Senate and Assembly and then signed by Gov. Phil Murphy to become law.

Coughlin and Bramnick also said theyre considering allowing some staff members to work from home and conducting committee hearings via tele-town halls.

The Assembly said members of the public are allowed at Mondays votes, though they should follow guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control. Leaders said people older than 60 or with chronic medical conditions should listen to or watch the hearings at https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr., R-Union, said they will keep the public from Mondays hearings to help protect the health of the public.

There are policy actions we can take in the Legislature, but it is also our responsibility to move forward on these initiatives in ways that protect the public, legislators and staff," they added. We have work to do, but we must safeguard the workplace as we do it.

The Senate committees on Community and Urban Affair, Education, Labor, Transportation, Budget and Appropriations, and Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens, are scheduled to vote on dozens of bills Monday, including legislation that would prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes in New Jersey and would require kids menus at restaurants in the state meet nutritional standards.

Anyone who wants to follow along can livestream the hearings at https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio. You can also submit testimony to committees by email.

Senate leaders said they were following similar steps taken in Maine to close legislative sessions to the public. The U.S. Capitol was also closed Thursday to the public after a U.S. Senate staffer tested positive.

New Jersey announced six new coronavirus cases Thursday, bringing the statewide total to 29 positive tests and 1 death.

Murphy on Thursday also recommended that any public gatherings of 250 people or more should be canceled.

The governor declared a state of emergency in New Jersey this past Monday in reaction to the outbreak.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Niki Caro (L) and Yifei Liu attend the European Premiere of Disney's Mulan at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on March 12, 2020. (Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Disney)

Disney has pushed back the release of its blockbuster remake Mulan, as the film industry struggles to adjust to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The film had been set to arrive in UK cinemas on 27 March and its stars gathered in London on Thursday evening for a scaled back European premiere. A hand sanitation station was set up outside of the event for guests to use before entering the cinema,

However, shortly after the cast posed for pictures on the red carpet, Disney announced the film  a remake of the 1998 animated classic  had been delayed.

X-Men spin-off The New Mutants and Scott Coopers horror film Antlers were also pushed back, and Disney said it was aiming for a 2020 release date for all three films.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of Covid-19 cases in your local area

Explained: Symptoms, latest advice and how it compares to the flu

Mulan's director, Niki Caro, addressed the delay on Instagram.

She said: "We are so excited to share this film with the world, but given the current ever-shifting circumstances we are all experiencing, unfortunately, we have to postpone the worldwide release of Mulan for now.

"Our hearts are with everyone the world over who is affected by this virus, and we hope that Mulan's fighting spirit will continue to inspire those who are working so hard to keep us all safe.

"Thank you for all of your enthusiasm and support, and I can't wait for the day where we will all get to experience this tale of a girl warrior who became a legend together."

Actors, from left to right, Ron Yuan, Director Niki Caro, Yifei Liu, Jason Scott Lee and Yoson An, pose for photographers upon arrival at the European Premiere of 'Mulan' at a central London cinema, Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

Mulan's postponement is far from the first high-profile cinematic casualty of coronavirus.

James Bond film No Time To Die, one of the year's biggest releases, has been pushed back from April to November while A Quiet Place Part II and Fast & Furious 9 have also been delayed.
Italys biggest insurer, Generali, on Friday joined a growing number of companies that have rushed to provide funds to hospitals and non-profit organizations to fight the coronavirus crisis.

Italy has been hardest hit by the outbreak in Europe, with 15,113 confirmed cases and more than 1,000 dead, and the emergency is straining the national health system.

Generali said it would create a fund of up to 100 million euros ($112 million) to help Italy and other countries where the insurer operates that are facing the coronavirus emergency.

Initially, up to 30 million euros [US$33.7 million] will be available to help with the emergency in Italy, Generali said.

Generali is strongly committed to support the communities around us, especially the hardest-hit, Chief Executive Philippe Donnet said.

Italys biggest bank, UniCredit, which has already donated 2 million euros [US$2.3 million] to the Civil Protection Agency, said it had set up an employee fundraising initiative to support three Italian hospitals.

The banks UniCredit Foundation will contribute 10 euros for each euro donated by employees up to a total of 1 million euros [US$1.1 million].

Italys top retail bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, has said it is ready to donate up to 100 million euros [US$112.3 million] to Italy to tackle the outbreak and grant up to 5 billion euros [US$5.6 billion] in loans to companies affected by it.

Italian gas infrastructure group Snam earmarked 20 million euros [US$22.5 million] for the Italian health system and non-profit organizations.

Designer Giorgio Armani has donated 1.25 million euros [US$1.4 million] to four hospitals and the national Civil Protection Agency, while Edizione holding, which runs clothing retailer Benetton, has earmarked 3 million euros to help tackle the crisis in Italy.

Credito Fondiario, owned by U.S. fund Elliott, has donated part of the budget for events it was forced to cancel due the coronavirus outbreak to Milans Sacco hospital.

Italian gas operator Italgas said it would donate money to three hospitals in Turin, Milan and Padua.

Cariverona, Cariparo and CariFirenze are among Italian banking foundations which are financially supporting healthcare facilities and research projects of hospitals and universities.

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; additional reporting by Valentina Za; editing by Giles Elgood)

Photograph: A woman crosses the empty Duomo Square in Milan, Italy, on Thursday, March 12, 2020. The outbreak of the coronavirus has led to a nationwide lockdown in Italy as the government is seeking to slow down its spread. Photo credit: AP Photo/Luca Bruno.

Topics COVID-19 USA Generali Life Assurance (Thailand) Plc.
Italys biggest insurer Assicurazioni Generali confirmed all its targets through 2021 on Friday, after posting a record operating result for 2019, despite coronavirus-related uncertainty and soaring market volatility.

Italy has been hardest hit by the outbreak in Europe, with 15,113 confirmed cases of coronavirus, which has infected more than 134,500 people worldwide and caused more than 4,900 deaths.

Our results show that Generali is a solid group and is able to face this difficult situation, Chief Executive Philippe Donnet said on a results call for media.

Under the plan, Generali targets an 6-8% average annual growth in earnings per share, an average return on equity of more than 11.5% and a dividend payout of 55-65% of net profit.

The insurer is also sticking to plans to use 3-4 billion euros [$3.4 billion-$4.5 billion] or disciplined acquisitions.

There could be opportunities also in current markets, General Manager Frederic de Courtois said on the call.

Generalis operating result, the figure most closely watched by the market, was 5.2 billion euros ($5.8 billion) last year, up 6.9% from 2018, helped by growth across all its businesses.

The figure is broadly in line with an analyst consensus provided by the company.

Generalis solvency ratio, a key measure of financial strength, rose to 224% last year from 217% at the end of 2018, topping an average analyst forecast of 210%.

As of March 6. the solvency ratio had fallen to 200%, due partly to an acquisition in Portugal, but also because of falling prices for Italian government bonds.

Generalis domestic sovereign holdings totaled 62.7 billion euros [$70.4 billion] at the end of last year and the insurer expects to keep them stable at this level.

Italian bonds have been hit as the coronavirus crisis and a nationwide lockdown aimed at stemming contagion rock the economy, forcing the government to ramp up deficit-spending.

Italys 10-year yields posted their biggest daily spike since the euro zone sovereign crisis on Thursday after European Central Bank chief Christine Largarde said it was not the ECBs job to close spreads.

Net profit met forecasts, rising 15.7% year-on-year to 2.7 billion euros, including capital gains on a number of disposals partly offset by the cost of a junior bond buyback.

Generali will pay a dividend of 0.96 euros per share on 2019 results, up 6.7% from 2018.

($1 = 0.8925 euros) (Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Valentina Za and Alexander Smith)

Topics Generali Life Assurance (Thailand) Plc.
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Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Fri, March 13, 2020 17:23 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a65caa 4 Inforial Free

The coronavirus-sparked global slowdown will have an adverse economic impact on Indonesia. This has led to calls for a policy to mitigate such effects on the national economy, including efforts to accelerate rural economic development.

The Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Ministry sees the need to optimize the rural cash-for-work project in order to help strengthen the rural economy by increasing local productivity to support national economic growth.

The cash-for-work project is part of the governments village fund program, which aims to empower rural communities by prioritizing the use of local resources, labor and technology to provide additional income, increase purchasing power and reduce poverty.

In the context of the ongoing global situation, the project is expected to help mitigate the adverse impact on the national economy.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, in China in December 2019, more than 110,000 people worldwide had been infected as of March 9 according to a John Hopkins CSEE report, and 103 countries had been affected.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the total number of confirmed cases outside China was 28,673 with more than 680 deaths, bringing the total number of deaths to 3,809 globally.

With China being the worlds second-largest economy and a leading trading nation according to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the coronavirus outbreak is likely to be a nightmare for the global economy.

Although the International Monetary Fund (IMF) assumes that the impact will be relatively minor and short-term, the continued spread of the virus could have terrible consequences.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has asserted that the COVID-19 outbreak is contributing significantly to global economic disruption, as mentioned in its report Coronavirus: The World Economy at Risk.

Based on the OECDs economic assessment, the COVID-19 outbreak is believed to be reducing global growth by around 0.5 percent this year and the annual global GDP growth is projected to expand just 2.4 percent in 2020, which would be the weakest since 2009.

As China plays a great role in global supply chains as a producer of intermediate goods, travel, and commodity markets, the adverse consequences of the impacted economy in China are sorely felt by other countries.

It is directly disrupting the global economic supply chain, weakening the demand for imported goods and services, and extensively affecting international tourism and business travel given that Chinese tourists account for one-tenth of all cross-border visitors worldwide.

The Bloomberg report gives a perspective on how the global economy is suffering as a result of the supply chain disruption.

While in China, Starbucks has shut thousands of outlets and McDonalds Corp has closed hundreds of restaurants, across the world, many companies that rely on import manufacturing from China are in crisis.

For instance, consumers in New Zealand complain about being unable to get bath equipment because the German factory that produces that equipment no longer has access to its raw materials from Shanghai, China.

The worsening situation will adversely affect the G20 economies in 2020, especially for countries that are closely interconnected to China, such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and Indonesia.

Indonesian economic shakeup

With China being the biggest trading partner of Indonesia, the global coronavirus outbreak may deeply affect the countrys economic growth, particularly in tourism and export-import activities, since China contributes 13 percent of total international visitors to Indonesia.

This is shown by the significant drop of Chinese tourists by some 500 visitors at the end of January.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati was quoted on the ministrys website as saying that a 1 percent drop in Chinas economic growth (6 percent) would bring about a drop of 0.3 to 0.6 percent in the Indonesian economy.

The OECD has projected the GDP of Indonesia will drop by 0.2 percent, from 5 percent in 2019 to 4.8 percent in 2020.

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) 2018 reports, the declining global economy has both direct and indirect impact on the national economy, both in urban and rural areas.

As almost 50 percent of Indonesian people live in villages, the rural economy weighs on the national level.

The global economic situation has been affecting almost 2,500 villages (3 percent of the total number of villages) that face difficulties in exporting their products, such as food products (1,183 villages), non-food products (517 villages) and both food and non-food products (773 villages).

Indirect impacts also remain in 16,747 villages (22 percent of the total number of villages).

To minimize the economic impact and to ease economic dependence, an approach to establish a national production and consumption chain is essential.

Shield for villages

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the ministry issued a circular letter on Feb. 10, seeking to accelerate the use of the village fund phase 1 by prioritizing the implementation of the cash-for-work project.

The project accommodates various choices and opportunities from society, and utilizes local wisdom to reduce poverty and to increase income.

The approach has so far had positive outcomes, including infrastructure development and a reduction in unemployment and poverty.

Around 8.06 million village laborers were absorbed, the cash wages paid back to villagers reached Rp 8.7 trillion and the unemployment level was reduced from 6.53 percent in 2016 to 6.3 percent in 2019.

The income received by the workers increased the purchasing power of the community, augmented the cumulative household consumption and reduced income inequality in society.

The approach also reduced the unemployment rate and scaled down the poverty rate in the villages.

BPS reported that the monthly village per-capita income significantly increased from Rp 572,586 (2014) to Rp 877,074 (2019), resulting in a significant drop in poverty in villages from 14.9 percent in 2015 to 12.60 percent in 2019.

To ensure the system worked properly, the ministry deployed 37,088 skilled volunteers in the villages, sub-districts and districts.

The best example of a successful cash-for-work project is in Pangerharjo village in Kulonprogo district, Yogyakarta.

Before 2012, Pagerharjo village had a high percentage of poor families, a lack of health facilities and little supported infrastructure.

In 2012, Pagerharjo was selected as a village to run the Food Self-Reliance Village program, also supported with the village fund in 2014.

The village managed the fund to develop itself as a tourist village with local contents.

The village developed, managed, maintained and empowered local society involving youths and household members.

Another area having been developed is the agricultural sector to boost food production.

After running the program for years, the poverty level significantly decreased from 934 poor families in 2014 to 694 families in 2015.

The annual rice production slightly increased by 618 kg/ hectare with an average total production of 6,719 kg/ hectare.

That village has enjoyed a positive impact from the cash-for-work project in supporting local economic growth.

We can imagine what the potential impact will be if all 74,953 villages in Indonesia can optimize the project.

Shaking up the economy to tackle the impacts of COVID-19 must be seriously considered.

A prudent strategy to face the challenge is urgently needed, and the cash-for-work project to optimize the use of village funds is expected to strengthen the local economy, increase the purchasing power, and reduce poverty, all expected to boost Indonesian national economic growth.

However, the success of the project is mainly dependent on the commitment of the village society and their strong will to live a better life.
Dozens of counties eligible for loans to repair agricultural damage from tornadoes
Hospitals in the Italian city of Milan are said to be at full 'saturation', a doctor has revealed - with the country's coronavirus outbreak still predicted to be two weeks away from it's peak.

Dr. Massimo Galli, head of the infectious disease unit at Sacco Hospital in Milan, said the facility has been accepting new patients every five minutes.

His warning comes as Italian civil protection authorities said today that the number of infections has soared by more than 2,500 in 24 hours while virus-related deaths made the largest single-day jump of 250.

That took the total number of infected in Italy to 17,660 and the number of related deaths to 1,266.

The virus, now classed as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, is predicted to get worse before it gets better by infectious disease experts as a peak in the number of patients with the virus in Italy is expected in two week's time.

Dr. Massimo Galli told ABC News: 'We are getting close to not being able to accept new patients. There is a complete saturation of beds.'

Professor Massimo Galli, primary infectologist of the hospital Luigi Sacco, says the hospital is at peak saturation

He added: 'I think patients will increase for another week or two'.

Dr Galli also detailed how the Sacco Hospital in Milan, which is one of the largest in Italy, has been accepting new patients every five minutes and was forced to search for additional buildings to use as treatment centres.

The infection could continue to spread for up to four weeks, said Dr Galli.

Italy's coronavirus outbreak death toll jumped by 189 to 1,016 in 24 hours on Thursday, a rise of 23 per cent.

A view of the Sacco Hospital in Milan, northern Italy, 11 March, which is struggling to cope with the influx of patients infected with coronavirus

The total number of cases in Italy, the European country hardest hit by the virus, rose to 15,113 from a previous 12,462, an increase of 21.7 per cent. That marked the biggest daily rise in absolute terms since the contagion first came to light on February 21.

The Civil Protection Agency said that, of those originally infected, 1,258 had fully recovered compared to 1,045 the day before. Some 1,153 people were in intensive care against a previous 1,028.

Italian National Civil Protection set up three tents in front of the hospital of Tempio Pausania yesterday to accommodate possible coronavirus patients in Tempio Pausania, Sardinia

More than half of those who are in intensive care in Italy are located in hard-hit Lombardy province, which on Thursday reported 605 ICU patients in a region with only 610 ICU beds.

Hospitals in Lombardy are are overflowing with the dead. Lombardy's top health care official, Giulio Gallera, said at the request of the hospitals, the region had simplified the bureaucracy needed to process death certificates and bury the dead.

Rome's Catholic churches were ordered to close in a decree by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis on Thursday due to the pandemic - but were then reopened after Pope Francis said some measures were too 'drastic'.

Italian police officers wearing protective masks check motorists and pedestrians due to the coronavirus emergency in Rome

Italian police officers checking the self-certifications of three people in Piazza Duomo (Cathedral Square) in Milan

This comes as Italians with coronavirus symptoms could face murder charges if they venture outside despite the quarantine and cause a patient's death.

Suspected virus patients have been ordered to stay indoors with a penalty of 206 euros (182) over their heads - but they could face far graver charges if they infect someone on their travels.

The most severe charge of 'malicious murder' could lead to a prison sentence as long as 21 years, according to Italian media, while virus spreaders could still be charged with misconduct even if no-one is killed.
The Star will regularly check in with Coun. Josh Matlow, who is self-isolating at home after a potential exposure to COVID-19, to see how hes faring and what hes learning about the fight to contain the outbreak.

A lot of things have changed in the world since Coun. Josh Matlow has been out in it.

The last time he left his midtown home there were no travel restrictions between the U.S. and Europe, the Raptors were still dominating on the court, Disney theme parks where he had planned to take his daughter over March Break were open and kids still had to be in school the following week.

Its been strange, Matlow said, to watch how the response to COVID-19 globally has escalated since he went into self isolation in his basement on March 9.

Im both subject to self isolation, he said, but in another way Im ironically sheltered from a lot of whats happening out there as well.

Matlow self isolated on the advice of Torontos medical officer of health, as a precaution once he learned hed come in contact with a man who is confirmed to have contracted the virus.

That man, who has not been identified, is a lay leader at the Beth Sholom synagogue who greeted Matlow at a March 5 fundraiser. The man had travelled to Washington, D.C., and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference where several attendees were later reported to have confirmed cases. Following the fundraiser in Toronto, the man tested positive for COVID-19.

Matlow continues to have no symptoms. On Thursday, Torontos medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, stressed that those who have been in close contact with someone like Matlow, who doesnt have the virus, but were exposed to someone who does, do not need specific public health follow-up. They should continue to monitor their health and practise good hygiene, de Villa said.

Matlows circumstances have meant his wife, Melissa, has had to become the sole caregiver to their seven-year-old daughter Molly while he remains physically separated from them at all times  part of the rules of self isolation advised by Toronto Public Health the councillor has been following.

That means Melissa is facing lineups at the grocery store and having to put Molly to bed  Matlow joins on FaceTime to give virtual hugs and virtual tickles.

Shes also dealing with both the kindness out there and the stigmatization of what Im experiencing, Matlow said. But shes also kept her cool and has been amazing.

Matlow said his daughter is incredibly well adjusted and recently had an idea about how to stay connected.

Realizing there were board games in the basement, Matlow said Molly yelled down from the top of the basement stairs that if she got a second game to use upstairs they could play together at a distance.

Were trying to maintain as much semblance of normalcy as possible to protect her and to make sure that shes not scared, he said.

Besides working by phone and email, mundane chores like washing dishes now require more forethought and attention.

Matlow said he first washes dirty dishes in a sink in the basement and then when his wife and daughter are not around, he goes upstairs with mask and gloves and uses the dishwasher to sanitize what hes used.

From his vantage in the basement, he said it seems like public health officials are making responsible decisions based on the evolving reality above ground. Given theres a reasonable expectation of community transfer, according to experts, decisions like shutting down schools makes sense, he said.

Of course this is challenging and its not the reality that I would want to have, but so much of the day I feel extraordinary gratitude, Matlow said  grateful for a basement to self-isolate in, grateful that basement has a bathroom, grateful for a supportive family and hard-working staff.

He said hes conscious of those in different circumstances who are vulnerable, but even though he believes the world will change more before he can leave isolation on March 20, hes maintained a positive perspective.

Eventually things will feel normal again. And I also believe that maybe we can make the new normal even better than normal was before, he said. But were going to have to go through a really difficult experience before we get there.
Mumbai, March 13 : Amid rapidly the spreading coronavirus pandemic, Bollywood celebrities have taken up the responsibility to appeal to everyone to stay safe, take precautions, stop panicking and desist from spreading rumours.

As the world battles #coronavirus, let's ensure we do not add to the pandemic by circulating unverified information. Be safe, take necessary precautions and also be responsible. Don't add to the panic. Last but not the least, try and make the most of the compulsory 'me' time pic.twitter.com/q3ujRiXJSY  Sonakshi Sinha (@sonakshisinha) March 13, 2020

Sharing a selfie where she wears a mask, Sonakshi Sinha wrote on Instagram: "As the world battles #coronavirus, let's ensure we do not add to the pandemic by circulating unverified information. Be safe, take necessary precautions and also be responsible. Don't add to the panic. Last but not the least, try and make the most of the compulsory 'me' time!"

Kartik Aaryan shared a video from an outdoor set in Lucknow, where he can be seen walking in a mask along with other crew members. The actor captioned: "Stay safe guys. Can't stress this enough. #WashYourHands #CoronaStopKaroNa"

T 3468 - Concerned about the COVID 19 .. just doodled some lines .. in verse .. please stay safe ..  pic.twitter.com/80idolmkRZ  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 12, 2020

Earlier in the day, as reported by IANS, Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan expressed his thoughts on the outbreak with a self-composed poem about coronavirus. The actor took to Twitter to recite the short poem. In a video tweeted by Big B, he says in Hindi: "Over the past few days, people have been discussing a lot about coronavirus. People are suffering losses and everybody is scared and worried. This morning I had a feeling that I should also say something on the issue. So I have penned a few lines which I want to share with you all." Saying this he recites the poem.

T 3469 - Getting set to advocate the preventions necessary about CoVID 19 , ... this is for UNICEF, and the Health Ministry of GOI .. the message should be out soon ..

Be safe .. be careful .. pic.twitter.com/hNrAPTAXne  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 13, 2020

Sharing a couple of pictures where he can be seen holding some documents, the actor wrote in a separate tweet: "T 3469 - Getting set to advocate the preventions necessary about CoVID 19, ... this is for UNICEF, and the Health Ministry of GOI.. the message should be out soon.. Be safe.. be careful."

Everything is ok in the end. If it is not ok, it is not the end! Corona virus is a reality of our times. We need to be careful & cautious. But we also need to change our outlook towards life. Hope my thoughts help you all a little. Do share it with friends and relatives!!  pic.twitter.com/2Wr3QbPzML  Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) March 12, 2020

Anupam Kher shared a video on Twitter and Instagram where he appeals to everyone to stop panicking and discover the joy of being alive. In the video, the veteran actor says: "Worry should not kill you before a virus kills you... There is fear everywhere and unfortunately, this fear is very real. But more than anything else, it is impacting our daily lives, it is affecting our minds, our psyche in a very frightening manner. Suddenly the whole world seems to be depressed and rightfully so because maybe for the first time in modern times, we are collectively feeling helpless...Maybe, unknowingly, we are also discovering the importance of being alive. I think one of the only ways to deal with this crisis is to change our attitude towards life. We can't do anything about it except being careful...One virus has made us unimportant, extremely vulnerable and to some extent ordinary and lonely human beings. So why don't we enjoy every single moment and discover the joy of being alive?"

Pooja Hegde also shared her picture wearing a mask from Istanbul new airport. The actress arrived at the Turkish Capital to shoot for her upcoming film with Prabhas. "The things I do for the love of films... Georgia, here I come...(Rocky Theme song playing in the background)," she wrote.

Just checking... If someone is working towards stopping the spreading of this shit... Or we are too busy panicking???  Anubhav Sinha (@anubhavsinha) March 12, 2020

"Thappad" helmer Anubhav Sinha tweeted: "Just checking... If someone is working towards stopping the spreading of this shit... Or we are too busy panicking???"

Italy looks the worst hit while everywhere else #Corona is more or less in control. I am sure The success rate should give hope and confidence to worried people. https://t.co/OJXUvX73IJ  Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) March 13, 2020

Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri tried to boost morale with his tweet: "Italy looks the worst hit while everywhere else #Corona is more or less in control. I am sure the success rate should give hope and confidence to worried people."

Let others panic, you keep making yourself strong - Physically, emotionally and spiritually.



Eat healthy, home cooked, satvik food. Dont indulge. Stay happy. #CreativeHealth @cg_hg_ pic.twitter.com/GwBVxLt1R3  Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) March 13, 2020

Sharing a workout video in a separate tweet, he wrote: "Let others panic, you keep making yourself strong - Physically, emotionally and spiritually. Eat healthy, home cooked, satvik food. Don't indulge. Stay happy.".

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Syndicated from IANS
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2020) - ICEsoft Technologies Canada Corp. (CSE: ISFT) (the "Company" or "ICEsoft") is pleased to announce the issuance and sale of 11,312,500 units for gross proceeds of CAD $905,000 as part of the closing of the first tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement of up to 30,001,438 units for aggregate gross proceeds of up to CAD $1,510,000 and up to CAD $890,111 in debt settlement (the "Private Placement"). Each unit consists of (i) one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a "Common Share"), and (ii) one half of a common share purchase warrant (each full warrant, a "Warrant"), with each full Warrant entitling the holder to subscribe for one additional Common Share at an exercise price of CAD $0.12 per share at any time prior to the day that is 24 months from the grant of the Warrant.

Pursuant to an agreement with Cormark Securities Inc. ("Cormark"), the Company has paid Cormark a cash commission equal to CAD $63,350, being 7% of the gross proceeds from the first tranche of the Private Placement, and will grant 527,916 warrants (the "Finder Warrants"), being the cash commission paid pursuant to the first tranche of the Private Placement divided by the exercise price of the Finder Warrants. The Finder Warrants shall be exercisable for a period of 24 months following the last closing date of the Private Placement at an exercise price of $0.12 per Common share.

The securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a hold period under applicable securities laws, which will expire four months plus one day from the date of the applicable closing of the Private Placement. Closing of the Private Placement is subject to receipt of all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals, including approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

About ICEsoft Technologies Canada Corp.

ICEsoft Technologies Canada Corp. is a software-as-a-service ("SaaS") company. ICEsoft's current software, which is available as freeware with a pay to use version, is used by some 150,000 developers, 20,000 companies, and some 400 paying customers. ICEsoft's newest product Voyent Alert! is an affordable Community Alerting Service specifically designed to meet the needs of small to medium sized municipalities, regional governments and campuses. The flexible platform serves the dual purpose of alerting and advising residents during a critical incident as well as providing targeted day-to-day communication services.

For more information, please contact:

Brian McKinney

President and Chief Executive Officer

Tel: 403-663-3320

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS MARKET REGULATOR (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE THIS NEWS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL SECURITIES AND THE COMPANY IS NOT SOLICITING AN OFFER TO BUY THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THEREFROM.

Forward-Looking Information Advisory

Certain statements made herein may contain forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities laws. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans","expects", "is expected", "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 herein include, but are not limited, to statements or information with respect to the completion of the Private Placement, expected insider participation, payment of fees to Cormark timing of closing and the use of proceeds of the Private Placement.

Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. We have made certain assumptions about the forward-looking statements and information, including completion of further tranches of the Private Placement, receipt of all approvals required for the Private Placement and the use of proceeds of the Private Placement. Although our management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include the ability to receive the approvals necessary to complete the Private Placement, ability to complete additional tranches of the Private Placement and those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Listing Statement dated May 27, 2019 and in the Company's most recent Management Discussion and Analysis filed on SEDAR.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward looking statements and information continually as conditions change and you are referred to the full discussion of the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada.

All forward-looking statements and information contained in this News Release are qualified by this cautionary statement.



NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53411
* Singapore enters bear market territory * Philippines set for worst week since 1998 * Thailand, Indonesia trigger circuit breakers By Sameer Manekar March 13 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets sank on Friday and were headed for their worst week in more than a decade, as a rout in global equities deepened amid rising travel restrictions and growing fears of a global recession due to the coronavirus outbreak. Sell-off gathered pace from Thursday after the World Health Organization termed the outbreak a pandemic and U.S. President Donald Trump restricted travel from Europe to contain the virus spread. Broader Asian equities were also pounded after all three U.S. indexes crashed overnight, ending their record bull run. "It's a chain reaction, a vicious cycle," said Joel Ng, an analyst at KGI Securities, adding that markets were coming to terms with the possibility of a synchronised global recession. "There are a lot of expectations that central banks and governments would step in, however, the problem is that there is an absence of global coordination, unlike in 2008," he added. Thailand and Indonesian shares fell 10% and 5%, respectively, at one point, triggering circuit breakers for the second time in as many days. Export-reliant Singapore shares hit their lowest since July 2009, entering bear market territory - down up to 23.5% since a Jan. 17 peak, and were on track for their worst week since October 2008. Financials and industrial sectors were the worst hit, with DBS Group Holdings and industrial conglomerate Jardine Strategic Holdings losing as much as 6% and 10.2%, respectively. Thai shares were poised for a record weekly loss, losing 26.5%. Blue-chip firms PTT Pcl and Airports of Thailand were down 8.7% and 10%, respectively. Malaysian shares marked their steepest drop since March 2008 on Friday, losing nearly 7% to the lowest since September 2011. Heavyweight firms Malayan Banking and electricity generator Tenaga Nasional slipped 3.9% and 10.5%, respectively. Indonesian shares fell more than 5% and were set for their biggest weekly drop since October 2008. Philippine stocks plunged more than 11%, their most since October 2008, and were headed for their biggest weekly loss since 1998. Meanwhile, the country's finance minister ordered state pension funds to increase their daily investments to support the stock market. Vietnam stocks slumped nearly 6%, hitting their lowest since May 2017. For Asian Companies click; SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS as at 0345 GMT Change on the day Market Current Previous close Pct Move Singapore 2541.78 2678.64 -5.11 Bangkok 1005.43 1114.91 -9.82 Manila 5404.71 5736.27 -5.78 Jakarta 4644.319 4895.748 -5.14 Kuala Lumpur 1326.56 1419.43 -6.54 Ho Chi Minh 736.79 769.25 -4.22 Change so far in 2020 Market Current End 2019 Pct Move Singapore 2541.78 3222.83 -21.13 Bangkok 1005.43 1579.84 -36.36 Manila 5404.71 7,815.26 -30.84 Jakarta 4644.319 6,299.54 -26.28 Kuala Lumpur 1326.56 1588.76 -16.50 Ho Chi Minh 736.79 960.99 -23.33 (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
Visitation is suspended for at least two weeks at Dauphin County Prison starting 7 a.m. Friday, the county announced late Thursday.

The move is to ensure the safety of staff and inmates Dauphin County spokeswoman Amy Richards said in a statement.

Properly identified staff, vendors, attorneys, members of Pa. Prison Society and contractors will be the only ones allowed to enter Dauphin County Prison, and only after a non-invasive screening, Richards said.

Central Court proceedings will continue at the prison, but only the plaintiff, defendant, subpoenaed witnesses, attorneys of record and documented legal guardians will be allowed into the facility after a clear screening.

The county attached a link to the video visitation program because it realizes the importance of visitation with family and friends, Richards said.

The county will keep the community notified on any new developments related to coronavirus, Richards said.

Earlier Thursday, Cumberland County announced similar measures of suspending visitation at its prison. The Department of Corrections also announced visitor restrictions, including an enhanced screening announced for those that will be in the prisons.

Read more on PennLive:

For complete coronavirus coverage, click here.
Salih: Iraq risks plunge into "chaos and violence"

On March 13, US warplanes struck targets associated with Kataib Hezbollah ("Brigades of the Party of God"), an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq, which US officials say is likely responsible for a rocket attack two days earlier on an Iraqi base that killed two US troops and a British service member, as Jack Detsch reports.

The exchange has further upended politics in Iraq. Iraqi officials are claiming that the United States also hit a civilian airport under construction in Karbala, killing a cook, as Elizabeth Hagedorn reports. Iraqi President Barham Salih referred to the attack on Taji air base that killed Americans as terrorism, but also condemned the US retaliatory strikes as a "violation of national sovereignty."

There is a March 16 deadline for appointment of a new prime minister, but that process again seems stalled. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, made the rounds in Baghdad earlier this week, just days before the hit on Taji. The escalation comes as protesters seeking an overhaul of the Iraqi government torched offices of Iran-backed militias in southern Iraq, as Ali Mamouri reports.

Biden, by the book: "Spare me the lectures"

In Washington, the White House is threatening to veto a bipartisan congressional resolution to limit President Donald Trumps ability to use force against Iran, absent a declaration of war or new congressional authorization, as Bryant Harris reports.

The resolution, originally drafted by US Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., finds that neither the 2001 authorization to use force against al-Qaeda nor the 2002 authorization of force against Iraq  which critics sometimes reference as emblematic of "endless wars"  can be the basis for military action against Iran.

And that brings us to the 2002 authorization for the use of force against Iraq, which has also found its way into the US presidential campaign.

Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has occasionally tagged his rival, former Vice President and Sen. Joseph Biden, for voting for the 2002 authorization for the use of force in Iraq, which Sanders opposed as a member of the House of Representatives. Biden was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

This deserves some context. Eighteen years is ancient history in our Twitter-driven/breaking news world.

In his memoir "Turning Points," former US President George W. Bush explains how, in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he decided to address the perceived threat of Iraqs weapons of mass destruction through "coercive diplomacy"  rallying the international community to hold Iraq accountable for its defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, and making the US military threat to Iraq credible. The United States had gone to war with Iraq in 1991 to reverse Iraqs invasion and occupation of Kuwait. From 1991-2003, Iraq bucked UN Security Council resolutions demanding answers on its weapons programs, and challenged US "no fly zone" restrictions. On Sept. 12, 2002, Bush put down a marker in a speech to the United Nations that Iraq was now a US priority.

Bush sought congressional support for his policies to convey to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and the world, that the United States meant business. On Sept. 26 of that year, the White House submitted a draft resolution that Biden and others in Congress felt offered the president too expansive powers. Biden reached out to Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., probably the most respected foreign policy voice in the Senate, and they drafted an alternative resolution. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., soon got on board.

The Biden-Lugar-Hagel bill sought to bind the administration more closely to UN Security Council resolutions and to seek a further determination that the threat from Iraq was so grave that the use of force was necessary.

There was widespread consensus at the time that Saddams Iraq had weapons of mass destruction programs. Iraq had used chemical weapons in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and its previous chemical, biological and nuclear programs were well documented by the United Nations. The Iraqi government continued to obstruct UN-mandated inspectors.

Few disputed that Iraq and Saddam were a concern. But Biden and others did not buy the imminence of the Iraqi threat and were concerned about a rush to war, including perhaps in support of a so-called "neoconservative" agenda to bring democracy to the Middle East. Bidens resolution therefore sought to support a multilateral strategy while raising the bar for congressional approval of the use of force, if deemed necessary.

The political deck was stacked against Bidens effort. Bush had three of the four congressional leaders on his side: Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo. Only Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., shared Bidens reservations about the draft White House resolution.

Lott, in his memoir "Herding Cats," said Bush told him to derail the Biden legislation and make sure its language never sees the light of day again.

Lott, who was working with Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and John Warner, R-Va., on a new draft of the resolution, reached out to Lugar, who expressed his concerns about the enterprise having a Vietnam-era ring and told Lott that any legislation had to be bipartisan. Lott invited Lugar to helped draft the resolution, which he eventually did. But not before Lugar encouraged Biden to try to get a committee vote on Biden-Lugar-Hagel.

Biden, in his memoir "Promises to Keep," describes his frustration in getting that vote. He and Daschle convened a meeting of Democrats, where a group on the far left would not even support voting the bill out of the committee. As he listened to the "principled" opposition of his colleagues, Biden said he was thinking, Spare me the lectures.  I thought our objective is to do all we can to avoid an unnecessary war. Biden-Lugar-Hagel died in the Foreign Relations Committee without a vote.

On Oct. 10, the revised authorization, backed by the White House, passed the Senate 77-23 and the House 296-133, with solid bipartisan support.

Biden in his floor speech supporting the resolution, said that Iraq did not pose an imminent threat; that the resolution strengthened US efforts for a UN Security Council resolution; that he did not see his vote as a "blank check" for the use of force against Iraq; and that it does not make Saddams removal its explicit goal.

Hagel, in his book "America: Our Next Chapter" makes a similar case. He said that Bush, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and other members of the administration had assured him that the United States would exhaust diplomacy before committing to war. Hagel, who later served as secretary of defense under President Barack Obama, wrote that he voted for the resolution with foreboding and regrets voting yes.

On Nov. 8, the United States secured a unanimous UN Security Council resolution, 15-0, dealing with Iraq, with Russia, China and Syria voting yes. On March 19, 2003, Bush announced the invasion of Iraq. Saddam was deposed the following month. No active programs of weapons of mass destruction, including and especially nuclear weapons, were ever found. The US military mission in Iraq continues, 18 years later, focused on combating the Islamic State, an offshoot of al-Qaeda, and Iranian-backed forces.

Bush, in "Decision Points," writes that some members of Congress would later claim they were not voting to authorize war but only to continue diplomacy. They must not have read the resolution.

With regard to Sanders, a careful review of his statements by NBC News reveals that his concerns were, like Bidens, that the United States would act unilaterally. He, like Biden, did not want to give the Bush administration a "blank check" for the use of force in Iraq. Sanders also voted for a failed House resolution that paralleled the Biden-Lugar effort. Sanders record, according to the NBC report, does not support his contention that he was a leader in opposing the war.
(JNS) WASHINGTONThe theme of this years AIPAC Policy Conference was billed as Today. Tomorrow. Together, the essence of which seemed to be lost in all the political noise associated with 2020 Democratic presidential candidates deciding on whether or not to show up at the annual event.

The conference, however, has long been geared to deliberate concerns and boost relations between Diaspora Jewry and Israelis, and use the time to salve some of the more contentious issues associated with the two largest Jewish communities in the world.

However, with this years conference coinciding with a U.S. presidential election and the Democratic primaries, clearly politics was an unavoidable part of the gathering. And in an unusual turn of events, the conference also took place smack dab in the midst of the third round of general elections in Israel within the last year. It was almost hard to get past such major goings-on to tackle other pressing matters, such as the blatant anti-Semitism thats snaking its way across Europe and the United States.

The conference proceedings seemed muted by the clash of candidatesnotably, by progressive Democrats Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) stating weeks beforehand their intention to stay away. Only former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg attended in person to speak (who on Wednesday morning, after a poor showing on Super Tuesday, announced the end of his campaign), despite the fact that it was Vice President Joe Biden who was brushing off his suit jacket after a striking win in the South Carolina Democratic primary on Saturday, followed by consecutive successes on Super Tuesday. Instead, Biden taped comments that were shown to the 20,000 pro-Israel activists gathered in the nations capital.

And there were other elephants in the room: The disconcerting progression of the coronavirus, which has statistically racked up as much time in the news as the numbers associated with delegates being collected during the Democratic primaries, and the ongoing aggression from Iran, which did get some attention during the three-day conference.

In fact, thats where Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Trump administration, including U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, came in to shine.

For decades, we have built a broad consensus as the foundation of support for Israel in America. This foundation consists of both parties. Democrats and Republicans. All faiths. All races. All Americans.

They touted the Trump administrations withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the reimposition of U.S. sanctions and the establishment of new ones; the continued hard line against Tehran when it comes to its nuclear program and attempts to avert sanctions, and to continue to do business with Europe and Asia; and the U.S. killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, head of Irans brutal Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a move that evoked controversy among legislators in Congress.

And, of course, they rattled off the impressive list of administration accomplishments when it comes to pro-Israel movesfrom recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv, coupled with acknowledging Israels sovereignty over the Golan Heights and its right to Jewish settlements, to clamping down on aid to the Palestinian Authority due to its payments to terrorists and their families, in addition to closing the PLO mission in Washington, D.C.

Not to mention the Peace to Prosperity plan that has set expectations for change in the Middle East over the next few years, the contents of which were definitely embrace by Israel and rejected by Palestinian leadership.

Foundation in danger of being rocked

Meanwhile, the issue of maintaining bipartisan support for Israel and the pushback against anti-Israel progressives (especially in light of the Sanderss snub) was a crucial topic for AIPAC CEO Howard Kohr as he kicked off the conference.

For decades, we have built a broad and bipartisan consensus as the foundation of support for Israel in America, said Kohr on Sunday morning. This foundation consists of both parties. Democrats and Republicans. All faiths. All races. All Americans.

It is a foundation that has endured no matter who was president, no matter who controlled Congress, no matter how events unfolded in the Middle East, he continued. We believed, and continue to believe, that when America stands with the Jewish state, Israelis are more secure, and Americans are, too.

However, warned Kohr, today that foundation is in danger of being rocked as it never has been before. A growing, highly vocal and energized part of the electorate fundamentally rejects the value of the U.S.-Israel alliance. It is no longer on the margins, but instead has taken the spotlight of our political life. Its most radical views are bending the political conversation and commanding attention, he said.

Such language comes amid Democratic leadership being criticized for inadequately dealing with anti-Israel bias and anti-Semitic rhetoric within its own partynamely, from Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), both of whom have endorsed Sanders for president.

And it almost pointedly referred to the provocative nature of Sanderss directives towards AIPAC, who on Feb. 23 proclaimed his decision not to attend the conference after even more loudly accusing AIPAC of fostering bigotry, a claim that caused AIPAC to respond with a statement calling the comment truly shameful. (They also noted that hes never even attended an AIPAC conferencea not-so-subtle insinuation of no love lost.)

Thats on top of multiple calls over the years accusing the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as being racista harsh determination that, more recently, he has associated with Netanyahu himself.

It was a claim that had Israels Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon saying, We dont want Sanders at AIPAC. We dont want him in Israel. Anyone who calls our prime minister a racist is either a liar, an ignorant fool or both.

He almost proved Kohrs point.

Once among the best, most authentic expressions of bipartisan support in America, the U.S.-Israel relationship as we know it... is under attack, he said, adding that between now and Nov. 3, every candidate running for federal office will appeal to our various communities for support. But the promise of our support must be predicated on their promise to stand with Israel.
Donald Trump did not push to carry out widespread coronavirus testing because he believed higher confirmed case numbers could be damaging for his re-election campaign, reports have claimed.

The president is facing growing criticism over his administrations failure to provide testing on a scale that could have limited the outbreak of Covid-19, with even Republicans in Congress speaking out.

The US has tested fewer than 12,000 people for the disease since January. In South Korea, authorities have been testing as many as 10,000 a day.

The low figure has been attributed in part to logjams at medical facilities and faulty diagnosis kits.

But the US president is also reported to have been reluctant to launch a campaign of aggressive testing, which could have identified key outbreak areas.

Thats partly because more testing might have led to more cases being discovered of coronavirus outbreak, said Dan Diamond, a Politico health reporter who has been investigating the Trump administrations response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking to NPR, he added: The president had made clear  the lower the numbers on coronavirus, the better for the president, the better for his potential re-election this fall.

He said Mr Trump had failed to push for more urgent and widespread testing despite being warned by his health secretary Alex Azar that coronavirus threatened to become a major crisis.

The president has repeatedly fixated on "numbers" during the coronavirus outbreak. Discussing the thousands of passengers stranded on a virus-hit cruise ship off the coast of California, he expressed concern that letting them come ashore could increase US case numbers.

I like the numbers being where they are, Mr Trump said. I dont need to have the numbers double because of one ship.

He has also compared the coronavirus death toll to that of common flu to provide a misleading picture of the new disease's threat, tweeting: "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!

Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health, has warned coronavirus could be "10 times more lethal than seasonal flu".

He also admitted on Thursday that the US was failing at testing, contradicting Mr Trump's claims that frankly, the testing has been going very smooth.

The system is not really geared to what we need right now ... lets admit it, Dr Fauci told Congress.
The fear of contagion spreads after WHO officially declared the outbreak a pandemic. Spring is the most crowded season. The fee for the climb is US,000. In 2019 at least 885 climbers reached the top.

Kathmandu (AsiaNews/Agencies)  The governments of Nepal and China have decided to suspend expeditions to Mount Everest for fear of coronavirus infections. Beijing was first yesterday, followed today by Kathmandu.

The ban comes on the eve of the spring season (March-May), when climbing enthusiasts come in great numbers dreaming of reaching the highest peak in the world.

The suspension is a consequence of the rising rate of infections, which has now become a pandemic according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Only one positive case has been reported so far in Nepal, a student who returned from China.

Conversely, in China, where the emergency began, the number of cases has topped 80,000 with more than 3,000 dead. However, the number of new cases continues to drop.

Last year the Nepali authorities were forced to restrict the number of expeditions since the high number of climbers was becoming a strain for the delicate local ecosystem.

Despite the almost prohibitive fee for the climb (US,000, plus travel expenses), 2019 saw a record 885 climbers reach the summit of Mount Everest: 644 from the southern, Nepalie side and 241 from the northern, Tibetan side.

For Nepal, climbers represent one of the key component of the countrys tourism sector, bringing in some US million last year.

Last spring season, the mountain claimed the lives of 11 people, including at least four who died from overcrowding due to inexperience or fatigue.
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) has declared the results of UCEED entrance examination 2020 at uceed.iitb.ac.in.

Candidates who had appeared for the exam can check their results online from the official website.

IIT Bombay conducts UCEED which is an entrance test for admission in Bachelors of Design course for the session 2020-21.

Candidates can also download their scorecard online from the direct link provided below by logging in using their login credentials at the candidates portal.

IIT Bombay had conducted the UCEED exam on January 18 for which the answer key was released on February 24.

Direct link to check UCEED Result 2020

UCEED was conducted in two parts. Part A was entirely a computer based examination, whereas Part B had questions related to the sketching. The total duration of the examination was three hours. Candidates who have cleared the examination are eligible to take admission for B.Des course at IIT.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders faces a tough challenge next week in Florida as former Vice President Joe Biden, whos already racked up more wins and delegates than Sanders in the hunt for the Democratic presidential nomination, commands a 44-point lead in a recent poll of Sunshine State voters.

With 219 delegates up for grabs, the Florida primary is Tuesday nights biggest prize and along with Ohio, Illinois and Arizona could help Biden seize control of the race and eventually the chance to face President Donald Trump in November.

While Biden is already the solid frontrunner heading into Tuesday, with 864 delegates to Sanders 710, hes on track for a big win according to a recent University of North Florida poll. The survey of more than 1,000 voters showed Biden with 66% support compared to Sanders 22%.

A decisive victory in Florida could boost Bidens chances in the general election; in 2016, Hillary Clinton lost the state to Trump by less than 2 percentage points. Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary lost Florida to Clinton 64% to 33%, picking up 73 delegates compared to Clintons 141.

This is down to a two-man race and Biden is looking toward a blowout in Florida, Michael Binder, director of the universitys Public Opinion Research Lab said in a statement. Floridas polling numbers combined with Bidens strong showing this past week in the primaries, paints a bleak picture for the Sanders campaign. He is facing a do or die debate on Sunday if he hopes to swing the momentum.

Sanders said he would keep the campaign going and looked forward to Sunday nights debate on CNN. The pair have canceled recent rallies due to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and CNN both moved its debate from Arizona to Washington, D.C. and canceled its live audience.

Sanders picked up more than three-quarters of support from younger voters, while Biden garnered 78% of support from voters 65 and older. Binder argued there simply arent enough young voters in Florida to lift Sanders to a victory. Middle aged voters between 35 and 44 were more split, with 45% backing Biden and 40% Sanders.

Biden has picked up a string of victories ever since a decisive win in South Carolina. Sanders had gained momentum and an early delegate lead after winning New Hampshire, Nevada and nearly topping a crowded field in Iowa. But several of the candidates who dropped out have endorsed Biden and the races other progressive, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, has not endorsed either candidate.

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A Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed early Friday morning, hit by gunfire through a closed door as his police unit tried to arrest a murder suspect in the Frankford section of the city, the police said.

Cpl. James OConnor, a member of the departments SWAT team, was shot near his left shoulder as he and members of the SWAT and homicide team tried to enter a second-floor room of a building just before 6 a.m., Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said.

Gunfire burst through a closed door on the officers, Commissioner Outlaw told reporters Friday outside Temple University Hospital, where Corporal OConnor was pronounced dead at 6:09 a.m.

These officers didnt get a chance, she said. The gunfire happened immediately as soon as they walked through the door.
Shares of Jet Airways on Friday plunged as much as 4.74 percent to hit lower price band on the BSE as its deadline for submission of bids ended

New Delhi: Shares of Jet Airways on Friday plunged as much as 4.74 percent to hit lower price band on the BSE as its deadline for submission of bids ended.

The stock was locked in lower circuit on the BSE and the NSE at Rs 18.05 and Rs 17.70, respectively.

Jet Airways' Committee of Creditors (CoC) on Thursday decided to approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to seek two months' extension of deadline for submission of bids, which expired on Tuesday.

The CoC may seek an extension in the deadline in the face of no potential bidder coming forward and also due to the ongoing coronavirus concerns as it feels that it may not get the desired results if it were to go for liquidation of assets at this stage, according to sources privy to the development.

The bankers' committee had on 18 February set the new deadline of 10 March, for submission of bids for the grounded airline after South American conglomerate Synergy Group and New Delhi-based Prudent ARC failed to meet the deadline.
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Schools and universities across the United States are closing as the coronavirus impacts American's everyday lives, but that hasn't stopped young folks from partying it up in Miami for spring break.

Photos show scantily clad revelers taking to Miami Beach on Thursday just hours after the city announced a state of emergency in the midst of the global pandemic.

Gen Zers could be seen pouring cans of Limeritas and other alcoholic drinks on twerking girls in the ocean.

And contrasting the surgical mask and gloves that have become a regular visual in the States, these party-goers sported swim suits and trunks.

It's a party! Photos show scantily clad revelers taking to Miami Beach on Thursday just hours after the city announced a state of emergency in the midst of the global pandemic

Fierce watery fashion: Women sported skimpy bathing suits as they partied it up in the water

You're supposed to be social distancing: The CDC has advised against going to large public gatherings but that didn't stop these young folks from living it up

There did appear to be one person with a mask on his face, but one has to wonder what purpose that mask was really serving in that moment.

Folks also went against the social distancing that's been advised by the CDC, choosing to jump on each other's back and slapping each other's butts. Couples could be seen hugged up out on the water.

And while bottles of Hennessy were in abundance, Spring Breakers did appear to try to stay hydrated with water.

Florida currently has 50 of the 2,299 cases of those infected with the virus in the United States. Just two of those cases are in the Miami-Dade area, according to figures from the Florida Health Department.

Not the right type of hydration! Several people could be seen with bottles of alcohol but they weren't using them to kill the germs on their bodies

Couples could be seen hugged up out on the water, not worried about contracting the virus

Staying 'safe'? There did appear to be one person with a mask on his face, but one has to wonder what purpose that mask was really serving in that moment

Vaping during corona! A woman vapes as she enjoys some fun in the sun. The Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UCSF shares that there is an increased risk of serious lung disease caused by corona for smokers and vapers

Roughly seven people were arrested along Ocean Drive on Wednesday as police got into altercations with Spring Breakers.

Six of those people were charged with resisting an officer without violence.

Shocking video showed one officer and a woman colliding into each other in the commotion, only for the cop to then choke the woman and kick her down before arresting her.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said on Thursday that City Manager Jimmy Morales had declared a state of emergency in the city.

A couple dances together as others rush to scoop up the money that has fallen out of the woman's purse

A couple appear to be drinking water as they make their way through the festivities

Another woman is seen vaping as she walks on the beach

Florida currently has 45 of the 1,930 cases of those infected with the virus in the United States. Just two of those cases are in the Miami-Dade area

Friends celebrate out on the water as they enjoy their spring break

One Spring Breaker has lost her swim top but a friend rushes to come to her aid

Whoops! One woman couldn't handle the intense water rushing towards her

The move granted the city managers special powers to close private clubs, limit beach access and install a curfew for the next three days, the Miami Herald reports.

Gelber said that under the state of emergency, they city can and will suspend or refuse to pull special-event permits for large gatherings of more than 250 people for the next 30 days.

Included in this time frame are the city-sponsored spring break concerts in South Beach and the Miami Beach Pride festival.

'To the extent that anybody can declare spring break is over, it is over this year,' Gelber said. 'We are the point of an economic engine, and it's incumbent on us to make sure that we lead the way in this effort.'

Public beaches will remain open, for the time being. Major venues have been closing.

Staying active: One reveler hits a beach volleyball from in the water

Splashing around! Friends horse around and enjoy the water out on Miami Beach

Pose! Numerous folks were stopping to capture the wild moment

Taking a swig: One party-goer drinks an alcoholic beverage from a plastic bag in an effort to hide it from authorities and greedy folks

A scantily clad Spring Breaker poses for a selfie as her friend adjusts her swimsuit
UNITED NATIONS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday called for respect for Africa's leadership and ownership in the fight against terrorism.

When helping Africa in its fight against terrorism, the international community should support African countries in finding African solutions to African problems, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

When providing counter-terrorism assistance, the international community should respect the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the countries concerned, take fully on board the views and ideas of African countries and regional organizations, support their priorities, empathize with their anxieties and concerns, and focus on solving those issues considered most urgent by the countries concerned, he said.

It is particularly important to help African countries acquire improved capabilities and means for fighting terrorism, enhance information sharing, combat foreign terrorist fighters, and put an end to terrorist financing and the use of the internet for terrorist purposes, he told an open debate of the Security Council.

He asked for a holistic approach to tackle terrorism and extremism.

Underdevelopment in the socio-economic sphere is a major driver for the breeding and spread of terrorism and extremism in some parts of Africa. Many African countries are confronted with a whole raft of challenges in infrastructure development, poverty eradication, employment, education, public health, and social protection, said Zhang.

It is incumbent upon the international community to help African countries continue to implement the AU Agenda 2063 and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to achieve lasting peace and stability through economic development, poverty eradication, and improvement of the people's livelihood, he said.

In particular, attention should be focused on education and employment of African youth to help African youth not fall prey to the pernicious influence of extremist ideologies, said Zhang.
KIMBERLY  The Kimberly School District has canceled Monday classes for students so it can prepare for possible long-term closures. Classes are expected to resume Tuesday.

The district said on Facebook that the closure is "to allow staff time to prepare on how we would deliver services in the event Kimberly School were to be closed for an extended period of time.

"Currently, the school district is not aware of any staff or student confirmed with or exposed to the COVID-19 virus. The Idaho State Department of Education has advised all schools to develop a plan to deliver services both short and long term. This is a proactive step to prepare in the event of a closure due to the COVID-19 virus. As part of our preparation we need information from our families of what they will need in the event of a school closure."

The district asked parents to complete a survey about the impacts of a possible closure.

As of Friday morning, no cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, have been announced in Idaho and no other schools in the Magic Valley have announced closures. The College of Southern Idaho said Thursday it would move classes online.
Pampanga records first coronavirus case

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  Pampanga has recorded its first case of the coronavirus disease, Governor Dennis Pineda announced on Friday.

Pineda said the patient is a driver for ride-hailing company Grab, based in the Clark Freeport. The driver has been bringing passengers around the province, Pineda said. The patient is currently admitted in a private hospital in Metro Manila.

The governor has since suspended classes in all levels, public and private, in the whole province beginning March 16 until further notice.

The local government is also tracking people who have made contact with the patient, he added.

The Philippines has 64 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Friday. However, in the Health Department's latest tally, there was no patient recorded from Pampanga.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.
- The drill will be carried at 11am on Sunday, March 15, at Mbagathi Hospital and will simulate how agencies will respond to a real case if there will be an outbreak

- CS Kagwe urged residents to remain calm when they hear sirens from ambulances and not to panic thinking that it was a real case

- He urged politicians and other religious leaders to use their influence and meetings to sensitise Kenyans on the virus

- The government has established an isolation facility at Mbagathi Hospital and cancelled flights to affected countries to prevent the spread of the virus

- The virus seems to be inching closer home since at least 11 countries in Africa have reported positive cases of coronavirus

The government has said it will carry out a drill to measure the level of preparedness the country has achieved in planning to respond to any case of coronavirus outbreak.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the simulation will be conducted on Sunday, March 15, at Nairobi based Mbagathi Hospital where the government has established a quarantine facility.

READ ALSO: KRA vs Keroche: Kenyans rally behind Tabitha Karanja in KSh 9 billion row with taxman

Kagwe urged residents to remain calm when they hear sirens from ambulances and not to panic thinking that it was a real case. Photo: MoH.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Baringo: Police disperse William Ruto's supporters in Kabarnet

Kagwe urged residents to remain calm when they hear sirens from ambulances and not to panic thinking that it was a real case of coronavirus yet it was just training.

"We will be carrying out a simulation exercise. It is a test case for a real situation happening and what we will do when that happens.

We are going to do it on Sunday at 11am at Mbagathi Hospital," the CS said when he spoke to the media on Wednesday, March 12.

READ ALSO: Hatimaye Jowie aondoka rumande baada ya kulipa dhamana ya KSh 2 milioni

READ ALSO: Kenyan newspapers review for March 12: The tedious process of impeaching Deputy President William Ruto

In order to ensure every citizen was reading from the same script concerning the virus, the CS urged politicians and religious leaders among other heads to use their influence to sensitise Kenyans on the disease.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus a global pandemic on Wednesday, March 11, after the death toll raised to over 4,500 and infections crossed the 100,000 mark globally.

"I also appealed to our political class (MPs and MCAs) and those people who hold meetings and barrazas like chiefs to use those meetings to start themselves being active in sensitising the public about the measures that we ought to take to continue being safe and to prevent any widespread outbreak of this disease," Kagwe said adding that it was important for Kenyans to continue washing and sanitising their hands.

Already, the virus seems to be inching closer home as at least 11 countries in Africa have reported positive cases. One death has been reported on the continent.

The countries include Egypt, DRC, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Togo.

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.

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Only 15% of white evangelicals say 'morally upstanding' describes Trump 'very well': Pew White evangelical support for Trump still stronger than general population

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Only 15 percent of white evangelicals believe that the phrase morally upstanding describes President Trump very well, according to a recent report by the Pew Research Center.

Pew released the findings of the survey on Monday which found that, while nearly two-thirds of white evangelicals believe Trump has helped them while in office, a much smaller percentage confidently describe him as morally upstanding.

Among white evangelical respondents, 15 percent believed that the term morally upstanding described Trump very well, while 45 percent responded that the term fit fairly well and 37 percent said not too well or not at all well.

Also 23 percent of white evangelical respondents said that honest described Trump very well, compared to 46 percent that said fairly well and 29 percent that said Not too/not at all well.

While white evangelical Protestants generally see Trump as standing up for them, they are less convinced that he personally lives a moral and ethical life or conducts himself admirably, stated Pew.

Still, even though relatively few white evangelicals say words and phrases like morally upstanding and honest describe Trump very well, most say these traits describe Trump at least fairly well.

Pew also noted that white evangelicals were more likely than the general U.S. population to consider Trump to be morally upstanding, honest, or religious.

Pew noted that all surveyed religious groups, including more than two-thirds of white evangelicals, agreed that the term self-centered described Trump.

The report drew from a survey conducted Feb. 4-15 among 6,395 U.S. adults in a nationally representative sample from Pews American Trends Panel.

The survey also found that 27 percent of adults in the U.S. believe that the 2016 election of Trump reflected Gods will, with only 5 percent saying that God chose Trump because of his policies.

The same survey found that while 56 percent of white evangelical respondents believed that the election of Trump in some way was part of Gods plan, only 14 percent believed that Trump was elected because God liked his policies.

Among white evangelical Protestants, 11% say God chose Trump but not Obama because God favored Trumps policies, while only 2% say God favored Obama on policy grounds, but not Trump, wrote Gregory A. Smith of Pew.

Among black Protestants, 12% say Obamas election (but not Trumps) reflects divine endorsement of his policies, while only 4% say this about Trump (but not Obama).

In recent times, multiple polls have shown white evangelicals to be more supportive of the president than the general U.S. population.

For example, the Public Religion Research Institute released a survey last October which found that 77 percent of white evangelical Protestants approved of Trumps job performance, far larger than the 39 percent from overall respondents.

I think that the data here shows that [Trumps] support among evangelicals is not just rock-solid, it is growing if you look at several years PRRI data here, said PRRI Board Chair Melissa Deckman last year, regarding the 2019 findings.

I think evangelicals continue to back Donald Trump because they view him as their champion. He has delivered on many policies that other Republican presidents havent.
New Delhi, March 13 : The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday said it has filed a fresh case against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, his wife Bindu Kapoor and Avantha Realty Promoter Gautam Thapar in a fresh case involving the crisis-hit bank, officials said.

The CBI is also conducting searches at several locations in the national capital and Mumbai in connection with the fresh case.

A CBI official related to the probe in Delhi said the agency has registered a case against the couple for the bungalow deal at Amrita Shergill Marg and alleged bribe for relaxation in realisation of loans worth over Rs 2,000 crore to Thapar's companies.

The CBI official said the multiple teams of the central probe agency were carrying out searches at various locations in Delhi and Mumbai, including the residence of Kapoor, office premises of Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd, which is linked to Bindu Kapoor, IndiaBulls Housing Finance Ltd, and offices of Thapar linked firm Avantha Realty.

According to an Enforcement Directorate source related to the probe, Bindu Kapoor bought a luxurious bunglow at 40, Amrita Shergill Marg -- a prime location in Lutyens' Delhi -- in the name of her company Bliss Abode Ltd.

The source said that the property at Amrita Shergill Marg was bought from Avantha Realty, Gautam Thapar's company which had borrowed money from Yes Bank. The source said that Kapoor's wife had bought 40 Amrita Shergill Marg property in the name of her company Bliss Abode Ltd on account of a loan default by Avantha Realty.

Yes Bank's exposure to Avantha Realty was Rs 500 crore. The source claimed that Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd had bought this property by raising Rs 380 crore from a Mumbai- based non-banking financial company. The address of Bliss Abode is also the same as that of the property bought.

The source further claimed that Yes Bank allegedly, instead of going for a procedure under the RBI's suggested guidelines to recover the loan, sold the property for a bare minimum price of Rs 380 crore to Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd.

Amrita Shergill Marg is one of the prime areas of Delhi and sources said that the property was priced around Rs 450 crore. This is the second case filed by the CBI against the couple within a week following the Yes Bank crisis.

The CBI began 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. The ED also registered a case of money laundering on the basis of the CBI FIR and arrested Rana Kapoor on Sunday morning. One of his daughters was stopped from boarding a flight to London by Immigration Department officials at Mumbai airport.

The ED had arrested Rana Kapoor on Sunday morning and he is currently under the ED custody till March 16.
A mid the coronavirus outbreak, those who are still going into the office will be looking to up their hygiene routines at work.

Granted, only a few people will still be working in offices as multiple ones have closed down and people are working remotely all over the world.

To this end, however, it's still incredibly important to keep on top of your hygiene if you are still in the office.

In offices, especially those which hotdesk and move around different places, staff are frequently touching desks, keyboards, screens and mouses.

Authorities have already stated that the public should be washing their hands regularly 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 office desk?

Here, we take a look at how often you should clean your keyboard and mouse - and how to do so properly.

You should regularly clean your desk, keyboard and mouse / Getty

How long does coronavirus live on objects?

We know now, thanks to a study conducted by the New England Journal of Medicine - that the coronavirus was still detectable on copper for up to four hours, on cardboard for up to 24 hours, and on plastic and steel for up to 72 hours.

Viruses generally live longer on non-porous surfaces such as metals and plastics, meaning phones and keyboards are particularly rife with germs.

Using Clorox disinfecting wipes, you can gently wipe keyboards, phones and other hard services clean.

Dr Yimmy Chow, Consultant in Health Protection at Public Health England, told the Evening Standard: "From what we know about other coronaviruses, transmission of Covid-19 is most likely to happen from having close contact with a symptomatic person.

"By this, we mean being within two metres of them for over 15 minutes".

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 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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 often should you clean your office desk?

You should be cleaning down your office desk before and after you use it for the day. Especially if you're only one of a few people in the office.

Dr Chow warned: "It is also possible that you could become infected by touching surfaces or objects that have been contaminated with the respiratory secretions from an infected person and then touching your own mouth, nose, or eyes.

"This would apply whichever environment you are in, including at work, and is why were asking people to wash their hands more often for 20 seconds".

With this in mind, keeping a clean desk will be ineffective if you're not also regularly washing your hands for 20 seconds with hot soapy water.

As NHS guidelines states, you should use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available.

You should also cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze, putting used tissues in the bin immediately. You should then wash your hands afterwards.

So, how should you clean your desk?

The good news is that you won't need any special products to clean down your keyboard. Just a normal Clorox disinfecting wipe used on keyboards and other hard services will be effective.

The NHS says rubbing these kinds of wipes over your keyboard, mouse and desk area will be extremely helpful in stopping the spread of germs.
The Department of Health has confirmed that eight more positive cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus have been found in South Africa, taking the total infections up to 24.

The patients have been found in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, having caught the virus while travelling.

It was announced on Thursday that the first case of local transmission was discovered, but this was later retracted after testing came back negative.

The latest patients include

A 39 year old female from Gauteng who had travelled to Switzerland and Austria;

A 50 year old male from Gauteng who had travelled to Austria;

A 21 year old female from Gauteng who had travelled to Italy;

A 57 year old male from Gauteng who had travelled to Switzerland;

A 79 year old male from KZN who had travelled to Greece and Italy;

A 52 year old male from KZN who had travelled to Switzerland;

A 50 year old male from the Western Cape who had travelled to Switzerland and Austria;

A 46 year old male Western Cape who had travelled to Italy.

The latest numbers come after the department announced the discovery of three additional cases on Thursday.

This is how the virus is distributed across the provinces:

KwaZulu-Natal: 10 cases

10 cases Gauteng: 10 cases

10 cases Western Cape: 3 cases

3 cases Mpumalanga: 1 case

Contact tracing and quarantine

The health department announced earlier this week that 105 people who came into contact with the initial group of seven Covid-19 patients have been put under quarantine.

With the new cases, the number of South Africans who will be quarantined is expected to increase dramatically, as each recorded case so far had been into contact with around 15 people.

Other precautions have been taken, with some schools closing down for a day to deep clean after it emerged that a staff member came into contact with one of the people who tested positive for for the virus.

Contacts are put into quarantine, while those who test positive are put into isolation.

Isolation refers to the isolation and confinement of Covid-19 positive individuals and this happens at one of the designated isolation facilities in South Africa.

Quarantine implies the use or creation of appropriate facilities in which persons are separated from the community while being attended to. According to the World Health Organisation, possible settings include holiday facilities, dormitory or military facilities, amongst others, while home based quarantine may be the only feasible option.

In the setting of quarantine, the people being attended to are well but have had exposure to Covid-19. They are therefore quarantined to allow the incubation period to pass and wait for the test results when they are conducted, the health department said.

Wuhan evacuation

Health minister Zweli Mkhize confirmed that the Ranch Resort in Polokwane will host the 122 repatriated South Africans from Wuhan, Hubei Province, in China.

Three sites were identified. Of the three sites that were shortlisted, The Ranch Resort was selected. An agreement has been signed with the owner of the resort. We went through 84 sites for possible quarantine, said the minister.

Mkhize made the announcement on Thursday evening during a briefing by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the coronavirus in Polokwane. Mkhize reiterated that those returning are not sick but healthy citizens.

All military and health department personnel including the crew that undertook the repatriation will be housed at the resort. To allay the fears of workers at the Ranch Resort, insurance company Momentum has partnered with government to offer a limited life cover to the workers.

Staff will also receive medical screening ahead of the arrival of the South Africans. With the SANDF as the head of operations, Mkhize reiterated that military rules will apply with police playing a supportive role.

Mkhize said those who test positive for the virus during the quarantine in Polokwane will be removed and taken for treatment.

He also took the time to dispel myths that the coronavirus targets specific races.

Coronavirus doesnt look at your passport, doesnt look at your nationality, doesnt look at your circumstances whether youre rich or poor, doesnt care whether youre within one metre of somebody sneezing, a droplet of infection will hit you, he said.

Now read: Hackers are using the coronavirus to spread malware
Representative Image

On the face of it, a measure to curtail the influence of money and liquor in local body polls should be welcomed by all. However, the Andhra Pradesh governments recent Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, has come in for much criticism, and deservedly so.

The ordinance reportedly (an English text of the ordinance is not publicly available) confers powers to the district collectors to disqualify and punish candidates elected to the panchayats and other local bodies  scheduled for later this month.

If this seems innocuous, consider the implications. The state government (district administration is under the control of the state government) will have the power to disqualify somebody who is elected by the people to posts that are created by the Constitution [panchayats are governed by Part IX of the Constitution through Articles 243 to 243-O, though state governments are given wide powers to frame rules].

This directly contradicts Article 243K, which vests the power to conduct elections to the panchayats with the State Electoral Commission (SEC). The SECs independence is guaranteed the same way that of a judge is  the government cannot remove the officer willy-nilly, or even change service conditions to their detriment. Thus, it is a no-brainer that the Constitution did not envisage that the State will take over its powers.

The ordinance will most-likely be challenged and overturned in court, if it is used to disqualify anybody. That said, it is worthwhile to remember that such encroachments do not happen in isolation.

The foundation for this was laid in a 2015 judgment of the Supreme Court (Rajbala & Ors. Vs State of Haryana) which allowed the Haryana government to impose a whole host of arbitrary restrictions on candidates for panchayat elections. That was, in turn, based on the apex courts approval (Javed & Ors. Vs State of Haryana & Ors.) of another solitary condition imposed by the State in 2003  that no person with more than two living children will be allowed to contest.

In Rajbala (disclaimer: This author assisted the petitioners in this case), the conditions that would disqualify one from contesting included not having specified educational qualifications (matriculation, with relaxations for women and scheduled castes/tribes), not having a functional toilet at home, having arrears in electricity bills, and so on. Now, prima facie these are commendable objectives. Local leaders who represent people should be model citizens. It is certainly beneficial to have had basic education, and while the central government had just rolled out the Swachh Bharat Mission, elected representatives could lead the way in having functional toilets.

However, when you peel the layers, the argument begins to unravel. Members of the state legislature (MLAs), or even Parliament (MPs) dont have any such restrictions. Promoting education, toilets and payment of arrears is commendable, but they certainly do not meet the spirit of democracy, which implies the people electing the representatives they choose, based solely on their perception of the representatives ability to represent them effectively. Family planning, education, financial status, and sanitary habits are completely irrelevant there.

The court (of now-retired Justices J Chelameswar and AM Sapre) found that standing for elections was not a fundamental right, and, therefore, ineligible candidates could not claim that the restrictions affected their right to contest, as there was no such right. Arguments such as that having a functional toilet does not affect the representatives ability to discharge duties in any way were brushed aside as the executives prerogative.

Interestingly, one of the findings of the court was that the mere fact that a condition was arbitrary was not sufficient for striking down. However, this position was expressly overruled subsequently by the majority judgment in the triple talaq case, and so the constitutionality of the Haryana law is again uncertain.

The Andhra Pradesh ordinance seems to be on much more slippery ground. This is a blatant attempt at the state government usurping powers that ought to be with a neutral and independent body  however honourable the States intentions are. Theres a reason the power was taken away from the executive in the first place.

All the same, it is a useful reminder that our rights are encroached only in small increments. There was a never more convincing argument for the courts to take its responsibility as the watchmen of democracy seriously, and stand up for rights every time, however feebly they are violated.
A nurse and an employee demonstrate the smear test on a patient in the mobile ward of the Hermann Josef Hospital at Willy Stein Stadium. In the ward, citizens can be tested for the coronavirus. (Photo by Roberto Pfeil/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Yahoo News Canada is committed to providing our readers with the most accurate and recent information on all things coronavirus. We know things change quickly, including some possible information in this story. For the latest on COVID-19, we encourage our readers to consult online resources like Canadas public health website, World Health Organization, as well as our own Yahoo Canada homepage.

If youve recently gotten sick and are concerned about whether youve been exposed to the coronavirus, theres a few things to know about the testing process.

Protocol for coronavirus testing is determined by each province and territory. Many provinces are asking people who think theyre sick to first call their health care provider or 811, the public nurses line, in an attempt to minimize overcrowding of emergency rooms. Once on the line with a healthcare professional, patients will be asked questions about recent travel, exposure history and the symptoms theyre experiencing. Based on that information, the person will either be told to stay at home or advised to seek medical attention.

In Ontario and Quebec, specific testing centres are being set up at hospitals throughout the provinces. These centres are not drop-in and are only meant for people whove been determined to be at high risk of contracting the virus. Ontario is also in the early stages of setting up at-home testing.

Dr. Mel Krajden is the medical director of BC Centre for Disease Control public health laboratory. He says its a challenge to create these testing processes compared to how patients would normally go about getting the health services they need.

Part of the problem is that we know that people who are exposed to COVID-19 will typically develop symptoms four to 12 days, but sometimes 14 days, after being exposed, he tells Yahoo Canada. What were trying to do is prevent people who dont know theyre infected from transmitting to others.

What to expect when you get tested

Story continues

Once the patients been triaged and its determined they should be tested, they will be instructed to go to an emergency room or testing clinic where a nasal or throat swab will be administered to patients believed to be at risk of the virus. For patients who are severely ill and hospitalized, a lung test might be performed.

The swab is then tested for the nucleic acid specific for COVID-19. The nucleic acid indicates that the virus is present but doesnt necessarily mean that the person is still infectious.

Once you get infected the virus can stick around for a while, says Krajden. Most of the standards of care is that if you clear the virus, its no longer detectable, then you can be released back into the community.

The testing process is of no additional charge to Canadian patients, as its included in part of the countrys universal health insurance.

Krajden says the most important message is that if someone is sick, they should self-isolate. In order to lessen the strain on the healthcare system, the focus needs to be on the people who have other household members who are at risk: the elderly, people with underlying health conditions or people who work in health care or old age facilities.

Its not about testing everybody, he says. Its about trying to identify people to make sure that they know to stay home and self-quarantine if theyre not sick. If they are sick enough, they can go to the hospital.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs announced on Thursday that the travel restrictions list via air and sea to Sint Maarten has been further updated as of March 12, 2020, to include Spain and Germany which have large COVID-19 clusters.



On Wednesday the travel restrictions list was upgraded from 14 to 21 days.



Passengers and airline crew who have been in China (Peoples Republic), Hong Kong (SAR China), Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea (Rep.), Macao (SAR China), Singapore, Spain and Germany in the past 21 days, are not allowed to transit or enter Sint Maarten.



This does not apply to nationals of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (being from Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Netherlands, St. Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten); and this does not apply to residents of Sint Maarten.



The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Chair and the Department of Foreign Affairs are currently in discussions with the Kingdom partners, French counterparts, and other international stakeholders to determine how best to protect Sint Maarten from passengers who have travelled to infected cities within these countries, and will update the general public accordingly as soon as enough information has been garnered to take a decision in this regard.



The protection of the people of Sint Maarten remains the Governments highest priority in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic which remains an evolving situation on a daily basis.

Listen to the Government Radio station  107.9FM - for official information, statements and news updates or visit the Government website: www.sintmaartengov.org/coronavirus or and Facebook Page: Facebook.com/SXMGOV
BISICHI MINING - Change of Name

13 March 2020

Bisichi PLC (formerly Bisichi Mining Public Limited Company)

(the "Company")

Change of Name

The Company announces that, in order to reflect better the company's existing and future spread of business interests and investments, the Board has resolved to simplify the company name to Bisichi PLC with immediate effect.

Trading in the Company's shares under the new name Bisichi PLC is expected to commence with effect from 8.00 a.m. on 16 March 2020. The Company's Ticker, ISIN and SEDOL each remain unchanged.

Shareholdings will be unaffected by the change of name and existing share certificates should be retained as they will remain valid for all purposes. Any new share certificates issued will bear the new name.

The Company's website address remains www.bisichi.co.uk.

For Bisichi PLC (formerly Bisichi Mining Public Limited Company)

GJ Casey, Director and Secretary

13 March 2020
Extinction Rebellion is calling off plans for a mass protest in London this summer amid the worsening Coronavirus crisis.

The environmental group had been plotting to disrupt the capital again in a similar way to last year when thousands of climate change activists took over parts of the city for two weeks.

However, their mass mobilisation plans for this year - which were to start in May and include protesters swamping various parts of London in waves - will come at a time when Covid-19 is predicted to be at its worst in Britain.

The environmental group had been plotting to disrupt the capital again in a similar way to last year (pictured in London on April 16 last year)

Protesters sit on Waterloo Bridge during the Extinction Rebellion protest in London last year

In a statement released to MailOnline, the group said: Extinction Rebellion UK  as part of a wider movement  exists to protect life, both now and for future generations.

Right now we all need to prioritise public health, follow advice from scientists and doctors, and be mindful of the most vulnerable in our communities.

Mass public gatherings will not be organised by Extinction Rebellion if it is not safe to do so.

As such we can no longer make a commitment to the date of May 23rd for in-person rebellion in London based on Covid-19. We will make alternative, creative plans for May and June, watch this space!

XR have pledged to return to London in the future although have not yet set a date.

They have asked rebels to continue mobilising to be ready for when the time is right.

A sizeable chunk of XRs protesters are retired people in the age range most at risk (pictured, a protester is arrested during the protests last year)

Health professionals fear that the number of Coronavirus cases could rise significantly over the next few months into the summer (pictured, Extinction Rebellion protests in London last year)

The group added: We believe in the need for mass civil disobedience, until the Government responds adequately to the ongoing climate and ecological emergency.

As the pandemic passes, nothing will feel the same and we need to be ready, we are already in a state of planetary crisis, and we do not have to return to business as usual.

Extinction Rebellion will continue to organise with, and support, our local communities and each other throughout this time of national and international emergency.

Health professionals fear that the number of Coronavirus cases could rise significantly over the next few months into the summer. A sizeable chunk of XRs protesters are retired people in the age range most at risk.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 17:13:53|Editor: Lu Hui

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SHANGHAI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai Shenhua striker Stephan El Shaarawy has called on his native Italy to draw on China's experience in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

"Italy can learn from China's experience on fighting against the epidemic," El Shaarawy wrote on his Instagram account.

In January, when Shenhua was training in south China's Hainan Province, the epidemic began to spread rapidly in Wuhan. First proposed by general manager Zhou Jun and veteran Cao Yunding, Shenhua's players and staff including El Shaarawy made donations.

As China's domestic epidemic situation has shown a positive trend, the coronavirus is becoming more of a global issue with Italy being one of the worst hit countries. The number of infections in Italy reached 12,839 by Thursday, and death toll exceeded 1,000.

In a photo Shaarawy posted on Instagram, the map of Italy was adapted to a picture of two clasped hands. "I am far away from my motherland now, but I will always keep a close eye on the latest development. Seeing that my country is facing difficulties, I felt heartbroken. I miss my family, friends and other people who are going through frustrating times," he wrote.

The 27-year-old striker then explained the meaning of the picture. "I am optimistic about the future because I saw the situation in China is improving, and the country's success is mainly due to all citizens taking their own responsibility."

Giovanni Toti, head of the region of Shaarawy's hometown Liguria, called on citizens to stay at home and avoid outdoor activities. Shaarawy knows that was the Chinese method for fighting against the epidemic and proved effective.

"I hope Italian people could do the same. Obeying regulations of epidemic prevention lays the foundation for the final victory. Now Italy needs more unity than ever," he said.
The Egyptian government and people demonstrated their strong ability in dealing with the weather disturbances that swept the country this weekend, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Friday.

The state's executive and security bodies have managed a very complicated situation during unprecedented climatic conditions, he said, adding that "all thanks goes to officials and individuals  required to monitor the situation and contain its consequences on the ground."

The president also praised "Egyptians' high spirit of cooperation and connectedness.

"This clearly says we are togetherhand in handstronger than anything," he added.

He also expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the unstable weather, and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

Stormy winds, thunder and lighting, and torrential rainfall hit the country on Thursday, causing major flooding and other disruptions.

The bad weather killed 20 people, delayed flights and forced the closure of major highways.

Conditions began to improve on Friday and are expected to clear on Saturday.

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Statewide list of sites: How to find free lunch for Michigan kids with schools shut down

SWARZ CREEK, MI -- Swartz Creek Community schools is planing to provide students meals through bus delivery and a drive-through concept at the districts middle school and high school buildings.

All K-12 school buildings in Michigan will close March 16 through April 5 as the state seeks to address coronavirus, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced late Thursday.

Meals and instructional packets will be delivered starting Wednesday, March 18, Swartz Creek Superintendent Ben Mainka said in a Friday, March 13 letter. More details will come soon.

All Michigan schools to close as coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

During this time, there are many children who regularly rely on us for food, who will not have access to school, Mainka writes.

Instructional resources will be made available through virtual and digital resources, along with hard copies. The materials are not formalized online instruction," but are designed to provide learning activities for children during their absence, the letter reads.

Carman-Ainsworth middle schooler was exposed to person with coronavirus, district says

Schools will reopen Friday from noon to 3:30 p.m. for parents and students to pick up belongings from lockers.

This is an unprecedented time, but our staff remains committed to providing our children with the services that they need to continue their healthy development, Mainka writes.

The state of Michigan now has 16 presumptive positive cases of coronavirus, according to officials.

More: Stay up to date on all of MLives coronavirus coverage

Related stories:

Michigan confirms 12 total coronavirus cases

Michigan governor asks Trump to open special Obamacare enrollment period during coronavirus threat
Donald Trumps inner circle at the White House is blocking calls from at least one former advisor who has been trying to advise the president on the US coronavirus response, it has been claimed.

Thomas Bossert, a former Trump homeland security adviser, has reportedly tried several times in recent days to reach the president or vice president to warn them just how dire the coronavirus pandemic really is, only to be blocked by officials, according to The New York Times, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Mr Trumps administration has been upbraided for its handling of the global crisis, with little guidance for the public, inconsistent restrictions on travel and events, and testing in US hospitals slow to be made available.

A lack of testing kits means as few as 11,000 US citizens may have been tested for the disease to date, even though the first known case was detected on 21 January in Washington state.

Meanwhile in South Korea, over 10,000 people are being tested every day after a huge national effort to stop the spread of the virus. The measures have seen a significant fall in cases.

Despite growing frustrations, Mr Trump has maintained the crisis in the US is not that bad.

Compared to other places, we are in really good shape, he said on Thursday after announcing bans on direct travel from all of Europe apart from the UK, and we want to keep it that way.

Mr Trumps failure to address numerous concerns immediately rattled US financial markets, which plummeted a further 10 per cent, making Thursday the worst single day since Black Monday in 1987.

With the combined losses of recent weeks, the markets have now lost about 85 per cent of the gains they had made during the entire Trump presidency.

Mr Trump has repeatedly pointed to the markets as a key argument for his re-election this year.

Following the claims Mr Bossert had not been able to reach the president or vice president by phone, he denied on Thursday he had tried to see Mr Trump and been unable to, but would not elaborate on his contacts with the White House, according to The New York Times.

Nonetheless, Mr Bossert has made repeated warnings on Twitter that the Trump administration must take rapid action to mitigate the impacts of the disease.

On Wednesday, Mr Bossert tweeted: The US and Europe are less than two weeks behind Italy. We should be learning from the experiences of China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Italy. If we fail to learn from them, we do so at our own peril. History will remember what we dont do at this critical moment.

Then after Mr Trumps Thursday address Mr Bossert responded: Theres little value to European travel restrictions. Poor use of time & energy. Earlier, yes. Now, travel restrictions/screening are less useful. We have nearly as much disease here in the US as the countries in Europe. We MUST focus on layered community mitigation measures-Now!

He added: In two weeks, we will regret wasting time and energy on travel restrictions and wish we focused more on hospital preparation and large scale community mitigation.
PRAGUE, March 12 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic will close its borders to travellers coming from Germany and Austria and also ban the entry of foreigners coming from other risky countries to contain the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Thursday.

Citizens will also be barred from travelling to those areas. Among other measures, the government banned public events of more than 30 people and closures of places such as sport centres or spa services.

Restaurants must close by 8:00 p.m.

(Reporting by Jan Lopatka, writing by Jason Hovet; editing by Jason Neely)
The EU wants members states to introduce border health screening hinder the spread of conronavirus, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen revealed today.

Outlining the potential impact on the eurozone economy she said that the bloc would 'do whatever is necessary' to protect its citizens and businesses.

But she warned against a unilateral travel ban, despite sweeping measures introduced by individual states as the death toll continues to rise, especially in Italy.

She spoke in Brussels as the French prime minister Edouard Philippe announced a ban on all public gatherings of more than 100 people in a bid to delay the disease's spread.

Ms von der Leyen said: 'General travel bans are not seen as being the most effective by the World Health Organization.'

She spoke in Brussels today as the French prime minister Edouard Philippe announced a ban on all public gatherings of more than 100 people in a bid to delay the disease's spread

The EU will offer member states 'maximum flexibility' to boost their spending and subsidies beyond normal rules in order to help fight the coronavirus, she added.

'The shock is temporary, but we must work together to ensure that it is as short, and as limited as possible.

'Therefore member states should be encouraged and they should feel comfortable to take all the necessary measures to support the most effective sectors.'

Paris is taking drastic steps to avoid people congregating.

'The idea is that we can slow the progression and the circulation of the virus,' Mr Philippe told TF1 television, adding the measure would come into force immediately and nationwide.

France previously limited gatherings to 1,000 people in a move that dealt a blow to theatres, opera houses and concert venues.

Berlin today promised 'unlimited' credit to help companies hit by the coronavirus pandemic as part of postwar Germany's biggest help package worth at least 550 billion euros.

'There is no upper limit to the credit offered by (state-owned development bank) KfW, that's the most important message,' said Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.

The guarantees, the equivalent of 614 billion US dollars were just 'for starters', said Economy Minister Peter Altmaier.
In the last weeks, security experts reported many Coronavirus-themed attacks carried out by cybercrime gangs, now experts warn of similar attacks from nation  s tate actors.

Recently security experts reported many Coronavirus-themed attacks carried out by cybercrime gangs, but now experts are warning of similar attacks launched by nation -state actors.

State-sponsored hackers from Russia, China, and North Korea never stop their activities and seems to be exploiting the interest in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak to spread malware.

Since the end of February, North Korea-linked hackers was observed launching Coronavirus-themed attacks against other states.

Experts from security firm IssueMakersLab uncovered a malware campaign launched by North Korean hackers that used documents detailing South Koreas response to the COVID-19 epidemic as a lure .

North Korea's BabyShark malware has been found in the form of document on South Korea's response to COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/yAWuWt6Qkq  IssueMakersLab (@issuemakerslab) February 27, 2020

The hackers used documents boobytrapped with BabyShark, a malware that employed in campaigns carried out by the North Korea-linked APT tracked as Kimsuky.

China-linked hackers are also attempting to exploit the interest in the Coronavirus outbreak as documented by Vietnamese cyber-security firm VinCSS.

Researchers uncovered attacks carried out by a China-linked APT group tracked as Mustang Panda that in the past targeted Mongolian-based MIAT Airlines, the non-profit China Center (China-Zentrum e.V. ), and countries including but not limited to Germany, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Pakistan, Vietnam.

According to VinCSS experts, the APT group employed spear-phishing messages using a RAR file attachment purporting including information about the Coronavirus outbreak from the Vietnamese Prime Minister.

We recently recorded a malicious code (suspected from Mustang Panda group ) that faked the directives of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on preventing COVID-19.In this article we will analyze the method an attacker uses to infect a users computer. reads the analysis published by VinCSS .

Security experts from CheckPoint also tracked a Coronavirus-themed campaign attributed to a China-linked APT group tracked as Vicious Panda.

The state-sponsored hackers were targeting Mongolian government organizations with spear-phishing messages using documents claiming to contain information about the prevalence of new C oronavirus infections.

Check Point Research discovered a new campaign against the Mongolian public sector, which takes advantage of the current Coronavirus scare, in order to deliver a previously unknown malware implant to the target. reads the analysis published by the CheckPoint experts.

A closer look at this campaign allowed us to tie it to other operations which were carried out by the same anonymous group, dating back to at least 2016. Over the years, these operations targeted different sectors in multiple countries, such as Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus.

Lets close with a mention to Russia-linked APT groups exploiting Coronavirus as bait for the attacks.

Experts from cyber-security firm QiAnXin Technology uncovered a campaign targeting individuals in Ukraine using emails pretending to be from the Center for Public Health of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

The experts believe that the group behind the attack is the Hades APT, a Russian cyberespionage group linked to the APT28 nation-state group.

Attacks pretend to be from the Center for Public Health of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and deliver bait document containing the latest news regarding #COVID-19. A backdoor written in C# gets dropped by malicious macro code to perform remote control.https://t.co/yT0iUZxMji pic.twitter.com/fb2ECmbSKX  RedDrip Team (@RedDrip7) February 21, 2020

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs  hacking, coronavirus)
It has never been easy to understand Louisiana politics, but veteran pollster and political scientist Ed Renwick made our politics far less Byzantine  and lots of fun. Ed, who co-founded the Loyola Institute of Politics (IOP) nearly half a century ago and left his mark on generations of politicians and political reporters, died after a lengthy illness on March 6 at the age of 81.

With a generous mix of insight and humor, Ed unraveled the mysteries of polling, campaigning, messaging and governing for students, politicians, journalists and television viewers. For decades, he was the pollster and Election Night analyst for WWL-TV in addition to serving as IOPs executive director and a professor of political science at Loyola University. He also served as pollster for a slew of local politicians, including New Orleans first African American mayor, Ernest N. Dutch Morial.

A native of Joliet, Illinois, Ed came to Louisiana in the 1960s to conduct research for his doctoral dissertation. He never left. In an interview years later, he described Louisiana as heaven for a political junkie.

Ed was a kind and gentle soul, a voracious reader, and a lover of good food, fine wine and his wife of 45 years, Polly Renwick. He had a wonderful sense of humor, which he used to flavor his political analysis at every turn.

Ed's longtime friend Harry Blumenthal recalled an election night when then-news anchor Angela Hill had to fill some air time (tap dance, as they say in TV Land) with Ed during a lull in the returns. She asked Ed how he came up with the profile precincts that enabled him to project winners long before all the returns came in. As he burst into his hallmark giggle, Ed replied, The same way porcupines make love  very carefully!

Blumenthal also recounted the time he and Renwick were dining out with their wives at Moscas Restaurant in Westwego. As they were leaving, a woman who was sitting with several other ladies nearby stopped Ed and asked, Arent you on TV? Ed answered that he was, indeed, on Channel 4. I told you, the woman said to her friends. Hes the weatherman!

Ed and Harry shared many laughs about that one.

Then there was the time Ed had to deliver some bad news to a client who was running for office. Even if the five other candidates in the race drop out, I still dont think you would win, Ed said, followed by the laugh.

How I miss that laugh now.

Politicians tend to take themselves and their campaigns very seriously, of course. What made Ed so valuable to candidates was the incredible accuracy of his polls. Unlike so many good news pollsters today, who magically provide candidates with rosy numbers and projections, Ed never let his own political leanings or candidates potential reactions influence his analysis. That level of professionalism and intellectual honesty was Eds stock in trade.

+2 Clancy DuBos: Tort reform, wages among the fights brewing in upcoming legislative session More than a third of legislators will be brand new when the Louisiana Legislature convenes March 9.

Ed was also incredibly generous with his insights. He never stopped teaching those of us who were privileged to have attended his IOP lectures. I cant count the times I called on him to get his take on local politics. He never failed to give me more than I asked for. Other reporters who knew Ed tell similar stories.

In 1999, Ed was inducted into the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame. He retired in 2008, and the IOP has established an annual lecture series bearing his name.

Decades ago, when newsrooms werent so budget-conscious, Ed and I were part of a small but devoted group of political junkies who used to meet for long (and liquid) lunches  seasoned with gossip and insights  at Ruths Chris Steakhouse the day before Election Day. The initial group included Eds friend, fellow pollster and one-time business partner Joe Walker, media consultant Jim Carvin and columnist Iris Kelso. They were my early mentors in the dark arts of Louisiana politics, and theyre all gone now. I choose to believe theyre back together again  enjoying more gossip and laughs.

Among the great privileges of my life were calling Ed a friend, sharing the Eyewitness News Election Night desk with him before his retirement, and then trying to follow in his footsteps. Ed Renwick will never be replaced, only followed  and now, greatly missed.

CORRECTION  In my column last week on proposed legislation regarding the Louisiana Judiciary Commission, I wrote that state Supreme Court Justice Jeff Hughes had been investigated by the FBI over a conflict of interest in that he failed to disclose he was dating the lawyer for a litigant appearing before him in a child custody case in March 1999. I have since been provided with court documents showing the attorney in question did not represent that litigant during the custody trial, but rather had withdrawn from the case more than seven months earlier, in August 1998. I apologize for the error.
GRAND HAVEN, Mich., March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Access-Power, Inc., (ACCR or the Company), a Grand Haven based diversified holding Company is pleased to announce that we have retained Company Counsel, Vic Devlaeminck. The company began a solicited venture with this trusted attorney and CPA dated March 10, 2020. We have retained him as legal counsel for the Company.



Patrick J. Jensen, Director and C.F.O. commented, It is with great pleasure to officially give my Shareholders a glimpse into the Company operations this Friday the 13th. We have a long way to go in our quest to become Pink Current by OTC Markets. Thank you to my long term Shareholders for believing in me. I will not let you down! Additionally, he also commented by saying, The company profile at OTC Markets has been updated. Shareholders may visit https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/ACCR/profile for updated information. We have begun the process to reduce the Company authorized shares from 500,000,000 down to 300,000,000. I am doing this with the hopes of finding a reverse merger candidate soon and also to make the Company more attractive for future investors. We just crossed $1,000.00 in sales at https://www.clonesbydrones.com.

All of Vics current clients can be viewed at https://www.otcmarkets.com/learn/service-providers/3113?t=3

There are many changes coming ahead to ACCR. Our comeback song remains the same,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbhCPt6PZIU

Established in 1996, Access-Power, Inc. is a Florida based for-profit Corporation with operations in West Michigan. We have a strong drive for profitability.

There are various risk factors that should be carefully considered in evaluating our business; because such factors may have a significant impact on our business, our operating results, our liquidity and financial condition. As a result of these various risk factors, actual results could differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, or that we currently consider to be immaterial, may also impact our business, result of operations, liquidity and financial condition. If any such risks occur, our business, its operating results, liquidity and financial condition could be materially affected in an adverse manner. Under such circumstances, if a stable trading market for our securities is established, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

SECURITIES ISSUED BY THE COMPANY INVOLVE A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK AND, THEREFORE, SHOULD BE CONSIDERED EXTREMELY SPECULATIVE. THEY SHOULD NOT BE PURCHASED BY PERSONS WHO CANNOT AFFORD THE POSSIBILITY OF THE LOSS OF THE ENTIRE INVESTMENT. PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS SHOULD READ ALL OF THE COMPANY'S FILINGS, INCLUDING ALL EXHIBITS, AND CAREFULLY CONSIDER, AMONG OTHER FACTORS THE VARIOUS RISK FACTORS THAT MAY BE PRESENT.

You should be aware that there are many substantial risks to an investment in our common stock. Carefully consider these risk factors, along with any available information currently reported by the Company (of which there are note), before you decide to invest in shares of our common stock.

If these risk factors were to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations or future prospects could be materially adversely affected. If that happens, the market price for our common stock, if any, could decline, and prospective investors would likely lose all or even part of their investment.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release may be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, and projections about the Company's business, based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may, and probably will, differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements due to numerous factors.

Contact Information:

Patrick J. Jensen

Director

Tel: 616.312.5390

Email: pjensen@myaccess-power.com

Corporate Website: http://www.myaccess-power.com

"Our corporate website is currently under construction to soon reflect our new business model in the Michigan Medical Marijuana Clone sector."

Product Website

http://www.mycbdpets.com

http://www.clonesbydrones.com

http://www.clonesbycars.com

Access-Power, Inc.

OTC Ticker: ACCR
Open source

Head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov said that since March 17, Ukraine will completely block the air traffic due to the coronavirus pandemic. He said this on the air of Newsone TV Channel.

The air communication in Ukraine will be completely limited from March 17, from 00:00. Land and sea communications will continue to work, our citizens will be able to return to the country, Razumkov said.

He added that the National Security and Defence Council prepared a list of preventive measures that will be implemented in the near future. It is also noted that the Parliament will continue working.

"I am sure that in any case next week, we will observe an extraordinary meeting of the parliament, at which bills will be adopted that are necessary today to ensure the work of various institutions. The entire power vertical will be involved," claimed the official.

As we reported before, in the next 48 hours, Ukraine will close its border for foreigners for two weeks. Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will warn all the institutions and all countries that the border will be closed for two weeks.
HOUSTON  A 19-year-old pregnant woman from Guatemala died this week from injuries suffered when she fell trying to climb the U.S. border wall near El Paso, Texas, U.S. and Guatemalan authorities said Thursday.

Guatemala identified the woman as Mirian Stephany Giron Luna. Medical personnel tried to deliver her baby, but were unsuccessful, both governments said. The U.S. said Giron was eight months pregnant, while Guatemalan authorities said she was at seven months.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection blamed Girons death on human smugglers who encouraged her to try to climb the wall. In a statement, Gloria Chavez, the chief for the Border Patrols El Paso sector, said the authorities would work with Mexico to find those responsible for placing these lives in danger.

CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan told reporters that Giron and her partner were taken to the border by smugglers and left there in the darkness. They were attempting to climb when she fell. Border Patrol agents reached her and called medical authorities, who took her to the hospital but tragically, the mother and the child died from their injuries from the fall, he said.

According to Guatemalan authorities, Giron fell more than 19 feet (6 meters) on Saturday. Her partner, who is believed to have been the babys father, eventually found Border Patrol agents who called for an ambulance.

Giron suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, a pelvis fracture, and liver and kidney lacerations. Guatemala says surgical interventions could not save her life and she died Tuesday afternoon.

Giron is from Guatemalas San Marcos department, near the countrys border with Mexico. CBP says it has no record of her trying to enter the U.S. at an official port of entry or having been placed in the Remain in Mexico program, in which tens of thousands of migrants have been forced to pursue their immigration cases from Mexico.

Tekandi Paniagua Flores, the Guatemalan consul in Del Rio, Texas, said he spoke to Girons partner, who remains in Border Patrol detention.

He said that if he had known that the risks were this high, he would not have done it, Paniagua said.

Paniagua said he could recall at least seven cases this year in which Guatemalans had injured themselves trying to climb U.S. border walls. He says such cases are rising because more migrants from Guatemala and other Central American countries wracked by violence and poverty no longer surrender en masse to the Border Patrol.

Policy changes such as Remain in Mexico and a ban on many asylum claims have made it more difficult for many people to remain in the U.S. once they are caught.

The U.S. has already built or replaced about 135 miles (220 kilometers) of border barriers with Mexico, with several contracts awarded for more construction. Much of the border in and around El Paso, across from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, already has some form of fencing.

As it grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trumps administration has continued to promote the border wall and move to condemn land for construction. Responding to a post linking the wall to stopping the coronavirus, Trump tweeted Tuesday, We need the Wall more than ever! There is no evidence that an expanded border wall would prevent the spread of the virus, and the U.S. has reported far more coronavirus cases than Mexico.

___

Associated Press journalists Ben Fox in Washington and Sonia Perez D. in Guatemala City contributed to this report.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday (March 13) that moratorium on Yes Bank will be lifted within 3 days of notifying the Reserve Bank of India`s reconstruction scheme for the troubled bank. The scheme was approved by Cabinet meeting today held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Finance Minister said, "State Bank of India (SBI) will invest up to 49 per cent of the equity. Other investors are also being invited," adding "There will be 3 years lock-in period for SBI for up to 26 per cent of their investment, and for others, there will be a lock-in period of 3 years of 75 per cent of their investment."

Sitharaman further said, "Authorised capital has been raised from Rs 1100 crores to Rs 6200 crores of Yes Bank to accommodate immediate and subsequent raising of capital requirements."

"The moratorium will be lifted within 3 days of notifying the scheme. A new board, having at least two directors of SBI, will take over within 7 days of the issuance of the notification," the FM added.

Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javadekar was briefing media on the outcome of the cabinet meeting today.

The press conference comes at a time when the country is facing economic slowdown, coronavirus scare, and Yes Bank crisis.




Doctors from Seoul National University Hospital monitor patients infected with the new coronavirus via 'telemedicine' at a community healthcare center in Mungyeong, North Gyeonsang Province, March 12. Yonhap
The campaign also pointed to the geographic sweep of Mr. Bidens victories on Tuesday, particularly in Michigan: He won every county there, including those home to the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, which Mr. Sanders won by double-digit margins in 2016, though Mr. Bidens margins there were much smaller than in other parts of the state.

From the start, Mr. Bidens argument for his candidacy has centered explicitly on a return to normalcy after four years of life under Mr. Trump. And that is not what many young voters are looking for.

The Republican Party has moved farther to the right than Democrats have moved to the left, which leaves this huge vacuum, I feel, for younger people who actually want to be a part of a truly progressive movement, said Hajar Khalid, 20, a student at Columbia University.

Ms. Khalid said she supported Medicare for all and would feel somewhat better about voting for Mr. Biden, should he win the nomination, if he had a more comprehensive health care plan or if he chose a truly progressive running mate.

I want to say that despite all of this, I will still vote for the Democratic Party in the general no matter who it is, she said. But its really hard to say that when the other candidate is Joe Biden, who doesnt have any real attractive attributes and whose main message seems to be: I wont change anything to help progressive causes, really, but at least Im not Trump.

Beyond the disconnect between young progressives ideals and Mr. Bidens more moderate proposals, there is also a deeper problem: While Mr. Sanders has actively engaged with young people, Mr. Biden has never given much indication that he is seeking their votes at all. At times, he has appeared openly disdainful or condescending toward them.

Groups that work with young voters said winning their votes would require speaking more to the policies they want to see enacted, but also considering them in event planning, advertising and communications. And it could mean enlisting surrogates who have more credibility among young voters than Mr. Biden does.
Leaders of four South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations - Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives - on Friday endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal to chalk out a joint strategy to combat the coronavirus outbreak, promising their complete support towards the collective efforts against the pandemic that has killed nearly 5000 people globally.

Taking to Twitter, Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said that his government is ready to work with SAARC member states -- India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Sri Lanka -- to protect the people from the deadly disease.

"I welcome the idea advanced by Prime Minister Modiji @narendramodi for chalking out a strong strategy by the leadership of the SAARC nations to fight Coronavirus. My government is ready to work closely with the SAARC Member States to protect our citizens from this deadly disease," KP Oli tweeted.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that his country is ready to join the discussion and share its learnings and best practices to combat the outbreak.

"Thank you for the great initiative Shri @narendramodi - #LKA is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Let's unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe," he tweeted in response to PM Modi's call to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Modi on Friday had proposed that the leaders of the SAARC countries should chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus."I would like to propose that the leadership of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," PM Modi had tweeted.

Within hours, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said he has no doubt that under PM Modi's leadership the region would see immediate and impactful outcomes.

"This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference," Tshering tweeted.

It may be noted that all eight SAARC nations have reported cases of coronavirus, according to the Health Organisation website. India has reported upto 75 cases, while one person has died from the infection.

Prime Minister Modi had also said that SAARC countries can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet."Our planet is battling the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it," PM Modi said in another tweet.

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih also came forward in response to Modi's proposal.

"Thank you PM @narendramodi for taking the initiative on this important endeavor. Covid 19 requires a collective effort to defeat it. Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort," he wrote on the micro-blogging site.

PM Modi asserted that South Asia should fight against the virus to ensure people's safety.

"South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy," he added.

Pakistan, too, hinted at working with the neighbouring countries -- including India -- to deal with coronavirus. Responding to a question at her weekly news briefing on the same, Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said Islamabad was ready to extend assistance to neighbours.

"Government of Pakistan is monitoring the situation very closely and will take measures required for the citizens within Pakistan and any assistance we can provide to our neighbouring countries," the spokesperson said, as reported by the Express Tribune.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nepal on Friday cancelled the permission to climb Mount Everest in view of the threat of Coronavirus. Earlier on Thursday, China banned it. Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Yogesh Bhattarai told news agency AFP that Nepal has stopped issuing tourist visas along with prohibiting climbing on all the mountains of the country.

For your information, let us tell you that Iran has informed about 75 more deaths in the last 24 hours due to Coronavirus. The country's Health Ministry gave information about this. Due to this, 429 people have died in the country. 1,075 new cases have been reported here. 10,075 people have been infected so far. In the Middle East, the highest number of cases have been reported in Iran.

The infection with coronavirus has not been confirmed among 112 people brought back from Wuhan, China once again. All the people were kept under special surveillance in the Chawla camp of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Out of 112 people, 36 are foreign nationals. ITBP has given information about this. Around 200 Indians are stranded in Italy's capital Rome for the last 24 hours. According to news agency ANI, Rauf Ahmed, a student trapped in Rome, said on Thursday that for the last 24 hours, about 200 Indians have been stranded at the airport in Rome. Most of them are from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab.

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Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urges firms to prepare scenarios to ensure they can continue operation in any circumstances.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the meeting.

The leader made the suggestions at a meeting in Hanoi on March 12 with representatives of private economic groups in tourism, services, aviation, food and industry, to consult them on national economic development in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic spreading globally.

PM Phuc described the domestic business community as a bastion in the fight against diseases and social recession, and lauded their active role in job generation and ensuring the macro economy.

He expressed his approval for the enterprises measures during this tough time, especially improving governance, restructuring, applying technology and expanding linkage and cooperation.

The PM also urged businesses to optimise opportunities generated by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the domestic market with a population of nearly 100 million.

He assigned localities to take synchronous measures in support of enterprises, particularly those hard hit by COVID-19, and pledged that the Government will set forth suitable mechanisms to assist sectors that are severely affected by the epidemic, especially aviation, tourism and services.

The participating businesspeople expressed their belief in the countrys macroeconomic stability as well as the Governments resolve in completing the twin targets of containing the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuring economic development.

Ho Ngoc Yen Phuong, Deputy General Director of Vietjet Air, proposed that the Government roll out supportive measures for the aviation sector, including exempting import duty and environmental tax for jet fuel and reducing 50-70 percent of aviation fees such as fees on take-off and landing and airport services.

She also asked the Government to promote investment attraction in aviation infrastructure.

Other business representatives suggested localities increase dialogues with enterprises to collect their ideas on disease combat, while helping them remove difficulties in business and production./. VNA

Vietnamese PM urges strengthening COVID-19 fight Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a directive on March 11, requesting stronger actions to prevent and control COVID-19 amid new developments of the outbreak.
Exports of 1,945 Indian products, which were availing duty incentives under the GSP scheme of the US, has recorded a growth of 5 per cent to USD 5.47 billion during June-December 2019 period, Parliament was informed on Friday.

Benefits under Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) were rolled back by the US in June last year.

Under the GSP programme, 1,945 products including auto components and textile materials used to get duty-concessions in the American markets.

"India's exports to the US, which were under the GSP lines have shown an increase of 5 per cent in the period of June-December 2019 as compared to the corresponding period of previous year i.e., from June-December 2018 (USD 5.2 billion), when GSP benefits were there," Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

He also said that the average duty benefits accrued to exporters and importers on account of US GSP benefits were 3.8 per cent, which varied across the products.

On February 10 this year, the US has also removed India from the lost of developing countries for the purpose of countervailing investigations under the WTO's Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.

In a separate reply, the minister said exports of these 1,945 product to the US grew by 13 per cent in 2018 to USD 6.37 billion as against USD USD 5.76 billion in 2017, USD 4.74 billion in 2016 and USD 4.62 billion in 2015.

In an another reply on start-ups, Goyal said as on February 28 this year, as many as 320 startups received Rs 3,378 crore funding under the Fund of Funds of the ministry.

"Indian startups are increasingly attracting foreign investments," he said adding till February 29 this fiscal, they have attracted Rs 2,077 crore and Rs 1,733 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 1,209 crore in 2017-18.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By PTI

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has extended its travel ban to include the European Union and 12 other countries, including India, as the number of coronavirus cases in the Kingdom jumped to 62, according to media reports on Friday.

Saudi health officials on Friday announced 17 new coronavirus cases, raising the number of cases in the country to 62, according to the official Saudi news agency.

There are 11 foreign nationals among the people who contracted the virus, Saudi Press Agency quoted the Saudi Health Ministry as saying.

One person was discharged from hospital after recovering from the virus, the statement said.

Saudi Arabia early Thursday suspended flights to all EU countries as well as Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia.

"Saudi Arabia's government decided to temporarily suspend the travel of citizens and residents, and to suspend flights to the European Union countries, as well as Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia," Saudi Gazette quoted a source at the Ministry of Interior as saying.

The government will also be suspending the entry to those coming from the aforementioned countries and entry to those who were in those countries within a time period of 14 days prior to their arrival to the Kingdom, it said.

The government's decision grants Saudi nationals and citizens of those countries with valid Saudi residency visas 72 hours to return to the Kingdom before the travel suspension comes into effect.

The travel ban excludes Indian and Filipino medical practitioners working in the Kingdom, taking into account the necessary and required precautions, the report said.

The ministries of interior and health would coordinate while dealing with humanitarian and exceptional cases, without prejudice to the necessary precautionary and preventive measures.

The decision expanded the number of countries included in the travel ban list to 53.

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 114 countries.

Saudi Arabia on March 9 suspended travel to Oman, France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Italy, and South Korea.
Katie Couric is using her time in self-isolation to spread the word on good hand hygiene amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

The 63-year-old journalist is at home under a self-imposed quarantine after she spent time with the head of New York Port Authority, Rick Cotton, just before he was diagnosed with coronavirus.

'My personal PSA' Katie tagged the video which sees her watching her hands to the song My Sharona.

PSA time: Katie Couric filmed a video to show people how to wash their hands amid the coronavirus outbreak. She did it to the song My Sharona

She mouths the lyrics to the catchy tune as she vigorously washes her hands at her kitchen sink.

Katie's video was shared on the Twitter page Time To Wash Hands with the message: 'This is @katiecouric. @katiecouric washes her hands for 20 seconds while singing My Sharona. Be like @katiecouric #timetowashhands'

The account aims to promote hand washing to fight COVID-19 by reminding followers to wash their hands every two hours.

Numerous celebrities are jumping on the trend in an effort to encourage social media users to be vigilant about washing their hands amid the global pandemic.

Mariah Carey posted a similar video alongside her children as they washed their hands to a song by Ol' Dirty Bastard while Gloria Gaynor washed her hands to her hit I Will Survive.

Spread the word: The journalist is at home under a self-imposed quarantine after she spent time with the head of New York Port Authority, Rick Cotton, just before he was diagnosed with coronavirus

20 seconds: She mouths the lyrics to the catchy tune as she vigorously washes her hands at her kitchen sink

All done! Katie's video was shared on the Twitter page Time To Wash Hands with the message: 'This is @katiecouric. @katiecouric washes her hands for 20 seconds while singing My Sharona.

Meanwhile, Katie bowed to overwhelming pressure from her Twitter followers to stay home after coming into contact with sickened Rick Cotton.

Shared a newspaper article about the diagnosis of the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Monday and 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.'

'I'll be working from home to be safe': Kate Couric bowed 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

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.

Katie was urged to self-quarantine by Twitter users after revealing friend she spent time with was diagnosed with corona virus

'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.

'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.'

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
Here are some recent successes the The Fixer has had in fixing things around town:

On the move

Hymus Road is a little less trashy these days, after the city finally did the right thing and got rid of an illegally dumped motor home and food wagon.

On Jan. 9, I reported on a crumbling motor home stuffed with trash and an old mobile food wagon next to it on Hymus, in a Scarborough industrial area, that had languished next to the curb since last summer.

The city posted notices in September on both vehicles that said the owners had seven days to move them. The notices amounted to a joke, since neither had licence plates and it was obvious theyd been illegally dumped.

Transportation services told me it was a big job to move them, but theyd get to it as soon as possible. Dan Bonnett, who first told me about it, emailed to say the city moved the vehicles on Feb. 28

Poles apart

My Feb. 25 column was about a new utility pole recently erected in front of a pedestrian crossing signal at the northwest corner of Browns Line and Horner Avenue, preventing people from seeing the signal.

The pedestrian signal was mounted on an old pole for which the new one is a replacement, but the old pole has yet to be removed and the crossing signal was still attached to it.

The new pole was perfectly positioned to obscure the signal from the sight of pedestrians and drivers, but apparently nobody thought to move the signal from the old pole to its replacement.

After I pointed it out to transportation services, I was told theyd move the signal right away. Piero Bellina, who informed me about the problem, emailed about a week after my column to say it had been moved.

Construction cleanup

On Mar. 4, I reported on the never-ending construction at the Albion Road underpass beneath Highway 427, which frequently requires lane closures on Albion and has resulted in mud-coated sidewalks in the underpass.

The city told me it quickly ordered the contractor to clean up the mud, but it took the provincial transportation ministry about a week to provide its side of the story and address the muddy sidewalks issue.

The work on Albion Road requires multiple staging since it is directly related to the works happening above on Highway 427 that also has various traffic staging requirements, said a note from LINK427, which is widening lanes on the highway. The latest work on Albion started on Jan. 6, where LINK427 has been widening southbound lanes. Work in that area is scheduled to be completed in June.

The note went on to say that the mud was removed from the sidewalks after the city showed up, and that LINK427 takes the matter very seriously.

You betcha.
LYONS  A victim of the Milwaukee brewery complex mass shooting is being remembered by old friends in the Lake Geneva region as a kind, hard-working person who loved the outdoors.

Dale Hudson, 60, formerly of the Town of Lyons, was one of six people shot to death Feb. 26 during a mass shooting at the Molson Coors brewery complex in Milwaukee.

According to friends, Hudson lived in the town of Lyons as a child, attended Eastview Elementary School in Lake Geneva, and later attended Elkhorn Area High School.

Everybody knew Dale, recalled friend Robert Sawall of the Town of Bloomfield. He was friends with everybody. He had no enemies.

Hudson later moved to Waukesha, where he was living at the time of his death inside Milwaukees historic former Miller Beer brewery.

Other victims of the shooting included Jesus Valle Jr., 33, of Milwaukee; Gennady Levshetz, 61, of Mequon; Trevor Wetselaar, 33, of Milwaukee; and Dana Walk, 57, of Delafield.

According to police, suspected shooter Anthony Ferrill, 51, was a former employee who went inside the the brewery with a gun and later turned the gun on himself, committing suicide.

A love of outdoors

Another former friend, Gary Kasten of Genoa City, said he was shocked to learned that his old childhood friend had been gunned down in the Milwaukee brewery incident.

Its a sad thing that happened, Kasten said. He was a nice guy. He didnt have a bad bone in his body.

According to friends, Hudson and his family lived in the Hillmoor Heights neighborhood subdivision in the Town of Lyons when he was growing up.

Larry Hudson, a brother, said Dale was a good man, and they had a modest childhood growing up together.

We had our bikes and our friends, and thats it, he said.

Larry Hudson said he was four years younger than Dale, so they did not always spend time together. Still, Hudson said, the two brothers were close.

We had different friends, he said, but we still loved each other.

What friends remember most about Dale Hudson is how much be loved hunting and being in the outdoors in the Lake Geneva region.

During their youth, Sawall said, he and Hudson often went fishing or hunting before visiting Hudsons grandmothers house. If one of the boys had shot a rabbit, the grandmother would cook it.

Sawall recalled many happy memories with his old childhood pal.

He was an absolute delight to be around, Sawall said. Its a tragic thing that happened.

Another old hunting buddy, Cliff Johnson, who now lives in Alaska, said he went hunting during the 1970s around Lake Geneva, Lake Como, Elkhorn and East Troy.

Johnson said he, too, remembered Hudsons grandmother and her willingness to cook animal carcasses following a day of hunting.

He always told me that his granny cooked the best squirrel around, and he was right, Johnson said. When we went shooting for squirrel, she would say, Dont forget to bring back my share.

Johnson said he learned of the Milwaukee brewery shooting on Facebook.

Its a tragedy that someone would do something like this, Johnson said. Dale is going to be missed. He touched a lot of people.

Wedding party member

Another old friend is Linda Sawall-Kasten, who is Robert Sawalls sister and Gary Kastens former wife.

Hudson was best man at the wedding between Kasten and Sawall-Kasten.

He would do anything for anybody, she said. He was a good guy. This is a sad loss.

Sawall-Kasten remembered how Hudson responded when he learned that he would be best man at their wedding.

He was so proud of that, she said. He was a good friend.

Gary Kasten said he and Hudson attended Eastview Elementary School together as children. In addition to hunting, they spent many hours playing foosball at a bowling alley.

Kasten said the two friends also helped neighbors with yard work or other household chores.

Thats the type of person Dale was, Kasten said. He was always helping others.

Lindsay Bates of Lake Geneva said she and Hudson dated when they both were in high school  he at Elkhorn Area High School, she at Badger High School in Lake Geneva.

Bates said she remembers Hudson as a nice young man.

He was a good, hometown boy, she said. He loved to shoot pool, and he loved music.

Bates said Hudson contacted her recently to ask about another old friends funeral.

He was always thinking about his friends, Bates said. He was a really nice guy.

Johnson described Hudson as upfront and honest with people.

If he didnt like something you did, he would tell you to your face, Johnson said.

Sawall said he had not talked with Hudson much since Hudson moved to Waukesha.

As we grew up, we had our own lives, Sawall said. Its hard to keep in touch with everybody all the time, once you get older.

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My dad tapped his fingers, on the steering wheel, to the beat of some heavy metal song. My mom sat in the seat behind me, ranting about me making friends on the plane and sticking with them while abroad.

Meanwhile, I stared out the windshield and ignored them both. My tears blurred the cars that began to stack in front of us, as we slowly inched our way through traffic. Truthfully, I had no intention of going to Rome, and when my dad made a wrong turn, I thought this was my way out. I was going to miss my flight, and I could continue living my regular life.

For most people, change is scary. Leaving home is scary, but this fear is multiplied tenfold when moving to a new country, a new continent. The closer we got to the airport, the closer I got to my new life  five months away from my friends, my family, my job. Five months I would spend studying at Temple Universitys Rome campus.

Unfortunately for me, I made my flight. It was a close call. I arrived at my gate only minutes before they began to board the plane. An overwhelming 4,358 miles, over 7,000 kilometers, lay between my hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and my new home in Rome. These miles I took in stride with airline food and classic American comedies. I knew that there was no turning back, but I was resentful and focused on 2 May 2020, the day I would be flying home.

When we touched down in Rome, I was exhausted. My brain struggled to comprehend the fact that I was somewhere I had never been before. For the majority of my first day in Rome, I was convinced that we were still in America. "Maybe they just took us on a really long plane ride down to Florida?" My only reminders of being in a foreign country were the airport signs written in Italian or hearing Italians speak their native tongue.

A Drive through the Countryside

Temple Rome had arranged for shuttles to pick us up from the airport and drive us to the living quarters. Six of us sat in the back of that shuttle. We exchanged names, majors and hometowns. Their information has since slipped my mind, but I will never forget that drive. The girl sitting across from me pointed out the window and exclaimed, Look at those trees. They look like theyre from Africa. She was referring to the Umbrella Pine trees that only grow needles at the top, but the pines fascinated all of us.

They were also a welcomed distraction from Italian driving. In America, we tend to paint Italians in this romantic light. Their food is romantic. Their wine is romantic. Their language is romantic. They are romantic, but the one thing in Italy that isnt romantic is their driving. Italians are aggressive, fast drivers. Horns blare. Tires screech. Brakes scream. I have lived here for almost two months now, and I am just now starting to overcome my fear of crossing the street.

A New Home

When the driver stopped the car, I remember jumping to get out. Exiting that vehicle was the first thing that I was excited about, since landing in Rome. We were outside of our new home. There was the Residence, the place that I would call home for the next couple of months. Located near Saint Peter's basilica, in Romes downtown district, the Residence is a compound. Composed of five buildings and a countless number of rooms, I remember entering the residence and comparing it to a maze.

A man named Salvatore walked me to my room, he was polite and asked me in a thick Italian accent if it snowed in Philadelphia. I couldnt understand him and made a complete fool out of myself when I said back: Does it nose in Philadelphia? He laughed at me, and I couldnt help but think to myself that this was going to be a long semester.

Salvatore carried my bag up the stairs and lead me to my room, 306  building three, floor zero, room six. When he opened the door, I was surprised to see a bed in my kitchen, which turned out to be a makeshift couch. The bathroom had a bidet next to the toilet. The bedroom was filled with three beds, and that was when I felt myself start to panic again. Three girls cannot share a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom. I kept reminding myself of that 2 May departure date and began counting down the days.

Wanted in Rome

I was just becoming acclimated to my new apartment and my new school, when I had to introduce myself to my new job. Coming to Rome, I knew that I had an internship. I knew where that internship was, but I had no idea what I would be doing. I thought that I would be making copies or taking coffee orders, but I was completely wrong.

Upon meeting my internship sponsor, I discovered that I would be writing articles that would actually be published. Most journalism students would do just about anything to have the opportunity that was presented to me, but I wanted to run screaming through the door. Before starting my internship at Wanted in Rome, the only articles that I had written were for class assignments. I had never written for a media platform. Ive never been published, and I was convinced that I was in over my head.

Home Sick

At the end of that first week, I broke down. I was overwhelmed with my new situation. School and work hadnt started yet. We were only in the transitioning phase, and there I stood on the patio outside of my room crying like a baby. I begged my parents to buy me a ticket home. 2 May became an unreachable goal. All I wanted to do was cuddle with my dog and cry. I even missed my college roommate, whom I hadnt gotten along with since freshman year. I was broken.

Learning to Live Again

I was beginning to feel like a robot, simply passing through the motions in life: school, work, eat, sleep. It was a lonely and exhausting cycle. Then, something changed. I made friends, something that I never would have thought would happen. I met amazing, inspiring people that I admired and loved to be around. We laughed over cones filled with gelato, planned birthday trips to Naples, watched terrible reality shows on Netflix and looked forward to trips together out of the country. They completely changed my life, and I will forever be grateful for them. As we go our separate ways, I hope that we remain in touch and see each other again.

Broken in Berlin

Sourced from a wet market in China, the COVID-19 virus, better known as the Coronavirus, began to spread worldwide. We, along with the majority of my peers in the Temple Rome program, werent worried about the virus. We are all healthy young adults capable of fighting off a disease that primarily, and unfortunately, affects elderly people, infants and persons with immuno-deficiency disorders. We all knew that we would survive the disease, if we contracted it. However, while the disease infiltrated boarders, an even more infectious hysteria spread across media platforms.

It was Saturday, 29 February, when we got to the news. The CDC (Centre for Deaseas Controle) had just raised Italy to a Level 3 travel warning, advising against all non-essential travel to Italy. It was 13.00, and I was on a walking tour through Berlin. My roommate and I read the email together: I am writing with some very unfortunate news. Temple Rome was sending all of us home. My roommate and I tried calling our parents. My mom was at work. Her parents were ok with her staying in Europe, but the both of us were in denial. This has to be an April Fools joke.

Berlin became dull, and neither one of us were excited about the city anymore. Our being sent home was like a dark cloud that hung over our heads. I remember just wanting to sleep. When I finally got a hold of my mom, she offered me a solution: Move to Spain. I was baffled, and I thought that she would insist that I come home. Along with my roommate, a couple of my other friends from the program were in Berlin. We decided to meet up, support each other and come up with a plan. So, many countries were thrown around: the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Italy. Was Italy even an option anymore? We were all scared.

A Decision to Stay

I seriously considered leaving Italy and moving to a new country. I also considered going home, going back to work, hanging out with my friends. However, there was this voice in my head that told me that if I left Italy, I would regret that decision for the rest of my life.

Things had gone from bad to worse. Flights were being canceled, and the boarders looked as though they would be officially closed and soon. I was in Barcelona, at this point, in a constant struggle with myself. The news had ruined Berlin, and it was starting to affect my time in Barcelona, as well. One moment, I would tell myself: You need to go home. In the very next moment, I would remind myself of all of the things I would miss out on. I hadnt seen the Colosseum or the Sistine Chapel. If I left, I wouldnt get my free gelato. Most importantly, I would never have this opportunity again.

My friend found a place for us to stay. The apartment was cheap and close to Vatican City, an area that I was extremely familiar with. I was sat in a pub, sipping on this unidentified drink mixed with Ginger Beer, when I started to have an anxiety attack. All of my thoughts started to whirlwind in my mind, and I knew that I couldnt make the decision on my own. I walked out, and on the streets of Barcelona, I called my mom. I told her what was going on. I told her about my doubts, my confusion, my worries: Mom, I just want God to come down and give me my answer. God didnt come down, however. She just made the decision for me.

I was staying.

A New Apartment and New Rules

My flight back to Rome was last Friday, 6 March. My roommate was officially going back to the States, a decision that conflicted with her parents previous permissions. Her plane was scheduled for departure on Sunday. We were both heartbroken by her parents decisions and planned a busy weekend filled with tours, gelato and packing. I was stressed with all of the running around, but in retrospect, it was probably one of the smartest decisions I made.

My new roommates and I had only been in our apartment for less than 48 hours, when we got the latest update. The entire country of Italy was in lockdown. Hysteria had taken a strong hold on the government, and everything was changing. Museums, theaters, schools, nightclubs have been officially shut down, at least until 3 April 2020. Bars, cafes, restaurants, stores are being run on a strict schedule. If public spaces are allowed to be open, they are only open from 6.00 to 18.00. There isnt a strict curfew for people. We can walk around whenever we want. We can go wherever we want, but it feels as if there isnt anywhere to go.

Now, I spend most of the day stuck inside my apartment, writing or binge-watching shows on Netflix. Yesterday, I had the lucky opportunity to go grocery shopping, but all-in-all, I dont regret a thing. I dont regret staying. As much as I tried to fight Rome, in the beginning, I have since embraced her. My heart is in Rome. She is my new home, and I will never give up on her. No disease, mass-hysteria, school or government could ever change my mind. Italy will rise again, and I cant wait to watch.
King Felipe made a speech in Paris on Wednesday in the company of the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to mark the 16th European Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Terrorism.

The event was organised this year in France and the ceremony was held at the Trocadero by the Eiffel Tower with a smaller crowd than originally planned because of the coronavirus restrictions.

The date also marked the 16th anniversary of the Madrid train bombings, the biggest terrorist attack in Spain when 192 died, and the King had been invited to the event by the French.

In his speech, the King said, "Making the results of terrorism and the suffering it causes visible, as the victims do, is the best way to combat it."

He added that remembering victims, "is what we owe them, to heal the deep wounds that continue to be present in society".

King Felipe began his speech expressing the gratitude of Spain for the solidarity that France had always shown.

"Spain and France are two nations linked by their past, present and future," he explained.

He continued by paying special tribute to the family members of victims of the Madrid bombing.

The King also expressed Spain's wish to host this annual European remembrance event next year.
After over a year of negotiations, MTN Uganda has reached an agreement to renew its licence for US$100 million.

The renewal will validate MTN Ugandas licence for the next ten years. For the past year, the operator has been obliged to deliver services via a number of temporary permits.

The final figure is below the reported US$118 million that Ugandas government was pursuing for a ten-year concession  although it appears to be proportional to the US$150 million that was reportedly being sought for a 15-year licence.

MTNs Ugandan unit has a market share of around 43%, according to the Globalcomms Database.
Rather than find a dedicated source of revenue to pay for it, Mr. Allen says the city, riding a decade-long boom, would absorb the programs cost into a budget sustained by year-on-year revenue growth. But it was just over a decade ago that the Districts budget took a hit from the Great Recession, and its easy to imagine another one arising from the coronavirus, including its likely impact on tourism. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) recognized as much last year: Were not recession-proof in this city, she said.
Authorities in Quang Ninh Province, located in northern Vietnam, on Wednesday decided to temporarily close all local tourist sites for two weeks, starting from Thursday, after four foreign tourists in the province were confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Accordingly, day tours to popular attractions in Quang Ninh, including the world-renowned Ha Long Bay  a UNESCO World Heritage Site, neighboring Bai Tu Long Bay, and the Yen Tu historical relic and landscape area.

Visitors will be prohibited from using overnight accommodation services in Ha Long Bay during the two-week closure.

Quang Ninh authorities announced the restriction three days after four foreign tourists in the province were confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus.

All four are currently being treated for the disease.

Over 1,210 people in Quang Ninh are under quarantine in local isolation camps.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, had infected over 132,900 people and killed more than 4,900 globally as of Friday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 44 infections, including 30 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, nine British citizens, one Mexican, and one Irish national.

Sixteen of the patients had recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26. The 28 active cases in the country are still being treated.

Patient No. 17, a Hanoi resident, was confirmed on Friday last week, 21 days since Vietnam had reported its last infection.

The four confirmed patients in Quang Ninh had been on the same March 2 flight to Hanoi from London as patient No. 17.

Like Quang Ninh, the northern city of Hai Phong has also stopped welcoming visitors to its famed tourist attractions, including Cat Ba Island on the southeastern edge of Ha Long Bay.

Local authorities have asked the citys police force and health sector to coordinate checkpoints for entry and exit to and from Cat Hai District, the locality charged with administering Cat Ba Island.

The city has also asked its residents to postpone organizing weddings and to minimize large gatherings.

Hai Phong has reported no cases of COVID-19 infection.

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A man staying at a quarantine motel in the Washington county at the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the United States left early Friday morning after ignoring a security guard.

The man, whom King County officials say is homeless and awaiting a coronavirus test result, walked across the street to a convenience store where he allegedly shoplifted several items before leaving on a King County Metro bus, according to a statement from the county.

The statement did not say whether officials had found the man. The bus was taken out of service.

The man voluntarily responded to an offer to stay at the motel being used for isolation and quarantine on Thursday, the county statement said.

The use of the motel has been controversial. Officials in Kent, a Seattle suburb, have voiced concerns about the intended use of the 84-room, two-story building.

The county recently purchased the former Econo Lodge for $4 million after scores of people contracted Covid-19, the illness caused by coronavirus.

Kent Mayor Dana Ralph said in a statement on the city's Facebook page that the city wants more security, fencing and safety measures at the facility.

"My fears for this facility have come true," Ralph said. "The things I predicted would happen now have happened."

King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn, a Republican who represents the district containing the motel, said in a statement that he was given assurances the facility and another were secure.

"I am extremely disappointed to hear that a quarantine patient left the facility in Kent and is now back in the general population," he said. "This loss of trust means I will have much more stringent standards when considering any proposed quarantine sites in King County."

The statement from King County said only two people have stayed at the motel. The other person tested negative and left the motel.

"As King County's response to Covid-19 evolves and to address community concerns, King County's temporary housing units in Kent and White Center will be available for those individuals who are able to quarantine or isolate without the need of social services or additional supports," the county statement reads.
A bilateral U.S. foreign aid agency that specializes in development assistance in Kosovo has announced its suspension of a program to help boost prospects for economic growth in that decade-old Balkan state until Pristina "resolves" its "tariff issue" with neighbor Serbia.

In a March 13 press release, the U.S. government's Millennium Challenge Corporation said that it would "pause implementation" of a so-called threshold program to help provide reliable electricity to Kosovars and encourage rule of law, good governance, and transparency along with another program known as a "compact."

Authorities in the partly recognized Kosovo levied a 100-percent tariff on Serbian goods in November 2018 over Belgrade's diplomatic campaign to encourage some of the 110-plus countries that have recognized Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008 to reverse their position.

The United States is one of Kosovo's biggest backers and is generally highly regarded by Kosovars since leading a NATO operation in 1999 to force Serb-led Yugoslav troops out of Kosovo and usher in an international presence there.

But Washington regards the tariffs as a major obstacle to a resumption of talks on normalized Serbian-Kosovar relations, the subject of years of EU- and U.S.-mediated negotiations and a source of instability in the region.

U.S. special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Richard Grenell has led an intense push recently to restart those talks, including several breakthroughs that could initially restore transport ties between the two former Yugoslav entities.

Newly appointed Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti's government on February 27 announced it would temporarily and partly lift the tariff.

Kurti has repeatedly said he seeks "reciprocity" in Serbia-Kosovo relations.

Kurti on March 13 said Kosovo would not lift the 100 percent tariffs any time soon because the coalition government could not agree on whether the import fees should be phased out or all eliminated immediately.



Kurti said his Self-Determination Movement (Vetevendosje) seeks a phased lifting of tariffs, while the main governing partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), wants them dropped at once.



With the parties unable to reach a compromise, Kurti said that everything remains as it is, the 100 percent tax remains.

Grenell described any partial repeal as a half measure.

Grenell earlier this month brought Kosovar President Hashim Thaci -- a Kurti rival -- and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic together at the White House to discuss ways to reach a final agreement between the two Balkan countries.

A member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, David Perdue (Republican-Georgia) on March 10 called on Kosovo to "do its part" and annul the tariffs on Serbian goods and services or face a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

With reporting by AP
The government in Seoul was criticized for holding back data about the hospitals treating MERS patients. South Korea later revised its laws to grant greater access to personal information of infected people. Now, anyone found guilty of lying about details considered necessary for infection containment can be subject to a maximum of two years in prison.
LAS VEGAS - A Nevada judge has ruled a woman defamed former casino mogul Steve Wynn when she reported to Las Vegas police in 2018 that Wynn raped her in Chicago in the early 1970s and that she gave birth to his daughter in a gas station restroom.

Clark County District Court Judge Ronald Israel, who heard the case in Las Vegas without a jury, on Monday awarded Wynn the nominal damage amount of $1 that the billionaire former head of Wynn Resorts and his attorneys sought from Halina Kuta.

I find that Mr. Wynns testimony is credible and Ms. Kutas testimony lacks veracity in numerous areas, the judge said. He declared that Kuta, who represented herself in the trial, knowingly made a false report to police.

This was intentional, the judge said of the police filing, although this story seems to be totally fanciful.

A redacted police report was provided to The Associated Press under a public records request in February 2018 and served as a basis for an AP report about two police reports filed by women who alleged sexual misconduct by Wynn.

Wynn, 78, resigned in February 2018 as chairman and chief executive of Wynn Resorts. He has consistently denied sexual misconduct allegations, which were first reported in January 2018 by the Wall Street Journal.

Kuta, 73, lives in Laguna Vista, Texas. The AP typically does not publish names of people who say they are victims of sexual assault, but Kuta agreed to be named in AP news reports.

In answer to questions from Wynn attorney Tamara Peterson, Kuta acknowledged she sought $150 million from Wynn to settle the case.

Wynn testified that he never met Kuta. He maintained that Kutas claims were clearly false  including that she, and not Wynns then-wife, Elaine Wynn, was the mother of their daughter, Kevyn Wynn, and that Kuta was the model for Pablo Picassos painting, Le Reve, or The Dream.

Youd have to be delusional not to understand that they were lies and fabrications of the worst order, Wynn said on the witness stand. What Im asking for is to have this miserable fiction finally called for what it is, a miserable fiction.

I would say that I have never set eyes on Ms. Kuta before today, but I cant see her, added Wynn, who was diagnosed nearly 50 years ago with the degenerative eye disease retinitis pigmentosa.

The judge, who earlier rejected Kutas bids to obtain DNA from Wynns daughter, noted a birth certificate showed Kevyn Wynn was born in 1967 to Steve and Elaine Wynn at a hospital in Washington, D.C. That was several years before Kuta claimed she was raped by Wynn in 1973 or 1974.

Picasso painted Le Reve in 1932, more than a decade before Kuta was born. Steve Wynn sold the painting in 2013.

Wynn has contended the allegations in Kutas police report were so outrageous the AP should have known they were false, including a graphic description of giving birth. The copy of the police report provided to the AP did not show the womans name or date of birth and blacked out information about the woman stating she was Wynns spouse.

Israel ruled in August 2018 the AP report qualified as fair reporting because it relied on an official police record. He also invoked protection for the news agency under a Nevada state law known as anti-SLAPP or strategic lawsuit against public participation. The ruling allows AP to recover legal fees in the case.

Wynn has appealed that ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court, which has scheduled oral arguments April 1 in Las Vegas.
Two alleged bootleggers were arrested from Delhi's Dwarka area and 114 cartons of illicit liquor were recovered from them, police said on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Uday Kumar (32) and Sukhveer Singh (26), both residents of Delhi's Uttam Nagar area, they said.

After police received a tip-off on Thursday, a trap was laid in Dwarka's Sector-1 near Agrasen Hospital and the accused were arrested when they were travelling in two cars, a senior police officer said.

A total of 114 cartons of illicit liquor were recovered from them, he said.

During interrogation, Kumar and Singh disclosed that they were bringing the liquor from Haryana and were going to supply it in Ghaziabad, the police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the 1880s, businessmen turned over 66 acres a couple miles north of Downtown for the Albuquerque Indian School. That land, future home to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, inspired the name of Myra Ghattas terrific restaurant, which opened in 2018.

Sixty-Six Acres shares a building with Laguna Burger across the street from the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. While Laguna Burger is an ode to a couple of roadside burger stands west of the city, Sixty-Six Acres cast its net much wider for inspiration. The menu leans heavily on Asian and Middle Eastern influences, offering dishes such as Korean fried chicken and Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, alongside harissa and hummus.

The location at Avanyu Plaza, just north of I-40, offers plenty of parking in the back. Inside, totems of industrial-style design dominate. Silvery ductwork snakes around the ceiling, pendant lights in a variety of shapes and sizes loom overhead, and slats of wood are arranged into decorative elements on the walls. The dining room is broken up with walls, banquettes and a bar in the middle. During a recent lunch, youthful servers in black T-shirts navigated the busy space balancing flatbreads on narrow wooden paddles.

Ghattas knows what it takes to sustain a restaurant, having run Slate Street Cafe from its north Downtown location since 2005. Here she brings a menu that emphasizes big flavors and lots of spice. A banh mi sandwich ($14), the name derived from the Vietnamese word for bread, is made with slabs of pork belly over jalapenos and Sriracha mayonnaise. The first bite delivers pleasing crunch from the peppers, cucumbers and pickled radish, and then the heat floods your mouth and roosts there. My friend needed 2 cups of Dr Pepper to quench the flames. Both the sandwich and the fries, crisp and well-seasoned, are superlative.

The hummus trio ($12) matches the traditional chickpea version, with roasted carrot and black bean variations. Served on a big teal-colored plate with a dozen triangles of grilled flatbread, its ideal for sharing. The carrot hummus, airy and sweet, complements the much denser black bean variety, which tastes like refried beans. Thin slices of radish and halved dates add texture and sweetness, but the mild shishito peppers needed more time on the fire; they werent blistered at all.

The server, who did an estimable job, told me that the Korean Fried Chicken Bowl ($16) was his favorite. It certainly looked promising, with caramel-colored stalks of chicken sticking out of the black bowl like miniature monoliths. Unfortunately, the white chicken meat coated in a sweet-hot sesame barbecue sauce was dry and tough. The nutty-flavored red rice studded with broccoli and topped with cabbage kimchi redeemed the dish. The rice, partly hulled, was creamy but still al dente, like a good risotto, and the flaps of fermented cabbage delivered substantial heat.

The drink menu includes classic cocktails with local touches such as the Skyler White, a margarita spinoff named for Walter Whites wife in Breaking Bad. White tequila and St. Germain, an elderflower liqueur, combined with lemon juice and lavender bitters make for a delightful balance of floral and citrus notes. Local beers are on tap for $6 or as part of a flight of four for $7, and theres a page full of wines, mostly from California, by the glass or bottle.

With Sixty-Six Acres, Laguna Burger and Pueblo Harvest, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center has an impressive dining scene to rival its cultural offerings.

Sixty-Six Acres

3 stars

LOCATION: 2400 12th NW, 243-2230, sixtysixacres.com

HOURS: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday

FULL BAR
An Iran Air flight carrying Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran, landed at the Mumbai airport on Friday afternoon, according to an official.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working on plans to bring back Indians stranded there.

The number of passengers onboard the Iran Air plane could not be immediately ascertained.

An official told PTI that the Iran Air flight landed at the Mumbai airport at around 12.08 pm.

The passengers would be taken to Jaisalmer on an Air India aircraft, another official said.

On Thursday, a Defence spokesperson said around 120 Indians would be brought to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan and quarantined at an Army facility there.

They will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility created under the aegis of Southern Command. The patients will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility under escort of civil administration, Defence Spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh had said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Thursday, said there are over 6,000 Indians in various provinces of Iran.

Coronavirus outbreak is a matter of great concern and the governments initial focus is to bring back Indian pilgrims stranded in Iran, he had said.

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UP assembly polls will be about '80 per cent vs 20 per cent'; BJP will win: Yogi Adityanath

UP: Elections not won on exit polls basis, results will be surprising: Kamal Nath

After name and shame hoardings, UP witnesses Kuldeep Sengar, Chinmayanand's criminal history posters

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Lucknow, Mar 13: In what comes as a chocker to the residents of Uttar Pradesh, a leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP) has reportedly put up a poster against former BJP leaders Kuldeep Sengar and Chinmayanand, who are allegedly been accused of rape, near the name and shame hoardings that contained a list of anti-CAA protesters who demonstrated against the Centre's decision on the Citizenship Amendment Act.

It is allegedly said that SP leader I P Singh had put up poster against Kuldeep Sengar and Chinmayanand.

'Name and Shame hoardings not backed by law: Supreme Court pulls up UP govt

In the poster, it can be seen that a photograph of both the leaders has been placed with the details of the cases that are charged against them.

"These are the culprits of the state's daughters, beware of them," says the poster right next to one of the CAA hoardings. However, it is alleged that the poster was later removed by the police.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

In December 2019, Kuldeep Sengar was sentenced to jail for "remainder of his natural biological life" for raping a minor woman in 2017.

He was also convicted for the murder of the Unnao rape victim's father.

In September 2019, former BJP leader Chinmayanand was arrested after a 23-year-old woman who was a student of the Chinmayanand-controlled SS Law College in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, accused him of sexual harassment and blackmail.

Presently, Chinmayanand is out on bail where a Special Investigation Team (SIT) is formed to investigate the case which was directed by the Supreme Court.

Is Yogi Adityanath's govt bringing fear among anti-CAA protesters in Uttar Pradesh?

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh police had put up several hoardings across Lucknow of people who were identified in the violence during the protests that took place against the CAA.

The Uttar Pradesh government had asked these accused to pay for the damages caused to the public and private property. If the accused fail to repay for the damages, they would have their properties seized by the district administration.
Actor Tom Hanks wife, Rita Wilson, seems to be in good spirits even though the couple has been tested positive for coronavirus. Taking to Twitter on Friday, Wilson found humour in the situation, mere hours after Hanks shared a health update on social media.

Wilson wrote, From here on out, the only Corona I want is from Mexico and you drink it. She also shared a clip from The Daily Show, in which host Trevor Noah talks about Hanks and Wilsons diagnosis in a humorous monologue. Thank you for the best laugh of the day!!! Youre awesome @Trevornoah.

From here on out, the only Corona I want is from Mexico and you drink it.  Rita Wilson (@RitaWilson) March 13, 2020

Thank you for the best laugh of the day!!! Youre awesome @Trevornoah https://t.co/6ybFEOHpFl  Rita Wilson (@RitaWilson) March 13, 2020

Hanks and Wilson were tested positive for the virus, which has claimed over 4900 lives worldwide including one in India, while he was filming in Australia, and they are currently in isolation. In a social media post to fans, Hanks said the couple want to thank everyone here Down Under who are taking such good care of us. We have Covid-19 and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else. He added, There are those for whom it could lead to a very serious illness. We are taking it one-day-at-a-time.

Hanks sons, Chet and Colin on Thursday shared updates on social media, and thanked fans for their concern. The actor announced the couples diagnosis in social media posts on Thursday. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive, he wrote in a statement.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Connecticut officials said Thursday that the coronavirus may infect as many as 700,000 residents over the next month and as much as 70 percent of the population if it erupts again in the autumn.

Here are live coronavirus-related updates, shared as they become available.

SIGN UP: Get our coronavirus newsletter delivered directly to your inbox

10:03 p.m. - Jeff Flax, president and CEO of Hartford HealthCare, says the woman who tested positive for COVID-19 in her 80s and lives in Rocky Hill. Officials say the woman came to the hospitals ER earlier in the week and has been in hospital care for a few days. Officials would not provide a specific condition for the woman, other than to say, Shes well taken care of.

9:55 p.m. - Hartford officials have pushed the press conference back to 10 p.m.

8:58 p.m. - Hartford HealthCare and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin announce a confirmed case of coronavirus from the Hartford region. There will be a press conference at 9:30 p.m. at Hartford Hospital Education Resource Center on Hudson Street in Hartford.

8:15 p.m. - Griffin Health in Derby said a community-based physician, who is a member of the medical staff, tested positive for coronavirus Friday. This physician was not in his office and did not see patients in the 24-hours prior to exhibiting symptoms, so no action is being taken in regards to staff and patients he interacted with. He is being quarantined. It was unclear if this physician was one of Connecticuts 11 residents to test positive for the virus, or if he lives elsewhere.

7:42 p.m. - Royal Caribbean Cruises is suspending cruises in the United States for 30 days beginning at midnight Saturday. MSC Cruises is canceling cruises from Miami to the Caribbean from Saturday, March 14 through April 30. Princess Cruises is suspending its global operations for 60 days, which began Thursday, March 12.

6:08 p.m. - South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority will close its walk-in payment area starting March 18 until further notice. Bills can be paid in person at the community payment locations or left in the drop box outside the lobby. Payments can be made online, by phone or mail.

5:45 p.m. - Secretary of the State Denise Merrill announced that absentee ballots for the April 28 Presidential Preference Primary should be available for any Connecticut voter who wants to avoid polling places because of the coronavirus. Polling places will still remain open.

4:25 p.m. - New Haven is requiring any establishment with a capacity of 16 or higher to halve their occupancy, including movie theaters, symphony and concert halls, television and radio studios admitting an audience and theaters, banquet halls, casinos, nightclubs, restaurants, cafeterias and other dining facilities including commercial kitchens, taverns and bars. This is through an occupancy emergency order that will be enforced by the fire department. The order will take effect Sunday, March 15.

4:24 p.m. - As expected through one of Gov. Ned Lamonts executive declarations, the state Department of Motor Vehicles announced it is offering an extension period to state residents with expiring licenses. Any licenses set to expire between March 10 and June 8 are automatically covered by the extension, which is effective immediately.

4:13 p.m. - UConns Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts canceled the remaining nine 2019-2020 season performances.

4:12 p.m. - The Hamden transfer station is closed until further notice

4:07 p.m. - ECAC Hockey has canceled the remainder of the 2020 mens tournament. Also canceled is the MAAC conference tournament in Atlantic City.

3:57 p.m. - Seymour Public Schools will be closed March 16 through March 27.

3:49 p.m. - Bethel Public Schools and the Bethel Senior Center are closed through Friday, March 27.

3:40 p.m. - President Donald Trump declared a national emergency. That declaration opens up to $50 billion for states and territories, calls for states to set up emergency centers and calls on hospitals to activate emergency preparedness plans. He says there will be 5 million tests available within the month.

3:15 p.m. - In nearby Rhode Island, there have been nine new confirmed cases of coronavirus, moving the states total to 14 as of Friday, March 13.

3:10 p.m. - Since Bethel Public Schools are closed through March 27, spring sports will now begin for all the high school programs on Monday, March 30.

3:01 p.m. - New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks will be clsoed from Saturday, March 14 through Tuesday, March 31.

2:54 p.m. - President Trump is singing a federal emergency declaration. I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House. Topic: CoronaVirus! he tweeted.

2:15 p.m. - Gov. Lamonts daily briefing will be livestreamed at 4 p.m. As of now, Connecticut is tracking seven patients, six residents and one from New York being treated at Greenwich Hospital.

2 p.m. - The Department of Social Services announced that Connecticuts Medicaid and CHIP Programs, known as HUSKY, will begin reimbursement for services provided to patients via telemedicine.

1:14 p.m. - Branfords Blackstone Library is closing our building to the public and ceasing in-person services at 2 p.m. today for an indefinite period, the library said in a release.

12:25 p.m. - The Bridgeport Diocese has temporarily suspended the obligation to attend Sunday Mass in response to the Coronavirus crisis so that anyone who may be fearful of becoming ill or of spreading illness, especially healthcare workers, caregivers to the elderly or infirmed or parents with young children, may have peace of mind in knowing that, with this provision, they do not commit mortal sin if they choose not to attend Sunday Mass.

11:35 a.m. - There is a sixth Connecticut resident with confirmed coronavirus. The latest is in Westport. The state is currentlytracking seven patients, including one New York resident.

11:00 a.m. - Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy held a press conference to talk about the coronavirus rescue package being considered in Washington. The major sticking point is how to pay for the medical leave, Blumenthal said, though the senate is not working this weekend at the direction of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

10:30 - Your utilities wont be shut off during the crisis. CT PURA has ordered the gas, electric, and water public service companies regulated by the Authority to implement a shut-off moratorium and refrain from terminating utility service to residential customers for the duration of the Public Health and Civil Preparedness Emergency.

10:11 a.m. - If youre out of work due to the coronavirus, file for benefits even if you dont think you might qualify, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor. The department is reportedly determining eligibility on a case-by-case basis, Paul Hughes of The Republican-American reported.

10:07 a.m. - WestConn has cancelled all sports. In conjunction with several major NCAA Division I, II and III programs and leagues across the country, Western Connecticut State University announces that all spring intercollegiate sports activities at the institution have been canceled, the school said in a release.

10 a.m. - State offices are officially closed. The Legislative Office Building, State Capitol, and the Old State House will be closed until Monday, March 30.

9:20 a.m. - Stamford Public Schools have announced they will be handing out meals to families in need.

9 a.m. - Madison Superintendent Tom Scarice just told the Board of Selectmen an indefinite closure will begin Monday

8:45 a.m. - The town of Vernon has declared its own state of emergency, in addition to the governors. There are 1,663 confirmed coronavirus cases in 46 states and D.C., according to The New York Times.

8:35 a.m. - Gov. Ned Lamont will be on CNN this morning talking about coronavirus. His segment is expected to air at 9 a.m.

8:30 a.m. - Schools in Connecticut have closed for about 295,000 students so far, as The Connecticut Mirror reports.

8:05 a.m. - Bristol Health is expected to receive approval to open a specimen collection facility and expects it to be operational by the end of the day. The station will be located at Bristol Hospital, as Fox61 reported.

8 a.m. - There are currently six patients in Connecticut confirmed with coronavirus, five state residents and one from out-of-state. So far, there have been 105 people tested.

7:30 a.m. - Are you taking the train this morning? Metro-North ridership is way down, apparently due to the coronavirus. Ridership on March 12 was down 48 percent compared to a simialr Thursday a year ago, as WPIX reporter Anthony DiLorenzo reported.

6:45 a.m. - America got serious about Coronavirus way too late, Sen. Chris Murphy said on Twitter this morning. But were still America. We can do things others cannot. We can learn from our mistakes and work like hell to make up for lost time. More tests. More distancing. More help for those affected. Its late. But not too late.

6 a.m. - A person thought to have exposed a CCSU student has tested negative for coronavirus. I am very pleased to share the news that the coronavirus test was negative for the individual who was thought to have exposed one of our students to the virus, the school said.

6 a.m. - Mosque leaders in Connecticut are suspending Friday prayers. Advocacy group CAIR Connecticut and mosque leaders are urging Connecticuts Muslims to pray at home this Friday instead of congregating at mosques.
All the five candidates, including Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who have filed their nominations for as many seats of the Upper House of Parliament from Bihar, on Friday looked set to get elected unopposed.

According to Vidhan Sabha secretary and returning officer Bateshwar Nath Pandey, those who filed their papers on Friday, the last day of nominations, included the JD(U)'s Harivansh and Ram Nath Thakur, and Vivek Thakur of the BJP.

Two RJD candidates Prem Chand Gupta and A D Singh



had filed their nomination papers for the other two seats the previous day.

All the five seats are at present held by the NDA



three by the JD(U) and two by the BJP. However, on account of a change in the composition of the state assembly after the 2015 polls, the NDA can now win only three seats.

The RJD can wrest two seats one on its own and another with the help of smaller parties like HAM, CPI(ML) and AIMIM, besides the old ally Congress, which has sufficient number of votes to see the candidate of Lalu Prasad's party through but is in a sulk after its claim for a ticket was summarily dismissed.

All the five candidates are now expected to be declared elected on March 18, the last date for withdrawal of nominations.

However, the choice of candidates has left in its wake dissatisfaction among supporters of the ruling NDA as well as the opposition Grand Alliance.

The BJP is facing allegations of dynasty politics as Vivek Thakur, who is making his parliamentary debut, is the son of former Union minister and party veteran CP Thakur whose term ends in April.

However, the debutant rebutted the allegation while talking to reporters after filing his nomination papers, saying he has spent 24 years as an active member of the BJP and held key organizational posts in party and its youth wing



Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.

Nevertheless, the partys decision to field Thakur, an upper caste Bhumihar, did not go down well with another upper caste group - the Kayasthas - considered loyal to the BJP.

The Akhil Bharatiya Kayasth Mahasabha issued a statement here expressing "severe displeasure" over the BJP denying a second consecutive tenure to Ravindra Kishore Sinha and even refusing to consider his son Rituraj Sinha as a replacement.

"We had expressed our dissatisfaction with Sinha having been denied a Lok Sabha ticket from Patna Sahib. This is another instance of the community being ignored. The BJP must not commit the mistake of seeing us as its 'bandhua mazdoor' (bonded labour)," the Mahasabha said.

It said that before the last years general elections, Kayasthas from Bihar had three representatives in the two Houses of Parliament Sinha and Ravi Shankar Prasad in the Rajya Sabha and Shatrughan Sinha in the Lok Sabha.

The number will now drop to just one as Shatrughan Sinha lost to Prasad in Patna Sahib and the Rajya Sabha will now be left with no Kayastha member from Bihar, it lamented.

In contrast, the Bhumihars have three members in the Lok Sabha from the state, and in the Rajya Sabha the community is represented by Sangh ideologue Rakesh Sinha, it said.

Also, posters were put up at some places in the city by "Kushwaha Navanirman Sangh", accusing the saffron party of "insulting" the Kushwaha community.

It was claimed in these posters that the BJP had promised to send one member from the community to the Rajya Sabha during the Lok Sabha poll campaign last year when the sizeable caste group did not get any representation.

JD(U) candidates Harivansh and Ram Nath Thakur hailed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the partys national president, for "reposing trust in ordinary workers". The denial of a second term to Kahkashan Perveen has caused some disappointment among the minority community.

Shah Raza, an anti-CAA activist, who was seen active during the recent state-wide stir on the issue by CPI's rising star Kanhaiya Kumar, had on Thursday obtained a nomination form and announced that he will run as an Independent candidate with the "support of all parties, citing "injustice to the minorities".

He, however, did not turn up till the time for filing nominations came to a close.

Meanwhile, the RJDs cold shoulder to ally Congress, which had requested for one of the two seats, has ruffled feathers in the five-party Grand Alliance.

The RLSP, headed by former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, accused the RJD of "treachery" and claimed "all is not well in the coalition".

"It is clear who has committed treachery and who went back on a commitment made in public," RLSP national secretary general Madhaw Anand said referring to an announcement made by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav a year ago that it would help the Congress in getting one Rajya Sabha berth from Bihar.

"All constituents must be willing to make sacrifices and keep the interests of allies in mind for the coalition to succeed. But some parties seem to have other ideas, said Anand without naming the RJD.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
OAG, the worlds leading provider of travel data and insight, released its latest analysis on the global impact of the coronavirus on the air travel market.

The Europe to United States travel ban will have far-reaching implications for the global aviation industry. The ban will affect 10.9% of all international flights and 16.9% of all scheduled international seats between the United States and Schengen countries. Overall, 6,747 flights and roughly 2 million seats will be affected each way over the next four weeks.

Delta and United Airlines are the most affected U.S. carriers. Together, they account for 31% of the affected flights. Lufthansa is the most affected European airline (13%). The most affected European countries are Germany, France and the Netherlandswhich service 57% of all flights between the Schengen Area and U.S.

COVID-19 has caused the single largest disruption to the air travel market ever, said John Grant, senior aviation analyst at OAG. The situation is extremely fluid, with travel restrictions, capacity and airline schedules changing by the day. Expect a significant amount of cancellations from U.S. and European carriers in the coming days.

Looking ahead to scheduled capacity for April 2020, as of March 12, 2020, there are currently 13,169 scheduled, one-way flights from Europe to the U.S., including the United Kingdom. The countries with the most scheduled flights include the UK (4,121 flights), Germany (1741 flights), France (1,570 flights), Netherlands (1,212 flights) and Spain (851 flights).

For more information, visit OAGs dedicated page: https://www.oag.com/coronavirus-airline-schedules-data

About OAG

OAG is a leading global travel data provider, that has been powering the growth and innovation of the air travel ecosystem since 1929.

Headquartered in the UK, OAG has global operations in the USA, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China.

For more information, visit: www.oag.com and follow us on Twitter @OAG Aviation.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200312005629/en/
Houston schools could remain closed well beyond the end of March due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, requiring unprecedented efforts to deliver meals and educational materials to hundreds of thousands of children, several local superintendents said Friday.

One day after nearly all Houston-area districts canceled classes through at least next week, local education leaders said their staffs were crafting contingency plans under the assumption that schools will remain closed long-term. Public health experts have said the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is expected to last months with the potential to infect millions of Americans.

Were planning as if were going to have to do school remotely for the remainder of this (school) year, said Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Charles Dupre, whose district serves about 78,400 children.

For now, no area school districts have canceled classes past March 30, the date when Houston and Fort Bend ISDs are scheduled to return to school. Many district leaders said they plan to reassess their calendars next week, when updates about the virus are available.

However, several education officials said they expect the continued spread of COVID-19 and growing public awareness about its potentially devastating effects likely will prompt extended cancellations.

If wed had this discussion two days ago, I think wed have said (school closures) would last a couple weeks, maybe to the first week of April, said Curtis Culwell, executive director of Texas School Alliance. I think the reality thats beginning to sink in is, this could be longer than that.

Josephine Rice, executive director of the Houston Association of School Administrators, which provides services to Houston ISD employees, said school leaders with whom she has spoken are expecting to remain away from their campuses beyond March.

People are mentally preparing for that, Rice said. I think they would be surprised if it doesnt go beyond two weeks. Principals have all kinds of questions: the academic calendar, the test calendar, does this mean extended school once we go back?

Meanwhile, education leaders continued preparations Friday for accommodating students nutritional and academic needs, the two top priorities most often mentioned by superintendents.

Several districts announced they will hold curbside pickup of meals at campuses next week, aiming to serve a region where nearly 60 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Houston ISD officials said five high schools scattered across the district  Kashmere, Madison, Milby, Northside and Wisdom  will serve as distribution points for varying three-hour stretches from Monday through Friday. District administrators said they will extend the service as needed.

More Information Where to get school meals Several of the Houston area's largest districts will offer curbside pickup of meals for children next week at campuses throughout their districts. Check your local district's website for locations and times. Aldine ISD, 22 sites, Monday through Friday Conroe ISD, 10 sites, Tuesday and Thursday Cy-Fair ISD, 16 sites, Monday through Friday Fort Bend ISD, 11 sites, Monday through Friday Houston ISD, 5 sites, Monday through Friday Katy ISD, 10 sites, Monday through Friday Klein ISD, 4 sites, Monday and Tuesday See More Collapse

Aldine, Conroe, Cy-Fair, Fort Bend, Katy and Klein ISDs also issued plans to host meal-pickup sites.

In Conroe ISD, where about 40 percent of students are considered economically disadvantaged by the state, school officials plan to offer meals beyond next week if campuses remain closed long-term, Superintendent Curtis Null said. Ten schools will serve as pickup points, with meals available Tuesday and Thursday.

We understand we have a large population of students who rely on meals at school, and that was our first priority, Null said.

The Texas Department of Agriculture received a federal waiver Friday allowing districts to serve school meals off-site and to small groups, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a statement.

On the academic front, districts are grappling with multiple challenges in providing high-quality instruction, including lack of access to technology among lower-income and rural students, inexperience with remote learning tools, concerns about attentiveness among elementary-age children and the delivery of special education services.

The Texas Education Agency told district leaders Thursday evening that they must commit to supporting students instructionally while at home to avoid extending the school year.

Alief ISD Superintendent HD Chambers said the district will provide a website with curriculum for every grade level and instructions for parents detailing what their children should be working on. Chambers added that students have been using online educational tools for years.

While this may be new to parents, the kids are very familiar with it, Chambers said. So, were attempting to help parents help their children.

Still, Chambers estimated 20 percent of Aliefs 45,000-plus children do not have internet access at home, necessitating the creation of paper packets that can be delivered to students.

In rural East Chambers ISD, located about 60 miles east of Houston, Superintendent Scott Campbell said administrators are working on a plan for students to check out school laptops and devices that can connect them to the internet. Campbell said about 10 percent of the districts 1,500 students lack internet access.

Campbell said the academic hurdles come as the district still reels from the effects of flooding caused by Tropical Storm Imelda last September. Hundreds of students remain displaced by the storm, and his daughter just moved back into her house last week, he said.

In a lot of ways, its similar because it feels like the calm before the storm, Campbell said. The uncertainty of the amount of time we might be out is a little different, but even then, with a major hurricane, you never know.

Diana Benner, the K-12 education director for the Texas Distance Learning Association, said many school districts are well-equipped to convert their technological capabilities into instructional tools. She suggested districts use programs they already employ, such as Googles G Suite and Seesaw for Schools, rather than trying to adopt new applications.

The majority of (districts) are more prepared than they think they are, Benner said. Theyre more prepared than they have been in the past, simply because of the huge push for school districts to get technology integrated into the schools and get students more devices.

Candace Fountain, the mother of four children attending Houston ISDs Windsor Village Elementary School, said she will employ online learning tools already provided by the district, such as Imagine Learning and Khan Academy, to ensure her kids do not fall behind. Fountain plans to work from home this month to make sure her children continue learning, though she may have to call on family members to assist if classes are canceled beyond March.

Its going to be a handful, its going to be stressful around the house, but I dont have any intention to let their learning slip, Fountain said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided new guidance Friday suggesting short- and medium-term closures do not impact the spread of COVID-19 in places where the virus outbreak remains in its early states  a definition Houston meets. CDC officials said there may be some impact when schools are closed for more than eight weeks and the regional outbreak is more widespread.

Houston-area health department leaders have not recommended closing schools, arguing children are at low risk for serious illness and still gather in groups when classes are canceled.

Nevertheless, school leaders throughout the region shuttered campuses in rapid succession Thursday afternoon, often saying they were doing so out of an abundance of caution.

Chambers said momentum built toward closing schools after universities began moving classes online, sporting events were postponed and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was called off. Chambers also noted health officials have called for ending large-group gatherings.

We as superintendents looked at all of that, and, obviously, every single day of school is a large gathering of people  adults and children, he said.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com

shelby.webb@chron.com
The Delhi Assembly passed a resolution against the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on Friday.

IMAGE: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal arrives for a special session of 17th Legislative Assembly of Delhi at Delhi Vidhan Sabha in New Delhi, on Friday. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo

The resolution 'earnestly' appealed to the Centre to withdraw and not carry out the whole exercise of NRC and NPR 'in the interest of the nation, particularly when the economy is witnessing the worst-ever downslide and unemployment is witnessing a terrifying growth, and with the threat of the corona pandemic looming large'.

It also said 'should the government of India insist on going ahead' with the exercise, it should be restricted to carrying out the NPR only with its 2010 format and no new fields added to it.

Delhi joins the list of the assemblies of Puducherry, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal in passing resolutions either against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) or the NRC or the NPR.

At a special daylong session of the Delhi Assembly, which was held to discuss the NPR and the NRC, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested the Centre to withdraw the documents since those were inter-linked.

"Me, my wife, my entire cabinet do not have birth certificates to prove citizenship. Will we be sent to detention centres?" he asked.

The Aam Aadmi Party supremo challenged Union ministers to show their birth certificates issued by the government.

He asked the MLAs to raise their hands if they had birth certificates, following which only nine legislators in the 70-member House raised their hands.

"61 members of the House do not have birth certificates," Kejriwal said, adding, "Will they be sent to detention centres?"

He claimed that with the NPR being implemented from next month, not only Muslims, but also Hindus who do not have birth certificates issued by a government agency will be affected.

"If you are a Muslim and do not have documents, you will be sent to a detention centre. If you are a Hindu from Pakistan, you will be given citizenship.

"But if you are an Indian Hindu and do not have documents, you will still be sent to a detention centre," the chief minister said.

Claiming that Aadhaar cards and voter identity cards will not be accepted during the NPR exercise, he stressed that only birth certificates issued by a government agency will be accepted.

Kejriwal hit out at the BJP-led Centre for creating an issue over the NPR and the NRC at a time when the country's economy was not in a good condition.

"At a time when the economy is not in a good situation and there is unemployment, instead of looking for solutions to these problems, imaginary issues like CAA, NRC and NPR have been created... I do not know who will benefit from this," he said.
Mumbai, March 13 : Actress Katrina Kaif stars opposite Akshay Kumar after a decade in the upcoming cop action drama "Sooryavanshi", and she thanks the actor for being a constant source of support in the initial phase of her career.

"I would like to thank Akshay, as during my initial days he was of immense support to me as a co-star. He used to stand in front of me every time when I used to give a shot and encourage me. His feedback helped me to improve my acting skills and I can surely say that he was one of the few actors who believed in me," said Katrina.

Katrina and Akshay have earlier worked together in films such as "Humko Deewana Kar Gaye", "Namastey London", "Welcome", "Singh Is Kinng", De Dana Dan" and "Blue". They were last seen together in the 2010 dud "Tees Maar Khan", which is primarily recalled till date for Katrina's dance number, "Sheila ki jawaani".

"Sooryavanshi", directed by Rohit Shetty, is a cop action drama. The film was scheduled to release on March 24, but has been postponed owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Katrina opened up about her rapport with Akshay while promoting "Sooryavanshi" on the "The Kapil Sharma Show".

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
The South Jersey woman accused of locking her 27-year-old, developmentally disabled adopted daughter in a bathroom for 11 months is a licensed practical nurse, state officials confirmed Friday.

Lisa M. Bullock-DeLorenzo, 42, of Pennsville Township, was charged Wednesday after an anonymous tipster reported that the disabled woman was being kept in a 5-by-8-foot bathroom with no lights, window or working toilet, according to Pennsville Township Police.

When police arrived at the home, they found the bathroom door locked from the outside. Inside, they found the woman, who was very weak and appeared malnourished. She was barely able to speak, police said.

She was left in the room with a towel, a bowl of food and adult diapers. The room smelled of human waste and she had feces and urine on her when she was found, police stated.

The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment on Wednesday. She has since been released and placed in another home, authorities confirmed Friday.

Bullock-DeLorenzo is charged with criminal restraint, false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a disabled person and reckless endangerment of another person. She is free pending a hearing in April.

The New Jersey Board of Nursing confirmed Bullock-DeLorenzos status as an LPN and that it was aware of the charges against her, but declined to comment further on Friday regarding any possible investigation the agency may conduct.

The Board of Nursing is aware of the alleged charges against Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Lisa Bullock-Delorenzo, a spokeswoman said in a statement.   neither the Division nor the Board can confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. Any disciplinary actions taken by the Board become a matter of public record once filed.

Her nursing license remains active, according to state records, and was issued in 2011. There are no infractions listed in her online nursing record.

Efforts to contact Bullock-DeLorenzo have been unsuccessful.

The disabled woman had previously wandered off from the home, according to the criminal complaint filed this week against her caretaker.

She ran away in April of last year and was found walking along North Hook Road in the township, a source said.

The woman was apparently kept in the locked room after that incident.

Defendant would keep the victim locked in the bathroom while she was not home, an affidavit of probable cause notes, adding that Bullock-DeLorenzo would throw diapers in the bathroom and tell her to go in them.

She was forced to sleep in the bathroom with no pillow or blanket, police added.

Bullock-DeLorenzo adopted the woman and three men, ages, 24, 26 and 30, after their previous caretaker died of cancer, authorities said. Bullock-DeLorenzo was married to the caretaker.

The men were apparently not mistreated, according to police. The 30-year-old man, who is also described as developmentally disabled, will be placed in a new home, officials said.

State officials have not responded to questions about whether Bullock-DeLorenzo was receiving compensation from the state to care for the four adults.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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It was the feud heard round the world earlier this week when Peter Weber's mother refused to accept Madison Prewett as his new girlfriend during The Bachelor's After The Final Rose episode.

And Peter Weber denied that his mom Barbara had anything to do with his split from Madison just two days after the public went couple with their new relationship.

The 28-year-old pilot was spotted for the first time since the explosive episode while heading to the gym in Los Angeles, where he admitted he has nothing but love and respect for Madi and his mother.

Not this mama bear: Peter Weber denied that his mom Barbara had anything to do with his split from Madison just two days after the public went couple with their new relationship

Peter announced to the world that he had broken up with Hannah Ann after a televised proposal and was interested in pursuing a new relationship with runner-up Madison, much to his mother's dismay.

When asked if there was any tension between his mother post show, Weber said their relationship is 'good' with little to worry about.

'Listen there's a Cuban family dynamic to it,' he said. 'There's a lot of passion and could my mom have the delivery been a little different? Sure ... but her message was on point.'

Hitting the weights: The 28-year-old pilot was spotted for the first time since the explosive episode while heading to the gym in Los Angeles, where he admitted he has nothing but love and respect for Madi and his mother

Yikes: Peter announced to the world that he had broken up with Hannah Ann after a televised proposal and was interested in pursuing a new relationship with runner-up Madison, much to his mother's dismay

The matriarch was extremely vocal about how Peter's and Madison's values didn't align and called Hannah Ann an 'angel on earth.'

At one point during the live confrontation, Barbara begged for help in Spanish from her husband and asked him to join in on the melee against Madison.

'She wants the best for me and just loves me ... very grateful to have a mom like that,' he admitted.

No ill will: When asked if there was any tension between his mother post show, Weber said their relationship is 'good' with little to worry about

'Listen there's a Cuban family dynamic to it,' he said. 'There's a lot of passion and could my mom have the delivery been a little different? Sure ... but her message was on point'

'She wants the best for me and just loves me ... very grateful to have a mom like that,' he said

When asked if Barbara may have any regrets, Peter thought it wasn't his battle to fight.

'I think both of them could have handled the situation a little differently and no one's perfect, but all the respect and love for Madi and I love my mom.'

Despite arguing on stage and defending their relationship, Peter took to Instagram on Thursday night and revealed he and Madison had broken up.

'This is stuff between Madi and I ... solely 100 percent,' he said. 'People have their opinions but this is just between the two of us and it's just mutual respect and love. That's all.'
Back in August 2019 American archeologists excavating the site of a suspected ancient Roman villa near the modern city of Cologne came across a surprising artifact of more modern vintage; a Cold War era Soviet radio buried near a nuclear research center and a former American military base. The R-394KM radio was in a hermetically sealed metal container. When opened you could hear the air escaping the seals, which were still intact. The radio was factory-fresh and wrapped in paper containing radio frequencies, apparently for the Russian agents who would use it. The batteries had lost their charge but with fresh batteries, the radio still worked. The radio was apparently intended for use by German speaking agents because the radio controls were labeled in English while the manufacturers data plate was in Cyrillic (Russian) alphabet. This indicated the radio type and date of manufacture; 1987. The radio appears to have been buried in 1988 or 1989 before the communist government of East Germany fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

The radio found outside Cologne was apparently intended for Russian or East German agents who operated in large numbers in West Germany during the Cold War. After the Cold War ended and Germany was reunited there was a search for such buried weapons and equipment. Buried equipment for spies, or special operations troops, was common in West Europe during the Cold War. American Special Forces in Berlin, which was surrounded by Russian occupied East Germany during the Cold War, buried weapons caches all over American occupied West Berlin. This was a precaution in the event of a Russian attack and for the use of American personnel and West German agents who would be working with them.

The same practice was employed throughout West Germany by the American CIA, which planned to maintain a network of spies in parts of West Germany that would be overrun in a Soviet invasion that never came. The buried weapons often included other equipment, like radios. After the Cold War ended all these caches were retrieved. That same could not be said for caches buried by Russian and East German spies. Some information was obtained about these caches after the Cold War ended and they were removed. In doing that it was discovered that location data on many other buried items had been lost as the communist governments collapsed.

East German intelligence, which worked closely with their Russian counterpart, the KGB, deliberately destroyed many of their records pertaining to espionage operations before the East German government was completely out of business in 1990. This was done to protect German Stasi (secret police) crimes as well as the identity of Russian agents still active in what had been West Germany. So it was known that caches were still out there and police are warned to remain alert in case someone finds one of these caches of weapons and decides to sell the weapons rather than report them.

For a while, it was feared that the Soviets had also buried some small nuclear weapons as well. These buried backpack nukes turned out to be a myth, even though they did exist and the U.S. planned to use them if there was a Russian invasion, for demolishing infrastructure that would delay the advancing Soviet forces. These mini-nukes were eliminated after the Cold War, along with spy radios buried elsewhere in Western Europe for use by secret local agents recruited to provide information in case of a successful Soviet invasion.

The radio found outside Cologne was typical of what was used by Soviet era spies. It could transmit messages to receivers over 1,200 kilometers away. The Soviet agents would not have to use the radio to receive information. For that, they could rely on a numbers station. This is a special radio station that uses a specific shortwave radio frequency that periodically (on pre-arranged dates and times) broadcasts sequences of numbers. These broadcasts often last a few minutes then that channel goes silent. Numbers stations were a popular 20th century technique for sending secret messages to agents in foreign nations or combat zones. It began during World War I, with Morse code used instead of a spoken voice. Using short wave a numbers station deep inside Russia could broadcast the numbers worldwide.

After the Cold War ended there were still a few nations using numbers stations, most notably Cuba, China, Taiwan, Israel and, until 2000, North Korea. In 2016 North Korea activated, for the first time since 2000, one of its numbers stations. Given the frequency used and the strength of the signal, the audience for these new North Korean messages was in South Korea, China or Japan. Analysis of the audio indicated that the North Koreans were using Cold War era Russian (Soviet) broadcast equipment. Apparently this gear was put in storage in 2000 and revived for the new broadcasts.

For nations with international Internet access, and this does not include North Korea, there are more effective Internet based methods for sending secret messages. North Korea is known to have used these Internet based methods so it is a mystery as to why they have revived their numbers station broadcasts. Then again it could just be another ploy to frighten their enemies, which is just about everyone, especially South Korea, the United States and Japan. These three nations do not appear alarmed by the broadcasts, but that could be said for most North Korean threats.

Germans still have to be alert about buried explosives because about a hundred unexploded bombs and shells are found each year, mainly by construction crews in urban areas. The most dangerous of these are bombs dropped during World War II that did not explode. Some of these bombs weigh a ton or more and nearly all are safely disarmed by the bomb disposal terms, who then carefully remove the bomb for disposal. That means explosives removed and neutralized while the casing becomes metal scrap. Sometimes the bomb disposal team determines that the fuze is too unstable to be safely disarmed and the area is evacuated and the bomb destroyed by detonating using another explosive. That is rare but there are times when there is no other choice but to evacuate a wide area and then repair lots of blown-out windows and other damage.

Its not just aircraft bombs. Most of the explosive items unearthed are smaller ones like grenades, mortar shells, rockets and mines. Many bombs, artillery and mortar shells (over ten percent, for some manufacturers) did not explode when they were supposed to but just buried themselves into the ground. These shells are still full of explosives, and often have a fuze that, while defective, is often still capable of going off if disturbed. Other munitions were left in bunkers, or elsewhere on the battlefield, and got buried and lost. Most of these lost munitions eventually get found by farmers, or anyone digging up the ground for construction. Heavily bombed cities during World War II still suffer from construction crews unearthing unexploded bombs. In Russian cities, you tend to find lots of artillery shells that were fired by both Russian and German troops.

The problem goes back farther than World War II. Unexploded munitions from the American Civil War, which ended in 1865, are still showing up, and some of them are still deadly. But these 19th century items are rare. Currently, over a thousand World War II munitions are discovered each year in Europe.

The buried radios and other modern spy gear are a 20th century, mostly Cold War (1949-91) era problem that is not nearly as widespread as the unexploded munitions.
Ghana has confirmed two cases of the deadly coronavirus, the Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu has disclosed.

The cases were confirmed on March 12, 2020, the minister said, indicating that the Noguchi Memorial Institute has confirmed the cases.

The two individuals came into the country from Norway and Turkey, according to the Minister at an emergency press briefing Thursday night.

Both individuals returned to Ghana from Norway and Turkey. So these are imported cases of COVID -19 Both patients are currently being kept in isolation and are stable. We have initiated processes for contact tracing.

I wish to assure all Ghanaians that the Government of Ghana together with all Health Partners will continue to work assiduously to ensure the situation is contained. We wish to encourage every Ghanaian to take care of their health and that of their families by adhering to the following precautionary measures, he emphasised.

Coronavirus cash released

On Wednesday President Akufo-Addo directed the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to make available the cedi equivalent of $100 million to enhance Ghanas Coronavirus preparedness and response plan.

This amount, according to President Akufo-Addo, is to fund the expansion of infrastructure, purchase of materials and equipment, and public education.

Delivering an address to the nation the President explained that, with the declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) of the Coronavirus disease as a pandemic, it is important that Ghana steps up her preparedness to ensure that, beyond the initial measures that have been put in place, a whole of Ghana approach is adopted in preparation for a possible hit within the countrys borders.

Already, all of Ghanas immediate neighbours, Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire and Togo, have recorded confirmed cases of infections, and countries like Italy, where there is a large population of Ghanaians, have escalated their response to the outbreak.

Ghanas entry points, such as her airports and land borders, President Akufo-Addo said, continue to show satisfactory preparedness to screen all entrants into the country, with the Ministry of Health designating a quarantine facility that can hold infected persons, whilst regional hospitals are preparing isolation centers for holding suspected cases.

Watch the video below:
From today, March 13, due to the coronavirus, Slovakia has restricted entry into the country and allowed only residents and international freight carriers to enter. The Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy wrote about this on his Facebook page.

He noted that it was decided to cancel the regular international transport links. In particular, the international bus service and train runs were discontinued.

At the same time, international freight traffic does not stop, and drivers of vehicles must be provided with protective equipment. It is also reported that only those persons who have a permit for permanent or temporary residence in the country will be allowed into Slovakia, and exit from Slovakia is allowed without any restrictions.

In addition, Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine's state railway company noted that the sale of tickets for trains to Slovakia was suspended, and refunds for previously purchased travel documents are made at all ticket offices in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

The Ukrainian minister also said that Romania will introduce additional security measures. At the time of entry into Romania, persons from risk zones are sent to representatives of the Ministry of Health of this country for verification activities in the quarantine zone for seven days. In case of a refusal, the person is not allowed in and returned. Ukraine has not yet been included in the risk zone.

As for the drivers of vehicles, they will be checked by the sanitary authority on the Romanian border, it will also be necessary to fill out a questionnaire with personal data, and if no problems are identified, drivers will be able to continue driving.

As we reported before, during the next 48 hours, Ukraine will close its border for foreigners for two weeks. Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will warn all the institutions and all countries that the border of Ukraine will be closed for two weeks.
Photograph: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

To curb the spread of coronavirus, doctors and advocates are calling on the US to temporarily forgive bail and to clamp down on other programs that keep low-risk offenders imprisoned.

Jails and prisons remain uniquely vulnerable to coronavirus outbreaks, experts say, potentially leaving a major hole in Americas defenses against the outbreak.

Related: Coronavirus inevitable in prison-like US immigration centers, doctors say

In the US, home to 22% of the worlds prison population, incarcerated people are vulnerable to the coronavirus because of their limited access to basic hygiene measures and their high rates of existing health issues.

People being transported in handcuffs also cannot cough into the crook of their elbow. Hand sanitizer with alcohol, which is what health authorities recommend people use, is contraband at most US prisons because of its alcohol content (though prisoners in New York are making it for the state). Locked up, there is no way to self-quarantine.

The more people behind bars, the more transmissions you are going to have, said Josiah Rich, a Brown University epidemiologist.

In countries hard-hit by coronavirus, there have been mass prison releases and even jail riots in the wake of infections.

Three Chinese provinces registered more than 500 cases of coronavirus in prisons. Iran temporarily released 70,000 prisoners. In Italy, riots occurred in at least two dozen prisons and six inmates died after they broke into an infirmary and overdosed on methadone.

At the journal Health Affairs, public health experts outlined six urgent steps needed to address coronavirus in prisons, including limiting incarceration rates. Prisons push people into the paths of epidemics, the authors wrote. The Prison Policy Initiative called for the release of medically fragile and older adults.

These groups also highlighted that outbreaks in prisons can radiate to the outside through visitors, correctional officers and lawyers.

Story continues

Rich said an easy fix to reduce the risks is to release people who are only incarcerated because of cash bail, a payment to the court required to leave jail while awaiting a hearing.

They are not there because we need to keep society safe, they are there because they are too poor to afford bail, Rich said. If they were wealthy, they would have the means. So, do we think we should keep them in there in the face of this epidemic?

If measures arent taken to reduce the risk in prisons, it could place a burden on the healthcare system, which is already under threat from the spread of coronavirus.

There are about 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people in the US, compared with 12 per 1,000 people in South Korea, which seems to have mitigated the impact of coronavirus.

People in jail and prison have underlying health conditions at higher rates than the general population, a risk factor for coronavirus. Both jails and prisons have a 1.3% prevalence of HIV compared to 0.4% in the US generally. In state prisons, 64.7% of people smoke and in federal prisons, 45.2% of people smoke, compared with 21.2% across the US.

Coronavirus death rates are the worst in people 60 and older and the US prison population has been ageing for the past two decades. From 1990 to 2012, the US prison population aged 55 or older increased by 550%.

When this thing pops as we think it might, and really becomes deeply ingrained, were going to start filling up ICU beds, Rich said. This is about your parents or grandparents not being able to get into an ICU bed either because they have coronavirus beds or because they have something else.

Rich said the number one change people can make to minimize this threat is simply to reduce the number of imprisoned people. Temporarily forgiving bail is one way. Another is to release low-level, older offenders, though it is unclear where they would be sent if they do not have close friends or family members to take them in.

In the best of scenarios, we would only hope to delay this, Rich, director of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, said. And because we have so many ill people behind bars, its going to get there, its going to spread like wildfire.
When youre working from home for the first time, you quickly realize that it requires more thought than plunking your laptop on the coffee table. Nailing down the tech is a large part of it. But we realize, too, that theres a softer side: what hours you keep, how to stay in contact with coworkers and friends, and even what to wear. PCWorlds editors are ready with all the tech tips weve learned from years of working from home ourselves. Define your workspace First things first: As were learning, theres no normal with the coronavirus. But that also applies to where you live. Home workers now include apartment dwellers, Millennials who share a house, Midwesterners with basements, suburbanites in McMansions, and more. Youll have to figure out what works for you, within your own unique environment. Still, some rules apply to just about everyone. Establish a workspace. Our first tip is to claim a physical working space. Maybe its a corner of your dining room table. Or the breakfast nook. Or a small desk you picked up at a thrift store. Make sure you and anyone else stuck at home knows that when youre seated at your workspace, youre on call and cant be bothered. Likewise, dont feel compelled to visit your office after hours. Defining separate spaces for work and play may seem silly, but it can make a big psychological difference. San Sharma / Flickr Even the smallest nook can be made into a home office in a pinch. Whatever you do, dont swap a crowded office for a crowded coffee shop. (Coronavirus cant tell the difference!) Ergonomics is essential. Were not going to dive too deep into the subtleties of computer chairs. But use some basic guidelines when establishing a workspace, such as what the Mayo Clinic recommends: Keep your monitor at eye height, and your desk at arms length. Dont work on your couch! Its going to strain your neck and back, and may tempt you to nod off. Get up and walk around periodically, to refresh your mind and body. MayoClinic.org Sites like the Mayo Clinic can offer good tips about how to organize your workspace to minimize the impact on your health. Give some love to your chair Youll quickly realize that working on a hard kitchen chair for eight hours a day isnt feasible, which is why weve been promoting deals on seat cushions. A good chair, preferably an office chair, is a must. I think I paid just under $200 for my office chair about 20 years ago. The only maintenance its required has been to address the cracked armrest paddingwhere Amazons armrest pads have you covered. Or you could try creating your own. Leif Johnson/IDG While you dont need to pay hundreds of dollars for a tricked-out gaming chair, they are designed to be sat in for hours at a time. Features like adjustable height, adjustable armrests, and good lumbar support are musts. Which PC is right for you? If you already have a work laptop thats been assigned to you and you were allowed to take it home, this question is moot. Otherwise, consider these factors as you select a PC for working from home.

This cheap laptop is actually good Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-51DJ Read our review Best Prices Today:

First, we recommend a laptop over a desktop. We know we just told you to pick a dedicated workspace; nevertheless, for most people, its more convenient (and space-efficient) to use a laptop. Who knows, you may need to move from the dining room to the living roomor to a quarantine facility.

This workhorse wont quit Dell XPS 15 9570 Read our review Best Prices Today:

You can find many good choices among the best laptops weve reviewed, or check out one of the cheap laptops from Amazon and Best Buy that we think are good deals. While weight and battery life matter in any laptop, homebound workers dont have to worry as much about those factors. Youll be plugged in most or all of the time, and youre not taking it to a nearby caferight?!

Our favorite wireless keyboard K800 Wireless Illuminated Keyboard Read our review Best Prices Today:

If you have space, a great wireless keyboard can offset a laptop whose typing experience is subparkeys that are too small, or travel thats short or clackety. This is mostly an issue with thinner or cheaper laptops. Business or workhorse laptops, and thicker laptops, tend to offer better keyboards for prolonged typing. IDG / Hayden Dingman If youre working from home, all alone, theres no one to complain about you using a big, noisy, mechanical keyboard. Pound away! Note that laptop fan noise, which may melt into the background in an office environment, could be more noticeable in a quiet home office. Theres no easy way to recommend quieter laptops, as the fans are tuned by the vendor; however, if you need a whisper-quiet workplace, look for a fanless laptop (usually a thin-and-light laptop, perhaps with an Intel Y-class processor), or if nothing else, avoid gaming laptops, whose high-end CPUs and discrete GPUs tend to keep the fans busy.

A good basic USB-C hub Aukey CB-C65 3-Port USB Hub
- Lulu Hassan's husband Rashid Abdalla wanted to spend some quality time with the apple of his eye

- He then decided to take a photo of himself seated and chilling with his baby girl

- His fans were excited, proud and completely taken by the adorable snap

- Rashid referred to his pretty girl as his number one

Lulu Hassans family is by far the cutest celebrity flock in Kenya thanks to the journalists cute kid who are blessed with loving parents.

All the Citizen TV presenters children share her beauty and their fathers charming smile.

READ ALSO: Healthy, happy Kanze Dena wows fans with cute photos alongside her pretty sisters

READ ALSO: Ruto hakujulishwa kuhusu mkutano wa Rais Uhuru na magavana wa bonde la ufa, asema Sang

On Thursday, March 12, the beautys husband Rashid Abdalla decided to leave his fans staring at their phones as he had a cute daddy-daughter moment with his little girl.

The father of three and his look-alike princess sat cheek to cheek and brought their A-game as daddy dearest took an adorable selfie.

READ ALSO: TV presenter Lilian Muli denies being pregnant with third baby

The two were the perfect definition of yin and yang because they completed each other.

Rashid, a proud father, referred to his angel as his number one as he enjoyed the fleeting moments with the apple of his eye.

Lulu and Rashid are proud parents to two handsome boys and a cute girl whose beauty is worth recording in books.

The pair work like a team both at home and at their workplace.

They balance each other out and have the same sense of fashion and humour.

Often, the super duo show up to the studio donning identical attires and always attach some lovey dovey moments to their studio moments.

Sometimes they dance, sometimes they sing, sometimes they crack jokes and other times they just sit and pose for photos.

Their most famous aww moment was when the two decided to dance together after reading the news together.

The pair got down to the rhythm and smiled at each other with so much love and admiration.

At times, they just leave people wishing they could have a relationship as beautiful as theirs that works effortlessly and without a lot of push and pull.

Rashid and Lulu have mastered the art separating work and play while still managing to remain lively while reading the news.

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.

Where is our son? Our only child after six miscarriages is missing, help us find him |Tuko TV

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New Jersey is suspending all new jury trials indefinitely, effective immediately, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the state.

Jury trials already underway will continue, and grand juries will still hear cases, according to a Thursday order by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.

While jury trials are a critical component of our justice system, this extraordinary step is necessary to protect the health and safety of the community, Rabner said in a statement.

At the same time, we will make every effort to keep our court system running in the face of this health crisis, he said.

Also on Thursday, the federal courts issued new restrictions about who is allowed in the courthouse.

Gov. Phil Murphy said he was in full support of the Judiciarys response to this public health emergency.

It was not immediately clear how many trials this will affect in Superior courts throughout the states 21 counties.

Although Rabner had previously stopped some work trips, courts were operating normally earlier in the day.

Some potential jurors in Essex County had expressed concern Thursday about being packed into waiting areas with hundreds of other people.

This is a perfect environment for spreading the virus throughout the community, Dan Hurley, 62, of Montclair, told NJ Advance Media earlier.

State court changes

Motions and hearings in state courts will be conducted remotely by phone and video. That will keep the system from completely shutting down, said Peter Verniero, a former justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court and state attorney general.

This is unprecedented, but its not surprising, Verniero said about the suspension. We have to be patient and be tolerant of delays as much as we can.

The suspension especially affects people waiting in jail, said Craig Hubert, a lawyer with the Szaferman, Lakind, Blumstein and Blader firm in Lawrenceville.

The right to a speedy trial is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, he said. This may not bring things to a screeching halt, but this could lead to a massive slowdown," Hubert added.

Courts were ordered to stagger landlord and tenant cases, as well as small claims and other non-jury work, to keep large numbers of people from gathering. The governor previously asked that events with more than 250 people be cancelled.

The chief justice also suspended all out-of-state work travel for staff. Tours and some training were cancelled, while committee meetings and conferences will be moved to video.

Federal court changes

While the state is halting juror service, the District of New Jersey federal court system announced that jury trials will continue.

The courts are still functioning in order to perform our constitutional duties of serving the public, Chief U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson wrote in a letter Thursday. Residents summoned to jury duty in federal court must have a doctors note in order to be excused.

A general statement that you do not wish to appear because of COVID-19 will not suffice, Wolfson wrote.

However, the federal court system did announce new restrictions on who can enter federal courthouses as the threat of coronavirus grows. Those buildings are located in Newark, Trenton and Camden.

The people barred from entering any of the federal courthouses include:

Anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or had contact with someone who has been diagnosed.

Anyone who has been asked to self-quarantine by any doctor, hospital or health agency.

Anyone who has traveled to China, South Korea, Japan, Italy or Iran.

Anyone who resides or has had close contact with someone who has been asked to self-quarantine or visited those five countries within the last 14 days.

The court urged anyone unable to keep a court appointment because of the restrictions to contact their attorney or a court office.

The restrictions will remain in place until its safe to remove them, the public notice said.

Twenty-nine people have tested positive for the virus in the state, and one has died. Gov. Phil Murphy has declared a state of emergency, and President Donald Trump suspended most travel from Europe Wednesday.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN.

Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Follow on Twitter @monavage.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Japanese Ambassador Koji Tomita bows to Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha when he was called for Korea to protest about his country's quarantine measure. Korea Times



By Oh Young-jin





"Slapping travel restrictions on Koreans entering foreign countries is as domestic an affair as the Korean government is protesting about it."



This is what one foreign ambassador stationed in Seoul told me regarding Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha's forlorn, thankless campaign to stem the tide of countries blocking Koreans from setting foot on their soil lest they bring the ongoing coronavirus epidemic into their midst.



The interpretation is that the world is as scared as ever and is doing whatever it can to keep itself from harm's way, whether it is Kang's remarks or anybody else's. In other words, it is a domestic affair.



Kang surely knows the futility of making phone calls or holding meetings, but would have to do it anyway because its main purpose is to convey to the domestic audience that the country is doing something.





World Health Organization director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweets about his conversation with Minister Kang. Korea Times

In politics as many other aspects in public life, perception is as important as or more important than reality, and perception and reality often turn out to be two sides of the same coin.



By this standard, Kang is doing her best, which is perhaps and at least for now the most the nation can expect from her in this time of crisis.



Imagine if we had not responded as we have done to Japan's virtual entry ban on Koreans.



Japan unilaterally blocked Koreans from entering, citing the fear of contagion because Korea was second only to China in the number of confirmed cases. Japan's priority was to prevent the coronavirus from spreading further and save the Tokyo Olympics. Kang threatened to retaliate.



Korea retaliated by revoking the no visa entry privilege for Japanese. Following Korea's action, the World Health Organization said that the tit-for-tat was unhelpful in the global coronavirus fight. China, which Japan grouped with Korea on its short list of entry bans, responded by saying that it understood Tokyo's decision. It was a cool response in contrast to Kang's hot response.





Minister Kang adjusts her face mask during a Cabinet meeting. Korea Times




Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday proposed formulation of a joint strategy by SAARC nations to fight the coronavirus, a suggestion promptly backed by all member states, barring Pakistan.

Calling on SAARC members to set an example for the world, Modi reached out to the eight-member regional grouping and pitched for a video conference among the leaders to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus, which has killed nearly 5,000 people globally.

His appeal got a prompt response from Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Afghan government, all of whom welcomed the proposal.

However, there was no immediate response from the Pakistan government.

In a series of tweets, Modi said,"our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it. South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy."



He further said, "I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy.Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet."



Welcoming the proposal, Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka was ready to join the discussion, share its learning and best practices as well as to learn from other SAARC members.

"Thank you for the great initiative Narendra Modi -- Lanka is ready to join the discussion and share our learnings and best practices and to learn from other SAARC members. Let's unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe," Rajapaksa said in a tweet.

Nepalese Prime Minister Oli also tweeted "I welcome the idea advanced by Prime Minister Modiji for chalking out a strong strategy by the leadership of the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus. My government is ready to work closely with SAARC member states to protect our citizens from this deadly disease," Oli tweeted.

"Thank you PM Narendra Modi for taking the initiative on this important endeavour. COVID-19 requires collective effort to defeat it. The Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort," Maldivian PM Solih said.

The Bhutanese prime minister said, "This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times."



"Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference," he said.

Bangladesh's minister of state for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam said Prime Minister Hasina welcomes the proposal and looks forward to a constructive dialogue with Modi, Solih, Oli, Tsering, Rajapaksa and Heads of state and government who already consented to discuss the way forward at this testing time for the region and the world.

Spokesperson for the President of Afghanistan Sediq Sediqqi said the Afghan government strongly welcomes the proposal of Modi and the readiness of the other SAARC members to work together devising a unified strategy to fight the coronavirus in the region.

Afghanistan Embassy's Charg d'Affaires here said, "In response to the timely call of Prime Minister Modi to create a robust strategy for SAARC aiming at tackling COVID2019, I would like to acknowledge his call. United we stand, divided we fall!"



The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday that the coronavirus outbreak could be characterised as pandemic. The number of infection cases globally stood at 1,33,970, with over 5,000 deaths across 120 countries and territories.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organization that comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine is providing an update on coronavirus in Pennsylvania on Friday afternoon.

This is a very rapidly changing situation," she said.

Video from her news conference is streamed online live:

Providers are able to test Pennsylvanians as they feel is necessary, Levine said, without state permission.

The state has 33 cases either confirmed or tentatively confirmed, including one juvenile, she said. About 300 people have been tested, she said, and 140 of them have tested negative.

People who believe they have symptoms of coronavirus, including a fever and cough, they should call their doctor or an emergency room, but not show up unannounced, she explained.

Please stay calm, Levine said.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



State officials are invoking a 1955 law in semi-identifying those whove tested positive for the virus, choosing to release only the county and whether or not theyre an adult.

PennLive has a Q&A with a doctor about the coronavirus:

More:

This post has been updated.
Los Angeles, March 13 : Actor Jamie Foxx says he is honoured to be the first-ever African American lead in a Pixar film.

The actor voices the protagonist in Disney and Pixar's upcoming film, "Soul".

"Honoured to be the first ever African American lead in a Pixar film. 100 days away. I cannot wait for you all to see this beautiful story," Foxx shared on his Instagram.

Directed by the two-time Oscar winner Pete Docter, the film's voice cast include names like Tina Fey, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett, Questlove and Daveed Diggs. It is slated to release in June.

The trailer of the animated film takes viewers on the journey of Joe Gardner, a middle-school band teacher (voiced by Foxx) and how he is about to find his true calling. Having lost his passion for music, Joe seeks the help of a soul named 22 to find his way back and, in the process, learn a lot about himself on a journey of discovery, introspection and self-realisation.

"Soul" will be the second Pixar original film for 2020 following the recent release of "Onward", with Chris Pratt and Tom Holland.

Set in a suburban fantasy world, "Onward" is about two teenage elf brothers who embark on a quest to discover if there is a little magic left in the world. Pratt has voiced the character of Barley Lightfoot, the big brother to Holland's Ian Lightfoot. "Onward" released in India on March 6.
Migrants: Greece to offer 2,000-euro repatriation incentive For 5,000 people, but only if arrived prior to January 1

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 13 - Greece Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis and EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson agreed on the creation of an incentive for voluntary repatriation of migrants currently in Greece, during a meeting in Athens on Thursday.



Greek media said the measure foresees an incentive of 2,000 euros valid for one month for 5,000 migrants who agree to voluntarily repatriate, and will be available only to those who were already in Greece as of January 1, in particular in overcrowded structures on the Aegean Islands.



Mitarakis and Johansson said the repatriations will take place with the support of the UN Migration Agency (IOM) and European border agency Frontex.



"It's an opportunity to reduce the pressure on the Greek islands," Johansson said.



Mitarakis said these repatriations will be in addition to the operation to transfer 10,000 migrants from the islands to the Greek mainland, which should conclude by the end of March.(ANSAmed).




Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 00:44:00|Editor: yan

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KHARTOUM, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Health Ministry on Friday announced the death of a Sudanese citizen infected with the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.

"The infected was a man in his 50s living in Khartoum locality in Khartoum State. He died on Thursday," the ministry said in a statement.

It noted that the man, the first victim of the viral respiratory disease, had visited the United Arab Emirates during the first week of March.

Before the announcement, Sudan had not disclosed the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in the country.

The ministry said it had taken more measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus as part of a national plan to combat the virus.

On Thursday, the Sudanese government issued an entry ban on the citizens from eight countries hit by COVID-19, including South Korea, China, Italy, Iran, France, Spain, Japan and Egypt. Sudan has also decided to close its border crossings with Egypt.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  As K-12 schools are ordered closed statewide and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer limits public gatherings to 250 people for the next three weeks, some preschools remain open across the state, while others have opted to close.

And while Whitmer has stipulated that child care facilities are not being mandated to close as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, staying open is not a decision CEOs or directors at preschools are taking lightly.

These are unchartered waters for all of us and we are trying to stay calm and not cause panic, but also take this very, very seriously to keep the greater community and our school community safe, Bridgett VanDerhoff, CEO of AppleTree, told MLive.

At the same time, closing our schools can have an impact on staff at hospitals, health care facilities and other critical services.

VanDerhoff who oversees 28 early childhood development centers across the state, eight of which are in the Grand Rapids region, said they have plans to stay open until further notice from the state.

We have nearly 4,000 children in our care, she said. "Should we close, there are 4,000 families that are going to not have care which will domino effect to other businesses, so we are weighing this carefully and we truly really are relying on the CDC, our governor and and licensing to feed us the information that we need to make the calls that need to be made.

"And should we be asked to close, absolutely we will close to keep the community safe."

In the interim, VanDerhoff said, AppleTree schools are asking all parents to inform them via signed written communication whether they have traveled, and if they have where and when they returned. If it was to a coronavirus hot spot, she said, the students will be asked not to attend the school.

Additionally, she said, if a child has a fever over 99.5 degrees they are being sent home and being asked to remain out of the care of the school until they have been fever-free for over 72 hours.

I wouldnt say its business as usual right now because it is anything but usual for everyone involved, but we are trying to keep the children calm as well, because this is kind of scary for them, VanDerhoff said. "So, we are trying to keep their schedules as normal as possible so that they feel they are in a safe and secure environment.

Michelle Williamson, CEO of Community Action in Battle Creek, made the decision early Friday afternoon that the 10 Head Start schools spread across Southwest Michigan under her purview would close effective March 20, with plans to reopen April 13.

Williamson sent a letter to parents asking them to keep children home from centers the week of March 16 if at all possible, but stating that centers would remain open for those that did not have another option next week.

Its always difficult to change programming, but we wanted to give the parents at least a weeks worth of lead time, thats why we stayed available to them next week, she said. Our staff will continue to provide educational packets and potentially some shelf-stable food items for the families."

While staff will be delivering those items to homes of the families, Williamson stated in her letter to parents that they would not be entering homes in order to limit the potential exposure.

Williamson and VanDerhoff both stated that part of the difficulty in weighing their respective decisions was that many families face financial burdens and the schools give them a great amount of support.

There are a lot of parents that live week to week and cannot afford to to not go to work," VanDerhoff said. Were just trying to make the right decision for everyone involved, and obviously at the utmost top of that is keeping everybody safe and as healthy as possible.

Dianne Kohler, office manager for The Discovery Center in Kalamazoo, echoed much of what VanDerhoff said.

Were just waiting to hear from the health department or if the governor says we need to close, but other than that it looks like we are staying open, Kohler said.

Kohler said there is no doubt concern over the possibility of the virus being transmitted in the school and that several parents have pulled their children out, stating they would return after the all-clear is given for public schools to reopen across the state.

In the interim, she said, staff is taking as many precautionary measures as possible while the school stays open.

What we are doing is having children wash their hands when they come in and when they leave just like normal, Kohler said. We are doing extra cleaning. Even though we are pretty clean, we are stepping it up a bit, making sure that everything stays clean. And if we see a child chewing on a toy or they drop it, we will immediately pick it up, get it washed and sanitized.

Also on MLive:

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer bans gatherings of more than 250 people as coronavirus spreads

Were going to get through this,' says Gov. Whitmer as she orders K-12 schools closed over coronavirus

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

All Michigan schools to close as coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

Michigan governor asks Trump to open special Obamacare enrollment period during coronavirus threat

Heres a list of specific recommendations from state health officials
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Linkedin A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 14 2020

Nuclear naysayers: Activists from Greenpeace Indonesia protest outside the House of Representatives in Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday. They were rallying against a proposal to develop a nuclear power plant in the country. The demonstration also commemorated the ninth anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.(JP/Riand Alfiandy)

Activists are warning the government to steer clear of building nuclear power plants, citing safety concerns and urging Indonesia to focus on renewable energy instead.

A Greenpeace Indonesia official, Satrio Swandiko, said Indonesia should heed the lessons of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster in Japan, which was caused by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

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Hackers are creating phishing attacks that capitalise on the fear surrounding the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Security firm Recorded Future has found that the global COVID-19 panic has spawned a number of new phishing attacks.

The technical threat surrounding COVID-19 primarily appears to be around phishing, with actors promising that attachments contain information about COVID-19, the firm stated.

Recorded Future observed an extensive list of actors and malware employing these techniques, including Trickbot, Lokibot, and Agent Tesla, targeting a broad set of victims, including those in the United States, Italy, Ukraine, and Iran in particular.

It added that attackers are impersonating representatives of the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in an attempt to prompt interaction with dangerous links or attachments from victims.

The number of newly-registered domains related to the coronavirus threat has increased as the outbreak has grown, with many being used to support phishing campaigns related to COVID-19.

Coronavirus in South Africa

The South African Department of Health recently confirmed that the number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa has risen to 17, with the first local transmission of the virus occurring in the Free State.

According to the department, a 32-year-old male came into contact with a Chinese businessman, making it the first case of local transmission, as all other cases have been by patients who had travelled abroad.

The other three new confirmed cases are from KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng.

South African Airways recently outlined its plans to deal with the coronavirus threat, stating that it would follow international guidelines set out by the CDC and WHO.

SAA said that its crew uses officially-approved and industry-recognised disinfectants on all flights, and its flight attendants use gloves that are sanctioned by the food industry.

The airline uses sanitation procedures for all domestic, regional, and international flights, SAA said.

Should health authorities inform the airline that a person who travelled with SAA exhibited coronavirus symptoms, the aircraft will be taken out of service and put through a decontamination process, SAA said.

Now read: Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix cancelled due to coronavirus
From the 1970s into the 1990s, Boston was terrorized by the infamous crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger.

During this time, he engaged in extortion, drug trafficking and murder. In 1994, he fled Boston and spent 16 years in hiding before being captured.

After Bulger was found guilty in 2013, a federal judge sentenced him to two life terms. He served five years before his life behind bars came to a violent end when he was beaten to death by fellow inmates. To date, no one has been charged with his murder.

Back in 1957, he was incarcerated in a federal prison in Atlanta. It was there that Bulger was part of a CIA mind control program using the most extreme experiments on humans ever conducted by any federal agency. That program (and its director, Dr. Sidney Gottlieb) resulted in many broken minds and busted bodies.

Gottliebs secret program, known as MK-ULTRA, enlisted doctors to administer LSD in large doses to prisoners and addicts, people who were not likely to complain. As an inducement, Bulger and fellow inmates were offered reduced time for their participation. They were also told they would be taking part in medical research into finding a cure for schizophrenia. It appealed to our sense of doing something worthwhile for society, Bulger would later say.

But the experiments had nothing to do with finding a cure.

Each week, volunteer prisoners were locked in a secure room of the prison hospital where mental patients were housed. They would be in this room for 24 straight hours. They were injected with massive doses of LSD-25. The men quickly felt its powerful effects. Dr. Pfeiffer and several assistants then gave the prisoners a series of tests to see how they reacted.

According to Bulger, Eight convicts in a panic state. Total loss of appetite. Hallucinating. The room would change shape. Hours of paranoia and feeling violent. We experienced horrible periods of living nightmares and even blood coming out of the walls. I saw a camera change into the head of a dog. I felt like I was going insane."

Men in suits hooked the prisoners up to machines and asked questions like: "Did you ever kill anyone?" "Would you kill someone?" "Would you like to kill someone?"

Again, according to Bulger, Two of the prisoners went completely psychotic. They had to be pried loose from under the beds, growling, barking and frothing at the mouth. They put them in a cell down the hall. I never saw them again.

When the experiment was over, the men experienced suicidal feelings and severe depression; for them, time stood still. Several times, Bulger wanted to quit, but Dr. Pfeiffer appealed to him: Please, youre my best subject, and we are close to finding the cure.

All told, Bulger was given the powerful hallucinogen LSD more than 50 times (strangely, this fact was not brought up by his lawyers during his trial).

After the LSD experiments, Bulger was plagued by nightmares and terrible hallucinations. He could only sleep for few hours at a time.

Some of the participants ended up plagued by multiple personalities. Brain scans later confirmed that the prisoners had been severely damaged by the experiments. The barbarity of those tests would not come to light until years later. It is not known how many people were experimented on, as all records were ordered destroyed.

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PHOENIX, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Much in the spirit of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, Real Estate Development Executive Michael Johnson utilizes Government subsidies to expand his empire while providing necessary disruption to an antiquated model and providing value to humanity.

Raamp REIT Founder Michael Johnson

Johnson has launched Raamp REIT ("Real estate Asset Acquisition Management Portfolio"), Arizona's first, exclusively multifamily, real estate crowdfunding platform and asset Management Company. Structured as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") with a minimum investment of $2,500, the fund is open to nearly all investors and offers the potential for consistent cash dividends and equity appreciation.

This REIT has been designed to offer the casual investor a number of distinct advantages. By investing in the "REIT," investors will gain access to a diversified pool of commercial real estate investments with one single investment. The fund intends to invest in commercial real estate with a specific eye on multifamily. All rents are guaranteed by the Housing Authority of Maricopa County. Through this program, Johnson has become the State of Arizona's largest subsidy rental partner.

In addition to providing the need for adequate & affordable housing for those who are less fortunate, this fund is also designed to have low fees for investors. By offering Raamp REIT exclusively on its platform, Raamp.io affords investors direct online access to the product with no sales commissions and offering expenses capped at 3 percent.

"With No Commissions and the lower fees, this fund's strategy is exciting because it will allow us to leverage the hundreds of inbound inquires on commercial real estate and do a deep dive and find the most suitable opportunities for our partners," said Raamp CEO Michael Johnson.

Within the universe of commercial real estate investing, Johnson's experienced real estate team takes a relatively conservative approach when selecting transactions to offer for investment: his entity only invests in cash-flowing properties and shy's away from land or ground up development transactions. This approach will carry through to Raamp.io. With a proven track record of success, Johnson is optimistic about the funds growth. "Through our focused investment strategy, we can invest in both debt and equity in our specific property types and it will allow us to be very opportunistic. We have two objectives for the fund: one is providing investors with both consistent cash distributions and two, the opportunity to benefit from potential appreciation in property values," added Johnson.

The launch of Raamp.io and the new "REIT" adds to the wave of opportunity to invest in real estate. Until recently, private investment markets have been off-limits to the majority of retail investors. However, legislation like Regulation A+ and Title III of the JOBS Act has leveled the playing field by allowing non-accredited investors making less than $200,000 per year to access these investment opportunities through online crowdfunding. Through Reg A+, Raamp REIT gives nearly all investors a new entrance to curated and pre-vetted private real estate investing.

In February 2020, Johnson announced that, since his firm's inception in 2016, the developer had surpassed $8 million in crowdfunded real estate equity and debt transactions. As of February 28, 2020, Johnson's real estate investment portfolio consisted of 13 multi-family properties, a Boutique Hotel and The Bread & Honey House Restaurant, which was notably featured in the New Times Arizona edition, as the "#1 Hidden Gem".

Media Contact:

Aviva Friedman

323.380.8664

[email protected]

SOURCE Raamp REIT
"Mayor Lightfoot and Governor Pritzker held a press conference today asking and strongly recommending that public gatherings of more than 250 people be suspended possibly until May 1. They also mandated that gatherings of more than 1000 be suspended for the same amount of time. (This ban, as issued March 12, is for 30 days.) The League is working to support members with venues fewer than 250 as they decide the best course of action for their individual venues. We want to thank our government officials for their diligence during this time. The safety and health of our audiences, artists and theatre staff remains our highest priority. As the situation around COVID-19 evolves, we will continue to share with our member organizations precautions they can take as outlined by federal health authorities and state and local officials to ensure that theatres are ready to welcome patrons back after this temporary shut-down.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2020) - SKRR Exploration Inc. (TSXV: SKRR) ("SKRR" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has received final approval from the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") for the previously announced option agreement to acquire to acquire 100% of the Ithingo Lake property (the "Property") from Edge Geological Consulting Inc. ("Edge"), a company owned and controlled by Ross McElroy, a director of SKRR.

Edge holds 100% unencumbered title rights to 12 contiguous mineral claims encompassing approximately 2,849 ha. The Property is situated in the north-central region of the province of Saskatchewan, approximately 125 km northeast of the village of Buffalo Narrows and approximately 235 km to the northwest of the town of La Ronge, SK.

Terms of the Option Agreement

The previous option agreement dated March 3, 2020, has been replaced and superseded by an update option agreement (the "Option Agreement") pursuant to which, SKRR may acquire a 100% interest in the Property by making certain cash payments and share payments of common shares in the capital of SKRR to Edge and the completion of certain expenditures on the Property as follows:

Cash payable: CAD$50,000 within five (5) days of receipt of final TSX Venture Exchange ("Exchange") approval of the Option Agreement (the "Approval Date"); CAD$75,000 within one (1) year of the Approval Date; SKRR common shares: 1,633,977 common shares within thirty (30) days of the Approval Date; Net Smelter Returns Royalty ("NSR Royalty"): 2.0% NSR Royalty to Edge with SKRR's option to repurchase 1.0% NSR Royalty for CAD$1.0 million, leaving Edge with a 1% NSR Royalty; and Work Expenditures: $100,000 of expenditures on the Property on or before the 1st anniversary of the Option Agreement; $300,000 of cumulative expenditures on the Property on or before the 2nd anniversary of the Option Agreement; and $500,000 of cumulative (total) expenditures on the Property on or before the 3rd anniversary of the Option Agreement.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Exchange, the common shares issuable to Edge under the Option Agreement will be subject to resale restrictions and legended accordingly, released as to 10% four months and one day following the date of issuance and an additional 15% every six months following the date of issuance over thirty-six months.

The Option Agreement is not an "Arm's Length Transaction" as such term is defined in the Exchange's Policy 1.1 and therefore constituted a "related party transaction" as such term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Ross McElroy is a director of the Company and is also a director of Edge.

In respect of the requirements of MI 61-101 and Exchange Policy 5.9, the Company relied on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority approval required under MI 61-101. The Company was exempt from the formal valuation requirement of MI 61-101 in reliance of sections 5.5(b) as no securities of the Company are listed on the specified markets outlined therein. Additionally, the Company was exempt from minority shareholder approval of MI 61-101 in reliance of section 5.7(1)(a) (fair market value not more than 25% of the Company's market capitalization).

In accordance with the Exchange's Policy 5.3, the Option Agreement constitutes a "Reviewable Transaction", as such transaction involves a "Non-Arm's Length" party. All documentation has been accepted for filing by the Exchange.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ross McElroy P.Geol, a director of the Company and a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About SKRR Exploration Inc.:

SKRR is a Canadian-based precious metal explorer with properties in Saskatchewan - one of the world's highest ranked mining jurisdictions. The primary exploration focus is on the Trans-Hudson Corridor in Saskatchewan in search of world class precious metal deposits. The Trans-Hudson Orogen - although extremely well known in geological terms has been significantly under-explored in Saskatchewan. SKRR is committed to all stakeholders including shareholders, all its partners and the environment in which it operates.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Sherman Dahl

President & CEO

Tel: 250-558-8340

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.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which may include, without limitation, statements that address exploration work on the Ithingo Lake Project, other statements relating to the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company, its projects and other matters. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of metals, the ability to achieve its goals, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, adverse weather conditions, failure to maintain all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations, failure to maintain community acceptance (including First Nations), increase in costs, litigation, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53413
The head of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, Alexei Kudrin, said that this year Russia may face an increase in poverty, as the country's budget at a price of 72 rubles per dollar and oil prices at $ 35 per barrel will lose three trillion rubles, and the economy will not grow. The presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov named this statement an opinion of a serious economist, but called not to focus only on Kudrins point of view, but to take into account the estimates of the government and statistical agencies.

Despite a breakdown in talks in Vienna last week when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) failed to reach an agreement with non-OPEC oil producing nations, led by Russia, about production cuts, Russian officials say the country will be able to withstand low oil prices for at least a decade, Caspian News writes in the article Russia Can Withstand Low Oil Prices For Next 10 Years. On the sidelines of a meeting held with Russia's new Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Monday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the Caspian countrys oil sector will remain competitive and hold its share of the global market.

Oil prices plunged to multi-year lows after Saudi Arabia announced Saturday massive discounts in prices to its customers in Asia, the United States and Europe. Riyadhs move was a response to Moscow's refusal to tighten supply in order to counter the effects of the recent outbreak of the coronavirus known as COVID-19, which has sent oil prices tumbling. According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia is preparing to increase supply in April, from 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) to above 12 million bpd.

At the meeting on Friday between the 14-member cartel and non-member oil producers, often referred to as OPEC+, OPEC recommended an additional 1.5 million bpd of oil cuts until the end of 2020, in addition to rolling over existing cuts of 2.1 million bpd. Novak stressed that Russia had proposed extending the OPEC+ deal through the second quarter to better assess the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and the demand for oil. "OPEC partners decided to increase oil production and fight for market share," Novak said.

Meanwhile, the price of the Russian export grade Ural dropped to below $32 a barrel as oil prices tumbled by 30 percent on Monday  the steepest drop since the Gulf War in 1991. The move came after Saudi Arabia launched what has already been dubbed by the media as an oil price war with Russia.

Nevertheless, Russia's finance ministry says the country has enough resources to cover budget shortfalls for six to 10 years that could occur if oil is priced between $25-$30 a barrel. According to a press release published by the ministry on Monday, as of March 1 the National Wealth Fund has liquid funds worth $150.1 billion, or 9.2 percent of Russias gross domestic product  reportedly enough cash to compensate for low oil revenues.

Russia, considered the worlds third-largest oil producer, behind the United States and Saudi Arabia, has worked with OPEC for three years to limit global supplies due to years of sliding oil prices. Eleven non-OPEC oil-producing countries, led by Russia, have agreed to extend an agreement struck in 2016 with OPEC on reducing oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day until March 2020 as a way to stop the slide in pricing.

Since December 2019, OPEC+ has deepened production cuts by an additional 500,000 barrels per day due to expectations of weaker demand in the first quarter of 2020. But OPEC+ has been effectively cutting production by 2.1 million bpd, as Saudi Arabia has been reducing its output by more than the agreed amount. If OPEC+ was to decide to remove an extra 1.5 million bpd from the market, it would bring the group's overall output reduction to 3.6 million bpd or about 3.6 percent of global supplies.
BAKU, March 13 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan has banned wedding celebrations and other public events, the authorities said on Friday, a day after it recorded its first death from the coronavirus.

The measures, which come into force on Saturday, also include shuttering museums, cinemas and theatres.

The authorities said the country's border with Georgia would be closed for 10 days and that all large cultural and sporting events would be postponed by a month.

The former Soviet country said on Thursday that a woman who had been quarantined after returning from neighbouring Iran had died from the virus.

Schools, universities and kindergartens in the country have been closed since the beginning of March, and the authorities on Thursday extended the closure of the border with Iran for another two weeks.

Azerbaijan has so far recorded 19 cases of the virus. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Edmund Blair)
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has reacted to fake news of him contracting coronavirus, saying its because he looks ill all the time. Daniel made headlines when a fake news page declared him as the first celebrity victim of the novel coronavirus.

Talking about how he came to know about the rumour, Daniel told Smallzy in an interview, Its funny you ask me that today because I walked into the hair and makeup room on the play yesterday, and the makeup artist was like, My niece has just texted me and told me youve got corona. I was like, What?! He showed me a tweet, it was like, Daniel Radcliffe becomes first famous person to contract coronavirus. and continued, I was like, what?

Coming up with a candid reply to what must have led to the rumour, the actor said, I think its just because I look ill all the time, so you can believably say it about me cause Im very pale. The actor even joked that he was very flattered that the fake account chose him to spread the rumour.

A tweet from a fake BBC account went viral on Wednesday suggesting that Daniel had been diagnosed with Covid 19 but representatives of the star said the story is not true, reported Aceshowbiz.com. The tweet was later deleted.

Also read: Tom Hanks posts first pic post coronavirus diagnosis, says We are taking it one-day-at-a-time. See here

Meanwhile, Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson have become the first celebrity couple to test positive for the novel coronavirus. After breaking the news on Thursday, Tom shared his and Ritas first picture after being diagnosed with the virus and wrote that the couple was taking one-day-at-a-time. He wrote in the social media post, want to thank everyone here Down Under who are taking such good care of us. We have Covid-19 and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else. He added, There are those for whom it could lead to a very serious illness. We are taking it one-day-at-a-time.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
BAGHDAD, March 13 (Reuters) - Iraq's military condemned overnight U.S. air strikes on Friday and said they had killed six people and wounded 12, describing it as targeted aggression against the nation's formal armed forces and a violation of sovereignty.

The Pentagon said the strikes targeted five weapons stores used by Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups, including facilities housing arms used in past attacks on U.S.-led coalition troops. But an Iraqi military statement said no paramilitary fighters had been killed.

Three soldiers, two policemen and one civilian were killed, it said. Four soldiers, two policemen, one civilian, and five militiamen were wounded, the military said. (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Jon Boyle)
New Delhi, March 13 : The parliament on Friday passed Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Bill, 2020 with an aim to settle pending direct tax disputes in the country.

The Bill, which will provide taxpayers a lucrative opportunity to settle direct tax disputes within the current financial year by waiving interest and penalty on their pending taxes, was passed by voice vote and returned by Rajya Sabha as it was a money bill.

On March 4, the Lok Sabha had passed the Vivad se Vishwas Bill with certain amendments.

Moving the Bill, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, large number of appeals related to tax disputes are pending at the various level which are putting pressure on the tax payers.

She said, this bill has been brought up with the objective to settle the tax dispute in an efficient manner.

Initiating the discussion, Congress member M V Rajeev Gowda said that bill has been brought up in haste and it provides the opportunity of one time settlement.

He said, government is not addressing the actual cause of the tax litigation. He said, unrealistic target of tax collection is putting pressure on the tax payers in the form of tax terrorism.

Replying to the some members who had raised issues on the bill asking how can the Central Board of Direct Taxes issue a circular on the scheme before passage of the bill in Parliament, she said, "There is no breach of privilege." The Minister also said that the Bill will give an option to tax payers for settling disputes.

She also said that the government would send a circular to states in all languages for providing detailed information about the bill.

First proposed in Union Budget 2020, the Bill was approved by the Union Cabinet on February 12. The Vivad se Vishwas Bill aims to resolve 4.83 lakh direct tax cases worth Rs 9.32 lakh crore that are currently locked up in various appellate forums such as Commissioner (Appeals), Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, High Courts, Supreme Court and Debt Recovery Tribunals.

Also, once the Bill is passed by the Parliament, it can be availed in search and seizure operations with recoveries up to Rs 5 crore.
Photo credit: John Fleenor - Getty Images

From Cosmopolitan

Because shes been there and done that, literally, former Bachelor contestant/tear fountain Ashley Iaconetti is recapping this season of The Bachelor for Cosmopolitan. With insider insight as well as a clear eye for whats going down both in front of and behind the cameras, read on for her thoughts.

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE TWO-NIGHT FINALE OF THE BACHELOR

Heres my interpretation of everything that went down over the past two nights. Heads up, Im serving up the sass...

Photo credit: John Fleenor

Madison expressed to Peter she was feeling very burdened by his sleeping with Hannah Ann and Victoria F. However, before finding out about his fantasy suite rendezvous, Madison was envisioning engagement with him and feeling love. Peter explains that he had sex with the others because Madi had yet to say, I love you. GROSS. This conversation apparently lasted so long that it irritated Peters mom, Barb, to her core and attributed to her disgust of Madi. Bachelor production is all about hurry up and wait, Barb!! Thats not on Madi! It might have even been an intentional production move to annoy you. Either way, to hold this wait time against Madi is preposterous! Side note: How weird is it that Barb kept saying meet Madi. Lady, you already spent time with Madi at your vow renewals.

Photo credit: ABC

The family visit didnt go very well for Madi

Because, uh, Madi has values she stands up for. Peters family is concerned Madi wont want to go to the club (?!) and that Peter is going to have a hard time keeping the snake in the cage during their engagement. Madi expresses worries about their compatibility and refuses to accept some of Peters decision-making, so shes not ready to get engaged in four days. Barb is outraged by this and says that Madison said she didnt love her son. K, Barb. Im sure it went more like, Have you told Peter that you love him? No, I havent yet because were in a tricky place. You know I dont stand for emotion shaming, but I also dont stand for Barbs manipulating hysterics. She claims that Hannah Ann is an angel from heaven, a gem, that she asked God to send here for her son. God put Hannah Ann on his path. She ironically says this moments after telling Madison that she and Peter are spiritual, not religious, and that this will be a conflict in their relationship.

Story continues

Photo credit: John Fleenor - Getty Images

The family was obsessed with Hannah Ann.

It was truly mind-boggling to see Barb and the Weber family so adamant in believing that Hannah Ann was perfect and undoubtably a better match for Peter after a measly few hours with the girl. Peter proposing to Hannah Ann after making it very clear that he would do anything to be with Madison is even more mind-boggling. In what seems like the day after the family visit, Madi tells Peter that shes gotten clarity. Theyre too incompatible and she needs to leave. She believes love conquers all and she believes shes a great fighter. But Madi also believes that a good warrior knows when to surrender. She needs to give up this fight because she wants Peter to end up with what he came on this journey forlove.

Unfortunately, Peter didnt really love Hannah Ann.

I know he says he does/did. In my opinion, if he loved her, he wouldnt have done the things he did. I couldnt believe my eyes when I saw Peter on the phone with Hannah Anns dad asking for permission to take his daughters hand in marriage. Two days earlier he was saying he wanted to be with Madison. He was fighting his family to see Madison the way he saw her. He was telling Chris Harrison that he wasnt sure that he could continue the journey. I was flabbergasted that within 48 hours of those conversations, Peter felt like he was ready to commit to forever with Hannah Ann. I can only assume that Peter was putting more trust in his familys decision-making skills than his own. He HAD to have known how horrible it was going to look on TV. This couldnt be in an effort to save his image. Did he really think he was behaving like a man truly torn between two women? Hannah Ann was obviously his choice by default.

Photo credit: John Fleenor - Getty Images

I feel like Hannah Ann sensed this was the case for weeks.

She made it clear she felt like number two the night before their engagement. I didnt think that Peter needed to tell Hannah Ann that Madi decided to leave on their date because I figured he was just using that day to determine how he felt about her, but he certainly should have told her before proposing! He told her during the proposal speech that Madi left a couple of days ago. Could you imagine another womans name being dropped in this moment? While he didnt blatantly say it, he mentioned Madis departure to explain why he was choosing Hannah Ann.

Hannah Ann was probably in too high of a state during the proposal to pick up on this or to question who initiated Madisons leaving. But she certainly did at some point. The show didnt make it clear, but I assumed that the friction and inevitable breakup during their L.A. visit was because Hannah Ann found out that Madi left on her own. Hannah Ann knows for sure now that she was his second place and knows shes not getting the love she deserves from Peter. Should we even bring up the fact that Peter allegedly reached out to Hannah Brown post-engagement for closure. My-Oh-My. This is without exaggeration, the most dramatic season ever. This dude is not in a place in his life to propose.

WHY, OH WHY, DID HE PROPOSE?!

He was probably faced with so much pressure from production because they knew how juicy it would be if he fucked up that massively. (And that it was.) BUT! Like Ive always said, they cant force you to do anything! Look, Colton jumped a fence and ran away from them and ended up getting to pursue the ending his way. Peter could have just asked Hannah Ann to date, but instead he recklessly proposed. He took that sacred moment that a person hopes to only experience once in their life away from her. I felt more connected than ever to Hannah Ann when she defended herself amidst their breakup scene. Some of the girl power lines she threw poor and conflicted Peters way included: I dont need anything more from you. Youve done enough damage. * Hands back engagement ring * I mean that. AND You betrayed me and you know it. I need to get my life back on track the way it was before you came into it.

About Barbs reactions

We got to watch Barbs reaction to all this in a small square and it seems like shes Team Hannah Ann over Team Peter, which is awesomely feminist but also kind of weird for a mother to not show more sympathy for her sonespecially when he may have made this initial decision based on her influenceeven though I dont think thats a good look either.



Chris Harrison goes to Alabama to tell Madison that Peter broke up with Hannah Ann because he still had lingering feelings for her. This is like the Arie and Jason Mesnick situation gone wrong. Why is Harrison pursuing Madison on Peters behalf? This further makes Peter look like a boy and not a man. Maybe he respected and partially agreed that he and Madi are incompatible. Maybe he wasnt breaking up with Hannah Ann FOR Madi but because he knows he needs to find a love LIKE Madis. Between Madi and Peters L.A. visit and their time together onstage last night, I dont feel theyre together or ever going to be together. When Chris Harrison asked about their status, Peter stumbled about the uphill battle they face and that theyll take it day-to-day. The words date, relationship, and girlfriend were not used. You could tell Madi was pissed by this answer. Their body language was also totally off and it took a while for Peter to defend Madison against the terror that was his mom.

Barbs eye rolling and relentless criticism of Madi was ridiculous.

And the moment when she whispered to her husband in Spanish, Say something bad too. Help me was disgusting. (As if no one who watched The Bachelor can speak Spanish.) I had the biggest problem when Barb said that in a relationship, people need to compromise and Madison wasnt willing to compromise. Um, no, Madi wasnt willing to compromise her values and gave your son a CHOICE to respect her feelings or not. I was so proud of Madison for standing up to her and saying that a relationship is two people choosing each other. Just because her son was the Bachelor doesnt mean hes the only one choosing in this process. The expression is, Will you accept this rose? for a reason. Barb seemed to use the word compromise as a nice way to say honor. It seemed to me she wanted a woman who was going to give and sacrifice all, including her values in this case, for her son. Gross.

In conclusion

Harrison looked to be trying to give Barb a last shot at repairing her image when he asked her about Peter and Madi giving their relationship a shot. She said, Hes going to have to fail to succeed. His family and friends know it wont last.At that moment, I decided I didnt have to sugarcoat anything about Barbs behavior throughout the finale in my recaps. I also decided I dont think its a good idea for Madi to continue any sort of relationship with the Weber family, Peter included.

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HEALTHCARE

SARATOGA HOSPITAL

Clinical audiologist Sean Fuster has joined Saratoga Hospital Medical Group  Ear, Nose & Throat. He comes to Saratoga Hospital from Oviatt Hearing and Balance, a private practice in Syracuse.

Fuster earned a doctorate in audiology from Salus University in Pennsylvania and completed residencies at Dent Neurologic Institute and Hearing Evaluation Services, both in Amherst. He holds a Certificate of Clinical Competency in Audiology from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association.

NONPROFITS

FAMILY AND CHILD SERVICE

Carmel Patrick has joined the staff of Family and Child Service of Schenectady, Inc. as fund development coordinator. Previously the vice president of Development at miSci, Patrick is a nonprofit management professional with more than 30 years of experience in higher education, fundraising, grant writing, community development and marketing.

PROFESSIONS

CREIGHTON MANNING ENGINEERING

Creighton Manning Engineering announced the addition of Dale "Skip" Francis as project manager in its Civil Site Group in the Albany office.

Francis has more than 29 years of experience working for both engineering design firms and heavy construction contractors. He is a licensed professional engineer in New York and Indiana.

PIERRO, CONNOR AND STRAUSS, LLC

Frank Hemming was promoted from associate to senior associate attorney. He concentrates his practice on helping clients qualify for Community and Chronic Care Medicaid throughout New York state, as well as estate, long-term care and special needs planning.

Theresa Skaine joined as of counsel with 26 years of experience in corporate law, business planning, merger/acquisition transactions, contract negotiation, leasing, property purchases, financing and not-for-profit corporate regulatory compliance.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Michele Woods joined as firm administrator with 20 years of law firm management experience. Her responsibilities include personnel and human resource management, oversight of technology and marketing, financial management, project management and client service.

ROWLANDS, LEBROU & GRIESMER, PLLC

Four Capital Region attorneys have announced they are joining the law firm Rowlands & LeBrou, which is expanding its practice and changing its name. The firm is now known as Rowlands, LeBrou & Griesmer, PLLC.

Joining are: Michael J. Catalfimo, formerly the managing director and chief operating officer of the Albany law firm Carter Conboy, which closed in December. Catalfimo has more than 30 years of experience in handling complex litigation for Fortune 500 companies and transactional and litigation matters for small businesses, families and individuals.

Retired New York state Judge Thomas E. Mercure, the longest-serving judge on the Appellate Division in the 28 counties of New York's Third Department, which encompasses an area from the Canadian Border south to the Catskills and west to the Finger Lakes. Mercure, who stepped down from the bench in 2014, served as a state Supreme Court Justice for more than 30 years and was the senior associate justice on the Appellate Division.

Kyran D. Nigro, who has practiced law in the Capital Region for more than 25 years with a focus on criminal defense, personal injury, medical malpractice, business and estate litigation, as well as real estate transactions. Nigro has also served as a public defender in Saratoga County and as a children's attorney in Saratoga County Family Court.

Sarah J. Green, formerly of Carter Conboy, who specializes in enforcing creditors' rights and represents banks, credit unions, loan servicers, and other creditors; handles residential and commercial real estate transactions and represents individuals and families in family and matrimonial law matters. Before joining Carter Conboy, Green operated her own law firm for nearly 10 years in Saratoga Springs.
SEATTLE (AP)  Amid all the fears, quarantines and stockpiling of food, it has been easy to ignore the fact that more than 60,000 people have recovered from the coronavirus spreading around the globe.

The disease can cause varying degrees of illness and is especially troublesome for older adults and people with existing health problems, who are at risk of severe effects, including pneumonia. But for most of those affected, coronavirus creates only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, with the vast majority recovering from the virus.

According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe ailments may take three to six weeks to rebound. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed, but more than 60,000 already have recovered.

Because the difference in impact can be so great, global health authorities have the difficult task of alerting the public to the virus' dangers without creating panic.

Already, the widespread consequences of the virus have been staggering, sending shock waves through the world's financial markets. Global oil prices sustained their worst percentage losses since the the Gulf War in 1991, and new restrictions were imposed in Italy and in Israel as the Holy Week approached.

But even some of the most vulnerable patients can fight their way through the disease.

Charlie Campbells father, 89-year-old Eugene Campbell, has been diagnosed with the coronavirus and is hospitalized in Edmonds, Washington. Charlie Campbell said his father's doctor is cautiously optimistic, adding, Under normal circumstances, he would discharge my dad, but these arent normal circumstances.

Eugene Campbell came to the hospital from Life Care Center, a nursing home in Kirkland that has been linked to a large share of the states coronavirus deaths.

We went and saw him yesterday and he looked pretty good, Campbell said, noting that his father is breathing normally and his vital signs and heart rate are good. He may be the oldest person to recover from coronavirus.

Story continues

In China, Tan Shiyun, a postgraduate student at a university in Wuhan, had traveled to her family home in Yichang over 180 miles away when she began to experience minor symptoms from the virus.

She went to the hospital, where she was given common cold medicine and sent home. It was only after her symptoms persisted and she visited the hospital a second time for an outpatient CT scan and received a call asking her to come back did she understand her symptoms came from something other than the common flu.

After many days and a number of tests, doctors eventually told her that the infection had spread to both of her lungs.

After that, I felt a heavy head while walking, unable to breathe, and nauseous, Tan said in a video blog post. But after over two weeks in the hospital, a CT scan showed her infection was disappearing and she was discharged.

For some whove been quarantined, anxiety and dread that they will become stigmatized by friends, neighbors and co-workers have equaled their concerns about their physical health. A few patients with the virus who were interviewed by The Associated Press  all of them passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that ended up quarantined off Japan  described symptoms that were no stronger than a regular cold or flu.

For some whove been quarantined, anxiety and dread that they will become stigmatized by friends, neighbors and co-workers have made them reluctant to acknowledge even the most modest health impact. A few patients with the virus who were interviewed by The Associated Press  all of them passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that ended up quarantined off Japan  described symptoms that were no stronger than a regular cold or flu.

Its been a 2 on a scale of 10, said Carl Goldman, hospitalized in Omaha, Nebraska, since Feb. 17, after developing a 103-degree fever on a chartered flight from Japan to the U.S.

Goldman is staying hydrated with Gatorade. He said he continued coughing more than two weeks after he first got sick, but would probably only have missed one day of work if he had been diagnosed with the cold or flu. He stays active by pacing in his room, trying to match his pre-sickness routine of 10,000 daily steps on the pedometer.

I totally get this is where I need to be and I need to be cleared of this before Im released, he said.

American Greg Yerex, who was diagnosed along with his wife, Rose Yerex, on the Diamond Princess, said he had no symptoms and felt as healthy as he did on any other normal day.

If I was home, I would be out doing everything I normally do, he said in an interview conducted via Facebook calls when the couple were still hospitalized in Nagoya, Japan. Rose Yerex tested negative when she got to the hospital.

For Greg Yerex, it was the couple's mental health that faced the biggest threat as they they spent days in quarantine, isolated from friends and family and deprived of any direct human contact.

Its like being a prisoner," he said. You pace, you worry, you fret, you imagine all sorts of things. You have no control.

Greg Yerex said that he and his wife, who have since been released from the hospital, plan to go to counseling to work through the mental stress they experienced.

Fellow cruise passenger Rebecca Frasure knows how they feel.

I dont get to speak with anyone," she said in a Facebook call while still hospitalized in Nagoya. "I have a little window in my room, but cannot leave. The only contact I have is through Facebook messenger. I would never wish this on anyone.

Frasure said one of the things she found most frustrating was waiting for her test results to come back. Patients who have been diagnosed with the virus must have two consecutive negative tests before they can be released.

Frasure is now out of the hospital, but is worried about being stigmatized by her home community.

Are they going to be afraid?" she wondered. Are they going to criticize me for being home, thinking I brought virus back with me?"

___

This story corrects that the Gulf War was in 1991, not 1999.

___

Milko reported from Jakarta, Indonesia. Associated Press video producer Olivia Zhang in Beijing contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.






Ford announced Friday morning that its global workforce is being instructed to operate remotely wherever and whenever possible in order to slow the spread of coronavirus. Separately, the company communicated to media outlets that the events planned to introduce the 2021 Bronco 4x4 have been called off.

These series of dealer- and media-facing events scheduled for next week were intended to pave the way for the Bronco's formal unveiling. The cancellations will not have any impact on the Bronco's production schedule or on-sale date, Ford says.

"Our proactive precautions have not impacted the scheduled launch of new Ford vehicles at this time, including the all-new Ford Bronco and all-new F-150  although we have re-timed some media programs," a Ford spokesperson told Autoblog. "We will continue to take the necessary actions to help reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus while maximizing the health of our business."

Separately, the company made a formal announcement that it has instituted remote work policies across its global operations, effective Monday. The full statement follows:

Fords top priority is always the safety and well-being of our employees, dealers, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. Thankfully, the effect of the coronavirus on Ford employees so far has been very limited. In recent days, though, we concluded the issue has taken on a different dimension  and are continuing to act in real time to keep our people safe and help limit the spread of the virus in communities where we live and work. Therefore, starting Monday, we are instructing much of our global workforce  except those in business-critical roles that cannot be done away from Ford facilities  to work remotely until further notice. The action will additionally help reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus while maximizing the health of our business.

To make matters worse for Ford's 4x4 fans, the New York Auto Show, which was to play host to the unveiling of the Ford Bronco Sport, was postponed Tuesday. That show will now take place in August. It's unclear whether automakers will go forward with electronic introductions in April (as many did for the cancelled Geneva show), or if some of the introductions intended to take place will actually be held over until the show's new time slot.

On the bright side, there have been enough leaks of the 2021 Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport that it almost feels like Ford has pulled the sheet off of both of them already. Those morsels will have to be enough to tide us over until Ford can come up with an alternative approach.
Chandigarh, March 13 : All schools, private and government, where exams are not being held will be closed in Punjab till March 31 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, state Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said on Friday.

Following the virus outbreak in the state, Singla asked the public to exercise caution to contain the spread of the disease.

One confirmed case has been reported from Punjab so far.
The Bayonne schools were the first of several Hudson County districts to announce school closures on Thursday, citing concerns of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Bayonne Superintendent John Niesz said schools will close Friday and will likely remain closed through March 30. Several other districts followed suit on Thursday and announced closures for next week.

Jersey City: The states second-largest school district will be closed Monday through at least the end of the week, Superintendent Franklin Walker said.

Walker said the district will reassess the closure next week and determine if and when the schools can reopen. The districts 30,000 students will be given classroom learning packets for home instruction, and access to online materials.

Hoboken: The Hoboken Public School District and the Hoboken Charter Schools (Elysian, HoLa, and Hoboken Charter) will close starting Monday for a period of two weeks.

City spokesman Vijay Chaudhuri said each school has made preparations for remote learning programs and will communicate those plans directly to parents.

The Hoboken Public School District, meanwhile, will provide breakfast and lunch service to all students who qualify for free and reduced lunch in any of public or charter schools. Meal service will be available for pick up from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. from the Ninth Street side door (between Clinton and Grand streets) of the Hoboken High School cafeteria.

North Bergen: Superintendent George Solter announced on the districts website that schools would be closed Friday through at least the end of next week.

Teachers will finalize home instruction lesson plans Friday and on Monday home instruction for all students will begin.

Teachers will be available via Google Classroom, Class Dojo and other apps used in the classroom or via email, Solter said.

All students who receive free or reduced lunch will be able to pick up a bagged lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day at North Bergen High School, Lincoln Annex, Franklin school and Kennedy School.

For students who dont have access to the internet, a home instruction packet will be available to be picked up at a lunch distribution center, the superintendent said.

Guttenberg: Mayor Wayne Zitt told Hudson County View that Ana L. Klein Elementary School, the towns lone school, will be closed Friday through at least March 20.

East Newark: The East Newark School is remaining open for now, with safety measures in place starting Monday.

In a letter to parents, Superintendent Richard Corbett said all students and staff will undergo a temperature scan upon arrival and individual who has a temperature of 99 degrees Fahrenheit or higher will be evaluated by the school nurse.

In addition to handwashing with warm soap and water after using the bathroom, all students will wash their hands upon arrival at school and after lunch, Corbett said.
School districts all around the Bay Area, including San Franciscos 113 public schools, were closed in March  an unprecedented move that officials said is critical for slowing the spread of the deadly new coronavirus. That was followed by schools throughout the state.

On March 31, state officials told counties that California schools will be unable to reopen this school year given current safety concerns and ongoing social distancing. On April 1, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said that the state is going forward with distance learning for the remainder of the school year.

The buildings are closed, but school is still in session, he said during a press briefing conducted via Zoom.

On April 7, officials in most Bay Area counties confirmed their school districts would not reopen for in-person education for the rest of the school year.

Officials were initially hesitant to close the schools down because they are an essential service, which some families rely on for food and child care.

Here are some answers to basic questions about the closure and how schools are still trying to support their communities during this time.

Follow live updates on coronavirus news here, and see how many cases there are in the Bay Area and California in our exclusive tracker. To get regular updates on our coverage to your email, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter here.

Q: When do the school closures end?

A: California schools will not likely reopen until the new school year, which starts in August or September, depending on the district and school.

School officials in six Bay Area counties announced April 7 that schools will remain shuttered through the rest of the academic year. The announcement means nearly 1 million kids in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Marin, San Mateo and San Francisco counties will not return to classrooms before the fall.

Q: Will schools go back to normal when they reopen?

A: Probably not. Given that that it will take a year at least to develop a vaccine, schools will likely reopen with changes in schedules or other policies to allow for social distancing, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during an April 14 press conference while outlining six criteria that will dictate how and when state residents can return to some semblance of normal life.That could include staggered school schedules, changes to meal distribution and alternative types of physical education.

Q: What happens with graduations?

A: That decision will be made on the district level. Some are planning to host social distance ceremonies and some will wait until the shelter-in-place order is lifted.

Q: How will schools continue to teach my child while theyre off school?

A: The state Board of Education is pursuing a distance-learning curriculum in all public school districts. Many school officials said they are still figuring out how families can support students to keep learning during the school closures. Several districts are working on online learning tools.

SFUSD created a Google Classroom  a free web service for schools  for all district students. It can be accessed at classroom.google.com. Students need a code to access their individual class materials, which will likely be updated in the coming days. SFUSD expects distance learning to begin April 13.

Q: How do children without access to necessary technology learn remotely?

A: Google has said it will provide thousands of computers and free internet access to help California students finish the school year online, Gov. Gavin Newsom said April 1.

The company plans to donate 4,000 Chromebooks and make broadband internet available to 100,000 households through the end of the school year.

About a fifth of Californias 6.2 million K-12 students lacked digital connectivity at home when school closures began, Linda Darling-Hammond, president of the state Board of Education, said at the news conference. A mix of state and local efforts has since cut that number by more than half, she said.

Q: What can parents expect in terms of grading?

A: Its up to each district to develop a grading policy during closure, which can include letter grades, credit/no credit or pass/fail. The UC and CSU systems have said they will accept any of those options. San Francisco Unified is considering giving all high school and middle school students automatic As while Los Angeles schools will use letter grades, but eliminated the use of F, or a failing grade.

Q: Will standardized tests be canceled?

A: Yes. the state has suspended all testing for the school year.

Q: Will AP exams be held?

A: AP exams will be offered in a modified format. More information is on the SFUSD web site.

Q: If high schools adopt pass/fail grading for this semester, how does that affect prospective college students?

A: The University of California will temporarily suspend college entrance test scores and minimum grade requirements for prospective students due to the coronavirus outbreak, school officials announced April 1. These temporary suspensions, which may be extended to future years as applicable, were prompted by cancellations of standardized and college entrance exams and numerous high schools adopting pass/fail or credit/no credit grading instead of letter grades for the courses needed to qualify for admission.

Standardized exam requirements were suspended for students applying for the fall 2021 semester while the letter grade requirements were suspended for classes completed in 2020. Officials said they wont rescind any offers due to students or schools missing official final transcript deadlines.

By removing artificial barriers and decreasing stressors  including suspending the use of the SAT  for this unprecedented moment in time, we hope there will be less worry for our future students, said John A. Perez, chair of the Board of Regents.

Q: Are there day care options for my child if I cant stay home with him/her?

A: In San Francisco, the Recreation and Park Department is operating indoor recreation facilities for children of parents on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak and low-income families. Rec and Park suspended regular indoor programming.

The emergency child care centers operate Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. More information on emergency child care centers, can be found at www.dcyf.org/care.

San Francisco Recreation and Parks facilities allow children from kindergarten through eighth grade.

Public health officials recommend that families who need child care during the closure should avoid leaving children with older relatives or those who are vulnerable to the disease. Officials also recommended that children stay home as much as possible, and avoid play dates and hanging out with other kids.

Q: Are after-school activities canceled?

A: Most San Francisco school building activities for students  which include extracurricular activities, before-school and after-school services, and health services  have been canceled. Some sites are open for meal distribution and limited childcare services for essential onsite employees who cannot work remotely.

Q: Are school districts still providing meals to families who need them?

A: Yes. Meals will continue to be provided.

Alameda Unified: School sites provide several meals at a time two days per week. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, food is served at three sites from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The list of sites can be found at https://bit.ly/ausdschoolmeals. Remote learning opportunities begin April 6.

Berkeley Unified: Free breakfast and lunch for those 18 and younger. Details can be found at www.berkeleyschools.net.

Dublin Unified: The district will serve a combo breakfast/lunch once per day. Details can be found at www.dublin.k12.ca.us.

Hayward Unified: Students will receive breakfast and lunch for the day at the same time between 11 a.m.-noon, Monday through Friday. More information is at www.husd.us.

Newark Unified School District: The district will provide to-go meals from 11 a.m. to noon Mondays and Wednesdays beginning April 6. Meals will be provided at two locations: 6201 Lafayette Ave. and 37370 Birch St. Each site will be walk-up or drive-through, and open to all students.

Oakland Unified School District: Distribution sites are open on Mondays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Multiple days worth of food can be picked up to take home. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said April 1 the sites would remain open through the end of the regular school year. A list of sites can be found at www.ousd.org.

Pittsburg Unified School District: There will be free meals for pickup on a grab n go breakfast and lunch on Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. A list of sites can be found here.

San Francisco Unified School District: The school district will distribute free grab and go meals two days per week at different schools. Each bag includes meals for multiple days: breakfast, lunch, supper, fresh fruit, vegetables, milk, and any necessary preparation guides. A list of the sites and distribution times can be found at www.sfusd.edu. The district will provide five days worth of food. On April 24, the district announced that it has partnered with five community organizations to add new sites where San Franciscos kids can get free meals while schools are closed: Chinatown YMCA, Ella Hill Hutch Community Center, St. Paul of the Shipwreck, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation and The Village.

Children and families who receive free or reduced price meals in school will start receiving cards for up to $365 in pandemic benefits, San Francisco city officials said on May 13. The cards are part of an initiative announced previously by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Families with children who are eligible for CalFresh, Medi-Cal or foster care benefits dont have to apply to receive the cards. Families with children who dont receive public benefit assistance must complete an online application that will become available May 22.

San Leandro Unified School District: Meals are provided Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11a.m.-noon at the following locations: San Leandro High School, John Muir Middle School and James Monroe Elementary School.

San Mateo-Foster City School District: Free meals are provided from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at four school sites through April 3. After April 3, times change to 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Location information can be found at www.smfcsd.net.

If your district was not listed, please check with your individual district for more information on timing and locations for meal distribution.

Chronicle staff writers Jill Tucker and Alejandro Serrano contributed to this report.

Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani
Irans armed forces will clear all cities within 24 hours to contain the spread of coronavirus that has killed more than 500 people, the official IRNA news agency has reported.

The extraordinary measure was announced by Irans military chief of staff Major General Mohammad Baqeri, who said: Clearing shops, streets and roads will be carried out in the next 24 hours as a national decision.

He added that this would be carried out in coordination with the Interior Ministry and provincial governor general.

The Basij  the paramilitary branch of the feared Islamic Revolution Guards Cops (IRGC)  medical students, conscripts with medical expertise and retired health workers, meanwhile, will be drafted in to the efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak, which has so far killed 514 people and infected nearly 12,000 more.

General Baqeri said that a scheme to spot people suspected of carrying the virus will be carried out in 10 days.

Iran is one of the countries worst hit by the deadly virus which has infected nearly 130,000 people worldwide and caused more than 4,800 deaths.

The majority are in China, Italy and Iran where state TV said the official death toll on Friday had now surged to 514 amid 11,364 confirmed cases.

The outbreak in Iran is so severe that satellite imagery taken on 1 March by the private space technology company Maxar Technologies showed what looked like mass graves being dug in trenches outside Qom, Irans religious capital and epicentre of the Iranian outbreak.

Anger has also mounted over the governments handling of the crisis.

MP Bahram Parsai on Friday called for an investigation into the Civil Aviation Organisations decision to refuse to stop flights from China even after Covid-19 began spreading across the country.

He also called for a probe into the actions of Mahan Air, affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, saying it lied about transporting only medical equipment, and not passengers, to Iran.

They caused massive, irreparable physical and financial damage to the country. The national aviation organisation, which refused to stop flights to and from China, along with Mahan Air are definitely the primary suspects, Khabar Online quoted MP Bahram Parsai as saying.

Our country, like many other countries, was free from these infections, he added.

Iran implemented new measures on Friday shutting down the major Shia religious site of Shah Cheragh, a mosque and funerary monument in the southern city of Shiraz as well as the metro in the central city of Isfahan and a traditional bazaar in the western city of Zanjan.

Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK The usually busy Royal Mile in Edinburgh is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 13 March Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Ho bart's Amusement Arcade in Westward Ho!, Devon is offering toilet roll and soap as prizes in grabber machines Rob Braddick/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK An empty platform at Farringdon Station in London the morning after the Prime Minister said that Covid-19 "is the worst public health crisis for a generation" PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Shopkeepers Asiyah Javed and husband Jawad from Day Today Express, in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk are giving away facemasks, antibacterial hand wash and cleaning wipes to the elderly in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A usually busy street in Cambridge is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 2 March James Linsell-Clark/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitiser dispenser is seen inside the stadium during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on 8 March Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Maaya Indian Kitchen in Milton Keynes is offerig customers a free roll of toilet paper with every takeaway order SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Oliver Cooper[L], was sent home from school for selling spurts of handsanitiser to fellow pupils at 50p a time. He poses with mum Jenny Tompkins by their home in Leeds Ashley Pemberton/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in London on 12 March EPA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A member of the public is swabbed at a drive through Coronavirus testing site set up in a car park in Wolverhampton Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A passenger wears a protective face mask as she travels on a bus in the City of London AFP/Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A Southampton fan wears a face mask before the match against Newcastle United on 7 March Reuters Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A loudspeaker placed in grounds of St Mary's Catholic Church in Broughattin, Dundalk, County Louth ahead of funeral mass later this morning. The loudspeaker has been placed in the grounds after the Catholic Archdiocese said that funerals and weddings should not exceed 100 attendees within the church building PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitising station set up outside Cheltenham Racecourse during day four of the Cheltenham Festival on 13 March PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK People wearing protective face masks walk across London Bridge on 11 March AFP/Getty

It came as several Middle Eastern countries ratcheted up their responses to the pandemic.

In Israel, an embattled Benjamin Netanyahu urged his chief political rival Benny Gantz to join forces and form an emergency government to curb the coronavirus outbreak there and save the lives of tens of thousands.

Israel has adopted some of the most stringent measures to contain Covid-19, effectively sealing off its borders and, together with the Palestinian authorities, locking down the West Bank and Gaza.

So far 126 people have tested positive while more than 20,000 people are in self-quarantine. A further 35 have been diagnosed in the West Bank.

Likening the coronavirus to the Spanish Flu in 1918 which killed as many as 50 million people worldwide, Mr Netanyahu called for an emergency national unity government, without hesitations for a limited time adding together we will save tens of thousands of citizens.

Mr Gantz, the countrys former army chief and head of the centrist alliance Blue and White party, spoke to Mr Netanyahu Thursday night and urged their two parties negotiating teams meet as quickly as possible. So far, though, no agreement has been made.

Israel has limped through the past year with a caretaker government following three inconclusive elections after which no side has been able to form a big enough coalition to sweep the 61 seats of the 120-seat Knesset needed to rule.

The last vote on 2 March also showed no obvious winner.

At the heart of the deadlock is the reluctance of several parties including Blue and White to join forces with Mr Netanyahus Likud while he is the party chief and premier.

Mr Netanyahu is due to be in court in the coming days to stand trial across three corruption cases.

Without a proper government, the country has been able to form a proper budget or push through specific legislation.

Many fear this could hurt Israels ability to stop the virus and so sides have been pushed to hammer out a compromise.

In a bid to stem the virus, Israel barred foreigners from entering the country unless they can prove they can self-isolate for two weeks, effectively shutting off the country.

All Israelis are required to go into self-isolation when they return home from any destination.

Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders in Jerusalem meanwhile said services would continue to be held in the Holy Land but moved to limit indoor gatherings after the Israeli Health Ministry said they should not exceed 100 people.

At the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest site where Jews can pray, authorities are set to limit entrance to an enclosed area and set up tents that accommodate up to 100 people.

The Waqf authorities, which manage the Islamic edifices on Haram ash-Sharif or Temple Mount meanwhile, disinfected the Al-Aqsa compound.

On Wednesday Lebanon also ratcheted up efforts by officially banning all entry and exit to and from Italy, Iran, South Korea and China, and is giving Lebanese nationals and their families four days to return from France, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Germany, Spain and the UK. After this, all entry to and exit from those countries will also be banned.

However, on the same day the ban was issued, a flight from Iran was able to land at Beiruts Rafik Hariri International Airport, drawing the fury of many Lebanese on social media.
BAGHDAD  Iraqs military said five security force members and a civilian were killed early Friday in a barrage of U.S. airstrikes launched hours after a rocket attack killed and wounded American and British servicemen at a base north of Baghdad.

An Iran-backed Shiite militia group vowed to exact revenge for the U.S. strikes, potentially signalling another cycle of tit-for-tat violence between Washington and Tehran that could play out inside Iraq.

U.S. officials said the airstrikes intended targets were mainly weapons facilities belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, the militia group believed to be responsible for Wednesdays attack on Camp Taji base.

However, Iraqs military said the strikes killed three Iraqi army commandos and two federal police officers. A Shiite endowment in the holy city of Karbala said the strikes resulted in the death of one civilian in an airport complex being constructed by the endowment.

A gaping crater was left in the wake of the U.S. airstrike outside Karbalas defunct airport. Iraqi forces inspected an area covered in shards of glass and debris.

Kataib Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the airstrikes. But Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iran-backed militia group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., vowed to retaliate with an eye for an eye in a statement Friday.

The Iraqi military statement also said the U.S. strikes wounded five militia members belonging to the Popular Mobilization Units, an umbrella group that comprises an array of Iraqi militia groups, some of them Iran-backed.

Wednesdays attack on Camp Taji was the deadliest to target U.S. troops in Iraq since a late December rocket attack on an Iraqi base that killed a U.S. contractor and set in motion a series of tit-for-tat attacks that brought Iraq to the brink of war.

American airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah led to protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad then killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top commander responsible for expeditionary operations across the wider Mideast. Iran struck back with a ballistic missile attack on U.S. forces in Iraq, the Islamic Republics most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

The U.S. and Iran stepped stepped back from further attacks after the Soleimani incident. A senior U.S. official said in late January, when U.S.-Iran tensions had cooled, that the killing of Americans constituted a red line that could spark more violence.

Iraqs military and senior officials condemned Fridays airstrikes, saying they were in breach of the countrys sovereignty, potentially reversing an ease in U.S.-Iraq diplomatic tensions that reached fever pitch following the assassination of Soleimani on Iraqi soil.

The pretext that this attack came as a response to the aggressive action targeting Taji Camp is a false one, and leads to escalation without providing any solutions to control the situation, the statement said.

Iraqs caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has already ordered an investigation into the rocket attack on Camp Taji, calling it a very serious security challenge and hostile act.

Iraqs presidency said the continual violations of sovereignty constituted a serious weakening of the states capabilities during a time when the country is facing unprecedented challenges politically, economically and by the coronavirus pandemic.

The statement called on the international community to support Iraq in respecting its sovereignty.

Senior political leaders Ammar al-Hakim of the Hikma Movement and Muqtada al-Sadr, head of the Saeroon bloc, warned against turning Iraq into an arena for conflict and called for restraint.

In Baghdads Tahrir Square, the hub of a six-month protest movement, crowds gathered to reject the U.S. strike.

We condemn the attacks on the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) facilities in Iraq, said Ali Muften, a protester. America and Iran threaten each other but ultimately Iraqis are the victims.
A former macro fund manager said on Thursday that the economic impact of the coronavirus  which is shaving trillions off the stock market and exerting a domino effect on the world economy  might be even worse than the 2008 financial crisis.

Raoul Pal, a Goldman Sachs alum, previously co-managed GLG's global macro fund, one of the largest in the world. Since retiring back in 2004, he now authors a research letter, The Global Macro Investor, which is read by some of the most influential hedge fund managers.

Pal told Yahoo Finance that the rapid spread of COVID-19  which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic amid soaring new infections and death  is something that everybody is grappling to understand. Currently, total confirmed cases around the world climbed past 127,800, while deaths passed 4,700.

"The question is, how big of an event is this? Because if it's as the president suggests, you know, 'It's going to bounce back and everything is fine, then investors should just continue to hold the line, Pal told On the Move on Thursday.

However, if the reality is something different, which I think this is, which I believe this is actually possibly the biggest economic event of our all of lifetimes, he warned. Then there [are] chances that the market falls further over time," said Pal, who also the co-founder of Real Vision Television, an online subscription financial-news service.

He added that in that latter scenario, there would obviously be periods where the market bounces  but with an unprecedented demand and supply shock, he urges people to "be cautious."

"If you're young, having cheap prices over time means you can average in overtime to your investments, and that's a good thing. It's less good for people who are closer to retirement age," he added.

Join the dots

The global toll is closing in on 130,000, with deaths near 5,000.

In his current pursuits, Pal extrapolates probabilities. Right now, there isn't much in the way of economic data that is fully capturing the outbreaks effects, so investors have to "join the dots," he explained.

He added that the most recent purchasing manager index (PMI) data out of China  the second-largest economy and world's largest exporter  "was probably the weakest piece of economic data" he's ever seen in history.

Story continues

That may be a taste of what's to come elsewhere, Pal cautioned.

"Now, people initially extrapolated that it was just a China problem. And South Korea then struggled, Singapore, and a few other countries, but they did a great job, he said.

What happened was the spread into Italy, and now across Europe and into the U.S., that's something worse, he added.

Italy is currently under a strict lockdown nationwide with restaurants and retail shops, except for pharmacies and grocery stores, closed as the country aims to minimize social interactions and contain the spread of the virus. Pal thinks the country is in for a period of zero economic output where consumers cant spend, work or otherwise be productive.

Turning to the U.S., Pal sees the probability of further downside in the market and a possible recession on the horizon, especially with stocks selling off so violently.

So, that makes me think that the potential is much worse because, for me, it already looks like it's going to end up being worse than 2008 in economic terms, he said. Yet the problem is that there are too many unknowns surrounding the virus impact in the U.S.

"The most crucial thing of all is what happens over the summer? The markets have a hope that the virus diminishes over the summer and maybe dies off like SARS did, Pal said, referencing the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in the early 2000s.

But studies seem to suggest that's not going to bet the case. We just don't know, so the market has to grapple with the possibility that it comes back later in the summer with a vengeance much like the Spanish Flu did, he said  making it impossible for the market to price.

"Hence, where the markets are in free-fall trying to find someplace to stop, to say, 'OK, we've now caught up with reality and now need to see what develops, the investor said. I think the reality is lower down in the markets than here still."

Julia La Roche is a Correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.



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By ANI

NEW DELHI: Leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations on Friday endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal to chalk out a joint strategy to combat the coronavirus outbreak, promising their complete support towards the collective effort against the pandemic.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that his country is ready to join the discussion and share its learnings and best practices to combat the outbreak.

"Thank you for the great initiative Shri @narendramodi - #LKA is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Let's unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe," he tweeted in response to PM Modi's call to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus.



We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy.



Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 13, 2020

Modi on Friday had proposed that the leaders of the SAARC countries should chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus.

"I would like to propose that the leadership of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," PM Modi had tweeted.

Within hours, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said he has no doubt that under PM Modi's leadership the region would see the immediate and impactful outcomes.

FOLLOW CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES HERE

"This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference," Tshering tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi had also said that SAARC countries can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.

"Our planet is battling the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it," PM Modi said in another tweet.

ALSO READ: Iran Air plane carrying Indians lands in Mumbai

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih also came forward in response to Modi's proposal.

"Thank you PM @narendramodi for taking the initiative on this important endeavor. Covid 19 requires a collective effort to defeat it. Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort," he wrote on the micro-blogging site.

PM Modi asserted that South Asia should fight against the virus to ensure people's safety.

"South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy," he added.
Florencio Rodriguez, a member of the Surenos 13 gang and multi-convicted felon, has been sentenced to consecutive, maximum terms of imprisonment for unlawfully possessing firearms, including a sawed-off shotgun with an obliterated serial number.

Gang members are relentless in their attempts to prey upon vulnerable communities in this district, including in North Georgia, said U.S. Attorney Byung J. BJay Pak. We will continue to work with our state, local, and federal law enforcement partners to target gang members and other violent criminals who endanger the public.

It appears the only way to stop Rodriguez from terrorizing our communities is to keep him off the streets, and this sentence will do that for a long time, said Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta Chris Hacker. The FBI and our law enforcement partners are dedicated to dismantling these violent criminal enterprises to make our communities safer places to live.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is committed to the reduction of violent crime in our communities, said ATF Special Agent in Charge Arthur Peralta. Our law enforcement partnerships allow us to focus investigative resources on those individuals who pose the most danger. As a result, violent criminals receive the maximum sentence.

I am very pleased to see that the efforts of Dalton Police Department and our federal law enforcement partners has resulted in the successful prosecution of a local member of the Sur 13 street gang," said Dalton Police Chief Cliff Cason. "Our community will be safer without this repeat offender being on the streets. This case is a great example of what can be accomplished when local, state, and federal law enforcement work together to target gang members and violent offenders."

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges, and other information presented in court: On July 11, 2019, police officers in Dalton approached Rodriguez, a member of the Surenos 13 gang, to arrest him on a pending probation warrant. Rodriguez ran from the officers when they ordered him to stop. Officers apprehended him when he fell during the chase. The officers found a .22 caliber pistol underneath Rodriguez and recovered approximately one ounce of methamphetamine from him.

At the time of his arrest, Rodriguez wore a blue bandana around his ankle, an article of clothing that gang members use to demonstrate their affiliation with the Surenos 13 gang. He also had been convicted of numerous felonies in North Georgia, including attempted robbery, street gang activity, and terroristic threats. Following his arrest, investigators seized a sawed-off shotgun and shotgun shells from a bedroom that Rodriguez shared with his girlfriend. The serial number on the sawed-off shotgun had been removed.

Florencio Rodriguez, also known as Cheeto, 29, of Dalton, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg to 15 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Dalton Police Department investigated the case with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg prosecuted the case.



This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. In keeping with the Attorney Generals mission to reduce violent crime, the Northern District of Georgias PSN program focuses on prosecuting those individuals who most significantly drive violence in our communities, and supports and fosters partnerships between law enforcement and schools, the faith community, and local community leaders to prevent and deter future criminal conduct.
More than 700 people working in a leather company in Greater Noida have been put under surveillance after a Delhi-based director of the firm tested positive for novel coronavirus, officials said on Friday.

The 46-year-old man had recently travelled to Italy, Switzerland before returning to India, Gautam Buddh Nagar Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Anurag Bhargava said.

When the man, who lives in Delhi, returned home he felt weakness and consulted doctors who tested him positive for coronavirus. However, he kept visiting the company since returning from abroad because of which all 707 employees of the company have been put on surveillance," Bhargava told reporters.

"His family members and children are already under surveillance," Bhargava said, adding that the company is also being sanitised under the watch of experts.

He said the Health Department is in touch with the people under surveillance and anybody showing any symptoms for the novel virus will be tested.

"The man who has tested positive would sit in his office only during visits to the company so the chances of him contacting many people are less and hence employees are only on surveillance," he added.

The CMO said so far nobody has shown any symptoms for coronavirus in Gautam Buddh Nagar and advised people to exercise utmost precaution.

People with cough, fever, cold or lethargy should consult medical experts and put themselves in self-isolation in order to not spread it further, he said.

The man, who lives in West Delhi's Janakpuri area, had tested positive on March 11.

More than 1,30,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.

The number of coronavirus patients in the country is 75, including the death of a 76-year-old man in Karnataka, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The lone COVID-19 male patient in Telangana was discharged from a state-run hospital here on Friday after his full recovery, Telangana Health Minister E Rajender said.

The minister, while stating this in a release, said there is no coronavirus positive case in the state at present.

The man,a 24-year-old techie working in Bengaluru,has been advised 14 days home quarantine, sources at the state run Gandhi hospital, where he had been admitted, said.

After treatment, he tested negative for the virus twice, they said.

The techie tested positive for the virus earlier this month and he had been undergoing treatment at the Gandhi hospital since then.

The man was suspected to have contracted the virus while in Dubai last month on work.

From Dubai, he returned to Bengaluru, from where he came to Hyderabad in a bus, the minister had said.

He took treatment at a private hospital in the city after developing fever and other symptoms associated with the virus and when these did not subside, came to Gandhi hospital.

Meanwhile, the government on Friday said it is awaiting the results of 34 samples of people tested for coronavirus and that it has strengthened surveillance and control measures as per national guidelines.

A Raj Bhavan press release said all meetings of Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan have been postponed until further instructions in view of the Union Health Ministrys advisory to avoid mass gatherings till the spread of the virus is contained.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Constitutional carry legislation moves through first House committee

This week in Nashville, historic Republican legislation that allows Tennessee to become the 17th state to enact constitutional carry cleared its first committee in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Members of the House Constitutional Protections & Sentencing Subcommittee approved House Bill 2817 by a 5-2 vote tally Tuesday evening. The measure sends a strong tough on gun crime message to violent criminals, felons, and gang members through a series of sentencing enhancements that support our law enforcement and judicial communities as they work to protect our cities and towns.

At the same time, this legislation upholds the freedoms granted to law-abiding citizens under our Constitution by allowing open or concealed carry for citizens 21 and older (18 if certain military service requirements are met) without a permit.

This legislation does not change current requirements for background checks on gun purchases. Law-abiding citizens are also encouraged to attend a class or undergo training to ensure safe operation.

House Bill 2817 now moves to the House Judiciary Committee for a vote on March 18, 2020.

Governors key initiatives continue to advance

Several of the governors key initiatives continued to advance in the General Assembly this week. These measures include:

House Bill 2220: Authorizes action for the appointment of a guardian for individuals incarcerated in an institution of the Department of Correction or for those involuntarily hospitalized in institutions of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. The bill passed by a 97-0 vote on the House floor and now awaits action in the Senate.

House Bill 2221: Prohibits individuals convicted of sexual offenses or violent sexual offenses from being eligible for an alternative form of punishment to incarceration. The measure also passed in the House chamber with a 96-0 vote this week.

House Bill 2223: Enhances standards applicable for certain food donations in order to increase access to high-quality food for our citizens. The legislation now awaits Gov. Lees signature.

House Bill 2227: Creates a rural Brownfield Tax Credit Enhancement Program to support reinvestment in properties where former industries once stood. The measure will allow companies looking to reinvest in these properties and the rural communities they serve to receive a tax credit in order to encourage them to relocate and create new jobs. The bill now heads to the governors desk.

Legislation focused on improving literacy rates in Tennessee clears House Curriculum Subcommittee

Legislation focused on improving Tennessees literacy rates advanced out of the House Curriculum, Testing & Innovation Subcommittee this week.



House Bill 2229 is designed to transform literacy instruction in Tennessee through targeted instruction during a students formative years to solidify their academic foundations.

The measure requires a local education agency (LEA) that enrolls students in grades kindergarten through second grade to provide students with appropriate instruction for them to develop reading skills required to meet state academic standards, as well as the developmental expectations for a students respective grade level.

Additionally, the legislation requires third grade students reading below grade level to participate in a common reading diagnostic  administered by the Department of Education (DOE)  to benchmark literacy skills and growth.

House Bill 2229 also establishes various requirements for education preparation programs, as well as criteria for literacy training for educators.

Approximately two-thirds of Tennessee students currently are not reading proficiently by the fourth grade. House Bill 2229 provides important resources to our students and teachers so we can change these outcomes and the trajectories of our current and future leaders.

This measure will now be heard by members of the House Education Committee on March 18, 2020.

Governor issues Executive Order declaring state of emergency in response to COVID-19

On Thursday, Governor Lee issued Executive Order No. 14 declaring a state of emergency in Tennessee to facilitate the treatment and containment of COVID-19.

The emergency declaration is designed to facilitate the treatment and containment of COVID-19 through the following steps:

 Implement the Tennessee Emergency Management Plan;

 Permit health care professionals licensed in other states to provide health care services in Tennessee related to COVID-19;

 Allow pharmacists to dispense an extra 30-day supply of maintenance prescriptions as needed in response to COVID-19;

 Allow health care professionals to provide localized treatment to patients in temporary residences;

 Expand testing sites for COVID-19;

 Allow the construction of temporary health care structures in response to COVID-19;

 Implement price gouging protections on medical and emergency supplies;

 Suspend restrictions on vehicles transporting emergency supplies to areas affected by COVID-19;

 Permit the waiver of certain regulations on childcare centers as needed to respond to the effect of COVID-19;

 Authorize TennCare policy changes to ensure that covered individuals receive medically necessary services without disruption; and

 Direct coordination with health insurance plans to improve access to screening, testing, and treatment for COVID-19.

During this evolving situation, vulnerable populations should stay home where possible and avoid large gatherings or locations where they are more likely to contact the virus. Those most susceptible include older adults and adults with underlying conditions including diabetes, heart disease and respiratory illness. Non-essential visits to nursing homes and hospitals are also strongly discouraged at this time.

Legislation improving TANF Program reporting moves to the House floor



This week, legislation improving reporting requirements within the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program moved closer to a vote in the House chamber.

Members of both the House Health and House Calendar & Rules Committees approved House Bill 2153, which strengthens reporting requirements for the TANF program. The legislation instructs the Department of Human Services (DHS) to issue an annual report disclosing the amount of federal funding available to be spent during each fiscal year, the amount of federal funds budgeted to be spent and expected to be spent, the amount of federal funds set aside for a necessary reserve, and any restrictions.

It is a result of the TANF Working Group, established by both the House and Senate Speakers last fall, after it was determined DHS had built up a reserve of $730 million in unused block grant funds. These resources are designed to support working families who desire to move away from government assistance and achieve prosperity.

House Bill 2153 is set for a vote in the House on March 19, 2020.

General Assembly approves Holly Bobo Act

Members of the Tennessee General Assembly this week overwhelmingly approved passage of House Bill 2308, also known as the Holly Bobo Act.

The legislation expands Tennessees endangered alert system to include missing or endangered young adults under 21. It honors the memory of 20-year-old nursing student Holly Bobo who was abducted from her home in Decatur County in 2011. The young womans remains were found three years later.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations current program issues alerts for missing or endangered children under 18 and also features a senior citizen alert program. The Holly Bobo Act makes the TBIs endangered alert system part of Tennessee Code.

The Holly Bobo Act does not change the activation criteria for AMBER Alerts, which is a federally funded program. Law enforcement reserves AMBER Alerts for the most serious of missing child cases when authorities believe a child is in imminent danger. AMBER Alerts only may only be applied to children under 18-years-old.

House Bill 2308 now heads to the governors desk for approval.

Measure ending surprise medical billing in Tennessee begins journey through committee

Members of the House Life & Health Insurance Subcommittee also advanced a measure that ends surprise billing in Tennessee this week

As amended, House Bill 2680 removes patients from the process of resolving billing disputes between providers and payers in efforts to finally eliminate this ridiculous billing practice in our state.

This legislation will directly affect citizens with insurance who receive services provided by out-of-network providers in emergency situations  often in hospital settings. The measure requires payers to make an initial payment to the provider. If a dispute between the payer and provider arises, the matter is referred to the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance where it is resolved without patient involvement.

House Bill 2680 now heads to the House Insurance Committee for a vote on March 17.

House Republicans support legislation to improve transportation for disabled and aging

On Thursday, House Republicans unanimously supported legislation aimed at improving transportation options for the disabled and aging populations across the state.

The Tennessee Accessible Transportation and Mobility Act of 2020 (HB1596) creates an office within the Tennessee Department of Transportation dedicated to expanding and improving accessible transportation. No state dollars will be used to create the new office.

Public transportation is a challenge in certain areas across Tennessee, and it is especially difficult to access for the disabled and aging. The new office created by this legislation will identify and work to eliminate those barriers. The overall goal is to give as much access to public transportation as possible so the elderly and disabled can be out in the community, engaged and living more productive lives.

House Bill 1596 now heads to the governors desk for signature.
New Delhi [India], Mar 13 (ANI): Leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations on Friday endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal to chalk out a joint strategy to combat the coronavirus outbreak, promising their complete support towards the collective effort against the pandemic.



Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that his country is ready to join the discussion and share its learnings and best practices to combat the outbreak.

"Thank you for the great initiative Shri @narendramodi - #LKA is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Let's unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe," he tweeted in response to PM Modi's call to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Modi on Friday had proposed that the leaders of the SAARC countries should chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus.

"I would like to propose that the leadership of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," PM Modi had tweeted.

Within hours, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said he has no doubt that under PM Modi's leadership the region would see the immediate and impactful outcomes.

"This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference," Tshering tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi had also said that SAARC countries can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.

"Our planet is battling the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it," PM Modi said in another tweet.

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih also came forward in response to Modi's proposal.

"Thank you PM @narendramodi for taking the initiative on this important endeavor. Covid 19 requires a collective effort to defeat it. Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort," he wrote on the micro-blogging site.

PM Modi asserted that South Asia should fight against the virus to ensure people's safety.

"South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy," he added. (ANI)
Doctor Who star Jo Martin has insisted she won't be playing the next incarnation of the female Time Lord, after fans lashed out at the explosive twist.

The actress insisted that she isn't taking over from Jodie Whittaker when she decides to leave the role, after fan theories were rife that bosses had dropped the ultimate bombshell without any warning.

It comes after Doctor Who's recent finale left fans staggered as it was revealed that The Doctor was in fact the origin of the entire Time Lord species, and hinted that there were previous incarnations that even she didn't know about.

Not yet! Doctor Who star Jo Martin has insisted she won't be playing the next incarnation of the female Time Lord, after fans lashed out at the explosive twist

Jo told Doctor Who Magazine that despite fans' claims that she must be taking over from Jodie, in reality her incarnation is from The Doctor's past.

She explained that many fans jumped to the wrong conclusion as they didn't see the episode when it originally aired.

She said: 'The thing is, not everyone saw the episode when it went out, but suddenly they saw all the publicity that blew up around it and read it in the papers or saw it on social media.'

Unlikely: The actress insisted that she isn't taking over from Jodie Whittaker when she decides to leave the role

Jo then added: 'It meant they didn't get to see the reveal first-hand, which, for me, was the best part. They were like, ''You're the new Doctor!''

'And I'm like, ''Well I'm not the new Doctor. I'm a Doctor. You'll have to watch the episode''.'

Earlier this year Doctor Who fans couldn't hide their shock when it was revealed that tour guide Ruth was another dormant incarnation of The Doctor who had been living on Earth with her memories trapped in a Chameleon Arch.

The episode left fans will all manner of questions, and in particular whether this version was from The Doctor's future or past.

Shocking: Earlier this year Doctor Who fans couldn't hide their shock when it was revealed that tour guide Ruth was another dormant incarnation of The Doctor

The series finale appeared to answer some of fans' questions, but also left many viewers stunned by re-writing Who's entire history.

It was revealed by The Master that The Doctor was actually The Timeless Child, who was responsible for the creation of The Time Lords and all that the universe knows about regeneration.

The Doctor was stunned by the reveal as it meant that her entire history was a lie, and also hinted that there could be other incarnations waiting in the universe.

Jodie has already confirmed that will be back for a third series, and will next appear in a Christmas Special.

It's also been reported that both Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole will be leaving Who at the end of the year, with their final scenes expected to air during the festive special.
NCLAT Chairperson Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya, who handled several big-ticket insolvency cases like Essar Steel during his tenure at the appellate quasi-judicial body, retired on Friday.

Justice Mukhopadhaya, who turns 70 on March 15, was the first chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) which was established on June 1, 2016. An NCLAT chairperson is appointed for five years and can hold office till the age of 70 years.

He delivered several landmark judgements during his tenure of nearly four years. He supervised and handled several major big ticket insolvency cases that includes Essar Steel, Bhushan Power & Steel, Bhushan Steel, Jaypee Infratech, ElectroSteel Steel, Binani Cement, Reliance Communications.

Besides, Justice Mukhopadhaya also delivered several judgements and laid precedents for several NCLT orders and the newly-enacted Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

He would also be known for his order reinstating the ousted Tata Sons head Cyrus Mistry as it shocked the entire business world.

Besides, he also proposed resolution of the IL&FS group which has an outstanding debt of over Rs 94,000 crore, on the pattern of IBC.

"I have enjoyed every moment here from the day one," he said while addressing a function organised by the NCLAT bar here on Friday.

He also said that the Chennai bench of the NCLAT would be functional from Friday.

"I am happy that all courts are functioning with speed. For me, speed was essence for any resolution process," he said.

Prior to this, Justice Mukhopadhaya was a judge of the Supreme Court of India from September 13, 2011, to March 14, 2015.

Justice Mukhopadhaya had started practice at Patna and Ranchi benches of the High Court in 1979 and was designated as senior advocate in February 1993.

He was appointed as a permanent Judge of the High Court of Patna in November 1994 and after that served as judge of Jharkhand High Court after its creation. He also served as Judge of the Madras High Court, where he also functioned as the Acting Chief Justice for about five months.

Thereafter from December 2009 to September 2011 he was the Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat and then was elevated to the apex court from where he retired on March 14, 2015.

NCLAT constituted under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013 for hearing appeals against the orders of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). It is also appellate tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by NCLT under the IBC and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.

It is also the Appellate Tribunal to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction issued or decision made or order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

The NCLAT Chairperson is appointed for a term of five years and can hold office till the age of 70 years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By PTI

MUMBAI: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has written a poem to warn his fans against coronavirus, saying washing hands was the way to beat the spread of the disease.

Bachchan chose his mother tongue, the Awadhi dialect, to recite the poem on social media.

"There are many discussions on coronavirus around us. It has done a lot of damage. People are not leaving their homes and are worried about their health. This morning, I thought I should speak about it, so I have written a few lines," Bachchan said in a video.

T 3468 - Concerned about the COVID 19 .. just doodled some lines .. in verse .. please stay safe .. pic.twitter.com/80idolmkRZ  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 12, 2020

In the poem, the 77-year-old actor spoke about how different people were talking about remedies like 'kalonji powder and 'amla' juice but it was important to not touch anyone without washing one's hands with soap.

"Hum kahen chalo hamahu kar det hai jaisan bole sab. Aave da corona vorona, thengwa dikhaub tab.

(I said let me follow what people are saying. Let corona vorona come, I will show 'thenga' to it. )," Bachchan said in the poem.

The actor said though those not familiar with Hindi or Awadhi will be at a disadvantage, he did not translate it as it would lose the flavour of the moment.

READ| Amitabh Bachchan shares throwback pics of 'best Holi' celebrations

"There is more to be said and thought about on lines similar to the ones above. WHO and UNICEF have also asked me to send out video messages, which I did but they are more formal. This in Awadhi was my own doing. One is never too far away from their Mother tongue. Stay safe, stay alert , stay," Bachchan said.

Other celebrities also shared concern about the spread of the virus in India as the number of cases rose to 81.

Actor Varun Dhawan said the spread of virus should make people introspect about other species.

"As we all battle this virus. I think it is time we realise that the human race has been extremely selfish. It's time we introspect. We share this planet with many other species. Development is important but not at the cost of killing other species. We will overcome this but we must realise that messing with Mother Nature comes at a cost," he wrote on Instagram.

Actor Parineeti Chopra urged fans to take the warning about the virus seriously. "Stop calling it a 'hype on social media'. Stop saying 'it only affects the elderly'. Stop saying 'oh but the death rate of flu is more'. Stop thinking you are smarter than the virus. You are not. Coronavirus is real. Its extremely contagious and unstoppable. Please be smart. And be safe. #coronavirus," she wrote on Instagram.

Priyanka Chopra shared a short video in the 'Namaste' pose, saying, "It's all about the Namaste. An old but also new way to greet people in a time of change around the world. Please stay safe everyone!"
BOOK OF THE WEEK

HITLER: DOWN FALL 1939-45

by Volker Ullrich (Bodley Head 30, 848 pp)

Do we really need another bioGerman historian Volker Ullrichgraphy of Hitler? Surely there is nothing more to be seen here. Time to move on?

Sadly the answer is that, the world being what it is, we still need reminders of how fanaticism can descend into madness, racism into policies of extermination and whole nations into barbarism.

The 75th anniversary of the Fuhrers suicide in the ruins of Berlin is next month. This new account of his life by German historian Volker Ullrich could not be more timely, if for no other reason than its thought-provoking final paragraph, which is a wake-up call for us all.

German historian Volker Ullrich, explores the life of Hitler (pictured) in a gripping new account focused from the outbreak of war in 1939 to his death

Hitler will remain a cautionary example for all time, he writes. If his life and career teach us anything, it is how quickly democracy can be prised from its hinges when political institutions fail and civilising forces in society are too weak to combat the lure of authoritarianism.

How thin the mantle separating civilisation and barbarism actually is; and what human beings are capable of when the rule of law and ethical norms are suspended and some people are granted unlimited power over the lives of others.

It takes 800 pages (including maps and copious notes) to reach this solemn conclusion, but dont be put off, because the reader who plunges in is rewarded with insight, understanding, fine judgements and read-me narrative drive.

This is the second part of Ullrichs mammoth biography of Hitler. The first, analysing who he was and the ruthless politics that led to his astonishing ascent to power, was published four years ago to much acclaim.

Ullrichs concluding volume, tracking Hitler from the outbreak of war in 1939 to his Gotterdammerung crescendo in the Berlin bunker, is equally impressive, showing clearly how he over-reached himself and was brought down in the end by an ego that brooked no dissent in pursuit of his maniacal ambition to rule the world.

In all matters, he was driven by hate for humanity as a whole and increasing paranoia at being let down. He once told his henchman Albert Speer that the only living things he had any affection for were Eva Braun, his dyed-blonde, coquettish but loyal-to-death mistress, and his German shepherd dog, Blondi.

And even the dog got shouted at if it dared pad away from the jealous Fuhrers side to sniff around other people. Eva, on the other hand, seems never to have been in his bad books, getting away with liberties that were unthinkable for others.

Hitler (pictured) who insisted that the war should be fought to the bitter end, only shot himself during the battle

When he started out on one of his interminable monologues at the Berghof, his mountain-top home in the Bavarian Alps, while the rest of the inner circle had to endure and feign interest, she would pointedly ask the time to make him stop. And for her he did.

But to no one else would he ever yield ground. Not the generals, with whom he was constantly at loggerheads as  in his eyes  their lack of will and vision led to defeats on the battlefield.

Hitler wished hed purged the lot of them and replaced them with political commissars  as Stalin did in the Soviet Union  who were unflinching in their dedication to the Nazi cause.

Yet it was his picky, petulant interference in tactics  driven by his belief in his own military genius  that was responsible for mounting losses of territory and armies. The idea of a tactical withdrawal was anathema to him, even when the generals (and common sense) told him it was the only sensible action to take.

Never give ground, he insisted. Fight to the bitter end and die gloriously in a ditch  that was his injunction to the forces who gave their lives for him, though he himself eventually took the cowards way out. The only shot he himself fired during the war was into his own brain.

And it was Hitler alone who made the fatal error that would bring about his defeat  the decision in 1941 to launch Operation Barbarossa, Germanys invasion of the Soviet Union. It was the moment the upward trajectory of the Third Reich turned downwards. Defiant Britain, Ullrich argues, played a crucial part in that event  that and Hitlers own contempt for others.

Author Volker Ullrich, believes that Hitler (pictured) knew as early as 1942 that the war hed started was unwinnable

His armies had swept all before them, until brought to a halt at the English Channel in mid-1940. Invasion of this island  Operation Sea Lion  was thwarted by the RAF in the Battle of Britain. When the Luftwaffe failed to gain mastery of the skies, Hitler switched strategy.

But not, as is often assumed, because he considered Britain was now an irrelevant tiddler and he had bigger fish to fry on the eastern front. Quite the opposite. His strategic reasoning was that he could easily and quickly dispose of the Russians and then come back at a later date to deal with the isolated and friendless Brits, whom he loathed for hindering his march to world domination.

The miscalculation he made was the result of his obsessive racism  his conviction born of pure prejudice that the Soviet Union was a Bolshevik basket case populated by inferior Slavic races. They didnt have the backbone to put up a fight.

His superior Germanic armies would wipe them out and take Moscow within a matter of weeks. Always the gambler, Hitler believed this time he was betting on a certainty, and to begin with it did look that way.

As German tanks raced through the wide-open spaces of Russia, Stalin was slow to respond, refusing to believe that his one-time ally had turned on him. But then the Red Army dug in and turned the tide, encouraged by another of Hitlers mistakes, the invaders brutal treatment of the hundreds of thousands of Soviet prisoners they took.

Faced with death as the only alternative if they lost, Stalins soldiers fought for their existence on the blood-stained banks of the Volga  whipped on by those fanatical political commissars Hitler so envied.

HITLER: DOWN FALL 1939-45 by Volker Ullrich (Bodley Head 30, 848 pp)

And they won. The five-month defence of Stalingrad resulted in more than a million Soviet casualties, but it crushed Hitlers momentum, then threw him back somewhere he had never been before  on his heels.

Volker Ullrich believes that, with this monumental setback, Hitler knew as early as 1942 that the war hed started was unwinnable and his dream of conquering the world finished. But he would never negotiate a truce. It was total victory or total demise.

When everyone else loses their nerve, it is I alone who stands his ground, he bragged.

Over the next three years, millions more on both sides would die in battle, sacrificed to his vanity.

Nor would there be any let-up in his genocidal crusade to exterminate every Jew, the cause, his warped ideology told him, of all the worlds ills. The Holocaust could not have happened without his hate-laced approval.

But nor could it have happened without the vast cohort of men and women who executed his will in concentration camps.

Once Hitler was dead, the German nation pretended it had not known about the wholesale slaughter.

Ullrich, himself a German, is rightly having none of that. Yes, much of the blame could be laid at the door of the Eichmanns and the Heydrichs who followed the wishes of their leader and masterminded the mechanics of the operation. But never could the buck stop there.

The army and the police were complicit; so too were bureaucrats who drew up lists, railway employees who dispatched the trains and the firms that supplied the Zyklon-B poison gas and built the crematoria.

Ullrichs accusatory finger points at every single individual who mouthed their allegiance to Hitler, dismissed the widespread rumours of massacres and simply shrugged as they moved into a deported Jewish neighbours house and dressed themselves in the re-sold clothes stripped from the victims on their way to the gas chamber.

Thats why a new biography of Hitler makes essential reading, especially one as deeply researched, beautifully written and finely judged as this one.
Weve been working on it for a number of years actually, Northam said in a gathering with reporters afterward, referring to telemedicine and the expanded broadband that such a service would require in some parts of the state. But I think this is a good example of why telehealth and access to broadband for all Virginia is so important.
One of three Dublin men who claim they each had consensual sex with a woman in a car has told a jury that he and his two gentlemen friends treated the alleged rape victim with respect on the night.

The three men, who are now in their early 20s and who cannot be named for legal reasons, have pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping the woman at Bull Island, Dollymount, Dublin on January 5, 2016.

The trial has heard that the then 18-year-old woman was allegedly driven to Dollymount Strand, raped by three men in turn and then left in the middle of nowhere.

The three men were all teenagers at the time of the alleged offences.

Under cross-examination, one of the accused men told Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, prosecuting, that he had never met the woman before the date of the alleged offences.

The man said that the woman was very enthusiastic to have sex and was confident.

He said that the woman told her friend four days later over Facebook that she was addicted to sex.

Ms Lawlor asked if he thought that her saying she was addicted to sex meant she cannot be raped.

The man replied that she was not raped and that he does not think she was ever raped.

He said there are around one hundred accusations, and that he would never mistreat a woman and that he is an innocent man.

He said the woman is trying to ruin his life, that he has never disrespected a woman and never will.

He said that while driving to Dollymount, the woman said she had loads of lube and that she hoped they had condoms.

He said that he cannot remember every conversation they had in the car and that they were hardly going to be talking about sex for fucking seven minutes.

He then apologised for cursing.

Ms Lawlor put it to the man that there was no discussion about lubricant by the woman when they were driving to Dollymount.

That's what you think, the man replied. He said that he was telling the truth and and said the complainant is after being caught out lying a million times.

Counsel put it to the man that he never thought a homeless woman who was addicted to tablets would follow this case through.

He rejected this suggestion, said nothing happened to the woman and that she was treated with nothing but respect by himself and his two gentlemen friends.

Mr Justice Alexander Owens commented that it was not something that would happen every day of the week that someone offered to have sex with three people.

The man agreed that it was not and said it was probably because the woman was addicted to sex.

Mr Justice Owens asked the accused if he took the view during an interview with gardai that the detective did not do his job well enough.

The man agreed and said it was because the detective was basically arresting people that did not rape someone and it is just wrong.

Ms Lawlor asked if he was affected by the detective saying in interview that he believed the woman.

The man replied that he was angry, really angry.

The man said that after the alleged events, he received a phone call from an acquaintance who later arrived in a second car.

He said he could not say the name of that person and told Ms Lawlor that's my final answer.

Asked why he could not say this person's name, the man told Ms Lawlor that his life would be under threat if he did so.

The trial continues in evidence before Mr Justice Owens and a jury.
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

San Francisco Unified School District announced late Thursday afternoon that seven students from Glen Park Elementary reported respiratory illness.

While other schools in the district prepare for a three-week closure beginning Monday, Glen Park was shuttered immediately as the Department of Public Health begins an investigation of the situation.

The students will be tested for COVID-19, SFUSD said in a statement. There currently aren't any confirmed cases at the school.

"Based on current guidance from health experts, Glen Park families and staff are asked to self-quarantine, which means to stay home and monitor your health for 14 days. If you become sick, seek care from your medical provider," SFUSD said in a statement.

SFUSD's Lakeshore Elementary School is already closed. On March 12, four students and a number of adult family members reported having respiratory illness. They were being tested for COVID-19, but at the time of the announcement, there were no confirmed cases at Lakeshore.

In response to the potential cases in schools, the San Francisco Unified School District announced Thursday afternoon all schools will close for three weeks March 16 through April 6.

The three-week closure includes spring break (scheduled for the week of March 30). During the shutdown, SFUSD leaders and faculty are being told to work on ways to make learning safer during the global pandemic. Faculty will be asked to return to work starting March 23 to help prepare.

SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews said the district will clean campuses and put preventive measures in place during the closure.

"The San Francisco Unified School District is taking the time to prepare school communities in the likelihood of a prolonged COVID-19 epidemic," he said.

The district serves over 55,000 students.

Students who qualify for free lunches will continue to have access to the program, district officials said. Details on how the food would be served were not immediately available.

As COVID-19 continues to spread around the Bay Area, schools are closing out of an abundance of caution.

On Tuesday, March 10, the Archdiocese of San Francisco announced all 90 of its Catholic schools in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties would close for two weeks after a student tested positive for COVID-19.

Outside the Bay Area, Northern California's largest school district, Elk Grove Unified, announced it would close through March 13 after a family in the district tested positive for the virus.

The following schools in the Bay Area have announced closures:

(In most cases, all classes and on campus activities are canceled.)

ALAMEDA COUNTY

K-12:

All Berkeley Unified School District schools will be closed until at least April 5. All preschools, elementary and middle schools, as well as Berkeley Adult School, will be closed starting on March 16. All high schools will be closed starting March 13.

All Oakland USD schools and child development centers will close as of 6 p.m. Friday, the district announced. The closures will remain in effect through at least Sunday, April 5, the end of Spring Break.

Hayward Unified School District is closing all schools from Monday, March 16, through March 27, the superintendent announced Friday. Spring break has been moved up for both HUSD's year-round and traditional schools.

Schools in the New Haven Unified School District will be closed Monday, March 16 through its spring break. In-class lessons are scheduled to resume April 6.

San Leandro Unified School District schools will close Monday, March 16 through April 3, the district announced Friday.

Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward has temporarily instituted distance learning.

Dublin Unified School District has suspended all classes from March 16 through April 10.

Fremont Unified School District announced Friday it would suspend classes for two weeks beginning Monday, March 16.

Colleges and universities:

UC Berkeley is suspending most in-person classes as a precaution. Some classes, such as labs, performing arts and physical education, will still be allowed to meet in person, but instructors were encouraged to minimize in-person contact wherever possible. The changes were set to take effect March 10 and will last through the end of spring break on March 29. Administrators informed students and faculty via e-mail on March 9. Students were told to look for specific instructions from professors in the coming days. Campus will still be open, as will student housing and dining halls.

Chabot-Las Positas Community College District will move to online classes beginning March 16 (with some limited in-person classes).

Cal State East Bay is canceling classes from March 11-15. Classes will resume online starting March 16 through April 12, with a week break for spring break. Some labs and studios that are not possible to teach online will continue in-person instruction.

Oakland Holy Names University is moving all classes online for the time being, starting March 16.

Merritt College has canceled in-person classes beginning March 16.

Laney College is canceling in-person classes March 11-14.

The Peralta Community College District has moved its spring break from April to March 16-21.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

K-12:

All West Contra Costa Unified School District schools will close March 16-April 6, the district announced Thursday afternoon. On Friday, all students in the district will be dismissed at noon.

All Mt. Diablo Unified School Districts will close beginning March 17, after a scheduled school district holiday on Monday, the school district superintendent announced Friday. At this time, the district has not disclosed when it will reopen.

Schools in the Pittsburg Unified will close on Monday, March 16 for two weeks.

The Martinez Unified School District will be closed March 16 through April 3.

Antioch Unified School District will be closed beginning Monday, March 16. The district is planning to reopen after spring break, on March 30.

Colleges and universities:

St. Mary's College will move to remote course instruction beginning March 16. Classes are scheduled to resume April 14.

Diablo Valley College will move classes online beginning March 16. Labs and other sessions that require an in-person presence will meet at the discretion of the professor.

MARIN COUNTY

K-12:

All Marin County schools will close to students for two weeks beginning March 16, the county announced Friday. Meals and resources will still be offered.

All 90 Catholic schools in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties will close March 12-25, the Archdiocese of San Francisco announced Tuesday afternoon. Buildings will be closed, classes and activities canceled, and all learning material will be distributed "utilizing the Archdiocesan distance learning protocol," the superintendent said in a statement. One preschool, six elementary schools, and one high school (Marin Catholic High) are affected in Marin County. (Full list here.)

Bolinas-Stinson School will remain closed through March 27.

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY

K-12:

SFUSD announced on Thursday, March 12, that all schools will be closed for three weeks starting March 16.

Lakeshore Elementary School: Closed for at least two weeks starting March 12 after four students and a number of adult family members reported having respiratory illness. They were being tested for COVID-19, but at the time of announcement there were no confirmed cases at Lakeshore.

Glen Park Elementary School: Closed after seven students reported respiratory illness Thursday. They are being tested for COVID-19, but at the time of the announcement there were no confirmed cases.

All 90 Catholic schools in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties will close March 12-25, the Archdiocese of San Francisco announced Tuesday afternoon. Buildings will be closed, classes and activities canceled, and all learning material will be distributed "utilizing the Archdiocesan distance learning protocol," the superintendent said in a statement. Ten preschools, 27 elementary schools, and seven high schools (including St. Ignatius, Sacred Heart and Archbishop Riordan) are affected in San Francisco. (Full list here.)

In addition, the San Francisco Unified School District told parents in an email Monday night that any student absences over the next two weeks will be excused.

Colleges and universities:

City College of San Francisco is suspending in-person classes for the rest of the semester starting Friday, March 13. The school is moving up its spring break to the week of March 23 (previously the week of March 30) to give faculty time to implement an online learning plan. In the meantime, during the week of March 16, there will be no City College classes or events.

San Francisco State University suspended all face-to-face classes, Tuesday, March 10 through Sunday, March 15. (Online classes continue as usual.) Starting Monday, March 16, all classes will be taught online until at least Sunday, April 5.

The University of San Francisco is suspending all in-person classes through at least March 29. Online classes will begin March 18.

Golden Gate University announced it all of its classes outside of the law school would be moved online for the time being. Many of the university's classes were already taught online before the COVID-19 epidemic. San Francisco State University also canceled face-to-face classes for the remainder of the week.

UCSF has canceled or postponed all events, classes, and conferences involving more than 150 people for the foreseeable future.

The Academy of Art University is suspending all on-site instruction starting Wednesday, March 11 until the end of spring break on Monday, March 30. All classes will be taught online.

SAN MATEO COUNTY

K-12:

San Mateo County schools are closing for three weeks, March 16 through April 3.

All 90 Catholic schools in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties will close March 12-25, the Archdiocese of San Francisco announced Tuesday afternoon. Buildings will be closed, classes and activities canceled, and all learning material will be distributed "utilizing the Archdiocesan distance learning protocol," the superintendent said in a statement. Eleven preschools, 22 elementary schools, and five high schools are affected in San Mateo County.

A relative of a student at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo had tested positive. The school closed for cleaning March 9-11 before the Archdiocese announced the larger closure. (Full list here.)

St. Matthews Episcopal Day School is closed; it will begin online classes March 16.

The Nueva School in Hillsborough will also be closed through April 3.

Mid-Peninsula High School in Menlo Park is closing March 13 through April 3. All classes will be held online.

Sequoia Union High School District will close and transfer courses online beginning Monday, March 16, the district announced Friday afternoon.

Colleges and universities:

Classes at the College of San Mateo are canceled through March 16; online courses will begin March 17.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY

K-12:

All public schools in Santa Clara County will close March 16 through April 3.

Action Day Primary Plus in San Jose: Closed Monday; teacher tested positive.

Castilleja Middle and High Schools are closed beginning March 16. Online classes will start March 18.

Bellarmine College Preparatory is closed through the end of March.

The Diocese of San Jose Department of Catholic Schools will close all diocesan schools starting next week through March 27.

Colleges and universities:

Santa Clara University suspended face-to-face classes from March 10 through April 13. All classes and winter 1uarter final exams will be conducted online.

Stanford University moved all of its classes online for the time being after a faculty member tested positive for the virus. Winter quarter final exams will be conducted as take-home exams. The university president also asked all students who are able to leave campus housing to do so in order to reduce the concentration of people in the dorms.

San Jose State University is also moving all classes online through March 27.

San Jose City College and the Milpitas College Extension are canceling in-person classes March 11-16. After March 16, the schools say classes will taught online through at least April 6.

West Valley College also canceled face-to-face classes until further notices, starting March 11. Some will restart online March 16 and others will restarting online on March 23.

Evergreen College will suspend all non-lab in-person classes, and move those courses to an online format on March 16.

Mission College will suspend in-person classes through April 5. Online classes will begin in waves, on March 16, March 23, and April 6.

De Anza College will move most classes online beginning March 16 for the foreseeable future.

SOLANO COUNTY

K-12:

All Solano County Schools will be closed for two weeks beginning Monday, March 16, the Vallejo City Unified School District announced Friday afternoon.

SONOMA COUNTY

Colleges and universities:

Sonoma State University is canceling face-to-face classes for three days (on March 12, 13 and on the other side of spring break on Monday, March 23). During the break, faculty is preparing to teach online if needed.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

Alix Martichoux contributed to this story. Amy Graff is an SFGATE digital editor. Email here: agraff@sfgate.com.
For the first time in years, Connie Yates is smiling. Wrapped in the strong embrace of her rock, Chris Gard, and cradling her baby bump, she is ready  almost  to let the joy of impending motherhood flood over her.

It is three years since she lost her 11-month-old son, Charlie Gard, in a battle against the medical system that gripped the world.

Now Connie, 34, and 35-year-old Chris are finally expecting their desperately longed-for second child  and tests show that this time their unborn infant is perfectly healthy.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates are expecting a child in August. The couple won hearts worldwide with their fight to keep their desperately ill son, Charlie, alive

The couple, pictured in August 2016 after their son Charlie was born. Unfortunatley, the infant had inherited defective genes which left him bravely battling for life for 11 months

At 17 weeks pregnant, the care home worker proudly told the Daily Mail: I feel incredibly lucky to be pregnant and have a bit of hope again, and something to put a smile on our faces.

Some people dont get the opportunity to have another child after theyve lost one  were extremely grateful.

The couples joyful news is, of course, tinged with the sadness that Charlie  who suffered from a rare genetic condition  cannot be there to welcome his younger sibling when they arrive in August. Connie admits their wonderful news is bittersweet.

She said: It is mixed emotions. We always think about Charlie and we hope that hes happy with us having another baby, but well never forget him and love him just as much  always have and always will.

Her fiance Chris said: After everything weve been through, Im just looking forward to the simple things people take for granted  birthdays and taking our child to their first day at school. We just hope we can give this baby the best life possible.

Charlie had been healthy when he was born in August 2016, but at two months he became ill with mitochondrial syndrome. Doctors gave him up for dead. The condition has no cure.

But a maternal instinct forged from steel surges through Connie. Combined with Chriss fatherly resolve and devotion to her, they utterly refused to let go of their fragile, blue-eyed boy.

And they were not alone. Respected doctors from around the world, including an American professor, were willing to offer a pioneering treatment.

Yet Londons world-famous Great Ormond Street childrens hospital was adamant it would be kinder to let Charlie die. A bitter legal battle raged throughout the summer of 2017. It drew in the greatest minds of the High Court, Appeal Court, Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights  not to mention astonishing interventions from the Pope and President Donald Trump.

Charlie had been healthy when he was born in August 2016, but at two months he became ill with mitochondrial syndrome. Doctors gave him up for dead. The condition has no cure

By the time the arguments had finished, 11-month-old Charlies body had already deteriorated too much. On a warm July day, in a courtroom packed with lawyers and leading doctors, it was Connie and Chris who were the unwilling maestros in the final scene of the drama.

Little Charlies slightly-built mother, with a white flower in her flowing blonde hair, stepped into the witness box at the High Court, her eyes brimming with tears.

Displaying bravery and dignity, she announced to the stunned courtroom that it was too late for her baby boy, and he would be taken off life support within a few days. On July 28, 2017, Connie and Chris held each other in sheer anguish  consumed with remorse at failing their son  as the ventilator tubes were gently removed. The guilt of only being able to watch helplessly as his short life ebbed away, has never left them. They will now live with the what if for ever.

Connie said: When you lose a child, its so important to know that you did everything you possibly could. If youve never lost a child, you dont fully understand what the gut-wrenching grief is like.

It doesnt matter if you are two or three or 100 years down the line, grief never dies because love never dies. With Charlie, we felt that we were robbed. But looking back, we were so lucky to have 11 months with him. When the exhausted couple finally returned to their one-bedroom flat in Bedfont, south-west London, everything was almost as they had left it in October 2016 on the fateful day when they had taken Charlie to hospital.

They had kept an uninterrupted bedside vigil. So on their return, they were greeted with the cruel sight of Charlies nappies, new-baby congratulation cards and the tiny clothes he would never wear.

Londons world-famous Great Ormond Street childrens hospital was adamant it would be kinder to let Charlie die

The pair visit their sons grave  a ten-minute walk from their home  almost every day.

It gives them enormous comfort as they process their grief, and they also still regard little Charlie as a fully present member of the family. And so it had to be there, surrounded by the brown leaves of an autumn day last November, that Connie decided the time was right to tell Chris she was pregnant again. She said: I wondered how to tell him. I thought about waiting for Christmas, as a present.

In the end, I decided to tell him in the best way  with Charlie. So I put the pregnancy test in the bottom of our bag, and we both went to visit Charlies resting place. Chris was taking bits out of the bag, and then he found the test right at the bottom.

Chris, a postman, said: I suddenly saw the blue test result, which said pregnant, and I just said, Oh my god!. I was so happy. Just elated. But I was also fearful. I worried about how Connie would take it, if the worst should happen. This time, it is so hard to stop yourself getting scared. There would be a bit more excitement if we had not been through what we went through last time.

But now Im worrying again  because I can never see myself loving another baby as much as Charlie. Unlike some men, Chris is not afraid to let his angst show.

He said: It is difficult to explain, because I want to be able to love this new baby, and Im sure I will, but I will always have that feeling: is Charlie up there, upset at the things we are doing with this new baby?. And he added: It is very important that the new baby doesnt grow up in Charlies shadow  Charlie Gards brother or sister  because they will be their own person.

The family faced a heartbreaking legal battle to secure further treatment for their son Charlie

After years of heartache, Connie and Chris were finally on a path to happiness  but still a dark shadow loomed ahead. What if the new baby had the same awful condition as Charlie?

Connie and Chris had to wait five weeks before DNA tests could be carried out on the unborn child to look for the mutant gene. And after the blood test, the couple then had to endure an agonising fortnights wait for the result.

Connie said: We just tried to keep busy, to take our minds off the result. Stress can be harmful in a pregnancy and so I just tried to keep positive.

Chris said: It was an awful wait. On the Friday of the phone call, we were pacing around in high anxiety, worrying that it would stretch into Monday if they didnt call.

Eventually they rang. We were standing in the living room, shaking. I put my arm around Connie, and took a deep breath. We answered it and put the call on speaker phone so we could both hear. It was one of those moments. This call was going to make us or break us. The geneticist just said, Its good news. Connie immediately burst out crying. She literally couldnt speak. She was just gasping and crying her heart out.

Connie recalled: I dont think Ive ever cried with happiness like that before. I mean, Ive cried with sadness, and Ive cried with happiness when Charlie was born and stuff, but this was something else. It was just because there had been so much anticipation, so much anxiety, and so when she said good news, it was just utterly overwhelming and emotionally draining. I tried to speak, but couldnt.

Chris added: I was cheering and clapping. I was so elated. But I needed to be sure, so I said to the geneticist, Can I just clarify? The baby definitely doesnt have the fault?. She said, No, there is no sign of it. The couples thoughts immediately turned to Charlie.

The couple, pictured outside the High Court, faced an anxious wait for the results of a 12-week scan which indicates their new child is not carrying Chris' defective gene

Chris said: Once Connie had recovered, the first thing we did was go to Charlies grave. We went and thanked him. I kind of prayed to Charlie and asked him just to do his best to try and make sure this one was healthy. I had told him, Your mum deserves this. But then I had to add, If its not healthy, its not your fault.

Between them, Chris and Connie have visited their little boys final resting place almost every day. It has helped me, he says. I can sit there and put the world to rights with him. Because he was such a big part of our lives, he is a big part of this. I cant help thinking hes had something to do with this good news.

Connie was a fantastic mum to Charlie and she will be a fantastic mum again. It is all she has ever dreamed about. It was so traumatic, what we went through. But she has been so strong. She is the glue in our family. Its just the best news. Theres not a person more in this world for me that deserves to be a mum more than her.

The couple do not yet know if they are having a boy or a girl. Chris said: Before Charlie, I strongly wanted a boy. This time, after what happened, I really couldnt care, as long as they are healthy and they have a long life.

They have discussed names, but are not ready to share their ideas until they have met the new member of the family. Connie said: It might begin with C, because we were Connie, Chris and Charlie  the C team.

There were more tears of joy when the couple had their 12-week scan in early February. For the first time, on a sonographers screen, they had a glimpse of the new life taking shape. Chris said: Connie cried straight away when she saw bubba on the screen. She recalled: It was jumping around all over the place. We called it our little jumping bean.

Chris said: We were nervous, as all prospective parents are. You want to know everythings OK. And they went through everything, the heart was OK, the brain was OK, the spine, everything, it just seemed to be tick, tick, tick, tick. It was sheer relief.

Baby Gard number two is due in August  the same birth month as Charlie. During his short life, the childs legal battle rocked the establishment by drawing support from Pope Francis, whose intervention in early July 2017 caused a storm when he deliberately expressed hope that the boys parents would be not ignored.

Connie and Chris have also set up the Charlie Gard Foundation to help other families facing a similar plight. It is part-funded by 1.3million in donations from well-wishers. The couple are also pursuing a Charlies Law, which aims to spare other families similar painful courtroom clashes with doctors

Then US President Donald Trump set aside global events to tweet: If we can help little Charlie Gard, we would be delighted to do so. After Charlie died, his mother and father could scarcely see beyond the next day, let alone focus on their future.

Connie said: At that point, I was not imagining ever having children again. Yet I have always wanted to be a mum. Everyone said, Oh, you are still a mum. Well, yeah, still a mum, just without a child. A mum with empty arms. I dont want to upset readers by this, because I know a lot of them maybe cant have other kids. But its just a fact, the thought of having empty arms for ever did upset me. However after about a year and half, we started to emerge from the fug, and we thought about trying again.

By then, Chris had fulfilled a death-bed promise to his stricken son, and asked Connie to marry him. They are still planning their big day.

Connie and Chris have also set up the Charlie Gard Foundation to help other families facing a similar plight. It is part-funded by 1.3million in donations from well-wishers. The couple are also pursuing a Charlies Law, which aims to spare other families similar painful courtroom clashes with doctors. It would help give parents more rights over what happens to their sick children in hospitals. For Connie and Chris, they now have a chance to focus on a family life of their own. Chris said: There will not be a day that goes by when Charlie is not in our thinking process, in whatever we do. There is a part of me that died when Charlie died, without a shadow of a doubt, and I will be sad for the rest of my life for him.

But you cant let that sadness take over your whole life. Ive got to be the best dad as I can be, to his brother or sister.
Sanusi

I was personally spun into a ruffle and baffle when in 2014; Sanusi Lamido Sanusi jostled with others to become the new Emir of Kano. Inside of me, I queried Sanusis judgment. In wonderment I tried to figure out what was esthetical and bonny to Sanusi in a Kano emirate throne. But Sanusi desired to be Emir. That was his lifelong aspiration and thirst. Rabiu Kwankwaso; then Governor of Kano became the political facilitator who helped bring the dreams to fruition.

SANUSI is an embodiment of royalty even without a palace. From his days as CBN Governor; few saw him as an Emir. Eyes were fixed on him as one who could lead a robust and impactful political movement in Nigeria someday. But Sanusi was adamant because royal blood flows in his vein. True! Royal blood does flow in Lamidos veins and arteries. So does the fluid of generational hex. Sanusis grandfather in the 60s also hungered to become Emir. He did. How did the odyssey end? On Monday; Sanusis dreams snowballed into a nagging nightmare when Governor Umar Ganduje ordered his dethronement and banishment into the remote state of Nasarawa. The same fate his grandfather encountered about sixty years ago. Few hours after Lamidos ousting; a new Pharaoh became king in Egypt. A new Emir; Ado Bayero was given the staff of office. What happened to grandfather has now happened to grandson. A generational hex?

Amidst innuendoes and unproven allegations, he was evicted from Nigerias apex bank CBN as governor. At the CBN; Sanusi was relentlessly active about unearthing activities of frivolities and fraud in government. I watched many of his videos and listened to his talks splitting up the guts of the ruts that swallowed up Nigeria in the crude oil sector. I heard him challenge northern elites who have been accused of submerging the north into protracted penury; and subjecting millions of children of the underprivileged into squalor. But not everything we read and heard about Sanusi was ennobling. His days at the Suleiman Hall or Ribadu hall at the Ahmadu Bello University were not without controversies. He was said to be an adjutant activist at the Muslim Students Society (MSS) in Zaria, a group he helped form to cow down non-Muslims on campus.

In some quarters Sanusi was branded a strange and surreal Islamic fundamentalist. He gulped down the Sufi apologist and quasi-Shiite creeds and ideologies when in the early 90s he hibernated with a horde of other terror-minded fellas in a Sudanese Quranic College under the tutelage of Islamic fundamentalists who bred and churned out terrorists. That was what we read and heard. What was Sanusis role in the public beheading of one Mr. Gideon Akaluka, an Igbo man in Kano1995 who was falselyaccused of desecrating the Muslim holy book? Who knows for certain? But accusing fingers are still pointing at Sanusi.This blotch on his credentials will stay with him forever. All of these chats and more around town went with him into the palace as he got cloistered, swathed and swaddled up under the weighty and powerful regalia of the Emir of Kano. But last Monday; I woke up here on the Midwest Coast of the US to read that Sanusi, in a motorcade of ridiculousness and shame, wasescorted off the lawn of the palatial abode as Emir of Kano.

There are gossips here-and-there why Sanusi had to be dethroned. In a letter dated 9th March, 2020, the deposed Emir was alleged to have disrespect to lawful instructions from the authorities; and refused to attend official programs and meetings organized by the Government. An apparatchik of Kano State Government who was defending his principal on TV said that Ganduje dethroned Sanusi because of the way theGovernor was addressed in public. NIGERIAN politicianstruly think they are God. They have some crazy ego that I still cant fathom. Who is a Governor that a citizen cannot talk to or about? Do they own the state; or pay civil servants from their private pockets? What is wrong with the black man and power for Gods sakes?

If the word disrespect is sincerely a lexicon permitted to be used ONLY by men of integrity who feel slighted, that is way above Gandujes pay grade. Does the governor think Kano people have forgotten how he sold them cheap to highest- bidder-contractors and hiding cold dollar currencies under his flowing but foul Babariga? What was more disrespectful to the Kano people than that cumshaw-concert show-of-shame beamed on small and big screens all around the world? A governor who should have been impeached and prosecuted for bribery and corruption audaciously sat in authority to dethrone an EMIR for disrespect. Only in Nigeria. The guilty, if connected to power, will never pay for his many sins.

Events surrounding the removal of Sanusi is indubitably a dirty political chess-game. They said he talked a lot. They said he dared a lot. They said he stepped on toes a lot. And they dethroned him. But Lamido Sanusi never allowed himself to be dethroned on his knees begging before men. He got dethroned standing up to those he believed are mean men who hate the spoken truth. SANUSI is a man. He is my kind of man. He is my kind of Emir. He is a star that cant be shut down. Even in his deposed and incommunicado state, Sanusi is an unconquerable colossus that self-avowed conquerors cannot silence. He is not in the same league with the likes of Ganduje. Sanusi plays in the global major league that will last as long as he lives. Ganduje plays only in the Kano minor league that will end in 2023.

Sanusi is a cerebral economist, an erudite bluestocking and a man of immense understanding of banking creed and cannon. He is chatty and loquacious. His voluble but passionate smooth-talk spewing out facts and figures is enthralling. For two years in a row, he was named by Emerging Markets Magazine as the Worlds Central Bank Governor of the year. In 2011, he was Times Magazines one of the 100 most influential people in the world. The same year he was Forbes Magazines Africas person of the year. Sanusis feet have traversed the length-and-breadth of the globe in teaching and learning. He is a man of erudition, resolute conviction, and tested truth. What he saw thrillingly and exhilaratingly befitting about being an Emir I didnt see. What he saw in voluntarily confining himself to a palace when he has the world as his operational space puzzled me. I have some royalty in my blood too; but maybe the slice of an Emir royalty thing anon-northerner like me will never understand. But becoming an Emir was Sanusis lifelong hunger. Now; he is confined to facing the consequences of the vain hustle-all alone!

Role reversals do take place in life. One day and it may not be too long from now; those who have shamed Sanusi may have to serve around his table. I dont know Lamido; and Ive never met him. But I am cocksure we have not heard the last of the man. For me, its not time to sing, hasta la vista, Lamido. Not yet Bye-Bye to Kanos best buy. Lamido will be back somehow; and someday. I wish him well.

***

Written by Fola Ojo
Who are we? We should have answered this question a long time ago. Welcome to the land of the free and the home of the brave  for some. My ancestors are from Africa.

Africa was depicted to me as a dark continent with natives, cannibals, Tarzan (king of the jungle), and uncivilized inhabitants not considered to be totally human. Yet, others described Africa as the cradle of life and civilization, and epicenter of many religions being practiced in the world today. The continent is the birthplace of Jesus and not the geopolitical place called the Middle East.

America claims to open its borders to people who are being abused and persecuted in their native lands. Until recently, America asserted itself as being one of the most tolerant and welcoming places on the earth  a virtual melting pot for all aspects of human existence. Reading the history of America and my people, I cannot say that I found the accounts to be very encouraging. American history tells me that my people have been in this country long before many other people, who have enjoyed and continue to enjoy this countrys freedoms and opportunities unabated.

After the majority of this continents indigenous population, the Indians were cruelly slaughtered and herded off their lands, a new frontier was established. History states that many other people came to America via Ellis Island. Ellis Island is a place that has no historical significance to the Indians or my people.

My ancestors were here when the Revolutionary War was fought, when the Civil War was fought, when WWI was fought, when WWII was fought, and all engagements this nation has fought, both foreign and domestic. My people have fought and died under the flag of this nation, however, many of the people of this nation have systematically suppressed our freedoms, opportunities, ownership, family relationships and citizenship. My people were kept in slavery, and social and economic bondage as many good-hearted Americans looked on in horror at the brutal actions of other citizens. The historical contributions and world-changing actions of my people were omitted from Americas history.

Through the actions of Abolitionists and some independent-minded ancestors, our government attempted to release the chains of racial hatred from my people. Many of my ancestors were supposedly liberated from this oppressive racism by the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and finally Affirmative Action Laws and Programs.

The spirit of these aforementioned laws and programs have slowly been eroded by the selfishness and bitterness that remains in the hearts of many of our fellow citizens. Old wounds have been reopened; the anger associated with the grueling civil rights struggle have been rekindled. We are name calling, pointing fingers and clenching fists at each other again. Some citizens have resorted to violence to force their point of view on others.

For a nation that has told the world that the right of citizens to vote is at the heart of our democracy, our governments at the National and State level are again establishing policies to hinder or prevent its citizens from freely expressing their right to vote. Furthermore, many citizens have convinced themselves that they should arm themselves, and support building a wall along our southern border. One would think that by now everyone should understand that carrying a firearm will not provide citizenry protection, and building a wall on a countrys borders like China and Germany tried, will never be functional. No weapon can destroy fear and hatred in mankinds heart, nor will a wall prevent our nation from sharing its freedoms, and opportunities with other people.

So, who will we blame this time for our inhumanity? How about Manifest Destiny, Reconstructionist, Carpet Baggers, the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow Laws, the Third Reich, the Russians, Conservatives, Liberals, Socialists, the Black Panther Party, Freedom Riders, Communists, Pro-Choice people, Anti-Abortionists, Big Government, Republicans, Democrats, Dreamers, Birthers, Immigrants, Migrants, Social Media, the Mentally Ill, the Ukrainians, Supreme Court Judges, Politicians, and so the list goes on and on.

When are we going to learn how to accept each other without unreasonable conditions? Oh yeah, dont forget to send in your census data and vote.

John E. Cunningham is a retired educator from the Alton School District. He resides in Edwardsville, IL with his wife Carmen. He has been a member and officer of the Edwardsville Branch #3014 of the NAACP since the early nineties. He has been President of the Branch since 2016.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- While Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered all K-12 school buildings in the state to close for three weeks beginning Monday, March 16, some school districts in West Michigan have closed their doors early.

Grand Rapids Public Schools, Forest Hills Public Schools and Rockford Public Schools are among the districts that elected to close Friday, March 13.

Other public school districts that closed their doors Friday include Byron Center, Cedar Springs, East Grand Rapids, Grandville, Ionia, Kentwood, Paw Paw, and Wyoming.

WZZM13.com listed more than 100 closings for Friday. For a complete listing, click here.

GRPS facilities will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for staff, parents and guardians to collect personal belongings.

Forest Hills Public Schools said its students were only scheduled for a half-day on Friday. Instead, no classes will be held. the district will contact families when a time is determined to allow for belongings to be picked up.

We have been preparing for this possibility and we will be communicating with all families very soon about at-home learning opportunities, Superintendent Dan Behm wrote on the districts Facebook page. Our teachers and staff will be meeting on Friday to spend more time refining these plans.

Whitmers decision to close schools for three weeks was announced Thursday evening after public health officials confirmed Michigan now has 12 presumptive positive tests for coronavirus, up from the first two announced on Tuesday, when the governor declared a state of emergency.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID-19 virus has sickened 1,215 people and resulted in 36 deaths, nationally.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

Read more on MLive:

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Assisted living facilities limiting visitors to curb coronavirus spread

MHSAA suspends all winter sports
OPECs second-largest producer, Iraq, has been grappling with street protests for months and the coronavirus outbreak for a few weeks, and now it faces another tough test for its financesthe oil price crash will likely force heavily-oil-dependent Iraq to suspend new infrastructure and energy projects.

The OPEC producer may also have to resort to international borrowing to make sure it can pay salaries to public servants after oil prices collapsed to half the price Baghdad had planned to budget this year, Iraqi lawmakers and officials told Reuters.

Iraq, which relies on oil revenues for 95 percent of its budgetary income, is one of the least diversified economies in the Middle East. It will likely have to enforce strict austerity measures after its fellow OPEC member and the cartels de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, launched an all-out oil price war with Russia, after the former allies abruptly ended the OPEC+ production cut deal last Friday.

The oil price collapse ... means the deficit will be doubled and the only choice left for Iraq is to resort to international creditors, Mudhhir Salih, an economic advisor in the office of Iraqs prime minister, told Reuters.

According to an analysis of Iraq Oil Report of official Iraqi export data, should Brent Crude prices stay at around US$30 a barrel, Iraqs revenues would be less than US$3 billion a month, which is US$2 billion short of the sum Iraq needs just to pay its current expenses.

The oil price war will hurt the fiscal revenues of the oil producers in the Persian Gulf, including the Saudis, credit rating agency Fitch said earlier this week and warned that a new wave of sovereign rating downgrades could be in the works if the oil slump continues.

The oil price war and the price crash will impact all economies in the Middle East, but Iraqs precarious position even before the price collapse could make it one of the biggest losers in the OPEC-Russia standoff.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Newsy notes and tidbits from around The Woodlands.

The cancellation of a proposed study of contracted out law enforcement services with eight different Harris County constables offices by a Harris County commissioner was welcomed by Gordy Bunch, chairman of The Woodlands Township Board of Directors on Wednesday, March 11.

Bunch said the proposed study, initially proposed by Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, was not necessary.

The Woodlands currently has a contract for law enforcement services in The Village of Creekside Park with the Harris County Precinct 4 Constables Office. The community is the only portion of The Woodlands that is in Harris County and is not patrolled by Montgomery County sheriffs deputies like the majority of the township is.

Had (Garcias) study and potential elimination of contract law enforcement moved forward The Woodlands Township Creekside Park residents and businesses would have lost dedicated law enforcement services they are accustomed to having. I am pleased to see the proposal has been pulled and hope it never resurfaces, Bunch said in an email to The Villager. Counties struggle to fund Law Enforcement at levels communities desire and without the 100s of contract patrol deputies on the streets public safety would be at risk as there would be an inadequate number of law enforcement personnel.

According to previous news articles about the proposed study in The Houston Chronicle, Garcia sought to review the constables dispatch functions and contract deputy program, in which neighborhoods pay for extra patrols, in search of ways to cut costs. The commissioner said he regretted how his office rolled out the proposal.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Facing withering criticism, Garcia pulls proposed study of contract deputy program

To the deputy constables who are out there, doing a good job, putting their lives at risk let me just apologize in part for the fear this item may have caused them, Garcia said. But also apologize for how others characterized the intent of this item. The intent was never to eliminate any jobs.

Woodlands transit officials conduct ridership survey

Officials from The Woodlands Township Transit Department recently conducted a ridership survey mandated by federal regulations and have a report to township directors on ridership statistics, notably rates of non-English speakers using The Woodlands Express and the Town Center Trolley program.

John Powers, the assistant general manager for community services, and Scott Parker, from consultant HDR, provided the update to township directors, focusing on several key factors, including where riders of the Woodlands Express and Town Center Trolley lived; how many riders spoke a primary language aside from English and what plans the township may have to cope with non-English speakers.

The duo reported that only 33 percent of the riders on the Town Center Trolley service are township residents, with the remainder of riders being visitors, tourists or others. The most common onboarding site for the trolley was at The Woodlands Mall with the most common uses for the trolley being listed as recreation and shopping. On The Woodlands Express, which ferries workers to various stops in downtown Houston and the Texas Medical Center, 54 percent of riders were township residents.

The update also included a required study of non-English speaking riders, as mandated by Title 6 of the Civil Rights Act. The Federal Transit Administration requirement says all transit departments receiving federal funding must document all encounters with non-English speakers, called limited English proficiency riders, and then to develop a strategy to enhance communication with the language of the largest number of LEP-classified riders. The most common language of riders outside of English is Spanish; and the township has a LEP  language assistance program  to assist those riders, the pair noted.

Parker said the townships transit services as a whole are excellent.

Yall have one of the best park and ride systems in the country, Parker said. And you should be proud of it.

Woodlands Transit officials enhance cleaning of buses, trolleys

Officials with The Woodlands Township Transit Department announced on new cleaning and disinfectant measures being implemented on all Woodlands Express buses as well as the Town Center trolleys.

In an early morning post on their Twitter feed, Transit Deparment officials said staff was, currently securing supplies for the Woodlands Express disinfecting and sanitizing program.

All Park & Ride service buses will be cleaned. For the safety of our passengers, please take preventive measures before boarding the bus, the post stated. As a precautionary measure, BTD is increasing the intensity of their sanitizing procedures on all transit vehicles. BTD crews are disinfecting frequently-used surfaces daily.

As of Friday, March 13, there had been no changes to bus schedules or routes due to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic.

Gas leak causes brief closure of Research Forest Drive

Commuters and residents had another closure to deal with on Monday, March 9, when all lanes of Research Forest Drive were closed in both directions near the intersection of Alden Bridge Drive. The closure happened after a contractor ruptured a CenterPoint Energy gas line. Traffic was directed to alternate routes until mid-afternoon on Tuesday, March 10.

On Tuesday, Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack posted a note on his offices Twitter feed On Tuesday announcing the main thoroughfare had re-opened. The road was closed Tuesday evening after a gas leak was discovered by staff from CenterPoint Energy. As of noon on Wednesday, Noack said CenterPoint Energy officials had turned off all gas feeds into the area allowing for the road to be re-opened.

The closure is the second massive closure of a portion of Research Forest Drive in a six-month timeframe. In mid-September, 2019, the major thoroughfare through The Woodlands was closed at the intersection of Technology Forest Boulevard for roughly two weeks after a water line underneath the road collapsed.

 Chronicle reporter Zach Despart contributed to this report.

jeff.forward@chron.com
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on Friday (March 13, 2020) cautioned against a fake Office Memorandum (OM) issued in its name, claiming that holidays have been declared in government offices in four states in view of the Coronavirus disease.

The fake OM says that holiday is mandatory to all schools, colleges, educational institutes, workplace having more than 10 employees in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim.

This holiday has been declared from 14 to 21 March and says that in case of any violation, a fine of Rs 5,000 will be imposed.

The Ministry issued a clarification that read: A fake O.M. from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has been doing the rounds today. The fake O.M. is regarding the subject Clarification regarding the declaration of holidays for the States and is dated 13th March 2020.

It is clarified that the above mentioned O.M is fake and has NOT BEEN issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

The Health Ministry also warned that necessary action under extant law is being initiated in this regard.

Earlier on Friday, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary of the Health Ministry, said that till now, there have been 81 confirmed coronavirus cases in India, out of which 64 are Indians, 16 Italians and one a Canadian national.

The Health Ministry also uploaded data showing the state-wise breakup of COVID-19 cases on its official website. The data took into account cases compiled till 5 pm on Friday. According to the ministry, there are at least 64 Indian nationals and 17 foreigners who are confirmed COVID-19 cases. One person died in Karnataka on Thursday.

Delhi has six cases, all are Indians, while in Haryana there are 14 confirmed cases and all the patients are foreign nationals. Kerala reported most cases: 19 (including 3 who recovered).

After Kerala, Maharashtra has confirmed most cases, at least 14. In Uttar Pradesh 11 cases have been reported, of which, 10 patients are Indians and 1 is a foreigner. There are six cases in Karnataka, including the first death reported in India due to COVID-19.

Rajasthan has reported three cases, of which one patient is an Indian national and two are foreigners. At least one confirmed case has been reported from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab. Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir also reported one confirmed case while Union Territory of Ladakh confirmed three cases.

Of the total 81 cases of coronavirus in India on Friday, 10 have so been cured. "Three persons from Kerala have recovered from the disease earlier. Seven more persons have recovered at the Safdarjung hospital today," Lav Agarwal told the media.

According to the Health Ministry, there are at least 64 Indian nationals and 17 foreigners who are confirmed COVID-19 cases. Amid the coronavirus outbreak, social media has been flooded with a deluge of misinformation with fact-checkers working round the clock to debunk false claims.
Indias April gold prices fell more than 1 percent on March 13, tracking weakness in international prices as a coronavirus driven rout in global equities forced investors to cover margin calls.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), April gold contracts were trading lower by Rs 449, or 1.06 percent, at Rs 41,757 per 10 gram at 1030 hours.

Gold and silver were hammered a day earlier after global equities saw a meltdown worse than the one during the 2008 financial crisis. The virus that is spreading rapidly outside China, the country from where the outbreak began, triggered panic in international markets.

Bullion also witnessed heavy selling on March 12, with gold testing lows of $1,560 per troy ounce and silver $15.60 per troy ounce.

The volatility is likely to continue, as traders sell gold to make up for margin calls, say experts. The metal could trade in the range of Rs 41,100-43,000.

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

Both the precious metals slipped despite ECB and FED announced QE programmes and global equities plunged again. It seems margin calling pressure also affect precious metals. Looking at the free fall in global equities, precious metals will be highly volatile today, Manoj Jain, Director, IndiaNivesh Commodities, told Moneycontrol.

At MCX, gold is expected to be traded in the range of 41,100-43,000 and silver is expected to be traded in the range of 42800-45100 levels. Market will highly volatile due to weekend session and volatility in global financial markets, he said.

Trading strategy

Expert: Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency), LKP Securities

On the daily chart, gold traded weak on March 12, as it closed below 20-EMA for the first time in 2020. Prices fell further on March 13 and were on track to post their biggest weekly drop in nearly seven years, as a rout in global equities forced investors to cover margin calls.

Major moving averages--20, 50, 100-days EMA-- suggesting profit booking can continue, as markets try to cover margin globally following heavy weakness in equity markets.

The overall trend remains positive till the time Rs 39,500 holds on a closing basis but selling will be seen. For the day, Rs 41,600-41,875 will act as resistance and Rs 41,450-41,175 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.
EAST LANSING, MI  Michigan State University sent a message to its study abroad students Thursday giving them five days to make arrangements to get back to the United States.

Study abroad programs around the world have been disrupted amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michigan study abroad programs affected as universities take precautions against coronavirus

In an email to students, MSU said its primary focus is on student health and safety.

Unfortunately, there are no options for you to remain in your host country at this time or to transfer to another education abroad program, the email reads.

Students are advised to depart for the United States immediately and no later than Tuesday, March 17, 2020.

Emily Gerkin Guerrant, spokesperson for MSU, said the university asked students in China, South Korea and Italy to come back earlier this week when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning against all non-essential travel to those countries.

With the growing cases around the world and the travel, logistical challenges that are starting to happen as a result of that, we felt it was the best decision to not just pull all of the Europe students back, but all of our international students, Gerkin Guerrant said.

The email says students should contact their airline to discuss options, and they should inform MSU of their updated travel plans. The email said many airlines are waiving change fees, but if students incur flight change fees, they should submit a receipt with flight itinerary to education abroad senior assistant director Elizabeth Wandschneider for reimbursement to their MSU student account.

The email said students who received an Education Abroad scholarship are permitted to retain those funds. For any other scholarships, students should contact the MSU unit from which they received the award.

Your MSU colleges are aware of your situation and we would all like to support you academically during this unexpected change of plans, the email reads.

More Michigan coronavirus news here.

The University of Michigan announced Wednesday its education abroad programs will be altered or suspended. In the announcement, UM said each education abroad program will have unique needs and considerations as we make plans to bring them home.

UM will work with students to assist them with safety, location, ability to travel and disruption to academic progress, as well as helping them with arrangements and academic accommodations including credit for their coursework, the announcement says.

The announcement says UM is canceling its education abroad programs for the spring semester and will later decide on programs that start on or after July 1. The announce followed previous cancellations of all university-related travel to and education abroad programs in CDC level three travel warning countries, which includes China, South Korea, Iran and Italy.

UM also announced Friday it is canceling spring commencement at all three of its campuses. The university is also asking students who are able to do so to move home as soon as possible and encourages opportunities for employees to work remotely. UM also said final exams will take place remotely in alternative formats.

University of Michigan cancels spring commencements amid fight against coronavirus spread

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

MORE CORONAVIRUS NEWS:

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer bans gatherings of more than 250 people as coronavirus spreads

Were going to get through this,' says Gov. Whitmer as she orders K-12 schools closed over coronavirus

University of Michigan students concerned about coronavirus impact on classes, graduation

2 people with coronavirus in Washtenaw County recovering at home, officials say

Ann Arbor agencies aim to continue food-security programs amid coronavirus outbreak

Federal courts in eastern Michigan postponing nearly all court hearings amid coronavirus concerns

Ann Arbor Film Festival in-person events canceled due to coronavirus concerns

Michigan Flyer suspends bus services to Detroit Metro Airport through April 15

Big Ten puts Michigan State football spring practice on hold, Spartans pro day canceled

Monster Energy AMA Supercross at Ford Field cancelled, wont be rescheduled

Gilmore Keyboard Festival canceled amid risk of coronavirus

The Ark cancels nearly 20 concerts in Ann Arbor due to coronavirus outbreak

Big Ten Mens basketball tournament canceled
President Donald Trump faced one of the gravest threats of his political career as the coronavirus pandemic spread, leaving fellow Republicans to worry that the White House's response and the hit to the economy would harm his re-election prospects.

U.S. stock market indexes that Trump has touted throughout his term as evidence of his success plunged into bear market territory on Thursday - a day after he tried to calm Americans' fears with an Oval Office address that promised economic stimulus and a 30-day travel ban for Europeans.

Some Republicans worried that the measures were too little, too late for an administration that for several weeks minimized the risk of the COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the virus that has killed at least 39 Americans.

"The president's early downplaying and politicizing of the virus hurt his credibility and will make people question the administration's readiness from now until the day this passes," said Mike DuHaime, a Republican strategist who ran Chris Christie's gubernatorial campaigns in New Jersey.

"The president's greatest strength has been the economy. If the stock markets continue to tank, and real people begin to hurt financially, it will hurt the president politically."

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

Trump emerged triumphant last month after his Senate acquittal in a Democratic-led impeachment drive, ready to ride high on a strong economy as a crowded field of Democratic candidates bickered over who was best to take him on in November's general election.

The narrative quickly changed. Moderate Democrats in the past two weeks have consolidated their support behind former Vice President Joe Biden over liberal Senator Bernie Sanders. They are betting that Biden can draw support from across the party, as well as from suburban moderates and disaffected Republicans.

Biden seized the chance to offer a contrast to voters with his own coronavirus speech on Thursday. He lambasted the administration's handling of the crisis while seeking to portray himself as a steady, experienced hand in the face of a public health emergency.

"I'd rather be Joe Biden than Trump right now," said a Republican official close to the White House. "A month ago, Trump is looking at Bernie Sanders and a strong economy and rising favourability after impeachment. Coronavirus cannot have a positive impact."

Trump's re-election campaign defended the president's actions and in a statement accused Biden of trying to "capitalize politically and stoke citizens' fears."

The growing threat from the coronavirus forced Trump on Thursday to reverse course and suspend his large campaign rallies.

"The safety, security and health of the American People is President Trump's top priority right now," the Trump campaign said in a text.

'ADVERSARIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TRUTH'

Noting that Trump had called the disease a "foreign virus," Biden warned against "xenophobia" and said the coronavirus "does not discriminate based on national origin, race, gender or ZIP code."

Biden laid out his own plan for dealing with the outbreak, including emergency paid sick leave for workers and widely available free testing for the virus, saying the number of tests should number in the "millions, not the thousands." The Trump administration has been criticized for failing to produce enough tests to meet demand.

"This virus laid bare the severe shortcomings of the current administration," the former vice president said in his 20-minute address from his home state of Delaware. "Public fears are being compounded by pervasive lack of trust in this president fuelled by an adversarial relationship with the truth."

Sanders, who has vowed to remain in the race despite lengthening odds, also bashed Trump's handling of the crisis. He called for stronger action by government agencies to halt the spread of the virus and for measures such as paid sick leave and unemployment compensation for those affected.

"During a crisis we must make sure that we care for the communities most vulnerable to health and economic pain," Sanders told reporters in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont.

A Trump supporter and fundraiser said the coronavirus outbreak had been politicized, like every issue in the United States.

"The battle lines are drawn," said Jim Worthington, a health club executive in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. "If you like Trump, you think he's done all the things right, like cutting off travel to China. If you're a Democrat, you think the opposite.

"I think he's been ahead of the issue, and the media has really overhyped it," Worthington said, adding that he thought the virus should be taken seriously.

The crisis has reshaped the contours of the presidential campaign. Democratic officials announced on Thursday that Sunday's televised debate between Biden and Sanders would be moved to Washington from Arizona.

Officials had already decided not to allow an audience into the debate hall, citing contagion concerns.

Biden, Sanders and Trump have all cancelled campaign events in recent days after warnings from public health officials about holding large-scale gatherings. Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio hold Democratic nominating contests on Tuesday.

Biden's campaign on Wednesday converted planned rallies in Florida and Illinois into "virtual" events and on Thursday said all staffers would begin to work from home beginning Saturday. Sanders' staffers will also work from home, reaching out to voters online instead of holding large events or door-to-door canvasses, his campaign said Thursday.

Late Thursday, Trump's campaign said its events would also all be conducted in a virtual setting, including moving training sessions online.

One Republican strategist said Trump's handling of the coronavirus was hurting him now but that it was too soon to gauge its impact on his long-term political prospects. Reuters/Ipsos polling from March 9-10 showed 55% of Americans disapproved of Trump, while 40% approved, largely unchanged from the past year.

"A few weeks ago, the president's supporters were very dismissive of the virus. Today, they are being very silent," the Republican political operative said. "It's a supply chain issue, and he's the supply chain president. When he says we have test kits on the ground and we don't, that's a real problem."
Coco Austin is still breastfeeding her daughter Chanel who is four years old.

The 40-year-old wife of Law & Order vet and rapper Ice-T revealed on Friday that she thinks it is best for her little one as she shared an image where she had on heavy makeup as she was breastfeeding her child.

'At a time when the world feels like its coming to an end.. suck up as much love as you can!' began the former dancer turned reality TV star who was referring to the spreading of the coronavirus.

With mom: Coco Austin is still breastfeeding her daughter Chanel who is four years old. The 40-year-old wife of Law & Order vet and rapper Ice-T revealed on Friday that she thinks it is best for her little one as she shared an image where she had on heavy makeup as she was breastfeeding her child

Her mini me: 'At a time when the world feels like its coming to an end.. suck up as much love as you can!' began the former dancer turned reality TV star who was referring to the spreading of the coronavirus

'I know the moms out there will appreciate this pic!' added the bombshell who often poses in her lingerie.

'Ive been getting alot of props in the breasfeeding community and get tons of emails from woman/moms appreciating me bringing light to the subject ..

'I write a baby blog about my journey with Chanel and soon I will write about what it's like to continue boob time with a 4 year old..

Little Chanel: here the child is seen with her father Ice-T as well as mom and their two dogs

'I get tons and tons of requests that want me to speak on it!

He was younger than Chanel: In 2012, Jamie Grumet was seen breastfeeding her son, three, on the cover of Time magazine

'At this point in nursing its just for comfort and believe me the girl loves meat so its not like she isnt eating real food...

'Thank you to all that understand my view.. i see most of you are so eager to side with me and I too root for you in your journey as well.. Us moms are connected.'

Her hashtags were for 'breastfeeding for comfort, 'wean when they are ready,' and 'toddler breastfeeding.'

In 2012, it was considered shocking when mom Jamie Grumet was seen breastfeeding her son on the cover of Time magazine when he was three years old.

He stood on a stool to reach her chest. She said she subscribes to 'attachment parenting.'

The World Health Organization and UNICEF have recommended for a decade that mothers breastfeed for at least two years.

Their pride and joy: Coco, Chanel and Ice-T attend the Treach & Cicely Evans Wedding at Waterside Reception Hall in September in North Bergen, New Jersey

When should a mother stop breastfeeding? The World Health Organization and UNICEF have recommended that mothers breastfeed for at least two years. But most US women who nurse stop before their baby is six months old. Many moms breastfeed their children past the age of one, well into toddlerhood. According to BunMaternity, when a baby has cut down on the length of nursing sessions and wants them less frequently, that is a sign that they are ready to wean. The first step towards weaning a baby is introducing foods alongside breast milk around the age of six months. At nine months a baby can swallow and fully receive nutrients from food other than breast milk or formula. In 2012, there was shock when mom Jamie Grumet was seen breastfeeding her son on the cover of Time magazine when he was three years old. Advertisement

But most US women who nurse stop before their baby is six months old  and many never start at all.

Many medical experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, strongly recommend breastfeeding exclusively (no formula, juice, or water) for 6 months.

And breastfeeding for a year at least with other foods which should be started at 6 months of age, such as vegetables, grains, fruits, proteins.

According to webMD, 'Breast milk provides the ideal nutrition for infants. It has a nearly perfect mix of vitamins, protein, and fat -- everything your baby needs to grow.'

It was added that those nutrients are combined in a way that is easy for the baby to digest.

'Breast milk contains antibodies that help your baby fight off viruses and bacteria.

'Breastfeeding lowers your baby's risk of having asthma or allergies.

'Plus, babies who are breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months, without any formula, have fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses, and bouts of diarrhea. They also have fewer hospitalizations and trips to the doctor.'

The site also noted that breastfeeding 'has been linked to higher IQ scores in later childhood in some studies.'

It was noted that breastfed infants 'are more likely to gain the right amount of weight' as they grow rather than 'become overweight children.'

It is widely believed that breastfeeding helps the mother lose weight faster as it releases the hormone oxytocin, 'which helps your uterus return to its pre-pregnancy size and may reduce uterine bleeding after birth.'

Out to dinner with mommy and daddy: Here the three are seen at a restaurant

She loves a new look: In recent months Coco has had pink hair; she said she will go back to blonde soon
Private schools have asked for more time to adjust to a new funding model under which a third will have their government support cut despite an overall funding boost of $4.6 billion for non-government schools.

Criticising newly introduced legislation that will distribute funding based on parents' taxable income, the Independent Schools Council of Australia said 350 schools would receive $1.8 billion less between now and 2029 than under the existing method.

Private schools have hit out at a new funding model. Credit:Michele Mossop

Sixty-five per cent of the sector, or 652 schools, will have increased or unchanged funding levels, with a $1.6 billion lift over the decade. Accounting for all "winning" and "losing" schools, the private school sector says it will lose $212 million under the nationwide shift to needs-based funding across school sectors.

While some schools will have their funding reduced, private and Catholic schools overall are set to receive a $4.6 billion increase over the decade. This includes a $1.2 billion "choice and affordability" fund, partly designed to help schools transition although the systems will have wide discretion over how it is spent.
A Guatemalan woman and her unborn baby died after attempting to scale a border wall.

EL PASO, Texas A 19-year-old pregnant Guatemalan who fell attempting to scale the border barrier near El Paso, Texas, has died, the Guatemalan consulate said Thursday. Her fetus did not survive.

Miriam Estefany Giron Luna, who was seven or eight months pregnant, plummeted nearly 20 feet from the steel mesh border wall in Clint, Texas, on Saturday, landing on her back. She suffered severe injuries.

A male companion, the presumed father of the unborn child, went searching for help, the consulate said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that Border Patrol agents responded and called an ambulance to the site. Giron Luna was transported to a local hospital where she underwent an emergency C-section.

Despite the best efforts of our Border Patrol agents and medical professionals, sadly more lives have perished at the hands of human smugglers, said El Paso Border Patrol sector Chief Gloria Chavez.

Someone in Mexico guided this eight-month pregnant woman from Guatemala to this section of the border and encouraged her and helped her climb the steel mesh border barrier," Chavez said. "We will engage our law enforcement partners in Mexico to find those responsible for placing these lives in danger.

The consulate said Giron Luna was "about seven months pregnant" and suffered a brain hemorrhage, damage to her liver and kidneys, a fractured pelvis and other wounds. She received multiple surgeries but died Tuesday.

Dilver Israel Diaz Garcia, the woman's 26-year-old companion, is in Border Patrol custody, the consulate said.

Giron Luna was originally from Guatemala's San Marcos department, which borders Mexico's southernmost Chiapas state. The consulate said efforts are being made to repatriate her body.

Migrants are taking increasing risks to cross the Southwest border illegally as border security has tightened and access to the U.S. asylum system has been restricted, experts say.

Last August, a 20-year-old Guatemalan woman was found dead in an irrigation canal in east El Paso near the border highway, according to the consulate. Vilma Mendoza was from Guatemala's Baja Verapaz department, north of Guatemala City.

Story continues

Mendoza had requested asylum at the U.S. border in July and was subjected to the Trump administration's "Migrant Protection Protocols" and returned to Juarez to await court hearings.

Border Patrol apprehensions in the El Paso sector that includes West Texas and New Mexico have slowed from a year ago. Agents apprehended 23,181 people in the first five months of fiscal 2020, down 53% from 48,959 people apprehended from October through February 2019.

CBP said, according to its policies, the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility has begun a review of the incident.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Pregnant teen falls from Texas border wall, loses baby and dies
Grime rapper Solo 45, real name Andy Anokye, has been convicted of raping four women.

The 33-year-old was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court of 30 charges relating to a two-year period.

Anokye was unanimously convicted of 21 rapes, five counts of false imprisonment, two counts of assault by penetration and two of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The musician, who was part of Boy Better Know, had denied 31 charges, including 22 of rape and five of false imprisonment.

Judge William Hart adjourned sentencing for a date to be fixed and ordered a psychiatric report to be carried out on Anokye.

During the trial, which began in November, jurors watched videos filmed by Anokye which allegedly show him raping the complainants.

Judge Hart sent the jury of seven men and five women out to consider their verdicts in the case on Monday morning.

During his closing speech to the jury, Christopher Quinlan QC, prosecuting, described Anokye as a narcissist and a violent bully.

Anokye is from London but had a flat in Bristol.

Quinlan said: Not one of the women from whom you have heard said that they consented to what he says is a game  the rape game.

They marked a boundary and he trashed it because he doesnt recognise boundaries, either for himself or others.

Quinlan noted there were striking similarities in the accounts given by the women, but Anokye refuted this.

These included the use of weapons, holding them against their will, holding a cloth with bleach on to their face, and water-boarding them.

Defence lawyer Sally ONeill told jurors that the videos they had watched showed rough, sometimes unpleasant but importantly, consensual, sexual activity between Anokye and the four complainants.

She described the four complainants as independent, adult women who were operating on a level playing field.

ONeill argued that the women had full knowledge of the type of sex Anokye liked to engage in, and agreed to participate in it.

She told the jury: What we have watched may make some of us cringe, but it doesnt make it non-consensual.

Anokye was arrested in 2017 after a woman claimed she had been raped at his waterfront apartment in Bristol.

Following his arrest, police examined videos and images on his digital devices and contacted further women.

---Source: metro.co.uk
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 02:57:41|Editor: huaxia

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Abu Subhi, a 62-year-old man, climbs piles of debris to get to his shattered home in Aleppo city, northern Syria, on March 11, 2020. The Syrian war is entering its 10th year, and the living people are trying to pull themselves together with the burdens of war still hanging over their shoulders. (Photo by Hummam Sheikh Ali/Xinhua)

by Hummam Sheikh Ali

ALEPPO, Syria, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian war is entering its 10th year, and the living people are trying to pull themselves together with the burdens of war still hanging over their shoulders.

Aleppo is one of the Syrian cities that have witnessed all kinds of woes during the war.

Almost everyone has suffered a certain loss, whether losing a family member, losing homes or reeling under tough economic hardships.

LOSING HOME

For Abu Subhi, a 62-year-old man, the hardest hit he took during the war was getting displaced several times after his home in old Aleppo was reduced to ruins during the battles there.

The man returned four years ago, when the war ended in eastern Aleppo, to find his home completely destroyed except for one room.

"A palace" that is what he called it, once a big house that grouped the entire family on happy occasions.

Now, the old man climbed piles of debris and rubble to get to the ruins of his shattered home, a view that resembles the remains of Titanic under the ocean.

On what used to be a window, Abu Subhi sat and looked into the destruction around him, remembering the old sweet memories he had in every corner.

"We lived in bliss and that bliss was a great one but when the war came, we lost everything. I lost lots of money and got displaced several times," the man told Xinhua.

On the biggest loss during the war, he said it's his "palace" because his best memories and moments were in that house.

"This home is the most precious to me and it's still my only hope even though it's destroyed. I come here and cry because I had lived the most beautiful days of my life here," he said.

After his loss, the man is still in despair, as his children and grandchildren left the country during the war and now he lives with his wife in another area in Aleppo.

He said it has been a long time since he laughed from his heart. "It's only the lips that smile today, but my heart is crying," he told Xinhua.

"Around 50 people used to gather in this home; my children and grandchildren. Today all I have is a memory," he said.

Abu Subhi now works in his shop, selling tablecloths to make a living.

The job provides a venue for him to socialize with his neighbors and try to take his mind off the calamities he had suffered during the war.

ECONOMIC HARDSHIP

Um al-Noor, a woman in her 50s, is another example from Aleppo. The woman had enjoyed a very comfy life ahead of the war, as she used to work as a DJ in women-only parties, a part-time job just to keep her amused.

Today, the woman is working on a taxicab, which is a job usually for men in Syria. The woman's health is not that good and she lost her son in the beginning of the war while he was in the military service.

Working 12 hours per day, al-Noor said it still cannot afford much of her needs.

Al-Noor is one of the thousands of women who found themselves facing the tough war and life conditions alone.

"The war was so unfair and it got us here. All Syrians know that the women in Aleppo were pampered ahead of the war, but during the war, we have worked in everything for our livelihood," she told Xinhua.

DOUBLE LOSSES

Lilas Nabhan, a 10-year-old girl, has suffered twice at the same time: losing her father and her leg by a blind mortar shell.

It happened in 2016, when the rebels were still in Aleppo's eastern part. Nabhan had just finished a visit to her grandmother's house on the occasion of the Muslim feast, when she wanted to buy some candies.

Asking her father to buy her some candies, the rest of the family continued to walk down the street, while she and her father fell behind to enter a shop.

Suddenly, a mortar shell exploded, and the girl blacked out.

Later, she learned that her father died and she lost her right leg while the rest of the family members escaped unscathed physically but endured a heavy emotional trauma with their double losses.

After the incident, the girl was feeling so sad but her family stood by her side, so did her schoolmates, which enabled her to overcome her despair.

"My injury didn't affect my future or my dreams because I love life and I am always optimistic. I say that this is the will of God and I cannot do anything about it and it's not affecting me. I want to become an actor or a lawyer," the girl said.

Her mother, Fatima Suruji, said the unfortunate event leading to her husband's death and her daughter's injury will never be forgotten, particularly that it happened on the first day of Eid, a feast when people celebrate.

"There is no more joy for us on this occasion and this memory will be in my head forever, as Lilas's situation has affected me most. I stood by her side and I took her to several activities when I felt she was angry or sad. I later bought her crutches to help her walk around ... and she was helping herself," Suruji told Xinhua.

HOPE FOR BETTER TOMORROW

Abdul-Karim Sangari is an old barber who owns a barbershop in the Hamidiyeh area in Homs city in central Syria. His house was destroyed in the Khalidiyeh neighborhood and he had to change several homes during the war.

However, the man didn't leave Syria and is now encouraging all those who left to return and to rebuild their lives even if it was from scratch.

"I stayed here in the country I didn't leave. We only left for the safe areas but we never left Syria. We returned when Homs became safe because there is nothing more beautiful than one's own country and home. I call on the people who left to return to their homes and country because one's country is very precious," said the old man.

As the country's war is entering its 10th year, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a report on Friday that around 11 million Syrians rely on relief aid while tens of thousands have gone missing.

It said one in two Syrians is displaced. Also, two million children have dropped out of school or didn't get the chance to attend a school in the first place.
Calaveras County Board of Supervisors 2019 View Photo

San Andreas, CA  The Calaveras supervisors will hold a special meeting to ratify two recent emergency declarations involving COVID-19 impacts.

Next Tuesday, the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors anticipate adopting a resolution ratifying the local health emergency declaration made on Wednesday by County Health Officer Dr. Dean Kelaita after he reported two confirmed cases of coronavirus within the county. Based on what is currently known about the nature and transmission of the virus it is thought that more confirmed local cases unrelated to travel are likely.

The declaration will enable the county to more efficiently respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, seek and use mutual aid, potentially obtain partial reimbursement, and ensure local public health professionals and providers have all the necessary personal protective equipment to provide quality care and help keep the community safe.

They will also adopt a second resolution ratifying a Level 1 (highest level) local disaster proclamation made Tuesday by OES Director John Osbourn due to the confirmed cases. The grounds are that the COVID-19 outbreak has caused emergency conditions beyond the immediate capabilities of local resources, services, personnel, equipment, and facilities, and has caused ongoing financial and other implications for the county.

In another regular agenda item, the supes will consider adopting the Debt Advisory Committees recommendation for the countys HVAC replacement project.

The committee earlier recommended that CAO Al Alt develop financing data for the project for its consideration with the assistance of a municipal financial advisory firm. As a result of those actions, Alt engaged the services of KNN Public Finance, a municipal finance firm that works with multiple California counties.

KNN reviewed the County Public Finance Policy, HVAC replacement project details, the Countys debt profile, and credit rating and prepared a debt financing recommendation for the committee to vet. It involves a Direct Placement/Private Placement for a term of 10 years. The supervisors will hear about the potential impacts of the financing on other potential future projects that may also require debt financing.

The board also plans to hear a presentation and update on the implementation of the Commercial Cannabis program ahead of directing staff regarding proposed policy changes and ordinance amendments.

The Administrative Office and its Division of Cannabis Control will be providing data on the number of permit applications that have been received, the total amount of fees that have been collected.

Other aspects of program implementation will be up for discussion along with the airing of suggested amendments and changes to resolve or mitigate regulatory hurdles and other practical problems in order to make the application process more efficient.

Members of the public who wish to stay home in light of the COVID-19 outbreak is encouraged to email suggestions, recommendations and opinions to the Division of Cannabis Control at dcc@co.calaveras.ca.us and put Study Session in the email subject line

Tuesdays meeting in the supervisors chambers at the county government center (891 Mountain Ranch Road) opens to the public at 9 a.m. following an 8 a.m. closed session.
The Uttar Pradesh government announced on Friday that all schools and colleges in the state where exams were not going on, have been closed till March 22 in view of the coronavirus scare.

With the state reporting 11 confirmed coronavirus cases, the Yogi Adityanath government asserted that all precautions were being taken to check the spread of the disease.

"All schools and colleges associated with the basic, secondary and higher education, and vocational colleges, where examination process is not on, have been closed till March 22," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told reporters here.

Exams would go on according to schedule, he said, adding the people concerned have been instructed to take all precautionary measures and maintain hygiene.

The decision would be reviewed on March 20 on the basis of which the future course of action would be decided,



the chief minister said.

"Though we have not declared this disease an epidemic in the state, we have delegated some powers under the Epidemic Act to facilitate treatment and if required shifting people to isolation ward to check its spread. The health department will bring a notification in this regard soon," Adityanath said



Of the 11 COVID-19 patients in the state, 10 are being treated in Delhi and one in King George's Medical University, Lucknow, he said. Of them, seven were from Agra, two from Ghaziabad and one each from Noida and Lucknow.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country stood at 75, which included the 76-year-old man from Karnataka who died on Thursday. The total includes 17 foreigners -- 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian.

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister, who convened a high-level meeting of senior officials to deliberate on coronavirus, said an alert in this regard was declared about one-and-a-half months ago and necessary advisory was also issued.

Efforts were being made to set up isolation wards in all the 75 districts. Doctors, paramedics and nursing staff were being provided necessary training, Adityanath said.

He said that 4,100 doctors have been trained to deal with the disease while 24 medical colleges have been readied with advanced care facility.

Stressing on adopting all precautions to check the spread of the disease, specially at airports and in India-Nepal border areas of the state, Adityanath said was an effort to avoid mass gatherings.

The India-South Africa match slated in Lucknow on Saturday will be held without spectators on the ground, but it would be telecast live, the chief minister said.

However, a decision regarding cinema halls have been left on the owners and they have been asked to maintain proper hygiene in the premises, he said.

Adityanath said that wearing masks were not necessary for everyone and his government was looking into complaints that masks were being sold at exorbitant prices.

The situation in Uttar Pradesh was under control and there was no need for people to panic, the chief minister said as he stressed on the importance of awareness and caution.

The state government was reaching out to people through awareness drives at schools and community level with the help of different departments, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
AT&T is asking all of its employees who have the ability to work remotely to do so until further notice, as the coronavirus spreads across the globe.

The company will be announcing new procedures and safeguards for employees who can't work from home, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in a note sent to employees Friday. AT&T is one of the largest employers in the United States, and has 245,000 global employees.

"One of our core values is to be there when people need us most ... whether it's our customers, our colleagues or our communities," Stephenson said in the memo. "Now is one of those times for us to be there. And we will."

The move comes as companies prepare for the potential spread of COVID-19. In the United States, there's at least 1,701 confirmed cases and at least 40 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Tech companies are increasingly asking their employees to work remotely in an effort to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. Amazon on Thursday told all of its employees globally to stay home throughout the month of March. Twitter is also requiring its 4,900 employees to work from home, while Google has asked most of its global workforce to do so.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
Vicar of Rome orders closure of Rome's churches until 3 April.

All Catholic churches in Rome have been closed to the faithful until 3 April, in line with Italy's total shutdown as the country battles a worsening Coronavirus outbreak.

Until Friday, 3 April, 2020, access to parochial and non-parochial churches of the Diocese of Rome, open to the public, and more generally to religious buildings of any kind open to the public, is forbidden to all the faithful, said a statement issued on 12 March by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the Vicar of Rome.

The unprecedented move was taken out of "responsibility" said Cardinal De Donatis who insisted that the measure comes "not because the state requires it, but out of a sense of belonging to the human family, exposed to a virus whose nature and propagation we do not yet know.

The church closures follow the suspension of Mass for the faithful in Rome and the sealing off of St Peter's Square and Basilica in the Vatican.

Last Sunday the Holy See streamed the Angelus with Pope Francis after a patient being treated at the Vatican's health facilities tested positive for Coronavirus on 6 March.

The total number of Coronavirus cases in Italy has risen to 15,113, with the number of deaths at 1,016, according to data released late on 12 March.

Photo credit: manjik / Shutterstock.com
Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro has tested negative for the new coronavirus, his son said on Friday, angrily pushing back on media reports in the country claiming that his father was, in fact, a carrier of the pathogen.

'I never told anyone (even the press) that President Bolsonaro tested positive, ever,' Eduardo Bolsonaro, who is a member of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, tweeted on Friday.

Bolsonaro said he, his father, and another Brazilian official, Augusto Heleno, tested negative for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Miami said he has tested positive for the new coronavirus after meeting with a senior aide to Bolsonarol who was also in close proximity to President Donald Trump.

Eduardo Bolsonaro was reported to have told Fox News earlier on Friday that further tests were forthcoming after local media in Brazil claimed that his father tested positive.

Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro gives the thumbs up as it's revealed by his son that he has tested negative for the new coronavirus

In this handout photo released by Brazil's Presidential Press Office, Brazilian Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta (left) and President Jair Bolsonaro wear masks as they speak about the new coronavirus during a Facebook Live transmission in Brasilia, Brazil on Thursday

Bolsonaro (right) walks with a consultant inside the Palacio Alvorada in Brasilia on Friday after being tested for the new coronavirus COVID-19, and having a negative result

There were conflicting reports out of Brazil and the United States about Bolsonaro's health. Brazilian media reported on Friday that Bolsonaro tested positive, but his son, who also hinted that his father had the coronavirus, later denied this and said the test came back negative

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (seen left with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Miami on Tuesday) said on Friday that he has contracted the coronavirus

But the president's son now claims that he never meant to suggest that his father tested positive.

'I don't have this information,' Eduardo Bolsonaro told Fox News on Friday.

'The information I have is the results that just came up telling that he is negative for coronavirus.

'I never listened that it was positive in the first exam.

'This is something that I dont know. But, uh, everythings good now.'

Eduardo Bolsonaro told Fox News that his father was not showing symptoms of coronavirus.

'He is okay,' he said.

Bolsonaro and his son traveled to Florida last weekend and dined with his President Donald Trump, and a member of the delegation that accompanied him had tested positive after a meeting Trump,

Bolsonaro, 64, received the test on Thursday after his communications director was confirmed to have the virus.

There had been a swirl of confusing information earlier Friday, with some media reporting Bolsonaro had received an initial positive test result.

But the president's official social media account later said tests were negative.

Eduardo Bolsonaro told Fox News that he believes Trump should get tested.

'They have to see what they are going to do,' he said.

'I think the best thing to do is everybody who was involved there, everybody who was there, should do the tests,' Eduardo Bolsonaro said.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who tested positive, said in a Friday statement that he was not feeling any symptoms and advised anyone who shook hands with him or was close to him since Monday to self-isolate for 14 days.

Florida politicians such as Senator Rick Scott had expressed concerns about coming into contact with the Brazilian president's press secretary Fabio Wajngarten, who tested positive after joining Bolsonaro in a visit to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate last weekend.

As of Friday afternoon, Florida tallied 45 people in the state testing positive for COVID19, ranging in age from 25 to 83, the state health department announced.

Two of them have died. Most appear to be travel-related but in more than a dozen cases, the route of infection was not immediately clear.

Amid the confusion over Bolsonaro's status, Trump is scheduled to hold a press conference on Friday afternoon.

Trump, who shook hands with his Brazilian counterpart at that meal, will declare a national emergency, Bloomberg News reported, which would open the door to more federal aid for states and cities.

Additionally, Trump and his fellow G7 leaders spoke, according to French President Emmanuel Macron, and will hold a videoconference on Monday about combating the disease.

President Donald Trump shaking hands with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night; Bolsonaro has tested positive for coronavirus

From left: Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump, and Fabio Wajngarten, the communications secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. The three men posed for a photo on Saturday at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro is seen at the Alvorada Palace, after reports of the coronavirus, accompanied by a man in a surgical mask

So far, there have been 1,812 reported cases of coronavirus in the United States. Forty-two people have died as of Friday afternoon

'Following my call with @realDonaldTrump and all G7 leaders, we agreed to organize an extraordinary Leaders Summit by videoconference on Monday on Covid-19. We will coordinate research efforts on a vaccine and treatments, and work on an economic and financial response,' Macron wrote on Twitter.

The president will answer questions as the House prepares to vote on a coronavirus package, the stock market tries to recover from its worst day since the 1987 economic recession, and schools across the country have closed.

He will likely be peppered with questions about his health, whether he should be tested, and why he hasn't into voluntary self-quarantine, despite CDC guidelines describing someone in his situation as 'medium risk' for infection.

The president announced the press conference after reports out of Brazil said the Bolsonaro tested positive for coronavirus. One of the major newspapers in Rio de Janeiro, Journal O Dia, noted The Guardian's Tom Phillips, reported the news of Bolsonaro's positive test.

Bolsonaro, 64, was checked for the disease after his aide Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for it.

But a second test that came back on Friday showed the president tested negative, according to a statement on Bolsonaro's official Facebook page, which is adding to the questions and confusion.

On Thursday, Trump brushed aside concerns about his encounter with the Brazilians - the latest in a series of brushes the president has had with the highly-contagious disease.

Both Bolsonaro and Wajngarten, his press secretary, were at the Winter White House Saturday night. Wajngarten had his photo take with President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump and the first family have resisted going into self-quarantine despite other lawmakers who came into contact with those testing positive for the disease going into voluntary isolation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends testing if you 'have been in close contact with a person known to have' the virus. The agency defines close contact as 'being within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) of a COVID-19 case for a prolonged period of time.' Also, according to CDC guidelines, the president would be considered 'medium' risk for exposure.

Other world leaders are self-quarantining. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in a voluntary 14-day quarantine after his wife, Sophie, tested positive for the disease.

Several members of the first family were at the Winter White House Saturday night where there was a birthday party for Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., in addition to the working dinner for the Brazilian delegation.

One of those was Ivanka Trump, who, it was revealed late Thursday, had another brush with the disease.

She and Attorney General Bill Barr posed for a photograph with Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton on March 5 - days before he tested positive for coronavirus.

MARCH 5: Ivanka Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr posed with Australian minister Peter Dutton (right) at the White House. Dutton has since tested positive for the virus

The president hosted his Brazilian counterpart, Bolsonaro (right), for a working dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump, and Fabio Wajngarten pose with 'Make Brazil Great Again' caps

MARCH 7: Trump, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro with President Trump, National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, and Ivanka Trump at a working dinner at Mar-a-Lago

Dr. Anthony Fauci said hypothetically he would consider getting tested if he had come into contact with one of the Brazilians who tested positive for coronavirus

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro joined President Trump in toasting Kimberly Guilfoyle at her birthday party at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night

The head table of Don Jr, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Eric Trump, Lara Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at Guilfoyle's birthday bash

They were meeting as part of a meeting between officials from the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the U.S. The next day, Ivanka Trump attended the dinner at Mar-a-Lago with her father and Bolsonaro.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert at the National Institutes of Health, said he would 'likely' have been tested after coming if he had come into contact with Bolsonaro's aide who tested positive for the coronavirus.

When asked hypothetically if he would get a test, he told ABC's 'Good Morning America': 'Likely I would, but I'm not sure.'

'It depends on the circumstances,' he added.

Wajngarten, the Bolsonaro aide who was at Mar-a-Lago for Saturday's dinner and the birthday party, tested positive for the virus, setting off a chain of events on Thursday, including a test for his boss. Brazil has at least 73 confirmed cases of coronavirus and zero deaths thus far.

The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald reported on Thursday that Bolsonaro took two tests: 'The result should be ready. But the presidential palace is now saying the result will only be released Friday, which likely means he had a second test, and that one takes longer,' he wrote on Twitter.

Bolsonaro's son Eduardo, who was also at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night, tweeted on Friday that there was 'too much lies' in the media and claimed the testing wasn't complete.

'Too much lies and little information. Coronavirus exam done with the team that were with JB in USA have not yet been completed There are always those people who tell lies in the media and if the story is confirmed they say "I told you!", if not will be just 1 more fake news,' he wrote.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Thursday he would self-quarantine and be tested for the virus. The South Carolina senator was at Mar-a-Lago this weekend. He also met with Australian official in his Washington D.C. office on March 5.

'Senator Graham was at Mar-a-Lago last weekend. He has no recollection of direct contact with the President of Brazil, who is awaiting results of a coronavirus test, or his spokesman who tested positive,' Graham's office said in a statement.

'However, in an abundance of caution and upon the advice of his doctor, Senator Graham has decided to self-quarantine awaiting the results of a coronavirus test. This is a precautionary measure. He will continue to work from home,' his office noted.

Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida also said that he will self-quarantine after he met with the Brazil delegation, which included Wajngarten.

'While I do not believe I interacted with the infected person, that individual was in the same room as me,' Scott said. He said he was self-quarantining out of 'an abundance of caution' and would work from home.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau s wife Sophie Trudeau, 44, has tested positive for coronavirus Thursday evening, a day after she was reported mild flu-like symptoms and a low fever. She is pictured in London last Tuesday March 3 at the WE Day UK charity event and concert

Justin Trudeau, 48, is 'in good health' has no symptoms but will be in isolation for 14 days, and will continue to work and conduct his duties remotely, according to the statement. The couple pictured above in December 2019

Sen. Lindsey Graham - with Kimberly Guilfoyle - speaking to dinner guests at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night; Graham said he would self-quarantine and be tested for the virus

Senator Rick Scott, the Republican from Florida, is seen shaking hands with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at an event in Miami on Monday. Scott announced on Thursday that he will self-quarantine out of an abundance of caution

Fabio Wajngarten was at the dinner and birthday party at Mar-a-Lago Saturday night

President Trump, who was photographed standing next to Wajngartenn and Vice President Mike Pence at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night, said Thursday he was 'not concerned' about possibly contracting the virus.

'Let's put it this way: I'm not concerned,' Trump told reporters Thursday while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office.

'We did nothing very unusual. We sat next to each other for a period of time,' the president noted.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham addressed the situation before reports of Bolsonaro's test.

'The White House is aware of public reports that a member of the Brazilian delegation's visit to Mar-a-Lago last weekend tested positive for COVID-19; confirmatory testing is pending. Exposures from the case are being assessed, which will dictate next steps. Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time,' she said, referring to Wajngarten.

'As stated before, the White House Medical Unit and the United States Secret Service has been working closely with various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First & Second Families, and all White House staff healthy,' she noted.

'To reiterate CDC guidelines, there is currently no indication to test patients without symptoms, and only people with prolonged close exposure to confirmed positive cases should self-quarantine,' Grisham said. 'We are monitoring the situation closely and will update everyone as we get more information.'

Wajngarten accompanied his boss on the Florida visit, which included meetings with officials and the dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

The encounter was the latest brush Trump has had with the coronavirus. An attendee at CPAC, the annual conservative conference that the president addressed at the end of February, tested positive for the virus.

The American Conservative Union, which sponsors the conference, was quick to say the person had no direct contact with Trump or Pence, who also spoke. But three lawmakers went into self-quarantine because they did and all had contact with the president: new White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Rep. Doug Collins and Rep. Matt Gaetz.

An attendee at the 2020 Conservative Political Action Conference has tested positive for the coroanavirus. The event included speeches from Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Trump is pictured during his appearance at CPAC on February 29

Congressman Matt Gaetz, who announced he was exposed to coronavirus, departing off Air Force One on Monday

Rep. Matt 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

The number of coronavirus cases has increased geometrically since last month

Gaetz was also at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night for the dinner and birthday party. Additionally, the Florida Republican flew back to Washington D.C. with the president on Air Force One on Monday.

The president has not been tested for the coronavirus, according to the White House.

A columnist for the newspaper, Monica Bergamo, said Wajngarten was tested for coronavirus at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.

His test result was positive, multiple news outlets reported.

In the photo he posted on Instagram from the Saturday night events at Mar-a-Lago, Wajngarten is standing next to Trump wearing a 'Make Brazil great again' cap.

Vice President Mike Pence was next to Trump.

In addition to the working dinner at Mar-a-Lago, there was a birthday party for Guilfoyle, attended by several members of the first family and many Trump allies.

Spotted at the lavish bash: Donald Trump Jr., her boyfriend of almost two years; Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump; Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner; Tiffany Trump; Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal attorney; Republican Senator Lindsey Graham; and Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson was also there as was National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien; Senator Rand Pauls Deputy Chief of Staff Sergio Gor, Fox News Jesse Watters and his wife Emma Watters; and new acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell.

As of Thursday afternoon, there have been more than 1,700 reported cases of coronavirus in the United States. At least 42people have died.

Rudy Giuliani posed with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday

Donald Trump Jr spoke at CPAC and his spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the first son did not come in contact with the person infected with coronavirus

White House counselors Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump also spoke at CPAC

Last month, Trump said he was not concerned about contracting the virus after a man in his 50s who attended the three-day Conservative Political Action Conference that began on February 26.

The American Conservative Union, the organization that runs CPAC, insisted the patient had no contact with either Trump or Pence at the conservative gathering in National Harbor, Maryland.

'A New Jersey hospital tested the person, and CDC confirmed the positive result,' the ACU said.

'The individual is under the care of medical professionals in the state of New Jersey, and has been quarantined.'

The attendee did not listen to any speeches in the main hall, the ACU confirmed.

Several senior White House officials attended the event, including White House adviser and first daughter Ivanka Trump, White House senior counselor Jared Kushner, White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway and the former acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

Donald Trump Jr was also there as were several members of the president's cabinet including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement to reporters that precautions were being taken although she did not offer specifics.

'The White House is aware of an individual testing positive for coronavirus after attending the CPAC conference that took place nearly two weeks ago. At this time, there is no indication that either President Trump or Vice President Pence met with or were in close proximity to the attendee.

The American Conservative Union said in a statement the patient had no contact with either Trump or Pence at the conservative gathering in National Harbor, Maryland

'The president's physician and United States Secret Service have been working closely with White House staff and various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the first family and the entire White House complex safe and heathy,' she said.'

Donald Trump Jr did not come into contact with the individual at CPAC, a spokesman said.

'It has been confirmed that Don did not come into contact with the individual that tested positive,' said a spokesman for the president's son told DailyMail.com.

Earlier this week, a leading New York doctor and political ally of Senator Ted Cruz went into self-quarantine over fears he has coronavirus.

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 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.

Self-isolating: NYU Langone hospital says Dr. Alan Berger, an obstetrician/gynecologist who also attended CPAC last month, 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

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 CPAC.

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.

Schlapp shook hands with the president and mingled with Ivanka Trump, Lara Trump and Jared Kushner during the 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 last 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.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 00:14:19|Editor: huaxia

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RIO DE JANEIRO, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested negative for COVID-19, confirmed his official Twitter account and Facebook page on Friday.

Bolsonaro, his family and several members of the government were tested after the president's press secretary Fabio Wajngarten was confirmed to have been infected with the virus on Thursday.

Wajngarten accompanied Bolsonaro on a trip to the United States over the weekend, where he met with Trump, Pence and other White House officials at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 08:29:47|Editor: zyl

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Editor's note: The decree of the Italian government putting the country under lockdown goes into effect on Tuesday, in a bid to prevent the ongoing coronavirus epidemic from spreading.

What does life look like under a lockdown? Below is the diary from Grandesso Federico, an Italian national residing in Padova, northern Italy, recording his life on the third day of the national lockdown.

by Grandesso Federico

PADOVA, Italy, March 12 (Xinhua) -- From today, we reached the so-called third level of restrictions -- no more coffee bars, restaurants or unessential shopping.

Midday to around one o'clock in the afternoon used to see normally crowded streets full of students coming back home -- that is, of course, before the epidemic struck and restrictions were imposed. Now, one could only hear the sound of silence.

Just few cars braved the street, suggesting we were not in an entirely dead city. I couldn't think of any other restrictions that would have made my city more deserted and empty.

Today my objective to go out is clear: after days and days of negative answers, I would like to understand why a crucial element in this health battle is missing. I'm talking about the protective masks, the basic tool in the now dangerous pandemic.

However, my daily "pilgrimage" produced only a marginally positive answer: I could now book some masks that may or may not come.

"We hope to get the delivery this week, but we don't know the number, or if the masks would include the filter. Anyway, we will call you when they are available," a pharmacist in the very city center close to Piazza dei Signori told me.

Restrictions and controls are now more evident. Today I met at least 3 patrols, of national and local police, stopping people even in the city center and asking a "justification" -- personally-signed official forms -- to be outside.

In the wider world, Italians are sometimes known for being melodramatic. But something unprecedented is that we now have all the feelings that national authority is not joking, neither is the stipulated punishments for the offense.

Some people are afraid to be confronted by police, or err in the filling of the forms. A mistake or a failure in explaining why you are outside could really end up being a crime now. The authorities will for sure verify with a phone call to your boss, to check if you are really traveling for work, so these signed auto-declarations have to be truthful.

The controls on shops, restaurants and bars are also tight, despite that some are still trying to figure if they could open and continue to earn only a poor daily revenue. Alas, they might just have to close with the anxiety of never being able to open again.

In this battle, I learned now that we need different tools: medical gears like masks, gloves and hand sanitizers but we also need "human" tools.

What is urgently needed right now is solidarity. We must not be just individuals, or atoms separated from one another in the society, trapped personally by the coronavirus; rather, we must join hands.

I don't like to hear, as I did, "why is that lady (owner's shop) still open? " or " teachers and professors, they can enjoy straying home because they still get their salaries". Egoism could also be a despicable virus. If we want to start again after this dark period like after a long war finished, we should keep the same positive spirit. We have to reconstruct the country and ourselves, therefore we need more kindness and empathy.

Going around the empty city is not giving me, for the moment, negative side effects. What worries me, however, is people perhaps are now overly "immersed" in the endless supply of crisis information. Not only is the news now dominated by the coronavirus, but also our conversations were also full of it, resulting in panic and uneasiness.

Perhaps, just perhaps, we should keep a "safe distance" between all this information, just as we are required to do in queues in real life.

Speaking to different people today, I see that an entirely new trend in Italy could usher in a more positive and smart philosophy of working: home-working, a real revolution in my country for both public and private sector jobs.

Staying home without the trouble of terrible traffic jams turns out to be easier. "it is very nice to work from home in cities like Milan and Rome, where you normally live far from the office and you lose more than an hour a day on crowded public transport," my friend Laura said.

The total number of cases in my Veneto region grew to 1,384 today. But at the same time, the good news is coming from Rome's Fiumicino airport, where, at late night, genuine and concrete solidarity comes from afar. Let's talk about this tomorrow....
After the death of a coronavirus patient in Kalburgi in Karnataka, the first such to be reported in India, the state government has decided to enter shut down mode. The decision was taken at a high level meeting held by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa. Senior health department officials, health minister B Sriramulu, minister for primary and secondary education S Suresh Kumar, medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Ashwath Narayan attended the meeting.

The government issued an order closing all shopping malls, cinema halls, universities and pubs starting tomorrow for at least a week. Earlier, the government had issued orders for schools and colleges to be shut. The government also said that no conferences, jatres (temple fairs) or huge weddings where a lot of people usually congregate would be permitted for the next week.

Briefing the media after the emergency high-level meeting CM B S Yediyurappa appealed to the people to co-operate. We will revise the decision after a week. Till then, I appeal to all to avoid unnecessary travel.

All international travellers coming into the city will also be quarantined for two weeks, the government added. Karnataka till now has had five confirmed coronavirus cases with 982 under quarantine. Several technology companies are also encouraging their employees to work from home in the state.

The Chief Minister said the decision has been arrived at after discussion with medical experts and officials.
The Manipur government has issued



regulations to deal with coronavirus, an official statement released by the Health Department said on Friday.

The state government is of the opinion that the ordinary provisions of law for time being are insufficient for the purpose as the disease is assumed as dangerous epidemic, the statement signed by the Deputy Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, S Lengen, said.

Under the regulations, authorised persons such as the director of the health services at the state level, including deputy commissioners, chief medical officers and medical officers-in-charge of community health centres are also among the authorised individuals.

All hospitals should have COVID-19 screening corners or centres for the screening of suspected cases, it said.

The statement also mentioned that during the screening process, records related to the travel history of all persons are to be noted, particularly if the individual or individuals visited countries where the deadly virus has caused havoc.

Authorised persons can admit any suspected individual at a quarantine centre for 14 days and another 14 days at his residence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By PTI

JAIPUR: About 120 Indians, being evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Iran in an Air India flight, will reach Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on Friday and will be quarantined at an Army facility, a defence spokesperson said on Thursday.

"They will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility created under the aegis of Southern Command. The patients will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility under escort of civil administration," defence spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh said.

He said that another batch of approximately 250 people, to be airlifted from Iran on March 15, will also be quarantined at the Army facility in Jaisalmer.

The Ministry of Defence has set up seven more quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients, especially for Indian citizens being brought to back from coronavirus-hit countries.

The facilities have been set up at Jaisalmer, Suratgadh, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Deolali, Kolkata and Chennai.

The Ministry of Defence has set up seven more quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients, especially for Indian citizens being brought to back from coronavirus-hit countries, an official said on Thursday.

The facilities have been set up at Jaisalmer, Suratgadh, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Deolali, Kolkata and Chennai.

"We are expecting more civilians to be brought back to India. We are ready with our facilities," Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said.

The Army is already operating a quarantine facility in Manesar while the one in Hindon, near Ghaziabad, is being operated by the air force.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned New Yorkers on Friday to prepare for a long battle against the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting the virus will rise and fall in waves that could last up to nine months.

I dont believe that this is going to be a short-term issue, Cuomo said. I think were looking at a matter of months, and people should start to calibrate that into their expectations. I think this could be a six, seven, eight, nine-month affair, watching the trajectory of the virus.

Cuomo made his comments Friday in New Rochelle at the opening of the states first drive-through mobile testing center for COVID-19.

He said increased testing will help identify and contain the virus faster, but it will still be a prolonged effort.

I think people should start to recognize that, Cuomo said. This is not going to be over in 30 days. Its not going to be over in a couple of weeks. Its going to be a somewhat prolonged situation and we should be ready for that.

The governor said the best thing the state and nation can do to slow the spread of the virus is increase the number and speed of tests to identify infected people.

Cuomo said he asked Vice President Mike Pence in a phone call Thursday to authorize New York and other states to oversee coronavirus testing at commercial laboratories in each state and allow for faster automated testing.

The drive-through site in New Rochelle that opened Friday has six lanes that will be able to service about 200 cars per day. Appointments are required. The testing is open only to New Rochelle or Westchester County residents, with priority given to senior citizens and those with pre-existing health conditions.

Patients at the mobile test site dont have to leave their cars during the 15-minute testing process, Cuomo said, helping to isolate any sick patients and reduce chances they will spread the virus.

New Rochelle and Westchester County have been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in New York, with 148 confirmed cases as of Thursday afternoon. All told, there are 325 cases statewide, including 95 in New York City.

Cuomo said he understands why people are concerned.

I get the anxiety, he said. This is like a science fiction movie, right? Virus Spreading! But you cant disregard facts and data. Yes, this is going to be inconvenient. Yes, people are anxious. But thats New York at its best. Thats the challenge we rise to.

Cuomo added, We have to settle in for a somewhat long ride. But I have no doubt that at the end of the day we will be through this, and we will be the stronger and better for it, just like every other situation we have gone through.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751

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GM, Ford to have white-collar employees work remotely starting Monday The corporate logo of Ford is seen at Brussels Motor Show

By Ben Klayman and David Shepardson

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. automakers General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co said on Friday they will have most of their white-collar workforce working remotely as of Monday to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.

GM Chief Executive Mary Barra told employees on Friday the No. 1 automaker is asking all employees and contract workers to work remotely, noting the company has faced crises before.

"For many of us, its our first experience of this type. But disruption and trying circumstances are not new to us," she said in an email.

Barra said the remote-work policy applied globally apart from China, which has existing protocols in place. Our IT tools and systems have been extensively stress-tested; its vital that we leverage them to continue delivering, she said.

Ford will shift most of its global white-collar workforce outside China, where recovery has begun, to working remotely, CEO James Hackett said in an email to employees.

"In recent days ... weve concluded the coronavirus issue has taken on a different dimension  and we need to be proactive to keep our people safe and help limit the spread of the virus in the communities where we live and work," he said.

Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) also is accelerating its deployment of remote work for white-collar employees beyond the most affected countries of China, South Korea, Japan and Italy, CEO Mike Manley said in a letter to employees seen by Reuters on Friday.

Ford's Hackett told employees that in the event a worker tests positive for the virus they will be told to get medical attention and self quarantine at home. Ford will identify others who may have been in contact with that person and instruct them to seek medical attention and self quarantine for 14 days.

He added Ford will close any facility exposed to a confirmed case, and a spokeswoman confirmed that includes manufacturing plants.

However, Ford has seen "limited" impact to its global operations due to the epidemic, with some employees testing positive for the virus in China and Germany but none so far in the United States, spokesman Mark Truby said.

Story continues

The No. 2 U.S. automaker has not lost any vehicle production outside of China and it is taking steps to keep its plants operating, he said. However, some parts of the U.S. market have seen customer traffic at dealers hurt by the outbreak, he added.

On Thursday, FCA said an employee at its Indiana transmission plant had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, but he was being treated and the plant was still operating while anyone exposed to that worker was quarantined.

Manley said in the letter to employees on Thursday that FCA is focused on worker safety and keeping its plants running.

"Clearly, we are now moving beyond regional hotspots and into planning for how this will impact every area of our business across the world," he said.

Changes include allowing for greater space between employees at several plants, and stepping up cleaning and availability of face masks, Manley said.

FCA said this week it was temporarily halting operations at some Italian plants and would reduce production rates in response to the outbreak.

(This story corrects that FCA CEO letter went out to employees on Thursday, not Friday.)

(Reporting by Ben Klayman and David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci)
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Trump continues to tell the country that the coronavirus will go away, but privately he is afraid of catching the virus.

CNNs Jim Acosta tweeted:

NEW: Source close to president said Trump is telling people close to him that he is indeed concerned about coming into contact with people who have contracted Coronavirus, including Brazilian official who tested positive after coming face to face with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.  Jim Acosta (@Acosta) March 12, 2020

He is very concerned about all the people he met who have it including the Brazilian, the source said.  Jim Acosta (@Acosta) March 12, 2020

There is an easy away around Trumps concern. The president could stop holding political rallies, which he has so far refused to do. He could also stop going to his private Mar-a-Lago club and potentially exposing himself to infection from one of the clubs members.

Donald Trump has no credibility because he is publicly trying to downplay the coronavirus for political purposes, while privately, he is afraid of getting sick.

Trump is a hypocrite who doesnt care if millions of Americans get sick, as long as it doesnt happen to him.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
We haven't been directly impacted in my community. I live in a very rural county, with only one stoplight. People here seem to pride themselves on not overreacting. Some of my neighbors are posting on social media about their disgust at what they see as media hype. Others are offering to be the ones to go pick up groceries or other supplies for any neighbors who are at extra risk of complications because of their age.

Today, things feel palpably different in the US. I honestly don't know if it was President Trump's address to the nation, or the fact that Tom Hanks has been diagnosed with coronavirus. For me, it was reading about the inability of the medical community in Italy to respond appropriately to the crisis. If our medical system in the United States is completely overwhelmed because we all get sick at once, the facilities that usually respond to heart attacks and car accident victims won't be available. For some, the widespread cancellation of sporting events, or the Blake Shelton concert in Omaha on Thursday might get their attention.
Regulatory News:

CARMAT (FR0010907956, ALCAR), the designer and developer of the world's most advanced total artificial heart, aiming to provide a therapeutic alternative for people suffering from end-stage biventricular heart failure, notifies its shareholders and the entire financial community that its Universal registration document, including in particular the 2019 annual financial report, was submitted to the French stock market authority (Autorite des marches financiers AMF) on March 13, 2020.

It is available for consultation on the following websites:

CARMAT website, under the section Investors Documentation Regulated information; and

the website of the AMF (in French): www.amf-france.org

About CARMAT: the world's most advanced total artificial heart project

A credible response to end-stage heart failure: CARMAT aims to eventually provide a response to a major public health issue associated with heart disease, the world's leading cause of death: chronic and acute heart failure. By pursuing the development of its total artificial heart, composed of the implantable bioprosthesis and its portable external power supply system to which it is connected, CARMAT intends to overcome the well-known shortfall in heart transplants for the tens of thousands of people suffering from irreversible end-stage heart failure, the most seriously affected of the 20 million patients with this progressive disease in Europe and the United States.

The result of combining two types of unique expertise: the medical expertise of Professor Carpentier, known throughout the world for inventing Carpentier-Edwards heart valves, which are the most used in the world, and the technological expertise of Airbus Group, world aerospace leader.

The first physiological artificial heart: given its size, the use of highly biocompatible materials, its unique self-regulation system and its pulsatile nature, the CARMAT total artificial heart could, assuming the clinical trials are successful, potentially save the lives of thousands of patients each year with no risk of rejection and with a good quality of life.

A project leader acknowledged at a European level: with the backing of the European Commission, CARMAT has been granted the largest subsidy ever given to an SME by Bpifrance; a total of 33 million.

Strongly committed, prestigious founders and shareholders: Matra Defense SAS (subsidiary of the Airbus Group), Professor Alain Carpentier, the Centre Chirurgical Marie Lannelongue, Truffle Capital, a leading European venture capital firm, ALIAD (Air Liquide's venture capital investor), CorNovum (an investment holding company held 50-50 by Bpifrance and the French State), the family offices of Pierre Bastid (Lohas), of Dr. Antonino Ligresti (Sante Holdings S.R.L.), of the Gaspard family (Corely Belgium SPRL and Bratya SPRL) and of M. Pierre-Edouard Sterin (BAD 21 SPRL), Groupe Therabel as well as the thousands of institutional and individual shareholders who have placed their trust in CARMAT.

For more information: www.carmatsa.com

Name: CARMAT

ISIN code: FR0010907956

Ticker: ALCAR

DISCLAIMER

This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe to, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe to, shares in CARMAT ("the Company") in any country. This press release contains forward-looking statements that relate to the Company's objectives. Such forward-looking statements are based solely on the current expectations and assumptions of the Company's management and involve risk and uncertainties. Potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, whether the Company will be successful in implementing its strategies, whether there will be continued growth in the relevant market and demand for the Company's products, new products or technological developments introduced by competitors, and risks associated with managing growth. The Company's objectives as mentioned in this press release may not be achieved for any of these reasons or due to other risks and uncertainties.

No guarantee can be given as to any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements, which are subject to inherent risks, including those described in the Universal registration document filed with the Autorite des Marches Financiers on March 13, 2020 under number D.20-0126 as well as changes in economic conditions, the financial markets or the markets in which CARMAT operates. In particular, no guarantee can be given concerning the Company's ability to finalize the development, validation and industrialization of the prosthesis and the equipment required for its use, to manufacture the prostheses, satisfy the requirements of the ANSM, enroll patients, obtain satisfactory clinical results, perform the clinical trials and tests required for CE marking and to obtain the CE mark. CARMAT products are currently exclusively used within the framework of clinical trials.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005381/en/

Contacts:

CARMAT

Stephane Piat

Chief Executive Officer

Pascale d'Arbonneau

Chief Financial Officer

Tel.: +33 1 39 45 64 50

contact@carmatsas.com

Alize RP

Press Relations

Caroline Carmagnol

Tel.: +33 6 64 18 99 59

carmat@alizerp.com

NewCap

Investor Relations

Strategic Communication

Dusan Oresansky

Alexia Faure

Tel.: +33 1 44 71 94 94

carmat@newcap.eu
TipRanks

One thing is certain already: the market environment for 2022 will not be the same as that in 2021. This may or may not be good for investors, per se, but like every shift in market conditions, it will present opportunities for those prepared to grasp them. Some factors are just reruns. COVID is rearing its ugly head again, threatening us with lockdowns and shutdowns. Thats running against the grain of a resurgent economy, an economy that is trying to gain more traction  but its facing headwi
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife Sophia Gregoire Trudeau, has tested positive for Covid-19 after she showed flu-like symptoms upon return from the UK, according to local media.

Trudeau himself, who has been in voluntary self-quarantine, is said to be "in good health," reported RT.

Sophie's tests came back positive on Thursday night, according to his office.

A statement put out by the Trudeau's office said that Sophie will "remain in isolation for the time being."

She is feeling well, taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild," it said adding that health care professionals will "reach out to those who have been in contact with Mrs. Gregoire Trudeau as they deem necessary."

Sophie herself thanked everyone who has reached out to her with questions about her health.

"Although I'm experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon," she said in the message that was also tweeted.

"Being in quarantine at home is nothing compared to other Canadian families who might be going through this and for those facing more serious health concerns," she said.

In her note offering encouragement, she said: "We will get through this situation together. Please share the facts and take your health seriously. I send you all my courage and warm thoughts (but only 'get better' hugs from afar!)."

Meanwhile, Trudeau is expected to address Canadians on Friday: "The Prime Minister will continue to fully assume his duties and will address Canadians tomorrow," his office said.

He also conducted several meetings over phone speaking to leaders of Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom and participated in a special cabinet meeting of COVID-19, the statement read.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Toronto: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife has tested positive for the new coronavirus, a week after appearing on a panel in London with former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard.

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau became mildly ill this week, and doctors tested her for the virus after she developed a low fever that has since passed. She and her husband voluntarily isolated themselves on Thursday.

Last week, Gregoire Trudeau attended a charity event in Britain and was part of a panel with Gillard and singer Leona Lewis. She also posed for a photograph in a small group that included Lewis Hamilton, the Formula One driver, and actor Idris Elba.

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, left, was on a panel with Julia Gillard and Leona Lewis in London last week. Credit:Getty Images

The event, held on March 4, was organised by the development charity We, an organisation for which Trudeau serves as an ambassador. She was introduced on stage by Lewis, who greeted her with a hug. Video of the event also shows her kissing Gillard.
Consulting Magazine honored Rachel Makua for Excellence in IT Consulting I couldnt have done this without the support and guidance from my team at OpenSymmetry. It is a joy to work with people who have challenged, inspired, and mentored me over the years, and who have taught me to build on others strengths, as well as my own.

Last month, Consulting Magazine honored Rachel Makua, a principal consultant at OpenSymmetry, as one of their twenty 2020 Rising Stars of the Profession: Ones to Watch. This list celebrates consultants under the age of 35 who set the bar for excellence in the consulting profession globally, and hundreds of individuals are nominated from firms of all sizes and specialties.

OpenSymmetry CEO Anthony Hutchins said, Its great to see the public recognition Rachel is receiving for something that our team has known for so long  that Rachel is a star! It is absolutely fantastic that she can receive this award. We want to congratulate and thank her for the remarkable work she has delivered to our clients all over the world and the contribution she makes every day for OpenSymmetry.

Makua, based in South Africa, has been in the OpenSymmetry consulting practice for over seven years. She received the award for excellence in Information Technologies (IT) as an incredibly versatile consultant. Her technical ability across multiple disciplines delivered high quality work on industry-leading Sales Performance Management (SPM) platforms including Varicent, Xactly, and SAP. Even at her young age, she has taken on lead roles on several Xactly projects, as well as a variety of roles including configuration consultant, functional lead, business analyst, test manager, and test architect.

This award is incredibly well-deserved, says Anne Cantey, Vice President of Professional Services at OpenSymmetry. For those of us who know Rachel, we are familiar with her expertise and poise that help achieve success for our clients. She does a phenomenal job of elevating everyone around her.

This achievement comes during a period of growth at OpenSymmetry, marked by the opening of a new office in India as well as an increasing workforce. I couldnt have done this without the support and guidance from my team at OpenSymmetry, said Makua upon receiving the honor. She adds, It is a joy to work with people who have challenged, inspired, and mentored me over the years, and who have taught me to build on others strengths, as well as my own.

Rachel will receive her Ones to Watch award the Rising Stars Gala, which will be held on April 16, 2020 at The Blackstone Hotel in Chicago, IL.
ZTE is now being probed by the Justice Department for bribery. This is a new investigation and has not been reported before.

The investigation is about alleged bribes the company gave to foreign officials to get undue favors. The details about the transactions are not known.

ZTEs code of conduct doesnt allow employees to pay or accept bribes anywhere in the world. However, according to a recently filed lawsuit the company has been accused of corruption in over a dozen countries, including Liberia, Zimbabwe, Algeria, and Kenya.

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According to a WikiLeaks document, the company paid kickbacks to high-level officials in Kenya to win a landline telephone monitoring equipment contract in 2009. One of the officials apparently got $5,000 a month.

In 2016, the company was banned by Norways giant government pension fund from the investment universe because of the risk of severe corruption. ZTE is one of around 150 firms whose shares the Norwegian fund will not buy.

According to a statement issued by ZTE, the company is committed to fulfilling legal and compliance obligations. It claims that its main priority is to make a name for itself as a trusted company in the global market place. The company is also proud of the progress it has made so far.

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Its worth noting that the company didnt specifically address the recent corruption allegations in its statement. However, it did say that it would not be appropriate for it to divulge more information.

ZTE is still not in the clear after all

The new investigation could not have come at a worse time for the Chinese giant. Three years ago, the company had admitted it evaded U.S. sanctions against North Korea and Iran.

Just recently, the corporate probation period imposed on it as part of the March 2017 plea deal with the Justice Department ended. ZTE had agreed to pay $1.19 billion under the agreement.

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As a part of the plea agreement, a monitor was also assigned to the company to assess compliance. However, none of the periodic reports have been made public.

The monitorship was supposed to end in 2020. However, it was extended after it was found out that ZTE violated probation.

According to the Commerce Department, the Chinese company lied about disciplining employees involved in shipping U.S.-made items to Iran illegally.

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Thus, the current monitor, James M. Stanton, will continue his role until 2022.

ZTE depends on the U.S. for making smartphones and networking equipment

ZTE is the second-largest telecommunications equipment maker in China. It uses American components for making smartphones and networking gear.

Although the company is headquartered in China, its U.S. subsidiary is in Texas. The manufacturer also has strong ties to Chinas Communist government.

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Quite recently, President Donald Trump barred carriers from using subsidies to buy networking equipment from ZTE. Huawei and other companies considered a national security threat were also on the list.

The U.S. Senate also recently approved the Secure and Trusted Telecommunications Networks Act, allowing small and rural telecommunication companies to rip and replace existing ZTE and Huawei hardware. A $1 billion fund has been established to help these companies replace the current equipment.
New Brunswick's seafood industry is reeling as the coronavirus fallout spreads in traditional markets around the world. "Things are changing by the hour," said Melanie Sonnenberg of the Grand Manan Fishermen's Association.

CBC

"You know at this point it's hard to know how long it will go on, what will the impacts look like over the long haul. It's just an impossible situation today as we watch this situation start to unravel." If there's an upside, said Sonnenberg, it's that the winter season is not the peak time for landings. on the other side of the Bay of Fundy, many of the people involved in Nova Scotia's lobster industry spent the day debating whether to stop fishing entirely because more are being caught than can be absorbed as markets in the Pacific Rim and Europe collapse. The same is now happening in North America with restaurants closing, cruise lines tying up their ships, and people working from home. As well, seafood processors are waiting to see whether they will be allowed to bring in international workers who have been critical to getting the New Brunswick industry through the processing season.

"These are not normal times," said Nat Richard, manager of corporate operations at Cape Bald Packers in Cap-Pele.

Roger Cosman, CBC

He says many of the people brought into the province over the past several years have been from countries like Mexico and Jamaica, where there have been very few instances of Covid-19, yet he continues to hear talk of closing the border. "We're very alert to this issue," said Richard. "If ever there were the potential for delays or complications, I mean it could have a significant impact on our operations. And so we are having a constant conversation with the federal government about this." Cape Bald processes lobster and crab and employs about 500 workers at two Cap-Pele plants. Richard would not reveal how many international workers the company brings in but says it's less than half the total workforce. He said with the live lobster industry in distress, steps have to be taken to ensure processed seafood companies aren't undermined at the same time. It is a concern shared by other companies. It is estimated well over a thousand international workers are employed in the industry during the processing season, which begins in May.

The spring lobster season on the Bay of Fundy's north shore also starts in May. And in Dipper Harbour, fisherman Greg Thompson is pretty sure of one thing: prices will be rock bottom. By then, every district in the Maritimes will be open to lobster fishing, so New Brunswick fishermen will be joining Nova Scotians who are already trying to decide whether it's worth the bother. "The [Nova Scotia] announcement really brought it home," said Thompson. "I predict that by May we are going to be faced with a very low price." Thompson says if the price falls to $4 or $5 a pound, many people will likely tie up their boats. He says it is a stunning reversal from the fall when fishermen were getting $9 to $10 dollars a pound. "All industries should be looking at this as a bit of a wake up call with the global economy that we're not isolated," he said. "That what happens, shall we say, on the other side of the world affects us quite dramatically."
Prehistoric humans share migration patterns with hyenas  which also left Africa two million years ago because of climate change, a study has found.

Danish experts found that hyenas had undergone complex migrations across various continents, with African and Eurasian lineages being more distinct than thought.

The team also found that humans coexisted with hyenas, but may gone from being relatively harmless to detrimental to the hyenas as time progressed.

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Prehistoric humans share migration patterns with hyenas  which also left Africa two million years ago because of climate change, a study has found

Scientists have known for some time that prehistoric humans first left Africa around two million years ago, but only recently discovered that hyenas did the same thing.

The study revealed that both species had long and complicated migration patterns between different continents, including Africa and Eurasia.

'Our new study shows that prehistoric humans and hyenas left Africa at approximately the same time,' said paper author and evolutionary genomicist Michael Westbury of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

'Like humans, spotted hyenas have had extensive and complex migration between continents. We can observe repeated gene flow events between Africa and Eurasia.'

Researchers said that while prehistoric hyenas show some similarities with humans in their migration patterns, there are signs to suggest that modern humans  Homo sapiens  are likely to have had a detrimental impact on hyenas.

Humans are also believed to have played a role in the extinction of cave hyenas around the end of the last ice age.

The findings mean that the coexistence between humans and hyenas  like those between humans and other large mammals  may have changed from being relatively benign to harmful as humans became more advanced.

This shift if thought to have occurred after around 100,000 years ago, which is when the earliest structures in the world were built, in Egypt.

African spotted hyenas were previously believed to have a close evolutionary ties to Eurasian cave hyenas, with previous DNA analyses suggesting that the two types of hyena were genetically intermingled. Thanks to new technology, however, the researchers were able to obtain a lot more genetic data  revealing that this intermingling was limited

'Historical population sizes of spotted hyenas seem to correlate negatively with that of humans after about 100,000 years ago, echoing similar results we found for herbivores,' said paper author Rasmus Heller of the University of Copenhagen.

African spotted hyenas were previously believed to have a close evolutionary ties to Eurasian cave hyenas, with previous DNA analyses suggesting that the two types of hyena were genetically intermingled.

Thanks to new technology, however, the researchers were able to obtain a lot more genetic data  revealing that this intermingling was limited and revealing an ancient separation between the two lineages.

The findings mean that the coexistence between humans and hyenas  like those between humans and other large mammals  may have changed from being relatively benign to detrimental as humans became more advanced

'The results nicely illustrate the power of palaeogenome analyses,' said paper author and evolutionary biologist Michael Hofreiter of the University of Potsdam, Germany.

'The relationship of spotted and cave hyenas could not be resolved using morphological or short mitochondrial DNA sequence data and was actually discussed quite controversially for decades.'

The study reveals new aspects of when and how animals moved across continents in prehistory, the researchers said.

'Our results conforms with the hypothesis that animal migration may have occurred in pulses during which several species migrated more or less at the same time, possibly as a response to climate change,' said Dr Westbury.

'More comparative work is needed to confirm this hypothesis.'

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Science Advances.
Syracuse, N.Y.  Businesses across New York are scrambling to figure out and comply with a new rule that limits the number of people that can gather in one place.

The goal of the new policy, announced this afternoon by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is clear: Creating space between people at churches, malls, airports, theaters and other businesses could help limit the spread of COVID-19, a coronavirus.

The new rule will affect houses of worship and theaters, Cuomo said. Broadway was effectively shut down today. Other theaters that hold 500 or more people must close by 5 p.m. Friday, under the new rule.

The Landmark Theatre took the new rule to heart immediately. Hours before The Blue Man Group was to open for a four-day run, the Syracuse theater announced it would reschedule the performances and be closed tonight.

So did Abundant Life Christian Center, one of the areas largest churches with nearly 3,000 members. The Rev. Mark Haywood said it would move its 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday services to online-only beginning this Sunday.

The new crowd rule does not cover hospitals, mass transit, schools, malls and retail stores, according to the governors office. Those places allow people to spread out and practice social distancing. Even classroom sizes are usually under 40, a Cuomo aide said this afternoon.

But its less clear what the new rule means for other businesses. The policy has crowd limits on places where capacity is less than 500. In these smaller venues, attendance must be cut by 50 percent, presumably to cut density.

Does that mean neighborhood pubs have to spread out tables and limit the number of patrons coming through the door? Will Armory Square restaurants need to turn away customers if the tables are half-filled? The Dinosaur Bar-B-Que has changed its sick policy. Will it have to change how people wait for tables?

Questions to Cuomos office about businesses such as bars and restaurants werent immediately answered.

Syracuse Stage said it was ensuring that it complied with that 50 percent threshold. It plans to hold performances of Amadeus tonight and Friday. The theater seats 500. We are coordinating with our patrons to keep within compliance guidelines, said Joseph Whelan of Syracuse Stage.

So what about casinos like del Lago and Turning Stone? They have gaming floors that are similar to malls, where people can mill about. Yet they also have performance areas.

Theyve got a day to figure it out. We are reviewing the governors new policy and consulting with local and state officials, Turning Stone spokesman Joel Barkin said this afternoon.

Got a story idea or news tip youd like to share? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274.

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By Trend

Four Azerbaijani citizens who returned from Iran and Italy were found to be infected with coronavirus, Trend reports on March 13 with reference to the Operational Headquarters under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers.

They are placed in special treatment hospitals, their well-being is normal, and appropriate measures are being taken for their treatment.

The state of an Azerbaijani citizen born in 1938, previously placed in a special treatment hospital, continues to remain heavy. The patient is under strict control, and necessary measures are being taken for his treatment.

Treatment in hospitals of a special regime of other persons who have been infected with coronavirus, is continuing, and their condition is under strict control.

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.

On March 12, the Operational Headquarters on COVID-19 in Azerbaijan issued a statement which said a 51-year old coronavirus-infected woman, has died in Azerbaijan after returning from Iran, where she underwent medical treatment.

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.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday appealed to people to take precautions to prevent coronavirus from spreading.

India reported its first death due to coronavirus on Thursday as the number of positive cases soared to 75, with authorities taking emergency measures to contain its spread like shutting down schools, colleges and cinema halls in the national capital and some other places.

Issuing a video appeal to people on Twitter, Priyanka Gandhi said everyone will have to remain "very careful and vigilant" as the novel coronavirus has been declared a pandemic by the WHO.

"There are small things which we can do to keep this disease away. Wash your hands repeatedly for at least for 30 seconds. Apart from this, if you have any symptoms of the disease like cough, fever, then see a doctor or get in touch with a hospital," the Congress general secretary said.

"If you have symptoms then don't meet many people. If you are planning to undertake a journey, postpone it for a few days. These are small things but by taking care of them you can avoid this disease and we can stop this disease from spreading," she said.

She also said that several nations of the world, including India, were facing the pandemic.

"As a responsible citizen, we can prevent the disease from spreading by taking small precautions. Let's together defeat this pandemic," Priyanka Gandhi tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SYRACUSE, NY -- Catholics throughout the seven-county Diocese of Syracuse will not be obligated to attend Sunday Mass until further notice, Bishop Douglas L. Lucia announced today.

Lucias dispensation lifts the churchs rule on Mass attendance due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Masses throughout the Diocese of Syracuse will continue to be offered at this time," the Diocese posted on its web site. "However, due to the serious health crisis caused by the coronavirus, Bishop Lucia hereby dispenses Catholics in the Diocese of Syracuse from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass beginning immediately until further notice. ... Those with underlying health conditions are especially encouraged to remain at home.

The Diocese of Syracuse includes all Catholic churches and ministries in Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego counties.

Bishops in Albany and in Buffalo and have issued similar dispensations.

In his announcement to Syracuse Catholics, Lucia asked that those who do refrain from attending Mass due to illness join the faithful of the diocese in praying the Novena Prayer for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, devote some time to meditating on the word of God, observe Mass on television or the internet, and/or pray the Rosary insofar as this is possible.

Before this dispensation, Lucia and the Syracuse diocese had urged those who are sick or whose immune systems to avoid going to Mass, reminding them that the sick are not obligated.

The diocese has also urged its churches to keep its holy water fonts empty and ensure that all surfaces are sanitized.

For those attending Mass, Lucia issued these guidelines:

Refrain from the non-liturgical practice of holding hands during the recitation of the Our Father

Omit the Sign of Peace or exchange it without physical contact

Suspend distribution of the Precious Blood of Christ from the chalice to the faithful

Practice good hygiene, particularly when distributing Holy Communion

Refrain from the non-liturgical practice of priests and deacons placing hands on the heads of children or adults when blessing those who are not receiving Communion

In response to the coronavirus and the states ban on gatherings of 500 people or more, some churches in Central New York have already cancelled Mass, including the Catholic St. Lucys Church on Syracuses Near West Side.

Abundant Life Christian Center in Cicero, a 3,000-plus member congregation, also cancelled services and urged people to listen in online.

Read more:

 Inside NYs coronavirus crowd ban: What we know so far

 Social distancing: Can we give each other some room?

 Full coronavirus coverage at syacuse.com

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.

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(ANSA) - Rome, March 13 - Aid and a team of nine doctors have been sent from China to help Italy amid the coronavirus emergency.

A China Eastern flight landed in Rome from Shanghain in the night between Thursday and Friday as part of an initiative that was recently announced by the foreign ministers of Italy and China, Luigi Di Maio and Wang Yi. Medical equipment included ventilators, respirators and masks.

The vice president of the Chinese Red Cross, Yang Huichuan, and a professor on cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Liang Zongan, were part of the team of intensive care specialists, pediatricians and nurses who treated coronavirus patients in China.

"This is what we call solidarity and I am sure more will come", Di Maio said, showing the cargo plane's arrival on Facebook.

"We are not alone, there are people in the world who want to help Italy".


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Linkedin Peter Hutchinson (Agence France-Presse) New York, United States  Fri, March 13, 2020 06:05 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a3190b 2 World #USA,#coronavirus,Donald-Trump,Europe,travel-ban Free

New Yorker John Eckard, 66, was sleeping soundly at his son's home near Frankfurt, Germany when he was startled by a 3:00 am call from his wife saying he "had to fly back now."

"I was half-asleep but went straight on the Singapore Airlines website," said Eckard after he landed in the United States on Thursday.

"I think I must have got the last ticket because I was sitting in the last seat in the last row."

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a ban on entry into the United States of people coming from continental Europe to diminish the spread of the new coronavirus.

Travelers who had hurried to leave Europe before the travel ban is implemented on Friday braced themselves for chaos at New York's JFK but on their arrival found the airport calmly serene.

Eckard said he was "very sad" to be cutting short his visit to see his grandson, but was concerned that Trump's month-long measure to combat the coronavirus spread would be extended.

"I could have stayed for another 30 days but I was thinking that would have probably turned into 60 days and that I could still be here come New Year's Eve," he told AFP at JFK's Terminal 4.

Travelers milled around and check-in queues were short, with the only hint that something was out of the ordinary being the few passengers wearing surgical masks.

"On the plane, there were rumors that we would be swabbed and have our temperatures taken when we landed but it's quiet. I was expecting to turn up at a mad house," added the semi-retired deli store manager.

'Uneasiness and anxiety'

Peter Stults, a 37-year-old graphic designer from New York, was on the same flight as Eckard.

He ended a business trip and vacation to Germany two days early following Trump's shock announcement late Wednesday.

"I wanted to stay longer but it (the ban) didn't come as a surprise. The theme over there (in Germany) was it was coming, not if but when," he told AFP.

Newly-arrived German tourists Niklas Schliesmeier, 25, and Sabrina Schwichtenberg, 23, were determined not to let any travel restrictions ruin a week's holiday in the Big Apple.

"When we heard the announcement we were extremely nervous, so we checked our flights.

"When we saw that they weren't cancelled we're like, let's try to go there and until we came out from immigration we were still not 100 percent sure that we would be allowed to enter," said Schliesmeier.

He added that the couple were "relieved" and "looking forward to a nice week in New York City."

They may not be able to do everything they had hoped to do, however.

"We are worried about closed museums but are hopeful we will have a nice week. We didn't think about cancelling."

New York's theaters and many museums were closed from Thursday, and most gatherings of over 500 people have been banned, including the annual St Patrick's Day parade.

The pair laughed when asked if they were worried whether they could make it back to Germany.

"That's our next problem. We'll face it in a week," said Schliesmeier.

But over at Terminal 1, Oskar and Juliane, also from Germany, were feeling anxious about whether they would get back home.

They came to JFK to see if they could get on an earlier flight than their booking next week.

"We came here to get information because the hotline is always blocked," 28-year-old Oskar told AFP, declining to give his surname.

"There is a feeling of uneasiness and anxiety not knowing what might happen."

At Washington's Dulles airport, John Gover, a British pensioner who lives in the south of France with his wife, was hoping for a last-minute seat on a flight back to Nice.

"We have a flight next week, but because there aren't many flights coming over, we assume there won't be any planes going back," he said.
An Asian alliance of tobacco harm reduction advocacy organizations has urged India' Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to bring up the rights of smokers who want to switch to safer alternatives during the Ninth Session of Parties (COP9) of the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) which will be held in November 2020.

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) also asked India's health minister to question the restrictive policy of WHO that tolerates the use of combustible cigarettes while discouraging the use of 95-percent less harmful smoke-free Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS).

CAPHRA sent separate letters this month to Asian health ministers who will lead the preparation of their countries' position on ENDS, preparatory to the COP9 of WHO-FCTC.

There are 181 parties to the WHO-FCTC - a global treaty that seeks to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.

CAPHRA said tobacco use causes a million deaths per year in the Asia Pacific region, with smoke as the main culprit. It said, however, that e-cigarettes provide smokers with an option to get away from smoking and could hasten the demise of the cigarette.

CAPHRA said that as the FCTC has a mandate to pursue "harm reduction" as a core tobacco control policy, it has failed to acknowledge or implement this policy over the last 18 years. It has effectively deprived smokers of an effective way out of smoking, according to the coalition.

CAPHRA also noted that the successive FCTC-COPs had refused to consider the overwhelming scientific evidence proving ENDS to be a much less harmful alternative to smoking and an extraordinarily effective smoking cessation strategy that has worked for millions of smokers in developed countries.

"It is a violation of the human rights of all smokers and current users of safer nicotine products, to ban or restrict access to these products and it goes against the mandate of the WHO FCTC Article 1 that clearly outlines a two-pronged approach to the global tobacco crisis that includes a harm reduction approach", said CAPHRA.

The coalition, therefore, asked Asian health ministers to bring to FCTC-COP9 discussion the consumers' rights to choose less harmful products as a way to protect themselves from the smoke.

India's central government imposed a ban on the sale and advertisement of vaping products in 2019 and threatened penalties of up to three years in prison. While the use and possession of vaping devices are exempt from the ban, this is not clarified at various levels of the government.

CAPHRA said that with appropriate regulations, India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has an opportunity to help millions of smokers switch to safer alternatives such as smoke-free e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn tobacco and snus.

"Nicotine is not the enemy; it is smoke, and tar and the other by-products of combustion. Yet this government continues to permit the sale and use of the obviously most dangerous nicotine product (smoking cigarettes) alongside certain alternative nicotine products while refusing to acknowledge the benefits of allowing smokers to switch to other novel nicotine products that are now known to be both far safer and also more effective in aiding smokers to stop using combustible tobacco", said CAPHRA.

"As consumers and voters, we ask you to consider allowing citizens of this country to choose non-pharmaceutical, non-combustible interventions that provide users with the nicotine they enjoy without the smoke and tar, such as ENDS (popularly known as 'e-cigarettes' or 'vaping'), which have been chosen and used by millions of consumers worldwide to easily, effectively and permanently switch from smoking combustible tobacco," it said.

CAPHRA also asked India's delegates to COP9 to deplore the policy of FCTC to make its sessions closed-door, unaccountable and unreported. It said such sessions represented only the vested interests of some groups whose actions have thus far impeded the rights of citizens and voters to choose for themselves to switch to safer alternatives to deadly smoking.

"Delegates to COP9 should be representing the rights and aspirations of the citizens whose taxes are paying for their attendance, who expect them to speak on their behalf, acknowledge the science underpinning the harm reduction benefits of ENDS, and maintain democratic principles", said the coalition.

"Consumers and voters have the right to make choices that help them avoid adverse health outcomes and smokers have the right to access less harmful nicotine products as alternatives to smoking. We ask you to take into account of this right when making your submission to COP9", said CAPHRA.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For something so long in the planning, it all ended very quickly for John Walker.

Its off. Were done. See you everyone, said the Englishman, who booked his trip to Melbournes Grand Prix almost a year ago.

John Walker (left) and Raphael Zink (right) check their phones for updates on the event. Credit:Joe Armao

He was one of thousands who queued outside Albert Park for gates to open at 8.45am before being told, hours later, they were not allowed in.

Keen fans, who arrived early in famous red Ferrari gear and yellow Daniel Ricciardo caps, were glued to their smart phones, trying to work out if their tickets had any value.
More Artists Summoned to Prison Amid Iran's Rising COVID-19 Death Toll: "They Want to Create Fear"

03/13/20

Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran

In addition to renowned filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, three members of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA)-Baktash Abtin, Reza Khandan Mahabadi and Keyvan Bajan-have been summoned to prison as other inmates are being reportedly released to prevent more COVID-19 outbreaks, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned.

"I'm sure it upsets them very much that I made a new film without their permission," said Rasoulof in an interview with CHRI. "But it would be very childish for them to enforce a sentence in the middle of all these problems they're facing with the spread of the coronavirus."

"The regime is unpredictable to me," added the independent director. "I can't believe they will enforce the sentence nor am I sure they won't. They have reacted very strangely in various situations. But my general decision is not to report to prison."

Rasoulof was summoned to Tehran's Evin Prison in early March to serve a one-year prison sentence for the charge of "propaganda against the state" one week after his film about capital punishment, "There is No Evil, won the top prize at the Berinale - Berlin International Film Festival.

In May 2019, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran presided by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh sentenced the three IWA members to six years prison each on charges of "propaganda against the state" and "assembly and collusion against national security" for peaceful actions including publishing documents about the IWA's history and organizing memorial ceremonies for IWA members who'd been killed by state agents in the 1990s.

In December 2019, Branch 36 of Iran's Appeals Court upheld the sentences against Abtin and Mahabadi and reduced Bajan's sentence to three years and six months but they remained at home with the sentences hanging over their heads, as is often the case with political prisoners in Iran.

"They have asked us to report to Evin Prison within five days; I will not report to prison in these circumstances," Abtin told CHRI on March 11, 2020, referring to Iran's deadly COVID-19 outbreakthat has reportedly reached prisons throughout the country. "I will wait for them to come and arrest me."

"I cannot think of one logical reason why, under these chaotic conditions, we wouldn't be considered dangerous for other prisoners," he added. "We in the outside world could be carrying this disease."

Abtin continued: "We have rarely seen the regime acting wisely... and if we want to look at this from a cynical point of view, by sending us to prison under these circumstances the regime wants to liquidate people like us so that we die naturally in prison without having our blood directly on their hands."

Abtin's colleague Keyvan Bajan said they were being targeted to scare other citizens from engaging in peaceful activities that could be interpreted as criticism of state policies, such as freedom of speech and expression.

"They want to create fear and terror," he told CHRI. "The issue is that there was no need for them to enforce our sentences at this time. We were sentenced a long time ago and they could have waited a couple of more months, given the present health situation in the prisons."

"I was really surprised by their action especially when the judiciary chief ordered a temporary suspension of sentences [for other prisoners]," he added, noting that he would be consulting with his lawyer about what to do next.

Reza Khandan Mahabadi told CHRI he couldn't figure out the logic of summoning them to prison as thousands of prisoners were being released due to a widening health crisis.

"We can't really understand what the authorities are up to," Mahabadi told CHRI. "Are they just carrying out their work and enforcing an old sentence under normal procedures without thinking of the circumstances, or is the judiciary chief trying to exert his power by telling us he will enforce sentences regardless of his order to grant furloughs?"

He added: "If this isn't normal procedure, it can be a sort of show of force to create fear. They have always relied on creating fear... Otherwise it doesn't make any sense to enforce sentences at a time when disease is spreading. We on the outside could be carrying the disease and pose a danger to prisoners. I haven't made a firm decision about what to do but I believe this summons to be wrong."
The hospitality industry is feeling the blow in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. As national chains send emails informing customers about safety measures, restaurants around the country are suffering as reservations decrease and cancellations increase. The Alabama Department of Health announced the states first confirmed case of COVID-19 on Friday morning, but restaurants around the state had already started taking precautions. March 12, modern eatery Lucys in Auburn announced it was extending its service with the addition of curbside pickup and delivery. Little Savannah Restaurant and Bar in Birmingham resumed taking orders through Waitr and is also offering curbside pickup.

Little Savannah is just one of the many restaurants, bars, and breweries in Birmingham that are staying open this weekend. In a Friday press conference, Mayor Randall Woodfin encouraged the citys residents to stay safe while still supporting Birminghams small businesses.

For those in the Birmingham area who plan to venture out to a bar or restaurant this weekend, here are three special events to look out for:

Small Batch beer releases

Trim Tab has released the latest edition of its Cellar Reserve Series a Fudge Therapy Imperial Stout. The small batch brew hit the tasting gallery and the brewery shelves at noon on Friday. Good People has also released two new, small batch kettle sours, as well as a new edition to its Funk Farm beer series.

Brunch at Ferus Artisan Ales starts on Saturday, March 14

Ferus Artisan Ales has a full menu of bar bites, small plates, and sandwiches. On Saturday, the Trussville brewpub will start offering brunch including Cajun shrimp and gritsNew Orleans style barbecued shrimp and steamed asparagus over Parmesan grits.

St. Patricks celebrations

Bars and restaurants around the city are have festivities lined up for St. Patricks celebrations. While the parade in Five Points South has been postponed, businesses in the neighborhood will still offer deals on food and drinks throughout the weekend.

A couple more events: On March 14 in Avondale, Cahaba Brewery will host ShamROCK, a night of beer and bands. In Lakeview, Tin Roof will host a St. Patricks edition of Tour de Brewers, its charity run/ride/walk/ride-share brewery crawl that supports The Dannon Project.

A reminder: Heres how to protect yourself against COVID-19

According to the Centers for Disease Control, people should do the following to protect themselves from coronavirus:

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

If soap and water arent available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Practice social distancing (not getting too close to other people). This is especially important for people who are at a higher risk of getting sick.

Cover your coughs and sneezes.

Stay home if you are sick.

Wear a facemask if you are sick; do not wear a facemask if you are not ill.

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Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea share prices rose 10-34 percent intraday on March 13 after media reports said the government may come out with a relief package for the telecom sector.

The cabinet is likely to have discussed telecom issues and clear some relief measures for the sector, CNBC-TV18 quoted sources as saying.

Telecom stocks have remained under pressure after the department of telecom asked companies to pay the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues at the earliest.

On March 4, the government, citing a Supreme Court order, asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telcos to pay the remaining amount without a delay.

As per reports, the government has received about Rs 26,000 crore in AGR payments so far.

At 1124 hours, Bharti Airtel was quoting at Rs 484.85, up Rs 19.90, or 4.28 percent, and Vodafone Idea Limited was quoting at Rs 5.41, up Rs 1.21, or 28.81 percent on the BSE.
New Delhi, March 13 : Indian Defence forces have set up quarantine bases across the country for 5,000 people who are suspected to be affected by coronavirus or are coming from coronavirus-affected countries.

4,000 quarantine bases have been set up by the Indian Army while Indian Navy and Air Force have set up facilities for 1,000 people.

Indian Army was running facilities in Manesar and Jaisalmer with 300 and 1,000 capacity, respectively.

As more people are being airlifted from coronavirus-hit countries, new bases in Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Jhansi with a capacity of 1,000 people are being set up.

The force is also setting up quarantine bases in West Bengal's Binnaguri and Bihar's Gaya with a capacity of 300 each.

On Friday, 44 Indian citizens evacuated from Iran were taken to Indian navy quarantine facility set up at Ghatkopar, Mumbai.

"The Indian Navy has setup isolation facilities at its premier hospital INHS Asvini at Mumbai to treat COVID-19 cases," the Navy said.

Indian Navy's Command Headquarters at Kochi and Vizag have also been directed to setup similar facilities. Separate "Fever Clinics" are functioning at all naval hospitals to prevent spread of infection from undiagnosed cases.

Sources also said that instructions have been issued to all concerned personnel to accord adequate focus on health security. "All ranks to take precautions and not panic," said sources in Indian Army adding that all recruitment rallies to be postponed by one month.

Indian Army has also asked it personnel to restrict travel and to maximum utilise of video conference facilities.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Local government, health department and emergency personnel attend a Thursday webinar conducted by state officials on COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 00:47:23|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The German government decided on Friday to help companies hit by the coronavirus pandemic with "unlimited" credit, initially providing 20 billion euros (22.2 billion U.S. dollars).

"There is no upper limit to the amount of credit that KfW can grant," said Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz, referring to Germany's state development bank KfW.

Scholz said that eventually this would cost the German government "umpteen billions" but the exact amount remains unclear. The government's "good budgetary position" would make it possible to provide unlimited assistance.

"We are taking all necessary measures to protect employees and companies" in Germany, said Scholz. The aid package would help small, medium-sized and even very large companies.

Peter Altmaier, the country's minister for economic affairs, stressed that this is the "moment for joint action." The two ministers presented a comprehensive package of measures to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus on Friday.

Altmaier said that "no healthy company should go into insolvency because of the coronavirus, no jobs should be lost."

Earlier on Friday, the German Bundestag (federal parliament) had unanimously passed a law to simplify short-time work compensation for German companies.

Germany's Ministry of Health had already been provided with around one billion euros at short notice to combat the coronavirus, including the procurement of protective equipment, such as masks and protective suits.

Furthermore, the country's Ministry of Education and Research would receive 145 million euros for the development of a vaccine and for treatment measures, according to the Ministries of Finance and Economic Affairs.
Denmark and Poland are temporarily closing their borders to non-citizens in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The two countries have also clamped down on public gatherings and ordered schools, shops and restaurants to shut.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at a press conference: 'All tourists, all travel, all vacations, and all foreigners who cannot prove a creditable purpose of entering Denmark, will be denied entrance at the Danish border.

The closure would not apply to the transport of goods, including foods, medicine and industry supplies.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, pictured, has said the nation's borders will be closed tomorrow to all non-citizens in an effort to halt the spread of coronavirus, after earlier announcing the closure of all schools, universities and kindergartens

Earlier the Danish government had announced that all Danish schools, universities, and kindergartens will be shut for two weeks to slow the spread of the bug.

Tough new measures will also include banning indoor events with 100 or more participants, and sending non-critical public sector employees home.

Private sector workers will also be encouraged to work from home, after the Danish Patient Safety Authority reported 442 new cases this week. The country now has 617 confirmed cases.

Meanwhile in Poland, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced the country is banning foreigners from entering the country as well as shutting all restaurants, bars and casinos.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced the country is banning foreigners from entering the country

Polish citizens returning from abroad will be ordered to undertake a 14-day quarantine.

The country has so far confirmed 68 cases of coronavirus with one death.

Morawiecki told a news conference on Friday: 'The state will not abandon (its citizens). However, in the current situation we cannot allow ourselves to keep borders open to foreigners.'

He also said shopping malls would be forced to close some shops, and restaurants, bars and casinos would be closed.

Polish Border Guard officers carry out a sanitary control on the Polish-Slovakian border in Barwinek, south-eastern Poland. The country is ordering its citizens returning home from abroad to undertake a 14-day quarantine

Public gatherings will be allowed only if no more than 50 people are present.

The decision will be effective for 10 days but can be extended by another 20 days and then by a month.

Starting at midnight local time Saturday, the country will suspend international flights and international railway connections.

The urgent action follows the World Health Organization's designation of coronavirus as a pandemic, as it blasted 'inactive' governments for fueling the crisis.

Ms Frederiksen said: 'Under normal circumstances, a government would not present such far-reaching measures without having all the solutions ready for the many Danes concerned. But we are in an extraordinary situation' (pictured, EU summit, February 2020)

According to The Local, the Prime Minister added: 'We will not get through this as a country without a cost. Businesses will close. Some will lose their jobs. We will do what we can to mitigate the consequences for employees' (pictured, March 11, 2020)

In a press conference yesterday, Ms Frederiksen said: 'This will have huge consequences, but the alternative would be far worse.

'Under normal circumstances, a government would not present such far-reaching measures without having all the solutions ready for the many Danes concerned.

'But we are in an extraordinary situation.'

According to The Local, the Prime Minister added: 'We will not get through this as a country without a cost. Businesses will close. Some will lose their jobs.

'We will do what we can to mitigate the consequences for employees.'

Sren Brostrm, director of the The Danish Health Authority, called the disease 'not only a threat for Denmark, but for the whole world'.

Pictured: WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing, March 9

The Danish Government previously announced that it would shift its coronavirus strategy from 'containment' to 'delay' as the number of cases rose.

The move signalled the new effort to divert resources from preventing the infection coming to Denmark to slowing down its spread domestically.

It comes as the WHO blamed 'alarming levels of inaction' by governments across the planet for fueling the escalating coronavirus crisis.

The UN agency said it was 'deeply concerned by the alarming levels of spread and anxiety' as the number of global confirmed cases surpassed 120,000.

Director-General of the UN agency Dr Tedros Adhanom also blasted governments for ignoring repeated WHO pleas to take urgent and aggressive action, with cases of the deadly illness outside of China having risen 13-fold in the space of a fortnight because of escalating crises in Italy, Iran, Spain, Germany, and France.

The WHO said: 'Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly.

'It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death.'

Denmark's Prime Minister has preempted Boris Johnson's anticipated decision to formally move the UK into the 'delay phase' of battling coronavirus.

The Prime Minister will chair an emergency Cobra meeting tomorrow, and meet with Labour figures to brief them on planned emergency laws - including closing schools, banning large gatherings, and ordering the country to work from home.

His administration was accused of 'playing roulette' with people's lives as the eighth confirmed death in the UK by the disease was announced today.

Richard Horton, chief editor of the prestigious Lancet medical journal, blasted the Government's dithering, saying: 'The UK Government - Matt Hancock and Boris Johnson - claim they are following the science.

'But that is not true. The evidence is clear. We need urgent implementation of social distancing and closure policies.

'The Government is playing roulette with the public. This is a major error.'

One UK victim was a woman in her 70s with underlying health problems from Dudley, West Midlands. The second was an 'elderly patient' with a number of chronic conditions at the George Eliot Hospital in Warwickshire.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Nadine Dorries made the shock announcement that she is self-isolating for a fortnight after being diagnoses with coronavirus.

Panic spread in Westminster as a total six MPs quarantined themselves, for fear they had contracted the virus after coming into contact with the 62-year-old.

Another Cabinet minister, unnamed by The Daily Telegraph, has also self-isolated, prompting fears that Mr Johnson could have contracted the virus. Symptoms often take days to appear, meaning the Prime Minister could already have the bug.

Pictured: Boris Johnson with Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the House of Commons (March 11)

Pictured: Health Secretary Matt Hancock (left) and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty (right)
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The CRPF has collected the medical test sample of a jawan deployed in Chhattisgarh to check against coronavirus after he reported high fever and cough, officials said on Friday.

They said the trooper, part of a battalion deployed for anti-Naxal operations in the state, had reported to his unit on March 10 after coming from his hometown in Kerala's Kottayam district.

The jawan, they said, is suspected to have visited a hospital in Kerala where some people were kept under isolation.

The jawan was initially attended by CRPF doctors as he was suffering from high fever and cough.

He has now been kept in an isolation ward at his camp in Chhattisgarh and his samples have been taken and sent to Mumbai for confirmation, they said.

The 3.25 lakh personnel strong Central Reserve Police Force has deployed around 25,000 personnel of over 25 battalions to conduct anti-Maoist operations in the central Indian state.

India reported its first death due to coronavirus on Thursday as the number of positive cases soared to 75.
A Japanese green tea claims to quickly relieve the effects of allergies, hay fever and eczema by providing assistance in building the immune system.

The MYCHA Benifuuki Premium Instant Green Tea is easy to prepare and can be taken anytime for fast relief of certain symptoms  and is priced at $17.90 for a 30 gram bag.

The product was first developed in 1963 but wasn't released to the Japanese market until 1993 and was specifically for remedial use.

MYCHA is an Australian/Japanese brand who are passionate about sharing the 'true depths and delights' of Japanese green tea with others.

The MYCHA Benifuuki Premium Instant Green Tea (pictured) is easy to prepare and can be taken anytime for fast relief of certain symptoms  and is priced at $17.90 for a 30 gram bag

According to the product description, the tea is low in caffeine but high in 'methylated catechins', which is the core ingredient that provides the advanced relief.

The tea is made predominantly from a 'specifically cultivated variety of the green tea plant' that has been used for decades.

It is recommended drinking Benifuuki tea powder several weeks prior to allergy season in order to gradually build up the immune system.

The product was first developed in 1963 but wasn't released to the Japanese market until 1993 and was specifically for remedial use

It is recommended drinking the Benifuuki tea powder several weeks prior to allergy season in order to gradually build up the immune system

The tea is part of the brands Matcha range, which contains a total of 11 products.

Other tea collections available include Sencha, Low Caffeine, Kukicha, Hojicha, Genmaicha and Bancha, with Japanese tea pots and cups also available online.

The Benifuuki tea powder is one of the brands bestselling items and Australians can purchase the tea online from the MYCHA website.
The second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims arrived from Iran on Friday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

IMAGE: A security person wears mask as preventive measure against the novel coronavirus at Chennai International Airport, on Friday. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo

An Iran Air flight carrying Indian pilgrims stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran landed at the airport in Mumbai on Friday afternoon, an official said.

They were later taken to a Navy's quarantine facility in Ghatkopar, a suburb in northeast Mumbai, a Navy official said.

Earlier, the plan was to take them to an Army quarantine facility in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working on plans to bring back the Indians stranded there.

'Second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims has arrived today from #Iran. Our efforts to bring back the others continue. @India_in_Iran and our medical team - keep up the good work. Appreciate the support of Iranian authorities and their airlines,' Jaishankar said in a tweet.

The first batch of 58 Indian pilgrims were brought back from Iran on Tuesday.

'A special Iran Air flight, IR810, arrived from Tehran at CSMIA today at 12:07 hrs with 44 Indians evacuated from COVID-19 hit Iran.

'All passengers and crew underwent screening by the APHO at the isolation bay and were transferred directly from the aircraft to the Indian Naval facility in Ghatkopar to follow the mandatory 14-day quarantine period,' a statement by the Mumbai airport operator MIAL said.

Jaishankar on Thursday said there are more than 6,000 Indians in various provinces of Iran.

Coronavirus outbreak is a matter of 'great concern' and the government's initial focus is to bring back Indian pilgrims stranded in Iran, he had said.

Govt to send Air India flight to Milan on Saturday to bring back stranded Indians

The government will send an Air India flight to Milan on Saturday to bring back around 200-250 Indians stranded in the Italian city due to the coronavirus outbreak there, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said.

'GoI will send an Air India flight tomorrow afternoon to evacuate Indians stuck in Milan due to #Covid19. We expect to bring back around 200-250 passengers by this flight,' Muraleedharan said in a tweet on Friday.

A senior Civil Aviation official said the flight would take off around noon or 1 pm and it will land on Sunday morning at 7.45 am at the Delhi airport.

AI Express to advance flights to Saudi Arabia; stop services from Mar 15

Air India Express on Friday said it will advance three flights scheduled to fly from Kerala to Riyadh and Dammam, as Saudi Arabia has decided to suspend arrival of passengers from India and few other countries.

Further, the airline would withdraw all flights to Riyadh and Dammam from March 15 till further notice.

Against the backdrop of Saudi Arabia's latest decision, the carrier would advance its flight on Saturday from Kozhikode to Riyadh by one-and-a-half hours.

Besides, two flights that were to fly on March 15 would be operated on March 14.

These flights are scheduled from Kannur to Riyadh and from Kozhikode to Dammam, the airline said in a statement.

Air India Express said Saudi Arabia government has issued a circular suspending arrival of passengers from certain countries, including India, to the kingdom.

"A time limit of 72 hours is given to citizens of the kingdom and current residents holding valid iqama to return to the kingdom," it added.

Iqama is a type of resident permit in Saudi Arabia.

Holders of visiting, tourist and Umrah visas would not be permitted to enter the kingdom, the statement noted.

AI cancels flights to Italy, South Korea, Kuwait

Air India has cancelled flights to Italy, South Korea and Kuwait besides curtailing services to France, Germany, Spain, Israel and Sri Lanka till April 30, the airline said on Friday.

An airline spokesperson gave the details while providing an update on its international operations.

"Air India has only curtailed services to France, Germany, Spain, Israel and Sri Lanka till April 30," the spokesperson said.

Earlier, a senior official, who did not want to be named, said the carrier has decided to temporarily suspend services to Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Israel, South Korea and Sri Lanka due to the coronavirus outbreak.

DGCA asks international airlines to consider waiving ticket cancellation fees

Aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation has asked international airlines to consider waiving ticket cancellation and reschedule charges or look at providing any other incentive, amid coronavirus outbreak.

'In light of hardship faced by passengers, airlines may like to consider and take an appropriate call, accordingly,' the DGCA said in a circular.

The circular, dated March 12, has been addressed to all scheduled international airlines operating to/from India.

'In the current scenario, it would be appropriate if airlines support their passenger in this tough time by waiving off cancellation/reschedule charges or by providing any other incentive,' it said.

A Lufthansa spokesperson said the group would be suspending some of its flights to Indian destinations 'from March 14 to/ including March 16'.

"In the meantime, Lufthansa Group has extended its waiver policy that already offers customers extensive re-booking options for existing and future bookings," the spokesperson said.

In a statement, a Vistara spokesperson said there is temporary capacity rationalisation in domestic as well as international network due to drop in demand.

'We have waived off cancellation charges for all domestic tickets booked on or before March 1, 2020 and for all international tickets booked on or before March 12, 2020,' the spokesperson said.

Air inside our Airbus aircraft cabin refreshed every 3 mins, says IndiGo

Amid coronavirus pandemic, country's largest airline IndiGo has said that air in its Airbus aircraft cabin is refreshed every three minutes and its crew is following personal protective measures as well.

In a message to customers, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta said the airline is using a disinfectant, used to sterilise surgical equipment in hospitals, to clean cabin and cockpit on all international flights. This is followed by a thorough fumigation.

'The air in our Airbus cabin refreshes itself every three minutes. So, the fresh air enters through the engines, passes through our High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, and is then circulated in the cabin.

'HEPA ensures hospital-level filtration in our aircraft. In addition to all of this, personal protective measures are equally important. So wash your hands frequently.

'Avoid touching your face. And when you venture out, stand a few feet apart from people,' he said.

According to him, crew members aboard international flights wear PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and it is changed every eight hours.

'... because this disease is most easily transmitted through surfaces, each and every aircraft is cleansed with cleaning agents and disinfectants that are approved by the WHO and Airbus.

'Areas that are most often touched -- tray tables, arm rests, overhead nozzles, lavatories, galleys -- are paid particular attention to,' he said in the message.
Its only a matter of time before inmates in prisons and county jails are exposed to the novel coronavirus, public defenders and advocates said Thursday.

And officials said they are monitoring prisoners at state prisons and facilities such as the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County  the largest county jail in the state.

MDC continues to follow established infection prevention and control guidelines to prevent the spread of emerging infectious diseases, Bernalillo County spokeswoman Tia Bland told the Journal. We provide information, education and screening. MDC has airborne isolation rooms available to utilize as needed.

She said the county has identified two PODS (living areas) where male and female inmates can be housed and quarantined if the need arises.

And Bland said MDC is screening inmates as they arrive and have been since Feb. 13. She said more than 2,000 people have been screened, but none have tested positive for the illness.

State Department of Corrections spokesperson Eric Harrison said none of the states inmates have been tested as of Thursday.

If at any point in the future our medical provider indicates to us that an inmate is showing symptoms for COVID-19, we will work collaboratively with the Department of Health to get that individual tested as soon as possible, and take measures to prevent any spread in the facility, he said.

Harrison said all contact visitation is suspended through the end of April. Non-contact visitation for immediate family members will be permitted to all eligible inmates as available. He said all volunteer activities in facilities are suspended through the end of April, including events, clubs and banquets.

Earlier this week, the American Civil Liberties Union sent letters to the DOC and the New Mexico Association of Counties requesting plans be developed at the states 12 prisons and 30 county jails. The ACLU, New Mexico Immigrant Law Center and the Santa Fe Dreamers Project sent similar letters to the Torrance County Detention Facility, the Otero County Processing Center and the Cibola County Correctional Center asking that they develop plans with the DOH and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The people in those facilities are in an especially vulnerable position when a public health crisis happens like this, ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director Peter Simonson said. Whether we like it or not, these people are part of our community.

He said many inmates in state facilities arent in excellent health and their condition works against them with a virus like this.

People in custody are often in cramped quarters in close contact with other inmates, Simonson said. They often dont have access to cleaning supplies.

The state Law Office of the Public Defender has similar concerns, Chief Public Defender Bennett Baur said.

He said those concerns include public defenders exposing inmates to the virus because they (public defenders) have to visit clients in court and other clients and their families in their homes.

I know its almost unthinkable, but were looking at having to limit contact with them (inmates), he said.

Bland said MDC is reviewing and updating its pandemic plan.

In the event of a positive test result, the patient will be assessed and appropriate housing and treatment will be determined by the medical team including the DOH, she said.

CoreCivic spokesperson Ryan Gustin said the facilities his company manages  including the detention centers in Torrance and Cibola counties  have comprehensive emergency response plans in place which include processes to detect and track diseases; collect, analyze, and report data on individuals exhibiting signs of illness; and to separate the sick from the well.


This Ministry wishes to inform that a meeting presided by the highest office has decided to suspend the ETA on arrival for foreigners.

01. Accordingly

i. With effect from 12.00 noon (Sri Lanka time), 14th March 2020, the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) on arrival, for foreigners who hold ordinary (or) normal passports will be temporarily suspended until further notice.

ii. A foreigner who holds Diplomatic (or) Official passport is exempted from above suspension at (1).

iii. Citizens of Singapore, Maldives and Seychelles are also exempted from above temporary restriction at (1).





02. Foreigners, who intend to visit Sri Lanka for purposes deemed necessary are required to secure visa prior to their arrival in Sri Lanka, through the following channels:

a. Online through ETA website (www.eta.gov.lk)

b. Sri Lanka Diplomatic Missions and Posts abroad and

c. Heads of the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

Read more: www.mfa.gov.lk
The Academy of Music before the start of the 158th Academy of Music Anniversary Concert and Ball in 2015 Read more

Should the Academy Ball stay or go?

Your answer probably depends on your age and wealth. Its also likely dictated by what you know about the ball and why it exists.

To some, the Academy Ball is a hoary spectacle of the haves in an era that increasingly shudders at the accumulation of wealth. It may seem frivolous to even consider at the moment, given the coronavirus pandemic and its threat to public gatherings of all kinds.

But the reason the citys biggest social event was launched, in 1957, was not to celebrate wealth; rather, it was to extract money from people of means to save a building in need of constant restoration. And so planning for the future of the Academy Ball goes on, as it must, to keep a civic treasure intact.

The Academy of Music Anniversary Concert and Ball is itself a treasure  unlikely and weird in an only-in-Philadelphia way, and for these reasons alone it seems like this odd birthday party for a building should continue with at least some of its eccentricity intact.

Its also true, though, that too many bigger issues hinge on the future shape of the event for things to go on exactly as they have. Planners have called a timeout on the Academy Concert and Ball, and they are wise stewards for doing so. Some kind of bash will happen in January of 2021 and beyond to celebrate the opera house that has been central to civic life in Philadelphia since it opened in 1857. But what kind of bash should it be?

As with many of the changes gripping Philadelphias arts institutions, this is about money. Given the tens of millions needed to properly endow, restore, and weather-seal the historic structure, the ball, as the major annual fund-raiser, is actually an inefficient vehicle for raising funds. Costs of putting on the event are so high that it nets only around 10% of what it brings in.

The wider ripple effect of the ball on fund-raising is hard to measure; someone might make a multi-million-dollar donation or bequest fueled by the cumulative emotion of having attended the ball all of his or her life.

Sending a better message

Just as important, though, and very much related to the fund-raising question, is the message the event transmits on behalf of the Academy as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra, which owns the building.

If I were asked to free-associate, Id connect the Academy Ball with words like rich and elite. The reality of who goes and why is actually at odds (mostly) with its reputation. But the event has traded in this kind of imaging for decades, and no matter what format the fete takes next, leaders must do something dramatic to change how it is perceived.

Foundations and corporate giving arms today are especially conscious of the message their money sends. White tie is no longer a good look for arts and culture. Rolling up your shirtsleeves and doing good is.

This raises the question, of course, of why the orchestra musicians (the men, at least) still don white tie and tails for most subscription concerts.

But fancy attire by itself isnt a problem. Its about the context. The Academy Balls dress code could easily survive if the newly configured event became just one event of several welcoming visitors into the Academy  all sorts of visitors, that is.

Among the possibilities: a series of events over a weekend that could include a free concert and tours of the Academy. An open street fair showcasing the outside and inside of the building would extend the welcome mat into the city. Distributing free tickets to performances that weekend would help to bring back patrons for Broadway, opera, and ballet.

Instead of a pricey headliner for the anniversary concert itself, how about naming a resident artist for the year who could work in partnership with schools and who would then perform at the anniversary concert?

That concert could be broadcast and recorded, so this historic building and what goes on in it could be shared with the rest of the world. It is not unrealistic to think that restoration of the building could draw support nationally and internationally.

Most philanthropy, though, will come locally. And that money depends on being able to make the case on ball weekend and beyond for the Academy as being useful in the widest sense  as the place where college graduations happen, mayors are sworn in, children learn about the instruments of the orchestra in the intimate ballroom, and aspiring ballerinas come to take in their first Nutcracker.

All these things happen currently, but somehow the message isnt getting out.

More engagement with children, please. Ive never felt that the Academys marble, gilt, and red velvet were overly formal or off-putting. Children seem to agree. They are sophisticated readers of sensory stimulation.

The awe with which an early experience in the building leaves visitors gets hardwired into memory. This is where a sense of ownership is born.

An architectural irony

The Kimmel Center was built on the idea that it would be a more open and welcoming social atmosphere than the Academy. That hasnt quite panned out. Verizon Hall sounds and feels good, but the lobby spaces of the larger complex are cold, literally and figuratively.

A master plan to fully renovate the Kimmel lobby has so far failed to draw funding. And at the moment, at least, the Academys cozy ancillary spaces are more conducive to social interaction than anything at the Kimmel.

I didnt hear the performances in the Philadelphia Orchestras subscription concert return to the Academy this past winter. But several listeners told me what a stirring encounter it was for them. There is still a strong appetite for experiencing the orchestra in its old home.

A good deal of Philadelphia has its emotional life tied up in that building. It would likely buoy fund-raising for both the orchestra and the Academy if the ensemble could return there for several weeks per season.

One idea thats been floated is holding the ball every five years. Im not sure that would maintain the kind of constant focus on the building it needs. Its also hard to see how that would be a better financial model for raising money.

It also leaves out the balls importance as one of the social quirks that makes the city special. Theres a meta aspect to this costume party with funny social overtones: We know we dont belong in this social stratum, but since that we is most of the people in the room, we tend to feel more entertained than excluded by it all.

The ball may be the only time of the year that Philadelphias political, philanthropic, business, social, and arts sectors assemble elbow to elbow. To attend is to have permission to walk up to anyone and strike up a conversation about anything. In an era of digital silos, the value of human assembly should not be overlooked.

This is a clarifying moment and a happy one, for the Academy and for the city. We are talking about a future for an architectural survivor in a place that has lost many of its great old theaters to make way for the bland.

And one reason were having this conversation is because there is still high demand for a building whose fabric has only been made more sparkling and historically accurate in recent years (though restoration needs are serious and ongoing).

We have all the best reasons to celebrate. All we need now is to come up with the perfect birthday party and to make sure all the right people are invited  which is to say, everyone.
Deputy Minister for Works & Housing, Eugene Boakye Antwi, has warned members of the largest opposition National Democratric Congress(NDC) especially its Communicators to desist from speculating falsehood about projects being embarked on by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).



According to him, it will do the NDC a lot of good to find and prepare a proper campaign message towards the upcoming elections rather than hunting for flaws of the current government to use as its campaign message.



Commenting on NDCs 'Moment of Truth' series with respect to the 1Village, 1Dam project, the member of Parliament for Subin Constituency in the Ashanti Region pointed out that he cant understand why NDC on its tour did not pick at random about ten [10] dams from the five northern regions to research on them but decided to only visit one site which has failed its purpose out of the numerous built.



 . . Why not pick at random about ten [10] dams from the five northern regions to research about but go to a particular one that has failed out of the numerous built. This shows how confused you are as a party, thinking Ghanaians are always sleeping, he indicated on UTVs Adekye Nsroma discussion segment.



NDC Exposes NPP Over Deceptive 1V1D Project In Yendi



The opposition National Democratic Congress has held a press conference in the northern regional town of Yendi, "exposing the deceptive flagship promises of President Akufo-Addo".



The party, in a fact-finding mission, has visited a dried-up dam under the NPP's One village One dam project.



The events marks the 8th edition of the NDC's "Moment Of Truth" series and was held at Adibo in Yendi, a dried up site the Flagstaff House had claimed to have built its so called "one village one dam".



Speaking at the conference on Wednesday, the Communication Director of the party, Sammy Gyamfi said the party embarked on visit to the site in order to give a vivid account of the realities on the ground.



"And so, in the spirit of evidence-based discourse, we have today brought you to the 1V1D site at Adibo and Nakpachei both in the Yendi Constituency in order to expose the deception behind the so-called flagship 1V1D initiative of President Akufo-Add," a part of their statement by Sammy Gyamfi stated.

Source: Elizabeth Semiheva Bedi/ peacefmonline.com / [email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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: Kerala government on



Friday decided to use the tailoring units in prisons of the state to deal with the shortage of masks following the coronavirus scare.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the central jails of the state would begin the manufacture of masks soon.

"Since there is a shortage of masks in Kerala due to coronavirus scare, the state government has decided to manufacture them at the tailoring units in the prisons," he said.

In a Facebook post, Vijayan said, "Kannur, Viyyur and Thiruvananthapuram central jails will immediately start producing the masks."



"We will also make use of the facilities in other jails to produce masks and deal with their shortage," Vijayan said.

Kerala has been hit by the second round of coronavirus cases after the country's first three positive cases in the state were successfully cured and discharged from hospitals last month.

The state has reported 16 cases and 270 people are in isolation wards at various hospitals.

There are 4,180 people under observation, of which 3,910 are under home quarantine.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) said that it has seen no positive results in pets to date of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus strain responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 respiratory outbreak in humans. IDEXX said it evaluated thousands of canine and feline specimens during validation of a new veterinary test system for the COVID-19 virus. The specimens used for test development and validation were obtained from specimens submitted to IDEXX Reference Laboratories for PCR testing. The company noted that the new test results align with the current expert understanding that COVID-19 is primarily transmitted person-to-person and supports the recommendation against testing pets for the COVID-19 virus. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
President Trump will not be tested for the coronavirus after meeting with a Brazilian official who tested positive for the virus just days after their meeting, the White House said on Thursday.



Fabio Wajngarten, a top communications aide to President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, tested positive days after accompanying Bolsonaro to Mr. Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort and posing for a photo with the president and Vice President Mike Pence.



In the photo shared on social media, Mr. Wajngarten is seen standing shoulder to shoulder with Donald Trump. A video from the event also showed Mr. Wajngarten standing directly behind Donald Trump as they spoke to a crowd.



After his meeting, DonaldTrump hosted a dinner for Mr. Bolsonaro and his aides. Mr. Wajngarten also stopped by the birthday party of Kimberly Guilfoyle, an adviser to Mr. Trumps re-election campaign and the girlfriend of his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., a campaign aide said. Mr. Trump also attended the party, according to the New York Times.



But the White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, played down Mr. Trumps level of exposure.



She said in a statement on Thursday: "Both the president and vice president had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time."



She also indicated that neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Pence intended to self-quarantine as a precautionary measure.



She said: "There is currently no indication to test patients without symptoms, and only people with prolonged close exposure to confirmed positive cases should self-quarantine. Exposures from the case are being assessed, which will dictate next steps."









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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American Maritime Partnership

U.S. oil companies battered by the crude price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia are encouraging the Trump administration to waive a law that mandates only American vessels can be used to transport goods among U.S. ports.

A temporary waiver of that law, known as the Jones Act, can allow American producers to move domestic products with greater ease within the U.S., said the American Exploration and Production Council, in a letter sent to congressional leaders Thursday and seen by Bloomberg. The group represents independent oil companies that have already announced plans to scale back operations as Russia and Saudi Arabia flood the world with crude, including Parsley Energy Inc., Chesapeake Energy Corp., and Pioneer Natural Resources Co.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 19:08:17|Editor: huaxia

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TAIPEI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. citizen living in Taiwan was confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the island's epidemic monitoring agency said Friday.

The new patient, a man in his 50s, was suspected of contracting the disease while receiving four friends from the United States from Feb. 24 to 26, the agency said in a press release.

He began to develop chills, cough and fever on Feb. 27 and has been hospitalized since March 7 before his diagnosis was confirmed Friday, the statement said.

The man's visiting friends are two couples. One person of a couple showed symptoms of chills, cough and fatigue on Feb. 24 in Taiwan and the other developed similar symptoms after leaving Taiwan, while the couple's family member in the U.S. was confirmed to have contracted the disease on March 10, according to the agency.

One person of the other couple also reported respiratory symptoms after leaving Taiwan, the statement added.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Taiwan has risen to 50, among whom 23 were imported. A total of 20 patients have recovered and one died of the disease while the rest are in stable condition, according to the agency.

Meanwhile, the 361 Taiwan residents, who returned from Hubei Province to Taiwan Tuesday evening, have been tested negative for the virus and quarantined at several locations, the agency said.
Wits acts to manage Covid-19 exposure

Wits acts swiftly to manage student who came in contact with COVID-19 carrier.

The Wits COVID-19 management committee would like to advise the Wits community that a medical student has been quarantined after it was found that the student came into contact with a person who had been identified with COVID-19.



The student is being monitored closely and has not displayed any symptoms of COVID-19. The student has been screened and the test results are expected later today. However, as a precautionary measure the Faculty has cancelled the clinical activities scheduled for the students class today. All other activities continue as scheduled.



Further information will be made available when it becomes available.

Wits COVID-19 Management Committee

13 March 2020
CHICAGO - A jury convicted a man Friday of first-degree murder in the 2018 shooting death of a Chicago police commander.

With its verdict, announced after just three hours of deliberation, the jury signalled that it had no trouble rejecting the argument made by Shomari Legghettes attorney that Legghette did not know Cmdr. Paul Bauer was a police officer and shot him in self-defence.

Bauer, a popular 31-year veteran of the police department, was walking to City Hall on Feb. 13, 2018, when he heard a call on his radio that a man was running for officers. Prosecutors told jurors that Bauer, 53, gave chase and caught up to Legghette. During a brief struggle that caused the two men to topple down a stairwell at the state government building in the citys downtown Loop, Legghette pulled out a gun and shot Bauer several times.

He did so for no reason other than his own desperate attempts to avoid police, to avoid custody, to avoid what even began as an attempt to have a simple conversation, Cook County Assistant States Attorney Risa Lanier said in her statement to open the trial earlier this month.

Legghettes attorney contended that it was reasonable for Legghette to react the way he did when confronted by a total stranger. But after attorney Scott Kamin suggested to the jury that the 46-year-old Legghette might testify, the trial ended without him taking the witness stand.

Before retreating the the jury room, Lanier told jurors that the only explanation for what unfolded that afternoon was murder.

The defendant may have run, he may have struggled, he may have even shot his way out, but today his flight from justice ends, Lanier said during her closing argument. Today what he cannot escape is the truth.

Legghette faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison under Illinois law.
As coronavirus disrupts the global landscape, some of the sobering questions about U.S. preparedness revolve around what we dont have in place  health care for everyone, affordable child care and paid leave, and basic benefits for the nations poorest families.

In his timely and provocative new book, American Poison: How Racial Hostility Destroyed Our Promise, to be released next Tuesday (March 17), New York Times economics reporter Eduardo Porter argues theres a pretty simple reason why the country is an exception among industrialized countries when it comes to a lack of national safety nets  with so many stories of people falling over the edge, he tells NBC News, and intractable marginalization and poverty.

It boils down to race.

In the book, Porter argues that all Americans  including nearly 20 million white Americans living in poverty, twice as many as African Americans  have been made poorer because at different junctures in U.S. history, the country opted not to extend benefits and policies to everyone if they were going to also help blacks, Latinos and others seen by whites as different.

Weve been unable to understand ourselves as the same thing, Porter tells NBC News. So a lot of the policies have been driven by the barriers rather than by the commonality.

In his book, Porter traces how race dominated the political calculations around the most basic issues of housing, education, aid to poor families, education and health care.

Not implementing comprehensive safety net policies, Porter argues, explains why were outliers amid changing global forces.

Globalization, writes Porter, struck everybody, the French and the Germans and the Canadians and the Japanese. Yet it's the U.S. that is collapsing "into a heap of pathologies simply due to a lack of empathy."

Porter sprinkles the book with ways in which the lack of empathy" for those we perceive as not as deserving of public spending affects communities as a whole.

Story continues

Communities with a larger income gap between white and black Americans, for instance, choose to spend less on public goods like police and fire departments, according to researchers. Americans choose to live in smaller, whiter towns with fewer resources than share goods and services with larger, more diverse regions. Yet overall, the lack of social services and safety net policies has boomeranged as more predominantly white communities across the country increasingly grapple with poverty.

"Race is, in fact, everywhere"

A large "shot across the nation's bow" when it comes to race-tinged policies is California, according to Porter. In 1978, after the growing influx of immigrants had started to change the state's demographics, voters approved to drastically cut property taxes and hence public funds  through its Proposition 13, a cross-generational f--- you to Californias nonwhite future, Porter writes.

"Most were short, Catholic, brown, Spanish-speaking Mexicans. Why spend on them?" writes Porter.

Decades later, its come back to haunt the state, which now has the highest poverty rate in the country  1 in 5 Californians  and some of the worst school graduation outcomes. Yet the majority of voters in a recent poll still support Prop 13, he notes.

Porters insights stem from a sort of outsiders perspective. While he was born in Phoenix to an American father and a Mexican mother, his family moved to Mexico when he was young and he subsequently lived and worked in different countries before he returned to the U.S. in his mid-30s.

He especially noticed, while covering Californias growing Latino population for The Wall Street Journal several decades ago, that race is in fact, everywhere, determining where a person lives, goes to school and how you fare when you run into the cops.

News

In fact, Porter notes wryly in the book that the concept of Latino is a uniquely American thing, lumping together people from different countries into a group that doesnt exist anywhere else in the world.

Porter cites other examples of how racial hostility is reflected in policy. States with larger black populations, Porter notes, have more stringent requirements for the nations latest version of welfare, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF. In Louisiana, only 4 percent of poor families qualified for TANF benefits in 2014; in Vermont, benefits went to 78 percent of families who applied.

Eventually, Porter argues, restricting benefits has resulted in more dismal overall outcomes  the average white American baby born in 2018 will die five years sooner than in Japan, and two years sooner than in Portugal.

The blame goes all around

Perhaps one of the books most important takeaways, Porter points out to NBC News, is that this feeling of mistrust across racial lines has been bipartisan.

After the 14th Amendment, presidents and legislators from both parties allowed states to codify Jim Crow laws, denying blacks parity in work, voting, education and even staying alive  in 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt didnt back a Senate anti-lynching bill for fear of alienating Southern Democrats, Porter notes.

The book traces the racist history of American labor unions, from the exclusion of blacks starting in 1869 with the railroad unions, who were also key backers of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, to the fact that in 1960 Washington, not one black was a member of the electrical workers union that "controlled all hiring for electrical work in the nations capital.

President Richard Nixon, Porter points out, tried to redeploy welfare by extending federal assistance to blue-collar whites to deliver Republicans a lasting political majority. But when his plan backfired, Nixon ditched welfare reform and turned his attention to crime, the more effective way to pick white voters.

As the presidential campaign heats up, along with discussions around immigration policy, health care, Medicaid and minimum wage, Porter says its worth keeping in mind that the racial line in the sand is just there, and political parties navigate with the understanding that its there.

What we haven't done, Porter says, is more openly acknowledge that.

When asked if an increasingly diverse country will become more tolerant and unified, especially when it comes to policies, Porter is ambivalent.

"How do we overcome this? My really honest answer is I don't know," he tells NBC News.

In fact, the next few years could usher in what Porter calls institutional lock-ins through gerrymandering and the selection of judges, for example, that would cement in structural inequities for years to come.

There are some bright spots. Porter writes of the 1975 and 1983 Mount Laurel court decisions in New Jersey that mandated, after much resistance, affordable housing units in all towns  including affluent ones  bringing better living opportunities to thousands of families of color.

Its an example, Porter says, of how the country can self-correct.

Maybe the United States even has a shot, Porter writes, at forging a melting pot for real.

Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more than a decade, Formula 1 tycoon Eric Hersman has slept soundly under the 100,000 antique crystal chandelier in his bedroom.

But now its 24 bulbs are emitting more heat than light.

It has been taken down and put in storage, over an extraordinary row with Mr Hersman's upstairs neighbours Sir Peter Walters and his wife Meryl.

Glass Warfare: Eric Hersman pictured with his wife Alexandra and their daughter Elizabeth and dog Sushi

A delicate matter: The 100K chandelier

According to retired BP chairman Sir Peter, 89, the 23-stone chandelier hanging from a joist beneath the living room of his 2million flat threatened to tear down the floor at any moment.

So after a structural engineer deemed the second-floor room 'unsafe', he and Lady Walters, 74, launched legal action  and secured a court order for the offending light fitting to be taken down.

Luckily it was removed by professionals  avoiding the calamitous fate that befell a chandelier under the care of hapless Del Boy and Rodney in a classic Only Fools And Horses scene.

Mr Hersman and his neighbours are now due to clash over the matter in a full court case which could cost tens of thousands.

American financier Mr Hersman, 58, last night told the Daily Mail the row has its origins in a dispute over the freehold of the six-storey 14million property involved, which is near the Royal Albert Hall in London's affluent Kensington. And he claimed Lady Walters 'hates' him since he called her plain 'Meryl' instead of using her title.

Crystal bawl: Sir Peter Walters and wife Meryl

Swish: 14m London property at the centre of the row

The Central London County Court was told last week that the Walterses had applied for an injunction to have the chandelier removed pending a full hearing.

Sir Peter, who also held senior roles at Glaxo, EMI and HSBC, now 'lacks capacity' to litigate and is suing through his wife instead, the court heard.

The couple's barrister, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, said the problem began last summer when Mr Hersman and his now estranged wife Alexandra, an interior designer, complained to Sir Peter about the state of the joists at the Grade II-listed Victorian property.

Miss Fitzgerald said: 'In the course of an inspection Sir Peter and Lady Walters discovered there was a potentially dangerous issue regarding a chandelier hanging from the joists. Structural engineers advised [them] they were not able to use their reception room until the chandelier had been removed, because there was a risk of it falling.'

Plonkers: Del Boy and Rodney in classic scene

Mr Hersman's barrister Andrew Butler QC insisted the financier  who made 60million helping Bernie Ecclestone expand Formula 1  had been a good neighbour. He said: 'We have simply removed these items to take the heat out of the situation.' Judge Sir David Saunders said of the 23-stone chandelier, which is almost five feet from top to bottom: 'That is a hell of a weight on a ceiling.' Father-of-four Mr Hersman said he had 'four or five' other large chandeliers in his 5,500 sq ft flat that were not a problem.

The French ambassador had offered to rent his place for 15,000 a week, he said, while he believed the Walterses had well-heeled students from nearby Imperial College renting their 1,000 sq ft upstairs flat until it was vacated four months ago. Mr Hersman, who owns properties 'all over the world', said of the row: 'I've done what they asked, although the chandelier had been there for up to 13 years.

'I tried to make peace with them at Christmas, and said, 'Let's play nice', but I never heard anything back. The only people that will win in this is the lawyers.'

He said of Lady Walters: 'She just hates me. She got mad at me a year or so ago because I didn't call her Lady Walters, I called her Meryl. I kind of did it to irk her  and she got irked.'

Mr Hersman added: 'My money is as good as theirs, I've got lots of resources, and I'm willing to use them. I can probably buy them and sell them twice over.' David Wilkinson, who sold the 1850 English antique chandelier to Mr Hersman, is now storing it for him at his headquarters in Sittingbourne, Kent. He said: 'A joist in a house like that should easily take a chandelier like this  unless there's something wrong with the joist. How much do you think a bath full of water weighs  and what if a 20-stone man stands on it?'

Sir Peter and Lady Walters live in a Georgian house near Horsham, West Sussex, and also own a 7.5million house close to the flat in the chandelier row.

Last night Lady Walters said through her solicitors that she did not wish to respond to Mr Hersman's claims.
Nollywood actor and producer, Ibrahim Chatta has welcomed another bouncing baby girl.

The good news was made known in a post by Yoruba actress, Wumi Toriola on Instagram.

Read Also: President Muhammadu Buharis Aide Speaks On Comparing Odunlade Adekola, Ibrahim Chatta and Femi Adebayo

She shared the cute photo of the baby girl, congratulating the actor and his wife while showering prayers on the newborn and the family as a whole.

She wrote; Aww Welcome little princess, congratulations Egbon mi @ibrahimchatta_lordthespis may God keep her and her siblings.

Big congratulations to the actor and his wife on the arrival of their baby.
Photo: Vancouver Convention Centre

Authorities are warning attendees of a recent conference in Vancouver they might have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus.

On Thursday, Vancouver Coastal Health announced that a person who attended the Pacific Dental Conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre on March 6 has recently tested positive for the virus, as reported by CTV News.

The patient is now at home recovering, but they were at the conference from 2 to 4 p.m. on March 6.

"As a precaution only, we are advising participants who attended the Pacific Dental Conference during those hours to monitor themselves for the following symptoms for up to 14 days and call HealthLink BC at 811 for advice if they develop them," VCH said in a statement.

"As long as participants of the conference remain healthy and do not develop symptoms, there is no need to self-isolate and they should continue with their usual daily activities."

VCH says the risk to those in attendance is extremely low.

The announcement comes on the same day South Okanagan-West Kootenay MP Richard Cannings said out of an abundance of caution, he would be self-isolating after attending the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto at the beginning of March. Earlier this week, Ontario health officials announced a man who attended the conference of 26,000 people had since been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus.

Thursday afternoon, the B.C. government directed the cancellation of all events in the province with more than 250 people.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
C oronavirus nail art has taken off as an unusual trend amid the coronavirus outbreak.

While governments are urging their citizens to focus on hand hygiene, the hashtag coronavirusnails is slowly gaining traction on Instagram.

Some users have shared images of nails decorated to look like mask-clad faces, while others are painted to resemble a bottle of disinfectant spray.

Others are adorned with artistic interpretations of the virus which, when viewed under a microscope appears round with a crown of proteins jutting out from its centre.

Instead of spotlighting her clients talons, one beautician showed off the measures she was taking to protect herself against the disease.

Captioning the image: How yall will find me next week! Lol the nail technician can be seen sporting an elaborate suit, apparently made up of black bin liners, with eye holes topped with glasses so she can continue her meticulous work.

The pandemic has seen more than 135,000 cases confirmed worldwide so far and more than 4,500 deaths.

Englands chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty is among those to stress the importance of maintaining the publics energy and enthusiasm faced with the crisis.

Beauty salons, gyms and other public places remain open as the UK enters the delay phase of its virus-tacking battle plan.
The mass shooting took place in 2017: AP Photo/John Locher, File

A veteran Las Vegas police officer who was fired for hesitating in a casino-hotel hallway in October 2017 while a gunman upstairs carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history has been reinstated to his job, authorities said Friday.

Officer Cordell Hendrex is due to return to work March 21 following an arbitrator's ruling in his bid to get his job back, according to the head of the city's police union.

"Nothing coming out of 1 October is a victory," Steve Grammas, Las Vegas Police Protective Association executive director, said of the shooting that left 58 people dead and more than 850 injured.

"But Officer Hendrex is happy that everyone can put this behind them."

Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Body-camera video showed Hendrex, a Las Vegas officer since 2007, leading a rookie officer and three Mandalay Bay security officers on the 31st floor of the hotel, one floor below where the gunman was firing and stopping when they heard volleys of gunfire during a three-minute span.

Upstairs, Stephen Paddock, 64, a former accountant and high-stakes video poker player, was using a cache of assault-style weapons he'd amassed to rain bullets for more than 10 minutes from the windows of a 32nd floor suite into a country music festival crowd of 22,000 people.

Most of the rifles were fitted with rapid-fire "bump stock" devices and high-capacity magazines. Paddock killed himself with a handgun before police used explosives to blast through his door and find him more than an hour later.

Hendrex's group remained in the hallway for about five minutes before Hendrex led them halfway up a stairwell toward the 32nd floor.

They remained there for at least 15 minutes, when the video clip ends.

Hendrex later acknowledged in a written police report that he was terrified.

"I froze right there in the middle of the hall for how long, I can't say," he wrote.

Story continues

Grammas said Hendrex was the only Las Vegas police officer disciplined for inaction directly related to the shooting.

His reinstatement through a union arbitration process was first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The arbitrator, "wrote in her opinion that she didn't feel that his actions that evening rose to the level of termination or any discipline at all," Grammas told the newspaper.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said last year that some officers received lesser discipline for turning off or failing to activate body-worn video cameras.

Another was disciplined for accidentally firing a three-round burst of gunfire inside the shooter's hotel room.

Grammas noted Friday that Hendrex didn't "run out of the hotel," but became part of the team heading toward Paddock's room.

"The truth is, we are not superhuman" the union official said.

Read more

Las Vegas shooting victims reach landmark settlement for $800m

Las Vegas shooting performer says he 'should have done more therapy'

FBI ends Las Vegas shooting investigation after finding no motive

MGM Resorts sues more than 1,000 victims of Las Vegas shooting
Cancellations of events big and small, from SXSW to Rodeo Houston, are coming fast and furious as business and government work to keep the coronavirus from spreading. Plus, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he doesn't care what the numbers looked like in the primary, he's not worried about Democrats in the general elections this fall.

All that and more as we go behind the headlines for a look at what's really going on at the Texas Capitol and in Washington with the state's #1 political podcast: The Texas Take. Join the conversation featuring Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report, Houston Chronicle political writer Jeremy Wallace, and Chronicle's ace reporter Andrea Zelinski.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The city Department of Education (DOE) has shuttered New Dorp High School on Friday due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

New Dorp High School is being temporarily closed on Friday in an abundance of caution, according to a DOE post on social media.

Saturday School, Gilder Lehrman Saturday School, AP Tutoring and SAT/ENL Tutoring will also be canceled until further notice, said a post on the New Dorp High School website.

The move is prompted by a student who tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the post. Some students left the school before dismissal Thursday after reports that a classmates parent has the coronavirus.

UPDATE: On Fri 3/13/20, in an abundance of caution, we will close 2 school bldgs & one D75 program; only ONE has a confirmed #COVID19 case by @HealthNYGov. That case is a student in the New Dorp HS + Hungerford bldg on Staten Island. The others have special circumstances. [1/4]  NYC Public Schools (@NYCSchools) March 13, 2020

New Dorp and the Hungerford School Program in New Dorp High School are closed after a student who attends the school tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a post on social media by Councilman Steven Matteo.

He said that the other Hungerford sites in the borough are still open.

The student who tested positive attended the Hungerford program at the New Dorp building, according to Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-South Shore).

Matteo said via social media that the initial closure period for New Dorp is 24 hours to clean and disinfect the high school. Students will be alerted if that time period needs to be extended. Students, parents and staff will be notified in advance of the reopening time.

Despite Mayor Bill de Blasio remaining committed to keeping the citys public schools open amid the growing spread of the illness, the DOE is preparing additional educational resources for students in the event of school closures or students are forced to remain home due to illness or quarantine.

We are going to do our damndest to keep the schools open, de Blasio said during a press conference on Thursday, in which it was announced that there are currently five confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Staten Island.

The city has also announced that all non-essential, non-instructional school activities will be cancelled or moved online, if possible.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

We want our schools to remain open. We intend for our schools to remain open, de Blasio said. That said, there are non-essential, non-instructional activities that we will alter. Theyll either be moved online, if they can be, or they will be cancelled, it depends on each activity."

CONFIRMED CASE AT ST. TERESA SCHOOL

Students were re-directed from St. Teresa School in Castleton Corners on Thursday morning because a person who was inside the school building has what officials say is a confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19), the Advance/SILive.com reported.

The individual is an adult -- but not a faculty member or school employee, according to Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York.

According to multiple sources, the individual with coronavirus is a basketball coach for one of St. Teresa Schools Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) intermediate-age basketball teams. The team includes players from schools other than St. Teresa.

ALL CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS CLOSED

On Thursday, the Archdiocese of New York Superintendent of Catholic Schools Michael J. Deegan announced that Catholic elementary schools across the city will be closed next week from Monday, March 16, to Friday, March 20, with the possibility of a lengthier closure, according to a notice posted on the Archdioceses school website.

After being informed by expert health officials and the Health and Safety Task Force of the Office of the Superintendent of Schools, the decision was made out of an abundance of caution, according to the notice.

The health and safety of our students, staff and families is of the utmost importance, said the notice.

After consultation with leadership of the CYO and the Catholic High School Athletic Associations, all activities and all sporting events and practices have been canceled indefinitely.

We are continuing to monitor the situation surrounding COVID-19 (Coronavirus), said the notice. It is rapidly changing and we are closely following the advice of city, state and federal health officials. We will keep you informed.

The notice said the Archdiocese understands that taking this action may cause some disruption to families, but that it strongly believes that these measures taken now will have the greatest success of decreasing risk to the whole community.

Principals and teachers have been preparing educational materials for ongoing home-based learning to ensure students continue to be academically challenged.

Shortly after the Archdiocese of New York announced the closure of all Catholic elementary schools next week, at least two Catholic high schools in the borough -- Monsignor Farrell and St. Joseph Hill Academy -- have elected to follow suit.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

Staten Island Catholic schools to schedule early dismissal for coronavirus prep

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EUGENE, Ore.-- Shoppers lined up outside Costco in Eugene on Thursday, some waiting for the store to open so they could buy essentials in case coronavirus spreads to the area.

There are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Lane County, but shoppers told KEZI 9 News that actions being taken at the state level have prompted them to take precautions.

When Costco opened it's doors at 9:30 a.m., dozens of people were in a line extending just past the store's auto center. It appeared that many were buying cleaning supplies and frozen foods.

Phyllis Ryan was waiting in that line. She said she hoped to stock up on food in case she had to quarantine in her home.

"I think that we are all nervous about it. It's an unknown. We are hopeful it won't get us. But I'm in the over 65 age group so it does make us a little nervous," she said.

Lane County Public Health said that Gov. Kate Brown's ban on large gatherings 250 people or above does not apply to grocery stores. Still, shoppers should be washing their hands before and after going to the store and washing their produce with the same care.

"It's still important for people to eat, to get groceries, to get supplies and be prepared to stay home if they need to. When you go into a grocery store, it's always a good idea to practice good respiratory hygiene," said Lane County Public Health public information officer Jason Davis.

One Costco worker told KEZI 9 News that employees were hard at work trying to get customers in and out of the store quickly.
Taking note of global pandemic novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Supreme Court on Friday decided that from March 16 it will take up for hearing only urgent matters and no persons except lawyers concerned will be allowed inside its courtrooms.

IMAGE: Workers clean entry gates at Rajeev Chowk metro station in the wake of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, in New Delhi, on Friday. Photograph: Vijay Verma/PTI Photo

The apex court, which has been mulling over the issue in its meetings held at the residence of Chief Justice of India S A Bobde on Thursday and Friday, took note of the government's March 5 advisory cautioning against mass gatherings in view of the fact that the World Health Organisation has declared COVID-19 a 'global pandemic'.

The apex court's notification, issued by its secretary general Sanjeev S Kalgaonkar, said it has been decided that its functioning shall be restricted to urgent matters with such number of benches as may be found appropriate.

'On reviewing the advisory issued by the Government of India and in view of the opinion of public health experts including medical professionals and also considering the safety and welfare of all the visitors, litigants, lawyers, court staff, security, maintenance and support staff, student interns and media professionals, the Competent Authority has been pleased to direct that the functioning of the courts shall be restricted to urgent matters with such number of benches as may be found appropriate,' the notification said.

'It is hereby notified that no persons except the lawyers who are going to act in the matter, that is either for argument or for making oral submissions or to assist along with one litigant only, shall be permitted in the court room,' it said, adding that the mentioning of matters for urgent hearing will be made only before the mentioning officer.

The apex court has sought others' cooperation in this regard considering the importance of the safety measures to maintain public health.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) secretary Ashok Arora on Thursday had said that a meeting was held at the residence of the CJI to discuss the coronavirus outbreak and the possibility of limiting the Supreme Court's functioning.

Besides the CJI, Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit and Attorney General K K Venugopal, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, SCBA Secretary Arora and officials of Ministry of Health and Ministry of Law attended the meeting to discuss the issue.

It had decided to meet again on Friday to take a decision on the issue.

The Delhi high court also decided to hear only urgent matters from March 16 in the wake of coronavirus scare and not insist on personal appearance of parties unless it is indispensable.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the high court's eight-judge Administrative and General Supervision Committee headed by Chief Justice D N Patel and the president and honorary secretary of the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) 'to contain the spread of pandemic coronavirus'.

It was decided that all possible preventive and remedial measures be taken to combat the impending threat of COVID-19, including making available sanitisers be made available in the courts for visitors and staff, 'particularly those manning windows where there is constant public dealing'.

Subsequent to the meeting, an advisory was issued by the high court in which it said that its functioning from March 16 shall be restricted to urgent matters and 'the court master shall give dates in routine matters before the court assembles'.

In the meeting, it was also decided that members of the Bar may not issue visitors pass and the high court would not insist on the personal appearance of the parties unless it is indispensable.

The Supreme Court also took a similar decision a few hours before the high court's.

The high court issued a separate advisory for regulating entry of litigants in all the district courts in the national capital.

In this advisory, it said that courts should not insist on presence of the parties 'unless it is unavoidable' and should take appropriate measures to regulate entry of litigants and general public in the court complex to avoid crowding.

'Thermal scanners (non-touch) may be procured at the earliest, handlers be trained and they be put to use at the existing check points,' the advisory said.

'Till the present situation persists, no adverse/default orders be passed in matters where parties are found to be absent,' the advisory further said.

It said that in criminal matters, trial courts should consider 'favourably' the request for exemption from personal appearance of the accused.

'The facility of video conferencing be put to optimum use for the purpose of recording of evidence,' the advisory said, adding, 'Instead of physical production of undertrial prisoners (UTPs) from jails, facility of video conferencing be availed of.'

It said in civil matters, wherever possible, service of local commissioners be availed for the purpose of recording of evidence after obtaining consent of both the parties.

It said that unnecessary crowding in the lock up in the court premises be curtailed and appropriate steps be taken in this regard in consultation with the jail authorities.

The advisory said that judge in-charge of the trial courts shall ensure that medical dispensaries in the court complex are 'well equipped to tackle the present emergent situation'.

It said that sanitisers be made available in the courts for visitors, staffs 'particularly those manning windows where there is constant public dealing'.

'Housekeeping agency/staff be asked to ensure that highest level of hygiene is maintained in the court complex and disinfectants are sprayed on a regular basis,' it said, adding a dedicated team comprising of senior judicial officers and others be constituted in each district court complexes for taking stock of the situation on a day-to-day basis.

'All the possible preventive and remedial measures be taken to combat the impending threat of COVID-19,' it said, adding, 'No function/election or any other event be permitted to be held/conducted till further orders'.

The advisory said that district court bar association may also issue necessary directions to ensure that there is no crowding in the court complexes.

It said that judge in-charge of mediation centre of all the district court complexes would also ensure that mediation proceedings are held only in cases that are of urgent nature.

Bombay HC says visit courts only if necessary

Meanwhile, the Bombay high court on Friday asked lawyers and litigants in Maharashtra to come to courts only if it is necessary.

A circular issued by the High Court's Registrar General said that 'litigants, public and advocates in Maharashtra are hereby informed that they should avoid visiting court complexes unless necessary'.

While visiting the high court, they should adhere to guidelines issued by the Health Ministry, it added.
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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar  Fri, March 13, 2020 11:00 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a4d483 1 National COVID-19,Bali-Sanglah-Hospital,nurse,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,fever-cough Free

Two nurses working at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, Bali, have been placed in the hospitals isolation ward after showing symptoms of COVID-19.

The two nurses came down with a fever and experienced coughing. Hospital management decided to isolate them as they had had contact with Case 25, reportedly a British woman, who had died of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

They have a history of handling the patient with COVID-19, Sanglah Hospital director Wayan Sudana said on Thursday.

He suspects, however, that the two nurses were simply overworked from handling a rise in patients placed under observation for the new coronavirus.

Read also: We didnt know: Bali authorities in the dark as COVID-19 patient dies on resort island

As [our] workload here has increased. Two of our staff members have developed a fever and a cough  maybe because they are too tired. However, because they have a fever, we placed them in isolation.

The move, he added, was simply a precautionary measure.

They are now in good condition.

Following the increasing number of patients under COVID-19 observation at the hospital, Sudana said, the medical team had had to work harder.

We have a limited team, so they are all very tired, he added.

Read also: Four Seasons Resort Bali quarantines 54 staffers as precaution against COVID-19

Sanglah Hospital has asked the Bali Health Agency for more nurses from other hospitals in Indonesia.

We have tried to add the number of personnel in our team. But it has not been enough, Sudana said.

The hospital requires 36 nurses to handle patients under observation for COVID-19 but currently has only 20.

Weve asked for 16 more nurses, so as not to overtire our team, said Sudana.
The first lottery under the 25 per cent quota of the Right to Education (RTE) admissions in the state will be declared on March 17, said state education department officials.

Dinkar Temkar, director, primary education and incharge of RTE admission said, The first lottery of RTE admission will be declared on March 17 as per the instructions received from the state education department. Parents will start getting SMS on their registered mobile numbers once the lottery is declared.

This year the process of RTE admissions has been delayed again and the scheduled was announced on January 18. Last year, the schedule was announced in March and the fourth round happened in September.

Mukund Kirdat, a city-based education activist said, The parents of the RTE applicant are already worried regarding their childs admission, and the administration keeps on delaying the process. This is the scenario every year. When the registration has been completed on March 4, then why is the department taking so long to declare the first lottery? This will inturn hamper the upcoming lotteries and the over all admission process.

According to state education department officials, as of March 13, 2,91,656 applicants have registered for the RTE admissions in the state for 9,331 schools. The vacancy for RTE seats this year is 1,15,482. The last date for online registration was March 4.

In 2019, out of a total 1,24,530 students who were allotted seats, 76,909 completed their admission procedure after verification of documents in 9,195 schools in the state. While 47,621 students were unable to complete the admission process. The parents and education activists blamed mismanagement on the part of the administration for the same.
Earnings at manufacturing group IPL Plastics jumped 17pc last year to CA$ 91.5m (58.7m).

The improvement in performance, at the group formerly known as One51, was delivered on the back of strong margin improvements across all divisions of the business, the company said in its annual results.

The earnings increase was achieved despite an 8pc fall in revenue to CA$605m (388m).

The fall in income was partially offset by a boost from the acquisition of Loomans, price increases, and volume growth in the consumer packaging solutions (CPS) division in North America.

Net cash inflow from operating activities increased by 376pc to CA$89.3m (57m).

"Our ongoing focus on rebuilding margins and enhancing operational performance is continuing to pay dividends for the company," said Alan Walsh, CEO.

"While our results for the last calendar year reflect a very strong improvement in profitability and cash generation, we expect to sustain that progress into 2020 with further improvements in performance."

Mr Walsh said trading across all the company's divisions this year is "satisfactory" so far.

He said the company expects top-line revenue growth in fiscal 2020, underpinned by new contract wins and a broadly stable resin outlook.
Find the March 14 updates to this map here.

Pennsylvania has 35 presumptive positive and six confirmed positive cases of coronavirus as of March 13, 2020. Here is a locator map and details of the known cases.

If you are unable to view the map below, please click this link.

Bucks County

 Two adults who live in the same household, who attended an out-of-state gathering and were exposed to the virus. Both are in isolation at home.

Chester County

 A 57-year-old woman, who had contact with a presumptive positive person in another state. She is in isolation.

Cumberland County

 Two adults and a child were diagnosed. Their ages and gender have not been released.

Delaware County

 An adult woman, who recently returned from a conference in Boston. She was treated at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland. This case has been confirmed by the CDC.

 An adult man, who is employed at George W. Hill Correctional Facility. He had contact with a relative who had tested positive for the disease in Montgomery County. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, 34 people including 11 inmates have been quarantined.

 Four other people from the county, whose ages or gender was not released, were diagnosed.

Monroe County

 The person, whose age or gender was not released by officials, is hospitalized.

 A second person, whose age or gender was not released by officials, is hospitalized after contact with a previously diagnosed Pennsylvania patient.

 A child, whose age or gender was not release by officials

Montgomery County

 One person from the county, whose age or gender have not been released yet, has been diagnosed.

 An adult man, who lives in Worcester. He is in isolation at home.

 An adult woman, who lives in Lower Gwynedd Township. She is in isolation at home.

 An 18-year-old student at Germantown Academy, who lives in Lower Gwynedd Township. She is in isolation at home. She is lives in the same household as the adult woman listed above.

 A 62-year-old woman, who lives in Upper Merion Township. She is hospitalized and in isolation at the University of Pennsylvania.

 A 70-year-old woman from Cheltenham Township. She is hospitalized at a Philadelphia hospital.

 A cardiologist from Montgomery County, who is in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that more than 20 patients and 17 workers were exposed to the doctor.

 An 25-year-old police officer from Perkiomen Township, who works in Lower Providence Township. He is in isolation at home.

 A 58-year-old woman from Conshohocken, who had contact with a previously identified person in Montgomery County with the virus. She is in isolation at home.

 A 45-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman from Collegeville Borough, who both had contact with a previously identified person in Montgomery County with the virus. They are in isolation at home.

There are four cases so far in Lower Merion Township. The cases include:

 An adult man and woman who reside in the same household. Both are in isolation at home.

 A 58-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman who traveled within the US to an affected area. They are in isolation at home.

There are three cases so far in Shippack Township. They include:

 A 35-year-old man, who had contact with a previously identified person in Montgomery County with the virus. He is in isolation at home.

 A 37-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman in the same household. The man had contact with a previously identified person in Montgomery County with the virus, and the woman caught it from the man. They are in isolation at home.

Northampton County

 The person, whose age or gender was not released by officials, is hospitalized at St. Lukes Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township.

Pike County

 An adult resident is in isolation at home.

Philadelphia County

 A man in his 50s from Philadelphia, who had traveled to an international location affected by the virus. He is in isolation at home.

 A female in her 50s from Philadelphia, who had close contact with the male above. She is in isolation at home.

 A person from Philadelphia, age and gender unknown, who had traveled to an international location affected by the virus. They are in isolation at home.

Washington County

 An adult from the county, whose age or gender was not released, has been diagnosed.

Wayne County

 An adult man who traveled extensively in Europe was treated March 4 at Carbondale Family Health Center. This case has been confirmed by the CDC.

PLEASE NOTE: Additional details about the location of the cases and the ages of those affected have been included whenever possible. State officials are invoking a 1955 law in choosing to release only the county and whether or not theyre an adult. Any information beyond this is provided by the individual counties to the press.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
I am very deeply concerned that the District of Columbia is moving in a direction where its intentionally leaving vulnerable residents behind, Racine said, referring to the gentrification, displacement and wealth disparities that have overtaken broad swaths of the city. I am very much against that course of action, and it would be issues like that that would cause me to reflect on whether other office would allow the ability to impact that issue and others.
Siem Reap provincial police have arrested a man and sent him to court for allegedly posting fake news on social media about the coronavirus outbreak, with Interior Minister Sar Kheng on the same day defending the arrests as an attempt to prevent chaos in society.

Siem Reap police arrested Phut Thona on Wednesday and sent him to provincial court for posting fake news on Facebook. The police refused to divulge what information the man posted, only that they had enough evidence to charge him based on Article 425 of the Criminal Code for spreading false information.

Huot Sothy, a deputy Siem Reap provincial police chief, said the police had been monitoring Phut Thonas Facebook account, though not detailing why the man was under surveillance. He added that after monitoring Phut Thonas social media account for five days they had enough evidence to arrest the man.

We traced him for long time. We collected enough information and evidence. And we build the case to send him to the court, Huot Vuthy said, adding that Phut Thona had been sent to pre-trial detention by the provincial prosecutor.

A review of Phut Thonas Facebook account reveals that he had shared two videos last week where a narrator said it took the Vietnamese to inform Cambodian officials about a Japanese man who had tested positive for the virus.

The reference is to a Japanese man who had boarded a flight from Siem Reap ten days ago, with a layover in Ho Chi Minh City, before testing positive in Nagoya, Japan. Again, it was unclear if these videos resulted in Phut Thonas arrest.

Two other Cambodians were arrested earlier this week, with one of them, a Phnom Penh resident, preliminarily charged for incitement. The Phnom Penh resident had also spoken about Vietnam informing Cambodia about COVID-19 cases, additionally using a derogatory term for the Vietnamese.

At a meeting in Prey Veng province, Sar Kheng on Thursday said the arrests were not a violation of a citizens right to freedom of expression, but an attempt to quell any attempts to incite chaos in society.

He said suggestions to educate such people posting fake news was not always effective.

No matter what we say, they dont listen to us. If they dont want to listen, they will continue to behave like that, he said at a provincial congress.
By PTI

MOSCOW: The Russian parliament approved a sweeping constitutional reform in the third and final reading Wednesday, a move that will allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power for another 12 years after his current term ends in 2024.

The Kremlin-controlled lower house, the State Duma, endorsed a set of amendments to the constitution and a provision resetting the term count for Putin after the revised constitution goes into force.

It passed by a 383-0 vote with 43 abstentions, and was approved by the upper house, the Federation Council, several hours later.

A nationwide vote on the proposed amendments is set for April 22. Kremlin critics condemned the move as a cynical manipulation and called for protests.

Putin, a 67-year-old former KGB officer, has ruled Russia for more than 20 years.

After serving for two consecutive four-year terms - a limit outlined in the current version of the constitution - Putin shifted to prime minister's seat in 2008, with his close ally Dmitry Medvedev becoming a placeholder president.

The length of the presidency was extended to six years under Medvedev, and in 2012 Putin returned to the Kremlin as president.

In 2018, he was re-elected for another six years.

Putin has weathered several international storms during his 20 years in power.

The 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, which prompted a drawn-out, years-long conflict with Ukraine, significantly boosted his approval ratings back at home.

As Moscow's relations with the West soured over the 2014 annexation and more scandals followed, the Kremlin kept Putin's popularity high by painting Russia as a besieged fortress in need of a strong leader to withstand the outside pressure.

The constitutional reform passed by the Duma on Wednesday would allow Putin to run for presidency two more times after 2024.

Before the national vote, it will be reviewed by Russia's Constitutional Court.

The changes redistribute the executive powers of the Russian government in Moscow and further strengthen the power of the presidency, while also banning same-sex marriage and listing "a belief in God" as one of Russia's traditional values.

The proposal to restart the term clock for the current president was put forward by 83-year-old former Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, now a Duma deputy, during the second reading of the amendments on Tuesday.

Following Tereshkova's speech, Putin quickly arrived at parliament to address the lawmakers and supported the idea.

The move prompted immediate calls for protests from various opposition groups.

On Tuesday night, about 200 people gathered near the Kremlin and lined up to hold solo pickets - the only form of protest in Russia that it legal without prior authorization from the government - against the reform.

"It was clear from the start that it is being done to keep Putin in power forever," opposition activist Alexei Miniaylo, who called for the pickets on his Facebook page on Tuesday, told The Associated Press.

"But the brazen manner in which it was done elicited outrage." Two opposition groups called for a bigger rally in Moscow on March 21 or March 22 and applied for authorization with the city authorities.

Soon after, Moscow City Hall announced banning outdoor events with attendance of more than 5,000 until April 10, saying it was part of precautionary steps to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Activists remained unfazed, however, and on Wednesday morning refiled their requests, amending the maximum number of participants from 50,000 to 4,500.

"Our position is that if the coronarivus is such a dangerous threat, then they should cancel the vote (on the constitutional reform), as it can expose millions of people to infection," Mikhail Svetov, leader of the Civil Society movement, told the AP.

"And if it is not that dangerous, then rallies should be allowed." Pickets and protests were being organized in other Russian cities as well, said Tatyana Usmanova, an activist with the "No" group formed two months ago to coordinate the opposition effort against the reform.

"It gets to people, because it is totally out of line," Usmanova said.

Activists and analysts agree, however, that large-scale protests will be harder to organize because of coronavirus fears that are likely to deter people from taking to the streets.

"People are scared and less prone to gather for large demonstrations," independent political analyst Kirill Rogov told the AP.
Police have charged a 65-year-old university worker from Carine after they said she stole medical equipment from a northern suburbs hospital on two separate occasions last week.

Detectives said the woman attended the hospital to help manage and mentor students on work placement and, while there, stole protective medical equipment such as face masks and other items for her personal use.

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A WA Police spokesperson said, despite the circumstances the community faced from the escalating coronavirus pandemic, stealing medical supplies was still a crime regardless.

"It is concerning to see critical medical supplies stolen from a medical facility as the community prepares for and responds to an emerging pandemic situation," a spokesperson said.
We cant quell the anxiety entirely, but a little preparation, youll find, can go a long way.

Tell me about yourself

It may seem simple, but our experts tell us that many people have a great deal of anxiety about this question. While most interviewers use it as an attempt to break the ice, interviewees often have the opposite reaction. After all, youre sitting with a stranger who just asked you to open up. Should you use this time to tell her about your husband, or your two dogs? Or is she asking you to tell her about where youve worked, your skills and qualifications?

The truth is, it varies. Most interviewers dont think much about this question, using it solely as a tool to get you talking. And while some may be trying to gain information, its not really about what you say, its how you say it. They might be looking at your communication skills, for example. This is a golden opportunity to see if you ramble, or jump back and forth between stories. Or maybe the interviewer is gauging your ability to frame key details of a story thats understandable for those who dont know you.

But, chances are, its just an icebreaker. Dont sweat it.

If you find that its a question you need to prepare for, try to focus mainly on career-oriented answers: your past experiences, your qualifications and your ability to solve big problems. For example, maybe you instituted a weekly work-at-home day in your department, a move that didnt significantly raise costs while drastically lowering employee turnover. This is a win thats worth mentioning in this situation.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Ms. Sailing believes this is another question that should be retired. The average person now transitions between jobs every four years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And while its an antiquated notion, employers still tend to respond negatively to the idea that an employee wants to spend two to three years on a project and then move on to something new, she said.

Who can really tell what the world will look like in five years, said Chuck Edward, head of Global Talent Acquisition for Microsoft. I would be looking for a candidate to demonstrate how they are lifelong learners who embrace the future, whether that be for the specific role they are applying to or for future opportunities. He said that Microsoft was always looking for curiosity and a willingness to learn, but also valued resiliency and ambiguity.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a press conference on the steps of his home on Friday to announce he was going into self-isolation, a day after his wife tested positive for coronavirus.

Trudeau stood several feet away from reporters and photographers outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa to announce his plan.

'As are many Canadians right now, are following medical health professionals.

'I am in isolation as are my children and my wife is in quarantine,' he said.

He said he was going to work from home for 14 days as a precaution but that he was feeling healthy and had no symptoms.

Trudeau added that doctors had told him he did not need to be tested because he is not showing any symptoms.

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Trudeau stood several feet away from reporters and photographers outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa to announce his plan

Justin Trudeau emerged from Rideau Cottage in Ottaway, Ontario, on Friday to announce to the media, standing several feet away, that he was going into self-isolation

Trudeau stood in front of the property where his wife Sophie is inside in quarantine, and where he said his kids were inside in isolation playing Lego

Trudeau, temporarily breaking his self-isolation to address the media on Friday outside Rideau Cottage

Trudeau shared this photograph of himself working from home earlier in the day

Earlier, he shared a photograph from inside his home which showed him at his desk and talking on the phone.

'Busy day ahead, working from home. Meetings with my cabinet, the countrys premiers, national Indigenous leaders, and more. Staying focused on you. Talk soon,' he tweeted along with the picture.

Trudeau's office released a statement Thursday night confirming that his wife, 44-year-old Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, has tested positive for the virus.

She reported feeling mild flu-like symptoms, including a low fever, on Wednesday night.

He said Sophie's symptoms were 'mild' on Friday and that she was recovering well.

He tweeted this along with the image and said he was continuing to work

Trudeau was also scheduled to hold meetings over the next two days and Ottawa with provincial premiers and First Nations leaders, but those meetings have been postponed, according to the BBC.

Sophie Trudeau began to exhibit symptoms on Wednesday evening after returning to Canada from a trip to the UK where she attended the WE Day UK Charity event and concert in London last Tuesday March 3.

Idris Elba, Jamie Oliver, race car driver Lewis Hamilton and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard were also present at the event.

Sophie released a reassuring statement Thursday saying she's doing well despite experiencing 'uncomfortable symptoms'.

'First, Id like to say a big thank you to all of you who have reached out to me asking how Im doing. Although Im experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon. Being in quarantine at home is nothing compared to other Canadian families who might be going through this and for those facing more serious health concerns.

Trudeau's wife Sophie is in quarantine inside the cottage after testing positive with the virus after returning from a trip to the UK

Sophie Trudeau released a statement Thursday saying she's doing well despite experiencing 'uncomfortable symptoms'. She is shown in London last week (left)

'We will get through this situation together. Please share the facts and take your health seriously.

'I send you all my courage and warm thoughts (but only "get better" hugs from afar!)' she wrote.

Health officials will reach out to those who've been in contact with her as necessary, the office said.

After she felt ill, the Canadian Prime Minister's office released a statement saying she will get tested and she and her husband would be put in isolation.

'I have some personal news to share today. Sophie recently returned from a speaking event in the UK, and last night she was experiencing mild flu-like symptoms. Shes feeling better, but following the advice of our doctor she is self-isolating as we wait on COVID-19 test results,' Trudeau tweeted Thursday afternoon.

On Thursday despite being in isolation, it was a typical work day for Prime Minister Trudeau, who held virtual meetings and briefings from home.

He spoke with world leaders - including President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Italian leaders - and joined a special Cabinet committee discussion on the new coronavirus.

He cancelled an in-person meeting with Canadas provincial premiers.

On Thursday a meeting between Trudeau, the premiers and Indigenous leaders that was scheduled to begin in Ottawa has been postponed indefinitely due to the outbreak.



The killer coronavirus already has a grip on Canada with 138 reported cases as of Thursday as per government data.

On Wednesday, Trudeau announced $800million USD in new financial measures to help mitigate the effects of the widening coronavirus outbreak in Canada.

Trudeau told a news conference that the money would help buy surgical equipment and fund research for a new vaccine. He also promised to make it easier for sick workers to claim employment insurance.

Quebec premier Francois Legault, meanwhile, is asking all people returning from travel abroad to self-isolate for 14 days. The measure will be mandatory for all government employees.

He is also asking organizers to cancel all indoor events attracting crowds of more than 250 people and all other large gatherings that are not considered essential. Alberta and British Columbia are also urging all events with more than 250 people be cancelled.

Ontario, Canadas most populous province, is closing schools until April 5.

British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix says so far there has not been widespread community transmission of the virus in Canada, unlike in the US.
Occidental Petroleum Corp. implemented a so-called poison pill plan to defend against unsolicited takeover approaches just a day after activist investor Carl Icahn escalated his campaign to fire the beleaguered U.S. oil producers board.

Such measures are usually deployed in hostile takeover situations. Occidental is implementing the plan later this month and will allow shareholders to vote on it at its annual general meeting, it said Friday in a statement.If the shareholders vote down the pill at the meeting, it will expire. But if they vote in favor of it, it will extend for one year.

The companys stock has dropped about 60 percent this month amid collapsing oil prices, allowing Icahn to quadruple his investment in Occidental, which he has savaged for buying Anadarko Petroleum Corp. last year for $37 billion. On Thursday, Icahn said strong bids would eventually emerge for Occidental and a new board should consider them.

A representative for Icahn, who holds a 10 percent stake in Occidental, wasnt immediately available for comment.

Under terms of the plan, stockholders will be issued one right for each share they own as of March 23. The rights would be exercisable should anyone amass a 15 percent stake in the Houston-based company.

If exercised, the rights will give the owner that number of shares of common stock having a market value of two times the exercise price of $55.00 per right.

The idea is to effectively dilute a potential acquirer if they buy up shares at low price levels.

The shares traded up as much as 13 percent Friday and were 4.5 percent higher at $12.43 a share at 9:44 a.m. in New York.

Icahn yesterday called the Anadarko deal one of the worst disasters in financial history and said it has destroyed $47 billion in shareholder money. He has singled out Chief Executive Officer Vicki Hollub as putting her own job before investors best interests.

The announcement Friday appears to make any resolution between Icahn and Hollub less likely.

Occidentals market value is now less than one-third of the price it paid for Houston-based Anadarko.

Bloomberg's Scott Deveau contributed.
"What is important about this project is that it uses community-based, participatory research methods to identify community issues facing children and families," said Boston College School of Social Work Professor Theresa Betancourt, the lead researcher. "We worked collaboratively to adapt an evidence-based family strengthening intervention to the culture and context of Bhutanese and Somali Bantu refugees resettling in New England."

The researchers studied 80 familieshalf of them Bhutanese, half Somali Bantuto assess the program, its acceptance and any trends in improving child mental health and family functioning. Nationwide, approximately 100,000 Bhutanese and approximately 10,000 Somali Bantu have settled in the U.S..

While resettlement can impact refugee mental health, there are few preventative interventions, especially when it comes to mental health and family functioning, said Betancourt, the Salem Professor in Global Practice and director of the Research Program on Children and Adversity at BC. "We set out to answer if a family-based, home-visiting, preventative intervention done for refugees, by refugees could be feasible, acceptable, and impactful on the wellbeing of youth and families."

In addition to the high rates of satisfaction and engagement, the study uncovered other important trends that bode well for its full implementation and evaluation of effectiveness. For instance, children in the study group reported less traumatic stress reactions. Parents and other caregivers reported fewer child depression symptoms, when compared to a control group of families who did not receive the intervention.

Bhutanese children reported less arguing among family members and fewer symptoms of depression. While caregivers noted improved child behavior among Somali Bantu children in the control group, they found families in the study group had fewer conduct problems compared to the control group, according to the journal article, titled Family-Based Mental Health Promotion for Somali Bantu and Bhutanese Refugees: Feasibility and Acceptability Trial.

Given the small number of participants, trends on its impact will be explored further in a planned long-term evaluation of the effectiveness of the program in a study involving 300 families.

Betancourt cautioned that until that effectiveness study is done, it is too early to draw sweeping conclusions about the intervention impact, particularly given the relatively small number of participants. But the early findings point to a program that is promising and can be successfully implemented in refugee communities by lay workers who receive strong training and ongoing supervision to support resettled families from refugee communities.

The researchers say the study results suggest the program can be used, with minor adaptations, to support immigrants from other countries.

"Overall we were very happy to see that an intervention delivered by refugees, for refugees could be acceptable and feasible even during these very difficult times when the national dialogue on refugees can be very negative," said Betancourt.

Ed Hayward | University Communications | February 2020


Skaalen Retirement Services in Stoughton locked its doors Thursday morning and limited visitors to end-of-life or emergency situations, in an effort to protect residents from the growing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

The complex  which includes a nursing home, assisted living and independent living  also blocked volunteers, canceled outside entertainers and may limit medical appointments for residents, said CEO Kris Krentz.

Is the annual eye exam something that could be put off for a while until things calm down? Krentz said. A clinic setting is going to be a high-risk area. If its not now, it will be.

As the global pandemic appears to be hitting Wisconsin harder  with eight cases confirmed as of Thursday, including new two ones in Dane County  nursing homes are taking steps to prevent vulnerable residents from getting sick. Many of the U.S. deaths from COVID-19 so far occurred at a nursing home near Seattle.

Nursing homes and assisted-living facilities are locking all doors except one central entrance and screening visitors for cough and fever or potential exposure to others with COVID-19, said John Sauer, CEO of LeadingAge Wisconsin, which represents nursing home and assisted-living operators.

If visitors present a risk, they are not allowed in except in emergencies, Sauer said. If they have no known risk, they are asked to wash their hands and wear a mask. The moves follow guidance this week from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates nursing homes.

Theres far more concern now about making sure people from the outside are not bringing in viruses  the flu, COVID-19  to residents in nursing homes who by and large have far more compromised immune systems than the general public, Sauer said.

If the virus becomes more widespread, visitor bans might be implemented, he said.

Capitol Lakes, which includes a nursing home and assisted-living facility in Downtown Madison, is screening visitors and employees, halting buffet-style dining and instructing residents not to enter eating areas if they have respiratory symptoms.

We are making every effort to keep our residents and staff safe, spokesman Tom Ersepke said.

Oakwood Village, with campuses on Madisons West and East Sides, posted signs on entrances discouraging visitors and increased the frequency and intensity of cleaning common areas, according to a letter sent to residents Thursday.

Action steps are in place to cancel or significantly reduce campus events and limit guest access to a single entrance, where guests will be screened prior to visiting campus, the letter said.

At Skaalen, a letter to family members Wednesday encouraged them to use Skype, Facebook, email or phone to connect with residents.

For now, Krentz said, communal dining and worship services are continuing for residents, even though such gatherings can increase close contact with others. That could change, too, as state health officials Thursday discouraged congregated dining for older adults.

But Krentz said socialization is important, too. Were already taking a lot away from them, he said.

Election implications

Local elections officials will now have the flexibility to move polling places located at nursing homes and other similar facilities to other locations where public health is a concern to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus among elderly populations.

Its unclear how many polling sites are currently located at nursing homes in Wisconsin.

Under another unanimous action taken Thursday by members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, residents of nursing homes wont receive help from special voting assistants who could spread the virus.

The actions on Thursday underscore how the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus is having an impact on the upcoming April 7 presidential primary and Supreme Court election.

The commission voted to halt plans for teams of special voting deputies who conduct polling in nursing homes. Under the commissions action, local elections officials will be required to mail absentee ballots to residents of nursing homes.

Elections Commission chair Dean Knudson emphasized the importance of absentee voting in light of the virus and that there should be a push by the state to encourage it.

Madison schools may reject polling sites

The Madison School District is considering rejecting all city polling sites on school property, a move that could significantly affect the April 7 election.

District spokesman Tim LeMonds said the district committee responsible for addressing COVID-19 is considering taking such action to protect students and staff but that the discussions are preliminary.

A number of the citys polling locations are in schools.
Troy Duffy never expected his film The Boondock Saints to become a cult classic.

Twenty years after its release, hell take it, because he knows the journey the film took to get eyes on it.

You put your heart and soul when you make a small, independent film, he says. Ours screened after Columbine. We were informed (that) because of the political tide, we werent going to be shown in theaters.

Enter Blockbuster, which stepped in to exclusively sponsor the film.

They helped keep the momentum going and released it for us like a big movie would have had, Duffy says. It was important to us then and helped us get people to see it.

Duffy will be in Albuquerque on Friday, March 13, to participate in one event with two parts.

Beginning at 7:30 p.m., the director will be in Nob Hill at a Taylor Garrett Whiskey event at Kellys Brew Pub.

At 10:30 p.m., he will head down the street to the Guild Cinema, where the 1999 film will screen. He will participate in a Q&A session after the screening.

The film follows Irish Catholic twin brothers Conner, played by Sean Patrick Flanery, and Murphy, played by Norman Reedus, who are inspired by their faith to cleanse their hometown of evil with their own brand of zealous vigilante justice. As they hunt down and kill one notorious gangster after another, they become controversial folk heroes in the community. But Paul Smecker, played by Willem Dafoe, an eccentric FBI agent, is fast closing in on their blood-soaked trail.

We had an amazing cast that is still doing some amazing things, Duffy says. Its really cool to see that the film still has legs and more people get the opportunity to watch it through word-of-mouth.

Duffy is currently working on part three of The Boondock Saints.

Hes kept busy with projects over the years.

During his trip to Albuquerque, hes also going to visit Albuquerque Studios, which is owned by Netflix.

Im always trying to create content, he says. Itll be nice to rub some elbows out there and see exactly what projects they are looking for.

The Boondock Saints VIP Event

WHEN AND WHERE: 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 13, Kellys Brew Pub, 3222 Central SE; VIP screening at 10:30 p.m. at Guild Cinema, 3405 Central NE

HOW MUCH: $20-$30, plus fees, at holdmyticket.com
New Delhi, March 13 : Cabinet minister Gopal Rai on Friday moved a resolution in the Delhi Assembly against the NPR and NRC and demanded that the Centre instead focus on the economy and coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Rai moved the resolution during a special session of the Assembly called on Friday.

In his resolution, Rai demanded that if the exercise to build a National Population Register (NPR) is to be carried out, it should be in accordance with the 2010 format.

"On the basis of the NPR, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be done. People are scared of this... I request the Centre that at a time when the Indian economy is down and coronavirus is spreading, it should use its resources on these issues. The Centre should roll back the NRC and the NPR. Even if they wish to go forward, the NPR should be done as per the 2010 format," Rai said as he moved the resolution.

Rai said if the NPR has to be implemented, it must ensure that all new entries in the NPR are withdrawn.

"The NPR updation should be stalled in Delhi. And if the Centre insists, the process should be carried out in accordance with the 2010 format," Rai said.

He said there has been an attempt to create an image that it will favour a particular community and will be against another.

"I want to say that the NPR and NRC have nothing to do with any community or religion. It will be imposed on all the people and will affect all. Assam is the best example of it. Out of the 19 lakh people who could not make it to the list, 14 lakh were Hindus. If it is implemented across the country, the Hindus will be most affected." Rai said he and his parents also do not have a birth certificate. He said such a fear was not among people even during the British rule. "This is raising questions on every person's citizenship, this never happened even in the British rule. " He said that on Thursday Home Minister Amit Shah told Parliament that NPR has no link with NRC so people need not worry.

"Previously, he used to explain the chronology to the people. He has several times told that first the CAA will come and then there will be NRC. However, in the House he said there is no link of NPR with the NRC." He said the statement of Shah should have given relief to the people, but it created more conflict in people's minds.

Slamming the central government and BJP leaders for conflicting statements on the NPR, NRC and CAA, he said there are a lot of questions regarding these things among the people.

After 1955, he said, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had amended the citizenship law in 2003.

As per the amendment, it was decided that NPR will be created. The data will be verification and the suspicious data will be categorised as doubtful 'D', he said.

The 2003 rule says NPR will be done before the NRC, the Delhi Cabinet Minister added. "Shah is misleading the people." He further said it is ironic, that those living abroad do not need any document. "However, those who decided to stay in the country will have to bear the burden. They have to give the proof of their citizenship." Rai claimed that Shah also said that the data is being collected so that the schemes can be given in a better way.

"I want to tell Shah that 1.25 crore people in the country have Aadhaar cards. If you want to seriously give them the benefits you don't need to collect more data. 70 per cent of that 1.25 crore are unemployed. Give them jobs. Then go for more data collection." Later, the House took up the resolution for discussion.

During the discussion on the resolution, BJP MLA Vijender Gupta made a remark against the Aam Aadmi Party, which created a ruckus in the House. However, the Speaker expunged his remarks and later asked Gupta to leave the House.
Nairobi: Kenya announced its first confirmed case of coronavirus on Friday, saying a woman who returned from the United States tested positive for the illness in Nairobi.

"I want to inform you that the Ministry of Health has confirmed the first coronavirus case in Kenya," Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe told reporters.

"The case is a Kenyan citizen who travelled back to Nairobi, returning from the United States of America via London, United Kingdom, on March 5, 2020."

The woman's temperature had returned to normal and she was stable and recovering in isolation, he said.

It is the first confirmed case of the new coronavirus in the East African region.
UPDATE: President Donald Trump tweeted on Friday that four major cruise ship companies have agreed to suspend trips from the U.S. for 30 days, effective at midnight. Trump said that Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and MSC Cruises all agreed to the suspensions. Full AP story here.

Original post starts here: This week, Princess, Disney, Costa and Viking cruise lines suspended all sailings for the next two months amid coronavirus fears. But other cruise lines are full steam ahead, and continuing to sail with a new rule requiring passengers aged 70 or higher to obtain a doctor's note before they are allowed on board.

Three of these notes are now posted online (from the Norwegian, Carnival, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean lines) requiring the name of the passenger, the date and the doctor's signature, along with certification language similar to Celebrity's seen here:

The above-noted patient is seventy years old or above and wishes to sail onboard a Celebrity Cruises cruise ship departing on [blank]. I hereby certify that this patient does not suffer from any chronic illness (e.g. heart, lung, liver or kidney disease or immunodeficiency status due to HIV/AIDS, cancer or diabetes) which would make this patient susceptible to complications arising after infection with the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)/COVID-19. I attest that this person is fit to sail on a cruise vacation. [Doctor signature]

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The cruise line lobbying group Cruise Lines International Association met with Vice President Pence earlier this week to pitch the idea of obtaining doctor's notes. Pence said he would take the proposal into consideration, but some lines have already instituted the doctor's note policy.

According to the CLIA website, cruise lines are now screening all passengers at the point of embarkation and denying boarding to travelers who have visited certain countries in the last two weeks, or those with high temperatures or other evidence of illness. Those denied boarding are provided credits for future cruises.

All of this comes in the wake of the US State Department's blunt warning to Americans this week: "U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship."

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By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Patient readers, thank you so much for your collectively spectacular comments during my dereliction of connectivity traveling yesterday. I knew the NC commentariat was well-read, but now I really know it! Holy moley! lambert Also, Ill make up for my absence with some more material on #COVID-19 (and maybe for politics).

Politics

But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? James Madison, Federalist 51

They had one weapon left and both knew it: treachery. Frank Herbert, Dune

They had learned nothing, and forgotten nothing. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord

Key dates coming fast now, so I added some counters:

Some of the next primaries. (I picked the major dates; here is a complete calendar.)

* * *

2020

We encourage readers to play around with the polling charts; they are dynamic, and there are a lot of settings, more than I can usefully show here. Here is a link to alert reader dks project. You can also file bug reports or feature requests using the same contact process as for Plants, below. Thanks  but no promises! Today we have one national poll from Morning Consult and polls from FL, IL, and OH as of 3/13/2020, 12:00 PM EDT. The empire strikes back: (Note the nice big sample size.) And the numbers: And now the state polls (caveating that state polls are small, infrequent, and bad. First, FL: FL numbers: IL: IL numbers: OH OH numbers: Pretty much the same story everywhere. Earlier in the year, we often had occasion to comment on the mysterious strength of the Biden Juggernaut, on display here; but its also true that Bidens ups and downs have been of much greater amplitude than other candidates. * * * Biden Biden Can Win Biden https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/11/michigan-romp-shows-biden-could-rebuild-democrats-blue-wall-vs-trump-125489 Biden he did though!! https://t.co/PfWe4EnBcK  ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) March 10, 2020 Sanders (D)(1): #NotMeUs: Right now in Michigan, Bernie organizers are getting 100s of people signed up to provide housing, transport, food, etc to any student in need following #Covid_19 school closings. Hours after a disappointing MI election, were doing mutual aid work. #NotMeUs is more than a slogan.  Jeff Sorensen (@jeffreysorensen) March 12, 2020 This would scale (dk): Thanks Katie! All credit to @aaronjmate for the idea. Bernie should embrace being Organizer in Chief right now and use his list to help support vulnerable communities. https://t.co/i5JNlNrIhh  Krystal Ball (@krystalball) March 13, 2020 Not only right, but politically smart; see Krystal Ball here. Go out and serve the working class! dk commented: Lambert you were talking about repurposing the Sanders app to overcome the loss of large rallies, this is that. There is risk of establishment + law enforcement pushback if its not done carefully, not sure how good the discipline is. Very small margin for error. Ideally a second app on a phased rollout (test early) would need more tracking of the user for accountability, to recognize and catch bad actors. Personal data privacy/sharing concerns as well. This is not a no-brainer, with lessons from Uber and other job app-platforms to draw on. Sanders (D)(2): Most People Never Saw the Best of Bernie Sanderss Campaign [The New Yorker]. One of the reasons that Sanderss collapseand Joe Bidens corresponding surgehas come as such a surprise to the political world (and the journalists who cover it) is that, whether you supported him or not, the Vermont senators events, up close, were compelling. Sanders was offering regular people a platform to describe what was happening around them. His suggestion, by asking you to speak up about your private anxieties, many of them financial, is that you . . . will begin to see your struggles not as personal failings, but systemic ones, BuzzFeeds Ruby Cramer wrote, in December. Sanders held these events throughout the fall and winter, campaigning in Iowa and elsewhere. It wasnt just college kids venting. Older people were standing up to tell their stories. Immigrants were standing up. Members of minority groups. This was not the vibe at Bidens events, where the candidate tended to ramble, and where you could feel the audience, even if they were loyal to him, go slack. Yet it wasnt enough.  Oddly, there was very little reporting on the best of Sanders campaign, given that many (most?) Sanders events were organized just like this. You would think the stories would have offered endless fodder for reporters, who are, after all, all about the narrative. Sanders (D)(3): Sanders Offers Biden A Path To Win Over His Movement [NPR]. While our campaign has won the ideological debate, we are losing the debate over electability, Sanders said. The recent underdog added that he disagrees that Biden is the stronger candidate to take on President Trump, but that is what millions of Democrats and independents today believe. Sanders promised to show up at the debate on Sunday in Arizona to face Biden one-on-one, and basically offered him a cheat sheet: Let me be very frank as to the questions that I will be asking Joe. Sanders listed off issues central to his campaign, which he says are very important to younger progressives: health care costs, climate change, income inequality, student debt, racial disparities in criminal justice, immigration and housing affordability. So why tip Biden off to how youre going to challenge him on Sunday? Maybe Bernie Sanders wants Joe Biden to succeed.  Well, this is NPR. Lie to me, Joe. Lie to me! Sanders (D)(4): CALL For the 2020 Democratic National Convention (PDF) [Democrats.org]. I had a look at the Loyalty Oath the DNC made the candidates (but really, only Sanders) sign: Pursuant to Article VI of the Call for the 2020 Democratic National Convention, I hereby affirm that, upon publicly announcing my candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election, I am a member of the Democratic Party. I will run as a Democrat, accept the nomination of my Party, and I will serve as a Democrat if elected. I understand that signing this form does not supplant any legal or Party requirement by any state or territory to qualify for ballot placement in that jurisdiction. Further, I acknowledge that the National Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee is authorized to determine whether a presidential candidate has established substantial support for their nomination as the Democratic candidate for the Office of the President of the United States, is a bona fide Democrat whose record of public service, accomplishments, public writings and/or public statements affirmatively demonstrate that the candidate is faithful to the interests, welfare and success of the Democratic Party of the United States, and will participate in the Convention in good faith. Maybe theres something Ive missed, but I dont see anything here that prevents a Third Party run. I dont think its likely Sanders will do that, but I dont see it forbidden. I also dont see anything that would forbid Sanders from supporting the Democrat candidate (but under the branding of some other organization, e.g. Our Revolution). * * * Judge agrees to recount of missed Dallas County primary ballots [FOX 4]. A judge on Tuesday authorized the Dallas County Elections Office to recount Super Tuesday votes from 44 electronic machines. Elections administrator Toni Pippins-Poole requested the recount after finding discrepancies between the number of voters and the number of votes counted from those machines. Attorneys said that this situation is unprecedented in Dallas County. There were thousands of missing votes because several dozen thumb drives containing votes were not included in the count. Officials said during testimony on Tuesday that about 8,000 votes were not counted and included in the official results due to the failure of some election judges to turn in thumb drives from 44 vote centers throughout the county. The uncounted votes were about six percent of total votes cast on Super Tuesday . The equipment used to cast and record votes is new. Last weeks election was only the second time the machines were used in Dallas County.  One of the more hilarious continuing aspects of election 2020 is that the party that draws itself up in high dudgeon when its called Democrat instead of Democratic cant seem to count votes accurately. Over and over again. Warren (D)(1): Elizabeth Warren Is Unlikely to Endorse Bernie Sanders. Heres Why. [New York Times]. Those close to Ms. Warren say her foremost reason for not endorsing Mr. Sanders is simple: Since her exit from the race, his path to victory has looked unlikely. They doubt that Ms. Warren, even as the most prominent former candidate to have not backed another primary contender so far, could reverse Mr. Sanderss fortunes at this point, and fear that she risks squandering valuable political capital if she tries to do so and fails.  Again, I think Warren has a lot less political capital than she thinks she has.

Health Care

What Do Likely Voters Think About Their Health Care? [The Commonwealth Fund]. Handy chart:

Realignment and Legitimacy

Solidarity forever: The Dismantled State Takes on a Pandemic [The New Republic].  Well worth a read, but includes this amazing passage: As a clinician like yourself, [Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] said in his answer,  I guess I anticipated that the private sector would have engaged and helped develop it for the clinical side. He finished his response with more bewilderment: I can tell you, having lived through the last eight weeks, I would have loved the private sector to be fully engaged eight weeks ago. This is a remarkable parallel to this exchange between Alan Greenspan and Henry Waxman in 2008 after the Crash:  I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms , Greenspan said. Referring to his free-market ideology, Greenspan added: I have found a flaw. I dont know how significant or permanent it is. But I have been very distressed by that fact. Waxman pressed the former Fed chair to clarify his words. In other words, you found that your view of the world, your ideology, was not right, it was not working, Waxman said. Absolutely, precisely, Greenspan replied. You know, thats precisely the reason I was shocked, because I have been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well. Learned nothing and forgotten nothing. The article also includes this nugget: This is how conservatives govern now, and even eight years of comparatively competent management by a liberal presidential administration was not enough to stem the larger trend of private negligence and public disinvestment. In its 2019 annual report on American public health funding, Trust for Americas Health calculated that the CDCs budget fell by 10 percent over the past decade (FY 201019) , after adjusting for inflation.  Neatly overlapping with the Obama administration, and an (almost) open admission that liberals are as complicit in dismantling government as conservatives. Blowing in the Whirlwind: As Ye Sow, Joe Shall Ye Reap [Chris Floyd, Counterpunch]. I think, perhaps, that we have come to such a crisis point on so many fronts that things are simply too overwhelming for most people to process, much less deal with, in any realistic way. Some strange combination of fatalism and magical thinking seems to have taken hold of large swathes of the electorate. There seems to be the feeling that we cant really do anything at all about the problems that are bearing down on us like a runaway train  climate disruption and all its ever-rippling repercussions; the rise of hyper-powerful rich elites manipulating our increasingly hollowed-out institutions for their own benefit; the economic demise of industry after industry, region after region, community after community; the endless wars, covert and overt, with their gargantuan corruption and pointless cycles of violence; the healthcare atrocities that leave millions of people literally begging on the internet to obtain even the barest minimum of medical help, and so on. In the face of all this, many people long to embrace some figure or another who promises us a return to the status quo: either some mythologized post-war era when America was great, or just back to the Obama years, when things were normal. Overwhelmed, battered, beset, anxiety-ridden, suffering, confused, many people dont want to hear that hard work and big changes will be necessary if we are to have a chance for things to get better. They just want to latch on to something that will let them feel  if only for a moment  that the anxiety can go away, that someone up there in the circles of power will take care of it for us. This is not the wisest course when faced with overwhelming crises  but it is an entirely natural and understandable one. When you couple this natural reaction to extremity with the aforementioned systematic effort to undermine and thwart the Sanders campaign, then its not surprising you end up with a blank screen like Joe Biden as your candidate.  One interesting feature of the 2020 campaign is that serial fabulists (Trump, Biden, and yes, Warren) have played such a dominating role in it. Its Time to Cancel the U.S. Presidential Campaign as We Know It [Foreign Policy]. For the first time in the countrys history, the United States must contemplate canceling the Democratic and Republican national conventions and campaign rallies, and give serious consideration to arranging ways of organizing election day that dont require in-person voting If the epidemic forces cancellation of the Milwaukee gathering, the partys candidate may be at a distinct disadvantage going into the general election against Trump and his base of loyal support. Yet the political system should note that such sacrifices are not unprecedented. On Nov. 5, 1918, the United States held midterm elections for congressional seats during World War I. The Spanish influenza was raging across the United States, claiming huge death tolls in most of the nations large cities and striking terror across the country. Politicians abandoned most campaigning rituals, such as rallies and speaking tours.

Stats Watch

At reader request, I added some business stats back in. Please give Econintersect click-throughs; theyre a good, old-school blog that covers more than stats. If anybody knows of other aggregators, please contact me at the email address below.

Consumer Sentiment: Preliminary March 2020 Michigan Consumer Sentiment Significantly Declined [Econintersect]. Surveys of Consumers chief economist, Richard Curtin, makes the following comments: Consumer sentiment fell in early March due to the spreading coronavirus and the steep declines in stock prices. Importantly, the initial response to the pandemic has not generated the type of economic panic among consumers that was present in the runup to the Great Recession. Nonetheless, the data suggest that additional declines in confidence are still likely to occur as the spread of the virus continues to accelerate. Perhaps the most important factor limiting consumers initial reactions is that the pandemic is widely regarded as a temporary event.

Trade: February 2020 Import Year-over-Year Inflation Declined To -1.2% [Econintersect]. Year-over-year import price indices inflation slowed and are now in contraction.

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Elon Musks Battery Farm Is an Undeniable Success [Popular Mechanics].  Gotta hand it to him.

Amazon Battles Counterfeit Masks, $400 Hand Sanitizer Amid Virus Panic [Wall Street Journal]. Having created a marketplace that enables fakes by default, Amazon now battles to fix this one case.

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Todays Fear & Greed Index: 3 Extreme Fear (previous close: 2 Extreme Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 7 (Extreme Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Mar 13 at 12:24pm. Havent ever seen the needle pinned at zero.

Rapture Index: Closes unchanged [Rapture Ready]. Record High, October 10, 2016: 189. Current: 181. Remember that bringing on the rapture is a good thing. It certainly is odd to see the Fear and Greed index in Freefall, and an index that measures the likelihood of the Apocalypse is stable in the midst of what, in Biblical terms, should surely be a plague. The Rapture Index should pin the needle in the other direction from the Fear & Greed Index. If indeed Evangelicals think #COVID-19 is fake news (some dont), their megachurches are going to get hit, just as in Korea.

The Biosphere

Lake Erie walleye bite continues; steelhead trout on fire: Fishing Report for Jan. 31 [Cleveland Plain-Dealer (CR)]. The astounding walleye bite ranges from the waters off Cleveland all of the way to the Western Basin. The hot techniques have been trolling a Smithwick Perfect 10 minnow-style lure with 2-ounce snap weights, with the best depths from 31 to 41 feet of water. Fishermen are also jigging hair jigs tipped with a with a small stinger treble hook while focusing on Western Lake Erie rock piles in 30 feet of water or deeper. Its quite a winter windfall for Lake Erie fishing, said Mike Durkalec of the Cleveland Metroparks, but added, A lot of people who really enjoy ice fishing are disappointed, with no safe ice available.'  Lake Erie, the person, seems to be doing OK. This language is pretty vivid, but I dont know what the heck it means. Snap weights? Hair jigs? (Too bad about the ice, though. Oof.)

Cheatgrass, Wildfire and Livestock Grazing [Counterpunch]. The BLM, nor livestock promoters readily admit these problems of cheatgrass, wildfire, and livestock grazing. The fact remains the proposed regulation changes will make it more difficult to hold accountable the BLM and the livestock industry who are directly culpable for the on-going degradation of our public lands.

Six-fold jump in polar ice loss lifts global oceans [The Australian]. Greenland and Antarctica are shedding six times more ice than during the 1990s, driving sea level rise that could see annual flooding by 2100 in regions home today to some 400 million people, scientists have warned. The kilometres-thick ice sheets atop land masses at the planets extremities sloughed off 6.4 trillion tonnes of mass from 1992 through to 2017, adding nearly 2cm to the global watermark, according to an assessment by 89 researchers, the most comprehensive to date. Last summers Arctic heatwave will likely top the 2011 record for polar ice sheet loss of 552 billion tonnes, they reported in a pair of studies, published on Thursday in Nature.

Our Famously Free Press

Truthdig Employees Stop Work To Protest Labor Conditions [Popular Resistance]. From 2019:

Truthdig, one of the few progressive sites willing to call out the Russiagate hysteria, challenge the Democratic Party hierarchy and donor class and lift up the voices of the Palestinians in the face of Israeli war crimes, is imploding. The publisher, Zuade Kaufman, who has lent the site an estimated two or three million dollars, has had bitter clashes with the legendary Editor-in-Chief and the co-owner of the site, Robert Scheer, over the past few months. Their disputes, staff members say, revolve around Kaufmans desire to make the site more mainstream and commercially viable by catering to the Democratic Party establishment and adopting the dominant narratives about supposed Russian interference in the 2106 presidential election, as well as other stances embraced by mainstream outlets such as MSNBC. The dispute between Scheer and Kaufman came to a head last week when Kaufman attempted to fire Scheer. Scheers and Kaufmans lawyers are now in mediation.

Bound to happen with a squillionaire sponsor, sooner or later.

Groves of Academe

UPDATE Academes Coronavirus Shock Doctrine [The Chronicle of Higher Education]. Never let a crisis go to waste. In her bestselling book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein observes that disasters, emergencies, and breakdowns often prove inspirational to entrepreneurs, and just as often provide ideological cover for the repurposing of public funds and the reconfiguration of labor conditions. Covid-19 looks like it will furnish exactly this sort of pretext. Faculty members  a variegated group that has not excelled at thinking of ourselves as a collective  should beware.. What comes after the shock? If instruction is going to be utterly transformed, then other protocols and systems must be too, and faculty members ought to insist upon assurances and protections now. Intellectual property rules by which universities claim ownership over materials uploaded to course-management software must be completely suspended; we cannot willingly contribute to the rebranding of education as content delivery. Universities must explicitly ensure that third-party platforms will not monetize our words for Big Data and our faces for surveillance industries. Faculty performance reviews (crucial to renewal for contingent faculty, to merit pay, to tenure proceedings) should be reformatted to account for the derailed outputs when conferences and guest lectures have been canceled, publications slowed, and alternate teaching strenuously improvised. Student evaluations should not be proctored or employed as usual. Face-to-face learning is irreplaceable  even in a virtualizing culture, even when classroom infrastructures are overcrowded and outmoded, even when administration has become the dominant sector in education. Absent firm administrative commitments to resume ordinary instruction after the virus subsides, and in the presence of administrative memos specifying indefinite and permanent dimensions of the transition, faculty as a group should pause before making the extraordinary efforts now demanded.

Guillotine Watch

Elon Musk wants to get paid [Francine McKenna, The Dig]. I explained later on Twitter why using adjusted EBITDA to determine bonus eligibility so self-serving. Thats because in addition to adjusting GAAP earnings to add back expenses for interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, the double non-GAAP crap adjustment at Tesla also adds back stock-based compensation expense.  These are all easily manipulated (pliugged). More: Teslas annual report makes it very clear they will plug the numbers if it looks like Musk might make it.

Class Warfare

Coronavirus Is the Perfect Disaster for Disaster Capitalism' (inteview) [Naomi Klein, Vice]. Klein: The shock doctrine is the political strategy of using large-scale crises to push through policies that systematically deepen inequality, enrich elites, and undercut everyone else. In moments of crisis, people tend to focus on the daily emergencies of surviving that crisis, whatever it is, and tend to put too much trust in those in power. We take our eyes off the ball a little bit in moments of crisis. The shock really is the virus itself. And it has been managed in a way that is maximizing confusion and minimizing protection. I dont think thats a conspiracy, thats just the way the U.S. government and Trump have utterly mismanaged this crisis. Trump has so far treated this not as a public health crisis but as a crisis of perception, and a potential problem for his reelection. Its the worst-case scenario, especially combined with the fact that the U.S. doesnt have a national health care program and its protections for workers are abysmal. This combination of forces has delivered a maximum shock. Its going to be exploited to bail out industries that are at the heart of most extreme crises that we face, like the climate crisis: the airline industry, the gas and oil industry, the cruise industrythey want to prop all of this up.  In The Shock Doctrine I talk about how this happened after Hurricane Katrina.  Good frame for todays dramatic measures to ease market strain, for example.

News of the Wired

New Analysis of Large Hadron Collider Results Confirms Something Weird Is Happening [Gizmodo]. The worlds largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland, contains a host of experiments that seek to answer the unanswered questions about the nature of the universe. Mostly, these experiments have ruled out theories describing various exotic particles to explain dark matter. But one of the experiments, called LHCb, has discovered a small deviation between what theyve measured and whats predicted by the core theory of particle physics, called the Standard Model. After three years of data analysis, the discrepancy remainsa potential sign of new physics.

Something strange is going on with the North Star [LiveScience]. The problem with Polaris is that no one can agree on how big or distant it is.

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CH writes: Talked to park ranger and it is a manzanita tree.

Bonus plant video (SN):

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Hindustan Unilever on Friday said its board will meet on April 1 to declare that the merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) will be effective from that day.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) and GSKCH have received approval from the Mumbai and Chandigarh bench of the National Company Law Tribunal, respectively for the merger, HUL said in a regulatory filing.

"In this regard we further wish to inform you that in accordance with the terms of the scheme, a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, April 01, 2020, to take on record the sanction of the Scheme by the Mumbai NCLT and Chandigarh NCLT and to declare the Scheme effective from April 01, 2020," it said.

On December 3, 2018, Anglo-Dutch FMCG giant Unilever announced the acquisition of health food portfolio, including popular brands Horlicks and Boost, from GSKCH India and over 20 other markets for 3.1 billion pounds (about Rs 27,750 crore).

Under the deal, Unilever's Indian arm, HUL is acquiring GSKCH India via an all-equity merger, valuing the total business of the latter at Rs 31,700 crore.

GSKCH India is the market leader in the health food drinks (HFD) category, with popular brands such as Horlicks and Boost.

HUL stock settled at Rs 2033.20, down 1.27 per cent from its previous close, on the BSE.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DECATUR  With Millikin University, Richland Community College, and Decatur Public Schools closed all week for spring break, the only COVID-19 precautions necessary at those schools was taking the opportunity to clean and make plans for students' return.

Decatur schools spokeswoman Denise Swarthout released a statement before the district went on spring break that custodians would be doing a deep cleaning of all buildings while students were gone in light of both regular flu and coronavirus concerns.

President Cristobal Valdez said the college website now includes a flashing banner on every page with the latest information. One decision has already been made: to cancel the culinary institute's planned summer trip to Italy. The college announced on Thursday that spring break would be extended to March 23 for students, though employees will continue to report for work, and that efforts are underway to provide online class options by March 23 to decrease the density of people on campus, at least through April 3. At that point, officials will reassess the situation.

We want to keep folks safe, Valdez said.

Millikin's spring break has been extended through March 23, and on-campus events through April 30 are cancelled. President Patrick White made the announcement in a statement addressed to the "Millikin Community."

The announcement also encourages students to stay home throughout the quarter, saying all Millikin courses will be available online or in other distant learning modes. Residence halls will remain open but may be consolidated. Students staying at home can pick up belongings from March 16-20.

University employees should report to work as scheduled and continue with their duties as assigned.

In January, Millikin's facilities team began implementing extra treatments of high touch areas, not only due to coronavirus, but because of flu and colds this time of year. The staff has been reminded to remain vigilant and focus on preventive measures.

Instructors have been asked to move instruction online where possible, but due to Millikin's performance learning model, some instruction must be in person. Group meetings are being limited to 30 or fewer, which most Millikin classes already are. Residential and Greek life facilities will remain open to students, with visitation limited to students who live in those facilities.

The university has no student trips scheduled to countries of concern, said spokesman Dane Lisser, and administrators are monitoring recommendations from public health authorities.

To this point, we have not received a recommendation for limiting public gatherings of any kind, and future educational travel that's planned for May, June or July is being reviewed to develop contingency plans in case we receive guidance calling for us to delay or cancel, Lisser said. Millikin is being appropriately cautious and preparing for a variety of possible scenarios with regard to restrictions that may result from official efforts to slow or prevent the spread of the virus.

At Richland, students returning from countries with Level 1 or 2 designations should contact Student Success before returning to class if they are experiencing symptoms, and students who return from high-risk areas may be asked to attend classes virtually.

We had spring break (the week of March 2), said Warrensburg-Latham Superintendent Kristen Kendrick-Weikle. Custodial maintenance sprayed as they do during a heavy flu season and the spray we use kills the germs related to coronavirus and flu. They will continue to spray as needed, a few times a week. We made sure classrooms are stocked with disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer and Kleenex, and we're asking teachers to review proper hand-washing techniques. At the elementary, they're showing videos to reinforce (those techniques) with visualization.

They have also installed more automatic hand sanitizers in addition to the ones already in place.

The Lutheran School Association's Superintendent Jeff Holmes placed an update on the school's Facebook page for families with details on the school's plans in the event a member of the school community has symptoms and also in the event authorities recommend closing schools. Unless that happens, the plans are to continue the cold and flu season procedures already being followed: using cleaners formulated to kill the flu virus, paying special attention to cleaning surfaces such as door handles, light switches, computer keyboards and toilet flush handles; reinforce the need to wash hands often and well, and being prepared.

We're obviously paying attention and getting all the updates, said Superintendent Curt Nettles of Clinton schools. The state board of education is on top of things, sending out information to us, and the Illinois Association of School Administrators is sending out the information they're getting from the Illinois Department of Health. What we're doing is putting statements out to parents detailing expectations and reiterating what we've been saying: protocols for what to do if you're sick. We always do that every year, reiterate that you should keep the child home if they're sick, especially if they have fever.

The general rule is that a person who has had a fever should be fever-free for 24 hours without medication to be considered well enough to return to school or work.

The second-shift custodians have stepped up their daily cleaning and paying special attention to desk surfaces and other such areas after students and staff leave for the day, and during their spring break the week of March 23, the custodial staff is going to do deep cleaning.

We've also talked about the possibility of taking a harder look at attendance and things like that, Nettles said. The last thing we want to do is make families feel like if a child doesn't feel well and might lose out on attendance awards, that's not as important as the things we could possibly be faced with. We're stepping it up, but we're not panicking.

Maroa-Forsyth's Superintendent John Ahlemeyer told family and staff that the district is getting daily updates and plans to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and the Illinois and Macon County health departments. Staff remind students to wash hands frequently, cover coughs and sneezes, and families are encouraged to keep sick children at home.

Additionally, as we do every year, this time of year, frequently touched surfaces get increased cleaning and we utilize a cordless electrostatic sprayer to boost our disinfection efforts, he said.

Related stories

K-12 schools may not be equipped for long-term e-learning if they have to close for an extended period during the coronavirus situation, said a Ball State University professor.

I dont have the data to say whether or not schools are currently prepared for long-term use of e-learning days, but my suspicion is that they are not, said Dave Hua, an associate professor of computer technology. I would expect that most districts e-learning policies were developed with the expectation that the schools would implement e-learning for one to three days for inclement weather."

The Illinois State Board of Education has so far decided to leave the decision on whether to close up to local districts, based on guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health and their local health departments. The state board is working with lawmakers and the governor to ensure that absences due to public health emergencies do not count as chronic or unexcused absences, and make adjustments to the state academic testing schedules.

If schools have to use up the "emergency days" built into their calendar, which are usually used for weather-related closings, they will have to make up those days at the end of the school year. Act of God days are used for circumstances that present a hazard to the health and safety of students and staff, and do not have to be made up, if the regional superintendent of schools and the state superintendent approve them.

EVENT CANCELLATIONS Mount Zion Chamber Expo & Taste, originally scheduled for Saturday, March 14, has been postponed until May 30. Home, Lawn & Remodeling Expo, originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15, has been postponed. The Good Samaritan Inn Annual Culinary Cookoff Event from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 13, at GT Church in Decatur is cancelled. Macon County Continuum of Care Community Breakfast, which was scheduled for Thursday, March 19, has been cancelled.

Collection: Coverage of coronavirus in Illinois

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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Defense Secretary Mark Esper testifies to the Senate Armed Services Committee about the budget on March 4 on Capitol Hill in Washington. An uptick in Taliban attacks against Afghan forces that prompted a retaliatory U.S. airstrike has underscored the fragility of the peace deal between the Trump administration and the group. Esper told the Senate hearing that the Taliban are honoring the agreement by not attacking U.S. and coalition forces, but not in terms of sustaining the reduction in violence. Read more

WASHINGTON  The U.S. retaliatory airstrikes against militants in Iraq destroyed five weapons depots, but the top U.S commander for the Middle East acknowledged Friday that there are many similar sites that the U.S. has so far not hit because of potential civilian casualties and political sensitivities with the Iraqi government.

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie said the U.S. decision to target the Iranian-backed Shiite militia group that killed American and British troops in a rocket attack this week sends a strong message to Iran and its proxies. But he said that as the threat of continued attacks remains high and tensions with Iran have not gone down, the U.S. is beefing up military assets in the region.

What should now be obvious to everyone is you're not going to be able to fire those at a U.S. or coalition base, hurt or kill our people, and escape unscathed, McKenzie told Pentagon reporters Friday. He said the U.S. has been aware of the weapons sites and knows where more are, but has exercised restraint in bombing them because in some cases strikes would kill "a lot" of civilians. He said the U.S. works with the Iraq military to take out the sites, but at times that doesn't work.

Kataib Hezbollah, the group the U.S. blames for the Wednesday attack at Camp Taji base that killed two U.S. and one British service members and wounded 14 other personnel, has not commented on the strikes, but another Iranian-backed group has vowed revenge.

The tit-for-tat strikes potentially signal another cycle of violence between Washington and Tehran that could play out inside Iraq. And they threaten to hamper ongoing U.S. negotiations with the Iraqi government to keep American troops in the country.

In fact, Iraq's military said three Iraqi army commandos and two federal police officers were killed in the U.S. strikes. And a Shiite endowment in the holy city of Karbala said one civilian in an airport complex being constructed by the endowment was also killed.

Asked about the Iraqi deaths, McKenzie said the U.S. talked with the Iraq military and they knew the U.S. attack was imminent.

If Iraqis were there and Iraqi military forces were there, I would say its probably not a good idea to position yourself with Kataib Hezbollah in the wake of a strike that killed Americans and coalition members.

Due to the ongoing threat, McKenzie said Defense Secretary Mark Esper has agreed to keep two Navy aircraft carriers  the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Harry S. Truman -- in the Gulf region for a period of time. He said this is the first time since 2012 that the U.S. has had two carriers in the region at the same time.

He also said that Patriot air defense missile systems are being moved into Iraq to provide defenses against ballistic missile attacks like the January strike by Iran that hit an Iraqi air base where U.S. troops were present. No Americans were killed in that attack but dozens suffered mild traumatic brain injury. Since then, Washington has been negotiating with the Iraqi government to permit the Patriot deployment.

The latest strikes mark a rapid escalation in tensions with Tehran and its proxy groups in Iraq, just two months after Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against American troops at a base in Iraq. They came just hours after top U.S. defense leaders threatened retaliation for the Wednesday rocket attack, making clear that they knew who did it and that the attackers would be held accountable.

The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies, Esper said. As we have demonstrated in recent months, we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region.

According to the U.S. military, the locations of the strikes were largely around the Baghdad region. The strikes hit weapons storage facilities in Karbala, Al-Musayib, and Arab Nawar Ahmad and a missile storage and propellant production facility in Jurf al-Sakher,

Prior to the strikes top U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump and Esper had suggested retaliation was coming. And McKenzie told senators in a public hearing that the deaths of U.S. and coalition troops created a red line for the U.S.

Two U.S. troops and one British service member were killed and 14 other personnel were wounded when as many as 15 rockets hit the base Wednesday. The U.S. military said the 107 mm Katyusha rockets were fired from a truck launcher that was found by Iraqi security forces near the base after the attack.

Asked why there were no systems at Taji to intercept the rockets, McKenzie said that such systems are limited and can't be everywhere. He said to put a system there, he would have to take it away from another location where it's also needed.

Kataib Hezbollah was also responsible for a late December rocket attack on a military base in Kirkuk that killed a U.S. contractor, prompting American military strikes in response.

That in turn led to protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. They were followed Jan. 3 by a U.S. airstrike that killed Irans most powerful military officer, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, of which Kataib Hezbollah is a member. In response to the Soleimani killing, Iran launched a massive ballistic missile attack on Jan. 8, at al-Asad air base in Iraq, that resulted in traumatic brain injuries to more than 100 American troops.

Associated Press writers Robert Burns in Washington and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.
The Louisiana Supreme Court on Friday recommended that because of the threat of the coronavirus, every court in the state should restrict dockets to emergency and time-sensitive hearings and delay all civil and criminal cases "if possible."

Chief Justice Bernette Johnson said in a letter that courts "must handle this public health crisis in a way that protects the health and safety of everyone at our court facilities."

Several courts in New Orleans, including Municipal Court, Civil District Court and Criminal District Court, were still holding hearings on Friday. Their courthouses are some of the most heavily trafficked public buildings in the city.

But as coronavirus spreads throughout the state, and especially in the New Orleans area, officials are increasingly clamping down on large gatherings in a bid to slow the rate of infection.

Criminal District Court officials said Friday that all jurors summoned to serve in March have been dismissed.

One judge had already gone a step further on Thursday: Criminal Court Judge Laurie White suspended her docket for the next two weeks.

Johnson's letter didn't order any courts to shut down. But she did say that courts were "strongly encouraged to implement social distancing strategies to slow and possibly prevent exposure of the COVID-19 virus."

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Visitation suspended at Louisiana prisons as advocates warn of coronavirus spreading behind bars Close quarters, preexisting health conditions and limited access to soap and hand sanitizer make Louisiana's prisons and jails potential breed

Steps should include restricting court settings to emergency and time-sensitive settings; staggering dockets to reduce the number of people in a space at the same time; staggering the number of court staff in the building at one time; encouraging employees to work from home; and expanding the use of audio and video conferencing, she said.

She continued, "While you are in the best position to know what is optimal for your court, we recommend that all civil and criminal hearings and jury trials be continued, if possible, except as determined by the courts in regard to cases where speedy-trial motions have been filed in pre-trial detained individuals cases to avoid violation of any constitutional rights. You may also wish to consider reducing the size of your jury pools for the time being."

Attorneys across the state have traded rumors for days about how the courts will handle the spread of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, advocates for inmates and pre-trial detainees have urged judges and sheriffs to release inmates before the virus has a chance to spread behind bars, where hygiene and access to health care are limited.

The Orleans Public Defenders on Thursday called on the courts to order the release of any defendants being held only because they are accused of nonviolent offenses.

Today, as the number of COVID-19 cases rises in New Orleans, we are asking our criminal legal system leaders to take immediate action to limit the spread of the virus and the potential catastrophic effects on our community and clients in jail and out, the defenders office said in a statement.
The Federal Reserve has announced that it will inject more than $1.5 trillion in temporary liquidity into Wall Street following the markets worst week since the 2008 financial crisis.

The Fed is making the emergency cash infusion in an attempt to head off a sharper economic contraction, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

These changes are being made to address highly unusual disruptions in Treasury financing markets associated with the coronavirus outbreak, the New York Fed said in a statement Thursday.
TOKYO, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 21, Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) will launch an official online reservation service (*) allowing oversea travelers to purchase, before coming to Japan and from all over the world, tickets for the Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen (bullet train) which runs through Japan's golden route connecting Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Hakata and other destinations.

(*) Service available in English.

Image: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105965/202003057731/_prw_PA1fl_W2e5XE9I.pdf

The Shinkansen offers high speed and convenience. Trains run frequently and on time, seating is readily available, and travel is comfortable, safe and enjoyable. It is an efficient and reliable choice for long distances as well as short day trips.

Of course, Shinkansen tickets may be purchased at station ticket offices in Japan. But, this new service makes it easy and simple to book and buy tickets from countries outside of Japan. Moreover, travelers may change their booking as many times as they like without any additional charge. For leisure and business travelers planning a visit, register now to get Shinkansen tickets and enjoy travel in Japan.

For more details, please visit: https://smart-ex.jp/en/lp/app/

Features:

1. Book seats and purchase tickets

-Beginning one month prior to departure

-From inside and outside Japan

2. Change reservations

-Without charge

-As many times as wanted

-Up to 4 minutes before departure



*Foreign transaction fee prescribed by the credit card company may be charged according to the card used.

3. Pick up tickets

Collect tickets easily and quickly at ticket machines in Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen stations

4. No train restrictions

Tickets may be booked and purchased for all types of Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen, including the fastest NOZOMI, with up to 17 departures per hour during peak times.

For travelers with oversized baggage

Reservation is required when bringing oversized baggage with overall dimensions (length + width + height) of between 160 cm and 250 cm (about 62 in. and 98 in.). Any oversized baggage carried onboard without a reservation is subject to a carry-on oversized baggage fee.

For more information, please visit: https://global.jr-central.co.jp/en/info/oversized-baggage/index.html

*Credit cards

Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express and Diners Club cards are accepted.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday ordered all schools in his state to close for three weeks beginning Monday and Maryland Schools Superintendent Karen Salmon directed all school in her state to close to two week, also beginning Monday.

DeWine on Thursday acknowledged the hardships and disruptions that the order will create but said its necessary to help Ohio through the growing coronavirus crisis. The announcement came as Ohio Health Department Director Dr. Amy Acton issued an order banning gatherings of over 100 people.

In Maryland, the governor urged private schools to do as public schools are required to do and take a two-week pause. Salmon said, Administrators, faculty, staff and parents and guardians should begin to immediately prepare for and to put into place measures for the continuity of educational services during a prolonged period of school closure.

Greater Seattle: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday ordered all public and private K-12 schools in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties to close for six weeks. That will cancel classes for nearly 600,000 students, roughly as many as are enrolled in all of Oregons public schools.

Kentucky: The Louisville Courier Journal reports that Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday told all Kentucky public and private K-12 schools to close their doors effective Monday and remain closed for two weeks.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Thursday that Oregon public schools should remain open for now, even as she banned all public and private gatherings of more than 250 people.

The Oregonian/OregonLive education team contributed to this report.
BAGHDAD, March 13 (Reuters) - Iraqi President Barham Salih condemned on Friday a series of overnight U.S. air strikes as a violation of national sovereignty and warned that the country could slip into chaos and become a failed state.

"The repeated violations the state is being subjected to are a dangerous and deliberate weakening of its abilities and reputation, especially at a time when Iraq faces unprecedented challenges on political, economic, financial, security, and health fronts," Salih said in a statement.

"These dangers could lead to chaos and Iraq becoming a failed state, especially if the security escalation continues while Islamic State militants attempt to regain their ability to threaten national security and the safety of citizens." (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Jon Boyle)
Sporting events, open-air religious meetings and all events of a huge public nature have been suspended.

Kenya has banned all major public events after confirming its first case of the new coronavirus in a woman who had returned to the country from the United States, the health minister said on Friday.

Kenya, the richest economy in sub-Saharan Africa and a major hub for global firms and the United Nations, is the 11th country in the region to confirm a case of COVID-19, bringing its total reported cases to 39.

Mutahi Kagwe, Kenyas health minister, told a news conference the government had suspended all public gatherings, sporting events, open-air religious meetings and all events that are of a huge public nature.

He said schools would remain open but all inter-school events would be suspended.

Kagwe said the patient had been diagnosed at the governments national influenza centre laboratory on the evening of March 12, after travelling home via London on March 5.

The 27-year-old Kenyan is stable and her temperature has gone to down to normal, the minister said.

She cannot be released  until she gets negative.





The government has traced most of the people she has been in contact with, including fellow passengers on the flight home, and a government response team will monitor their temperatures for the next two weeks.

The reported cases in sub-Saharan Africa have mainly been in foreigners or locals who had travelled abroad, but concerns are growing about the continents ability to handle a potential rapid spread of a virus that has infected over 128,000 and killed more than 4,700 worldwide.

Kenya, which is dependent on imports from China and other Asian countries, has started to feel the impact of the coronavirus pandemic with disruptions to the supply chain.

Kagwe warned traders: This is not the time to make abnormal profits by charging abnormal prices.

Last month, Kenya Airways suspended flights to China and on Thursday it added Rome and Geneva to the list of suspended destinations.

Tourism, an important source of hard currency and jobs for Kenya, has also started to feel the impact of the turmoil caused by the outbreak, said Najib Balala, the minister for tourism.

Definitely we are going to be hit badly, Balala told the same news conference, citing the impact of the virus on source markets like Europe and the United States.
KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Reuters) - Malaysia Airlines has given its staff the option of taking voluntary unpaid leave of five days per month for at least three months as its business takes a hit from the coronavirus outbreak.

"This is in line with (the) reduced operations following a capacity management exercise due to COVID-19," the national carrier's owner, Malaysia Aviation Group, said in a statement.

More than 134,500 people have been infected globally by the coronavirus and over 4,900 have died, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements.

Malaysia Airlines has cancelled more than 2,000 flights up to April due to travel restrictions imposed by countries within its network. (For a factbox on how major airlines are coping with the spreading of the virus, see)

Regarding the unpaid leave, its staff have the option of taking the leave days over one to three months from April.

In a separate statement, Malaysia Airlines also offered passengers free and unlimited changes to flight dates for travel until the end of the year.

The airline has been struggling financially and Khazanah Nasional, owner of Malaysia Aviation Group, has been looking for a strategic partner for it.

Malaysia Aviation Group also includes budget airline Firefly.

(Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Bengaluru, March 13 : Karnataka government on Friday appealed to people returning from COVID-19 affected countries to remain in home isolation for a fortnight, irrespective of symptoms, an official said on Friday.

"A decision has been taken that strict 14 day home quarantine should be done for all asymptomatic international passengers arriving in Karnataka from all the COVID-19 affected countries. The symptomatic passengers will be medically managed as per protocol by the health department," state health department's Information, Education and Communication (IEC) special officer Suresh Shastri told IANS.

He also called for self-notification to nearest government hospital or informing 104 health helpline.

Shastri exhorted the need to maintain personal hygiene, using tissue paper or handkerchief while coughing and sneezing, frequently washing hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer and avoiding attending mass social gatherings.

By 4 p.m. on Friday, Karnataka continues to be grappling with six coronavirus positive cases.

Karnataka government identified 30 high risk contacts of the deceased 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi who was affected with COVID-19, including the private hospital staff where he was initially treated.

Four of the 30 contacts have been isolated at a hospital in Kalaburgi with their samples being sent for testing.

Meanwhile, the five positive coronavirus patients in Karnataka continue to be in isolation at hospital and are stable.

Currently, seven people are being monitored under isolation at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases and two more in other hospitals.

In the district hospitals, four people are being monitored at Hassan, seven in Dakshina Kannada, one each in Ballari, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu, four in Kalaburgi and five in Udupi.

In total, across the state, 32 people are quarantined in hospitals.

"As many as 639 samples of symptomatic persons were collected for testing and 540 samples have returned negative," said an official statement.

Nearly 1,012 people are going through home quarantine across the state while 1,345 people have enrolled for observation.

Across the state, 1.05 lakh passengers have been thermal-screened for the virus till now at the Kempegowda International Airport in the city and the Mangaluru International Airport.

Another 5,394 passengers were also checked for the virus at Karwar and Mangaluru seaports.

Meanwhile, the state government also disseminated the movement flowchart of all six positive coronavirus cases in the state, right form the time of their arrival in India for the cases which arrived from abroad.

Karnataka Health and Family Welfare department clearly traced their activities such as the places they visited and the people they met till the time they tested positive for COVID-19.

The flowcharts detailed the movement of the family of three people, the deceased Kalaburgi person, the 26-year-old Googler and the Mindtree employee.

The city civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagare Palike (BBMP), has also reiterated all the lockdown conditions through a notification which Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa declared in the afternoon on Friday.

The South Western Railway (SWR) has also set up coronavirus helpdesks at two railway stations, including Gadag.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Crazy situation: Empty shelves as shoppers queue for the tills at Tesco Airside in north Co Dublin. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Anxious shoppers emptied supermarket shelves as news filtered through of the Government's plans to put the country in a state of semi lockdown.

The decision for a wholesale shutdown of schools and other public venues to slow down the spread of Covid-19 had the unintended consequence of sending people to the shops.

Grocers appealed in vain to customers that they had no need to hoard goods, because our shops and the global supply chains that feed them are still fully functional.

More persuasive for some were viral videos shared on social media showing people arguing over the last loo roll or beside fender-benders in jammed car parks outside.

By early afternoon, most of the fresh produce, bread, eggs, milk and pasta were gone, along with the more long-term objects of hoarders' affection: antibacterial hand wash and wipes, bleach and toilet roll.

Pickings by tea-time were slim indeed. At the Tesco in Cabra, most shelves were bare, remnants scattered and askew.

At the Lidl in Glasnevin, you could pick any fruit you wanted - as long as it was pear. The veg selection consisted of mushrooms and vacuum-packed beets. The bottled water section had evaporated.

Dan and Tina Coleman arrived too late to stock up.

"We bought into the panic when we saw everything go wild on social media. The pictures got us racing here," said Mr Coleman, an electrician. "We'd seen videos of people arguing in the aisles, a crash outside a store in Clondalkin, and a Tesco in Clare Hall closing to restock the shelves."

Nonetheless, their expedition came hours too late. In lieu of loo rolls, they had only kitchen towels in their basket.

"We'll make it work," Mr Coleman said with a wink as he turned his attention to the still well-stocked beer section.

Customers arriving for their usual weekly shop looked aghast at the retail ruins.

"This is ridiculous," said Paula Mulvey, trying to find anything useful in stock alongside her husband, Chris.

She looked for chicken but could find only duck. A pass.

"Don't these fools who picked the place clean understand that the shops are still open in Italy? What do they think is about to happen here?" she asked.

Her husband, a truck driver for another supermarket chain, said his own deliveries had increased in size and scale in the past week - a sign that the Covid-19 crisis has been driving strong grocery sales.

"There's no chance we'll run out of stock. We have four months' worth of ambient goods. People who bought all the fresh produce today will be hard-pressed to eat it all before it goes bad," Mr Mulvey said.

At that moment, his wife got a tap on the shoulder from a friend - who announced she'd just arrived from 'the relative war zone' of Tesco Cabra.

"There's nothing left there. Nothing," said Claire Hickey.

"I heard there was murder down there," said Mr Mulvey.

"It wasn't so bad. No punches were thrown," Ms Hickey replied as she searched for mince, but could find only preformed burgers. "We were really just laughing at each other as we couldn't find anything worth buying - and saying how crazy it all was."

Politicians appealed for sanity to return to the aisles.

"People need to remember that the shops will be open tomorrow. They'll be fully stocked," said Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald.

The head of Ireland's largest retail body slammed the wave of panic-buying.

"It's nonsense," said Retail Excellence chief executive David Fitzsimons. "I have spoken to all the major supermarkets and forecourt chains. There is absolutely no disruption to the supply chain."

"Sensationalism on social media" had driven bulk-buying this week, he said, describing even Wednesday's shopping "like Christmas plus 40pc".

The Freight Transport Association of Ireland advised consumers to keep their cool.

"We ask that the public stop stockpiling as it will place unnecessary pressure on the supply chain. As a nation, we should deal with this pandemic calmly and remain considerate of others," said general manager Aidan Flynn.

The Colemans said they had hoped to buy fruit, chicken, pasta and eggs. They left instead with frozen pizza and chips - and an extra case of beer. "Now the shop's complete," Mr Coleman joked.

Covid-19 has affected much more than the Colemans' fridge contents. The couple wed last month and planned a two-week May honeymoon - in Italy, Europe's locked-down virus epicentre. They may lose a grand in cancellations.

"Not all our purchases are going as we planned," he said.
The Trump administration's response to the coronavirus started without any major hiccups. On January 31, the administration declared a public health emergency and said it would deny entry to foreign citizens who had travelled to China in the previous 14 days. This was seen by some at the time as a potentially xenophobic overreaction. But the decisive action no doubt saved American lives. Since then, the administration's response has spiralled out of control. More than any other event in his presidency, the outbreak has exposed the inherent flaws of Trump's approach to governing  his fondness for falsehoods, chaotic decision-making and disregard for expertise. As the number of coronavirus cases has mounted in recent weeks, Trump has appeared in almost complete denial about the seriousness of the problem.

In late February, Trump falsely claimed that confirmed cases were "going very substantially down" and would soon be "down to close to zero". Instead, the number of cases predictably shot up. Last week, Trump toured the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in a red "Keep America Great" cap and claimed: "Anybody who wants a test can get a test." That wasn't true, as Trump's top health experts have pointed out. Anthony Fauci, the US government's highly respected infectious diseases expert, this week described the lack of test kits available in the US as a major failing. As more Americans get tested in coming weeks the number of confirmed cases  about 1500 currently  is expected to explode.

'Major economic steps' The administration's attempts to limit the economic fallout of the outbreak have been just as ham-fisted. On Monday (Tuesday AEDT) Trump made a surprise appearance at the White House's daily coronavirus briefing. Wall Street had just recorded its biggest losses since the 2008 global financial crisis. Trump said his administration was preparing to announce a "very dramatic" economic stimulus package, including a payroll tax cut and support for the hospitality and tourism sectors. "So I will be here tomorrow afternoon to let you know about some of the economic steps were taking, which will be major," Trump said.

Loading Stock prices rose the next day in anticipation of the announcement. But it never came. The White House, in fact, was nowhere near ready to announce its economic response. Investors realised they had been hoodwinked and the markets tumbled again the following day. That night Trump sat down in the Oval Office for a rare national television address. Rather than calming a frightened nation, his remarks intensified the growing sense of panic. Trump announced that all travel from Europe would be suspended for 30 days, causing Americans holidaying overseas to fear they would be left stranded on the other side of the world.

The Department of Homeland Security later clarified that the ban only applied to foreign nationals. Trump also suggested that cargo was being banned from Europe; he later tweeted that the restrictions applied only to people. Loading Trump said private healthcare companies had agreed to cover the cost of treating patients with the virus. In fact, they have agreed to cover only the cost of the tests. "That speech was impossible to follow; it was completely garbled," says Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia's centre for politics. "He can't even read off a teleprompter."

The US stock markets responded violently, recording their worst days since the 1987 stock market crash on Thursday (Friday AEDT). "At this point in time, all of the market cap gains seen since President Trumps election victory have been wiped out," Paul Hickey, founder of investment firm Bespoke, wrote in a note. It was terrible news for Trump, who has repeatedly cited stock market gains as evidence of his administration's economic prowess. Consultancy firm Capital Economics now projects that the US economy will shrink 0.6 per cent this year, rather than expanding 1.8 per cent as previously forecast. Larry Sabato, who runs a respected election forecasting service, expects the November election will be close. But he says a recession would seriously dent Trump's hopes of a second term.

"Trump's biggest sell has been the economy," he said. "If people don't see it as strong, he is going to bear the brunt of that." Is 'Sleepy Joe' a sleeping giant? As US sharemarkets tumbled on Thursday (Friday AEDT), Joe Biden made his own televised address about the coronavirus. Nicknamed "Sleepy Joe" by Trump, the former vice-president is not the most fluent orator. But his coronavirus address was sober, fact-based and authoritative.

"I can promise you that when Im president, we will prepare better, respond better and recover better," Biden said. "We will lead with science. We will listen to experts and heed their advice. We will rebuild American leadership and rally the world to meet global threats. And I will always, always tell you the truth." Biden was speaking as the Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee  a prospect that seemed far-fetched just a few weeks ago. Before Biden's thumping victories in South Carolina and on Super Tuesday, Bernie Sanders was on track to be the party's nominee. It was a prospect that terrified the so-called "Democratic establishment" and, as it turned out, a majority of rank-and-file voters. While he has to increase his appeal to young voters, Biden has been assembling an impressive coalition of older voters, college-educated suburbanites and blue-collar workers.

"Trump and his team were depending on the Democrats either self-destructing or seriously wounding themselves," Sabato says. "That didn't happen. Democrats should be breathing a sigh of relief they didn't choose a 78-year-old socialist to be their nominee." Joe Biden has emerged as the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee. Credit:AP Biden's resurgence was driven by several factors  including his popularity with African-American voters and the belief he is the Democrats' most "electable" candidate. But the coronavirus outbreak has played to his strengths. Exit polls from this week's primaries showed voters overwhelmingly trusted Biden, rather than Sanders, to handle a major crisis. With Biden at the top of the ticket in November, Sabato says, the Democrats will be competitive in such states as Florida, North Carolina and Arizona, which would have been out of reach for Sanders.
Gabon has become the tenth country in Sub-Saharan Africa to record a first case of coronavirus after Thursday nights confirmation by authorities.

In a statement, Gabons government said its index case was a 27-year-old Gabonese man who had returned from France on March 8, Reuters reported.

The Minister of Communication, Edgard Miyakou, made the announcement in an official statement on the Gabonese national television, Trend.

This day, March 12, 2020, the government declares the first case of COVID-19 in Gabon, the minister said. He is a 27-year-old compatriot living in Gabon and having stayed in Bordeau in France.

The samples taken from the patient were sent to the Franceville International Medical Research Center (CIRMF), the Gabonese laboratory certified by WHO for COVID-19 tests.

The results obtained on Thursday were positive for COVID-19, the minister said, adding that the patient is doing better.

Coronavirus in Africa

Cases in Africa are rapidly increasing. About 15 African countries, including Ghana, Gabon, DR Congo, Algeria, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Senegal, Tunisia, Togo, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Morocco have reported over 100 coronavirus cases.

Egypt remains worst-hit by the virus on the continent. The first recorded death in Africa occurred in the country.
Kolkata, March 13 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday advised people to stay away from public gatherings for a couple of months to avoid any spread of the deadly coronavirus infection, but the irony lay in that she came out with the suggestion while addressing an assembly of arounf ten thousand people.

Days after the Central government made public a detailed dos and dont's that included a directive to put on hold all mass meetings to combat the disease, which has been declared a pandemic by World Health Organisation, Banerjee participated in an official event at the Netaji Indoor stadium to hand out the Khel Samman awards.

According to an official estimate, around 10,000 people were present at the venue which can accommodate 12,000 people.

Refering to an advisory issued by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry to ensure "no public gathering takes place", Banerjee said: "For the next one or two months, we should stay away from big gatherings." "We have a number of international events. We will have to do what others are doing," she said.

She explained that though the Central government has advisied against holding any gatherings or events, "there was no way we could have cancelled this programme, because such occasions don't come every day".

Reading out the Central government circular, she asked people not to shake hands but to greet others with folded hands. "We should also wash our hands hourly for 20 seconds".

The state government was scheduled to hand over grants to 26,000 clubs at the programme, but she asked them not to queue up as the cheques would be distributed from the respective police stations.

She also asked the authorities to end the programme at the earliest.

The opposition parties lashed out at Banerjee for organising such a huge event amid the coronavirus scare.

"It is an example of the Chief Minister's lack of common sense. She won't let go any opportunity to give out doles and thereby get publicity, come what may," said state BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu.

Senior Congress MLA Manoj Chakraborty said the Chief Minister never had the habit of abiding by rules. "She could have given the money to the clubs, without organising the gathering".
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged Australians to reconsider any non-essential travel amid coronavirus fears.

In a press conference on Friday, Mr Morrison said the government was advising against any non-essential overseas travel and also banned gatherings of more than 500 people.

'We now advise all Australians to reconsider your need to travel overseas at this time, regardless of your destination, age or health - if your travel is not essential, consider carefully whether now is the right time,' the prime minister said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged Australians to reconsider any non-essential travel amid coronavirus fears

'This is done to protect their health and to limit their exposure, given we have so many countries now that are affected by the coronavirus,' he said.

Mr Morrison said only travel deemed absolute essential should be taken.

He advised anyone that needs further information should check the Smart Traveller website.

Mr Morrison said the move could slow down the rate of infection of coronavirus in Australia.

'This is not an absolute measure,' he said.

He said this advice is regardless of the traveller's destination, age or health

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

'Given the spread of the coronavirus to so many countries now, across Europe, including to the UK, the United States, and throughout the world, I think this is a very common-sense measure to put in place at this point.'

A travel ban has been put in place for mainland China, Iran, South Korea and Italy.

Mr Morrison said it is unclear whether the travel ban will be extended to other nations at this stage.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that no one, besides the country's citizens and people in the UK and Ireland, can enter America if they have been in Europe.

A travel ban has been put in place for mainland China, Iran, South Korea and Italy. Pictured: Drive-thru testing at South Australia Hospital

Airlines - including Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin - scaled back their flights following the declaration of a public emergency.

Flight Centre also announced it will close 100 stores that have been under-performing due to the downturn in the industry caused by coronavirus.

The travel agency also withdrew its earnings guidance as COVID-19 cripples the tourism industry.

The company said it would look to transfer staff to other shops.

Mr Morrison said it is unclear whether the travel ban will be extended to other nations at this stage

In a statement this morning, the company explained the decision, saying: 'Demand is softening significantly and the timeframe for recovery is unclear.'

The statement was titled: 'Key strategies to combat short-term coronavirus challenges.'

Australian citizens, permanent residents, their family and New Zealand residents are still able to enter Australia if they have visited those countries.

The number of cases across the nation has soared to 199 - up more than a third in just 24 hours, according to health officials

However they will need to self-isolate for 14 days.

The Prime Minister also said the government will ban 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.

The government is taking the drastic move in the wake of growing evidence the coronavirus pandemic is spreading throughout the community.

'We will be advising against organised, non-essential gatherings of persons of 500 people or greater from Monday,' Mr Morrison said on Friday.

The number of cases across the nation has soared to 199 - up more than a third in just 24 hours, according to health officials.
LONDON  Thousands of migrants who have been stranded on Greek islands will be offered 2,000 euros, or $2,230, to return to their home countries, the European Union said on Thursday, in an attempt to ease overcrowding in the camps and lighten the burden on Greece, which has faced an influx of arrivals in recent weeks.

During a visit in Athens, the European Unions commissioner for home affairs, Ylva Johansson, said she hoped that up to 5,000 migrants would participate in the voluntary return scheme.

This is an opportunity to release a bit the pressure on the islands and for the other people that are still in the camps, Ms. Johansson said on Thursday about the program.

The scheme will remain open for a month and will be available only to those who arrived in Greece before Jan. 1.




Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Trump met before he tested positive

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who dined with President Donald Trump on Saturday at Mar-a-Lago has tested positive for coronavirus, a report by Dailymail has revealed.

It has been learnt that Trump shook hands with him but is yet to go into self-quarantine despite CDC guidelines describing someone in his situation as medium risk for infection.

Instead, the president announced he would hold a press conference at 3 p.m. on Friday at the White House on the coronavirus. There he will declare a national emergency, Bloomberg News reported, which would open the door to more federal aid for states and cities.

One of the major newspapers in Rio de Janeiro, Journal O Dia, noted The Guardians Tom Phillips, reported the news of Bolsonaros positive test.

Bolsonaro, 64, was checked for the disease after his aide Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for it. The results of a second test on the Brazilian president are expected to be known on Friday. The entire plane containing the Brazilian delegation to America is reported to be contaminated.

On Thursday, Trump brushed aside concerns about his encounter with the Brazilians  the latest in a series of brushes the president has had with the highly-contagious disease.

Both Bolsonaro and Wajngarten, his press secretary, were at the Winter White House Saturday night. Wajngarten had his photo take with President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump and the first family have resisted going into self-quarantine despite other lawmakers who came into contact with those testing positive for the disease going into voluntary isolation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends testing if you have been in close contact with a person known to have the virus. The agency defines close contact as being within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) of a COVID-19 case for a prolonged period of time. Also, according to CDC guidelines, the president would be considered medium risk for exposure.

Other world leaders are self-quarantining. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in a voluntary 14-day quarantine after his wife, Sophie, tested positive for the disease.
SHEFFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio  Authorities are searching for a man who used a note to rob a Huntington Bank branch Thursday inside a Giant Eagle grocery store.

The robbery occurred just before 10:30 a.m. in the store at 5231 Detroit Road, according to Cleveland division of the FBI. The man, estimated to be 50 to 60 years old, left the store with an undisclosed amount of money after giving teller a note demanding cash, the FBI says.

The suspect was about 5-foot-10 and was wearing blue jeans, a black windbreaker and a red hat.

Anyone with information can call the FBI at 216-522-1400 or the Sheffield Village Police Department at 440-949-6155.

The suspect is seen handing a note to a Huntington Bank teller in a Giant Eagle in Sheffield Village. (Cleveland FBI)

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The second confirmed Covid-19 case in Nigeria has now tested negative of the virus, the health minister, Osagie Ehanire, said on Friday.

Mr Ehanire said, in Abuja, that the country has so far reported only two cases  one in the index case, an Italian businessman who had flown into the country and the second, one of the persons who had been in contact with the index case.

The minister said the second confirmed case, a contact of the index case is testing negative for the virus, meaning he has cleared the virus and will be allowed to go home.

He added that the index case is also clinically stable and is much improved.

Steady progress till early next week will guide the medical team in discharging him.

As at today, 13th of March, Nigeria has recorded still just two confirmed cases of COVID-19.

One case is now negative and will be discharged from care, while the other will follow in a few days.

After 14 days of follow up with no symptoms, all contacts of the index case will be permitted to go home and rejoin society, Mr Ehanire said.

Meanwhile, the minister said the country will continue with surveillance for the disease especially from those coming in from the airports.

He said risk of importing the virus into the country is higher among air travellers than roads or sea.

He added that that does not mean that the government will not continue surveillance at other points of entry,  the ministry will be working with the port health service to maintain surveillance and prevention of disease importation into the country.

The multi-sectoral EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) continues to oversee national response activities.

We have progressed in assessing treatment centres and have now ensured that every state identifies a location that can be used to manage cases. We are supporting these states to scale up capacity to meet existing needs, he said.

Screening

The minister said following the pronouncement of Covid-19 as a pandemic, Nigeria has begun a review of its case definition of the disease.

He said the definition of cases was reviewed due to the local case which was asymptomatic but tested positive to the virus.

We continue to monitor all incoming travellers, and select those that fit our case definition for secondary screening, he said.

Mr Ehanire said between January 7 and March 12, 2020, a total 42 people who met Nigerias case definition have been screened for COVID-19 in six states  Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Yobe, Rivers, Kano and FCT.

Out of those tested, 40 tested negative and two were confirmed positive: the index case and a contact of the index case, with no deaths.

He said the index case is now clinically stable and is much improved.

Steady progress till early next week will guide the medical team in discharging him. The second confirmed case, a contact of the index case is testing negative for the virus, meaning he has cleared the virus and will be allowed to go home, he said.

Isolation

Meanwhile, the minister said a group of four children and their teacher flew into Lagos from the U.S. and have also tested negative but are in isolation.

He said isolation was necessary despite the result because they were coming from a region with Covid-19 outbreak.

Prior to their arrival, Nigeria CDC was informed by US-CDC, that this group had been in the same space with a confirmed case.

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We, therefore, sent these travellers into isolation on their arrival. Tests were done, which came back negative for all of them. They will stay in self-isolation for 14 days, he added.

Backup

Meanwhile, the Chief Medical Officer, National Hospital, Abuja, Jaff Momoh, said most of the teaching hospitals (especially those in cities where international airports are located) are already working on isolation centres which could serve as backup for isolation unit for Covid-19 cases.
Romania's interim prime minister was on Friday asked to form a new government from coronavirus self-isolation.

President Klaus Iohannis chose Ludovic Orban, head of the National Liberal Party (PNL), to form a new government after Finance Minister Florin Citu declined the nomination at the last minute on Thursday.

Orban, 56, put himself in self-isolation after a PNL senator tested positive with the new coronavirus which has so far infected 80 people in Romania.

Orban has been Romania's interim prime minister since February 5, when his government was toppled by a parliamentary vote of no confidence. "Orban's government worked very well. It would be unimaginable to change everything overnight during the fight" against COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, Iohannis said.

A vote in parliament to approve the nomination could take place Saturday in exceptional conditions designed to avoid spreading the virus further.

Orban received the in quarantine, which he began voluntarily on Friday after attending a meeting with the senator who subsequently tested positive for the virus.

He and the cabinet are to be tested in turn, and it was possible that the entire government could be put either in quarantine or self-isolation, spokesperson Ionel Danca told AFP.

Most of the cabinet was also present on Monday during a meeting with the senator in question.

Romania has ordered schools and cultural establishments to close and banned gatherings of more than 100 people to prevent the spread of the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ghanaians must neither joke with nor ascribe conspiracy theories to the near-coincidence between President Akufo-Addos national address on the coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday and the confirmation of two cases in Ghana the following day, Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has warned.

The two cases confirmed in Ghana involve a Ghanaian male who flew into the country from Norway and a male foreign national from Turkey, Mr Oppong Nkrumah revealed in various radio interviews on Friday.

He would not, however, reveal the identities of the two patients.

The patients, he said, have been in the country for about a week.

Health Minister Dr Kweku Agyemang-Manu, who broke the news at an emergency press conference Thursday night, said the two patients have been quarantined and are stable.

When Accra-based Starr FM put it to him that there were speculations that the President and the government already knew the two cases had been confirmed as of the Wednesday he addressed the nation on the matter, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said: That is absolutely false.

I was involved in the Presidents address; at that time, we had no knowledge of this. I was involved in the Response Committee meeting yesterday [Thursday] as Ive mentioned over and over again. At that time, we had no knowledge of this. I was somewhere around 7 p.m. last night that I got a call to move back to the offices to go and engage on this particular matter, he told host Francis Abban.

But let me caution: Theres a trend in this country; when serious matters come up, people are interested in politics and conspiracy theories and jokes on social media 

This is not the time to joke or conspire about matters like this. We have to spend our airtime, our social media pages, sharing information on how to prevent contact so that we can save lives  not spend time tickling ourselves in conspiracy theories, he suggested.

As of Thursday, 126, 380 coronavirus cases had been recorded across the globe, according to worldometer with 4, 635 deaths.

The disease first broke out in Wuhan, China but has spread through over 100 countries worldwide.

Ghana's neighbours; Togo, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Nigeria have all recorded cases, too.

Just on Wednesday, President Nana Akufo-Addo told the nation that the ministry of finance, upon his orders, has alloted $100 million to the fight against the disease.

He also urged Ghanaians to stop shaking hands and observe basic cough etiquette.

---classfmonline
BERLIN (Reuters) - The German states of Bavaria and Saarland said on Friday they will close all schools, kindergartens and nurseries from Monday until the end of their Easter breaks in late April due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Broadcaster n-tv also reported that German capital Berlin planned to gradually close its schools and kindergartens next week when public transport systems will be reduced to a necessary minimum.

Citing mayor Michael Mueller, n-tv said the closures were due to start next Monday at secondary schools.

Calls have been growing for Germany to follow the bulk of its European neighbours in shuttering schools to help slow the spread of the virus, but in Germany's highly devolved system, only regional governments can make that call.

"The challenge is immense," Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder told a news conference.

"As of next Monday the schools and children's day-care centres will be closed - this will apply provisionally until the end of the Easter holidays, that is until April 20," he said, adding the authorities would then take stock of the situation.

Municipal elections in Bavaria on Sunday would go ahead, Soeder said, but he added that public gatherings of more than 100 people should not go ahead.

In addition to the wealthy southern state, the tiny western state of Saarland also said on Friday that it would close its schools until the end of its Easter break, on April 24. Three other states, including North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's largest, are due to decide on school closures on Friday.

Several states have already postponed the start of teaching at universities by a month into April.

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt and Paul Carrel; editing by Thomas Seythal)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) - President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said the Chinese government offered help amid the coronavirus disease outbreak.

President Xi Jinping, for all his goodness to us, wrote me a letter and he is willing to help. All we have to do is to ask, said Duterte in a late night press briefing wherein he announced the guidelines in containing the outbreak through Resolution No. 11.

The country has so far recorded 52 confirmed cases and five deaths due to COVID-19 since the country was placed under state of public health emergency.

Duterte said he will only ask for help if things deteriorate.

Ako, sa tingin ko, (For me) maybe there will be a time, if things deteriorate that I have to call on China to help. He (Xi Jinping) said they have managed the crisis very well in his country and he is very much willing to help kung kailangan (if needed), said the President.

China remains the worst affected country in the Covid-19 epidemic.

CNN reported that as of Wednesday, Chinas National Health Commission (NHC) recorded a total of 80,793 people infected since the pandemic began in December last year -- 62,793 of whom have since recovered and been discharged from hospital. The NHC said there have been 3,169 virus-related deaths during the same period.
Nagpur : , March 13 (IANS) Two persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Nagpur, taking the total number of cases in Maharashtra to 16, a health official said here on Friday.

The two were among those who came in 'first contact' with one patient already found positive here three days ago. They are admitted to Mayo Hospital for treatment and their condition is stable.

With this, Maharashtra has a total of 16 coronavirus cases including nine in Pune, three each in Mumbai and Nagpur, and one in Thane.

After one person with a history of foreign travel tested positive on Thursday several schools and colleges in Thane have reportedly advised students against attending classes for the next few days.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said in Mumbai last night that the situation in the state is being monitored closely but there were no immediate plans to impose a shutdown of educational institutions in the state.

Health Minister Rajesh Tope has appealed to people to remain calm and not to resort to panic purchases of masks, sanitisers, and medicines.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
San Francisco: Facebook and Twitter have taken down a network of Russian-linked fake accounts operated out of Ghana and Nigeria which targeted the United States.

An example of the posts from the network in Africa that was taken down by Facebook. Credit:Facebook

Facebook told reporters on Thursday, US time, that the network, which it removed from Facebook and Instagram for engaging in foreign interference, was in the early stages of building audiences and was operated by local nationals, some wittingly and some unwittingly.

Facebook said its investigation found links to an NGO in Ghana called EBLA, or "Eliminating Barriers to the Liberation of Africa," and individuals associated with past activity by Russia's Internet Research Agency (IRA), a St Petersburg-based "troll factory" that US intelligence officials say aimed to interfere in the US presidential election in 2016.

The accounts in the new takedown managed Facebook pages posing as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or personal blogs, or posting in Facebook groups. They focused on topics such as black history, black excellence and fashion, celebrity gossip, US news and LGBTQ issues. They also shared content about oppression and police brutality.
SRINAGAR: Former J&K chief minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Friday (March 13, 2020) said that he was much relieved after the Centre revoked the Public Safety Act (PSA) against him and set him free from months-long detention.

Today I don't have words. I am free today. Now, I will be able to go to Delhi and attend the Parliament and speak for you all, the NC veteran was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The NC leader further said, '''I'm grateful to people of the J&K and all leaders and people in the rest of the country who spoke for our freedom. This freedom will be complete when all leaders are released. I hope the GoI will take action to release everyone.''

He, however, refused to speak on political matters. ''I will not speak on any political matter till the time everyone is released,'' he added.

It may be noted that the J&K Administration on Friday revoked the Public Safety Act against former chief minister Farooq Abdullah and released him from house arrest. In an order, J&K Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra said that the PSA invoked on Abdullah on September 17 and further extended on December 13, has been revoked.

The order comes into force with immediate effect, the order said. His party National Conference also welcomed the decision.

Farooq Abdullah's release from detention will be a right step for the restoration of a genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir, the party said in a statement on Friday. The NC said the process will receive a further fillip when party vice-president Omar Abdullah and other political detainees are set free.

"We urge the government to do so at the earliest," it said. "As the pre-eminent political party of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference has played a key role in strengthening the voice of the people through democracy and will continue to do so," the statement said.

Farooq Abdullahs daughter Safia too expressed happiness over Twitter and said, "My father is a free man again."

The three-term chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state was under house arrest for months. Several mainstream leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, including Farooq`s son Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have been also put under house arrest following the abrogation of Article 370 in August that granted special powers to the region.
Hunterdon County government offices remain open and operating during the coronavirus outbreak that has resulted in widespread closures and cancellations across the state.

While as of Friday no Hunterdon County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, on Thursday Hunterdon Healthcare announced that a Pennsylvania resident seen at the Hunterdon Healthcare Raritan Urgent Care Center on March 4 had tested positive for coronavirus.

The patient did not come into contact with other patients, and the Somerset Department of Health is currently working with the Hunterdon Healthcare Raritan Urgent Care Center to determine if additional testing and follow-up is required.

Hunterdon Healthcare announced Friday that the community can contact the center with questions regarding coronavirus using the newly establishing Hunterdon Healthcare COVID Hotline at 908-788-6440, which will be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Concurrent with these developments, Hunterdon County Freeholder Board Director Shaun C. Van Doren announced Friday that the freeholder board meeting scheduled for March 17 will take place as scheduled at 5:30 p.m. at the Hunterdon County Administration Building in Flemington.

At the present time Hunterdon Countys government offices are open and operations continue, Van Doren said in a press release shared with NJ Advance Media. "The countys continuity of operations and continuity of government plans are prepared for activation should the need arise.

While the county remains open and operational, Van Doren is temporarily suspending employee attendance at conferences, events, functions, large gatherings, and out-of-state travel for official purposes.

Van Doren has also directed the Hunterdon County Division of Parks and Recreation to cancel the Maple Sugaring event scheduled for Saturday in accordance with Gov. Phil Murphys recommendation on Thursday to cancel all public gatherings of more than 250 people.

Protecting the health, safety and welfare of the residents and the county government employees of Hunterdon County is of paramount concern for the freeholders," Van Doren said in the release. "We are all disappointed to have to take this step, but it is necessary to protect the public.

Extra sanitizing cleaning is taking place at all county facilities that directly serve the public, including the justice center, the senior center, the library and other county offices.

While we are advised that Hunterdon County currently does not have any confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus within its borders, this should not result in a false sense of comfort and security. Rather, we must continue to remain vigilant and practice good hygiene, Van Doren said in the release.

Caroline Fassett can be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com.

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MBABANE  In the middle of the hysteria centred on the coronavirus outbreak which has spread worldwide some people are calling for the postponement of the internationally acclaimed festival.



This uniquely African, and yet globally infused festival experience welcomes thousands in an atmosphere of tolerance and passionate commitment to music, the arts and the environment.



Every year, over 26 000 attendees hailing from 60 different countries make the journey from near and far to the peaceful Malkerns Valley of Eswatini for an energising and uplifting weekend that celebrates the music and arts of Africa and beyond.

According to the Johns Hopkins University Centre for Systems Science Engineering, which has combined data from the World Health Organisation, the US, and the Chinese Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the statistics of this pandemic stand at 12, 258 cases and 4 638 deaths globally.



Meanwhile the festival organisers said in a press statement as well as across their social media platforms they were engaging key government stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health, the Eswatini Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade.



sponsors



The statement further reads that MTN BUSHFIRE is also consulting with MTN Eswatini, as well as sponsors, partners and other relevant parties.



In addition to that the overriding priority for MTN BUSHFIRE was the safety and security of the broader Eswatini community and everyone involved in staging such a high-profile, globally-recognised event.



MTN BUSHFIRE is also working closely with safety and security consultants and suppliers, including one of South Africas most trusted event security companies, Eyethu Events. This is to ensure that the festival meets local and international health and safety standards to protect festivalgoers and staff members.



At the time of going to print, the statement from the organisers remained that the MTN BUSHFIRE festival would proceed as planned as it is set to take place on May 29 to 31, 2020.



In light of the statement being shared on MTN BUSHFIRE social media platforms, users engaged citing their concerns on why the festival needed to be postponed. Efforts to reach the MTN BUSHFIRE Director Jiggs Thorne proved futile as he was reported to be in meetings throughout the day yesterday.

The statement attracted over 100 comments at the time of going to print and shares from different social media users.
A SWAT cop in Philadelphia was shot to death on Friday morning, making him the first officer killed in the line of duty since 2015.

Cpl. James OConnor, 46, was shot just above his bullet proof vest while trying to arrest a murder suspect.

The 23-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department was the third officer in 18 months to be shot while serving a warrant to a suspect. O'Connor spent 15 years as a member of the SWAT team.

Cpl. James OConnor, 46, was shot just above his bullet proof vest while trying to arrest a murder suspect while serving a warrant with a SWAT team in Philadelphia

Credit: Katherine Scott/Twitter

The married father of two was a member of a SWAT team that attempted to serve an early morning warrant to an apartment on the 1600 block of Bridge Street in the Frankford section of Philadelphia.

As the swat team entered the building, they were met by bullets that ripped through the closed door of the suspect's unit.

These officers didnt get a chance, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said during a press conference. Gunfire erupted immediately as they walked in the door.

Cpl. James OConnor, 46, was shot just above his bullet proof vest while trying to arrest a murder suspect

The swat team returned fire, injuring two people inside the apartment. But not before O'Connor was killed.

Officers finally arrested several people in the apartment unit, including Hassan Elliot, a fugitive wanted for a 2019 robbery and killing that took place not far from the apartment complex.

The homicide unit will continue to investigate the 2019 case, while the officer-involved shooting unit will take on the police shooting on Friday.

These officers didnt get a chance, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw told a group of reporters following the shooting death of Cpl. James OConnor

O'Connor was a 23-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department, including 15 years with the SWAT team

Officers in the Philadelphia Police Department comes out to honor the life of SWAT Cpl. James O'Connor, who was shot and killed while attempting to serve a murder warrant Friday morning

Philadelphia police highway patrol officers helm a procession for the hearse holding SWAT Cpl. James O'Connor from the Temple University Hospital

O'Connor was rushed to nearby Temple University Hospital where a large group of officers converged after the shooting.

As a 23-year veteran on the force, O'Connor was the first officer to be killed in the line of duty since March 5, 2015. That's when Robert Wilson III was shot to death after trading gun fire with two men in a video game store.

O'Connor had a son who served on the Philadelphia Police Department as well as a daughter enlisted in the Air Force.
SHANGHAI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Zhou Chenglong has been a disc jockey (DJ) for more than a decade, but blasting beats at the bar where he works has been restricted lately.

"Who would ever think that I would be a livestreaming DJ on the Internet," said Zhou, music director of the Beehive bar in Shanghai.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, many bars in China have resorted to "cloud dancing" amid tepid business, which is a new experience for many DJs.

In the past, Zhou played music for a big, live crowd at Beehive, but now he has to pretend to be performing in front of a lot of people.

"I feel like I have to be more active, even though there is no one around," Zhou said. "The cameras are relentlessly focusing on me, and my moves can be seen all over the Internet."

Dong Jie, video director of Beehive, said that such live broadcast is very different from live shows such as music festivals.

"For traditional live shows, 70 percent of the time the cameras focus on the faces of the audience to show the bustling environment, but there is no audience in the bar," Dong said.

Dong was a DJ himself for seven years. He later came up with the idea of having multiple cameras for livestreaming in the bar, in addition to split-screen technology during livestreaming.

"A close-up camera focuses on the hand movements of the DJ, while a big camera captures the entire stage and its light show," Dong said. "Several other cameras also zoom on the DJ's face."

Such ways of DJing warmed up the atmosphere in the bar and effectively grabbed attention on the Internet.

Since Beehive began livestreaming its DJs playing music on Feb. 16, viewing streams have topped 700,000 on the Internet. Peak online participants exceeded 20,000, and the average number of viewers stood at 12,000. Most of the viewers are aged between 25 and 30.

Before the epidemic, the number of visitors to the bar stood between 1,000 to 1,500 each night, mostly aged between 25 to 40, according to Beehive.

"In the first few days of the livestreaming, each viewer usually stayed in the livestreaming room for one or two minutes," said Zhuang Wanci, brand director of Beehive.

To make them stay longer, the bar came up with a variety of themes, including interactive games such as "Guessing the songs" and the cardio exercise theme "Burning your calories."

"It's not just about playing the latest music singles anymore," Zhuang said.

Some viewers even started chat groups and began sharing their lives with others while watching.

The livestreaming session generated revenue from online rewards from the viewers, Zhuang said, adding that they will possibly continue livestreaming even after the epidemic.

"In the past, competition was basically regional," Zhuang Wanci, brand director of Beehive. "Now it is a national competition as we go online."
Microsoft this week announced the success of its efforts, jointly undertaken with partners across 35 countries, to disrupt the Necurs botnet group blamed for infecting more than 9 million computers globally.

There are 11 botnets under the Necurs umbrella, all apparently controlled by a single group, according to Valter Santos, security researcher at Bitsight, which worked with Microsoft on the takedown. Four of those botnets account for about 95 percent of all infections.

Necurs is the named exploit that is most consistently used, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York last week issued an order enabling Microsoft to take control of the U.S.-based infrastructure Necurs uses to distribute malware and infect victim computers.

Microsoft figured out the new domains Necurs would generate algorithmically and reported them to respective registries worldwide so they could be blocked.

Microsoft also is partnering with ISPs, domain registries, government CERTs and law enforcement in various countries to help flush malware associated with Necurs from users computers.

The botnet activity stalled this month, but about 2 million infected systems remain, waiting in a dormant state for Necurs revival.

These systems should be identified and rebuilt to avoig leaving them susceptible to Necurs or another botnet, Enderle told TechNewsWorld.

They could do a lot of damage if they arent found in time, he said.

Microsoft is one of the few companies going after the bad actors and not just addressing the point security problems, Enderle noted. Until the world becomes aggressive with bringing the bad actors to justice, we will continue to be at risk of a worldwide catastrophic computer event. This problem needs to be solved at the source.

The Long Arm of Necurs

Necurs is one of the largest networks in the spam email threat ecosystem.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

During one 58-day period in the Microsoft-led investigation, a single Necurs-infected computer sent a total of 3.8 million spam emails to more than 40.6 million potential victims, noted Microsoft Corporate Vice President Tom Burt.

Necurs first was detected in 2012. It is known primarily as a dropper for other malware, including GameOver Zeus, Dridex, Locky and Trickbot, Bitsights Santos said.

Its main uses have been as a spambot  a delivery mechanism for pump-and-dump stock scams, fake pharmaceutical spam email, and Russian dating scams. It also has been used to attack other computers on the Internet, steal credentials for online accounts, and steal peoples personal information and confidential data.

The botnet is known for distributing financially targeted malware and ransomware, as well as for cryptomining. It has a DDoS (distributed denial of service) capability, although that has not been activated.

From 2016 to 2019, Necurs was responsible for 90 percent of the malware spread by email worldwide, according to BitSights Santos.

Necurs is essentially an operating system for delivering bad stuff to infected machines, said Mike Jude, research director at IDC.

By itself, it isnt really threatening, he told TechNewsWorld. Its more like an annoying bit of code that works at the root level. But the stuff it can deliver or activate can be devastating.

The Necurs operators also offer a botnet-for-hire service, selling or renting access to infected computer devices to other cybercriminals.

Necurs is believed to be the work of criminals based in Russia.

How Necurs Works

Necurs developers implemented a layered approach for infected systems to communicate with its command-and-control servers through a mixture of a centralized and peer-to-peer communication channels, BitSight found.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Necurs communicates with its operators primarily through an embedded list of IPs, and occasionally through static domains embedded in the malware sample. It also can use domain generation algorithms.

A dummy DGA produces domains to be used to see if the malware is running in a simulated environment. A second DGA fetches hard-coded .bit domains.

The .bit top-level domain is an alternative DNS model, maintained by Namecoin, that uses a blockchain infrastructure and is more difficult to disrupt than ICANN-regulated TLDs, Santos said.

If none of the other methods can get an active C&C server, the main DGA kicks in. It produces 2,048 possible C2 domains every four days across 43 TLDs, including .bit, based on the current date and a seed hardcoded in the binary. All domains are tried until one resolves and responds using the correct protocol.

If all the above methods fail, the C&C domain is retrieved from the always-on P2P network, which acts as the main channel to update C&C servers. An initial list of about 2,000 peers is hardcoded in the binary, but it can be updated as needed. The peers in the list are known as supernodes  victim systems with elevated status within the infrastructure.

Further, the malware uses an algorithm that converts the IP addresses received through DNS to its servers real IP addresses.

The C&C infrastructure is tiered, with multiple layers of C&C proxies, to make discovery even more difficult.

The first tier of C&C servers consists of cheap virtual private servers in countries such as Russia and the Ukraine. They reverse-proxy all communications to the second-tier C&C servers, which typically are hosted in Europe, and sometimes in Russia. The communications proceed further up the chain until they finally reach the back end.

On normal days of Necurs operation, BitSight detected fewer than 50,000 infected systems daily when there were active C&Cs, and between 100,000 and 300,000 when the C&Cs were inactive.

The daily unique observations continue to be an underestimate of the true size of the botnet, Santos remarked.

Dropping the Hammer on Necurs

Analyzing Necurs DGA allowed Microsoft to make accurate predictions of more than 6 million unique domains the botnet group would create over the next 25 months. Its lawsuit and partnerships with various entities will prevent Necurs from registering and using them.

Microsoft has done a stellar job of taking this version apart  but these things evolve, and its likely there will be another iteration if this one becomes more or less neutralized, IDCs Jude observed.

Code is easy to change and it isnt being developed in a vaccuum, he pointed out. The people behind this are probably already investigating how Microsoft reverse-engineered their approach and are building that into the next version.
UW Extension Billboards Promote Health, Fitness on Wind River Indian Reservation

A billboard featuring Wind River Indian Reservation resident John Pingree in full traditional dance regalia is helping send a culture-specific message of the importance of health and physical activity to residents of the reservation. (UW Photo)

Two billboards featuring a Native American in full traditional dance regalia are helping send a culture-specific message of the importance of health and physical activity to residents of the Wind River Indian Reservation.

The billboards, one just south of Riverton and the other near Lander, depict area resident John Pingree in a traditional dance with the message Move Your Way Every Day.

The billboards, a project of the Cent$ible Nutrition Program (CNP) in the University of Wyoming Extension, went up in January and are expected to be taken down this month, says Kelly Pingree, extension educator on the Wind River Indian Reservation. CNP is a free income-qualifying, cooking and nutrition education program in Wyoming that can help people cook and eat better for less money.

Pingree says the billboards are an effort to raise overall health on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

We have such a pandemic of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, and thats on pretty much any reservation, she says. Since weve gotten colonized more than 180 years ago, our lives have gotten more sedentary. There is really not a lot of moving about or having to work and hunt and gather like we used to.

Pingree started with CNP, a program in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in 2016. Billie Spoonhunter recently joined her in the CNP office on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

The ability to engage with local partners for community changes, in addition to direct education, has opened up ways to increase health impacts on the Wind River Indian Reservation, says Mindy Meuli, CNP director. Due to their community connections, Kelly and Billie have been a great asset to CNP.

Pingree says she saw the health of residents of the Wind River Indian Reservation in a new light when she joined CNP.

It really opened my eyes to how big of a problem we do have on the reservation, she says. I think a lot of Indian communities have really woken up about that. There is serious talk about how we are going to change that. What are some of the ideas to change this, to start getting our people more healthy?

The average life expectancy of Native Americans in Fremont County is about 55, according to information from Wyoming Vital Statistics in the Heart of Wyoming is Indian Country: Home to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes Rich with Beauty, Spirituality, Families and Tradition published in 2016. That compares to about age 69 in the general population of the county and 71 in the general population of Wyoming.

The billboard idea began two years ago when, as a CNP member, Pingree joined a reservation group concerned about health and fitness. There were a few billboards on the reservation showing the culture and Native ways.

I brought up the idea of using the billboards to introduce CNP that way, by putting something cultural out there for people to see, she says. Since our people are more physical and visual, I thought it was a very good way to get out who we are and what we are doing out here.

Meuli and marketing coordinator Kali McCrackin Goodenough agreed. McCrackin Goodenough, Meuli and Pingree developed the message and started to work on the design.

Native people relate to anything dealing with Native, Pingree says. We had to have some sort of cultural or physical activity up there they can relate to.

Pingree thought of the photograph of her husband, taken by photographer Mike Jackson of Best of the Tetons in Jackson Hole. The photograph had been taken near their home and featured in Cowboys and Indians magazine.

When Kelly showed me the photo, I thought This is perfect, McCrackin Goodenough says. I love that the photo was taken on the Wind River Indian Reservation and that it features someone many people know.

The message and billboard design were shown to CNP participants before the billboards going up. McCrackin Goodenough says the feedback was positive, and CNP went ahead.

Any Native will understand that message -- traditional dancing and moving in our cultural way, Pingree says. Dance regalia is one of the most powerful symbols of his or her Native identity. In that regard, it can be considered sacred.

Many outfits could be several generations old and of family design.

Pingree says she believes community reaction has been good, and the CNP logo and message are becoming more recognized.

I have had people come up and recognize John, and then some people who dont, she says. And they see the CNP symbol up there. A lot of the community has taken notice that we are trying to get healthy and physical. Thats also a U.S.-wide initiative. We have started working to get us healthier.
BEREA, Ohio -- Without spilling the beans on my age, I will tell you that I came of age during the era of the typewriter.

I had used a typewriter for years, but after acquiring my first home computer, I decided to give up the beautiful blue-and-white Royal Safari that had been with me throughout my college years, believing I wouldnt miss it for a minute.

But time passed, bringing with it a wave of nostalgia and regret at having given up on my trusty old manual machine.

A long search for a blue-and-white typewriter, just like the one I had, turned up a number of old Safaris online -- most of them in far from perfect condition, not at all good clones of the original.

I gave up on the idea of ever possessing a manual typing machine again and, what the heck, theyre impractical in the 21st century, arent they?

Then, I discovered The Typewriter Revolution A Typists Companion for the 21st Century."

Not long after a copy of Richard Polts book was delivered, I knew that, by gosh, once again, I was hooked on typewriters.

According to Polt, In a high school English class in Arizona, a student takes his favorite Royal down from the shelf and gets to work, and A young woman on the Venice Beach boardwalk types impromptu short stories for strangers on her Smith Corona.

That, no doubt, makes both of these typists bona-fide members of The Typosphere.

And hey, if Tom Hanks, an avid collector of vintage typewriters, can turn out a book of short stories on one of them, who knows, maybe I can do something like that on the gorgeous 1952 Gossen Tippa compact typewriter that I found online.

So, yes, I am once again the proud owner of a manual typewriter, and I must add that its a delight to behold -- a beauty of mechanical art from an earlier time.

Im still contemplating all the things I might write on this finely crafted machine. Letters? Short stories? A book?

But no worries, no matter what I may decide to create on the Tippa, my trusty Mac will remain the gizmo of choice for cranking out this column!

Protect your health: While Coronavirus can be serious, taking preventive measures can help protect your health in public and at home.

The links below are quick guides from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Ohio Department of Health: CDC Resources Household quick guide

Faith based organizations quick guide

Empty Bowl canceled: Due to the corona virus, the Berea Kiwanis Clubs Empty Bowl fundraiser scheduled for April 17 has been cancelled.

Refunds for those who sold tickets will be handled once Kiwanis is back on a regular schedule.

Career Fair canceled: A Career Fair originally scheduled for April 16 at the Polaris Career Center, 7285 Old Oak Blvd. in Middleburg Heights, has been canceled.

War stories: Since 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, WBWC-88.3 FM, which began its Programs From World War II in January, will continue these historical broadcasts every Sunday from 5 to 5:30 p.m. throughout the year.

Each will will begin with the BBC radio Newsmagazine program London Column, originally broadcast worldwide via short wave radio. Each original broadcast was pressed to 16-inch Electrical Transcription (E.T.) discs for distribution to U.S. radio stations.

London Column features reporters, referred to as War Correspondents, doing hard-hitting news stories and interviews from the battlefields of Europe.

Weekly programs include Sam At War, The Treasury Star Parade, Uncle Sam and The Voice of the Army.

Mr. President: WBWC, located on the Baldwin Wallace University Campus, will also air the classic radio series Mr. President, starring Edward Arnold, from 5:30 to 6 p.m. Sundays. The program dramatizes an event in the life of a president. The audience is asked to listen to the story and try to figure out who the president being dramatized is.

Food instead of fines: Reduce your library fines at local Cuyahoga County Library branches in Berea, Brook Park and Middleburg Heights by up to $4 per visit ($1 per food item) through March 31, when you donate any of the Super Six food items: peanut butter, cereal or canned soup, vegetables, beef strew or tuna.

The donated food will benefit the Greater Cleveland Food Banks annual Harvest for Hunger Campaign. Learn more at cuyahogalibrary.org/food4fines.

SCAN pantry hours: The SCAN Hunger Pantry, 398 W. Bagley Road, Suite 7, in Berea, has hours of operation from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the second Friday of the month and from 4 to 7 p.m. on the fourth Friday of the month.

Outreach Pantry hours: The Berea Community Outreach Food Pantry, 535 Wyleswood Drive (at front of Smith School), is open from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, call 440-826-4891.

Middleburg Heights pantry: The Middleburg Heights Food Pantry at 7000 Paula Drive is open to serve clients from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and 5 to 7 p.m. Thursdays.

Please email information (people photos, too. Include IDs) on items youd like to see included in Around The Town to richatsun@gmail.com.

Read more from the News Sun.
czec

Reuters

The Czech Republic on Thursday declared a state of emergency and barred travelers from 15 countries as the coronavirus spreads across Europe.

Citizens will not be able to travel to countries including the UK, Italy, France, and Germany.

Gyms, swimming pools, and libraries, among other public spaces, will be closed for at least 30 days.

Follow the latest developments in the UK as the coronavirus spreads.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Czech Republic on Thursday declared a state of emergency and barred travelers from several countries to combat the rapid spread of the coronavirus across Europe.

The Czech government said people coming from 15 countries, including the UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, and France, would not be allowed to enter the country for at least 30 days. It also barred citizens from traveling to the countries.

The 15 countries listed by the Czech government are:

United Kingdom

Italy

Spain

Norway

Holland

Belgium

Denmark

France

Austria

Germany

China

South Korea

Iran

Switzerland

Sweden

Areas where large numbers of people gather, like gyms, libraries, and swimming pools, will also be closed for at least 30 days. Bars and restaurants will have restricted hours.

The Czech Republic had reported 96 coronavirus cases as of Thursday afternoon, with no deaths.

The Czech administration is one of several European governments taking action to combat the spread of the virus.

Italy, the worst affected country in Europe, put its entire population on lockdown earlier this week, with most shops, bars, and restaurants closed across the country.

The Irish government announced on Thursday that it would close all schools and other childcare facilities.

Meanwhile, the UK government is set to announce on Thursday that Britain has moved into the "delay" stage of its coronavirus plan, paving the way for a series of "population distancing" methods like working from home.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The PM has directed the MIC to urgently propose simpler and faster procedures to the auction of the 4G band.

Auctioning the 4G band would allow network operators to roll out new services with more confidence

Although the government and the Ministry of Information and Communications have made great efforts to implement the auction of 4G bandwidth, there are still many legal problems. Network operators have been providing 4G services but have yet to be licensed to use the 4G band to guarantee service quality for customers with increased mobile internet demand.

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) said that during the auction of the 2.6 GHz band, it needs to follow numerous complex legal documents such as the Law on Property Auction and the Law on Public Asset Management. In addition, determining the starting price for the band auction is also difficult as this is the first time Vietnam auctions off the right to use a radio frequency (an intangible asset), while Decision No.16/2012/QD-TTg only stipulates the principles of price determination but identifies no specific method to determine the reserve price.

In order to resolve these difficulties, the MIC has consulted the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance on the application of legal documents in the auction of radio frequencies. Based on the responses of the ministries, the MIC is drafting a report to the prime minister to propose solutions to remove barriers to deploy the 2.6GHz band.

Regarding the starting price, the MIC has hired a valuation organisation to determine the value of the 2.6GHz band in accordance with the Vietnam Valuation Standards. Based on the results, the MIC will report to the PM.

On July 26, 2018, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam chaired a meeting with the representatives of ministries and agencies to remove difficulties in granting additional bands to improve 4G network quality and services.

Currently, the flow for 4G networks on the 1800 MHz band (serves 2G networks, too) is too low compared to the actual needs, affecting service quality and 4G network speed.

The average speed of internet in Vietnam ranked 75th in the world. To improve this rank, the MIC has been planning to release the 2.6 GHz band to let telecom businesses deploy a 4G network. The four registered enterprises are those that have actually implemented 4G networks in Vietnam.

In early January, the PM requested the MIC to speed up the licensing process of 2.6 GHz band to deploy 4G network for telecommunications enterprises before June 20.

One of the initiatives to promote economic growth, proposed by Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, is auctioning 4G and 5G frequencies. Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that the auctions should be implemented in the first quarter of 2020 so that telecommunications network operators can roll out services.

The auction will bring about VND6-8 trillion ($260.87-347.83 million) for the state budget. In addition, network operators will boost investment and stimulate demand for society as well as create new services to increase revenue and contribute to economic growth. VIR

An Duong

Vietnam plans to allocate wavebands through auction If the government puts the new 2600 MHz frequency band up for auction, it will be able to collect VND6-8 trillion, a significant amount of money in the context of Covid-19 which is threatening economic growth.
Chelsea Manning, the whistleblower who refused to answer questions before a federal grand jury empaneled as part of the US conspiracy against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, was released late Thursday after spending the last year in jail. Mannings release occurred one day after the courageous fighter for truth attempted suicide in her cell and was hospitalized by prison authorities.

As of Wednesday, Manning was recovering in the hospital. According to Nils Melzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture, her condition has been upgraded from critical to stable.

Without acknowledging her heroic act of defiance, Federal District Court Judge Anthony J. Trenga issued the order granting Mannings immediate release following his declaration that the business of the grand jury had concluded and was dismissed.

Chelsea Manning (AP Photo)

Even though it was known within days of Mannings jailing in March 2019 that she would never give testimony, Judge Trengas order states that the Court finds that Ms. Mannings appearance before the Grand Jury is no longer needed, in light of which her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose.

At the same time, Judge Trenga also continued his vindictive persecution of Manning by denying her motion to vacate the conditional fines accrued against her to date. This means that the accumulated fines of $256,000 imposed by the court on Manning for refusing to testify are due and payable immediately to the Clerk of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Additionally, it should be recalled that Manning was released when the term of the initial grand jury expired on May 9after spending 63 days in jail beginning on March 8only to be rearrested and sent back to prison on May 16 when a new grand jury was convened. The possibility remains that still another grand jury will be convened and Manning will be jailed for a third time on contempt charges.

The Eastern District Court in Virginia has been at the center of the international conspiracy against Julian Assange since the US Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted the WikiLeaks editor on seventeen counts of violating the Espionage Act on May 23.

Once Assange was forced from his asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London on April 11, he was immediately arrested and jailed by UK authorities and held over for extradition to the US without being charged with a crime. By that time, Judge Trenga had already convened the initial grand jury with the aim of gathering evidence as part of its extradition case against the journalist who is only guilty of reporting to the public the truth about the crimes of America and the other imperialist powers.

When Manning was originally subpoenaed to testify a year ago, she stated to the press, I object strenuously to this subpoena, and to the grand jury process in general. Weve seen this power abused countless times to target political speech. I have nothing to contribute to this case and I resent being forced to endanger myself by participating in this predatory practice.

Despite her jailing by Judge Trenga for contempt of courtand being placed in solitary confinement at the William G. Truesdale Federal Detention Center in Alexandria, VirginiaMannings position has never wavered. If anything, her principled resolve grew stronger over the past year as the weeks and months went by.

For example, prior to being sent back to jail in May, and after a federal appeals court unanimously denied a motion to halt her incarceration, Manning sent an eight-page letter to Judge Trenga explaining her intransigent stance against testifying. It said, I canwithout any hesitationstate that nothing that will convince me to testify before this or any other grand jury for that matter. This experience so far only proves my long held belief that grand juries are simply outdated tools used by the federal government to harass and disrupt political opponents and activists in fishing expeditions.

Manning is recognized around the world as a hero both for her stance against the secret grand jury and for exposing the crimes of US imperialism in turning over the Afghan and Iraq war logs and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks in early 2010 while she served in the US Army. Manning was arrested by military police on May 27, 2010 and faced twenty-two charges of violating the Uniform Code of Conduct and the Espionage Act.

She was then tortured while held at the military prison in Quantico awaiting her court-martial and was convicted in July 2013 and sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to ten of the charges against her. She was imprisoned at Fort Leavenworth and served three and a half more years before her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama on January 17, 2017.

Manning has been the recipient of numerous whistleblower awards internationally for her actions in defiance of the most powerful government and military-intelligence regime in the world. The vindictive persecution of Manning by Judge Trenga and the US courts is an attempt to silence and intimidate anyone who might consider exposing the ongoing criminality of the US government, military or corporations.

In response to the release of Manning, award winning journalist and film director John Pilgerwho has been in the forefront of the fight to free Julian Assangetweeted, Chelsea Manning has been freed, but only after trying to take her life again. The thug-judge who tried to intimidate her into lying about Julian #Assange failed. This may be the first significant crack in the #Assange case. Now demand this hero's freedom.

In a related development, Jeremy Hammond, who also refused to testify before the grand jury against Assange, was also released by Judge Trenga and is being returned to the Federal Corrections Institute in Memphis, Tennessee. The hacktivist Hammond had provided secret documents from the intelligence contractor Stratfor to WikiLeaks in 2012 and is serving a ten-year sentence after pleading guilty to one count of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Thousands of people have died, the US response has infuriated European allies, and China has gone on a propaganda offensive. The new coronavirus is shaping up to be a cataclysmic event with far-reaching consequences in global politics. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected more than 130,000 people globally, strikes a world already in flux with the rise of nationalists such as US President Donald Trump who have scoffed at the rules of the "globalist" order. "When the dust settles on the COVID-19 world, we won't be in the same place that we were just a week ago," said Jon Alterman, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "We know that governments will shake as citizens judge them to have fumbled in their response. We know that economies will be disrupted and some economies are likely to collapse," he said. Trump, who initially dismissed the risks of COVID-19, late Wednesday abruptly imposed a 30-day ban on most travel from mainland Europe and vowed to confront the "foreign virus." Leaders from the European Union voiced outrage at the move, which triggered chaos at airports, and said that they had not been consulted -- which Trump acknowledged. Kelly Magsamen, the vice president for national security and international policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said Trump's move would only increase questions about Washington's historic leadership role. "I think a lot of partners and allies are saying, can the US be relied upon to lead on major global challenges -- whether it's a pandemic or whether it's climate change or nonproliferation?" she said. "It's going to have effects on other dimensions of our relationship." - China, US joust to lead - COVID-19 first emerged late last year in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan -- likely at a market that sold exotic animals for their meat -- and Beijing initially tried to suppress the news including by detaining the doctor who sounded the alarm. But China in the past week has sought to turn its COVID-19 response into a sort of soft power, with President Xi Jinping visiting Wuhan to trumpet success at containing the spread. China has sent medical equipment to Italy, the second-worst hit country, and Spain, highlighting its authoritarian model as decisive. It has also used the crisis as leverage against the United States, which has been seeking to combat Beijing's influence in all areas. An article in the state-run Global Times unsubtly hinted that China could stop exports of face masks and other medical gear if the Trump administration keeps pressing to restrict its tech giant Huawei. China as well as Russia has also promoted unfounded conspiracy theories to discredit the United States. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian suggested on Twitter that the US military may have brought the new coronavirus to Wuhan. The Trump administration, which has offered $100 million in aid worldwide to help other countries deal with the pandemic, has in turn sought to associate China firmly with COVID-19. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks of the illness as the "Wuhan virus" and Republican Senator Tom Cotton has vowed that the United States will "hold accountable those who inflicted it on the world." - Revenge of the technocrats? - Michael Green, who was the top Asia advisor to former president George W. Bush, doubted that China would ultimately find many buyers for its "arguments about the failures of democracy." But he added: "That does not mean that the US will win this information battle." "While the Japanese and others in Asia are not getting the shock treatment that the Europeans got overnight, there is a very strong sense of questioning American leadership right now," said Green, now a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In one example, Green pointed to the stalemate in talks over South Korea's contributions to US bases, with Trump irritating the ally by insisting on much higher payments. One broader effect, Green said, may be a shifting political narrative. Xi, once seen as untouchable in China, has faced criticism as netizens cheer on doctors -- much like Americans across party lines have hailed Anthony Fauci, the 79-year-old veteran head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Trump's 2016 upset win, Britain's vote to leave the European Union and other populist victories had been seen as proof "that the technocrats failed" following the Great Recession of the late 2000s and the Iraq war, Green said. "I think it's very possible that the macro result this time could be that the political populists failed and it's the technocrats who emerge as the heroes," Green said. "We'll see. But that may be how political history turns in this chapter." Nurses protest what they call the weak US response to the novel coronavirus outside the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles Inmates stage a protest on a rooftop of the San Vittore prison in Milan in one of Italy's COVID-19 quarantine red zones A woman wearing a protective mask looks at the nearly deserted Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, in Jerusalem after Israel imposed some of the world's tightest restrictions to contain the COVID-19 illness Medical staff speak with a patient infected by the COVID-19 illness at Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China US President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the Oval Office about the widening coronavirus crisis on March 11, 2020 Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been hailed by Americans across party lines
Having made it through the stress of our border crossing into Jordan (described in my previous column of Feb. 28, 2020), my son and I now found ourselves standing in the Jordanian night with our Jordanian greeter no where in sight.

We watched as the Jordanian workers, numbering in the hundreds, were returning to Jordan after their workday in Eilat; and were being picked up to return to their homes in Aqaba.

Finally, a sketchy looking fellow drove up in an unmarked van and approached us inquiring whether we were the Pearlmans. We hesitantly identified ourselves, not sure if we wanted to proceed further with the seemingly unkempt fellow, until I remembered that our Israeli tour representative did not look much better. After all, this was the Middle East.

As it turned out he was quite nice, spoke broken English, and was very welcoming. He delivered us to our hotel in downtown Aqaba, which was about 5 miles from the border crossing. Our hotel, named, My Hotel, turned out to be in the heart of town and very near the beach along the Red Sea. One of our first sights as we drove to the hotel was the lights of Eilat glittering on the waters Eilat shares with the city of Aqaba.

Our check-in was uneventful and we proceeded to our nicely appointed room, still concerned with our irrational thoughts that someone in the reception area might rat us out to an Arab terrorist, that two vulnerable American tourists were in their midst. We immediately double locked the door as paranoia continued to plague our good judgment.

Finally, hunger prevailed over anxiety and we decided to go out to explore the environs of the city and to find a local restaurant for dinner. Armed with my sons GPS we walked to the main street. It was a Wednesday night and the streets were crowded with people dining, shopping and just taking advantage of the beautiful night.

We found a local restaurant and had a great dinner. The proprietor came out to greet us in English and welcomed us. This was the first of many conversations with locals who implored us to spread the word that Jordan was safe for tourists, even though this was a time of heightened ISIS activity throughout the region and Jordan was burdened with more than one million refugees from war-torn Syria. That fear and perceived insecurity had seriously impacted the tourist industry in Jordan.

We retired to our very comfortable room in our hotel and awakened to a delicious American-style breakfast, as we waited the arrival of our tour bus that would take us to Petra. Petra is the site of UN World Heritage ruins of a town built into the sandstone mountainside by the Nabateans.

Petra was a stopping-off point in Jordans southern desert along an ancient route for caravans carrying goods and people between Damascus and Egypt.

According to experts, the Nabateans were an ancient civilization, that inhabited this mountainous region from around 1,500 BCE to around 363 when an earthquake destroyed the aqueduct that brought water to the city. The last vestiges of Nabatean civilization disappeared when the Arabs conquered the area in 663.

The ruins were spectacular and a day trip to Petra should be on the bucket list of every visitor to Israel. It was also well-worth overcoming our anxieties and misconceptions about staying in Aqaba.

Our tour bus was mostly made up of American, European and Israeli tourists, all of whom except for me and my son, had spent the night in Eilat; They would now be returning to Eilat after the 4 hour bus trip back to Aqaba. We were dropped off at our hotel as the bus headed to the border for the group crossing back to Israel.

It was a little strange being the only two to be dropped off in Aqaba, but we were much more comfortable after our experience on the first night. Our second evening was in fact very enjoyable and free of the anxieties of our first night in Aqaba. We ventured further from our hotel, walked along the promenade that parallels the shore line and came upon the Royal Yacht Club where King Abdullah II moors his yacht.

Surprisingly, the Club dining room was open to the public and we enjoyed a delicious steak dinner with alcoholic beverages. The next morning a car was waiting for us to take us back to the border.

Nothing was more reassuring as we walked toward those Israeli flags and the friendly greeting of Shalom by a very attractive border guard. It was nice to be back in Israel.

If you wish to comment or respond you can reach me at melpearlman322@gmail.com. Please do so in a rational, thoughtful, respectful and civil manner.

Mel Pearlman holds B.S. & M.S. degrees in physics as well as a J.D. degree and initially came to Florida in 1966 to work on the Gemini and Apollo space programs. He has practiced law in Central Florida since 1972. He has served as president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando; was a charter board member, first vice president and pro-bono legal counsel of the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Central Florida, as well as holding many other community leadership positions.
Government soldiers check ammunition taken from members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters militant group in Maguindanao province, southern Philippines, Feb. 28, 2015.

Philippine security forces have recovered the bodies of three more pro-Islamic State Filipino militants who were killed in new air and artillery assaults in southern Maguindanao province, military officials said Friday.

The discovery of the bodies brought to at least 17 the number of militants with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) who have been killed since the Philippine armed forces launched an offensive against the group in several municipalities around Maguindanao earlier this month, the military said.

Troops found the corpses of the enemy combatants, which were left behind by their BIFF comrades, while clearing an area near Ampatuan town on Thursday, amid ongoing military strikes in the province, officials said.

This is how heartless the terrorists are. They just leave their slain comrades behind, Army Col. Jose Narciso, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, told reporters.

Soldiers overran the militants encampment where they recovered one anti-personnel mine and personal belongings of the fleeing militants, he said.

Locals and village officials were called on by the military to help identify the corpses.

The recoveries indicate substantial gains and weakening of the enemys manpower and capability, said Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Western Mindanao Command.

Rest assured, we will continue with our focused operations to penetrate BIFF lairs and totally eradicate their remaining members for the people of Central Mindanao to savor lasting peace and sustainable development, he said.

This photo released by the Philippine military shows a den that was home to suspected pro-Islamic State militants, who fled following air and artillery assaults in southern Maguindanao province, March 13, 2020. [Courtesy Armed Forces of the Philippines]

Between March 2 and 7, military officials reported that 14 BIFF members were killed in fighting that also claimed the lives of four soldiers and injured 11 others.

The BIFF is a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a former armed separatist group that signed a peace deal with the government in exchange for control of an expanded autonomous region in Mindanao.

MILF leaders are part of a transition government in the south and many of its fighters have given up their weapons to join the military.

The BIFF, meanwhile, is one of several groups in the southern Philippines that have pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS).

Despite that pledge, BIFF guerrillas did not join other pro-IS militants in taking over the southern city of Marawi three years ago. That five-month siege killed an estimated 1,200 enemy combatants, soldiers and civilians.

Jeoffrey Maitem in Cotabato, Philippines, contributed to this report.
Banks and building societies have already started slashing rates on some of the best savings deals, just two days after the Bank of England announced an emergency base rate cut to 0.25 per cent.

Three of the seven highest-paying easy-access accounts have either been pulled from sale or seen their rates cut, while some of the best one, two and three-year fixed-rate and tax-free deals have also disappeared.

Meanwhile some of the UK's biggest banks, including Nationwide Building Society, Lloyds, Halifax, and Santander said they are reviewing their already rock-bottom savings rates following the Bank of England's biggest rate cut since the financial crisis.

Outgoing and incoming Bank of England governors Mark Carney (left) and Andrew Bailey (right) at a press conference on Wednesday morning. They announced an emergency base rate cut in response to coronavirus that took it back to its joint-lowest ever level of 0.25%

Barclays pulled its two and three-year cash Isas, paying 1.3 per cent and 1.7 per cent, from sale on Tuesday, and insisted this was standard practice and not related to the Bank of England's decision a day later.

One senior banker at a challenger savings bank told This is Money when the cut was announced on Wednesday that they expected rate cuts to filter through quicker than usual, due to the size of the cut.

Since then, three of the highest-paying easy-access accounts have already disappeared.

Yorkshire Building Society has pulled its limited access saver from sale, which paid a market-leading 1.32 per cent.

Some of the UK's biggest banks said they were evaluating their savings rates following the Bank of England's base rate cut

Meanwhile the Co-op Bank has also cut its Britannia Select Access Saver from 1.3 per cent to 0.8 per cent, and Principality Building Society has removed its 1.28 per cent easy-access account from sale and replaced it with one paying 0.9 per cent.

Leeds Building Society has also removed its defined access saver which paid 1.1 per cent on balances of 25,000 or more, and 1 per cent on balances of 5,000 or more.

The best easy-access rate now pays 1.31 per cent, and is offered by Cynergy Bank and Virgin Money; though both accounts come with catches.

The rate from Cynergy's account drops to 0.75 per cent after 12 months, while Virgin's account only allows two withdrawals a year.

Fixed-rate accounts

Some of the best fixed-rate deals have also been slashed as banks react to the base rate cut.

Ikano Bank has cut its market-leading one-year fixed-rate account from 1.56 per cent to 1.36 per cent, though it has quickly been replaced by challenger bank Smartsave; which can be opened online with deposits of 10,000.

Ikano has also cut its two and three-year deals, from 1.66 per cent and 1.76 per cent to 1.46 per cent and 1.56 per cent.

The joint highest-paying two-year fixed-rate deal, offered by Investec, has also been cut from 1.7 per cent to 1.6 per cent.

It means the best two-year deal is now offered by Sharia bank Gatehouse, which pays 1.7 per cent.

Up in smoke: There has been a bonfire of the best savings deals since the Bank of England cut its base rate to 0.25% on Wednesday

Challenger bank Oaknorth has cut its one, two and three-year deals.

It previously paid 1.5 per cent, 1.62 per cent and 1.66 per cent, but have now been slashed to 1.15 per cent, 1.22 per cent and 1.26 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile United Trust Bank cut its three-year fixed-rate from 1.8 per cent to 1.7 per cent, having previously offered the joint-highest rate on the market.

It means Investec now offers the only three-year deal paying 1.8 per cent, but this is only open to those with 25,000 or more to deposit. Anyone with less than that has to make do with 1.75 per cent from Gatehouse, which can be opened with 1,000.

Tax-free rates

With a few weeks to go before the tax year end, savers might be hoping for banks to be offer better Isa rates, instead they have gone the other way.

Though they have been handed one piece of good news, with Yorkshire Building Society launching a new easy-access Isa paying 1.3 per cent, the best rate open to those who either have 50,000 or live in Wales.

It can be opened with 100 in branch or by post. However, withdrawals can only be made on one day a year.

Elsewhere, it is the same story of rate cuts.

Oaknorth has slashed its tax-free fixed-rate deals too, with its best buy one and two-year accounts being cut from 1.41 per cent and 1.51 per cent to 1.06 per cent and 1.16 per cent.

Charter Savings Bank has cut its one-year fixed-rate cash Isa from 1.35 per cent to 1.11, and Monmouthshire Building society has pulled its 1.35 per cent paying two-year deal from sale.

It means the best two-year fixed-rate Isa is offered by Sharia provider Al Rayan Bank, which pays 1.5 per cent on balances of 1,000, while the best one-year is offered by Ford Money, which pays 1.37 per cent on deposits of 500 or more.

What should savers do?

Mortgage rates Meanwhile, mortgage rates are currently at near-historic lows, especially on deals where homeowners lock themselves in for 10 years. Those currently on fixed-rate mortgages will obviously not see an effect until they come to remortgage, but when they do the rates they are paying could fall, if the base rate is not adjusted again before then. Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: 'Swap rates - which banks use to price mortgages - have tumbled in recent days and both the reduction in base rate, plus lower swap rates, will lead to even cheaper mortgage products. 'We would expect five-year pricing to fall close to its previous record low of 1.29 per cent in 2017. 'The big question is could they fall below 1 per cent?'

Suzanne Lewsley, Ford Money's chief deposits officer, said: 'Although the Bank of England's emergency rate cut is only a temporary measure taken to stabilise the UK's economy during the coronavirus outbreak, we can expect to see a downwards ripple across the savings market.

'The net interest margin, already under pressure from the highly competitive mortgage market, will be squeezed even further, and providers will need to re-evaluate their offerings as a result.

'Savers should weigh up their options, and find the safest, fairest home for their savings based on their circumstances.

'Those thinking of squirrelling their money away into a fixed term product should do so as soon as possible, as rates will likely fall in the near future.

'Those who are unsure about locking their money away should consider easy-access accounts as they offer the flexibility to switch to a more lucrative product when the right opportunity arises.'

Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, said: 'It almost seems inevitable at this stage that the base rate reduction could get passed on in full to savers over the next few months, but this then should be a signal for savers to shop around for a new deal.

'As we have seen time and time again, the biggest high street banks are unlikely to be matching base rate  let alone beating it, so this cut is the perfect excuse to pay out less in interest to consumers.'
According to the Great Originality Test, a survey made on behalf of Czech brewer Pilsner Urquell, 68% of Hungarians would rather choose the original product instead of a knockoff.

People are more selective with medicine and food products, paying less attention to the origins of clothes and technical items. The reason behind the preference of the real product is its reliability and quality, which outweighs value for money.



The majority of surveyed aged 25 to 29-year-olds admitted to carefully checking the trademark on the label; however, for some even the name of the brand is already a sign of quality and reliability.



The representative survey also covered the topic of which authentic products are closely connected to certain nations.



Pilsner Urquell has now launched a new campaign, starting first in Hungary and then moving to Poland. The main concept is the combination of the brands authenticity and inspiration and whether the original can be surpassed.



Check out the full video here.
The Ministry of Health said late March 12 that five more people had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country so far to 44.

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The new patients are among the 56 people whose samples were sent to the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute in the central province of Khanh Hoa on March 12, as they had close contact with COVID-19 patients detected in central Binh Thuan province on March 10-11, according to the ministry.

Among the five new cases, a two-year-old girl, a 59-year-old man and a 28-year-old man, all live in Binh Thuans Phan Thiet city, had close contact with the 34th patient - a 51-year-old Vietnamese woman who tested positive on March 10.

The two others are a 47-year-old woman in Phan Thiet city, who had close contact with the 38th patient, and a 13-year-old boy in Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan province, who had contact with the 37th patient.

Of the 44 cases reported in Vietnam so far, 16 had made complete recovery.

Hai Phong plans to spend 1 trillion VND on COVID-19 combat

The northern port city of Hai Phong plans to spend 1 trillion VND (43 million USD) to tackle the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, with a scenario of 1,000 confirmed infection cases.

This was agreed at an unusual meeting of the municipal Peoples Council on March 12 that was convened to adopt a resolution on some tasks and measures to combat COVID-19, and stabilise the citys socio-economic situation.

Hai Phong will firstly spend more than 126.7 billion VND purchasing equipment, chemicals and face masks in service of the disease combat.

Each person in concentrated quarantine centres will receive 65,000 VND and each in quarantine areas will get 45,000 VND per day.

The city has also decided to scrap the Hoa Phuong Do (Red Flamboyant Flower) Festival, the Cat Ba Fishery Festival and the Do Son Tourism Festival, along with a meeting on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of its liberation.

According to Pham Thu Xanh, Director of the municipal Health Department, as of March 12, no COVID-19 cases had been recorded in the city. More than 1,400 people are being monitored in concentrated quarantine centres in the locality.

a Nang, Quang Nam ask for urgent action on COVID-19

The central city has asked the Ministry of Health for permission to report new COVID-19 cases so it can respond more quickly to the pandemic.

Vice chairman of the citys peoples committee, Le Trung Chinh said this would help the city isolate areas as soon as samples test positive for SARS-CoV-2 from the laboratory of the citys Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

He said the city now had to wait for the ministrys announcement on COVID-19 cases, even on samples from the CDCs lab.

Chinh said the city needs to implement very urgent action in isolating and tracking those in close contact with COVID-19 patients.

The citys CDC said its lab had tested 139 cases, of which three samples tested positive for COVID-19 between March 6-9. The three positive test results from a Nangs CDC were then sent to Nha Trang Pasteur Institute for reconfirmation, providing the same results.

According to the ministrys report, a Nang had three cases of COVID-19, including two British tourists who were on the same flight as Ha Nois first COVID-19 patient and one local woman who was in close contact with them.

The city had collected 194 medical samples of people in both direct and indirect contact with the two British tourists and the local woman (patient 35), and 126 samples tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 as of March 11.

Vice director of a Nang General Hospital, Nguyen Thanh Trung confirmed that 10 medical workers, who treated the citys third COVID-19 patient (patient 35), were among samples testing negative.

He said the medical workers and negative tests will be isolated for 14 days.

The two British patients are in good health at the citys General Hospital, a doctor from the hospital said.

More than 1,100 people have been put under quarantine at isolation centres and are all in good condition. Up to 447 others were isolated at home.

A total of 259 samples tested negative for COVID-19.

Local residents and the citys journalism association have raised VN320 million (US$14,000) in cash, as well as masks and hand sanitiser for doctors and medical staff working at seven hospitals and isolation centres.

Meanwhile, central Quang Nam Province also asked the ministry for permission to announce COVID-19 outbreaks in provincial territory, as the province recorded two cases by March 11.

Vice director of the provincial health department, Nguyen Van Van, said the outbreak announcements would help local people be aware of COVID-19, thus boosting prevention measures.

Van said isolation is the best solution for COVID-19, while cleaning hands and the environment will help as well.

A total of 40 tourists, who were on the same flight as the 17th COVID-19 patient, and seven others on a trip to Hoi An, were kept at isolation sites, and 39 samples tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.

A British patient was taken from Hoi An to Hue for further treatment on March 10.

The province had isolated 424 people  who had direct communication and close contact with the two COVID-19 patients  at medical centres and at home.

The province also banned all boat trips travelling from the mainland to Cham Islands, off the coast of Hoi An, the Old Quarter in Hoi An and other destinations to avoid crowds.

Negative results for 18 people in close contact with COVID-19 tourists

At the Kien Giang General Hospital

18 people in Phu Quoc island district in Kien Giang province who came into close contact with two British tourists traveling on the same flight with the 17th COVID-19 patient remained in stable health condition with their test results being negative for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).

Information regarding the negative test results was released by the Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention in Kien Giang province on March 11.

The original British tourists who had traveled on flight VN0054 with 17th COVID-19 patient were identified as Ian Keith Lowndes and Lorraine Claire Lowndes.

Despite tests negative for the COVID-19, the Phu Quoc District Health Center will continue to keep the group in quarantine to undergo strict surveillance in line with regulations.

At present, there are 17 people in isolation zones within Kien Giang province, whilst a further 204 suspected cases are self-isolating at home or in their residence.

According to a report released by the provincial Department of Tourism, the total number of international visitors staying in Kien Giang province reached 10,944 on March 10.

Kien Giang Department of Health has issued a document guiding the application of medical declarations for COVID-19 while simutaneously directing medical facilities at the grassroot levels to strictly monitor health of patients who returned to the province from concentrated isolation zones outside the locality, especially those from the epidemic-hit areas.

British tourist with COVID-19 stops at several places in Tien Giang

The Bassac Pandaw cruise ship is placed on lockdown in Cambodia

The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang has recently discovered a group of foreign tourists, including a British citizen who had been infected with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, travelling to a number of places of interest within the locality.

Information regarding the group was unveiled during a March 12 meeting of the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control to discuss urgent measures to deal with the rapidly spreading pandemic.

The incident occurred when four British tourists on flight VN0054 entered Vietnam via Tan Son Nhat international airport in Ho Chi Minh City on March 2 before travelling by car to Tien Giang province.

Upon arriving at the port in My Tho city, the group then boarded the Bassac Pandaw cruise ship which was set to travel to Cambodia.

During the journey, the cruise ship stopped at Tan Phong island in Cai Lay district before heading to Cuu Long pottery village on the outskirts of Cai Be town.

It was only when the ship docked in Cambodia that local medical workers conducted medical examinations, during which they discovered one case of the COVID-19 infection.

Following the discovery, all crew members and passengers on board the Bassac Pandaw were put into lockdown by Cambodian authorities with all people being forced to go into a period of isolation.

Subsequently, police in Tien Giang province have sent a written request to the provincial Center for Disease Control to immediately co-ordinate alongside relevant authorities and localities in a bid to disinfect locations where the cruise ship anchored as a means of preventing the potential spread of the epidemic.

Negative results for suspected COVID-19 cases in Da Nang

A female saleperson have close contact with two British patients in Dien May Xanh supermarket chain

The Da Nang Center for Disease Control announced on March 12 that samples taken from 71 individuals who had either come into close contact with the 35th novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patient, or two infected British nationals, the 22nd and 23rd patients, have tested negative for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

A total of 25 of the negative cases are relatives of the 35th COVID-19 patient, while five others are colleagues who work at the Dien May Xanh supermarket chain, along with 12 health workers.

Currently, 25 cases remain in quarantine for 14 days in line with regulations set by the health sector, along with a further 46 cases that were exposed to the 22nd and 23rd patients.

The health sector is continuing to investigate and apply isolation measures for any people who came into close contact with either the 22nd, 23rd, or 35th COVID-19 patient with samples being taken to test for the virus.

Lai Chau intensifies measures to combat COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnam confirms five more COVID-19 cases, totaling 44

The northern province of Lai Chau has strengthened measures in a bid to prevent the potential spread of the COVID-19 pandemic with over 7,100 cases being put into quarantine and undergoing strict monitoring in the locality, according to the provincial Center for Disease Control.

The provincial Center for Disease Control stated that the number of suspected patients has reached 55, of which 51 cases have so far tested negative for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).

In addition, a total of 41 patients are eligible to be removed from the list of suspected cases, while a further 10 patients that recorded negative test results have been isolated to undergo medical supervision over a 14-day period in line with regulations set by the health sector.

There are also four cases which are still awaiting the results of their tests.

At present, 7,106 people who had come into close contact with any of the suspected COVID-19 cases following their return from epidemic-hit areas have been put into quarantine to undergo medical supervision in the locality, of which 6,800 patients have already been removed from the list of people who must be strictly monitored.

Despite the high numbers being removed from the monitoring process, there are still over 300 cases that remain in isolation, so authorities can closely monitor their health condition at specified isolation zones in line with regulations.

Tran Do Kien, Director of the Lai Chau Provincial Center for Disease Control, pointed out the locality is facing a shortage of medical supplies and equipment which could lead to difficulties in terms of preventive activities that are necessary to combat the pandemic.

Along with tightening control over people who are returning from China, the province has also been proactive in deploying measures aimed at preventing the potential spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in transportation activities.

The Lai Chau Department of Transport has requested that the Provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control continue to provide support through medical equipment, offering free face masks to drivers and passengers, regularly spraying disinfectant at bus stations, and thoroughly sterilising vehicles that enter the region.
Kalaburagi : , March 13 (IANS) Eight family members of a septuagenarian, who is the first fatality of COVID-19 in India, were quarantined in a hospital in Karnataka's Kalaburagi city, a top official said on Friday. Seven neighbours of the family too have been kept in isolation.

"The family of the 76-year-old man, who died of COVID-19 on March 10, has been quarantined in an isolation ward at the ESI Hospital here," Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner B. Sharath told IANS.

Kalaburagi is around 575km north of Bengaluru in the southern state.

The family consists of the old man's son, daughter, daughter-in-law, son-in-law and their four children.

"Blood samples of the four elder members have been sent for tests to the virology research institute in Bengaluru as they have complained of cough and cold. Their house has been sanitised," Sharath said.

Seven persons, neighbours of the victim's family, have also been kept in a separate ward in the state-run hospital under watch.

"In addition, 32 people who came in contact with the family after the victim returned from Saudi Arabia on February 29 and was admitted to a private hospital in the city for treatment have been screened and told to remain indoors," added Sharath.

Though the victim died on Tuesday night at a private hospital in Hyderabad, about 230km east of Kalaburagi, his body was brought here and buried on Wednesday as per government guidelines on disposing the bodies of such victims.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Adgullys The W-Suite series has been featuring interactions with influential women leaders in India, who share some deep insights on what being a woman leader means in Indias business landscape, the mantras to succeed, achieving work-life balance, pay parity and much more.

As Director - People & Culture, IPM India Wholesale Trading Pvt Ltd, Loma Hosne Ara is responsible for the development of human resource strategy to build competitive advantage through people. Loma started her career with Unilever, Bangladesh, where she spent 15 years of her professional life. She joined Philip Morris in Bangladesh in 2014, before moving to India in 2016. As Product Group Manger and Brand Manager in marketing, she handled international brands across various categories. She believes that with passion, persistence and mental agility one can overcome all challenges be it professional or personal.

How would you define todays woman leader?

Women have proven their mettle across industries and roles, globally. They are recognised to be ambitious and talented professionals with superior foresight and resilience. In my opinion, women today are equal, in all aspects, maybe even stronger!

What are the foremost attributes that women leaders in todays business ecosystem must possess?

In the current business scenario, it is important to be assertive, empathetic, and resilient with an appetite for risk-taking.

Being assertive, in a manner, where there is balance between aggression and a mild temperament. It is important to clearly affirm ones ideas and beliefs, whilst also respecting a possible rebuttal.

Being bold and having the ability to take calculated risks, is key to converting challenges into opportunities, taking measured steps and showing tangible results, while generating more value for the organisation.

Empathy is a key trait amongst successful women leaders across the globe, which is instrumental in building strong relationships with employees, and external stakeholders like business partners and customers. It is a critical skill, acquired over time, requiring patience and emotional intelligence.

In a fast-paced landscape, resilience holds the key to success. It is important to be able to persevere and move on from a roadblock; as its no more about survival of the fittest but about survival of the adaptable. Those who can quickly spring back and re-shape their work will ultimately succeed.

Despite the qualifications, aptitude and experience, why do you think we dont see the expected number of women business leaders, especially when it comes to boardroom decision-making?

There are many women leading the way in the boardroom today. Having said that, while women are efficient multi-taskers, theyre also entrusted with numerous personal responsibilities like childcare and home, while balancing their careers. Organisations should aggressively promote initiatives that enable women talent reach leadership positions, including multi-sectoral experience, a well phased growth & opportunity graph and flexibility at work. These will equip them to punch their full weight forward.

What more do Indian corporates need to do to encourage and groom women leaders?

An important factor that helps in grooming women for leadership roles is cross-functional experience, to be able to comprehend the interdependence, impact and potential of each function in the business. Hence, rotation of roles is important to build key competencies. At IPM India, cross functional and cross border experience are key components to development, which enable our employees to evolve into well rounded professionals.

Furthermore, there needs to be a conscious focus on building diversity within the company to ensure that women feel confident and take up more management roles, eventually making it to the board level. I believe there needs to be a certain critical mass, of any segment of the workforce, for them to share their thoughts and push innovation  in line, for instance, at IPM India, our target is to reach 40% participation of each gender in the workforce by 2022. But increasing the underrepresented number is one part; the most crucial element is making the number work, that is, having an inclusive work environment where everyone can perform and grow to their full potential. Inclusion is crucial irrespective of gender, race or faith. At IPM, Inclusion is one of the five energies of our culture signature that defines how we embrace and embed inclusion in our organisation.

According to you, what are the Dos and Donts for todays women to break through the glass ceiling?

The first and foremost step in shattering the glass ceiling is to recognise and come out of self-imposed bias, second guessing and limitations. As we see higher participation of women in the workforce, it is important to have the right kind of attitude and confidence at work. Women often feel reluctant in asking for what they aspire - from a deserved promotion to a role or project that interests them. It is important to put yourself out, showcase your merit and capability  seek and work towards what you deserve, and aim for.

Its imperative to get over the hesitation, be it in sharing your point of view, or in launching your business idea. Dont be afraid of failure, it is the most enriching experience one can get. Leverage it to pave the path for future success.

How acute is the gender pay gap issue in India today? What needs to be done to address this in an effective manner?

As per a 2019 report from a leading employment consultant, the average gender pay gap in India stood at 19 per cent in favour of men. However, the pay gap rises as the experience and education of the employee increases. Companies need to be conscious of the value and diversity of thought that women bring with them, leading to more disruption and hence innovation.

This will not only help in companies offering the requisite dues to women in the workforce, but also decrease the gender pay gap. We also undertook our journey towards better gender representation and inclusion in 2015. In 2018, IPM India was Indias first organisation to receive Equal-Salary certification from the independent, not for profit, EQUAL-SALARY Foundation.

What are the five most effective lessons that you have learned as a woman leader?

Well, the most effective lessons that Ive learned as a leader (and not necessarily a woman leader) are:

Flexibility and adaptably is key; one should be ready to give up space to win together as a team Curiosity and learning is crucial; it is never too late to learn anything new Be hands on; always ready to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty Be engaged and around young talent; their ideas and energy is infectious and one can learn a lot from them If you want to make a difference, put your heart and soul together, it always pays

How challenging has it been for you to maintain a balance between career goals and family responsibilities? What is your mantra to maintain that balance?

At the onset, I must admit, sometimes it can get challenging to maintain balance. The truth is, as much as wed like to be, and possibly are most days - we cannot always be superwomen, and we need to prioritise depending on the need of the hour.

Having the right support system/ ecosystem is crucial. I was very lucky to have my mother, husband and staff around me when my children were very young and I had to invest significant time at work, which entailed extended business travel. I felt guilty many times, missing important occasions/days, but then I had to prioritise and do what was needed. To all working mothers, Id say, the guilt will take over from time to time, but make sure to be present where you are needed most. I try to be there for parent teacher meetings and to watch my childs performance at school. These moments are important to me. I am also very lucky to be a part of an organisation that gives me flexibility in managing business and balancing my own time. In the end, it is the output that matters.

How prevalent are the instances of Sexual Harassment in workplaces in India? What should the industry collectively do to tackle such a serious issue?

There is much better awareness on the issue within organisations, today. It is critical that we come together as corporates and decide on a stringent, zero tolerance standard procedure, once an incident gets reported. Enforcement of a thorough action plan will help reduce its occurrence, I believe.
Mumbai, March 13 : Axis Bank has become the second private lender to confirm investment in the crisis-hit Yes Bank as its board has approved an investment of Rs 600 crore. In a regulatory filing on Friday, Axis Bank said that it will acquire 60 crore shares of Yes Bank for Rs 10 per share.

"The Board of Directors of Axis Bank Ltd at its meeting held today has accorded approval to invest a sum of up to Rs 600 crore for acquiring up to 60 crore equity shares of Rs 2 each of Yes Bank Limited, for cash, at a premium of Rs 8 per equity share, under the proposed Scheme of Reconstruction of Yes Bank Limited under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949," it said.

Earlier, ICICI Bank said that its board has approved a Rs 1,000 crore investment in Yes Bank. State Bank of India's board has already approved 49 per cent stake purchase in Yes Bank, as per the RBI's reconstruction scheme for the bank.

It had said on Thursday that an investment of Rs 7,250 crore would be made in Yes bank to pick up 725 crore equity shares. On Friday, the Union Cabinet approved the Reserve Bank-proposed reconstruction plan for Yes Bank, under which the State Bank along with other private investors would pump in equity. The details of the scheme is expected to come once the government notifies the scheme.

According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Cabinet decided that the SBI will hold at least 26 per cent stake in the private bank for a minimum period of three years. Similarly, the other investors will also be mandated to have a similar lock-in period for 75 per cent of their investment in the bank. The authorised share capital of the Yes Bank will be revised upwards from Rs 1,100 crore to Rs 6,200 crore.

Besides, Sitharaman indicated that the details of the scheme will be notified soon. She further said that Yes Bank's moratorium will be lifted at 1600 hours, after three working days of the scheme being notified. The office of the administrator shall also stand vacated after seven days from the cessation of moratorium and the new Board will take over the bank.

Last week, the RBI placed Yes Bank under moratorium and capped the withdrawal limit at Rs 50,000 till April 3, due to deteriorating financial health of the bank. The central bank also superseded Yes Bank's board of directors and appointed former SBI CFO Prashant Kumar as its administrator.
Golden State Killer suspect Joseph DeAngelo looked gaunt and seemed to nod off to sleep on his feet in court as he was ordered to give four cheek-swab samples.

A Northern California judge approved prosecutors' request on Thursday to take more DNA samples from DeAngelo, who is charged with being the infamous 'Golden State Killer' who eluded arrest for decades.

The 74-year-old former police officer is suspected of at least 13 murders and more than 50 rapes across California in the 1970s and 1980s, and hundreds of home invasions.

The statute of limitations has expired on those crimes, however, making them impossible to charge.

Golden State Killer suspect Joseph DeAngelo looked gaunt and seemed to nod off to sleep on his feet as he was ordered by a judge to give four cheek-swab samples. (He is pictured on Thursday in Sacramento Superior Court)

A Northern California judge approved prosecutors' request on Thursday to take more DNA samples from DeAngelo, who is charged with being the infamous 'Golden State Killer' who eluded arrest for decades

The 74-year-old former police officer is suspected of at least 13 murders and more than 50 rapes across California in the 1970s and 1980s, and hundreds of home invasions. Above, talking to his attorney, Diane Howard, during his appearance in court, in California

DeAngelo entered the courtroom cage supported at the elbows by two deputies for the 50-minute hearing in Sacramento Superior Court.

As usual, he never glanced at the crowd of spectators, looking instead in the general direction of the judge and nearly a dozen video and still cameras.

He has usually stood ramrod straight during his hearings. However, on Thursday, he periodically slumped his gaunt head.

DeAngelo was arrested in April 2018 on the basis of groundbreaking genetic genealogy evidence, but has so far indicated no willingness to accept a plea deal.

Six counties have consolidated their cases in Sacramento County, and four of those counties are seeking the death penalty.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Steve White allowed prosecutors, over defense objections, to take four more cheek-swab DNA samples from DeAngelo as they try to link him to old crimes.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Steve White allowed prosecutors, over defense objections, to take four more cheek-swab DNA samples from DeAngelo as they try to link him to old crimes

White gave prosecutors permission to swab the suspect's cheek for additional DNA evidence to be used in crimes in Ventura, Santa Barbara, Orange and Contra Costa counties.

For the time being, he turned down a request that a fifth sample be taken to be given to prosecutors in Sacramento, where his trial on 13 murder and 13 rape-related charges is expected to be held.

'I am ordering that buccal swab samples be taken from the defendant,' White said. 'They will not be done forcibly. ... It won't be in open court,' Sacbee reported.

Joseph James DeAngelo is seen after his arrest in April 2018 in California

Investigators surreptitiously collected DNA from DeAngelo more than two years ago that they say proves he is the rapist who broke into couples' suburban homes at night, binding one man and piling dishes on his back.

Collecting more DNA 'is a minimally invasive procedure, unlike the crimes committed against so many of our victims,' said Cheryl Temple, a prosecutor from Ventura County who handled that portion of the hearing.

Investigators pioneered a method of building a family tree from old crime scene DNA, using a popular online DNA database to find a distant relative and eventually zero in on DeAngelo. The new process has since been used nationwide in other cases.

White told prosecutors to informally decide who is empowered to consider defense attorneys' offer to have Joseph James DeAngelo plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.

So far, prosecutors have not wavered from their intent to seek DeAngelo's execution if he is convicted.

'Who's in charge? Who can make decisions? We want to settle the case,' said defense attorney Alice Michel, adding later that 'I don't know who I'm supposed to talk to.'

Defense attorneys questioned in court filings whether Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert could alone negotiate a plea deal, of if she would have to have agreement from prosecutors in Santa Barbara, Orange and Ventura counties. He also faces lesser penalties from Tulare and Contra Costa counties.

That 'is something that you probably should be entitled to know,' White said while urging the attorneys to work it out among themselves.

DeAngelo was living quietly in this Citrus Heights home when he was arrested in April 2018 on the basis of groundbreaking genetic genealogy evidence

DeAngelo is arraigned in a Sacramento courtroom in April 2018. A court filing this week indicated that he has offered to plead guilty in the case

Gov. Gavin Newsom has a moratorium on executions while he is governor. But DeAngelo's trial is likely several years away after what is projected to be a weeks-long preliminary hearing set to begin in May.

His defense is currently being handled only by the Sacramento County Public Defender's Office, which says it is overwhelmed by the voluminous evidence in the case. It wants assistance from public defenders in the other counties.

White said what he called 'an imbalance of resources' is 'not right, it's not appropriate,' though he had no immediate solution.

'It's legitimate to coordinate these cases into one county,' White said, though defense attorneys are separately arguing that they have not been properly consolidated. 'It's another thing, though, to say one office, the public defender of Sacramento County, takes the burden of the entire defense and all its cost.'

The state last executed someone in 2006, and has a backlog of more than 700 killers on death row.

A capital trial, which would follow a lengthy preliminary hearing in May, could cost taxpayers an estimated $20 million.

Joseph James DeAngelo is currently being held without bail in the Sacramento County Main Jail.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar finally announced March 13 that after four days of talks in the Turkish capital, the Russian and Turkish militaries have agreed on the details of a new cease-fire in Syrias Idlib de-escalation zone.

Akar said the first joint patrol by Turkey and Russia on the M4 highway in Idlib would be carried out on March 15 and that Turkey and Russia will establish joint coordination centers in the region. The announcement followed a March 12 telephone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the implementation of the agreements the two leaders reached in Moscow the previous week.

Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed the importance of continued close joint efforts, first of all between the Russian and Turkish defense ministries, in order to ensure a stable cease-fire and further stabilization of the situation, read a Kremlin press release. It went on, It was agreed to maintain a regular dialogue at various levels, including personal contacts.

Why it matters: Todays agreement is a further sign that both sides are keen to move beyond the crisis that erupted in Idlib last month when at least 34 Turkish soldiers were killed in a single attack that both sides chose to blame on the Syrian regime. Tensions between Ankara and Moscow spiked, prompting widespread conjecture of a major break.

The language coming out of both capitals has been far more measured in recent weeks.

A day before the phone conversation with Putin, Erdogan gave a mild warning to the Syrian government, saying Turkey was monitoring small violations of the truce.

On March 12, the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, a joint Turkish-Russian entity intended to facilitate negotiations between Damascus and opposition groups, said there were no cease-fire violations by Turkey-controlled illegal armed groups." It noted, however that 11 cease-fire violations by units of the Islamic Party of Turkestan and Jahbat al-Nusra, which are not controlled by Turkey, were reported in the Latakia and Aleppo governorates.

Even before todays announcement, Turkish and Russian forces had conducted a regular joint patrol mission in Aleppo governorate, Oleg Zhuravlev, chief of the Russian Reconciliation Center, told reporters on March 12.

He added, Units of the Russian military police also carried out patrols in the Aleppo and al-Hasakah governorates. Russias air task force conducted an aerial patrol mission from the Qamishli airfield.

No room for complacency: Earlier, on March 11, Russian military police escorted seven Turkish convoys to the deployment sites of the Turkish armys observation posts in Idlib. Russian military officials told Al-Monitor, The coordination process with the Turkish counterparts that is now underway is very meticulous but still bearing some results on the ground. They noted not all of the opposition groups operating in the area are abiding by the cease-fire.

"Settlements in the provinces of Latakia and Aleppo came under fire at least eight times from positions of the Turkestan Islamic Party, Ajnad al-Kavkaz and Hyat Tahrir al-Sham, said a senior Russian military official.

Whats next: While Turkish military units and Russian military police will begin joint patrols along the strategic M4 highway linking Syrias east and west, there was no mention of an agreement on the M5 highway linking Damascus to Aleppo, which is every bit as strategic for the Syrian government. The Putin-Erdogan agreement of March 5 implies the patrols will start from the settlement of Trumba just west of Saraqeb to the settlement of Ain al-Havr.

Know more: Maxim Suchkov explores how Russia and Turkey continue to reinforce their own leverage on the ground despite the cease-fire agreement and Semih Idiz offers the latest updates on Erdogan's uphill battle on the home front over the war in Idlib.
HARTFORD  At least seven more state residents have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to at least 12 as of Friday night, state officials confirmed, on a day when President Donald Trump declared the pandemic a national state of emergency.

The national declaration clears the way for as much as $50 billion for state and local governments to deploy in fighting the crisis. It came with a range of executive actions, including a new public-private partnership to expand coronavirus testing capabilities with drive-through locations, as Trumps administration has come under fire for being too slow in making the test available.

Trump, however, shirked any blame for delays in making testing available for the new virus, saying, I dont take responsibility at all.

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In Hartford, state epidemiologist Dr. Matthew Cartter talked about ways the tests are becoming more widely available for Connecticut residents, including hospitals ramping up capacity with testing from private companies. Testing this week is much more available than it was last week, Cartter said. We expect that to continue.

The state also announced several new initiatives, including closing some park centers; approval of video appointments for Medicaid patients; and efforts to work with closed schools, which now cover more than half of all K-12 students in Connecticut.

Newly diagnosed

Cartter said newly diagnosed patients with COVID-19 are from Darien, Greenwich, Westport and Bethlehem. In an interview after the daily news conference in response to the outbreak, he said he didnt know whether any are hospitalized.

The new patients were broken down by Cartter as a woman between the ages of 30 and 40 from Bethlehem in Litchfield County; a man in her family between 60 and 70, also from Bethlehem; a woman between the ages of 40 and 50 from Westport; a man ages 50 to 60 in Darien; and a Greenwich man between 40 and 50.

A Greenwich man between 20 and 30 who tested positive for coronavirus in Utah, remains there. Another case that had previously been counted in the Connecticut total has been removed from the states list because they are from New York. The new cases are not related to international travel.

Griffin Health in Derby said in a news release Friday night a community-based physician, who is a member of the medical staff, tested positive for coronavirus Friday.

The release said the physician was not in his office and did not see patients in the 24-hours prior to exhibiting symptoms, so no action is being taken in regards to staff and patients he interacted with. He is being quarantined.

Officials at Griffin Health claimed it would violate patient privacy to confirm whether the physician was a state resident.

Jeff Flax, president and CEO of Hartford HealthCare, announced during a pres conference late Friday night that the Hartford region has its first confirmed case of coronavirus: a Rocky Hill resident in her 80s who is being treated at Hartford Hospital.

State officials told Hearst Connecticut Media the states total number of coronavirus cases as of Friday night was at least 12.

Thirty percent of the states school districts with 56 percent of the states pupils have closed, Department of Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona said. Closed schools will be working with the state Department of Education to provide meals to students who rely on meals in schools. Many district have developed off-site learning programs via the internet.

If they dont have Wi-Fi access at home, materials are going to be developed and picked up by parents, Cardona told reporters in the Gov. William A. ONeill State Armory.

Utility companies are prohibited from any shutoffs during this time, Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe said.

More tests available

As of Friday, 136 coronavirus tests have been completed in Connecticut  125 of which were negative. This data includes tests from the state lab  which conducted 115 tests  and private labs  which have performed 21 tests.

So-called drive-through tests are available at Greenwich Hospital, Waterbury Hospital and Bristol Hospital.

Greenwich has been open for a few days and Waterbury and Bristol hospital started today, Cartter said. On Friday, Yale-New Haven Hospital announced it expects to be able to soon begin testing as many as 200 samples a day.

Cartter said that rather than go into a doctors office, those with symptoms are urged to call their doctor ahead of time and let them know so someone from the office can bring an order out to the patient in the parking lot to limit any potential exposure.

The states ability to detect the virus will soon ramp-up, Cartter predicted.

I think our focus for the next two weeks is to bring, as a plan, we have the Yale-New Haven Hospital Lab coming on board, Cartter said. We have three of these test sites at acute-care hospitals that are separate from the main hospital, at Greenwich, Waterbury and Bristol hospitals. We have additional ones that will be coming on line next week. These sites are using commercial laboratories for tests.

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There are still obstacles, however.

Right now I think the biggest issue with testing is getting the sample taken, Cartter said. Many doctors offices are reluctant to have somebody come into the office and get a throat swab done because they dont have enough personal protection that is routinely used. And we cant send them to the emergency departments because they are full-up right now seeing people. So its really a question of accelerating these sites for testing.

Tele-medicine approved for HUSKY

Geballe announced that 850,000 people in the states low-income HUSKY Medicaid program, will now be eligible for so-called telemedicine, in which they can have video appointments with doctors, who can then be reimbursed for those services.

The new rule by the state Department of Social Services applies to both behavioral and general health treatment. The move follows lobbying by some community health care centers, which has intensified since the state allowed tele-medicine appointments in 2015.

More recently, the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut sent a letter last Friday to DSS urging the change. Hearst Connecticut Media published a column on the same topic Monday, and on Tuesday, Commissioner Deidre Gifford met with health providers.

Appointments must be by video connection, not just audio. The behavioral health coverage is permanent, Gifford said, and the general health waiver will last through the COVID-19 crisis.

Congratulations to the Lamont administration for doing the right thing, said Mark Masselli, founder and CEO of Community Health Center Inc., the largest primary care provider for Medicaid with 70,000 patients all over the state. This is going to redefine and reimagine the way primary care is delivered in Connecticut.

Masselli said CHC immediately notified patients and began enrolling people into the tele-health service Friday.

Other developments on Friday included an announcement that the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will immediately close all visitor centers, including the popular Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill and the Meigs Point Nature Center at Hammonasset State Park in Madison.

Geballe also said those applying for unemployment benefits may be eligible even if they are not actively looking for work, such as an employee whose place of work is temporarily shut down.

Geballe defended Gov. Ned Lamonts expanded prohibition of any visitors, even lawyers and guardians, at state nursing homes.

The way you can best show your love for that person is to keep your distance, Geballe said.

Associate Editor and columnist Dan Haar contributed to this report
New Delhi, March 13 : BJP General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav has said not the Congress, but the Narendra Modi government has given a true meaning to the concept of secularism in the country.

Taking a dig at the Congress on Thursday during a debate in the Rajya Sabha, Yadav said: "Congress has always misinterpreted secularism. Congress is trying to become the champion of secularism by standing with the Shiv Sena and the Muslim League But Narendra Modi's government has given true meaning to the concept of secularism in the country. Our secularism is -- 'Sabka Saath' -- Everybody's development and everyone's faith. We will move forward with this brand of secularism." Yadav said that the spirituality of this country is secularism.

He said: "When Gandhiji started his morning with a Vaishnav public prayer, Dr. Ambedkar used to seek the spirit of equality in the spirit of Buddha while Ram Manohar Lohia wanted cultural upliftment through the Ramayana fairs. Abusing the culture of this country is not secularism. You (Congress) misinterpreted secularism. You have held Muslims hostage in its name for 70 years." Yadav further said: "If you do not give rights to women, then there is secularism, if you do not give water, it is secularism... It is secularism to keep people within the poverty circles. Is this your secularism? Secularism got the correct meaning after the Narendra Modi government came to power." He said the riots had happened in the country even when the Congress was in power.

"The Congress played politics on the plank of secularism. But everyone should understand that it is the responsibility of everyone in the country to maintain peace and tranquillity if a riot breaks out." Speaking on the Delhi violence, Yadav condemned the way a policeman was allegedly killed by an unruly mob.

Taking a dig at senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, he said: "You advised us to read fundamental duties, it would have been better if you had told (the people) about the Citizenship Amendment Act with all the honesty."
BEIJING  From quarantining travelers from overseas to nabbing those sneaking in with fevers, China and other parts of Asia are scrambling to prevent the new coronavirus from coming back to where it first broke out.

Just as the spread of the disease is stabilizing in much of Asia, following a major outbreak in China and sizable ones in South Korea and Japan, it is popping up in new hot spots around the world.

Those three countries announced expanded border controls this week that mimic many of the bans and restrictions placed on China in the early days of the outbreak. China, which didn't have enough protective equipment for its medical workers a few weeks ago, is now donating supplies to Italy, Iran, South Korea and other affected places.

The outbreak is far from over in Asia and could well explode again when restrictions put in place to stymie it are lifted. But the panic that seized the region has shifted to the Mideast, Europe and the Americas as those areas deal with the rapid spread of the virus for the first time.

China reported Friday just eight new cases of the virus in the previous 24 hours, and three were imported from Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom. The number has dropped sharply from a month ago, when the daily figure was in the thousands. Nearly 90 imported cases have been identified in recent weeks.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: THE LATEST NEWS

National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng said this week that the peak of outbreak has passed in China, but that "the fast development of the epidemic overseas has introduced uncertainties."

Just a week ago, South Korea was complaining about a global scurry to block or restrict visitors coming from the country. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, in a rare moment of bluntness, called the moves an unsophisticated reaction by nations with inept quarantine abilities.

Now, as new infections have eased at home, South Korea is stepping up border controls to prevent the virus from being reintroduced by travelers from overseas.

Starting Sunday, the country will extend special screening measures to passengers from France, Germany, Spain, Britain and the Netherlands, as well as those who have stopped in Dubai and Moscow in the previous two weeks.

Besides having their temperature checked and filling out health questionnaires, they will download a smartphone app to report their health status daily to authorities. The screening already applied to visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, Italy and Iran. South Korea also bans people coming from Hubei, the province in China with by far the most infections and deaths.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. Some, especially older adults and those with existing health problems, develop more severe illnesses such as 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.

Beijing, which has identified 18 imported cases in the past week, announced it would require anyone arriving from overseas to quarantine for 14 days. Previously, only those from places with serious outbreaks had to do so. Shanghai, with eight imported cases confirmed so far, said late Thursday that people coming from Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Iran, South Korea, Japan and the U.S. would have to do the same.

Police in Beijing say they are investigating a family of eight that returned home from Italy, four of whom had contracted the virus. They allegedly took cold medicine to lower their fevers and falsified their health declaration forms, police said.

The case is one of at least three in China under investigation. South of Shanghai in Zhejiang province, six people who worked in a restaurant in Italy and developed coughs, headaches and fevers before returning are under investigation for failing to report their health condition when entering China, according to Chinese media reports.

In the north, the Epidemic Prevention and Control Center in Zhengzhou city said a 30-year-old construction worker who had traveled to Milan via Abu Dhabi falsely reported his foreign travels. It didn't specify how he did so. He has been put in isolation with a fever and police are investigating.

China has begun evacuating its citizens from one virus-hit country, Iran, echoing earlier flights organized by other nations to bring back their nationals from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, after China cut off commercial air and rail service in a lockdown of the region to restrict the spread of the virus.

A charter flight with 164 passengers arrived in the city of Chengdu this week, following two flights bringing back 311 Chinese citizens to the city of Lanzhou in Gansu province last week. The earlier flights led to a spike in new cases, with Gansu reporting 36 imported ones since they landed.

"We will ... take all necessary measures to ensure the safety and legitimate rights and interests of overseas Chinese citizens," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said this week.

China has dispatched medical teams to Iran, Iraq and Italy and said it would contribute $20 million to the World Health Organization in support of its efforts to combat the virus. A nine-person medical team with nine cargo pallets of equipment including lung ventilators arrived in Rome on Thursday night.

China, which bristled at a blanket U.S. ban imposed on non-citizens arriving from China, has chosen to quarantine people rather than ban anyone. President Donald Trump has expanded that ban to several European countries, drawing sharp criticism from the European Union.

Japan's moves to control the epidemic struck a raw nerve in South Korea, where resentment persists over Japan's colonization of the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century.

After Japan imposed a 14-day quarantine on visitors from South Korea and China, South Korea responded by ending visa-free entry for Japanese citizens and putting them under special screening measures at points of entry.

South Korea has confirmed about 8,000 cases, the fourth highest in the world after China, Italy and Iran.

 The Associated Press

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In January-February 2020, gas imports into Ukraine totalled 1.438 million cubic meters, up 57% compared to the same period last year.

"In February 2020, 981 million cubic meters of natural gas was imported into Ukraine, up 47% compared to February 2019," the press service of the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine reports.

As of March 11, 2020, gas was imported exclusively from the European Union countries. Ukraine has not been importing gas from the Russian Federation since November 2015.

In particular, in January-February 2020, gas imports from Slovakia amounted to 987 million cubic meters, up 59% compared to the corresponding period last year, from Hungary - 229 million cubic meters, up 41%, from Poland - 222 million cubic meters, up 140%. The imports from Poland also include 178 million cubic meters of virtual reverse.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 13

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Export Credit Bank of Turkey TURKIYE IHRACAT KREDI BANKASI A.S. has announced an open tender to rent vehicles.

Both local and foreign companies can participate in the tender.

The tender will be held at 11:00 (GMT +3) on March 25, 2020.

Those willing to participate should send their requests and proposals to: Saray Mah. Ahmet Tevfik Ileri Cad. No: 19 34768 Umraniye/Istanbul.

For further information please contact: [email protected]

Phone: (+90 216) 666 55 00

Fax: (+90 216) 666 58 85

The tender participation fee is 400 Turkish liras ($65.6).

(1 USD = 6.2376 TRY on Mar. 13)

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13

By Matanat Nasibova- Trend:

Elektrogas LLC, an Azerbaijani-Chinese joint venture, producing heating systems, significantly decreased the production volume of combi boilers, the companys Director Elnur Jamilli told Trend.

Jamilli added the company currently is not working at full capacity.

In this mode, the enterprise has been operating almost since the beginning of 2020, since due to coronavirus spread, the import of raw materials (spare parts for boilers) from China was suspended, he noted.

The companys director also noted that the enterprise sold more than 3,000 units of combi boilers domestically.

There is a great demand for combi boilers in the domestic market, therefore, we are going to significantly increase production after the plant starts operating again at full capacity," Jamilli stressed.

Elektrogas produces combi boilers with power from 24 to 52 kW. In the future, we are going to increase these indicators to 100 kW. The enterprise produces six types of combi boilers, three of which are intended for export. The cost of one combi boiler in the local market is 450 manat ($264.7), with a two-year warranty period, the director said.

Local and Chinese investments in the amount of 2 million manat (over $1.1 million) were attracted to establish the company. In the future, it is planned to increase investment to 11 million manat ($6.4 million).

The plant has been operating since April 2019. The Elektrogas LLC is located in Bakus Zabrat settlement.

(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on March 13)

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova
Greys Anatomy is going on a hiatus.

The ABC medical drama is temporarily shutting down production due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. The shows executive producers shared the news in a letter Thursday to cast and crew.

ABC's

Out of an abundance of caution, production is postponed on Greys Anatomy effective immediately, begins the letter, which a spokesperson for the show shared with TODAY. We are going home now for at least two weeks and waiting to see how the coronavirus situation evolves.

The producers added that the decision was made in accordance with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcettis advice to not gather in groups of 50 or more.

Greys Anatomy is in the middle of its 16th season, and there's no word yet on when filming may resume. In the meantime, the shows producers urged cast and crew to protect themselves.

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay hydrated, stay home as much as possible, and wash your hands frequently, the shows producers said in their note to the cast and crew. Please take care of yourselves and each other. As updates come in, we will keep you informed.

Greys Anatomy is set in Washington state, which as of Thursday has 457 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the highest reported number of the 50 states.

In a lighthearted moment on Twitter amid concerns surrounding the virus, some fans pointed out that now is when people need the show's star, Dr. Meredith Grey, the most.

ABC's

can meredith grey hurry up and find a cure to the coronavirus already??  evelyn . (@eveeelyynn_) March 13, 2020

Can meredith grey hurry up and find a cure to the coronavirus already?? one fan tweeted about Ellen Pompeos beloved character.

Others wondered if Greys Anatomy will feature a coronavirus storyline one day.

I cant wait for next season of Greys Anatomy when we get a Coronavirus episode and Meredith Grey cures it. #GreysAnatomy  Brooke Gerecke (@yo_its_bro) March 13, 2020

I cant wait for next season of Greys Anatomy when we get a Coronavirus episode and Meredith Grey cures it, one fan tweeted.

Story continues

Ellen Pompeo, who plays Grey on the show, posted a video Friday afternoon to her Instagram, thanking healthcare workers for their dedication during the coronavirus outbreak.

"Many of us have the privilege to self-quarantine and isolate and try to stay healthy and none of you have that privilege," she said in the video. "You all have to be on the front lines of this thing ... so this is just from me and my family to all of you, we say thank you, we appreciate you, we love you, stay safe!"

Greys Anatomy is one of many shows that have paused production amid concerns about the coronavirus. The Tonight Show, Late Night With Seth Meyers" and "The Late Show" have suspended tapings, while other late-night and daytime shows said they will film without studio audiences.

NBC News also announced that Rockefeller Plaza has been closed to TODAY fans and live audiences for TODAY with Hoda & Jenna have been suspended until further notice.

Diana Dasrath contributed to this report.
SYRACUSE, N.Y.  Syracuse strip clubs report no declines in business amid the coronavirus outbreak, though employees and managers say they are worried about the coming days.

And three clubs contacted by Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard said they are taking additional steps to sanitize every surface and themselves.

I watched this one girl fill her hand up with hand sanitizer and just rub it all over her body, said a Lookers employee who identified himself as Jacob Connor. She was like, Im not catching this coronavirus.

Strippers and dancers in Syracuse and elsewhere face huge income loss and higher risk of contracting or spreading the virus, said Bella Vendetta, a stripper advocate who has danced in Upstate New York and Western Massachusetts. She used her stage name in an interview with Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

Vendetta recently put together a list of recommendations for dancers and club owners on behalf of the stripper advocacy organization Team ClearHeels 413 in Massachusetts, and it has been shared across the country.

Recommendations include leaving disinfectant wipes on the stage between sets, prohibiting all physical contact between dancers and customers, and using one-time-use plastic cups at the bar instead of glasses.

Many industries have developed new protocol and protective measures to keep their workers and customers safe, Vendetta wrote. We believe the stripclub industry should be no different.

In addition to lost money, strippers like her have few workplace protections to help them stay healthy and financially stable, she said.

The safest thing to do is stay home, but thats not an option for a lot of people, she said. Ive never heard of any dancer having paid sick leave anywhere in the country.

At 3:40 p.m. on Wednesday in Syracuse, an employee at Diamond Dolls named Lily said the club was too busy for her to take time to discuss the virus. Later on Wednesday, a different employee and occasional dancer," who also gave her name as Lily, said the club has upped its supply of cleaners.

Thats the case at Bada Bing and Lookers, employees said. Three other strip clubs in Syracuse declined to comment or could not be reached for comment.

Technically we should be worried, because our business is based on people-to-people contact, said Connor, of Lookers. People might be afraid to come to clubs. But no, we havent seen any shortage at all.

Employees are working over time to clean up surfaces after each use, he said.

Weve been taking extra precautions like with counters, doorknobs, he said. We try to make sure that whenever someone comes in, someone is coming behind them to clean up whatever surface they touch or whatever.

At Bada Bing, a manager who declined to give her name said she placed two big bottles of hand sanitizer at each end of the bar, which she cleans with bleach every night.

Vendetta recommended that club customers take extra steps to keep dancers and themselves safe, like be vigilant about their own hygiene and try to keep their distance.

Also, an outbreak like this means there are fewer customers and more dancers fighting for their business, she said.

So, if they can, tip their dancers really well because everyone is going through a hard time right now, she said.

Patrick Lohmann covers breaking news and many other topics. He can be reached via email at PLohmann@Syracuse.com or by phone at (315)766-6670.

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
The first great breath you scoop into your lungs as you descend from the plane in Bend, Oregon, is the moment you realise what those millions of tree-shaped air fresheners, bathroom cleansers and sprays have been trying to approximate; this is what pine fresh actually smells like.

Do we spend enough time talking about what places smell like when we travel? Say, the primeval damp filtered with wood smoke in the jungle north of Chiang Rai, the humid tang of south Florida, or the sunbaked dust of Rome? Well, central Oregon smells like heaven  if heaven were surrounded by forests of juniper, great Ponderosa pines, and blinding white snow caps topped with an endless blue sky.

A three-and-a-half-hour drive from Portland, Bend is in Oregons high desert, along the eastern flanks of the Cascade Range. Its the sunniest spot in the state, with close to 300 sunny days a year, and the flip side to Portlands grey skies  a reminder that the Pacific Northwest is a vast region, one that still hews to its western heritage, with space for everyone from beanie-wearing hipsters to fervid skiers to cattle ranchers.
Hyderabad, March 13 : A software engineer, who was tested positive for COVID-19 early this month, was discharged from government-run Gandhi Hospital on Friday.

Doctors said the 24-year-old was allowed to go home as he had fully recovered. However, he has been advised strict home isolation for two weeks.

The techie, the lone COVID-19 positive case from Telangana, was discharged after his samples were twice tested negative. He returned to his home in Secunderabad here.

Director of Public Health, G. Srinivasa Rao, said with the techie being discharged, Telangana has no COVID-19 positive cases.

The techie was tested positive on March 2, a few days after he returned from Dubai, where was suspected to have contracted the virus. After landing in Bengaluru, where he works for a IT firm, the man reached Hyderabad by bus. For five days he was under treatment of a private hospital in Secunderabad for flu like symptoms. As there was no relief, he was sent to Gandhi Hospital.

The authorities had also screened all his family members, those who came into contact with him at the private hospital and also those who travelled with him in the bus from Bengaluru. None of them were tested positive.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh evokes extreme reactions, through his speeches and actions. His nomination for a second term in the Rajya Sabha, amid controversy over Jyotiraditya Scindia joining the BJP, has also raised conflicting voices

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh evokes extreme reactions, through his speeches and actions. His nomination for a second term in the Rajya Sabha, amid controversy over Jyotiraditya Scindia joining the BJP, has also raised conflicting voices.

While a section of the party feels that his re-nomination is a sign of deterioration of the Congress, others feel Digvijaya has been rewarded for his dedication to the party.

Former two-term Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh filed his nomination in Bhopal on Thursday for the Rajya Sabha election on 26 March. Three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh, currently held by Digvijaya Singh, and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya, are falling vacant next month.

The ongoing political drama in Madhya Pradesh over Rajya Sabha seats witnessed resignation of senior Congress leader Scindia along with 22 MLAs from the party on 10 March. Both Scindia and Digvijaya were in contention for the Congress berth to the Upper House.

As the party chose Digvijaya over Scindia, question is being raised over the Congress top leadership's obsession with the former.

"It's Digvijaya Singh who created the rift in the party in Madhya Pradesh, which got deepened and led to this imbroglio. After staying out of power for 15 years, Congress formed government and now within one-and-half years, it's going to lose it. We're trying to know why the party high command is so obsessed with Digvijaya? Whenever he had commented in public, it turned into a self-goal. In Kamal Nath government, he interfered in everything from transfer-posting to decision-making within the organisation. He has been acting as de-facto CM," ex-Congress spokesperson and a Scindia loyalist, Pankaj Chaturvedi told Firstpost.

"What was wrong in questioning unfulfilled promises made by the government? Right from Day One, attempts were made to corner Scindia ji. He was actively prevented by Digvijaya Singh faction from becoming state Congress chief and from getting the Rajya Sabha nomination. Now after Digvijayas nomination, the conspiracy has become evident," added Chaturvedi, who too has resigned along with Scindia.

One may recall in 2018, Digvijaya justified his absence from poll rallies by saying, "When I speak, Congress loses votes."

However, a big section in the party has reasons to justify why Digvijaya is indispensable for the top leadership of the Congress party. They attribute Congress' return to power in Madhya Pradesh after 15 years to Digvijaya.

"Digvijayaji single-handedly ensured Congress' victory in Madhya Pradesh after 15 years. One-and-half years ahead of the assembly election, besides undertaking Narmada Parikrama, he visited each constituency to connect with the people on ground. As on date, he has the backing of 65 to 70 MLAs and enjoys popularity across the state, but he never aspired to become CM, nor did he demanded the post for his son  a two-term MLA. The Congress leadership has rewarded Digvijayaji for his dedication and it's only he who has the guts to take the BJP head on in the Parliament," ex-PCC member and Congress worker, Bhujit Doshi told Firstpost.

"For a century, our family has been serving the Congress party but neither my forefathers nor I ever got ticket. Did I quit the party, even after being lured by the opposition? I believe, as you cant change your parents, you cant change your political ideology and party. But Scindia did. He shouldnt forget that he lost from his home turf, unlike Digvijaya who showed courage to accept high command's order and contest from Bhopal, which is known as the BJP-RSS bastion," added Doshi.

Amid contrarian views aired by Congressmen, the political watchers view the situation as an attempt by the party leadership to safeguard the 'core group' of the Congress party.

"Congress is doing hara-kiri not only in Madhya Pradesh but in the country as well by going out of the way to nominate Digvijaya to Rajya Sabha for a second term. People of the state still remember how he caused damage to the state's economy, infrastructure and industries during his 10-year tenure as CM. In fact, it's an attempt to safeguard the innermost core  also the clique  within the Congress party that comprises Gandhi family and a few strong loyalists like Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vora, etc. Digvijaya enjoys strong support of Ahmed Patel due to which he has been re-nominated," political commentator and former editor, India Today Hindi, Jagdish Upasane told Firstpost.

From Digvijayas critics or his followers, almost all believe that during his tenure as CM, he filled the party's coffers in bad times and therefore he has aptly been rewarded.
This visual quiz challenges you to name the film based on the clues in a single scene.

The images, created by UK-based furniture company Arlo & Jacob, imagine what the homes of film characters might look like, with hints to the plot, setting and costume of the world in which they live.

You'll need a broad knowledge of films in order to get all five correct.

Think you have what it takes? Scroll down to see the scenes - and then check your answers at the bottom.

1.

Handmade designer furniture makers Arlo & Jacob have produced five images of film interiors people in the UK would most like to bring to life. Look closely at the paintings and wall ornaments here - anything familiar?

2.

There are some meaningful emblems, initials and animals present in this one.. think very hard and see if anything pops into your head by magic

3.

A white tuxedo and a significant cocktail, what does this sleek scene remind you of?

4.

A scene from another land! The signs are all there including a top hat but can you figure it out?

5.

A glimpse at this and two things will surely give this away - even to those who aren't die hard fans
PAW PAW, MI  Paw Paw Schools are closed today as a precaution after a school official learned a Paw Paw student was recently in contact with someone now being tested for the coronavirus and awaiting results, the school district said.

Paw Paw Schools closed on Friday March 13, which is one school day earlier than all schools are expected to close following an order from the governor. The district explained the decision in a Friday Facebook post.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered all schools across Michigan to close beginning March 16 to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Superintendent Rick Reo received information on the evening of Thursday, March 12, that a student was in contact with someone who is now being tested for the coronavirus and is awaiting the results, the school district posted on Facebook.

Reo said there is a high likelihood that the illness is not coronavirus.

Paw Paw Public Schools decided to err on the side of safety, and exercise extreme caution by closing schools today, he said.

The school district did not immediately respond to a request for more information. More detailed information will be sent out to families and staff via email and a phone call Friday afternoon.

Read more:

Paw Paw schools closed after student contact with someone being tested for coronavirus

Kalamazoo College switches to distance instruction for coronavirus concerns
Universities have handed out nearly 3m to students for lost teaching hours from strikes in recent years.

Students were paid as much as 4,500 in tuition fee refunds but most of the elite institutions did not offer any financial compensation to students disrupted by walkouts in 2018 and 2019.

At one university, final-year students were given Amazon vouchers rather than cash as a goodwill gesture after hundreds logged complaints about missed lectures and seminars.

The figures come as the latest round of walkouts come to a close. Third-year students have had lessons cancelled in their freshers year and have been hit twice by strikes this academic year.

At least 18,500 students have been awarded payments worth more than 2.9m for university strikes that took place in 2018 and last year, according to data obtained by The Independent.

Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Show all 27 1 /27 Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Inside the occupation, students hold up signs with their demands Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes On the second day of the strikes, over forty students shut down Old Schools and Senate House with a hard blockade across all entrances Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Students hang banners in support of the UCU strikes and a Pride Rainbow flag Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Over 50 students occupy The Old Schools of Cambridge University in support of the UCU strikes Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes On the first evening of the Occupation, the students declared the opening of a new college - Solidarity College - as part of their vision for the reclamation of the Old Schools of the University Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes List of demands seen outside the University Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes The students have stated they will remain in occupation until the University concedes their demands Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes 'Freedom is always the freedom of the Dissenter' quote on poster taped on the wall Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Students are drawing attention to the vast and growing inequality between managers and other workers Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Inside the Old Schools where over 50 students have occupied the space in support of UCU strikes Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Code of Conduct set out by the students for the occupation Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Posters for the occupation made by the students Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Student exits the occupied Old Schools building from a window Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes A students looks out of the window as UCU protesters gather to stage a rally outside the university Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Many people have been donating food and sleeping supplies, providing all-round support to the students. Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes UCU demands include fair pay, equality of wages and recognising UCU as a Union Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes The emergency door alarm which went off when students gained entry, is covered in newspaper to suppress the sound Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes The building was also occupied in 2010 and 2018 by Cambridge Defend Education Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Window used for entry into the occupation Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes The students hold a meeting inside the occupied Old Schools Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes During the third week of UCU strikes, students have mobilised to support the demands of their striking workers and lecturers Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Last week, students launched 13,475 paper planes made from money notes on to Senate House Lawn to symbolise Stephen Toopes 475,000 annual salary Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Students from inside the occupation light a flare in solidarity with the UCU protesters staging a rally outside the university Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes The action was taken by students in support of striking staff, and was part of the escalation to pressure the university into accepting UCU demands Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes The students call for the VC, Stephen Toope to make a public statement calling for UCUs demands to be met by employers and the national pensions and employment bodies Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes The students have stated they will remain in occupation until the University concedes these demands Angela Christofilou/The Independent Students occupy Cambridge building in support of UCU strikes Window used for entry into the occupation Angela Christofilou/The Independent

But only 11 universities, out of 66 institutions which responded to freedom of information requests, have given out cash despite widespread demands from students for refunds.

It comes after universities were brought to a standstill in 2018 when University and College Union (UCU) members staged 14 days of strikes in 65 institutions in a row over pensions.

Last year, students faced eight more days of strike action at 60 universities over pensions, pay and working conditions and a further 14 days of walkouts have taken place in recent weeks.

Now figures obtained by The Independent show that 16 of 20 Russell Group universities that responded to the request did not offer any money despite facing numerous complaints.

Nick Hillman, director of think tank Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), said he was surprised by the low number of universities that had offered payments to students.

I am sympathetic to students who make financial claims to cover missed lectures and seminars, he said. On the face of it, anyone who pays for something they are not getting has a moral and legal right to recompense.

But he acknowledged that offering compensation is not a simple process and universities will have already tried to make amends to help affected students.

My biggest worry is not financial. It is about gaps in students knowledge from which they might suffer long-term disadvantages, Mr Hillman said

Thousands of requests for compensation and complaints have been logged to universities across the UK, the figures show. It comes after students have set up petitions calling for refunds.

Recommended Students face punishment after supporting striking lecturers

At Kings College London (KCL), more than 500 students had their tuition fees partially refunded because of the strikes. More than 640,000 was awarded to students, ranging from 122 to 4,500 each.

And yet in other institutions, only a handful of students were given one-off payments. University College London (UCL) paid out just over 6,000 to eight students after they submitted complaints.

Jess, a former UCL masters student, said she sought compensation after she missed out on around half of her teaching time in her final term but her request was refused.

She told The Independent: The main impact it had was on my stress levels. It meant limited access to academic resources and less chance to see tutors.

This limited what we could confidently study and made me, and others, far more worried about the quality of our work.

The English graduate added: It also created immense frustration because Id saved for so long to attend and I essentially missed a big chunk of the MA Id spent the money on.

UCL said refunding tuition fees in respect of industrial action is not part of its policy. Payments were made to students who complained they were disadvantaged without appropriate mitigation.

Students at other universities, including Loughborough, Roehampton and Essex, did not receive tuition fee refunds but were instead offered goodwill payments for cancelled lectures and seminars.

Essex University allocated 180 to students who had more than 17 teaching events cancelled during the action in 2018. Students who missed out on between one and eight events received just 40.

And Sussex University established an ex gratia scheme to provide payments to students that suffered distress from strikes in 2018 and 2019. So far 1.1m has been paid out to thousands of students.

The University of Edinburgh also set up an opportunity fund, made up from money not spent on salaries during strikes, which provided more than 1m to 4,410 students affected by industrial action.

At Kent University, nearly 5,000 final-year students in 2018 were offered Amazon vouchers after the university received 500 complaints about disruption.

Other universities, which have not offered any payments, said they have carried out other actions to mitigate the impact on students  including adjusting coursework and exam timetables.

Some institutions have used the money withheld from striking staff to go towards student mental health support.

But many of the universities which responded to the request did not set out how they had minimised disruption or how withheld salaries would be spent on students.

Jo Grady, general secretary of UCU, said: Students have shown phenomenal support for staff throughout the strikes, and understandably want to hold their institutions to account for the disruption they have faced, so its no surprise they are seeking compensation.

Students should demand transparency from their institutions on finances and how pay withheld from striking staff is being spent  these are significant sums that should be used for the benefit of students and staff.

We would also urge students to put further pressure on vice-chancellors by asking what specific actions they are taking to help end the disputes and avoid any further disruption.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students (OfS), said: We expect universities and colleges to do all they can to avoid disruption for students, and to minimise the impact of industrial action on their studies.

That means that they need to think about how best to make up for missed teaching and make clear to students how they will respond if examinations or assessments are affected.

We require universities and colleges to comply with our regulatory conditions during industrial action as at any other time. That means that they must do all they can to mitigate against the impacts of this action, and keep students informed at every stage.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: Students rightly expect to get a good deal for their investment in higher education and in the event that any student was seriously affected by strike action we would expect universities to take appropriate action, which could include compensation.

A spokesperson for Universities UK said: We understand that missed teaching time is unsettling. The specific approach to putting things right will vary by institution.

If students feel their studies have been negatively impacted and alternative arrangements are inadequate, they should complain through their university in the first instance.

If students are not satisfied with the response from their university they are able to escalate their complaint to the relevant Ombudsman for their country.

In some cases, students may be entitled to a partial refund or financial compensation. This would be where there is evidence of a breach of contract where the university has been unable to put in place reasonable alternative arrangements, for example.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 20:31:05|Editor: xuxin

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TOKYO, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Police in central Japan said Friday they have launched a probe into a man who was infected with COVID-19 and tried to "spread the virus."

The investigation came a day after a woman in her 30s tested positive for the virus after coming into contact with the man earlier this month at a local pub in Aichi Prefecture.

The man in his 50s was on suspicion of interfering with business activities as he went to the pub after knowing his infection and expressed his desire to "spread the virus."

He visited the Filipino pub where the woman worked despite authorities' instructions to stay indoors on March 4, the same day he tested positive for the virus, according to officials.

The woman developed a fever on March 8 and currently has a sore throat. She is in stable condition but is scheduled to be hospitalized.

The man stayed there for around 40 minutes and told an employee at the pub that he had tested positive for the virus, prompting the staff to report him to the police and a health center.

Following the report, police officers in protective gear hurried to the pub, which also had to be disinfected by health officials.

The man said he also went to a bar that same night and stayed there for 15 minutes but did not speak of his infection.
Accusing the Congress and its



alliance partners of only indulging in vote bank and appeasement politics, BJP president J P Nadda on Friday said for his party national interest was of utmost importance.

Noting that for some people in India, secularism means appeasement of minority for votes, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP believes in appeasement of none, but mainstreaming of everyone.

For the Congress and all other political parties with them, he claimed it is vote bank first, country last.

"It is the BJP that believes country first and party last. National interest cannot be compromised for political interests," Nadda said.

"But, they (Congress and allies) believe in vote bank .you (Congress) are playing vote bank nothing else...," he added.

Nadda was speaking at a party event here that was attended by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, among others.

Pointing out that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's political will that decided several long standing issues like triple talaq, among others, he said "We (BJP) have that moral courage and political will."



Nadda lauded the restraint shown by the country when the Ayodhya verdict came out, by respecting the sentiment of the other community.

"See the maturity of our political party that believed and went through the legal system, while a lawyer from the Congress party with political colour appealed to Supreme Court not to pass judgment before 2019 Lok Sabha polls, as BJP will benefit from it.

Settling issues is not important for them (Congress). For them political gain or loss is important," he claimed.

Strongly defending abrogation of Article 370, Nadda said "it fulfilled the dream of one nation, one pradhan (Prime Minister), one nishan (symbol).It was done in letter and spirit."



He rubbished claims that after abrogation people of Jammu and Kashmir were not in the mainstream of society, he said they were very much in the mainstream and much happier.

Stating that he knows Jammu and Kashmir well as he was party in-charge there in the past, Nadda said the situation on the ground was different from what the media presents.

"I'm saying this with full authority in command...it is few family driven political parties who are not happy," he said.

Listing developmental facilities and programmes that were available to the people of the rest of India but not to people of Jammu and Kashmir due to article 370, he said its abrogation has brought in a change by providing this.

Highlighting religious persecution of minorities in neighbouring countries, Nadda strongly defended the Centre's decision to bring in the Citizenship Amendment Act.

CAA is bringing refugees, who had come to India because of religious persecution, to the mainstream, he said, as he accused Congress of practising of hypocrisy.

The congress is not thinking about the nation but vote bank politics, he claimed, adding, "that is why they are opposing CAA, not allowing Parliament to function.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Just days after reportedly designating President Hassan Rouhani to head the fight against coronavirus, the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader has called on the country's Armed Forces to help contain the epidemic.

In an "edict" to the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Mohammad Baqeri, Ali Khamenei has emphasized on the need for setting a "health and treatment headquarters" to prevent further spread of the killer Covid-19 across the country.

Mohammad Baqeri is an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General, directly appointed by Khamenei.

Furthermore, joining voices with the IRGC Chief Commander, Major General Hossein Salami, the 80-year-old cleric has implicitly described novel coronavirus epidemic as an American "biological attack."

"Since there is speculation that this incident might be a 'biological attack,' this measure could also be some form of biological defense drill, which would add to national power and strength," Khamenei said.

Salami had speculated on March 5 that the global coronavirus outbreak might be a "U.S. biological warfare attack on China."

Khamenei's decision is an apparent blow to Rouhani's authority as the head of the government.

Meanwhile, in his letter addressed to the Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces, Khamenei said he wants the military to work closely with Iran's Ministry of Health and establish a headquarters for countering Covid-19.

More than 10,000 are infected with Novel Coronavirus, and 429 have fallen victim to Covid-19 in Iran, according to official figures.

However, an investigative report by Radio Farda based on statements made by local officials in various parts of Iran put the sum total of confirmed COVID-19 related deaths in thirty out of 31 Iranian provinces at a minimum of 927 as of last Monday evening.
MBABANE  Dont touch pension benefits except where that judgment is in respect of maintenance!



The Supreme Court has declared that pension benefits of public officers should not be a subject of an attachment by order of the court for satisfaction of any judgment or pending determination of civil proceedings to which such persons were party except where that judgment is in respect of maintenance.



Usually, the State would approach the courts for an order to withhold pension benefits for civil servants who had been dismissed for misappropriation of funds. Most of the culprits were head teachers and officers from law enforcement agencies.



Dismissed



The Supreme Court made this declaration in the matter of Lucky Mhlanga who was employed as a head teacher until May 24, 2016 when he was dismissed for failing to account for funds in the amount of E114 333.75.



During the time he was employed by government, he was a contributing member of the Public Service Pension Fund. On March 23, 2017, government initiated proceedings in the High Court for an order interdicting the Public Service Pension Fund from paying out any pension benefits to Mhlanga pending the final determination of an action for damages it had instituted against him.



The matter was first heard by the full bench of the High Court which comprises of Justices Mbutfo Mamba, Mumcy Dlamini and Sipho Nkosi.

Judgment was delivered on August 1, 2018 wherein the full bench of the High Court held that Section 32(2) of the Retirement Fund, which permitted such attachment, was inconsistent with Section 195 (6) of the Constitution and therefore was invalid.



Section 32 (3) provides as follows; A retirement fund may deduct an amount from a members benefit in respect of; (a) an amount representing the loss suffered by the employer due to any unlawful activity of the member and for which judgment has been obtained against the member in a court or a written acknowledgment of culpability has been signed by the member and provided that the aforesaid written acknowledgment is witnessed by the member and who had no less than eight years of formal education (b) an amount for which the employee is liable under a guarantee issue by the employer for purposes of obtaining a housing loan; provided that an original notarised document exists which confirms that the guarantee was made.



Invalid



The full bench of the High Court found that Section 32(2) of the Retirement Fund Act, which permitted such attachment, was inconsistent with Section 195 (6) of the Constitution and therefore was invalid.



Government, being dissatisfied with the judgment of the full bench, noted an appeal against the judgment. The appeal was heard and determined by Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala, Judge Phesheya Dlamini, Judge Majahenkhaba Dlamini, Judge Robert Cloete and Judge Stanley Maphalala.

During the argument of the appeal, the State contended that the High Court erred in law in holding that Section 196 (1) of the Constitution was a provision of general application.



Section 195(6) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini provides as follows: Pension benefits of public officers shall not be subject of attachment by order of court for the satisfaction of any judgment or civil proceedings other than in respect of maintenance.

It was further governments contention that the full bench of the High Court erred in law and in fact by holding that Section 32(2) of the Retirement Fund Act 6/2005 was inconsistent with Section 195(6) of the Constitution.



In dismissing the appeal the Supreme Court judges said it was of the view that the provisions of Section 32(2) should be amended by the Legislature.

The provision of Section 32 (2) shall be read and interpreted as if without the existing wording an amount representing the loss suffered by the employer due to any unlawful activity of the member and for which judgment has been obtained against a member in court or, said the Supreme Court.



Legislature



The court went on to grant the Legislature a period of 12 month from the date of its judgment to amend the legislation accordingly. The Supreme Court said: Otherwise the said portion of Section 32(2) shall be deemed to be struck down.



Respondents in the matter were the Government of Eswatini, Public Service Pension Fund and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA).

Mhlanga was represented by Bonginkhosi Xaba while appearing for Eswatini Government was Principal Crown Counsel Ndababenhle Dlamini. For the respondent was senior lawyer Kenneth Motsa of Robinson Bertram.
Burma 20 Villages Abandoned as Rakhine Rebels Attack Myanmar Army Outpost

A map showing the clashes between Myanmars military and the Arakan Army on March 10. / Arakan Army

Sittwe, Rakhine State  The monthlong fighting between Myanmars military and Arakan Army (AA) to the east of the Kaladan River on the border of Rakhine States Kyauktaw and Chin States Paletwa has forced nearly 20 villages to be abandoned.

Our village was reduced to ashes. All the houses were burned down days ago and artillery shells landed on the village monastery yesterday, the village administrator of Mont Than Pyin, U Kyaw Sein, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

Everyone living along the Kaladan River has fled to either Paletwa or Kyauktaw. The fighting is still fierce. We no longer have homes to return to and have even lost the monastery, he added.

Seven villages along the east bank of the Kaladan and 11 on the west bank have been abandoned.

Fighting has been taking place since Feb. 6 around Myanmars military Meewa hilltop outpost in Paletwa Township. The AA has been trying to take control of the outpost, according to Myanmars military.

Artillery shells have landed in Mont Than Pyin, Pyaing Tine and Kyaw Shi Pyin villages, killing and wounding several villagers, according to residents.

Mont Than Pyin was hit hardest with all 66 houses in the village flattened by shelling, which also killed cattle.

Many people have fled to urban areas. Residents in the town cannot stand the sounds of shelling, Rakhine State Kyauktaw lawmaker U Maung Maung told The Irrawaddy.

Myanmars military attacked with two jet fighters near Tin Ma village to the east of the Kaladan on Thursday, said a Buddhist monk from the village.

There is fighting almost every day near our village. Today [Myanmars military] bombed with two jet fighters. And military troops stationed on top of a hill outside the village also carried out shelling. As I could no longer bear the sounds of heavy gunfire, I closed the monastery and left, the monk told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

Both the Myanmar military and the AA confirmed fierce clashes between the AA fighters and the Light Infantry Battalion 7 based in Phayagyi, Bago Region, which came to reinforce the Meewa outpost on Tuesday.

The AA claimed that it detained 20 soldiers, including a battalion commander, in the fighting. Myanmars military spokesman Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy that they lost contact with the troops when they were attacked by the AA to the southwest of the Meewa outpost on Tuesday morning.

What we can say is there are military personnel who have gone missing and who we have lost contact with. We are trying to restore contact with them. Were told all the villagers have fled and AA fighters are occupying those villages. Our troops are taking security measures in the surrounding areas, he told The Irrawaddy.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

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AA Claim Seizure of Myanmar Battalion Commander After Heavy Fighting

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(Natural News) If you carry out a search for coronavirus and vitamin C, many of the top matches are mainstream outlets warning people that its nothing more than a myth. Yet doctors in the thick of the outbreak are taking a very different view. After carrying out successful clinical trials, the government of Shanghai, China, is now officially recommending that high amounts of intravenous vitamin C be used to treat the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

The dosage they recommend depends on the severity of the individuals illness, but it ranges from 50 to 200 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, per day. That equates to roughly 4,000 to 16,000 milligrams in adults. This is according to reports from the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service.

According to Dr. Atsuo Yanagisawa, an intravenous therapy expert and president of the Japanese College of Intravenous Therapy, the delivery method is important because the effect of vitamin C is ten times greater when it is administered via IV versus being taken orally. He stated: Intravenous vitamin C is a safe, effective, and broad-spectrum antiviral.

Another expert who echoes this sentiment is Chinese-American specialist physician Dr. Richard Z. Cheng. He has been working closely with Chinese medical and governmental authorities and helped to facilitate clinical studies there into the use of IV vitamin C.

Meanwhile, a statement by the Xian Jiaotong University Second Hospital explained how high-dose vitamin C achieved good results in clinical applications. They said they believe patients suffering from severe pneumonia and those who are critically ill should be started on vitamin C treatment as soon as possible after being admitted to the hospital as the early application of big doses of the vitamin can curb inflammatory responses, restore endothelial function and serve as a strong antioxidant.

They go on to state that not only can high-dose vitamin C improve peoples antiviral levels, but even more importantly in the case of this disease, it can prevent and help to treat acute respiratory distress and acute lung injury.

One of the most common causes of death related to coronavirus, the flu and other respiratory infections is an inflammatory response known as a cytokine storm. This response is so strong that it damages the body seriously or even causes the patient to die. Vitamin C helps keep this response under control, however, maintaining it at a safer point for healing instead of inflicting additional damage.

Why isnt the mainstream media covering this?

Of course, this is something youre unlikely to see touted on the morning shows or the evening news on the big networks. The mainstream media will continue to tell people to follow the advice of their doctors and gloss over any positive results that are being achieved by natural treatments like vitamin C  even if the good results are being seen in official medical settings in other countries.

So far, at least three different studies into using IV vitamin C to fight coronavirus have been approved in China, with the first one using as much as 24,000 milligrams per day of the vitamin. The second study, which was approved in mid-February, entails giving those with moderate cases 6,000 milligrams per day and administering 12,000 milligrams per day to those whose cases are more severe. The researchers involved in that study would also like to explore whether oral vitamin C might have an effect.

It has also been reported that all-natural oxygen therapy has been used to fight coronavirus successfully in South Korea  another bit of news you might not have heard if you stick only to the mainstream outlets.

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to get worse before it gets better, and suppressing stories about treatments that are genuinely helping people in other parts of the world does the public a huge disservice.
As businesses across the U.S. ask employees to work from home in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, many hourly employees and shift workers whose jobs depend on them being on location are facing an impossible decision: go to work to get paid or stay home to help "flatten the curve" of coronavirus.

That dilemma has helped add fresh fuel to the universal basic income debate. Advocates say if every American were getting some free cash, many more workers wouldn't have to make such a choice.

"Too many Americans are leaving home every day to earn wages and tips to survive, even as businesses dry up and schools are shutting down due to the coronavirus," former presidential candidate Andrew Yang tells CNBC Make It on Friday. Since dropping out of the Democratic race, Yang has started non-profit Humanity Forward to further ideas he popularized with his campaign, including his $1000-per-month UBI payment for all American citizens over 18, which he called the "Freedom Dividend."

"People who may even have symptoms [of COVID-19] are going to work in public places because they don't feel they have a choice," Yang tells CNBC Make It. "A Universal Basic Income would enable these waitresses and parking attendants and [ride-share] drivers to stay home and make the best choice for themselves, their families and their communities."

Yang has been vocal about how a cash infusion would be a smart way to help Americans. On Monday, he tweeted that UBI was the "only stimulus that would work" to support people affected by the coronavirus.

TWEET: Lower interest rates do nothing for the wage worker losing shifts and tips, for the mom stuck at home looking after her child because the school closed, for the restaurant or theatre losing business because people are staying in. The only stimulus that would work is #UBIStimulus.

Twitter users voiced their support for a cash handout as their paychecks fell in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

TWEET: 90% drop

TWEET: Event planner 90% drop

And Yang is not alone in calling for UBI amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district, said Thursday that universal basic income must be among the measures the government takes to protect people during the coronavirus pandemic.

"This is not the time for half measures. We need to take dramatic action now to stave off the worst public health & economic affects," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

AOC Tweet

Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district (who is still technically in the race to be the Democratic presidential nominee, though it's virtually impossible for her to collect enough delegates to win), on Thursday introduced legislation (H.Res.897) which would provide $1,000-per-month for all American adults in non-taxable income until "COVID-19 no longer presents a public health emergency," according to a written statement from her office.

Tulsi Emergency UBI Tweet

Earlier in March, Jason Furman, a professor of the practice of economic policy at Harvard and chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama administration from 2013 through 2017, penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal calling for fiscal stimulus in the form of a one-time cash payment in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

The payment, $1,000 to every adult who is a U.S. citizen or a taxpaying U.S. resident and $500 to every child who meets the same criteria, would help those who have lost their income as a result of coronavirus to pay essential bills or others might save it to spend later, he said in the Wall Street Journal.

"Scientists are working tirelessly to develop a vaccine," Furman wrote. "But these are no reasons to delay putting out a generally applicable economic medicine that would help in any downturn."

While the call for UBI cash payments has seen renewed life as the coronavirus upends the lives and paychecks of many Americans, it is also still polarizing. Critics say cash handouts are expensive and financial assistance ought to be conditional on completing some kind of work or training. Others say it is expensive and anti-capitalistic.

See also:

The number of very rich people surged in 2019here's why

Andrew Yang's new non-profit is giving away $500,000 in free cash as a UBI experiment

Why wealth inequality is driving Democrats in the 2020 election
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Gujarat HC files suo motu PIL over coronavirus, issues notices to govt

India

oi-PTI

Ahmedabad, Mar 13: The Gujarat High Court on Friday registered a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) and issued notice to the state government, including the health as well as legal departments, to stop the spread of coronavirus in the state's judicial set-up.

The PIL was registered sou motu by the division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice A J Shastri. In the order, the bench listed various steps to be taken to stop the spread of the virus in the state and asked the government and its departments to file affidavits within a week with regard to the "status of the directions".

The court also asked the government to apprise it of the details of the persons, if any, affected by coronavirus in Gujarat and the "steps taken by the Government with regard to their treatment".

The matter will be heard on March 20. While observing that the state government as well as the Centre were taking "precautionary measures to control and check the spread and treatment of coronavirus", the chief justice said in the order that the PIL has been filed to "strengthen the hands of the government and to stop the virus from spreading into the judicial set-up of the state".

Calling for strict adherence to the central advisory on coronavirus, the bench directed the government to provide "temperature guns" at the security checkpoints of the high court to check the temperature of visitors.

The bench also asked the authorities to take necessary steps for sanitizing the court building and premises on a daily basis by using appropriate formulations. The bench asked the advocates to "discourage" litigants from attending courts.

"Absence of parties appearing in person may not entail any adverse orders," said Nath in his order, adding that instead of handshakes, people should greet people with folded hands.

Nath added that these directions "be equally applied to all the subordinate courts in the state of Gujarat".

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 13, 2020, 20:40 [IST]
: In the backdrop of



the coronavirus scare, the Kerala Assembly on Friday cut short its ongoing session scheduled till this month-end.

The decision in this regard was taken at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting of the assembly.

Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala attacked the government saying there was no need to cut short the session even as the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha sessions were going on.

He described the government decision as "autocratic" and said it was a "black chapter" in the history of parliamentary democracy.

On Friday, M K Muneer (IUML) moved notice for an adjournment motion seeking a discussion on the coronavirus, which has spread to various parts of the state with 16 people testing positive so far.

The Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan accepted the opposition plea for discussion.

Muneer alleged the laxity on the government's part had resulted in more positive cases surfacing in the state after the first three cases were successfully treated.

He said while the central government had issued a consolidated travel advisory on February 26 stating that those coming from COVID19-infected nations including Italy and South Korea should be quarantined for 14 days, the Health Minister K K Shailaja had told the house that the circular was issued only on March 1, thus "misguiding" the house.

The three-member family, who tested positive for the virus, had reached Kochi on February 29 and according to government had not reported to the health and airport authorities that they had returned from Italy, he said.

The family did shopping and the government was unaware of it.

The opposition's duty is to point the government's lapses, and not to sing praise to the government, Chennithala said.

The Health Minister said this was not the time to find fault with the government.

"Please do not go on a fault finding mission", she said addressing the opposition benches with folded hands.

"We need to stand together at this juncture", she added.

At the panchayat level, Asha and 'kudumbashree' workers have been asked to track if any people in their respective areas have come from abroad.

Survillance at Tamil Nadu and Karnataka borders have been strengthened, she said and sought the cooperation of everyone, including the opposition.

Raju Abraham, Ranni Mla, said there was a big lapse on the part of the three member family who did not report that they had come from Italy.

He also wanted the opposition to withdraw its "media mania" jibe against the health minister.

The Assembly had on Thursday adopted a unanimous resolution urging the Centre to withdraw the circular barring the return of Indian from coronavirus affected countries unless they provide a certificate that proves that they have tested negative for the infection.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hackers are using the world's fear of coronavirus against them.

Security experts found fraudulent websites are using maps tracking the outbreak to infect people's computers and steal personal information.

The malicious software being used is known as AZORult, which was first discovered in 2016 and currently sold in Russian forums with the sole purpose of mining data.

Reason Labs researcher Shai Alfasi investigated the threat and explains in a blog that 'This technique is pretty common.'

'We will likely be seeing an increase in corona malware and corona malware variants well into the foreseeable future.'

Scroll down for video

Security experts found fraudulent websites are using maps tracking the outbreak to infect people's computers and steal personal information. The malicious software being used is known as AZORult, which was first discovered in 2016 and currently sold in Russian forums with the sole purpose of mining dat

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.

The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

Experts say the bug, which has killed around one in 50 patients since the outbreak began in December, is a 'sister' of the SARS illness which hit China in 2002, so has been named after it.

The disease that the virus causes has been named COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.

The motive behind this threat is to steal personal information from people's computers, with a main focus on collecting passwords. Pictured is a map from Johns Hopkins that the hackers recreated for their attack

Approximately 114 countries have reported more than 125,000 have contracted coronavirus and over 4,000 have died across the globe.

The World Health Organization also sounded the alarm that this outbreak is now a pandemic, which is forcing many companies to take extreme measures to keep their employees and customers safe.

The motive behind this threat is to steal personal information from people's computers, with a main focus on collecting passwords, which was first reported on by TechRadar.

Approximately 114 countries have reported more than 125,000 have contracted coronavirus and over 4,000 have died across the globe

'The password-stealing operation process is simple,' Alfasi writes, 'because the malware steals the 'login data' from the installed browser and moves it to 'C:\Windows\Temp'.'

The map used to trick unsuspecting users mimics one from Johns Hopkins in order to trick unsuspecting users into clicking on the applet.

Alfasi urges the public to only stick to verified corona virus tracking maps and check the URL of a link before clicking.

Cybersecurity experts have also revealed that since January more than 4,000 coronavirus-related domains have been registered and some 300 are deemed 'malicious' or 'suspicious'.

A new report, released by Check Point, found that domains about the virus are 50 percent more likely to be owned by cybercriminals than other domains registered during the same time period.

Omer Dembinksy, security researcher at Check Point, told DailyMail.com that fraudulent sites offering information or test kits in order to gather people's information or receive payment.

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A new report, released by Check Point , found that domains about the virus are 50 percent more likely to be owned by cybercriminals than other domains registered during the same time period

'There is going to be a big increase in malicious coronavirus-themed websites over the next few months, but they will begin to slow as time goes on, Dembinksy told DailyMail.com in an interview.

'We found that the current malicious domains are asking users fill out details or provide payment.'

'Hackers are also sending emails prompting users to download a file claiming to offer more information about the virus, which gives them access to the user's computer.'

Check Point discovered a range of malicious websites using people's fears in order to benefit themselves. One in particular claims to be selling 'the best and fastest test for Coronavirus detection at the fantastic price of 19,000 Russian rubles (about US$300)

Check Point discovered a range of malicious websites using people's fears in order to benefit themselves that present themselves as providing more information about the virus

The firm also discovered a phishing campaign floating around the web in Italy where more than 3,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported and a total of 107 have died. The attack was found to hit over 10 percent of all organizations in Italy

Check Point discovered a range of malicious websites using people's fears in order to benefit themselves.

One in particular claims to be selling 'the best and fastest test for Coronavirus detection at the fantastic price of 19,000 Russian rubles (about US$300).'

'When looking at websites, we need to use common sense,' Dembinksy said.

'If the website is offering something that seems too good to be true or asking you to fill out details about yourself or payments, then it is most likely owned by hackers.'

'Websites that provide information are usually running mining activity in the background and can take control of your computer when you download a file.'

'As a precaution, do not visit websites you are not familiar with.'

'When you do a search for coronavirus, the first few results are usually well trusted.'

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. To date, there are more than 97 cases and 3,000 deaths reported across the globe

The firm also discovered a phishing campaign floating around the web in Italy where more than 3,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported and a total of 107 have died.

The attack was found to hit over 10 percent of all organizations in Italy, which exploited people's fears about coronavirus gain access and mine people's computers.

The email contained a malicious document file, named f###########.doc (#=digit) and with the email subject 'Coronavirus: Informazioni importanti su precauzioni' (English translation- Coronavirus: Important information about precautions).

The body of the email reads: 'Due to the number of cases of coronavirus infection that have been documented in your area, the World Health Organization has prepared a document that includes all the necessary precautions against coronavirus infection.'

To make it seem more legitimate, hackers signed it using a name of a doctor from World Health Organization (WHO) based in Italy.

'We did a search online and could not find a doctor by the name of Penelope Marchetti with WHO or Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanita (OMS),' Check Point explained in the paper.

'Also, the senders' email addresses are not from official WHO or OMS domains, and most of them were not Italian at all.'

The fraudulent document contains a Trojan-Downloader that attacks the user's computer and enables hackers to mine it for data.

Dembinksy explained that he and the team at Check Point monitor the internet during big events, such as holidays, disasters and outbreaks, to see where the traffic is going in order to spot these online threats.

'If there is an Olympics this year, you will some more malicious websites and phishing emails begin to pop-up based on the event.'

'I have seen the same happen during the ash cloud in Iceland and during tsunami warnings.'

'Hackers utilize people's fears for their benefit.'
Shannon Brice was a cat person, so you can imagine the reaction when her husband, Junior, suggested it was time to get a dog.

Now, imagine her reaction when he strongly suggested they raise a pit bull.

Are you sure? she asked.

He was sure.

Still, she wondered. She knew the horror stories of pit bull mayhem. The maulings. The deaths. The bans in cities across America, including Denver.

Nile greeted me this week at the Brices' home on the far east side of Colorado Springs. Nile, a black-and-white female pit bull, was friendly and silent. She likes everybody, but loves nobody else the way she loves Shannon. Day and night, Nile follows her master around the house, refusing to leave Shannons side.

Two male pit bulls, Necho and Rafa, happily share the home with Nile and Shannon and Junior.

They are the greatest dogs, Shannon says. Their spirit. Their vibrancy. They are just big lovers.

Its blazingly obvious: Junior converted Shannon. This means the couple is troubled by Denvers ban on pit bulls, upheld this week by Mayor Michael Hancock. The ban, in place since 1989, has led to the extermination of thousands of pit bulls within Denver city limits. The Brices cant bring Nile, Necho and Rafa on visits to Denver.

I think thats terrible, Junior says of the ban. I think people are missing out on a good breed of dog.

Junior, a Mitchell High grad, has lived with pit bulls for most of his life. The only dog Ive ever wanted. The only dog Ive ever had, he says. The seven pit bulls hes considered family members never attacked anyone. Theyve been awesome.

Hes right. Nile and Necho and Rafa are awesome. Obedient. Playful. Adorable. Goofy. Affectionate.

But heres the problem.

Not all pit bulls are so awesome.

The Denver pit bull ban was born from two bloody attacks. In 1986, a 3-year-old wandered into the backyard of a neighbors home and was killed by a pit bull.

In 1989, 58-year-old minister Wilbur Billingsley was walking to the store in his historic neighborhood on the east edge of downtown Denver when Tate, a 5-year-old pit bull, attacked him.

Norman Cabel, a neighbor, ended the attack when he shot Tate dead with a shotgun. Billingsley suffered more than 70 bites, two broken legs and a busted knee cap.

All dog breeds, from dachshund to Great Dane, attack humans, but a limited number of breeds own the might to leave a 3-year-old dead or a 58-year-old minister with shattered legs.

The Brices, to their credit, refuse to run from the truth. Yes, they say, pit bulls can become dangerous if owners fail to train with tenacity and rigor and love. Of course, other large dog breeds can also develop into frightening beasts.

The potential is there, which means the responsibility is there, says Shannon, a Doherty High grad. They have a strong bite. They have a big mouth.

Junior has utter control over his pit bulls. If they misbehave, even slightly, he has only to point and show a stern face and his dogs instantly fall into submission. He is, no doubt, the master.

While standing beside Junior and his obedient pit bulls, I was reminded of how much we craft our canines. Dogs look to us for guidance. Dogs become the dogs we teach them to be. A human who failed is behind a violent dog.

Bronwen Dickey wrote Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon, a 2016 book that examines our nations most complex dog problem. In her research, she discovered that in the 1870s, spitz dog breeds were considered deadly. Remember, cuddly pomeranians and corgis are members of the spitz breed.

Scientists had yet to understand rabies, and at the time spitz breeds were considered special carriers of the disease along with being especially hostile.

An 1876 New York Times editorial lambasted all things spitz: There are but four venomous beasts among the fauna of the United States. These are the rattlesnake, the copperhead, the moccasin, and the Spitz dog, and of the four, the latter is by far the most aggressive and deadly in its hostility to man.

An American crusade spread. Spitz dogs were banned. Spitz dogs were considered demonic. Spitz dogs were put to death.

The most unsettling aspect of the 1870s spitz panic is that Americans seemed to take so much pleasure in it, Dickey writes. The act of hating both the dogs and the people who owned them energized large swaths of the populace.

The attacks in Denver and elsewhere offer one truth about pit bulls. These powerful, full-of-life dogs can deliver tragedy if poorly trained by owners.

The Brices' home reveals another truth. A valid truth. A beautiful truth. A truth that cannot be dismissed. A truth I ponder while remembering Nile licking my hand as she gazed straight at me through eyes filled with trust.
Photo credit: Patrick Foto - Getty Images

From Town & Country

Last night, President Trump announced a number of measures his administration is taking to try and slow the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the United States. (Read his full speech here.) One of the most severe actions he is implementing is a suspension of travel from most of Europe to the US for the next 30 days.

But in the hours following the President's speech from the Oval Office, confusion has arisen about exactly what this travel restriction means and who (and what) it applies to. Below, we break it down:

Only European countries are included in the ban.

In his speech, Trump said, "we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days," but more specifically, the US is restricting travel from the Schengen Area.

The Schengen Area refers to 26 European countries that have officially abolished visa and passport checks and other types of border controls. The countries included are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The Presidential Proclamation notes that "as of March 11, 2020, the number of cases in the 26 Schengen Area countries is 17,442, with 711 deaths, and shows high continuous growth in infection rates."

Also, per the document, which has been posted on the White House website, "the free flow of people between the Schengen Area countries makes the task of managing the spread of the virus difficult."

In his speech, President Trump noted that the restriction does not apply to the UK, but there are a number of other European countries that are not specifically included in the ban, namely Albania, Andora, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Ireland, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

Story continues

Photo credit: Pool - Getty Images

The new rules will begin on Friday, March 13, at midnight, eastern daylight time.

But if you're an American citizen abroad, don't panic and rush to the airport. A statement from Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad F. Wolf confirms that Trump's official Presidential Proclamation "suspends the entry of most foreign nationals who have been in certain European countries at any point during the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival to the United States."

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the restrictions apply to "most foreign nationals," but not US citizens, legal permanent residents, or "(generally) immediate family members of U.S. citizens."

There are other more specific exceptions as well. For a more complete list of exactly who it does apply to, the full proclamation is available here.



The restriction only applies to people, not trade.

During his address from the Oval Office, Trump said that the travel restrictions would apply to trade and cargo in addition to people. "There will be exceptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings, and these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo but various other things as we get approval," he said.

But the President later clarified on Twitter that the travel suspension will only apply to people and not to goods. "Please remember, very important for all countries & businesses to know that trade will in no way be affected by the 30-day restriction on travel from Europe," he wrote. "The restriction stops people not goods."

Hoping to get the payroll tax cut approved by both Republicans and Democrats, and please remember, very important for all countries & businesses to know that trade will in no way be affected by the 30-day restriction on travel from Europe. The restriction stops people not goods.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2020

In addition to Trump's proclamation, the State Department is also making new recommendations regarding travel for US citizens.

While US citizens are not included in Trump's restrictions on travel from Europe, the Statement is currently asking them to "reconsider travel abroad."

Read their most recent advisory here:

The Department of State advises U.S. citizens to reconsider travel abroad due to the global impact of COVID-19. Many areas throughout the world are now experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks and taking action that may limit traveler mobility, including quarantines and border restrictions. Even countries, jurisdictions, or areas where cases have not been reported may restrict travel without notice.

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With Vietnam and the United States celebrating their 25th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel J. Kritenbrink talked about the economic achievements brought about by the relations of both countries.

US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel J. Kritenbrink

What are the most significant achievements brought about by the 25-year relations between Vietnam and the United States?

The partnership between Vietnam and the United States today is very broad and deep. We are co-operating in many fields, such as security, trade, energy, and health, which is certainly one of the most promising parts of the whole relationship.

The economic ties between the United States and Vietnam are incredibly strong and we are really excited because if you go back 25 years ago, our trade was almost zero. And today, our annual bilateral trade amounts to $77 billion. US exports to Vietnam were up 13 per cent last year to almost $11 billion. But at the same time, the trade deficit has grown substantially as well because Vietnams exports to the United States have grown so rapidly.

So what we are focusing on is to make sure that we open up the Vietnamese market so that American businesses can compete openly and fairly. We also hope to encourage our Vietnamese friends to buy more American products to help balance out the trade.

At the same time, we support our companies to continue their investment activities and create many world class jobs for locals. So far, US companies in Vietnam have carried out many corporate social responsibility activities, which I think really helped the public.

Even though our economic and trade relationship is incredibly positive, there are some challenges as well. So, we are working to make sure that our trade is also free, fair, and balanced. That involves solving some of the existing market access barriers in Vietnam. However, we see tremendous opportunities in Vietnam and are very optimistic about the future.

What do you believe are the tremendous opportunities for American companies in Vietnam?

The energy sector is one of the most promising examples, where American companies can support developing infrastructure to import liquefied natural gas as well as working on renewable sources and expanding the grid. Moreover, other sectors are offering many similar opportunities, such as healthcare, infrastructure, IT, aviation, and smart cities.

Over the years of our mutually beneficial relationship, the United States has been one of the largest investors in Vietnam. American businesses often tell me that they are impressed by Vietnam, especially because of the stable environment that the country offers. They appreciate the governments leadership in solving problems and ensuring that foreign-invested enterprises can succeed here, and they are appreciating the Vietnamese workforce which is young, dynamic, and increasingly well-educated.

The Vietnamese minister of Industry and Trade and the chairman of the US-ASEAN Business Council have just signed an MoU for co-operation. Could you provide more details about the deal?

The MoU is titled Strengthening Industry and Trade Co-operation. Therefore, the priority objectives include to promote co-operation in trade, enhance co-operation in the economical and efficient use of energy, in industry and chemicals, and in consumption of goods in the domestic market.

Moreover, the agreement aims to exchange information in developing and implementing policies to support the development of e-commerce and the digital economy, as well as co-operating on consumer protection and law dissemination. This memorandum will be valid for three years from the date of signing. In an effort to strengthen the trade-investment relationship between Vietnam and the United States in a sustainable manner, the two sides are expected to further develop co-operative relationships to support the business community and investors on both sides.

What are the prospects for Vietnamese enterprises in the US market?

As you know, the United States is Vietnams largest export market. So far, Vietnam has exported everything from agricultural products to textiles and electronics to the United States. Thanks to the MoU, we will export more high-tech goods to Vietnam which support local businesses to improve their products quality.

Our trade is quite diverse, and there are many good prospects for both sides. As long as we keep working, trade can become more balanced and barriers can be broken down. Therefore, I am going to remain optimistic about our future.

Phuong Hao (VIR)

What will happen if Vietnam reduces tariffs on American farm imports? The US has proposed to reduce the import tax on some of its agricultural products, including chicken, some fruits, wheat, potato, pork and dairy products.
Irish banks have been warned not use emergency measures aimed at supporting the economy in the coronavirus shock to boost pay to their own shareholders or executives.

The ECB relaxed capital rules for banks on Thursday, making it easier for them to continue lending to small and medium sized companies. But in theory banks could used the new standards to hand cash back to shareholders as dividends.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Gabriel Makhlouf, issued a warning against doing that in unusually blunt language.

"The Central Bank of Ireland expects banks to use the positive effects of these measures to support the economy and not increase dividend distributions or variable remunerations," the Governor said.

The Central Bank governor said measures taken by regulators are aimed at supporting the smooth provision of credit to households and businesses including in the sectors worst hit by restrictions on movement.

"The spread of COVID-19 is a major shock to growth," he said. "We are engaged with the financial sector to ensure that firms are responding effectively to the evolving situation.

"We acknowledge the exceptional efforts of Irelands health professionals in dealing with a major global public health emergency."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 22:13:07|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will launch a reservation system for visiting tombs around the upcoming Tomb-sweeping Day for the prevention and control of the coronavirus, said Li Quanxi, deputy commander-in-chief of the capital's Tomb-sweeping Day service headquarters, at a press conference Friday.

All the funeral parlors, cinerary halls, operating cemeteries and large-scale public welfare cemeteries will adopt an appointment system for different tomb-sweeping timeslots so as to avoid the gathering of people as the epidemic has not ended yet.

Citizens can make an appointment to visit a tomb via an official WeChat account. Meanwhile, reservations can also be made over the phone. Reservations will be accepted from March 19, according to Li.

Li said in order to promote the reform and innovation of tomb sweeping methods, the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau has launched an online service platform for this year's Tomb-sweeping Day. The platform will be launched on March 21 to provide online memorial services such as sending messages, presenting flowers and lighting candles, so as to enable citizens to remember and mourn their ancestors online.

For those who are unable to visit tombs in person, they can ask the cemetery to offer sacrifices on their behalf through the reservation service system.

Li said that this year's reception day for the tomb-sweeping service will last 23 days from March 21 to April 12. In order to reduce gatherings and avoid cross-infection, mass activities such as collective public offerings and sea scattering of ashes will also be suspended.

Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival and an important occasion for Chinese to honor their ancestors and pay tribute to deceased family members. This year's Tomb-sweeping Day will fall on April 4.
WASHINGTON - Congress is on the verge of approving several surveillance reforms that attempt to address shortcomings identified by the Justice Department inspector general in his scathing report on the FBI's handling of a wiretap application for a former Trump campaign adviser.

"The legislation begins to address the problems that we saw with the FBI's illegal surveillance of Trump campaign associate Carter Page," said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who worked with Democrats on the measures approved as part of a much larger reform package passed Wednesday by the House.

The measures are not perfect, but they are "an improvement" over the status quo, said Jordan, a vocal Trump ally who has blasted the FBI for its surveillance of Page that began after he left the campaign in late 2016 and continued into the summer of 2017. The wiretap, part of a counterintelligence investigation into Russian contacts with Trump associates, never resulted in a criminal case. The inspector general did not call the surveillance illegal, but the Justice Department acknowledged that the government lacked probable cause in at least two of the Page FISA applications.

The current law, known as the USA Freedom Act, expires Sunday, but the Senate is expected to approve the bill soon after.

The reforms are a step toward expanding constitutional protections for U.S. citizens who are targets of government surveillance in national security investigations, say analysts and lawmakers, but leave room for improvement.

"They are modest but useful reforms, helpful in fixing the problems identified by Inspector General [Michael] Horowitz but without unduly hamstringing foreign intelligence investigations," said Robert Chesney, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

The changes relate to the rules the government must follow in obtaining court permission to secretly wiretap or search a suspect's property in espionage and terrorism investigations. The process is governed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and overseen by the FISA court.

Page called the measures "a complete cop-out" and said the bill "doesn't address any of the problems we learned about."

One problem highlighted in Horowitz's December report was that the FBI failed to provide the Justice Department attorney vetting the application for probable cause that Page was an agent of Russia - the legal standard - with information that might have undermined that suspicion. For instance, the FBI agent knew that Page had been an occasional "operational contact" for the CIA.

As one way to address that issue, the bill includes a new requirement that FBI agents certify to the court that they have told the Justice Department "all information that might reasonably call into question the accuracy of the [wiretap] application."

The measure "could be significant if agents think that the FBI, Justice Department and the court will enforce the certification," said James Baker, a former FBI general counsel. "The court could conduct an inquiry. It would depend on how they implement it - that's the bottom line."

Another reform would expand the role of a court-appointed special advocate to include cases that present "exceptional" concerns about a citizen's First Amendment rights. But there are likely to be very few such cases, analysts said.

More significant, say libertarians on the right and privacy advocates on the left, is what is not in the bill. One provision they would have liked to have seen would have mandated that the defendant or their attorney - with a security clearance - be able to review the application materials if cases are prosecuted. Some said the job could also be given to a special advocate, also called an amicus.

Although FISA allows a judge to disclose such material to the defendant, the government has successfully opposed disclosure in every case in which the issue has arisen. In one instance where a judge allowed disclosure, an appeals court reversed the decision.

"It's important that the defendant or his attorney be given an opportunity to identify errors and omissions in applications and to challenge unlawful surveillance," said Neema Singh Guliani, senior legislative counsel with the ACLU.

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, Freedom Caucus policy chairman, agreed.

"On the front end of the process, the amicus has the chance to be an advocate," said Davidson, who voted against the bill. "Here you would have someone working preemptively to prevent any harm being done to a U.S. citizen."

Nicholas Lewin, a former federal terrorism prosecutor, said the issue was a difficult one "as there are fundamental values on both sides of the scale - liberty and security."

Baker, a former Justice Department attorney who handled FISA applications, cautioned that allowing such disclosure would have "a substantial negative impact" on the usefulness of FISA as a counterintelligence tool and would pose a "greater national security risk" to the nation.

"Foreign partners and sensitive human sources located overseas would be quite reticent to either share information with the FBI or allow information they generated to be used in FISA applications," he said, "because they would be quite concerned about the prospect that some defense attorney down the road could see that information."

Horowitz is conducting a wide-ranging review of FISA applications in the wake of the Page report. The results will show whether the problems unearthed in Page's case are systemic or not. If they are, Congress will be under pressure to bolster its reforms.
Kirin Holdings Company, Limited (Kirin or the Company) today made the following statement in response to reports issued by proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) and Glass Lewis regarding the election of directors to Kirins Board of Directors (Board) and other proposals at the Companys Ordinary General Meeting on March 27, 2020.

We appreciate that ISS and Glass Lewis recognize the incremental skills and strong independent perspectives that our recommended directors will bring to the Board. We are also pleased that ISS and Glass Lewis acknowledge our proactive efforts to strengthen governance by refreshing the Board and our commitment to continuously evaluate the Companys strategy and performance to ensure it maximizes value creation for all shareholders.

Additionally, we welcome ISS and Glass Lewis agreement with us that Independent Franchise Partners (FP) proposal for additional share buybacks funded by divestitures introduces several significant issues.

We strongly believe that this buyback proposal is reckless and a case of short-term financial engineering. In KV2027 (Long-Term Management Vision Kirin Group Vision 2027), recognizing the structural challenges within the Japan beer market and social trends promoting health and well-being, we believe continuing to invest judiciously in adjacent markets  across the food, health science, and pharmaceuticals  that leverage the Company's core competencies in fermentation and biotechnology will best position Kirin for growth over the long term. We are not building a conglomerate of disparate businesses, but instead a company with inter-connected and synergistic businesses rooted in our long-standing expertise.

Furthermore, we are encouraged that Glass Lewis recognizes that Kirins proposed director remuneration is appropriate. The Nomination and Remuneration Advisory Committee appreciates the importance of continuous review of the remuneration system, following an extensive review of industry best practices with the assistance of external compensation consultants. We believe our proposed remuneration system already has a high ratio of performance-based to total pay of remuneration.

Following are additional comments addressing the various recommendations made by ISS and Glass Lewis.

Our position on ISS' recommendations

[Proposal 2: Our Views on the Appointment of Directors (Company Proposal)]

Regarding the Nomination of Toshiya Miyoshi.

We disagree with ISS decision to recommend against Toshiya Miyoshi. ISS report notes that its recommendation is due to its belief that his area of responsibility is less critical to the issues surrounding FPs proxy contest. However, Mr. Miyoshi brings strong human resources expertise that plays a critical role in supporting our strategy.

Mr. Miyoshi has abundant business experience and deep knowledge in human resources, labor relations, and marketing. Since joining the Board, he has provided meaningful counsel on Kirins marketing and brand strategies as well as its human resources and employee engagement initiatives.

Additionally, Mr. Miyoshi has made significant contributions to Kirins structural and management reforms, including the strengthening of the Companys corporate governance. He is also a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Advisory Committee.

Given his human resources and personnel management expertise, Mr. Miyoshi provides invaluable contributions to our company's medium- to long-term value creation strategy and our commitment to Creating Shared Value (CSV).

ISS mentions that the reason of the recommendation to vote against Mr. Miyoshi is to nominate one of the dissidents nominees, which we believe its rather a passive approach. We believe that Mr. Miyoshi will continue to be an integral part of our efforts to enhance shareholder value.

[Proposal 4: Our Views on Proposed Changes to Director Remuneration (Company Proposal)]

ISS recommended against the Companys proposed changes to director remuneration (Proposal No. 4) which would introduce a trust-type stock-based remuneration system with a limit of 600 million yen for directors, while endorsing FPs proposed compensation changes (Proposal No. 7) which would increase the ceiling to 1.2 billion yen per year for the stock remuneration with restriction of transfer, in addition to the base pay and bonuses paid to our directors.

The Nomination and Remuneration Advisory Committee proposed a new trust-type stock compensation system, following consultation with external advisors and an extensive review of peer and industry best practices.

Our newly proposed trust-type stock compensation system will greatly reduce the burden of the Board resolutions compared with the past restricted stock compensation system and will enable us to concentrate on management supervision.

The underlying metrics determining performance-based remuneration are transparent and closely linked to the Companys ability to create value for its shareholders and execute its strategy. These include ROIC and normalized EPS as well as the newly introduced non-financial performance metrics critical to the Companys CSV initiatives.

We believe the Company's proposed director remuneration system better supports long-term value creation relative to FPs proposed program, which simply calls for an increase in the shareholding compensation ceiling for directors.

The system will be continuously monitored by the Board and The Nomination and Remuneration Advisory Committee and amended, following comprehensive discussion among them.

Our position on Glass Lewis recommendations

[Proposal 2: Our Views on the Appointment of Directors (Company Proposal)]

Glass Lewis recommended that shareholders oppose two of the Companys non-executive director candidates, Hiroyuki Yanagi and Noriko Shiono.

Regarding the Nomination of Hiroyuki Yanagi

We believe that Glass Lewis has misunderstood Hiroyuki Yanagis ability to contribute to the Board in characterizing him as overboarded. This ignores his strong record as an engaged director  last year Mr. Yanagi attended all 12 Kirin board meetings and was actively involved in boardroom discussions on matters important to the Company.

Given Mr. Yanagis high level of engagement and deep understanding of Kirins business, as well as his strong business management expertise, we believe he is well suited to continue to contribute to our Board.

Regarding the Nomination of Noriko Shiono

We are disappointed with Glass Lewis decision to recommend against Noriko Shiono due in large part to her role as a strategic advisor to the Company.

Ms. Shiono was appointed to this position, which is equivalent to non-executive director, following the reorganization of Japan Integrated Beverages company, in which she previously served as a non-executive director. We believe Glass Lewis recommendation is in part based on the incorrect belief  stated in its report  that Ms. Shiono played an integral role in the development of Kirin's KV 2027. Rather, her role was truly independent to the company and we believe there are no underlying conflicts.

We are confident given Ms. Shionos strong track record as Representative Director of pharmaceuticals manufacturer SS Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. that she will take an unbiased, critical view in evaluating the Companys strategic direction. Ms. Shiono will bring valuable expertise in health sciences and pharmaceuticals that will be critical as we continue to drive incremental synergies from our existing businesses and pursue high-growth opportunities in these fields that leverage Kirins strength and long-standing expertise in fermentation and biotechnology.

Importantly, Glass Lewis report supports Ms. Shionos status as an outside independent director. The report stated that seven outside director members are all independent, and that the Board structure, in which outside director accounts for the majority, is rare among Japanese companies. We believe Ms. Shiono will be a strong independent voice on the Board, and that her knowledge and experiences in health science and pharmaceuticals will contribute to maximizing shareholder value.

We urge our shareholders to consider the above when exercising their voting rights.

While Kirin disagrees with some aspects of Glass Lewis and ISS' conclusions, their reports made important points on Board independence, governance, remuneration, FPs proposals and Company performance for Kirin shareholders to consider in advance of voting at the Companys Ordinary General Meeting, including1:

Independence

At the forthcoming annual general meeting of shareholders, the Company has nominated twelve directors to the board, including seven outside directors, all of whom we consider to be truly independent. We commend the Company for proposing to have majority of its board to be comprised of truly independent directors, a practice which is rare in Japan. (Glass Lewis)

As classified by ISS, independence (excluding statutory auditors) increases from 33 percent to 50 percent. As a reference, Asahi has nine board members, including three independents, according to ISS. The proposed Kirin board would include two women and two foreigners, vs. none a year ago. (ISS)

Governance

We note that the Company released its convocation notice on February 25, more than four weeks prior to the shareholder meeting. We commend the Company for disclosing this important information pertaining to the annual meeting in advance. (Glass Lewis)

Though under Japanese law, companies are only required to disclose attendance records of external board members, the Company has voluntarily released attendance records for all directors, including inside directors, for board meetings held during the last fiscal year. We commend the Company for such practices and encourage it to continue to improve director attendance disclosure. (Glass Lewis)

Remuneration

We believe that the Company's existing compensation scheme is appropriate. (Glass Lewis)

We believe that the Company should retain the flexibility to create compensation packages for its directors and auditors that are in line with their peers and commensurate with their services. (Glass Lewis)

Buyback Proposal

We believe the resolution (surrounding [FP]'s alternative share buyback proposal) introduces a number of significant issues. (Glass Lewis)

We consider the implications of [FP]'s buyback resolution are problematically ambiguous, and the resolution is, at best, an inefficient mechanism for purposes of expressing more granular concern with KV2027. (Glass Lewis)

It seems premature to support the shareholder buyback proposal based on selling the stakes in Kyowa Kirin and FANCL at this time. (ISS)

Company Performance and TSR

In particular we acknowledge Kirin did indeed outperform its domestic and international rivals from the time of Mr. Isozaki's appointment through the last trading date prior to emergence of [FP]. (Glass Lewis)

Kirin should be credited for a successful turnaround and return to profitability. (ISS)

Kirins board reminds shareholders that their vote is extremely important, no matter how many or how few shares they own. Kirin urges shareholders to vote FOR ALL the Companys proposals.

1 Permission to quote from report was neither sought nor obtained.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005197/en/
Eleanor Hope Tickell, of California, MD passed away peacefully on March 9, 2020 at the age of 95 years. Hope was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, May 29, 1924, the daughter of Eleanor (Atwood) Hooker and Miles E. Hooker. Beloved wife of the late George "Tick" Tickell; devoted mother of Faith Elizabeth Treadwell and her husband Warren "Lee" Treadwell of Millersville, MD and her late daughter Ann C. Crispin and her surviving husband Michael Capobianco of Hughesville, MD; dearest sister of the late Carol Bibbins; loving grandmother of Jason Paul Crispin and his wife Melissa Spicer of Waldorf, MD.



During the early years of her marriage to George, he served in the Merchant Marines and was often at sea. Later, when Ann and Faith were born, they moved to Southern Maryland and Hope worked as a kindergarten school teacher in Prince George's County, teaching primarily at Surrattsville Elementary and also at Tanglewood Elementary. Many of those students, now grown, remember her with great fondness.



Always proud of her New England heritage, she was a long-standing member of the Mayflower Society. Her favorite place in the world was Cape Cod. While always very proper, she was a warm presence to her family, telling fascinating stories from her early life and always putting together a sumptuous family meal at holiday time. Hope had the ability to create a wonderful buffet of small plates to accompany any meal.



Hope was a member of the United Methodist Church of Hollywood, MD and participated in the church choir. She had a lovely singing voice well into her nineties, but had to drop out of the choir because of failing eyesight. Hope loved old musicals, especially "White Christmas" and could sing along in perfect tune.



In addition to her love for singing, Hope loved to read. She was also an avid collector of many things, most particularly a huge fan of the Dickens' village pieces, which were displayed every Christmas. She was very fond of cats, particularly "Blackie" and his predecessor, "Mickie." Hope held a passion for many forms of art and took great joy in her knowledge of classical artwork and design, with a special interest in Roman and Greek history. Her trips to Italy and Greece were among her fondest memories.



The family requests that in Lieu of Flowers donations can be made in Hope's name to the Hospice of the Chesapeake Foundation, John and Cathy Belcher Campus, 90 Ritchie Highway, Pasadena Md, 21122.
WASHINGTON  Last year, administration officials briefed President Trump on a hostage whose case he has taken an interest in: Austin Tice, a former Marine missing in Syria. The C.I.A. pledged to ramp up efforts to learn where he is being held and why Syria refuses to negotiate his release.

The C.I.A.s renewed focus on Mr. Tice, who was working as a journalist when he was captured in 2012, reflects a broader push by the Trump administration to focus more intently on Americans being held hostage abroad.

The administration has helped free Americans held in Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan and is trying to win Mr. Tices freedom as well as working to find Mark R. Frerichs, a former Navy diver kidnapped last month in Afghanistan. The White House wants him freed before American troops leave the country in a peace deal with the Taliban, an urgent deadline for the Pentagon and intelligence agencies to locate Mr. Frerichs.

Returning American hostages is Mr. Trumps top priority, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week in a statement marking the 13th anniversary of the disappearance inside Iran of Robert A. Levinson, a former F.B.I. agent and C.I.A. contractor.
ZTE, the Chinese telecom giant that pleaded guilty three years ago to violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea, is the subject of a new and separate bribery investigation by the Justice Department, according to two people briefed on the matter.

The new investigation, which has not been reported previously, centers on possible bribes ZTE paid to foreign officials to gain advantages in its worldwide operations.

The fresh scrutiny on ZTE comes just after the end of the corporate probation period agreed to under the March 2017 plea agreement it struck with the Justice Department. Under the agreement, ZTE agreed to a civil and criminal penalty and forfeiture of $1.19 billion.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

In a statement, a representative of ZTE said: "ZTE is fully committed to meeting its legal and compliance obligations. The top priority of the company's leadership team is making ZTE a trusted and reliable business partner in the global marketplace, and the company is proud of the enormous progress it has made. Beyond this, it would not be appropriate for ZTE to comment."

The company's headquarters are in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, but ZTE's U.S. subsidiary is in Richardson, Texas. ZTE relies on U.S.-made materials for smartphones and computer networking gear. The company has close ties to China's Communist government.

NBC News could not determine what ZTE transactions in which countries federal prosecutors are investigating. But under the 2017 agreement with the Justice Department, ZTE agreed to implement and maintain a compliance and ethics program to detect violations of sanctions and export controls. Implementing the programs did not give ZTE immunity for any past crimes the company had not disclosed to the U.S. government when the plea agreement was signed, the documents show.

ZTE's code of conduct bars employees from paying or accepting bribes in China or abroad, documents show. But news reports, documents and at least one lawsuit filed in recent years have accused ZTE of corruption in more than a dozen countries, including Algeria, Liberia, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

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In Kenya, for example, a document published by WikiLeaks in 2010 raises questions about how ZTE won a 2009 contract to install landline telephone monitoring equipment for the country's National Intelligence Service. What appears to be a report from then-U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger to the State Department states that ZTE received the contract after paying kickbacks to high-level officials of the National Intelligence Service (then known as the National Security Intelligence Service), including one who received $5,000 a month, which he used to pay medical bills.

The document was among more than 250,000 classified State Department cables leaked to WikiLeaks and later made public. Chelsea Manning was convicted in military court of stealing the cables.

Image: Former U.S. ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger (Tony Karumba / AFP - Getty Images file)

Ranneberger, who was ambassador to Kenya from 2006 to 2011, is now a managing partner at Gainful Solutions, a lobbying concern. He did not return phone calls seeking comment about the leaked report.

ZTE's stock is publicly traded on the Hong Kong market. The U.S. equivalent of it shares  its American depositary receipts, or ADRs  trade over the counter at around $7.25, down from a recent peak of $8.85.

In 2016, Norway's giant government pension fund banned ZTE from its investment universe based on "the risk of severe corruption," according to a report by the Norges Bank Council on Ethics. ZTE is one of about 150 companies whose shares will not be purchased by the Norwegian fund; most on the barred list are there for production of coal-based energy, cigarettes or nuclear weapons. Only three other companies are barred by the Norwegians for "gross corruption" alongside ZTE.

Politics

In the deal with the U.S. government three years ago, ZTE also agreed to a denial of export privileges that could be activated for seven years if the company committed additional violations. In mid-April 2018, the Commerce Department activated the denial of privileges after determining that ZTE had made false statements to the government about actions it had taken to punish employees involved in the Iran and North Korea activities. While ZTE said it had reprimanded the employees, the government later found that the company had rewarded them with bonuses. Activating the denial meant that ZTE could not buy semiconductors required for its products.

Three months later, however, President Donald Trump rescinded the sanctions as part of a trade deal with China.

As is typical with companies operating under plea agreements, ZTE was assigned a monitor to assess its compliance. James M. Stanton, a personal injury lawyer in Texas, was appointed monitor by Ed Kinkeade, the U.S. district judge in Texas who oversaw the government's case against ZTE.

Although Stanton was charged with filing periodic reports to the court, none have appeared publicly. He did not respond to repeated emails requesting copies of his ZTE reports. Stanton is scheduled to continue as ZTE's monitor until 2022.

Ronnie Jacobson, Kinkeade's courtroom deputy, declined to provide redacted copies of the monitor's reports. Asked why, he said, "Because."

ZTE's corporate probation under the 2017 plea agreement ended Saturday. During the probation, ZTE agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department on any criminal investigations by U.S. law enforcement.
The White House has ordered federal health officials to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified, an unusual step that has restricted information and hampered the U.S. governments response to the contagion, according to four Trump administration officials.

The officials said that dozens of classified discussions about such topics as the scope of infections, quarantines and travel restrictions have been held since mid-January in a high-security meeting room at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), a key player in the fight against the coronavirus.

Staffers without security clearances, including government experts, were excluded from the interagency meetings, which included video conference calls, the sources said.

We had some very critical people who did not have security clearances who could not go, one official said. These should not be classified meetings. It was unnecessary.

The sources said the National Security Council (NSC), which advises the president on security issues, ordered the classification.This came directly from the White House, one official said.

The White House insistence on secrecy at the nations premier public health organization, which has not been previously disclosed, has put a lid on certain information - and potentially delayed the response to the crisis. COVID19, the disease caused by the virus, has killed about 30 people in the United States and infected more than 1,000 people.

HHS oversees a broad range of health agencies, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which among other things is responsible for tracking cases and providing guidance nationally on the outbreaks.

The administration officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said they could not describe the interactions in the meeting room because they were classified.

An NSC spokesman did not respond to questions about the meetings at HHS. But he defended the administrations transparency across federal agencies and noted that meetings of the administrations task force on the coronavirus all are unclassified. It was not immediately clear which meetings he was referring to.

From day one of the response to the coronavirus, NSC has insisted on the principle of radical transparency, said the spokesman, John Ullyot. He added that the administration has cut red tape and set the global standard in protecting the American people under President Trumps leadership.

A spokeswoman for HHS, Katherine McKeogh, issued a statement that did not address questions about classified meetings. Using language that echoed the NSCs, the department said it that it agreed task-force meetings should be unclassified.

Critics have hammered the Trump administration for what they see as a delayed response to coronavirus outbreaks and a lack of transparency, including sidelining experts and providing misleading or incomplete information to the public. State and local officials also have complained of being kept in the dark about essential federal response information.

U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence, the administrations point person on coronavirus, vowed on March 3 to offer real-time information in a steady pace and be fully transparent. The vice president, appointed by President Donald Trump in late February, is holding regular news briefings and also has pledged to rely on expert guidance. Katie Miller, Pences press secretary, said Wednesday that since being appointed the vice president has never requested that HHS hold meetings in the SCIF or treat information as classified.

The meetings at HHS were held in a secure area called a Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facility, or SCIF, according to the administration officials.

SCIFs are usually reserved for intelligence and military operations. Ordinary cell phones and computers cant be brought into the chambers. HHS has SCIFs because theoretically it would play a major role in biowarfare or chemical attacks.

A high-level former official who helped address public health outbreaks in the George W. Bush administration said its not normal to classify discussions about a response to a public health crisis.

Attendees at the meetings included HHS Secretary Alex Azar and his chief of staff Brian Harrison, the officials said. Azar and Harrison resisted the classification of the meetings, the sources said.

HHS did not make Azar or Harrison available for comment.

One of the administration officials told Reuters that when complex issues about a quarantine came up, a high-ranking HHS lawyer with expertise on the issue was not admitted because he did not have the proper security clearance. His input was delayed and offered at an unclassified meeting, the official said.

A fifth source familiar with the meetings said HHS staffers often werent informed about coronavirus developments because they didnt have adequate clearance. He said he was told that the matters were classified because it had to do with China.

The coronavirus epidemic originated in China and the administrations main focus to prevent spread early on was to restrict travel by non-U.S. citizens coming from China and to authorize the quarantine of people entering the United States who may have been exposed to the virus.

One of the administration officials suggested the security clearances for meetings at HHS were imposed not to protect national security but to keep the information within a tight circle, to prevent leaks.

It seemed to be a tool for the White House - for the NSC - to keep participation in these meetings low, the official said.

Two Democratic senators, both senior members of the Intelligence Committee expressed dismay Wednesday in statements to Reuters.

Pandemics demand transparency and competence, said Mark Warner of Virginia. Classification authority should never be abused in order to hide what the government is doing, or not doing, just to satisfy domestic political concerns.

Ron Wyden of Oregon said: The executive branch needs to immediately come forward and explain whether the White House hid information from the American people as a result of bogus classification.

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China gets ready for construction of new infrastructure

China will accelerate the construction of new infrastructures such as 5G networks and data centers, according to a recent meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

A staff member shows an internet-based hospital platform at the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University on March 7. (Photo/Xinhua)

Infrastructure projects in such fields as 5G networks, extra-high-voltage power transmission projects, inter-city transit systems and high-speed railways, vehicle charging stations, big data centers, industrial networks and projects exhibiting Internet of Things characteristics are all considered to be examples of new infrastructure.

5G technology plays an important role not only in epidemic control and work resumption but also in promoting investment, consumption and economic upgrades, said Chen Zhaoxiong, vice-minister of industry and information technology.

Some provincial-level regions have put the construction of 5G network infrastructure in their government work reports.

Central Chinas Henan province is determined to realize full 5G network coverage in all urban areas above county level and will launch large-scale commercial use of 5G services in 2020.

Southwest Chinas Chongqing Municipality plans to build 30,000 new 5G base stations, while south Chinas Guangdong province desires to form world-class 5G industrial clusters.

In addition, Shanghai vows to accelerate the construction of new infrastructure types, including 5G networks, data center and cold-chain logistics, so as to foster new growth drivers.

Meanwhile, Chinas three major telecom operators recently also released their plans pertaining to 5G network construction. China Mobile will build 300,000 5G base stations in 2020, while China Telecom and China Unicom will work together to install 100,000 5G base stations in 47 cities across the country in the first half of this year.

The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology forecasts that Chinas 5G network construction investment will reach 1.2 trillion yuan, which will bring about 3.5 trillion yuan worth of investment in the upstream and downstream industrial chains.

On March 6, Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group inked an agreement with Yuhang District of Hangzhou, a city in eastern Chinas Zhejiang province. The agreement is meant to deepen strategic cooperation and speed up the construction of digital infrastructure.

Alibaba Cloud, Alibabas data intelligence backbone, has contributed significantly to the countrys anti-epidemic fight with its digital services. We will spare no effort to enhance new infrastructure construction in terms of digital economy to help governments and enterprises build future-oriented new infrastructure facilities, said Zhang Jianfeng, president of Alibaba Cloud & Intelligent Business Group.
Julie Bronson was out taking pictures of the frost near Diamond Jo Casino when she saw an old granary.

Something about it caught her eye so she snapped a photo of it.

That was about 10 years ago.

But Bronson, who lives on the Minnesota side of the Minnesota/Iowa border a mile west of I-35 has been snapping pictures of old things much longer than that.

"I like old stuff, I always have. Any old things," she said. "I've always been surrounded by them. I remember my mom working on an old Victrola trying to restore it."

Bronson will have a presentation and sign her latest book, Abandoned North Iowa, at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Manly Public Library.

The book, Bronson's second with Arcadia Publishing, was the result of a friend who suggested she post some of her photos on Flickr, a photo-sharing site. That's when Bronson discovered many others liked her work and shared her interest in taking pictures of buildings cast aside.

So, she decided to self-publish a photo book. She and a friend who accompanies her on her journeys would go out foraging for empty, deserted homes every Saturday and Sunday.

It became an obsession.

"It was too much, I was neglecting too many other things," Bronson said.

She had self-published three books when her work caught the eye of a publishing house, which encouraged her to submit proposals for her work.

First came Abandoned Southern Minnesota in November, then Abandoned North Iowa in December. Coming May 25 will be Rusting Relics of Minnesota, featuring pictures of cars.

The photos in the 96-page book capture the many lost, forgotten or forsaken barns, bins and homes that lurk just beyond an overgrown field or grass-covered lane just a few miles from our homes. They all beg the same question: What is the story of those who inhabited this place?

Among Bronson's favorite was a home just outside of Myrtle, Minnesota. The story goes that a man had the home built for his future wife, but could not live there when she backed out of the wedding and left him. A few renters had lived in the place but no one really ever called it home, Bronson said.

A couple of years ago, an arsonist burned the place to the ground.

And that is what drives Bronson to take the photos.

"I just want poeple to see what I see," she said. "I don't want people to see it as just a pile of sticks that needs to be burned down. I want them to see the beauty in it."

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RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro has tested negative for the new coronavirus, according to a post Friday on his official Facebook profile.

Concern about Bolsonaros exposure to virus  and possibly that of U.S. President Donald Trump  had grown after confirmation that the Brazilian leaders communications director tested positive. The senior official had joined Bolsonaro just days earlier at a meeting with Trump and senior aides in Florida.

There had been a swirl of confusing information earlier Friday, with a some media reporting Bolsonaro had received an initial positive test result. But the presidents official social media account later said tests were negative, and also posted a photo of Bolsonaro making an offensive arm gesture to reporters earlier this year.

Dont believe the fake news media! he wrote in a subsequent post.

Bolsonaros meeting this week at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort also included Trumps daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner, Brazils Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo and Bolsonaros son Eduardo, who is a federal lawmaker, among others. Vice-President Mike Pence and Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani also went to Mar-a-Lago that evening.

This week, Bolsonaro told a group in Florida that he believed mainstream media was exaggerating the virus severity. He reversed course Thursday, wearing a face mask on a live transmission on Facebook from the capital, Brasilia. On a televised address later, he said the World Health Organization responsibly characterized the virus as a pandemic, and tried to dissuade supporters from turning out for mass demonstrations scheduled for March 15.

The rallies demonstrate the maturity of our presidential democracy and are evident expressions of our liberty. They need, however, to be rethought in the face of these facts. Our health and that of our families must be preserved, Bolsonaro said.

Bolsonaros health has been a focus since a 2018 stabbing on the campaign trail. Since the assassination attempt, he has already undergone four surgeries with a fifth one upcoming. In December, he was taken to the hospital after slipping in the bathroom of the presidential residence and banging his head.

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 about 60,000 have so far recovered.

Brazil currently has 98 confirmed diagnoses of the virus, but no reported deaths, and is monitoring more than 1,400 possible cases. On Wednesday, the governor of the Brazilian district that includes Brasilia enacted a five-day suspension of all classes, concerts and sporting events that gather more than 100 people in an effort to contain the virus spread.
Huntsville Hospital officials are working to open a fever clinic next week where people can go directly for coronavirus testing, even people without a physician to refer them. The hospital may even open a drive-thru testing option.

They could see a physician or nurse practitioner, be evaluated, treated and tested on the spot, hospital Chief Operating Officer Jeff Samz said Friday. We hope to have up for a short time to give people an option that is not the emergency room."

We may even do things in your car.

An Alabama-based private lab was granted approval Thursday to begin testing for the coronavirus and has begun taking samples at drive-thru locations in Vestavia Hills and Bessemer. That lab will be able to perform 10,000 tests in a week.

Related: Alabama private lab gains approval to test for coronavirus

"Up until just the last day or two, testing in Alabama has been limited to the state lab, Sams said. That is expanding pretty rapidly. Several of the private labs are now available to accept samples, so that is increasing availability and that will expand next week.

Sams said Huntsville Hospital hopes to be able to process coronavirus tests in its own laboratory within a week or so increasing options.

The goal of the clinic, beyond providing additional testing, is to ease the demand on the hospitals emergency room. Sams confirmed that Huntsville area physicians were referring patients to the hospital for testing in the early stages of the outbreak, but that has lessened.

"If we dont need to bring you into the hospital where other people are, were going to try not to, he said.
Israel

PM: Emergency govt needed to fight virus

JERUSALEM  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday called for the formation of an emergency government to confront a growing crisis over the coronavirus, offering a potential way out of the deadlock that has paralyzed the political system for the past year. Netanyahu made the offer in a nationally televised address, saying the virus does not differentiate between Jews and non-Jews or between the political left and right.

I call for the formation now, even this evening, of a national emergency government, he said. It will be an emergency government for a limited period. Together, we will fight to save the lives of citizens, he added, saying that politics should be put aside.

His chief rival, former military chief Benny Gantz, said he was willing to discuss the possibility of a national unity government and that his party will do everything in our power to see it move forward.

Venezuela

Street protests to oust president losing steam
Kody Brown of TLCs Sister Wives was heartbroken when his four wives (Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn Brown) werent on board with his idea of moving into one home in Flagstaff, Arizona.

On the Mar. 8 episode of Sister Wives, A Breaking Point, a few of the Brown children opened up about their own thoughts about living together in one home. And they didnt exactly agree with their four moms.

Christine, Janelle, Kody, Robyn, and Meri Brown | Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic

Kody told Robyns kids which of his wives didnt want to live in one home

Although the polygamist Brown family lived under one roof in their previous home states of Utah and Wyoming, their move to Las Vegas after Sister Wives first aired changed everything. The Browns bought four nearby homes in a Nevada cul-de-sac, and the rest was history.

But when Kody moved his large family to Arizona in 2018, he wanted to explore new options. His dream, he told his wives on the new season of Sister Wives, was to have all of his family in one home again. While his second wife Janelle was on board, his third wife Christine was adamantly opposed to the idea. The family couldnt come to a consensus, and Kody ultimately had to give it up.

On the most recent episode, Kody caused controversy among some Sister Wives fans by telling Robyns five children that Christine was the sister wife who wasnt interested in living together.

I talked to the moms about it, and some of them did not like it at all, the polygamist patriarch told Robyns second-oldest daughter, 15-year-old Breanna Brown.

Well, mostly Christine didnt want to do it, he added.

The Brown kids were mostly in favor of moving in together

Sister Wives producers interviewed a few of the Brown children to ask them about their own thoughts about moving in together. Breanna was surprised to hear Christine didnt want to move in as a family. I honestly think it might be fun, she said of the idea.

Aurora Brown, Breannas 17-year-old sister, also seemed to be in favor of the idea. Ive been really looking forward to moving to Coyote PassI was hoping for that before I went to college, but now I see thats not really an option, she told her parents.

Meanwhile, Gabriel Brown, Janelle and Kodys 19-year-old son, also thought living together as one family could be cool. But he didnt think his parents would be on board. I dont think the moms are gonna go for it, Gabriel said, adding that they want their own space.

Truely Brown, Christine and Kodys youngest daughter at just nine years old, was a little more straightforward in her message to her parents. I think the moms are crazy, she told producers, because I want to live in one big house so we dont have to be separated. Mom, I think youre loco in the coco.

Fans pointed out that Truelys comment didnt match with what the Brown wives had claimed

Several fans took to Twitter during the episode to point out that the kids comments didnt match what the Sister Wives parents had claimed: that the kids werent in favor of living together in one home.

I thought you said Truely didnt want the big house? one Twitter user asked. She just said in this episode that she would love to live in the big house. What happened there?

Another Sister Wives fan called out the contradiction, too, writing, Truely just shot down Christines theory that none of her kids would be happy about living in one big house. Truely is ready to go!

As for the Brown parents themselves, they just seemed to think the comments were cute. Haha @SWChristine2020 said loco in the coco to me the other day, Janelle wrote on Twitter during the episode. Did she get it from Truely or did Truely get it from her?
The Federal Government says it will not imposing travel ban on travellers over the spread of Coronavirus pandemic for now.

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehinare, said this on Thursday in Abuja at a meeting organised by the ministry of Foreign Affairs with members of diplomatic corps.

Read Also: Hunger Virus Worse Than Coronavirus In Nigeria: Sultan

The minister said the country had not reached the point of banning large gathering and was guided by World Health Organisations guideline. But warned Nigerians against travelling to endemic countries, including China, Japan, Italy, South Korea and Iran.
The Foreign Office today warned Britons to avoid 'all but essential travel' to Madrid and other areas of Spain.

British travellers are being told to scrap unnecessary visits to the regions of Madrid and La Rioja and the municipalities of La Bastida, Vitoria and Miranda de Ebro.

The FCO advice was issued after Spain announced a death toll spike of 50 per cent from 84 to 120, and infections soaring from 3,004 to 4,200, both in the space of one day.

Red Cross members demonstrate hygiene measures in Madrid where Britons have now been advised to avoid travelling unless necessary because of coronavirus

Groom Rafael (centre, right) and bride Miki (left), both protected with face masks, leave a civil registry after getting married in Madrid, Spain today. Madrid's local authorities decreed that all wedding ceremonies must be held behind closed doors due to the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease. Only the couple, the witnesses and the officiant are allowed to attend the ceremony

Spanish authorities have designated those places as 'areas of community transmission'.

Regional government chiefs are issuing an emergency order limiting freedom of movement in another seven coastal municipalities for the next fortnight.

The order is set to lead to the closure of discos, bars and restaurants.

Bars and restaurant closures in resorts like Benidorm, as well as other holiday hotspots along the Costa Blanca, will come into effect at midnight tonight.

The order covers the whole of the Valencian community which includes the provinces of Castellon, Valencia and Alicante. Benidorm is part of the province of Alicante.

Britons who are currently in Spain are not being advised to leave, because flights and other transport routes are still running.

Airlines are still running flights to and from the areas in question, the Foreign Office said.

However, the Spanish government has suspended all incoming flights from Italy until March 25 and asked people to avoid unnecessary travel.

'People intending to travel to Spain should consult their airlines and tour operators,' the UK government advice says.

The region of Madrid is one of 17 autonomous communities in Spain, and includes the capital city.

A locator map shows the locations of most concern for the Spanish government

A worker shuts the doors of the stunning medieval cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain today

Switzerland, Luxembourg and most of Germany have shuttered their schools in an attempt to halt the spread of coronavirus

Pilgrims wearing face masks lift up their backpacks after finishing their pilgrimage on the Way of St James at the Praza do Obradoiro square in Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, today. The stunning medieval cathedral of Santiago has been closed amid the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease

The community of La Rioja, also designated as a virus hotspot, is further north and includes the cities of Logrono and Calahorra.

La Bastida and Miranda de Ebro are in the north-western Castile and Leon region, while Vitoria is in the Basque country.

There is no advice against travelling to the rest of Spain, but officials are keeping the outbreak under review.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed a state of emergency today and plans to deploy the military to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

The highest level of lock down possible for the European nation comes hours after the Balearic islands announced a shuttering of all pubs, clubs and discos.

COVID-19 has already infected over 4,000 people in Spain and caused 120 deaths.

The decision will allow for decision-making to be centralised and for population movement to be limited.

An elderly woman wears a protective face mask as she carries a bag with food products, amidst concerns over Spain's coronavirus outbreak, in Barcelona today

A meeting of the Council of Ministers will be held on Saturday to 'mobilise all public and private resources to protect citizens', Sanchez said.

It is the second time the state of emergency has been enforced in Spain.

The first time was in 2010, with the air traffic controller crisis.

Sanchez said the order was for 15 days. He has asked the whole of Spain to follow expert to stop the virus from spreading.

'The heroism is about washing one's hands and staying at home. It will take weeks, it will be difficult and but we will overcome this emergency,' he said.

A screen shows Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaking as he announces the state of emergency for 15 days due to coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Madrid, Spain today

A man wearing a face mask as a precaution against coronavirus passes by Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain today

A couple, wearing protective face masks, walk through an unusually empty Plaza Mayor square due to the coronavirus outbreak in central Madrid, Spain today

The comments, delivered at a press conference earlier today, come shortly after Britons were warned against 'all but essential travel' to Madrid and some other parts of Spain.

While the FCO are yet to outlaw the Balearic archipelago, off of eastern Spain, the islands' government today ordered the closure of discos, clubs, pubs, nightclubs, gyms and sports facilities, casinos and game rooms in Mallorca and Ibiza in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

It has also ordered bars, restaurants, theatres and cinemas to reduce their capacity by at least a third.

There are currently 26 cases of coronavirus in the Balearics and there has been one death, a woman in her 60s who already had underlying health problems.

President, Francina Armengol acknowledged the measures are 'drastic' in a community where the 'incidence is low' - 0.8 per cent of the total in Spain - but assured that, with them, the community would come out of the health crisis.

People wearing face masks as a precaution against coronavirus (Covid-19) are seen at Plaza Mayor Square in Madrid, Spain today

She says 'sacrifices' have to be made and has asked for the population to stay at home for the next 15 days.

'We are closing all the places where we believe there can be agglomerations,' she told a press conference this lunchtime.

Discos and clubs will have to close for at least a fortnight, after which there will be a further review.

All large events have been suspended and school cancelled.

'Individual responsibility is essential. Each measure of individual protection we take is an advance in the containment of the virus, ' said the Balearic president.

Tourists are seen as the closure of the Alhambra was announced due to coronavirus today in Granada, Spain

'We know that the health crisis is serious, and we know that the economic impact will be important, but we can be sure that if we all act with the maximum responsibility we will be able to contain the virus in the coming weeks and we will be able to advance the recovery of economic and social normality. '

One of the most popular clubs in Mallorca, Tito's in Palma, has formally announced its temporary closure due to coronavirus.

The management said this would be temporary and reopening will depend on the evolution of the disease. It has stressed that the decision has been taken for purely health reasons and that no member of staff has contracted the virus.

The FCO advice follows very similar guidance issued by Ireland's foreign minister Simon Coveney two days ago.

Officials are already advising against all but essential travel to Italy, and urging tourists to try to return to the UK as soon as possible.

That is becoming increasingly difficult with flights being scrapped and neighbouring countries closing their borders.

Britons are also advised against non-essential travel to China and any travel at all to Hubei province at the centre of the outbreak.

Catalan police officers stop a car trying to get into Igualada, one of four towns closed down by regional authorities, at a checkpoint near Barcelona this morning

The FCO also advises against unnecessary travel to Iran, although that was the case already because of political tensions.

There is no general advice against travel to South Korea, except for affected provinces.

Separately, four towns in Catalonia were put under quarantine on Thursday in the first such move in the country.

The 66,000 inhabitants of the localities of Igualada, Odena, Santa Margarida de Montbui and Vilanova del Cami 'cannot leave their urban core' although they can leave their homes, a statement said.

Catalonia's health minister Alba Verges told reporters that the authorities would be focussing on Igualada, a town of 40,000 people around 40 miles from Barcelona.

There are currently 58 cases in the town, 38 more than on Wednesday, the health minister said.

Catalan police officers were blocking cars trying to leave Igualada on a road this morning.

Spain's royal palace said yesterday that King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia had tested negative for Covid-19.

The cabinet also underwent tests after the equalities minister tested positive and was quarantined with her partner, the second deputy prime minister.

The infected minister, Irene Montero, had appeared at a mass march of some 120,000 people through Madrid for International Women's Day last Sundady.
JUBA, South Sudan, March 12, 2020 (Morning Star News)  Sudans religious affairs ministry on Wednesday (March 11) abolished committees imposed on churches under former President Omar al-Bashir, a move expected to return oversight of churches to their rightful leaders, sources said.

All government-appointed committees are abolished as of today [Wednesday, March 11, 2020], the order signed by Minister of Religious Affairs Nasr al-Din Mufreh states.

Further legal action will be needed to regain some church properties lost under committees imposed by the government, sources said. The Bashir regime had taken over properties of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) by imposing a committee to run its affairs and also imposed a new administration on the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) that resulted in the closing of at least one of its churches.

The ministerial order was lauded as the first move in Christian leaders regaining oversight of their churches and properties. The Rev. Yahia Abdelrahim Nalu, head of SPEC, described it as a good step forward.

Most of the problems that occurred in churches, i.e. the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, the Sudanese Church of Christ and the Pentecostal churches, were caused by the committees appointed by the government, Nalu told Morning Star News.

Churches in Sudan became a target of the previous Islamist government shortly after the secession of South Sudan in 2011.

Sudanese Christians and church leaders applauded the ministerial order on social media.

Congratulations to the church in Sudan, for this is a right decision that is widely accepted in Sudan and outside, Moris Rafat, a Sudanese Christian, commented in Arabic on his Facebook page.

The committees imposed by the former Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment were illegal, according to church leaders.

The new order directs officials to implement the decision, stating, All respective authorities should comply with this order.

Mufreh said he would issue another order to regulate relations between church leaders and the government but did not include a time frame.

In light of advances in religious freedom since Bashir was ousted in April 2019, the U.S. State Department announced on Dec. 20 that Sudan had been removed from the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) that engage in or tolerate systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom and was upgraded to a watch list.

Sudan had been designated a CPC by the U.S. State Department since 1999.

Following the secession of South Sudan in 2011, Bashir had vowed to adopt a stricter version of sharia (Islamic law) and recognize only Islamic culture and the Arabic language. Church leaders said Sudanese authorities demolished or confiscated churches and limited Christian literature on the pretext that most Christians have left the country following South Sudans secession.

In April 2013 the then-Sudanese Minister of Guidance and Endowments announced that no new licenses would be granted for building new churches in Sudan, citing a decrease in the South Sudanese population. Sudan since 2012 has expelled foreign Christians and bulldozed church buildings. Besides raiding Christian bookstores and arresting Christians, authorities threatened to kill South Sudanese Christians who did not leave or cooperate with them in their effort to find other Christians.

After Bashir was deposed, military leaders initially formed a military council to rule the country, but further demonstrations led them to accept a transitional government of civilians and military figures, with a predominantly civilian government to be democratically elected in three years. Christians were expected to have greater voice under the new administration.

The new government that was sworn in on Sept. 8, 2019 led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, an economist, is tasked with governing during a transition period of 39 months. It faces the challenges of rooting out longstanding corruption and an Islamist deep state rooted in Bashirs 30 years of power.

Sudan ranked 7th on Christian support organization Open Doors 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit http://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/?

Article originally published by Morning Star News. Used with permission.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Sezer Ozger
An emergency medical doctor at a New Jersey hospital has tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus, officials announced Friday afternoon.

James Pruden, the medical director of emergency preparedness at St. Josephs Health in Paterson, was admitted to the hospital with upper respiratory and cold-like symptoms on March 6, said Kevin Slavin, the medical systems president.

He made the announcement Friday afternoon alongside Gov. Phil Murphy, who said there are 21 new coronavirus cases in New Jersey. That brings the statewide total to 50 positive tests as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread, forcing widespread closures and cancellations.

Those of us who have devoted our lives to the health care of others know and understand the challenge COVID-19 represents, Slavin said, noting the states 150,000 hospital workers remain at risk.

Pruden, who served as a first responder on 9/11 and also traveled to Houston to provide aid following Hurricane Harvey, is currently isolated at the hospital, Slavin said.

Jim is a long-time, beloved member of our medical staff and revered throughout the Paterson community, he said.

Dr. Pruden is the person always on the front lines, and we are closely monitoring his condition and praying for his full recovery," he continued.

The identities of most people diagnosed with COVID-19 have not been released, as HIPAA protects private medical information. But Slavin said Dr. Pruden volunteered to be named, hoping it would prompt others to get tested, too.

Slavin said they traced those who had contact with Pruden, but none of them have tested positive for the virus.

He said similar diagnoses of doctors and hospital workers are likely to continue as more hospitals admit infected people.

The point we want to make is, we are all at risk of this, Slavin said.

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Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Around 900 people are



still under observation in Pathanamthitta after the district administration released a route map identifying places visited by the three-member family from Ranni which returned to Kerala from coronavirus-hit Italy last month, health officials said.

Around 16 squads led by the District Collector and the District Medical Officer (DMO) travelled across the the district to identify the places visited by the family and to track the contacts, a senior medical official of the state said.

"A flow chart was prepared with all the places visited by the family upon their return and have been mentioned in a map, so that people can voluntarily inform authorities if they had come in contact with them," state Health Minister K K Shailaja said.

The Minister told the Assembly on Friday that the patient flow chart was released as the family was not revealing everything to the medical department.

The Pathanamthitta DMO told PTI the authorities received hundreds of calls from various places in the district after the travel map of the family was released.

"Those who were at the place and time mentioned in the flow chart were asked to contact the health authorities. We have identified around 70 people on the first day itself. Next day, i.e on Thursday, we identified around 40 people who came in close contact with the Ranni family," the DMO said.

Till Thursday, the health department has kept 896 people under observation in the district.

While 862 in Pathanamthitta were kept under home quarantine, 34 persons are lodged in the isolation ward.

A middle-aged couple and their 24-year-old son had reached Cochin International Airport on February 29 and allegedly failed to inform airport authorities about their travel history.

The three had tested positive on March 7 along with two of their relatives staying with them in Ranni, their hometown in Pathnamthitta district.

On March 10, six other relatives, including aged parents and friends of the family which returned from Italy, had also tested positive.

The map covers the route taken by the family after they landed at Kochi airport till they reached Ranni and various places, including a church, post office, jewellery store, hypermarket, shopping complex and other places they had visited in the following days.

There are reports the family had also travelled in a bus.

Meanwhile, Pathnamthitta District Collector P B Nooh had said there was no need to shutdown the places visited by the family and the aim was to track down the last contact of the affected people.

The health department will also release such a map to identify those who came in contact with the recent positive patients from Kannur and Thrissur, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Governor Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Friday paid homage to the dethroned Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II at Awe, Nasarawa State.

Report indicated that Governor El-Rufai arrived Awe Local Government Friday afternoon on his visit to dethroned Emir Sanusi II in his exile home.

Heavy security presence was reported and the security operatives refused to allow journalists into the dethroned Emirs residence and were only allowed to stay 200 metres away from the exile home while the governor went in for a brief meeting.

Photos were however, shared on Governor El-Rufais official Twitter handle.

Governor El-Rufai had offered the dethroned Emir Sanusi II two appointments immediately after his dethronement by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State.

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The makers of Irrfan Khans "Angrezi Medium" will be re-releasing the film in Kerala, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir -- regions where cinema halls will remain shut till March 31 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

On Thursday, it was announced that cinema halls and schools will be shut in several regions as an effort to prevent the highly-contagious virus from spreading. While the Akshay Kumar-starrer "Sooryavanshi" was immediately postponed, the makers of "Angrezi Medium" went ahead with the release on March 13 despite not being able to play the film in Delhi theatres.

" 'Angrezi Medium' has been a journey I shall cherish all my life. The one thing I've learnt from its making is that whatever be the obstacle, if we pour our heart and soul into something, the universe will have our back. As the film now reaches India, we have already recieved unabashed love from Dubai and other international territories. Due to unforeseen circumstances it will however not release in Kerala, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir. We hope for the same affection and support you've been giving us since day one. Our movie will reach these places when the time is right, but rest assured, just like Irrfan said, 'wait for us'," said the film's producer Dinesh Vijan.

Earlier, a statement released by the maker read: "Angrezi Medium' opens exceptionally in Dubai! The movie is released as scheduled across India except for - Kerala, Delhi and UT of Jammu & Kashmir. The makers will be releasing the movie in these respective regions once the theatres re-open. The movie has been appreciated by the critics and is sure to fill your hearts with love and laughter."

"Angrezi Medium", revolves around a father-daughter relationship, played out by Irrfan and Radhika Madan. The film also features Deepak Dobriyal, Dimple Kapadia, Ranvir Shorey and Kareena Kapoor Khan. The film is presented by Jio studios and Prem Vijan.
In the backdrop of several Indians stranded in the coronavirus-hit Italy, India will send a flight to Milan on Saturday in order to evacuate its nationals.

The Air India flight would take off tomorrow afternoon and will land in Delhi on Sunday morning with the evacuees.

"Air India would be taking a flight to Milan (Italy) to bring back Indians stranded there. The flight would take off tomorrow afternoon and would be landing on Sunday morning at Delhi Airport," said Rubina Ali, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Dammu Ravi, Additional Secretary, MEA added that around 220 students are stranded in and around Milan, Italy.

"Our priority is to bring them back. If any other students are left behind they can contact our missions, and we will see what next we can do," he added.

Speaking in the press briefing Union Health Ministry, Joint Secretary, Lav Agarwal said that 124 evacuees from Japan and 112 evacuees from China are being discharged today after having tested negative for coronavirus in the second round of test.

"If masks are sold at exorbitant prices then States can take action as per law. If needed, we will take drastic action on the abnormal increase in the price of masks," said Agarwal.

Speaking on the invocation of Epidemic Act by the Centre, Agarwal said "It is important to understand that it is not a health emergency. We are trying to support the initiative taken by the state in terms of managing the situation."

Agarwal added that till now, there are 81 confirmed cases in India, out of which 64 are Indians, 16 Italians and one Canadian

The World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and expressed deep concern both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Future Market Insights, Dubai, UAE, March 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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.

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

Explore Future Market Insights detailed coverage on,

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).

About Future Market Insights (IMF)

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 centers in the US 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.

Contact

Abhishek Budholiya

Unit No: AU-01-H Gold Tower (AU), Plot No: JLT-PH1-I3A,

Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai,

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MARKET ACCESS DMCC Initiative

For Sales Inquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com For Media Inquiries : press@futuremarketinsights.com Future Market Insights




ST. ALBANS  Parents filed into Bellows Free Academy  St. Albanss auditorium Tuesday for the first of what administrators said would be seve
Viral beauty brand Glossier has announced that it will be closing the doors to all of its Instagram-loved stores in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

In an open letter posted to the brand's Instagram account and website on Thursday, founder and CEO Emily Weiss, 34, shared the news that the brand - which counts the likes of Beyonce, Chrissy Teigen, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley among its A-list fans - would be shuttering stores in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Atlanta for at least two weeks.

The beauty entrepreneur confessed that it had been 'a tough call to make', noting that 2,000 people a day line up to visit Glossier's Manhattan flagship, which has become something of a Gen-Z tourist attraction thanks to its picture-perfect pink interior.

Taking a break: Celebrity-loved beauty brand Glossier will shutter all of its store locations for two weeks in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, CEO Emily Weiss (pictured) revealed

Tough decision: The 34-year-old founder of the brand, which counts Chrissy Teigen and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (pictured left) among its fans, made the announcement on Thursday

She added that the brand's in-store employees - known as 'online editors' - were being made a priority, revealing that Glossier would be 'compensating them for their scheduled time' during the two-week shutdown.

However, Weiss admitted that the brand would be 'sacrificing some near-term business goals', but insisted that her team is determined to 'put public health ahead of our bottom line'.

'Weve made the difficult decision to close all our current permanent and temporary retail locations (New York, Los Angeles, London, and Atlanta) for at least the next two weeks to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19,' she wrote.

'We will also delay the opening of Glossier Arizona, which was scheduled for next Wednesday. This is obviously a fluid situation, so well be monitoring and adjusting our plans and timeline accordingly.

'This is a tough call for many reasons. In our New York City flagship alone, 2,000 people gather daily from around the world, often lining up down the block to connect with Glossier and with one another.

'Our amazing offline editors are not just employees  they are the living embodiment of our brand and ethos, and hosts of sorts. So well be compensating them for their scheduled time throughout our planned two weeks of closure.

'From a company perspective, by closing our stores, well sacrifice some near-term business goals, but we're prepared to put public health ahead of our bottom line.'

Weiss went on to explain that she had initially chosen to 'follow' other retailers rather than leading the back as far as making a decision about closing its brick and mortar locations, however she rethought her position after watching the COVID-19 outbreak become more and more serious.

Picture perfect: The brand's locations have become tourist hotspots for Gen-Z Instagram fans, including Hannah Eddins (left) who swarm to stores to snap selfies with their amazing interiors

'You look good': The brand's flagship location in New York (pictured) sees more than 2,000 visitors every day and regularly has a line of people waiting outside to get in

West coast: Weiss admitted that the decision to close the stores, including the LA location (pictured), would mean 'sacrificing some near-term business goals'

Moving ahead: However she said that the brand was determined to 'put public health ahead of our bottom line'

'I thought: Wait a minute, we are leaders in retail, in so many ways,' she said. 'Our permanent and temporary offline experiences are more of a daily community event than a traditional store.

'Why wouldnt we lead here? This quickly became an easy, albeit painful, decision. Together with our community, we will always strive to create less harm and more good in the world.'

Despite Weiss listing the many serious reasons behind her decision to close Glossier's stores, the announcement was met with disappointment, and even anger, on Instagram, where dozens of users confessed that they had already made special trips to certain cities to visit one of the locations.

'Ahhhh got train tix for London tomorrow specifically to visit the store,' one person wrote, while another added: 'I just drove almost an hr to get here.'

One user said they actually 'flew to New York' to see the flagship location - which often has a line of eager beauty fans outside it - as a German follower commented: 'I understand and appreciate your decision but I'm really sad, because I planned a trip to London in 2 weeks to visit your pop-up because I can't get my hands on your lovely products in Germany.'

The same upset was expressed by fans on the West Coast and in the South, with one person saying: 'I literally just arrived in LA so i could visit the store.'

Another chimed in: 'Are you kidding me! Im in Atlanta until Saturday and made plans to visit tomorrow morning.'

Upset: The announcement about the New York, LA, London (pictured) and Atlanta stores caused bitter disappointment from fans, with many voicing their feelings on Instagram

Next time! One person wrote, 'Ahhhh got train tix for London tomorrow specifically to visit the store' (pictured)

Popular: In London (pictured), Instagram users have gone gaga over funky floral wallpaper and an installation that looks like the rooftop of one of the city's houses

Head up: The brand was also due to launch an Arizona pop-up next week, however Weiss has postponed those plans for the foreseeable future

Glossier, which was founded by Into the Gloss creator Weiss in 2014, opened its first brick and mortar locations in New York and Los Angeles in 2018 - having already opened up its Manhattan showroom to customers back in 2016.

Since then, the brand has continued to expand, opening pop-up locations in a slew of cities across the US and beyond, including Seattle, Austin, Boston, and London - which was only unveiled in January and has now been forced to close.

The brand was also due to open a new location in Arizona next week, however Weiss shared that the brand had chosen to postpone the launch until after the COVID-19 outbreak has been controlled.

However, while the base purpose of the stores is to sell Glossier's products - which include skincare like the wildly-popular Balm Dotcom ($12) and the Milky Jelly Cleanser ($18), as well as makeup items like the Skywash eyeshadow ($18) and the Brow Flick ($18) - they have become something of a must-see tourist hotspot for Gen-Z beauty lovers thanks to their unique, and very Instagram-worthy, interiors.

In London, Instagram users have gone gaga over funky floral wallpaper and an installation that looks like the rooftop of one of the city's houses, painted in the brand's signature millennial pink shade.

Meanwhile in New York, content lovers have snapped thousands of selfies in the store's many mirrors - particularly one that features the words 'you look good' across the middle.

Indeed the flagship location has become so popular with customers that can regularly be found with a line of young beauty fans snaked around the outside of the building waiting for their chance to snap a cool photo.

Alternatives: For those customers who now cannot visit the stores, like the Atlanta pop-up (pictured), Weiss suggested connecting with the Glossier team on social media

High tech: She also noted that the brand is going to try and implement a special FaceTime program so that customers with questions can have direct access to an employee

Warning: 'To everyone reading: Were not alarmists, were realists,' she concluded her letter

But Weiss insists that the brand's community is just as impressive online as it is on the ground, with the CEO urging Glossier's customers to turn their attentions to its social media accounts and website in lieu of the actual stores being open.

'Join us on social: Our @glossier team wakes up every day excited to keep the conversation going on Instagram and Twitter,' she wrote. 'Whether we're giving voice through beauty or finding other ways to stay positive through this difficult time, we're looking forward to connecting.

'Our incredible online editors, the gTEAM, are standing by to bring that personal touch to your shopping experience on Glossier.com.'

She also noted that the brand is going to try and implement a special FaceTime program so that customers with questions can have direct access to an employee.

'To everyone reading: Were not alarmists, were realists,' she concluded. 'While this may not be the right decision for every company, its the one where we feel we can make an impact.

'To fellow business owners, remember your core values during this timethis is when they matter most. To our customers and community, remember the power of adaptability.

'Stay present, be responsible, and try to lean into warmth and openness when you want to close off and pull down the shades. This is a time for us to remember our humanity.'
After Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress, around 10,000 of its office-bearers have resigned from the party in Madhya Pradesh and several more are likely to do so, a former leader of the grand old party claimed on Wednesday.

The ruling Congress, however, refuted this claim and said the supporters of Scindia were creating pressure on other leaders to leave the party.

Scindia quit the Congress on Tuesday and joined the BJP in the presence of party chief J P Nadda in Delhi on Wednesday.

"About 10,000 office-bearers of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh- from state-level to block-level, including some district presidents, have resigned from the Congress since Tuesday morning owing their allegiance to Scindia ji," former state Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi, who also quit the party along with Scindia, told PTI on Wednesday.

"More leaders will resign from the party soon," he claimed.

The district presidents of Guna, Sagar, Ashok Nagar, Gwalior, Indore, Shivpuri and some other districts have resigned from the party, Chaturvedi, a staunch Scindia supporter, said.

State Congress spokesman Narendra Saluja told PTI that Scindia supporters are pressurising the leaders to resign from the party.

He also said that the party office-bearers have not resigned in such large numbers.

"Whoever resigned, did so under pressure from Scindia supporters. They are creating pressure on the party leaders. If he was so popular, then why did he lose the Guna Lok Sabha seat last year?" Saluja asked.

He said Scindia would soon come to know the reality of his leadership after spending some time in BJP.

On Tuesday, 22 Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh resigned soon after Scindia quit the party. The development reduced the Congress government in the state to minority.

The BJP on Tuesday night shifted its MLAs to Manesar at Gurugram in Haryana, while Congress shifted its legislators to Jaipur on Wednesday morning amid ongoing political tug-of- war.
The Centre for Climate Change and Food Security (CCCFS) notes with joy government's decision to place a ban on the importation of 10-year-old and salvage vehicles. Government's intention is contained in the Customs (Amendment) Bill, 2020 which seeks to amend the Customs Act, 2015 (Act 891) which parliament has reportedly, adopted and approved.

Our joy stems from the fact that the decision by government, has mitigation effects on climate change. Considering the Paris Accord of 2016, which envisages keeping the surge in global temperature well below 2 C, we deem government's decision a huge leap forward towards the realization of the Accord.

Overaged cars have higher CO2 emission rates than new ones. The transport sector, contributes more than 50% of CO2 in terms of energy consumption globally. This makes it important for something radical to be done to change the trend. For this reason, the affinity for electric cars, is growing in the advanced countries. Government must thus take a cue and carve out a long term plan, for energy efficiency in the transport sector including but not limited to, target for electric cars. A comprehensive transport policy must be drawn, making the issue of climate change cardinal going forward.

Our joy is however, marred by the fact that, government in considering the overwhelming benefits of such a ban, did not make climate change issues elemental to the discussion. It appears, the overarching consideration for the law, was to create space in Ghana, for foreign automobile industries. The failure of government to make climate change a central issue, undermines government's true commitment to the fight against climate change. If government had communicated climate change as one of the issues topical to this decision, it would have served as an awareness creation avenue on the issue of climate change, which over 60% of Ghanaians hardly are aware of. CCCFS  doesn't however, consider this lapse as a fatal injury in terms of the envisaged effect of the ban.

By way of education, it's important to mention that, the fight against climate change, have seen a push back globally because of the economic implications of policies that can reverse the climate change trends. Many countries have declined to change some fundamentals of their economies as a commitment to the scourge of climate change.

This is to say, that, although government's decision has economic consequences especially on the livelihoods of the many Ghanaians who deal in these types of vehicles, it's our considered opinion that, the long term benefits are weightier. In this respect, we call on government to find ways to integrate these Ghanaians whose jobs are threatened as a result of this commendable policy, into the overall policy in a way that does not take away their livelihoods.

We acknowledge this first step by government, as an important step and ask for more to be done.

Thank You

Alexander Nti Kani

Environmental/Climate Economist

Ghana

+233-246514051

Issifu Sulemana

Director of Research

Germany

+4915217593128

Skype: issifusulemana
STPI mentioned another rule which permits authorised employees of STP (Software Technology Parks)-ETHP units to work from a place outside the unit.

New Delhi: In a precautionary move to check spread of deadly coronavirus, state-owned Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) on Thursday issued advisory that enables around 18-20 lakh employees of IT units registered with it to work from home.

IT industry body NASSCOM had urged the government to relax restrictions regarding allowing employees to work from home, amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Currently, there are restrictions on WFH (work from home) under the OSP (other service providers) regime.

"There are rules that allow employees to work from home in certain situation. We have issued those enabling clauses and will motivate all units registered with us to implement it. There are around 3,000 exporters registered with us and around 18-20 lakh employees work with them," STPI Director General Omkar Rai told PTI.

The urgent advisory issued by STPI, which overseas facilities and rules for software exporters, said in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, units may require employees to work from home using the laptop or desktop provided by the unit to them.

"In this connection, para-6.07 of HBOP (handbook of procedures) of FTP, inter-alia, permits employees of STP/EHTP units to take duty fee laptops/computers, etc, out of premises of unit for working upon by authorised employees," the advisory said.

STPI mentioned another rule which permits authorised employees of STP (Software Technology Parks)-ETHP units to work from a place outside the unit.

"Keeping in view of the outbreak of coronavirus, it is advised to make the industry/industry associations aware of this rule position enabling to make aforesaid precautionary measures in this regard for continuity of business operations in a seamless manner," the advisory said.

The coronavirus outbreak, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday, has led to more than 4,000 deaths so far globally.

The government on Wednesday suspended all visas, barring a few categories like diplomatic and employment, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus as cases across India rose to more than 70.

Companies across sectors are asking their staff to work from home and adopting technologies like telepresence and video-conferencing to ensure business continuity.

However, companies continue to struggle in operationalising WFH for their employees, owing to the onerous compliance and technical requirements under the prevailing OSP regime.

These requirements include establishing PPVPN connectivity, sharing pre-defined locations of extended agents (employees), and providing high monetary security deposits, among others.

PPVPN (Provider Provisioned Virtual Private Network) is generally used by companies to ensure secure communications for employees working from remote locations.

Nasscom, which represents IT and BPO companies as well as start-ups, has written to Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on the issue.

In its letter, Nasscom urged that requirements pertaining to WFH under the OSP regime be relaxed for a period of one month as an interim emergency measure.
Academy Award and Golden Globe-winner Matthew McConaughey is known for several turns as Hollywoods leading man. From his critically acclaimed performance in Dallas Buyers Club to his work in True Detective and Interstellar, he is one of Hollywoods most in-demand actors. However, a successful on-screen career is not the only thing McCoughaney has to be proud of.

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves | Christopher Polk/Getty Images

McConaughey also boasts a successful marriage to Camila Alves; the two have been married since 2012, and nearing a decade is quite an accomplishment when it comes to couples in Tinseltown. Unfortunately, the likelihood of divorce among performers in the City of Angels is quite high. So, who is Camila Alves? What does Alves do, and how much older is McConaughey than his wife?

Inside Camila Alves and Matthew McConaugheys relationship

Camila Alves is a Brazilian-American designer and model. Born in Brazil and raised there until she turned 15, Alves chose to stay in Los Angeles upon visiting an Aunt who lived there. Alves worked for four years as a house cleaner and a waitress; she also learned to speak English during this time.

When she turned 19, Alves moved to New York City with the dream of becoming a fashion model; she went on to become one of the few individuals capable of turning this dream into a reality. Alves and her mother designed the Muxo line of handbags, and in 2012, Alves went on to host the third season of Bravo TVs Shear Genius. In 2016, Alves launched the lifestyle website, Women of Today.

Yet, on her rise to the top, before Alves became the well-known designer she is today, she met Hollywoods then eligible bachelor, Matthew McConaughey. The two met in 2006 and dated for quite some time before getting engaged on Christmas day in 2011. They were married in 2012, making Alves 30 years old at the time of her wedding.

Alves was born on January 28 in 1982, making her 38 years old today. On the other hand, Matthew McConaughey was born on November 4 in 1969, making him 50 years old today. The two boast a 12 year age difference, which may seem quite drastic, but happens to be modest when considering the age gaps customary of Hollywood heartthrobs.

Do Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves have any kids?

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves have three children together: Levi Alves McConaughey, Vida Alves McConaughey, and Livingston Alves McConaughey. Their son Levi is now 11 years old, while their daughter Vida is 10 years old, and their youngest, son Livingston, is 7 years old. In other words, these two currently have a full house of children, and they all are still quite young. Thus, it will be quite some time until we discover whether they will come to boast the Hollywood gene.

With a model and fashion designer for a mom and an actor for a father, these kids seem destined to wind up in the arts; however, only the future will tell.
An NJ Transit locomotive engineer cautiously quarantined himself after his wife was in contact with someone diagnosed with the coronavirus, officials said.

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers union officials sent a letter warning other employees that one of our brothers could potentially be infected with coronavirus I would recommend that all BLET members protect themselves.

The engineers wife was in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with coronavirus, and he self-quarantined on Thursday, said James P. Brown, BLE general chairman.

Both NJ Transit officials and the governors office said they are aware of the situation.

NJ Transit has established protocols for absences related to illness in place, and we actively worked with this employee and union leadership after the employee requested time off to self-quarantine late (Thursday) afternoon, said Nancy Snyder, an NJ Transit spokeswoman.

The engineer was not required to take off by NJ Transit, but chose to, according to those involved. Brown said employees only get five sick days, not enough to cover a 14-day quarantine.

He contacted medical services and was told he could not mark off (take off from work) for a 14-day quarantine, Brown said. Our concern is engineers will feel they have to come to work in this situation.

According to Snyder, rail management was fully engaged with the employees union leadership immediately upon notification and throughout the process. The engineer, who wasnt identified, "contacted NJ Transit Medical Services who provided timely guidance, she said. However, without any supportive documentation, medical personnel could not make a definitive recommendation to self-quarantine.

The engineer was also instructed to follow up with NJ Transits Director of Medical Services, which he did not do, Snyder said. He was also told and to contact his healthcare provider.

The employee independently made the decision to self-quarantine without the benefit of our medical services review, Snyder said.

Locomotive cabs, cab cars and conductors work areas on trains that are included in the agencys enhanced cleaning efforts, like disinfecting vehicles every 24 hours. The cleaning agents contain anti-viral components such as bleach/water mixes and other disinfectant sprays, Snyder said.

The agency unveiled a website Friday that details additional coronavirus cleaning measures.

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A mother-of-two has been told she has only a month to live after she was diagnosed with cancer following a visit to the doctor about stomach pains.

Tara Mason, 33, from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, has cancer in her bowel, liver and lungs and has been told by doctors there is nothing more they can do for her.

She is spending her final weeks in a hospice and faces the ordeal of having to say goodbye to her children, Tia, 13, and Kacey, 10.

Mother-of-two Tara Mason, 33, from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, has been told she has only a month to live after she was diagnosed with cancer following a visit to the doctor about stomach pains. Pictured: Ms Mason with her youngest daughter Kacey, 10

Ms Mason has cancer in her bowel, liver and lungs and has been told by doctors there is nothing more they can do for her. Pictured: Ms Mason with Kacey and her eldest daughter Tia, 13

Her sister Kellie, 23, said Ms Mason's condition has deteriorated to the point where she can 'no longer see my sister when I look at her,' the Liverpool Echo reports.

The cause of Ms Mason's stomach pain was diagnosed after six months of back-and-forth medical appointments.

She immediately faced the challenge of a year of chemotherapy.

During this time, she was also told the cancer had spread to her ovaries, meaning that she needed an operation to remove a cyst eight inches wide.

She is spending her final weeks in a hospice and faces the ordeal of having to say goodbye to her children

Her sister Kellie (left), 23, said Ms Mason's condition has deteriorated to the point where she can 'no longer see my sister when I look at her'

But Ms Mason, who used to work in health and beauty, has now been told she has just one month left to live.

Kellie said: 'When it first started she thought she would get rid of it, it will be fine and she started spending more time with the kids.

'We never saw her cry about it, she just carried on. She was more worried about the kids. Everyone just kept saying she was so strong.'

However, despite being told that her cancer had spread, Ms Mason did not change her behaviour around her children.

She added: 'Throughout all this time she was so lively and the kids couldn't tell any difference with her.'

Ms Mason's family are now trying to raise funds so that Ms Mason's children can have a 'nice life' and so that her funeral can be a 'good send off'. Pictured: Her sister Kellie

She added: 'Her oldest daughter knows what's going on and she's seeing a counsellor.

'The youngest one has cried, but she can't really understand that she's not going to be here any more.

'We don't know how much longer she has, but we think it's going to be soon.'

The family are now trying to raise funds so that Ms Mason's children can have a 'nice life' and so that her funeral can be a 'good send off'.

Kellie has set up a gofundme page and said that while the family should not have to be worrying about money at this time, they are forced to do so.

So far, just over 5,000 has been raised.
In the mid-1980s, he was at the center of a different testing controversy  about how extensively the military should test its members for AIDS and how it should use the test results it had compiled. Dr. Redfield advocated for widespread testing and tracking as the best way to prevent the infections spread, while others argued it was a way for the military to flush out or otherwise discriminate against gay members. Later, he was the subject of a military investigation after colleagues suspected that he overstated the therapeutic effects of an experimental AIDS vaccine; the investigation led to a correction in some published data, but no evidence of misconduct was found.

He retired from the Army in 1996 to co-found the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where the goal is to discover and distribute treatments for chronic viral and immune disorders, especially H.I.V. When Dr. Redfield left the institute, his co-founder, Dr. Robert C. Gallo, called him a major force in establishing programs to confront the H.I.V. and hepatitis C epidemics in Baltimore and around the state.

He is credited with helping the institute increase its patient base to 6,000 in Baltimore and Washington, and to more than 1.3 million in Africa and the Caribbean, where he also helped with the medical response in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. He formed close relationships with patients, and kept photos of some who died of AIDS in his early days at Walter Reed in his office for years.

In his first two years leading the C.D.C., Dr. Redfield helped persuade Mr. Trump to take on the ambitious goal of ending transmission of H.I.V. in the country by 2030, through expanded efforts to prevent infections and treat those with the virus. And he has been a vocal champion of efforts to address opioid addiction and overdose, even sharing with the nation that one of his own sons had nearly died of an overdose and that the family struggled to find him treatment.

Dr. Redfields initial compensation at the C.D.C. caused an embarrassing controversy shortly after he took office. After earning about $650,000 a year at the University of Maryland, he was hired at an annual salary of $375,000, substantially higher than his predecessors and his boss, the secretary of health and human services, Alex M. Azar II.

The exceptional pay was granted under a federal provision that the Department of Health and Human Services can use to pay an official more than the approved government rate if the person provides a specific scientific need that otherwise cannot be filled. The department said this was a rare chance to hire a leading virologist.

But Dr. Redfield had actually sought the job for years. After Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, questioned the use of this exemption to pay him such a high rate, Dr. Redfield agreed to lower his salary to $209,700.
External Article

13 March 2020

(CNN)  An airline worker at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York addressed a crowd with only guesses as to how passengers waiting to board a flight to Dublin would be handled moments after President Donald Trump announced restrictions on travel from Europe.

Trump said Wednesday he was sharply restricting travel to the United States from more than two dozen European countries in light of the coronavirus outbreak that is now labeled a pandemic. Soon after, his administration clarified that the ban only applied to foreign nationals and not to American citizens who had been screened before entering the country.

"If the leader of the free world is telling you that, you know your travel is being affected I would think that we have to give you your money back," the airline worker told the crowd in a video.
Good riddance, Harvey Weinstein. Your humiliation is complete, your disgrace total.

The former Hollywood mogul left court this week to begin a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault. Yet the harshness of his sentence shocked many, not least his lawyer Donna Rotunno.

Outside the New York courtroom she said; 'I'm not here to say 'poor Harvey' but we were looking for fairness and we didn't get it.'

Despite the revulsion one feels for Weinstein and his despicable crimes, does she have a point? His sentence was six years shy of the maximum available and certainly less than some murderers receive.

ood riddance, Harvey Weinstein. Your humiliation is complete, your disgrace total

Of course, it was only correct that Weinstein was found guilty of some of the charges brought against him by six women, although not, please note, of the most serious ones. A jury found him guilty of rape in the third degree and a criminal sexual act in the first degree, but not guilty on more serious charges of predatory sexual assault.

There is no doubt he has indulged in a lifetime of abuse, using his power to get his sexual kicks  and then buying a queasy silence by threatening those who wished to expose him.

Yet I also feel unease that the sentence seems to reflect the many other women who have also accused him of abuse, but did not have their claims tested in court. In that respect it was almost a trial by contagion, led by the parameters of the #MeToo movement, not by the evidence.

Weinstein's punishment seems excessive, hyped up by public pressure. For to believe in justice is to believe in justice for everyone, no matter how morally repugnant the accused might be.

How does it compare to other sexual assault sentences? Six months ago a New York rapist who approached a woman with a gun, abducted her and repeatedly sodomised and raped her in her car was given 17 years.

Earlier, a school bus driver who admitted raping a 14-year-old girl after plying her with alcohol was given only a probationary sentence.

Nothing makes much sense in the problematic world of sexual assault sentencing.

Chained to the wheelchair that replaced the walking frame that succeeded his stick  aids that were supposed to bear vivid testament to his apparent physical and mental decline  Weinstein gave a rambling speech from the dock, the gist of which was: 'I thought we were friends.'

He is the worst kind of bully, but is there merit in what he says? The mitigating circumstances and continued friendships  some of the women remained in cordial contact with him for years  must have sent mixed messages. Getting away with it for so long, sometimes with the compliance of the women he was abusing, must have made him feel he was doing nothing wrong.

It certainly encouraged his warped belief that sex was an open-all-hours banquet, something he could enjoy on his own terms and at his every whim. One of the women who gave evidence against him said she came to court not as a 'perfect victim' with a straightforward story, but as a complicated human being. Indeed.

Meanwhile, victim Jessica Mann left the witness box in tears after giving evidence of her rape, then was heard screaming outside.

She said: 'Those were the screams that wanted to come out while Harvey was raping me.'

Despite the fact she had admitted having a long relationship with Weinstein that was of mutual benefit and had even continued seeing him after the traumatic sexual encounters, it must still be very difficult for a defence team to compete with that.

Far too much testimony was devoted to his physical shortcomings; the implication being that it wouldn't have mattered quite so much if he had looked like Brad Pitt. Nobody did themselves any favours with this.

However, there was far worse behaviour from all those in Hollywood who enabled Weinstein for years by knowing what was going on but turning a blind eye. And I mean everyone.

Today, they are probably feeling reassured by his harsh sentence, without ever pausing to examine their consciences. Harvey being banged up forever makes everyone feel good about themselves.

I won't shed a tear. There is much to celebrate in his downfall. Men everywhere are reminded to think once, twice, three times before putting an uninvited hand on a woman's body.

Yet one can celebrate the brute being behind bars, but also still feel uneasy about the righteous pitchforking from women he considered friends that put him there in the first place.

The names Bond, Boring Bond

Sean Connery didnt do it. Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby were just grateful for their five minutes of fame.

Roger Moore? Never. Too much of a gent. Pierce Brosnan? Hed be the last man on earth to do it. Do what? Complain about being cast as James Bond, of course.

Yet the current incumbent Daniel Craig never stops moaning.

Honestly. You pay a bloke 39 million to play James Bond, you might expect him to get on and take his top off without complaint. For a start. Last time around Dour Daniel said he would rather slash his wrists than do another Bond film. This time he has been complaining that it is all getting too much and whining on about his knees, like some boring old geezer.

If the Bond franchise want to do their bit for diversity and inclusivity, then they could do worse than sticking with the chap they have got.

That would be a blow against ageism, for a start.

In a crisis its fine to buy wine in your pyjamas!

Many of us who sometimes work from home have been advising those who may have to abandon their offices or workplaces to self-isolate during the coronavirus crisis. After long deliberation, here is my contribution to the home-work situation  ten questions to which the answer is always yes.

Many of us who sometimes work from home have been advising those who may have to abandon their offices or workplaces to self-isolate during the coronavirus crisis

1. Should I make a batch of marmalade before finishing this job?

2. Do I need a manicure right now?

3. Does that sock drawer need immediate organising?

4. Shall I have a biscuit? Shall I have a biscuit? Shall I have a biscuit?

5. Is it OK to put your wellies on over your pyjamas to go and get some wine?

6. Do I need to down tools and watch The Split again to admire their workwear?

7. Should I purchase similar workwear items online?

8. Now that I am online, is it a good time to peruse the kitchen gadget section on the Lakeland website?

9. Is it time to ring everyone I know for a gossip?

10. Should I pour myself a fortifying glass of welly wine?

Home work: It wears you out

Otis too fabulous for Cheryls show

A note of cheer amid the ongoing gloom. Oti Mabuse is to return to Strictly this year  sing a thousand hosannas!

There was a concern that having an after-work drink with her celebrity dance partner Kelvin Fletcher might have erupted into a full scale Curse-of-Strictly purging and sacking, but Oti has survived the shows moral police.

The fact that she is back as one of the pro-dancers suggests the meeting was as innocent as she insisted all along.

Oti Mabuse is to return to Strictly this year  sing a thousand hosannas!

Good. For Oti is a fabulous dancer, a terrific choreographer and for me, one of the enduring highlights of Strictly.

She is a generous expert who always makes her partners look good  although I am afraid there is one sausage-footed clodhopper who is beyond redemption.

Not on Strictly Come Dancing  I mean Otis occasional dance routines alongside Cheryl Cole on rival show The Greatest Dancer. Poor Cheryl looks like a panicked, drowning kitten when trying to keep up with Otis feline grace. Im afraid its a no from me.

There are no bald patches in SussexRoyalLand

Welcome to the Magical World of SussexRoyal Instagram, which is like Disneyland, only with less gritty realism. If I need a little fantabulous make-believe in life, its always my first stop on a grey winter morning.

So come with me now through the golden prism of Harry and Meghans own social media PR machine. This is their main conduit for communicating good deeds to the outside world, primarily their own.

These days they are accompanied by their own film crew and photographers so only the most burnished and flattering images are sent out to their fans. In SussexRoyal-Land Harrys bald patch is as elusive as the unicorn  it is simply never seen!

Meanwhile, every filmed vignette finds adoring crowds hanging on Meghans every word and laughing uproariously at her jokes. Honestly, it is the Pravda of the internet age, only with a little more polish.

This Insta account is followed by 11.3 million people, who surely must have noticed that nothing bad ever happens in this virtual, happy-ever-after reverie.

There is no mention of hoax phone calls, royal rifts, sister-in-law Kates thunderous face at Westminster Abbey, private jet travel or secret lives of luxury. In this land of make believe, the Sussexes are forces for inclusivity and change, just like they told the fake Greta Thunberg. What rot!

PS Those pranksters are so naughty, but the Queen and Princess Diana have also been caught out, too. Prince Harry survived his prank call almost unscathed. He clearly sees himself as a misunderstood maverick, but isnt really very bright.

To give them his mobile number along with his email address and to not be suspicious when they talked about the island of Chunga Changa? What a sillybilly. I know a man in the North Pole, he claimed. Dont we all, Harry! He is called Father Christmas.

I admired Theresa May for sounding a warning note about the Budget splurge in the House of Commons this week.

Not just because what she was saying made cautious sense. It is more that after being Prime Minister, she did her duty and returned to the backbenches to serve her constituents and the public after being in high office.

Unlike David Cameron and George Osborne, who thought something so mundane was beneath them  and swanned off to write books and edit newspapers instead.
Andrew Gillum, a former Democratic candidate for Florida governor, was involved in a suspected crystal meth incident at a Miami Beach hotel on Friday morning.

Miami Beach Fire Rescue were called to the hotel room by an associate of Gillums who found the former Tallahassee mayor and another man in the room in an intoxicated condition.

Aldo Mejias, 56, told police that he gave his credit card to Travis Dyson, 30, to rent a hotel room for the trio for the night. When he arrived at the hotel, he observed Gillum vomiting in the bathroom and the other man vomiting and having trouble breathing, at which point he began performing CPR and called the police.

Fire rescue crews treated the second man for a suspected overdose, and he was taken to the hospital in stable condition. Gillum was not arrested and was too intoxicated to communicate when authorities arrived but was found to be in stable condition when authorities returned for a checkup later.

Authorities confiscated three small clear plastic baggies lying in plain sight on the bed and floor that contained suspected crystal meth.

Clear plastic baggies containing suspected crystal meth on both the bed and floor of the hotel room. The three small baggies of suspected narcotics were impounded at the Miami Beach police station property and evidence unit for destruction, the report read.

The former Tallahassee mayor, who in 2018 narrowly lost Floridas gubernatorial race, apologized in a statement, denying he had used crystal meth.

I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends. While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines. I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement, Gillum said.

Im thankful to the incredible Miami Beach EMS team for their efforts. I will spend the next few weeks with my family and appreciate privacy during this time, he added.

Story continues

An internet search for Dysons name yielded a profile belonging to a male escort in Miami who goes by the same name.

I personally was not celebrating a wedding. I dont know if [Gillum] was in town for a wedding. He did not mention that, Dyson told the Miami New Times.

Weve been friends for a while, Dyson added before going silent on the phone.

More from National Review
Delta Air Lines will cut passenger-carrying capacity by 40% to deal with a nosedive in travel demand, and it is talking to the White House and Congress about assistance to get through a downturn caused by the new coronavirus.

The 40% cut in capacity is the largest in Delta's history, surpassing reductions that were made after the September 2001 terror attacks.

And the outlook for airlines is still getting worse.

"The speed of the demand fall-off is unlike anything we've seen  and we've seen a lot in our business," CEO Ed Bastian said in a memo to Delta's 90,000 employees Friday.

"We are in discussions with the White House and Congress regarding the support they can provide to help us through this period. I'm optimistic we will receive their support," he said, adding, however, that the airline "can't put our company's future at risk waiting on aid from our government."

Shares of Delta were up 14% in midday trading Friday amid a broader market rally.

Even before Delta's announcement, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin signaled that Washington wants to provide aid to the airline industry.

"We will be coming very quickly back on issues dealing with the airline industry," Mnuchin told CNBC on Friday. "Just as after Sept. 11, we are very committed to make sure that our U.S. airlines have the ability and have the liquidity to get through this."

Delta is the world's largest airline by revenue, and it has consistently been the most profitable U.S. carrier over the past decade.

Just over a week ago, airline CEOs who emerged from a White House meeting with President Donald Trump said they did not ask for help from Washington.

However, the combination of fewer bookings and more cancellations has picked up speed since then, and the airlines' problems were made even more dire by Trump's decision this week to ban most foreigners from flying from Europe to the U.S. for 30 days, beginning at midnight Friday.

Delta, American Airlines and United Airlines announced fresh rounds of flight cutbacks soon after Trump announced the ban.

With bookings plunging because of the coronavirus and travel restrictions imposed by governments, airlines have cut thousands of flights, frozen hiring and increased borrowing to shore up their liquidity.

CNBC contributed to this report.
Coronavirus took second life in India on Friday when a 69-year-old woman who had tested positive for the infection died in a Delhi hospital, said health ministry and Delhi government officials. The first casualty was also a senior citizen from Karnatakas Kalburgi.

The development comes on a day when the positive cases of infection within the country jumped to 81 from 74 reported till Thursday evening.

India recorded its first case of coronavirus caused death in Karnataka on Thursday with the passing away of a 76-year-old man on Tuesday who had tested positive after his return from Saudi Arabia.

Health official in Karnataka were initially unsure if the death was due to coronavirus but confirmed after results from Punes NIV lab was obtained. The man was also suffering from pneumonia, hypertension and asthma.

Several official communications have pointed out that the disease is more fatal among the elderly.

A news agency report said Telangana authorities had identified 34 people who had come in contact with the deceased and placed them under home quarantine. All of them are said to be medical professionals. The deceased was also treated at a Hyderabad hospital before he was shifted to Karnataka.

The agency quoted the Director of Public Health G. Srinivasa Rao, who said all those quarantined were kept under strict isolation and were stable.

State officials were ascertaining if some more people had come in contact with the dead man.

The second case of coronavirus death was reported from RML hospital in Delhi. PTI said it was caused due to co-morbidity (diabetes and hypertension). The victim had also tested positive for the virus.

Delhi Epidemic Disease COVID-19 Regulations, 2020, which aims at containing the spread of coronavirus in the national capital was invoked by the lieutenant governor on Friday and the Arvind Kejriwal government announced several measures to contain its spread including cancellation of IPL matches in Delhi.

A ban has also been put on hosting of seminars, conferences or any big event that requires assembly of 200 people or more in the national capital. Cinema theatres have been shut down till the end of the month and all offices, shopping malls and other public places have been directed to daily disinfect their premises.

All buses operated by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) have been disinfected. Coaches of the Delhi Metro were also disinfected on the night of March 12 and 13, said officials.

In another related development, over 770 people who came in contact with a 46-year-old Janakpur resident of Delhi who tested positive for coronavirus have been traced, said officials.
Houston ISD officials announced Thursday that classes will be canceled through March 30, while nearly all of the Houston area's largest school districts declared they are closing through at least next week, amid concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus.

Alief and Spring Branch ISDs also said they are canceling Friday's classes. Both districts, as well as HISD, are on spring break next week.

HISD's announcement follows the closure of Houston Community College's Felix Fraga Academic Campus, which the district also uses, after officials identified "potential exposure" to COVID-19.

"As we receive new information, that's how we make a new decision on whether we close one campus or we close districtwide," Lathan said at the end of a hurried school board meeting.

More than 20 districts currently on spring break preemptively announced their closure in rapid succession Thursday afternoon, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them were Cypress-Fairbanks, Fort Bend, Conroe, Katy, Humble and Spring ISDs. Most said they would be closed through March 20, but that may change as the situation changes.

No districts have reported cases of coronavirus infecting staff members or students, but health officials expect the number of confirmed cases to rise in the coming days as the virus spreads and testing increases.

The announcements come after Harris County Judge Lina Hildago asked schools to stay open. She worried that health and emergencies workers would be unable to do their jobs if they opt to stay home and watch their children. She added that research showed that when schools closed during the spread of the H1N1 virus, not much changed.

Here is an unofficial list of districts that have announced closures:

Aldine ISD

Alief ISD

Alvin ISD

Angleton ISD

Brazosport ISD

Channelview ISD

Clear Creek ISD

Conroe ISD

Crosby ISD

Cypress-Fairbanks ISD

Deer Park ISD

Dickinson ISD

Fort Bend ISD

Friendswood ISD

Galena Park ISD

Galveston ISD

Houston ISD

Humble ISD

Katy ISD

Klein ISD

La Porte ISD

Lamar CISD

Magnolia ISD

Pasadena ISD

Pearland ISD

Santa Fe ISD

Sheldon ISD

Splendora ISD

Spring ISD

Spring Branch ISD

Stafford MSD

Texas City ISD

Tomball ISD

YES Prep Public Schools

Houston, Alief and Spring Branch ISDs are scheduled for spring break next week.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Khartoum, March 14 : Sudan's Health Ministry has announced the death of a Sudanese citizen infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

"The infected was a man in his 50s living in Khartoum locality in Khartoum State. He died on Thursday," the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

It noted that the man, the first victim of the viral respiratory disease, had visited the United Arab Emirates during the first week of March, Xinhua news agency reported.

Before the announcement, Sudan had not disclosed the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in the country.

The ministry said it had taken more measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus as part of a national plan to combat the virus.

On Thursday, the Sudanese government issued an entry ban on the citizens from eight countries hit by COVID-19, including South Korea, China, Italy, Iran, France, Spain, Japan and Egypt. Sudan has also decided to close its border crossings with Egypt.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mexico is home to a wide range of destinations for every type of traveler. The country is home to a diverse group of people and a rich cultural scene. Mexico has everything from beautiful, clean beaches, to a vibrant nightlife that's just full of fun and memories.

If you're thinking about visiting Mexico but don't know where to go, then you've come to the right place. Check out this list of the coolest places to visit in Mexico perfect for your next travel itinerary.

Cenote Pet Cemetery

Pet Cemetery is a well-known scuba diving spot for anyone looking for a beautiful diving trail deep inside a jungle. The cenote got its name due to the animal skeletons found in the cave system. The skeletons are said to belong to prehistoric animals that have gone extinct.

Pet Cemetery, which is part of the one of the longest underwater cave systems in the world, is also one of the most breathtaking cenotes you'll ever come (or swim) across.

San Miguel de Allende

The city was voted as the world's best city in 2017, and it isn't just for show. San Miguel de Allende is a city full of charming architectures and bathed in bright colors. The views are spectacular and enchanting.

San Miguel is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its rich history that dates back to 1542. The city holds eclectic shops ranging from art galleries to a centuries-old pharmacy.

Tlacotalpan

Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, this city sits at the margins of the "River of the Butterflies" or Papaloapan river.

The town's architecture will take you back to the 16th centuries where the color palette was extraordinary---from subtle oranges to wild yellow tones. Travelers who visit this iconic city can get a glimpse of the idyllic life the city is Tlacotalpan known for.

Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan, which means "the place where the gods were created," has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. It is a Mesoamerican city founded by the Aztecs in the 1400s.

The city's history and origins remain a big mystery. The site holds some of the most jaw-dropping architectures and some of the darkest histories. Teotihuacan was the site for numerous ritual ceremonies and sacrifices where people and animals were "offered" to the gods.

Note: Teotihuacan sees thousands of visitors each day. If you're planning to visit, get ready for massive numbers of tourists and a long line to get to the top of one of the pyramids.

Palenque

Located at the foothills of Chiapas altiplano, Palenque, which was originally called Lakamha, was one of the most important Maya cities. The city was once a prosperous inland trade center which allowed the Maya people to control a large territory and form alliances with other powerful cities.

The city contains some of the most impressive Maya architecture and sculptures. Researchers believe only 10% of the area has been explored, leading others to think there may be more Maya artifacts lost in the surrounding jungle.

Crater Joya Honda

The 800-meter crater has been the site of numerous legends and tales. Some legends say the crater housed bandits and gunmen, along with their bountiful loot. Other tales speak of witches you can sometimes see during the night. The crater, according to stories, is a "landing area" for UFOs.

Travelers who enjoy intense physical activities can hike from the bottom of the crater. For safety precautions, take bottles of water and food with you as the location is a bit isolated.
Irish eyes are not smiling today.

For what is believed to be the first time in its history, Jacksonvilles annual St. Patricks Day parade has been canceled.

The decision was made Thursday after city and health officials discussed the rising number of COVID-19 cases being reported nationwide.

Mayor Andy Ezard said the decision to cancel was not taken lightly.

This is such a historic event and it was a tough decision, he said.

Public health officials are recommending limiting the sizes of crowds. Sangamon County on Thursday announced it will limit indoor crowds to 250 people and outdoor crowds to 500 people for at least 30 days as a preventive measure.

This parade brings a large crowd  its a short parade, but everyone is in such close proximity, Ezard said.

Dons Place owner Dan Kindred, a main promoter of the parade, said he was saddened by the decision but understood the reason.

It was their decision and I obey what they say, Kindred said.

The parade has not been rescheduled because of the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic.

Theres no way to say how long this is going to last, Kindred said.

The parade has been rescheduled because of weather in the past, Kindred said.

Springfield and Chicago also have canceled their St. Patricks Day parades.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the COVID-19 virus is thought to spread mainly among people in close contact with one another through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
New Delhi, March 13 : Exactly 365 days ago, he dumped his party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party. Known to be among the very few who had access to 10, Janpath -- Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's residence, in March last year, Tom Vadakkan caught everyone including his own party unaware when he walked up to the BJP podium to say, "I gave prime of my life to the Congress. But dynastic politics is now at its zenith in the party... There's no place in it for self-respecting people." On his first year anniversary in the BJP, Vadakkan dropped another bomb on the Gandhis, saying the party will be taken over by the Vadras.

"It is a family entreprise. Now it will be probably the Vadras taking over. The Vadra family will take over, their children will take over (the Congress). That's how it is," Vadakkan alleged, with a straight face.

When asked to reconfirm what he just said, Vadakkan gave a one word reply, "Absolutely".

Further emphasising his point, calling the Congress a 'family entreprise', Vadakkan added that "Priyanka and Priyanka's Children...I mean that's how hard you work. How many years you've put.. That's not in question. How much efforts you've made, not...These are things that don't matter. what matters is, do you belong to the family?" Wearing a Modi Kurta, Vadakkan was flipping news channel which beamed stories of Jyotiraditya Scindia filing nomination, with Shivraj Singh Chauhan by his side. Passingly he remarked, "I was part of the team that welcomed him to Congress. And here I was at the BJP office when he joined on Wednesday." "The month of March is usually very heavy on the Congress," said he. Both Vadakkan and Scindia left Congress in March. He quoted Shakespeare's Julias Caesar where a soothsayer warns Caesar to "Beware the ides of March." "They (Congress) too need to beware," he told IANS.

Will Sachin Pilot too follow suit? Vadakkan evades answering. However, he adds, as long as the party continues to ignore the younger generation at the cost of choosing family loyals, "its just a matter of time" before more young turks of Congress leave the party.

"There's a whole lot of disillusioned young men, standing and waiting for an opportunity to move out," the former Gandhi family loyalist warns.

In 2019, just before India went to elections, Vadakkan cited his disenchantment with the party over questioning the government after the horrific Pulwama attack that killed 43.

On his first anniversary in the BJP, couple of days after Jyotiraditya Scindia joined it citing Congress "living in denial", Vadakkan too claimed the grand old party is "putting up a show" while its "ideology has worn off". "Only the family matters," he concluded.

(Anindya Banerjee can be contacted at anindya.b@ians.in)
A man in his 50s has been released without charge in connection with the abduction and assault on Kevin Lunney in September.

A file is to be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
A plan to legalize and regulate medical marijuana products in Alabama won approval today in the state Senate after about five hours of sometimes contentious debate.

The Senate passed the bill on a 22-11 vote, moving it to the House of Representatives, where medical marijuana legislation stalled a year ago.

Alabama would be the 34th state to legalize medical cannabis, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The bill, by Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, creates a framework to regulate medical cannabis from cultivation of the plants to production and testing of the products and all the way to the patients, who could use them to treat a variety of ailments. Patients would receive a medical cannabis card authorized by a doctor trained in the use of the products.

Melson, an anesthesiologist and medical researcher, said he believes the overall message of the research and experiences in other states builds a strong case that medical cannabis products could be a potential source of help for patients whose symptoms have not been effectively relieved by conventional medicines.

Opponents of the bill noted that marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal law and that legislative approval of its use bypasses more rigorous testing and approval required for prescription drugs.

Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, who voted against the bill, tried to amend it to reduce the maximum daily dosage allowed, to place a cap on the amount of THC, to shorten the list of conditions for which the products could be used, and to make it unlawful for people to drive with THC in their system even if the driver has a medical cannabis card.

Melson opposed the amendments, which the Senate rejected.

Senators did approve one amendment by Orr, which capped the amount of THC in products used by minors at 3%.

Sen. Larry Stutts, an OBGYN physician, reiterated his longstanding opposition to medical marijuana, mostly because he said it hasnt gone through the testing required for prescription drugs.

The bill would authorize doctors who receive training to recommend medical cannabis products to patients suffering from more than a dozen conditions: Anxiety or panic disorder; autism; nausea, weight loss, or pain from cancer; Crohns disease; epilepsy or conditions causing seizures; fibromyalgia; HIV-related nausea or weight loss; persistent nausea; post traumatic stress disorder; sleep disorders; spasticity associated with a motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, or spinal cord injury; a terminal illness in which the life expectancy is six months or less; Tourettes Syndrome; and conditions causing chronic or intractable pain that cant be treated effectively treated otherwise.

The Senate approved an amendment by Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, adding menopause and premenstrual syndrome to the list.

Melsons bill would create the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission, which would establish and administer a patient registry system, issue medical cannabis cards, and issue licenses for the cultivation, processing, dispensing, transporting, and testing medical cannabis products.

The products could be tablets, capsules, tinctures, gelatinous cubes, gels, oils, creams, suppositories, patches, or liquid or oil for use with an inhaler.

The bill would not allow patients to use raw plant material or any product that could be smoked. It would not allow any food products containing cannabis, like cookies or candies.

Republican senators voting in favor of the bill were Sens. Melson; Greg Albritton of Range; Will Barfoot of Montgomery; Clyde Chambliss of Prattville; Chris Elliott of Fairhope; Garlan Gudger of Cullman; Andrew Jones of Centre; Steve Livingston of Scottsboro; Jim McClendon of Springville; Del Marsh of Anniston; Randy Price of Opelika; David Sessions of Grand Bay; Cam Ward of Alabaster; Tom Whatley of Auburn; and Jack Williams of Wilmer.

Democrats voting for the bill were Sens. Billy Beasley of Clayton; David Burkette of Montgomery; Linda Coleman-Madison of Birmingham; Malika Sanders-Fortier of Selma; Vivian Davis Figures of Mobile; Bobby Singleton of Greensboro; and Rodger Smitherman of Birmingham.

Republicans voting against the bill were Sens. Orr, Stutts, Gerald Allen of Tuscaloosa, Tom Butler of Madison, Donnie Chesteen of Geneva, Sam Givhan of Huntsville, Jimmy Holley of Elba, Greg Reed of Jasper, Dan Roberts of Birmingham, Clay Scofield of Guntersville, and Shay Shelnutt of Trussville.
Best Life

The Omicron variant is causing a surge of new COVID cases, breakthrough infections, and reinfections. Cases have increased in the U.S. by more than 85 percent in the last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Much of this has to do with how quickly this iteration of the virus can spread, as well as its ability to evade existing immunity. But as it gets easier to get infected with COVID, it's also becoming harder to know if you have the virus or another circulat
Jessa Duggar decided to take to YouTube to share her birth stories. The mother of three went through each of her three deliveries and was honest about the fact that she enjoys the concept of giving birth at home. Followers, however, noticed a few discrepancies in the story about her third delivery, and many believe she is fibbing. Whether shes lying or not, one question remains; Why, exactly, does Jessa seem obsessed with home births, even after shes experienced complications?

Followers believe she never intended to head to a hospital for her third birth

Jessa has insisted that she planned to head to the hospital for the delivery of her third child. Instead, she ended up giving birth to her first daughter, Ivy Jane Seewald, at her familys home in Springdale, Arkansas. According to Jessa, Ivys arrival was a bit of surprise, and her midwife was out of town, forcing her to have another home birth. Followers are calling nonsense on those statements.

Several Reddit users insist that Jessa may have manipulated the situation to ensure she had a home birth instead of a hospital one, regardless of her husbands wishes. Many note that a midwife would have likely offered Jessa an alternative plan when they headed out on vacation, and none of those alternative plans would have involved laboring, unassisted in her home.

The midwife, who has not been identified, has never spoken out about the situation, and likely never will. Regardless of how the birth happened, Jessa did end up needing emergency care after she began to hemorrhage. It was not the first time that a homebirth attempt ended in an ambulance ride for Jessa. During her first labor, Jessa needed assistance when she began to bleed heavily. Her second birth, with her youngest son, Henry Seewald, did not have the same complication.

Why is Jessa obsessed with having homebirths?

Home births are common among the Duggar women. While Michelle Duggar had the majority of her children in a hospital setting, she did attempt home births on more than one occasion. The family has never directly discussed why they choose this method of bringing children into the world. Those who have left the Institute of Basic Life Principles, the controversial ministry that the Duggar family is associated with, believe the familys religion plays a part. They suggest the ministrys former leader, Bill Gothard, promoted the practice.

Duggar family followers mainly believe that the IBLP is the reason behind Jessas interest in homebirth, too, although several of her family members have chosen to labor in hospitals. Jinger Duggar, for example, picked a hospital birth when she was pregnant with her daughter, Felicity Vuolo. Kendra Caldwell, Lauren Swanson, and Abbie Burnett all decided to deliver their children in a hospital setting, too.

Jill Duggar and Joy-Anna Duggar have both attempted home births, though. Jill tried two home births. Both ended in emergency c-sections in a hospital setting. Joy-Anna also required an emergency c-section after a long labor with her son, Gideon Forsyth.

How common are homebirths?

Jessa may be committed to the practice, but home births are not particularly common, although the method is on the rise after falling out of favor with expectant mothers for decades. According to The New York Times, 98% of all children born in the United States are born at hospitals or in birthing centers.

In 2004, less than one percent of all babies born were born inside the home. Twelve years later, nearly two percent of babies in the United States were delivered at home. While the jump may seem insignificant, it is a pretty massive jump, all things considered. Several medical journals advise against the practice, citing that home births carry double the risk of neonatal death.
Suncorps chief information officer, Sarah Harland, is leaving the company on March 27.

Harland joined the company in September 2016 to lead its technology function with her responsibilties including digital enablement, cloud infrastructure, security services, data and innovation labs.

Suncorp CEO, Steve Johnson said that Harland had made a significant contribution in strengthening Suncorps digital transformation over the past three years, including the development of the Suncorp App.

Sarah has also driven the development of Suncorps leading API layer, which gives the group great flexibility as we adapt to rapidly changing customer and community expectations.

Harland said in a statement that she was proud of what had been delivered under her leadership.

It has been a privilege to work at Suncorp and be part of the technology transformation over the past three year, especially during a period of unprecedented change in this sector, she said.

Darren Abbruzzese , executive general manager digital, labs and insurance technology will act as chief information officer while Suncorp searches for a permanent replacement.

Harland joined Suncorp Group from Medibank where she spent five years as executive general manager, technology and operations, based in Melbourne.

Before Medibank, she was general manager, group technology for ANZ Bank and also held CIO roles at the National Health Services in the UK and QWEST Communications in Denver in the United States.
All 2019 financial targets achieved - Extensive cost-reduction measures being implemented during current fiscal year - Outlook clouded amid growing uncertainty of the coronavirus outbreak

FRANKFURT, Germany, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fraport AG looks back on a positive 2019 fiscal year (ending December 31). Fraport achieved all financial targets for 2019, despite the increasingly difficult market environment towards the end of the year. Moreover, the coronavirus outbreak has hit the aviation industry massively in the last few weeks. Therefore, it is currently not possible to provide a reliable business outlook for 2020. Overall, Fraport's executive board expects the Group result to decline significantly for the current business year.

Fraport executive board chairman, Dr. Stefan Schulte, said: "After many years of strong growth, the aviation industry now finds itself in a severe crisis. At this stage, it is not yet possible to foresee when the crisis will end. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, our company was navigating in a more difficult market environment. In the last quarter of 2019, our business was impacted by a number of negative factors: including the economic slowdown, greater geopolitical uncertainties, consolidation of flight offerings, and bankruptcies of airlines and tour operators. Despite these adverse factors, our Group delivered a strong performance by achieving all financial targets in 2019. This was also largely possible thanks to our diversified international portfolio."

Revenue and earnings targets achieved

In fiscal year 2019, Fraport's Group revenue grew by 6.5 percent to about 3.7 billion. After adjusting for revenue related to capital expenditure for expansion measures (based on IFRIC 12), Group revenue increased by 4.5 percent to nearly 3.3 billion. This increase can be mainly attributed to the overall positive traffic performance achieved across the Group. In particular, considerably higher contributions to revenue growth came from Fraport's home-base Frankfurt Airport, along with the company's Fraport Greece, Fraport USA and Lima (Peru) subsidiaries.

The operating result (Group EBITDA) climbed by 4.5 percent to almost 1.2 billion. This includes a positive one-off effect of 47.5 million, resulting from the first-time application of IFRS 16. The mandatory IFRS 16 international financial-reporting standard has established new rules for the accounting of leases - specifically affecting the accounting of lease contracts concluded by Fraport USA. Due to higher amortization and depreciation, Group EBIT slipped by 3.5 percent to 705.0 million year-on-year.

The Group result (net profit) fell by 10.2 percent to 454.3 million year-on-year in the reporting period. The decline can be mainly attributed to lower "other operating income" versus fiscal 2018, when this item was boosted by extra revenue from the sale of Fraport's stake in Flughafen Hannover-Langenhagen GmbH (leading to a 75.9 million increase in the 2018 Group result). Adjusted for this one-off effect, the Group result posted underlying growth of about 24 million or almost six percent in 2019 (based on an adjusted 2018 Group result of around 430 million).

Operating cash flow rose by 150 million or 18.7 percent year-on-year to 952.3 million. This increase resulted from the positive operating performance generated across the Group, as well as the application of IFRS 16 and an improvement in working capital. As expected, free cash flow fell to minus 373.5 million, reflecting extensive capital expenditure at Frankfurt Airport and Fraport's Group airports worldwide.

Airports in Fraport's international portfolio report mixed traffic results

In 2019, Fraport's home-base Frankfurt Airport (FRA) reached another annual traffic record, with more than 70.5 million passengers traveling through Germany's largest aviation hub. This represents an increase of 1.5 percent compared to 2018. Most of Fraport's Group airports worldwide also recorded traffic growth during 2019. At the top of the table are Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey (up 10.0 percent to over 35.5 million passengers), Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia (up 8.1 percent to 19.6 million passengers), and Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru (up 6.6 percent to 23.6 million passengers). However, the global economy and the ongoing consolidation measures of airlines also impacted airports in Fraport's international portfolio. In particular, the Group airports in Slovenia and Bulgaria experienced significant traffic declines, especially during the second half of 2019.

Outlook uncertain - Cost-reduction measures swiftly implemented

During the last few weeks, the coronavirus outbreak has led to massive flight cancellations and very weak demand in both intercontinental and European traffic. In February 2020, Frankfurt Airport's passenger traffic slumped by four percent overall. The negative trend accelerated noticeably in the course of the month, with passenger traffic declining by 14.5 percent in the last February week. Passenger numbers even dropped by some 30 percent in the first week of March 2020.

Fraport has launched a number of cost-reducing measures to counteract the situation. All costs are now being rigorously reviewed, with only expenditures essential for business operations being authorized. Fraport AG has essentially suspended hiring new staff. Regular staff turnover will also be utilized to reduce personnel costs. Operational employees have been asked to rearrange work shifts, possibly postponing them until the summer or autumn. Moreover, employees have been offered voluntary unpaid vacation or temporarily reduced working hours. An arrangement for short-time work is in preparation.

CEO Schulte: "We have to assume that the strong decline in air traffic volumes will continue during the next few weeks and months. At the same time, we are unable to reliably forecast the extent and duration of this development. Therefore, we cannot provide a detailed guidance for the full year 2020. Out of our responsibility towards our employees and the company as a whole, it is now vital to adjust staff deployment to the reduced demand - as fast as possible and in a socially responsible manner. We need to reduce our variable costs, wherever possible."

Without the coronavirus outbreak, Fraport AG was expecting Frankfurt Airport's 2020 traffic performance to remain at about the same level as in 2019. Taking the current development into account, a significant slump in passenger numbers at FRA can be expected for the full year. This will also lead to a marked decline in Group revenue for Frankfurt Airport. The executive board currently forecasts the traffic loss at FRA to result in a negative EBITDA effect of about 10 to 14 euros per missing passenger.

In addition, the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on passenger traffic at Fraport's other Group airports is unforeseeable at this time and could have further dampening effects on Group revenue (adjusted for IFRIC 12) and other key financial figures. Overall, the executive board expects Group EBITDA, Group EBIT and the Group result (net profit) to noticeably decline over the full year. Nevertheless, the executive board intends to maintain a stable dividend of 2.00 per share for fiscal 2020.

For further information about Fraport AG please click here.

Fraport AG

Torben Beckmann

Corporate Communications

Media Relations

60547 Frankfurt, Germany

Telephone: +49-69-690-70553

E-mail: t.beckmann@fraport.de

Internet: www.fraport.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/FrankfurtAirport
BANGKOK (AP)  European markets were mostly higher Friday after a turbulent trading session in Asia.

Shares rose in Paris and London but fell 6.1% in Japan following Wall Streets biggest drop since the 1987 Black Monday crash.

Friday the 13th brought wild swings for some markets as governments stepped up precautions against the spread of the new coronavirus and considered ways to cushion the blow to their economies.

Almost 5,000 people have died from the coronavirus and 135,000 confirmed cases exist worldwide.

Live coronavirus tracker

Coronavirus news in the U.S.

U.S. hospitals face major challenges as virus spreads (Wall Street Journal)

Source: Trump is concerned about coming into contact with people infected with coronavirus (CNN)

Disney Parks to close, March Madness canceled (ABC News)

Australian official who met with Ivanka, AG Barr last week tests positive for coronavirus (NBC News)

Alaska announces first case (Alaska Public Media)

Maine has first case (Bangor Daily News)

Coronavirus news around the globe

Two passengers wearing masks make their way through the terminal at Frankfurt airport, Germany, Friday March 13, 2020. Due to the Coronavirus a large number of flights have to be cancelled. 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.(Boris Roessler/DPA via AP)AP

Italian hospitals overwhelmed amid coronavirus outbreak (Boston Globe)

Countries enforce mass closures to stem spread (BBC)

Will warmer weather help fight the coronavirus? Singapore and Australia suggest maybe not (CNN)

Wife of Canadas PM tests positive (NPR)

Google employee in India tests positive (Tech Crunch)

Kenya, Kazakhstan confirm first coronavirus cases (Al Jazeera)

Local coronavirus news

Confirmed cases in Michigan jump to 12 (Fox 2)

How Cleveland Schools are preparing for 3-week coronavirus school closures

Catholic Diocese of Cleveland says missing Mass is OK to combat coronavirus spread

Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio cancel grocery store booths

Ohio State University will move to remote learning through rest of semester, extend spring break to give students time to move out

Cleveland, Cuyahoga County focus on containing coronavirus, easing anxiety while testing remains limited

Six states, including Ohio, close schools (Chicago Tribune)

Read complete prior coronavirus coverage on cleveland.com
Several companies have put annual shareholders meetings on hold due to worries about the spread of coronavirus.

A FPT Retail's store in the outside of Ha Noi. The company has postponed its annual shareholders' meeting on worries about the spread of virus.  Photo vietnambiz.vn

FPT Digital Retail Joint Stock Company (FPT Retail, HoSE: FRT) has decided to postpone its annual shareholders meeting, which was scheduled for March 20.

The decision was made due to worries about COVID-19, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The meeting would be held at a later date, which had yet to be decided, FPT said.

The Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank, HoSE: EIB) has also postponed its meeting to a later date.

Eximbanks annual meeting had been set for April 20.

Residential property developer Vinhomes (HoSE: VHM) and digital retailer Mobile World Investment Corporation (Mobile World, HoSE: MWG) have also taken similar measures.

Mobile World said in a statement on Tuesday that the outbreak could prevent its foreign shareholders from travelling.

The delay would protect the rights, benefits and health of shareholders whether they are foreign or Vietnamese, the company said.

Its annual shareholders meeting would be held 30 days after the outbreak was declared over, it added.

The meetings would be held by June 30, Mobile World and Vinhomes said.

The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV, HoSE: BID) and Hoang Huy Investment Services Joint Stock Company (HHS, HoSE: HHS) on Saturday held their annual shareholders meetings.

Earlier media reports said some companies still wanted to organise their meetings as scheduled.

Companies may consider holding online annual meetings, but not many of them are capable of doing so while some investors do not support the idea.

The companies I have purchased stakes in plan to hold their annual shareholders meetings in late April. They have not decided yet whether the meetings will be postponed or not, individual investor Tran Hoai Nam told Viet Nam News.

I hope the warm weather in the South will be ideal for us to attend the meeting, he said.

But I dont agree with the idea of online shareholders meetings, Nam said. We have to be there to discuss the companys operations directly, and question the board of directors about business issues.

If the outbreak continues in Viet Nam, I would seriously recommend the companies postpone the meetings.

The pandemic has caused severe damage to Vietnamese companies.

Since the outbreak on January 30, the benchmark VN-Index has lost more than 18 per cent.

Shares of FPT Retail, Mobile World, Eximbank and Vinhomes have shed 3.3-26.6 per cent during that time.  VNS

Vietnams businesses borrow big money for production activities People who have idle money are engaging in property speculation, but at the same time many producers seriously lack money, according to Pham The Anh from the Hanoi Economics University.
Canadian #GirlDad Is Making Trips To The Beach Safer For His Trans Daughter

Born out of a fathers concern over his transgender daughters comfort and safety at the beach, Canadian dad Jamie Alexander created a line of swim bottoms for his child and those like her around the world. Before a family vacation to Panama, Alexander was worried that his then 11-year-old daughter Ruby might be in danger or discomfort at the beach. Though he didnt have any firsthand experience with fashion or design, Alexander created swim bottoms that have a compression technology  and from that, Rubies were born.

Alexander says that he and his wife Angela had, prior to Rubys transition, dressed her in boys clothes when it came time to go to the gym or to go swimming. For their family vacation, Ruby wanted to do away with the baggy attire shed been wearing for such occasions and dress like any other girl going to the beach. With her wish in mind, her father reached out online and saw that he and his family were not alone. As a member of a Facebook group for parents of trans kids, Alexander found that the matter of beach attire was a shared for numerous families.

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While families and friends can create a safe space for people in the trans community, kids like Ruby are unfortunately at risk of being harassed or harmed, leading them to be victims of hate crimes. Plus, as Alexander writes on his website, every trans girl should be as comfortable in her clothes as her cisgender friends.

With a background in the tech industry, Alexander began his mission to seek out guidance and assistance on how to go about creating swimwear bottoms. Ultimately, he presented his concept to the Fashion Zone at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canadas leading incubator for fashion and technology-inspired startups.

Together, Alexander and Fashion Zone have worked on ten versions of the bottoms that are being tested and improved upon thanks to the feedback of 25 transgender girls from Canada, the U.S., and Australia.

Named after his daughter, Rubies only offer two choices of bottoms as of right now: black or a sparkling pink, priced at $44. The line doesnt feature any bikini tops, but they do sell tees that bear the Rubies slogan, "Every Girl Deserves to Shine."

What's up next? Alexander says, I want to send a thousand pairs for free to kids who can't afford them. The proceeds made from the sales of the featured t-shirts will fund that goal. Alexander is already working on new installments for the line, conceptualizing one-piece suits that will use the same compression technology, and he hopes to create leggings that will be useful for other activities.

Header image: Artem Beliaikin/ Unsplash

More from BUST

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Recent Legislation Is Putting The Rights Of Transgender Youth At Risk

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Hello, hello! I'm a journalism major and intern here at BUST looking to bring you stories primarly centered around intersectional feminism. You can almost definitely find me lurking like the Phantom in the YA section of any bookstore and drinking my weight in caramel lattes from Dunkin'. Feel free to follow me on Twitter and Instagram for all your bookish needs!
The federal government owns, operates and uses some of the largest networks in the world, with millions of users distributed across thousands of locations. Due to their size and age, these networks host an exceptionally diverse set of systems and applications. Even when removing sensitive and classified networks from consideration, the remaining networks provide data and services upon which hundreds of millions of citizens and other constituents depend.

Because of this richness of systems, data and bandwidth, intruders of all varieties target federal networks. These threat actors possess a wide range of threat capabilities, beginning with the nuisance of denial-of-service attacks, continuing through the pain of ransomware and peaking with espionage, theft and computer network attack (CNA). Federal defenders struggle to balance their responsibilities against the resources allocated to protect their environments.

A certain class of threat actor is attracted to the federal environment. These are network resident threats  intruders who use and abuse networks for a sustained period of time. NRTs may or may not be so-called advanced persistent threats, sentient threat actors, not mindless code, who can operate in the full spectrum of computer intrusion and are formally tasked to accomplish a mission. APTs may or may not use a network to accomplish their goal. For example, an APT might try to insert human operatives into target organizations as a newly hired software engineer. Unless and until those operatives decide to use or abuse their network access, they are invisible to network security products.

Typically APT groups will gain access to a target network and establish mechanisms by which they can maintain remote access on demand. These so-called persistence measures explain the P in APT. (P also refers to the tendency of these groups to adopt a variety of methods to achieve their mission.) FireEyes Mandiant division recently released the 2020 edition of its M-Trends report, which noted that the so-called dwell time for incident response activities was 56 days in 2019. This means that 56 days elapsed between the time a threat actor first achieved access and when that access was detected by internal or external incident responders. As the vast majority of these APT groups use network infrastructure to retain access to target data, they perfectly fit the description of a network resident threat.

Criminal groups, insider threats or other undesirable actors may also use and abuse the network to achieve their goals. While it is possible for criminal groups to perform close-access operations, such as tampering with hardware in point-of-sale devices, criminals prefer to compromise targets remotely. This preserves their ability to manage multiple criminal engagements while protecting their personnel and business models.

Malicious insiders may even make use of the network over prolonged periods of time. While insiders may evade network detection by carrying copies of documents on portable hard drives, they run the risk of being caught with such devices on their persons. Many choose to transmit stolen data digitally. For example, an engineer at one of the nations largest industrial firms was recently prosecuted for stealing files and emailing some of them from his corporate account to a personal email account. The act of acquiring those files usually takes place over a period of time and requires moving documents from a central server to the perpetrators workstation -- other aspects of network resident threat behavior.

Once it becomes clear that network resident threats represent a credible element of the risk equation to government network defenders, the question of how to deal with them naturally arises. If one accepts that prevention eventually fails, then the rapidity and accuracy of detection and response measures come to the forefront. Detection and response rely on four key elements: third-party sources, network data, application/infrastructure data and endpoint data. Of these, the network is the least common denominator and the only source that is common to all network resident threats. While one should never neglect the value of the other three forms of data, it is imperative to include network data when defending any government environment.

Network security monitoring is an operational and tactical method for incident detection and response. NSM relies on four data types to provide defenders with the information they need: full content, extracted content, transaction data and alert data. Using these data types, agencies can record, extract, summarize and judge traffic, or essentially content.

Network defenders in the Air Force developed NSM in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s to cope with the same problems facing modern government networks -- size, user account, diversity, remote access and target-rich data. Because Air Force networks were constantly attacked by a variety of threat actors, defenders realized they could only prevent a certain number of those intrusions. In order to win, defenders had to rapidly detect and respond to the attacks that started to achieve an intruders goal. If the defenders could stop and remove intruders before they could accomplish his mission, then the defenders won. This metric, rather than meaningless counts of packets stopped by network firewalls, reflected operational realities and impacts.

When considering ways to gain better network visibility and thereby identify and counter network resident threats, government enterprise defenders would benefit from keeping the principles and data types of NSM in mind. Although defenders have to plan for and wrestle with many sorts of intruders on a daily basis, there are proven ways to frustrate and ultimately defeat adversaries that operate as network resident threats.
An employee from Citigroup's Manhattan office tested positive for the coronavirus, the Wall Street firm said Friday.

The employee was diagnosed in Singapore on Friday while on personal travel. The Citi worker was last in the Manhattan office on Friday, March 6. The employee is not part of the bank's trading operations, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company said the employee only started to feel ill on Thursday, March 12, and went to a local hospital in Singapore where they were diagnosed.

The firm told company employees that they are at "low risk and there is no need for anyone to self-quarantine."

"We are cooperating fully with all appropriate government and health authorities and we are adhering to their guidelines on actions to be taken. Citi has advised colleagues who worked near this person prior to his travel to self-monitor their health and has given all colleagues who work on that floor the option to work from home," Citi said in a release.

The employee is based at 388 Greenwich St. in New York on the 24th floor.

Citi, along with other Wall Street banks, has been making contingency plans due to the fast-spreading coronavirus. This week the bank sent some traders and salespeople from its headquarters in downtown Manhattan to a backup facility in Rutherford, New Jersey.

Cases of the deadly virus have spiked in New York. The state of New York now has more cases than any other state in the U.S. as the number of newly confirmed infections surged by 30% overnight to 421, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday.

Morgan Stanley said Tuesday that an employee at its suburban New York office tested positive for the coronavirus disease.

 With reporting from Ryan Ruggiero.

Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.
On Tuesday, the race for the presidency became a two-person race. Those two people are Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Bernie Sanders knows this, especially after resounding defeats in Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi and Missouri. He should move quickly to help Biden accomplish their primary goal  sending Trump packing.

I worked in Congress with Sen. Sanders. He is a determined, dedicated elected official, one who has never forgotten that being a public servant means you serve the public  not yourself or the privileged few. He has built a passionate base of small donors and supporters. All of us who did not support Bernie should nevertheless be listening to what his supporters are saying.

However, the trajectory of choice is now apparent. Bernie took a road that I believe is angrier than the one the majority of Democrats  indeed, a majority of Americans  want to travel.

If we take Bernie at his word, we must defeat Trump. To accomplish that, he should now transform his role to one that helps Biden beat Trump.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, on March 11, 2020.

I believe the majority of Democrats are supporting former Vice President Biden for the same reason I am  his experience, his judgment, his intelligence and his basic decency foremost among them. Most of all, we admire Joe Bidens sense of empathy. With Joe Biden as president no one, not one of us, will have to feel abandoned, alienated or unrepresented. He is what he appears to be  warm, generous, caring and inclusive.

Expect Trump, and perhaps some radical Democrats, to say the Democratic establishment somehow arranged for Biden to be selected  not elected. The record Democratic turnouts show that to be a lie.

I was a Cabinet secretary for two presidents, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a big city mayor and an officer in the U.S. Army. Today, some argue that makes me a member of The Establishment.

More: After Michigan primary victory, time for Joe Biden to show us what he's got

However, I was definitely not a member of the establishment when my family and I were forced into a detention camp by the U.S. government in 1942, along with 127,000 other Americans of Japanese ancestry. The fact that we were loyal American citizens didnt matter. Fear and prejudice meant being loaded onto railroad cars and put behind barbed wire with guard towers and machine guns.

Story continues

Three decades later, I was elected mayor of my hometown, San Jose, California, becoming the first Asian American mayor of a major U.S. city. The next day someone painted J-A-P on my garage door. I sure didnt feel like a member of the establishment when I was scrubbing that off my house.

I voted for Joe Biden because we need to repair the divisions in our country, end the derision and intolerance, and heal the fractured civic dialogue in our nation.

There is a long way to go, and a lot of work to do. I will do my part to help Joe because not to do so would be to leave my kids, my grandkids and their contemporaries with a broken country and an unhealthy world.

Norm Mineta was secretary of Commerce under President Bill Clinton and was secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The voters have spoken, Bernie Sanders should bow out
The former executive of a central Pennsylvania Realtors association will be parked in prison to start her penance for embezzling more than $255,000 from the group.

Lebanon County President Judge John C. Tylwalk sentenced Kelly M. Whitman-Bower, 40, to 10 to 23 months in county prison, plus 10 years of probation after she pleaded guilty this week to stealing from the Lebanon County Association of Realtors, District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said Friday.

Whitman-Bower was arrested by county detectives in May. Investigators said that between January 2017 and January 2019 she overpaid herself, wrote checks to herself from the groups account and used the associations credit card to pay for vacations, hair salon services, wedding expenses, shopping and groceries. They said she altered the associations financial records to hide the thefts.

Her sentence was set in a plea agreement. Graf said that deal was appropriate because it requires Whitman-Bower to remain employed and pay restitution monthly. She is banned from holding any other posts of financial responsibility while on probation, the DA said.
People with coronavirus symptoms are struggling to get through on the NHS 111 phone line because it is swamped with calls, raising fears that numbers of infected people are much higher than official figures.

Many of those ringing 111 report being kept on hold for up to three hours waiting to speak to a nurse, and some have simply been cut off after spending time waiting.

Advice on the NHS website is also confusing people: the site tells people to ring 111 only if their symptoms do not improve after seven days or if their condition worsens or if they cannot cope with symptoms at home.

However, the site also has a question-and-answer flowchart, where anyone with virus symptoms who is too ill to get out of bed is advised to ring 111 straight away.

On Thursday, the government changed its approach, officially telling people with symptoms not to call 111, as the strain on the system increased.

Testing of anyone with symptoms not in hospital was also dropped.

Officially, the number of cases in the UK is nearly 800 but the actual number of people infected could be up to 10,000, the governments chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.

He said the government wanted 60 per cent of the population to catch the virus to create herd immunity.

A deputy head teacher from Manchester said he spent two-and-a-half hours on the phone to 111 only to be told there were not enough testing kits and the government wanted to control the data.

Twitter user Jamie Scott said his brother, whose children were sick, had twice been on hold to 111, each time for three hours, without getting through.

Another, Michelle, said she had had symptoms for six days but could not get through.

Some people said the closest they had been able to get to speaking to a medical professional was calling their local health centre reception. Suspected coronavirus sufferers are being asked to stay away from GP surgeries.

One woman in the north of England told The Independent: I have a friend who is really quite ill and is a possible source of infection but who cannot get through to 111 at all. She just keep getting a high volume of calls message.

If this is being repeated all over the country, how many cases are going unreported or not tested?

She is an ex-nurse, with medical family members looking after her at home, but most wont be so lucky. And if she has got Covid-19, she cant find out or let anyone know.

As another sign of the increasing strain on NHS phone lines; people are told to ring 111 only if they cannot get help online.

The NHS website advises people to stay at home for seven days if they have either a high temperature or a new, continuous cough.

You do not need to contact 111 to tell them youre staying at home, it advises.

People are told to ring 111 if they cannot cope with symptoms at home, their condition gets worse or symptoms do not get better after seven days.

But a questionnaire  if someone answers that they are so unwell they cannot function normally  ends in advice to call 111 to speak to a nurse.

A spokesman for NHS England said: Understandably, NHS 111 has come under pressure in recent weeks as the coronavirus outbreak has spread, but in line with the governments decision yesterday, it is important that people with symptoms do not call NHS 111 but instead go online for help.

As the chief medical officer said, anyone who routinely calls NHS 111 about mild symptoms will risk people with life-threatening conditions not getting the care and attention they need.

He added that it was acceptable to ring 111 before the seven days were up if someone was getting worse or could not cope at home.

People with symptoms are also warned not go to a pharmacy or hospital.
Punjab Police

Chandigarh: The Punjab Police on Thursday solved the sensational 30 kg gold robbery case of Ludhiana with the arrest of inter-state gangster, Gagan Judge, after high drama in the Sector 36 market here. Gagan made an abortive attempt to fire at the Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) team that cornered him in the market following a tip-off, but he was arrested as the police team foiled his attempt to shoot at them.

DGP Dinkar Gupta has announced a reward for the OCCU team for their bravery, and said raids were being conducted to nab other members of the gang and Gagans accomplices in the Ludhiana case. Gagan was among the five suspects involved in the robbery, which took place around three weeks ago.

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Gagangdeep Judge Gagan Judge and his gang members are reportedly involved in more than two dozen crimes of contract killing attempt to murder, extortion, auto snatching and other serious criminal activities. He was closely with associated with another absconding gangster, Jaipal.Giving details of the operation, conducted under the close supervision of Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, IG (OCCU), the DGP lauded the team for the successful operation.

IGP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh disclosed that around 31 lakh cash apart from one pistol, two magazines and 50 live cartridges had been recovered from the possession of Gagan Judge. The IGP said that the gang used to call its members on wireless handsets to avoid interception of phone calls. Three number of W/T sets had also been recovered from the gangster, besides one stolen car i-20 car, he added.

The DGP said the Punjab Police was committed to eradicating the gangster menace from Punjab, and was working in close coordination with the police of neighboring states, especially with the tri-city where criminals often take advantage of boundaries of police functionaries. Another 4-5 wanted gangsters were on the radar of the Punjab Police and efforts were being made to arrest them, he said, adding that OCCU had been made fully equipped to handle such gangsters and gang-related crime.
Social distancing from the coronavirus outbreak may cost Houston thousands of jobs over the next few months if events, campuses and businesses continue to shut down.

Bill Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houstons Bauer College of Business, said that in the short run, social distancing, or the cultural isolation occurring in order to prevent exposure to the new coronavirus, could lead to short-term losses of as many as 15,000 jobs.

Social distancing  when everyone is instructed to work from home, people stop going to restaurants, major events are canceled (such as Houstons rodeo) and university campuses are shut down  is an extremely unusual circumstance, he said. Its difficult to measure the economic impact.

Gilmer, however, said Houston has one indicator that shows what happens when the economy shuts down temporarily: hurricanes.

What happens if we send everyone home? Gilmer said. We know if we have a hurricane what it does to employment.

The region lost about 15,000 jobs in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, he said. In a worst-case scenario of emergency social distancing, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the temporary job losses from sending people home could be of a similar magnitude, he said. Workers in hotels and restaurants may be temporarily laid off, employees could take time off to care for ill family members and jobs from large events will essentially disappear.

Still, the estimate is unlikely to capture the full economic impact of COVID-19, as it doesnt account for oil prices tanking, consumers staying home instead of shopping, and businesses cutting back on investment because of an uncertain future.

Unlike the one-time hurricane figure, (job losses) could roll over from month to month, Gilmer said. Hurricanes are not an exact analogy but maybe give us an idea of what happens to payrolls in the wake of a major ongoing disruption.

A flood of temporary closures were announced Thursday  from local school districts to universities to concert halls to courts.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston ISD cancels school through March 30, nearly all other districts closed next week

Earlier this week, Mayor Sylvester Turner signed an emergency health declaration that requires the cancellation of all events produced, co-sponsored or permitted by the city of Houston, ending the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo 11 days early. That cancellation alone is likely to cost the economy millions.

erin.douglas@chron.com

Twitter.com/erinmdouglas23
Four years ago, Justin Joseph Panek boasted to another inmate in a jail conversation that he was involved in the mysterious Portland killing of Assistant Federal Public Defender Nancy Bergeson but said he was confident it will remain unsolved.

On Friday, Panek, 28, wearing blue jail scrubs, was sentenced in the Multnomah County Courthouse to 10 years for burglarizing Bergesons Southwest Portland house on Nov. 24, 2009. A day earlier, Paneks friend who entered her home with him that day was sentenced to 15 years for choking the 57-year-old woman to death when she surprised the two.

This should have never happened, Mr. Panek, Julie McCormick, Bergesons younger sister told him. How dare you break into her home, not once, but twice  at least.

If you needed anything McCormick continued, she was the first person who would have given you whatever you wanted. All you had to do was ask.

Not only did Panek and his friend, Christopher Williamson selfishly and shamelessly take Bergeson from her loved ones, McCormick said, but Panek remained silent for many years, perpetuating a massive lie.

Have you any remorse? she asked.

Panek held his head in his hands beside the defense table as she spoke.

Circuit Judge Eric J. Bergstrom sentenced Panek as part of a global plea agreement that tied Panek to felonies in three counties.

His prison term will cover his burglary conviction for entering Bergesons home, as well as an unrelated solicitation to commit murder case in Washington County, two second-degree robberies in Washington Count and a second-degree robbery in Linn County.

Panek robbed Dottys Deli and DoubleTree Hotel in Tigard in June 2018 with two other accomplices. He then solicited another inmate to kill his getaway driver in the Tigard robberies after learning she planned to testify against him.

8 Nancy Bergeson homicide

Jailhouse recording

Bergesons death mystified investigators for close to a decade, even though Portland detectives had questioned Panek shortly after Bergesons body was found on the floor of the dining room at her home on Southwest Hamilton Street.

Panek appeared to be a linchpin in eventually bringing about the murder arrest of Williamson years after Bergesons death.

Washington County sheriffs detectives had placed a hidden wire on the other inmate talking to Panek to investigate a separate crime in 2016. Much of the first half-hour of their conversation focused on the other allegations. But then Panek asked the other inmate if he ever heard about the woman who got murdered in Southwest Portland.

Panek shared how he and a friend slipped into Bergesons house and were rifling through her belongings unaware she was home when she suddenly appeared. Panek didnt name his friend that day but referred to him as his homeboy.

Panek laughs and says that he and his homeboy killed that (expletive), Washington County sheriffs Detective Robert L. Rookhuyzen wrote in an affidavit documenting the recording.

Panek said he had been visiting his grandfather, a neighbor of Bergesons, when he and a friend saw Bergesons door open and no car outside. After they went inside, Panek heard Bergeson scream from upstairs, he said.

By the time he got upstairs, his homeboy had suffocated the woman somehow. He said his homeboy had her in a chokehold, according to the detective.

Panek told the other inmate that Bergeson drove a nice BMW so he knew she had money, the detective wrote.

Portland detectives contacted his parents shortly after Bergesons body was found, he told the inmate. Panek returned from California to meet with the detectives, he said.

He and his homeboy admitted to breaking into Bergesons house but told police they didnt do it the day of her killing, the detectives affidavit said.

Voice for Justice

Bergeson was the oldest of four children. She loved dance and theater and sewed clothes and dresses for others. She rowed on a dragon boat team and would travel with her fellow paddlers to compete around the world.

She was close to her family, boasted about her daughter, Jamie, and was a beloved aunt who spoiled her nieces and nephews with ski trips to Mout Hood, relatives said.

Several of her fellow rowers, including retired Multnomah County Circuit Judge Diana Stewart, neighbors and other lawyers who worked with her attended Fridays sentencing.

Most of all, Bergeson was remembered as a champion for less-privileged people, starting as a teacher for special-needs students before turning to law.

The legal community in Portland has lost an advocate, a voice for justice, said her daughter, Jamie Lyon.

"Our family was decimated when we heard about Nancys murder,'' Bergesons sister told Panek. "The loss has been excruciating. Our parents lives were shattered.''

To honor Nancy is to love life and live like she did,'' McCormick said. She also issued a call for action, urging increased support for early intervention programs to address at-risk youth.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Don Rees said Williamson was the sole killer in the case. Panek was the one who led Williamson to burglarize the home.

Paneks lawyer, David Veverka, reiterated that his client didnt take part in the killing.

Hes hopeful accepting responsibility will mitigate the harm, Veverka said.

Panek didnt wish to address the court, the defense lawyer said.

Bergstrom then issued his sentence. Panek will get credit for time-served since his Sept. 21, 2016, arrest in Washington County as a fugitive from a Washington state custodial assault case.

As sheriffs deputies prepared to lead Panek out of the courtroom, he stood, paused and turned back to the public gallery, where Bergesons sister, daughter, two brothers, ex-husband and niece sat among the crowd.

To all those people who knew Nancy, I know she was a beautiful lady. I know she loved the community, Panek said. Nothing Im going to say is going to justify my actions. It wasnt supposed to happen like that and Im sorry.

Panek told them hes a changed person and said hes continuing to work to alter his life.

Im not going to heal you guys wounds, but Im sorry to all of you individuals. Im absolutely 100 percent sorry.

After the hearing, McCormick thanked the judge and Portland detectives, led by Michele Michaels, and prosecutors for sticking with her sisters case.

Of Paneks sentence, she said shes pleased with it. "Its fine. Of course Id like more. I understand the justice system, and its adequate.''

"There are no winners,'' she added. "All of this is a lose, lose, lose.''

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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Houston Community College classes are canceled until Wednesday, March 25, at all HCC campuses included the Katy Missouri City and Stafford locations, extending next weeks spring break by two days after college officials were notified of the potential exposure to Coronavirus at two campus locations: Coleman College and the Fraga Academic Building and Coleman College. Both locations are closed until further notice to allow crews to clean and sanitize the building per the Center for Disease Controls (CDC) recommendations, college officials confirmed Thursday, March 12.

We have made this decision in order to allow faculty and staff extra time to respond to issues that may arise during the Spring Break period and to prepare for the migration of select courses to hybrid or full online modality, officials said in a press release Thursday, March 12.
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo has sparked outrage by telling his viewers to 'go straight ethnic' when it comes to cleaning surfaces to combat coronavirus.

The presenter, 49, was discussing the pandemic with CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr Sanjay Gupta on Thursday night.

There have been more than 1,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US and 41 deaths so far.

Discussing the deepening crisis, Cuomo asks: 'How long can the thing live, like, on my desk?'

Dr Gupta replies: 'Well, I'm going to give you the answer, but I don't want people to freak out by this... it can live on surfaces for days, actually. If someone coughs or sneezes in here, it doesn't matter if you disinfected yesterday, you've got to disinfect again.'

Cuomo then says with a chuckle: 'Go straight ethnic. Be cleaning everything all the time with the harshest cleaners that you can find.'

Chris Cuomo advises people to "go straight ethnic" with cleaning and disinfecting. pic.twitter.com/oX3AWIXUxG  nikki mccann ramirez (@NikkiMcR) March 13, 2020

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo (right) has sparked outrage by telling his viewers to 'go straight ethnic' when it comes to cleaning surfaces to combat coronavirus. He made the comments while discussing the pandemic with CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr Sanjay Gupta (left)

During their discussion on Thursday night, Dr Gupta talks about disinfecting surfaces. Cuomo then says with a chuckle: 'Go straight ethnic. Be cleaning everything all the time with the harshest cleaners that you can find'

Some commenters on social media have now demanded Cuomo should be fired.

'While talking about the importance of sanitizing and cleansing, @ChrisCuomo said people need to "go straight ethnic".

'This is an insensitive comment @CNN needs to take [responsibility] and #FireChrisCuomo,' liberal activist Nikola said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, US hospitals are preparing for 96 million coronavirus infections and nearly half a million deaths from the outbreak, leaked documents have revealed.

There was outrage on Twitter, with some commenters demanding Cuomo be sacked - in tweets hashtagged with #FireChrisCuomo

The spread of the deadly disease could be far worse than officials claim, with 480,000 Americans expected to die from the virus and 4.8 million hospitalized, according to a presentation hosted by The American Hospital Association (AHA) in February.

This puts the crisis on a level more than 10 times greater than that seen in a severe flu season.

Donald Trump has also decided to halt all travel from Europe to the US for 30 days starting from Friday at midnight apart from the UK because, he said, 'it doesn't have much infection'. There are 596 cases of the virus in the UK.
Universities across the country have begun taking steps to prevent members from contracting the deadly novel coronavirus.

Following the outbreak which has since been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, there have been about 60 suspected cases in Ghana with tests conducted on all of them proving negative.

At the University of Cape Coast (UCC), all international conferences to be hosted by the University have been suspended until further notice.

The University has also suspended all international travel by staff.

All incoming and outgoing exchange programs as well as international visits of professors, foreign partners and collaborators have also been put on hold until further notice.

UG sets up committee, plans to stop mass gathering

The University of Ghana says it will not hesitate to cancel all mass programs including lectures and hall weeks if the need arises in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

School authorities say a special committee has been put in place to implement some key recommendations to protect members of the university community.

Dean of Students Affairs at the University, Prof. Godfred Bopkin, said the committee will on next Monday present a progress report on its work.

KNUST intensifies public education

Officials of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have indicated that they have stepped up measures to help sensitize the university community.

According to the University Relations Officer, Dr. Daniel Norris Bekoe, they are set to introduce some stringent protocols within the University which would include travel restrictions.

He said as part of their measures, the authorities have been sending students tips on the virus and have also started providing most offices with sanitizers.

The situation is not different at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) as all non-academic gatherings such as award nights, dinners and other outdoor events have been suspended together with all planned academic and non-academic excursions outside the university.

All international travels by members of the University community and events scheduled have also been put on hold.

While calling for calm among members of the community, management advised the use of hand sanitizers and a stop to all forms of body contacts such as handshakes and hugs.

It has also formed a taskforce to regularly monitor the implementation of precautionary measures and update management.

As of Wednesday 11th March, 2020, officials in the country had recorded

---citinewsroom
On Sunday, Mark Carney leaves the Bank of England after almost seven years at the helm.

Theres an interesting review of Mark Carneys tenure as Governor of the Bank of England on Bloomberg. Joining the Bank back in 2013, before the Scottish referendum and Brexit vote, it charts his seven years in charge as he is due to leave on March 15 this year.

Mark has been integral to the UK economy during this turbulent period and, more than this, has been instrumental on the Financial Stability Board and other committees. One thing jumped out in the review however:

While Britains protracted exit from the EU dominated his tenure, that didnt stop Carney pursuing passion projects such as exploring financial risks from climate change  His green efforts were initially scoffed at for being outside his remit; now, the topic is so fashionable for central banks that he seems visionary.

So, what has Mr. Carney been doing about climate risk?

A lot.

In fact, its his passion, along with other things. Even back in Canada in 2008 he was working on climate policies. After working with the Canadian government to sell their share in Petro-Canada, Mr. Carney was devising market-friendly ways to tackle climate change.

Soon after starting with the Bank, he reported to MPs that much of the oil, coal and gas reserves were unburnable and would become stranded assets. That letter was seen as a highly unusual move, according to the Financial Times, and a sign of regulators concern about the potential financial fallout of global warming.

In 2015, Mr. Carney followed up this passionate focus upon sustainable finance with a speech at Lloyds of London, where he states:

There are three broad channels through which climate change can affect financial stability.

First, physical risks: the impacts today on insurance liabilities and the value of financial assets that arise from climate- and weather-related events, such as floods and storms that damage property or disrupt trade.

Second, liability risks: the impacts that could arise tomorrow if parties who have suffered loss or damage from the effects of climate change seek compensation from those they hold responsible. Such claims could come decades in the future, but have the potential to hit carbon extractors and emitters  and, if they have liability cover, their insurers  the hardest.

Finally, transition risks: the financial risks which could result from the process of adjustment towards a lower-carbon economy. Changes in policy, technology and physical risks could prompt a reassessment of the value of a large range of assets as costs and opportunities become apparent.

And concludes that: The combination of the weight of scientific evidence and the dynamics of the financial system suggest that, in the fullness of time, climate change will threaten financial resilience and longer-term prosperity.

The speech was a landmark moment and worth the 30 minutes to watch it.

Alternatively, you can read the speech here.

After the speech, there was a firestorm of criticism and he was viewed as a bit of a basket case. Not so today.

However, since that 2015 speech, there has been a continuance of work by both the Bank and Financial Stability Board (FSB) on climate risks. This work led to two key movements. First, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) created a joint Climate Financial Risk Forum in March 2019. Second, the FSB created the Task Force for Climate-Related Disclosures, which I referenced recently.

The result is that Mark has become friends of a few climate activities like Greta Thunberg. When she was invited to guest edit BBC Radio 4s Today programme in December 2019, she chose David Attenborough and Mark Carney as star guests. On the show, he states:

A question for every company, every financial institution, every asset manager, pension fund or insurer: whats your plan? Four to five years ago, only leading institutions had begun to think about these issues and could report on them. Now $120 trillion worth of balance sheets of banks and asset managers are wanting this disclosure [of investments in fossil fuels]. But its not moving fast enough.

For all of this, he has seen Britain through a Brexit crisis, overseen the rise of London and the UK as a FinTech centre and managed to ensure the economy hasnt gone off the rails when the British government has changed more often than most.

No wonder he ended up being voted Central Banker of the Year by the worlds central bankers this year and is now moving to a new role as the United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.

Respect.

Posted on: March 13, 2020
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
The Indian Embassy in the US has set up a 24-hour helpline to address questions on the recent travel restrictions implemented by New Delhi in a bid to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

India reported its first death due to coronavirus on Thursday as the number of positive cases soared to 74. The deadly virus that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 4,600 lives and infected more than 124,330 people worldwide.

"To respond to queries and provide clarifications with regard to the travel advisory on travel to India issued by the government of India, a 24x7 helpline has been set up by the Indian Embassy in Washington DC," the embassy said in a statement.

The two helpline numbers are 202-213-1364 and 202-262-0375. People can also reach out to the embassy at cons4.washington@mea.gov.in.

India on Wednesday suspended all visas, except a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, till April 15 in view of the coronavirus outbreak, which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The government has also "strongly advised" Indians to avoid all non-essential travel abroad.

The suspension came into effect from 1200 GMT on March 13 at the port of departure.

"All existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/International organisations, employment and project visas, stand suspended till 15th April 2020. This will come into effect from 1200GMT on 13th March 2020 at the port of departure," an official statement said.

Visa-free travel facility granted to Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card holders is also kept in abeyance till April 15, it said.

All incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany after February 15 will be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Technavio has been monitoring the artificial intelligence (AI) chips market and it is poised to grow by USD 36.6 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of about 39% 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 latest free sample report of 2020-2024

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005224/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

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High adoption of AI chips in data centers has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist artificial intelligence (AI) chips market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the artificial intelligence (AI) chips market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behaviour

The growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) chips market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) chips market vendors

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2019

Market size and forecast 2020-2024

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

GPUs Market size and forecast 2020-2024

ASICs Market size and forecast 2020-2024

CPUs Market size and forecast 2020-2024

FPGAs Market size and forecast 2020-2024

Market opportunity by product

PART 08: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 09: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

Americas Market size and forecast 2020-2024

EMEA Market size and forecast 2020-2024

APAC Market size and forecast 2020-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 10: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 11: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 12: TRENDS

Convergence of AI and IoT

Increasing investments in AI start-ups

Advances in the quantum computing market

PART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 14: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Advanced Micro Devices

Alphabet

Huawei Technologies

Intel

NVIDIA

PART 15: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

PART 16: 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/20200313005224/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
[March 13, 2020]

Manufacturing Expert, Lisa Anderson, Releases Manufacturing and Supply Chain Predictions for 2020

CLAREMONT, Calif., March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Manufacturing and Supply Chain Expert, Lisa Anderson, MBA, CSCP, CLTD, president of LMA Consulting Group Inc., has released, Future-Proofing Manufacturing & the Supply Chain, Manufacturing and Supply Chain predictions for 2020. Ms. Anderson asked business owners, executives and industry professionals for their insights and predictions for the state of business in 2020. From a wide range of industries like food and beverage, building products and logistics to specialties such as trade, sourcing, technology, human capital and economic development, the experts represent a wide range of businesses in size and complexity.

"We are at a critical juncture in our field. To succeed in 2020, manufacturing and logistics organizations need to become agile, proactive and even disruptive to merely survive. The most successful organizations are going to do a deep dive into human capital, technologies and strategies that will achieve the trifecta  a superior customer experience, profitable growth and improved working capital provide," Ms. Anderson commented. LMA Consulting Group works with manufacturers and distributors on strategy and end-to-end supply chain transformation to maximize the customer experience and enable profitable, scalable, dramatic business growth.

With the influence of additive manufacturing artificial intelligence, IoT, robotics and blockchain, technology can pay a pivotal role. Yet, technology is not the sole answer. "It's the smart application of the appropriate technology by top talent, aligned internally and across the extended supply chain who follow a well-thought out strategy that wins the race," she said.

While experience can direct future activity, it is important to be prepared for the unexpected. "The hyper influence of the coronavirus has radically disrupted supply chains. This puts a spotlight on the need to proactively future-proof the supply chain. It's more than focusing on vendors and the source of supply. It's the integration of all of the peces from raw materials through delivery and measuring the customer experience along the way with backups in place along every facet of the supply chain," she concluded.







Ms. Anderson is an active member of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, was recently appointed to the Department of Commerce, District Export Council of the Inland Empire and is sought out by organizations such as Oracle for her manufacturing and supply chain insights. Future-Proofing Manufacturing & the Supply Chain can be downloaded here.

About LMA Consulting Group  Lisa Anderson, MBA, CSCP, CLTD

Lisa Anderson is the founder and president of LMA Consulting Group, Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in manufacturing strategy and end-to-end supply chain transformation. She focuses on maximizing the customer experience and enabling profitable, scalable, dramatic business growth. Ms. Anderson is a recognized Supply Chain thought leader by SelectHub, named a Top 40 B2B Tech Influencer by arketi group, 50 ERP Influencer by Washington-Frank, a top 46 most influential in Supply Chain by SAP and named a top woman influencer by Solutions Review. She recently published, I've Been Thinking, 101 strategies for creating bold customer promises and profits. A regular content contributor on topics including a superior customer experience with SIOP, advancing innovation and making the supply chain resilient, Ms. Anderson is regularly interviewed and quoted by publications such as Industry Week, tED magazine and the Wall Street Journal. For information, to sign up for her Profit Through People Newsletter or for a copy of her book, visit LMA-ConsultingGroup.com.



Media Contact Kathleen McEntee | Kathleen McEntee & Associates, Ltd. | p. (760) 262 - 4080 | [email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/manufacturing-expert-lisa-anderson-releases-manufacturing-and-supply-chain-predictions-for-2020-301022522.html

SOURCE LMA Consulting Group
A draft law has been approved by parliament that would repeal a law, which allowed for the honor killing of adulterous partners reports Jesr.

The regime parliament has approved a draft law repealing an article that had provided excuses and lightened punishments for carrying out so-called honor killings.

The law, sent by the executive authorities to the parliament four days earlier, repealed Article 548 of the Penal Code issued in Legislative Decree No. 148 for the year 1949 and its amendments, which had been modified, so that its text before it was repealed read:

Those who surprise his wife or a relative in the midst of proven adultery or indecent sexual intercourse with another person, and then proceeds without premeditation to kill or harm them, or kill or harm one of them, shall benefit from mitigating excuse.

Those who kill or harm shall benefit from mitigating excuse if he surprises his wife or a relative in a suspicious circumstance with another.

Parliament member Ahmed Merai said that not one MP objected to the draft law.

The Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee discussed the draft law, which included repealing this article and said it was permissible to review it constitutionally, before parliament members voted to repeal it.

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.
NEWTOWN BOROUGH >> The Newtown Borough Council welcomes the new year with three new members of council and a new borough mayor. District Court Judge Mick Petrucci was on hand on January 3 to administer the oath of office to the towns new mayor, Republican John Burke, who replaces longtime mayor Charles Corky Swartz who decided not to run for...
Shoppers planning to visit a Lehigh Valley supermarket or big-box retailer this weekend should prepare for long lines and empty shelves on cleaning supplies, disinfectants and most pantry staples. Hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes also will be slim pickings.

Several stores are limiting the amount of in-demand items customers are allowed to buy as folks stockpile supplies amid the spread of the new coronavirus.

At Wegmans, customers are being limited to four one-gallon jugs per order of water or three per order of hand sanitizer and hydrogen peroxide. The same goes with one per order of disinfecting wipes and one per order of bath tissue. At ShopRite, shoppers can buy up to four disinfectant sprays, fever-reducing medicines, gloves/masks, bleach, soap, bottled water or household cleaning wipes.

Public health officials have generally been recommending against stockpiling items. David Damsker, director of the Bucks County Health Department, told The Philadelphia Inquirer folks should buy the things they normally buy, because otherwise it causes a domino effect that then leads to more stockpiling.

By Thursday afternoon at Lehigh Valley supermarkets it was clear many werent heeding that message.

Lines at 3 p.m. at ShopRite along Freemansburg Avenue in Bethlehem Township were mobbed at cash registers. The same went for the self-checkout area that wound to the back of the store at Giant Food Stores on Easton Avenue in the township.

Bath tissue was non-existent on the shelves at Wegmans in Lower Nazareth Township and the Giant. All facial tissues and bleach jugs also were gone from the shelves at Wegmans, as well as most paper napkins, paper towels and dish soap. Laundry detergent was scarce. ShopRite was sold out of Lysol and disinfectant wipes, as well as most bottles of bleach.

Due to high demand we are Out of Stock for the foreseeable future. We apologize for the inconvenience, a sign posted on a Wegmans shelf read.

Grocery staples, such as rice, boxed pasta, tuna, and canned fruit and vegetables, also were flying off shelves at most supermarkets.

It is what it is this week, said Lidia Csonka, assistant store manager at Weis Markets in Palmer Township. We stock what we can stock."

Shelves for bath tissue and facial tissue went empty Thursday, March 12, 2020 at Wegmans in Lower Nazareth Township.

Csonka said her store receives three shipments weekly, but items are being dispersed from the warehouse among the Palmer Township location and others across the Lehigh Valley depending on the need. Dennis Curtin, director of public relations for Weis Markets, said hand sanitizer is being shipped to most stores Friday and employees are working hard to keep bath tissue stocked.

We are working diligently to keep our stores supplied and in-stock and have secured extra product to minimize potential disruptions, he said.

At Redners Markets in Palmer Township, a store manager said Thursday afternoon most items remained stocked -- including hand sanitizer and bath tissue.

Im light, but Im not out, she said.

This Lehigh Valley Wegmans location is sold out of toilet paper amid panic buying fueled by coronavirus fears.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com

Crowds also continue to pack wholesale supply stores, such as Costco and Sams Club. Sams members were being encouraged to use an app to avoid the long checkout lines, which would allow them to self check their items and leave quicker. An email to members Wednesday night stated Sams Club was working to replenish out-of-stock, in-demand items.

Please know we are working to replenish these items as fast as humanly possible, the email read. Well continue to work night and day to get these products to you.

Deana Percassi, who handles public relations for Wegmans, said the chain is working hard with current suppliers and pursuing additional sources to replenish its supply. In the meantime, its seen an uptick in e-commerce sales since the virus began earlier this year.

Wegmans isnt alone in the e-commerce spike.

goPuff, a digital convenience delivery service opening a warehouse in West Bethlehem, also reported the average number of orders -- particularly cleaning products -- increased 16% in February when compared to January. Orders in Bethlehem containing cleaning products increased 25% when comparing the week of Feb. 24 to the week of March 2. Top sellers in the category include Clorox disinfecting wipes, Bounty paper towels, Clorox bleach and Fabuloso all-purpose cleaner.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The United States, because of what I did and what the administration did with China, we have 32 deaths at this point, Trump said, referring to an earlier move limiting flights from China, where the novel coronavirus originated. Other countries that are smaller countries have many, many deaths. Thirty-two is a lot. Thirty-two is too many. But when you look at the kind of numbers that youre seeing coming out of other countries, its pretty amazing when you think of it.
A dog is a mans best friend, and there is no telling why. These loyal to a fault, selfless, adorable balls of fur add so much love and eye-opening experiences to our lives, that it is often impossible to not hold them dear at a glance.



However, now it seems that the Bengaluru Police has decided to scale things up a bit and call on this unique animal-human friendship to include Indie dogs into their Police Canine Unit.



While it is pretty common to find Labradors, German Shepherds and even Dobermans in the Police squad, the inclusion of Indie breeds into the mix comes as welcome news.



 Flickr

The news came to light when IPS officer and Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao shared a 44-second clip on Twitter, which showed a young Indie pup learning to follow its trainer's instructions.



The female pup in the video is named Pooja and does a pretty good job of following the commands. Reportedly, the Bengaluru Police is trying to experiment with Indie dogs making it to the Police Canine squad, and so far the results do not seem to be disappointing.



We are training Indies to be part of our Police Canine Unit as an experiment... pic.twitter.com/0xbV00EbVW  Bhaskar Rao IPS (@deepolice12) March 12, 2020

However, here is hoping the man in the video is a certified trainer who knows what he is doing. Also, it goes without saying that these Indie fur balls would be given the same amount of love and care like other breeds in the Canine Unit get.



Besides all that, there is one other point that is bound to catch peoples attention in the video, the leash which is tugged and pulled constantly during the training.



Animal lovers would much prefer that it be traded for a good quality harness that wouldnt hurt these paw-fect beings while training as future guard dogs ready to serve the nation.

Sir, Indies are well trainable. I am a novice, but still managed to train my kids to basic commands they are #Lola and #Alex pic.twitter.com/YUTZ0XIuhb  Vicky Mahanta (@VickyMahanta) March 12, 2020

Sir many who saw the video, those who have great experience with dogs said "not the right way of training" please check with few well known trainers. Regards.  Vicky Mahanta (@VickyMahanta) March 12, 2020

Nice to know that the Indies are being recruited. If trained well, they can be as good as many foreign breeds.

But you need a far better trainer. One who understands the concept of balanced training and not just "only positive" training. Please avoid teaching unwanted tricks.  Obhijit Raha (@ObhijitR) March 13, 2020

We are willing to learn, if you know please tell us or put us across to people who can do, regards  Bhaskar Rao IPS (@deepolice12) March 12, 2020

Awe best decision sir, Indian breeds like Mudhol, Rajapalayam are any day better  Doctor Doctor  (@icedtea28) March 12, 2020

Well...Love this.People seem to love this initiative too.
Singing from the balcony: life in lockdown Italy.

Rome mayor Virginia Raggi has extended a most unusual invitation to Romans, calling on them to open their windows or step out onto their balconies for a singsong, at 18.00 every evening, beginning today.

The mayor's rally cry is far removed from her normal announcements regarding Rome's transport and trash collection but then again we are living in extraordinary times.

The country is in total shutdown, with 60 million people indoors, in a drastic attempt not to catch or spread the dreaded Coronavirus.

Raggi is echoing the calls of other towns and cities up and down Italy whose residents have begun impromptu singalongs, flashmobs, musical performances, even dancing, from their windows.

Raggi's invitation, open to everyone living in Rome, comes the day after she hung a home-made banner from her office balcony at city hall, overlooking the Roman Forum. The message read "Andra tutto bene" which means "Everything will be all right."

In recent days this reassuring slogan has become a beacon of hope in Italy, a collective call to think positive, to be strong, to resist.

The movement began a few weeks ago in Milan, the capital of Lombardy, the northern Italian region left reeling from the deadly grip of the virus. Milanese citizens began to leave post-it notes with the words Andra tutto bene on random doors and shopfronts, a happy antidote to fear and death.

With schools closed around Italy since early March, children stuck at home began painting images of rainbows accompanied by the slogan, placing their masterpieces in the window of the family home for the neighbours to see.

Under the hashtag #andratuttobene, the message has now gone viral on social media. Italy is a country with a big heart, after all, and the lockdown has effectively caged the most sociable people on the planet. With this new slogan, cooped-up Italians can combine hope with a social release.

For gone are our routines, our commutes to the office or school, our morning coffees, our choice to go wherever we want, whenever we want. Terms like "stir crazy", "cracking up" and "cabin fever" come to mind. And remember that these are very early days of a scenario we could be facing for a long time to come.

This lockdown - tedious but absolutely necessary - is lonely for people living on their own but in many ways it is tougher on couples and families. All of us - even the most saintly - have bad habits, annoying characteristics that come to the fore during prolonged captivity.

Some commentators believe that Italy will experience a population explosion in nine months' time; others suggest there will be a spike in the divorce rate.

Whatever the outcome, it is during grim times such as these that the suggestion of something fun, something uplifting, is seized upon by even the most grouchy among us.

The idea of opening the window to wave at neighbours across the street, never mind singing to them, is something we would never dream of doing in normal circumstances. But there is a growing and welcome sense of solidarity in Italy, a recognition that we are all in this together.

"Look out the window, step out onto the balcony, stop and say hello to your neighbours" - Raggi says - "If you want to sing, wave your hands, wave a white handkerchief. We are human, we are a community. Together we will get through this moment."

So this evening, and every other evening during this long haul, open that window. If you can sing, sing. If not just listen and let your spirits be raised.

Everything will be all right.

Andy Devane








NOTE: The Oregon Historical Society announced Friday afternoon that, due to the coronavirus outbreak, it will be closed from Saturday, March 14, through Sunday, March 29. Its exhibit about the womens-suffrage movement, Nevertheless, They Persisted: Womens Voting Rights and the 19th Amendment, originally scheduled to open Saturday, is now expected to launch on March 30. Said OHS executive director Kerry Tymchuk: Like the Oregon suffragists that made history in 1912 when they won Oregon women citizens the right to vote -- after five previous failed attempts -- we too will persist through this public health crisis and come out stronger."

Women had to fight for the right to vote.

Suffrage activists in the U.S. lobbied Congress and state legislatures, wrote and distributed pamphlets, made their case from atop soap boxes in public squares, marched in the streets.

They often were met with hatred and violence. Political and business leaders denounced them. Men on the street spat on them. Police officers bashed them with batons and arrested them.

Nevertheless, they persisted -- and that is the name of a new Oregon Historical Society exhibit that celebrates late 19th-century and early 20th-century suffrage activists for bringing about the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.

(The exhibit title -- Nevertheless, They Persisted: Womens Voting Rights and the 19th Amendment -- also has a specific recent inspiration. It comes from a galvanizing moment during U.S. Senate confirmation hearings in 2017. After the chamber voted to silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren for criticizing U.S. Attorney General-nominee Jeff Sessions, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell argued, She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.)

The exhibit opens Saturday and will run through Nov. 8.

Nevertheless They Persisted takes museumgoers through the history of the womens suffrage movement, highlighting Oregon leaders such as Abigail Scott Duniway.

Womens suffrage made the ballot in Oregon for the first time in 1884. Only 28 percent of voters endorsed the idea. It took 28 more years and multiple failed ballot measures before most women in the state finally secured the right to vote. Women in other states would have to wait eight additional years for the U.S. constitutional amendment in 1920.

1909 Election Day postcard, OHS Research Library, Mss 1534

The exhibit will showcase the arguments made both for and against womens suffrage through newsreel footage, audio of political songs of the time, various interactive features and key historical documents.

OHS executive director Kerry Tymchuk believes its particularly valuable to have this history brought front and center as Americans head out to the polls.

In this election year, he said in a statement, Nevertheless, They Persisted will prompt visitors to reflect on the power of the vote and the many ways that activists have fought to universalize this basic right of citizenship.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared the new coronavirus outbreak a pandemic due to the severity of the disease. The global death toll due to coronavirus has crossed 4,000 with over 100,000 confirmed cases. According to WHO pandemic is a worldwide spread of a new disease at the same time, affecting a large number of people. Here are 10 of the worst pandemics in history that have killed millions worldwide. (Image: PTI)

Plague at Athens| Period: 430 BC | Symptoms: Fever, thirst, bloody throat and tongue, red skins and lesions | According to the historians as much as two-thirds of the population died in Athens. (Image: wikimedia.org)

Antonine Plague| Period: 165 A.D | Symptoms: Fever, sore throat, diarrhoea, swollen throat and coughing | Historians estimated death toll around 5 million as the disease killed one-third of the population and devastated Roman army. (Image: Wikipedia)

Plague of Justinian | Period: 541 A.D | Symptoms: Fever, headache, chills, swollen or tender lymph nodes, abdominal pain, gangrene | It killed about 50 million people, 26 percent of the world population at the time. (Image: listverse.com)

Leprosy | Period: 11th-century | Symptoms: Appearance of skin lesions lighter than normal skin, muscle weakness, ulcers on feet, weakness in feet, legs and hands | Thousands of people are infected by the disease every year which can be fatal if not treated. (Image: Leprosy)

The Black Death | Period: 1350 | Symptoms: Black boils, fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, ache and pain | The bubonic plague struck Europe and Asia, was thought to be carried by fleas living on black rats | It killed one-third of the world population at the time. (Image: Wikipedia)

The cocoliztli epidemic | Period: 1545 | Symptoms: Similar to Ebola, vertigo, fever, head and abdominal pains, bleeding from the nose, eyes and mouth | Estimated death of 15 million people. (Representative Image: Wikipedia)

Great Plague of London | Period: 1665 | Symptoms: Abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, extreme weakness, bleeding | The bubonic plague led to deaths of 20 percent population in London. (Image: wikimedia.org)

Great Flu| Period: 1918 | Symptoms: Fever, dry cough, fatigue, difficulty in breathing, bad cold | Also known as Spanish flu, it infected 500 million people around the world, killing over 50 million. (Image: wikimedia.org)

Asian Flu | Period: 1957 | Symptoms: Fever, body aches, chills, cough, weakness and loss of appetite | Outbreak of avian influenza originated in China killed an estimated one to two million. (Image: wikimedia.org)
Governments seek to revive "the economy" by scattering gifts of our own money wrapped in red tape. This encourages immediate consumption. But this stimulation stops dead when the money tap is turned off.

Three simple measures from the three levels of government will create real long-term jobs without complicated political handouts that have no lasting effect.

Firstly, in Australia, at least, abolish the federal Capital Gains Tax. Fear of the CGT has constipated private property transfer and investment for decades.

Most new owners of houses, businesses, and farms soon start making improvements  alterations, extensions, a granny flat or new sheds, yards, dams, fences, factories or, workshops. But after a few years, owners become satisfied or inactive, and capital expenditure dries up. Often, they would like to move on, but they fear CGT liabilities if they sell. Abolish the CGT and its complicated rules, and many owners would upgrade to a new property or business, and both old and new properties are likely to attract a new cycle of improvements.

Making all capital expenditure immediately deductible for tax in all industries would accelerate re-investment. We would hear the hammers starting within days (as in postwar Germany, when Ludwig Erhardt set their beaten people free).

Secondly, state governments can accelerate economic rejuvenation by abolishing stamp duty, which is a tax on those who do things. New Zealand abolished stamp duty twenty years ago, and the sky did not fall.

Thirdly, local governments can help with a six-month rates holiday for all rate-payers in shires suffering from fires, flood, drought, or coronavirus depression. The feds should fund this.

Giving an allowance to people who are forcibly quarantined is reasonable. But most people don't want a handout  they want a job.

We don't want governments scattering our own money like confetti  we want conditions that encourage people to invest more of their own money in creating real jobs.

Viv Forbes has been a director of several companies and studied financial analysis, business economics, and politics.

Further Reading:

Some of the CGT Red Tape in Australia:

https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Capital-gains-tax/Your-home-and-other-real-estate/Your-main-residence/
A couple seen wearing face masks outside the Parliament House. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE  The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (13 March) confirmed 13 new cases of the novel coronavirus in Singapore  the joint highest on a single day  bringing the total to 200.

Of these, nine are imported cases while one is linked to a 15 February private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong  the largest cluster here with 44 cases. Two others are linked to previous cases while one has no established link to date.

The single-day high of 13 cases was likewise confirmed on 6 March.

Separately, one more case  a 43-year-old male Singapore permanent resident who had been in Malaysia from 18 to 21 February  was discharged from the hospital on Friday, said the MOH.

This brings the total of those who have recovered and have been discharged to 97, almost half of 200 confirmed cases. 11 remain in critical condition in the intensive care unit, up from nine on Thursday.

The ministry added that contact tracing is underway for 10 locally transmitted cases  out of over 140  with no established links to previous cases or travel history to affected countries or regions. A total of 56 cases are imported.

Case 188: Singaporean who was in Thailand (likely imported)

The 53-year-old Singaporean man had been in Thailand from 23 February to 1 March. He reported developing symptoms on 7 March and had sought treatment at two general practitioner clinics on 7 and 9 March.

He visited the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) on Thursday and tested positive for the virus on the same afternoon. He is currently warded in an isolation room at the KTPH.



Prior to his hospital admission, the Yishun Street 51 resident had run errands at Northpoint City at 30 Yishun Avenue 2 as well as 743 Yishun Avenue 5.

Case 189: Indian national who was in home country (likely imported)

The 36-year-old male Indian national, who holds a Singapore work pass, had been in India from 21 February to 1 March.

He reported developing symptoms on 11 March and had sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic on Thursday, and was referred to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on the same day.

Story continues

He tested positive for the virus on the same afternoon and is currently warded in an isolation room at the NCID.

Prior to his hospital admission, the St Georges Road resident had gone to work at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation at 3 Temasek Avenue.

Case 191: Malaysian woman who was in Germany, home country (likely imported)

The 24-year-old Malaysian woman, who holds a Singapore work pass, had been in Germany from 24 to 28 February, and Malaysia from 28 February to 3 March. She tested positive for the virus on Friday morning and is currently warded at the NCID.

Case 192: American man who arrived in Spore from home country (imported)

The 32-year-old American man arrived in Singapore on Tuesday from the United States. He tested positive for the virus on Friday morning and is currently warded at the NCID.

Cases 193 & 194: Malaysian man, Chinese woman who were in Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary (both imported)

Case 193 is a 26-year-old Malaysian man who holds a Singapore work pass and had been in Germany from 1 to 3 March, the Czech Republic from 4 to 6 March, Austria from 7 to 8 March, and Hungary from 9 to 10 March.

He is linked to case 194, a 24-year-old female Chinese national, a Singapore work pass holder, who also visited the same countries at the same time.

The man tested positive for the virus on Friday morning, while the woman tested positive for it in the afternoon. The duo is currently warded in isolation rooms at the NCID.

Case 195: Singaporean man who was in US, Canada (imported)

The 47-year-old Singaporean man had been in the United States from 4 to 17 February, and Canada from 17 February to 9 March.

He tested positive for the virus on Friday morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at the NCID.

Cases 197 & 199: Singaporean men who attended mass religious gathering in Malaysia (both imported)

Case 197 is a 30-year-old Singaporean man who had been in Malaysia from 28 February to 2 March, while case 199 is a 37-year-old Singaporean man who had been in the same country from 26 February to 2 March.

The duo is linked to the mass religious gathering at the Seri Petaling Mosque on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur which involved around 10,000 people from several countries.

They are among four Singaporean COVID-19 cases to date to be linked to the meeting.

Both tested positive for the virus on Friday morning and are currently warded in isolation rooms at the NCID.

Case 196: 73-year-old Singaporean woman linked to SAFRA Jurong dinner function

The 73-year-old had no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She is a contact of cases 107 and 148, both Singaporean women, aged 68 and 67, respectively.

She tested positive for the virus on Friday morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at the NCID.

The woman is the 44th case linked to the SAFRA Jurong dinner function, the largest cluster to date in Singapore.

Case 190: 53-year-old Singaporean man linked to Filipino woman

The 53-year-old Singaporean man had no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He tested positive for the virus on Friday morning and is currently warded at the NCID.

The 42-year-old Filipino woman (case 172) has no established link. She holds a Singapore work pass and had been in her home country from 27 February to 2 March.

She tested positive for the virus on Wednesday morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at the NCID.

Case 200: Family member of Singaporean who was in France

The 62-year-old Singaporean woman had no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She tested positive for the virus on Wednesday morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at the NCID.

She is a family member of case 165, a 30-year-old Singaporean man who had been in France from 15 February to 7 March and tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.

Case 198: 61-year-old Singaporean woman with no links

The 61-year-old Singaporean woman had no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She tested positive for the virus on Wednesday morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at the NCID.

Updates on cases 180-187

The ministry provided further details on eight of nine cases announced on Thursday. Case 180 is a 71-year-old Singaporean man who had been in the United States from 27 February to 10 March.

He reported developing symptoms on Tuesday and had sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic the next day and was referred to Tan Tock Seng Hospital on the same day.

Prior to hospital admission, he mostly stayed at his home at Bishan Street 23.

Case 181 is an 83-year-old Indonesian man who had arrived in Singapore on Monday. He is currently warded at Gleneagles Hospital and a family member of case 182, a 76-year-old Indonesian woman who is also warded at the same hospital.

She had also arrived in Singapore on Monday.

He reported developing symptoms on 8 March while in his home country, and had visited the emergency department of Gleneagles Hospital two days later.

The woman had reported developing symptoms on Monday after her arrival in Singapore, and had visited the emergency department of Gleneagles Hospital on the same day as the 83-year-old man.

Prior to their hospital admission, the duo stayed at Bukit Timah Road.

Case 183 is a 29-year-old Singaporean man who had been in Malaysia from 29 February to 4 March, one of four Singaporean COVID-19 cases to date linked to a mass religious gathering at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur.



The mosque worker reported developing symptoms on 6 March and had sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic three days later. The Bukit Panjang Ring Road resident visited the NCID on Wednesday.



Prior to his hospital admission, he had gone to work at Masjid Al-Muttaqin at 5140 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, and visited three other mosques: Masjid Al-Iman at 10 Bukit Panjang Ring Road, Masjid Kassim at 450 Changi Road, and Masjid Hajjah Fatimah at 4001 Beach Road as well as the Singapore Islamic Scholars & Religious Teachers Association, or Pergas, at 448 Changi Road.

Case 184 is a 35-year-old Filipino man, who holds a Singapore work pass and had been in the Philippines from 24 February to 1 March

He reported developing symptoms on 10 March and stays at Lorong 28 Geylang.



Case 185 is a 34-year-old Singaporean man who had been in Malaysia from 22 to 23 February. He reported developing symptoms on 7 March and had sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic on Monday. Prior to his hospital admission, he mostly stayed at home at Circuit Road.



Case 186 is a 64-year-old Singaporean man with no recent travel history to affected countries and regions.

He reported developing symptoms on 5 March and had sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic on the same day, and the emergency department at KTPH on 10 March.

Prior to his hospital admission, the Woodlands Street 13 resident had gone to work at Samwoh Corporation at 25E Sungei Kadut Street 1.



Case 187 is a 48-year-old Singaporean man who had been in Malaysia from 28 February to 2 March and one of four Singaporean COVID-19 cases to date linked to a mass religious gathering at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur.



He reported developing symptoms on 4 March and had sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic on the same day, and on 6, 9, 10 and 11 March. He visited at the NCID on 11 March.

Prior to hospital admission, the Whampoa Drive resident had visited Masjid Hajjah Rahimabi Kebun Limau at 76 Kim Keat Road.

Most remaining patients stable; 1,491 currently quarantined

Most of the 103 remaining patients in the hospital are stable or improving, while 11 are in the intensive care unit, said the MOH.



As of 13 Friday noon, the ministry has identified 4,910 close contacts who have been quarantined. Of these, 1,491 are currently quarantined, and 3,419 have completed their quarantine.



The MOH reiterated its advice for Singaporeans defer all travel to Hubei province and all non-essential travel to mainland China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Spain.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Related stories:

COVID-19: 79 Singaporean attendees who attended Malaysia religious event contacted

COVID-19: Ticketed events with at least 250 participants to be cancelled, deferred

COVID-19: Symptomatic travellers to S'pore must serve 14-day stay-home notice regardless of swab test outcome

COVID-19: Singapore imposes new border restrictions on Italy, Spain, France and Germany

COVID-19: Singapore planning ahead; no Dorscon red, no lockdown, says PM Lee

COVID-19: Singapore economy taking big hit, nobody has been spared  PM Lee
The Bank of England (BoE) must tread carefully to avoid stability dangers if it creates a digital equivalent to its existing banknotes, governor Mark Carney said yesterday.

Cash usage is falling in the UK, making shoppers and businesses more reliant on electronic money held with banks and payment companies rather than banknotes issued by the BoE.

The BoE said it was seeking the public's views on how it might design a digital currency of its own to operate alongside physical cash -though a decision on whether to go ahead would need UK government approval.

"While CBDC (central bank digital currency) poses a number of opportunities, it could raise significant challenges for maintaining monetary and financial stability. It would need to be very carefully designed if it were to be introduced," Mr Carney said in the foreword to a BoE discussion paper.

Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have failed to take off as a means of payment in Britain, and the BoE has been critical of the lack of detail behind Facebook's proposal for a so-called 'stablecoin' called Libra.

The BoE's move was welcomed by think-tank Positive Money, which is critical of commercial banks' lending policies.

"The government and central bank must continue to work together to accelerate efforts to issue a digital currency before they are beaten to it by the likes of Facebook," said Positive Money's head of policy David Clarke.

The BoE said that if it introduced its own digital currency, it would be denominated in sterling and would not replace banknotes or commercial bank deposits, and need not be based on the blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrencies.

But, like cash, it would offer an alternative to using banks for payments between individuals and businesses and could make cross-border payments easier.

One of the BoE's deputy governors, Jon Cunliffe, has warned that taken too far, a central bank digital currency could undermine commercial banks - a concern echoed in the BoE paper.

"If significant deposit balances are moved from commercial banks into CBDC, it could have implications for the balance sheets of commercial banks and ... the amount of credit provided by banks to the wider economy," the BoE said.

"Nonetheless, CBDC can be designed in a way that would help mitigate these risks," it said.

Reuters
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- In-person access to Syracuse government meetings will be strictly limited next week as part of the ongoing effort to stymy the spread of the coronavirus.

Meetings of the Common Council and several appointed regulatory boards will be available only to members of those bodies, critical city staff and people with specific business before the body.

All meetings will, however, be streamed live on the citys YouTube channel -- youtube.com/cityofsyracuse -- and available afterward for playback.

The restrictions are in keeping with Gov. Andrew Cuomos executive order declaring a state of emergency in New York last week. The order allows public bodies to meet remotely as long as the public can watch or listen to the proceedings.

The Common Council began live streaming its meetings in 2018, with help from WCNY TV. The chambers are equipped with cameras and audio recording equipment and all meetings are shown live on YouTube.

The council and other governing bodies will still meet in the chambers at the scheduled times.

There are 13 public meetings scheduled for next week.

The council meets Monday to vote on a proposed police contract, among other things. The contract does not have enough votes to pass and will likely be defeated.

Other governing bodies meeting next week include the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency and the Landmark Preservation Board. The council has a slate of committee meetings through the week, including the annual report from the Greater Syracuse Land Bank.
CHANGSHA, China, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co. (01157.HK), a leading Chinese maker of engineering and agricultural equipment, will donate its first batch of 50,000 masks departed from Changsha, China for Lombardy, Italy today.

After arriving in Lombardy, the masks will be delivered to local health authorities and then distributed to medical workers on the front lines to help control the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy.

The 50,000 masks were provided by the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and the People's Government of Hunan Province and manufactured by companies across the province to EU standards. ZOOMLION coordinated the manufacturing, logistics, and customs clearance all within only two days.

"The first batch of supplies will be donated to the Niguarda Hospital in Milan," said Li Bin, Director of International Business Management at ZOOMLION. "ZOOMLION had previously made large-scale purchases of personal protective equipment (PPE) to aid in controlling the spread of COVID-19 in China. At that time, ZOOMLION's employees worldwide, including those at CIFA in Italy, actively responded to assist ZOOMLION in the purchase and transport of PPE and resuming domestic production in China. Now, we also hope to provide aid and support to Italy. "

"I would like to express on behalf of Lombardy my sincere thanks to Hunan Province and Zoomlion for helping out during this emergency," said Giuliana Sabatino, the responsible health official of the Lombardy government.

The Development of ZOOMLION and CIFA in Italy

ZOOMLION has a longstanding relationship with CIFA. In 2008, ZOOMLION acquired CIFA, and has been a win-win ever since, creating a world-class supply chain and market synergy.

Over the past 12 years since the acquisition, ZOOMLION and CIFA have quickly integrated and used their shared expertise to create a wide range of exceptional products.

In 2012, the two sides jointly developed a 101-meter carbon fiber boom pump truck still holding a Guinness World Record today. More recently, they have continued to raise the bar with the new C-series of concrete pump trucks, the K38C and the K43C, and world-class concrete handling including the CSS3-Z1 wet spray machine. CIFA has set up a factory in China to operate using its world-famous component supply chain so as to better leverage the synergy with ZOOMLION. Thanks to fresh capital, it has strengthened its product R&D and registered new patents for carbon fiber and hybrid engine technology, increasing its competitive edge.

In recognition of the remarkable contributions made by outstanding Chinese entrepreneurs in acquiring CIFA and achieving mutual success, the then Italian President granted the 2010 Leonardo International Award to Zhan Chunxin, Chairman of ZOOMLION and was also included as a case study in the curriculum at Harvard Business School.

About Zoomlion

Founded in 1992, Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., Ltd. (01157.HK) is a high-end equipment manufacturing enterprise that integrates engineering machinery, agricultural machinery, and financial services. The company now sells more than 600 cutting-edge products from 55 product lines covering ten significant categories.

About CIFA

Since its establishment in 1928 in Italy, CIFA has been designing, producing and distributing innovation in the construction field, and has become a world-renowned manufacturer of concrete machinery. In 2008, CIFA is acquired by the Chinese industrial group Zoomlion Heavy Industry, which generates new competitive advantages and unique distinguishing features, and professional experiences from Italy and China. For more information, please visit http://www.cifa.com/.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1123843/1.jpg
A student of iSchool in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province, has his body temperature checked as he returns to class on March 2, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Xuan Ngoc.

Around 1.7 million Saigon students will stay home until April 5, while Hanoi schools will only reopen around March 23 or 30.

High school students - 10th to 12th graders - in Hanoi will stay home until March 22 and younger students for another week.

Twelve graders across the country are facing pressure to catch up with their studies ahead of graduation exam, which has been pushed back two months to August.

High school seniors in 59 provinces and cities across the country resumed classes on March 2 after a break of over a month, owing to fears over the spreading coronavirus.

The countrys two largest metropolises Hanoi and HCMC, Tien Giang Province in the south and Thai Binh Province in the north are the only four localities in the country to have students at all levels stay away from classes until March 8 or 15.

But 28 new coronavirus cases over the past week, including five in Hanoi and one in HCMC, have led to change of plans.

Hanoi and HCMC, with around four million students from kindergarten to high school, are among 29 localities in the country to extend school closure until the end of this month or until further notice.

Vietnamese students are often given a two-week spring holiday and a three-month summer break. This is the first time more than 22 million students nationwide have had such a long spring break, forcing several schools to switch to online teaching to help students keep up to date.

The Covid-19 outbreak has spread to 128 countries and territories around the world, killing over 5,000 people.
You are here: China

More than 2,850 medics have directly participated in medical treatment in the coronavirus outbreak in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, local authorities said.

Xinjiang designated 11 hospitals to treat infected patients, with medical experts sent there to help with medical efforts, according to the regional health commission.

Meanwhile, a long-distance diagnosis platform connected 1,161 medical institutions across the region, with experts available around the clock.

Xinjiang discharged the last infected patient after recovery on March 8. The region had reported no confirmed cases of COVID-19 for 23 consecutive days by Thursday.
NEW HAVEN  The family of Mubarak Soulemane, a 19-year-old New Haven resident fatally shot by state police in West Haven Jan. 15, met with representatives of the state attorneys office Thursday for an update on the investigation into the death.

Attorney Sanford Rubenstein, expected to represent the Soulemane family in a wrongful death suit, said they were told the investigation remains in progress, with no timetable for its conclusion.

We feel that its important that there be a thorough investigation. And the states attorney has committed to that and we await the results of their investigation, said Rubenstein. We will fully cooperate with them ... as we have from the date where this occurrence happened.

Omo Mohammed, Soulemanes mother, said she would like to see the investigation completed in the near future.

Were still waiting on them. We dont know how long, said Mohammed, noting she was confident justice would done. Were hoping that the the investigation will be done soon.

The Rev. Kevin McCall, a civil rights activist and founder of The Crisis Action Center, said the family and supporters were confident in the state attorneys office.

The community is on edge from what happened and what transpired. And they want justice, and they want it swiftly, said McCall. But were confident in the state attorneys office doing a thorough investigation.

We want justice, and we want the state trooper who committed this act to be held accountable criminally, said Rubenstein.

North fatally shot Soulemane just off Interstate 95s Exit 43 on Jan. 15. Soulemane is alleged to have carjacked a rideshare driver in Norwalk following an alleged incident with a knife at an AT&T store there, then fled from police at high rates of speed along the highway until exiting in West Haven and crashing.

North said he saw a knife in Soulemanes possession; he fired seven shots through a closed window, killing the 19-year-old New Haven resident.

The state is currently investigating the death of Soulemane. North has been assigned to desk duty and barred from interacting from the public as the inquiry proceeds.

william.lambert

@hearstmediact.com
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Thursday announced an expanded fraud lawsuit against a civil and structural engineering company that includes new allegations of theft of $420,000 from clients through check fraud.

The amended lawsuit against Santos & Urrutia Associates Inc. and co-founders Rodrigo Santos and Albert Urrutia was filed on Jan. 22 and partially unsealed by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Samuel Feng on Thursday.

The original civil lawsuit filed publicly in 2018 accused the company of permit fraud in excavations underneath three San Francisco houses. The revised lawsuit alleges fraud in work on six additional properties as well as theft of $420,000 in 221 checks from clients who were told the checks were needed to pay city fees.

Instead, the checks were deposited to Santos's personal bank account, the lawsuit alleges. Santos is a former city Building Inspection Commission president, appointed to the post in 2004 by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom.

The lawsuit alleges that in some cases of check fraud, checks made out to agencies such as the Department of Building Inspection and Department of Public Works were endorsed on the back with the initials of the agency and then deposited in Santos's account.

In a few cases, the acronym DBI on the front of the check had additional letters added to say RODBIGO SANTOS, the lawsuit claims.

Lawyers for the company were not immediately available for comment.

The amended lawsuit alleges three different types of fraud concerning the nine properties. Some of the properties were subject to more than one of the alleged schemes, according to the lawsuit.

One alleged fraud was carrying out major excavations underneath three homes without permits or beyond the scope of permits obtained.

Another alleged tactic at four homes was fraudulently using the identities of specialized licensed contractors to pretend those contractors were working at the properties when they were not.

The lawsuit also alleges that at seven of the nine properties, Peter Schurman, an engineering technician who had a separate business, forged civil engineer stamps and signatures on falsified inspection reports submitted to the Department of Building Inspection. Schurman is also named as a defendant in the case.

Herrera said the Department of Building Inspection has ordered that all seven properties be retested and re-inspected and all defects remediated.

The lawsuit asks for court orders requiring abatement of violations, restitution to the check fraud victims and financial penalties. The penalties, which Herrera said could total millions of dollars, could include up to $500 per day for each Building Code violation, up to $1,000 per day for each Planning Code violation, and up to $2,500 for each unfair business practice violation.

Herrera said in a statement, "San Francisco and California have building codes for a reason. They keep people safe. These defendants endangered both their workers and unsuspecting San Franciscans. They cut corners and put people's lives at risk to line their own pockets."

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.
Police have charged a man with first-degree murder in a year-long homicide investigation in the Junction Triangle.

At around 3:30 p.m. on March 19, 2019, police responded to a call for a shooting in the Randolph and Perth avenues area. They located a man with gunshot wounds. He was transported to hospital and later pronounced dead.

Police later identified the victim as 22-year-old Jerome Belle. He was the citys 15th homicide victim of 2019.

On Thursday, police charged 29-year-old Saaid Postman Mohiadin with first-degree murder.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, March 18, at 2 p.m.
(Natural News) Any time a natural treatment shows some promise in addressing health concerns, those who stand to profit from selling pharmaceuticals start working overtime to ensure that the news is marginalized. That is certainly the case right now when it comes to vitamin C and its potential to help people suffering from coronavirus.

Just as stories are starting to emerge from China about how well vitamin C is working on patients with pneumonia, news feeds and search results are being overrun with stories warning people about the dangers of megadoses of vitamin C. And while no one would advocate injecting yourself with the vitamin at home, the truth is that even relatively small doses of the vitamin, like those youd find in a multivitamin, are having an impact.

While some websites try to dismiss this as fake news, the truth is that many of those who are singing the praises of vitamin C are highly qualified and experienced medical doctors who have read the studies and understand the science behind them  and many of them have seen the positive results firsthand.

One group that has been reporting nonstop on this matter is the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, whose editorial board is composed of dozens of physicians, health professionals and academics.

As theyve been reporting, the biggest danger of novel coronavirus is seen when it progresses to SARS and pneumonia. Thats where vitamin C can come in handy. As a matter of fact, doctors have been using it since the 1940s to fight viral pneumonia.

In case you have any doubts, consider the official statement made by the Xian Jiaotong University Second Hospital in China, which recounted how four patients with severe coronavirus-related pneumonia had recovered from it and a further eight had already been discharged from their hospital. They said high doses of vitamin C brought about good results in clinical applications, and they believe it should be given to patients who have severe pneumonia as quickly as possible after theyve been admitted to the hospital.

They also pointed out that several studies have shown the dose of vitamin C appears to be linked to how effective the treatment is. High doses of vitamin C, they state, improve antiviral levels and can prevent and treat acute respiratory distress and lung injury.

Success being seen around the world in using vitamin C

Similar results have been seen in South Korea, where a doctor from a hospital in Daegu has said that all of their staff members and inpatients have been taking oral vitamin C for more than a week. Those with symptoms have also been getting 30,000 milligrams of intravenous vitamin C. The doctor reported that this helped some patients get better after two days, but most saw their symptoms vanish after getting just one injection.

At least three studies that have been announced publicly are underway into high doses of vitamin C via IV in China at the moment, with tons of vitamin C being shipped into Wuhan. One Chinese doctor, Dr. Richard Z. Cheng, said that vitamin C does not harm people and is one of the few  and possibly only  agents that can stop people from getting the virus, in addition to treating it.

Of course, you wont see that in the mainstream media, which is supported by ads from big corporations whose profits could be threatened if people start to flock toward natural treatments instead.

The same thing is being seen in oncology, by the way, with vitamin C long showing utility as a potent anti-cancer medication. This is supported by studies like one from the University of Salford showing that the vitamin inhibits cancer cell growth in the lab and is 10 times stronger than experimental drugs targeting cancer, due mostly to its ability to starve cancer cells.

Its very irresponsible of the mainstream media to keep such potentially helpful information from the masses. When you hear stories of vitamin C being ineffective in fighting coronavirus, its important to consider the source and take a few minutes to look into the research yourself so you can make an informed decision.

Sources for this article include:

WakingTimes.com

NaturalNews.com

OrthoMolecular.org
A rocket-rigged truck apparently launched an attack on Camp Taji, a few miles north of Baghdad (Media Security Cell via AP)

The US has launched air strikes in Iraq targeting the Iranian-backed militia believed to be responsible for the rocket attack in Iraq that killed and wounded American and British troops.

Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon, who served as a Reserve with the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry, died after a dozen missiles were fired at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad.

Two US servicemen were also killed in the attack on Wednesday, and another 12 military personnel were injured.

A US official said multiple strikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside Iraq.

The strikes were a joint operation with the British, the official said.

We're going to take this one step at a time, but we've got to hold the perpetrators accountable.Mark Esper

The strikes marked a rapid escalation in tensions with Tehran and its proxy groups in Iraq, just two months after Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against American troops at another base in Iraq.

They came just hours after top US defence officials threatened retaliation for the Wednesday rocket attack, making clear that they knew who did it and that the attackers would be held accountable.

Officials said Karbala Province and Jurf al Sakhar were two of the locations.

Defence Secretary Mark Esper told reporters at the Pentagon earlier on Thursday that President Donald Trump had given him the authority to take whatever action he deemed necessary.

Were going to take this one step at a time, but weve got to hold the perpetrators accountable, Mr Esper said. You dont get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it.

At the White House, Mr Trump also hinted that a US counter-punch could be coming, telling reporters: Well see what the response is.

Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters the US knows with a high degree of certainty who launched the attack.

On Capitol Hill earlier in the day, Frank McKenzie, the top US commander for the Middle East, told senators the deaths of US and coalition troops created a red line for the US but said he did not think Iran has a good understanding of where our red line is.

Asked if any counterattack could include a strike inside Iran, Mr Esper said: We are focused on the group that we believe perpetrated this in Iraq.

The US military said the 107mm Katyusha rockets were fired from a truck launcher that was found by Iraqi security forces near the base after the attack.

Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for a late December rocket attack on a military base in Kirkuk that killed a US contractor, prompting American military strikes in response.

That in turn led to protests at the US Embassy in Baghdad. They were followed on January 3 by a US air strike that killed Irans most powerful military officer, General Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, of which Kataib Hezbollah is a member.

In response to the Soleimani killing, Iran launched a massive ballistic missile attack on January 8, at al-Asad air base in Iraq, that resulted in traumatic brain injuries to more than 100 American troops.
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Non-Ionic Surfactants Market Overview

Non-Ionic Surfactants are surface active wetting agents that helps to reduce water surface tension. These surfactants offer superior wetting & detergency, emulsification, rinseability, low toxicity, and good handling properties. Some of the most commonly used non-ionic surfactants includes ethoxylated alcohol & alky-phenols, fatty acid esters, and glycerol esters among others. The product finds application in cleaning, food additives, cosmetics & personal care products, coatings, and pharmaceuticals among others.

Asia Pacific accounted for the largest market share in the non-ionic surfactants market in 2017 and is expected to grow at significant rate during the review period. Growing industrialization and urbanization coupled with changing lifestyles and rising disposable income is another important factor driving the market growth in this region. Furthermore, rapidly growing cosmetics & personal care industry as a result of increasing demand for the cosmetics from the working population for personal grooming and appearance is fuelling the demand.

Furthermore, in the developed nations, the product consumption is growing in pharmaceutical industry owing to rising geriatric population coupled with high per capita income. Increasing R&D investment in pharmaceutical industry is stimulating the product demand in these regions further.

The global Non-ionic Surfactants Market Size is driven by rising demand for detergents form industries and households. The product is being increasingly used for hand dish washing, laundry, and hard surface cleaners owing to good wetting and detergency properties. Surging demand for cosmetics & personal care products across the regions is augmenting the market growth.

Non-Ionic Surfactants Market- Competitive Landscape

The global Non-Ionic Surfactants is at nascent stage and is expected to witness considerable growth owing to rapidly expanding industrial base in the Asia Pacific region during the review period. Some of the growing trends notices among the market players includes new product invention, capacity expansion and acquisitions. For instance, BASF SE will expand its alkyl polyglucosides (APG) production capacity at sites in China, U.S., Ohio, and JInshan. This will help the company to meet the customer demands for surfactants with different specifications in the Asia Pacific region.

Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:

Feb 9, 2018- BASF SE will expand its alkyl polyglucosides (APG) production capacity along with two production improvement projects at sites in China, U.S., Ohio, and JInshan. The capacity expansion at Jinshan site has been started in order to meet the need for surfactants in personal and home care applications in the Asia Pacific region.

July 31, 2017- Croda International Plc, a specialty chemical company acquired Enza Biotech having technology for making non-ionic sugar-based surfactants from carbohydrates.

March 24, 2017- Evonik launched next generation Grind Aid non-ionic surfactant under the brand name Carbowet GA-200 with low-zero volatile organic compounds (VOC). This product will help to comply with the regulations set by the environmental protection agency to reduce VOC emissions.

December 08, 2015 - Croda International Inc, announced nearly USD 140 million investment in North America to produce 100% sustainable non-ionic surfactants form bio-ethanol.

Segmentation:

The Global Non-Ionic Surfactants market is segmented on the basis of type, application, end users, and region.

Based on the type, the market is segmented into alcohol ethoxylates, fatty alkanolamides, amine derivatives, glycerol derivatives, and others.

Based on application, market is segmented into cleaners, emulsion, additives, and others. On the other hand, based on end user, the market is segmented into food & beverages, paint & coatings, oilfield, textiles, personal care, household, and others.

Based on region, this market is segmented into APAC, North America, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.

Regional Analysis:

Geographically, Asia Pacific accounts for the largest market share in Non-Ionic Surfactants Market growth. Increasing per capita income of the growing middle class especially in household, and personal care industry is reason to drive the non-ionic surfactants market in this region. Upgraded lifestyle, increasing cost of living and rising population have fostered the adoption of surfactants in various industries, such as personal care, soaps & detergents, and pharmaceutical industry; therefore, boosting the growth of the this industry. North America holds the second position for non-ionic surfactants market and is another profitable market in terms of value and volume after APAC. UK, Canada, and United Mexican States led the demand for non-ionic surfactants in this region.

View Full Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/non-ionic-surfactants-market-3837





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Donning a baby blue long sleeve shirt and navy blue pants, Ronald Anthony Burgos-Aviles walked into the 49th District Court for a hearing on a motion he filed earlier this year.

READ MORE: Laredo BP agent suspected of murder of lover and 1-year-old son, requests third attorney removal

On Thursday, 49th District Court Judge Joe Lopez denied Burgos-Aviles motion requesting Eduardo Pena be removed as his lead counsel stating that the right and obligation to provide a qualified attorney for a capital punishment case rested on him.

However, before the judge made a decision on the motion, he gave Burgos-Aviles a chance to respond or add to his written statement.

Im standing by (the motion), Burgos-Aviles said. As long as its on the record, its what I want.  I want you to put (your response) in writing because this issue has been brought up before, and as I said there, those decisions were not made by me. They were made by you and made by (Pena). It was without my consent.

Lopez told Burgos-Aviles that although he has a right to a lawyer, he doesnt have a right to choose his own lawyer.

I appointed Mr. Pena because he is a person who is on the regional presiding judges list of death qualified first chair lawyers, Lopez said. During that time is when (Silverio Martinez) got qualified to be a second chair lawyer.

Martinez was appointed by the court at the beginning of the case in April 2018. Soon after, Martinez filed a motion with the court asking that Pena be appointed as co-counsel.

He added, That was not due to your desires. That was due to what I thought would be beneficial to the team as a result of the fact that Mr. Martinez had already dealt on a hearing with you before with Judge Hale and could bring Mr. Pena up to speed on some things that had occurred.

Burgos-Aviles echoed his motion to the court stating that he doesnt appreciate Pena making decisions behind (his) back that affect (him) without (him) knowing.

Lopez addressed Burgos-Aviles stating that there was nothing in his motion or elsewhere that would make him make any changes to his defense team.

Ive had an opportunity to have been in this case almost since the inception, the judge said. Ive seen the work that is being done, the things that are being done here in court and are filed. I believe it is in line with what needs to be done in cases of this nature. I dont see anything that would make me make any changes.

Third motion

On Jan. 29, Burgos-Aviles filed a third motion to the 49th District Court requesting the reconsideration of Pena as his lead attorney because he has continued the ethical, procedural and constitutional violations that undermine (Burgos-Aviles) right to a fair trial.

READ MORE: United ISD student sent home after family reports European trip, sickness in household

Pena said that he filed a sealed response to the motion Burgos-Aviles filed.

I filed it as a sealed ex-parte response because it does make reference to confidential communication between myself and my client. It contains sensitive information, Pena said.

The motion states that Pena has not visited Burgos-Aviles since September 2019, does not keep him informed of the issues on his case, has not guided him on procedures and has not requested any authorization to make decisions regarding Burgos-Aviles legal rights.

He again and again has told me he is too busy to visit me and keep me up to date, although his office is a few meters away from the place where I am an inmate, Burgos-Aviles writes.

Burgos-Aviles further added that on the Dec. 12 hearing, Pena did not inform or request his authorization to postpone the trial until 2021.

That there has been two years of being confined and waiting for the trial, the motion states. I consider that, just as the court sees it, it has been enough time for the discovery of evidence by my defense and the prosecutor to be completed.

The defendant further wrote that he does not feel fairly represented.

Since the days when Attorney Pena and Attorney Martinez had their problems on how to deal with my case, I have solicited Attorney Pena to quit (being) my legal defense lawyer, the motion states.

He adds, Also, I have not seen any actions taken toward my best interest by Attorney Pena. I dont know the reasons and interest of Attorney Pena to stay as my attorney after all my complaints.

Burgos-Aviles requested that Pena be dropped as one of his attorneys and a new certified lawyer be appointed in his place. If the court does not accept the petition, he asks for a written resolution to be issued to request its review, the motion states.

Burgos-Aviles stands charged with two counts of capital murder in the slaying of Grizelda Hernandez, 27, and their son, Dominic Alexander Hernandez. They were killed in April 2018 near Father Charles McNaboe Park in northwest Laredo.

READ MORE: Affidavit reveals FBI assistance in investigation of Laredo BP agent suspected of killing lover, son

Jury selection is scheduled for March 2021 in the 49th District Court.
Donald Trump shifted blame for cutting his administration's global health security team in 2018, telling a reporter who asked whether he takes responsibility that she asked a "nasty question".

PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor asked why the president doesn't "take responsibility" for the administration's slow response to the Covid-19 outbreak despite his disbanding of a White House office on pandemic response.

He replied: "I just think that's a nasty question ... When you say me, I didn't do it."

Under a reorganisation from then-National Security Adviser John Bolton, the departure of Timothy Ziemer from the National Security Council has left the administration without any senior official overseeing a US pandemic response, despite the heightened security risks of a public health emergency or bioterror attack. He was not replaced.

Ms Alcindor asked Mr Trump to clarify: "You don't know anything about that?"

The president said: "You say we did that. I don't know anything about it. ... Let people go. You used to be with a different newspaper. Things like that happen."

As her microphone audio was cut off, the president said: "We're doing a great job."

The president's shutdown of that team has also faced criticism within his own administration, as public health officials have said its disbanding likely cost valuable response time to a virus that has now sickened at least 1,800 people in the US, including the deaths of at least 41 people.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who is among the team leading the administration's response to the outbreak, has said that "it would be nice if the office was still there."

"We worked very well with that office", he said this week.

The president has struggled to answer why exactly he chose to close the office.

He told reporters last month: "I'm a businessperson. I don't like having thousands of people around when you don't need them. When we need them, we can get them back very quickly."

But he can't  Georgetown public management professor Don Moynihan explained: "Once you have gutted institutional capacity, you cannot, in fact, quickly restore it."
Midland College continues to monitor the developing COVID-19 situation. Out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of students and employees, all Midland College facilities and most services will close during the week of March 16. This includes the Midland College main campus, the Williams Regional Technical Training Center in Fort Stockton, the Midland College Advanced Technology Center, Cogdell Learning Center, Petroleum Professional Development Center and the Aviation Maintenance Hangar E.

All employees are on call the week of March 16. The Midland College leadership team will contact employees as needed for training and essential services.
The devastated girlfriend of a mentally ill woman who decapitated her mother says she still loves her partner and is determined to get her the help she needs.

Sharon O'Brien, 50, believes her partner, Odessa Carey, 36, who beat her mum to death before cutting her head off with knives and scissors, was neglected by mental health services in the run-up to the tragedy.

Carey, from Ashington, Northumberland, has now been detained at a high-security hospital after a jury ruled she was responsible for the death of the 73-year-old mother.

Sharon, who had been in a relationship with Carey for almost 15 years, has told how Carey's mother, Odessa Carey senior, had been urged not to be alone with her daughter but refused to turn her away.

Sharon O'Brien, the former partner of Odessa Carey who decapitated her mother says she still loves her partner and is determined to get her the help she needs

A picture of Odessa Carey (left) and her partner of almost 15 years, Sharon O'Brien pictured in happier times. The couple have been in a relationship since 2006

Sharon paid tribute to Odessa Carey senior, who shared a name with her daughter, saying she was like a mum to her as well.

Sharon said: 'She was a lovely woman.

'She was always laughing and joking and always happy. She was always supportive of Odessa. She wouldn't give up on her.

'We told her mum not to let her into the house but she would never turn her back on her daughter. I'm grieving for the loss of both of them but I have got to keep going for Odessa.'

Sharon has known Carey, who she called 'Dessa', since she was a child growing up in Ashington, Northumberland.

Odessa Carey, 36, was let down by mental health services according to her partner Sharon O'Brien who vows to stand by her despite Odessa killing her mother and decapitating her

Sharon said: 'This wasn't the actions of the Odessa I know. I wasn't scared of her, I still think I could get through to her.

'I'll never give up on her. I still love her to bits. I always will. I'll always stick by her. Nobody else wants anything to do with her, but I can't leave her.

'The real Odessa is in there somewhere. It's been really hard but I know it wasn't her that did that.

'Whatever has possessed her has made her do it. '

Odessa Carey senior, 73, was killed and decapitated by her daughter who then carried her head around and showed it to other people before stashing it in a cupboard of a friend's house

When they became a couple in 2006, the mum-of-one did not know her partner had mental health problems as the symptoms at that stage were not yet severe.

Sharon said: 'She was a lovely caring lass. There was not a bad bone in her body. She practically brought my daughter up from the age of nine.'

Years later Carey's mental health and her behaviour began to deteriorate to Sharon's alarm.

As Odessa Carey's behaviour became more unsettling her son, who is now 18, went to live with his father.

Sharon also began to witness a series of increasingly terrifying incidents which made her realise her girlfriend was seriously ill.

Sharon said: 'It would come and go. She would be fine for a while and you wouldn't have known what was going on.'

Sharon O'Brien cradles a picture of her former girlfriend Odessa Carey who once held her, Carey's mother and Sharon's daughter hostage at Carey's mother's senior home

'But it just got gradually worse.'

On one occasion Carey cut her own legs down to the bone, and on another she tried to smash her way through the wall of her home with a wallpaper scraper to get to her neighbours who she believed wanted to kill her family.

Carey was eventually put under the care of the Greenacres Centre, which is run by the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.

Sharon does not believe her partner ever got the help she needed.

When Carey briefly moved to Crook, in County Durham, she removed all the lightbulbs from her home, believing there were cameras inside watching her,' said Sharon.

Sharon said: 'She was just totally paranoid. She thought people were watching her.'

In 2017, Carey was sectioned briefly at a hospital in Sunderland after holding her mum, Sharon and Sharon's daughter hostage at Odessa senior's home, in North Seaton.

This screenshot from CCTV footage shows Carey carrying her mother's severed head in a bag

In January 2018 police were contacted after Carey assaulted her mum with a bath-board, yet, Sharon still let Carey move in with her in late 2018 after she was thrown out of a hostel in Blyth.

Sharon continued: 'I have never seen anything like it.

'She would sit in the kitchen in the middle of the floor laughing hysterically and screaming.

'When I asked who she was talking to she said: 'Just the voices in my head.'

Sharon said: 'Then just weeks before Carey killed her mum she killed her cat by breaking its neck before flushing its body down the toilet.'

Sharon O'Brien has been devastated by the loss of Odessa Carey senior who she regarded as a mother figure

Yet Sharon could never have imagined the horror that would follow. Carey is believed to have killed her mum by striking her over the head, before decapitating her then removing her brain from her head.

Carey then carried the head round in a bag and showed it to family friend, John Murray, at his allotment, before hiding it in a kitchen cupboard of a friend's home.

Sharon called the police after Mr Murray told her what he had seen.

Sharon said: 'I didn't know what to think. My initial thought was that I had to go out and find Dessa.'

'I didn't believe it at first but I knew she had been at her mam's.

Sharon O'Brien bore the brunt of Odessa Carey's increasingly alarming behaviour and was once taken hostage by her partner until the 'unthinkable' event happened

'I described her mam to John Murray, and that's when I got my phone out and rang the police.'

Sharon tried to get into Odessa Carey's home but was taken to a police station where her worst fears were confirmed.

She added: 'I collapsed in the police station and I vomited. I thought I was living in a nightmare.'

Carey was arrested and charged with murder. But it was later ruled she was too unwell to stand trial and what is known as a 'trial of facts' was held at Newcastle Crown Court, where a jury this week agreed she did the acts of killing her mum.

Sharon visited Carey while she was on remand at HMP Low Newton, in Durham, but her girlfriend did not believe who she was saying she thought she was a 'clone' and the real Sharon had been killed.

Police at the home of Odessa Carey, 73, where her headless body was found in North Seaton, Ashington, Northumberland, in April last year

Sharon made contact with a close friend of Carey's in Manchester who showed her messages from 18 months before the killing in which she said she believed her family and friends in Ashington were all clones.

Carey was moved to Rampton Secure Hospital, in Nottinghamshire, in October and Sharon did not see again until she gave evidence at the trial last week.

She said: 'When I was in court I made eye contact with her and she wasn't there.

'Her eyes were black. It was like something had possessed her. It was her body but her mind was gone.

'The person I love just wasn't there. I believe there's a demon took over her body and her mind.

Sharon continued: 'But until she starts fighting back she's not going to get any better.'

Sharon firmly believes mental health services let both Carey and her mum down and that her partner should have been sectioned long ago.

But she is now living in hope that doctors at Rampton will be able to do something to help. And she is now trying to arrange a visit.

Sharon said: 'She needed really good professional help. I tried and tired. I just hope these psychiatrists at Rampton can get through to her.

'If she had had the help in the first place maybe it wouldn't have got so bad. I'm hoping for a miracle. I feel like going to the library and getting books on schizophrenia to see if I can help.'

'I'll never leave her. I'm going to try and see her.

'I'm going to get in touch with Rampton and see what I can do. At least I know she's safe now.'

Gary O'Hare, executive director of Nursing and Chief Operating Officer at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'We would like to offer our sincere and heartfelt sympathies to Odessa Carey's family and friends at this sad and difficult time.

'We understand that NHS England will be commissioning an independent investigation to see what lessons can be learnt from this tragic event.

'We have undertaken our own internal investigation which will feed into this process.'
Cement vessel sinks off Oaxaca coast

13 March 2020

A general cargo ship by the name of Duban, loaded with some 1500t of cement, sank 13nm off of the coast of Oaxaca, southern Mexican state on Pacific coast, in the afternoon of 12 March, while en route to Manzanillo.



A crew of 12 crew had to be rescued. The engine room was flooded and the ship was sinking on even keel. Witnesses report that the ship was already proceeding at reduced speed several hours prior to sinking.



The Duban carries the flag of Togo and is owned by Rimac Sea River Shipping Ltd, Peru.

Published under
#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   .)
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Army personnel operating the coronavirus quarantine facility at Manesar have been receiving unusual demands from those under observation, like requesting for independent rooms, which is hindering its smooth functioning, sources said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, those under observation also created ruckus at the facility but the situation was brought under control, the sources added.

They indicated that it costs around Rs 3.5 lakh everyday to run the facility.

While it is deemed to be a facility responding to emergency requirements, the sources said, many under observation demand special provisions like independent rooms.

"This creates hindrances in the smooth functioning of the medical and administrative staff at the facility," an official added.

Till date, a total of 455 individuals who have arrived from Wuhan (248), Japan (124) and Italy (83) have been quarantined in three batches at the emergency quarantine facility created by the Indian Army.

The latest lot of 83 patients are from Italy, including nine foreigners of Indian origin.

The sources added that since the evacuees have already travelled together, the aspect of individual quarantine for 14 days may not find much merit.

Responding to an emergency requirement to manage Indian and foreign nationals from friendly foreign countries, the Indian Army has created a facility at Manesar where people can be monitored for any signs of infection for a duration of two weeks by a qualified team of doctors and staff members.

The emergency facility consists of temporary barracks for accommodation, administration and medical facilities.

To prevent mass outbreak, the facility has been divided into sectors, each with a maximum capacity of 50 persons.

The population of sectors are not allowed to intermingle with each other, they added.

Those found infected are shifted to isolation facilities for further medical exams and recovery.

Apart from playing games, watching TV and having meals together within a barrack, people are not allowed to interact with the members of another barrack or sector.

Daily medical examination of all detainees are being done at the medical facility area.

"All detainees are required to wear a three-layered mask at all times. After 14 days, persons with no symptoms are allowed to go home with their detailed documentation sent to the district/ state surveillance units for further surveillance," sources said.

"Despite differing individual preferences and demands, the Army has gone about doing their job in the best possible way," they added.
Minutes after the news came in that former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah will be released after seven months in detention, his daughter Safia Abdullah Khan expressed happiness over Twitter and said, "My father is a free man again."

The Centre on Friday had issued orders to revoke detention of Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, who was detained under Public Safety Act following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, said Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary Planning in the Union Territory.

The three-term chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state was under house arrest for months.

Several mainstream leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, including Farooq's son Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have been also put under house arrest following the abrogation of Article 370 in August that granted special powers to the region.

Earlier, the NC chief wrote a letter to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, expressing discontent over being kept under watch and said that he was not a 'criminal'.

He could not attend two sessions of Parliament due to the detention, with several leaders from Opposition parties demanding the MP be allowed to attend the Parliament.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 4,500 people globally and infected 73 individuals in India, Digital healthcare platform Practo on Thursday (March 12, 2020) launched a new monthly healthcare plan which offers unlimited online doctor consultations, starting at Rs 399 per month.

Amid the coronavirus spread, Practo also did an internal study, which revealed that queries regarding fever, cough, cold, sore throat and body ache have increased by 30 percent in the last two weeks on their platform.

Most of the queries are coming from Bengaluru, Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai.

According to the company, priced at Rs 399, it is a subscription-based healthcare plan that provides unlimited online consultations with doctors from over 20 specialties.

This extremely cost-effective plan has been conceived with an aim at making quality healthcare affordable and accessible to all.

"In India, more than 50 percent of the people resort to self-medication. In the wake of widespread diseases threatening to spread a lot of false symptoms and remedies, it is imperative that we inculcate the habit of consulting specialists for health issues," said Dr Alexander Kuruvilla, Chief Healthcare Strategy Officer, Practo.

"We are thrilled to introduce the new monthly Practo Plus plan, which also aligns with the government's vision of a healthy India, where there's access to high quality and affordable healthcare services to all," Kuruvilla added.

This extremely cost-effective plan has been conceived with an aim at making quality healthcare affordable and accessible to all, the company said.

The plan not only helps people save '10x' the amount of money spent on doctor consultations, but also makes them proactive about their health and ensuring that no symptom goes undiagnosed, they added.
Hong Kong: New value list, rent roll ready

The newly declared 2020-21 Valuation List & Government Rent Roll will be available from March 16 to May 31.

They can be inspected at the Rating & Valuation Department at the Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices, 15/F, 303 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon, and are also available online.

Proposals objecting to the new rateable values should be made on the specified form (R20A) or an electronic form (e-R20A). Faxes are not accepted, and completed forms should reach the department by May 31.

In the 2020-21 Budget Speech, the Financial Secretary announced the waiving of rates for 2020-21, subject to a ceiling of $1,500 per quarter for each domestic rateable tenement.

For each non-domestic rateable tenement, the ceiling will be $5,000 per quarter for the first two quarters, and $1,500 per quarter for the following two quarters.

Rates and government rent demands to be issued in early April will show the revised rateable values for 2020-21 and the amount payable.

Call 2152 0111 for enquiries.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the Delhi government on Friday issued a warning against the dissemination of information regarding the virus without permission from the Ministry of Health or Delhi government.

The government instruction stated that no person, institution or organisation shall issue any information regarding coronavirus in print or electronic media without the permission of the Ministry of Health or Delhi government.

FOLLOW CORONAVIRUS INDIA UPDATES HERE

The state government warned that non-compliance of the warning will be considered a punishable offence.

The World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and expressed deep concern both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India has risen to 75. The country has also reported its first coronavirus death in Karnataka, the health ministry had stated earlier.
INDIANAPOLIS, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Professional Association of Customer Engagement (PACE) announces the advancement of another of its strategic objectives to increase its reach and impact on the contact center industry with its acquisition of the International Customer Service Association (ICSA).

ICSA is the creator of National Customer Service Week and since its inception in 1984, they have sponsored and promoted its celebration annually. The week-long celebration was proclaimed a national event by the U.S. Congress in 1992 and is formally recognized by companies large and small across the county.

National Customer Service Week is celebrated annually during the first full business week of October each year, and the PACE Association will proudly continue this vital tradition of celebrating our industry's professionals in honor of ICSA's shared PACE values.

"The addition of ICSA to the PACE family provides even more industry professionals the opportunity to collaborate and learn across a wide array of verticals to gain the deeply sought after perspective of the cross-branded customer to improve the customer experience," says Stuart Discount, CEO, PACE Association.

ABOUT PACE

The Professional Association for Customer Engagement (PACE) is the only non-profit trade association that educates and protects companies that engage with customers via the contact center and digital service.

Members receive value by:

The only unified voice advocating for ethical contact centers

Propagation of industry best practices and advanced professional education

Unparalleled networking opportunities and peer-driven events; and

Risk abatement through compliance education and accreditation

Grow with us. It's your perfect opportunity to network and learn along with leaders from a variety of industries focused on customer experience. Go to: https://www.paceassociation.org/membership to learn more.

CONTACT:

Susan Burt

[email protected]

SOURCE PACE

Related Links

http://www.paceassociation.com


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
Umaro Sissoko Embalo, Guinea Bissau president has described Nigeria as one of the best symbols of democracy in Africa.

Speaking with state house correspondents shortly after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Embalo added that he would always come back to seek more advice.

We are aware that Nigeria is a reference for democracy in the whole world; not only for your population but you have always shown that democratic choice is the best way to resolve things.

It is the people who make the choice, and that is why I am here today to reaffirm the solidarity of the people of Nigeria toward us.

I thank Baba, my Dad, the President of Nigeria and all the Nigerian people for everything you have been doing.

According to him, Nigeria is the most important country on the African continent, because of the role it plays in stabilising the continent.

You cannot even imagine the feeling I have for our friendship with Nigeria.

I will always refer to President Buhari as my dad. Nigeria has a very important role to play in Africa. Therefore, I will always come to Nigeria to ask for your advice.

Nigeria has shown the people of Guinea Bissau solidarity in the most difficult moments of our country and also today Baba you have shown solidarity towards the population of Guinea Bissau, he said.
Press Release

March 12, 2020 Pangilinan proposes quick, timely science-based, multi-sectoral interventions in COVID-19 pandemic MANILA -- As the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Thursday assured the public that the health disaster can be defeated with quick and timely multi-sectoral, science-based interventions anchored on compassion. "We can defeat this virus. We can lessen the spread. And we can emerge triumphant and victorious but we have to help each other," Pangilinan said. "We are confronted by a virus that knows no boundaries. No one family, no matter how equipped with tons of food stock, disinfectants, and medicines, can stay safe for long if the rest of the community have none. Combatting the disease needs a community effort and compassion toward each other," he added. Pangilinan said national and local governments need to step up efforts to keep the public aware and well-informed, as he enumerated the areas where leadership is required: More frequent advisories and bulletins should be issued, utilizing the help of the private sector such as telcos through timely updates.

Concerned national government agencies and local government units should stock up on basic relief goods. "Work suspension will hit hard those earning on a no work, no pay basis tulad ng mga jeepney driver, construction worker, at kahit na yung mga sidewalk vendor. Sila yung pinaka vulnerable. Sila ang dapat bigyang-pansin. Their families have to eat. A lockdown will hurt daily wage earners and, if hungry, may turn to looting or theft. We need to provide relief goods and cash support. It is a messy situation and we need to act fast," Pangilinan said. "Now is also the best time for local government units to make their services felt in communities. Mahirap sabihin sa mga kababayan nating kumalma kung walang mahanap na face mask o alcohol. One municipality in Rizal gives free face masks and alcohol refill to its constituents. Mahirap sabihing maghugas ng kamay kung walang tubig. Siguraduhin ang supply ng tubig," he said. Government should make fund releases easy especially to government hospitals through the Departments of Health and Social Welfare and Development. Tap contingency funds and savings for COVID-19.

Leaders, especially in government, should strategize and draw up measures to address this pandemic. "While we recognize the need for some government officials to go on self-quarantine, it should not mean totally disappearing totally from the public and not working," Pangilinan said. Enforce, expand, and encourage social distancing. "Provide additional medical leaves and other support for self-quarantine of government and private employees. No penalty for COVID-vulnerable doing self-quarantine. Consider additional leaves as donation similar to during a disaster," Pangilinan said. "Cancel or postpone non-essential travels, class suspensions, and mass gatherings to prevent COVID spread. Nobody can enter or exit lockdown areas, unless there are proven family or work reasons. Postpone work meetings and encourage working from home," he added. Pangilinan was among the first to prod government into action when news broke out on a possible pandemic on January 27, when he called on government to impose a travel ban to visitors from China. At the February 4 Senate hearing on government response, Pangilinan was among the senators who censured Health Secretary Francisco Duque for seeming unpreparedness, unaware of basic statistics involving the spread of the disease, including the number of flights from China and other affected areas. The former Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization recalled his experience with the cocolisap infestation in 2014 -2015 that affected over 4.5 million coconut trees nationwide. The infestation was contained following timely and quick science-based protocols with the active participation of various sectors, in and out of government. "Kapag tayo ay kumilos nang maayos, may disiplina at organisado ang ating interventions, tatalunin natin yung peste. At sa awa ng Diyos, after our interventions, public emergency na rin yon, we were able to bring down from 59 hotspots in five provinces to one hotspot in one province because of the intervention of medicine, of science, of local government, of the national government. Sama-samang pinagtulungan," he said. Pangilinan reiterated that everyone must work together to combat COVID-19. "Ganun din dito sa coronavirus. Sino ba ang mas magaling? Yung virus na hindi naman nag-iisip o yung tao na kumikilos at mayroong pag-iisip? I think people will be more powerful, will be more effective in combating this virus but we need to be science-based. We need to inspire local governments as well as the private sector na magtulungan so that we can manage this pandemic," Pangilinan said. The senator added that if we act together, "we can reduce the spread by as much as eight to ten times because of social distancing, because of massive testing, because of self-quarantine, because of interventions both of the individual and not only the private sector [but also the] government."
Lucknow, March 13 : Hailstorm, accompanied by strong winds lashed several parts of Uttar Pradesh on Friday causing wide spread damage to crops.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed all district magistrates to provide financial assistance to the affected people within 24 hours. Water logging in fields and gusty winds have flattened the ready to harvest crops.

Districts like Pilibhit, Sitapur, Chandauli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Bijnor and Jaunpur have been severely affected by inclement weather conditions.

Meanwhile, two persons have reportedly died due to lightening in Sitapur and Jaunpur.

In Lucknow, heavy rainfall led to water logging and disruption in power and telecom services.

Met department has already issued warning of hailstorm, rain and gusty wind conditions prevailing for another 24 hours in the state.
Highlights The comic is issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare It aims at teaching children about coronavirus The comic series revolves around a Superhero Vaayu

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has coined a unique idea to spread awareness over COVID-19 amongst kids. The Ministry has come up with a graphic novel for children, named Kids, Vaayu and Corona who wins the fight?

The story of the comic series revolves around a Superhero Vaayu who works for better public health and environment. In the cover page, there are three kids who seem to be scared of coronavirus.The kids are guarded by Vaayu. He fights with the coronavirus. The creature coronavirus is of black colour on the cover page. It has been described as a virus which is spreading fast globally and causing COVID-19 disease.

The first page of the comic book released by the government.

The comic book has been authored by Ravindra Khaiwal, Additional Professor of Environment Health Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh and Suman Mor, Associate Professor and Chairperson Department of Environment Studies, Punjab university, Chandigarh.

School kids have also contributed to the content of the comic book. Aaditya Khaiwal, vof Ankur School in Chandigarh, Lakshya Khaiwal from Chitkara International School, Chandigarh have helped with the story line.

Graphics have been done by Sonali Verma and Shruti Govil of Punjab University, Chandigarh. Anchita Thakur and Kirti Dutt of the Punjab University have also contributed for the content of the book.

Citing the reason that sometimes parents are too busy to resolve queries of kids regarding coronavirus, the PGIMER - Chandigarh and Punjab University created the comic book to make children aware of the threat of coronavirus and how to remain safe through simple precautionary steps.

A section of the comic explaining kids how the virus spreads.

Given that the population of all ages are making use of available media such as newspapers, social media and television to make themselves aware and from adults to children most of the discussions are around the coronavirus, the comic aims at educating children, especially those below the age of 12 years in most comprehensive manner.

The ministry suggested that parents should resolve the queries of the kids so that they dont panic. The comic is created to learn along with fun and motivate children to be a hero of prevention by defeating corona.

Vaayu lives in the foothills of Himalayas in India and he has been called to fight against global threat of coronavirus and to protect children from sudden panic and fear.

Vaayu battles with his swords against the coronavirus and demonstrate to the children how to observe personal and respiratory hygiene and social distancing. The book has also described about coronavirus and common signs of COVID-19 disease.

The comic explains about importance of handwash.

A fear of children getting infected at a school in Noida surrounded everyone when an infected person from Delhi allegedly threw a birthday party that was attended by kids.

At least 73 confirmed cases have been reported from India as on Thursday. Even a three year old also tested positive in Kerala who had a travel history of Italy with his parents.

Coronavirus outbreak was first reported in December last year in Wuhan city of China. The disease has affected more than 100 countries so far and has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation.

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Taiwan, a nation of 23 million, lies only 81 miles off the coast of China. About 2.71 million visitors fly from the mainland to the island each year.

But while Chinas coronavirus death toll stands at more than 3,100, Taiwan has had only 49 confirmed cases and just one death as of Friday. Thats despite early predictions that it would have the second-highest "importation risk" of any country.

So how come the outbreak that erupted in Wuhan, China, and spread around the globe has barely touched Chinas neighbor? According to a Stanford Health Policy analysis published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Taiwan learned from the failures of its response to the 2003 SARS outbreak.

Preparing for the next epidemic, the country established a centralized disaster management center to focus on large-outbreak response and to direct communications among central, regional and local authorities.

Taiwan began restricting flights on Dec. 31, when the first news of an unknown virus in Wuhan broke. Within a few weeks, Dr. Jason Wang, a pediatrician and director of the Center for Policy, Outcomes and Prevention at Stanford, started monitoring the governments responses to the Wuhan outbreak. Wang was scheduled to teach a course in Taipei and wanted to make sure it would be safe to travel there.

Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center was activated on Jan. 20, and between then and Feb. 24, it took 124 actions based on assessments gathered from the countrys integration of big data and technology. They included:

Border control from the air and sea, including travel restrictions and cruise ship bans

Case identification (using new data and technology), patients 14-day travel history integrated into the National Health Insurance Administration and Immigration Agency database

Quarantine of suspicious cases and electronic monitoring of quarantined individuals via government-issued cell phones

Proactive case finding

Resource allocation (assessing and managing capacity), such as setting up test sites and taking over production of surgical and N95 masks (more than 10 million per day)

Reassurance and education of the public while fighting misinformation; investigated rumors that started a toilet paper panic and prosecuted a man for claiming cyanide wards off coronavirus

Negotiation with other countries and regions

Formulation of policies toward schools and childcare

Relief to businesses

In contrast to Taiwans speedy emergency medical mobilization, which undoubtedly limited coronavirus cases and saved lives, countries such as Italy, Iran, France and the United States have been slow to act as the pandemic spreads.

Physicians and other health experts have admitted that the U.S. system for testing for the virus has been a failure.

"Taiwan's ability to contain the #COVID19 outbreak is a tribute to our unity & resilience. It also speaks to the collaboration between our government, people, & the many private businesses that have ramped up production to protect public health & make the impossible possible," President Tsai Ing Wen said in a statement on Twitter.

You can read more about this story here.

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

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Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate
Treating polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) as only a fertility condition is leaving those with the condition at greater risk of developing related long-term health conditions, according to women surveyed and interviewed in University of Warwick research.

As part of a study by Warwick Medical School into the experiences of women with the condition, researchers found support and awareness lacking for other symptoms of PCOS, such as obesity, sleep apnoea, hirsutism, acne, and increased risks in developing type 2 diabetes and mental health issues.

The research, published this week in the British Journal of General Practice and funded by the Royal College of General Practitioners, surveyed 323 women with PCOS about their diagnosis and daily experience of the condition.

In polycystic ovary syndrome, women experience problems in ovulating and the menstrual cycle is disrupted. It is thought to occur in as many as 1 in 5 women in the UK. Although it is well known that the condition causes infertility and problems conceiving, what is less known is that it is also associated with difficulty in controlling weight, sleep difficulties, and an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Those with PCOS are also more likely to experience mental health problems such as depression.

When surveyed, the researchers found that 83.1% of women felt they were given little information on the long-term complications by their health professional, and the information they were given was focused too much on the fertility implications of the condition.

Lead author Dr. Sarah Hillman, from Warwick Medical School, said:

We found that women werent being told about the long-term increased risks, or only told about some of them. For example, they werent necessarily seen as being at increased risk of diabetes. This means that these issues are not being addressed and those women have to find out through other means, through online sources, peer support groups, charities and other channels.

The research also revealed that 74.9% of women with PCOS had experienced mental health issues, but only 34.9% could recall this being discussed with their GP.

Dr. Hillman added:

There is an increased risk of mental health problems alongside physical health problems, but our research shows that women are often not disclosing this and health professionals are not always asking. We should be viewing it as a condition that affects women in a number of ways throughout their life course. It is not just about ovaries.

The researchers argue that there needs to be greater awareness of the implications of the condition, both among the general public and health professionals. Education for health professionals should focus on reconsidering PCOS as a lifelong metabolic condition and not one of fertility.

Dr. Hillman adds:

Getting the right information to women in a timely fashion, makes that information empowering. If you have the correct information you have more awareness of your own health. For instance if you know youre at higher risk of diabetes, you may focus more on weight control. This is about empowering women to take control of their health. The word ovary in the name suggests to people that this is a problem just around ovaries, but it is just one piece of the jigsaw puzzle of the health of these women.
Book by former PGC officer highlights unusual wildlife encounters

Dick Bodenhorn has published a book highlighting some of the unusual encounters he had while working with the Pennsylvania Game Commision.
(CNN)  Before there were any cases of novel coronavirus confirmed in South Korea, one of the country's biotech firms had begun preparing to make testing kits to identify the disease.

On January 16, Chun Jong-yoon, the chief executive and founder of molecular biotech company Seegene, told his team it was time to start focusing on coronavirus.

That was before the virus sweeping China had been named Covid-19 and four days ahead of South Korea confirming its first case.

"Even if nobody is asking us to, we are a molecular diagnosis company. We have to prepare in advance," he remembered thinking at the time.

Fast forward two months, and South Korea is among the world's worst affected countries, with more than 7,800 people infected, and more than 60 deaths.

But one reason why South Korea might have a higher number of infections than other countries is its aggressive approach to testing.

While some nations have struggled to get enough test kits to diagnose suspected patients, South Korea has provided free and easy access to testing for anyone who a doctor deems needs it. The country's Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC) says the country has 118 facilities that can test -- and all report their results to KCDC. To date, the country has tested more than 230,000 people.

It has even rolled out drive-through coronavirus testing facilities, where motorists are met by health workers dressed in hazmat suits.

"Detecting patients at an early stage is very important," South Korea's health minister Park Neung-hu told CNN Monday. "South Korea is an open society and would like to protect the freedom of people moving around and traveling.

"That is why we're conducting mass amount of tests."

But to roll out tests en masse, a country first needs test kits.

A secret weapon

In the basement of Seegene's headquarters in Seoul lies the key to the company's coronavirus success.

There the company houses an artificial intelligence-based big data system, which has enabled the firm to quickly develop a test for coronavirus.

Tests known as assay kits are made up of several vials of chemical solutions. Samples are taken from patients and mixed with the solutions, which react if certain genes are present.

Without the computer, it would have taken the team two to three months to develop such a test, said Chun. This time, it was done in a matter of weeks.

By January 24, the scientists had ordered the raw materials they needed for the test kits. Four days later, they arrived. On February 5, the first version of the test was ready.

It was only the third time the company had used its super computer -- rather than its research and development team working manually -- to design a test. It had previously used the system to make diagnosis kits for urethritis, the inflammation of the urethra. The company was able to design the test using only the genetic details that had been released about the virus, and without having a sample of Covid-19.

And it didn't require his teams to work around the clock. Only a few people needed to be involved, said Chun.

The next hurdle was getting the test approved for use. It can take a year-and-a-half to submit the necessary documents to South Korea's authorities and get it approved.

This time, it took a week.

Lee Dae-hoon, who led the team of scientists working to develop the coronavirus test kit, has spent his whole life working on diseases. He's never seen the KCDC approve a test kit so fast.

On February 12, Seegene got sign off, thanks to KCDC expediting the process. It was only then that the scientists only knew for certain that their test worked, as the government had evaluated the test using their own patient samples.

Getting the kit to hospitals

By mid-February, South Korea's coronavirus cases had spiked dramatically. On February 23, the country's President Moon Jae-in raised the country's crisis alert to the highest level.

"We're now at a watershed moment with the novel coronavirus and the next few days will be very critical," Moon said in a televised address. "We need to identify the infected people as soon as possible and prevent the virus from spreading further."

Following that, Chun made a snap decision. His 395 employees would drop all other work and focus on making coronavirus test kits. Production of the company's 50 or so other products temporarily ceased for two weeks.

"Emergency operation means all of the divisions, you have to change your job," he said. "All of our teams are focusing on coronavirus product development."

That means micro molecular biologists with PhDs have had to drop research and development to take a seat on the assembly line.

"Some times (senior scientists are) doing packaging of the product. It doesn't matter how they are educated, it doesn't matter because we are crazy here," said Noh Si-won, the executive director of corporate strategy.

Seegene is one of four companies providing coronavirus test kits in South Korea.

But the company is also facing international demand from about 30 countries -- including Italy and Germany -- which are using Seegene's products, Chun said.

At first, Seegene struggled to meet demand, but now it is coping.

The firm is making about 10,000 kits a week and each kit can test 100 patients. So it is making enough to test one million patients each week, at a cost of under $20 per test.

Noh Si-won, the executive director of corporate strategy, said it is the first time he has seen the company manufacturing at this scale.

The company has three months' worth of stock of other test kits, so it can meet demand for its preexisting orders for a month or two. But Chun said it was important for the company to continue making coronavirus test kits -- and the need goes beyond financial gains.

"We have to be providing or contributing one way or the other to figure it out as soon as possible. That's why (we supply to) the whole world," he says.

What other countries are doing wrong

In other countries, the authorities have struggled to keep up with the demand for testing.

Chun says one possible explanation is that some places may be testing manually, rather than automatically.

All tests start with a nurse taking a swab or a sample from a patient. If the swab is tested manually, a scientist will use a pipette to put the assay kit onto the sample.

But in a growing number of places -- including South Korea -- scientists are using automatic testing.

Rather than a human mixing the solutions, the samples are instead put into a diagnostic machine.

Inside the machine, a robot arm pipettes the solution and mixes the liquids on a number of tests at once. According to Chun, this method takes only four hours to test samples from 94 patients -- four times faster than the manual method. It also reduces the risk of human error or contamination.

The other thing that could be slowing some countries down is the type of test kits being used. There are three genes that can be tested for to confirm coronavirus -- and Seegene's kits are able to test for all three genes in one tube, said Chun. That's not necessarily the case for all test kits.

Chun believes if the United States had access to Seegene's system, the country could test 1 million patients a week. But for now, the US doesn't have the test -- it doesn't have approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Chun wants to help health authorities overseas.

"The issue is they have no chance to test the people properly," he said. "Without the proper diagnosis, nobody knows what's going on."

This story was first published on CNN.com "How this South Korean company created coronavirus test kits in three weeks"
Non-urgent hospital appointments and routine surgery to be cancelled in Wales  First Minister says we need your help to fight Coronavirus

This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 13th, 2020

The Health Minister has announced all non-essential hospital procedures will be cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic, with the First Minister asking for the public to do their bit to help.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething said during a press conference this afternoon (Friday March 13  full video below) Welsh Government was implementing a range of measures in a bid to protect front line medical services.

Stood alongside First Minister Mark Drakeford at the Cardiff press conference, Gething said Wales could see 20,000 deaths as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, adding usually there are 8,000 to 10,000 deaths in Wales due to flu and the 20,000 figure is on top of that.

He announced that from next week, emergency staff will be told to prioritise coronavirus prep and not to staff large events  a move in line with Scotland.

Mt Gething said: As we move in our preparations from the contain to the delay phase of COVID-19, it is vital that our health and social care system in Wales is prepared.

I have taken a number decisions today to ensure early and decisive action to continue to provide care and support to the most vulnerable people in our communities, whilst also making sure organisations and professionals are supported to make timely preparations for the expected increase in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19.

I am choosing to act now before we see a significant surge in demand so that our services can be ready to act. A larger number of people requiring high levels of care is highly likely over the coming weeks.

I have taken advice from professional colleagues, including NHS Chief Executives and Medical Directors to inform my decision to act now to ensure our preparations can be made in a planned and measured way.

The Welsh Government has agreed a framework of actions, within which local health and social care providers can make decisions, they are:

> Suspend non-urgent outpatient appointments and ensure urgent appoints are prioritised

> Suspend non-urgent surgical admissions and procedures (whilst ensuring access for emergency and urgent surgery)

> Prioritise use of Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service to focus on hospital discharge and ambulance emergency response

> Expedite discharge of vulnerable patients from acute and community hospitals

> Relax targets and monitoring arrangements across the health and care system

> Minimise regulation requirements for health and care settings

> Fast track placements to care homes by suspending the current protocol which give to right to a choice of home

> Permission to cancel internal and professional events, including study leave, to free up staff for preparations.

> Relaxation of contract and monitoring arrangements for GPs and primary care practitioners.

> Suspend NHS emergency service and health volunteer support to mass gatherings and events

These actions will allow for services and beds to be reallocated and for staff to be redeployed and retrained in priority areas.

Health boards and health care providers will begin to contact anyone affected by these decisions over the coming days as these actions are phased in. Access to cancer and other essential treatments such as renal dialysis for example will of course be maintained.

The NHS 111 online and telephone service is available and has been protecting our vital primary care and emergency department services from undue demand.

The key principle is to keep people safe and to keep patients out of clinical settings if there is no urgent need to attend.

The First Minister has also issued his own message to the people of Wales, This is a fast-moving situation. In the last week, the number of people with coronavirus has risen steadily in the UK and hundreds of people are now receiving hospital treatment. We can expect to see many more cases in Wales.

We are working hard to slow the spread of the virus. We are working with the other UK governments to respond to the situation as it develops. We are relying on expert advice and using all the expertise we have developed in treating other infectious diseases and in planning for flu.

But we need your help.

If you have a new continuous cough or high temperature, we are asking you to stay at home for seven days. This will help protect other people in the local community from becoming infected, especially older people, who are most at risk.

It is really important you stay at home while you have symptoms. For most, coronavirus will be mild but for some people it will cause a serious illness, which will need hospital treatment. Sadly, we know some people have died.

We may need to introduce other measures to protect people who are most at risk. All the decisions we take will be based on expert advice and we will let people know whats happening.

All overseas trips for students under 18 should be cancelled and people over 70 should not go on cruises, on the advice of the Foreign Office.

Expert advice does not support the closure of schools at the moment and we are not yet at the point of advising organisations to cancel or postpone events, but this may come.

We will take new powers for Wales from the UK-wide Coronavirus Bill, which will be introduced this week, to help our systems and services work more effectively to tackle this outbreak. All four governments have agreed a single piece of UK-wide legislation is the right approach in this circumstance.

All the latest information about coronavirus is available on the Welsh Government website at https://gov.wales/coronavirus and https://llyw.cymru/ coronafeirws.



The video of the press conference can be found below
Press Release

13 March 2020

HOUSTON - The Westin Houston Medical Center is the first and only hotel in the U.S. to utilize LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots to sanitize and disinfect its guest rooms and common areas to help combat the threat of coronavirus.

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The room disinfection technology, provided by San Antonio-based Xenex Disinfection Services, was developed by two epidemiologists in Houston, with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center as their first customer. The Westin Houston Medical Center purchased two of the decontaminating robots, which are already at work sanitizing rooms inside the building.

LightStrike robots have been proven to quickly destroy viruses, bacteria, and fungi using intense pulsed xenon ultraviolet (UV) light. Hundreds of healthcare facilities use LightStrike robots to disinfect their facilities as part of their comprehensive infection prevention program and several hospitals have published peer-reviewed studies showing 50%-100% reductions in their Clostridium difficile (C.diff), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and surgical site infection (SSI) rates after they used LightStrike robots and Xenex's recommended protocols for room disinfection.

"We are taking significant proactive measures, along with following CDC guidelines, to minimize risk while also keeping day-to-day business momentum," said Archit Sanghvi, Vice President of Operations for Pearl Hospitality, the hotel's owner and operator. "Wellness is at the core of our business and with the LightStrike technology, we saw a distinct and innovative opportunity to create a well-prepared environment for travelers within our hotel."

The LightStrike robot uses intense germicidal UV light to disinfect rooms by quickly destroying microscopic bacteria and viruses that may be missed during the manual cleaning process. Operated by hotel staff, the robot uses pulsed xenon (a noble gas) to create intense broad-spectrum UV light, unlike older technologies that use mercury bulbs (mercury is toxic) to create continuous, single spectrum UV light.

Dr. Sarah Simmons, Xenex Senior Director of Science, DrPH CIC FAPIC, said, "Xenex is honored that The Westin Houston Medical Center has invested in LightStrike robots to provide a superior level of cleaning for its guests. Our LightStrike Germ Zapping Robots have been successfully used for years to disinfect healthcare facility rooms, and we are glad to be able to work with Pearl Hospitality to provide that same level of cleanliness to hotel guests."

Along with utilizing cutting-edge robotic room disinfection technology, The Westin Houston Medical Center is implementing enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols including:

All public areas and guestrooms are disinfected using hospital-grade cleaner (Ecolab's TB Disinfectant Cleaner).

All guest room consumable amenities (bath amenities, coffee & tea) and items such as the remote control are disinfected on-site and placed in sealed bags for guests.

Removal of all non-essential (magazines, collateral, decorative pillows, etc.) items in guest rooms to ensure a continually clean, disinfected environment.

EcoLab's disinfectant cleaning protocols in all areas of the hotel including public areas, guest rooms and back of house areas (i.e. kitchen, etc.)

Dedicated team member to use enhanced sanitization methods on all guest-facing public areas - 24 hours coverage.

The hotel has also created immune-boosting food and beverage offerings including:

A special immune system boosting menu packed with antioxidants, vitamins, probiotics and prebiotics for guests to ensure continued health.

Immune Booster Kits - Energize Kit and Travel Kit with tinctures and Airborne products.

The 273-room Westin Houston Medical Center hotel is located at 1709 Dryden Road, between Main Street and Fannin Street. The newly opened hotel is situated in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, which attracts more than 15 million annual visitors. For more information, visit www.westinhoustonmedicalcenter.com.

About Pearl Hospitality

Founded in 2000, Houston-based Pearl Hospitality is built on the belief that by investing in the growth of its people, it is investing in the future of the company. Pearl Hospitality has a proven track record of acquiring distressed properties and converting them into top-tier hotels. The focus on both personal and professional growth of the Pearl team results in a level of performance that far exceeds industry averages. Unlike many hotel companies, their integrated model offers a turn-key service approach, providing development, construction and operations. For more information visit, www.pearlhospitality.com.

About Xenex
Emmy Rossum is really committing to her role as Los Angeles icon Angelyne.

The actress has been frequently spotted around town in prosthetics and blonde wigs for the Peacock series.

And she braved both the rain and the coronavirus Thursday as she donned a skintight pink mini dress on set.

Hard at work: Emmy Rossum braved both the rain and the coronavirus Thursday as she donned a skintight pink mini dress on the set of Angelyne

The 33-year-old's dress featured a pink and orange floral print, paired with a cropped pink fur coat.

The look was complemented with cork wedge heels and a wig of Angelyne's recognizable big blonde hair, adorned with pink floral clips.

And for the finishing touches, she was made up with fake boobs and prosthetics that aged her face, as she appeared to be playing an older version of the titular character.

Rossum was spotted stepping out of a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and into a replica of the billboard icon's signature pink Corvette.

Pretty in pink: The 33-year-old's dress featured a pink and orange floral print, paired with a cropped pink fur coat

Blonde ambition: The look was complemented with cork wedge heels and a wig of Angelyne's recognizable big blonde hair, adorned with pink floral clips

Unrecognizable: And for the finishing touches, she was made up with fake boobs and prosthetics that aged her face, as she appeared to be playing an older version of the titular character

Caffeine fix: Rossum was spotted stepping out of a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and into a replica of the billboard icon's signature pink Corvette

Incognito: She covered her face with a pink and white fan, a move the real Angelyne has been known to pull

Lookalike: Also on set was an Angelyne stunt double, sporting the same big blonde wig with her own clothes

She covered her face with a pink and white fan, a move the real Angelyne has been known to pull.

Also on set was an Angelyne stunt double, sporting the same big blonde wig with her own clothes.

Rossum took to Instagram last month to announce that Angelyne had signed on to the project as an executive producer.

The eight-episode series, simply titled Angelyne, is based on the 2017 Hollywood Reporter profile, which pulled the veil back on her true identity and backstory.

It was announced last year that Rossum and husband Sam Esmail were helming the series for NBC's upcoming streaming platform, with Rossum starring.
District Judge Dharmesh Sharma directed both Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his brother Atul Singh Sengar to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation to the victim's family

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday sentenced expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar to 10 years in prison in the custodial death case of Unnao rape victim's father.

District Judge Dharmesh Sharma directed both Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his brother Atul Singh Sengar to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation to the victim's family.

The victim's father had died in judicial custody on 9 April, 2018. The court had on 4 March convicted Kuldeep Singh Sengar for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the death of the Unnao rape victim's father.

Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted by the court along with seven others in the case, had denied any involvement in the death of victim's father and had asserted that he has done no wrong.

On 20 December last year, Kuldeep Singh Sengar was sentenced to jail for "remainder of his natural biological life" in a separate case for raping the woman in 2017 when she was a minor.

Along with Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the then in-charge of Makhi Police Station Ashok Singh Bhadauria and then sub-inspector KP Singh, the court had held, Vineet Mishra, Birendra Singh, Shashi Pratap Singh, Suman Singh and Atul (Sengar's brother), guilty of committing offence under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The other sections read with it are 166 (public servant disobeying law to cause injury to a person), 167 (public servant framing incorrect document to cause injury), 193 (false evidence), 201 (disappearance of evidence), 211 (false charge of offence made with intent to injure), 218 (public servant framing incorrect record to save person from punishment), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC.

The court, however, had acquitted other accused, constable Amir Khan, Shailendra Singh, Ram Sharan Singh and Sharadveer Singh, giving them the benefit of doubt.

The CBI had examined 55 witnesses in support of the case and the defence had examined nine witnesses.

The court had recorded the statements of the rape victim's uncle, mother, sister and one of her father's colleague who had claimed to be an eyewitness to the incident.

According to the CBI, on 3 April, 2018, there was an altercation between the rape victim's father and one Shashi Pratap Singh.

The charge sheet filed on 13 July, 2018, said the victim's father and his co-worker were returning to their village, Makhi, when they asked Singh for a lift.

When Singh denied, an altercation ensued among them, the CBI had alleged. Singh called his associates, following which Kuldeep Singh Sengar's brother Atul Singh Sengar reached the spot along with others and beat up the woman's father and his co-worker, the CBI claimed.

The woman's father was subsequently taken to the police station by them where an FIR was lodged against him and he was arrested.

The charge sheet said that all this while, Kuldeep Singh Sengar was in touch with the district police superintendent and Bhadauria.

Later, he also spoke to the doctor who examined the rape victim's father. The case was transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the directions of the Supreme Court on 1 August last year.

In July, 2019 a truck had rammed into the car the rape victim was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer. Two of her aunts died in the incident.

She was airlifted from a hospital in Lucknow and brought to AIIMS in Delhi. The victim has been provided accommodation in the national capital and is under CRPF protection.
What Are Purple States?

Swing states or purple states: no matter what you like to call them, they certainly are interesting come presidential election time.

A purple state is one in which voters support for the Democratic Party, represented by the color blue, and the Republican Party, represented by the color red, is about equal. Because of this reality, these states can switch from supporting one party to the other, from election to election. The color purple represents their multi-faceted makeup.

These states are also commonly referred to as swing states because election results swing back and forth.

Purple states are highly targeted by both the Republicans and Democrats in the run-up to the presidential election because the results garnered in these states tend to indicate who will win the election. Other states in the country have more fixed support for either political side.

Based on previous elections, a majority of voters in these areas typically support only Republicans or only Democrats, year after year.

What will the 2020 presidential election bring? Only time will tell. Here are the states that are most likely to turn purple in this falls election.

Florida

Florida voted for Obama, a Democrat, and then it voted for Trump, a Republican. Voters here could really go either way this fall.

Some experts are predicting that Puerto Ricans fleeing to Florida following the disaster of Hurricane Maria could feel contempt for Trump as his administration was not seen by many as going above-and-beyond in its response to the disaster in Puerto Rico. Are there enough Puerto Rican voters to make a difference in the election results, however?

Michigan

In the 2016 presidential election, President Trump won Michigan by just about two-tenths of 1%. Not that much. Consequently, analysts predict that he may face some difficulty being re-elected by this state in the fall.

Michigan elected a Democratic governor in 2019, and although that does not necessarily indicate that the same will happen for leadership at a federal level, it also is not an entirely good sign, some say.

Pennsylvania

According to USA Today, the voters that could be the ones to decide if Trump wins in Pennsylvania include first-time voters, rural and blue-collar workers near Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania, and college-educated women living in the suburbs. Every vote counts, and since it was a very close call last time, it is said that we can expect a similar scenario this time.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a bit of a wild card, but not entirely. The state voted for Trump in 2016. The interesting thing is that voters there had not supported a Republican candidate since backing Ronald Reagan way back in 1984.

Who will win this fall? Many see support for Trump still raging strong among voters here. It is true that both a Democratic senator and governor were voted in recently, but voters do not seem to be keen on supporting the potential democratic presidential candidates.

Recently, Trumps approval ratings here were shown to be higher than those of Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. It all sets the stage for a great race.
A former aide said Trump never wanted to be viewed as sick, because he saw it as being weak. So even when Trump would come down with a cough or lose his voice, he would try to keep a strong public face  or staffers would come up with other reasons to move events. The former aide spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe Trumps behavior.
A lack of toilet facilities in school premises have irked parents of girls studying in a government school in Haryana's Ferozepur district and they have approached the state human rights commission, prompting the department to order an enquiry.

"Parents of students at Govt Girls Senior Secondary School, Ferozpur Zhirka, have alleged that there is no proper toilet facility in school and the girls are forced to use the open space which is serious violation of human rights of the students as well as the staff," the Haryana Human Rights Commission said in a letter to the state department, seeking a report on the issue.

"It has also been alleged that the conduct of principal (who is male) is not dignified with the female staff and students and abusive language has been used," the commission further said.

The Directorate of School Education, Haryana, has ordered an inquiry into the issue and sought a fact finding report on the issue.

"You are directed to conduct an enquiry under your chairmanship by associating one senior female officer and submit a fact finding report," the office of Director General Secondary Education, Haryana, said in an order to District Officer, Mewat.

The school principal was not available for comments on the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Israels outgoing prime minister, on trial, is seeking an emergency government. Gantz is open to the idea but wants it "broad" and representative. Bahrain accuses Iran of "biological aggression". In the Gulf States, the number of infections is rising, but at present no one has died yet. The emergency continues in Iran with more than 10,000 cases and 429 deaths.

Beirut (AsiaNews/Agencies)  As new cases are confirmed across the Middle East region, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to use the coronavirus emergency to remain in power despite a recent election, the third in a year, without winners.

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption (the first hearing set for 17 March), ordered the closure of most of the country's primary and secondary schools and called for a national unity government.

We are altering our internal routine in order to handle an outside threat, the threat of the virus, Netanyahu said in remarks broadcast live. This will require an emergency government for a limited time.

His main rival, Benny Gantz, hasnt rejected the idea, but wants the government to be broadly based and represent everyone.

So far, 109 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the country and more than 32,000 people are now in quarantine.

Meanwhile, Bahrain has accused Iran, the country with the highest number of cases in the region, of covering up the spread of the epidemic.

With this behaviour, Iran has allowed the disease to travel abroad, and, in my estimation, this constitutes a form of biological aggression tweeted Bahraini Interior Minister General Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.

Amir Abdollahian, special aide to Irans parliamentary speaker, reacted quickly, tweeting that America, which rules Bahrain through the presence of its Fifth Fleet, is a major cause of biological warfare and initially denied the existence of coronavirus.

Bahrain on Wednesday reported 77 new infections among its citizens repatriated from Iran, bringing its total to 195 cases.

Saudi Arabia, which has suspended pilgrimages and asked believers not to take part in Friday prayers, announced 24 new cases for a total of 45.

Kuwait reported eight new infections, taking its total to 80, and started a two-week public holiday to help contain the virus.

The United Arab Emirates reported 11 new cases, for a total of 85. The Sultanate of Oman, which has 18 cases, suspended tourist visas and banned cruise ships from docking.

So far, no one in the Gulf States has died from the virus. The worse situation remains that of Iran, which has more than 10,000 cases, 429 deaths and just under 3,000 people who have recovered.
New Zealand's Prime Minister joined the Muslim community in Christchurch on Friday at a special joint prayer on the anniversary of a shooting which killed 51 people at two mosques. Jacinda Ardern said that New Zealanders have become more engaged with the Muslim community since the attack.

Among those speaking during the prayer service was Al Noor mosque attack survivor Farid Ahmed, whose wife Husna was killed.

"It was a hate attack on 15th of March, but the world is our witness. The Muslim community in Christchurch, they did not retaliate the hate with hate," he said.

"(The) Muslim community in Christchurch despite their struggle, despite their grief, despite the loss of their loved ones, we did not retaliate with hate."

The man accused of the attacks, 29-year-old Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, is due to stand trial in June on charges of terrorism, murder and attempted murder.

If found guilty, he would face a sentence of life imprisonment.
Paul Maynard was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport from July 2019 to February 2020. He is MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys.

Last month, UK airlines became the first in the world to commit to achieving net zero by 2050, the first aviation sector in the world to do so. Yet airlines are today being forced to fly nearly empty planes, burning fuel and emitting carbon unnecessarily. The Government needs to act now  so that airlines can do the sensible thing and cancel and consolidate their empty flights.

The outbreak of Coronavirus has led to a drop in demand for travel of up to 50 per cent compared to March 2019, placing a huge burden on airlines who have planned for full planes. Demand for travel has fallen across the globe  and not just in affected countries such as China and Italy  and worried customers are cancelling bookings. IATA, the industry body, predicts that globally airlines could lose up to $113 billion dollars in revenue as a result.

The problem airlines face is that they must abide by a use it or lose it rule, which is designed to make sure they use their airport slots in the most efficient way or have them taken away. A slot is a window of time allocated to airlines giving them permission to take-off or land from an airport. Under the rules, they must use their slots 80 per cent of the time, regardless of how full their aircraft are.
In two days, Ukraine will go into lockdown for two weeks due to the global spread of the new coronavirus, National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said.

"In 48 hours, our country will close its borders to foreign citizens. Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs will now warn all agencies, all countries about the Ukrainian borders being closed to foreign citizens for two weeks. In two weeks' time, depending on the situation, we [the NSDC] will make a decision [on what to do next]," Danilov said at a briefing following an NSDC meeting in Kyiv on Friday.
A former bricklayer who was at the centre of a coronavirus prison scare has been jailed for more than 10 years after he became a glorified 'enforcer' of drug debts within a multi-million pound drugs ring.

Mark Rumble lived life on the run in Thailand for five years after taking a coincidental holiday to Egypt in March 2015 when his associates were arrested, the court heard.

The 31-year-old was eventually made the subject of an international arrest warrant, remanded in custody in Thailand before he was extradited back to the UK, landing in Heathrow airport on January 27 this year, amidst the start of coronavirus outbreak.

Mark Rumble has been jailed for more than 10 years after he became a glorified 'enforcer' of drug debts within a multi-million pound drugs ring

Rumble was the right-hand man to convicted criminal mastermind Neil Wadley, acting as his 'adviser, confident, warehouseman, courier and enforcer of debt,' prosecutor Michael Roques said.

After arriving as a prisoner in the UK, Rumble collapsed in his jail cell in Oxfordshire, sparking fears he may have contracted the killer virus along with two other inmates and a whole wing of Bullingdon prison in Bicester, was shut down by medical experts.

Later, he tested negative and he was free to appear in Oxford Crown Court.

The 31-year-old, who was described as 'First Lieutenant' and the second in command in a 15-strong crime gang, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, cannabis and amphetamines, and possession of methoxetamine with intent to supply.

Rumble (pictured above) pleaded guilty to drugs conspiracy charges

The court heard of the rise and fall of his sophisticated drugs gang which used code words and even had a James Bond style 'smugglers compartment' hidden behind the radio of one of their cars.

'Even those who knew it was there struggled to find it. It needed the pressing of buttons in the right order and the window wipers to be in the correct position before one could sufficiently get behind it,' Mr Roques said.

After bugging the big boss Neil Wadley's car, the serious organised crime squad gathered over a year's worth of evidence, the court heard.

In one of the many examples given of Rumble's violence, the judge heard how the defendant had given fellow employee Gary Hunt a broken nose after he had failed to show up for work following the death of his uncle.

After many months of gathering evidence, on March 11 2015 the serious crime unit moved in and arrested all of Rumble's colleagues including leader Wadley, of Pound Lane, Didcot, Oxfordshire, who was hiding in Spain.

However, the court heard just two days before the arrest. Rumble and his then partner, Samantha Berry, flew to Sharm-El-Sheik in Egypt for a one week holiday.

Following news of the arrests, Rumble flew to Spain and ended up living in Thailand for five years where he met his wife and fathered a child.

Crime Suppression Division arrest British suspect Mark John Rumble at a house in Pattaya, Chon Buri

The judge heard how the 31-year-old, also from Didcot, had turned his back on criminality while in Thailand, earning a lawful living working as an estate agent and he was learning to read and write in Thai.

Defence barrister Christopher Blake said: 'Mr Rumble said 'all I have got out of this was some good clothes, some good holidays and access to other people's cars.'

'There is nothing lavish that suggests Mr Rumble was living in any way a lifestyle that was afforded Neil Wadley.'

Judge Peter Ross told the defendant that he believed he had 'grown out of crime' but was sentencing him for conspiracy to supply six kilos of cocaine, 50 kilos of cannabis and three kilos of Amphetamine as well as possessing three kilos of Methoxetamine.

On Rumble's arrival in the UK he collapsed in his cell with suspected coronavirus - he went on to test negative

'Mark Rumble, I have to sentence you for your part in a significant organised crime operation led by a man named Neil Wadley.

'You were his trusted aid, his first lieutenant. You were trusted to move drugs and money. Significantly because of your previous convictions you were his enforcer and this was a significant operation that operated across the Home Counties.

'I frequently say when dealing with drug dealers that you peddle misery. Most Monday mornings I sit on a drugs review court and I see the wreckage of humanity in the grip of addiction.

'I see the destruction of lives. I see young men who commit burglary and robbery in order to fund their habit. I see young women who steal from shops and in certain cases, turn to prostitution. I see the reality of the risk they run daily in their desperate efforts to obtain money for drugs.

'No-one is in any doubt that this is an evil trade.'

Sitting in Oxford Crown Court, the judge sentenced him to a total of 10 years and eight months imprisonment.

Rumble- who was sent to Bullingdon prison - was ordered to pay 3,000 in costs after four members of the serious organised crime unit had to fly to Thailand to extradite the prisoner and the expensive translation of his international arrest warrant.

Rumble was the last defendant in a major drugs investigation which convicted 18 defendants who received a total of 115 years and fours months imprisonment.
Information concerning the availability of preparatory documentation

Regulatory News:

The shareholders of the SOCIETE FONCIERE LYONNAISE (Paris:FLY) are invited to participate in the Annual General Meeting that will take place on Friday April 3, 2020, at 11am in the Edouard VII business center in the Edouard VII building at 23 square Edouard VII in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.

Notice of the meeting was published in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales et Obligatoires (Bulletin of Mandatory Legal Notices or BALO) on 28 February 2020 (Bulletin n 26 publication n 2000322).

This notice contains the agenda and draft resolutions as well as the conditions for participating in and voting at this meeting. This notice can also be consulted on the Company's website: www.fonciere-lyonnaise.com/en/publications/general-meeting.

In accordance with the provisions of article R.225-88 of the French Commercial Code, any shareholder in possession of registered shares may ask to receive a copy of the documents and information covered by articles R.225-81 and R.225-83 of the French Commercial Code.

Holders of bearer shares may also request these documents from their authorised financial intermediary.

Shareholders can also consult these documents at the headquarters of the SOCIETE FONCIERE LYONNAISE (42 rue Washington, 75008 PARIS) as well as on the Company's website: www.fonciere-lyonnaise.com/en/publications/general-meeting

About SFL

Leader in the prime segment of the Parisian commercial real estate market, Societe Fonciere Lyonnaise stands out for the quality of its property portfolio, which is valued at 7.2 billion and is focused on the Central Business District of Paris (cloud.paris, Edouard VII, Washington Plaza, etc.), and for the quality of its client portfolio, which is composed of prestigious companies in the consulting, media, digital, luxury, finance and insurance sectors. As France's oldest property company, SFL demonstrates year after year an unwavering commitment to its strategy focused on creating a high value in use for users and, ultimately, substantial appraisal values for its properties.

Stock market: Euronext Paris Compartment A Euronext Paris ISIN FR0000033409 Bloomberg: FLY FP Reuters: FLYP PA

S&P rating: BBB+ stable outlook

www.fonciere-lyonnaise.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005165/en/

Contacts:

SFL Thomas Fareng Phone +33 (0)1 42 97 27 00 t.fareng@fonciere-lyonnaise.com
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13) The Archdiocese of Manila and Dioceses of Cubao and Pasig have suspended masses beginning March 14, amid the growing concerns about the coronavirus disease.

In a pastoral letter, Bishop Broderick Pabillo said there will be no public celebrations of the Holy Mass as well as other public religious activities for at least seven days. The move comes after health authorities raised the highest COVID-19 alert level in the Philippines.

"We are enjoined to avoid large gatherings of people to avert the further spread of the virus. We heed this call not with panic but with care for charity to others and the common good," Pabillo wrote.

The Manila archdiocese is comprised of churches in the cities of Manila, Makati, San Juan, Mandaluyong, and Pasay (except Villamor Air Base and Newport City).

The clergy, however, said the ringing of church bells at noon and 8 p.m. will push through daily. Pabillo likewise urged the public to participate in the prayers to stop the further spread of the infectious disease.

The diocese of Cubao followed suit, cancelling all masses "until further notice," said Bishop Honesto Ongitoco. Churches will remain open for private prayers and private masses will be streamed live on the diocese's Facebook page, he added.

Churches in the Cubao diocese will also continue ringing their bells every 6 a.m., 12 n.n., and 6 a.m.

The Pasig diocese also announced suspension of masses in all its parishes and chapels until further notice.

According to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines it is up to the local dioceses to postpone events and gatherings.

"Ibinibigay ngayon ng CBCP ang discretion sa kanya-kanyang obispo sa bawat diocese...mayroon naman kasi silang tinatawag na legislative at saka executive power so, in a sense, autonomous sila," said Jerome Secillano, CBCP Executive Secretary, during a CNN special on the coronavirus pandemic.

[Translation: The CBCP is giving the dioceses' respective bishops the discretion...they have what you call legislative at executive power so in a sense, they are autonomous.]

President Rodrigo Duterte, upon recommendation of the government's task force, earlier announced Metro Manila will be placed under "community quarantine" as local COVID cases continue to spike. The chief executive also announced a travel restriction in the capital region, as people will not be allowed to go in and out of the metro by land, local air travel and local sea travel from midnight of March 15 until April 14, with some exceptions.

COVID-19, now considered by WHO as a pandemic, has infected more than 128,000 people in 116 different countries and territories including China. In the Philippines, 52 confirmed cases of the infectious disease have been recorded, including five casualties.
That brought a smile to the lips of Charlene Thorburn, 78, a retired secretary from San Diego. Though her symptoms were negligible, as were her husbands, she said, she was never sure if they would grow far worse. The group discussions helped her realize that others were also wondering about the scope of the illness, the possibility of treatment  and how fast it might be spreading.
Hours after Goa Chief Minister



Pramod Sawant metPrime Minister Narendra Modi, the state Congress on Friday said the latter should make a public statement on Mahadayi river dispute and mining issue.

In a media statement, GPCC president Girish Chodankar said Modi must make a public statement on his assurance of protecting Goa's interest on Mahadayiand resumption of iron ore mining in Goa, as the Chief Minister has claimed.

Sawant's statement about his meeting with Modi was "another jumla"(rhetoric) to woo voters for the upcoming Zilla Panchayat elections, Chodankar alleged.

"The Chief Minister has succumbed to the pressures of the BJP's central leaders to sell our lifeline Mahadayi river to Karnataka," he claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lawyer Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, Private legal practitioner and aide to former President John Mahama, has urged the President, Nana Akufo-Addo not to give his assent to the bill on banning accident cars in the country.



He says signing the bill is going to disrupt the countrys economy and put a lot of people out of business.



Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia program, he expressed his disgust about the passing of the law by parliamentarians.



"A lot of Ghanaians earn their livelihood through these accident cars because artisans and skilled craft personnel work on accident cars....So a single signature issued by the President will put millions of Ghanaians out of business. The President should be considerate by not appendding his signature to the bill...



"...This is not about politics, it is about the number of Ghanaians who will be left unemployed by the Presidents single act," he added.



Parliament of Ghana, on Thursday, passed the Customs (Amendment) Bill 2020, which seeks to ban the importation of accident cars into the country.



The law will prohibit the importation of specific vehicles of over ten years of age. The country is also expected to lose over GHC802 million for the first three years in tax waivers.



The law will provide incentives for automotive manufacturers and assemblers registered under the Ghana Automotive Manufacturering Development Programme.



The move comes despite the Minoritys opposition to the bill.



Speaking during the approval of the joint report of Trade and Finance committee, Deputy Ranking Member for the Trades Committee and Tamale Central MP, Inusah Fuseini, argued the bill, when passed, will deny many people of their livelihood.



His argument was supported by Ranking Member for Committee of Transport, Kwame Agbodza and Ho Central MP, Benjamin Kpodo.



According to them, the ban has the potential of affecting businesses of dealers.













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
Youve probably seen plaques with the message Asegurada de Incendios (Insured for Fire) on many buildings in Spain. Maybe you wondered why they were there, and what purpose they served. Most of them can be found in the historical center of cities, because they date back to the 19th century. These plaques do not just indicate, as you might guess, that the buildings were insured for fire (today a sign is not needed to show that a place is insured), but also shed light on the origin of insurance companies and professional firefighters in Spain.

When every city council began to have its own fire department, the fire-fighting teams of insurance companies began to disappear Guillermina Jodra, coordinator of the Zaragoza Museum of Fire and Firefighters

To understand the value of these plaques, we must travel to London in 1666 during the great fire that razed a large portion of the city, destroying more than 13,000 houses and iconic landmarks, such as St Pauls Cathedral. This tragedy led economist and building developer Nicholas Barbon to create The Fire Office, the first office specializing in fire insurance for houses and buildings, according to the book Historia del Seguro en Espana (or The History of Insurance in Spain), published by the Mapfre Foundation.

The fire in 1666, which started in the oven of a bakery and spread quickly through houses that were made mainly from wood, lasted for three days and three nights as the city had no professional fire department. Indeed no city had at the time had one. Thats why Barbon also decided to create a specialized group of firefighters that would put out blazes in the buildings insured by The Fire Office. To make these buildings easily identifiable, he affixed them with plaques featuring his companys logo: a phoenix.

In Spain, the plaques began to appear during the 19th century, after the creation of the first insurance company in 1822  the Mutual Insurance Company of House Fires in Madrid. These signs, however, did not feature a logo but the message Insured for Fire.

They began to use other materials to make [the plaques], such as iron, copper or tin, and as they proliferated more insurers began to create more striking and colorful designs for these signs, which also served as advertisements, says Guillermina Jodra, coordinator of the Zaragoza Museum of Fire and Firefighters.

The museum in Zaragoza, in Spains northeastern Aragon region, recently hosted an exhibition on fire insurance plaques which included designs from Madrid and Barcelona, as well as from other Spanish cities, such as Zaragoza, and other European countries.

Indeed it was the design of these insurance plaques that caught the attention of Laura Arribas, an interior architect interested in the heritage of urban graphic design, who decided to photograph and collect these plaques on an Instagram account called asegurada.de.incendios.

It surprised me that it didnt occur to anyone to bring together these plaques, which can be seen in almost all the buildings in the center of Madrid, says Arribas, who only takes photos of signs in the Spanish capital with their exact address.

In Madrid, many plaques have been preserved because the historical center was granted cultural heritage status (BIC) in 1995. Also, as historian Juan Sisinio Perez explains, because it was the capital, there was a much larger population [in Madrid] and therefore a higher risk of fires spreading through buildings, as well as greater purchasing power to buy insurance plans.

According to The History of Insurance in Spain, during the second half of the 19th century, insurance companies began to proliferate, as did mutual fire insurance associations, which were made up of homeowners. The latter, lacking their own firefighting team, started to create agreements with the municipalities in order to organize and pay for firefighting services, which, the book explains, led to the creation of modern municipal fire services.

As Perez explains, the closest thing to a fire department that Spain had in the 19th century were sappers, a group of volunteers dependent on the National Militia, created by Spains first constitution, the Cadiz Constitution of 1812. This body of volunteer citizens had the task of maintaining public order, which included putting out fires, but was definitively dissolved in 1944, says Perez, who is the author of the book Milicia Nacional y Revolucion Burguesa, El Prototipo Madrileno: 1808-1874 (or National Militia and Bourgeois Revolution, the Madrid Prototype: 1808-1874).

The growth of cities in the last third of the 19th century raised the need to create a municipal fire-fighting body with staff trained for this specific job, like local police or other auxiliary bodies, he adds.

Firefighting became professionalized in 1894 in cities such as Madrid (then known as Villa de Madrid), and in 1931 in Zaragoza, according to Jodra, the Zaragoza museum coordinator. When every city council began to have its own fire department, the fire-fighting teams of insurance companies began to disappear little by little, as there was no longer any need for them and they stopped putting up new plaques, she explains.

Today, although firefighters are no longer employed by insurers, they continue to be indispensable to these companies. In recognition of the fire-prevention and firefighting (including rescue) services provided by these public professionals, the Spanish Union of Insurers and Reinsurers (Unespa)  which includes the majority of insurance companies in the country  annually makes a special contribution to Spains regions and city halls.

English version by Nell Snow.
Virgin Australia has slashed more flights in response to falling demand for travel due to the spread of coronavirus.

Australia's second-largest airline will cut overall capacity by 7.7 per cent over the rest of the year, with international flights hit the hardest.

Virgin has announced further flight cuts. Credit:Bloomberg

From May, the Sydney-Los Angeles service will fly five times a week instead of daily, while trans-Tasman flights will be cut by 6 per cent.

Virgin's new Brisbane-Tokyo service, which launches in two weeks, has been reduced from a daily flight to three times a week. All flights to Hong Kong were cancelled in February.
Turkeys health minister Fahrettin Koca announced the second case of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the country.



"He is from the immediate circle of our first patient, who was followed up as soon as the diagnosis was made," the minister said on Twitter.



"We have taken the necessary measures to keep the possible spread of the virus within these limits. We will overcome this problem together,"Koca added.



Turkeys first case was announced earlier this week, a man who had recently returned from Europe. The patient was completely isolated, along with monitoring of his family and those who came into contact with him, Anadolu Agency reported.
NEW YORK, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --



Ultrafiltration market worldwide is projected to grow by US$1.7 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 14.9%. Polymeric, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 14.6%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$1.9 Billion by the year 2025, Polymeric will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05799852/?utm_source=PRN

- Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 13.2% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$66 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$55 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Polymeric will reach a market size of US$97.8 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 19% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$412.5 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.



- Competitors identified in this market include, among others,

Alfa Laval AB

Beijing OriginWater Technology Co., Ltd.

DowDuPont, Inc.

Evoqua Water Technologies LLC

GEA Group AG

Hydranautics

Hyflux Ltd.

Inge GmbH

Koch Membrane Systems, Inc.

M Company

Markel Corporation

Membranium

Microdyn-Nadir GmbH

Pall Corporation

Parker-Hannifin Corporation

Pentair PLC

Polymem

Scinor Water America, LLC.

SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions

Synder Filtration

Toray Industries, Inc.

Toyobo Co., Ltd.

Veolia Environnement SA

Veolia Water Technologies









Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05799852/?utm_source=PRN



I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW



Ultrafiltration: An Outlook

Membrane Separation Technologies - A Prelude

Growing Need for Clean and Pure Water Fuels Ultrafiltration Market

Increasing Adoption of Microfiltration Membranes in Food &

Beverages, and Industrial Wastewater Treatment

Ultrafiltration Membrane Modules Market - Major Players

Global Competitor Market Shares

Ultrafiltration Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide

(in %): 2019 & 2025





2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS



3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS



Novel Membrane Technology Cleans Water at Faster Rate

ZeeWeed Ultrafiltration Membranes - An Innovative Technology to

Treat Wastewater Plant

Purification of Bore And Industrial Waste Water by Pilot Plant

Energy Reduction by Ultrabright X-rays Technology for Desalination

Demand on Rise for Reverse Osmosis Membrane Technology for

Clean Water

Cellulose Membrane Evolves as an Eco-Friend Technology for

Clean Wastewater

Thermally Infused Phase Separation Emerges As a New Technology

for Industrial and Drinking Water

PVDF Ultrafiltration Membrane (UF) Technology for Water Treatment

Treatment of Industrial Waste Water by Smart Filter Coating

Technology

Advancements in Ultrafiltration for Pharma Wastewater Treatment -

An Overview





4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE



Table 1: Ultrafiltration Global Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 2: Ultrafiltration Global Retrospective Market Scenario

in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 3: Ultrafiltration Market Share Shift across Key

Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 4: Polymeric (Type) World Market by Region/Country in US$

Thousand: 2018 to 2025

Table 5: Polymeric (Type) Historic Market Analysis by

Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017

Table 6: Polymeric (Type) Market Share Breakdown of Worldwide

Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 7: Ceramic (Type) Potential Growth Markets Worldwide in

US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025

Table 8: Ceramic (Type) Historic Market Perspective by

Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017

Table 9: Ceramic (Type) Market Sales Breakdown by

Region/Country in Percentage: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 10: Hollow Fiber (Module) Geographic Market Spread

Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025

Table 11: Hollow Fiber (Module) Region Wise Breakdown of Global

Historic Demand in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017

Table 12: Hollow Fiber (Module) Market Share Distribution in

Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 13: Other Modules (Module) World Market Estimates and

Forecasts by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025

Table 14: Other Modules (Module) Market Historic Review by

Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017

Table 15: Other Modules (Module) Market Share Breakdown by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 16: Municipal Treatment (Application) Worldwide Latent

Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 17: Municipal Treatment (Application) Global Historic

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 18: Municipal Treatment (Application) Distribution of

Global Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 19: Industrial Treatment (Application) Sales Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Years

2018 through 2025

Table 20: Industrial Treatment (Application) Analysis of

Historic Sales in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Years

2009 to 2017

Table 21: Industrial Treatment (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 Ultrafiltration Market Share (in %) by Company: 2019 & 2025

Market Analytics

Table 22: United States Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 23: Ultrafiltration Market in the United States by Type:

A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 24: United States Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 25: United States Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Thousand by Module: 2018 to 2025

Table 26: Ultrafiltration Market in the United States by

Module: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 27: United States Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown

by Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 28: United States Ultrafiltration Latent Demand Forecasts

in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 29: Ultrafiltration Historic Demand Patterns in the

United States by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 30: Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown in the United

States by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CANADA

Table 31: Canadian Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 32: Canadian Ultrafiltration Historic Market Review by

Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 33: Ultrafiltration Market in Canada: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 34: Canadian Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Module: 2018 to 2025

Table 35: Canadian Ultrafiltration Historic Market Review by

Module in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 36: Ultrafiltration Market in Canada: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Module for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 37: Canadian Ultrafiltration Market Quantitative Demand

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 38: Ultrafiltration Market in Canada: Summarization of

Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for

2009-2017

Table 39: Canadian Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

JAPAN

Table 40: Japanese Market for Ultrafiltration: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 41: Ultrafiltration Market in Japan: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 42: Japanese Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 43: Japanese Market for Ultrafiltration: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Module for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 44: Ultrafiltration Market in Japan: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Module for the Period 2009-2017

Table 45: Japanese Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 46: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Ultrafiltration in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 47: Japanese Ultrafiltration Market in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 48: Ultrafiltration Market Share Shift in Japan by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CHINA

Table 49: Chinese Ultrafiltration Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 50: Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in China in

US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 51: Chinese Ultrafiltration Market by Type: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 52: Chinese Ultrafiltration Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Thousand by Module for the Period 2018-2025

Table 53: Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in China in

US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 54: Chinese Ultrafiltration Market by Module: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 55: Chinese Demand for Ultrafiltration in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 56: Ultrafiltration Market Review in China in US$

Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 57: Chinese Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

EUROPE

Market Facts & Figures

European Ultrafiltration Market: Competitor Market Share

Scenario (in %) for 2019 & 2025

Market Analytics

Table 58: European Ultrafiltration Market Demand Scenario in

US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 59: Ultrafiltration Market in Europe: A Historic Market

Perspective in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Period

2009-2017

Table 60: European Ultrafiltration Market Share Shift by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 61: European Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018-2025

Table 62: Ultrafiltration Market in Europe in US$ Thousand by

Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 63: European Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 64: European Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Module: 2018-2025

Table 65: Ultrafiltration Market in Europe in US$ Thousand by

Module: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 66: European Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 67: European Ultrafiltration Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 68: Ultrafiltration Market in Europe: Summarization of

Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period

2009-2017

Table 69: European Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

FRANCE

Table 70: Ultrafiltration Market in France by Type: Estimates

and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025

Table 71: French Ultrafiltration Historic Market Scenario in

US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 72: French Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 73: Ultrafiltration Market in France by Module: Estimates

and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025

Table 74: French Ultrafiltration Historic Market Scenario in

US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 75: French Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 76: Ultrafiltration Quantitative Demand Analysis in

France in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 77: French Ultrafiltration Historic Market Review in US$

Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 78: French Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis:

A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

GERMANY

Table 79: Ultrafiltration Market in Germany: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 80: German Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 81: German Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 82: Ultrafiltration Market in Germany: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Module for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 83: German Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 84: German Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 85: Ultrafiltration Market in Germany: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 86: German Ultrafiltration Market in Retrospect in US$

Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 87: Ultrafiltration Market Share Distribution in Germany

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ITALY

Table 88: Italian Ultrafiltration Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 89: Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in Italy in

US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 90: Italian Ultrafiltration Market by Type: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 91: Italian Ultrafiltration Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Thousand by Module for the Period 2018-2025

Table 92: Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in Italy in

US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 93: Italian Ultrafiltration Market by Module: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 94: Italian Demand for Ultrafiltration in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 95: Ultrafiltration Market Review in Italy in US$

Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 96: Italian Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED KINGDOM

Table 97: United Kingdom Market for Ultrafiltration: Annual

Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 98: Ultrafiltration Market in the United Kingdom:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period

2009-2017

Table 99: United Kingdom Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 100: United Kingdom Market for Ultrafiltration: Annual

Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Module for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 101: Ultrafiltration Market in the United Kingdom:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Module for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 102: United Kingdom Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis

by Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 103: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Ultrafiltration in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 104: United Kingdom Ultrafiltration Market in US$

Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 105: Ultrafiltration Market Share Shift in the United

Kingdom by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SPAIN

Table 106: Spanish Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 107: Spanish Ultrafiltration Historic Market Review by

Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 108: Ultrafiltration Market in Spain: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 109: Spanish Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Module: 2018 to 2025

Table 110: Spanish Ultrafiltration Historic Market Review by

Module in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 111: Ultrafiltration Market in Spain: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Module for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 112: Spanish Ultrafiltration Market Quantitative Demand

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 113: Ultrafiltration Market in Spain: Summarization of

Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for

2009-2017

Table 114: Spanish Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

RUSSIA

Table 115: Russian Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 116: Ultrafiltration Market in Russia by Type: A Historic

Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 117: Russian Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 118: Russian Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Thousand by Module: 2018 to 2025

Table 119: Ultrafiltration Market in Russia by Module:

A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 120: Russian Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 121: Russian Ultrafiltration Latent Demand Forecasts in

US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 122: Ultrafiltration Historic Demand Patterns in Russia

by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 123: Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown in Russia by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF EUROPE

Table 124: Rest of Europe Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018-2025

Table 125: Ultrafiltration Market in Rest of Europe in US$

Thousand by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 126: Rest of Europe Ultrafiltration Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 127: Rest of Europe Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Module: 2018-2025

Table 128: Ultrafiltration Market in Rest of Europe in US$

Thousand by Module: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 129: Rest of Europe Ultrafiltration Market Share

Breakdown by Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 130: Rest of Europe Ultrafiltration Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 131: Ultrafiltration Market in Rest of Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application

for the Period 2009-2017

Table 132: Rest of Europe Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 133: Asia-Pacific Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 134: Ultrafiltration Market in Asia-Pacific: Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 135: Asia-Pacific Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis

by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 136: Ultrafiltration Market in Asia-Pacific by Type:

Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period

2018-2025

Table 137: Asia-Pacific Ultrafiltration Historic Market

Scenario in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 138: Asia-Pacific Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 139: Ultrafiltration Market in Asia-Pacific by Module:

Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period

2018-2025

Table 140: Asia-Pacific Ultrafiltration Historic Market

Scenario in US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 141: Asia-Pacific Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis

by Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 142: Ultrafiltration Quantitative Demand Analysis in

Asia-Pacific in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 143: Asia-Pacific Ultrafiltration Historic Market Review

in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 144: Asia-Pacific Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis:

A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

AUSTRALIA

Table 145: Ultrafiltration Market in Australia: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 146: Australian Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis

in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 147: Australian Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 148: Ultrafiltration Market in Australia: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Module for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 149: Australian Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis

in US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 150: Australian Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 151: Ultrafiltration Market in Australia: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 152: Australian Ultrafiltration Market in Retrospect in

US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 153: Ultrafiltration Market Share Distribution in

Australia by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

INDIA

Table 154: Indian Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 155: Indian Ultrafiltration Historic Market Review by

Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 156: Ultrafiltration Market in India: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 157: Indian Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Module: 2018 to 2025

Table 158: Indian Ultrafiltration Historic Market Review by

Module in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 159: Ultrafiltration Market in India: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Module for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 160: Indian Ultrafiltration Market Quantitative Demand

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 161: Ultrafiltration Market in India: Summarization of

Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for

2009-2017

Table 162: Indian Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SOUTH KOREA

Table 163: Ultrafiltration Market in South Korea: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 164: South Korean Ultrafiltration Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 165: Ultrafiltration Market Share Distribution in South

Korea by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 166: Ultrafiltration Market in South Korea: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Module for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 167: South Korean Ultrafiltration Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 168: Ultrafiltration Market Share Distribution in South

Korea by Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 169: Ultrafiltration Market in South Korea: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 170: South Korean Ultrafiltration Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 171: Ultrafiltration Market Share Distribution in South

Korea by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 172: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Ultrafiltration:

Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 173: Ultrafiltration Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period

2009-2017

Table 174: Rest of Asia-Pacific Ultrafiltration Market Share

Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 175: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Ultrafiltration:

Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by

Module for the Period 2018-2025

Table 176: Ultrafiltration Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Module for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 177: Rest of Asia-Pacific Ultrafiltration Market Share

Analysis by Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 178: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts

for Ultrafiltration in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to

2025

Table 179: Rest of Asia-Pacific Ultrafiltration Market in US$

Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 180: Ultrafiltration Market Share Shift in Rest of

Asia-Pacific by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

LATIN AMERICA

Table 181: Latin American Ultrafiltration Market Trends by

Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018-2025

Table 182: Ultrafiltration Market in Latin America in US$

Thousand by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 183: Latin American Ultrafiltration Market Percentage

Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 184: Latin American Ultrafiltration Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 185: Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in Latin

America in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 186: Latin American Ultrafiltration Market by Type:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 187: Latin American Ultrafiltration Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Thousand by Module for the Period 2018-2025

Table 188: Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in Latin

America in US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 189: Latin American Ultrafiltration Market by Module:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 190: Latin American Demand for Ultrafiltration in US$

Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 191: Ultrafiltration Market Review in Latin America in

US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 192: Latin American Ultrafiltration Market Share

Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ARGENTINA

Table 193: Argentinean Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018-2025

Table 194: Ultrafiltration Market in Argentina in US$ Thousand

by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 195: Argentinean Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 196: Argentinean Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Module: 2018-2025

Table 197: Ultrafiltration Market in Argentina in US$ Thousand

by Module: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 198: Argentinean Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown

by Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 199: Argentinean Ultrafiltration Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 200: Ultrafiltration Market in Argentina: Summarization

of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 201: Argentinean Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

BRAZIL

Table 202: Ultrafiltration Market in Brazil by Type: Estimates

and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025

Table 203: Brazilian Ultrafiltration Historic Market Scenario

in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 204: Brazilian Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 205: Ultrafiltration Market in Brazil by Module:

Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period

2018-2025

Table 206: Brazilian Ultrafiltration Historic Market Scenario

in US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 207: Brazilian Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 208: Ultrafiltration Quantitative Demand Analysis in

Brazil in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 209: Brazilian Ultrafiltration Historic Market Review in

US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 210: Brazilian Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis:

A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

MEXICO

Table 211: Ultrafiltration Market in Mexico: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 212: Mexican Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 213: Mexican Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 214: Ultrafiltration Market in Mexico: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Module for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 215: Mexican Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 216: Mexican Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 217: Ultrafiltration Market in Mexico: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 218: Mexican Ultrafiltration Market in Retrospect in US$

Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 219: Ultrafiltration Market Share Distribution in Mexico

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF LATIN AMERICA

Table 220: Rest of Latin America Ultrafiltration Market

Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 221: Ultrafiltration Market in Rest of Latin America by

Type: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 222: Rest of Latin America Ultrafiltration Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 223: Rest of Latin America Ultrafiltration Market

Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Module: 2018 to

2025

Table 224: Ultrafiltration Market in Rest of Latin America by

Module: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 225: Rest of Latin America Ultrafiltration Market Share

Breakdown by Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 226: Rest of Latin America Ultrafiltration Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 227: Ultrafiltration Historic Demand Patterns in Rest of

Latin America by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 228: Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown in Rest of

Latin America by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

MIDDLE EAST

Table 229: The Middle East Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 230: Ultrafiltration Market in the Middle East by

Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 231: The Middle East Ultrafiltration Market Share

Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 232: The Middle East Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 233: The Middle East Ultrafiltration Historic Market by

Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 234: Ultrafiltration Market in the Middle East:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 235: The Middle East Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Module: 2018 to 2025

Table 236: The Middle East Ultrafiltration Historic Market by

Module in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 237: Ultrafiltration Market in the Middle East:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Module for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 238: The Middle East Ultrafiltration Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 239: Ultrafiltration Market in the Middle East:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by

Application for 2009-2017

Table 240: The Middle East Ultrafiltration Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

IRAN

Table 241: Iranian Market for Ultrafiltration: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 242: Ultrafiltration Market in Iran: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 243: Iranian Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 244: Iranian Market for Ultrafiltration: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Module for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 245: Ultrafiltration Market in Iran: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Module for the Period 2009-2017

Table 246: Iranian Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 247: Iranian Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Ultrafiltration in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 248: Iranian Ultrafiltration Market in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 249: Ultrafiltration Market Share Shift in Iran by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ISRAEL

Table 250: Israeli Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018-2025

Table 251: Ultrafiltration Market in Israel in US$ Thousand by

Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 252: Israeli Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 253: Israeli Ultrafiltration Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Module: 2018-2025

Table 254: Ultrafiltration Market in Israel in US$ Thousand by

Module: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 255: Israeli Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown by

Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 256: Israeli Ultrafiltration Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 257: Ultrafiltration Market in Israel: Summarization of

Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period

2009-2017

Table 258: Israeli Ultrafiltration Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SAUDI ARABIA

Table 259: Saudi Arabian Ultrafiltration Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 260: Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in Saudi

Arabia in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 261: Saudi Arabian Ultrafiltration Market by Type:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 262: Saudi Arabian Ultrafiltration Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Thousand by Module for the Period 2018-2025

Table 263: Ultrafiltration Historic Market Analysis in Saudi

Arabia in US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 264: Saudi Arabian Ultrafiltration Market by Module:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 265: Saudi Arabian Demand for Ultrafiltration in US$

Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 266: Ultrafiltration Market Review in Saudi Arabia in US$

Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 267: Saudi Arabian Ultrafiltration Market Share Breakdown

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Table 268: Ultrafiltration Market in the United Arab Emirates:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by

Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 269: United Arab Emirates Ultrafiltration Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 270: Ultrafiltration Market Share Distribution in United

Arab Emirates by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 271: Ultrafiltration Market in the United Arab Emirates:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by

Module for the Period 2018-2025

Table 272: United Arab Emirates Ultrafiltration Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Module: 2009-2017

Table 273: Ultrafiltration Market Share Distribution in United

Arab Emirates by Module: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 274: Ultrafiltration Market in the United Arab Emirates:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by

Application for the Period 2018-2025

Table 275: United Arab Emirates Ultrafiltration Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 276: Ultrafiltration Market Share Distribution in United

Arab Emirates by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF MIDDLE EAST

Table 277: Ultrafiltration Market in Rest of Middle East:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by

Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 278: Rest of Middle East Ultrafiltration Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017

Table 279: Rest of Middle East Ultrafiltration Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 280: Ultrafiltration Market in Rest of Middle East:



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Visitors to Israel are now required to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, according to safety measures implemented by the Israeli government in response to the global COVID-19 outbreak.

The new policy has put a major dampener on Easter pilgrimages to the Holy Landwhere 6 out of 10 tourists were Christians in 2018dealing yet another blow to communities heavily dependent on foreign visitors.

The dramatic plunge comes with tragic consequences for the region, where tourism is a significant piece of the economy, according to Munther Isaac, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College.

Since 2016, the number of tourists in Israel has increased each year, with a record-setting 4.5 million visiting the country in 2019 (an 11 percent increase over 2018). The industry pumped billions of dollars into the local economy.

But with 127 confirmed coronavirus diagnoses in Israel and 35 in the West Bank as of Fridaywith many connected to the tourism industryprospects for growth have been decimated.

Bethlehems Church of the Nativity is blocked to visitors. The Dome of the Rock atop the Temple Mount is largely empty. And the Cana Wedding Chapel, a new tourist site targeting evangelicals, has seen numerous cancellations and no new reservations for the next two months.

Im terrified, said Saif Saboh, a Palestinian tour guide. Any tourist could be infected. He toldThe Times of Israel that he no longer shakes their hands, and that many groups were canceling their visits.

Thousands of residents and foreign visitors are already living under quarantine. Churches and mosques have closed their doors. And the Palestinian Authority has barred all pilgrims and vacationers for at least two weeks.

As a result, Bethlehem, where 70 percent of the economy revolves around tourism, is now entirely blocked to tourists.

The virus outbreak will ruin the city economically, said Mitri Raheb, president of Dar al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture in Bethlehem. (The university has been closed since March 5, ordered to suspend all programs by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.)

Because more than 9 in 10 workers in Bethlehems tourism sector are Christians, Raheb worries about the harsh toll the virus will have on the community. In Egypt, a similar nosedive in tourism following the Arab Spring devastated the economy and fell especially hard on local Christians.

It has a direct effect on our ministry as well, Raheb said. We depend to some extent on income from tourism. But also students will not be able to pay the tuition fees.

We will be faced with a tough situation and we need to make some tough decisions.

Nazareth, also sustained largely by a steady flow of tourists, is faring little better as it faces a severe drought in visitors.

While the Christmas season is when families in Israel and Palestine come together and are more homebound, Lent and Easter mark the high point for tourism. But not this year.

Raheb is skeptical that any tourists will comeor even be permittedthis Easter.

Tourism in Israel is on hold, said Yohanna Katanacho, Nazareth Evangelical Colleges academic dean. But this seems to be the least of our concern at this stage.

Katanacho feared the economic impact of canceled festivals and international conferences.

But currently under self-quarantine with Isaac, the entire population of and recent visitors to Bethlehem are monitoring their coronavirus status.

Americans, who comprise the largest segment of tourists to the Holy Land (22% in 2018), have not been spared. A group of 13 Baptists from Alabama was quarantined in Bethlehem, following contact with infected Greek tourists in their hotel.

None of the Americans were found to be infected and they are now back home, in self-quarantine under the care of a doctor.

By Gods grace and a miracle, we were able to get out of there before they shut everything down, Chris Bell, the lead pastor of 3Circle Church in Fairhope, Alabama, told Baptist Press.

Confined to one floor of their hotel, they came together to praywearing gloves and masks. Bell said the group persevered and received aid from locals.

We are people of faith. And we do not believe this is an accident, Bell told the Associated Press, from Bethlehem. Our God knows exactly where we are.

In addition to the concerns around the Americans in isolation, a group of Greek pilgrims was infected after a trip to religious sites in Israel and Egypt. And at least nine Korean Catholics tested positive after a visit to Israel in February.

In addition to pilgrims, ministries and religious organizations are taking a significant hit.

Last week in Bethlehem, a joint meeting for pastors from Israel and the West Bank to celebrate the Palestinian Authoritys recognition of the Convention of Evangelical Churches in the Holy Land was canceled in Bethlehem.

Large revival meetings set for early April are now on hold.

Many churches and mosques are closed, leaving houses of worship to stream their services online.

Isaac said his and the other Evangelical Lutheran churches in the region broadcast their services in the face of empty pews, but he has been in contact with his congregants.

There is so much anxiety among people, he said, as Bethlehem undergoes a complete shutdown. We are simply waiting stilland trying to encourage one another.

Raheb said many local Christians sent food and sweets to the American Baptists stuck in their Bethlehem hotel.

And though public gatherings are on pause, Palestinian religious communities are rallying to serve the needy in a way rarely seen amid cultural and political tension.

The Bethlehem and Palestinian communityChristians and Muslimshave really come together in the last week, said Isaac. We have seen many initiatives. Many donated food and medicine.

Katanacho highlighted the religious response.

This is a fasting season not only from a liturgical point of view, but also because of the situation, he said. We thank God that despite the negative impact of coronavirus, one of its side effects is a spiritual awakening.

And at Nazareth Baptist School, despite cancellations by short-term teams, visiting professors, and pastors, general director Botrus Mansour chose to highlight instead how the virus has increased prayer and evangelism.

Man is so vulnerable, he said. Without any medical remedy for coronavirus, people are more open to hearing about the one who can cure and heal.
Jet Airways' resolution professional on Friday filed an application in National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking 90 days extension for the corporate insolvency resolution process of the defunct carrier.

On Thursday, the lenders to decided to seek an extension after it failed to attract any potential bidder.

The tribunal, comprising Bhaskara Pantula Mohan and Rajesh Sharma, will hear the matter next week.

The committee of creditors (CoC) had on February 18 set the new deadline of March 10 for submission of bids for the grounded airline after South American conglomerate Synergy Group and New Delhi-based Prudent ARC failed to meet the deadline.

According to sources, Synergy Group had backed out of the bidding process over the slot issues.

The March 10 deadline was set after Russia's Far East Asia Development Fund evinced interest in Against this backdrop, the CoC extended the deadline for submission of bids to March 10.

The cash-strapped airline, which was grounded in April 2019, owes more than Rs 8,000 crore to banks, with those from the public sector having significant exposure.

NCLT on June 20, 2019, had admitted the insolvency petition filed by the lenders' consortium led by State Bank of India against

The tribunal also appointed Ashish Chhauchharia of Grant Thornton as the resolution professional for the crippled airline.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 05:09:28|Editor: ZD

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A notice of temporary closure is seen on the entrance of a cafe within the one-mile-radius containment area in New Rochelle, New York State, the United States, on March 12, 2020. The U.S. state of New York set up a so-called "containment area" in a COVID-19 hotspot on Thursday, with National Guard troops dispatched on site to clean surfaces and deliver food to people who are in quarantine. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

NEW YORK, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. state of New York set up a so-called "containment area" in a COVID-19 hotspot on Thursday, with National Guard troops dispatched on site to clean surfaces and deliver food to people who are in quarantine.

The containment area in New Rochelle, Westchester County, is within one-mile-radius around a point near a synagogue, in which schools, houses of worships and other large gathering places will be closed for two weeks.

Many shops and restaurants are still open but empty inside the containment area.

New Rochelle is at the center of a COVID-19 outbreak in Westchester County, which is just outside New York City and currently has 148 confirmed cases.

It is also home to the state's second confirmed case, an attorney who worked in Manhattan and is linked to dozens of cases diagnosed during the past week.

The designation of containment area was announced by state Governor Andrew Cuomo at a press conference on Tuesday.

"It is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster of cases in the country," said Cuomo. "The numbers are going up unabated, and we do need a special public health strategy for New Rochelle."

State officials have stressed that it is not a lockdown, and Cuomo said on Wednesday that all actions have been taken through mutual agreement and that the state has not invoked any legal authority.

Cuomo also said that the state Health Department will grant 200,000 U.S. dollars to a food bank in New Rochelle. Nine schools are closed in the containment area, and the funding is intended to help feed any student or family who relies on free school lunches.

The governor declared a state of emergency on Saturday in the northeastern state. As of Thursday, New York State had confirmed 328 coronavirus cases, with 112 of those added overnight. Some 148 cases were in Westchester County and 95 in New York City.
China's central bank said Friday it would cut the reserve requirements for banks, releasing some 550 billion yuan (USD 79 billion) in liquidity as the country fights to control the economic fallout of the deadly coronavirus.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) said in a statement that it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) on March 16 by 50 to 100 basis points for banks that meet its assessment criteria, reducing the amount of cash they must hold.

There will be an additional 100 basis point reduction for eligible joint-stock commercial banks, to support the issuance of loans, said the PBOC.

The central bank's moves come a day after China's State Council released a statement saying Premier Li Keqiang called for targeted RRR cuts soon, to support bank lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics, said the move was "yet another step in (the central bank's) campaign to push down borrowing costs and shore up economic activity in response to the coronavirus outbreak."



Nomura chief China economist Lu Ting said in a report on Thursday that "cutting RRR is the best way for cutting actual bank lending rates as RRR cuts could increase supply of funds".

Since the virus outbreak, the PBOC has provided a total of 800 billion yuan to commercial banks via re-lending and re-discounting, he said.

"It also asked policy banks to increase lending to the economy by 350 billion yuan, though it's still unclear whether these policy banks will get the 350 billion yuan funding directly from the PBoC," he said.

Lu expects further liquidity injections in the coming months, through channels such as the medium-term lending facility.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Conference leader Davinder Rana called the imposition of Public Safety Act (PSA) on Farooq Abdullah as 'a wrong decision' and welcomed the government's decision to revoke it. He also called for the release of all other detainees booked under the Act.

"Imposing Public Safety Act (PSA) on Dr Farooq Abdullah was a wrong decision. I welcome the decision to revoke it. All other political detainees should also be released so that the voice of Jammu and Kashmir can reach everywhere," he told ANI.

Earlier today, the government issued orders to revoke detention of Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, who was detained under the Public Safety Act following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Several leaders, including Farooq's son Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have been also put under house arrest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jung-jin speaks during a YouTube streaming for reporters on Thursday. Courtesy of Celltrion



By Nam Hyun-woo



Celltrion, Il-Yang Pharm. and a number of other Korean bio and pharmaceutical firms are making strides in the world's battle against the coronavirus, with each firm expediting their development of detection kits, treatments and preventive vaccines.



Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jung-jin held a press conference via YouTube, Thursday, and announced that the biopharmaceutical company will "secure antibodies which can neutralize the coronavirus within this month and launch clinical studies in six months."



According to the company, it secured a blood sample of a patient who recovered from the disease last month and will finish investigating it for antibodies by the end of this month. Seo said the company will select the best antibody by the end of April and begin producing them for clinical trials in May.



Celltrion plans to develop three types of treatments  one for the existing COVID-19 strain, one for mutations of the coronavirus in the short-term and one for mutations over the long-term.



The company says an antibody against COVID-19 will have efficacy in short-term prevention, thus opening the chance of using it for a vaccine. Celltrion plans to invest an initial 20 billion won ($16.37 million) in the project, but expects total spending to reach 300 billion before commercialization.



"This is not a normal process, given it takes at least 18 months to develop a treatment in normal conditions. We believe this is possible because we will focus on the speed of development, not economic factors," Seo said. "We will put other businesses on the back burner and do our best to find a cure for the disease faster."



Along with the treatment, Seo said Celltrion is currently developing a self-detection kit, which is more convenient for use and shows the result within 20 minutes.



The company said it is currently cooperating with a detection kit maker and plans to bulk up output to 100,000 kits per day. Celltrion will produce a prototype detection kit in April and plans to apply for approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in June.



Despite the announcement, Celltrion could not defy the market downturn. The company's share price ended at 170,500 won Friday, down 1.16 percent from a day earlier. Its affiliates Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm. also suffered 1.98 percent and 4.55 percent declines, respectively.





Il-yang Pharm. CEO Kim Dong-yeon
San Antonio nursing home administrators are barring families and friends from visiting elderly loved ones, or reducing their visitation times, in response to the threat COVID-19 poses to seniors.

Other long-term-care facilities are limiting the number of visitors. On Tursday, Cedar Ranch at Westover Hills alerted families of memory-care patients via text message that, for now, only one family member can visit the facility per day.

Thelma Martinez, Oak Park Nursing & Rehabilitation Centers administrator, said the facility has beefed up admissions and visitor policies to guard against potential risk to residents, their families, staff and other visitors.

Teresa Cox said her 93-year-old grandmother, Margaret Bilderback, recently moved into Harbor Valley Health and Rehabilitation, a new facility at 6211 Old Pearsall Road on the South Side. The facility has restricted visiting hours.

We would understand the precautions knowing the elderly are more susceptible, but it would be sad not seeing her, Cox said. She plans to go to South Dakota in April for the next six months for her job. I wanted to visit as much as I can.

Long-term-care facilities are heeding state and federal guidance this week to hunker down and increase their cleaning practices to protect their residents.

While most infected people appear to experience mild symptoms, the elderly and those with heart disease, diabetes or other serious conditions who catch the virus can develop pneumonia, which can lead to organ failure and death.

One of the early outbreaks in the U.S. took place in a nursing home near Seattle, linked to 23 coronavirus deaths. Washington now reports 366 confirmed cases and 29 deaths.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

The Veterans Affairs Department has banned all visitors from its 134 VA nursing homes and spinal cord injury centers. That includes one community living center, a spinal cord injury facility and a bone marrow transplant unit, all three in San Antonio.

The only exceptions will be for veterans in hospice care, in their last stages of life. Visitors will be restricted to their rooms.

We need to do that to make sure that those who use VA are protected, that they are cared for, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said. We will get over this and we will make sure everything is done to protect those who have done so much for our country.

More than 41,000 veterans across the country reside in these facilities.

Texas Health and Human Services is advising its 3,240 licensed facilities across the state to enforce restrictions to protect against the respiratory illness beyond making hand sanitizer more available.

State officials advise nursing homes to require mandatory hand-washing upon entering facilities, cancel group activities and set up remote-communication options so residents can stay in contact with their families.

The agencys updated guidance calls for facilities to discourage all visitation based on recommendations from the Centers for Control and Disease Prevention to minimize the chance of exposure to the virus.

In a statement Thursday, the Texas Health Care Association urged operators to review, update and implement infection control plans.

Association president Kevin Warren said, The top priority right now is preventing COVID-19 from getting into long-term-care facilities and stopping it from spreading if it does.

Family members are hoping the situation wont be hard on their loved ones, but most understand the severity of the situation.

Cox said her grandmother suffered from dementia, but with eight children at retirement age, shes used to being around family.

She recognizes us for sure, but I dont know that she would realize that someone didnt come visit almost every day, she said. She has settled in at the facility and has made some friends. The staff is really nice, too, so maybe it wont faze her too much.

Laura Garcia covers the health care industry in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her stories and more local coverage on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | laura.garcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @Reporter_Laura
RCAP Report Provides Insights for Small Community Utility Collaboration

Washington, DC, March 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Inc. (RCAP), released a new report, Resiliency Through Water and Wastewater System Partnerships: 10 Lessons from Community Leaders, which looks at community utility partnerships from a rural and tribal perspective. As small communities across the country seek solutions for common economic, operational and compliance challenges, this research highlights the experiences of those who chose water and/or wastewater system partnerships as a solution. Some systems are collaborating to build capacity and become more resilient, enabling them to successfully sustain their systems not only financially, but technically and managerially, for years to come.

The report highlights 10 lessons from community leaders who undertook and facilitated regional collaboration, also called regionalization, projects  the successes they saw, the challenges they overcame, and the difficult questions they faced throughout the process. This research highlights:

How two systems  one with excess capacity and one without enough capacity  partnered to combine drinking water treatment efforts after a voter mandate.

How a tribe and regional council of governments brought resources to bear for two communities to form a regional entity with the help of external facilitation.

How leaders went out of their way to ensure all communities were involved in governing the new entity because they believed it was important for success and fairness.

How communities built trust that is crucial to effective regional collaboration projects and more.

RCAP unveiled this research with more than 70 community and partner participants on March 11 in State College, Penn., at its second Regional Collaboration Summit, hosted in conjunction with RCAP Solutions, the Northeast RCAP. Partnerships highlighted in this research fall along a wide spectrum of regionalization options  ranging from informal collaboration to restructured utility ownership and governance.

Story continues

The RCAP Network serves as a neutral third-party, helping communities explore and pursue regionalization if they so choose. With that in mind, RCAP spoke with community leaders and utility operators and managers from across the country, to learn what they think other community leaders and members should know about the process of partnering. RCAP also tested findings at the inaugural Regional Collaboration Summit in October 2019 in Springfield, Ill. The resulting lessons show the experiences of communities as large as 6,000 and as small as 200 residents in California, Florida, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota.

With 97 percent of the countrys more than 145,000 public water systems and 72 percent of its 15,000 wastewater systems covering communities of 10,000 residents or fewer, it is imperative to understand the realities facing rural and tribal systems across the United States. This report, Resiliency Through Water and Wastewater System Partnerships: 10 Lessons from Community Leaders, fills an important gap in the growing conversation on system partnerships, said RCAP CEO Nathan Ohle. By focusing on learning from small, rural and tribal communities, we were able to understand regionalization at a very human level. We hope in the future community leaders will use these practical lessons and key questions as they develop partnerships, especially if system collaboration is part of their plan of action to improve quality of life for their citizens.

The report also highlights multiple drivers of regionalization efforts and the barriers communities might face. Drivers include cost considerations and regulatory pressures, among others. Barriers the report discusses include local politics, lack of trust, and fear of the unknown. This research goes into detail for solutions to addressing each barrier associated with regionalization, and highlights real-world examples from rural communities across the United States.

This research accompanies and was informed by the RCAP Networks on-the-ground technical assistance provided to small, rural and tribal communities. To further serve these communities, RCAP will release a second research report later this year detailing policy and governance mechanisms that support and incentivize greater collaboration.

Read the full report at https://www.rcap.org/regionalizationresearch/

###

About RCAP: RCAP is a national non-profit network providing opportunity, assistance, and practical guidance to small communities in all fifty states, U.S. territories, and tribal lands to ensure access to safe drinking water, sanitary wastewater disposal, and economic prosperity for all rural America. RCAP Regional Partners who employ more than 200 technical assistance providers who work directly with small, rural and tribal communities include: Communities Unlimited, Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, the Midwest Assistance Program, RCAP Solutions, the Rural Community Assistance Corporation, and Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project. To learn more about RCAP, visit www.rcap.org.

Kinsey Brown

Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Inc.

2028004127

kbrown@rcap.org


UBS Investment Bank today announced that all outstanding notes of the Monthly Reset 2xLeveraged ISE Exclusively Homebuilders ETN due March 13, 2045 (Ticker: HOML) (the "Securities") will be mandatorily redeemed in accordance with the terms of the Securities as a result of the occurrence of an Acceleration Upon Minimum Indicative Value on March 12, 2020 (the "Acceleration Date"), triggered as a result of the intraday indicative value of the Securities on the Acceleration Date decreasing by more than 60% in value from the closing indicative value of the Securities on the previous Monthly Valuation Date.

As disclosed in more detail in the pricing supplement and product supplement relating to the Securities, all outstanding notes will be automatically accelerated and redeemed and holders will be entitled to receive the "Acceleration Amount" calculated in accordance with the terms of the Securities. The "Acceleration Measurement Period" for determining the Acceleration Amount will be the five Trading Days from and including the Acceleration Date. Payment of the Acceleration Amount will be made on the Acceleration Settlement Date, which is expected to be March 23, 2020.

For more information regarding the mandatory redemption, including how the Acceleration Amount will be determined, see the pricing supplement and product supplement relating to the Securities. The pricing supplement and product supplement for the Securities can be accessed on EDGAR, the SEC website, at www.sec.gov, and the pricing supplement is also available here and the product supplement is also available here.

Investors who purchase the Securities at any time prior to delisting for an amount that is greater than the Acceleration Amount that they will receive on the Acceleration Settlement Date (including paying any premium to the Acceleration Amount, once this amount has been determined) will suffer a loss on their investment. Furthermore, investors who sell the Securities at any time prior to delisting for an amount that is less than the Acceleration Amount they would have received on the Acceleration Settlement Date (including selling at any discount to the Acceleration Amount, once this amount has been determined) will also suffer a loss. In either case, such losses could be significant. Investors will not receive any other compensation or amount for the loss of the investment opportunity of holding the Securities.

About ETRACS

ETRACS ETNs are senior unsecured notes issued by UBS AG, are traded on NYSE Arca, and can be bought and sold through a broker or financial advisor. An investment in ETRACS ETNs is subject to a number of risks, including the risk of loss of some or all of the investor's principal, and is subject to the creditworthiness of UBS AG. Investors are not guaranteed any coupon or distribution amount under the ETNs. We urge you to read the more detailed explanation of risks described under "Risk Factors" in the applicable product supplement and pricing supplement for the ETRACS ETN.

UBS AG has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus and supplements thereto) with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, for the offering of securities to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus, along with the applicable product and pricing supplement to understand fully the terms of the securities and other considerations that are important in making a decision about investing in the ETRACS. The applicable offering documents for each ETRACS may be obtained by clicking on the links above. You may also get these documents without cost by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. The securities related to the offerings are not deposit liabilities and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency of the United States, Switzerland or any other jurisdiction.

About UBS

UBS provides financial advice and solutions to wealthy, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as private clients in Switzerland. UBS's strategy is centered on our leading global wealth management business and our premier universal bank in Switzerland, enhanced by Asset Management and the Investment Bank. The bank focuses on businesses that have a strong competitive position in their targeted markets, are capital efficient, and have an attractive long-term structural growth or profitability outlook.

UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has offices in more than 50 regions and locations, with about 31% of its employees working in the Americas, 32% in Switzerland, 19% in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 18% in Asia Pacific. UBS Group AG employs over 67,000 people around the world. Its shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

This material is issued by UBS AG and/or any of its subsidiaries and/or any of its affiliates ("UBS"). Products and services mentioned in this material may not be available for residents of certain jurisdictions. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Please consult the restrictions relating to the product or service in question for further information. Activities with respect to US securities are conducted through UBS Securities LLC, a US broker/dealer. Member of SIPC (http://www.sipc.org/).

ETRACS ETNs are sold only in conjunction with the relevant offering materials. UBS has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus, as supplemented by the applicable product supplement and pricing supplement, for the offering of the ETRACS ETNs) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read these documents and any other documents that UBS has filed with the SEC for more complete information about UBS and the offering to which this communication relates. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, you can request the applicable product supplement and pricing supplement, by calling toll-free (+1-877-387 2275). In the US, securities underwriting, trading and brokerage activities and M&A advisor activities are provided by UBS Securities LLC, a registered broker/dealer that is a wholly owned subsidiary of UBS AG, a member of the New York Stock Exchange and other principal exchanges, and a member of SIPC. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a registered broker/dealer and affiliate of UBS Securities LLC.

UBS specifically prohibits the redistribution or reproduction of this material in whole or in part without the prior written permission of UBS and UBS accepts no liability whatsoever for the actions of third parties in this respect.

UBS 2020. The key symbol, UBS and ETRACS are among the registered and unregistered trademarks of UBS. Other marks may be trademarks of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005213/en/

Contacts:

Media contact

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Investor contact

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Combined impact on the exchequer on account would be Rs 12510.04 crore per annum

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has approved to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners w.e.f. 01 January 2020. There will be an increase of 4% over the existing rate of 17% of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise.

The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs 12510.04 crore per annum and Rs 14595.04 crore in Financial Year 2020-21 (for a period of 14 months from January 2020 to February 2021). It will benefit about 48.34 lakh Central Government employees and 65.26 lakh pensioners.

The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fatima holds her baby among fellow Malian refugees in Goudoubo camp, Burkina Faso as they wait for dignity kits to be distributed.  UNHCR/Sylvain Cherkaoui

Insecurity in Burkina Faso is forcing an ever-growing number to flee their homes. They are searching for safety in the country or fleeing to Mali as refugees. At the same time, a worrying number of Malian refugees say it is safer to return to their home country rather than remain in Burkina Faso.

Some 14,000 people have fled their homes in Burkina Faso in just 17 days, bringing the total internally displaced to 780,000. Recent violence has also forced more than 2,035 people to flee to neighbouring Mali.

The insecurity also makes life much harder for Malian refugees who had sought protection in Burkina Faso and it threatens to bring to a halt efforts to help them rebuild their lives. Burkina Faso hosts over 25,000 refugees from Mali but many are choosing to return despite facing insecurity there.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, remains alarmed by the dramatic rise of forced displacement in the Sahel and reiterates its call for the protection of civilian populations and those fleeing violence. Humanitarians need safe access to deliver assistance. Our scaled-up response to the crisis is centered around providing protection and emergency supplies to those forced to flee and communities hosting them, with a particular focus on shelter, education, sexual and gender-based violence while limiting the impact on nature.

In November last year, UNHCR was forced to temporarily relocate its staff from Djibo, a town in the north-east of the country. The distribution of aid, including food, to Mentao camps 7,000 refugees has been sporadic since then.

There have been worrying incidents of violence this month around Dori, also in the north-east. Camps and villages have been targeted. The people there can no longer access markets or schools and there have been few opportunities for activities that support their families. Health is also at risk, as the sole ambulance in the camp was stolen earlier this month. Some 70 per cent of the 8,781 refugees living in Goudoubo have chosen to voluntarily leave the camp, either to return to Mali (57 per cent) or to be relocated to other towns in Burkina Faso (13 per cent).

Nearly 700 Malian refugees have already left by truck heading towards Gao region in northern Mali. Refugees who want to return are provided with a Voluntary Repatriation Form (VRF), a document that enables them to travel, and receive a one-time payment to cover the transport costs and some of the items they need most urgently. They are also fully informed of the volatile security situation in their places of origin or an alternative area of their choice, before they choose voluntarily to return. Neither humanitarian actors nor the Malian defense forces can access some of the villages in Ntilit and Ngossi.

In Mali, as the first returns are arriving, we are strengthening our presence, together with our partners, in N'tillit, Gossi, Gao and Timbuktu areas. 28 registration points have been identified to monitor the situation in entry points and reception areas. Once they are registered, returnees will receive cash assistance to facilitate their reintegration in dignity through reducing their vulnerability.

While Malian refugees are fleeing insecurity from Burkina Faso, newly arrived refugees from Burkina Faso have fled to Koro, in Bankass circle near Mopti. Our teams are on the ground with local authorities, to register them and assess their need to provide a rapid response.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
NEW DELHI: Punes National Institute of Virology (NIV) has succeeded in isolating the deadly coronavirus from an affected patient. According to reports, it has a 99.98% match with the virus in Chinas Wuhan. This significant medical breakthrough will help India in developing a vaccine for the deadly Coronavirus.

China, the US, Thailand and Japan have earlier isolated the virus.

However, a Health Ministry official was quoted by PTI as saying that it will take around one-and-a-half to two years for India to develop a vaccine for novel coronavirus even with expedited clinical trials and approvals.

The novel coronavirus has affected 128,392 people in 117 countries and claimed the lives of at least 4,728 as of now. Till now, there are 81 confirmed cases in India, out of which 64 are Indians, 16 Italians and 1 Canadian national.

Sharing more details, Raman R Gangakhedkar, head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases-I (ECD-I), Division of ICMR, said that the NIV has been successful in isolating the virus.

There are two ways of going for vaccine preparation. One is either you look at the sequences of the gene which then may lead to the development of antibodies, or you actually have the strain and then you try to develop a vaccine which is always an easier option, he said.

Coronavirus is difficult to isolate. But the efforts of scientists of National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune have been successful and about 11 isolates of coronavirus are available which is a prime requisite for doing any kind of research related to viruses. Even with expedited clinical trials and approvals, it will take not less than around one-and-a-half to two years to develop a vaccine, Gangakhedkar said.

In a related development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged people to avoid non-essential travel and large gatherings to break the chain of the spread of coronavirus and said his government is fully vigilant about the situation.

He asked people to say no to panic and yes to precautions. In a series of tweets, he also said that no minister of the Central government will travel abroad in the upcoming days.
The Indian Navy on Friday announced that it had taken adequete measures to tackle and contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country even as the number of infected cases climbed to 75. In Delhi-NCR, an employee of a leather manufacturing factory located in Nodia tested positive for the disease on Friday.

Elaborating on how it is fully prepared to deal with the global pandemic, the Indian Navy said that it has set up isolation facilities at its premier hospital INHS Asvini in Mumbai to treat positive coronavirus cases.

A quarantine camp has also been prepared to receive 44 Indian citizens evacuated from Iran at Ghatkopar in Mumbai. After they arrived in Mumbai on Friday afternoon, they were shifted to the Navys quarantine facility at Ghatkopar. Initially, they were to be flown immediately to a defence quarantine facility in Jaisalmer.

All the required infrastructure to keep the evacuees in isolation for the quarantine period have been arranged by the Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy.

At the Indian Navys Command Headquarters in Kochi and Vizag, Navy officials have been directed to set up similar quarantine and treatment facilities. Separate Fever Clinics are functioning at all naval hospitals to prevent the spread of any infection from cases that are yet to be diagnosed.

The Navy has also issued health advisories to all naval ships moving in international waters.

After they arrived in Mumbai on Friday afternoon, they were shifted to the Navys quarantine facility at Ghatkopar. All the required infrastructure to keep the evacuees in isolation for the quarantine period have been arranged by theWestern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.

The global death toll from coronavirus has crossed 4,000 with over 1,00,000 people infected with the deadly virus in more than 100 countries.
New Delhi, March 13 : A delegation of newly formed Jammu & Kashmir based Apni Party will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday in New Delhi.

Sources in the party headed by former minister Altaf Bukhari told IANS that the delegation is meeting the Prime Minister to put forward their demands for restoration of statehood of the state and safeguard land and job rights for locals.

The Apni party comprising former legislators and members from both National Conference (NC) and People's Democratic Party (PDP), has been projecting itself as the third front in Kashmir valley.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah released from detention on March 13.

After getting released from detention, Abdullah, a five-time parliamentarian and a member of the present Lok Sabha, said, Today I don't have words. I am free today. Now, I will be able to go to Delhi and attend the Parliament and speak for you all.



Srinagar: National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah released from detention pic.twitter.com/eUgs3pH8y8

 ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

He further said he was grateful to people of the State and all leaders and people in the rest of the country who spoke for their freedom. "This freedom will be complete when all leaders are released. I hope the government of India will take action to release everyone," he said.

The release order of Abdullah had come earlier on the day.

Abdullah was under preventive detention since August 5 last year, the day the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. He was the first chief minister against whom the PSA was invoked.

The stringent Act was slapped against him on September 15, hours before the Supreme Court was to hear a petition by MDMK leader Vaiko who claimed that Abdullah had been illegally detained.

He was booked under 'public order' of the PSA, a provision that allows authorities to detain a person for three months without trial. This can be extended up to two years.

The decision to release the National Conference patron came hours ahead of the ending of the three-month period on March 13 midnight.
Chennai, March 13 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Friday said the opposition DMK was creating a fear psychosis in the minority community.

Speaking in the Assembly about the National Population Register (NPR) and the census, Palaniswami charged the DMK with misinformation.

Referring to the census, Palaniswami said the DMK leader had told anti-NPR protesters not to cooperate with the government. The Chief Minister sought to know the connection between census enumeration and NPR.

Palaniswami said Revenue Minister R. B. Udhayakumar on Thursday told the media what he had already said in the Assembly and hence there is no breach of privilege.

He also said the NPR was brought by the Central government when the DMK was part of it in 2003 with a provision to addition and deletion of certain parameters. The Central government has added some aspects now.

Palaniswami told DMK President M.K. Stalin that he could raise questions based on what was said in the House and not what has been reported in newspapers.
The Church of England has banned the Common Cup for Holy Communion to try to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The cup of wine, used during the Eucharist, will no longer be passed around for people having Holy Communion at sites including St Paul's in central London.

The Anglican cathedral announced a raft of measures to try to stop the spread of COVID-19, which has claimed at least 10 lives in the UK.

St Paul's was almost deserted yesterday (pictured) as tourists stayed away due to coronavirus fears

The cup of wine, used during the Eucharist, will no longer be passed around for people having Holy Communion at sites including St Paul's in central London (file photo)

There was no queue to get in to the cathedral yesterday (pictured) and few people around the usually busy steps

The Church of England also encouraged worshippers not to shake hands during the 'Sign of the Peace'.

The move was enforced on Monday when Boris Johnson, Prince Harry and Craig David gave each other 'elbow bumps' to comply with the Abbey's guidelines.

Christians receiving Holy Communion drink wine or grape juice from the Common Cup, which is supposed to represent Jesus' blood.

The cup is often reused several times, and passed from person to person.

Craig David was seen giving Prince Harry an 'elbow bump', an informal greeting that avoids the unnecessary touching of hands, at the annual Commonwealth Service on Monday

St Paul's, which will remain open for the time being, has axed the sacred practice of the Common Cup and worshippers will only eat bread or wafer, which represents Jesus' body.

A spokesman said: 'St Paul's Cathedral is monitoring the coronavirus outbreak very closely and following all government and Church of England advice.

'This has included removing the Common Cup during services, increasing its cleaning regime and providing hand sanitiser to public facing staff.

'The Cathedral currently remains open and has welcomed sightseers and worshippers this week.'

Academics had historically been concerned the Common Cup could have helped spread AIDS.

There were no signs in the cathedral's toilets asking visitors and worshippers to wash their hands more frequently, as many other sites have been adopting

A Spokesman for St Paul's said: 'The Cathedral currently remains open and has welcomed sightseers and worshippers this week'

St Paul's was almost deserted yesterday as tourists stayed away due to coronavirus fears.

There was no queue to get in and few people around the usually busy steps.

There were no signs in the cathedral's toilets asking visitors and worshippers to wash their hands more frequently, as many other sites have been adopting.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York's advice to priests: In a joint letter to priests, the Archbishops said: 'We want to assure you all of our prayers and thoughts as across the country, communities consider what steps they can take to care and support one another. 'We are certain that plans are being made around the country to care in particular for the elderly, vulnerable and the isolated; it is crucial that we give attention to those most at risk.' Advertisement

St Paul's' move follows Catholic churches in Scotland which banned holy water and signs of peace over the spread of the disease.

St Cuthbert's Church in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, introduced 'precautionary measures' after the first Scot was diagnosed.

These include emptying holy water stoops and suspending the sign of peace.

Holy Communion will also be received in the hand rather than on the tongue.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced stricter measures to combat the killer virus yesterday/on Thursday, and said 'many more families are going to lose loved ones'.

In new rules the Government has asked anyone with a new and persistent cough or a fever to stay at home for seven days.

If someone is diagnosed, then the whole household will be asked to self isolate.

Officially there are 596 cases with 10 deaths, however health officials are concerned there could be 10,000 infected people.
SPOKANE VALLEY  Cheney Middle School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) students had a great showing at the 2020 Northeast Regional Winter Conference at the Spokane Valley Assembly of God church on Feb. 6. The chapter had all nine of its attending students place in the top six of events, advancing to the State Business Leadership Conference in Spokane in April.

As a chapter, students placed 18 times in eight different events. This Winter Conference was attended by 21 different local high schools, three local middle schools and over 400 students.

Of the nine competitors, the highl...
Lufthansa airplanes are parked on the tarmac at Frankfurt airport, Germany.

German flagship carrier Lufthansa said on Friday it is planning to request state aid from several European governments to weather the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

The airline group, which also owns Swiss International, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, was speaking to governments of countries where its units are based, it said.

"Lufthansa will contact the governments of its home markets for liquidity support," a spokesman for the airline told Reuters.

Chief Executive Carsten Spohr will take part in a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and industry bosses on the coronavirus on Friday, a person familiar with the plans told Reuters.

Newspaper Handelsblatt earlier reported the airline would petition for state aid, citing a video message by the CEO to staff.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Founders Brewing Co. announced Friday, March 13 that it will close its Grand Rapids and Detroit taprooms until April 5, as part of an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

We are a large gathering place, and with new restrictions of 250 people, have made the decision with our employees and communitys health in mind, the company said in a statement. Well pay our employees while were closed, which will start Friday, March 13, at 5 p.m.

The company said brewing operations will continue during the closure.

To protect our employees and our local communities, weve made the decision to temporarily close our taprooms starting today (3/13) until April 5. pic.twitter.com/OKliQgouTD  Founders Brewing Co. (@foundersbrewing) March 13, 2020

On Friday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order prohibiting gatherings of more than 250 people. The order goes into effect at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 13, and lifts on Sunday, April 5 at 5:00 p.m.

Related: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer bans gatherings of more than 250 people as coronavirus spreads

As of Thursday, there are 12 presumptive positive cases of coronavirus in Michigan.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

Read more:

Kroger takes steps to protect customers, workers amid coronavirus pandemic

Ann Arbor water treatment process extremely effective against viruses, city says

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan
Portrait of an artist: Andy Warhol in 1975

Before Andy Warhols funeral in 1987, many of those gathered in New York to pay tribute genuinely believed that Andy himself might make an appearance at the service.

Such was the strength of belief that the master craftsman of pop culture had decided to invent his own death as yet another original piece of concept art.

But dont count on Warhol turning up at the Tate Moderns new blockbuster exhibition of his work which opened this week either  because if he were alive today, hed be in his 90s.

There hasnt been a Warhol show at the Tate Modern for nearly two decades and as well as his classic images of Marilyn Monroe and Campbells soup, there are also works from his Ladies and Gentleman series of Latin drag queens, as well as multi-media footage of his epic 1960s New York party events called Exploding Plastic Inevitable. Yet his long legacy goes well beyond Manhattan, taking in numerous U.S. cities and stretching all the way to Slovakia.

Heres our guide to the best places to dig deeper into the life of the man described by his latest biographer Blake Gopnik as the single most influential artist of the last century.

The Tate Moderns new blockbuster exhibition of Warhol's work opened this week. Pictured are the Debbie Harry images he created

PITTSBURGH

He may have hot-footed it to the shinier lights of New York City when he was just 21, but the hard-boiled, hard-working, hard-partying city of Pittsburgh is where Andrew Warhola (he dropped the latter a when he moved to the Big Apple) was born in 1928.

The Andy Warhol Museum (warhol.org, 15.40), which opened a quarter of a century ago, is a quite astonishingly vast enterprise. Spread over seven floors are more than 12,000 of his works, including silk screens of Elvis Presley in full cowboy Western garb, an early love letter sent to him by his first boyfriend Carlton Willers and his primary colour drenched portraits of Mick Jagger and Joan Collins.

You can also see the contents of some of the numerous time capsules which he created throughout the 1970s and 1980s  each one is filled with newspapers, photos and magazines of the time.

Where to stay: The Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel (mariott.com) has views directly looking out over the bright yellow Andy Warhol Bridge and has doubles from 164 room only.

Getting there: BA (ba.com) flies direct from London Heathrow to Pittsburgh from 281 return.

SLOVAKIA

The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art in Medzilaborce, Slovakia

Closer to the Ukraine than the Slovakian capital of Bratislava, the minuscule eastern village of Mikova (population: 148) is where Warhols parents, Andrej Varchola and Julia Zavacky-Varchola, lived before emigrating to America on the eve of World War I. The village church where the two married still stands and is painted bright yellow. Andy never visited Mikova but its possible that his knowledge of its obscurity may have helped prompt him to famously once state: I am from nowhere.

The nearby town of Medzilaborce has converted its Soviet era post office into an Andy Warhol Museum, which houses Europes largest collection of Warhol pieces, including ten Campbells Soup Can prints, a pair of his glasses and his rather garish looking snakeskin jacket.

Where to stay: Hotel Laborec (eurohotel.sk/cennik) is the most professionally run of the unsurprisingly tiny number of accommodation options in Medzilaborce. Doubles from 40.

Getting there: Wizz Air (wizzair.com) flies direct from London Luton to Kosice from where its a two-hour drive to Medzilaborce.

LOS ANGELES

Down on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, the Revolver Gallery (revolverwarholgallery.com) is where you can (should you have a few thousand dollars at the very least to spare) buy your own original Warhol print  just as Bruno Mars and Coldplay among others have from here since its launch in 2012.

Even if youre, understandably, just browsing, theres over 250 of his works here, all bought by owner Ron Rivlin.

Elsewhere, the Broad art museum on Grand Avenue displays his self-portraits from 1966, alongside some notable works by the avowedly pop-influenced artists who could never have existed without him such as Jeff Koons and Cindy Sherman.

The art deco Sunset Tower Hotel in LA possesses exactly the kind of mid-20th century glamour Warhol adored

Where to stay: The art deco Sunset Tower Hotel (sunsettowerhotel.com) is just a ten-minute walk from the Revolver Gallery and possesses exactly the kind of mid-20th century glamour Warhol adored.

Guests have included Clark Gable, Greta Garbo and John Wayne, who once kept a cow on his balcony so his visitors were guaranteed fresh milk. Doubles from 303 room only.

Getting there: British Airways (ba.com) flies from London Heathrow to Los Angeles from 313 return.

WASHINGTON DC

Warhol rarely made direct comments on politics, but the turbulent changes of the 1960s couldnt help but seep through his art. The Smithsonian Museum of American Art (si.edu, free) has the silkscreen images he created of Jackie Kennedy, taken on the day of JFKs funeral. Elsewhere, the National Portrait Gallery (npg.si.edu, free), also part of the Smithsonian, has a haunting self-portrait he made in 1986, barely a year before he passed away.

And the National Gallery of Art (nga.gov, free) is home to one of his most revered Marilyn Monroe prints alongside a deeply strange and murky work called Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, which shows images of fellow outlaw artist Robert Rauschenberg and his family.

Where to stay: Warhols 1986 Indian Head Nickel work, created a year before his death, hangs in the lobby of the Four Seasons Georgetown (fourseasons.com). Doubles from 530 room only.

Getting there: British Airways (ba.com) has direct flights from London Heathrow to Washington DC from 386 return.

NEW YORK

Warhol began his career as an album sleeve designer in New York

Being the city where he began as an album sleeve designer, founded his Factory studio, got shot by a crazed acolyte (and survived), dined, partied, created and died at the age of just 58, the Big Apple is the ultimate Warhol destination.

Start at the Museum of Modern Art (moma.org, 19), which contains more than 100 of his works including his portraits of Marilyn Monroe from 1962 and his iconic Campbells Soup Can works from the same year.

Then head to the quirky Serendipity 3 diner (serendipity3.com), where a young Andy would regularly devour ice cream sundaes. Dont miss their highly oxymoronic frozen hot chocolate, too.

Finally, make a beeline for the Empire State Building (esbnyc.com, 32), the location for Warhols longest and, many would say, most famously tedious work  his 1964 movie Empire which consisted of nothing but a single shot of the building for eight hours.

Where to stay: The Gramercy Park Hotel (gramercyparkhotel.com) has its own Warhol art collection with his portraits of Joan Collins, Willy Brandt and more currently on display. Doubles from 260 room only.

Getting there: BA (ba.com) flies direct from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City to New York JFK from 245 return.
Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson on Friday gave a health update from coronavirus quarantine, saying they are taking it "one day at a time".

The couple, who is in isolation at a hospital in the state of Queensland in Australia, said they are being well cared for.

"Hello folks. @ritawilson and I want to thank everyone here Down Under who are taking such good care of us. We have COVID-19 and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else.

"There are those for whom it could lead to a very serious illness. We are taking it one-day-at-a-time.There are things we can all do to get through this by following the advice of experts and taking care of ourselves and each other, no?" Hanks posted on Instagram.

The post was accompanied by a photograph that showed the couple smiling.

Hanks announced on Thursday that he and his wife have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The actor couple, who is currently in Australia to shoot for the pre-production of Baz Luhrmann's untitled Elvis Presley film, decided to get tested after they felt "a bit tired".

The deadly virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 4,200 lives and infected more than 117,330 people across 107 countries and territories, with the World Health Organisation on Wednesday describing the outbreak a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ibrahim died after being shot by police who had tried to arrest the 34-year-old

Man then found with stab wounds in Kew who was taken to hospital but also died

One woman died from injuries while the other is fighting for her life in hospital

A man who was stabbed in the streets of one of Melbourne's most exclusive suburbs managed to make one final phone call to help police track down his murderer just moments before he died.

Mohammed Ibrahim, a 34-year-old father-of-one, went on a random stabbing rampage armed with a small switch blade and two larger kitchen knives on Wednesday around 10.40pm.

His 90-minute reign of terror ended when he was shot dead by police, after fatally stabbing a man and a woman and leaving another woman fighting for her life.

Victoria Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said Ibrahim had no links to terror organisations and in 2018 visited two police stations saying an ISIS based group in Mildura was trying to kill him.

Scroll down for video

Police cars and officers are pictured in front of a road closure in Cotham Road in Kew. The 'random act of senseless violence' appears to have started about 10.40pm on Wednesday, police said

Mohammed Ibrahim was shot dead by police after killing two people and leaving a third woman fighting for her life in affluent eastern Melbourne. One of the crime scenes in Kew pictured

The crazed knifeman slashed a PSO at Jolimont train station near the MCG who received non-life threatening injuries to his face and hands.

He then went on to stab two women in their car outside their home on Coppin Grove in Hawthorn, killing one 30-year-old and leaving another 31-year-old fighting for life.

Ibrahim's last victim, a 59-year-old who was stabbed at a tram station in Kew, phoned triple 0 just in time to alert them where he was.

'It's a very brave act, frankly,' Victoria Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said on Thursday.

'He's made that call because obviously he's worried about the community more than himself.

'He's worried about what else this guy's going to do and who else he might harm.'

Police have labelled the attack as a 'random act of senseless violence' and the victims were not known to Ibrahim.

Police had also flagged his mental health and his estranged partner and child, who have an intervention order out against him, are safe.

Police officers pictured at the crime scene in Kew. By the time the attacker was shot dead, police said a 'large police operation' was underway

Coppin Grove, where the two women were stabbed, is known as one of Melbourne's most affluent streets with many living in huge mansions behind closed gates. The area is home to ex-premiers Jeff Kennett, Ted Baillieu, former police commissioner Simon Overland and former AFL great Jarryd Roughead.

During the terrifying attack, witnesses said they heard three gunshots as Ibrahim's rampage came to an end as well as 'aggressive' shouting.

'There is nothing to suggest at this stage this is nothing less than a random act of senseless violence,' Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir told reporters at the scene.

The PSO who was attacked at the station will have surgery on Thursday and is in a stable condition.

Crime scene pictured in Kew after police shot dead a man who went on a stabbing rampage through eastern Melbourne. Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir told reporters at the scene the rampage was at this stage 'nothing less than a random act of senseless violence'

A 59-year-old man who died phone triple 0 just in time to alert them where Ibrahim was (One of the crime scenes pictured in Cotham Road in the affluent inner-city suburb of Kew)

AC Weir said police tried to use 'a number of less-than-lethal options' to make the attacker give himself up.

Tasers were also used and police recorded the attempt to arrest the attacker on their body cameras.

'He was called upon to surrender and he didn't,' he said. 'The ball was in his court.'

Victoria Police have sought to reassure the public - saying there are no other offenders related to the stabbing spree on the run.

HOW BLOODY NIGHT ON STREETS OF EASTERN MELBOURNE UNFOLDED Wednesday 10.40pm - Protective services officer suffered non-life threatening injuries to his upper body after being slashed with a kitchen knife on the cheek and arm. Wednesday 11.20pm - Two women found in vehicle in Hawthorn with what appeared to be life threatening stab wounds. One later died in hospital and the other is still in a critical condition. Thursday 12.15am - A man was found with fatal stab wounds after police were called to Kew in the city's inner east. A second man was then shot dead by police who were trying to arrest him on a nearby street. Advertisement

Police and forensic officers are seen at the crime scene in Hawthorn on Thursday
Prosecutors said at the hearing Wednesday that the party was at Flores cousins home and that Flores and others had been drinking and smoking marijuana. When the others went to bed, Flores stayed up with the victim and, at one point, put his hands down her pants, prosecutors said.
Agra:A newly married woman tested positive for coronavirus here on Friday, taking the number of infected people to eight in Agra, said officials.

The woman, in her twenties, had shifted to Bengaluru after marriage, but was in Agra to visit her parents.

She and her husband had gone to Singapore after their marriage, said sources.

Twelve samples taken in Agra on Thursday were sent to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) of AMU in Aligarh for coronavirus test. Though we are yet to receive a report, we were conveyed about it. It has been revealed that 11 of the samples were found to be negative while one was declared positive, stated Dr Mukesh Vats, chief medical officer (Agra).

The womans sample was now sent to the KGMU in Lucknow for re-confirmation, he said.

The patient was reluctant on being admitted to the isolation ward in Agra. Her father allegedly attempted to deceive the health department team and told them that his daughter had left for Delhi.

Subsequently, the CMO reached the patients house with police force and found her there. After assuring the family, he took the woman to the isolation ward at SN Medical College (SNMC) in Agra.

We are going for reconfirmation and the sample will be sent to the KGMU, Lucknow. We would term it positive only after confirmation from Lucknow, stated Vats.

Official sources said that the patients husband had already tested positive for coronavirus and was undergoing treatment at an isolation ward in Bengaluru. The woman had travelled to Agra and was admitted to the railway hospital in Agra for treatment because of her prolonged illness.

Later, she was shifted to the district hospital and her sample was taken and sent to the JNMC (Aligarh).

Agra already had seven positive cases, which included five of a family, their accounts manager and his wife. All of them were in isolation wards of Delhi hospitals.

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Mormon Church Cancels Services Around the World Over Coronavirus

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is suspending all worship services around the world due to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, it said in a statement on Thursday night.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based group made the decision just hours after the states governor recommended against all group gatherings of more than 100 people for at least two weeks.

Beginning immediately, all public gatherings of Church members are being temporarily suspended worldwide until further notice, the Mormon church wrote in a statement. That includes conferences and large gatherings, public church services, and branch activities.

Where possible, please conduct any essential leadership meetings via technology. Specific questions may be referred to local priesthood leaders. Further direction related to other matters will be provided, the church wrote, adding: Bishops should counsel with their stake president to determine how to make the sacrament available to members at least once a month.

The move comes one day after the church announced it would hold a large conference in April without any attendees.

The church has more than 16 million members around the world and about six million in the United States. It means that its the largest religious organization in the country to suspend worship services amid the viral outbreak, which began in Wuhan, China, late last month.

Around the nation, the Catholic archdiocese in Seattle said it would cancel all public events, while the Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., and Virginia said it would hold no in-person services.

And pastor Joel Osteen announced that its Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, would not hold service this week.

We will continue to monitor the situation week by week and hope to resume the assembly in the very near future, the church announced Wednesday.
London's St Patricks Day Parade, held last year. (Photo by Dinendra Haria / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)

London has become the latest city to close its St Patricks Day parade amid coronavirus fears.

It follows a series of events that were called off in Ireland earlier in the week due to the amount of people that attend, including international visitors.

Events in the US have also been cancelled because of fears the virus  also known as Covid-19  could spread, with New York calling off its parade for the first time in 258 years.

The event falls on Tuesday 17 March this year.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he was disappointed to cancel the celebration but said he had no choice but to do so.

UPDATE: Londons St Patricks Day celebrations are an annual highlight for many, so I'm incredibly disappointed that this years event has had to be cancelled as key performers and parade participants are no longer able to participate due to the ongoing threat of coronavirus.  Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) March 13, 2020

Londons Irish community makes a huge contribution to our great city. I recognise that the unavailability of key performers and parade participants leaves no choice but to cancel.  Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) March 13, 2020

In Ireland, four events in Dublin were called off, starting with the three-day festival village which was to start on 14 March, a treasure hunt on 15 March and the festival parade and ceili mor, a cultural event, on 17 March.

An official Government statement said: Due to the unique nature and scale of the St Patricks Day festivities, in terms of size, the mass gathering of local and international travellers, and the continued progression of community transmission in some European countries, along with the emergence of a small number of cases of local transmission in Ireland, the Government has decided that St Patricks Day parades, including the Dublin parade, will not proceed.

Story continues

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (right), alongside Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan, at Government Buildings in Dublin, announced the St Patrick's Day parade would be called off. (PA Images)

This is based on the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team.

The situation in relation to other events and mass gatherings remains under review and any response will be guided by the NPHET which meets again tomorrow, along with the public health advice.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of Covid-19 cases in your local area

Explained: Symptoms, latest advice and how it compares to the flu

New York City has also called off the parade, with the New York state governor saying that limiting large gatherings is one of the best ways to stop the virus spreading.

New York's Parade, pictured last year, attracts millions of visitors. (Photo by Gabriele Holtermann Gorden / Pacific Press/Sipa USA)

It is the largest parade in the US, usually drawing in two million spectators, but it will be held at a later date.

Boston has also called off its parade.

Bostons mayor said the event was called off out of an abundance of caution to ensure that we are doing what is needed to keep the residents of Boston safe and healthy.

Chicago cancelled its parade too, with the citys mayor Lori Lightfoot telling reporters she couldnt risk the event taking place.
Talk about theocratic temerity. The regime in Tehran is calling on the International Monetary Fund to "stand on the right side of history" by giving Iran $5 billion to fight the coronavirus pandemic. It's the first time the Islamic Republic has sought financial aid from the multilateral institution. (The last time Iran asked was 20 years before the 1979 revolution.)

For the international community - and for the U.S., which has effective veto power on IMF decisions - this presents a quandary: The Iranian people definitely need the help, but their leaders can't be trusted with the money.

The Islamic Republic is the third-worst hit country after China and Italy, with 429 people dead. The regime has manifestly failed to manage the crisis. In the first phase, the leadership lied about the extent of the outbreak, and made a series of decisions that only aggravated the contagion.

Now, Iran's medical system is overwhelmed, and its population may be more vulnerable than those of other virus-hit countries. And its porous borders with countries in the Middle East and Central Asia endanger the entire neighborhood.

Clearly, the world can't stand by while Iran suffers. But it's not at all clear that giving the regime $5 billion will mitigate these problems.

For one thing, the Iranians continue to dissimulate about the crisis: everything, from statistical logic to satellite images of massive grave sites, suggests it is worse than Tehran is prepared to admit. Although several well-known political and religious figures have contracted the virus, there remains a remarkable lack of seriousness on the subject among the leadership. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claims the virus is a biological weapon aimed at the Islamic Republic.

Others in the Iranian government blame the contagion on the standard dog-ate-my-homework excuse for all regime failings: American economic sanctions. This is nonsense. It was President Hassan Rouhani, not Donald Trump, who prevented authorities from locking down the city of Qom when the outbreak first occurred there. No American restrictions required Iranian airlines to keep operating flights to and from China long after other countries had stopped doing so. And while the Trump administration may be underplaying the coronavirus scare in the U.S., it did not compel Iranian hospitals to conceal data.

It's worth remembering that the regime hasn't allowed the economic sanctions to stop its support of the genocidal regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, which runs into billions of dollars. Nor is Tehran too hard-up to keep its many proxy militias and terrorist groups across the Middle East in cigarettes and rockets, to the tune of $16 billion.

Given the regime's well-established propensities, there is reason to fear that large proportions of any financial aid to fight the virus will either be diverted to the likes of Hezbollah and Hamas, or line the commodious pockets of klepto-theocrats like Khamenei.

The solution, then, is to give the regime all manner of help, without giving it any money directly.

First, any assistance should be conditional on Iran allowing multilateral agencies such as the World Health Organization take charge of the fight against the virus. Having badly bungled its own efforts, it can hardly argue that Iranians should be in charge.

The IMF should then create, with American blessings, a $5 billion fund, strictly for use by these multilateral agencies. The money can pay for medical equipment and supplies, and expenses linked to any non-Iranian personnel required for the effort.

Tehran should keep paying for its own medical staff. It can also use the recently-opened Swiss banking channel to import additional humanitarian supplies as necessary.

This arrangement may be the best way to get help to Iranians without enabling the worst instincts of their leaders. There may still be some room for the regime to misuse non-cash assistance - we should not be surprised to discover Hezbollah flogging ventilators on the black market, for instance. But at least, the IMF will be able to argue, in good faith, that it is "on the right side of history."

- - -

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. Bobby Ghosh is a columnist and member of the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board. He writes on foreign affairs, with a special focus on the Middle East and the wider Islamic world.
(Natural News) Beijing health authorities recently performed a successful double transplant operation on a coronavirus patient who needed two matching lungs. The 59-year-old organ recipient only had days to live, but two matching lungs were available in a pinch and a life-saving surgery was conducted very quickly. Human rights groups are warning that this speedy operation shows all the signs of organ harvesting.

Over the past three years, China has rounded up hundreds of thousands of Muslims. They are being held within indoctrination camps throughout Xinjiang China. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) reveals that Chinese authorities are brainwashing the Muslims in Chinas high security prisons.

In China, Muslim prisoners are an efficient source of organs

Now, there are growing fears in China that these Muslim prisoners are being allowed to die so their organs can be harvested and used to treat dying coronavirus patients. Organ harvesting operations need doctors and hospital systems that are incompetent enough to commit multiple medical errors to force brain death on patients. In China, that goal is much easier to attain when the patients are political prisoners whose lives mean nothing to authorities. Its much easier to harvest organs from political prisoners who have no right to consent to the process in the first place.

In traditional organ procurement, doctors have to confirm that the patient has brain death. Once that diagnosis is confirmed, the patient is declared deceased and organ procurement can commence legally  if the patient had previously consented to being an organ donor. Doctors are trained to recognize vital signs of brain bleeds, cerebral edema, and impending brain death. They should typically be able to admit patients to an intensive care unit to save their life; however, if the doctor stalls long enough, whether strategically or accidentally, brain death will result, allowing for efficient organ harvesting.

In Chinas prison camps, there are no rules to follow. Human rights do not matter to them. The Muslim prisoners can readily be preyed upon for their organs, especially when there is a large demand for organs. Wealthy Chinese patients may get preferential treatment in the medical system. Muslim prisoners may have the matching organs these dying people require. Human rights organizations are questioning how this 59-year-old Chinese patient was able to get two matching lungs so quickly, so easily.

While the Chinese press was quick to highlight the success of the medical system, another magazine raised suspicions. According to the campaigning magazine, Bitter Winter: The patient, who on February 24th, was given days to livehad only to wait a matter of five days before a perfectly matching, consenting, brain-dead donor could be found.

Whilst around the world waiting times for a single lung from a suitable donor could be years, China has shown this week that it need only be days, for two perfectly matched lungs to be rustled up. The fact that two matching lungs were found in a few days raises new suspicions of organ harvesting, the publication warns.

The ICIJ warns that Uyghur Muslims are being used as a kill-on-demand emergency backstop for Chinese coronavirus patients.

The countrys illegal forced organ harvesting program is being revealed. China relies on state prisoners to provide organ transplants. At one point, up to two-thirds of transplant organs were taken from prisoners. The Sun Online reported how Chinese scientists used the organs of hundreds of executed prisoners to conduct experiments. The scientists used hearts, lungs and livers taken from dead prisoners.

The Chinese government reports that approximately 10,000 transplants occur each year. Hospital data shows there are around 70,000 transplants every year, revealing that 60,000 illegal transplants are occurring from unknown organ sources.

Sources include:

BBC.com

TheSun.com

BitterWinter.org
Investors observe the stock market on a computer at a securities firm in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

The price-earnings ratio of Vietnams VN-Index fell to 13 on Wednesday, its lowest level since mid-2016.

After the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchanges benchmark index lost heavily twice this week, its PE ratio has fallen 21 percent below the average of the last five years, according to data from brokerages.

In Southeast Asia it is higher only than that of Singapores STI (11). It is 16 in Malaysia, 15.6 in Indonesia and 14.8 in Thailand, SSI Securities said in its latest report.

"The valuation of the stock market falling to a low level is an advantage for Vietnam in reattracting foreign capital flows and helping indices rebound when the novel coronavirus epidemic is controlled globally."

VNDIRECT Securities said the low PE could also bring back domestic cash in the final week of March, with investors buying stocks with high potential, but investors should avoid using leverage for safety.

At the end of 2019 the VN-Index had a PE of around 15.5, with many securities firms forecasting robust profit growth for listed companies this year.

But after the Covid-19 epidemic broke out in Vietnam in late January, some firms revised their PE forecasts down to 13.9 after factoring in the epidemics likely effect in the first quarter.

The outbreak has shaved 15.45 percent off Vietnams benchmark index since it reopened on January 30 after a one-week national holiday, closing at 811.35 on Wednesday.

On Monday alone the index lost 6.28 percent, its worst fall since 2001.

Since January 30 foreign investors have been net sellers for 22 straight sessions, offloading VND4.86 trillion ($209.51 million) worth of shares.

In February their sales amounted to VND3.13 trillion ($134.93 million), the highest single-month figure in a decade, according to SSI.
Regulatory News:

Advicenne (Paris:ADVIC) (BSE:ADVIC) (Euronext Paris Brussels: ADVIC FR0013296746), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapeutic products for rare kidney diseases, today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2019 and confirmed its 2020 operational outlook.

2019 Highlights

2019 was a year of significant development for Advicenne as the company approaches the European commercialization of its lead drug candidate, ADV7103, in the treatment of distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA). Preparations for the candidate's anticipated 2020 market launch, as well as ongoing Phase III clinical trials for dRTA in the United States and Canada, and for cystinuria in Europe, were the main investment items impacting the year's income statement.

Financial and Commercial Developments

In 2019, Advicenne has:

Announced a successful cross-listing on the Euronext Brussels, making shares of the company available on the two largest Euronext markets in the life sciences sector.

Signed a financing agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the amount of 20 million, structured in three tranches of 7.5 million, 5 million and 7.5 million, respectively.

In another major step, Advicenne secured the commercial production of its lead drug candidate, ADV7103, through a long-term manufacturing supply agreement with Elaiapharm Lundbeck.

Scientific, Clinical and Regulatory Developments

Advicenne has also:

Announced that it had received authorization from Belgium's Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP) to begin a pivotal Phase II/III CORAL clinical trial for cystinuria with ADV7103.

Filed the submission of a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for ADV7103 in the treatment of dRTA.

With three posters presented at the annual conference of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), Advicenne confirmed prevalence figures for dRTA and cystinuria.

Announced the enrollment of the first patient in its United States pivotal Phase III Arena-2 clinical trial evaluating ADV7103 in the treatment of dRTA.

Presented additional European efficacy data on ADV7103 in the treatment of dRTA through oral and poster presentations at the 18 th annual congress of the International Pediatric Nephrology Association (IPNA).

annual congress of the International Pediatric Nephrology Association (IPNA). Announced that ADV7103 had been approved for orphan drug designation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of cystinuria in Europe.

Corporate Governance and Oversight Developments

In 2019 Advicenne named Implid Audit a co-auditor in addition to KPMG, whose mandate was renewed. This choice was made in anticipation of the consolidation of accounts planned as part of the company's international deployment.

In the interest of corporate governance best practices, Advicenne separated the functions of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors, naming David Horn Solomon Chairman in an important step for the company's international strategy.

The company appointed Dr. Andre Ulmann interim CEO on March 12, 2020.

2020 and 2021 Outlook

For Advicenne, 2020 will primarily be devoted to preparing the European launch of ADV7103, whose application for marketing authorization is under review with the EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP). A decision is expected in 2020.

In 2020 Advicenne will also continue to pursue its investment in Phase III clinical trials in Europe, Canada and in the United States in the treatment of dRTA and cystinuria.

The company has also submitted its first requests for orphan drug designation in the United States.

Key Financial Data for 2019

The Advicenne Board of Directors met on March 12, 2020, under the chairmanship of David Horn Solomon, and approved the company's consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019. Audit work has been undertaken by approved independent auditors whose report is ongoing.

IFRS Income Statement

(in thousands of euros) INCOME STATEMENT ( thousands) December 31, 2019 December 31, 2018 Revenue 1,663 963 Income from partnership 5,000 Other operating income 921 961 Total revenue and other income 2,584 6,924 Operating expenses -16,832 -12,216 Operating loss -14,248 -5,292 Net loss -14,198 -5,015 Loss per share (/share) -1.74 -0.62 Diluted loss per share (/share) -1.74 -0.62

Revenue in 2019 and 2018 was driven primarily by sales of Likozam and Levidcen, two in-licensed products for the treatment of epilepsy. Advicenne has commercialized these medications in order to respond to the requests of physicians for alternative treatments for children suffering from the condition. Revenue from Likozam and Levidcen is up 35% since 2018.

At the close of 2018, sales of Advicenne's lead drug candidate, ADV7103, began within the framework of European Early Access Programs (EAP). Sales reached 460 thousand in 2019.

Other revenue derives from a research tax credit of 0.9 million. 2018 partnership revenue is tied to a second milestone payment of 5 million following the September 2018 European marketing authorization for Ozalin, sold to Primex Pharmaceuticals in 2016.

Operating costs, and their increase relative to 2018, are due primarily to investment in ADV7103 Phase III clinical trials for dRTA in the United States, and for cystinuria in Europe. Operating costs are also tied to preparations for the European commercial launch of ADV7103.

IFRS Balance Sheet

(in thousands of euros) BALANCE SHEET ( thousands) December 31, 2019 December 31, 2018 Non-current assets 2,241 254 Current assets 21,638 32,585 of which cash and cash equivalents 16,629 26,232 Total assets 23,879 32,839 Total shareholders' equity 16,720 29,394 Non-current liabilities 1,536 321 of which borrowings and financial debt 1,324 172 Current liabilities 5,623 3,123 of which borrowings and financial debt 288 248 of which trade payables 3,907 1,569 of which other current liabilities 1,427 1,306 Total liabilities 23,879 32,839

At the close of 2019, Advicenne's cash and cash equivalents were at 16.6 million, reflecting limited consumption of 9.6 million for the year.

IFRS Cash Flow Statement

(in thousands of euros) CASH FLOW ( thousands) December 31, 2019 December 31, 2018 Cash flow from operations -9,475 -10,181 of which self-financing capacity -13,303 -4,484 of which variation in working capital 3,828 -5,697 Cash flow from investing activities -1,112 -342 Cash flow from financing activities 983 571 of which capital increase 1,009 744 of which variation of borrowings and refundable advances 26 Change in cash -9,603 -9,951 Opening cash 26,232 36,183 Closing cash 16,629 26,232

In 2019, cash flow from operations was negative 9.5 million due to an operating loss partially offset by a positive impact from working capital.

Cash flow connected to investing activities was mainly related to the automation of the packaging line for ADV7103 in preparation for its commercial launch.

Investing flow is covered by flows from financing activities with a positive variation of 1 million due to the capital increase that took place in 2019 following the exercise of warrants, primarily by company management.

"For Advicenne, 2019 was a year punctuated by the achievement of many key milestones," explains

Dr. David Horn Solomon, the company's Chairman of the Board. "We have moved closer to bringing our lead drug candidate to market while preparing for its operational launch in Europe. The company has also improved its financial visibility by signing a financing agreement of 20 million with the EIB, which it has not yet used."

About Advicenne

Advicenne (Euronext ADVIC) is a specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing innovative treatments for those suffering from rare kidney disease. Our lead drug candidate is currently in late-stage clinical trials for two indications.

ADV7103 was granted orphan drug designation by the European Commission in the treatment of Cystinuria in late 2019 and distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA) in 2017, two rare renal diseases.

Cystinuria is a genetic disease characterized by cystine accumulation in the kidneys, leading to the recurrent formation of cystine stones.

dRTA is a serious condition that occurs when the kidneys are unable to effectively remove the buildup of circulating acids in the blood, resulting in metabolic imbalance.

In 2019, ADV7103 received the same designation for the treatment of cystinuria, a genetic disease characterized by a buildup of the amino acid cystine in the kidneys and bladder, leading to the recurrent formation of kidney stones, among other complications.

ADV7103 is currently in Phase III clinical trials for dRTA in the United States and Canada, and for cystinuria in Europe. In 2019, a European marketing authorization application for the drug candidate in the treatment of dRTA was submitted for centralized review.

At Advicenne, we are committed to innovating in the areas of formulation and dosage. Tasteless and easy to administer, our products are commercialized in small-size formats that offer flexible, personalized dosing because path-breaking treatments for rare diseases should be available to patients of all ages.

Headquartered in Nimes, France, Advicenne has been listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange since 2017 and was cross-listed on the Euronext Brussels stock exchange in 2019.

www.advicenne.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of Advicenne, which shall not be considered per se as historical facts. Such statements include projections and estimates, and the hypotheses on which these are based, as well as observations relating to operations, ongoing projects, objectives, the development of products and their future performance, and expectations regarding financial results.

In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "could," "should," "may," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "aims," "targets" or similar words. Although the management of Advicenne believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonably made, investors should be aware that they are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In particular, the expectations of Advicenne could be affected by, among other things, uncertainties involved in the placing on the market and commercialization of Advicenne products or any other risks and uncertainties developed or identified in any public documents filed by Advicenne with the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorite des marches financiers (AMF)), including those listed in Chapter 4, "Risk Factors," of its reference document, filed with the latter on December 19, 2019, under number D.19-1036. Notwithstanding the compliance with article 223-1 of the General Regulation of the AMF (the information disclosed must be "accurate, precise and fairly presented"), Advicenne disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Any information relating to the use of drug candidates contained in the present press release is based on the results of ongoing studies at the time of the release's publication. A drug candidate is a product that has not yet received marketing authorization from a health agency.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005092/en/

Contacts:

Advicenne

David Horn Solomon, Paul Michalet,

Julie Rachline

Email: investors@advicenne.com

+33 (0)4 66 05 54 20



Press Relations

Alize RP

Caroline Carmagnol

Email: advicenne@alizerp.com

+33 (0)6 64 18 99 59



Financial Communications

NewCap

Emmanuel Huynh Alexia Faure

E-mail: advicenne@newcap.eu

+33 (0)1 44 71 94 94



US Investor Relations

Rx Communications Group, LLC

Paula Schwartz

E-mail: pschwartz@rxir.com

+001 917-322-2216
NEW DELHI: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is investigating the last months communal riots in northeast Delhi, has identified burqa-clad women who were part of the mob which attacked Delhi Police personnel trying to calm the situation after clashes broke out over the amended citizenship act.

The SIT is believed to have identified at least six burqa-clad women after examining several viral videos which showed how they mercilessly attacking Head Constable Rattan Lal during violence in the Gokul Puri locality on February 24.

After examining the CCTV footage and the viral videos on violence in Chand Bagh and Gokul Puri localities, the SIT is now preparing to arrest these women for interrogation in connection with the attack on police personnel and head constable Rattan Lals brutal murder.

At least 70-80 women wearing burqa could be seen in the CCTV footage obtained by the police from Chand Bagh and other nearby localities where the violence erupted.

The SIT has also questioned several local residents of Chand Bagh for more leads in the case. In the videos, these burqa-clad women can be seen pelting stones at the police team, which was trying to control the situation.

The videos also show the brutality heaped by rioters on the Delhi Police personnel during the riots on February 24.

One such video shows how DCP Amit Sharma was grievously injured and Head Constable Rattan Lal was beaten to death by a violent mob. In another video, Delhi Police personnel can be seen rescuing the DCP to safety.

It may be noted that the SIT had earlier arrested seven people in connection with the murder of a Delhi Police Head Constable Ratan Lal during clashes over the Citizenship Amendment Act in the north-east district last month.

Lal sustained gunshot injury while he was out in the field to control the violence in north-east Delhi`s Gokalpuri on February 24.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore and a government job to the family of Ratan Lal.

At least 53 persons were killed and over 200 injured in the communal violence that raged unabated in north-east Delhi for two days.
Jeffrey Michaud circulated through the buzzy dining room and amber glow of Via Locusta and sidled up to a table laden with truffled agnolotti, crimson curls of heirloom radicchio, and the familiar faces of some regulars from Osteria. One of them asked: Are you wearing makeup?

Nah, another chef kneed me in the eye this morning, said Michaud, 42, shrugging off his black eye with a nonchalance only a chef who sidelines as a black belt jujitsu instructor can. The glancing blows always leave the biggest marks.

The martial arts have no doubt landed some punches over the years. But Michauds chef life, by most measures, has been charmed since arriving in Philadelphia in 2001 to cook alongside Marc Vetri at Vetris eponymous restaurant. Its an association that contributed to Michauds cooking interlude in Bergamo, Italy, where he met his wife, Claudia Cagnoni, to his triumphant return to cofound Osteria, winning a James Beard award (best chef Mid-Atlantic, 2010), writing a cookbook, and a piece of Urban Outfitters multimillion dollar purchase of the Vetri Family restaurants.

But if theres been a glancing blow to Michauds enviable culinary career, its an unspoken sense that hed been perpetually overshadowed, perhaps taken for granted by the brand-name recognition of his mentor and former partner.

Via Locusta, Michauds latest project with new partners Michael Schulson and Nina Tinari, represents a clean break for the chef to make a statement on his own. And any doubts over Michauds talent or vision can be summarily dismissed after some truly memorable meals in this stylish dining room off Rittenhouse Square, as one distinctive pasta after the next wrapped me tighter in the embrace of next-level noodles.

Springy garganelli quills are hand-rolled with grooves that grab a zesty allamatriciana sauce sweet with onions and salty nuggets of guanciale. Smooth paccheri tubes crunch with toasted focaccia crumbs enriched by a citrusy anchovy butter whose briny savor conjured a seaside breeze.

A plate of doppio ravioli brings two-toned dumplings with divided centers that deliver with a double-barreled blast of flavors. The deeply fruity sweetness of wine-steeped figs. Boom. The creamy blue tang of molten Gorgonzola. Boom. Then one beautiful harmony as they melt.

Via Locusta is more than just Michauds story. Its also about his collaboration with talented executive chef, Ed Pinello. Its also about the beautifully designed compact room and slick service operation overseen by Schulson and Tinari.

The duo also partnered with Michaud to buy Osteria back from Urban Outfitters, investing a mint to rehab the space. I dont prefer Osterias new vibe, which is darker, loungier, and more fern-bar corporate. But lowering prices (average checks now $10 to $15 less) and adding a solid happy hour while maintaining quality were smart moves to transition the North Broad Street landmark into more of a neighborhood standby role than exclusively a special occasion destination.

But Via Locusta, its name an Italianized version of its Locust Street address, has the fresh feeling of a concept tuned to the grazing ways and casual ethos of 2020. The lively mood manages to straddle both comfort (its servers in collarless Henley shirts, gray aprons and jeans) and the kind of Rittenhouse polish that feels like a cozy pasta-centric complement to neighboring Parc, the French brasserie owned by Schulsons former employer, Stephen Starr, that occupies most of the ground floor of Vias building.

Via Locusta is considerably smaller than Parc, at 40 seats plus 10 at the bar and an upstairs pasta production room that transforms at night into an intimate private dining space with a mezzanine view over the tony crowd below. But every inch of design reflects its Northern Italian theme, with Venetian plaster walls, rose marble at the bar, terra-cotta floor work, and cushy green velvet banquettes. Curvy-edged wall mirrors, subway tiles, and matchstick chandeliers conduct even more vitality to the space. Meanwhile, the restaurants only bathroom  one too few for such a busy place  is nonetheless a gem, a calming wood cabin of scented candles and artichoke photos thats a quiet haven from Vias pulsing din.

All that energy  well-oiled with Italian wines and cocktails shaded with house-steeped bitters  takes its cues from the cuisine, a vibrant take on Italian flavors built around 12 fairly priced pastas (almost all under $20), seasonal vegetable small plates, and a handful of mains intended for sharing. Contributions from both Michaud and Pinello, a veteran of Wm. Mulherins Sons and Il Pittore, are evident throughout.

Every meal should begin with the focaccia, the toasty round glistening with olive oil and fragrant rosemary is ideal with the creamy house farmers cheese, or a fermented sausage dip thats tasty but has a raw pork look some customers may not warm to.

There are some beautiful seafood crudos to spark the palate, like the red snapper in Meyer lemon-horseradish vinaigrette with fennel fronds, or sweet Barnegat scallops with grapefruit in a clear acquapazza broth that tastes vividly of tomato and Fresno peppers.

The most compelling starters are rooted in great produce, like the salt-roasted Arrowhead cabbage that sits in a whey-enriched pool of warm Parmesan broth. Or the colorful crudite of tiny carrots, crunchy pears, and brassicas with agliata sauce, or the spectacular chicory piles of pink, red, and burgundy-speckled leaves that turn heads as they pass by like lush floral arrangements.

I wasnt a fan of the roasted onion, too mushy with sausage stuffing. But the crispy, milk-brined romanesco fritto dusted with mint, dried chiles, and lemon zest and farmers cheese for dipping is my new favorite way to eat broccolis fancy cousin.

Vegetable garnishes are also key to elevating the otherwise familiar entrees. Minced fennel soffrito splashed with lemony prosecco vinaigrette brightens a juicy slice of swordfish. The concentrated sweetness of roasted tomato conserva, alongside a vibrant green dollop of whipped arugula puree, made the lack of sauce irrelevant with the 18-ounce strip, a tremendous bone-in chop whose beefy essence was intensified by dry-aging alongside the steaks for Schulsons Alpen Rose.

Pinellos superb suckling pig, a pressed square of crackery skin over fork tender flesh, found seasonal nuance in two shades of artichoke, braised Roman-style, and also candied to spicy-sweet mostarda. Even the chicken, usually a bore, was made memorable by a salt-roast technique that firmed and flavored the flesh, perched over a dark puddle of earthy porcini jus with the wine-red plumes of tardivo radicchio rising-up dramatically beside the bird like crunchy curls of bitter chicory flames.

Via Locustas essential appeal, though, is its stunning array of pastas, which are hand-rolled or extruded daily, and conceived with sauces that complement, rather than dominate the quality of the noodles, a craft Michaud has refined over research trips to Italy, and continuous tweaks to recipes to include more locally milled whole grains.

You can feel the luxurious texture of the wide fazzoletti as those perfect pasta sheets, glossed in brown butter, tug and snap against fried sage leaves and walnuts. The simple pasta water sauce is enriched and amplified by an egg yolk mixed in tableside with grated Piave cheese. Toothy rigatoni have a marvelous spring as they tumble into the Roman heartiness of braised oxtail ragu. The nutty savor of whole wheat adds a rustic grip to spaghetti that can stand up to a boisterous mince of peperoncini, a garlicky pepper blend of long hots, shishitos and dried peppers that fine-tunes the fruity heat to a bold-but-bearable spice.

I could eat the silky pappardelle with pork ragu every day, and actually afford it, at $16 a plate. But my favorite was among the most minimalist, a plate of quadretti ravioli stuffed with a stretchy buffalos milk variation on Taleggio (Quadrello), coated in a buffalos milk butter whose distinctive lactic tang magnified the cheeses milky sweetness with every bite.

The desserts are limited to simple fruit crostatas and frozen scoops. But theyre well made, and offer the thoroughly-trained servers another chance to show off their menu savvy by suggesting smart pairings even for the gelati. Juicy blood orange sorbetti, it turns out, is brilliant beside herbal olive oil-bay leaf gelato.

The most memorable sweets, though, were the Ligurian-style baci di Alassio, the chewy little hazelnut-cocoa cookies sandwiched around rich ganache served as a parting gift. They offer just a glancing peck of sweetness. But as a final taste of Michauds impressive comeback, they leave a lasting mark.
1 of 1

NCWEB: A Blessing in Disguise for female candidates seeking admission in Delhi University

khaskhabar.com : , 13  2020 1:18 PM
Muhammad Sanusi II, the deposed emir of Kano, is preparing to leave Awe, Nasarawa state, following a court order to release him. S...





Muhammad Sanusi II, the deposed emir of Kano, is preparing to leave Awe, Nasarawa state, following a court order to release him.





Sanusis lawyers on Friday got a court injunction to release him from confinement in line with the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.





Sanusis luggage are currently being offloaded from the house to cars within the his exile home in Awe.





Sanusis luggage





The official vehicle of Nasir el-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna state, is parked within the compound, ready to depart for Lafia.





Sanusi, who was deposed by Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state on Monday, was banished to Loko town, Nasarawa state.





On Tuesday, he was airlifted from Loko to Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital, from where he was driven to Awe local government area.
An extreme shortage of hospital beds. A dearth of critical medical supplies, like ventilators and face masks. In a rapid surge of coronavirus cases spanning the United States, new reports warn states and hospitals throughout the country are unprepared to deal with an onslaught of seriously ill patients.

As the death toll for the Wuhan coronavirus surpasses 40 in the US and states declare emergencies over alarming new outbreaks of them mysterious illness, a conservative analysis of Americas hospitals estimated just one bed for nearly six seriously ill patients in the event of nationwide surge of cases.

The analysis, conducted by USA Today and published in a report on Friday that cited research from the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security and figures from the American Hospital Association, estimated 23.8 million Americans may contract COVID-19.

Experts then predicted that a shortage of beds would occur in numerous states if the US failed in its efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and if the virus were to spread in a similar way that it is has in other heavily-impacted countries, like Italy.

Unless we are able to implement dramatic isolation measures like some places in China, well be presented with overwhelming numbers of coronavirus patients  two to 10 times as we see at peak influenza times, Dr James Lawler, a researcher at the University of Nebraskas Medical Centre and the Global Centre for Health Security, told USA Today.

He added: No hospital has current capacity to absorb that.

The analysis was conservative in that it assumed all of the more than 790,000 staffed hospital beds in US hospitals were empty. Less conservatives estimates are even more harrowing, predicting nearly 17 patients for every available bed.

Since the infection rate for the Wuhan coronavirus remains unknown, USA Today used a comparative analysis with a mild flu season and estimated nearly 6.1 percent of patients would face critical symptoms, while another 13.8 percent would face severe symptoms, all of whom would require hospitalisation.

Some experts have said the countrys health care industry was not designed to deal with such a phenomenon.

Dr Matthew Wynia, director of the Centre for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, told Business Insider: The incentives of the healthcare system are antithetical to building and maintaining surge capacity.

He also told the news outlet a surge in confirmed coronavirus cases could also lead to a shortfall of medical supplies like ventilators, as well as the staff required to properly use such devices.

You need people to run the ventilators, he said.

Though the majority of coronavirus cases typically feature mild, flu-like symptoms, the most critical infections sometimes feature deadly complications like septic shock, respiratory failure and organ failure and more.

State officials have said they are working to slow the spread of the virus as much as possible, while instituting new guidelines for patients with confirmed cases to recover from their symptoms at home in isolation.

Dr Colleen Krat, who heads the Clinical Virology Research Laboratory at Emory University School of Medicine, told USA Today not all patients who contract COVID-19 may require hospitalisation.

If people have to be quarantined or have to be isolated, we're finding that healthcares being used as sort of safety net for that, she said. And that's not going to work if we have really sick people that need help.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah visited his father Sheikh Abdullah's grave, located on the banks of the Dal Lake at Hazratbal here, shortly after being released from his 221-day detention on Friday.

Accompanied by his wife Moile, grandson Adeem and other members of the family, Abdullah offered prayers at the grave of his father.

Dressed in a black kurta, a traditional 'Karakuli' cap and dark sunglasses because of a recent eye surgery, Abdullah spent some time at the grave.

He could not offer prayers on his father's death anniversary on December 5 last year as he was in detention under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA).

Talking to reporters at his residence earlier on Friday after the PSA slapped on him was revoked by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, Abdullah said, "I am grateful to every one who prayed for us but this freedom is not complete.

"Freedom will be complete when all leaders Omar, Mehbooba ji and all the others who are in prisons of the state or outside the state are released. I hope government will take action soon to release every one...," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ISIS has issued guidance for terrorists on how to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

A list of 'religious directives' on tackling infectious diseases appeared in the latest issue of the terror group's newspaper al-Naba.

The list includes 'stay away from sick people', 'wash your hands before eating' and 'avoid travel to affected areas'  similar to advice being issued by world governments.

But it also includes decrees such as 'put your faith in God and seek refuge in him'.

Jihadists are also told 'illnesses do not strike by themselves but by the command and decree of God.'

ISIS's newspaper al-Naba issued the list of 'religious directives' on tackling infectious diseases in the latest issue

While ISIS has lost almost all of its so-called caliphate in the Middle East, it is thought to still hold pockets of territory across Iraq and Syria.

Iraq has so far reported 79 cases of coronavirus with eight deaths  a death rate of 10 per cent, suggesting the actual number of infections is much higher.

Syria has not reported any cases of coronavirus, but with the government only in control of parts of the country and the healthcare system in ruins after years of civil war it is possible cases are going undetected.

Iran is by far the worst-affected country in the Middle East with at least 10,000 cases and hundreds of deaths, though observers believe the true toll is far higher.

Iraq has so far reported 79 cases of coronavirus with eight deaths  a death rate of 10 per cent. A worker sprays disinfectant at Baghdad international airport, Iraq

Recently-revealed satellite images suggest mass graves are being dug in Qom, the city at the centre of the outbreak, to house the bodies of victims.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Oman and Kuwait have all reported cases  largely in people who have returned from travel in Iran.

ISIS also holds territory in West Africa including in Burkina Faso, which has reported a small number of cases, and close to Nigeria which is also affected.

Globally, more than 125,000 have contracted coronavirus while deaths from the disease were approaching 5,000 as of Friday morning.

Iran is by far the worst-affected country in the Middle East with at least 10,000 cases and hundreds of deaths. A general view of Tehran during coronavirus crisis, 12 March

However, experts in many countries are warning the true number of cases could be ten times higher than reported because they cannot test everyone.

The UK has said that those with mild symptoms should self-isolate and will not be tested until they need hospital treatment.

Meanwhile the US CDC admitted only carrying out 77 tests for the virus in the past week, despite President Trump pledging to test 'millions'.

The World Health Organisation has officially declared coronavirus a global pandemic  meaning it is spreading out of control in multiple parts of the world simultaneously  and urged government to take immediate action to curb its spread.

Measures being adopted by affected countries include 'social distancing'  like closing schools, banning large gatherings and shutting offices  to slow the spread of the disease.

While ISIS has lost almost all of its so-called caliphate in the Middle East, it is thought to still hold pockets of territory across Iraq and Syria. Worker disinfects Baghdad Airport, Iraq

Because the virus is new, humans have no natural immunity to it, meaning it spreads rapidly.

Governments such as Germany are warning that up to 70 per cent of the population will catch it, meaning billions of infections worldwide and the potential for hundreds of millions of deaths.

While the majority of cases are mild, around 20 per cent become serious  with the elderly and those with underlying conditions most at risk.

Because the virus spreads so rapidly, that has led to hospitals being overwhelmed and death rates spiking in affected regions.

Advice to prevent the spread of the virus includes washing hands regularly with soap, coughing and sneezing into a tissue or crooked elbow, and avoiding large crowds and poorly-ventilated spaces.
Srinagar, March 13 : The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday suspended Shafqat Khan, Nodal Officer, Coronavirus Control Efforts in the Union Territory for dereliction of duties, a government statement said.

"Pending enquiry into his conduct Dr Shafqat Khan, is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect. During the period of suspension the official shall remain attached with the office of Deputy Commissioner Kathua/Office of Chief Medical Officer Kathua," the order said.

Khan has been placed under suspension with immediate effect. Speaking to IANS, Khan also confirmed that he has been put under suspension.

The J&K government had recently established a 'Coronavirus Control Efforts' and appointed Khan as the nodal officer.

In the Union Territory one case has tested positive and 1,433 people are under surveillance, as per the health officials on Thursday.

In the wake of the virus threat, the J&K administration has ordered the closure all educational institutions.

The health department in J&K has been put on an alert to deal with possible cases of coronavirus in Kashmir. Trained staff has been mobilised and an isolation ward established.

Doctors have been deputed at the medical centres across Kashmir. The J&K government has also deputed medical staff to screen foreigners at the Srinagar airport.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Neon Cars are a part of the line - up that will perform in Tralee at the Stag & Doe Sessions.

The popular 'Stag & Doe' music sessions will return to Tralee next month as it celebrates its one-year anniversary.

The sessions, which have drawn a great crowd each and every time they've come to Kerry, will be back in The Fiddler bar in Tralee on Friday April 3 and once more, they have a great line-up in store.

To help celebrate the one-year anniversary, organisers have three Irish acts ready to take to the stage - these are:

- Leevy

- Sara Ryan

- The Neon Cars (formerly 'Columbia Band')

Leevy's performance is extra special as they were the act who opened up the very first 'Stag & Doe' sessions back in 2019. Leevy will be back with a whole new series of original songs including his latest single ' Set Me Sailing' which was released on all major music platforms yesterday, March 10.

Tickets for this show are 10 and they are currently on sale via the Eventbrite link on the 'Stag & Doe Sessions' Facebook page.
Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic has invoked the Stafford Act, which makes millions of dollars in federal funding available to state and local authorities as the US mobilises against the outbreak.

The creation of the Robert T Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act in 1988 enables the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to support local governments during national emergencies by tapping $40bn in federal funds set aside by Congress to provide that relief.

With his declaration on Friday, the president will rely on that aid to help communities set up mobile testing centres  including drive-through swab test clinics  and emergency operation centres in every state, as health workers across the US brace for potential strains on hospitals and other health systems. Mr Trump's emergency declaration could also be used to support more medical staff.

The law also allows states to request up to 75 per cent of the costs for testing, supplies and other medical expenses, including vaccinations, if and when they're available.

"Two very big words", the president said outside the White House on Friday as he officially declared a national emergency, following the urging of lawmakers and health officials across the US.

Roughly 500,000 testing kits testing kits could become available as early as next week, he said, though he warned that "we don't want everybody taking this test ... It's totally unnecessary."

Stafford has previously been invoked in a similar public health capacity by former president Bill Clinton to address the West Nile virus in New York and New Jersey in 2000.

It has been enacted roughly 60 times within the last two administration, notably as a delayed response to Hurricane Katrina, and in response to several terrorist attacks, including the 11 September attacks and Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.

In January, the Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency, though that declaration does not fall under the Stafford Act.

The agency's move allowed the White House to set up travel restrictions and other measures, including giving state and local health departments more flexibility to assign personnel to combat the virus.

Across the US, state and local governments have established their own states of emergencies, which activate certain funds and emergency procedures throughout their governments as they address the crisis. Those activations don't fall under Stafford; only the president has the authority to invoke the federal declaration.

Last year, the president activated a different kind of national emergency order to divert funding from the Department of Defense for the construction of a border wall on the US-Mexico border.

That move was activated under the National Emergencies Act, not the Stafford Act. That law provides for sweeping executive powers, including the ability to suspend certain laws including emergency definitions. Stafford, however, deals explicitly with FEMA.

Stafford does not give him overriding authority to delay elections, which would require Congressional intervention.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said "we've been calling for President Trump to do this for days ... Americans will support an emergency declaration to extend assistance to Americans who need it. But he must not overstep his authority or indulge his autocratic tendencies for purposes not truly related to this crisis."
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-13 21:27:17

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The Industrial control system comprises different types of control systems, including devices, systems, and networks, which are used to operate various industrial processes. Industrial control is one of the major applications of electronics. In industrial control, the electronic component, circuits, and other equipment are used to operate different types of machines in manufacturing plants. The industrial control electronics are used to switch machines off and on at the appropriate time and maintain their speed of operation. The low voltage industrial controls are used to control machine effectively and safely and helps in reducing energy consumption.For Additional Insights, Click to Access Complete Report - https://www.gmiresearch.com/report/uae-low-voltage-industrial-controls-market/ The major factors driving the growth of the UAE Low Voltage Industrial Control market during the forecast period include the increasing demand for renewable energy sources across the UAE and the growing demand for safer electrical distribution system followed by rapid industrialization. The growing number of infrastructural, industrial and non-industrial projects in UAE including the development of Dubai Creek Harbour, Burj Jumeirah, and Smart City plan, will boost the demand for industrial machineries, thereby accelerating the growth for the UAE Low Voltage Industrial Control market. The low voltage industrial control devices are highly efficient and cost-effective, which makes them ideal for commercial, residential, and renewable energy applications. Moreover, the UAEs government is mainly focusing on increasing power generating capacity to meet the growing energy demand. This initiative will encourage the development of new energy projects, which will have a positive impact on the need for the low voltage industrial control over the coming years. On the other hand, the rising cost of the raw material of the industrial control systems will hamper the growth of the UAE Low Voltage Industrial Control market over the coming years.Request for Sample Report  https://www.gmiresearch.com/report/uae-low-voltage-industrial-controls-market/sample-request Based on the product, the circuit breaker segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period owing to the increasing usage of circuit breakers in various industrial and infrastructural projects in UAE, such as Dubais Smart City Plan. The circuit breaker controls the sudden up and down of voltage or current and is highly cost-effective with a longer lifespan. The circuit breaker segment includes Moulded Case Circuit Breaker (MCCB), and Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB). MCCB offers numerous advantages such as automatic switching during abnormal electrical conditions, tripping in electrical faults, and quick restoration of electrical supply by switching on the operation.Based on the application, the commercial segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period. The ongoing projects in UAE such as the Dubai Expo 2020, UAE Vision 2021, Smart Dubai 2021, the Vision 2030, Deira Islands Mall, and Zayed Smart City Project, will increase adoption of automation across industries, which will surge the demand for the low voltage industrial controls to minimize energy consumption. The renewable energy segment is projected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period owing to the significant shift in the governments preference towards the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources to meet the energy demand of the country and protect the environment at the same time. The government is planning to increase power generation from clean energy to 30% by 2030. It is also focusing on producing 25-30% of electricity from solar and nuclear energy sources. All these initiatives will fuel the growth of the market during the forecast period.Request for Customization  https://www.gmiresearch.com/report/uae-low-voltage-industrial-controls-market/request-for-customization Various notable players in the Low Voltage Industrial Controls market include ABB UAE, Siemens UAE, Rockwell Automation UAE, Schneider Electric UAE, General Electric UAE, Honeywell International Inc., Fuji Electric Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Saudi Ltd., Alstom UAE and among others.Key questions answered in this research report:1- At what pace is the UAE Low Voltage Industrial Controls market growing? What will be a growing trend in the future?2- What are the key drivers and restraints in the UAE Low Voltage Industrial Controls market? What will be the impact of drivers and restraints in the future?3- What are the various application of the UAE Low Voltage Industrial Controls market, and how are they poised to grow?4- What companies are the major participants in this market and their business strategies, how does the competitive landscape look like?About GMI ResearchGMI Research is a market research and consulting firm which provides research-based solutions to business executives and investment professionals so that they can make right business & investment decisions faster based on real facts. We help business leaders through independent fact-based insight, ensuring their business achieve success by beating the competition. GMI Researchs leadership team with extensive experience in research and consulting together with our research and domain expertise creates a strong value proposition to create solutions that addresses our clients business problems and add significant value to long lasting relationship.The company provides syndicated research report, customized research, sales enablement research, data analytics and KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) service for Electronics & Semiconductors, Information Communication and Technology, Energy & Power, Healthcare, Automotive, Transportation & Logistics and Chemical industries. Our analysts and consultants who are passionate about research and consulting are recruited from renowned local and global universities and have worked with the leading local and international organizations.Contact UsCompany Name: GMI RESEARCHContact Person: Sarah NashEmail: enquiry@ gmiresearch.com Phone: +353 1 442 8820Address:Level 1, The Chase Carmanhall Road, Sandyford Industrial EstateCity: DublinState: DublinCountry: IrelandWebsite: www.gmiresearch.com
Dave & Busters is opening a second Indiana location in Greenwood and will hire more than 230 people.

Jobs include managers, servers, bartenders, hosts, line cooks, game techs and more. Those who are interested are encouraged to complete an online application.

The new 34,450-square-foot location is scheduled to open April 27.

News In Brief
Narendra Modi said SAARC leadership can discuss via video conferencing ways to keep their citizens healthy

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday proposed that the leadership of SAARC nations could chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus and set an example for the world.

He said the SAARC leadership can discuss via video conferencing ways to keep their citizens healthy.

I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy. Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 13, 2020

"Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it," Modi said on Twitter.

South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population, should leave no stone unturned to ensure that the people are healthy, he said.

"I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," he said.

"Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet," Modi said.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organization that comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The havoc in the stock markets caused by the oil price war, coronavirus and the US travel ban has left one group of private investors particularly out-of-pocket and angry.

These are investors in index-trackers which have been hard hit in the nerve-jangling rollercoaster of the past week.

As we stand on the brink of a global bear market, concern is mounting that too little attention has been paid to the flaws of these funds, which are of the 'passive' type.

Nerve jangling: The havoc in the stock markets caused by the oil price war, coronavirus and the US travel ban has left investors in index-trackers particularly out-of-pocket and angry

It means to mimic the performance of a stock market or index, unlike 'active' funds that rely on a manager selecting shares and other assets that they hope will perform well.

These defects may have been overlooked in the rush to embrace index trackers. The tracker craze intensified following the Woodford scandal. The conduct of Neil Woodford, once the most celebrated active manager in the UK, has reduced confidence in the active approach.

Low charges are another reason for the popularity of index-trackers, which depend on artificial, rather than human intelligence, which comes at a high price.

But while index trackers may be the cheapest way to invest, they do have big drawbacks which have recently been laid bare.

They may flourish in fair stock market weather, but can be extra susceptible when the dark clouds gather. Since the start of this year, the FTSE 100 index has tumbled by about 30 per cent. That has hit tracker fund investors very hard.

BP and Shell, which have suffered badly, are two of the index's constituents.

Popular Footsie trackers such as the Vanguard FTSE 100 Index fund have subsided in line.

Between February 21, when the sell-off started in earnest, and the close on Thursday, the fund was down as much as 28.4 per cent.

Consider all the options: While index trackers may be the cheapest way to invest, they do have big drawbacks

Vanguard, a US group, has about $10billion of savings in its care. Like other players it has benefited from discontent with those active managers who collect fat fees, but fail to deliver decent returns.

Active funds have, of course, also been caught up in the maelstrom. But Jason Hollands of Tilney Bestinvest, the investment platform, points out that the managers of these funds have the scope to build a buffer of defensive stocks or cash, a feature that has helped limit the damage. Index tracker managers do not have this facility.

Experts emphasise that there is no need to panic, but also to see recent events as a wake-up call.

Laura Suter, personal finance analyst at AJ Bell, the investment platform, underlines the risks inherent in tracker funds' structure: 'The downside is that you are buying the whole of the market and so are exposed to the full extent of any falls.'

Hollands highlights another pitfall  some index-tracker investors may hold a disproportionate amount of larger shares.

The inconvenient truth about index trackers will continue to be debated while panic grips the markets.

In the meantime, disaffected tracker investors will be looking for active funds that, while not immune from the market downturn, will still strive to provide a degree of capital preservation.

Suter's safety-first choice is the Personal Assets Investment trust from the Troy Asset Management. This holds big name shares, plus cash, gold and government bonds.

Ben Yearsley of Shore Financial Planning favours Troy's Trojan fund, which invests in government and corporate bonds, precious metals and cash.

Hollands selects Liontrust Special Situations that proved its resilience in 2008 at the time of the financial crisis. This buys shares in companies that are non-cyclical (less subject to the ups and downs of the economy) and have strong revenue streams.

The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust from Baillie Gifford would suit those confident in Amazon and other tech giants.

Some investors seeking security may still baulk at active management fees. One answer to this is 'smart beta', a type of exchange traded fund (ETF) that aims to offer some of the strengths of the active approach by tracking elements of a market rather than every stock in the index.

Dzmitry Lipski, head of funds research at investment platform Interactive Investor, cites the SPDR S&P Global Dividend Aristocrats ETF which tracks the S&P Global Dividend Aristocrats Quality Income Index of the highest-yielding dividend stocks.

Anyone who needs an income may be tempted, if only by the delightfully convoluted name, while hoping that competition from this source will increase the pressure on more active managers to lower their charges.
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Linkedin Riska Rahman, Norman Harsono and Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020

State-owned companies have come to the rescue against the backdrop of a crashing domestic stock market and cash-strapped state budget by promising share buybacks and disbursing higher dividends earlier to cushion the economic impacts of COVID-19.

All four state-owned banks have allocated larger dividends earlier than last year as the government struggles with low tax collection and the need to disburse more money to stimulate a cooling economy.

The countrys largest bank by assets, publicly listed Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), announced in February its plan to distribute Rp 20.6 trillion (US$1.5 billion) in dividends to its shareholders this year. The dividends are equal to 60 percent of the banks profits in 2019, higher than its previous payout ratio of 50 percent.

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Even as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus wife tested positive for COVID-19 and the countrys markets posted their biggest one-day loss in history on Thursday, a team of Canadian researchers, including an Indian, said they have isolated the virus behind the global pandemic.

The isolation of the virus by researchers from Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital, the University of Toronto and McMaster University in Waterloo raised hopes for a cure for COVID-19.

The researchers, including Indian-origin postdoctoral student Arinjay Banerjee, worked on samples taken from two patients. In a secure facility, they managed to isolate and propagate the virus, creating a source of COVID-19 for study as to how the virus behaves.

The isolation of the virus will help them to work on solutions to the pandemic, the researchers said.

Arinjay Banerjee, who is a postdoctoral researcher at McMaster University's Institute for Infectious Disease Research and specializes in coronaviruses and in bats, said: "Now that we have isolated the SARS-CoV-2 virus, we can share this with other researchers and continue this teamwork. The more viruses that are made available in this way, the more we can learn, collaborate and share."

Highlighting the significance of their work, Banerjee said: "You can't validate anything without a virus."

Ecstatic about his contribution to the pathbreaking research, Banerjee said he always told his friends, "When I grow up, I want to be a guy who gets called in if there's an outbreak."

He added, "What's happening with the outbreak is sad, but I'm glad I can contribute to the process of understanding this and controlling this outbreak."

Fellow researcher Dr Samira Mubareka, who is a microbiologist and infectious diseases physician at Sunnybrook Hospital, said their team now needs key tools to develop solutions to the Coronavirus pandemic.

"While the immediate response is crucial, longer-term solutions come from essential research into this novel virus," she added.

Congratulating his co-researchers, Toronto University microbiologist Rob Kozak, said, "Researchers from these world-class institutions came together in a grassroots way to successfully isolate the virus in just a few short weeks."
A 14-year-old boy hailing from Nepal will spend three years in a reformation home for sexually exploiting his three-year-old cousin.

The juvenile has been convicted for committing sodomy with a minor victim... which is against the order of nature. So, considering the nature and gravity of offence, I do not find any justification to grant the concession of probation, ruled Ruchi Swapan Sharma, principal magistrate, Juvenile Justice Board, Mohali, while awarding the sentence.

The matter dates back to May 2019 when the police had swung into action after the Childline had received a call from the victims mother about the sexual assault on the girl.

The juvenile, whose father and victims father were brothers and lived together in Kharar working as labourers, was a student of Class 8.

The victims mother, a domestic help, had returned home around 5.45pm from work on May 3, 2019, and found the girl crying, complaining of stomach ache. The victim was home with her brothers and the cousin when the incident took place.

The girl confided in her mother and, after her father returned from work around 7pm, was rushed to the Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, Chandigarh.

The juvenile was apprehended on May 5 and a case under Sections 376, 376A, 376C, 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 6 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered at the Kharar (city) police station. He had confessed during the trial.

COMPENSATION FOR VICTIM

The court has also directed the secretary of District Legal Services Authority, Mohali, to pursue the matter of compensation to be provided to the victim under the Punjab Victim or their Dependents Compensation Scheme, 2011. The scheme provides for minimum 3 lakh compensation for rape victims.

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Mayor Domenic J. Sarno declared a state of emergency that will give his office sweeping powers to quell the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Springfield.

The powers are for the good of the public health and safety, not for being abused, said Sarno. Were going to have to spend money because its the right thing to do to make sure that our students, our children [and] our families are protected.

So far, there are 54 nurses under quarantine in Berkshire County and of those seven are presumptive positive diagnoses of the disease, named COVID-19. These at this time are the only cases in Western Massachusetts.

The declaration also means that the shutdown of the schools, in effect through March 27, affects 26,000 students and 4,000 employees working in roughly 60 buildings.

We have kept our schools open for as long as we believe has been possible, as recommended by state and local public health authorities," said Superintendent Daniel Warwick. We know that in addition to education, schools provide vital support to our communities and that closure will have a major impact on our families.

The mayors office has not released any projections of spending that might be needed as a result of the special measure being taken. However, the Massachusetts House and Senate appropriated $15 million for the monitoring, treatment, containment, public awareness and prevention efforts against COVID-19.

Despite the alarming sound of declaring an emergency, it is a strategic announcement that can help activate emergency response plans, emergency operation centers and free up emergency funds for the city to use.

Health Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris speaks at the briefing about the City of Springfields response to COVID-19 and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno's declaration of a state of emergency in the city. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)

Health Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris along with the mayor have been discussing how theyre able to protect the homeless population of Springfield and are discussing opening more homeless centers.

There are plans in place to be able to house individuals should we need to open up shelters, said Caulton-Harris. I spoke very early with [Director of Housing] Gerry McCafferty and we have no concrete plans in terms of just exactly what sites at this point.

Caulton-Harris went on to point out that the virus is behaving in ways that they are unfamiliar with and they must take appropriate steps to mitigate any issues that may arise.

I have received a communication from the State Department of Public Health just very shortly ago that the community spread appears to be widening in Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Caulton-Harris said.

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In an unprecedented move, the Oregon Department of Corrections announced Thursday it will suspend visitations at all 14 state prisons to reduce the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus.

All visits, as well as some other activities, will be canceled starting Friday. The list includes outside work crews, special visits, volunteer visits and personal visits, even those where visitors talk to adults in custody through a glass window.

It is critical we take appropriate precautions necessary to protect our employees and those in our care and custody, Director Colette Peters said in a statement. We will resume normal visiting schedules as soon as humanly possible.

The decision to halt visits was made after Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency as a result of the rapid escalation of COVID-19 cases in the state. The planned freeze on visits will last at least 30 days, and then be reassessed, according to a news release.

Black said the department is trying to reduce costs for inmates to communicate in other ways, such as through video calls.

Oregons prison system currently oversees 14,500 people. Of these, prison officials have identified 1,250 adults in custody that are considered vulnerable because they are over 65, immunocompromised or have underlying medical conditions.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: THE LATEST NEWS

One prisoner has been tested for the virus so far, but the results were negative. Black said no other inmates or employees have reported symptoms of the virus.

Inmates who do show symptoms of the virus can report them to on-site medical supervisors and may be taken off site for testing, Black said.

To limit the risk of spreading the virus, the prisons will sanitize common areas more often and have encouraged employees to stay home if they are sick.

However, Black said the corrections department wont allow prisoners to have access to hand sanitizer because it contains alcohol. Instead, they will need to rely on soap and water, she said.

We have been communicating to all of our staff that washing their hands is the best thing they can possibly do to stay safe, Black said.

-- Piper McDaniel; amcdaniel@oregonian.com; 503-221-4307; @piperamcdaniel

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Perth Festival will cancel the remainder of the Lotterywest Films season at UWA Somerville in the wake of government advice on the coronavirus outbreak on Friday.

A statement from Perth Festival on Friday said the cancellation would be effective from Monday, but screenings up to and including Sunday, March 15, would continue as planned.

"The Festival is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of patrons, staff and the broader community," the statement read.

"The remaining performances of Black Swan State Theatre Companys Cloudstreet at His Majestys Theatre will continue as planned."

Cloudstreet's season finishes on Sunday.

"The Festivals ongoing visual arts program will continue as scheduled, pending further advice," the statement said.

"We will continue to monitor official public health updates closely in consultation with our partner galleries."
Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper is advocating for more education on the coronavirus pandemic, especially in the rural areas.



Contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM's morning show Kokrokoo, Kwesi Pratt said: We are in a national emergency and if this is not addressed properly, "it can affect the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections" in December.



Listen to him in the video below:





Ghana confirmed two cases of the Coronavirus on Thursday, 12th March 2020.One of the Coronavirus cases confirmed by the country's health authorities is said to be a Ghanaian, Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has revealed.According to the Minister, of the two confirmed coronavirus cases, one is a Ghanaian who returned from Turkey, while the other is a Norwegian.In an interview with Nana Yaw Kesseh, sit-in host of's morning show 'Kokrokoo', he disclosed they are both males who arrived at the Kotoka International Airport some days back, adding that the health authorities are now "conducting contact tracing"."They have been in Accra for at least one-week we are still conducting contact tracing. We have their data and weve contacted them already. There should be no panic because over 90 percent of infected people recoverwhat we have to do is to control the potential spread," he added.Both patients are currently under isolation and are said to be in a stable condition.

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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Maureen Law was supposed to fly from her part-time home in Singapore back to the Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) headquarters in San Antonio last Monday. But now, BSFs regional director for Asia has postponed her trip for at least another month. The COVID-19 outbreak has thrown her plansand those of millions of others, including her employerinto flux.

As the overseer of BSFs classes and group leaders across Asia, Law was part of the team that decided in recent weeks to hold meetings exclusively online in Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and other parts of Asia. This means 35,000 participants1 in 4 of whom are over 60 years oldare now tuning in to their Scripture discussions and lectures via Zoom, a web conferencing platform that allows users to join together remotely with audio, video, or both.

The move to meet online is a majorand quickshift for a ministry that has traditionally eschewed the internet.

BSF hosts thousands of groups in 70 countries for free Bible studies every week, mostly in churches. The classes typically include a time of corporate worship, small group discussions about the weekly Bible reading, and a lecture by the groups leader.

The venerable ministry, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, is known for privacy and even a sense of rigidity; for example, it used to have a stringent dress code for teachers, and leaders have been known to discourage attendance if participants havent done their homework. BSF only began to post its study materials online a few years ago, when some group leaders made lectures and study notes available to participants through the members website, mybsf.org. BSF launched its Facebook page just two years ago and joined Instagram in 2016.

Its likely that BSFs further transition to online meetings will follow the geography of the coronaviruss spread. A number of classes in Seattle went online this week in the wake of a rise in local cases.

Hollie Roberts, BSFs chief development officer, said the ministry is taking its cues from local governments, schools, and churches, as well as tracking the spread of confirmed cases, to decide next steps. Classes in Basil and Zurich, Switzerland, and in Paris have already moved to online-only gatherings. BSF transitioned some classes in Toronto to Zoom this week after the church in which it was meeting canceled all public events.

BSF wasnt totally unprepared. In recent years, as the ministry has worked to modernize its offerings for millennials, it has launched more than 1,000 satellite groups, allowing participants from remote areassuch as prisonsto view classes online. And for the past two years, BSF has been piloting an online program that has drawn about 10,000 people who gather in groups of 12 to 15 across the globe.

Roberts said the pilot program has been helpful as BSF responds to coronavirus concerns, even though the logistics arent exactly the same: Instead of a dozen people connecting, some Asian classes with 500 to 600 people are now conferencing via Zoom.

Law said the transition wasnt without hiccups but has been generally well received.

The initial hesitancy has turned into delight by many of our members, who appreciate that they have this opportunity, she said. Some older participants expressed anxiety at first, but Law said her leaders have stepped in to help them set up the technology.

In some places in Asia, classes have already been taking place online for six weeks. And Law said the numbers have been promising: In classes that typically saw about 80 percent attendance on any given week, theyre now seeing upwards of 90 percent attendance online.

That could be for several reasons, she suggested. Students have been particularly excited about BSFs current study in the book of Acts. But it could also be because of the convenience of a class at a computer, or the fact that most life activities outside the home have also shut down. Or, Law said, it could be that anxiety about the spread of COVID-19 is driving people to the Word of God.

According to Jonathan Petersen, content manager at Bible Gateway, online searches for terms like fear, disease, and end times dramatically spiked this week and have increased fivefold or more since reports of the outbreak first made news in December.

On the popular YouVersion Bible app, searches related to fearsuch as fear not, do not fear, spirit of fear, and perfect love casts out fearincreased this week by 30 percent to 75 percent over last week. The two passages with the most spikes in interest were 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV: For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline) and , particularly verse 10 [NIV]:  no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.

Roberts said for those seeking encouragement, BSFs current study in the Book of Acts is the perfect place to land.

I think about the end of Acts and the shipwreck, she said. God promises Paul, Youre all going to live, but the ship still runs aground into the sandbar, and they still have to get out and swim or grab ahold of driftwood and float. Despite the obstacles and unforeseen circumstances, she said, the gospel still spreads like wildfire.

I believe this transition to BSF in the online arena is demonstrating that to be true, said Roberts. You cant stop the gospel.

More groups will likely have to stop meeting in person. Based on her experience in Singapore, Laws recommendation to her North American colleagues is to prepare the study group leaders ahead of time. We prepared our leaders by saying, Okay, lets simulate a leaders meeting online, she said. Train them how to connect online [and] how to be engaging and interactive.

Back in San Antonio, Roberts said BSFs executive team is watching Asia closely to learn all they can before the likely scenario arrives that more US classes will move online. One thing theyve learned, she said, is that when classes are online, theres less of a need to hold leaders meetings and large group study meetings on different days. In the online environment, theyre now hosting those back to back.

In the US, BSFs classes follow a typical school calendar, which means theyll have spring break soon and are scheduled to finish in May. Roberts said nearness to that finish line is one reason the ministry hasnt simply suspended all classes already. But even in areas outside Seattle, leaders are taking precautions.

Weve emailed everybody, every class member in BSF, Roberts said, and pointed them to the World Health Organization and CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] for best practices. BSF leaders are recommending class members practice social distancing where logical. Roberts cites one teacher who has voluntarily quarantined herself for the next two weeks after her daughter returned home from Japan.

Roberts said its possible the move to online classes could lead to some permanent changes at BSF. We recognize that in certain stages of life, its easier probably to attend an online discussion group, she said. So thats always been the plan. People know thats coming.

Still, Law said she has heard from some Asian participants that they miss the in-person intimacyespecially at such an isolating time. (For example, in some areas of China, only one personand it has to be the same personis allowed out of the house once a week to get essentials.)

And as entire families are forced into close quarters for the foreseeable future, others are struggling to find quiet time and space to dial in. Some of our leaders cant even Zoom in with the video and the audio on, because they have kids at home, Law said. But they still Zoom in and are listening.

At its core, BSF isnt a social club; its a place to study the Bible. Roberts said the ministry doesnt focus its study plans on the topics of the day but instead on systematically reading through the Word of God. However, almost every year, she said, groups find their chosen study to be providentially relevant. This year has been no exception: The theme for the Acts study is Unstoppable.

Its a season where coronavirus is the loudest voice in the room, Roberts said. This is an opportunity to keep another voice going.  This is an opportunity to keep truth sprinkled into the circumstances were looking at.
It will benefit about 48.34 lakh central government employees and 65.26 lakh pensioners.

The Union Cabinet on Friday approved 4 per cent increase in dearness allowances (DA) for government employees and pensioners to 21 per cent, which will benefit over 1.13 crore people.

The move will come into effect retrospectively from January 1, 2020.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved to release an additional instalment of dearness allowance (DA) to central government employees and dearness relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from January 1, 2020, an official statement said.

There will be an increase of 4 per cent over the existing rate of 17 per cent of the basic pay/pension to compensate for price rise, it added.

"The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both dearness allowance and dearness relief would be Rs 12,510.04 crore per annum and Rs 14,595.04 crore in financial year 2020-21 (for a period of 14 months from January 2020 to February 2021)," the statement said.

It will benefit about 48.34 lakh central government employees and 65.26 lakh pensioners.

"The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission," it added.
Standard Chartered has engaged female entrepreneurs and CEOs at an Information and Cyber Security (ICS) Seminar. The business owners joined CEO, Mansa Nettey and other ladies on the Management Team as part of activities to mark Womens Month.

The session was held for female clients to understand the global and local trends in ICS, highlight and prevention of common types of fraud that occur in everyday use of modern digital technology. There were discussions on the emerging threats and how to build a Cyber Secure culture and the effect of Coronavirus disease (COVID 19) on businesses.

JojoKakra Bannerman, Head, Financial Market Sales focused on the trending issue of the economic effect of the Coronavirus disease (COVID 19) on businesses. During his presentation, he spoke about the slowdown in economic growth, supply chain disruptions, the adverse effect on productivity as well as domestic revenue underperformance and additional expenditure in the healthcare sector. He entreated clients to take advantage of the banks digital channels in the place of cash transactions.

Michael Kwofie, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of Standard Chartered said cybercriminals will use every means to exploit internet users. He further gave scenarios of how clients could be exploited and how protect themselves.

Instances of fraud cases were shared with the participants on how customers could fall victim to phishing, smishing, vishing and malware attacks leading to outcomes such as business email compromise, CEO impersonation, mobile money fraud to mention a few. Theophilus Botchway, an investigator at the Bank also described the lessons learned from common fraud cases that the Bank had investigated in the past such as mobile money, romance fraud, and automated teller machines (ATMs) frauds.

Commenting on the session, Mrs. Mansa Nettey, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Limited, said the Bank takes ICS as a key risk and has put in place dedicated initiatives to identify, respond and protect the Bank from the Cyber security risks. Mrs. Nettey said Cybercrime is a growing threat to everyone and the Bank continues to create dedicated fora and resources to discuss the ICS risks and find ways to mitigate them. This is part of our commitment to share our knowledge, expertise and best practice with our clients. The Bank will continue to premise its services proposition to clients on the provision of high-quality service to remain trusted and reliable business partners to our clients.

Jonathan Kwofie, Regional Head, Business ICS at Standard Chartered, said Emerging ICS threats present themselves in different ways such as: denial-of-service attacks, data espionage, natural threats, sabotage, computer frauds and malicious attacks, among others.

Speaking at the session, Xorse Godzi, Head, Commercial Banking, said, It was an honour to have our cherished clients most of them female and business owners at such an engaging ICS session where the Bank shared information and our clients in turn shared their experiences.

The ladies at the session walked away with increased awareness of simple tactics employed by fraudsters, how to maintain increased levels of vigilance while using modern digital technology and better prepared to maintain higher personal cyber safety. They gave feedback on the Banks digital platforms and shared some experiences.

Speaking to some ladies after the session they were very appreciative of the event and noted that they would be more vigilant and pay attention to details while performing transactions, think before they click on links and conduct confirmatory checks before committing to transactions.
Actor Kajol has some sage advice for her fans, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that on Friday claimed its first life in India. Kajol took to Instagram to share a meme, created by a man named Pulkit Kochar, urging fans to practice hygiene.

The meme pokes fun at a classic scene from the film Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, in which Kajols character chases a train in which Shah Rukh Khans character is travelling. As she near him, he reaches out and grabs her hand. The meme shows a still from the scene, with Kajol reaching out not to grab Shah Rukhs outstretched arm, but to offer him some hand sanitizer. Even Simran knows the importance of sanitizing, the meme reads.

Also read: Kajol shares pics from daughter Nysa Devgns new photo shoot, asks her to smile more. See pics

The Health Ministry has recommended people follow basic hygiene such as hand-washing and the covering of ones mouth while coughing or sneezing. India currently has 75 coronavirus cases, including one fatality. Worldwide, the virus has infected a reported 134000 people, and claimed over 4900 lives.

Several actors have shared posts about the virus on social media. While Amitabh Bachchan recited a poem, actor Kartik Aaryan shared a selfie wearing a mask.

Several major film releases have been cancelled both in India and abroad, after theatres were recommended to be closed in the states of Kerala and Delhi, and the territory of Jammu. Sooryavanshi, starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, has been postponed indefinitely, while Fast & Furious 9 has been pushed by over a year.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Production at a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) factory in Ontario has been halted after workers refused to work because of coronavirus fears.

As first reported by Automotive News, workers represented by Canadian labor union Unifor began a work refusal at FCA's assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, late on Thursday. The refusal began after a plant employee chose to self-quarantine following contact with a person who has been tested for the COVID-19 virus.

There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Windsor factory as of mid-day on Friday.

Separately, the United Auto Workers is in negotiations with FCA over compensation for employees who may be quarantined while being tested for the virus. The union represents FCA's hourly workers in the United States. The union raised the issue after a worker at an FCA transmission factory in Kokomo, Indiana, tested positive for the virus earlier this week.

The UAW's most recent contracts with FCA and the other Detroit automakers don't directly address the quarantine issue. General Motors (NYSE:GM) CEO Mary Barra said in a letter to employees oh Friday that all GM workers, including those represented by the union, will receive paid leave if needed because of the coronavirus.
Australians are being urged to reconsider travel to Bali and get themselves checked for coronavirus after returning from the Indonesian tourist hotspot.

Western Australia's Premier Mark McGowan has said he is highly concerned about people going to and returning from Bali as Indonesia appeared to be under-reporting its cases.

'I think we need to take proper advice and potentially take further action on that very soon,' Mr McGowan told reporters on Friday.

Pictures from Thursday of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport show the building virtually empty.

The usually bustling airport appeared as a wasteland in the pictures shared by a worker in Bali's tourism industry indicating the island's tourism business is already being heavily effected.

Bali's airport appeared a wasteland on Thursday as tourists avoid the island amid coronavirus concerns

Pictures from Thursday of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport show the building virtually empty

Mr McGowan's comments follow five more cases of the virus being confirmed in WA, which bring the state's total to 14.

'We believe they've come from overseas but we'll need to check that,' WA chief health officer Andrew Robertson told ABC radio on Friday.

Dr Robertson said 800 to 1000 tests were being done per day but many people seeking them didn't need to be tested.

'We're turning away about 50 per cent of the people who come to the COVID clinics,' he said.

Across Australia there have been close to 200 cases, three of which have been fatal, confirmed as of Friday.

Western Australia's tourism minister Paul Papalia said even if only ten per cent of the 500,000 holidaymakers from the state who travel to Bali every year stayed in Australia, it would make up for the loss of Chinese tourists.

'Right now the easiest thing we can do, the biggest thing we can do, is to get Western Australians to stop going to Bali,' Mr Papalia told The West Australian.

The minister also referred to Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressing his doubt Indonesia was capable of testing its population properly for coronavirus.

'I'd be concerned right now... that Indonesia doesn't have a good visibility of what their coronavirus threat is and how exposed anyone will be if they visit there,' Mr Papalia said.

Australians are being urged to reconsider travel to Bali and get themselves checked for coronavirus after returning from the Indonesian tourist hotspot

Bali's airport is a hub for tourists from across the globe with millions visiting the Indonesian island each year

The chief of Bali's COVID-19 taskforce has said the Indonesian government knew that a British tourist had tested positive for coronavirus but failed to alert the taskforce until after the woman died.

There are 34 reported cases of COVID-19 in Indoensia, however, experts have said that there are unreported cases.

The 53-year-old British woman who died in Indonesia had other health problems such as diabetes, hyperthyroidism, hypertension, and a cardio-pulmonary issue.

Dr Yurianto had refused to reveal the location of the other 33 confirmed coronavirus cases except for a small number in Jakarta.

In that cluster a woman, 64, and her 31-year-old daughter fell ill in February after contact with a Japanese woman visiting from Malaysia, who later was confirmed to have COVID-19.

The Indonesian government also refused to reveal the nationalities of the three cases that are foreigners, citing that they do not want to ignite discrimination.

At least 17 of the cases are understood to be Indonesians who have recently returned from overseas.

Figures from 2019 show that 25,000 people flew between Australia and Bali each week.

The current advice for Australians considering going to Bali from Smartraveller is 'exercise a high degree of caution.'

Passengers arrive at Perth airport in February wearing face masks as a coronavirus precaution




As a die-hard Trump supporter, its not hard to recall instances where Gov. Andrew Cuomos criticism against the Trump administration is unwarranted. However, in the wake of COVID-19, I find myself in an unusual place. I agree with Cuomo: The Trump administrations response to the coronavirus is unacceptable.

As Staten Island sees its first confirmed case of COVID-19, we can grasp how fast and widely this virus is spreading. With the highest cluster of cases being in New York state, we need to be prepared, ready to test anybody who feels like they need a test.

Northwell Health is one of the top tier bio labs in the country. Ive had the opportunity to see it in action, on Long Island, a few years back. We need to be utilizing its autonomous testing technology. We should have been using it from Day One to increase our testing capacity.

At the time of writing, the CDC has not yet approved the governors request to authorize the use of this testing. It took too long to authorize the Wadsworth lab utilization for testing. They allocated too little in the federal spending package for New York to respond to this crisis (also have to pass the blame onto Congress and Max Rose for not pushing for more.)

They also took too long to authorize private entities, like Northwell, to begin testing. On top of all that, the rhetoric and downplaying of the situation by the President is dangerous and unbecoming of the office.

Although the country was blindsided by this virus, thanks to the incompetence of the Chinese Communist government, the United States had the mandate to show the world how to handle this kind of situation, and were failing miserably.

(Nicholas Robbins is a Castleton Corners resident and is the chairman of the Staten Island SAM Party.)
Boswell and McDermott said attorneys practicing in Criminal Division and Circuit Court have been told they can elect to appear remotely for routine hearings.

According to an order issued by McDermott, flu or flu-like symptoms or exposure to anyone with COVID-19 will be considered "good cause" for any motion to appear remotely or continue evidentiary hearings or trials. The court will accommodate requests that don't violate statutory or constitutional rights, the order states.

"We do have a responsibility to the public to continue serving them," McDermott said. "And we're trying to do that in a way that minimizes the spread of the disease as much as possible."

Criminal defense attorneys are encouraged to seek continuances ahead of time if no business will be conducted, and defendants will be excused from appearing for routine hearings, Boswell said.

Though Lake County has not had any confirmed cases of coronavirus, the judges want to minimize any possible impacts of the virus, she said.

"We're trying to be proactive and take some precautions," Boswell said.
I feel very proud to come from a peaceful country. Over the past 50 years, Sultan Qaboos taught us to build friendships, embrace differences, create bridges of peace and understanding to learn from others, Omani politician Amna Al Balushi told Al-Monitor.

In an era of global political polarization, Oman stands out for the independent and non-aligned foreign policy it has been cultivating over decades. Strategically located between Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the sultanate has traditionally refused to choose sides but rather foster dialogue, stability and cooperation.

Ahead of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Oman provided a venue for secret US-Iran talks. Later, it refused to join a Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen that has taken more than 100,000 lives and chose to stay out of an embargo imposed on Qatar since 2017.

Ahead of the US secretary of states first visit to Muscat since the death of Qaboos bin Said Al Said, the Arab world's longest-serving ruler, Mike Pompeos office praised Omans diplomatic role.

The United States and the Sultanate of Oman share common interests and objectives in the Arabian Gulf area, including peace, regional stability, security and economic development, Omani Ambassador to Washington Hunaina Al-Mughairy told Al-Monitor.

Qaboos legacy

Qaboos left a vital legacy in international relations. Houchang Hassan-Yari, head of the department of political science at Sultan Qaboos University, noted that Oman's foreign relations were minimal before Qaboos took power during a palace coup set up by British intelligence in July 1970.

Dhofar-based linguist Saeed Al Mahri believes that Qaboos foreign policy endeavors had "started locally" during a Marxist insurgency that destabilized the southernmost governorate and threatened Oman's unity from 1962 to 1976.

Though the monarch suppressed a rebellion by force following his accession to the throne  actively supported by Iranian and British military force  Qaboos also "engaged dialogue" and "promised to build a modern state," Al Mahri told Al-Monitor.

Nowadays, the country acts as a "facilitator" to help to resolve crises in the Middle East region. Mughairy said that she finds it an honor to represent the policy of her country to the United States. I do it with pride as I am a strong believer in dialogue, the diplomat said.

Omans foreign policy "stems from the countrys diverse tribal and sectarian makeup" and its core values are "ingrained in the Omani identity," said Manishankar Prasad, an Indian sociologist who grew up in the country.

The researcher said that the maritime sultanate has historically been a country open to international trade activities. The current foreign policy is a reflection of the everyday life of Omanis, and naturally cant be pro-Saudi Arabia or pro-Qatar, he told Al-Monitor.

Expansionist agendas

As Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Saids reign begins, analysts wonder whether the new ruler will have the charisma to stand firmly against the aggressive foreign policies of other Gulf states. Omans neighbors may view the death of Qaboos as a unique opportunity to advance their own expansionist agendas, US-based Quincy Institute research fellow Annelle Sheline told Foreign Policy.

Oman faces growing pressure to choose sides in a number of matters and its close relations with Iran are a source of concern for the Gulf states, which promote a hard-line policy on the Islamic Republic while supporting a maximum pressure campaign led by Washington.

Omans Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to Al-Monitors requests for comments.

In this environment, Oman's neutral orientation safeguards the sultanate from being squeezed between the conflicting ambitions of the Middle Easts major powerhouses. From the perspective of my students, this foreign policy is a guarantor of security, Hassan-Yari told Al-Monitor. Al Mahri asserted that Oman has refused to get involved militarily in Yemen "also to protect itself."

This is the best option to follow, said Sharifa Al Kindi, an Omani student of international relations at Sultan Qaboos University in Turkey for a student-exchange program. The regional context as well as Omans geographic location and economic and military capabilities "dictate the current foreign policy," she said.

Al Kindi expects neighboring countries to respect Oman's neutrality because it serves as an open channel to mitigate regional tensions. Amid a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, Qaboos welcomed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Muscat in 2018 for the first official visit by an Israeli leader since 1996.

'Just a small word can break it'

Those who travel or live abroad greatly appreciate the sultanates diplomacy. No one hates us, to a great extent thanks to the Omani foreign policy, said Al Mahri.

Omani students living in the United States feel that they are safe because of the positive relationship between our two countries, said Mughairy. The diplomat, who was the first Arab woman to be appointed ambassador to Washington in 2005, said that Oman will continue to attach high value to its close friendship and partnership with the United States, just as it has since our two countries first made contact more than two centuries ago.

At the Munich Security Conference 2020, the sultanate's Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah reaffirmed Oman's willingness to remain "a nation of accepting peace."

It is important to carry on with a foreign policy which results from nearly half a century of leadership. We promise to take Sultan Qaboos' teachings ahead to train the world, Al Balushi added. A municipal councillor in Oman's Seeb since 2016, the politician said she was inspired by Qaboos' foresight to "build forward-looking relationships" and urges Sultan Haitham to perpetuate it. Yet, Al Balushi warned that relations can be fragile and just a small word can break it, either at family, community or country level.

In a bid to reassure the international community, Haitham pledged to follow Qaboos foreign policy. We will remain as the world had known us, the new ruler declared.

Hassan-Yari says that it will be difficult to fill Sultan Qaboos shoes in the short term. Sultan Haitham will have to show that he is able to run the country, he commented.

Economic realities could challenge Omans independent foreign policy as the sultanate relies heavily on hydrocarbon revenues to balance its annual budget and taps international debt markets to finance its budget deficit. Omans ratio of debt to gross domestic product, which has been multiplied by 12 since 2014, is rated as junk by the three major rating companies.



On March 9, oil prices dropped by nearly 25% following Saudi Arabias decision to flood the market with a record crude supply while the coronavirus saps global energy demand. Bloomberg reported that Oman is the most vulnerable Gulf state to current oil prices.
One of 11 military aircraft arrives in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Feb 13. The planes carried 2,600 medical professionals. CHEN XIAODONG/FOR CHINA DAILY

Support teams help transport supplies

Editor's note: Novel coronavirus pneumonia is posing a worldwide threat. Here, we take a look at how China is playing its role in the global fight against the outbreak by mobilizing a vast amount of resources to contain the epidemic. This is the fifth part of a series titled "United Actions".

Wang Huan spent 18 hours walking and traveling by taxi, electric motorcycle, airplane and even police car to reach her workplace in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Jan 26, the third day of the Spring Festival holiday.

The 22-year-old nurse's decision to return to her job at a military hospital was made on the first day of the vacation after the facility appealed for staff members to voluntarily return to work.

Wang also saw on her phone that many of her colleagues had responded positively to the call in her department's chat group.

Sitting at home in Siping, Jilin province, Wang texted her friend Shu Chun, a fellow nurse at the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army Central Theater Command, to discuss what they should do. Both agreed they should return to their jobs in Wuhan as soon as possible.

However, because of the lockdown enforced in the city on Jan 23, all air, rail and bus services to Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, had been suspended.

The pair came up with a solutionthey would meet in Shu's hometown in Yifeng county, Jiangxi province, and hire a local driver to take them to Wuhan.

First, Wang bought an air ticket from Changchun, capital of Jilin, which is more than 150 kilometers from her hometown, to Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi.

She left home at about 5 am on Jan 26 to catch the early morning flight from Changchun airport. There were only 10 passengers on the plane.

At Nanchang airport, Wang was told by a taxi driver that she must pay extra, or he would not take her. This was because her phone number was registered in Hubei and the driver believed she was from that province.

After the two nurses met in Yifeng county, they quickly realized that no taxi or ride-hailing service driver would take them, even though they said they were willing to pay 3,000 yuan ($431) for the four-hour ride to Wuhan.

They had no choice but to drag their luggage to the nearest police station in the hope of getting help. Officers at the station suggested the nurses should go to the county police bureau to see if they could get assistance there.

The two trekked toward the bureau without seeing any private cars on the streets, let alone a taxi.

Just as they thought that all hope had deserted them, two shared motorcycles came into view.

"I was thinking it would be great if we could take them all the way to Wuhan," Wang said.

"Finally, we reached the police bureau in Yifeng and told the officers we were workers at a military hospital in Wuhan and had to return to our positions that day."

The bureau chief relayed their request to the county government, which approved it and authorized police officers to drive the pair to Wuhan.

Four hours later, a police car dropped them at a highway checkpoint on the outskirts of the city, where they were picked up by a car sent by their hospital.

Since their return, Wang and Shu have been busy nursing patients infected with the highly contagious disease.

"If the epidemic had not occurred, we would just be nurses, but because of the outbreak, we now feel more like soldiers," Shu said.

On Feb 14, Shu wrote in a WeChat post of her determination to continue the fight against the virus. The post received many "likes", including one from her landlady in Wuhan, who wrote: "I can't do anything for you, but I will cancel your rent for the next three months. Take good care of yourself."

Knowing that medics face a high risk of infection, Shu's parents message her every day, telling her to be careful at work. However, she said she is not daunted by the virus.

"As soldiers, we will never be quitters or deserters. This is exactly the time for us to come forward. If we don't, who will?" she said.

"My 14-year-old sister asked me when I would return home. I told her that it would be in the spring."
(JTA)Aboud Dandachi isnt Jewish. Or Israeli. Or Italian. Or sick with coronavirus.

Hes a Muslim from Syria living in Canada.

But when he read the Jewish Telegraphic Agency story about an Italian boy whose bar mitzvah was curtailed because of the rapidly spreading virus, Dandachi responded in a way he figured Jews might appreciate: He donated $18 in honor of Ruben Golran to the Canadian branch of the Jewish National Fund to plant a tree in Israel in the teens honor.

This is what I know how to do, said Dandachi, 43, of Toronto. Ive had friends in Canada, Jewish friends who have children, and they seem to appreciate it. Thats how I know how to commemorate such an occasion.

This is far from Dandachis first encounter with Israel.

After fleeing Syria as a refugee in 2013, he has been an outspoken supporter of Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Dandachi, who moved to Canada in 2017, even supports Netanyahus plan to annex parts of the West Bank. An IT specialist by profession, Dandachi founded an organization called Thank You Am Israel in appreciation of Israeli efforts to aid Syrian refugees.

Rubens bar mitzvah in Milan last week was supposed to have 600 guests. But Milanese authorities banned large public gatherings due to the spread of coronavirus in northern Italy, so the celebration became much smaller.

His father, Elia, told JTA that he has been moved by the response to his sons predicament. In addition to Dandachis gift, Golran heard from a Jewish person in New York who plans to send a painting to the family in honor of the bar mitzvah.

I was in tears next to my computer, Golran said. To see that theres a Muslim from Syria who donated a tree in our land, you understand that this is something special, special, special.
The Saturday dinner will be rescheduled later in the year, according to Lakeshore Chamber Executive Director Dave Ryan.

Ryan said chamber staff apologizes to its members for the inconvenience.

The event cancellation comes on the heels of Gov. Eric Holcomb issuing an executive order asking that people limit large gatherings to no more than 250 people.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott issued a similar executive order Thursday, strongly discouraging large events in the city. He also assembled a task force to prepare for the possible entry of the novel coronavirus into the city.

Home & remodeling expo

The Northwest Indiana Home & Remodeling Expo has been canceled, too.

The event, slated for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Porter County Expo Center, would have brought more than 80 Region-based and nationally known vendors under one roof, along with event attendees.

Center for Visual and Performing Arts
Following poor sales with its first augmented reality (AR) headset, Magic Leap is seeking a buyer for at least part of its business, according to Bloomberg. The company has reportedly already spoken with Facebook and Johnson & Johnson and insiders said it could fetch up to $10 billion in a sale. It would also consider a strategic partnership or other deal ahead of a potential listing.

Facebook took a meeting with Magic Leap but reportedly isn't interested in buying it right now, as the social network is still trying to make its Oculus investment work. Johnson & Johnson declined to comment. The company's other investors include NTT Docomo, AT&T and investment funds in Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

Led by CEO Rony Abovitz, Magic Leap is one of the better financed startups out there, with investors including Google and Alibaba Group. The company has raised around $2.6 billion to develop its augmented reality headset and is valued at up to $8 billion. (The company recently accused rival Nreal of stealing its trade secrets.)

However, the rich investment has yet to translate into commercial success. After years of secrecy-shrouded development and flashy demos, the company released its $2,300 Creator Edition AR headset in 2018. Unlike VR headsets from Oculus or Vive, it has a see-through display that allows virtual objects to interact with the real world. It did have some cool features and showed some potential, but was far from living up to the jaw-dropping FPS/real-world gaming demos it showed earlier.

The company then shifted its focus to business (as Microsoft did with Hololens) with the release of the $2,995 Enterprise Suite that included tools, support, AR-friendly apps and an updated Magic Leap 1 headset. Late last year, after announcing sales of just 6,000 headsets, the company revealed the Magic Leap 2 headset and a new enterprise strategy. Magic Leap's chief product officer Omar Khan said the next headset would be launched next year, but other sources were more pessimistic.
Greece on Friday prepared to swear in the first woman president in its history as the country grapples with over a hundred coronavirus cases.

Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou, a 63-year-old senior judge, will become the new Greek head of state for a five-year term.

She will take her oath in parliament, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier -- Greece's foremost military monument -- and go to the presidential mansion for a handover ceremony with outgoing president Prokopis Pavlopoulos, parliament said.

Sakellaropoulou was elected by parliament in January by 261 out of 300 lawmakers, one of the broadest cross-party majorities in Greek history.

She has set out her priorities as tackling the economic crisis, climate change and mass migration.

The new president was until now the head of Greece's top administrative court, the Council of State.

The daughter of a Supreme Court judge, Sakellaropoulou completed postgraduate studies at Paris's Sorbonne university. She was the first woman to lead the Council of State.

Although the president is nominally the head of the Greek state and commander-in-chief, the post is largely ceremonial.

Greek presidents confirm governments and laws and technically have the power to declare war -- but only in conjunction with the government.

Greece has so far announced 117 cases of coronavirus, one of whom died on Thursday after ten days in hospital.

Three people are in intensive care and the government has shut down schools and universities, courts, cinemas, gyms and other indoor public gathering areas for two weeks in an effort to curb the outbreak.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man arrested in connection with Kevin Lunney's abduction and assault has been released without charge.

A man, aged in his mid 50s, was arrested yesterday in relation to the abduction and torture of Quinn Industrial Holdings director Kevin Lunney, but was released without being charged today.

The man was arrested on Wednesday and detained at the Cavan garda station where he is being held under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007.

Mr Lunney (50) was abducted outside his home near Derrylin, Co Fermanagh, on September 17 and taken to a horsebox across the Border, where he was savagely beaten and tortured.

He survived the brutal attack but has been left with life-changing injuries.

The arrest comes after three people were arrested in November in connection with the horrific assault.

A man in his 40s along with a woman (50s) and her son (20s) were arrested in connection with the probe into the kidnap and torture of Mr Lunney.

The suspects were held at Garda stations in Cavan, Monaghan and Kells, Co Meath, but were released without charge.

Their arrests came after key suspect in the attack, Cyril 'Dublin Jimmy' McGuinness (54), died of a suspected heart attack during a police raid at his UK home on November 8.

The Irish Independent previously revealed McGuinness had recruited two Dublin criminals to carry out surveillance on the five directors of QIH in the weeks leading up to Mr Lunney's abduction.
New Jersey drivers worried about the threat of the coronavirus spread just got a two-month extension to renew expiring drivers licenses and registrations.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the extension during a news conference Friday.

Drivers who have licenses or registrations that expire in March, April or May will receive an automatic two-month extension of that date, Murphy said during his coronavirus briefing in Ewing. So, a license expiring on April 1 will now effectively expire on June 1.

Complicating the issue is the looming federal deadline for drivers to switch from standard licenses to the more secure Real ID licenses. On and after Oct. 1, only Real ID drivers licenses will be accepted for domestic air travel at airports. Murphy said Friday he will write to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about pushing the Oct. 1 deadline back to reduce crowds at Motor Vehicle Commission agencies.

Renewing vehicle registrations and drivers licenses can still be done online, so long as the MVC has a current photo of the driver, said William Connolly, of the MVC. But, Real ID licenses must be obtained in-person. The MVC relaxed an appointment-only policy for drivers to get Real ID by allowing walk-ins during the middle of the month.

Most drivers  up to 90%  can renew their licenses online, Connolly said. You can also renew your registration, change your address, or replace a lost or stolen license online.

State Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, R-Union, had called for an extension for expiring documents earlier this week after reports of multi-hour waits at the Springfield and other MVC agencies.

Drivers interviewed at the Springfield agency on Wednesday said theyd been waiting in line for hours and one man was on his second trip after being shut out on a Saturday after waiting for hours.

Bramnick said he was concerned about potential exposure to coronavirus in overcrowded agencies, in addition to the inconvenience to drivers and called on Murphy to extend expiring licenses. Bramnick is considering running for the Republican nomination to challenge Murphy, a Democrat.

I would like to thank Governor Murphy for extending the expiration date of drivers licenses, vehicle registrations and car inspections, Bramnick said Friday. This extension will provide New Jersey residents relief from long wait times at MVC facilities.

Motor vehicle agencies are usually crowded during the beginning and end of the month when drivers documents are expiring.

Getting Real ID is a time-consuming process, Bramnick said. It takes 15 minutes to do one.

Federal Department of Homeland Security officials said Wednesday there are no plans to push back the Oct. 1 Real ID deadline due to coronavirus concerns.

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With startling speed, the coronavirus pandemic has extended its tendrils into the halls of power around the world.

For many top officials tasked with responding to the crisis that has strained hospitals to their limits and sent markets spiraling, the matter is personal.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro became one of the highest-ranking world leaders to announce he would be tested for the novel coronavirus on Friday, a day after his communications director, Fabio Wajngarten, announced he was infected. Bolsonaro's test came back negative, he said.

Nonetheless, the apparent close call sparked a flurry of worries worldwide among officials and politicians whose jobs require meeting with members of the public and counterparts from all over the world.

Wajngarten met with President Donald Trump last week at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump has said he will not undergo a test for the virus, as he has no symptoms. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, R, however, was not so lucky. After meeting with Wajngarten on that same trip, Suarez announced Friday he had tested positive for the virus.

Trump's daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump, also faced a potential exposure. She came into contact with Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who confirmed Friday that he had tested positive for coronavirus less than a week after meeting with Ivanka, Attorney General William Barr and other White House officials.

Other countries are facing similar uncertainty. The Canadian Parliament moved to suspend operations Friday after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went into self-isolation Thursday shortly before his wife tested positive for the virus. He said he is not showing symptoms of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and therefore has not been tested. Trudeau will remain in isolation with his family at their home in Ottawa for 14 days.

Top officials, like everyone else, have had their routines thwarted. Romania's interim prime minister, Ludovic Orban, and his cabinet announced Friday that they were entering self-quarantine after being in contact with a senator who later tested positive.

In Australia, Dutton confirmed he had the virus. Dutton had been in a cabinet meeting in Sydney on Tuesday.

Spain suspended its lower parliament on Tuesday after the secretary general of the far-right Vox party confirmed he had the virus. Two days before, Javier Ortega Smith had attended a crowded Vox rally. By Friday, the head of Vox, Santiago Abascal, announced on Twitter that he too has tested positive.

Last week, Nicola Zingaretti, the head of Italy's Democratic Party, reported on Facebook that he was infected.

Iran's political leadership has been among the hardest hit. At least two dozen officials, including a vice president and the deputy health minister, are among the more than 11,000 people infected with the virus there. The official death toll - more than 500 - also includes members of parliament, a former diplomat and a senior adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader. Another top Khamenei adviser reported he was in self-quarantine Thursday amid unconfirmed reports he was infected.

The United States - which has watched for weeks as the virus has marched through Asia and Europe - is no exception. Some of the country's high-profile lawmakers, such as Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are in self-quarantine after meeting Bolsonaro's aide last week. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the incoming White House chief of staff, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, are among a handful of others on self-quarantine after interacting with a coronavirus patient at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Other members of Congress have temporarily closed their offices or urged people to work from home following reports that several Capitol Hill staffers have the virus.

Some politicians have had to tamp down speculation about their health. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday that he had tested negative for the virus. He took a test Thursday after meeting with cabinet officials who had been exposed.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to form a government after the third inconclusive election this year and a looming corruption trial. In the meantime, his cabinet will meet by video conference.
The co-chair of the Joint Committee on Education for the Massachusetts House on Friday called on state officials to close all schools in the state to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Rep. Alice Peisch, D-Wellesley, specifically called on Gov. Charlie Baker and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to shut down all schools in the state.

Massachusetts Teachers Association President Merrie Najimy issued a statement Friday evening also calling for all schools in the state to be closed for two weeks and for MCAS testing to be canceled in the spring.

The piecemeal approach is ineffective, she said. We must take action on a statewide basis to protect students, educators, and the health of Massachusetts families.

Peisch cited Bakers ban on gatherings of 250 people or more as a reason to close schools.

Staying home as much as possible have been advised throughout the Commonwealth and across the country, Peisch said in a statement. As events unfold and society adjusts its behavior, it seems prudent to close all schools for the time being so families and schools can plan as best they can for an evolving crisis.

Najimy said the state and local communities must develop social safety nets to ensure students have access to food and other support services while schools are closed. She also called for school employees to continue being paid and have access to benefits during the shutdowns.

This is a time for consistency, leadership and urgent action at both the state and national levels  qualities that have been sorely lacking so far during the coronavirus crisis, Najimy said. Now is the time for decisive action to protect students, families, educators and everyone else in our communities. We demand that it be taken.

On Friday the Department of Public Health said there are 123 cases of coronavirus in the state.

Dozens of schools across Massachusetts closed schools on Friday. Many have closed school for the next two weeks. Everett has canceled school for 30 days.

Related Content:
Christchurch: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says New Zealanders have changed and become more engaged with the Muslim community in the year since a gunman killed 51 people at two mosques.

Ardern is in Christchurch attending events to mark the anniversary of last year's massacre on March 15, which she has described as one of her country's darkest days. On Friday she was attending a special joint prayer with members of both mosques that were attacked and on Sunday she planned to attend a national memorial.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to the media on Friday. Credit:Getty Images

"A year on, I believe New Zealand and its people have fundamentally changed. I can't see how you could have an event like this and not," Ardern said. "But the challenge for us will be ensuring that in our everyday actions -and in every opportunity where we see bullying, harassment, racism, discrimination - calling it out as a nation.

"If we stand up and say this is not who we are, then it's demonstrating it every single day," she said.
City officials on Friday confirmed San Antonios first case of novel coronavirus unrelated to the evacuees at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and issued a new public health emergency, ushering in sweeping measures to guard against further spread of the virus.

The new case, which was confirmed by testing late Thursday, appears to be connected to travel in the U.S., including California. It is not believed to have resulted from person-to-person spread in San Antonio, said Dawn Emerick, director of the Metropolitan Health District. The infected person, who has been self-quarantined at home with family members, started showing symptoms in early March.

Epidemiologists with Metro Health are conducting a contact tracing investigation to learn the patients recent movements and level of exposure to others. After that work has been completed, Emerick said more information will be released to the public.

The public health emergency, which went into effect late Friday morning, prohibits gatherings of more than 500 people. Mayor Ron Nirenberg said officials are also strongly recommending that events with 250 to 500 people be canceled, too.

Exceptions include hospitals, schools and churches and similar public places. Most area public and charter school districts, however, have extended their spring breaks, and many universities in the area moved their classes online.

The declaration lasts for at least a week, but the City Council could extend it by another 30 days.

The first travel-related case underscores the importance of additional measures to protect the public, Nirenberg said.

On ExpressNews.com: In abrupt reversal, federal officials to only quarantine Texans at Lackland

More Information Local hotline Call the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District for information about the coronavirus: 210-207-5779 (Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., English and Spanish) See More Collapse

Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday also declared a statewide disaster and announced that the states first drive-through testing site would be in San Antonio. Late Friday afternoon, tents and a mobile medical unit were set up in a parking lot across the street from UT Health San Antonios Medical Arts and Research Center. The site, which will be open every day during business hours, was packed up shortly after 5 p.m.

The testing site will initially be available on an appointment-only basis to select people who meet testing criteria, including first responders, health care workers, operators of critical infrastructure and key resources, and certain high-risk patients. Later, it would be open to the public, but a doctors recommendation will likely be required. Results will be available within 24 to 48 hours.

Local officials said they werent surprised to see a case of the coronavirus, which has reached pandemic levels and has rapidly spread across the country over the past two weeks. Previously, about a dozen cases of the virus had been diagnosed among evacuees brought to San Antonio from China and the Diamond Princess cruise ship who were quarantined at Lackland, but those individuals were kept in isolation from the public.

Canceled events, no juries, city closures

The citys emergency order has upended events and services across the city.

Fiesta has been postponed until Nov. 5-15. The St. Patricks Day parade and the dyeing of the San Antonio River green Saturday are canceled, along with this weekends Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair.

Late Friday, the city announced the temporary shutdown of a number of public locations this weekend and next week. They include all libraries, Pre-K 4 SA centers, Cafe College and city-owned museums and galleries.

In an effort to protect the public from the highly contagious virus, widespread changes are also being implemented in the local criminal justice system.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said jury trials are on hold for the next 30 days, and officials are looking to reduce the arrests of nonviolent offenders. The county is working with the district attorneys office, the San Antonio Police Department and the Bexar County Sheriffs Office to ensure we dont cause a health crisis at our own jail, he said.

On ExpressNews.com: Inside the release of the Diamond Princess evacuees

This is the second time Nirenberg has declared a public health emergency in response to the threat of the coronavirus, which has been confirmed in more than 2,000 people nationwide and killed several dozen. The first, issued on March 2, had specifically sought to extend the quarantine of evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship so that they could be retested for the virus.

A third group of evacuees arrived at Lackland on two planes this week, this time from the Grand Princess, a sister ship of the Diamond Princess where coronavirus also surfaced. Although evacuees from the ship are still being moved to different locations for quarantine, eventually only Texans will remain on the base as they complete two-week quarantines.

Emerick said two of the 149 evacuees currently housed at a hotel on the base are showing symptoms of the COVID-19 respiratory illness  fever, coughing and shortness of breath. None have yet received an official diagnosis, said Joe Smith, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to JBSA-Lackland, some of the Grand Princess evacuees are now living in on-base housing designated for Noncommissioned Officer Academy students, who have been moved to a downtown hotel for the time being. All of the previous groups of evacuees had been housed only at the Gateway Inn, a hotel on base.

It was not clear why some evacuees have been placed in a new area on the base. Smith said he couldnt comment on the change.

If our health care workers go down, this becomes a problem

As more cases of the virus are identified in the community, Emerick stressed that the public should treat emergency rooms as a last resort, even if they believe they may be infected. Only the sickest patients should seek hospital care, she said, and others should self-quarantine and call their doctors for further instructions.

Otherwise, she said, the health care system could be overwhelmed with patients, unnecessarily exposing medical personnel to the virus.

We need to protect our health care workers, Emerick said. If our health care workers go down, this becomes a problem.

Hospitals across the city have introduced their own safety measures to protect medical staff and patients from the virus, including closing certain entrances, screening everyone for signs of illness before they enter a facility and limiting visitation.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio hospitals start screening visitors for coronavirus

Testing for the coronavirus became available this week through Metro Health, as well as at two commercial laboratories, Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp. While the city has been flooded with requests about tests, Emerick said it will not be available to every person who wants one.

Metro Health decided late Thursday to revise its criteria for testing so that it can be more accessible to the community, Emerick said. The department is expected to release new guidelines soon.

However, she emphasized that the purpose of testing is mainly for those with signs and symptoms, not to give people the peace of mind that they dont have the virus.

The tests are diagnostic tools, Emerick said. They are not screening tools.

Abbott said the state has tested 220 Texans so far for the coronavirus, and he expects public and private labs to exponentially increase the capacity next week. The labs should be capable of testing several thousand people a week.

On ExpressNews.com: Calm the panic: San Antonio health officials begin pivot to community coronavirus plan

Officials recommend that residents continue to exercise precautions, such as frequent hand washing, disinfecting of high-touch surfaces and objects and avoiding crowded places when possible.

Nirenberg also asked that consumers not hoard things like hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes because that will only encourage the spread of disease if some people cannot access those supplies.

There may be many sleepless nights ahead, Nirenberg said, adding that we will get through this.

Staff writers Taylor Goldenstein and Sig Christenson contributed reporting. | Lauren Caruba covers health care and medicine in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba
A saddened boy hopes his pet dog does not find a home too far from his place so that when he is older he can go back and pick him up after he was forced to put him up for adoption.

Now a Mexico City shelter worker has started a social media campaign in hopes of reuniting the separated buddies and educating the child's family on how to be better pet owners.

An employee at Pergatuzzo Shelter took to Facebook and shared the boy's heartbreaking letter that explained why he had to give up Simon after the pooch was dropped off March 5.

A shelter in Mexico City is asking its Facebook followers to help it find a child who was forced to give up his pet dog Simon (pictured)

The child left a heartbreaking letter, writing that Simon was beaten by his father because he would cry a lot whenever he was hungry. But he asked the shelter not to take him away from it because he plans on returning to pick up Simon when he is grown up

A sad boy in Mexico City wrote the following letter in Spanish after he was forced to put up his dog for adoption March 5: 'I leave you to Simon. He is my dog. I don't want my father to hit him. 'He cries a lot because there is no food. I leave you my savings for his tortillas. Do not hit him because my dad hits him a lot. Simon eats a lot. Do not take him away. When I grow up I will come back for Simon'

'I leave you Simon. He is my dog. I don't want my father to hit him,' the dejected child wrote.

'He cries a lot because there is no food. I leave you my savings for his tortillas. Do not hit him because my dad hits him a lot. Simon eats a lot. Do not take him away. When I grow up I will come back for Simon.'

The Mexico City shelter has rejected plenty of adoption offers for Simon

The worker as the shelter's 50,000 plus followers if they recognized Simon and reiterated that he was not up for adoption.

'Simon has an owner. We are not looking for a temporary home. We are not asking anything for him,' Pergatuzzo Shelter wrote on its Facebook account.

'Everyone be kind enough to respect Simon and his owner. We just want to find the child to talk to his family.'
India exported $27.65 billion worth of goods in February, 2.91 percent more than the same month in 2019, indicating the country's trade resilience in times of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) linked global supply chain disruptions and demand plunge.

Sixteen out of the 30 major product groups including petroleum, engineering goods, organic and inorganic chemicals, drugs and pharmaceuticals, electronic goods, handicrafts and marine products were in positive territory in February.

Imports were also 2.48 per cent higher at $37.50 billion during the month as compared to $36.59 billion in February 2019. As a result, India's trade deficit sharply narrowed to $9.85 billion February 2020 as against $9.72 billion registered in February 2019.

The monthly trade data released by the Commerce Ministry on Friday showed that all other major sectors of exports including almost all labour-intensive sector of exports are still in negative territory.

"The modest growth, in the wake of novel coronavirus, which not only pulled down the global sentiments but also affected the supply chain both internationally and domestically, is encouraging. However, the impact of pandemic will be more visible in exports figure of March onwards," Sharad Kumar Saraf, president, Federation of Indian Exports Organisations said.

Earlier during the day, the Union Cabinet approved the long-awaited Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) scheme to replace the existing Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). This change is meant to help reduce the cost of exports from the country.

"RoDTEP will go a long way in enhancing the growth prospects not only in the short-term but will also give it a much-needed boost in the medium and long-term. However, it should be notified with immediate effect for all the products with lead time of at least 3 months now so that exporters may factor the same in finalising new orders and making their transition to the new scheme smooth while continuing with MEIS in the interim period," Saraf said.

Ravi Sehgal, chairman, Engineering Exports Promotion Council said that irrespective of the positive growth in exports, the outlook looks grim going forward. "Global trade is in a state of logjam with the entire supply chain getting disrupted. Under such a tough economic environment, it is imperative for immediate relief from the government to keep the vital exports, particularly in the job-oriented SMEs going," Sehgal said.

Rating agency ICRA said the merchandise trade deficit for February 2020 was in line with their expectations. "Nevertheless, the merchandise trade deficit is expected to narrow sharply in March 2020, following the plunge in crude oil prices," Aditi Nayar, Principal Economist, ICRA, noted.

Also Read:Investors lose nearly Rs 7 lakh crore after Sensex, Nifty crash 5%

Also Read:BPCL, HPCL, Indian Oil stocks rise up to 13% as crude oil prices crash
A newborn baby in England has become the world's youngest patient to test positive for coronavirus.

The child's mother was rushed to hospital days ago with suspected pneumonia but her positive result was only known after the birth.

The pair are being treated at separate hospitals as the mother's condition is understood to be worse than the baby's.

The newborn is being treated at North Middlesex Hospital where it was born, while the mother was moved to a specialist infections hospital.

A newborn baby in England has become the world's youngest patient to test positive for coronavirus (stock image)

The baby is being treated at North Middlesex Hospital where it was born, and the mother has been moved to a specialist infections hospital

After doctors learned of the mother's positive result, the baby was tested very soon after its arrival, according to The Sun.

Doctors are trying to establish how the newborn contracted the virus, either through the womb or during birth.

A source said: 'Staff in contact with both patients have been advised to self-isolate.

'Health officials are urgently trying to find out the circumstances behind their infections.'

The UK's infection toll has soared by more than 200 in one day to around 800 with 11 fatalities in total

Officials have advised the pregnant women and babies are at low risk from coronavirus and are likely to only endure mild symptoms.

Unlike other infections, the mortality rate of coronavirus does not curve at both age groups, but only among the elderly.

The news comes as the UK's infection toll soars by more than 200 in one day to around 800 with 11 fatalities in total.

Scotland's chief medical officer confirmed the latest patient had died, saying: 'I offer my deepest sympathy to their friends and family at this difficult time'. Officials refused to release any other details.

Meanwhile the Welsh health minister revealed as many as 20,000 people could die in Wales as he suspended all non-urgent surgical procedures and outpatient appointments.

Coronavirus fears are growing in the UK after Government officials warned the real number of people with the infection could be as high as 10,000. A man is pictured wearing a military gas mask on the London Underground

A man wearing a face mask is pictured on Edinburgh's almost deserted Royal Mile this morning

Death toll in Wales could reach 20,000 people Up to 20,000 people in Wales could die amid the coronavirus outbreak in a worst-case scenario, the country's health minister has said. Vaughan Gething laid bare the scale of the challenge the Welsh NHS is facing in a press conference in which he also announced non-urgent surgical procedures and outpatient appointments would be suspended. Mr Gething gave the worst-case figures while responding to criticism about his repeated refusal to ask the Welsh Rugby Union to postpone Wales's Guinness Six Nations clash against Scotland in Cardiff on Saturday, following the union's own decision to do so 24 hours before kick-off. On Thursday, he had said 'science doesn't tell us that it really makes a difference' that cancelling large events could save lives. On Friday, Mr Gething said: 'This is actually about how we make choices based on the best scientific advice available, based on the best advice of our chief medical officers. 'That's going to be the way the government behaves, because our priority is to save as many lives as possible. And it should not get away from the fact that is what we are talking about. 'In an average flu season across the UK, there are 8-10,000 deaths. In the worst-case scenario, as you know in Wales, for coronavirus could be over 20,000 deaths. 'That's the choice we are making in how to use our resources.' Advertisement

Coronavirus fears have now gripped the UK  car parks were pictured empty this morning and train stations and carriages were deserted as commuters avoided busy areas in rush hours around the country.

The mass stayaway came after the Prime Minister yesterday announced a step-change in official advice and said anyone who develops a new cough or a fever should isolate themselves at home for a week, regardless of how likely they think it is that they have the coronavirus.

Boris Johnson ramped up Number 10's response to second phase of the Government's coronavirus action plan but ministers refused to shut schools and delayed any rules banning large gatherings or international travel.

Officials have controversially said they are instead aiming for a policy which could see up to 40million people left to catch the virus in the hope that the country will build up a herd immunity as they recover, meaning so many people will be immune to the virus that it won't be able to spread when it inevitably reappears in the future.

Stopping short of more dramatic measures like those which have been announced in Ireland, France and Spain has triggered a political row and former Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and London mayor candidate Rory Stewart, said the Government needs to do more now.

Britain's FTSE 100 economic index had a see-saw day today after a turbulent week, rising and then falling before a quick rebound this afternoon saw it nudge up 1.7 per cent before it closed at 5,324 points. Stocks and markets around the world have been battered by fears of how the coronavirus will hit the economy as millions are off work.

Europe is now the epicenter of the global virus crisis and is recording more cases every day than China did even when it was in the grip of its epidemic's worst days, the World Health Organization announced.

And British Airways said it was fighting for survival amid the global disaster and revealed it will have to lay off staff and ground planes on a scale bigger than anything caused by 9/11 or the financial crisis in 2008.
Theres more than just hand sanitizer and soap when it comes to disinfecting during an epidemic.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in January, a plethora of products that claim to be able to kill germs have proliferated, mostly in Asian countriesperhaps a sign of those societies collective memories of past epidemics such as SARS and avian flu. These inventive products come on top of people already taking most precautions, such as wearing face masks, carrying bottles of alcohol gel everywhere, and religiously cleaning their environs with bleach.

Yet many of these alternative products do not live up to their marketing claims and some may even do more harm than good. Heres what one Hong Kong-based scientist had to say about some of them.

Hypochlorous acid

A gentler alternative to bleach, HOCl is touted by sellers as a natural, harmless disinfectant and sold as sprays under different names such as Nano Guard (link in Chinese) and Water God. They are commonly found in pharmacies, supermarkets, and even vending machines in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Its essentially made from the same substances as bleachsodium hypochlorite. But at a pH of around 6, it is safer to handle than bleach, which is strongly alkaline. It has also been proven to be more effective against bacteria even at a lower concentration.

Masks and disinfectants, including Virus Shutout, sold at a drugstore in Hong Kong.

They can be found in markets in Hong Kong at about HK$100 ($13) a bottle, but Jason Chan, an assistant professor in science education at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said that those vendors are likely selling 99.9% water added with a few drops of pH-adjusted bleach, and these raw materials probably cost less than a dollar.

Story continues

Portable air purifier

With names such as Air Doctor or Virus Shut Out, these portable air purifiers, which claim to disinfect the air as the user moves around, are now sold across pharmacies in Hong Kong, and Japan, where theyre made. One packet, which costs around HK$50 and is worn around the neck, can be used for up to 30 days.

Each packet contains sodium chlorite and an acid, both in the form of a solid pellet. When exposed to moisture in the air, they slowly react to give out chlorine dioxide gas, a strong oxidizing agent that can kill pathogenic microorganisms.

However, the protection it can offer is very limited since gas dissipates very quickly, explained Chan, especially outdoors where the air is moving. The rate of formation will never catch up with the rate of dilution. If someone is sneezing at you, will it be able to kill all the virus particles in the droplets in a fraction of the second? I strongly doubt it.

Ozone generator

Though advertised as air cleaners on popular Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, ozone generators are banned in Californiaand for good reason. It is one of the products where the risks heavily outweigh the benefits, said Chan, who strongly advises against using ozone generators in homes and work spaces.

Ozone generators sold on Taobao.

The generators come in sizes as small as a phone to as large as a microwave, with prices ranging from about HK$99 to over HK$2,000.

While it removes smells by reacting with volatile organic compounds, ozone is itself an air pollutant. Poisonous and carcinogenic, it can cause damage to cells and reaches dangerous levels when allowed to accumulate in the air.

Negative ion air purifier

Negative ion air purifiers have been around for years, but light, portable ones that can be carried on-the-go have become popular since the coronavirus outbreak. For example, launched in Hong Kong last year, Mobework is a slick device that can be worn around the neck or clipped on clothes and boasts a 15-hour battery life, while Taiwan brand InfoThink offers them in the form of necklaces, featuring characters from Disney and The Avengers.

Portable negative ion air purifiers sold on Taobao.

Negative ion air purifiers work by electrifying molecules in the air. The negatively charged molecules then bind themselves to other gas particles in the airbe they viruses, dust, or bacteriawhich become attracted to surrounding surfaces such as walls and furniture. By increasing the rate of precipitation and reducing the number of such particles floating in the air, the purifier lowers the risk of contamination in an enclosed space.

However, similar to chlorine dioxide gas emitters, its effectiveness drops dramatically outdoors where the air is dynamic. And the process of running air through an electrified plate generates ozone as a side product, so it is not advisable to have it on all the time, said Chan.

UV light sanitizer

Another relatively new product gaining popularity in both Asia and the US is the UV light sanitizer, used for disinfecting accessories such as glasses and smartphoneson which viruses can live for as long as 96 hours.

Created by a company based in the US, PhoneSoap, which simultaneously sanitizes and charges the phone, is already sold out on Amazon. Other options on the market resemble a wand, while others come as containers that disinfect items placed within them.

One reminder from Chan is to read the instructions carefully. Though some boast of killing 99.9% of germs in mere seconds, these statements are mostly exaggerated. While these sanitizers generate beams of ultraviolet light that can break down cellular structures, the process is far slower compared to chemical methods.

Sterilization is more complete the longer the radiation. It takes timea few minutes or up to 30 depending on the UV source and the level of contamination, said Chan, who notes that UV light should not be used on the body as it damages body cells as much as bacteria and is a well-known cause of skin cancer.

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Posted on March 12, 2020

We are 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.

As the U.S. and countries around the world work to address the pandemic spread of COVID-19, posts disseminated by tens of thousands on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are feeding misinformation to people about how to avoid and self-test for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.



The posts provide a series of supposed tips about the virus, such as wrongly instructing people to hold their breath to gauge whether theyve been infected and falsely suggesting that water consumption can kill the virus. Similar claims were promoted in a text-based image posted on the Instagram account of actress Debra Messing, which has since been deleted. They were also shared widely in screenshots on Twitter.

The posts in some cases cite Taiwan experts or Japanese doctors, and many begin by falsely sourcing the text to STANFORD HOSPITAL BOARD. Stanford Health Care has debunked that attribution.

We consulted Krys Johnson, an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Temple University, who called the posts deeply troubling because they make incorrect and dangerous claims. She recommended people consult the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the World Health Organization, before spreading purported health advice.

Here are some of the claims from the posts, and why theyre inaccurate:

Claim: Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you complete it successfully without coughing, without discomfort, stiffness or tightness, etc., it proves there is no Fibrosis in the lungs, basically indicates no infection.



Facts: Theres no evidence to suggest this is a valid test for COVID-19. Whats more: We know that people infected with coronavirus show symptoms within 14 days and that this virus can lead to severe complications, Johnson told us via email, but those are acute respiratory distress (not being able to breathe) and septic shock (the virus infecting your bloodstream), not fibrosis, as mentioned here.

The CDC recommends seeking medical advice by phone if you develop the main symptoms of COVID-19  fever, cough and shortness of breath  and have been in contact with someone who has the disease, or have recently traveled to an area experiencing a spread of the virus.

Claim: If you have a runny nose and sputum, you have a common cold  Coronavirus pneumonia is a dry cough with no runny nose.

Facts: While the most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough, according to WHO, some patients do have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea. Some who are infected dont show any symptoms. Also, a WHO report said that, based on an examination of more than 55,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 33% had sputum (phlegm) production.

Claim: Everyone should ensure your mouth & throat are moist, never dry. Take a few sips of water every 15 minutes at least. Why? Even if the virus gets into your mouth, drinking water or other liquids will wash them down through your throat and into the stomach. Once there, your stomach acid will kill all the virus.

Facts: The WHO has shot down this theory, saying that, hile staying hydrated by drinking water is important for overall health, it does not prevent coronavirus infection.

Likewise, Johnson said that the moistness of your mouth and throat have nothing to do with the likelihood that you will develop disease, and simply drinking water to rinse your digestive track will not prevent you from being infected or from getting sick. Water consumption, she added, has no bearing on the virus getting into your airways and lungs; if you breathe in an infected persons respiratory droplets, the virus will travel through your airways.

CDC officials recommend people clean their hands often, for at least 20 seconds  or use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol as an alternative  and avoid touching their faces and mouths. They also suggest social distancing, which can help curb the spread of the virus.

Claim: This new virus is not heat-resistant and will be killed by a temperature of just 26/27 degrees.

Facts: What, exactly, these posts are referencing is unclear. The CDC has said its not yet known whether weather and temperature impact the spread of COVID-19. Weve previously written about how its unknown whether warming weather will help temper the outbreak.

The WHO has said there is no reason to believe that this virus would behave differently in different temperatures. Johnson noted that Italy has a particularly mild winter and they have had widespread transmission of COVID-19, so it is unlikely that the outside temperature will affect this disease.

More than 125,000 people across the globe have been infected by the coronavirus, leading to more than 4,700 deaths. Weve reported on many falsehoods and misleading statements about the new coronavirus. If you see potentially false or misleading content circulating about COVID-19, email us at editor@factcheck.org.
Cashed-up property trusts are bolstering demand for industrial property classes in the key Melbourne and Sydney markets as they flee from stressed retail assets like secondary shopping centres.

Institutional players are shifting portfolios from retail to logistics. Credit: Shutterstock

In their separate takes on the state of the popular sheds market, agents Knight Frank and CBRE are unfazed by the disruptive repercussions of the coronavirus  at this stage at least.

But signifying more uncertain times, they identify the growth of sale and leaseback deals as buyers opt for established tenants on extra long tenures.

Vacancies are also increasing in some non-prime pockets, while in others rents increases are not keeping up with valuation increases.
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(Tel Aviv)-March of the Living organization's leaders announced today, that owing to the spread of coronavirus, especially in Europe and the United States, this year's March of the Living in Poland will be postponed.

The organization's chairman, Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, said, "After consulting with the relevant health bodies and officials, it is with a heavy heart that we are forced to announce the postponement of this year's March of the Living in Poland. Our primary concern is the health of the many participants and the Holocaust survivors who would be joining them. Given that this is an international event involving 110 delegations from around the world, we have a responsibility to take precautionary measures in accordance with the guidelines given by authorities in various countries."

March of the Living is the largest annual international Holocaust education program. It has taken place in Poland without interruption, since its inception in 1988. Each year, more than 10,000 Jewish and non-Jewish youth from 40 countries participate in the march, including from Canada, United States, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Panama, Italy, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Australia, Poland and beyond. They are joined by Holocaust survivors and other VIPs from around the globe.

Against the backdrop of the postponement, the organization will launch a campaign encouraging youth across the world to combat anti-Semitism and racism under the slogan, "Never Means Never." In doing so, March of the Living will continue to educate youth about the history of the Holocaust and to instill values of tolerance, combating anti-Semitism and racism. "Our educational message, especially in the face of rising anti-Semitism, will be communicated by other means this year. Even if we are not able to be in Poland, we remain thoroughly committed to our values and our historic role," commented Rosenman. March of the Living organizers are exploring the educational alternatives, in which communities across the world would be able to participate in such a campaign. In addition, plans for re-scheduling the march in Poland later this year are underway, with informed consideration to global health conditions and community needs.

March of the Living president, Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, said "It is with a heavy heart due to the global attack of the coronavirus we will not march together on Yom HaShoah 2020. This by no means implies that we will be deterred from our mission and responsibility to remember the past, pay tribute to those who perished or honor those who survived. We will remain committed to educating the next generation and combatting anti-Semitism, even as we look forward to our next March in Poland."

To date, more than 300,000 participants, from 52 countries have walked the route of the march, the 3.2 kilometer long railroad tracks from Auschwitz to Birkenau, in tribute to the greatest loss in the history of the Jewish people and humanity.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 16:02:59|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday issued a report on the human rights situation in the United States.

The report, titled "The Record of Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2019," was released by the State Council Information Office.

Please see the attachment for the document.
Two residents of Faridkot district with a travel history to foreign countries were kept under observation at the isolation ward of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital by the health department for showing coronavirus-like symptoms.

A 28-year-old man, who returned from Malaysia on Thursday, was fine during screening at the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport, Amritsar. But on Friday afternoon, he complained of symptoms akin to those seen in coronavirus (Covid-19) patients. He was admitted to the isolation ward immediately. He went to Malaysia on March 8, said Faridkot civil surgeon Dr Rajinder Kumar.

In another incident, a 21-year-old merchant navy officer who returned from Dubai around 35 days ago via the sea port in Gujarat, complained of fever and throat infection. He too has been kept in the isolation ward. He reached India on February 8 and later spent some days at Delhi before reaching Faridkot on Thursday, said Dr Kumar, adding that the samples of both suspected patients have been taken and will be send to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, on Saturday.
A case has been registered against All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Waris Pathan and Kapil Mishra for allegedly promoting enmity between different religions.

According to Moghalpura police, a complaint was lodged by Balkishan Rao Namdhari, a member of Inquilab-e-Millat yesterday.

The complainant has alleged that former MIM Legislator Waris Pathan during the anti-CAA public meeting at Kalaburgi in Karnataka has delivered a provocative speech, in the presence of the party president Asaduddin Owaisi. The alleged provocative speech can cause communal clashes and violence between Hindu and Muslim communities.

The police further said that Namdhari has also alleged that BJP leader Kapil Mishra had led a gathering in support of CAA in Delhi after which violence erupted between Pro and anti- CAA groups leading to clashes.

The investigation into the matter is underway and the police has filed a complaint under the 153, 153-A, 117, 295-A & 120 b of the India Penal Code.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)




Vietnam has exempted Samsung Display engineers from South Korea from its mandatory quarantine, the South Korean Embassy in Hanoi said Friday, allowing them to swiftly do their jobs upon arrival.







To stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, Vietnam has mandated a 14-day quarantine for all people travelling from South Korea.







However, the South Korean Embassy said Samsung Display's workers will be exempted from this quarantine rule after the Vietnamese government accepted its request.







Early this week, Samsung Display asked Vietnam for quarantine exemption for its 700 engineers from South Korea so that the company can quickly prepare for the upgrade of its production lines in Vietnam and supply display panels to global smartphone makers.







Samsung Display's customers include Samsung Electronics Co., Apple Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co.







The embassy said the first batch of Samsung Display engineers will arrive at Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam, later Friday.







The engineers will then move to Samsung Display's plant in Bac Ninh Province, where they will stay at a separate building to minimize contact among workers.







Samsung Display said the engineers will retool its production lines to manufacture flexible OLED panel modules.







The embassy said it is working with the Vietnamese government to grant quarantine exemptions to engineers of other South Korean companies that operate plants in Vietnam.







"This could be a starting point for the South Korean companies in Vietnam getting quarantine exemptions for their engineers," said Park Noh-wan, South Korea's ambassador to Vietnam. "We are also talking about quarantine exemptions for engineers of LG Display Co." (Yonhap)


UPDATE: State health officials announced six new presumptive cases of COVID-19 at a Linn County veterans home late Thursday night, bring the number of known coronavirus patients in Oregon to 30.

***

The Oregon Health Authority on Thursday reported three new presumptive cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the number of known COVID-19 patients in the state to 24 as top officials told residents to prepare for thousands more in the near future.

One patient who tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours is a Clackamas County resident, state health officials said. That person, a man between the ages of 35 and 54, is a close contact with one of the states previous cases.

The two other patients are women who live in Washington County and are both older than 55, according to the health authority. The health authority is uncertain how they contracted coronavirus, and officials believe the women picked up the virus as it circulated in the community.

The latest figures arrived hours after Gov. Kate Brown formally announced a statewide ban on gatherings of more than 250 people and public health experts delivered a series of sobering statistics on the coronavirus spread in Oregon and the states continued struggles to test or track it.

During a press conference with the governor, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the states epidemiologist, said he believed that as many as 250 Oregonians have already contracted COVID-19, a number that, if unabated, could surge to 75,000 by mid-May as cases doubled each week.

We know that this is just the tip of the iceberg, Sidelinger said of Oregons known coronavirus cases. Thats why our state and local officials are taking action on social distancing.

Meanwhile, the state public health lab can perform just 80 tests per day and will stick with testing only people who are hospitalized and seriously ill and people exposed to others confirmed to have the disease, Sidelinger said.

Commercial laboratories are now beginning to test additional Oregonians, said Sidelinger, who added that he did not know even a rough estimate of their capacity. He said multiple hospital systems in Oregon are also expected to begin testing for coronavirus, but they are still at least a week away from doing so.

There are now known COVID-19 cases in 11 counties: 10 in Washington County; two each in Jackson, Linn, Marion and Umatilla counties, and; one each in Deschutes, Clackamas, Douglas, Klamath, Multnomah and Polk counties.

Thirty-one more people in Oregon have tested negative for the virus in the last day, while another 96 are awaiting results, according to figures published to the authoritys website. To date, officials have tested 437 people in Oregon and another 252 are under monitoring for coronavirus symptoms.

Of the 24 Oregon cases, two have been confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although all of them are being treated as if they were confirmed. Eleven of the patients were hospitalized at the time they tested positive for the virus, state figures show, two more than on Tuesday.

People older than 55 account for 15 of the confirmed cases in Oregon, seven others are between 35 and 54 and two are under 25.

This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.

-- 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.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, center, visits a traditional market in Daegu, Friday. / Yonhap



Charter flight to evacuate Koreans from Iran



By Kang Seung-woo



The government is looking to designate coronavirus-hit Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province as a special disaster zone, the prime minister said Friday, a move that will expedite the administration's support to the affected areas and their residents.



The southeastern city of Daegu and the neighboring province are Korea's COVID-19 hot spots, with their number of confirmed cases reaching 7,075 as of Friday, making up the majority of the country's total of 7,979 infections since its first detection Jan. 20, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).



If designated, it will be the first special disaster zone to be made so due to an infectious disease. Previous designations have been mainly made for natural disasters.



"Relevant procedures are underway in relation to the declaration of Daegu and the province as special disaster zones," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, held at Daegu City Hall.



"As soon as the procedure is finalized, I will make a formal suggestion to President Moon Jae-in for the declaration."






From the sharp gaze of store clerks when shopping to people touching her hair without permission, Queensland slam poetry champion Anisa Nandaula wants to end discrimination.

Nandaula is one of four poets releasing work during Harmony Week as part of Australian tea brand T2's campaign Verse of Tea. She wants to battle what she says is pervasive micro-ignorance against gender, culture and identity.

The 21-year-old was born in Kampala, Uganda, and moved to Australia when she was eight years old.

Although Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world, almost half of young people from other cultures admit to experiencing some form of discrimination or unfair treatment.
Volvo's proud boast is that if you want to buy one of their cars, from now on you will be asked: 'Would you like one with or without a plug?'

The Swedish maker, now owned by China's Geely, is driving hard towards electricification (its 'Pure' mode) and to have a plug-in hybrid or fully electric option across its entire range.

And it's largely achieved that goal with its smart new XC40 compact family SUV, which I've just driven.

Civilised and economical: Volvo's XC40 Recharge family SUV can average almost 140mpg

In the industry's jargon-heavy lingo, the XC40 Recharge T5 is known as a PHEV  a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle. A fully electric version, due at the turn of the year, will be a BEV or a battery electric vehicle.

The one I drove is powered by a 180hp, three-cylinder inline 1,477cc petrol engine linked to a 82 hp electric motor and an automatic seven-speed gearbox.

It can accelerate to 62 mph in 7.3 seconds up to a top speed of 127 mph. But Volvo is limiting all newly ordered cars to 112 mph for safety.

A full charge using the fast-charge cable stored handily under the lift-up floor of the rear hatchback boot takes 2 hours. An hour less than on a domestic three-pin plug.

In the industry's jargon-heavy lingo, the XC40 Recharge T5 is known as a PHEV  a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle. A fully electric version is due at the turn of the year

Used correctly with regular charges, this car should slash your fuel bills, averaging up to 139.4 mpg, with CO2 emissions of up to 55g/km, despite a 48-litre fuel tank.

However, some customers simply order them to take advantage of their low road tax and company car tax rates, never bothering to charge them.

A full charge on the Pure setting gets you a maximum of 28 miles of silent, zero emissions. And there's always the comfort blanket of a tankful of fuel to get you home.

Used correctly with regular charges, this car should slash your fuel bills, averaging up to 139.4 mpg, with CO2 emissions of up to 55g/km, despite a 48-litre fuel tank

I drove the upmarket 'R-Design', which accounts for about 30 per cent of sales. It's civilised, especially when gliding around feeling smug in pure mode, with sufficient oomph in hybrid mode on motorways.

Prices start at 40,905.

Solar charge stations to open this year

The first of a 1 billion nationwide network of more than 100 Electric Forecourts using solar power is to open this summer near Braintree in Essex.

It claims to be the UK's first custom-built electric charging station.

The first of a 1 billion nationwide network of more than 100 Electric Forecourts using solar power is to open this summer near Braintree in Essex

The company behind the network, Gridserve, says it will charge 24 electric vehicles at once with 'superchargers' that deliver up to 350kW of power, allowing motorists to charge their vehicles within 20 to 30 minutes while they take a break.

It aims to have a full UK-wide network operational within five years. It follows the Government's announcement that it plans to ban the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles within 15 years, and possibly as soon as 12.

The project has been backed by a 4.8 million grant from Innovate UK.

While vehicles charge, drivers can opt to relax over coffee and cake or shop in a two-storey building, which includes a supermarket and an airport-style lounge with access to high-speed internet.

Chancellor's sleight of hand

Pothole buster: Chancellor Rishi Sunak

The Chancellor giveth and taketh when it comes to motorists. A 2.5 billion five-year programme will 'eradicate the scourge of potholes in every part of the country', said Rishi Sunak, pictured.

Fuel duty and insurance premium tax have been frozen and 27 billion is being invested in motorways and major roads including the A417, the A1 north of Newcastle, A303 and A46.

Sunak also committed 403 million to extend plug-in car grants out to 2023.

But there's a sting in the tail in that the grants have been cut by 500 from 3,500 to 3,000, down from 5,000 when introduced nine years ago.

Models costing 50,000 or more, such as Teslas, no longer qualify at all.
MIDDLETOWN  Health officials are urging people who exhibit any symptoms of coronavirus to contact their physician, or in the case of emergency, call 911.

We are getting to a point where the message will be if you think you have symptoms, you probably do have it. This is a message we really want to get out. Things are changing rapidly. Testing cant keep up with the illness, public health manager Kevin Elak said.

Dispatchers are screening calls for severity of cases and EMS crews are prepared. They can handle this, Elak said.

Limiting interpersonal contact is the best method for avoiding widespread transmission, and we believe that city government must lead by example in this regard, Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim said in a press release late Friday.

There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Middletown, he said.

Health department staff are on call all weekend from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 860-638-4965. Community health educator Lou Carta said Saturday afternoon that two staff people are working 12-hour shifts to field questions made via the hotline.

St. Vincent De Paul Middletown notified patrons that safety is the utmost priority on its Facebook page. The dining room is closed and takeout meals only will be available from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. All access to the building is denied.

We are all completely heartbroken we have to take this drastic measure. Given we are a small facility serving upwards to 150 people per day, we feel this is the only responsible response. We continue to work diligently to provide food to our guests in the community in the safest manner possible, the post said.

All Middlesex County schools are closed, City Hall is closed to the public through March 27, and most other activities citywide are canceled. Essential employees  police, fire, trash collection and maintenance  will be working. Residents may visit the city website for tax payments, recreation program sign-ups, parking tickets and other needs.

The school district will hold a grab-and-go food site at Macdonough Elementary School, 66 Spring St.; Bielefield, 70 Maynard St.; Spencer, 207 Westfield St.; Snow, 299 Wadsworth St.; and Woodrow Wilson Middle School, 1 Wildermans Way; from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Gov. Ned Lamont is waiving the 180-day requirement for the academic year and eLearning will begin Monday.

Middlesex Health in Middletown has created a link on its website for the latest information on COVID-19 at MiddlesexHealth/Ready. Officials are encouraging people to call 211 with any questions.

There are three main symptoms reported in people with COVID-19: a fever, cough and shortness of breath.

We must all make sacrifices in our regular routines to fight this major public health threat, Wesleyan University Huffington Foundation chairman Fred Cohan said. This is a highly contagious pathogen, adding there are between two and three new infections per infected person.

When any of us are infected, whether mildly or deathly, we run the risk of transmitting the infection, Cohan added. By making personal sacrifices so that we become less likely to become infected, we are saving the lives of those more vulnerable who we might infect.

Keigwin Middle School was closed Thursday and Friday, after an adult who may have come in contact with an individual in Connecticut who tested positive for the virus visited the office.

The person did not have contact with students, Florsheim said, and the individual sought medical treatment. We have no reason to believe that this person has had any contact with students, faculty, or administration at any other Middletown school.

The Community Health Center, Middlesex Hospital, city of Middletown and Wesleyan University will host a live-streamed online discussion about the virus Monday at 6 p.m. Speakers include health officials from Middlesex Health, CHC, the city and Wesleyan University. Register at bit.ly/2IMbgwR.

Meanwhile, the Russell Library in Middletown shut its doors Friday. The library will reopen when it is deemed safe and appropriate to do so. Russell Library staff will work to provide alternate service delivery online and over the telephone to the greatest extent possible, an email to patrons said.

Editors note: This article has been updated to reflect the Middletown health department hotline is 860-638-4965.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 13, 2020 | 03:14 PM | PADUCAH

Mayor Brandi Harless and County Judge-Executive Craig Clymer were joined by Sheriff Matt Carter, Police Chief Brian Laird, Fire Chief Steve Kyle, Purchase District Health Department Epidemiologist Lindsey Cunningham, City Manager Jim Arndt, Director of Paducah-McCracken County Emergency Management Jerome Mansfield, leadership of Mercy EMS, Baptist Health Paducah and Mercy Health Lourdes, and leaders of WKCTC, Paducah City Schools, St. Mary Schools and McCracken County Schools.





Each speaker outlined the individual efforts of their agency to maintain public health and safety. This article will be updated frequently this afternoon as more details are added.





Mayor Harless thanked everyone who participated and said they are unified in commitment to the safety and well-being of the community. She encouraged residents to take care of their own health, but to also find ways to help each other during this uncertain time.





"We are known for our incredible hospitality here in Paducah and McCracken County. It's time for us to demonstrate that to one another and come together as a community. Lets take care of our neighbors, our friends, and our family members." Harless continued, "If we take these short term measures seriously, our health care system will be better equipped to handle those who need the care the most."







Harless also shared that no decisions have been made in regards to the quilt show, which is currently scheduled for April 22 through April 25. She says that officials will be discussing their options, and a decision will be made by next week.



Clymer says that beginning Monday through April 10, all in person appearances for civil and criminal dockets are cancelled and Judges are encouraged to use telephonic or video technology for necessary hearings. All civil trials, hearings, and motions are postponed and rescheduled for a later date and any civil trial that is currently going on can be completed at the discretion of the presiding Judge. With the exception of emergency situations, the small claims, eviction, juvenile, traffic, and guardianship cases will all be continued. Courtroom attendance will be limited to attorneys, parties, and necessary witnesses with no spectators or family members allowed into the courtrooms. Jurors who are ill or caring for someone who is ill will have their service postponed to a later date, with new juror orientations suspended. Attorneys are encouraged to use e-filing or Dropbox for documents when possible. He also says the courthouse has increased their sanitation efforts.









Lindsey Cunningham, region one epidemiologist, shared that as of Friday, Kentucky has tested 118 people, with eleven of those testing positive. She also shared that no cases have been identified in our region.









Dr. Jenny Franke, Chief Clinical Officer of Mercy Health Lourdes, reinforced the idea of social distancing.







She said, "virologists who study this commonly, have looked at what happens if we don't do those things. What happens is that so many people get the infection so quickly at the same time that it overwhelms the health care system."





Dr. Brad Housman, Chief Medical Officer for Baptist Health, says that Baptist Health Paducah has been diligently planning for, and addressing the COVID-19 crises. He says his staff is having daily ongoing discussions about preparedness, and there are plans in place if someone is diagnosed.





Paducah Fire Chief, Steve Kyle, says they will continue to respond to calls, and that all residents can continue to expect the same level of support they've been giving.





McCracken County Sheriff, Matt Carter, ensured the public that the Sheriff's Office stands ready to respond to any law enforcement needs and will continue to provide the level of service residents have come to expect, and deserve.





Brian Laird, Paducah Police Chief, reiterated Carter's statement, saying that the Paducah Police Department stands ready to work with the Sheriff's Department, Fire Department, and Emergency Management to do whatever they can to get through this situation. Laird also shared that beginning Monday their lobby service would be suspended until the situation was resolved. They are also implementing an alternative response policy, allowing them to do more phone reports. Laird closed by saying they will still be responding to reports of violent crimes.





Paducah City Manager, Jim Arndt, says that at the city level they are focusing on the continuity of services, ensuring that all essential services continue to be provided at their highest level. He also reiterated the importance of social distancing. Effective Monday, the city will temporarily close the rec center until further notice, reservations at recreation facilities are cancelled until further notice, and the senior center will be canceling classroom activities, although they will continue with their meals on wheels program.





Paducah Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Donald Shively, says they will begin NTI on Wednesday, March 18.





McCracken County Public Schools Superintendent, Steve Carter, started by saying that the board of education voted on and approved NTI coursework that is set to begin Monday. He also shared that they have been working on a plan to ensure that food is delivered to every bus stop for students, as well as setting up designated pick up locations. He also reiterated the importance of social distancing.





St. Mary Schools Director, Eleanor Spry, shared that it is important for students to understand that learning at home is a different experience, yet one way to apply what they know in a different way. She continued by saying their staff was excited about implementing the NTI coursework, and that teachers were standing by to help.







People in leadership roles in Paducah and McCracken County held a joint press conference Friday afternoon to discuss readiness and action plans for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.Emergency Services Director Jerome Mansfield says their Paducah and McCracken County emergency operation plan is in place, along with the health departments disease outbreak plan. He says they are continuing to develop a specific infectious disease response plan that's being written in accordance with National Incident Management System requirements.Executive Director of Mercy Regional EMS, Jeremy Jeffrey, says they have held a meeting with all first responder leaders in our community to bring them up to date on the facts of COVID-19.You can listen to the entire news conference on our news podcast page (see the link below).

On the Net:
Amaravati, March 13 : Health authorities in Andhra Pradesh on Friday rolled out cluster containment plan covering 20,000 households in Nellore town, where a man was tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

A day after the youth who had last week returned from Italy, tested positive for COVID-19, officials on Friday said the cluster was rolled out as per the protocol of the Ministry of Health, Government of India.

K.S. Jawahar Reddy, Special Chief Secretary, Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh said active surveillance of about 20,000 households was done and 11 persons who had returned from various countries were identified in this cluster and kept under home isolation for the next 14 days.

"If they show any symptoms we may have to shift them to hospitals and take samples. No other persons showed any symptoms," he said.

He said the family members of the man who was tested positive, their maid and her family members were also under observation. None of them showed any symptoms.

The man had come back from Italy on March 6 and showed some symptoms on March 9. He was isolated and both his initial and confirmatory tests were positive.

Across the State, nearly 564 people who have been abroad were put under isolation. While 331 of them are still under observation, 12 of them are in hospitals.

"As part of precautionary measures, the State government has identified two quarantine facilities at Tirupati and Visakhapatnam, which can accommodate 500 and 200 people. All foreign returnees are advised home isolation for 14 days and contact a helpline for medical advice prior to visiting a hospital," he said.

The authorities have also prepared a list of people who returned from various countries including hotspots Italy and Iran. They created WhatsApp groups for these persons at the district level and giving them instruction on home isolation. The field-level team is observing their health condition.

Rapid response teams were also formed along with taskforce teams. Public are advised not to panic and take necessary precautions by maintaining hygiene. People who are experiencing symptoms like cough, fever, breathlessness are advised to contact 104 helpline or call centre 0866-2410978.
Highlights Jyotiraditya Scindia files RS nomination papers Scindia is one of the three BJP candidates from Madhya Pradesh BJP hopes to win at least two seats in MP after the rebellion in Congress ranks

Jyotiraditya Scindia filed his Rajya Sabha nomination papers as a BJP candidate at the Madhya Pradesh assembly premises on Friday along with two other party nominees from the state, Sumer Singh Solanki and Ranjana Baghel.

Congress candidate Phool Singh Baraiya, too, filed his nomination papers on Friday, a day after Digvijaya Singh.

Friday was the last day for filing nomination papers for the elections to 55 Rajya Sabha seats across 17 states to be held on March 26.

Scindia was flanked by the states top BJP leaders when he went to file his nomination. Union minister for agriculture and farmers welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, BJP national vice-president Shivraj Singh Chouhan, leader of opposition in State assembly Gopal Bhargava, State BJP president VD Sharma, Rajya Sabha member Prabhat Jha and others accompanied Scindia from the state headquarters to the assembly.

Scindia has been a member of parliament (Lok Sabha) for four consecutive terms up to May 2019. Second BJP nominee Sumer Singh Solanki is entering electoral politics with this election while Ranjana Baghel was a minister in the then Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.

Solanki resigned as an assistant professor of history in a government college in Barwani district before filing his nomination papers.

Both Ranjana and Sumer are tribal faces of the BJP.

The Congress candidate Phool Singh Baraiya from Gwalior-Chambal region was once with the BSP, a party he was instrumental in building in the state. He joined BJP after quitting BSP before floating his own political outfit-Bahujan Sangharsh Dal. He joined Congress ahead of Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

Neither the BJP nor the Congress is expected to win more than two seats out of the three vacant in the state.

BJPs third candidate Ranjana Baghel said, I filed the nomination papers on the instructions of the party.

A BJP leader said, Ranjana Baghel is our third candidate. This is to ensure that if nomination papers of either of the two other candidates are cancelled the party has at least two candidates in the fray. After scrutiny of nomination papers, Baghel will withdraw her nomination.

Returning officer AP Singh said, The scrutiny of nomination papers will be done by March 15 while nomination papers can be withdrawn by March 16.

Six candidates are in fray for the three RS seats in MP including an independent Ramdas, who submitted his nomination papers on Friday.
PARIS -- France will close from Monday all nurseries, schools and universities to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus, President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address, calling the outbreak the nations worst public health crisis in a century.

To prevent the economy from nosediving during the crisis, Macron said France would offer help for businesses and would work with European partners on a major package to relaunch the economy, whatever it costs.

This epidemic ..is the most grave public health crisis that France has known in a century, Macron said in a 20-minute address delivered live on national television on Thursday night.

Despite the efforts to slow it down, the virus continues to spread and is accelerating.

Unveiling some of the most significant measures to date from a major European country outside of Italy, Macron said the aim was to slow down the disease enough that healthcare services can keep pace with the flow of patients.

Thats our priority. That is why we must continue to gain time, he said.

From Monday, until further notice, nurseries, schools, middle schools, high schools, universities, will be closed. For a simple reason: Our children and young people, according to our scientists, are the ones that spread the virus the quickest, even if they have no symptoms.

He also urged employers to allow their staff to work from home wherever possible, and said that people over 70 years of age or have existing health conditions should stay inside as much as they can.

Macron said, however, that municipal elections scheduled for this weekend would go ahead, after advice from public health specialists.

On Thursday, the French Health Ministry said the death toll in France from the coronavirus outbreak had risen to 61 from Wednesdays 48.

It added that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in France had also risen to 2,876 from 2,281, with 129 people in very serious, life-threatening condition.

Massive economic response

On the economic impact, Macron said a package of measures unveiled by the European Central Bank would not be sufficient. He promised a concerted, bloc-wide response.

We, Europeans, will not allow a financial and economic crisis to spread. We will react strongly and quickly. Together, European governments must take decisions on supporting activity, and relaunching it, whatever it costs.

He said there would also be coordination among the Group of Seven nations, and that he would speak to U.S. President Donald Trump about that on Friday.

In a veiled reference to Trumps decision to suspend some European travel to the United States, Macron said nationalism was not the answer to the virus.

He said the disease had no nationality, and that if national frontiers had to be closed, it would only be when it was essential and in coordination with the rest of Europe.
It Came To Pass caused a mighty 66-1 upset in the St. Jamess Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup at Cheltenham.

It was a family affair, as the winner is trained in Lombardstown, Co. Cork, by Eugene OSullivan, who sent out Lovely Citizen to take this prized hunter chase in 1991, and was ridden by his daughter, Maxine.

Marcle Ridge made the running and soon had the runners stretched out before he came back to the field and was headed three out.

Shantou Flyer went on under his owner David Maxwell, but it was not long before It Came To Pass came on the scene with a well-timed challenge.

The 10-year-old put daylight between himself and his rivals and had 10 lengths to spare over 11-4 favourite Billaway at the line.

Shantou Flyer was five lengths away in third, with Staker Wallace another three and a quarter lengths back in fourth.

The winning trainer said: Im over the moon. We won this race 29 years ago, with my brother William riding. Sadly my father isnt with us anymore, but Im sure he was looking down on us today.

Weve a great family operation at home, theres an awful lot of people involved and a lot of hard work.

Maxine does an awful lot of work and shes a brilliant girl. She has little faith in herself and her riding, but she is brilliant.

Maxine OSullivan said: He just loved it the whole way and everything went right. I couldnt have asked for a better run round.

We knew if he returned to his old form that he would have a serious chance, and he did. He was better today than hes ever been. We knew hed stay really well.

Its really special for our family. My uncle won it in 1991, my dad trained it and my granddad owned and bred it. Unfortunately, my granddad died in the last couple of years, but hed be so proud.

This is our Gold Cup. Its such a family business. It means a lot to us.
Shafiqul Islam Kajol, a photographer and editor of Pakkhakal Shafiqul is reported missing after being accused by the ruling Awami League of publishing false information. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges the Bangladesh government to expedite the investigations to locate Kajol and ensure his safety.

Julia Ferdousy Noyon, Kajols wife, filed a complaint at Chawbazar Police Station, Chittagong, on March 11 after his disappearance. Monorom Palak, Kajols son, said his father left their house at Bakshibazar, Dhaka, around 3pm on March 10. Police are investigating the complaint and have denied arresting Kajol.

A day before Kajols disappearance, Kajol was accused of publishing false information under Bangladeshs controversial Digital Security Act, along with 31 others including Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, the editor-in-chief of the Bangla daily Manabzamin.

The case filed by Awami League lawmaker Saifuzzaman Shikho alleged an article published in Manabzaminon March 2 had a number of inaccuracies. The story reported that members of the parliament, bureaucrats and businessmen had ties to a suspended leader of the Juba Mahila League political group. The former leader, Shamima Nur Papia, was arrested on February 22 for various crimes including buying and selling illegal weapons, drugs, extortion and people smuggling.

The court has ordered police to submit a full report in the case against Chowdhury, Kajol and others by March 20. The Digital Security Act, passed by Bangladeshs parliament in 2018, includes provisions for up to 14 years imprisonment for expressing a view online that authorities deem defamatory or subversive.

According toDhaka-based human rights organisation Odhikar, 505 enforced disappearances were documented between 2009-2018.

The IFJ said: The authorities handling of Kajols case is unacceptable and the IFJ remains gravely concerned for his well-being. The Digital Security Act has brought in a new age of despots using this law to silence journalists.
Congress and BJP candidates filed their nomination papers on Friday for the Rajya Sabha elections in the Rajasthan Assembly.

The Congress had named All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) general secretary Neeraj Dangi, whereas the BJP had named Rajendra Gehlot as its candidate.

Bharatiya Janata Party's senior leader Omkar Singh Lakhawat surprisingly also filed his nomination paper on one seat, saying he filed it following the directions from the party.

The biennial elections for Rajya Sabha will be held on three seats in the state.

The Congress has fielded two candidates and the opposition BJP has named one candidate.

Venugopal said he is thankful to the party high command and Congress leaders of the state for showing trust on him.

"I will raise the issues of Rajasthan in Rajya Sabha," Venugopal told reporters.

On the ongoing political crisis in Madhya Pradesh, he said the Congress is dealing with the challenge and will be successful in coming out the crisis.

BJP's Gehlot blamed the Congress government in the state for its failure on all fronts.

"I will strongly raise the issues related to development of the state in the Rajya Sabha," he said.

The Rajya Sabha seats, presently held by Ram Narain Dudi, Vijay Goel and Narayan Lal Panchariya, all from the BJP, are going to be vacated next month after completion of their term.

Scrutiny of nominations 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 a total of 10RajyaSabhaseats and nine from those seats, including three whose tenure is going to complete next month, are from the BJP.

The Congress's only RajyaSabha MP from Rajasthan is Manmohan Singh, who was elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha bypolls held last year after the seat fell vacant following the demise of BJP's RajyaSabha MP Madan Lal Saini, who was also the party's state president.

The Congress, which came to power in December 2018, has a total of 107 MLAs in the house of 200 and the BJP has 72 MLAs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NSW will attract $11.6 billion of private investment and create 2400 new jobs under the Berejiklian government's ambitious 10-year plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The plan, the first of its kind in Australia, will drive about two-thirds of the investment to regional and rural NSW and is expected to save households $40 a year on electricity bills.

It will be "the foundation for the state's action on climate change" and will also deliver a 35 per cent emissions reduction from 2005 levels by 2030.

NSW Environment and Energy Minister Matt Kean is working towards zero emissions in NSW by 2050. Credit:AAP

NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean said NSW would lead Australia with its Net Zero Plan.
As a journalist and a lifelong trivia junkie, I get almost 100% of my information from reading. Im almost a professional reader, in fact, spending a minimum of 40 hours a week going through my feeds and the various piles of printed matter around my house. This has brought me many wonderful opportunities, and one major drawback: Because I merely read the words and theres been no one to guide me to pronunciation safety, Im hobbled by a tendency to say things incorrectly.

All my life, Ive undermined my attempts to be taken seriously as a highly literate smartypants. As a precocious teen, I face-planted on vocabulary terms like caliph, lethargy and emeritus because my love of words got ahead of itself. In speech and debate, I once earned a low score in a final round solely for pronouncing the j in Sarajevo as a Spanish-sounding h and not a Slavic y, a sting I still remember 25 years later. Sometimes, you never sound stupider than when youre working hard to sound smart, and I have all but crowned myself learned  in a monosyllabic way.

Decades on, I dont know how to say Choire or Sicha, grad-school terms like scission and tout court still haunt me, and Im iffy at best on Vongerichten. Even though theres an entire Facebook group called excuse me, its pronounced GIF, I still dont know what to do with that. Art and literature in particular bedevil me, even though I was an English major whos written about arts and culture for years. Ive publicly screwed up on Ed Ruscha and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and also Camille Paglia and Zaphod Beeblebrox and basically every street in New Orleans, much to my humiliation.

But I try! I know the right way to say Moog and Nabokov and kouign-amann, and I can separate Frank Oz from Amos Oz and Brian Epstein from Jeffrey Epstein. Nor have I ever said supposably or expresso or all of the sudden. Nonetheless, I have often sensed myself losing face in real time, as when I was having a great in-person interview with a famous documentarian until he corrected my mispronunciation of My Lai, or the time a performance artist gently remonstrated me for saying Asia Argentos first name as if it were a continent. (That last one was on the phone, so she couldnt see me blush.)

By and large, these arent malaprops or mistakes I make because Im flustered. Once corrected, I usually remember to say it right  but its not so much the mistake as the blitheness with which the mistake is made. And the frustrating thing is that most of the time, I like to think I know what Im talking about. Wikipedia is often no help, obscuring things through symbols that look like calculus instead of phonics. Has no one at the Wikimedia Foundation figured out that rendering pronunciations un-pronounceable only leaves us desperate strivers further at sea? I know that  is the Greek letter theta and you say it like th, but when they render a ch sound with what looks like the notation for an integral, we might as well be discussing non-sibilant postalveolar fricatives.

The thing about mispronunciations is that, when youre not the one making them, theyre objectively funny, the equivalent of walking around with toilet paper stuck to your boot. Witness 30 Rock s Dr. Spaceman (thats spuh-CHEMM-in), or daytime TV host Wendy Williams apparent inability not to call Dua Lipa Dula Peepa. The gag on SNLs The Californians hinges on an exaggerated SoCal drawl getting mired in extremely complicated directions out of Malibu, and it never gets old.

Mispronunciations are funny  until theyre political, tinged with xenophobia or simply the unearned laziness of the majority. Almost every South Asian friend of mine has a Starbucks name, because theyre tired of baristas wrecking their real names  which tend to be phonetic! The recurring Key & Peele sketch about the black substitute teacher mangling white students names is a hilarious send-up on the all-too-common reverse scenario.

In that light, honest mistakes dont feel so honest when the person on the receiving end is a member of a marginalized group. The same goes for California place names, whose vernacular pronunciations range from the seemingly random (GOFF street) to the so-comically-bad-were-no-longer-even-aware (Loss ANJ-uh-liss). Californians butcher Spanish plenty, from San ruh-FELL to Los FEEL-iss to Vuh-LAY-oh. Getting these things colloquially correct, even when theyre objectively ridiculous, marks us as insiders. And when youre trying not to stand out, a single mistake can brand you a hopeless outsider for all eternity. But after living here for more than a decade, Im still not over the pre-recorded voice on the 48-Quintara Muni line when she announces, Vuh-LEN-sha Street. (That bus is the Kwin-TER-ra, by the way.)

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

At times, you face the conundrum of whether to speak properly and appear haughty or else knowingly say something wrong just to blend in. When someone says thats not my FOR-tay, they are really saying that it isnt their loud. That forte is derived from Italian, while forte in the sense of strength is a French word pronounced like the English fort. Neither option is appealing, so Ive dropped the phrase from my working vocabulary altogether. Not everything is entirely unambiguous, though: You can get away with saying the bibliophilic robber-baron Andrew Carnegies last name any which way, and Halleys Comet as well  and maybe even Gila monster, if youre not in Arizona and your friends are nice. But forgiving examples like that are rare.

You have to pick your linguistic battles. Sometimes, I fall on the side of the punctiliously correct. Other times, I instinctively recoil from pretentiousness that feels so obvious as to be almost performative. Refraining from judgment is probably the most tactful response when confronting someone who has no idea what the hell they just said, because weve all been there. And at least I can comfort myself with the knowledge that Ive never mispronounced mispronunciation as mispronounciation.

Peter-Astrid Kane is a Bay Area freelance writer. Email: culture@sfchronicle.com
Asia After Fleeing Abuse, Trafficked 'Brides' Stuck in China Due to Coronavirus

A Vietnamese border guard officer wearing a protective mask stands guard at the Huu Nghi border gate in Lang Son province, Vietnam, across from China on Feb. 20, 2020. / REUTERS

PHNOM PENHCoronavirus travel restrictions have forced anti-trafficking groups to suspend rescue operations of Vietnamese and Cambodian brides from China, with some now in hiding after escaping the homes of men holding them against their will.

Over the past decade, tens of thousands of Southeast Asian women have been lured to China by criminal networks promising lucrative jobs, only to be sold as bridessome to abusive menas China grapples with a gender imbalance.

Charities in Vietnam and Cambodia said some women who fled this year have been detained and shut off from communication, while others who are not under immediate threat of being killed have been advised to sit tight.

Some say the husband is mentally ill, theyre being beaten, maybe prostituted to the neighbors, their lives are in immediate danger at this point, said Michael Brosowski, head of Hanoi-based Blue Dragon Childrens Foundation.

They say they have to go, they have to go now. All we can do is advise them on a safe place to hide.

Blue Dragon rescued one woman every three days on average from China in 2019, but was forced to freeze operations in late January as coronavirus travel restrictions took hold.

Getting to remote places, its just not possible nowand even if you could, the borders are closed, Brosowski told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

While Blue Dragon remains in touch with 27 women who have called for help in 2020, Phnom Penh-based anti-trafficking charity Chab Dai said it has lost contact with some who fled their abusers amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Chab Dai program manager Chan Saron said in early January that one woman reported being transferred to government-controlled detention and held under very strict conditions before contact was lost.

According to Chinese law, survivors are often treated as illegal migrants, Saron said. We receive dozens of cases like this but there could be many more.

A Chinese assistant to the Cambodian consul in Shanghai said little could be done to assist women who had escaped their captors and were now uncontactable.

If we can get in touch with the women, we will find a way to help, she said, giving her name only as Hayley. But with no information, how could we find them?

Authorities in Cambodia, Vietnam and China have in recent years tried to combat the trafficking of brides but campaigners fear a ban on marriage broker services has driven the trend further underground and put women at higher risk.

Chinese men typically pay brokers between $10,000 and $20,000 for a foreign wife, a 2016 United Nations report said.

Criminal gangs scour poor regions for young women and pitch a dream life in China, where there is a surplus of some 40 million mena legacy of Beijings one-child policy.

Targets are coaxed by the promise of a life of relative luxury in China, and while some do marry happily and send money home to their families, others face sexual abuse, violence and exploitation.

You may also like these stories:

What We Know About the New Coronavirus Spreading in China and Beyond

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China Says Media That Insults the Country Must Pay a Price
Meghan Markle will be leaving the royal family after March 31, but her commitment to the Commonwealth remains unchanged. While the Commonwealth Day service was her final appearance alongside other members of the royal family, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, actually held a secret meeting with Commonwealth scholars prior to the main event. With Meghan back in Canada, heres a look at her last engagement before leaving the royal family for good.

Meghan Markle | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Meghan Markle meets with Commonwealth scholars

Prior to appearing alongside Prince Harry at Westminster Abbey, Meghan convened with some Commonwealth scholars in what was her final secret meeting before heading back to Canada.

The Duchess of Sussex met with the scholars at Buckingham Palace to discuss some of the challenges that face the 54 countries that make up the Commonwealth.

Meghan hosted the meeting as the Patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and mingled with students from 11 nations, including India, Malawi, Cameroon, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Rwanda, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Kenya.

The students were grouped depending on their specialties, such as sustainable cities, climate and the environment, technology, and health innovation. According to Hello Magazine, Meghan Markle complimented all of the scholars on their work and said she was thrilled to meet with them.

Even though the groups are divided, everyone is connected because of this very holistic approach to tackling climate change. I love how solution based you all are, she stated.

Over the past few years, Meghan has been a vocal advocate for making education accessible for everyone. For her part, the former Suits star got a degree from Northwestern University and majored in International Studies and Theater.

Commonwealth scholars praise the Duchess of Sussex

After meeting with Meghan, several of the students complimented her on her expertise. Timothy Biswick, an ACU Blue Charter fellow, revealed that Meghan has plenty of knowledge in the field of climate change.

She knows what shes talking about in terms of climate change. She was talking about things in quite some detail so you know that this person knows what they are talking about and are passionate about it, he stated.

Aside from environmental issues, Meghan Markle talked about making tourism sustainable and discussed the time she and Prince Harry backpacked in Botswana. The comments meant a lot to the students and made them feel as though Meghan truly cares about the Commonwealth.

Meghan Markle was named the Patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities in January of last year. Queen Elizabeth held the post prior to Meghan.

The secret meeting was the final one of its kind for Meghan, who is set to officially leave the royal family on March 31. At that time, she and Harry will continue their new lives in Canada with their son, Archie Harrison.

Meghan Markle reunites with her son in Canada

After meeting with the scholars, Meghan attended the Commonwealth Day service alongside Harry and other senior members of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton.

Once that event wrapped up on Monday afternoon, Meghan Markle returned to Canada as quickly as possible so that she could reunite with her son.

Harry, meanwhile, remained in the UK to finish his final rounds of royal engagements. This includes a meeting at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

Following March 31, Harry and Meghan will seek to become financially independent and will stop using their royal titles. It is unclear what the future holds for the Sussexes, but there is a chance they will return to the royal family at some point in the future.

Queen Elizabeth will review their decision to leave the monarchy in 12 months.

What has Archie Harrison been up to?

It will be interesting to see what Harry and Meghan do in the coming months. While fans wait for the next time they appear in public, Meghan recently opened up about how Archie is coming along.

During her appearance at Robert Clack School for International Womens Day, Meghan revealed that Archie, who just turned 10 months old, is already trying to take his first steps.

Hes exactly ten months today and hes started trying to walk, Meghan Markle shared.

The former actress later admitted that having a baby has changed her life for the good.

Meghan and Harry welcomed Archie last spring. Since then, the two have been very protective of him and rarely allow him to be seen in public. With the pair set to leave the royal family in the coming weeks, fans will likely see even less of Archie.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not commented on the recent reports surrounding their exit.
CALIFORNIA - One Northern California county is encouraging all residents to participate in the nationwide 2020 Census.

Butte County said the 2020 Census will be the first to rely heavily on online resources with the questionnaire being available on the web beginning March 12.

The questionnaire, also available by phone or on paper, is only nine questions and will not include a question about citizenship status.

Required by law, the Census Bureau will protect any information they collect from individuals and businesses.

Census statistics are used in all different ways from community development and emergency preparedness to job creation and infrastructure. They also allocate funding for important community services.

"Each person that responds to the Census is equal to $20,000 over the next 10 years, it is crucial that we make sure every person is counted, and special efforts are made to reach the hard count populations in Butte County, said county supervisor, Debra Lucero.

For more information about the census and to complete the questionnaire, CLICK HERE.
The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross are holding a press conference on Covid-19.

Coming up live - Media Briefing on #Covid19 with Ministers Shane Ross and @Paschald @Roinnslainte https://t.co/XNteUfMtFD

The HSE has clarified its position on play dates over the next two weeks.

The Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) has also said that pharmacies across the country are remaining open and that medicines will continue to be available to treat patients.

Parents are being advised to limit the number of children involved in play dates and to make sure they are not displaying any symptoms.

There had been some confusion around play dates while thousands of children are home from schools and colleges, and creches are closed.

Around 900,000 school children in almost 4,000 schools are to stay at home for the next two weeks, while thousands more children and toddlers are out of creches.

Dr Sarah Doyle from the HSE said play dates are fine, but only a small number of children should be involved.

Dr Doyle said: "If you are having a play date, limit your number to teach your children how to interact.

"Obviously, if a child is sick they shouldn't be coming, they shouldn't be having a play date, so it's being very realistic and practical in minimising the risk while allowing some semblance of normality to continue."

Parents all over the country are working from home while trying to keep children busy and active.

Parenting Expert from BabyDoc club Laura Urskin said parents should try and limit screen time.

Ms Urskin said: "Get outside into the fresh air, go for a cycle, go for walks, get out to the park."

She added that there are plenty of activities to keep children occupied indoors also.

She said: "Get into the kitchen, get them baking together, it's a really fun way to spend some time with your child, no matter how old they are."

People are being reminded to use their common sense, practice social distancing and continue washing their hands.

IPU Secretary General Darragh O Loughlin said pharmacies "are available to help and support the health service in any way we can, including the dissemination of information and advice to the public.

He reiterated the warning that there is absolutely no need for the public to stockpile any medicines.

While pharmacies have experienced an understandable increase in demand in recent days, there are no supply shortages, stockpiling is completely unnecessary and, in fact, could itself trigger drug shortages, he said.

Several dioceses across the country have cancelled all Masses until after March 29.

It is up to each individual diocese to decide whether the services can go ahead, but the dioceses of Elphin, Kilmore and Limerick are among those who have decided to call them off until the end of the month. Confirmations have also been suspended.
Despite a sharp decline in M&A activity in 2019 and continuing economic uncertainty, more than half of the property/casualty insurance executives surveyed by Deloitte still expect to complete an M&A transaction in the next two years.

Insurance carriers still view alliances, investments and acquisitions as attractive options to help grow their product portfolio, expand their digital capabilities, and improve customer experiences and their bottom line, according to Deloittes 2020 Insurance M&A Outlook. However, potential buyers are more likely to make a number of smaller deals to address specific needs than to apply a majority of their resources against one large, cure-all deal, Deloitte said.

There were 38 P/C insurer M&As in 2019, a decrease of 38 percent from 2018. The aggregate value of those deals was $5.8 billion, a sharp decline (83 percent) from $34.1 billion the previous year. There was also a sharp decrease in deals above $1 billion, with only two announced in 2019 compared with eight in the same period of 2018.

M&A Advice for 2020 In its report,2020 Insurance M&A Outlook: Pursuing Growth Amid Uncertainty, Deloitte experts also offered some advice for insurers considering M&A in 2020: Assess product and service portfolios to determine whats core and whats not, whats performing well and whats not, and whether investments are working hard and delivering expected value. Acquisitions and alliances can help carriers diversify their product and customer base, expand their market footprint, and gain scale.

Traditional insurers looking to both streamline legacy processes and introduce disruptive innovations that might differentiate them in an increasingly customer-centric economy should consider collaborating with or even acquiring InsurTechs. These startups are more likely to exhibit the technological expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and out-of-the-box thinking many insurers may lack.

Insurers need to focus more on post-deal integration if they want to maximum value from M&A. Its not all about financial due diligence. Insurers must also consider: Will the acquisition be absorbed into the larger organization or be left alone to run itself? What organizational and operating model changes may be needed to accommodate new people, processes and technologies? How can the newly combined company retain top talent and develop a culture conducive to growth?

Insurers must be aware of regulatory actions, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which became effective Jan. 1, 2020. Though CCPA is the first major piece of data privacy legislation in the United States, carriers should be prepared for other potential state-level privacy regulations. Insurers need to know exactly where data about specific consumers is stored, how complete and accurate it is, and how it is used and protected. Maintaining vigilance is particularly critical during post-deal integration, when records for existing and newly acquired customers may be merged in a central repository. U.S. insurers are still struggling with implementing provisions of the 2017 Tax Act, and the 2020 elections could lead to another round of substantial tax changes. Carriers should monitor relevant legislative developments, continue to review changes to their tax profiles and strategically think through tax opportunities in relationship to potential M&A transactionsboth in the United States and other jurisdictions.

Deloitte said the decline in deal number and value was driven, in part, by hardening rates in the sector, which has caused carriers to concentrate on organic growth. Additionally, industry leaders said there was a lack of alignment between sellers and buyers in 2019, as the sellers expected to receive deal premiums based on 2018 experience, when the organic growth opportunities were low. Deloitte expects that 2020 insurance M&A results will be similar, especially if the projected economic downturn gets pushed further out or the political landscape stabilizes in the second half of the year.

Among the years notable deals, Tokio Marine Holdings agreed to buy U.S. high-net-worth insurer Privilege Underwriters and its specialty insurance subsidiaries, known as Pure Group, for $3.1 billion, and American Family Insurance acquired Ameriprise Auto & Home for $1.1 billion.

Insurtech Investments

Global investment in insurtechs continued to surge through the first three quarters of 2019, setting a record of $3.26 billion with a full quarter still to go. Insurers only accounted for about a quarter of the investment, Deloitte said, with the majority coming from venture capital funds and other outside parties. While new startup launches have slowed, funding continues to flow to support more proven players, Deloitte noted.

Last year saw two major deals where carriers acquired insurtechs: Prudential Insurances acquisition of online insurance startup Assurance IQ for $2.35 billion and Aons announced acquisition of CoverWallet for close to $300 million.

Source: Deloittes report: 2020 Insurance M&A Outlook: Pursuing Growth Amid Uncertainty.

Topics Mergers Carriers Legislation InsurTech USA Property Casualty
Moscow

On Thursday, Russia said it has sent test kits for the COVID-19 to countries including Iran, North Korea and ex-Soviet states.

The state health watchdog said in a statement that Moscow had sent 800 test kits to ex-Soviet states including Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, North Korea and Mongolia.

Russia allys with Iran, received 500 kits which can be used to carry out 50,000 tests, the watchdog said, adding that these were supplied free of charge.

Iran is one of the countries most affected by the outbreak with 9,000 cases and 354 deaths.

The closed state of North Korea, another ally of Moscow, has not confirmed a single case of COVID-19, even though there is a major outbreak in their neighboring South Korea.

Russia has already supplied 10 countries with test kits which have been used to identify cases in Belarus and Armenia, the watchdog said.

The tests are made at Vector, a state-run virus and biotechnology research center in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk.

Russia earlier this month banned the export of surgical masks, ventilators and hazmat suits to ensure supplies for its own citizens.

So far, Russia has confirmed 28 cases of coronavirus, most of them people who had recently visited Italy.
Three reviewers sent in to investigate the Peel school board heard painful and difficult stories of racism  including how white supremacists attend meetings  and have reprimanded senior leaders for being paralyzed by inaction to make changes.

The reviewers detail how racism disproportionately impacts Black students, from lower enrolment in academic classes to higher suspension rates  and often for dubious reasons such as wearing a hoodie, do-rags or even hoop earrings, says the reviewers report, obtained by the Star.

Their report, to be released Friday, also covers issues of equity, poor leadership and a lack of diverse staffing, including a dearth of Black guidance counsellors in the provinces second largest board.

The accounts of racism and discrimination documented in the report are deeply troubling and will not be tolerated, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a statement. After decades of inaction, I want to see swift implementation of these recommendations to drive the change racialized and other discriminated students deserve.

Lecce said students and the community have demanded change and I want to assure them that we will monitor board implementation and hold them to account to deliver this transformational change that will put every student on a path to success.

The reviewers  Ena Chadha, Sue Herbert and Shawn Richard  were called in to probe the board late last year as it struggled with allegations of racism, dysfunction and troubling trustee conduct. Patrick Case  a human rights lawyer and assistant deputy education minister  oversaw and assisted in the investigation.

In their final report, the review team found that some teachers use any excuse to exclude Black students from the classroom and some principals use any excuse to suspend Black students from schools.

Black students comprise 10.2 per cent of high school students, but make up 22.5 per cent of those suspended  and many of those suspensions dont meet standards set by the Ministry of Education, they found.

During our review, Black youth told us that they feel like they are held to higher standards, and different codes of conduct in comparison to white or other racialized students, and that they are disproportionately streamed into classes that dont give them the requirements for university, the report says.

It is untenable that, for many years, the board has been unaware of this terrible state of affairs.

Black students are the target of degrading, inappropriate and racist comments made by teachers and principals, and often hear the N-word uttered by other students without punishment, the report says.

They heard about one teacher who commented that a Black student will be a drug dealer just like his dad.

The level of enrolment of Black students in specialized arts schools or International Baccalaureate programs is abysmal, and disproportionately low for students of Latin American heritage, the reviewers found.

Islamophobia is also a concern, and the reviewers said they were provided with French curriculum materials that were clearly Islamophobic, conveyed blatant hostility to the Muslim community and an ignorance of the basic tenants (sic) of Islam.

In speaking to Muslim students and community members, the reviewers said they heard of many incidents of Islamophobia. Citing conflicts referable to prayers in (Peel) schools and the presence of white supremacists at a meeting of the board of trustees, we heard from the students, families, and educators of the real need for an Islamic co-ordinator to support Muslim students.

The reviewers acknowledged that trustees and administrators agreed there is anti-Black racism in the board, yet have done nothing to address it.

Teachers and principals escalate trivial issues unnecessarilyinvolving police for minor issues leading to arrests and stigmatization of Black children at a very young age, the report said. Black children, it added, are leaving the (Peel board) because it is not safe for them.

The report also says that approximately 25 per cent of (staff) are racialized, which is almost the opposite of the demographics of the student body.

In their interim report released in January, the three reviewers said they had already consistently heard painful accounts of traumatic experiences in schools and school communities.

The narratives shared with us signal a profound lack of respect in relationships, demonstrated by stories of marginalization, discrimination, differential behaviour, and harassment.

The reviewers began their work amid turmoil at the board and after a trustee referred to the diverse McCrimmon Middle School as McCriminal, and after a senior administrator in charge of anti-discrimination launched a human rights complaint.

Their report demands that the board immediately issue a responsive and respectful public apology for the mishandling of the McCrimmon incident  and it also noted that other diverse schools are known by disparaging nicknames, including Central Peel being referred to as Central Africa, and Meadowvale as Meadow Jail.

The report also directs the boards to create a four-year plan to improve enrolment and achievement of Black and other racialized students.

Among staff, the reviewers found a culture of fear  which past reviews of other boards, including the Toronto public, have also uncovered  as well as poor communications with the community. Trustees, who are bitterly divided, were criticized for often overstepping their roles in hiring and promotions.

The (Peel District School Board) is facing a crisis of confidence, they wrote.

Among their recommendations: hire a mediator to broker peace among trustees, as well as between trustees and senior administrators; improved trustee training; and also to retain the services of an integrity commissioner who has demonstrated experience in, and knowledge of, human rights principles.

The Peel District School Board has more than 155,000 students in Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon schools, and about 17,000 staff members.

It is highly diverse, and among students the three largest groups are South Asian (45 per cent), white (17 per cent) and Black (10 per cent).

The reviewers heard from more than 300 people, including 115 in-person interviews.

They also noted that there are issues of factional violence amongst South Asian communities and, in particular, in relation to male youths of the north Brampton Punjabi community that teachers and administrators either ignored or were indifferent to the violence.

Drug and alcohol abuse is also a concern in the South Asian community.

Jamil Jivani, Ontarios newly named advocate for community opportunities, said the minister is taking action on the recommendations and that is an important step toward building a public school system that gives each child  regardless of race, background, or postal code  a fair start in life.

He said with the announcement of 29 new ministerial directives, the Government of Ontario is positioning the (Peel board) to immediately strengthen its governance and leadership practices to focus its attention on ensuring that all (Peel) students can realize their full potential in classrooms and schools where they are supported, respected, valued and welcomed.
UPDATE: Gov. Charlie Baker has ordered all K-12 schools closed for three weeks beginning Tuesday, March 17. Schools that have not already announced they are closed will close on Tuesday.

______________________

As the number of Massachusetts residents with coronavirus continues to climb, K-12 schools are taking steps to prevent the spread of the virus in their communities.

Below are the Massachusetts elementary, middle and high schools that have announced plans to close due to coronavirus concerns for Monday, March 16.

This list will be updated as schools announce closures and delays. For the latest version, refresh your page or click here.

Need your school added to the list? District officials can contact us by email at newstips@masslive.com or phone at 413-776-1364.

Abby Kelley Foster Charter: Closed through March 27.

Abington Public Schools: Closed until March 30.

Acton-Boxborough Regional School District: All district schools will be closed through Friday, March 20.

Acushnet Public Schools: Closed March 16 through 20. The district will re-evaluate on March 20 if school will be closed for another week.

Advanced Math & Science Charter: Closed through March 20.

Agawam Public Schools: Closed March 16 through March 27.

Amesbury Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Amherst Regional Public Schools: All district schools closed for a minimum of two weeks starting Monday, March 16. Tentative return date of Monday, March 30 set.

Andover Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Arlington Public Schools: Closed for a period of two weeks, through at least March 27. The district is part of a group of six districts that decided to close for two weeks.

Ashland Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Athol-Royalston Regional School District: Closed through March 20.

Attleborough Public Schools: Closed Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 20. This action is taken as a mitigation measure to halt person-to-person spread of the Coronavirus as part of a city effort to prevent sustained community spread, the school said after a student was placed into self-quarantine pending test results.

Auburn Public Schools: Auburn Public Schools will be closed from March 16 through March 27 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Avon Public Schools: Closed through Friday, March 27.

Barnstable Public Schools: Closed through Friday, March 27.

Baystate Academy Charter Public School: Closed Monday, March 16, through Friday, March 27.

Bedford Public Schools: Closed for a period of two weeks, through at least March 27. The district is part of a group of six districts that decided to close for two weeks.

Belchertown Public Schools: Closed March 16 through March 27.

Bellingham Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Belmont Public Schools: Closed for a period of two weeks, through at least March 27. The district is part of a group of six districts that decided to close for two weeks.

Berkley Public Schools: Closed through March 20.

Beverly Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Billerica Public Schools: Closed March 13 through March 27.

Blackstone-Millville Regional School District: Closed through March 27.

Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational: Closed through March 27.

Blue Hills Regional Vocational: Closed from Monday, March 16 through Thursday, March 19. Friday, March 20 is a scheduled professional development day for faculty and students will not be in session. We plan to re-open March 23.

Boston Public Schools: All Boston schools are being closed for one month by order of the mayor. The schools will close on March 17 until the week of April 27 in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Bourne Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District: Closed through March 27.

Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical: Closed through March 20.

Brockton Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Brookline Public Schools: All Brookline Public Schools will be closed through at least Friday, March 27.

Burlington Public Schools: All district schools will be closed for two weeks, starting Friday, March 13.

Cambridge Public Schools: All district schools will be closed through Friday, March 27.

Canton Public Schools: All schools closed through Friday, March 20. Our plan at this time is that schools will reopen on Monday, March 23, 2020. At this time, there are no confirmed or presumptive cases of the COVID-19 in Canton.

Carver Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Chelsea Public Schools: Closed until Monday, March 30. We confirmed late this afternoon that there is a presumptive case of COVID-19 that involves the parents of a Wright Science and Technology Academy student.

Chicopee Public Schools: Closed through March 29.

Clinton Public Schools: All schools closed until March 27. The district had previously closed only for Monday but announced Saturday it had extended the duration.

Concord-Carlisle Regional School District: Closed at least through Friday, March 27.

Danvers Public Schools: Closed through Friday, March 27.

Dartmouth Public School District: Closed March 16 to March 20. The school district has no known cases of the virus in the schools but is conducting a deep clean out of an abundance of caution.

Dedham Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Dover-Sherborn Regional: Closed through March 20.

Dracut Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Duxbury Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

East Longmeadow Public Schools: Closed Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 27.

Easthampton Public Schools: Closed Monday, March 16 and remain closed for two weeks.

Easton Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Erving School Union 28: Closed March 16 through March 27.

Everett Public Schools: The district has announced it will be closed on Friday, March 13 and will remain closed for a period of 30 days, ending on Monday, April 27.

Falmouth Public Schools: Schools expected to reopen Monday, March 30.

Framingham Public Schools: Framingham Public Schools, school buildings and district offices will be closed for two weeks, through March 29.

Franklin Public Schools: Closed Monday, March 16, through Friday, March 27.

Frontier Regional: Closed through Friday, March 27.

Gateway Regional School District: Gateway schools will remain closed from Friday, March 13 for a period of two weeks. The district reports it has a parent who may be positive with the coronavirus and had decided to cancel all school. Students from 3rd through 12th grade will be sent home with their Chromebooks. Staff will be asked to come to school on Monday for additional training on remote instruction and to plan for how they will work with students over the next two weeks. Students should expect their first assignments to be ready by Thursday, March 18.

Gill-Montague Regional School District: The district schools are closed for one week, March 16 to March 20. The district plans to reassess the situation next week to consider what to do beyond March 20.

Gloucester Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Greater Lawrence Technical: Closed through March 27.

Greater Lowell Technical: Closed through at least Friday, March 27.

Greenfield Public Schools: Closed March 16 through March 20.

Hadley Public Schools: Closed March 16 through March 27.

Hampden Charter School of Science: Closed through March 27.

Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District: Closed through Friday, March 27.

Hampshire Regional School District: Closed until at least March 30.

Hanover Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Harvard Public Schools: Closed through Tuesday, March 17.

Haverhill Public Schools: All public schools in Haverhill will be closed through March 27.

Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School: Closed from Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 27.

Hingham Public Schools: Closed Monday, March 16. More communication will be forthcoming on Monday, March 16," the district said. "The decision to close was based on an abundance of caution and there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hingham.

Holbrook Public Schools: Closed through Friday, March 27.

Holliston Public Schools: Closed through Friday, March 20.

Holyoke Public Schools: The district is closing for two weeks beginning Monday, March 16, due to Coronavirus concerns.

Hopkinton Public Schools: Closed through Friday, March 20.

Lawrence Public Schools: All public schools in Lawrence are closed and will reopen on Monday, March 30.

Leicester Public Schools: Closed through Friday, March 20.

Leominster Public Schools: Closed Monday, March 16 and Tuesday, March 17.

Lexington Public Schools: Closed through at least March 27. The district is part of a group of six districts that decided to close for two weeks.

Lincoln Public Schools: Closed through Friday, March 27.

Longmeadow Public Schools: Closed Monday, March 16, through Friday, March 27.

Lowell Public Schools: Closed for two weeks, starting Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 27.

Ludlow Public Schools: Closed March 16 through March 29.

Lynn Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Malden Public Schools: Closed Friday, March 13 until further notice.

Marlborough Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Marshfield Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Mashpee Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Medfield Public Schools: Closed through March 20.

Medford Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Melrose Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Methuen Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Milford Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical: Closed through March 20.

Mohawk Trail/Hawlemont Regional School Districts: All Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont Regional School District buildings are closed for two weeks beginning Monday, March 16, through Friday, March 27. This includes all school day and after school activities within our districts, including athletic activities.

Monson Public Schools: Closed March 16 until March 27.

Natick Public Schools: All district schools will be closed through Friday, March 20. If school closures are extended, the district will update Natick families.

Needham Public Schools: All district schools will be closed through Friday, March 27.

New Bedford Public Schools: The schools are closed effective immediately through Friday, March 20

Newton Public Schools: Schools closed through at least Friday, March 20. School is anticipated to resume on Monday, March 23.

Norfolk Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

North Adams Public Schools: Closed March 16 through March 27.

Norfolk Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

North Reading Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Northampton Public Schools: Closed through March 28. Students in grades 6-12 will be sent home with Chromebooks. Next week we will assemble age-appropriate learning materials for students in grades preK-5. I will be working with school staff next week to facilitate some continuity of instruction during the school shutdown. Superintendent John A. Provost said.

Northborough/Southborough Public Schools: The Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough will be closed from March 13 through March 27. They are anticipated to reopen on Monday, March 30. The closure applies to all schools, extra-curricular activities, athletics, clubs and building use.

Norwood Public Schools: Closed through March 20.

Notre Dame Academy: The Worcester academy is closed until further notice.

Norwood Public Schools: Norwood has announced it will close through at least Friday, March 20 out of an abundance of caution.

Pathfinder Regional High School: Closed from March 16 through March 27.

Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter: Closed through March 27.

Peabody Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Pembroke Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Pentucket Regional Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School: PVPA will be closed starting Monday, March 16, for two weeks through March 27, subject to change.

Pittsfield Public Schools: Closed until Monday, March 30.

Quaboag Regional School District: Closed until Monday, March 30.

Quincy Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Randolph Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Revere Public Schools: Starting Friday, March 13, schools are closed until further notice.

Salem Public Schools: Closed for a minimum of 2 weeks effective Monday, March 16.

Sandwich Public Schools: Closed from Monday, March 16, through Friday, March 27th.

Scituate Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Sharon Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Shrewsbury Public Schools: Closed through March 20.

Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School: Closed from March 16 through March 27.

Somerville Public Schools: All district schools will be closed Friday, March 13 as well as for a minimum of an additional 2 weeks starting Monday, 3/16/2020 to help minimize the spread of COVID-19.

South Hadley Public Schools: Closed Monday, March 16 until March 31. The district said the schedule is tentative and may be extended.

Southern Berkshire Regional Schools: Closed March 16 through March 29.

Southwick-Tolland-Granville Schools: Closed March 16 through March 29.

Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District: Closed through March 20.

Springfield Public Schools: Springfield has closed all schools until March 27 and the mayor has declared a state of emergency for the city.

Sudbury Public Schools: Closed until Monday, March 30.

Sutton Public Schools: Sutton Public Schools will be closed for a period of two weeks, through and including Friday, March 27. All classes, as well as extracurricular activities, clubs, and sports, are suspended.

Swampscott Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Tantasqua Regional / School Union 61: Effective Monday, March 16, the Tantasqua Regional / School Union 61 Districts will be closed for a period of two weeks, through Friday, March 27.

Tewksbury Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Tyngsborough Public Schools: Closed through Friday, March 20.

Uxbridge Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Veritas Prep Charter School: Closed through March 27. Schools will reopen on Monday, March 30. Students and parents of students in grades 5-8 will be emailed supplemental educational materials for the duration of the closure.

Wachusett Regional: Closed through March 27.

Wakefield Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Waltham Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Ware Public Schools: Closed March 16 through March 27.

Wareham Public Schools: Closed through March 20.

Watertown Public Schools: Closed through Friday, March 27.

Wayland Public Schools: District schools are closed through Friday, March 27.

Webster Public Schools: Closed through March 27.

Wellesley Public Schools: Wellesley is closed for two weeks beginning Friday, March 13. The district reports this could change based on direction from state and local health officials. All students will be dismissed at the end of the day Thursday. The district is working to finalize plans for remote learning.

Westfield Public Schools: Westfield schools will be closed from March 16 to 27.

West Springfield Public Schools: Closed March 16 through March 27.

Weston Public Schools: District schools will be closed through Wednesday, March 18. No extracurriculars will be held while the school is closed. We were notified today that a Weston student is symptomatic and the results of their COVID-19 test came back inconclusive. Additionally, a student connected to a previous case is under quarantine," Superintendent Marguerite Connolly said. "Taking these and other factors into consideration, as a measure to slow the potential rapid spread of this virus, it is necessary to close all Weston Schools for an extended period of time.

Westwood Public Schools: The District will be closed through Friday, March 20.

Weymouth Public Schools: District schools to close through at least Friday, March 27.

White Oak School: White Oak School in Westfield will be closed from March 16 through March 27.

Winchendon Public Schools: The district announced Wednesday that schools are closed until further notice. A staff member at the high school reported a potential exposure. The superintendent will send out a One Call message to the school community on Friday afternoon with an update, the district said Wednesday. Our intent is to reopen schools as soon as possible.

Winchester Public Schools: Closed through at least March 27. The district is part of a group of six districts that decided to close for two weeks.

Woburn Public Schools: Closed Monday, March 16 through March 27.

Worcester Public Schools: The district announced all schools will be closed until April 6.
Coronavirus Outbreak Updates:The government on Saturday put the number of coronavirus positive cases in the country at 84 and issued directives to states specifying list of items and norms of assistance for containment of COVID-19 under their disaster funds

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"Death of a 68-year-old woman from West Delhi (mother of a confirmed case of COVID-19), is confirmed to be caused due to co-morbidity (diabetes and hypertension). She also tested positive for COVID-19," ANI reported.

This is the first death due to COVID-19 in the National Capital, which reported six cases of the flu-like disease that has claimed more than 5,000 lives worldwide and infected more than one lakh people in 116 countries.

India recorded the second death due to the novel coronavirus pandemic on Friday night after a 68-year-old woman passed away in Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia hospital.

"We will defeat this threat," Trump told a news conference, adding, "When America is tested, America rises to the occasion."

At the White House, where Trump made the emergency decree, drug company executives vowed to work together and with the government to quickly expand the country's coronavirus testing capabilities, which are far behind those in many countries.

The United States declared a state of emergency on Friday as many European countries went on a war footing amid mounting deaths. President Donald Trump has said the step will 'open up access to up to $50bn' and ordered all 50 states to set up centres to deal with the virus and activate contingency plans.

These items will remain under the essential commodities segment till the end of June, reports said, which is a move aimed at ensuring availability at reasonable prices and cracking down on hoarders/black marketeers.

The Centre declared masks (two-ply and three-ply as well as the N-95 variety) and hand sanitizers as 'essential commodities' in the wake of the coronavirus scare leading to shortages and black marketing of these items.

"US Mission India posts, in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, are cancelling immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments from March 16, 2020, onward. Your visa appointment stands as cancelled. Once Mission India resumes regular consular operations, appointments will be made available and you will be able to reschedule," read the statement.

The US embassy and consulates in India are cancelling both immigrant and non-immigrant visa appointments from 16 March in view of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"Programs such as Music in the Park and Drama Manchana to be held during this period will also be postponed," said Gehlot.

Ramping up the precautionary measures in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan has ordered closure of schools, colleges, coaching centers, gyms and cinema halls till 30 March.

Posts on his official Facebook and Twitter accounts said that "The Armed Forces Hospital and (diagnostic laboratory) Sabin have returned a negative test result for COVID-19." Bolsonaro included a photo of himself flexing.

Bolsonaro and a large Brazilian entourage, including cabinet ministers, met with Trump and other senior US officials last weekend at Mar-a-Lago. One of the party, Bolsonaros communications secretary Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and is in quarantine.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who met with President Donald Trump in the United States less than a week ago, has tested negative for coronavirus, a post on his Facebook page said on Friday.

"Our message to countries continues to be: You must take a comprehensive approach. Not testing alone. Not contact tracing alone. Not quarantine alone. Not social distancing alone. Do it all."

On Friday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Europe was now the 'epicentre' of the disease. "Europe has now become epicenter of COVID-19 pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China. More cases are now being reported every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic.

Most of Africas reported cases were foreigners or people who had travelled abroad.

The fast-spreading COVID-19 has now taken a foothold in 19 countries in Africa, a continent facing a challenge due to lack of health services. Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Guinea and Mauritania all confirmed their first cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday.

"Tournaments affected include the YONEX Swiss Open 2020, YONEX-SUNRISE India Open 2020, Orleans Masters 2020, CELCOM Axiata Malaysia Open 2020, and Singapore Open 2020, as well as a number of international Grade 3 tournaments," the BWF said.

The situation, it said, has been aggravated by heightened travel and quarantine restrictions in place and the subsequent extreme logistical complications this causes to the movement of badminton athletes.

The BWF said in a statement that the escalation of the COVID-19 outbreak globally has forced it to cancel or postpone all tournaments from 16 March to 12 April.

The India Open badminton tournament was on Friday suspended at least till 12 April after the Badminton World Federation (BWF) decided to halt all events from 16 March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The toll from the outbreak in had reached 3,189 as of the end of Friday, up by 13 from the previous day. All of the latest deaths were in the central province of Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak, and 10 of them were in Hubei's provincial capital of Wuhan.

China on Friday reported 11 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, up from eight cases a day earlier, the country's National Health Commission said on Saturday. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in China so far to 80,824.

The Italian government hopes that stricter containment measures  including an almost total lockdown of shops, bars, and other commercial activities  will help curtail the fast-spreading virus, which has now its epicenter in Europe, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The total number of cases rose to 17,660 from 15,113 the day before, an increase of some 17%.

The toll in Italy due to the novel coronavirus continued to be on the rise, reaching 1,266 after recording the highest daily jump on Friday. According to the latest figures provided by the Italian Civil Protection Department, 250 more people died of disease in the last 24 hours.

"The number of coronavirus positive cases in Maharashtra has gone up to 19 after one case each was reported from Mumbai and Ahmednagar on Friday," Tope told reporters outside the state legislature complex in Mumbai.

The two new cases were reported from Mumbai and Ahmednagar, he said.

With two more people testing positive for COVID-19 in Maharashtra, the number of infected individuals in the state has gone up to 19, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Saturday.

"All RSS workers should cooperate with administration to create awareness among public and to face this challenge successfully," Sangh's executive head Joshi said in a statement.

"In view of the seriousness of the pandemic COVID-19 and in the light of instructions and advisories thereof issues by the Union and the state govts, the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) meeting scheduled in Bangaluru has been suspended.

The annual meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) was to be held in Bengaluru from 15 to 17 March to decide on the organisation's future course of action.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh suspended its three-day annual meeting of its highest decision-making body scheduled to begin on Saturday, RSS general secretary Suresh 'Bhaiyyaji' Joshi said.

Florida politicians such as US Senator Rick Scott had expressed concerns about coming into contact with the Brazilian president's press secretary Fabio Wajngarten, who tested positive after joining Bolsonaro in a visit to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate last weekend.

Mayor Francis Suarez said in a Friday statement that he was not feeling any symptoms and advised anyone who shook hands with him or was close to him since Monday to self-isolate for 14 days.

The mayor of the city of Miami has tested positive for the new coronavirus after meeting with a Brazilian senior official who was also in close proximity to President Donald Trump.

An isolation ward has been set up at the Tihar jail in Delhi as a precaution against the novel coronavirus. While all inmates have been checked and they have not displayed symptoms, new inmates are being screened and will be kept in different wards for three days. Around 17,500 inmates are lodged at the jail currently.

The Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam (BAPS) Swaminarayan Sanstha, which runs about 100 temples in the US, over the weekend in particular is visited by thousands of devotees every month.

COVID-19, which has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, has claimed over 5,000 lives, including 41 in the US, and infected more than 134,000 people globally.

In view of the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, the Swaminarayan sect has announced to close all its temples globally and suspend routine activities until further notice as part of its efforts to protect the health of volunteers, visitors and local communities.

Announcing closure of schools, colleges, and theatres, and many public events, including the Indian Premier League (IPL), were also postponed as the Union Health Ministry on Friday put the number of confirmed cases at 82.

There are 83 people in total who are infected with the novel coronavirus, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Saturday. On Friday, several states across India went into battle mode to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The couple, who recently returned from their honeymoon in Italy, were put under quarantine after the husband showed symptoms of the disease. However, the health officials informed that the wife escaped from Bengaluru on 8 March, took a flight to New Delhi and travelled to Agra to be with her parents.

The wife of a Google techie who earlier this week had tested positive for COVID-19 in Bengaluru, has been infected with the virus in Agra on Friday, The Times of India reported.

It is hard to quantify exactly how much money is at stake but theatres in Delhi alone may incur a loss of Rs 2 lakh to 10 lakh in the coming 10 days without earning a single penny, said film distributor Joginder Mahajan, who is also the general secretary of the Motion Pictures Association in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

With theatres in parts of the country under lockdown, shootings stalled and promotional events and interviews on hold due to the spread of coronavirus, the television and film industries are facing huge losses , say experts.

"We have evacuated the IIPM building as a precautionary measure," a company official said on Saturday adding the place was being sanitised.

An internal communication from the office here read, "We have received information about a situation of a team member from the IIPM building, who may have been in proximity to an individual with suspected COVID-19."

The development comes after the Karnataka government advised IT and other professionals working in air-conditioned places to work from home for time being, for about a week, to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

The Infosys in Bengaluru has evacuated one of its satellite office buildings following reports of its employee coming in the proximity with a suspected coronavirus patient.

Speaking to Firstpost, one of the company's official said, "We also have a comprehensive pandemics response plan which is based on WHO and local government recommendations. In the light of the rapid spread of coronavirus, we are constantly monitoring the situation, following applicable government directives and ensuring regular communication with our employees across the world. We have put in place several measures; including increased precautions at our facilities, travel advisories, remote working, and a dedicated helpdesk, to ensure employee safety and business continuity.

After evacuating one of its satellite office buildings in Bengaluru in an attempt to fight coronavirus out, Infosys said it has well-defined disaster recovery and business continuity plans at various levels.

"There is a major rise in the manufacturing and export of personal protective equipment as people rush to medical stores to get their hands on either N95 or surgical face masks to protect themselves from the threat of coronavirus.The major demand is witnessed from Indian cities and mostly for reselling purposes. Along with the mask, the demand for mask making machines has also surged by 250 percent," Chhettri added.

Speaking to Firstpost, Mr. Sandip Chhettri, COO, TradeIndia.com said, " In the last 15 days, the demand for sanitizers has increased by 559 percent; face mask has increased by 334 percent; hand wash has increased by 81 percent; and disposable gloves has increased by 66 percent. Apart from the three major cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru), the demand has also surged in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Gurugram, Surat, Pune, Srinagar, etc."

Amid the coronavirus alarm in India, the sale of face masks, sanitizer, and gloves have soared in the country. The demand for these protective products has skyrocketed to the tune of over 500 percent in the last 15 days, compared to the previous 15 days. The virus that has so far killed over 5,000 people and has affected over 1.4 lakh people worldwide, as a result increasing the demand for personal protective equipment in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and other major cities of India.

"On reviewing the advisory issued by the Government and in view of the opinion of public health experts including medical professionals and also considering the safety and welfare of all the visitors, litigants, lawyers, court staff, security, maintenance and support staff, student interns and media professionals, the Competent Authority has been pleased to direct that the functioning of the courts from Monday (16 March) shall be restricted to urgent matters with such number of Benches as may be found appropriate," another notification stated.

The top court, in a notification issued on Friday, announced that six benches of the court will sit and take up urgent matters from 16 March.

In view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the functioning of the Supreme Court will be restricted to urgent matters from Monday when six benches will sit to hear such cases.

"The Kingdom's government decided to suspend international flights for two weeks (Starting from Sunday 15 March) as part of its efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus," the foreign ministry tweeted.

As a precautionary measure to fight the coronavirus outbreak, Saudi Arabia on Saturday said it would suspend international flights for two weeks .

One person has died so far, according to Reuters news agency.

On Saturday, Thailand recorded seven more new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 82, health officials said.

A 55-year-old from Hubei province could have been the first person to have contracted the viral infection on and cases rapidly began piling up since then, the report said, without revealing the gender of the individual.

Chinese authorities have so far identified at least 266 people who were infected in 2019. All the 266 individuals came under medical surveillance at some point, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

The first case of novel coronavirus can be traced back to 17 November, 2019, in China's Hubei province, which subsequently became its epicentre as it rapidly spread at home and abroad before Chinese health officials could identify the deadly virus, according to a media report on Friday.

The spokesperson had earlier said Pakistan was ready to extend assistance to its neighbours.

"The threat of COVID-19 requires coordinated efforts at global and regional level. We have communicated that SAPM (special assistant to Prime Minister) on Health will be available to participate in video conference of SAARC member countries on the issue," the tweet read.

In a tweet posted early Saturday morning, the spokesperson said the Special Assistant (Health) to Prime Minister Imran Khan had been deputed to participate in a proposed video conference call on measures to deal with COVID-19.

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the SAARC nations to work together to control the fast-spreading coronavirus, a spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Affairs ministry responded, acknowledging the need for "coordinated efforts at global and regional levels".

Coles Group chief executive officer Steve Cain said there are some additional limits on certain items in each store and has temporarily suspended change-of-mind refunds.

Coles customers will be limited to two packets of pasta, flour, rice, paper towels, paper tissues and hand sanitiser per transaction, it confirmed on Friday.

Coles and Woolworths have introduced a limit on purchase of some goods to ensure there is enough for everyone, especially the elderly, by preventing people from stockpiling.

Supermarket giants have put limits on purchase of food staples to prevent panic buying sparked by the COVID-19, according to Australian Associated Press.

She said remote New Zealand had been relatively unscathed by coronavirus so far, with six confirmed cases and no fatalities, but the evidence showed the numbers would inevitably rise in the face of a global pandemic.

Ardern said the "unprecedented and far-reaching" measure would come into effect from midnight on Sunday and affect all inbound travellers except those from Pacific island nations.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that all international visitors must quarantine themselves upon arrival for 14 days to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

The move comes after Bhutan recently issued a notification to the Alipurduar district administration informing it about a halt in tourist and business activities in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, he said.

The West Bengal Police, which mans the border gate on the Indian side in Jaigaon in Alipurduar district, stopped the movement of goods and travellers from India to Bhutan on Friday evening, the official said.

The West Bengal government has sealed the state's border with Bhutan in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior official said on Saturday.

Air India will also send another flight to Milan on Saturday to bring back stranded Indians. This flight is scheduled to take off around 12 pm- 1 pm on Saturday and it will land on Sunday morning at 7.45 am Delhi airport, Ali said. So far 83 Indians from Italy have already arrived in the country

The government has also sent a team of four doctors from the Ministry of Health to Rome. They have reached Rome with sufficient material and reagents to collect samples of Indians there for onward testing in India.

"As per the need, more such special flights will be operated to bring back Indians who have tested negative. India is also coordinating treatment of positive people in Iran as per protocol," the official said.

A Mahan Air flight carrying Indian pilgrims stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran is expected to land on Saturday in Delhi, Ministry of Civil Aviation Joint Secretary Rubina Ali said.

The authorities at the Nigambodh cremation ground had earlier denied to cremate the woman in order to prevent the spreading of the virus. The number of confirmed cases in the country rose to 83 on Saturday.

The woman, who passed away in Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, was the the second death recorded in India due to COVID-19. The first one was reported in Karnataka on Thursday.

After initial refusal, the Nigambodh Ghat allowed the funeral of the 68-year-old woman who succumed to coronavirus in Delhi on Friday. The funeral will take place inside CNG supplied crematory.

KK Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) and Confederation of Medical Associations of Asia and Oceania (CMAAO), said, "The elderly and the sick may have an immune response that is dangerous. This is referred to as a cytokine storm. There is an overproduction of immune cells that flood into the lungs, causing pneumonia, inflammation and shortness of breath. Therefore, utmost care must be taken with the elderly and they should avoid going outdoors specially to crowded places or commuting in public transport for the time being.

However, for others, it is a good idea to teach them the basics including calling up a specialist in case of an emergency or symptoms. They can even video call the doctor for their appointment since they may not be able to venture out much.

Senior citizens who stay alone must keep some important things in mind to deal with the outbreak. Those who have elderly at home should also consider these tips to keep any complications at bay. 1. Take everyday precautions. Make sure to eat medications on time and keep all vitals under check 2. Keep away from others who are sick, limit close contact, and wash your hands often. Avoid crowds as much as possible 3. Eat foods that are rich in antioxidants and help in building your immunity levels. Include dark and green leafy vegetables and whole grains 4. Senior citizens nowadays are technologically sound and understand how to use smartphones. This can help them keep up with their appointments, etc.

Asserting that his government was taking all necessary steps to prevent the spread of the virus in the state, the chief minister said a meeting of senior officials has been convened to discuss the COVID-19 situation.

The samples of two others with suspected symptoms of the virus have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, he said.

The patient with travel history to Italy has been admitted to the state-run Gandhi hospital in the city for quarantine purpose, Rao told the assembly.

Another case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Telangana on Saturday taking the total number of those infected to two, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said.

The spokesperson, however, announced that "all examinations of the university and schools will be held as per schedule". He said students may consult teachers via e-mail for help (if required).

"During a special meeting of top university officials presided over by Vice Chancellor Prof Tariq Mansoor, it was decided today that all conferences, workshops, educational tours and sports programmes have been postponed till 31 March," AMU spokesperson Omar Peerzada told PTI.

The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Saturday suspended all classes, including sessional tests, till March 22 as a precautionary measure in view of novel coronavirus threat.

In all of our offices, we are moving to flexible work arrangements worldwide outside of Greater China, he added. That means team members should work remotely if their job allows.Apple reopened all 42 of its branded stores in China on Friday.

Apple Inc said late on Friday it will close all its retail stores, except those in Greater China, for the next two weeks to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission. "We will be closing all of our retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27," Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a letter apple posted on the company's website.

He further said, out of over 11 lakh passengers who were screened at 30 airports only 3,225 were referred to tests.

Speaking at "Wings India 2020" an aviation-related event being held here, the Union Minister said there would be a drop of 15 to 20 percent in domestic air traffic for time being due to the virus concerns.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said so far nearly 12 lakh passengers coming from abroad have been screened for coronavirus at various airports across the country.

"If it were technically necessary to consider mechanisms of restriction or stronger surveillance we would have to take into account not that Mexico would bring the virus to the United States, rather that the United States could bring it here," he told a news conference."

Mexico so far has confirmed 16 cases of the coronavirus, with no deaths. In the United States, 41 people have died.

Mexico could consider measures at its northern border to slow the spread of the coronavirus into its relatively unaffected territory, health officials said on Friday, with an eye to containing a US outbreak that has infected more than 1,800 people.

According to The Times of India, the man was first admitted to in the isolation ward of the SPM Civil Hospital on Friday night after health officials came to know that he came in close proximity with a female doctor who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday and at present undergoing treatment at KGMU.

A 20-year-old man, resident of Indiranagar, was shifted to the isolation ward of the King Georges Medical University (KGMU) in the morning after lab test confirmed.

On Saturday, second confirmed case of the novel coronavirus was reported in Lucknow. The first confirmed case was recorded in Telangana.

"80 percent of our expected business was from home. And after Delhi, Jammu and Kerala, there were orders to shut down theatres in Bihar, Karnataka, and UP though the UP CM has left the decision to the theatre management, and the big hit was when Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur were also declared out of bounds," Mirror reports Vijan as saying.

In a recent interview with Mumbai Mirror, producer Dinesh Vijan said the box office figures are likely to take a major hit, especially since the film cannot be screened in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Mumbai, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh.

Despite coronavirus pandemic, Irrfan Khan and Radhika Madan-starrer Angrezi Medium, which hit theatres on Friday, has performed well on its opening day at the box office, picking up Rs 4.03 crore at the ticketing counters.

"There were six to seven options discussed during the meeting between team owners and BCCI including a curtailed IPL," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity after the meeting.

The BCCI on Friday suspended the IPL from 29 March to 15 April and also called off the ODI series against South Africa.

The BCCI on Saturday discussed the option of conducting a curtailed Indian Premier League with the eight IPL franchise owners in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that has led to the event being suspended by a fortnight.

"There will be a review of the situation on 30 March, following which further decision will be taken," they added.

Internal examinations of these institutions will also remain suspended during this period, the officials said.

All educational institutions in West Bengal will remain shut till 31 March in the wake of coronavirus threat, officials said on Saturday. Board examinations will, however, continue as per schedule.

He said to Mumbai Mirror, "The government or industry associations might come out with some new instructions tomorrow, and we will have to adhere to them. So, we cant predict anything."

Kangana Ranaut is heading to Chennai for the third schedule of Jayalalithaa biopic Thalaivi, which is supposed to start from next week. Shailash R Singh, who is financing the directorial, says it is going to be a 45-day schedule, and will be filmed in Chennai and Hyderabad.

Even as authorities take measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the makers of the Jayalalithaa biopic , Durgavati, Sherni, and Mumbai Saga are braving the odds to continue filming their projects.

"Four persons, including two women, had come to the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH) on Friday morning to give their blood samples for suspected coronavirus infection. They were kept in the isolation ward. However, at night they left the hospital without informing the authorities, a police official said.

According to police, the four persons were later traced and asked to return to the hospital. Their test results are awaited.

Four persons admitted to a government-run hospital in Nagpur for suspected coronavirus infection, returned home without informing the authorities, police said on Saturday. The incident occurred late Friday night, they said.

An ex-gratia relief of Rs 4 lakh will be given to kin of families who died of COVID-19. Cost of hospitalisation for managing patients as fixed by State Government, will also be provided.

The government has decided to treat COVID-19 as a notified disaster for the purpose of providing assistance under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), reported ANI.

For those who want to delay their travel arrangements due to the outbreak, the airline will waive all change fees for any bookings through the end of March.

"The ground staff you meet at our international terminals  at check-in counters and boarding gates  will be wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) appropriate for their role. This gear may include masks, gloves and shoe covers, which are appropriately disposed of at regular intervals," read the note.

Listing out the precautionary measures to combat the fast-spreading novel coronavirus, IndiGo has put out a note saying that the airline is ensuring compliance with the best advice from medical authorities and the government.

The World Health Organisation has said that countries need to conduct rigorous screening and testing to stem the spread of coronavirus. WHO said that public awareness, restriction on mass gatherings and constant vigilance could help battle the pandemic.

Board of Control for Cricket in India said that Matches of Paytm Irani Cup, Senior Women's One-Day Knockout, Vizzy Trophy, Senior Women's One-Day Challenger, Women's Under 19 One-Day knockout, Womens Under 19 T20 League, Super League & knockout, have been put on hold till further notice.

A doctor couple, who returned from Saudi Arabia recently, has been quarantined for fourteen days in their home in Assam's Barpeta district, officials said on Saturday. The couple, who work at the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital, will be under observation of the state health department for the next fourteen days, they said.

"This is not going to be a quick situation. This is going to be weeks, months and people should caliberate their expectations according to this... My guess is there are thousands and thousands of cases walking around the state of New York, Cuomo said at a press conference.

New York state now has more cases than any other state in the U.S. as the number of newly confirmed infections surged by 30% overnight to 421, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday.

His comments came as several European countries reported a rise in confirmed cases and deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says Europe has now become the "epicentre" for the global coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 132,000 cases of Covid-19 and 5,000 deaths have been reported to WHO.

Health authorities in Spain say coronavirus infections have reached 5,753 people, of which almost 3,000 are in the capital, Madrid. That represents a national increase of more than 1,500 in 24 hours. No new figures for deaths were immediately announced, but as of Friday, Spain had recorded 120 COVID-19 deaths.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police said that after completing the requisite quarantine period and being tested negative twice in 16 days of stay, 110 evacuees from Wuhan, China have left the quarantine facility at New Delhi's Chhawla in different batches. Only two of the evacuees left at the facility

Elsewhere in the state, ten coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Pune, four each in Mumbai and Nagpur, and one each in Thane and Ahmednagar.

Two persons who had recently returned from Dubai were confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus in Maharashtra's Yavatmal city on Saturday, a snior official said. It took the number of confirmed cases in the state to 22. The two patients were among a group of nine who had returned from Dubai on 1 March. All of them were placed in quarantine.

Six benches of the Supreme Court will on March 16 take up only 12 urgent matters each to avoid overcrowding of court rooms following the decision to restrict the apex court functioning in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Among the important matters which have been listed for hearing on Monday are anticipatory bail pleas of civil rights activists Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde, accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, and a petition by a Nirbhaya case convict.

His comments came even as the central government has asked people not to pay attention to "false rumours" that the novel coronavirus was spreading through non-vegetarian food like eggs, chicken, mutton and seafood.

"Coronavirus has come because of the people who kill and eat animals. When you kill an animal, it creates a sort of energy that causes destruction in that place. This is the reason why it is spreading in the entire world," he claimed.

Asking for forgiveness from the virus on behalf of meat eaters, he pledged that Indians will never eat meat again.

After consuming a glass of cow urine at the 'gaumutra party' held here on Saturday, Swami Chakrapani, who claims to be president of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha that organised the event at its premises here, claimed that coronavirus is an "avatar" that has come to punish those who eat non-vegetarian food.

People lined up for their share of the "miracle liquid" being poured from kettles into 'kulhads', believing that it will protect them from coronavirus or cure them in case they have already been infected. It was not a medicine or herbal concoction being served in the clay cups but cow urine.

Accoridng to PTI, Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu told reporters: "All cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools in Punjab shall remain closed till further orders after midnight of March 14. All public gatherings including sports events, conferences, cultural events, fairs and exhibitions shall also not be held till further orders". He said the step has been taken "to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19". When asked if shopping malls too would be shut, Sidhu said there was no such plan as of now.

A day after closure of all educational institutions in the state till 31 March, the Punjab government ordered a shut down of cinema halls and banned public gatherings including cultural events till further notice to prevent the spread of coronavirus, report PTI

Thus, so far across the state, ten coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Pune, eight in Mumbai, four in Nagpur, two in Yavatmal and one each in Thane and Ahmednagar.

Of the new patients confirmed in Mumbai, one is resident of the city while others are from Kamothe, Vashi and Kalyan, all peripheral towns. All are admitted to Kasturba Hospital here and their condition is stable, BMC deputy director, health, Daksha Shah said.

Samples of four patients, one from Mumbai and three from adjoining areas, test positive for coronavirus, PTI quotes civic officials as saying, taking the number of confirmed cases in Maharashtrato 26 and those in Mumbai to eight.

"Coronavirus infection is a respiratory disease which spreads through droplets and the probability of mortuary or disposal staff contracting the virus from the dead is unlikely as against in case of high-risk pathogens like Ebola and Nipah which have very high chances of spreading through direct contact with body-fluids of the deceased," PTI quotes the official as saying.

Amid a controversy over the cremation of the 68-year-old woman who died in Delhi after being infected with novel coronavirus, the Union health ministry has begun working on framing guidelines for handling the bodies of those who die of the disease. Though it is unlikely that coronavirus infection could spread from handling of a body, the guidelines are being drafted to dispel any misconception and raise awareness regarding spread of the disease from a deceased, a health ministry official said.

The Maharashtra government issued a circular asking all schools and colleges in the state's urban areas to remain closed till 31 March as a precautionary measure, reports PTI. A circular issued by the government said all schools and colleges in the jurisdiction of municipal corporations, municipalities and nagar panchayats will remain closed till month-end. Examinations of class X and XII as well as universities will take place as per the schedule, the circular said. The announcement was also made in the state Assembly.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead India at a video conference of SAARC nations on Sunday at 5 pm to chalk out joint strategy to fight coronavirus, PTI quoted the Ministry of External Affairs as saying.

According to PTI, the state government also announced that all exams up to Class 9, if underway, will be postponed. However, the board exams for Class 10 and 12 will continue.

The Maharashtra govt on Saturday announced the closure of all malls till 31 March in the state in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Making the announcement, health minister Rajesh Tope said that the order does not apply to grocery shops which sell commodities.

Trump spent time last weekend at his private club in Florida with at least three people who have now tested positive.The Brazilian Embassy in Washington announced late Friday that the country's charge d'affaires, Nestor Forster, tested positive after sitting at Trump's dinner table. So, too, have a top aide to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and an individual who attended a fundraiser Sunday with Trump, according to two Republican officials who spoke to news agency AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss private health matters.

Trump has had multiple direct and indirect contacts with people who have tested positive for the pandemic virus. On Friday, he declared a state of emergency as schools and workplaces across the country shuttered, flights were canceled and Americans braced for war against the health threat.

The White House announced Saturday that it is now conducting temperature checks on anyone who is in close contact with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, reports AP. The move is being taken out of an abundance of caution in response to the coronavirus outbreak, said Judd Deere, a White House spokesman.

A 24-year-old man, who returned from Spain, tested positive for the coronavirus in Jaipur, ANI quotes the Rajasthan Health Department as saying. According to the Indian Express , he flew from Madrid to Delhi and then to Jaipur by Air India Flight 491. The government has begun contact tracing, IE quoted a senior health official as saying.

An IIT-Roorkee student with suspected symptoms of coronavirus has been admitted to the isolation ward of a hospital in Haridwar, PTI quoted officials as saying. The 26-year-old M.Tech student had recently returned from Japan. He was kept under observation of a team of doctors at IIT hostel for 10 days and brought to the isolation ward of a government hospital after he complained of cough, a district hospital official said. His swab samples have been sent to Delhi for testing, the official said.

The home ministry said funds earmarked under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) can be utilised for procurement of essential equipment and measures taken to quarantine people. It issued a two-page directive to all states specifying "list of items and norms of assistance for containment of COVID-19 virus in India, eligible from SDRF".

According to the health ministry, Kerala has reported 19 positive cases, Maharashtra 14, Uttar Pradesh 11, Delhi seven, Karnataka six, Ladakh three, Jammu and Kashmir two, and Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab one case each.

The government on Saturday put the number of coronavirus positive cases in the country at 84 and issued directives to states specifying the list of items and norms of assistance for containment of COVID-19 under their disaster funds.

According to PTI, the state government also announced that all exams up to Class 9, if underway, will be postponed. However, the board exams for Class 10 and 12 will continue.

The Maharashtra govt on Saturday announced the closure of all malls till 31 March in the state in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Making the announcement, health minister Rajesh Tope said that the order does not apply to grocery shops which sell commodities.

Trump spent time last weekend at his private club in Florida with at least three people who have now tested positive.The Brazilian Embassy in Washington announced late Friday that the country's charge d'affaires, Nestor Forster, tested positive after sitting at Trump's dinner table. So, too, have a top aide to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and an individual who attended a fundraiser Sunday with Trump, according to two Republican officials who spoke to news agency AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss private health matters.

Trump has had multiple direct and indirect contacts with people who have tested positive for the pandemic virus. On Friday, he declared a state of emergency as schools and workplaces across the country shuttered, flights were canceled and Americans braced for war against the health threat.

The White House announced Saturday that it is now conducting temperature checks on anyone who is in close contact with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, reports AP. The move is being taken out of an abundance of caution in response to the coronavirus outbreak, said Judd Deere, a White House spokesman.

In another order, the district magistrate said permissions for public programmes till 15 April is being cancelled with immediate effect in a bid to prevent the coronavirus spread. Permission needs to be taken from the administration for any such programme if absolutely unavoidable, it stated, adding that failure to comply with the order would prompt legal action against the offender. "These public programmes, however, do not include wedding functions and closure of cinema halls. These include programmes like religious, political congregations, musical or cultural events organized by schools or colleges, etc where a large number of people gather," Singh told PTI.

The restriction is applicable on private and public use of swimming pools in schools, colleges, hotels and residential societies, the district administration said in an order. "In the wake of precautionary measures being taken to check and control coronavirus (COVID-19), the usage of all swimming pools in Gautam Buddh Nagar which are primarily located in schools, hotels and societies, among other places, is completely banned till 15 April," District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh said in the order.

Swimming pools in Noida and Greater Noida will remain closed, while public problems, including religious and political congregations, will not be allowed till 15 April as a precautionary measure to combat the coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Saturday.

The second case was reported in the capital, Islamabad, according to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) spokesperson Waseem Khawaja. The woman, who arrived in Islamabad from the United States, was brought to PIMS two days ago. She is in critical condition and has been put on a ventilator, Khawaja told PTI.

Pakistan reported two new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of positive cases to 30, reports PTI. Officials said that the first case was reported from the capital, Islamabad. Health and Population Welfare Department, Sindh, reported that the 20-year-old patient from Karachi had no travel history but his father returned from the UK recently.

An 82-year-old woman became New Yorks first coronavirus fatality, Reuters reported authorities as saying. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the woman, who had previously suffered from emphysema, was hospitalized in Manhattan on 3 March. He told reporters that the states tally of cases had risen to 524. Nationwide, more than 2,000 people have been infected and 48 have died.

Ramban District Magistrate Nazim Zai Khan also imposed restrictions under section 144, CrPC in the district with an immediate effect for a period of 15 days to ensure effective implementation of the prescribed precaution to prevent danger to human life, health or safety and keeping in view the prevailing health situation due to coronavirus.

The spokesperson said Kishtwar District Development Commissioner Rajinder Singh Tara has imposed a ban on the assembly of more than five persons at any public place in the entire district, including Kishtwar town and its adjoining areas, with an immediate effect for a period of one month. "This order has been issued as a precautionary measure and is in consonance with the advisory issued by the government to the public, whereby they have been advised not to venture out in large numbers and to avoid any type of mass gatherings, crowds, congregations and functions," the spokesperson said, quoting Tara.

Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Kishtwar and Ramban districts of Jammu and Kashmir in view of the prevailing health emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak, PTI quoted an official spokesperson as saying. The orders under section 144, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) will remain in force for a month in Kishtwar and for 15 days in Ramban, he added.

Section 54 lays down that "whoever makes or circulates a false alarm or warning as to disaster or its severity or magnitude, leading to panic, shall on conviction, be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to one year or with fine".

In the letter, Pardeshi said BMC had made preparations to tackle the situation but rumours were being spread on social media platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook etc,which may lead to panic.The BMC chief demanded action against such people under Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act 2005.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation chief Praveen Pardeshi wrote to citypolice commissioner Param Bir Singh demanding strict action against those spreading rumours about the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: The Maharashtra govt on Saturday announced the closure of all malls till 31 March in the state in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.

Samples of four patients, one from Mumbai and three from adjoining areas, test positive for coronavirus, reports PTI.

A 71-year-old man who had returned from Saudi Arabia and was suspected to have coronavirus infection died during treatment in Maharashtra's Buldhana district on Saturday afternoon, PTI quoted a hospital official as saying. He was also suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police said that after completing the requisite quarantine period and being tested negative twice in 16 days of stay, 110 evacuees from Wuhan, China have left the quarantine facility at New Delhi's Chhawla in different batches. Only two of the evacuees left at the facility.

More than 4,000 people who had come in contact with 84 coronavirus cases are under surveillance, says the Health Ministry.

The home ministry has said that Rs 4 lakh will be paid as ex-gratia to the families of the people who lose their lives due to the novel coronavirus. The help will also be extended to those involved in relief operations or associated in response activities.

Mexico could consider measures at its northern border to slow the spread of the coronavirus into its relatively unaffected territory, health officials said on Friday, with an eye to containing a US outbreak that has infected more than 1,800 people.

Mexico so far has confirmed 16 cases of the coronavirus, with no deaths. In the United States, 41 people have died.

Mexican Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said contagion from the United States was a threat.

"If it were technically necessary to consider mechanisms of restriction or stronger surveillance we would have to take into account not that Mexico would bring the virus to the United States, rather that the United States could bring it here," he told a news conference."

After initial refusal, the Nigambodh Ghat allowed the funeral of the 68-year-old woman who succumbed to coronavirus in Delhi on Friday. The funeral will take place inside CNG supplied crematory.

The woman, who passed away in Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, was the the second death recorded in India due to COVID-19. The first one was reported in Karnataka on Thursday.

The authorities at the Nigambodh cremation ground had earlier denied to cremate the woman in order to prevent the spreading of the virus. The number of confirmed cases in the country rose to 83 on Saturday

The West Bengal government has sealed the state's border with Bhutan in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior official said on Saturday.

The Infosys in Bengaluru has evacuated one of its satellite office buildings following reports of its employee coming in the proximity with a suspected coronavirus patient.

The development comes after the Karnataka government advised IT and other professionals working in air-conditioned places to work from home for time being, for about a week, to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

An internal communication from the office here read, "We have received information about a situation of a team member from the IIPM building, who may have been in proximity to an individual with suspected COVID-19."

There are 83 people in total who are infected with the novel coronavirus, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Saturday. On Friday, several states across India went into battle mode to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The toll in Italy due to the novel coronavirus continued to be on the rise, reaching 1,266 after recording the highest daily jump on Friday. According to the latest figures provided by the Italian Civil Protection Department, 250 more people died of disease in the last 24 hours.

The total number of cases rose to 17,660 from 15,113 the day before, an increase of some 17%.

Ramping up the precautionary measures in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan has ordered closure of schools, colleges, coaching centers, gyms and cinema halls till 30 March.

"Programs such as Music in the Park and Drama Manchana to be held during this period will also be postponed," said Gehlot.

This is the first death due to COVID-19 in the National Capital, which reported six cases of the flu-like disease that has claimed more than 5,000 lives worldwide and infected more than one lakh people in 116 countries.

India recorded the second death due to the novel coronavirus pandemic on Friday night after a 68-year-old woman passed away in Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia hospital.

A second coronavirus patient is reported to have died in India on Friday. The latest victim of the deadly COVID-19 disease is a 69-year-old resident from Delhi, CNN-News18 reported. The victim was undergoing treatment in Delhi's RML hospital, the news channel said.

US president Donald Trump is likely to declare the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in America as a 'national emergency', The New York Times reported on Friday. To do so, he would be invoking the Stafford Act to facilitate more federal aid for states and municipalities.

"Trump is under increasing pressure to act as governors and mayors nationwide step up actions to mitigate the spread, closing schools and canceling public events. The president said he will hold a news conference at 3 pm in Washington," the report said.

The government on Friday declared that masks, including N95, and hand sanitisers as 'essential commodities' in the wake of the coronavirus scare leading to shortages and black marketing of these items.

These items will remain under essential commodities segment till June-end, a move aimed at ensuring availability at reasonable prices and cracking down on hoarders/black marketeers. The government has notified an order under the Essential Commodities Act to declare masks (2 ply and 3 ply surgical masks, N95 masks) and hand santisers as essential commodities up to 30 June, 2020. An offence under the Essential Commodities Act can attract imprisonment up to 7 years.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that three more people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the state on Friday. He said that of the three new cases, one is an Italian, another is an Indian who returned from the UK, and the third is a patient with travel history to Italy and Germany.

Reports on Friday reported a clarification from Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope, who said that malls and theaters will remain open in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Navi Mumbai, and Pimpri-Chinchwad districts.

Earlier Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was quoted as saying that all malls, theatres, gyms, and swimming pools will be shut in the five districts in light of the spread of coronavirus in the state.

The Maharashtra government has shut all malls, gyms, cinema halls, and swimming pools in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Navi Mumbai, and Pimpri-Chinchwad from midnight on Friday in light of the increasing cases of coronavirus in the state. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, speaking in the state's Assembly, also said that the government has declared the spread of COVID-19 in the five districts as an 'epidemic'.

The Union health ministry on Friday evening said that the cases of the novel coronavirus have risen to 81 in India, with fresh cases being reported in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Maharashtra.

Reports said that one more confirmed case of the novel coronavirus emerged in Maharashtra's Pune on Friday, after two cases were reported in Nagpur. The total cases of COVID-19 in Maharashtra are 17.

The IPL 2020, which was earlier scheduled to be held on 29 March, has now been postponed to 15 April, News18 reported.

Addressing the media on steps taken by the Uttar Pradesh government to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday announced that all schools and colleges where examinations are not going on will be shut till 22 March.

Adityanath also said that seven people in Agra, two in Ghaziabad and one each in Noida and Lucknow have tested positive for COVID-19.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday proposed that the leadership of SAARC nations could chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus and set an example for the world. He said the SAARC leadership can discuss via video conferencing ways to keep their citizens healthy.

"Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it," Modi tweeted.

South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population, should leave no stone unturned to ensure that the people are healthy, he said.

"I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," he said.

Social distancing is the biggest solution to curtail the spread of pandemic, said Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in Delhi while speaking on the precautionary measures taken against the spread of the coronavirus.

"DMs and SDMs have been asked to strictly follow the guidelines meted by the health ministry," said Sisodia.

Launching a tirade against the Centre over its lack of swift response to curtail coronavirus outbreak, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the Narendra Modi-led government was in a "stupor" and the economy would be destroyed if a strong action is not taken.

The Indian economy will be destroyed if strong action is not taken. The government is in a stupor," the former Congress chief tweeted.

The Indian rupee fell by another 16 paise to 74.44 against the US dollar as financial markets around the globe continued to feel jitters of coronavirus pandemic.

A day earlier, the Indian currency had tumbled by 60 paise to close at a new 17-month low of 74.28 amid coronavirus pandemic fanning global economic recession fears.

Meanwhile, the global crude oil benchmark Brent Futures fell 0.87 percent to trade at $32.93 per barrel.

Mainland China reported eight new confirmed cases of coronavirus and seven additional deaths on Thursday, the countrys National Health Commission said on Friday. Most of the fatalities occurred in Hubei province.

That brings the total accumulated number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 80,813. The toll from the outbreak in mainland China had reached 3,176 as of the end of Thursday, up by seven from the previous day.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, has contracted the novel coronavirus. Sophie, came back from a speaking event in the United Kingdom with flu-like symptoms, her husband announced Thursday.

"She is feeling fine, and her symptoms are mild," according to a statement from the Prime Ministers office.

Justin will isolate himself and run his government from home for 14 days as a result.

The Karnataka health department commissioner said that a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi who passed away and was a suspected patient of coronavirus has been confirmed positive for for the flu-like disease. "Contact tracing, isolation and other measures are being taken. The Telangana government has also been informed as he went to a hospital there," he said.

The Centre on Thursday said that to fight the spread of Coronavirus, the Command Hospital (NC), Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir under the aegis of HQ Northern Command has set up 4 isolation wards with a 100-bed capacity and a team of specialist doctors to manage the suspected coronavirus patients.



Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that two more people have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Kerala. Vijayan said that the two cases were reported from the Thrissur and Kannur districts. The total number of Coronavirus positive cases rose to 16 in the state.

According to reports, the infected people have travel history with Dubai and Qatar.

According to India Today, the Kerala government said that people with flu-like symptoms shouldn't visit old age homes.

The Centre on Thursday decided to expedite clearances to bulk drug projects by considering them "out of turn", as cases of the novel coronavirus rose in India. In a notification, the Environment Ministry said the expeditious environmental clearances given to units involving active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and bulk drug intermediates will ensure overall preparedness and availability of drugs to reduce the impact of the outbreak, PTI reported.

The Union Territory of Ladakh on Thursday reported a third case of the novel coronavirus, soon after Delhi and Karnataka also recorded fresh cases of the flu-like disease. According to the last notification by the Union health ministry, the total cases of coronavirus in India are 73.

A 26-year-old man who returned from Greece has tested positive for coronavirus, making it the fifth case in Karnataka, the health department was quoted as saying by PTI. The patient has been admitted and isolated at a hospital and his condition is stable, a department media bulletin said.

The report quoted sources as saying that the patient is from Mumbai. He travelled from Greece to Mumbai on 6 March, and came by flight to Bengaluru on 8 March. He had been to office on 9 March, during which he is said to have spoken to four of his close friends and gone back home after a few hours.

The sixth case of coronavirus was reported in Delhi on Thursday, reports said. The last confirmed count of total cases in India was 73, according to the Union health ministry.

The Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi on Thursday declared the coronavirus outbreak as an 'epidemic' in the National Capital, and said that all theatres, schools, and colleges will be shut till 31 March.

According to CNN-News18, the government has also invoked the provisions of the epidemic Act. Speaking to reporters, Kejriwal said that all public places, including malls, public and private offices will have to be mandatorily disinfected everyday.

"After reviewing the measures, we have put in place some more. We have sufficient beds for quarantine facility, under-construction hospitals are also being prepared for quarantine. Over 500 beds are ready for sick people.

Today we have declared this as an epidemic in delhi, public places, malls, shops, public and private offices have to be disinfected everyday," he said.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday advised against conducting the IPL tournament scheduled to begin on 29 March in light of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in India. The number of cases in India on Thursday stood at 73 as various ministries took steps to curb the further spread of the disease.

In its weekly briefing on Thursday, the MEA said, "It is for the organizers to decide whether to go ahead with it or not. Our advice would be to not do it at this time but if they want to go ahead, it is their decision."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amid the cases of coronavirus in India rising to 73 on Thursday, said that no Union minister will travel abroad in the coming days as part of the Centre's efforts to curb the spread of the pandemic in the country.

"The government is fully vigilant about the situation due to COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. Across ministries and states, multiple steps have been proactively taken to ensure safety of all. These steps are wide-ranging, from suspension of Visas to augmenting healthcare capacities," he said in a series of tweets.

The BSE Sensex plunged over 2,919 points on Thursday in its biggest one-day fall in absolute terms as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on global markets. After nose diving over 3,204.30 points during the day, the 30-share index settled 2,919.26 points or 8.18 per cent lower at 32,778.14.

All travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany after 15 February will be quarantined for a maximum period of 14 days.

"This will come into effect from 12.00 GMT on 13 March at the port of departure," said Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Addressing the media on preparedness for COVID-19 pandemic, Luv Aggarwal, an official from the Health Ministry said, "Out of the 73 positive cases reported in India so far, 56 are Indians and 17 are foreigners."

One more person with travel history to Iran tested positive for COVID-19 in Ladakh on Thursday, taking the total number of cases in the Union Territory to three, a senior government official was quoted by PTI as saying.

His family members have been moved to the isolation centre at Heart Foundation Hospital here, they said.

The man was part of a group that had gone to Iran on a pilgrimage.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the ongoing budget session of the Maharashtra Legislature has been curtailed by a week and it will conclude on Saturday.

The session, which began on 24 February , was earlier scheduled till 20 March.

Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan spoke about all the measures and efforts taken by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

He urged local leaders to discourage large gatherings in public spaces and asked them to cooperated with the centre to ensure all preventive measures are taken. He told the Upper House that screening is currently being done in 30 airports across India and 15 labs have been set up to test for the virus.

Speaking on the coronavirus outbreak in the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday spoke about the precautionary measures taken up by the government to fight the spread of COVID-19 in India.

"229 out of 529 samples of Indians stranded in Iran have tested negative for coronavirus," Jaishankar said.

A 45-year-old person tested positive for coronavirus in Nagpur taking the total number of confirmed cases in Maharashtra to 11, officials said on Wednesday.

"A 45-year-old person tested positive for coronavirus. The patient is currently undergoing treatment in a special ward of IGMC Nagpur and has a travel history to the US," Nagpur District Magistrate and Collector Ravindra H Thakare told reporters in Mumbai.

The total number of positive cases of coronavirus in Maharashtra rose to 11, including two from Mumbai, eight from Pune and one from Nagpur.

After opening 34,472.50 points, Sensex dropped to 33,876.13. Meanwhile, Nifty tanked 470.35 pts to 9,988.05. Tata Steel, ONGC, State Bank of India (SBI) shares dipped over 8 percent while Reliance Industries fell over 7 percent.

Global shares too crumbled after US President Donald Trump said America will suspend all travel from Europe as he unveiled measures to contain the coronavirus epidemic that has resulted in a heavy human and economic toll worldwide.

Italy has shut all stores except for pharmacies and food shops in a bid to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus that has killed 827 in the country in just over two weeks.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the latest wave of restrictions in a dramatic appeal to the nation that came with the country of 60 million battling its biggest crisis in generations.

Under pressure to respond to the novel coronavirus, President Donald Trump on Wednesday suspended all travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days starting on Friday in order to fight outbreak.

Trump said the travel restrictions did not apply to the United Kingdom. He did not provide a list of countries but said simply the restrictions applied to all of Europe.

The advisory issued by the Centre on Wednesday evening, issuing travel restrictions on visas for travellers, also said, "All incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Korea, France, Spain and Germany after 15 February, 2020 shall be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days. This will come into effect from 1200 GMT on 13 March 2020."

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday said that the global body had assessed that the outbreak of the novel coronavirus is a can be characterised as a pandemic.

"WHOs mandate is public health. But were working with many partners across all sectors to mitigate the social and economic consequences of this #COVID19 pandemic," the statement was quoted as saying by ANI.

The Mizoram government formally sealed the state's borders with neighbouring countries and states, barring a few entry and exit points, to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

Two persons from Mumbai on Wednesday tested positive for coronavirus, taking the number of confirmed cases in Maharashtra to 10, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said. Eight persons have tested positive in Pune, he said.

CDC Director Robert Redfield said that the coronavirus deaths in the US are now up to 31. With new deaths reported and the number of confirmed coronavirus cases exceeding 1,000, American lawmakers and health officials have set up containment zones and quarantine areas and sought to limit contact with those who might be infected.

Two patients admitted at a hospital in Mumbai have tested positive for the virus, taking the total number of cases in Maharashtra to seven. According to The Hindu, the two had travelled to Dubai with the same group as the Pune couple who has tested positive for the virus.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray held a review meeting with Pune divisional commissioner and district collector through video- conferencing to discuss the steps being taken to tackle the novel coronavirus.

A 53-year-old British woman hospitalised on the resort island of Bali has died from the coronavirus, Indonesias first recorded death from the disease, said officials.

The 45-year-old man who tested positive for coronavirus has recovered with results of his samples coming out negative and as of now there are no confirmed virus cases in Tamil Nadu, PTI quoted state Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar as saying.

The new coronavirus has killed 63 more people, raising the death toll to 354 in Iran, AP quoted a health ministry person as saying during a live televised briefing. The number of confirmed cases has risen to 9,000, said the AP report.

India prohibited entry of any international cruise ship, crew or passenger with a travel history to coronavirus-hit countries post 1 February, 2020 to its major ports till 31 March. The government said international cruise ships will be allowed only at ports having thermal screening facilities for passengers and crew members. If any passenger/crew member of cruise ships show symptoms of coronavirus, disembarking will not be permitted, it added.

The total number of coronavirus confirmed cases in India crossed 50 on Wednesday amid fresh confirmations of infections in Rajasthan. An 85-year-old man in Jaipur, who had returned from Dubai on 28 February, has tested positive for coronavirus, a state government official said on Wednesday, was the newest addition, taking the current toll to 60. Meanwhile, the health condition of an 85-year old woman being treated for COVID-19 at the isolation ward of the government medical college hospital in Kerala is serious, health officials said on Wednesday.

Eighteen more people have tested positive for coronavirus  eight in Kerala and two in Karnataka, five in Maharashtra and one in Jammu and Kashmir, as the number of such cases went up on Tuesday. Amid the COVID-19 scare, a combination of two anti-HIV drugs was used for the first time in India in the treatment of two patients. The health ministry said the total number of confirmed cases has risen to 50, adding the rest are being retested for confirmation. If the fresh cases declared by the state governments are taken into account, the figure goes up to 60.

India on Tuesday also barred entry of the nationals of three more countries  France, Germany and Spain  suspending the regular as well as e-Visas granted to them to date. "All regular (sticker) Visas/e-Visas granted to nationals of France, Germany and Spain and issued on or before 11 March and who have not yet entered India stand suspended with immediate effect," said a Bureau of Immigration notification issued late Tuesday night.

Regular visas, including e visas, granted to all foreign nationals who have travel history to these countries on or after 1 February and who have not yet entered India also stands suspended, it said.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters that six new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the state, taking the total number of infections in the state to 17 on Tuesday. Keeping in mind the fresh rise in cases, Vijayan announced severe restrictions, including the closure of educational institutions and cinema houses till the month-end, in a bid to halt its further spread.

Vijayan said at least 1,116 people are under observation  149 in isolation wards of various hospitals and 967 under home quarantine.

Late on Tuesday, Shailaja said two more confirmed cases were detected in Kerala with the parents of a three-year-old boy, who tested positive for COVID-19 in Kochi on Monday on the family's return from Italy, being the latest patients.

In Kerala, schools and colleges and cinemas will remain closed in the state till 31 March. Classes 1 to 7 of all schools  state, CBSE and ICSE boards  will remain shut and examinations which have begun for them will be put on hold. Examinations for Class 10, Class 12 and vocational higher secondary will, however, continue. Final examinations of Classes 8 and 9 also will proceed as usual.

Fourteen of the 21 Italian nationals and an Indian national, lodged in a quarantine camp at Indo-Tibetan Border Police's (ITBP) facility in Chhawla, had been infected with the coronavirus. The Italians were part of a group of 23 tourists who had visited Rajasthan last month. The driver accompanying them,  an Indian national  was also infected. On of the tourists of the group is currently quarantined in Jaipur after he tested positive. His wife was also infected and is under observation. 14 of them have now been sent to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram, Haryana.

With inputs from agencies
Disney has decided to delay the release of the much-anticipated, live-action remake of Mulan due to the growing coronavirus outbreak.

The action-drama film had been scheduled to hit theaters in the US on March 27.

The premiere had previously been postponed in China, where it was expected to be a box-office bonanza, due to the initial outbreak that was mostly in the Asian country.

Disney cancelled it's London red carpet event at Thursday's UK premiere of Mulan but the screening of the film still went forward; Yifei Liu is seen here at the screening

Disney also scaled back it's London red carpet event at Thursday's UK premiere but the screening of the film still went forward with such stars as Liu Yifei, Yoson An, Donnie Yen and director Niki Caro in attendance.

'In an abundance of caution we are down-scaling this evenings premiere of Mulan and will no longer have a media line or red carpet,' Disney said in a statement as reported by Deadline.

'We will however continue to host the premiere screening as a contained inside screening event.'

Subdued premiere: Ron Yuan, Niki Caro, Yifei Liu, Jason Scott Lee and Yoson An attended the Mulan photocall in London on Thursday

Grand arrival: The movie's release date delay comes just days after Yifei Liu and the cast attended the premiere in Hollywood; the leading lady is pictured March 9

Despite the lack of fanfare at the event, Yifei looked in good spirits as she posed for photographers alongside her co-stars that also included Jet Li, Jason Scott and Gong Li.

Yifei, 32, who plays the title character, cut a glamorous figure at the event in a black gown that featured a sheer petticoat skirt with a floral detail.

The actress is from Wuhan, China, the origin where the coronavirus outbreak originated.

Her grandmother is still in Wuhan, but she told Variety: 'She's doing good.'

The live-action movie is an adaption of Disney's 1998 animated film of the same name.

Growing concerns: Disney made the decision to delay the release of the live-action remake of Mulan due to the growing Coronavirus outbreak

Yifei plays a young Chinese Maiden who disguises herself as a male warrior in order to save her father.

The news of the Mulan premiere delay comes in the wake of Disney closing Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure as of March 14 through the end of the month.

That decision was made after California Governor Gavin Newsome issued an executive order calling for the cancellation of large, non-essential public gatherings in the state, though he had exempted theme parks and casinos from the directive.

Other Disney parks in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo were also temporarily closed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disney made a huge investment in the Mulan remake, with a $200 million budget.
Prominent Lawyer Said He Met Epstein Days Before Death: I Dont Believe It Was Suicide

Civil rights and criminal defense attorney David Schoen, who had met with sex offender multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, said the disgraced financier appeared optimistic just days before his reported suicide.

I saw him a few days earlier, Schoen told Fox News on Thursday. The reason I say I dont believe it was suicide is for my interaction with him that day. The purpose of asking me to come there that day and over the past previous couple of weeks was to ask me to take over his defense.

Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in mid-August, just weeks after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges. Although the New York City Medical Examiners Office confirmed his cause of death was a suicide, there has been intense speculationreplete with viral memesthat the 66-year-old didnt kill himself and was the victim of a homicide, and some have pointed to his connections with powerful celebrities, politicians, and business luminaries.

We came to an agreement during the course of that discussion, said Schoen. We met for five hours on Aug. 1. I said that I would want to meet with his team first to see how they felt about that. And then we would go forward. We mapped out a strategy going forward.

Epstein, he added, was excited and upbeat about his case. The next day, Schoen said he received a phone call from another one of his lawyers about moving forward on his defense.

A New York Medical Examiners car is parked outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center where financier Jeffrey Epstein was held in New York on Aug. 10, 2019. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

A former prisoner who said he spent hours talking to Epstein in Metropolitan Correction Center in New York City 2019 when he was incarcerated claimed that the convicted sex offender didnt appear to be suicidal.

He was not depressed, although I would have conversations with him and every so often hed sort of drift off and Id go, Ah, hes thinking about the [expletive] hes in the middle of,' Bill Mersey told Fox News earlier this week.

But Mersey told the outlet that Epstein had enough space in his cell to kill himself. The bunk beds get pretty high, so you could rig something up and you could kill yourself, he said.

The speculation about Epsteins death intensified after Epsteins brother, Mark, hired renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who had worked as New York Citys coroner, to be present during his autopsy and carry out his own investigation.

Last year, Baden told news outlets that the injuries Epstein had sustained were more consistent with homicide than suicide by hanging. Mark Epstein also expressed skepticism to news outlets about his brothers death.

Two months ago, Epsteins estate was sued by the U.S. Virgin Islands, with officials claiming he abused girls as young as 11 years old on his secluded island in that territory.

Epsteins criminal enterprise facilitated  the sexual molestation and exploitation of numerous girls between 2001 until 2018 on his two private islands, said Attorney General Denise George in Superior Court of the Virgin Islands in the lawsuit, according to CNBC.
Facebook and Twitter took down a network of accounts with links to the same Russian troll farm responsible for interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

The Internet Research Agency (IRA), which has spent the last several years using social media to spread disinformation and manipulate US elections, was ultimately behind the Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, the companies said. Facebook reports the network of 49 Facebook accounts, 69 Pages and 85 Instagram accounts was in the "early stages," but they had already reached hundreds of thousands of users by the time they were removed.

Though the social media accounts were using familiar tactics  spreading inflammatory memes in an effort to "sow discord"  the IRA went to new lengths to disguise its involvement. Rather than operating the accounts out of Moscow, as they did in 2016, the accounts were run by groups in Ghana and Nigeria, according to the companies.

"They frequently posted about US news and attempted to grow their audience by focusing on topics like black history, black excellence and fashion, celebrity gossip, news and events related to famous Americans like historical figures and celebrities, and LGBTQ issues," Facebook's Head of Security Policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, wrote in a statement.

"This activity did not appear to focus on elections, or promote or denigrate political candidates. They also shared content about oppression and injustice, including police brutality. Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their purpose and coordination, our investigation found links to EBLA, an NGO in Ghana, and individuals associated with past activity by the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA)."

As with the IRA's 2016 disinformation campaign, the trolls gained a significant foothold on Instagram, where the accounts in questions had amassed close to 265,000 followers. On Facebook, they had nearly 13,500 followers, according to the company. A Senate Intelligence Committee report released last year noted that Instagram "was the most effective tool used by the IRA to conduct its information operations campaign." On Twitter, the 71 IRA-linked accounts had more than 68,000 followers, CNN reported.

The use of individuals in Ghana and Nigeria  some of whom, Facebook notes, may not have known of their Russian backers  shows how the IRA is attempting to evolve their tactics ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Researchers have long warned that trolls will likely find new ways to meddle as social media companies attempt to keep up.
The YMBL South Texas State Fair, one of the areas biggest attractions, fell victim to the coronavirus Friday after Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick announced a disaster declaration related to the burgeoning public health emergency.

Acting on potential health concerns raised by a couple who recently returned to the county from a cruise that docked in Miami and may have caused them to come in contact with someone who later tested positive for the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus, Branick quickly pursued the declaration.

Later in the day, the Jefferson County Mobile Medical Unit visited the two people who were of concern. One didnt test positive for anything and the other tested positive for a strain of the flu, Branick said, adding that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will not test an individual for coronavirus if they test positive for this strain of the flu.

Still, by that time, Branick had had conversations with state officials, the Department of State Health Services and other members of the medical community. He said he felt confident in moving forward with a disaster declaration, despite the lack of confirmed coronavirus cases in Jefferson County.

Breaking: Gov. Abbott declares state disaster amid coronavirus spread

Also on Friday, Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens barred visitors from the county correctional facility until further notice.

Branicks emergency order canceled plans for the fair, an annual event that boasts of 300,000 attendees over 11 days. It had been scheduled for March 26 through April 5.

But the Nederland Heritage Festival scheduled to wrap up this weekend was allowed to continue after a brief shutdown over confusion about the wording in Branicks order.

The emergency declaration applies to event that is sponsored or permitted by Jefferson County at any public facility. It prohibits any such event that attracts more than 200 people and could include any population with compromised health conditions. It also calls for nursing homes and senior living centers to limit public visitation.

Related: How coronavirus is impacting Southeast Texas

Through the weekend, the order applies only to unincorporated parts of Jefferson County. The Heritage Festival takes place within the Nederland city limits.

Branick said he wanted to give mayors time to issue their own emergency declarations if they so choose. For cities that do not, Branicks declaration will apply to the entire county starting Monday afternoon.

It is what it is, we cant control it, State Fair chairman Marc Richardson said prior to the formal announcement, adding that the board and other representatives spent more than two hours Thursday evening trying to determine the best course of action.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

Richardson could not be reached for comment after the announcement about the fate of livestock and other fair staples.

The fair is what makes the money that pays for all of our other projects, he said. It basically will mean we dont have fresh funding. We have reserves to take care of it and run through the next year, but it just makes it hard.

Also on Friday, President Donald Trump issued a disaster declaration for the nation.

Such an order officially puts into effect the Stafford Act, which provides federal funding for government bodies and individuals who experience financial hardship as a result of the virus, Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bill Bartie said at a roundtable in his city Friday afternoon. Its unclear if the fair would be eligible for this funding to cover loses as a result of the cancellation.

This is the second time in the fairs 78-year history that it was canceled. The other instance was the result of a hurricane that prompted the fair to move from the fall to the spring.

The emergency order signed Friday will remain in effect for 30 days and may be extended as needed.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 06:03:26|Editor: yan

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WARSAW, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Polish government has put the country under a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Friday evening, ceasing all cross-border road, air and rail passenger traffic as of Sunday.

The measures apply for at least 10 days, with a possible extension of another 20 days, Morawiecki said.

Non-Polish nationals will be barred from entering the country outright after Saturday. Polish nationals are allowed to enter by road and chartered flights, on the condition of a 14-day home quarantine immediately after return. Domestic traffic is to stay uninterrupted.

By the time of the press conference on Friday evening, Poland had 68 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and one death.

"Unfortunately, we are expecting an increase in the number of people infected by the coronavirus," Morawiecki said. "We have to use our medical resources to the maximum effect, and therefore we want to stymie the flow of new people from abroad."

"We are closing the doors to the pandemic," Morawiecki added that cross-border transport of goods will continue as normal.

The Polish government has also closed malls, restaurants, clubs, bars and casinos and banned all gatherings of over 50 people.

Shops, including those operated in malls, pharmacies, laundries and banks are to operate normally, while restaurants are allowed to cater to takeaway orders.

Morawiecki appealed to employers to allow their staff to work from home wherever possible, and that children and youth should stay at home and should not be sent to stay with their grandparents, so as to protect elderly people.
Rabat Morocco (PANA) - Moroccan authorities have suspended flights to and from Algeria until further notice for reasons related to the spread of the coronavirus, an official statement issued in Rabat announced
Barragan Urges President Trump to Declare Federal Emergency on COVID-19

In letter signed by 21 members of Congress from California, Barragan explains a federal declaration is required to allow California healthcare providers more tools to fight the outbreak

Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragan led her colleagues in the California Congressional delegation to urgently request President Trump issue a federal emergency declaration on the COVID-19 outbreak.

In a letter to the president, 20 Congressmembers explained that a federal emergency declaration is required to allow Californias 1,400 community health centers to deliver and bill for telephonic, video and other alternative services during declared statewide emergencies.

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We stand in solidarity in working to stop the spread of COVID-19. We urge you to declare a federal state of emergency and allow California to utilize innovative health care methods in this time of crisis, Congresswoman Barragan and her colleagues wrote in the letter.

The letter was signed by Reps. Nanette Diaz Barragan, Alan Lowenthal, Ami Bera, John Garamendi, Mark Takano, Katie Porter, Jackie Speier, Doris Matsui, Jimmy Panetta, Linda Sanchez, Jared Huffman, J. Luis Correa, Mike Levin, Jimmy Gomez, Judy Chu, Ted Lieu, Grace Napolitano, Barbara Lee, Juan Vargas, Zoe Lofgren and Ro Khanna.

A PDF of the letter can be found here. A Text of the letter is below:

March 12, 2020

Dear Mr. President:

The undersigned California Members of Congress write to urgently request that you issue a federal emergency declaration due to the growing crisis of COVID-19. In addition to the national public health emergency declaration already issued by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, a federal emergency declaration will unlock a greater array of tools Californias health care providers can use to contain the disease.

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Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a State of Emergency to help the state prepare for broader spread of COVID-19, and our network of 1400 community health centers (CHCs) stands ready to assist in that effort. Californias Medicaid State Plan currently prohibits health centers from delivering and billing for telephonic services. In the wake of recent natural disasters in the state, last year the California legislature passed AB1494, which would allow health centers to bill for services delivered through alternative care models (e.g. telephonic visits) during declared statewide emergencies. However, this law cannot be implemented until both the Secretary of Health and Human Services issues a public health emergency declaration and the President issues a federal emergency declaration.

We know that to fight this disease we must be smart about limiting exposure while continuing to ensure Californians receive adequate health care services. Because community health centers provide health care services to 1 in 3 Medi-Cal recipients and 1 in 6 Californians, they can be a huge part of our states proactive response to containing and controlling the spread of COVID-19.

As of the writing of this letter, there are 2 confirmed deaths in California and 168 positive cases.

In partnership with the state and local and county health departments, Californias CHCs are working tirelessly to support the COVID-19 response and limit the growth of these statistics.

We stand in solidarity in working to stop the spread of COVID-19. We urge you to declare a federal state of emergency and allow California to utilize innovative health care methods in this time of crisis.

Regards,

Nanette Diaz Barragan is proud to represent Californias 44th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Carson, Compton, Florence-Firestone, Lynwood, North Long Beach, Rancho Dominguez, San Pedro, South Gate, Walnut Park, Watts, Willowbrook and Wilmington.
France's youngest mayor on breathing fresh air into old, local politics. French billionaires and their relationship to power and politics. And when France banned absinthe during the First World War.

Mayors are by far the most popular elected officials in France, particularly in small towns where people know them personally. In charge of managing many day-to-day services, including primary schools, local transport and rubbish collection, the role of mayor requires a lot of energy. Yet there's a shortage of new blood; fewer than four percent of the country's 35,000 mayors are under the age of 40. We join France's youngest mayor, 25-year old Remy Dick (@remy_dick), as he campaigns for re-election in the town of Florange, to find out what drew him to the job and why he hopes to continue. (Listen @)

France has a reputation for egalitarianism and high taxes, but it has also produced some of the world's wealthiest people. Olivier Petitjean, a journalist with the French Multinational Observatory who contributed to a report on European billionaires, talks about how France has cultivated the accumulation of wealth, and the relationship between power and money both in France and elsewhere in Europe. (Listen @)

Absinthe, the green liquor with the reputation of driving people mad, was banned in France on 17 March 1915 because of its impact on soldiers in the trenches in the First World War. We talk about the "green fairy", its effect on French drinking habits and how it's undergoing a revival. (Listen @)

Episode mixed by Nicolas Doreau.

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), or your favourite podcast app.
Public officials have ordered increasingly stringent measures  closing schools, restricting travel, banning large gatherings  to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Heres why: They want to lessen the burden on hospitals, which experts say do not have enough staff, ICU beds or ventilators to withstand a surge of patients that an extreme pandemic would bring. On Saturday, the U.S. surgeon general urged hospitals to delay elective surgeries to preserve medical supplies and ease the burden on health care workers.

The vast majority of people diagnosed with COVID-19, about 80%, do not need medical care and will recover on their own. About 14% have to be hospitalized, and 5% end up in the ICU with severe respiratory problems, according to large studies on cases in China. Of those, many need a ventilator to help them breathe.

Infectious disease experts estimate the U.S. is about two to four weeks behind Italy, where hospitals are being flooded with patients with severe respiratory illness, and a shortage of beds and medical supplies is forcing doctors to have to choose which patients to treat.

Were hearing reports out of Italy of shortages of ventilators and ICU beds, thats really concerning, said Dr. David Eisenman of UCLAs Fielding School of Public Health. Were hearing reports of health care teams, doctors and nurses, having to make choices about who gets a ventilator and who does not. ... Thats exactly what we worry about, thats the exact scenario  if theres a 50-year-old person whos sick and needs an ICU bed and a ventilator, and a 75-year-old person who needs an ICU bed and a ventilator, and you have to make choices.

It is unclear if the U.S. is heading down the same path. Social distancing and the cancellation of large events could help avert such a disaster by slowing transmission enough so that the influx of patients is spread over a longer period of time instead of all at once  a concept known as flattening the curve. Effective Saturday, San Francisco even banned nonessential hospital visits  including by spouses and clergy  in an effort to keep patients and medical workers safe, though each hospital can make exceptions.

The general efforts will help, said Dr. Andra Blomkalns, who chairs the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford. We dont honestly know if it will be enough.

Thats in part because testing has been so delayed and limited in the U.S., public health officials havent been able to fully grasp yet just how widespread the virus is in the community  which makes it harder for hospitals to predict how dramatic of a surge to expect.

Every day we get more information and try to guess, Blomkalns said. Right now is the time for overestimating what you need because we cant accurately predict.

Stanford is trying to triple its supply of ventilators from about 50 to 150 ASAP, Blomkalns said. Administrators are going outside their usual circle of suppliers and are having some luck, she said, because manufacturers are ramping up production.

A spokeswoman for GE Healthcare, a major supplier of hospital equipment, said the company is taking steps to increase manufacturing capacity for ventilators and other equipment needed to diagnose and treat COVID-19, such as ultrasound devices and monitors. Philips, another large supplier, said it is seeing increased interest in ventilators and is encouraging health care providers to engage with us as early as possible to discuss their needs, so that we can plan for timely support and delivery, a company spokesman said.

Stanford has about 60 ICU beds, and would be able to expand that pretty quickly by converting regular beds into ICU beds by adding ICU pumps and ventilators, she said.

There are about 1,550 ICU beds across all hospitals in the nine Bay Area counties, according to the California Department of Public Health. The department does not track how many ventilators there are at hospitals. Most of the regional hospital systems contacted by The Chronicle either declined to share how many ventilators they have or did not respond to questions about how many they have, whether they have done projections for how many they may need, if they are trying to obtain more, or how many they would be able to add quickly.

It is unclear how many ICU beds or ventilators would be enough to treat severely ill COVID-19 patients who may flood Bay Area hospitals in the coming weeks in need of intensive care.

A surge in activity, the hospitals certainly in the Bay Area are capable of handling, said Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley. A significant surge in activity of the virus, hospitals will handle, but itll be a scramble. A major surge in cases will overwhelm any health system in the world, including ours.

Its unclear how many of the 197 Bay Area cases have required treatment in the ICU because county health departments do not always specify what level of treatment each person receives. The first known case of community spread in the Bay Area, a Solano County resident who was admitted to a Vacaville hospital and later transferred to UC Davis Medical Center, was ill enough to be intubated and put on a ventilator.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

The federal government has not released modeling projections for the virus, but if previous pandemics are any indication, the number of patients who may need ICU treatment in the U.S. could range from 200,000 to 2.9 million, according to a February report by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

The low end of the estimate, 200,000, is based on a moderate pandemic, the 1968 flu, which had a fatality rate of 0.5%. The high end of the estimate, 2.9 million, is based on a severe pandemic, the 1918 flu, which had a fatality rate of 2.5% in the United States.

It is not yet clear where COVID-19 falls in this continuum. Based on data collected so far, the fatality rate appears to be between 1% and 4%, though it may be lower since public health officials believe many cases have not been reported because people either did not show serious enough symptoms to report it or because they thought they had the flu or a cold. Mortality rates climb with age: People in their 60s face a nearly 4% chance of dying, and that rises to 8% for people in their 70s and 15% for people in their 80s, according to data on Chinese cases.

U.S. hospitals have 160,000 ventilators and an additional 9,000 in a strategic national stockpile managed by the CDC that can be requested and allocated during a pandemic, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Clinics and hospitals that serve low-income populations could be particularly vulnerable if they see a sudden surge in patients with severe enough symptoms to need ventilators.

Community hospitals dont have a lot of ventilators, Swartzberg said. They have enough to take care of the patients they have on a regular basis and little bit of reserve. Just a few patients coming into any one hospital that needs a ventilator is going to exceed the ability of the hospital to care for them.

Nearly 71% of community health centers say they are concerned about the ability of their facility to manage a surge in COVID-19 patients, according to a survey of more than 600 U.S. health centers conducted the first week of March by Direct Relief, a Santa Barbara nonprofit that distributes medical supplies during natural disasters and health crises.

What we dont know is, are we in the beginning of the end or the beginning of something terrible? Swartzberg said. Were at the beginning of something. The question is which direction are we going to go? Either we take action, and try to make this outcome as good as possible, or we just give ourselves up to fate. It seems we ought to be taking action.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: Cat_Ho
The North Korean regime only recently resumed training sorties after going weeks without flying an airplane, the top U.S. commander in South Korea said, indicating the hermit kingdom has been hit by the globally spreading novel coronavirus.

North Korea hasn't reported any cases of the coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19, which has spread worldwide. The country shares borders with China, where the illness originated, and South Korea, which has reported thousands of cases.

But Army Gen. Robert Abrams, head of U.S. Forces Korea, said there are indications the disease has also hit the North.

"It is a closed-off nation so we can't say emphatically that they have cases, but we're fairly certain they do," he said in a Friday teleconference with reporters. "But what I do know is that their armed forces have fundamentally been on lockdown for 30 days and only recently have they started routine training again."

Related: US Military Cracks Down on Travel, Cancels Meetings as Coronavirus Cases Spread

The regime went 24 days without flying a military plane, Abrams said. Training sorties have since resumed.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made two public appearances this week, Reuters reported, to oversee military training exercises. The first was Monday when Kim watched missile tests. He appeared again Thursday to observe an artillery exercise.

Photos show Kim attending the events without any protective gear during the outings, though his aides all wore the same black masks, likely to prevent exposure to the sometimes-deadly virus.

Abrams on Friday detailed the steps the U.S. military in South Korea has taken to limit COVID-19 exposure and spread.

Nine people connected to U.S. Forces Korea have tested positive for coronavirus, he said, including one service member, two active-duty dependents, and civilian employees and contractors.

Abrams credited the steps the military took to reduce outside exposure to the virus with limiting its spread. Commanders made bars, clubs, dine-in restaurants, movie theaters and large social gatherings off limits for American troops. They also limited base access, screened those entering any installations, introduced telework, and cut workforce to mission-essential personnel only.

"Our No. 1 priority is to protect the force, always," he said.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read more: Marine Corps, Army Bar Families from Boot Camp Graduations as Virus Spreads
She recently enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Brazil for the Carnival celebrations.

And Alessandra Ambrosio was back to work on Thursday as she enjoyed a working lunch out in West Hollywood, California.

The supermodel, 38, cut a casual figure in a funky neon embroidered cardigan and ripped mom jeans.

Busy bee: Alessandra Ambrosio was back to work on Thursday as she enjoyed a working lunch out in West Hollywood, California

Alessandra teamed the items of clothing with a grey scarf, trainers and brown sunglasses.

The beauty styled her brunette locks into a sweptback bun fastened with a red silk scarf, she added a slick of make-up to enhance her stunning features.

Alessandra appeared busy as she looked fixated on her phone while making her way for lunch in the celeb hotspot.

Casual: The supermodel, 38, cut a casual figure in a funky neon embroidered cardigan and ripped mom jeans

Details: Alessandra teamed the items of clothing with a grey scarf, trainers and brown sunglasses

She took to Instagram to document her day as she met photographer Stewart Shining and joked whether she was 'working hard or hardly working'.

The supermodel is back in the states after a whirlwind trip to Brazil followed by a holiday in Abu Dhabi with her boyfriend, Nicolo Oddi, and fellow model Izabel Goulart.

The ladies pranced around in revealing bikinis while soaking up the sun by the ocean on Zaya Nurai Island.

Working mom: She took to Instagram to document her day as she met photographer Stewart Shining and joked whether she was 'working hard or hardly working'

Boss: Alessandra is back in the states after a whirlwind trip to Brazil followed by a holiday in Abu Dhabi with her boyfriend, Nicolo Oddi, and fellow model Izabel Goulart

Both women were wearing pieces from Ambrosio's collection of swimsuits, Gal Floripa, which she launched as a lifestyle brand in March 2019.

The Brazilian beauty collaborated with her sister, Aline Ambrosio, and best friend, Gisele Coria, to create the designs.

The model has been dating beau Nicolo Oddi since she announced she had split from Jamie Mazur in 2018 after 10 years together.

Things have remained amicable as the exes share a son Noah, seven, and a daughter Anja, 11.
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Harvey Weinstein's ex-wife Georgina Chapman has been spotted for the first time since he was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.

Chapman, 43, was photographed running errands in New York City on Friday getting into her chauffeur-driven car. At one point, she had an animated conversation with the driver.

Chapman left Weinstein in 2017 days after his sexual abuse of women was exposed by The New York Times and the New Yorker.

Since then, the fashion designer - she is the head of he label Marchesa - has kept an incredibly low profile.

Weinstein's lawyer told DailyMail.com that he had moved upstate while awaiting trial to be next door to Georgina and their two young children; India and Dashiell.

Georgina Chapman, Harvey Weinstein's ex-wife, was in high spirits as she ran errands in New York City on Friday. It was the first time she has been photographed since Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Wednesday

Chapman was with a female friend who got into her chauffeur-driven car with her in downtown Manhattan

Chapman accessorized her black studded jacket with a pink scarf. She also wore a pair of oversized sunglasses

He saw them every day before being sentenced on March 11.

Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Wednesday. He is shown on the day he was found guilty

Weinstein, 67, was given 23 years behind bars for third degree rape and criminal sexual assault for incidents involving two women; Jessica Mann and Mimi Haleyi.

His intense trial in New York City was watched by the world and was a symbolic victory for the #MeToo movement.

He has always denied misconduct and said during his sentencing that he sympathized with men who he feels have been unfairly vilified by the movement.

Weinstein, who has suffered a range of health problems since he was arrested last May, underwent heart surgery before being sentenced.

After his sentencing, he complained again of chest pains.

It is unclear where he will now be housed; there are only two prisons in the state of New York that have all-male medical units.

They are in Fishkill and Coxsackie.

Chapman has been quietly trying to rebuild her career and reputation.

Among the only public comments she has made since the scandal broke were in an interview with Vogue where she said she was blindsided by the claims and agonized over how Weinstein treated his victims.

When the story first broke, she released a statement within days to announce she was leaving Weinstein.

Weinstein is shown being taken out of the courthouse in a wheelchair after his sentencing on Wednesday

Chapman chatted to the driver of the car and appeared to be scanning her phone after getting inside the vehicle

The 44-year-old has kept a dignified silence for most of the two years since her ex-husband was outed as a predator

'My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions.

Chapman and Weinstein at the 2017 Oscars

'I have chosen to leave my husband. Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time,' she said.

She later told Vogue: 'I have moments of rage. I have moments of confusion. I have moments of disbelief!'

The pair reached a private divorce settlement in January 2018.

The details have not been disclosed, but Chapman is thought to have walked away with between $10million and $20million.

Weinstein was only convicted of assaulting two women but he has been accused of raping and assaulting dozens more.

Prosecutors tried to bring charges against him which related to other victims, but a series of legal blunders and investigative mistakes led to them being dropped.

His landmark trial however brought in other women who said he'd abused them.

They testified about their alleged experiences, and were hailed as heroes for it.

Mann testified that Weinstein raped her in a New York City hotel room in 2013. Haleyi said he forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006 while she had her period.
In the wake of the now-declared COVID-19 pandemic, TeamClearHeels413, a collective of current and former strippers, founded by veteran actress/producer Bella Vendetta, who are living and working within the Western Massachusetts area, has put together a guide to best practices for strip club managers, owners, dancers and employees to follow while the pandemic continues to grow within the United States.

"I took writing this very seriously, drawing upon my own training with bloodborne Pathogens, cross contamination, disinfection and emergency trauma," Vendetta stated, "and also got input from friends and colleagues who are major players in our local government and medical field."

Vendetta is personally cancelling all large events this month, including her birthday party burlesque show previously scheduled for March 27, and any and all strip club appearances this month, though she realizes most dancers do not have the ability to simply stop working.

TeamClearHeels413 has also cancelled its March 30 in-person meeting and will be moving to an online platform to check in with local dancers.

The full article can be found here.

As TeamClearHeels413 has put it, as we reach the level of pandemic with the coronavirus aka COVID19, there has been so much talk about limiting social interaction and best practices to stay safe. Many industries have developed new protocols and protective measures to keep their workers and customers safe. We believe the strip club industry should be no different.

Clubs out west have already changed the way they do things a bit, and with many documented cases in and around Western MA, we believe clubs here should adopt some heightened security around public health as well.

Of course the best thing we can all do is wash our hands, for 20 seconds at least, in hot water, with soap. We have heard reports from clubs that are not even providing basic things like soap for dancers in the restrooms/dressing rooms. (There are some clubs that have been reported to not even have toilet paper!)

We know many clubs limit and frown upon giving dancers hand towels, and thereve been lots of mishaps reported regarding dancers stuffing up the plumbing.

But during this time of cold/flu season and uncertainty of this new virus, lets go out of our way to make sure dancers have access to basic toiletries like soap, hot water, hand towels/paper towels, toilet paper, and functioning plumbing in clean restrooms.

Some major health safety recommendations are as follows:

Put up signs, encourage your employees to wash their hands often, and have staff monitor these activities to be sure dancers are complying.

Clubs are advised to regularly clean and disinfect all shared spaces such as stages, poles, rails, dressing rooms and bathrooms. Clean with germ-killing disinfectants such as bleach solution, or a cleanser with cavacide or madacide. However, when/if cleaning the stage with chemicals, be aware that chemicals can negatively affect and irritate dancers' skin, so rinse those surfaces with a wash of just water afterwards.

We have seen clubs who use the same mop on the mens room floor as on stage. However, the best practice is to have a dedicated stage mop for stage use only. It should be properly labeled and used by a competent cleaning crew who understands cross-contamination.

Ask your cleaning crew to go harder than usual. And clean/disinfect mirrors, walls, barstools, as well as doorknobs and handles, toilets and sinks.

Leave alcohol or disinfectant wipes on stage so dancers may clean the pole in between sets, and leave some in the dressing room so dancers can clean lockers, door handles etc.

Give everyone access to hand sanitizer: On stage, at the bar, in the lapdance rooms, in the dressing room, in the bathrooms.

Hang signage encouraging customers to wash and sanitize their hands as well.

Properly interview your employees and understand who may have traveled overseas and to where, and if they are someone at high risk or who may have been exposed, do not let them work.

Send home workers who are sick! We have been shocked by the number of sneezing, runny nosed, coughing dancers, bartenders and security staff we have seen.

We can have a broader argument at a later date about the fact that dancers deserve healthcare and many do not have it, and that losing shifts can be financially devastating, and maybe if they were treated as real employees, they would receive sick pay But thats for another time. At this time, sick folks need to stay at home to heal.

Some things dancers can do:

Bring a lapcloth, a scarf or other piece of fabric and use that to sit on stage/chairs, and lay on laps before giving dances. Bring several of them. Take them home and wash in hot water after your shift.

Bring your own hand sanitizer in your stripper purse. They make cute mini ones that smell good. Use after stage sets, after dances or anytime your hands are touching something that could potentially be covered in germs. An excellent one that is recommended is HANDZ. This has been used to be sprayed on hands, thighs, butts, anything thats touching the stage, and can also be a great protector for dancers who are prone to stage rash.

The company that makes it makes a lot of other great persistent protection products that can be used to safely disinfect hard surfaces like stages, poles, and dressing room counters, to products which can be sprayed on soft surfaces like couches, carpets and chairs to disinfect.

Make sure you shower with hot water and soap and clean yourself thoroughly after shifts.

Wash your hands often during shifts and in between stage sets.

If you feel sick, STAY HOME!

Get your flu shot! Even if it doesnt prevent this particular virus strain, it can help keep you, your family and your co-workers safe, especially those living with children, elderly or immune-compromised folks. Flu shots are available for free or at low cost. Feel free to reach out to us for help finding a location.

We hope everyone stays safe! If you feel you want training in any of these areas, we have certified instructors willing to come in to the clubs and give informational trainings for free! Please do not hesitate to utilize this service! We are here for you and want to see strip clubs and strippers thrive!

This is a scary time for people who are living shift to shift, may not have health insurance, and a scary time for club owners as they may see a decrease in business as people self-isolate.

Lets work together to keep each other safe and healthy.

Dancers, if you need help obtaining health insurance please contact us. Our outreach worker can help you through the process and answer questions you may have.

Some other things to consider:

At this time, with as many confirmed cases as we have in the state of MA, it might be a time to consider all-plastic one-time-use cups at the bar.

Consider what it would mean to actually become no-contact clubs. I know thats a scary thought, but lets assume the CDC knows what they are talking about. Its not a personal vendetta for strippers to not make money, its science.

Additional resources:

Here is an article about the porn industry response to COVID19, and the FSC guidelines for filming adult content amid COVID19.

Here is a good article with factual information about COVID19 and why its important to take it seriously.

Its also worth noting that many dancers are engaged in sex work in part by their status as chronically ill. For folks who are chronically ill, please read this great article on how this pandemic may affect you.

And here is the article where Governor Baker declares a state of emergency in the entire state of Massachusetts.
Lucknow, March 13 : In an unexpected move, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has approved an ordinance punishing those who damaged public and private property during the anti-CAA protests.

Official sources confirmed that the draft ordinance has been approved in the cabinet meeting held here on Friday evening. The ordinance will now be signed and issued by the Raj Bhawan.

The Yogi Adityanath government has taken the ordinance route after being severely indicted by both the High Court and the Supreme Court for putting up 100 hoardings across Lucknow, displaying photographs and other details of anti-CAA protesters.

Both the courts had wanted to know under which law did the state government put up such hoardings.

The hoardings were put up on March 6 with names, photos and addresses of the accused, asking them to pay Rs 64 lakh or get their properties seized.

The hoarding war took another turn on Thursday night when a Samajwadi Party leader put up hoardings of rape convict and rape accused BJP leaders Kuldeep Sengar and former Union minister Chinmayanand, respectively, adjacent to the anti-CAA hoardings.

A former BJP spokesperson and now Samajwadi Party leader, I.P. Singh, tweeted pictures of the hoardings he had put up at several places.

However, as soon as the district administration became aware of the hoardings, they were hurriedly pulled down and police vigil of the anti-CAA hoardings across the city was tightened.

Meanwhile, a lawyer and RTI activist Nutan Thakur has lodged an FIR against unknown persons at the Gomti Nagar police station for posting abusive content on social media against the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha.

In her application, she said that since the two judges took suo moto cognizance of the hoardings and delivered a disapproving verdict, there has been an unprecedented deluge on social media abusing them in the most offensive manner.

The case has been filed under Section 66 of the IT Act and Sections 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) and 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Kitchen Nightmares is a reality TV procedural in which Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay plays a kind of restaurant detective-pathologist, investigating failing businesses in order to turn them around. Each episode plays out with almost identical beats: Ramsay is served the terrible food, interviews the highly deluded owners, investigates the kitchen for unhygienic horrors, observes a disastrous dinner service, and uses his expertise to repair the restaurants problems, all while doing a lot of yelling. The American version premiered in 2007 and is a product of the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition era of reality television, each episode ending with a surprise restaurant makeover and (usually) thankful owners, tied up with a nice bow. Despite Ramsays controversial persona, its a comfy show, and one thats easily accessible thanks to the distribution company FilmRise uploading the entirety of the series to YouTube.

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The only factor that changes meaningfully from episode to episode is the nature of gross incompetence displayed by the restaurants owners. The show takes a gleeful, sneering approach that works because the owners are often cruel to their own staff, and Gordon Ramsay is one of the worlds great foils for ineptitude. Take the episode Sebastians, in which Ramsay confronts the owner of a pizza restaurant so obsessed with the potential franchisability of his high-concept menu that he fails to see frozen pizza dough as a liability. At one point Ramsay tells him, totally straight-faced: Ive never, ever, ever, ever met someone I believe in as little as you.

In its early seasons, the show also loves to detour into kitchen horror. The all-time gross-out episode Dillons sees Ramsay investigating a comically mismanaged Indian restaurant. When Ramsay descends into the infernal depths of the restaurants basement, he finds rotting food, rat droppings, and cockroaches running in the plastic lining of the freezer, which wouldnt be out of place on Hoarders. He immediately shuts down the kitchen. One of the managers would later sue Ramsay for half a million pounds for ruining his reputation.

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But the shows piece de resistance and the best episode for curious newcomers to check outis probably the 2013 episode Amys Baking Company, which remains one of the most thrilling installments of reality television of the past decade. In it, we meet owners Samy and Amy Bouzaglo, a cat-loving power couple beset by online bullies and haters who have been leaving angry comments about their restaurant online. Seemingly unaware of the premise of Kitchen Nightmares, they both expect Ramsay to come in, anoint the food, declare them saints, and leave. That doesnt happen.

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Almost immediately we see Samy curse out one customer waiting for food, while Amy retaliates in the kitchen as she makes a pizza: I made it really spicy for him. I hope it hurts him. A fistfight almost breaks out between Samy and another customer as Amy threatens to call the police, calling the customer a little pansy and a weenie, all within the first eight minutes of the show. When Ramsay finally arrives, he is initially impressed by the cleanliness and look of the restaurant, but as the initial layer of Amy and Samys glib charm peels away, we see that the owners are lying about the freshness of ingredients, siphoning tips away from staff, and refusing to let them pour wine or input orders in the computer, all culminating in the dramatic firing of a server. The owners, for the first time in the history of the show, refuse Ramsays assistance, and he walks outno help, no makeover, nothing.

Amys Baking Company is a break from the shows usual formula that nonetheless captures our current moment: the story of a rational man paddling alone on a vast ocean of incompetence. In an era where seemingly every institution is run by willfully ignorant bullies, theres an acute pleasure to be found in Ramsay parachuting in, yelling at dingbats, and fixing thingseven if its only temporary.
Presidente @MartinVizcarraC: Esta es una emergencia que no afecta la infraestructura productiva, de tal manera que el abastecimiento de almacenes y tiendas esta asegurado. Invocamos a la calma y serenidad de la poblacion. pic.twitter.com/L9rIHHpaax
Fashion photographer and film producer Atul Kasbekar is all praise for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) because of the way they are dealing with coronavirus pandemic in Mumbai.

Taking to Twitter, Kasbekar narrated his experience as to how he was approached by the BMC upon his arrival from Australia. The producer wrote that he got a call from a BMC doctor enquiring about his health after he landed in India.

Kasbekars tweet read, I flew back from Australia on Monday morning. Filled a form at airport n exited in 10. Just got a follow up call from a @mybmc doc asking if Im ok. He listed any possible symptoms n gave details of whom to connect wt if any. Very impressed wt follow up. Well done.

I flew back from Australia on Monday morningFilled a form at airport n exited in 10Just got a follow up call from a @mybmc doc asking if Im okHe listed any possible symptoms n gave details of whom to connect wt if anyVery impressed wt follow upWell done@AUThackeray atul kasbekar (@atulkasbekar) March 12, 2020

Mumbai has reported two confirmed cases of coronavirus, which has infected more than 70 people in the country. The virus, which has spread to more than 100 countries and claimed more than 3000 lives across the world, was on March 11 declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

While Kasbekars tweet got the support of his followers, many netizens also criticised him for wrongly crediting the BMC for the measures.

People, who criticized him wrote that these measures, have been put in place because of the central governments order.

Kasbekar also retweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modis tweet urging people not to panic and take precautions. The prime minister, in his tweet, also said that the spread of the deadly virus can be prevented by avoiding large gatherings.

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Washington: A senior Brazilian official who attended weekend events with US President Donald Trump in Florida has tested positive for the new coronavirus, marking the first time that someone known to have the virus was in close proximity to the President. Trump does not plan to be tested or go into self-quarantine, the White House said.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's communications director, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive just days after travelling with Bolsonaro to a meeting and dinner with Trump and senior aides in Florida. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement that "exposures from the case are being assessed, which will dictate next steps."

From left, Alvaro Garnero, US Vice-President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump and Fabio Wajngarten, the communications director for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Credit:Instagram/AP

"Both the President and Vice-President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time," Grisham said.

Wajngarten joined Bolsonaro on a three-day trip to the US and on Saturday was at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, where he posted a photo of himself posing beside Trump. A video from the event also showed him standing directly behind both presidents as they addressed a crowd. Bolsonaro and Wajngarten later attended a birthday party for Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is dating the President's son Donald Trump jnr.
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has taken extra measures in Kalaburagi following the death of a 76-year-old man who subsequently tested positive for Covid-19.

The man, a qazi, had come in contact with 46 persons in which 31 people had direct contact with him. Among the 31, some 21 people have been shifted to an isolation ward in the state-run ESIC medical complex.

Family members of the deceased person have been shifted to special wards in the hospital and are considered as high-risk suspects.

Doctors have been told to closely monitor these patients. Four doctors who treated the patient are also been considered as high-risk suspects, chief minister B S Yediyurappa told reporters on Friday.

The chief minister was chairing meeting with top officials of the health and family welfare department and other stakeholders.

Throat swab and blood samples of the family members of the man have been sent for test to the National Institute of Virology in Bengaluru, and the reports will be obtained soon, Yediyurappa said.

He asked people not to panic about the disease.
Houston police announced the arrests of 71 people accused of participating in street takeovers, in which amateur drivers illegally block intersections and freeways to perform stunts.

Those numbers account for arrests since the start of 2020, according to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo. More than 40 of the arrests stem from incidents in February alone.

MORE FROM JAY R. JORDAN: Man killed, woman injured in shooting near Hobby Airport

The takeovers can prove fatal. In Dallas, a 20-year-old man died Feb. 9 when he fell out of a pickup truck doing donuts in a parking lot.

Houston and Harris County has yet to see anyone die from such an event, but prosecutors believe it is not a matter of if, but when.

Its a miracle it hasnt happened yet, said Sean Teare, vehicular crimes chief at the Harris County District Attorneys Office. And it will happen soon.

VIDEO: Houston freeways becoming the new backdrop for dangerous stunts

On a recent night in Houston, a group of drivers shut down a two-mile stretch of U.S. 59 to perform donuts and drag races. Acevedo said Thursday his detectives identified several drivers and plan to execute arrest warrants soon.

Acevedo said police also seized more than a dozen cars used during the takeovers. Most of the drivers arrested were between 16 and 24 years old, and some were using their parents supped-up cars for the stunts  unbeknownst to the parents, Acevedo said.

If you value your car, do not engage in this behavior, Acevedo said, then echoing Teares sentiment. This isnt Hollywood. You dont get a second take.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com
: TravisBickle (Travis), : USANews

 : 

: BBS  (Thu Mar 12 09:22:08 2020, )



Coronavirus may have reached Italy from Germany, scientists say



ROME (Reuters) - A team of scientists in Milan believes Italys coronavirus

epidemic might have come to the country via Germany and not directly from

China as many experts initially assumed.



Scientists have been hunting for the so-called patient zero ever since

the contagion first came to light in the prosperous northern region of

Lombardy on Feb. 21.



After extensive analysis, the Milan team has not yet identified the

individual at the root of the worst outbreak in Europe, but they have

matched the Italian genetic sequencing of the virus here to a case that

emerged in Germany in January.



The sequence closest to the base of the branch, which is the one that

probably precedes the others, came from a person infected in Munich in all

likelihood between Jan. 19-22, said Massimo Galli, head of the university

research group and of the infectious-diseases department at Milans Sacco

hospital.



Galli added that the German patient had caught the virus after contacting

someone who came from Shanghai.



He said their analysis showed that the Italian outbreak must have started

between Jan. 25-26, well before the first patient was officially diagnosed

in the northern town of Codogno.



We can imagine that a person who contracted the virus in the context of

those infected in Munich came to Italy and the area where the virus first

spread without showing any symptoms, Galli told Reuters.



Italy is the worst-affected country in the world after China, with 827

deaths and 12,462 confirmed cases in almost three weeks.



Doctors initially believed the Codogno patient, a 38-year-old man named only

as Mattia, had been infected by a colleague who had recently returned from

a business trip in China. However, that man tested negative, meaning the

hunt was on for the origin of the contagion.



The government blocked all flights to and from China at the end of January

after two Chinese tourists came down with coronavirus during a trip to Italy

. At the time, it was hopeful the measure would block the spread of the

disease.



But all this started probably before the restrictions were imposed,

Galli said.





--

 :  mitbbs.com [FROM: 162.]


KC Builds Gamer Careers

Push Start: How Kansas City creators are making indie games the world won't fly over During Sunday Study Hall events, game makers and players gather to test local creations and give feedback. // Photo by Reb Valentine Charlotte Trible hates the term "flyover," as in "flyover states." As in how states like Kansas and Missouri are often described derisively by those who don't live here.

Show-Me Tesla Proposition

A Joplin business leader asked Elon Musk to consider Missouri for the Cybertruck factory JOPLIN, Mo. - Tesla is looking for a location to build its planned Cybertruck, and at least one Missouri business leader is vying to be in the running. CEO Elon Musk disclosed via tweet late Tuesday that he is scouting locations to build the truck and that it "will be central US," likely thousands of [...]

Northeast Trash Course Explained

Trash University Welcome to trash University where new hires with the city's Solid Waste Department get a crash, er, trash course in picking them up and putting them down. Trash bags that is.

EPIC Fashion Deal Revealed

Kendall strips down to her underwear in sexy new Calvin Klein campaign SUPERMODEL Kendall Jenner was sure to command attention in an array of skin-flashing looks for Calvin Klein's new Spring 2020 global campaign. The 24-year-old showcased her statuesque frame in a black T-shirt bra and panties by the designer in one shot that was sure to sizzle. In the picture, the E!

Kendall Clowns Sisters

See Kendall Jenner's Solid Joke About Being the Only Childless Kardashian Kendall Jenner is the only Kardashian sister who does not have kids, and the 24-year-old seems to be completely fine with that fact. On Saturday, she was at what appeared to be Kris Jenner's pool and took an Instagram video of what looks like her nieces running and playing in the water behind her.

Right Wing Advises Team Trump

Coronavirus travel ban makes sense, but Team Trump needs to step up communications President Trump was prescient in restricting travel to the United States from China on Jan. 27. And he's wise to widen those restrictions again now, as the coronavirus continues to spread, with cases continuing to rise exponentially. Targeting the European Union's Schengen Area makes sense: These 26 countries allow free travel within the zone, with no passport or border control.

Iraq War Redux

U.S. Launches Retaliatory Airstrikes In Iraq After Missile Attack The United States on Thursday evening launched a series of airstrikes in Iraq, against an Iranian-backed militia group suspected of firing an earlier rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops. "The United States conducted defensive precision strikes against Kata'ib Hizbollah facilities across Iraq," the Pentagon said in a statement.

Canadian COVID-19 Connection

Sophie Trudeau, wife of Canadian Prime Minister, tests positive for coronavirus Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, has been placed in isolation after testing positive for coronavirus.

Speaker Nancy Seyz: No Deal

Pelosi and Mnuchin fail to reach deal on coronavirus aid package Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin came up short of agreement Thursday night on a sweeping aid package for Americans affected by the coronavirus, although the two sides hope to reach a deal by Friday morning. "We have, or are near, to an agreement, subject to the exchange of paper.

Local Ladies Talk Crime

In conversation with the girls of popular true crime podcast Wine & Crime Photographer: Nichole KarlinChildhood friends Lucy Fitzgerald, Kenyon Laing and Amanda Jacobson grew up spending their time together on the couch, curtains drawn, binge-watching '90s-era Forensic Files episodes. Today, the BFFs are touring the country for their devotedly followed podcast, Wine & Crime, which launched in February 2017.

Kangaroos Teach Relaxation

Roos Try: Musical Meditation Subscriptions are available for the cost of postage, $25 a year. The first copy of the University News is free. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 each, payable at the University News office in advance. No person may, without prior written permission of the University News, take more than one copy of each week's issue.

Weather For Friday

Friday will be cooler, chance for rain in evening OUT OVER CALIFORNIA. THAT'S WHAT'S GOING TO MOVE TOWARD US FOR THIS EVENING THOUGH WINDY CONDITIONS. THAT'S FOR SURE MILD 58 DEGREES IN THE NEXT HOUR PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES MOVING THROUGH BY SEVEN O'CLOCK WILL BE AT FIFTY-SIX AND WENDY'S STILL AT NINE AS WELL DROP TO 50 DEGREES EVEN WITH SOME CLOUDS STARTIN ROLL BACK IN HEADING INTO AFTERNOON HOURS ON YOUR FRIDAY, BUT IT STARTS OFF IN THE 30S WITH THAT COOLER FLOW COMING IN FROM THE NORTH.

In this post we always try to focus on somewhat nicer news that'sinspiring, informative and current . . . And so, we start another day inspired byand her dedication to fitness, fashion and the good life as we check pop culture, community news and info across the nation and around the world . . .is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . .
WASHINGTON, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As the United States responds to the outbreak of COVID-19, we must ensure that working people are able to perform their jobs in a safe working environment and that sick leave is available to all workers. Without adequate sick leave, workers will be forced to continue working in order to provide food and housing for their families, thus potentially exposing others to the virus.

Federal, state and local governments, as well employers, need to listen to front-line workers in every industry about the actions needed to keep working people safe on the job and to protect our communities.

Teamster members have greater job protections than nonunion workers. However, every worker must be provided basic economic security and protections during this crisis.

The Teamsters will fight to ensure that:

Everyone has access to free COVID-19 testing;

Every worker is provided some form of paid sick leave;

Workers are not punished for calling in sick;

Frontline workers who treat potentially infected populations be provided with the appropriate protective equipment;

Workers understand that they are entitled to worker compensation benefits if they are infected as a result of their work;

Those receiving unemployment benefits while affected by COVID-19 are exempt from searching for work during that time.

It is imperative that we come together as a nation to ensure that sick workers and their families stay home when they are sick, continue to be compensated and protected during this time and that federal, state and local governments do everything in their power to keep workers protected during this crisis.

We have established an information resource center at www.teamster.org/covid-19 for members who are seeking additional information.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Kara Deniz, (202) 624-6911

[email protected]

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Related Links

http://www.teamster.org


A plane carrying Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China arrives at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska on Jan. 28, 2020. The state on March 12, 2020, reported its first confirmed coronavirus case. (Lance King/Getty Images)

First Patients in Alaska, Maine Test Positive for Wuhan Coronavirus

The first cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, were confirmed in Alaska and Maine late Thursday.

The states were two of the few left in America that had yet to confirm cases of the new illness.

The patient in Alaska is a foreign national, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said. The nationality wasnt specified.

The patient developed a fever and respiratory symptoms shortly after arriving in Anchorage on March 11. The person is hospitalized at Alaska Regional Hospital.

Dunleavy said in a statement that the case is not unusual given whats been happening elsewhere with this pandemic. Alaska officials have been preparing for cases since January and feel good about the protocols we have in place, he added.

There is no reason to panic, no reason to get upset. We expect to have more cases as time goes on and Alaska is as prepared as any other state to take on this issue, Dunleavy said.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks at a news conference in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 13, 2019. (Mark Thiessen/AP Photo)

Epidemiologists who spoke to the patient said they learned the person had limited contact with others and stayed isolated after symptoms developed. Still, officials are racing to identify people who came into contact with the person.

Those contacts will be required to enter self-quarantine for 14 days and be monitored for symptoms of COVID-19, which are similar to the flu.

Isolation of this ill patient and self-quarantine of anyone who has had close contact with this person are needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to others in the community, Alaska State Epidemiologist Dr. Joe McLaughlin. Like the flu, this novel coronavirus spreads primarily through respiratory droplets and close contact with an infected individual.

As with all tests done by state or local labs, the confirmed test was described as a presumptive positive and was sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation.

The new virus started in Wuhan, China last year and has spread to over 100 countries. As of Thursday, the United States had 1,215 total cases and 36 deaths.

A medical staff member treats a patient infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China on March 11, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Officials in North Dakota, Maine, Montaha, and Wyoming also reported the first positive cases in their states in recent days.

The patient in Maine is a woman in her 50s from Androscoggin County, officials said. They didnt say the suspected source of the case.

The Maine CDC has been preparing for this eventuality since the end of last year, Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement. With one presumptive positive case, Maine has a unique window of opportunity to delay an outbreak, like those we see in other states, and to minimize our exposure.

Wyomings first case was a female state resident who recently traveled outside the state within the United States. North Dakotas first patient was identified as a Ward County man in his 60s. The source of his infection wasnt disclosed.

Only three states in America have yet to report a positive coronavirus case: Alabama, Idaho, and West Virginia.
SAN FRANCISCOToday, NakedSword is officially kicking off its 20-year anniversary, marking two decades as a leading video-on-demand streaming site. During those two years, the Netflix of Gay Porn has streamed the hits from major gay adult studios as well as produced original content under their NakedSword Originals imprinttotaling 200 studios and more than 27,000 scenes on the megasite.

To properly celebrate such a landmark, NakedSword has unveiled a new logo and launched a celebration page in the members area of NakedSword.com where members can download free scenes, enter to win monthly giveaways and find events around the country celebrating the 20th anniversary. NakedSword is also giving away one free annual membership per month, chosen at random, to fans who enter here.

Members will be treated to a Top 20 All-Time NakedSword Originals playlist launching today and will have access to select free scene downloads each month, all year long. The free downloads will include the most watched and most popular scenes from NakedSword Originals award-winning catalog.

Tim Valenti, president of Falcon Studio Group and the NakedSword Network, said, "When I started NakedSword 20 years ago, I had hoped it would be as relevant and established as it is today. I'm so thankful to all the members who have supported us for so many years. We wanted to do a lot of fun things to give back to the fans, all year long, so we are offering up a free download each month and partnering with a bunch of great brands to do special giveaways for members.

Valenti added, "I want to thank all the great brands that have given us items to give away. We will be adding even more giveaways throughout the year. With our standout upcoming new releases, our catalog as big as it's ever been and free stuff given out all year long; it's never been a better time to be a NakedSword member!"

A new giveaway featuring 20 prizes from NakedSwords partners will launch each month for the rest of 2020. Some of the prizes that will be included in these giveaways are a FleshJack Quickshot, Swiss Navy Lube, gift cards from Marek + Richard and The Well Branded, intimate wash kits from Future Method, underwear and Trophy Boy VIP Cards from Andrew Christian, VIP memberships from Flirt4Free, Caps from Cellblock13, T-shirts from Ajaxx63, and more.
Luxembourg has joined its European neighbours in closing schools and limiting visits to the elderly in hospitals and nursing homes, hoping to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

"Daily life is going to change and we will have to adapt," Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said on Thursday, announcing measures of a scale "never seen before" in the Grand Duchy.

Landlocked Luxembourg is home to only 600,000 people, but more than 200,000 commuters from Belgium, France and Germany cross its borders each day to come to work.

So far, the country has recorded 26 cases of COVID-19 infection, and one 94-year-old man is in a critical state in hospital.

As in many other countries touched by the virus, Luxembourg wants to encourage people to work from home, but this is complicated in its case by the tax rules for cross-border workers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
United States Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Robert Destro, says targeted sanctions alone imposed on Zanu PF leaders and come companies linked to some ruling party officials cannot address issues affecting Zimbabwe.

Speaking in a teleconference with journalists based in different nations on Thursday, Destro said there is need for Zimbabwean authorities to do more to ensure the protect the rights of citizens.

He said, Is sanctioning enough? No, sanctioning is not enough. At the end of the day, the responsibility to police the boundaries of human rights rests with the Zimbabwean people themselves, and we respect their sovereignty. Our job is to call the situation as we see it and to offer whatever assistance we can that is, thats consistent with a healthy, vibrant bilateral relationship.

He also added that it is possible to remove restrictive measures imposed on some Zanu PF leaders.

 I do think that one of the things that comes out in the Zimbabwe sanctions is that its possible to get them lifted. And I would be extremely surprised if people were not engaging people in the process of trying to get the sanctions lifted.

Destro further said the U.Ss decision to impose sanctions on some Zimbabwean politicians is always done after a thorough and well-thought out process.

We cant really comment on sanctions in terms of any kind of a pending sanctions case. All I can tell you is that its a lengthy process. Its very fact sensitive. We try and be very fair to everybody involved. Its not exactly a judicial process, but its pretty close to one. And so its . So, all I can tell you is that if we have credible evidence that people would be eligible, we will consider it and run through the process, he said.

Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa and Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo were not available for comment.

The United States imposed targeted sanctions on senior Zanu PF officials in 2003, citing alleged gross human rights violations and election rigging.

President Donald Trump renewed the sanctions on March 6th saying the political situation in Zimbabwe remains the same following the removal of the late former president Robert Mugabe in a defacto military coup in 2017.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Tuesday removed former Mashonaland East governor Ray Kaukonde and three other people from the targeted sanctions list and reinforced the State Departments restrictive measures imposed on former special forces commander, Anselem Sanyatwe, and State Security Minister Owen Ncube.

The U.S. Department of State said the Treasury Department removed sanctions on Ray Kaukonde, Shuvai Ben Mahofa, Sithokozile Mathuthu, and Naison Ndlovu, all of whom were previously designated pursuant to Treasurys authorities but are deceased and/or no longer meet the sanctions criteria.

Removing previously designated persons from OFACs Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List demonstrates that sanctions do not need to be permanent, and that targeted sanctions reflect realities on the ground in Zimbabwe.

On Sanyatwe and Ncube, the U.S. State Department said they were linked to human rights abuses related to political repression in Zimbabwe. The two were put on the sanctions list last year.

These designations demonstrate continued U.S. commitment to promoting accountability for human rights abuses. The State Department urges the Government of Zimbabwe to immediately end state-sponsored violence including against peaceful protesters, civil society, labor leaders and members of the opposition in Zimbabwe, and to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations and abuse.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Sanyatwe and Ncube pursuant to Executive Order 13469, which reinforces the Department of States previous designations in 2019 under Section 7031(c) of the FY 2019 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.
REDMOND (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Department of Defense wants to reconsider its decision to award the Pentagon's coveted multi-billion dollar cloud contract to Microsoft, according to reports citing court filings. The department reportedly said Thursday in a court filing that it 'wishes to reconsider its award decision in response to the other technical challenges presented by AWS.' AWS refers to Amazon Web Services. The development comes after a federal judge, in February, ordered a temporary block on Microsoft's Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure or JEDI cloud contract in response to a lawsuit filed by Amazon. Amazon was seen a top contender for the Pentagon's multi-billion dollar cloud-computing contract. Amazon Web Services or AWS was approved by the U.S. government to handle top secret data. The Pentagon's JEDI cloud contract could be worth up to $10 billion over a decade if all options are exercised. However, the Pentagon announced in October 2019 that Microsoft emerged as the surprise winner of the contract. In response, Amazon filed a lawsuit in federal court in November, contesting the Pentagon's award of the contract to Microsoft's Azure cloud business. Amazon had alleged that U.S. President Donald Trump influenced the Defense Department's decision as the competing bids from Microsoft and Amazon for the cloud-computing project were considered. Amazon claimed that Trump denied the contract to the company due to his personal differences with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and his dislike for the Washington Post, owned by Bezos. Amazon's rival Google had decided not to compete in the cloud computing contract, saying in 2018 that the project might not align with its artificial intelligence or AI principles. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The number of novel coronavirus cases on Friday rose to 81, which includes a 76-year-old man who died in Karnataka, the Health Ministry officials said while cautioning against panicking, saying the situation so far is "not a health emergency".

Addressing reporters, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health Lav Aggarwal said besides three patients from Kerala who were discharged last month following recovery, seven more coronavirus infected patients have been cured and they will be discharged soon.

"The remaining 71 are clinically stable," he said.

The 81 figure also include 16 Italians and one Canadian.

On invocation of Epidemic Act by the Centre, Aggarwal said,"It is not a health emergency."



With the World Health Organisation declaring novel coronavirus a pandemic, Aggarwal said that 4,000 people who had come in contact with the 81 positive cases have been identified through contract tracing and were being tracked while 42,000 people across the country are under community surveillance.

He said all essential facilities like community surveillance, quarantine, isolation wards, adequate PPEs, trained manpower, rapid response teams are being strengthened further in all states and UTs.

He informed so far, 1,031 persons including 48 nationals have been evacuated from countries such as Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, US, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru.

"Till date, 890 evacuees from COVID-19 affected countries, have been discharged after 14 days isolation and having tested negative as per protocols," Aggarwal said.

A special flight operated by Indian Air Force brought back 58 passengers from Iran on March 10. India also facilitated Mahan Air flight to bring back people from Iran, and Friday one flight with 44 passengers has landed in Mumbai.

These passengers are being kept in quarantine at the Indian Navy facility in Mumbai.

Another Mahan Air flight is expected to land on Saturday in Delhi, Ministry of Civil Aviation Joint Secretary Rubina Ali said.

"As per the need, more such special flights will be operated to bring back Indians who have tested negative. India is also coordinating treatment of positive people in Iran as per protocol," the official said.

The government has also sent a team of four doctors from the Ministry of Health to Rome. They have just reached Rome with sufficient material and reagents to collect samples of Indians there for onward testing in India.

Air India will also send another flight to Milan on Saturday to bring back stranded Indians. This flight would take off around 12 or 1 in the afternoon on Saturday and it will land on Sunday morning at 7.45 am Delhi airport, Ali said.

So far 83 Indians from Italy have already arrived in the country.

Meanwhile, 124 evacuees from Japan and 112 evacuees from China, have been discharged on Friday after having tested negative for COVID-19 in the second round of tests, Aggarwal said.

The Centre also announced that people will be allowed to travel through 19 of 37 land immigration checkposts from Saturday midnight and services of Indo-Bangladesh cross border passenger trains and buses will continue to remain suspended till April 15.

Only four Indo-Nepal border checkposts will remain operational, and for citizens of Bhutan and Nepal visa-free entry to the country will continue, Home Ministry Additional Secretary Anil Malik said.

He said the decision on closing the Kartarpur corridor is under consideration



In addition, a total 11,71,061 passengers from 10,876 flights have been screened at 30 designated airports.

Also 6,700 samples have been tested for COVID-19 across 52 centres in the country and the health ministry intends to increase it to 65 centres soon.

"Without ramping up, at current capacity we can conduct up to 10,000 tests in a day. If the outbreak gets bigger and we have to ramp up, we will be able to increase it to 20,000 tests in a day," Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar from the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) said.

"Also, 3,062 passengers and 583 contacts were identified and referred to IDSP/ designated hospitals while 42,296 passengers have been brought under community surveillance, out of which 2,559 were symptomatic and 522 hospitalized. 25,504 passengers have been additionally screened at major and minor seaports, and more than 14 lakh people have been screened at land ports," the Health Ministry said.

The coronavirus outbreak has led to more than 4,000 deaths globally.

The government on Wednesday suspended all visas, barring a few categories like diplomatic and employment, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The government has asked Indian nationals to avoid all non-essential travel abroad and to refrain from travelling to countries reporting high cases and deaths as mentioned in the travel advisory issued.

All incoming international passengers returning to India should self- monitor their health and follow the required do's and dont's as detailed by the government.

In case of any signs/ symptoms like fever, dry cough, difficulty in breathing etc one may visit a doctor or call the ministry's 24X7 helpline - 011-23978046.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US health official says coronavirus testing system is 'failing'

The US states hit the hardest by the coronavirus outbreak are struggling to make testing for the virus widely available.

By Al Jazeera

March 12, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - The top United States official on infectious diseases, Anthony Fauci, said on Thursday that people could not get tests for the deadly coronavirus easily and the US testing system is not meeting the country's needs.

"The system is not really geared to what we need right now ... That is a failing. Let's admit it," Fauci told a House panel. "The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we're not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But we're not."

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

New York and Washington, the states hit the hardest by the coronavirus outbreak, are struggling to make testing for the virus widely available, and local officials estimate it could take weeks more to reach peak testing capacity.

While over 1,270 people have been confirmed to have the virus in the United States - and at least 38 have died - according to official data, experts estimate the real number of cases may be far greater.

An unidentified flaw in test kits distributed by the federal government in February, which gave some false results, has set the country back in testing for the virus and containing an outbreak that has infected more than 121,000 people worldwide.

Boosting testing is crucial, disease experts say, to assessing the scope of the US outbreak and identifying where it is spreading most rapidly.

Vice President Mike Pence said on March 4 that roughly 1.5 million tests would be available by the end of that week, while President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that "anyone who wants a test, gets a test".

But more than a week later, the ramp-up of creating testing kits has been much slower due to regulatory hurdles at the federal and state level, as well as logistical and technical challenges, according to healthcare providers, public health officials and test makers.

Nowhere illustrates the constraints on testing more than an outbreak at the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, which alone accounts for 19 of 24 coronavirus-related deaths in the state.

Despite huge concern over how quickly the virus could spread there, about 150 of the 180 staff have not been tested. Life Care Center spokesman Tim Killian said the problem was a lack of kits to test employees.
Co-organised by the Hungary - Vietnam Friendship Association (HVFA) and the Vietnamese Embassy in Hungary, the exhibition is among activities celebrating the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

A space imbued with Vietnamese culture at the exhibition

Trang Tien Bridge in Hue

Vietnamese people are fond of drinking tea.

Long dress and hats are typical symbols of Vietnam that cannot be found anywhere else.

The image of a herdsman riding a buffalo and playing a flute reminding viewers of Vietnamese folk villages.
Expressing the readiness of his government for a floor test in the Assembly, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday accused the BJP of holding 22 Congress MLAs in captivity.

Bhopal: Expressing the readiness of his government for a floor test in the Assembly, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday accused the BJP of holding 22 Congress MLAs in captivity.

Nath met Tandon and submitted a letter to him accusing the BJP of being involved in horse-trading and holding the Congress MLAs in captivity. Nath met Tandon in the midst of political crisis in

the state triggered by the resignation of the 22 Congress MLAs three days ago. He met the governor at around 11 am and submitted the three-page letter to him.

In the letter, released by a Congress spokesman to the media, Nath expressed his readiness to hold the floor test during the budget session beginning from 16 March. Nath also mentioned the sequence of events from the intervening night of 3 March and 4 March to 10 March, and claimed there were incidents of horse-trading during this period.

In these circumstances, the very edifice of democracy is in danger, Nath wrote in the letter. Nath also told the governor to use his office to ensure the release of Congress MLAs held in captivity in Bengaluru.

Nath, whose government is teetering on the brink of a collapse following the rebellion, reached Raj Bhavan to meet Tandon, who arrived here on Thursday night from Lucknow. The chief minister briefed the governor about the current political situation in the state, Congress sources said.

The ruling Congress has alleged that 19 of the rebel Congress MLAs, including ministers, have been held "captive" by the BJP in a resort in Bengaluru, a charge denied by the Opposition party.

Nath's meeting with the governor comes amid unconfirmed reports that six ministers, said to be close to former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, will be coming to Bhopal from Bengaluru to hand over their resignation letters in person to the Assembly speaker.

Attempts to contact these ministers proved futile. Scindia joined the BJP on Wednesday, a day after quitting the Congress.
Arthur Beczek is 45 years old, the proud father of two boys  six years old Kuba and six months old Adam. Arthur and his wife Karolina moved to Ireland from Poland 12 years, and are happily settled in Naas, Co Kildare.

The birth of Adam on August 30, 2019 should have a momentously happy day for the couple but the day brought both joy and sadness.

While Karolina was in labour in Dublin, Artur was in hospital in Warsaw, Poland, where an MRI indicated some physical alterations in his brain. When he returned to Ireland, a biopsy was performed to verify the type of tumour: a glioblastoma grade IV.

These types of tumours are aggressive and often inoperable  as is the case for Artur. Artur and his family have been told that there is nothing more that doctors in Ireland can do for him, and that he has only months to live.

Artur (above) with his two sons Kuba and baby Adam

However, there is an immuno-therapy treatment available in Germany. If he responds to this treatment, Artur may get to watch his two children grow up.

But to help get him this treatment, family friend Saorla O'Dowd has sent up a gofundme page. Arturs immuno-therapy treatment will take place over six months and the campaign goal is to reach 35,000. Currently, it stands at over 12,000.

Neighbours and friends have spread the word and the family were deeply touched by the generous support to date.

Last month (February 2020), Karolina and Artur travelled to Germany to commence the immuno-therapy treatment. Unfortunately, there were a few travel issues along the way  they had to travel in the midst of Storm Dennis!

The most important part of his treatment was his first dendritric cell immuno-therapy. Dentritics are a type of antigen-presenting cell which means that they alert the body to the presence of intruders, that is, Artur's cancer.

Creating the vaccine and injecting Artur with same is vital for his immuno-therapy and must be done every 4-6 weeks in Germany. Already, the couple are planning the next trip

Remember, the smallest amount of money will help to get closer to the target and will give hope to Arthur and his family! said Saorla.

See https://www.gofundme.com (help-artur-beat-cancer); all help will be much appreciated.
New Delhi, March 13 : The Congress on Friday slammed the government over its handling of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak in the country and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should head the committee on Covid-19, which has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Congress alleged that the Prime Minister was securing himself by not attending the Parliament and by not going for public functions.

Asserting that "Men should be in Men", Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that Modi should assure the country about the way the pandemic is being handled.

Surjewala said that if a certain area needs to be quarantined, who would take the decision? That is why the Prime Minister and the Home Minister should be part of the committee.

"If the army needs to be called, who will take the decision," he asked.

The Congress alleged that the government has mishandled the entire situation by allowing people to come into the country by just submitting a declaration, without knowing that coronavirus has an incubation period of 14 days. The Congress also alleged that the government did not treat the pandemic seriously.

With one more person returning from Italy testing positive for Covid-19 at the Indian Army's quarantine facility in Manesar, the total number of cases in India reached 81 on Friday.

Following the first death reported in Karnataka on Thursday night, all the states have pulled up their socks to combat the spread of the dreaded disease with many of them shutting down schools besides suspending public gatherings.

Globally, coronavirus death toll crossed 5,000 on Friday.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
MORE than a month after the general election, talks on a government involving Fine Gael and Fianna Fail got under way.

Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin issued joint identical statements saying their negotiating teams should start detailed talks.

Its felt the onset of the deadly coronavirus has hastened the desire to have a functioning government here. 

Reacting to the news, Limerick Fianna Fail TD Niall Collins said: Its not unexpected. Sinn Fein has been unable to form a left wing government or alliance. Fianna Fail has always stated that it is seeking to form a government of like-minded parties, and thats what we are at. Well see where the talks take us. If they dont work out, we are potentially looking at another general election.

Asked if he felt the advent of Covid-19 has accelerated the talks, he said: Given the numbers, talks between Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and others were inevitable. I wouldnt be overstating the effect of the coronavirus on the talks process.

Its anticipated, if talks between the civil war parties are successful, the Green Party will come to the table.

But speaking this Wednesday, the group, which has 12 Dail deputies said there needs to be a government of national unity now to tackle the coronavirus threat.

In a Tweet late on Tuesday night, Limerick Green TD Brian Leddin wrote: Had extended talks on Covid-19 today, with colleagues and experienced medical professionals. Political priority must be to deal with this unprecedented national emergency, ahead of all other issues including government formation. We need to take decisive steps to contain spread.
In an effort to stem the rapid spread of coronavirus, the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi (IIT-D) has asked all its students to vacate hostel rooms till March 31 with the exception of foreign students and PhD scholars. The rooms are to be vacated by Sunday night.

An email sent by IIT-D Assistant Registrar Mukesh Chand on Friday asked students of B Tech, M Tech, MSc, MBA and other courses to leave the hostels by midnight of March 15.

This also applies to students currently living in Nalanda, IP Apartments and off-campus (Katwaria Sarai and Ber Sarai), the email stated.

The email said students were allowed to leave their stuff locked in their rooms.

The students are required to lock their rooms properly before leaving the hostel and fill the entry/exit register of the hostel concerned and the mess rebate form, the email said.

The Institute had announced the suspension of classes and examinations until March 31 on Thursday. Besides, IIT-D has also suspended all board events including inter-hostel events till March 31.

The institute has allowed international students and those enrolled in PhD programmes in case their research is in a crucial stage to stay back. However, they will need prior permission from their supervisors.

As a precautionary measure, the technology institute has also prohibited the entry of visitors in hostels without prior permission from the warden.

The institute also announced that the mess facilities for off-campus students will also remain suspended from Monday till further orders.

All Night Canteens and Juice Centers in hostels will remain closed from 16.03.2020 to till further orders. Extra Vigilance be exercised on a daily basis on Mess Workers and cleaning staff that they should not suffer any symptoms of Corona Virus (Runny nose, Headache, Cough, Sore throat, Fever, General Feeling of

being unwell, Shortness of Breath), the email added.

Students have also been advised to take necessary precautions while travelling and even otherwise.

Earlier today, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) announced suspension of classes and examination till March 31.

In view of the situation arising out of coronavirus (COVID-19), it is hereby notified that all lectures, class presentations and examinations at JNU are suspended until March 31 with immediate effect, JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar said in a statement.

Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) also suspended classes till March 31 and advised students to avoid large gatherings in the wake of the outbreak. The ongoing university exams, however, will continue as per the schedule.

Teachers should make study material available to students, who need any assistance, online. Teachers should contact the students via email for reference of study material available online, university Registrar AP Siddiqui said in a statement.

Jamia has also announced to shut down all schools run by it till March 31, but the board examinations will continue according to schedule.
Iran on Friday warned US President Donald Trump against taking "dangerous actions" after American forces launched air strikes that they said targeted a pro-Iranian armed group in neighbouring Iraq.

"The United States cannot blame others... for the consequences of its illegal presence in Iraq and the nation's reaction to the assassination and killing of Iraqi commanders and fighters," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.

"Instead of dangerous actions and baseless accusations, Mr Trump should reconsider the presence and behaviour of his troops in the area," he added.

The statement was issued hours after the Pentagon said the US had launched strikes against the Kataeb Hezbollah armed faction.

The United States said the strikes targeted five weapons facilities across Iraq.

It said they were carried out in response to the killing on Wednesday of two Americans and a Briton in a rocket attack on Taji air base.

Wednesday's attack was the 22nd on US installations in Iraq, including the American embassy, since late October.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Washington has blamed what it says are Iran-backed factions from the Hashed al-Shaabi network, a state-sponsored umbrella group that includes Kataeb Hezbollah, for recent similar violence.

Iran has always denied it backs Iraqi militias.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A woman in Akwa Ibom State, South-South Nigeria, has allegedly confessed to selling her own three-day-old baby for N300,000.

The police in Akwa Ibom State said the woman, identified as Nse U. James, also confessed that she has been involved in child-trafficking for several years.

The Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom, Imohimi Edgal, disclosed this on Thursday in Uyo while briefing reporters on the successes recorded by the police in the state.

PREMIUM TIMES was not given access to the suspect to hear her side of the story.

But Mr Edgal said the woman was arrested December last year at a local school in Ekpene Ukim, Uruan Local Government Area of the state by anti-kidnapping operatives when she attempted to abduct some pupils.

Instant search of her bag led to the recovery of several childrens clothes, Mr Edgal said.

On interrogation, she confessed to have abducted, sold several children in the past, as well as her own three-day-old baby for N300,000 to one Love Okereafor and Ifeoma Ibe, both of Abia State, sometimes in 2018.

Suspect led operatives to Abia State where Love Okereafor of Nkanu-Ishiala Ngwa Local Government Area and Ifeoma Ibe of No. 142 Aba-Owerri Road, both in Abia State, were arrested, and a child of about one year old was rescued from them.

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The police commissioner said both women have also confessed to being active traffickers of children, for several years.

The suspects have been charged to court, the police said.

The police said they have also arrested two suspected drug barons in the state.

Following intelligence on 18 February, 2020, operatives of Anti-Narcotic Section raided an illegal drug joint at No. 4 Ekpenyong close, off Idoro Road, Uyo where one Christiana Udoudo Akpan of No.4 Ekpenyong close, Uyo, and Johnson Ettudo Brownson of Atai Obio Offot, Uyo were arrested.

Exhibits recovered are, three 50kg sack bags containing dried weeds suspected to be Indian hemp, a bag of seeds suspected to be Indian hemp, a green PMF beret, PMF uniform, one Police baton, one dagger, one sword, two machetes, the police commissioner, Mr Edgal said.
A 37-year-old New York man has died after crashing a car on Interstate 495 in Marlborough, Massachusetts State Police said Friday.

Around 4:40 a.m., the Syracuse man was driving a 2014 Toyota Camry on I-495 north near Exit 24A when he crashed into the median guardrail attenuator, state police said.

The driver, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to state police. He was alone in the car.

No other cars were involved in the crash.

Marlborough firefighters, EMS, and MassDOT assisted troopers at the scene, state police said.

State police continue to investigate the cause of the crash.
The US military launched air strikes against a pro-Iranian group in Iraq following the deaths of two Americans and a Briton in a rocket attack, US military officials told AFP on Thursday.

"The operation is underway" and is targeting weapons facilities, one official said on condition of anonymity, without specifying where the strikes were taking place.

"US air strikes targeted Hashed al-Shaabi positions in multiple provinces across Iraq, targeting logistics nodes and UAV (drone) storage units," said a second official, adding that the Iran-backed armed faction Kataeb Hezbollah was one of those targeted.

Earlier Thursday US Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned that "all options are on the table" to respond to the death of the three soldiers in a rocket attack on the Taji air base on Wednesday.

Fourteen others were injured in the attack, including Americans, British, and Poles.

The rocket attack sparked fears of a fresh escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which saw about 18 rockets land on the base, Washington has blamed Iran-backed factions from the Hashed al-Shaabi military network for recent similar violence.

"The strikes began at 1:00 am local time and are using various kinds of aircraft," one of the sources said.

"We have no immediate information on casualties," the official added.

"This is the response to the rocket attacks yesterday.... This is not a coalition operation. This a specifically US operation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Groups of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) recognize ownership of specific regions; they are also more likely to avoid contact with other groups the closer they are to the centre of their neighbors home range, for fear of conflict, according to a new study.

Territoriality is widespread among apes, having been observed in gibbons, chimpanzees and humans, although is reported to be absent in orangutans and at least some populations of bonobos.

Gorillas are widely assumed to be non-territorial due to the presence of home range overlap and observations of tolerant between-group interactions.

The presence of territoriality in primates is correlated with a groups ability to patrol its home range on a daily basis. However, the large sizes of gorilla groups home ranges suggest that they are not defendable in their entirety, as the home ranges observed in habituated western gorilla groups (11-18 km2) are far larger than the average daily path lengths of 1.7-2 km.

Our findings indicate that there is an understanding among gorillas of ownership of areas and the location of neighboring groups restricts their movement, said Dr. Robin Morrison, a researcher at the University of Cambridge.

Gorillas dont impose hard boundaries like chimpanzees. Instead, gorilla groups may have regions of priority or even exclusive use close to the centre of their home range, which could feasibly be defended by physical aggression.

At the same time groups can overlap and even peacefully co-exist in other regions of their ranges. The flexible system of defending and sharing space implies the presence of a complex social structure in gorillas.

Western lowland gorillas are difficult to track on foot because they live in dense forests.

Instead, Dr. Morrison and colleagues followed eight groups of gorillas using a network of cameras placed at 36 feeding hotspots across a 60 km2 area in the peripheral regions of Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo.

They discovered that gorillas display more nuanced behaviors, and their movements are strongly influenced by the location of their neighbors  they are less likely to feed at a site visited by another group that day  and the distance from the centre of their neighbors home range.

This new research changes what we know about how groups of gorillas interact and has implications for what we understand about human evolution, said co-author Dr. Jacob Dunn, reader in evolutionary biology at Anglia Ruskin University.

Almost all comparative research into human evolution compares us to chimpanzees, with the extreme territorial violence observed in chimpanzees used as evidence that their behavior provides an evolutionary basis for warfare among humans.

Our research broadens this out and shows instead just how closely we compare to our next nearest relatives.

Gorillas core areas of dominance and large zones of mutual tolerance could help with our understanding of the social evolution of early human populations, showing both the capacity for violence in defending a specific territory and the between-group affiliations necessary for wider social cooperation.

The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

_____

R.E. Morrison et al. 2020. Western gorilla space use suggests territoriality. Sci Rep 10, 3692; doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-60504-6
YouTube doctors are seeing surge in subscriptions and views on their channels amid coronavirus pandemic. (Online Marketing/Unsplash)

News of the COVID-19 virus rapidly spreading around the globe has made many people go into a state of fear, looking for answers from medical practitioners and political figures.

However, nowadays, you dont necessarily need to go to your GP to get answers. Some doctors have created an online platform on YouTube (GOOGL) and social media to talk about medical issues and answer the questions most people have.

With this in mind, research by OnBuy has revealed the most popular medics on YouTube and how much they make monthly from sharing their knowledge via online videos. The data comes from a tool created by Sellfy, which calculates the estimated minimum and maximum monthly revenue YouTubers earn from ads and selling their merchandise.

READ MORE: Coronavirus  Saga joins Princess Cruises in cancelling trips

So, who are the famous doctors spreading awareness online, while earning a fortune for it?

Source: OnBuy

First on the list is Doctor Mikhail Varshavski, also known as Doctor Mike. The American-Russian doctor has earned over 5 million followers on YouTube, and an estimated extra 500,000 ($628,867) in his bank account monthly.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, he is urging his viewers to be alert not panicked and is giving the latest updates on the virus.

READ MORE: Public warned over fake coronavirus advice circulating online

Second and third on the list are two US-based doctors, Dr Eric Bern DC, and the famous TV star Doctor Oz, both making over 120,000 from their YouTube channels.

In fourth place is Russian-based, Dr Vivek Joshi, earning an estimated 21,757 monthly. This is a huge leap from the top three positions, however still a considerable sum.

Dr Hopes Sick Notes comes fifth. The UK based doctor and YouTuber makes approximately 16,281, from his videos monthly. Two other brits make the top 10 list; The Doctors Kitchen (1,661) and The Junior Doctor (1,567).

Romanian Doctor Mihail is sixth on the list (5,420), followed by Dr Levi Harrison from the US (2,482) and Doctor Raga from the United Arab Emirates (1,791).
The HS/HSL will celebrate Womens History Month all through March by featuring women at UMB on the librarys blog and in an exhibit titled, The First Women of the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

This exhibit celebrates and honors the firsts of women at UMB: the first women graduates, the first women faculty members, and the first women deans  in other words, the first women leaders at UMB; the firsts who paved the way for all women graduates, faculty, staff, and leaders who have since followed in their paths.

Stop by the Frieda O. Weise Gallery at the HS/HSL during March 2020 to see the exhibit, "The First Women of the University of Maryland, Baltimore," and honor the first women of UMB.

For more information about the first women leaders, please visit the HS/HSL blog here.
People with high blood pressure and diabetes could be at higher risk of serious coronavirus symptoms because of their medications, scientists say.

According to a new research letter, certain drugs for these health conditions may change the shape of someone's cells in a way that makes it easier for the virus to infect them and cause a more severe illness.

These medications, called ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers, are taken by at least 13 million Americans every year.

Scientists not associated with the research say it does not prove a link between the medications and severe COVID-19 - the disease caused by the virus - but that a potential connection should be studied more closely.

It comes as the outbreak continues to sweep the US, sickening more than 1,700 Americans and killing 41 people in seven states.

Scientists said medications taken by at least 13 million Americans with high blood pressure or diabetes could increase the risk of a coronavirus patient developing deadly symptoms (stock image

Coronavirus binds to cells by attaching to ACE2 receptors, which are found on the surface of upper respiratory cells. Pictured: A woman who tested positive with coronavirus is brought to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in an isolation pod, March 6

Scientists say these drugs increase amount of ACE2 they have on their cells, which could cause more copies of the virus to 'hijack' cells. Pictured: A patient is shielded as they are put into an ambulance outside the Life Care Center of Kirkland. Washington, March 7

For the letter, published in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, the team examined how coronavirus latches on to people's cells to infect them.

Researchers from University Hospital Basel in Switzerland and the University of Thessaloniki in Greece explained that the virus binds to cells by latching onto a receptor.

These receptors, called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), are found on the surface of upper respiratory cells.

Some with high blood pressure or diabetes have to take drugs that increase the amount of ACE2 they have on their cells, in order to control their illness.

Among the most commonly prescribed in the US are Accupril, Losartan, Lotensin, Valsartan and Vasotec, according to the US Food And Drug Administration.

Worldwide, more than 134,000 people have been infected and more than 5,000 have fallen ill

The team then looked at other studies of coronavirus patients with pre-existing conditions.

They found that the most common among severely-ill patients were high blood pressure (23.7 percent), diabetes (16.2 percent) and heart disease (5.8 percent).

And by studying how coronavirus and SARS, which is almost identical, attach to cells inside people's bodies they could work out how the blood pressure drugs might make this easier for the viruses.

They also added that people with diabetes and high blood pressure might be more at risk because of changes in their genes which make them produce more ACE2 naturally.

'These data suggest that ACE2 expression is increased in diabetes and treatment with ACE inhibitors and ARBs increases ACE2 expression,' the authors wrote.

'Consequently, the increased expression of ACE2 would facilitate infection with COVID-19.

'We therefore hypothesize that diabetes and hypertension [high blood pressure] treatment with ACE2-stimulating drugs increases the risk of developing severe and fatal COVID-19.'

Health experts say patients should not stop taking their medications unless their doctor says so. Pictured: International travelers arrive at Los Angeles International Airport on March 12

The researchers suggest that patients with these pre-existing conditions be monitored for the virus even more tan the general public.

But some health experts warn patients not top stop taking their medications and to speak to their doctors if they have concerns.

'This letter does not report the results of a study,' said Dr Tim Chico, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Sheffield in the UK.'

'It simply raises a possible question about whether a type of blood pressure and heart disease medication called ACE inhibitors might increase the chances of severe COVID19 infections.

'I strongly advise anyone on heart medications not to stop or change these without discussion with their doctor.

'If a patient stops their medication and worsens to the point of requiring admission to hospital at the same time as we are dealing with an increase in COVID19 cases, that would pose the patient a considerable risk and put further strain on the healthcare services.'
DANBURY  Closing schools and canceling meetings is only part of the agenda for municipal leaders trying to keep up with the fast-moving public health crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Emergency management teams across greater Danbury are devising strategies to minimize the risk of the respiratory virus spreading, without shutting down the town entirely.

We havent slept in probably 72 hours as we work our way through this challenge, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said in a Facebook Live update. If youve got people shoulder-to-shoulder stuck together, even if its 50 people, its probably not a good idea.

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Gov. Ned Lamont announced Friday an additional six Connecticut residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, which in most cases produces mild-to-moderate symptoms such as a fever, cough and shortness of breath. The cases in residents of Bethlehem, Darien, Greenwich, and Westport bring the statewide total of infected people to 11.

BETHEL

Bethel partially activated its emergency operations center on Friday, with the Senior Center closing and Parks and Recreation programs suspended until March 27. The Municipal Center remains open.

Bethel officials said they are monitoring the epidemic minute-by-minute.

This is an extremely dynamic situation that changes literally by the hour, the town said on its Facebook page.

There are no high-risk persons of interest in town, although volunteer firefighters, students and school staff attended a national conference where an attendee has since tested positive for the virus.

There is no evidence anyone from Bethel came into contact with that attendee, who was not with the group or from the area, the town said. The conference was in Tampa, Fla. in late February.

This conference concluded over a week ago, and there have been no illnesses or other symptoms reported by the BHS group, the town said. These contacts are considered extremely low risk, according to the CDC guidelines.

DANBURY

The citys efforts to prevent the spread have ramped up in recent days.

Putting a barrier around the city will not work, Mayor Mark Boughton said in a Facebook Live update. Instead, the city is focusing on prevention.

Its almost impossible to stop this disease from spreading because its highly contagious, Boughton said.

While the city does its part to clean school buildings and other public facilities, Danbury urged residents to do their part by washing their hands, avoiding crowds, and staying home when sick.

Lisa Morrissey, director of health, urged residents to take personal responsibility.

I don't want to see any teenagers hanging out on Main Street, she said. I don't want you congregating at the mall. Just because schools are closed, this is not the time to start partying. We want you to take this seriously and avoid groups.

Boughton said he doesnt have authority to tell businesses to close.

The mall is not necessarily a tremendously dangerous place because its so big, he said. You could stand six feet away from everybody.

While the governor has banned crowds exceeding 250 people, Boughton said even smaller-sized groups could be a concern.

If youve got people shoulder-to-shoulder stuck together, even if its 50 people, its probably not a good idea, he said.

Earlier this week, city had encouraged organizations to cancel or postpone events that were expected to draw crowds. Danbury Library and the senior center have closed, although the latter is still serving breakfast and lunch to senior citizens.

Were going to have more cases popping up here in Danbury, across the greater Danbury area and over the state, Boughton said. But we think, at the end of the day, if we take these steps, we can get through the hump and level out this very, very fast spread that were seeing.

NEW MILFORD

New Milford officials gathered for a live video to share the towns emergency preparedness and offer tips to the public to stay safe during the coronavirus outbreak.

Health Director Michael Crespan said theyve been participating in weekly conference calls with community partners, so everyone is prepared.

We believe were prepared and were working to become more prepared every day, Crespan said.

The emergency command operations director said New Milford is preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

The town has been working with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the state health department.

NEWTOWN

Newtowns Emergency Management Office is coordinating the towns response with the Newtown Health District, which serves Newtown, Bridgewater and Roxbury.

The Newtown Health District receives daily briefings and updates from state, federal and global health agencies, including the state health department, the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization.

It is very important to get the right information out accurately, said Bill Halstead, director of emergency management.

The town has dedicated COVID-19 page on its municipal website with an array of information and resources about the pandemic.

RIDGEFIELD

Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi declared a local State of Emergency to give the town the greatest possible operational flexibility to our departments involved in COVID-19 response, recovery and mitigation.

The declaration does not indicate a major change in the local situation, but rather parallels the declaration made by Governor Lamont and facilitates dealings with state and federal authorities as necessary, the town said in a statement.

Marconi also ordered the partial activation of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) policy group, comprising health and public safety department heads.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
Earlier this week, ahead of fiercer restrictions on and advice against travel, hoteliers on the Costa del Sol were estimating losses to their businesses of two million euros so far and reporting that thirty per cent of advance reservations for March and April had been cancelled.

With the spectre of imminent financial problems in a sector worth 13 per cent of the Spanish economy, industry groups nationally were calling for urgent measures.

This cry for help was met to some extent on Thursday afternoon when Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced relief measures for small and medium businesses (SMEs) and the self-employed, as well as the tourism sector in general.

As part of a stimulus package worth 14 billion euros, all self-employed and SMEs will receive a six-month grace period to pay taxes due, up to certain amounts. Specifically for hotels, tourism and the transport sector, there will also be a 400-million-euro state loan service. In addition, some social security quota rules will be relaxed for companies.

For airlines fearful they will lose their valuable slots at airports if they do not fly, the government has said it will follow EU advice and be flexible. Meanwhile, Renfe, the state-owned rail operator said it will refund and change tickets without charge.

The news of the effects on the Costa tourism industry continued to arrive throughout the week. Among the most significant was the cancellation of a large conference of high-end travel agents in Marbella. The Essence of Luxury Travel congress was due to be run for the second year from 23 to 27 March with representatives attending from 64 countries.
Pakistan's interior ministry said Friday it will close the country's border with Iran and Afghanistan in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The closure of the porous frontier will begin March 16 "for an initial period of two weeks... in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, in the best interest of all three brotherly countries", the ministry said, using the scientific name for the highly communicable disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Irish soldiers have been instructed to be "packed and ready for deployment" by their commanders as the country tries to get to grips with the coronavirus.

All non-essential activities have been suspended under a move to support the authorities in a raft of measures to try to contain the spread of the virus.

In a letter seen by the Irish Independent, members of the Defence Forces have been instructed to have their back-pack in barracks from next Monday, and to be packed and ready for deployment with an "immediate notice to move".

They have been instructed to have their packs to be prepared for 72 hours in the field. This includes wet gear, warm clothing, 72 hours of rations, water, sleeping bag and bivvie bag, and hygiene and first aid kit.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Drew Harris is offering the Garda's training college at Templemore, Co Tipperary, to the HSE for use as a field hospital. The offer is likely to be accepted as part of a contingency plan being drawn up to deal with an upsurge in patients if hospitals cannot cope with the numbers affected at the peak of the spread.

Recruits currently being housed in Templemore are being sent out to Garda districts around the country where they will be deployed to give re-assurance to the public in locations such as supermarkets, shops and pharmacies.

The college is seen as ideal for conversion to a medical facility, if temporary accommodation centres are required. A Garda National co-ordination centre is being established at HQ in the Phoenix Park where senior officers will report to a special group.
BAGHDAD  Iraqi military officials strongly condemned the United States military on Friday for airstrikes launched overnight that they said killed three Iraqi soldiers, two police officers and a civilian worker, and damaged an unfinished civilian airport.

American officials said Friday that the strikes had hit five sites where rockets and other weapons were stored by an Iranian-backed militia, Kataib Hezbollah. But according to multiple Iraqi military officials, who until now had been largely supportive of the U.S. role in Iraq, the bombings killed members of the Iraqi military and police.

American officials said Kataib Hezbollah fighters were also killed in the airstrikes but they could not yet say how many.

The strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack on Wednesday that killed two Americans and a British soldier and wounded 14 others at Camp Taji, an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad, American officials said.
Most of Oregons federal delegation has asked the Trump administration for nearly half a million N-95 respirators and a large amount of other medical gear to help the state to prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, the delegation said the equipment is needed to meet Oregons growing and unmet needs as the virus cases increase.

The delegations request mirrors that of Gov. Kate Brown who declared a state of emergency earlier this week, banned large gatherings, called for school closures and took other drastic steps to try and limit the virus spread.

Some nurses have been claiming for more than a week that hospitals were short of staff and equipment. Hospital officials and some state leaders have insisted that they have more than enough supplies to get through the COVID-19 event.

Oregon Health and Sciences University officials confirmed they are seeking to buy additional ventilators, devices that help critically ill patients breath.

Wyden and the others asked the administration for 600,000 surgical or procedural masks, gloves, 400,000 R-95 respirators, face shields, goggles, gowns and gloves and 75-100 ventilators.

The Oregon delegation asked that the administration take the medical equipment out of strategic national stockpile.

Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley signed the letter along with Rep. Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici.
LAKE GEORGE  At a time of political division, a group of 20 people wanted to make their voices heard and be able to fully participate in civic discourse as American citizens.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Stewart, an alumnus of Lake George Junior-Senior High School, swore in people who were born in Iraq, Morocco, India, South Korea and other places in a ceremony Friday at the school.

Stewart said they put a lot of hard work into becoming citizens, and he is pleased to now call each of them his fellow Americans.

We do not simply welcome immigrants. We are born of immigrants and that is really who we are as a country. Its our oldest tradition. Its our core value. Its what makes us exceptional. Unless youre a Native American, we all came here from somewhere else, he said.

Stewart said his ancestors came from Northern Ireland by way of Quebec and they, like other immigrants, faced discrimination and hardship, but they persevered.

Theyve rolled up their sleeves and in some sense theyve built America, he said.

These new citizens are not going to abandon their native culture when they come here but make it part of the beautiful tapestry of America, he said.

State Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury, told the students and family members in attendance that being a U.S. citizen is something most Americans take for granted.

When you fill out paperwork, you check off U.S. citizen without even thinking how many other people would like to be citizens of this country, she said. At a time when there is a lot of debate and arguing and stuff going on, keep in mind we are so fortunate to be citizens of this great country.

New citizen Oleg Tsyn was the keynote speaker. When Tsyn was a child, his parents emigrated from Ukraine when it was part of the former Soviet Union. Many immigrants were in the same circumstances as his parents.

We came here with no money, language  literally the clothes on your back with a dream of a better life, he said.

His parents took on odd jobs, including work in a supermarket, and saved enough money over time to open a bakery of their own. Because of their hard work, he was able to go to college and then law school. Now, he is an administrative law judge.

All of the new citizens have enjoyed freedoms and opportunities in this country before Fridays ceremony, Tsyn said.

Theres one thing none of us have been able to do prior to this moment. This is truly the background of our democracy and that is the ability to vote, he said.

A reception was held after the ceremony.

Ahmed Mohammed emigrated from Iraq in 2014. He applied for the diversity lottery on a whim and won. He considers America his home.

He has made a lot of friends and started his own business, providing non-emergency medical transportation. He expressed excitement to be a full-fledged citizen.

I can vote now, he said.

Laila Moran of Hudson said she came to this country from Morocco to attend college. She met her husband and stayed.

I went to college to study TV and radio (production). Instead, I produced three beautiful kids, she said.

Moran said she is so proud to be American.

This country gave me so much to be thankful for  strength, independence, to work, to love and forgive and be kind to all animals, Mother Nature, people,  everything, she said. It just changed me completely, like day and night.

Reach Michael Goot at 518-742-3320 or mgoot@poststar.com and follow his blog poststar.com/blogs/michael_goot/.

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US President Donald Trump plans to declare a national emergency on Friday over the coronavirus outbreak, invoking the Stafford Act to open the door to more federal aid for states and municipalities, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Trump is under increasing pressure to act as governors and mayors nationwide step up actions to mitigate the spread, closing schools and cancelling public events. The President said he would hold a news conference at 3pm in Washington (6am AEDT).

Donald Trump is set to declare a national emergency over the coronavirus outbreak. Credit:AP

Senate Democrats have urged Trump to invoke the Stafford Act and other disaster declaration requests they say would free up more than $US42 billion ($67 billion) in funding for states available in the Disaster Relief Fund.

An emergency declaration would allow a state to request a 75 per cent federal cost-share for expenses that include emergency workers, medical tests, medical supplies, vaccinations, security for medical facilities, and more, according to a letter Democrats sent the President earlier this week.
Tom Hanks' actor son Colin is trying to keep to his normal routine amid news his dad Tom and step-mom Rita Wilson have contracted coronavirus.

The Dexter actor wasn't letting the family health news keep him from errands.

Signaling things were business as usual, second generation talent Colin, 42, bravely ventured out for morning pastries before taking out the trash.

Normal: Colin Hanks tried to keep things normal in LA after learning his dad Tom and step-mom Rita had contracted coronavirus

On high alert: Colin's dad Tom and stepmom Rita revealed they had contracted the virus on Wednesday. Seen above January 2020

Not one to worry about appearances, Colin ventured out in a hoodie and Adidas track pants.

While the actor seemed to be aiming for normalcy, his outing came just a day after his legendary actor Tom and wife Rita Wilson confirmed their coronavirus diagnosis.

He took to social media to respond yesterday, writing: 'We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from everyone.

Same old: Signalling things were business as usual, second generation talent Colin, 42, bravely ventured out for morning pastries before taking out the trash

Treats: Before going about his domestic duties, the Dexter player brought home some pastries for his family

'My parents are receiving excellent care in Australia and are doing well (and in good spirits) given the circumstances.

'Despite the fact that I'm in LA and haven't seen them in over three weeks, we have been in constant contact and am confident that they will make a full recovery.

'But, I appreciate it and everybody just stay safe out there. Much love,' Chet concluded.

Simple things: Colin tried to keep focused on the tasks at hand

Easy: Not one to worry about appearances, Colin ventured out in a hoodie and Adidas track pants

Colin's half-brother Chet was one of the first people to address their parents' diagnosis, taking to social media Wednesday to tell the public they were doing fine.

He began asking: 'What's up everyone?' before going on to confirm: 'Yeah, it's true, my parents got Coronavirus. It's crazy.'

He went on to say they were in Australia, where his father was shooting an untitled biopic about Elvis Presley, where Hanks was playing Colonel Tom Parker.

Chet responds: Just after Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were confirmed to have Coronavirus, their son Chet responded in a video to his fans

'I just got off the phone with them. They both are fine,' Hanks added. 'They're not even that sick. They're not worried about it.'

He added that his parents, 'aren't trippin' but they're going through the necessary health precautions, obviously.'

'I don't think it's anything to be too worried about,' he added. 'I appreciate everyone's concern and the well-wishes, but I think everything's gonna be all right.'

Phone: 'I just got off the phone with them. They both are fine,' Chet added. 'They're not even that sick. They're not worried about it

Tom himself broke the news with a statement on his Instagram, along with a photo of a discarded latex glove in a wastebasket.

'Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive,' Tom said on Instagram.

'Well, now. What to do next? The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires,' he added.

'Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no? Well keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves! Hanx!' the actor concluded.

Breaking news: Tom himself broke the news with a statement on his Instagram, along with a photo of a discarded latex glove in a wastebasket

Hanks has been filming the untitled Elvis Presley biopic since late January in Australia, the home country of director Baz Luhrmann.

Austin Butler stars as Elvis, while Maggie Gyllenhaal and Rufus Sewell play the King's parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley.

There is no word yet how Hanks' diagnosis will affect production on the biopic, which is slated for release on October 1, 2021.
Photo credit: 400tmax

From Esquire

Amidst the spread of Covid-19, health officials have reinforced the importance of washing your hands the correct way. But the coronavirus can also live on inanimate surfaces like metal, glass, or plastic, for up to nine 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?

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).

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 per cent sodium hypochlorite or 62 to 71 per cent 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, it may be important to disinfect metal, glass, and plastic surfaces frequently.

Photo credit: stevanovicigor

Yes, that includes your phone, says Charles Gerba, PhD., 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.)

Story continues

"You then go home or to another location and you touch your phone again and, say, touch a table moving it to another location  great way to spread viruses around an office."

Gunter Kampf, MD, 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 microfibre cloth."

"I would do it every time I have been out in public," he says.

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Jerusalem: Scientists in Israel are expected to announce in the coming days that they have completed development of a vaccine for the new coronavirus COVID-19, according to media reports.

Israeli daily Ha'aretz, quoting medical sources, reported on Thursday that scientists at the Israel's Institute for Biological Research, supervised by the Prime Minister's office, have recently had a significant breakthrough in understanding the biological mechanism and qualities of the virus, including better diagnostic capability, production of antibodies for those who already have the virus and development of a vaccine.

The development process, however, requires a series of tests and experiments that may last many months before the vaccination is deemed effective or safe to use, the report said.

The Defence Ministry, however, did not confirm the same in its response to the daily.

There has been no breakthrough in the efforts of the biological institute to find a vaccine for the coronavirus or to develop testing kits. The institute's work is conducted according to an orderly work plan and it will take time. If and when there will be something to report, it will be done in an orderly fashion, the Defence Ministry told Ha'aretz.

The biological institute is a world-renowned research and development agency, which relies on experienced researchers and scientists with great knowledge and quality infrastructures. There are now more than 50 experienced scientists working at the institute on researching and developing a medical remedy for the virus, it added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have ordered the institute to devote resources to develop a vaccine for Covid-19 on February 1.

The normal process of development of such a vaccine requires a long process of pre-clinical trials on animals, followed by clinical trials. This period allows for a full characterization of side effects and a better understanding of how different populations are affected, the daily said.

The global emergency over the coronavirus pandemic however may accelerate this process in order to vaccinate as many people who are most at risk from the virus, it said.

Numerous research teams all over the world are participating in the race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19.

China released the genetic sequence of the virus on open scientific databases shortly after its outbreak in January.Around a month and a half after the genetic sequence was published, biotechnology company Moderna, Inc., based in Boston, Massachussets, announced it had completed the development of a possible coronavirus vaccine, Ha'aretz reported.

The vaccine was sent to the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with clinical trials, which will include up to 25 health participants to start in April, the report said.

Any vaccine developed in Israel will presumably also need to go through a similar or even stricter process before it will be approved for use, the daily said.
Phuket airport downshifts COVID entry requirements

PHUKET: In a huge downshift in tracking potential COVID cases entering the country, the Airports of Thailand management team operating Phuket International Airport (AoT Phuket) has posted an oblige formal notice only announcing that arrivals from the six declared risk areas China, South Korea, Macau, Hong Kong, Italy and Iran must complete the T.8 form declaring their travel history any health issues experienced in the past 14 days, and present a medical certificate attesting that they are not infected with the virus.

tourismCoronavirusCOVID-19healthimmigrationtransport

By The Phuket News

Friday 13 March 2020, 11:24AM

Cleaning crews worked through the night to douse key areas of the airport with sanitiser. Photo: AOT Phuket

Cleaning crews worked through the night to douse key areas of the airport with sanitiser. Photo: AOT Phuket

Cleaning crews worked through the night to douse key areas of the airport with sanitiser. Photo: AOT Phuket

Cleaning crews worked through the night to douse key areas of the airport with sanitiser. Photo: AOT Phuket

Cleaning crews worked through the night to douse key areas of the airport with sanitiser. Photo: AOT Phuket

The notice, posted at 10:47pm last night (Mar 12, see notice here), makes no mention of any requirement of any tourists arriving from any areas other than the six risk areas mentioned having to complete the T.8 form.

The notice also makes no mention of any consequences of what happens to arrivals who refuse to complete the form or fail to present a valid medical certificate.

Please strictly follow the instructions is the only warning given in the notice.

The move is a major revision on explanations given yesterday (see here) that all international arrivals at the airport would be required to complete the T.8 form, which can be done either by paper form or through the AOT Airports available for download at the App Store (click here) and on Google Play (click here).

Of note, Phuket International Airport General Manager Thanee Chuangchoo yesterday told The Phuket News that the medical certificate requirement would apply to all travellers only transiting through any of the six risk areas.

Asked how that was possible while the passengers were in transit, Mr Thanee replied, That is the passengers responsibility. My responsibility is to protect against the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, cleaning crews worked through the night to douse key tourist contact and interaction areas in both the international terminal and domestic terminals with sanitser, including boarding gangways, baggage carousels, information kiosks and Customs, Immigration and check-in counters.

The massive cleaning operation was held to boost peoples confidence in that the airport is safe to transit through, AoT Phuket posted on its official Facebook page.
Kim Kardashian West is showing off a new addition to her shoe collection: Kentucky Fried Chicken Crocs.

On Thursday, Kim, 39, revealed the platform-styled clogs  which are adorned with fried drumstick-shaped Jibbitz charms  on her Instagram Stories.

I woke up this morning to a delivery from Kentucky Fried Chicken and they are Kentucky Fried Chicken Crocs, Kim explained while showing off the shoes, which were placed inside a massive glass box.

The shoe appears to be a design mimicking the fast-food chains signature takeout box as the top of the croc was a fried chicken patter while the platform is white and features the brands famous red stripes.

They are introducing new Beyond Meat chicken, so they now will be having meatless chicken, Kim said in the video.

I always eat vegan when Im home. I went out and had KFC recently and it was amazing, but I dont really eat meat all the time, Kim shared.

Kim Kardashian/Instagram

Kim Kardashian/Instagram

This is amazing that they are partnering with Beyond Meat to have meatless chicken, Kim said of the Los Angeles-based company that produces plant-based meat substitutes.

As for the Crocs, Kim admitted shes a fan.

Arent these amazing? she added of the shoe.

RELATED: Kim Kardashian Reveals Unusual McDonalds Order in New Super Bowl Commercial

Last month, Kim and her husband Kanye West showed off their love for KFC when they enjoyed a few drumsticks while in Paris before visiting the Jean Paul Gaultier fashion house.

Kim Kardashian/Instagram

Kim Kardashian/Instagram

Kim shared a video of their fast-food experience on Instagram, along with several photos, captioning the post simply, JPG & KFC.

In the video, the parents of four navigated the French menu to self-order before walking up to the counter.

Kanye, 42, pointed to a chicken drumstick option, before Kim added, Wait, fries!

Kim Kardashian/Instagram Kim Kardashian and Kanye West

KFC announced their collaboration with Crocs also in February.

Story continues

RELATED: Kim Kardashian Reveals Her Top 5 Fast Food MealsSee What Made the List

Not only do the shoes come with KFC drumstick-shaped Jibbitz charms to accessorize with  the removable charms are even chicken-scented.

The classic clogs will be available for purchase in unisex sizes later this spring and will set customers back $59.99.
People wear surgical masks as they walk along Chinatown's Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California, on Feb. 26, 2020. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Orange County Virtual Town Hall Addresses COVID-19 Concerns

ORANGE, Calif.The City of Orange held a virtual town hall on March 12 with the Orange County Health Care Agency amid concerns about a potential new coronavirus outbreak in the county.

City officials opened a hotline for locals to call in and ask questions. Currently, Orange has confirmed six total cases of the respiratory virus, with five being travel-related.

We will pursue opportunities for federal and state funding, said Vice Chairman Andrew Do. And most important of all, we will prioritize our resources to help our most vulnerable population, such as our elderly residents, homeless individuals, and those with chronic health issues.

Schools Staying Open

In Orange County, all non-essential city gatherings have been canceled, but schools remain in session.

The recommendations clearly stated in there that does not apply to school classroom activities, said Orange County Health Officer, Dr. Nichole Quick. The California Department of Public Health has issued separate guidance to schools. So at this time, that guidance does not call for school closures in Orange County.

There are currently no cases of teachers or students in Oranges school districts affected.

For parents of children who may be at increased risk of infection, what I would say  [talk] to your private physician about that risk assessment, Quick said.

But I want to reiterate that schools in Orange County have been given guidance from the state and are adhering to that guidance and at this time we do not have an indication to close schools in Orange County.

Testing

Quick also explained it is possible to contract both the virus and the flu at the same time, and people can receive testing for both. Testing for the virus is currently done in the countys public health lab.

The way testing is done right now in Orange County is our local public health lab is able to test samples from individuals that fall into some priority categories, said Quick.

Other individuals can go to their private physician and request testing and that can be done through a commercial lab. So for any individual that is concerned about their health, they should contact their provider.

According to Do, the county will be asking state and federal officials for additional test kits, and to allocate local jurisdiction resources for faster processing. The county also wants to support private companies including Quest Diagnostics, and LabCorp in the development and implementation of additional test kits, Do said.

Orange County officials reiterated they are following the state guidelines and working closely with federal officials to ensure accurate and consistent information is being shared down to the local level.
FRANKFURT am MAIN. Tomorrow, Shimon Sakaguchi, professor of Experimental Immunology at Osaka University (Japan) will receive the 2020 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize for his pioneering discoveries of regulatory T cells and their role in self-tolerance. These cells have the potential to become the new heroes of medicine. They keep the immune system in balance and ensure that it doesnt run amok or becomes inattentive. "Without regulatory T cells, the immune system would not be able to correct errors in distinguishing between friend and foe with the necessary precision," explained the Scientific Council of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation when presenting the award. "The immune system needs such regulatory control, because overreaction leads to autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes, whereas reduced activity gives cancer cells the opportunity to evade immune attack and eventually establish metastases. Therefore, Sakaguchi's discovery offers great potential for the development of new treatments."

Early on in his studies, Sakaguchi was convinced that an immunological peacekeeping force must exist in order to establish immune homeostasis. The difficulty he faced was that there was no molecular marker that would allow him to identify and isolate these cells. Therefore, Sakaguchi set out to search for such a telltale feature. After many years of painstaking work, he demonstrated that the surface protein CD25 is a reliable marker for these cells. "The discovery of CD25 was a watershed in immunological research. It proved the existence of regulatory T-cells and pointed a way forward to isolate and characterize them in greater detail," said Professor Thomas Boehm, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, and Chairman of the Scientific Council. "This seminal discovery has given the field of immune regulation an enormous boost. Suddenly, many scientists became interested in the biology and use of regulatory T cells."

Subsequently, Sakaguchi was able to show that Foxp3 is the central on/off switch of regulatory T cells, a finding that was quickly confirmed by others. This discovery established an unexpected connection between regulatory T cells and a rare congenital syndrome known as IPEX, which had been shown to be due to the lack of Foxp3. IPEX patients develop severe autoimmune diseases shortly after birth, often leading to early death. Thus, the medical relevance of Sakaguchis earlier discovery of regulatory T cells became obvious: patients with IPEX syndrome suffered from lack of an immunological peacekeeping force.

Because of their fundamental importance for the immune system, the manipulation of regulatory T cells offers new forms of treatment for a wide range of conditions. In the case of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, their activity must be strengthened so that they can take more decisive action against inappropriate attacks on the body's own tissue. In cancer, the activity of regulatory T cells needs to be attenuated. Although they no longer adhere to their normal cellular program, cancer cells are often not considered foreign by the immune system. Hence, the protection of tumor cells by regulatory T cells is unfortunate, as this prevents them from being eliminated. Therefore, to eliminate the tumors camouflage, regulatory T cells, which are disproportionately abundant in tumors, must be either reduced in number or their activity diminished to allow an efficient attack on the tumor.

Attenuation of regulatory T cell activity, however, needs to be very precisely controlled, both in space and in time, for they are needed elsewhere in the body to maintain immune homeostasis. "The challenge is to manipulate regulatory T cells only at the site of the tumor," Thomas Boehm explains. "In one approach, Sakaguchi is attempting to convert tumor resident regulatory T cells into conventional T-cells, which then switch sides and participate in attack. If this strategy is successful, an essential component of the bodys peacekeeping force will be converted into an aggressor directed at the malignant tissue ".

At present, various strategies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer based on the manipulation of regulatory T cells are being evaluated, although these approaches are still in an early phase of clinical development. As with many groundbreaking ideas, therapeutic application requires a long period of painstaking work before they can be offered to patients.

###

Short biography of Professor Shimon Sakaguchi

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, M.D. (69) is a medical doctor. He studied medicine at Kyoto University in Japan, then moved to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore as a post-doctoral fellow and then to Stanford University in California. In 1989 he became an "Assistant Professor" at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. In 1991, Sakaguchi returned to Japan and worked at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology and later at the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto University, where he was temporarily director. Since 2011, he has been working at Osaka University. In 2012 he became a Foreign Member of the American National Academy of Sciences and in 2017 the Japanese government appointed him "Person of Cultural Merit". Sakaguchi has received many awards, including the William B. Coley Award from the Cancer Research Institute, the Keio Medical Science Prize, the Canada Gairdner International Award and the Crafoord Prize. Last year he was awarded the "German Immunology Prize 2019".

The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize

The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize is traditionally awarded on Paul Ehrlich's birthday, March 14, in the Paulskirche, Frankfurt. It honors scientists who have made significant contributions in Paul Ehrlich's field of research, in particular immunology, cancer research, microbiology, and chemotherapy. The Prize, which has been awarded since 1952, is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Health, the German association of research-based pharmaceutical company vfa e.V. and specially earmarked donations from the following companies, foundations and organizations: Christa Verhein Stiftung, Else Kroner-Fresenius-Stiftung, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, C.H. Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. KG, Biotest AG, Hans und Wolfgang Schleussner-Stiftung, Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA, F. Hoffmann-LaRoche Ltd., Grunenthal Group, Janssen-Cilag GmbH, Merck KGaA, Bayer AG, Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, die Baden-Wurttembergische Bank, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. and Goethe-Universitat. The prizewinner is selected by the Scientific Council of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation.

The Paul Ehrlich Foundation

The Paul Ehrlich Foundation is a legally dependent foundation which is managed in a fiduciary capacity by the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Goethe University, Frankfurt. The Honorary Chairman of the Foundation, which was established by Hedwig Ehrlich in 1929, is Professor Dr. Katja Becker, president of the German Research Foundation, who also appoints the elected members of the Scientific Council and the Board of Trustees. The Chairman of the Scientific Council is Professor Thomas Boehm, Managing Director at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, the Chair of the Board of Trustees is Professor Dr. Jochen Maas, Head of Research and Development and Member of the Management Board, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH. Professor Wilhelm Bender, in his function as Chair of the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Goethe University, is Member of the Scientific Council. The President of the Goethe University is at the same time a member of the Board of Trustees.

Further information

You can obtain selected publications, the list of publications and a photograph of the laureate from Dr. Hildegard Kaulen, phone: +49 (0)6122/52718, email: h.k@kaulen-wissenschaft.de and at http://www.paul-ehrlich-stiftung.de
The principle is that, with the exponential growth phase of an epidemic, individual and institutional actions such as social distancing taken early on can have a much greater impact than if the same actions are taken even a week later.

NJ The magnitude of the outbreak creeps up on you; it doesnt look like things are growing very much, and then suddenly they are. Today, the U.S. is up to at least 1,714 known cases and were only a couple of days on from when it was 1,004. Its going to be 4,000 by Monday, and then its going to be 8,000 by next Wednesday, and then its. Exponential growth is staggering when it takes over.

In a nutshell, what is exponential growth?

BJ Exponential growth is a classic pattern in which numbers stay small initially, but then you end up with very large numbers very quickly. If you start with a certain number, and then multiply that number by a growth factor every day, depending on what that growth rate is, youll see the cumulative number doubling over a certain time period.

What really matters is how high that growth rate is. In the U.S. right now, according to Our World in Data, confirmed Covid-19 cases are increasing by about 30 to 40 percent per day and the total number is doubling about every two days.

NJ Think about your family tree and how the number of your ancestors (or descendants) grows with every generation. Or theres the story about the rabbits breeding. Two rabbits breed four rabbits and four rabbits breed eight rabbits and eight rabbits breed 16 rabbits, and if theyre breeding every six or seven days, very soon you have a lot of rabbits.

BJ If you start with two rabbits and the number doubles every week, youve got about 1,000 rabbits after 10 weeks. That doesnt seem so bad. But another 10 weeks later? Youve got a million. Its intuitively very hard to grasp how quickly these numbers go up beyond a certain point  people tend to anchor on the low numbers at the beginning, when the curve is relatively flat.

But the same exponential effect is equally powerful with mitigation efforts  staying home now, for example. How do the exponential now decisions play out later down the line?
Elizabeth Smarts famous 1945 novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, the semi-autobiographical story of her affair with the married poet George Barker, is light on plot and heavy on poetry.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (668 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Elizabeth Smarts famous 1945 novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, the semi-autobiographical story of her affair with the married poet George Barker, is light on plot and heavy on poetry.

When Winnipeg musicians Tom Keenan and Matt Peters, together known as Heavy Bell, turned the Ottawa-born writers words into the lyrics for gorgeous chamber-pop songs on their album By Grand Central Station, they rendered it even more abstract.

Leif Norman photo Carol-Ann Bohrn, left, and Alexandra Garrido bring eloquent feeling to By Grand Central Station.

The newest iteration of the project, now on at Prairie Theatre Exchange, sees a chamber orchestra  Keenan (guitar/piano), Peters (piano/guitar), Natalie Bohrn (double bass), Derek Allard (percussion), Aja McMillan (trumpet), Andrea Dicks (horn), Julie Penner (violin) and Natalie Dawe (cello)  joined by an eloquent pair of dancers, Alexandra Garrido and Carol-Ann Bohrn, who worked from the impressionistic songs to create a 50-minute interpretive work.

The result is a refraction of the overwhelming passion of Smarts love affair, in which the specifics of her story are transformed into a universal one, inviting the audience, as the poet would say, to "float away in a flood of love."

Thats not to imply everything is easy and sweet; after all, a flood is a natural disaster. Theres madness here, and guilt and anger, as well as languid moments of peace and uncomplicated beauty. When Garrido and Bohrn leap joyfully into the air, you can feel your heart leap with them.

The black-clad musicians are ranged in a row along the back of the stage, while the two dancers, wearing filmy white gowns, are in the forefront. On a stage as austere as this, lighting is paramount, and the work by Jaymez here is unflashy but extremely effective.

The band remains lit from above in a golden glow at all times, while the dancers are illuminated in ways that convey power or frailty, in dramatic starkness or obliquely from the side, allowing the shadows of their strong legs to be visible through the gauze of their long skirts.

Leif Norman photos Dancers Carol-Ann Bohrn (front) and Alexandra Garrdio, backed by Matt Peters (piano), Tom Keenan (guitar), Julie Penner (violin) and Natalie Dawe (cello).

In the program notes, director Thomas Morgan Jones calls the work "an emotional narrative" as opposed to a linear narrative. That feels like a pat phrase that could be used to describe any work of contemporary dance, but By Grand Central Station does indeed take viewers on a wrenching journey.

The strange, wonderful alchemy of music paired with movement is unique in its ability to convey ecstasy and despair, especially when you have the sobbing sounds of strings and the forlorn tenor of a French horn at your disposal.

However, although its possible to be swept up in the often breathtaking loveliness of this show, one might wish for marginally more clarity or perhaps more overt symbolism from a theatrical production; our brains are wired to search for narrative.

Its not clear if the two female dancers are meant to represent Smart or other characters from her story  they may merely be vessels for the emotions of the songs  but its difficult to assign them roles.

Leif Norman photo Carol-Ann Bohrn

What were seeing is an interpretation of an interpretation, and the result is like an artistic game of Telephone, where some meaning may be lost. For those familiar with the source material, it may be frustrating to see so little detail of Smarts tragic romance  she literally went to jail for love  make it to the stage.

Another important thing thats missing here is sex. It feels too abstract to have two women interpreting a famous heterosexual affair  their interactions feel tender or aggressive, sometimes even sensual, but never display any animal attraction.

Make no mistake about it: Smart and Barker were not the platonic ideal of love; while they had a meeting of the minds and perhaps the souls, they also had a meeting of the groins, and her account of their relationship is positively torrid.

By Grand Central Station might have been a better fit with PTEs more experimental Leap Series, where audiences are more prepared to do the work of using their own experiences to relate to the material, but those willing to let go and immerse themselves in the work will likely reap rewards of pure feeling.

NOTE: PTE's next show, Gingerbread Girl has been cancelled due to the ongoing situation with the coronavirus pandemic

jill.wilson@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @dedaumier

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An Aer Lingus passenger who made cabin crew cry by lying that his mum had coronavirus has been jailed for two months.

Job van den Broek, 30, made the hoax claim after he was asked to put his phone down so staff could perform a safety demonstration before the flight to Dublin took off on Wednesday, March 11.

He refused to end the call for 10 minutes, delaying the flight and causing a pandemonium among passengers.

He later reduced cabin crew to tears when he attempted to clear the air by saying that the reason he was using his phone was because his mother had the deadly coronavirus and he had been in contact with her.



The Dutch national had intended to travel from Amsterdam to LA to propose to his girlfriend. However, he was arrested at Dublin Airport and kept in a police cell over night.

He pleaded guilty to an air rage charge at Dublin District Court today.

Judge Conal Gibbons said his crime was unbelievable while the world was in a state of fear and anxiety because of Covid-19. He said there were few worse things he could have said in that moment, other than theres a bomb under the seat.

The defendant, a trainee driving instructor, apologised in court and his lawyer said he was incredibly remorseful for his stupidity.

The court heard Van den Broek thought it was a joke and wanted to have his photo taken with gardai and Health Safety Executive staff, who were also called when the flight landed in Dublin.

He said he was willing to donate 1,500 to the staff, but the judge said he could not buy his way out of trouble.

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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on March 13 said there is no "Jyotiraditya Scindia-like" figure in ranks of ruling allies in the state and asked the BJP to keep a watch on its MLAs who were not present on the assembly.

In his reply to budget demands, Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, also commented on BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar's startling revelation in the house on March 12 it was his party that ditched the one-time ally Shiv Sena last year and that it was a mistake.

"There is no pardon for the mistake," Pawar said, looking in the direction of Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray leading to laughter in the house.

The Shiv Sena and the BJP parted waysafter the assembly elections last year due to differences over power- sharing. The Sena later joined hands with the Congress and the NCP, its political rivals then, to form government.

Pawar saidthere is no "Jyotiraditya Scindia-like figure" in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the ruling alliance consisting of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress, and asked the BJP to look after its own flock as there could be such a person in its own ranks.

Scindia, a long-time Congress leader and former Union minister, quit the party and joined the BJP on March 12.

"You better keep a watch on those who were not present now (in the assembly)," the NCP leader told the opposition.

Mungantiwar, speaking in the assembly on March 12, said the BJP had ditched the Sena and asked the Congress-NCP not to take advantage of that mistake, which he said, will be rectified one day.

The BJP legislator and former minister, addressing Congress and NCP MLAs, also said just like in Madhya Pradesh, there will be a Scindia in Maharashtra too.

Pawar took a dig at Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavisand other BJP leaders fordoubting the longevity of the MVA government, which assumed office in November-end last year.

"You have to do this to keep your flock together," he said.

Mungantiwar, speaking after Pawar, said the "BJP ditching the Sena" comment was made in a sarcastic tone, but the NCP minister used it to suit his politics.

Opposition members later staged a walkout from the assembly in protest against Pawar's reply.

In the wake of the coronavirus threat, Pawar asked legislators to take care of themselves while going out to meet people in their constituencies.

"In Iran, four MPs have died due to the coronavirus. We are people's representativesand cannot keep people away from us. But you all should take care.

"Legislators should contact the Mantralaya control room if there is a need," Pawar said.

The budget session of the state legislature is being curtailed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. It will conclude on March 14 instead of the originally scheduled date of March 20.
European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and British Prime Minister's Europe adviser David Frost 5 are seen at start of the first round of post -Brexit trade deal talks

By Francesco Guarascio

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union says Britain is trying to weaken the bloc's position at trade talks by talking to individual member states and has urged EU governments not to hold a "parallel negotiation" with London.

An EU document seen by Reuters said the bloc's negotiating stance could be undermined if member states talk separately to Britain while a new trade agreement with London is being negotiated following its departure from the Union.

Formal negotiations began in Brussels this week, just over a month after Britain left the EU. The aim is to reach agreement on a new trade relationship by the end of this year.

"We have information that the UK colleagues are approaching us at different levels and trying to engage in issues that are linked to our negotiations," a senior diplomat from Croatia, which chairs EU meetings in the first half of 2020, told a meeting of Brussels envoys from member states.

"(We) Would like to ask (member states) to restrain from engaging in contacts of a nature that may be perceived as a parallel negotiation, in substance, and perhaps undermine the position of the EU and negotiator," read the minutes from Wednesday's meeting.

The EU's executive European Commission is in charge of the talks on behalf of the 27 member states, and Frenchman Michel Barnier is the chief negotiator.

Asked to comment, a British government spokesman said: "The UK is clear that it is negotiating its future relationship with the EU with the European Commission, and it is for the European Commission to find common ground among the EU's member states."

The EU has long had concerns that Britain will try to divide member states to try to win the upper hand in the negotiations.

Similar tensions were on display in more than three years of tortuous divorce talks which led to Britain leaving the bloc in January but the EU maintained united position.

The EU is now negotiating simultaneously a deal on trade in goods with Britain, a new security pact and agreements on a wide range of issues from transport to fisheries.

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It is also separately assessing its future financial ties with London, the largest financial center in Europe.

EU governments were warned on Wednesday that Barnier "should be the sole interlocutor for the EU," according to the minutes.

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels and William James in London, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
The federal Liberal government imposed its own limits on incoming flights from overseas Friday  nothing as severe as Donald Trump's ban on foreign nationals arriving from Europe, but enough to signal to the United States that it need not erect a viral firewall along the Canada-U.S. border.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal Liberal government imposed its own limits on incoming flights from overseas Friday  nothing as severe as Donald Trump's ban on foreign nationals arriving from Europe, but enough to signal to the United States that it need not erect a viral firewall along the Canada-U.S. border.

International flights arriving from parts of the world where the COVID-19 outbreak is at its most severe will be directed to a select handful of Canadian airports, where passengers can be more readily screened for signs of illness, Transport Minister Marc Garneau told a news conference.

The move came just hours before the U.S. president declared the crisis a national emergency, and before his proclamation banning foreign visitors who recently visited any of 26 countries in Europe was scheduled to take effect at midnight.

That announcement, which came Wednesday in a rare prime-time address from the Oval Office, appeared to catch the Trudeau government off-guard and raised the possibility that the U.S. might close the Canada-U.S. border, which would have dire consequences for the Canadian economy.

Garneau and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced the new international flight policy after a cabinet meeting that was chaired remotely by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is working in self-imposed isolation after his wife tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Speaking from outside Rideau Cottage, his residence, Trudeau refused to rule out further measures, including forbidding travel to Canada from particular countries.

Trudeau also said he was speaking by phone with fellow G7 leaders to take joint action to address the economic downturn that the global pandemic has caused. Trudeau spoke with France's President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, after speaking with Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Italy's Giuseppe Conte in recent days. The Prime Minister's Office provided a readout of the call with Trump, noting they discussed the Canada-U.S. border.

Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Pablo Rodriguez responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons Tuesday March 10, 2020 in Ottawa. The leader of the government in the House of Commons says MPs have passed legislation to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and the Senate is expected to follow suit later today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

"We're not closing the door to any further steps but we will make those decisions based on what science tells us," Trudeau said  steps that could include closing the border, he suggested in an earlier interview with CBC.

Trump, during another memorable Rose Garden news conference, said he didn't discuss the possibility of closing the border when he spoke with the prime minister on Thursday. He did acknowledge the fact that Trudeau's wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, had tested positive for the virus.

He shrugged off questions about whether he should be tested, then abruptly declared he probably would. He repeatedly shook hands with a parade of business leaders, despite public health advice against it. And when asked whether his administration is to blame for a persistent shortage of available coronavirus tests in the U.S., he said this:

"Yeah, I don't take responsibility at all because we were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations and specifications from a different time."

He also said that the United Kingdom, which was initially exempted from the travel ban and which produces the largest number of annual visitors to the U.S. outside of Canada and Mexico, may soon have to be added, given the growing number of COVID-19 cases there.

Trump said he did discuss with Trudeau the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which the House of Commons finally ratified Friday before shutting its doors for five weeks to stem the spread of illness. The Senate quickly followed suit and the bill received royal assent, triggering a three-month window to hammer out the fine print.

"Canada is facing an unprecedented challenge from the coronavirus pandemic," Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said. "Getting NAFTA done was something that was entirely within the power of Canadian legislators to do, and something we were able to do to help the Canadian economy at this challenging time."

Ratifying the agreement, long a cornerstone of Trump's re-election hopes, will likely be of great help to Canada's efforts to keep the U.S. from closing the border prematurely, said David MacNaughton, Canada's former ambassador to the U.S.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a news conference at Rideau cottage in Ottawa, on Friday, March 13, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand

MacNaughton, whose tenure during the NAFTA negotiations offered valuable lessons on how best to exert Canadian influence in the era of Donald Trump, said it will be important to help the U.S. understand the potential domestic consequences of such a move.

"Closing the border, whether it's to individuals or to goods, would have a devastating impact on the U.S. economy," he said. "The last thing they need right now is to have another negative thing happen to the American economy."

Perrin Beatty, the president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, called ratification of the trade deal an important step towards guaranteeing Canadian access to the U.S., "particularly in a situation like this" when the impact of Trump's travel ban on Canada remains unclear.

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"We still have people coming in from Europe into Canada and people here in Canada who are not Canadian citizens who may need to go into the United States. It's not clear how the Americans are going to be dealing with that," he said in an interview.

"Many of our truck drivers are new Canadians: are they apt to run into problems at the border?"

Beatty said both countries need to learn lessons from the U.S. decision to temporarily shut its border immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.

"What we discovered from 9/11 is that we were doing to ourselves what the terrorists couldn't do to us, and that was to impose an embargo on North America," he said.

Beatty said the current pandemic can't be allowed "to impose an embargo on North America, either, or partition North America and do damage their health of all three of our economies."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2020.
Representative Image (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Within two months of hogging the headlines across the world, the novel coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The deadly pathogen has known no rest since, claiming lives daily.

India reported its first coronavirus death when a 76-year-old from Karnataka succumbed to the infection. This brings us to a surprising fact that has left virologists from the world over to their wit's end. One look at the trends so far suggests that most of the victims of the deadly virus have been aged and elderly persons or people with a history of respiratory disorders.

Interestingly, even in China, where the contagious disease originated, only 2.4 percent of the reported cases were children. Although the country saw thousands of deaths due to COVID-19 infection, none of the deceased was children.

On the other hand, WHO data suggests that nearly 22 percent of those who died due to coronavirus in China were above 80 years of age. Meanwhile, patients in the age group of 10 to 40 recorded a fatality rate of about 0.2 percent, another study suggested. Severe symptoms or fatality was non-existent among patients below 10 years of age, reported the Washington Post.

Frank Esper, a US-based pediatrician who specialises in infectious diseases, said this disparity in the demography of the fatalities could be due to various factors such -- previous exposure of patients, changes in the immune system, lung damage due to pollution, etc.

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

Notably, past coronavirus outbreaks have also spared children.The 2002 SARS outbreak killed 774 people while the MERS coronavirus killed 858 persons. Surprisingly, no child died of any coronavirus infection even then.

Vineet Menachery, a virologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said it could be due to the way our immune systems react to infections. Older people tend to overreact to coronavirus infections and this aggressive response is damaging their vital organs.

Hence, because the immune systems of children are not fully developed, it could be so that they do not run the risk of organ damage due to over-zealous immune response when they are infected by deadly pathogens.
Some passages seem like they would be of more interest to experienced pilots. Lawler said he began the project a decade ago as a way of sharing memories with former TWA colleagues. He also wanted his children to know what he was doing while he was away from home for extended periods of time, he said.
By Online Desk

Soon after he was released from detention, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and NCP chief Farooq Abdullah thanked all the Parliamentarians who fought for his freedom.

"I am free," says Farooq Abdullah after J&K administration revokes PSA against him.

"I will be able to take a decision on the future only after other leaders are released. Hope others political leaders would be released soon," the NC patron said while speaking to reporters.

Meanwhile, political leaders welcomed the revocation of the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) imposed on Abdullah.

Abdullah's release will be the right step for the restoration of a genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir, the NC said in a statement.

The party said the process will receive a further fillip when party vice-president Omar Abdullah and other political detainees are set free. "We urge the government to do so at the earliest," it said.

"As the pre-eminent political party of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference has played a key role in strengthening the voice of the people through democracy and will continue to do so," the statement said.



While Abdullah's party, the National Conference (NC), termed his release a "step in the right direction towards restoring genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir", former Union minister and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said he welcomed Abdullah's "belated release".
A nearly desolated Pariser Platz at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. (Michael Kappeler/DPA/Getty)

German finance minister Olaf Scholz has announced that the government will deploy billions worth in financial aid to support the economy, safeguard jobs, and help businesses withstand the corona crisis.

It is a situation that none of us has ever experienced, Scholz told journalists in Berlin on Friday, noting that the coronavirus crisis will have very tangible consequences on the German economy.

Scholz said that the government had agreed on a package of measures to help small, medium, and large companies. The aid includes tax relief for companies, including in the form of deferral of taxes, and unlimited credit to businesses to ensure their liquidity for the next few years. The government will initially make 20bn (18bn, $22bn) available to the KfW state development bank, and "there is no upper limit on the loan amount that KfW can grant," economy minister Peter Altmaier said.

This is the bazooka, with which will do the necessary, Scholz said. We are not feeling our way around, we are putting all our weapons on the table.

The German parliament also unanimously agreed on Friday to green-light a new law that enables the government to make access to short-time work easier and reduce costs for companies.

German chancellor Angela Merkel had on Thursday described the coronavirus pandemic as an exceptional situation in every respect, and more extraordinary than the banking crisis, of 2008, as lives needed to be saved as well as the economy kept running.

Germanys leading economists this week had urged the government to act fast to protect the economy from financial damage during the pandemic. They called for tax cuts, part-time working hours, and state participation in companies  and said it was time for the government to waive its debt-break rule, which forbids it from taking on any new debt.

Corona cases climb

Robert Koch Institute director Lothar Wieler reported today that corona cases in Germany had risen to over 2,300  a significant increase from 1,565 on Wednesday. So far, six people have died.

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Merkel warned on Wednesday that up to 70% of the population of Germany is likely to contract the virus. European leaders broadly expect that figure of between 60% to 70% infected to be the case across all EU countries.

Merkel urged people to forego things they would normally do  like going to concerts  for the greater good of not transmitting the infection to vulnerable elderly people or those with chronic illnesses.

READ MORE: Merkel warns up to 70% of Germans likely to contract coronavirus

The chancellor said that since there is no vaccination or therapy against the virus, the focus must be gaining time to slow it down and ease the pressure on the hospital system. The Robert Koch Institute director said this week that the world cannot expect a vaccination against coronavirus before the end of the year, or even 2021.

Most German states have now banned any gatherings with more than 1,000 attendees, including theatre, opera and other cultural events. The states of Bavaria, Berlin, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, and Saarland will close down schools and kindergartens from Monday.
The Supreme Court has decided to limit its functioning due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and hold hearing of only six out of 15 benches on Monday.

The six benches will take up for hearing only urgent matters and no persons, except lawyers concerned, will be allowed inside its courtrooms.

According to the circular issued by the apex court on Friday, the six benches will comprise of Justices Arun Mishra and M R Shah, Justices U U Lalit and Vineet Saran, Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari, Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta, Justices L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhatt, Justices S K Kaul and Sanjiv Khanna.

On Monday and Friday of every week, the apex court usually functions with 15 benches and take up mostly miscellaneous matters.

Earlier in the day, a notification issued by the apex court said it had been decided that from Monday, it would take up for hearing only urgent matters.

It said that instead of the courts already notified for Monday, only six benches would be taking up urgent matters and no constitution bench or special bench matters would be taken up.

The circular said a revised list of matters to be taken up by these benches would be issued and the benches for next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday would be notified later.

The apex court has been mulling over the issue in its meetings held at the residence of Chief Justice of India S A Bobde on Thursday and Friday, as it took note of the Centre's March 5 advisory cautioning against mass gatherings and the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a 'pandemic'.

The apex court's notification, issued by its secretary general Sanjeev S Kalgaonkar, said it had been decided that its functioning would be restricted to urgent matters.

"On reviewing the advisory issued by the Government of India and in view of the opinion of public health experts, including medical professionals, and also considering the safety and welfare of all the visitors, litigants, lawyers, court staff, security, maintenance and support staff, student interns and media professionals, the competent authority has been pleased to direct that the functioning of the courts shall be restricted to urgent matters with such number of benches as may be found appropriate," the notification said.

"It is hereby notified that no persons, except the lawyers who are going to act in the matter that is either for argument or for making oral submissions or to assist along with one litigant only, shall be permitted in the courtroom," it said, adding that the mentioning of matters for urgent hearing would be made only before the mentioning officer.

The apex court has sought cooperation in this regard considering the importance of the safety measures to maintain public health.

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) secretary Ashok Arora had said on Thursday that a meeting was held at the residence of the CJI to discuss the coronavirus outbreak and the possibility of limiting the top court's functioning.

Besides the CJI and Arora , Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit, Attorney General K K Venugopal, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, and officials of Union Health Ministry and Union Law Ministry attended the meeting to discuss the issue.

India reported its second casualty due to coronavirus on Friday after a 68-year-old woman, whose son with a travel history abroad had tested positive, died in Delhi.

According to the Union Health Ministry, the number of novel coronavirus cases in India stands at 82, which include 16 Italians and a Canadian.

Several states across India went into battle mode to contain the spread of COVID-19, shutting down schools, theatres and colleges, and many public events, including the IPL, were postponed.

Cases of the infection have been reported from at least 11 states and territories, including Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala, where three patients were discharged last month after they recovered.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LEXINGTON, S.C., March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Employees of Centaurus Financial were out in force last weekend for the construction of a new trail in Harbison State Forest in Columbia, South Carolina. On hand was registered representative Matt Hawkins, who frequently cycles in the park.

This short, 1-mile long trail was created to allow both beginners and experienced hikers the opportunity to explore more of the park's lush greenery. The project offers schoolteachers and instructors and the children they teach to enjoy more of South Carolina's natural beauty.

Founded in the 1950s by the South Carolina Forestry Commission, Harbison State Forest is located along the Broad River and encompasses more than 2,200 acres of lush woodland, a stark contrast from the urban landscape just down the road. Harbison State Forest is managed by the Forestry Commission as the largest urban public green space in the Southeast.

Friends of Harbison State Forest is a nonprofit organization made up of nature lovers, runners, bikers, hikers, and adventurers with the sole purpose of preserving and promoting the recreational and educational aspects of the urban forest.

You can donate online to help Friends of Harbison Forest in their efforts.

The team at Centaurus Financial of Lexington, led by Rick Mantei, is committed to the midland's South Carolina area, supporting numerous initiatives such as FOHF.

Rick Mantei is the owner and founder of Cola Wealth Advisors. Securities and advisory services offered through Centaurus Financial, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC, a registered Investment Advisor. With the help of Kathy Nishnic, Atul Makharia, Lisa Mantei, and Cindy Chiellini, the team assists more than two thousand families in achieving their financial goals. Please visit our website for more information: https://www.colawealthadvisors.com/.

Contact: Jacob Spradley, (423) 928-5564, [email protected]

SOURCE Centaurus Financial, Inc.
In the wake of President Donald Trump's travel ban from Europe, Americans are scrambling as they figure out how to get home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Travelers on Thursday found that prices for major U.S. airlines had soared for flights back to the United States from Europe.

As of Thursday at 8 a.m. ET, one-way flights from Paris to New York on Friday through United Airlines appear to range from $2,400 to $5,700. From Paris to New York the same day through American Airlines, flights are shown for $2,000 to $7,300 on their website. And for the same parameters, Delta's website shows a range of $2,200 to $5,900.

American Airlines told USA TODAY Thursday that they are placing fare caps on flights to tackle this issue. There are already limited seats on most flights due to the spring break holiday.

"We are placing caps on fares for all cabins, on flights from Europe back to the U.S. that are affected by the government-imposed travel restrictions," the airline said in a statement provided by Senior Manager of Corporate Communications Andrea Koos.

USA TODAY has reached out to Delta Airlines and United Airlines for comment.

On Wednesday, Delta issued a travel waiver covering flights between the U.S. and Europe, raising the possibility that other carriers would follow suit. Delta said it will waive ticket change fees for passengers traveling to, from or through Europe and the U.K. through May 31. The waiver applies to travelers who purchased tickets before March 11.

Travelers who are scrambling to change or cancel their flights to Europe are also encountering long waits for a response from airline reservation centers and on Twitter. One traveler, @Quincy_Avery, asked Delta early Thursday: "I understand I'm sure you guys are swamped. I was given a call back time of 2 hours. It's been over 8 hours looking forward to hearing back soon."

"We don't know what we may have to do once we get back"

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Tennessee medical assistant Marie Boerger was scheduled to fly from Germany to Atlanta on Sunday but quickly changed her plans when she learned of the new travel restrictions.

It was 2 a.m. Thursday in Germany and her daughter-in-law started calling Delta Air Lines to change their flight. The phone lines were jammed.

"The wait was 4+ hours or the call would hang up,'' Boerger said via Facebook messenger.

They decided to go to the airport later in Stuttgart to see if Delta could help. The place was practically empty when they arrived, Boerger said, and they had a new flight within five minutes of arriving. The family is now leaving on a Friday flight through Paris. They did not have to pay any fees or a fare difference.

The big question now: "We do not know what we may have to do once we get back to the U.S.''

Vice President Pence on Thursday said returning passengers will have to self-quarantine for 14 days.

'We'll figure it out'

Haley Ohlund, a 20-year-old George Washington University student, got the news while traveling in Copenhagen after her study abroad program in Florence was canceled.

The program moved online and she proceeded with her previously-booked spring break trip. "I was just trying to kill the few days between my program ending and my spring break, which had been completely paid for, and then I had my flight home booked for the end of my spring break in about 10 days," Ohlund said.

Then, everything changed.

She booked a flight to leave at 11 a.m. local time on Thursday after seeing reports from the U.S. She "immediately" called her mom.

"Well get you out," her mom told her. "Well figure it out."

Her one-way ticket home after Trump's announcement was so expensive that it jumped thousands of dollars in just minutes.

"When I went to book it was $340 and it ended up being well over $1,000 10 minutes after," she said. "As I was clicking to book it just kept jumping up." In total? She spent about $1,500 to get from Copenhagen to Pittsburgh.

She's feeling calmer, but disappointed about the money and losing out on experiences.

"Everything was cut very short and it feels a bit unfair, even though I know that a lot of people are experiencing much worse around the globe," she said. "So Im trying to be optimistic and looking forward to going home but its quite disappointing."

Her university has told her she'd keep her credits but she remains concerned.

"I hope Im reimbursed for the housing I paid for," she said, adding that "Im not sure Ill get the same education" online as she would have gotten at her program in Florence, from a wine studies education class (which she cant legally take in the U.S.) to the ability to tour and learn at Italian museums and cathedrals.

'Trying to get home ... seems illogical'

Raquel Guarino just moved to Italy two-and-a-half weeks ago for a one-year master's program University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy.

Now, she feels safer there than she would flying back to the U.S.

"If I decided to go to home, I looked it up and with flights being canceled, I'd need to pass through at least three international airports crowded with people from all over Europe," the 28-year-old told USA TODAY. "Considering one of the advisories is to avoid crowded areas, trying to get home when thousands of others are doing the same seems illogical," she said.

In the historic center of Bra, Italy: Men practicing the one-meter distance rule before all residents were banned from going out in public for non-essential reasons.

When she landed in Milan on Feb. 23, she didn't know the virus had gotten to Italy. They took her temperature at the airport and she soon found out why.

"At that point I saw a few people with masks on at the airport and in Milan but it wasn't a big deal," she said.

Guarino dreamed of moving to Italy for almost 10 years and wanted "to do all kinds of traveling this year." Now, that's on hold.

"Every few days the situation here gotten slightly more intense," Guarino said.

Within a few days of landing, she was told her program would be delayed a few days. Then, with each government announcement, a few more days. It was most recently delayed until April 15. She was supposed to start her program on March 11.

She feels safe since she's in the small town of Bra, a place with approximately 30,000 people about two hours from Milan.

"Most outsiders don't really have a reason to visit here, and many folks in the town are very serious about containment and restricting activities," she says.

An empty street in historic center of Bra. If you notice the red snail, it's a symbol of the University of Gastronomic Sciences' presence in the town. Bra is the founding city for the Slow Food movement (hence the snail).

Another concern: Would she be able to return to Italy at all if she left?

"I've rented a place for a year and have just settled down here. So not knowing if I could come back to my place makes the situation more overwhelming. There really doesn't seem to be much information on that at all."

'Get out now'

Salvador Ochoa, a music photographer in Los Angeles, and his family were set to board a Virgin Atlantic flight from London to San Francisco on Thursday after a recommendation from a Virgin Atlantic agent.

She told them the situation is "changing rapidly." "She suggested we try and get out now that we can," Ochoa told USA TODAY.

He had been traveling with his two sisters and their husbands and kids as well as his brother. They went to Paris, Madrid and London was their last stop.

"We got to London last night and didnt get a chance to sight see when we were awaken by 2 a.m. text messages from family in Yuba City (in California) to get back ASAP," Ochoa said.

More: European Union leaders slam Trump's sweeping coronavirus travel ban

More: Q&A: What you need to know about Trump's travel ban from Europe due to coronavirus

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus Trump travel ban: Travelers scramble; fare caps announced
The coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. prompted a number of activities, events and programs to be suspended or canceled. This story will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.

OHIO

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced March 9 that three people from Cuyahoga County tested positive for COVID-19. As of March 16, there were 37 confirmed cases in Ohio and 361 people under investigation.

Statewide

The Ohio Department of Health signed an order March 12 banning mass gatherings of 100 or more people. That includes parades, fairs, festivals, conferences and sporting events.The order is in effect until DeWine rescinds it.

Next, DeWine ordered all K-12 schools to close, from March 17 to April 3, although the closure could extend beyond that. DeWine was the first governor in the nation to close schools statewide.

On March 15, the Ohio Department of Health issued an order that all bars and restaurants were to close to in-house customers at 9 p.m.. Establishments with take-out or delivery options could stay open for those services.

Ohio State University announced March 12 that it suspended face-to-face classes for the rest of the spring semester. Spring break was extended to March 22 and virtual learning is set to begin March 23.

Local

The Ohio Cattlemens Association canceled the Ohio Beef Expo, which was scheduled for March 19-22 in Columbus.

The East Ohio Women in Agriculture Conference, set for March 19 in Massillon, was canceled.

The Northeastern Ohio Forestry Association canceled its March 19 meeting. That meeting is rescheduled for May 15. The association is considering what to do about its planned April 24 banquet.

The Richland Soil and Water Conservation District board meeting, scheduled for March 19, is canceled.

The screening of the film SILO scheduled for March 30 at Quaker Cinema, in New Philadelphia, is canceled. It will be rescheduled for a date later this year.

The Damascus Ruritan is postponing its swiss steak dinner that was planned for March 21.

The McKinley Presidential Library and Museum in Canton and Campus Martius Museum in Marietta are both closed until further notice.

The Arms Family Museum and Tyler History Center in Youngstown are closed through April 3.

The Upton Association canceled its April 1 program.

The Wilderness Centers Interpretive Building, in Wilmot, will be closed until April 15.

The Sutliff Museum, in Warren, will be closed through April 7.

The Ohio Department of Health opened a call center to answer questions regarding coronavirus. The center will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. It can be reached at 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.

PENNSYLVANIA

The first two cases of coronavirus in Pennsylvania were confirmed March 6 in Wayne and Delaware counties. As of March 16, there were 76 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 670 people tested negative.

Statewide

Pennsylvania did not ban large gatherings, but on March 12, Gov. Tom Wolf strongly encouraged the suspension of events of 250 people or more. The Wolf administration also asked people to refrain from non-essential travel and discouraged people from going to recreational activities.

Wolf announced March 13 that all public K-12 schools will be closed for at least two weeks starting March 16. The closure may last longer

On March 15, Wolf ordered restaurants and bars in the five counties most affected by COVID-19 to end dine-in services for two weeks.

The next day, March 16, Wolf ordered all nonessential businesses statewide to close, including restaurants, bars, movie theaters, casinos and senior centers, for at least two weeks. The closures are not mandated. Theyre to be self-enforced.

Pennsylvania 4-H suspended all 4-H events, activities and club meetings on March 12 until further notice.

Penn State Extension canceled all public, in-person events it sponsors through April 5. That includes workshops, conferences and meetings. Some of them may be rescheduled for a later date or moved online.

Penn State University announced March 11 that classes would take place remotely from March 16 to April 3. In-person classes may resume April 6.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture announced March 13 that all public events scheduled for March at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex would be canceled. That includes the remainder of events Keystone Truck and Tractor Pull.

Local

The Annual Lawrence County 4-H Benefit Auction that was scheduled for March 21 has been postponed.

WEST VIRGINIA

No cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in West Virginia, although 80 have been tested for it.

Gov. Jim Justice announced March 13 that he was closing schools, starting March 16. Schools will be closed indefinitely.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (AJRD) (the Company) today announced that its Board of Directors authorized and approved a new share repurchase program allowing the Company to repurchase its outstanding common stock with an aggregate market value of up to $100 million, from time to time, over a period of up to 18 months.



Management has discretion as to whether any repurchase may be under the share repurchase program. The timing of any share repurchases will be based on available liquidity, cash flows and general market conditions. The repurchase program may be executed through various methods, including open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements in this release and in subsequent discussions with the Companys management are based on managements current expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainty and changes in circumstances, which could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance or achievements. All statements contained herein and in subsequent discussions with the Companys management that are not clearly historical in nature are forward-looking and the words anticipate, believe, expect, estimate, plan, and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Actual events or the actual future results of the Company may differ materially from any forward-looking statement due to these and other risks, uncertainties and significant factors. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement included in this release to reflect any changes in expectations with regard thereto or any changes in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Story continues

About Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc.

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., headquartered in El Segundo, California, is an innovative technology-based manufacturer of aerospace and defense products and systems, with a real estate segment that includes activities related to the entitlement, sale, and leasing of the Companys excess real estate assets. More information can be obtained by visiting the Companys websites at www.rocket.com or www.aerojetrocketdyne.com .

Contact information:

Investors: Kelly Anderson, investor relations 310-252-8155
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 16:58:26|Editor: huaxia

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Song Tianzhu installs saddles on a horse in Nannigou Village of Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, northwest China's Gansu Province, March 12, 2020. Taking full advantage of local vast grasslands and government's financial support for impoverished regions, the annual household income of Song Tianzhu's family has reached 200,000 yuan (about 28,553 U.S. dollars) through livestock breeding and tourism. In addition, Song took the lead in the foundation of a cooperative to boost other villagers' incomes. With the great efforts made by local government and villagers like Song, the Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County has already got rid of poverty at the beginning of 2020. (Xinhua/Fan Peishen)
Two police officers stand near a barricade in Khuong Trung Street, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, March 13, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Tat Dinh.

An alley on Khuong Trung Street, Thanh Xuan District in Hanoi was locked down Friday after a female flight attendant tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Barricades were erected around the attendant's house while authorities told people in the neighborhood to wear masks and refrain from getting near the area.

Three people in the attendant's family - her mother, husband and child - have been put in home quarantine.

The flight attendant, 30, tested positive with the Covid-19 virus once, Hanoi Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung said at a meeting Friday. Further tests are needed to officially put her in the infection list.

Vietnam Airlines says the attendant was on flight VN54 from London to Hanoi which landed at 5 a.m. on March 9.

She took time off from March 9 to 11. On March 10, she started coughing and had high fever. On March 11 morning, she took a taxi to a medical center for aviation employees for a health check-up, before going to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases 2 in the afternoon the same day. She tested positive for the Covid-19 virus on March 12.

The flight she served carried 221 passengers and crew members. The plane has been disinfected.

Hanoi authorities have tracked down 94 foreigners on the flight, most staying in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi authorities found.

Vietnam has officially confirmed 44 Covid-19 cases so far, 16 having been cured and discharged from hospitals. As of Thurday night, the country has quarantined around 268 suspected Covid-19 cases in multiple hospitals.

The Covid-19 outbreak has thus far spread to 127 countries and territories around the world, killing close to 5,000.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, second left, gives Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro the keys to the city during the Forum Of The Americas at the InterContinental Miami in Miami, Florida, on March 10, 2020. (Zak Bennett/AFP via Getty Images)

Miami Mayor Tests Positive for New Coronavirus After Contact With Brazilian Delegation

The mayor of Miami, Florida, tested positive for the new coronavirus in a case linked to the Brazilian delegation that spent time in the state over the weekend.

Francis Suarez was among the federal, state, and local officials who spent time with Brazilian officials in the Miami area through March 8. He said on Thursday he was self-quarantining after learning Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaros press secretary Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.

Suarez said in a video Friday that he was told he tested positive for COVID-19.

I feel completely healthy and strong. However, I am doing the responsible thing by working with the countys health department to take every precaution to ensure that not only my familys healthy, but everyone I came into contact with is healthy as well, he said.

People who shook hands with Suarez or were near him when he sneezed or coughed should isolate at home for 14 days and monitor for symptoms, which are similar to the flu and include fever, cough, and shortness of breath.

The government will continue running, Suarez said. He will lead the city remotely.

There are 17 COVID-19 total cases in Florida, the state Department of Health said on Thursday. Two patients have died of the illness.

Bolsonaro said on Friday that he tested negative for the virus.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez have also gone into isolation because they interacted with Brazils delegation.

Brazils Communication Secretary Fabio Wajngarten at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, in a 2019 file photograph. (Sergio Lima/AFP via Getty Images)

Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro, center, stands with President Donald Trump, second from left, Vice President Mike Pence, right, and Brazils Communications Director Fabio Wajngarten, behind Trump partially covered, during a dinner in Florida on March 7, 2020. (Alan Santos/Brazils Presidential Press Office via AP)

President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and other top U.S. officials spent time with the group at Mar-a-Lago, Trumps Florida resort.

Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.

No federal lawmakers or top Trump administration officials have tested positive for COVID-19. A Washington-based staffer for Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) tested positive, prompting the closure of the senators Washington office. The U.S. Capital was closed starting today to tourists and other nonessential visitors through the end of the month.

The new virus started in China last year and has spread to over 100 countries around the world. It is particularly dangerous for the elderly or those with underlying health conditions. Both groups that have been advised to avoid crowds and stay home as much as possible.

Ways to avoid contracting the illness include frequently washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer; not touching ones mouth, nose, or eyes with unwashed hands; regularly disinfecting doorknobs, tables, and other highly-used surfaces at home; and staying away from sick people.

About four out of five patients recover without medical intervention. The other 20 percent require hospitalization, with some requiring intensive care.

New York, California, Washington state, and Massachusetts have seen the most cases so far in the United States. All but three U.S. states have reported at least one case.
The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has cautioned the Minority not to make politics out of issues of the deadly coronavirus, but rather come together to fight the disease which knows no political colours.

This comes in response to calls by the Minority, pressuring the government to provide details about some US$100 million that President Akufo-Addo said had been allocated to help fight the novel virus.

While delivering an address to the nation on Wednesday, 11th March 2020, the President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo said he has directed the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to make available the cedi equivalent of US$100 million to enhance Ghana's Coronavirus preparedness and response plan.

This amount, according to President Akufo-Addo, is to fund the expansion of infrastructure, purchase of materials and equipment, and public education.

On the back of this, the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam Nartey George demanded that the government provides details on the source of funding of the US$100 million dollars allocated as part of measures to fight the deadly coronavirus since he does not trust the government when it comes to accountability of funds.

The Minority Spokesperson on Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, also asked the government to make the money available for the real work to be done.

But responding to these calls, the Information Minister on Eyewitness News noted that it will be better if the Minority desisted from politicising the issue.

Let me caution that this is not a matter that we should turned into a regular political banter that the Minority says its not good, the government says it is good. This is a potential national crisis that we have to rally behind the flag and fight together, he said.

He further said that the allocated amount of money was sourced from a combination of government of Ghana consolidated fund and donor partner fund. Thats what has come together to make this about $100 million envelope which has been earmarked for this battle. All funds are managed by the minister responsible for finance. They may be released to the Controller and Accountant General by warrant.

Coronavirus in Ghana

At an emergency press briefing by the Information Ministry on Thursday night, March 12, 2020, the Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang-Manu announced that two cases of the novel coronavirus had been confirmed in Ghana .

The two cases according to the Health Minister, tested positive after laboratory tests from the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research.

The cases according to the Health Minister were reported as 'imported cases' as both individuals returned to Ghana from Norway and Turkey.

Although the Minister did not disclose the identities of the two patients, Citi News sources say one is a Norwegian national, who's a senior official at the Norwegian Embassy in Ghana, and the other a Turkish citizen.

Universities beef up protective measures

Universities across the country have begun taking steps to prevent members of their communities from contracting the deadly novel coronavirus.

At the University of Cape Coast (UCC), all international conferences to be hosted by the University have been suspended until further notice.

The University has also suspended all international travel by staff.

The University of Ghana says it will not hesitate to cancel all mass programs including lectures and hall weeks if the need arises in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Officials of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have indicated that they have stepped up measures to help sensitize the university community.

citinewsroom
The Cross River State government, through its ministry of health, has donated millions of naira worth of equipment to the states isolation centre for coronavirus.

The centre is located at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Calabar.

Hospital beds, screening apparatus, air conditioners, examination beds, plastic tables, and chairs, bedside lockers, non-contact infrared thermometers, digital blood pressure equipment, stethoscope, digital thermometers, safety boots, washing machines, personal protective equipment, and mackintosh, were among the donated items.

The Commissioner for Health in Cross River state, Betta Edu, who handed over the items on Thursday to the isolation centre on behalf of the state governor, Ben Ayade, said there was no suspected or confirmed case of coronavirus in the state.

This isolation centre is not being set up because we wish to have such occurrences but because we want to be ready for any disease outbreak that requires isolation or quarantine, said Mrs Edu, a medical doctor.

This is of standard and far bigger than the temporal one we have at General Hospital Ogoja, she said.

She urged that the equipment be used judiciously to save lives and said the state government was ready to provide the centre with more equipment whenever the need arises.

The commissioner, on behalf of Governor Ayade, thanked the UCTH for the wonderful job the hospital has been doing in the health sector.

The Chief Medical Director of UCTH, Ikpeme Ikpeme, received the equipment on behalf of the hospital. He was represented by the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, Ogbu Ngim.

Mr Ngim, a professor, thanked Governor Ayade for having the interest of Cross Riverians at heart and the health commissioner Dr Betta Edu for her sleepless nights and tremendous efforts to seeing that the State remains free of this coronavirus.

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Mr Ngim thanked the commissioner for her regular visit to the isolation center and for always keeping in touch with UCTH to make sure everything is in place.

Let me formally inform us today that there is no single case of coronavirus in Cross River State, the cases of the two foreigners after thorough investigation and examination are not suggestive of the virus.

The state governor and the health commissioner have been up and doing and everything needed in addressing this pandemic has always been made available, Mr Ngim said.

The director-general of the states primary healthcare and chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association were among the dignitaries present at the event.

Governor Ayade, while meeting with the board of the UCTH and other stakeholders in the health sector about a month ago, had promised to support the hospital as it continues to collaborate with the state government to deliver quality healthcare to residents of the state.
The Chattanooga Chamber is postponing the April 1 Expo and Small Business Awards and "hopes to reschedule as soon as safely possible."

Officials said, "We know youre just as concerned as we are about the safety and health of our community.

"Weve been communicating with Hamilton County public health officials, city of Chattanooga officials and our own board members about COVID-19 and the impact on public health and the health of our local economy and our businesses, especially small business owners with limited resources.

"We made this decision after consulting with multiple local, regional and national officials.

At this time, smaller events in March are under discussion.

"We are in the process of setting up a call for Hamilton County Emergency Services and Homeland Security officials to answer questions from local businesses.

"We will continue to post event updates in the news section of our website and via our social media platforms."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  Three confirmed and suspected coronavirus patients tried to escape hospital admission and mandatory quarantine, police said on Friday.

A woman in San Juan allegedly attempted to escape authorities on Thursday after finding out she tested positive for coronavirus disease or COVID-19, Eastern Police District Chief Jaime Santos said.

He said the woman escaped police escorts from San Juan and boarded her car. Santos said the woman was chased until she reached the parking lot of a hospital in Quezon City. The police official said they successfully negotiated with the woman for two hours to have herself admitted in a hospital.

San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said when the woman found out she tested positive, she headed to her preferred hospital. When she was told she couldn't be accomodated, the local health officials and police "escorted" her to a different hospital.

The police officers who escorted her will undergo 14-day quarantine as ordered by Metro Manila police chief Debold Sinas, Santos said.

Meanwhile, two patients under investigation escaped a quarantine area in Sarangani Province. Police report said the two persons suspected of having coronavirus disease escaped to Davao to catch a flight to Manila in the hopes of flying to Japan. The police launched a manhunt and were able to track them in a Davao hotel on Friday.

Police said the siblings are now confined in the isolation facility of Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City.

Authorities can enforce mandatory quarantine after President Rodrigo Duterte placed the country under a state of public health emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Department of Health said Monday.
Ivory Coast's ruling party has named the prime minister as its candidate for the October presidential poll, after President Alassane Ouattara ended months of speculation and said he would not seek a controversial third term. The choice of Amadou Gon Coulibaly, a close friend and confidant of the president, comes ahead of a challenging election for the west African country -- the world's top cocoa producer and home to more than 25 million people. A 2010 vote ended in violence between rival political factions which left 3,000 people dead. "I am aware of the magnitude of the responsibility and the magnitude of the burden," Coulibaly said after being nominated late Thursday by the Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace, or RHDP. "I have appealed to all my sisters and brothers to be united," he added. "We must win these elections in the first round." The constitution allows only two presidential terms, but Ouattara, 78, had said he would be able to stand due to a constitutional change in 2016 -- a claim rejected by the opposition. Analysts say it was essential to announce Ouattara's choice of candidate quickly. "The RHDP has stepped up the tempo to give Amadou Gon Coulibaly time to campaign and be visible," said political scientist Jean Alabro. "From the moment Ouattara was no longer a candidate, he had to readjust the strategy in order to mobilise around the new leader, and to remove any hint of another candidate," added political scientist Arthur Banga. - In president's shadow - While the choice of Coulibaly was not unexpected, the announcement -- made without a vote and a week after Ouattara ruled out running in the October 31 race -- came as a surprise. The 61-year-old has spent his career in the shadow of the president. "I've been learning alongside President Alassane Ouattara for 30 years," he said Thursday. He was the president's secretary general from the time Ouattara came to power in 2010 until his appointment as prime minister in 2017. Before that he was a senior civil servant and minister of agriculture. He was trained in France and, like Ouattara, has a good grasp of international finance. "If we want our country to continue to evolve in the spirit of (Ouattara's) governance, Gon (Coulibaly) is best placed," said Hamed Bakayoko, the defence minister. Coulibaly is from a large family in the country's north and is very influential among traditional chiefs. He was mayor of Ivory Coast's fourth-largest city, Korhogo, from 2001 to 2018. Ouattara had kept Ivorians guessing over his political future, saying last year that he could run again if his traditional rivals were candidates. Since the death of founding president Felix Houphouet-Boigny in 1993, Ivory Coast politics have been dominated by three men: Henri Konan Bedie, Laurent Gbagbo and Ouattara. Gbagbo, who refused to step down after losing elections in 2010, was acquitted by the International Criminal Court last year on charges relating to the unrest triggered by his bid to cling on to power. Bedie, who will be 86 during the October election, has not ruled out running. Ivory Coast Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly is a close friend and confidant of the president Coulibaly, centre left, with the president in Abidjan
The Real Therapy and Beauty Point is the oldest and biggest complete day spa located in the heart of Thamel Kathmandu.



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Hours after stating that schools would not be closed over the coronavirus, officials with the Philadelphia School District changed their tune. The district is closing 63 schools on March 13 because of staffing shortages caused by Governor Tom Wolfs efforts to curb non-essential travel for those in Montgomery County, which has had the majority of positive cases of coronavirus in Pennsylvania. Residents of that county make up 11 percent of the school district employees. The schools being closed have employees from Montgomery County that make up 15 percent or more of the staff.

Montgomery County residents are being told to not report to work until March 27 and to avoid all other non-essential travel. While the 63 schools being closed are, so far, only closed for March 13 that could change.

Since the onset of the coronavirus situation in the Philadelphia area, it has been the goal of our School District to safely keep our doors open as long as possible, said superintendent William Hite in a press release. The Philadelphia communities we serve rely on us for the many public school services we provide, including breakfast and lunch meals, shelter and health services. Unfortunately, the current set of circumstances make it difficult for us to keep all of our schools open.

Here is the list of schools closed on March 13, per the Philadelphia School Districts press release:

AMY at James Martin

AMY Northwest

Anna B. Day School

Anna L. Lingelbach School

Anne Frank School

Baldi Middle School

Benjamin Franklin Elementary School

Building 21

Cayuga School

Central High School

Charles W. Henry SChool

Clara Barton School

Comly School

Eleanor C. Emlen School

Ellwood School

Engineering and Science High School

Feltonville Arts and Sciences

Feltonvile Intermediate

Fitler Academics Plus

Franklin S. Edmonds School

General Louis Wagner Middle School

Grover Washington Jr. Middle School

Henry H. Houston School

Hopkinson School

J. Hampton Moore School

James Dobson School

James Logan School

Jay Cook Elementary School

Jenks Academy Arts and Sciences

John F. McCloskey School

John Moffet SChool

Joseph Greenberg School

Joseph Pennell Elementary

Jules E. Mastbaum High SChool

Julia Ward Howe School

Juniata Park Academy

Kenderton Elementary

Lankenau High School

Martin Luther King High School

Murrell Dobbins High School

Northeast High School

Olney Elementary School

Parkway-Northwest High School

Pennypack House School

Philadelphia High School for Girls

Philadelphia Military Academy

Potter-Thomas School

Randolph Technical High School

Rhawnhurt School

Richmond School

Roxborough High School

Tanner Duckrey School

Thomas K. Finletter School

Samuel Fels High School

Samuel Pennypacker School

Shawmont School

Solomon Solis-Cohen School

Vaux Big Picture High School

Walter B. Saul High School

West Philadelphia High School

William H. Loesche School

William Rowen School

Woodrow Wilson Middle School

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Albert Bourla, chief executive officer of Pfizer pharmaceutical company, arrives to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Pfizer just made it mandatory for all "customer-facing" employees in the United States and Puerto Rico to work remotely, according to an email viewed by CNBC.

The drug maker, in a note to workers from its newly formed COVID-19 "task force," said that employee health and safety is the priority. The policy will be implemented on Monday of next week, and the company said it would hold phone calls to discuss the new guidance with its workers.

"We are asking that you cease in-person engagement and use virtual customer tools where possible. This decision has been made out of an abundance of caution, with the aim to mitigate the risk of exposure to the virus for colleagues and our community," the note addressed to sales reps reads. Other employees at Pfizer have been given guidance on flexible working arrangements depending on their location.

The company employs more than 88,000 workers globally, but does not disclose how many of them are salespeople. However, large pharmaceutical companies typically employ big salesforces, and the number of affected employees is probably in the thousands. One person at the company, who asked not to be named discussing internal matters, estimated the number of affected people around 10,000.

Pfizer joins other large companies, like Twitter and Cisco, which have now moved from making remote work optional to requiring that some employees stay at home.

A spokesperson for Pfizer told CNBC that the company made the decision to help limit the spread of the virus: "All Pfizer customer facing colleagues in the U.S and Puerto Rico will use virtual customer tools to maintain important contact with health care providers and other customers."

"We will continue to re-assess this decision and continue regular communications with our customers," they added.

Pfizer on Friday also outlined its five-point plan to battle the coronavirus as it continues its spread across the globe. In a press release, it described how it is converging a "SWAT team of our leading virologists, biologists, chemists, clinicians, epidemiologists, vaccine experts, pharmaceutical scientists and other key experts to focus solely on addressing this pandemic."

Trump on Friday declared a national emergency to fight the coronavirus. There are now more than 125,000 cases worldwide.

Correction: Pfizer's work from home mandate applies only to salespeople in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Brexit trade talks due to take place between the UK and EU in London next week have been cancelled due to the coronavirus epidemic, as Boris Johnson warned more families would see their loved ones die from the virus.

The prime minister said Covid-19 was the worst public health crisis for a generation as the governments chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, warned up to 10,000 people in the UK were likely infected with the disease.

Mr Johnson chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on Thursday during which he moved Britains response to the outbreak to the delay phase and implemented new measures to try to protect the elderly and vulnerable.

He said anyone with coronavirus symptoms, however mild, such as a continuous cough or high temperature, should self-isolate for seven days.

The prime minister also said school trips abroad should be stopped, while people over 70 with serious medical conditions should not go on cruises.

It came as two more deaths were announced in British hospitals and the number of people in the UK who have officially tested positive for coronavirus reached 596. Ten people have now died in the UK after testing positive for Covid-19.

Mr Johnson said there was no need to close schools yet as the scientific advice is that this could do more harm than good.

He said this may change at some point and in the future, if somebody is taken ill, their entire household could be told to self-isolate.

That measure is not being advised yet, the prime minister said, but he added: I want to signal now that this is coming down the track.

Weve all got to be clear, this is the worst public health crisis for a generation, he said.

Some people compare it to seasonal flu, alas that is not right.

Due to the lack of immunity this disease is more dangerous.

It is going to spread further and I must level with you, I must level with the British public: many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.

 Up to 10,000 people in UK infected with coronavirus, officials say

Stressing the need to protect others, Mr Johnson said: If you have coronavirus symptoms, however mild, either a new continuous cough or a high temperature, then you should stay at home for at least seven days to protect others and help slow the spread of the disease.

He said the government was also considering the question of banning major public events such as sporting fixtures.

The prime minister made the announcement as:

The FTSE 100 closed the day down by more than one 10th as fears over Covid-19 sparked the indexs worst fall since 1987

The World Health Organisation said it was deeply concerned some countries are not handling the pandemic with the level of political commitment needed to control it

Several universities said they were ending face-to-face lessons

The Electoral Commission recommended local elections in May be postponed

Scotlands first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said mass gatherings of over 500 people in Scotland are set to be restricted

Ireland announced the closure of schools and tourist attractions until the end of the month

Cruise companies began postponing trips

Philip Jansen, chief executive of BT Group, was confirmed to have tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday afternoon

The chief medical officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty, said, in agreement with counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the risk rating from coronavirus has been raised to high.

Explaining the advice to self-isolate for seven days, Prof Whitty acknowledged it was something which will interfere with their lives and interfere with their work and their social life in quite significant ways.

But he said it helps to protect older and more vulnerable people and would also reduce, and possibly delay, the peak of the epidemic, making it easier for the NHS to cope.

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 minister added: There is no escaping the reality that these measures will cause severe disruption across our country for many months.

The best scientific advice is that this will help us slow the disease and save lives.

In a message to the elderly, Mr Johnson said that although the disease was particularly dangerous for them, the vast majority would experience a mild-to-moderate illness.

He said the most dangerous period was still some weeks away  and Professor Whitty added that the elderly would soon be told to stay home.

Additional reporting by agencies
Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of permanent loss is the risk I worry about... and every practical investor I know worries about. When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. As with many other companies Total Gabon (EPA:EC) makes use of debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for Total Gabon

What Is Total Gabon's Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of June 2019 Total Gabon had US$43.3m of debt, an increase on US$2.16m, over one year. However, it does have US$426.2m in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of US$382.9m.

ENXTPA:EC Historical Debt, March 12th 2020

How Strong Is Total Gabon's Balance Sheet?

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Total Gabon had liabilities of US$225.3m falling due within a year, and liabilities of US$1.95b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of US$426.2m and US$426.6m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$1.32b.

This deficit casts a shadow over the US$530.0m company, like a colossus towering over mere mortals. So we definitely think shareholders need to watch this one closely. After all, Total Gabon would likely require a major re-capitalisation if it had to pay its creditors today. Total Gabon boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load, even if it does have very significant liabilities, in total.

Story continues

Fortunately, Total Gabon grew its EBIT by 7.8% in the last year, making that debt load look even more manageable. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But you can't view debt in total isolation; since Total Gabon will need earnings to service that debt. So when considering debt, it's definitely worth looking at the earnings trend. Click here for an interactive snapshot.

Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. Total Gabon 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. Happily for any shareholders, Total Gabon actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last two years. That sort of strong cash generation warms our hearts like a puppy in a bumblebee suit.

Summing up

While Total Gabon does have more liabilities than liquid assets, it also has net cash of US$382.9m. And it impressed us with free cash flow of US$206m, being 146% of its EBIT. So we don't have any problem with Total Gabon's use of debt. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. To that end, you should be aware of the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Total Gabon .

When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.

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 Bureau of Public Safety (BPS) has applauded President Akufo-Addos directive for the release of funds to fight the deadly coronavirus in Ghana.

BPS commendation comes after President Akufo-Addo in a national address disclosed that a cedi equivalent of $100 million dollars has been made available to combat the pandemic.

Ghana recorded two cases of coronavirus on Thursday, March 12, 2020.

The Health Ministry said the infected persons included a Norwegian and Turkish citizen who imported the virus into Ghana.

In an interview with Citi News, Executive Director of the Bureau, Nana Yaw Akwada suggested that a large portion of the money should be channelled into infrastructure and public sensitization.

Allocating that amount of money is in order. We are looking at the state channelling all that money into the public health system especially. We need to strengthen our surveillance system so that cases could be detected early. Severe forms of coronavirus infection require the use of ventilators. Currently, our investigations show that Korle Bu being one of the centres has only two ventilators which are inadequate. So I think we can use that money for the equipment and infrastructure side. We are looking at Education because we think every Ghanaian needs to know about it. So we are expecting that within the shortest possible time, awareness campaigns will be rolling out.

The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has been directed to make available the cedi equivalent of US$100 million to enhance Ghana's Coronavirus preparedness and response plan.

This amount, according to the President, is to fund the expansion of infrastructure, purchase of materials and equipment , and public education.

Citizens have been advised to desist from foreign travels as much as possible as the novel coronavirus assumes pandemic status.

This advice comes after the President temporarily suspended foreign travels for all government officials as part of the government's measures to prevent an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Ghana.

Akufo-Addo urged officials to make use of technology during the travel ban .

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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Fri, March 13, 2020 15:15 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a5e9e5 1 Health coronavirus,COVID-19,antimalarial-drug,Wuhan-coronavirus Free

A pharmacologist from Bandungs Padjajaran University in West Java has called for Indonesian scientists to carry out further studies on the efficacy of chloroquine phosphate, an antimalarial drug, to be a possible cure for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Keri Lestari, a professor at the universitys pharmacology and clinical pharmacy department, said research in China had suggested that chloroquine phosphate, a derivative substance from quinine  a component extracted from the bark of a cinchona tree commonly cultivated in West Java  had a curative effect on COVID-19.

"Scientists have tested thousands of medicines, some showing promising results [to cure COVID-19], one of them is chloroquine phosphate," she told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil has also urged universities to carry out further studies on the potency of chloroquine phosphate to cure coronavirus, which on Wednesday was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Read also: Govt to involve universities, medical experts in fight against COVID-19: Moeldoko

Keri explained that research into chloroquine phosphate as a cure for COVID-19 needed to be done in a laboratory with level-III bio safety standards.

"Such lab standards are necessary in conducting research on infectious diseases. Padjadjaran University, Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java and the Bogor Agricultural University in West Java have laboratories with such standards, she said.

Under normal circumstances, she said, such research would take a long time because researchers needed to carry out clinical trials. But to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, researchers in Indonesia could use prior research conducted by Chinese experts.

"China had conducted a toxicity study as well, so we only need to find the substance effectivity to [kill] coronavirus. We don't need to start from zero," she said, adding that the country already had a Tea and Quinine Research Center in Ciwidey, West Java.

Read also: How bioinformatics bolster the fight against the coronavirus

The cultivation of quinine in Indonesia, especially on the island of Java, was pioneered in 1855 by Frans Wilhem Junghuhn, a German-Dutch botanist and geologist. Haryanto Kunto, the author of Semerbang Bunga in Bandung Raya, said Junghuhn had increased the number of quinine plants in Java from 167 to 1.3 million in six-and-a-half years.

Since then until World War II broke out, Indonesia supplied 90 percent of the world's quinine powder, producing 11,000-12,400 dry cinchona bark every year.

However, the West Java Plantation Agency recorded that cinchona plantations had continuously decreased in recent years. In 2017, West Java had 1,112 hectares of cinchona plantations producing 239 tons of quinine each year. While in 2013, cinchona plantations in West Java were recorded at 1,147 hectares with a production capacity of 285 tons. (nal)
Congratulations, jamuborobudur.com got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site:

Jamuborobudur.com scored 72 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 3.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 14 Oct 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the jamuborobudur homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if jamuborobudur has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the jamuborobudur homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. The total number of people who shared the jamuborobudur homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the jamuborobudur homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the jamuborobudur homepage on Twitter + the total number of jamuborobudur followers (if jamuborobudur has a Twitter account).

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE Jamu Borobudur - Ramuan Tradisional Indonesia DESCRIPTION PT Industri Jamu Borobudur mulai memproduksi Obat Herbal siap pakai sejak tahun 1979. PT Industri Jamu Borobudur menjadi produsen Jamu terkemuka di Indonesia. KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS borobudur, herbal, borobudur natural, herbal industry, melancarkan, account, extract



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 description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE HTML 5.0 CHARSET AND LANGUAGE Indonesian (Indonesia) UTF-8Indonesian (Indonesia) DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER LiteSpeed (PHP/5.3.27) OPERATIVE SYSTEM

Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) The language of jamuborobudur.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Type of server and offered services. Character set and language of the site. Operative System running on the server.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for jamuborobudur.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

FACEBOOK PAGE LINK FOUND FACEBOOK PAGE www.facebook.com/Borobudur.Herbal?v=wall&ref=ts DESCRIPTION LIKES PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT PAGE TYPE TIMELINE PAGE NO TIMELINE

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 description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The URL of the found Facebook page. The type of Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The total number of people who like website Facebook page.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK FOUND TWITTER PAGE twitter.com/#!/BorobudurHerbal DESCRIPTION Bringing health to people ACCOUNT CREATED ON 31 Mar 2010 LOCATION TWEETS 4 FOLLOWERS 65 LISTED 0
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

The San Francisco Unified School District will offer free breakfast and lunch to children throughout the city during the temporary closure of schools to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The district will provide up to 11,600 healthy breakfasts and lunches per day to students at pick-up sites around the city to ensure they do not go hungry during the closures. The district also announced Thursday that it would close schools through April 3, when students would have returned from spring break under normal circumstances.

Breakfast and lunch will be made available at eight locations around the city beginning March 17 and an additional six locations beginning March 18. Meals will be available on a first-come, first-served basis and will include vegetables, fresh fruit and milk. The district is also exploring offering dinner to students in need.

"We are committed to continuing to provide healthy meals for our students over the next several weeks while students are not in school," district Superintendent Vincent Matthews said. "We are grateful for the support we already receive to make this happen and would appreciate additional support from the community to help us keep our students fed."

When schools are in session, the district provides meals to nearly 10,000 students every day. The district will coordinate meal services with the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management and the Red Cross.

The district also plans to collaborate with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank to co-locate food pantries at meal pick-up sites during the closures, which would offer adults access to groceries as well.

"Now, more than ever, it is important that we are able to get healthy food out to the community," San Francisco-Marin Food Bank Executive Director Paul Ash said. "We are collaborating closely with SFUSD and will be working to provide food pantry distributions at all of the sites that remain open."

District officials announced the three-week closure Friday as a pre-emptive measure to prevent the coronavirus' spread rather than close schools reactively as confirmed cases pop up. The district had already closed Glen Park Elementary School, Lakeshore Elementary School and Lowell High School due to potential exposures.

All schools across the district will undergo a deep cleaning during the closure window in an effort to eradicate any potential remnants of the virus. During that time, the district will also cancel its supplemental services such as childcare, health services and extracurricular activities.

The San Francisco Public Library and the city's Recreation and Park Department said Friday that they will help pick up the slack for childcare, beginning Monday. Recreation and Park facilities will support students in kindergarten through fifth grade from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. while public library branches will support students in grades six through 12 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Parents of children up to 5 years old can contact the city's Office of Early Care and Education for information on private childcare providers.

K-12 childcare will be available Monday through Friday until at least March 31. All childcare locations will be subject to disinfection and sanitation standards for coronavirus as recommended by public health officials.

"During this time, health care workers and other essential staff need to be able to keep working and responding to this public health emergency," San Francisco Mayor London Breed said. "With this change to our libraries and recreation facilities, young people whose parents need to respond to (coronavirus) will have a safe place to go."

As a result, all 28 of the city's libraries will close to the public through March 31. Online library services like e-books, audiobooks, online magazines, streaming movies and more will still be available to library patrons, according to the city.

The district will offer free meals through March 27 with the potential to expand to the end of spring break April 3. Students can pick up breakfast and lunch at applicable sites between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.

A list of pick-up sites can be found at sfusd.edu/schoolfood. Local residents and organizations can also contact the district's Student Nutrition Services program at cauchonr@sfusd.edu to provide funding for student meal services.

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.
Keysight Technologies validated an innovative new software approach, leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics, in Nokias 5G base station manufacturing processes, significantly improving test efficiency.

The two companies have expanded a collaboration to help the leading network equipment manufacturer optimize test processes critical in advanced manufacturing. Keysight combined expertise in automated test and cloud-computing with machine learning (ML) applied to Nokias historical manufacturing data to demonstrate significant reductions in test times. Following the successful validation, Nokia has moved to implement Keysights advanced AI software into the vendors 5G manufacturing processes.

5G equipment is considerably more complex compared to legacy technology equipment, which is increasing test times in manufacturing processes. As 5G deployments ramp up around the world, manufacturers of 5G equipment look for ways to optimize test processes, allowing them to maintain competitive delivery schedules. Keysight used advanced software technology developed by Keysight Laboratories, the companys applied research arm, to analyze vast amounts of historical manufacturing data provided by Nokia. This allowed Nokia to make data driven test strategy decisions and develop optimized manufacturing test plans.

Giampaolo Tardioli, vice president and general manager of Keysights network access group, said, Keysights extended 5G collaboration with Nokia, initiated more than three years ago, signals an inflection point in the commercialization of the next generation of mobile communications. By combining leading hardware and advanced software solutions, Keysight is well-positioned to help wireless manufacturers such as Nokia capture the full potential of 5G.

The new advanced AI software capabilities will be integrated into the companys PathWave Software Suite. Keysights close collaborations, multi-domain technology expertise in areas such as AI and cloud-based test capabilities will help a wider industry address complex manufacturing test requirements.

Erja Sankari, vice president of Supply Chain Engineering at Nokia, said, Nokias 5G technology will make the extraordinary come alive for every industry, every business and every experience. Close collaborations such as the one we enjoy with Keysight help us create world-leading intelligent factories and support our strategy to deliver 5G solutions that exceed customers expectations.
Seoul and Rome took different approaches to combating the spread with significant contrast in outcomes.

In Italy, millions are locked down and more than 1,000 people have died from the coronavirus.

But in South Korea, which was hit by the disease at about the same time, only a few thousand are quarantined and 67 people died.

More:

The story of the two outbreaks illustrates a difference in approach.

Italy started out testing widely, then narrowed the focus so that now, authorities do not have to process hundreds of thousands of tests. But theres a trade-off: They cant see whats coming and are trying to curb the movements of the countrys entire population of 60 million people to contain the disease.





In South Korea, authorities are testing hundreds of thousands of people for infections and tracking potential carriers like detectives, using mobile phone and satellite technology.

Both countries saw their first cases of the disease called COVID-19 in late January.

South Korea has since reported nearly 8,000 confirmed cases, after testing more than 222,000 people.

In contrast, Italy has more than 12,000 confirmed cases after carrying out more than 73,000 tests on an unspecified number of people.

Epidemiologists say it is not possible to compare the numbers directly. But some say the different outcomes point to an important insight: Aggressive and sustained testing is a powerful tool for fighting the virus.

Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, said extensive testing can give countries a better picture of the extent of an outbreak. When testing in a country is limited, he said, the authorities have to take bolder actions to limit the movement of people.

Im uncomfortable with enforced lockdown-type movement restrictions, said Konyndyk. China did that, but China is able to do that. China has a population that will comply with that.

Previous lessons

Italy and South Korea are more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) apart, but there are several similarities when it comes to coronavirus.

Both countries main outbreaks were initially clustered in smaller cities or towns, rather than in a major metropolis  which meant the disease quickly threatened local health services.

Both confirmed their first cases after doctors decided to ignore testing guidelines.

South Korea, which has a slightly smaller population than Italy at about 50 million people, has around 29,000 people in self-quarantine. It has imposed lockdowns on some facilities and at least one apartment complex hit hardest by outbreaks. But so far no entire regions have been cut off.

Seoul says it is building on lessons learned from an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2015 and working to make as much information available as possible to the public.

South Korea is also enforcing a law that grants the government wide authority to access data: CCTV footage, GPS tracking data from phones and cars, credit card transactions, immigration entry information, and other personal details of people confirmed to have an infectious disease.

The authorities can then make some of this public, so anyone who may have been exposed can get themselves  or their friends and family members  tested.





In addition to helping work out who to test, South Koreas data-driven systems help hospitals manage their pipeline of cases.

People found positive are placed in self-quarantine and monitored remotely through an app or checked regularly in telephone calls until a hospital bed becomes available. When this occurs, an ambulance picks the person up and takes them to a hospital with air-sealed isolation rooms.

This approach comes at the cost of some privacy. South Koreas system is an intrusive mandatory measure that depends on people surrendering what, for many in Europe and the US, would be a fundamental right of privacy.

Traditional responses such as locking down affected areas and isolating patients can be only modestly effective, and may cause problems in open societies, says South Koreas Deputy Minister for Health and Welfare Kim Gang-lip.

In South Koreas experience, he told reporters on Monday, lockdowns mean people participate less in tracing contacts they may have had. Such an approach, he said, is close-minded, coercive and inflexible.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in the Senate subway area of the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 4, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Sen. Lindsey Graham Self Quarantines Over Coronavirus Exposure

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) became the latest lawmaker to self-isolate over potential or confirmed exposure to the new coronavirus after a member of the Brazilian delegation to the United States later tested positive for COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.

Graham, 64, was among the lawmakers who spent time with the delegation at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trumps resort in Florida.

Fabio Wajngarten, press secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the delegation.

Senator Graham was at Mar-a-Lago last weekend, Grahams office said in a statement. He has no recollection of direct contact with the President of Brazil, who is awaiting results of a coronavirus test, or his spokesman who tested positive.

The move to self-quarantine was made out of an abundance of caution and upon the advice of his doctor. Hell continue his work from home.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez went into isolation on Thursday because of their contact with Bolsonaros delegation. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), another official who came into contact with the delegation, said in a statement that he had no interaction with the staff member who tested positive.

The Office of Attending Physician advised Rubio there was no need to self-quarantine or be tested.

Brazils Communication Secretary Fabio Wajngarten at Planalto Palace in Brasilia in 2019. (Sergio Lima/AFP via Getty Images)

Bolsonaro was tested for the new virus but results havent returned yet, his son Eduardo Bolsonaro said late Thursday.

Trump, National Security Advisor Robert OBrien, White House advisor Ivanka Trump, and other top officials met with Bolsonaro in Florida over the weekend. Bolsonaros delegation was in the United States for three days.

Pictures showed Wajngarten posing with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Trumps press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the White House was made aware of reports that the official tested positive after visiting Mar-a-Lago last weekend.

Exposures from the case are being assessed, which will dictate next steps. Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time, she said in a statement.

As stated before, the White House Medical Unit and the United States Secret Service has been working closely with various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First & Second Families, and all White House staff healthy.

President Donald Trump, center, speaks with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, left, during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 7, 2020. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump told reporters on Thursday that he wasnt worried about Wajngarten testing positive.

Lets put it this way, Im not concerned, he said.

We had dinner together in Florida at Mar-a-Lago with the entire delegation, Trump added. I dont know if the press aide was there. If he was there, he was there. But, we did nothing very unusual. We sat next to each other for a period of time, had a great conversation. Well find out what happens.

No members of Congress or the White House have tested positive for the virus so far. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), closed her office after a staff member tested positive for the virus, the first known case on Capitol Hill.
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia on Friday banned mass gatherings until May at the earliest, and its prime minister said the coronavirus epidemic had taken hold in the country for the foreseeable future as a second wave of infections spread.

Muhyiddin Yassin also said Malaysia's tourism sector had likely suffered nearly 3.4 billion ringgit ($800 million) in losses in the first two months of 2020, and that the outbreak was expected to cut full-year gross domestic product by between 0.8% and 1.2%.

"Immediate steps need to implemented ...to reduce the impact of the pandemic on the nation's economy," he said in a televised address, adding that the government would ensure a $4.7 billion stimulus package announced last month was quickly and fairly implemented.

The health ministry said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had risen to 197, up 39 from Thursday, though with no fatalities.

At least 40 have been linked to a religious event on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur that was attended by about 10,000 people from several countries.

Muhyiddin said the country was facing a "second wave" of infections, adding: "Based on current trends, this epidemic is expected to go on for a reasonably long period of time. It will not end in the near future."

To contain the spread of the virus, all gatherings including international meetings, sports, social and religious events would be canceled or postponed until after April, he said.

Southeast Asia's third-largest economy will also maintain a ban on all arrivals from Hubei, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in China, Hokkaido in Japan, and from Italy, Iran and South Korea.

On Thursday, Malaysia also imposed a travel ban on all arrivals from Denmark, effective Saturday.

($1 = 4.2770 ringgit)

(Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Editing by Alison Williams and John Stonestreet)
Make room for the God who "does not remain in His blissful eternity and in His infinite light, but makes himself close, becomes flesh, descends into the darkness, inhabits lands alien to him". "Let each one of us be concrete and respond to this. 'Yes, yes, I would like Jesus to come but like this, that I do not have to touch him; this, no, and this yes...'. Everyone has his own sin - let us call it by name. And He is not afraid of our sins: He came to heal us. At least let us let Him see it, let Him see the sin".
Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has reacted to the dethronement of Malam Muhammed Sanusi as Emir of Kano by the state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.

KanyiDaily had reported that Sanusi was dethroned on Monday, March 9, 2020, over alleged disrespect to the office of the state governor and other government agencies.

Consequently, the monarch was reportedly banished to Nasarawa State where hes expected to spend the rest of his life in exile.

Reacting to Sanusis ordeal and Gandujes action in a statement entitled For Whom the gates open wide, Wole Soyinka said those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.

The Nobel laureate lamented that Governor Ganduje does not have friends who could have advised him against the dethronement of Sanusi.

He said: What a pity Ganduje lacked friends who could have saved him from himself! Insofar as one can acknowledge certain valued elements in traditional institutions, the man he thinks he has humiliated has demonstrated that he is one of the greatest reformers even of the feudal order. That is beyond question, a position publicly manifested in both act and pronouncements.

By contrast, Gandujes conduct, apart from the innate travesty of justice in this recent move, is on a par with the repudiated colonial order, one that out-feudalised feudalism itself, and is synonymous with authoritarianism of the crudest temper.

The record shows, in this particular instance, that it is one that embodies modernised cronyism and alienated pomp and power  never mind the cosmetic gestures such as almajiri reformation. It has proved one of the worst examples of a system that enables even the least deserving to exercise arbitrary, unmerited authority that beggars even the despotism of the most feudalistic traditional arrangements.

Emir Sanusi was a one-man EFCC sanitisation squad in the banking system taking on the powerful corrupters of that institution. Unblinking, he trod on the interests of powerful beneficiaries of a worm-infested sector and, in the process, created permanent enemies.

By contrast, confidence in immunity has catapulted his tormentor to the ranks of the most notorious public faces of the disorder that Sanusi strove to eradicate. Obviously, vengeance lay in wait, and he was not unaware of it. The signs were omnipresent and Sanusi acknowledged their imminence.

I know this for a fact. Apart from exchanges some mutual associates  we held, not so long ago, a phone conversation during his visit to London, just after the shrinking of his domain signaled the commencement of a systematic attrition of his status.

I assured him I would shortly fulfill my long-standing promise to pay him a visit. He sounded very much aware of the impending fall of the axe of vengefulness and power primitivism. I can testify that he remained totally unfazed.

Most important of all, and most pertinently for the nation, Sanusi was one of the early warning voices against religious extremism whose bitter fruits the nation is currently reaping.

Those who wish to understand how deeply he had anticipated and explored the potential consequences of this menace should refer to his novelette: The Adulteress Diary, a work that exposes and satirises the hypocrisy of fundamentalist Islamic clericalism from the inside, that is, from the authoritative point of view of an Islamic scholar.

This work did not endear him to hardcore fundamentalist purveyors of social division, but even those opponents would have been wise to pay heed to his exposition, and its implicit warning. Then perhaps even if Boko Haram still remained inevitable, the nation would have been much better prepared for its onslaught, and those of allied malignancies like ISWAP.

Why, I am not certain, but I do have the feeling that the palace gates of the Kano emirate are not yet definitively slammed against this Islamic scholar, royal scion and seasoned economist. It is just a feeling.

Closed and bared, or merely shut, however, the doors of enlightened society remain wide open to Muhammad Sanusi. As for his current crowing Nemesis, a different kind of gates remain yawning to receive him when, as must, the days of governorship immunity finally come to an end. Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.

The list is long, there are comrades in impunity awaiting their day of reckoning. The files remain open, and the nation remains on the watch. The wheels of justice grind slowly, but sooner or later, they arrive.

ALSO READ: Nelson Mandelas Wife Expresses Sadness Over Dethronement Of Sanusi As Emir Of Kano
Tree planting friendship day between Vietnam and Laos (Photo: baoquangtri.vn)



Meanwhile, cadres and soldiers at the Na Meo border gate as well as residents in Na Meo village have contributed to build a cultural house for the Lao village, providing them a place for community activities and cultural events.



Promoting solidarity, border residents have promptly provided information for the border guard of the two countries to successfully discover and repress crime, thus ensuring peaceful life for the residents.

According to Lo Van Chap, Secretary of the Na Meo Party Committee and Head of the village, said that Na Meo and Loi villages share a border line and are some 4 kilometres distant from each other. They consider each other members of a family and are willing to help each other in need, he said.

He added that the two sides often organized cultural and art events, and helped each other in production and in protection of border areas.

Son Ma Ny, Secretary of the Loi Party Committee and Head of the village, shared that Vietnamese friends usually assisted his villages residents. Ill residents were brought to and treated carefully by Vietnamese doctors and nurses, he said. Loi villages residents want to further promote economic development and build up close brotherhood between Vietnams Thanh Hoa and Laos Hua Phan provinces.

Vu Van Dat, Chairman of the Quan Son district Peoples Committee, confirmed to increase cooperation and friendship with Sam To and Vieng Xay districts in Laos Hua Phan province, adding that the two sides had signed cooperation deal in politics, economics, culture, society, defence and security for 2020-2021 term.

Loi village is home to 103 families, who always support the relationship with Na Meo village. The two villages have set up a twin relationship since 2014./.
Air traffic in China and other Asia Pacific countries has plummeted by more than half due to coronavirus scare, Darren Hulst, Vice president and global head of marketing,Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said on Friday.

Speaking on the sidelines of 'Wings India 2020', an aviation related event here, he said China used to witness as many as 15,000 departures on an average in a normal day and it has come down to about 3,000 flights a day whereas in India, it did not have much impact.

"The mainland China market in normal operations we see about 15,000 departures a day and at the peak of the virus, they were operating around 3,000 flights a day, about 80 per cent decline.

If you exclude China, in the rest of the Asia Pacific market, probably about 5,000 flights a day and at one point in time we saw about 2,500 or something like that. These are rough numbers," Hulst said.

He said other areas such as Europe and North America where the presence of the virus is felt, several airlines have started taking measures in terms of passenger admissions.

"I think we are going to see similar reduction in capacities by airlines for a very short period of time, not necessarily to the magnitude of that China number," he added.

Asked if there are any deferments in deliveries of aircraft by airlines due to slump in the industry, he said: "Aircraft deliveries are case by case and one on one basis. We have not done any deferring yet."



Boeing's sourcing from India stands at over USD one billion a year from over 200 suppliers who are manufacturing high-end systems and components for some of Boeing's most advanced products as part of its global supply chain and the aircraft maker has plans to double it to USD 2 billion, Hulst said without specifying any timeframe.

Through its skilling initiatives, Boeing is training hundreds of pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, technicians and frontline factory workers across India with their industry partners like Tata, Rossell Techsys, Jaivel and Lakshmi Machine Works, a press release from Boeing said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DUBLIN, March 12 (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar is shortly expected to announce the closure of schools and universities and outline restrictions on public transport in response to the spread of the coronavirus, the Irish Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

The government called a news conference for 1130 GMT for an update on Ireland's preparedness and protocols. Varadkar is set to make a statement before then from the United States, where he is due to meet President Donald Trump on Thursday, national broadcaster RTE said. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by John Stonestreet)
Adm. Craig Faller, head of U.S. Southern Command, is being monitored for possible coronavirus exposure after meeting with a Brazilian official who tested positive and also met with President Donald Trump, SOUTHCOM said in a statement late Thursday.

Faller is the second high-ranking U.S. officer to be checked for symptoms of coronavirus this week.

On Monday, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy announced that Army Lt. Gen. Chris Cavoli, commander of U.S. Army Europe, and several staff members may have been exposed to coronavirus at a meeting of allied land commanders last Friday in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Poland's Ministry of Defense later said that Gen. Jaroslaw Mika, who attended the meeting, had tested positive for COVID-19. Cavoli was continuing to work remotely as a precaution, McCarthy said.

Related: Some Military Travel Restrictions Now Global with New CDC Guidance

In a statement Thursday, SOUTHCOM said that Faller "has not experienced symptoms and has not been tested," but he and others from Southern Command were being checked for their contacts at a meeting with a Brazilian delegation led by President Jair Bolsonaro last Sunday at SOUTHCOM headquarters in Miami.

At a Pentagon news conference Wednesday, Faller said the Brazilian delegation lingered long at SOUTHCOM headquarters as he discussed defense cooperation with Bolsonaro.

On Thursday, Bolsonaro's office said that press secretaryFabio Wajngarten, who attended the SOUTHCOM meeting, had tested positive for coronavirus and was self-isolating in Brazil.

Wajngarten was also with Bolsonaro last weekend at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and had dinner with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

In the Oval Office Thursday, Trump said, "we had dinner in Florida at Mar-a-Lago. Let's put it this way -- I'm not concerned." A White House statement Wednesday said that neither Trump nor Pence has been tested for coronavirus.

The SOUTHCOM statement said that "the health and safety of our men and women is our highest priority. In light of reports that a Brazilian delegate tested positive for COVID-19, we have taken immediate actions to account for all personnel who supported the Brazilian president's visit to U.S. Southern Command."

At the Pentagon briefing Wednesday, Faller said that no members of his command had tested positive for coronavirus thus far.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Read More: Army Offers to Repay Soldiers' College Loans if They Go Infantry
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and Tesla Inc., speaks during an event at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019.

Tech stocks rose Friday along with the rest of the market, but Tesla shares sank, and were still in the red after hours after President Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.

Tesla shares opened on Friday at $595 plunged to $502 at their lowest point in trading. Shares closed at $546.62.

The President's declaration frees up tens of billions in financial resources to help people and businesses affected by the covid-19 outbreak. The announcement helped stocks see their biggest rally since 2008.

Earlier this week, Tesla shares were down as oil prices fell after a pricing battle between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Tesla has not issued any statements about employees directly effected by the covid-19 pandemic. Nor has it withdrawn or revised guidance in response to the novel coronavirus. Tesla reportedly sent dozens of US workers home from Germany ahead of a ban that bars travelers from most European countries from entering the US over the next 30 days.

The company previously said it would comfortably exceed sales of 500,000 electric vehicles to customers this year, build a new factory outside of Berlin and ramp up vehicle production at its latest factory in Shanghai, China.

Alameda County Public Health Department in California, which serves the city of Fremont where Tesla operates its main car assembly plant today, had reported seven confirmed cases of covid-19 as of Thursday.

Uncertainty around the impact of covid-19 to its automotive and solar business, and an imminent high-stakes trial weighed on shares of Tesla Friday, amid continued market turmoil sparked by the pandemic and oil price wars.

On Thursday, Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas cut his price target for Tesla to $480 from $500, and slashed his expectations for Tesla vehicle deliveries to 452,000 units in 2020.
With the World Health Organization declaring coronavirus as a pandemic, schools and universities in the United States have been rapidly shutting down or moving classes online. As the pandemic claimed over 4,000 lives worldwide, students are facing the backlash with overseas students being rendered homeless as their campuses shut down.

This week, Amherst College moved its classes online for the rest of the semester with students being asked to vacate school grounds. It isnt the only one. Harvard, Wesleyan University, Grinnel College, University of California, Santa Barbara, University of Michigan and many other prominent schools have shut down on-campus activities. While students can still attend online classes, the situation might get dire for students living on campus, especially overseas students who are already over-burdened with tuition costs and the costs of maintaining a residence abroad.

While college authorities have maintained that the closures were meant to prevent the spread of coronavirus, many including students, teachers and parents have criticised the measures as inconsiderate of the needs of low-income or overseas students.

On Tuesday, Harvard informed students that the campus had to be vacated within five days for the rest of the spring term. It has told students that in case they need assistance, the university can provide financial aid. But many including students and teachers at Harvard itself have been sceptical.

A Harvard student from Kenya, Tom Lee Osborn, took to Twitter to call out Harvards five-day notice to students to move as crazy".

Pretty crazy that @Harvard has given all students a FIVE DAY notice to pack up and leave campus. Many kids cant afford to go home on such a short notice. Tom L. Osborn (@TomLeeOsborn) March 10, 2020

Another Harvard student Emma Forbes told Al Jazeera that the deadline for students to move out till Sunday was unfair as it was not feasible for many. Many people still have not yet figured out how they are going to go home or where they are going to go, because some people dont have a home to go to," Al Jazeera quoted her as saying.

Heartbreaking messages from Harvard students seeking help on social media also surfaced.

Another Harvard student, Alejandra Iglesias, said she and her mother are now homeless after Harvards call for students to move out. She has been trying to raise funds and resources for them on Twitter. My mom and I are homeless and I no longer have my term-time job I use to support my family," Iglesia, 21, wrote. Ive led the student group asking others to help first gen low income students like myself. Now Im asking for help for me,"

72 hrs Harvard told me to leave campus My mom and I are homeless and I no longer have my term-time job I use to support my family Ive led the student group asking others to help first gen low income students like myself Now Im asking for help for me Venmo@alejandra_iglesias  Alejandra Iglesias (@alejandraaa267) March 13, 2020

Taking to the microblogging site Twitter, Leah E Gose, a resident tutor at Harvard, begged" the university to ensure the safety and convenience of its students. Im asking (BEGGING) the University to support students who cant afford extended summer storage," Hose wrote, adding that it will immediately add to at-home food costs" of students.

As a resident tutor at @Harvard, Im asking (BEGGING) the University to support students who cant afford extended summer storage, will immediately add to at-home food costs, have no quiet space in which to study, or lack WiFi for online class access. We CANNOT fail them in this. Leah E. Gose (@LeahEGose) March 10, 2020

She also pointed out that students had often had no quiet place to study when universities are shut, and many not even be able to access online classes due to lack of WiFi or devices.

Students forced to go home will put a strain on already limited SNAP benefits, for example. Some dont have their own rooms. These concerns will impact millions of students!" she wrote, adding, We CANNOT fail them in this".

Yet others have been making appeals to parents of students living in the US to open their homes to overseas students or those who cannot make it back home for any reason.

Dear Parents of college students: A lot of campuses are closing with #coronavirus and most will be closed in 2-3 weeks," Sarah Parcak wrote on Twitter. Please consider opening your homes and hearts to your childrens overseas friends who cannot afford to travel or take the risk with their visas".

Dear Parents of college students: A lot of campuses are closing with #coronavirus and most will be closed in 2-3 weeks. Please consider opening your homes and hearts to your childrens overseas friends who cannot afford to travel or take the risk with their visas. Thank you   Sarah Parcak (@indyfromspace) March 10, 2020

Another Twitter user who claimed to be a professor in the United States said that he had been teaching overseas children for about a month through online courses but felt that the teaching was not optimum through online portals.

Im well into my fifth week of teaching my overseas students online due to the coronavirus. I conclude that face-to-face teaching and learning is considerably more effective. Once the dust settles on this global health emergency, I suggest we invent schools. whatonomy (@whatonomy) March 4, 2020

Several parents of students too have come forth with help.

I already told my son, whos college is only 25 miles away, that if his closes stranded kids can come stay at our house.  Rhiannon Z. (@ReeZeeBreeezy) March 11, 2020

We are opening our home today to a tired Warren campaign staffer who needs a place to veg out for a few days. Ruth Mollys mom Heartbroken (@RuthLoisDev) March 10, 2020

Students themselves have been getting together to raise funds for those in need. In Massachusetts Institute of Technology, students have started an online Google Doc which they are using to crowdsource funds, rooms and storage space for students having to move out at the last minute, NBC News reported.

Moving companies like U-Haul are also offering free storage for 30-days to students displaced from college to help.

Three public school teachers from Arlington, Virginia have opened a Go-Fund-Me account, ABC News reported, in order to help raise grocery gift cards to feed students. However, with more and more schools shutting down, yeh situation could get worse.

A survey, conducted by Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor from Temple University, and other researchers, found that of the 86,000 students surveyed in 2019, 45 percent reported being food insecure, as reported by Huffington Post.

Several students also told NBC that with the decision to close school grounds, everyone stands to lose as even those with homes may not be able to return to their homes or afford online courses at grade A institutes along with paying for rent and food.

(This story was originally published on March 13, 2020)

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
The deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, on Friday left for Abuja en-route Lagos after Governor Nasir El Rufai visited him in Awe, Nasarawa State, where he had been banished.

A statement by the Kaduna State Government said Mr El-Rufai visited his long time friend, ideological soul mate and confidante as a mark of solidarity over his temporary travails at Awe town.

The Kaduna government said the Governor who drove from Abuja to Awe town, met His Highness in high spirits, demonstrating his usual calm, poise and regal bearing amidst what has befallen in the last four days.

READ ALSO:

His Highness seems to have taken all that happened in his stride but has reiterated his commitment to enforce his fundamental human rights, the statement, which was signed by Muyiwa Adekeye, Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the governor, said.

Sanusi II, the 14th Fulani Emir of Kano, manifested a renewed vigour to continue serving humanity in his life-long efforts to expand the frontiers of knowledge and to campaign against unworthy timid ignorance that has shackled Nigeria as a perpetual potentially great nation, he said.

According to the special adviser, Mr El-Rufai arrived Awe town shortly before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had granted an interim order, releasing Mr Sanusi from detention.

Mr Adekeye said the two men later drove to the mosque, where Mr Sanusi led the jummaat prayer, adding that hundreds of well-wishers lined up the road of Awe to hail the former emir on his way to the mosque and back to his residence.

The statement further said the duo rode in Governor El Rufais car to Abuja, from where Mr Sanusi will proceed to Lagos.

Mr Sanusi was removed as Kano emir on Monday and banished to Nasarawa, a move condemned by many Nigerians as unconstitutional. The reformist emir was removed for alleged insubordination to the Kano government.

Mr Sanusi has challenged his detention in Nasarawa by security officials. On Friday, the federal high court ordered the police and the State Security Service to free Mr Sanusi.
Islamabad, March 13 : With Gilgit-Baltistan reporting another novel coronavirus case, taking the total number of infections to 20 in Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan has called a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Friday to discuss the worsening situation.

"The NSC meeting would be chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan and participated by the chief of army staff, representatives of provinces and other stakeholders. The meeting may decide to impose sort of emergency or indirect emergency in the country," Special Assistant to the PM on HealthZafar Mirza told Dawn news.

An official of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) said there was criticism that the prime minister was not playing a leading role over the issue.

"However now the meeting of the most relevant body has been called to discuss the issue and it is expected that it will decide that the federal government will provide funds for controlling the virus.

"Last week, a summary was moved by Mirza, seeking allocation of Rs 670 million and the waiving off the Public Procurement ReguAlaAtory Authority rules so that personal protective equipment could be procured without any delay. However, the summary was rejected as the cabinet was of the view that the provinces should also contribute funds," he said.

The latest case of coronavirus in Pakistan was reported from Gilgit as a 31- year-old man, a resident of Shigar district who had travelled to Iran, has been confirmed with the virus.

According to official data, of the 20 cases, 14 are from Sindh, five from Gilgit-Baltistan and one from Balochistan.

In a late-Thursday night development, the Prime Minister Office said that 894,256 travellers have been screened for symptoms of the novel coronavirus.

Out of these, 471 have been tested for the virus.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
To the annoyance of some shareholders, Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) shares are down a considerable 39% in the last month. Even longer term holders have taken a real hit with the stock declining 14% in the last year.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

Check out our latest analysis for Asbury Automotive Group

How Does Asbury Automotive Group's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

Asbury Automotive Group's P/E of 6.08 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. If you look at the image below, you can see Asbury Automotive Group has a lower P/E than the average (9.6) in the specialty retail industry classification.

NYSE:ABG Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

Asbury Automotive Group's P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Since the market seems unimpressed with Asbury Automotive Group, it's quite possible it could surprise on the upside. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, 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. When earnings grow, the 'E' increases, over time. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.

Story continues

Asbury Automotive Group increased earnings per share by an impressive 16% over the last twelve months. And it has bolstered its earnings per share by 21% per year over the last five years. With that performance, you might expect an above average P/E ratio.

A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.

While growth expenditure doesn't always pay off, the point is that it is a good option to have; but one that the P/E ratio ignores.

Asbury Automotive Group's Balance Sheet

Net debt totals a substantial 158% of Asbury Automotive Group's market cap. If you want to compare its P/E ratio to other companies, you must keep in mind that these debt levels would usually warrant a relatively low P/E.

The Verdict On Asbury Automotive Group's P/E Ratio

Asbury Automotive Group has a P/E of 6.1. That's below the average in the US market, which is 13.3. While the EPS growth last year was strong, the significant debt levels reduce the number of options available to management. If the company can continue to grow earnings, then the current P/E may be unjustifiably low. Given Asbury Automotive Group's P/E ratio has declined from 10.0 to 6.1 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If it is underestimating a company, investors can make money by buying and holding the shares until the market corrects itself. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

But note: Asbury Automotive Group may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that he invited Vladimir Putin to jointly manage the oil fields in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor instead of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is led by the Kurds who currently control the fields.

I made the offer to Mr. Putin that if he gives financial support, we can do the construction, and through the oil obtained here, we can help the destroyed Syria get on its feet, Erdogan told reporters March 10.

Erdogan said the Russian leadership is considering this proposal, which a Turkish delegation presented during a recent summit in Moscow. Erdogan said the same offer could be made to President Donald Trump.

Instead of terrorists benefiting here, we would have the opportunity to rebuild Syria from the revenues of this [oil field], Erdogan added.

His words may indicate that Russia and Turkey agreed at a recent Moscow summit to not only freeze the conflict in Idlib and launch joint Russian-Turkish patrols along the M4 highway, but also to continue joint actions in eastern Syria to force the Kurds and local tribes to reach a compromise with Russia and Damascus.

It is not clear, however, how the parties can find balance here. As Al-Monitor reported, Ankara has every reason to suspect that once the road map between Bashar al-Assad and the Kurds is approved by both parties, the latter will look to sideline Turkey with the backing of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

However, in any case, an agreement on northwestern Syria with an eye toward future cooperation is better than an additional Sochi 2.0-style accord, which would simply delay escalation but not prevent the scenario Damascus wants to implement: alternating between cease-fires and offensives to bite off as much territory as possible in Idlib province and further weaken the opposition.

Alexey Malashenko, a Moscow-based analyst, noted, When Erdogan was in Moscow to meet with Putin, he said that despite the controversies over Idlib, the relations [between Russia and Turkey] are those between partners and they cannot be lost. From this standpoint, his proposal for joint development of oil fields is symbolic. One can hardly make big profits [off those oil reserves]. Yet the very idea of 'let's cooperate no matter what' in the field of economics is a good place for our positive engagement in Syria.

At the same time, Erdogans statement is a form of trolling and, as with all politicians' words, diverges from reality. We can currently talk about several routes for exporting oil from SDF-controlled wells.

The first is to supply the Assad regime. After the SDF seized the oil fields from the Islamic State (IS), and the Russian mercenaries and pro-Iran militias realized the futility of efforts to repulse them militarily, the Syrian Katerji brothers reoriented their mediation efforts in 2019 from the oil trade between Damascus and IS to the trade between Damascus and the SDF, which triggered US sanctions.

The second is to supply oil to the Syrian opposition inside the Turkish buffer zone. The Kurds interrupted this process due to hostilities, but it has seemingly resumed again.

The third is to export through Iraqi Kurdistan. The United States has built a new bridge on the Syrian-Iraqi border for such conveyance. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry used satellite images to accuse the United States of smuggling raw materials and making more than $30 million daily off this trade. The Russian military argued that these funds are being deposited into the accounts of foreign special services and private military contractors.

While it is not clear what, exactly, the Americans get from this enterprise, it's important to note that, in the end, oil is being exported through Turkey. Incidentally, Russian generals and even Putin himself spoke loudly and in detail about this after a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian military plane on the Turkish-Syrian border in November 2015. Currently, the Russian ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs are speaking out against US actions to control oil fields in eastern Syria, preferring not to pay attention to Turkeys participation in the energy sales scheme. However, this does not prevent Assad and Bashar Jaafari, the Syrian representative to the United Nations, from speaking openly about the US sales of the stolen oil to Turkey.

According to Al-Monitor sources in northern Syria, the profits help the SDF (Kurds and local tribes) make ends meet." The Turks also work with the SDF, and they are ready for the Kurds to cooperate with Damascus, as well as for the long-term US presence, despite the American elite's different approach to the current Syrian policy.

Al-Monitor has reported on another oil route  to Israel. While American-Israeli businessman Moti Kahana categorically denied the Syrian Democratic Councils assistance in selling oil to Israel, the Jewish state has shown increased interest in supporting Syrian Kurds to counter Irans influence, while Tehran itself needs eastern Syria to carve an uninterrupted route to supply its proxy forces in Syria and Lebanon. This is partly why Iran has strengthened relations with the Kurdistan Workers Party in recent years.

As Malashenko correctly pointed out, Syria's oil wealth is often exaggerated. It is clear that Russia would like Damascus to control the main fields to reach some level of self-sustainability, but the volume of production in Syria will gradually decrease  a process that began long before the Arab Spring. Even if we take into account the monthly income of $30 million, as mentioned by the Russian Defense Ministry, this figure is insignificant from the perspective of world energy trade. All players involved in oil exports here can only aim to solve some tactical tasks.

In the medium term, Moscow could try to become a Kurdish advocate. It could offer SDF units the opportunity to join a structure such as the 5th Corps (which operates under the auspices of the Russian Ministry of Defense) on attractive terms. This could act as a deterrent to the Iranian formations and help restart dialogue with the West and Gulf countries, with corresponding benefits for Syria.

There is, however, another option: to find ways to fill the void of the regime authority east of Euphrates with the help of units loyal to Iran within the Syrian army. This is what Damascus and Tehran will push Moscow to do. Such a scenario is convenient for Russias tactical allies  Iran and Syria, that is  but, given the factor of Israel, this option is confrontational. Moreover, in principle, the United States has the capacity to reform the SDF's structure by essentially creating a new structure that would rely only on local tribes and could be supported by both American nongovernmental organizations and profits from Syrian oil sales.
With coronavirus seemingly on top of everyone's agenda, it's easy to forget that the world continues to turn and other events take place. One of those events was an Iranian rocket attack in Iraq on Wednesday that killed two Americans and a British national. Iran's top leadership may be falling like dominos to the coronavirus, but Iran's theocracy is still vicious. The mullahs might have thought that, with the U.S. distracted by coronavirus, they could gain an advantage in Iraq. The mullahs thought wrong.

According to Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. forces in the Middle East, the attack on Wednesday was almost certainly the work of Kata'eb Hezb'allah, the same group that stormed the American embassy in Iraq. That effort led to Trump ordering a targeted strike against Qassem Soleimani, one of the most dangerous and deadly terrorists in the world.

Once again, Trump responded forcefully to Iran's latest deadly attack. He ordered a counterstrike, which U.S. forces successfully carried out on Thursday:

The U.S. military launched multiple strikes using warplanes targeting multiple bases used by Iranian-backed Shia militias believed to be behind the rocket attack on Camp Taji, Iraq, the day before that killed two Americans and one British soldier, a senior U.S. military source told Fox News. The launch began after 1 a.m. Baghdad time. The U.S. military strike was "proportional," according to the U.S. military source, and hit multiple bases used by the Kata'eb Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia that fired 30 Katyusha rockets yesterday at the Taji Base, which housed American and British troops. Of the 12 troops wounded yesterday, five are in serious condition.

It turns out that this was an exceptionally successful strike because the U.S. military managed to take out yet another senior Iranian military commander:

Hey guys, looks like we just killed another senior Iranian military commander. Sorry to interrupt. https://t.co/zOK9wyjbRl  Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) March 13, 2020

Generally speaking, things have not been going well for Iran lately. The mass graves that are now visible from outer space tell the story, even if the government lies about the facts: lots of people are succumbing to the coronavirus. Iran's high death toll is the typical pattern we see in a society with socialized medicine, terrible pollution, heavy cigarette smoking, and a secretive government.

Ironically, Iran's religious fundamentalism and the centrality of the 1979 revolution helped power the disease's spread. Not only is the city of Qom the epidemic's epicenter, but it is also an important religious shrine and the city in which, during the 1960s, Ayatollah Khomeini began the journey that led to the Shah's overthrow. Additionally, Qom has been a center for Chinese people studying in Iran.

Iran's saga has an additional twist, which is that the Qom connection means that the virus is working its way through its leadership class:

Since the Iranian leaders visit Qom often, the virus spread into the ruling elite, killing one of Khamenei's advisors, three Revolutionary Guard commanders, the deputy minister of health, a former ambassador to Syria who was currently working as an advisor to Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Khomeini's ambassador to the Vatican, and an advisor to the head of the Judiciary.

According to CNN, eight percent of Iran's parliament has been infected by coronavirus. Naturally, the Iranians are placing the blame everywhere but on their own choice of friends with America and Jews as the named culprits.

Assuming that the Iranian people are not so weakened by disease that they can no longer act, Iran seems ripe for a new revolution, one that kicks out the totalitarian religious dictatorship that has, for so many decades, dragged down a people once known throughout the Middle East for their love of life and beauty.
The coronavirus has spread rapidly across the world. More than 1,28,000 people have been infected, the vast majority in just four countries: China and South Korea - where new cases are declining - and Iran and Italy, where they are not.

Tracking Coronavirus Outbreak: Live Updates

The spread has slowed so much in China that the government sent a medical crew to Italy and offered surplus supplies to Iran.

The situation is particularly grave in Iran which on Thursday reported 75 new deaths from the coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 429 in the worst-hit country in the Middle East.

We have identified 1,075 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, meaning that there are 10,075 infected people in the country. The death toll is 429, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state television.

Iran on Thursday said it had asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $5 billion in emergency funding to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

In fact, the local outbreak was so vast in Iran that the country began digging burial trenches so large that they are visible from space. The fact was brought to light by Washington Post, which reported about the burial trenches Behesht-e Masoumeh complex in Qom, about 145 kilometres from capital Tehran.

The excavation for the new burial began on February 21, the Post reported, and then rapidly expanded. The burial ground is spread over 100 yards, the report further said.

The videos cited by the Post in its reportage are from BBC Persian in which the reporter is seen visiting the site of the mass graves and highlighting the new burials.

The coronavirus outbreak in Iran has infected a host of senior officials, politicians, clerics and members of the elite Revolutionary Guards. Irans semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Thursday that Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had also been infected and was now under quarantine.

At least seven officials and politicians have died since February 19, when Iran announced first infections and two deaths from the virus.
As more and more governments see the effects of damaging cyberattacks, legislation in California seeks to create new protections for important state data by mandating the adoption of cyberinsurance by contractors that have access to it. AB 2320 was introduced in February by Assemblymember Edwin Chau, D-Monterey Park, and would mandate cyberinsurance coverage if a contractor received or was given access to records that contain personal information protected under the state's Information Practices Act, according to bill text That act, passed in 1977, regulates the means by which state agencies collect, manage and disseminate personally identifying information on citizens  including names, social security numbers, physical descriptions, home addresses, home telephone numbers, education, financial matters, and medical or employment history, a member of Chau's staff explained.As such, the new law would apply to pretty much every state office, department, division, bureau, board, commission or other state agency, and most contractors would be similarly subject to it, the staffer explained.Ransomware attacks on governments and companies seem to have increased over the last several years and governments are paying higher ransoms than ever . Cyberinsurance has been viewed by some as a way to mitigate the financial strain these attacks can bring to targeted organizations, but many experts have warned that payouts are the very thing fueling the attacks in the first place.In a statement provided to, Chau laid out his reasoning for supporting the legislation.Maintaining a robust cybersecurity framework is the responsibility of all those involved with the handling and management of personal information. Contractors doing business with state agencies may receive or have access to the personal information collected by state agencies and it would be prudent for these businesses to have cyber insurance in place to mitigate the risks associated with cyberattacks, especially as these attacks often come in the form of malware, ransomware or denial-of-service attacks, the assemblymember said.A law like this has the potential to transfer some of the cost of cyberattacks from taxpayers to the private sector, while also fostering basic risk awareness and best practices among contractors.However, a criticism levelled at the insurance industry is that companies have so far frequently failed their customers  looking for any excuse to not pay out a claim . Meanwhile, even when ransomware hackers are paid, it is not a guarantee that agencies will regain access to their data: companies that pay frequently find that they cannot According to the bill text, the level of coverage per contractor would be determined by the contracting agency, and would be made to be "sufficient to cover all losses" resulting from an incident.For a law with such a large potential impact on state government's private partners, there are a lot of details here that would need to be ironed out before it could be put into practice.Chau's bill was most recently sent to the state's committees on Privacy and Consumer Protection and Accountability and Administrative Review, where legislators will seek some clarity on policy.
Tony Walker, the new RDA board member representing Gary, said the citys compliance officer had issues with the exemption request, and he asked why a Dunnet Bay representative wasnt at the meeting to answer questions. He and board member Randy Palmateer voted no, meaning it failed to get the five votes needed to pass.
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Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Bekasi, West Java  Fri, March 13, 2020 20:47 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a77792 1 Business shell,lubricant,factory,automotive,manufacturing-industry,industry-ministry,business-plan Free

Dutch oil company Shell is doubling the production capacity of Indonesias largest foreign-owned machine lubricant facility to capture a bigger slice of the domestic market.

The Hague-based multinational began construction on Thursday to expand its Marunda lubricant plant in Bekasi, West Java. The expansion, construction of which is slated to be finished by 2022, will increase facility production from 136,000 kiloliters each year to 300,000 kl.

Shell declined to mention the expansions investment value. The existing facility, the construction of which was completed in 2015, cost between US$150 million and $200 million.

Shell Global Commercial executive vice president Carlos Maurer told reporters in Bekasi that the expansion was a means of better capturing Southeast Asias largest lubricant market.

Read also: Indonesia, Netherlands sign US$1b worth of deals during Dutch king visit

The Dutch company is one of 44 companies, including the United Statess Exxon and Indonesias Pertamina, competing in the Indonesian lubricant market, where growth has been primarily driven by an increasing number of vehicles, particularly private cars and motorcycles.

Shells holds the second-strongest market presence in Indonesia after state-owned Pertamina, says a 2016 report by French market research firm Ipsos, but both companies have been facing increasing competition as rivals also consolidate their presence.

ExxonMobil acquired motorcycle lubricant producer PT Federal Karyatama in 2018 and Japans Idemitsu launched a second lubricant factory last year.

According to Industry Ministry data, Indonesia consumes 1.14 million kl of lubricant each year, 79 percent of which is domestically produced. Most of the locally-produced lubricant, 86 percent, goes into automotives while the remaining 14 percent goes into industrial applications.

Industry Ministry Director Feneral M. Khayam, who oversees domestic chemicals, pharmaceuticals and textiles industries, said going forward, his office wanted producers to yield more industrial than automotive lubes in accommodating industry growth.

Read also: Oil price slump a double-edged sword for Indonesia, Sri Mulyani says

No more automotive lubes because we have enough of that, he said, This is to avoid a problem like that of cement  an oversupply.

He was referring to the cement industry, which has been facing an oversupply since 2014, when local producers expanded production at the same time as foreign newcomers, mostly Chinese companies, entered the market. Demand struggled to keep up with production, such that cement factory utilization rates hovered above 60 percent since then.

Shell Indonesia president director Dian Andyasuri named the manufacturing and mining sectors as examples of lucrative industrial lubricant consumers going forward.

I have seen that over the years, sectors pushing our demand growth are the same as those that push Indonesias economic growth, she said.

The manufacturing sector grew 3.66 percent last year, while mining grew 0.94 percent, both of which are below the national average of 5.02 percent, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data shows.

Read also: We have many tanks to fill: Indonesia to make the most out of globally low oil prices

Dian went on to say that while Java remained Shells largest lubricant market, the company had also noticed growth on other major islands, namely Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

Offering an alternative perspective, Ipsos report paints the automotive lubricant-oriented strategy as a double-edged sword.

While Thailand and Indonesia are established automotive hubs with an attractive market size, competition in the automotive lubricants segment is much stiffer as compared to the industrial counterpart, the report reads.
In news that probably comes as no surprise to anyone, there appears to be a national shortage of Purell.

The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported that the popular hand sanitizer has been flying off the shelves at stores and pharmacies across the country. To date, the products parent company, GOJO Industries, Inc., hasnt provided a timeline for when the Purell supply might return to normal. But Samantha Williams, GOJOs corporate communications senior director, told the Inquirer, We have a surge preparedness team that runs in the background all the time, who have been fully activated and are coordinating our response to the increase in demand.

While its currently due to increased concerns about the coronavirus, Purells high demand actually stems from unconventional business strategies implemented in the brands early days. Sure, Purell is a household name now, but when GOJO launched the sanitizer back in 1988, the public response was far less enthusiastic. The fact that Purell is still aroundlet alone in historically high demandspeaks volumes about the hard work and dedication of those who believed in its potential.

Whether youre the CEO of a credit union, the manager of a branch, or a leader in any capacity, Purells story demonstrates three key traits that you can apply to your leadership:
Cayuga County-area school district superintendents met Friday to formulate a uniform plan on what to do in case their institutions need to temporarily close over coronavirus concerns

Auburn Enlarged City School District Superintendent Jeff Pirozzolo said before the meeting that the leaders of the nine component districts of Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES were going to discuss the possibilities at the BOCES campus in Aurelius. He added that the districts would prefer to work together as a consortium rather in isolation when dealing with the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.

"We're going to be talking about some of the legalities, as far as how do we pay people if we're in not session, how do we run payroll, how do we do some of these other things?" he said. "There's just so many details that we have to figure out before we were to close down."

One of the biggest issues is how districts would instruct students from home should there be a long-term closure of school buildings.

The Auburn district is planning to give out Chromebooks on Monday to junior high and high school students who don't have the devices at home. The district has been building an inventory of Chromebooks for the last three years, Pirozzolo said.

The district is looking at how they would assist elementary students differently, he said, saying the students in the secondary schools have more experience with the Chromebooks.

"We're still debating what we're doing. What we're trying to do is put together grab bags for elementary students and we'll have curriculum and instruction worksheets for them, but we haven't planned out that far yet," Pirozzolo said.

"We just want to make sure that we can provide a safe environment for all of our children and all of our staff and we're going to continue to disinfect and clean the best we can," he said.

Michigan, Ohio and Maryland are among the states that are closing down public schools for varying lengths of time. New York state has not closed any schools, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday said there are no plans to do so.

"We have left it down to the localities to make a decision whether or not they want to (close schools)," Cuomo said Friday. "Our state rule is if you have a child that tests positive you must close for 24 hours so we can look into the facts and the circumstance. ... Closing the schools is a complicated decision. There are significant pluses, significant minuses. You close the school, that child may not get breakfast, may not get lunch. They are not learning. The parents now have to stay home."

New York has taken statewide action with its higher education institutions.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday all SUNY colleges will be prioritizing distance learning for the rest of the spring semester in order to reduce the amount of people on campuses and mitigate the potential spread of the respiratory illness.

Cayuga Community College President Brian Durant said that same day the college was finalizing a plan to take on the distance learning model.

Wells College, the private college based in Aurora, extended the end of its spring break from March 16 to March 23 and has instructed students in study-abroad program in Italy to return home.

After the Friday meeting was finished, Pirozzolo said the superintendents shared some instructional support strategies. He said he would like clarification on who would have the authority to make that closure decision on a local level, such as whether it would up to a superintendent, the local health department or the area's mayor declaring a state of emergency. Pirozzolo noted that some school districts in Herkimer and Duchess counties  which have had confirmed coronavirus cases  have closed, and added that the local superintendents will be monitoring district closures in the state.

"We'll be in contact with each other all weekend long," he said.

Pirozzolo said the local component districts have "different barriers" they would deal with for closures, such as Auburn having a high level of poverty and other districts having many students who live in rural areas without internet service. He added that for the Auburn district, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction Sarah Cupelli will be working with administrators and staff on possible instruction plans in case the buildings close.

In order for Auburn students to still have the meals the district provides in the possibility of a closure, Pirozzolo continued, he has had conversations with Mike Herr, who works for Whitsons Culinary Group, which Auburn subcontracts food services through, about offering lunches to students. There have been conversations about setting up services for students districtwide at three school buildings, such as Genesee Elementary School, Casey Park Elementary School and the junior high school. He cautioned that isn't a done deal, however.

"If we are pushed to close school, we don't even know if we're going to be allowed to be in the schools so there's a lot more preparation and planning that needs to occur," he need.

If the lunches couldn't be held in the school buildings they would have to be held elsewhere, he said.

Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau.

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The prominent civil Rights Advocacy group: - HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) is worried by the disturbing menace of abuse of powers by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which infringes on certain professional privileges of legal practitioners and other affiliated professional institutions in the private sector of the economy. The group said it has received dozens of petitions from lawyers on how the practice of law in Nigeria has systematically been criminalized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under the All Progressives Congress led Federal government.

We have noticed since the last couple of years since 2015 that there is a growing phenomenon of officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) engaging in deliberate clampdown on lawyers of certain individuals who may have some political differences from officials of the powers that be within the corridors of power in Abuja. In some of these sad developments we are understudying, it would appear that the anti- graft body has consistently embarked on politically motivated witch-hunt targeting certain politically exposed persons who were influential in the past administration of the Peoples Democratic party (APC) or who may still be holding political offices that enjoys immunity in which cases the EFCC has already charged legal practitioners connected with such individuals for series of money laundering charges that on a more serious analysis are smokescreen for political persecution. We have been told how lawyers working for prominent political opponents of the administration have been coming under persistent surveillance and reconnaissance missions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and we intend to petition the National Assembly's Committee on Public petitions to investigate this dangerous development which does not augur well for constitutional democracy and may harm the legal profession in the Country if left unchecked."

In a media statement, the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) through the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, disclosed that it will soon publish a report of a scientific investigation it conducted to list out the most disturbing cases of how some legal practitioners either affiliated to political opposition party of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or have personal issues with some powerful people with connections to the Abuja's political establishment have faced horrendous media trials by the anti-graft agencies and due to massive propaganda in the media by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission these Senior Lawyers are constantly harassed by immigration officials in different international airports in London; New York; Germany; Paris amongst other World's capitals even when the Nigerian constitution affirms that accused persons are innocent until proven guilty by a competent courts of law but the media propaganda machinery of the EFCC give crude slants and coverages of such cases to appear like the accused are already guilty as charged.

In that report which will soon be presented and sent to all relevant government institutions including the anti-graft bodies and the National Assembly, the Rights group said it will make the case for the establishment of a monitoring body similar but smaller in staff strength like the police service commission (PSC) to investigate cases of abuses of power by the anti-corruption agencies. We believe that corruption should be eradicated only through law-based modalities and we also think that he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. It would appear that legal practitioners who work for individuals with cases instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are facing persecution.

May we kindly appeal to the Economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) which is an institution created by law to stop the media persecution of legal practitioners defending clients that have cases with the anti-graft bodies because by so doing, these accused persons will have their constitutional rights to fair hearing violated as against the provision of section 36(5) of the constitution which states thus: Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty; Provided that nothing in this section shall invalidate any law by reason only that the law imposes upon any such person the burden of proving particular facts.

HURIWA said: "May we remind the anti-graft body that under the enabling law: "The EFCC Act 2004 states 6: The Commission shall be responsible for - (a) the enforcement and the due administration of the provisions of this Act; (b) the investigation of all financial crimes including advance fee fraud, money laundering, counterfeiting, illegal charge transfers, futures market fraud, fraudulent encashment of negotiable instruments, computer credit card fraud, contract scam, etc.; (c) the co-ordination and enforcement of all economic and financial crimes laws and enforcement functions conferred on any other person or authority; and among others. (d) the adoption of measures to identify, trace, freeze, confiscate or seize proceeds derived from terrorist activities, economic and financial crimes related offences or the properties the value of which corresponds to such proceeds.

HURIWA however restated to the hierarchy of these anti-graft bodies- EFCC and ICPC that the Courts of law have the judicial powers of the federation and are the only authority to rule an accused person guilty or not and not the EFCC using the media because section 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 (as amended) affirmed thus: (1) The judicial powers of the Federation shall be vested in the courts to which this section relates, being courts established for the Federation. (2) The judicial powers of a State shall be vested in the courts to which this section relates, being courts established, subject as provided by this Constitution, for a State. (3) The courts to which this section relates, established by this Constitution for the Federation and for the States, specified in subsection (5) (a) to (1) of this section, shall be the only superior courts of record in Nigeria; and save as otherwise prescribed by the National Assembly or by the House of Assembly of a State, each court shall have all the powers of a superior court of record. (4) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall be construed as precluding:- (a) the National Assembly or any House of Assembly from establishing courts, other than those to which this section relates, with subordinate jurisdiction to that of a High Court; (b) the National Assembly or any House of Assembly, which does not require it, from abolishing any court which it has power to establish or which it has brought into being. (5) This section relates to:- (a) the Supreme Court of Nigeria; (b) the Court of Appeal; (c) the Federal High Court; (d) the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; (e) a High Court of a State (f) the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; (g) a Sharia Court of Appeal of a State; (h) the Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; (i) a Customary Court of Appeal of a State; (j) such other courts as may be authorised by law to exercise jurisdiction on matters with respect to which the National Assembly may make laws; and (k) such other court as may be authorised by law to exercise jurisdiction at first instance or on appeal on matters with respect to which a House of Assembly may make laws. (6) The judicial powers vested in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section - (a) shall extend, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this constitution, to all inherent powers and sanctions of a court of law (b) shall extend, to all matters between persons, or between government or authority and to any persons in Nigeria, and to all actions and proceedings relating thereto, for the determination of any question as to the civil rights and obligations of that person; (c) shall not except as otherwise provided by this Constitution, extend to any issue or question as to whether any act of omission by any authority or person or as to whether any law or any judicial decision is in conformity with the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy set out in Chapter II of this Constitution; (d) shall not, as from the date when this section comes into force, extend to any action or proceedings relating to any existing law made on or after 15th January, 1966 for determining any issue or question as to the competence of any authority or person to make any such law.
The coronavirus crisis is proving more of an extraordinary situation than the banking crisis, Chancellor Angela Merkel today, as she called on organisers of 'unnecessary events' of under 1,000 people to cancel in order to help slow the spread of the virus.

Angela Merkel said the number of cases in the country have risen sharply and that it is an 'extraordinary situation' that is more extreme that the banking crisis of 2008.

She announced that the governors of the country's 16 states agreed to cancel non-essential events with fewer than 1,000 participants to curb the contagion.

The move comes as the country reported its fifth death and more than 2,300 cases.

Speaking after meeting the leaders of Germany's 16 states, Merkel said her finance and economy ministers would present a 'very comprehensive' package of additional measures to support German businesses on Friday.

But with Germany reporting increasing COVID-19 cases reaching 2,369, Merkel's government has ramped up its response.

(Left to right) State Premier of Bavaria Markus Soeder, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Hamburg First Mayor Peter Tschentscher during a press conference today

A German police officer wearing a face masks control drivers at the French and German border between the cities of Strasbourg and Kehl on Thursday

While acknowledging that developments in coming days could lead to more closure of kindergartens or schools in Germany, Merkel fell short of announcing a blanket closure.

Merkel added that an option could be to bring forward April's Easter school holidays.

Germany has been slower than some of its neighbours to ban large gatherings, initially leaving the decision to local authorities as required by the country's federal structure.

But amid pressure to set a common standard, Germany's health minister called at the weekend for all events with more than 1,000 participants to be called off. That threshold that has now been lowered.

Merkel warned this week that up to 70 per cent of her country's population could get the virus.

She told the news conference: 'The debt brake...provides for exceptions in extraordinary situations - and that is, as I said yesterday, really not our topic as to how the budget balance will look in the end.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arriving for a meeting with heads of federal state governments at the chancellery in Berlin today

A couple wearing a protection mask in central Dresden on Thursday. Germany reported its fifth death and more than 2,300 cases of the disease

'We are in a situation that is unusual in every respect and I would say more unusual than at the time of the banking crisis.'

Asked about Germany's self-imposed policy pledge of not taking on new debt, Merkel said the budget was not her government's main focus, underlining her message from a day earlier that the public finances were secondary.

'The debt brake ... provides for exceptions in extraordinary situations - and that is, as I said yesterday, really not our topic as to how the budget balance will look in the end,' Merkel told a news conference.

Under the German debt brake rule, the federal government can take on new debt of up to 0.35 per cent of economic output. France has been using the coronavirus crisis to push for more public spending by Germany and other countries with fiscal leeway.

People visit a cinema in Berlin to watch a movie, as many cultural events in the city have been canceled, due to the spread of coronavirus

'We are in a situation that is unusual in every respect and I would say more unusual than at the time of the banking crisis because we are dealing with a health problem, a health challenge for which scientists and medicine does not yet have an answer,' Merkel said.

'So it is our task first of all to save people's lives, as best we can, and secondly to keep economic activity going.'

Merkel said that for regions suffering a dynamic outbreak of coronavirus 'the temporary closure of nurseries and schools, for example by bringing forward the Easter holidays, is another option.'

Urging people to avoid social contact where possible, Merkel said the federal and state governments called for events with fewer than 1,000 participants not to go ahead. Previously, it had urged a halt to public gatherings with more than 1,000.

Germany's centre-left coalition agreed to increase public investments by 12.4 billion by 2024 and to make it easier for companies to claim subsidies to support workers on reduced working hours to counter the effects of the epidemic.

Merkel's conservatives are split over whether Germany should rush out a fiscal stimulus package to counter any impact of the coronavirus on Europe's largest economy.
Investment expected to bring 200 new jobs in Northern Ireland

BELFAST, Northern Ireland, March 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rapid7, Inc . (RPD), a leading provider of security analytics and automation, today announced plans to significantly expand its presence in Belfast, Northern Ireland (NI). The company is planning to take on approximately 49,000 square feet at Chichester House in the second half of 2020 to accommodate its growing European Research & Development (R&D) center.



Rapid7 has been a part of Belfasts burgeoning technology scene since 2014 and now plans to double its workforce in the region by adding 200 new roles in engineering, development, and customer advisors, among others. In an effort to aid in achieving this growth goal, Invest Northern Ireland has offered Rapid7 165,000 of support towards the creation of 30 of the new jobs.

Rapid7 is committed to investing in the companys global expansion, particularly in areas with impressive technical talent such as Belfast, said Jamie Kinch, vice president of real estate and workplace experience at Rapid7. Expanding our presence in Belfast, supported by InvestNI, will provide us with the space and resources we need to grow and attract the regions top talent.

Welcoming the expansion, Chief Executive of Invest NI, Kevin Holland said: Rapid7 is one of the U.S.s fastest growing software security companies and since opening its office in Belfast in 2014, it has utilised the exceptional skills and talent of our local workforce to grow its business in Northern Ireland.

It is always fantastic to see another externally owned company reinvesting in Northern Ireland, Holland continues. In fact, over 70 percent of new investors reinvest here which is testament to our appeal. The senior level jobs we are supporting will build upon the technical expertise already present at the companys Belfast engineering site, helping to drive the companys future innovation.

For job opportunities in Rapid7s Belfast office, visit the companys career page .

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About Rapid7

Rapid7 (RPD) is advancing security with visibility, analytics, and automation delivered through our Insight cloud. Our solutions simplify the complex, allowing security teams to work more effectively with IT and development to reduce vulnerabilities, monitor for malicious behavior, investigate and shut down attacks, and automate routine tasks. Over 9,000 customers rely on Rapid7 technology, services, and research to improve security outcomes and securely advance their organizations. For more information, visit our website , check out our blog , or follow us on Twitter .

Rapid7 Press Contact

Caitlin Doherty

Public Relations Manager

press@rapid7.com

(857) 990-4240

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Sunil Shah

investors@rapid7.com

(857) 990-4074
- Riyadh may be trying to crash the market so fast, that perhaps a shock and awe strategy

- The UAE followed by saying that it would ramp up to 4 mb/d, adding 1 mb/d. Russia said it could increase by 0.5 mb/d. The price war is on and the market is about to see a tidal wave of new supply.

- Saudi Arabia said it would begin producing at unprecedented levels, ramping up to over 12.3 mb/d, which is above what it is thought to be able to sustainably produce.

- The Covid-19 pandemic is proving to be both a demand-side (with damage to travel, tourism, and any activities involving large crowds) and a supply-side shock (with major disruptions to supply chains), IHS Markit wrote in a commentary. It appears that the peak impact will not occur until late in Q2 or in Q3, thus IHS Markit assumes a U-shaped rather than a V-shaped cycle, with a sharp reduction in 2020 global growth.

- The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points last week and is under pressure to cut again immediately.

- Both the real economy and the financial economy are exhibiting acute signs of stress, Goldman Sachs said in the note.

- The 11-year bull run for the Dow Jones came to an end this week, officially falling into a bear market on Wednesday, shortly after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.

1. Commodities crash

- The 11-year bull run for the Dow Jones came to an end this week, officially falling into a bear market on Wednesday, shortly after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.

- Both the real economy and the financial economy are exhibiting acute signs of stress, Goldman Sachs said in the note.

- The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points last week and is under pressure to cut again immediately.

- The Covid-19 pandemic is proving to be both a demand-side (with damage to travel, tourism, and any activities involving large crowds) and a supply-side shock (with major disruptions to supply chains), IHS Markit wrote in a commentary. It appears that the peak impact will not occur until late in Q2 or in Q3, thus IHS Markit assumes a U-shaped rather than a V-shaped cycle, with a sharp reduction in 2020 global growth.

2. Saudi opens the spigots

- Saudi Arabia said it would begin producing at unprecedented levels, ramping up to over 12.3 mb/d, which is above what it is thought to be able to sustainably produce.

- The UAE followed by saying that it would ramp up to 4 mb/d, adding 1 mb/d. Russia said it could increase by 0.5 mb/d. The price war is on and the market is about to see a tidal wave of new supply.

- Riyadh may be trying to crash the market so fast, that perhaps a shock and awe strategy is aimed at bringing Russia and others back to the table.

- The one silver lining is a buyers market for refining, according to JBC Energy, which could last 6 to 18 months. Refining margins rose as oil prices fell.

- But unlike in 2015, when demand was rising (+1.5 mb/d) amid a supply glut, this year demand is falling (perhaps by 0.5 mb/d), which means that refiners cant ramp up to take advantage. Oil feedstock is cheap, but demand for refined products is plummeting.

3. Supply glut of 4 mb/d?

- The EIA said that the oil market might see a surplus of 1.7 mb/d in the first half of the year. But that is a small figure compared to some other estimates. Standard Chartered says that supply could exceed demand by 5.5 mb/d in the second quarter.

- Statements from major producers over the past two days, particularly those from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, suggest that we have underestimated the surpluses, the investment bank wrote in a note.

- The bank said that inventories could increase by a massive 1,400 million barrels between March 2020 and August 2021.

- That amount of oil would fill 88,000 Olympic swimming pools, Standard Chartered wrote. If you placed those swimming pools in a line lengthwise, they would cover the distance from New York to San Francisco.

- The bank said that U.S. oil production could fall to 11.3 mb/d by the end of 2021, down from 13.1 mb/d today.

4. Shale debt wall looms

- Shale drillers find themselves in a crisis with oil prices at about $30 per barrel. And the timing couldnt be worse.

- North American oil and gas companies have a combined $200 billion in debt maturing over the next four years, according to the Wall Street Journal. Roughly $41 billion falls due this year.

- The recent fall in oil prices has eliminated a lot of options that drillers might have to postpone debt, raise new funds or otherwise find a way to survive.

- The impact on companies is less about earnings and more about solvency, Jefferies analyst Sean Darby told the WSJ.

- More than 200 North American oil and gas companies have declared bankruptcy since 2015, and that figure is destined to rise significantly.

5. Chinas car sales plunge

- The largest auto market in the world saw car sales plunge by 80 percent in February. The effect is felt around the world as factories idle and financial equities sink.

- The pandemic may cause Chinas GDP to shrink by as much as 6 percent in the first quarter.

- The airline industry could lose as much as $113 billion from reduced air traffic.

- Without a lifeline from governments we will have a sectoral financial crisis piled on top of the public health emergency, The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.

6. Investors flock to gold

- Gold is an obvious beneficiary during times of economic turmoil.

- Positions in gold-backed ETFs increased by 55 tons over a three-day period this week, accounting for almost a third of year-to-date inflows, according to Bloomberg.

- Gold continues to provide a safety net as financial markets tumble, Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiCorp Ltd., said in a note. It just feels flat-out comfortable owning gold in this environment.

- Gold prices have climbed more than 22 percent over the past month.

7. Worst of pandemic for U.S. about to arrive

- The pace of the pandemic in the U.S. has accelerated, and the U.S. is on track to follow the path of Italy, which is in the middle of a nationwide lockdown.

- Hospitals in Italy are at the breaking point, and there is little reason to think that the U.S. is on track to bend the case curve down.

- The flurry of major event cancellations spiked this week, with Washington State and California banning mass gatherings. Major sports leagues canceled their seasons. Long-term school closures are multiplying. President Trump announced a 30-day travel restriction to and from Europe.

- On Thursday, the Federal Reserve said it would pump trillions of dollars into the financial system in order to shore it up.

- But with the U.S. economy about to suddenly go into a much slower gear, more damage likely lies ahead.
Measures to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus are underway with schools closed, sports events canceled and business conferences postponed. These measures, considered "social distancing," may be key in containing the spread of the coronavirus.

MORE: Coronavirus: Does worrying increase your risk of getting sick?

"Social distancing is a public health intervention in which people are discouraged from convening in groups and encouraged to keep physical distance from others in order to slow the spread of illness," said Dr. Neha Chaudhary, child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Brainstorm, Stanfords lab for mental health innovation.

"The goal is to prevent the number of cases of an illness from spiking rapidly past our health care systems ability to keep up," she said. "If we can slow the spread of the illness, then the hope is that even if the total number of cases is as high, the pace is slow enough such that our hospitals and health systems can continue to accommodate the people who need treatment."

During the 1918 influenza pandemic, approximately 22% of the population in Sydney avoided infection due to social distancing measures like closing theaters, canceling classes and quarantining ill patients. These interventions could prove vital for mitigating the coronavirus pandemic.

However, social distancing does not mean avoiding all activities outside of your home.

PHOTO: A woman uses hand sanitizer at Los Angeles International Airport, March 12, 2020, one day before a US flight travel ban hits 26 European countries amid ongoing precautions over the Coronavirus. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

We dont want to become hermits. We dont want to get into our homes, lock the door and crawl under the bed, said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville.

For activities such as going to the gym, people can try to go at off-hour times, sanitize commonly used equipment, and practice proper hand-washing routines, according to Schaffner. What were asking people to do is look into your own lives and figure out what youre doing and not doing that bring you all together closely, and begin to avoid those activities, he said.

Story continues

What to know about Coronavirus:

How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained

What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms

Tracking the spread in the US and Worldwide: Coronavirus map

Most importantly, social distancing measures for COVID-19 should not be discriminatory practices, said Schaffner. If we should get angry at anybody or discriminate against anything, it would be the virus. Thats what we ought to direct our attention at," he said. "This applies to absolutely everybody in the United States. We ought to be keeping our distance from each other so that this virus doesnt enter the conversation and get between us," said Schaffner.

Social distancing, a population-level public health intervention, is not meant to be confused with emotional distancing, reducing connectedness to friends and family, or exhibiting prejudice toward other groups, Chaudhary said.

MORE: How to avoid panicking with coronavirus outbreak

Unfortunately, we are seeing evidence of widespread fear -- a state that often affects the way humanity acts and their spirit toward one another," she continued. The faster we can eradicate panic-driven prejudice, the faster we can put our efforts toward preparedness and the fight against this virus."

As we continue to implement social distancing throughout the US, one thing remains clear: the sooner we contain COVID-19, the sooner these measures can end.

Priya Amin is a masters degree candidate at Columbia University in Narrative Medicine and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

Social distancing is key to stopping coronavirus originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
WASHINGTON  President Trump suggested on Thursday that he might veto a bipartisan surveillance bill, potentially disrupting an agreement to resolve a debate over national security and privacy before three FBI tools for investigating terrorism and espionage expire on Sunday.

Many Republican Senators want me to Veto the FISA Bill until we find out what led to, and happened with, the illegal attempted coup of the duly elected President of the United States, and others! Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trumps comments came a day after the House passed a bipartisan bill to extend the expiring tools while also adding safeguards to national-security wiretapping under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.

Several of the presidents most vocal allies backed the legislation, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader, enthusiastically urged swift passage of the Houses bill.

The president did not explain whether he was suggesting that he might not sign the bill  negotiated this week by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Republican leader  or a short-term extension that Republican senators were contemplating.

But the intervention showed that Trump remains an unpredictable and volatile decision maker on surveillance legal policy.

If Trump does derail the effort by congressional leaders of both parties to get some kind of bill passed by Sunday, the FBI would at least temporarily lose three powers that lawmakers created after the Sept. 11 attacks. They include the authority to get a court order for business records that are relevant to a terrorism or espionage investigation.

Trump and his supporters are invested in promulgating a conspiracy theory that the FBIs probe into Russias efforts to manipulate the 2016 presidential election was actually a politically motivated attempt to sabotage his presidency.

Charlie Savage and Nicholas Fandos are New York Times writers.
People who develop a persistent cough or high temperature have been urged to self-isolate for 14 days even if they have not tested positive for the Covid-19, according to new guidance aimed at tackling the spread of the infection in the community.

The warning is part of the drastic set of measures unveiled by the Government yesterday as it moved to an escalated "delay phase" in a bid to slow down the pace at which coronavirus is now circulating.

The precaution - which was not accompanied by any detail - is advised as part of a way of cutting down on the transmission of the virus,

It was confirmed yesterday the number of people in the Republic positive for the virus has climbed to 70 .

The potentially deadly infection contributed to the death of an older female patient this week and has left six people in intensive care.

One of the patients is understood to be extremely ill.

The cases confirmed yesterday included a cluster of 22 in an unspecified part of the country and another two people who picked it up in the community with no known source.

Three more patients were infected abroad.

Asked why people with potential symptoms of the coronavirus to self-isolate for 14 days as opposed to one week in the UK, the chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said Ireland was following the advice of the ECCC, the European disease watchdog.

The pattern of 22 cases of local transmission - showing the virus spreading within the country - and the two cases where the source of infection could not be found sparked a meeting of the National Public Health Emergency Team on Wednesday night and the unexpected rollout of the battle plan, including school closures.

One of the cases notified yesterday involved a health worker at the Midland Hospital in Mullingar, Co Westmeath.

Staff were called to a meeting and close contacts including some patients are having to self-isolate and undergo testing for the virus.

Some staff said they were not directly informed of the meeting and received the news from a colleague.

Meanwhile, a key recommendation of the new measures is that older or medically vulnerable people whose immune system is weakened due to illness are advised to reduce their contacts outside the home as much as possible.

It comes as more hospitals geared up for a big increase in patients with the coronavirus who will need to be placed in isolation or in intensive care if they are seriously ill.

Dublin's Mater hospital said it was limiting activity, cancelling almost all waiting list surgery and outpatient appointments.

They will go ahead only if essential.

This will affect hundreds of patients a day whose care will be put on hold and it is being replicated by other major hospitals across the country.

The hospital said the new arrangements were necessary in order to deal with the impact the virus.

Infected

"Our staff across every part of the hospital are carrying out Trojan work around the clock to deal with the virus, care for those infected and to protect and care for other patients in the hospital.

"The only visitors who are allowed on campus are those who are visiting patients in critical care, vulnerable young adults, or those whose loved ones are receiving end of life care.

"No children are permitted to visit the hospital under any circumstances."

Meanwhile, new guidelines were issued on how to conduct the funerals of people who die from the virus.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) said after death, the human body did not generally create a serious health hazard for the Covid-19 infection.

Precautions should be taken and the deceased should be placed in a body bag prior to transportation to the mortuary because this facilitates lifting and further reduces the risk of infection.

A face mask or similar should be placed over the mouth of the deceased before lifting the remains into the body bag.

Those physically handling the body and placing the body into the bag should wear protective clothing. The funeral director should avoid direct contact with any family member who has been identified by HSE public health staff as being a close contact, they can establish this by phone before meeting individual family members.

The deceased should be brought from a healthcare facility in a closed coffin to the designated funeral home or the location where the service will be held such as a church.

Meanwhile, the cell area of one of the biggest Garda stations in the country remained in lockdown last night as gardai awaited medical results to determine if three arrested men have Covid-19.

The situation means that over a dozen officers based at the affected stations - Kevin Street and Store Street garda stations are in self-isolation after coming into contact with men who may have the deadly virus.

The officers had been dealing with three Brazilian men who had allegedly flown into the country illegally on a flight from Portugal.

One of the men was brought to Kevin Street while the other two were brought to Store Street.
TORONTO - A Toronto organization that planned to honour the lives of those who died in a plane crash in Iran has cancelled in-person events for its celebration of the Persian New Year.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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, orange, emerging from the surface of cells, green, 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. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML

TORONTO - A Toronto organization that planned to honour the lives of those who died in a plane crash in Iran has cancelled in-person events for its celebration of the Persian New Year.

Tirgan said it has moved its Nowruz festival online. The annual event attracts upwards of 15,000 people, many part of the large Iranian-Canadian diaspora in the Toronto area. Many performances have been postponed, while others will continue this weekend without an audience in order to be recorded, then shown online.

"People used to come to our festival, now it's us going to their home for Nowruz," said Mehrdad Ariannejad, the CEO of Tirgan, a non-profit organization that promotes Iranian arts and culture.

The decision was a difficult one emotionally, Ariannejad said.

The organization wanted to honour the victims of Flight 752, a Ukraine International Airlines plane that was taken down by Iranian missiles outside Tehran just after taking off. All 176 people on board  the majority of them en route to Canada  were killed.

Among those who died included Parinaz and Iman Ghaderpanah, a couple who volunteered with Tirgan.

"Iman and Parinaz were really good souls," Ariannejad said.

"They left a legacy. They have been helping in any way that they can to promote Iranian arts and culture and integrate the Iranian community with larger Canadian society by sharing our culture with the rest of the Canadians."

Last week, several dozen members of Tirgan, from its board of directors to its executives and many volunteers, met to discuss the Nowruz festival, Ariannejad said.

Some wanted to cancel, he said, while others wanted to push ahead. Ariannejad initially wanted to push ahead with the in-person portion of the festival.

"We were hoping to bring people together in Nowruz to celebrate a new beginning for all the victims of Flight 752, but unfortunately due to COVID-19, we can't do that," he said.

The novel coronavirus has swept across Iran, with the death toll rising to 429 and confirmed cases to 10,075 as of Thursday.

Some Canadians have contracted the virus in Iran and gone into in self-isolation upon returning to Canada.

"We feel very good because we think at this difficult time that people have to stay home in Iran, even here, some have to stay home," he said. "And we don't want anyone to miss out and this way, they won't."

Ariannejad said the organization stands to lose up to $200,000, but that amount could be reduced depending on how negotiations go with government granting agencies.

"We are a community grassroot organization and I'm sure so many people are going to be there to support us, so I don't think that this will break this organization," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2020.
The hands on the iconic Doomsday Clock moved to just 100 secondsto midnight last month. That is the closest they have come to the final hour since its creation in 1947.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Scienceand Security Board, in consultation with the Bulletins Board ofSponsors, made the unprecedented decision to express the time remaining in seconds rather than minutes when the time was adjusted from 2 minutes to 100 seconds to midnight.

The time displayed on the clock has moved closer to midnight in three of the last fouryears. The last time it moved was in 2018, with a forward jump of 30 seconds. It moved to 2 1/2 minutes to midnight in 2017 from its prior setting of 3 minutes tomidnight. There was no adjustment last year, but withthe arrival of 2020 the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists noted new threats.

In addition to the two simultaneous existential dangers ofnuclear war and climate change, the world now faces the threatmultiplier of cyber-enabled information warfare.

The decision to movethe hands forward by 20 seconds was made in part because world leadershave allowed the international political infrastructure forcontaining this potential cyberthreat to erode.

It is 100 seconds to midnight, warned Rachel Bronson, president andCEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. We are now expressing howclose the world is to catastrophe in seconds  not hours, or evenminutes. It is the closest to Doomsday we have ever been in thehistory of the Doomsday Clock. We now face a true emergency  anabsolutely unacceptable state of world affairs that has eliminated anymargin for error or further delay.

December 2020 will mark the 75th anniversary of the first edition ofthe Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. It originally was a six-page,black-and-white bulletin, which evolved into a magazine. It wascreated in response to fears that the atomic bomb, which had been usedagainst Japan in August of 1945 to end the Second World War, would beonly the first of many dangerous presents from the Pandoras Box ofmodern science.

Origins of the Clock and Nuclear Armageddon

The Doomsday Clock, which has been maintained since 1947, isessentially a metaphor for threats to humanity from uncheckedscientific and technical advances. The clocks original setting in1947 was 7 minutes to midnight, and over the years it was setbackward and forward a total of 24 times.

It typically is assessed in January of each year.

The largest-ever number of minutes to midnight was 17 in 1991, when theUnited States and Soviet Union signed the first Strategic Arms ReductionTreaty (START I), followed by the Soviet Union dissolving on Dec. 26 of that year. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain,along with the reunification of Germany a year earlier, already had added 4 minutes to the clock.

In 1995, global military spending, as well as concerns aboutpost-Soviet nuclear proliferation, moved the clock 3 minutes closerto midnight  14 minutes in total. That number was reduced to 9minutes to midnight three years later, following Indias and Pakistanstesting of nuclear weapons.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Two more minutes were cut in 2002 due toconcerns over a nuclear terrorist attack and the fears that vastamounts of weapon-grade nuclear materials were largely unsecured orotherwise unaccounted for worldwide.

2010 saw the last time a minute was added. That followed a newSTART agreement, as well as the 2009 United Nations Climate ChangeConference, which called for the developing and industrialized nationsto agree to take responsibility for carbon emissions.

New Fears

Most perceptions about the Doomsday Clocks time to midnight are thatit always has been based on the threat posed by nuclear weapons andthe potential for an atomic war. However, other factors have beenconsidered by the Bulletin of the AtomicScientists, including energy, weapons, diplomacy and climatescience. In recent years they also have considered terrorist threats and climate change.

Bioterrorism and artificial intelligence also could be seenas potential sources of threats that could inch humanity closer todoomsday.

Cyberwarfare is a new factor  specifically cyber-enabledinformation warfare. It could include everything fromstate-sponsored propaganda to deepfakes to the spread ofmisinformation online. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists warnedthat cyber-based disinformation could cause corruption of theinformation ecosphere on which democracy and public decision makingdepend.

Moreover, many governments are utilizing cyber-enabled disinformationcampaigns as a way to sow distrust among rival powers. It has beencalled out as threat to the common good.

In the wrong hands, technology absolutely creates a threat tohumankind that is on the same scale as current weapons technology,warned Bill Santos, president of Scottsdale, Arizona-base Cerberus Sentinel.

Improperly used or maliciously deployed, technology can cripplecritical infrastructure, upset financial systems, and disable many ofthe systems we depend on for our survival and happiness, he told TechNewsWorld.

Reducing the Threat Vectors

New arms treaties and greater cooperation among nations have allowedthe doomsday clock to be set back  gaining precious seconds, or insome cases even minutes. However, the new threats are so great thatthere may be no easy way of addressing them and regaining timebefore the hands strike the proverbial midnight.

The risk of cyberwarfare is on par with nuclear risk and climatechange  and it may even pose a greater risk than both, explainedMarc Gaffan, CEO of Israel-based cybersecurity firm Hysolate.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A decade ago, cyberthreats had somewhat manageable impacts  datatheft that would rock the stability of the organization, or monetaryloss that would affect performance and a companys stock price for acouple years, he told TechNewsWorld.

Today cyberattacks can result in serious business disruption that isfar beyond either data theft or monetary losses. A cyberattack couldpose a threat to all aspects of infrastructure, from power grids tocommunication networks.

Nation-state attacks like this stem back to 2010 with Stuxnet, noted Gaffan.

The Stuxnet attack, which likely was conducted as a jointAmerican-Israeli effort, successfully crippled Irans nuclear program. Iranian hackers were believed to be responsible for a 2018 cyberattack against a Saudi petrochemical facility.

There was no loss of life in either attack, but each increasedregional tensions. Moreover, such attacks could result in physicalequipment failures that would lead to human casualties.

Its far too easy for malicious attackers to cause physical damage said Gaffan, and the impact is far too great for this to not be a significant factor driving us closer to midnight.

Even more worrisome is the fact that much of our modern infrastructureisnt as secure as it could be.

The unfortunate truth also is that the power grid and other nationaloperations that literally keep the lights on are not built with themost sound security in place to prevent an attack from causing acatastrophic blackout or causing fatal medical device failures, said Gaffan.

Turn Back Time

It might be difficult to put time back on the Doomsday Clock,but its not impossible. Here is where cybersecurity as a defensive toolcould be crucial. The world could be safer if more governments, companies andindividuals all paid greater attention to cybersecurity.

Education and awareness can help move the hands back, said Gaffan.

Ultimately, we as a society need to start thinking of securityfirst  and not as an afterthought  in everything we do, he urged.

To that end, security needs to be built into the core architecture ofeverything  from the software and applications that are being builttoday to the improvement of legacy systems and infrastructures thatare currently in place.

However, due to advancements in technology, the risk of cyberwarfare will always be with us, warned Gaffan.

The best we can do is mitigate the risk by staying one step ahead ofattackers in building devices and an infrastructure that aresecure-by-design, he argued.

The defense against this threat goes beyond thetechnology itself, suggested Cerberus Sentinels Santos.

We need to create a comprehensive culture of security at thegovernment, corporate and individual level that is aware of thisthreat and understands the steps each can take to address it, he said.

This could begin with education to better understand the unique set ofrisks a completely connected civilization faces.

It is followed with an understanding of what can be done, at everylevel, to address or reduce these risks, said Santos. We need tothink of security holistically, understanding that it is anexistential risk that affects aspects of our interconnected lives. Weare far too dependent on technology to address our security needs.True cybersecurity is a culture.
Doctors have revealed why you need to pay close attention to the details on your hand sanitiser bottle - and how using expired products could render them almost ineffective.

According to Healthline, the average shelf life of hand sanitiser is somewhere between two and three years - so if you have a little bottle lurking at the bottom of your handbag and you can't read the font on it because it's rubbed off, the chances are it's time to toss it.

'The active ingredients are only guaranteed effective until the expiration date,' Dr. Andrew Alexis, MD, chair of Mount Sinai's department of dermatology, told Women's Health.

'There are no clear visual signs of expiration so checking the label is the only reliable way to tell if that bottle deserves to be tossed.'

Doctors revealed why you need to pay close attention to the details on your hand sanitiser bottle - and how using expired products could render them almost ineffective (stock image)

How does hand sanitiser work? The alcohol in hand sanitiser disrupts the outer coating of many, but not all, germs; the CDC recommends using a hand sanitiser that contains at 60 per cent alcohol to ensure effectiveness. However, these products are not very effective against bacterial spores or against viruses that don't have an outer envelope. Sanitiser is effective against almost everything else. Washing your hands is better than hand sanitiser, but this is the next best thing. Source: LifeHacker Advertisement

Sales of hand sanitiser have soared in recent weeks, as people rush to get their hands on antibacterial products to prevent the rapid spread of coronavirus.

The CEO and founder of Australian skincare range, Moogoo, told FEMAIL that their entire six-month stock of anti-bacterial hand gel has been snapped up in just four days.

While doctors agree that 'something is better than nothing' and you can continue to use hand sanitiser once it's past its best, they highlighted that it's not always a good idea.

This is because the active ingredient is alcohol, and once it has been exposed to air - even indirectly through the protective bottle - it will become less and less effective.

Coronavirus essential guide: Your top hygiene questions answered Does hand-washing really work? Yes. A new study published by the highly-respected Cochrane Database which summarises and interprets numerous studies says that handwashing cuts the chances of contracting a respiratory illness such as coronavirus by 54 per cent  the best odds of any deterrent. So wash your hands  scrubbing every bit of skin from your wrist downwards  at every opportunity for at least 20 seconds (or for however long it takes to sing Happy Birthday in your head twice). Should I use public transport? Only if necessary. If you can work from home rather than commuting, and also minimise shopping trips, you will greatly reduce your infection risk. One recent study in Nottingham found that people who contracted the flu virus in 2011 were nearly six times more likely than others to have travelled by public transport in the five days before developing symptoms. lanes, trains and buses are high-risk environments for easily transmitted viruses  and Covid-19 is particularly infectious  to spread on to our hands via surfaces such as handrails, seats and handles. If I stay at home will I be safe? No. Family and friends can easily bring in the virus. To reduce this threat, institute a handwashing rule for everyone as soon as they enter the house. And make sure there is one hand towel for each person. If thats not practicable, wash towels frequently. Advertisement

The CDC recommends that you scrub for at least 20 seconds (or for the time period that it takes you to sing Happy Birthday twice) and washing your hands is always better than hand sanitiser (pictured: the WHO's guide to perfect hand washing)

When it comes to hand washing versus hand sanitiser, all of the experts agree that your go-to should always be washing your hands.

What is the five-step process to perfect hand washing? 1. Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap. 2. Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails. 3. Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the 'Happy Birthday' song from beginning to end twice. 4. Rinse your hands well under clean, running water. 5. Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them. Advertisement

The CDC recommends that you scrub for at least 20 seconds (or for the time period that it takes you to sing Happy Birthday twice) and washing your hands is always better than hand sanitiser.

This is because hand sanitisers do not get rid of all types of germs, and they may not be as effective when your hands are dirty or greasy.

'They might not remove harmful chemicals from hands like pesticides and heavy metals,' the website reads.

The agency recommends you wash your hands at frequent intervals to stay healthy, and advises that everyone follow five steps to ensure they are washing their hands the right way.

'The first step is to wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap,' the CDC said.

'Then, lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.'

However the third step is where many people might be falling down.

The CDC recommends you scrub your hands 'for at least 20 seconds' - which is the same amount of time it takes to hum Happy Birthday twice.

'Rinse your hands well under clean, running water,' the guide advises.

Finally, you should use a clean towel to dry your hands or air dry them.

The agency recommends you wash your hands at frequent intervals to stay healthy, and advises that everyone follow five steps (stock image)
Democrats in both houses have called on ICE to halt operations at health facilities during the coronavirus outbreak over fears undocumented immigrants could be deterred from seeking medical help.

The pandemic has coincided with a widespread crackdown by ICE agents in sanctuary cities across the country.

The New York Times reported last week that the agency had deployed hundreds of additional officers and round-the-clock surveillance to increase arrests in cities where local law enforcement agencies do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

In New York and Boston  both sanctuary cities where local authorities do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement  reports suggest a surge in arrests.

As confirmed cases of the coronavirus continue to grow across the US, a number of Senate Democrats, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have raised concerns that immigrant communities will be deterred from seeking medical attention over fears of arrest, or of harming their chances of citizenship.

In a letter to the Trump administrations coronavirus taskforce, they called on the Department of Homeland Security to immediately stop all civil immigration enforcement activities occurring in or around public health departments, hospitals, medical clinics and centers, or coronavirus testing sites or laboratories.

Democratic Senator Jeff Merkely, the author and lead signatory of the letter, told The Independent that despite ICEs own policies prohibiting them from conducted operations in sensitive locations like hospitals, there have been multiple documented instances under Trump administration leadership of ICE and Border Patrol agents staking out medical facilities with the goal of arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants.

This virus does not discriminate, and its going to infect individuals in our communities regardless of their immigration status. To reduce the spread of the disease across our nation, its critical to make sure that no one in America has any fear of going to get tested. That means that ICE must be crystal clear with the public and make an ironclad commitment that they will not target anyone at hospitals or health clinics during this crisis, he added.

In New York, immigration advocates have noted a marked increase in ICE activity in recent months, which has not slowed as the coronavirus outbreak has worsened.

There is a lot of fear generally because the reports of ICE enforcement actions in New York that we have received in the first ten weeks of this year have increased fivefold compared to the last ten weeks of 2019, said Genia Blaser, Senior Staff Attorney at the Immigrant Defense Project, which tracks ICE operations in the city. But I think the fact that ICE is continuing with the same vengeance in the middle of this pandemic has exposed the true cruelty of the system.

They are still going out on to the streets and to homes to locate and arrest non-citizens. Not only that, they are taking them to detention centres where there is no protocol on what to do about the coronavirus. Non-citizens in detention are not being provided with the most adequate medical care and they fear what will happen if someone tests positive in one of these facilities.

A spokesperson for ICE told The Independent the agency does not conduct operations at medical facilities, except under extraordinary circumstances. Claims to the contrary are false and create unnecessary fear within communities. Individuals should continue to seek care for medical conditions.

Current guidelines stipulate that ICE agents cannot conduct operations in sensitive locations such as hospitals unless there is an immediate need for enforcement action, such as a threat to national security or a risk of violence.

An ICE official confirmed that the agency was deploying special agents to supplement routine enforcement activity to deal with a backlog of cases.

Undocumented immigrants are not alone in being deterred from seeking medical treatment due to their documentation.

The letter from Senate Democrats also called for the suspension of the controversial public charge rule, introduced by the Trump administration last month, which grants immigration officials the power to deny green cards to legal immigrants who may use public benefits in the future, including federal health care like Medicaid. Senators claim that the rule has already been shown to deter people from seeking medical attention over fears it may harm their chances of gaining citizenship.

In light of the seriousness of the public health emergency we face, we need the cooperation of all agencies to facilitate a swift response, and the public charge rule impedes that response, the letter said.

We cannot allow the fear this ill-considered rule creates to scare families away from getting the help that they may need if they come into contact with people with Covid-19.

House Democrats have also taken aim at the policy. A letter calling for the suspension of the public charge rule was to vice president Mike Pence this week by 42 members of congress.

One signatory, California congresswoman Norma J Torres, called the public charge policy as morally bankrupt as it is blatantly dangerous to public health.

Its bad enough that this rule targets and torments some of the most vulnerable members of our society  the fact that it does so in a way that further spreads the coronavirus and threatens the well-being of every single person in the United States goes to show how little thought the Trump Administration puts into its policies. They need to rescind this mess before it inflicts lasting damage, she said in a statement.

Immigration advocacy groups see a perfect storm for immigrant communities.

With the threats of increased ICE activity, the new Public Charge rule, and overall distrust of government, we are marginalising a significant segment of our society and harming their ability to access critical medical services," said Rodrigo Camarena, Director of the Immigration Advocates Network.

"The federal government must stop wasting valuable resources mobilising ICE and CBP agents across the country and instead focus instead on supporting cities and states who are least equipped to manage the growing crisis.

A number of clinics that provide healthcare to immigrant communities are concerned that fears and confusion over the public charge policy may prevent people from seeking help during the outbreak.

With Covid-19, we are concerned that anything that would dissuade a person from seeking services could have catastrophic effects, because we will not detect and will not be able to prevent the spread, said Lousia McCarthy, president of the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County.

The association is a coalition of non-profit community clinics that provide care to 1.7 million patients  the majority of whom are below the poverty line  for anyone regardless of their immigration status.

Ms McCarthy said the public charge rule would only affect a small number of immigrants, but many more might mistakenly believe that they will be penalised.

You couple it with fears of ICE and a backlog of applications for citizenship, for asylum status, its created a real tenor of anxiety amongst our immigrant population, regardless of their documentation.
A passenger wears a protective mask at Adolfo Suarez-Barajas international airport on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Spanish authorities closed schools and halted direct flights to and from Italy. Italy is the country with most coronavirus cases in Europe, and Spain this week reported a sharp increase in cases. 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. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Associated Press

Airlines are seeing demand continue to drop as the novel coronavirus spreads. Their concerns escalated this week when President Trump effectively banned travel from Europe for 30 days.

The fall in demand, along with cratering airline stock prices, schedule reductions, and various cost-cutting measures, all have airline workers worried about what their jobs  and incomes  will look like in the coming months.

Business Insider spoke with numerous flight attendants, pilots, and ground workers. Overall, concern about the health of the industry is greater than concerns about being exposed to COVID-19.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As the novel coronavirus continues to spread and governments, companies, investors, and individuals take increasingly stringent measures to try and slow the outbreak, the airline industry finds itself in turmoil.

Barely two months ago, airlines were forecasting another high-growth year, with demand, capacity, and profit increases  particularly once the Boeing 737 Max returned to service.

Now, they are cutting costs, sending staff on leave and temporarily laying off employees, grounding planes, and suspending routes as they grapple with what is potentially the greatest existential threat they've faced in modern times.

While demand for travel began to plummet starting in late-January, President Donald Trump's announcement this week effectively banning foreign travelers from parts of Europe has caused demand to crater.

Airline share prices have also plummeted, falling to longtime lows in just a matter of weeks.

While the illness itself, COVID-19, is relatively mild for young, healthy individuals -- their greatest risk is becoming a vector for transmission to more vulnerable people  the virus has people worried about friends and family, stocking up on food, and, for many of those who work for airlines, their livelihood.

Business Insider spoke with multiple flight attendants, pilots, and ground staff for mainline and regional airlines around the US who shared their views on the virus and its potential impact on their industry. All requested anonymity, due to their employers' policies prohibiting speaking with the media, and some requested that their company name not be listed.

Story continues

Here's what they had to say.

Are you an airline employee with thoughts on the current situation? Contact this reporter at dslotnick@businessinsider.com.

Less concerned about the virus itself, but still taking precautions.

Baggage handler

AP

Most of the employees Business Insider spoke with for this article downplayed concerns about the virus. Although they recognized the larger public health risks, and the fact that personal risk exists, many remained optimistic  even as cases and fatalities have increased in recent days.

"I'm 36 years old, healthy, and in good shape, so if I did contract it I have a chance of fighting if off," one Canadian flight attendant said. "However, what about all the people I come into contact with before I realize I have the virus? That's my main concern, the public needs to do a better job of protecting everyone."

A flight attendant for a regional airline in the US that contracts with American, Delta, and United similarly felt that her personal risk was low.

"I go to work every day around people who are sick," she said. "I'm always cleaning and washing my hands. My concern for now is basically the same. I don't want anyone to get sick, of course, but I think it's a little blown out of proportion."

Others said they were being more careful than normal and hoping to avoid the virus altogether.

"Nothing much has changed for me, I do the same stuff I've always done," a New York-based flight attendant for American said. "One thing is that lately, I've been wiping down the tray table and arm rests when I fly."

"It's very frightening to know us flight attendants are with and around thousands of people almost daily on long flights and in airports and hotels," an experienced Delta flight attendant said. "But we all must keep working  we have bills to pay!"

"Strangely, I don't know of any of our flight attendants who have come down with COVID-19 yet," he added, given the close proximity and potential exposures Delta's 25,000 flight attendants have.

What airlines are doing to safeguard passengers and crew.

People wear masks at the international terminal at LAX airport in Los Angeles, California, U.S., amid reports of the coronavirus, March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Reuters

Since early in the outbreak, airlines have detailed steps they're taking to keep planes clean and help protect flight crews.

"I've never experienced the airline industry being as engaged and proactive as they have been with this," Sara Nelson, head of the Association of Flight Attendants, told Business Insider in an interview last week. "So I want to really applaud the airlines."

"We changed the way we do service on the plane," a flight attendant for a regional airline said. "We use gloves now, we don't touch seatbelts anymore, and they have more cleaners coming on board."

A Chicago-based flight attendant for American Airlines said that the airline was offering more resources for flight attendants.

"American is now allowing crew to wear gloves during the entire service or when on board the aircraft," he said. "They are providing hand sanitizer and gloves, and refreshers have been sent on what to do in a situation where a communicable disease is suspected."

A flight attendant for Delta said that while he felt the airline was a bit slow to roll out its protective measures for crew  he said that as recently as a few weeks ago flight attendants on most routes were told not to wear protective masks or gloves  things have since changed.

"Our company is very supportive now," he said. "They sobered up quickly in the past week or so."

A flight attendant for a different regional airline said that she had recently found herself on planes without the promised supplies.

"We had no hand sanitizer, limited gloves, and the aircraft were not cleaned during the day," she said. She said that the issue was most apparent on flights her airline operated for United.

Comparisons to the days after 9/11.

Newark airport.

Chloe Pantazi

After 9/11, demand fell roughly 40% at airlines. The drop in demand, which did not fully recover for years, led directly and indirectly to layoffs, furloughs, downsizing, and consolidations.

Many employees are worried that the drop in demand linked to coronavirus  estimated to reach as much as 70%, according to some estimates  will lead to a similar situation.

"Not since 9/11 have I been more concerned about my job security," a veteran pilot for a major US airline said. "I'm scared about being laid off again. Another 9/11 disruption means I will probably never upgrade to captain before I retire."

"It's sad and demoralizing," he added.

Airline CEOs from Gary Kelley of Southwest to Alex Cruz of British Airways have also drawn comparisons to the post-9/11 slump. Cruz suggested that COVID-19 could be more serious than SARS and the financial crash, as well, according to the Financial Times.

The overall feeling has shifted markedly in recent days, airline employees said, moving from slight anxiety and cautious optimism to a more acute concern.

"For now it's okay, but my concern is definitely shifting," a flight attendant for a Canadian airline said. "Not so much about my health, but about job security and how this is going to impact the airline and my family financially if I have to take a leave or have any of my flying cancelled."

"I haven't heard much except the rumor that if things continue to spiral downwards, they could offer leaves of absences for those who want it," an American Airlines ground manager said. "Haven't really crossed that bridge yet, except if you don't feel well, you're encouraged to stay home."

Although the manager was optimistic, the heavy cancellation of European flights  and the uncertainty surrounding potential future cancellations  was a big concern.

"A lot of our money comes from cargo, which comes from these flights," he said. "So I'm a tad worried now but let's see what happens in the coming weeks."

A Charlotte-based customer service agent for American Airlines agreed.

"Although I think it's for the greater good, it's just adding more fuel to the fire," he said. "It's like the world is coming to a complete stop and bills are still due. The economy can't prosper if everyone's on lockdown or afraid to go outside."

"I think in the last 24 hours, the mood has shifted," a Denver-based flight attendant for a regional airline said. "Staff is more concerned with catching a virus and becoming more upset."

"It looks like pandemonium is starting to break loose with the announcement of school closures," she added.

Earlier, that same flight attendant said she felt confident that even if a schedule reduction came to pass, furloughs wouldn't be necessary thanks to the more cost-effective nature of regional operations compared to mainline partners.

"I definitely feel different today than I did last week," a New York-based American Airlines flight attendant said. "For the first time yesterday I experienced near empty loads on flights. And I noticed Charlotte airport was empty, which was shocking, I think it's starting to take full effect, the public fear."

"I do think there's a lot of fear mongering, especially among senior people. I think they're trying to scare us," she added, referring to senior flight attendants who were on the job after 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis. "I really don't know what to think.

For junior employees or those still in training, employment is a particular concern.

"Nobody knows entirely how things are going to unfold," one new flight attendant, who is in training for a major US airline, said. "To think of the possibility of losing the job before we even start scares us. But everyone is being hopeful and positive."

"If people would just wash their hands it wouldn't be that major a problem," he added.

Layoffs, furloughs, and reduced hours aren't the only concern, though.

"If I get sick, my airline has still not put in place a pay protection guarantee, a flight attendant at a mainline US carrier, who asked Business Insider not to name the airline, said. "We use a 'point' system, so we get penalized for calling out sick and using the sick time that we actually work for."

Although anxiety about job security was on the rise, some said that they were still confident that the airline  and its employees  would weather the storm without too much disruption.

"The summer months, we might take a hit with hours, but I think with the voluntary leaves, the rest of us will be fine," the Chicago-based American Airlines flight attendant said. "I'm still very optimistic that American and all of the carriers will do what they need to do to keep things going. I don't think that we're at the point of having to let people go."

But with bills to pay and all the daily necessities of life, optimism may be running thin.

"My family is extremely nervous about me working at the airport," the Charlotte-based American Airlines worker said, noting that he interacts with hundreds of passengers each day during check-in or boarding. "Me, not so much. I'm more worried about my bills." He said that he's in the process of applying for a mortgage, and was worried that it would be affected.

"Sad times we live in," he added. "Everyone's definitely on edge."

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Alliance News) - Saga PLC, which provides products and services for life after 50, said Friday it has temporarily suspended its cruise ship operations until May 1.

The company noted the advice from the UK government, given on Thursday, urging those over the age of 70 with pre-existing conditions not to travel.

"Our customer service teams will be in contact with Cruise customers who were due to travel in the next six weeks to offer them either a full refund or a credit for a future departure," Saga added.

Speaking on Thursday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said coronavirus "is the worst public health crisis for a generation". Johnson said anyone with coronavirus symptoms, however mild, such as a continuous cough or high temperature, must now stay at home for seven days.

He said school trips abroad should be stopped, while people over 70 with serious medical conditions should not go on cruises.

Saga said its decision comes despite "very positive" demand for its cruises, with bookings of around 80% of the full year revenue target.

While cancellations had increased in recent weeks, Saga said the average booked load factor for the remaining five cruise departures in March was 79% and the average booked load factor for five April departures was 85%.

Saga expects its six-week cruise suspension will dent pretax profit by between GBP10 million and GBP15 million. For the financial year ended January 31 2018, Saga posted a GBP134.6 million pretax loss. Pretax profit for the six months to July 31 - the firm's first half - slumped 52% year on year to GBP52.6 million.

"While the travel environment remains uncertain, the group continues to have significant available liquidity, underpinned by a GBP100 million undrawn revolving credit facility, GBP33 million of cash at the end of February and the strong cash generation of the Insurance business," Saga said.

The company said its Insurance unit will not be "significantly" impacted by the coronavirus, and has made a good start to the current financial year.

Saga added: "There are a range of further mitigating actions the group will take including additional cost efficiencies and reducing discretionary spend."

Shares in Saga were down 0.1% early Friday in London, at 14.98 pence, have initially risen 1.3%.

The move by Saga followed a similar decision by much-larger peer Carnival PLC on Thursday. Its Princess Cruises division will voluntarily pause its global operations in response to the "unpredictable circumstances" evolving from the spread of covid-19 virus.

"In proactive response to the unpredictable circumstances evolving from the global spread of covid-19 and in an abundance of caution, Princess Cruises announced that it will voluntarily pause global operations of its 18 cruise ships for two months, impacting voyages departing March 12 to May 10," the travel leisure company said.

Those currently onboard a cruise that will end in the next five days will continue to sail as expected through the end of the itinerary so that onward travel arrangements are not disrupted, Carnival said, adding that current voyages that are underway and extend beyond March 17 will be ended at the most convenient location for guests.

Princess Cruises plans to be back in operation beginning with cruises departing May 11. It plans offer guests either cash refund or the opportunity to transfer 100% of the money paid for their cancelled cruise to a future cruise of their choice.

Carnival was down 10% in early trading at 1,160.50p, after closing down 18% on Thursday.

By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Marriott has disputed Conservative Political Action Conference head Matt Schlapps claim that the state of Maryland performed thousands of Wuhan coronavirus screenings at the hotel that hosted CPAC.

It is my understanding that no screens of either people or facilities has been performed at the property, Marriott spokeswoman Allison Sitch told CNBC.

Schlapp told Fox News Laura Ingraham that he was told by the Maryland Department of Health that 2,000 tests were performed in and around the Gaylord National hotel.

They did 2,000 screens all around the hotel, Schlapp on Tuesday, referring to Maryland Department of Health officials. They found nothingSeveral days ago they came to us and said theres nothing to be alarmed about.

In comments to National Review, Schlapp stood by his remarks and emphasized that they reflected information he was given by health officials.

We were told that the state of Maryland had done an assessmentand there were more than 2,000 screenings that were performed, Schlapp said. I stand by the fact that we were told that, I stand by the fact that we said that. And I have since asked other health care experts why they used the term screening and what does that mean, and the answer I have gotten is that it could mean a wide variety of things.

It essentially means they did an evaluation that encompassed, or at least it felt like an evaluation had been done, that encompassed a talking to a wide range of people, Schlapp added.

A spokesman for the Maryland Department of Health did not directly address the veracity of Schlapps comments but did confirm that health officials have coordinated with CPAC organizers.

The Maryland Department of Health has closely coordinated with CPAC organizers to provide guidance to attendees, the spokesman told CNBC.

During his earlier interview with Ingraham, Schlapp spoke from his home via Skype, having placing himself in self-quarantine following revelations that a CPAC attendee had contracted the coronavirus. The patient had been in contact with Representatives Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), Doug Collins (R., Ga.), Paul Gosar (R., Ariz.) and Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas), all of whom subsequently placed themselves in self-quarantine. Gaetz has since tested negative for the illness.

Story continues

According to the general manager theres been no sort of mass screening of employees  he flat out denied it, a worker at the hotel, the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, told CNBC.

Sitch said the hotel was in contact with local health authorities and are following their guidance about this situation.

The patient has not been identified in the media, and while CPAC has informed VIP attendees of interactions with the patient, attendees have complained that about a lack of transparency, Politico reported Monday. CPAC has denied the complaint and maintains that all attendees who are believed to have interacted with the infected man were notified.

Editors Note: A previous version of the article mischaracterized Schlapps remarks. He said that health officials conducted tests in and around the hotel, not that the tests were conducted by hotel employees.

More from National Review
New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir authorities on Friday (March 13) revoked the Public Safety Act slapped against National Conference chairman Farooq Abdullah and also released him from house arrest. According to reports, a five-time J&K Chief Minister, Farooq can take part in parliament session from March 16 onwards.

In an order, state Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra said the PSA invoked on Abdullah on September 17 and further extended on December 13, has been revoked. The order comes into force with immediate effect.

"National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah's release from detention will be a right step for the restoration of a genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir," the party said in a statement here today. The NC said the process will receive a further fillip when party vice-president Omar Abdullah and other political detainees are set free. "We urge the government to do so at the earliest," it said. "As the pre-eminent political party of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference has played a key role in strengthening the voice of the people through democracy and will continue to do so," the statement said.

Farooq had been under house arrested since September 15, 2019, almost a month after the Centre scrapped the princely state Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and bifurcated the state into two union territories  Jammu and Ladakh.

In December 2019, Farooq's detention was extended by the Jammu and Kashmir authorities for a period of three months.

Meanwhile, several mainstream leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, including Farooq's son and former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti continue to remain under detention.

Booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), Omar Abdullah has been under detention for the past seven months at Srinagar's Hari Nivas, where he recently celebrated his 50th birthday. Going by a couple of photographs that surfaced on social media last year, Omar had grown a long salt and pepper beard and was almost unrecognisable, triggering mostly anger and anguish from netizens. The pictures showed Omar smiling in a snow-covered jacket and sporting an unkempt greyish beard.

According to PTI, the PSA dossier and grounds for his detention served on him late on February 6 last month accused him of having 'considerable influence' over people including ability to get voters during poll boycott calls and potential for diverting energies of public for any cause.

The Supreme court is hearing a petition of Sara Pilot challenging Omar's detention under the PSA. The political career of Omar began at the age of 28 when he became a Lok Sabha and was the youngest minister inducted in Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led Cabinet in 2000 when he was appointed Minister of State for external affairs and later as commerce.

Omar, who was the chief minister of the state from 2009 to 2014, rose to fame in 2008 with his famous five-minute speech at Parliament when he, despite being in opposition, supported the Indo-US nuclear deal.


The US President Donald Trump will address media at 3 pm (GMT) on corona virus. Reports said Trump may announce a national health emergency.

The United States (US) President Donald Trump is likely to declare a national health emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak, said reports. Trupms announcement would help Americans to get every possible resource for treatment of coronavirus free of cost.

In a tweet, President Trump said he would be addressing media address at 3 pm (GMT) on Coronavirus.

Reports said Donal Trump would be joined by the US vice president Mike Pence, who is incharge of Trumps task force against coronavirus.

Before talking to the reporters, Trump would chair a meeting with top officials, major laboratory company executives and health officials at the White House and review preparations to curb the virus.

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, one of the top Democrat, has been cautiously raising voice in demand for declaration of national health emergency, provided Trump doesnt overstep his authority or indulge his autocratic tendencies.

Also read: Coronavirus in India: How to make hand sanitizers at home?

Also read: Coronavirus in India: KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan says players, spectators health first

The novel disease has spread outbreak in over 105 countries infecting over 1,00,000 people including 80,000 in China. Chinas Wuhan was called as the epicenter for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called entire Europe as center for novel coronavirus which is infecting people rapidly.

In India, the infection has claimed 2 lives and the number of positive cases has grown to 86.

For all the latest World News, download NewsX App
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 09:37:05|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Beijing reported one new confirmed case of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) imported from Britain on Thursday, local health authority said Friday.

The city also reported one local suspected case and eight imported suspected cases, with three from the Netherlands, two from Italy, one from the Republic of Korea, one from France and one from Austria, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Commission.

As of Thursday, a total of 436 confirmed cases had been reported in Beijing. Of all, 342 have been discharged from hospital after recovery and eight have died. The city now has 31 suspected cases.

No new confirmed cases have been reported in 12 of the 16 districts in the city for more than 14 consecutive days.
Sixth-year students are in despair across Dublin regarding the outcome of their Leaving Cert exams as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that all schools will be shut until March 29.

The Herald visited Colaiste Bride Presentation Secondary School in Clondalkin, where 970 panicked students were told to take all their books home yesterday afternoon.

"It's absolute chaos here this afternoon. The village is absolutely packed as the parents are coming to collect all their books," said principal Marie Therese Kilmartin.

Uncertain

"We've done a little bit of preparation. We were preparing for remote learning and yesterday we had advised our parents as a precautionary measure to collect books from today and tomorrow."

While the school has been preparing to conduct classes online, it is still uncertain if State exams, such as Irish oral tests which are scheduled in the coming weeks, will still go ahead.

"We have a large number of students preparing for exams. They're the ones that everyone is wondering, what will happen for the practicals, for the orals and they're going to be the priority," added Ms Kilmartin.

Leaving Cert students Jennifer Anago and Victoria Eguavoen told the Herald of their fears surrounding their oral language exams.

Their Irish oral is scheduled to take place on March 30, the day they return to school, with European language exams scheduled for the previous week.

"We don't know if they're still taking place at those times or if they'll be moved," said Jennifer.

"Now that the school is shut down, we have to study on our own and we don't have as much reassurance from our teacher.

"We don't know if what we're doing is right."

Victoria said: "We don't even know about the exams in June now. We don't know if they're going to be pushed back or not because we don't know how long the coronavirus will go on for."

Jenny Ekeziem, Kelsey Enroy and Emma Kate Farrell, from Clondalkin, were also concerned over the uncertainty.

"We were expecting Wednesday for us not to come back," said Emma Kate.

"But today was just kind of sprung on us."

Kelsey said: "We're told that our music practical is March 30 and our Irish orals are meant to begin then as well.

"We don't know if we should study for them or not because they might be postponed so we could focus on other things now.

"I just prefer to know when our orals will definitely be on."

Jenny said: "It's advised that we shouldn't gather in mass groups but staying at home for so long is not going to work well. We're told to see our friends to take a break from the study but we don't even have that option."

Mark Holland, the father of Chantal Holland, a Junior Cert student, said sending children home was a good idea.

"It seems like overkill, but I see the sense in it. Rather over-deal with it now, and have less pieces to pick up after," he said.

Chantal said: "I feel like it's good to be sent home because there's a lot of students and it protects the teachers.

"I was already concerned about my State exams but maybe I'll have some time to study over the two weeks. I'm a little worried about my art exam because you can't practise some of the drawing from home."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office announced Thursday night that the prime minister's wife, Sophie Trudeau, has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Both Trudeaus will remain quarantined in their home for the next 14 days. Sophie Trudeau is "feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions, and her symptoms remain mild," the prime minister's office said in a statement. Justin Trudeau is "in good health with no symptoms," and because of that, his doctors have advised him not to get tested for COVID-19.

Sophie Trudeau was recently in the United Kingdom. Upon her return to Canada, she began experiencing mild flu-like symptoms. Justin Trudeau continued to work on Thursday, holding virtual meetings and making phone calls to world leaders from his home.

More stories from theweek.com

The conservative movement is a public health hazard

The entire country of Norway is 'shutting down'

White House will extend Europe travel ban to Ireland, U.K., considering domestic restrictions


The Lake Oswego school board on Thursday voted to close all of its schools for the week before spring break in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Students will finish the week but will not return to class March 16. Kids will go back to school March 30.

This marks the second large-scale closure of public schools in Oregon since Gov. Kate Brown ordered the cancellation of events and gatherings of 250 or more people. Portland Public Schools, the states largest district, has so far resisted calls from parents and the teachers union to close schools.

Officials in Ashland also voted to close schools Thursday. The Reynolds district also announced closures for the same week.

The Lake Oswego district briefly shuttered Forest Hills Elementary after a staff member tested positive for the virus, the first case in Oregon. But the Hillsboro district, where a middle school tested positive, has not closed any schools.

The Lake Oswego school board made the decision about an hour after officials in the Tigard-Tualatin district announced a similar move.

Board members discussed the logistics of closing schools and wondered aloud how a week-long closure would affect low-income students who rely on school breakfast and lunches for their daily meals and the tactics effectiveness given it would mean children, already among the least vulnerable to COVID-19, would not necessarily be quarantined.

Where are the kids going to be for the next five days?" asked school board member Kirsten Aird, who works in public health. We just have to own that theyll be out in the community. Theyre going to be in the parks.

Aird was the lone dissenting vote. The board voted 4-1 to cancel classes.

Some health experts argue that taking preventative measures, such as closing schools before a virus is confirmed among the student population, would stem its spread and help ensure hospitals and health care centers dont get overwhelmed with a rash cases.

Three private schools  St. Marys Academy and Central Catholic and Jesuit high schools  have announced they will close for two to four weeks as precautionary measures, although none have disclosed staff or students have been affected by coronavirus.

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While young children and teenagers are among the least vulnerable to the virus  the majority of fatalities have been recorded in people older than 60  public health experts have said preventing crowds from gathering is one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the disease and keep hospitals and health care workers from becoming overwhelmed by serious cases.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 12, 2020 | 05:29 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY





During a Thursday press conference regarding COVID-19 in the Commonwealth, Beshear made the request that public and private schools close in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.



Many schools had professional development days scheduled for Friday, March 13, but some are in session. See each school's information to be sure.



(UPDATE 3-13-20: By Friday afternoon, all 172 Kentucky school districts had announced they would be closed for at least the next two weeks.)







Ballard County Schools have announced their closure beginning Monday, March 16.







Carlisle County Schools have not announced an extended closure, but is not holding classes on Friday or Monday.







Community Christian Academy is closed Friday and the week of March 16 - 20. They will decide about the following week by March 18.





Crittenden County Schools will not have classes on Friday, although they will meet Friday to finalize plans to abide by the Governor's request. They should announce their plans by 3 pm on Friday.







Calloway County Schools have announced their closure beginning Monday, but stressed that students need to be in school on Friday so that students can learn how to complete schoolwork in a non-traditional setting.







Fulton Independent Schools announced their intent to abide by the Governor's request early Thursday afternoon, before it was official. They say student's would be doing NTI work at home. The cafeteria will provide breakfast and lunch for children, it can be picked up at Carr Elementary School cafeteria, or at other locations in town. A letter was sent home with students on Thursday. They will be in session on Friday.







Fulton County Schools have not announced any plans, but have posted a survey on their Facebook page to determine if parents would approve of moving spring break from April 6-10 to March 30 through April 3.







Graves County Schools will be closed March 16 through March 27. They will be in session this Friday, where they will receive NTI instruction.





Livingston County Schools have not announced an extended closure, however, they will not have classes on Friday.







Marshall County Superintendent Trent Lovett announced they will be closed March 16 through March 29. They will also be closed this Friday.







McCracken County Schools students will have class this Friday to learn about NTI. Pending approval at tomorrow's school board meeting, they will begin NTI work starting Monday.







Mayfield Independent Schools will be closing for at least two weeks beginning Monday, March 16. Students are asked to be there this Friday so they can receive NTI instruction.





Murray State University's spring break is scheduled for March 16 through March 20. Beginning on Monday, March 23 instruction will continue using online or alternative methods through Sunday, April 5. The campus will remain open.





Paducah Public Schools announced they will close beginning Monday through Friday, March 27. Their schools were already scheduled to be closed this Friday for a Professional Development Day.







St. Mary School System will be closed beginning March 16 through March 30.







Trigg County Schools had planned for a possible closure and sent NTI work home with students on Thursday. However, they have not yet officially announced a closure.



West Kentucky Community and Technical College will transition to online or remote learning beginning Monday, March 16. Students should not report to class. Students should check their email regularly for more information.



Any schools not listed have not yet shared information about the governor's request.







You can see Governor Beshear's full announcement at the link below.

Area school districts have begun announcing their closures after Governor Andy Beshear's request that schools close for a two-week period.

On the Net:
Beekeepers predict it could take at least a decade for heavily burnt bushland along Australia's east coast to bounce back with the pollen and nectar needed for honey production.

"We've had 98 per cent of our sites burnt," Alan Croker, a beekeeper from Ulladulla on the NSW South Coast, said. "It's devastation really and so widespread. I've never seen the country burnt from Brisbane to Melbourne, from the Hume Highway right down to the coast."

Laurie Kershaw with bees on his property in Sutton, NSW. He had to relocate 2500 of his hives during the summer bushfires. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Croker has been a beekeeper all his life. His three sons, Gavin, Kelvin and Clinton, followed him into the family business, which has grown to more than 5000 hives.

"We were working the coast when the fire came through. We came in for a bit of a doing, really. We got pulled up on a honey flow that would have gone 'til March," Mr Croker said, referring to the fires that merged into a mega-blaze across the South Coast in January just as blackbutt trees began to flower.
US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping travel restrictions on 26 European countries in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The ban applies to non-US citizens, and individuals who are not legal permanent residents of the US, who have been in the Schengen Area in the past 14 days from entry into the US.

The ban covers travellers from countries which are members of the Schengen border-free travel area. The UK, Ireland and other non-Schengen countries are unaffected.

The EU condemned the measures, which it said were taken "unilaterally and without consultation".

The new rules go into effect on Friday at midnight EDT (0400 GMT) and mark a major escalation from the US president, who has been accused of inaction over the coronavirus, said a BBC report.

There are 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus across the US, with 38 deaths so far.

"This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history," he said in a prime-time televised address from the Oval Office on Wednesday.

Justifying the travel restrictions, he accused the EU of failing to take "the same precautions" as the US in fighting the virus.

In his speech he said all travel from Europe would be suspended, but a presidential proclamation later said it would only apply to anyone who had been in the EU's Schengen border-free area in the 14 days before their arrival in the US.

Shares around the world fell further following Trump's announcement. At the start of US trading, shares plunged triggering an automatic temporary suspension in trading aimed at curbing panicky selling.

Meanwhile, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that up to 70% of the country's population - some 58 million people - could contract the coronavirus.
Orlando Bloom is returning to the US from Europe due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The actor said on Instagram Stories on Thursday that production has shut down for his show Carnival Row, which he was filming in Prague.

Its farewell from us as were going home to be quarantined, he said about himself and his castmates.

Bloom added: Were coming home to the States, at least Im coming home to the States because we want to get in before the quarantine.

The actor urged his viewers to self-quarantine, telling them: It seems really crazy actually this whole corona thing but do the right thing by you and your family and stay safe.

A few weeks, well beat this bad boy, Bloom predicted.

Katy Perry, who is engaged to the actor and pregnant with their first child, was seen at Sydney Airport  suggesting she might be returning to the US as well. Sydney Airport is used both for domestic and international flights.

Perry was in Australia to perform at a concert providing relief for the recent bushfires.

According to 7News, she stayed isolated in her hotel room prior to her departure.

The Independent has contacted Perry's team for more information.
Ukrainian border closure over coronavirus exempts cargo shipments

20:15, 13.03.20 4186

International cargo transportation is not being suspended, the infrastructure ministry assures.
A prominent Chinese official claims the United States military could have brought the novel coronavirus to China -- and it did not originate in the city of Wuhan, as thought.

Posting to his more than 300,000 followers on Twitter, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian republished a video of Robert Redfield, the director for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, addressing a US Congressional committee on March 11.

In the clip, Redfield said some influenza deaths in the US were later identified as cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Redfield didn't say when those people had died or over what time period, but Zhao pointed to his remarks as proof of a growing conspiracy theory that the coronavirus did not originate in Hubei province in central China.

"CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!" the Foreign Ministry official said.
Expedition organizations announced Thursday that China has canceled permits to climb Mount Everest due to the COVID-19 outbreak, before the start of the spring climbing season, Trend reports citing Sputnik.

Last spring, a record 886 people climbed Mount Everest, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas, AFP reported. Out of those people, 644 started from Nepal, and 241 started from the mountains north side in the Chinese autonomous region of Tibet. The mountains summit sits along the border separating China and Nepal.

According to Lukas Furtenbach of Austria-based expedition operator Furtenbach Adventures, Chinese authorities "have informed [them] that the mountain will close from the north side. However, for now, the Nepali side of the mountain remains open, even though some expeditions have been canceled, and climbers have been asked to provide two-week travel histories and medical reports before beginning their journeys. Several tourist areas in Tibet have also been shut down since January due to the outbreak, AFP reported.

California-based Alpenglow Expeditions, another expedition operator, has also canceled its Everest plans.

"I am in agreement with China's decision. It is responsible ... Climbing a mountain is not currently worth the transmission risk in the Base Camps, nor upon returning home," Adrian Ballinger of Alpenglow Expeditions said in a Wednesday statement obtained by AFP.

Some expedition operators in Nepal, such as Pioneer Adventure, have also seen cancellations due to the virus outbreak.

"We had bookings from 23 climbers, but two groups have already canceled. We might have just eight to 10 climbers this year," said Pasang Tenje Sherpa of Pioneer Adventure.
Orlando, March 13 : Disney has announced that it was closing the Walt Disney World, its flagship theme park resort in Orlando, Florida, for nearly two weeks starting Sunday because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Throughout its nearly 50-year history, Walt Disney World has closed briefly because of looming hurricanes and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Orlando Sentinal said in a report on Thursday.

In a statement on Thursday night, the company said that in Orlando, the four theme parks will shut down by the end of Sunday, but the hotels and the Disney Springs shopping centre will remain open.

"In an abundance of caution and in the best interest of our guests and employees, we are proceeding with the closure of our theme parks," Disney said in a statement.

"We will continue to stay in close contact with appropriate officials and health experts." The Disney Cruise Line is also suspending all new departures starting from Saturday.

Disney World theme park employees, which make up the largest workforce in Orlando, will continue to get paid.

Employees in other company divisions were asked to work remotely, the Orlando Sentinal quoted the statement as saying.

Shortly after Disney's announcement, Universal also said on Thursday night that its theme parks were closing on Sunday most likely through the end of the month.

Universal hotels and Universal CityWalk will remain open.

SeaWorld Orlando does not have immediate plans to close and was monitoring the situation, spokeswoman Lori Cherry said late Thursday night.

Disney's Thursday night announcement came on the heels of Disney parks being closed in Asia, said the Orlando Sentinal newspaper.

Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland have been out of operation since late January, and the two theme parks at Tokyo Disney resort have been shut since February 29.

On Thursday, Disneyland and Disneyland Paris were added to that list and by the end the day, so was Disney World, which means every Disney theme park on the planet will be shut down.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
(Alliance News) - Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said Friday e had sent an "ambitious" draft of what could be a new post-Brexit trade deal with Britain to EU capitals.

Next week's face-to-face round of EU-UK negotiations in London has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but both sides are keen to press on.A

There is also, for some officials, an unspoken race to publish a comprehensive draft proposal as both sides seek to gain the initiative in a tricky months-long negotiation.A

"We've sent a draft agreement on new partnership to EP & Council for discussion," Barnier tweeted, referring to the European Parliament and the member states.A

"It shows ambitious & comprehensive future relationship is possible. We must give ourselves every chance of success," he said.A

"We will publish the text after our exchanges & look forward to working with UK."

Some in Brussels are pushing for Barnier to put out Europe's vision of a close working relationship with Britain under a deal to guarantee a "level playing field" for businesses.

But some member states oppose this, arguing that Brussels should wait to see Britain's proposal for a simple trade deal with no promise of alignment with EU rules.

"Publishing the draft is not usual practice at this stage. It will only show that the EU and UK are on different tracks," one European diplomat told AFP.A

"Barnier thinks it will show advantage but it doesn't. It will show that what we have is fundamentally different than what they have. If we do, doing so before the UK is especially not wise."

Britain and the EU want to conclude some kind of new trading arrangement by the end of the year, when a post-Brexit transition ends and European trade rules no longer apply.

Many business on both sides of the Channel are keen for a close relationship to continue, with matching rules, to minimise disruption to supply chains.

But UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists Brexit means future ties with be those between "sovereign equals", with Britain prepared to pay a price for the right to set its own laws.

In Brussels, officials are far from confident that a deal can be done in time.A

"Each side wants to show their domestic audience how ambitious they are to get the deal done by the the end of the year," the diplomat said.

"We are afraid it will also create a false sense of hopes for companies, which is ill advised," he added, while conceding that his government would support the EU's decision.A

By Dave CLARK

source: AFP

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Brenda Joyce Lanier Audley, 71, of La Plata, MD went to be with the Lord on Thursday, March 12, 2020. She passed away at the Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC after a brief but courageous fight with Acute Myeloid Luekemia.

Brenda was born on May 2nd, 1948 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the daughter of Thomas Ace and Velma Harper Lanier. She was a 1966 graduate of Berwick High School in Berwick, Louisiana. She was employed as a food service worker with the Charles County School System until her retirement.



Brenda is survived by her husband Art, who she married on May 30th, 1981, her devoted son Robert Baldwin, also of La Plata, and two sisters, Linda Sims (Larry), her twin, of De Ridder and Virginia Hidalgo of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She also leaves behind her beloved cat, Cinder, who she rescued as a stray in August of 2010 and gave her many hours of enjoyable companionship.



She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, John Lanier. Brenda was a very generous, giving person. She enjoyed baking and sharing with neighbors and friends during the holiday season. She was talented in many facets of crafting, her homemade Christmas decorations were popular with many who received them as gifts. She was also an animal lover.



Per Brenda's request, there will be no viewing or funeral, only a simple graveside service at the Shiloh Baptist Church Cemetery in De Ridder. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Charles County Humane Society or the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has prompted many of Chineas cultural venues, including museums, theaters and concert halls, to move their exhibitions and performances online.

Performers from the Shanghai Ballet prepare for their online open class. (Photo via Shanghai Ballet)

On Feb. 23, the top 10 museums in China broadcast their exhibitions on the live streaming platform of Taobao, the countrys leading e-commerce platform.

The Gansu Provincial Museum in Lanzhou City, capital of northwest China's Gansu province, was one of them. "We introduced two live broadcasts on that day, attracting more than 900,000 viewers online," said Shi Ce, curator of the museum.

Shi added that live streaming provides a new way to visit the museum and establish a digital platform of cultural relics.

The Shanghai Ballet went a step further, launching open classes online. Xin Lili, director of the organization, recently offered an online course on basic ballet moves, attracting 898,000 viewers.

Similarly, the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe live streamed a traditional Chinese opera performance on March 8, giving audiences a cultural feast from the comfort of their own homes, which it hopes will help spread fine traditional Chinese culture.

Some Internet platforms have also held concerts online. Ma Jia, a tenor with the China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe, gave an online concert organized by Chinese social media giant Sina Weibo. In less than 2 hours, the live stream attracted some 3 million viewers.

Sun Jiashan, associate research fellow of the Chinese National Academy of Arts, said that wearable devices will improve viewers experience of online concerts in the future.
The inscriptions on excavated bones and shells showed that Chinese people had knowledge of epidemics in ancient China, according to a Chinese archaeologist.

During the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC), when epidemics were rampant, people resorted to witchcraft or offered sacrifices to ward off evil spirits, and officials used governmental measures to prevent disease transmission, said Song Zhenhao, an expert on ancient oracle bone inscriptions from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Oracle bone inscriptions, or Jiaguwen, are an ancient Chinese language named for their inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones. They are a primitive form of Chinese characters and the oldest fully-developed characters in China.

Some traditional ways to fight viruses took shape in ancient China, Song said.

For example, an ox bone was found in a Shang Dynasty ruins site in the city of Anyang, in central China's Henan Province. On the bone were several ancient inscriptions, which said that during epidemics, a series of sacrificial ceremonies were held to get rid of the diseases. The inscriptions were believed to be the earliest written records about epidemics in China.

According to Song, so far, more than 50 diseases have been recorded in excavated inscriptions on bones and shells in China.

"These diseases have a very detailed explanation, which shows the Shang people were in awe of the diseases," Song said.

From the specific wording of the inscriptions, Song concluded that "medical science had reached a high level" at that time.

"People already knew about epidemics and disease transmission among people more than 3,000 years ago," Song said.

The inscriptions also recorded measures to fight against epidemics, including acupuncture, moxibustion and quarantine, in addition to numerology and offering sacrifices, in addition to acupuncture, moxibustion and quarantine.

"Some of these inscriptions also wrote about quarantine measures, which means people were proactively doing something to stay away from epidemics," Song said. "There were also measures against rumormongering to maintain stability."




Among the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease are the Alzheimer fibrils: deposits of the protein tau, which accumulate in nerve cells in the form of fibres and disrupt communication between nerve cells. But how does this fibre formation take place? Why do such harmful deposits develop from the originally useful protein tau, which normally stabilizes cells? This question was addressed by a team of researchers from the University of Konstanz and Utrecht University (Netherlands), led by Konstanz chemist Professor Malte Drescher. Using structural analyses, the researchers brought to light a surprising biochemical mechanism in which a molecular chaperone - a helper protein - plays an unusual role. The research results are going to be published on 13 March 2020 in the journal Science Advances and are available as a preprint version at https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/614289v3.

Unlike most other proteins, tau does not have a clearly defined structure: Tau is an "intrinsically disordered protein" that can take many shapes. "We can imagine it like a rope: it can be sometimes elongated, sometimes bent, sometimes looped," says Malte Drescher. Despite all the variance, tau tends to assume a characteristically recurved structure, comparable to the shape of a paper clip.

An unusual molecular chaperone

A peculiarity occurs as soon as the chaperone HSP-90 ("Heat Shock Protein 90") encounters tau. "Normally, it is the job of chaperones to bring newly produced proteins into the correct form. Thus they exert a helper function in the development of protein structure. We were wondering: What might their helper function be in an intrinsically disordered protein such as tau?" summarizes Drescher.

Using structural analyses, Drescher and his team were able to show that the chaperone causes the paper clip conformation of tau to open: It folds the "brackets" of the paper clip outwards. "The area in the middle of the paper clip is thus exposed and made accessible. This area is known to be responsible for aggregation, i.e. for attachment of further tau proteins to the molecule," explains biophysicist Sabrina Weickert, lead author of the study and a doctoral researcher under Malte Drescher's supervision. In their unfolded form, tau molecules can therefore be stacked on top of each other with a perfect fit (oligomerization).

"This oligomerization by HSP-90 came as a big surprise," explains Malte Drescher: "A chaperone is actually responsible for exactly the opposite: It is supposed to bring a protein into a defined form and under no circumstances contribute to the formation of a 'protein pile'," says Drescher.

Responsible for Alzheimer's or secretly a defence mechanism?

Is the presence of the chaperone thus a pre-requisite for the formation of Alzheimer fibrils? Is the chaperone, of all molecules, ultimately the one that causes the development of Alzheimer's disease? The researchers will pursue this question in further studies. However, Malte Drescher suspects precisely the opposite: "I would argue exactly the other way round: It could even be a trick the body does to prevent Alzheimer's," Drescher contemplates. The tau oligomers produced by HSP-90 have one crucial peculiarity: They do not continue to grow to form the typical pronounced Alzheimer fibrils.

"The oligomerization by HSP-90 might possibly be a defence mechanism in which the chaperone forces the tau proteins into the form of small oligomer layers. Although this is not advantageous, it effectively prevents formation of longer, Alzheimer-typical fibrils," Drescher suggests. Should this assumption prove true, the chaperone would fulfil its stated purpose: In this case, it would prevent the development of long Alzheimer fibrils by making a gambit and binding tau into smaller, less dangerous stacks.

Spin labels

The protein tau is only a few nanometres in size, i.e. a billionth of a metre, and is not visible to the naked eye or light microscopes. Otherwise typical experiments for structure determination such as X-ray structure analysis fail, because tau as an intrinsically disordered protein is so extremely flexible. In order to determine the structural changes of the protein anyway, the researchers therefore resorted to a sophisticated method: They attached tiny probe molecules, "spin labels", to key positions of the molecule, including the outer "brackets" of the paper clip conformation. "The probes are magnetic and sense each other. We measure the interaction between the probes and can thus determine the distance between their positions," explains Malte Drescher. In this way, they can indirectly detect the conformation of the molecule and its structural changes.

The series of experiments took place in vitro, with purified tau and HSP-90 molecules in the test tube. "We now want to bring the experiment into the cell in order to observe the biochemical mechanism under the real-world conditions inside a cell," says Malte Drescher, giving an outlook on future research work. The long-term goal is to better understand the development of Alzheimer's disease and to find methods to prevent it.

###

The research was carried out within the framework of the Konstanz-based Collaborative Research Centre 969 "Chemical and Biological Principles of Cellular Proteostasis".

Key facts:

- Original publication: Sabrina Weickert, Magdalena Wawrzyniuk, Laura John, Stefan G. D. Rudiger, Malte Drescher, The molecular mechanism of Hsp90-induced oligomerization of Tau, published on 13 March 2020 by Science Advances, available as a preprint version at https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/614289v3

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/614289

- Structural analyses of the tau molecule and its aggregation to Alzheimer fibrils.

- The chaperone HSP-90 causes the tau protein to unfold its characteristic "paper clip" conformation. The central region of the molecule, which is responsible for aggregation, becomes accessible, and stacking (oligomerization) of tau molecules occurs.

- Further research is expected to clarify whether this stacking is a pre-requisite for Alzheimer's disease, or rather a biological defence mechanism.

- Project cooperation between the University of Konstanz and Utrecht University (Netherlands) under the leadership of Professor Malte Drescher, Vice Rector for Research and Academic Staff Development and Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Konstanz.

- This research project was carried out within the framework of the Collaborative Research Centre 969 "Chemical and Biological Principles of Cellular Proteostasis" at the University of Konstanz and was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Note to editors:

You can download a photo here:

https://cms.uni-konstanz.de/fileadmin/pi/fileserver/2020/Bilder/Alzheimer.jpg

Caption: The chaperone HSP-90 opens the characteristic paper clip conformation (top) of the tau protein. The central region of the molecule is thereby exposed (bottom).

Illustration: University of Konstanz
The Illinois State Board of Education has created a Frequently Asked Questions page related to schools and the coronavirus. It is aimed at school officials but includes information of interest to parents, too.

Here is a partial compilation of the FAQs. The complete list can be found under the coronavirus tab at www.isbe.net.

Who would make the decision to close schools?

Local school districts, acting in accordance with guidance from IDPH and local health departments, will make the final decision as to whether conditions require the closure of schools. The situation is evolving rapidly, and ISBE will keep you informed of any changes.

ISBE strongly encourages every school district to develop a contingency plan to ensure students continue to receive some access to instructional resources in the event of a school closure due to COVID-19.

School districts should work in collaboration with the local collective bargaining unit when developing the contingency plan for either home learning or e-learning to make the plan work for each student, to contemplate teachers work hours, and to discuss how school support personnel can support students learning.

Are schools being advised to close at this time?

Certain schools, in consultation with their local health departments, have closed. ISBE is compiling information regarding school closures.

Some districts have received requests from families wanting to self-quarantine their students with no proven medical reason. Should these students receive unexcused absences? Should such a student be labeled truant?

A parent may hold their student out of school for health and safety reasons. Each district is the ultimate arbiter as to whether the reason is truly a health/safety issue. Absences for health/safety issues should not be counted as unexcused and any such student should not be labeled truant.

Do days for students absent due to COVID-19 count toward a districts chronic absenteeism rate?

Given the urgent and rapidly changing landscape due to the spread of the coronavirus, ISBE is working with stakeholders, the Governors Office, and the General Assembly to ensure that absences relating to public health emergencies are not counted toward the definition of chronic absence.

Can districts exclude students, staff, or volunteers for 14 days if they present at school after having visited a region affected by the virus?

Per IDPH guidance, any student returning from a location with sustained widespread transmission (CDC Travel Warning of Level 3) should not attend school for 14 days after the return date. Absences for this purpose should be excused. Further, family members of these students should not attend work if they also traveled to one of the locations with a CDC Level 3 Travel Warning. 

All decisions regarding quarantine and exclusion must be made by state or local public health officials. Districts cannot, without first consulting the local health department/IDPH, exclude or deny enrollment or education to students who are residents of the district due to travel considerations.

What are Emergency Days on a school calendar?

Emergency Days are included on the school calendar by districts for conditions deemed as emergencies that necessitate the closure all district school buildings. Typical uses of Emergency Days include severe weather conditions but would also include circumstances related to COVID-19. Emergency Days must be made up prior to the end of the school year.

What are Act of God Days on a school calendar?

An Act of God Day is a day that is used for a condition beyond the control of the district that poses a hazardous threat to the health and safety of the students. Act of God Days may only be requested after the district has exhausted all of its Proposed Emergency Days built into the proposed calendar. Act of God Days must be approved by the regional superintendent and the State Superintendent of Education. Act of God Days count toward the required number of student attendance days in the Public School Calendar and are not required to be made up.

How should districts treat students for whom e-learning is not a reasonable method to learn?

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is awaiting guidance from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) on this issue.  ISBE recognizes that there are certain students for whom e-learning will not meet the students right to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE).  For any students who are identified as unable to access e-learning for their receipt of FAPE, districts must take all efforts to ensure that their needs continue to be met, including through alternate means which may include, but should not be limited to, at-home 1:1 instruction or consideration of compensatory education.

If e-learning is not possible for my district, what expectations are there to continue the educational environment while schools are closed?

Keeping students engaged in learning, especially in times of uncertainty, is of critical importance. We encourage administrators to work with teachers and staff to plan ahead and be prepared with activities that work within the circumstances of your school community. We encourage you to consider activities like those you might use over winter or spring break to keep students engaged in the curriculum and prevent learning loss. Please find time to sit down with teachers to craft a viable contingency plan by grade level.

Some students rely heavily on meals provided by their school for their daily nutritional needs. Will schools be able to provide meals to students during times of school closures, e-learning days, or other times in which students are not physically present at school?

Schools participating in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program and institutions participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program that may be/are dismissed or closed due to COVID-19 are encouraged to continue to provide meals to their students. Under these circumstances, school food authorities and other eligible community organizations may continue to serve meals to children affected by school or child care closures through the Summer Food Service Program or Seamless Summer Option.

Sponsors could implement alternative distributive methods to provide reimbursable meals to students/children during unanticipated school closures, distance and/or e-learning school days, and any other situation in which students are not physically present at school in relation to COVID-19.

ISBE has received a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to waive the congregate feeding requirement, which will provide flexibility to school food authorities and community organizations to distribute meals in affected communities.
Phones with big screens and sharp displays tend to conk off before days end. Although its prudent to juice them up using fast or rapid chargers, youll probably need a backpack to carry all the plugs and cables if you actually do lug around a bunch. And then theres the hassle of finding a charging point when you need it.

This is where travel-friendly powerbanks come into play. Like phones, these devices, too, are getting smarter with every update. The one I am using these days is a 10,000 mAh battery pack from Ubon. It meets the ...
HANOI -- The State Bank of Vietnam may cut policy rates to support domestic economic activities hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the government said on Thursday.

The virus, which has killed more than 4,900 people worldwide, has left firms in Vietnams manufacturing industry suffering material shortages due to supply chain disruptions.

Companies operating in the agriculture, tourism and transport industries have also been hit hard, leaving several local banks with rising bad debts.

The central bank will create favourable conditions for banks to restructure their loans and cut lending rates for those [firms] hit by COVID-19, the central banks deputy governor Dao Minh Tu said, according to the statement.

Speaking at a meeting with local businesses earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Vietnam needed to prepare for a rebound, as China, South Korea and Japan are expected to quickly resume production activities shortly.

Vietnams coronavirus cases rose to 44 on Thursday, the Ministry of Health said. There have been no fatalities.
HMD's Nokia phones are the new spy gadgets of choice for agent 007. We saw an upcoming Nokia 8.2 5G in a trailer, but existing devices will get James Bond-branded hardware as well. The Nokia 6.2, for example, will get a rugged-looking Kevlar case.

There's a 007 logo on the back as well as a "007 special edition" label on the side. It's not clear if the case will be sold on its own or as part of a promotional bundle with the phone.



007-branded case for the Nokia 6.2

The sides of the case look pretty solid and the corners have extra padding, likely for better drop protection. That said, we'll have to wait for the official reveal to find out how tough the case really is.

The film 'No Time to Die' was pushed back seven months to November, but that likely won't affect the release of HMD's related phones and accessories - they are coming on March 19.

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday that the coronavirus crisis could last up to nine months as he opened a drive-thru testing facility in the town of New Rochelle, one of the most intense clusters of the virus in the country.

The testing facility will serve 200 cars per day and residents must call ahead to book an appointment first.

People who are most at risk, like the elderly or sick who have underlying conditions and are showing symptoms of COVID-19, will be prioritized with appointments.

Cuomo said it was a safer way to test for positive cases because potentially infected people are not walking into hospitals and exposing others to the virus.

He said the drive-thru would stay open for as long as the crisis lasted, and warned the public that it would be far longer than they may have initially planned for.

'I don't believe that this is gong to be a short term issue. We're looking at a matter of months. People should start to calibrate that into their expectation.

'I think this could be six, seven, eight, nine-month affair.

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A medical professional takes down a person's information after testing them for coronavirus at the New Rochelle drive-thru facility in New York on Friday

Cuomo said the drive-thru will service will service 200 cars per day for as long as the virus is around

A medical professional gestures for a car to come forward for testing. People most phone ahead first and make an appointment

Lanes of cars lining up at the drive-thru on Friday after it opened. The National Guard is also now in New Rochelle

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday that the virus crisis could go on for as long as nine mon ths.

'Watching the trajectory of the virus. People should start to recognize that.

'This is not going to be over in 30 days. It's not going to be over in a couple of weeks.

'There'll be waves - it'll go a little higher, a little slower - but it's going to be a somewhat prolonged situation.

'We should be ready for that,' Cuomo said.

He also applied pressure on the federal government to release power of testing to the states to allow them to conduct their own.

HOW DRIVE-THRU TESTING WORKS The drive-thru testing facility in New Rochelle has six lanes. Residents pick a lane and are called forward where health professionals in hazmat suits then give them a swab test. They give the health professionals their details then drive away. The facility then will send the tests to a lab. From there, after a period of several days, the test will be returned to the health workers who will then make contact with the person who gave the sample. Not everyone will be able to drive there and receive a test. Because of the density of cases in New Rochelle, many flocked to the facility on Friday and lines of up to three hours quickly formed. No one will be tested without an appointment, and at the moment, appointments are only being given to the people most at risk. They are the elderly or the sick who have preexisting health conditions and are showing symptoms of COVID-19. Cuomo however hopes to get to a position soon where everyone who wants one will be able to get a test. Advertisement

Cuomo said there were 200 private labs in New York that routinely test people for HIV and Zika that he could mobilize if he was given the ability to.

The federal government is being crucified for its slow response to the virus.

Originally, it only allowed people to have their tests run at the CDC's HQ in Atlanta, Georgia.

Then, CDC tests were sent to state public health labs but some, like in California, have arrived without all the necessary parts to complete a diagnosis.

The government says it is working with private companies to use their tests, but the harsh reality is there are simply not enough to go around and not enough staff in labs to keep up with the demand for them.

Gov. Cuomo said that if it were left in his hands, the state of New York would be able to 1,000 tests per lab, per day.

In New York's private labs alone, that would allow for 200,000 tests to be done a day.

He said he is in constant contact with Vice President Pence and has asked him to consider letting go of the reins.

'Rather than try to control it all through Washington, the volume is just too high - states regularly regulate labs. We have 200 private labs in New York.

'Those labs are doing HIV testing, Zika testing - our state department of health routinely regulates them.

'Say to the state governments, God bless you - you can authorize testing, automated testing which takes a lab capacity from 30 tests per day to 1,000 tests per day.

'We have a crisis in testing. We're not up to scale. You need to change that quickly,' he said.

The drive-thru testing facility in New Rochelle has six lanes.

Residents pick a lane and are called forward where health professionals in hazmat suits then give them a swab test. They give the health professionals their details then drive away.

The facility then will send the tests to a lab. From there, after a period of several days, the test will be returned to the health workers who will then make contact with the person who gave the sample.

Not everyone will be able to drive there and receive a test.

A medical professional takes down a person's information before testing them for coronavirus on Friday

A group of healthcare workers at the drive-thru facility on Friday

Medical personnel arrive to start working at the facility. They all have to cover their clothes, faces and hair when they conduct the tests

Medical personnel wade through puddles on Friday to begin testing at the drive-thru facility

Police were on hand to funnel the traffic after scores of cars showed up at the facility on Friday, without appointments, to be tested

An overheard view of the drive-thru testing facility in New Rochelle that was launched on Friday

Because of the density of cases in New Rochelle, many flocked to the facility on Friday and lines of up to three hours quickly formed.

No one will be tested without an appointment, and at the moment, appointments are only being given to the people most at risk.

They are the elderly or the sick who have preexisting health conditions and are showing symptoms of COVID-19.

Cuomo however hopes to get to a position soon where everyone who wants one will be able to get a test.

'We are prioritizing people in New Rochelle first because that's where we want to reduce that density but people throughout Westchester can be served.

'We are also prioritizing vulnerable populations. Many people will be exposed, many have already been exposed, didn't know it and have self-resolved,' he said.

In the state of New York, more than 420 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus. More than 130 of them are in New York City.
PARIS (Reuters) - ADP could close one of the three terminals at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport in north Paris to cut costs as the French airports operator faces a drop in traffic due to the coronavirus, French radio Europe 1 reported on Thursday.

According to Europe 1, ADP could close the Roissy terminal 3 dedicated to low-cost airliners, and may close other terminals if needed. ADP declined to comment.

Battered European airline stocks plunged nearly 10% on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he will restrict travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

(Reporting by Laurence Frost and Matthieu Protard; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Five of Wyomings seven community colleges are extending their spring breaks this month, and three of them  including Casper College  will move many of their classes online in the latest effort by slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Elsewhere in Casper, the Natrona County School District announced it was canceling large events and any in-state or out-of-state travel.

The various campuses posted the updates to their websites Thursday, 24 hours after the first case in Wyoming was confirmed in Sheridan. A second case was found Friday evening, as an older Fremont County man tested positive.

Northern Wyoming Community College, which has a campus in Sheridan, has said a student and staff member have self-quarantined after they may have been exposed to the virus.

Central Wyoming and Western community colleges have not indicated theyll be extending classes or moving online. In a statement sent to campus Thursday, Central president Brad Tyndall said spring break will proceed as scheduled. He said trips to certain hot spots have been canceled and that the college will decide whether to cancel large events ahead of each one.

The novel coronavirus, officially designated COVID-19, is a respiratory illness characterized by fever, cough and shortness of breath.

In an email sent to campus Thursday night, Casper College president Darren Divine wrote that the college will extend its spring break through March 29 and will then have classes be moved primarily online until April 12. The colleges semester will not be extended, he said. Campus will remain open during this period. Until classes move back to in-person, Divine said, he strongly discourages hosting or attending any non-essential large gatherings on campus.

I want to remind the college community to please enjoy the upcoming Spring Break, he said. The College is open, and remains a place that is welcoming to students, faculty, staff, and community members alike. While these operational changes are necessary to minimize the spread of COVID-19, they will not change the spirit or mission of the college, and certainly will not dilute our commitment to maintaining a high degree of excellence in education!

In a statement posted to its website Friday afternoon, Laramie County Community College said it will extend its spring break by a week and that, beginning April 1, classes will resume and (be) delivered primarily in an online format.

At Northern, spring break will be extended by two weeks as the college looks to move online.

At this time, we are hopeful that a three-week period with most of our campus population off site will help reduce the severity of the spread of COVID-19, said college president Dr. Walter Tribley. We also hope this move would ultimately help us get back to normal operations sooner rather than later and reduce the impact on local healthcare infrastructure.

Eastern Wyoming said it was canceling classes for a week starting Monday. Northwest Wyoming is also extending its spring break and will have coursework go online wherever possible for as long as needed.

Laramie County, in a brief message on its website, said there were no confirmed cases in the area. Western said it was working with its local hospital.

The moves came less than 24 hours after the University of Wyoming announced it would extend classes by a week and it, too, will consider whether to move classes online. The extra week off will be used to make moves in that direction, college officials said.

Jason Wilkins, the president of UWs student body, said his organization is preparing to set aside $75,000 to help students who may lose income as a result of the virus spread.

Photos: Community responds to coronavirus

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Longford's local economy was given a welcome tonic last week as hundreds of local politicians descended on the county for the the Association of Irish Local Government's Annual Conference (AILG).

It was the second year in succession the county hosted the annual gathering with the Longford Arms Hotel once again providing the backdrop to the body's yearly two day event.

Cllr Mick Cahill, who currently occupies the role of AILG President, said the occasion represented another key vote of confidence in Longford's socio-political appeal.

It has been a great event for the AILG, he told the Leader on the second day of the conference.

We have changed our format and the way we have done things. We focused very much on the whole issue of climate action and looking at it from a local leadership perspective.

Environmentalist and television personality Duncan Stewart, together with Just Transition Commissioner, Kieran Mulvey were among the keynote speakers across both days of the event.

Both chose to highlight the ongoing challenges facing Ireland in its attempts to address climate action as well as the demands it looks set to place on communities across the midlands and beyond.

Former Dublin manager Jim Gavin also delivered an address at a special seminar dinner on the conference's second night.

We had excellent speakers last night, Duncan Stewart and Kieran Mulvey and it gave councillors a great insight into the challenges ahead and where councillors need to focus their energy and how they can assist communities going forward, added Cllr Cahill.

It has given people a flavour of what's going on in Longford and the immense possibilities there are in the midlands.

More so, it has given Longford an opportunity to showcase itself and send out a positive message about this great county.
As dozens of Massachusetts colleges and universities sent students home and began a transition to online education, Western New England University was among a shrinking number of holdouts.

University president Anthony Caprio said such changes could be implemented at any time. By the end of Thursdays work day, though, the Springfield campus was holding to its established schedule - based on a determination that if change is to be required at all, it would occur only once.

"We are looking at this every day,'' said Caprio, whose tenure as president will conclude with his retirement at the end of June. Whether to suspend classroom education, cancel all campus activities and shift to remote learning almost certainly makes the coronavirus response the last big decision of his career - and arguably one of the biggest in his 25 years at the university.

Around Massachusetts, other campuses have, for the most part, already pulled the plug on in-person learning. Many extended their spring breaks anywhere from two days to an extra week, allowing faculty some time to transition to online course outlines.

Sports events were called off. Residential halls are being vacated. Some colleges have kept open a window for when students might return - a target date, or at least a hopeful inference that the isolation is temporary. Others have flatly stated their campuses would remain empty for the rest of the semester.

Thats what Western New England has been trying to avoid. Meetings Thursday were spent weighing the options, with the preferred goal of maintaining the schedule - but if not that, announcing changes once and once only.

Springfield College and American International College have similarly avoided closing their campuses and classrooms - at least for now.

Springfield College extended its spring break, and is considering online learning. For now, the Alden Street campus is maintaining its traditional classroom schedule. AIC is also sticking with in-person instruction.

"A few colleges in Western Massachusetts have transitioned to remote learning. Such a decision requires careful assessment of the needs of our students and other constituents,'' AIC president Vince Maniaci said in a statement on the college web site.

As of right now, we are continuing business as usual with on-site instruction. However, the situation is being monitored hourly and optional online alternatives are being considered.

WNEU cant help but consider it, too. Caprio said such a message to students cannot be open-ended.

"Ambiguity is causing more harm than we ever expected. People are emotional, and were not helping (by adding to it),'' Caprio said.

One alternative would be to extend spring break for an extra week, giving time for faculty to transition to online education if deemed necessary at the end of the month.

To Caprio, words like might," possible, and temporary will only add to the uncertainty and unease among students and staff who naturally want their lives and schedules to retain some normalcy - but if not that, at least want to be told of changes that wont require new changes soon afterward.

Were looking at data and listening to the medical people. The decision cant be emotional,'' the president said.

Even as he acknowledges that the coronavirus outbreak is a fluid situation, Caprio sounds determined to avoid a decision that will need alterations later. It contrasts decisions at some other schools, where students have been told to keep a close watch on emails and college web sites for updates or changes.

To him, the WNEU approach is consistent with how higher education should approach difficult issues.

"Whats unique about the nature of universities is that we should know how to reason and learn how to be logical. We should be able to look at as many possibilities as we can,'' he said.

Caprio said the complexity of vacating campus or eliminating classroom teaching must be considered. Within WNEUs student body of 3,500 students (of which about 2,700 are traditional students) can be found any number of special circumstances, needs and exceptions that would complicate any across-the-board change.

One by one in the past week, Massachusetts colleges and universities chose online education and began vacating campuses, sometimes with no promise theyd reconvene this school year. But Caprio said whatever happens, WNEU will make its decision independently, based on its own circumstances and data, and not based on what other institutions are doing.

We have to do our best for the largest number of people, not just at WNEU but at large,'' he said. We dont want to do something just to go with the flow."
The threat of the coronavirus pandemic led the mayors of Pasadena and Deer Park on Friday to issue emergency declarations, and both municipalities have closed their senior adult centers until further notice.

No cases of the coronavirus have been reported in either Pasadena or Deer Park. The mayors' declarations of local disaster for public health emergency followed Texas Gov. Greg Abotts disaster declaration for the state earlier in the day.

Pasadena Mayor Jeff Wagner's declaration gives the city flexibility in overseeing large permitted gatherings such as those held at the city's convention center or other facilities and makes the municipality eligible for federal funding for medical supplies and emergency services, according to a statement on the city's website.

The statement said residents should check the city's website or the Facebook page for any facility closings or program cancellations.

On March 11, the city closed its senior center, the Madison Jobe Senior Center, 1700 Thomas Ave.

Deer Park closed its senior adult center through the end of March and canceled events including an annual Easter egg hunt after Mayor Jerry Mouton made a local state of disaster declaration.

Moutons declaration will be in place for up to seven days unless renewed by City Council, a city press release said.

A novel coronavirus, now designated COVID-19, has spread throughout the world, and extraordinary measures must be taken to contain COVID-19 and prevent its spread throughout Harris County, Mouton said in a statement. This declaration is being made in the interest of our communitys health and safety, and I encourage all citizens to stay calm and keep informed about the coronavirus disease and to actively stop the spread of germs and respiratory diseases.

As of Friday, there were 39 confirmed cases in Texas, including eight in Harris County.

After consulting with city health officer Dr. Donald Metz, the city of Deer Park decided to close the Maxwell Adult Center through March 31. The center, 1201 Center St., will continue providing daily meals for homebound citizens, the release stated.

All Deer Park's indoor parks and recreation department programs and facility rentals will be canceled through March 31.

Also canceled were Deer Park Police Departments Chick-Fil-A with a Cop event scheduled for March 17 and the Deer Park Public Librarys Featured Friday event scheduled for March 20.

The Deer Park Parks and Recreation Departments annual Easter Eggstravaganza, which had been slated for April 4, has also been canceled.

Mouton and the citys Emergency Services Department are monitoring updates from Harris County and state health authorities and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the release.

The city will update residents through its website, social media and DPTV, the release stated.

Normal trash collection schedule will remain in place, and the citys public works department will continue to respond to issues such as water main breaks, meter leaks and sewer back-ups. After-hours requests should be submitted through Deer Park Police Department dispatch at 281-479-1511.
Paul Sullivan

Warren Buffetts annual letter to shareholders is always parsed for investing wisdom from the Oracle of Omaha.

And for good reason: His success at investing is well known. He points out in this years letter, which was released last weekend, that Berkshire Hathaway has gained 2,744,062 percent since 1965, compared with a mere 19,784 percent gain for the S&P 500. On an annualised basis, Buffett has returned twice as much as the stock index.

All that success has made him a very rich man, and this year, at age 89, he added a few lines that had little to do with Cherry Coke or Sees Candies. He addressed what happens to his vast wealth when his time is up.

On Page 11 of the letter, Buffett discusses how he and his lieutenant, Charlie Munger, 96, have positioned executives at Berkshire Hathaway to carry on after they die. Thats prudent planning.

The part that caught some advisers attention was this line: Today, my will specifically directs its executors  as well as the trustees who will succeed them in administering my estate after the will is closed  not to sell any Berkshire shares.

Buffett added, My will also absolves both the executors and the trustees from liability for maintaining what obviously will be an extreme concentration of assets.

He said 99 percent of his wealth  estimated at nearly $90 billion  was in Berkshire holdings.

If this sounds like a straightforward plan, then you are not well versed in the myriad lawsuits that such provisions have prompted in the past. No one complains when concentrated positions rise, but they often sue when they fall.

Its difficult to guess what his estate plan is with three paragraphs of a letter, said Sharon L. Klein, president of family wealth for the Eastern United States at Wilmington Trust. But when people leave these directions to their fiduciaries, do they understand the full extent of their duties and the fiduciary liability?

The risks that trustees face

With a cadre of highly trained and well-paid advisers, Buffett presumably understands the liability and has put structures in place to make future corporate and individual trustees comfortable. But not everyone putting directions like his into a trust has the wherewithal and advice to grasp what that guidance means.

Generally, trustees are expected to diversify the assets of a trust. When that has not happened and the value of the trust has fallen substantially, beneficiaries and state attorneys general (on behalf of charities) have sued the trustees.

One of the better known cases involving restrictive provisions is the Dumont case from 2004, which involved a concentration of Kodak stock in a trust that was held for nearly 50 years while the stocks value declined substantially.

In the case, the trustee was charged with failing to review the investments and not informing the beneficiaries that the value was falling. The lawyers showed that the trustee had not performed the regular due diligence of a fiduciary.

The trustee, in turn, argued that Charles Dumont, who created the trust in the 1950s and funded it with Kodak stock, was explicit in his desire that the trust not sell the stock. Dumont used language similar to Buffetts: Neither my executors nor my said trustee shall dispose of such stock for the purpose of diversification of investment and neither they nor it shall be held liable for any diminution in the value of such stock.

A New York Surrogates Court ruled in favour of the plaintiffs and charged the trustee $21 million. That judgment was overturned on appeal, but the Dumont case is still discussed among the risks that trustees face in not properly performing their fiduciary duty.

Heavy concentrations of a single stock in a trust is an invitation to fiduciary liability, said Peter S. Gordon, founding partner of the Gordon, Fournaris & Mammarella law firm in Delaware.

The situation is made worse, he said, when trustees become complacent. After all, how much work could it be to monitor a single stock?

Buffett wrote in the letter that keeping such a concentrated position of stock was not in accordance with prudent trust management and could open up trustees to litigation from beneficiaries who received less money than they expected. Berkshire Hathaways stock could conceivably tumble in the 12 to 15 years he expects it will take to distribute his billions to charity.

This acknowledgment might seem enough to absolve the trustees, but such directives have not always protected trustees from litigation over the management of the assets. Once a trust is funded, those trustees are managing and distributing that money for an entity that is separate from Buffett or any other person who created the trust. They are responsible to the beneficiaries, be they charities or individuals, who are expecting to get distributions that do not decrease.

Whenever theres money involved, people are likely to sue, Klein said. With individuals, theres no more where that came from. And attorneys general are vigilant overseers of charitable funds. The best advice is: Be vigilant about performing your fiduciary duty.

There are ways to undo what people have written into their trust documents, but they generally involve going to court for guidance. But sometimes, the documents are not as tied up as they seem.

Past performance doesnt dictate future returns

It may be rigid on its face, but there could be flexible provisions written in, said Kevin Matz, a partner at Stroock and Stroock and Lavan. One strategy is decanting, in which the assets of an existing trust are poured into a new one. Another is looking for provisions that allow the assets to be distributed to other beneficiaries, who can then put them in their own trusts.

Not surprisingly, Buffett is bullish on the prospects of Berkshire Hathaway even after he and Munger are gone. But this is a blind spot that business creators often have: Past performance does not dictate future returns.

Berkshire Hathaway is not making a product, the way Kodak made film before the world went digital. It is making decisions about how to allocate capital into various companies, a process that requires its own expertise.

Buffett has done spectacularly well over the past six decades making investment decisions, but it is not unreasonable to wonder if his successors can do the same. This is one area where Buffetts lead should probably not be followed.
March 12, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - On Wednesday night, Donald Trump announced that he would restrict travel from Europeexcluding the United Kingdombeginning on Friday, for the next 30 days. Anything coming from Europe to the United States is what we are discussing, he said.

The president also attempted to reassure the country by saying the United States is more prepared to fight the pandemic than any other nation. The virus will not have a chance against us, he said.

Public health officials beg to differ. Our hospitals, experts say, are severely underprepared for the expected number of coronavirus cases. According to biologist Liz Specht, writing in STAT, the United States has about 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people, and if 10 percent of coronaviruses cases require hospitalization, beds will be at capacity by early- to mid-May. (And, given the lack of testing in the US, its not clear how many Americans have been infected in the first place.) On top of that, as my colleagues Will Peischel and Jessica Washington reported last week, in 2018 Trump cut most of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions funding for fighting pandemics. That same year, the head of the National Security Councils global pandemic team left his post, followed shortly after by the entire team. The positions remain empty.

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Trump has also been criticized for his slow response to the coronavirus outbreak, and for his efforts to downplay the risk associated with it. In one memorable moment last week, Trump appeared to suggest that he didnt want passengers trapped aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, some of whom had become infected with the virus, off the coast of San Francisco to come ashore because it would make him look bad: I dont need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasnt our fault, he said.

He has also compared COVID-19 to the regular flu, suggesting the flu was more dangerous than the coronavirus (Indeed, the flu kills tens of thousands of people every year, but the coronavirus estimated mortality rate is higher than the flu, suggesting that a large-scale coronavirus outbreak in the United States would be very bad.)

Its not even certain Trumps travel restriction will be effective, now that were dealing with a global pandemic. Last month, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNBC, When it was focused only on China, we had a period of time, temporary, that we could do a travel restriction that prevented cases from coming into the US. He added, When you have multiple countries involved, its very difficult to do; in fact, its almost impossible.

Watch Trumps remarks:

JUST IN: President Trump will suspend all travel from Europe to the US for the next 30 days due to the coronavirus, but makes an exception for the UK https://t.co/tFOpudNGqz pic.twitter.com/iuQIvJRjVn  CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 12, 2020

" Source "
The government of India on Friday declared faces masks and hand sanitisers to be essential commodities till the end of June in its efforts to battle the spread of coronavirus and to contain the hoarding or overpricing of these items, said news agency PTI.

The government had earlier warned traders against hoarding and overpricing of these items that have been widely recommended among the preventive measures to keep the deadly infection at bay.

Government includes certain product among the essential commodities from time to time to regulate its production, supply and distribution in order to ensure its availability at fair prices.

The items listed under the Essential Commodities Act include drugs, fertilisers, pulses and edible oils along with petroleum and petroleum products. The government can include and take off items on the list as per the requirement.

High demand for masks and sanitisers had led to highlighting of cases when they were found to be either unavailable or were being sold for a premium. Online retail giant Amazon said it was trying to curb overpricing of masks that were available in a range of 200 to 600 on its platform as indicated by a quick search.

WHO has advised people on the use of masks and listed circumstances favourable to its use. It says a healthy person need not wear a mask unless taking care of a person with suspected Covid-19 infection.

It advises wearing a mask if one is coughing or sneezing and adds that they are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain was reported by IANS to have suggested washing of hands with soap as a more effective precautionary measure compared to using masks.

Jain described masks and hand sanitisers as unnecessary for the common people.

The masks are only required by physicians and the medical staff, he was quoted as saying by IANS.

He added that people suffering from cold, cough, fever etc. could use masks.

He said if people washed their hands with soap before touching their eyes, nose and mouth then it was 100% possible to prevent the coronavirus spread.

Hand sanitiser is necessary for the doctors and the staff involved in medicine as doctors cannot go to wash hands after every patients examination. So, they use hand sanitiser, Jain was quoted as saying by the agency.

Kerala government on Friday decided to use the tailoring units in prisons of the state to deal with the shortage of masks.
Passengers in Rome as insurers stop offering travel insurance. (Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images)

Direct Line and Churchill have stopped selling travel insurance to new customers, blaming a surge in demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Direct Line Group, which includes the brands, became the latest insurer to scale back its coverage as the outbreak has grown in Europe recent weeks.

It said in a statement: Due to the impact that coronavirus is having across the world we have experienced a huge increase in demand for travel insurance.

Our priority is to protect and service our existing customers and therefore we have taken the difficult decision to temporarily suspend the sale of travel insurance to new customers so that we can focus on our existing customers.

We have not taken this decision lightly and we carefully considered many different options prior to reaching this decision.

Read more: Saga cancels cruises after over-70s urged not to travel over coronavirus

It said there would be no change for customers who already had policies with Direct Line or Churchill, who could continue to make claims or amend their policies.

Aviva announced recently said it would continue to sell its core travel insurance, but without the option for add-on cover for travel disruption or airspace closure.

LV= also suspended sales to new customers, saying it would otherwise have to raise prices.

Anyone planning a holiday should get insurance as soon as they book, said Gareth Shaw, head of money at consumer group Which? If you havent already booked insurance and are travelling soon, we urge you to get cover immediately from a reputable insurer.

Read more: Norwegian says half its staff could face temporary lay-offs

Martin Lewis, of MoneySavingExpert.com, echoed the advice, and warned issues getting travel insurance were likely to get worse as the outbreak increases the chances of needing to claim.

He said he himself wouldnt be looking to go away in the next two or three months.

But a spokesman for the Association of British Insurers (ABI) told PA Media earlier this week that travel insurance remains widely available.

Insurers will take account of when any risk becomes more of a probability than a possibility, making whatever commercial decisions that they feel are prudent, he said.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 15:15 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a5e9b5 1 SE Asia COVID-19,coronavirus,outbreak,Kuala-Lumpur,Malaysia,Brunei-Darussalam,Singapore,Achmad-Yurianto,Gathering Free

The Health Ministry said it had not tracked nearly 700 Indonesian citizens that had attended a religious mass gathering in Sri Petaling Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, despite dozens of people having tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the event.

The ministrys disease control and prevention director general, Achmad Yurianto, said he had yet to receive any information regarding the event from the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

If such an event took place, our embassy [in Malaysia] will let us know for sure, Yurianto said on Thursday as quoted by tempo.co.

Read also: Indonesia slams Singapore for withholding information on nationals treated for COVID-19

Reuters reported that Malaysian authorities were tracking around 5,000 citizens across the country believed to have been potentially exposed to the coronavirus at a religious event on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian Health Ministry said the contact tracing was initiated after neighboring Brunei reported its first COVID-19 case on Tuesday: a 53-year-old man who had attended the same event at a mosque between Feb. 27 and March 1.

The Health Ministry urges all who attended the event to cooperate with health officials to ensure COVID-19 does not continue to spread in their communities, the ministrys secretary- general, Noor Hisham Abdullah said as quoted by Reuters.

Further contact tracing by Brunei authorities found 81 citizens that had attended the event, 16 of whom were tested positive for COVID-19, as reported by Borneo Bulletin.

Separately, The Straits Times reported that Singapores Health Ministry had found that at least 90 Singaporeans attended the event. Two of them had tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

Read also: Heat may curb COVID-19 spread in Indonesia. But dont count on it, scientists say

The mass religious gathering involved up to 10,000 members of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation from several countries. The Straits Times reported that a photo of a noticeboard at the event showed that it was attended by more than 1,500 foreign participants from 27 countries, including 696 people from Indonesia, 81 from Brunei and 95 from Singapore.

Yurianto refused to answer journalists questions on whether authorities would trace Indonesian citizens that had attended the event. He, however, said the government needed to move swiftly to contain the spread of COVID-19 ahead of Ramadan and Idul Fitri, when public gatherings were hard to avoid.

"We need to move swiftly to address this concern as Idul Fitri is coming. It's impossible not to shake hands with the elderly. It will also be a hassle for families to perform Eid prayers in their respective homes, he said. (nal/mrc)
EDWARDSVILLE  The Nickel Plate Depot Station has officially been moved again after sitting for 30 years on the north side of the Lewis and Clark Community College N.O. Nelson campus to the south side of campus.

The move puts the station closer to the main entrance of the campus and the Madison County Trails Nickel Plate Trail.

  

Nickel Plate Station in Edwardsville needs donations to advance childrens museum vision

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

EDWARDSVILLE  For the past half-century, the Nickel Plate Station has been waiting for its train to come in.

To protect the long-term viability of the station, the city of Edwardsville has agreed to maintain ownership and provide approximately two-thirds of the funds required for the stations renovation.

Meanwhile, a team of community-minded individuals has been assembled to assist in raising $100,000 in private contributions to complete the project. A fund has been established with the Edwardsville Community Foundation for that purpose. To date, the group has received $24,500 in contributions. Grants are being pursued, but they say they will need support from the community to keep the project on track.

Ward 4 Alderman SJ Morrison, gathered some of his Board of Conductors at Lewis and Clark Community College Thursday to brief them on the stations next steps. This board recently mailed an end-of-year funding appeal letter to coax more donations.

The monies raised will pay for moving the station, adding utilities, building an ADA-accessible restroom, and restoring the facility inside and out. The goal is to partner with the Childrens Museum to operate the facility as a satellite location. The organization is looking to expand and age up through displays, activities and exhibits for older kids in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

We want to bring people back to the station, Morrison said.

Morrison said the plan is to install James Hardie plank siding on the buildings outside, which should be dyed in Nickel Plate Green, the color of the current wood. Inside, the original wood panels will be temporarily taken down so crews can replace and/or install electrical, plumbing and insulation. Then those panels will be re-installed so the station will have modern functionality while maintaining its classic look and feel. The windows will also be replaced with energy-efficient units, and a coffee kiosk is planned to be added as well.

He said there will be historical displays about the role railroads play in Edwardsville.

In August 1883, the Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad built (at that time) an unusually large train station overlooking the fields and coal mines south of Downtown Edwardsville at 508 S. Fillmore St.

During its more than 80 years of service, this unique station welcomed thousands of visitors and newcomers to Edwardsville, witnessed historic events, sent local troops off to war and played host to commuters, travelers and merchants.

Its fascinating history and remarkable stability prompted the Goshen Preservation Alliance (GPA) to save the station from the wrecking ball in 1989 and move it to a safe location in 1991.

In 2000, the GPA cleaned, painted, repaired and installed a new chimney, flashing and roof, adding decades to its survival. At the time, it was also opened to the public for tours.

In March of 2019, the city acquired the station and initiated a partnership with the Edwardsville Childrens Museum to breathe new life into this local treasure.

Interested contributors should visit http://nickelplatestation.org/give.html or make their checks payable to Edwardsville Community Foundation. The foundations address is P.O. Box 102, Edwardsville, IL 62025. Donors should write Nickel Plate Station in the subject/memo line. For 2019 tax deductions, checks must be dated and envelopes postmarked Dec. 31 or earlier.

Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at (618) 659-5735.
As we settle into art month, Sydneys 22nd annual Biennale offers a smorgasbord of reasons to get to each of its six sites this year. Titled NIRIN, this years exhibition will play host to the works of more than 100 artists from 41 countries. The exhibition will sprawl the grounds of Cockatoo Island, the Art Gallery of NSW, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Campbelltown Arts Centre, the National Art School and Artspace. From today you can sign up for everything from guided site tours, to artist talks from artists Karla Dickens and Emily Karaka, and live performances by members of Tennant Creek Brio and Taqralik Partridge. Be sure to wear a comfortable pair of shoes and, maybe, even start the day at Woolloomooloos Artspace for an introduction to the themes and practices of the work on show this year. March 14-June 8, multiple sites, free, sign up at biennaleofsydney.art

Portrait of Ibrahim Mahama with his art work No Friend but the Mountains', 2012-2020 at Cockatoo Island in Sydney which is part of the 22nd Biennale of Sydney. Credit:Nic Walker

Sydneys CBD will tomorrow transform into a green wave of live music, Irish dancing, language lessons and Guinness. While the traditional St. Patricks Day parade will kick off at 11am, opportunities to indulge will emerge in abundance throughout the course of the day, after the festival opens at noon. Families can have fun too: there are childrens arts and craft, and even baby rhyme time at the childrens village in The Rocks. Celtic music fans can enjoy live performances from the likes of Susan ONeill, and The Bottlers. March 15, First Fleet Park, The Rocks, free, sydneystpatricksday.com

Festival  MindBodySpirit Festival

The Mind, Body, Spirit Festival is on this weekend. Credit:Getty Images

For more than 30 years, this festival has brought together the best in health and wellness. The biannual MindBodySpirit festival returns to Sydney this weekend, and its free. With more than 200 exhibitors, incredible amounts of food, a Mindful Meditation Centre hosted by Brahma Kumaris, and a psychic reading room, this years offering looks to provide a soothing antidote for busy Sydneysiders. March 12-15, ICC, free, iccsydney.com.au

Coming Up  Dreamscape
The Maharashtra Assembly on



Friday unanimously passed a resolution recommending to the Centre that the Aurangabad airportin the state be renamed as "Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport, Aurangabad".

It also passed a resolution to rename Mumbai central station here after the philanthropist Nana Shankarsheth.

The resolution to rename Aurangabad airport was moved by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and passed by a voice vote.

The state cabinet took the decision to rename the airport after Sambhaji, the elder son of iconic warrior king Shivaji, recently.

The decision was taken after the BJP tried to corner its former ally Shiv Sena by reminding it of its old demand to rename Aurangabad, a central Maharashtra city which derives its name from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, as Sambhajinagar.

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Anil Parab moved another resolution, seeking to rename Mumbai central station in the city as "Nana ShankarshetMumbai Central Station".

Jagannath "Nana" Shankarshet was a famous 19th century philanthropist who played an important role in the infrastructure development in the city.

Opposition members were not present when Parab moved the resolution as they had staged a walk-out to protest againstDeputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's reply to the budget.

BJP MLAs Ashish Shelar and Sanjay Kutereturned to the House later. Shelar accused the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government of doing over renaming.

"We (the BJP government) at the Centre will approve the proposal to rename Aurangabad airport after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. (But) Why haven'tyou renamed Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar yet," he asked.

He also claimed that the proposal to rename Mumbai Central after Shankarshet had been introduced in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation more than a decade ago but the then government did not put it before the legislature.

Shiv Sena MLA Sunil Prabhu said the previous BJP-led government did not feel it necessary in the last fiveyears to table the resolution in the legislature.

Ajit Pawar and Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil criticised the opposition for not being present in the House when the two resolutions were moved.

To which Yogesh Sagar of the BJP said the resolution on renaming of Mumbai Central was not listed on the agenda.

Speaker Nana Patole intervened, saying, "You (Sagar) wereon the panel of presiding officers earlier. Whenyou stage a walk-out, you go out and return to participate in the business listed next."



Eventually, the resolution was passed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Tom Arnold

BEIRUT, March 12 (Reuters) - Lebanon's banks are poised for a major shake-out as a planned restructuring of government debt is set to leave many financial players illiquid, say bankers.

Banks are the largest creditors of the government, which is set to default after saying it would stop paying its foreign currency debt and is seeking a debt restructuring as a months-long economic crisis left its foreign currency reserves dangerously depleted.

The extent of the hit that banks - and their depositors -- will have to take is still uncertain, but bankers estimate the total sector shortfall at around $20 billion to $30 billion - based on provisions they will need to take for losses linked to deposits held at the central bank and lending to the government.

With Lebanon grappling with hundreds of thousands of job losses and mounting business closures, lenders also have to contend with growing soured loans to the private sector.

Almost all banks will need recapitalisation, said Jean Riachi, chairman and chief executive of FFA Private Bank, Lebanon's largest specialised bank.

"We have too many banks," he said. "The overall size of the banking sector will shrink. You'll probably end up with $40-60 billion in deposits compared to $150 billion now and a handful of big banks, some smaller family banks and specialised banks doing private banking and investment banking."

Lebanon has around 40 banks serving a population of around 6 million, with the sector having swelled to four times the size of the economy from decades of channelling billions of dollars every year from Lebanon's scattered diaspora to help fund the government.

But that flow of money from overseas has stopped and the government can no longer finance its budget deficits.

Economy minister Raoul Nehme has said the banking sector will shrink, while Prime Minister Hassan Diab has said the banking sector must be restructured.

Some banks have already started that process with stronger players already looking to acquire smaller lenders, said one banker.

Story continues

An independent authority needs to be established to manage the sector's overhaul, including forcing mergers and liquidating smaller ones in a similar way to Cyprus during its 2012-13 financial crisis, said Riachi.

I don't see the IMF or any creditors accepting a debt restructuring plan without addressing these issues," he said.

Consolidation has raised concerns about the impact on depositors with bankers and analysts saying it might be tricky to avoid some kind of losses imposed on at least the largest depositors.

Houlihan Lokey, which was hired by the Association of Banks of Lebanon to advise them on the restructuring process, has said that the association's main objective is to protect the interests of depositors. (Additional reporting by Tom Perry. Editing by Carmel Crimmins)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 16:22:04|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Friday released a guideline aimed at boosting consumption and unleashing the potential of the domestic market to cushion the blow of the ongoing epidemic on economic activities.

The guideline, jointly issued by 23 government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, detailed 19 measures to remove institutional barriers for consumption growth and revive pent-up demands due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Efforts should be made to optimize domestic market supply, raise the competitive power of domestic products and services and upgrade cultural travel consumption, the guideline said.

It also set out policies to unleash consumption potential in lower-tier cities and rural regions, with an urban-rural integrated network to facilitate flows of agricultural produce to the cities and industrial products to rural areas.

Data from the Ministry of Commerce showed 70 percent of new online shoppers during the "Double 11" shopping spree last year were from less developed areas, making consumers in those regions a target for future consumption growth.

The guideline also called for strengthening market order regulation and keeping channels open to protect consumer rights.

"Government should improve regulatory capabilities and encourage innovation to facilitate the development of new consumption models," noted Wang Qiang, an economics professor at Renmin University of China.
(Alliance News) -A Griffin Mining Ltd on Friday said its Caijiaying zinc-gold mine has been "steadily increasing" operations.

The mine is north-west of Beijing in Hebei Province, China.

Underground mining has reached 100%, and processing operations 75%, of planned output. Ore stockpiles from underground mining have been increasing at surface.

There are 4,075 tonnes of zinc concentrate and 497 tonnes of gold/lead concentrate in storage at the mine with sales planned to occur "over the coming week". Delivery of consumables, re-agents and spares necessary to safely and efficiently run operations have returned to normal.

"The county and city governments have been very supportive of the resumption of operations at the Caijiaying mine, which has included the free provision of dedicated bus services and Covid-19 testing for employees and contractors returning to the Caijiaying mine from outside Hebei province," the company said.

To date, no Covid-19 cases have been reported at the mine or surrounding area.

Shares in Griffin Mining were up 9.1% at 48.00 pence in London on Friday.

By Lucy Heming;A lucyheming@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size When we got in the car on the day of our escape, I turned to Latifa and said, Were like Thelma and Louise,  says Tiina Jauhiainen, with a small smile at the bittersweet memory. But then Latifa cried out, No, no, dont say that! Their story doesnt have a happy ending.  That was two years ago, on February 24, 2018, the day Princess Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, tried to escape her life as a Dubai princess, with the help of her best friend, Tiina. At 32, it was the first time Latifa had ever been in the front seat of a car, having always had a driver and travelled in the back. The escape was the result of a seven-year plan that involved driving into Oman, taking a dinghy into international waters, and boarding a yacht to Sri Lanka, from where Latifa hoped to fly to the United States and claim political asylum. Latifa was initially relieved when we got to the boat, but every day she was growing increasingly worried that her father might already be after her, says Tiina. At times, the days on the boat felt really, really long. It got hotter the closer we got to India, and the boat was full of cockroaches. Escaping on a yacht sounds glamorous, but it was the opposite. We spent most of our time downstairs, trying to contact journalists on our phones, as Latifa felt that might protect her. But after just eight days on board the yacht, captained by Herve Jaubert (a Frenchman whose help Latifa had enlisted after she read about his own escape from Dubai), the princesss short-lived freedom came to an abrupt end off the coast of Goa, when the two women heard gunshots from the upper deck. Latifa immediately realised theyd come after us, recalls Tiina. We were downstairs hiding in the bathroom. We were scared, hugging each other. There was nowhere to go. The cabin began to fill with smoke. We later realised they were stun grenades, explains Tiina, and the pair were forced onto the upper deck, where they were met by several commandos pointing machine guns at them. It was pitch black with the red lights of the laser sights pointed at different parts of our bodies. I was pushed to the floor, in a pool of blood [several crew members had been injured]. They tied my hands and shouted, Close your eyes! Dont move or well shoot you. We were taken back to Dubai. That was the last time I saw Latifa. She was being dragged off the boat, kicking and screaming, yelling that she was seeking political asylum. They ignored her. The whole situation was so unreal. I wish Id said something, but I was paralysed. They threatened to shoot my brain out if I spoke. It was shocking. It was beyond my comprehension.

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Along with Jaubert, Tiina was taken to a national security prison, where she was kept in solitary confinement for several weeks. [I was] in a cell, which was freezing cold with the fluorescent lights always on. There was a hatch in the wall that theyd open to give me food, she says. It was mental torture. I was sleep-deprived and the guards told me Id stabbed the ruler of Dubai in the back, so Id get the death penalty or a life sentence. They tried to make me do a false confession, saying Id tried to cheat Latifa into escaping. Sometimes theyd get so angry I felt like they were about to hit me. Tiina was released after a video that Latifa had made prior to the escape went up on YouTube, and it was made public that shed tried to leave the country with her. The powerful film, which Tiina helped her make and which has since been seen by more than four million people, begins, If you are watching this video  Either Im dead or Im in a very, very, very bad situation. She goes on to recount what happened to her after her previous escape attempt, and describes her father as the most evil person I have ever met. There has never been any response to the video, except a short statement from her family, released in December 2018. Her Highness Sheikha Latifa is now safe in Dubai, it claimed. Princess Latifa and best friend Tiina Jauhiainen during their escape from Dubai in 2018. Credit: Sheikh Mohammed, 70, is largely credited with turning Dubai into the global, glamorous city it is today. A keen equestrian who was partly educated in England, he is the founder of the Godolphin racing stable, owns a 75 million estate in Surrey in Englands southeast and is an acquaintance of the Queen. Since he began ruling Dubai in 2006, he has launched a number of major businesses,making his familys worth an estimated $US4 billion, all while managing to regularly post his own poetry on Instagram to his 4.9 million followers. Yet behind his public image as a progressive ruler of a forward-thinking country lies a more controversial side. Campaign group Human Rights Watch has called the UAE hypocritical, and says that any attempt to paint the government as tolerant is laughable. In recent years, there have been a number of high-profile cases of people, including foreigners, being imprisoned and allegedly badly treated at the hands of the countrys security services. The countrys laws are also some of the strictest in the world: people can be detained for free speech-related offences, and sodomy carries a 10-year prison sentence. The Emirates also enforces the law of male guardianship, where women can effectively only work with their husbands permission, must have a lawful excuse if they refuse to have sex with their husband, and must grant full custody of her children to her husband if she wants to divorce him and remarry. Rape victims are also often ostracised for going public.

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The Sheikh and his six wives. Credit: The strict oppression of women in the UAE appears to extend to the royal family itself. Each of the Sheikhs wives has her own separate home, and they are not encouraged to mix with each other. In some ways, the expectations of them as royals mean they have even more restricted lives than local UAE women  Latifa has alleged she had no freedom to travel, work, or even have relationships. People think, Oh, shes just a spoilt princess,  says Tiina. But shes not. Shes like anyone who deserves a chance to be free. Some people say she had access to money and was able to do a lot of activities, like skydiving, which she loved. But that was just a distraction from her reality. She didnt want to stay at home. She didnt even call her home a home. She called it a house, and hated it. She was treated like a minor, and felt like she was suffocating. Her mother was also very religious, so anything like dancing or music was haram [forbidden]. People think, Oh, shes just a spoilt princess, but shes not. Shes like anyone who deserves a chance to be free. Tiina Jauhiainen on Princess Latifa Tiina, now 43, never imagined shed end up befriending an Arab princess. She was born in Finland, where her parents have a flower business, and went to university in London, before moving to Dubai in 2001. She first met Latifa in 2010, after being hired as her capoeira (a Brazilian martial art) instructor. The pair slowly became friends, learning skydiving together, with Latifa going on to become a qualified instructor, with more than 2500 jumps to her name. It gave her a sense of freedom, and adrenalin, and a reason to get up in the morning, says Tiina. All she ever wanted was a normal life. To work. To study. To travel. Our goal was to see the world. I wanted to show her my favourite country, Nepal, and she was desperate to go to Hawaii. We used to talk a lot about what wed do after our escape. But it did take years for her to trust me fully and open up. Shed lived such a difficult life. It was like she was a prisoner in a gilded cage, with no freedom.

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Sheikh Mohammed with Queen Elizabeth II in Abu Dhabi; he is an acquaintance of the British monarch and owns a racing stable and an estate in the UK. Credit:Getty Images When Latifa, now 34, finally shared her story with Tiina, it proved to be an unthinkable contrast to the superficially luxurious appearance of her life as an Arab princess, living in her mothers private palace, complete with a staff of 100 and its own gym. In spite of her wealth, she hadnt left the country in more than two decades, and claims she wasnt even allowed to visit friends houses. She wasnt permitted to study  Her dream had been to study medicine, says Tiina  and, unlike most of her step-siblings, no plans had been made for her or her sisters to marry, which Tiina believes is due to her and her sister Shamsas previous attempts to flee. Latifa had tried to escape once before, as a teenager, by riding into Oman on horseback. But after being captured at the border, she was imprisoned for three-and-a-half years, during which time she alleges she was tortured. One person would hold her, and the other would cane her feet, says Tiina. She was given no fresh clothes, toothbrush or anything to wash with. Her older sisters story is even more harrowing. It appears Princess Shamsa tried to run away from her familys Surrey estate back in 2000, when she was just 18, after being told she wasnt allowed to go to university. But two months later, she was found in Cambridgeshire and taken back to Dubai. It is now 20 years since Shamsa was last seen in public. It is now 20 years since Princess Latifa's sister, Shamsa, was last seen in public. Credit: She was imprisoned for eight years after the escape in Dubai, says Tiina. She and Latifa used to be really close, but when she was released, she was never the same. Latifa always wanted to help her, though. Helping Shamsa was one of her motivations to leave in 2018, because you cant help someone else until you help yourself. There has been huge interest in Latifas case, including a BBC TV documentary that was broadcast in Australia early last year. Then, a third princess changed the narrative in a case that has made global headlines. Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, the sixth wife of the Sheikh and one of Latifas stepmothers, managed to leave Dubai in July 2019, taking her two young children with her as she went first to Germany, then the UK. She has now filed for divorce, and is living in a London mansion with her children, while fighting for their legal custody against the Sheikh in the British High Court.

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Unlike Princess Latifa, whose Algerian mother is considered one of the Sheikhs lower wives, Princess Haya had always enjoyed privileges and freedoms that many women in Dubai are denied. A princess in her own right, she was born to the late King Hussein of Jordan, was educated at the British private schools Badminton and Bryanston, studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford and is a renowned Olympic equestrian. She also claims she is the only woman in Jordan licensed to drive heavy trucks. Her marriage to the Sheikh, which took place after the death of her father, was said to be a love match: they bonded over their interest in horses. It isnt known exactly why she made the decision to leave, but it is believed that she was made aware of information concerning Latifas story, and that could have caused her to flee out of concerns for herself and her own young children. In a damning ruling released to the public in early March, the British High Court found the Sheikh conducted a campaign of fear and intimidation against Princess Haya and that he ordered the abduction of Latifa and Shamsa. The threats continued after the princess moved to London, the judge said, adding that the Sheikh had used the apparatus of the state to threaten, intimidate, mistreat and oppress with a total disregard for the rule of law. Latifa with ex-Irish president Mary Robinson in late 2018; this is the only proof her friend Tiina has that the princess is still alive. Credit: The only proof Tiina has that Latifa is alive are some photos of her taken in Dubai in late 2018: she is with Mary Robinson, Irelands former president, who is a friend of Princess Haya. Latifa looks confused and doesnt seem to be aware of the photos being taken. Tiina believes that until recently, Princess Haya may have believed the Sheikhs version  that Latifa was making up her claims. But not any more. Im obviously hoping this unfinished case will have an impact. If Haya talks about her reasons for leaving, it gives her leverage to help Latifa. David Haigh, a human-rights lawyer who helped Tiina create the #FreeLatifa campaign, adds, Weve spent a lot of time helping Haya and her legal team. Were hopeful that when shes able to talk publicly about what happened to her and her reasons for leaving, shell be able to help Latifa in the way we have helped her and her family. For us, this is a huge step. Shes one of the most high-profile women in the Arab world. It is the first sign of good news Tiina has had in the past two years. Shes been living with friends in London, without a stable job, trying to campaign for Latifas freedom. Anniversaries and birthdays are hard, she says. Nothing is happening. Its sad. Its changed my life completely. Ill never give up hope. But its coming to a point where I have to think about myself, too.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 17:10:59|Editor: Lu Hui

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BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China's banking institutions have so far extended more than 1.4 trillion yuan (about 200 billion U.S. dollars) of credit to facilitate the ongoing battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the country's top banking regulator.

Yang Liping, an official with the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), told a press conference Friday that the banking sector has enhanced support for private enterprises, small and micro- firms as well as sectors of manufacturing and spring farming.

To aid small firms struck by the outbreak, the CBIRC has prohibited banking institutions to withdraw, delay or stop providing loans to these enterprises and ordered them to roll over loans due after Jan.25, according to Yang.

This arrangement has covered more than 22 million small enterprises and individually-owned businessesplus individuals like truck and taxi drivers who have not been able to work during the outbreak.

The CBIRC will continue to encourage banks to increase loan support for small private firms at lower costs, as well as to finance more firms that have never borrowed from banks, according to Yang.

This year, China's policy banks plan to increase special loan quotas for private and small firms by 350 billion yuan at discounted lending rates, while all banking institutions should boost credit to individually-owned businesses by 500 billion yuan, both compared with last year's levels, she said.

In 2019, new loans for China's private firms totaled 4.4 trillion yuan, with annualized lending rates down by 93 basis points from the same period a year ago, according to the CBIRC.
A few weeks back, I saw a tweet that included a time lapse of a hospital being built in Wuhan, China. When I first saw it, I thought that it might be fake, maybe because the sight of the building emerging from nothing was really very hard to believe, or maybe just because the whole idea of it seemed just so extremely oddthat it was possible, that it was necessary, that it would have actually happened.

I looked that video up today. Im no longer interested in whether it is real; Id like to know how they did it. Because we need to figure out how to do it too.

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This is, somehow, not where I thought things would end up in America. And yet the people who are telling us how to think about this risk have cycled through warnings and landed somewhere bleak. First it was to wash our hands, then it was to wash our hands and not touch our faces (the most fun part of this news cycle so far), and finally, to wash our hands and not touch our faces and start shunning people in an effort to flatten the curve. Finally, though, we are realizing where we might be on the curve, and even though we still dont have good testing, it looks bad. As the head of the Department of Health in Ohio put it on Thursday, there are five confirmed cases in the state, but they actually think there are 100,000 cases in the state.

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And so now we have moved on to what Aaron Carroll at the Upshot called the biggest thing to worry about with the coronavirus, or I would argue, the latest thing to worry about with the coronavirus: our ICU capacity. Carrolls piece lays things out simply, numerically. Our country has only 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people, he writes. Thats fewer than in Italy (3.2), China (4.3) and South Korea (12.3), all of which have had struggles. More important, there are only so many intensive care beds and ventilators. For ICU, beds weve got 45,000; for ventilators, 160,000. The demand for ICU beds in America is already high. Building a hospital does not seem so wild anymore.

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What is remarkable to me, and shouldnt be, is that we are the lowest number on that listwe have fewer hospital beds per 1,000 people than Italy, China, and South Korea. Theres a reason for that, Carroll explains: Hospitals dont survive financially in the United States by keeping beds open and equipment idle. Hospitals dont survive financially in the United States by keeping beds open and equipment idle. Even the system that is meant to keep us from dying answers to the gods of economics.

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The people who are supposed to make sure we were prepared for this kind of thingthe governmentdid not prepare for it; they kept minimizing the budgets and firing the people who are supposed to be around to deal with this stuff, should it occur. Nor did anyone working in the current administration seem to pause a few weeks ago, back when I was watching the video of Wuhan building a hospital, to consider whether they should maybe change their approach. David Wallace-Wells cataloged the disturbing reality of what, exactly, we are currently experiencingnot just Donald Trumps inability to lead in a crisis but the absurdity of private businesses taking better precautions than our public institutionsand what it means about the future of our country. What kind of society behaves this way, with a complete lack of institutional guidance and coordinated purpose, subjecting the vulnerable and scared to the terrors of pandemic disease? America, apparently. Wallace-Wells concludes his essay, after reminding his readers that America might be the first failed rich state, by making what has become a familiar comparison, between us and the other countries experiencing outbreaks. How do we compare to Italy, to China, to South Korea? Were worse off than all of them when it comes to our response, he concludes, just like we are with the hospital beds. Were somewhere more in the vicinity of Iran, probably, but its hard to know exactly where we stand, given the lack of testing and the lack of reliable information coming out of the federal government. But, you know, somewhere around there.

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Even as many smart thinkers have done the work to underscore what is certainly truethat Trump is a symptom of a broader disease pushed by a Republican Party set on destroying the concept of government and enacting minority rule, that America has been plagued by such problems since its inceptionit is still hard, particularly in this election year, to internalize where we currently are as a nation, particularly compared with our peers. Its difficult to fully internalize this change with the likes of Joe Biden on the stump trying to make the case that Trump could be an aberration and things could all return to normal by the next election for America. And yet, this moment, which will be defined by death and systemic failure and enormous economic fallout (that will have extremely disproportionate effects on the poor and the working class), will also be another one of realizing exactly how our country stacks up.

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Its the difference between knowing, immediately after the election, that our new president is the only world leader not to accept the science on climate change and watching, in June 2017, him withdraw our country from the Paris Agreement. Theres the unbelievable ignorance and stupidity to contend with, yes, and a sense of disappointment over what this means for our self-conception as a world leader. But ultimately the emotion that lingers is terror. What is going to happen to us?

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There has been an interesting line of thinking that Ive watched emerge as this crisis unfolds and brings the world to a standstill. If there is any upside to entire nations shutting down, it is that we are suddenly, rapidly, emitting way less carbon and air pollution, and that if you do the math in a certain way, maybe the coronavirus will end up saving more people than it kills. Maybe we will realize that we cannot continue to live as we once lived, as a result, and that too would save even more lives in the long run. These are crude calculations. They have a disturbing resonance with the decisions already being made in Italian hospitals over who is well enough to be worth saving and who we must let diea resonance, even, with the problems inherent to the horrible, oft-repeated line that coronavirus doesnt kill most people, as if that makes everything fine. But it kills some people. And it will kill many Americans.

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The real lesson is to stop comparing death counts and to instead realize that both situations represent enormous, systemic, disturbing failures. The American obstinance against climate change represents a pathological inability to consider and properly value long-term consequences. Until the pandemic hit, the inability to prepare for a modern-day plague could be slotted into the same category, as another example of our inability to prioritize our safety in the long term. Its still one of those, but as the growth continues to spread, exponentially, it will expose our inability to respond in the short term as well. This disasters consequences will be immediate and visible, like the aftermath of a forest fire, without being concentrated in one place. America has forgotten how to prioritize people in the short term, and in the long term. The coronavirus is only making that obvious.
Contrary to earlier reports in local media, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has denied testing positive for Covid-19.

Business Insider reports that the president said on his official Facebook profile that his results tested negative of the virus

Earlier reports had said Mr Bolsonaro had tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday after his press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, had earlier tested positive for Covid-19.

It said Mr Bolsonaros result had come out positive though he is currently asymptomatic.

Mr Wajngarten had been part of the presidents entourage to the U.S. were they had met with the U.S. president Donald Trump.

Mr Bolsonaro during his trip had dined with Mr Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night.

Debunked

Earlier news in the media had said that Mr Bolsonaros son, Eduardo, had told Fox News that further testing was being done to confirm the diagnosis and that they expected results later on Friday.

However, the Business Insider quoted the Brazilian president to have said on Twitter that he tested negative.

He added that people should not believe the fake news.

DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE MEDIA FAKE NEWS!, he said

Fake news

While many high profile people have contracted the disease, Mr Bolsonaro is one of the few officials who have had to debunk news of testing positive to the virus.

Since the onset of the outbreak in December, the virus has infected many government officials around the world  from administrators to heads of state  and others are beginning to take precautionary measures after finding out they have been in contact with infected people.

However, the world has been battling with fake news surrounding Covid-19.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus had warned of fake alerts and posts circulating on social media.

WHO called it infodemic  an overwhelming amount of information on social media and websites  saying some are accurate while some are downright untrue.

Mr Ghebreyesus said what the world needs now is accurate information and not fake news which could cause more harm and panic.

Over 4,000 people have died from the disease globally with over 100,000 infected.
Kung Eye Center Were very excited to be chosen as the first practice in New York or New Jersey to offer this exciting technology to our cataract patients

With locations in Staten Island, NY and East Brunswick, NJ, Kung Eye Center is the very first practice in both states to offer the Light-Adjustable Lens (LAL) by RxSight to cataract patients.

The Light Adjustable Lens is the first intraocular lens (IOL) that allows surgeons to make adjustments following cataract surgery, and it is the first FDA-approved IOL of this nature. The LAL is a three-piece silicone lens that is implanted just like a monofocal lens implant, except the LAL is made with a special photoreactive silicone, permitting surgeons to adjust a patients prescription after implantation by using a specialized Ultra-Violet (UV) light or Light Delivery Device (LDD).

This technology is ideal for patients undergoing cataract surgery that had previous vision correction surgery such as LASIK, PRK or RK. It is also ideal for patients that have corneal abnormalities and for patients seeking monovision or a more precise visual outcome following their cataract procedure.

In an FDA study which included 600 patients, those who received the LAL lens were twice as likely to achieve 20/20 vision without glasses, compared to those who received a standard monofocal lens.

Cataracts occur when the eyes natural lens becomes clouded and rigid, blurring and darkening the vision. The only treatment option for cataracts is to remove the clouded lens and replace it with an artificial lens implant. While cataracts are one of the leading causes of blindness, the removal of cataracts is one of the safest and most common surgical procedures around in the world. The Light Adjustable Lens technology in cataract surgery helps improve visual outcomes by allowing surgeons to fine-tune and completely customize the patients refractive outcome after the cataract is removed and the LAL lens is implanted.

Were very excited to be chosen as the first practice in New York or New Jersey to offer this exciting technology to our cataract patients, said John S. Kung, MD- Medical Director at Kung Eye Center.

Dr. Robert Grubbs of California Institute won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2005 for his theory of olefin metathesis, which is used in LAL technology.

Typically patients will return to their eye doctor to be prescribed reading glasses in order to see clearer following cataract surgery. But with this new technology, ophthalmologists are able to take the post-operative measurements and then utilize a special slit lamp equipped with a UV light. This causes the LAL to change shape in response to the light, improving vision more precisely to the patients needs. In just two to four treatments that only last 90 seconds, most patients are able to see very well at their preferred visual settings. For patients that choose monovision, most of these patients can reduce or eliminate the need for glasses or distance, intermediate and even up close vision.

Kung Eye Center will be performing its first LAL case on March 14th . The patient will wear special UV blocking glasses after the procedure. After a few weeks the patient will be adjusted using the Light Delivery Device (LDD) to the patients preferred prescription. The patient can have up to 3-4 adjustments before Dr. Kung locks in the final patient prescription.

About Kung Eye Center

Led by John Kung, MD, the Medical Director of Kung Eye Center, Kung Eye Center has played a key role in the development of ophthalmic surgeries such as LASIK and Laser Cataract Surgery. Dr. Kung has invented instruments used widely in the field, and authored A Patients Guide to LASIK, a resource that explains the complex procedure, as well as its benefits and risks, into easy-to- understand terms. He has published studies on the safety of vision correction surgery, and served as a consultant to the Canadian military. Fellow ophthalmologists often observe Dr. Kung at work in the operating room to learn new techniques and study new equipment in action. Dr Kung is an invited faculty member teaching new cataracts surgery techniques at the largest cataract only surgical meeting in the United States as well as an advanced phaco wet lab instructor at American Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery.
New Delhi: A second special flight with 44 Indians from coronavirus-stricken Iran arrives in India today (March 13, 2020). The flight had landed in Mumbai and from here the evacuees will be flown by special aircraft to Jaisalmer.

Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took to twitter to welcome the stranded Indians back home. He wrote: "Second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims has arrived today from #Iran. Our efforts to bring back the others continue. India_in_Iran and our medical team - keep up the good work. Appreciate the support of Iranian authorities and their airlines."

Second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims has arrived today from #Iran. Our efforts to bring back the others continue. @India_in_Iran and our medical team - keep up the good work. Appreciate the support of Iranian authorities and their airlines.  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 13, 2020

The passengers on board will be kept in an isolation room at the airport in Mumbai and then the Indian Army will take them to Jaisalmer by a special aircraft. The evacuees will be set up at the Indian Army quarantine facility created in Jaisalmer.

It is one of the places where the quarantine facilities have been set up by the Defence Ministry especially for Indian citizens being brought to back from the coronavirus-hit countries. Other facilities have been set up at Suratgadh, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Deolali, Kolkata and Chennai.

"Individuals will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility. Another batch of 250 people being air evacuated from Iran on March 14 will also land and quarantined at the Army facility at Jaisalmer," Indian Army was quoted as saying by ANI.

"In the next two to three days, we are expecting more citizens to come back to India. We have prepared new facilities at places including Jodhpur, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Kolkata, Jaisalmer, Chennai and Deolali where we can quarantine these people," Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand had said on Thursday.

The Ministry of Defence has mobilised all necessary resources to support the national effort towards the management of COVID-19 cases. In a statement, the ministry said: At present, the military is running two medical facilities at Hindon, Ghaziabad and Manesar, Haryana and a total of 265 civilians are under military supervision at these two facilities. As per DG AFMS, a batch of 124 cases have completed their 14 days of isolation at Manesar facility, have tested negative and are ready to leave the facility.

Earlier, one of the Indian's stuck in coronavirus-hit Iran urged the Centre to rescue them from Iran. "Respected sir. we 22 seafarers in Bhushar Hotel (IRAN). Kindly rescue us from IRAN. Due to flight cancellations, we were unable to come. We communicate Indian Embassy Bandar Abbas but we did not get any help from them. Kindly rescue us from IRAN," read a statement, by one of the citizens.

Meanwhile, India recorded its first casualty from the virus on Thursday (March 12). A 76-year-old man from Karnataka's Kalburgi died on Tuesday, the state Health Department confirmed the reason for death as COVID-19 on Thursday. The man had returned to Karnataka from Saudi Arabia about 10 days ago and died in the Kalburgi district on Tuesday.

The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in India is at 76.

The coronavirus was recently declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. The virus outbreak which was first reported in December 2019 from Wuhan city of China has so far affected over 100 countries and claimed the lives of more than 4,600 people and has affected nearly 1,25,293 persons globally.
United States Prime Minister Donald Trump and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar greet each other in a Indian way. Trump said, I just got back from India and I did not shake any hands there. It is very very easy because the Indians go like this.

Reuters

Trump and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar greeted each other in the traditional Indian way with a Namaste at the White House in Washington on March 12, which they acknowledged and said it is necessary in the current scenario of coronavirus.





#WATCH US President Donald Trump: We (him&PM of Ireland) didn't shake hands today&we looked at each other&said what are we going to do?Sort of a weird feeling. We did this (joined hands). I just got back from India&I didn't shake any hands there. It was easy. #CoronaVirusPandemic pic.twitter.com/5uTSKTf7bO  ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

Trump and Varadkar, joined their palms in a Namaste pose when reporters asked them in the Oval Office how they greeted each other to which Trump replied, We did not shake hands today. We just looked at each other and said what we are going to do. You know that is a weird feeling.

When another reporter at the White House asked if they shook hands, Varadkar joined his hands in a Namaste pose showing the reporters how he greeted the president. Trump too joined his hand in the Namaste pose.

Reuters

Trump also shared the Japanese way of greeting - the bowing down of head and said India and Japan were ahead of the curve.

I have never been a big hand shaker, you probably heard but once you become a politician shaking hands is very normal. It's a very strange feeling when people walk up and say 'hi'," he said.

Reuters

"It almost feels impersonal or feels like you're being rude, but we just can't afford to think like that for the next few weeks," Varadkar told reporters.

The WHO on Thursday said coronavirus is a controllable pandemic. The number of Coronovirus cases in the world stands at 125,293, with over 4,600 deaths.
The Coronavirus Epidemic Is Severe, Shanghai Industry Takes A Hard Hit

Reporter: Luo Ya

Interviewee: Li Ling (pseudonym)

While the coronavirus Covid-19 has been reported to have spread throughout China, many provinces insist there is zero case growth. According to the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, from Feb. 25 to March 2, only the one new case was reported. It was on the 26th. This phenomenon worries medical experts.

In a recent interview with a mid-level cadre of a large enterprise in Shanghai, we learned that the epidemic situation is still severe, and getting back to work is delayed.

Li Ling: It is terrifying to work in our company. There are people in protective suits like in the hospital. You have to go through each check point.

Check the temperature at the entrance, one by one, take the elevator separately.

You have to apply to return to work at the local district, then the company has to confirm the application to make sure you are okay. In the company there is a punch card system (health check). I have done this for the past 20 days. If you are alright, the Luwan District will approve the application.

Once you are under quarantine, you cant punch the card. Basically, I can return to work if I remain healthy for 28 days. It will become easier to apply for other documents, including an application to return to work, and an entry-and-exit pass.

The general managers and above are the first to return to work. A week after, it will be people like us (the middle-level managers). People of the lower levels havent returned.

The company is very busy. The local government requires meetings everyday, gives you a hard time, and is very annoying.

To leave one city and go to another city, theres a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Without a pass you are going nowhere, not even going out of your apartment complex.

You need a pass to get out. Without it, they wont let you out.

(The company) only operates partially, it is impossible to resume work completely.

Companies related to the daily living needs are the ones that might re-open fully.

At present, the apartment complexes in Shanghai are closed. Residents can only go out when they buy food.

The pass permits entry-and-exit for one person per family every two days.

Two passes for every family. Only one person can go out every two days.

Grocery items are generally ordered online. Some people also go to the supermarket.

When the restriction was very tight at the beginning, we could only order online. Now delivery cant be delivered into the compound. You have to pick it up at the compound gate.

Now there are passes for cars in Shanghai to allow certain people back to work.

Life is much more than anything now to Shanghai people. They wont drive around if its not for work.

Our back to work has been delayed again and again. It was originally set that we would resume work in early February, but was delayed, as the company emailed us to not come to work the next week.

Our email was clear, back to work on Feb. 17. Many outsiders arrived on Feb. 10. The company felt that it would not work and asked them to wait 14 days before coming out.

They need to isolate themselves at their own apartments.

For example, when you drive back to Shanghai, the car will be affixed with a piece of red paper, which clearly states the date to Shanghai and the date the isolation is lifted. But if you come from a place like Wenzhou or Wuhan, well, sorry, you are on the compulsory quarantine for 14 days, or you are advised not to come back at all.

Compulsory quarantine is for people from the epidemic area, such as Hubei. Each district government in Shanghai has at least one place for centralized quarantine. For example, the East Palace, the former Hudong Workers Culture Palace, is for the Yangpu District.

Many people are restricted at that place. They cant let them out.

The online taxi will disinfect the car whenever a passenger gets off. They are also afraid of problems. They are only driving people to the airport, not picking up people from the airport. Because what Shanghai fears the most is importing viruses, they dont do airport business and train station business.

Fearing the spread of the virus, cautious companies and businesses adopt rules in their own daily operations. The communist government seems only to continue adding more annoyance than anything else in the fight against the deadly virus. Return to work becomes a mission impossible.
When I arrive at the Gold Coast University Hospital, a media officer greets me and without thinking, we shake hands.

Oh, were not supposed to do that any more, are we? she says, laughing nervously.

The media have been called to the hospital to watch Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles tour the special fever clinic set up to deal with potential coronavirus patients.

Signage points to the clinic set up at the Gold Coast University Hospital as Queensland ramps up efforts to counter coronavirus. Credit:Stuart Layt

The hospital has been at the frontline of Queenslands coronavirus response, after a member of a Chinese tour group became sick in January and they were all isolated there, the first cases of the disease in the state.
HIGH POINT  The High Point Market has postponed its spring event until early June because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release from the High Point Market Authority.

"Heeding the public guidance offered by NC Governor Roy Cooper, and in the interest of the health and safety of our stakeholders, industry members, and local citizens, the High Point Market Authority has decided to postpone this years Spring Market .... until a later date in early June, should conditions improve," according to the news release. The market was originally scheduled for April 25-29.

High Point's semiannual furniture market usually draws between 75,000 and 80,000 attendees, many of whom come from other nations.

The decision was difficult, as any change in date could have tremendous economic repercussions on our industry and community, as well as the countless small businesses whose livelihoods relies on High Point Market, but underscores our shared concern and well-being of the citizens in our community and our industry partners, Dudley Moore, Jr., chairman of the High Point Market Authoritys board of directors, said in the release.
A man served just four days of a two-month sentence which was imposed on him for drink-driving, Tullamore Circuit Court has heard.

You wonder what we're doing up here, really, remarked Judge Keenan Johnson after hearing about the short detention of Simonas Medeika, 39, Tanara, Broadford, Co Kildare.

A Lithuanian man, Mr Medeika was appealing against a six-month prison sentence which had been imposed for a more recent drink-driving offence.

In all, the court was told the man had three convictions for drink-driving since 2017 and a 10-year ban had been imposed on him for the last one in October 2019.

Rory Hanniffy, BL, told the court the appeal was made against the prison sentence only because Mr Medeika accepted he would not be driving but was concerned about the effect his incarceration would have on those dearest to him.

He had one child and a long-term partner and now lived from Monday to Friday in Edenderry because of his employment and had to pay 900 a month in rent for his family home in Broadford and another 200 a month in Edenderry.

Judge Johnson said he was at a loss as to what could be done to get it through to some people as the man had been disqualified twice.

Mr Hanniffy said the appellant was prepared to provide samples of his urine for analysis to confirm he was off drink.

He had a long-standing problem with alcohol but could not drink because of stomach issues.

Judge Johnson said the man had an appalling record and he increased the 10-year driving ban to 15 years, saying that he could not apply for the restoration of his licence after two-thirds of the ban had elapsed.

He also increased the prison sentence from six months to nine months but suspended it for 15 years on condition Mr Medeika keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
PHILADELPHIA The American Red Cross is facing a national blood crisis  its worst blood shortage in more than a decade. Dangerously low blood supply levels are posing a concerning risk to patient care and forcing doctors to make difficult decisions about who receives blood transfusions and who will need to wait until more products become []
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 21:27:18|Editor: xuxin

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JUBA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on Friday hailed the appointment of 35 cabinets ministers to serve in South Sudan's unity government.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Thursday named 35 cabinet ministers to be part of the transitional unity government after settling a dispute with the main opposition group.

"We congratulate the parties to the peace agreement for the important milestone. It is encouraging step because we want to see the country move forward with business of governing the country," said Ambassador Ismail Wais, IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan.

Under the 2018 revitalized peace deal signed by Kiir and opposition leaders in Ethiopia, the government will take 20 out of 35 ministerial positions.

Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) will get nine positions and the rest will be shared among other fringe political parties.

"There are numerous tasks ahead of this government including ending the plight of the refugees and internally displaced people and developing the country's economy," Wais said in a statement.

The envoy called for the international community, the UN and Troika countries to continue supporting the rebuilding of South Sudan.

South Sudan descended into conflict in December 2013, after President Kiir sacked his deputy Machar, who later founded the SPLM-IO, leading to fights between soldiers loyal to their respective leaders.

After years of civil war, the world's youngest republic formed a transitional unity government on Feb. 22, 2020, when Machar was sworn in as the first vice president.
BURLINGTON, Mass., and PLANO, Texas, March 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NYSE: KDP) today announced the appointment of Mauricio Leyva, a highly accomplished executive with over 25 years of broad business experience, to the newly-created role of President, International and Business Development. Reporting to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Gamgort, Leyva will join the Company's Executive Leadership Team and will be responsible for leading KDP's Canadian and Mexican business units and the Company's external growth initiatives, including strategic partnerships and mergers and acquisitions across all geographies.

Commenting on the announcement, Gamgort stated, "We are pleased to welcome Mauricio to the Keurig Dr Pepper leadership team. His extensive experience in the global beverage business will be a valuable addition to the Company, as we continue to strengthen and optimize our existing international presence. Mauricio's proven leadership and relevant experience will support the delivery of Keurig Dr Pepper's bold vision and ambitious financial targets."

Leyva most recently served as a Senior Adviser at JAB Holding, supporting the group's global beverage and coffee team. Prior to JAB, he was CEO at Grupo Lala, a Mexican dairy company, with plants and distribution centers in Mexico, Brazil, the United States and Central America. Before that, Leyva held senior executive roles at AB InBev, serving as President of the Middle Americas Zone and CEO of Grupo Modelo, and at SABMiller, including serving as Chairman and Managing Director of its flagship South African market.

Leyva holds a postgraduate diploma in International Management from Universite de Nancy, France, and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia. He has also completed an Executive Leadership Programme at the University of Oxford.

About Keurig Dr Pepper

Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) is a leading beverage company in North America, with annual revenue in excess of $11 billion and 25,000+ employees. KDP holds leadership positions in soft drinks, specialty coffee and tea, water, juice and juice drinks and mixers, and markets the #1 single serve coffee brewing system in the U.S. and Canada. The Company's portfolio of more than 125 owned, licensed and partner brands is designed to satisfy virtually any consumer need, any time, and includes Keurig, Dr Pepper, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Canada Dry, Snapple, Bai, Mott's, CORE and The Original Donut Shop. Through its powerful sales and distribution network, KDP can deliver its portfolio of hot and cold beverages to nearly every point of purchase for consumers. The Company is committed to sourcing, producing and distributing its beverages responsibly through its Drink Well. Do Good. corporate responsibility platform, including efforts around circular packaging, efficient natural resource use and supply chain sustainability. For more information, visit, www.keurigdrpepper.com.

Contact information

Investors:

Tyson Seely

(781) 418-3352

t[email protected]

Steve Alexander

(972) 673-6769

[email protected]

Media:

Katie Gilroy

(781) 418-3345

[email protected]

SOURCE Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.

Related Links

http://www.keurigdrpepper.com


The U.S. Air Force Academy will dismiss its cadets in an effort to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19.

Academy officials announced Friday that the decision to "begin an orderly dismissal" of the majority of its classmen was made based on the threat of the disease's rapid spread, in addition to "multiple members of our base populace being monitored" for infection.

"The goal of this action is to maximize the chances of graduating our senior class on time for our Air and Space Forces while ensuring the best possible care for the entire base populace," the academy said. "We did not make this decision lightly; we consulted with our medical professionals, sister service academies and local civic leaders, among others.

"Ultimately, the deciding factor was recommendations from our public health officials and the inability to execute social distancing over 4,000 cadets here on campus," the release states.

It was not immediately clear when the cadets would return, or whether they might finish out the school year with online distance learning classes

Related: Troops in Europe Face Limbo Following Canceled Exercise, Travel Ban

It also was unclear how or whether international students assigned to the academy will be affected. Officials did not respond to Military.com's request for comment by press time. The academy can host a maximum of 60 international students at any one time, according to the school.

The news comes after the academy earlier this week said it would not allow spectators at sporting events and would close to visitors as of Friday.

The Air Force as a whole continues to cancel stateside events in an effort to protect troops from exposure to COVID-19.

The service said Friday it is suspending "all outreach activities and support to community events through May 15."

"This includes, but is not limited to, on-base and civilian sponsored air shows, band performances and community engagements and meetings. This decision does not preclude our leaders from meeting or coordinating with local and community officials," the Air Force said in a release.

On Thursday, the service said that an active-duty airman assigned to Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, had a presumptive positive test for the virus and had begun treatment. The Centers for Disease Control defines a presumptive positive test as "individuals with at least one respiratory specimen that tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19."

Officials said the airman had recently traveled to Seattle.

A contractor at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, base also tested positive for the virus.

Air University's Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, has suspended guests from attending awards ceremonies and the graduation parade, officials said, but individual commissioning ceremonies will continue.

Additionally, multiple air shows have been canceled or postponed.

Air shows scheduled for March 28 -- one at March Air Reserve Base, California, another at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida -- have been postponed.

Air Force Times reported that the Fiesta of Flight Air and Space Expo at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas scheduled for Saturday has been canceled. The air show was set to feature the Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team.

The first show for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter demonstration team, which had been set to begin Friday at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, was also canceled, Air Force Times said.

Earlier this week, the service suspended family-attended graduation events at Basic Military Training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, as well as liberty leave off and on base for new graduates.

Lastly, the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine Epidemiology Laboratory has begun receiving potential COVID-19 samples from military treatment facilities (MTFs) around the world, officials said.

The facilities "collect samples per CDC guidelines and send them to the Epi Reference Lab or local public health lab to conduct the CDC-approved test," officials said in Friday's release. "Any presumptive positive test is then confirmed by the CDC per guidelines," the service said.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Read more: More COVID-19 coverage
Apple is going to be fined for its anti-competitive behavior in its distribution and sales network by Frances competition watchdog. As per the sources, the competition authority will announce its final decision on Monday.

The competition watchdog Directorate General for Competition, Consumption, and the Repression of Fraud (DGCCRF)was investigating Apple for violating French competition law through its sales and distribution practices. Apple had talked about this investigation in its October 2019 filing with the SEC and noted that a fine may be included in the final decision.

In June 2019, the French Competition Authority (FCA) issued a report alleging that aspects of the Companys sales and distribution practices in France violate French competition law. The Company vigorously disagrees with the allegations, and a hearing of arguments was held before the FCA on October 15, 2019. The Company is awaiting the decision of the FCA, which may include a fine.

As of now, it is unclear what anti-competitive behavior the DGCCRF is talking about. This should become clear once it releases its final report on Monday next week.

The DGCCRF had earlier fined Apple 25 million euros ($28 million) for slowing down older iPhones via software updates and failing to inform users about it. Apart from the fine, Apple was also ordered to run a banner on its website in France for a month with a banner about the fine it had to pay to the DGCCRF for its deceptive business practices.

[Via Reuters
by Renzo Milanese

There is no irrefutable evidence, but signs, rumors, testimonies and coincidences. For the US, the virus is a "Chinese coronavirus", or "Wuhan", the work of laboratories in China. Beijings counter charge: It was brought to Wuhan by US military last October! From October to November, the authorities knew of the dangerousness of the virus, but they censored the news.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - The hypothesis that coronavirus, which has become a pandemic, originated in a laboratory in Wuhan is plausible and cannot be dismissed a priori, according to Fr. Renzo Milanese, PIME missionary in Hong Kong since 1972.

The priest specifies that the virus could have been "leaked" and not "created" in the laboratory. Citing studies and research, as well as testimonials from authoritative journalists in the area, he comes to the conclusion that "it seems undeniable that a [research] center was directly involved with research on viruses, even if not necessarily on the creation of a virus".

It should be stressed that there is no irrefutable evidence on this conclusion, and for now it seems difficult to prove so far, given that many Chinese testimonials, videos and articles on the subject are regularly blocked.

The hypothesis that Covid-19 was the result of research carried out by a Wuhan laboratory engaged in the study of bacteriological wars emerged in late January and is also supported by political figures from the United States, such as Mike Pompeo, who defines the virus "The Chinese coronavirus", or "Wuhan's".

But yesterday, China decreed a Twitter fight, accusing the United States of being the source of the virus. Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry wrote that "It could have been the US army that brought the epidemic to Wuhan ... America owes us an explanation!". The accusation appears to be linked to the participation of members of the US military in the World Military Games, held in Wuhan last October, which brought together representatives from over 100 nations.

The fact remains that Chinese government data document the first coronavirus sufferers (or rather: a virus similar to Sars) as of November 17, 2019. The government, after silencing doctors and journalists on the epidemic, only sounded the alarm January 23.

On the hypothesis whether the Covid-19 virus was created or escaped from a laboratory, I rely on the news arriving in Hong Kong from mainland China. The material at my disposal are videos of renowned journalists in Hong Kong. The videos are in Cantonese and are published on Youtube, but some have beentaken down within days on high-up orders. First of all, a distinction must be made between "created virus" and "leaked virus".

The "created" virus

The first hypothesis ("virus created" in the laboratory) is defined by Beijing as a "conspiracy theory". It has been circulating in Hong Kong since before January 20, when the existence of the virus and its spread from person to person was recognized; the isolation of Wuhan City was announced three days later.

This theory has no evidence, but suspicions based on guesses and from "it is said".

A strange fact is that an exercise was held in Wuhan on September 18, 2019 to check for the possible spread of a coronavirus. The fact had been reported on websites and local newspapers, but the news disappeared. The authorities then clarified that the exercise referred to Sars-type coronaviruses.

Canadian and U.S. scientists were arrested on January 29, 2020, including the arrest of Charles Lieber (Harvard University). These scientists are linked to the "Thousand Talents Plan" which also cooperates with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. And here we stumble upon a story of espionage and counter-espionage on delicate scientific research.

Above all there is a widespread argument, which is taken as true by the people: the more the government undertakes to deny, the more it means that that thing is true. For their part, Chinese scientists have been mobilized into forces to offer evidence that the virus was not created in the laboratory.

The "fled" virus

The hypothesis that the virus escaped from the laboratory was first expressed by the well-known journalist Siu Yeuk (Yuk) Yuen (  ), in a video dated January 30, 2020. The video was also on Youtube, but has been deleted; is still present on Facebook (see here). I don't know if it will disappear soon.

According to Siu, in October a Wuhan laboratory (from the acronym P4), after collecting various samples from local hospitals, found a new type of coronavirus in the body of an elderly person. Once the authorities were notified, they would have asked for a more detailed scientific report which was delivered on 26 November. On November 30 the news begins to circulate that there is a dangerous new virus.

Another well-known journalist, Chau Sze Tat ( ) in a video from the 16 February 2020 outlined the Covid-19 outbreak.

He cites an article written by two professors, one from Guangzhou's South China University of Technology and one from Wuhan University of Science and Technology. They claim the source of the outbreak is to be found in the CDC, a Wuhan research center, where experiments with bats would have infected the researchers and some infected bats would have fled the center.

Chau Sze Tat doubts that another center will be introduced in the search for the initial outbreak to ward off suspicions on the more famous and delicate P4. He cites other reports, officially released and then denied, that link the virus outbreak to people linked to a research center in Wuhan.

Debate may rage over which center it is, but at this point it seems undeniable that a center has been directly involved with research on viruses, although not necessarily on the creation of a virus. In other words, the virus passed from a research center in Wuhan early on.

More importantly there is also no question that the authorities were aware of the dangerousness of the virus, that they did not inform anyone and that they tried to keep the facts hidden.
(CNN) -- Schools, colleges and childcare facilities will be closed in the Republic of Ireland from Friday as part of a nationwide effort to halt the spread of coronavirus, the country's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Thursday.

The closures will also apply to cultural institutions and will remain in place until March 29.

Indoor gatherings of more than 100 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people will also be canceled, he said at a press conference in Washington.

We have not witnessed a pandemic of this nature in living memory," Varadkar said. "And this is unchartered territory for us."

"We said we would take the right actions at the right time and we have to move now to have the greatest impact.

"Arrangements are being made to ensure that everyone entering Ireland through its ports and airports are fully informed and self-isolates if they develop symptoms," he said.

Public transport will continue to operate and shops will remain open, he said, and where possible people should work from home.

Public and businesses need to take a "sensible, levelheaded and responsible approach," he added.

He said that as a "general rule" people outside of work should reduce social interactions "as much as possible."

Varadka warned the virus would continue to spread, despite the measures -- which are intended to slow its progress.

"There will be many more cases, more people will get sick and unfortunately we must face the tragic reality that some people will die," he said.

The first death linked to coronavirus in the Republic of Ireland was recorded on Wednesday.

There have been a total of 43 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Republic of Ireland, with a further 18 in Northern Ireland.

"The virus is all over the world. It will continue to spread but it can be slowed. Its impact can be reduced, making it easier for our health service to cope and give our scientists more time to develop better testing, treatments and a vaccine."

He said that governments in neighboring Northern Ireland and Britain will be briefed on its strategy later today.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to hold a meeting of the government's emergency committee, called "Cobra," later Thursday afternoon. The name refers to the location where they take place: Cabinet Office Briefing Room A.

On Monday, the Irish government announced a number of St Patrick's Day parades would be canceled to slow the spread of the virus.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Ireland closes schools and colleges to halt coronavirus spread"
As the Centers for Disease Control strongly encourages people to protect themselves by avoiding crowds, Emily Ratajkowski and her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard are not taking any risks.

The 28-year-old supermodel, who wed her husband in 2018, has been documenting her relaxing self-quarantine on social media for the past two days.

'Finished Love Is Blind (um, wow), ate two frozen pizzas w/ ranch, made calls from bed & took family selfies,' the I Feel Pretty actress captioned an Instagram of herself on Friday in New York City.

Staying careful: Emily Ratajkowski has been documenting her self-quarantine on social media over the past two days, which has included enjoying some reality TV and quality time with her husband and pup

In the sultry picture, snapped by her husband through a floor-length mirror in their bedroom, the bombshell can be seen flashing her enviable abs in a cropped white turtleneck and low-waisted sweats.

Like his model wife, McClard sported a comfy all-white look, which included a hoodie and loose bottoms.

Also featured in the picture was the pair's beloved pup Colombo, who the model revealed is turning one next week.

Dog mom: Ratajkowski has frequently talked about her love for her pooch Colombo, who she adopted in May

While the dog mom shared pictures on Thursday binge-watching Netflix's reality show Love is Blind from home, she revealed Friday marks her first day working remotely.

The New Yorker's cautious behavior comes one day after Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in the city and attempted to calm the panic by reiterating Manhattan would not be quarantined.

He made the decision on Thursday afternoon saying the last 24 hours had been 'very, very sobering' and that the world had been turned 'upside down' in just a day.

Careful: The New Yorker's cautious behavior comes Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in the city and attempted to calm the panic by reiterating Manhattan would not be quarantined

In addition to a widespread of misinformation, grocery shops in NYC were cleared of produce by frantic shoppers and hit with long lines.

Ratajkowski is among millions, who are being strongly encouraged to work remotely amid the coronavirus crisis, which has infected more than 132,000 people around the world and killed at least 4,600 people.

The model, who was recently named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, has 25.6 million Instagram followers, and is known for baring her incredible curves in barely-there bikinis and cropped tops.

While still was still just a 'working model' in 2011, Ratajkowski recalls being on set and finding creative solace with her Instagram account, before later using it to organically grow her brand.

'I had so little control over my own image. I didn't get to style; I didn't get to creative draft; I didn't get to choose. Instagram was my way of doing my own creative direction,' she told the business magazine.

Now, social media is her main outlet for line Inamorata, which she hopes to grow and expand even further in 2020.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday he had tested negative for the new coronavirus, after a scare over a trip on which at least one infected member of his staff rubbed shoulders with Donald Trump.

"The Armed Forces Hospital and (diagnostic laboratory) Sabin have returned a negative test result for COVID-19 for the President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro," said a post on the far-right leader's Facebook page.

It was accompanied by a picture of Bolsonaro flashing an obscene arm gesture at the press.

"Don't believe in the fake media!" he wrote.

Media reports said earlier that Bolsonaro had tested positive for coronavirus and was awaiting the results of a second test to confirm.

Bolsonaro, who had previously called coronavirus fears "overblown," was left in a delicate position Thursday by that his communications chief, Fabio Wajngarten, had tested positive for COVID-19.

The test result came after a trip to the United States during which both Bolsonaro and Wajngarten met Saturday with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and a slate of other top US officials.

Wearing a face mask, Bolsonaro said in a video address Thursday night that he would know "in the next few hours" whether or not he was infected with the virus that has caused a global pandemic.

He cancelled a scheduled trip to northeastern Brazil on Thursday and had no events on his agenda Friday.

He took his test result as a personal victory.

The image he chose to accompany his Facebook post neatly summed up the provocative persona of a president, who has been dubbed the "Tropical Trump."



Bolsonaro, a former army captain who is openly nostalgic for Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-1985), has repeatedly made the arm gesture -- widely known as an "F-U," "Italian salute," "Iberian slap," "bras d'honneur" or, in Brazil, "banana" -- at journalists, accusing the media of being biased against him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A controversial king of South Africa's AbaThembu, the traditional clan of founding president Nelson Mandela, has been arrested after allegedly attacking family members with an ax at their royal homestead.

South African police confirmed Friday that King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has been charged with malicious damage to property and assault by threats.

He allegedly attacked his son Azenathi, who had been acting on his behalf while he was in prison for assaulting some members of his clan and setting their homes alight.

King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, pictured, was released from prison in December while serving a 12-year jail term for aggravated assault, kidnapping, arson and defeating the ends of justice. After his release he applied for a presidential pardon to overturn the conviction

Dalindyebo, pictured, allegedly attacked his son Azenathi, who he has fallen out with

The two have been reported to have a rocky relationship, and King Dalindyebo opposes his son succeeding him as leader.

Dalindyebo's arrest follows his release on parole in December last year after serving four years of a 12-year sentence for aggravated assault, kidnapping, arson and defeating the ends of justice.

He was granted parole after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last year that certain catagories of prisoners should be released.

It in unclear at this stage how the new allegations against him will affect his parole and his application for a presidential pardon, which is currently being considered by Ramaphosa, according to Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.

In 2013, Dalindyebo controversially denounced the ruling African National Congress party, claiming the party and its then leader Jacob Zuma were corrupt and had distorted Mandela's legacy.

He joined the liberal opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, which withdrew his membership after he was sent to jail.
Switzerland, Luxembourg and Germany have become the latest European countries to close their schools in a desperate bid to halt the spread of coronavirus.

The alpine country has added to its containment measures a $10billion aid package for hard-hit businesses as new test results brought its total number of cases to more than 1,000.

Luxembourg has said it will limit visits to the elderly, after the country reported 26 cases of COVID-19.

And at least 12 of Germany's 16 states have told pupils not to come back to the classroom until April 6, as the country announced a total of more than 2,300 cases.

Switzerland, Luxembourg and most of Germany have shuttered their schools in an attempt to halt the spread of coronavirus

Swiss president Simonetta Sommaruga announced the closure of schools across the alpine state today in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel pictured as he arrives for an EU summit in Brussels on February 21, 2020. Bettel said today that the lives of Luxembourgers will 'have to adapt' in the wake of the coronavirus

Declaring the closure of schools today, Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga said: 'The situation is difficult'.

Some regional authorities had already closed their educational institutions. Ticino, which borders Italy and has seen three deaths due to the virus, took the drastic measure on Friday.

Childcare facilities are to be set up for students who can't remain at home, reports The Local. The closures are expected to last until April in the country of more than eight million people.

Luxembourg's prime minister Xavier Bettel said yesterday: 'Daily life is going to change and we will have to adapt' as he announced measures never before seen in the Grand Duchy.

There have been no deaths in the country but a 94-year-old man is reportedly critically ill in hospital.

The landlocked kingdom is home to only 600,000 people, but it accepts more than 200,000 commuters from neighbouring Belgium, France and Germany every day.

The Brandenburg gate in Berlin pictured today. The square is virtually empty

Pictured above is a geography teacher with the last student leaving her classroom in Hesse

The Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, Germany, is empty after the German government ordered all theatres in the capital closed due to the outbreak

Saarland became the first German state to close its schools late on Thursday followed by Bavaria.

Bremen, North-Rhine Westphalia, Hamburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia will close their schools on Monday.

Berlin and Baden-Wurttemberg has said that all schools will shut on Tuesday. Brandenburg will close its classrooms on Wednesday.

Hesse has said it will shut its schools on Monday, but will allow exams scheduled for March 16 to go ahead as planned.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has said it has no plans to close schools while Lower Saxony has made attending 'not compulsory', but kept schools open. Saxony is also yet to make a decision.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a news conference inside 10 Downing Street in London, Britain yesterday. Despite widespread school closures across Europe, the prime minister insisted last night that British facilities would remain open

London Bridge Station is pictured during rush hour this morning, with far fewer people walking around than usual, after PM Boris Johnson announced the country would be moving to the 'delay' phase of battling the coronavirus

The decision comes just one day after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted that British schools were staying open, and that closures would do nothing to prevent the escalating coronavirus crisis.

As in many other countries touched by the virus, Luxembourg wants to encourage people to work from home, but this is complicated in its case by the tax rules for cross-border workers.

At least seven more European countries have announced closures, including France, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Norway and Portugal.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced pressure to act after Ireland announced that its schools, colleges and childcare facilities would be closed for the rest of the month from today.

Despite facing more than eight times fewer cases than Britain, Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that the country needed to undertake big changes in the way we live our lives to defeat the virus.

The Prime Minister said sending Englands nine million pupils home could do more harm than good  but ordered schools to cancel all trips abroad.

An official petition on the UKs parliamentary website calling for the Government to consider closing schools had gained almost 375,000 signatures last night.
Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon decided to school ABC News when they called a namaste a prayer like gesture as used by UKs Prince Charles during one of his public events. Raveena asked ABC to do some homework, adding that it is called namaste.

Sharing a video of Prince Charles, ABC had tweeted, Prince Charles offered a handshake before quickly changing his mind and instead greeting guests at the Princes Trust Awards with a prayer-like gesture to avoid contact amid coronavirus concern. Quoting the ABC tweet, Raveena wrote, Its a Namaste. Do some homework @ABC.

Also read: Taimur Ali Khan is a perfect replica of dad Saif Ali Khan and this viral pic is proof. See it here

Raveena is not the only Indian celebrity advocating namaste for greeting people. Priyanka Chopra has also championed the Indian traditional way of greeting. Priyanka shared a montage of herself posing for a namaste and wrote on Instagram, Its all about the Namaste An old but also new way to greet people in a time of change around the world. Please stay safe everyone!.

Earlier, Salman Khan had also advocated traditional ways of greeting, as opposed to the universal handshake. Namashkaar ... hamari sabhyata mein namaste aur salaam hai! Jab #coronavirus Khatam ho jaye tab Haath milao aur gale lago.... @beingstrongindia, he wrote on Instagram as he shared a picture of himself from his gym, posing for a namaste.

Coronavirus (Covid-19) has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) with thousands across many countries having to deal with it. Outside of China, Europe is hardest hit with Italy reeling under the impact of the dreaded COVID-19 like none other. They have already seen hundreds of deaths.

In India, three states have ordered schools, colleges and cinema halls to remain closed till March 31. The Union Health Ministry has confirmed 74 coronavirus cases so far, one death has also been confirmed due to coronavirus.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Bengaluru: After Karnatka reported six cases including one death due to coronavirus, the state government on Friday (March 13, 2020) declared the closure of all malls, cinema halls, pubs, wedding ceremonies and other public gatherings for one week.

The government has also cancelled the leaves of all health staff due to coronavirus emergency and issued and ordered saying, ''Leave of all the health staffs is cancelled and also order is issued to work on all general holidays till further directions.''

The order applies to all government hospital doctors, nurses, medical staff and contract workers across the state. According to the order, government hospital employees cannot take leave until the outbreak subsides.

In a meeting headed by Additional Chief Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department Jawaid Akhtar, the government also issued advisory to put 14 days home quarantine for all international passengers, arriving in Karnataka from all COVID-19 affected countries.

Earlier, the Karnataka Education Minister Suresh Kumar had also announced the closure of schools for students of standard 1 to 6 and study holiday for students of standard 7 to 9 from March 13.

Coronavirus positive cases rose to six in Karnataka On Thursday (March 12, 2020) said Karnataka Health department. The statement read, "The 76-year-old man from Kalburgi who passed away and was a suspected COVID 19 patient has been Confirmed for COVID 19. The necessary contact tracing, isolation and other measures as per protocol are being carried out. Telangana government has also been informed since he went to a private hospital there."

There have been 76 confirmed cases of coronavirus in India. Even a three-year-old has tested positive in Kerala, who had a travel history to Italy with parents.

Other states in India including - Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala and Delhi have also imposed restrictions and have announced the closure of schools and college.
(Photo : NACHO DOCE on Reuters) Huawei Ban: Trump Pays You to Throw Your Huawei Networks After Gov't Adjusted Huawei Ban to May 15th (Photo : POOL on Reuters) Huawei Ban: Trump Pays You to Throw Your Huawei Networks After Gov't Adjusted Huawei Ban to May 15th

After United States President Donald Trump finally adjusted the ban against China-based Huawei multinational technology company from Apr. 1 to May 15; yesterday, Mar. 12, the President signed legislation asking all rural telecom carriers to throw all their Huawei technologies and networks to prevent the issue of national security allegedly imposed on Huawei by the President. Do not worry, though; Congress is now asking for funds worth $1 billion for carriers to replace their Huawei.

After adjusting Huawei Ban, US now gives funds for carriers to throw Huawei out of the bus!

The feud between President Trump and Chinese company Huawei is still not done yet despite Coronaviruses impacting the market of both countries. On Thursday, President Trump signed a law that provides financial help to all rural telecom carriers-- that uses Huawei networks-- to replace their Huawei equipment with the country's networks.

Most rural carriers use Huawei networks since they are less expensive compared to mainstream networks available in the market. This is the reason why the government will be willing to give funds to each rural carriers in the country as part of their movement against the Chinese company.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai called on Congress to "to appropriate the necessary funding to reimburse carriers for replacing any network equipment or services found to be a national security threat."

Aside from Huawei, another China-based company called ZTE technologies will also be part of the banned networks since both of the Chinese companies were rumored to be threats for US national security.

The bill signed by the President can reportedly affect over 2 million rural carriers in the country. For now, the White House claims that all telecom carriers will not be left hanging with this new legislation since funds will be allocated to help their adjustment since the country also pushes the 5G network for all smartphones.

"The administration will not risk subjecting America's critical telecommunications infrastructure to companies that are controlled by authoritarian governments or foreign adversaries," the White House said in a statement.

Why would Trump adjust the Huawei ban, then?

On Tuesday, Mar. 10, Tech Times reported that President Trump had finally adjusted the initial Huawei ban from Apr. 1 to May 15. The reason behind the extension was not clarified based on the sources, but authorities have now explained that this 45-day extension would likely be the time for rural carriers to find new networks besides Huawei.

The issue between the United States and Huawei started when President Trump claimed that this company and ZTE are part of the mission against the country to track military actions.

Huawei still insists that this is not true, and the new legislation would likely be just an "unrealistic attempt to fix what isn't broken."

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
UPDATED: All K-12 schools in Pennsylvania have been closed for two weeks, through March 29.

While the Pennsylvania Department of Education said Friday morning it wasnt ready to order state public schools to close, some districts have made the decision to do so anyway.

Cumberland Valley School District, one of the largest public school districts in Cumberland County, sent this message to parents Friday afternoon:

Together, we are facing a health crisis in our community. To ensure the health, safety, and well-being of our students and staff, and to do our part in trying to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 throughout the greater CV community, we have determined that: ALL Cumberland Valley School District schools will be CLOSED from Monday, March 16 - Monday, March 30, 2020. School will resume on Tuesday, March 31, 2020.

Also closing for two weeks are Red Lion School District, the York Suburban School District, the Northern York, Dallastown, Northeastern, Southern York County and West York and York Country Day School.

In Cumberland County, the Carlisle, Mechanicsburg and Big Spring schools will close for two weeks.

The Chambersburg School District said it will close for two weeks, reopening March 30. The Northern Lebanon School District will be closed for a week.

In Lancaster County, Elizabethtown school district has announced its closing for two weeks.

Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday ordered Montgomery County schools to close, and dozens of Philadelphia schools closed because their teachers live in Montgomery County.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



Pennsylvania has 33 cases of coronavirus, including one child.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.
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Linkedin Eisya A. Eloksari and Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 17:49 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a682c0 1 National COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,coronavirus,outbreak-in-Indonesia,Banten Free

Banten Governor Wahidin Halim has confirmed that four residents of the province who recently traveled to Malaysia and Indonesia's resort island of Bali have tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

"Three of them recently traveled to Malaysia and one of them has just returned from Bali," Wahidin said on Thursday, citing information from the Baten Provincial Health Agency.

He said the four patients were being treated in Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital (RSPI Sulianti Saroso) and Persahabatan General Hospital in Jakarta, kompas.com reported.

The governor, however, did not elaborate on the details of the two people, including their age and gender, as well as their date of departure and return from the neighboring Southeast Asian country and Bali.

Wahidin also did not mention whether the two were among the 34 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported by the central government in Indonesia so far.

Prior to providing the updated information, the governor uploaded on Thursday a video on his Instagram account @wh_wahidinhalim and his official Facebook page, H. Wahidin Halim, in which he confirmed that at least two Banten residents who had recently traveled to Malaysia had tested positive for COVID-19.

The neighboring Southeast Asian country has 149 confirmed COVID-19 cases to date, as reported by the John Hopkins University.

Wahidin further called for Banten residents not to panic and to avoid mass gatherings in public places. "Be cautious and avoid crowded places so we can prevent ourselves from getting infected by the coronavirus."

The confirmation from the Banten governor came amid criticism against the central government, which has continued with its opaque manner of providing information on confirmed coronavirus cases in Indonesia, including on the country's first COVID-19 fatality, a 53-year-old foreign woman known as Case 25.

It was later confirmed that Case 25 -- reported by British media that she was from the United Kingdom -- died in Bali, but local authorities said they were only informed after her death that she had tested positive for the disease.

The governments spokesperson for COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, who is also the Health Ministrys director general for disease control and prevention, has refused to disclose the location of each patient and their nationality if they were foreigners as he insisted that only the tracing team needed the information.

When asked about the Banten governor's announcement, Yurianto said on Thursday that he had never heard the information and instead questioned where Wahidin had obtained the data from.

"We have never conveyed data [about the COVID-19 patients] to the governor. The data are submitted to the health agency for tracing purposes." Yurianto said.

However, he opened the possibility that the two patients to whom Wahidin referred might be among those treated in Jakarta, but were actually residents of Tangerang in Banten who commuted to the capital every day.

"There is a possibility. However, we never give [the data] to [regional] administration's authorities," he said.

Indonesia had recorded 34 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Thursday, three of which have since recovered after receiving isolation treatment. Meanwhile, two patients admitted to the hospital for exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms died on Thursday.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday declared closure of all schools and colleges where examination process is not going on till March 22 in view of coronavirus scare and asserted that all precautions are being taken to check the spread of the disease.

"All schools and colleges associated with the basic, secondary, higher and vocational colleges, where examination process is not on, have been closed till March 22," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told newspersons here.

Wherever the examination process is underway it will go on as per schedule. The concerning people have been instructed to take all precautionary measures and maintain hygiene, the chief minister said.

So far, 11 coronavirus cases have been reported from the state of which 10 are being treated in Delhi and one in KGMU, Lucknow, he said, adding that these include seven from Agra, two from Ghaziabad and one each from Noida and Lucknow.

Yogi, who convened a high-level meeting of senior officials to deliberate on coronavirus, said an alert in this regard had been declared about a one and a half months ago and necessary advisory was also issued.

Isolation wards have been set up in all the 75 districts and medical staff of doctors, paramedical, nursing staff is being provided necessary training.

Stressing on adopting all precautions to check the spread of the disease, specially at airports on Indo-Nepal border areas, he said there is an effort to avoid mass gatherings for which an appeal was made to the BCCI for the India-South Africa match slated in Lucknow on Saturday.

The match will now be held without spectators but would be telecast live, the chief minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
KAMPALA  The US government has accused the Uganda government of harassing opposition leaders and their supporters through torturing their supporters and denying them freedoms of peaceful assembly and association.

In its 2019 report titled 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the US government refers to the continued arrest, torture and killing of supporters of Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, and Dr Kizza Besigye of the Peoples Government.

The report says that in 2019, the Uganda government was also responsible for harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; detainment of political prisoners; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; lack of independence of the judiciary; restrictions on free expression, the press, and the internet, and unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, among others.

On freedom of expression, the report says the government restricted citizens ability to criticize its actions. It also restricted some political symbols, musical lyrics, and theatrical performances.

The report takes on government for harassing supporters of Kyagulanyis People Power movement, who were found wearing the red beret.

On September 18, the government published guidelines that banned the public from wearing red berets, saying that the berets would henceforth be considered a military uniform and therefore the exclusive property of the state. On October 1, Kyagulanyi reported that the UPF and UPDF had started arresting People Power supporters whom they found wearing the red berets. The UPF on numerous occasions also confiscated People Power movement insignia, especially red berets and T-shirts with pro-Kyagulanyi messages, the report states.

On August 13, the UPF raided the Democratic Partys (DP) offices, arrested four supporters, and confiscated 300 T-shirts with pro-Kyagulanyi messages commemorating the one-year anniversary of Kyagulanyis arrest and torture. The UPF said the T-shirts bore messages inciting violence. The UPF released the four DP supporters later that day and said it only called them in for interrogation, it adds.

According to the US government, the Uganda government continued to use the Public Order Management Act to limit the right to assemble and disrupted opposition and civil society-led public meetings and rallies.

While the law only requires individuals to notify police of their intention to hold a public meeting, it also gives the police the power to block meetings they deem unsuitable. Typically, the UPF simply fails to respond to notifications from opposition groups, thereby creating a legal justification for disrupting almost any gathering. On May 30, the UPF fired teargas and bullets into the air to disperse opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party officials and supporters as they held a public rally at their offices in Iganga town. The UPF said the rally was an illegal assembly, since the police had not approved it, the report reads in part.

The report also pins government on Arbitrary Arrests, and unlawful detention, particularly of dissidents in 2019.

The report says police and the Uganda Peoples Defense Force (UPDF) on numerous occasions arrested and harassed opposition politicians, their supporters, and private citizens who engaged in peaceful protests and held public rallies.

On October 22, the military police and the UPF arrested 20 female Makerere University students who were protesting planned tuition fee increases. The police released the students on October 23 and the university administration then suspended them indefinitely. According to local media, on the evening of October 23, unidentified individuals kidnapped one of the student protestors, Siperia Mollie Ssasiraabo, detained her at an unknown facility, beat her, and dropped her off at a Kampala hospital the next morning, the report says.

Between October 23 and October 30, the student protests at Makerere continued and local media showed videos of military police officers beating journalists and students with sticks, ransacking university residence halls, firing teargas into the university library, residence halls, and classrooms, as well as sounds of explosions in residence halls, it adds.

The US government also accuses the Kampala regime of subjecting journalists and media houses to violence, harassment, and intimidation.

On February 7, the UPF arrested five local and international journalists who were working undercover to report on the theft of drugs in public hospitals. The UPF stated that it arrested the five on charges of illegal possession of classified drugs. On February 8, the UPF released the journalists on police bond but said investigations into the case continued. Civil society contacts also reported that in October the president expelled a journalist from a press conference after the reporter asked a question about the countrys fiscal debt, the report adds.

The US report also says while the Uganda constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary, the government did not always respect this provision.

Corruption, understaffing, inefficiency, and executive-branch interference with judicial rulings often undermined the courts independence. The FHRI reported that in the Gulu judicial district alone, it would take the High Court 10 years to resolve a backlog of 800 cases at the current rate of 80 per year. The executive, especially security agencies, did not always respect court orders. On September 11, Local media aired images of CMI officers in plain clothes storming court premises and arresting a lawyer and four suspects in the 2017 murder of senior police official Andrew Felix Kaweesi, after the court granted them bail.

According to the report, Ugandan Authorities detained numerous opposition politicians and activists on politically motivated grounds.

Authorities released many without charge but charged others with crimes including treason, annoying the president, cyber-harassment, inciting violence, holding illegal meetings, and abuse of office. No reliable statistics on the total number of political detainees or prisoners were available. On April 29, the UPF arrested Kyagulanyi on charges of holding an illegal assembly in relation to a 2018 protest he held in Kampala against a proposed tax. The court remanded Kyagulanyi later that day until May 2, when it released him on bail upon condition that he not participate in unlawful assemblies. The trial continued at years end, the report states.

On August 2, a court sentenced dissident Stella Nyanzi to 18 months in prison for cyber-harassment of the president (see sections 1.c. and 2.a). On August 15, Nyanzi and the state filed counterappeals, and on September 25, the court attempted to hear the proceedings in the judges chambers, in an effort to prevent public viewing of the procedures, it adds.

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The stimulus package unveiled by the Australian government will help support the residential building market, experts say.

The government announced a $17.6bn economic plan yesterday in an effort to help mitigate the potential risks arising from the coronavirus outbreak.

The package has four parts, which include supporting business investment; providing cash-flow assistance to help small- and medium-sized businesses; extending aid to the most severely affected sectors, regions, and communities; and providing household stimulus payments that will benefit the wider economy.

What does the package include?

While the measures are all temporary and targeted, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said they will ensure that the country responds to the immediate challenges COVID-19 poses.

"Just as we have acted decisively to protect the health of the Australian people, based on the best evidence and medical advice, our support package responds to the economic challenges presented by this pandemic in a timely, proportionate and targeted way," Morrison said in a statement.

The stimulus payments to households will comprise $4.6bn of the economic package. The package will provide a one-off $750 stimulus payment to pensioners, Social Security, veteran and other income support recipients, and eligible concession cardholders.

The payment will be tax-free and will not count as income for Social Security, Farm Household Allowance, and Veteran payments. Payments will be made starting 31 March 2020 on a progressive basis. Around 90% of payments are expected to be made by mid-April.

Also included in the package is $1bn in assistance to severely affected regions and industries such as tourism, agriculture, and education.

This assistance will include the waiver of fees and charges for tourism businesses that operate in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Commonwealth National Parks.

Additional assistance to help businesses determine alternative export markets and supply chains will also be included in the economic package.

The government will use $3.2bn to provide a time-limited 15-month investment incentive. This will help businesses accelerate depreciation deductions.

A further $700m will be used to increase the instant asset write-off threshold from $30,000 to $150,000 and expand access to include businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $500m.

To provide cash-flow assistance for businesses, the government will allocate $6.7bn. This is set to benefit around 690,000 businesses employing around 7.8 million people.

Furthermore, $1.3bn will be given to small businesses to support the jobs of around 120,000 apprentices and trainees.

Also read: Will coronavirus impact property prices?

Good move for the residential sector

Tim Reardon, chief economist at the Housing Industry Association (HIA), said the stimulus package is a good move, particularly the specific assistance targeted to apprentices, who are usually the first to take a hit during periods of economic downturn.

"The Australian government pledged $1.3bn to support keeping apprentices employed by providing small businesses up to $21,000 per apprentice to subsidise apprentice wages by around 50%," Reardon said.

The package will also help small businesses to mitigate losses during the cycle.

"The extension of the instant asset write-off scheme to businesses with a turnover of up to $500m, and to an asset value of up to $150,000, will also assist small businesses in the construction industry," Reardon said.

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said the government is committed to doing whatever it takes to boost confidence amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

"We strongly back the moves to back businesses, particularly small businesses, to keep workers and apprentices employed. The danger with economic shocks is that the labour market recovers slower than the rest of the economy, so moves to offset employers shrinking their workforce is very well-targeted," she said.

However, Wawn said there is a need for the government to step up and ensure that the construction of projects currently underway will continue and that the developments scheduled to commence are not delayed or withdrawn.

"Our industry also remains nervous about how protracted the inevitable shortage and delayed delivery of imported building products will be. This is a hit to our industry that is looming over the next few months and additional measures and extensions of some of stimulus measures may be required to help the industry weather that storm," Wawn said.

In a previous analysis, Kristin Brookfield, chief executive for industry policy at HIA, said the residential building industry should remain one of the priorities of the Australian government when thinking of ways to stimulate the economy.

"Australia is emerging from a residential building downturn, and in the face of the coronavirus shock, stability and clear direction to ensure the housing market does not take a backward step is essential," she said.

Brookfield said guaranteeing a stable residential building sector will help uplift industry and consumer confidence.

Coronavirus impacts yet to unfold?

Adrian Kelly, president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia, said in a statement that the market will likely be affected more by the reduced consumer sentiment than the actual coronavirus itself.

"I am already hearing of many stories whereby potential vendors are deciding not to sell at this time, preferring to wait until things normalise," he said.

Kelly said, however, that it would be better to sell in a market with less competition, given that buyers will continue to purchase regardless of how the sellers might be feeling.

"I suspect any reduced consumer sentiment is likely to be magnified in the larger cities than in regional parts of Australia. I have no doubt that once this situation is managed and under control, our markets will return to normality just as they did after the bushfires earlier in the year," he said.
The popular humours of a great city are a never-failing source of amusement to the man whose sympathies are hospitable enough to embrace all his kind, and who, refined though he may be himself, will not sneer at the humble wit or grotesque peculiarities of the boozing mechanic, the squalid beggar, the vicious urchin, and all the motley group of the idle, the reckless, and the imitative that swarm in the alleys and broadways of a metropolis. Charles Mackay, The Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1852)

I dont know whether we are over-reacting to COVID 19 or merely reacting. When sober people I know and trust like Matt Ridley, Ron Bailey, and Scott Gottlieb (who normally debunk scaremongering and doomsaying) are concerned about it, then I know to take the matter seriously.

But theres one aspect of this that illuminates clearly the nonsense going on: Amidst the fear of a pandemic that may require an extended shelter-in-place by everyone, what are Americans doing to prepare? Were going out and buying huge quantities of . . . toilet paper. Toilet paper?

This shows how crazy ideas (like socialism) can be more contagious than a virus. Talk about epidemiology: how does the idea that you need to hoard toilet paper get started and spread? How, exactly, does a big supply of toilet paper help you ward off a virus? Has circulation of the New York Times fallen so low that you feel compelled to stock up on toilet paper? Was this panic buying because people thought Bernie Sanders was going to be our next president? (Um, news flash. . .)

Ill refrain from cliche jokes about picking up the coronavirus at Taco Bell (and hence needing the soft paper product), that what the hell? I joked today that I was heading to the store to buy a single roll of toilet paper and a bottle of vodka just for grins, but while the vodka was in ample supply (as was food and water), both large grocery stores in my vicinity were completely sold out of toilet paper. And there hasnt been a single case of coronavirus identified in my county (San Luis Obispo). If Charles Mackay were alive today to write an update of his classic book referenced above, hed write a new chapter about this current crowdsourced madness.

Well, theres only one thing to do. Because Im buried by an avalanche of memes for this Saturdays photo/meme gallery, I may as well post the toilet paper memes here:

And finally. . . because it is not just happening in the U.S.:

See you back here Saturday morning everyone!
Switzerland will close its schools in a bid to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, the government said Friday, adding that it would provide billions in aid to hard-hit businesses.

"The situation is difficult, but we have the means to overcome the challenges on the medical and the financial level," Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga told reporters.

The government listed a range of measures to halt the spread of the virus after the small Alpine country saw its number of positive tests balloon, soaring from around 850 cases registered on Thursday to 1,125 on Friday. Seven people have died from the virus in Switzerland to date, health authorities said.

Bern said that all the country's schools would be closed until April 4. But it urged regional authorities to offer systems for watching children whose parents need to work, to avoid having vulnerable grandparents take on the task.

"We need to do everything possible to avoid mixing the generations," Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset told reporters.

The government also decided Friday to ban all public gatherings of more than 100 people, and said restaurants, bars and clubs could have no more than 50 people on the premises at one time.

It also called on people to avoid public transportation as much as they could, and said those over the age of 65 or suffering from respiratory illnesses should stay away from such transport means all together.

And it said that it would tighten restrictions on the number of people permitted to cross the border from Italy, which has seen more than 1,000 deaths in the outbreak.

It said that only Swiss citizens, those holding a residence permit, and those needing to travel to Switzerland for "professional reasons" would be permitted to cross from Italy.

The non-European Union member also said it would tighten controls at all of its borders with surrounding countries in the bloc. And in a tweet, the foreign ministry urged Swiss residents to avoid all "non-urgent travel abroad".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Any foreign national will not be allowed to enter India from Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border from Friday evening onwards amid coronavirus threat, a senior BSF official said here.

He said Indian nationals who had gone across the border would be allowed to come back before their visas expire.

The entry of foreign nationals through the Attari-Wagah land route will not be allowed, the Border Security Force (BSF) official said.

However, he said the movement of pilgrims from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur through the Kartarpur Corridor to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan would continue.

The Kartarpur Corridor, which was opened on November 9 last year, links the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, with Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur of India's Punjab.

Meanwhile, the supply of commodities from Afghanistan through the Attari-Wagah land route was also likely to be affected as truck drivers would not be allowed entry into India, the official said.

The trade between India and Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah land route continued to remain suspended.

Following the Pulwama terror attack last year, India had raised duties to 200 per cent on import of goods from Pakistan. The neighbouring nation had suspended the bilateral trade after the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status.

Due to coronavirus scare, eateries and small traders here were already feeling the pinch as the famous beating retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border was suspended, stemming the flow of tourists to the area.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SOFIA (Reuters) - The Bulgarian parliament voted unanimously on Friday to declare a state of emergency until April 13 to contain the spread of coronavirus after the number of confirmed cases in the country more than tripled to 23.

The Balkan country confirmed its first death of a patient due to the virus on Wednesday, and on Thursday the number of confirmed cases jumped to 23 from 7.

The state of emergency will allow for travel bans to and from countries with large coronavirus outbreaks, the closing of schools and universities, and permit police to intervene when imposed isolation of infected people is not observed.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov appealed to Bulgarians to follow the rules, saying that on Thursday alone 14 people that were supposed to be under quarantine did not observe it.

"We want this state of emergency for one month," Borissov told parliament. "We need it for those who violate quarantine."

The government also plans a revision of the 2020 state budget to allocate more funds to support the healthcare system, Borissov said.

Bulgaria has already limited indoor mass gatherings to 250 people to curb the spread of the infection. The government has urged businesses to apply flexible working time and allow employees to work remotely where possible.

The Bulgarian Football Union suspended all soccer matches on Friday for one month due to the coronavirus outbreak.

(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova and Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Catherine Evans)
The Government of Jammu and Kashmir, on Friday finally revoked the detention order of Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah after he spent more than seven months in captivity.

The Government of Jammu and Kashmir, on Friday, revoked the detention order of Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah after he spent more than seven months in captivity.

Abdullah, who was the first chief minister to have been booked under the PSA, appeared after 220 days before reporters and said, "Today, I am free but this freedom is not complete. It will be complete when other leaders like Omar, Mehbooba Mufti and others in outside jails are released."

The Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, Abdullah, who was flanked by his family members including his wife Molie Abdullah, expressed gratitude to all the people including the leaders of the country who raised the issue of his detention in Parliament.

"I would also like to express gratitude to every individual who prayed for us ... I will not speak on any political matter till others are released," he said, not accepting any questions from the scribes.

Abdullah, who underwent an eye surgery earlier this week, expressed hope that he would be able to attend Parliament so that he can raise the voice of the people there.

Immediately after his release, the National Conference issued a statement welcoming the decision and also urged the Union Territory administration to release other political leaders including party vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah.

According to a statement issued by the National Conference (NC), the release of its patron from detention was the right step towards restoration of a genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir.

It said the process would receive further fillip when party vice-president Omar Abdullah and other political detainees are set free. "We urge the government to do so at the earliest," it said.

"As the pre-eminent political party of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference has played a key role in strengthening the voice of the people through democracy and will continue to do so," the statement said.

Abdullah's son Omar as well as former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti were slapped with the PSA on 6 February, the day on which their six-month term of preventive detention was to end.

Abdullah, a five-time parliamentarian, has been under detention since 5 August when the Centre abrogated special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state.

He was the first politician from the Kashmir Valley to be booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) that enables the State to detain any person in Jammu and Kashmir for up to two years without a trial or charge, merely on the assumption that they are a threat to law and order and public safety. The detaining authority is also not required to reveal any facts "which it considers being against the public interest to disclose" regarding the detention.

The PSA 1978 of Jammu & Kashmir was first slapped against the 82-year-old MP on 17 September, hours before the Supreme Court was to hear a petition by MDMK leader Vaiko who claimed that the National Conference leader was detained illegally. Incidentally, the law was brought in by the MP's father Sheikh Abdullah, the then prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir, ostensibly stop timber smuggling.

However, the law earned notoriety over the years as it was repeatedly employed against political opponents by consecutive governments until 1990. After the emergence of militancy, the Jammu and Kashmir government frequently invoked the PSA to crack down on separatists.

The 82-year-old Abdullah has a heart pacemaker implanted and had undergone a kidney transplant a few years ago. His Gupkar Road house was declared a sub-jail by the Union Territory's Home Department.

With inputs from PTI
The Directorate of Revenue



Intelligence on Friday said it has busted a racket involving in fraudulent exports of garments to Dubai and arrested a director of two companies in this connection.

Acting on a tip-off, DRI sleuths raided offices of the two companies here and seized documents which suggested that the firms have availed export incentives to the tune of Rs 4.9 crore, an official said.

"A person who controls both the firms has been arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act," the DRI official said.

Investigations revealed that the racket exported consignments to Dubai through Chennai port.

"Cheap quality goods were found to have been exported by 25 to 50 times overvaluing price to earn undue drawback and other export incentives," a DRI statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 23:57:44|Editor: yan

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OTTAWA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian Parliament will be suspended until April 20 to limit the spread of COVID-19, the chief opposition whip said on Friday morning.

Mark Strahl, Conservative Party parliamentary whip, announced the cross-party agreement reached within the House of Commons.

He said that the parties have agreed to suspend parliament, while ensuring the government has the ability to provide necessary financial support.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to address the public on Friday noon from the place where he is in self-isolation after his wife Sophie tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday night.
The wounded was provided with the necessary aid urgently; the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the firing points of the enemy

Donbas conflict Open source

The HQ of the Joint Forces Operation stated about the wound of the Ukrainian military near Zaitseve, Donetsk region, in the result of the aiming fire from the side of the enemy as the HQ reported on Facebook.

The HQ also told the details of the incident: according to confirmed information, on the eve, the snipers arrived from Russia to this area of Donbas to pass the exams.

The occupants wounded one of our defenders by the aiming fire. The injured soldier was provided with the necessary aid urgently. Such criminal activity was not left without a response. The Ukrainian military, using the permitted armament, destroyed the firing points of the enemy. The losses of the enemy to be specified, the message said.

Besides, the militants shelled the detachment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Vodyane, Donetsk region, in breach of the agreements. The enemy held the attacks from rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and small arms.

Earlier, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine Heidi Grau said that the number of victims of the conflict in Donbas had increased significantly in the past two weeks.

As we reported, illegal armed formations of Russian militants attacked the residential area in Mariinka, Donetsk region. The local school students were evacuated to the bomb shelter. The armed gangs used small arms and grenade launchers to open fire in living neighborhoods in the outskirts of Mariinka.
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LA's public schools are closed, and dozens of other districts around the region have also shut their doors in response to the spread of coronavirus.

I went to the experts for some tips on activities that will keep your kids entertained and learning, and your nerves less frayed, hopefully.

First some words of encouragement.

"You don't necessarily require any sort of special tools or instruments or materials," said Dawn Kurtz, chief research officer at Child360, an L.A. non-profit related to early childhood education.

"There's a lot of things around the house and out in nature and the environment that parents can use to help build strong skills in their kids."

We asked experts to share ideas for activities for kids up to 5 years old, so younger children might need some extra help with a few of these.

"Above all, try to think about your time together as relationship-building instead of time-filling," said Eden Haywood-Bird, an assistant professor of early childhood studies at Cal Poly Pomona. "If your child isn't interested in an activity, don't force it."

Blowing bubbles. (Unsplash / Julie Laiymani @julielaiymani)

BLOW A BUBBLE MASTERPIECE

Supplies:

Bubble mixture (or make your own with one part dishwashing liquid to six parts water)

Food coloring

Large bowl

Straws

Paper

Pour bubble mixture and food coloring into the bowl so that it's about a quarter of the way full. Use the straw to blow air into the mixture - the way you might not want your kids to blow bubbles into milk. When the bubbles rise above the rim of the bowl, place a piece of paper on top and then lift off the paper carefully. Voila! A swirly colorful landscape appears on the page.

Haywood-Bird said you can expand the activity by asking kids to make predictions about what the bubble painting will look like or using the masterpiece as the background for another drawing you make together.

KNEAD UP SOME HOMEMADE PLAY DOUGH

Supplies:

2 cups all-purpose flour

 cup salt

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

- cup of warm water

4 drops of food coloring or two packets of Kool-Aid

Large bowl

Large spoon

Now to the fun part:

Pour the flour, salt and Kool-Aid or food coloring into a large bowl and mix. Add the vegetable oil and a half-cup of warm water. Stir until the color is evenly distributed and then use your hands to knead the dough. Add more water if the texture is too dry or crumbly.

Billy Truong, an adjunct instructor in child development at East and West Los Angeles Colleges, says this activity can help children learn numbers and measurement, basic chemistry and words for different colors and textures.

To help younger children practice their fine motor skills, stick some uncooked spaghetti on top of a big dough blob and encourage them to string Cheerios onto the pasta.

"Or keep it simple and get out the Play-Doh and let your child play." said Wayne State University Assistant Professor Lucy McGoron. "They will practice fine motor skills by pinching the Play-Doh."

LAUNDRY!

Colors, shapes, textures- oh my! (Mikenan1/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Supplies:

All those dirty socks.

"We hate to do it," said Kurtz, a developmental psychologist by training, "but if you think about it kids don't know that it's not fun."

She says showing kids how to sort clothes by type and color and counting are ways to teach basic math skills.

Even if children aren't capable of doing these tasks themselves, narrating your own actions will teach them new words and build their vocabulary.

My parents also used the promise of a "sock war" to entice me and my brother into folding socks. Once they were balled up, socks made the perfect projectile to launch across the living room.

GET DIGITAL

Several companies are offering online learning resources for free:

Scholastic Learn at Home - The children's publisher has activities and materials for kids pre-K to teens.

Mystery Science - The membership-based library of teaching resources is offering its most popular lessons for free.

Twinkl - Free lessons (think crafts, phonics, math science, etc.) for pre-K through 5th grade with code USATWINKLHELPS.

Finish this comic strip and drawing inspiration pages - Author/illustrator Jarrett Lerner gets kids started on their own masterpieces with these worksheets featuring chatty cats and crazy hats.

Khan Academy - The non-profit is hosting a free daily webinar for parents and created sample schedules for preschool through high school students in addition to existing educational resources in 40 languages.

You can find even more links on this Twitter thread:

DANCE PARTY

Supplies:

Music

Pep in your step

There are a bunch of reasons that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend kids get at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day - among the more science-y, exercise helps little bodies build strong bones and their ability to take in and use oxygen.

I fell down a kid-music rabbit hole while writing this story and did find myself jumping around the kitchen to this banger, "Hailing Taquitos." Sesame's Street Dancing Shoes Song would also be a great way to get the party started.

PUT THOSE DANCE MOVES IN A FILM

Supplies:

Smart phone, camera or tablet

Tunes

Hair brush microphone

Tripod (optional)

Maybe after the dance party warm-up it's time for a big screen premiere.

Set up a playlist of your kids' favorite jams, put your phone on a tripod and hit record. Pro tip: leaning your phone against a pile of books on the coffee table or other furniture also works!

Rocio Lopez, who works at non-profit Common Sense Media, suggests using an app like Magisto to edit clips together in a music video. Older kids could also help out with the video editing.

"It builds kids' confidence to be artistic, and helps develop their language skills when they sing out loud," Lopez said.

Later in the day or week roll out the red carpet and stage a family movie premiere.

A SCAVENGER HUNT...FOR FEELINGS!

Supplies:

Children's picture books

Magnifying glass (optional)

Find pages in your kids' favorite books where a character is clearly showing some kind of feeling. Invite the child to use the magnifying glass, or their finger to point out the emotions they see and share their observations.

You can help frame the conversation with phrases like:

"I wonder what [the character] is feeling."

"I see some clues from her face. I wonder what you see."

"Let's look for other clues."

Jolie Delja is research coordinator for an early childhood professional development program at UCLA and recommended the activity because it helps grow a child's literacy skills and teaches them how to understand and regulate their emotions. There's an explanation of the activity in English and espanol here and in a fun bookmark form you can print at home.

PUTTING AWAY TOYS? TIRED. CLEANING TOYS? WIRED.

Supplies:

Objects that can survive a dunking

A bucket

Soapy water

Brushes and sponges

"Anything that involves a bucket of soapy water and a scrub brush or sponges is often quite engaging," said Elizabeth Criswell, early childhood curriculum coordinator at the University of Minnesota

She says washing toys can help give kids a sense of responsibility and develop sensory and motor skills that help kids learn how their body feels and moves in space.

WHAT ABOUT THE TV?

"Research shows just watching TV with your child makes it more beneficial than if they just watch it alone," McGoron said. "Ask your child questions about the story to keep them engaged."

She recommends PBS Kids shows. LAist's own associate editor Lisa Brenner is a fan of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

In the event of a Los Angeles Unified School District shutdown, PBS SoCal, and KCET will team up with the district to provide educational programming to students, including kids in transitional kindergarten.

AMID UNCERTAINTY, CREATE A ROUTINE

This isn't so much an activity as general advice. Several experts I talked to suggested establishing a routine as much as possible.

"This will help make an 'out of the ordinary' process feel a bit more predictable and thus more manageable for young children," Criswell said.

Have a great idea? Email me and we'll consider expanding the list.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS:
In a bid to contain the rapid spread of Coronavirus in the country, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday said that Indo-Bangladesh passenger buses and trains will be suspended till April 15. Additionally, four checkpoints will be set up along the Indo-Nepal border

"Indo-Bangladesh passenger buses and trains will remain suspended till April 15. Along the Indo-Nepal border, four check posts will remain operational. For Bhutan and Nepal nationals visa-free entry will continue," said Anil Malik, an MHA official, during a press briefing.

READ | PM Modi's Dhaka Trip Cancelled After Bangladesh Reports 3 Coronavirus Cases

The Union Ministry of Health said that so far, 890 people rescued from Coronavirus affected countries have been discharged after 14 days of quarantine and after having tested negative as per the protocols.

Giving a breakdown of the number of rescuees, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal informed that 654 people rescued from Wuhan in China, on February 1 and 3 were discharged on February 18. Besides, 124 rescued from Japan and 112 from China were discharged on March 13 after having tested negative for Coronavirus in the second round.

READ | Coronavirus Outbreak: Government Confirms 81 Positive Cases In India, Cites Steps Taken

Prepared to rescue Indians from other virus-hit nations

The Health Ministry said the government is also prepared to operate special flights to rescue Indian nationals, who have tested negative and are coordinating treatment of positive people in Iran as per the protocols.

Earlier on Friday, the government sent a team of four doctors from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to Rome. They have been equipped with sufficient medical material and reagents to collect samples of Indian students stranded there for onward testing in India, said Agarwal.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India has risen to 81. At the time of writing this article, the country has also reported its first Coronavirus death in Karnataka, the Health Ministry had informed on Thursday.

READ | CM Uddhav Declares 'Coronavirus Epidemic In Maharashtra'; Schools In Pune & Pimpri Shut

Coronavirus cases in India surge to 81

Amid the novel Coronavirus breakout, the Health Ministry confirmed that so far 81 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country. Out of these 81 cases, 3 from Kerala were treated and discharged. Additionally, 7 more from Safdarjung have also recovered while 64 cases of the 81 confirmed are of Indian nationals, 16 Italian nationals, and one Canadian national, said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary Health Ministry on Friday.

Speaking to media on Friday, Lav Agarwal said, "It is important to understand that it is not a health emergency. We are trying to support the initiative taken by the state in terms of managing the situation. We have 56 collections centres. We hope we continue to remain in the same state where not many tests are to be done."

READ | Madhya Pradesh Government Shuts Schools To Combat Spread Of Coronavirus
Wrap yourself in the tales of a Navajo deity and hero, as told by Indigenous women at Spider Woman Stories this Saturday, March 14 . Watch and listen as Deanna Allison, Christina Castro, Maria Herrera, Clara Natonabah and Alexander Lucero weave narratives out of thin air, using nothing but song, dance and storytelling. Delight-seekers of all ages are invited to experience this unique tale-weaving event at q-Staff Theater , starting at 6pm . Tickets start at $16 . (Joshua Lee)

Examine the world and voice of Native American and Indigenous women as they weave together both past and present by honoring their cultural traditions in song, dance and storytelling.

Directed by Kim Delfina GleasonPerformed by Deanna Allison, Christina Castro, Maria Herrera, Clara Natonabah, and Alexander Lucero



These Days Belong To Us

Spider Woman Stories shares the world and voice of Native American and Indigenous Women through the lens of Spider Woman, a Navajo Deity. They journey and weave together both past and present, by honoring their cultural traditions in song, dance, and storytelling. Free from the constraints of stereotypes and inhibition, these days belong to all Native and Indigenous Women around the world, as we reclaim our voice and identity through the arts.

Changing the Narrative. Two Worlds Native Theater is working to reclaim American Indian identity through arts. -Ollie Reed Jr.- Albuquerque Journal.

Special thanks to to New Mexico Community Capital, The Albuquerque Theatre Guild, Native Women Lead, and the City of Albuquerque.
PASCAGOULA, Miss., March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias was among three University of South Alabama alumni honored with a 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award presented at the 16th Annual Distinguished Alumni and Service Awards celebration last week in Mobile, Alabama.



Cuccias was recognized for his outstanding achievements and leadership demonstrated throughout his career. Upon receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award, he thanked his family, the university and the shipbuilders at Ingalls.

The University of South Alabamas dedication to excellence is an asset to the entire Gulf Coast region. To be nominated and selected for this award is very humbling and quite an honor, Cuccias said. You must have great people that support you and work around you to be successful. I have a wonderful wife and family and 11,000 fantastic shipmates that work with me who have contributed to any successes I have achieved.

A photo accompanying this release is available at: https://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file/cuccias-distinguished-almuni

Cuccias graduated from the University of South Alabama in 1979 with a bachelors degree in accounting. He started his career as a financial analyst on Navy shipbuilding programs in Pascagoula. As Ingalls Shipbuilding president, Cuccias is responsible for the companys programs and operations, including the U.S. Navys amphibious assault and surface combatant ship programs and the U.S. Coast Guards National Security Cutter program.

We are delighted to have the opportunity to recognize the achievements of our alumni, friends and supporters, said Margaret Sullivan, vice president for development and alumni relations at University of South Alabama. These individuals have shown outstanding leadership in their respective career fields, to the university and in their communities.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is Americas largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HIIs Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HIIs Technical Solutions division supports national security missions around the globe with unmanned systems, defense and federal solutions, nuclear and environmental services, and fleet sustainment. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 42,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:

Story continues

HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com

HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries

HII on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hiindustries

Contact:

Teckie Hinkebein

Teckie.Hinkebein@hii-co.com

(228) 935-1323
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Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City are urgently searching for a British man who remains unquarantined after arriving in Hanoi on the same flight as a confirmed novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient this month.

Groman Manthew James Knight, 32, flew from London to Hanoi on flight VN0054, operated by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, according to the municipal Center for Disease Control.

On the same flight was a 26-year-old Vietnamese woman who was confirmed as Vietnams 17th COVID-19 patient on Friday last week.

Knight arrived in Hoi An City in the central province of Quang Nam on March 5 and stayed at An Ha Hotel in Son Phong Ward.

He left Hoi An for Ho Chi Minh City on March 7.

Authorities have not been able to locate the man for isolation, which is required for all passengers on the flight VN0054.

The Briton has not left Vietnam, but his exact whereabouts is unknown as he refused to provide authorities with his hotel address, the Ho Chi Minh City CDC said in a dispatch on Wednesday.

The CDC requested that local health authorities search for the British tourist and have him quarantined as per regulations.

Patient No. 17 was confirmed after Vietnam had reported no new infection since February 13.

Around a dozen patients in the country are linked to the woman, including her chauffeur and aunt, who drove her to the hospital.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 118,800 people and killed nearly 4,200 globally, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 39 infections, including 25 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, nine British citizens, one Mexican, and one Irish national.

Sixteen of the patients had recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26, while 23 others are being treated.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Air India Express on Friday said it will prepone three flights scheduled to fly from Kerala to Riyadh and Dammam, as Saudi Arabia has decided to suspend arrival of passengers from India and few other countries.

Further, the airline would withdraw all flights to Riyadh and Dammam from March 15 till further notice.

Against the backdrop of Saudi Arabia's latest decision, the carrier would prepone its flight on Saturday from Kozhikode to Riyadh by one-and-a-half hours.

Besides, two flights that were to fly on March 15 would be operated on March 14. These flights are scheduled from Kannur to Riyadh and from Kozhikode to Dammam, the airline said in a statement.

Air India Express said Saudi Arabia government has issued a circular suspending arrival of passengers from certain countries, including India, to the kingdom.

"A time limit of 72 hours is given to citizens of the kingdom and current residents holding valid iqama to return to the kingdom," it added.

Iqama is a type of resident permit in Saudi Arabia.

Holders of visiting, tourist and Umrah visas would not be permitted to enter the kingdom, the statement noted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Canadian PM Trudeau's wife tests positive for coronavirus



Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus wife has tested positive for the new coronavirus. Trudeaus office said on Thursday night that Sophie Grsgoire Trudeau is feeling well and will remain in isolation. The Prime Minister is in good health with no symptoms. As a precautionary measure and following the advice of doctors, he will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days, the statement said.



Mr. Trudeau cancelled an in-person meeting with Canadas provincial premiers. Opposition NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is also working from home after feeling unwell. Mr. Singh said hes been in contact with a doctor and they do not believe he has the virus but was advised to limit contact with the public until he feels better. Ontario, Canadas most populous province, is closing schools until April 5.



Quebec Premier Francois Legault is asking all people returning from travel abroad to self-isolate for 14 days. The measure will be mandatory for all government employees. British Columbias health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said the province is strongly advising people to not travel outside Canada, including to the U.S, and said anyone who chooses to do so should self-isolate for 14 days upon return.



"That means no trips to Disneyland, no trips to Paris or Berlin or Boise, British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix said. Anyone who chooses to travel outside of Canada must stay away from work or school or 14 days upon their return. That responsibility is what we owe to our fellow citizens.



Read More...


This article was featured in One Great Story, New Yorks reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly. Photo: Seth Wenig/AP/Shutterstock

Receiving a scathing email from Mari Gilbert was not entirely unexpected. She was a confrontational person, not just brusque, but antagonistic even with those closest to her.

I can not believe all the LIES you wrote about my family, and I. You should be ashamed at yourself, she wrote in a 2013 email, a month before my book about her daughters disappearance was published. How dare you write such trash!! May karma slam you when you least expect it!!

By then, Mari had become the most visible, and most combustible, figure in a unsolved multiple murder case with many as 16 victims, many of them still unidentified. Even today, there have been no arrests, no suspects, and no persons of interest in the search for the Long Island serial killer. But there would have been no case at all if it hadnt been for Maris eldest daughter, Shannan, who disappeared on May 1, 2010, in the middle of an escort call in the remote South Shore community of Oak Beach. Months later, the search for Shannan turned up four other sets of bonesskeletons with no clothing or jewelry, all wrapped in burlap and deposited near one another just off the shoulder of Ocean Parkway. Like Shannan, all four of these victims were escorts who had advertised on Craigslist.

I wrote about Mari and the family members of the other victims, first for New York Magazine in 2011 and then in my 2013 book, Lost Girls, which now has been adapted into a Netflix feature by director Liz Garbus. The film focuses on Mari, played by Amy Ryan, as she struggles to get justice for her daughter and end the victim-blaming of all the women in the case. As a real person and as a movie protagonist, Mari was as compelling as she was mysterious. Id seen her blow up relationships more than once without warning, even with the family members of other victims. She seemed uncomfortable with good feelingsill at ease the moment things seemed most peaceful. There were any number of possible explanations for why she was this way. Perhaps it was immaturity; perhaps it was restlessness. But as with her daughter Shannan, no single thing would ever explain what happened to Mari.

In the early days of the case, she had come, at my invitation, to New York City from Ellenville to participate in the profile. Mari was unique among those who came because her daughter Shannan technically was still missing. She didnt want to be a part of this group. She felt superior to them in a way, insisting under her breath, more than once, that Shannan was not like those other girlsthat she fought back against her assailant, that she wasnt a victim. But, being shrewd, Mari also saw the utility of having allies in the struggle to find her daughter. She had active theories about what had happened to Shannan, and she craved support. Within a few weeks, she participated in a vigil at Oak Beach with the other families, and then she developed her own followingpeople who had read about the case and seen her on TV. These peoplemost of them women, but not allbecame useful tools. Mari was good at harnessing the energy of others to achieve her goals, even if that sometimes meant pitting her new friends against one anotheror vilifying the media that was giving her the attention she needed.

After that first meeting, Mari kept me at a distance. A book about her and her daughters was not the kind of exposure she wanted. The circumstances of her familys life before Shannan disappeared might have been the last thing in the world she would want to make public. As shed said on the day we met, I told my kids what happens in the house stays in the house. Thats, like, a basic given rule. I couldnt begrudge Mari that. It was so clear, beyond everything else, that she was in terrible pain. To shout from the rooftops that your daughter is missing when everyone in law enforcement is saying shes dead has to be one of the most anguished things any parent could endure. This emotional dilemma was what drew me to write about Mari and every mother and sister linked to this unsolved caseSherre, Lorraine, Muriel, Melissa, Lynn, Kimas much as the murder mystery. What must it have been like to have strangers calling your daughter a prostitute, when you knew she was more than thatthat she could have been anything, that if she were still alive she could prove to everyone how that word meant nothing, had nothing to do with who she was?

I shadowed the families of the missing women for a year, and in all that time, Mari communicated with me only through intermediaries. She finally agreed to be interviewed on August 3, 2012, several months after Shannans remains had been found. That event had seemed to change her. Mari was still guarded, but also strangely sanguine, ready to let the chips fall where they may. What she told me that day went a long way toward helping me understand her better: her vagabond childhood, tragic relationships with men, determined self-sufficiency as a mother, and troubles raising Shannan. An interview eleven days later with Shannans sister Sherre shed even more light on Mari and the family, what they went through, why there was so much conflict in Shannans life.

Mari never told me what she found objectionable about Lost Girls. No one she knew raised any issues with it, and so I pushed on. By then, nothing Mari did surprised me. But pretty much everything Mari went through afterwards did.

Of Maris four daughters, it was Sarra Gilbertthird in the birth order, after Shannan and Sherre but before the baby, Steviewhom Mari had always considered the reliable one. She was the rock, the unfussy one, the child who parented the other children when Mari wasnt around. The Sarra I saw during the reporting of Lost Girls was a quiet presence, uninterested in publicity. She was the familys archivist, the one gathering notes and following the particulars of the case with a hungry eye for detail. But she had experienced the same terrible abuse as her older sister Sherre: She too had been molested by her mothers boyfriend, and she too was simmering with resentment and torment over it. Shannan had been in foster care at the time.

Once Maris boyfriend was out of the picture, Sarras difficulties only intensified. She had an abortion at the age of fourteen, dropped out of school at sixteen, and moved in with her boyfriend, a twenty-two-year-old drug dealer named Manny. The two had a son in 2009, a boy named Hayden. Things werent the same after the baby. The couple would serially break up and reconcile. Manny served time for drug arrests. At least once, Sarra ended up in a shelter for victims of domestic violence. In the years following Shannans disappearance, Sarra became more dependent on her family, and on Mari especially, than ever before. Mari stepped up by all accounts, taking in the baby when needed and becoming Sarras emotional support system.

But by the time the bodies were uncovered at Gilgo Beach, Sarra was hardly in a position to sustain another trauma. At least one psychiatrist who examined Sarra, a forensic specialist named Alexander Bardey, said the eventual discovery of her sisters remains re-traumatized her, activating what, until then, had been largely suppressed vulnerability and rage. It didnt take long, several months after the second examination of Shannans remains questioning the cause of her death, for Sarra to experience her first profound mental collapse.

Sarra Gilbert (center) is standing between her sisters Stevie Smith (left) and Sherre Gilbert (right) as their mother, Mari Gilbert, and attorney John Ray hold a press conference about their missing sister Shannan Gilbert. Photo: Frank Eltman/AP/Shutterstock

In late 2013, Sarra was watching the American Music Awards on television and became consumed with the belief that she and Shannan had cowritten several hit songs for Rihanna, Beyonce, and Jay-Z. Not long after that, she developed a second, more ominous set of delusions, involving the people she loved becoming possessed by demons. She would insist that Shannan wasnt dead, and that she could tell by looking into someones eyes if they were possessed. She told people she was a god, and her job was to defeat all evil gods, and that quite often the evil gods took the form of her sisters and mother.

In January 2014, Mari and Sherre visited Sarra at her house. Sarra announced that they both were demons and tried to attack Mari before the police came and hospitalized Sarra at Orange Regional Medical Center. She returned there in February, and again in July after shed become convinced that her son was a demon. Sarra spent a summer at that hospital before being transferred to Rockland Psychiatric Center, where she stayed until December. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and compelled by a court order, she began receiving a long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication called Haldol Decanoate. That kept her out of hospitals for all of 2015. But soon enough, she was failing to comply with her mental-health treatment and regularly using illegal drugs, mostly pot but also ecstasy. The demons were back, too.

On February 19, 2016, with her son in the house, Sarra drowned the family dog in a bathtub, and then called Mari and said Mari was the reason why the dog had to die. Mari lived just a few minutes away. She rushed over and grabbed Hayden; then she called the police, who brought Sarra to another hospital, St. Marys, where she was so combative that the police took her to Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center, a law-enforcement facility. Hayden stayed at Maris, and while Mari visited her daughter in the new facility, she decided not to intervene on her behalf for an early release. Sometimes a mom has to be tough in her love, she said. The mother and daughter embraced. But that spring when she was released, Sarra found out that for the foreseeable future her son would live with Mari. The state would no longer allow Hayden to be in her care.

Without Hayden at home, Sarra no longer received government checks to help her pay the bills. She was angry, broke, and stubborn, refusing to take her medication. At the beginning of July, she overdosedshe believed she was taking ecstasy, while others say it was likely LSDand landed at Albany Medical Center. The drug had brought her body temperature up to 107.1 F, forcing doctors to pack her in ice. Once awake, Sarra was so delirious and combative that the staff induced a coma to prevent her from harming herself. By the time she was released, Sarra had skipped her monthly Haldol shot. There was nothing to keep her now from becoming actively psychotic.

Mari and Sherre tried visiting Sarra at home, but Sarra wouldnt open the door. Mari left a cup of coffee for her. Sarra believed it had been poisoned and dumped it in the trash. And as July progressed, Sarra became increasingly isolated. Between court-supervised visits with her son, she realized what she had to do next.

On the morning of July 23, 2016, Sarra, after a sleepless night, texted Sherre to say she was hearing voices again. Sherre told her sister to call 911, or at least to call her mom for help. Unwilling to go back to the hospital, Sarra decided to call Mari, who said she was coming right over. But sometime between the end of that call and Maris arrival, Sarra became convinced that Mari wasnt coming to help her. She grabbed a 15-inch kitchen knife shed bought at Kmart and placed it beside her on the sofa, under a pillow. She also placed a fire extinguisher within reach. Then she waited.

Mari walked in at about 10:30 a.m. and sat down next to Sarra on the couch, where the two would have their last conversation. Sarra would later recall asking her mother if she was an evil god. In some of her explanations of what happened, Sarra said her mother denied it; in others, Mari admitted it. But in every version, Sarra remembered that as they talked, Mari noticed a nearby photograph of Sarra and Hayden. It was when Mari smiled and reached for the photo, Sarra said, that she first stabbed Mari in the chest.

Mari tried to stand. Sarra kept stabbing. Mari grunted for her daughter to stop, then bent over, fell to the floor, and tried to inch under a coffee table to protect herself. Sarra pulled Mari out from under the table, sat on top of her, and kept stabbing, aiming for Maris heart, lungs, midsection, everywhere where Sarra thought it would be lethal.

Maris phone buzzed. It was Sherre. Sarra shut off the phone. Then she picked up the fire extinguisher and struck Mari in the head, more than once. Sarra became convinced Mari was still breathing, and so she sprayed the extinguisher into Maris mouth, too, trying to drown her. Then she stabbed at Maris neck, perhaps trying to decapitate her, though she was most certainly dead by then.

Sarra was soaked in blood. She took off her pants and went to her bedroom to lie down. She smoked a cigarette and listened to music before the police arrived at 1:45 p.m.summoned by Sherre, who had come to the house, pounded on the doors and windows, and tried to look inside. Sherre told the police that her sister had been hearing voices. But Sarras first words upon being discovered inside the apartment showed she knew why they were there: I am under arrest.

The knifes tip had snapped off, its end bent at a 90-degree angle. The medical examiner would count 227 different stab wounds on the body, many of them defensive wounds on the hands and arms. Maris life, transformed by the death of one daughter, had been ended by another.

Mari Gilbert looks on as her lawyer John Ray speaks to the media at a news conference in Babylon, New York. Photo: Seth Wenig/AP/Shutterstock

John Ray, the lawyer mounting Shannans familys ongoing civil suit against Dr. Peter Hackett, represented Sarra at her murder trial at the Ulster County courthouse in spring of 2017. Ray mounted an insanity defense, and everything about his opening statement suggested that Sarras actions made mental illness the obvious explanation for what had happened to Mari. He made it clear that Sarra hadnt taken her antipsychotic medication for close to eight weeks before the killing took place. And then there was the killing itself. Two hundred twenty-seven stab wounds, Ray said. Does that sound like something that somebody is responsible for? If you think that, I guess you can think anything.

The American legal system, however, sets an extraordinarily high bar for proving insanity. To acquit Sarra, the jury would have to believe not just that she was delusional (which she most certainly was) and that she suffered from schizophrenia (which her doctors generally agreed was the case); they would also have to believe, unanimously, that Sarra had no concept of right and wrong, and therefore could not have been responsible for her actions.

The prosecutor, Emmanuel Nneji, wasted no time attacking that notion. How could Sarra not know right from wrong, Nneji said, if, over many years while her illness was at a crescendo, she walked her son to school every day, cared for him, fed him, paid the rent for their home? How could she be completely unstable, he said, if she went to the same place every day for coffee, never causing the slightest commotion? How could she be uncontrollably homicidal, he said, if she never once tried to kill Sherre or Stevieeven though they, too, were supposedly demons in disguise?

In the prosecutors view, the killing of Mari Gilbert was a crime of passion, quite likely drug-fueled, against a mother whom Sarra resented for years. Mari had engineered the taking of Sarras son, and with him the government support payments. Mari had committed historical sins, tooher absentee parenting, allowing Sarra and Sherres abuse, letting Shannan be raised elsewhere. What happened on July 23, 2016, was a reckoning Sarra had been planning in advance, the prosecutor said. It couldnt be anything other than that, he argued, when she had placed that knife and fire extinguisher within reach before having asked her mother if she was good or evilbefore, in fact, Mari even walked through the door.

Maris answer to that question hadnt mattered. Her fate was sealed. Sarra said as much on the witness stand. My intention was to kill my mom, she said coolly. Shes evil.

The jury heard a recording of a jailhouse phone conversation between Sarra and Stevie, revealing Sarras tone to be even, her mood controlled, perhaps even calculating. Sarra seemed the same way on the witness standunmoved by the most upsetting questions, defiant in the face of the prospect of life imprisonment. Such impassiveness could also be a sign of the antipsychotic drugs she was now taking. But aside from a psychiatrist, she had no one testifying to her character, not even her sisters. Sherre was too distraught to take the stand. And Stevie appeared for the prosecution, testifying that she believed it was drugs, not mental illness, that drove her sister to kill their mother. She called the act, the result of long term hate and not a mental breakdown.

In his summation, Ray made one last plea for Sarra, whom he called a true psychotic, let down by a mental-health system that should never have allowed her out without her medication. None of these poor people in this case deserve this, Ray said. Certainly not Mari, certainly not Stevie, not Sherre, certainly not this broken, poor psychotic little girl.

The jury found Sarra guilty. The judge, Donald Williams, declared Sarras sentence to be motivated by an overwhelming desire to protect other people by taking you off the streets for as long as I can. Sarra is currently serving twenty-five years in state prison, and her son is living with relatives of his father. Ray is appealing the case.

In the ten years since they first began looking for Shannan Gilbert, the Suffolk County Police Department has found itself mired in scandal. The chief, James Burke, Suffolks highest-ranking uniformed officer, was brought down in a federal corruption probe. At least one report suggested it was Burke who had kept the FBI away from the serial-killer case for so long, out of concern that the federal agents would see what he was up to.

The district attorney, Thomas Spota, is no longer in office, pressured out after his own role in helping Burkes cover-up became public. Richard Dormer, the former police commissioner, died of cancer in 2019, insisting until the end that the department did what it could for the girls, for Shannan, for Mari. The case remains unsolved, a stain on Suffolk County law-enforcement.

But its notoriety, its legacy, speaks volumes. Whether she was a victim of the serial killer or not, Shannan Gilbert has accomplished something extraordinary in our society. From the Green River Killer in Washington and Oregon to the Southside Slayer in Los Angeles, the victims in serial-killer cases are often escortspeople overlooked by police. As far as the authorities are concerned, their profession still seals their fate.

Shannan puts a face on these women. She lives on as a symbol of a system that lets down those who are vulnerable. For that, there are many people to thank, but chief among them is Mari Gilbert.

What I learned in observing her is what I also learned in writing about her daughter and the other victims. There is more than one thing to know about a person. We all are good and bad, wise and foolish, noble and self-defeating. Of all the family members, Mari was the one who got the most out of the police, forced them to do things they otherwise wouldnt. And she didnt just make a lot of noise; the experience of fighting on behalf of her daughter Shannan transformed Mari, too.

I spoke with two people who knew Marione a close friend, another someone who knew her well but never liked herand they both had the same impression of her in her final years: Shed found purpose, coherence, a cause. She mended fences with the daughter with whom she had the most fraught relationship, Sherre. And she divided her time between helping the daughter who was struggling the most, Sarra, and the daughter whom shed lost, Shannan, continuing the court battle to get the police to recognize her death as a homicide.

I think the fact that Mari was trying to find the killeror trying to get justiceactually stirred a certain virtue with her, John Ray told me. By any human standard, she redeemed herself in the end.

Its quite a thing to contemplatea truth too painful and powerful to ignore. But Mari spent the last years of her life becoming the person shed always wanted to be.

This piece is adapted from the new afterword of Robert Kolkers book, Lost Girls, published by HarperCollins.
Greggs has risked sparking fury as it plots to open a new store in Cornwall just months after residents boycotted the first branch.

The high-street bakery chain is thought to have its sights set on an outlet at a service station in Victoria, Cornwall.

But the announcement has been met with an outcry from locals who say that the brand is not welcome in the county.

The high-street bakery chain is thought to have its sights set on an outlet at a service station in Victoria, Cornwall (stock image)

One social media user, Carole Serbert, wrote: 'Why don't they keep the [poo emoji] out of Cornwall?

'Haven't they realised we eat a lot better than that down here with hundreds of decent bakeries the length of Cornwall.'

Another, Cassie Osborne, added: 'And I'm sure they will leave just as quick when again they get the hint we don't want or need [their] cr**.'

And a third, Leaim Nicholls, commented: 'They do realise there is an actual pasty shop in there? Can't see people coming to Cornwall to buy some tripe they can get at home.'

Greggs, which has more than 1,500 across the country, previously made an attempt to tackle the pasty-loving county in 2018 by establishing a store in Saltash.

But residents accused the chain of being 'junk' and 'Satan's franchise' before boycotting it altogether.

The store was forced to shut after just nine months of trading with bosses confirming the closure came after a 'thorough review'.

A spokesman later added: 'We continue to look for new opportunity sites across the South West of England as part of our long-term plans.'

Greggs has been contacted for comment.
A 23-year-old man is dead and his girlfriend wounded after a shooting near Hobby Airport early Friday morning.

The two were in the driveway of a home in the 8800 block of Koala Drive around 2 a.m. when they were both shot, police said. Two men were seen driving away from the home after the shooting in a dark-colored Dodge Charger, authorities said.

Paramedics rushed both to a nearby hospital, where the man was pronounced dead, police said. The woman was listed in stable condition later this morning.

It is unclear what led to the shooting, but police believe narcotics may have been a factor.

Anyone with information is urged to call Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com
Odisha Assembly Speaker S N Patro on Friday announced the formation of a House committee to probe into the circumstances under which Lord Jagannaths Rs 545 crore was deposited in the crisis-hit

Before adjourning the House till March 29 in wake of the coronavirus scare, the Speaker named 12 members of the committee headed by him.

The committee will inquire into the deposit of the Lords money in the private bank by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).

Government Chief Whip Pramila Mallick moved a motion in this regard which got the nod of the Assembly.

The house committee will present a memorandum to the Government of India and the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India relating to the release of the Lords funds deposited in the private bank.

The Speaker will head the House committee, while the Leader of the Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik of BJP, Opposition Chief Whip Mohan Majhi, Congress Legislature Party Leader Narasingha Mishra and Congress whip Taraprasad Bahinipati will be the members.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha, Government Chief Whip Pramila Mallik, senior BJD MLA Debi Prasad Mishra, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Subash Chandra Panigrahi and Pratap Keshari Deb have also been appointed as the members of the committee.

CPMs lone member Laxman Munda is also one of the members of the house committee.

Earlier in the day, the Assembly was adjourned for one hour during the Question Hour due to an uproar by the opposition BJP members who demanded a house committee to probe into the matter relating to the deposit the money in the name of in the crisis-hit

As soon as the question hour session began, the BJP members rushed to the well of the House and urged the Speaker to issue an order to form a house committee to probe into the incident and a CBI probe to identify those involved it.

The Congress members were seen supporting the BJPs demand by standing near their seats.

Unable to run the proceedings, the Speaker adjourned the House till 11.30 am. During a debate in the assembly on Thursday, state Minister Niranjan Pujari clarified that the state government had no role in the deposit of the Lords money in

He said the Lords money was deposited in Yes Bank as it offered the highest rate of interest of 8.61 per cent.

Pujari had also said that he had written to Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting her to issue necessary instruction to the Reserve Bank of India to allow the release of deposits relating to SJTA in Yes Bank.

The SJTA has also written to the RBI for transfer of Rs 545 crore deposited by it in Yes Bank, which faced moratorium by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and restrictions have been imposed on withdrawal of funds from the private lender.

The tenure of the fixed deposit ends this month.

However, Yes Bank was placed under a moratorium on March 5, with the RBI capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month.
In the past 10 years, TwinStar Credit Union($1.5B, Olympia, WA) has more than doubled in asset size. It also has added 55,000 members and crossed the state line into Oregon.

But as the credit union changed in ways both big and small, its senior leadership structure stayed the same.

We basically had the same organization structure in place since we were half our size, says Scott Daukas, the credit unions chief strategy officer. As we started to evaluate where the world was going and where the credit union needed to be, we realized our structure had holes in it.

TwinStar first considered a reorganization in November 2018 and spent the next four months strategizing different concepts. The Evergreen State cooperative wanted to modernize its structure to create a nimbler decision-making process; however, it didnt want a streamlined leadership structure to come at the cost of development opportunities.
The Queen's upcoming visits to Cheshire and Camden have been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Heir to the throne the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have already pulled out of their spring overseas tour just days before it was due to begin, raising the prospect that more royal engagements could face cancellation in the coming weeks.

The Queen, 93, was due to visit the Bentley Motors Factory in Crewe, and the Jodrell Bank Observatory and Square Kilometre Array Global Headquarters in Macclesfield on March 19.

She was also due to visit Camden on March 26 but full details of the trip had not yet been released.

Charles and Camilla had been due to start their spring tour to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Jordan on March 17. It would have marked the first time a royal has visited Cyprus since the Queen in 1993.

The Queen (pictured at Westminster Abbey last week) was due to visit the Bentley Motors Factory in Crewe, and the Jodrell Bank Observatory and Square Kilometre Array Global Headquarters in Macclesfield on March 19. Her visits have now been postponed

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales attend the Commonwealth Day reception on March 9

Buckingham Palace today announced that the Queen's upcoming visits would not go ahead 'as a sensible precaution' and 'for practical reasons' over concerns about coronavirus

A spokesman for the Queen said: 'As a sensible precaution and for practical reasons in the current circumstances, changes are being made to The Queen's diary commitments in the coming weeks.

'In consultation with the Medical Household and Government, Her Majesty's forthcoming visits to Cheshire and Camden will be rescheduled.

'Audiences will continue as usual. Other events will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in line with the appropriate advice.'

The Queen - the nation's longest reigning monarch - is due to turn 94 next month and the risk of more severe symptoms from the Covid-19 illness is greater for the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions.

The day of engagements next Thursday would have seen the monarch travel to Cheshire to meet staff and apprentices at the Bentley factory, operate the Lovell Telescope at the observatory and meet local school children engaging in hands on science activities.

The Queen wore large gloves when she handed out honours to recipients at a palace investiture on March 3.

The Queen, who has carried out investitures since 1952, wore gloves for the first time at a Buckingham Palace investiture as she handed an MBE to D-Day veteran Harry Billinge earlier this month

She also avoided shaking hands at the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey and during a one-to-one audience with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner this week, but was back shaking hands with Professor Mark Compton, Lord Prior of the Order of St John, on Wednesday.

It comes as The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall today revealed they would postpone their spring tour of the coronavirus pandemic.

The overall week-long visit had been due to start on March 17 and would have marked the first time a royal has visited Cyprus since the Queen in 1993.

Clarence House said the request came from the Government. Heir to the throne Charles and Camilla are understood to be in good health.

The tour may be replaced with engagements in the UK, but not those involving significant gatherings of people.

Charles was set to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 17 and 18, be joined by Camilla in Cyprus from March 18 to 21, and head to Jordan together until March 25.

'Owing to the unfolding situation with the coronavirus pandemic the British government has asked their royal highnesses to postpone their Spring tour,' a spokesman for the royal couple said today.

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall (seen in Auckland last November) will visit the Republic of Cyprus next month, to recognise the work of the UN Peacekeeping Force and celebrate traditional Cypriot culture

While in Jordan, the pair would have met meet King Abdallah II and Queen Rania of Jordan (pictured) and taken in a number of other sites of cultural, religious and environmental significance across the country

While in Jordan, the pair would have met meet King Abdallah II and Queen Rania of Jordan and taken in a number of other sites of cultural, religious and environmental significance across the country.

And in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Charles would have seen the memorial at Srebrenica to mark the 25th anniversary of the genocide.

Cyprus, which has a population of 1.17 million, announced four more COVID19 cases today taking the total to 14. In Bosnia and Herzegovina there are thought to be 11 confirmed cases.

Announcing news of their tour in February, they wrote: 'The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will jointly visit the Republic of Cyprus and Jordan next month.

'Prior to this, The Prince will also visit Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the year of the 25th anniversary of the genocide, The Prince will visit Bosnia and Herzegovina where he will highlight reforms to improve citizens' lives.

'The Prince and The Duchess will make their first official visit to The Republic of Cyprus to recognise the work of the UN Peacekeeping Force and celebrate traditional Cypriot culture.

'Their Royal Highnesses will visit The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to learn what the country is doing to support refugees and showcase its rich cultural history.'

Charles was due to start the tour by visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina to demonstrate the UK's increased commitment to BiH and the Western Balkans region, its support for reforms to improve citizens' lives.

Baroness Floella Benjamin, 70, received her damehood at Buckingham Palace today from Prince Charles, both pictured. The pair exchanged a Namaste greeting (right)

A careful greeting! The Prince of Wales was seen using a Namaste gesture to greet television presenters Ant McPartlin (left)and Declan Donnelly as he arrived at the annual Prince's Trust Awards 2020 this week

The Prince of Wales was then to be joined by the Duchess of Cornwall on March 18, as they visit to The Republic of Cyprus to celebrate the historic ties between the United Kingdom and Cyprus.

The last leg of the tour was set to see Charles and Camilla return to Jordan from March 21 to March 25, to highlight their close ties with Jordan, underpinned by the long-standing, warm relationship between the two Royal Families.

The couple would see how the country supports its one million refugees fleeing conflict, and meet members of the Jordanian Royal Family.

The news comes after Charles shared a Namaste bow with Baroness Floella Benjamin yesterday amid the coronavirus pandemic, as she collected her damehood at Buckingham Palace.

The pair were spotted exchanging the greeting, which avoids any unnecessary touching of hands, during the investiture ceremony.

Known to millions as the host of Play School and Play Away, Baroness Benjamin, a beloved children's TV presenter, was recognised for her services to charity in the New Year Honours List.

The Liberal Democrat life peer has dedicated over 40 years to campaigning for young people and supports charities including Barnardo's, Sickle Cell Society and Beating Bowel Cancer.

At the beginning of the month the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were still seen greeting people with a traditional handshake during a tour of the London Transport Museum to mark 20 years of Transport for London

After receiving her damehood, the 70-year-old, from London, said: 'You get such a buzz from giving back and making a difference, changing the world, and to get an honour like this after these years it's like wonderful recognition.

'Today, it's giving me a wonderful feeling in my heart. I haven't done charity work for any ulterior motive but only to change people's lives.

'To get it, it is like wow, how exciting. But I'm still thinking: what more can I do? To me, it doesn't end here.'

A 'huge admirer' of Prince Charles, Baroness Benjamin said she was 'thrilled' to receive her damehood from him yesterday.

Charles is not the first royal to take precautions, with the Duchess of Cornwall wearing a pair of leather gloves to shake hands with people she met at Cheltenham this week

But the Queen's granddaughter Zara Philips didn't seem to have let the threat of the outbreak faze her, as she dished out hugs at the racecourse.

Confirming the news on their Clarence House Instagram on the 25 February, Clarence House had written: 'The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will jointly visit the Republic of Cyprus and Jordan next month'
A cat reacts to the camera as Indians walk past the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai, India, March. 12, 2020. Global shares plunged Thursday and Friday over the coronavirus pandemic. (AP) sank on Wall Street. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Mumbai: Investor wealth worth nearly Rs 12 lakh crore was wiped out in less than 15 minutes of trading on the stock exchanges on Friday, with the two benchmarks, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, crashing over 10 per cent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted 3,380.59 points, or 10.31 per cent, to 29,397.55. It hit an intra-day low of 29,388.97, falling up to 3,389.17 points.

Trading was halted for 45 minutes in the early session after the index hit its lower circuit limit.

The BSE and NSE benchmark indices, however, pared most losses with the Sensex trading 835.40 points, or 2.55 per cent, lower at 31,942.74, and the Nifty was down 253.25 points or 2.64 per cent at 9,336.90 at 10.40 am.

The mayhem on Dalal Street eroded investor wealth worth Rs 12,92,479.88 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,12,78,172.75 crore on the BSE at 1020 hours.

The m-cap of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 1,25,70,652.63 crore at the end of trading on Thursday.

Traders said besides global selloff, incessant foreign fund outflows also weighed on investor sentiments.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,475.29 crore on Thursday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

On the BSE, 1,279 scrips declined, while 193 advanced and 40 remained unchanged.

Volatility heightened in global markets as benchmarks world over went into panic mode, insinuating a freakish selloff.

Bourses in Shanghai dropped over 3.32 per cent, Hong Kong 5.61 per cent, Seoul 7.58 per cent and Tokyo cracked up to 7.97 per cent.

Wall Street lost 10 per cent in overnight trade.

More than 1,30,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.

The number of coronavirus patients in India has risen to 74, as per the health ministry.
Teenage thugs are stealing luxury cars before on-selling them at extremely low prices.

Teen members from Brisbane's Southside Gang are known to show off stolen cars, their drug taking and taunt police from their social media accounts.

Police said that the teenage criminals sell the cars for mere hundreds of dollars, a fraction of their real value, according to the Courier-Mail.

Teenage gangs from Brisbane (pictured) are stealing luxury cars and on-selling them

The gang show off their joyrides and stolen luxury cars on their social media accounts (pictured) before selling the car for a few hundred dollars at a fraction of the price

Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said that the stolen cars were being sold for a price that was 'well below the market value in the hundreds rather than the thousands'.

He explained that the gang would: 'Post their exploits on social media and then they'll sell it off to another person for another joy ride.'

The Superintendent said this kind of youth gang crime had been happening across the region.

He explained that real organised crime gangs would steal high-end cars and sell them for a high price and good profit.

He said the difference with young criminals was that they were not stealing the cars for monetary gain but instead for ego and street cred.

The Brisbane gang members have posted multiple videos that show them flying down highways at speeds of 200kms/hr in the stolen cars.

The Southside Gang (pictured) livestreamed a highway chase with police last week

Pictures of the teenagers posing with the luxury cars in expensive branded clothing were also posted to the social media accounts.

The teens protected their identities by placing emojis over their faces in the pictures.

Last week the teens livetsreamed a dangerous pursuit with police as they drove a stolen car along the M1.

No arrests were made but Supt Wheeler said that social media allowed a 'celebration of bad behaviour'.

He said the gang's behaviour was concerning and ultimately reflected a desire for notoriety.
This is the second death due to the Covid-19 virus in India

Workers clean the entry gates at Rajeev Chowk metro station in the wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in New Delhi, Friday, March 13, 2020. India has more than 80 positive coronavirus cases so far. (PTI)

New Delhi: A 69-year-old woman who tested positive for coronavirus infection has died in New Delhi, health ministry and Delhi government officials said.

The death was caused due to co-morbidity (diabetes and hypertension), it said, adding that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

The woman had been admitted in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, officials said.

This is the second victim due to coronavirus infection in India, following the death of a 76-year-old man in Kalaburagi, Karnataka on Tuesday.
This photograph taken on March 12, 2020, shows a screen broadcasting the declaration of France's President Emmanuel Macron, made from The Elysee Palace in Paris, about the situation of the COVID-19 outbreak.

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked global leaders to act together to combat the coronavirus, as the country strives to contain its outbreak.

France has 2,284 confirmed cases of COVID-19  the second highest in Europe, after Italy, where more than 12,000 people have been infected. However, health officials have warned that France could face a surge in cases similar to what has been experienced in Italy, where the country remains in national lockdown.

"We are only at the beginning of the epidemic. Everywhere in Europe it is accelerating," Macron said in a televised address Thursday.

France is closing all schools and universities from Monday and stepping up funding to help businesses, "whatever the cost," Macron said.

France could be about to experience a similar number of cases as Italy, a scientist told CNBC Friday.

"It is fair to assume that what's happening in Italy is going to be reproduced in France, Germany and the U.K. over the next weeks," Nicolas Locker, virologist at the University of Surrey, said over the phone.

He warned that the trend would be the same in each country.

During his speech, Macron called upon world leaders to join forces to contain the virus. "Being divided won't allow us to respond to what's a global crisis," he said.

The French leader is due to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday. The call comes after the White House announced a 30-day travel ban from France and 25 other European countries.

European Union officials have criticized Trump's "unilateral" decision. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told CNBC Thursday that diseases are not "aware of borders," suggesting that the virus will spread further, despite Trump's travel ban.
Some Oregon teachers and students returned to school Friday for what will be their final school day for two weeks, after Gov. Kate Brown ordered a statewide school shutdown that begins Monday. Other districts shut down Friday.

The governor issued the order a day after she banned most other types of large gatherings.

Browns escalating actions come as she and other officials try to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, which they believe might infect thousands of people in Oregon.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: THE LATEST NEWS

Here is news from Friday, March 13:

4:33 p.m. | Portland Public Schools will serve kids free meals during coronavirus closure

Portland Public Schools on Friday announced 14 schools will serve to-go meals starting March 17. Breakfast and lunch will be provided from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. through March 20 and March 30-31 and will not be served on the weekends or during spring break. Heres the full list.

2:33 p.m. | Beaverton, Sherwood issue state of emergency declarations

At least two cities in Washington County, which has the highest concentration of coronavirus cases in Oregon, have issued state of emergency declarations to aid in their response to the virus.

1:46 p.m. | Oregon Gov. Kate Brown faults federal coronavirus response as too little, too late

Faced with questions about her leadership in the unfolding coronavirus crisis, Gov. Kate Brown on Friday sounded a far different tone than she has previously, blaming unfulfilled promises by Vice President Mike Pence and the federal government for Oregons shortcomings in testing and medical preparedness.

1:27 p.m. | Portland police limiting in-person calls

The Portland Police Bureau announced Friday that it will no longer dispatch officers to respond to calls -- unless the person seeking help is reporting a life safety issue. The new policy is meant to lessen officers exposure to the new coronavirus, and to try to increase the chances that large numbers of the force wont be stricken down by the virus at once. Police say they need to retain the ability to respond to life-threatening emergencies, their number one priority.

1:26 p.m. | Positive coronavirus test at Portlands tallest building

Someone associated with the Wells Fargo Center in downtown Portland has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to one of the buildings major tenants.

1 p.m. | Oregon and Oregon State cancel all sports team activities

Oregon and Oregon State athletics have canceled all sports team activities through March 29.

12:51 p.m. | 2 coronavirus cases discovered in Southwest Washington care facilities

Clark County public health officials disclosed Friday that two more people in their county had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Both patients are in their 80s and live in long-term care facilities, said Marissa Armstrong, a spokeswoman for the county public health department. Meanwhile, Oregon officials report no new cases in the state, keeping the total at 30.

12:37 p.m. | OMSI, Childrens Museum, Oregon Historical Society, other venues close

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry will close to the public, becoming the first major attraction in the state to close its doors due to the coronavirus outbreak. The closure will begin Saturday, March 14, and last at least through the end of the month. Others also made announcement Friday.

12:26 p.m. | Coronavirus concerns cancel visits to Oregons juvenile detention centers

The Oregon Youth Authority on Friday announced all visitation to its juvenile detention centers and other facilities will be canceled, effective Saturday, until further notice to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. The agency said it does not have any known cases of the illness at its facilities.

11:37 a.m. | OSAA suspends spring sports activities through March 31

Following Gov. Browns announcement regarding school closures, the Oregon School Activities Association on Friday announced the suspension of all games and practices for spring sports and activities through March 31.

10:56 a.m. | Oregons federal delegation asks Trump administration for medical equipment, protective gear

Most of Oregons federal delegation has asked the Trump administration for nearly half a million N-95 respirators and a large amount of other medical gear to help the state to prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, the delegation said the equipment is needed to meet Oregons growing and unmet needs as the virus cases increase.

9:54 a.m. | Trump preparing to declare national emergency

President Donald Trump is preparing to declare a national emergency -- otherwise invoke emergency powers -- in response to the coronavirus outbreak, according to two people familiar with the planning who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Trump is expected to make an announcement at noon PDT. Watch live.

9:23 a.m. | How contagious is the new coronavirus? Can you catch it twice?

While the world has launched frantic efforts to stop the spread of the new coronavirus and Oregons governor just announced the states K-12 schools will soon close for the rest of the month, the question turns once again to just how contagious is COVID-19? If you get it, how long will you be sick? And once recovered, can you catch COVID-19 again? We have answers for some commonly asked questions.

EARLIER CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:

Here are six key developments to know from Thursday about the viral disease and its impact:

PATIENTS: A nursing home that cares for aging veterans in Linn County has emerged as a hotspot of coronavirus in Oregon. State officials disclosed Thursday that six more male residents had tested positive for COVID-19, in addition to the two men who tested positive Wednesday. County officials say the uptick was expected. Public health experts are now trying to prevent the disease from sweeping through the home.

Elsewhere in Oregon, three other people tested positive for coronavirus. The case count now stands at 30.

SCHOOLS: The governor announced her decision to close schools after two Portland area school districts and three high schools said they would shut down. The Portland Public teachers union had also pressed to cancel classes. The statewide shutdown, announced hours later, will last until April 1.

Some districts are completely or partially closed as of Friday. Check our school closures list for complete updates.

OREGON ECONOMY: When Gov. Kate Brown outlined her steps to fight Oregons coronavirus outbreak Thursday, Brown said she had two main goals: Protecting Oregonians health and protecting their jobs. Her challenge is that those two goals may be mutually exclusive.

TESTS: It remains unclear how quickly and readily tests will be available statewide. The Oregonian/OregonLive contacted a half-dozen of the states largest hospital chains, plus their lobbying arm, and found that only one would provide detailed information about how many tests would be available or promise testing capabilities by next week. Three others said they are participating in talks but shared no timeline for starting testing.

PRISONS: The Oregon Department of Corrections suspended visitations at all 14 state prisons starting Friday. The ban covers all personal visits, even those where visitors talk to adults in custody through a glass window.

PLANS: Many event organizers and venues were forced to cancel concerts, shows and conferences after the governor banned large gatherings for one month. Some attractions plan to stay open but announced new measures to keep visitors safe. Places of worship are also adapting to the new restrictions.

Here is a roundup of national and international coronavirus news:

From preschoolers to doctoral candidates, tens of millions of students stayed home on Friday on three continents as schools, playgrounds, bars, restaurants and offices shut down to try and slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, China and other parts of Asia are scrambling to prevent the new coronavirus from coming back to where it first broke out.

President Donald Trumps administration has also announced it is awarding $1.3 million to two companies trying to develop rapid COVID-19 tests that could detect whether a person is positive for the new coronavirus within an hour.

And stocks are opening higher on Wall Street a day after the worst drop since 1987.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive

Subscribe to our coronavirus newsletter:
With the filing deadline two weeks away, three people have filed for the two open seats on Helena Public Schools' Board of Trustees so far.

Seats held by trustees Luke Muszkiewicz and Jeff Hindoen are up for election this cycle.

Muszkiewicz is the current board chair and the senior manager of data analytics at Anderson ZurMuehlen. He will be seeking reelection to the school board this cycle.

Hindoen, an attorney, will not be seeking reelection to the school board. He said that due to his profession, he doesn't feel he will be able to dedicate the amount of time to the position that it truly deserves.

"Fortunately, we have a solid mix of trustees in terms of varied experiences, perspectives and skill sets as any school district I have ever worked around," Hindoen said. "I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I've had to serve them for the last three years."

Lois Fitzpatrick and Jennifer McKee have also filed as candidates for the school board seats.

Fitzpatrick is a professor emeritus at Carroll College who has been with the school for over 43 years. She is also an advocate for disability rights and Montana's lead advocate for the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network.

McKee is a former journalist who has worked as the communications manager for the Montana Lottery for the past several years.

In East Helena, only the incumbents have filed for the three board of education seats up for election. Trustees Martin Balukas, Mark Diehl and Breck Scheet will all seek reelection this cycle.

The filing deadline for both election is March 26. Interested parties can file with Lewis and Clark County for the Helena election and with Kim Aarstad at the East Helena Public Schools office at 226 E. Clinton Street.

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A case of cheating has been



registered against two trustees of a school in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi town for allegedly misappropriating funds to the tune of Rs 85.95 lakh, police said on Friday.

The Narpoli police on Thursday booked Vikas Jain and his wife Lalita, while the couple hasn't been arrested as yet, an official said.

As per the complaint lodged by another school trustee, the duo had allegedly diverted funds in the form of fees and other income worth Rs 85.95 lakh towards their construction company.

The couple had been involved in illegalities since 2015 and had also fabricated documents and used fake letterheads, the complaint stated.

A case under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the duo, the official added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
File image

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 13 proposed a video conference of SAARC leaders to chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus and set an example for the world.

"I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," he said.

"Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it," Modi said on Twitter.

South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population, should leave no stone unturned to ensure that the people are healthy, he said.

Together, the prime minister said, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.

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 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is A regional intergovernmental organization that comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday hit out at the Modi government for keeping former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah under detention for seven months, alleging that 'despotism and arbitrariness' constitute the rule of law in the Union Territory

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday hit out at the Modi government for keeping former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah under detention for seven months, alleging that "despotism and arbitrariness" constitute the rule of law in the Union Territory.

Chidambaram's attack on the government came after Abdullah was released following the Jammu and Kashmir administration's revoking of the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against the former chief minister.

"Dr Farooq Abdullah, welcome to freedom. What was the justification to keep him in detention without charges for 7 months? If there was justification (there was none), what is the reason for releasing him today?" Chidambaram said.

"Despotism and arbitrariness constitute the Rule of Law in J&K. And this virus is spreading to many states in India," the former home minister said.

Abdullah was under detention since August 5 last year when the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two union territories.

The former J&K chief minister thanked parliamentarians who "fought for my freedom" from detention and said he will be able to take a decision on future only after other leaders are released.

Abdullah also expressed hope that he would be able to attend Parliament.

"I am free... Hope others political leaders would be released soon. Thank all parliamentarians who fought for my freedom. Will be able to take decision on future only after other leaders are released," Abdullah, the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, told reporters from the terrace of his residence here.
One detects a pattern in American politics: Every challenge is a crisis, every crisis is the Moral Equivalent of War, and winning that war, we are told, means giving the Left everything it demands, without opposition and generally with no regard for the Constitution, process, or democratic norms. Never let a good crisis to go waste, as Rahm Emanuel famously put it.

And so it is with COVID-19.

The novel coronavirus outbreak  a genuine crisis and a real emergency  already is being exploited by Democrats with an eye on the upcoming presidential campaign and political contests beyond that. The emergency demonstrates, they say, the necessity of everything progressives have been demanding for the past 20 years.

That begins with a universal health-care system along lines generally described as European. The most obvious problems with that are there is no such thing as a European-style health-care system; Europe has many different kinds of health-care systems, and very few of them are, in fact, the British-Canadian national-monopoly model that ensorcells our Democrats. The system in Switzerland is different from the one in Sweden which is different from the one in the United Kingdom.

Another shortcoming of that line of argument is that Europes health-care systems are not performing especially well. Italy, once ranked the second-best health-care system in the world by the World Health Organization, is overwhelmed by the epidemic. The New York Times reports: The mayor of one town complained that doctors were forced to decide not to treat the very old, leaving them to die. In another town, patients with coronavirus-caused pneumonia were being sent home. Elsewhere, a nurse collapsed with her mask on, her photograph becoming a symbol of overwhelmed medical staff.

One country over, the Swiss canton of Ticino has closed its border with Italy, and the rest of the country is preparing emergency quarantine measures. Switzerland is a reminder that it matters how programs are designed and also matters  perhaps more  how they are implemented. The so-called Affordable Care Act was based in part on the Swiss health-care system, which has a rigorously enforced individual mandate  compliance is practically 100 percent. The U.S. attempt to enforce an individual mandated failed but was never seriously attempted to begin with. Similarly, Switzerland is preparing to hand out CHF5,000-per-violation fines (about $5,300) to enforce its quarantine. In France, the mayor of Landerneau is still defending his towns decision to host 3,500 revelers, painted blue and frolicking, as part of the worlds largest Smurf celebration.

Story continues

If you think the United States in a public-health emergency is going to be more like Switzerland than Italy  have you met Americans?

Governments are built on top of cultures and societies. Point to the deficiencies of Italys universal health-care program and American progressives will say, essentially, Well, thats a bad one, and we want a good one, instead. Well. Presumably, wed also like to have better police departments, a better Department of Agriculture, better drivers-license bureaus, etc.  but the fact that we have the ones we have ought to be of some interest to policymakers on guard against utopian delusions.

Government is not a theater for moral performance  it is a convenience, something we use to solve problems that are difficult to solve in other ways. If we wish to be effective in doing that, then we must begin by understanding and identifying the problems, one at a time.

It is entirely possible to maintain a system that has the capacity to respond to discrete emergencies without building a program of universal permanent benefits. Not only is it possible to do so, it is necessary to treat these as separate projects: Even if you believe that programs of universal permanent benefits are desirable (not only in health care but in paid leave, child-care subsidies, etc.) you should understand that building emergency-response systems and building quotidian social programs are fundamentally different enterprises. A bigger welfare state is not insurance against unpredictable events.

(None of the above need be taken as a defense of current U.S. health-care practices.)

It is the nature of epidemics to be unpredictable in the specifics. What is needed, then, are agencies that are liberally empowered to act within well-defined parameters, with sufficient capacity and expertise to respond adequately to a wide range of related threats.

How to achieve that?

Begin with two cheers for the so-called deep state: Communities of expertise of the kind we rely on to respond to crises will necessarily be autonomous (to a degree not expected of, say, the FDIC), which will make them resistant to some policy changes demanded by democratically elected officials, who have a predictable habit of raiding the budgets and staffs of emergency-preparedness organizations when they themselves see no emergency on the horizon. (Which they never do.) Donald Trumps 2021 budget proposal would cut the CDC budget by 15 percent, including a $35 million cut to the Infectious Diseases Rapid Response Reserve Funds annual contribution. Trumps budget chief was in Congress defending those cuts on Tuesday. Meeting short-term budget goals by reducing annual contributions intended to fund future requirements is familiar enough: Democrats have been doing that with government-employee pension funds for decades  another financial crisis in the making. There is nothing new under the Washington sun.

An epidemic is a specific problem in a specific class of problems. If your response to that problem is Do exactly what I wanted you to do before there was a problem, then you have not thought about the problem carefully enough.

More from National Review
Her daughter and husband are among those who have not been able to get approval for coronavirus testing, despite visiting Chase in the hospital daily before her diagnosis. But they were not ill as of Friday, and public health authorities are prioritizing tests for people showing symptoms. Experts warn that negative tests for asymptomatic people exposed to the virus could lead to a false sense of security, because those people could later develop symptoms and transmit the virus.
Is the International Criminal Court itself violating international law? Should the International Criminal Court be designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization? On its face, these appear to be radical and bold propositions, but in recent years, the ICC has crossed a significant line: the ICC is attempting to seize jurisdiction over all nations, not just those states that have subscribed to the ICC Treaty. As set forth below, this self-aggrandizing behavior is more than the mission creep so typical of international organization. Rather, it is an attack on basic principles of sovereignty and a violation of international law and by extension the laws of the United States.

By way of background, most pro-Israel attorneys are familiar with the recent controversy surrounding the International Criminal Court. The ICC was created 20 years ago with the goal of setting up a permanent tribunal for the prosecution of serious crimes against humanity. Although Israel was involved with the ICC from the beginning, Israel declined to subscribe to the ICC treaty when it became clear that there was a serious risk that the ICC would be used as a tool to harass and delegitimize Israel as a state.

Twenty years later, those fears have come to fruition, with the ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda seeking to establish jurisdiction over Israel for legitimate acts of self-defense, even though Israel has its own rigorous internal system for prosecuting war crimes and even though Israel never actually joined the ICC Treaty

The first principle of international law in play holds that outside limited circumstances, states cannot kidnap foreign nationals for purposes of prosecution without the consent of the foreign state. Thus, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has held that "forcible abduction of an individual from one state to another for the purposes of his rendition to face a criminal trial ... violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" (1). Moreover, to the extent that the ICC itself is a non-state actor, states are obliged to prevent it from engaging in such behavior (2). Therefore, it would be a violation of international law for the ICC to issue warrants for the arrest of Israeli officials without the permission of the government of Israel. Simply put, such warrants would be an attack on the fundamental principle of sovereignty of states.

Similarly, the 1973 U.N. anti-terrorism convention prohibits any "attack" on the "person, freedom or dignity" of a head of state or other authorized representative of a state (3). It also prohibits threats and attempts to engage in such behavior (4). Thus, for example, if the International Criminal Court were to issue an arrest warrant for Bibi Netanyahu, it would be a clear violation of international laws against terrorism.

It should be emphasized that these protections can be waived. Thus, when Israeli agents famously kidnapped the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann from his home in Argentina, the abduction was ratified by the Argentine government. More recently, numerous states have subscribed to the ICC treaty. Accordingly, there is no inherent problem with the ICC attempting to assert jurisdiction over the nationals of such states who have voluntarily submitted themselves to ICC jurisdiction.

Significantly and by contrast, numerous states  including Israel and the United States  have not subscribed to the ICC treaty. It is for this reason that it would be a violation of accepted international law for the ICC to attempt to prosecute American or Israeli officials.

Since international law is not self-enforcing, the next question is what can or should be done regarding the ICC's unlawful attempt at jurisdiction-seizing.

First, the United States has already passed the so-called Hague Invasion Act, which authorizes the military to take the necessary steps to protect Americans (and our allies) from ICC overreaching (5). The United States should consider amending this law to make clear that any such arrests will be treated as criminal kidnapping and that victims of ICC misbehavior will have a private right of action in American courts.

Second, the United States government should consider designating the ICC as a terrorist organization. Such a designation would be well within the scope of existing law, since American anti-terrorism laws already incorporate the U.N. Conventions by reference (6). Moreover, such a designation would discourage NGOs and other organizations from providing financial or other support to the ICC and might cripple the ICC financially.

Ultimately, the goal should be to deny legitimacy to the ICC's attempt at overreaching. A clear message should be sent to the ICC that it will not achieve the respect it seeks by overstepping its bounds.

David Abrams is a New York attorney and executive director of the Zionist Advocacy Center. He has brought numerous counter-terrorism and anti-BDS lawsuits in American courts. His largest case to date is a $2-million counter-terrorism settlement against a Scandinavian NGO.

(1) Abraham Mohit , The Customary Law of International Abductions: Limits and Boundaries, 11 Asian Yearbook of Int'l Law 123, 132-133 (2006).

(2) Vladyslav Lanovoy, The Use of Force by Non-State Actors and the Limits of Attribution of Conduct, 28 Eur. J. Int'l Law 563, 565 (2017).

(3) United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons, Including Diplomatic Agents, New York December 14, 1973, Art. 2(1)(a).

(4) Id. 1(c); 1(d).

(5) See 22 USC 7401 et seq.

(6) See 18 USC 2339C(a)(1)(A).

Image: OSeveno via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).




Haiti - Denial : No confirmed or suspect case of Covid-19 in Haiti





Thursday in a press conference Marie Greta Roy Clement the Minister of Public Health denied rumors which suggests that Covid-19 is present in Haiti saying "so far, we have zero suspected cases, zero confirmed cases" recalling that only her Ministry is able to announce the existence of a case in the country after having carried out tests at the national laboratory.



In his intervention, Dr. Luis Filipe Codina, Representative in Haiti of the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO / WHO) asked the population not to panic, recalling that "All the countries of the region have only imported cases. There is no community circulation of Civid-19 in these countries at the moment. Here in Haiti, there are no imported cases yet. Its very likely to happen. This is why the Ministry is preparing to prevent a community spread of the virus."



Minister Clement took the opportunity to clarify the incident on Wednesday at the border explaining "We were alerted last night to the arrival in Port-au-Prince of a bus from the Dominican Republic carrying 18 compatriots. One of the passengers who was not well died in Jimani. The Dominican authorities kept his body for an autopsy and kept the person who accompanied him. The other 16 passengers were able to cross the border. Since the deceased passenger suffered from fever and did not stop coughing, we saw fit to place the other passengers in quarantine in a site prepared for this purpose," deploring that residents have erected barricades of inflamed tires and thrown stones at the ambulances that transported passengers to the Monte Cristo hotel in Tabarre, one of the quarantine sites set up by the Ministry.



The Minister ensures that the 16 passengers placed in quarantine present for the moment ahve no symptoms of Covid-19 "We have simply taken protective measures. As soon as we receive the autopsy results, we will allow the others to go home."



In addition, on his official Facebook page, President Jovenel Moise also wanted to be reassuring by affirming that no case of Covid-19 had been recorded in Haiti. In addition, he announced the imminent creation of a task force in preparation for the introduction of Covid-19 on the national territory "Army doctors, doctors of the national police, students graduates in medicine, retired doctors, epidemiologists, infectious disease specialists, pulmonologists, pharmacists, will be mobilized to deal with the coronavirus [...] The Ministry of Public Health will contact them and quickly there will be training sessions through the Task Force that the Prime Minister will form."



HL/ HaitiLibre


















The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on the global economy, but in the United States it has thrown into sharp relief the depth of inequality and the sheer number of people living on the edge in the world's largest economy.

Neither the rich nor the poor have been spared in the COVID-19 outbreak, but can it be the catalyst for reforms extending new social benefits to all Americans?



In the midst of the spreading illness, many Americans cannot follow expert advice to stay home from work when they show symptoms, because they either don't have enough paid sick leave or don't have any at all and can't afford to miss a paycheck.

"The virus is sending a clear message: all Americans are unsafe if the poorer among us do not have access to basic benefits like sick leave and health care," said Edward Alden, visiting professor at Western Washington University.

President Donald Trump has announced insurance companies would waive fees to test for the virus, but experts say more must be done.

Paid sick leave is among the labour policies that have split American political parties for years, with Democrats largely saying it should be mandatory while Republicans arguing it imposes an undue burden on employers.

As the pandemic spreads on American soil, causing events to be cancelled and hitting businesses like hotels and restaurants, the debate has resurfaced, piling pressure on the Trump administration.

"We cannot fight coronavirus effectively unless everyone in our country who needs to be tested knows they can get their test free of charge," Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

She said authorities will not be able to slow the epidemic because workers are faced with "the terrible choice" between staying at home to avoid spreading the disease and getting a paycheck they cannot afford to do without.

Democrats are asking for 14 days of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid emergency family medical leave, as well as expanded unemployment insurance, proposals Republicans have criticized as a wish list.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has urged companies to have flexible sick leave policies and "actively encourage sick employees to stay home."



"I will soon be taking emergency action, which is unprecedented, to provide financial relief," Trump announced on Wednesday evening.

He said the measures would be targeted at workers "who are ill, quarantined or caring for others due to coronavirus" but did not provide details.

But the question is whether these temporary measures could be made permanent.

Alden said the coincidence of the pandemic with the US presidential election campaign in which the shortcomings of the social safety net and health care system are key issues being debated "make this an especially opportune moment to tackle these long-standing and poorly addressed challenges."



"So the optimist in me does think this could be something of a turning point," he told AFP.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders has long fought to improve the US healthcare system, extending coverage to the 87 million Americans who remain uninsured or underinsured.

"We cannot live in a nation where if you have the money you get the treatment you need to survive, but if you're working class or poor you get to the end of the line. That would be morally unacceptable," he said in an address on Thursday.

He also slammed Trump's handling of the coronavirus outbreak -- as did his remaining opponent, former vice president Joe Biden -- saying his "incompetence and recklessness have threatened the lives of many, many people in our country."



However, political polarisation means reaching a consensus of expanding these benefits to more workers could prove difficult once the pandemic has passed.

Some 73 per cent of workers in the private sector benefit from sick leave, according to March 2019 data from the Labour Department.

But this rate drops to 43 per cent for people working part-time, particularly those working in restaurants and hotels.

Employees of high-tech companies like Google and Apple may enjoy substantial benefits, for example, but they are not immune from contamination by employees of company cafeterias.

The same goes for wealthy Americans who continue to eat out.

For the US, coronavirus represents "a common enemy", Alden said -- the first Americans have faced since perhaps World War II.

Coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 1,300 on Thursday with nearly 40 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 20:16:48|Editor: xuxin

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WINDHOEK, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Namibian Vice President Nangolo Mbumba on Friday inaugurated country's largest dam, the Neckartal dam, which is expected to boost the desert nation's food security.

Mbumba told guests that the state of the art dam will become a catalyst for water security, food security, energy generation, research and development as well as industrialization and job creation.

"I can proudly say that this dam will change the fortunes of the people of the //Kharas region and that of Namibia for good," he said.

The Neckartal dam located near the southern town Keetmanshoop in the Fish River, was built by an Italian company Salini Impregilo.

The dam, which was built for a reported 5.5 billion Namibian dollars (344 million U.S. dollars), is one of the southwestern African country's single biggest investments since independence in 1990, and its largest man-made water reservoir.

Its curved wall is 78.5 m high, with a crest length of 518 m and a gross storage capacity of 857 million cubic meters of water.

Water from the dam will be used mainly in a 5,000 ha irrigation project that will cultivate Lucerne, table grapes and dates, as well as other cash crops on demand.

It will also be used to generate 3.5 MW of power per hour, which will be plough back into the National Power Grid.

Work on the project was only completed on 25 September, 2019 after facing several challenges since 2013.
Thiruvananthapuram, March 13 : Both the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Friday criticised the Kerala government for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

After the Speaker allowed a discussion on coronavirus in the Kerala Assembly, former State Minister and IUML leader M.K. Muneer, who is a doctor by profession, accused the state government of callousness for not heeding the Centre's warning to start screening of people at the airports in the state.

Muneer said: "Don't misunderstand us that we are trying to find faults rather we are laying out facts. On February 26, the Centre issued an advisory to track all the passengers arriving from Italy but the Kerala government stepped up the airport surveillance after March 1." "Three passengers (who have now been identified and are the primary cause of the spread of coronavirus in the state) landed from Italy on February 29 and went to Pathanamthitta. A ship from Italy also arrived at Kochi port recently, of which no one was aware. The passengers on the ship even went shopping at Kochi and then left," he added.

State BJP president K. Surendran also pointed out that it was the callous attitude of the Kerala health authorities that has led to this outbreak.

"The Centre had timely asked all the state governments to be on a high alert for all passengers arriving from Italy, South Korea and a few other countries. In her Facebook post, Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shailaja said that strong surveillance began from March 2. The Kerala government was celebrating after it was able to contain the first outbreak in the state when the Centre issued advisory on February 26 and did not pay attention to it," said Surendran.

Replying to the allegations, Shailaja said at the moment we should stand together rather than hurling accusations.

The Kerala government has called a meeting on Saturday at all the 14 district headquarters to be presided over by a state minister and all the people's representatives to chalk out a strategy on how to handle this pandemic.

More than 5,000 people are under observation in Kerala while 16 are affected.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Michigans work requirement law for Healthy Michigan Medicaid recipients was blocked by a federal court earlier this month - but Republicans are hoping the federal government takes up the cause to reinstate the policy.

House Concurrent Resolution 17 urges the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to appeal a decision from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg that halted the states implementation of work requirement rules, which went into effect Jan. 1.

House Republicans passed the resolution in a 56-51 vote Thursday, with Republican Rep. Larry Inman, R-Williamsburg, joining Democrats in dissent. A resolution is non-binding, but are often used to declare the legislatures intent or to ask another body to take action on an issue.

House Democrats slammed Republicans for bringing the resolution up during the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that supporting basing a persons health care coverage on whether theyre seeking work at the same time people are being advised to limit in-person contact is irresponsible.

What do we tell people in Michigan who count on Medicaid for their health care, but have not been able to fill fulfill the requirements? House Democratic Leader Christine Greig, D-Farmington Hills, said on the House floor. Do we tell them to keep track, to hide their symptoms, seek employment and hope they dont infect anyone else? Is this in the best interest of our communities?

We cant just operate with rose-colored glasses on, weve got to be real, she continued. If we enforce these work requirements, people will simply forego care.

House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, defended the move on the House floor Thursday, noting he still stands behind the work requirements and believes the law encourages habits that will make these individuals sustainable long term.

This is about encouraging healthy lifestyles in our state that will enable people to get back on their feet and contribute to the economy and contribute to their community, he said. We believe the law that we passed was good for our state...this was the right policy when we passed it. Its still the right policy.

Michigan has spent more than $30 million on implementing new work requirements for Medicaid recipients just ruled illegal by a federal judge, and the state now faces a substantial expense to wind down the work-requirement program, state officials recently told lawmakers.

The 2018 law signed by former Gov. Rick Snyder required able-bodied adults receiving Medicaid under the Healthy Michigan plan to do 20 hours per week, or 80 hours per month, of workforce engagement," such as working or going to school.

Exemptions included pregnant mothers, people with disabilities, caretakers of disabled dependents, caretakers of children under age 6 and individuals who have a medical condition that results in a work limitation.'

Almost 700,000 Michigan residents are enrolled in the Healthy Michigan plan, which is available to people age 19 to 64 with a household income below 133% of the federal poverty guideline. State officials have estimated about 100,000 could have lost coverage by failing to fulfill the work requirements.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has argued against the work rules, saying the experience in other states indicates that implementation is expensive and does not yield increases in employment, the GOPs stated goal.

In late 2019, shed asked lawmakers to suspend those requirements while legal challenges were still pending, although lawmakers declined to do so.

Related coverage:

U.S. District Court blocks Michigans Medicaid work requirements

Whitmer asks judge to throw out Healthy Michigan work requirements

Lawsuit challenges Michigans Medicaid work requirements

Whitmer signs bill to change Medicaid work requirement reporting, says legislature should do more

Gov. Whitmer asks legislature to halt Medicaid work requirements

Michigan lawmakers to Whitmer: Were not pausing Medicaid work requirements
Astronomers have discovered more than 100 new trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), minor planets located in the far reaches of the solar system. For the study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, the researchers used data from Dark Energy Survey (DES), an international collaborative effort to map hundreds of millions of galaxies, detect thousands of supernovae, and find patterns of cosmic structure that will reveal the nature of the mysterious dark energy that is accelerating the expansion of our universe. The study also describes a new approach for finding similar types of objects and could aid future searches for the hypothetical Planet Nine and other undiscovered planets.

"The number of TNOs you can find depends on how much of the sky you look at and what's the faintest thing you can find," said Gary Bernstein, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the US. Using the first four years of DES data, Pedro Bernardinelli from the University of Pennsylvania started with a dataset of seven billion "dots," all of the possible objects detected by the software that were above the image's background levels. He then removed any objects that were present on multiple nights - things like stars, galaxies, and supernova - to build a "transient" list of 22 million objects before commencing a massive game of "connect the dots," looking for nearby pairs or triplets of detected objects to help determine where the object would appear on subsequent nights. With the seven billion dots whittled down to a list of around 400 candidates that were seen over at least six nights of observation, the researchers then had to verify their results.

"We have this list of candidates, and then we have to make sure that our candidates are actually real things," Bernardinelli said. To filter their list of candidates down to actual TNOs, the researchers went back to the original dataset to see if they could find more images of the object in question. Bernardinelli developed a way to stack multiple images to create a sharper view, which helped confirm whether a detected object was a real trans-Neptunian object. They also verified that their method was able to spot known trans-Neptunian objects in the areas of the sky being studied and that they were able to spot fake objects that were injected into the analysis. After many months of method-development and analysis, the researchers found 316 TNOs, including 245 discoveries made by DES and 139 new objects that were not previously published.


BURBANK (dpa-AFX) - Major theme parks in the United States, including Walt Disney's parks in California and Florida, as well as Universal Studios are closing down temporarily amid the ever-increasing concerns over coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic.



The Disneyland Resort, comprising Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, will be closed beginning Saturday, March 14 through the end of the month. Disney will continue to pay cast members during this time.



The theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, as well as Disneyland Paris Resort would also be temporarily closed starting at the close of business on March 15 through the end of the month.



In a statement, Disneyland said, 'While there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at Disneyland Resort, after carefully reviewing the guidelines of the Governor of California's executive order and in the best interest of our guests and employees, we are proceeding with the closure of Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure...'



Disney added that the Hotels of Disneyland Resort will remain open until Monday, March 16 to help guests to make necessary travel arrangements. Downtown Disney will remain open. During the closure time, the guests can either change or cancel their visits, and those who have hotel bookings, will get refunds.



Hotels at Disney World and Disneyland Paris will remain open until further notice and the cast members would be paid during the closure period.



Disney also said that it will suspend all new departures with the Disney Cruise Line starting Saturday through the end of the month.



Disney's parks in Asia were already closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.



Similarly, Universal Studios Hollywood issued a statement, noting that it will be temporarily shut starting March 14. The theme park anticipates reopening on March 28 as it continues to monitor the situation. Universal Studios added that Universal CityWalk will remain open.



Universal Orlando Resort in Florida also announced it would temporarily close its theme parks starting at the close of business on March 15.



In the U.S., the number of confirmed cases has surpassed 1,600, spread across 47 states. The death toll in the nation has climbed to 41.



According to the World Health Organization, the coronavirus has infected more than 132,500 people and killed nearly 5,000 worldwide as of March 12.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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JetBlue has banned a passenger from flying with them again after he boarded a plane knowing he was waiting for coronavirus test results which came back positive during his journey.

The man got a text confirming his diagnosis after he boarded the flight from John F Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Palm Beach International Airport, Florida, on Wednesday.

Vast swathes of the country are shutdown as the US confirmed 1,700 cases and 41 deaths from the killer bug.

The plane's 114 passengers were forced to remain on Flight 253 for two additional hours while they were given instructions on what procedures should be taken.

JetBlue has banned a passenger from flying with them after he boarded a plane knowing he was waiting for coronavirus test results which came back positive during his journey. But other passengers (pictured disembarking the flight) were not told to self isolate

The plane's 114 passengers (pictured getting off the plane) were forced to remain on Flight 253 for two additional hours while they were given instructions on what procedures should be taken

The infected man and his wife were taken off from the back of the plane.

An airline spokesman told The New York Post on Thursday: 'In reviewing last nights event, we determined the customer boarded our flight knowing he was awaiting results for a coronavirus test without disclosing it to anyone at JetBlue.

He added: 'Last nights event put our crewmembers, customers and federal and local officials in an unsettling situation that could have easily been avoided, and as such, this customer will not be permitted to fly on JetBlue in the future.'

Agents with the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County assessed the situation and spokes with all the passengers aboard the aircraft (pictured on the tarmac)

Footage taken at the time shows a Florida health official telling passengers that they were 'free to walk around and move around' after the man tested positive.

Dr. Alina Alonso instructed the passengers to monitor themselves, highlighting how anyone who feels sick will need to contact the appropriate entities.

'At this point, you're free to walk around and move around because most likely you are not going to have anything because there was no activity,' she said in footage obtained by Pix11.

Officials with the Florida Department of Health spoke with passengers at the at the Palm Beach International Airport on Wednesday night after the man tested positive with the virus

'The way you get this virus is someone has to cough or sneeze on you.'

Alonso then asks the passengers if the man had coughed or sneezed on anyone, to which several people could be heard exclaiming 'no.'

A man can be heard asking Alonso if they can go 'out,' to which she responds that she is not telling them to stay 'home.'

BREAKING: After flying with a person with COVID-19 coronavirus on JetBlue flight - officials tell passengers on flight they DONT need to self-quarantine.



Youre free to walk around and move around@PIX11News #COVID19 #CoronaOutbreak pic.twitter.com/L38SpGJ2uR  Cristian Benavides (@cbenavidesTV) March 12, 2020

Another passenger on the plane claimed the man's wife told him they had been told of the result before take off.

The flight landed at 8.53pm and passengers were allowed off the aircraft at 10.45pm, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue explained to WPTV.

'The person across the way from me was taken to the back of the plane,' passenger Scott Rodman said.

'He was wearing masks and gloves. His wife was sitting in the same row as me and mentioned to others that he wasn't feeling well.

'She said he had gotten a phone call with his test results right before we had taken off, implying that he had a positive test but not actually saying it.'

'At this point, you're free to walk around and move around because most likely you are not going to have anything because there was no activity,' Dr. Alina Alonso said in footage

Agents with the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County assessed the situation and spoke with all the passengers aboard the aircraft.

Passengers who had been in close proximity with the man were also advised of monitoring procedures and given instructions of how to get in contact with the health department if they had any issues.

The airport is sterilizing the area where the passengers deplaned, adding that it was in a separate area than the main terminals of the airport.

There are already more than 1,400 cases of the virus in the US and 38 people have died.
President Trump on Friday again claimed that his response to the coronavirus was hindered by the Obama administration, which left office three years ago.

Mr. Trump attacked Mr. Obama, who served with Mr. Trumps likely Democratic challenger, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in two posts on Twitter.

For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it, Mr. Trump wrote. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped. President Obama made changes that only complicated things further.

Their response to H1N1 Swine Flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now, he continued. The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go! he wrote.
[March 13, 2020] MTX to provide U.S. School Districts FREE access to a Health Monitoring and Control App to help fight the spread of the Coronavirus

DALLAS, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MTX Group CEO, Das Nobel, announced today that the MTX Health Monitoring and Control Application will be provided to K-12 Public School Districts across the United States for free, a $500,000 value. By providing the application to school districts, it will flatten the curve of the disease and help prevent an overload on our healthcare systems. The application is currently being used by state and local government agencies, health officials, and airports to provide real-time insights in predicting at-risk communities, disease growth rates, and monitoring the rapidly spreading Coronavirus pandemic. Das Nobel says, "We want our K-12 school systems to have the necessary technology resources immediately to help fight the spread of the Coronavirus. Free access to this application will provide school administrators the ability to engage remotely with parents, teachrs and staff, monitor any potential symptoms and alert medical teams of a potential coronavirus exposure, ultimately encouraging staff, teachers or children to stay home if they exhibit any symptoms."



The app provides a centralized monitoring and control system that enables actionable insights to mobilize the necessary resources quickly while adhering to all the required government data privacy and security laws, including HIPAA compliance. Schools will immediately be able to benefit from the application's features and can be up in running in less than 24 hours. Benefits include:

Providing parents and staff an easy-to use mobile enrollment consent form

Communicate automatically with a two-way SMS texting feature to identify symptoms early and notify families and staff when to stay home

View status of individual health in real-time through a visual dashboard "Children and student safety is important for all of us at MTX and we are proud to play a significant part in this fight. Our MTX Innovation Team is rapidly deploying health monitoring and control applications across the country. We strongly believe that our public schools will immensely benefit from having free and rapid access to this application to contain this pandemic," said Das Nobel, CEO of MTX Group. "Our families have a special place in our hearts at MTX. Earlier this year, we announced a full 1 year paid maternity leave for our employees. This is just another step forward in how MTX combines our innovative mind-set with our family-focused culture." About MTX MTX Group, Inc is a global cloud technology partner that enables organizations to become a fit enterprise through digital transformation and strategy. MTX is powered by the Maverick Artificial Intelligence platform and has deep expertise in the public sector providing proprietary designs and innovative concept accelerators. For media inquiries and to learn more about how MTX is providing innovative transformative solutions to help limit the spread of contagious diseases, please reach out to [email protected]. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mtx-to-provide-us-school-districts-free-access-to-a-health-monitoring-and-control-app-to-help-fight-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-301023093.html SOURCE MTX Group

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Angelo Victor Emanuel Rucci, 91, of South Philadelphia, an aspiring physician who set aside his medical training to head up the familys meat business, died Wednesday, March 4, of congestive heart failure at the VITAS Hospice in Jefferson Methodist Hospital.

Known as Manny, Mr. Rucci was born in South Philadelphia to Raffaele Rucci and Filomena Palmieri, immigrants from the Abruzzo region of Italy.

He graduated in 1946 from South Philadelphia High School and in 1950 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also had begun medical school.

But when his father died in the early 1950s, leaving the family without a breadwinner, Mr. Rucci left school to take over Ruccis Quality Meats, a market on South 12th Street. He remained owner-operator of the business for more than four decades until retiring in 1991.

Even after selling the business, he worked Fridays and Saturdays at Ferrantes Meats & More, a butcher shop on Haverford Avenue in Overbrook Park. He loved serving customers and would treat them to cinnamon buns and homemade doughnuts, said his daughter, Rosina Rucci.

He had an incredible generosity of spirit, he was almost abnormally kind, his daughter said. In my 64 years, I heard him say something negative about someone maybe once or twice. And it was always Donald Trump.

Son Ralph Rucci, a fashion designer in New York, said his father was a humble, humane man with extraordinary integrity. He was a perfect role model, his son said. He believed success is how you act toward others. It is not lucrative wealth or your station in society. He gave to others constantly.

As a father, Mr. Rucci was tender, quiet, not a disciplinarian, his son said. He loved watching our personalities unfold and evolve. He was not dictatorial. He wanted us to figure out things on our own and make the right choices. The trust he put in us allowed us to move forward.

When Ralph Rucci announced that he wanted to go to New York to work in fashion, his father was apprehensive, but didnt object. He was 100% behind me. He said, Take care of yourself, were always here for you,  Rucci said. When his son succeeded, Mr. Rucci was ecstatic and never missed a fashion show.

Mary Kingsland of Drexel Hill remembered Mr. Rucci from Ferrantes. I always looked forward to seeing him when he worked on Saturdays because he loved to chitchat, and I looked forward to the tea biscuit he gave me while we were talking, she said in an online message. Manny was such a wonderful person. If I had one word to describe him, it would be elegant.

Lisa DeRita-Romeo called Mr. Rucci the best neighbor ever.

Thank you for all your kindness, warmth and humor throughout the years, she wrote in an online tribute. Porter Street will never be the same without you.

He married Linda T. Bonavita in 1955. They raised their two children in South Philadelphia. After his wife died in 2004, Mr. Rucci joined two senior citizen clubs and immersed himself in holiday dances, weekend trips to the Poconos, day trips to Tropicana Atlantic City, and weekly card games.

Besides his daughter, Rosina, and son, Ralph, he is survived by a grandson and many nieces and nephews.

Services were Monday, March 9, with burial in SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Springfield.

Memorial donations may be made to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals via www.aspca.org, or to VITAS Hospice, 1300 Wolf St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148.
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Show of solidarity: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (center) meets with Muslim community leaders after a Parliament session in Wellington in March 2019. On Sunday, the country will recall the act of terror committed against Muslim worshippers in two Wellington mosques.(AFP/Dave Lintott)

A year ago on March 15 a heavily-armed Australian gunman went on a killing spree targeting New Zealand Muslims during their Friday prayers.

He opened fire at the Al Noor Mosque then continued shooting at the Linwood Islamic Center. Both are in Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island,

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Fiscozen, a Milan, Italy-based provider of a digital platform for the management of small businesses and freeleancers, raised 3m in Series A funding.

The round was led by United Ventures with participation from seed investors and business angels.

The company intends to use the funds to develop its platform and expand its business reach.

Founded in 2017 by CEO Fabio Ciotoli and COO Enrico Mattiazzi, supported by Vito Lomele (founder of Jobrapido), Fiscozen provides a digital platform for the management of small businesses and freeleancers. The system allows business owners to open and manage bookeeping online, also offering support via advisors. It features invoicing, bookeeping, F24, pensions, tax forecasts, and tax declarations.

FinSMEs

13/03/2020
(CNN)  Fabio Wajngarten, the press secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, two sources have told CNN. Bolsonaro's health is being monitored.

It comes just days after Wajngarten met US President Donald Trump in Florida.

Bolsonaro's aide posted an image of himself standing with Trump and US Vice President Mike Pence at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend.

He was accompanying Bolsonaro on a trip to the US, during which the two leaders dined together. Earlier in the day, the pair had spoken to reporters about the coronavirus outbreak.

"I'm not concerned at all," Trump told the press. He had been asked about his attendance at the CPAC conference, where another person also tested positive for coronavirus.

Trump said he was aware of the aide's diagnosis during remarks in the Oval Office on Thursday.

"We did nothing very unusual, we sat next to each other for a period of time," he added, referring to Bolsonaro.

Trump on Wednesday announced sweeping travel bans for people coming into the United States from mainland Europe, as his administration attempts to tackle the ongoing pandemic.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 03:02:35|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, March 13 (Xinhua) -- To soften the economic effects of the coronavirus epidemic on companies, German lower parliament Bundestag on Friday unanimously passed a law to enable simplified short-time work compensation.

Earlier this week, the governing parties of the conservative CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) had agreed on various measures, including additional investments of 12.4 billion euros, to support German companies affected by the new coronavirus.

The new law would make it easier for German companies to obtain compensation from the Federal Employment Agency (BA). Companies could already claim short-time work compensation if only 10 percent of employees were affected by the loss of working hours instead of one third.

Furthermore, temporary employees in companies were now also allowed to receive short-time working compensation, according to the law.

German parliament noted that the simplified reimbursement of social security contributions for employers was intended to create an incentive to make greater use of short-time work during which employees could use offers for further training.

"We will not leave anybody alone, but we will manage it together," said Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz who stood in for Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil who did not attend the Bundestag meeting on Friday after having been in contact with a person infected with the virus. (1 euro = 1.11 U.S. dollars)
BJP leader Babulal Marandi on



Friday urged the Hemant Soren government to shut all educational institutions in the state in wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Referring to Bihar which announced a similar shutdown, Marandi said schools, colleges and other institutions where people gather in large numbers should be closed as a preventive measure.

He said the government should take precautions to prevent any outbreak as Jharkhand is a poor state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the midst of a polio epidemic in 1959, the Connecticut General Assembly passed a law requiring vaccinations for all children attending school. The Assembly carved out a religious exemption as a safeguard to protect religious beliefs, a worthy commitment to the principle of separation of church and state upon which our nation was founded.

Sadly, the religious exemption has been misused ever since  never more so than in recent years. In 2003-04 the state counted 316 students claiming the religious exemption. Today there are four times as many.

This is due neither to some increase in religiosity among Connecticut residents nor to faith groups issuing more restrictive guidelines. It is due simply to parents exploiting the religious exemption system for their own anti-vaccination purposes. Currently, any parent may submit a form or write a letter claiming a religious exemption. The exemption does not require the endorsement of a religious leader of any kind.

Thats why the General Assembly has returned to this question in the current session with the aim of eliminating the religious exemption for vaccinations.

As a rabbi, I can say this: Recognized authorities across the Jewish religious spectrum have plainly declared that there is no basis at all in Judaism for any religious exemption. Moreover, there a clear Jewish religious obligation to protect the health of our own children and to protect others through vaccination.

All three major Jewish religious denominations in the United States have made unequivocal statements supporting mandatory vaccinations. The Orthodox Union, the largest Orthodox Jewish congregational organization in the United States, and the Rabbinical Council of America, the largest organization of Orthodox rabbis in North America, have made it clear that vaccinations are not only permitted by Orthodox Jewish law, they are obligatory.

The Conservative Movements Committee on Jewish Law and Standards has ruled that timely vaccinations are a basic and necessary requirement for appropriate pediatric care. Rabbi Joseph Prouser of the CJLS argues that unless medically contraindicated for specific children, in extraordinary and compelling cases, parents have an unambiguous religious obligation to have their children immunized against infectious disease. The ruling concludes, Failure to immunize children against vaccine-preventable disease is a serious, compound violation of Jewish Law: there is no basis in (Jewish law) to support a parents request for a religious exemption from state-mandated immunizations.

Reform Judaism, too, holds that vaccination is obligatory. The Central Conference of American Rabbis, the professional organization of Reform Rabbis, issued a ruling on Compulsory Immunization in 1999. It states, Jewish tradition would define immunization as part of the mitzvah of healing and recognize it as a required measure, since we are not entitled to endanger ourselves or the children for whom we are responsible by refusing proven medical treatment. The ruling clearly endorses programs of compulsory immunization in our communities, with exemptions granted only to those individuals whose medical conditions place them at particular risk of injury or untoward side effects. Aside from those individual cases, there are no valid Jewish religious grounds to support the refusal to immunize as a general principle.

With these rulings in mind, it is especially disheartening to see that some Jews have cited a so-called religious exemption to evade their responsibility to vaccinate. We have recently witnessed diseases once considered eradicated again harming children and families when vaccinations against them are not vigilantly performed. Doing so puts our own children and other children at risk, in clear violation of Jewish tradition.

Rabbis across Connecticut have come together to urge legislators to eliminate the religious exemption. We sincerely wish good health upon all children in our state, and fully support the General Assemblys efforts in that direction.

Rabbi Michael S. Friedman serves as senior rabbi at Temple Israel of Westport.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Total confirmed cases of Coronavirus in India spikes to 81

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Mar 13: Health Ministry on Friday while briefing media said that the total number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus stands at 81. Of these, 3 from Kerala were treated and discharged. In addition, seven more from Safdarjung have also recovered.

Speaking to media persons, Harsh Vardhan said, '' Government of India, along with States/UTs, has taken several preemptive, timely and proactive measures for prevention, containment and management of #COVID19.''

'' Continuous review and monitoring of the situation at the highest political and administrative levels has led to decisive actions taken in public interest such as travel restrictions, suspension of visas and self-quarantine measures,'' he further said.

Coronavirus shutdown: What is closed and what is open in Karnataka

'' Early establishment of point of entry surveillance and universal screening of passengers at airports and vessels at seaports, evacuation of Indian citizens from #COVID19 affected countries, '' Vardhan said.

'' Adequate laboratory and quarantine facilities, have contributed significantly towards management of #COVID19 in the country. All essential facilities like community surveillance, quarantine, isolation wards, adequate PPEs, trained manpower, rapid response teams are being strengthened further in all States and UTs, '' the health ministry said.

'' So far, the Government of India has evacuated 1031 persons including 48 nationals from countries such as Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, US, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru. Till date, 890 evacuees from #COVID19 affected countries have been discharged after 14 days isolation and having tested negative as per protocols," he said.

''654 evacuees from Wuhan, China on 1st February and 3rd February 2020 were discharged on 18th February 2020. 124 evacuees from Japan and 112 evacuees from #China have been discharged today after having tested negative for #COVID19 in the second round of tests,'' he said.

Kerala under lockdown: 900 still under observation due to Coronavirus outbreak

India has spared no effort to get our people back from any major #COVID affected country. GoI has sent scientists, equipment for labs, reagents & brought back samples for testing from these countries.

So far 1199 samples have been collected in #Iran and brought to #India for testing.

Government operated an Air Force flight to bring 58 passengers from Iran on 10th March 2020, facilitated Mahan Air flight to bring back people from Iran. Today one flight with 44 passengers has landed in Mumbai.

These passengers are being kept in quarantine at the Navy facility in Mumbai. Another Mahan Air flight is expected to land tomorrow in Delhi.

Government is even prepared to operate special flights to bring back Indians who have tested negative and are coordinating treatment of positive people in Iran as per protocol.

Government has sent a team of four doctors from #MoHFW to #Rome. They have just reached #Rome with sufficient material and reagents to collect samples of Indians there for onward testing in India.

In addition, we have screened 11,71,061 passengers screened from 10,876 flights at 30 designated airports. 3,062 passengers and 583 contacts were identified and referred to IDSP and designated hospitals.

Government has brought 42,296 passengers under community surveillance, out of which 2,559 were symptomatic and 522 hospitalized including 17 foreign nationals.

25,504 passengers have been additionally screened at major and minor seaports, and more than 14 lakh people screened at land ports.

Noida man tested positive for Coronavirus

As of today, 81 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in the country. Of these, 3 from #Kerala were treated and discharged. In addition, seven more from Safdarjung have also recovered. Of these confirmed cases, 64 cases are of Indian nationals, 16 Italian nationals and 1 Canadian national. Contact tracing of these cases is being actively pursued. So far, this has led to identification of more than 4000 contacts who have been put under surveillance.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 13, 2020, 17:35 [IST]
If there were ever a doubt that a united community can make a difference in the world, Katy dispelled it with the Feed the Hunger Packathon. When more than 3,000 people banded together in one space, they were able to pack nearly 1 million meals for the community, both locally and globally.

The Feed the Hunger Packathon was a three-day volunteering event in which participants packed nutritionally complete non-perishable meals to feed the hungry both in Katy and abroad. This years Feed the Hunger Packathon took place Feb. 27- 29 in the Katy ISD Pavilion. During that three-day period, 3,246 Katy volunteers packed 820,080 meals.
It's easy for a newcomer to the world of search engine marketing to assume that the search engines (e.g., Google, Microsoft) are all the same and that clicks from them all behave in the same ways. In order to optimize your efforts, you need to know the differences between Google and Microsoft, their search engines and shopping engines, mobile vs. desktop and much more. Learn about what you're doing wrong and how to do it right.

The biggest difference between Google and Microsoft is reach: Google is larger than Microsoft, which includes Bing, Yahoo and AOL traffic in its network. According to Statista, that difference is around 63 percent market share for Google and 25 percent market share for Microsoft in the United States, so Google is around 2.5 times the size of Microsoft. You would think that suggests you should focus your initial efforts on Google to get in front of more users, right? Perhaps, but everyone else is also thinking that. There is less competition on Microsoft, and you might be able to acquire the same amount clicks at a lower cost per click and improve your ROI in the process.

There's also a material difference in demographics between the two networks. Google tends to attract a younger, more college-educated, higher-income, and a generally more tech-savvy audience that Microsoft, and more Microsoft users are parents. Depending on your product offering, that could mean nothing to you (e.g., either audience watches movies). But maybe that demographic difference presents and opportunity for you (e.g., selling a product targeting older Baby Boomers may perform better on Microsoft).

Those looking to attract users from outside the United States should know that Google's international reach is also bigger than Microsoft's.

Search vs. shopping

Just so we are clear, search ads are the sponsored listings that appear at the top of search engine results when you enter in a keyword (mostly text links). Shopping ads are the product listings that appear in the shopping sections of those same search engines (mostly visual product images). The shopping ads are typically a direct feed of your products from your website created using a management tool like Feedonomics or DataFeedWatch. If you're in ecommerce, the natural instinct is to advertise in both sections. That may work fine for you, or it may not, as we learned at my business, Restaurant Furniture Plus.

We learned the shopping section mostly attracts consumers, not commercial buyers. There was a significant difference in our average order size between the two sections, lets say $500 from shopping and $5,000 from search. And based on the differences in cost of customer acquisition, lets say $100 from shopping and $200 from search, it was easier for us to maximize our revenues, profitability and return on ad spend by focusing on search and not struggle to break even on our shopping spend. Figure out what balance is best for your business.

B2C vs. B2B

Related to the search vs. shopping topic are the implications for B2C vs. B2B businesses. Continuing with my business' example, lets say we were advertising for chairs. Yes, chairs are needed for restaurants, but they're also needed by consumers in their homes. When we were simply advertising chairs, we were up against a lot of big consumer brands selling chairs (e.g., Pier 1, Pottery Barn, Wayfair) trying to tap into the same keywords. And those big brands have a lot more marketing muscle and repeat buying potential (as those consumers will most likely buy other products for their homes over time.) All this meant the big brands were willing to pay a lot more for those leads than we were. It wasnt until we shut off our shopping feed and changed all our generic chairs keywords to more specific ones such as restaurant chairs, commercial chairs and foodservice chairs that we started optimizing for our B2B needs.

Desktop vs. mobile

When I first started digital marketing in 2000, there was no such thing as a smart phone, so all the traffic was coming from desktop PCs. But over the last 20 years  thanks to the innovations of Apple, Android, Samsung and others  searches from mobile phones have surpassed searches from desktop PCs for many companies. The problem is that most businesses have optimized their user experience for desktop, not mobile, and search engine algorithms produce results differently depending on the perceived user experience and site speed of those different desktop and mobile channels.

For example, check out this Google tool that lets you check your site speed on desktop and mobile. If Google thinks your mobile site is too slow compared to your desktop site, it will not publish your mobile advertising with the same frequency as your desktop advertising. It will also publish it less frequently than advertising for competitors whose sites are better optimized for mobile. Companies need to live in a mobile-first way of thinking even if it goes against what they've been taught.

Text (prospecting) vs. display (retargeting)

When you buy text ads on search engines, you can also buy display ads that retarget users who are visiting other websites within their advertising networks. There are a few ways display ads differ from text ads: What you can say and show in a few lines of text is very different from what you can say and show in an image. Not to mention that image is now being displayed to a user who has already seen your brand once, so they will be much more likely to engage with a brand they recognize. If you're going to run a search campaign, you're leaving a lot of potential success off the table if you're not concurrently running display retargeting ads.

With reviews vs. without

Over the years, Google has emphasized social media data in determining how it publishes ads and ranks sites for organic traffic. One of the biggest drivers of that is customer review data. The reviews must come from their list of trusted review vendors to give the review credibility and ensure businesses don't make them up.

The benefit of working with one of these trusted third-party review vendors is that if you have over 100 reviews, Google will add your summary five-star score next to each of your paid search ads and your organic search result links. This does two things: It gives you higher credibility than other links on the page (increasing the odds the customer clicks on your links), and it can decrease your cost of customer acquisition by as much as 15 percent, on average, with a higher likelihood of converting into sales.

General vs. custom audiences

Until now, you mostly had to rely on search engines to identify the target audience and hope they got it right. In the newest iterations of search marketing, the searches engines are giving you more input on who they're targeting. For example, if you're a whitelisted email marketer, you can give them your list of email targets and they'll match it to their users and target advertising only to them. This is great if you're targeting old customer email accounts or have a list of prospects' emails. Another tactic is to give them a list of competitor or industry websites where your customers are likely looking, and they'll target advertising to any users that visit those sites. This is the first thing I've seen  other than customizing keywords from chairs to restaurant chairs  that will help B2B marketers go after such targeted traffic. Be sure to take advantage of custom audiences in your campaigns.

As you can see, a lot has changed in the world of search marketing in the past decade, and I'm guessing that change will continue. Please dont set up your campaigns once and forget about them. You need to keep up with new best practices and reset your campaigns to have a maximum return on your search engine marketing investment.

Related:

6 consejos REALES para proteger tus ventas del coronavirus

6 estrategias de marketing que te hacen perder dinero

A PR Checklist For Entrepreneurs Dealing With The COVID-19 Crisis



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But a spokesman for Mr Morrison insisted he does not need a coronavirus test

It sparked calls for parliament to be shut down and meet remotely online

This means Prime Minister Scott Morrison was also in close contact with him

All of the Australian government's cabinet met on Tuesday, including Mr Dutton

He had recently returned from the USA for an intelligence sharing meeting

The Liberal politician, 49, was in hospital on Friday night with coronavirus

Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton has tested positive for coronavirus, making him the first Australian politician to be diagnosed with the disease.

The Liberal Party politician, 49, was in hospital on Friday night as cases soar in Australia soared to 201.

It has sparked fears that the entire cabinet, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, will be forced to self-isolate after meeting Mr Dutton earlier this week.

But a spokesman for the prime minister insisted Mr Dutton was not contagious at the time of the meeting, so none of the cabinet ministers will be tested.

The cabinet met on Tuesday to discuss the stimulus, and will have been sat in close proximity, prompting calls for parliament to shut down.

Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton (pictured in February) has tested positive for coronavirus

In a statement posted on Twitter on Friday afternoon (pictured) Mr Dutton explained he was tested in Queensland

It is thought Mr Dutton then took a commercial flight back to Brisbane later on Tuesday.

He said in a statement that he woke up on Friday morning with 'a temperature and a sore throat' but 'feels fine'.

Mr Dutton then 'immediately contacted the Queensland Department of Health' and submitted himself for a test, which came back positive.

The politician had recently returned from a work trip to the United States.

He met with officials from the US, UK and Canada in Washington on March 6 as part of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing programme.

A woman is seen wearing a face mask on Friday (pictured) overlooking the Sydney Opera House, as the number of coronavirus cases in Australia reached 201

'This morning I woke up with a temperature and a sore throat,' he said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) is seen on Friday, just three days after his cabinet meeting with Mr Dutton

'I immediately contacted the Queensland Department of Health and was subsequently tested for Covid-19.

'I was advised by Queensland Health this afternoon that the test had returned positive.

'It is the policy of Queensland Health that anyone who tests positive is to be admitted into hospital and I have complied with their advice.

'I feel fine and will provide an update in due course.'

Earlier on Friday, Mr Dutton didn't appear for his interview on the Today Show.

The show's host Allison Langdon said the politician was suffering from a 'stomach bug'.

He also visited a campus of Southern Cross University at Moreton Bay on Monday.

On Monday, Mr Dutton met students and university bosses at the University of Sunshine Coast (pictured) to open its new campus

Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce called for parliament to be held remotely after Mr Dutton's diagnosis.

Parliament is next due to sit on the week starting March 23.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

'If we can send millions of dollars over the internet then we can surely find a way of holding parliament over the internet,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'If any MPs have had contact with Peter Dutton they have a duty to out themselves now. Its not about you its about the older people you may affect.'

Cabinet met on Tuesday to rubber stamp the $17 billion stimulus package designed to protect the fledgling economy.

'They could all have it,' Mr Joyce said.

When a person has been in contact with someone later diagnosed with coronavirus, they are expected to self-isolate for 14 days.

This could mean dozens of Australian politicians could soon be forced into isolation.

People wear face masks in front of the Sydney Opera House on Friday, as the number of cases in Australia soared to 201

Scott Morrison sent a tweet (pictured) on Friday evening confirming he was not going to self-isolate despite meeting with Peter Dutton on Tuesday

The shadow home affairs minister, Labor's deputy leader Kristina Keneally, sent her counterpart a message of support on Twitter.

'This shows the threat of coronavirus is real,' she wrote.

'We need to listen to medical experts and get tested if youve been exposed or overseas and show symptoms.

'I disagree with Peter on a lot of things and will always hold him to account, but, Peter, I do wish you a speedy recovery.'

In a statement just hours after Mr Dutton's announcement, the prime minister's office said he was not symptomatic during the cabinet meeting.

This means neither Mr Morrison nor any other member of the cabinet will be self-isolating.

Peter Dutton (pictured) was in the US on March 6 to meet with intelligence officials as part of the Five Eyes programme

A spokesman said: 'Following confirmation the Minister for Home Affairs has tested positive for coronavirus, he has been isolated according to the policies of Queensland Health.

'Queensland Health will undertake the appropriate contact tracing.

'The Minister attended Tuesdays meeting of the Federal Cabinet in person and Thursdays meeting of the National Security Committee via video link.

'In advice provided to the Prime Minister this evening, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer has reiterated that only people who had close contact with the Minister in the preceding 24 hours before he became symptomatic need to self-isolate.

'That does not include the Prime Minister or any other members of the Cabinet.'

Peter Dutton (pictured, third from right) also met with US president Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka (fourth from right) during his trip overseas

A man wearing a face mask is seen waiting for a bus (pictured) in Sydney on Friday afternoon

The prime minister later announced that he would not watch his 'beloved Sharks' play their first NRL game of the season on Saturday.

His potential attendance had attracted controversy because of his earlier announcement that gatherings of 500 people or more should be cancelled from Monday.

The government made in the wake of growing evidence that the coronavirus pandemic is spreading throughout the community.

Earlier on Friday, Mr Morrison had insisted he would still be attending the Cronulla Sharks game against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

'It might be the last game (I get) to go to for a long time,' he said.

A spokesman from Mr Morrison's office then defended the decision, saying the ban on gatherings was 'not actually necessary yet, but will be going forward'.

'It's very precautionary,' the spokesman said, adding the decision was based on the advice of all the chief medical officers to allow the federal government time to formulate protocols and guidelines.
By PTI

LUCKNOW: A special CBI court hearing the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case in Ayodhya on Friday fixed March 24 for examining and questioning the accused.

The court has summoned accused Champat Rai, Lallu Singh and Prakash Sharma on March 24. Special Judge S K Yadav will also summon the other accused in the case.

Earlier, the CBI led its last prosecution witness -- main investigating officer M Narayanan -- who was also cross-examined by the lawyers of the accused.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) produced as many as 351 witnesses during the trial.

In a criminal trial, after the prosecution witnesses are examined and before the accused are called on for their defence, the trial court, under CrPC section 313, has to question the accused on the case in order to enable the latter to personally explain any circumstances appearing in the evidence against him.

The Supreme Court had, on April 19, 2017, directed the trial court to conclude the trial within two years. On July 19, 2019, it had extended the time by nine months. Accordingly, the judgment in the case is likely to be pronounced by next month.

As many as 49 FIRs were lodged after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

One of those was lodged at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station in Ayodhya by Station House Officer Priyamvada Nath Shukla, while another FIR was registered by Sub-Inspector Ganga Prasad Tiwari at the same police station.

Other FIRs were lodged on the basis of complaints from reporters and photographers at different police stations.

After concluding its investigation, the CBI had filed a chargesheet against 49 accused, of whom 17 have died pending trial.

The accused in the case included former deputy prime minister L K Advani and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders MM Joshi, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar.
Iran commits to sending the flight recorders to France or Ukraine.

The COVID-19 outbreak in Iran has delayed the transfer of "black box" flight recorders recovered from the wreckage of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 for analysis, the chair of Canada's Transportation Safety Board says.

Kathy Fox told CBC News that Iran notified her office on March 5 that an earlier plan to transport the black boxes for analysis had been cancelled because "problems of [the] coronavirus between states" were affecting the ability of Iranian officials to travel outside the country.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of the Islamic Republic of Iran added that it was also facing delays because the "coronavirus in Iran was affecting organizational activities and the availability of human resources."

"There was a plan to take [the recorders] to Ukraine. However, that's been delayed because of the outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran," said Fox. "That is affecting their ability to travel at this time.

"It's just one more challenge that nobody needed."

Read alsoNumber of deaths from novel coronavirus rises to 4,720

The COVID-19 death toll in Iran now stands at 354, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Iran's senior vice president and two cabinet ministers reportedly have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Earlier, Iran agreed to send black boxes from a downed Ukrainian jetliner to Kyiv for analysis.

UNIAN memo. Kyiv-bound UIA flight PS752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport in the early hours of January 8. It was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members on board. Two passengers and the crew members were Ukrainians. There were also 82 citizens of Iran, 63 citizens of Canada, 10 citizens of Sweden, four citizens of Afghanistan, three citizens of Germany and the United Kingdom each. There were no survivors.

On January 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani officially admitted that the Ukrainian airliner had been shot down by accident as a result of a "human error" and that those responsible would be held accountable.

On February 2, intercepted communications between Tehran Airport's air traffic control tower and the second pilot of Iran's Aseman Airlines flight at the time of the crash of flight PS752 were released by TSN.Tyzhden. Tehran blamed the Ukrainian authorities for leaking what it described as confidential evidence, and said it would no longer share investigation materials with Ukraine.

On February 14, the Iranian Foreign Minister said Iran did not plan to hand the black boxes over but it would not decrypt their data without the participation of the parties concerned.
With Connecticut schools weighing the feasibility of remote instruction over the Internet amid the coronavirus emergency, three major broadband providers indicated their networks are equipped to handle any resulting surge in traffic.

Comcast, Charter Communications and Altice USA, which combined serve large numbers of Connecticut cities and towns, noted that they have undertaken upgrades in recent years to accommodate streaming video and the plethora of other applications in homes as more devices get connected to the Internet. A Frontier Communications spokesperson could not be reached immediately Friday on its network capacity, which covers most of Connecticut.

Our network is built to sustain maximum capacity during peak usage, which is typically in the evenings, so a surge during the day would be well within our capabilities to manage, stated Lara Pritchard, a spokesperson with Stamford-based Charter. We monitor our networks ... for performance and reliability, and have added additional focus on areas where impacts of the COVID-19 virus are causing behavioral changes by customers, such as increased telecommuting and school closures.

Altice USA has been rolling out a new Altice One hub for broadband and cable TV service in the home, with its Optimum Online and TV territories including coastal Fairfield County and a cluster of towns in Litchfield and New Haven counties.

We have been investing in technology and increasing network capacity to meet the growing demands of our always online culture, and this includes having in place proper contingency plans to ensure service continuity for our customers in times like these, stated Altice USA spokesperson Lisa Anselmo. We are closely monitoring network usage and are assessing all of our policies and procedures to best support our customers during this unprecedented time.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Both Altice USA and Charter are opening up WiFi hotspots available for subscribers for use by the general public.

Altice USA and Charter are offering two months of free broadband to households with students that are not already a subscribers to their services, with no installation fees. Households can sign up for Charter Spectrum service by calling 1-844-488-8395, with Altice USA signing up Optimum accounts at 1-866-200-9522.

Comcast is offering two months of free broadband to families that sign up for its Internet Essentials service, which carries a normal rate of $10 a month. Over the next few days for existing customers, the company is increasing its download speeds by two thirds to 25 megabits per second.

Comcast offers Xfinity broadband service in portions of the New Haven, Danbury and Hartford areas among a wide swath in Connecticut. Customers can check for service eligibility online and sign up at www.internetessentials.com or by calling 1-855-846-8376, with the company offering access to call center agents who speak Spanish at 1-855-765-6995.

As schools and businesses close and families are encouraged, or even mandated, to stay home, Internet connectivity becomes even more important, stated Dana Strong, president of consumer services for Comcast Cable.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday suggested the Saarc grouping should frame a strategy to counter coronavirus (Covid-19), a rare outreach involving Pakistan that drew a positive response from the six other members of the bloc.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) has been moribund since a summit scheduled to be held in Pakistan in 2016 was called off after a terror attack on an army camp at Uri in Kashmir. Since then, India has expended more diplomatic capital in shoring up alternative groupings such as Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec).

Modi caused a flutter in diplomatic circles by suggesting that Saarc could work jointly to counter Covid-19, and even calling for a discussion through video conferencing by the leadership of the eight member states.

I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy. Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet, he tweeted.

In another tweet, he said governments and people around the world are trying their best to combat Covid-19. South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population, should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy, he added.

Diplomatic circles noted the formulation of Modis tweets, including a reference to Saarc after a long gap. A person familiar with developments said the message from India was that regional countries could set aside differences and set an example for others by working on a global challenge.

Pakistans health minister Zafar Mirza told a briefing in Islamabad that Modis proposal wasnt discussed at the National Security Committee meeting chaired on Friday by Prime Minister Imran Khan and attended by the military leadership.

The proposal was welcomed by the leaders of other Saarc states. It is understood the Indian side could go ahead with the move because of the support from a majority of members.

Bhutan was the first Saarc state to endorse the move, with Prime Minister Lotay Tshering tweeting: This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghanis spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi tweeted his government strongly welcomes the proposal and the readiness of other Saarc members to work together [in] devising a unified strategy to fight the Coronavirus in the region.

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih thanked Modi for taking the initiative on this important endeavour, and tweeted COVID-19 requires collective effort to defeat it. He added, Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort.

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli welcomed Modis idea and tweeted: My government is ready to work closely with SAARC Member States to protect our citizens from this deadly disease.

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa thanked Modi and tweeted his country is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Lets unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe.

Bangladesh minister of state for foreign affairs Mohammad Shahriar Alam tweeted that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had welcomed the proposal and looked forward to a constructive dialogue with Modi, Solih, Oli, Tshering and Rajapaksa and other heads of government who already consented to discuss way forward at this testing time for the region and the world.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the leadership of SAARC nations should chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus and South Asia should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy.

Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it. South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy, he said in a series of tweets.

Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it.



South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 13, 2020

The PM also suggested the leaders could discuss, via video conferencing. ways to keep our citizens healthy.

I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy. Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.

I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus.



We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy.



Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 13, 2020

Prime Minister Modis proposal for SAARC came a day after India reported its first death from coronavirus and the number of new cases continue to be on the rise. The country has recorded 75 cases so far. Delhi and Haryana have declared COVID-19 an epidemic and many state governments have taken measures ranging from closing educational institutions, banning public events and sports tournaments to contain the spread of the disease.

A day earlier, PM Modi had said that no central government minister will travel abroad in the coming days.

Say No to Panic, Say Yes to Precautions. No Minister of the Central Government will travel abroad in the upcoming days. I urge our countrymen to also avoid non-essential travel. We can break the chain of spread and ensure safety of all by avoiding large gatherings, PM Modi tweeted on Thursday.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh has postponed the March 17 grand inaugural ceremony of the birth centenary celebrations of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after three coronavirus cases were detected in the country. PM Modi visit to Dhaka to participate in the event was postponed and he will now join the celebrations through video conference.

Covid-19 has claimed over 4,600 lives and infected more than 125,048 people across 118 countries and territories since it originated in China late in December last year.
BAY CITY, MI - Bay City Public Schools is distributing perishable food items from Bay City Central High School until early Friday afternoon, principal Tim Marciniak said.

Marciniak said he met with his food service supervisor, who told him the schools had a stock of perishables such as fruits, vegetables and milk that would likely go to waste while students are at home. Schools throughout Michigan are closed from March 16 until April 5 by the order of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Bay City Public Schools closed schools on Friday, March 13, as well.

They decided to consolidate the perishables at Bay Central and open the building until 1 p.m. for anybody who needs food assistance, Marciniak said. Marciniak said a phone message was sent to school families, his main goal to make sure students are taken care of.

Thats been occurring since 8:30 continuously and its still going on," Marciniak said. I really was focused on the Central High School and neighboring elementary schools."

Any food that is left over after 1 p.m. will be boxed up and taken to Good Samaritan Rescue Mission or other organizations that can help with food scarcity, Marciniak said.

Superintendent Steve Bigelow is meeting with district officials to plan how to help students who depend on school meals during the coronavirus break, Marciniak said.

They are working on some kind of plan to help out our students and community right now, Marciniak said. Theres no details behind that plan, this hit so quick, theyre meeting to come up with some ideas.

Marciniak said the districts food service workers have stepped up for this situation and he wants to send them all his love and support.

The cream rises to the top, they have risen to the top of this to help out our families, Marciniak said. Im very lucky to work with these people.

Read more:

All Michigan schools to close as coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

Possible coronavirus exposure locations named across Michigan

Bay City St. Pats Day runners wont get refunds but will get T-shirts, medals
A theatre company chaired by Conservative peer Lord Grade was placed into administration yesterday after a court heard how a Hong Kong tycoon with links to the Royal Family ran up an expense account totalling almost 5million.

Businessman Dr Johnny Hon invoiced the simply extraordinary sum of 4.7million to Gate Ventures, now chaired by Lord Grade, when he acted as chairman before the former BBC boss took over in December 2017.

Gate Ventures has invested in West End shows including Sunset Boulevard and 42nd Street, as well as a string of obscure films in the Far East.

Zheng Yongxiong - known as Quentin - and the Duchess of York, pictured together in Windsor in 2017 applied for administrators to be brought in and claims an investigation into loans and payments given out by the company is necessary

The Duchess of York was a director of the company before stepping down in December.

The High Court in London heard that Gate Ventures, was in complete disarray and had lost 19million out of 24million invested.

This had come mostly come from 3,500 small Chinese investors who had been wowed by the presence of the duchess and Grade at glitzy roadshows in the Far East, where they played to packed audiences. Quentin Zheng, a Chinese businessman, launched an application to place the company into administration on the basis that he was unable to recoup a 2.5million loan.

In response, Lord Grade said Gate Ventures had in fact fallen victim to a serious fraud committed by Mr Zheng, who had promised investment of 7.5million following the Far East roadshows, which has never materialised.

The former ITV executive chairman then dramatically accused the tycoon of organising and leading pyramid selling activities in China.

Gate Ventures loaned Sarah Ferguson 287,577 and loaned 232,003 to her tea, dinnerware and jewellery company, Ginger & Moss, according to court documents seen by The Guardian

However after three days of evidence, Judge Sebastian Prentis took control of Gates assets out of the directors hands and placed the company into administration after divulging details of Dr Hons spending.

The court heard that Dr Hon, who has paid the Queens grandchildren Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall as well as the duchess to work for his companies, charged Gate Ventures around 2.9million for various meetings with celebrities.

Judge Prentis said: Dr Hon has been billing himself as a man of influence through the use of company money. That is not the purpose for which these small Chinese investors paid their money in to the company. He cited a 6,500 bill for lunch with fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger and a $1,000 shopping spree; thousands for lunch with Prince Albert of Monaco; 12,293 for a meeting with Manchester Uniteds Paul Pogba and a 4,000 piano lesson.

Judge Prentis said that an hours training session with a Victorias Secret model in New York might have been a very invigorating occasion for everybody, but it was not immediately recognisable as company business. During his tenure, Dr Hon also charged Gate Ventures for meetings with Hollywood icons Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Julia Roberts and lunch with the ambassadors of Romania and Malta

Conservative peer Lord Grade is the current chairman of the company

Grade is pictured here to the left of Zheng following an investor roadshow in the Far East
What's Next for Crude Oil Price Trend Forecast

When it comes to our Adaptive Dynamic Learning (ADL) predictive modeling system, we get asked questions from our friends and followers about how it could predict a virus event or how it could predict a price event so far out into the future. The truth of the matter is the ADL predictive modeling system doesnt predict unknown virus, banking or other types of events.

What it does do, quite well we might add, is identify historically accurate price events (almost like unique DNA markers) and attempts to identify future price events that align with recent price bar (DNA) setups. In other words, it maps the markets highest probability outcomes by studying past price activity and using a unique DNA-like mapping system. Once this analysis is complete for any chart, we can ask it what is likely to happen in the future.

On July 8, 2019, our researchers did exactly that and posted an article regarding our findings that many people continue to write us about. Some, at first, in total disbelief that Crude Oil could fall to levels below $40 ever again and others that wanted to know how we came up with these numbers. We set our ADL system to show us what is expected on a Monthly Crude Oil chart going forward and it draws the likely outcome and volatility (highs & Lows).

Here is a link to the original article: https://www.thetechnicaltraders.com/predictive-modeling-suggest-oil-headed-much-lower-by-early-2020/

This screen capture from the original July 2019 article clearly states

If our ADL predictive modeling is correct, we will see rotation between $47 and $64 over the next 3+ months before a breakdown in price hits in November 2019. This will be followed by two fairly narrow price range months (December 2019 and January 2020) where oil prices will tighten near $45 to $50. After that tightening, we believe an extremely volatile price move will happen in February through April 2020 that could see oil prices trade as low as $22 and as high as $51 over a two to three-month span.

The most critical component of this early research is the statement we have timed perfectly with our system was we believe an extremely volatile price move will happen in February through April 2020 and the following price predictions.

The ADL predictive modeling system provided us with a hint that volatility would skyrocket throughout this time in Crude Oil. And, as we all know, this next Daily Crude Oil chart highlights the incredible collapse from early January 2020 (near $65.00) to levels just below $50 in early February. After that, the high price level was near $54.50 and the current low price level is $27.34. We believe this downward price rotation in Crude Oil completely validates our earlier ADL predictive analysis.

Imagine having this type of forecast for our trading and investing! Be sure to opt-in to our free market trend signals newsletter before closing this page so you dont miss our next special report!

Whats next with the price of crude oil?

Based on short-term Fibonacci price momentum targets we could see fall as low as $17 per barrel, but this price target will change dramatically over the next few days depending on if oil bounces higher from here it is now.

If our research is correct, Crude oil may find a bottom somewhere near $17 to $24, the potential rally back up to somewhere above $37~41 ppb before staging another massive selloff. The massive volatility suggested by the ADL system also suggests a broad price range over the next 60+ days.

Thus, we believe Crude Oil will attempt to form a bottom below $30, then attempt a brief rally to fill the gap (or partially fill the gap). After that, supply-side economics will take over and Crude Oil should begin to move back towards the to $30 price level again  just as our ADL predictive modeling system suggested.

As of today, we are getting dozens of emails asking about what we see for the US major markets and global markets with our systems. Everyone wants to know whats next?. Most of that research is delivered to our active subscribers/members and you can gain access to that information simply by visiting my website. You really dont want to miss these next huge moves.

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 short-term swing traders.

Visit my ETF Wealth Building Newsletter and if you like what I offer, and ride my coattails as I navigate these financial markets and build wealth while others lose nearly everything they own during the next financial crisis.

Chris Vermeulen

www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

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.

Chris Vermeulen Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




New Delhi, March 14 : Nearly 90 days since they launched their stir against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Register of Citizens and National Population Register, a group of women demonstrators at Shaheen Bagh on Friday said that they will continue with the protest till the law is revoked.

The protesters also demanded a fair investigation into the north east Delhi violence and a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the victims.

"We want a fair probe into the riots in Jaffrabad, Maujpur and Shiv Vihar. Besides, there should be an inquiry about how the people came from Uttar Pradesh to the national capital during the violence," the women protesters at the site said at a late-night press conference. " The clashes that broke out in northeast district on February 24, claimed over 50 lives and left more than 200 people injured, besides inflicting massive damage to businesses and properties.

As a precautionary measure against the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, the women protesters said that they were being provided with hand sanitisers and masks at the site.
Los Angeles, CA, March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dr. Michael Everest is known for his life-changing efforts in supporting initiatives on medical education. He is an American Indian doctor. He faithfully allocates millions of dollars to get solutions to the leading health challenges the world faces through his Everest foundation, a nonprofit global organization that he serves as the chairman. The foundation is named after his father, who strongly advocated for education and believed that medical education should be one of the key focuses in every country. One of the foundation's programs, the Everest scholars, connects medical students and graduates from all over the world to top players in the health sector, such as teaching hospitals, and top-rated medical schools in the United States. Michael Everest seeks to advance medical innovation and philanthropic methods in medical research.





Some of the research areas funded by the organization include nanotechnology and stem cell technology. Still, Dr. Michael Everest has made significant contributions to stem cell technology, which has the capability of treating cancer, stroke, spinal injuries, and Alzheimer's disease. He sponsored the 5k walk/run. All the participants of the walk were wheelchairs users who have spinal injuries. Michael Everest formed a partnership with the Bronx VA exoskeleton and science research department, where he funded one of their stem technology projects. The project has already started to bear fruits. Several people who couldn't walk due to spinal injuries can now walk comfortably. Undoubtedly, such projects are life-changing. He also sponsors such medical events every year.





Dr. Michael Everest holds a strong belief that medical research initiatives are paramount for people from all parts of the world. For this reason, several medical trainees in the Keck School of medicine have benefitted mainly from his foundation. Dr. Michael gifted the medical school with $1m. The gift has backed up research in the institution. The donation has been of much help in the otolaryngology department, which researches the head and neck. The contribution will also enable the institution to carry out advanced research for years to come. Part of it will also benefit the children's hospital of Los Angeles, which has some connections with the Keck School of medicine.





Importantly, Dr. Michael Everest has played a significant role in the promotion of medical initiatives in third world countries. Michael Everest makes donations to community-based hospitals in third world countries, which entirely rely on their governments for funding. The contributions enable the hospitals to take necessary research, benefitting the whole community. Through his foundation, he has sponsored quite a good number of hospitals in those countries. He understand s that in most third world-class countries, medical schools offer science training on basic levels, as they cannot afford state of the art research facilities. To solve the problem of half-baked medicine graduates, Michael Everest sponsors the graduates so that they can acquire the necessary research training.





One of his recent initiatives involves backing up pathology training for medical graduates from different parts of the world. True to his words, Dr. Michael Everest donated $500 000 to the University of California. Other institutions that have benefitted from the Everest foundation include the New York medical school, the University of Texas, Stanford University, and many other higher learning institutions. The sponsorships are in the form of residency fellowships, grants, research fellowships, and gifts.





Michael Everest's mission is to advance medical research on a global level. He believes that medical innovation, the advancement of research equipment and methods will be of benefit not only to the current generations but to the coming generations.
(Natural News) As Natural News predicted would happen over a week ago, President Trump today declared a national state of emergency in the national fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

To unleash the full power of the federal government today, I am officially declaring a national emergency, he said today.

I am urging every state to set up emergency operation centers effective immediately.

President Trump is also urging every hospital in America to activate its own emergency plans: I am also asking every hospital to activate its emergency preparedness plan.

According to President Trump, this new declaration will free up $50 billion of very important money for states and territories.

The FDA is rapidly approving new coronavirus tests from Roche and Thermo-Fisher. Trump says an additional 1.4 million tests will be available early next week, followed by 5 million more tests within a month.

This is on the heels of the total failure of the U.S. government to make functional tests kits available in America, with the CDC now having lost any last shred of credibility after botching the first wave of test kits in early February. To this day, doctors across America are still screaming and begging for coronavirus tests.

Trump announced Coronavirus.gov would be the website that provides information to the public.

Emergency executive actions announced by Trump

Trump also announced a couple of executive actions:

 Waived interest on all student loans held by government agencies.

 Instructed the Secretary of Energy to purchase large quantities of crude oil to store in the U.S. Strategic Reserve.

Further, another spokesperson announced an order to temporarily restrict all visitors to nursing homes across America.

Heres how the epidemic is now exploding across America, mostly in left-wing cities run by Democrats:

New approach to testing means NOT testing asymptomatic carriers a disaster in the making

Trumps speech was then followed by heaps of Big Pharma propaganda from some woman speaking for HHS who claimed the private sector would save the world.

Mike Pence also continued to repeat his wildly false claims that everybody in America who needs to be tested can be tested right now. Its a lie.

The woman from HHS (Dr Deborah Birx?) announced a new approach to testing  a whole new screening website run by Google, which Trump says is being built by 1,700 Google engineers  no doubt the same engineers who continue to censor and silence the very same independent media that was weeks ahead of everybody else in telling the truth about this pandemic. There was no mention of whether Google would use this power to spy on the private health care test results of millions of Americans.

In effect, Trump just handed yet more power to Google, one of the most evil, vicious and Orwellian corporations that has ever existed on the planet. Why cant the U.S. government run its own website? Because the CDC is incompetent and clueless.

From a medical standpoint, this new approach to testing is a disaster. Its only tests those who currently show symptoms. According to a chart displayed during the live address, people who do not currently show any symptoms will not be tested. This is an enormous mistake and will allow asymptomatic carriers to further spread the coronavirus across America.

In effect, America will be chasing infections rather than preventing them.

No mention of vitamin C, anti-viral herbs, avoiding inflammatory foods ZERO health advice for America

What was completely missing from todays live address was even a single mention about nutrition, nutraceuticals or natural strategies for boosting immune function and preventing the spread of the virus using solutions that are available right now. While China is studying vitamin C as a safe, affordable treatment against coronavirus, the USA is run entirely by the corrupt, toxic pharmaceutical industry.

This entire thing is being run by Big Pharma and the retailers that sell pharmaceuticals (Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, Amazon, etc.).

With this pandemic, America has truly become a pharma state under the complete control of the pharmaceutical giants.

Heres my video from three months ago which explains all this:

Stay informed by reading Pandemic.news. Be ready to shelter in place for 60 days or more. Read Survival.news for survival advice that can help save your life.
Actor and BJP lawmaker Ravi Kishan on Friday said Bollywood and Bhojpuri film industry are greatly affected due to the deadly coronavirus.

While speaking to ANI, Ravi said: "It has made a huge impact on the industry in the sense that a lot of shootings have been cancelled, which eventually lead to a big loss of money as even the producers take money from the financers or market."

"And as far as the Bhojpuri industry is concerned, people can't film together as a unit because one is not aware of someone else's hygiene," said the actor-turned-politician.

"Today my mother called me in panic and was talking about the virus spreading in Delhi. She's not much aware of it as she stays in the village, that's why I'm myself going to my district to make people aware of the consequences and how one should take precautions and not take this lightly," he explained.

When asked if he cancelled any of his plans, Kishan said: "Yes, I have I was about to go on a vacation with my family but I had to cancel the trip."

He concluded by saying that there are several myths attached to the virus but as a thumb rule, one should maintain cleanliness around them.

The total number of persons infected from coronavirus has climbed up to 75 in India.

The virus, which originated in the Wuhan city of China, has spread to more than 100 countries globally, infecting over 1,30,000 people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Photo: Google Maps Lions Gate Hospital

Three staff members at a North Vancouver hospital have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Vancouver Coastal Health told CTV News that three administrative staff at Lions Gate Hospital have been diagnosed with the virus, and only family members of patients are now being being allowed to visit the hospital.

"Vancouver Coastal Health medical health officers are investigating the source of the transmission and are following up with those staff who may have had close contact with the individuals," VCH told CTV News in a statement.

"As of today, out of an abundance of caution, Lions Gate Hospital is restricting visitor access to family members only and will be posting signs to notify staff, patients and visitors to the hospital."

The discovery has not impacted patient access to the hospital though.

This comes after a second outbreak of COVID-19 was found at a Metro Vancouver long-term care home Thursday. As of Thursday, 53 cases of the virus had been found in B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is expected to provide an update later Friday afternoon.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
The health authorities on Friday sought the help of district administration and police to locate seven people, who recently returned from coronavirus-affected countries, after their addresses were found to be incorrect, officials said here.

Ludhiana Civil Surgeon Rajesh Bagga said the seven people from Ludhiana district had recently returned from the coronavirus-hit countries.

"These seven people are not traceable and the addresses given by them at the time of their arrival are found to be incorrect," he said.

"We have sought the help of district administration and the police to help locate the people so that they can be medically examined," said the civil surgeon.

Notably, as on March 12, more than 85,000 passengers, including at Amritsar and Mohali international airports, had been screened for in Punjab. So far, one person in Punjab who returned from Italy had tested positive for COVID-19.

The state government had formed a seven member group of ministers to review the situation on a daily basis triggered by the scare.
En espanol | In 2014, with three children living on their own and college tuition saved for the fourth, I took the leap of faith and plunged full-time into a startup making educational software to teach math to some of the most disadvantaged children on earth. Today my company, 7 Generation Games, has over 15,000 children using our technology, predominantly in low-income schools throughout the United States and Latin America.

The problem Im trying to solve



Over 40 million children in the U.S. today will graduate from high school lacking math proficiency. The situation is even worse in Latin America, where 78 million children are at the most basic level of math achievement. Educations the door to a better future, but its one closed to most low-income children. Without crucial math and literacy skills such as computing percentages or understanding a contract, students are barred access to college and better-paying jobs.



7 Generation Games brings educational technology to all these forgotten students. Our games are fun, teach math, give feedback and provide teachers with data. Theyre designed to be accessible to everyone. Our own research, which we were able to conduct thanks to grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, found students who play our games for 30 minutes twice a week increase their math scores by 30 percent compared to a control group.



The moment that sparked my passion



Thirty-five years ago, while I was in graduate school, I was working with emotionally disturbed youth. They were behind academically and angry at the world. I thought if I could make them a computer program, theyd have no one to rebel against and could catch up in school while the psychologists worked on their emotional problems. I made a few text-based games, but when I didnt get the results that I wanted, I switched to another area of research.



Then, almost three decades later, while volunteering on an American Indian reservation, I realized how behind these children were. Although there was better technology available, it wasnt targeted to remote communities with low-speed, unreliable internet and ancient devices. I decided I wanted to create educational games based on Native American culture to teach children math. Investors derided me as too old to understand the gaming market and informed me that No one cares about Native Americans because they are only 1 percent of the market. Undaunted, I applied for and received federal grants, developed five games with my team and tested them with over 10,000 students.



Advice to others who want to make a difference



Its never too late! When I founded my company, I was a 55-year-old Latina grandmother. My other bit of advice is not to focus so much on the destination that you forget to enjoy the journey. On my 60th birthday, I was busy opening a new office in Chile, but I still carved out time to climb a mountain and sit watching the condors soar next to me  just because.



Why my approach is unique



Unlike other companies that march in and tell educators about solutions, we start by listening to the schools problems. We then develop the software in stages, all the while consulting with them. This allows us to answer questions most companies never think to ask. Our goal is to create games that students want to play on whatever devices the school can afford. Its not easy, which is why so few people even try.



While other nonprofit programs share our desire to better educate students in the lowest-resource areas, they dont have the knowledge, staff or funds to develop software like us. We save money by writing most of the original code ourselves. We hire developers, artists and animators in the communities we serve, and make use of volunteer game testers and content creators to make educational software at a fraction of the price of a large company.


Jersey City has its first presumptive positive case of the coronavirus, Mayor Steve Fulop announced Friday morning.

Fulop said in a tweet that a 41-year-old Downtown resident was tested by her private physician. Her results were then transmitted to the citys health department Communicable Disease Reporting Surveillance System.

Our Health & Human Services is working aggressively and we have been preparing for this, Fulop tweeted. Our HHS will contact you PROACTIVELY if you have had contact with the individual.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced Thursday that New Jersey had a total of 29 cases of coronavirus, including one in West New York. Murphy declared a state of emergency Monday amid growing concerns about the spread of the virus throughout the state.

COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, has sickened more than 1,700 people nationwide and led to at least 40 deaths.

We will be providing more information and support as it becomes available but we wanted to make sure people are aware and not allow rumors to spread, Fulop added in his tweets.

Jersey City residents can monitor local updates on the virus on the citys website. Jersey City has also set up a 24-hour hotline. If residents suspect they have been exposed to the virus, call 201-547-5208 for instructions on how to proceed.
Almost 100 Indian students who dont have health certificates are stuck at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome.

HT had reported earlier this week that hundreds of Indian students are living in constant fear of being infected by novel coronavirus in Italy, one of the worst affected countries of the pandemic after China, the epicentre of the outbreak.

The Indian Embassy in Italy took note of the HT report, and tweeted that proper assistance to stranded students would be provided to bring them back to India. All the students were asked to fill up a coronavirus health certificate with their details.

However, the students are now alleging that despite their repeated attempts, they had to book their return tickets at a higher price because they didnt get any official help on time. Now, they are stuck at the airport with no food.

My Air India flight was scheduled to depart at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, but we got a message in the evening that it has been delayed. Now, after four rescheduling, we are being told that the flight will leave on Thursday night but will only take those passengers who have health certificates, said Jayshankar Nair, a resident of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Nair is a post-graduate mechanical engineering student at Sapienza University in Rome.

Students are panicking amid the news that flight services will be suspended for 10 days between March 15 and 25.

On Thursday, students alleged that the embassy is testing students only if they have symptoms such as fever, cold and cough.

The embassy doesnt have an adequate number of medical kits to do the testing for all the students so they cant provide health certificates to us until we have symptoms, said Mohammed Abdul Rehman, another student from Hyderabad. No one is giving us the health certificate, he added.

Though it is the policy of airlines to provide food and water to passengers in case of delays, these students have been deprived of the basic facilities, despite an over 24-hour layover.

Most of the students have spent between Rs26,000 and Rs28,000 to buy the return tickets.

I had bought my ticket on March 4 and the advisory for the health certificate came on March 7. So, will Air India refund my money, if I am not allowed to board the flight? asked Nair. The students are forced to sleep on floors at the airports waiting rooms.

No one responded at the embassys helpline number, despite repeated attempts. HT also tried to reach them via emails, but didnt get any response. Students are alleging that the embassy is making them more susceptible to the infection as they are holed up in the airport, one of the most vulnerable spots to get afflicted, and also delaying their departure back home.

Airports are one of the most vulnerable places to contract coronavirus. We dont have masks and the authorities expect us to wait at the airport for hours with no official response, said Diyana Kasturi, another student.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Full-service carrier Vistara on Friday barred stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra from taking its flights till April 27, an airline official said.

The decision has been taken after Kamra was found "guilty" for alleged misbehaviour by an internal committee of IndiGo The ban on Kamra comes into effect immediately, the official told PTI.

On January 28, Kamra was banned by IndiGo from flying with the airline for six months for allegedly heckling a private TV news anchor Arnab Goswami.

The ban period was later reduced to three months.

As per norms, any allegation of misbehaviour mid-air by passengers has to be investigated by an internal committee set up by the carrier concerned.

Soon after IndiGo's ban, others carriers such Air India, GoAir and SpiceJet too announced travel restrictions on Kamra.

At that time, Vistara had not banned him from travelling in its flight.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has canceled a planned appearance in Hartford next week.

Biden notified Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday that because of the current concerns related to COVID-19 coronavirus, he would not travel to Connecticut for the planned fundraiser and public rally scheduled for March 19, according to a source close to the governor.

The Biden campaign did not offer immediate plans to reschedule. Details for the private lunchtime event and a public rally had not yet been settled.

Biden won big in four primaries Tuesday night, extending his lead against U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders as the clear frontrunner in the Democratic primary for president.

Lamont was among the first to endorse Biden and held a fundraiser for the former Delaware senator at his Greenwich home in mid-October that raised more than $450,000  one of the most successful fundraisers for the Biden campaign.

In remarks delivered Thursday afternoon in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden slammed President Donald Trumps response to the coronavirus outbreak. On Wednesday he formed a public health advisory committee for his campaign.

He has released a plan to combat the virus and prepare for future global health threats on his campaign website. Sanders delivered similar remarks Thursday.

kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt
A teenage girl was sexually assaulted by her father who was out on bail after spending years in prison for allegedly raping his other daughter and impregnating her, the Meghalaya Police said on Friday.

The incident happened near Dalu in the state's West Garo Hills district, officials said.

The 45-year-old man was arrested in 2016 after he allegedly impregnated his elder daughter, who was then 16 years old, they said.

She later gave birth to a child and started living elsewhere, officials said.

He was released on bail a few months back after his wife pleaded in the court that he was the sole bread earner of the family, they said.

Soon after his release, the man allegedly started sexually assaulting his younger daughter. When community leaders came to know of it, they informed the police and he was arrested again, officials said.

"These kinds of ghastly acts cannot be accepted in a civilised society. The father was arrested after we received information. We will ensure that such criminals are not allowed to go back to the society," said MGR Kumar, superintendent of police of West Garo Hills.

The father has confessed to sexually assaulting the younger daughter, police sources said.

A case has been filed against him, police said, adding that further investigations are underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Wuhan Virus is causing major disruptions in the U.S., from the stock market to the economy to social gatherings of all sorts. The virus itself is still not nearly up to the disease standards of the common flu or swine flu, even though the media hype of it has been off the charts. But that's not my point here. Rather, I see three upshots to this Wuhan epidemic in the U.S. There are probably more, but these three stand out in my mind.

1. Businesses now see that their precious supply chains and just-in-time inventory models are laden with risk. Also, the American public and even our brain-dead political class are now aware of the folly of being dependent on China for so much of our essential goods, especially prescription medicines and health care products. Both these factors will accelerate the relocation of U.S. businesses out of communist China. Even if a number of those factories don't come home to North America, it is still a good development as they will no longer be fueling China's economy and by extension the Chinese military. It will also drive companies to build in more flexibility and resilience in their supply chains.

2. In January, President Trump restricted people coming in from China. He was called this and that for that action, but now it can be seen that the president was both prudent and foresighted. That is what leadership looks like. Europe currently has a greater problem with the Wuhan Virus because it did not act in a similar fashion. The Democrats and media will never give Trump credit for this, but the average person sees it, thus discrediting both the media and Democrats even more. Plus it drives home the point once again that borders are vital to a nation's security and well-being.

3. And speaking of the Europeans, they are in high dudgeon because on Thursday night, President Trump announced that the United States will suspend travel from 26 European countries into the U.S. for the next 30 days starting Friday, March 13. Europe is complaining that it wasn't consulted on the travel ban ahead of time. But to consult with the Europeans would be to give them an opportunity to delay the ban when time is of the essence  or, even worse, to undermine it. After all, those people have proven to be of the same mindset as the Democrats: everything Orange Man does or proposes is bad and must be resisted. By instituting the European travel ban, Trump was looking after American interests, which is what he was elected to do. The Europeans are getting another lesson that they don't dictate American policy.
A FORMER Labour senator has admitted stealing a jacket and a historical Dail debates book from a private members club in central Dublin.

James Heffernan (40) had been drinking and was evasive about where he got them when caught nearby by gardai in the early morning.

He also admitted hurling abuse at officers when he was found drunk on a city street on the day the general election was announced.

Heffernan, of Main Street, Kilfinane, Co. Limerick, was fined 800 at Dublin District Court.

He pleaded guilty to theft of a coat valued at 80 and a book called 'Dail Eireann parliamentary debates 1923', valued at 225, at the Stephen's Green Club in Dublin on August 7, 2019.

Detective Sergeant Eugene McCarthy told Judge Michael Walsh he was on duty at Stephens Street Upper at 7.30am when he noticed the accused wearing a distinctive jacket with letters on it.

The garda became suspicious of the origins of the coat and a book Heffernan had in his hand. When he spoke to the accused, Heffernan became evasive about their origin and the items were seized.

It was discovered they were taken from the Stephens Green Club and the garda brought them to the club, which identified them as theirs. The jacket belonged to the club manager.

Heffernan also admitted public order charges following an incident on Lincoln Place on January 14 this year - public intoxication and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour.

Det Sgt McCarthy said the accused was found to be intoxicated and was arrested for his own safety.

He became verbally abusive to the garda when brought to Pearse Street station. Det Sgt McCarthy said the behaviour was at the lower end of the scale.

Heffernan had 13 previous convictions for charges including drink driving, dangerous driving and public order offences. The last of these was at Macroom District Court on January 8, 2020, when he was given a 90-day sentence, suspended for two years, for drink driving and failing to provide a specimen.

This conviction was six days before the Lincoln Place incident.

None of the prior convictions were for theft.

Det Sgt McCarthy agreed with defence barrister John Griffin, that Heffernan had alcohol consumed at the time of the theft, he returned the items and co-operated.

The accused apologised for his actions, Mr Griffin said. While he was not a member of the club, he had frequented it for social events in a former life when he was involved in politics.

The public order incident happened on the day the general election was announced and he should not have taken alcohol as he was on medication and reacted to this.

Heffernan was an educated man with a degree in history and politics from the University of Limerick.

He was a primary school teacher for a number of years before he went into politics and had been a councillor and a senator for a number of years, Mr Griffin said.

He was now unemployed and on social welfare and was in ongoing treatment for alcohol issues. Heffernan had the support of his mother who was close to him and was with him in court.

Heffernan had been brought before the court on foot of a bench warrant following a failure to appear in court.

As well as imposing fines, Judge Walsh remanded Heffernan on bail to appear in Macroom District Court on March 18 for a judge there to consider whether to activate the suspended sentence.
A photo of Married At First Sight star Steve Burley posing as Adolf Hitler surfaced online on Wednesday.

And less than a day later, the 52-year-old appeared to seek out the support of staff at Channel Nine, which airs the show, while stepping out in Melbourne.

The barber shop owner cut a casual figure in a grey T-shirt and black shorts, as he received a hug from a network employee.

Supported by the network: Married At First Sight star Steve Burley, 52, was comforted by a Channel Nine employee while out in Melbourne on Thursday, hours after a photo of him posing as Adolf Hitler was leaked online

Steve failed to crack a smile and engaged in conversation with the staff member.

He was perhaps discussing the controversial photo that was obtained by The Daily Telegraph's Confidential on Wednesday.

A picture of himself posing as Adolf Hitler was sent to Steve's co-stars in a group WhatsApp chat titled 'The Kids', alongside the question 'Who am I?'

Mood: The barber shop owner dressed casually in a grey T-shirt and black shorts, and failed to crack a smile during the outing

Discussing the photo? Steve was perhaps speaking about the controversial photos that were obtaine, and published, by The Daily Telegraph's Confidential on Wednesday

In the photo, Steve brushed his hair forward and had drawn on the Nazi leader's iconic toothbrush moustache.

A scandalous image from another group WhatsApp chat with his co-stars, also leaked to Confidential, saw Steve in a black T-shirt and cap, pulling his eyelids outward to look 'like an Asian Mishel'.

Steve 'wed' Mishel Karen, 49, on the current season of Married At First Sight.

While Steve initially declined to comment on the photos when approached by the publication, Channel Nine sent a response on his behalf.

Scandal: A picture of himself posing as Adolf Hitler was sent to Steve's co-stars in a group WhatsApp chat titled 'The Kids', alongside the question 'Who am I?'

'This is a private message that was never intended to be made public but I can see that it is culturally insensitive and I regret it,' the statement read. 'I am deeply sorry if I have offended anyone.'

Steve did however break his silence, telling Hit FM's Krysti and Bodge on Thursday that he has a 'rough idea' who exposed him.

'It was [from] the group chat from the show,' Steve said.

And another! A scandalous image from another group WhatsApp chat with his co-stars, also leaked to Confidential, saw Steve in a black T-shirt and cap, pulling his eyelids outward to look 'like an Asian Mishel'. Steve 'wed' Mishel Karen (right), 49, on the current season

'So someone has leaked it. Do you know who it was?' radio host Jason 'Bodge' Bodger asked the reality TV star.

'I've got a rough idea, but I'm not going to comment on that,' Steve replied, sounding quite confident.

However, co-host Krysti Dixon decided to press further for intel, asking: 'Were you close to them in the experiment?'

'Yes,' Steve said, choosing not to elaborate further.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: Blame it on the panic surrounding Covid-19 that foreign tourists are going through a harrowing time in Assam.



Pablo Fernandez, a cyclist from Spain who is on a world tour, spent hours together at Silchar on Thursday to find a room in a hotel but did not get one. The hotels in the town have shut the doors on foreign tourists in the wake of the scare over the virus.



There is a widespread panic over coronavirus. I went to at least 24 hotels but none of them was ready to give me a room. At a loss, I went to a police station hoping to get their help. The cops there were kind enough to provide me with a room at a government guest house, Fernandez told journalists.



He left the town in southern Assams Barak Valley on Friday morning.



In Majuli, a tourist from Greece burst into tears when she realized that she was virtually untouchable on the river island.

Upon her arrival on the island in a ferry from Nimati Ghat in Jorhat on Thursday, Eleni Anastasiou Dialeisma sought to hire a car to go to Kamalabari but nobody was willing to extend the service to her. Finding no other way, she began to walk with her 20-kg backpack. On the way, she was rescued by some journalists who gave her a lift on a two-wheeler.

Eleni Anastasiou Dialeisma

When I arrived at the riverbank, a doctor approached me saying I shall have to be screened at Kamalabari. And then while some policemen were collecting my personal details, the doctor suddenly disappeared. Later, I sought to hire a car but didnt get any response, Eleni said.



She said the snub left her with no option but to walk.



Its been 20 days that I have been on the tour in India. The backpack weighs 20 kg. I waved at cars to hitchhike but nobody stopped. I saw an ambulance coming and waved at it but it too did not stop, she said.



She added: If foreign tourists are unwelcome in Majuli now, they should be told at Nimati Ghat in Jorhat. This is my third visit to the island. I had the best impression for the people of Majuli but today, I find people dont want me as I am a foreigner.
Fly Victor Ltd management secures winning bid to buy back Europe's leading on-demand private jet charter marketplace gaining independence after a competitive bid process

LONDON, March 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Led by its founder, Clive Jackson, the management of Fly Victor Ltd has secured significant financial backing from a consortium of former investors and regular flyers to acquire the company's global operations, while tracking to profitability this year.

Launched in 2011, Victor has revolutionised the business aviation industry with its commitment to transparency and the environment. Breaking free to chart an independent future will allow the company to maintain its commitment to challenging business aviation to decarbonise in a matter of years rather than decades.

Victor is ranked as one of Europe's leading private charter brokers. The company has been listed in the Sunday Times Tech Track for five consecutive years from 2015 to 2019 and has launched a global environmental campaign to ensure every Victor charter flight is mandated to fly 200% carbon neutral. The business is set to become the world's most environmentally responsible private aviation company with its award-winning approach to sustainability.

Having had a strong start to the year, the company is on track to achieve profitability in early 2020. Its underlying financial performance has shown consistent year on year improvements across all key performance indicators with the company investing heavily over the past 5 years to develop an integrated customer-facing and back-office work flow platform that has significantly reduced the cost of transaction and improved efficiencies.

Victor has been acquired as a going concern from the joint administrators of Alyssum Holdings Ltd, Paul Cooper and Paul Appleton of the specialist restructuring firm David Rubin & Partners.

Victor has revolutionised the jet charter industry with a fully transparent, subscription-free, globally "on-demand" marketplace. Booking transparency, underpinned by smart technology with its proprietary digital platform and "high touch" customer service, has been at the company's industry-disrupting core since its launch. Disclosing operator details and specific aircraft tail numbers to customers before booking has enabled Victor to build customer trust and become a leading provider of on-demand jet charter.

The consortium of investors have preserved 20% of the company's share capital for its management and staff in recognition of their role in helping to establish the company as Europe's leading charter broker and, as importantly, their future contribution towards building a new and exciting future.

Victor Founder Clive Jackson comments, "Our desire to undertake this MBO was driven by the belief that we have an exceptional team of highly dedicated and professional staff with the utmost integrity. This opportunity gives them the chance to shape the future development of Victor. It was a competitive bid process and there were multiple bids, so I am delighted that we secured the winning bid. Special thank you to our customers, partner operators and Victor team for believing in us on this incredible journey."

Joining Jackson in the MBO consortium is Rob Procter, a significant private investor, successful British Entrepreneur as Founder and former CEO of Securis Investment Partners LLP, former Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and former shareholder in the original Alyssum Group. Procter comments: "The staff in Victor exude a passion, dedication and desire to excel that is inspiring. They are fiercely loyal and have demonstrated tremendous commitment to Victor's management and founder through a sometimes-difficult process. They deserve a future that will allow them to build a world-class brand and I am proud to be associated and to contribute."

About VICTOR (www.flyvictor.com)

VICTOR is a leading on-demand jet charter platform. Launched in 2011, the company has rewritten the jet charter rulebook with a fully transparent, subscription-free, globally "on-demand" marketplace allowing members to swiftly check pricing options and aircraft specifics before booking the flights they need. VICTOR'S unique combination of smart technology and exceptional "high touch" customer service, means that customers  with access to thousands of aircraft via a global network of over 200 partner operators  are always connected and in control. Every VICTOR flight is 200% carbon offset as a standard.

VICTOR continues to expand rapidly with US field offices in nine high-net-worth markets, group charter division for corporates and sports, and Victor for Music which manages global tours for the world's most acclaimed performers across the Americas, Europe and Oceania.

The company made the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 in 2015-2019 consecutively and the Deloitte UK Tech Fast 50 in 2016 and 2017.

Contact:

Hannah Sharratt

Hannah.sharratt@flyvictor.com

+44-(0)20-7384-8550

Related Links

https://www.flyvictor.com



SOURCE Victor
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A 36-year-old Connecticut man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping a 12-year-old girl at a park in Webster last year and then driving the girl to a wooded area and sexually assaulting her, officials said.

Joshua Besaw, of Thompson, Connecticut, pleaded guilty in federal court in Hartford on Friday, according to the office of John Durham, the U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut. Besaw is slated to be sentenced on June 15.

On May 31, Besaw kidnapped the 12-year-old girl at the May Street park in Webster, tricking her into his car, police and federal officials said. Then, Besaw allegedly drove the girl to a wooded area in Thompson and sexually assaulted her.

After the assault, Besaw drove the girl back to Massachusetts and dropped her off in a neighborhood she was not familiar with and kept her cell phone. The girl borrowed a phone from a stranger to call her parents, federal officials said.

The girls parents brought her to the police station. Then, she was taken to the hospital for a sexual assault examination, officials said.

DNA extracted from cigarette butts discarded by Besaw matched the DNA evidence collected during the victims sexual assault examination, authorities said.

Authorities tracked Besaw down with the help of surveillance video from residences and businesses in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Besaw was arrested on July 17 and has been detained since then.

During the incident, the girl fought back against Besaw, federal court records show.

Shes a strong little girl, Webster Police Chief Michael Shaw said last year after Besaws arrest. Shes a hero in my eyes.

Related Content:
Senate Hearing on Coronavirus Crisis Exposes Dangers of US Dependence on China for Drug Sourcing

WASHINGTONMillions of Americans depend on drugs that are made in part or wholly in China because U.S. manufacturers moved their supply chains and much of their manufacturing facilities to that country, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship was told on March 12.

Thousands of our generic drugs and even some of the brand name products and perhaps even new therapies for coronavirus may depend on the chemicals that are sourced primarily in China, Rosemary Gibson, a senior adviser to the Garrison, New York-based Hastings Center Bioethics Research Institute, told the committee.

The hearings focus was on Coronavirus and Americas small business supply chain.

Gibson was responding to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who had asked, How many of our drugs involve Chinese productionmaybe theyre not made wholly there, but Chinese production is involved?

Gibson said, If you are hospitalized with coronavirus, if you have a severe case, which thankfully are small numbers, you might need a ventilator. You will need sedatives like fentanyl and propofol.

Your blood pressure may get dangerously low, so you will need pressers like dopamine and epinephrine. You might get a secondary infection that is bacterial in nature, and you will need antibiotics. You might become septic, which is life-threatening.

Gibson told the committee that she was recently sitting in a room with the people that actually make medicines. These are the men and women in pharmaceutical engineering and pharmaceutical chemistry.

I said, So tell me, if you have to make these tomorrow, where do the core chemicals come from to make it? How much are we dependent on China? They said 90 percent of the chemicals to make those basic generic drugs depend on China.

Earlier this month, after the U.S. restricted travel to and from China, Xinhua, Chinas state-controlled official news agency, said that these practices in the United States [restricting travel from China to the United States] are very unkind. They can be described as falling into the ground and killing people while they are ill.

The Chinese news agency then added ominously, If China retaliates against the U.S. at this time, in addition to announcing a travel ban on the United States, it will also announce strategic control over medical products and ban exports to the United States.

Politico reported in December that last year, China accounted for 95 percent of U.S. imports of ibuprofen, 91 percent of U.S. imports of hydrocortisone, 70 percent of U.S. imports of acetaminophen, 40 to 45 percent of U.S. imports of penicillin and 40 percent of U.S. imports of heparin, according to Commerce Department data. In all, 80 percent of the U.S. supply of antibiotics are made in China.

Gibson said the situation isnt totally hopeless, however, because the good news is there is advanced manufacturing technology and really brilliant chemists right here in the United States that want to make it capable of starting production tomorrow.

In her prepared testimony, Gibson described the national security risks involved in U.S. dependence on Chinese drug production if Beijing follows through on the threat published by Xinhua.

The unleashing of this threat will cause unprecedented deaths and social disorder on a scale never seen before on our country. The civilian and military health care systems will collapse. China can wreak other havoc. Medicines in the hands of an adversary can be weaponized, Gibson testified.

Medicines can be made with lethal contaminants or sold without any real medicine in them, rendering them ineffective. These products can be distributed to specific targets. Detection is time-consuming at best, and virtually impossible at worst.

Dependence on China is a risk to the U.S. military, combat readiness, and force protection. The thousands of men and women on U.S. aircraft carriers in the South China Sea are dependent on the adversary for many of their essential medicines.

Combat readiness and force protection are at risk with the military vulnerable to disruptions in supply and contaminated and toxic medicines. In 2018, more than 31,000 active-duty military personnel, veterans, and their family members were notified they may have been given blood pressure medicines containing a cancer-causing ingredient.

Another witness, Dr. Tim Morrison, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said Chinas Made in China 2025 initiative signals Beijings long-term goal of moving from being a manufacturing power to producing higher-value products and services such as prescription drugs and related medical products.

I think the point of Made in China 2025 is essentially to destroy the free market and create incentives to offshore production in China, he said. And, originally, this seemed like a good thing. Well save prices. Well move value, or value you can move, well continue to do the innovation, but China is scooping that up as well. And so, without any decision by any government authority, this happened, and now we are going to deal with the consequences.

Hawley concluded his questioning by noting that our current drug policy seems to privilege economic considerations of maybe a few companies over public health considerations.

Morrison said he agreed with Hawleys characterization.

Contact Mark Tapscott at Mark.Tapscott@epochtimes.nyc
Santwana Bhattacharya By

Its a world where Keshav Baliram Hedgewar was once a Congress stormtrooper, and where Mohan Kumaramangalams family has made a rainbow bridge - from the purest Communist aristocracy to the saffron brotherhood, with a long pit-stop in the GOP. We shouldnt be needing new examples to demonstrate how malleable a metal our politics is. But we have one more: a newly saffronised Jyotiraditya Scindia, staring unblinkingly at the cameras, finishing off his familys acrobatic loop from right to centre and back. The stories thereafter were, predictably, more about the practice of politics than theory. In practice, this looked reasonably sound, prima facie. As Jyotiraditya reached his Delhi home in his Range Rover, followed by frenzied TV crews and a motley crowd gathered for selfies, the aura of an impending Cabinet post was around him. Wind back to Bhopal of a few weeks ago ... CM Kamal Nath, surrounded by TV cameras, was being asked for a response to news that Scindiaji had been threatening to take to the streets against his own government if the promises made in the Congress manifesto for Madhya Pradesh were not implemented. Kamal Nath, his trademark Doon School grin in place, had shot back calmly: Karne do! Let him do it. Well, he did. And when the Scindia scion, wrapped in BJP regalia, trotted out his formulaic justifications for what is one of the most stunning political turns weve seen in recent times, he didnt talk about thwarted ambition. Instead, he listed the same promises his erstwhile party had made to the voters and farmers of MP - a road from which, he alleged, the Congress has deviated in the last 18 months of rule. Yeh Congress, woh Congress nahin raha! he intoned, or words to that effect, sounding almost like a lost father in a Manmohan Desai family saga.

You could read multiple ironies into that. In an inverted economic reading, This is not that pro-market Congress of the reforms era, never mind the farmers. Or politically, This is not that same Congress which the BJP attacked the most, and hence... Or simply, This is no longer that bellwether, blue-chip stock on the political sensex. Yes, indeed. Despite all the attrition, theres no dearth of leaders queueing up at the Congress PDS counter, but its stock of supplies has shrunk. The partys distribution system is under tremendous strain and the essential commodities are zealously guarded by the Gandhi family (right now, Sonia Gandhi).

Its a famine economy. Could Sonia offer a Rajya Sabha seat to Jyotiraditya over Digvijaya Singh? No, she wouldnt, said a young party insider, gloomily counting Diggy Rajas 40 years in the Congress as against the Gwalior scions 18! CM-ship, then? No chance, said another. Did you try to talk to your friend? No. Am I authorised? Plus, what can I offer him? (Erideology? Bashful laughter.) These two lines, from young and promising Congress leaders with several decades of politics left in them, sums it up. One helplessly watched his friend and colleague walk away to the rival camp, but couldnt intervene because no one in the Congress boardroom thought it fit to avail his services. (Who knows, he may get ideas himself, or at least the next phone call!) And no, there was nothing on the tableit was

an offer that Scindia couldnt not refuse.

Yes, ambition is the lithium battery that runs politics. It needs recharging every now and then. At a humbler level, theres also a few deliverables that you must be able to parcel out to your voters and supportersthe ecosystem around you. If you cant do that, you dont survive. But Sonia was empty-handed at the topand a symbolically shut door recalled the exits of Jagan Mohan Reddy (bye bye Andhra) and Himanta Biswa Sarma (bye bye Northeast). Locally too, Nath/Diggy were squeezing Jyotiraditya out of even the humblest bread at the table, getting your favourites the usual board appointments.

Even if the party is putting up a face of ideological bravado, it has had plenty occasion to repent at leisure. Remember Priyanka Chaturvedi? That bright, articulate spokesperson handpicked by Rahul Gandhi, who walked over to the Shiv Sena in a huff and is now flourishing? We may soon see her in the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra with Rahuls erstwhile best buddy Jyoti.Also, every time a certain Mahua Moitra delivers a smash hit speech in the Lok Sabha, a young Congresswoman wonders, How did we lose her? Why could RG not retain her? Well, same reason. The Congress old guard in West Bengal, or the rump thats left, may not be good at winning elections but they are champs at chasing people out of their fiefdom. Mahua switched to the TMC because there was no scope for her in the INC. Scindias unsaid words.

Theres a stark difference though. Mahua (and her current mentor Mamata Banerjee) may have been edged out by the entrenched satraps of their respective times. But Mamata walked out with most of the Congress cadre and leaders in tow, and became a parallel Congress. Scindia, while exacting revenge unto those who dealt him dishonour, has taken a leap of faith. And genetically remodified his ideology. That he may have found himself at odds with the pronounced left-of-centre position the Congress has taken of late remains now a side note. (This isnt about that economics, stupid.) But yes, the mood swings of RaGajust like his now-on, now-off bearddo leave the party and its sympathisers in a state of identity confusion. No, Pappu is not an accurate description of a person under whom the Congress did win a few states, and nearly pulled off a few more. This includes an absolute majority in Chhattisgarh, where RG had a free hand, and yes, Indias political map does look a lot different in 2020 from what it did a few years ago. But make no mistake, this is a severe hemorrhage. (ICU update: a belated bandage in the form of D K Shivakumar.)

Santwana Bhattacharya

Resident Editor, Karnataka Email: santwana@newindianexpress.com
One of the Coronavirus cases confirmed by the country's health authorities is said to be a Ghanaian, Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has revealed.



According to the Minister, of the two confirmed coronavirus cases, one is a Ghanaian who returned from Turkey, while the other is a Norwegian.



In an interview with Nana Yaw Kesseh, sit-in host of Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', he disclosed they are both males who arrived at the Kotoka International Airport some days back, adding that the health authorities are now "conducting contact tracing".



"They have been in Accra for at least one-week we are still conducting contact tracing. We have their data and weve contacted them already. There should be no panic because over 90 percent of infected people recoverwhat we have to do is to control the potential spread," he added.



Listen to Kojo Oppong Nkrumah in the video below





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.

Featured Video
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Italian Exhibition Group (BIT:IEG) share price has dived 31% in the last thirty days. The bad news is that the recent drop obliterated the last year's worth of gains; the stock is flat over twelve months.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E implies that investors have high expectations of what a company can achieve compared to a company with a low P/E ratio.

Check out our latest analysis for Italian Exhibition Group

Does Italian Exhibition Group Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

Italian Exhibition Group's P/E of 8.79 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. If you look at the image below, you can see Italian Exhibition Group has a lower P/E than the average (9.7) in the media industry classification.

BIT:IEG Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

Its relatively low P/E ratio indicates that Italian Exhibition Group shareholders think it will struggle to do as well as other companies in its industry classification. While current expectations are low, the stock could be undervalued if the situation is better than the market assumes. It is arguably worth checking if insiders are buying shares, because that might imply they believe the stock is undervalued.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.

Story continues

It's great to see that Italian Exhibition Group grew EPS by 22% in the last year. And it has bolstered its earnings per share by 32% per year over the last five years. This could arguably justify a relatively high P/E ratio.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

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.

Is Debt Impacting Italian Exhibition Group's P/E?

Net debt totals 94% of Italian Exhibition Group's market cap. This is a reasonably significant level of debt -- all else being equal you'd expect a much lower P/E than if it had net cash.

The Bottom Line On Italian Exhibition Group's P/E Ratio

Italian Exhibition Group's P/E is 8.8 which is below average (12.3) in the IT market. While the EPS growth last year was strong, the significant debt levels reduce the number of options available to management. If it continues to grow, then the current low P/E may prove to be unjustified. Given Italian Exhibition Group's P/E ratio has declined from 12.8 to 8.8 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. 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.

But note: Italian Exhibition Group may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Both so-called macro funds, which bet on a broad array of global securities based on macroeconomic trends, generally came into the market correction short bonds and long equities, twin losing bets, the person said. More recent performance was unavailable.

Bridgewater's flagship hedge fund, Pure Alpha II, declined 2.4% over the first six days of March, leaving it down 10.6% for the year, the investor said. Major Markets, another large fund, was also down about 12% for 2020 through March 6, the person said.

Bridgewater Associates, the Ray Dalio-led hedge fund giant famous for making money during the 2008 financial crisis, has posted mixed returns amid the coronavirus-led market turmoil, according to an investor with direct knowledge of the performance.

Raymond Dalio, co-chairman and co-chief investment officer, Bridgewater Associates, speaks at the 2019 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, May 1, 2019.

Bridgewater's All Weather fund fared better with a gain of 2.5% year-to-date through March 6, the investor said. The fund, which practices a so-called risk parity strategy to automatically proportion bets on major asset classes, has essentially been long both bonds and equities. High quality bonds have rallied as equity investors sought their relative safety from plunging stocks.

Greg Jensen, the Westport, Connecticut-based firm's co-chief investment officer, said on Feb. 26 that Bridgewater was weighing how likely it was for the coronavirus shock to impact credit, which would have more serious long-term economic implications.

"The main question ... is really a function of whether it flows into the credit system," Jensen said in a video interview posted online here by Bridgewater.

Bridgewater, the largest hedge fund manager in the world at $160 billion, is trusted by large investors globally to help produce steady returns no matter what the market environment. Its Pure Alpha fund famously gained about 9.5% in 2008, a year when most investors were walloped by the housing-led financial crisis. Pure Alpha, which posted a flat return last year, has produced net annualized returns of 11.1% since inception; All Weather gained 16.6% last year and has an average annual gain of 7.7%, according to a person familiar with the performance.

Other macro hedge fund managers have fared better this year.

London-based Brevan Howard's listed hedge fund, BH Macro, made gains of 6.8% this month through March 6 and is up 11% year-to-date, according to a recent filing.

Gavea Investimentos, a Brazil-based macro manager, posted an estimated 1.24% gain this year through February aided by short positions in Asian and Mexican currencies and fixed income bets in Canada, Australia and Brazil, according to an investor letter seen by Reuters. The fund is up another 1.8% so far in March as of Thursday, bringing the year-to-date total to nearly 3%, according to a person close to the firm.

Other macro fund gains over the first two months of the year, according to investors and a report by the HSBC Alternative Investment Group, include MKP Enhanced Opportunity Offshore fund (up 5.2%); Kirkoswald Asset Management (up 6.3%); Horseman Global Fund (up 10.2%); and Caxton Global Investment (up 5.28%)

Representatives for the funds did not immediately return requests seeking comment.

A London-based hedge fund investment consultant said that macro funds had mostly bet against stocks and for fixed income, a winning combination.

"Lots of macro managers have done really well," said the person, who requested anonymity because the performance was private. "As markets have continued to fall, rates have continued to fall as well and these managers have kept their positions."
The Donald Trump administration plans to keep two aircraft carriers in the Middle East and is preparing to send missile defense batteries to Iraq after the Pentagon launched retaliatory airstrikes against Iran-backed groups.

Friday mornings strikes, which targeted five weapons facilities of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah, came after a rocket attack earlier in the week left two American and one British service member dead.

US Central Command chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the top American military commander in the region, told reporters today that the early morning strikes were defensive and proportional and responded to Iran-backed Shiite groups that had attacked coalition troops.

We never have to wait to be struck, McKenzie said. If we believe an attack is imminent  I and my commanders have full authority [to strike].

The Patriot batteries that are being prepared to go to Iraq will be supplemented by counter-rocket weapons that are better suited to shoot down the 107mm rockets that were fired on Camp Taji. Fourteen troops and contractors were injured, with five in critical condition, in the suspected Iran-backed attack March 11.

But the airstrikes, which Iraq described as an assault, highlighted the challenges in the Trump administrations relationship with Iraq, where the government in Baghdad has also seen increasing turmoil that could impact the US presence.

Iraqs then-caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi spearheaded a nonbinding vote in parliament aimed at encouraging the expulsion of 5,200 US troops from the country, which has been wracked by anti-corruption protests since October.

Abdul Mahdis constitutional limit to hold Iraqs top office expired March 2, just one day after parliament rejected his successor-in-waitings chosen Cabinet, prompting Mohammed Tawfiq Allawis resignation from the post. Al-Monitor reported in January that Abdul Mahdi had privately hoped that US troops would stay in the country, despite the expulsion vote.

The Iraqi military said in a statement that the retaliatory strikes targeted the areas of Jurf al-Nasr, al-Musayyib, Najaf and Alexandria, and struck the headquarters of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Units, killing five. McKenzie said the Iraqis were consulted after the strikes. I dont know whether the Iraqis are happy or unhappy, he said.

Fridays five precision strikes were a one-off unless the groups escalate, a US official told Al-Monitor. A former senior administration official told this publication earlier today that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps  known by the acronym IRGC  likely had knowledge of Wednesdays attack.

Open source reports on Wednesday indicated that sites belonging to the IRGC, the elite arm of the Iranian military, had been struck by airstrikes in the city of Abu Kamal, near Syrias border with Iraq. But the US official told Al-Monitor on Thursday that those strikes were not conducted by US forces.

Fridays strikes targeted weapons caches belonging to the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah, similar to an operation that the Pentagon carried out after a December attack on American forces in Kirkuk, Iraq, left American contractor Nawres Hamid dead.

That attack sparked a cycle of escalation that culminated in an American drone strike that killed Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani as he left Baghdad International Airport Jan. 3, prompting an Iranian ballistic missile attack on al-Asad air base five days later that left more than 100 US troops with mild traumatic brain injuries.

But the Trump administration faces increased scrutiny of its Iran policy from Congress. Late Wednesday, the House OKd a bill that would limit President Trumps legal powers to carry out offensive military strikes against Iran, a move that is likely to prompt a veto from the commander in chief.

Wednesdays attack was the second deadly day for American forces in Iraq this week. On March 8, two Marine Raiders died in a firefight with Islamic State fighters in a cave complex in the mountainous northern city of Makhmour, Iraq.
The Singapore authorities undertook especially intensive efforts to trace the contacts of people known to be infected. Hospital staff went to great lengths to interview patients about their recent whereabouts; when information was unclear or unavailable, the Ministry of Health retrieved additional data from transport companies and hotels, including by consulting CCTV footage.

Large gatherings have been suspended. But to minimize social and economic costs, schools and workplaces have remained open. The Singaporean Ministry of Education  on an extensive FAQs web page  calls the closing of schools a major, major decision that would disrupt many lives. Instead, students and staff are subjected to daily health checks, including temperature screenings.

Public-health campaigns were also reinforced to further improve Singapores already exemplary standards of cleanliness and public hygiene. A special government task force recently recommended five personal hygiene habits:using a tissue when coughing or sneezing; using designated serving spoons during group meals; using trays when eating or drinking to limit contamination in case of spills; keeping public toilets clean and dry; and regular hand washing. From the outset, the government has recommended the use of masks only for people who already are unwell.

Taiwan, also an island, took a slightly different tack. Instead of promptly banning travel from China, it undertook a comprehensive effort to screen newcomers from suspect areas. As soon as early January  just days after the news of the outbreak in Wuhan  Taiwanese medical authorities would board incoming flights from Wuhan and inspect and screen travelers on the planes.

It was only after the first imported case was identified on Jan. 21 that four major airlines suspended flights between Taiwan and Wuhan. A ban on all but flights from Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Chengdu was implemented three weeks later.

Taiwan has also taken a rather mixed approach in its efforts to reduce transmission within the community.

Some state-run facilities have been used for quarantines, but home quarantine has been the predominant method of isolation even when state facilities were available. To ensure compliance, the government has enforced strict penalties against anyone who breaks an isolation order, including fines up to about $33,200.
A senior Australian politician tested positive for the new coronavirus and entered hospital quarantine on Friday, days after returning from a meeting in Washington attended by US Attorney General William Barr.

"This morning I woke up with a temperature and sore throat," said Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, an influential member of the government and a key architect of Australia's controversial immigration laws.

"It is the policy of Queensland Health that anyone who tests positive is to be admitted into hospital and I have complied with their advice."



Dutton said he feels "fine" but his diagnosis will raise concerns about whether other members of the cabinet and Prime Minister Scott Morrison may have been infected.

It is not yet known when Dutton contracted the virus.

He recently returned from the United States.

Dutton was in Washington a week ago for a meeting with members of the FiveEyes intelligence alliance -- Australia, the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.

His counterparts there included US Attorney General William Barr.

Australia has seen around 184 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and three fatalities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Los Angeles, March 13 : Actor Daniel Radcliffe was not at all fazed by a false story suggesting that he has been infected with coronavirus.

Shortly after finding out about the online spread of the rumour, Radcliffe gave his witty response on the matter, saying that he was "flattered" by it, reports aceshowbiz.com.

The 30-year-old actor's remarks came during a phone interview with Australia radio show "Smallzy's Surgery" "I think it's just because I look ill all the time, so you can believably say it about me. 'Cause I'm very pale. But, you know, flattered they chose me," Radcliffe said.

The "Jungle" actor went on to share how he first learned about the hoax.

"It's funny that you ask me that today particularly, because I walked into the hair and makeup room on the play yesterday, and the makeup artist is like, 'My niece has just text me and told me you've got corona. I was like, 'What?' I think it was on a fake BBC account, but then enough people saw it. That is the internet," she said.

Claims that Radcliffe has contracted COVID-19 was first shared on Twitter through a fake BBC News account, @BBCNewsTonight. "

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The disappearance of Agatha Christie in December 1926 made headlines across the world. After 11 days of speculation, and with 1,000 officers searching, the crime writer was finally spotted dancing at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, unaware of all the commotion she had caused.

It is thought she fled to escape her broken marriage  and checked in using the name of her husbands mistress  after seeing the twee towns charms advertised on a poster at a train station.

But you dont need to be going through a crisis to have an excuse to visit prim and pretty Harrogate, which regularly tops the polls as the happiest place to live.

Charming: Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms in Harrogate, which celebrated its centenary last year

The town owes its original prosperity to a string of spring wells discovered in the area in 1571. The curative powers of the waters (high in iron, sulphur and salt) were popular with perennially blocked-up Tudors and were soon used to treat everything from scurvy to skin conditions and epilepsy.

Before dipping our toes into the spa scene, my mother and I learn more about Harrogates history at the stinky Royal Pump Room museum, home to the strongest sulphur wells in Europe. We hold our noses while browsing displays of old-fashioned shops and a terrifying Victorian colonic irrigation device, then hit the nearby Turkish Baths.

The recently restored 19th-century building is an enchanting mix of Victorian and Arabic style, with Moorish arches and mosaic and marbled terrazzo floors. We spend an invigorating two hours hopping between the eucalyptus-scented steam room, a trio of beautifully tiled saunas (ranging between 28c and 70c) and the freezing plunge pool.

Its easy to see why the great and good, including Lord Byron, used to travel here to take the waters of the 85 springs and wells in Georgian times.

The only way to follow this is with champagne and tangy lemon scones at Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms.

Pinafored waitresses with plaits have been serving cream teas here since 1919. Bettys, now a Yorkshire institution, has somehow managed not only to survive the deluge of coffee shops that now dominate our high streets, but celebrate its centenary last year in prosperous health (it turned over 208 million in 2018, with a group operating profit of 11.2 million).

Grantley Hall has been attracting the rich and famous since it opened its doors last July

During the 20-minute drive north from the town to our base for the weekend, the very grand Grantley Hall, our taxi driver Andrew talks proudly about the towns wealthy residents. There are now more millionaires in Harrogate per square metre than in any borough of London, he tells us. Though this undoubtedly isnt true, I can see why you might think so; Porsches, Ferraris and BMW 4x4s with personalised plates whizz by as we pass posh, honey-stone stores.

We find more swanky cars outside Grantley Hall, which has been attracting the rich and famous since it opened its doors last July.

The 18th-century Palladian pile has been transformed from a dilapidated adult education college into a glittering spa hotel by Valeria Sykes  ex-wife of property billionaire Paul Sykes  who pummelled 70 million into the project after spotting the for sale sign in 2015 while driving past.

The charming staff wear thick, woven waistcoats and have even thicker Yorkshire accents. They hand out wellies, chunky socks and branded waterproof coats on our last morning, as we head outside to trudge in the 4in of fresh snow.

We spend an hour walking around the impressive grounds before hopping into the spas hot tub.

Though its early days for Grantley Hall, its a delightful addition to the regions thriving spa scene  and one that Im sure will one day join the ranks of other much-loved Yorkshire institutions.
Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, has arrived in Awe town, Nasarawa state, to visit Muhammad Sanusi II, the recently deposed e...





Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, has arrived in Awe town, Nasarawa state, to visit Muhammad Sanusi II, the recently deposed emir of Kano.





The governor arrived silently in a seven-car convoy at about 12:47pm on Friday.





Against the norm for Nigerian governors, el-Rufais convoy moved into the town without the use of loud sirens.





Security sources disclosed that Muhammad Sanusi II will be allowed to step out to pray with his visitor.





More to follow
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2020) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Denis Georgiyevich Sotnikov and entities he controlled for allegedly participating in a fraudulent scheme to lure U.S. investors into buying fictitious Certificates of Deposit (CDs) promoted through internet advertising and "spoofed" websites that mimic the actual sites of legitimate financial institutions.

According to the SEC's complaint, the scheme involved purchasing internet ads that targeted investors who were searching for CDs with high rates. The ads allegedly included links to phony websites, which falsely claimed that the firms offering the CDs were members of FINRA and the FDIC, and that deposits were FDIC-insured. When investors called the phone number on the websites, an "account executive" impersonating a real registered representative directed investors to wire funds to so-called "clearing" partners. These alleged clearing partners were entities used by Sotnikov to launder and misappropriate investor funds. Since November 2014, the alleged scheme involved spoofing the websites of at least 24 actual financial firms or using at least 8 fictitious entities, resulting in over $26 million in known investor losses - with many of those losses from older investors who used their retirement savings.

"As alleged in our complaint, investors were swindled out of millions of dollars through a web of fake websites and concealed identities," said SEC Enforcement Division Co-Director Steven Peikin. "Today's action shows the SEC's commitment to exposing sophisticated cyber fraud schemes that pose an ever-present risk to Main Street investors."

"Investors should be wary of investment opportunities from websites found only through internet searches," added SEC Enforcement Division Co-Director Stephanie Avakian. "Online investments that sound too good to be true are red flags of fraud."

The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy previously issued an investor alert cautioning investors to be aware of spoofed websites offering phony CDs.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey today announced related criminal charges and are pursuing asset seizures.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in the District of New Jersey, charges Sotnikov, Adaptive Technology LLC, AGQ Business Group LLC, ATL Business Group LLC, BO&SA Corp., DN Industrial LLC, and Expert Digital LLC with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and Sotnikov with aiding and abetting those violations. The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief and the return of allegedly ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest and penalties. The complaint also names Sotnikov's wife Natalia Mazitova as well as Great Imperial LLC, HRC Clearing House LLC, and Inteko Cargo LLC as relief defendants.

The SEC's investigation, which is ongoing, has been conducted by Carlisle Perkins, Douglas McAllister, and Elizabeth Doisy as well as Deborah Tarasevich, Paul Kim, and Martin Zerwitz of the SEC Enforcement Division's Cyber Unit. Donato Furlano and Peter Rosario assisted with the investigation. The investigation was supervised by Anita Bandy and Kristina Littman. Thomas Bednar and John Bowers are leading the SEC's litigation. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and FINRA.
When Singapore's Yung Raja remixed "Gucci Gang" by US rapper Lil Pump, he swapped the original's flashy cars and a prowling tiger for a beer can and Tamil food in a viral YouTube video that reeled in hip-hop label Def Jam.

His 2018 version -- "Poori Gang" -- was a trial run for the "concoction of Tamil and English" the 24-year-old says defines his flow.

The overnight success, even among non-Tamil speakers in ethnically diverse Singapore, proved to Yung Raja that he could embrace his own identity without copying other Western artists he admired.

He is among a growing number of artists from Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines snapped up by the label behind superstars from LL Cool J to Jay-Z and Rihanna.

Def Jam is hoping to capitalise on a new wave of regional rap stars from the untapped Southeast Asian market where streaming platforms are flourishing.

"It's just exploding," says Yung Raja, who has drawn comparisons to US superstar Kendrick Lamar.

Moving from DIY passion projects to big stage shows, regional rappers are now touring beyond their borders, delivering verses in slick videos streamed online.

- 'Put your hands up' -

In a secluded patch of forest on Bangkok's outskirts, Thai-American DaBoyWay is shooting "Baby You".

Bonfires and dancers illustrate verses about being cast under a spell for a track from his new album -- due March 6 -- that will be Def Jam's first major Southeast Asian test.

A pioneer of Thailand's rap scene, DaBoyWay raps in both Thai and English, in a nod to his US background.

Singles on the album vary from the gritty "Gangsh!t" to the more club-friendly "Kaow Ma", which means "Welcome" in Thai.

The 39-year-old -- who now has a million Instagram followers -- remembers the early struggles of a genre that rubbed against Thailand's conservative norms, where fans had to be prodded into letting go at concerts.

Story continues

"They would not move until you tell them it's okay to move," he tells AFP at a studio in Chonburi province, near the resort town of Pattaya.

Fast forward to 2018 and popular Thai talent show "The Rapper" racked up tens of millions of views on YouTube in its first season.

That same year a collective of underground artists known as R.A.D. -- or Rap Against Dictatorship -- released searing verses criticising the country's military that drew well over 60 million views on YouTube.

Fan Pornchai Puthinarabul, who attended a recent DaBoyWay show, credits his "idol" for the genre's growth in Thailand.

"He's opened a market for us Thais," Pornchai told AFP before re-joining concert-goers jammed into a popular Bangkok bar.

Asia's dominant music-streaming platforms like Tencent-owned JOOX have been swift to take notice.

In 2020 its user base reached 290 million in Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong, according to company data.

Hip-hop became the second most popular genre, after pop, on JOOX in Thailand late last year.

- Gamelans and traffic jams -

The new roster of rap artists weave heritage, local culture, and their roots into their music.

Asked for his influences Singapore's Yung Raja ticks off a melange spanning continents, from Canadian artist Drake to famed Indian actor Rajinikanth.

Jakarta-born artist A. Nayaka, the first Indonesian rapper signed to Def Jam, has rhymed about the Indonesian capital's gruelling traffic and other local landmarks in a longstanding hip-hop tradition of name-checking neighbourhoods, streets, and communities.

"Basically if Jakarta kids heard my lyrics they're gonna say, 'oh my god, that's that,'" he tells AFP.

The diversity of Southeast Asia -- with dozens of languages, religions, cultures and ethnicities -- is its strength, according to Joe Flizzow, a Malaysian considered the godfather of the region's rap scene and a Def Jam executive.

Whether snatching samples from the traditional gamelan -- a brass glockenspiel-like instrument -- or with lyrics touching on corruption and oppression, artists are representing their origins in different ways.

"You are not going to see some Bentleys and Rolls Royces," he says. "You are gonna see some Honda NSXs and GTRs... we want to be unique."
A Civil Advocacy Group known as Alliance for Survival of Abandoned Projects (ASAP) is challenging the justification of a valuation report submitted to Parliament of Ghana by the Trade and Industry Minister, Hon. Alan Kyerematen on 4th April, 2019.

In the report, it was sighted that the Pricewaterhouse Coopers, a transaction adviser to the Government of Ghana on the selection of strategic investor to take over the operations and management of the idle Komenda Sugar Factory did valuation of the factory which the ASAP group finds unjustifiable.

ASAP has sent a petition to the Speaker of Parliament demanding answers to the valuation report submitted by PwC. In the petition, they asked three sets of questions which PwC was not left out.

I spoke to the Executive Director of the group, Ransford Vanni-Amoah and he indicated that, they are bent on making sure PwC comes clear on that valuation which was unjustifiable. They do not understand why the same consult (PwC) could do two different valuations within a space of one year and the cost of the plant and machinery could depreciate hugely beyond the legal 5% to 10% rate.

The Factory Valuation Report can be found on page 8 of the Report on Komenda Sugar Factory which was submitted to parliament by Hon Alan Kyerematen. It was stated that the PwC provided a valuation report on the 17th October, 2016 and the value of the plant and machinery was US$34,678,400.00.

Another valuation report was submitted on 15th September, 2017 upon instruction from the Ministry of Trade and Industry which the value of the plant and machinery depreciated to US$12,029,715.00 as an open market value and US$10,826,743.00 as a forced sale value.

ASAP is asking what caused the plant and machinery to be hugely depreciated to the sum of US$12,029,715.00?

According to Citizen Vanni-Amoah, he believes a reputable company like PwC could not present such report to the Ministry. He trusts the report was uttered by the current minister in charge of Trade and Industry. There is a legal depreciateing rate of 5-10% per annum. So between 2016 and 2017, the value of the plant and machinery could not depreciate beyond US$31,210,560.00 if we use the maximum percentage.

Was it a deliberate scheme by the PwC to run down to the factory to reduce its value? Vanni-Amoah quizzes.

The executive members of the group who were present when I interviewed the Executive Director reiterated the points made by leader and told me that they may seek legal redress if the parliament of Ghana refuse to interogate the petition. Citizens Mamud Issah Jagbesie, Ishmael Abakah, Evans Nii Boye and Victor Nanka Bruce who are the executive members of the group indicated that they are in touch with their legal team and preparing to sue PwC on the valuation issue.
The Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam Nartey George has called on government to provide details on the source of the US$100 million dollars allocated as part of measures to fight the deadly coronavirus.

Speaking on Citi TV's Breakfast Daily on Thursday, the MP said: I hold the view that its fair and square that our President has eventually come around to realize the need for us to have a national response and dedicate a US$100 million to the measures that are being taken. For me as a taxpayer and an MP, my interest is to know whats going into that US$100 million. He couldnt possibly have just mentioned the figure off head. Some work has gone into it.

I believe that the peoples representatives need to know whether the government can cover this miscellaneous budget or not. Parliament needs to be briefed on what is going into the US$100 million. I am a little sceptical and I would want to be proven wrong by ensuing events. I do not trust this government 100% when it comes to accountability of funds, he said.

Background

While delivering an address to the nation on Wednesday, 11th March 2020, the President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo said he has directed the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to make available the cedi equivalent of US$100 million to enhance Ghana's Coronavirus preparedness and response plan.

This amount, according to President Akufo-Addo, is to fund the expansion of infrastructure, purchase of materials and equipment, and public education.

He further explained that with the declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) of the Coronavirus disease as a pandemic, it is important that Ghana steps up her preparedness to ensure that beyond the initial measures that have been put in place, a 'whole of Ghana' approach is adopted in preparation for a possible hit within the country's borders.

---citinewsroom


(Photo: pixabay)

No Myanmar travel itinerary would be complete without visiting Bagan. One of the world's most important archeological sites, the area is as beautiful as it is fascinating.

Bagan became one of 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Myanmar in July 2019. As an exceptional representation of Buddhist cultural tradition, with its countless temples, stupas, and monasteries, it is easy to see why it made the list.

The History of Bagan

Not only is Bagan a testimony to Buddhist belief and culture, but it also provides an astonishing insight into the Bagan Period.

From the 11th to the 13th century, Bagan was the epicenter of the Pagan Empire, ruled over by powerful leaders and inhabited by their wealthy subjects. Over the course of the centuries, more than 10,000 religious monuments were built: approximately 1,000 stupas, 10,000 small temples, and 3,000 monasteries in total, evidence of the central role that the Buddhist religion played in Burmese life and tradition.

What to See in Bagan

The setting itself is breathtaking. A vast 26 square mile plain strewn with green trees and framed by mountains in the distance. You'll want to visit as many awe-inspiring monuments as you can whilst in Bagan, here are some we recommended putting right at the top of your list.

Ananda Pahto

This is one of the best-preserved temples in Bagan, with its 170-foot pinnacle, it's difficult to miss. Believed to have been built between the late 11th and early 12th centuries, Ananda Pahto remains in remarkable condition.

Buddha images and religious symbols adorn the structure, an incredible display of skill and craftsmanship.

Dhammayangyi Pahto

An immense 12th-century temple, Dhammayangyi Pahto has bloody tales to tell. It is said that the temple was ordered by King Narathu to compensate for murdering his father and brother and executing one of his wives.

It is one of the few temples in Bagan yet to undergo a major restoration and remains a mysterious glimpse at more violent times.

Shwezigon Paya

Shwezigon Paya is the main religious site in Bagan. As night falls the stupa is illuminated, standing out dramatically against the darkening plain.

Be certain to investigate the compound called 37 Nat located on the southeastern side of the stupa, within which are figures of the 37 pre-Buddhist nats (spirits).

This is also the place to see the largest bronze Buddhas in Bagan.

When & How to Visit Bagan

Head to Bagan between November and February to escape the scorching summers; temperatures can reach up to 110F from March to May. Even during the cooler months temperatures peak at 86F so you're unlikely to feel a chill.

Bagan is vast, it's almost impossible to explore the 26 miles on foot. A car with a personal guide is a great way to get around whilst benefiting from expert knowledge. For a birds-eye view, take a hot air balloon ride; a truly unforgettable experience. Bikes and even horse and carts are other transportation options available.

Several tour operators in Myanmar offer packages which include Bagan in a county-wide itinerary. You should spend at least one full day discovering Bagan before, or after, exploring some of the nation's other treasures such as Inle Lake and Mandalay.

What to Pack for Bagan

Dress conservatively for a trip to Bagan, wearing long-sleeved clothes is not only considered appropriate but will also provide some protection from the hot sun. Be prepared to take off shoes and socks when you enter a temple.

With limited places to buy food and drinks, be sure to take snacks and plenty of water.

Have enough cash to hand as card payment is not widely accepted. U.S. dollars are the easiest to exchange but need to be in good condition.

Lastly, don't forget your camera, you won't want to miss some of the most incredible photo opportunities to be found anywhere in Myanmar.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
UPDATED March 18, 2020: Authorities ID man who fatally shot self during encounter with police in Camas

***

An armed man was killed in a police shooting Thursday night in Camas, authorities say.

Camas and Washougal police contacted the man after responding about 9:15 to "a disturbance involving a weapon in the Northeast Second Avenue and Joy Street area, according to Vancouver police.

The man, who had a handgun, was initially non-compliant, police said. A Camas officer fired his weapon at the man at some point during the encounter, according to police.

The man was aided at the scene and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Members of a regional major crimes team are investigating the shooting. Police said no additional information would be released early Friday.

-- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

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Earlier it was reported that the first death from coronavirus was recorded in Ukraine

A Ukrainian citizen died of the coronavirus in Italy. Oksana Fedkiv wrote that on her Facebook.

According to Oksana Fedkiv, a deceased Ukrainian worked in the province of Brescia. She was reportedly hospitalized with suspected coronavirus on March 8. On March 12 the diagnosis was confirmed.

At the same time, there are no official comments by the Ukrainian authorities on this issue yet.

The Ambassador of Ukraine to Italy, Yevhen Perelygin, reported that as of the morning of March 13, not a single Ukrainian who was in Italy had applied to the consulate for help in evacuating.

Earlier we reported that the first death of a person infected with a coronavirus was recorded in Ukraine. A 71-year-old woman from the Zhytomyr region who was hospitalized on March 12 with a laboratory-confirmed case of ovid-19 died today.

The relatives of the woman and persons with whom she contacted stay under the supervision of doctors.

The Ministry of Health of Ukraine notes that a woman deceased was in the group of risk.
(TNS)  Across the country, governors are making the difficult decision to close all schools or at least public schools to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But not in Pennsylvania, at least not yet.Instead, state Department of Education spokesman Eric Levis said, Were currently tracking and monitoring cases in Pennsylvania but are also examining whats happening in Ohio, Maryland and other neighboring states.As of Friday morning, Ohio, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, Michigan, and District of Columbia have closed schools for at least the next two weeks, if not longer. Kentuckys governor has recommended that all public and private schools cease in-person classes but hasnt mandated that to happen, according to the Washington Post.State Education Secretary Pedro Rivera and Dr. Rachel Levine, the state Health secretary, held a webinar with superintendents on Friday morning that is soon going to be posted on the departments website.Some who listened in to that online conference said there was no immediate indication that Pennsylvania would be following the lead of other states in ordering a statewide shuttering of schools but said there was a reference made about closing schools if there has been a case of exposure to the virus.In fact, several school districts in Pennsylvania have already done that. Lancaster School District closed on Friday due to possible exposure at two of its schools. Southern York County and Allentown also have made decisions to close their schools, along with Wyomissing and Wilson school districts in Berks County and Philadelphia schools.On Thursday, Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the closing of all schools in Montgomery County along with other facilities, which is seen as the epicenter of Pennsylvanias outbreak of COVID-19 cases, starting today.Lower Dauphin School District spokesman Jim Hazen said after the morning webinar, district officials there are examining all of our options. A couple of activities planned for Friday were postponed.Unlike other districts that had received the education departments approval to have up to five flexible instruction days that allow students to receive instruction online and have the days count toward the states 180 instructional days mandate, Lower Dauphin did not apply by the deadline.Hazen said the district is waiting to see if the state relaxes that regulation to allows districts like his to consider that option. In the meantime, he said, we are looking at ways for continuity of instruction.Cumberland Valley School District, meanwhile, posted on its website it is considering a student day on March 20 but a final decision would be made by today. If it appears that school may be closed for a length of time after March 20, 2020, we would likely have students attend on the 20th of March. A specific notification related to this will be sent to families and staff by the end of the day on Friday, March 13, 2020, the website states.West Shore School District Superintendent Todd Stoltz issued a statement on Thursday, stating he was heeding Wolfs directive and cancelling or postponing after-school events expected to attract 250+ attendees for the next two weeks. Additionally, we are reviewing all trips planned in the upcoming weeks, including their destination and number of attendees, to determine if students will be permitted to attend.Other school districts have directed teachers to begin making lesson preparations in the event school closures become necessary.Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.2020 The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.)Visit The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.) at www.pennlive.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The new restaurant will operate an all electric cooking area and appliances, while the heating, air conditioning and water heaters will be gas powered, Shelton said. As an extra safety precaution, the KFC installed special carbon monoxide monitoring devices that are integrated into its security system, Shelton explained. If theres any indication of any (gas) issue, well be notified immediately.

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The Sheltons own two additional KFCs in Asheboro and Roxboro, as well as 10 restaurants in Southwest Virginia. Two of their establishments are KFC/Taco Bell combination stores. And since the Eden disaster, Bacon Enterprises has installed emissions devices in all of those restaurants and their cook lines, Shelton said.

In Eden, no less than 18 security cameras will keep watch on the KFC. This is so we can see everything thats going on. Weve got about four outside and the rest inside, Shelton said.

The dining room was brimming with patrons around 11 a.m. Tuesday. Hanging in the center of the new eaterys busy dining room was its decorative piece de resistance  a chandelier of wooden slats, fashioned as a stylized, iconic KFC chicken bucket.
India has shut its door for almost all foreign citizens at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, even as it steps up its endeavour to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and brought back home more of its nationals from Iran  the second-worst affected country after ground-zero China.

India also reached out to its nationals stranded in Italy. A medical team put together by Union Government landed in Rome on Friday to collect swab samples of the citizens of India. The Embassy of India in Rome and the Consulate General of India in Milan will facilitate early return of the Indian citizens, who would be tested negative for COVID-19.

The Government decided to suspend till April 15 all existing visas issued to the foreign nationals for visit to India, except the ones issued to the diplomats, officials and representatives of the United Nations and other international organizations as well as to people seeking to come for employment or for participating in any project.

The decision of the government came into effect from 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

The visas of all foreign nationals, who have already arrived in the country, however, will remain valid and they may contact the nearest Foreigner Regional Registration Office or Foreigner Registration Office online through the e-FRRO module for extension or conversion of their visas or for any other consular services, the Bureau of Immigration of the Government of India clarified.

The visa-free travel facility granted to people having Overseas Citizen of India or OCI cards was also suspended till April 15. The OCI cards of people, who are present in India, would remain valid.

All incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain and Germany after February 15, would be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days, the Bureau of Immigration of the Union Government notified.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 07:48:08|Editor: Liu

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ACCRA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's Ministry of Health announced here on Thursday that the country has confirmed its first two cases of COVID-19.

The two patients returned to Ghana from Norway and Turkey, according to a statement released by the ministry.

They are now being kept in isolation and their conditions are stable, said the statement.

The Ministry of Health said they have initiated processes for contact tracing.
Ready: Iraqi Shiite fighters near the border in al-Qaim in Anbar. Photo: AFP via Getty Images

Iraq's military yesterday said it has opened an investigation into a rocket attack hours earlier that killed three servicemen, including two Americans, at an Iraqi base housing coalition forces.

At least 12 coalition personnel were also wounded late on Wednesday by a barrage of rockets targeting Camp Taji base, 27km north of Baghdad, according to a US-led coalition statement. A truck rigged with 107mm Katyusha rocket launchers was discovered by Iraqi security forces a few kilometres from the base following the attack.

A military statement from Iraq's joint operations command said caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi ordered the investigation into what he called "a very serious security challenge and hostile act".

The United Nations condemned the attack, saying it took "critical political attention away" from Iraq's ongoing domestic challenges, which threaten to create a power vacuum at the seat of Iraq's government.

"The last thing Iraq needs is to serve as an arena for vendettas and external battles," the statement said.

Heightened tensions between the United States and Iran in recent months were set in motion by a rocket attack in December on an Iraqi base that killed a US contractor. American airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah followed, which led to protests at the US embassy in Baghdad.

A US drone strike in Baghdad then killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, a top commander.

Iran struck back with a ballistic missile attack on US forces in Iraq.
I recently tried to get records from a prior surgery that required a month's hospital stay. I was told they no longer existed and the doctor had died. They would have really helped with my current medical issues. I now get copies of everything and keep them marked and in a safe place.
Theology professor offers 3 ways Christians' religious beliefs should influence their politics

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A theology professor says there are three ways in which Christians' religious beliefs should influence how they engage in politics.

Vincent Bacote, director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Illinois, was one of the speakers at the Just Gospel 2020 conference at Del Ray Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, last week.

The first thing one must do, according to Bacote, is recognize that a Christian is a citizen of Gods Kingdom, which means Jesus is their King.

Now, if Jesus is their King, he explained, that means that they have their ultimate allegiance to Jesus as their King, which makes all other obligations relative. All other commitments relative.

If I have non-negotiable political commitments, am I willing to have those non-negotiable political commitments questioned by this King to whom I have an ultimate allegiance? Can He ask me, hey can we revisit that?

Bacote challenged those gathered by stating that if Jesus is your King, then let Him interrogate us all the time, including on political stances.

The second concept is the Christian process of sanctification and recognizing that no Christian sees the world with perfect clarity as they grow in faith, which means they can miss things.

Bacote sought to apply this sanctification process to political engagement, saying that when it comes to your politics, you recognize you know, I might be missing something. Which means then that whatever youre doing with their political commitments you need to have a posture of humility, because you have not arrived, Bacote continued.

If a Christian is in a process of becoming holy, holy in position but in a process of living up to what that position is, then we ought to be people of humility when it comes to how we are articulating and pursuing our political commitments.

The third concept he shared is the Christian belief in the resurrection, which shows that Christians have the greatest hope of all and thus should not act as a peddler of fear.

Bacote spoke against Christians who openly act like were going to lose it all if political fortunes do not go their way, something that the professor labeled as Easter amnesia.

Did you just go to church? Did you just hear that God conquered death? Because if you believe He conquered death, why are you acting like, but He cant deal with this? he asked.

Bacote also focused on how he believes many Christians form their political views, arguing that most do so because of secular concerns that were made immediate to them through others.

As an example, he noted that African Americans tend to vote for Democratic candidates even though they are usually more socially conservative than the overall party.

If you dont understand why a lot of African Americans dont think a lot about the abortion issue, its because theyre thinking about just trying to survive the lives that they have, Bacote said.

You know the people that at least have given lip service to those life concerns, its been more the people in the blue than the people in the red.

The Just Gospel conference was held March 5-7 and focused on how Christians in the United States should approach politics.

We hope to model how Christians who differ in secondary and political matters can nevertheless do so charitably and in a way that preserves both unity and freedom of conscience, according to the conference website.

We need and want healing conversations that serve the Church. We need pilgrim politics that bear witness to Christ and Kingdom to which we are headed.

Other speakers included: Jenny Yang, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief; Darryl Williamson, senior pastor of Living Faith Bible Fellowship in Tampa, Florida; Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; and Justin Giboney, an attorney who serves as president of the AND Campaign.

During his remarks, Giboney spoke about how he believed that too many Christians involved in politics have become converts to lesser gods and lesser institutions.

We have evangelicals using terms like patriotism to silence pleas for injustice. Even worse, we have some folks using the Gospel as a reason not to do justice, said Giboney.

Then we have some Christians who rightly concern themselves with justice, but arent bold enough to speak on the necessity of obedience and personal transformation along with liberation.

Giboney added that he believed many Christians have placed their trust in methods and ideologies that are built on a foundation thats certain to collapse.

Weve placed our faith in the tenets of conservatism or the forecast of progressivism, he continued. Weve outsourced our public witness to secular commentators and think-tanks that now do the thinking for us.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus wife, Sophie Gregoire, exhibited symptoms of coronavirus on Wednesday, March 11, after arriving from London

- She was taken into isolation and later subjected to the tests which revealed she was positive

- Trudeau went into self-quarantine as soon as her wife was taken into isolation and is expected to remain there for 14 days

- So far, Canada has confirmed 103 cases of the coronavirus

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeaus wife Sophie Gregoire has tested positive for COVID-19 virus.

Sophie exhibited symptoms of the dreaded virus and was taken into isolation before being subjected to the tests.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Brazilian official who met, shook hands with Trump tests positive

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire. Photo: Coronavirusupdate.com

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Shirika la WHO latangaza virusi vya corona kuwa janga la kimataifa

According to a statement from the prime minister's spokesperson, Sophie will remain in isolation for a moment pending treatment and further monitoring of her condition.

She showed mild flu-like symptom including a low fever on Wednesday, March 11, night, after returning from London.

After she tested positive, Sophie was quoted saying she would overcome the condition and urged Canadians to take precautionary measures to avoid contracting the disease.

"Although I'm experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon. We will get through this situation together. Please share the facts and take your health seriously," she was quoted by BBC.

Trudeau went into self-quarantine as soon as her wife was taken into isolation and the statement from his press secretary indicate he was in good condition.

The PM will, however, remain in isolation for 14 days to access the situation.

According to reports, doctors have advised against subject Trudeau to coronavirus tests at the moment, a move that has risen eyebrows among Canadian nationals and netizens.

The PM's office noted Trudeau will be addressing the nation on Friday, March 23, on the condition and Canada's preparedness to tackle the pandemic.

"The prime minister will continue to fully assume his duties and will address Canadians tomorrow (Friday)," the PM's office said.

So far, Canada has 103 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Kenneth Copeland calls coronavirus very weak strain of flu, says healthy people shouldnt fear

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Texas-based televangelist Kenneth Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries urged people not to panic over the new coronavirus, calling it a very weak strain of flu that healthy people shouldnt fear.

It (coronavirus) is so weak their symptoms are almost alike, Copeland said Wednesday in a Facebook Live broadcast of his Victory News report. Some people had it and didnt even know it. They just havent found the way to knock that thing in the head yet.

Copelands broadcast began with a highlight of a different strain of the coronavirus listed on the label of a bottle of Clorox to demonstrate that other strains of the virus have been around for a while.

He also pointed to a recent announcement from scientists at Israels The Galilee Research Institute that they are on the cusp of developing a vaccine for the new coronavirus in the next few weeks.

Our basic concept was to develop the technology and not specifically a vaccine for this kind or that kind of virus, Dr. Chen Katz, MIGALs biotechnology group leader told the Jerusalem Post Wednesday. The scientific framework for the vaccine is based on a new protein expression vector, which forms and secretes a chimeric soluble protein that delivers the viral antigen into mucosal tissues by self-activated endocytosis, causing the body to form antibodies against the virus.

He added: We are in the middle of this process, and hopefully in a few weeks we will have the vaccine in our hands. Yes, in a few weeks, if it all works, we would have a vaccine to prevent coronavirus.

Copeland then said that much of the reaction to the new coronavirus has been fear-based and pointed to 2 Timothy 1:7 to show why God would prefer for Christians to have faith that they will overcome the virus even if they are infected.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, he said. So fear is a spirit and that spirit is the devil and he is the spirit of death.

Copeland then explained that having fear is to actively put faith in the power of the devil.

So fear is faith in him (devil). Its a spiritual force. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Fear comes by hearing and a hearing by the word of the devil. The lies of Satan. All worry is fear-based. All anxiety is fear-based. All depression is fear-based. Amen. So fear of this virus, forget about corona. Its another form of the flu, he said.

Copeland, who was born in 1936 and celebrated his 83rd birthday last December, said he has been around a long time and has seen several different strains of the flu, including the Hong Kong flu pandemic which occurred in 1968. Copeland recalled an outbreak he experienced around 1957 and 1958 which was during the time of the Asian Flu virus.

The Asian Flu virus was first reported in Singapore in February 1957, Hong Kong in April 1957, and in coastal cities in the United States in summer 1957. The estimated number of deaths was 1.1 million worldwide and 116,000 in the United States, the CDC said.

In contrast, officials at the CDC and epidemic experts from universities around the world estimate that if the new coronavirus gains a foothold in the U.S., between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected, The New York Times reported. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die.

As of Friday afternoon, at least 1,714 people in 47 states and Washington, D.C., have tested positive for coronavirus, according to a New York Times database, and at least 41 patients with the virus have died.

When I was in the Army 1957, 1958, the first one of those things hit. It was called the Hong Kong Flu. Nobody ever heard of it before. And man, Im telling you. I was stationed in Fort Gordon, Georgia. And it hit with a vengeance, Copeland recalled.

He explained that he was stationed at the Army hospital and when the flu hit they had about 35 patients. By the next morning, he said, there were more than 500. He said they worked to clean the hospital and tried to do everything to keep it from spreading, but people died anyway.

Since then, the flu virus has continued to mutate, he said, adding that healthy people shouldnt worry.

The thing is, healthy people are not dying from this. Its elderly people that are already sick, he said, noting that what we need to do is deal with fear.

When it was noted that there are pastors who were concerned that people wont come to church because of the new coronavirus and others who are advising congregants not to attend, Copeland argued that he wants people to attend his church.

I want you in my church. If we have to pass out thermometers. If we find one with a fever, lets get him healed right there, he said. What if you do get it? Big deal!

He further noted that he recently battled a bout of the flu and he praised his way out of his sickness in 15 minutes while he was at a ministers conference.

He further praised Vice President Mike Pence and his coronavirus task force for praying about how to respond to the pandemic.

Thats why we need this president in there for another four years. Thats the reason why, and on account of that man right there. Because if you give Donald Trump four more years hell be president in eight years. Mike Pence, he is the spiritual leader on this team, Copeland said.
Swamp People: Serpent Invasion is premiering its first season on Thursday, Mar. 12 at 11:05 p.m. In the series: Troy Landry, his son Chase, legendary gator hunter Bruce Mitchell, and big fish wrangler Zak Bagby team up with professional snake hunter Bill Booth, the men dive into the underbelly of the Everglades to capture and remove the sinister beasts.

Heres the information youll need to watch Swamp People: Serpent Invasion online without cable.

When is 'Swamp People: Serpent Invasion on?

Swamp People: Serpent Invasion premieres its first season on Thursday, Mar. 12 at 11:05 p.m. on History Channel. It will be followed by a rerun of Swamp People at 12:03 a.m.

How to watch Swamp People: Serpent Invasion without cable

If youre a cord-cutter or dont have cable, you can live stream Swamp People: Serpent Invasion on any one of the following streaming platforms:

Hulu Live TV

Fubo TV (free trial)

Sling TV

What channel is History 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 Swamp People: Serpent Invasion online on-demand

If you missed an episode of Swamp People: Serpent Invasion or want to binge watch the series as it becomes available, check out the following streaming platforms:

Hulu Live TV

Fubo TV (free trial)

Sling TV

What is Swamp People: Serpent Invasion about?

According to the official History Channel website: The Florida Everglades are under siege. An invasion of Burmese pythons is decimating this natural wonder of the South. Entire species of animals are being wiped out. Aggressive, ravenous and incredibly fast-breeding, these pythons have no natural predator to stop themexcept for man... To combat these serpents, the state created the Python Elimination Program. With alligator season over, Louisianas best huntersKing of the Swamp Troy Landry, his sharpshooting son Chase, legendary gator hunter Bruce Mitchell and big fish wrangler Zak Catchemare stepping up to help. Together with professional snake hunter Bill Booth, the men dive deep into the underbelly of the Everglades to capture these sinister beasts... In a primordial battle between man and snake, the swampers are determined to protect the community, native species and environment at all costs.

Heres a look at an episode from a recent season of Swamp People, courtesy of History channels official YouTube channel:

Related stories about Swamp People: Serpent Invasion

Here are some additional stories and articles about Swamp People: Serpent Invasion, including a look at the history leading up to the creation of the series:

Meet the Burmese python hunters of the Florida swamps

As pythons invade Florida, professional snake hunting becomes booming industry

The snakes that ate Florida

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

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Members of a medical assistance team from the General Hospital of the PLA Eastern Theater Command pose for a group photo at the airports departure lounge on March 11 before leaving for Xizang Autonomous Region for providing medical assistance.

NANJING, Mar. 13 -- A medical assistance team of the General Hospital of the Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command (ETC) in Nanjing of east Chinas Jiangsu Province departed for southwest Chinas Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region on March 11 to carry out a six-month medical assistance mission in the People's Hospital of Amdo County.

This team is the 19th medical assistance team sent by the General Hospital to assist Xizang. This time, taking into consideration the actual needs in the prevention and control of COVID-19, the well-experienced team members have carried 5, 000 protective masks with them and will contribute to the prevention and control of COVID-19 in Xizang, and local hospitals talent team building.

Since 2001, the PLA ETC General Hospital has donated medical equipment and more than eight million RMB yuanequivalent to USD 1.1 million of financial assistance to the Amdo County People's Hospital. The medical assistance teams of the General hospital have accumulatively received more than 4,000 Xizang compatriots and trained 80 Xizang doctors. It is learnt that, thanks to the PLA ETC General Hospitals help, the Amdo County People's Hospital is expected to complete the Class-B secondary hospital reviewing procedures by June this year.

In addition, the members of medical assistance team cover 12 departments including emergency medicine, orthopedics, anesthesia, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology, pediatrics, otolaryngology, etc., and over half of them have senior professional titles.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday ordered the closing of every school in the state until March 30 amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus.

Even as other states and large cities shut down schools this week, officials in Illinois and Chicago said they were not yet prepared to take that step in Chicago or statewide. Public health officials also said children appear to be less likely to become ill and those that do have milder cases.

Pritzker announced his decision in Chicago, where more than 355,000 public school students will be affected. Statewide, nearly 2 million students will not be returning to the classroom. It is the latest blow to Chicago students, who were kept out of classes earlier in the school year by an 11-day strike by the districts more than 21,000 teachers.

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 from three to six weeks to recover.

The closing of schools comes the same week that many large universities in Illinois  including the University of Illinois, Southern Illinois, DePaul, Northwestern and Illinois State universities  suspended in-person classes because of concerns about the virus.

On Thursday, the Illinois High School Association limited attendance at the remaining games in this years 2020 boys basketball tournament and other sporting events. Also, the University of Chicago on Thursday joined other major Illinois universities to institute remote learning for the spring quarter to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The Illinois Department of Public Health said Friday that seven more people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19.

The virus is here in Illinois. While it may not be in your community now, we anticipate it will be eventually. We all need to take action now by postponing large events and restricting visits to nursing homes to limit the spread, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike said. Guidance for this novel virus is changing day by day, sometimes hour by hour, but we want to empower people to think about what they can do to reduce their risk of possible infection, as well as spread of the virus. The state will continue with containment efforts while also implementing mitigation strategies and were asking for your help in these efforts.

About 29% of the cases in Illinois are travel-associated, about 44% are from contact with a coronavirus carrier and the remaining cases do not have a clear connection and could be the result of spread in the community. While the vast majority of cases are recovering, about 94% are in isolation either at home or in the hospital.

At this time, there have been no deaths associated with COVID-19 in Illinois.
Apple said Friday its annual in-person developers conference, WWDC, will be conducted online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

WWDC attracts thousands of developers, analysts and journalists each year. The company typically announces new software features and sometimes hardware products as people travel around the world to San Jose, California, for workshops about building software for iPhones, iPads and Macs.

"The current health situation has required that we create a new WWDC 2020 format that delivers a full program with an online keynote and sessions, offering a great learning experience for our entire developer community, all around the world," Phil Schiller, senior VP of worldwide marketing, said in a statement.

Apple said it would donate $1 million to organizations in San Jose to help with expected losses now that the event won't be held in the city.

Apple previously warned that it would miss its March quarter sales forecast because of reduced demand in China as well as an iPhone shortage related to factories in China not producing at full capacity.

Microsoft, Facebook and Google all previously announced they will hold their developers conferences virtually.
The Oregon Youth Authority on Friday announced all visitation to its juvenile detention centers and other facilities will be canceled, effective Saturday, until further notice to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The agency said it does not have any known cases of the illness at its facilities.

The ban will be in place for up to 30 days and will be re-evaluated regularly. It applies to visitors and volunteers.

Juvenile parole and probation officers, attorneys and contractors will still have access to the detention centers.

The agency operates nine locked facilities, which house about 500 juveniles. It employs nearly 1,000 people.

The agency encouraged relatives and friends to call or use video calls to connect with youths in custody.

We are sorry to have to cancel visitation, the agency said in a statement Friday. We understand the importance of communication and connections between youth and their families. However, we feel we must enact some temporary measures for everyones health and safety.

The move comes one day after the Oregon Department of Corrections announced it would also suspend visitations at all 14 state prisons to reduce the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus.

State prison officials said all visits, as well as some other activities, are canceled starting Friday. The list includes outside work crews, special visits, volunteer visits and personal visits, even those where visitors talk to adults in custody through a glass window.

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
SANTA FE  New Mexicos insurance superintendent will prohibit health insurers from charging copays or imposing similar costs on patients who seek testing and treatment for COVID-19 under emergency rules issued Friday.

Superintendent of Insurance Russell Toal also ordered health insurers to notify their members about whether  or to what extent  their coverage includes care for COVID-19. If the coverage is limited, the companies must inform their members and tell them about options for full coverage.

A second order targets limited-benefit plans  such as workers compensation  requiring them to inform members that they dont have full coverage.

In a written statement, Toal said the goal is to take aggressive steps to limit the spread of COVID-19, the diseased caused by the new coronavirus sweeping the globe.

A key part of that strategy is ensuring access to free, high-quality care, including testing and treatment, Toal said.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she hopes the rule will encourage New Mexicans to seek out the tests and treatment they need.

During this emergency, she said, we cant afford to place barriers between New Mexicans and the tests and treatment they need.

The state Department of Health is also encouraging people to avoid travel and self-isolate for 14 days if theyve been out of state.

Six New Mexico residents  most with recent travel to New York or overseas  have tested positive for COVID-19. The cases are in Bernalillo, Santa Fe and Socorro counties.
An outspoken ruler mired in conflicts is ousted without warning from his palace and banished under armed guard into an uncertain exile beyond the borders of his realm.

This is not the plot of a Shakespearean tragedy, but the real-life drama that has played out in northern Nigeria's influential Islamic emirate of Kano as traditional leader Muhammadu Sanusi II was unceremoniously deposed by the local governor.

The sudden fall of one of the country's most revered hereditary rulers on Monday rattled the 1,000-year-old kingdom -- and has shown the difficult balancing act facing the ancient monarchies of modern-day Nigeria.

Sanusi, also known by his birth name Lamido, had been a mould-breaker since ascending to the throne of the emirate of millions in 2014 after the death of his great-uncle.

The 58-year-old former central bank governor was already known for his outspokenness when he claimed the title and carved out a reputation as a moderniser willing to criticise practices like having multiple wives and children without being able to support them.

He was also not afraid of taking on the powerful politicians running northern Nigeria -- lambasting them for leadership failures.

"It's no secret that many of our political leaders are inept and not well educated," the emir wrote back in 2017.

"Nigerians have learnt from experience not to expect much from them."

The ruler's main nemesis -- and the man who ultimately unseated him -- was regional governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

Ganduje suspected the emir of backing his political rival and had already divided up his territory and launched a corruption probe to try to bring him to heel.

On Monday their feud came to a head when Sanusi was unexpectedly removed for "total disrespect".

The deposed ruler was detained by police at his palace, pictured, before being taken to exile in a remote village in another state /  AFP/File

"The governor decided that enough is enough and moved against him," said Adewunmi Falode, a history professor at Lagos state university.

"It's a signal that the ultimate power rests with the government while the emir is just a symbol of spirituality, culture and tradition without real power and influence."

The deposed ruler was detained by police at his palace before being spirited out of Kano to exile in a remote village in another state where he is expected to remain incommunicado.

- 'Seen not heard' -

There are dozens of traditional rulers across Africa's most populous country.

They have no official constitutional powers but are important cultural custodians who often wield great influence over their followers.

Relics from a period when monarchies dominated this region, they rely now on regional governments for their funding and their succession is regulated by elected officials.

While they lack practical power, their patronage can be key at elections when Nigeria's notoriously cutthroat politicians jostle for votes.

But their role remains ambiguous -- and when Sanusi began to talk up some complained that he was overstepping the boundaries and flouting the strict protocol of the palace.

"It is an established custom that the emir should be seen not heard," a Kano court insider told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The decision to detain and banish Sanusi to an undisclosed location proved controversial /  AFP/File

"But Sanusi violated that important tradition and would talk like a parrot anywhere, anytime and on any topic -- this eroded the mystic and prestige around his person in the eyes of the people."

That could in part explain the muted response to his removal on the streets of his former kingdom.

While moves to depose previous emirs provoked deadly violence in decades past, this time around there have been no major protests.

- 'Archaic practice' -

If anything highlighted the uncomfortable divide between modernity and tradition that the monarchies straddle -- it was the nature of Sanusi's removal.

The lightning move to turf him out was down to a powerplay typical of the political tussles of contemporary Nigeria.

Within hours a replacement had been installed -- and the former ruler released a video message pledging his allegiance.

But the decision to detain and banish Sanusi to an undisclosed location proved controversial.

Amnesty International's Nigerian branch complained on Twitter that "placing him incommunicado violates his human rights".

The tactic dates back to the days when the British Empire dominated Nigeria with its strategy of divide-and-rule and would exile leaders viewed as troublesome.

"The archaic practice of banishment of deposed Emirs, a colonial practice, has no basis under Nigerian law or the constitution," Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, a lawyer for Sanusi, said in a statement.

His legal team insisted they would go to court to challenge the legality of his treatment.

"We are totally perplexed at the resort to this practice in present day Nigeria by its political leaders."
Natasha Ablett was a seasoned escapee, fleeing the grounds of a mental health facility 36 times throughout her life.

The 35-year-old daughter of AFL great Gary Ablett snr was an involuntary patient at Geelong's Swanston Centre when she absconded for the final time and overdosed on a cocktail of illicit drugs including fentanyl on October 12, 2017.

Natasha Ablett

Ms Ablett battled with drug addiction and a mental health condition from her late teens, a coronial inquest into her death heard on Friday.

"I note that despite the significant challenges posed by Natasha's mental ill health which was exacerbated by her propensity to self-medicate with illicit drugs, her family never stopped loving or supporting her," Coroner John Olle said.
A Starbucks Drive Thru logo is pictured on a building in Buffalo, New York

Reuters

Some Starbucks locations may become drive thru-only as the company tries to manage social distancing from the coronavirus pandemic.

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in a letter to customers that instituting "mobile order-only scenarios" is another possibility.

Closing stores is a last resort, Johnson said.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Some Starbucks locations could become drive thru-only as the coffee chain seeks to manage the situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the recommended social distancing to help slow the spread of the virus.

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson wrote in a letter to customers that stores are currently operating regularly through the United States and Canada, but that the company is "prepared to modify operations" to continue serving customers through the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnson said that aside from some stores being limited to the drive thru, some locations could institute "mobile order-only scenarios" or delivery-only via Uber Eats to limit interactions in stores.

"As a last resort, we will close a store if we feel it is in the best interest of our customers and partners, or if we are directed to do so by government authorities," Johnson said. "In any such situation, we expect store disruption to be temporary."

Starbucks has taken precautionary measures like increased cleaning and sanitizing at its stores, Johnson said.

He also noted that Starbucks is "leveraging the considerable insights we've gained from our experience in China, where we continue to see encouraging signs of recovery with over 90% of stores reopened."

For Starbucks employees, Johnson said in another letter that the company will expand "catastrophe pay" so workers can stay home if they're impacted by the virus.

"Any partner who has been diagnosed with or exposed to COVID-19, or comes in close prolonged contact with someone in their store or household who has, is eligible for up to 14 days of catastrophe pay  whether or not they are showing symptoms  so they can self-isolate at home," Johnson said. The catastrophe pay is in addition to benefits like sick pay and vacation pay.

Starbucks has taken other measures during the outbreak, such as stopping the use of personal cups and "for here" cups in stores, as well as restricting business travel and postponing large meetings.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Panic buyers have been emptying shelves across the US and cops are telling people to stop calling 911 over line-skippers as thousands flood to stores to stockpile over coronavirus fears.

Manhattan shoppers mobbed a Trader Joes store in New York as widespread panic buying continues over coronavirus fears.

A long line of shoppers were seen queuing down the street outside the Trader Joes store in Manhattans Lower East Side on Friday afternoon, as President Trump announced he was calling a national emergency across the US.

The usually quiet store was bombarded by a queue of around 50 shoppers desperately trying to stock up on emergency supplies.

The line snaked right along the outside of the store onto Clinton Street, before store assistants opened the doors letting the New Yorkers flood in all at once and rinse the shelves of all goods.

Manhattan, New York: Shoppers mobbed a Trader Joes store in New York as widespread panic buying continues over coronavirus fears

Manhattan, New York: A long line of shoppers were seen queuing down the street outside the Trader Joes store in Manhattans Lower East Side on Friday afternoon, as President Trump announced he was calling a national emergency across the US

Manhattan, New York: The usually quiet store was bombarded by a queue of around 50 shoppers desperately trying to stock up on emergency supplies

Manhattan, New York: The line snaked right along the outside of the store onto Clinton Street, before store assistants opened the doors letting the New Yorkers flood in all at once and rinse the shelves of all goods

Manhattan, New York: Empty shelves at Trader Joe's in Lower East Side after frantic shoppers cleared shelves

The stockpiling in the Big Apple came after LA cops told frantic shoppers in California to stop calling 911 over people cutting lines outside stores, as widespread panic buying over coronavirus fears consumes America.

One shopper called 911 on Thursday to report a huge fight involving more than 1,000 people over supplies including toilet paper and bottled water at a Costco in Cancon County, Santa Clarita.

Maryland, Virginia: Shelves normally stocked with water and Gatorade sit empty at a giant supermarket store

Maryland, Virginia: Shelves normally stocked with pasta sauces sit empty at a Target store as people stockpile supplies

Officers were called to the scene at around 9:45am to attend to what the caller described as 'multiple groups of people fighting outside the store,' said Shirley Miller, spokesperson for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriffs Station

Miller said cops arrived to find the reports to be false and that the 'person called because customers were cutting in line'.

California: LA cops told frantic shoppers to stop calling 911 over people cutting lines outside stores, after one shopper called 911 on Thursday to report a huge fight involving more than 1,000 people over supplies at a Costco in Cancon County, Santa Clarita (above) that turned out to be false

California: Hundreds of shoppers joined a huge line in the parking lot outside the Costco store on Thursday

California: Aerial footage taken at around 10am shows eager members of the public in Santa Clarita with empty shopping karts rushing to stock up on toilet paper, bottled water, disinfectant wipes and sanitizer

The sheriff's department tweeted telling shoppers to stop wasting police time: 'Please dont call 911 because people are cutting in front of you in line at the store. It ties up valuable resources for real emergencies!'

'All is calm over at Costco,' the Sheriff's Department later added.

'Yes, there are long lines but contrary to what a 911 caller said, there are no fights.'

South Beach, Miami: Anxious shoppers are pictured panic buying in Trader Joe's grocery store

Everett, MA: Shoppers emerge from a Costco Wednesday after waiting in a line that snaked around the interior of the store on the day that Coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the WHO

Everett, MA: Shoppers have been pictured lining up with shopping carts overflowing with bundles of toilet paper, crates of bottled water and dozens of cans of tinned food

The police warning to shoppers came after officers were called to similar reports at a Californian Costco store last week.

Deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department responded to the Chino Hills store after a call was made claiming customers had become aggressive when it ran out of bottled water and toilet paper.

Again, the claims of violence was found to be false.

This graph shows the escalation of coronavirus cases in the United States since January. As of midnight on Friday, 2,299 people had been infected, and 50 had died

People across the US have gone into a shopping frenzy over the last week, with queues snaking through parking lots waiting for stores to open.

Shelves lie empty as people stock up on essential items and emergency supplies in anticipation of a potential lockdown situation similar to that seen across the whole of Italy.

Demand for hand sanitizer, disinfectant sprays and wipes and similar goods has especially increased as people desperately try to keep the deadly coronavirus at bay.

Sales of hand sanitizer in the US rocketed 73 per cent in the four weeks to February 22, according to Nielsen data, and analysts predict this won't slow down 'for some time'.

Several stores have taken to rationing the volume of certain products in efforts to spread the supply among community members.

LA: Empty shelves in a Costco store. People across the US have gone into a shopping frenzy over the last week, with queues snaking through parking lots waiting for stores to open

LA: Shelves lie empty in this store as people stock up on essential items and emergency supplies in anticipation of a potential lockdown situation similar to that seen across the whole of Italy

Broward County, Florida: Empty shelves in a Walmart store: Demand for hand sanitizer, disinfectant sprays and wipes and similar goods has especially increased as people desperately try to keep the deadly coronavirus at bay

Costco tightened its rationing rules last week - reducing the number of packets of flour, sugar and rice each customer is allowed to buy from five to two per customer.

Kroger too has placed limits on the number of sanitizers and cold and flu products shoppers can buy online.

The mania has been triggered by fears that households will be forced to lie low in quarantine for 14 days as cases of coronavirus mount across the US.

The death toll reached 42 in the US and there were 2,037 cases and counting of the virus as of Friday afternoon.

These concerns will only grow as President Trump is poised to declare a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.

The Department of Homeland Security and the American Red Cross have already recommended that people have a two-week supply of food and water.
O ne of Britains most senior police watchdogs is bringing a race discrimination case against the Home Office over claims that he is paid less because he is white.

Matt Parr was hired in 2016 as one of five HM Inspectors of Constabulary, and is paid 140,000 a year to oversee forces including the Met, the National Crime Agency and City of London Police.

He claims his pay is too low compared to his colleague Wendy Williams, hired in 2015 on 185,000 a year, and is arguing he has suffered discrimination due to being white and male.

The Home Office denies discrimination, and Home Secretary Priti Patel had sought to keep details of Ms Williams pay talks secret. She argued that publicity would be a breach of the inspectors human right to privacy, while Ms Williams herself insisted the negotiations should remain confidential.

But Mr Justice Griffiths ruled against the minister, saying the case should be open so the public can understand the issues involved. The judge decided the open justice principle trumped Ms Williams claim to privacy, adding that details of the inspectors pay was already in the public domain.

The confidentiality alleged was not a matter of any state secret, or sensitive policing, or public interest immunity, or private discussions of public policy, or anything of that sort, he said. He added that since the salaries of all the inspectors were in the public domain no question of confidentiality arose.

Objection: Wendy Williams argued her pay talks should remain confidential

It was only the pay negotiations that were deemed to be confidential and require protection, he said, but since the final salary was public, it was not obvious why the pay talks needed to be confidential to such an extent.

Ms Patel insists Mr Parrs wages were reached in a government cost-cutting drive, not due to his race or gender.

Mr Parr launched a case against the Home Secretary in 2018, the judge said. [Ms Williams] is the HMI appointed before him, who is a woman of black or ethnic minority heritage. The Home Secretary admits that he does like work within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 and that he is paid less, but contends that the reason for the discrepancy in salaries, which are apparently individually negotiated for each HMI, is a pay policy which aims to reduce senior salaries.

A tribunal last June ruled that Ms Williams pay negotiations could be heard in secret. But the order was overturned in January during a full trial of the case in front of a different tribunal. Lawyers for the Home Secretary appealed, and Ms Williams argued that release of the information could impact on her role and credibility.
The recognition comes on the heels of rapid growth for Ease, with more than 70,000 SMEs using the companys system. Ease has doubled its headcount in the past year and is currently hiring for a number of positions across multiple departments.

You would be hard-pressed to find someone in our industry that wouldnt describe Ease as a best in class solution, said David Reid, founder and CEO of Ease. We have a great product. But a company is only as good as the team. I have the easy job of telling people about the company, while my team has the hard job of building a great company. This award really spotlights just how truly special the culture at Ease really is.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 17:18:28|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sent a congratulatory letter on Friday to the signing ceremony of the coffee innovation park to be built by Starbucks in eastern China's Jiangsu Province.

Noting that Starbucks has made contributions and shared opportunities in the process of China's reform and opening-up over the years, Li said the innovation park, aligning with the latest international standards and featuring green production, is conducive to the innovation of modern industrial chain and supply chain.

China will make further efforts to widen market access and create an equitable and better business environment for both domestic and foreign-invested enterprises, Li said in the letter.

China's market potential is huge, and the fundamentals for long-term economic growth remain sound, Li said, adding that China will continue to be a hot spot for foreign investment.

"We welcome enterprises from all over the world to further expand their cooperation with China and better achieve common development," Li said.

With an initial investment of 130 million U.S. dollars, the innovation park is expected to be the largest manufacturing investment by the world's leading coffee chain outside the United States.

The park, located in Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Jiangsu Province, will incorporate the entire supply chain, including import and export of coffee beans, roasting, packaging, warehousing, distribution and training.

Starbucks has opened more than 4,300 stores on the Chinese mainland, with over 58,000 employees.
Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has admitted America is failing on coronavirus testing  contradicting claims by Donald Trump that testing is going well.

Speaking at a House hearing concerning Covid-19 on Thursday, Dr Fauci said that the countrys health system had hindered widespread tests.

The system is not really geared to what we need right now, said Dr Fauci, that is a failing. Lets admit it.

Answering questions from congresowman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, he said that the country was not prepared for the level of testing needed.

The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, were not set up for that, he said. Do I think we should be? Yes. But were not.

Responding to Dr Faucis claims at the hearing, Ms Schultz said: Thats really disturbing and I appreciate the information.

Mr Trump insisted on Thursday that testing was going to plan, telling reporters: Frankly, the testing has been going very smooth, before adding, if you go to the right agency, if you go to the right area, you get the test.

In opposition to Mr Trumps claims, politicians said that fewer than 10,000 people had currently been tested for Covid-19 in the US and senator James Lankford told Politico that widespread testing was still far off.

Theyre ramping up, but theyre still saying its two weeks before we can get widespread testing, he said.

There are currently 1,323 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the US with 38 deaths, leading to residents of 26 nations being banned from entering the country.

Recommended What happens if Trump invokes Stafford Act and declares emergency

Vice president Mike Pence refused to confirm on Wednesday how many people had been tested for the virus, instead telling CNN he would leave that to the experts". The health secretay, Alex Azar, also said this week that he did not know how many people had been tested because some of the centres testing kits had been sent to were not required to report results.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) update a map showing locations of testing centres on a daily basis.

As of the evening of March 10, 79 state and local public health labs in 50 states and the District of Columbia have successfully verified and are currently using Covid-19 diagnostic tests, reads their website.
A National Executive Council meeting of the All Progressives Congress cannot hold except the trio of Waziri Bulama, Abiola Ajimobi, and Paul Chukwuma are in attendance, a judge of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court ruled Thursday.

Mohammed Liman, delivering a ruling on an ex parte application, restrained the APC and its officials from disturbing, preventing or obstructing Messrs Bulama, Ajimobi, and Chukwuma from carrying out their duties as acting National Secretary, acting National Deputy Chairman (South) and acting National Auditor of the APC, respectively.

The application was filed by Tunde Balogun, the Lagos State chairman of the APC.

The ruling party has been engulfed in crisis after a court ruling ordered the suspension of Adams Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the party pending the determination of suits filed against him. The court gave the order following an application by a member of the party that Mr Oshiomhole had been suspended by the APC in his home state of Edo.

Mr Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State, is appealing the suspension as well as the attendant decision to deny him access to the partys national secretariat.

Last week, the assistant national secretary of the party, Victor Gaidom, circulated a statement announcing a NEC meeting on March 17.

But a counter-statement issued by some top officials of the APC enjoined party members to ignore Mr Gaidom saying his action fell outside the partys constitution and jurisdiction. The statement was jointly signed by Lanre Issa-Onilu, the party spokesperson; Babatunde Ogala, the national legal adviser; and Mr Bulama.

Mr Gaidom, however, continued to insist he is the next in line in the party hierarchy following Mr Oshiomholes suspension and the absence of a substantive national secretary. The partys former national secretary is now the governor of Yobe State.

On Wednesday, a high court in Abuja restrained party members  specifically Messrs Issa-Onilu, Ogala, and Bulama  from disrupting next Tuesdays NEC meeting.

The application was filed by Mustapha Salihu, the North-East zonal vice-chairman of the APC.

A counter-application

In his application, which is designed to effectively counter the Abuja court ruling, the Lagos State APC chairman prayed the court to compel the party to recognise Mr Bulama as the acting National Secretary, Mr Ajimobi as the acting National Deputy Chairman (South), and Mr Chukwuma as the acting National Auditor of the party. He said the trio were nominated by their geo-political zones after the offices became vacant and were zoned to the North-East, South-West, and South-East respectively.

According to Mr Balogun, the nomination of Mr Bulama was ratified at the meeting of the APC National Working Committee held on January 14, 2020, while those of Messrs Ajimobi and Chukwuma were ratified at the NWC meeting of March 4, 2020.

By virtue of the ratification stated above, the nominees have become members of the National Executive Council and are entitled by the constitution of the defendant (APC) to work and operate in acting capacities in their respective offices pending their swearing-in at the National Convention of the party, he said.

In spite of the foregoing, the defendant (APC), acting through its officials and officers, particularly, the Deputy National Secretary, has not allowed the nominees to perform their duties as members of the National Executive Council.

He argued that the partys NEC could not effectively operate unless Messrs Bulama, Ajimobi, and Chukwuma were allowed to perform their duties and prayed the court to compel the APC to recognise them.

After listening to the applicants lawyer, Justice Liman granted the prayers and adjourned till March 25, 2020, for further hearing.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Lisbon, Portugal  Fri, March 13, 2020 07:07 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a34826 2 Sports #sports,#soccer,coronavirus,Cristiano-Ronaldo,quarantine Free

Cristiano Ronaldo has been in quarantine in Madeira for several days but is not showing any symptoms of the coronavirus contracted by a Juventus team-mate, local authorities in Portugal said Thursday.

"Ronaldo left Italy a few days ago and his isolation hasn't just started now," said Pedro Ramos, a member of the Madeira regional government in charge of health.

"Both the athlete and his family are symptomless," he added during a news conference.

Juventus and Italy defender Daniele Rugani tested positive for the COVID-19 virus on Wednesday, although the club said he was not exhibiting any symptoms.

"The players, members of staff and all those who came into contact (with Rugani) are in voluntary isolation. Ronaldo... is in Madeira and is staying there until further notice," the Serie A club told AFP.

Ronaldo travelled to his home town of Madeira last week to visit his mother who suffered a stroke.

"The player visited his mother because the health services were able to guarantee all the safety conditions, for him but also for everyone who has been in contact with him," said Ramos.

Portugal on Wednesday suspended flights to and from Italy until March 24 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Portuguese health authorities on Thursday reported a total of 78 infections in the country.
Alternative for Germany, or AfD, criticized the move, which allows authorities to use covert methods to observe the Wing and its estimated 7,000 supporters. They make up about 20 percent of the AfDs overall membership but hold significant sway over its direction, according to former party members.
Cab aggregators Uber and Ola have been impacted due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rides have gone down by a third over the last week in Bengaluru after major companies advised its employees to work from home and restrict travel that is not pressing.

The major chunk of the business for Uber and Ola comes from metros, where the companies have taken a beating, as mentioned in a report in The Economic Times. In Bengaluru, a drivers' association has urged the state governments to persuade lenders to waive off repayments of loans on taxis.

President of OTU Drivers and Owners Association, Tanveer Pasha, told the daily that there has been a 40-50 per cent drop since the last week as employers have asked employees to work from home. "We have approached the state government asking them to get banks to waive off out EMIs for two months at least," stated Pasha.

Those who are travelling for office work have also started using their personal vehicles whenever possible to restrict contact with potential carriers, stated the HR head of a company to the daily.

Pasha told the daily that around 5 per cent of drivers working for the ride-hailing platforms have left Bengaluru for their hometowns fearing that they would be at risk of infection during the job.

On Thursday, Flipkart asked its employees in Bengaluru office to work from home for at least three days. The company's Bellandur office has around 8,000-10,000 employees. The shutdown of the office has been done as a precautionary measure. On Wednesday, one employee each of Dell and Mindtree were tested positive.

Cognizant India also closed its Hyderabad office and asked its employees to work from home. Similarly, Paytm closed its Gurugram and Noida offices after an employee was detected with coronavirus. TCS, HCL Technologies, Nearbuy, Wipro, Twitter are some of the companies to have asked its employees to work from home.

Also read: Coronavirus Live Updates: COVID-19 claims first life in India; global death toll touches 4,600

Also read: Coronavirus outbreak: First batch of 120 evacuees from Iran to reach Jaisalmer today
As Covid-19 begins to take roots in Ireland, should the nation be concerned about those travelling from Cheltenham back to Ireland this week?

While mass gatherings are being cancelled across Ireland, international sporting events being held behind closed doors and St.Patrick's day being postponed in a bid to contain the coronavirus and social distancing measures are being enacted, Cheltenham Festival is as buoyant as ever.

Traditionally one third of the Cheltenham racegoers are Irish, and despite of the rising confirmed coronavirus figures in both Ireland and England, Prestbury Park hosted over 60,000 racegoers on day one of the festival.

England has 596 confirmed cases and a death toll of 10 people, the town of Gloucestershire has one confirmed case of the respiratory virus as thousands of Irish people flock to British shores and the World Health Organisation declares Covid-19 a pandemic.

Some measures have been enacted in the race course in a bid to slow down or stop the transmission of Covid-19, these include increased staff numbers, watering stations and santising stations across the racecourse, according to The Irish Times. However, the recommended social distancing role of 1-2 meters for less that 15 minutes is nowhere to be seen.

However, is this enough to stop the coronavirus entering Ireland at an unprecedented scale?
A relationship between Omar and Mynett was publicly alleged in August, when Mynetts then-wife, Beth Mynett, filed for divorce and accused her husband and Omar of having an affair. In response, Tim Mynett filed his own court document denying that he told his wife he was in love with Omar and that he was ending his marriage to be with the congresswoman.
Priests wearing protective masks against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) perform rituals at the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai on March 13, 2020. (PTI)

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Friday lodged a complaint with the Cyber Police about a fake central government `notification' about closure of colleges, schools and offices in view of the coronavirus.

The so-called notification, which has been doing the rounds on social media, claimed that it was issued by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

It purportedly declared a holiday for educational institutions and other organizations that have more than ten employees from March 14-21, and said a fine of Rs 5,000 per day would be imposed if the order was violated.

It claimed to be applicable to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim.

This notification was completely fake, and a police complaint has been registered, the chief minister's office said.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced earlier on Friday that in view of the coronavirus outbreak, schools and colleges in Pune and neighbouring twin industrial towns of Pimpri and Chinchwad will remain closed till further orders.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  The House of Representatives has disclosed that one of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus disease or COVID-19.

The patient is a staffer of the House's Printing Service, according to Secretary General Jose Luis Montales' message to employees on Friday. All personnel of the Printing Service have self-quarantined, Montales said. The message was later shared to reporters by 1PACMAN Party-list Rep. Eric Pineda.

Montales added that the staffer has no history of travel to any country with confirmed COVID-19 cases, and has no known history of exposure to an infected person.

"To recall, the staff has been in and out of the hospital since last year for various ailments. The staff was recently confined for community-acquired pneumonia," Montales said.

It is not clear if the House employee is among the 52 confirmed COVID-19 cases earlier confirmed by the Department of Health. Montales said the DOH will make an official announcement.

Montales added that the DOH will identify other people, including employees of other departments in the House, who had been in contact with the coronavirus patient so they can also self-quarantine.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano has suspended work in the lower chamber from March 16 to April 12. This is patterned to the work suspension imposed by President Rodrigo Duterte for the executive department.

However, all House employees "shall be on-call and may be required to report to office to perform their official duties for the welfare of the public," Montales said.

He added that some key offices, including the Office of the Sergeant at Arms - Legislative Security Bureau, Finance Department, Engineering and Physical Facilities Department, and Information Communications Technology Service will implement a rotation skeletal work force, Montales said. Other employees "shall be allowed to work from home but are required to timely submit their assigned outputs using telecommunication and online technologies."

Majority of the country's coronavirus cases are confined in hospitals in Metro Manila. Five have died of COVID-19.

Worldwide, COVID-19 has killed more than 4,720 people, mostly in China, since the outbreak began in Wuhan City in December last year. Over 128,000 people have been infected according to the Johns Hopkins University's COVID-19 global tracker.

To prevent infection, authorities are urging people to practice regular hand washing, cover the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and avoid close contact with those who exhibit virus symptoms.
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 recently 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.

Topics COVID-19 Cyber USA Aon
A widow is facing a legal bill of nearly 800,000 from a failed medical negligence claim over her husband's death in a Belfast hospital 20 years ago

A widow is facing a legal bill of nearly 800,000 from a failed medical negligence claim over her husband's death in a Belfast hospital 20 years ago.

Bernie Magill wanted the High Court to cancel orders for costs made after her lawsuit was dismissed.

But a judge refused to set aside the statutory demand for 786,981 served by those she unsuccessfully sued over their treatment of Brian Magill in the final weeks of his life.

Mr Justice Humphreys said: "There is in existence a valid and enforceable Order of the High Court requiring the appellant to pay the respondents' costs of the unsuccessful proceedings."

Mr Magill, a 66-year-old retired bank manager, died at Belfast City Hospital shortly after Christmas 1999.

He had been transferred there from the Royal Victoria Hospital after first being admitted to the Ulster Independent Clinic.

Although a post-mortem report attributed his death to liver cancer, Mrs Magill blamed blood poisoning caused by a perforated bile duct.

She took legal action against the relevant health trusts, the clinic and medical staff.

But following a 45-day trial she fought without a lawyer, the High Court dismissed all claims and entered judgment for the defendants in 2010.

Mrs Magill then argued that the statutory demand should be set aside because the costs liability fell on her late husband's estate, rather than her personally.

She also contended that a further inquest into her husband's death, directed by the Attorney General in 2015, could result in different conclusions to those reached in the High Court trial.

However, in October last year the coroner in that inquest found, on balance, there had been no perforation of the bile duct. Mrs Magill lodged an appeal after a High Court Master refused an earlier bid to set aside the costs order.

Mr Justice Humphreys also rejected claims that liability rests with the deceased's estate, along with a further allegation of fraud.

Dismissing the appeal, he held there was "a debt immediately payable, and the appellant has failed to establish any basis for the claim that this debt is disputed on substantial grounds and/or that there exist other grounds upon which the statutory demand should be set aside".
BERKELEY (BCN)

Police in Berkeley reported Friday morning a vehicle crashed into a power pole and a building.

The crash occurred on Gilman Street, according to police.

As of 4 a.m., Gilman Street was closed between Fifth and Second streets.

Police said PG&E is expected to respond to the scene to repair the power pole Friday morning around 7 a.m.

Commuters are asked to avoid the area due to the repair work, which is expected to occur until at least mid morning.

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.
Donald Trump is reportedly concerned that he's been exposed to people who have contracted the killer coronavirus, including a Brazilian official who tested positive for the disease days after meeting the President at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence met with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and his Press Secretary Fabio Wajngarten and sat down for a dinner together on Saturday.

On Thursday Wajngarten tested positive for COVID-19.

'He is very concerned about all the people he met who have it, including the Brazilian,' a source said to CNN on the president's concerns.

The president has still not been tested for the novel coronavirus, the White House said.

Donald Trump is reportedly concerned that he's been exposed to people who have contracted the killer coronavirus. On Thursday Saturday he dined with the Brazilian president and his Press Secretary Wajngarten (pictured right), who on Thursday tested positive for the novel coronavirus

On Saturday the president and Vice president dined with Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro and Wajngarten at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, wearing a face mask right, said in a Facebook live Thursday: 'I believe in the next hours we will have the result from [my test] and from some other people who were with me' Bolsonaro said, referring to others who traveled to the United States with him last weekend

Wajngarten posted an Instagram photo of himself beaming with Trump and Pence and holding a Make Brazil Great Again cap on Monday.

President Bolsonaro was tested for the contagious virus Thursday, just days after he called the global pandemic a 'fantasy'. He is currently being monitored for the virus.

Bolsonaro shared a Facebook live wearing a face mask on Thursday evening, where he said he expects the results of his coronavirus test in the coming hours.

'I believe in the next hours we will have the result from [my test] and from some other people who were with me,' Bolsonaro said, referring to others who traveled to the United States with him last weekend.

The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald reported Bolsonaro took the test: 'The result should be ready. But the presidential palace is now saying the result will only be released Friday, which likely means he had a second test, and that one takes longer,' he wrote on Twitter.

In Brazil there are at least 34 confirmed cases as of Thursday.

Despite his private worries, Trump put on a confident front before the nation.

'Let's put it this way: I'm not concerned,' Trump told reporters Thursday while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office.

'We did nothing very unusual, we sat next to each other for a period of time,' he added.

Despite his private worries, Trump put on a confident front before the nation. 'Let's put it this way: I'm not concerned,' he told reporters Thursday. Fabio Wajngarten pictured above

Trump pictured Saturday shaking hands with Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro in front of Mar-a-Lago

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro joined President Trump in toasting Kimberly Guilfoyle at her birthday party at Mar-a-Lago

The head table of Don Jr, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Eric Trump, Lara Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at Guilfoyle's birthday bash

In Brazil there are at least 34 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Thursday. President Bolsonaro pictured with Wajngarten

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham issued a statement stating that Trump and Pence do not require testing.

'Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time,' she said.

'The White House Medical Unit and the United States Secret Service has been working closely with various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First & Second Families, and all White House staff healthy,' she added

Several members of the first family were at the Winter White House on Saturday night where they threw a birthday party for Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., in addition to the working dinner for the Brazilian delegation.

Congressman Matt Gaetz, who announced he was exposed to Coronavirus, departing off Air Force One on Monday

Rep. Matt 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

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he would self-quarantine and be tested for the virus. The South Carolina senator was at Mar-a-Lago this weekend.

'Senator Graham was at Mar-a-Lago last weekend. He has no recollection of direct contact with the President of Brazil, who is awaiting results of a coronavirus test, or his spokesman who tested positive,' Graham's office said in a statement.

'However, in an abundance of caution and upon the advice of his doctor, Senator Graham has decided to self-quarantine awaiting the results of a coronavirus test. This is a precautionary measure. He will continue to work from home,' his office noted.

This chart shows how coronavirus cases in the United States have escalated since January

Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida also said that he will self-quarantine after he met with the Brazil delegation, which included Wajngarten.

The encounter was the latest brush Trump has had with the coronavirus. An attendee at CPAC, the annual conservative conference that the president addressed at the end of February, tested positive for the virus.

The American Conservative Union, which sponsors the conference, was quick to say the person had no direct contact with Trump or Pence, who also spoke. But three lawmakers went into self-quarantine because they did and all had contact with the president: new White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Rep. Doug Collins and Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Gaetz was also at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night for the dinner and birthday party. Additionally, the Florida Republican flew back to Washington D.C. with the president on Air Force One on Monday.
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of Chelsea Manning, who leaked classified military information to Wikileaks.

Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, was jailed last year for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

The court finds that Ms. Mannings appearance before the grand jury is no longer needed, in light of which her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose, Judge Anthony J. Trenga wrote in his opinion.

Enforcement of the accrued, conditional fines would not be punitive but rather necessary to the coercive purpose of the courts civil contempt order, Trenga wrote.

Trengas ruling came days after Manning attempted suicide and was hospitalized. Manning is currently recovering.

Bradley Manning, who took up the name Chelsea while undergoing gender transition, leaked hundreds of thousands of documents from military archives to Wikileaks during his tour in Iraq in 2010. Some of those documents were later found in Osama bin Ladens Pakistan compound following the U.S. special forces raid that killed the Al Qaeda leader.

Manning was convicted of five counts of espionage and five counts of theft in 2013. By then named Chelsea, she was acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy, but eventually sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Former president Obama later pardoned Manning, releasing her from prison early.

More from National Review
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 15:18:23|Editor: huaxia

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URUMQI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 3,000 cargo trains have been operated from a distribution center in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to cities of Europe and Central Asia.

A train carrying daily necessities, electric appliances and clothing on Thursday left the Urumqi distribution center that was specifically built for the operations of China-Europe cargo trains, becoming the 3,000th train departing from the center.

The train will travel more than 60 hours to arrive at Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan.

Affected by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, abundant cargo storage was waiting to be delivered, and the center has arranged around-the-clock shifts since March to shorten the loading time, said Nan Jun, deputy general manager of the Xinjiang great land bridge group, operator of the center.

March saw a surging transport demand, and the warehouse had stored 140 containers and 3,780 tonnes of cargo, including daily necessities, clothing, electric appliances and farming supplies, such as PVC pipes and irrigation machines, said Su Yujin, a logistics manager of the group.

"All the cargo will be delivered to Central Asia or Europe by train," he said.

Since its operation in May 2016, the distribution center has become Xinjiang's only departure site of China-Europe cargo trains, which have reached 23 countries and regions in Europe and Central Asia.

According to Nan, the center has planned to operate more than 1,000 trains this year.
By Joseph Ax and Ginger Gibson

March 5 (Reuters) - Elizabeth Warren ended her presidential campaign on Thursday, bowing to the reality that the race for the Democratic nomination has become a two-way battle between former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S Senator Bernie Sanders.

Warren, a liberal senator who won plaudits for her command of policy details, finished well behind the two front-runners on Tuesday in 14 states, including her home state of Massachusetts, leaving her path to the nomination virtually nonexistent.

It was not clear whether Warren, who still commands a loyal base of supporters, would endorse either of her rivals, which could offer either a significant boost. She had tried to position herself between the moderate Biden and the progressive Sanders, though she was more ideologically aligned with her Senate colleague.

Her relationship with Sanders may have been strained in January, when she accused him of calling her a "liar" on national television after he denied telling her in 2018 that a woman could not beat Republican President Donald Trump.

Warren's departure ensures that what had once been the most diverse field of candidates in U.S. history will now be waged between two white men nearing 80 years old.

Biden and Sanders have stepped up attacks on each other following Biden's unexpectedly strong performance on Super Tuesday earlier this week, a trend that continued on Thursday.

The back-and-forth between the two contenders signaled a bruising battle to come as the race turns next to six states stretching from Mississippi to Washington state, which vote on March 10.

Sanders blamed the "establishment" and corporate interests for his losses in 10 of the 14 states that voted on Tuesday, a charge Biden called "ridiculous."

"You got beaten by overwhelming support I have from the African-American community, Bernie," Biden told NBC's "Today" show on Thursday. "You got beaten because of suburban women, Bernie. You got beaten because of the middle-class, hardworking folks out there, Bernie."

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Biden received more support from black voters and women, particularly in suburban areas, exit polls found. Those two groups make up a substantial part of the Democratic electorate and were credited with delivering the party big wins during the 2018 midterm congressional elections.

Biden also pointed out that Sanders has raised more campaign cash, responding to criticism that his moderate rival is collecting money from corporate interests. Aside from candidates who have self-funded their campaigns, Sanders has boasted the largest cash hauls during this election. At the end of January, Sanders had raised $134 million while Biden raised $70 million.

Sanders has refused to hold fundraisers and instead relies on online donations. Biden, who has seen his online giving spike in recent days, also regularly holds high-dollar fundraising events.

In addition to Mississippi and Washington state, voters in Michigan, Missouri, and Idaho on Tuesday. North Dakota will hold caucuses.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax in New York and Ginger Gibson in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry decided to step back from their role as senior members of the royal family. It is safe to say that all of the drama and stress that they have been under has really gotten to them, and they are adamant about wanting privacy and a quieter life for themselves and their son, Archie Harrison.

Ever since the split  dubbed Megxit  was announced, millions of people have been open about their mixed feelings regarding the situation. As would be expected, Meghan and Prince Harry have been attacked in the media, with many people criticizing their decision. Behind palace doors, there has also been quite a bit of tension.

Megxit has been stressful for everyone, and the senior royals are no exception. Everyone is working to figure out what will happen when Meghan and Prince Harry are no longer responsible for royal duties, and personal relationships among the members of the family are said to be a bit strained right now. But Meghan and Prince Harry plan to rise above royal family jealousy and pettiness.

What we know about Megxits effect on the royals

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Andrew Milligan  WPA Pool/Getty Images

Drama is a natural part of family life, even for the royals. For a while now, there have been rumors about the tension between Prince Harry and his older brother, Prince William. And now that Meghan and Prince Harry are stepping back, it is thought to have gotten even worse.

According to Fox News, the brothers relationship is not doing well at all, and there is much speculation regarding what will happen in the future, not only between the two princes but with the entire royal family. Rumors have been swirling for weeks, and will likely continue, even after Megxit is final.

There have been several restrictions placed on the Sussexes

Meghan and Prince Harrys resignation hasnt been easy. Queen Elizabeth has had to place a few restrictions on them now that they are stepping down from their positions.

So, how will their lives be different? Well, for one, the couple plans to become financially independent, and will no longer be receiving funds from the Sovereign Grant. In addition, once the springtime rolls around, they will no longer be able to use the titles of HRH. They also cannot use Sussex Royal in any of their branding going forward.

According to Forbes, their lives will change drastically when Megxit becomes final, as they wont be carrying out any more royal duties on behalf of Queen Elizabeth. Although some people may say that they should have expected these restrictions to be placed upon them, Meghan supposedly feels that some of the new rules arent exactly fair.

How Meghan Markle and Prince Harry plan to rise above royal family jealousy and pettiness

Life in the royal spotlight isnt easy for anyone, but for Meghan and Prince Harry, it has been exceptionally difficult. So, now that Meghan has voiced her concerns that she and Prince Harry are being picked on, how do they plan to rise above the jealousy and pettiness that is surrounding them? Well, they are going to do so by continuing to support each other the best that they can as they transition into their new lives.

According to the Daily Mail, the couple knows that they are doing positive things and supporting good causes, and they will still do that as they focus on themselves and their family as they settle into the private life that they have wanted for so long. Meghan knows that Prince Harry has a great deal of integrity, which is something that she has always admired. They will continue to stay true to themselves as they do what they feel is right not only for each other but for Archie as well.
Interethnic marriages have always been considered the basis of popular diplomacy, interstate interaction in the humanitarian sphere. The interlocutor of Vestnik Kavkaza Irina Kiyanian, who studied at the Faculty of World Economy in Rostov-on-Don, in France on the basis of IPC Paris, as well as at ModArt International fashion school. Having married an Iranian, Kiyanyan moved to Iran, where she received her education in tourism. Spouses have opened a counseling center for those wishing to get an education in Russia, as well as organize French and Russian-speaking tours in Iran.

- How did your family history begin?

- My first education is translator, I speak five languages, including Arabic and my favorite Farsi. Choosing Farsi, I heard in him some distant, but very dear to my heart notes. Relatives and friends were perplexed towards my choice, but the choice of language based on an inexplicable experience played a decisive role in my destiny. Studying Farsi, interest in the culture of the East became a prologue to my family history.

In 2014, I participated in an exhibition organized by the cultural center of Iran at the Iranian Embassy in Moscow, where I met my future husband. I remember his sincere surprise when we started talking in Farsi. Our next meeting was already in Tehran, where at the Center of Ancient Assyrian Civilization I really felt the fullness of that culture, the language with which I was previously familiar only from textbooks.

In the company of the man who became my husband, I felt completely protected, surrounded by care, affection and love. A new world was opening up for me, and I am very happy that the gate to this world was the most beautiful person in the world - my husband, and the key to this gate was Farsi.

- How are Iranian weddings different from Russian ones?

- The official conclusion of our union (ak - Muslim marriage) was held in Moscow, in the Islamic Center, and we wanted to celebrate a full-fledged wedding celebration in Iran with relatives and numerous guests. However, the circumstances placed - the family was in mourning.

But as a guest I was at Iranian weddings. In Iran, a wedding consists of three parts: matchmaking, engagement, and celebration itself. Young people are allowed to meet only after the engagement, when the date of the future wedding is already set. The wedding celebration itself is luxurious: richly decorated tables, the best outfits, music and fun, which can last up to three days. Men gather in one room, women in another.

After the wedding, the young husband is obliged to provide for his family, and the duties of the young wife include the maintenance of the house and its arrangement. And here the dowry plays a big role.

Iran has strong traditions that regulate many areas of people's lives, but for me, a person of European civilization, it was not difficult to accept new standards of behavior and oriental etiquette.

- What responsibilities in your home are considered female and which are male?

- My husband and I both work, and we share responsibilities among ourselves. But I do the cleaning in our house, the arrangement of the hearth. The husband does not show initiative in choosing decor items and other things, trusting my taste. But in the kitchen he has no equal, especially when it comes to meat dishes.

- According to Iranian law, a woman, being in public places, must wear a scarf. How long did it take for you to get used to it?

- The dress code in Iran can be divided into two parts. The first includes casual wear: a scarf that is customary to cover the head, tunics or long cardigans. Sleeves should be no shorter than three quarters. In everyday life, manto is popular among Iranian fashionistas - a cross between a light coat and a cardigan. Women's scarves, which are of particular importance in the Arab world, in Iran have a purely decorative function, in addition, the scarf perfectly protects hair from the scorching sun. In my collection there are more than a hundred shawls for all occasions and for any weather.

A more rigorous outfit - chador - is usually worn when attending religious holidays and any official events. Chador is also worn by women in the public service.\

- Is there a separation of places for women and men in public transport? Or other gender-specific features? Did it bother you or cause discomfort?

- Places in public transport are divided: men sit in the first half of the bus, women in the second; and there are male, female, and family cars in the subway.

There are separate schools for boys and girls, and extracurricular activities and electives are held in general classes.

In cities there are restaurants, bars that position themselves exclusively for men or for women, however, if desired, the couple can have dinner together.

- What is the main features of the Iranian mentality?

- It all depends on the social group, age and region, but all Iranians are united by a culture of politeness - taarof. Taarof is a very exotic norm for a European. For example, in a store, the seller may say that the thing you like is free for you. But this is only a gesture of respect and disposition, in response to which the buyer should kindly thank the generous merchant and repeat his question. Only after this, the seller will call the price of the goods, however, in this case too, one should not rush to the calculation - you need to bargain.

Also in Iran, much attention is paid to the respect of elders, here is a truly reverent attitude towards children.

- What do you miss most in Iran?

- Communication in Russian and participation in public life. As a fashion designer, I miss skirts and dresses that are not worn in Iran. Even in the Iranian film distribution there is no western cinema. In cinemas, they show mainly Iranian films.

- How do Iranians relate to Russians?

- The friendship of our countries and peoples has a long history. I work in the tourism sector, and I can say that Russia is a very interesting country for Iranians. In addition to traditional tourist routes to Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Northern Lights tours are gaining popularity for the third year in a row. The name here is quite literal: the inhabitants of Iran are interested in Russian winter, the polar night, a riot of colors of the northern sky.

The three largest universities in Iran have opened departments of the Russian language. There is an exchange of students.

Iran is also of great interest to the people of Russia, because there is everything here: from mountains with snowy caps to the golden desert with caravans and the sea coast.

- How well is the service sector developed in Iran? Do Iranians go to beauty salons?

- The beauty industry in Iran is developed at the level of modern trends. Beauty salons in Iran are not only places for the provision of cosmetic services, but also a platform for business meetings with women. Plastic surgery has been widely developed in Iran; since 2010, Iran has been considered one of the centers of rhinoplasty.

As for fashion, one cannot but mention the deep traditions of the weaving industry. Here are large collections of patterns inherent in Islamic culture, and all kinds of varieties of the most expensive and sophisticated fabrics. The world of the east is a real treasury for fashion designers. Given the patriarchal way of Iranian society, much attention is paid to men's costume, which is not inferior to the best world brands in terms of quality of tailoring, fabric and other subtleties of sewing craftsmanship. Iran's seeming closeness, as well as the imposed sanctions, do not affect the world of fashion, therefore, all Western trends are quickly reflected in Iranian collections, taking into account national specifics.

I myself create collections of expensive clothes based on traditional fabrics, combining modern cut and traditional ornaments, patterned technique.

- How many Iranians among your friends have a higher education? What areas of activity are traditionally considered female?

- In Iran, according to statistics, women are more educated than men. Among students, girls predominate. Women in Iran drive trucks, work in education, in politics. One of the most popular professions among women is the doctor. Iran is the birthplace of Avicenna, and there is a special attitude to medicine here.

- Does Iran celebrate International Women's Day?

- March 8 is family-friendly day. Men congratulate women, give mainly gold jewelry.

- Where is it better to have a baby in Iran or Russia?

- In Iran, only women working in state enterprises and state institutions can count on parental leave. A parental leave lasts a year. As for childbirth, it all depends on the doctor who is monitoring. In cities, preparation courses for childbirth are very popular, at which psychologists and doctors conduct classes with expectant mothers.

- How quickly did you get used to the local climate?

- The climate in Iran varies by region. The first year I lived in the city of Shush (biblical Susa). This is southwestern Iran on the Iraqi border, one of the hottest regions in the world. It was there that I realized the need for all the elements of a women's costume. In Isfahan (central Iran), I ran into a shortage of water. There is very dry air, hot summers and cool winters, and the off-season is very gentle.

- Today, because of the coronavirus, Russians are not recommended to travel to Iran. But when the situation normalizes, what would you advise potential tourists? What surprises should you prepare for?

- Iran is a country with great tourist potential where you can get acquainted with ancient history, admire medieval architecture, go on desert safari, ski down the mountain slopes and explore the beauty of the underwater world. Summer is the best time to travel to Iran, but for a Russian tourist it is important to know some features.

Only cash should be taken with you, as due to sanctions Iran has been disconnected from the international SWIFT system.

To feel the color, it is better to choose traditional Iranian hotels, learn some common phrases in Farsi. Do not worry about the visa history, since after visiting Iran, there are no marks in the passport.

Particular attention should be paid to Iranian cuisine: kebabs and kebabs (a symbol of Iranian cuisine), mountain sabsi, nut sauces - this is the shortest list of dishes that you need to try in Iranian restaurants.

A separate issue is the Internet and mobile communications. The country has a limit on instant messengers.

- What stereotype about Iran would you like to dispel?

- Many stereotypes have nothing to do with the real situation in the country.

Firstly, there is an opinion that there is a war in Iran. However, in reality, there has been a peaceful sky over the country for more than 30 years.

Secondly, they talk about terrorism. But the territory of troubled Iran is limited to two provinces of Sistan and Balochistan, which are located on the border with Pakistan.

Thirdly, polygamy. In modern Iran, the vast majority of families consist of husband and wife, and harem stories are from ancient times.

In the world ranking of security, Iran occupies 77th place in the world, and the unique combination of architecture, natural beauties and rich culture make it a truly unique place.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau had returned from a speaking engagement in Britain and was showing mild flu-like symptoms.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus wife has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his office announced.

The statement on Thursday night said Sophie Gregoire Trudeau was feeling unwell and would remain in isolation. The first lady of Canada had returned from a speaking engagement in Britain and had mild flu-like symptoms, including a low fever, late on Wednesday night.

The Prime Minister is in good health with no symptoms. As a precautionary measure and following the advice of doctors, he will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days, the statement added.

His office said the doctors advice to the prime minister is to continue daily activities while self-monitoring, given that he is exhibiting no symptoms himself.

Also on the advice of doctors, he will not be tested at this stage since he has no symptoms. For the same reason, doctors say there is no risk to those who have been in contact with him recently, the statement said.

The office said he would resume his duties on Friday.





Gregoire Trudeau also issued a statement thanking those who have reached out.

Although Im experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon, she said.

Being in quarantine at home is nothing compared with other Canadian families who might be going through this and for those facing more serious health concerns.

Though self-quarantining himself, the prime minister is spending the day in briefings, phone calls and virtual meetings from home, including speaking with other world leaders and joining a special cabinet committee discussion on the coronavirus.

Trudeau spoke with US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Personal message from Sophie. pic.twitter.com/rXVilM6dxH  Cameron Ahmad (@CameronAhmad) March 13, 2020

But Trudeau did cancel an in-person meeting with Canadas provincial premiers.

Opposition NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was also working from home after feeling unwell.

Singh said he had been in contact with a doctor and they do not believe he has the virus but was advised to limit contact with the public until he feels better.

Ontario, Canadas most populous province, is closing schools until April 5.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault is asking all people returning from travel abroad to self-isolate for 14 days.

The measure will be mandatory for all government employees.

He is also asking organisers to cancel all indoor events attracting crowds of more than 250 people and all other large gatherings that are not considered essential.

Alberta and British Columbia are also urging all events with more than 250 people be cancelled.

Canada has more than 140 confirmed cases, with one death  an elderly nursing home resident in British Columbia.
US President Donald Trumps coronavirus address from the Oval Office on Wednesday night was meant to project confidence, show leadership in a time of crisis and otherwise reassure an anxious nation and world.

It didnt work out that way, say health, government policy and crisis management experts, pointing in part to the 1,000-point drop in stock futures even before his 10-minute nationally televised speech was finished.

You had an uncomfortable president who looked like he didnt want to be there. He doesnt want to be the leader that the country, if not free world, wants him to be in a crisis, said Richard Levick, chief executive of Levick Strategic Communications.

He is a reality-show expert, Levick added. This is a real crisis. The happy ending is not guaranteed. The applause line is not guaranteed. You have to actually lead. He doesnt like that.

Public health experts say Trumps announcement that the US was blocking all incoming visitors from Europe for 30 days will prove largely ineffective given that the virus is already firmly rooted in the US and spreading rapidly.

And his efforts to reassure the public that testing is widely available, medical experts are fully deployed and face masks widely available was not convincing and a case of too little, too late, they added.

His speech, only his second Oval Office address, followed weeks of denying the gravity of the coronavirus, spreading misinformation, deflecting blame onto Democrats and the media and contradicting highly regarded experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, observers said.

He has such a bad track record, no one will believe him, said JB Silvers, professor of health finance at Case Western University in Ohio. He cant help but make this a political thing. A Chinese virus? Viruses dont have nationalities.

He couldve ramped up testing much earlier, Silvers added. Instead he told people, Dont worry, go back to work. All the wrong things.

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Governments around the world have struggled to cope with the spread of the virus, prepare adequately and take lessons from China and South Korea, which were hit early.

But Trumps speech also fell short from a policy standpoint, some said. Washington and the markets have been looking for direction, given the logjam and partisanship in Congress.

That includes whether the president would support, albeit grudgingly, a Democratic package of economic stimulus measures, oppose specific parts or reject it outright in favour of a still unformed Republican plan.

No one has a clear sign what he wants, what he will sign, said Jeffrey Wright, North America analyst with EurAsia Group. It was a massive failure, one of the least effective presidential prime-time addresses in my memory.

Companies and markets hate uncertainty and want reassurance, which theyre not getting said Zhaohui Chen, associate professor of commerce at the University of Virginia. Investors are worried about the policy, that it may cause more harm to the economy, he said.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies to lawmakers about coronavirus preparedness on Thursday. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

Communication and policy experts said there tend to be few obvious answers initially during a crisis, which puts a premium on relatively transparent leaders who can acknowledges what is known and unknown, build trust and work through complexities toward a solution.

Its not so much what he did last night, its what he did before. Never before has Trumps habit of making events about himself hurt him until now, said Eric Dezenhall, chief executive of public relations firm Dezenhall Resources.

Standing with science officials and talk about how no one has seen such a scientific genius before him, that he shouldve become a doctor  were not selling time-shares in the Caymans, he added.

Leslie Rosenthal, a writer from New Jersey, said the speech failed to reassure her as an ordinary citizen, and seemed to focus on the wrong issues.

What I wanted to hear from the president was a solution to whats happening in this country right now, she said. While stopping people from coming into the country might do something, its about whats going on here. Where are the test kits? Where are the viral hotspots? Im placing my trust in Dr. Fauci.

Trump is a skilled off-the-cuff orator at rallies, where he can energise and be energised by the crowd, communication experts said, and less adept at delivering prepared speeches, as seen on Wednesday night.

He used a teleprompter, but still made misstatements in ways that rocked the market, said Levick. Most notable was his statement that his administration was blocking not just people but all cargo from Europe, a statement his office quickly walked back shortly after the speech, he said.

Also questionable was the decision to block travellers from the European continent but not from Britain, even though the UK is a global travel and financial hub.

You cant ban people from some countries and not others, said Ron Waldman, a doctor, professor of global health and infectious disease specialist at George Washington University. It makes no sense.

Trump hoped the speech would build confidence in the US economy, its health care system and his leadership. The virus will not have a chance against us, he said. No nation is more prepared.

But many experts had a different view.

Were clearly unprepared, said Ali Khan, epidemiology professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Centre and a former director at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

We dont even need to talk about a pandemic, he said, adding that even a bad flu outbreak would swamp American hospitals.

After playing down the economic and health risks from the coronavirus for weeks, the Trump administration kicked into gear on Monday, floating a blizzard of proposals to stimulate the economy.

These include expanding loans to small businesses, increasing paid sick leave and extending tax relief for the hospitality industry. The White House and congressional leaders are now trying to hammer out an economic relief bill.

Trumps turnaround reflects, in part, a growing realisation that the disease is real, cant be tweeted away, cant be blamed on political opponents and seriously threatens his re-election prospects.

Hes definitely worried, said Silvers. All those Democratic viruses are going to cause him trouble.

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The hiking fee was nonrefundable at the last minute, rain or no rain. (A nervous hiker can cancel up to three days before the trek, but the weather in Indonesia  and even from village to village in Bali  is so changeable that panicking about rain is fruitless.) Plus, Ill admit Im a cheapskate. If I pay for something, Im almost certainly going to do it, if I can. Added to that, I was playing the birthday card big time, so Bob agreed, with a certain amount of whining over the early hour and the good chance of rain, to join me. Our son Daniel was a hard no, and I knew better than to push my luck with him on that front.
Lewis Hamilton says it is "shocking" that Formula 1's Australian Grand Prix is going ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic.

With a host of sporting events impacted by COVID-19's spread, F1 has remained resolute in its intention to start the 2020 season in Melbourne, despite having already postponed the Chinese GP.

"I am really very, very surprised that we're here," six-time world champion Hamilton told reporters.

"I think motorsport, I think it's great that we have races but for me, it's shocking that we're all sitting in this room. So many fans here already today and it seems like the rest of the world is reacting -- probably a little bit late."

Hamilton also revealed he had been conscious to take preventive health measures as he traveled to Australia.

"Naturally being on a flight with god knows how many people and then stopping in an airport full of so many people, I didn't really think too hard on it," said the 35-year-old.

"I'm trying to make sure I'm taking all the precautions I could, in terms of not touching things and always using hand sanitizer."

While Hamilton is planning to race, the McLaren Racing team has announced it is withdrawing from the Australian GP after a team member tested positive for coronavirus.

The infected individual was self-isolated as soon as they displayed symptoms and is now being treated by local healthcare authorities.

"The team has prepared for this eventuality and has ongoing support in place for its employee who will now enter a period of quarantine," the team said on Twitter.

"The decision has been taken based on a duty of care not only to McLaren F1 employees and partners, but also to the team's competitors, Formula 1 fans and wider F1 stakeholders."

READ: Cristiano Ronaldo back home in Madeira as Juventus grapples with coronavirus outbreak

In danger

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he was restricting travel to the United States from more than two dozen European countries to quell the spread of the virus, something Hamilton referenced in his media conference.

Asked why he felt the race was still going ahead as planned, Hamilton replied: "Cash is king."

He added: "You're seeing the NBA's been suspended, yet Formula One continues to go on.

"I saw (80-year-old) Jackie Stewart this morning -- looking fit and healthy and well -- in the lift. Some people as I walked into the paddocks, some elderly individuals.

"It's a concern for the people here. It's quite a big circus that comes here so it's definitely concerning for me."

The first practice sessions of the new season are due to begin on Friday at the Albert Park Circuit, with the race scheduled for Sunday March 15.

"It is very difficult having a fair judgement, but I do realize a lot of sporting competitions get canceled and it is fair to ask the question why you are here," said Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel.

"We have to trust FIA (motorsport's governing body) and for them to take all the precautions but the answer no one can give you is how much you can control what is going on."

Australian GP Corporation chief Andrew Westacott said in a statement that race organizers were taking additional precautions at Albert Park, including having hand sanitizers at public areas and corporate facilities.

READ: NBA suspends its season after player tests positive for coronavirus

Causing problems

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 124,500 people and killed over 4,600 worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, which has officially declared the virus a pandemic.

While F1 prepares to race, Formula E recently canceled the inaugural Jakarta E-Prix scheduled for June 6. Races in Sanya, China and Rome have already been called off.

Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videos

Three races in the MotoGP schedule have also been affected, with races in Qatar, Thailand and the USA postponed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday proposed formulation of a joint strategy by SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, with member states such as Nepal and Sri Lanka promptly hailing the idea of unitedly taking on the pandemic.

Calling on SAARC member states to set an example for the world, Modi proposed a video conference of leaders of the countries to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus.

His appeal got a prompt response from Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, who welcomed the proposal.

Together, we can set an example to the world and contribute to a healthier planet, Prime Minister Modi said.

"I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," Modi said.

"Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it," he said on Twitter.

South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population, should leave no stone unturned to ensure that the people are healthy, he said.

Welcoming the proposal, Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka was ready to join the discussion, share its learning and best practices as well as to learn from other SAARC members.

"Thank you for the great initiative Narendra Modi -- Lanka is ready to join the discussion and share our learnings and best practices and to learn from other SAARC members. Let's unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe," Rajapaksa said in a tweet.

Nepalese Prime Minister Oli also welcomed the proposal and said his government was ready to work closely with SAARC member states to protect people from this deadly disease.

"I welcome the idea advanced by Prime Minister Modiji for chalking out a strong strategy by the leadership of the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus. My government is ready to work closely with SAARC member states to protect our citizens from this deadly disease," Oli tweeted.

Maldivian PM Solih said his country welcomed the proposal and would fully support such a regional effort.

"Thank you PM Narendra Modi for taking the initiative on this important endeavour. COVID-19 requires collective effort to defeat it. The Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort," he said.

The Bhutanese prime minister said, "This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times."



"Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference," he said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday that the coronavirus outbreak could be characterised as pandemic. The number of novel coronavirus cases globally stood at 1,33,970, with 4,958 deaths, across 120 countries and territories.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organization that comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Washington delays tight restrictions on Huawei for fifth time

From:ChinaDaily | 2020-03-12 03:39

The US government is extending a temporary license that will allow US companies to continue doing business with Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co for another 45 days.

The newly extended license will expire on May 15. It's the fifth time that Washington has loosened restrictions on US business deals with Huawei after it put the company on a trade blacklist last May based on allegations of security risks.

Experts said the US move underscores once again how rural US telecom carriers rely heavily on Huawei equipment for network coverage and that US companies are hurt significantly when political forces sever normal business links.

The US Department of Commerce said on its website on Tuesday that the extensions were intended to allow time for companies to change their Huawei equipment to alternative suppliers.

The federal agency said it is seeking public comment on whether it should issue future extensions and asked what was the impact and cost for US companies would be if the license is not extended. Most of Huawei's US clients are telecom carriers that operate in rural areas.

Michael Beehn, CEO of SI Wireless, which provides mobile phone and broadband services to approximately 20,000 customers across western parts of Kentucky and Tennessee, said in late 2019, "SI Wireless' core network infrastructure is constructed with and depends on Huawei equipment."

The company estimated that replacing its Huawei equipment would cost $40 million to $60 million.

Huawei did not comment on the latest extension. But the Shenzhen-based company has repeatedly said that such extensions do not have a substantial impact on its business and don't change the fact that Huawei is being treated unfairly.

Bai Ming, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said US companies and clients that will suffer the most if the license is not extended in the future.

"If not for the ban, Huawei would spend more than $10 billion a year to buy components from US tech companies, including chip giants Qualcomm, Intel and Micron," Bai said.

In a new report, the US-based Boston Consulting Group said that if shipments of US chips and chipmaking equipment to China were stopped, and China banned imports of US electronics and software, it could cost US companies $83 billion in annual sales.

Washington's latest extension came as Huawei has been given a green light to be part of the United Kingdom's 5G rollout plans.

The UK government on Tuesday defeated an amendment proposed by a group of Conservative Party members of Parliament trying to stop local telecom operators from using Huawei in 5G construction.

As Huawei secures more votes of trust in European countries, it is also grabbing big 5G orders in China, which is expediting 5G network construction. Huawei has won more than 50 percent of a key 5G procurement plan from China Mobile, the nation's largest telecom operator.
New Delhi, March 13 : Coronavirus may have killed more than 5,000 people across the globe and sent India into a tizzy, but government officials don't think of it as a health emergency as yet.

Speaking to reporters, officials said coronavirus -- which is already declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is not a health emergency.

Ironically, this statement comes on a day when the Delhi government went into a shutdown. The Arvind Kejriwal government temporarily shut cinema halls, schools and colleges.

On Friday, the government stated, "No person/institution/organisation will issue any information regarding coronavirus in print or electronic media without the permission of the Ministry of Health or Delhi government. If anyone is found to be doing this, it will be considered a punishable offence".

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa also banned cinema halls, pubs, wedding ceremonies and other large gatherings in the state for a week. Maharashtra too went the same way.

In this context, the government officials calling coronavirus as "not a health emergency" is bizarre, given it has infected 1,31,500 people in 116 countries and territories and there are 81 active cases in India alone.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Indian Institute of Technology here has directed students to leave hostels by Sunday in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

"In view of the current COVID-19 epidemic, as a preventive measure decided by the competent authority, the students are required to leave the hostels positively by midnight of March 15, 2020.

"There is no need to vacate the room though. Please fill the entry and exit register of the hostel concerned and the mess rebate form. This applies to students currently living in Nalanda and IP Apartments and in off-campus hostels in Katwaria Sarai and Jia Sarai also," Dean of Student Affairs Rajesh Khanna said in an official communication.

The institute had on Thursday announced suspension of classes and all events till March 31.

"PhD students may stay back if their research is in crucial stage. Foreign students who are staying within the campus may also stay," Khanna said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PeopleImages | Getty Images

Time-wasting meetings get a bad rap among some office workers (including Elon Musk), but theres no denying that taking time out of your day to nurture business relationships can be beneficial to entrepreneurs. Setting aside time to meet with clients visiting from out of town or to show a loyal client that you appreciate them is an easy way to deepen those connections.

But not all clients are the same, and when they might want to meet could actually depend on where they live in the United States. Meeting scheduling company Doodle looked at nearly 200,000 meetings across 135 territories from September 2018 to August 2019 to see if it could find some commonalities among when people choose to meet. The results contain some interesting tidbits. In big cities, dinner meetings are the norm. In the South, people prefer to do business over lunch. And the least popular time of day to schedule a meeting? To any early birds dismay, people really dont like breakfast meetings. Take a look at these three graphics to learn more about the regional breakdown.
A Tufts University undergraduate student tested positive for the coronavirus, school officials announced Thursday.

The patient was isolated, has been informed of the positive diagnosis and is receiving medical care, according to a statement from Mike Howard, executive vice president of the school.

We ask all community members to respect the individuals privacy and avoid speculation and rumor as to their identity, the statement said.

Community members who may have had contact with the student will be provided with information about how to self-quarantine by the Medford Board of Health, according to Howard.

In Massachusetts, there are 108 reported cases of the respiratory illness, named COVID-19, as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Of those cases, 102 are presumptive, meaning the patients were positively diagnosed after state agencies conducted testing but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have yet to confirm the cases. Six cases have been confirmed by the CDC.

The first confirmed case of the disease in Massachusetts was reported in January. A UMass Boston student in his 20s was diagnosed with the coronavirus after traveling in Wuhan, China, where the outbreak originated.

The number of patients in the commonwealth has jumped in recent weeks, though, prompting Gov. Charlie Baker to declare a state of emergency. Dozens of public schools have also announced closures, and colleges have changed spring break plans.

Tufts will begin virtual instruction for graduate and undergraduate students on March 25. Students will have to vacate the campus by March 16 unless unable to do so due to extenuating circumstances.

We urge students to practice social distancing - cancel any parties or gatherings that are planned this evening or in the coming days, Howard said.

Related Content:
Chinese activists Wang Heying and Zhang Jianping have won a prestigious human rights award in memory of a human rights campaigner who died in police detention after being denied access to adequate medical care.

The award, which comes amid an ever-widening crackdown on human rights advocates by the ruling Chinese Communist Party, is named for late human rights activist Cao Shunli, who died in police detention on March 14, 2014.

The award "recognizes their long-standing grassroots activism to promote protection of human rights in China," the organizers said in a statement on Friday.

Wang is a veteran activist who has worked alongside detained New Citizens' Movement founder Xu Zhiyong and rights lawyer Teng Biao to expose the ruling Chinese Communist Party's use of illegal "black jails," extralegal detention centers frequently linked to complaints of arbitrary detention, torture and mistreatment.

Now based in Jiangsu, Wang began a life of activism after being forcibly evicted and her land taken by local officials with no compensation.

"She then began participating in human rights advocacy campaigns and helping other victims of rights abuses," the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network, which makes the Cao Shunli Award, said in a statement on its website.

She has also helped petitioners to bring their grievances against government officials to court, or to use administrative means to try to hold the government accountable for violations of the law and human rights.

She has campaigned on behalf of Dong Yaoqiong, forcibly incarcerated in a psychiatric institution after splattering ink on a poster of President Xi Jinping on Twitter.

She has also spoken out in support of families affected by tainted vaccines.

"Starting in late 2019, Wang tried to visit detention centers and prisons where activists and dissidents are locked up," CHRD said.

"In the past dozen years, government authorities repeatedly harassed, intimidated, and detained Wang to penalize her for her human rights activities," CHRD said.

Black jails and administrative detention

Wang has been held in administrative detention six times, as well as spending 34 days in criminal detention and serving a year-long stint in a labor camp run by police.

She has also been held in "black jails" on nearly 100 occasions, totalling some 700 days, the group said.

Zhang, a former citizen journalist with Sichuan-based activist Huang Qi's Tianwang rights website, has carried out reporting and monitoring activities for a number of rights monitors.

"He has worked with members of disadvantaged social groups, representing victims of rights abuses and acting as their citizen-lawyer in administrative lawsuits cases against corrupt and abusive officials, seeking government information disclosure, and speaking out in support of prosecuted human rights defenders," CHRD said.

"Zhang ... has energetically defended human rights and helped many victims despite the considerable personal and social obstacles and political risk," it said.

In a recent interview with RFA on March 1, Zhang said the authorities are engaged in an ever-widening campaign to ensure no dissenting voices are heard in China, which contributed to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic even while officials were covering up the seriousness of the new disease.

"The authorities are engaged in a political movement," he said. "We wouldn't be in this mess if [officials] hadn't misrepresented the facts."

"If silencing everybody could solve problems and make this country a better place, then of course we would be willing to go along with it," he said. "But that is clearly not the case."

The Cao Shunli Memorial Award acknowledges the efforts of human rights defenders in China who have demonstrated a deep commitment to promoting human rights, typically in the face of great personal risk.

The award is announced annually on March 14, the anniversary of Caos death after being denied medical care in a police-run detention center.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Oakland County Executive David Coulter has declared a state of emergency in the county, allowing him to shift resources quickly to assist residents, businesses and communities affected by the spread of the coronavirus.

By Friday afternoon, four more COVID19 cases had been confirmed in Michigan, bringing the statewide total to 16. On Thursday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed 10 cases, including two new cases in Oakland County. None of the cases confirmed Friday are from Oakland County.

In addition, Whitmer signed an executive order closing of all K-12 school buildings, public, private and boarding to students, with the restriction lasting until Sunday, April 5. Childcare facilities will remain open On Friday, Whitmer announced a temporary ban on all public events and gatherings of over 250 people to help slow the spead of the virus through April 5.

Coulter said the declaration was necessary to open a path for federal funds, should they become available. He added that the county is in the process of creating food and medical programs for school districts, while school is suspended in the state.

We will take all necessary steps to slow the spread of this virus, he said. The effects of this public health emergency are still unfolding, and we want to ensure that people with immediate needs get help as quickly as possible. A state of emergency is meant to reassure Oakland County residents that we are leveraging every resource to contain the virus.

Health officials confirm nine new COVID-19 cases; Michigan total now 25

The county has also established the Oakland County Help Hotline, (248)-858-1000, to address non-health needs of the general public such as food or housing assistance. The hotline will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. Callers with specific needs will be directed to county departments and divisions that can help or to other agencies and programs that can assist.

Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner said no one in Oakland County will lose their property to tax foreclosure because of circumstances related to Coronavirus, including taxpayers who contract the virus, are required to self-quarantine or anyone facing circumstances related to the virus and its broad impact.

I want everyone in Oakland County to focus their attention on staying healthy and preventing the spread of the virus, not on whether or not they could lose their property, he said. The Treasurers Office has your back.

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.

Gov. Whitmer closes all Michigan K-12 schools

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has been reemphasizing what to look for and what to do:

Patients with confirmed infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of:

Fever

Cough

Shortness of breath

The best prevention for viruses, such as influenza, the common cold or COVID-19 is to:

Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for 20 seconds. If not available, use hand sanitizer.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or upper sleeve when coughing or sneezing.

Avoid contact with people who are sick.

If you are sick, stay home, and avoid contact with others.

Whitmer has also declared a state of emergency in order to maximize state efforts and assist local governments to slow the spread. Earlier this year, she activated the states Emergency Operations Center to coordinate the response to coronavirus and created four task forces to combat the spread of the virus.

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, a total of 135 Michiganders have been approved for COVID-19 testing, 120 have tested negative, and 26 test results are pending. Of the 554 Michiganders that have been asked to self-quarantine for 14 days, there are currently 172 Michiganders in isolation and under active monitoring by county health departments.

There have been more than 1,700 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in the U.S., causing over 30 deaths, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, around 128,000 cases have been confirmed in over 120 countries and regions. Of that number, around around 70,000 people have recovered while more than 4,700 people have died.

Michigan health officials confirm 10 new cases of coronavirus

Beaumont Health launches coronavirus hotline, puts visitor restrictions in place

Pandemic increasingly takes over daily lives, roils markets

March 13: Coronavirus-related community news

Talking to kids about virus? Experts say be calm and honest

Inmate visits banned at county, state lock-ups in response to COVID-19
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 22:21:58|Editor: xuxin

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LONDON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Britain has reached 798 Friday, an increase of 208 over 24 hours, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.

It is by far the biggest rise in cases of COVID-19 in one day, according to official figures.

The British government announced on Thursday that the country has switched from the "containment" phase to "delay" in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, which will see more "social distancing" measures.

The COVID-19 outbreak is "the worst public health crisis for a generation," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday after an emergency COBRA committee meeting on Thursday.
FONTANA  Fontana Elementary School was evacuated and classes were canceled March 11 after a natural gas leak caused by two faulty boilers in the building.

The leak was first detected at about 8:15 a.m. by custodian Scott Linhart shortly after students had filled the school, which serves about 200 children in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

Kinhart received an alert about malfunctioning boilers and smelled natural gas in the boiler room. He then alerted Principal Steve Torrez, who called the Fontana Fire Department.

Torrez and other school staff escorted students out of the building, 450 S. Main St., and walked them about a half-mile to their evacuation site at St. Benedict Catholic Church.

School district administrator Mark Wenzel said the evacuation was calm and according to procedure.

Everything went very smoothly, Wenzel said. Teachers and office staff really stepped up.

As students evacuated, WE Energies and firefighters arrived at school. Investigators found the leak caused by the boilers.

Staff were allowed to return to the building, but students were either picked up parents or sent home on school buses by about 10:15 a.m.

We had to be sure anyone going home on the bus was going to be met by an adult, Wenzel said. We just didnt want to send a child home to an empty house, so that took a little more time.

The fire department conducted natural gas checks to ensure there were no more leaks as the boilers were repaired.

The same night of the evacuation, a parent-teacher meeting was held to address questions or concerns about the incident.

Torrez said the fire department conducted another walk-through of the building March 12 before students entered the building and classes resumed normally.

The principal said he was amazed how quickly and efficiently so many members of the community  from teachers to firefighters and church leaders  were able to work together and ensure the safety of the students.

Ensuring child safety and communications I felt were really top-notch, Torrez said.

In a Facebook post, the Fontana Fire and Rescue Department thanked school staff and others for their assistance in containing the leak and evacuating students.

School staff executed the emergency plan flawlessly in a calm and reassuring manner, which we have practiced together over the years, the post stated.

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Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker N



P Prajapati said on Friday that the six ministers who have been dropped from the state cabinet did not meet him to explain whether they had resigned as legislators voluntarily.

Imarati Devi, Tulsi Silawat, Govind Singh Rajput, Mahendra Singh Sisodiya, Pradyumn Singh Tomar and Prabhuram Chaudhari were removed from the cabinet earlier Friday on recommendation made by Chief Minister Kamal Nath to the governor.

These six leaders are among 22 Congress MLAs who are supporters of Jyotiraditya Scindia.

"I waited for them for three more hours but they did not come. I had asked them to meet me in person today as per the rules," Prajapati told reporters here.

The 22 rebel MLAs resigned after Scindia quit the Congress earlier this week. Nineteen of them, including the six (now former) ministers are camping in Bengaluru.

An assembly secretariat official told PTI that seven of these MLAs have been summoned by the Speaker on Saturday and the rest on Sunday.

The MLAs camping in Bengaluru canceled at the last minute their plan to return to Bhopal.

"The legislators had reached the Bengaluru airport. However, at the last minute they dropped the plan to return to Bhopal. They were told not to go to the Madhya Pradesh capital for security reasons as Congress workers had gathered outside the Bhopal airport holding sticks," Pankaj Chaturvedi, a loyalist of Jyotiraditya Scindia, said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
I was drawn to Ligori & Ligori because of their excellent reputation and personalized approach to representing their clients. I am excited to collaborate with the well-respected legal professionals at this firm, says David Blake

Ligori & Ligori Attorneys at Law, an established personal injury law firm based in Tampa, is pleased to announce attorney David Blake joining the firm. Offering service in several practice areas, Ligori & Ligori Attorneys at Law represents those injured in auto accidents, by defective products or due to another's negligence. They provide personalized service, extensive experience and a commitment to seeking the highest amount of compensation for a clients injury or loss. Mr. Blakes legal knowledge and expertise will be a great addition to the firms legal team.

David Blake is a seasoned attorney, providing a wealth of courtroom and jury trial experience to Ligori & Ligori Attorneys at Law. Mr. Blake attended law school at Western Michigan University-Thomas M. Cooley Law School. After graduating, Mr. Blake worked for the Office of the State Attorney for Floridas Twelfth Judicial Circuit. During his time as a prosecutor, he gained invaluable jury trial and non-jury trial experience. Following his tenure as a prosecutor, David Blake was a litigation associate with law firms that represented some of the worlds largest corporations and manufacturers. He is truly passionate about representing and advocating for personal injury victims. David Blake will fight diligently to see clients receive the compensation they deserve at Ligori & Ligori Attorneys at Law.

I was drawn to Ligori & Ligori because of their excellent reputation and personalized approach to representing their clients. I am excited to collaborate with the well-respected legal professionals at this firm, says David Blake

David Blake is a talented attorney and has been recognized by both his peers and various legal publications for his outstanding trial advocacy skills and client results. Mr. Blake is a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forums. He was recently named a Top 100 Plaintiff Personal Injury Attorney in Florida and included as a Top 40 under 40 Plaintiff Personal Injury Attorney by the National Trial Lawyers. Mr. Blake has also been listed as a Rising Star and Super Lawyer each year since 2013 and was named one of Americas Top 100 Civil Trial Lawyers.

More About Ligori & Ligori Attorneys at Law:

Ligori & Ligori Attorneys at Law has offices in Tampa, Lakeland and Ocala, Florida, serving clients needing legal help in acquiring compensation for their injuries. They handle a wide variety of personal injury and insurance claims, including those involving auto accidents, truck accidents, property damage, storm damage, wrongful death, negligence and more. The practice was established with a mission to provide personalized attention for your personal injury while leveraging resources and experience to help clients obtain fair loss compensation.

For more information about David Blake or the legal services offered at Ligori & Ligori Attorneys at Law, please visit http://www.callmeonmycell.com, or call the Tampa office directly at (813) 254-7119.


In December, a woman in Tulsa, Okla., used a Craigslist post to plea for holiday companionship. Anybody need a grandma for Christmas? she wrote. Ill even bring food and gifts for the kids! I have nobody and it really hurts. More than three in five working Americans report feeling lonely. Now that the country is facing a disease outbreak that demands measures like social distancing, working from home and quarantines, that epidemic of loneliness could get even worse.

A paradox of this moment is that while social distancing is required to contain the spread of the coronavirus, it may also contribute to poor health in the long run. So while physical isolation will be required for many Americans who have Covid-19 or have been exposed to it, its important that we dont let such measures cause social and emotional isolation, too.

The Health Resources and Services Administration cautions that loneliness can be as damaging to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Feelings of isolation and loneliness can increase the likelihood of depression, high blood pressure, and death from heart disease. They can also affect the immune systems ability to fight infection  a fact thats especially relevant during a pandemic. Studies have shown that loneliness can activate our fight-or-flight function, causing chronic inflammation and reducing the bodys ability to defend itself from viruses.

Across the country, people are being asked to work from home, universities are switching to virtual classes and large gatherings are being canceled. These are key strategies to prevent transmission, but they can come at a social and mental-health cost: furthering our sense of isolation from one another, and making us forget that were in this together.
Victoria Police face intense pressure to suspend all roadside drug and alcohol testing amid fears it could hasten the spread of coronavirus among the public and poses a serious health risk to its officers.

The Police Association Victoria has flagged its concerns about random breath testing directly with Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton, who is yet to respond to demands from the powerful police union.

Association secretary Wayne Gatt warned the testing brought officers within close proximity of thousands of motorists every week, which had the potential to further transmit the virus known as COVID-19.

Victoria's powerful police union fears officers could catch coronavirus from breath tests. Credit:Victoria Police

"The independent medical advice obtained by TPAV indicates the continuation of mass preliminary breath testing poses a potential danger to the health of our members and the general public in the current environment."
A doctor in Italy has told The Independent how medics there are being forced to ration care to patients in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak with elderly patients being denied care based on their age and whether they have other conditions.

Consultant anaesthetist and intensive care specialist Maria, who works at the SantOrsola-Malpighi Hospital in Bologna, described the relentless influx of coronavirus patients with medics working round the clock and being forced to make difficult decisions.

She warned UK hospitals to plan now for the influx in patients stressing some of those who became sick and needed care were young and healthy.

Official guidance to doctors in Italy, seen by The Independent, have said only patients deemed worthy of intensive care should get it and decisions based on a distributive justice approach balancing the demand for care versus available resources.

Dr Maria said: Covid-19 is changing everyones life in Italy. Doctors are working with a lack of evidence based protocols, a lack of resources and a real risk of being infected.

Healthy people at home cant go out, cant go to school, and cant even meet relatives. School is changing as well, my nephews are attending lesson at home via Skype. The whole country is on standby.



Describing the difficulties caring for patients she said: We are making difficult choices.

I know from talking to colleagues in Lombardia, the most affected region in Italy, that they are using a cut off of 65-years-old in case of pre-existing comorbidities.

In Bologna, we are working with 80-years-old as our cut off, but between 65 and 80-years-old we still consider comorbidities.

She said it was wrong for people to assume coronavirus only affected elderly and already sick people saying her colleagues in the Lombardia region diagnosed a 38-year-old patient with Covid-19 who had to be put on a ventilator to help him breathe.

She said after the first few cases, the region including Milan and Venice saw numbers swell to hundreds in days.

Initially her hospital took patients from other cities to help but after a few days we started having positive patients coming into A&E in respiratory arrest or already admitted for elective procedures.

At this point we stopped all elective operations and all clinics adding all the wards were transformed into Covid-19 areas saying: This early decision is saving us...we do still have space for Covid-19 patients thanks to the decision to stop electives, and promptly prepare wards and intensive care rooms before the numbers were out of control.

This contrast with the NHS which has yet to cancel operations despite doctors saying they need this time to prepare and get ready for an expected surge in admissions linked to the virus.

Describing the patients with the coronavirus the doctor said many patients have no symptoms at all or were very mild but some become extremely sick.

We had cases of young people with partial pressure of oxygen as low as 28 (normal acceptable range is over 80-100) on admission with no alarming symptoms. In our experience it is better to perform an early intubation and not lose time with non-invasive ventilation as the patients dont improve with that.

She said patients who were on ventilators needed two weeks to improve and she currently had 35 patients intubated and two receiving ECMO  where their blood is artificially oxygenated when ventilation is not enough.

We are working hard, she said adding: We stopped elective operations and all the medical and nursing staff were trained and redeployed to Covid wards and in new Covid intensive care units.

Our directors are doing the best to respect our roles and our competencies and to redistribute us according to our experience but it is not always possible and some anaesthetists are working in intensive care.

She said theatre areas were being used as makeshift intensive care wards in Milan, Lodi, Cremona, Bergamo and across the region with some patients being airlifted using military airplanes to other hospitals elsewhere in the country.

She said the Italian military and its medical teams were now providing relief to doctors in the worst hit areas with military hospitals being converted into coronavirus wards.

They are transferring Covid sick patients by military ambulances and airplanes from cities with full intensive care units to citys with beds still available,

We were lucky in Bologna, we had more time than Milan and Lombardia to get ready.

I am getting enough food and rest. Supermarket are still open, but only one member of the family is allowed to go out. Schools, universities, gyms, cinemas, restaurants are all suspended since we had 500 cases. We are not celebrating weddings and funerals across Italy. Supermarkets are the only normal activity still going on.

She warned the NHS to stop all elective activities in the biggest cities now before the surge comes and said all hospital staff should be wearing protective equipment.

Hospitals needed to be split into covid-19 hospitals and clean hospitals to limit the spread of the virus between patients, she stressed.

She urged people to stay at home to stay safe adding: I cant: I am a doctor with my passion and my mission, but everybody else, stay home please.

People should now be ready to sacrifice a couple of weeks in the name of public health. No holidays, no restaurant, no schools, no gym. With a few weeks of restrictions, we can save thousands of lives.
The Morrison government is looking to avoid a recession in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, with a $23 billion stimulus package to boost the economy.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday outlined initial measures of the $22.9 billion package.

The stimulus package aims to prevent the Australian economy entering a recession as the globe grapples with the coronavirus outbreak.

The packages focus on supporting small business through cash payments, wage subsidies for apprentices and trainees and a significant expansion of the instant asset write-off is key to keeping people in work and helping the Australian economy bounce back.

Were going to do everything we can to ensure theyre best positioned to bounce back strongly on the other side, Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

We cant control the source of this problem, being the coronavirus, which has come from elsewhere, but we can control our response.

Mr Morrison will flesh out the plan in a rare televised address to the nation on Thursday night.

The measures are set to end by June next year, but the government says the plan is scalable if further measures are needed.

Senator Cormann admits there are no strings attached to the business payments.

We say to all of those businesses: Were doing our bit to support you, we want you to support your staff during this period, he told ABC radio.

Key small business plans:

About $6.7 billion over four years will go towards automatic grants of up to $25,000 to businesses with up to $50 million in turnover. These grants, between $2000 and $25,000, will be paid automatically to businesses who employ people, with the trigger being them sending their employees tax withholdings to the tax office.

Businesses that pay salary and wages will receive a minimum $2000, even those not required to withhold tax.

The government will also spend $700 million over four years to expand the instant asset write-off for businesses. The threshold will be raised from $30,000 to $150,000 and expand access to businesses with an annual turnover of up to $500 million, from $50 million previously.

About 117,000 apprentices are expected to benefit through wage subsidies for employers with fewer than 20 employees. The cash injection will subsidise apprentice wages for up to nine months with the aim of keeping them in a job in challenging economic circumstances, which the government admits will put pressure on small businesses.

Casual workers unable to attend work due to coronavirus will be eligible to apply for the Governments sickness payment.

Economists predict Australia could fall into recession, but it wont be known until at least two consecutive quarters of economic data show negative growth.

The March and June quarter numbers compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics wont be released until later this year.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the $11 billion to flow into the economy by mid-year would help boost GDP by 1.5 per cent.

Related: Big four banks pass on full RBA rate cut

Greg Ellis, CEO of MYOB, welcomes the Prime Ministers plan.

Todays announcement of sliding scale tax-free cash grants, wage subsidies for trainees and apprentices, accelerated depreciation deductions, and a significant boost to the instant asset write-off scheme will go a long way toward helping small business owners to manage their cash flow and to retain their employees through this turbulent period.

Australias two million small businesses are the heartbeat of our economy, and after a very difficult start to the year due to the bushfire crisis, and now the impact of coronavirus, our priority is not only to help small business survive but also to come out of this stronger.

Roger Mendelson, CEO of Prushka Fast Debt Recovery, says that although the stimulus package is a sensible response, there are bigger concerns that have not been addressed that could be catastrophic.

A scheme needs to be considered whereby businesses with turnovers of less than $25 million annually could offset wages for workers against GST liabilities of the business, so they can keep paying laid off workers, Mr Mendelson said.

Without this, there is a real risk to businesses that rely on weekly revenue to meet their payroll.

There is then a flow-on impact to households where well see an increase in mortgage defaults and residential rent arrears due to lost wages.

The stimulus payments will be effective, however a voucher system would be more reliable in injecting cash back into the Australian economy at a fast pace.

I have concerns the instant asset write-off increase wont provide a meaningful impact for many businesses until its too late, given the direct financial benefit wont hit until after tax time.

Business are more worried about keeping their doors open and other immediate issues, so this is unlikely to be effective as the benefits are remote and far away.

Australias 1.5 million sole traders wont benefit from the bulk of the economic stimulus measures.

Although grants will be paid automatically to businesses who employ people, more than three in five businesses in Australia dont employ anyone other than the owner.

In the rock lobster and crab industry  which has been singled out by Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a sector hit particularly hard by the coronavirus  just 516 out of 1638 businesses have any employees.

Mr Morrison says his governments main focus is on employers.

Were supporting some 690,000 businesses that employ Australians because, as I said, its about keeping Australians in work, he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia head Peter Strong says while the focus on employers is understandable, there needs to be a level of personal support for sole traders.

If they are struggling with their business because theyve got no customers  theres a different package that we need to look at, he said.

Because when the virus is finished, then the whole idea is that theyll be able to re-trade.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chief Executive, Paul Guerra, said, This package wont solve the coronavirus problem but will help ease the cashflow hardship many businesses are facing and help them to pay bills, pay staff and stay afloat.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will address the nation on Thursday evening to explain Australias response to the spread of the coronavirus.

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With one more person returning from Italy testing positive for COVID-19 at the Indian Army's quarantine facility in Manesar, the number of cases in India reach 81. Following the first death reported in Karnataka's Kalaburgi, all states have pulled up their socks.

The Health Ministry confirmed the number of cases at 81 around 5 p.m. at a press conference, even as reports of the worldwide death due to the virus crossed 5,000.

In the backdrop of coronavirus threat, the Indian Army has postponed its recruitment rallies for a month. Schools across Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Delhi, parts of Haryana have been shut.

At the Indian Army's Manesar quarantine facility, one male individual who had returned from Italy on March 11, 2020, has been tested positive. He was employed in one of the restaurants in Italy for the past 14 years, Indian Army said on Friday.

Two persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Nagpur, taking the total number of cases in Maharashtra to 16, a health official said. Meanwhile 10 people who recently returned from coronavirus-hit nations have gone missing in Ludhiana city of Punjab, officials said.

States have started following the WHO footsteps, announcing the virus outbreak as a pandemic -- Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Bihar, have all fallen in line.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia earlier in the day banned any mass gathering over 200 people and even said there cannot be an IPL in the city.

Later, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that all schools and colleges in the state will remain closed till March 22 in view of the coronavirus scare.

His neighboring state, Bihar also jumped into combat mode with the Patna Medical College and Hospital cancelling the leave of all its doctors and other staff in view of the coronavirus scare across the country.

The medical staff has been asked to remain on an alert mode. The state government has also instructed closing of schools and colleges till March 31.

In the southern part of the country, the 19th session of the Kerala Assembly has been curtailed and will end on Friday after the end of the listed business.

The coastal state is on high alert on account of the coronavirus cases reported in the country. According to the latest state government figures, 3,910 people are under observation at their homes in Kerala, while 270 others are admitted in various hospitals. The total positive cases in Kerala are 16.

In Karnataka which saw the first death due to COVID-19, eight family members of a septuagenarian, who is the first fatality of COVID-19 in India, were quarantined in a hospital in Karnataka's Kalaburagi city, a top official said on Friday.

Seven neighbours of the family too have been kept in isolation.

"The family of the 76-year-old man, who died of COVID-19 on March 10, has been quarantined in an isolation ward at the ESI Hospital here," Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner B. Sharath told IANS.

The number of COVID-19 infected individuals saw a rise on Friday with one case of infection reported in Delhi while two others tested positive from Nagpur in Maharashtra.

The Delhi resident worked in a leather strap manufacturing unit in Noida, in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, and had a travel history to China.A

Gautam Buddha Nagar CMO Anurag Bhargav told IANS, "Yes an employee of the Noida firm has tested positive for COVID-19. He has a travel history to China and France."

Bhargav said the person has been sent for quarantine and all the employees of the company has also been put under isolation. A total of 707 people worked in the Noida factory.

Meanwhile, the AIIMS' Director also came forward to spread awareness over the deadly virus as he washing hands properly may play a pivotal role in preventing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Randeep Guleria, Director at AIIMS, New Delhi has listed out guidelines on proper handwashing technique.

"Wash your hands with soap and water after visiting neighbourhoods, public places. Use proper method to wash hands. Rub your hands together with the soap. Lather the backs of your hands' palms and between your fingers and under your nails."A

Guleria added that a hand sanitiser can be used to keep hands clean while travelling. The Delhi government has advised the people to ignore the crowded areas for a few days.

In the wake of deadly coronavirus spread across the world, national passenger carrier Air India also decided to immediately suspend its flights to Italy, South Korea and Kuwait, with the former two being the worst affected countries, sources said on Thursday.

Besides, the national carrier plans to truncate its flight operations to Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid and Tel Aviv.

According to sources, Air India's Delhi-Seoul, Delhi-Rome and -Milan flights stand suspended till March 25 and 28 respectively.

"Flight services have been suspended due to the outbreak of coronavirus in these two countries," the sources told IANS. The flight suspension is effective from Thursday.

Not just IPL2020 has been postponed till April 15, but a number of Bollywood, regional and Hollywood relaeses have been indefinitely postponed.

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Linkedin Eisya A. Eloksari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 14 2020

E-commerce firm Shopee plans to export millions of Indonesia-made products to the Philippines by the end of March as it seeks to strengthen its footing in Asia despite risks from the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are starting the expansion with the Philippines because it has the same relative buying power and price point as Indonesia, the company's Public Policy and Government Relations head Radityo Triatmojo told the press on Thursday.

The export plan is part of Shopees Kreasi Nusantara program, which aims to market the products of Indonesian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to Shopee's other Asian markets. This year, Shopee would be marketing Indonesian products in its top export categories, namely beauty, fashion, food and beverage and home and living

products.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13

Trend:

The non-commodity sector share in Azerbaijan's economy is 60 percent, however there is some dependence in country's export, which affects the behavior of country's economic agents, Assistant on economic issues to the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Khalid Ahadov said, Trend reports.

He said that the facts and expectations always affect the behavior of consumers.

"The first fact is that coronavirus spreading affects behavior of consumers. The second fact is that oil prices have decreased by nearly $20, which is led to banks' customers forming certain expectations. However, it should be noted that the budget and macroeconomic structure of Azerbaijan differs of some countries, for example from Russia. Azerbaijani economy is built in such a way that via some kind of 'buffers' the influence of changes in oil prices is prevented. Changes in oil prices can affect the budget insignificantly or have indirect influence," he said.

Talking expectations of banking services users on the foreign currency market, Ahadov reminded that over the period of 2014-2016 sharp decrease in oil prices affected the banking sector.

He added that following that time, the banking sector has undergone significant preparations, a great number of banks have accumulated major funds.

Ahadov explained that banks do no provide foreign currency denominated loans to physical entities, which is an important factor to banks steadiness.

Lately all banks have been operating in enhanced mode due to the great number of customers. It should be mentioned that certain safety measures are being taken against coronavirus threat, however banks will also be operating on holidays, and the demands will fully be met. No queues will be observed before the banks, he said.
A Google employee in its Bangalore, India, office has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus and is in quarantine, according to internal documents viewed by CNBC.

"We are sorry to report that we have one confirmed case of a Bangalore-Based Googler testing positive for COVID-19," said Anand Rangarajan, director of engineering and Bangalore site lead for Google in an email to Bangalore employees Thursday.

"The Googler contracted the virus after traveling overseas, and was in the RMZ office on Monday, 9th March having not displayed any symptoms and passed the temperature screening," Rangarajan wrote. "A few hours later, the Googler felt unwell and decided to return home. They were subsequently screened at a government-authorized hospital, placed in government quarantine and today confirmed as being infected by COVID-19. We've been in in touch with the Googler and are offering our support."

The company did not respond to requests for comment.

It's the second known case of a Google employee contracting the disease and potentially being in contact with other workers. At the end of February, A Google employee from its Zurich office tested positive for the coronavirus, triggering the company's initial travel restrictions. As the outbreak has spread, Google this week told nearly all of its global employees to work from home for the coming weeks, including its more than 100,000 North American employees who were asked to work from home until at least April 10.
Months of preparations go into developing the governors proposed every year, but coronavirus means the state is going to have to scramble its financial projections with a little over two weeks to go until the April 1 state budget deadline.

The biggest stock market drop in decades will hit the New York states bottom line especially hard considering its dependence on tax revenues from Wall Street. In response, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has requested that state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli report back in the upcoming week on how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting state revenues.

City & State spoke with state Budget Director Robert Mujica on Thursday to hear how the state is pressing forward with the budget and education funding, which makes up one of the biggest chunks of state spending each year. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Could you tell me about the process for updating the financial projections and how that will eventually affect funding for education and everything else?

Well, we haven't talked about yet right about updating any of our financial projections. Right now where we are is the governor wrote a letter to the comptroller's office and the comptroller is reviewing our projections. So we're going to wait to see what comes back from the comptroller's office, and then we'll go from there.

Is there like a prescribed process for doing this, or do you have to come up with it on the go at a time like this?

There's always a process in place for consensus revenue forecasts. We rely on that forecast for the executive budget. Obviously, things are changing quickly. So this process is not the usual process. But we'll have to sit with the Legislature, look at where the comptroller is. Everyone's looking at the current state of the economy and revisions to consensus economic forecasts overall. And I think we'll look at all of those things with the Senate and Assembly and then decide how to move forward. But we're not there yet, because these things are changing quickly.

The state has $2 billion or so in rainy day reserves. Does that factor in at all in limiting the fiscal impact?

We have sufficient reserves to deal with immediate needs. On a cash flow basis, we can deal with this. We had the $40 million (in emergency funding approved by the state Legislature). We're appropriating. We're driving money to health care where we need it. But if you're talking long term here, this is not a state issue. The federal government is going to have to step up and assist not just New York, but all the localities that are impacted, just like we did another 10 other times when weve had these kinds of dramatic events. The market itself speaks to the seriousness of what we're talking about.

One big chunk of the budget is education. Could you give an overview of the administrations approach?

New York state spends more per pupil than any other state in the country. We're at twice the national average. So the point is to look at our formula and say: OK, if we're spending more than every other state in the country, are we spending that equally amongst the students? When you look at the disparity, you'll see that there are, on the high end, schools that are getting upwards of $34,000, $35,000, $36,000 per pupil. Then there are school districts that are getting $13,000 or $14,000 per pupil. So that disparity is something that the governor has identified as changes that need to be addressed. More money doesn't solve the problem.

How do you identify these high-need districts?

We look at their special needs. The percentage of the students that are on free and reduced-price lunch is a communicator of poverty. And then you look at the funding per pupil.

A lot of schools just have free lunches for everyone. Is free and reduced-priced lunch still a valid statistic?

The schools still want to get reimbursed. So just because they decided to make a policy and make it available for everyone doesn't mean they're forgoing the federal reimbursement for the students that are eligible. They're still collecting that information. They may have made a policy decision to provide meals for other students as well, which is great. But that's it doesn't affect the measure.

So how does the administration guide money to these students?

We enacted a section of law in 2019 which says school districts are required to submit a plan on how they're going to fund the underfunded high-need schools.

If they dont comply, then less money next year?

That's not the ideal outcome. The ideal outcome is that the Legislature has the ability to craft the school aid formula  broad latitude, transparency at the school level. Parents get to see that there's a disparity between the schools. We would think that every legislator who represents that school district would have a strong incentive to make sure that all students at one school building are not being favored over another. So they would have a strong incentive to make sure that that policy is followed.
The split in the Executive over the coronavirus response had been laid bare. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

An emergency department nurse outside the coronavirus pod at Antrim Area Hospital (Michael Cooper/PA)

The first "community transmission" cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Northern Ireland.

It comes as nine new cases of coronavirus were diagnosed, bringing the total number to 29. Three of those resulted following community transmission.

Of the 29 people who tested positive, 18 are male and 11 are female and just five are over the age of 60.

It's the largest rise in a single day, up from an increase of two on Thursday and two on Wednesday.

It comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Europe the "epicentre" of the pandemic.

A total of 321 tests have been completed in Northern Ireland, in cases where people met the case definition for suspected coronavirus.

"A significant number of further tests have been carried out for surveillance and clinical purposes, for example, for patients in intensive care and other hospital settings with respiratory symptoms," a Department of Health spokesperson said.

Health Minister Robin Swann has said health service activity across Northern Ireland will be severely curtailed due to coronavirus.

Affected services will include non-urgent outpatient appointments, day cases, inpatient and diagnostic work. The process of scaling back provision will be phased in over the days and weeks ahead.

GPs will prioritise work to address coronavirus cases and practices may reduce certain services.

Currently, only non-urgent outpatients, day case, inpatient and diagnostic services will be reduced. Suspect cancer cases and other urgent care will continue, unless advised by the applicable Trust.

Meanwhile, Belfast City Council has announced they will close City Hall to tours and exhibitions, as well as Belfast Zoo and several amenities in the Botanic Gardens. However, they will not close leisure centres.
After several passengers on cruise liners died of infection and as profits decline, industry rethinks operations.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that shares in Carnival had plummeted 53 percent this year. At the time of publishing, this was incorrect. The article has since been amended.

Berlin, Germany  Europes multibillion-dollar cruise industry is in choppy waters as coronavirus fears swell, with customers abandoning holidays and governments becoming increasingly wary of allowing ships to dock if they have been to severely infected countries, or have suspected cases on board.

Europe is the worlds second-biggest cruise market after North America, with around seven million passengers boarding liners in the Mediterranean and Baltic seas in 2018, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

In recent days, several of the most renowned companies have halted some of their European operations, including Princess Cruises, Virgin Voyages and Saga.

On Friday, shortly after United States President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, he tweeted: At my request, effective midnight tonight, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC have all agreed to suspend outbound cruises for thirty days. It is a great and important industry  it will be kept that way!

The industry was thrust into the spotlight in early February, after a coronavirus outbreak on board the Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Japan. Seven hundred people on board were infected with COVID-19 spreading through the ships corridors during its two weeks of quarantine, leading to seven deaths.





The news caused a wave of cancellations and tanked stock prices.

Shares in Carnival, the worlds largest cruise line, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian have all lost more than half of their value this year.

The cruise industry has been hit particularly badly by [the coronavirus outbreak] and I would only imagine that it is going to get worse. We are seeing more people cancelling, cruises looking for alternative itineraries, Lloyd Figgins, a travel risk expert, told Al Jazeera.

Within Europe, whats happened is theres been a knock-on effect from what weve seen in [Asia Pacific] and also the Americas, Figgins said.

Italys dramatic decision to impose a nationwide lockdown earlier this week has effectively closed several of Europes biggest cruise ports, tearing apart itineraries that were planned months or years in advance.

Liners bound for Venice, Naples and Civitavecchia, near Rome  which together take more than five million cruise passengers per year  will have to find new ports of call.

Unprecedented restrictions

Costa Cruises, an Italian line, said on Tuesday that passengers on current sailings would be able to disembark at Italian ports so they can return home, but all other departures in the Mediterranean would be cancelled until April 3.

Other companies have continued service, adapting to the rapidly changing restrictions, which have been haphazard and uncoordinated, ordered either by national or port authorities.

There is hesitation about how to deal with things if there are cruise passengers on board with a suspicion of coronavirus, said Isabelle Ryckbost, secretary general of the European Sea Ports Organisation, which represents port authorities and administrations across Europe.

But cruise destinations will also have to weigh the health risks with the financial fallout, as many port cities have become economically reliant on the constant flow of tourists the industry provides in the summer months.

I mean, not everyone is ill at the moment, said Ryckbost. Its not affecting all regions at the moment. There are some cases in most of the European countries, but in some countries its still very much contained.

To date, cases worldwide have topped 132,000, according to the World Health Organization. About 70,000 victims have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University.

On Friday, the WHO described Europe as the new epicentre of the global pandemic.

Although cruise companies have been able to reroute Mediterranean journeys until now, this may become more difficult if more ports close and competition for space grows.

If one port closes, but another is willing to accept [cruise liners], then youre going to get a massive influx of ships trying to get into that one port, said Figgins.

And logistically, thats gonna cause a huge strain on local infrastructure.

Mounting travel bans add a further layer of unpredictability, as cruise passengers generally fly to and from their holidays.

Damage control

To reassure passengers, the CLIA, which represents 90 percent of ocean-going cruises worldwide, has issued sweeping restrictions and safety measures to be followed on ships.

Boarding will be denied to all passengers who have been to South Korea, Iran, China or Italy in the two weeks before the ship is due to set sail, as well as people who have had contact with anyone suspected or diagnosed as having COVID-19.

Temperature screening will also be introduced for all passengers.

Travellers should know that their health and safety is the absolute priority for the industry, said Kelly Craighead, president and CEO of CLIA.

Several lines have also introduced new cancellation policies for customers, with Norweigan and Carnival offering full credit towards another cruise.

The cruise industry has been so proactive in trying to make cruises safer by offering alternative itineraries if thats what their passengers want, and the hygiene side  has always been exceptionally high and theyre increasing that even further, said Figgins.

The big problem here is the public fear that is currently going on, and I think that is something that is going to unfortunately penalise the cruise industry.

Health risks

Although cruises have grown more popular among younger people in recent years, around one in seven passengers worldwide is over 70, according to CLIA figures. This is the age group that the WHO says is more vulnerable to developing a serious illness from the virus.

In Europe, passengers from the biggest cruise markets such as Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland are on average around age 50, according to CLIA.

While the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has yet to issue specific coronavirus health guidelines for cruises, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that US citizens defer all cruise ship travel worldwide due to an increased risk of contracting COVID-19, especially among the elderly.

The warning, which faced strong objections from CLIA, came as the Grand Princess began to embark after several days of quarantine in Oakland, California, with 21 aboard testing positive for the coronavirus.





The possibility of further quarantines remains a risk for cruise travellers.

Passengers kept on board for long periods could expose themselves to coronavirus infection, according to mechanical engineer Qingyan Chen, who said that unlike the air filters on planes, those on cruise ships do not catch particles smaller than 5,000 nanometres.

The coronavirus is estimated, like severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS, to be just 120 nanometres in diameter.

In addition to the virus spreading from person-to person transmission or via surfaces, cruise passengers could therefore be threatened through the ships ventilation systems.

This would explain the spread of the virus through the Diamond Princess last month, even when passengers were confined to their cabins, Chen, who is also a Purdue University professor, told Al Jazeera.

Although the concentration of the virus in the air is low, youre exposed to this low concentration for a long time, and therefore you might get infected.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 22:40:04|Editor: huaxia

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ROME, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio early on Friday praised the initiative of China sending a team of medical experts and medical supplies here to assist the country in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

A group of nine professionals, aboarding a China Eastern airlines Airbus A-350, arrived at the Fiumicino airport here on Thursday evening.

The news of their arrival was widely reported across Italian media on Friday. The initiative was seen as a solid proof of solidarity, as Di Maio highlighted in a long video message on social media posted shortly after the arrival.

"Many countries have called us, many foreign ministers have expressed solidarity and promised to give us a hand through their companies producing medical machinery," Di Maio said on Facebook, while speaking from his office in the early hours of Friday.

He showed from his own computer footage of the Chinese medical team disembarking during the night, welcomed by Chinese Ambassador to Italy Li Junhua and an Italian Red Cross delegation.

"This plane just landed a few minutes ago... this is the medical staff, the specialized doctors who have faced the COVID-19 emergency in China, and will now provide our staff with valuable information."

"This is what we call solidarity," Di Maio stressed. "I am confident more aid will come... Tonight, I just wanted to tell you all that we are not alone."

The team was organized by the National Health Commission and the Red Cross Society of China. It is the third expert team sent abroad by Chinese authorities following previous teams sent to Iran and Iraq.

The expert corps departed from Shanghai earlier Thursday, and all the team members and flight crew had passed health checks before boarding the plane, according to the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

They took with them more than 700 pieces of equipment and goods including ventilators, monitors and defibrillators. "We bring here 30 sets of ICU equipment," one of the team members wearing a mask told media after getting off the plane.

Italy is under complete lockdown since Tuesday, with a total closure of venues and activities but for those providing basic supplies and services, such as supermarkets, pharmacies, public transports, post offices, and banks.

According to the latest available data updated Thursday evening, the number of people tested positive for the COVID-19 in Italy reached 12,839, with death toll at 1,016 and recoveries at 1,258.
Coronavirus spreads quickly and sometimes before people have symptoms, study finds

Infectious disease researchers at The University of Texas at Austin studying the novel coronavirus were able to identify how quickly the virus can spread, a factor that may help public health officials in their efforts at containment. They found that time between cases in a chain of transmission is less than a week and that more than 10% of patients are infected by somebody who has the virus but does not yet have symptoms.

In the paper in press with the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, a team of scientists from the United States, France, China and Hong Kong were able to calculate what's called the serial interval of the virus. To measure serial interval, scientists look at the time it takes for symptoms to appear in two people with the virus: the person who infects another, and the infected second person.

Researchers found that the average serial interval for the novel coronavirus in China was approximately four days. This also is among the first studies to estimate the rate of asymptomatic transmission.

The speed of an epidemic depends on two things -- how many people each case infects and how long it takes cases to spread. The first quantity is called the reproduction number; the second is the serial interval. The short serial interval of COVID-19 means emerging outbreaks will grow quickly and could be difficult to stop, the researchers said.

"Ebola, with a serial interval of several weeks, is much easier to contain than influenza, with a serial interval of only a few days. Public health responders to Ebola outbreaks have much more time to identify and isolate cases before they infect others," said Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor of integrative biology at UT Austin. "The data suggest that this coronavirus may spread like the flu. That means we need to move quickly and aggressively to curb the emerging threat."

Meyers and her team examined more than 450 infection case reports from 93 cities in China and found the strongest evidence yet that people without symptoms must be transmitting the virus, known as pre-symptomatic transmission. According to the paper, more than 1 in 10 infections were from people who had the virus but did not yet feel sick.

Previously, researchers had some uncertainty about asymptomatic transmission with the coronavirus. This new evidence could provide guidance to public health officials on how to contain the spread of the disease.

"This provides evidence that extensive control measures including isolation, quarantine, school closures, travel restrictions and cancellation of mass gatherings may be warranted," Meyers said. "Asymptomatic transmission definitely makes containment more difficult."

Meyers pointed out that with hundreds of new cases emerging around the world every day, the data may offer a different picture over time. Infection case reports are based on people's memories of where they went and whom they had contact with. If health officials move quickly to isolate patients, that may also skew the data.

"Our findings are corroborated by instances of silent transmission and rising case counts in hundreds of cities worldwide," Meyers said. "This tells us that COVID-19 outbreaks can be elusive and require extreme measures."

###

Zhanwei Du of The University of Texas at Austin, Lin Wang of the Institut Pasteur in Paris, Xiaoke Xu of Dalian Minzu University, Ye Wu of Beijing Normal University and Benjamin J. Cowling of Hong Kong University also contributed to the research. Lauren Ancel Meyers holds the Denton A. Cooley Centennial Professorship in Zoology at The University of Texas at Austin.

The research was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Appointment

13 March 2020

The Don CeSar, widely known as Florida's iconic Pink Palace, and its sister property the Beach House Suites, proudly welcome Thomas Fraher as the new General Manager Fraher will oversee budgets, daily operations, sales and marketing efforts, and lead the 92-year old landmark through its multi-phased renovations which will conclude at the end of the year.

Fraher joins the team most recently from Viceroy Hotel Group and has also served as General Manager at properties such as The Donovan, Carlyle Hotel, Hotel Palomar, Nine Zero in Boston, and Lorien Hotel & Spa in the DC metro area. In addition to his robust track record of financial success, team satisfaction, and guest service, Thomas' passion for hospitality is demonstrated in how he creates memorable moments for hotel guests and his team members alike. In previous roles he introduced tailored wellness programs, such as a "Running with the GM" experience where he would lead a run for hotel guests and staff through his favorite local trails.

Fraher received his bachelor's degree in Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Management from Penn State University. When Thomas isn't rolling up his sleeves at work, he enjoys long scenic runs and looks forward to exploring the famous beaches of St. Pete by foot.
Srinagar, March 13 : Former Chief Minister and Lok Sabha member, Farooq Abdullah was set free on Friday after authorities said his detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) had been revoked.

Rohit Kansal, spokesman of the Union Territory administration said on Friday that the PSA detention order of Farooq Abdullah has been revoked.

The order said, "In exercise of powers conferred under section 19 (1) of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act 1978, the government hereby revoked the detention order issued by District Magistrate, Srinagar, which was extended for a period of three months and further extended by three months, with immediate effect." Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar Sahid Chaudhary said, "The PSA has been revoked and there are no restrictions on him any more." However, a top official told IANS that the PSA against Abdullah has been removed, but the order will take some to be executed." Abdullah was kept under detention in his high security Gupkar Road residence in Srinagar city after Article 370 was abrogated and the state divided into two Union Territories of Ladakh and J&K.

The elder Abdullah has been set free and there are so far no indications that he has given some undertaking to the authorities not to indulge in political activities those could disturb the law and order situation in J&K.

Some quarters are, however, giving importance to the meeting between former RAW chief, A.S. Daulat and Abdullah earlier this month.

Daulat had called on Abdullah and speculations had gone rife that he had come to offer some deal to the National Conference president to ensure his release.

Two former chief ministers, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti are still under detention and there is no official indication that the detention of these two leaders would also be revoked soon.

Meanwhile, sources close to the family of Farooq Abdullah said that they were very relieved that his detention has ended and now they were looking forward to the release of his son, Omar Abdullah, also.

There was a big presence of media personnel outside his residence at the Gupkar road, which had been converted into a sub-jail ever since he was put in detention.

Farooq Abdullah's wife Molli Abdullah had flown from England and had been living with him during his detention.

He was briefly seen in October when a National Conference delegation met him at his residence. He had made a victory-sign to the media present near his house.
The first batch of some 400 Indian nationals who were stranded in Iran, one of the worst affected countries due to the coronavirus will be brought back to the country on Friday.



About 120 Indians, being evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Iran in an Air India flight, will reach Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on Friday and will be quarantined at an Army facility.

To assure all that our efforts ongoing. Arrangements made for another group of 120 stranded pilgrims to leave for India tomorrow Friday. A third flight is being prepared and is scheduled for departure Saturday. @DrSJaishankar @umashankarsingh @Geeta_Mohan  Dhamu Gaddam (@dhamugaddam) March 12, 2020

They will be transferred from the airport after the initial screening to the quarantine facility under the escort of civil administration and the evacuees will be there for the next 14 days.

REUTERS

"They will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility created under the aegis of Southern Command. The patients will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility under the escort of civil administration," defence spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh said.

He said that another batch of approximately 250 people, to be airlifted from Iran on March 15, will also be quarantined at the Army facility in Jaisalmer.

The Ministry of Defence has set up seven more quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients, especially for Indian citizens being brought to back from coronavirus-hit countries.

REUTERS

"We already have 265 citizens in our two facilities at Manesar in Gurugram and Hindon in Ghaziabad," he added.

The Ministry of Defence has set up seven more quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients, especially for Indian citizens being brought to back from coronavirus-hit countries, an official said on Thursday.

The facilities have been set up at Jaisalmer, Suratgadh, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Deolali, Kolkata and Chennai.

"We are expecting more civilians to be brought back to India. We are ready with our facilities," Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said.

Till date, a total of 455 individuals who have arrived from Wuhan (248), Japan (124) and Italy (83) have been quarantined in three batches at the emergency quarantine facility created by the Indian Army.

AFP

The Army is already operating a quarantine facility in Manesar while the one in Hindon, near Ghaziabad, is being operated by the air force.

Earlier, on Saturday, Iranian carrier Mahan Air had brought blood samples of 300 Indians stranded in the coronavirus-hit country which was then tested for coronavirus.

Thermocol boxes, each with 100 swab samples, being readied by Mission personnel for transfer to ICMR for testing. pic.twitter.com/gWKy61dSA3  Dhamu Gaddam (@dhamugaddam) March 12, 2020

There are about 2,000 Indians mostly from the Kargil area of Kashmir stranded there. They had gone to visit a religious shrine in Iran but got stuck as regular commercial flights were suspended between the two countries following the spread of the virus.
The city of Corvallis declared a local emergency on Friday canceled and announced sweeping measures aimed at slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus, from closing public facilities to canceling events, programs and nonessential meetings.

In a news release issued shortly after noon, the city announced a number of changes set to take effect on Saturday, including shutdowns of the Osborn Aquatic Center, Majestic Theatre and the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library at least through the end of March.

All Parks & Recreation Department classes, activities, events and rehearsals have been canceled through the end of the month as well.

This is definitely not a decision we made lightly, city spokesman Patrick Rollens told the Gazette-Times. We are mindful that this is a decision that has a big impact on the (entire) city of Corvallis as well as city staff.

The emergency declaration by City Manager Mark Shepard, announced later in the day, will make it easier for the city to recoup some of its expenses arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

Basically, it unlocks the potential for state and federal assistance if our response exceeds our capacity, Rollens explained. Its kind of like a Gulf Coast community experiencing a hurricane.

He said city staff will begin keeping copies of purchase orders and receipts and start logging the hours they work in responding to the crisis, laying the foundation for possible reimbursement later.

The declaration also allows the city to cancel all nonessential meetings, such as those of advisory boards, at least until the end of March. Meetings that are required by statute, such as land use hearings before Planning Commission, will continue as scheduled.

Rollens said the decision to close facilities and curtail programs was made after numerous meetings involving Shepard and various department heads over the past week or so.

We saw this coming and were just trying to put together a response while at the same time acknowledging that city services are the last thing you want to cancel at a time like this, Rollens said.

Here is a complete list of closures and other changes announced on Friday:

 Osborn Aquatic Center and Majestic Theatre will be closed to the public through the end of March. All recreation events, activities, classes, and rehearsals scheduled by Parks and Recreation have been cancelled through the end of March. This includes programs at the Corvallis Community Center, which is closed for renovation but had been hosting programs at other locations. Outside organizations that booked these facilities for rental events can cancel without penalty by contacting the Parks and Recreation Department at 541-766-6918.

 The Corvallis-Benton County Public Library will close its main library and branch libraries in Alsea, Monroe and Philomath through the end of March. All library programs and outreach events have been canceled as well, and bookmobile stops are temporarily suspended during this time.

 The Corvallis Police Department and Corvallis Fire Department are suspending their ride-along programs until further notice. CPD also intends to postpone its 10-week Citizens Police Academy, which had been scheduled to begin April 1. CPD will contact the current batch of academy applicants to advise them of the schedule change.

While some closures had been announced previously, Fridays announcement marked a significant expansion of the citys efforts to contain the virus that causes COVID-19, the contagious respiratory infection that has spread around the world since it was first reported in China late last year.

Rollens said its possible some of those closures may be extended beyond March 31, depending on circumstances.

As we near the end of the month, we will be looking for guidance from state and federal health authorities and making additional decisions as needed, he said.

Where possible, the city is taking steps to ease the impact of the virus on residents.

For instance, recognizing that frequent hand-washing can help reduce the spread of infection, the Corvallis Parks & Recreation Department has installed soap dispensers in all restroom facilities at city parks. Thats something the city has been reluctant to do in the past because the dispensers tend to get stolen or destroyed, Rollens said.

In addition, the Corvallis Finance Department will suspend water service disconnections due to unpaid bills for a period of 30 days. Emergency low-income assistance is also available for customers facing emergency shut-off notices due to unpaid bills.

And the Corvallis Municipal Court will work with community members who had previously scheduled court dates to reschedule for future dates without incurring a penalty. Residents can call the court at 541-766-6948 to reschedule an appearance.

Additional protective measures may be announced in the coming days, Rollens added. For instance, while Corvallis Transit System buses are still running with enhanced cleaning procedures, its possible that some restrictions may be announced in the future, he said.

At the same time, city officials are looking for creative ways to restore services where they can. One possibility under consideration: setting up limited drive-through services at the main library.

Were definitely getting the message from the community that theres going to be a number of cascading impacts, and were trying to limit those impacts as much as possible, Rollens said.

Wed like to extend or restore some services if we can do it in a way thats consistent with public health guidelines.

Reporter Bennett Hall can be contacted at bennett.hall@lee.net or 541-812-6111. Follow him on Twitter at @bennetthallgt.

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She earned a legion of fans as Daenerys Targaryen in the popular fantasy drama Game Of Thrones.

And Emilia Clarke got stuck into her latest role as she passionately kissed co-star Daniel Monks as she made her West End debut in The Seagull.

The actress, 33, transformed into the character of Anya Reiss in the modern retelling of Anton Chekhov's classic at London's Playhouse Theatre on Thursday.

Smooch: Emilia Clarke got stuck into her latest role as she passionately kissed co-star Daniel Monks as she made her West End debut in The Seagull

Dressed in a loose grey top and blue jeans, Emilia immersed herself in her new role as she acted alongside her co-star's in the play, which was originally written by the Russian dramatist in 1895 and first produced in 1896.

Emilia portrays Anya, an aspiring actress desperate to escape her mundane life in the Russian countryside.

While rising Australian actor Daniel portrays young playwright Konstantin, who is the son of famous actress Arkadina, played by Emilia's fellow Game of Thrones star Indira Varma.

Role: The actress, 33, transformed into the character of Anya Reiss in the modern retelling of Anton Chekhov's classic at London's Playhouse Theatre on Thursday (pictured with Tom Rhys Harries as Trigorin)

The pair are joined by a stellar cast including former EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite, who plays the role of Polina.

They are supported by Robert Glenister as Sorin, Danny Ashok as Medvedenko, Tom Rhys Harries as Trigorin, Patrick Robinson as Dorn, Seun Shote as Shamrayev and Sophie Wu as Masha.

Emilia shone on stage as she took her place among her fellow actors, with the star portraying an range of emotions as she acted out her part.

Role: Dressed in a loose grey top and blue jeans, Emilia immersed herself in her new role as she acted alongside her co-star's in the play

Pensive: The actress looked deep in thought as she took on the role of Anya in Chekhov's classic

Starring role: The Seagull was originally written by the Russian dramatist in 1895 and first produced in 1896

Immersed: Emila puts on a passionate display as she acts alongside co-star Tom

Her run in the stage production is set to end on May 30.

The role will allow fans to see Emilia in a different light following her eight-season run in Game Of Thrones, which came to its dramatic conclusion last May.

Emilia recently revealed that her cameraman brother swiped something from the set during their time on the HBO show and later gifted the memento to her.

Role: Emilia portrays Anya, an aspiring actress desperate to escape her mundane life in the Russian countryside

Characters: While rising Australian actor Daniel (left) portrays young playwright Konstantin, who is the son of famous actress Arkadina

Theatre debut: The actress clutched her knees to her chest in one particularly emotional scene

Look who it is: Emilia's Game Of Thrones co-star Indira Varma is also in the play

Part: She plays the mother of Anya's love interest Konstantin

She joked that although it was forbidden to take items from set, she was touched by the piece he managed to pilfer for her as a keepsake.

Emilia, who insisted that she 'abided by the rules', told Zoe Ball on her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show that her brother rebelled and managed to bag her a Targaryen flag.

She said: 'I'm just going to say this live on radio, my amazing brother, who's in the camera department and worked on the show as well, this Christmas gave me the best Christmas present ever.

'In one of the battle scenes, he got a mate of a mate he got one of the Targaryen flags.'

Cast: They are supported by Robert Glenister as Sorin, Danny Ashok as Medvedenko, Patrick Robinson as Dorn, Seun Shote as Shamrayev and Sophie Wu as Masha.

Powerful display: The role will allow fans to see Emilia in a different light following her eight-season run in Game Of Thrones

Cheeky: Emilia recently revealed that her cameraman brother swiped something from the set during their time on the HBO show and later gifted the memento to her

All smiles: Emilia struggled to contain a smile as she joked around with co-star Tom

All of the different regions in Game Of Thrones had banners with their house sigil on them, and the Targaryens were represented by a red dragon.

She continued: 'So I opened it this Christmas, just burst into tears! So that's going up in pride of place, because I keep asking Game Of Thrones, 'Please can I have a wig? A coat?! I had eight.'

Emilia also recently confessed that things could get a little awkward on set with her brother sometimes because she occasionally had to be naked for her scenes.

She revealed that some days her brother would ask to pop by while she was filming and she had to do her best to deter him.

The star joked on Jimmy Kimmel Live: 'So there are some days where he's like, "Oh, I'll swing by," because he's literally in the next unit that's filming next door.

'And I'm like, 'Nah, it's good! I'm good! You can stay there!'

Star quality: Emilia shone on stage as she took her place among her fellow actors, with the star portraying an range of emotions as she acted out her part

Limited: Her run in the stage production is set to end on May 30

Actors: Tom and Emila took centre stage in the play
Sydney's economy has not had a recession in nearly four decades but the citys long run of uninterrupted growth is being tested as key industries struggle with the fallout from the coronavirus.

The last time Sydney had a prolonged contraction, or what could be described as a regional recession, was in 1982-83 a report by economist Terry Rawnsley says.

Coronavirus is likely to have a disproportionate impact on Sydney's economy. Credit:AAP

Even during the last national recession in 1990-91 Sydneys economy managed a small expansion unlike most other cities and regions where activity contracted sharply.

But Mr Rawnsley warns the economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak are likely to have a disproportionate impact on Australias biggest cities because of the structure of their economies.
Sitharaman said that State Bank of India (SBI) will invest 49 percent of equity in Yes Bank, with other investors also being invited.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government gave its approval to the reconstruction scheme drawn by the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) for Yes Bank.

Speaking to reporters in Delhi on Friday, Sitharaman said that within three days after the notification of the reconstruction scheme, the moratorium on Yes Bank will be lifted.

"In the next seven days after the reconstruction scheme's notification, a new board will be constituted at Yes Bank and at least two directors of State Bank of India will be part of the new board," said the finance minister.

Cabinet Meet Outcome | Yes Bank moratorium to be lifted in 3 days after notification of scheme; the new board will have at least 2 board members from SBI: @nsitharaman pic.twitter.com/63Fxzqdayk  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 13, 2020

Sitharaman said that State Bank of India (SBI) will invest 49 percent of equity in Yes Bank, with other investors also being invited.

The SBI will have a lock-in of three years for up to only 26 percent of the 49 percent of its stake in Yes Bank. For the rest of the investors, the three-year lock-in will be applicable for 75 percent of their investment, Sitharaman said.

The authorised capital itself of Yes Bank is being raised to Rs 6,200 crore from the current Rs 1,100 crore in order to accommodate immediate and subsequent capital raising requirement, she said.

On 5 March this year, the RBI imposed a moratorium on Yes Bank, restricting withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per depositor till 3 April.

The RBI superseded the board of Yes Bank, which has not been able to raise required capital for the last six months. It also appointed former Chief Financial Officer of SBI, Prashant Kumar as the administrator of Yes Bank.

Later, Sitharaman had said the government asked the RBI to look into what went wrong at Yes Bank and fix individual responsibilities.

she said the bank was being monitored since 2017 and developments relating to it were being monitored on a day-to-day basis.

On Thursday, SBI announced a Rs 7,250-crore fund infusion into the crippled Yes Bank under which it will pick up to 49 percent equity in the fourth largest private sector lender.

The fund infusion is part of the Reserve Bank-mandated rescue plan.

SBI said its shareholding in Yes Bank will remain within 49 percent of the paid up capital of the private lender and following the fund infusion, it will pick up 725 crore shares.

-- With PTI inputs
If you think that the present global selloff that has pushed the Indian market in a bear territory is the worst you have seen, do remember the 2008 financial meltdown when the Nifty lost 40 percent of its value in about a month.

But is the comparison fair? The 2008 financial crisis got accentuated following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Well, maybe not. Though it is mimicking the 2008 crisis, when the global financial system got a jolt, the coronavirus-led downturn is not of the same magnitude.

The Nifty50 has lost more than 20 percent from its record high of 12,430 registered on January 20, effectively putting the index in a bear phase but we have seen the worst.

In 2008, though the correction started in January but things came to a head when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt after the Federal Reserve declined to guarantee its loans on September 15.

Reacting to the news, the Nifty fell from 4,237 to hit a low of 2,525 on October 24 of that year, translating into a decline of about 40 percent. The global selloff wiped out more than a third of the Nifty value in about a month and more than 50 percent in the calendar year.

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 selloff being seeing now is largely fear-driven as coronavirus spread to more than 110 countries, creating panic.

Shares across the globe have also come under pressure after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic, as infections have been reported from all continents but one.

If we look closely, this has not caused any damage to the financials of the companies and this slowdown is temporary due to diminished global demand and logistics issue along with incapacitated supply-chain partners. This virus will affect the current quarter earnings and therefore having no impact on the financials and solvency of the companies, said Gaurav Garg, Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited- Investment Advisor.

The 2008 crisis was triggered due to a bloated economy of a world power, which relied mainly on instruments that derive value from bad assets. It started with banks which are the backbone to business sector anywhere in the world and liquidity crisis in banks had a series of repercussions, which brought the economy to a standstill, he said.

Garg added that though the coronavirus outbreak was mimicking the environment of the 2008 crisis, it was not of the same magnitude. China had shown that the virus could be contained by exhaustive and extensive measures, he said.

The subprime crisis of 2008 seems to be significantly different from conditions created by the coronavirus fear.

The 2008 financial crisis engulfed in itself genuine liquidity problems along with market participants losing confidence in equities. But as coronavirus fears will recede, we could see a swift rally across the globe, including India.

The subprime crisis was intertwined with massive credit creation; creation of products with high-risk junk bonds, which eventually led to suction of liquidity from the entire economy, Umesh Mehta, Head of Research, Samco Securities, told Moneycontrol.

Slowdown fears looming

The current selloff is on a different footing--which is an outcome of fear of coronavirus being a pandemic which could possibly slow down the economic activity across the globe. No sooner the fear recedes, bounce-back would be sharp and quick unlike the year 2008, where the recovery was slow, he said.

The US government 10-year bond yield has corrected to 0.66% from 1.75% a month back. These levels are even below the trend seen in the global crisis of 2008-2009, which is a point of concern.

But experts feel that measures taken by the government and rate cuts by central banks should help economic activity bounce back in the next two-three months.

We foresee both the scenario (2008, and 2020 meltdown) as very different and current scenario not as worse being speculated. But at the same time we are confused and concerned regarding the negative movement of US bond yields, reversing towards zero, Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, told Moneycontrol.

While when we look are the pandemic effect, we feel that it will get normal in the next two-three months and economic activities will reverse. The number of new cases in China has reduced tremendously, today it was around 30 from around 2000 a week back, he said.

Nair added that lockdowns, quarantine and travel restrictions was the way to achieve it. The oil crisis triggered by Saudi Arabia and Russias spat over prices and production had added to the problem. The situation would reverse once the demand improves and the two sides realise that they both stand to lose from the standoff. So this situation seems more like a short-term reversal of economic growth, he said.

: 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.
Thousands Of US Live Shows Cancelled

Thousands of live music shows have been canceled or postponed through the end of March in venues large and small venues across America.

On Thursday afternoon, concert giants Live Nation and AEG both announced that all their shows would be canceled or postponed. Some of the major tours affected include Billie Eilish, Jason Aldean, Zac Brown Band, Cher, Kiss, Post Malone, Tool, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Chris Stapleton.

Smaller Venues & Musicians Suffer Most

Thousands of smaller shows are being canceled too as states and municipalities ban or recommend the prohibition of large public gatherings.

The size of the gatherings prohibited varies wildly depending on location. Maine is recommending that gatherings over 50 be canceled. In OH, the ban is on gatherings over 100. In California, New York and New Jersey it is 250.

For Live Nation, March is generally a slow month. But for middle-class musicians who play to pay the rent, a date lost is lost forever.

Whats Next?

Broadway is staying dark through April 12th. Live Nation says it will re-evaluate the beginning of April with the goal of resuming full touring in May or June.

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Half Year Report 31 December 2019

Sydney, Mar 12, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - In May 2019, the Theta Gold Mines Limited ( ASX:TGM ) ( OTCMKTS:TGMGF ) completed a feasibility study on the Theta Hill Open-Pit Project which confirmed the commercial viability and technical feasibility of developing an open cut mine at the project. The Theta Hill Open-Pit Project encompasses the Columbia Hill deposit and part of the Theta Hill deposit and Browns Hill within Mining Right 83 ("MR83"). The open-cut starter project is forecast to produce a total of 200,000oz gold over a 5 year period. The feasibility study was based on an ore processing throughput of 500,000tpa which was constrained to the current permitted tailings dam capacity (2.5 Mt) and within the MR83 boundary.The Company recognised that the project could be further expanded and the feasibility study optimised. During the half year, post feasibility study activities centred around engineering, social licence and permitting of the Theta Hill Open-Pit Project. In this connection, the Company has taken the following significant steps towards achieving its development aims -a) The Company completed internal engineering studies to maximize use of the existing permitted plant footprint. The new metallurgical plant layout position will create the flexibility to materially increase the Company's future gold production.b) In October 2019, the Company entered into an agreement to purchase a quality, secondhand 2.5 megawatt (MW) ball mill for the Theta Hill Open-Pit Project at a price of ZAR5,500,000 (approximately US$400,000) plus the cost of dismantling and transportation to the Company's processing plant site. The ball mill had been identified as a possible long lead item that could potentially delay the project delivery. The purchase will also provide certainty of grinding capability for the mine and, with a capacity of up to 820,000tpa, will readily accommodate future mining expansions.c) The Company commissioned an independent plant design optimisation study (completed in January 2020) which confirmed the feasibility of increasing the ore throughput from the original 500,000tpa capacity in the feasibility study to 600,000tpa by de-constraining the current throughput constraint of the tailings dam. The 20% increase in the new plant design incorporates the 2.5MW ball mill purchased above and is expected to be achieved with less than a 1% change to the feasibility study process plant capex of US$24.85M.d) An Environmental Impact Assessment for MR83 was submitted in February 2020 to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy for approval in connection with the application for an amendment to MR83 to permit open-pit mining.The Company continues to work with the local community in Pilgrim's Rest who are overall supportive of the Company's efforts to restart gold mining and processing operations in the area. The Company supports local community events and is committed to supporting the local population of less than 3,000 people through employment, local ownership and education initiatives.ExplorationThe Company has a large tenement holding of 62,000 hectares (620km2) covered by mining rights and applications for mining rights at various stages of being granted, with access to over 43 historical mines and prospect areas that can be accessed and explored. It has a large mineral resource base and aims to be able to convert it to mining reserves through further exploration.Whilst the Company's main focus during the half year had been on the Theta Hill Open-Pit Project, it continues to evaluate the Rietfontein and Beta mines as potential sources of ore for future expansions to the Theta Hill Open-Pit Project.As part of the renewed exploration focus, the Company commissioned CSA Global (an ERM group company) to develop a Mineral System Model (ore genesis and structural geology model) to support the Company's exploration efforts. The CSA Global Mineral System Model interpreted that east-west structures (faults and joints) provided fluid pathways for mineralising fluids from the Bushveld Complex to the Eastern Transvaal Gold Fields. Based on these new interpretations, the Company is now assessing the regional exploration potential of the wider Eastern Transvaal Basin.To view the report, please visit:About Theta Gold Mines Limited

Theta Gold Mines Limited (ASX:TGM) (OTCMKTS:TGMGF) is a gold development company that holds a range of prospective gold assets in a world-renowned South African gold mining region. These assets include several surface and near-surface high-grade gold projects which provide cost advantages relative to other gold producers in the region.

Theta Gold Mines core project is located next to the historical gold mining town of Pilgrim's Rest, in Mpumalanga Province, some 370km northeast of Johannesburg by road or 95km north of Nelspruit (Capital City of Mpumalanga Province). Following small scale production from 2011-2015, the Company is currently focussing on the construction of a new gold processing plant within its approved footprint at the TGME plant, and for the processing of the Theta Open Pit oxide gold ore. Nearby surface and underground mines and prospects are expected to be further evaluated in the future.

The Company aims to build a solid production platform to over 100Kozpa based primarily around shallow, open-cut or adit-entry hard rock mining sources. Theta Gold Mines has access to over 43 historical mines and prospect areas that can be accessed and explored, with over 6.7Moz of historical production recorded.
Charity World Vision threatened legal action to halt the publication of a book by Tim Costello, its former chief executive, amid fears of Israels reaction to his account of the 2016 arrest of the head of the charitys Gaza office.

World Vision's Gaza project officer Mohammed al-Halabi has been imprisoned in Israel for four years and is accused of diverting tens of millions of dollars in aid funds meant for Palestinian children to militant group Hamas.

Former World Vision chief executive Tim Costello. Credit:Simon Schluter

However, reviews by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and World Vision itself found no evidence any Australian aid money that flowed to the charity's Gaza office had been diverted to Hamas. Mr Halabi has faced court more than 120 times without an outcome and his lawyers have complained of not being able to properly cross-examine prosecution witnesses from Israels security services.

Mr Costello, who retired as World Vision chief in 2016 and finished his role as chief advocate last year, wrote about Mr Halabis case in the manuscript of his 2019 memoir, A Lot with a Little.
Jared Kushner enlisted the help of model Karlie Kloss's father, a doctor, to help figure out what the U.S. should do about coronavirus  who in turn asked for suggestions via Facebook.

The astonishing revelation was uncover by the Spectator USA.

Jared Kushner was brought in by his father-in-law Donald Trump earlier this week to lead the response to coronavirus. He has no medical qualifications and has also been in charge of Middle East peace, for which he boasted about reading '25 books.'

Kurt Kloss, an emergency room doctor in upstate New York, created a post in a 22,000-member private group for doctors that asked for 'serious suggestions' about how to respond to coronavirus.

'If you were in charge of Federal response to the Pandemic what would your recommendation be,' he wrote. 'I have a direct channel to the person now in charge at the White House.'

'Please only serious responses,' he added, according to a screenshot obtained by the Spectator USA. 'I have already expressed concern for need for ventilators and more PPE for frontline and test kits.'

Then he explained who he was, finding time to boast about his daughter's success, and later he boasted 'Jared is reading now.'

Kurt Kloss, based in upstate New York, asked a 20,000-strong private doctors group for help

Mr Kloss made this lengthy post on the private doctors group after asking for advice

Mr Kloss said he had been in contact with Mr Kushner about the government's response to coronavirus for weeks via Joshua, his daughter Karlie's (also pictured) husband

Jared Kushner, shown in Maryland on February 28, has been tasked with researching COVID-19

He goes on to identify himself as Karlie's father and claims to have been talking to Jared for weeks about his concerns via his bother Joshua, who is Karlie's husband.

'Tonight I was asked by Jared through my son in-law for my recommendations, that's when I turned to you guys for help,' he wrote in a post that appears to have been uploaded Wednesday.

After hours of back-and-forth discussions, Mr Kloss came up with a 13-point list to forward to the White House that included 'nationalized production of [protective equipment] and test kits, pop-up field hospitals, draconian travel ban and ban on all mass gatherings'.

The post asking for suggestions appears to have been uploaded around 9pm Wednesday, meaning Jared reached out for help around the same time Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office.

In the widely-criticized address, Trump announced a ban on travellers who had been to any country in the 26-state European Schengen borderless zone from coming to the US for 30 days.

A post put up by Mr Kloss after he had received advice from different doctors in the group

He did not announce a federal state of emergency, and made no moves to ban travel within the US, ban large-scale gatherings or close schools and other public institutions, as some state governments have already started doing.

He briefly mentioned testing kits but made no promise about wide-scale testing. The CDC has since admitted that it tested only 77 people for the illness this week.

There are currently 1,758 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US and 41 confirmed deaths, though experts have warned that the true number of cases could be ten times higher.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is pushing for coronavirus to be declared a national emergency to unlock funding and resources for states to manage outbreaks, according to Politico.

But Vice President Mike Pence, who has been put in charge of the US response, is said to be wary of taking the step for fear that it will put US stock markets into a tailspin.

Wall Street has already lost more than 20 per cent of its value since the crisis began and has entered 'bear market' territory not seen since the 2008 crash.

Karlie Kloss pictured with her husband Joshua at the Super Bowl in February this year

Trump is also said to be reticent to declare an emergency because it runs counter to his early assertions that coronavirus is equivalent to seasonal flu.

Health experts have been warning for weeks that the virus is, in fact, many times more deadly than flu  though, like flu, is most likely to kill the elderly and those with underlying conditions.

Caught in a quandary, Trump is said to be waiting for Kushner's report on the crisis before making a decision.

Up to 150 million Americans could be infected with the coronavirus top doctors believe, a Congresswoman confirmed Thursday as vast swathes of the country shutdown

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib confirmed earlier reports that Congress' doctor Dr. Brian Monahan has told lawmakers that he predicts between 70 to 150 million people in the United States could eventually be infected with the novel coronavirus.

The startling figures were revealed as many public spaces, airports, streets and highways became deserted of people and cars Thursday evening and panicked shoppers rushed to buy supplies.

Disney Parks and Capitol Hill were among the many places closed off to the public as Broadway also went dark.

Dr. Monahan's prediction underscores how severe the outbreak could become in the U.S. as the White House continues to downplay the severity and asks the public to remain calm.

He originally shared the information with a closed-door meeting of Senate senior staff on Tuesday when they were told they should prepare for the worst.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar has told the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government that hunger kill more Nigerians than the deadly Coronavirus.

The monarch stated this in Abuja on Thursday during the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) meeting attended by the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha.

Speaking on the theme of the parley, Together, we can grow peace for the Nation, the Sultan lamented about the hardship being faced by Nigerians, and called on the government to tackle hunger which he claimed was killing more people than the dreaded coronavirus.

There is a very serious virus that is killing people much higher than coronavirus. That virus is hunger; there is hunger virus and its very serious. You need to go round the country into the villages, into the towns and see how people are really struggling to survive, he said.

KanyiDaily had reported that during the event, the Sultan also insisted that there is no persecution of Christians in Nigeria, especially in the northern region.

The royal father acknowledged the insecurity in the land, but noted both Christians and Muslims were equally being killed in large numbers by terrorists and bandits.
UNITED NATIONS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday asked for uniform standards and for consensus to fight terrorism in Africa.

Counter-terrorism in Africa is an important part of the global fight against terrorism. In helping Africa fight terrorism, the international community should uphold uniform counter-terrorism standards, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

All terrorist activities must be dealt with relentlessly, regardless of the flags they fly, the countries they target, or the tactics they employ. Linking terrorism with specific religions or ethnicity should be avoided, he told an open debate of the Security Council.

China supports the United Nations in playing a central coordinating role in helping African countries build greater counter-terrorism capacity and in prioritizing counter-terrorism capacity building for African countries, he said.

"We support the international community in providing counter-terrorism assistance to African countries with no political strings attached," said Zhang.
Note: The Blood Letter is available at www.sunburypressstore.com or at Amazon.com.

Behind her twinkling blues eyes, Helga Rist stores horrid memories. She was just finishing high school when Russian soldiers snatched her from her home on charges of espionage. From that day in 1947 until the end of 1955, she would endure life in a series of East German prisons.

Tucked away now in her Camp Hill home, Helga has shared her memories in a book, The Blood Letter, published by Sunbury Press.

Helga initially wrote her experiences in diaries after her release.

When she wrote, she said, I had a young memory of what had happened in the prisons.

She tucked them away and went about life. She escaped to West Germany, received her high school diploma and earned bachelors and masters degrees. A pen-pal relationship with Karl Rist eventually led to her moving to America, where the pair married in 1961.

For several decades she taught German at Lower Dauphin High School, before winding up her career as an assistant professor at Wilson College.

Last year, after two unsuccessful heart surgeries, she said, I got bored and then I thought I could write. I got the idea of writing this book.

The Blood Letter, written in English, grew from her diaries, written in German. The title refers to a letter she wrote to her parents while in Potsdam for interrogation. Because so many political prisoners simply disappeared in East Germany, Helgas parents had no idea if their only child was alive.

She wrote them a letter using blood she squeezed from her finger with a needle and a pen she fashioned from a piece of straw. The paper came from Vaseline she was given by the prison nurse.

Helga hid the letter in the shoulder of her coat, which eventually was sent home to her parents. But they didnt know the letter existed until she was freed. Today it hangs in a museum in Hoheneck, Germany.

Helga, who is approaching her 92nd birthday, was a typical high school girl when arrested in 1947. She had friends, boys and girls, who often walked together as they made the 45-minute trip to and from school.

None of the girls knew that some of the boys, angry with their treatment by the Russians after World War II, shared troop movements with American soldiers. When they all were arrested, the girls were considered guilty by association.

I was dumbfounded, she said of her arrest. It was as if the Earth had fallen from under my feet.

Helga eventually pleaded guilty because other women in the prison advised her it was the only way to stop the beatings and torture by the guards. She was sentenced to 25 years.

In her days in prison, she endured hunger and cold. Her weight dropped to 89 pounds. People around her died from tuberculosis and pneumonia.

One of the things that buoyed her spirits during her imprisonment was being with her best friend from childhood, Inge. She writes of Inge and Gerdi, another friend, that we comforted and consoled each other, gaining strength from knowing that shared joy is double joy, but shared grief is only half the grief.

Helgas book not only shares a slice of history but serves as a reminder of the cruelty that people, even countrymen, impose on one another.

She writes of the German guards in Hoheneck, The Soviets had arrested us because they knew that we were their bloody enemies. The Germans, however, had no such reason. The Soviets never tried to crush our human dignity. We arrived in Hoheneck as dignified women. But the Germans did everything possible to mold us into groveling, cowering, intimidated slaves.

As a recent visitor to her home, I found Helgas human dignity intact behind those twinkling blue eyes. As a reader of her book, I will carry her story with me. But I found the following paragraph to contain an important lesson shared by a long-time teacher:

Dictatorships are always ruthlessly cruel, no matter whether Nazis, or the Soviets, or anywhere else in the world. It should be repeatedly pointed out and drummed in the heads and hearts of all the people who are blessed to be free, that freedom is not a gift which falls into somebodys lap. It requires serious and never-ending effort.

NANCY ESHELMAN: columnist1@verizon.net

--

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My February prognostication is 39 more weeks of nonstop rancor | Nancy Eshelman
Warren Buffett, CEO, said there will be a Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting as usual on May 2 but it will be unusual in that it will not be attended by thousands of shareholders, employees and media representatives as in the past. All special events held that weekend including a road race and a giant cocktail party have also been canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus.

I very much regret this action; for many decades the annual meeting has been a high point of the year for me and my partner, Charlie Munger. It is now clear, however, that large gatherings can pose a health threat to the participants and the greater community. We wont ask this of our employees and we wont expose Omaha to the possibility of becoming a hot spot in the current pandemic, Buffett said in a press release.

The gathering, which Buffett likes to call Woodstock for Capitalists, has attracted as many as 30,000 to 40,000 people in the past.

Th\is years attendance will be limited to Buffett, possibly Munger, and several Berkshire employees who will deliver proxy votes. Perhaps, also, a journalist or two, Buffett said.

Shareholders and others will have to settle for watching the meeting as it is live-streamed by Yahoo.

Other Meetings

The roster of insurance-related conferences and meetings being canceled, postponed or moved to virtual due to the coronavirus threat keeps changing. Here is an updated list:

March

Property Liability Research Bureau (PLRB) called off its 2020 Claims Conference scheduled to start Sunday, March 8 at the Gaylord National Hotel in National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C

Insurance data analytics and risk modeling firm Verisk converted its Cyber and Casualty Seminar scheduled for March 10 in New York City from an in-person to a free virtual event.

The Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA) announced the organization canceled its 2020 International Conference scheduled for Mar. 8-10, at the Westin Mission Hills, Rancho Mirage, California because of safety concerns due to COVID-19.

The Wholesale and Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA) has canceled the following events:

March 11-12 Legislative Fly-In (Washington D.C.)

March 15-18 Insurtech Conference (New Orleans)

March 27-28 Extreme Risk Takers Symposium (Chicago)

The Consumer Federation of America has decided to reschedule the National Food Policy Conference to a later date in 2020. The conference was scheduled to occur March 11 and 12.

Georgia State University Risk Management Foundation has canceled the 6th Annual Riskies Awards scheduled for the evening of March 12, 2020.

Benefits management platform Benefitfocus said it will now hold its annual conference, One Place 2020, scheduled for March 17-19 in Charleston, S.C., as a digital event.

The National Cannabis Risk Management Association (NCRMA) has decided to postpone NCRMA2020, its conference on March 22-24 in Las Vegas. The event will now be held in the fall.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has decided to hold the Spring National Meeting scheduled as a live event for Phoenix from March 21-24 in a virtual-only format. Below is a tentative schedule, which is still subject to change:

The public portion of the NAICs special session on state responses to COVID-19 will be held on March 20, 2020, starting at 11 a.m. ET via virtual meeting.

Working groups, subgroups and other meetings will be held via conference calls March 16-31, 2020.

Task force meetings will be held via conference calls April 1-10, 2020.

Executive Committee and letter committees will be held via conference calls the week of April 13, 2020.

EX/Plenary will meet via public conference call on April 20, 2020.

The Casualty Actuarial Society has canceled its 2020 Ratemaking, Product and Modeling (RPM) Seminar Planning Committee in New Orleans that was to start March 22. See the FAQ for information.

The Ceres 2020 Investor Summit on Climate Risk scheduled for March 23-26 in New York has been canceled. The group said it is arranging to offer a digital program in the weeks and months to come.

April

WSIA has canceled its April 3 Extreme Risk Takers Symposium in Santa Barbara.

The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) has postponed its European Risk Management Awards 2020 dinner that it planned to host in London on April 23. The new date is December 8, 2020.

WSIA also said it is still evaluating two education programs, including an April 28  May 1 Executive Leadership Summit (ELS) in Washington D.C. and a June 7-10 Excess & Surplus Lines program in St. Louis.

May

The Financial Health Network canceled its Emerge conference, scheduled for May 5-7, 2020 in Atlanta.

Topics Excess Surplus Washington Risk Management
SITKA, Alaska - An Alaska city plans to pay $4.1 million to the federal government to resolve outstanding liabilities related to physician compensation violations.

The Sitka Assembly voted to make the payment from an escrow account established to cover obligations from the sale of Sitka Community Hospital, The Daily Sitka Sentinel reported Wednesday.

The citys debt to the government resulted from physician Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements that were discovered during a merger between the community hospital and Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium.

We prepared for this settlement and this settlement is the best we couldve hoped for, City Administrator John Leach said.

The transfer from the citys general fund will be replenished by contributions from the consortium and a municipal tobacco tax, which was previously dedicated to the city hospital, city officials said

The $4.1 million settlement will come from $4.5 million the city set aside in escrow to the federal Office of the Inspector General, which was required under an inspector generals agreement and an asset purchase agreement between the city and SEARHC, Leach said.

The purchase agreement outlines the terms of the affiliation between SEARHC and Sitka Community Hospital.

SEARHC has co-operated, collaborated and consented to the release of the $4.125 million from the city-funded escrow account to the OIG as required by the settlement agreement and in accordance with the APA, Leach said in a statement.

The hospital overcompensated physicians in violation of two federal laws, Leach said.

We self-reported this to the OIG when we realized it happened, Leach said in an interview. Its a common thing that can happen in hospital mergers.
Shocking CCTV footage has captured the moment a 15-year-old schoolboy was brutally stabbed with a machete by a masked thug outside a school in broad daylight.

The teenager was attacked by a gang armed with weapons outside Central Academy in Birmingham city centre at 3.10pm on Wednesday.

Chilling footage shows one yob hacking at the teen, who is wearing his school bag, as he gets up from the ground and tries to escape.

Shocking CCTV footage has captured the moment a 15-year-old schoolboy was brutally stabbed with a machete by a masked thug outside a school in broad daylight

Two other people can be seen brandishing large blades as the victim runs away from the scene on busy Newhall Street, which is lined with pubs, restaurants and offices.

The boy was taken to hospital for treatment, although fortunately his injuries were not serious.

West Midlands Police today released the CCTV footage in a bid to track down the offenders.

The teenager was attacked by a gang armed with weapons outside Central Academy in Birmingham city centre at 3.10pm on Wednesday. Chilling footage shows one yob hacking at the teen, who is wearing his school bag, as he gets up from the ground and tries to escape

A 15-year-old boy has already been arrested on suspicion of assault and remains in police custody being quizzed by officers.

Sergeant Asaf Khan, from force CID, said: 'Although the arrest is great progress, I am asking for anyone who recognises the people in this CCTV to speak to us.

'We need to trace the boys who think it's acceptable to walk around with a knife and attack a schoolboy.

Two other people can be seen brandishing large blades as the victim runs away from the scene on busy Newhall Street, which is lined with pubs, restaurants and offices

The boy was taken to hospital for treatment, although fortunately his injuries were not serious. West Midlands Police today released the CCTV footage in a bid to track down the offenders.

'I am also interested in hearing from witnesses who saw what happened and that have not yet spoken to us, as well as those with mobile phone or dashcam footage.'

A West Midlands Ambulance Services spokesperson said: 'We were called by the police at 3:29pm to an assault on Newhall Street in Birmingham.

'We sent one ambulance and the West Midlands Care Team to the scene. We treated one patient, a teenage male, for injuries not believed to be serious.

Police have released images of these two boys in an effort to track down the other attackers. Sergeant Asaf Khan, from force CID, said: 'Although the arrest is great progress, I am asking for anyone who recognises the people in this CCTV to speak to us. We need to trace the boys who think it's acceptable to walk around with a knife and attack a schoolboy'

'He was taken to hospital for further treatment.'

Anyone with information is urged to contact police via Live Chat at west-midlands.police.uk between 8am and midnight, or call 101 anytime.

Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting crime reference 20BW/65002P/20.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- Michigan Flyer announced Friday that due to a decline in demand from passengers traveling to and from Detroit Metro Airport, its airport shuttle services will suspend all daily runs between East Lansing, Brighton, Ann Arbor and Detroit Metro Airport from Monday, March 16, until Thursday, April 16.

Passengers holding unused tickets will be refunded, Michigan Flyer announced in a news release.

Our temporary suspension of service is directly related to travel restrictions put in place by key customer groups and federal officials to combat the spread of coronavirus, the company announced.

The bus service is expected to resume a full schedule of operations Thursday, April 16.

In so doing, we hope to accommodate university students and faculty members who will be returning to their classes on April 20 and 21, Michigan Flyer representatives said.

Tickets for travel on or after April 16 will be available online or by calling 517-333-0400 on Monday, March 23 and beyond.

Update: An earlier version of this story reported tickets will be available until Tuesday, March 17. Michigan Flyer changed the date to March 23.

The service cancellation comes after state officials announced late Thursday there were 12 presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Michigan.

Only airport-related services through Indian Trails and Michigan Flyer are being impacted, according to the news release.

A new Detroit-Ann Arbor (D2A2) hourly bus service was still scheduled to launch on Monday, March 16.

Despite the COVID-19 concerns, other bus services that will continue to operate include:

The University of Michigans Detroit Connector service, which provides transportation between UM campuses in Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Detroit.

Indian Trails charter buses.

Indian Trails daily scheduled routes throughout Michigan and into Chicago, Duluth and Milwaukee, with connections to the national Amtrak and Greyhound networks.

All Indian Trails buses are cleaned and disinfected daily, the company says. Indian Trails uses high-grade, EPA-registered disinfectant on its buses and has 1,900 gallons of it on hand, according to a news release. Staff wipes down surfaces like passenger doors, hand rails, window ledges, overhead luggage bins, arm rests and seatbelt buckles, all hard surfaces within the restroom area and the drivers steering wheel. More here.

For more coverage on the new coronavirus, visit MLives Coronavirus in Michigan topic page.

Closures, postponements, cancellations in Ann Arbor due to coronavirus fears

Ypsilantis Tap Room to stay open after coronavirus exposure

Tattoo shops in Ann Arbor-area require health screenings amid coronavirus fears

Ypsilanti ice cream shop offers community sink amid coronavirus concerns

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
The top advisor of Irans Supreme Leader, Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati has tested positive for novel coronavirus, Iranian news outlets reported on March 12.

Before joining Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's corps of advisors as top foreign policy advisor, Velayati had set a record by presiding over the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for sixteen consecutive years (1981 97).

Seventy-five-year-old Velayati, a pediatrician, is currently the President of Tehran's Masih Daneshvari Hospital, the country's center for treating people infected by the novel coronavirus. Almost all senior officials infected by coronavirus are hospitalized there.

However, according to the hospital's spokesman, Velayati has preferred to be quarantined at his home "after having experienced mild symptoms of coronavirus."

Describing Velayati's condition as "improving," hospital officials have claimed that he was infected with coronavirus while working with the hospital staff, discussing the best ways to contain coronavirus.

Earlier, on February 24, Velayati had told the state-run national TV network that a coronavirus epidemic was not more life-threatening than an influenza outbreak.

"Thank God, the Islamic Republic, its Ministry of Health and medical and educational centers have succeeded to defeat coronavirus," he had insisted, adding, "Inshallah (God willing), coronavirus' curve will soon flatten, and it will be totally contained."

However, when Velayati was sounding upbeat the virus was spreading fast, infecting thousands in thirty out of 31 provinces of Iran.

An ultraconservative politician, Velayati experienced a stint of jail for anti-government activities when he was seventeen, during the monarchy. Nonetheless, after finishing his studies in pediatrics, he was helped by the Royal Government of Iran to secure a fellowship in infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University.

Dozens of Islamic Republic politicians and influential people, including VP Eshaq Jahangiri, deputy President Massoumeh Ebtekar have contracted the disease and several have died.
Three more people, including an Italian national, tested positive for coronavirus in Kerala on Friday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

With the three fresh cases, the number of affected people in the state has touched 19, he told reporters here.

"An Italian tourist, who was staying at a resort in nearby Varkala, has tested positive and is kept in isolation there itself," Vijayan said.

Health minister K K Shailaja, who was also present, said the foreigner will be shifted to the medical college hospital later.

Vijayan also said yesterday's unconfirmed case in Thiruvananthapuram also tested positive.

"The third person is a UK-returnee and is in the isolation ward at the medical college hospital here," he said.

At least 5,468 people are under surveillance in the state, Vijayan said, adding that 277 have been lodged in isolation wards at various hospitals across the state.

The chief minister also said 1,715 samples have been sent for testing of which 1,132 turned out to be negative.

Vijayan said local self-governments were taking effective preventive measures to fight the coronanvirus threat.

"The state government has been engaged in inspecting the foreigners staying in homestays, hotels and resorts in the state and ensuring that they are not infected," the chief minister said.

The state has also initiated steps to monitor everyone who reaches the state through airports and the government has held discussions with airport authorities.

The state's entry point will also be monitored by health department officials and they will be assisted by police officials also, Vijayan said.

The Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a public sector undertaking, has assured the state government that it would produce enough sanitisers for the state.

"The Kerala state drugs and pharmaceuticals limited has informed the government that they had started manufacturing sanitisers for distribution in the state.

They told us that they can produce one lakh bottles within ten days," Vijayan said.

The state government has also called an all-party meeting on March 16 to discuss the COVID-19 situation.

This was a meeting which was already scheduled to discuss the matters related to census.

Police have registered 14 cases against some people on charges of spreading fake on coronavirus.

Eight people have been arrested, police said.

The state health department has also initiated a massive tracking exercise to trace a person who came in contact with newly infected people, according to sources.

The district authorities have prepared the route map of the affected people and started the tracking exercise.

Against the backdrop of the coronavirus scare, the Kerala Assembly on Friday cut short its ongoing session and adjourned sine die.

The decision was taken at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting of the Assembly.

An elderly man, who was a neighbour of a coronavirus patient at Chengalam in Kottayam district and under home quarantine, died on Friday en route to hospital and authorities are awaiting the post-mortem report and test results of samples to confirm the cause of death.

Meanwhile, two foreign nationals allegedly fled from the Alappuzha Medical college after being admitted to the isolation ward.

Police said they refused to give their samples and details of their passport.

The Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala, which was opened this evening for monthly poojas, witnessed very few number of devotees turning up for darshan.

Kerala has been hit by the second round of coronavirus cases after the country's first three positive cases from the state were successfully cured and discharged from hospitals last month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LANSING, MI -- Michigan on Friday, March 13, banned all prison visits effective immediately and indefinitely.

The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) will cease in-person visiting of prisoners effective immediately for the safety of staff, prisoners and the public, the agency said in a press statement. This will also include outside volunteers and other tours and groups who routinely come into the prisons.

" ... For staff working in the facilities, all will be asked a series of screening questions and will have their temperature checked before being allowed entrance into the prison. For those with a temperature above 100.4, they will not be allowed to work."

For the past week, information about the coronavirus COVID-19 and precautionary measures to decrease its spread has been shared with inmates and staff, the agency said.

MDOC is working with communication providers on enhanced services that may be able to be offered during the public visitation lockdown.

This was not a decision we arrived at lightly, as we understand and recognize the importance of family contact with the prison population, MDOC Director Heidi Washington said. Our primary concern has to be public safety and reducing the number of people who enter our facilities is a key factor in limiting the potential spread of this illness into our prisoner population.

There were nearly 200,000 prisoner visits in 2019, Gautz said.

The MDOC has 39 facilities, according to the state website, and in 2019 employed nearly 13,000 staff who monitored nearly 38,000 prisoners.

Ten state prisons were already on lockdown due to influenza outbreaks."

No Michigan prisoners have been tested or isolated for suspicion of coronavirus, MDOC spokesman Chris Gautz said. "The prisoners we have that are sick at those facilities with an outbreak have tested positive for influenza.

"To this point, we have not had any prisoners who have presented with symptoms of coronavirus who also meet the criteria for a test.

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Michigan now has 12 presumptive positive tests for coronavirus, up from the first two announced on Tuesday, when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency.

Coronavirus symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus. They include fever, cough and shortness of breath. For most, the symptoms are mild, but it poses a serious danger to others.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus has sickened 1,215 people and resulted in 36 deaths, nationally.

What Michigan residents need to know about coronavirus

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips: What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

 Always cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.

 Stay home if you are sick and advise others to do the same.

 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 warm water for at least 20 seconds.

 Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, if soap and warm water are not available.

 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces (computers, keyboards, desks, etc.).

 Its not too late to get your flu shot ! While the influenza vaccine does not protect against COVID-19 infection, it can help keep you healthy during the flu season. For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

Read more on MLive:

All Michigan schools to close as coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

Michigan governor asks Trump to open special Obamacare enrollment period during coronavirus threat

Heres a list of specific recommendations from state health officials

Huge Michigan tourist destination, The Henry Ford Museum, closing amid coronavirus

GM tells visitors to stay out of plants if theyve had cold or flu-like symptoms
Thousands of jobs could be lost within weeks in the tourism and hospitality industry unless urgent State support is provided to the sector.

The doomsday prediction came from Tourism Minister Shane Ross, who met with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe in recent days to request immediate support measures for businesses whose very existence is threatened.

Businesses in the tourism, hospitality, and leisure sectors have gone from concern to alarm to panic, said Mr Ross.

It is absolutely essential that we, as a Government, over the coming days, respond robustly and do whatever we can to save as many businesses and jobs as we can.

"Without some immediate response, the industry estimates that thousands of jobs could be lost within weeks. This is a desperate situation, he said.

The warning came as Revenue outlined a suite of measures around issues such as Vat returns and tax clearance certificates. It also published advice for SMEs which may be experiencing cash flow and trading difficulties as a result of the coronavirus.

Mr Rosss view has been echoed by Failte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly, who described the impact of the coronavirus on the tourism industry as catastrophic.

Speaking on RTE radios Morning Ireland, he said: Revenue into the industry has all but stopped and it is looking that way for the next couple of months at a time of year when cash flow is difficult. This is a huge impact in the industry over the next couple of months.

Mr Kelly said supports are needed within a matter of days to prevent businesses from closing: Everything is on the table. There is a sense that was conveyed to us by Government that they dont want to make it any harder on businesses than it already is.

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Restaurants Association of Ireland CEO Adrian Cummins said the measures announced by Revenue dont go a fraction of the way towards helping businesses  particularly those in the tourism and hospitality sectors. Currently, thousands of workers are being laid off as we speak.

A specific aid package for the tourism and hospitality sector needs to be in place by Monday morning, he said.
Stressing the need for merit-based selection in government jobs to ensure an effective and efficient system of governance, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday said about 70,000 youngsters were recruited through the HPSC and the HSSC in the state in the last five years.

He also said his government had adopted a transparent recruitment policy.

Speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural session of the 22nd National Conference of State Public Service Commissions here, Khattar said his government had scrapped the interview process for Classes 3 and 4 posts, according to an official release.

He said his government had recognised the talent of the candidates, "which the previous government neglected".

"Apart from this, we have also eliminated favouritism in the selection process, which prevailed earlier, thus paving the way for meritorious candidates to join government service," the chief minister said.

He added that most of the recruitment made during the previous regimes were facing litigation but contrary to this, as a result of the transparent recruitment policy adopted by the current BJP-led state government, candidates were being selected in government jobs in a fair manner, without any irregularities.

Khattar congratulated the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) and the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) for adopting such a "flawless" system.

He exhorted the recruitment agencies for all-out efforts to make the selection process more transparent.

The BJP leader said his government was continuously working towards building a transparent system of recruitment in Haryana.

"It is for the first time that the state government has eliminated the interview process. Apart from this, we are also going to implement another reform under which the names of only those HCS or Class-1 officers would be sent to the UPSC for selection as IAS officers, who would clear the written examination to be conducted by the HPSC," he said.

The chief minister said it was the result of the atmosphere created by his government that the percentage of candidates from the state passing prestigious examinations like the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), JEE and other engineering examinations was continuously increasing.

He said though population wise Haryana was comparatively a small state, "yet, on an average, 40 candidates are clearing the IAS exam (from the state) every year".

Hailing the contribution of recruitment agencies, including the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), in selecting meritorious candidates, Khattar said their work was like that of a jeweller who had to choose the best gems.

He said there was a need for these agencies to bring about effective changes in their system, keeping in view the changing times.

Speaking on the occasion, UPSC Chairman Arvind Saxena said the state public service commissions had a mandate for making competition-based selections and providing a secure and stable civil service that was necessary for transparent and impartial governance.

He said in two recent instances -- the lateral entry scheme for joint secretary-level officers of the government of India and empanelment of DGPs for states and Union territories -- the Centre and the Supreme Court had reposed faith in the UPSC for carrying out fair and transparent selections purely on merit basis.

Saxena said as it was a fact that government jobs were a more preferable option among youngsters, "the challenge before us is to select the most suitable candidates in a transparent manner, re-design and improve our systems and make the competitive examinations less stressful for the candidates".

HPSC Chairman R K Pachnanda said the commission had adopted several measures to ensure a free-and-fair selection process, "which enables us to select good, meritorious candidates who would perform their duties judiciously and lead to a better system of administration and governance".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Concerns about possible exposure to COVID-19 led a fire paramedic station to close for much of Thursday, while nine Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service staff were placed in isolation.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Concerns about possible exposure to COVID-19 led a fire paramedic station to close for much of Thursday, while nine Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service staff were placed in isolation.

The staff were potentially exposed on a call Thursday morning and remained off-duty for about seven hours, the city says. Station No. 21 at 1446 Regent Ave. was also closed to the public during that time.

"The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic station isolated several first responder crews after exposure to a patient who potentially had COVID-19," wrote city spokeswoman Erin Madden, in a prepared statement.

A handwritten sign posted at the stations main entrance said personnel were "not able to make any contact with persons outside of this building" and a notice posted to the overhead door read "do not enter until further notice."

Madden noted the isolation ended and the station reopened after the risk was reassessed.

"Following consultations with provincial public health and occupational health authorities, it was determined the risk of exposure to WFPS employees was negligible to non-existent," she wrote.

Jason Shaw, manager of Winnipegs Emergency Operations Centre, said continuity plans ensured enough emergency crews were always available to handle 911 calls.

"The risk (of COVID-19) remains low and we will continue to deal with situations like that," said Shaw.

Alex Forrest, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, said the city must add a written protocol on the quarantine of firefighters to better protect them and the public.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Nine Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service staff were placed in isolation after being potentially exposed on a call Thursday morning and remained off-duty for about seven hours. Station No. 21 at 1446 Regent Ave. was also closed to the public during that time. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

"We have great policies for how to deal with the patient, we have policies in regards to personal protection but we dont have any policies about what happens after (potential exposure)," said Forrest.

The union leader said that left the affected crew with little information before they were finally sent home.

Forrest suggested it could be safer to send only ambulances to some health calls for now to reduce the number of emergency workers at risk of becoming quarantined.

Madden said the city does have a set risk assessment process after a first responder is potentially exposed to coronavirus, which determines the length of isolation thats required.

Meanwhile, the city is now cancelling all business trips for staff with destinations outside of North America, to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19.

"For those who have travel booked before (Thursday) to the United States, we will review those work-related trips on a case-by-case basis. No new business travel outside of Canada will be approved until further notice. Business travel within Canada is still allowed at this time," wrote city spokesman David Driedger, in an emailed statement.

Shaw said the city is also assessing if it should enhance cleaning procedures at city buildings and buses, as well as possible cancellations to public gatherings.

"Every hour this is changing... So we have a team actively monitoring everything," he said.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Fire Paramedic Station #21 at 1446 Regent Ave. West has closed to the public Thursday afternoon with signs saying they are not able to make contact with persons outside of this building. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

For now, the city will post notices at City Hall and other city buildings on how Winnipeggers can best protect themselves.

Mayor Brian Bowman urged Winnipeggers to remain calm.

"I understand and appreciate that  news of the first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in the City of Winnipeg may be unsettling (but) citizens should rest assured that all necessary steps are being taken to protect the health and the safety of our citizens," said Bowman.

Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Bowman and Shaw stressed the risk of COVID-19 throughout Manitoba remains low.

Coun. Kevin Klein (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) criticized the city for taking a few hours to confirm details of which WFPS station was closed, arguing that led to increased public fear.

"This is a virus that is now considered by the World Health Organization as a pandemic. We should not be hiding any information about this at all  We should have regular updates going out," said Klein.

 With files from Danielle Da Silva

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

@joyanne_pursaga
[March 13, 2020] Decoding Digital Homes - The Formula Behind Rapid Expansion of T&T Group

The National Capital Region is moving towards automated smart homes with T&T Group's adaptation of DIGITAL HOUSING. NOIDA,India, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In the latest survey by Nexgen, T&T made cut to among top housing developers. T&T made significant strides to emerge as the new choice of home-buyers in the trans-Yamuna region. For T&T, Digital Homes are bringing the change. It seems that T&T Digital Homes are fast catching the imagination of the home-buyers as per the survey conducted by Nexgen. The consumer perception about T&T Group is surging as over highest percentage of people think that T&T is the most progressive housing developer in the Trans-Yamuna region. Most of the respondents in the survey feel that T&T Group is the best housing developer when it comes to adopting new and advanced technologies. The fact that a staggering 40% of the customers surveyed have made a visit to the 'T- Homes' project site in iddharth Vihar, Ghaziabad, reinstates the fact that smart homes are going to be future of the real estate. The T-Homes is the first true smart homes project in India and is strategically located in close proximity to all the important landmarks in the Delhi NCR region.



The aspiring home-buyers in the Delhi-NCR region are changing their perspective while searching for homes. They are looking for technologically advanced homes that can make life easy for them. This, in turn, has led to the emergence of new players in the real estate sector who are giving tough competition to the traditional housing developers. The buyers are looking for true smart homes that come packed with automated features like climate control, gas and fire detection systems, smart lighting and appliances that know when to turn on and off automatically.

Closing Thoughts: The T&T Digital Homes are not just great in terms of convenience and luxury but also score 'green' points for the city. With high levels of pollution making the headlines every winter, T&T Digital Homes can provide ones' lungs with clean air while also reducing the carbon footprint on the city by efficiently using electricity. The smart systems will help to avoid leaving lights on or running the air conditioning system in an empty house by mistake. One will be benefited by cutting down monthly electricity bills. Read more: [email protected] About T&T Group T&T group contemplates to change the landscape of the homes to usher India into the futuristic era. It has already started with the T homes, and the next project will strive to better that on several fronts. It will leverage the win-win combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) and propel the living experience to a whole new level. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1123282/Digital_Homes_image.jpg

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TANZANIA, Tanzania - The U.N. special envoy for Yemen warned Thursday that the military situation in the war-torn country is growing increasingly dire, pointing especially to an alarming escalation in the mountainous northern district of Jawf that has displaced thousands of families.

Martin Griffiths told the U.N. Security Council that Yemen is at a critical juncture.

He said the country will either move towards de-escalation and the resumption of the political process, or, I fear, towards greater violence and suffering that will make the path to the negotiating table more arduous.

Griffiths said the escalation in Jawf could trigger conflicts in other governorates and drag Yemen into a new and irresponsible cycle of violence that would have devastating humanitarian and political consequences.

He also reported fighting in the western province of Marib, in Hodeida where the countrys major port handles about 70% of Yemens commercial and humanitarian imports, in Nehm, which is a half-hour drive from the capital of Sanaa, as well as in the provinces of Dhale, Shabwa, Taiz and Saada.

The Arab worlds most impoverished country with a population of 26 million, Yemen plunged into war in 2014 after Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite rebels took over Sanaa and gained control of much of the countrys north. The internationally recognized government fled and sought support from neighbouring Gulf countries.

In March 2015, a Saudi-led, U.S.-backed military coalition supporting the government began what has turned into a devastating war that has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced 2 million and created the worlds worst humanitarian disaster.

Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ramesh Rajasingham told the Security Council that civilian casualties, which decreased by a third in 2019 compared to 2018, are again rising mainly due to the upsurge in fighting.

In February, 187 civilians were killed or wounded across Yemen  thats more than six people every day and an increase of 20% since January, he said.

On the humanitarian front, Rajasingham said fewer people can afford to buy what they need to survive because Yemens currency, the rial, remains far below its pre-crisis value and a dispute between the Houthis and the government over banknotes is driving a disparity in rates in the north and south.

Rajasingham said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network noted last month that the risk of famine is expected to increase due to pressure on market systems, including the exchange rate.

He was also sharply critical of the Houthis for imposing severe obstacles to the delivery of aid in the north, restrictions. He called on the Houthis to process 71 pending aid projects and approve more monitoring missions and urgent humanitarian assessments to determine needs.

Rajasingham said humanitarian agencies also face challenges in government-controlled areas, but they are not as severe. He called on the government to approve 44 humanitarian projects that on average have been waiting for five months to start.

U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft urged the Houthis to take immediate steps to meet the minimum conditions for aid operations before the end of this month, warning that failure to do so could end U.S. aid to Houthi-controlled areas.

She said the steps include lifting restrictions on access, allowing unimpeded assessments and oversight of projects, implementing biometric registration of aid recipients, eliminating so-called taxes on aid projects and approving backlogged agreements with humanitarian organizations.
The Bell in the Lake

Lars Mytting

Maclehose, $32.99 Credit: The first in a planned trilogy of historical novels from Norwegian author Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake is set in the isolated village of Butangen in 1880. The town is dominated by an ancient and picturesque church with famous bells (they were originally crafted in memory of conjoined twins and were believed to possess supernatural powers). Astrid dreams of a bigger world than the one she knows and when Pastor Kai Schweigaard decides to tear down the church and build another, a German architecture student arrives to oversee its removal and relocation to Dresden. Suddenly, Astrid must choose between the church and the village, between familiar haunts and a strange new life far away. Its a stylish, immersive novel that sets up a delicate dance between tradition and modernity. Low

Jeet Thayil

Faber & Faber, $29.99

Credit: At the heart of Low is the mad experience of grief, and the even madder experience of trying to avoid or annihilate it through substance abuse. When Dominic returns to the New Delhi flat he shares with his wife Aki, he finds her corpse. She has finally acted on her long-standing wish to kill herself, and the novel, which takes places over a single weekend, sees Dominic travel to Mumbai, ostensibly to wash his wifes ashes in pure water as ritual demands. In truth, Dominic wants the succour of oblivion, and is soon consuming any drug he can lay his hands on. Its a fast-paced, hallucinatory rollercoaster ride through Mumbais side-alleys and drug subculture, with a traumatised narrator whose gift for manic humour is the only thing keeping him standing. Theres some loose writing, but thats a small price to pay for Jeet Thayils inventiveness and sheer irreverence. Non-fiction PICK OF THE WEEK

Beyond the Equator

Nicholas Hasluck

Arcadia, $34.99

Credit: Theres a wonderful circularity to Nicholas Haslucks memoir of his early years on a scholarship to study at Oxford in 1964  the tale beginning and ending at the illustrious sounding International Language Club in Croydon, where for five quid a week he got a grotty room and lunch of lamb, spam or ham. Unlikely as it may seem this place transformed his life for it was here he met his wife. Woven into this are meetings with impressive figures of the day (Lord Denning, Field Marshal Slim), as well as significant events such as the fall-out of the Profumo affair. But its also about writing  Hasluck has twice been short-listed for the Miles Franklin  and contains some brilliant cameos such as a vivid portrait of his college warden, the distinguished scholar Maurice Bowra  who had a double chin or two. The writing is beautifully judged in this reflection on the nature of experience. The Moves that Matter

Jonathan Rowson

Bloomsbury, $29.99 Credit: Very early in life  when his family was breaking up, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and his brother was sent to an asylum  Jonathan Rowson realised that he couldnt control life, but he could control the chessboard. It was the point at which chess became a metaphor for life, full of lessons about living. He is both a philosopher and a grandmaster (three times British champion) and the two  philosophy and chess  constantly inform each other in this rumination on the game. Containing 64 chapters, the book mirrors the chessboard, Rowson examining such concepts as freedom, care, responsibility, beauty, the aesthetic thrill of the right move, the existence of God and the hard facts of living such as facing up to death. All of which may sound like heavy going  at times it feels a bit strained  but this is both engaging and astute.

Riding with Giants

Peter Holmes a Court

Viking, $34.99 Credit: After his marriage collapsed Peter Holmes a Court fetched up in 2011 with his twin daughters in a tiny village in the Loire valley, where his mother owned a house. It was winter, hed quit his job and the girls were asking, Why are we here? In part it was for him to write a book about business, but as his life changed  enrolling the girls at school, discovering a factory to craft his personalised bike, and immersing himself regionalism as opposed to globalism  so did the book. The result is part memoir, part meditation on capitalism, part biography and a rich mixture of the personal and reflective, the informing metaphor being bike riding (he rode the amateur leg of the Tour de France)  falling off, getting up, falling off  Theres a vivid sense of having entered a life-changing year: the book, in unexpected ways, answering his daughters question. Never Say Die

Fiona Crawford & Lee McGowan

NewSouth, $32.99
Claire Williams is worried about the financial impact of F1's new coronavirus crisis.

Australia and China have been called off, but Bahrain and Vietnam will soon follow suit and most insiders doubt there will be a single race until June.

If that happens, it will hurt F1's smallest and least successful teams like Williams the most as they rely on the sport's official revenue pot.

"It would mean less money for us," she said in Melbourne when asked what race cancellations would mean.

"We need to check with Formula One Management about the insurance for cancelled races."

Williams said it would be "incredibly difficult" for the team to continue as normal if for instance a confirmed coronavirus case meant the factory back at Grove had to close.

"We also need to look at how cancelling races will affect us in terms of the prize pool. If it decreases, then it would be difficult for us to cope with that. So we have to hope that doesn't happen," said the deputy boss.

She denied that cancelled races would actually save money for Williams in the form of the expensive travel costs.

"But we still need to pay salaries," said Williams. "Some costs decrease but for most teams, salary costs are the largest part of our monthly expenses."

As for the crisis' impact on the Formula 1 industry altogether, she said: "It is an incredibly difficult situation for any business in any industry to deal with."

Meanwhile, F1 CEO Chase Carey denied Lewis Hamilton's claim that the sport had tried to press on with racing amid the pandemic because of money.

"I guess if cash was king we would not have made the decision we did today," he said.

(GMM)
New Delhi, March 13 : The total number of COVID-19 cases in India touched 81 on Friday, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Lav Agarwal said.

"As of today, there are 81 confirmed cases of COVID19 in the country. Of these, 3 from Kerala were treated and discharged. In addition, seven more from Delhi's Safdarjung have also recovered." According to the Health Ministry, of the confirmed cases, 64 are of Indian nationals, 16 Italian nationals and 1 Canadian national. Contact tracing of these cases is being actively pursued. So far, the process has led to identification of more than 4,000 contacts who have been kept under surveillance.

"A total of 25,504 passengers have been additionally screened at major and minor seaports, and more than 14 lakh people screened at land ports," said Agarwal.

The Indian government brought at least 42,296 passengers under community surveillance, out of which 2,559 were symptomatic and 522 hospitalized, including 17 foreign nationals.

In addition, at least 11,71,061 passengers have been screened from 10,876 flights at 30 designated airports. The Joint secretary also said that 3,062 passengers and 583 contacts were identified and referred to Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and designated hospitals.

Sa far, 890 evacuees from COVID19 affected countries have been discharged after 14-day isolation and having tested negative as per protocols, said the ministry.

The government has facilitated return of Indians from coronavirus-hit countries such as China, Iran and Japan.

"India has spared no effort to get our people back from any major COVID-affected country. The Indian government has sent scientists, equipment for labs, reagents & brought back samples for testing from these countries," said Agarwal.

So far 1,199 samples have been collected in Iran and brought to India for testing.

The government has sent a team of four doctors from Health Ministry to Rome. The team has sufficient material and reagents to collect samples of Indians.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
As the coronavirus continues its inexorable spread, doctors and humanitarian aid officials are growing concerned that tens of thousands of immigrants in U.S. detention are at high risk of contracting the virus.

Its pretty inevitable that theyre going to have cases of COVID-19 within detention facilities, said Dr. Ranit Mishori, a professor of family medicine at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and a senior adviser for the nonprofit Physicians for Human Rights.

Public health officials are urging people to avoid crowds and follow strict personal hygiene  safeguards largely unavailable to asylum-seekers held in federal detention facilities or camped out on the Mexican side of the border under President Donald Trumps Remain in Mexico policy.

The thousands in Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities live in close quarters  they eat in the same dining halls, share bathrooms and sleep clustered in common rooms. There are 32 immigrant detention facilities in Texas, not including county jails and federal prisons that temporarily detain immigrants.

Nobody has come from the administration and told us about coronavirus. Nobody, said Steve, a Ugandan asylum-seeker held at the Port Isabel Detention Center near Brownsville. Theres been no communication.

No immigrant in detention had been diagnosed with the coronavirus as of Friday, ICE said.

The agency said it had suspended visits to its detention centers and had begun medically screening new arrivals, placing some in isolation for further testing if they met criteria established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ICE said it has isolation rooms for quarantine, but it is unclear how many.

ICE is actively working with state and local health partners to determine if any detainee requires additional testing or monitoring to combat the spread of the virus, the agency said.

Steve said federal authorities have not posted informational flyers about coronavirus or provided additional hand sanitizers at Port Isabel. He said he found out about the coronavirus after he paid to access the internet on a tablet.

He said he sleeps in a room with 75 others in bunk beds.

If we get one case, most of the people will get it. Because we are in one place, locked up like chickens, Steve said.

The U.S. immigrant detention system is the largest in the world and has been criticized for overcrowding and inadequate medical care, in some cases leading to migrant deaths.

This is definitely giving us very, very huge red flags, and its extremely concerning when you consider that one of the main mitigation recommendations by the CDC at the moment is either self-quarantine or social distancing, Mishori said.

Last week, House Democrats sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf urging the federal government to take extra precautions at detention centers to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

In 2018, the CDC recommended that the government administer flu vaccines to migrants, but Customs and Border Protection rejected the proposal. Three children in CBP custody died from the flu that winter.

Last year, thousands of immigrants were placed in quarantine after outbreaks of various diseases, including mumps, measles and chickenpox. ICE struggled to contain the mumps outbreak, and nearly 900 cases were identified in detention facilities across the country.

I am scared about the virus because its something that can kill if not properly administered to, Steve said.

Tens of thousands of asylum-seekers, meanwhile, are living in squalid conditions on the Mexican side of the border  in a tent camp in the city of Matamoros, located across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, or in bare-bones shelters in Nuevo Laredo, Juarez and other border cities.

With limited access to sanitation and hygiene, these migrants are especially susceptible to the virus, said Helen Perry, executive director of Global Response Management, a nonprofit that provides emergency medical care and humanitarian aid.

The organization has been assisting the more than 2,500 migrants stranded in Matamoros while they await asylum hearings in the U.S.

Were all worried about the worst-case scenario, which is it gets into the camp and it spreads like wildfire, Perry said. If one case gets in, were going to see epidemic spread, at a bare minimum.

Global Response Management is hoping to isolate the migrants most at risk  the elderly, the disabled and pregnant women  on one side of the camp. The volunteers also want to install about 40 additional hand-washing stations, Perry said. But in both cases, they need approval from Mexicos National Institute of Migration.

Theyve requested approval and are awaiting a reply, Perry said.

Quarantine at a camp like that is a dream, she said. Its never going to happen.

Silvia Foster-Frau covers immigration news in the San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | sfosterfrau@express-news.net | Twitter: @SilviaElenaFF
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Anglo American (LON:AAL) share price has dived 40% in the last thirty days. Indeed the recent decline has arguably caused some bitterness for shareholders who have held through the 36% drop over twelve months.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

View our latest analysis for Anglo American

Does Anglo American Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

Anglo American's P/E of 5.50 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. If you look at the image below, you can see Anglo American has a lower P/E than the average (6.6) in the metals and mining industry classification.

LSE:AAL Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

Anglo American's P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. While current expectations are low, the stock could be undervalued if the situation is better than the market assumes. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.

Story continues

Anglo American had pretty flat EPS growth in the last year. But it has grown its earnings per share by 31% per year over the last three years.

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

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

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

How Does Anglo American's Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?

Anglo American's net debt is 20% of its market cap. That's enough debt to impact the P/E ratio a little; so keep it in mind if you're comparing it to companies without debt.

The Bottom Line On Anglo American's P/E Ratio

Anglo American trades on a P/E ratio of 5.5, which is below the GB market average of 13.9. The company hasn't stretched its balance sheet, and earnings are improving. If growth is sustainable over the long term, then the current P/E ratio may be a sign of good value. Given Anglo American's P/E ratio has declined from 9.1 to 5.5 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer invest in growth, this stock apparently offers limited promise, but the deep value investors may find the pessimism around this stock enticing.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Anglo American. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
One of the largest Jewish synagogues in Harrisburg on Friday suspended all its worship services and religious school programs and meetings in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.

The unprecedented decision taken by Ohev Sholom is among the measures - some of them drastic - being rolled out by faith leaders in an attempt to protect their communities from the virus and help to stave off any further spread.

In a letter to his congregation, Rabbi Peter Kessler informed his faith community that Ohev Sholom would be cancelling all services and programs effective Friday through Sunday, March 22.

Keller also will not be making his usual visits to local hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities.

We know that these steps will create some disruptions and disappointments, Kessler wrote to his congregation. However, to put it simply, we would rather act too soon than too late. This decision was made after consideration of the latest guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and with only the best interest of our members and the larger community in mind.

More: Pennsylvania announced more coronavirus cases

Across the Harrisburg region on Friday, leaders of every faith community were implementing similar measures to address public safety. Six people more have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 28, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said Friday.

Kessler indicated that other synagogues in the region were considering similar measures.

The Islamic Society of Greater Harrisburg, which has a temple in Steelton, has asked members who are 60 and older to refrain from attending worship services.

Mohammed Fayyaz, a spokesman for the Islamic Society, said the administration officials are monitoring the guidance from public health officials but for now they have rolled out special measures.

Weve installed hand sanitizers and we are shampooing the carpet, he said. We are asking anyone who is coughing or sneezing or who has any other symptoms to stay home. We are asking people to bring their own prayer rug and then to clean them when they go back home.

Fayyaz, a medical professional, said he hoped the members of the public were heeding all the advice from public health officials.

We hope we are able to contain this and that it doesnt spread to the community, he said. This is really concerning a lot of people. Some people do not realize how contagious it is.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



Market Square Presbyterian Church had not canceled services as of Friday midday, but was among the hundreds in the region and across the state that have also rolled out new protocols for worship service.

Pews have been removed and replaced by chairs that are spaced out as far as possible. Market Square is also changing the traditional exchange of the peace sign.

Rather than going through the whole thing hand shaking and hugging, we are just going to say, May the peace of Christ be with you and that will be the end. There wont have to be any contact, said Nancy Sheets, the churchs ministry support administrator.

The church is also reconsidering canceling communion.

If we do, we will have servers wear gloves and people can choose whether to come forward or not, Sheets said.

Bishop Ronald Gainer has issued a dispensation to the obligation to attend Mass to Roman Catholics across the Diocese of Harrisburg. Vicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLive

Similarly, Bishop Ronald Gainer of the Diocese of Harrisburg a few weeks ago granted a dispensation to Catholic parishioners from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. Churches have continued to celebrate regularly scheduled Masses, however.

Gainer also suspended several traditional worship practices, including the sign of peace; the use of holy water fonts; and special handling for the distribution of wine and the Eucharist for communion

Bill Walter, executive director of Beth El Temple in Harrisburg, said administrators were weighing whether to continue serving lunch to children.

We are not ready to make that decision, he said. But we continue to meet with health professionals.

Beth El has suspended the communion portion of the service, which calls for members of the congregation to partake in the breaking of the challah bread.

The confluence of the pandemic and the measures being taken by faith leaders underscore the importance faith plays in times of public crisis.

We are wrestling with this, said the Rev. Kelly Wiant, associate pastor at Market Street Presbyterian. Theres a push to reduce large gatherings but the reality is that for many people church is a safe place. Its a stabilizing place. When we are in an environment of fear, returning to our faith, returning to God is a place to find balance and to remember hope and our groundedness in God but also with one another.

Wiant notes that the human tendency in times of such crisis is to isolate and worry about self and family.

Faith calls us to look wider and broader, she said.

Market Street will continue to serve about 150 breakfast meals.

Its one of our great commitments, Wiant said. Its easy for us to forget about people who are most vulnerable not just in the time of coronavirus but every day. We need to remember not to forget about them.... The most vulnerable.

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Christian and Muslim groups across the GTA are taking the unprecedented step of cancelling weekly services, while other faith groups are curtailing them to reduce the possibility of infection from COVID-19.

Late Friday afternoon, the Archdiocese of Toronto said it was cancelling all weekend masses, after Ontarios chief medical officer urged all public gatherings be limited to a maximum of 250 people.

Our primary concern is the spiritual and physical health and welfare of the faithful and all those who serve at our parishes, recognizing that we have a duty to care for the community at large and the most vulnerable among us, said Cardinal Thomas Collins in a statement.

Earlier in the week, the church said it was discouraging reception of Holy Communion on the tongue, and asking the faithful to receive it only in the hand.

The Catholic edict is supposed to effect 200 parishes.

Late Thursday, the Canadian council of Imams and Muslim Medical Association of Canada sent out a joint release strongly recommending masjids to suspend congregational Friday prayers at their centres, some of which have more than a thousand attendees.

A number of large mosques, such as Islamic Institute of Toronto (IIT) and Islamic Society of North America Canada have taken this step. Those that remain open have instructed their congregants to shorten their prayers, bring prayer mats with them and do ritual ablutions at home.

The bottom line is that preservation of life is one of the most important principles of Islam, and if we see that it is at risk, then I think we need to do whatever we can in our power to ensure that we dont put that life at risk, said Fareed Amin, the chairman with the board of directors with IIT, located in Scarborough.

This is unprecedented within modern history in Canada  but this is not unprecedented in the history of Islam, said Amin, who added that around 1,500 people come to Friday prayers at IIT every week. Our community is very diverse, a community that travels a lot and a community that comes from different parts of the world, and we also have a lot of elderly in the community.

IIT was not only shut for both Friday prayers, but has also cancelled the five daily congregational prayers, classes, programs, and the onsite elementary school until April 6. We have to show leadership  and at a community level, we have an obligation to protect our congregation.

But some religious groups are trying to stay open to give congregants a place to find spiritual comfort during a time of heightened anxiety, but requiring congregants to adhere to strict measures such as social distancing and limiting contact with others.

Rev. Cheri DiNovo, a minister at Trinity-St. Pauls United Church and Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts said they would be cancelling all services after this Sunday and moving it to online only until early April.

This is simply what all faith groups should do right now. All faith groups share that we should love each other and love the world, said DiNovo. And I think to be loving of this world is to keep everyone safe.

Rabbi Yossi Sapirman with the Beth Torah Congregation in North York said that while Saturday Shabbat services will continue, those who wish to stay home will be able to participate through livestreaming.

Sapirman said they have asked those with scheduled life cycle events like weddings, shivas and Bat Mitzvahs to either consider moving them, or limiting the size of gatherings.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto has also been in communication with more than 100 Jewish organizations in the city to share information and best practices.

In its most recent memo, Adam Minsky, the president and CEO of the UJA suggested synagogues implement measures such as not kissing the Torah, holy books and artifacts, asking congregants to keep an empty seat between one another, and no serving of food.

The Hindu Temple in Richmond Hill said it has also taken measures for the first time in its 30-year history to ensure its devotees are safe. Kidambi Raj, a senior member, said the rituals have been adjusted to limit physical contact between devotees and priests.

The prayers are modified with less direct contact with the worshippers by the priests. Offering of flowers, lighting of lamps and personal contacts are minimized, said Raj.

In addition, older people are encouraged to stay home until the crisis is over, and extra care is taken to sanitize the temple and minimize crowds.
Fair trade regulator has asked Bengal Chemists and Druggists Association (BCDA), its two district committees, and Macleods Pharmaceuticals to refrain from indulging in anti-competitive business practices.

The district committees are Murshidabad District Committee and Burdwan District Committee.

In a press release, said it has passed an order against the entities for violating provisions of the Competition Act by involving in anti-competitive business practices.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) found that pharmaceutical -- and Macleods Pharmaceuticals-- had an anticompetitive agreement with BCDA.

noted that BCDA used to mandate pharmaceutical in some districts of West Bengal to ask their new stockists to obtain a stock availability information (SAI) / no objection certificate from BCDA before supply of drugs can be commended to them and used to collect monetary considerations for issuance of SAI through its district committees.

Also, the promotion cum distributor agents of pharma had to obtain product availability information from BCDA after paying money to the association in the form of donations to start marketing drugs of their respective pharma companies in West Bengal.

Since BCDA has taken several steps to stop the practice of requiring NOC/ SAI and Alkem and Macleods have filed the plea before the Commission that they were indulging in such conduct under threat from BCDA, CCI has "decided not to impose any monetary penalty on the erring entities.
The AGCO is actively reviewing Ontarios horse racing rules and regulations to ensure responsible measures are taken to help contain the spread of COVID-19.

On racing days, racetrack or AGCO staff administer breathalyzer tests to measure blood alcohol levels in certain horse racing participants in safety sensitive positions, including drivers, jockeys, valets, and track maintenance personnel. However, the collection of a breath sample creates a potential risk for disease transmission since it requires the sharing of a biological sample.

As a result, effective today, the AGCO is temporarily suspending the rules requiring that a breathalyzer test be administered. Racetrack and AGCO officials will instead rely on a fit-for-duty assessment that does not require the collection of a biological sample.

Required horse racing participants must still report to the Paddock Judges or Clerk of the Scales. They will be assessed using questions and observations for signs of impairments. Anyone showing potential signs of impairment will be referred to Race Officials. The Race Officials have the ultimate authority to allow or deny the individuals participation.

The AGCO will continue to monitor the situation to determine how long this measure will be in effect. The regulator is also consulting with public health officials as well as other racing jurisdictions to inform any additional actions.

(AGCO)
Coronavirus in India: The novel virus claimed 2nd life in India on Friday. A 69-year-old woman who was suffering from Coronavirus died in Delhi during treatment.

Second death due to coronavirus in India was reported in Delhi on Friday, March 12. Reports said the deceased was a 69-year-old woman who was hit by the infection and died during treatment in Capital. She was the 6th case of coronavirus detected in Delhi. Along with coronavirus, the deceased had high blood pressure and diabetes. The latest number of positive cases has grown to 85 now.

However the Ministry of Health and Welfare, to control mass panic, said situation in India so far is not a health emergency.

A day ago, a 76-year-old man succumbed in Karnataka due to virus. Official following his case told media that he had visited Saudi Arabia and didnt inform the officials about it. The deceased was kept in isolation in Telanganas hospital.

Karnataka Minister B Sriramulu, while addressing the media, had said the deceased was suffering from pneumonia, hypertension and asthma. He was being treated by the doctors and his test reports from the National Institute of Virology, Pune to confirm that he was infected by the covid-19 or not were awaited.

By the time reports would have come and doctors could have started his treatment, he died, said the minister.

So far, the novel virus has spread to 105 countries infecting over 1,00,000 people.

Delhis Arvind Kejriwal government has termed the situation as epidemic and requested people to avoid public gatherings, crowded places and cover their faces with mask as precautionary measures.

A few sporting events including national shooting event, IPL 2020, India vs South Africa ODI series have been called off.

For all the latest National News, download NewsX App
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 00:48:24|Editor: yan

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LONDON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Local, mayoral elections in England slated for May 7 will be postponed for one year due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, a government spokesperson announced Friday.

"We will bring forward legislation to postpone local, mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections until May next year," said the spokesperson.

The postponement came after England polling watchdog recommended delaying the local elections to "mitigate" the impact of coronavirus.

The Electoral Commission said that there were "growing risks to the delivery of the polls" and that "significant numbers" of people may not be able to cast their ballots, with the number of COVID-19 infections rising, according to the English newspaper Daily Telegraph.

The London mayoral election will also be delayed for a year.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Britain reached 798 Friday, an increase of 208 over 24 hours, according to the British Department of Health and Social Care.

It is by far the highest rise in cases of COVID-19 in a single day. It is also the first time the day-on-day increase has been higher than 200.

Meanwhile, the Scottish government confirmed the first death in Scotland of a COVID-19 patient, bringing the total death in Britain to 11.

"The patient, who was being treated by Lothian Health Board was an older person who had underlying health conditions. No further information will be available to protect patient confidentiality," said Chief Medical Officer for Scotland Catherine Calderwood in a statement.

Also on Friday, Queen Elizabeth II cancelled her scheduled visits to Cheshire and Camden in North London due to the coronavirus outbreak, said a Buckingham Palace statement.
Even as the political battle intensified in Madhya Pradesh and lawmakers started to reveal their true colours, one man of utmost importance was soaking in the many hues of Holi far away in Uttar Pradesh (UP), in his hometown Lucknow. He is none other than Lalji Tandon, former UP minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and presently the governor of MP.

Many journalists reached out to him, eager to get a soundbite in this hour of politically tumult. But Tandon was all smiles as he limited himself to just extending Holi greetings while serving delicious gujiyas to the media persons.

Clearly, the governor was in no hurry, or that was what he intended to communicate. All this despite the fact that beleaguered Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath had already sent him a letter, requesting immediate sacking of six of his cabinet colleagues.

This is the kind of political functioning that Tandon has mastered over the decades. In local parlance, its the typical Lucknowi-style of moving unhurriedly, chewing something fine before swallowing it.

Now, as he heads back to Madhya Pradesh following a long Holi vacation, one is likely to see more of this style from the veteran politician who now occupies a key constitutional office.

Having seen and reported for long on Tandon, senior Journalist Brijesh Shukla says, Tandon is a diehard saffronist, but he excels at the art of political navigation in such a manner that his moves against rivals have never been ugly or rude. He is one of those last surviving leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, who have maintained good personal relations across the political spectrum. Now, as he holds a non-partisan constitutional office, it will be interesting to see how he navigates between the demands of his parent political party and the constitutional responsibilities.

Born and brought up in Lucknow, Tandon got associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and erstwhile Jan Sangh when he was young. However, his links with saffron politics never limited his outreach and connections with people from different sections of society. Hindus or Muslims, Rightists or socialists  Tandon has always kept his doors open for all.

Having started as a corporator in early 1970s, Tandon entered the upper house of the UP legislature a decade later. However, his meteoric rise within the BJP and saffron politics came with Atal Bihari Vajpayees entry in the electoral race from the constituency of Lucknow in 1991.

Tandon became the election manager for the BJP stalwart. His political connect across the social spectrum came as added advantage in the constituency which did not just have a sizeable Muslim population but also had a very distinct secular character. Since then, he has not looked back.

As the bond between the two grew stronger. Tandon steadily climbed up the ladder within the BJP. He was appointed the urban development minister in the first BJP government in UP, with Kalyan Singh as chief minister.

In 1998, as differences emerged between Singh and Vajpayee, Tandon was caught in the crossfire. Amid competitive political shows of strength by the CM and the partys national leadership, Tandon firmly stood with the PMs camp.

This gradually earned him the title of political heir to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, when it came to his constituency of Lucknow. As Vajpayee gradually withdrew from the political arena because of ill health, Tandon was the natural choice for replacing him as the BJP candidate from Lucknow in the 2009 parliamentary elections. He was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha by a margin over 40,000 votes over Rita Bahuguna Joshi of the Congress.

In 2014, as he was denied a poll ticket and was forced to pave the way for Rajnath Singh, many thought it was the end of the political journey for Tandon, a man well versed in the Atal school of politics that seems lost in the era of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

However, Tandons old-school practice of patience and buying time in politics didnt go in vain. As former BBC correspondent Ram Dutt Tripathi says, Lucknow is known for the culture of pehle aap (after you). Tandon has mastered it in his political discourse. So, even when it comes to fighting the odds, he refrains from being the one to deliver the first blow.

This style of politics slowly brought the focus back on to him, as he got the governorship of Bihar in August 2018 and was then shifted to Madhya Pradesh in 2019.

Now, in his mid-80s, Tandon finds himself confronted with a new political challenge of navigating through the evolving turmoil in Madhya Pradesh. Its unlikely, though, that the crisis would cramp his style.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus wife, Sophie Gregoire, has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a statement posted on Twitter by Trudeau's communications director Cameron Ahmad.

He added that Trudeau himself is in "good health with no symptoms."

"As a precautionary measure and following the advice of doctors, he will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days," the statement added. "Also on the advice of doctors, he will not be tested at this stage since he has no symptoms."



Gregoire Trudeau had recently returned from a speaking engagement in London and began exhibiting "mild flu-like symptoms including a low fever" late Wednesday, CNBC reported.



As of Thursday, Canada has at least 138 confirmed cases, according to government data. The coronavirus outbreak, which has affected at least 125,000 people worldwide, has been declared a global pandemic by WHO.
English French

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AgraFlora Organics International Inc. (AgraFlora or the Company) (CSE: AGRA) (Frankfurt: PU31) (OTCPK: AGFAF) is pleased to report that it has closed the acquisition of Sanna Health Corp. (Sanna), originally announced on December 5, 2019. Sanna is a Canadian cannabis company based in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) which holds a standard cultivation, standard processing, and medical sales licences awarded under the Cannabis Act.



ABOUT SANNA HEALTH

EXTRACTION

Sanna is headquartered in the GTA, only 30 minutes from downtown Toronto, affording the Company access to Canadas largest cannabis marketplace. Sannas flagship facility is situated on 16 acres and includes 27,000 square feet of Health Canada licensed cultivation and processing space. Sanna holds an option to expand its current production area to 89,000 square feet, as well as ample commercial-industrial space for future expansion.

With ethanol extraction equipment installed on-site and high-margin agreements being negotiated to process upwards of 1,000 kg of hemp biomass per month, Sanna is primed to realize sustainable, near term cash flows. The Company forecasts that once optimized and upon receipt of the required licence amendment, Sannas extraction facility will boast annual extraction capacity of 250,000 kilograms of dried cannabis and hemp biomass, much of which will be supplied by the Companys 88-acre outdoor cannabis grow located less than 90 minutes from its GTA headquarters, permitting streamlined logistics and reduced transportation costs.

OUTDOOR CULTIVATION

Sanna owns an 88-acre late-stage Health Canada outdoor cultivation applicant. The Company plans to submit its affirmation of readiness and video evidence package for its initial 13-acre Zone One outdoor immediately following closing of the share exchange, in preparation for the 2020 outdoor cultivation season.

Located in Southwestern Ontario, Sannas Zone One 13-acre outdoor grow is forecast to produce up to over 1,000 kg per acre of high-quality, low-cost cannabis flower, with a per gram unit contribution of less than $0.10. Sannas planned Zone Two outdoor grow expansion will add an additional 75 acres of cultivation expanse and once licenced is expected to yield over 75,000 kg of dried cannabis per harvest.

The Company will deploy proprietary varietals of auto-flower and photoperiod cannabis seeds on its 88-acre outdoor grow, thus optimizing production yields. Sanna will also leverage various cultivation and plant physiology concepts with the objective of enhancing plant performance. The Company's cultivation concepts have been developed over five years of Canadian commercial cultivation experience and include:

Proprietary soil/nutrient monitoring and plant health monitoring solutions;

Consistent delivery of ideal primary, secondary and micronutrients;

Evaluation and comprehension of the rhizosphere and its effect on inputs and yield;

Creation of crops that are more resistant to pests and disease; and,

Manipulation of nutrient and substrate conditions to drive plant health and yield.

Once operational, and in receipt of Health Canada approval, the true value of the Companys outdoor grow will be realized via its ability to serve as a robust feedstock source for the multiple downstream value-added assets that are domiciled under the AgraFlora corporate banner. The successful implementation of full vertical integration will support increased efficiency across business channels and allow for maximum economic margin capture for the enterprise as AgraFlora continues to capitalize on the next phase of cannabis normalization.

Cash cost per gram to harvest includes all operating expenses such as labour, supplies, consumables, services and staff overhead. All-in cash cost per gram to harvest includes all operating expenses, along with capital costs including irrigation, security infrastructure, as well as the contemplated drying facility.

The Companys 2020 harvest will be dried and cured on-site at a dedicated drying building comprising approximately 5,000 square feet and featuring a 20-foot-high ceiling and a purpose-built climate control and dehumidification system to maximize throughput efficiency.

DISTRIBUTION

Sanna currently has memorandums of understanding in place with established cannabis retailers, including Canna Cabana by High Tide Inc., and Delta 9 Cannabis. In aggregate, Canna Cabana and Delta9 will boast 45 licensed, high-traffic brick-and-mortar retail locations across Canada by Q1 2020.

The Company will also pursue formal supply agreements with said retailers, to be finalized throughout the first quarter of 2020, including annual minimum purchase conditions, as well as strategic marketing cooperation initiatives. Leveraging its medical sales license, Sanna anticipates the launch of its direct-to-patient ecommerce site during Q2 2020.

The Company will architect and construct a 1,500 square foot on-site dispensary at its licensed, 16-acre GTA location; capitalizing on the 7 million plus population within a 60-minute radius; one of the largest markets in North America. The GTA is Canada's largest metropolitan area, affording the company a lucrative opportunity to capture a significant market share in Canadas largest cannabis marketplace.

Sannas planned on-site dispensary will also amplify the Companys vertically integrated mandate by coupling a high-traffic retail footprint and continuing brand presence with existing cultivation, processing and extraction capabilities.

Pursuant to the terms of a definitive share exchange agreement (the Agreement) among the Company, Sanna, and Sannas shareholders, the Company acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares in Sanna in exchange for the issuance of 76,666,666 common shares of the Company (the AGRA Shares) at a deemed price of $0.30 for total aggregate consideration of $23,000,000. The Agreement further provides that the Sanna shareholders (each, a Restricted Person) receiving the AGRA Shares will be subject to a staged 18 month lock up, whereby one-third of the Restricted Persons AGRA Shares will become free trading 6 months following closing, one-third will become free trading 12 months following closing, and the final one-third will become free trading at the earlier of 18 months following closing and the date on which Sanna receives (by way of its wholly owned subsidiary) a cultivation licence, as issued under the Cannabis Act, in relation to its proposed cultivation facility located in Binbrook, Ontario.

About AgraFlora Organics International Inc.

AgraFlora Organics International Inc. is a growth oriented and diversified company focused on the international cannabis industry. It owns an indoor cultivation operation in London, ON and is a joint venture partner in Propagation Services Canada Inc. and its large-scale 2,200,000 sq. ft. greenhouse complex in Delta, BC. The Company is also retrofitting a 51,500-square-foot good manufacturing practice (GMP) edibles manufacturing facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. AgraFlora has a successful record of creating shareholder value and is actively pursuing other opportunities within the cannabis industry. For more information please visit: www.agraflora.com .

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Brandon Boddy

Chairman & CEO

T: (604) 398-3147

For additional information:



AgraFlora Organics International Inc.

Tim McNulty

E: ir@agraflora.com

T: (800) 783-6056



For French inquiries:

Remy Scalabrini, Maricom Inc.

E: rs@maricom.ca

T: (888) 585-MARI

The CSE and Information Service Provider have not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release.

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement
Curious just how far your dollar goes in Forest Crest?

According to Walk Score, this San Antonio neighborhood requires a car for most errands, is somewhat bikeable and has a few nearby public transportation options. Data from rental site Zumper shows that the median rent for a one bedroom in Forest Crest is currently hovering around $1,094.

So, what might you expect to find if you've got a budget of $1,200/month? Read on for a roundup of the latest rental listings, via Zumper and Apartment Guide. (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.

Talavera Ridge and Worth Parkway

Listed at $1,114/month, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment is located at Talavera Ridge and Worth Parkway.

Expect to see stainless steel appliances, hardwood flooring and in-unit laundry in the apartment. Amenities offered in the building include a swimming pool, outdoor space and a fitness center. Neither cats nor dogs are welcome.

(See the complete listing here.)

18102 Talavera Ridge

Next, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment located at 18102 Talavera Ridge. It's listed for $1,170/month for its 722 square feet.

The building features a fitness center, outdoor space, a swimming pool and an elevator. Luckily for pet owners, both dogs and cats are welcome.

(See the complete listing here.)

Camp Bullis Road

Finally, here's a 960-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment at Camp Bullis Road that's going for $1,199/month.

The unit features hardwood flooring. The building has a gym. Neither cats nor dogs are 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.
Why Did Chelsea Manning Want to Die by Suicide; the Answer May Surprise You

Depression and Suicide runs in my family. My grandmother died by suicide, my mother found her. My great aunt died by sucide, my mother and I found her. I was four years old, and I screamed for days. And I came close enough to dying by suicide that I can tell you what the barrel of my gun tastes like. Spoiler alert, I did not pull the trigger.

I've been asked more than once, why did I want to die. The fact is, that I did not want to die, I just wanted to end the pain. Chances are, most people who are circling up on suicide don't want to die, they just want to end the pain. If they could pull the trigger, and wake up the next day, pain free, that would be ideal, but it doesn't work that way.

My guess is, Chelsea Mannings attempt, wasn't a suicide attempt, it was simply an attempt to end the pain. She'd been held in contempt of court for several months, released and free for a little over a week, and then went back on a contempt charge last May, and couldn't see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Depression and thoughts of suicide are often the result of a hopelessness. A why bother. And she had the three legs of the thoughts of suicide stool. She was socially isolated, she'd given voice to avoiding testifying to the grand jury by starving herself, rather than comply, and I'd wager she had probably thought, as many people do, as I did, that the world would be better place without her. It's called burdensomeness.

So, I do not beleive that she wanted to die, she just wanted to end the pain.
(Alliance News) - Zambeef Products PLC on Friday said it has entered into an addendum agreement extending the completion/long-stop date for its Sinazongwe farm disposal.

The Africa-focused food producer said the date has been extended to April 7 from March 15, but expects the deal to complete before the end of the new date.

"The extension is principally due to a delay in satisfying certain of the conditions precedent, which are beyond Zambeef's control, relating to properties/farm security re-structuring," Zambeef said.

Zambeef Products agreed to sell the Sinazongwe farming estate to Chenguang Biotech Zambia Agri-Dev Ltd for USD10 million in September 2019.

Chenguang Biotech is a Chinese biotechnology company which produces and supplies natural plant extraction for paprika oleoresin, capsicum oleoresin and marigold oleoresin.

On Friday, Zambeef said: "As previously announced, the disposal of Sinazongwe farm is a manifestation of the group's stated strategy to focus on its core business of producing and retailing cold chain meat and dairy products and stockfeed. The net sale proceeds will largely be used to pay down the group's debt and thus reduce gearing and interest costs."

Shares in Zambeef Products were 3.5% lower in London on Friday at 4.10 pence each.

By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 18:13:08|Editor: Lu Hui

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COLOMBO, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), on Friday said it had temporarily halted passengers arriving from South Korea, Iran and Italy in a bid to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in the island country.

The government information department, in a statement said that as a result, the CAA had informed all airlines not to carry passengers to Sri Lanka from these three countries, and any other passenger who had traveled to these countries recently.

The ban will remain in place for two weeks.

"This is to inform all online carriers and offline carriers that according to the instructions received from the Health Department, all travel beginning from Iran, Italy and South Korea to Sri Lanka will be banned from March 14 for two weeks ending March 28," the government information department said.

Sri Lanka has confirmed two positive cases of COVID-19 and the Health Ministry has assured that all preventive measures were being taken to prevent a spread of the virus.
Infiniti Helped an Online Education Provider Increase Student Enrollment by 37% | Read the Complete Success Story on Market Intelligence Engagement for Detailed Insights

Infiniti Research, a leading market intelligence solutions provider, has recently announced the completion of its latest market intelligence engagement for an online education provider. This success story pinpoints the key challenges faced by an online education market client, the approach undertaken by the experts at Infiniti Research to help the client achieve their key objectives, and the business impact of the engagement.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005271/en/

Infiniti Helped an Online Education Provider Increase Student Enrollment by 37% (Graphic: Business Wire)

An online education market client, based out of San Francisco, wanted to efficiently market their online courses and increase reach to potential enrollments. They also wanted to integrate highly targeted online and offline tactics, validate the demand for their course in the target market, and devise a sound marketing strategy to improve online conversion. They approached the experts at Infiniti Research to leverage their expertise in offering market intelligence engagement.

Infiniti uses a unique combination of primary research expertise and traditional desk research, to provide clients with smart business insights and customer-oriented strategies. Request FREE proposal for more insights.

Our Approach: To help the client tackle the above-mentioned chalenges, the experts at Infiniti Research conducted a market intelligence engagement, customer intelligence engagement, competitive intelligence assessment, and marketing strategy engagement. The engagement also involved conducting a thorough audit of the client's website and related social media footprints. The experts at Infiniti Research also segmented smaller representative audiences and conducted demo campaigns across all the channels.







Business impact of the market intelligence engagement for the online education provider:

Created targeted campaigns that led to a 35% increase in organic traffic in six months

Achieved an increase in organic conversion and enrollment

Determined the most relevant and cost-effective means for reaching their target customers

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Recommended to transform online learning into a live-streamed "virtual classroom" environment

Increased student enrollment by 37%

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Established in 2003, Infiniti Research, is a leading market intelligence company providing smart solutions to address your business challenges. Infiniti Research studies markets in more than 100 countries to help analyze competitive activity, see beyond market disruptions, and develop intelligent business strategies. To know more, visit: https://www.infinitiresearch.com/about-us

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005271/en/
Half a dozen states in the country are under lockdown for a few weeks to a month following state governments announcing a slew of emergency measures to stop coronavirus disease (Covid-19), but its not enough.

This has to become the new reality for all Indians over the next few months as the country must pull out all the stops to prevent a surge in infections that inevitably follow a couple of weeks after the first trickle of cases, say public health experts. Because if they dont, the countrys health system will collapse under the load of an exponential spike in the number of patients needing intensive care.

Infection patterns from countries such as China and Singapore show that enforcing social distancing, early diagnosis, contact tracing, home quarantine and isolation measures to contain the infection can reverse the curve, while failing to do so will lead to sharp spike in cases and deaths, as we are seeing in Italy and Iran, said Dr K Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India. With 81 cases and one death, of which 78 across 13 states have occurred since March 2, all states have rolled out emergency infection-control measures because alarming levels of inaction have fuelled outbreaks in several countries, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). March 2 marked the start of the second wave of cases after the first three cases were reported from Kerala.

Social distancing

Unlike Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) viruses, the Sars-Cov-2 that causes Covid-19, is likely to be around for months, if not years, but the surge in cases can still be reversed, say experts.

Over the next two weeks, all Indians, irrespective of where they live, must prepare to stay at home as much as possible, while states, businesses and educational institutes must prepare for restrictions on study, work, travel and celebrate. Restricted travel, closed schools and colleges, staggered work hours or working from home, compulsory telecommunicating, and cancelled public gatherings, including religious festivals, will be the new reality.

Restricting movement is essential to stop the infection from spreading from person to person, which is why the government revises travel advisories as the pandemic evolves and issues travel history of all cases to empower people to make informed decisions to protect themselves, and get tested, if needed, said Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, head, epidemiology and communicable diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

If India fails to contain cases now, the teetering health system will be pushed to the brink. Once community transmission begins and the source of the infection cannot be tracked, everyone with symptoms of fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and not just people who have travelled to outbreak areas and their close contact, will have to be screened.

With 80% cases getting mild symptoms, general practitioners (GPs) can be trained to guide people how to isolate themselves and rest at home. Delhi, for example, has directed all hospitals to establish flu corners to screen people with fever, cough and collect nasal and throat swaps for testing.

Heath systems collapse

This virus can test and overwhelm any countrys preparedness. India has not yet reported any community transmission, and must make use this window of opportunity to ensure the new cases plateau and then decline while preparing for the worst-case scenario by strengthening its health systems, said Dr Lalit Kant, former head of epidemiology and communicable disease at ICMR. Indias overstretched health system is already grappling with shortages of doctors, health workers and hospital beds, especially in rural areas and densely populated underserved states.

India has 1.1 million allopathic doctors registered with the Board of Governors/State Medical Councils/Medical Council as of December 2019. Assuming 80% availability, it is estimated that around 9.26 lakh doctors may be actually available for active service, said minister of state for health Ashwini Kumar Choubey in the Lok Sabha. For a population of 1.36 billion, this makes the doctor-population ratio at 1:1,457, which is lower than the WHO recommended norm of 1:1,000.

For people living in rural areas that are completely dependent on government hospitals and clinics, the government allopathic doctor-patient ratio is at 1:10,926. With intensive care unit (ICU) beds limited to district hospitals and medical colleges, rural India risks deaths in very high numbers.

Around 20% cases need hospitalisation, and 5% develop severe pneumonia that needs ICU. With cases rising, hospitalising and isolating every case will not be possible even if India creates additional capacity, like China did, said Dr Randeep Guleria, professor of pulmonary medicine and director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Intensive care scarcity

The training, accreditation and quality assurance of health professionals and health infrastructure also varies widely within states, cities and neighbourhoods. Health staff need to be trained in infection control and emergency protocols. If there are large clusters of cases, India will have to commandeer private hospitals and triage the most critical cases and postpone elective surgeries and procedures to free up hospital beds. You cannot do this without private sector participation, said Dr Reddy.

Besides, identifying hospitals and trained medical staff, we will need to convert wards into isolated ICUs and ensure large-scale availability of ventilators to treat the 5% patents who need hospitalisation, said Dr Guleria.

The acute encephalitis syndrome outbreak during the monsoons in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar demonstrates what ICU shortages can do. All sick children need ICU care, which is not available locally, so they all end up at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, which collapses under the massive patient load, said Dr Reddy.

Training health workers

India has a little more than two million (2,048,979) registered nurses and midwives, most of whom need infection control training to care for patients with airborne infections. We need to a continuous supply of oxygen, personal protection equipment and ventilators and we need to train health workers to use this equipment while ensuring routine health programmes like antenatal care, immunisation and disease-control programmes are not affected, said Dr Kant.

Countries like Singapore, for example, plan to hospitalise only serious cases if there is a sharp increase. With larger numbers, the sensible thing will be to hospitalise only the more serious cases, and encourage those with mild symptoms to see their family GP and rest at home  isolate themselves. This way, we can focus resources on the seriously ill, speed up our response time, and hopefully, minimise the number of fatalities, said Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday. Countries that act fast can reduce the number of deaths by a factor of 10. Apart from social distancing, we must get used to practising good personal hygiene, adopting new social norms and discouraging large gatherings, and generally, maintaining some physical distance from one another, said Dr Reddy.

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U.S. air strikes that killed several members of a pro-Iranian militia group in Iraq have heightened tensions in the region, with Baghdad denouncing the attack as a violation of the countrys sovereignty and Tehran warning President Donald Trump against taking "dangerous actions."

The United States says the overnight strikes were in retaliation for a March 11 rocket attack on an Iraqi military base in which two U.S. troops and one British soldier were killed.

Iraqi President Barham Salih on March 13 condemned the U.S. attack, warning that the country could slip into "chaos" and become a "failed state."

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said it would summon both the U.S. and British ambassadors to Baghdad over the strikes, in which the Iraqi military said five members of the country's security forces and one civilian were killed.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi said in a statement that Trump should reconsider the presence and behavior of his troops in the area" instead of making dangerous actions and baseless accusations.

Hours earlier, the U.S. Defense Department said its strikes targeted five weapons depots used by the Kataib Hezbollah militia, including facilities housing arms used in past attacks on U.S.-led coalition troops.

The attack was "defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups," according to the Pentagon.

One U.S. official was quoted as saying the strikes were a joint U.S.-British operation.

In London, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described the response to the attack on coalition forces as "swift, decisive, and proportionate" and warned that anyone seeking to harm those forces could expect a strong response.

The ranking U.S. general in the Middle East, CENTCOM commander Marine General Frank McKenzie, said on March 13 that there are numerous other, similar sites but that U.S. forces have shown restraint because of political sensitivities with respect to Iraq's government and because in some cases strikes could cause "a lot" of civilian casualties.

He said the United States cooperates with Iraq's military to eliminate such sites but that sometimes that approach doesn't work.

What should now be obvious to everyone is you're not going to be able to fire those at a U.S. or coalition base, hurt or kill our people, and escape unscathed, McKenzie said.

The statement by Iraq's military said the "aggression" against its armed forces occurred in the areas of Jurf al-Sakher, Al-Musayib, Najaf, and Al-Iskandariya on the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella grouping of Iran-backed Shi'ite militias, emergency regiments, and commandos of the 9th division of the Iraqi Army.

It said that in addition to the three soldiers, two police officers, and one civilian killed, 12 people were wounded -- four soldiers, two policemen, one civilian, and five militiamen.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mike Esper has blamed Iran-backed Shi'ite militia groups for the deadly rocket attack on the coalition at the Camp Taji military base, located less than 30 kilometers north of Baghdad.

No one claimed responsibility for the rocket attack, but a U.S. commander said Kataib Hezbollah was likely to have fired the rockets.

"The Iranian proxy group Kataib Hezbollah is the only group known to have previously conducted an indirect fire attack of this scale against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq," Central Command chief General Kenneth McKenzie told a U.S. Senate committee.

The United States has accused Iran-backed militias of similar attacks on Iraqi bases hosting coalition forces over the past year.

In December, Washington blamed Kataib Hezbollah for a strike that killed a U.S. contractor and triggered a round of violence that led Trump to order the killing of a top Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani, in a drone strike in Baghdad the following month.

In retaliation, an Iranian ballistic missile strike on an Iraqi air base left some 110 U.S. troops suffering from traumatic brain injuries.

Also on March 12, the U.S.-led coalition denied carrying out air strikes on Iran-backed Iraqi Shiite militiamen in eastern Syria.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 26 people were killed in the attack, which came hours after rocket strikes on Camp Taji.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa, and the BBC
Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwes main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), says the country was not prepared to handle a single case of the coronavirus (COVID-19) amid rising fears of spread
WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Thursday confirmed that the United States had carried out strikes against five Iran-backed militia weapons storage facilities in Iraq, a day after a deadly rocket attack killed two American and one British service member.

"The United States conducted defensive precision strikes against Kataib Hezbollah facilities across Iraq," a Pentagon statement said.

"These weapons storage facilities include facilities that housed weapons used to target U.S. and coalition troops," it said.

The strikes were "defensive, proportional and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups," the statement added.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Sandra Maler)
CHEYENNE  Gov. Mark Gordon vetoed 19 state budget items by the Wyoming Legislature on Thursday, while allowing numerous others, including a plan to investigate the governance structure at the University of Wyoming as well as a provision that will ban health insurance plans at the University of Wyoming from being used for abortion procedures.

While most have little impact to the final budget that will take effect in 2021, Gordons vetoes reflected a precedent set by the first-term governor in the 2019 legislative session, where he indicated lawmakers should not attempt to legislate through the budget.

Several of the governors vetoes this year included line items he felt should have been passed as standalone bills, such as the introduction of a $5 fee to help fund a long-outdated computer system operated by the Wyoming Department of Transportation and a fee on death certificates intended to shore up an account to pay for indigent burials  both of which were seen as ways to make certain, necessary expenses self-funding.

The governor also made several vetoes tied to his personal definition of executive power, cutting amendments to the budget that put mandates on several state agencies. He also rejected language eliminating some state employee positions and a number of anticipated budget reductions, saying that decisions to cut spending  while likely  will be made with the proper consideration when the time arises.

We know that the likely reduction in State revenues will require a corresponding reduction in expenses, the governor wrote in his veto message. But I believe we must be thoughtful in our decisions to reduce state spending, examining programs and services strategically instead of implementing hasty across-the-board reductions, which fail to consider any resulting ramifications. I am constrained as you are by the constitutional duty of balancing our budget.

Most surprising, however, might have been two controversial additions to the budget bill he allowed through. One rider to the budget  an amendment backed by Casper Republican Rep. Chuck Gray to prohibit the use of the University of Wyomings insurance plan to pay for abortion procedures  passed without the protest of the governor, while an appropriation to fund a study of the governance structure at UW made it across Gordons desk unscathed.

Great pro-life news! Gray tweeted Thursday night. The Governor just returned his line-item vetoes on the budget and our amendment ending the taxpayer subsidization of abortion at the University of Wyoming is not on the list. It is official  the taxpayer subsidization of abortion at UW has ended.

While the amendment -- which lacked a dollar figure -- arguably fit the governor's definition of legislating through the budget, Gordon defended his position on the line item In a call with reporters Friday afternoon.

"There may be some questions about the practicality of that particular amendment in the budget bill, but in my belief, that was an okay thing to leave," Gordon said.

When a reporter questioned whether the decision to not veto the line item could have been to help the governor in a future primary election, Gordon brushed off the question, saying that he did not run for governor to get elected, but "to lead the state as well as I could."

"That would be my answer," he said. "I have made difficult decisions before and stood by them, and I will continue to do that."

For all the last-minute jockeying in the lead-up to a budget deal between the House and Senate last week, the spending plan ultimately signed Thursday by Gordon night was fundamentally similar to the one he had proposed to lawmakers in November: few immediate cuts, but using enough funding from the states savings accounts to prepare for future spending reductions two years from now.

While Gordon began the session with disappointment that the Legislature failed to introduce new revenues into the budget this session, he expressed overall satisfaction with the ultimate product as conversations shift to preparations for the 2022 budget session.

We all, together, have challenges were going to need to work on as we face  as you have talked about  a very uncertain future, Gordon told House lawmakers late Thursday night.

Oil is down at a low price, gas is at a low price, we know the trouble coal has had, and weve seen a complete rout of our stock market. But I believe that the budget youve crafted  which was about an 8 percent decrease in spending over time  has been a remarkable budget. I thought it was balanced, and I think it was fair.

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Ramping up domestic vaccine production, not right to speak of outside supply now: MEA

Explained: Why MEA is not keen on bringing back 'everybody' from coronavirus-hit countries

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New Delhi, Mar 13: While several Indians from across the world are seen requesting India to help them come back to India, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said the evacuation that is carried out by the Centre is not for "everybody".

This claim by the MEA comes amid India planning to execute an evacuation process for Iran and Italy.

But, why MEA does not want all its Indian nationals to be evacuated from the coronavirus-hit countries?

According to MEA, people who would board the aircraft that is used for the evacuation process would be those who are negative for coronavirus. Also, the MEA made it clear that mo COVID-19 affected patient would be allowed to board the aircraft and head back home.

During the MEA's weekly briefing, the government-appointed coordinator for COVID19-19, Additional Secretary Dammu Ravi said, "Evacuation does not mean we will bring everybody back. We will first bring those who are not contaminated."

Coronavirus outbreak: 120 Indians from Iran to come back today

Also, the Additional Secretary said that negative cases would be brought back. In Italy, the medical team will go to start screening. In Iran, medical teams are already there for the screening and medical tests are being carried out," he said.

What are the steps taken by the Indian government to prevent the spread of coronavirus?

To a similar question, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while addressing the House on Thursday said, "We can only bring them -- Indian nationals living in the virus-hit countries-- back if they are tested. To test them, we have started taking samples today (March 12) as we can not bring back untested people in a very severe epidemic situation."

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

The External Affairs Minister also went on to say that he too, has a major role to play to prevent the spread of coronavirus as it is one of his responsibilities to worry about.

Also, the Centre has made t clear that those travelling from Italy or South Korea would have to carry a certificate of tested negative for COVID-19 from the designated laboratories that are authorised by the health authorities of these countries.

Meanwhile, people who are travelling from China, France, Spain, Iran, South Korea, Italy and Germany would be quarantined. This process would come into effect from 12:00 GMT on March 13, 2020, at the port of departure.

Explained: The Indian advisory on coronavirus

India reported its first death due to coronavirus in Karnataka. A 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi, Karnataka was the first Indian to lose his life due to coronovirus, the state government said.

In a tweet, Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu said that all the required contact tracing, isolation and other measures were being taken as the patient had severe co-morbidities such as history of hypertension, diabetes and asthma and appendicitis.
drnadig/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were on the verge of an agreement on a stimulus package to respond to the economic impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic late Thursday.



Pelosi had initially expressed a plan to vote earlier in the day saying that she could agree to most of the changes proposed by Mnuchin - the administration's point man in negotiations.



But negotiations dragged on late into the night -- as the two spoke at least eight times throughout the day, according to a Pelosi spokesman, hoping to finalize language for a bill that the House could pass. Pelosi said that she and Mnuchin were "close" to a deal, but needed to trade paperwork for review before putting it to a vote before the full House. After adjourning after 9:15 p.m. Thursday, the House returns to session Friday morning at 9 a.m.



"We're addressing the realities of life, a family life in America, putting family first," Pelosi, D-Calif., said during a news conference at the Capitol. "We're not planning a schedule or anything else, until we get that -- until we get that done," she said about any decision to possibly delay or cancel the 10-day recess the House was scheduled to begin on Thursday.



Pelosi sent a Dear Colleague letter late Thursday night, characterizing the talks as "near to a bipartisan agreement" while promising to work on a third package that "will take further effective action that protects the health, economic security and well-being of the American people."



She called the pandemic a "time of crisis," adding "strong and steady leadership of our Members working together is urgently needed."



With Pelosi signing off on most of Mnuchin's recommendations, she signaled she was not concerned that the Senate will make changes to the bill. She said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told her to work it out with Mnuchin, leaving Pelosi with the impression that McConnell would pass the bill if it meets the Treasury secretary's stamp of approval.



At the same time, as the Senate awaits the House bill, McConnell announced he is canceling the Senate recess period next week, while letting senators return home to their states for the weekend before the House votes. The Senate returns to session on Monday at 3 p.m.



"Notwithstanding the scheduled state work period, the Senate will be in session next week," McConnell, R-Ky., tweeted. "I am glad talks are ongoing between the Administration and Speaker Pelosi. I hope Congress can pass bipartisan legislation to continue combating the coronavirus and keep our economy strong."



Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said McConnell's decision was "so wrong" to let senators leave instead of working through the weekend.



"The Speaker is still negotiating with (Secretary) Mnuchin. The House hasn't even sent a bill over and Leader McConnell sends everybody home during a crisis. That is so wrong," Schumer told reporters Thursday afternoon on Capitol Hill.



House Democrats released the initial text of a bill late Wednesday night that includes food security assistance, paid sick leave, emergency unemployment insurance and language to ensure the cost of testing is covered for anyone who needs one. The package as proposed by Democrats did not include a payroll tax cut that President Donald Trump wanted.



"We're dealing with the Democrats in Congress and we'll see what can be done. I happen to think that a payroll tax cut would be a very good idea," Trump said Thursday.



As Trump seemed to concede that the payroll tax cut won't be included, he claimed Democrats had included provisions that "have nothing to do with what we're talking about."



"So, you know, it's not a way for them to get some of the goodies that they haven't been able to get for the last 25 years," he said.



Pelosi said members would not leave until they passed a bill.



"I don't think we would wait until there's a signed bill," Pelosi continued. "We will do our work, as I said, sensitive to changes that have been suggested. I don't think they're unreasonable."



The bill first proposed by Democrats has not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office, so there's not a clear price tag for the package -- leading many Republicans to balk at the proposal.



House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the bill "comes up short," adding he's also working with the White House and Pelosi to "get this right."



"Under Pelosi's bill, the Social Security Administration would be set up to administer the paid sick leave program," McCarthy, R-Calif., explained. "Not only would this take six months to start distributing checks, it would strain their ability to administer social security benefits. This will hurt the very population who is most at risk of this disease."



After announcing he opposed the Democratic bill, McCarthy said he thinks Congress should stay in session until a bill to respond to economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic is approved. He predicted a more comprehensive bill could come together in the next 24-48 hours.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Trocaire has taken the decision to cancel all public outreach activities in Longford and nationwide during the development agencys Lenten Appeal.

Trocaire CEO Caoimhe de Barra said: Each year, our teams travel all over Ireland throughout Lent to deliver talks, exhibitions and other events aimed at highlighting our campaign and raising the funds needed to help millions of people around the world.

This is a vital time of year for Trocaires fundraising, but the safety of our supporters, volunteers and staff comes first. In light of the risk posed by COVID-19, we believe it is the responsible decision to cancel these events this year.

We have also taken a number of other steps to help in the fight to stop the spread of the virus, including cancelling all but essential travel from Ireland to our programmes overseas.

Our teams around the world will continue to carry-out life-saving programmes, thanks to the generosity of people in Ireland. But we must do what we can to guard against spreading the virus and putting the people we work with at risk.

SEE HERE: For regular updates on Covid-19

Covid-19 has been identified in five of the countries Trocaire works in. All currently have lower infection rates than the island of Ireland.

Trocaire CEO Caoimhe de Barra said: We need to ensure our programmes can continue, while also taking all the necessary steps to make sure our staff, partners and communities are kept safe.

We are currently mid-way through our Lenten Appeal. This campaign is vital for our work. The donations received across Ireland during Lent fund our work, helping vulnerable people around the world throughout the year.

The generous people of Longford can still support this crucial work by donating online at trocaire.org/donate or by phoning 1850 408 408.

This pandemic has highlighted the importance of global solidarity. Here in Ireland, north and south, we all need to focus on protecting those who are most vulnerable  the elderly and those with underlying health issues. Globally, we need to support people whose health is already at risk  men, women and children  due to the pressures of poverty and conflict.

We must act as one to protect each other in the difficult weeks and months ahead. Ive seen the damage disease can wreak around the world. But Ive also seen what people can accomplish when we band together.

*Support Trocaire's Lenten Appeal by donating online at www.trocaire.org/donate or by phoning 1850 408 408.

Also read: Longford resident caught up in Covid-19 hoax flight nightmare
The rapid and wide spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the COVID-19 disease that it causes require an urgent global response to protect health and stimulate the economy. Governments and employers must act to protect workers and tackle transmission in workplaces.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that COVID-19 could cause an economic crash similar to the 2008 recession. The need for governments to act together and through multilateral institutions to shore up the economy and keep people in work is clear. The global economy needs economic stimulus that reaches the real economy, workers and small businesses, and prioritises employment, livelihoods and communities. Income support for all workers, including for part-time, migrant, non-resident, precarious, gig and informal workers, is essential.

Workers are on the frontline of the economic, social and health impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Failure to protect them will increase the spread of the disease. Special provision must be made to immediately extend paid sick-leave entitlements to workers who lack them, and to improve sick leave provisions where they exist as well as to ensure working conditions and arrangements that provide protection.

Workers who rely on platform businesses for their employment should have access to social protection and to compensation from funds which are paid for by the platform businesses themselves.

The world is facing an immediate and potentially huge crisis. The spread of the virus into the poorest countries, where infrastructure and sanitation are inadequate, risks catastrophic impacts on hundreds of millions of people. In addition, the huge strains on health systems caused by COVID-19 are likely to provoke new public health challenges.

While workers in every sector are exposed to risk, it is health and care workers who will bear the immediate brunt of the mitigation and treatment needs. In many countries healthcare funding is insufficient or people have no healthcare, and even where health systems are amongst the best, the impacts of COVID-19 could be overwhelming. The global response must put this at the forefront.

"In addition to these workers, teachers and education support personnel are on the frontlines of this pandemic as well," said David Edwards, EI General Secretary. "Their students and communities are their first concern as they fight misinformation with facts and fear with resilience, calm and leadership. Therefore we call on governments and employers to concern themselves with ensuring educators safety and rights at this critical moment as well as those to come. As the impact of the virus spreads further, dialogue between unions, employers and government and collective bargaining are vitally important in protecting workers health and their rights at work."

Governments must rise to the challenge to tackle the crisis today and to prepare and prevent future disease crises. Workers and their workplaces are central to this.

The Council of the Global Unions (CGU), representing 200 million workers around the world, calls upon governments to:

Immediately extend paid sick leave entitlements, maintain incomes and extend social protections to all workers, including formal, gig, precarious and informal workers, regardless of their employment status;

Enact stimulus packages with state spending that aims to sustain jobs and the economy, protecting wages, the welfare of workers, and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs); and,

Cooperate and engage with multilateral institutions and increase aid to countries less able to respond to the threats posed by COVID-19 and ensure that the multilateral financial institutions assess national needs and respond appropriately.

The CGU calls upon employers to:

Recognise and bargain with trade unions to identify threats to workers health, rights and welfare, and to develop and implement workplace responses;

Recognise and exercise their duty of care for all workers in their business and supply chains and maintain contracts with suppliers, prioritising the rights and welfare of these workers in their response to the threats posed by COVID-19;

Involve workers representatives in processes to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for COVID-19 threats and the evaluation of employer and government responses;

Ensure health protections and plans are in place and are followed without exception;

Protect wages and full pay for all workers through a variety of means, mutually agreed through collective bargaining;

Guarantee paid leave, in the form of sick pay or holiday pay, from the first day of leave, for any workers threatened or infected by COVID-19;

Establish compensation funds for all workers, including non-standard forms of employment and work-related contracts, that are adversely impacted by COVID-19 and the responses to it; and,

Offer customised and responsible workplace and working arrangements for all workers.

All workers, where necessary, should be provided free medical testing, treatment, training, equipment and facilities for training, especially if they are performing medical services. Special attention must be given to the situation of migrant workers, many of whom are particularly vulnerable. The privacy and personal information of workers must be protected as they undergo medical and other examinations and checks as part of responses to the threat posed by COVID-19. Workers must be able to return to their habitual place of work as soon as is practicably possible should local and/or national containment measures financially or logistically inhibit them from doing so.
Jenkins said he has information about the social equity section of the law and the states intent that he would like to study further. While Bloom Holdings is bringing its site plan application through, it is a new company that does not have a license from the state yet. The state is expected to award 47 new licenses in the Chicago area by May, and Bloom has applied for one.
There was a great deal of anticipation leading up to Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs final engagements as senior members of the British royal family. In January 2020, the Sussexes announced their intent to step away from royal life in an effort to have a more peaceful and private existence.

Unfortunately, because of their already strained relationship with the royal family before announcing Megxit, the royals did not have any idea that the Sussexes were going to jump ship. They found out the news along with the rest of the world when the duke and duchess announced their plans on Instagram.

Since then, the Sussexes have been living in Canada, returning to the U.K. at the end of February to complete their royal duties. A body-language expert unpacked Prince Williams feelings during his encounter with his brother and sister-in-law at Commonwealth Day.

Inside Prince William and Prince Harrys relationship

Though the princes had always been close growing up, things became strained between the men in 2016 when the Duke of Sussex introduced Meghan to the royal family. After the Sussexes wed, they embarked on a different path than the Cambridges, and the duchess was bullied mercilessly in the press. Now, Meghan and Prince Harry have decided to leave royal life behind.

The Duchess of Sussex waves to the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge as they arrive at the #CommonwealthDay Service pic.twitter.com/G5S4382d0w  Royal Central (@RoyalCentral) March 9, 2020

This is what happened at Commonwealth Day

Though Commonwealth Day was the Sussexes final walk, Queen Elizabeth had them removed from her processional. Instead of walking in with Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, the Sussexes were quietly shown their seats. The Cambridges pulled out of the processional as well. However, this did not stop the awkward interactions between the couples.

According to royal commentator Camilla Tominey, The Daily Telegraphs lip-reader gave the lowdown on the brothers conversation. According to the lip-reader, when Harry sits down he says to Meghan, He just said Hello Harry to me and that was it, Tominey explained.

The Duke & Duchess of Sussex in deep conversation with the Earl of Wessex at the #CommonwealthDay Service. pic.twitter.com/VvuPRXorqQ  Royal Central (@RoyalCentral) March 9, 2020

Prince Williams body language during Commonwealth Day

According to Prince Williams body language, he had a lot of feelings during Commonwealth Day. Hes doing a comfort palm, that palm down on his leg, which is comforting and suppressing his emotional state or hes trying to suppress how hes feeling, body language expert Patti Wood told Marie Claire about Prince Williams posture during the ceremony. The fist on top of that is an indication that he is suppressing slight amount of anger and if you go all the way up to the mouth, hes doing a lip compression, which also says, Im suppressing my true emotional state. The furrowed brow that would say, its anger as well.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that things between the brothers have rekindled. At present, the Sussexes are already back in Canada. While the weeks and months ahead will no doubt present new challenges for the Sussexes, the couple genuinely feel a sense of excitement about whats to come, which includes the freedom to work at a pace that suits them, no longer weighed down by protocol or threatened by toxic agendas, Omid Scobie, Bazaar.coms royal editor at large explained.
They are the proud parents of two young children - Rocco, three, and Rafa, two.

And Rose Byrne and her partner Bobby Cannavale had a well-deserved night off parental duties on Wednesday, attending the Bob Dylan Broadway musical, Girl from The North Country.

Australian actress Rose, 40, cut a retro figure as she donned a black and white spotted midi-dress and bold red lip at The Belasco Theatre in New York City.

Monochrome magic! Rose Byrne stunned in a black and white polkadot dress as she and partner Bobby Cannavale cosied up backstage at the Bob Dylan Broadway musical Girl from The North Country on Wednesday

Her vintage-inspired ensemble featured a puffed sleeve and a flattering V-neck cut that showed of her delicate decolletage.

The age-defying beauty kept her brunette locks swept off her face, carefully framing her flawless features.

Rose's impeccable complexion was highlighted by her natural makeup, only adding a touch of red on her lips to deliver a retro flair.

Theatre lovers: Her vintage-inspired ensemble featured a puffed sleeve and a flattering V-neck cut that showed of her delicate decolletage. Pictured with Girl from The North Country actor Colton Ryan

The Peter Rabbit star accessorised with gold hoop earrings and her sparkling wedding ring.

Her partner Bobby, 49, looked casually chic in a black polo shirt and zip up sweater.

He took on a more formal edge to his simple ensemble with grey linen dress pants.

Ageless beauty: Rose and Bobby just finished their run of a modern adaption of the Greek tragedy Medea at the Brooklyn Academy of Music

The celebrity duo posed with the celebrated production's cast, including upcoming actor Colton Ryan.

Rose and Bobby just finished their run of a modern adaption of the Greek tragedy Medea at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

They began dating in 2012, the couple share two young sons - Rocco, three, and Rafa, two.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 17:43:32|Editor: Lu Hui

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SINGAPORE, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) released here Friday its report on the electoral boundaries, suggesting a rise in the number of Members of Parliament from 89 to 93.

In its report submitted to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on March 11, the EBRC made the recommendations which the government has accepted.

There will be a total of 14 Single-Member Constituencies (SMCs) and 17 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs), where teams of candidates, instead of individual candidates, compete to be elected into Parliament as the Members of Parliament (MPs) for the constituency, up from the current 13 SMCs and 16 GRCs.

The total number of MPs will increase to 93, comprising 14 from SMCs and 79 from GRCs.

Out of the 17 GRCs, 11 have five MPs and six have four MPs. The previous six-member GRCs is wiped out, according to the report.

"The Committee reviewed the boundaries of the current electoral divisions, taking into account the current configurations, changes in the number of electors due to population shifts and housing developments," said the report.

The committee, which comprises five senior civil servants, was formed on Aug. 1 last year.

Following the release of the report, Parliament will be dissolved by President Halimah Yacob upon the advice of Prime Minister Lee. She will then direct the Returning Officer to issue a Writ of Election.

According to the law, the city-state's next general election must be held by April 2021.
You can hug, air-kiss or shake hands of course. But in the age of the coronavirus, the world, it seems, is looking at the traditional Indian 'namaste' to greet, convey respect and also maintain a safe distance.

Several world leaders and others are now using the simple joining of hands to say "Hello", "Hi" and "How do you do" the Indian way with the 'namaste', a combination of the Sanskrit words 'namas' (bowing) and 'te' (to you).

Falling in line with one of the fundamental precautionary measures to avoid physical contact, US President Donald Trump on March 12 greeted Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar with a 'namaste'.

Britain's Prince Charles did the same recently when he put out his hand for a handshake but then quickly withdrew to fold them together in a 'namaste'.

French President Emmanuel Macron also did a 'namaste' to welcome Spanish king Felipe on March 9.

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

And earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advised his citizens to adopt 'namaste' as a way of greeting instead of shaking hands to check the spread of COVID-19, that has been declared a pandemic by the WHO and infected 131,500 people in 116 countries and territories. More than 4,900 people have died of the infection.

"Religious and secular culture come together in the increasing use of namaste (pronounced \NAH-muh-stay\) in English: the term is associated with both Hinduism and yoga," says the Merriam Webster dictionary.

While the coronavirus is responsible for the recent surge in popularity of the 'namaste', it became familiar in the West thanks to yoga, originating in India but practised by millions all over.

In yoga, 'namaste' is a 'mudra' or a posture that involves holding both palms together close to the heart. It is practised to ensure wellness of the upper body.

"When we put our hands together and hold it close to the heart, it stimulates the heart 'chakra'. The 'namaste mudra' benefits the thoracic region, including the immunity of the lungs," Vinod Sharma, a Delhi-based yoga instructor, told PTI.

According to Kesavan Veluthat, a professor of history at Delhi University, the cultural origins of the Indian greeting are rooted in Hindu society's deeply entrenched casteism.

The Sanskrit scholar said 'namaste' came into existence to allow those belonging to the higher castes keep their distance from the "untouchables".

"India, particularly the Hindu society, is heavily hierarchical, with caste defining social norms," Veluthat told PTI.

"Other societies also have inequalities for example class differences in the western world. But in those societies there is no untouchability...," he added.

He added that historically, it was customary for members of the same caste to exchange a 'namaste'. But a Brahmin, for instance, would never offer a 'namaste' to a Dalit.

After a boost through the spread of yoga several decades earlier, the traditional form of greeting is back in vogue because of COVID-19.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A parent at PS 8 is angry over the schools decision to hold the schools second grade play less than 24 hours after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced all non-essential school activities would be immediately cancelled.

The kids practiced all month and they were so excited for it but it wasnt supposed to happen, the mayor said no, said a concerned parent who asked that her name not be used.

All the mothers were on the phone this morning trying to figure out what was going on. Some kids were crying because they were so disappointed but it wound up happening anyway, the mother said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city intends for the schools to remain open during a Thursday press conference, however, non-essential, non-instructional activities would be altered.

Theyll either be moved online, if they can be, or they will be canceled, it depends on each activity, de Blasio said.

School plays and recitals are included in that list, as well as PSAL activities, games, and practices, parent-teacher conferences and PTA meetings.

Several attempts to reach the city Department of Education and the Staten Island Superintendents office were unsuccessful.

The play went on, but attendance was lower than usual. The mother said the children performed a modified version of the play instead of the full version.

She said the schools principal did not answer questions from concerned parents, instead directed questions to the schools PTA coordinator.

Its just disrespectful, she said.

The mother said she took her son home after the play, as well as all of his school belongings to be sanitized. She will be keeping him home indefinitely, she said.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

NEW DORP CLOSED ON FRIDAY

The city Department of Education (DOE) has shuttered New Dorp High School on Friday due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

New Dorp High School is being temporarily closed on Friday in an abundance of caution, according to a DOE post on social media.

Saturday School, Gilder Lehrman Saturday School, AP Tutoring and SAT/ENL Tutoring will also be canceled until further notice, said a post on the New Dorp High School website.

The move is prompted by a student who tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the post. Some students left the school before dismissal Thursday after reports that a classmates parent has the coronavirus.

The student who tested positive attended the Hungerford program at the New Dorp building, according to Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-South Shore).

ALL CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS CLOSED

On Thursday, the Archdiocese of New York Superintendent of Catholic Schools Michael J. Deegan announced that Catholic elementary schools across the city will be closed next week from Monday, March 16, to Friday, March 20, with the possibility of a lengthier closure, according to a notice posted on the Archdioceses school website.

After being informed by expert health officials and the Health and Safety Task Force of the Office of the Superintendent of Schools, the decision was made out of an abundance of caution, according to the notice.

The health and safety of our students, staff and families is of the utmost importance, said the notice.
A civil liberties watchdog sued the US government Thursday seeking the disclosure of records on the use of facial recognition technology being deployed at American airports.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it was seeking to force the Department of Homeland Security to release records on its contracts and policies for the technology which has been expanded in recent months.

ACLU staff attorney Ashley Gorski said the lawsuit aims to require disclosure of what the government is doing with the data it collects with face-scanning machines.

The expanded airport deployment is 'putting us on an extraordinarily dangerous path toward the normalization of face surveillance,' Gorski said in a statement.

Attorneys suggested the technology raises 'profound civil-liberties concerns' and 'can enable undetectable, persistent government surveillance on a massive scale.'

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A lawsuit by a civil liberties group seeks to force the US government to disclose its policies and contracts for facial recognition technology being deployed at airports around the United States

'But because key facts about this surveillance are still secret, the public lacks the information it needs to hold these agencies to account. We're suing to bring some much-needed transparency.'

The ACLU said DHS and other federal agencies have declined to respond to freedom of information requests on contracts with airlines, airports and other entities, and on retention policies regarding biometric information collected.

'The little we do know about the government's plans for face surveillance at airports is deeply disturbing,' Gorski said.

Facial-recognition technology is used at more than 20 airports across the US to verify travelers identification when flying internationally.

Facial-recognition technology is used at more than 20 airports across the US to verify travelers identification when flying internationally. ACLU said US officials have left open the possibility of mandating face surveillance on all US citizens traveling internationally and that non-citizens are currently unable to opt out of being subjected to the scans

ACLU said US officials have left open the possibility of mandating face surveillance on all US citizens traveling internationally and that non-citizens are currently unable to opt out of being subjected to the scans.

However, privacy advocates argue the technology can be used to track people, as ICE, the FBI and local officials have used the software to determine if a person is a suspected criminal.

The lawsuit comes amid increased deployment - and complaints -about the use of facial recognition for law enforcement and private applications.

Backers of facial recognition at airports say it can ease long lines and make it easier to catch suspected criminals. But civil liberties activists argue it may be used for intrusive surveillance of innocent people.

The ACLU last year sued the FBI to seek disclosure of its database believed to hold at least 640 million images and other biometric data.

The images gave the organization the ability to match individuals or request matches again specific people in order to identify the person in question.


OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Here are the latest updates of the COVID-19 outbreak as of Thursday, March 12, 2020.



In the U.S., the number of confirmed cases has surpassed 1,600, spread across 47 states. Washington with 457 cases, New York with 328 cases, California with 175 and Massachusetts with 108 are the worst-hit states in the U.S. The death toll in the nation has climbed to 41.



The theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, would be temporarily closed beginning March 16 through the end of the month, out of an abundance of caution. Similarly, Universal Studios Hollywood will also be temporarily shut beginning March 14, and the theme park is expected to reopen on March 28.



India, which has 73 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, reported the first death due to the novel coronavirus on Thursday. In a bid to contain the virus, the country has temporarily suspended all travel visas until April 15.



Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has tested positive for the coronavirus. The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in Canada is 138 as of March 12. As a precautionary measure, the Prime Minister will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days.



Armenia, a former constituent of the Soviet Union, is all set to replace the banknotes in circulation with new notes in an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus, according to Armenpress, the main state news agency in Armenia. The country has 6 confirmed cases of COVID-19.



Globally, the number of confirmed cases has increased to 131,778 and the death toll has jumped to 4,948.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Jonny Greenwood (left), 48, is lead guitarist with English rock band Radiohead. Richard Tognetti, 54, is the Australian Chamber Orchestras artistic director. Despite their distinct musical styles, the two are finely in tune with each other.

Richard Tognetti on Jonny Greenwood (left): "I do want Jonny to write more for the ACO, but he has a lot of planes on the runway and we are just one of them." Credit:John Davis

RICHARD: I dont mean to sound hubristic but my friendship with Jonny is a musical one; I honour him because he keeps classical music alive in the rock and pop world. When people turn up to a Radiohead concert, they end up listening to some damn serious music.

It was when they came out with [the 2000 album] Kid A that I started paying grave attention. Then I saw the 2007 film There Will Be Blood and the music was incredible. I had to stay for the credits and saw Jonny Greenwoods name. I thought that was impossible, then I remembered hed written [the score for] Popcorn Superhet Receiver, which put him on the radar as a classical composer. I ran home to listen and realised hed adapted it for the film.

Fast forward five years: Radiohead were touring Australia and we got a call out of the blue asking if we were interested in commissioning a piece from Jonny, and could he come and work with us. Hed been playing to 50,000 people a night, which cant be very good for you. He collapsed, as you would, then wound himself up again to get into writing.
Two men who tried to smuggle a lethal arsenal of 79 guns and more than 4,000 rounds of ammunition in a car engine have been jailed for 45 years.

Steven Spires, 37, and Denis Kolencukov, 26, were convicted for conspiring to import revolvers and ammunition from mainland Europe, and were handed 26 years each.

Their accomplice Michael Nicholls, 28, was also convicted for his role in the conspiracy - but will be sentenced at a later date as his barrister is currently self-isolating due to the killer coronavirus, Kingston Crown Court heard.

Prosecuting, Christopher Hewertson today said the group carried out seven importations between January and July 2017, making a profit of up to 1.2million.

Border Force officers seized 79 handguns and over 4,000 rounds hidden in engine blocks on a van's trailer as it tried entering the Channel Tunnel on July 1.

Kolencukov bought revolvers, which were legal to purchase in his native Czech Republic, and had them transported via an unwitting courier.

NCA photo of 79 handguns found hidden in engine blocks on a vehicle in France just before it entered the Channel Tunnel, as two men were convicted for smuggling lethal firearms

The weapons and ammunition would be transported to the Seaborough Industrial Estate in Slough where Spires would manage their onward sale, the court heard.

He was arrested after the July raid, while Spires and Nicholls were arrested two days later with nine guns in the car park of the Whip and Collar Pub by the state.

A total of 95 handguns were seized as part of the investigation.

The organised criminal operation, however, is likely to have successfully imported at least 500 weapons, and maybe as many as 700 lethal firearms.

Mr Hewertson said the July haul alone is estimated to have been worth up to 150,000 - while the 4mm and 6mm calibre guns each cost between 35 and 130 to buy, their illicit selling prices in the UK ranges between 1,000 and 2,000.

The QC added: 'If each were of similar size and volume as the July consignment, we would have in the range of 700 lethal firearms.

'Therefore, a profit range of around between 600,000 and 1.2 million.'

Kingston Crown Court heard 138 illegal revolvers were seized in the UK in 2017, described as 'the tip of the iceberg'.

NCA photo of more than 4,000 of rounds of ammunition hidden in engine blocks on a vehicle in France just before it entered the Channel Tunnel on July 1, 2017

Steven Spires (left) and Denis Kolencukov (right) were convicted for conspiring to import revolvers and ammunition from mainland Europe, and were handed 26 years each

NCA photo of more than 4,000 of rounds of ammunition hidden in engine blocks on a vehicle in France just before it entered the Channel Tunnel on July 1, 2017

The prosecutor accused their 'criminal activities' of 'significantly increasing the availability of firearms capable of lethal force in the UK'.

Spires, of no fixed abode, and Nicholls, from Slough, were found guilty of conspiracy to import firearms while Kolencukov admitted the charge before trial.

Kolencukov, also from Slough, further admitted conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life or enable another to endanger life, and a similar charge of conspiracy to possess ammunition.

Spires and Nicholls were acquitted of the two additional charges but convicted of a charge of possession of a prohibited weapon.

Judge Rajeev Shetty, sentencing Spires and Kolencukov, said the conspiracy involved a 'staggering' number of guns.

He told the defendants: 'This was a well-organised and lucrative conspiracy to import revolvers and ammunition from the continent.'

Addressing Spires, who gave a thumbs-up as he was sentenced, Judge Shetty added: 'While these guns are revolvers, they are still lethally powerful and every single gun and every single bullet could have killed someone.

'They were imported and sold for profit with indifference about who they may hurt.

'You were aware of the purpose of these guns being imported. They were going to proper criminals for proper criminal activity.'

He added: 'For someone who obviously has so much energy and may I say, a degree of natural charisma, what a waste of a life it has been.'

Judge Shetty added: 'You, Mr Kolencukov, were doing much of the work in respect of obtaining the ammunition and firearms.'

All three men will return to court for confiscation proceedings later this year.
However, coming from a hospitality perspective, if your dining partner is adamant about paying individually, theres nothing wrong, at the start of the meal, with alerting the staff member who is taking care of your party to keep a separate tab. Best to be upfront about these things and avoid the scenario of reviewing the itemized bill at the end. It can be a sticky situation for everyone involved.
Zamfara State Police Command has confirmed the killing of a renowned leader of the volunteer security group, known as Yansakai in the state, Bala Maigora.

This was contained in a statement signed by the command Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Shehu Mohammed, a superintendent of police, and made available to journalists in Gusau, the state capital on Friday.

According to the statement, the attack was carried out on Katsina village of Gusau local government where four persons, including the Yansakai leader were killed on Thursday at about 9:30 pm.

It said a large number of armed men on motorcycles stormed the village and rustled cows belonging to the villagers.

A group of local vigilantes known as Yansakai who pursued the rustlers were ambushed which led to the killing of four Yansakai, including their Commander popularly known as Bala Maigora, while others sustained gunshot injuries.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) however gathered that the bandits had also attacked Gobirawa, Gidan Boki and Karal villages and rustled over 1,000 cows.

A resident of Boki village, Sadi Boki, in a telephone interview with journalists, said the bandits numbering over 100 raided the villages and killed 11 persons.

The PPRO said peace had been restored in the area and personnel of Operation Hadarin Daji were on the trail of the perpetrators.

(NAN)
Air India has decided to cancel flights to Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Israel, South Korea and Sri Lanka till April 30, an airline official said on Friday, amid mounting concerns over coronavirus epidemic.

The move comes a day after the national carrier announced suspension of services to Kuwait till April 30.

Earlier, the airline curtailed services on most European routes, including Italy and France.

"It has been decided to temporarily suspend services to Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Israel, South Korea and Sri Lanka due to the coronavirus outbreak," the official said on Friday.

On Wednesday, the government decided to suspend all visas, except a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, from March 13 to April 15.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Harris County Republican Party chair-elect Keith Nielsen does not take office for another three months, but he already has begun meeting with party leaders and activists with an eye on unity after unseating incumbent Paul Simpson earlier this month.

Nielsen, a grass-roots activist and Pasadena resident who reported about $13,000 in campaign spending, secured 51 percent of the vote in the March 3 race. He beat Simpson by about 4,000 votes out of nearly 158,000 cast, due in large part to a faction of social conservative supporters who appeared to tip the balance in the low-profile contest.

As chairman, Nielsen said he will encourage the party to have a big tent.

Its the party of opportunity for everyone. Theres a place for folks in the middle and far right, we just need to figure out a way to work that out, said Nielsen, 57. We need to work together, but not abandon our core values.

The outcome of the county chairman race reflects discontent among local activists and precinct chairs over the Harris County Republican Partys crushing losses in 2016 and 2018, and its inability to fill each judicial spot on the ballot this year. Some within the party blamed Simpson for the results. Others say he insufficiently embraced President Trump and excluded conservatives who want the party to prioritize social issues, such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

Paul had tunnel vision, didn't reach out, didn't try to bring people together. He was more concerned with controlling everything than he was with winning, said Gary Polland, a former party chairman who backed Nielsen. Am I saying it's all his fault? No. But what I'm telling you is, he could have done a lot more than he did.

Simpsons supporters note that down-ballot Republicans outperformed Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the candidates at the top of the ticket in 2016 and 2018. Even Simpsons critics acknowledge he is an effective fundraiser who will leave the party on firm financial footing when he gives up the chairmanship.

Simpson made efforts to recruit Republican judicial candidates but said he found it difficult to attract large numbers in 2020 because, he contended, prospective candidates were well aware that Democrats have swept or won the majority of judicial elections each presidential cycle since 2008.

As for the recent disappointing results, Simpson said Republicans had an automatic reaction to blame somebody, to find a scapegoat, and some turned to him as party chair.

You have to look at the fact that the last two election results have been terrible, said former Harris County judge Ed Emmett, a Republican who supported Simpson in 2014 and lost his own re-election in 2018. Do I think that was Paul's fault? No, I don't. As one who suffered a political death in the midst of it, I think you have to look much more at the top of the ticket. Ted Cruz lost Harris County by 201,000 votes (in 2018). I lost by 19,000.

This years chairman election garnered far less attention than some of Simpsons prior races, including the 2014 contest when he unseated predecessor Jared Woodfill in a nasty and highly divisive election. Woodfill, who believes the party should sharpen its focus on social issues, backed Nielsen through the slate published by Conservative Republicans of Harris County, the group founded by hardline GOP power broker Steve Hotze. Woodfill is president of the group.

Paul took every idea we had and he dismantled it, Woodfill said. Had he embraced social conservatives, reached out to those he had run against and those who supported me, his results would have been a lot better.

Polland also endorsed Nielsen on his Texas Conservative Review slate, which along with Hotzes endorsements, are sent to hundreds of thousands of households. The slates are seen as particularly influential among Republican primary voters, who often carry the recommendations into the voting booth.

Simpson said he is a social conservative himself and resents that pay-for-play slates tried to characterize him as otherwise. He said the slates were the primary cause of his defeat, along with his own lackluster fundraising compared to prior chair elections. He had spent about $85,000 on the race through late February, far more than Nielsen but a drop in the bucket for a county with nearly 200,000 Republican primary voters.

It was just not front and center for a lot of voters, said Simpson, 64. I know from working the polls how few voters even know about the county chair race. I think insiders often focus on what they know about, but when you actually look at the broad electorate, it takes a lot of money and effort to get a message to them.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said there's been an undercurrent of dissatisfaction that's existed for a long time in the Harris County GOP. He acknowledged that Nielsen likely gained a couple percentage points by having his name listed first on the ballot, which is decided by a random draw.

Nielsen himself acknowledged that voters sometimes need to point a finger at someone, and said he ran a campaign styled less against Paul and more to promote his own history of conservative activism. He has served as a precinct chair and on the partys local government committee, among other grass-roots-aligned roles, and volunteered for scores of Republican campaigns.

I understand the election process, I understand the grass roots, Nielsen said. Im retired, so its going to be a full-time job. We have a little work ahead of us.

Emmett said Hotze and Pollands dislike of Simpson likely played into their endorsements more than their genuine support for Nielsen. And he questioned whether any party chair could yield winning results in Harris County, which has voted overwhelmingly Democratic the last two election cycles.

The Republican Party has got to start saying what it's for, what it is going to do to make people's lives better. And that's what's missing, Emmett said. And that goes all the way to the state level. I find it humorous that there's still this kind of foundational we don't like the way the government is run (attitude). But we've been in charge of it for a quarter of a century. How can you keep running against the government when it's you? So, I'm not sure that we've hit rock bottom yet as a party.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
Some of the nations best academic laboratories wanted to begin developing their own coronavirus diagnostic tests early last month, but were blocked by federal rules about test development.

Why it matters: The U.S. is woefully behind in mass deployment of tests to detect coronavirus, determine its spread and isolate hot spots. Once given the go-ahead to develop tests under more relaxed terms, some of these labs were able to get tests up and running in a matter of days.

Even though their testing capacity is usually limited, academic labs are particularly crucial to coronavirus testing because theyre attached to hospitals. That means that providers treating patients at these hospitals can receive tests results much more quickly than those who have to send samples to commercial, state or CDC labs.

Part of the overall problem with testing right now isnt just that there arent enough tests available, but also that there can be long delays in determining whether patients are infected or not.

They followed the standard process, but what needed to be in vision was that this was a once in a generation pathogen  a once in a generation epidemic, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told me.

The approval process for the academic labs highlights the clash between bureaucracy  which is in place for a reason  and the need to move quickly in the face of an emerging pandemic.

I do understand the FDAs viewpoint, which is theres really a need to standardize testing and make sure test results are accurate, said Charles Chiu, associate director of the University of California at San Francisco Clinical Microbiology Laboratory. But this is something that probably should have been discussed from the get go when we first knew about the outbreak in China.

Yes, but: Less than a dozen academic labs are currently running tests, although others have said theyre working on developing them.

The FDA posted relaxed testing guidelines on Feb. 29. Major commercial labs  like LabCorp and Quest  and smaller, non-academic private labs have also gotten tests prepared for operation since the announcement, in addition to academic labs  a total of more than 30 private labs, per the FDA. 16 were testing patients as of yesterday.

a total of more than 30 private labs, per the FDA. 16 were testing patients as of yesterday. State public health labs are also running tests, but like the CDC and commercial labs, arent directly connected with care sites.

The spread of the virus  it basically outstripped the guidance provided by the FDA, Chiu said.

The other side: In the U.S., we have policies in place that strike the right balance during public health emergencies of ensuring critical independent review by the scientific and public health experts and timely test availability, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a speech earlier this month..

The CDC test is a high-quality test, and its important to remember that false negatives or positives can be detrimental to making sure we are treating patients early, without delay, and also not quarantining healthy individuals.

How it happened: Benjamin Pinsky, Medical Director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Stanford, told me that his lab began working on a test in early February, following the FDA guidelines at the time. After the FDA posted its more relaxed guidance, it took the lab only days to validate its test.

We were waiting for the FDA to make a decision about how they would handle clinical laboratory testing, Pinsky said. My goal was to be prepared as soon as they were ready to allow clinical labs to start testing.

Stanford got permission to begin testing on March 2 and began doing so on March 4. By the end of the day, Santa Clara County had already confirmed 14 cases, meaning that community spread was already underway.

The lab in San Francisco asked in early February if it could develop its own lab test under less extreme requirements, but the FDA said that the lab would have to instead go through the more stringent emergency use authorization process, per regulation.

We were trying to submit a clinical [lab-developed test] or develop a clinical [test] for [emergency-use authorization] approval, and the issue with it was it was delayed and that was because the FDAs requirements were quite stringent, Chiu said. The FDA was making it too laboriousit would take too long to actually get approval.

And at that point, with the more severe requirements in place, the lab felt that it would make more sense to wait for commercial labs to develop tests rather than creating their own.

I think that it would have been helpful had some of the new guidance come out earlier so that laboratories would have had more time, whereas now were scrambling to meet demand, Chiu said.

And on the East Coast, Karen Carroll, director of the Division of Medical Microbiology at Johns Hopkins, said that her lab had tried to get the CDC testing kit, but was denied access.

The CDC said we were not a public health laboratory and they were only making the kits available to public health labs, Carroll said. It was eventually discovered that the kits werent working.

The lab eventually made its own test after the requirements were relaxed. It took four days.

As reported by the New York Times, the University of Washington had also wanted to develop its own test, and around mid-February, grew frustrated with the FDAs process.

The bottom line: As of yesterday, the U.S. has the capacity to test about 22,000 people a day, although it's unclear how many people are actually being tested. South Korea  which has a significantly smaller population  is testing nearly 20,000 people a day, the BBC reports.
Last Monday, the French government hosted Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar on a brief, unannounced, visit to Paris. Accompanied by his top political advisor, my ex-academic colleague turned politician Fadel Ed-Deep, he met President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace. After the meeting an Elysee official said that, Marshal Haftar assured [us] that he was committed to signing the ceasefire but this commitment would cease if the militias do not respect it. The militias mentioned are the coalition that is supporting the Government of National Accord (GNA), currently recognised by France as the only legitimate government in Libya.

The Middle East Monitor reports in its article Is France changing its position on Libya and starting to support Haftar? that this is the first time that France, a veto-holding member of the UN Security Council, has used the term militias in such a context and at such a high level. The GNA has accused Macrons government of supporting Haftars Libyan National Army (LNA) and giving him the green light to launch his attack on Tripoli last April. LNA troops have since been laying siege to the Libyan capital, although their advance has all but stalled. Over the past five days, Tripoli has been relatively quiet, with no gunfire or artillery explosions being heard.

Does Haftars visit and the tone adopted by the French indicate a new position that openly supports him despite the previous commitments to a peaceful solution to the Libyan conflict? The Elysee did not mention any follow-up to his visit, or say if diplomats will be conveying the message to the GNA about his ceasefire offer.

Diplomatically, this could mean that France is seeking to portray him as an ally and will probably come down heavier on the GNA in Tripoli. Media sources close to Haftar have talked about another proposal that would see the GNA reshuffled, whereby the next government will be smaller and more representative of the country. Whether this is a serious offer and under what terms Haftar made the proposal remains unclear.

The Libyan commander went from Paris to Berlin where he met German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her spokesman said that she reiterated the German position that the only solution to the Libyan conflict is political and to achieve that there must be a ceasefire first. The response from Haftar was not mentioned.

President Macron was one of the participants in the 19 January Berlin conference, when the US, Britain, France and Russia plus regional players committed themselves to peace in Libya. The major powers plus Egypt, Turkey, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates pledged to reinforce the UN arms embargo imposed on Libya since 2011 as a way to help de-escalate the violence. That commitment was endorsed by UN Security Council resolution 2510 adopted on 12 February, which France voted for, as did the others apart from Russia, which abstained. Despite this, the violence has escalated and more arms are flowing into the North African country.

Is France gradually moving away from its commitment to a peaceful solution towards the increasingly proxy war that is being fought in Libya? Or is it just trying to say that it is still committed to peace even if it appears to be favouring the LNA and Haftar? Elysee officials did not give any details indicating any shift in their declared position on the Libyan debacle.

Nevertheless, we should remember that Turkey has, since late last year, become a major player in Libya. On 27 November the government in Ankara signed a security deal with the GNA and has since been deploying troops and Syrian mercenaries to help in the defence of Tripoli against the LNA advance. With that move just before a Berlin conference preparatory meeting, Ankara appeared to have taken the initiative from the EU, including France. Suddenly Ankara, after Moscow, and not Paris and Berlin became the capital to listen to when it comes to Libya.

At the moment, though, Turkey appears to be preoccupied by the mess in Syrias Idlib province and may have little time for North Africa. Turkey and Russia are not on good terms over Syria and, by extension, they are likely to be occupying different ground in Libya too; Russia is supporting the LNA while Turkey backs the GNA. Ankara is also on a collision course with the EU member states, particularly France and Germany, over the issue of migrants flocking to the border with Greece, the southern flank of the European Union.

However, the presence of thousands of Syrian mercenaries and dozens of Turkish military advisors on the ground in and around Tripoli gives Ankara some political leverage when needed. Against this background, Haftars visit and the way that he was received in Paris could mean that France and the EU are ready to take a stand against Turkey over Libya, and possible Syria as well. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is clearly using the migrant tragedy to put pressure on the EU to support him in Syria, as Russia is abandoning its Idlib agreements with him.

Yet it is unlikely that any new EU mediation in Libya, or French for that matter, will bear fruit any time soon. The UN Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame  the accepted mediation channel  resigned last week, freezing any new political initiatives for the Libyan file until his replacement is appointed.

If anything, Khalifa Haftars visits to France and Germany reinforce his international position and many EU countries, including France, see him as a man to do business with. He may not be the ideal option for Libya, but many Libyans would argue that he is the lesser of two evils.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 22:49:18|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said Friday it summoned the U.S. and British ambassadors to Iraq following the overnight airstrikes on military bases housing paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces.

"Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali al-Hakim ordered to summon the U.S. and British ambassadors to Baghdad during an emergency meeting," Ahmed al-Sahaf, the ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

At least five security members and a civilian were killed in overnight U.S. airstrikes on military bases housing paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces south of Baghdad, the Iraqi military said earlier on Friday.

The airstrikes came after Wednesday's rocket attack on Camp Taji north of Baghdad that killed two U.S. soldiers and one British service member and wounded a dozen others.

The military bases housing U.S. troops across Iraq and the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad have been frequently targeted by insurgent mortar and rocket attacks.

Over 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support Iraqi forces in battles against the Islamic State, mainly for training and advisory purposes.
Open source

Soon, infectious medical institutions in each region of Ukraine will be fully provided with rapid tests to detect signs of coronavirus. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said this in his address, the broadcast was conducted by the 112 Ukraine television channel.

"By a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, $3.8 million has already been allocated for personal protective equipment. If necessary, almost $20 mln will be immediately allocated for the purchase of medical equipment for intensive care according to the accelerated procedure. 200 thousand rapid tests will be made without delay by the Institute of Molecular Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. From the state reserve, 10 million masks will be transferred to healthcare institutions. Mobile laboratories will also be used for testing in the regions of Ukraine,  Zelensky said.

As we reported before, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Ukrainians regarding the country's complete closure of air traffic due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Three days later, Ukraine closes regular flights with other countries. Cargo checkpoints, air, rail, sea and road, will continue to operate.
The US and China are engaged in a war of words amid suggestions Beijing could cut the supply of medicine in response to the Trump administrations description of COVID-19 as the Wuhan virus.

While health experts in the US and elsewhere have stressed the global nature of the pandemic and sought to avoid blaming China, where the first coronavirus cases were detected, some in the Trump administration have pointed accusatory fingers.

Officials such as secretary of state Mike Pompeo, have taken to referring to the disease as the Wuhan coronavirus, in reference to the city in Hubei province where the first cases were concentrated.

Donald Trumps national security advisor, Robert OBrien was even more barbed.

Rather than using best practices, this outbreak in Wuhan was covered up, he said, speaking at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington DC. Theres lots of open-source reporting from China, that the doctors involved were either silenced or put in isolation, or that sort of thing, so that the word of this virus could not get out. It probably cost the world community two months.

China has said it is helping the international community.

UN Ambassador Zhang Jun told reporters in New York it had provided medical supplies to nations such as South Korea, Japan and Italy.

We are sending medical teams to countries that need that, and we will do whatever to join the international community to fight this virus because we have only one world, we need to join hands, we need to show solidarity, he said.

Republican senator Marco Rubio highlighted apparent threats from Beijing to cut off supplies of medicine to the US, amid anger by some to blame China for not acting quickly enough.

Speaking to Fox News, he pointed to an article in Xinhua, the state-run media agency, which noted Mr Trump had praised the efforts of Chinese president Xi Jinping to confront the illness.

 Coronavirus: Can herd immunity help the UK battle the outbreak?

But the article said initially the USs reaction to China, including a travel ban, was very unkind.

If China retaliates against the United States at this time, in addition to announcing a travel ban on the United States, it will also announce strategic control over medical products and ban exports to the United States. Then the United States will be caught in the ocean of new coronaviruses, the article said.

Also according to the US CDC officials, most of the drugs in the United States are importedIf China banned exports, the United States will fall into the hell of a new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic.

It added: We should say righteously that the US owes China an apology, the world owes China a thank you.

Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK The usually busy Royal Mile in Edinburgh is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 13 March Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Ho bart's Amusement Arcade in Westward Ho!, Devon is offering toilet roll and soap as prizes in grabber machines Rob Braddick/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK An empty platform at Farringdon Station in London the morning after the Prime Minister said that Covid-19 "is the worst public health crisis for a generation" PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Shopkeepers Asiyah Javed and husband Jawad from Day Today Express, in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk are giving away facemasks, antibacterial hand wash and cleaning wipes to the elderly in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A usually busy street in Cambridge is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 2 March James Linsell-Clark/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitiser dispenser is seen inside the stadium during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on 8 March Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Maaya Indian Kitchen in Milton Keynes is offerig customers a free roll of toilet paper with every takeaway order SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Oliver Cooper[L], was sent home from school for selling spurts of handsanitiser to fellow pupils at 50p a time. He poses with mum Jenny Tompkins by their home in Leeds Ashley Pemberton/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in London on 12 March EPA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A member of the public is swabbed at a drive through Coronavirus testing site set up in a car park in Wolverhampton Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A passenger wears a protective face mask as she travels on a bus in the City of London AFP/Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A Southampton fan wears a face mask before the match against Newcastle United on 7 March Reuters Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A loudspeaker placed in grounds of St Mary's Catholic Church in Broughattin, Dundalk, County Louth ahead of funeral mass later this morning. The loudspeaker has been placed in the grounds after the Catholic Archdiocese said that funerals and weddings should not exceed 100 attendees within the church building PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitising station set up outside Cheltenham Racecourse during day four of the Cheltenham Festival on 13 March PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK People wearing protective face masks walk across London Bridge on 11 March AFP/Getty

Mr Rubio said the had been wrong to allow its own medicine manufacturing capabilities moved offshore.

[China] can threaten to cut us off from our pharmaceutical supplies, they could trigger a domestic problem here that would make it difficult or us to confront them, he said. Its a tremendous amount of leverage.

Health professionals, who depend on China for access to the country, have publicly praised Beijing for its response. On Capitol Hill, Robert Redfield, director of CDC said this week: They really have now got control of their outbreak.

Meanwhile, the state department has summoned the Chinese ambassador after a spokesperson with Chinas foreign ministry suggested the US military might have brought coronavirus to Wuhan.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
From a simple blood draw, microbial DNA may reveal who has cancer and which type, even at early stages

When Gregory Poore was a freshman in college, his otherwise healthy grandmother was shocked to learn that she had late-stage pancreatic cancer. The condition was diagnosed in late December. She died in January.

She had virtually no warning signs or symptoms, Poore said. No one could say why her cancer wasnt detected earlier or why it was resistant to the treatment they tried.

As Poore came to learn through his college studies, cancer has traditionally been considered a disease of the human genome  mutations in our genes allow cells to avoid death, proliferate and form tumors.

But when Poore saw a 2017 study in Science that showed how microbes invaded a majority of pancreatic cancers and were able to break down the main chemotherapy drug given to these patients, he was intrigued by the idea that bacteria and viruses might play a bigger role in cancer than anyone had previously considered.

Poore is currently an MD/PhD student at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, where hes conducting his graduate thesis work in the lab of Rob Knight, PhD, professor and director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation.

Together with an interdisciplinary group of collaborators, Poore and Knight have developed a novel method to identify who has cancer, and often which type, by simply analyzing patterns of microbial DNA  bacterial and viral  present in their blood.

The study, published March 11, 2020 in Nature, may change how cancer is viewed, and diagnosed.

Almost all previous cancer research efforts have assumed tumors are sterile environments, and ignored the complex interplay human cancer cells may have with the bacteria, viruses and other microbes that live in and on our bodies, Knight said.

The number of microbial genes in our bodies vastly outnumbers the number of human genes, so it shouldnt be surprising that they give us important clues to our health.

Cancer-associated microbial patterns

The researchers first looked at microbial data available from The Cancer Genome Atlas, a database of the National Cancer Institute containing genomic and other information from thousands of patient tumors. To the teams knowledge, it was the largest effort ever undertaken to identify microbial DNA in human sequencing data.

From 18,116 tumor samples, representing 10,481 patients with 33 different cancer types, emerged distinct microbial signatures, or patterns, associated with specific cancer types. Some were expected, such as the association between human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical, head and neck cancers, and the association between Fusobacterium species and gastrointestinal cancers. But the team also identified previously unknown microbial signatures that strongly discriminated between cancer types. For example, the presence of Faecalibacterium species distinguished colon cancer from other cancers.

Armed with the microbiome profiles of thousands of cancer samples, the researchers then trained and tested hundreds of machine learning models to associate certain microbial patterns with the presence of specific cancers. The machine learning models were able to identify a patients cancer type using only the microbial data from his or her blood.

The researchers then removed high-grade (stage III and IV) cancers from the dataset and found that many cancer types were still distinguishable at earlier stages when relying solely on blood-derived microbial data. The results held up even when the team performed the most stringent bioinformatics decontamination on the samples, which removed more than 90 percent of the microbial data.

Applying the microbial DNA test

To determine if these microbial patterns could be useful in the real world, Knight, Poore and team analyzed blood-derived plasma samples from 59 consenting patients with prostate cancer, 25 with lung cancer and 16 with melanoma, provided by collaborators at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health. Employing new tools they developed to minimize contamination, the researchers developed a readout of microbial signatures for each cancer patient sample and compared them to each other and to plasma samples from 69 healthy, HIV-negative volunteers, provided by the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

The teams machine learning models were able to distinguish most people with cancer from those without. For example, the models could correctly identify a person with lung cancer with 86 percent sensitivity and a person without lung disease with 100 percent specificity. They could often tell which participants had which of the three cancer types. For example, the models could correctly distinguish between a person with prostate cancer and a person with lung cancer with 81 percent sensitivity.

The ability, in a single tube of blood, to have a comprehensive profile of the tumors DNA (nature) as well as the DNA of the patients microbiota (nurture), so to speak, is an important step forward in better understanding host-environment interactions in cancer, said co-author Sandip Pravin Patel, MD, a medical oncologist and co-leader of experimental therapeutics at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health.

With this approach, there is the potential to monitor these changes over time, not only as a diagnostic, but for long-term therapeutic monitoring. This could have major implications for the care of cancer patients, and in the early detection of cancer, if these results continue to hold up in further testing.

Comparison to current cancer diagnostics

According to Patel, diagnosis of most cancers currently requires surgical biopsy or removal of a sample from the suspected cancer site and analysis of the sample by experts who look for molecular markers associated with certain cancers. This approach can be invasive, time-consuming and costly.

Several companies are now developing liquid biopsies methods to quickly diagnose specific cancers using a simple blood draw and technologies that allow them to detect cancer-specific human gene mutations in circulating DNA shed by tumors. This approach can already be used to monitor progression of tumors for some types of already-diagnosed cancers, but is not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for diagnostic use.

While there has been amazing progress in the area of liquid biopsy and early cancer detection, current liquid biopsies arent yet able to reliably distinguish normal genetic variation from true early cancer, and they cant pick up cancers where human genomic alterations arent known or arent detectable, said Patel, who also serves as the deputy director of the San Diego Center for Precision Immunotherapy.

Thats why theres often a risk that current liquid biopsies will return false-negative results in the setting of low disease burden. Its hard to find one very rare human gene mutation in a rare cell shed from a tumor, Patel said. Theyre easy to overlook and you might be told you dont have cancer, when you really do.

According to the researchers, one advantage of cancer detection based on microbial DNA, compared to circulating human tumor DNA, is its diversity among different body sites. Human DNA, in contrast, is essentially the same throughout the body. By not relying on rare human DNA changes, the study suggests that blood-based microbial DNA readouts may be able to accurately detect the presence and type of cancers at earlier stages than current liquid biopsy tests, as well as for cancers that lack genetic mutations detectable by those platforms.

Limitations and cautions

The researchers are quick to point out that theres still the possibility blood-based microbial DNA readouts could miss signs of cancer and return a false-negative result. But they expect their new approach will become more accurate as they refine their machine learning models with more data.

And while false negatives may be less common with the microbial DNA approach, false positives  hearing you have cancer when you dont  are still a risk.

Patel said that just because a cancer is detected early, it doesnt mean it always requires immediate treatment. Some DNA changes are non-cancerous, changes related to aging, harmless or self-resolve. You would never know about them without the test. Thats why more screening and more cancer diagnoses might not always be a good thing, Patel said, and should be determined by expert clinicians.

The team also cautioned that even if a microbial readout indicates cancer, the patient would likely require additional tests to confirm the diagnosis, determine the stage of the tumor and identify its exact location.

Looking ahead

Knight said many challenges still lay ahead as his team further develops these initial observations into an FDA-approved diagnostic test for cancer. Most of all, they need to validate their findings in a much larger and more diverse patient population, an expensive undertaking. They need to define what a healthy blood-based microbial readout might look like among many, diverse people. Theyd also like to determine whether the microbial signatures they can detect in human blood are coming from live microbes, dead microbes or dead microbes that have burst open, dispersing their contents  an insight that might help them refine and improve their approach.

To advance blood-based microbial DNA readouts through the next steps toward regulatory approval, commercialization and clinical application of a diagnostic test, Knight and Poore have filed patent applications and they founded a spinout company called Micronoma, with co-author Sandrine Miller-Montgomery, PhD, professor of practice in the Jacobs School of Engineering and executive director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation at UC San Diego.

The latest study may prompt important shifts in the field of cancer biology, Poore said.

For example, its common practice for microbiologists to use many contamination controls in their experiments, but these have historically been rarely used in cancer studies, he said. We hope this study will encourage future cancer researchers to be microbially conscious.

The researchers also suggest cancer diagnostics may only be the beginning for the newly discovered cancer-associated blood microbiome.

This new understanding of the way microbial populations shift with cancer could open a completely new therapeutic avenue, Miller-Montgomery said. We now know the microbes are there, but what are they doing? And could we manipulate or mimic these microbes to treat cancer?

Additional co-authors include: Qiyun Zhu, Carolina Carpenter, Serena Fraraccio, Stephen Wandro, Tomasz Kosciolek, Stefan Janssen, Se Jin Song, Jad Kanbar, Robert Heaton, Rana McKay, Austin D. Swafford, UC San Diego; Evguenia Kopylova, formerly of UC San Diego, now at Clarity Genomics; and Jessica Metcalf, formerly of UC San Diego, now at Colorado State University, Fort Collins.

This research was funded, in part, by National Institutes of Health (grants and contracts 5T32GM007198-42, 5T32GM007198-43, R00AA020235, R01DA026334, P30MH062513, P01DA012065, P50DA026306, HHSN261201400008C and HHSN261201500003I) and the UC San Diego Chancellors Microbiome and Microbial Sciences Initiative.

Disclosures: Gregory Poore and Rob Knight have jointly filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/754,696 and International Application No. PCT/US19/59647 on the basis of this work. Poore, Knight and Sandrine Miller-Montgomery have started a company to commercialize the intellectual property. Knight is a member of the scientific advisory board for GenCirq, Inc., holds an equity interest in GenCirq, and can receive reimbursements for expenses up to $5,000 per year from the company. Knight, Miller-Montgomery and Austin D. Swafford are directors at the Center for Microbiome Innovation at UC San Diego, which receives industry research funding for various microbiome initiatives, but no industry funding was provided for this cancer microbiome project. Evguenia Kopylova is employed by Clarity Genomics, but the company did not provide funding for this study.

UC San Diego
CITY HALL -- As the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases reaches the highest in the country, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has kicked the decision to close down New Yorks public schools to localities.

Based on the current data the state has, Cuomo said he is not ready to issue a statewide schools closure directive.

On Friday, Cuomo said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases across the state rose to 421. In New York City, Cuomo said the number of confirmed cases now stands at 154 -- 59 more cases since Thursday.

The state at this point, with these numbers, does not believe we need to close schools statewide, Cuomo told reporters at a press conference Friday. If a locality feels they should close schools either because they think theres a health reason or frankly because they think theres an anxiety based reason, I understand that. If the numbers tell us a different story, I have no problem setting a statewide standard.

We dont have a position determined by facts and data that says the closing of schools would make a difference and you know there are negative consequences, he continued.

Cuomos position on school closures comes as City Council members, Staten Islands entire political delegation and the United Federation of Teachers have called on Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza to close down the citys schools to stop the spread of the virus.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday as he declared a state of emergency in New York City to respond to the outbreak, that he expects the number of confirmed cases to rise to 1,000 citywide by next week.

But despite the uptick in cases, de Blasio said he wants to keep the citys public schools, mass transit, and healthcare system up and running at at all costs.

The decision to keep the schools open is to help students in need of meals and parents who rely on the school system to be able to work, the mayor has said.

We should not have an illusion that if you close schools kids are not going to still be connecting with other kids and family members and be out and around, the mayor said on The Brian Lehrer Show Friday in response to the White Houses Coronavirus Task Forces Dr. Anthony Fauci, who said forceful mitigation requirements would be needed, like school closures, if there was significant community spread of the virus.

The notion that were going to isolate every child from the rest of their family, I think is very suspect, I think, in fact, it puts tremendous strain on families, de Blasio continued.

For now, the state is only requiring that if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19 a school will be closed for at least 24 hours. The local Health Department will notify schools if and when a school must close due to COVID-19.

CUOMO THINKS THERE ARE ALREADY THOUSANDS OF CORONAVIRUS CASES ACROSS STATE

But Cuomo said ultimately there is no way to fully protect yourself from the virus.

He thinks that New York could have thousand and thousands of cases that people do not know about.

Cuomo said even his daughter was placed in precautionary quarantine for 14 days because she came in contact with someone who had been in a coronavirus hot spot and did not know if that person had tested positive for the virus.

This is going to be everywhere, Cuomo said. This day to day count were up to  my guess is that there are thousands and thousands of cases walking around the State of New York, my guess is that there are thousands of cases of people who had coronavirus, didn't even know they had the coronavirus, had symptoms resolved, moved on and never knew they had it.

Eighty percent will self resolve, there could be tens of thousands of people who have had it, Cuomo continued.

The Department of Education confirmed Friday that a student who attends the Hungerford program at New Dorp High School tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the school to close for at least 24 hours, beginning Friday.

Earlier this week, Cuomo announced the State University of New York (SUNY) and the City University of New York (CUNY) classes would move online next week for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.
Schools are staying open so parents don't have to take time off to look after their children, the Education Secretary said yesterday.

Gavin Williamson said he was 'particularly mindful' of increasing strain on the workforce of public services such as the NHS.

Meanwhile a new package of powers set to be unveiled next week could force schools to stay open during the crisis, The Times reports.

The Education Secretary will host a coronavirus summit on Monday in which plans may be made to give free food to the poorest pupils and allow schoolchildren to sit exams at home. Mr Williamson will meet union leaders and school bosses to thrash out responses to worst-case scenarios.

But while Britain is keeping its schools open, other countries - including Ireland - are shutting down their education systems.

Mr Williamson maintained that the 'impact of closing schools on children's education will be substantial, but the benefit to public health would not be'.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson arrives at the Cabinet Office in London, March 12

Speaking at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) conference, Mr Williamson said: 'I know your pupils will be worried about what all this means for their upcoming exams.

'This is only to be expected, especially when so much hard work has gone into them. I want to reassure you that we are doing everything to make sure that this year's exams are fair for students, and that their efforts will be fairly rewarded.'

He added: 'Schools being open is important, especially for those children from the most disadvantaged communities.'

Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Geoff Barton has asked for clarity from the Government on whether GCSEs and A-levels will take place

Geoff Barton, ASCL general secretary, gave his backing to schools remaining open. 'Young people are safest and are best served by focus on the routines, the rhythms of learning,' he said.

Meanwhile, charities have written to the Government saying cash should be made available to help low-income families cope if schools are shuttered.

At least 1.5million children eligible for free school meals could be affected.

The charities said direct cash transfers are 'by far the most effective tool in order to aid families to weather the storm' and are preferable to vouchers and funding for lunch clubs.

Headteachers demanded to know if exams will go ahead when the coronavirus peaks as a petition to close schools soared to 445,000.

Mr Barton had asked for clarity from the Government on whether GCSEs and A-levels will take place.

He had said: 'Parents and pupils are worried about being the victim of something out of their control and are asking, ''Will I get into college or university''?'

There were doubts over whether GCSEs and A-levels could be done outside school, with Mr Williamson saying the 'integrity of the exam system' was 'vital'.

A petition, started by Sami Attout, urged Boris Johnson to shut down schools and colleges 'in the coming weeks of as soon as possible', to prevent the spread of Covid19
TEHRAN, Iran, March 13

Trend:

China has sent six humanitarian aid cargos to Iran to fight the coronavirus spread, head of the Iran and China Joint Chamber of Commerce Majid Reza Hariri told Trend.

"The sixth cargo of humanitarian aid from China, which included oxygen concentrators, medical equipment to fight the coronavirus, were sent to Iran," he said.

"These cargos are not commercial. In the current situation, each country is making its own masks and detergents, antiseptics, so no one thinks about commerce," he said.

Hariri pointed to certain aid systems that are agreed upon between the governments.

"China has sent the biggest humanitarian cargos to Iran," said the official. "The European Union has sent one cargo and the World Health Organization sent two humanitarian aid cargos to Iran," he said.

Iran has faced growing number of Coronavirus infections while most neighbor countries have closed its borders. The official has previously told Trend in an interview that trade between China and Iran are ongoing.

Iran is one of the countries heavily affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 10,000 people have been infected, 429 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 3,200 have reportedly recovered from the disease.

The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease. The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 4,700. Over 128,000 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 68,000 people have reportedly recovered.

Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. The symptoms include cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing. It is primarily spread through airborne contact or contact with contaminated objects. In mild cases, according to the Chinese authorities, treatment takes about a week, in severe cases - two or more.

Chinese health authorities say that the majority of the people who have died were either elderly or had underlying health problems.

Aside from Mainland China, the cases of coronavirus spreading have also been confirmed in other countries. Several countries are developing a vaccine against the new virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
A popular and busy convenience store celebrated a relaunch last weekend.

FLYNN'S Centra@the fingerboard in Tullamore celebrated its relaunch on Saturday afternoon last with a host of giveaways at the popular Charleville Road filling station and convenience store.

Proprietor Aidan Flynn and family together with his hard-working team and loyal customers also celebrated three decades in business at the popular Tullamore outlet with Midlands 103 presenter, Mark Hughes broadcasting his Saturday afternoon show from the venue.

Flynn's Centra@the fingerboard has been redesigned and its range of products and services has been expanded while the CircleK forecourt continues to deliver value for money, quality and reliability in customers fuel needs.

The newly upgraded premises boasts an extended off licence, a full newsagency and a self service hot food bar and soup station. They have an extensive deli counter, an extended bakery and specialise in ready made and convenience meals to meet the needs of their busy clientele.

Flynn's Centra@the fingerboard has also introduced the full range of Mood ice-creams which are now a central offering in all Centra outlets around Ireland.

Aidan Flynn would like to thank all his customers for their loyalty over the past 30 years and the hard-working staff who have ensured the outlet's success.

Flynn's Centra@the fingerboard is open seven days a week, 7am to 10pm, Monday to Friday, 8am to 10pm on Saturday and 8.30am to 10pm on Sunday.


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Teachers in religious schools could lose their rights against discrimination and workplace mistreatment if the Supreme Court reclassifies them as ministers, California and 17 other states told the court in a case involving two California teachers who lost their jobs.

The justices are scheduled to hear arguments April 1 in a dispute over the meaning of the ministerial exception it established in 2012 that allowed religious schools to disregard discrimination laws in dealing with employees classified as ministers. That ruling upheld a Lutheran Church decision to fire an ailing Michigan teacher and noted she had been given a ministers title and extra job protections by her school, led her students in prayers, and claimed a ministers tax exemption.

The California cases will determine how broadly religious schools can define ministers. Catholic schools in the cases, along with the Trump administration, argue that any instructor whose job has a religious function  in particular, teaching religious classes according to the doctrines of the faith  should be classified as a minister.

Otherwise, lawyers for the schools told the court, religious institutions risk giving up control of who passes on their faith to the schoolchildren in their charge.

But the states say the schools argument distorts the 2012 ruling and could have serious consequences.

The test proposed by the religious schools and the Trump administration could deprive more than 100,000 lay Catholic school teachers of the protections other workers enjoy, lawyers for the 18 states, led by Virginia, told the court in a filing this week. In the longer term, its application could result in the non-enforcement of employment laws against religious institutions altogether.

Broadening the ministerial exception would rob Americans of critical, hard-fought anti-discrimination protections, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

The lead case before the court involved the late Kristen Biel, hired as a fifth-grade teacher in 2013 by St. James Catholic School in Torrance (Los Angeles County). The principal gave her a positive evaluation that fall, saying she had done a very good job in promoting a safe and caring learning environment.

Less than six months later, Biel was diagnosed with breast cancer and told the school she would need time off for surgery and chemotherapy. A few weeks later, the principal told her she would not be rehired for the following academic year and said her classroom management was not strict, adding that it was not fair ... to have two teachers for the children during the school year.

Biel then sued for disability discrimination. A federal judge dismissed the suit, saying the school was entitled to consider her a minister since she taught religion according to church precepts for a half hour every day, and she used Catholic themes and symbols in her overall curriculum.

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The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco disagreed and reinstated the suit in a 2-1 ruling in December 2018, saying that teaching religion in a religious school isnt enough to make someone a minister.

Unlike the teacher in the 2012 Supreme Court case, the appeals court majority said, Biels school did not describe her as a minister, there was no evidence that she considered herself a minister, and her job offered no special ministerial protections or benefits. She joined students in twice-daily prayers but did not lead them, the court said.

Biel died of cancer in June 2019. Two months earlier, the appeals court had relied on her case to reinstate a discrimination suit by another teacher, Agnes Morrissey-Berru, who was fired by a Catholic school in another Los Angeles County community, Hermosa Beach.

Both rulings were put on hold in December when the Supreme Court granted review. A ruling is due by the end of June.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
Hanoi bus operators are slashing trips as business is hit by the novel coronavirus scare, restraining large numbers of people from traveling.

Driver Nguyen Van Thuy, who plies the route from Hanoi to Vinh Town in the central province of Nghe An, said the number of daily passengers has dropped by up to 40 percent since the first novel coronavirus case was confirmed in the capital city on March 6.

Thuy's company now operates just 10-12 daily buses, compared to 20 before.

Other routes from Hanoi are facing a similar plight. Do Van Bang, director of Sao Viet Bus, said that the number of passengers has fallen 70 percent from before the Covid-19 epidemic and down 40 percent from February onwards.

The company is only running 10 buses a day from Hanoi to the northern province of Lao Cai, compared to 30 before the epidemic, he said.

"Weve had to cancel some trips or drive with just one or two passengers."

Trinh Hoai Nam, deputy director of Nuoc Ngam Bus Station, said that the daily number of active buses has fallen from 500 to 340 since the first confirmed case in the city.

Most companies have cut their trips down by 30-50 percent from the city to other northern localities, he added.

Few buses operate at Nuoc Ngam Bus Station in Hanoi on March 11, 2020 amid the coronavirus epidemic. Photo by VnExpress/Anh Duy.

Nguyen Anh Toan, director of the Hanoi Transport Station Jsc., which operates four bus stations in the city, said that latest developments in the novel coronavirus epidemic has resulted in less passengers than in February.

All major bus stations  My Dinh, Giap Bat and Yen Nghia have seen customer numbers drop 30-40 percent from before the epidemic, especially for long trips.

Hanoi confirmed its first novel coronavirus infection on March 6, a 26-year old woman returning from London, and since then has recorded four more.

It has locked down a street and an alley to contain the disease, and is preparing 1,000 hospital beds in case the virus spreads further.

In the last seven days, 28 people have been diagnosed with the Covid-19 infection in Vietnam, taking the total number so far to 44. The previous 16 cases were discharged weeks ago.
A York County school district and Lancaster County school district are closing on Friday after being informed of possible coronavirus exposures.

The Southern York County School District said there are not currently any confirmed cases of coronavirus in the district, but a community member has been tested due to possible exposure.

The district schools are closing out of an abundance of caution the district said, adding it will have continued discussions with the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Students will still be responsible for classwork, as Friday has been ruled a Flexible Instruction Day.

On Thursday, the School District of Lancaster also announced schools will be closed on Friday due to a possible exposure to coronavirus. The district did not state a source but said it is awaiting test results.

Personnel that need to report to work will be notified separately, but all other employees are not to report.

The administration and action response team will assess the situation and determine next steps, the School District of Lancaster said in a note on its website. Updates will be sent to families and staff through email.

On Friday, the SYCSD will be collaborating with York County Emergency Management, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Department of Education to asses the risks and the safety of students moving forward, the district said.

The district will be contacting families on Friday with additional information about when school will be back in session.

The district provided instructions on where to complete their work for the day but said students should contact their teachers if they have problems completing their homework.

As always, the safety of our students and staff is our highest priority, the district said.

Read more on PennLive:

Read complete coronavirus coverage here.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Three people who tested presumptive positive for coronavirus COVID-19 in Kent County are all older than 60 and recovering at home, Kent County health officials said.

Kent County Administrative Health Officer Adam London talked late Thursday, March 12 about developing information that three of 10 new presumptive positive cases of coronavirus in Michigan are in Kent County. There are now a total of 12 cases in the state.

The Kent County press conference came just moments before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke about the pandemic and her decision to close all K-12 schools from March 16 through April 5.

Related: Were going to get through this,' says Gov. Whitmer as she orders K-12 schools closed over coronavirus

London said all three people -- two women and a man -- have histories of international travel to areas that have known COVID-19 transmission. The three were not traveling as one group.

Two of the people have been in quarantine since they returned to the United States and the third person has very limited contact with other people.

None of the three required hospitalization and they have been seen by physicians.

London said the identification of three people in Kent County, so far, did not come as a shock to health officials

This is not a surprise to us. Weve been expecting this for some time, London said. This does not significantly change the recommendations we have been communicating to the community.

We want to encourage people to continue to follow those best practices -- stay home if youre sick, washing your hands and making sure were doing the things we can to protect ourselves and especially the most vulnerable members of our community, those who are over the age of 60 and those with underlying health conditions. he said.

London declined to reveal other details about the three individuals or where they traveled for privacy reasons.

He said health officials are working to speak with all people who came into contact with the three individuals so that they can be quarantined. So far, however, there is no indication that any of those contacts have shown any symptoms of COVID-19.

The other nine individuals are working with their health departments in Ingham, Montcalm, Oakland, St. Clair and Washtenaw counties.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

Read more on MLive:

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Heres a list of specific recommendations from state health officials

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Some Michigan jury trials, probation reporting canceled due to coronavirus outbreak
Thousands of Irish people who attended the Cheltenham Festival will begin pouring in through the country's major airports this weekend, with no thermal screening currently in place.

While travel agents say a "small number" of people cancelled their packages to attend the Gloucestershire event in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, huge numbers still pushed ahead.

Returning punters are also under no obligation to self-isolate or restrict their movements because England is not an at risk zone, Health Minister Simon Harris said today.

However, it should be noted that individuals travelling from Italy and Spain who do not have symptoms of the coronavirus will be asked to restrict movement when they return here from today.

Irish Contingent

An estimated 15,000 people from these shores travel to Cheltenham every year and there was a noticeable Irish contingent in place this year out of a total expected attendance of 250,000 over the course of the week.

Although Dublin Airport has been extremely quiet, flights from Birmingham and Bristol, the two main hubs for the annual festival, have arrived back in full of passengers who have attended the racing blow-out.

Yesterday saw Aer Lingus cancelling its in-flight service from Birmingham due to health restrictions.

However, on arrival into the capital's airport, passengers who may have spent the week mingling at the large-scale racing gathering were free to exit as normal.

Advice

They were advised that anyone concerned about coronavirus should seek medical advice at the HSE stand set up in the arrivals lounge.

Two members of staff were present at a table surrounded by notices about Covid-19, but no one who had just exited yesterday's 8am flight from Birmingham approached them for advice before carrying on their journey.

At present, the warning level for the UK is set at 'normal precautions' and there is no instruction for travellers from there to stay indoors and self-isolate.

According to the HSE, while the Cheltenham Festival is deemed to be a large-scale gathering, the risk remains low and anyone affected in this area should be in containment phase in a hospital at this point.

The health authorities added that anyone who has come in contact with someone showing signs of Covid-19 should ring their GP immediately.

Irish officials say airport screening, temperature checks and travel bans are not appropriate measures at this time.

Dublin Airport says it is following the advice of the HSE's Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) when it comes to the issue.

It believes screening at airports "does not work" and is not recommended by the WHO and those are the reasons why such measures are not being carried out.

A statement said it was continuing to follow all public health guidelines and protocols from both the HSE and the HPSC, which sets Ireland's policy with regards to dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak.

Dublin Airport said it had been liaising with both bodies regularly on the issue.

Some countries, including the UAE and the Ukraine, have implemented designated gates to screen passengers arriving in from high-risk locations.

These include countries such as China, Italy, Lebanon, Spain and Syria.

In addition to thermal screening to detect a temperature spike, which may indicate the onset of symptoms related to coronavirus, passengers may also undergo nasal swabbing for final confirmation.
Prison is an institution established by law to provide rehabilitation and correctional facility for those who violated the law as a punitive measure. However, besides its punitive goal, prison is primarily meant to reform the inmates to be better people in the society.

Like every other society, Nigeria has her own fair share of prisons scattered all across the country. In 1872, the colonial masters set up the Broad Street prison with a capacity for about 300 inmates. It must be stressed that the colonial prisons were not really intended, at that time, to reform prisoners. Rather, prisoners were mostly engaged in hard labour as dictated by the colonial administration.

It is, however, sad to note that nothing really fundamental has taken place in the outlook of the colonial days prisons and contemporary ones in Nigeria. In terms of being a reformation home, Nigerias prisons cannot be said to be to have arrived yet. Welfare of prison inmates has always been an issue as most of the nations prisons are considered not too good for human habitation.

Indeed, there have often been skirmishes between prison warders and prisoners based on issues such as poor feeding arrangement, inadequate accommodation space and pathetic medical facility among others. Sometimes, some of the prisons have limited number of suitable vehicles to convey prison inmates awaiting trial to court.

These shortcomings have resulted in poor prison conditions. Therefore, inmates face years of confinement in often cramped and dirty rooms with insufficient food allocations, inadequate minimum standard of basic hygiene and scarcity of decent clothing. A major bane of prisons across the country is overcrowding which constitutes a serious threat to the health of inmates.

According to experts, cases of jail break have been partly traced to the unbearable conditions of inmates. It is not unusual to see a typical Nigerian prisoner look so frail with rashes all over the skin, among other deadly physical diseases. While one isnt advocating that prison inmates should be treated as Lords and Queens, at the same time, prison shouldnt be made to be hell on earth for them.

Universally, the prison ought to train inmates in trades or vocations that could uplift them whenever they are out of prison. The idea is to ensure that they are properly integrated into the society after their sojourn behind bar. This way, they wont likely constitute nuisance to the society. Towards this end, prisons ought to have facilities for both formal and informal education to support the various aspirations of inmates.

Ideally, the prison aside serving as a form of punishment for offenders, is also planned to be an agent of reformation and rehabilitation. But sadly, reverse seems to be the case as too many criminal offenders emerge from prisons worse off than they initially were. This is largely due to the fact that first time offenders are often kept together with hardened criminals and they end up being badly influenced by the latter. Consequently, they will not be able to imbibe the right values which their imprisonments were meant to inculcate.

From all indications, the prison system in our nation is in dire need of interventions from various segments of the society. Major stakeholders need to come up with ideas and initiatives that would radically alter the system. In as much as it is true that prison is in the exclusive list and not within the control of the States, it needs to be stressed that State governments should not look away at the current state of the prisons in their respective States. After all, the police are not under the State too, but the various State governments across the country have made major interventions because of the crucial nature of the police to public security matters.

Similarly, philanthropists, religious bodies and non- governmental organizations as well as corporate bodies could also assist the prisons through donation of essential items in order to achieve the goal of actually reforming the inmates. Also, prison officials should continuously undergo trainings, particularly in inter- personal relationships and psychology in order to attain the competence required in effectively performing their duties. Equally, the issue of gangsterism, which makes some inmates deferential to others, should be properly addressed. Juvenile offenders should be housed separately from the adults to forestall undue influences.

It is, however, important to emphasize that in order to reduce the burden on prisons in the country, more emphasis needs to be placed on the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (A D R) method. The main objective of ADR is to encourage and promote the resolution of disagreements in a way that is devoid of legal action. It is on this principle that the Lagos State Government anchors the creation of the Citizens Mediation Centre, CMC, in 1999. The initiative is to help in settling disputes without seeking redress in courts. The goal is to ensure that much strain isnt placed on the judicial process. With this, the prison would attract lesser number of inmates.

Ogunbiyi is of the Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja
Irina Shayk was recently spotted grabbing lunch with ex Bradley Cooper.

But the Russian model has mastered the art of single life since their split back in June of last year.

She rocked a cool look in a black leather motorcycle jacket Friday as she stepped out in New York City.

Leather queen: Irina Shayk rocked a cool look in a black leather motorcycle jacket Friday as she stepped out in New York City

The 34-year-old complemented the coat with a pink sweatshirt and a pair of skintight black leggings.

She finished the look with some thin black sunglasses, a silver necklace and a pair of black rubber Christian Dior combat boots.

Shayk carried a black Mozart tote bag on her arm as she took a call while running errands.

She reportedly grabbed lunch with Cooper, 45, and their daughter Lea, two, last week at Pier59 Studios.

Pink lady chic: The 34-year-old complemented the coat with a pink sweatshirt and a pair of skintight black leggings

Big girl boots: She finished the look with some thin black sunglasses, a silver necklace and a pair of black rubber Christian Dior combat boots

According to ET, she was there for a Victoria's Secret shoot when they stopped by on her break.

The outing comes after the exes made their first public appearance together since the split.

They were both in attendance last month at a British Vogue party in London, where they posed with editor-in-chief Edward Enninful.

She said in her British Vogue cover story: 'Two great people dont have to make a good couple.'

'I think weve been very lucky to experience what we had with each other. Life without B is new ground.'
School Superintendent William Hite (right) addressees a Health Department press conference at the Fire Department's Emergency Operations Center Mar. 12, 2020 to update the City's response to COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Philadelphia. Mayor Kenney is at center and Thomas Farley, Health Commissioner, Philadelphia Department of Public Health, is at left. Read more

I pray that this op-ed never sees the light of day. For if you are reading it, thats bad news for Philadelphia. COVID-19 is not fake news and should stop being treated by city and school leaders as no big deal. Its one thing for the School District of Philadelphia to drag its feet on school closings on snow days, but this is life and death.

According the New York Times on Friday morning, officials have offered dire predictions where upwards of 214 million Americans could become infected, hospitals could run out of beds for the sick, and the death toll could rise as high at 1.7 million people. These are predictions, but they do not have to become reality. One of the best ways to prevent this doomsday scenario is to greatly reduce daily contact in large groups you know, like schools. The city has already banned gatherings of 1,000 or more and recommends cancelling meetings of 250 to 1,000. The city should take its own advice and close all the schools  not just the 63 schools with an abundance of teachers from Montgomery County (where Governor Wolf advised non-essential travel so Philly teachers who live there were forced to call out from work).

Here are my top reasons for closing all Philly schools now:

1. While most children are relatively safe so far, there are others who have asthma, issues with their immune system, and other health reasons that mean they should not be potentially exposed to the coronavirus. Just yesterday, the Inquirer reported that a Philly teacher has been in close contact with a family member known to have contracted the virus, potentially putting children and others at risk.

2. Encountering children who may have the been exposed to the virus puts parents, grandparents, teachers, school staff, and others who are in the most vulnerable groups at risk.

3. Many children use SEPTA trains, trolleys, and buses each day during the morning rush hour. Need I say more?

4. The District has not used snow days this year, so schools can make up missed time at the end of the semester.

5. The NBA, NHL, MLB, NCAA, Disneyland, and others have all made significant and historic changes to their scheduling. Schools are closed in the states of Michigan, Maryland, and Ohio. Why should we be different? Do we know something they dont know?

6. And lets not forget that the Philly School District ordered alcohol-free hand sanitizer that does not meet the guidelines of the CDC, according to the teachers union. Yet, we are to trust that the SDP has this all under control? Im having flashbacks from asbestos-filled buildings in the not so distant past.

Some will say that closing the schools places a hardship on families who rely upon them for the basics like a daily meal. We dont have to choose one or the other. We can  and must  do both. Norristown officials have said theyre working on plans to make food available and on Thursday night, handed out food to many families. Surely, Philadelphia can do the same.

We must close the schools while we still have time, for the adage is right that you cant close the barn door after the cow has gotten away. Simply put, changing behavior saves lives. If you agree that the schools must be closed now, sign this online petition and let your voice be heard.

Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D. is a Philadelphia School District parent and Senior Pastor of Mother Bethel AME Church.
Two former Health Ministers have backed the decision not to close Northern Ireland's schools, saying the country's top medical officers would have provided the best possible advice to the Executive on the matter.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced on Thursday that all schools, colleges and childcare centres in the Republic will close for two weeks.

However, Boris Johnson insisted there was no need to close UK schools as the scientific advice was that it could "do more harm than good".

Former Health Ministers Michael McGimpsey and Jim Wells both agreed that the decision to close schools should be made by Northern Ireland's chief medical officer, Dr Michael McBride.

However, they did concede that as the coronavirus pandemic is a rapidly evolving situation, the medical advice could change within 24 hours.

Former South Belfast MLA Mr McGimpsey, who was the Minister of Health from 2007 to 2011, believes Northern Ireland's schools will close "eventually", but added that there is currently no evidence to suggest that closing them now will stop the spread of Covid-19.

"The UK response is very much a science-based response because the Cobra committee is advised by the scientific advisory group, public health, the four jurisdictions and chief medical officers," explained the UUP politician.

"They come to a view - but the notion that Boris Johnson decided this, I would say, isn't accurate. It is decided by a consensus of the scientists through a discussion.

"As far as closing schools is concerned, the key question is: are children more vulnerable in school or out of it? There is no evidence to suggest that they are.

"In fact, children are amongst the least vulnerable among members of society.

"Secondly, in keeping the schools open, does that in any way accelerate the spread of the virus? There is no evidence for that as well.

"Looking at that, you would say that the balance is that you keep the schools open. They will all close eventually, but what we're always trying to do is delay the onset of the peak and squash it down to allow our health service to be in a position to cope with it."

He added that the downside of closing schools is that thousands of parents will be forced to take annual leave to look after their children, with many of those in the health profession, therefore adding to an already strained service.

Mr McGimpsey also said it was "terrible" that the Irish Government only gave Stormont a 10-minute warning ahead of Mr Varadkar's announcement on Friday.

"He is doing what he thinks is right by the Irish people, but I do think it's unfortunate the way it all came through," he concluded.

Meanwhile, the DUP's South Down MLA Mr Wells, who had the party whip withdrawn from him in 2018, said that politicians must follow the advice of the health professionals.

"I have the highest respect for Dr Michael McBride," stated Mr Wells, who was Health Minister from 2014 to 2015. "I worked with him for 12 years, and for both him and Robin Swann, I think the entire community is wishing them nothing but the best as they have to make very, very difficult and complex decisions.

"The decision must be what is best for the people of Northern Ireland and for the people of the entire island of Ireland.

"As the situation evolves, we may introduce controls which are even more significant than the Irish Republic, but it has to be based on sound evidence.

"I would not be surprised that within 24 hours time the medical evidence given [on Thursday] by the Prime Minister is completely overturned because of new information."
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish and Russian troops will begin jointly patrolling a key highway in northwest Syria on Sunday as part of a fragile truce brokered by the countries, Turkeys defence minister said Friday.

Hulusi Akar made the announcement after Turkish and Russian officials ended four days of talks in Ankara over the technicalities of the cease-fire reached last week for Syrias Idlib province.

The cease-fire by Russia and Turkey  which support the opposing sides in the Syria conflict  called for the establishment of a security corridor along Syrias M4 highway, running east-west in Idlib, with joint patrols by Russian and Turkish troops.

Speaking to reporters, Akar said the Russian and Turkish delegations agreed to set up joint co-ordinationcentres for Idlib. The minister did not provide further details.

Our hope is for the truce to rapidly become a permanent one, the minister said.

In rebel-held parts of Idlib, scores of people gathered in the town of Ariha on the M4 highway saying they reject patrols by Russian occupiers on the road, according to opposition war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, and el-Dorar al-Shamiya, an activist collective.

The observatory said the protesters are setting up tents on the highway to prevent the opening of the road that has been closed since 2012.

Syrias Transportation Minister Ali Hammoud was quoted by state media as saying that parts of the highway under government control have been cleared for the reopening by removing blocks and barriers. He added that the highway is very important for business as it is a considered a main link between neighbouring Iraq and the Mediterranean through Syria.

The truce halted a three-month air and ground campaign by the Syrian government against the rebel-held province. That offensive killed hundreds and sent 1 million people fleeing toward the Turkish border.

The Russian-backed Syrian government offensive made significant gains in Syrias last rebel stronghold. Turkey sent thousands of troops across the border to reinforce the rebels, leading to rare direct fighting between Syrian and Turkish troops.

The cease-fire deal also appeared to achieve Moscows key goal of allowing the Syrian government to keep hold of the strategic north-south highway known as the M5. Syrian forces had captured its last segments in the latest offensive, which began in early December.
The Congress party, after much speculation throughout the day, declared senior leaders Shakisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki as candidates for Rajya Sabha polls slated to be held on March 26 for four seats. If Congress party remains united the two leaders are likely to sail through the polls.

Earlier in the day, when the name of Rajiv Shukla, former Congress parliamentarian, along with Gohil had surfaced, a number of Congress MLAs lodged their protest with the state party president Amit Chavda. Many of the MLAs demanded that no outsider should be allowed to contest from the state. Another group of MLAs demanded that the inclusion of Solanki in place of Shukla.

Minutes after names of Gohil and Solanki were announced officials late on Thursday night, Rajiv Shukla tweeted, "I would like to thank Congress president Sonia Gandhi ji for offering me Rajya sabha nomination from Gujarat but currently I am focusing on organisational work so requested her to nominate some other person in my place."

"Congress would have become a divided house had Shukla been nominated for the seat. At least two dozen MLAs in the party were not convinced with the party's decision. Some of them lodged their protest in writing," said a Congress leader. As a matter of fact, Congress MLAs had started demanding to nominate leaders from Patidar or Thakor communities.

Congress has 73 MLAs in the 182 seat Gujarat assembly while BJP has 103 seats. The polls will be held for four seats for which each candidate would need 37 votes. The BJP, which declared two candidates- lawyer Abhay Bharadwaj and tribal leader Ramilaben Bara, on Wednesday is speculated to field a third candidate and might poach Congress leaders or win them over for cross-voting. The nominations will be filed on Friday which is also the last day of filing.
Depending on how devastating the Wuhan coronavirus turns out to be in this country, President Trumps response, and the way its perceived, might determine the outcome of this years presidential election. So far, aspects of Trumps response do not bode well for him and for those of us who want to see him reelected.

A week ago, during a press conference at the CDC, Trump insisted that anyone who wants to be tested for the virus can get a test. Trump appeared with the Secretary of HHS, Alex Azar, and CDC officials, who also spoke. More than once, Trump interrupted the speaker to make a claim about the availability of testing.

The precise claim varied. Once, Trump said that anybody that wants a test can get a test, thats what the bottom line is. Later, he said that anybody that needs a test can get one. He added that the tests are perfect, just like his conversation with the Ukrainian president about investigating the 2016 election and the Bidens.

The claim that anyone who wants a test for the virus can get one was false when Trump made it. It may be false even now, a week later. Indeed, Vice President Pence, who I think has acquitted himself well in this matter so far, had acknowledged the day before that the U.S. could not meet the demand for testing. (The truth of the claim that anyone who needs a test can get one hinges on how one defines needs.)

The administration promptly walked back Trumps false claim about how easy it is to get tested. Secretary Azar explained you may not get a test unless a doctor or public health official prescribes a test.

Azar defended Trumps statement as shorthand for the fact that the federal government is not restricting who can get tested. Rather, we are leaving that to the professional judgment of doctors and public health officials.

But thats very different from the absence of any restrictions on who can get tested, which is what Trump claimed. At best, Trump confused the absence of a federal restriction on testing with testing for anyone who wants to be tested. Thats not good enough in times like these.

Trump also fluffed his lines during his speech from the oval office. He said, erroneously, that the travel ban with Europe would include cargo and trade. Realizing his error, Trump promptly told his aides to make sure our European trading partners understand that the restriction does not apply to goods. He even tweeted to that the restriction stops people not goods.

The mainstream media seized on Trumps error, asserting that it triggered a stock market meltdown. I dont know about that. There are plenty of other reasons why stocks might have plunged the next day.

But Trump cant afford to keep committing errors when he talks about the Wuhan coronavirus, especially errors about something as pressing in the minds of Americans as the availability of testing. If Trump cant do better than he has so far, he would be well advised to let Mike Pence do nearly all of the administrations talking about this matter.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Friday said that the state government is "fully prepared to tackle the threat of coronavirus".

Speaking to the media, Rawat said: "The state government is fully prepared to tackle the threat of coronavirus, and till now no patient has tested positive for the virus. Appropriate isolation facilities, adequate medicines, and masks have been provided, and steps have been taken to ensure that there is no shortage of these supplies."

Rawat also said that doctors and health officials have been fully trained to deal with any emergency situation.

"We have screened 22,968 people coming from Nepal, and we have also screened 41,508 passengers at airports. All people have tested negative. We have also availed facilities such as medical teams, ambulances and infrared thermometers at the screening points," he said.

Rawat further informed that isolation wards have been put up in various medical institutions and colleges, and quarantine facilities have been introduced in several areas including Dehradun, Haridwar, and Nainital with a capacity to hold 800 people.

He also urged citizens not to panic over the coronavirus outbreak.

"Do not panic over common colds and coughs, as it is not necessary that they are related to coronavirus. The important thing is to be safe and aware, and maintain hygiene," he further added.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and expressed deep concern both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India, including foreign nationals, has risen to 75.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Personal income taxes are due in about a month.

President Trump announced that certain individuals will be able to defer their tax payments without penalty given the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin added a promise of substantial relief to certain taxpayers on Wednesday.

Yet, details are scarce. Trump says he plans to act using emergency authority and hes asked Congress for legislation.

However the plans shake out, experts are predicting a bumpy ride for taxpayers for the remainder of the filing season.

What Trump is going to do is create an enormous amount of confusion, says Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, referring to the idea of changing the tax-filing schedule for some people.

During his address to the Nation, President Trump said "I will be instructing the Treasury Department to defer tax payments, without interest or penalties, for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted. This action will provide more than $200 billion of additional liquidity to the economy. (DOUG MILLS/POOL via Getty Images)

Caroline Bruckner, a professor at American University, has some advice to those expecting to get a refund and who want to avoid potential messiness: Go ahead and file, right now, she says.

Many have taken that advice: according to IRS data through March 6, almost 68 million Americans  roughly half of all filers based on previous years  have already filed their tax returns, and nearly 53 million have gotten their refund.

It's like an immediate stimulus, says Bruckner.

In 2018 and 2019, as in other years, the vast majority tax of filers got a refund as opposed to a bill after filing their returns.

Confusion about a plan to extend tax season for certain individuals

The plans sketched out by the Trump administration  which the Treasury Department declined a request from Yahoo Finance to clarify  left some experts scratching their heads.

We don't know who those certain people are, Gleckman says. The more you think about it, the more complicated it gets.

For example, perhaps you define an impacted individual as someone living in a state with a confirmed coronavirus case? At this point, there are almost no states left that do not fit that description.

The COVID-19 pandemic is growing, with over 1,000 infected domestically and more than 120,000 worldwide.

I don't think there's a good way of sort of creating rules that carve out taxpayers very precisely, says Seth Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, who advocates for extending the deadline for everyone. I don't know why you'd draw lines.

Language in the Internal Revenue code says that the Secretary may grant a reasonable extension of time for filing a return and no such extension shall be for more than 6 months. The question is how that rule will be applied to the U.S. population and how many will be granted extensions.

Story continues

Perversely, what that could do actually is delay people who are claiming refunds from getting those refunds, says Gleckman. That could not only hurt them personally, but it actually could reduce consumption, which is exactly the opposite of what Trump wants.

Concerns about the IRS amid an ongoing outbreak

The coronavirus has already hit Washingtons bureaucracy. The SEC has asked its D.C. workers to telecommute after a coronavirus scare. The IRS has not reported any similar exposure, but such news in the day ahead could hit the agency especially hard as it enters the crucial tax deadline month.

A group of Democratic lawmakers recently sent the IRS a letter to outline their concerns about the ability of the IRS to provide taxpayer assistance and process returns given the impact of coronavirus.

The agency has not responded publicly to the letter and didnt respond to requests from Yahoo Finance for comment on how its preparing if a need arises to process tax returns remotely.

Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) was one of the signers of a letter to the IRS expressing concern. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

According to IRS data through last week, the agency received 0.4% more tax returns than at a similar point in 2019, but it has processed 1.4% fewer refunds.

The IRS has also been plagued by understaffing issues for years that could become a factor in an emergency response. As Hanlon notes, "the funding crisis and the brain drain at the IRS predates the Trump administration."

Hanlon takes a wider view and wonders if the entire system  including tax preparers  will be able to handle the strain if there are widespread self-quarantines in the weeks ahead. People do file electronically, but there's too many things that need to be done physically, he says.

There might be security concerns if the system needed to change in a hurry. You're always going to be worried about identity theft, taxpayer identity theft, Bruckner says. It's not as easy as being able to move everything immediately online.

A possibly bumpy ride ahead

The next few weeks or months may be difficult for taxpayers as they navigate their Form 1040 alongside a public health crisis, but experts expressed optimism that the system can hold together.

What you want to think about is whether or not you're one of the majority of people who are going to actually be getting a refund this year, says Bruckner. If so, that refund check could be a way that you can stabilize your finances as we move forward through this crisis.

I think for now, it's okay, says Gleckman, before adding a major caveat about the weeks ahead. As long as we dont turn into Italy, he says, we should be able to handle this filing season fine.

Ben Werschkul is a producer for Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.

Read more:

Former Obama official on coronavirus: 'Both the president and Congress are utterly failing'

Coronavirus response: Why Democrats are lukewarm on the idea of a payroll tax cut

Coronavirus response: Breaking down the $8.3 billion emergency spending bill Trump signed

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.
By Trend

A law on the legal status of the occupied territories should be adopted in Azerbaijan, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Member of the Committee on Legal Policy and State Building of Azerbaijan's Parliament said at the plenary meeting of the Parliament, Trend reports on March 13.

"Similar laws were adopted in a number of countries of the world. Foreign companies operate in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and are engaged in sponsorship there. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a law on the legal status of these territories, Hasanguliyev noted.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A 69-year-old woman who tested positive for coronavirus infection has died in Delhi, news agency PTI has reported quoting Health Ministry and Delhi government officials.

This is the second virus-related death in India after a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi in Karnataka died on March 10 night. The man was confirmed positive for coronavirus late on March 12 night.

The total number of cases in India rose to 81 on March 13, with Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) reporting fresh cases.

Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that the novel coronavirus outbreak was at the "containment stage", adding that the Centre and the Delhi government had been working together to deal with it.

Addressing a one-day session of the Delhi Assembly, the chief minister said his government had been taking every step to check the spread of the pandemic.

(This is a developing story. More details waited)
Bruce Willis in 12 Monkeys. Photo: Universal Pictures

As I write this addendum to the below essay, the world has not yet collapsed. I just went to pick up some supplies from my local chain pharmacy outlet and people seemed to be going about their daily business much as they always do. The ambience stood in stark contrast to the reports Id been reading all night about what the situation is likely to become in the near future. I felt like 12 Monkeys protagonist, James Cole  someone who has been in the future, after it all hit the fan, and is granted a brief, bittersweet opportunity to visit the world as it was before the fall. Given whats happening, we thought we should republish this essay, which I wrote a year and a half before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 12 Monkeys, a film that is less about surviving a plague than it is about making a meaningful life on the eve of a crisis  and stubbornly believing that theres something on the other side worth preparing for.

When it comes to the flexibility of history, time-travel stories exist on a spectrum. On one end are stories where fate can be easily changed. Back to the Future, in which Marty McFly reverses all manner of poor outcomes, dwells here. Move a bit down the line and you get the Terminator franchise, where Armageddon is never quite stopped, but can be staved off for a bit. Farther along, you get the approach to time travel in superhero comics, where certain events  the killings of Batmans parents or Peter Parkers Uncle Ben, for example  are fixed and others can be wildly altered. Finally, move all the way to the other extreme, and you get 12 Monkeys, where history is written in unbendable iron.

How can I save you? says the protagonist, Bruce Williss James Cole, early on in the 1995 Terry Gilliam film. This already happened. I cant save you. Nobody can. Hes speaking before a panel of psychiatrists in a mental institution in 1990, a year in which hes newly arrived. Hes been deemed crazy for his ravings about how hes been sent from the year 2035, where a scant remainder of humanity lives in squalid underground tunnels after having been driven from the surface by a viral pandemic. The movie wisely wastes no time on ambiguity about whether Coles story about a chronological jaunt is true or mere madness. By the time he appears before the shrinks, weve already seen Coles home time. Throughout the story, we know  sometimes even better than he does  the worldwide doom that awaits. Though there are moments in the movie in which it seems as though fate might be altered, the conclusion of this deeply pessimistic masterwork (spoiler alert) makes it clear that Cole is right: humanity falls, right on schedule. He couldnt save anyone. Nobody could.

Ive been thinking about 12 Monkeys a lot lately. It seems, these days, as though the human race has passed a Rubicon and is now on a straight path toward the end of days, or at least the end of the social order as we know it. The most obvious threat is not a virus, but rather our degradation of the biosphere. The U.N.s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made it clear that our ongoing ecological hubris means theres precious little chance we will avoid planetary upheaval of the worst variety, and suggests we will probably fall off a cliff in the next dozen or so years. We are still obligated to try to mitigate the extremity of the climate disaster, but the existence of that disaster is more or less a done deal.

So what does one do when the end is foreordained? The centrality of this question in 12 Monkeys is what makes it more valuable than ever, and one of the most currently relevant pieces of science fiction ever committed to celluloid. In addition to being visually stunning and filled with fascinating  if occasionally overcooked  performances, it puts forth a clarion call that is woefully necessary in these dark times. In short, 12 Monkeys offers a vision of the curious joy and hope that we must embrace when all conventional forms of it have been lost.

For the uninitiated, three points must be made before going further. One: This film has next to nothing to do with the recently concluded Syfy television series of the same name. They share a title, a few character names, and the existence of time travel; but where the movie is a grim psychological spelunking expedition with the aforementioned conceit of unchangeable history, the show is a pulpy thriller in which the space-time continuum is extremely plastic. Two: Its a very loose adaptation of Chris Markers seminal French New Wave short La Jetee, but 12 Monkeys deviates so significantly that we can call its themes and ideas its own. Three: The plot of 12 Monkeys is more than a little convoluted, so Ill spare you every last in and out.

Generally speaking, it follows Cole as he shuttles unwillingly back and forth between the 1990s and the 2030s, interacting in the pre-virus era with a psychiatrist named Kathryn Railly (the underrated Madeleine Stowe) and a mentally unstable eco-activist named Jeffrey Goines (a slightly over-twitchy Brad Pitt). His mission, decreed by authoritarian scientists in the 30s, is not to prevent the end of days, but rather to find a sample of the virus in its earliest form, then bring it back so they can synthesize a cure. There is no hope for the people Cole sees in his time-travels: As he says at one point (oddly predicting The Sixth Sense), All I see are dead people. As a result, its tough to refer to the 30s here as the future, and likewise to call the 90s the present. Cole goes out of his way to tell the residents of the earlier era that theyre in the past and that the true present is the post-apocalyptic hovel from which he came. Its a compelling concept that I think might have been wasted on the audiences of the 90s, that bizarre blip in American history where it seemed like we were living in an eternal present, the End of History, where history was being written with a new pen on clean paper.

Now, as in 12 Monkeys, it feels increasingly as though our minds are situated in the years to come, as though were already looking back on whats happening to us right now from the vantage point of the coming calamities. People speak about the collapse of civilization with startling regularity. Some stockpile cans and guns for the coming war of all against all, others merely summarize their depressed outlook in half-ironic tweets. More and more of us are united by a feeling like anything good is living on borrowed time.

Yet here can we find the kind of joy that 12 Monkeys teaches us: the embrace of transient delights in our spare moments. While in the 90s, we see Cole gradually make a transition. Initially, he has a fervent sense of mission, attempting to barrel his way through the world in order to get what he needs from the past and return to the present as soon as he can. But as his trips continue, we find him increasingly taking time to savor these last days before humanity lost its battle against nature and decamped for life beneath the surface of the planet.

At one point, he finds himself in a car with Railly (its after hes kidnapped her and before they start up a romance  the sexual politics of the film are questionable, but best addressed another time) with the radio on and he hears Fats Dominos Blueberry Hill. He laughs as tears begin to stream down his cheeks. I love the music of the 20th century! he bellows. I love this air! Love to breathe this air! He sucks oxygen in deeply and sticks his head out the window, cracking up.

Its a beautiful moment, one Ive thought of often in recent days. Joy is not the enemy of action; indeed, without joy, one can hardly imagine finding a reason to bother. That said, we have an obligation to not spend all of our remaining hours assuming nothing can be done and just hedonistically taking in our disappearing pleasures. The movie subtly warns against such hedonism in a moment when Cole briefly interacts with a mental patient who describes his fantasies of life on another planet, then concludes, I am escaping certain unnamed realities that plague my life here. When I stop going there, I will be well. We are unwell if we live permanently in joy. But its worthwhile to taste what you can, here and there.

And what of hope? Here we find a mix of duty and mild, benevolent insanity. On the surface, 12 Monkeys provides us almost solely with dread, and its comforts are profoundly cold. Gilliam and his team conjure up an unforgettably bleak vision of Coles home era, where the narrative begins. Its a world in which humans live, as he puts it, like worms, in what look like massive subterranean sewer tanks. There, hes a prisoner, jailed for crimes not spelled out in any detail, confined to a cage no bigger than one you might obtain for a dog. The one time we see the post-virus surface world, its been reclaimed by the beasts, with bears and lions wandering among the cracked buildings of what was once Philadelphia. In the 90s, we get premonitions of disaster, and not just from Cole. Goines regularly pontificates about humankinds folly and, when Cole mentions a viral apocalypse, replies, Wiping out the human race? Its a great idea! When we first meet the virologist who is revealed as the perpetrator of Armageddon (David Morse), he is attending a lecture by Railly about prophets of doom throughout history. I think, Dr. Railly, youve given the alarmists a bad name, he intones before listing all the ways humanity is destroying itself and the biosphere. In this context, isnt it obvious that chicken little represents the sane vision? And that homo sapienss motto, Lets go shopping, is the cry of the true lunatic?

In an admirably bold leap of grimness, the movie never really offers up a counterargument to these notions. There is no point at which someone triumphantly defends humanity and says that love will surely conquer all. There are brief moments where the characters think they can slough off their resignation to cruel fate: In his final trip back to the 90s, Cole tries deciding that hes crazy and that his present in the 30s was all a hallucination, and Railly goes along with it, but when Cole starts accurately predicting that which he couldnt know unless he already saw how events would unfold, he doubts himself yet again. In the films final few scenes, Railly and Cole see the virologist at an airport, recognize his plan, and attempt to chase him down and stop him. But not only does Cole get shot by police before he can reach his target, were also shown a few minutes prior that the virologist already opened his first vial of disease in the building. Its too late, after all.

And yet, despite all this, the movie ends on a note of extremely cautious optimism. The virologist sits down on his plane next to someone, and we see that its one of the 30s scientists. She tells him shes in insurance. One might read this as her being sent to prevent the further spread of the disease. Given everything weve already seen, this is a misreading. We can assume shes there to complete Coles mission and take one of the vials back to her home time and work on a cure. She wouldnt have pinpointed the proper moment without Coles efforts. They werent for naught. Herein lies why 12 Monkeys feels so urgent as 2018 draws to a close: Perhaps it is, indeed, too late to avert the great catastrophe. But we cannot accept that the catastrophe is the end of the story. There will be some kind of future, however difficult it may be to live in. It is our responsibility to prepare whatever we can for the survival of whats worth preserving in that coming existence.

La Jetee, in a crucial contrast to 12 Monkeys, features the protagonist traveling into the far future and finding an advanced civilization that has emerged from the ashes. Gilliams film doesnt provide us with that relief. It guarantees nothing pleasant. But it reminds us that we can learn from the days in which we live in order to ameliorate the coming world. We still live in the now, and there is still work to be done and wonders to be experienced. Even Cole, near the end of the story, seems to realize this, and, in the 90s, utters lines that should echo in our heads: This is the present. This is not the past. This is not the future. This is right now.

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Press Release

March 13, 2020 Statement of Minority Senators Leila De Lima, Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, and Francis Pangilinan on COVID pandemic In light of the government's lockdown of the National Capital Region, we seek clarification on the following: 1. Food supply What about the entry and exit of trucks carrying food and other supplies to and from NCR ports, and wet markets, supermarkets, and other retail outlets? What happens to the scheduled arrival of semi-perishable and perishable goods estimated at billions of pesos during the lockdown period? Will these goods be diverted? Will these shipping entries be exempt from the lockdown? 2. COVID updates How many have been monitored through contact tracing of those who have tested positive for COVID? What is the status of the travel ban to and from China, given reports that flights from China continue and that Bacolod has allowed all vessels from China, Hong Kong, and Macau to dock at its seaports? 3. Jobs If entry to and exit from NCR is restricted, what happens to the estimated 4 million non-Metro Manila residents from Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan, and even Pampanga who work in Metro Manila? DILG Secretary Ano has made some exceptions in the media after the President's announcement on the lockdown but protocols for these should be made clear. 4. Informal settlements How do we address the issue of close contact among people in informal? 5. Intra-NCR travel and mass transit If Metro Manila is locked down, can residents move freely within the metropolis? What are the protocols for MRT and LRT riders? For padyak, tricycle, Angkas/habal-habal, jeepney, van, and bus riders? Will the government deploy more trains? Ease permits and franchises for other modes of transport? 6. Hazmat suits for military and police 40,000 troops who do not have hazmat suits are reported to be deployed to enforce the lockdown. How will they be protected from the virus? How will their deployment cut the transmission of the virus? 7. Economy What is NEDA's plan to make the economy resilient and able to immediately bounce back from the economic shocks brought by the pandemic? The challenge is to minimize the infection. We must do everything we can to prevent the situation where the growing number of COVID-19 patients overwhelms our entire healthcare workforce. The rate at which the COVID-19 cases multiply each day poses a very serious threat. If we fail to arrest the increase, our healthcare system, no matter how equipped it is, will face difficulty in dealing with COVID-19 cases. With the increasing cases of COVID infections, we are willing to help work with the administration to enact emergency legislation needed so that government can respond more quickly to the crisis, as well as propose science-based and multi-sectoral, and people-centered and vulnerable-focused actions on these areas: 1. Communication Issue more frequent timely and informative press conferences for updates, advisories, and reminders (on hygiene and healthy practices), utilizing traditional and social media, including private telcos and non-traditional media like electronic billboards.

Set up a 24-hour hotline that will answer health and other questions. 2. Necessities Ensure supply and distribution system of food, water, and other basic needs.

Stock up on basic relief goods.

Prevent looting and provide the most vulnerable, no-work-no-pay daily wage earners and micro entrepreneurs (eg, jeepney drivers, construction workers, and sidewalk vendor) with basic relief goods and cash support.

Buy from local farmers and producers. 3. Medical services Ensure massive testing during the lockdown.

Exhaust all means to find, isolate and test every COVID-19 case and trace every persons they had contact with in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

To relieve fear and panic, publicly distribute bottle-size alcohol spray, pocket tissues, face masks and other similar items.

Prioritize the safety of our frontline health workers, both in government and private sector, by ensuring that they are given the support and protection they need. We acknowledge and deeply appreciate their dedication. All hospitals, private and public, including rural health units, should be empowered to respond to COVID-19 case. We also laud the quick action by the PhilHealth in shouldering the testing and hospitalization of COVID-19 patients and persons under investigation. 4. Enforce, expand, and encourage social distancing Cancel or postpone non-essential travels, class suspensions, and mass gatherings to prevent COVID spread. Nobody can enter or exit lockdown areas, unless there are proven family or work reasons. Postpone work meetings and encourage working from home. We support a localized approach to contain the virus. The local government units should do everything in their power to prevent unnecessary gatherings, interactions, and meetings in their localities. We call for the public's utmost cooperation. Business establishments should allow telecommuting, work-from-home, and other means that can help minimize the risk of spreading the virus.

Provide additional medical leaves and other support for self-quarantine of government and private employees. No penalty for COVID-vulnerable doing self-quarantine. Consider additional leaves as donation similar to during a disaster. 5. Budget and other resources Make fund releases easy especially to government hospitals through the Departments of Health and Social Welfare and Development.

Tap contingency funds and savings for COVID-19.

Similar to Italy, help small entrepreneurs cope with diminished economic activity. For example, commercial space owners may give rent discounts to mall stall owners; and government may extend deadlines for BIR, SSS employer contributions, and other government payments; and/or partly subsidize these payments. 6. Mindset or approach Leaders, both in and out of government, should strategize and draw up measures to address this pandemic in their companies, schools, offices, and organizations.

Use the crisis as an opportunity to better our health, financial, and food distribution systems toward universal access to basic goods and services.

Respect human rights.

This pandemic is also an opportunity to work together because we are all in this together.
Cities and states compete for hot startups, many of which can locate anywhere. But some companies' brands, cultures, and business models are so deeply entwined to the places that birthed them that they seem to practically embody them. These companies solve local problems or they're just infused with local color. Their specificity doesn't just feel authentic; it is authentic.

Several companies on this inaugural Inc. 5000 Series: Texas list offer products that are uniquely joined to the Lone Star State--and simply put, ooze its outdoorsy, land-loving, and independent grandeur.

Here are three:

1. HTeaO

Inc. 5000 Series: Texas 2020 rank No. 72 | Two-year growth 207% | 2018 revenue $4.4M

Texans' love for tea runs deep. "It's pretty rare to come to Texas and find a restaurant that doesn't serve sweet tea," says Justin Howe, the CEO of HTeaO, an Amarillo-based iced tea franchise with 15 locations around Texas. "We grow up drinking it."

Many of the 11-year-old company's existing locations are situated near barbecue joints, a natural pairing given tea's popularity at cookouts and tailgate parties. HTeaO, which offers 24 flavors fresh each day, is also opening kiosks in some double-A ballparks. The company has 60 franchisees signed on for 100 stores under development.

What's HTeaO's secret sauce? It eschews powders and syrups, instead brewing all flavors like mint and mango from broad leaf tea in store kitchens with on-site water plants. Employees also use that water to fill five-gallon jugs, which they haul to customers' cars and pickups along with bags of ice and coolers packed with flavored teas. In addition to healthy snacks, HTeaO sells Yeti products, which appeal to its hunting-fishing-outdoors-loving customers.

"You're having a barbecue or a birthday party, and we fill up your coolers with fresh-brewed tea, and it's the hit of the party," says Howe, who's the son and stepson of HTeaoO's founders, Kim and Gary Hutchens.

Its product diversity hints at the company's own expansion plans. HTeaO has franchisees signed up in seven states. But its logo incorporates an outline of the state of Texas, and its apparel line is heavy on "born in Texas" messaging. "We are trying to share the Texas culture," says Howe. "The outdoors. The sun. The heat."

2. Energy Ogre

Inc. 5000 Series: Texas 2020 rank No. 46 | Two-year growth 301% | 2018 revenue $6.3M

It's not surprising that Texas views energy differently. It is the only state in the lower 48 with its own power grid. On the retail side, deregulation in 2002 released a flood of entrants into the market and removed the option of buying from an incumbent utility.

In the Houston area alone, 600 different plans might be available at any given time. "They have flat rates. Or if you consume your first 1,000 kilowatts, it's one rate, and then the next 1,000 is a different rate," says Jesson Bradshaw, who launched Energy Ogre in 2013 to help consumers cope with excessive choice, which, he adds, "can be overwhelming."

For $10 a month, the Houston-based company aims to help consumers get the best deals from the state's electricity market. The company will run a customer's consumption profile against all the different rates and plans. "We can figure out how much the effective rate of those plans will be for every theoretical kilowatt hour of consumption that any potential customer could use," adds Bradshaw.

As a Texas native and energy industry veteran, Bradshaw understands the unique opportunity his home state presents. What's more, he says there's still room to roam. "The Texas electricity market is far and away the most competitive market in the United States," he says. "We could take this model to other parts of the country. But I don't think it would be as valuable as it is to folks here."

3. Home Tax Solutions

Inc. 5000 Series: Texas 2020 rank No. 96 | Two-year growth 150% | 2018 revenue $4.2M

While Texas can boast zero income taxes, it's property taxes are among the highest in the nation. And for those who pay late, the penalties can ratchet up very quickly, says Trey Rome, founder and CEO of Home Tax Solutions, based in Dallas. Property taxes in Texas are due February 1. By July 1, penalties and interest may have accrued more than 40 percent above the original bill.

That's where Rome's company comes in. It pays customers' taxes for them and sets them up on a repayment plan. The company leverages a law, dating back to the Depression, that allows a third party, with a homeowner's consent, to pay his property taxes in exchange taking the county's tax lien as collateral. Home Tax Solutions pays the county directly and holds the lien until it is repaid. For decades, Texas was the only state with this provision, although Nevada now has it and others are interested.

Home Tax Solutions has originated more than $67 million in loans since 2012, helping roughly 5,200 homeowners. The company says it has never foreclosed. "In the last year, we saved north of 50 families from being kicked out and being homeless," says Rome. "They were within a week of being foreclosed on by the county."
A departure gate at the Incheon International Airport is vacant on March 9, as the number of passenger declines amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Nam Hyun-woo





CJ Foodville CEO Jeong Seong-pil

CJ, SPC, Lotte and other food firms running concession stands at the Incheon International Airport are urging the airport operator to cut rental fees, as the stands' revenues plummet amid the spread of COVID-19.



The two sides are currently in a standoff, as the operator refuses to provide any "aid" to large conglomerates, while the companies argue that excluding their concession stands from any rental discount program just because they are large conglomerates is discriminatory, as they are also suffering difficulties.



According to industry officials, Thursday, Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) has been holding meetings with companies with concession stands at the airport since Wednesday to discuss the impacts to their stores' sales.



Leading food and restaurant franchise firms including CJ Foodville, SPC, Lotte GRS, and Ourhome have been participating in the discussions and they are demanding a discount in rent, citing declines in sales after the COVID-19 outbreak.



Though the firms did not disclose the exact numbers of decline, they said the firms' revenue has "almost halved" last month and further contractions are expected this month, because the number of travelers has nosedived.



According to IIAC, the number of passengers having entered or left Korea through the airport last month stood at 3.38 million, down 41.4 percent from a year earlier. The number of flights also declined by 13.7 percent to 26,803 during the same period.



Citing this, concession stand firms said they are also in need of a discount in their respective rents, which are higher than for stores outside the airport.



To contain the industrial fallout from COVID-19, the government decided to offer a 25 to 30 percent discount in rents for companies running stores at public organizations for six months. However, the state-run IIAC decided to provide the aid only to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), meaning most concession stands at the airport are not subject to the discount.



"Firms are running stores after winning bids for respective concession stand sectors. Since the rental fee accounts for the majority of a bidding price, the fee ought to be more expensive than stores outside of the airport," an industry official said on condition of anonymity. "This means the concession stand business is designed to have operators from large conglomerates in the first place."





Lotte GRS CEO Nam Ik-woo
- Winning agencies include Digitas UK, Zenith UK, BBH and shows strength of talent -

LONDON, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Campaign Agency of the Year awards, Dani Bassil, Chief Executive of Digitas UK was awarded Digital Agency Head of the Year; Natalie Cummins, Chief Executive of Zenith UK won Media Agency Head of the Year and Karen Martin, Managing Director at BBH London won Account Person of the Year.

The Agency of the Year Awards highlights strong leadership, creativity and innovation, new business performance, development of talent, and contributions to the industry.

Cummins has led Zenith UK through a successful 2019, which includes solid client retention and several new business wins, taking Zenith to the top of the Campaign new business table. Cummins started at Zenith as a graduate in 1998 and left the agency briefly before returning in 2006. Since then, she has worked her way up from Business Director onto her current position as CEO.

Campaign judges regarded Digital Agency Head of the year, Danielle Bassil, as a standout winner of the category, "having demonstrated a compelling and formidable track record of bringing stability to the agency." Bassil has ushered Digitas into a new era, implementing a complete overhaul and strategic reorganisation of every aspect of the business, across the executive team, the work, the culture, talent and recruitment.

In 2019 Karen Martin, MD of BBH London, successfully stewarded the agency, whilst also leading Tesco through a major turnaround. The agency has stormed through the past twelve months, retaining its Barclays and Audi accounts, and winning one of the industry's biggest pitches of the year with Ladbrokes Coral. The Tesco brand is also thriving, and BBH extended the relationship by picking up the Tesco Mobile business. As well as moving the agency and its clients forward, Karen supports everyone around her at all levels.

Annette King, Publicis Groupe UK, Chief Executive Officer said: "We are a business that puts people at the heart of everything we do and I couldn't be prouder of Dani, Nat and Karen. They are examples of highly talented leaders who each bring different skills and experiences to both the business and for clients."
Expanding its member base and market share in the rapidly growing global hemp and cannabis industry.

DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2020 / MjLink.com, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Social Life Network, Inc. (OTC PINK:WDLF), announced today that the company exceeded 2 million users throughout their MjLink social network platform.

The company enables business professionals and consumers to connect, share and grow their industry connections, knowledge and brand awareness through one of the most active online cannabis community in the world.

In a Form 1-A that was filed on February 13th, 2020 with the SEC, the Company is preparing to us a Reg A Tier 2 offering to raise up to $50M to further grow the company in the U.S. and into global markets that have passed legalization.

"Passing the 2 million user-mark this past February was a major milestone for the company," says CEO, Ken Tapp. "We have seen a major increase in usership these past few months while people around the world become more isolated from each other as a result of the coronavirus outbreak", added Tapp.

About MjLink.com, Inc.

MjLink.com Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Social Life Network, Inc. and is a cloud-based cannabis social network and digital media company based in Denver, Colorado. MjLink operates as a multinational cannabis technology and digital media organization with four industry specific social networks: WeedLife.com, a consumer-to-consumer social network, MjLink.com, a business-to-business social network, HempTalk.com, a business-to-consumer social network, and MjInvest.com, a cannabis industry investor network that produces the MjMicro Capital Conference.

For more information about Social Life Network, visit www.SocialNetwork.ai

Disclaimer

This news release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to achieving corporate objectives, developing additional project interests, the company's analysis of opportunities in the acquisition and development of various project interests and certain other matters. No information in this press release should be construed as any indication whatsoever of the Company's or MjLink's future financial results, revenues or stock price. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements contained herein.

Story continues

CONTACT:

Investor Relations

IR@Social-Life-Network.com

855-933-3277

SOURCE: Social Life Network, Inc.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/580423/MjLinkcom-Announces-2-Million-Registered-Users




A bill that would restrict new medical marijuana dispensaries within 300 feet of a school passed in the House this week along with other proposed tweaks to the law affecting businesses and patients.

House Bill 3228 by Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, seeks to clarify issues in the states medical marijuana law.

It includes a change that would change the minimum distance between a school and the entrance of any new dispensary from 1,000 feet to 300 feet. The change would not affect previously licensed dispensaries, even when they renew their license.

Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, presented the bill Wednesday on the House floor, saying the language changes came at the request of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.
Assiniboine Community College launched a website on Friday outlining the college's plans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Assiniboine Community College launched a website on Friday outlining the college's plans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effective today, all college events with 50 or more people are being cancelled or postponed until April 30. Campus group tours and the Spend A Day program for prospective students are cancelled until April 30 as well.

At present, campuses are staying open and no classes are being cancelled.

Staff travel outside of Manitoba has been cancelled and any exceptions must receive the approval of the college's president. Student travel to college-sponsored events both inside and outside Manitoba have been cancelled with exceptions needing approval from the college's vice-president academic.

External gym bookings have been cancelled and full refunds are being issued to those impacted.

Additionally, the college is stepping up its cleaning efforts and is increasing staffing to accommodate those needs.

Staff or students feeling ill are encouraged to not travel to campus. Those on campus are encouraged to practice social distancing and good hygiene habits.

A decision on if June's graduation ceremonies will proceed has not yet been made, but the college is pledging to decide by May 1.

For the latest updates from the college, visit assiniboine.net/community/news-events/covid-19-updates.

 The Brandon Sun
In a drastic step to curb the



spread of coronavirus, the Maharashtra government ordered closure of cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools and malls in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Nagpur cities from Friday midnight.

Making the announcement in the state Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the government was invoking the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 from midnight.

Wherever possible, companies should allow employees to work from home in view of coronavirus threat, he said.

Thackeray announced that schools in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad areas will remain shut till further orders.

However, the SSC exams in those schools will continue as per schedule, he said.

He also informed the House that so far, 17 persons have tested positive for coronavirus in the state- three each in Mumbai and Nagpur, 10 in Pune and one in Thane.

The chief minister also appealed to the people to avoid visiting malls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In view of the coronavirus outbreak across the country, Little Flower Church here has started manufacturing safety masks in collaboration with the Kerala Latin Catholic Association (KLCA).

''It starts with the vision of how we can help the government and the people. Knowing about the scarcity of masks, the church has taken this initiative. It started at 6 o'clock yesterday morning. Thirty people have come here today for manufacturing masks,'' said Father Sebastian Karukappally, Vicar of the church.

Sewing machines from many homes are being used for this purpose. They manufactured over 500 masks in a single day, which they will be handing over to the Health Department for free.

So far, 75 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"We are all acting for the benefit of ourselves and in the long run we destroy the resource for everybody," explains Julie Fitness, a professor of social psychology at Macquarie University, and the president of the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists. Loading She says loo paper became the locus for people's anxieties because it is bulky and big, and so it is visually obvious when it is in shortage at the supermarket. This creates "a kind of emotional contagion". "Anxiety spreads, and it makes us very insular," she says. "The amygdala [part of the brain] is going off, saying, 'Do what you can to protect your family.' It makes us irrational and selfish and it's hard to get a larger view." Justin Wolfers, an Australian economist and professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan, tweeted last week about the economics of panic buying. He likened the behaviour to a run on banks during a financial crisis. He said the best way to stop the behaviour was to do what governments did during the global financial crisis when they guaranteed bank deposits, and to give everyone access to a federal toilet paper reserve.

Wolfers calls the panic buying - which has happened in other territories including Italy, Britain and Hong Kong - a "rational panic". "When you are worried others are going to stockpile, the rational response is to beat them there," Wolfers says. "No one is making a mistake there, it is not a bias. It was the same rationale that brought down the global economy in 2008. It's wrong to call it crazy. It's right to call it bad." Experts say it's wrong to call stockpiling crazy. "It's right to call it bad." Illustration: Dionne Gain Credit: Wolfers says humans often overreact in fear to snippets of bad news. He uses the example of people freaking out over shark attacks even though they're more likely to die in a car accident driving to the beach. But the coronavirus is different, he says. "With something that is growing exponentially, what happens today doesn't tell you a lot about what will happen in a few weeks' time."

Anna Wilson, an economist with Frontier Economics, believes Australians have been "primed" by the bushfires to have a particularly anxious response to the virus crisis. "We like to think we're in control but a lot of decision making is automatic and those decisions are susceptible to bias," she says. But that doesn't make such decision-making irrational. "This automatic decision making happens because your brain wants you to make decisions quickly," she says. "We don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that we've been primed for emergency. It's too early to tell." One expert says Australians have been primed by the bushfires to have a particularly anxious response to the virus crisis. Credit:James Brickwood But sometimes our fear doesn't work well enough, or fast enough. While most people in Australia continue to go about their business as normal, and there are no mass school or workplace shutdowns, the risk of contagion remains too high, Wolfers argues. "When there are not many cases, the risk associated with going out tomorrow is not high, but the risk to society is very high because you could expose others." Economists call this "externality", whereby an individual's behaviour affects others. "There is not a strong enough incentive to take precautionary action. The lives at risk are not their own," Wolfers says.

Chief executive of the Grattan Institute John Daley echoed those comments when he argued this week that the Australian government should either close the borders or shut down large amounts of community activity. "All of the choices from here are going to cause a lot of damage to somebody, so we are really in the world of trying to find the least worst option," he said. Loading When the government was seen as mismanaging its response to the bushfires emergency, the public backlash was swift and strong. Will we see the same this time if the government falters in its management of this contagion? Professor Ian McAllister of the Australian National University thinks not, because experts, not politicians, are leading the response to the virus crisis. McAllister is the co-director of the Australian Election Study, a national study of political opinion conducted after every election since 1987. Last year's survey found just 25 per cent of respondents believed people in government could be trusted - the lowest level of trust since the survey began.

But McAllister says public trust in experts such as medical professionals, universities and the public service remains strong. "We are fairly utilitarian in Australia and prepared to put up with government interventions for the greater good. Classic Benthamism," he says, a reference to 18th-century utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham. Loading But, says McAllister, "you've got one crisis following on from another", with the virus outbreak coming hot on the heels of the bushfire summer. "You're sort of getting into uncharted territory in terms of public opinion." Frank Snowden, a professor emeritus of history and the history of medicine at Yale University, is the author of a 2019 book called Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present. Speaking to US magazine The New Yorker last week, he said that "epidemics are a category of disease that seem to hold up the mirror to human beings as to who we really are". "They show the moral relationships that we have towards each other as people, and we're seeing that today."

This week, Australia saw affray charges laid over a toilet paper fracas in a supermarket, a viral video of a man on a Sydney train arguing with a fellow commuter for coughing "at" him, and even reports of toilet paper profiteering. What does this say about our social fabric in fearful times? Julie Fitness says Australians' response to the bushfires crisis was highly empathic, with an outpouring of community support, both financial and emotional. But fear impedes empathy, she says. "When we are anxious or fearful it can be hard to rustle up empathy. That's why we need leadership." Snowden says the ability of societies to pull together and work co-operatively in an organised way is crucial to weathering pandemics well. The contagion travels along society's fault lines and quickly shows where the cracks are. If, or when, Australians practise widespread social isolation, how will we cope? In January the Australian Psychological Society published advice for maintaining good mental health during the coronavirus crisis, and recommended not watching too much news if you're anxious, but instead listening to the advice of experts.

Some are relishing the opportunity home-quarantine presents for what the Scandinavians call hygge, the feeling of wellbeing and comfort that comes from being in a snug, convivial atmosphere. This week The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age published a list of recipes of delicious meals to cook while in lockdown, and also a piece by foodie Jill Dupleix on the gourmet essentials for stockpiling. Loading Other media outlets have published lists of books to read while isolated. Apart from the comforts of literature in a pandemic, it's worth noting that pandemics can produce great literature. In 19th-century Europe, tuberculosis was considered the disease of poets and artists, the "beautiful people" (this despite it being a deeply ugly disease).
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Flipkart is offering its employees with small children to work from home and encouraging use of digital and video tools to ensure business continuity amid the global coronavirus outbreak.

Its group company PhonePe has also asked most employees to work from home (WFH) until further notice.

The number of coronavirus cases continues to climb globally, with 74 cases being reported in India so far.

Coronavirus declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization has claimed over 4,600 lives worldwide.

"We are promoting the use of video conferences for meetings, including job interviews, and are temporarily avoiding events and training programmes that require large gatherings as a precautionary measure," Flipkart said in an emailed statement.

It also said that apart from giving a work from home option to young parents (with children studying till grade 5), we are checking system preparedness for working remotely using digital and video tools.

The company has also issued a ban on all non-essential domestic and international business travel and is encouraging employees who may have returned from international travel to work from home for 14 days.

Flipkart said its facilities are being sanitised and deep cleaned at regular intervals as per standard norms for such situations.

"Specifically, for our supply chain and logistics network, we have organised awareness sessions across all our facilities on how our employees and partners can minimise their exposure by following simple precautionary measures," Flipkart said.

It added that its delivery partners are being provided with sanitisers and other required equipment to use while they are on the go, and are keeping track of impacted areas to minimise their exposure.

Those who are unwell are being advised to the rest with all assurance of medical support.

PhonePe said it has also initiated a WFH policy.

"Most teams have been asked to WFH until further notice already. Employees in a few critical functions have been asked to come to the office on a rotational basis," it added.

As the contagious disease with flu-like symptoms spread across the globe, domestic and foreign companies operating in India have issued advisories to take precautions, and even asked employees to WFH.

For e-commerce companies with a large fleet of people delivering products, containing the situation poses a bigger challenge.

Online grocery delivery platform Grofers said its delivery personnel are being monitored and trained on the handling of sealed crates.

"At current levels, all essential supply chains are functioning normally, both for Grofers and for our suppliers. Apart from some items which have hard caps on production and particularly those that are sourced from China, most items should continue to be available, although the mode of delivery and supply chains will have to adjust," it said.

Bhavin Turakhia, founder and CEO at Flock and co-founder and CEO at ZETA, said the two companies have announced a slew of measures to ensure the well-being of its employees.

"Business continuity plan (BCP) across business units and functions including the support functions with a 3-5 work from a home mock drill. Our BCP is not limited to only work from home, it takes into account succession planning for critical roles that will come into effect in case of an employee or their loved one falls sick," he said.

The company is also undertaking virtual interviewing and hiring, conducting educational and awareness sessions on health and fitness through online mediums to ensure their health is not compromised even as they work from home.
The Financial Supervisory Service's (FSS) offices in other countries / Captured from FSS website





By Park Jae-hyuk







The nation's financial authorities have shown less interest in international finance, since they have been urged recently to make more efforts for consumer protection, as a follow-up measure to a series of investor losses caused by mis-selling of some high-risk financial products.







In contrast with the financial consumer protection department that has become larger in size with greater power, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has continued to downsize its departments for international affairs.







The financial watchdog's move to close some of its offices overseas is part of such efforts.







The FSS said Monday it is considering various measures  including shutdown  to improve the operation of its offices abroad.







This came as the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) has demanded the FSS close its offices in Washington D.C. and Frankfurt, both of which the BAI said were "unnecessary."







"The cost to operate foreign offices has been covered mostly by contributions paid by financial institutions under supervision of the FSS," the BAI said in its report issued Feb. 6. "This means the burden has been shifted onto financial consumers."







The BAI has urged the FSS to downsize its foreign operation since 2017.







In response, the FSS closed its Hong Kong office in May 2019 and nullified its plan to establish a Singapore office.







It has not closed its offices in Washington D.C. and Frankfurt, citing their respective roles as the U.S. capital and the financial hub for the European Continent.







But the BAI did not accept the claim.







"We are drawing up measures to overhaul our offices overseas, in response to the BAI's inspection in July last year on our consumer protection measures," said Kim Byung-chil, head of the FSS' international department.







The FSS merged its international cooperation department with Financial Hub Korea in January, renaming the department as the international department.







Although it said the reorganization was intended for a streamlined process, there exists speculation that the FSS has been indifferent to international affairs to focus more on consumer protection.







"I will undertake tasks which were previously performed by two department heads," Kim said. "The Financial Hub Korea is not an independent department anymore, but has become a part of the international department."







The apparent indifference to international finance is feared to hamper Korean financial services companies' overseas expansion.







Korean firms in countries lacking Korean financial authorities have complained of difficulties they have faced when communicating with local government officials.







Sources from the Korean business circle in Singapore said their channel of communication is limited to entry-level staff.







Unfortunately for them, however, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance have also shown little interest in international finance.







Although FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo is well known for his expertise in international finance, he has focused more on sanctions against financial firms and real estate regulations since he took the office in September 2019.







He was also absent from the Korea-ASEAN commemorative summit held in Busan last year, despite Korean financial firms' growing interest in the Southeast Asian market.







The finance ministry is under control of experts in budget planning.







International finance experts, such as Kim Hoe-jeong, deputy minister for international finance, have left the ministry to play less influential roles.


New Delhi, March 13 : Most of the 16 candidates announced by the BJP for the March 26 Rajya Sabha elections are new faces, who may not be well-known at the national level but have been associated with the party and its leaders for long.

The BJP has opted for these new faces from Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal etc who will enter the Upper House of Parliament for the first time ever.

Given the number of MLAs the BJP has in different state Assemblies, the victory of its candidates is a given.

Elections will be held for 55 Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant in 17 states in April.

These new BJP candidates are: 1. Dushyant Gautam (Haryana): He is at present the BJP vice-president. Even though he is a senior party leader, Gautam has got the party ticket for the first time. Born in Delhi on September 29, 1957, Gautam has held several important party posts during his political career, and was affiliated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad during studies in the Delhi University. He has thrice been chief of the Scheduled Caste Morcha.

2. Ramchandra Jangda (Haryana): He has been fielded from Jharkhand. A resident of Meham in Rohtak district of Haryana, Jangda has thrice been the vice-president of state unit of the BJP. He joined the BJP after losing Assembly elections in 1991 in Meham and 2004 in Karnal. He lost the Gohana seat during the 2014 Assembly elections.

3. Indu Goswami (Himachal Pradesh): A resident of Kangra district of Himachal, Indu Goswami headed the state Women's Commission during the BJP government led by Prem Kumar Dhumal in the hill state. She lost the Palampur seat during the 2017 elections.

4. Sumer Singh Solanki (Madhya Pradesh): He is a young tribal leader from the state, an assistant professor in Birwani's Shaheed Bhima Nayak Government PG College's History Department. Solanki has a long association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and is known for his work among the tribals.

5. Deepak Prakash (Jharkhand): He has been fielded from Jharkhand. Only last month, Prakash was made the chief of the state party unit. He is know to be close to former chief minister Babulal Marandi.

6. Abhay Bhardwaj (Gujarat): An advocate from Rajkot, he has fought many big cases on behalf of the state government, including the Gulburg Society killings in 2002, murder case of former MLA Jayant Bhanushali etc. A party leader maintained that since Bhardwaj was associated with the party for long, he has been rewarded with the BJP ticket for the Rajya Sabha elections.

7. Ramilaben Bara (Gujarat): Bara is vice-president of the BJP state unit and a tribal face of the party. A former MLA, she is the chair of Tribal Development Department. She had lost the 2012 and 2017 Assembly elections.

8. Rajendra Gehlot (Rajasthan): He is vice-president of the BJP's Rajasthan unit. He was a minister in the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government in the past. A resident of Jodhpur, he was jailed during Emergency. He was also a returning officer for the BJP organisational elections.

9. Liyeseba Maharaja (Manipur): He has been chosen as the BJP candidate for the second Rajya Sabha seat from Manipur. He is a grandson of erstwhile Manipur king Bodhchandra. He has not been associated with any political party in the past, but is said to hold considerable influence in the northeastern state as scion of the erstwhile royal family.
Donald Trump's campaign texted supporters Friday to invite them to win a dinner with the president - amid confusion over whether his high-profile Mar-a-Lago guest, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, has coronavirus.

The campaign sent a mass text alert saying: 'This is Pres. Trump & I want to invite you to dinner! We'll even take a photo together, friend. Just donate $35 in the next HOUR to WIN.'

The offer leads those targeted to the WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform, which is seen as critical to Trump's re-election chances.

The last public dinner Trump attended was on Saturday night at Mar-a-Lago, with Bolsonaro.

Since then Bolsonaro's press aide, Fabio Wajngarten - who posed with Trump for a picture - has tested positive, and Bolsonaro himself was first said by his son to have tested positive, then claimed himself that he was negative.

Bolsonaro and Trump spent three hours sitting side-by-side, with photographs showing Trump shaking Bolsonara's hand with both of his.

Dinner offer: As confusion mounted over whether Donald Trump's last high-profile dining companion had coronavirus, the president's campaign offered dinner and a photograph

Then: President Donald Trump shaking hands with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night; Bolsonaro's condition remains unclear - his son said he was positive, then he said he was negative

Dinner with the president: The chance for a meal like this can be won for just $35, the Trump campaign said. Also at the table is Ivanka Trump who posed with the Australian govenrm

And now: Jair Bolsonaro on Friday where he wore a mask despite claiming not to have the virus

This could be you! Donald Trump and Fabio Wajngarten, the communications secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has tested positive for coronavirus. He posed with Trump before his boss sat beside Trump for dinner on Saturday

On Thursday Bolsonaro was also photographed wearing a mask and Brazilian version of Air Force One was described as 'contaminated.'

The Mar-a-Lago dinner was followed by a 50th birthday party for Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend.

Guests at Mar-a-Lago that night who have also went into self-quarantine included Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman who mocked the virus by wearing a mask on the floor of the House, and Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican.

Despite the coronavirus crisis, Mar-a-Lago waited until Friday morning to cancel a 700-person gala hosted by Lara Trump, despite Florida's governor Ron de Santis calling for any event with over 200 people to be canceled almost 24 hours earlier.

The dinner offer suggests the Trump campaign is hoping to rapidly resume the sort of events and offers which are seen as vital to his re-election.

Trump said Thursday that he is temporarily halting his trademark rallies, long been hismost potent political weapon: they energize the candidate, give him a powerful platform from which to attack his adversaries and allow his team to collect a treasure trove of voter data.

The two leading Democratic contenders, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, canceled their scheduled rallies earlier this week.

The president's reelection team reluctantly followed suit, with Trump saying Thursday that multiple events that were in the works are being postponed.

'We had about three of them in Nevada, actually. And we had four or five of them of them that we were thinking about,' Trump said at the White House.

The president's campaign has suspended all rallies, events and fundraisers for at least the next week, according to officials.

Campaign officials conferred Thursday to work out a plan for how to proceed while the virus makes traditional campaigning ill-advised, especially considering the higher risk it presents to older voters, many of whom support the president. Options under consideration include virtual town halls and conference calls for supporters.

The tentative Western itinerary included a rally and fundraisers in each state - including one in Colorado benefiting Republican Sen. Cory Gardner - as well as a previously announced stop at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual conference in Las Vegas, hosted by GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson.

Post Mar-a-Lago quarantine: Congressman Matt Gaetz, who announced he was exposed to Coronavirus, departing Air Force One on Monday (left). He was at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday (right)

Party like you're self-isolating afterwards: Lindsey Graham was a guest at Kimberly Guilfoyle's Mar-a-Lago birthday party Saturday, where he met the Brazilian press aide with the virus - and how he is in quarantine

Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday that he would hold the Gardner event 'here,' which would have been a violation of the Hatch Act preventing political activity at the White House.

A White House spokesman said later the president was not referring to a fundraiser but rather a roundtable on the Land and Water Conservation Fund, an official government event that had not previously been announced. Fundraising from such an event would be illegal.

Trump refused to rule out a rapid return to rallies, even though the government's own health experts have advised against large gatherings of people.

The campaign had previously been eyeing, but had not yet announced, a rally in Tampa, Florida, on March 25. Trump said he would be 'making a decision at the appropriate time' on whether to hold that one, adding that he would 'probably not do it because people would say that it's better not to do. You know, we need a little separation until such time as this goes away. It's going to go away.'

'I'm not going to do it if I think it's going to be negative at all,' the president said. 'I don't want people dying.'

Trump claimed that more than 100,000 people had requested tickets for the Tampa rally, an impossibility since the campaign had not yet announced the event or made tickets available. A campaign spokesman declined to comment.

The campaign also canceled a 'Catholics for Trump' coalition event, which Trump planned to attend, that had been scheduled for Milwaukee next week.

Vice President Mike Pence also planned to stop all campaign activity for two weeks, a White House official said.

Before the dinner and a photograph offer, the last message to supporters was a note praising the president's 'aggressive and comprehensive' effort to stop the virus spread.
Authorities were still working on how to use the money effectively to protect Missourians, the governor said.

I want to assure you that we are taking all steps necessary to protect the health and safety of Missourians, Parson said on Thursday. I want to emphasis that at the end of the day we are all responsible for our own actions. Use common sense. Practice good hygiene. Wash your hands. Stay at home if youre sick. And if you are told to self-quarantine, it is very important to follow those instructions.

The governor said his administration will continue to evaluate the situation, but he had not made an emergency declaration as of Thursday.

On Friday, state Auditor Nicole Galloway, who is running against Parson for governor, said in a statement Parson must issue an emergency declaration so that the state can access funds and take additional actions to respond to this growing public health emergency.

An emergency declaration gives the Governor unique powers that can expand the availability of public health resources and control community spread of the disease," she said.

Democratic governors in Illinois, Kentucky and Kansas have issued emergency declarations, as well as Republican governors in Arkansas, Iowa, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Ohio.

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Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020

As the latest country to become an ASEAN strategic partner, Russia still has a long way to go before it can achieve substantial returns on its now two-year relationship given the countrys ambivalence toward the region, a visiting Russian international relations expert has said.

At the 3rd ASEAN-Russia Summit in 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of ASEAN met in Singapore to commemorate the historic decision to elevate the ASEAN-Russia dialogue partnership to the level of a strategic partnership.

The idea was first introduced in 2016 when Russia and ASEAN celebrated 20 years of their partnership, said Victor Sumsky, the director of the ASEAN Center at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
The Congress and the TRS members verbally clashed in the Lok Sabha on Friday after Congress member Manickam Tagore accused the Telangana Police of arresting him in a "false case" and accused the state government in the state of "political vendetta".

Raising the issue in the Zero Hour, Tagore said the parliament was in session and a member should not have been arrested.

"Our colleague Revanth Reddy has been arrested in Telangana and a false case registered. It is a political vendetta by the TRS government. You have to protect him. The House is in session. It should not happen," he said.

He also demanded that the Home Minister should brief the House on the matter.

Tagore said the Congress member had information about the farmhouse "illegally occupied" by a state minister.

TRS leader Nama Nageswara Rao, however, accused Tagore of "misleading" the House.

He said Reddy has been arrested on the basis of a complaint and a drone was flown on private property and recording done.

Rao said the member had violated relevant provisions of the Aircraft Act. Congress members protested against Rao's s remarks while TRS members backed him leading to a din in the House briefly.

Reddy was arrested last week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CHICAGO, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In collaboration with the mayors of large cities across the United States who are on the front lines of the COVID-19 response efforts, Grubhub today announced it is temporarily suspending collection of up to $100 million in commission payments from impacted independent restaurants nationwide.

Grubhub's initiative will provide immediate and substantial cash flow relief to qualified independent restaurants -- restaurants that make up the majority of Grubhub's 350,000+ restaurant community and drive more than 80 percent of the company's orders.

Matt Maloney, Grubhub Founder and CEO said: "Independent restaurants are the lifeblood of our cities and feed our communities. They have been amazing long-term partners for us, and we wanted to help them in their time of need. Our business is their business -- so this was an easy decision for us to make."

Grubhub has also created a fund that will enable proceeds from its Donate the Change program to go toward charitable organizations that support restaurants and drivers impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis. The program will allow diners to round up the change from every order and donate it to the Grubhub Community Relief Fund -- with donations from Grubhub+ (and Seamless+) members matched by the company. Grubhub has been raising more than $1 million dollars per month through Donate the Change.

Grubhub will work with local city officials to identify the organizations that can utilize the funds and to consider other support programs during the pandemic.

"The City of Chicago is deeply concerned about the risk COVID-19 is placing on the health of our residents and communities, as well as the impact it's having on our working families and neighborhood economies and restaurants," said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. "That is why we applaud corporate leaders like Grubhub who are stepping up with practical measures to support small businesses and their employees. Now more than ever, we must work together to ensure hardworking Chicagoans receive the support they need to thrive while also staying safe, secure, and healthy."

In Chicago, where Grubhub was founded in 2004 and is headquartered today, there are more than 10,000 restaurants on the platform, and thousands of drivers bringing delicious food from these restaurants to hungry diners. This relief fund will provide support for food industry workers, which are anticipated to become among some of the most impacted by the economic losses due to coronavirus and social distancing practices. This includes residents at small, neighborhood-based businesses like Chicago's Home of Chicken & Waffles, based in Bronzeville.

As dine-in traffic is expected to slow up to 75 percent over the next few weeks, restaurants will rely on pickup and delivery orders to stay in business. "We have seen revenue decrease in the past week as a direct result of our customers staying home," said Darnell Johnson, owner of Chicago's Home of Chicken & Waffles. "Grubhub has helped us generate more delivery and takeout orders as our customers' dining habits have changed. This has helped us continue serving our loyal customers and our employees can continue living a sustainable lifestyle."

"Banding together during hard times, putting people over profit, and supporting our local businesses is a model we should all follow, and I thank Grubhub for leading the way," said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

"Restaurants are a pillar of the San Francisco small business economy and so important to the culture of this city," said Joaquin Torres, Director of San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development. "We are committed to doing everything in our power to support them in this time of crisis, but if we want to come through this public health emergency intact, we'll need more private sector partners to follow Grubhub's lead, do the right thing and invest locally to mitigate this crisis."

These initiatives follow a series of measures taken by Grubhub to keep restaurants, diners, and drivers safe during the outbreak  including contact-free delivery and health and safety guidance to drivers, restaurants and diners. Additionally, Grubhub offers pickup from the largest restaurant network in the country, which helps individuals who might feel safer acquiring food on their own.

About Grubhub

Grubhub (NYSE: GRUB) is a leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery marketplace with the largest and most comprehensive network of restaurant partners, as well as more than 22 million active diners. Dedicated to connecting diners with the food they love from their favorite local restaurants, Grubhub elevates food ordering through innovative restaurant technology, easy-to-use platforms and an improved delivery experience. Grubhub features over 350,000 restaurants and is proud to partner with more than 165,000 of these restaurants in over 3,200 U.S. cities and London. The Grubhub portfolio of brands includes Grubhub, Seamless, LevelUp, AllMenus and MenuPages.

SOURCE Grubhub
NEW DELHI: India on Friday (March 13, 2020) reported its second death due to Coronavirus outbreak, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people in over 117 nations across the globe.

According to a statement released by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry, a 68-year-old woman, who had tested positive for Coronavirus infection, died at RML Hospital in Delhi.

''She had a history of contact with a positive case (her son who had traveled to Switzerland and Italy between February 5 to 22, 2020). The son had returned to India on February 23. He initially was asymptomatic, but developed fever and cough after I day and reported to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on March 7, 2020,'' the statement said.

''As per protocol, the family was screened and since he and his mother had fever and cough, both were admitted. She was a known case of diabetes and hypertension. Her sample was collected on March 8, 2020, Her condition worsened on March 9, 2020 with the development of pneumonia and she was shifted to the intensive care unit. Her sample also tested positive for COVID19. Since March 9 2020 she was having respiratory fluctuations and was provided ventilator support. However, due to comorbid conditions, she died on March 13, 2020 at RML Hospital, Delhi as confirmed by the treating Physician and Medical Superintendent,'' the statement added.

Meanwhile, the total number of deaths due to coronavirus infection across the world crossed 5,000 on Friday and the number of cases rose to 138,275.

The alarming situation has affected around 117 countries globally with China, South Korea, Italy and Iran among the most-affected countries.

Iran reported 85 new deaths from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours taking the total death toll to 514 in the country. China, which is the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, has reported 80,814 cases and more than 4,000 people have died due to the deadly virus in the country.

Italy and South Korea, which are the most affected country after China, have reported 15,113 and 7,979 cases respectively.

US President Donal Trump is also expected to declare a national emergency over the fast-spreading coronavirus, opening the door to providing more federal aid to fight the disease, a Bloomberg report said on Friday, citing sources.

Earlier, US President Trump had tweeted, "I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House. Topic: CoronaVirus!"

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has already declared the coronavirus outbreak as ''pandemic'' and expressed deep concern both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.

In India, nearly 1500 people have been kept under observation, according to the Health Ministry officials. The Centre, along with the state governments, is making several efforts to bring the situation under control and prevent spread of the virus in the country.

The Uttar Pradesh government declared the COVID-19 a 'contagious epidemic' and directed all educational institutions in the state to remain closed till March 22 to deal with the lethal infection. UP CM Yogi Adityanath also announced that while exams which are going on in school and colleges will continue the ones which are set to start will be postponed.

In the wake of the Coronavirus situation, the Karnataka government also declared the closure of all malls, cinema halls, pubs, wedding ceremonies and other public gatherings for one week.

The government also cancelled the leaves of all health staff due to the coronavirus situation and issued an order saying, ''Leave of all the health staff is cancelled and also order is issued to work on all general holidays till further directions.''.

As a precautionary measure, the Maharashtra government also ordered the closure of gym, public swimming pools, cinema halls under the Epidemic act to prevent the spread of the virus in the state.

In a similar move, the Delhi government also ordered the shutting of all public swimming pools in the city with immediate effect till March 31.

The Centre, till date, has evacuated 948 passengers from COVID-19 affected countries out of which 900 are Indian citizens and 48 belonging to different nationalities including Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, USA, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru.

On Friday, 44 Indians were evacuated from coronavirus-stricken Iran. The flight had landed in Mumbai and from here the evacuees will be flown by special aircraft to Jaisalmer.

The impact of the deadly virus was also seen on the educational institution in states like Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka where all the schools and colleges have been closed till March 31.

Top universities and academic institutions of India like - Jamia Millia Islamia, IIT Delhi, DU, JNU, IIT Kharagpur- have suspended the classes till March 31 amid the virus scare.

The Indian government has also suspended all tourist visas until April 15 and said it would quarantine travellers arriving from seven virus-hit countries as it attempts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. However, diplomatic visas and visas for international organisations, employment and projects are exempted from this order.

In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country, the Indian government has also ordered to seal borders with four neighbouring countries including- Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.

Issuing a statement the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the borders will be sealed from the midnight of March 15, 2020.

In a positive development, India became the fifth country to isolate Coronavirus at Punes National Institute of Virology (NIV) on Friday. According to reports, it has a 99.98% match with the virus in Chinas Wuhan. This significant medical breakthrough will help India in developing a vaccine for the deadly Coronavirus.

The Centre has released a list of helpline numbers for all the states and Union Territories (UTs) to assist the people amid the coronavirus scare. According to the list, which was put up on the official website of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, people in the national capital can dial 011-22307145 for assistance.
At the screening I attended of Never Rarely Sometimes Always, the scene where the matron at a local Pennsylvania health clinic presented a sonogram to pregnant teenager Autumn Callahan (Sidney Flanigan) and then kindly added, Heres your beautiful baby, caused a female critic in the front row to blurt out Bitch!

Thats what were up against. Even a pro-abortion movie like this one, that indicates a minor characters pro-life enthusiasm, risks a hostile reaction from an agent of our pro-abortion media (which predictably extols the film). Abortion zealots arent satisfied that director-writer Eliza Hittman portrays Autumn as a tormented innocent, unable to think through her situation. Autumns susceptibility to progressive cultures influence, rather than nature, propels the films narrative. Hittman inducts Autumn into one side of the womens-rights industry.

From the first scene, in which Autumn at her high-school talent show performs Ellie Greenwichs song Hes Got the Power, she is presented as a victim of romanticized patriarchy. Rude schoolboys mock Autumns singing; plus, her fathers callousness is suspicious, as if suggesting incestuous envy or molesters guilt. Only Autumns dreamy-eyed cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) is sympathetic, displaying girlish truculence learned from working as a grocery-store clerk  crime comes easily to Skylar, who pilfers money from her cashier drawer to finance Autumns trip to a New York City abortionist. (What, no Planned Parenthood in Pennsylvania?)

Hittmans specialty is adolescent sexual naivete. In 2017s Beach Rats, she proclaimed that a youths confusion as a gay hustler was the fault of his working-class ethnic communitys masculinist pressure. Hittmans semi-doc sensationalism recalls Larry Clark (Kids, Bully) but without the prurience. Here, Hittmans empathy  presenting sisterhood as rebellion  is entirely political, as demonstrated in the scene that provides the films title.

Story continues

During Autumns overly solicitous welcome at a New York Planned Parenthood interview, an off-screen counselor asks about her sexual history  specifically, her fears about intimidation. Does your partner wear a condom? Has a partner ever forced her into sexual activity? She gets to choose from multiple-choice answers: Never. Rarely. Sometimes. Always.

These potential responses lead to confirmation of abuse and powerlessness. No wonder Autumn feels boxed in; shes being indoctrinated. When the counselor says, I want to make sure youre safe, it is code, assigning victimization.

Even pretty Skylar has to trade time and body to a dork at the Port Authority Bus Terminal to get tickets home. The rest of the movie turns Autumn into Little Nell. Shes seen as persecuted: admitting to first sex at age 14, having six partners in life so far, and having practiced vaginal, oral, and anal sex. And now shes stranded in the cruel anonymity of New York City.

Victimhood makes Never Rarely Sometimes Always the latest example of politicized filmmaking as the Hollywood norm. Its message overwhelms storytelling craft and reason. That angry screening-room outburst of Bitch! showed that politics has taken the place of art appreciation in contemporary film culture.

The current re-release of Camille Sciammas Portrait of a Lady on Fire offers another example of propaganda filmmaking. Everything in Sciammas lesbian romance leads to the improbable sequence celebrating abortion as the epitome of feminist solidarity  Sisterhood as Rebellion, Part 2.

Hittmans film fires a salvo in the abortion wars. Her partisanship goes beyond the kind of realism we saw in Leslie B. Harriss Just Another Girl on the IRT (1992), in which the pregnancy of a black teen was not a matter of victimhood but the result of her particular, misguided way of life.

Would Hittman prefer that Autumn follow the horrific example of celebrity-actresses Michelle Williams and Busy Philipps, who recently boasted about their Faustian bargains  trading abortion for the material rewards of Hollywood success? Hittman ignores the complexity and courage of choice; this way, film cultures gatekeepers wont call her a bitch.

More from National Review
But in places that have seen cases spike in recent weeks, many people expressed frustration that the more likely they were to get the virus, the less likely they were to have access to a test.

In Washington State, where at least 378 people have tested positive and 31 have died, public health officials spoke of having to ration the tests and living hand-to-mouth with testing supplies. At this time we are limiting testing to preserve availability for our most vulnerable, said Debra Carnes, a spokeswoman for PeaceHealth Columbia Network, a nonprofit health system that operates clinics in Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, Wash., has been running low on nasal swabs to collect specimens from patients.

We expected another shipment tomorrow, said Morgan Brice, a public relations specialist.

One mother in Kitsap County, Wash., said her doctor told her that the state was so low on tests that only one of her children could be tested.

That left many anxious people with mild symptoms running a never-ending gantlet: primary care doctors referred them to state public health officials, who referred them to emergency rooms, who referred them back to primary care doctors. Some patients said they gave up and went into self-quarantine, and had to make peace with the idea that they will never know for sure if they had the virus.

Christy Karras of Seattle tried to get tested after some people at a party she attended came down with flu-like symptoms. But her doctor did not have the test and advised her that it did not matter whether she had the virus: Either way, she had to stay home.

From a public policy standpoint, thats true, Ms. Karras said. From an individual standpoint, you really want to know what you have. It was very frustrating to me because we were all trying to do the right thing.
A parliamentary standing committee on Friday approved a bill which calls for compulsory registration of NRI marriages within 30 days.

The standing committee on External Affairs approved the Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill, 2019 with inclusions of recommendations made by its members.

The bill empowers passport authorities to impound or revoke passport or travel documents of NRIs who fail to register within 30 days after getting married.

The committee called for amending the proforma for registration of NRI marriage to make it "exhaustive incorporating all the germane" details related to passport, visa or permanent resident card and address in foreign country with proof.

It strongly recommended that the efforts must be intensified to establish better coordination with the member countries of Hague Convention and to take up the issues of NRI marital disputes during bilateral meetings and consular dialogue with foreign countries.

The committee also noted that 5,298 complaints have been received related to NRI marital grievances between January 1, 2016 and October 31, 2019.

The bill was brought in by former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj amid reports of Indian women being victims in fraudulent marriages with NRIs.

The bill proposes to provide for compulsory registration of marriage by an NRI within a period of 30 days from the date of marriage. It also seeks to amend the Passport Act, 1967 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

The proposed amendment of the Passport Act, 1967 empowers the passport authority to impound or cause to be impounded or revoke a passport or travel document of an NRI, if it is brought to his notice that the NRI has not registered his marriage within a period of 30 days from the date of marriage.

The proposed amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 would also empower the courts for issuance of summons, warrants through the specifically designated website of the Ministry of External Affairs. It further provides for attachment of the properties, both movable and immovable, belonging to a proclaimed offender.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2020) - Go Metals Corp. (CSE: GOCO) ("Go Metals" and/or the "Company") wishes to clarify and/or retract statements from the news release disseminated by the Company on March 11, 2020.

The company wishes to clarify the following statement:

The Monster property is a large IOCG property in Yukon, Canada and traditional territory of Tr'ondek Hwech'in.

The Monster Property is 65 km2 and centered on a set of hematitic breccias of several km in diameter. Alteration mapping by the company in 2019 (News Release dated August 28th, 2019) confirmed the presence of IOCG-style alteration and mineralization.

The company also wishes to clarify the following statement:

Mineralization on the claim is similar to the giant Olympic Dam IOCG deposit.

Comparisons of the Monster Property to the Olympic Dam deposit concern the deposit model and general geological characteristics such as age, mineralogy, and alteration only. As noted above the IOCG deposit model is substantiated by Go Metals alteration mapping.

The Company also wishes to retract the following statement:

The geochemical results were also encouraging, as the highest gold value assayed was 3.4 g/t Au (n=28 samples, average 0.185 g/t Au, 3 values over 100 ppb). This value further highlights the potential of the Monster to host a significant amount of gold.

No defined resource currently exists for the Monster Property. Therefore, the premise that the Monster hosts a significant amount of gold cannot be substantiated by work completed to date.



Average Highest Co 0.197% 2.037% Cu 0.165% 0.948% Ag 2.158 g/t 30.450 g/t Au 0.185 g/t 3.407 g/t

Samples were sent to Groundtruth Exploration in Dawson, YT for geophysical property measurements. Following measurement samples were sent by truck to the Company, which sent part of the sample to MS Analytical in Langley for geochemical measurements. Samples were dried, crushed and pulverized according to preparation method PRP-710 and analyzed through Aqua Regia ICP-AES/MS according through method IMS-131. Samples with more than 1% Co were analyzed through ore grade aqua regia ICP-AES according through method ICA-6Co and samples with Au over 0.01 ppm were analyzed through fire assay FAS-415. Blanks and duplicates were inserted according to MS Analytical's standard procedures. All lab standards and duplicates fall within acceptable limits.

The company wishes to retract the following statement because it might be considered overly promotional and is potentially misleading to investors:

We believe the Monster has world-class potential.

The Monster Property is an early stage exploration project.

The Company also wishes to add NI43-101 disclosures to the following statement:

The Bloom target is confirmed by several mineralized showings that grade up to 9.6% Co, 1.2 g/t Au and >1% Cu.

The Bloom is a drill target that has not been confirmed by drilling. The sample results and target geological characteristics were disseminated in a prior news release dated November 7th, 2018.

The Bloom consists of a coincident positive magnetic and gravity anomaly bounded by intermittent surface mineralization to the west, north and east. The Company considers this a geochemical confirmation of a geophysical exploration target, as opposed to a target based on geophysics alone. 30 Grab samples were taken around the Bloom target in 2018 and 2019.



Average Highest Co 0.42% 9.6% Cu 0.67% 3.2% Ag 1.52 g/t 11.31 g/t Au 0.06 g/t 1.16 g/t

Samples were sent to MS Analytical in Langley for geochemical measurements. Samples were dried, crushed and pulverized according to preparation method PRP-710 and analyzed through Aqua Regia ICP-AES/MS according through method IMS-131. Samples with more than 1% Co and/or Cu were analyzed through ore grade aqua regia ICP-AES according using method ICA-6Co and/or ICA-6Cu, samples with more than 5% Co were analyzed with sodium peroxide fusion ICP-AES using method PER-7Co, and samples with Au over 0.01 ppm were analyzed through fire assay FAS-415. Blanks and duplicates were inserted according to MS Analytical's standard procedures. All lab standards and duplicates fall within acceptable limits.

The Company would further like to retract the statement:

Go Metals develops battery metal projects in Canada.

The Company is currently conducting early stage surface exploration on the Monster property and should not be considered a mining developer.

Qualified Person

Adrian Smith, P.Geo, is the qualified person for the Company as defined in the National Instrument NI43-101 and has reviewed the technical information presented in this news release.

For further information, please contact:

Scott Sheldon, President

Telephone: 604.725.1857

Email: scott@gometals.ca

Forward-Looking Information:

This press release may include "forward-looking information" (as that term is defined by Canadian securities legislation), concerning the Company's business. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company's management, including future plans for the exploration and development of its mineral properties. Although the Company believes that such expectations and assumptions are reasonable, investors should not rely unduly on such forward-looking information as the Company can give no assurance they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to publicly update any forward-looking information (whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise) other than as required by applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53428
In Asia, stocks hit lower limits but recover quickly as authorities announce measures to ease the viruss effects.

Asian financial markets slumped on Friday after Wall Street posted its worst single-day crash since 1987, but quickly recouped losses as policymakers ramped up efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak and its economic effects.

Despite those measures and the partial rebound, most Asian shares remained a sea of red in late trading.

Right now, theres nowhere to hide, Alexander Chia, head of regional equity research at RHB Investment Bank told Al Jazeera. Even companies seen as beneficiaries of the virus outbreak are down. The entire market is derisking.

Japans Nikkei 225 index plunged close to 10 percent in early trade before the Bank of Japan announced an unscheduled 200 billion yen ($1.9bn) plan to buy government bonds with five to 10-year maturities. The Nikkei recovered losses to trade 5.4 percent lower afterwards.

In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi sank more than 7 percent to trigger a trading halt in the morning, later recovering to 5.2 percent down from the previous close.

In China, where the number of new cases reported daily has shrunk to single digits, losses in financial markets were less severe. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index lost 4.1 percent on its opening although it later recovered to trade almost flat at 0.72 percent down.

Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index, which fell more than 7 percent in early trade, later regained its footing to trade 5.8 percent down from its most recent close.

Some of the days wildest swings were in Australia, where shares were down as much as 8 percent in the morning. However, the S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.5 percent higher after the countrys central bank injected 8.8 billion Australian dollars ($5.5bn) into money markets, more than double the amount it earlier said it would offer.

Meanwhile, Indias NSE Nifty 50 climbed 1.1 percent after declining 10 percent to hit its lower limit hours earlier.

Most major Asian stock indices have fallen more than 20 percent from their recent highs, entering what traders define as bear markets.

Currencies which were hit hard in early trading also recovered. The euro gained 0.3 percent to trade at $1.1214 while the offshore yuan climbed 0.3 percent to 7.0066 against the US dollar.

Gold lost 4 percent early on Friday to trade at $1,563.42 an ounce, but later gained 0.1 percent to $1,577 per ounce.

Bond yields in the Asia Pacific remained elevated throughout the day. Yields for sovereign 10-year notes in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Korea and Singapore, which typically rise when prices fall, were up on Friday, indicating that some investors felt confident enough to leave the relative safety of bonds.

Live to fight another day

But investors were still scrambling to conserve cash instead of pouring money into stocks, said RHBs Chia. The price-earnings ratio, which investors typically rely on to gauge the fundamental value of a stock, was meaningless because analysts could no longer determine the impact of the virus on company earnings, he noted.

Nobody knows the extent to which the pandemic is affecting the global economy, Chia said, adding that there was scepticism among investors over how seriously politicians were treating the pandemic.

There are two things on investors minds right now: one, preserving capital and (two) trying to live to fight another day, he said.

US President Donald Trump tried to calm investors on Wednesday after his announcement of a 30-day travel suspension from Europe to the US crashed markets, saying: This is not a financial crisis.

But investors continued to sell off shares as the number of deaths and infections caused by the coronavirus rose, with the majority of new cases occurring outside China where the outbreak originated. The World Health Organization declared the virus a pandemic on Wednesday and the death toll has since climbed past 4,700 people with more than 128,000 infected globally.

I dont think weve reached the bottom [of the markets] yet, said Suvro Sarkar, equities analyst at DBS Bank in Singapore, noting that the number of infections, especially in Europe, were still on the rise.

I think we will see downward pressure for the next one to two weeks, he told Al Jazeera.

Other investors, however, see the current market selldown as a buying opportunity.

Pandemics come and go, Danny Wong, CEO of Kuala Lumpur-based fund Areca Capital, told Al Jazeera.

Wong said he was focused on collecting stocks of companies with strong fundamentals, although he was in no rush to do so.

Markets will recover, but the timing (of that recovery) is beyond my guess, he said.
An NYPD transit cop committed suicide inside a Midtown police station Friday afternoon, using another officers gun to shoot herself after her own service weapon was taken away from her by the department, sources told DailyMail.com.

The officer, who was on modified duty, swiped another gun from a probationary cop with less than a year on the force.

That newbie officer faces potential disciplinary action for failure to safeguard her weapon, a source said.

Colleagues of the transit cop who took her own life appeared to be visibly shaken

An NYPD transit officer committed suicide inside a Midtown police station Friday. The station was later shut down after the incident

The colleagues of the officer who killed herself appeared to be extremely upset

The woman took her own life inside the Transit District 1 headquarters inside the Columbus Circle subway station by Central Park West

Sources with knowledge of the case said the officer was being treated for emotional problems and had her guns taken away from her

It's believed the officer managed to use a fellow officer's gun after having her own weapon confiscated

The officer was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where she died, authorities said

The suicide took place shortly after 3pm inside police locker room in Transit District 1, located in the 59th Street/Columbus Circle subway station on Central Park West.

The mortally wounded officer was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where she was pronounced dead minutes later.

In a tweet, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the NYPD mourned the loss of the officer.

He said: 'Today, the NYPD mourns as weve lost a fellow officer to death by suicide. Our thoughts & prayers are with their family & friends.'

Shea also provided a crisis number for officers who may need it.

Today, the NYPD mourns as weve lost a fellow officer to death by suicide. Our thoughts & prayers are with their family & friends.



You are never alone, help is always available. Law enforcement text BLUE to 741741 (others text TALK) to be connected to someone who can help 24/7. pic.twitter.com/nolHq8fFKf  Commissioner Shea (@NYPDShea) March 13, 2020

This was the second NYPD suicide of 2020.

Ten cops took their own lives in 2019, prompting the department to take a series of actions to try and deal with the spike, including arranging confidential counseling services.

The 59th Street / Columbus Circle subway station was closed for a time after the incident

An NYPD officer stands on guard in order to stop would-be passengers from using the station

The shooting happened just before the Friday evening rush hour in New York City

Paramedics rushed to the scene of the shoot and the officer was rushed to hospital

The shooting is the second suicide by an active NYPD member this year, police said
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Friday (March 13, 2020) issued a circular asking all its departments to shift their accounts to nationalised banks, despite Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plea against such move.

In the wake of reports of such moves being mulled by some states, the Reserve Bank had on Thursday written to state governments not to shift away from private-sector lenders, flagging its concerns on financial stability. The fiasco at Yes Bank, a private sector lender, has led some state governments to think on these lines.

"All the government offices, public undertakings, corporations are advised to ensure that all their banking- related businesses should be undertaken with nationalised banks itself," a government resolution from the Finance Department said.

It added that all the accounts opened with private or cooperative banks for holding any money for government schemes, excluding for salaries and allowances, should be shut by April 1.

Giving out a list of 11 nationalised banks, it asked officials to ensure that employees' salaries and allowances are paid only through the state-run lenders from April.

It also appealed to pensioners to shift their accounts to the nationalised banks and gave out a list of 13 banks with which the state government has an arrangement.

The GR also asks corporations and undertakings to ensure that their investments are made with the nationalised banks itself.

"We strongly believe that such a move can have banking and financial sector stability implications. We would like to point out that the RBI has adequate powers to regulate and supervise the private sector banks and by using these powers it has ensured that the depositors' money is entirely safe," the RBI had reportedly said in the letter to all the chief secretaries.

"...Apprehension on safety of deposits in private sector banks is highly misplaced and..Such reactive decision will not be in the interest of stability of financial system in general and banking system in particular," it had added.
"We love participating because it allows us to be as accessible as possible to people who might not be able to come otherwise, says Desiree Siegel, marketing director for the Intrepid museum. Especially this year, [given] all the things that have happened over the last year and a half, we're really excited to be able to participate and welcome visitors to the museum for a free day.

To find a museum and reserve your spot, visit the Smithsonian magazine's Museum Day website and select Get a Ticket at the top of the page. From there, you can search and filter participating institutions by location and type. Once you make your selection, enter your name and email address to download a free pass that you and a guest can use on the 18th (a copy will also be emailed to you). Some museums will allow you to show your ticket on your smartphone, others want it printed; the ticket will note whether you'll need a hard copy.

Note that you can't go free-museum hopping on Museum Day; the site lets you download only one ticket for each email address.

Visitors this year should also be prepared to observe pandemic protocols during their visit. At the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, for example, all visitors 12 and older must show proof of vaccination and keep masks on indoors. For information about coronavirus-related precautions at your destination, call or visit the museum website (contact information is available on the Museum Day website) to learn more. Also check state and local COVID-19 restrictions.

Participating museums have the right to limit entry if they reach capacity; some are also limiting the number of free tickets available (in that case its listing on the Museum Day website will indicate no tickets available")  so wherever you're headed, it's a good idea to reserve your spot soon and plan on arriving early on Sept. 18.
Amid the political upheaval in Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday asserted that his government is 'stable'.

Speaking to ANI, Nath said: "I met Governor Lalji Tandon and informed him how the MLAs were kept hostage. Their resignations were brought before the speaker by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members."

Nath also alleged that the father of one of the MLAs was prevented from meeting him.

"This is a conspiracy by the BJP," he said.

On being asked about Jyotiraditya Scindia's exit from the party, Nath said, "only time will tell why he left".

This came after 22 Congress MLAs, including the six ministers who are in Bengaluru, had tendered their resignation from the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

The legislators sent their resignation letters soon after Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the Congress.

Congress has been witnessing an internal turf war in Madhya Pradesh since the party formed a government in the state. Of late, the rift between Scindia and Kamal Nath came out in the open with the former criticizing the Chief Minister on multiple occasions.

Scindia later went on to join the BJP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Serebrennikov embezzlement case to resume on March 19

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

11:39 13/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 13 (RAPSI)  Moscows Meshchansky District Court postponed reopening of the embezzlement case involving the Gogol Center theater director Kirill Serebrennikov until March 19 as a required expert examination had not been completed, lawyer Irina Poverinova told RAPSI on Friday.

In late 2019, the court commissioned the third complex financial and economic, and art valuation examination. A previous evaluation in 2018 failed to establish a fact of embezzlement.

Defendants in the case along with Serebrennikov are producer Alexey Malobrodsky, ex-head of Seventh Studio stage company Yury Itin, ex-official of Russias Culture Ministry and current director of the Russian Academic Youth Theater Sophia Apfelbaum.

Ex-chief accountant of Seventh Studio Nina Maslyayava is tried separately. She admitted guilt in full.

Other defendants pleaded not guilty calling charges against them pointless and absurd. Moreover, Serebrennikov and Malobrodsky lay the blame on Maslyayeva.

One more defendant, producer Yekaterina Voronova has been put on the international wanted list and arrested in absentia.

According to investigators, defendants in the case stole 133 of 214 million rubles ($3.3 million) of budget funds allocated to the Seventh Studio company in 2011-2014 for development and popularization of contemporary art in Russia as part of the project Platforma.

Serebrennikov was arrested in late August 2017 and then placed under house arrest. In early November, Moscows Basmanny District Court seized assets belonging to Serebrennikov including apartment, car, and money in the amount of more than 360,000 rubles ($5,300), over 60,000, and $4,000.

Investigators believe that he was an organizer of the budget money embezzlement. He allegedly created Seventh Studio stage company to actualize Platforma project for promotion of art and called alleged accomplices into the organization.
Many of these attractions have since announced closures for the rest of March. Check before you go, and keep an eye on our updating list of closures.

Several attractions around Oregon announced new measures Thursday to keep visitors safe amid the coronavirus outbreak.

For most that means cancelling events through the first part of spring, and continuing heightened cleaning protocols in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. As of Thursday, Oregon had 24 confirmed cases of the virus.

From Portland to Bend and the Oregon coast, attractions spent Thursday evaluating the changing circumstances and rolling out announcements, one after the other.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: THE LATEST NEWS

The Portland Art Museum decided to cancel of all events through April 8, including the remainder of the Portland International Film Festival, as well as all classes and rental events.

We are committed to doing our part to stem the spread of the disease, the art museum said in an announcement Thursday afternoon.

All galleries will remain open for the time being, as the museum is spacious enough to allow visitors the three feet of social distancing mandated by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.

Brown made the mandate Wednesday night, as she also issued a statewide ban on all gatherings of more than 250 people for the next four weeks.

That order doesnt apply to most of Oregons biggest attractions, however, where theres usually enough space for people to distance themselves.

For visitors to the [Portland Art Museum], we feel that with personal precautions people can maintain those buffers, museum spokesman Ian Gillingham said.

READ MORE: Amid coronavirus fears, Oregonians wrestle with spring break travel plans

The Oregon Coast Aquarium voiced the same sentiment Thursday, saying it will also remain open for now. Based in Newport, the aquariums many marine exhibits are housed in large spaces, several of them outdoors on a 23-acre property.

Theres a lot of area for people to practice social distancing here, Julie Woodward, spokeswoman for the aquarium, said.

However, the aquarium on Thursday did announce the cancellation of all its upcoming Sleep in the Deep events, gatherings in which kids sleep over inside the aquariums iconic Passages of the Deep exhibit.

Theyre in a very somewhat small area, and theyre sleeping in sleeping bags together, Woodward said. In light of the increasing social distancing, we felt that was good reason to cancel the sleepovers.

The Oregon Zoo made a similar announcement Thursday, canceling all events and spring break day camps through April 8. Indoor areas of the zoo, as well as high touch points will also be closed, though the rest of the zoo remains open.

The zoo said it has a good stock of food and medicine for its animals, which have remained healthy throughout the outbreak. The CDC has not received any reports of animals in human care becoming sick with the virus, the Oregon Zoo said.

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland took a slightly more measured approach, announcing Thursday that it will cancel all events of 250 people or more for the next four weeks, abiding by the governors mandate.

The museum also said it will limit the number of people allowed into its planetarium, theater and submarine, and will educate visitors about social distancing.

More than anything else, OMSI is committed to a sense of calm and normalcy, the museum said in an announcement Thursday evening. For more than 75 years weve been a community gathering place that brings joy and respite in good times and bad.

Out in central Oregon, the High Desert Museum near Bend also announced cancellations Thursday, calling off all programs and events through March 31, with a plan to later evaluate events in April. The museum is also closing an indoor exhibit that doubles as a play area for young kids.

Like other Oregon attractions, the High Desert Museum will remain open while continuing to follow public health guidelines and practicing social distancing.

The museum is in a good place, executive director Dana Whitelaw said. Were doing some short, mid, and long-term planning, depending how long this might go on.

Like virtually everyone else, local attractions are taking things on a day-by-day approach. All said updates will go out on their websites and social media channels.

A big question that hovers over them all is the financial impact the coronavirus will have, when all is said and done.

We got through a recession, we came out stronger, Whitelaw said. Were hoping we do that again.

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries (ATH:MOH) share price has dived 36% in the last thirty days. Indeed the recent decline has arguably caused some bitterness for shareholders who have held through the 43% drop over twelve months.

All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). Investors have optimistic expectations of companies with higher P/E ratios, compared to companies with lower P/E ratios.

See our latest analysis for Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries

Does Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries has a P/E ratio of 6.61. The image below shows that Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries has a P/E ratio that is roughly in line with the oil and gas industry average (6.6).

ATSE:MOH Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

That indicates that the market expects Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries will perform roughly in line with other companies in its industry. So if Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries actually outperforms its peers going forward, that should be a positive for the share price. Checking factors such as director buying and selling. could help you form your own view on if that will happen.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

When earnings fall, the 'E' decreases, over time. That means even if the current P/E is low, it will increase over time if the share price stays flat. A higher P/E should indicate the stock is expensive relative to others -- and that may encourage shareholders to sell.

Story continues

Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries saw earnings per share decrease by 41% last year. And over the longer term (3 years) earnings per share have decreased 2.9% annually. This growth rate might warrant a low P/E ratio.

A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank

One drawback of using a P/E ratio is that it considers market capitalization, but not the balance sheet. So it won't reflect the advantage of cash, or disadvantage of debt. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

So What Does Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries's Balance Sheet Tell Us?

Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries has net debt worth 22% of its market capitalization. This could bring some additional risk, and reduce the number of investment options for management; worth remembering if you compare its P/E to businesses without debt.

The Bottom Line On Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries's P/E Ratio

Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries trades on a P/E ratio of 6.6, which is below the GR market average of 12.9. The debt levels are not a major concern, but the lack of EPS growth is likely weighing on sentiment. Given Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries's P/E ratio has declined from 10.3 to 6.6 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer invest in growth, this stock apparently offers limited promise, but the deep value investors may find the pessimism around this stock enticing.

Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. 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 Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries. 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.
Local Muslims pass a police car in their vehicle in Hotan in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region on June 23, 2017. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

US Officials Push New Efforts to Address Beijings Suppression of Xinjiang Uyghurs

U.S. officials recently introduced legislation to address Chinas human rights violations in the Xinjiang region.

On March 12, U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) proposed a new bill, called the Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act, which would require U.S.-traded companies that do business in Xinjiang to review and disclose information about their supply chainsparticularly whether their products are made by forced labor or sourced from internment camps.

More than a million ethnic Muslim minorities, including Uyghurs, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz people, are being detained in roughly 1,200 internment camps in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, according to the 2019 Trafficking In Persons report by the U.S. State Department. Beijing claims these camps are vocational training centers.

Ive met with members of the Uyghur community in my district who have told me heart-wrenching stories of family and friends in Xinjiang who have been brutally detained, pushed out of their homes, and pressed into forced labor, Wexton said in a press release from her office.

Wextons proposed legislation came days after a new study released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) revealed that at least 83 well-known global brands were connected to factories where persecuted Uyghurs are working under conditions that strongly suggest forced labor.

Citing open-source Chinese-language documents, satellite imagery analysis, academic research, and media reports, the report estimated that more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang to these factories between 2017 and 2019 in a state-sponsored program.

Among the 83 brands named in the report were Adidas, Apple, Gap, Huawei, Nike, and Samsung.

Nike has since issued a statement, saying that Xinjiang employees at Qingdao Taekwang Shoes Co., where some Nike shoes are manufactured, have the ability to end their contracts at any time without repercussion. It added that the company has been conducting ongoing diligence with our suppliers in China.

The proposed bill would be an amendment to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. If passed, it would require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue rules to listed companies, demanding that they disclose information such as the nature and the extent to which forced labor is related to their products, as well as gross revenue and net profits in association with such goods. The SEC would then disclose the information on its website.

American companies should not be complicit in Chinas abuse of its Muslim minorities. This legislation will help shine a light on these inhumane practices and provide needed transparency for investors, Wexton said.

She added: Once consumers see that the products we use every dayfrom the shoes we wear to the phones we text onhave been tainted by forced labor, I believe American companies will do the right thing and rethink their supply chains.

On March 11, a bipartisan group of 17 senators wrote a joint letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, expressing concerns that China was using international standards-setting bodies, such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), to gain international legitimacy for its surveillance technologies.

The Chinese regime has developed artificial-intelligence security cameras and apps that are used to monitor Xinjiang residents, as well as dissidents and the general populace.
The Goa Health Department on



Friday invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1987, banning public gatherings in the coastal state with immediate effect to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told reporters that he had also requested Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to close school classes up to std 9th while allowing std 10th and 12th students to appear for ongoing examinations.

He had also urged the chief minister to cancel Shigmo Festival parades this weekend, Rane said.

"We have invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1987 which empowers the health department to take measures to curb spread of the coronavirus," he said.

Goa has not reported a single confirmed coronavirus case so far.

"After invoking the act, there will be a ban on mass gatherings including marriages in private hotels. We had to take these steps due to exponential increase in the cases of coronavirus in the country and globally," he said.

"We are lucky that till now we don't have a single confirmed case, but Maharashtra has detected cases and there is a death due to coronavirus in Karnataka," he said.

"Regulations under the Act will come into force immediately," the minister added.

Under the Act, the department can even shut down movie theaters, Rane said, adding that every decision will be taken in consultation with the chief minister.

As to the Zilla Panchayat elections of March 22, Rane said the campaigning must be subdued.

"We can have other means of campaigning (apart from public meetings)," he said, adding that disinfectants must be used to clean floors and other surfaces at polling booths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DeSales University, Cedar Crest and Moravian colleges jointly announced that all three schools are moving all classes online starting the week of March 16 while keeping their dorms and dining facilities open.

Each school will determine when it resumes on-campus classes. Students can decide if they want to take their online classes from their on-campus residences or at their homes, according to the joint release.

Cedar Crest, along with DeSales, and Moravian are all committed to staying open while keeping our students, faculty, and staff as safe as possible, said Elizabeth Meade, Cedar Crest College president. The move to online classes next week will help all three schools address those goals.

The decision comes amid news Thursday that the Lehigh Valley has its first positive case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and as Gov. Tom Wolf emphasized the need for social distancing as he shut down schools in suburban Philadelphia, where the majority of the states cases have been.

DeSales already planned to offer online instruction next week, but had planned to resume classes March 23.

All three school presidents want to combat the spread of COVID-19 with social distancing while also providing students with limited housing options a safe place to continue their studies online, the joint release states.

We know that many students may not have viable housing and dining options available to them if we closed our campuses completely, said Bryon Grigsby, president of Moravian College. By keeping campus open and allowing students to continue their academic progress online, we feel we have their best interests, and well-being, in mind and are practicing effective social distancing.

Each institution will enact its own policies to manage gatherings on campus that are aligned with public health officials guidance, the release states. As of 5 p.m. Thursday, Moravian was banning non-campus visitors from its dorms.

Dining facilities will remain open and extra precautions have been taken to maintain safe dining environments on all three campuses, such as sanitizing high-touch surfaces and adding more hand sanitizers on campus, the release states

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Nigeria has recorded only two confirmed cases of Covid-19 but the global pandemics growing impact on its economy is far more significant.

As oil prices tank while global demand drops drastically in the wake of the outbreak, Nigerias economy is being caught in the cross-hairs. Essentially, with oil being Nigerias biggest export, the government relies heavily on the resource for dollar earnings to fund its national budget. And with this years $37 billion budget passed with a benchmark oil price of $57 per barrelnearly double its current price of around $31 to $33, Africas largest economy cannot currently fund its budget.

One unfolding real-time effect is a US dollar shortage thats already manifesting on parallel forex markets with the informal dollar dealers who often operate just in front or across the road from airports and top hotels in the business districts of Lagos and Abuja.

With Nigerias naira official exchange rates fixed by the countrys Central Bank, these black market operators often deliver a more accurate verdict on the levels of supply, demand and prices. Over the past two days, naira to dollar exchange rateswhich have stayed quite stable at around 360 naira to the dollar since mid-2017have reached 430 naira. One currency trader tells Quartz Africa dollars are literally no longer available even on the black market due to excessive demand.

Much of that demand is down to bureau de change operators hoarding dollars while speculators attempt to hedge against potential naira losses in the event of a devaluation. Both are happening at the same time but there is a balance tilted towards towards hoarding [by bureau de change operators], says Manasseh Egedegbe, an Abuja-based investment manager.

Story continues

With Nigerias economy perennially import-dependent, a dollar crunch typically affects a wide range of businesses that require hard currency to fund imports of input materials in a country whose weak industrial base means it makes very little from scratch.

The availability of dollars is also typically a hot button issue among middle class Nigerians, a key demography, who can afford foreign travel, health care or even educationNigerians spent $514 million to school in the United States in 2018.

Deja vu

While still in its infancy, the growing dollar shortage will feel very familiar for most Nigerians. In 2016, amid a recession triggered by a fall in oil prices, the government imposed currency controls in a bid to stem the flow of foreign exchange out of the country given dwindling foreign reserves.

But the measures came with damaging effects as restricted access to dollars left businesses unable to import raw materials and locals unable to meet dollar-denominated expenses, including medical expenses and tuition at foreign schools. Even while abroad, Nigerians still felt the brunt of the restrictions as banks placed spending limits on debit cards. The currency controls also had an adverse effect on investors as international airlines either pulled out or cut down on routes to Nigeria.

Many critics have long claimed the naira was effectively being overvalued by the central banks currency controls and at various points in recent years, there have been calls for the naira to be allowed to float to find its true level.

Given some of the economic parallels with 2016, it remains to be seen if the government will do things differently this time around. But economic experts forecast it will have little choice.

Charles Robertson, chief economist at Renaissance Capital expects Nigerias central bank to bow to reality and weaken the naira within a few months. While the government might be ordinarily reticent to do so, Mathias Hindar, Sub-Saharan Africa analyst at Falanx Assynt, says sustained low oil prices will see the governments ability to protect the naira diminish. For its part, Aza, an African currency broker, is advising clients to reduce exposure to the naira as it expects further weakening in the coming days.

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New Delhi: India reported its second casualty due to coronavirus, and Delhi its first, after a 68-year-old woman died in Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital in the national capital. Her son, who had returned to India from abroad, had tested positive for the virus.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in a statement confirmed the death, saying it was caused due to co-morbidity (diabetes and hypertension) and that the patient had tested positive for COVID-19. She was the mother of a person who has been confirmed to be suffering from coronavirus.

She became the second person to die of coronavirus infection in the country after the first death was reported from Karnataka on Thursday. The 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi had died on Tuesday.

The Health Ministry said so far 82 cases have been reported across the country, with seven in Delhi.

In a statement, officials of the Health Ministry and the Delhi government said the patient had a history of contact with a positive case as her son had travelled to Switzerland and Italy between February 5 and February 22, returning to India on February 23.

He (the son) initially was asymptomatic, but developed fever and cough after one day and reported to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on March 7, said the statement. As per protocol, the family was screened and since he and his mother had fever and cough, both were admitted.

The statement said the woman suffered from diabetes and hypertension. Her sample was collected on March 8. A day later, she was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after her condition worsened and she developed pneumonia. Her sample also tested positive for coronavirus.

Since March 9, the woman exhibited respiratory fluctuations and was provided ventilator support. However, due to co-morbid conditions, she died on March 13 at RML Hospital, Delhi, as confirmed by the treating physician and medical superintendent, it added.

Officials said all precautionary measures as per protocol, including screening and quarantine of the contacts in touch with her, have already been taken up by the Ministry of Health and the Delhi government.

Screening ramped up

Addressing reporters on Friday, Health Ministry officials said coronavirus  a pandemic that has infected 1,31,500 people in 116 countries and territories and has killed more than 4,900  is not a health emergency and there is no need to panic. They said India has evacuated 1,031 people, including from Maldives, US, Madagascar and China.

The Centre has also decided to allow international traffic only through 19 border checkposts out of 37 and continue the suspension of Indo-Bangladesh cross border passenger trains and buses till April 15, or earlier, if so decided. Officials disclosed that 42,000 people across the country are under community surveillance.

While states such as Karnataka, Odisha, Delhi and Bihar went into virtual shutdown mode, the under-pressure BCCI suspended the start of this year's IPL cricket tournament from March 29 to April 15.

A day after the country's first coronavirus death was reported from Kalaburgi in the state, the Karnataka government announced a lockdown of malls, cinema theatres, pubs and night clubs for a week. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa issued instructions to stop all kinds of exhibitions, summer camps, conferences, marriage events and birthday parties.

Aviation watchdog DGCA has asked international airlines to consider waiving ticket cancellation and reschedule charges or look at providing any other incentives.

States which have not reported any cases so far are also on alert.

(With inputs from PTI)
BAGHDAD  Iraqi military officials strongly condemned the U.S. military Friday for air strikes launched overnight that they said killed three Iraqi soldiers, two police officers and a civilian worker, and damaged an unfinished civilian airport.

American officials said Friday the strikes had hit sites where rockets and other weapons were stored by an Iranian-backed militia, Kataib Hezbollah. But according to multiple Iraqi military officials, the bombings killed members of the Iraqi military and police.

American officials said Kataib Hezbollah fighters were also killed in the air strikes, but they could not yet say how many.

The strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack Wednesday that killed two Americans and a British soldier and injured 14 others at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, American officials said.

In a statement released Friday, the Iraqi Joint Command described the attack as an aggression that targeted Iraqi military institutions violating the principal of partnership between the Iraqi security forces and the Americans.

This attack cost the lives of Iraqi fighters while they were doing their military duty, the statement said.

In Karbala, officials for the Imam Hussein shrine who are involved in the airports construction because millions of pilgrims come to Karbala every year to visit its holy sites said that a civilian worker at the airport was killed and that several others who were working on building the airport were wounded.

This airport is totally civilian, and the holy Husseini shrine is constructing it by agreement with several Iraqi companies and using totally Iraqi civilian workers, the statement said.

At a news conference at the Pentagon on Friday, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of the militarys Central Command, said the U.S. strikes were in self-defense to destroy rockets and other weapons that he said had been supplied by Iran and that could be used against U.S. and allied troops in Iraq.

McKenzie said American officials had consulted with their Iraqi counterparts after the fatal strikes Wednesday and knew a U.S. response was coming.

Separately, the Pentagon identified the two Americans killed in Wednesdays rocket attack as the Armys Spc. Juan Miguel Mendez Covarrubias, 27, of Hanford (Kings County); and the Air Forces Staff Sgt. Marshal Roberts, 28, of Owasso, Okla.

Alissa J. Rubin and Eric Schmitt are New York Times writers.
Prime Minister Narendra



Modi's two-day visit to Gujarat from March 21 has been put off due to the coronavirus scare, it was announced here on Friday.

Making the announcement about deferment of the PM's visit, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said new dates will be finalised later.

"In view of the current situation which has arisen due to the coronavirus and a recent central government advisory asking states to avoid organising any large gatherings or seminars, Prime Minister Modi's visit to Gujarat on March 21 and 22 has been postponed," he said.

Notably, no positive case of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) has been reported so far in the home state of Modi.

Patel said the state government is taking all necessary steps to avoid the spread of the virus in view of positive cases reported from neigbhouring Maharashtra and some other states.

Earlier, authorities had announced that Modi will be in Gujarat for two days to inaugurate a host of projects.

On March 21, he was expected to address a large gathering in Vadodara.

On the same day, he was scheduled to visit Kevadiya in Narmada district to inaugurate a clutch of new tourist attractions near the Statue of Unity.

On March 22, the PM was scheduled to inaugurate an 800-bed facility of the U N Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre (UNMICRC), popularly known as UN Mehta Heart Hospital in Ahmedabad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: Delhi's Tees Hazari court on Friday (March 13) awarded 10 years imprisonment to all eight accused including expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in connection with the custodial death of the father of Unnao rape victim. The court also directed Senger and his brother Atul Sengar to pay Rs 10 lakh each to the family of the rape victim. The rape victim's father had died in judicial custody on April 9, 2018.

This is his second conviction in the matter related to Unnao rape case.

Earlier, Sengar's lawyer had submitted before the court that he has 35 years of political career and served the people. Sengar's brother Atul, who was also convicted in the case, cited several grounds and sought lesser punishment in the case.

The fast track court recently convicted seven accused including Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is already convicted in the rape case, in the case and acquitted the other four accused. The court convicted Kuldeep of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in connection with the death of the victim's father.

CBI in its charge-sheet said all this while Kuldeep Sengar was in continuous touch with the district police superintendent, and the police station in-charge Bhadauria. CBI filed a charge-sheet in the case on July 13, 2018. Thereafter, the charges were framed against Sengar, his brother Atul, Makhi police station in-charge Ashok Singh Bhadauria, Sub Inspector Kamta Prasad, Constable Amir Khan and six others in the case.

On August 1, 2019, the Supreme Court had transferred the case to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh. In December 2019, Sengar was convicted and jailed for life for raping the woman in Unnao in 2017 when she was a minor.
Amid coronavirus panic, SpiceJet is reportedly urging customers to travel without worry in an outreach effort to prevent a slide in bookings but their recent advertisement drew flak.

Twitter

A leaflet sent by SpiceJet airlines to its passengers claiming that its safe to travel during the outbreak is being slammed online.

Captioned 'travel without worry' the leaflet quotes Harvard Medical School and World Health Organisation (WHO) to back their claim stating that the virus was less infectious than FLU.



Really, @flyspicejet? Most countries, including India, disagree with you, tweeted New York Times journalist Vindu Goel while sharing the image.



Others also chimed in:

#1





#2

Not cool from Spice jet to selectively quote..They can advertise cheaper fares for the future, its ok, but dont mislead people with quotes from agencies, thats uncool...  afpbell (@afpbell) March 12, 2020

#3

They have added logos of WHO and Harvard Med School as if this message is endorsed by them. They are opening themselves up to a lot more than public dissent.  Madhura Rane (@kickbuckit) March 11, 2020

#4

Absolutely irresponsible   Socially Distant Ichhya Pant (@3rdcultureme) March 11, 2020

#5

"At SpiceJet, were taking all possible steps to ensure the safety of our passengers. At the same time, wed like to assure everyone that it is absolutely safe to continue international travel, tourism, and trade; and advise everyone to take necessary precautions to avoid the risk of infection, read the content of the leaflet while suggesting that it was safe to travel during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Facebook

The Indian Express quoted a spokesperson of the airlines as saying, Please note, the image you have attached in your mail is a part of the emailer which was shared by SpiceJet to its passengers informing them about coronavirus and travel."



In the wake of coronavirus panic in India, flight occupancy and fresh bookings have dropped over ten per cent in last few days as individuals and corporates defer trips. International travel is already hit due to a series of visa restrictions imposed by countries. The restrictions have forced airlines to cancel flights and ground aircraft.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said he himself would 'likely' have been tested after coming in contact with a Brazilian official who tested positive for the coronavirus  something President Trump is pointedly refusing to do.

Fauci made the statement in a morning television interview where he got pressed on why the president would resist being tested despite his interaction with the Brazilian at Mar-a-Lago, even after also coming into contact with a series of Republicans who were at the CPAC conference and put themselves into self quarantine.

The White House has said Trump won't get tested, despite coming into contact with Bolsonaros communications director, Fabio Wajngarten.

'I leave that to the president's White House physician who is an extremely competent individual who I know well, and the decisions there were between what would be a potential patient and the physician,' said Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert at the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says he would 'likely' get tested after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, after being asked about President Trump's contact with a Brazilian offical

But when pushed, Fauci admitted that he would likely have a test if it were him who had come into contact with the infected aide.

When asked if he would get a test, he said: 'Likely I would, but I'm not sure.

'It depends on the circumstances,' he added.

'We should follow the guidelines of the CDC about when you are at a risk what you should do.'

Commander Sean Conley is the White House physician.

Trump had dinner with Bolsonaro at his Mar-a-Lago club March 7, a day after one of his key aides tested positive for the virus.

Trump was already facing criticism for flying to his private club last weekend immediately after receiving a briefing on the virus at the Centers for Disease Control.

He hosted a lavish party for Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle Saturday night. Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner all were there.

Trump with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro shaking hands on March 7. Bolsonaro's own COVID-19 test came out negative. One of his aides has tested positive for it

There are now more than 1,750 cases of coronavirus in the US and 41 have died

Fauci has been asked repeatedly about whether President Trump should get tested for the coronavirus. Trump plans a press conference for 3 pm

Trump flew to a fundraiser in Orlando on Monday, then returned to Washington Monday afternoon with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who immediately put himself into isolation after learning he came in contact with a man at a CPAC conference who had tested positive.

Fauci gave a more direct response when asked about the situation on MSNBC.

'Id leave that to the presidents physician. They have a very good White House physician and physician staff there. So when you have a situation of a patient doctor relationship, the advice for that should come from the White House physician,' he said.

Interviewer Willie Geist followed up: 'But generally speaking if I were standing next to someone who had been diagnosed with coronavirus should I isolate myself and find a test as well?'

'Yes,' Fauci responded.

Ivanka Trump was also at the dinner on March 7 and she has another connection to the virus - two days earlier, on March 5, she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with an Australian government minister who has now tested positive for the virus.

It is unclear whether or not she has been tested.
(Newser)  Amazon has gotten another indication that something might come of its lawsuit against the Defense Department over its handling of a cloud contract worth billions. The Pentagon told a court in a filing Thursday that it "wishes to reconsider its award decision." The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract was awarded to Microsoft in October. After losing out, Amazon Web Services took its objections to the US Court of Federal Claims, saying President Trump steered the deal to Microsoft because of his "personal vendetta" against Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post, which Bezos owns. The judge said this month that Amazon is "likely to succeed" in its court fight, per Politico.

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The Pentagon said it wants to take another look at parts of the deal but didn't agree that Trump had any role in its decision. Technical issues listed in the suit will be reviewed in the next 120 days, the filing said, as will a method the government used in pricing and its assessment of online marketplace offerings by Microsoft and Amazon. Amazon welcomed the filing, saying the Pentagon "has acknowledged 'substantial and legitimate' issues that affected the JEDI award decision, and that corrective action is necessary." Microsoft cast the review more narrowly, endorsing the "decision to reconsider a small number of factors as it is likely the fastest way to resolve all issues." The JEDI deal could be worth as much as $10 billion over 10 years. (Other companies had complained during the awarding process.)
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / If you're a dental service provider and you look at how dental implant procedures are currently being marketed, you'll quickly see that everyone is doing the exact same thing. Most digital marketing companies are using pay per click strategies and search engine optimization that bring potential customers straight to your website. If you're lucky, maybe the people you hired for your marketing even included some kind of offer on your landing page. But even then, you may still be unable to translate leads to actual patients.

Fortunately, Hassan Hamid co-founded Implant Patient Machine to revolutionize the industry practice for getting a steady stream of new dental implant patients. He has collected the best strategies to achieve this goal: call scripts, financing companies, patient experiences, case presentation methods, and many more. Having designed a system that's proven to work, Hassan and his team guarantee to not only generate leads but more importantly book appointments, as he states, "Leads don't pay the bills. Appointments Do!'.

The Implant Patient Machine successfully delivers these amazing results to their clients by going above and beyond simply front-desk phoning the leads that they generate. The company has an in-house call centre. With their help, the leads are generated and booked into the client's calendar within only 5 minutes. On top of that, the Implant Patient Machine takes care of following up and nurturing the leads to convert them into appointments.

It's clear that the company is the direct result of innovation that came about through what can only be described as a fated encounter. Founders Hassan Hamid and Michael Dallas Petersen initially became acquainted through a Facebook Group. Within the next hour, the two were in a phone call with each other that lasted 3 hours. They had complementary personalities and skills, with Hassan being a natural innovator and Michael being the technical guy who's passionate about implementing systems. Together they came up with the idea that has shaken the dental marketing industry and has shifted it into a new paradigm. This is how the Implant Patient Machine started.

The two co-founders believe in the process of execution and then reaction. When they came up with the idea of an innovative solution to dental implant marketing, they quickly executed their plans without waiting first to perfect it. Over time they have developed their system to make it more efficient.

Implant Patient Machine recently partnered up with the company Dentulu. This partnership would allow them to deliver even better results through teledentistry and virtual dentistry. These technological advancements represent the future of oral healthcare and allow dental patients to access dental services in the comfort of their preferred time and place.

Dental care professionals already have enough to worry about and they would really benefit to know of better services that will generate them with better results. With the expertise of the Implant Patient Machine, dental clinics can focus on delivering procedures and ensuring that they provide the patients with the best experience.

To reach out to the Implant Patient Machine and get qualified appointments, you may send an email to hassan@socialaimsolutions.com or call (+1) 213-444-7461.

SOURCE: Hassan Hamid

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/580556/Implant-Patient-Machine-Co-Founder-Hassan-Hamid-Ushers-in-the-Future-of-Dental-Marketing
Premium income of 14.4 billion, up +1.7%

Increase in premium income from property and casualty insurance (+1.1%) and from life and health insurance (+2.4%)

Mixed performance with an increase in France (+2.6%) and a decline in the international market (-2.3%)

Higher economic operating income at 413 million

Insurance economic operating income of 466 million

Non-life combined ratio of 97.0%

Continued transformation of the life insurance portfolio with a share of unit-linked outstandings in individual savings of 28.1% in France

Net income of 345 million

Solvency 2 ratio of 178%, up 11 points

Solvency 2 ratio of 302% with transitional measure

Groups IFRS equity of 10.2 billion

Mutual certificate outstandings of 600 million at 31 December 2019

2019 was marked by economic and social uncertainty. We were also not spared by weather events, with alternating high temperatures, droughts, and floods. In this challenging environment, Groupama delivered very satisfying results, driven by the profitable organic growth of its regional mutuals. This performance highlights the soundness of our mutualist model and the engagement of our elected representatives and employees., stated Jean-Yves Dages, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles.

In 2019, Groupama once again demonstrated its ability to grow and face a complex environment of both risks and opportunities. The increases in our premium income, operating income, and solvency resulted from very good technical and cost control while anticipating and responding to the needs and practices of our members and customers., added Thierry Martel, CEO of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles.

Paris, 13 March 2020  The Board of Directors of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles met on

12 March 2020, under the chairmanship of Jean-Yves Dages, and approved the Groups combined financial statements and the consolidated financial statements of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles for fiscal year 2019.

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The Groups combined financial statements include all business of the Group as a whole (i.e. the activity of the regional mutuals and of the subsidiaries consolidated within Groupama Assurances Mutuelles). The consolidated financial statements of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles include the business activity of all subsidiaries as well as internal reinsurance (around 35% of the premium income of the regional mutuals ceded to Groupama Assurances Mutuelles).

The analysis below focuses on the combined scope. The key figures of the consolidated scope are presented in the appendices.

A growing business

At 31 December 2019, Groupamas combined premium income stood at 14.4 billion, a +1.7% increase from 31 December 2018.

Business activity was up for property and casualty insurance (+1.1%), where the Group generated 7.4 billion in premium income at 31 December 2019, and for life and health insurance (+2.4%), with premium income reaching 6.8 billion.

Groupamas combined premium income at 31 December 2019

in millions of euros 31/12/2019 Like-for-like change (%) Property and casualty insurance 7,377 +1.1% Life and health insurance 6,836 +2.4 % Financial businesses 168 -1.0 % GROUP TOTAL 14,381 +1.7 %

In France

Insurance premium income in France at 31 December 2019 amounted to 11.9 billion, up +2.6% compared with 31 December 2018.

In property and casualty insurance, premium income totalled 5,755 million at 31 December 2019, up +2.4%. Insurance for individuals and professionals increased +1.8% over the period to 3,416 million, driven by the growth of home insurance (+2.6% to 1,110 million) and motor insurance (+1.5% to 1,591 million). The Group is pursuing its commercial growth in its main markets and posted growth in its home portfolio (+10,000 policies). The growth in agricultural business (+1.0%) and the assistance activity (+16.3%) also contributed to the increase in property and casualty insurance premium income.

In life and health insurance, premium income amounted to 6,102 million, up +2.8% compared with 31 December 2018. The growth came from health and bodily injury insurance, with premium income up +8.1% compared with the previous period, driven by strong development in group health (+12.8%). The Groups life and capitalisation premium income in France decreased by 3.5% mainly due to the decrease in individual unit-linked (UL) savings/pension business

(-11.1%), with contracts in euros growing by +5.2%. After taking into account Fourgous transfers and UL net inflows, the UL share of individual savings outstandings increased to 28.1% at 31 December 2019 compared with 25.3% at 31 December 2018. When the PACTE Act came into force in October 2019, the Group was one of the first market players to offer a full range of PER policies. As of the end of December, more than 8,000 PERin policies were marketed by the Groupama and Gan networks.



International

The Group is present in 9 countries around the world, mainly in Europe. In 2019, business reached 2.4 billion, down 2.3% on a like-for-like basis and with constant exchange rates compared with 31 December 2018. This change was primarily due to the controlled decline in the Italian subsidiarys business.

Property and casualty insurance premium income totalled 1,623 million at 31 December 2019, a 3.2% decrease from the previous period. The motor insurance segment saw a decline of -7.4%, coming exclusively from the Italian subsidiary, masking the strong growth generated by other countries in this sector. Business increased in the business property damage (+7.2%) and home (+4.4%) insurance segments.

In life and health insurance, premium income totalled 734 million, down slightly by -0.4%. The individual life and health insurance segment remained stable over the period. The good performance of the protection insurance segment (+3.5%), particularly in Hungary, and the health business (+11.4%), driven by group health in Romania, offset the decline in individual savings/pensions (-2.9%).



Financial businesses

The Groups premium income was 168 million, including 163 million from Groupama Asset Management and 5 million from Groupama Epargne Salariale.

Groupama Asset Managements outstanding assets amounted to 105.3 billion at 31 December 2019, taking into account in particular the development of third-party asset management.

Increased operating income

The Groups economic operating income increased to 413 million at 31 December 2019, up +115 million compared with 31 December 2018.

It includes 466 million in economic operating income from insurance at 31 December 2019 compared with 354 million at 31 December 2018.

In life and health insurance, economic operating income was 353 million in 2019 compared with 282 million in 2018. This increase is attributable mainly to the improved current loss experience in health and personal accident insurance.

In property and casualty insurance, economic operating income was 113 million at 31 December 2019, an increase of 41 million compared with 31 December 2018. The net non-life combined ratio was 97.0% at 31 December 2019 versus 99.3% at 31 December 2018. This decrease is partly related to the change in the Groups estimate of its technical reverses to reflect the persistence of low rates and the higher frequency of weather events.

The economic operating profit from banking and financial businesses amounted to 38 million, and the Groups holding business posted an economic operating loss of 90 million at 31 December 2019.

The transition from economic operating income to net income includes non-recurring items, including goodwill impairments of -183 million, mainly relating to the Italian subsidiary, and exceptional realised capital gains of 354 million, mainly due to the sale of a building in Paris on avenue des Champs-Elysees.

The Groups overall net income totalled 345 million at 31 December 2019 compared with 450 million at 31 December 2018.

A solid balance sheet



The Groups IFRS equity totalled 10.2 billion at 31 December 2019, up +15.2% compared with 31 December 2018, reflecting in particular the increase in unrealised capital gains on financial assets and the contribution of net income. Groups IFRS equity also includes the mutual certificates issued by Groupama since the end of 2015 for 600 million, of which 60 million issued in 2019.

Following the successful issue of 500 million in subordinated instruments in September 2019 and the early redemption of redeemable subordinated instruments issued in 2009 for 500 million, subordinated debt both recognised and not recognised in Groups IFRS equity totalled 2.7 billion at 31 December 2019, a stable amount compared with 2018.

Insurance investments totalled 91.1 billion at 31 December 2019 compared with 85.2 billion at 31 December 2018, a 6.9% increase. The Groups unrealised capital gains were 10.9 billion at 31 December 2019, including 7.4 billion from the bond portfolio, 1.2 billion from the equity portfolio, and 2.3 billion from real estate assets.

At 31 December 2019, the Solvency 2 ratio was 178%, without transitional measure on technical reserves. The 11-point increase in this ratio compared with 2018 incorporates the recognition of policyholders surplus reserves in accordance with the regulatory provisions. The Solvency 2 ratio, incorporating the transitional measure on technical reserves authorised by the ACPR, is 302%.

Group Communications Department

Media contact : Analyst and investor contacts: Safia Bouda - + 33 (0)1 44 56 30 86

safia.bouda@groupama.com

Marie-Laure Renaudie  + 33 (0)1 44 56 32 35

marie-laure.renaudie@groupama.com



Yvette Baudron - +33 (0)1 44 56 72 53

yvette.baudron@groupama.com

Valerie Buffard  +33 (0)1 44 56 74 54

valerie.buffard@groupama.com





* * *

Groupama financial information on the accounts closed at 31/12/2019 includes:

This press release, which is available on the groupama.com website,

Groupamas combined financial statements at 31/12/2019, which will be posted on the www.groupama.com website on 23 March 2020 for the French version and 29 April 2020 for the English version,

The universal registration document of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles, which will be filed with the AMF on 28 April 2020 and posted on the groupama.com website on 29 April 2020.

Get all the latest news about Groupama

on its website: www.groupama.com

and on Twitter: @GroupeGroupama





Appendix 1:

Key figures for Groupama  combined financial statements

/ Premium income

2018 2019 2019/2018 Reported premium income Pro forma premium income* Reported premium income Change **  million as % > FRANCE 11,556 11,556 11,857 +2.6% Life and health insurance 5,936 5,936 6,102 +2.8% Property and casualty insurance 5,621 5,621 5,755 +2.4% > INTERNATIONAL & Overseas 2,537 2,413 2,357 -2.3% Life and health insurance 770 737 734 -0.4% Property and casualty insurance 1,768 1,675 1,623 -3.2% TOTAL INSURANCE 14,094 13,969 14,213 +1.7% FINANCIAL BUSINESSES 169 169 168 -1.0% TOTAL 14,263 14,138 14,381 +1.7%

* Based on comparable data

** change on a like-for-like exchange rate and consolidation basis

/ Economic operating income*

 million 2018 2019 2019/2018 change Insurance  France 310 561 +251 Insurance - International 43 -96 -139 Financial businesses 34 38 +4 Holding companies -89 -90 -1 TOTAL 298 413 +115

* Economic operating income : equals net income adjusted for realised capital gains and losses, long-term impairment provision allocations and write-backs, and unrealised capital gains and losses on financial assets recognised at fair value (all such items are net of profit sharing and corporate income tax). Also adjusted are non-recurring items net of corporate income tax, impairment of value of business in force, impairment of goodwill (net of corporate income tax), and external financing expenses.

/ Net income

2018 2019 2019/2018 change  million Economic operating income 298 413 +115 Net realised capital gains* 351 354 +3 Net income from discontinued business activities -2 -4 -2 Long-term impairment losses on financial instruments* -7 -71 -64 Gains and losses on financial assets and derivatives recognised at fair value* -25 9 +34 Financing expenses -57 -63 -6 Goodwill impairment 0 -183 -183 Other expenses and income -109 -110 -1 Net income 450 345 -105

* amounts net of profit sharing and corporate tax

Contribution of businesses to combined net income

 million 2018 2019 Insurance and services - France 389 570 Insurance - international subsidiaries 24 -96 Financial and banking businesses -24 -25 Holding and other 61 -104 Net income 450 345

/ Balance sheet

 million 2018 2019 Groups IFRS equity, group share 8,884 10,238 Subordinated instruments 2,732 2,729 - classified as equity instruments 1,099 1,099 - classified as Financing debt 1,633 1,630 Gross unrealised capital gains 8,030 10,941 Total balance sheet 96,833 102,861

/ Main ratios

2018 2019 Non-life net combined ratio 99.3% 97.0% Debt-to-equity ratio* 28.4% 27.2% Solvency 2 ratio** 297% 302% Solvency 2 ratio (without transitional measure) 167% 178%

* ratio calculated using the method applied by our rating agency

** incorporating the transitional measure on technical reserves in accordance with the regulatory provisions

F/Financial strength rating - Fitch Ratings

Rating * Outlook Groupama Assurances Mutuelles and its subsidiaries A Positive

* Insurer Financial Strength (IFS)

Appendix 2:

Key figures for Groupama Assurances Mutuelles  consolidated financial statements

A/ Premium income

2018 2019 2019/2018 Reported premium income Pro forma premium income* Reported premium income Change **  million as % > FRANCE 7,939 7,939 8,129 +2.4% Life and health insurance 4,548 4,548 4,663 +2.5% Property and casualty insurance 3,391 3,391 3,466 +2.2% > INTERNATIONAL & Overseas 2,537 2,413 2,357 -2.3% Life and health insurance 770 737 734 -0.4% Property and casualty insurance 1,768 1,675 1,623 -3.2% TOTAL INSURANCE 10,477 10,352 10,486 +1.3% FINANCIAL BUSINESSES 173 173 172 -0.8% TOTAL 10,650 10,525 10,657 +1.3%

* Based on comparable data

** change on a like-for-like exchange rate and consolidation basis

B/ Economic operating income*

 million 2018 2019 2019/2018 change Insurance  France 194 383 +189 Insurance - International 43 -96 -139 Financial businesses 34 38 +4 Holding companies -89 -91 -2 Economic operating income* 182 234 +52

* Economic operating income: equals net income adjusted for realised capital gains and losses, long-term impairment provision allocations and write-backs, and unrealised capital gains and losses on financial assets recognised at fair value (all such items are net of profit sharing and corporate income tax). Also adjusted are non-recurring items net of corporate income tax, impairment of value of business in force, impairment of goodwill (net of corporate income tax), and external financing expenses.

C/ Net income

 million 2018 2019 2019/2018 change Economic operating income 182 234 +52 Net realised capital gains* 287 297 +10 Net income from discontinued business activities -2 -4 -2 Long-term impairment losses on financial instruments* -3 -67 -64 Gains and losses on financial assets and derivatives recognised at fair value* -2 -9 -7 Financing expenses -57 -63 -6 Goodwill impairment 0 -183 -183 Other expenses and income -86 -102 -16 Net income 319 104 -215

* amounts net of profit sharing and corporate tax

Contribution of business activities to consolidated net income

 million 2018 2019 Insurance and services - France 255 304 International insurance 24 -96 Financial and banking businesses -24 -25 Groupama Assurances Mutuelles, holding and other 64 -80 Net income 319 104

D/ Balance sheet

 million 2018 2019 Groups IFRS equity, group share* 5,274 6,076 Subordinated instruments 2,732 2,729 - classified as equity instruments 1,099 1,099 - classified as Financing debt 1,633 1,630 Gross unrealised capital gains 7,279 9,858 Total balance sheet 88,506 93,571

* including perpetual subordinated debt recognised as equity instruments

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 20:14:56|Editor: xuxin

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CAIRO, March 13 (Xinhua) -- EgyptAir, the flag carrier of Egypt, announced on Friday that it will suspend flights to Sudan as of the day until further notice.

In a statement, EgyptAir said that "the decision came after Sudan decided to suspend all flights with Egypt."

Sudan stopped visa issuances and flight services to eight countries including neighboring Egypt over fears of the coronavirus outbreak, a government statement said on Thursday.

Sudan will also halt bus trips to Egypt, the statement said.

Egyptian Health Ministry confirmed on Thursday the second coronavirus-related death of a 60-year-old Egyptian woman who was suffering from respiratory failure caused by acute pneumonia.

The first fatality case in Egypt was a German tourist who died from the disease in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.
Lynch (verb), inflict severe, and often fatal, bodily punishment on someone, without legal sanction.

Usage: The mob lynched a man accused of slaughtering a cow, even while he protested that the meat he was carrying was that of a buffalo.

The word lynch has sadly been heard again in Delhi as violence has claimed 53 lives just two weeks ago. The word lynch, like boycott and macadam, comes from the name of a person. In this case there are two possible claimants for this eponymous distinction.

The expression derives from the American Lynch law of 1811, covering punishment without trial, named after either William Lynch (1742-1820) of Virginia, who in about 1780 led a vigilance committee to keep order in his home town of Pittsylvania during the American Revolution, or Charles Lynch (1736-1796), a pro-revolutionary Virginia magistrate who fined and imprisoned British loyalists in his district without trial at about the same time, and got a law passed by the American government exonerating him for his actions.

A 19th century dictionary, the Century Dictionary, published in 1895, defines lynching as lawless concert or action among a number of members of the community, to supply the want of criminal justice or to anticipate its delays, or to inflict a penalty demanded by public opinion, though in defiance of the laws.

Lynching involves what is often called mob justice, since it is always conducted by a mob, and always in the name of executing an act of justice that the authorities are deemed to be too soft, too cautious (or too hamstrung by due process) to execute themselves.

Lynching dispenses summary justice, often unjustly, and without the authority of the law, in retribution for a crime or public offence. In America this usually included flogging and tarring-and-feathering, where the targeted person was doused in liquid tar and feathers were stuck all over his person, so when the tar dried he was reduced to a figure of ridicule and paraded through the town to be hissed at for his sins. At first this kind of action targeted people suspected of crimes in the frontier regions of the Wild West, though soon enough the target list was broadened to include slave owners lynching abolitionists and blacks trying to escape slavery, who were often hanged in public for their efforts (racial lynching).

After the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, lynching became associated with showing uppity blacks their place, and was frequently resorted to by white supremacists against blacks accused of asserting their rights or showing undue familiarity to white women. By the late 19th century a lynching thus came to mean extra-legal execution by hanging (especially in retaliation for alleged sexual assaults of white women).

Lynching is now universally understood to refer to the premeditated extra-judicial killing of people by a mob or group of people, usually from a different religious or ethnic community, and involves public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate the group to which the victim belongs. It is usually conducted in public in order to ensure maximum intimidatory effect. It is estimated that nearly 3,500 African Americans and 1,300 whites were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968.

Indian lynchings have most often aimed, in recent years, at Muslims and Dalits; well-known examples include the Khairlanji lynching of a Dalit family in 2006, and the lynching of Muslims accused of cow slaughter in UP, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and other states in the Hindi belt. In Dimapur, Nagaland, a mob broke into a jail and lynched an accused rapist in 2015 while he was awaiting trial. There were also several WhatsApp lynchings in 2017 following the spread of fake news on social media about child abduction and organ harvesting; the victims even included a government official sent to a village in West Bengal to reassure people the rumours were untrue.

In other countries with high crime rates, notably in Latin America, victims are often criminals who the mobs feel would otherwise escape justice; lynchings here are another form of vigilante justice reflecting lack of faith in law- enforcement or judicial institutions.

Some argue that a decline in economic conditions is enough to spur lynch mobs, though others argue that communal hatred is usually enough.

While lynching is always illegal, perpetrators often escape justice, partly because of public support for their actions and partly because it is difficult to pin criminal responsibility on a mob. Attempts in parliament by MPs, including myself, to initiate private members bills to provide for an anti-lynching law have been unable to make headway so far.

Meanwhile, as Delhi knows too well, mob violence goes on  and, in the process, it is our democracy that is lynched.
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

The line for bottled water, toilet paper, and paper towels  with strict limits per customer  snaked around the entire center portion of a Costco on Friday as other shoppers went about their business shortly before President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over COVID-19.

Employees at the Vallejo warehouse were keeping the process orderly just after opening at 10 a.m.  one cashier even removing a case of toilet paper from a patron's cart (he was over the limit), which was quickly picked up by the man behind him in line.

As the line grew, other shoppers were looking for other items. One woman, buying bags of potting soil said she doesn't know what the fuss was about, noting that she's fine with the city's tap water.

Elsewhere, in San Francisco, one Redditor said one of his employees had spent over an hour attempting to exit the parking garage at the Costco in SoMa and had not yet made it out.

"I think the reality is people are starting to starting to realize how grave it is after seeing other cities, other countries how they are reacting and it just seems like we've just been slow too it," shopper Jose Colacho said outside of the store in San Francisco. "I think everyone is a just a little bit on edge," he added.

Also: Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Costco halt all food sampling to reduce coronavirus spread

One man's cart was so full, a case of bottled beer he had been balancing on the edge of his cart fell and shattered on the ground outside the warehouse.

In the East Bay, KCBS has been reporting backup from the Costco parking lot in Richmond was actually affecting traffic on Interstate 80 and a drone photo showed cars backed up on Central Avenue toward I-580.

... and lines, some orderly and some, well, not so much in Novato:

While bulk shopping in the time of coronavirus has departed sharply from your average Spring Friday at a big box store, the chaotic scenes shown on television and social media around the region were not seen here in Vallejo this morning.

But it hasn't been all smooth sailing, one shopper reported a different experience earlier this week:

The parking lot was, indeed, another story. Lines of cars stretched from the lot to the adjacent surface street. Some shoppers were parking in nearby lots, walking past other businesses and cutting through landscaping to get to Costco. Employees outside urged customers to form a single file line to get in the store.

Still, even as the line for water and toilet paper grew, getting in and out with other products was relatively uneventful, though this writer can confirm social distancing was mostly an afterthought.

But what's really going on?

Jay L. Zagorsky, a business professor at Boston University, wrote recently on the toilet paper buying phenomena. "This is an example of zero risk bias, in which people prefer to try to eliminate one type of possibly superficial risk entirely rather than do something that would reduce their total risk by a greater amount," he wrote.

"While the government advises preparing for a pandemic by storing a two-week supply of food and water, theres no need to hoard stuff, particularly products that are unlikely to suffer from a shortage," Zagorsky added, noting his Costco was restocked days later.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.
A 14-member Indian composite medical relief team arrived here on Friday to support the Maldivian health authorities in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in China's Wuhan, India had evacuated nine Maldivians residing in the city, with the first seven evacuated on February 2, and the rest on February 27.

The Maldivians were quarantined for 14 days in New Delihi and were safely flown back into Maldives.

"The 14-member composite medical relief team with members from all corners of India has arrived in Male to support and assist the Maldivian health authorities in tackling the #Covid_19 situation," the Indian High Commission in Male tweeted.

Maldivian Foreign Affairs Minister Abdulla Shahid thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sending the team.

"A very warm welcome to the Indian team of doctors, paramedics, specialists and technicians. The team will be working with our health specialists in combating this global challenge #COVID19. Thank you PM @narendramodi," Shahid tweeted.

Currently there are eight confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Maldives, with four foreign nationals from Kuredu Island Resort, and two from Sandies Bathala and Kuramathi Maldives each.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Wang Guitao, a deliveryman with the takeaway-ordering app Eleme, received an order to deliver food to black-headed gulls on March 11, the eighth order of such a kind he had received in the week, www.chinanews.com reported.

A deliveryman feeds the black-headed gulls. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

For 35 years, the black-headed gulls have migrated from Siberia to Kunming in southwest Chinas Yunnan province during winter months. Yet due to the epidemic this year, many netizens who have not been able to feed the birds in person have decided to order take-out food so that deliverymen could feed the birds on their behalf.

After the Haigeng Dam, an excellent spot to view the gulls reopened on March 3, many Kunming deliverymen have been receiving orders to deliver food to the birds.

I once got as many as five orders to feed the birds in one day and, in some cases, have to feed the birds about 17 or 18 bags of food during one delivery, said Wang.

A deliveryman feeds the black-headed gulls. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

The head feathers of many gulls have recently become black, which suggests that they have become mature sexually and will soon fly back to Siberia for breeding, as pointed out by Wang Zhibin, deputy secretary-general of the Kunming Birdwatching Association.
Lucknow, March 13 : Taking a cue from the Uttar Pradesh government's move to name and shame CAA protesters, billboards with pictures of two rape-accused Kuldip Singh Sengar and Chinmayanad were put up in the state capital.

Over 100 billboards were put by Samajwadi Party leader IP Singh at street crossing in the city late Thursday night. These were, however, taken down by police later on.

After putting up the billboards, Singh tweeted: "When the protesters have no privacy. And even after Supreme Court and High Court orders, the Yogi (Adityanath) government is not removing hoardings of anti-CAA protesters, then take this. At the Lohia crossing, I have released posters of some of the court-named criminals in public interest. Daughters beware of them." The billboards of the two leaders were put near the billboards of protestors named for alleged Citizenship (Amendment) Act violence.

The billboards read: "They are the culprits of our daughters, stay beware of them".

These have pictures of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, accused by the court in Unnao gang-rape case, and Chinmayanand, accused of rape by a law student in the state.

Speaking to IANS, the SP leader said: "After midnight, the entire police machinery went on to remove the billboards put up by me to name and shame the two leaders accused in the rape cases." He said that police action had exposed the intention of the Adityanath government.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court had questioned the state government's decision to put up the hoarding, displaying the pictures and addresses of people accused of indulging in violence and destruction of property during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, as there was no law to back the action. The matter was referred to a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court.

The UP government had filed an appeal in the apex court to challenge the Allahabad High Court directive to pull down the roadside hoardings forthwith.
All Oregon schools will close Monday due to the coronavirus outbreak, and students wont return for two weeks and two days.

What are state officials telling parents, school employees and students?

>> Closing schools wont stop the virus from spreading, but it will allow school employees older than 60 and with underlying health conditions -- the population most at risk from the virus -- to self isolate. That was a primary motive behind the closure, Gov. Kate Brown said.

>> Students will be out of school all next week and for two additional weekdays after spring break, Mar. 30 and Mar. 31. As of now, educators are to return to work on Mar. 30 to spend two days planning for how to run schools once students return on April 1.

>> Yes, this is a major inconvenience for many families with school-aged children, particularly single parents and parents who must report to work. I am reluctant to increase the burden on families who are already struggling to adapt to and stay healthy during this crisis, the governor said in her statement. But she said, We are left with little choice in light of school districts staff capacity and operational concerns.

>> The state doesnt have a plan for providing adequate child care, but its working on it, Brown said. The Early Learning Division will support child care programs and will work to identify resources to support child care needs for our most vulnerable families, as well as health care professionals and first responders.

>> This spells the end to school sports for now. Practices are canceled as are games and other school-sanctioned events, state officials said.

>> Its OK for small groups of parents and children to get together during the break, and outdoor get-togethers may be best. King County public health officials advised people Friday that social interaction is still important to young peoples mental health and advised it is safe for families to have safe gatherings among children and parents who arent showing symptoms of a virus. They said families should limit indoor groups to 10 or fewer children and outdoor groups to 50 or fewer. It recommends sticking to activities that minimize physical contact.

>> Oregon families are not alone. Schools are also closing statewide in Maryland, Ohio and Kentucky, and nearly 600,000 students in the greater Seattle area will be sent home until late April after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee ordered their schools to close.

This is a developing story and more information will be added.

-- Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com; @chalkup

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) will hold its first national executive committee meeting since 2019 Lok Sabha elections, in Lucknow on Saturday.

In the meeting, scheduled at partys state headquarters here, the SP leaders will discuss the preparations for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

The members would discuss laying a roadmap for the polls even as the Yogi Adityanath government is set to complete three years in office.

The party is looking to come back to power in Uttar Pradesh through 2022 polls and the meeting is considered a crucial preparatory step towards realisation of the goal.

The party had won only 47 seats in 2017 UP Assembly elections ending its first full majority government term from 2012 to 2017.

In 2012, Samajwadi Party had won 224 seats.

Partys national general secretary Ramgopal Yadav has already sent a letter to all the members of the committee.

The national president of the party, Akhilesh Yadav, will preside over the meeting.

The meeting is likely to formalise Akhileshs oft-repeated idea of not engaging with any political party for across the state pre-poll alliance but keep the options open for tie-ups with smaller parties in specific regions.

If the party formally adopts the resolution for going it alone, then this will be the first time that the party will be contesting an election alone since Akhilesh became the national president of the party, said an executive committee member.

Akhilesh became the partys national president in January 2017. The party contested the 2017 UP Assembly polls in alliance with the Congress and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in partnership with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

On both the occasions, Akhileshs party did not get desired results out of the alliances.

The committee would also discuss the broad outlines for engaging its legislators in a long-drawn statewide campaign against the Yogi government and regular charted tours of Akhilesh. Akhilesh has already toured nearly 23 districts in the state in last three months.

After the meeting, he is likely to restart travelling to regions with elaborate engagements, including public meetings.

After the meeting, the state unit of the party, led by the state president Naresh Uttam Patel, will begin galvanising the party outfit at the district and Assembly constituency level.

The party would be more visible to people through regular demonstration, public contact programme and above all frequent bicycle rallies. The executive committee meeting will issue directions to the party regarding this, said an SP legislator.

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MIDDLETOWN  The Connecticut Parrot Society has canceled its annual bird fair, FeatherFest, which was scheduled for March 21 at the Elks Club, Middletown.

Founded in 2006, the Connecticut Parrot Society (CPS) is an all-volunteer, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Middletown, CT. CPS' mission is to educate the public and its members about the responsible care of companion parrots and to provide information concerning legislation and conservation issues. CPS also helps Connecticut residents with the placement of companion parrots through its adoption placement program and hosts outreach/educational programs for schools and organizations throughout the state.
Although the effects on individual wine drinkers are likely to be negligible - unless they get infected - the potential consequences for the trade of the coronavirus are serious.

If people stop travelling, the wine they would drink on cruise ships and in hotels and restaurants, will not be consumed.

International wine shows like ProWien in Germany, Vinitaly, the Grands Jours de Bourgogne and Taste Washington have been cancelled.

The worlds biggest wine market, China, is a shadow of its former self, and wherever you look restaurants are suffering badly.

In Italy mortgage repayments may be suspended, and museums, cultural institutions, public gatherings and social events, including pubs, nightclubs and games halls, are off-menu. But its an ill wind that blows nobody any good.

Online food and wine suppliers are having a field day throughout Europe, and delivery services like Uber Eats, Deliveroo, MacDelivery, etc, cannot believe their good luck.

Most expect to make more profit in three months than they made all last year.

WINE OF THE WEEK Bracamonte Crianza The Yllera bodega is well-known for its wines of that name but also produces the Bracamonte range of reds and whites, which do belong to the Ribera del Duero appellation. This red crianza is aged for 12 months in the wood and then the same in the bottle. It is made with tempranillo (tinta fina) grapes. Priced at around 11 euros.

Madrid and Barcelona appear to be slow on the uptake, but in London (where this week it was proposed that restaurants and pubs have VAT reduced) an example of a restaurant being quick off the mark is Londons Cookout Club.

Launched by chef Philip Britten, aided by Victor Lamauve, formerly of Michelin-starred Spanish restaurant Sabor, the intention is to offer fine dining delivered to your door for less than 20 per head.

Because it doesnt have a bricks and mortar site, nor does it doesnt spend money on waiters, sommeliers and wine stocks, silverware and crockery, the resulting savings can be passed on to the customer.

Business is so good that two more kitchens are planned. Surely the time has come to break the stranglehold that pizzas and Asian food have on the home delivery business?
DETROIT  Hours after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced all schools across Michigan would close in an effort to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, about half of Katherine Kelley's fifth grade class at Waverly East Intermediate School in Lansing showed up for a half-day.

It will be the last time Kelley sees her students for at least three weeks, if not longer. They are spending the morning cleaning out their things and watching movies.

"I wanted today to be a happy and fun day for them with me," she told the Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. "I am not telling them anything more than what the governor has said. I don't want to provide misleading information to anyone. I'm just telling them how much I will miss them and what I am sending them home with to stay connected while they are gone.

"I think this was the best choice, but there are still major concerns about hungry kids and families that cant afford child care."

A classroom sits empty at the Cesar Chavez Academy High School as the Coronavirus threat makes it risky for large groups to congregate Friday, March, 13, 2020.

Whitmer made the announcement about 11 p.m. Thursday that all K-12 schools  traditional public, charter, private and boarding  in Michigan would shut down at the end of the day Friday and stay closed until at least April 5. All public universities closed Wednesday, with the state's private colleges following suit by the end of Thursday.

"We have faced and overcome many obstacles in our state's history," Whitmer said. "As the chief executive of this state, it is my responsibility to make these decisions and keep our state safe."

The announcement set off a mad scramble as school leaders and teachers across the state had to figure out what was next. Many districts, including Detroit Community Schools, had already announced they were taking off a day or two to try to figure out online learning for students. Those plans were accelerated by this news, even as teachers tried to prepare schools to be vacant.

At Henderson Academy on Detroit's west side, staffers reported as usual this morning.

Story continues

"We had a staff meeting with all the staff sharing information about cleaning our classrooms," said Joy Thompson, who teaches third grade reading and social studies. "We're securing computers in storage areas. We're trying to discourage break-ins because everyone knows we're going to be closed."

Teachers are decluttering classrooms and clearing off surfaces so custodians can deep-clean them, she said.

Thompson has been teaching for 20 years and said she's never experienced anything quite like this before. Still, the staff mood was upbeat, she said.

"Nobody's really wearing masks," she said. "It's pretty positive given this situation."

Cesar Chavez Academy High School in Southwest Detroit had planned to give students today off and bring in staffers to plan for an extended shutdown, principal Juan Jose Martinez said. When Whitmer announced that all schools would close for three weeks, it provided some breathing room, Martinez said.

Parents have supported the decision, he said.

Staffers arrived this morning to a continental breakfast.

"We provided them with some coffee and muffins," Principal Juan Jose Martinez said. "They were relaxed. We have a very close-knit teaching and learning community."

Martinez said that teachers discussed distance learning program at the school and prepped for deep cleaning.

"It's not going to be done in one day," he said. "We want to take our time and do it right and get into every nook and cranny."

Some schools already have begun deep cleaning to disinfect surfaces where viruses might linger. The crisis has ramped up pressure on custodians.

"I haven't slept much in the last 48 hours," said William Scott, president of Hurricane Cleaning Technologies, a Southfield-based contractor that cleans Eastpointe Schools and several private schools around Metro Detroit. "I've been on the phone with the manufacturer of our disinfecting chemicals."

Scott said supplies are tight right now, and Whitmer's decision to close schools for three weeks relieves some of the pressure on both chemical suppliers and the crews that apply them.

"We always start from top to bottom," said Tiffany Calvin, a site supervisor for Hurricane. "We glove up. We put on a mask. We use a product called Vindicator; it's really good. We use mops. We use rags, and we use paper towels."

Calvin said that to disinfect a classroom, a team of two custodians mops the floors, wipes the walls and scrubs down all the desks, including the teacher's desk. They usually work from the back corner of the room toward the door so that when they are completed, they can seal the room and know that it's clean.

"It's exhausting because it's a lot of arm work when you're doing the walls," she said. "But we're trying to keep everybody safe."

West Bloomfield Schools told parents in an email today that the district was ramping up online learning.

We will be transitioning our teaching and learning online through cloud learning, Superintendent Gerald Hill wrote. It is our goal each day to do what is best for kids, and we believe keeping the pathways to education open for our students fall directly in line with that objective.

They sent out a district survey Thursday to gauge the technology needs of families, and the district said it can provide Google Chromebooks to students who dont have computers at home.

Birmingham Schools are making similar plans.

"Know that we are developing plans to deliver a temporary, online alternative for students during this extended closure," the district said in a statement. "We will communicate more about those plans by Monday evening."

Not all districts can afford to do that.

Rick Heitmeyer, superintendent of schools in Baldwin, southwest of Cadillac, said he didn't expect the governor's announcement last night but the district has been ramping up plans to deal with it.

"At the secondary level, we're trying to get all teachers set up with Google Classrooms so that they can give and collect assignments," he said. "It's not like they're going to be doing actual online teaching."

For younger kids, the district is distributing books and other materials to provide something for kids to work on over the break.

We know its not the same as being in the classroom, he said.

Heitmeyer said his district is fortunate in that it uses an alternative calendar so it was scheduled for a week off between sessions followed by a week off for spring break.

"We're really only missing five instructional days," he said.

Baldwin schools serve Lake County, Michigan's poorest county, and the district provides breakfast, lunch and an end of day snack to all students each day.

"We're working with our bus company to set up some hubs for meal delivery," Heitmeyer said. "We're trying to cover all those bases."

Kelley, the Waverly teacher, is also trying to come up with learning options for her students.

"In terms of content, we arent sending anything home other than suggested resources," she said. "Ive updated my Twitter and made a YouTube channel to post videos of activities and videos of reading the stories from our classroom."

Coronavirus: As coronavirus sweeps country, parents worry about vulnerable kids being kept in school

Coronavirus school closings: Six states, Los Angeles' LAUSD shut K-12 schools

When the Detroit schools announced they would give students Friday off, Susan Adkins, who teaches first grade at Bennett Elementary School, had planned to pull together packets of materials for her students to take home, including user names and passwords for online help for math and literacy.

Those plans are canceled.

"How would I get it to them?" she told the Free Press.

The time off is bound to hurt the students, and ramping back up is going to be hard.

Adkins' class was just finishing up lessons on shadows and the sun, and she was preparing an assessment for the students. Now, when the students come back, whenever that is, she can't just give that test. She's going to have to reteach the unit.

And she's not going to have to just reteach the unit, she's also going to have to reteach her 6-year-old and 7-year-old students how to go to school and how to operate in the classroom.

"It's going to be like September," she said.

Schools aren't the only ones trying to make the change. Universities and colleges are also trying to switch over to online learning.

Among those trying to make the switch is Mitchell Robinson, associate professor of music education at Michigan State University.

Out are ensemble choirs and instrumental groups  you can't video conference everyone playing from different locations across the state, country and even world.

Some one-on-one lessons are still on  you can do those through video conferencing.

Music theory classes can be done online, but not well. There's a lack of easy discussion that is vital to his upper-level doctoral classes.

"In no way, shape or form is this a legitimate substitution for what we would be doing in (a normal) class," he told the Free Press.

Universities are offering training for faculty to help in the switch. At the University of Michigan, James DeVaney, associate vice provost for academic innovation, said the university has been delivering thousands of courses a year online, which has created a network of experts that can help faculty.

That help ranges from assisting those teaching large foundational lecture classes to breaking up lectures into shorter chunks. Those teaching discussion groups are posting items they would start and end class with and scheduling discussions using Canvas, a software system already on campus. And for classes based in labs, there is an effort to help faculty think through how the lessons can be taught in a different way.

"It's a time of rapid change," he said.

Follow David Jesse and John Wisely on Twitter: @reporterdavidj and @jwisely.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Coronavirus: What it's like in Michigan class before school closure
A mix of Normandy vehicle barrier and taller border fence by the San Pedro River on the U.S.-Mexico border near Sierra Vista, Ariz., on May 8, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Pregnant Guatemalan Woman, Unborn Child Die After Falling From Border Wall: Officials

Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed a 19-year-old Guatemalan woman who was pregnant died on Tuesday after falling from the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Officials said the woman, identified as Miriam Estefany Giron Luna, was found by agents in Clint, Texas, on March 7 before an ambulance was called to the site. Giron Luna was taken to the hospital and underwent an emergency C-section.

Despite the best efforts of our Border Patrol agents and medical professionals, sadly more lives have perished at the hands of human smugglers, said El Paso Border Patrol sector Chief Gloria Chavez, according to USA Today.

Someone in Mexico guided this eight-month pregnant woman from Guatemala to this section of the border and encouraged her and helped her climb the steel mesh border barrier, she added. We will engage our law enforcement partners in Mexico to find those responsible for placing these lives in danger.

Guatemalas consulate confirmed that Giron Luna was about seven or eight months pregnant when she attempted to climb the wall.

Dilver Israel Diaz Garcia, the pregnant womans 26-year-old companion, is now in the custody of the Border Patrol, Guatemalan officials said.

He said that if he had known that the risks were this high, he would not have done it, Tekandi Paniagua Flores, the Guatemalan consul in Del Rio, Texas, told The Associated Press.

CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan told AP that the pair were taken to the border by smugglers before they were left there in the darkness.

Last summer, a 20-year-old Guatemalan woman was found dead in a canal near El Paso near the border highway, the consulate said at the time. The woman, Vilma Mendoza, had entered the United States in July and was waiting for her asylum hearing in Mexico, reported CBS News.
Two cases of the COVID-19 have been confirmed in Ghana, the countrys Minister for Health, Kwasi Agyemang-Manu, announced at a press briefing Thursday evening.

The two are the first confirmed cases of the COVID-19 in Ghana after some 57 suspected cases previously tested negative.

Laboratory results of the two confirmed cases were received at the same time from the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research. Both individuals returned to Ghana, one from Norway, and the other from Turkey so these are imported cases of COVID-19, Mr Agyemang-Manu said.

He assured Ghanaians that the government is working with all health partners to ensure the situation is contained.

The minister said the patients are in isolation and are stable.

The process to trace persons who might have come in contact with the two cases has been initiated.

I wish to assure all Ghanaians that the Government of Ghana together with all Health Partners will continue to work assiduously to ensure the situation is contained. Both patients are currently being kept in isolation and are stable. We have initiated processes for contact tracing, a statement from the Ministry of Health said.

President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana

In an address to the nation on Wednesday, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, assured Ghanaians of the preparedness of the country to handle the situation should there be an outbreak. He further indicated the government had directed the release of the cedi equivalent of $100 million to boost the nations preparedness and response to the COVID-19.

At my prompting, the Minister for Finance has made available the cedi equivalent of $100 million to enhance our coronavirus preparedness and response plan, President Akufo-Addo said.
People at the PIME mission are getting ready for Easter. About 102 catechumens are preparing for their baptism. In northern Thailand, people become Christian through dual conversion, social first, individual later. The coronavirus threat hangs over the mission and the rest of the country. The Thai Church has suspended public ceremonies.

Mae Suay (AsiaNews)  Mayer, one of 102 catechumens (80 adults and 22 teenagers) who will be baptised in the coming weeks in Mae Suay, northern Thailand, welcomed the freedom of the faith in Christ to free himself from the enslavement of drug addiction.

Fr Marco Ribolini, the parish priest of the mission of the young Diocese of Chiang Rai, is a member of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME). He has bene in the southeast Asian country for 16 years. Mae Suay, one of the largest missions in the diocese, will celebrate its first 30 years this year.

Fr Ribolini is helped in his work by Fr Raju Kavala Moganati and Fr Massimo Bolgan, both clergymen with PIME, and Nathi Lobip, deacon who grew up in the mission. Together, they cover 29 remote villages, home to about 5,000 ethnic Akha (majority) and Lahu Christians.

Here in the north, catechumens come mainly from tribal groups. Fr Ribolini told AsiaNews. In this area, one becomes Christian through a dual conversion.

The first one is a social, group conversion, when entire communities, groups of families or villages decide to embrace Christianity. They turn to a priest, to whom they communicate their desire to be part of the Catholics social group.

Years later, when they acquire a deeper knowledge of the religion, some tribal people undergo a personal conversion. This is the case of our catechumens. Yet, before accepting them in the catechism, we check that they choose freely and in full cognizance of their action.

Mayer is one of the catechumens who will be baptised this year. Last year, when we had a meeting, it was clear that he was a drug addict. Since he was an opium smoker, I was unable to accept him in catechism. I said to him: Baptism makes us free. He who is enslaved cannot receive it.

In front of the catechist, Mayer promised me that he would stop. On that pledge, I accepted his registration, reserving the right to check the progress of his detox. A year later, with all the necessary care and thanks to the people around him, we made sure that Mayer was no longer taking drugs. Even his wife asked to be baptised. Preparing to free the heart from sin and death has become an opportunity to eliminate such a scourge.

Fr Ribolini likes to tell another story even if it goes back about 20 years ago. In Akha culture, the birth of twins is considered a misfortune, because it is a sign of the intervention of an evil spirit. In the past, this was dealt with by letting the children die in the forest. Over the years, this practice has been abandoned but the superstition has remained. A village chief did not want to believe in this, as he deeply loved the children he had.

Faced with this, the village shaman told him: If you want to live in peace, you have only one possibility, become a Christian because their God loves everyone and makes no distinctions. This person not only got baptised with his family, but also converted the whole village (about thirty families or 100 people) and became a catechist.

For Fr Ribolini, now it is a busy time. Preparations are underway for Easter but in Mae Suay, as in the rest of Thailand, the threat of coronavirus looms. The Catholic Bishops Conference of Thailand (CBCT) has cancelled all public ceremonies. At the Mae Suay mission, we adapted and cancelled several activities.

Last weekend (7-8 March), catechumens from mission villages attended the pre-baptismal rites for the last time. These usually take place every weekend during Lent and bring to a close a year-long journey of faith. Unfortunately, the health crisis has forced us to stop them. The catechumens will be baptised in their respective villages, which my confreres and I, plus the catechists, will visit after Easter. At that time, we will try to enforce the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

We plan to bear witness to the people that, even in times of fear, the Lord is there and that he stands by each of us. This is the meaning of the cross: The Lord accepts such a death to be close to humanity. We will do everything possible to ensure that our spiritual care for the community does not make us agents of the virus. At the same time, we cannot deny people the support of faith, especially in the current situation.

(P.F. contributed to this article).
Jenna Kieser | jkieser@mlive.com

Students show up for school at Bach elementary on Friday, March 13, 2020. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all k-12 schools be closed for the next three weeks amid coronavirus fears.

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ANN ARBOR -- Students arrive at Bach elementary school on Friday morning before all K-12 schools in the state are closed for the next three weeks.

Schools will be closed beginning on Monday, March 16.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered the closings Thursday night in a press release. The order applies to all public, private, and boarding schools in the state.

All schools will reopen on April 6, although the date could be adjusted or changed.

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Jenna Kieser | jkieser@mlive.com

Students show up for school at Bach elementary on Friday, March 13, 2020. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all k-12 schools be closed for the next three weeks amid coronavirus fears.

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Jenna Kieser | jkieser@mlive.com

Students show up for school at Bach elementary on Friday, March 13, 2020. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all k-12 schools be closed for the next three weeks amid coronavirus fears.

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Jenna Kieser | jkieser@mlive.com

Students show up for school at Bach elementary on Friday, March 13, 2020. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all k-12 schools be closed for the next three weeks amid coronavirus fears.

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Jenna Kieser | jkieser@mlive.com

Students show up for school at Bach elementary on Friday, March 13, 2020. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all k-12 schools be closed for the next three weeks amid coronavirus fears.

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Jenna Kieser | jkieser@mlive.com

Students show up for school at Bach elementary on Friday, March 13, 2020. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all k-12 schools be closed for the next three weeks amid coronavirus fears.

Don't Edit

Jenna Kieser | jkieser@mlive.com

Students show up for school at Bach elementary on Friday, March 13, 2020. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all k-12 schools be closed for the next three weeks amid coronavirus fears.

Don't Edit

Jenna Kieser | jkieser@mlive.com

Students show up for school at Bach elementary on Friday, March 13, 2020. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all k-12 schools be closed for the next three weeks amid coronavirus fears.

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Read more on MLive:

Closures, postponements, cancellations in Ann Arbor due to coronavirus fears

Ann Arbor alters city operations to slow spread of coronavirus

Ypsilanti ice cream shop offers community sink amid coronavirus concerns

All Michigan schools to close as coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

Were going to get through this,' says Gov. Whitmer as she orders K-12 schools closed over coronavirus

Check out all MLive coverage of Coronavirus here.

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An extraordinary meeting of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada shall be convened to vote for the bill, which provides for a number of measures to protect Ukraine to counter the coronavirus disease

Verkhovna Rada of 9th convocation, first session, August 31, 2019 Zoya Shu/112.ua

Ilya Yemets, Ukraine's Health Minister, initiates an extraordinary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada for the sake of the law on coronavirus, the press service of the Ministry reports.

"We must protect Ukraine from the coronavirus and contain an outbreak. For that purpose, we need to unite all branches of government and all political forces. Now it's time to take effective measures, so I propose to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada and to adopt the corresponding law," Yemets said.

An extraordinary meeting of the parliament will be convened to vote for the bill, which provides for a number of measures to protect Ukraine to counter the coronavirus disease Covid-19.

As we reported yesterday, Ukraine's Healthcare Ministry has officially confirmed two new cases of Chinese coronavirus in Ukraine. Both patients in Zhytomyr region are isolated, and the symptomatic treatment is underway.

Previously, a man in Chernivtsi was diagnosed with it; his current health state is satisfactory.

Another case is spotted in Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region. A 71-year-old woman appealed to the hospital too late and attended the church since the moment of infection.

The local authorities of Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region (northern Ukraine) announced the emergency mode in this town. The decision takes effect on Friday, March 13.
Id just gotten off the train at Goregaon and was headed to the bridge when I felt a hand grab my butt, recalled a girl whose story of courage has now left people inspired. What she faced, unfortunately, is an everyday practice and a sad reality for many women. However, the way she handled the situation is winning applause from people online.

Shared on the Humans of Bombay Facebook page, the post details how she caught the perpetrator and sought immediate action against him.

As a softball player she has quick reflexes and she instantly caught the mans hand. When she turned around to face him, she saw a huge man standing in front of her. She was intimidated by his size and he even called out for help. But no one came forward. Undeterred and determined to have him punished, she dragged him to the railway police station.

When she narrated the incident to the authorities, they told her he had been caught twice but no one lodged an FIR, so they had to let him go. But you dont let him go. We are all here for you! His words eliminated any fear I had she said.

Police checked the CCTV footage and questioned him for hours, until he confessed to his crime. He has now been in jail for over two months. Since shes a minor, he cannot get bail.

Though she was approached by the perpetrators daughter to forgive him, the girl refused. She wants him to get punished for what he did. Through all this, her mother has supported her and applauded her brave act.

More often than not, women arent aware of their rights. But what really holds us back is fear; fear of what people will think, fear of the apparent repercussions, fear that we will be blamed and not the attacker, she said. Then adds that its only our ability to speak up and stand up for ourselves that makes us strong. Because were human beings too and its about time were given that respect, she adds.

Since being shared a day ago, the post has gathered over 12,000 reactions from people. Several applauded the bravery of the young girl and expressed that theyre proud of her.

This is the spirit we should adopt, wrote a Facebook user. I am so proud of you, youre a braveheart, commented another. So many times we have just coiled ourselves and just tried to take precautions from all angles to not be touched by perverts while we should have been more like her, brave to shame the one needs to be shamed, wrote a third.

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WAs natural isolation means the state is typically one of the last places to be hit by a pandemic, an infectious disease expert says.

Curtin University professor Archie Clements  who specialises in the spread and control of diseases  said the spread of coronavirus in Western Australia could go one of two ways.

He said WA was at a juncture that would determine whether the state avoided a major outbreak altogether, or copped a peak in cases around May.

Professor Clements said WAs natural isolation from the rest of the world meant the state was typically one of the last places to be hit by a pandemic. Credit:AP

If we get community transmission of the virus then we could be in for a rough ride in the winter, he said.
The "gun problem" for the Democrats and the left is a thorny issue that Joe Biden is realizing cuts right across demographic lines, including even historic Democrat-supporting factory workers who happen to own a gun or two.

No one questions that the driving force to abolish the Second Amendment, or simply confiscate guns in spite of the Second Amendment, is a pet project of the coastal elites (along with a Texas elite named Beto O'Rourke) who know in their heart of hearts how we should be behaving ourselves in a de-militarized society where only the police and elites themselves enjoy the privilege having guns around.

Biden's misstatement about AR-14s probably has more to do with senility than with ignorance of weapons terminology, but he did confuse fully automatic guns (outlawed) with semi-automatic guns (not yet outlawed) and followed up with an explicit statement that such pieces need to be taken out of the hands of Bernie's working class at the Chrysler Auto Plant in Detroit.

While I do not own any AR-15s (or 14s or 13s) and have only briefly considered getting myself an AK-47, I do happen to own a classic semi-automatic firearm: the Remington Model 8, designed by John Browning in 1900. Kalashnikov lifted some of the designs for his AK-47 right off the Browning invention, and the USSR did not admit any patent infringements. Perhaps we can suggest that the future gun-confiscators rename the Model 8 the AK-46; that would make life easy for them, because 46 comes before 47, just as the Model 8 came before the AK.

I guess if Beto gets the job of separating us from our semi-auto rifles, I'll need to ask him if my piece that's been around for almost 120 years needs to be separated from civil society and sent to the foundry to be melted down for industrial use. That may actually be a smart move for any future Democratic administration because by then, all steel production will have moved completely to China or perhaps Russia.

So here is my ode to the Model 8 while I can still openly talk about this beautifully designed but morally questionable piece of iron and wood. Many fully automatic guns fire lesser munitions, such as the famous Thompson submachine gun that shoots the same .45 ACP cartridge used in the 1911 Colt pistol. But most Remington Model 8's fire a .35 caliber hunting bullet considered just fine for deer and bear on the East Coast, while practically nobody on the West Coast has ever heard of the .35 Remington or even the Remington Model 8.

The old Model 8 was a favorite of policemen and prison guards, the only ones who could purchase variations equipped with a 15- or 20-round magazine. My more common example of the Remington 8 loads its cartridges from the top, and only four fit in  which is quite all right for hunting but probably not enough for some situations that law officers face.

When former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer examined a shot up car used by Bonnie and Clyde, he realized that the tommy guns that the police had wielded had not even penetrated the metal. Since he and his growing team of investigators and Texas State Police were getting close to ambushing the murderous duo, he went to a local gun shop in Austin, Texas and bought himself a Remington Model 8 with a 20-round "police" magazine. I'm pretty sure that at the same time, he bought himself a good supply of "bear" cartridges.

At the time of the ambush in Louisiana on May 23, 1934, both Frank Hamer and sharpshooter Deputy Sheriff Prentiss Oakley held Remington Model 8 rifles. All in the posse agreed that it was Oakley's shot that hit Clyde Barrow's left temple and forever silenced his wild and deadly run. But silence was not the order of the day: at least 167 rounds were fired through Bonnie and Clyde's car, 40 of those coming from Hamer's and Oakley's guns, and all within 20 seconds. The continuous firing was so deafening that people for miles around thought a crew was using dynamite to fell a tree.

Nine lawmen were viciously killed in Bonnie and Clyde's short binge, but those two also ended the lives of four civilians. Those four would probably agree that not just the police should be armed. An AR-14 or one of my AK-46s might be a good place to start.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 12

Trend:

A meeting on the situation in the global energy market and its impact on the country's economy was held in Azerbaijans Cabinet of Ministers under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Ali Asadov on March 11, Trend reports.

Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan - Head of the Department of Economic Issues and Innovative Development Policy of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan Shahmar Movsumov, Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov, Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov, Chairman of the Central Bank (CBA) Elman Rustamov, Executive Director of the State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) Israfil Mammadov and Assistant to the Prime Minister Fakhri Ismailov attended at the meeting.

Shahmar Movsumov, noting the volatility observed in oil prices in 2014-2016, said that at that time oil prices had fallen from $140 to $30.

It was a sharp volatility. Compared to that, the observed changes today are not so great. Naturally, the dependence of Azerbaijan's economy on oil prices has also sharply decreased during these years. This, of course, became possible as a result of a thoughtful policy of the head of state, Movsumov added.

Currently, the economy of Azerbaijan is quite stable. The pressure associated with the exchange rate is more based on psychological factors. Even if Azerbaijan does not make any changes today, our resources will allow us to carry out sustainable activities in the next 20 years. I believe that there is no reason for concern, " the assistant to the president said.

A number of instructions were also given at the meeting. First of all, the CBA and the SOFAZ should continue to take the necessary measures to maintain stability in the foreign exchange markets; follow up on a bill to extend the term of full deposit insurance, which is already in the Parliament; the CBA, in accordance with the instructions of the president, should continue the measures taken to improve the banking sector and accelerate the steps taken; tax authorities within their powers should take appropriate measures to prevent cases of abuse of the situation that arose in the foreign exchange market; the Ministry of Finance should take appropriate measures to further strengthen the financial stability of the state budget for 2020 and fulfill budgetary obligations.
An employee of a nursery school in Morris County has tested positive for coronavirus, prompting officials to urge families with children at the facility and staff members to self-quarantine, authorities said Friday.

The Town of Morristown is working to notify parents and employees of a positive case of COVID-19 in a Morris County resident who works at the Shalom Yeladim Nursery School, Mayor Timothy Dougherty said in a statement on behalf of the council.

The building at 177 Speedwell Ave. has been closed to allow for cleaning and disinfection in accordance with Centers for Disease Control Prevention guidelines, the mayor said. The school is part of the Morristown Jewish Center.

The statement did not say when the contact occurred or whether the employee knew of the diagnosis while working at the school. It also did not list the employees hometown, age or gender.

Children and employees are asked to stay home and self-isolate for 14 days, Dougherty said. Persons who develop symptoms are urged to call their healthcare provider.

Im saddened to hear that this serious disease has now affected members of our immediate community, Dougherty said. The impact on these families and this house of worship should remind us that we cannot anticipate how this virus might directly impact anyone."

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Denka Performance Elastomer, the owner of a LaPlace plant that is the only one in America to produce the presumed carcinogen chloroprene, is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to increase the level of that compound deemed safe for public health.

The company, which is under an agreement with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to lower its chloroprene emissions into the air, is basing its request on new research on the toxin that the company sponsored.

The new peer-reviewed study was published in the scientific journal Inhalation Toxicology in January and is under review by the EPA.

The study concludes that the risk of developing lung cancer after inhaling the toxin is far lower than the estimate currently used by the EPA.

Based on the study, the level of chloroprene emissions considered safe should be 130 times higher than the EPA's current level of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air, according to Denka officials.

The study uses the best methodologies available to assess the risk, said Dr. Brad Reisfeld, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Colorado State University who was not involved in the study.

"Its always a bit concerning when the acceptable level is changed," he said, "But such adjustments can happen as the science of risk assessment improves and data from additional studies become available."

A change to the EPA's current estimate of safe exposure would not happen right away.

The agency's review of the new study is expected to take nine months, according to Denka. If the study is deemed acceptable, the EPA would then decide if changes to its current chloroprene guidance are warranted.

More information regarding the agency's review of the study, including opportunities to provide public comment, will be posted on the EPA website in the next several weeks.

Environmental news in your inbox Stay up-to-date on the latest on Louisiana's coast and the environment. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Concern over the Denka plant's chloroprene emissions began in December 2015, when the EPA released a national air toxins assessment aimed at identifying pollutants of greatest concern to public health.

The report identified the area surrounding the Denka plant as having the highest risk of cancer from air pollution of any place in the nation because of the plant's chloroprene emissions. Several years earlier, the EPA had categorized chloroprene as a "likely" carcinogen.

A comprehensive study is currently underway to determine how many people living near the plant have developed cancer. The study is being led by the Louisiana Department of Health and involves graduate students going house-to-house to tally the number of people who have cancer.

Meanwhile, Denka has spent $35 million on equipment and technology to reduce its chloroprene emissions by 85 percent, according to the company. Still, air monitors surrounding the plant continue to record levels of chloroprene above the EPA's current standard of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter.

Robert Taylor, an activist who lives near the Denka facility in St. John the Baptist Parish, said he doesn't trust any study funded by Denka.

The fact that the company had the capability to reduce its emissions by 85 percent but didn't do so until it was under an agreement with the DEQ proves that Denka does not have the community's best interests at heart, he said.

"Im just flabbergasted by the audacity of these people," Taylor said.
An American Airlines pilot based in Dallas has tested positive for coronavirus.

American spokesman Curtis Blessing said the airline's chief medical officer and leaders in its pilots' office are in touch with the the pilot, who is based at the airline's hub at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

There have not been other publicized cases of U.S. airline pilots testing positive, though there have been reports of others in the travel industry testing positive, including airport medical screeners and TSA officers.

"We are in close contact with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health officials and are coordinating with them on all required health and safety measures,'' Blessing said.

Travel ban aftershocks: American, United, Delta slashing Europe flights

American would not disclose whether the pilot flies international routes or where and when they last flew for American.

American's pilots are represented by the Allied Pilots Association. A spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: American Airlines pilot tests positive
Automobile dealers' body FADA on Thursday said retail sales of passenger vehicles, measured by registration, declined 1.17 per cent to 2,26,271 units in February. Passenger vehicle retail sales in February last year stood at 2,28,959 units, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said in a statement. Two-wheeler retail sales stood at 12,85,398 units last month as against 12,66,163 units in February 2019, a growth of 1.52 per cent, it added. Commercial vehicle retail sales also grew by 13 per cent to 92,805 units last month as compared with 82,129 units in the year-ago period.

FADA said three-wheeler sales were up 20.7 per cent at 65,752 units as compared with 54,474 units in February 2019. Tractor retail sales stood at 41,485 units as compared with 36,543 units in February last year, a growth of 13.52 per cent. Retail sales of total vehicles across categories stood at 17,11,711 units in February 2020 as compared with 16,68,268 units in the same month a year ago, it said.

Commenting on vehicle retail sales, FADA President Ashish Harsharaj Kale said February turned positive for most of the segments as the entire auto ecosystem, especially auto dealers, focused on liquidation of their BS-IV Stocks. "Rural sales contributed for retail sales turning green with tractors also being in double-digit growth for the second month in a row," he added. Despite the growth, the overall retail sales were much below expectations as the expected pre-buying for the BS-IV stock was not seen, he said. "Many customers held onto their purchase decision expecting sweeter deals towards the end of March," he added.

Commenting on inventory levels, Kale said it remains a very serious concern for BS-IV two-wheelers and asked manufacturers to handhold dealers for 100 per cent liquidation of stocks before March 31 deadline. "FADA survey reveals a very high number of two-wheeler dealers will not be able to fully liquidate their BS-IV inventory and expressed inadequate support from their OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) for 100 per cent liquidation of this stock," Kale said. With regards to passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles, he said overall inventory is at a reasonable level, but the challenge remains in slow-moving, non-popular models as dealers look for adequate OEM support for liquidation of the same in March.

"FADA has already advocated for the return of unsold BS-IV stocks and will be pursuing this for its members if the need arises, as many dealers will be unable to sustain such losses," Kale said. On the outlook for March, he said with banks and NBFCs getting into a cautious mode with regards to financing BS-IV stocks and many RTOs (Regional Transport Offices) across the country prescribing their own cut-off dates for permanent registration, liquidation of BS-IV inventory continues to be a challenge. "Dealers are now facing a new challenge with coronavirus cases being detected in India and alarming drop in customer walk-ins in auto showrooms," he said.
If I am going to die, I feel I would rather die in my own country, said Mr. Absawi as he headed for his home province of Muthanna, in Iraqs southwest.

The Iranians were soon off to a hotel in Najaf, Iraq, where they were to wait for the required paperwork.

That night, the Najaf Health Department sent medical workers to swab them and sent the samples to Baghdad. One of the women tested positive for the coronavirus, said Dr. Radwan Kamil al-Kindi, the director general of the Najaf Health Service.

One of the diplomats, the Iranian consul in Najaf, was upset, Dr. al-Kindi said, and refused to accept the news.

So I gave them a choice, go into quarantine for 14 days or leave, Dr. al-Kindi said. The consul did not want to go into quarantine. I kept thinking, Damn you guys, you bring in this infection. All of our infections in Iraq came from Iran.

Dr. al-Kindi held his ground. The diplomats and their relatives returned to Iran that night, said Dr. al-Kindi, looking a little embarrassed that he had to be so tough with a foreign guest.

But, you know, I cannot let them infect my people, he said.

Falih Hassan contributed reporting.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Lewis Hamilton posed for a photo alongside Sophie Gregoire Trudeau at an event in London which was also attended by actor Idris Elba. Formula 1's Australian Grand Prix was cancelled at the last minute. Idris Elba has now also tested positive for the virus.

The six-time Formula 1 world champion spoke about how he took all the precautions on his flight to Australia for the race in Melbourne.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, all Formula 1 teams will self-quarantine for 14 days after the cancelled Australian Grand Prix. The teams have decided that upon returning to their home country, the team members will be put in home quarantine for 14 days. A period has been agreed for all teams when the team members are not allowed to enter the factory.

According to AMuS, the teams have unanimously decided that no one should come into the factory before March 29, and the team members will be placed in home quarantine. So for the teams, the real work will only resume on March 30. It is therefore clear that COVID-19 will significantly slow down the development of the 2020 cars. McLaren was the first to withdraw from the race in Australia after a team member in Melbourne became infected with the coronavirus.

Read more How the 2020 F1 calendar might change after coronavirus postpones races

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton (and Idris Elba) next to Sophie Trudeau last week in London. She tested positive for Covid-19 last night.#covid19 #f1 pic.twitter.com/GIWAILX36G  Coronavirus CoVid-19 Updates (@subgap) March 13, 2020

Update

This morning I tested positive for Covid 19. I feel ok, I have no symptoms so far but have been isolated since I found out about my possible exposure to the virus. Stay home people and be pragmatic. I will keep you updated on how Im doing No panic. pic.twitter.com/Lg7HVMZglZ  Idris Elba (@idriselba) March 16, 2020

Whatever the outcome, we wish everyone the best. Stay safe.
There is no guarantee the coronavirus-inspired talk will actually lead to Israels first functioning government since the Knesset, the parliament, was dissolved in late 2018. Observers say the moves are as much about politics as public health: Netanyahu, whose trial on corruption charges is slated to begin next week, is eager to remain in power; Gantz may have little choice but to acquiesce in a moment of national emergency.
November 17, 2021, Wednesday

Aggiornamenti Lumia has shared screenshots and gifs, revealing what the new software will look like and what will be its key ...
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Many gyms throughout Staten Island are taking precautionary steps to keep their facilities disinfected following an increase of positive cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) -- one of which was a member of the YMCA in Eltingville.

All Retro Fitness gyms will complete mandatory deep cleaning with hospital-grade cleaning products at least twice per day, according to the chains website.

Additionally, Retro Fitness staff will refill dispensers of hand soap, hand gel, spray bottles, wipes and paper towels, and wipe down the clubs technology items and surfaces that come in contact with peoples hands the most, like door and locker handles and blow dryers, every hour.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

A Facebook video posted on the Retro Fitness gym in Tottenville shows an employee using EvaClean a cordless sprayer used to disinfect surfaces.

Our new EvaClean infection prevention system has arrived! This thing is awesome! For more information on this new high tech system, please search for EvaClean on YouTube and watch the videos to see how amazing this system is and how we will be able to use it to combat viruses and bacteria throughout our gym. Posted by Retro Fitness - Tottenville, NY (S.I.) on Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Retro Fitness on Hylan Boulevard shared some pictures on social media showing how employees are disinfecting mats.

Our members are our top concern! We are working hard to make the best and safest environment for you!

Our members are OUR TOP concern! We are working hard to make the best and safest environment for you! #getreal @ Retro Fitness - Hylan Blvd., NY Posted by Retro Fitness - Hylan Blvd., NY on Thursday, March 12, 2020

All Intoxx locations will sanitized all the machines every few hours, a spokesperson for the chains Tottenville location told the Advance/SILive.com.

We have sent emails to our patrons to inform them of our precautions, as well as instructions for them to clean machines prior and post use, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that people are frequenting the Tottenville club less due to patron knowledge of the virus and personal precautionary measures.

A spokesperson for the Intoxx club in Oakwood said that the facility will stay open until otherwise advised from city agencies.

There are five confirmed coronavirus cases on Staten Island, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said gatherings of over 500 people will be restricted as of Friday at 5 p.m.  a measure de Blasio supported  as the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New York exceeded 320.

He also severely restricted visiting protocols for nursing homes across the state.

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At least one senator wants the Pentagon to delay military medical cuts and a plan to push military retirees and families off base for care in the face of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"The department has been engaged in a process of downsizing health personnel -- the closure of military medical treatment facilities, the shifting of retiree, military family members' care to Tricare," Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, said in a Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel hearing Wednesday. "In many of these areas, treatment facilities may not be capable of handling the increased patient load. These cuts are happening at the same time of an outbreak of coronavirus and obviously will put a lot of pressure on our system."

Gillibrand's comments were made before the World Health Organization proclaimed the virus, officially known as COVID-19, to be a global pandemic.

The Defense Health Agency (DHA) announced last month plans to cut retirees and military families from receiving care at dozens of military medical treatment facilities (MTFs). Military.com found the process has already begun in some cases.

Related: More COVID-19 news

The change comes as part of an effort to cut costs and create efficiencies as the military health system transitions to DHA management from service branch control.

Thomas McCaffery, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs who was testifying to the subcommittee Wednesday, assured Gillibrand that the DHA had created a contingency in its plan to reverse course if the surrounding medical community is unable to absorb military retirees and families -- something that could apply during the COVID-19 outbreak.

"The work that went into the right-sizing proposal was done before the onset of coronavirus so it is at that point in time," McCaffery said. "But what we've said, it is conditions-based. Part of that will be if, in the future, our assumptions that went into our proposals have changed, then we will need to change what we proposed."

Gillibrand asked McCaffery to update the Senate Armed Services Committee weekly so lawmakers can ensure the military has enough testing labs, supplies and personnel to respond to the outbreak.

"One of the problems is, you know, New York has the highest number of cases," she said. "Now, their governor is using the National Guard to deliver food and medical supplies so the tax that will be placed on our service members at large will be more significant than now, and it will continue to grow."

Gillibrand isn't the only one raising concerns about the timing of the MTF "right-sizing" plan. Ed Timperlake, a former Department of Veterans Affairs assistant secretary, said via email Thursday he's known several military retiree families who chose their retirement location based on proximity to base medical care.

"To send retirees out to seek new medical connections at the height of a pandemic that actually targets the elderly violates a fundamental military leadership rule: 'Always take care of the troops,'" he said. "It is not about money; the families will be covered. It is about respect for promises made."

-- Dorothy Mills-Gregg can be reached at dorothy.mills-gregg@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DMillsGregg.

Read More: 1st Cavalry Soldier, Air National Guardsman ID'd as Troops Killed in Rocket Attack
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With grief in our hearts, we announce the death of one of the police escort riders on the Vice Presidents convoy, Inspector Ali Gomina, aged 45, who was involved in a road accident while on official duty today, the statement read.
After years of digging, Londons Underground opened its turnstiles in 1863. A city below the city, the new warren of tunnels could whiz a commuter from Leicester Square to Euston before an omnibus had time to negotiate Tottenham Road.

London Underground at London Bridge. Credit:iStock

Citizens were delighted  to a point. Steam power meant fumes, as much as soot, but that wasnt the main gripe. Pollution in fact took a backseat to elocution. Emma Smith, say, was not a flower seller in Notting Hill, but a station announcers miserable bid to identify Hammersmith, while Notting Hill emerged as Nil.

Enough was enough. London had standards to maintain, even beneath the Earths crust. Losing America was regrettable, but damned if these grimy upstarts were going to hold the Queens English to ransom.

Hence the pages of Punch magazine became the place to fulminate, a chance for readers to expel their own pent-up steam on matters of diction. To stay pure, English needed protecting, as went the perception. Plumb in the midst of Queen Victorias reign, received pronunciation (RP) was the one true measure of civility.
An outlaw bikie gang linked to a double murder, kidnapping and torture has been targeted by police raids in Queensland and New South Wales.

More than 200 officers conducted raids across both states on members and associates of the Lone Wolf Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.

Cameron Martin (right) was a car enthusiast and keen jet skier. He died less than two kilometres from where his friend Shane Ross was found dead several days later. Credit:Facebook

Police say the gang is linked to a double murder on the Gold Coast last October as well as the kidnapping of a man and woman less than a week later at Ipswich, west of Brisbane.

Shane Ross and Cameron Martin were both killed after being shot at Tallebudgera.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Tom Brabazon with Joyce Reid and her dog Kenny at the launch. Photo: Conor McCabe Photography.

The last thing anyone needs is to be washing dog dirt off their hands.

However, that is the risk wheelchair users face every day because of inconsiderate pet owners who allow their animals to foul Dublin's pavements, parks and other open spaces.

"There's enough worry with the coronavirus, and we don't want to be washing dog poo off our hands as well," said city litter prevention officer Bernie Lillis.

"There are serious health implications."

Ms Lillis took part in a new publicity campaign by Dublin City Council yesterday, urging dog owners to clean up after their pets and bin their waste.

"Bag it and bin it, don't put it up on railings," she said.

"What we're trying to do is highlight this as an issue. We have a serious problem."

There is not one public park or green space in Dublin that is free from dog poo, Ms Lillis said.

"You're constantly on alert and having to hop and skip over it," she added.

Disgusting

While it is a disgusting eyesore for most people, it is more than an annoyance for those who use wheelchairs as they can end up with it on their hands.

There are dangers too for visually-impaired people, who not only might step in it but could slip and fall and do themselves an injury.

There is absolutely no excuse for dog owners not to clean up after their dogs, said Ms Lillis.

Dublin City Council hands out thousands of free disposable bags to dog owners at all of its civic offices.

The council has also initiated a dog walker scheme in which people sign up to a pledge to not only always clean up after their pets, but to carry extra bags to give to other owners they might meet on their walks who may need one.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council recently spent more than 15,000 installing talking lamp posts on popular dog-walking routes including Marlay Park and Killiney Hill.

These featured a pre-recorded message that reminded dog owners to clean up after their pet.
Ina Maslana has been a loyal diner at whats now known as Tutus Food & Drink in Lafayette for 20 years. She eats there once a week.

I think that has given me this false comfort level even though I cant see what people are doing in the kitchen, the Fremont resident said, adding that she trusts the workers. I dont think I would eat at a restaurant I wasnt familiar with.

Even with a loyal following, Tutus isnt as crowded as usual, Maslana said. In fact, many Bay Area restaurants are growing emptier and emptier as people stay at home and practice social distancing in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

Many are wondering, is it still safe to dine out?

According to the CDC, the coronavirus cant be spread through food. But the virus can live on a surface  say, a bar top, an iPad or a door handle  and be transmitted if a person touches a contaminated surface and then their nose or eyes.

In other words, there is always going to be some risk going out anywhere, and if youre over the age of 60 or otherwise at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill from the coronavirus, you should stay home as much as possible. But health officials also say youre not at any more risk of contracting the virus at a restaurant than any other public place.

There might actually be less risk at a restaurant, because the risk is the number of people you are in contact and in close proximity to, Leana Wen, a physician and visiting professor at George Washington Universitys Milken Institute School of Public Health, told the Washington Post. The number of people who come into close proximity to you on a crowded bus is far more.

Nonetheless, many restaurants are taking extra measures to keep their spaces as clean as possible. While they normally sanitize table tops, counters and chairs regularly, theyre also frequently going after handrails, backs of chairs, door handles, menus and even pens. This sanitizing is often happening in between every guest or, in some cases, every 30 minutes.

Were sanitizing everything from the iPad to the freezer door, said Robyn Sue Fisher of Bay Area mini-chain Smitten Ice Cream. Were trying to protect our team just as much as the people who come in.

To assist with social distancing, the Plumed Horse in Saratoga removed half of their tables to ensure diners are 6 feet apart from one another. Oliveto in Oakland also removed some tables to create about a 3-foot-long buffer, the amount of space recommended by the World Health Organization between you and a sneezing or coughing person. The restaurant also added hand sanitizer at the host stand and throughout the dining room for guests to use.

Ice cream shops, like Curbside Creamery in Oakland, are no longer offering free samples  a move seen at many grocery stores as well.

Coffee shops, from giant chains like Starbucks Coffee and Peets Coffee to independent favorites like San Franciscos Andytown Coffee Roasters and Berkeleys 1951 Coffee, are no longer accepting personal cups from customers. At the Bay Area fusion mini-chain Bamboo Asia, locations with bars will swap glasses for disposable cups.

The staff at Wrecking Ball Coffee, which has locations in San Francisco and Berkeley, is wearing single-use sanitary gloves when handling cash, and offering small squares of wax paper for customers to wrap their fingers when signing their names on the cafes touch-screen. When disinfecting tables, Berkeley restaurant Augies Montreal Deli has ditched cloth towels for paper towels.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Bay Area Mexican restaurant chain Tacolicious changed the process for setting tables, so even the tin cups holding napkins and forks are removed and replaced before a new group is seated.

Everything comes off and everything gets sanitized and wiped down, said Korey Reynolds of Tacolicious. Anything we can do to let people know were as concerned about this as they are.

Its unclear, however, how quickly these new rules will be enforced at restaurants with multiple locations. After Bay Area Jewish deli and bagel chain Wise Sons announced Wednesday that it was removing all self-service items, including milk pitchers, sugar ramekins and utensils, so fewer people handle them, a Chronicle editor dined at a Wise Sons location Friday and noticed those items were still on the table.

As a diner, Maslana is most concerned about interacting with a restaurant worker who might be sick  its one reason why shes staying far away from fast-food restaurants or anywhere else she fears a low-wage worker couldnt afford to skip a shift.

Many local business owners are trying to reassure customers by touting their paid sick-leave policies  and some are expanding those policies. Normally sick leave doesnt kick in until 90 days after an employee starts, but at Smitten, for example, new employees are being encouraged to take sick time even for a minor runny nose, said Fisher.

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 13

Trend:

A law on the legal status of the occupied territories should be adopted in Azerbaijan, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Member of the Committee on Legal Policy and State Building of Azerbaijan's Parliament said at the plenary meeting of the Parliament, Trend reports on March 13.

"Similar laws were adopted in a number of countries of the world. Foreign companies operate in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and are engaged in sponsorship there. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a law on the legal status of these territories, Hasanguliyev noted.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
The global electric bus market is projected to grow at a significant CAGR of around 26.1% in terms of revenue during the forecast period 2019 to 2026.



LOS ANGELES, March 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global electric bus market is expected to reach the market value of around US$ 214,567.2 Mn by the end of 2026.

Electric bus can either store electricity on board or feed from the external source on a continuous basis. Electric busses are primarily electric battery buses where an electro-powerful motor generates electricity from on-board batteries, although there are examples of other types of transport, such as a gyrobus that uses flywheel control. Energy is provided by interaction with external power sources where energy is not contained aboard.

Get Free Report Sample Pages for Better Understanding@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/1777

Acumen Research and Consulting, a global provider of market research studies, in a latest published report titled Electric Bus Market (By Vehicle Type: Plug-in Hybrid Electric Bus, Battery Electric Bus; By Consumer: Fleet Operators, Government) - Global Industry Analysis, Market Size, Opportunities and Forecast, 2019  2026.

Drivers and Challenges of Market

Growing concern over depletion of fossil fuels and environmental pollution consequently drive the electric bus industry. Most governments around the world have modified public transport systems by substituting heavy-duty diesel and petrol-driven buses for zero-emission electric buses in order to address the aforesaid issues. There is a rising price of crude oil which forces governments funding for e-busses. A significant portion of developing countries expenditure is spent on crude oil purchases thus; governments encourage e-buses to reduce expenditure. E-busses can be cost-effective in the long run although not costly than regular buses because they save the heavy expenditures incurred by imports of petroleum. Therefore, the market is expected to become a bright future in near future.

Story continues

Air pollution is a major cause of death according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since vehicle emissions have adverse environmental and public health impacts, global governments have made considerable investments in the construction of facilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower levels of air pollution. This has contributed to the stringent emission regulations imposed by governments. Such regulations fuel the growth of the demand for electric buses. The electric bus is free of dirt because no dangerous substances are released. An electric bus is also successful and provides electric urban transport and provides towns with a road to clean air sustainability.

View Detail Information with Complete TOC@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/electric-bus-market

Moreover, the electric bus market is anticipated to grow due to emergence of battery based technologies and increased research into them. Rechargeable electric bus batteries can save power, which can be quickly depleted due to increased consumption and will therefore aid the growth of the electric bus industry. However, the growth in the electric bus may be limited by high production costs associated with hybrid or electric buses, coupled with less understanding of the benefits offered by electric buses in certain developing countries.

Regional Outlook

Asia-Pacific held significant market share in 2018. One of the main reasons for the growth and development of the electric bus market in Asia Pacific is the presence of a huge number of market players in the region, particularly in China. Besides, increased governmental initiatives to encourage the use of electric buses in order to reduce air pollution via vehicles are expected to increase the market in North America and Europe. The Middle East and Africa economies are drawing companies to increase their spending in regions and are expecting healthy growth in the forecast period.

The growing demand for electricity transit systems, the growth of renowned OEMs and government support is driving the electric bus industry in Middle East & Africa. The first smart electric bus in the world was launched in November 2019, with the assistance of the Shanghai Wanxiang Company, China. Futon Motor has planned to produce more than 2,000 electric buses in the country in the next four years with the Egypt Military Development Ministry in May 2019.

Key Players & Strategies

Players profiled in the report are VDL Groep, Yutong, BYD, Proterra, and AB Volvo, and Others. Due to the growing number of orders from the national and international markets for its electric buses, BYD continues to be the top player.

Companies such as BYD and Yutong hold a significant share of over 40% in the Chinese electric bus industry in 2018.

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Bernie Sanders says coronavirus is proof that we need socialized medicine. Because Chinas socialized health care system has done such a great job? I dont know. Logic isnt Bernies strong suit.

A better analysis comes from Catos Dan Mitchell, who begins by noting some liberals claims that the virus is an argument for Big Government or, at least, Big Medicine. Dan argues that, on the contrary, the federal government has hindered an effective response to the coronavirus:

The virus originated in China, where government controls the healthcare system. Its also spread most significantly in nations such as Iran and Italy, where government also plays a dominant role in health care.

Even here in the U.S., government medicine has not covered itself in glory:

officials at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stymied private and academic development of diagnostic tests that might have provided an early warning and a head start on controlling the epidemic that is now spreading across the country. the CDC required that public health officials could only use the diagnostic test designed by the agency. That test released on February 5 turned out to be badly flawed. The CDCs insistence on a top-down centralized testing regime greatly slowed down the process of disease detection as the infection rate was accelerating.  On February 29, the FDA finally agreed to unleash Americas vibrant biotech companies and academic labs by allowing them to develop and deploy new tests for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Quoting the New York Post:

Overregulation of diagnostic testing has played a major role in this delay.  Test protocols using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were publicly available shortly after Chinese researchers published (or described) the sequence of the virus in mid-January. The World Health Organization (WHO) used a freely available German procedure to create a test kit, shipping 250,000 tests to 159 laboratories worldwide.  CDC testing criteria have precluded recognizing community spread because of requirements stipulating recent travel to China or exposure to an infected person. Adherence to these guidelines delayed testing in the first probable case of community transmission The FDA has not allowed the experienced and highly skilled professionals at public-health, academic and commercial laboratories to set up their own laboratory developed tests (LDTs), and no manufactured test kits have been authorized for sale in the US. In Europe, several companies, at least one US-based, have regulatory approval to sell test kits there.

In short, the last thing we need to effectively combat pandemics is a more centralized and bureaucratic health care system.

Update: This morning President Trump tweeted an attack on the Centers for Disease Control and the Obama administration:

. Their response to H1N1 Swine Flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now. The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020

Smart politics? I dont know, but I think hes probably right.
The coronavirus influenced the possibility of the Iranian officials to leave the country

Iran informed the Canadian Transportation Safety Board about the delay of the transfer to Ukraine of the black boxes of downed Boeing 737 due to coronavirus epidemic as CBC News reported.

"There was a plan to take [the recorders] to Ukraine. However, that's been delayed because of the outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran, Chair of Canada's Transportation Safety Board Kathy Fox said.

She specified that the information from Iran was received by her office on March 5. Teheran explains the difficulty in the transfer to Ukraine of the black boxes by the fact that the coronavirus influenced the possibility of the Iranian officials to leave the country and organization activity and presence of the human resources.

Meanwhile, the International Civil Aviation Organization reported that Iran stated the intention to send black boxes for analysis to Ukraine or to France. Teheran will announce the country for decryption soon.

January 8, Boeing 737 of Ukraine's International Airlines, flight PS752 with 176 passengers aboard crashed in Tehran, not far from Imam Khomeini airport.

11 citizens of Ukraine died in the crash of Boeing 737 of Ukraine's International Airlines (PS 752 flight). President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky reported that the passenger plane crash in the Iranian capital left no survivors.

On January 19, the bodies of the Ukrainians, who died in a plane crash in Iran, were delivered to Ukraine. The farewell ceremony took place at Boryspil Airport.
The Haryana government on Friday shut all universities and colleges in the state till March 31, a day after it declared coronavirus an epidemic.

The government also decided to close schools in five districts -- Gurugram, Sonepat, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Faridabad till March 31, officials said.

However, school students in these districts will take their exams as per schedule, according to a school department order.

According to an advisory issued by the Panchkula based Director General of Higher Education, "The state government has decided that all universities and colleges situated in Haryana state will be closed till March 31 as a precautionary measure."



The department of school Haryana, meanwhile, in its order stated, "All the government as well as private schools situated in Sonepat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Faridabad and Gurugram districts will remain closed till March 31 with immediate effect, except for holding examinations."



"The students will attend the school only to take the board exams, annual exams and assessment exams, March 2020 as per previous schedule. However, all the teaching and non-teaching staff members will attend the school as usual," it said, adding that schools in remaining districts shall function as per normal schedule.

The state government had on Thursday declared the coronavirus an epidemic and health minister Anil Vij had advised people to avoid large gatherings.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
March 13 : Television and Bollywood actress Radhika Madan is all geared up for her upcoming movie Angrezi Medium. The actress who is well-known for her role in the Television serial Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi expressed that she never tried to set any goal in working with Kareena and Irrfan. The only thing she had in her mind was to work honestly.

Radhika Madan was seen interacting with the media on Thursday in Mumbai along with The Ghasitaram for the Promotion Of Film Angrezi Medium.

Watch the video

When asked did she set any goals in working with Kareena and Irrfan, on this Radhika said, "I never had any aim that I want to look the best in front of them. The only thing in my mind was to play my character in a very honest manner. I never thought that working with such famed stars I'll be noticed or no. I am happy that I have played my character sincerely. And also overwhelmed with the response I am getting from the people."

Talking about her film, Radhika said, "In the film, the fascination of studying abroad has culminated. It's less of education in India, but more about the education of studying abroad. Because the person studying abroad is considered as the coolest person on the earth and the film defines the same."

About the film Angrezi Medium Champak, an unassuming mithai shop owner and single father is set to fulfill his daughter's dream to study in London. However, certain misadventures lead him and his family on a new quest, one which renews their relationships and bonds.

Also Watch Angrezi Medium Public Review and Rating

The film is directed by Homi Adajania and produced under the production banner Maddock Films. The film is the spin-off to the 2017 comedy Hindi Medium and stars Irrfan Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Radhika Madan, and Deepak Dobriyal.
Lucinda Brackin died in unsuspecting circumstances in the community in which she was born and lived most of her life.

Well known businessman Leon Bigger Biggs Samuel said that he is concerned about the well-being of family of the woman who was killed in the vehicular accident, involving a vehicle his son was driving.





Samuels son, Nicholas OGarro of Sayers, Mesopotamia, was the driver of the vehicle (pickup) TH 994, which ran off the road onto a bank and then overturned.





The mishap is said to have occurred along the Sandy Bay Public Road, in the vicinity of the popular Zero Tolerance Gar, at about 9:40 p.m. on March 8.





Lucinda Brackin, a 46-year-old mother of two and a resident of London, Sandy Bay, one of four passengers in the vehicle, was pinned under the mangled vehicle and was pronounced dead on the spot by the District Medical Officer.





Brackin was well-known in the North Windward community, she being an active karaoke participant.

The other passengers were taken to the Georgetown Hospital for treatment.





Samuel said that while his sons life and those of the others were spared, the incident had shaken him up.





"I am thinking of the well-being of the family who lost their loved one, the businessman said.





He confirmed that as of Wednesday, no charges were brought against OGarro, and that he had been detained on Sunday and released on Tuesday.





Samuel said that he was yet to talk to his son, and was unable to speak in any way about the circumstances surrounding the deadly crash.





Investigations are said to be continuing.





This is the second road fatality to have occurred in the North Windward area within recent times.





On October 14, 2018, Clevique Huggins (18) and Denroy Baptiste (16)  both of Magum - died after the pickup in which they were travelling struck a parked truck along the Langley Park Public Road.





In that matter, Dazzroy Brackin, 19-year-old resident of Magum, was charged with the offence of dangerous driving.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  Another Filipino has tested positive for the new coronavirus disease or COVID-19 in Singapore on Thursday.

This brings the total number of infected Filipinos in that country to seven.

According to a report by the Singapore Ministry of Health, the additional confirmed case is a 35-year-old male who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and who visited the Philippines from February 24 to March 1.

He was confirmed to have the viral disease on March 12, and is now confined in isolation at a medical facility. He is linked to another Filipino who also tested positive.
(Newser)  A test has confirmed what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife suspected after she returned from a trip to London: She has been infected with COVID-19. Authorities say Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and the prime minister will self-isolate for 14 days, although Justin Trudeau's office says he is not being tested at this time because he has not shown symptoms, the Globe and Mail reports. "I'd like to say a big thank you to all of you who have reached out to me asking how I'm doing," Gregoire Trudeau said in a statement. "Although Im experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon." The couple's three children are also in self-isolation.

story continues below

The prime minister's office says he is receiving briefings over the phone and will continue to "fully assume his duties," the National Post reports. Trudeau is expected to address the nation Friday. His office says he spoke to world leaders including President Trump on Thursday, and will speak to provincial leaders Friday to coordinate efforts to fight the pandemic. "Canada has a well-equipped public health system to deal with the spread of COVID-19," his office said in a statement. "The Prime Minister and Mrs. Gregoire Trudeau thank all of Canadas health professionals and the Public Health Agency of Canada who are doing an incredible job in protecting all Canadians." (Read more coronavirus stories.)
NEW YORK  A rising number of churches across the United States are making changes in response to the coronavirus outbreak, including a decision by numerous Catholic dioceses to suspend the serving of wine during Communion.

Thus far, there have been relatively few cancellations of worship services. However, Jamie Aten, a psychologist who is executive director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College, said it would be wise for faith leaders to start preparing for that eventuality.

"Some faith communities already stream services or communicate with each other over social media," Aten noted. "Though there aren't any perfect solutions and such discussions can be difficult to have, it's better to have them now and not later."

Among the Catholic bishops ordering changes was Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle, whose region is the worst hit in the U.S. The Washington state health department has confirmed more than 30 cases of the coronavirus in the Seattle area.

In a letter to parish leaders, Etienne said wine should not be distributed during Communion until further notice, and church-goers should receive the Communion wafer in their hand, not on their tongue.

The archbishop urged Catholics to stay home from Mass if they are sick; to practice good hygiene, including frequent hand washing; and to avoid hand-to-hand contact during moments in the church service when churchgoers traditionally shake hands with those near them in the pews.

Many other dioceses around the U.S. are taking similar steps - even in areas such as Pittsburgh where no cases of coronavirus have been confirmed. Among the many dioceses and archdioceses making the changes were those in Atlanta, Boston, Joliet, Illinois, San Antonio and Newark and Paterson, New Jersey.

In Chicago, the Catholic archdiocese not only suspended the serving of Communion wine from a chalice, it also ordered priests, deacons and other personnel to wash their hands before Mass and use an alcohol based anti-bacterial solution before and after distributing Communion.

"Assure the faithful that if they are sick or are experiencing symptoms of sickness, they are not obliged to attend Mass, and even that out of charity they ought not to attend," the archdiocese told its priests.

Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, was among the bishops ordering that the Communion wafer be placed in the recipient's hand, not on the tongue, for the time being.

"How we receive, while very personal to the individual communicant, is not crucial," Wester wrote on the diocese website. "Receiving Communion in the hand is every bit as respectful as receiving on the tongue."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has shared with its member bishops some suggested steps that could be taken in response to the outbreak, but it has left it up to individual bishops to decide if and how to implement those steps. Some dioceses said they would leave some decisions to the discretion of their parish priests.

The virus outbreak was prompting changes in many other faiths as well  in the U.S. and around the world.

In the Seattle suburb of Bothell, leaders of the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center announced that the temple would no longer accommodate worship services or other large gatherings until a statewide state of emergency was lifted. It said the temple would be open to individual worshippers for an hour each evening, and some events would be open only to priests.

Concerns about the virus have prompted two leading pastors of Life.Church, which claims tens of thousands of followers at locations in 10 states, to voluntarily place themselves in quarantine at their homes in the Oklahoma City area.

In a video for the church community, Pastor Craig Groeschel said he and Bobby Gruenewald took the precautionary step after learning that one of their fellow participants at a conference in Germany had tested positive for the virus.

Groeschel said he and Gruenewald had no symptoms, and added, "The good news is, I have lots of time to pray."

Sally Hiller, a Virginia-based deaconess with Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, wrote to regional colleagues with detailed suggestions for worship services.

"Consider putting smaller bottles of hand sanitizer in each pew," she wrote. "As you greet one another or exchange greetings during the sharing of peace, consider a simple head bow, a wave, or a fist bump."

In the event the outbreak worsens, Hiller said churches should ensure that a communication system is in place that could spread the word if services are canceled or church-run schools are shut down. In the event of school closures, she said plans should be in place to offer online classes.

"If you are going to use e-learning, develop procedures and practice it before you launch into it," Hiller wrote. "Communicate with your families  often."

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By Trevor Hunnicutt

WILMINGTON, Del., March 12 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden will deliver a speech on the country's response to the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday, one day after he canceled upcoming public rallies amid widening public health concerns.

Biden and White House rival Bernie Sanders have been forced to re-evaluate their approach to campaigning in the face of warnings about the health dangers inherent in big crowds and handshakes, two staples of traditional political races.

Both candidates in the Democratic race to pick a challenger to Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election canceled events in Ohio and dropped off the campaign trail after Biden rolled to big wins over Sanders in four of the six states that voted on Tuesday.

Biden's campaign on Wednesday converted planned rallies in Florida and Illinois into "virtual" campaign events as the coronavirus outbreak officially became a global pandemic.

The Biden campaign created a committee composed mostly of doctors to advise on how to keep the candidate, staff and voters safe. Sanders' campaign has said it will address plans on a day-to-day basis.

The former vice president's speech in his home state of Delaware will give Biden, who has criticized Trump's response to the outbreak and called it a matter of presidential leadership, a chance to portray himself as a steady, experienced hand in the face of a public health crisis.

Trump in an address to the nation on Wednesday night, imposed restrictions to prevent people from 26 European countries from traveling to the United States for a month, in an effort to fight the coronavirus.

Saying: We are marshaling the full power of the federal government and the private sector to protect the American people," Trump also announced measures to help those affected by the virus, including financial relief for those who are ill, quarantined or caring for others.

Story continues

COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is a highly contagious respiratory illness. The number of U.S. coronavirus cases has risen steadily to 1,311, with 38 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

Sanders, a democratic socialist senator from Vermont, said on Wednesday he would stay in the race despite the primary losses to Biden and would keep pushing for his economic and social justice agenda.

Biden, 77, and Sanders, 78, will debate in Phoenix on Sunday ahead of next week's nominating contests in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio. The debate will not have an in-person audience, however, because of health concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.

Despite his recent losses, Sanders said his anti-corporate economic agenda was gaining support from young people, who he called the future of the country. But he acknowledged that many Democratic voters still believe Biden has the best chance of beating Trump. "While our campaign has won the ideological debate, we are losing the debate over electability," he told reporters in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont.

Sanders' losses on Tuesday, coming after a series of Biden wins in last week's Super Tuesday contests, put Sanders in a deeper hole in the delegate count. Biden leads Sanders 786-645 in the race for the 1,991 delegates needed to clinch the nomination at July's Democratic convention. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and John Whitesides in Washington; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Travelers queue at a departures terminal in Barcelona on March 14, 2020. Photo by Adria Salido Zarco/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A tourist travels through an airport last year. Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images

Sky Princess, one of the 18 ships in Princess Cruises' fleet, sends a WeWillBeBack message via its balcony cabins. Last week, Princess stated it was voluntarily pausing its global operations for 60 days in response to COVID-19.

Passengers travelling during the pandemic. Photo by Sergei Bobylev\TASS via Getty Images

One by one, countries and continents are closing as coronavirus outbreaks around the world throw travel into disarray.

This is a fluid situation, with new developments by the hour - let alone day - so check with your airline, tour operator and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) travel advisories before travelling.

What's the latest?

The Irish Government is now advising against all non-essential travel overseas at least until March 29. This includes Great Britain but does not apply to Northern Ireland. It also includes all cruise ship travel.

Flight restrictions and route cancellations are happening on a daily basis worldwide and there is no guarantee that air routes will continue to operate for the coming weeks," Tanaiste Simon Coveney has said.

"For this reason, where commercial flights are still an option, we recommend that people who wish to do so make arrangements to return to Ireland as soon as possible."

Expand Close The Irish government's unprecedented travel advice, issued March 16, 2020. / Facebook

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Anyone coming into Ireland, apart from Northern Ireland, should restrict their movements for 14 days, the HSE says. This includes Irish residents. Essential supply chain services such as hauliers, pilots and maritime staff are exempt.

For now, "this advisory overrides all other travel alerts and security status notifications, with the exception of countries with a do not travel security status, which remain unchanged", it says.

It follows a temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU, set to be imposed for a period of 30 days, announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"The less travel, the more we can contain the virus," she said.

The DFA's list of countries closing their borders or introducing travel restrictions is changing by the hour, and now includes dozens of destinations (see below).

Are Irish airports still open?

Yes, Irish airports and airspace remain open at this time.

As chaos continues however, the Irish Travel Agents Association has asked the Tanaiste "to look at the repatriation of Irish travellers from other countries in the EU and across the world, especially the US.

What's happening in Spain?

A repatriation effort has been taking place, seeing the Irish government liaise with Ryanair and Aer Lingus to bring home an estimated 20,000 people from Spain, the Balearic and Canary Islands.

Both airlines are severely reducing flights.

"Customers that were already checked-in for their return flight may have experienced difficulties to change their booking," Ryanair said. "Today we are unchecking all customers booked on flights exiting Spain from 21 Mar to 28 Mar and advising them to apply for a free move on an alternative date via our online service."

Aer Lingus passengers should us the Manage My Trip page to re-book travel.

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Irish citizens can also ring a dedicated DFA helpline on +353 (0)1 613 1733.

What is the latest travel advice?

The Irish Government is advising against all non-essential travel overseas at least until March 29. This includes Great Britain but does not apply to Northern Ireland. It also includes all cruise ship travel.

It follows a wave of travel restrictions in responses to the Covid-19 crisis, the DFA says - with travel advised against either due to virus outbreaks, or lockdowns and closed borders aimed at containing it.

Citizens are advised not to travel at all to Italy.

In Europe, the DFA had earlier advised against non-essential travel to Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Malta and Slovakia (click links for country advice) as coronavirus-related travel restrictions mount.

Anyone coming into Ireland will be asked to restrict their movement for 14 days..

The US has extended an original travel ban for 26 countries in the Schengen Area to the UK and Ireland. The ban won't apply to US citizens, green card holders or their immediate family members.

Irish citizens should also "avoid non-essential travel" to China, Iran and Morocco, the DFA says, and a wave of new advisories has now been issued for Latin and Central America as countries there move to curb travel from Europe.

You should now avoid non-essential travel to the region, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Peru among other countries.



In Asia, avoid non-essential travel to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

In other news, Norway closed all borders, airports and ports, while Malta has said that all passengers arriving by air or by sea are obliged to undertake a 14 day period of mandatory quarantine, including fines of 1,000 for every breach.

New Zealand and Australia are requiring almost all travellers entering the country to self-isolate for 14 days. Cruise ships from foreign ports have been banned from docking for at least 30 days.

In India, the government has announced that visas for all nationalities would be suspended until April 15, due to the coronavirus. All non-Indian citizens will not be allowed entry.

The DFA has already advised travellers to "exercise a high degree of caution" in South Korea, which is also battling an outbreak, and advises against "all but essential travel" in affected zones Daegu and Cheongdo.

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Ireland's list of at-risk countries also includes Singapore and Hong Kong.

This advice is changing rapidly as the virus spreads.

Are flights operating as normal?

No. Airlines are now under siege.

Ryanair expects to ground most of its 450+ planes by March 24, and Michael O'Leary has warned that a full grounding of the fleet cannot be ruled out.

Disruption to US and European schedules is unfolding as airlines scramble to deal with the coronavirus carnage.

SAS has suspended operations, American Airlines grounded 75pc of international routes until May, and IAG will reduce capacity "by at least 75 per cent" in April and May. Talk of multi-billion euro bailouts has begun... and that's just the latest news.

We expect demand to remain weak until well into the summer", IAG chief Willie Walsh has said.

In the meantime, Aer Lingus and Ryanair have moved to waive their flight change fees for certain bookings (fare differences may apply). See a list of airlines waiving change fees here. Aer Lingus has also now requested that only customers due to fly with the airline within the next 72 hours contact its call centre, due to unprecedented demand.

Both airlines say they will contact affected passengers, continue to monitor the situation, and liaise with the DFA, other governments, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and EASA.

I'm nervous. Should I travel?

Following government advice, not until March 29 at the earliest - unless it is essential.

As The Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, made clear in an address to the nation on St Patrick's Day, the Covid-19 crisis will go on long beyond that date, possibly into the summer months.

Beyond this stark new reality, there's no one-size-fits-all answer.

If the DFA advises against travel to your destination, then you should consider cancelling your trip. Otherwise, there is no official advice not to go, but the situation is changing extremely quickly.

Decisions like this come down to individual comfort levels. It's natural to feel a bit worried... but stay calm and don't rush a decision. If you still have time before your trip, wait and see how events unfold.

The Irish Travel Agents' Association (ITAA) has called for the public to "be pragmatic" about their holiday bookings.

Our advice is to speak to your travel agent and get good advice from the experts," says John Spollen, ITAA President. "Members are monitoring what is a fluid situation on behalf of their clients on a day to day, hour by hour basis."

Remember that travel agents and airline staff are under extreme stress, and are anxious about their families too. If you are not due to travel in the coming days, consider waiting a while before making contact.

You can download TravelWise, the DFA's free smartphone app, on the Apple or Google Play stores, and set an alert for the country you are visiting to receive significant updates direct to your phone.

If coronavirus affects my trip, can I get a refund?

If the DFA issues a warning to "avoid non-essential travel" to an area (as it has done for Spain, for instance), or a "do not travel" alert, then you should be eligible for refunds or re-bookings.

In the first instance, contact your travel provider (i.e. airline or tour operator) to see what costs you can reclaim for trips that have been cancelled or curtailed.

If you booked separate accommodation yourself (i.e. not through a licensed and bonded travel agent) then you will need to check the T&Cs, or look to your travel insurance (see below) to recover money.

If I cancel my holiday, can I get a refund?

If you cancel or cut short a trip because you feel uncomfortable about travelling to an area, and the DFA has not issued a warning about that area, then you are likely to lose your deposit or payment.

If you are worried about travel, contact your tour operator or travel agent and ask if you can change or defer your plans - they are not obliged to, but Irish agents have a history of being helpful in stressful situations and airlines, cruise lines and tour operators are offering unprecedented levels of flexibility on bookings at the moment.

Airlines have also waived change fees.

If you are not due to travel in the ban periods now in place for Covid-19, my advice is to wait for now. The ban periods are likely to be extended, which may give you more rights and eligibility for refunds if you cancel at that point.

What if my airline cancels the flight?

If your flight is cancelled for any reason, and regardless of when you are notified, your airline must offer you the choice between:

1) Re-routing as soon as possible, subject to availability, free of charge.

2) Re-routing at a later date.

3) A full refund.

You may also have certain assistance and compensation rights. See here for a full list, or check flightrights.ie.

What will my travel insurance cover?

If the DFA declares a no-go area, or advises against "non-essential travel" to a destination, your first recourse for refunds or re-bookings should be your airline or travel agent.

Travel insurers may provide compensation for money lost on hotels or other bookings, but only if you cancel or cut short travel plans to areas the DFA advises against. They will not provide cover if you simply don't want to travel.

As a general rule, it's a good idea to check that government travel advice changes are included in your policy, and that you have 'Travel Disruption' cover to help recoup from cancellations in events like this (as well as strikes and terror attacks etc.).

"Travel Disruption is an additional cover and must be purchased in advance of any public announcement prohibiting travel to the area you are travelling to," explains Ciaran Mulligan of Blue Insurance and MultiTrip.com.

Note that there is a moratorium (typically around seven days) on this additional cover from the date you add it. If you buy it today, for example, it will only kick in a week down the line.

Is this a good time to buy travel insurance?

Yes - if you don't have an annual, multi-trip policy, take the opportunity to get one.

Even if your summer holiday is unaffected now, it may not remain so. There is also a strong likelihood that Covid-19 may be excluded on future policies.

One Irish insurer, Blue Insurance, reported a jump of 425pc in new policy purchases on one day in late February, compared with the same day last year, as a result of the outbreak.

It also saw a rise of 1,400pc in people adding Travel Disruption Cover to their policy.

Bear moratoriums in mind, however, read T&Cs, and make sure there is a Government Travel Advice benefit on the policy (which allows cancellation cover if DFA travel advisories change), and remember that travel insurance will most likely NOT cover you if you go to a destination to which the government has advised against travel.

Also, check that you have up-to-date European Health Insurance (EHIC) cards for your family.

Can my credit card help?

If you booked your flights or holiday using a card, you may be able to have pre-paid purchases reimbursed, but terms & conditions will apply.

As a rule, credit cards tend to offer more protections than debit cards.

Will travel insurance cover me for medical expenses if I contract coronavirus overseas?

"Providing the customer is not travelling to an area where the FCO/DFA have advised against All but Essential travel, then the customer would have cover for medical expenses if they were to travel and contract coronavirus while abroad," Ciaran Mulligan says.

"If the customer decides to travel against the advice of the FCO/DFA, there will be no cover in place as the policy would exclude any travel to an area where the DFA have advised against all but essential travel."

"In all instances, customers should contact their airline and/or booking agent if they have any concerns around the area they are travelling to, as if travel advice changes then it is likely that the airline or agent will offer to reschedule/refund their trip."

"All customers would need to go down this route before a claim will be considered."

What other precautions can I take?

Travellers can reduce the risk of respiratory infections by:

Avoiding close contact (2m) with people suffering from acute respiratory infections

Frequent hand-washing, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment

Practicing good cough etiquette (maintain distance, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and wash hands)

Avoiding close contact with live or dead farm or wild animals

Find the HSE's health-related information on the coronavirus here.

The DFA's dedicated coronavirus help line is on +353 (0)1 613 1733.

NB: This story is being updated as events unfold.
Saturday at Mar-a-Lago, tested positive for coronavirus, according to local reports.

Trump, who shook hands with his Brazilian counterpart at that meal, has not gone into voluntary self-quarantine, despite CDC guidelines describing someone in his situation as medium risk for infection.

Instead, the president announced he would hold a press conference at 3 p.m. on Friday at the White House on the coronavirus. There he will declare a national emergency, Bloomberg News reported, which would open the door to more federal aid for states and cities.

Trump opened the door to such a move Thursday.

We have things I can do, he said at the White House.

The move comes following reports of Bolsonaros testing. One of the major newspapers in Rio de Janeiro, Journal O Dia , noted The Guardians Tom Phillips, reported the news of Bolsonaros positive test.

Bolsonaro, 64, was checked for the disease after his aide Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for it. The results of a second test on the Brazilian president are expected to be known on Friday. The entire plane containing the Brazilian delegation to America is reported to be contaminated.

On Thursday, Trump brushed aside concerns about his encounter with the Brazilians  the latest in a series of brushes the president has had with the highly-contagious disease.

Both Bolsonaro and Wajngarten, his press secretary, were at the Winter White House Saturday night. Wajngarten had his photo take with President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump and the first family have resisted going into self-quarantine despite other lawmakers who came into contact with those testing positive for the disease going into voluntary isolation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends testing if you have been in close contact with a person known to have the virus. The agency defines close contact as being within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) of a COVID-19 case for a prolonged period of time. Also, according to CDC guidelines, the president would be considered medium risk for exposure.

Otherworld leaders are self-quarantining. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in voluntary 14-day quarantine after his wife, Sophie, tested positive for the disease.

Several members of the first family were at the Winter White House Saturday night where there was a birthday party for Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., in addition to the working dinner for the Brazilian delegation.

One of those was Ivanka Trump, who, it was revealed late Thursday, had another brush with the disease.

She and Attorney General Bill Barr posed for a photograph with Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton on March 5  days before he tested positive for coronavirus.

They were meeting as part of a meeting between officials from the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the U.S. The next day, Ivanka Trump attended the dinner at Mar-a-Lago with her father and Bolsonaro.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert at the National Institutes of Health, said he would likely have been tested after coming if he had come into contact with Bolsonaros aide who tested positive for the coronavirus .

Source: Dailymail
The threat posed by the coronavirus has prompted some companies to send employees home to work, plunging them into a disorienting realm. A realm where the divide between workspace and non-workspace never seemed so fragile. Where putting on real pants might be necessary to maintain this divide, and yet seems so totally unnecessary, because no one but the cat will see them. Where the cat appears confused about why youre still around during her workday. Where the fridge is right there, better check to see whats inside (again).
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Small businesses in San Francisco experiencing a slowdown following a citywide ban on large events in response to the coronavirus will get support from the city.

Announced by city leaders on Wednesday, the efforts include deferring business taxes and licensing fees, launching a relief fund, supporting city-funded nonprofits so that workers don't lose income, and working with partners in the philanthropic and private sectors.

The city is also calling for state and federal support for the impacted workers and businesses in the form of regulatory relief around employment benefits, including unemployment, sick leave, disability, and other issues.

"It's important that people follow the public health recommendations to disrupt the spread of COVID-19 in our communities," Mayor London Breed said in a statement.

ALSO: San Francisco restaurants seeing a downturn in business due to coronavirus and travel cancellations

"We know these recommendations are disruptive to the lives of everyone in our City, but they will help slow the spread of this disease. Unfortunately, that means that many of our small businesses are feeling the economic impact of people staying home and not shopping or going out to eat. That's why we are working to provide relief and support for our small businesses and the workers who rely on them for their livelihood. These are just the first steps of what we are doing for our small business community," she said.

"We must support our workers and businesses as they move through this difficult time. Many workers are losing income -- or being laid off entirely -- and many small businesses are at risk of closure," Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said.

"We need to ensure people are aware of all available state safety net resources, and we need financial support for struggling businesses. As we combat this epidemic, we must make clear that we're in this together and that we'll support everyone who needs it," he said.

MORE: Michelin-star restaurant Plumed Horse drops 60% of its tables to give diners more space

Under the new measures being taken, businesses with up to $10 million in gross receipts will now have the option to not pre-pay their first quarter business tax by April 30, and instated defer the payment to February 2021, without interest, fees or fines.

Also, the city will delay the collection of the city's unified license bill for restaurants, bars, convenience stores, small retailers, hotels and tour operators by three months.

The city will additionally establish a fund for the impacted business, with an initial $1 million investment for up to 100 businesses with grants of $10,000 each in immediate relief.

On top of the new measures, the city has also created a website for employers and employees to find all existing resources at www.oewd.org/covid19.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

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.
As a preventative measure against the spread of the coronavirus, The Ohio Harness Horsemens Association (OHHA) and Miami Valley Gaming will postpone the Big Screen Television giveaway scheduled for Friday, March 13.

The OHHA will work with Miami Valley Gaming to reschedule this event when it is appropriate and prudent.

(OHHA)
Routine Masses and Confirmations across the Derry Diocese have been suspended and a cap put on the number of people attending funerals are among the latest moves introduced in the Derry Diocese as the coronavirus crisis deepens.

Bishop of Derry, Most Rev Dr Donal McKeown, said he had implemented the precautionary measures in a bid to minimise the spread of the coronavirus.

Confirmation ceremonies have been suspended until further notice with further guidance due to be given at a later date with regards to First Communion.

Funeral, marriage and baptism ceremonies will be celebrated however, the Bishop of Derry is asking for no more than 100 people to attend.

Those who are unable to attend weekend Masses in their parish are encouraged to mark Sunday as well as they can by participating in Masses which are transmitted by radio, television or webcams.

A list of churches in this diocese with webcams will be available on www.derrydiocese.org.

Bishop McKeown said: "The Coronavirus has created a lot of worry for many people. Matters are further complicated in this diocese by different approaches taken by the Irish and UK governments.

"As a Church in this cross-border diocese, we have two key pastoral priorities at this time.

"Firstly, we wish to take all measures within our control to minimise the spread of the virus.

"Secondly, and equally importantly, we want to offer widespread pastoral support and encouragement, rather than merely adding to fear."
Kerbala's international airport construction site was hit by an air strike, the management of the Imam Hussein shrine said in a statement. A civilian construction worker was killed.

The airport's construction is being funded by the shrine management.

The United States said it carried out the series of strikes on Thursday (March 12) against an Iran-backed militia in Iraq that it blamed for a rocket attack a day earlier which killed two American troops and a British soldier.

The Pentagon said the strikes targeted five weapons stores used by Kataib Hezbollah militants, including facilities housing arms used in past attacks on U.S.-led coalition troops.

Iraq's military condemned the air strikes, saying they had killed six people and describing them as a violation of sovereignty and a targeted aggression against the nation's formal armed forces.
13.03.2020 LISTEN

Ghana's Ambassador to the United States of America, H.E. Dr. Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah, has called on Ghanaians in the United States to follow precautionary measures and laid down guidelines by health experts and government officials.

The Ambassador made the call in a statement released by the Embassy on Thursday, March 12, 2019.

He also called on Ghanaians to check on each other during these challenging times. "More importantly, let us check on each other and ensure that no Ghanaian feels alienated during these challenging times," he added.

Find the statement below:
The EU executive on Friday unveiled a raft of measures to protect the European economy from the coronavirus outbreak, and promised it would do whatever it takes for hardest-hit Italy.

The assurances by EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen came a day after ECB head Christine Lagarde stoked fury in Rome by implying that shoring up Italy's precarious financial situation was not her job.

The answer by Brussels was made ever more urgent as the EU predicted that a recession, maybe even a very deep one, was very likely for all of Europe this year.

Von der Leyen said the commission, the EU's powerful bureaucracy, would try to provide Italy with whatever it needs to overcome the challenge of the coronavirus.

"Whatever is necessary, we support. Whatever they will need, we will answer," von der Leyen, a close ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told reporters.

The commission's firepower to save Rome and others is limited and would mainly involve reallocating unused EU spending, as well as giving governments a free pass to bail out businesses.

Brussels would also loosen rules on running high public debt and deficits, a sensitive topic for financially overstretched Italy.

Italian Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri welcomed the commission's decision "with satisfaction".

Von der Leyen said member states would receive "maximum flexibility" to boost spending beyond the legal limits, a promise that will also help France and Belgium, both chronic overspenders.

Countries "should feel comfortable to take all the necessary measures", she said.

Known as the stability and growth pact, the rules theoretically limit a country's deficit to three percent of annual output and debt to 60 percent, a number that Italy has more than doubled in recent years.

Italy's debt pile will grow even more after it announced 25 billion euros in extra spending to pull itself out of its crisis.

All eyes now are on a meeting Monday of EU finance ministers who between them have the financial muscle to earn respect on markets that have been punished by the virus fallout.

This is especially pressing after the ECB's Lagarde was forced to row back her dismissal of Italy's debt problem in Frankfurt on Thursday.

An EU official meanwhile warned that growth in the eurozone and across the EU would fall below "and potentially considerably below" zero in 2020.

Von der Leyen's intervention followed several days of criticism for the EU's lack of collective response, which was most exposed by a series of border closures among partner member states.

In the latest example, the Czech Republic announced that as of Monday, it would ban all foreigners from entering the country and all Czechs from leaving.

Other member states including Austria, Slovenia and Hungary have suspended the rules of the passport-free Schengen travel zone and reimposed border checks, particularly with Italy.

"Certain controls may be justified, but general travel bans are not seen as being the most effective by the World Health Organization," von der Leyen said, calling instead for health screening at borders.

Such tests could be carried out either at borders or within member state territory.

"Any measure that is taken must be proportionate," she said.

Home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson will present proposals on screening to a meeting of the 27 EU interior ministers later on Friday.

The European response to the virus has stepped up dramatically in the last 24 hours with several countries including France, Ireland and Belgium closing schools and universities.

Italy has imposed the continent's toughest response to a pandemic that has killed 1,016 people and infected more than 15,000 in the peninsula in less than three weeks.

The government has shut all shops apart from pharmacies and groceries in the hope of stemming contagion and easing the burden on Italy's overstretched hospitals.

Von der Leyen said the EU is also taking steps to deal with a shortage of protective equipment such as masks, after several countries including Germany and France abruptly banned exports to guard their own supplies.

She said that after talks, Paris and Berlin had relented and are now "willing to adapt their national measures, as we requested".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hong Kong: Quarantine measures extended

The Department of Health today announced that the health quarantine arrangements on inbound travellers from overseas will be further extended and adjusted in response to the latest global COVID-19 situation.

Following the Government's announcement of the Red Outbound Travel Alert issued on European countries in the Schengen Area, the Department of Health will strengthen health quarantine measures on people arriving from these countries.

The adjustments were made as the capacity of quarantine facilities in Hong Kong is limited at the moment and the Government has decided that the current quarantine centres need to be reserved for close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

People arriving in Hong Kong who have been to Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do in Korea (also applicable to non-Hong Kong residents from midnight on March 17), Iran and the Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Veneto regions in Italy in the past 14 days need to stay in a quarantine centre.

From midnight tomorrow, people arriving in Hong Kong who have been to Italy (except the Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Veneto regions), Bourgogne-Franche-Comte and Grand Est regions in France, North Rhine-Westphalia region in Germany, Hokkaido in Japan and La Rioja, Madrid and Pais Vasco regions in Spain in the past 14 days will be subject to compulsory home quarantine.

Starting from midnight on March 17, people arriving in Hong Kong who have been to Korea (except Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do) and the Schengen Area will be subject to compulsory home quarantine as well.

The Department of Health also noted that imported cases from the UK, US, India and Egypt have also been recorded in Hong Kong, indicating community transmissions in these countries.

It urged those currently outside of Hong Kong - in particular those studying in Europe or America - to return to the city as soon as possible if they have plans to return.

Local airlines are planning to adjust their carrying capacity to address the demand of flights to Hong Kong, it added.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
NEW HAVEN  The number to call is 1-833-ASK-YNHH.

Thats 1-833-275-9644.

Yale New Haven Health has set up a call center to respond to questions about Covid-19, give assessments to patients by phone or video, and determine whether someone needs to be tested.

Its a way for people to get the information they need without having to risk others being exposed to the coronavirus, if they happen to be infected.

Were giving advice to persons in the community about how to avoid and reduce risk to exposure and referring them to the best information out there, said Dr. Christian Pettker, associate chief quality officer for the Yale New Haven Health System, who is in charge of the call center along with Maribeth Cabie, director of clinical redesign for the health care system.

Since opening at 7 a.m. Monday, the number of calls has grown, from 371 Monday, to 610 Tuesday, to 953 Wednesday.

There are 16 people right now taking calls, Cabie said Thursday, and that number is likely to increase. If a patient meets criteria for a clinical assessment, they can either do a phone assessment or a video assessment with a physician. Eight doctors are on hand, as well as staff members from infection prevention (hospital epidemiologists), infectious diseases and occupational health.

You get to talk to a person who is experienced, and you get the answer right away, Pettker said.

Some of the calls are about how to best protect themselves, and really its social distancing and a lot of hand-washing, 20 seconds, stay home if youre ill, Cabie said.

One of the most common questions is, How do I get a test? Pettker said. Testing is guided through a process that triages the level of risk combined with the presence and severity of their symptoms, because our testing is available on a limited basis.

Patients determined to need a test are sent to Greenwich Hospital, which is part of the YNHH system, where mouth and nose swabs are collected and sent to the state laboratory. Hospital spokeswoman Magaly Olivero said the collection center had taken in 30 specimens per day this week and that people would need a doctors order to be seen.

Were handling the front of the epidemic as it hits Connecticut and New York, Pettker said. Part of New Rochelle, N.Y., has been designated a containment zone with a 1-mile radius for Covid-19 because of a cluster of more than 100 cases. The National Guard has been called out to assist in the Westchester County city.

As of Thursday afternoon, 95 people had been tested. Six tests were positive: four from Fairfield County, one from Litchfield County and one from New York state, according to the states Covid-19 website.

Although only patients with symptoms are being tested, because of the limited number of testing kits available, you can have the infection before you present with symptoms; thats what were learning, Pettker said. That makes policies around testing challenging.

The call center, located in Smilow Cancer Hospital, has been answering questions not only from people in Connecticut concerned they have been exposed to Covid-19, or from their families, but from 20 states, Canada and two people who just walked off cruise ships, Pettker said.

Were helping clinicians in how to manage their patients and offices and  were enabling visits for patients who may be at risk or potentially have the infection and avoiding unnecessary visits to their health-care providers and hospitals, to contain the epidemic and mitigate the surge, Pettker said.

Once a Covid patient walks into a doctors office, the epidemic risk is proportionately increased, he said.

The people answering the phones have been taken from their normal jobs as social workers, care coordinators, nurses and emergency medical technicians. A large part of their task is helping calm people down.

People are appropriately nervous about what we might face with this virus and we feel that this call center is helping manage the emotions and anxiety with help and facts, Pettker said We have had people from all over the county say, This is the best help Ive gotten.

Were also a resource for our employees, Cabie said.

The call center, which is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day, is among the ways Yale New Haven Health is preparing for an increasingly expanding pandemic. The United States has 1,256 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 38 deaths, according to the Associated Press.

Pettker said contingency plans include shutting down voluntary surgeries and using operating rooms as ICUs.

Yale University Health also has opened a Covid-19 hotline at 203-432-6604.

edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com
What just happened? Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai today announced a new policy intended to keep Americans online during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The policy, dubbed the Keep Americans Connected Pledge, will aid many individuals who may soon find themselves unable to work due to direct COVID-19 infection, or collateral damage caused by the virus (such as workplace closures).

The Keep Americans Connected Pledge requires participating companies to adhere to three specific rules. Each telecom must:

...not terminate service to any residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

...waive any late fees that any residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic.

...open its Wi-Fi hotspots to any American who needs them.

If a company agrees to sign this Pledge, they will be bound by its terms for 60 days. Pai explained the rules to multiple telecoms by phone on Thursday, and now, dozens of companies have already agreed to follow them. Some of the more notable examples include AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Cox Communications, and T-Mobile.

All in all, the Keep Americans Connected Pledge is very much a pro-consumer policy. While plenty of people might take issue with some of Pai's past decisions, such as his role in the repeal of net neutrality, this Pledge should help to protect consumers during what is (and will likely continue to be) a very turbulent time for the entire country.

By blocking telecoms from penalizing users for failing to pay their bills on time, the FCC has lifted at least one burden from the shoulders of American citizens. However, as we noted before, this Pledge only applies for 60 days, and COVID-19 may stick around for much longer.
Ukraine on Friday reported its first death from the coronavirus as authorities said the country was closing its borders to foreigners in a bid to keep the pandemic at bay.

"A woman who was diagnosed with the coronavirus yesterday... has died," Ukraine's deputy health minister Viktor Lyashko told reporters. The ex-Soviet country, which has a population of 42 million, has so far reported three confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 20:07:25|Editor: xuxin

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KIEV, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) has noted a decline in the number of civilian casualties in conflict-hit eastern Ukraine, Interfax Ukraine reported on Thursday.

"Two civilians were killed and 17 injured between mid-November and mid-February. This is 55 percent less than the number of civilian casualties in the previous three months," Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said at a briefing in Kiev on Thursday.

Bogner presented the mission's report on the human rights situation in Ukraine during the period from Nov. 16, 2019 to Feb. 15, 2020.

According to the report, last year the number of killed and injured civilians was the lowest for the entire period of the conflict in eastern Ukraine -- 27 dead and 140 wounded. In 2018, 55 civilians died and 226 were injured.

Bogner noted that at least 3,350 civilians were killed and more than 7,000 injured since the beginning of the conflict.

The ongoing conflict in the East of Ukraine started in April 2014.
A California man pleaded guilty in federal court in Florida to charges that he tried to sell more than $6 million in counterfeit art, which he falsely claimed was created by the likes of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, prosecutors said this week.

The man, Philip Righter, 43, forged documentation to support his claims of authenticity for fake paintings, and used the artwork as collateral for loans on which he later defaulted, the U.S. attorneys office in the Central District of California and prosecutors in Florida said.

He also reported $2.6 million worth of art had been stolen, and falsely claimed to have donated art to a charity, leading to more than $100,000 in tax refunds, the California office said.

Mr. Righter was indicted last year in Florida on counts of wire fraud, mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in efforts to sell forged works by Basquiat and Keith Haring, as well as on other charges. He pleaded guilty on March 12 to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in District Court for the Southern District in Florida, a statement from the U.S. attorneys office there said.
Social Commentator, Bernard Allotey Jacobs has described as 'provocative' issues raised by IMANI Ghana, a policy think-tank over the compilation of a new voters' register.



Contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM morning show 'Kokrokoo' he said: "IMANIs presentation was a bit provocativeif you are a politician, you will think their views are one-sided"



Allotey Jacobs full take in the video below





Policy think-tank IMANI Africa, suspects a corrupt procurement gig in the Electoral Commission's decision to compile a new voters' register.At the press conference in Accra on Tuesday, March 10, Vice-President (in Charge of Research) at IMANI Africa, Bright Simons argued that the ECs claim that it will cost just about US$56 million to procure a new system is deceitful.Turns out it would cost US$15 million to refresh the 30 percent of the existing system that needs refreshing and that it will cost us US$72 million to replace just the hardware plus more for software. Add this to the cost of fresh mass registration, and the total of loss to Ghana of the ECs actions amount to US$150 million... he said.This is not necessarily about this administration. This has been going on for years and it turns out that we are spending too much. You all have an idea of how much a laptop, camera and scanner costs, and you put it together and add a printer. When someone tells you that its US$3,500 to US$4,000, you dont have to be a genius to know. You have to start wondering whether we are getting value for money. And it is not therefore surprising that countries like Zimbabwe and the like, get it far cheaper than we do. We are spending at most three times more than what Zimbabwe does, he said.When we add all that up, it comes to one simple conclusion that since 2011, it is a lie that we have not bought any new equipment and weve spent millions of dollars. From the parliamentary records, weve seen almost US$80 million since then buying new things. So if we have to do anything, we just have to do a little more repairs, do a little maintenance, buy a few things, and that will not get you to the US$74 million that they said you need to improve the current system.If you add all of that, you add contingency and the unnecessary registration of 17 million people all over again, you are getting close to US$150 million of our money being blown for reasons that nobody can explain in this country.

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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It was meant to be straight forward. I had never been to PNG before nor had I led a team on a mission trip, but everything was well thought out and had been planned months in advance.

What I didnt know however was that God had other plans in mind that would take my team and me way out of our comfort zone and put us in the midst of what would become an incredible outpouring of the Holy Spirit such as we had never experienced before.

The village

It all started the day we flew into Mt Hagen airport in the midst of torrential rain. Once inside the small terminal we were greeted by a local missionary, a Papua New Guinean brother by the name of Simon who I was told would escort us to our accommodation.

We must hurry, Simon told me as he guided us to the truck waiting for us outside, We have to get to the village before the river floods.

The village? I was puzzled by what he meant. We were already in the town where we would be staying and ministering for the week. As we packed our bags into the truck, Simon informed me that there had been a change of plans and that we wouldnt be staying in town anymore.

Now he had my attention. Instead we would be travelling out to a remote village where we would stay and minister for the week. The prospect of being whisked away to a remote village by people I had only just met and in a remote part of a country that I had never been to before made me feel a little uncomfortable.

I was trying to weigh up in my spirit what the will of the Lord was in all of this. Would I insist we stuck to the agreed plan or go off the beaten track and trust that God had a greater plan in motion?

Following the peace of God in my heart, I agreed to Simons plan and without any further protest we began the long, wet and very bumpy ride hours out of town. When we ran out of road, we disembarked and walked the rest of the way. We trekked through bushland and down local trails until we finally reached the river.

The flood

But we were too late; the river had already begun to flood. The village we were travelling to was somewhere on the opposite side of the river and there was no bridge or safe passage across, only rushing water that increased in depth and speed with every passing minute as the rain continued to fall.

Suddenly, on the opposite side of the river villagers emerged from the trees and began to make a human chain and scramble across the river toward us. Working together we slowly crossed the flooded river clinging on to one another so we wouldnt be swept away. The rapids pulled and tugged at us and sent rocks of all sizes crashing against our bodies.

Finally we made it to the other side as daylight faded. Waterlogged and exhausted we trudged on to the village and were guided to the hut where we would lodge. Where on earth were we and what were we doing here? No beds, toilets or warm showers to greet us as we had anticipated. Nothing that I had told my team to expect had gone according to plan and we hadnt even been here a day.

The power of God

The next morning we woke to find that most of the village had gathered outside in an open courtyard to greet us. We were told that we were the first white people to ever stay in their village and as we stepped outside we were greeted with warm smiles and some frightened children, some of whom burst into tears when they laid eyes on us, having never seen a white person before.

The chief of the tribe introduced himself and while we talked, a young boy in the crowd caught my attention because he propped himself up with makeshift crutches. His name was John and he was around eleven years old. Years prior, Johns leg had been crushed in a rockslide. All his family could do was to try and set his bones and wrap him up the best they could.

Although the boy was nervous he agreed to let me pray for him right there in the courtyard. Everyone began to crowd around to see what was happening. Once we had him sit down it was clear that his left leg had set an inch or two shorter than his right.

I commanded his damaged leg to be healed just as Jesus taught his disciples to do. Everyone watched in amazement as his leg began to shake and in their local dialect John began to cry out its moving, its moving!.

His leg twisted back to into place and grew out to match the length of his other leg. John was healed. People gasped at the miracle and the chief stood and with a loud voice he declared, God is here! God is here! Go and tell everyone from all the surrounding villages to come here to this place.

And that was how it began. The word got out and over the course of the next few days hundreds of people came flooding in from far and wide, hungry and desperate to encounter the living God.

During the week we saw hundreds of miracles from bone damage, deafness to tuberculosis all healed. Souls were saved, bodies were healed and lives and families were transformed. We would worship together each night, dancing and celebrating what Jesus was doing in our midst.
Mumbai, March 13 : Actor Zareen Khan says attending the kite-flying festival in Ahmedabad was an amazing and insane experience.

"I am still in awe of experiencing Uttarayan or the kite flying festival. The energies of the people were insane, the sky looked so beautiful with all those colourful kites, the people here were so courteous and off course the food, the yummy Gujarati Thali," Zareen said, adding: "If somebody asks me what's been the best part of this trail it's going to be difficult to choose." The actress went to Ahmedabad as part of her travel show "Jeep Bollywood Trails", which airs on AXN. This time, she travelled to Ahmedabad to visit the haveli, which was the significant backdrop for Bollywood film "Kai Po Che".

On the film front, she will be seen in "Hum Bhi Akele, Tum Bhi Akele", which also stars Anshuman Jha. Directed by Harish Vyas, "Hum Bhi Akele, Tum Bhi Akele" is a mainstream Bollywood film with a gay man (played by Anshuman) and a lesbian woman (Zareen) leading the narrative.
(Photo : OnePlus/Facebook) OnePlus announced all smartphones in its OnePlus 8 series will have 5G support.

Robert Downey, Jr., an Oscar-nominated actor, and practically Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, has unknowingly leaked the OnePlus 8 Pro smartphone after he was photographed holding the phone.

Iron Man Leaks OnePlus 8 Pro

According to PhoneArena, RDJ was photographed during a break from shooting a new OnePlus ad by director and photographer Sam Jones, who allegedly published the image on his Instagram page.

After posting the said image, Jones quickly deleted the picture, probably realizing that Downey was still holding the OnePlus 8 Pro smartphone, which wasn't revealed to the public yet.

But, it came a little late as fans have already grabbed the image, and it's currently circulating online.

Rumors Confirmed?

The image didn't show the entirety of the smartphone, only showing its backside, which was still partially covered by Downey's hand. By the looks of it, it appears as though OnePlus 8 Pro will indeed have a quad-camera system as with rumors that appeared last October 2019.

Looking similar to OnePlus's previous flagship phone OnePlus 7 Pro and 7T Pro, three of the lenses are aligned vertically, while the fourth will likely be responsible for advanced Augmented Reality experiences.

The render that was leaked last October has also shown a punch-hole front camera in place of a pop-up model.

OnePlus 8 Series Launch

Besides confirming the rumors about a quad-camera system, it appears as though the leaked photo of Iron Man himself with the phone coincides with another speculation that the new OnePlus 8 series will be "announced in mid-April," as per TechRadar.

Additionally, the phones have apparently appeared on TENAA, China's telecom regulator, with 5G support, as with the rest of the OnePlus 8 series.

Its recent appearance had many believing in its imminent announcement and release, but OnePlus has officially announced nothing regarding its launch, so take the information with a pinch of salt.

Specs Revealed

Although the release date of the OnePlus 8 series smartphones is practically a secret, many are already made aware of the specs.

So far, we know that the series will include three versions: the regular, the Pro, and the Lite.

Based on a report by AndroidCentral, the OnePlus 8 Lite has a 6.4-inch AMOLED screen with a 2400 x 1080p display and 90Hz refresh rate, with a punch-hole cutout for the single front-facing selfie camera, and a dual-lens system and Time-of-flight sensor at the back.

ALSO READ: Back to Life! Apple Reopens Stores in China but with a Catch: Limited Hours and No Try-Ons!

The Lite version will also include a USB Type-C port, but no headphone jack as expected.

It will have an Android 10 OxygenOS, as with the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro, but will run on MediaTek Dimensity 1000.

Meanwhile, OnePlus 8 has rounded edges with a single punch-hole cut on the top-left part of the screen for the selfie camera, while it will have a three-camera setup on the back.

The regular version should have a 6.5-inch AMOLED screen, with 2400 x 1080p display and 120Hz refresh rate, similar to that of the OnePlus 8 Pro version.

Both the regular and the Pro editions will run on a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
I don't need it but I really want it so I'm just going to apologise to my bank account right now.

Newshub's Sarah Templeton writes For many years GHD was the hair straightener brand du jour, before Cloud 9 entered the market and presented some staunch competition.

But now Dyson is coming in hot with a new foray into the hairstyling space after launching the Supersonic hairdryer and Airwrap curler last year.

On Tuesday the brand, known mostly for their vacuums and hand dryers, launched the cord-free Corrale hair straightener.

The Corrale is the first straightener in the world with 'flexing plate technology', which Dyson says means the hair won't slip from the plates as it passes through, and you won't get those annoying flat indentations. The plates are magnesium copper, which promises less hair breakage, and it's powered by a four-cell lithium-ion battery to offer 30 uninterrupted minutes of straightening bliss.

It's all part of Dyson's new takeover of hairstyling, with the company investing over NZ$200 million into hair laboratories across the globe and employing thousands of hair scientists, engineers and professionals.

A staggering NZ$50 million was put into developing the Corrale alone, the company says.
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General HPV screening at the age of 19 showed that the vaccination of both genders prevented HPV infections in society much more effectively than the vaccination of girls only. A gender-neutral strategy was also effective in preventing HPV infections in unvaccinated girls.HPV was included in the Swedish vaccination program in 2012. To date, the vaccine has only been offered to girls, but in 2019 the government decided to offer it to both genders as of autumn 2020."Our study is unique because the entire population of the communities included in the study was invited to take part, and the choice of vaccination strategy was randomized by the community," says Matti Lehtinen, a researcher at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, who led the study. "The results have definitely influenced the decision about offering HPV vaccination to boys, which more and more countries are also deciding."Mathematical modeling was used to calculate what the results of the randomized HPV vaccination study would mean for programs with different vaccination coverage. The improved effectiveness of vaccinating both boys and girls is particularly important if only 80 percent or fewer girls are vaccinated."If only girls are offered HPV vaccination, not even a school-based vaccination program will be able to eliminate the most oncogenic HPV type 16, ever," says Simopekka Vanska, a docent at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and the study's first author. "Vaccination of both boys and girls with a 75-per cent participation rate can, however, eliminate HPV 16 even in people under 30, which is the segment of the population that is mainly spreading the infection. The elimination will take place only in a few years after the vaccinated cohorts achieve these ages."The World Health Organisation (WHO) has established the elimination of cervical cancer as a priority objective."The results of the randomized study of different vaccination strategies now published gives us information about how this objective could be achieved at the earliest possible time," says Lehtinen.Almost everyone has had at least one sexually transmitted HPV infection in his or her life.The study was financed by the Academy of Finland and the Cancer Society of Finland. GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA financed the constituent study (data to be published separately) and was given an opportunity to check that baseline data from that study were accurately reproduced in the paper in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. The international team of co-authors has received research grants from the Swedish Cancer Society, the Ministry of Health, Government of Catalonia, and the EU's 6th and 7th Framework Programmes in the context of this study.Source: Eurekalert
Former mayor of New York City and current Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg addresses the annual AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., on March 2, 2020.

(JNS) WASHINGTON-Former New York City Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg laid out his case to the pro-Israel community on Monday at the annual AIPAC Policy Conference, even calling out one of his rivals, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), by name for skipping the largest gathering of pro-Israel activists.

"Bipartisan support for Israel has been a defining feature of American politics since 1948-and this organization has played a crucial role in fostering it," said Bloomberg.

However, he added, "in recent years, we have begun to see cracks in that bipartisanship-and that is deeply troubling. Unfortunately, not all of my fellow Democrats in this race have attended an AIPAC conference. One of them, Senator Sanders, has spent 30 years boycotting this event. And as you've heard by now, he called AIPAC a racist platform."

"Well, he's dead wrong," said Bloomberg.

Bloomberg went on to say that "this is a gathering of 20,000 Israel supporters of every religious denomination, ethnicity, faith, color, sexual identity and political party. Calling it a racist platform is an attempt to discredit those voices, intimidate people from coming here and weaken the U.S.-Israel relationship."

Sanders announced on Feb. 23 that he would skip the AIPAC conference.

"The reality is: AIPAC doesn't fuel hatred. AIPAC works to combat it and the violence that it can produce."

"The Israeli people have the right to live in peace and security. So do the Palestinian people. I remain concerned about the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights. For that reason, I will not attend their conference," he tweeted. "As president, I will support the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians and do everything possible to bring peace and security to the region."

AIPAC immediately criticized Sanders.

"Senator Sanders has never attended our conference and that is evident from his outrageous comment," said the pro-Israel lobby in a statement. "In fact, many of his own Senate and House Democratic colleagues and leaders speak from our platform to the over 18,000 Americans from widely diverse backgrounds-Democrats, Republicans, Jews, Christians, African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, members of the LBGTQ+ community-who participate in the conference to proclaim their support for the U.S.-Israel relationship."

"By engaging in such an odious attack on this mainstream, bipartisan American political event, Senator Sanders is insulting his very own colleagues and the millions of Americans who stand with Israel," continued AIPAC. "Truly shameful."

In his speech, Bloomberg said "the reality is: AIPAC doesn't fuel hatred. AIPAC works to combat it and the violence that it can produce. And if more elected officials spoke to the people here, they'd understand that."

The move by Sanders follows fellow Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who said earlier last month that she wouldn't attend the conference. AIPAC has declined to comment on Warren's absence from the event.

Also in his address, Bloomberg expressed opposition to the BDS movement and to "stand up to efforts to hold Israel to a double standard at the United Nations."

He reiterated that while the U.S. embassy should have been moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018 "as part of a peace negotiation," he has in the past always supported such a decision and that, if elected, the embassy would be left in Jerusalem "because that is where it belongs."

The former mayor did, however, call for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be "achieved through direct negotiations. Because Israel must remain a prosperous, secure and stable Jewish democracy and because Palestinians deserve dignity, democracy and opportunity, too."

"Presidential leadership matters. It sets a tone. It is inclusive or exclusive, divisive or uniting, incendiary or calming."

On the Iranian threat, Bloomberg reiterated his stance in that, while he opposed the Iran nuclear deal "because the deal should've done more to address Iran's ballistic-missile program and because we never should have unfrozen their money without mandating that they end their financing of terrorism and because many of the restrictions in the deal came with an expiration date," the United States shouldn't have left it in May 2018 and instead work with U.S. allies to strengthen it.

He said the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear accord "was tantamount to giving Iran permission to relaunch its nuclear program. And after years of compliance, Iran is once again marching toward the development of nuclear weapons capability."

"As president, I will make the strongest deal possible to constrain the Iranian regime's aggression and territorial ambitions and put an end to their nuclear program forever because the world must never allow Iran to threaten Israel and the whole region with a nuclear attack," he said.

'We must stand up to these attacks together'

Finally, Bloomberg called for the "need to stand up to anti-Semitism everywhere, including here in the United States."

"And when we look around America, it's clear we are facing not only another epidemic of anti-Semitism, but a rising tide of hatred writ large," he continued. "Because the fact is: There's been an increase in attacks on all groups that have a long history of being scapegoated and repressed for being 'other,' 'different,' 'lesser' and 'less than fully American.' I'm talking not only about Jews but also about immigrants, Muslims, black Americans, women and the LGBTQ community We must stand up to these attacks together."

At the end of the day, stated Bloomberg, "anti-Semitism is hardly the exclusive domain of any one group. It can be found on both the right and the left-on town squares and campus quads. But there is one face that we cannot ignore: Presidential leadership matters. It sets a tone. It is either inclusive or exclusive, divisive or uniting, incendiary or calming."

"If I am elected president, I will strongly condemn anti-Semitism, wherever and whenever it appears," he said. "And Americans will never have to choose between supporting Israel and supporting our values here at home. I will defend both, because I know they always have been liked, and our strong relationship with Israel is based on our values."

Following Bloomberg's speech, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), who endorsed Bloomberg, said that the former mayor "made clear in no uncertain terms exactly where he stands. Which is on the side of the overwhelming majority of Americans, Republicans and Democrats, who believe that the U.S.-Israel relationship and supporting it strongly is in the interests of both countries."

On Monday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden each sent a video message to the AIPAC conference. Bloomberg was the only Democratic presidential candidate to address the event in person.

Whether Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) will address the conference in any capacity is to be determined. The Gabbard campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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Linkedin Majeda El-Batsh (Agence France-Presse) Nazareth, Israel  Fri, March 13, 2020 11:07 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a4ecd4 2 World women-in-politics,women-empowerment,Israel,Arab,Politician Free

Newly elected Israeli MP Iman al-Khatib, greeting supporters in Nazareth, shook hands with women but tapped her heart with her right hand for men.

The gestures signaled the Muslim identity of the woman who is about to become Israel's first hijab-wearing MP and part of a group of Arab women poised to expand their voice in Israel's male-dominated politics.

All major parties in the Jewish state are led by men, with women making up only 25 percent of lawmakers in the Knesset, or parliament.

But in March 2 elections, one party managed to double its female representation, albeit from a low base.

The predominantly Arab Joint List won 15 of the Knesset's 120-seats, the alliance's best-ever performance and up from 13 during stalemate election last September.

The List also counts four women among its incoming MPs, up from two in September.

Khatib will be part of the Knesset's largest ever contingent of Arab women, including three Joint List colleagues and a Druze woman from the centrist Blue and White party.

The List draws most of its support from Israel's roughly 20-percent Arab minority -- who have Israeli citizenship but are Palestinian by heritage.

Israel's Arab minority complain of discrimination and accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of treating them as second-class citizens.

Netanyahu counters that his government has invested more in Arab neighborhoods than any in the history of the Jewish state.

The List's elected women told AFP that while they will focus on their constituent's concerns, they also care about wider issues in Israeli society.

"Do not make the veil a barrier. Look at the capabilities of the veil's wearer -- their ethics, work, skills and attitudes," said Khatib, a 54-year-old mother of four.

There are "religious Jewish women in the Knesset", she added. "We didn't hear any comment about them."

"We must deal with people first as human beings."

'Lack of options'

Like other Arab-Israeli MPs, Khatib speaks fluent Hebrew.

She studied social services at Tel Aviv University, specializing in women's support. In parliament, she wants to tackle issues ranging from violence in Arab neighborhoods to poverty and housing.

"Sixty-four percent of women are excluded from work, not because they don't want to work but due to conditions and lack of travel options," she said, referring to the Arab population.

Inflexible hours mean Arab women often need to leave for work before their children go to school, she said.

"These issues must be put on the table at the Knesset."

The new parliament will be sworn in next week but some fear it will last only a few months.

No bloc has a 61-seat majority, a repeat of inconclusive polls in April and September 2019.

Netanyahu's right-wing Likud won 36 seats and controls a total of 58, counting its allies.

Netanyahu's main rival Benny Gantz, who heads Blue and White, needs the Joint List's support to even consider forming a government.

The List's head Ayman Odeh has indicated he could back Gantz under certain conditions.

Israel's youngest lawmaker

Aida Touma, a Christian Arab-Israeli re-elected on March 2, is on the List's four-person team negotiating with Gantz.

A women's activist before entering parliament in 2015, Touma stressed that the List's incoming female MPs "are from all walks of life and are capable and serious representatives of the whole of society".

The Joint List is an alliance of parties representing both Muslim and Christian Arab Israelis, as well as some Jewish leftists.

Its members range from Islamists to communists.

One member, Sundus Salih, is at 34 about to become Israel's youngest lawmaker.

The mother of three is from Al-Mashhad town near Nazareth and has a masters in science and technology.

"There are differences between the [List's] parties... but we four women unite and agree on most things," Salih told AFP.

"As a mother and a teacher I am worried by the proliferation of violence and guns."

The fourth member of the quartet almost didn't make it on the ballot.

Hiba Yazbek, also from Nazareth, was blocked as a candidate by the Central Elections Committee over Facebook posts allegedly supporting terrorism.

She denied the charges and won an appeal. Now she is determined to use her Knesset seat to fight for Arab rights.

"We intend to translate our great electoral strength into political positions that reinforce our position as Arabs in this country and confront the right wing and its agendas," she told AFP.
Ausserd (Saharawi Refugee camps) 13 March 2020 (SPS)- First International Youth Forum of Solidarity with Western Sahara (IYFSWS) adopted a Final Declaration on Thursday evening calling for an urgent resolution of the conflict of Western Sahara to allow its people to get their freedom.

The Declaration also tackled the Moroccan human rights violations, natural resources plunder, the ongoing crime against humanity embodied by the Moroccan military wall and many other issues.

Below is the complete text of the Final Declaration:

Final Declaration

We, youth organization, activists and officials participating to the First International Youth Forum of Solidarity with Western Sahara, organized by the UJSARIO in the Saharawi refugee camps from the 11th to 13th March 2020, under the theme: Sustainable future for Saharawi youth, the fair political resolution of the conflict, human rights, natural resources and the Wall of Shame in Western Sahara,

Call on the international community to:

Urgently resolve the question of Western Sahara through the implementation of the relevant UN General Assemblys and Security Councils resolutions regarding the Western Sahara. Recalling that this territory remains the last colony in Africa, whose people have an inalienable right to self-determination and independence, and therefore any solution must pass through a referendum and a vote by the people. Immediately intervene in Western Sahara to put an end to the Moroccan gross human rights violations, denounced by all international human rights organization. Morocco is an occupying force in Western Sahara and as such should not be allowed to kill, imprison and threaten Saharawi citizens under its occupation. Support Saharawi citizens in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, providing them with the necessary international protection due to them under the relevant Geneva Conventions as citizens of an occupied territory. Rigorously put the Saharawi natural resources under UN supervision and monitoring. The United Nations should constitute a special mechanism dedicated to the protection of the Saharawi natural resources as it did with Namibia back in the seventies. The UN should not allow Morocco, or any other entity to continue the plunder of the Saharawi resources. Closely work with Saharawi youth and women empowering them to actively participate in the Saharawi resistance against colonialism, occupation, human rights violations and other forms of violations. Dismantle the Moroccan military wall that constitutes a serious crime against humanity in Western Sahara. Morocco should not be allowed to maintain this crime with impunity. Support the Saharawi refugees with sufficient humanitarian aid, education, health support and help the Saharawi authorities build necessary institutions to serve them to the best possible. Release all the political prisoners in the Moroccan jails Setting a date for solidarity with the Saharawi people universally Establishing an internal youth network which aims to gather information and raise awareness about issue . To ban the anti personnel mines and clean the buffer zone to allow the international assistance to the victims and their families .

Finally, the persistence of the violation of international law in Western Sahara and the lack of a fair and just solution that allows the people of Western Sahara to get their freedom and independence without any condition will probably push the region to instability and war again in the future.

In that case, the whole region will be in a more serious state of instability that would affect other countries, including European. This failure will also give a serious blow to the credibility of the UN, the AU, the EU and the authority of their resolutions and decisions worldwide.

It is big time for the EU and its respectable members to say to Morocco enough is enough, we do no more accept the persistence of colonialism, human rights violations, natural resources plunder, and military occupation in Western Sahara." (SPS)

090/500/60 (SPS)
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Britain's natural beauty has been captured in a stunning series of images taken in the country's national parks.

The amazing pictures are the winners and shortlisted snaps in a photography competition held by UK National Parks and the Campaign for National Parks.

Almost 1,700 pictures were submitted to the competition via social media by people who shared moments when they were out exploring the heritage sites, wildlife and landscapes of the UK's 15 national parks.

The dramatic winning shot was taken by Pete Stevens and shows a rare osprey swooping in on its prey in the Cairngorms National Park. Shortlisted entries include a picture of a greedy puffin in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and an image showing the magical landscape of the Brecon Beacons in Wales.

Competition judge Andrew Hall, of Campaign for National Parks, said: 'There is something about nature that moves the soul and enriches our lives. But the reality is that some of the amazing moments captured throughout this competition will be denied to the next generation.

'I hope that people looking at this shortlist see the urgent need to treasure the natural world, to get out, feel inspired, but also to do more to protect and improve our national parks.' Scroll down and behold Britain's natural charm...

The winning shot in the national parks photography competition, which was captured by Pete Stevens in the Cairngorms National Park. Pete said: 'It was taken at Gordon MacLeod's Aviemore osprey hide at about 6am in July 2019. The local ospreys from around the Cairngorms National Park take fish from the loch to return to the nests to feed their young before the long journey back to Africa at the end of the summer'

Photographers Sam and Ike Walker were the runners-up in the contest with this image taken at Kinder Downfall in the Peak District National Park. It was snapped during Storm Dennis when 75mph winds caused the waterfall to flow in reverse. Sam said: 'Having grown up in the Peak District, it's inspiring to me that there are still new things to see and discover like this in a national park I'm so familiar with'

Photographer Jonathan Green captured this extreme close-up of a dragonfly in the North York Moors National Park. Speaking about the shortlisted image, Jonathan said: 'It was in a really awkward position for any kind of decent picture, but as I may not have got the opportunity to take another picture of one again, I braved the spines and got stuck into the gorse. I love the detail on the wings and it's rare to be able to get so much of such a small subject in clear focus. Getting a few scratches was worth it'

This shortlisted snap of a puffin getting ready to feed its chicks was taken by Jason Davies in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park

This stunning shortlisted image, which captures the stunning beauty of the Brecon Beacons National Park, was taken by Andrew Brooks. He said it was taken towards the end of a day spent walking around Dyffryn Crawnon

Photographer Shaun Davey was shortlisted for this image of the cathedral-like canopy formed by a ring of beech trees at Three Combes Foot in Exmoor National Park

Deborah Clarke was shortlisted for this sweet snap of a red squirrel in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. She said: 'I spotted this lively red squirrel scampering along the top of a drystone wall in Snaizeholme. Luckily for me, it paused for a second, before disappearing into a hole in the wall, probably in search of a long-lost nut cache'

This shortlisted image of a misty February morning on Dartmoor's West Mill Tor was snapped by Andrew Sweeney in Dartmoor National Park. He said that as the mist cleared, it gave way to a sky full of pastel colours at sunrise

Rhiannon Hobbs was shortlisted for this image she captured in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It shows a caver admiring the stunning view from the opening in Alum Pot - a large pothole

This shortlisted image shows the mystical and ancient Wistman's Wood in Dartmoor National Park. Debra Smitham took the snap
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that an insurer is responsible for paying liability claims resulting from the improper use of a portable generator, despite an uninsured premises exclusion in the insureds homeowners policy.

This comes after four people died from carbon monoxide poisoning at an uninsured cabin owned by Mark Wakelin. The cabin did not have electrical power, and it was found that a portable generator Wakelin left at the cabin had been improperly used indoors by the victims to power a small refrigerator.

Wakelin held a homeowners policy from Green Mountain Insurance Company for another property he owned in Braintree, Mass. Although the policy provided protection for personal liability as well as property damage, it contained an exclusion for bodily injury occurring at any property owned by Wakelin but not insured under the policy.

The cabin where the incident occurred, located in Byron, Maine, was not an insured location under the policy and was not covered by another homeowners insurance policy.

Carbon Monoxide Accident

Around July 14, 2015, Wakelins daughter, Brooke, and son, Matthew, went to the cabin with two friends, Keith Norris and Deana Lee Powers, to celebrate Brookes upcoming twenty-second birthday. Shortly after arriving at the camp, all four died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

After the cabin was inspected, it was discovered that the victims had plugged the cabins small refrigerator into the portable generator using an extension cord and ran the generator inside the cabin without opening any windows or doors. The generator was not running when it was found, but its switch was in the on position, and it contained little-to-no gasoline.

After the accident, counsel for the estate of Norris notified Green Mountain in an October 2015 letter about the estates wrongful death claim against Wakelin. Among other things, counsel claimed Wakelin failed to instruct his children and their friends on the proper and safe use of the generator and failed to warn them of the dangers of running the generator in an enclosed area.

Legal Action

After receiving this letter, Green Mountain initiated a declaratory judgment action against Wakelin, the estate of Norris, and the estate of Powers in December 2015. In its complaint, Green Mountain anticipated that the respective estates of Norris and Powers would make claims that Wakelin was negligent and caused the death of both victims. Green Mountain sought a judgment from the Superior Court declaring coverage for these claims was barred under the policys uninsured premises exclusion.

In its argument, Green Mountain relied on an electrical engineers conclusions that the deaths were caused by the use of the generator inside the cabin and the cabins inadequate ventilation. The Superior Court judge, however, denied Green Mountains motion for summary judgment and instead ruled in favor of the defendants. Green Mountain then filed a notice of appeal, and The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court transferred the appeal on its own motion.

The Massachusetts SJC found that the accident cannot trigger the policys uninsured premises exclusion since the generator was portable. Although the generator was always kept in the Maine cabin, it was not hard wired into the cabins rough electrical system, making it a permanent fixture, and was not regularly used to provide electricity, the court found.

Additionally, the court ruled that Wakelins failure to instruct his children on how to safely use the generator was the primary issue in this case, as opposed to any condition or defect on the property itself.

Wakelin could have been responsible for the very same omission elsewhere and still would have been covered by the policy, Massachusetts SJC Justice Scott L. Kafkerin wrote in his opinion. By way of example, Wakelin could have lent the portable generator to a neighbor and failed to instruct him or her on how to properly use it, and had any harm resulted, he would have been covered under his policy for the same alleged tortious conduct that underlies the present case.

Similarly, the court rejected Green Mountains argument that the accident was partially a result of the cabins inadequate ventilation.

Nothing from our review of the record makes this particular cabin any more susceptible to an accident involving carbon monoxide poisoning than any other enclosed area, as no enclosed area is a safe place to run a generator, Kafkerins opinion stated. This further supports our conclusion that this accident -however tragic  could have happened anywhere and did not arise out of a condition of the uninsured premises.

With this in mind, the Massachusetts SJC affirmed the Superior Courts earlier judgment that the accident didnt result from the uninsured premises, and consequently, the uninsured premises coverage exclusion in Wakelins homeowners policy does not apply.

The case is Green Mountain Insurance Company, Inc. vs. Mark J. Wakelin & others.

Topics Carriers Claims Massachusetts Homeowners
TORONTO, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Portage Biotech Inc. (PBT.U, OTC Markets: PTGEF) ("Portage" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has filed its third quarter financial statements and accompanying management and discussion. These documents are available on SEDAR and on the Company's website: www.portagebiotech.com.

Highlights of this quarter include:

October 2019 , Intensity therapeutics announced the dosing of its first patient with a combination of its drug INT230-6 and Merck's Ketruda. This is part of a clinical trial collaboration agreement with Merck to study this combination





, Intensity therapeutics announced the dosing of its first patient with a combination of its drug INT230-6 and Merck's Ketruda. This is part of a clinical trial collaboration agreement with Merck to study this combination October 2019 , Sentien CEO Brian Miller presented Phase 1b clinical data of SBI-101 in acute renal injury at the 2019 Cell and Gene Meeting





, Sentien CEO presented Phase clinical data of SBI-101 in acute renal injury at the 2019 Cell and Gene Meeting November 2019 , Intensity announced that its experimental product , INT230-6 induced prolonged stable disease with abscopal effects and immune responses in multiple solid tumors. This data was selected for an oral presentation at the 34 th annual Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) meeting.





, Intensity announced that its experimental product , INT230-6 induced prolonged stable disease with abscopal effects and immune responses in multiple solid tumors. This data was selected for an oral presentation at the 34 annual Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) meeting. In the period, further progress on preclinical work and progress made in furthering projects from the other subsidiary's towards the clinic.

The Company also wishes to provide an update on the status of its application (the "Revocation Application") to the Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC") to revoke an outstanding cease trade order issued on August 2, 2019 (the "CTO").

The Company has resolved almost all comments from the OSC except for one: during the review process, the Company was informed by the OSC that it would be required to file a business acquisition report (BAR) under National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations in connection with its acquisition of SalvaRx Limited. Although there is already substantial public disclosure in respect of the acquisition available on SEDAR and the Company's website, the presentation of financial information in respect of SalvaRx Limited was not in a format in compliance with the BAR requirements. The Company is in the process of compiling the relevant financial records for the creation of a proper BAR and is hopeful it will be able to resolve this issue in the very near future.

As indicated in the Company's news release of January 30, 2020, the relief being sought under the Revocation Application is discretionary and, as such, no firm estimate can be provided as to when a revocation order will be issued by the OSC. The Company is confident, however, that a revocation order will be issued and, upon issuance, it is expected that the Company's common shares will resume trading on CSE almost immediately thereafter.

In the interim, shareholders and investors are reminded that, although trading in the shares of the Company may not currently be effected through CSE, trading is permitted on OTC Markets in the United States as follows:

(a) Under the terms of the CTO, Canadian shareholders may trade the shares of the Company on OTC Markets in the United States provided they use the services of a registered dealer in Canada with access to OTC Markets; (b) US shareholders may trade through OTC markets using the services of any dealer in the United States; and (c) Other foreign shareholders, such as those in the United Kingdom, may trade through through the services of any dealer (other than Canadian) with access to OTC Markets.

Each dealer will have their own internal rules regarding the ability of shareholders and investors to trade the Company's shares on OTC Markets. It is the individual responsibility of each shareholder or investor to satisfy these rules before they may trade.

The common shares of the Company trade on OTC Markets under the symbol "PTGEF".

At the time the revocation order is issued, the Company will announce a date for an annual meeting of shareholders at which the Company will bring shareholders and investors up to date on the current operations of the Company and its future plans. The Company wishes to thank shareholders for their continued patience while the Revocation Application is processed.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements about the Company's information that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. We seek Safe Harbor.

SOURCE Portage Biotech Inc.

Related Links

www.portagebiotech.com


Pakistani media mogul and the owner of Jang/Geo group, Mir Shakilur Rehman, was on Friday remanded into the custody of the country's anti-graft body till March 25 in a 34-year-old land allotment case.

Rehman, the editor-in-chief of Jang/Geo media group, was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau on Thursday on charges that he illegally acquired 54 plots each measuring one kanal on a prime location in Lahore at a throwaway price in 1986 during the tenure of then-chief minister of Punjab Nawaz Sharif.

An accountability court in Lahore accepted the plea of NAB on Friday and remanded him in its custody for 12 days.

Reman's counsel Aitzaz Ahsan opposed the NAB plea to hand over his client to its custody in a 34-year-old land case against him which he said based on NAB's malafide.

During the hearing, Reman's counsel Aitzaz Ahsan opposed NAB's request for physical remand, saying NAB's "attitude towards Rahman is based on maliciousness".

Ahsan termed his client's arrest as "illegal", arguing that Rahman was cooperating with the accountability watchdog.

After his appearance before the NAB team in Lahore last week, Rahman had said he had bought the land in question from a private party and no illegality had been committed in this respect.

Prime Minister Imran Khan during election campaign in 2018 used to call Rehman "media Godfather" and declared to take action against him for tax evasion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Quarantine, a word coined during the medieval Black Death, is now on a fast track for word of the year. Its spiking as a Google search term.

Millions of people worldwide are observing some form of quarantine to try to check the spread of the coronavirus. The basic concept is simple: Separate sick people from well people.

But exactly what it means and how it works varies depending on the persons circumstances and local health authorities rules.

There are several forms of separation. Self-isolation, the most stringent, is for people who have contracted COVID-19. Home quarantine, which has similar restrictions, is for those who have been exposed to an infected person. Social distancing is what just about everyone else is doing: Staying away from others.

Cotati residents Donnee Komisar and David Stahlberg, both in their late 60s, returned from a trip to Italy this month. Komisar started feeling ill even before they landed, with a tightness in her chest, coughing, headache, stomach issues and intermittent fever. Her doctor said she may have contracted COVID-19, but wasnt able to provide a test.

They said, Go home, stay there, wash your hands, she said.

Shes been ensconced in her bedroom since, while her husband is disinfecting this house into oblivion, she said. Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, bleach spray. Hes on it.

One protocol they are not following: Komisar is not wearing a mask. She said they werent able to find one, and her husband, who appears to be asymptomatic, is the only other person shes been near, and they plan to continue to eschew visitors.

Instead, their friends are offering to do doorbell ditches, meaning theyll drop off food on the couples front steps, ring the doorbell and then leave.

Here are more details on whats involved in quarantines:

Social distancing: This is a conscious strategy to reduce close contact among people. Basically it means voluntarily staying away from others.

You assume everyones been exposed to someone, so you just sit tight until it passes over, said Dr. George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology at UCSF.

Authorities in the Bay Area and worldwide are banning large gatherings and closing schools in the name of social distancing. The folks now telecommuting, the students whose classes were canceled, just about everybody who can stay home these days falls into the distancing category. It means people can go outside for essential errands, like food shopping, but the best practice is to maintain a 6-foot distance from others.

But a casual walk around any town, or a glance at a supermarket checkout line shows that even if crowds are more sparse, many people dont appear to be staying 6 feet away from others.

San Francisco resident Jonathan Hirshon is observing voluntary social distancing, after returning from Germany last week. Hirshon owns his own PR firm so can easily work from home.

I dont mean Ill lock the door and tape it up, but for the next 30 to 45 days, I will avoid going anyplace where I could potentially contaminate someone, he said.

Home self-quarantine: This is for people who may have had contact with someone infected with the coronavirus, who often are awaiting testing results.

Travelers returned from countries with severe outbreaks are examples of people told to self-quarantine for 14 days, as well as anyone whos been in contact with someone with a confirmed case. The passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship are now in supposed quarantine at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, though many have described chaotic scenes and no organization to observe quarantine protocols.

People in self-quarantine are supposed to follow similar precautions as the self-isolated people, and also monitor themselves by taking their temperature twice a day and observing if they feel sick or experience fever, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat. They are supposed to wear a mask if they have to be near others.

What about taking a walk? If you live somewhere with wide open spaces, I could see that, Rutherford said. If you live in the middle of the city and its packed on the sidewalks, no.

Self-quarantine is not a staycation, Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC chief medical correspondent, said on ABC News. Self-quarantine is done for a person who may have had an exposure to known coronavirus. ... When you self-quarantine, the premise is that youre positive; that you actually have been infected. Thats why it has to be rigid; it has to be by the book. There has to be significant and aggressive distancing.

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.

Self-isolation: This is the highest level, for people infected with the COVID-19 virus who are not sick enough to be hospitalized.

Even at home, they should stay away from family members. You cant have someone come fluff your pillows and sit and watch TV with you, Dr. Rutherford said. Thats not isolation. You have to be in a different room.

Contra Costa Health Services give detailed requirements in documents that people in isolation must sign (most apply to home quarantines too).

They include: staying home except for urgent doctors appointments  and they should wear a mask if they have to seek medical help. That means no travel, no use of transit, no going to movies, church, shops, and no visitors, it stresses. You can go outside in your own yard (not a shared yard), the county document says.

Being scrupulous about hygiene is a must: covering coughs and sneezes with tissues and then throwing them away. Frequent handwashing is also mandatory.

Separate yourself from other people in your home as much as possible, the directive says. It suggests staying cloistered in a specific room and ideally using a separate bathroom. Dont share dishes, glasses, eating utensils, towels or bedding, it says  although others can use them after regular washing. Clean doorknobs, phones, keyboards, toilets, bedside tables.

Infected people on home quarantine may have fever and mild symptoms, but if they worsen  for instance, trouble breathing  they should seek prompt medical attention. If they call 911, they should tell the dispatcher they have COVID-19.

What about apartment or condo dwellers? Are they obligated to tell neighbors that they are under quarantine or isolation? Should they avoid the elevators or the mailboxes in the lobby?

We dont have cut-and-dried protocols for this, said Dr. Amira Roess, professor of global health and epidemiology at George Mason University. Theres no requirement to notify your neighbors or building management. But if you leave your apartment, wear a mask and really try to reduce how close you get to other people.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
Insilico Medicine to present at the Systems Aging Gordon Research Conference

March 13, 2020 - Insilico Medicine will present its latest results in modern and next-generation AI for drug discovery and productive longevity at the Systems Aging Gordon Research Conference, in Mount Snow, Vermont, June 2020.

Aging is a complex process that has been observed in all biological systems at every level of organisation. Some anti-aging interventions have demonstrated life-extending effects in model organisms. Although very good progress has been made in the area, the translation of these interventions in human clinical practice remains limited due to the absence of comprehensive ageing biomarkers. Recent studies suggest that a set of biomarkers, rather than any individual biomarker, constitute the most effective means of assessing the health status. The presentation will cover the development of comprehensive biomarkers of aging using deep learning and blood biochemistry, transcriptomics, and imaging data.

"I am happy to present our latest research at the Systems Aging Gordon Research Conference 2020. The topic of Biomarkers of Aging is rapidly gaining popularity, and we are happy to be at the leading edge of research and one of the innovation drivers in the area." said Alex Zhavoronkov, Ph.D., Founder, and CEO of Insilico Medicine.

"Alex Zhavoronkov is a clear leader in applying AI approaches to diverse aging-related problems. We look forward to learning about the new advances he has made. This integrative approach is critical for further development of the field," said Vadim Gladyshev, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and chair of the Systems Aging conference.

The inaugural Systems Aging Gordon Research Conference will be held at Mount Snow (West Dover, Vermont, USA) on May 31 - June 5, 2020. The conference program is set around the theme of "Systemic Processes, Omics Approaches and Biomarkers in Aging". The program will include speakers from diverse fields who are united in their pursuit of pioneering aging research. The 2020 Systems Biology GRC will set the stage for subsequent meetings and future development of this field, with the idea to ultimately help delay and reverse aging and age-related pathology.

###

For further information, images or interviews, please contact:

Contact: Klug Gehilfe ai@pharma.ai

About Insilico Medicine

Insilico Medicine is an artificial intelligence company with offices in six countries and regions striving to accelerate three areas of drug discovery and development: disease target identification, generation of novel molecules (generative chemistry) and synthetic biological data (generative biology), and prediction of clinical trial outcomes. The Company was the first to apply the generative adversarial networks (GANs) and reinforcement learning (RL) to generate new molecular structures with the specified parameters in 2015. In addition to collaborating with large pharmaceutical companies, Insilico Medicine is also pursuing internal drug discovery programs in different disease areas.

Website: http://insilico. com/ .

This story has been published on: 2020-03-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  The St. Paul teachers union and Minnesota's second-largest school district reached a tentative contract agreement early Friday, ending a strike that began Tuesday and canceled classes for some 36,000 students.

The union, which represents about 3,600 teachers and support staff, said it was in the best interest of all involved to settle the contract, given the uncertainty of possible school closures due to the coronavirus.

Only an unprecedented pandemic and concern over the health and safety of our students and staff stopped St. Paul educators from fighting harder and longer for more resources for our children, said St. Paul Federation of Educators President Nick Faber. Still, this strike demonstrated the power educators have when they use their collective voice.

Students will return to class Monday. A vote by union members has not been scheduled on the tentative agreement, which was reached about 3:30 a.m. Friday after more than 19 hours of mediation that began early Thursday.

"Through hours of compromise and a laser focus on placing students above all else, we have a new two-year agreement that targets resources to areas of greatest need," said Superintendent Joe Gothard.

The St. Paul Federation of Educators said the agreement includes more social workers, nurses, intervention specialists, psychologists and multilingual staff, although it was not specific on the number of additional staff.

The union was striking over demands for additional mental health, multilingual and special education support staff. Gothard had said the $50 million in demands were cost prohibitive.

The union's mental health proposal called for mental health teams in every building. Gothard had said St. Paul already has 500 positions dedicated to student health and emotional well-being, and the union's proposal would require an additional 300 hires at a cost of $30 million a year.

The walkout was the first for the district since 1946. Negotiations between the union and district began last May. The school district is one of the city's largest employers with about 6,700 staff members and 63 schools.

Story continues

The concerns St. Paul teachers raised are reflected in schools across the state and country, especially in high-poverty school districts where shortages of support staff leave educators feeling stretched.

After an 11-day strike last fall, the Chicago Teachers Union reached a contract that guaranteed nurses and social workers would be assigned to every school. Chicago Public Schools committed to hiring an additional 250 nurses and 209 more social workers by 2023 and put $500,000 toward recruiting and training people for those jobs and other roles.

Unions and professional groups for such employees say those jobs often are lower priorities when budgets are tight, but that their absence can have profound effects on student learning and teachers work.
Gettyimagesbank



'Observing Japan' finds mistranslation of diplomatic rhetoric exacerbates Korea-Japan ties



By Kang Hyun-kyung



Yum Jong-soon's "Observing Japan for 30 Years: 18 Reasons Why Korea Will Defeat Japan," published by Tornado, reveals a new factor that pits South Korea and Japan against each other  mistranslation.



Yum, a self-proclaimed leading expert on Japan, said the two countries' common usage of Chinese characters, ironically, has become a source of a diplomatic rift as some expressions are used completely differently in the two countries.



The author, who has lived in Japan for 30 years, founding and running his own business, said President Moon Jae-in's use of the Chinese expression "jeok-ban-ha-jang" in response to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to remove South Korea from the "white list" last year was misinterpreted and thus infuriated the Japanese public.



In a Cabinet meeting on August 2, Moon described Japan's actions using the expression, which translates to "the robber blaming the owner of the house he's burgling."



In Korea, it is used when an offender tries to hold the victim accountable for certain misdeeds.



Moon's statement implied that Tokyo was trying to punish Seoul despite South Korea being the victim  in this case of Japan's wartime forced labor.



Moon went on to say that he won't sit back, claiming Japan had gone too far.



Yum said Moon's rhetoric was mistranslated by Japanese media outlets.



"President Moon was quoted by the Japanese media as saying the Japanese leader is a shameless person as the Japanese journalists directly translated the Chinese characters into Japanese without considering how the term is used in Korea," his book reads. "Many Japanese were outraged. In Japan, 'shame on you' is a very radical expression and few people use it. Although President Moon used the Chinese characters in the Korean context and likely wanted to express that Japan was not in a position to take such a harsh measure against South Korea, the Japanese people didn't take it as such because the phrase is used in a very different circumstance in Japan. Although I understood what he meant, I personally believe using such words is diplomatically incorrect."



South Korea-Japan relations are in dire straits, though the two nations haven't been close since the end of World War II, which terminated Japan's 35-year colonial rule of Korea.



Phrases like "sour" or "from bad to worse" have long been used to define the status of their relations. The domination of such negative adjectives or phrases in describing Korea-Japan relations is not a surprise for those who watched them closely for decades. Japan's brutal colonial rule paved the way for historical animosity among Koreans even after they were liberated from Japan's colonial rule. The unsettled past  including Japan's wartime crimes and the U.S. government's strategic negligence of it  has become the center of post-war disputes.



Some watchers blame self-serving politicians for "using" bilateral relations to fulfill their political goals. They try to make personal gains, particularly ahead of elections, by stoking anger among their nationals as a populist campaign strategy to gain more votes.



Yum said Koreans and Japanese think they know each other well, maybe because they are geographically close and share several cultural similarities.



"Their common use of Chinese characters, however, led them to guess and sometimes misinterpret their counterpart's motives because some expressions are used in very different circumstances," the book reads. "Some Koreans put that Japan is a close but distant country. I think this characterization is not accurate. The more accurate description of Japan for Koreans will be that it is a close country but culturally, a very different one."





Yum Jong-soon's "Observing Japan for 30 Years: 18 Reasons Why Korea Will Defeat Japan," published by Tornado, reveals a new factor that pits South Korea and Japan against each other  mistranslation.
With the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur has decided to suspend all classes and exams as a precautionary measure till March 29, its director Abhay Karandikar said here on Friday.

The mid-semester recess will be extended till March 29, Karandikar added.

Classes were scheduled to begin from March 16.

All the students who have gone home and are planning to return to the campus in the next few days are advised not to return to the campus till March 29, the director said, adding that the situation will be reviewed periodically and necessary updates will be provided to all.

The students who have already returned to the campus are strongly advised to visit a nearby health centre, he said.

The campus residents who are returning from vacation are also strongly advised to contact the health centre.

The students, who are staying on the campus, have been advised to stay inside the premises and avoid any travel outside until further instructions, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of our community, Winnetka library spokeswoman Sarah Quish said in an email. We have decided to close our buildings out of an abundance of caution. No known exposure or cases have been reported. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the Congress governments had spent just Rs 4000 crore from 1985 to 2014 for cleaning the river Ganga but to no avail, while the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government has sanctioned Rs 20,000 crore between 2015-2020 under Namami Gange Programme. He said that the quality of Ganga water has shown a remarkable improvement.

Speaking at "Ganga Aamantaran Abhiyan" organised by Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Shah said: "Congress had ignored the Ganga river. From 1985 to 2014, the Government had spent just Rs 4000 crore but nobody knows about the results. From 2015 to 2020, the Modi government has sanctioned Rs 20,000 core and started Namami Gange Abhiyan. In Ganga basin, Centre and state together flagged off 310 projects worth Rs. 28, 790 crores,116 projects have been completed and rest are running smoothly and will be completed soon".

"In 2014, when we were elected to power, we started Namami Gange to control pollution in the river, maintain its sanctity, ensuring its continuous flow, developing the river as a waterway. In just five years, Samples from different locations of the river show that Namami Gange Abhiyan succeeds in improving the quality of water in Ganga. People became aware of Ganga's sanctity," he added.

He said that the main aim of Namami Gange is to produce cultural awakening among teenagers with respect to river Ganga.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WATERLOO -- The latest on Cedar Valley coronavirus updates for Friday, March 13, 2020:

1 more positive COVID-19 case in Iowa; 17 total

One positive case of COVID-19 coronavirus was announced by Gov. Kim Reynolds on Friday afternoon, bringing the state's total number to 17.

The new case is a resident of Harrison County, Reynolds said. That individual was tested in Nebraska.

Those 17 cases are still all travel-related, officials said, with 15 of them coming from a group who went on an Egyptian cruise.

"At this point, we have not yet recognized community spread here in Iowa," said Dr. Caitlin Pedati, state medical director for the Iowa Department of Public Health, during a press conference Friday afternoon.

However, Reynolds said, "We anticipate it will happen, and now is the time to prepare."

Ten of 20 Iowans who had been quarantined on the Grand Princess cruise ship, which docked in Oakland, California, "will be home tonight," Reynolds said Friday. The remaining would be brought home Saturday, she said.

Officials say older adults and those with heart or lung conditions were particularly susceptible to severe risk from the virus. But those people were also depending on everyone to use common sense.

"If you don't feel well, stay home, and stay away from other people -- particularly our high-risk groups," Pedati said.

Iowa Democrats cancel county conventions

The Iowa Democratic Party announced it was canceling all county conventions scheduled for March 21 "to a future date to be determined," IDP chair Mark Smith said Friday.

"We have come to the determination that the spreading coronavirus poses a risk that outweighs a temporary delay in moving the caucus-to-convention process forward," Smith said. "This is not an easy decision, but we believe it is the right decision."

Smith noted that district and state convention planning "will proceed as scheduled."

Spring Break for Kids, CultureFest canceled

World's Greatest Spring Break for Kids planned for next week has been canceled.

Officials at the Waterloo Center for the Arts originally planned to limit entry to certain amounts of people per hour on Friday morning. But by noon, they announced it had been canceled outright.

CultureFest 2020 reception on April 2 has also been canceled due to concerns about COVID-19.

But the annual All-School Art Exhibition, featuring more than 1,000 works of art by Waterloo K-12 students, will be on display. Families are encouraged to attend individually at their own discretion. The exhibit is open through May 3.

Funky Junk-a-Loo postponed

Main Street Waterloo announced Friday afternoon it would postpone Funky Junk-a-Loo, originally set for March 21-22, due to "the changing situation," Main Street director Jessica Rucker said.

The event will now be held Sept. 26-27 at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center.

"The safety and well-being of staff, volunteers, businesses, vendors and downtown visitors is our top priority," Rucker said in making the announcement.

She added that "downtown businesses are open and operating as usual," and that no other Main Street Waterloo events were affected.

MercyOne announces visitor restriction

MercyOne hospitals and clinics in northeast Iowa would now be limiting visitors to two per patient at one time and disallowing sick visitors and visitors under the age of 14, the organization announced Friday.

"For the immediate future, only visits from immediate family members, loved ones or clergy who meet (the criteria) will be permitted," MercyOne said in the statement, noting the restrictions were "effective immediately."

The organization noted it was following "the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 recommendations."

On Thursday, UnityPoint announced it was discontinuing its volunteer program at Allen Hospital in Waterloo for the time being.

Meals on Wheels needs volunteers

More than 1,000 meals delivered to 18 counties in Northeast Iowa will continue, though volunteers are still needed, officials at the Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging said Friday.

The meal sites will also continue to serve a daily meal, the organization said.

"With the population we serve, it is critical to continue offering services, particularly a hot, nutritious meal, to help keep them as healthy as possible," said Donna Harvey, NEI3A's CEO. "We are currently calling every person we serve throughout our 18-county service area to assess their nutrition needs and to help come (up) with a contingency plan to get them food, should the need arise."

The organization said some of its volunteers were "not wanting to deliver at this time due to the fears surrounding COVID-19," and was looking for volunteers to replace them.

Those looking to volunteer to deliver meals are asked to call 1-800-779-8707.

Cedar Falls Community Theatre reschedules rest of March shows

Cedar Falls Community Theatre announced it would reschedule the three showings of "Souvenir" that had been scheduled for March 27-29, organizers announced Friday.

Organizers didn't say when the production would be rescheduled. Ticket holders would be personally contacted regarding their options.

"While it is heartbreaking for us to suspend our show, the CFCT feels strongly it is the right decision to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on all of our community and the older patrons that will flock to this show," said John Luzaich, general manager of CFCT and the Oster Regent Theatre.

Waterloo Public Library cancels programming

The Waterloo Public Library announced it was canceling all activities from March 16 through March 22 "in the interest of public health," the organization said Friday.

Activities canceled include spring break programming, storytimes, movies, classes and Hive workshops. Those planning meetings at the library were asked to "contact event organizers for meeting status," the library said.

"During this time, the library intends to be open our normal hours of operation but strongly encourage(s) individuals who are not feeling well to stay home," the library said.

Those with questions were asked to call 319-291-4476.

Phelps Youth Pavilion closed until end of March

The Phelps Youth Pavilion inside the Waterloo Center for the Arts would be closed starting Monday, March 16, until the end of March, at which time its reopening will be "re-evaluated," according to WCA officials.

The Waterloo Center for the Arts noted it and its arts galleries would continue to be open, but said it will watch and respond to the developing situation with COVID-19.

"The safety of the community, our patrons and staff is our top priority," Craig Laue said.

They noted they would increase the frequency of cleaning and sanitizing surfaces and place hand sanitizer throughout the facility.

Clients canceling previously-scheduled rental events will be given a credit for rental fees paid and provided an opportunity to reschedule.

Patrons and WCA staff alike who are sick or have been exposed to someone ill, or if they have underlying medical conditions that make them susceptible to illness, are urged to refrain from coming to the WCA.

Food Bank remains 'open for normal operations'

The Northeast Iowa Food Bank said that, while it was monitoring the COVID-19 situation, they "remain confident that they are prepared to lead on this issue locally" and will "remain open for normal operations," the nonprofit said in a release.

Volunteers are asked to stay home if they're feeling sick. While volunteering or visiting, individuals are asked to wash their hands and use hand sanitizer.

"Visitors can be assured we follow high standards for cleanliness, but we are still adding additional processes to ensure the facility is clean," said Barbara Prather, executive director of the Food Bank.

Last year, the Food Bank distributed more than 8 million pounds of food, providing 6.7 million meals to a 16-county area in northeast Iowa, according to the organization. Donations were still needed.

"The Food Bank will count on this support as they prepare strategies for numerous scenarios the following months may deliver," the organization said in a statement.

Hy-Vee stores note changes in wake of virus

Hy-Vee noted its stores would be upping "sanitization protocols," disallowing customers from using reusable cups at the fountain drink or tea and coffee areas, and canceled non-essential business travel for its employees and asked the same of its vendors and suppliers.

The company also noted it was seeing more customers stocking up on essentials.

"While we may have limited quantities available of certain items due to increased demand, we are working closely with our suppliers to make sure we have enough supplies to meet our shoppers' needs," the company said in a statement Thursday. "We are reaching beyond our traditional supply channels to make sure we have the items you want."

For those getting groceries delivered through Aisles Online, Hy-Vee said delivery drivers were "taking extra precautions" and "will not enter your home with your groceries so they can maintain a safe distance during the drop off."

Special Olympics Iowa suspends all March training, activities

On the heels of its State Mid-Winter Tournament cancellation, Special Olympics Iowa announced it would "suspend all training and activities through the end of March," its organization said in a release Friday.

The suspension would happen "until further notice," said CEO John Kliegl.

"The decision to suspend all training and activities was made out of extreme caution for the health and safety of everyone in the Special Olympics Iowa community," Kliegl said.

He said the decision was a "difficult" one because athletes use Special Olympics "to combat health and wellness challenges, along with the social isolation that they are faced with on a daily basis.

"Our athletes will need the support of friends and fans right now," Kliegl said.

Grassley's office warns of coronavirus scams

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley on Thursday warned of "bad actors" who are taking advantage of consumer fears surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

"It happened during the Zika, Ebola and SARS outbreaks, and it's happening again with COVID-19," Grassley said in a release. "If a miracle cure or treatment sounds too good to be true, follow your gut instincts."

His office said that includes not giving charitable donations in cash or via gift cards or wire transfers, be wary of clicking unknown links in emails and be aware of investment scams or online promotions.

Grassley also noted Gov. Kim Reynolds' state of emergency triggers price-gouging rules, meaning businesses raising prices "unreasonably" may face liability.

Finkenauer publishes coronavirus resource page

U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer published a website with information related to the coronavirus pandemic, her office said Thursday.

The website is https://finkenauer.house.gov/coronavirus-information, and provides hotline numbers to report illnesses, symptoms of COVID-19 and informational videos from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It is so important that we ensure Iowans have access to accurate and critical information during this time," Finkenauer said. "We will continue to updating our webpage as key information changes and encourage our friends and neighbors to check it often."

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.

Amie Rivers Reporter covering Waterloo, Black Hawk Co. and politics UNI political communications/journalism grad. Alum of The Calumet (MCC), The Northern Iowan (UNI), Fergus Falls (Minn.) Daily Journal and KWWL. 4-time award-winner while at The Courier. Interested in exposing wrongdoing and holding power to account. Follow Amie Rivers Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
The coronavirus has shut down schools, every major sport, most colleges, at least one cruise line, Broadway and an entire county in Pennsylvania.

Heres whats happening this morning:

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.


Amid the Coronavirus outbreak that has taken the world hostage, Government of India in a humanitarian gesture has decided to provide assistance to the Maldives to deal with the virus situation which has been declared by the World Health Organisation as a pandemic.

Taking on #CoronavirusPandemic together  



As a humanitarian gesture, India will:



a. send a large composite #Covid_19 medical relief team tomorrow to assist Maldives health authorities



b. gift essential medicines to the GoM despite temporary export ban @MoFAmv @MoDmv pic.twitter.com/XJZ49G2gQQ  India in Maldives (@HCIMaldives) March 12, 2020

READ | Coronavirus Outbreak: Top Adviser To Iran's Ali Khamenei Quarantined With Virus Symptoms

Over 75 cases in India

As the world at large is fighting the outbreak of Coronavirus with countries like China, Italy, Iran, South Korea to name a few have borne the brunt of the deadly virus, the positive cases of the virus in India has soared up over 75 after three new cases were confirmed in Mumbai.

The initial three cases which were reported from Kerala have been treated and discharged. The health ministry has advised people against mass gatherings to avoid the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

READ | Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson Urge People To Follow Advice Of Experts After Coronavirus Diagnosis

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, the novel Coronavirus also known as COVID-19 has affected nearly 118 countries in the world. Presently, there are over 1,24,518 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of 4,607 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.

READ | Donovan Mitchell Becomes Second NBA Player To Test Positive For Coronavirus

India suspends all visas except few

Meanwhile, India has suspended all visas, barring for a few categories such as diplomatic and employment apart from keeping in abeyance the visa-free travel facility to OCI cardholders till April 15. Moreover, the Centre has strongly advised Indians to avoid all non-essential travel abroad. As per the latest figures, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India stands over 75.

READ | Justin Trudeau's Wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau Tests Positive For Coronavirus
More than $36 million will be invested into waterfront and visitor projects that will transform Whakatane and wider Eastern Bay of Plenty region.

Minister Shane Jones announced today that the contribution will be made towards three significant projects with wide-reaching benefits for the Whakatane District.

The investment in three projects, through the Provincial Growth Fund and the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, will help build the local economy, create hundreds of jobs, attract future investment and unlock tourism and cultural and commercial opportunities across the district.

The investment will support the development of a new commercial boat harbour, revitalisation of the riverfront and town centre, and the development of a new visitor hub and cultural centre.

These projects are part of the Whakatane Regeneration Programme jointly developed by Whakatane District Council and Te Runanga o Ngati Awa to boost their marine and tourism sectors, Shane says.

Im particularly pleased to make this announcement of Government support for this town and region following the recent Whaakari/White Island tragedy. We back our regions in times of need.

Te Rahui Lands Trust, Ngati Awa Group Holdings Limited, Te Runanga o Ngati Awa and Whakatane District Council are excited that their applications to the Provincial Growth Fund was successful.

Ngati Awa Group Holdings Limited chair Paul Quinn says the community is still recovering from the impact of the Whakaari tragedy and so this announcement is gratefully welcomed.

This is an important opportunity for NAGHL to work with the Trust and the Council as we find ways to contribute, lift productivity and participate in the regional economy together, he says.

Whakatane District Mayor Judy Turner agrees, saying the collaboration represents a defining moment for the region and signals an incredible opportunity for economic development and transformational uplift across the whole District.

The benefits of both projects to local business and the community are huge. This is about working in partnership and identifying ways we can realise our long-term aspirations for our people, says Mayor Turner.

Whakatane is home to two of the three largest aluminium boat builders in the country. The investment in a new boat harbour will allow us to deliver the fit-for-purpose infrastructure to drive more growth and employment in the marine and tourism sectors.

Transforming the town and riverfront areas will increase private sector investment and create a vibrant town centre for our community to enjoy, as well as supporting Whakatane on the journey to become a world-class small-town destination for tourists, she says.

It is estimated that through these two projects a total of 930 jobs could be created by 2050 with at least 450 of those roles operational in the next decade.

Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Chair Joe Harawira says the Kainga project will provide a physical heart to the Whakatane town centre and complement the riverside regeneration aspirations.

Kainga will promote and celebrate our unique heritage, culture and stories. This new destination will support iwi, wider community, recreational and commercial activities and create a gathering place for manuhiri (visitors) and locals.

Te Rahui Lands Trust Chair Brian Simpson says the Trust will play a lead role in the boat harbour development.

This is a historical moment for us as we undertake this work in partnership to realise our collective goals.

For us, its about taking a balanced approach. As kaitiaki we will ensure that the mauri of our whenua and the river will be enhanced by the project while also creating a development that will provide a sustainable solution for the marine sector. The project will deliver intergenerational outcomes for our owners, hapu and the wider Whakatane community.
STURGIS The Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Ft. Belknap Indian Community held off the Keystone XL Pipeline in federal court on February 25, as agents for the private Canadian tar-sands crude oil proposition garnered permission from Meade County Commissioners, meeting here, to start man-camp construction in South Dakota this March.

However, the representatives of project proponent TC Energy Corp. (formerly TransCanada Corp.) didnt fare as well before Holt County Commissioners in Nebraska, who denied a construction permit there three days later.

TC Energy Corp. has been trying for 10 years to secure permits to build the pipeline more than 1,000 miles -- from the oil shale fields of Alberta Province, across Montana and South Dakota, to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would link to existing infrastructure.

The product in the pipeline, which would be diluted bitumen, or dilbit, must reach Texas refineries in order to be processed for shipment abroad via Gulf of Mexico ports.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes), in coordination with their counsel, the Native American Rights Fund, submitted two new filings to Montana U.S. District Court on Feb. 25 in their 2018 lawsuit challenging a federal permit for the pipeline.

This fire is sacred and cannot be extinguished. Put out one and two more start in its place.



Check out my latest for Teen Vogue. #WetsuwetenStrong #WetsuwetenSolidarity #ShutDownCanada #alleyesontyendinaga #NoKXL #StopTMX #StillNoDAPL #ClimateEmergency https://t.co/wjuvrlam0R  R u t h H o p k i n s (@RuthH_Hopkins) March 11, 2020

In these filings, the tribes highlight a TC Energy Corp. admission that the Keystone XL Pipeline would cross Rosebud mineral estates held in trust by the United States.

The prosecution submitted that the mineral estates qualify as Indian lands and the tribe has jurisdiction over them. Trespassing into Rosebuds mineral estates, held in trust, without Rosebuds consent is a violation of the 1851 and 1868 Ft. Laramie treaties, it claimed.

The activities described in the projects Environmental Impact Statement, namely rock ripping, blasting, trenching, topsoil removal, and backfilling, would adversely affect Rosebuds mineral estate, it claimed, adding, Federal agencies have a duty to prevent mineral trespass and protect Indian lands and tribal mineral estates.

Also in the filings, the tribes sustained that, contrary to defendants arguments, neither the Presidents foreign affairs power nor his role as Commander in Chief provide him authority to permit the pipeline, as he has announced doing.

The authority to permit the pipeline falls within Congress exclusive and plenary power to regulate foreign commerce, they argued. As much as they would like to, TransCanada cannot ignore the laws that protect Native American people and lands, said Native American Rights Fund Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth.

Meanwhile, on the same day as the court filings, the Meade County Commission voted to give TC Energy Corp. an extension on its expired construction permits for Pump Station 17 and for a 1,200-employee man-camp near Opal, population 31.

TC Energy Corp. Attorney Bill Taylor told commissioners the company paid $194,000 for the permits, which were granted on Oct. 22, 2018.

He said that company contractors conducted only preliminary work -- mowing vegetation to discourage raptors from using its right-of-way -- because the Montana U.S. District Court imposed a building ban while considering the merits of the case challenging the federal permit.

Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com

Copyright permission Native Sun News Today

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Lucknow, March 13 : The Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh will identify and renovate all old as well as dilapidated temples in the state, official sources said on Friday.

The sources said the process to identify such temples is already underway and, if needed, the state could seek the assistance of Archaeological Survey of India.

The sources said that there were more than 5,000 temples on the government's proposed list. The government could also seek people's cooperation through donations.

The move is designed to boost religious tourism in Uttar Pradesh and, thereby, give a major boost to local economy.

In political terms, the project will further reinforce Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's image as a Hindu leader.

Temples to be taken up under the proposed renovation project in state capital Lucknow include the Lokeshwar Mahadev Mandir, Mandabir Baba, Mangaleshwar Dham and Vishwakarma Mandir, among others.

A Tourism Department official said that ancient temples are under renovation and the department was making arrangements for shades, clean drinking water, sanitation, and better lighting for devotees.

The roads leading to these temples will also be repaired for the convenience of devotees, the sources added.

The UP government plans to revive traditional fairs unique to each district of the northern state. Earlier, these fairs or cultural 'melas' used to be a big draw with people from across the state.

"We are focusing on developing heritage and religious sites in the state and want the state to become a hub for religious tourism," the official said.

The archaeology, culture and tourism departments have already compiled lists of ancient temples in Uttar Pradesh which are in need of renovation, especially those which have existed since or before 1857.
Rajesh Asnani By

Express News Service

JAIPUR: In a crucial verdict in the Pehlu Khan lynching case, two minors have been given a sentence of three years by the Juvenile Justice Board [JJB] in Rajasthan's Alwar district. Last week, the JJB's principal magistrate, Sarita Dhakad had found both the minors guilty of being involved in Pehlu Khan's mob lynching that led to his death.

The minors will be kept confined at a government Juvenile Home for three years.

The latest judgement is very different from the Alwar trial court verdict in August 2019 in which they were given the benefit of doubt while the rest of the six accused in the lynching of Pehlu Khan - who along with a few others were transporting cows from Jaipur - were acquitted.

ALSO READ: Bloodthirsty vegetarians!

A frenzy mob had killed Pehlu Khan on the suspicion of cow smuggling in the year 2017 but the lower court had held that no charges were proved against the accused.

Pehlu's advocate, Qasim Khan says the decision now by the JJB will play a crucial role in getting the 6 others also convicted.

"We believe that after this judgement, the 6 accused let off earlier will be punished as well. They got off due to the negligence of the police and weak counsel but this time we have hope," he added.

However, the Amicus Curiae from the defence side, Adarsh Yadav disagrees with the judgement and says the minors were punished due to government pressure. "We will appeal in the session court as the children's rights have been ignored. The 2 members in JJB have been appointed by the government. The minors were photographed in a mob of 100 people and 6 accused were let off.

They can't be termed guilty just on the basis of being present in the photograph. The identification by the injured victims was not done. The government wants to punish these kids so that the earlier judgement looks weak," he added.

Defence councel in the ADJ Court Hukum Chand Sharma said the judgement of the JJB juvenile court will have no bearing on the main case, in which his clients have already been acquitted last year.

However, in Jaipur, the additional advocate general RP Singh who will argue on behalf of the government in the high court called the JJB's ruling an important development and said, "We will definitely use it during the review petition."

Earlier, the Principal Magistrate of the Juvenile Justice Board, Sarita Dhakad, while completing the hearing last Thursday had held both the minors guilty on the basis of prosecution evidence.

On Saturday afternoon, the board took up the matter for a decision but both parties did not appear before the board.

The Principal Magistrate then fixed March 13 as the date for pronouncement of judgement of the case and ordered the two to appear compulsorily.

Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer from Nuh district of Haryana, his two sons and a few others were attacked by group of cow vigilantes near Behror on April 1 , 2017.

Pehlu died in the Hospital on April 4. Seven cases had been registered - one against Pehlu and his sons and six others against the mob which lynched them. There were a total of nine accused in the case including the two minors who are now convicted.

The acquittals last year had created a hue and cry following which the Gehlot government had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case in 2017.

SIT was constituted under the state's ADGP (crime) to identify the lapses in the investigation and fix responsibility on individual officers who conducted the investigation.

On the basis of the SIT report, the main evidence in the Pehlu Khan Lynching case is now likely to get stronger.
NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA in the US and Canada, and Pfizer Inc. (PFE) said that they have accepted the recommendation of the independent Data Monitoring Committee or DMC to terminate the Phase III JAVELIN Head and Neck 100 trial. Because, the study did not show a statistically significant improvement in the primary endpoint of progression-free survival or PFS. The study evaluated avelumab in addition to chemoradiotherapy (CRT) versus standard-of-care CRT in patients with untreated locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. In 2016, there were nearly 150,000 newly diagnosed cases in the United States, Japan and Europe. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
QUEENSBURY  A Queensbury man who last fall spray-painted graffiti that included swastikas on several buildings and signs was put on probation and ordered to perform community service after a guilty plea Wednesday.

Gaven M. Wasson, 18, of Pinion Pine Lane, pleaded guilty to felony criminal mischief for an Oct. 2 graffiti spree on Burke Drive and Aviation Road in Queensbury. Wasson and Anthony L. Dean, 20, of Glens Falls, were arrested the following day, after a joint investigation by Warren County sheriffs officers and State Police.

Police said they were responsible for vandalism that included blue spray-painting of phrases, including a gang-related phrase that included the word Crip, and swastikas on the building and a sign at the Queensbury Masonic Temple and Masonic Historical Society on Burke Drive.

Police said their interviews of the duo found no apparent anti-Semitic intent with the use of a swastika.

They also were accused of painting on a street sign, an exterior wall at the Speedway store on Aviation Road and a storage building at the Methodist Church on Aviation Road.

In Warren County Court on Wednesday, Judge John Hall asked Wasson what he spray-painted, and he replied, Just some slang.

Wasson was put on interim probation for a year, and directed to perform 96 hours of community service during that time. He also will have to make restitution, with an estimate of about $1,000 given in court.

If he does well on interim probation, he will be sentenced to a lengthier term of probation. If not, he faces a jail or prison term.

Deans case is still pending in Queensbury Town Court.

Police said surveillance videos from businesses in the area led police to identify the men, and they were found wearing the same clothes they were wearing on the videos.

The duo allegedly stole the spray-paint that was used for the vandalism from the Walmart store on Route 9 in Queensbury, and State Police charged each with misdemeanor petit larceny for those thefts, officials said.

Both had been staying with Deans girlfriend in Montcalm Apartments, and did the graffiti when walking between Walmart and her home, police said.

Don Lehman covers police and court matters, Warren County government and the outdoors. He can be reached at 518-742-3224 or dlehman@poststar.com

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Mayor Raj Bala Malik on Friday shot off a letter to all councillors, asking them to monitor the segregation of waste in their respective wards on every Saturday and Sunday.

Sources said the move follows the National Green Tribunals (NGTs) latest dictum asking the municipal bodies across the country to achieve 100% waste segregation by March 31. The NGTs dictum also stated that there was a possibility of 10 lakh fine per month fine on those flouting the order from April 1.

While MC commissioner KK Yadav said they are putting all efforts to comply to the NGTs directions, Chandigarh MC seems in no position to achieve the target. A major hurdle is that private waste collectors are still following the old system of collecting waste with rehris. It is not possible to collect the waste in segregated format with these rehris. Another problem is that the MC does not have secondary collection points to separately store dry and wet waste.

EXPERIMENT FAILED LAST OCTOBER

In October 2019, the MC had made it mandatory on residents to hand over segregated waste to the collectors. While several residents complied to the order, the system failed at the level of private waste collectors and MCs secondary collection points (sehaj safai kendras) where dry and wet waste could not be stored separately. In November last year, the MC had approved a proposal to buy 400 mechanical vehicles for private collectors so that dry and wet waste could be collected separately, but there was a delay in the purchase of these vehicles.

An MC official said that they are not getting response from suppliers. It is because vehicles with BS4 engines have been phased out and new vehicles with BS6 engines will not be available before June or July, he said.

POOR SWACHH SURVEKSHAN RANKING

Meanwhile, the delay in waste reforms also cast a shadow on the MCs ranking in the 2020 edition of Swachh Survekshan. The citys ranking had fallen down from third in 2018 to 20th in 2019. The focus point of the survey parameters was waste segregation in which MC hasnt been successful so far. The poor response of UT residents in the Centres survey has also increased the MCs problems.

The city faced a lot of embarrassment last year when its ranking fell from 3rd in 2018 to 20th in 2019. In the run up to the final ranking for 2020, the city has already faltered in league rounds with rank 27.

This time, UT will be evaluated out of 6,000 marks in the final ranking out of which 25% is kept for improvement in waste management, 25% for direct observation of city residents, another 25% for performance in garbage star rating system and finally, another 25% marks for the performance in league rounds.

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Health Minister of Ghana, Hon. Kwaku Agyemang-Manu

13.03.2020 LISTEN

There appears to be a massive shortage of alcohol-based hand sanitizers in some parts of the capital city of Ghana as the nation records the first two confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus on Thursday, 12th March, 2020.

At a press briefing in Accra on Thursday night, Ghana Minister of Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyemang-Manu announced that the ministry of health has confirmed two cases of the COVID-19.

According to the minister, the cases were confirmed on the 12th of March, 2020, and the first cases to be reported in Ghana.

Explaining further, Hon. Agyemang-Manu said, both individuals returned to Ghana from Norway and Turkey, and that both patients are currently being kept in isolation and are stable.

As a means to combat the possible spread of the disease, the minister has since advised Ghanaian to adhere to the following precautionary measures.

Regular and thorough washing of hands with soap under running water and use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Keep a distance of at least two meters from a person with fever, cough, sneezing, and difficulty in breathing

Be physically active, drink plenty of water, eat healthily, avoid stress and have enough sleep.

The minister further cautioned persons who feel unwell and exhibited symptoms of the fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing to stay at home and contact the ministry through the numbers (0509497700, 0558439868) for immediate help.

Following the confirmed case of the deadly COVID-19 in Ghana, I visited some selected pharmacies, both in Accra and Kasoa, to find out the measures Ghanaians are taking to prevent the spread of the disease.

Almost all the 12 pharmacies I visited, there were shortages of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Meanwhile some of the pharmacies I have visited, I was told that they do not sell nose masks whatsoever at their pharmacies.

For instance, at the Kasoa Community Clinic Pharmacy, the attendant told me that following the confirmation of the COVID-19 by the Health Minister, many people have visited his outfit in search of hand sanitizers.

At Elenark pharmacy in Kasoa for example, the attendant indicated that there has a mad rush for hand sanitizers following the confirmation of the coronavirus in Ghana.

At 11 pm, Ghanaians were seen moving from one pharmacy to the other in a quest to get hand sanitizers for themselves and their families.

The 201920 coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was first reported in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019.

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic.

As of 12 March 2020, over 134,000 cases have been confirmed in more than 120 countries and territories, with major outbreaks in mainland China, Italy, South Korea, and Iran. More than 4,900 people have died from the disease and 68,000 have recovered.

President Akufo-Addo, at a press briefing within the week, said his government has made available $100 million for the fight against the deadly coronavirus in the country.

Addressing Ghanaians on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, President Akufo-Addo opined that he has directed the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to release the Cedi equivalent of $100 million to boost the countrys measures and preparedness against the Covid-19 illness.

 is to fund an expansion of infrastructure, purchase of materials and equipment, and public education, Nana Addo said when he addressed the country.

Ghana Health Minister has, however, assured the public that the government of Ghana together with all health partners will continue to work assiduously to ensure the situation is contained.

The writer is a Journalist and a Development Communicator.

Contact: [email protected]

Twitter: @analimbeychris

By: Analimbey, A. Chris
Faced with questions about her leadership in the unfolding coronavirus crisis, Gov. Kate Brown on Friday sounded a far different tone than she has previously, blaming unfulfilled promises by Vice President Mike Pence and the federal government for Oregons shortcomings in testing and medical preparedness.

During a Friday call with reporters, Brown said she made clear Oregons need to Trump administration leaders in a March 3 letter, then reiterated it when Pence called her on March 4.

He said were on it, Brown said. He said they had stockpiles.

Then the state didnt hear anything back, despite daily calls, Brown said. On Tuesday, the governor said she called Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human services, and told him we have not received a frickin response to our request.

The response came Thursday: Oregon would receive about a tenth of the 400,000 masks, gowns and gloves it requested.

Brown said she did not know when the supplies would arrive. We have received zip, zero, nothing from them, she said.

The response has been extremely inadequate and absolutely unacceptable, Brown said.

Brown spoke to reporters at the end of a chaotic week that began with the states announcement that schools would remain open and concluded with a sweeping decision to close schools, leaving more than 500,000 Oregon children out of the classroom.

A day earlier, Brown had delivered mixed messages about coronavirus testing capacity in Oregon, where state labs are able to run just 80 tests per day, far fewer than in Washington or California. The lack of testing, a problem nationwide, has made it unclear just how widely COVID-19 has spread in Oregon. Medical experts have said a rapid ramp up in testing is essential to control the spreading virus.

Yet Brown said Thursday she would appreciate more testing capacity, but my understanding at least according to public health professionals is that we have an adequate amount.

Minutes later, Brown revised her position, saying, We are concerned, frankly, about our testing capacity. ... The federal government is only one who can expand our testing capacity and we are calling on them to do that.

In her Friday call, Brown sounded far more concerned about Oregons testing deficit. We need more capacity, she said.

Nik Blosser, Browns chief of staff, told reporters he spoke to five hospitals yesterday, which he would not identify, saying the facilities feared a rush of patients. One could begin testing next week, he said. But the hospitals capacity isnt clear, because it could run the tests on four different pieces of equipment and it doesnt know which it will receive the supplies for.

Hospitals need swabs, equipment-specific testing reagents and CDC-supplied test kits, Blosser said. There are supply issues with basically all of those, he said.

During her hour-long call, Brown faced continued questions from reporters about the states testing deficit. In her letter to Pence 10 days ago, Brown said Oregon did not need more test kits from the federal Centers for Disease Control.

We thought we had the testing we needed to address the situation, Brown said. That was the public health testing for emergency situations and for folks who have urgent health needs. Thats different than: Do we have adequate tests to test every single citizen of Oregon that wants a test?

Brown also signaled worry about hospital staffing statewide. Were going to need every single body that we can get, Brown said. I know that we are going to be stretched thin.

-- Rob Davis

rdavis@oregonian.com

503.294.7657; @robwdavis

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
[March 13, 2020] Personal Loans for Higher Education Made Easy With Bajaj Finserv

PUNE, India, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To find success today, one needs to have a high-quality education. And most Indian students dream of pursuing higher education abroad because of factors such as high-quality educational infrastructure, vast array of specialized courses, wholesome exposure and superior employment opportunities. But not only is this dream challenging, it also comes with a price tag. An individual may choose to dip into his/her savings to meet the expenses of an education abroad for their loved ones, but most people choose to rely on loans to bridge the gap between shortfall and the required money. And while many lenders provide education loans, there also exists the option of personal loans for higher education. Personal loans are unsecured loans that edge over education loans in terms of flexibility of use and convenience. For starters, education loans generally depend on the institute the ward may be getting into and cover fixed expenses such as tuition fees. Personal loans for higher education can be used to meet pretty much any expense that maybe lined up - from tuition fees to the cost of books, living expenses, an emergency fund to meet unplanned expenses or more. Bajaj Finance Limited, the lending arm of Bajaj Finserv, offers easy personal loans for higher education that can be used to cover any financial need when pursuing an education abroad. The personal loan for higher education by Bajaj Finserv enables one to avail funds of up to Rs.25 lakh. With the Flexi Loan facility, individuals cn borrow from the sanction as and when the need arises, without having to make a fresh application every time. Besides, they pay interest only on the utilized amount and further lower their EMIs by up to 45%*.



Here are some of the instrumental features to assist the purpose of higher education loan: Easy to meet eligibility criteria and has minimum documentation

Loan is disbursed to one's account within 24 hours, with approval in just 5 minutes

Bajaj Finserv Personal Loan for Higher Education offers financing on a collateral-free basis, giving students the independence to fund other monetary needs attached to international higher education rather than just paying off their degree/course tuition fee

The Flexi Personal Loan pre-payment option coupled with a flexible tenor of up to 60 months offers convenience and added affordability With these attractive features, personal loan for higher education by Bajaj Finserv attempts to make this financial journey of students a little smoother and supports them to achieve their future goals.

Individuals can also check their pre-approved offers on personal loans by the lender by providing their names and contact information. About Bajaj Finance Limited Bajaj Finance Limited, the lending arm of the Bajaj Finserv group, is one of the most diversified NBFCs in the Indian market catering to more than 36 million customers across the country. Headquartered in Pune, the company's product offering includes Consumer Durable Loans, Lifestyle Finance, Digital Product Finance, Personal Loans, Loan against Property, Small Business Loans, Loans for Professionals, Home loans, Credit Cards, Two-wheeler and Three-wheeler Loans, Commercial lending/SME Loans, Loan against Securities and Rural Finance which includes Gold Loans and Vehicle Refinancing Loans along with Fixed Deposits. Bajaj Finance Limited prides itself on holding the highest credit rating of FAAA/Stable for any NBFC in the country today. It is also the only NBFC in India with the international 'BBB' with stable outlook for long-term, by S&P Global Rating. To know more, please visit: https://www.bajajfinserv.in Media Contact:

Violet Vaz

[email protected]

+91-9975518938

Bajaj Finance Ayushi Kakkar

Bajaj Finserv

[email protected] Kamalprit Singh

Bajaj Finserv

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Local authorities announced that for the next five years, all Level-A scenic areas in Hubei province will give free access to medical personnel who have assisted the province during the coronavirus outbreak. Let's meet amid the beautiful scenery of clear waters and lush mountains when Spring blossoms.
SAN JOSE (BCN)

All schools in the Diocese of San Jose will close for two weeks starting Friday to reduce the threat to students and others from the coronavirus, school officials said Thursday.

Starting Monday, students will be able to learn via distance learning plans that each school has developed.

"These measures we are taking not only protect our students, but also our neighbors" and others "who may be most vulnerable" to the virus, Bishop Oscar Cantu said in a statement.

The closure affects all planned in-person classes and school events, including sports, activities and community gatherings.

None of the school facilities will be open to parents or students during the closure.

As of Thursday, there were no confirmed cases of the virus in the diocese. Updates on the closure and additional guidance can be found at www.dsj.org/coronavirus.

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.
Some churches refuse to close in wake of coronavirus despite warnings from governor

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Some churches including Southern Baptist congregations in Kentucky say they have no plans to shutter amid the new coronavirus epidemic despite a request from Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear urging houses of worship to close temporarily Wednesday to help prevent community spread of the deadly virus.

We know this is community spread and we need to get ahead of it, Beshear said in a statement on the virus. It is important for everybody out there to be calm, practice good hygiene and reduce the risk of exposure for themselves and others.

Kentucky Baptist Convention Executive Director-Treasurer Todd Gray told Baptist Press that despite the governors request, many of their churches plan on staying open while taking steps to limit community spread of the virus.

"It appears that most Kentucky Baptist church leaders are planning to carry on with their regularly scheduled services unless things change between now and Sunday," Gray said. "Several Kentucky Baptist pastors will urge additional precautions by asking those who are sick to please stay home and those who are concerned to feel free to also stay home."

On Thursday, WLOU radio station callers 60 years old and older told WAVE 3 News and St. Stephen Baptist Church media coordinator Krystal Goodner that they planned on attending church this weekend because they are covered by their faith.

"We will be there praising the Lord like we should be, one caller said.

Goodner noted that when it comes with people and their faith in Kentucky, "you do not mess with church!

She said St. Stephen Church will be enforcing CDC guidelines and encouraging members to wash their hands, but it doesnt appear they will shutter like some churches that will grant the governors request to close temporarily.

The Rev. Steve Willis, senior pastor at First Baptist Church Ashland, told WCHS that while the Bible tells Christians to obey secular governments, his church will have to weigh the governors request appropriately. For now, however, his church plans on staying open with precautions.

"We should consider the request from the governor because the Bible tells us we are to submit to the governing authorities as long as they don't contradict the Word of God," he said. "We'll make the decisions that we think are best for our congregation, but we will also keep in consideration the request the governor has made," Willis said.

Other churches like First Christian Church in Ashland told WCHS that they will have a shorter service.

"Those that are coming are requested to make sure they are washing their hands, taking all precautions and sitting a little distance from each other here in the sanctuary," pastor Larry Sivis said.

He further explained that they will not pass the offering plate around and had made adjustments for the Lords Supper.

"When they come forward, they will receive from the communion tray and individual cup," Sivis said. "It's sealed that we have ordered. It has the juice in the cup as well as the wafer."

Sick people and vulnerable groups are being asked not to attend services but watch it online from their computer to be safe.

Mackey Gaskin, teaching pastor at First Baptist Church Ashland, said the request to close churches can be difficult for people who are looking for hope in a time of crisis.

"When groups do come together, that's when we can talk and share experiences and our fears are always worse when we are isolated," Gaskin said.

Beshear argued that the move to limit social gatherings is about saving lives, especially for vulnerable groups like older adults and people with underlying medical conditions.

These steps we recommend are not made lightly, Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner for the Kentucky Department for Public Health, said Wednesday. Please work with us to make them effective.

Both Beshear and Dr. Stack said they are urging church closures due to the close proximity to others in gatherings, the communal activities and close interaction, and because many attendees are members of high-risk populations.

I believe God gives us wisdom to protect each other and we should do that. I believe that it is our job to offer those protections, Beshear said.

As of Wednesday, Kentucky had eight confirmed cases of the new coronavirus. More than 139,000 cases have been confirmed globally along with just over 5,000 deaths as of Friday.
Homi Adajania's Angrezi Medium, which stars Irrfan Khan in the lead role, falls prey to the notorious piracy website, Tamilrockers. Angrezi Medium also casts Radhika Madan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Deepak Dobriyal in key roles. The film has anyway released amid a sad situation as the entire nation is dealing with the coronavirus scare and it is advised that everyone avoids going to the crowded places. Speaking of which, theatres are the last place where the audiences are willing to go given the circumstances.

Now, the film has already leaked online, we think the business of the film will be badly affected. Meanwhile, here's how netizens have reacted to the film.

Sumit kadel @SumitkadeI "#AngreziMedium - Dullsville. Film rides on exemplary performances by Irfan khan & Deepak but shoddy script & poor execution by the director plays the spoilsport, 2nd half is over dramatic & stretched. Film fails to entertain like hindi medium.

Rating- **." Rohitt Jaiswal @rohitjswl01 "Wont say much,neither I want to exaggerate things because I really admire @irrfank, all I can say that #AngreziMedium is a weak film, director miserably failed to utilise great actors, not even 20% as compared to #HindiMedium, feeling bad for Irrfan bhai 2*/5 #AngreziMediumReview." Surajkumarofficial @Surajkumarrevi1 "#AngreziMedium review - First half review. literally cried seeing Irfan khan on screen. Such a beautiful movie which makes me smile and cry at same time #coronavirus ke wajah se ye chalna musqil hai lekin hope ye film chaleWe cant miss this." Cinema200 @Cinema200 "#OneWordReview... #AngreziMedium: FANTASTIC. Rating: **** An absolute joyride with plenty of laugh aloud moments... Aces: Smart writing + chemistry of #Irrfan & #DeepakDobriyal + emotional scenes + finale... Winner!"

Earlier, while speaking to PTI, Homi Adajania had said that after working with Irrfan in Angrezi Medium, he has changed as a person.

He had said, "Angrezi Medium has changed me as a person. It has made me a better, lighter person. The way I would approach a film before, I was finicky about the actor not giving me right pitch and things that are not in your control. All that has gone out of the window."

Angrezi Medium Movie Review: Irrfan Khan Hits The Right Chord With His Moving Performance!

"I will probably make films more often now as I have realised that there is a light way of making films. One should chill, have fun, enjoy while making a movie and it will all come through. This is the way one should be. I am not going to take these characters home and cry, fret and shout, it is not necessary. As a life lesson I learnt why do we make things complicated and fret about it," had added Homi.
Ghana has confirmed two cases of COVID-19, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health.



The cases which are the first in Ghana were reported on March 12, 2020.



The Ministry of Health disclosed in a statement on Thursday that the two confirmed cases were received at the same time from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.



The two individuals returned to Ghana from Norway and Turkey.



Meanwhile, both patients are currently under isolation and are stable.



Watch video below for an update from Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Information Minister





Below is a statement from the MoH

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Escale Spin Time watch is named after its rotating cubes whose motion displays the hours, a design patented and crafted entirely in-house at la Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. It is a resolutely modern way of telling time. There is no hand, instead twelve cubes  set on spokes around the dial  spin independently to mark the passage of time. While eleven of them display variations in grey of the Louis Vuitton motifs drawn from its famous luggage, the twelfth stands out with an indication of time on one golden face. This unique concept puts a playful spin on technical innovation. Its top-flight mechanics are powered by the LV77 calibre automatic movement, which boasts a 40-hour power reserve.

The Louis Vuitton Escale Spin Time Meteorite is now available with a 41 mm, bi-material case combining the shine of pink gold with the depth of black PVD-coated titanium. This striking contrast is elegant, sophisticated and architectural all at once.

Escale Spin Time Meteorite  Louis Vuitton

Its dial is carved out of the Gibeon meteorite that landed in Namibia. This other-worldly, mystical material has never before been used by Louis Vuitton. It brings a majestic splendour to the watchs two-tone styling, highlighting the vivid sparkle of golden touches on the central minute hand and on the cubes that show the hours. This uncommon timepiece calls for very distinct expertise. Given the fragility of the friable stone, it takes a rare degree of skilled craftsmanship no less than two days of work are needed to make one single dial.

The Escale Spin Time Meteorite is worn on a black alligator strap with 18K pink gold folding buckle.
Titus Busbee at Labadi Beach Gift Shop

13.03.2020 LISTEN

Welcome to the first installment of "Beyond the Return, Black Americans in Ghana". As I meet various Black Americans living or visiting Ghana, I will ask each guest 4 questions regarding their stay in Ghana. Each question is geared to help our international and domestic audience create an experience in Ghana that will be fullfiling and rewarding for everyone involved. We believe this series will help improve Ghana / Black American relations and continue to allow Ghana to be a lighthouse for members of the Diaspora worldwide.

The first article of our new series Beyond the Return, Black Americans in Ghana. We are featuring Titus Busbee. Busbee is a Black American From Alabama who has now been living in Ghana for over 1 year. Titus and his twin brother Tyress have been working in the agricultural sector as farmers.

1. Most Pleasant Surprise

"The biggest surprised for me thus far has been the fruitfulness of the land. You hear about it, but to experience it yourself it an amazing experience. It's like as soon as you put the seeds in the ground they start sprouting and producing. Agriculture business is big business in Ghana, and an investment opportunity for anyone interested in that sector".

2. Biggest Disappointment

"The constant reminder that you dont have a tribe. Its like every few days someone makes a comment that reminds you that you are an American living in Ghana and you don't have a tribe that you naturally belong to". it's also a constant pressure to marry so you can finally belong.

3. One Positive Tip

Do research before you arrive. Come here having an idea what to expect. Network with people who have already traveled to Africa specifically Ghana. They can help your transition and make the initial phases of your stay more pleasant as they help you prepare.

4. One Tip of Caution

Take the rose color glasses off. The same awareness you have in the America about people, places and situations, keep that same awareness or street smarts in Ghana. Just because you are a Black American returning home to Africa, doesn't mean everyone appreciates you, or have the best wishes for you. Just like in America they are people who will take advantage of you or do things without your best interest in mind.

Have you or someone you know visited Ghana, and would like to be apart of our on going series "Beyond the Return, Black Americans in Ghana" ? Answer the four questions above and send a high-quality photo of you In Ghana (preferably horizontal. (Only you in the photo, no kids, no pets, no spouse) to my Instagram page www.instagram.com/Rashad_McCrorey and I just may include you next article. We may not be able to use every submission or post your article in a timely manner but we will create as many articles as we can and post them as often as we can.
If you're going to catch coronavirus  as experts believe most of us are  you might as well catch it in Senegal. While delays and limited test kits have left sick Americans in the dark about their COVID-19 status, sometimes for a week or more, the West African nation is testing people and getting results back within as little as four hours, The Washington Post's Danielle Paquette reports.

Part of that is thanks to the fact that many African countries preemptively prepared for the outbreak by setting up testing capabilities as long ago as early February, Quartz reports (as of Wednesday, Senegal only has 13 confirmed cases). But Senegalese scientists are also on the forefront of testing. In partnership with the UK-based Mologic, scientists at Dakar's Pasteur Institute are helping to develop a handheld coronavirus test kit that could diagnose COVID-19 within 10 minutes. The kit, which is being authenticated by five other international research organizations and would be manufactured in Senegal, could greatly help manage the outbreak, CNN reports.

Other nations have also outpaced the U.S. in terms of testing. South Korea is testing as many as 15,000 people every day, while as of March 9 just 4,384 Americans had been tested.

More stories from theweek.com

Trump reportedly rejected aggressive coronavirus testing in hopes it would help his re-election

Why Trump fears Biden

House Republicans are reportedly 'skittish' about supporting coronavirus response package without Trump's support


On a symbolic day, November 11th, 2019, the first Poles could, after many years, benefit from visa-free travel to the United States. President Andrzej Duda, announcing this breakthrough moment, emphasized the special role played in this process by the US Ambassador in Warsaw, Georgette Mosbacher. Rafa Milczarski, the CEO of LOT, also spoke about the merits of the ambassador... - I am deeply convinced that without such a friend we have in Georgette, this action would not have succeeded and we would not have this huge success - emphasized Milczarski.

The Ambassador herself, just after taking over the branch in Poland in 2018, announced that the introduction of visa-free travel for Poles would be her main priority. A year later she could announce success. An outstanding Polish Americanist prof. Zbigniew Lewicki said that this success will have many fathers. "But it really has one author - it is the ambassador who made it a point of honor."



"The winner of this year's title has dreamed, despite the difficulties. She lost her father early, so she had to start working for her livelihood and education very quickly. She herself claims that the optimism of her mother, who did not give up after the death of her husband, remaining with four children, shaped her will and influenced the determination for success even in the most difficult circumstances. Winner of the Person of the Year Award 2019 as the first in the family graduated from university. As the first - she took up business  successfully. As the first woman in US history, she also became the president of the association of republican governors. Today she is also the first woman in history to be the US ambassador to Poland- wrote in laudation editor-in-chief of the weekly Wprost Marcin Dzierzanowski.

The ceremony of giving the title of Wprost Person of the Year took place on March 12th at the Amber Room restaurant in Warsaw.

The honorary patronage over the plebiscite was given by the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of State Assets.

The strategic partners were PKN Orlen and LOT Polish Airlines, main partners were ENEA and PGNiG. Partners included: Poczta Polska, VISA, Gaz System, Targi Kielce, Polish Investment and Trade Agency, HM Inwest Group, Pekao Bank, PERN, Wojskowe Zakady Elektroniczne, Zabka and Polish and Slavic Credit Union. The media patrons were Polish Television and Polish Radio RDC.

The editorial board of Wprost has awarded the Person of the Year title since 1991. This is one of the most prestigious awards in Poland. It is received by people who had the greatest impact on the lives of Poles in the past year. Previous winners include, among others: prof. Leszek Balcerowicz, Lech Waesa, Wisawa Szymborska, Jarosaw Kaczynski, Donald Tusk and Angela Merkel. https://czlowiekroku.wprost.pl
You dont get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion - L. Ron Hubbard

The founder of Scientology, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was born on March 13, 1911. An author of science fiction and fantasy, Hubbard wrote Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, which would go on to be the main book of Scientology. In fact, Hubbard holds the Guinness World Record for Most Published Works by one author.

Hubbard married glider pilot Margaret Grubb in April 1932. In 1934, she gave birth to her son, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard Jr and a daughter, Katherine May in 1936.

The author went on to live a life of seclusion in the California desert after he unsuccessfully tried taking over the town of Clearwater, Florida. Later, in 1978, he was even convicted of fraud and tried in absentia in France.

In the same year, several high-ranking members of Scientology were indicted on charges for their role in the Churchs Snow White program. This included Hubbards wife Mary Sue Hubbard. The church, it turned out, had a systematic program of espionage against the US government.

Hubbard passed away in January 1986 at the age of 74.

Here are a few books by him:

Under the Black Ensign: A Caribbean pirate story penned by the author, the novel is set in 1680 AD and recounts the adventures of Tom Bristol, a sailor who is in the British navy and gets marooned on an island, where he starts a quest for revenge as a Caribbean pirate.

Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health: The book is about Dianetics, a system of psychotherapy the author developed from personal experience and through the works of Sigmund Freud. The book is considered to be the canonical text of Scientology and is often referred to by members as Book One. The book was what launched the Scientology movement, and later, the religion itself in 1950.

Deaths Deputy: Published in 1948, the fantasy novel is about fighter pilot Clayton McClean who is unnaturally accident-prone and seemingly cannot be killed. Unfortunately, people around him mysteriously die and the pilot knows the deaths are somehow linked to him.

Typewriter in the Sky: A science fantasy novel by the author, the book chronicles the journey of protagonist Mike de Wolf, who finds himself inside the story of his friend Horace Hacketts book. The title alludes to the fact that every time the protagonist sees something significant happening in his life, he hears the sounds of a typewriter in the sky.

The Indigestible Triton: A collection of fantasy short stories, it was first published in 1949. In the authors note, readers come to know that it is a psychiatric case study written by one Dr Rene Lafayette on his most unique patient Bill Greyson. The novel sees Bill Greyson commit himself to a sanitarium to escape family, but escapes and gets trapped in an underwater kingdom.

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The spread of the new coronavirus is affecting the work and pay of people around the world.

A guide at a popular tourist area in eastern China has not earned any money for two months, as tourists are nowhere to be found.

A delivery driver in Britain worries about getting sick from the people who sign for their purchases each day.

And a server at a restaurant in the American state of Missouri washes his hands more often and simply hopes for the best.

Some professionals can work from home or call in sick if they experience signs of COVID-19, the disease the virus causes. But that is not possible for service workers who often come into contact with the public. Their situation is made worse by limited or non-existent sick leave and health insurance.

The recommendations on what people should be doing to protect themselves really gives a sharp indication of the divide between white collar and blue collar workers, said Shannon Liss-Reardon, a workers rights lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts.

White-collar jobs are those that take place in an office or other professional environment. Blue-collar jobs are those that require a person to perform more physical labor of some kind.

In the United States, about 27 percent of non-government workers do not get paid sick leave, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says. There is no federal sick leave policy in the United States, but 12 of the 50 states as well as Washington D.C. require employers to offer paid sick leave. And, employers with 50 or more employees are required to offer health insurance. That protection is not extended to part-time or independent workers.

Some Democratic lawmakers have proposed legislation to deal with the issue. It would require employers to let workers earn seven days of paid sick leave. It would also provide an additional 14 days of paid sick leave in the event of a public health emergency, including the current one.

On Monday, President Donald Trump said he was seeking help for hourly-wage workers to make sure they will not miss a paycheck.

What we face daily

In Britain, delivery driver Ed Cross worries about catching the virus from the machine he gives to people to sign for their goods.

People have coughed on their hand and then got hold of my machine, said Cross, who is 53 years old. That is what we face daily, he said.

The British government last week made it easier to collect sick pay. It also is working on changes to help millions of non-permanent workers like Cross who do not meet conditions for receiving sick pay. And, the company he works for has announced a financial deal to help workers if they need to restrict themselves to home.

The new virus spread has shown huge holes in health care coverage at a time when people may need it most. Most European countries and Canada have universal healthcare systems. But the United States has a mix of public and private insurance.

Joey Ingham works at a restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri. He does not have health insurance. The restaurant is popular with business travelers, he says.

If I wasnt able to come into work, it would be hard to make ends meet, said Ingham. If he felt sick, he said, he would probably talk to a supervisor about what to do.

In France, people have the right not to work and get full pay when they consider their workplaces to be dangerous. Some service workers there have stayed home for a short period because of infection concerns. Workers at the Louvre Museum in Paris refused to work for two days. They returned to work only after officials there announced new virus-fighting measures.

In China, many service industry workers have seen business disappear, as people are forced to stay at home.

Jiang Yanlin guides tourists in eastern Chinas Huangshan Mountain area. She said she has not earned any money since the middle of January. Most other years, she earns up to $42 a day during the normally busy Lunar New Year holiday.

If I dont work, I dont get paid. She said everyone in the tourist area is in the same situation. Jiang said, No one is coming to travel. Everyone is so scared.

Im Bryan Lynn.

And I'm Caty Weaver.

The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

tourist - n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure

delivery - n. the act of taking something to a person or place

insurance - n. an agreement in which a person makes payments to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is sick, injured or dies

cough - v. to force air through your throat with a short, loud noise often because you are sick

indication - n. something (such as a sign or signal) that points out or shows something

make ends meet - expression. to earn enough money to live without getting into debt

scared - adj. afraid of something
The leadership of APC Mandate Defenders has received with joy, the great news that a Nigerian who was previously tested positive with coronavirus disease is now been tested negative after undergoing some medical treatments in the country.

In a statement released to newsmen in Abuja on Friday by the national publicity secretary of the group, Mr. Ifeanyi Emeka, the support group said the negative index report is a trail-blazing testimony to the great work done by the Presidential Taskforce for the Control of Coronavirus-19 Disease (CONVID-19) headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha.

The group specially hailed Boss Mustapha for showing purposeful leadership in the coordination and supervision of the multi-sectoral and inter-governmental approach adopted by the Federal Government in the fight against the disease outbreak.

Saying, the creative approach has led to the defeat of the dreaded disease in the country; thereby allaying the fears of Nigerians about the disease.

This success story is another great testament to the next level agenda of the Buhari Administration which has re-positioned the country as the biggest economy in Africa.

The group, however, called on Nigerians to continue to support the present administration as many policies and programmes of the government are beginning to yield positive results.

Signed:

Mr. Ifeanyi Emeka,

National Publicity Secretary,

APC Mandate Defenders
SIU earns national recognition for its commitment to first-generation students

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill.  Southern Illinois University Carbondale is just one of two higher education institutions in Illinois to earn national recognition from the Center for First-generation Student Success.

The university was recently named a First-Gen Forward Campus by the organization, which is an initiative of NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and The Suder Foundation.

SIU an early recipient of the designation

This is the national programs second year and its designation for SIU reflects the universitys demonstrated commitment to improving experiences and advancing outcomes of first-generation college students, according to the organization.

We are proud to see how SIU is implementing evidence-based practices, using an institution-wide approach, and breaking down systemic barriers impeding student success, Sarah E. Whitley, senior director of the Center for First-generation Student Success, said.

Institutions selected for the honor receive professional development and community-building assistance and access to the centers research and resources.

First Saluki Center focus is first-generation students

SIU launched its First Saluki Center last fall to focus on first-generation students, helping them to overcome the unique challenges they face and succeed. With seed grant funding from the SIU Foundation, the center became a one-stop shop for first-generation students. Students are considered first-generation if neither of their parents or guardians earned a bachelors degree. Through the First Saluki Center, students can access the resources, mentorship, peer support and other help needed to reach their goals.

Nearly 1/3 of the countrys undergraduate students are first-generation, according to EAB, a national education and student success-focused organization. At SIU about 40 percent of the students self-identify as first-generation.

A lack of a support network and resources can often cause students to struggle more in college. A Higher Education Research Institute report indicates that only about half of first-generation students in the United States typically complete college degrees within six years compared to 64% of other students. Reversing that trend is one of the reasons SIU launched First Saluki Center.

Love leads campus-wide effort

Lanel Love, as assistant dean of students, established First Saluki Center in August 2019 and serves as director. Love, a double alumna of SIU is a first-generation student herself and knows the challenges all too well.

The First Saluki Center is a collaborative, campus-wide effort involving the various academic units and more than 20 other units dedicated to student support. That includes admissions and financial aid, housing, academic advisement, the career development center and offices that support veterans, students with disabilities and international and non-traditional students.

Center already taking action

The center has already put several initiatives in place, including establishing the new First and Proud Living Learning Community in Neely Hall, which will start during the fall 2020 semester.

The primary focus of the living learning community is to increase visibility around first-generation college identity and assist students with navigating university life, Love said.

Community members will get involved in leadership development, resiliency training, resume building and career exploration. Love said two of the primary goals are helping assure that the First and Proud students can identify and utilize campus resources that will aid in their pursuit of success, and that it will help them develop connections with faculty, staff and other first-generation students.

Plans also call for distributing first-gen placards to faculty and staff for students to quickly know that they too, were first-generation college students. Im first-gen, come talk to me, is the message, that Love believes is an important component in showing students that they can also achieve success.

In addition, SIU will have a first-generation college celebration day each year and at commencement, first-generation graduates will wear special graduation stoles honoring each of them as the first in their family to earn a degree.

Benefits of First-Gen Forward

SIU is one of 77 institutions across the country chosen for the 2020-21 First-Gen Forward designation. As a result, SIU faculty and staff representatives will attend a First-gen Forward Workshop in June and engage with the Center for First-Generation Student Success in goal-setting exercises and monthly support calls. They will also network with other first-gen institutions.

For more information about SIUs First Saluki Center, visit the website or call 618/453-6870.
In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the Delhi government on Friday issued a warning against the dissemination of information regarding the virus without permission from the Ministry of Health or Delhi government.

The government instruction stated that no person, institution or organisation shall issue any information regarding coronavirus in print or electronic media without the permission of the Ministry of Health or Delhi government.

The state government warned that non-compliance of the warning will be considered a punishable offence.

The World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and expressed deep concern both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India has risen to 75. The country has also reported its first coronavirus death in Karnataka, the health ministry had stated earlier.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When youre in the situation, and when you have to look at perception, when you have to look at whether this could be a gray area  you have to err on the side of caution, Conyears-Ervin said. And so in order to make this right, I think there needs to be clarity.
RACINE COUNTY  A Racine County resident has contracted COVID-19, a type of coronavirus, the Central Racine County Health Department announced Friday.

The Health Department said that the resident, who was exposed while traveling internationally, is now isolated at home, according to a news release issued by the department just after noon Friday.

That brought the total confirmed cases in Wisconsin to 19 as of Friday afternoon.

The news broke the day after Gov. Tony Evers, Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave and Racine Mayor Cory Mason each declared a state of emergency Thursday in the State of Wisconsin, Racine County and the City of Racine in response to coronavirus.

We are working with our partners and local hospital systems to ensure we are protecting the community as a whole, stated Margaret Gesner, Central Racine County Health Departments health officer.

When asked which country the infected resident had traveled to, Gesner said: Travel was to a country where there is currently widespread community transmission of COVID-19. She would not be specific.

Central Racine County Health Department is actively working with this case, and CRCHD will continue to work with Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and our local partners to ensure the health and safety of our community, Gesner said. It is important to note that this person is not linked with any school, childcare or long-term care facility.

The Central Racine County Health Department, DHS and other local health departments are working to identify and contact anyone who has been in close contact with the local individual who contracted the disease.

Those people are being asked to quarantine themselves for 14 days from their exposure and will be monitored for fever and respiratory symptoms. Quarantined individuals who develop symptoms are then tested for coronavirus.

The Central Racine County Health Department, which serves all county communities outside the City of Racine, anticipates working with the DHS to determine when the affected individual can be released from isolation.

11 new state cases, 19 total

In addition to the one new case reported in Racine County, two new cases were announced in Milwaukee County, with three new cases reported in Sheboygan County between Thursday and Friday.

Health officials also announced four additional cases in Fond du Lac County and another new case in Dane County.

That brings the total number to 19 total cases in Wisconsin, with one person having recovered.

Hospital reactions

Both Advocate Aurora Health and Ascension All Saints Hospital have instituted policies aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus.

Advocate Aurora said it is utilizing a multifaceted approach. It stated in part, Preparing for pandemics is not new and our expert infection preventionists, physicians and nurses are trained and ready for this. We have held simulation exercises for treating COVID-19 patients, have plans in place to address increased patient volume and have implemented visitor restrictions.

Aurora has limited visitors to those ages 18 and older in inpatient areas, except the emergency department, until further notice. Only two visitors will be allowed in patient rooms at a time.

The organization said it is educating and updating team members with information from the CDC and state health agencies, introducing more cleaning and sanitizing, offering virtual health offerings 24 hours a day, serving prepackaged foods in hospital cafeterias and eliminating self-service food items.

Aurora said it has also canceled business travel outside of Illinois and Wisconsin through May 31 for team members, postponed or canceled large events and meetings, encouraged technology instead of in-person meetings when possible and launched www.aah.org/coronavirus to keep people informed.

Like Aurora, Ascension All Saints is allowing only two visitors per patient at any given time. Also, visitors with flu-like symptoms will not be allowed to visit the hospital.

Also, citing guidance from the CDC, no one who returned from a country in the past two weeks that has been designated as a Level 3 or Level 2 Warning for coronavirus will be allowed to visit the hospital.

Aurora also is not allowing visitors under the age of 19 in inpatient areas, expect the emergency department, until further notice, with some decisions made on a case-by-case basis.

CRCHD recommendations

Gesner noted that with the declared Wisconsin and Racine County public health emergencies, the latest recommendations include:

Limiting nonessential large community events and gatherings of 250 or more people;

Those who provide gathering activities for older adults, such as senior centers and congregate dining facilities, should plan for alternative ways to remain engaged with them that minimize their risk;

Avoiding all nonessential travel according to CDC travel guidelines. For domestic travel, DHS recommends against all nonessential travel to any U.S state where the CDC deems there is sustained community transmission of coronavirus;

For travelers returning to Wisconsin from high-risk areas, including U.S. locations, the DHS is recommending those individuals self-quarantine at home for 14 days and monitor for symptoms of coronavirus;

Creating a household plan of action in case of illness in the household or disruption of daily activities due to coronavirus in the community;

Consider two-week supply for prescription and over-the-counter medications, food and other essentials.

Establish ways to communicate with others, such as family, friends and co-workers; and

Establish plans to telework, what to do about childcare needs, how to adapt to cancellation of events.

Those who are ill and suspect they may have coronavirus should call their health care provider. Racine County health departments do not have tests or testing capacity.

Based on the latest CDC data, those at highest risk for serious disease include older adults, and people who have serious chronic medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease. It is vital for the public to avoid getting sick by frequently and thoroughly washing their hands, covering their coughs and sneezes, avoiding touching their face, and staying home when sick, Gesner said.

Travel impacts?

Megan Mullikin, a travel agent at Bon Voyage World Travel Experts which has offices in Union Grove and Waterford, said that the travel agency had not seen many cancellations as of Friday morning. Not a whole lot of cancels, she said. We have gotten really lucky with that.

The only thing that she said is being cancelled is cruises, such as Princess and Viking cruises, as well as the Disney Cruise Line, because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Destination hot spots such as DisneyLand and Disney World have also followed suit. The theme parks will be closed beginning Monday through the end of the month.

Entertainment events

Route 20, the restaurant and live music venue at 14001 Washington Ave., Yorkville, had to reschedule a sold-out performance by comedienne Roseanne Barr because of travel restrictions, Route 20 owner Ray Stibeck said Friday. Barrs performance was rescheduled from April 16 to Oct. 24.

Otherwise, Stibeck said, Route 20 has stepped up its cleaning regimen and expects performances to continue as scheduled.

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside announced that all of its college-sponsored events, beginning Friday through April 10, have been canceled, according to spokesman John Mielke. That includes Jazz Week, school productions and other school-sponsored activities in which more than 50 people are expected to gather.

Carthage College also canceled its Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass Concert that was scheduled to take place next Thursday.

The Racine Symphony Orchestra canceled both its April Masterworks concert and fundraiser at UW-Parkside. RSO said it is making every effort to reschedule the concert and associated fundraiser. If it cannot reschedule, ticket holders may substitute their ticket for a future concert or donate the money.

While many were taking precautionary measures, just as in the theater business, shows at the Racine Theatre Guild will go on, the Guild said.

The plan is we are moving forward this weekend with all performances, but we are monitoring the situation for later events, said Joycelyn Fish, director of marketing and development for the Racine Theatre Guild.

Central Racine County Health Department is actively working with this case, and CRCHD will continue to work with Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and our local partners to ensure the health and safety of our community. Margaret Gesner, Central Racine County Health Department health officer Central Racine County Health Department is actively working with this case, and CRCHD will continue to work with Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and our local partners to ensure the health and safety of our community. Margaret Gesner, Central Racine County Health Department health officer

Journal Times reporter Michael Burke contributed to this report.
Indian exporters are anticipating a hit of around $1 billion due to disruption in trade because of closed borders and order cancellations. The coronavirus pandemic is expected to hit labour intensive sectors like gems and jewellery, lifestyle goods, carpets and handicrafts the most. Traders are expecting the impact to come around in a lead time of three months.

Director General at Federation of Indian Export Organisations, Ajay Sahai told The Economic Times that if orders are not finalised not then there will be a lead time of three months. "Remittances will be affected since only essential purchases are happening," he told the daily. The association has cancelled ten of its international shows in March and April, and two in India.

Founder of Oscar Expo Design LLP Mahavir Sharma told the daily that orders worth Rs 1.5 crore have been put on hold for 20-30 days. Lower crude oil prices are also expected to affect the value of exports.

The report mentioned that cancellation or postponement of exhibitions and conferences have dealt a blow to the $2.5 trillion trade show industry. Frankfurt's Light and Building and the Milan Furniture Fair both have been rescheduled.

An Engineering Export Promotion Council official told the daily that demand is low on products such as steel and ferro-alloys as Italy is a major market. Italy has been severely hit by the pandemic. The official also said that with China stabilising, they will have the inventory, leading to a pressure on prices.

Also read: Coronavirus Live Updates: Noida employee tests positive; had travelled to France, China

Also read: Coronavirus: Automobile sales crash 19% in February as fears of disruption hang heavy
Maharashtra Deputy Chief



MinisterAjit Pawar on Friday said there is no "Jyotiraditya Scindia-like" figure in ranks of ruling allies in the state and asked the BJP to keep a watch on its MLAs who were not present on the assembly.

In his reply to budget demands, Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, also commented on BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar'sstartlingrevelation in the house on Thursday it was his party that ditched the one-time ally Shiv Sena last year and that it was a mistake.

"There is no pardon for the mistake," Pawar said, looking in the direction of Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray leading to laughter in the house.

The Shiv Sena and the BJP parted waysafter the assembly elections last year due to differences over power- sharing. The Sena later joined hands with the Congress and the NCP, its political rivals then, to form government.

Pawar saidthere is no "Jyotiraditya Scindia-like figure" in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the ruling alliance consisting of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress, and asked the BJP to look after its own flock as there could be such a person in its own ranks.

Scindia, a long-time Congress leader and former Union minister, quit the party and joined the BJP on Wednesday.

"You better keep a watch on those who were not present now (in the assembly)," the NCP leader told the opposition.

Mungantiwar, speaking in the assembly on Thursday, said the BJP had ditched the Sena and asked the Congress-NCP not to take advantage of that mistake, which he said, will be rectified one day.

The BJP legislator and former minister, addressing Congress and NCP MLAs, also said just like in Madhya Pradesh, there will be a Scindia in Maharashtra too.

Pawar took a dig at Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavisand other BJP leaders fordoubting the longevity of the MVA government, which assumed office in November-end last year.

"You have to do this to keep your flock together," he said.

Mungantiwar, speaking after Pawar, said the "BJP ditching the Sena" comment was made in a sarcastic tone, but the NCP minister used it to suit his

Opposition members later staged a walkout from the assembly in protest against Pawar's reply.

In the wake of the coronavirus threat, Pawar asked legislators to take care of themselves while going out to meet people in their constituencies.

"In Iran, four MPs have died due to the coronavirus. We are people's representativesand cannot keep people away from us. But you all should take care.

"Legislators should contact the Mantralaya control room if there is a need," Pawar said.

The budget session of the state legislature is being curtailed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. It will conclude on March 14 instead of the originally scheduled date of March 20.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today the entry of a final consent judgment against Connecticut resident E. Herbert Hafen, a former investment adviser at large financial institutions who was charged with misappropriating client funds.

On September 4, 2019, the Commission filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York charging Hafen with securities fraud for defrauding his advisory clients by promoting a fraudulent investment opportunity. According to the complaint, Hafen instructed his clients to withdraw their money from the financial institution where Hafen worked, including liquidating stock holdings and personal retirement accounts, deposit that money into their personal bank accounts, and then transfer or wire the money to Hafen's personal bank account. The complaint further alleges that, once Hafen received his clients' money, he did not invest it as promised, but instead used it for his own personal purposes, including paying house, car, and credit card expenses for himself and family members.

The Court entered a final judgment against Hafen based upon his consent to resolve all claims. The final judgment enjoins Hafen from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The Commission has also entered an order barring Hafen from associating with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization, and from participating in any offering of a penny stock.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York filed criminal charges against Hafen, who agreed to plead guilty to the criminal charges. Hafen was sentenced on February 4, 2020, to 30 months in prison. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $745,000 and forfeit $806,750.

The SEC's case was handled by Eric M. Brooks, Patrick J. Noone, Rachel E. Hershfang, and Kevin B. Currid of the Boston Regional Office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI.
MARCH 12, 2020  Editors note: The following message was sent via email today from Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly Andrews Espy to faculty and staff student supvervisors:

Following the universitys announcements yesterday on new preventive measures related to the coronavirus, we are reaching out to UTSA staff and faculty who supervise student employees. With campus operations continuing as usual, it is important that you reach out to your student employees to discuss work assignments and identify a plan of action for the coming weeks. Please keep in the mind the following considerations:

For All Student Employees

If student employees are able to complete their assigned tasks remotely, consider having them telecommute, when possible.

If a student employees role requires them to be physically present on campus to maintain normal operations, prepare them with necessary information for staying healthy. More information can be found on the universitys Coronavirus Updates website.

If a student employee is sick, they should stay home. If they need to work due to financial dependency, consider arrangements for them to complete tasks from home.

If they need to work due to financial dependency, consider arrangements for them to complete tasks from home. If a student employee is on campus and begins to feel sick or is displaying symptoms, please instruct them to go home.

For Students on Work-Study

Be prepared for work-study employees to ask questions about their financial aid in the event they are unable to come to campus or choose to stay off campus.

Work-study students can be paid for hours worked, regardless of work location. Current time-keeping practices should be adhered to.

During extended spring break, any student worker can work up to 40 hours. When classes resume on March 23, 19 hours per week is the maximum. Note: A work-study student will exhaust their work-study allocation earlier if they work the increased hours. They should be consulting with their supervisor related to this.

All work-study student questions need to be directed to onestop@utsa.edu . All supervisor-related questions for work-study students should be directed to work.study@utsa.edu.

For Student Interns

Consider assigning student interns work that can be completed remotely.

Please advise them to contact their academic adviser or intern program adviser for specific instructions on completing their internship.

Please visit the universitys Coronavirus Updates website, which has been updated with a FAQ specifically related to student employees. All student employees will be receiving a similar email today from One Stop to help clarify their questions. That said, please make sure to touch base with them right away to determine a plan of action for the coming weeks.
Any foreign national will not be allowed to enter India from Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border from Friday evening onwards amid coronavirus threat, a senior BSF official said here.

He said Indian nationals who had gone across the border would be allowed to come back before their visas expire. The entry of foreign nationals through the Attari-Wagah land route will not be allowed, the Border Security Force (BSF) official said.

However, he said the movement of pilgrims from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur through the Kartarpur Corridor to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan would continue.

The Kartarpur Corridor, which was opened on November 9 last year, links the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, with Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur of India's Punjab.

Meanwhile, the supply of commodities from Afghanistan through the Attari-Wagah land route was also likely to be affected as truck drivers would not be allowed entry into India, the official said.

The trade between India and Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah land route continued to remain suspended.

Following the Pulwama terror attack last year, India had raised duties to 200 per cent on import of goods from Pakistan. The neighbouring nation had suspended the bilateral trade after the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status.

Due to coronavirus scare, eateries and small traders here were already feeling the pinch as the famous beating retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border was suspended, stemming the flow of tourists to the area.
Joe Biden was sworn into the U.S. Senate on Jan. 3, 1973. He remained in the Senate until Jan. 15, 2009  a span of 36 years. If history is any guide, that alone is a disqualifier in Bidens quest for the White House.

What does 36 years in the Senate say about a politician? It says he is a senator  not a president.

So the first reason Biden will not become president is that no one who served 36 years in the Senate has ever become president. No one who served 30 years in the Senate has ever become president. No one who served 25 years in the Senate has ever become president. No one who served 20 years in the Senate has ever become president. No one who served 15 years in the Senate has ever become president.

Its not for lack of trying. Bob Dole, who was sworn into the Senate on Jan. 3, 1969, ran for president 27 years later, in 1996. He quit the Senate during the campaign to show his determination to become president. But his long years in the chamber, plus his age  he was 73 at the time and the subject of endless suggestions that he was too old to be president  were a deal-killer for voters.

Others tried, too. In 2008, John McCain ran for president after 21 years in the Senate. It didnt work. In 2004, John Kerry ran for president after 19 years in the Senate. That didnt work, either.

A long career in the Senate is simply not a foundation for a successful run for the White House. The most recent political figure to realize that was Barack Obama, who was sworn into the Senate in 2005 and two years later was running for the presidency  and to get out of the Senate.

OK, put aside the Senate, Bidens supporters would say. What about his eight years as vice president? Certainly that could be the basis for a successful presidential run. But the second reason Biden will not become president is that the record of vice presidents on that score is not encouraging.

Fourteen vice presidents have become president. Of those, eight became president upon the death of the president. Of that group, some were later elected to the White House, but they were running for the office as the sitting president.

Others, like George H.W. Bush, became president by succeeding the president they served. They won the presidency as the sitting vice president. When Bush did that, in 1988, it had not been done since 1836. It has not been done since.

In any event, that is not Bidens situation. He served eight years as vice president, but did not run to succeed President Obama. Now, he is running as a private citizen.

Only one president has gone from the vice presidency to private life and then to the presidency. Richard Nixon served as vice president in the 1950s, narrowly lost the 1960 presidential election, and then came back to win the presidency in 1968. That is Bidens hope  that a vice president can leave office and then, after a period outside government, return to win the White House.

Perhaps. But Nixon, who spent less than three years in the Senate, became vice president a few days after turning 40, and was sworn in as president at 56  more than two decades younger than Biden, who will be 78 on Inauguration Day 2021.

Finally, the third reason Biden will not be president is the 14-Year Rule. The idea of former George W. Bush speechwriter John McConnell, and popularized by writer Jonathan Rauch, it basically says that politicians have a strict sell-by date. No one gets elected president who needs longer than 14 years to get from his or her first gubernatorial or Senate victory to either the presidency or the vice presidency, Rauch wrote. That has been true for a century.

Biden didnt even get close. It took him 36 years to get from his first Senate victory to the vice presidency. If he wins the presidency now, it would be 47 years from that first Senate swearing-in until Inauguration Day.

Of course, its possible the 14-Year Rule, the Too Long in the Senate Rule, and the How Vice Presidents Become President Rule might all be wrong in Bidens case. If so, he can frame this headline and hang it somewhere in the White House. But dont bet on it.

Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner.
With the collapse in oil prices and a rampaging coronavirus outbreak, Iran is living through a perfect storm that some in Washington believe the 40-year-old Islamic Republic will be unable to survive.

A change of regime or outlook in Iran has long been a goal of U.S. governments, pursued over decades and without success. But it's easy to see why those driving the current administration's so-called maximum pressure policy might think the moment is approaching.

U.S. sanctions re-imposed in 2018 already tipped the Iranian economy into deep recession last year, and when a cash-strapped government raised fuel prices in November, security forces killed hundreds to suppress the resulting protests.

Weeks later, Iranian forces mistakenly shot down a civilian airliner as they responded to the U.S. killing of the iconic general and architect of Iran's regional foreign policy Qassem Soleimani. Both events damaged the image of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a bedrock of support for the clerical leadership.

The domestic political rebuke was swift; much of the nation boycotted parliamentary elections in February, producing a record low turnout. Now, in quick succession, one of the worst coronavirus epidemics after China has forced Iran to seek International Monetary Fund financial help for the first time in 60 years, and the crash in the price of oil has further undermined a traditional pillar of government revenues.

Iran's regime is in a tenuous position, said a person familiar with the Trump administration's thinking on the issue. There's only so much that they can resist, the person said, suggesting a collapse was just a matter of time.

Yet despite evidence of significant pressure on the Iranian state, and its ability to pursue ambitious operations from Syria to Yemen, there's little to suggest that either the Revolutionary Guard or the clerical leadership in Tehran are going anywhere soon.

"They are fractured now, and they're having difficulty dealing with a number of things," including coronavirus, head of U.S. Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. "I think it probably makes them in terms of decision-making more dangerous rather than less dangerous."

There are few signs of panic among the leadership in Tehran. Interviewed on the margins of OPEC's watershed March 7 meeting in Vienna, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh predicted the effects of the coronavirus would be short lived and discounted any significant impact on the Iranian economy from $30 oil. "Who believed we could resist for two years?" he said, referring to the Trump administration's campaign against Tehran.

On oil at least, analysts agree. Precisely because Iran already absorbed the pain of lost revenues from exports of crude at the hand of U.S. sanctions, it now sells such small volumes that a price reduction can have limited impact.

Iran exported just 34,500 barrels of oil per day by the end of February, down from a daily peak of 2.5 million barrels in April 2018, before the return of U.S. curbs. Moreover, most of the oil Iran can still sell abroad goes to China, with half to two-thirds of the total volume sent as payments in lieu under investment contracts with Chinese companies, according to Homayoun Falakshahi, senior analyst at Kpler SAS, a Paris-based commodities data and intelligence company.

"I think on Iran, funnily enough, the impact is going to be minimal, due to Iran being virtually cut-off from the oil market for almost a year now," Falakshahi said. A lot of the crude they do sell is "basically Chinese money going back to China."

Coronavirus is a bigger challenge. The country has been hard hit, with 10,075 confirmed cases and 429 deaths reported as of March 12. That's considerably less than Italy, a G-7 economy better equipped to cope with an epidemic. According to hospital staff interviewed by Bloomberg and other independent news outlets, however, the Iranian government figures could be significantly understated.Iran also has limited resources to buffer its economy. As Italy unveiled 25 billion euros ($27.9 billion) of fiscal stimulus this week and the U.K. a package worth 30 billion pounds, Iran's central bank said it had gone to the IMF to ask for a $5 billion loan to help it battle the virus.

Other government responses have ranged from modest economic gestures to survival measures.

President Hassan Rouhani pledged to maintain supplies of electricity, water, natural gas, gasoline, and food staples. The state-run carmaker, Iran Khodro Company, has been co-opted to manufacture face masks. A subsidiary will make 10,000 masks a day, ISNA news agency reported. Meanwhile the central bank said credit-worthy small businesses could apply to defer loan repayments by three months and Tehran residents have been offered municipal tax breaks.

Iran's leaders appear to believe they can see the epidemic out, backed -- crucially -- by a security force that has proved its willingness to use force to counter any unrest. That's been sufficient to keep even Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in power, faced with an economy in far worse shape than Iran's.Still, the virus shutdown at home and the decisions of neighbors to close their borders -- a lifeline for sanctioned Iran to secure hard currency -- will deliver a substantial blow.One dairy producer, who asked not to be named, expressed concern over the potential long-term loss of his market in Iraq, but said there's no crisis yet because frontier shutdowns have been intermittent, allowing losses to be quickly recouped.

That's a view supported by the spokesman for Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Organization, Ruhollah Latifi.

While Iraq has closed its frontier with Iran for a week, Iraqi Kurdistan hasn't, Latifi said in a March 9 interview with Tasnim news agency. Similarly, Turkmenistan is closed to Iranian goods, but Azerbaijan was allowing them in so long as they are transferred to Azeri transport at the border. Pakistan reopened its borders to trucks this week after a brief closure.

"Most of Iran's trade is taking place by sea and right now 13 land border crossings are open," Latifi said. Although close neighbors such as Kuwait and United Arab Emirates were blocking sea cargoes, shipping routes to more distant destinations were unaffected, he said.

With Iran reliant on neighbors for close to 75% of its non-oil trade, that relatively sanguine picture could change quickly if the pandemic forces them to take more decisive defensive action, according to a March 9 research note from Ara Enterprise, a Tehran-based business consultancy. But any real challenge to Iran's political system, the note said, will come only "if the government is seen as incompetent and incapable of preventing a mass scale infection."

- - -

Bloomberg's Arsalan Shahla and Glen Carey contributed to this report.
Conflict reigniting in the North due to Brexit or a border poll is highly possible, the representative body for officers of the Defence Forces says.

The body also says that the lack of air defence capabilities means that Irish airspace is the weak underbelly of Europe  an issue exposed in the last week by Russian bomber planes entering Irish-controlled airspace, sparking the scrambling of British RAF fighter jets to intercept them.

In a submission to the countrys national security strategy, RACO (Representative Association of Commissioned Officers) made a series of calls:

*A new Minister for Defence and Security;

*A new civilian intelligence agency to take over the functions of the Defence Forces and Gardai;

*An underwater maritime capability to protect transatlantic cables passing through or near Irish waters;

*A new Cyber Defence Unit within the Defence Forces

RACO said that with Brexit, Ireland could be seen by organised crime as a back door into both the EU and Britain for smuggling people, drugs and weapons.

It said the Navy has only nine ships and struggles to keep them all at sea.

The struggle to protect our waters and coastlines from drugs and weapons smuggling is a particularly large threat to our national security, RACO said.

It said that during the Troubles the majority of weapons and explosives used by both the Republicans and Loyalists were smuggled through the coastline.

The reigniting of conflict in Northern Ireland due to Brexit or a border poll that may occur between 2020 and 2025 is highly possible, RACO said.

Ireland remains incapable of fully defending its coastlines. In the event of conflict, the weapons and explosives necessary to propagate conflict and terrorism could once again enter Ireland unbeknownst to the authorities.

It said dissident republicans and militant loyalism are both becoming increasingly active and that the latter grouping has made it quite clear that Ireland and targets south of the border could be legitimate targets for them.

The association said one of the main threats to Ireland includes cyber attacks and information operations.

It said Ireland is seen as a data hub of Europe and that it is essential that the State has sufficient capability to detect and defeat cyber attacks.

RACO said the Defence Forces are struggling to retain its cyber defence capability because of the much-publicised pay and conditions and said this requires urgent attention.

It said the use of information operations to disrupt democratic elections could become more likely if Ireland is seen to have a disjointed, weak and underfunded approach to national security.

The body said the weakened and demoralised Defence Forces is the elephant in the room which can not be ignored.

The current recruitment and retention crisis in the Defence Forces is a major threat to national security, it said.

RACO said there is very limited espionage or counter-espionage capabilities with the Defence Forces or the Gardai.

It said to combat unauthorised incursions into Irish airspace a primary radar capability is needed and that the State should consider developing its own jet aircraft.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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.
Editors note: The World Health Organization has declared a coronoavirus pandemic, and more cases have been announced in several states. Public health scholar Aubree Gordon explains why schools across the nation are closing.

1. Can children get COVID-19?

Children can catch the virus, SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, the disease that has infected more than 121,000 and caused more than 4,000 deaths. However, for reasons that we public health officials and physicians do not understand, most children do not seem to get very sick from the infection. In fact, some children may not display any symptoms at all.

In China, where the best clinical data are available, fewer infections were documented in children and teenagers than in older people. This same pattern was seen during the 2002-2003 outbreaks of SARS coronavirus, a virus that is closely related to SARS-CoV-2.

It is not clear whether children may be less susceptible to the virus, meaning that they are less likely to catch it, or if they just have milder symptoms than adults on average, and thus are less likely to be detected as cases. Its also important to note that there have been no reports of fatal cases of COVID-19 in children under the age of 10. In older children and teenagers, there has only been a single documented death to my knowledge. So, kids are much less likely to get COVID-19 than adults and if they do catch it, they typically have mild illness.

2. What role do schools play?

Respiratory viral diseases are spread when people come into contact with one another. This means that any place where people gather in close proximity can lead to viral transmission.

One of the best ways that we have to help control epidemics or pandemics of viruses like influenza is to close schools. This is because children tend to be very susceptible to common human respiratory viruses. They shed, or pass on, virus at higher levels and for longer than adults, which makes them more likely to transmit the disease. And they typically have poorer hygiene habits than adults.

Story continues

Thus, most countries pandemic plans include plans for school closures. But, its important to note that school closures are not guaranteed to reduce transmission. Timing of the closure is very important. Closures early in the epidemic are more likely to be effective, and they may be ineffective if children just gather in other locations.

3. Why close schools if children do not get very sick with COVID-19?

While SARS-CoV-2 appears to rarely cause severe disease in children, it is still possible that children play an important role in transmission. It is important to note that people who have symptoms of respiratory diseases, such as coughing and sneezing, are generally considered to be more infectious than those who are not showing symptoms. That is because the virus spreads when a person coughs or sneezes.

COVID-19 transmits very efficiently, and people do not have pre-existing immunity. Without controls, a large proportion of the population will become infected in any area where the virus circulates. And because of the severity of this virus in older adults, this would cause substantial severe illness and death.

In areas where large outbreaks occur, the health system may become overwhelmed, leading to an increasing fatality rate for COVID-19 and an increase in deaths from all causes. The severity of the situation thus requires communities to do what they can to limit transmission.

4. If closing schools might help, why not just close them all now?

It is important to remember that there are a lot of economic and social costs that come with school closures. When schools are closed, children miss out on learning. Extended closures may lead to children falling behind. They also cause an increase in worker absenteeism when parents have to stay home with their kids. That in turn affects the economy as a whole and may undermine key services, such as health care and law enforcement.

From a social perspective, low-income and single-parent households are particularly affected. Employers may not grant paid sick time to workers, leaving parents to choose between leaving children in less-than-ideal care or unsupervised, or not being able to pay for basic needs.

Schools often also serve as an important social support, providing hot meals and needed services to low-income and homeless children. Indeed, for this exact reason, New York City leaders have announced that they see school closures as a last resort. Thus, the decision to close schools and when to close them is very complicated and will depend on a number of factors.

[Youre smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversations authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter.]

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

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Aubree Gordon receives funding from the National Institutes of Health.
The novel coronavirus acts by its own lights. Beyond that, much depends on how we react to it. I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. Within limits. We had some experience of that during SARS.

Everyone knowledgeable in this area worries about panic, in realms reaching past the medical. Epidemics come and go (and often return, usually in mitigated form, as vaccines are found or resistance rises to the challenge.) But non-medical effects can be as (literally) deadly. They arise by way of racism, violence and particularly here, the economy. It would be truly hideous if COVID-19 bequeathed more economically related deaths than medical ones.

But we dont command our personal ships of state in a vacuum; we depend on what we know, and who tells us. Thats why the public voices and faces that speak to us in crises matter too. Here the human factor can loom scarily large.

So its worth recalling that these voices might reveal inconsistencies or their own quirks and personalities. You might too, if you spent your days, and probably nights, swimming in devastating figures or projections, while knowing youre depended on by your fellow creatures. For instance:

Andre Picard, the superb health journalist, has been a rock. Clear, calm, calming. Then Wednesday in the Globe, he wrote: its time to shut it down  closing down schools (from daycares through universities) temporarily  pulling the plug on mass gatherings. It sounded starker, more unconditional than hed been, even with qualifiers. Did he mean everything, everywhere, at once?

By Thursday, on CBC radio, where you heard his actual voice, he seemed less commandingly prescriptive. Maybe Ontario and B.C. should go first 

Patty Hajdu, minister of health. Ive found her a splendid voice, just the type who should be in cabinet: had a real life before politics, focused on good for others. Smart, never smarmy. Then Wednesday she said assuredly that 30 to 70 per cent of us would get the virus. Huh? Eleven to 26 million Canadians? By the bandied-about mortality rates of 1 to 2 per cent, that would mean 110,000 to 520,000 deaths. Yet the general level risk remains low? Even Picard had worried about only 5,000 extra infections on the CBC. Anyone like to clarify? Did I alone keep waking and running these numbers? Aside from that stat, she seems the same level voice.

Chrystia Freeland heads the Liberal team. The plodding, deliberate avoidance style she used doing interviews on NAFTA talks doesnt work as well here. Then it implied big stuff was happening but shh, lets not wreck it by spilling too much. Here long pauses and I dont really have a crystal ball, Matt, sound evasive. Youre talking to worried families, not Trumps negotiators.

Like other spokespeople  Bonnie Henry (B.C.), Deena Hinshaw (Alberta), Penny Sutcliffe (Sudbury)  we see less of, these are individuals one can basically like/admire, with the standard quibbles. I cite them largely to say were in this together with them and need to attend carefully to their words while allowing room for some slack, revision and interpretation.

By contrast, theres Trump, and I dont mean just his ignorant, self-serving babble. The briefings of his supersquad, led by VP Pence, are plainly not meant for the population but almost solely for Trump himself. They all must repeat what a brick hes been, how he alone is saving the universe. Everyone in the U.S. knows thats whats going on yet many indulge him. They truly are unique.

What you want from these spokespeople is what you look for in a certain kind of friend at boundary moments: the ability to gaze unflinchingly at possibilities while not lapsing into debilitating pity or self-pity. Some friends are good at that; others, just as loyal, arent. Id say were relatively well off.

Two superb spokespeople during SARS were public health official Sheela Basrur and microbiologist Donald Low. Since then both died tragic, untimely deaths. Both left legacies: Basrur insisted on living to the end with all the joy she could find; Low left a video legacy pleading the cause of assisted suicide.

Why do I mention that? Because this too is, among other things, about death, and how we face its near or distant, in us or others, prospect.
In January, the media offered continuous coverage of the coronavirus sweeping through the Wuhan region of China. From the profit viewpoint, the coronavirus was a mesmerizing story that fell into the "if it bleeds, it leads" category (only this time the mantra was "if it has a fever and a dry cough, we can't get enough"). The coverage was honest, if sensationalist.

Those early days, however, were the Democrat establishment's last honest moments. Since then, the media and Democrat politicians will say anything about the coronavirus, no matter that it contradicts what they previously said, provided they can make it appear that Trump and other Republicans are malevolent, racist, and ineffective.

The media shift on racism has been especially hard to swallow because it's been so obvious. At the end of January, when Trump announced that he was restricting China flights into America and planning to quarantine people getting off those flights, the media and others in the Democrat establishment were unanimous: Trump is racist!

At Vox, Nylah Burton assured readers that "[t]he panic has exposed a deep-seated xenophobia, and with it, a symptom of its own has surfaced: hostility toward East Asian people."

The People's World announced that "Trump sinks to racist panic as China mobilizes against disease."

At the Los Angeles Times, the paper criticized Trump because his plan did "not align with the World Health Organization's recommendations, which advise against a travel ban[.]" The paper then quoted Jennifer Nuzzo, of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, to the effect that the quarantine wouldn't work but would fuel racism.

Democracy Now put out a video explaining how racist the travel ban was.

The Verge scolded Trump for feeding racism when he banned foreign nations from China.

Democrats were so horrified by Trump's efforts to prevent both terrorists and diseases from flowing unchecked into America that, less than two weeks after the travel ban, the House Judiciary Committee voted to terminate all of the president's travel bans.

Once the coronavirus started appearing in America, though, the new Democrat rule was that Trump had done nothing to halt the spread of the disease into America. All of the Democrat establishment's complaints about Trump's travel ban vanished.

The most significant shift, though, involved nomenclature. As George Orwell understood so well and articulated in 1984, he who controls language controls thought. Although the Democrat establishment shifted away from Trump's banning flights from China, it never lost track of the racism idea, one that worked so powerfully to shut down Republicans during the Obama years.

The new rules started in dead earnest when Rep. Paul Gosar announced that, because he'd had contact at CPAC with someone later diagnosed with coronavirus, he was self-quarantining. Gosar's sin, in leftist eyes, was that he did not call the malady "coronavirus." He called it "Wuhan Virus."

Democrats in and out of the media went ballistic. MSNBC talking dweeb Chris Hayes announced that it was "[j]ust astoundingly gross to call it the Wuhan Virus." Two minutes after that, David Gura, who spreads his meager talent around MSNBC, NBC, Bloomberg, and NPR, announced that "Calling #COVID19 the 'Wuhan Virus' is racist." The racist meme rapidly spun out of control from there.

If there's one thing in this world that's delightful, it's seeing people hoist with their own petard. In the old days, the moment Democrats changed the rules, Republicans would have been standing there looking confused and, of course, "racist." Now, however, the internet allows us all to see that the Democrats are just as "racist" as everyone else.

The Media Research Center has compiled a brutal video showing that the same talking heads who loudly castigate as racist anyone who allies Wuhan or China with the virus were at the forefront of doing so themselves:

Remember: The media are not purveyors of facts. They are propagandists who will do and say anything if they think it gives the Democrat Party a political advantage.
In response to growing fears regarding the spread of the coronavirus, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero announced Thursday a number of sweeping reforms across the city, including not issuing special event permits for gatherings of 50 or more people and suspending Tucson Water shutoffs and late fees for customers who are delinquent.

"As more testing becomes available, we should fully expect more cases to be confirmed," Romero said in a video that was posted on social media Thursday afternoon. "While most cases are mild, we need to be taking extra precaution around the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions. The sooner that we take decisive action, the better off our community will be."

The initiatives come just days after the Pima County Health Department confirmed its first Tucson-area case of COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory illness, after a resident of unincorporated Pima County who had recently returned from an area with community spread tested positive.

That patient reports "that he's feeling fine and that he's recovering from the illness," according to Mark Evans, the county's communications director, who added that "there is ongoing community transmission of the virus in Arizona and in Pima County."

Representatives from the city met on Thursday to discuss options to curb the spread of the virus. Romero said those efforts were designed to protect the roughly 4,000 city employees, as well as the public, as the list included the suspension of all public meetings, including board, committee and commission hearings, suspension of all out-of-city travel for employees, and the evaluation of telecommuting options for employees.
This is getting more and more surreal by the day. I've had a doomsday feeling for a while now and it's amped up since my city declared a state of emergency.



I'm glad people are taking precautions now and stuff is beginning to shut down to contain the virus. Someone I know keeps spouting online that "the media is overhyping this" and "it's not that big of a deal" but it's like...no, this is a real risk here and it IS a big deal. This is serious.



I lost work this month because of this and I'm super sad (I know a lot of us have), but I hope everyone stays safe and healthy.

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It really feels surreal like we're in a movie. We've definitely never experienced anything like this before.

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it really does feel like one of those scary disaster or nuclear war movies where most people don't take it seriously until they have no choice



Edited at 2020-03-13 03:09 am (UTC)

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Good. I was really worried about concerts. Those would be the perfect breeding ground and then people would go home and spread it.

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Post Malone is going on stage tonight in denver and the local stations are losing their minds. But give the kids a chance to opt out, and dont make it a loss for people that hella traveled to be there only to get there and be told go home. Dont be mad the shit isnt canceled within hours of a decision being made. but also, my ass sold my ticket becuase im already gonna get it becuase of my line of work, i dont need to bring it to my area first.

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I'm starting to get quite panicky now. Pandemics have been one of my legit biggest fears since I was a kid and this is turning into my worst nightmare. All the closures with no end in sight are scaring the shit out of me tbh. My work's switched to telework for at least two weeks, but we all left feeling anxious because we have no way of knowing how long we'll really be gone from the office. I've also got at least two weeks worth of groceries, but it's not exactly a buffet of nutritious meals - I've mainly got cheap shit that'll last a long time like pasta, rice, granola bars, etc. I'm really scared that stores will start to close down or run out of supplies for who knows how long, and I won't have rationed my food well enough.



It also doesn't help that I'm stuck staying in the house with the MOST annoying people in the entire world. I don't see how I'm going to survive even two weeks listening to my fucking brother-in-law mansplain shit from sunrise to sunset.

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So i live in the mountains and in the winter its brutal to go shopping when you are trying to get home in blizzards while its still daylight. If you have room, go buy frozen vegetables, they will hit the spot when you are grained out. Same with frozen fruit, it shouldnt be your first choice, but its pretty great when its your only choice. Can you make one pot meals to stretch a few days. I make a skillet lasagna that can be lunch and dinner for 3-4 days if i need to. Also check thrivemarket.com they are pricey but worth it. And prime pantry but you have to order a bit.

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and fucking powdered milk, that has saved me so many times when i cant get out.

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I've been afraid of a pandemic too. I have a box in my closet with N95 masks, Tyvek suits, goggles, etc. lol (and have had it for years). So it's *really* surreal and freaky for it to actually be happening. But tbh I really doubt grocery stores will shut down. Worst case scenario IMO is there's worse selection and maybe limits on what times/days you can go.

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Same. I was getting hella stressed that they hadn't postponed yet. Ppl on twitter were saying they called the Forum, who told them that the decision was up to the Strokes. I didn't want to waste money but my elderly mother who's diabetic lives with me so I couldn't risk it. At least May isn't that far away.

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I have tickets to some shows in the next few weeks and I've been waiting for the venues/Ticketmaster to announce that they've been cancelled.



Some places have been a lot more proactive than others. I have tickets to a show at a venue that is owned by Live Nation and holds almost 3500 people. They should have cancelled this show as soon as the SF mayor banned gatherings of over 1000 people but they did not. It wasn't until the governor banned gatherings of more than 250 people that they actually did anything about it, but the only place that they have announced it so far is Twitter. They have not posted this information anywhere else or emailed ticket holders (which is even more ridiculous considering that they emailed me two days ago to remind me that this show was coming up).



In contrast, another venue not only sent an email to all ticket holders but they also called and left a message on my phone (on top of announcing it on their website, Instagram, and their Facebook page).



I totally support cancelling shows for public safety. It's just really annoying and irresponsible that some of these places aren't bothering to notify people who have tickets.

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One of my aunts (50 something) lives with my grandma (90 something).



... Her workplace has two confirmed cases and an entire floor on isolation.



... Last time I checked she's still going to work, instead of working from home.

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i work for DHS and every other county is getting ready to go home to work, our county decided we wont do that until someone in the building has it. like wtf. tell aunty to knock it off and go home. Could it be a fear of technology?

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It's so dumb because by the time someone is showing symptoms, they've probably already passed it on. It's so infuriating people don't realize that.

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Oh boy, this is long and I am on mobile sorry.



I've been saying this to her but skipping the "You'll probably be fine but granny's gonna die" line. 3 or 5 of her colleagues in her department was on the floor when the first confirmed wasn't confirmed yet and they are now in isolation. My aunt has contacted 2 and one of them isn't confirmed yet but having bad symptoms and another contacted telehealth.



The situiation with my aunt is *kinda* unique in the fact her workplace is two different buildings and she is in the other one. However, she will probably catch it as she is IT/Repairs and has to handle tech from around the workplace, touched by people. She could also be called to the other tower, which is why her colleagues were on that floor and got quarantined. Her workplace has disinfected and closed that floor and made strict hygeine protocals.



However, she goes to work by bus and a doctor on CBC admitted that we are not catching everyone as we currently don't have enough tests.



I guess I will just have to be blunt with her about the risk she's putting granny in.



Also, my 60 something mother went to watch granny after the news came out, and will watch her again in the near future. She asked her doctor if she should be concerned but he said no, so.



EDIT: Aaaaaannnndddd Sophie Trudeau is now confirmed to have COVID19.



Edited at 2020-03-13 02:41 am (UTC)

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The college where I work is having students attend MOST classes from home, but I live in a super rural area where students don't have reliable internet so they're keeping the labs open and having labs and clinicals stay open. And staff are expected to be on campus.

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OT, but your icon is from w.i.t.c.h., right? today has been such a miserable day, and my depression/anxiety is rly bad w all this pandemic stuff, and seeing your icon has been such a happy little surprise to see <3 so adorable!

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Sigh. Hoping everything goes back to normal in April. But honestly, I'm wondering if this is going to change how people behave forever. Probably not, because people are gonna live life but this experience has been something. Working in concerts, I always think about things like active shooters or threats, those things being something that could shut work down. I never honestly considered a pandemic sweeping through. I guess I don't remember other illnesses (Swine flu/H1N1) if things were shutting down then.

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Not that I was dirty before/didn't wash my hands but I do think it's going to affect me going forward. Whenever I go anywhere in the city I just think of germs crawling over everything, myself. It's not something I thought about quite this much and to this extent, and I don't think it'll go away.

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I really do hope the silver lining of all this is that everyone starts to treat all illnesses and germs more seriously. The fact that people are ONLY NOW acting like they need to wash their hands thoroughly HORRIFIES ME. I want to see this hand-washing energy from now on! Also hoping this somewhat permanently changes society's views on people going to work while sick.

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I am seriously hoping that congress gives the NIH an enormous budget increase asap. Our giant influenza umbrella program got cut from $20 million to $5 million this year. That's not a cut, that's a constructive termination. We're also the umbrella that was supposed to be activated in the event on a pandemic caused by a respiratory virus. SO ENJOY YOUR 25% USEFUL PANDEMIC HELP, EVERYONE.

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I know, right? All of the hand washing PSAs made me realize that a lot of people are not washing their hands regularly. Like you have to be told to do this, people?

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We had a post about Broadway earlier.



I'm glad they're stopping tours, too. Can't trust individuals to do the right thing honestly.

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When I originally submitted this post, the Broadway one hadn't been posted yet so I was combining the cancellation news together. It's crazy how quickly things changed in just a few hours!

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And I definitely think it's the right decision to cancel shows because a lot of people are not using any basic manners or common sense.



On Tuesday night when I was in downtown San Francisco, in the space of half a block, I saw one guy sneeze and another person cough and neither of them even attempted to cover their mouths or turn their heads. Even when there isn't a pandemic happening, you should not do that!



And last week during intermission at a show, the group of people behind me were talking about the coronavirus and how bad they thought it was going to get. One of them piped up and said, "I'm pretty sure I have it. I've been flying a lot and they said you don't have symptoms right away." I wanted to turn around and ask her what in the holy hell she was doing at a 3100+ seat venue if she thinks she has a contagious virus.



I know some people are upset about shows being cancelled but at least it's keeping assholes like that from spreading their germs around.

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Justin Trudeaus wife Sophie has it, its just been confirmed. This is nuts!

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Seems like such a disproportionate amount of famous people have it. I guess the number of unknown cases is even higher than what I thought. :-\

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famous / wealthy people are more well known so it's more publicized, but they also travel the world and speak in front of big groups more

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I'm trying to force myself to be as optimistic as I can be, but things are starting to feel so fucking hopeless. I KNOW it's not the end of times but ugh. I feel like I'm only hanging on by a thread now before I go back to square one with the constant panic and anxiety after I worked so hard to get it down to a managable level.

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I absolutely understand this but it's not hopeless. It's good that so many massive things are shutting down. It will mitigate things and prevent a lot of spread that would have happened otherwise.

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Thank you for the reminder! I've been trying to tell myself that with all these closures and cancellations, but I have bad anxiety in the best of times, so it's hard to shut out the bad thoughts sometimes.

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Thank you for this reminder x100. I keep getting bouts of being really sad and anxious and then I remember that cancellations are good. The only thing that really scares me is the food/resource shortages

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Hang in there, bb! I know this is causing A LOT of stress for multiple reasons (fear of actually getting sick, the looming threat of quarantine, the potential lack of income, and the ridiculous lack of toilet paper at every store), but what I keep reminding myself is that there are only certain things within my power to change/control.



I can choose to not go to large gatherings in public (heh, although these recent bans on large group gatherings mean that choice has been made for me too) and I can keep washing my hands and try to stay safe.



Self care is important right now so do whatever calms you or relaxes you (or at least doesn't make you MORE anxious). I'm going to be rewatching some of my favorite old movies this weekend to take my mind off of things for a few hours.



Stay safe!

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i'm supposed to take a trip next month for a concert and i'm just waiting on official cancellation news. i'm glad i'd decided to wait to make travel and hotel plans just in case.

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Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ

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And yet Billie Eilish performed tonight in Raleigh despite 8 cases in Raleigh and more in the surrounding areas. And it was sold out.

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wow fuck that

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she's postponed her concerts now

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Carrie Underwood is doing a random show here in Oklahoma on Saturday. Nothing has been announced about our yet..

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Businessman holding tablet and showing a growing virtual hologram of statistics, graph and chart with arrow up on dark background. Stock market. Business growth, planning and strategy concept

For investors looking to test their mettle in times of uncertainty, identifying the top-ranked stocks to buy is a worthy challenge. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, not every company is a buy-on-the-dip candidate.

It is always best for investors to invest in high-quality stocks with strong fundamentals. These are the stocks that will protect your portfolio against further downside and give it a boost when the markets inevitably rise.

With that in mind, here are the top-ranked stocks according to Zachs investment research. Investing in companies like these can provide investors with the potential for outsized gains and, according to analysts, have limited downside.

A top-ranked gold stock

It is not surprising to see a gold stock appear on the top-ranked list. Gold is a safe haven asset and the industry tends to outperform during times of uncertainty. Newmont (TSX:NEM)(NYSE:NEM) has held up quite well amid the current downtrend. Over the past month, a period when the S&P/TSX Composite Index has lost 18.19% of its value, Newmont has rewarded investors with gains of 10.92%.

Newmonts success is not surprising, considering it is one of the worlds largest gold producers. It has active operations in Nevada, Peru, Australia, and Ghana. As of December 31, 2019, it had gold reserves in excess of 100 million ounces.

Newmont is trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 12 times, which is well below the industry average of 23.50 times earnings. Over the next five years, the company is expected to grow earnings by an average of 20.08% annually. This gives it a P/E-to-growth (PEG) ratio of only 0.6, which is among the lowest in the industry. In light of these valuations, Newmont is well positioned to deliver regardless of market conditions.

An undervalued tech stock

Celestica (TSX:CLS)(NYSE:CLS) is another stock that finds itself on the list of top-ranked stocks. As one of the largest electronic manufacturing companies in the world, the company is well positioned for growth. Over the past month, Celsticas stock has been hit hard along with the wider market, losing 28.49% of its value.

Story continues

As a result, Celestica is now firmly in oversold territory with a 14-day relative strength index (RSI) of 19. A 14-day RSI under 30 indicates a companys stock is oversold. This implies that the company is due for a short-term bounce.

Celestica is also a value play. It is trading below its book value (0.61). It is also trading at a low P/E of 10.58 and an ultra-low 7.53 times forward earnings. This is well below the industry averages for these metrics, which are 1.11, 13.03, and 9.58 respectively.

Furthermore, analysts expect 33% average earnings growth over the next couple of years for this promising company. The average analyst price target is $12.48 per share, which implies 62.5% upside from todays price of $7.68 per share.

There also appears to be limited downside to the CLS stock, as the lowest price on the street is $11.55 per share. In light of this, even if the company reaches the most bearish target, investors are still looking at 50% upside.

Foolish takeaway

During difficult markets, it is a great idea to look for high-quality companies trading at bargain prices. When it seems like most investors are on the run, it takes courage to go against the herd. There is always the possibility that your choices will fall further before they recover. But if you are in for the long term, and choose stocks in companies with solid fundamentals, you have the potential for outsized gains when markets eventually recover.

The post Top-Ranked Stocks to Buy Right Now appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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Fool contributor Mat Litalien has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020
PASCAGOULA, Miss., March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias was among three University of South Alabama alumni honored with a 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award presented at the 16th Annual Distinguished Alumni and Service Awards celebration last week in Mobile, Alabama.



Cuccias was recognized for his outstanding achievements and leadership demonstrated throughout his career. Upon receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award, he thanked his family, the university and the shipbuilders at Ingalls.

The University of South Alabamas dedication to excellence is an asset to the entire Gulf Coast region. To be nominated and selected for this award is very humbling and quite an honor, Cuccias said. You must have great people that support you and work around you to be successful. I have a wonderful wife and family and 11,000 fantastic shipmates that work with me who have contributed to any successes I have achieved.

A photo accompanying this release is available at: https://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file/cuccias-distinguished-almuni

Cuccias graduated from the University of South Alabama in 1979 with a bachelors degree in accounting. He started his career as a financial analyst on Navy shipbuilding programs in Pascagoula. As Ingalls Shipbuilding president, Cuccias is responsible for the companys programs and operations, including the U.S. Navys amphibious assault and surface combatant ship programs and the U.S. Coast Guards National Security Cutter program.

We are delighted to have the opportunity to recognize the achievements of our alumni, friends and supporters, said Margaret Sullivan, vice president for development and alumni relations at University of South Alabama. These individuals have shown outstanding leadership in their respective career fields, to the university and in their communities.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is Americas largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HIIs Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HIIs Technical Solutions division supports national security missions around the globe with unmanned systems, defense and federal solutions, nuclear and environmental services, and fleet sustainment. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 42,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:

HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com

HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries

HII on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hiindustries

Contact:

Teckie Hinkebein

Teckie.Hinkebein@hii-co.com

(228) 935-1323
The "Project Python," drug enforcement plan, which has been headed by the Drug Enforcement Administration, is the biggest attempt ever by the United States to dismantle Mexico's infamous drug-dealers that is known for its violent kidnappings and killings. As part of a six-month mission, they had detained hundreds of gang-associated individuals to target their US-based headquarters.

Apart from the national arrests, authorities confiscated more than 20 kilograms of narcotics and 20 million dollars of cash. According to the authorities, the cartel has headquarters in Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Chicago and Atlanta and is a major force on the borders within the South-West.

The DEA confirmed that CJNG has transported illicit narcotics in the US by entering different smuggling routes across the south-west border, particularly Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo according to the 2019 National Drug Threat Assessment.

The sudden growth in CJNG's operations in drug smuggling has been defined by a commitment to enter into violent altercations with government's paramilitary forces and rival organizations.

In addition, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho", the undisputed leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is charged with attempting to sell cocaine and methamphetamine all through the United States and is also regarded as one of the most sought after criminal in the law enforcement.

On Tuesday, in Los Angeles California, billboards had appeared advertising a $10 million incentive for the details contributing to the capture of Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader Nemesio "El Mencho '' Oseguera.

The government of the United States increased the price paid for details that will lead to the arrest of CJNG leader in October 2018 from $5 million to $10 million. He is being sought for for a variety of federal charges including criminal fraud, the manufacture and sale of illegal drugs in the United States.

In 2015, on drug trafficking charges, Mexico's military arrested Ruben Oseguera Gonzalez, who was identified as "El Menchito". However, he had spent a couple of years fighting extradition to the United States. It had ended last month when the court rejected the latest objections from his attorney, and he flew into the United States for appearance in a Washington court.

Oseguera Gonzalez, the second CJNG commandant of his father, had pleaded not guilty before his arrest to the allegation of trafficking between 2007 and 2017 of large volumes of cocaine and methamphetamine and the possession of a drug firearms. He is denied bail.

Only a week after, DEA agents detained his sister Jessica Johanna Oseguera Gonzalez, identified as "La Negra" as she was on her way to attend the Court hearing of her brother. She is said to be responsible for making financial transactions with five organizations that are in the U.S. Treasury Department as they are reported to provide Jalisco New Generation Cartel with financial assistance.

As per the investigators, she is a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico who used to be a key launderer of CJNG and who lived in Guadalajara, Mexico, until her arrest. She had pled not guilty of the charges.

Rosalinda Gonzalez Valencia, Oseguera Cervantes ' wife, was detained for money laundering and coordinated criminality in May 2018. Nevertheless, that same year after a judge determined that there was inadequate proof to convict her she was later freed from preventive custody on bail.

Last year, the Department of Justice convicted Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera or "El Chapo", the Sinaloa cartel boss, who was made internationally recognized through his dramatic prison breaks. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in July.
As COVID-19 continues to spread, its natural to want to calculate your risk of infection. If youre a smoker or vaper, its likely your risk is higher.

On Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the cases popping up in his city, including one of an otherwise healthy 22-year-old man. "Why is a 22-year-old man stable but hospitalized at this point? The one factor we know of is he is a vaper," de Blasio said. So, we don't know of any preexisting conditions, but we do think the fact that he is a vaper is affecting this situation.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmote is against the possible imposition of a city-wide lockdown, which will restrict travel of its 3 million residents.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Belmonte said she will appeal a portion of President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of a community quarantine. In the resolution issued on Thursday, a city-wide quarantine is "advised" when there are at least two positive coronavirus cases belonging to different barangays in the same city; there are six confirmed coronavirus disease or COVID-19 cases in Quezon City.

She said it is unrealistic to impose a lockdown on the largest city in Metro Manila.

"I think I will probably appeal this to the DILG... I think it's a little bit unreasonable to lockdown our city if only two barangays would exhibit two cases from different households," she said.

The local executive said the city government will craft guidelines on how to lessen the number of people unnecessarily going around the city.

"We are encouraged to stay at home as much as possible, we are encouraged to work from the house if we can. The city government will be crafting guidelines to that effect to lessen the number of people going to city halls because of course that constitutes greatly to the probable spread of the virus. We are working for a four-day work week for many of our employees," she said.

The Interior Department said Metro Manila cities, municipality should consult first with the inter-agency task force and the Health Department before implementing a city- or municipality-wide quarantine.

Over 12 million people living in Metro Manila would not be allowed in and out of the country's economic and political center by land, local air travel and local sea travel from midnight of March 15 until April 14 as the region is placed under community quarantine.

This is part of the recommendations of the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases approved by Duterte during their meeting before his address. All their recommendations will be in place for 30 days, but will be evaluated every seven days.
People were upset, said Ms. Quigley, who leaves Sunday, adding that many of her friends at other schools had now canceled their upcoming spring break plans. People were on the phone with their parents trying to figure out what to do. It was clear how serious the coronavirus had become.

As the cases mounted, city leaders met with health officials to formulate strategies that would reduce the risk of the virus spreading. Large public events like Ultra Music Festival and Calle Ocho were quickly canceled. But spring break is tricky because it is not made up of a single event and students visit beaches from Panama City to Key West.

The outbreak forced hard public health questions: What are the potential risks of thousands of students descending on the states beaches and crowding into bars and restaurants? Can spring break during a pandemic be safe? And with two weeks left in the spring break season, should state and local leaders try to slow the waves of young people who could potentially arrive and then spread the virus across the country?

Young people who are on spring break are not just sitting having conversations. They are going to multiple places, they are going to parties, they are touching and kissing, they are drinking, Dr. Lilian Abbo, chief of infection prevention for Jackson Health System and a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said on Wednesday. We cant stop people from coming here for spring break, so we have to send a consistent message: Do not come into public spaces sick, practice social distancing.

Last Monday, the governor declared a state of emergency. That same day, Ben Cunningham was in Ohio making his mother a promise before he hopped onto a plane to Florida for spring break: He would wash his hands frequently, wipe down surfaces and keep the pocket-size hand sanitizer in his backpack.
" " Scientists suggest the distinct walk each person exhibits may reveal innate personality traits. Malte Mueller/Getty Images

Human movement is complex, and yet we constantly draw pretty accurate conclusions about people based on how they move. If you've ever watched John Travolta strut to the Bee Gees at the end of "Saturday Night Fever," for instance, you know the other hour and 57 minutes of character development in that movie is kind of superfluous. That walk tells you all you need to know.

Most people walk. But that seemingly simple act is actually a highly coordinated series of movements that each require their own timing and path. Not only that, everybody you know has a special style of walking,  think John Wayne's distinctive amble, or Gisele Bundchen's runway stride  and if you know them well enough, you can probably identify them by their movements, even from far away.

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For instance, if your mom and sister were walking side-by-side a block ahead of you, it's likely you'd be able to tell them apart based on movement alone. It's even possible you'd be able to discern from that distance that your sister is in a bad mood and your mom is distracted by something.

Science suggests locomotion may be able to predict something deeper than someone's temporary mood. Although humans have a great built-in system for understanding movement, a new paper published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior presents a technique for making assumptions about a person's entire personality based on their walk. The 29 study participants first took the Big Five Inventory, a commonly used personality test that can help predict patterns in a person's thought and behaviour (conscientiousness), social skills (agreeableness), propensity to worry (neuroticism), creativity and intellect (openness) and extraversion (sociability and assertiveness). The researchers then recorded and analyzed the gaits of each participant on a treadmill.

"We found that larger relative-upper-to-lower body movement was a strong predictor of aggression," says co-author Liam Satchell, a PhD student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Portsmouth. "Similarly, we found large amounts of pelvic movement alone predict social-facing traits like extraversion and agreeableness."

Of course, we use people's walks to predict things about their personalities all the time, but this research helps pick apart and mathematically explain previous research where "distinctive" gait was helpful in predicting impending crimes in footage from security cameras. If security personnel were trained in recognizing aggressive gaits, Satchell argues, they might be able to prevent crimes before they happened.

"The results of the study have some nice surprises," says Satchell. "For us the critical message is this: there's definitely evidence of personality in gait. It could well be the case that a further scientific exploration of body language could reveal more empirical evidence that the behaviors of another person can be predicted from how they move through space."

One such study has come out recently. The journal PLOS Computational Biology published a model that can generally predict the probability of the path and timing of the parts of the movement shared by all people, and even the movements shared by people who have similar personality traits or are in the same moods  like particularly aggressive people, or people who are feeling grouchy. By modelling what's normal, the researchers created a framework for identifying movements that differ from the norm and are unique to a particular person or to someone who's acting really weird.

"Automated computer analysis of human movement has shown promise in threat identification, like in identifying possible terrorists from video surveillance," says Dr. Lars Lau Raket, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. "In our proposed model, we can combine information from thousands of movement patterns to extract precise information about the structure of the movement, which ultimately allows us to judge whether the movement of an individual differs significantly from what we would expect to see in a given situation."

And while there's nothing particularly scientific nor revealing about the gaits on display in this clip below, we'd be remiss to avoid any mention of the Ministry of Silly Walks:

Now That's Interesting Not only do we walk in ways that reflect our individual personalities, we walk in the laziest way possible for our bodies; according to a 2015 study, our nervous systems are constantly, subconsciously monitoring energy use, tweaking movement patterns so we can move "as cheaply as possible."
Roanokes mayor and Carilion Clinics infectious diseases chief held a news conference Friday intending to spread facts on the coronavirus and to urge the public to take steps to keep the disease from spreading in the region.

The most important thing I can say about the coronavirus is that we are able as a community to reduce the risk of spread if it were to occur in this area by starting to employ simple things so that we are used to them if it shows up here, Dr. Anthony Baffoe-Bonnie, medical director of infectious diseases, said.

Roanoke canceled Saturdays St. Patricks Day parade and Shamrock Festival and suspended all city-sponsored public events for 30 days. Parks and recreation activities were halted, as were jail visitations for all but inmates attorneys. The citys libraries will close, starting Monday. Also closing are libraries in Salem and Botetourt County.

The Virginia Department of Health on Friday reported 30 cases of COVID-19 in the state, most of which are in Northern Virginia.

Included in the new tally were five people living in James City County. Four of them had had contact with two previously announced cases. The fifth case is of unknown exposure, and the Peninsula Health District is continuing to investigate to determine where he might have acquired the virus.

Until now, all Virginia cases had been traceable. If this case cannot be traced, it could mark the first sign of community transmission.

There are still no confirmed cases in Southwest Virginia. Roanoke College said Friday that a test came back negative for a student who recently traveled to Europe.

There is lots of rumor going around. And this happens in times of new diseases. It is important to always go to the right source, Baffoe-Bonnie said. As far as I know, looking today, there are no cases in the southwestern Virginia area. And our efforts now are to try and do everything we can to keep it that way.

He said it is inappropriate to discuss whenever patients are tested or treated. All of that information must come from the Health Department.

He suggested people look to the Health Departments website for accurate information on cases. The department at noon each day provides an update on the number of people who have tested positive and where they live. It no longer shows the number of tests, as it cannot know how many are being done in commercial labs. All labs are required to notify the Health Department of positive COVID-19 cases.

The Health Department does not immediately share those results with the public, as it can take a day to confirm.

Mayor Sherman Lea said the city also has created a COVID-19 website to spread facts, not fears.

He said the city recommends social distancing and has halted any nonessential events to reduce the number of large gatherings.

We are taking these steps in an abundance of caution to decrease the chances of our citizens being exposed to the coronavirus, Lea said. City staff is taking and planning action to ensure we will continue the essential services that include fire-EMS, law enforcement and solid waste.

City Manager Bob Cowell said work-from-home and leave policies are being relaxed for employees. People can still show up in person to take care of city business, but he suggested they do transactions online. The city councils Monday meeting has not been canceled.

Carilion on Friday began to screen and limit visitors at all of its hospitals.

No one under 18 years old is permitted to visit. Adult patients are limited to one visitor; children to two. No visitors are permitted in the behavioral health units, as that is a communal setting.

Baffoe-Bonnie said these steps will help protect patients and staff.

It bears to be repeating because they are very simple, but important, things to do to stop the spread of respiratory illnesses, he said. If you have flu-like illnesses, you want to avoid contact with others. Dont go to work. Dont cough on people. Dont send kids to school when they are not well.

And wash your hands.

If there is one thing I want to leave from here: Hand-washing saves lives. Its very simple. You want to do it frequently, he said.

Flu is still in the area. Carilion is asking people not use its emergency departments for minor ailments.

While the Health Department recommends that people with fevers, coughs, difficulty breathing and possible exposure to COVID-19 contact their doctors first for instructions, Carilions primary care clinics is not yet equipped to see and test patients in that setting. Baffoe-Bonnie said a plan is being put in place.

While he could not say whether patients have been tested in the emergency room, the procedure would be to have them wear a mask and to isolate them from others waiting to be seen. Health care providers would wear protective equipment such as gloves, masks and gowns.

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Microsoft has taken down one of the worlds largest and longest-running botnets, an illicit network of zombie computers high-jacked by malware and used for a wide variety of fraudulent phishing schemes without their owners knowledge.

The takedown operation was a collaboration between Microsofts Digital Crimes Unit, cybersecurity firm BitSight, and a number of other partners in 35 different countries.

The botnet, called Necurs, had spread to more than nine million computers over the course of eight years, using the surplus processing power of infected devices for mass emailing campaigns and other fraudulent activity that further spreads the networks reach.

Microsoft has taken down Necurs, an eight year-old botnet that is believed to have infected nine million computers across 35 countries with malicious malware

According to a blog post by Microsofts Tom Burt, Corporate Vice President of Customer Security and Trust, the botnet was based in Russia and was linked to the infamous 2014 GameOver Zeus attack that saw more than $100milliion stolen from bank accounts.

Other schemes included pump and dump operations, where false news about stocks are circulated in an attempt to raise the price so that investors can then sell their shares off at a profit.

There were also fake pharmaceutical promotions, and a Russian bride email schemes used to trick people into disclosing personal information.

In addition to organizing their own illicit campaigns through the network of infected computers, it appears the Necurs group also rented out the botnet to others who wanted to conduct illegal schemes.

The final take down took place after a US District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued an order allowing Microsoft to take action against the group.

Microsoft executed the take down operation by identifying an algorithm the network used to automatically generate new web domains to promote as part of its fraudulent email campaigns.

Necurs secretly installed software on unwitting users computers and used their surplus processing power for a range of fraudulent activity, including phishing schemes to steal personal information and 'pump and dump' schemes meant to increase the price of a stock with false or misleading information

Microsoft created a list of more than six million domains it predicted the botnet's algorithm would attempt to register in the coming weeks and months.

It then shared the list with internet service providers around the world to block the domain registration attempts and break up the networks capacity to attack.

Some common signs of malware include programs taking more time to open than normal, regular system crashes, and your computer hard drive storage filling up at random times.
New Delhi With surging cases and two confirmed deaths in the country, the Centre must speed up partnerships with the private sector to ensure India has the capacity needed for quick diagnosis and treatment in isolation. Last week, the health ministry met representatives form major private hospitals, diagnostic centres and industry bodies to identify how best to utilise private sector resources in disease management.

We have received advisory from the government to create isolation facilities in case the number of cases goes up. We have identified 12 beds in the isolation facility that was used during the H1N1 outbreak. We are ready, but right now, I do not think there are enough cases to warrant the involvement of the private hospitals but preparedness is there, said Dr DS Rana, chairman, Board of Management, Sir Gangaram Hospital.

The Delhi government has tied up with six private hospitals in the city to increase the number of isolation beds. There are currently 189 isolation beds in 27 hospitals in Delhi, according to the state government. It can be scaled up quickly, if needed, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain had told HT.

With private players taking care of 60% of the countrys in-patient requirements, this is a good move, experts say. This is a move in the right direction. I have always been an advocate of better utilisation of the private resources for elective procedure. It is essential in a war-like situation, and this is a war-like situation. As for the cost, at the moment those taken to private hospitals must have insurance or would have agreed to pay, but if there is an increase in the number of cases where the government has to utilise private hospitals, it must reimburse the cost of treatment, said Dr MC Mishra, former director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Some private hospital may keep patients in isolation wards without payment, but it would depend on the number of people they treat and the kind of treatment needed. In 80% of the cases, it is just mild symptoms such as cough and cold, so no treatment is needed as such, he said.

The idea is to pool in collective resources and build on the strengths to work towards shared goals in public interest. It is time for public and private sectors to come together and work as an alliance in the spirit of collaboration and coordination for collective efforts towards Covid-19 management, said Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, stressing the need for preparation for a sudden surge in numbers.

This is in preparation for surge capacity. In case, the numbers shoot up suddenly. Currently, the government said that their hospitals have enough capacity, said representative from one of the hospitals present in the meeting, on condition of anonymity.

Right now, they are looking at quarantine facilities for evacuees still being brought in, the representative said.

In NCR, Medanta-The Medicity has 14 Italian tourists who tested positive for Covid-19. They are all asymptomatic and non-infective, said Medanta chairman and cardiac surgeon Dr Naresh Trehan.

The government needs volunteers on the ground for checking and streamlining the process of screening and testing. Also, if an overwhelming number of contacts is discovered, the government has asked the private sector to designate isolation wards, he said.

The government wanted to ensure that the isolation setups in private hospitals are ready and private players help in improving the on-ground surveillance, airport screening and contact tracing at the local level. Private hospitals have also been asked to educate patients and their families about the new viral disease, said an official from the health ministry, on condition of anonymity.

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The Dail will sit with a much-reduced TD population in order to pass emergency legislation relating to the Covid-19 epidemic, while the expected vote for Taoiseach is to be deferred.

Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail has written to TDs asking that a maximum of 30% - 48 - of TDs attend the next sitting on Thursday, March 19.

That is to be split proportionately along party lines depending on seat numbers - with a recommendation of 11 members each for Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein, and Fine Gael; 3 TDs for the Regional Independents Group, and 2 TDs each for all remaining parties and groups.

A minimum of 20 TDs will be required for the chamber to conduct its business, per standing orders.

The Ceann Comhairle said that a minimum of two TDs from each group attend, albeit with a maximum of two deputies in the chamber from each group at any one time.

Should the quorum of 20 not be reached on the day, Mr O Fearghail suggested that eventuality can be dealt with at the time.

The sitting itself is to take place between 2pm and 5pm.

Members are further requested to maintain a minimum safe distance - one metre - from their neighbouring representatives during the sitting.

Parliamentary Questions are to be suspended until March 29 meanwhile in order to free up Government resources to deal with the crisis.

Mr O Fearghail described the requests as being both reasonable and proportionate in the current circumstances.

The suggestions are dependent upon approval by members, but that is unlikely to be an issue given the unprecedented scale of the current crisis.

The emergency legislation on the agenda is aimed at amending the rules on sick pay, which would see illness benefit rise from 203 per week up to 305, available from the first day of illness, in order to ease the burden placed on workers unable to attend employment because of the virus.

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A dog shelter made an emotional plea to find a home for 'good girl' Labrador retriever-mix Ginger who has been waiting for adoption for more than seven years.

Dogwood Animal Shelter in Missouri were overwhelmed by an 'outpouring of concern' after sharing a picture of Ginger behind the metal bars of her crate.

A sign pinned to the bars explained that the adorable hound had been without a family for seven years, nine months, two weeks and two days.

Dogwood Animal Shelter in Missouri shared a picture of labrador retriever-mix Ginger with a sign pinned to the bars explaining that the adorable hound had been without a family for seven years, nine months, two weeks and two days

The sign also read: 'I'm a good girl. I promise. I just need a second chance'.

Ginger was rescued from an abusive situation and had 'medical, emotional and behavioral issues' leaving her 'unadoptable for quite some time'.

Since the post, the shelter's Facebook page has been inundated with offers of adoption for the adorable pooch - with some offering to drive from other states to pick her up.

Dogwood Animal Shelter shared a picture of Ginger and explained the lonely hound had been without a family for seven years, nine months, two weeks and two days

The shelter shared a video of Ginger playing with a toy and lying on a bed and thanked the public for their support

In response, the shelter shared a video of Ginger playing with a toy and lying on a bed, with the caption: 'Thank you for the outpouring of concern about Ginger.

'Like most rescue dogs, Ginger came in to Dogwood with her own set of medical, emotional and behavioral issues which made her unadoptable for a long time.

'Dogwoods staff and volunteers have diligently worked to address those issues and to locate a suitable home for her.

'She is and has been adoptable. The fact that she would be best placed in a home with no other animals or small children has narrowed the possibilities, but we never give up trying.'

Ginger was rescued from an abusive situation and had 'medical, emotional and behavioral issues' leaving her 'unadoptable for quite some time'

Yesterday, in response to the question of whether Ginger has been adopted, the shelter said: 'Not yet. We are still reviewing applications.'

Viewers flocked to the comments to offer their support for the hound.

Rob Lemming said: 'I will pay the adoption fees for someone that wants her.

'From Australia there is not much else I can do, but I am sure there is a loving home out there for this baby.'

Viewers flocked to the comments to offer their support for the lonely hound who was waiting for a new family

Andi Lossman wrote: 'Thank you for all your hard work for all the animals at your shelter but especially for sticking it out with Ginger and making sure her seven years at the shelter have been the best they could be.

'I'm sorry you so we're judged so harshly based on just one photo. It's clear you all are doing amazing work and changing those animals' lives for the better. Sending all my love.

'Next time I'm down your way, I hope I can stop by.'

Abbie Ka saidy: 'Thanks for all you do! Please keep us updated on Ginger and if she finds the right family!'
(Newser)  The US launched airstrikes Thursday in Iraq, targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad, the Pentagon said. US officials said multiple strikes by US fighter jets hit five locations and mainly targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside Iraq. A Defense Department statement said the strikes targeted five weapons storage facilities "to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks." The strikes marked a rapid escalation in tensions with Tehran and its proxy groups in Iraq, just two months after Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against American troops at a base in Iraq, the AP reports.

story continues below

The strikes came hours after US defense leaders threatened retaliation for the Wednesday attack, making clear that they knew who did it and that the attackers would be held accountable. "The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. The Pentagon called the counterattack "defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat" posed by the Iranian-backed Shia militia groups. Esper told reporters at the Pentagon earlier Thursday that President Trump had given him the authority to take whatever action he deemed necessary "We've got to hold the perpetrators accountable," Esper said. "You don't get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it."

(Read more Iraq stories.)
MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman

By Ben Hubbard

Tim Duggan. 359 pp. $28

---

"MBS" is a biography with no startling revelations about the life of its subject. Yet it is a revelatory work nonetheless.

The subject is Mohammed bin Salman, the 34-year-old crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Ben Hubbard, who reports on the Middle East for The New York Times, is honest enough to say that it is "hard to paint a detailed picture of his early life," that "much still remains unclear about how MBS spent his twenties" and that, when it comes to why he was chosen for the position that makes him the likely future king, "we are left with little more than informed speculation."

There are a number of possible explanations for these gaps. One is that as a child, Mohammed hardly seemed destined for greatness. "As the sixth son of the twenty-fifth son of the founding king, there was little reason to expect that he would rise to prominence," Hubbard notes.

Second, unlike many of his royal cousins and half-siblings, Mohammed did not study abroad; his formative years were spent inside Saudi Arabia.

And third, the people in Saudi Arabia who might have tales to tell, even seemingly benign ones, are too afraid to talk. "Fear is so widespread that a stray social media post or a private comment could lead to arrest or jail," Hubbard writes, "that many Saudis avoid talking on the phone or put their devices in the fridge when they meet."

And that points to the real revelation of this book. While it may not chart the inner growth of a future leader, it paints a vivid portrait of how he has altered the kingdom during his half-decade of rule.

That evolution may surprise American readers with only a passing familiarity with Saudi Arabia. After all, they probably know that Saudi Arabia never was a democracy. It long subjugated half its population. It fostered and disseminated an intolerant form of Islam, expressed most infamously in the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.

All true - and in fact, Mohammed has modestly improved the lot of women (they are now allowed to drive) and reined in the intolerant clerics (movie theaters have opened).

But the most fundamental change the headstrong crown prince has brought about, Hubbard shows, is to turn a "soft-gloved autocracy" that featured multiple centers of power, and room for discreet grousing and dissent, into "a laboratory for a new kind of electronic authoritarianism."

"Over time, it would engage in surveillance, harassment, and kidnapping of Saudi citizens overseas, as well as their detention and sometimes torture inside palaces belonging to MBS and his father," Hubbard writes. By the time he finishes writing this book, he realizes that "something fundamental had changed in Saudi Arabia."

Hubbard describes how Mohammed consolidated his position with gangster tactics straight out of the playbook of Stalin and his secret police chief, Lavrentiy Beria. He locked his own mother away. He took the prime minister of Lebanon hostage. In 2017, he engineered a soft coup against his older cousin, the respected counterterrorism chief Mohammed bin Nayef, whom Mohammed's elderly and probably ailing father, King Salman, had installed as first crown prince. Just this month, that soft coup turned harder when Mohammed bin Nayef was arrested.

Mohammed informed a leading construction company that he wanted to become a partner. When the brothers who ran the firm resisted, the government took their homes, private jets, jewelry, cash and "one brother's $90 million car collection."

In 2017 Mohammed infamously rounded up dozens of Saudi Arabia's leading princes and business executives, confined them in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and held many of them prisoner for months. Accused of corruption, they were to enjoy "independent judicial process," the kingdom's public prosecutor announced. In fact their ordeal is shrouded to this day, though it is believed that some were tortured, some remain under house arrest and most were forced to turn over assets according to some formula that was never explained - to the tune of more than $100 billion.

Not incidentally, that episode, which consolidated Mohammed's unchallenged dictatorial rule, won the enthusiastic approval of President Trump. "Some of those they are harshly treating have been 'milking' their country for years!" Trump tweeted.

Trump's admiration for Mohammed, and the crown prince's chummy relations with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, are a running theme of the book. President Barack Obama was reluctant to be drawn into what he saw as Saudi Arabia's sectarian war against Iran, and he tried to maintain some distance between the United States and Saudi Arabia despite their alliance. Trump and Kushner, by contrast, supported one reckless MBS action after another: the Ritz-Carlton purge, an attempt to isolate Qatar and - most destructively - Mohammed's disastrous and bloody intervention in the Yemen war. And that MBS recklessness was on fully display again as, in the midst of a global health crisis, he initiated a destabilizing price war against Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Trump's willingness to excuse absolutely any behavior reached its low point when he forgave Mohammed for the crime that also serves as the climax of Hubbard's book: the murder and dismemberment of Saudi exile turned Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Most of the world is not so forgiving, Hubbard maintains, pointing to congressional disgust and the likelihood that Mohammed could no longer stage the kind of triumphant trips through the West that he engineered shortly after taking power.

"Khashoggi's killing was a wake-up call," he writes. "Sure, Khashoggi was only one man, but the contrast between his reasoned criticism and his gruesome end caught the world's attention."

Hubbard acknowledges that even if the revulsion lingers, its effects may dissipate. The world is likely to continue working with the crown prince as long as he stays in power. So the real question will be "whether MBS is learning from his mistakes. Are his dangerous acts the youthful faults of an inexperienced ruler? Or do they spring from deep in his character and serve as harbingers of things to come?"

"MBS" does not attempt a definitive answer. But it does not leave a reader optimistic that the crown prince will mature into a wise or humane king.

---

Hiatt is editorial page editor of The Washington Post.
More than 100 complaints of suspected price gouging poured into the Pennsylvania attorney generals office in just two days this week as more cases of coronavirus are reported in the state.

By Thursday afternoon, 152 emails reporting possible price-gouging on items related to the novel coronavirus were received after Attorney General Josh Shapiros office set up an email to receive tips and complaints.

"The most common types of emails weve received have been about disinfectant spray, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, bottled water, rubbing alcohol, liquid soap, masks, rice, flour, and lentils, a spokesman with the office said.

The number of tips climbed quickly after the launch of the email address, Shapiro noted on his Twitter account. The email is pricegouging@attorneygeneral.gov.

Shapiro tweeted early Thursday, "126 reports of price gouging, 8 cease and desist letters issued.

Keep those messages coming: , he tweeted.

As of Thursday evening, 17 letters had been sent to companies to warn them to stop.

Todays #coronavirus price gouging totals:



126 reports of price gouging

8 cease and desist letters issued



Keep those messages coming: pricegouging@attorneygeneral.gov.  AG Josh Shapiro (@PAAttorneyGen) March 12, 2020

An office spokesperson said the office expects to send additional letters to more companies in the coming days.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



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Compared with businesses in the US and Europe, the digital transformation process in Vietnamese enterprises is less risky and simpler.

Reports all show that the proportion of Vietnamese mobile phone users is higher than the average level in the world and the demand for the services related to mobiles and the internet is increasing rapidly.





Businesses are under increased pressure to optimize their user experience and to create personalized service experiences for each customer. Digital transformation will help Vietnams enterprises do this more effectively.



A study found that digital transformation made up 25 percent of GDP in Asia Pacific in 2019 (6 percent in 2017), while the figure will be 60 percent by 2021. The productivity is expected to increase by 21 percent in 2020 thanks to digital transformation. However, changes will be seen in 85 percent of careers in the next three years.

Vietnam is the country which has advantages in digital transformation. According to Erich Gerber, vice president of Tibco, Vietnam has very impressive economic growth rates with expected GDP growth rate of 6.5 percent for 2020 and the next year.

Vietnam is the country which has advantages in digital transformation. According to Erich Gerber, vice president of Tibco, Vietnam has very impressive economic growth rates with expected GDP growth rate of 6.5 percent for 2020 and the next year.



The middle class in Vietnam has been growing the fastest in Southeast Asia, which promises great potential for finance, banking and insurance sectors.



Vietnam also has great advantages in human resources in technology. There are many schools giving training in IT, which is the source of high-quality labor force majoring in technology and data science.



Another advantage that Vietnam can enjoy in the digital transformation process is the lower risks than other countries. Since the information and technology systems in Europe and the US are very large, they have to meet high risks, especially with core systems, every time when they need to make adjustments to digitize the phases of the production process.



Meanwhile, the systems in Vietnam bear little systematic risks. Vietnam can carry out the digital transformation faster and safer. It is the right time for Vietnam to grab opportunities to boost its growth.



International corporations can also provide silutions, including IBM, which is present in Vietnam, while the market may receive Google and domestic technology firms in the future.



In an effort to increase its competitiveness in the Vietnamese market, Tibco said it has cooperated with three Vietnamese universities over the last 10 years of operation in Vietnam. It has also taken Orchestra Networks, a company specializing in data administration.



Vietnams enterprises, which are looking for partners for their digital transformation process, have been advised to choose firms which can provide most suitable solutions.

Ngoc Anh

Digitalising SMEs road to success Digital transformation is not only a trend but also a must for small- and medium-sized enterprises as Industry 4.0 sweeps across the globe  while at the same time being an ideal solution for improving their competitiveness.
Approximately 3,000 Rutgers University students will be permitted to continue living in residence halls on the New Brunswick campus despite the schools announcement earlier this week that it was sending nearly all students home due to coronavirus fears, campus officials said.

Students say they have been filling out applications to remain in some of Rutgers 18,000 residence hall beds even though the campus is largely empty. Some are international students who cant return to their native countries or graduate students working in labs on research projects that must continue.

Others are students in medical, pharmacy and health science schools who have clinical rotations, classes and other duties that cant be moved online or canceled. Some are students who say they need to stay on campus, but their fraternities and sororities are not allowing them to remain in Greek houses just off campus.

Students in Rutgers Biomedical and Health Science schools said there has been confusion over who gets to stay, including some pharmacy students who said they were told by school officials to get a hotel room if they were denied permission to stay in their residence halls.

But Rutgers officials said Thursday they are reviewing applications and believe they have granted permission to all students who have no option other than to live on campus.

The health and well-being of our students is a foremost priority for the university. While Rutgers initiated Spring Break early this week to curtail the spread of COVID-19, all students who needed to continue to reside in on-campus housing, including RBHS students, have to the best of our knowledge been accommodated, Rutgers officials said in a statement.

Rutgers announced Tuesday it was sending nearly all 70,000 students home immediately and moving classes online. Classes for Thursday and Friday were canceled ahead of Spring Break. Students were told their classes would be offered online after Spring Break.

Students were told to leave the dorms as soon as possible and stay away until at least until at least April 3.

However, Rutgers officials said some classes, including some biomedical and health science courses, could not be moved online and medical students and others working in hospitals and health care fields could not go home.

Classroom instruction is being moved online. However, given the clinical components of health-related education and the universitys commitment to the academic progression of its students, clinical rotations and instruction will continue to occur. Consistent with CDC guidelines, the university is making all possible arrangements for social distancing, the statement said.

Several students posted on social media that they got letters from Rutgers turning down their applications to remain in their residence halls even though their professors told them they had to stay.

THREAD #COVID19: RBHS students at Rutgers University are required to go to class and stay on campus on Thursday and Friday during this pandemic while all other Rutgers students have had classes cancelled. Some students dont even have housing for these days...  shalissa (@azuddin422) March 11, 2020

Cara Trulli, a Rutgers senior in her fourth year of a six-year pharmacy program, said she was told she had to be out of her sorority house by noon Thursday even though she was told she still had to go to a pharmacy class on Friday.

I emailed my course coordinator about my Friday classes because I had to pack up my entire room and bring everything home. The dean told me to apply through Rutgers to stay on campus, even though I said I was off campus so thats not an option for me. He said another option was a hotel room," said Trulli, 22.

Rutgers officials eventually canceled the Friday pharmacy class after multiple students complained, Trulli said.

She eventually moved out, but the transition out of her sorority house was stressful, she said.

Whenever I took a study break, I would throw everything I own into a bin, load it into my car, load it into my boyfriends car -- had to ask my mom to come bring more bins. It was not a neat move out, Trulli said.

Rutgers officials sent a letter Thursday to all students living off-campus in apartments or fraternities or sororities asking that they move out as soon as possible.

We are asking that students currently residing in off-campus rental housing give serious consideration to returning to their homes during the time that in-person classes are suspended. As you know, in-person classes are suspended at least until April 3rd, at which time a decision will be made regarding future in-person classes, the letter said.

Rutgers President Robert Barchi also declared a state of emergency for the university Thursday. While the state university will still officially remain open, most employees were given new guideline allowing them to work from home if possible.

The preliminary guidance provides flexibility and relief for employees whose children attend schools that have been closed, must care for loved ones who have contracted COVID-19, who are sick themselves, or who are required to self-isolate, employees were told in a memo from university officials.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
National Guard to Deploy 1,000 Troops in 6 States

The National Guard announced that it is will deploy 1,000 troops across six states by the end of Friday in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Components of the Army and Air National Guard are activated in Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington state as of Friday morning, according to a statement obtained by Fox News. About 400 Guard members are in those states.

As other states are requested to support civil authorities, those numbers will change rapidly. By the end of the day we expect that number to approach 1,000, according to the National Guard, reported Stars and Stripes.

Several dozen states have declared emergencies in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Data provided by Johns Hopkins University shows that more than 1,700 cases have been confirmed across the United States.

The National Guard is fully involved at the local, state, and federal level in the planning and execution of the nations response to COVID-19, said National Guard Bureau spokesperson to the Military Times. In times of emergency, the National Guard Bureau serves as a federal coordinating agency should a state require assistance from the National Guard of another state.

At the national level, Guard members are training personnel on COVID-19 response, identifying and preparing National Guard facilities for use as isolation housing, and compiling state medical supply inventories, the statement said. National Guard personnel will provide assistance to the states that include logistical support, disinfection/cleaning, activate/conduct transportation of medical personnel, call center support, and meal delivery.

It comes as President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the virus to free up more resources and funding.

The National Guard Bureaus website says that a states governor can activate the National Guard in response to natural or man-made disasters or Homeland Defense missions.
China's financial regulators need to cut the country's smaller city and rural commercial banks more slack, as they are most vulnerable to higher-risk borrowers amid a slumping economy and depressed demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak, according to consultancy PwC.

Regulators' moves to bolster the lenders should help keep the banking sector's non-performing loan (NPL) level in check, according to Richard Zhu, north China financial services leader at PwC based in Beijing.

Measures that the regulators might take range from a government-led bailout, liquidity support to debt restructuring programmes, he said.

"Regulators would likely step up efforts to prevent NPLs among smaller banks from spiralling into a systemic risk for the banking system," said Zhu.

An employee at a currency exchange store counts Chinese one-hundred yuan banknotes in Hong Kong, China, on January. 12, 2016. Photo: Bloomberg alt=An employee at a currency exchange store counts Chinese one-hundred yuan banknotes in Hong Kong, China, on January. 12, 2016. Photo: Bloomberg

NPLs amounted to 1.86 per cent of China loans at the end of 2019. Banking analysts expect NPLs to rise within a wide range, anywhere from 2 per cent from Singaporean lender DBS to 6 per cent from credit rating agency S&P Global.

The NPL ratio is closely related to banks' ability to resolve their pile of sour loans, either through sales, restructuring or write-offs. The larger the amount of delinquent loans that banks are able to resolve, the lower the NPL ratio, analysts have said.

"We expect that banks' ability to resolve and dispose of non-performing loans will stay the same this year compared to 2019, as we have seen their profitability over the past 10 years continue to grow," said Zhu.

However, for the smaller city and rural commercial banks, whose NPL ratios in 2019 stood at 2.32 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively, Zhu expects regulators and the government to introduce targeted measures to help resolve or lower their pile of bad debt.

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He said rescues to limit the risk of financial contagion, similar to that of Baoshang Bank that was orchestrated by the central bank and the banking regulator in May 2019, could happen again this year.

To be sure, since the outbreak of the Covid-19 in late 2019, the People's Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission have already introduced a slew of measures to help vulnerable small to medium companies, and microenterprises to cope with their repayment challenge.

Elderly depositors gather at a branch of Yingkou Costal Bank in Yingkou, Liaoning province, China November 8, 2019. Photo: Reuters alt=Elderly depositors gather at a branch of Yingkou Costal Bank in Yingkou, Liaoning province, China November 8, 2019. Photo: Reuters

These include asking lenders to offer the nation's small and medium-sized businesses and micro enterprises a grace period on their debt repayment obligations up to June 30 this year. Some analysts have doubted whether such a repayment grace period will be enough.

It's not just the regulators that are worried, China's banking executives are also jittery even before the coronavirus became a full-blown pandemic. Zhu was speaking after PwC published its annual "Chinese bankers survey", which interviewed 185 Chinese banks and was conducted in November 2019, before the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The survey is in its 11th year.

Credit risk is the top concern among the bankers surveyed. The report showed that 68.6 per cent of bankers have taken measures to improve asset quality.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
A Delhi court on Friday sentenced Kuldeep Singh Sengar and six other convicts to 10 years in prison for murder of Unnao rape survivors father, reported news agency ANI.

The court also ordered Sengar and his brother Jai Deep alias Atul Singh Sengar to pay 10 lakh each as compensation to the family.

The court had on Wednesday convicted seven persons, including Sengar, his brother and two policemen, for the death of the father of a woman whom Sengar raped in June 2017.

Sengar, was sent to jail in December 2019 by the Tis Hazari district court for the remainder of his natural biological life for raping the woman when she was a minor. He was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh assembly last month.

Sengar, his brother and three aides were convicted for culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304), criminal conspiracy (120B), wrongful restraint (341), voluntarily causing hurt (323) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of arms act.

Policemen Ashok Singh Bhadauria and KP Singh were also convicted for registering a false complaint (Sections 211 and 218) against the father, as well as for assaulting him in judicial custody.

Sengars aides thrashed the survivors father and his co-worker on April 3, 2018, in Unnao, where he had gone to attend a hearing in the rape case. The survivors father died in the jail hospital five days later.
Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that has swept across the globe, is not like a bad case of the flu.

For one thing, a new study indicates that Covid-19 triggers in some people something called a cytokine storm, where ones own immune system goes berserk. This virus-activated immune response can be deadly, causing severe respiratory distress and the subsequent shutdown of multiple organs.

Indeed, how ones immune system reacts appears to be central to Covid-19s severity.

The virus matters, but the host response matters at least as much, and probably more, University of Iowa virologist Stanley Perlman told The Scientist magazine last month.

For some people whose immune systems are compromised by age or for often-subtle genetic or environmental reasons, the normal immune response doesnt retreat when it should. It goes into overdrive, leading to a flood of immune cells into the lung. This has a rapid cascading effect in the body.

Key to the patients survival is their doctors quickly recognizing this is happening. Dr. Randy Q. Cron and Dr. W. Winn Chatham, in a report for Vox, wrote that --

All Covid-19 patients sick enough for hospitalization should be given a cheap, quick, and readily available serum ferritin blood test. Indeed, elevated serum ferritin values have recently been reported in Chinese hospitalized patients with Covid-19. This is a good first screening tool for the possibility of a cytokine storm syndrome in sick patients with high fevers.

The question then remains how best to treat a cytokine storm syndrome once it is identified. The treating physician is often placed between a rock and a hard place. Corticosteroids can be powerfully broad immunosuppressive agents, and they are inexpensive and readily available throughout the world. However, it can be frightening for a physician to treat a severely ill, infected individual with such powerful and wide-ranging immune suppression.

Cron and Chatham pointed out that there are other, more targeted drugs available as well, though trials will be needed to figure out which ones work best for Covid-19.

In China, coronavirus patients exhibiting signs of cytokine-storm syndrome reportedly are being treated with the anti-inflammation drug Actemra (tocilizumab). Actemra is used in the U.S. for rheumatoid arthritis.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

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All K-12 school buildings will close March 16 through April 5 as the state seeks to address coronavirus, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced in a press release late Thursday.

Schools will re-open April 6, though Whitmer said that may be adjusted or extended.

"This is a necessary step to protect our kids, our families, and our overall public health, Whitmer said.

I am working with partners across state government to ensure educators, parents, and students have the support they need during this time, and to ensure our children who rely on school for meals have access to food. I know this will be a tough time, but were doing this to keep the most people we can safe. I urge everyone to make smart choices during this time and to do everything they can to protect themselves and their families.

Whitmer said in a press conference Thursday it was not a decision she took lightly and pointed to other states that have ordered the closure of schools as well.

The order applies to all public, private and boarding school buildings in Michigan.

The state now has 12 presumptive positive tests for coronavirus, up from the first two announced on Tuesday, when the governor declared a state of emergency.

All public universities have canceled or suspended in-person classes, and some private colleges have as well. School districts including Ann Arbor Public Schools, Dearborn Public Schools and Saline Area Schools have announced temporary cancellations related to concerns about the virus.

Coronavirus symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus. They include fever, cough and shortness of breath. For most, the symptoms are mild, but it poses a serious danger to others.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus has sickened 1,215 people and resulted in 36 deaths, nationally.

What Michigan residents need to know about coronavirus

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

Read more on MLive:

Michigan governor asks Trump to open special Obamacare enrollment period during coronavirus threat

Heres a list of specific recommendations from state health officials

Huge Michigan tourist destination, The Henry Ford Museum, closing amid coronavirus

GM tells visitors to stay out of plants if theyve had cold or flu-like symptoms

Some Michigan jury trials, probation reporting canceled due to coronavirus outbreak

Senior Services of Southwest Michigan closes offices as coronavirus precaution

NHL suspends season as coronavirus precaution

Big Ten mens basketball tournament canceled due to coronavirus
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Washington, D.C., March 13, 2020  Pakistan authorities should immediately lift restrictions placed on Geo News and allow it to broadcast freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, the countrys broadcast regulator, contacted cable distributers throughout the country today and ordered them to stop transmitting Geo TV, the Urdu TV news channel owned by Jang Media Group, or else switch its broadcasts to a higher channel that is harder for viewers to find, according to news reports and Azhar Abbas, managing director of the broadcaster, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The regulator did not give a reason for the changes, according to Abbas and those reports.

Todays orders were sent immediately after Firdous Ashiq Awan, special assistant to the prime minister on information and broadcasting, concluded a press conference denying that yesterdays arrest of Shakil-ur-Rehman, Jangs CEO and editor-in-chief, was tied to the groups news coverage, according to those reports. Pakistan authorities arrested Rehman over a case involving allegations that he illegally leased land in 1986, as CPJ documented.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority must immediately reverse its orders and allow cable distributors to restore the regular transmission of Geo News, said Steven Butler, CPJs Asia program coordinator. Pakistani authorities need to learn that critical coverage by the media is a key and welcome component of democracy, not something to be suppressed.

Following Rehmans arrest, the National Accountability Bureau today ordered he be held in custody for 12 days, according to reports. Abbas told CPJ that it was unusual for authorities to jail a suspect at such an early point of an investigation, saying, At this stage, they never arrest people.

Abbas also told CPJ that he believed the regulators order was illegal, saying that Geo TV had not received any complaint or notice from the authority that would normally precede such punitive measures.

Abbas said Geo has been highly critical of the government over issues such as handling of the economy and its preparations for the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

CPJ emailed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
A school dentist who molested his sister-in-law when she was a child claimed he did it because she was being 'flirtatious'.

The Gold Coast man, now 54, who cannot be named for legal reasons, preyed on the 12-year-old girl in 1991 and again in 1994.

The pair met after the girl's older sister started dating him.

A school dentist who molested his sister-in-law when she was a child claimed he did it because she was being 'flirtatious' (stock image pictured)

He was aged 27 and 29 when touched the girl's breasts and genitalia on four different occasions.

On one occasion he whispered in her ear: 'You are a little version of your big sister.'

The victim confronted him about his behaviour in 2002 but she did not make a formal complaint to police until 2018, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

The man appeared in the Southport District Court on Thursday, where he pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent treatment of a child between 1991 and 1994.

Defence barrister Nick McGhee told the court the offences were 'out of character' for his client who went on to study to be a dentist.

The man, who worked for Queensland Health in the school dental van, lost his job after he was charged.

He was sentenced to 15 months in prison but that was immediately suspended.
Authorities in Yerevan have accused President Ilham Aliyev of using hate speech against Armenia and Armenians in his remarks at an inaugural session of Azerbaijans newly elected parliament earlier this week.

In her comment published on the official website of Armenias Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, spokesperson Anna Naghdalian referred to Aliyevs extensive speech on March 10 that she said contained clear manifestations of hate speech towards Armenia and the Armenian people.

The authorities of Azerbaijan try to disguise the low level of legitimacy of recent parliamentary elections, inability to implement political and democratic reforms under the veil of aggressive, groundless and false allegations which target not only Armenia and the Armenian people, but also European countries, European structures and the International Election Observation Mission to the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, Nalbandian charged.

In his speech Aliyev, in particular, again called for offensive diplomacy in the context of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and rebuked Muslim countries for having good relations with Armenia and not supporting Azerbaijan in the issue.

The Armenian diplomatic representative said in this regard: It is particularly concerning that the Azerbaijani leadership tries to instrumentalize religion in its unjustified allegations, on the one hand, accusing European countries of violating the rights of migrants on religious grounds, and calling for religious solidarity in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the other hand.

Naghdalian said that the promotion of enmity against the Armenian people, accompanied by new historical and geographical discoveries by the president of Azerbaijan, fundamentally contradicts the commitment of Azerbaijan to build up an environment conducive to peace and prepare populations for peace.

From this perspective it should be noted that extremely low standards of human rights and democracy in Azerbaijan seriously hinder the advancement of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, particularly the implementation of agreements, reached within that framework.

Attempts of the leadership of Azerbaijan to build its own legitimacy on the grounds of hatred towards the neighboring nation and of mistrust towards the international community are irresponsible and can undermine the regional peace and security, the Armenian Ministrys spokeswoman said.

Naghdalians statement came amid heightened tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over recent border skirmishes in which at least one Armenian and two Azerbaijani soldiers were reportedly killed.

Yerevan and Baku accused each other of violating the fragile ceasefire agreed in 1994 to stop a three-year war over Nagorno-Karabakh that killed some 30,000 people.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has led international efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the conflict through its Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France. The diplomatic efforts have brought little progress in recent decades.

Meeting with Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative of the OSCEs Chairperson-in-Office on the conflict, in Yerevan on March 12, Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan expressed his concern over what he called recent attempts by Azerbaijan to intensify action at some sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. He said that the regional military-political developments, the international economic and epidemic situation, the weather conditions and a number of other factors increase the likelihood of destabilization.

The press service of Armenias Ministry of Defense quoted Ambassador Kasprzyk as expressing readiness to exert maximum efforts in his mediation mission to ease tensions.

The same day during a press briefing in Moscow official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to show restraint, refrain from the use of force and activate the negotiating process aimed at achieving a settlement through political means.
As part of the restaurant's commitment to front-of-house excellence, French executive chef Sebastien Lepinoy has instituted a residency programme to send talented staffers to visit French-based producers for on-the-job training. The experience allows the staff member to specialise in a specific area, and provides the restaurant with an in-house expert in a particular field.

Chef Lepinoy, Director of Culinary and Operations at Les Amis, says: "My team and I are incredibly honoured to receive the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award. We would like to thank the Asia's 50 Best team for bestowing us with this prestigious award, and in turn allowing us to make Singapore proud. In a fine dining restaurant, excellent food and personalised service carries equal weight in crafting a unique dining experience for our guests. It really is a team effort."

Les Amis is the first Singapore restaurant to claim the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award.

Joaquin Villanueva, Global Marketing Director for Gin Mare, says: "One of the things what we, the Mediterranean people, do best is embody The Art of Hospitality. That's why it is a great honour for Gin Mare to be part of this Award and congratulate Les Amis for bringing to life an outstanding experience beyond their amazing gastronomic offer. As a brand, we strongly believe that delivering memorable experiences to our customers is the only way to be relevant and reinforce our emotional link with them."

Chef Lepinoy will receive his trophy as part of the eighth annual Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. This year's event takes the form of a virtual awards ceremony streamed on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants Facebook page and YouTube channel on Tuesday, 24th March from 4pm (HK/SG; 5pm JPN). Log on to follow the countdown.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1122098/Les_Amis_in_Singapore_Wins_Award.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1085423/50_Best_Asia_Restaurants_Logo.jpg

CONTACT: CatchOn, A Finn Partners Company, Email: [email protected], 852 2566 8988

SOURCE Asias 50 Best Restaurants 2020
MIAMI  There were brief moments when Ana Garcia felt she was doing something good by teaching illiterate people how to read in the Cuban countryside.

It was 1961, and the 17-year-old had been sent out to small, rural towns in a green shirt, green pants and black boots as part of Fidel Castros literacy campaign that was promoted as a way to eradicate illiteracy on the Caribbean island.

But Garcia knew something was strange the moment she picked up the training materials produced by the government. The teachers manual included 76 pages of chapters outlining the glories of Castro's revolution and the dangers of imperialism and just 20 pages of suggested vocabulary words. Instead of the usual ABCs, the students manual featured F for Fidel, R for his brother, Raul, and V for victory.

Within three months, Garcias father had seen enough and arranged for her to be pulled out of the literacy campaign.

Pages from manuals given to instructors and students in Cuba as part of Fidel Castro's literacy campaign in 1961. "F" is for Fidel.

In those moments, when people were learning, of course it felt good. I love teaching and thats what I wanted to do, said Garcia, 76, who left Cuba years later and became a teacher in Miami. But everything was designed to introduce communism. That was it.

The history of that program will be revisited as the presidential campaign makes its way toward the critical swing state of Florida.

After losing Michigan and other states on Tuesday, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is desperate for a win in the Sunshine State. But he's already being pummeled there by former Vice President Joe Biden in the polls  a Florida Atlantic University poll conducted last week had Biden up 61-25 over Sanders in the state.

And now Sanders is preparing to face the Cuban American exiles that he angered when he repeated his praise for Castro's literacy program. During a Feb. 23 "60 Minutes" interview that has become required viewing in South Florida, Sanders said Castro "totally transformed the society" in Cuba in part through his literacy campaign.

Story continues

"Is that a bad thing?" he said.

Election 2020: Bernie Sanders will keep pursuing presidential nomination with eyes on Sunday debate, despite narrow path ahead

Those who were living in Cuba at the time say Sanders' assessment is wrong on multiple counts. They say Cuba's literacy rate was already among the highest-ranking in Latin America when Castro took over. And more importantly, they say the literacy campaign Castro implemented in 1961 was more political indoctrination than basic education.

"You can't divorce (the literacy campaign) from the political agenda that Castro had," said Yuleisy Mena, a Cuba native and high school history teacher in Miami who has been interviewing participants in the 1961 literacy campaign as part of her Ph.D. dissertation at Florida International University. "This was a mass mobilization used for indoctrination."

That viewpoint explains why so many Cuban Americans in Florida  and Venezuelans and Nicaraguans who fled socialist dictators in their homelands  are suspicious of any political candidate who even mentions socialism. And it explains why Sanders has won the Hispanic vote in California and Texas, but is trailing Biden among Hispanics in Florida 48% to 37%, according to a Telemundo poll released Wednesday.

When Castro's bearded guerrillas marched into Havana on New Year's Day 1959 to claim power over the island, Cuba's education system was fractured but doing well when compared with other Latin American nations.

Carmelo Mesa-Lago, a professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh who has studied Cuba for decades, said the last census in Cuba in 1953 revealed that 76.4% of the population was literate. He estimates literacy rose to about 79% by 1958, the year before Castro took power, which placed Cuba fourth in Latin America.

He said Cuba ranked equally high on a number of other health and education indicators, including the lowest infant mortality rate in all of Latin America. While there was room for improvement in each area, Mesa-Lago said those metrics show how Sanders' assessment of a country in desperate need of reform was flawed.

"That story is not true," he said. The data "shows that Cuba was positioned very high in Latin America in terms of education and health care."

The literacy data did show one glaring gap in Cuba's educational system. The 1953 census found that 88.4% of people living in Cuba's cities were literate, but only 58.2% of people living in rural areas could read and write.

That's where Castro focused his efforts, a sentiment that was lauded by the United Nations and others in the international community. But for those who experienced it in Cuba, the educational push was confusing from the start.

Fidel Castro: Among world's most influential leaders for a half-century

Jaime Suchlicki was studying at the University of Havana in 1959 when he realized that the history books were quickly being rewritten. Cuba's Independence Day was no longer in 1902, the year that the island broke free from a military government established by the United States. It was suddenly Jan. 1, 1959, the day Castro took power.

"They transformed Cuban history," said Suchlicki, director of the Cuban Studies Institute and a professor emeritus at the University of Miami.

Mario Soto was an 10-year-old living in Havana when Castro took power. By the start of the next school year that fall, he said the government had even changed the math textbooks.

"Instead of 'two cows plus two cows equals four' it was 'two guerrillas plus two guerrillas equals four,'" said Soto, a retired engineer and telecommunications executive who now lives outside Atlanta.

Sergio Rodriguez Puig, who grew up in Ciego de Avila in central Cuba, found similar changes in his workbooks. Just eight years old at the time, he was no longer asked to count up balloons or butterflies, but guns and tanks instead.

"You see the insidiousness of their brain-washing already, in a seemingly innocent math book," said Rodriguez Puig, 67, whose family left Cuba in 1960 after seeing how quickly the revolution was shifting toward communism. He lived and worked for 50 years in New Orleans before retiring to Miami.

The literacy campaign started in earnest in 1961, which the Cuban regime dubbed "The Year of Education." At the core of the program was enlisting 100,000 young Cubans  from age 10 to 19  to trek into the countryside and teach the farmers, ranch hands and others far from Havana the basics of reading and writing.

Young women working for a literacy campaign take part in a parade with big pencils in the streets of Havana in May 1961 during the Cuban Revolution.

But it was clear from the materials used that literacy was only part of the goal. Manuals distributed by the Cuban government, some of which are stored at the University of Miami's Cuban Heritage Collection, show exactly what kind of literacy the government was trying to instill in the population.

The majority of the instructor's manual given to the teenage teachers were chapters that echoed the proclamations coming from the government. The first chapter is titled "Revolution." The second proclaims "Fidel is our leader." Later chapters praise the Soviet Union and bash the "Yankee imperialism" that had exploited Cuba.

"Fidel Castro brings together the best qualities of his people and has immense faith in the wisdom, strength, and courage of the people," reads the second chapter. "We Cubans respect and love the chief who raised the people in arms against tyranny and foreign domination."

The final section of the manual provides 20 pages of vocabulary words and phrases that could be used during lessons. Some are basic: democracy, resources, tourism. Some are militaristic: the art of war, blockade, foreign aggression. Some are surprising: the Associated Press, freedom of the press.

And many are focused on the organizations and people of the United States: the FBI, the Klu Klux Klan, the State Department and "gringo."

The definition for the former Soviet Union describes it as a, "Nation formed by the union of several republics, which have a socialist regime and where there is no exploitation of man by man, since in it the goods of production belong to the people."

While the Cuban government said all the teenagers who participated in the literacy program were volunteers, many Cubans laughed at that assertion, calling it "involuntary volunteerism."

Soto said there was pressure on students to participate in the program and to accept the new lessons being taught in schools. He said that after speaking out in class too many times and being suspected of destroying a picture of Fidel Castro that hung in a classroom, his principal called his mother into the school and delivered a thinly-veiled threat.

"They said, 'If you want, he could also choose to go to a technical school and we can send him to the Soviet Union or East Germany to study engineering,'" Soto said. "That's when my mom got really scared."

Within weeks, the family fled to Florida.

Garcia, the former 17-year-old who taught mostly elderly people in their homes in central Cuba, said she sometimes strayed away from the curriculum, teaching her students to read with whatever other books or newspapers were lying around. But for the most part, she felt she had to stick to the script.

"I was scared," she said. "Imagine, I was a kid. You were dominated by fear."

The most disturbing part for those teachers was the final exam. Mena, the history teacher who has been interviewing teachers in the literacy campaign, said that for many, that meant writing a "thank you" letter to Castro himself.

In the end, those who participated in the literacy program were left torn by what they did. Mena said they all said they enjoyed teaching people the basics of reading and writing. But as the days and months wore on, they realized they were taking part in something different.

"It was a farce and the disillusionment was real," Mena said. "They had to reevaluate the larger context of what they did. Their naivete went away. They saw Cuba for what it was and they saw the new government for what it was."

Bernie setback: Biden racks up more big wins and widens delegate lead, but Sanders says he'll keep fighting

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Election 2020: Bernie Sanders' praise for Fidel Castro angers teachers
Oy Vay! More to worry about...

You know I mean the Coronavirus! All of a sudden, my sons are telling me that, at my advanced age, I am more susceptible then they are so... "Mom, stay home! Wash your hands! Don't go to crowded places, like shopping for food or clothing, no restaurants and NO KISSING!!" (So far, nobody has tried!)

Forgotten Jewish Refugees...

"The World Jewish Congress, together with other Jewish organizations and the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations, co-sponsored an event at UN headquarters to commemorate the rich history of the Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa who were persecuted and forced to flee from their countries in which they had lived for millennia, from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 2014, the Government of Israel designated November 30th as the official day to mark this tragic period in Jewish history.

Speakers at the event included Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador DANNY DANON, U.S. State Department Special Envoy to Combat and Monitor Anti-Semitism, ELAN CARR, and Human Rights Activist and former "Miss Iraq, SARAH IDAN.

In his remarks, Amb.Danon outlined his plans for placing the issue on the UN agenda, stating that 'denying the rights of Jewish refugees' is an attempt 'to erase them from the narrative and an anti-Semitic historic injustice.' To correct this, the Ambassador said that Israel will 'propose a resolution that will reaffirm the Jewish refugees' place in history and assure that their rights are recognized. 'I can see no legitimate reason for any member state to oppose the resolution,' he added.

Following the event, EVELYN SOMMER, Chair of WJC North America, noted that 'for too long, the world has ignored the plight of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries, who were persecuted and forcibly expelled from lands that had been their homes for hundreds and hundreds of years. These Jewish refugees from countries like Libya, Iraq and Yemen, among others, had to flee their homes in distress, leaving everything behind. It is high time to right the record of history and to recognize the facts about the Jewish communities that once lived throughout the Middle East and North Africa and to educate others about their rich heritage and culture.

The WJC has been deeply active in the efforts to call attention of the United Nations and the international community to this history in order to ensure that these Jewish communities will be remembered and their stories commemorated."

A "MUST READ"...

(The following moved me to tears):

"Singing, dancing, elated fortune... after 2000 years, this great miracle is accomplished. Palestine, our dear and holy country, is ours... His children are free at last; free to live with their heads high, and with human dignity...Thank with your whole being, sing and dance, fill the air with happiness, for today is the day. The day of the birth... the sacred gift which was given us on a golden platter, the State of Israel."

The MUST READ I refer to is the book, "CODE NAME: AMNON" written by DANIEL ROSENFELD.

It is the true-life story of a young man born in Palestine, who at the age of 14, was drafted into the underground resistance movement called the Haganah.

With this elite group of Jews, willing to fight, and die for the dream of a people, the reader gets a glimpse into the secret operations that toppled the mighty British and drove back countless Arab attacks.

Despite his youth, Amnon's own talents were responsible for numerous Israeli victories and many embarrassing British failures.

This story takes the reader from the early struggle to establish a Jewish homeland, to the jubilation of seeing an age-old dream become a reality. This is a side of the Arab-Israeli conflict never told before, (including Britain's hand in it).

You can order it from Amazon, or phone the author at 305-692-3566.

Starting tonight: A Must See...

I refer to the musical "The Andrews Brothers." (No. Not a mistake... I meant "Brothers, not Sisters!")

The Winter Park Playhouse, located at 711 N. Orange Ave, Suite C, in Winter Park, is offering "The Andrews Brothers," running from March 13th thru April 11th.

When an Andrews Sisters USO performance is in jeopardy of cancellation, three earnest male stagehands are determined to go on with the show. (Funny stuff. Everyone knows that "the show must go on.")

This musical comedy is filled to the brim with 30 songs made famous by the Andrews Sisters and other top artists of the era, including the showstoppers "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "AcCentTchuAte the Positive," Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," and many more.

(I'm too young to know these songs. OH SHUT UP!)

For further information, phone the playhouse at 407-645-0145.

Maitland JCC Spring Break...

School is closed, but the JCC is open! Come spend the day with your friends enjoying all that they have to offer. From art, to sports, to science, you're sure to have a blast! Pizza lunch included Monday, March 16 and Friday, March 20.

The Orange and Seminole County Spring Break Camp is as follows:

Monday, March 16, 7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Tuesday, March 17, 7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Wednesday, March 18, 7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Thursday, March 19, 7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Friday, March 20, 7:30 a.m.  6 p.m.

Days at the JCC: $50 ($40 for JCC members). Field trip days are $65 ($55 JCC members. Register online, visit the registrar's desk in the main lobby, email register@orlandojcc.org or call 407-621-4036.

Registration is required at least 48 hours in advance of each day. Registrations made after this deadline are subject to availability and a $10 late fee. No walk-ins.

Phone KACIE ZEMEL DeMARTIN at 407-621-4038 for further details.

JCC39ers Cinema Sundays...

This is a special event: On Sunday, March 15th at 2 p.m. in the Maitland JCC Senior Lounge, the movie "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood," starring TOM HANKS will be presented. Pizza will be served. The cost is $5.

JCC39ers Meet & Mingle Mondays...

On Monday, March 16th in the Maitland JCC Senior Lounge, beginning at 1 p.m., ROBBY ETZKIN, Executive Director, will discuss how to volunteer at the J.

Refreshments will be served.

Surprise! Surprise!...

(At least to me.) Who knew that entertainer HERB ALPERT was Jewish? I didn't!

Tom Hanks and Fred Rogers

Herb Alpert was born and raised in the Boyle Heights section of Eastside Los Angeles, California, the son of Tillie (nee Goldberg) and Louis Leib Alpert. His parents were Jewish immigrants to the U.S. from Radomyshl (in present-day Ukraine) and Romania. (Thought I would mention!)

One for the road...

(This joke is in honor of my son, the psychologist who threatens to have me Baker Acted every time we speak:

Sophia and Hannah are discussing the best ways to make their young sons finish their meals. Sophia says, "As an Italian mother, I put on a fierce look and say to Primo, 'if you don't finish your meal, I'm going to kill you.' It works most of the time."

"Well, as a Jewish mother, I look mine Isaac in his eyes and say, 'if you don't eat the meal I've slaved over all day, I'm going to kill myself.' It works every time."
Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-Category
Virginia Tech will give students who live on campus $1,000 if they dont return to student housing, the university announced Friday.

As universities around Virginia are beginning to close residence halls to students without special permission to remain, Tech is the first to announce that it will offer rebates if they do not return to campus housing this spring.

In a statement, the Blacksburg school said that students should seriously consider staying home or off-campus at the end of the previously announced extended spring break. If a student isnt able to stay off campus or needs to be on campus to access online learning, housing will be made available on campus.

The university has moved classes online for the remainder of the spring semester. All Virginia Tech student events have been canceled through April 30. The universitys dining centers will stay open for students who return.

For students who return to campus next fall, their remaining dining dollars, flex dollars or commuter cash will be transferred to the fall semester. A full refund on that money will be given for students not returning to Tech, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Frank Shushok Jr. said in a statement.
Gov. Tom Wolfs order to close off public access to state buildings in downtown Harrisburg to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus extends to the State Museum of Pennsylvania and the state Archives.

That means group tours, rentals and events scheduled at the State Museum are cancelled until further notice, said Howard Pollman, spokesman for the Pa. Historical and Museum Commission.

Further, he said the state Archives will be closed to visitors and researchers for the time being as well.

The governors order closing schools and community centers among other facilities in Montgomery County for at least two weeks, starting Friday, also forces the closure of three historical sites situated in that county: Graeme Park, Hope Lodge, and the Highlands Mansion.

As for the other historical sites around the state, Pollman said individual visitation will be permitted but no group events or tours will be allowed through the end of April.

Internally, he said the employees are limiting meetings to 10 or fewer people through the end of April and encouraging staff to communicate with their colleagues virtually.

Changes to those coronavirus-related measures will be reassessed and posted on the commissions website, Pollman said.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.


Saudi Arabia has extended its travel ban to include the European Union and 12 other countries, including India, as the number of coronavirus cases in the Kingdom jumped to 62, according to media reports on Friday.

Saudi health officials on Friday announced 17 new coronavirus cases, raising the number of cases in the country to 62, according to the official Saudi news agency.

There are 11 foreign nationals among the people who contracted the virus, Saudi Press Agency quoted the Saudi Health Ministry as saying.

One person was discharged from hospital after recovering from the virus, the statement said.

Saudi Arabia early Thursday suspended flights to all EU countries as well as Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia.

Saudi Arabia's government decided to temporarily suspend the travel of citizens and residents, and to suspend flights to the European Union countries, as well as Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia, Saudi Gazette quoted a source at the Ministry of Interior as saying.

The government will also be suspending the entry to those coming from the aforementioned countries and entry to those who were in those countries within a time period of 14 days prior to their arrival to the Kingdom, it said.

The government's decision grants Saudi nationals and citizens of those countries with valid Saudi residency visas 72 hours to return to the Kingdom before the travel suspension comes into effect.

The travel ban excludes Indian and Filipino medical practitioners working in the Kingdom, taking into account the necessary and required precautions, the report said.

The ministries of interior and health would coordinate while dealing with humanitarian and exceptional cases, without prejudice to the necessary precautionary and preventive measures.

The decision expanded the number of countries included in the travel ban list to 53.

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 114 countries.

Saudi Arabia on March 9 suspended travel to Oman, France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Italy, and South Korea.
Centre Block's Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in a file photo. T(he Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

House of Commons Closes for Five Weeks Over COVID 19 Concerns

OTTAWAThe House of Commons decided to shut down Friday for five weeks to help ensure MPs do not contribute to the spread of COVID-19.

All parties agreed to the measure, which means MPs will miss two sitting weeks, as they had previously planned to be away next week and two weeks in April.

The agreement among MPs hastens passage of the new trade deal among Canada, the United States and Mexico, with a vote in the Senate expected this afternoon.

However, the federal budget, slated for March 30, wont be delivered that day. Its postponed to a time yet to be chosen.

The House is scheduled to next meet Monday, April 20.

Government House leader Pablo Rodriguez says the Commons could come back sooner if an emergency requires a meeting.

We will face this together, and we will get through this together, he said.

Concerns about COVID-19 have prompted cancellation of many large gatherings and sporting events.

Conservative House leader Mark Strahl said the official Opposition would still work to hold the government to account during the unfolding health crisis.
A seven-member group of ministers, formed by the Punjab government to review on a daily basis the situation triggered by the novel coronavirus pandemic, asked the deputy commissioners on Friday not to grant permission for mass gatherings.

In a meeting held here under the chairmanship of Local Bodies Minister Brahm Mohindra, the panel urged religious leaders and Dera (sect) heads to postpone their scheduled religious congregations.

In a statement, Mohindra said the administration took immediate action to check the spread of the deadly disease and 2,200 quarantine beds were ready throughout the state. A total 250 ventilators in private hospitals and 20 ventilators each were ready in government medical colleges in Amritsar and Patiala.

The minister said consistent awareness campaign would be launched in coordination with all the government departments, the Indian Medical Association, social and religious organisations, and NGOs to educate people to refrain from shaking hands and avoid mass gatherings.

Anganwadi (rural child care centre) workers, panchayat secretaries and others would establish personal contact with all the households in the rural areas to sensitise the people, the minister added.

More than 88,000 passengers have been screened so far for coronavirus at the Amritsar and Mohali airports. Over 6,600 passengers with travel history to coronavirus-affected countries were screened and 335 passengers were found untraced, according to a statement.

A passenger, who returned from Italy, was tested positive and was admitted to government hospital in Amritsar. Seven passengers were found to have symptoms of suspected coronavirus, as per the bulletin.

Meanwhile, an officer couple who recently returned from Italy and Switzerland have quarantined themselves at their homes. Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dyalan and Fatehgarh Sahib Senior Superintendent of Police Avneet Kondal have been home quarantined for 14 days, officials said.

Sangrur police chief Sandeep Garg and Patiala Development Authority chief administrator Surbhi Malik have also been quarantined at home, officials added.

According to the Union Health Ministry, the number of novel coronavirus cases in India stands at 81, which include 16 Italians and a Canadian,



The tally of 81, seven more since Thursday night, includes a 76-year-old man from Karnataka who became the country's first coronavirus fatality, and 17 foreign nationals, Health Ministry officials said.

Several states across India went into battle mode to contain the spread of COVID-19, shutting down schools, theatres and colleges, and many public events, including the IPL, were postponed.

Cases of the infection have been reported from at least 11 states and territories, including Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala, where three patients were discharged last month after they recovered.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kate Beckinsale has been seen for the first time since sharing her shocking story about Harvey Weinstein following his sex assault conviction.

The actress, 46, kept a low profile as she was spotted going on a shopping trip in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

She dressed for comfort in a white knitted v-neck hoodie, tied her brunette locks in a loose high bun and donned some large shades.

Outing: Kate Beckinsale has been spotted for the first time since sharing her disturbing Harvey Weinstein story following his sex assault conviction

On Thursday, Kate called Weinstein's 23-year sentence a 'huge relief' after detailing alleged verbal abuse claims on her social media.

But she was forced to defend herself after she received an unwarranted backlash for sharing her own story about the disgraced producer.

The actress revealed how he launched into a tirade at her for wearing a suit to his premiere after inviting her to bring her child over for a playdate with his child.

Low-key: The actress, 46, kept a low profile as she was seen out and about for a shopping trip in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Relaxed: She dressed for comfort in a white knitted hoodie, tie her brunette locks in a loose high bun and donning some large shades

He then screamed at her that she was a 'stupid f**king C**T' for not wearing a tight dress on the red carpet.

At the time, Harvey was not a known rapist and Kate said she went to his house because he was her boss and admitted he could be 'funny, creative and generous.'

But she hit back when people asked her why she went at all, why she didn't fight back, why she didn't tell people what happened and why she took her child.

One person wrote: 'Honestly I don't know why anyone would allow themselves to be put in one of those situations. Just leave.'

Speaking out: On Thursday, Kate called Weinstein's 23-year sentence a 'huge relief' after detailing alleged verbal abuse claims on her social media (pictured in 2004)

Kate replied: 'I did. It still happened.'

Another wrote: 'Why did you show up is my question?'

Kate wrote: 'He was my boss. He had not so far been abusive, nor had I seen any evidence on the one movie I had worked on with him. He couched it as a playdate for our kids.

Shocked: Kate recalled how Weinstein forced the cast of her 2001 movie Serendipity to go ahead with the New York premiere of the film mere weeks after 9/11 (pictured at premiere)

'I had no idea it wasn't that or that I had done anything that could be perceived as wrong.'

Another follower wrote: 'You did nothing wrong. Harvey Weinstein was the malefactor here. People trying to blame you have no idea what they are talking abot at best.

The British actress penned an emotional Instagram message hours after Weinstein was sentenced in Manhattan criminal court following his convictions last month for forcibly performing oral sex on production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and third degree rape for the attack on Jessica Mann in 2013.

Emotional message: Kate's original post that seems to have caused so much division on social media, despite her bravely telling her truth

Kate recalled how Weinstein had forced the cast of her hit 2001 movie Serendipity to go ahead with the New York premiere of the film mere weeks after 9/11, before accusing her of 'ruining' the premiere in a shocking rant.

Kate shared two photos from the October 2001 premiere, showing herself and Weinstein on the red carpet.

She told her followers in the lengthy caption: 'These photos were taken at the premiere of Serendipity on October 5, 2001.

'We all refused to go because holding a premiere mere weeks after 9/11 with the city still smoking felt like the most insensitive, tone deaf, disrespectful idea possible.'

The actress revealed that 'Harvey insisted. We flew into New York and somehow got through it.'

The ordeal wasn't over as Kate revealed that the next morning Weinstein invited her and her then two-year-old daughter Lily, who she shares with ex Michael Sheen, over for a playdate 'with his similar aged daughter'.

'I said ok,' Kate wrote. 'I turned up and he immediately called for his nanny to take the babies to another room to play. I went to go with them and he said No, you wait here .'

Kate then went on to describe Weinstein's terrifying rant, as he accused her of ruining the Serendipity premiere with her choice of outfit, a white suit and tie.

'The minute the door closed he started screaming you stupid f**king C**T, you C**T you ruined my premiere. I had no idea what he was talking about and started to shake.'

'He said, "If I am throwing a red carpet you get in a tight dress, you shake your a** you shake your t**s you do not go down it looking like a f**king lesbian you stupid f**king c**t ."'

Kate continued: 'The shock made me burst into tears. I tried to say "Harvey, the city is on fire, people are still looking for their relatives none of us even felt the premiere was appropriate much less coming out dressed like its a bachelor party."'

'He said, I dont care -its my f**king premiere and if I want p***y on the red carpet thats what I get". Screaming. Livid.'

Kate recalled that 'I managed to get myself and my child out of there and yes that was one of many experiences I had that there was no recourse for.'

She pointed out that while the incident 'falls under no felony I WAS punished for it, and for other instances where I said no to him for years, insidiously and seeming irreversibly.'
A medical team from India has reached Italys Leonardo da Vinci International airport on Friday to test stranded Indian nationals including students for coronavirus so that they can come back home.

The embassy had earlier reached out to Italian authorities to arrange for Covid-19 testing of Indian nationals. But this plan did not work out because the Italian health system was already under stress and heavily overloaded with their own domestic health emergency.

The Indian medical team will stay back in Italy for the next couple of days to carry out the tests, Indian Ambassador to Italy Reenat Sandhu told Hindustan Times. She said those who test negative will be able to travel back. They will be quarantined on arrival in India for 14 days.

Read also: Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran arrive in Mumbai, to be quarantined at Jaisalmer

Italy has been hardest hit by the outbreak in Europe, with 15,113 confirmed cases of coronavirus, which has infected more than 134,500 people worldwide and caused more than 4,900 deaths.

According to the Indian mission, about 1.6 lakh Indians live and work in Italy apart from around 3,800 students who are enrolled at various universities.

Officials at the Indian mission say they had been in touch with Indian community leaders in parts of Italy for a larger outreach to ensure their well-being.

Watch | Where if not home?: Indians stuck at Italy airport amid coronavirus threat

In addition, we have also kept in touch with Indian students groups in different universities to make sure they are doing well and safe, offering them counseling and help as required. The effort has been to allay concerns and remain available, one diplomat at the embassy said.

On complaints by some students that they had not been able to make contact with Indian officials in Italy, the Indian diplomat said a second helpline had been added in Rome and a third in Milan to deal with the large traffic of phone calls.

Read also: PM Modi proposes SAARC leaders meet on coronavirus via video conference

Every effort is being made to ensure that we reply to the numerous emails and continuous phone calls on our helplines with real time information available to us, the official said.

Besides putting advisories out on social media on the evolving situation, the official said, messages were also being delivered via WhatsApp groups including voice messages in English, Hindi and Punjabi.

At an informal level, officials said they had been working with the Indian community to find reasonable accommodation for the stranded students and managed to get them rooms. Similarly, we worked with Air India to give them food vouchers and assure that no cancellation fee will be charged. Air India has agreed to reschedule their flight bookings at no charge, a second official said.

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Market Reports on India Provides the Trending Market Research Report on  India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution Market By Type (Off-Grid and On-Grid), By End User (Stationary, Industrial, Solar, Residential, Wind, Power Plants and Others), Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2016-2024 under Energy category. The report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, competitive intelligence and industry reports.

India Lithium-Ion Energy Storage Solution Market was valued at around $ 10 million in 2018 and is forecast to grow at a staggering CAGR of more than 40%, to surpass $ 160 million by 2024. Anticipated growth in the market can be attributed to increasing demand for energy storage solutions in renewable energy sector, power plants, BFSI, retail, etc., in India. Moreover, Government of India is planning to incentivise the production of Lithium-ion batteries in India, which is likely to help in the setting up of Lithium-ion battery manufacturing units in the country over the next five years. This would result in domestic production of Lithium-ion energy storage solutions in India, which would have a huge positive impact on the market in the coming years. Moreover, the declining prices of lithium-ion batteries and advantages of lithium-ion batteries over other battery types such as lead-acid are further propelling the India Lithium-ion energy storage solution market.

Request a free sample copy of India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution Market Report @ http://www.marketreportsonindia.com/marketreports/sample/reports/1303612



Years Considered for this Report:

Historical Years: 2016-2017

Base Year: 2018

Estimated Year: 2019

Forecast Period: 20202024

Objective of the Study:

The primary objective of the study is to understand and gain insights about India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market and its segmental analysis by type, by end user and by regional share.

To estimate and forecast market size of India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market.

To categorize and forecast India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market by type  On-Grid and Off-Grid.

To categorize and forecast India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market by end user  solar, power plants, stationary, wind, industrial, residential and others.

To categorize and forecast India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market by regions  North, East, West and South.

To perform strategic analyses such as SWOT, PESTLE and Porters Five Forces of India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market.

To profile major companies operating in India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market.

Few of the major players operating in India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market include Sterling and Wilson Pvt. Ltd., Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd., Exicom Power Solutions, AES India Pvt Ltd., ACME Cleantech Solutions Private Limited, Delta Electronics India Pvt. Ltd., Amplus Solar, LG Chem, NEC Technologies India Private Limited and Coslight India Telecom Pvt. Ltd.

To analyze and forecast India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market, both top-down and bottom-up approaches have been used. Multiple employees from the leading companies have been interviewed through telephonic conversations to extract and verify the information being collected at source. A brief study of the major players operating in India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market was also undertaken, which included analysis of information such as ongoing installation projects, followed by the details of expected year of commissioning and estimated investments of various projects in India.

Moreover, detailed and in-depth scrutiny of information was done to understand each policy or external or internal factor which could increase or decrease the demand for Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solutions in India. To extract data, primary surveys were conducted with key players and stakeholders in the industry. The future plans of major players were studied and projects which have commissioned in the country were identified.

Various secondary sources such as white papers and secondary literature on Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Ministry of Power, Central Electricity Authority, Indian Energy Storage Alliance, Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution Companies Annual Reports, International Monetary Fund and World Bank were also studied by Our Research.

Key Target Audience:

Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and other stakeholders

Government bodies such as regulating authorities and policy makers

Organizations, forums and alliances related to Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market

Major end users of Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solutions

Market research and consulting firms

The study is essential in delivering useful information to industry stakeholders such as Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution manufacturers, suppliers and other stakeholders. The report also provides useful insights about which market segments should be targeted over the coming years in order to strategize investments and capitalize on growth opportunities in specific market segments and geographies.

Report Scope:

In this report, India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market has been segmented into the following categories in addition to the industry trends which have also been listed below:

Market, By Type:

On-Grid

Off-Grid

Market, By End User:

-Solar

-Power Plants

-Stationary

-Wind

-Industrial

-Residential

-Others

Market, By Region:

-North

-East

-West

-South

Market Share, By State:

Haryana

Uttar Pradesh

Tamil Nadu

Maharashtra

Karnataka

Andhra Pradesh

Gujarat

Rajasthan

Telangana

Madhya Pradesh

Bihar

Punjab

Uttarakhand

Odisha

Delhi

Others

Market, By Company:

Sterling and Wilson Pvt. Ltd.

Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd.

Exicom Power Solutions

AES India Pvt Ltd.

ACME Cleantech Solutions Private Limited

Others

Competitive Landscape

Competitive Benchmarking: Benchmarking of leading 10 players on the basis of end user.

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in India Lithium-ion Energy Storage Solution market.

Available Customizations:

With the given market data, Our Research offers customizations according to a companys specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

Company Information

Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

Browse our full report with Table of Contents :

http://www.marketreportsonindia.com/marketreports/india-lithium-ion-energy-storage-solution-market-by-type-off-grid-and-on-grid-by-end-user-stationary-industrial-so/1303612



About Market Reports on India:

Market Reports on India is an excellent source to obtain top quality market research reports that helps you to understand the business in the Indian market. We cover various industries, identifying and understanding key macro and micro-economic trends, insights and futuristic growth opportunities. To help achieve all this and more, Market Reports on India is the answer to all your business needs.

Contact us at:

Market Reports on India

Tel: +91 22 27810772 / 27810773

Email: info@marketreportsonindia.com

Website: www.marketreportsonindia.com

Follow us on : Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
HERKIMER, N.Y. -- Many schools in Herkimer County will close next week to help stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The nearly county-wide closure was announced Friday afternoon -- one day after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced one person had tested positive for COVID-19 in Herkimer County.

The superintendents of Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES and the 10 Herkimer County districts that are part of BOCES voted unanimously to shut down schools and end extracurricular activities. The vote came after the superintendents met with the state Department of Health, Herkimer BOCES announced in a letter shared on district websites.

The schools will close Monday and are slated to reopen April 14, the district said.

This is not a decision we take lightly, but we recognize we need to act decisively, the districts said.

The closures include:

Herkimer BOCES

Central Valley School District

Dolgeville Central School

Herkimer Central School District

Little Falls City School District

Frankfort-Schuyler Central School District

Owen D. Young Central School

Mount Markham Central School District

Poland Central School District

Richfield Springs Central School

West Canada Valley Central School District

The districts will lose 15 school days and scheduled spring breaks.

Read more:

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

Have a tip, a story idea or a comment? You can reach me at shouse@syracuse.com
TREDYFFRIN  Attorney Caitlin Erin Rice returned to a Chester County courtroom for the first time in 2020 on Friday.

But this time, the former rising star prosecutor did not address the court as the attorney for the Commonwealth. Instead, she stood to the right of the bench as the defendant in a criminal case.

Rice was charged in January with a single misdemeanor count of retail theft for allegedly shoplifting more than $400 worth of merchandise from the Wegmans supermarket in Malvern, putting an apparent end to her blooming career in Chester County. The items she stole were reportedly high-end, pricey bottles of wine.

Standing before Senior Magisterial District Judge William Kraut and accompanied by a prominent criminal defense attorney, William Brennan of Philadelphia, Rice agreed to waive her right to a preliminary hearing and have her case transferred to Common Pleas Court for disposition.

I am sure you are aware of the purpose of this proceeding, Kraut asked Rice, who stood stoically before the bench, dressed in a blue business pants suit. Is this what you want to do?

Yes, your honor, Rice replied.

In addition to ordering Rice not to have any further criminal conduct as part of her bail provisions, Kraut also told the former Chester County assistant district attorney not to enter the Wegmans store where she was caught trying to leave with several items in a bag without paying for them.

Prior to the proceeding, at which Kraut asked the veteran attorney about her decision to forego the hearing and basic questions about her bail status, Brennan and Assistant Attorney General Christopher Phillips discussed the process of Rice applying for entry into the Attorney Generals Offices pretrial diversionary program for first-time offenders.

If accepted into the ARD program, Rice could move to have her arrest expunged if she successfully completes its provisions.

Neither Phillips nor Brennan commented on the matter before leaving Krauts court.

According to a criminal complaint filed by East Whiteland police, Rice, 31, of West Goshen was stopped by Wegmans store security in the parking lot of the grocery store in East Whiteland on New Years Eve. She had reportedly gone through a checkout line at the store and paid for other items before leaving, the complaint stated, but not the ones worth $441 secreted in her bag.

Rice resigned her position in the D.A.s Office on Jan. 3, the date charges were filed.

Rice had been involved in the prosecution of several high profile cases in the county since she was hired in November 2015 after having worked in there office as a legal intern. Most recently, Rice was assigned as the lead prosecutor in the theft case against Monsignor Joseph McLoone, the former chief pastor at St. Josephs Church in Downingtown, who is accused of stealing money from parishioners there to pay for personal expenses, including gifting men he was involved in sexual relationships with.

To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.
In a major relief for Indians stranded in Italy due to the novel Coronavirus outbreak, the Government will be operating Air India flight to Milan city to rescue them on Saturday.

The flight would take off tomorrow afternoon and would be landing on Sunday morning at Delhi Airport, informed Rubina Ali, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official Dammu Ravi said around 220 students live in and around Milan in Italy, and the government's priority is to bring them back. "If any other students are left behind they can contact our missions, and we will see what next we can do, he added.

READ | Rome: 45 Indian Students Stranded At Airport Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

MoS for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan also announced that nearly 250 Indians are expected to be rescued from Milan in wake of Coronavirus outbreak which has killed over 1,000 in Italy so far.

GoI will send an Air India flight tomorrow afternoon to evacuate Indians stuck in Milan due to #Covid19.



We expect to bring back around 200-250 passengers by this flight.@narendramodi @DrSJaishankar @drharshvardhan @HardeepSPuri @MEAIndia @IndiainItaly  V. Muraleedharan (@MOS_MEA) March 13, 2020

In the same press briefing, Home Ministry official Anil Malik said that Indo-Bangladesh passenger buses and trains will remain suspended till 15th April. Along the Indo-Nepal border, four check posts will remain operational. Additionally, out of the 37 land check posts, traffic to be allowed through the 19 and visa-free entry for Bhutanese and Nepalese nationals will continue.

READ | Coronavirus: Air India Cancels Flights To Rome, Milan, And Seoul

India sends medical team to Rome

The Embassy in Italy welcomed the medical team from India who arrived in Rome on Friday to test Indian students stranded in the Coronavirus-hit country before their rescue. Ahead of their arrival, the Indian Embassy in Italy made all arrangements to gather the Indians stuck in Rome and to ensure that all of them are tested as per instructions before being rescued by India.

READ | COVID-19: Italy Reports Over 1,000 Deaths; Here's Why Death Toll Is High In Some Countries

The Indian Health Ministry on Thursday decided to send a team of doctors to collect swab samples of Indian students stranded in Italy, which is one of the worst-affected countries of Coronavirus. The move drew a massive response by the Indians, as the two emergency helpline numbers issued by Indian Embassy in Italy were flooded with calls for the test. The Embassy then launched two more helpline numbers to ensure that no individual missed out on the test.

READ | MEA Briefs On Stranded Citizens From Iran And Italy Over Coronavirus
MONTPELLIER, FranceCurrently a member of the supervisory board of an investment company, Mr. Jean-Marie Laporte has traveled with wonder through the Middle Kingdom, to the rhythm of the ethnic and folk dances of the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization in the audience of Shen Yun Performing Arts.

Its a very moving show because were going through centuries, even millennia! Were not used to it at all anymore, so this kind of beauty making its way through centuries, its quite extraordinary to see it brought back to life in this form, so I really enjoyed it! said Laporte, who attended Shen Yuns performance on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, at the Corum of Montpellier.

The colors are sublime and the staging impeccable, of course, the artists are irreproachable, outstanding as they say in English, and I had a very, very good evening, he added.

Based in New York, Shen Yun has won the hearts and admiration of audiences from all over the world. The show combines classical Chinese dance, interactive digital sets, and a full orchestra. Laporte is one of those who have been won over by the quality of the orchestra, which has been able to harmoniously combine oriental sounds with those of the West.

The music is excellent, I was afraid that the music was going to be too string-based, [the typical sound] you can hear in [all] Asian music, but this is good, it is a very good combination, Laporte said, adding he even spotted classical motifs reminiscent of Mozart.

The artists of Shen Yun have taken on the mission to revive traditional Chinese culture.

The mission of the show, indeed, is to rediscover the roots of China and from this point of view, its stimulating. It allows us to keep a certain distance from the events that have taken place in China since 1945-49, of course, said Laporte alluding to communism, which over the decades has wiped out this ancient Chinese culture.

Im going home feeling quite well  it is a good show and I recommend those who havent seen it to go and see it! he concluded. Without hesitation! Without any hesitation whatsoever!

With reporting by NTD Television.

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.
The prospect of the 30-day ban is already sowing chaos across the Continent and hammering the airline industry.

European leaders, whose own cohesion is under strain, said it had been issued unilaterally and without consultation.

And in the U.S., our White House correspondents write, a president who presents himself as the nations commanding figure has failed to offer clear guidance to the local officials who are busy shutting down much of American life.

Here are the latest updates on the virus and the markets, maps of where the pandemic has spread and a primer on the travel ban.

In other news:

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote today on a sweeping economic rescue package to offset the pandemics colossal effects. It includes free virus testing and enhanced unemployment benefits, among other measures. If approved, it will then advance to the Senate.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada will address the nation today, after the government confirmed that his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, has tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from a trip to Britain. Mr. Trudeau will remain in isolation for the next two weeks.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain stuck to a notably restrained set of measures on Thursday, while President Emmanuel Macron of France announced that his countrys schools and universities would close starting next week.

The White House said that President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence would not be tested for the virus, even after they posed for a photo at Mr. Trumps oceanfront resort in Florida with a Brazilian official who later tested positive. Two Republican senators who also had contact with the official said that they would self-quarantine.

The mayor of New York City, which had 95 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Thursday, declared a state of emergency and warned of the potential for job losses, food shortages and large-scale evictions of renters. Broadway will go dark for at least a month.

The Champions League, the grandest tournament in club soccer, faces the prospect of being suspended after Real Madrid became the latest team to go into quarantine.

Chinas effort to restart its economy after draconian coronavirus countermeasures is proving to be more difficult than shutting it down.

What to know: The Times is providing free access to our most important updates and guidance on the outbreak. And our Coronavirus Briefing, like all our newsletters, remains free.
D onald Trump is "very concerned" about coming into contact with a Brazilian aide who has now tested positive for coronavirus, according to a US media report.

The US leader was pictured beside Brazilian premier Jair Bolsonaro's communication director over the weekend, who has since been confirmed to have the virus.

In a picture posted on his Instagram page, Fabio Wajngarten can be seen standing next to President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Publicly, the US commander-in-chief has said he is not worried, but a source told CNN: He is very concerned about all the people he met who have it, including the Brazilian."

The US leader and Mr Wajngarten (left) / fabiowajngarten/Instagram

A statement from the Brazilian presidents press office said preventive measures are being adopted to ensure Mr Bolsonaros health.

Mr Wajngarten joined Mr Bolsonaro on a three-day trip to the US and on Saturday was at the Mar-a-Lago resort.

A video from the event also showed him standing directly behind both presidents as they addressed a crowd.

The meeting also included Mr Trumps daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner, former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Brazils foreign minister Ernesto Araujo, and Mr Bolsonaros son Eduardo, who is a federal politician, among others.

We had dinner in Florida at Mar-a-Lago with the entire delegation, Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

I dont know if the press aide was there. But we did nothing very unusual.

President Trump with President Bolsonaro. Mr Wajngarten can be seen behind the US leader / AP

Mr Wajngarten initially denied a report on Wednesday that he had been tested for the Covid-19 virus, saying on his social media account that his health was fine.

He is now in self-quarantine at home, according to the statement.

The government also communicated with US authorities so that they can take cautionary measures, the Brazilian statement said.

The White House Press Secretary said: Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time.

The White House did not respond to repeated questions about the development, including whether the president and his senior staff are being tested for the virus and who, if anyone, is planning to self-quarantine, given their direct contact with someone who has now tested positive.
Kalen Schlatters defence lawyer called to the stand Thursday a man they claimed murdered Tess Richey in a Church St. laneway after Schlatter left in the early hours of Nov. 25, 2017.

The man, who can only be identified as J.G. due to a publication ban, testified that he was walking around the Church-Wellesley neighbourhood at around 3 a.m.

The Crown alleges Schlatter sexually assaulted and strangled 22-year-old Richey between 4:14 a.m. and 5 a.m. in a laneway off Church St., north of Dundonald St.

Schlatter, 23, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and testified that Richey was alive when he left her in the laneway by the stairwell where her body was found four days later.

J.G. testified that he first saw Richey at a hot dog stand on Church St. around 3 a.m. when she called out to him: Hey, I want to talk to you! He said she was being pulled in two different directions by the two people she was with, Schlatter and her friend Ryley Simard, and the trio ended up walking north on Church St.

He was curious about why the woman wanted to get his attention, he said, but also didnt want to seem like he was following them.

He walked to Dundonald St. where he saw the trio again at around 3:20 a.m. He said Richey called out to him again and gestured, which can be seen on surveillance camera, but that Schlatter told her not to talk to him.

I just shyly smiled at her, said J.G., who added that he didnt stop to talk to her because of his social anxiety and awkwardness.

J.G. testified that he has autism and Aspergers Syndrome, as well as other unspecified mental health issues. He agreed with the Crown suggestion that he was lonely, which is why he went for walks in the neighbourhood, and that he rarely got attention from women.

J.G. testified Thursday that he told police in an interview that he was looking for sex, or something that night.

Schlatters defence lawyer Lydia Riva suggested that J.G. believed Richey was sexually interested in him and that he began following her.

J.G. denied this, saying that he just wanted to find out what she seemed to want to talk with him about; sex was only a distant possibility.

Surveillance video shows the man continuing to walk through the neighbourhood. The defence suggested he is looking for Richey, but he said he could not remember. He is last seen on security videos heading in the direction of his home at 3:39 a.m. He testified that he went home.

Security video shows Richey and Schlatter walking hand in hand into the laneway between 582 Church St. and 584 Church St. at 4:14 a.m. and Schlatter leaving alone at 5 a.m.

A police officer has testified there is no one else seen entering the laneway on security cameras after that.

The defence suggested that J.G. was watching Richey and Schlatter from the backyard of 584 Church St., where a business called Zendogs is located.

J.G. denied this and said he didnt know anything about the Zendogs area.

The laneway where Richeys body was found at the bottom of a stairwell is separated from the Zendogs yard by a tall wooden fence.

When the man left, you realized you had an opportunity, suggested Schlatters defence lawyer Riva.

He said no.

You came over the gate and you thought Ms. Richey would be happy to see you, she said.

Im sorry, what gate are you talking about? J.G. asked.

You were surprised that she rejected you, she didnt want to see you, Riva said. You assaulted her and there was a struggle and you killed her.

No, maam, J.G. said.

He said that he went to police on Dec. 1, 2017, after reading an article about Richeys body being discovered which said that it was initially being considered death by misadventure.

But he thought it was suspicious, because hed seen her with people that night. He later gave police a DNA sample.

His DNA was not found on Richeys clothes or body, according to a forensic biologist who has already testified.

The trial continues.
SBU operatives caught the perpetrator red-handed during a sting raid upon his attempt to obtain classified papers.

A citizen of the Peoples Republic of China, Shu Yuanjie, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in Ukraine on espionage charges, the Security Service of Ukraine reports.

The investigation proved that the spy, a Ph.D. in Technical Sciences, had been gathering intelligence under the pretext of official technical sci-tech cooperation between China and Ukraine.

During his business trips to Ukraine, the foreigner attempted to recruit a group of Ukrainian scientists into confidential cooperation, the report says, adding that for a monetary reward the man planned to get access to classified projects of Ukraine's rocket and space industry.

SBU operatives caught the perpetrator red-handed during a sting raid upon his attempt to obtain classified papers.

Read alsoUkraine's counterintel delivers annual report: 90 sentenced for high treason, terrorism

The court found the man guilty of committing a crime under Part 1 Article 114 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The verdict has come into force.

It's not the first time Ukrainian research institutions are targeted by foreign intelligence, the SBU notes.

In July 2011, counterintel operatives detained two officials with North Korea's Economics and Trade Mission, who had tried to acquire classified documents on rocket projects. They have been sentenced to eight years of imprisonment for espionage.
There is no need for President's rule in Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar

No problem with raids on companies linked to me, but why drag my sisters: Ajit Pawar

No 'Jyotiraditya Scindia-like' figure in MVA allies: Ajit Pawar

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, Mar 13: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said there is no "Jyotiraditya Scindia-like" figure in ranks of ruling allies in the state and asked the BJP to keep a watch on its MLAs who were not present on the assembly.

In his reply to budget demands, Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, also commented on BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar''sstartlingrevelation in the house on Thursday it was his party that ditched the one-time ally Shiv Sena last year and that it was a mistake.

No Madhya Pradesh-like crisis in Maharashtra: Sharad Pawar

"There is no pardon for the mistake," Pawar said, looking in the direction of Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray leading to laughter in the house.

The Shiv Sena and the BJP parted waysafter the assembly elections last year due to differences over power- sharing. The Sena later joined hands with the Congress and the NCP, its political rivals then, to form government.

Pawar saidthere is no "Jyotiraditya Scindia-like figure" in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the ruling alliance consisting of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress, and asked the BJP to look after its own flock as there could be such a person in its own ranks.

Scindia, a long-time Congress leader and former Union minister, quit the party and joined the BJP on Wednesday.

"You better keep a watch on those who were not present now (in the assembly)," the NCP leader told the opposition.

Mungantiwar, speaking in the assembly on Thursday, said the BJP had ditched the Sena and asked the Congress-NCP not to take advantage of that mistake, which he said, will be rectified one day.

The BJP legislator and former minister, addressing Congress and NCP MLAs, also said just like in Madhya Pradesh, there will be a Scindia in Maharashtra too.

Madhya Pradesh Crisis: What went wrong for Congress

Pawar took a dig at Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavisand other BJP leaders fordoubting the longevity of the MVA government, which assumed office in November-end last year.

"You have to do this to keep your flock together," he said.

Mungantiwar, speaking after Pawar, said the "BJP ditching the Sena" comment was made in a sarcastic tone, but the NCP minister used it to suit his politics.

Opposition members later staged a walkout from the assembly in protest against Pawar''s reply.

In the wake of the coronavirus threat, Pawar asked legislators to take care of themselves while going out to meet people in their constituencies.

"In Iran, four MPs have died due to the coronavirus. We are people''s representativesand cannot keep people away from us. But you all should take care.

"Legislators should contact the Mantralaya control room if there is a need," Pawar said.

The budget session of the state legislature is being curtailed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. It will conclude on March 14 instead of the originally scheduled date of March 20.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 13, 2020, 14:10 [IST]
Cosmetics giant MECCA has revealed it will be stopping all in-store services in response to the rapid spread of the deadly coronavirus.

All 81 stores across Australia and New Zealand will now stop shoppers from booking makeup appointments and beauty lessons as of March 31.

The beauty brand also announced there would be hand sanitiser and tissues supplied at the entrance of each store.

MECCA will stop in-store services such as make-up appointments and beauty labs as of March 31 in response to the coronavirus pandemic

'In light of the ever-evolving Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, weve been closely monitoring this in real-time based on the advice of the World Health Organisation and Australias Chief Medical Officer,' MECCA said in a statement on Friday.

'We will be pausing our in-store services, which includes booked appointments and Beauty Labs. If you have booked an appointment with us prior to March 31st, we will be in contact with you. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We will be reassessing services on an ongoing basis.'

MECCA also said all employees would be trained in hygiene practices and encouraged to wash their hands after every transaction.

'We have re-trained all our team members and prepped them on increased hygiene standards. In addition, all our hosts have been instructed to sanitise and wash their hands before and after each interaction,' the store said.

The brand announced the decision to stop services on Friday and also said hand sanitiser would be on offer at the entrance of each store

'We have increased supplies of hand sanitiser, alcohol, alcohol wipes and tissues at all stores.'

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

The cosmetics company assured customers that stores would remain open and make-up samples could be used via an applicator.

'Samples will be administered with an applicator and our team will be on hand, as always, to assist,' MECCA said.

'We want to keep our customers and team members, as part of our MECCA community, up to date on the information they need to help prevent exposure.

'Your safety is critical, so we have requested that if any team member feels unwell, that they remain at home and we encourage our customers to do the same.'

On Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a ban on all 'non-essential' mass gatherings of 500 people or more.

There have been at least 200 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia with three deaths.
Hundreds of people queued for hours outside a fever clinic to get tested for coronavirus on Friday as one person was wheeled out by paramedics in biohazard suits.

Actor Albert Goikhman captured dramatic footage of the patient dressed in black with a blue surgical face mask being wheeled out of the Monash Anaesthetic Clinic on Friday.

The patient was strapped into a gurney but was alert and looking around at the crowds standing in a long coronavirus test queue.

The person was then bundled into an ambulance and taken away as stunned crowds looked on.

Mr Goikhman posted pictures to his Facebook account of the crowds.

Some people were wearing face masks as they queued for hours to get tested.

'And you know what is funny about this ... if you don't have coronavirus and line up in the queue ... you probably will have after that,' wrote Nola Fitch on Facebook.

The queue of people waiting to be tested for coronavirus was five-deep in parts as people clogged the pavement of Clayton Rd, Clayton in Melbourne on Friday

After a wait of between four and five hours, many were successfully tested at Monash's fever clinic in Clayton but Daily Mail Australia understands some people had to be turned away

The clinic was open from 10am to 6pm but Daily Mail Australia understands the waiting time was four to five hours and an unknown number of people were then turned away.

Monash is testing for coronavirus at a second clinic in Melbourne's southeastern suburb of Berwick and a third will open in Dandenong next week to cope with soaring demand.

Monash Medical Centre treated Australia's first confirmed coronavirus patient on January 25, a Chinese national who caught the virus in Wuhan and flew to Melbourne from Guangzhou on January 19.

As of Friday evening there were 201 coronavirus cases across Australia up more than a third from the 141 cases confirmed at the same time the day before.

A patient was wheeled out of the Monash fever clinic by paramedics in white biohazard suits

Coronavirus cases soared to 201 on Friday

Hundreds of people have been lining street corners waiting to be screened outside testing centres in Sydney and Melbourne since early this week.

A queue outside a test centre at Royal Melbourne Hospital ran for half a block on Tuesday evening, with scores of possible patients wearing face masks as they waited for a doctor's examination.



CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

At Concord Hospital, in Sydney's west, prospective patients sat on plastic chairs and leaned against the fence outside a hastily set-up clinic.

Inside the city's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, people waiting to see a doctor were seated metres apart from one another to minimise the chance of the virus spreading.

Officials have confirmed that as of 11am on Friday, 16,685 people had been tested for coronavirus in New South Wales alone, the country's worst affected state.

A South Australian hospital opened the first drive-through coronavirus testing clinic on Wednesday to minimise the risk of the disease spreading.

The same method has been used with success by South Korea which had more than 7900 confirmed cases on Friday night but far fewer comparative deaths than other nations such as Iran, Italy or Spain.
Press Release

13 March 2020

When Airbnb started in 2008, travel was experiencing an unprecedented historic decline as a result of the Great Recession. Two of our founders, Brian and Joe, started the company to be able to afford their rent and stay in their San Francisco apartment. In doing so, they created a unique model within travel, connecting travelers looking for a different way to travel with people sharing space in their homes. Airbnb emerged out of this economic downturn as a people-to-people marketplace (some call it a two-sided platform) that economically empowers hosts and provides unique and authentic experiences to guests.

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This makes us very different from a traditional hierarchical one-sided business model where there is a large, asset heavy vertically integrated corporation capturing the vast majority of the economics being generated. Airbnb is a community-based model made up of different stakeholders connected via a single platform. And because Airbnb does not own or manage inventory, as hotels or airlines do, the vast majority of the economics go to the hosts themselves.

In order to facilitate a healthy and trusted community, we support people on both sides of the marketplace, including enabling host and guest reviews, providing insurance, handling payments, confirming the identity of users, translating the platform into 62 languages and requiring a community commitment to support belonging, amongst many things. For this support, we typically charge hosts 3 percent of the price they charge to list their space and guests pay a variable service fee. As an example: for a listing where a host sets a price of $100 and a guest pays $112 (not counting applicable tourist tax), Airbnb collects $15 to cover operating costs and the host earns $97.

Under this community model, hosts determine when they make their listings available, how much they charge, specific rules about how the space can be used (for example, how many guests can stay at any one time), and a cancellation policy.

For guests, the connection to the host via Airbnb allows them to stay at a local, authentic and unique listing that usually costs less and has more space (such as bedrooms for the whole family) and amenities (washer, dryer, kitchen, etc.) than a traditional accommodation option. We know that the majority of guests use Airbnb because it provides places to stay that are often in non-traditional tourist neighborhoods and offer authentic experiences.

Airbnb, Inc.

Because of this two-sided model, when a crisis like COVID-19 hits, we know that it doesn't just impact us as a company, but also the individual stakeholders within our community: the hosts who rely on their Airbnb income, and guests whose travel plans have been disrupted. We are committed to doing everything we can to fairly support both parties, consistent with how this two-sided marketplace works.

When a guest chooses their accommodation on Airbnb, they select from properties with a variety of cancellation options, ranging from very strict (non-refundable) to very flexible (free cancellation up to one day before). Today, hosts offer flexible and moderate cancellation policies on over 60 percent of active listings. Many guests will also separately purchase travel insurance to guard against unexpected disruptions.

In the case of COVID-19, where travel restrictions have been put in place by governments or health authorities, our extenuating circumstances policy allows guests to cancel eligible reservations without charge, and the host is required to refund the reservation, irrespective of the previously contracted cancellation policy. Just this week, we also announced "More Flexible Reservations", a suite of tools and programs being developed to help hosts and guests navigate the current uncertainty and meet their needs to cancel or postpone their travel plans or hosting commitments. For bookings made now through June 1, 2020, if guests need to cancel and are not due a refund of the Airbnb guest service fee, we will refund that fee as a travel coupon which can be used on a future trip.

We know our hosts depend on the economics generated through the Airbnb platform. In a recent global survey we conducted, half of host respondents said their Airbnb income helped them stay in their homes, and nearly one quarter (24 percent) said hosting on Airbnb helped them avoid eviction or foreclosure.

Airbnb, Inc.

Being a people-to-people marketplace, it is difficult to see anyone in our community suffer financial loss or emotional strain. We know that many of our community members work hard to do the right thing by each other. Beyond extenuating circumstances, it is ultimately up to a host whether they will let their guests cancel their reservations outside of the terms of their cancellation policy. We appreciate that so many hosts have been incredibly flexible. In those difficult situations where flexibility for a host is not possible, we hope guests will understand that many hosts depend on this income to make ends meet, could have rented their space to someone else, or may have already incurred costs as a result of accepting the booking.

Travel on Airbnb is powered by people, not large corporations. It provides experiences that are unique, authentic and local and puts money directly into communities. We know that COVID-19 will have an impact on this in the near-term, but we also know that travel is resilient and will rebound, and when it does so, we believe our people powered community will enable more people-to-people connections than ever before.
BRIDGEPORT  Michael Buddha Catchings once pledged to his family that he would do anything to protect his niece, who he said he loved like a sister.

But on Friday, Catchings stood crying before Superior Court Judge Joan Alexander as he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting the mother of three.

Everyday I hope and wish I could bring her back, Catchings told the judge, while members of his large Stratford family sobbed in the back of the courtroom.

A witness to the 2017 homicide told police Catchings was trying to defend Raenetta Catchings, who was arguing with her boyfriend at the time, when he accidentally shot his 27-year-old niece.

This was the most heartbreaking case Ive ever had to preside over as a judge, Alexander said. I dont know why this happened; it doesnt make any sense but once you introduce a gun into a situation it becomes tragic.

Catchings, 24, is accused of fatally shooting Raenetta Catchings, the mother of three small children, in front of her North Avenue home in Stratford on Aug. 13, 2017. He also wounded her boyfriend, Marc Elliott, of Bridgeport.

Catchings pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and first-degree assault as he was about to go to trial.

Supervisory Assistant States Attorney C. Robert Satti Jr. told the judge that, to his credit, Michael Catchings admitted guilt. But a life was taken, he added.

Tears streaming down her face, the victims mother and Catchings sister, Leona Catchings, told the defendant she forgave him.

I forgave you the first time and I forgive you now, we are going to make it through Buddha, she told a crying Catchings.

Police responding to a call of gunshots at the North Avenue home said they found Raenetta Catchings lying in the street surrounded by family members with a gunshot wound in her chest. She was pronounced dead at Bridgeport Hospital. Elliot was found a short distance away suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen, police said.

Police said from the start the large group of family at the scene refused to talk to investigators. Officers learned from other witnesses that the Catchings family had been holding a birthday party and that during the party Raenetta Catchings and Elliott had walked out to the street to have an argument, police said.

At some point, police said, several people from the birthday party had walked over to the arguing couple and the situation escalated.

Police said witnesses told them a male voice was heard yelling, Ill shoot your whole family, Ill shoot this whole block, and then another voice responded, Buddha, Buddha no!

Witnesses then heard two gunshots and Michael Catchings ran one way and Elliot ran another way, police said.

Police said another witness told them that Michael and Raenetta Catchings were very close, like brother and sister, and that Michael Catchings intervened to protect Raenetta Catching but accidentally shot her.
A new exhibition changes the term American in the phrase American art, to which Whitney is institutionally devoted.

The United States of America is at war with itself  forces of xenophobic ignorance and fanaticism on one side, visions of hope and humanity on the other.

On the day Donald Trump mocked the Academy Awards for honouring a South Korean movie, I visited an utterly spectacular exhibition at the New York Whitney Museum of American Art, Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, which demonstrates this.

The exhibition lays out a vision of America that underlines, and is determined to triumph over, the xenophobic racism now epitomised in Donald Trumps notorious call for a wall between the US and Mexico, and indeed between the US and the rest of the world. In the words of the New York Times art critic Holland Cotter, It offers yet another argument for why the build-the-wall mania that has obsessed this country for the past three-plus years just has to go.

That obsession with building a real or fictitious wall around this country does not seem to have ever gone anywhere except deeper into its subterranean xenophobic consciousness. But this particular exhibition does more than turn that proverbial wall into a defiant canvas.

The show celebrates Mexican muralists Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros who emerged as cultural heroes of the Americas, soon after the 1920 Mexican Revolution, as they were busy giving their rising nation a sense of aesthetic self-consciousness, political self-confidence, and moral agency.

What is now being recognised so late in this exhibition is that North America was not exempt from their influence, that it is only the symptom of a white supremacist delusion to link the US exclusively to Europe and disregard its link to the continental consciousness.

Rethinking America

What is being powerfully and beautifully changed in this exhibition is the term American in the phrase American art, to which Whitney is institutionally devoted.

The point here is not so much that European masters like Picasso, Matisse, and Duchamp are no longer important figures in American art, and another important trio, Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros, are to replace them. The point, rather, is to think of a tertiary place where all these artistic factors and political forces they represent come together.

Given the long history of the hegemonic assumption of Western Europe being the epicentre of the universe, it is good, correct and timely to bring attention back to the Western hemisphere and look at the US as an extension of its own continental neighbourhood.

The answer to Eurocentrism, however, is not to opt for another fictional centre of art, culture, and politics. The answer is a complete dismantling of such racialised geographies of human experiences, by way of opting for a plurality of spaces that are simultaneously present and interpolated.

What animates such pluralities are the shared experiences of people who produce or celebrate these works of art. It is crucial to keep in mind that the New Deals Public Works of Art Project in the US was a major point of attraction for these Mexican artists. Americans struggling to make ends meet during the Depression were not that different from their Mexican counterparts. Their struggles, as perhaps best evident in the murals of Diego Rivera in the Detroit Museum of Art gave Mexican arts new platforms and perspectives and a larger continental scale to articulate.

The Whitney curator Barbara Haskell rightly speaks of how major US artists like Jackson Pollock, Philip Guston, Ben Shahn, Thomas Hart Benton were deeply influenced by the Mexican masters celebrated at the exhibition. This is a good and necessary corrective lens. But it should be the beginning of a much superior wisdom, where the question of impact and influence leads to a different imaginative geography that does not replace a physical wall with a mental barrier over which artists cross to impact each other.

Both Mexican and US artists were integral to a powerful topography of aesthetic experiences that had a reality rooted in the experiences of both peoples, and their confluence points to the more global landscape of art.

Traumatic Realism

In my work on Palestinian and other national cinemas, I have written on traumatic realism of certain aesthetic movements that are rooted in national traumas, such as the Palestinian Nakbah, or the Russian, Chinese, Cuban, or Iranian revolutions.

The curatorial insight that the rise of this phase of Mexican art was rooted in the aftermath of the civil war that ended in 1920 paves the way for a reading of a post-war Mexico active in mapping and peopling its cultural history and aesthetic character.

Their northern neighbours could not have but noticed this cultural effervescence. Soon, the leading Mexican artists, Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros, headed north for both patronage and for fresher inspirations.

It is now part of the art history lore that when he saw a mural of Orozco in California, Jackson Pollock declared it the best painting in the Western hemisphere. From then on, he was deeply affected by the Mexican master in his own work.

The more politically poignant and powerful the Mexican masters, however, the more formal into abstraction Pollock moves. To become universal, whatever that may mean, Pollock plunged into vicarious abstractions. Figurative art thus became declasse. But most particularly, as Haskell has noted, is the fact that these three Mexican masters were all Marxist revolutionaries and saw no conflict between their aesthetic choices and their political missions. Pollocks politics, whatever it was, disappeared into the thick brushes of his amorphous abstractions. This does not mean the Mexican muralists were not animated by the abstractions of their own. It means that their aesthetic sublimation is still in need of theorisation.

Other Walls More Murals

But it is not just the wall that Trump wishes to build around the US. It is also his role model, the wall the Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu has built around Palestinians that today marks the historical significance of this exhibition beyond its stated purposes.

On that apartheid wall in Palestine, too, there are signs of life and defiance, the abstract and figurative graffiti art that have become the mirror images of the Palestinians incarceration in their own homeland.

For those concerned with a more global reading of the artworks on the apartheid wall in Palestine in particular, the catalogue that accompanies this extraordinary exhibition is of immense and particular importance.

Haskells learned introduction to this precious collection of essays, all richly illustrated, maps out the details of the impact of these muralists on American art in the years between 1925-1944. This period is at the same time emblematic of the comparative artistic movements the encounter had enabled. The rest of the catalogue is devoted to such movements.

Renato Gonzalez Mello, for example, makes an insightful distinction between Eurocentric modernism and Latin American modernismo. This distinction would not be possible were it not for the comparative occasions such exhibitions enable. This theme is reiterated in the essay on, Transcultural Modernists as Bicultural Bridges, by Michael K Schuessler. We find a similar reading in Dafne Cruz Porchinis essay, Mexican/Modern: Early Promotion of Mexican Art in the United States.

Such comparative or alternative takes on multiple modernities, rooted in the aesthetic experiences of national traumas have crucial and much larger global resonances, such as the rise of an aesthetic postmodernity under duress in Palestine. But such comparative spectatorships and theorisations are next to impossible in this country where Palestine is systematically demonised or denied.

The presence of immigrant communities in this encounter between Mexican and US art scenes, addressed by other essays, leads the scholars gathered in this catalogue to examine the impact of this Mexican artistic movement with non-white American artists, such as the one explored by Shipu Wang in, Picturing m Transracial Alliance: Mexican Muralists and Asian American Artists. The same is done by Gwendolyn Dubois Shaw, who examined the influence of these Mexican masters in African-American artists like Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, and Charles White.

In these and other essays collected in this volume, we see the active dialectic between a peripheralised artistic movement and a plurality of communities at the epicentre of a dysfunctional empire.

As documented in this exhibition and catalogue, the example of the Mexican muralists points to other so-called diasporic arts that have today remained on the sidelines of American experience, decidedly marginalised, exoticised, Orientalised, and thus barred from any fruitful interface with aspects of American art. The combination of this groundbreaking exhibition with a Korean film being for the first time recognised as a best film in this years Academy awards, much to the chagrin of the xenophobic constituency of the current resident of the White House, is an auspicious beginning.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Further information will be provided about credit risk and protecting the worth of an institution in the new episode of Behind The Scenes with Laurence Fishburne.

Academy Award nominee Laurence Fishburne is best-known for his impressive performances in Hollywood hits like Contagion and Boyz n the Hood. Fishburne yields a well-versed skillset and is bestowing his talents to the educational show Behind The Scenes with Laurence Fishburne. Behind The Scenes serves as a teaching tool by informing its viewers about a broad spectrum of subjects that are impacting people around the world today. A new episode will interview industry experts about credit risk and how to protect an institutions worth.

How does one go about protecting the worth of an institution, such as a university? Evaluating an individuals credit risk is an essential key to preserving the value of an institution. Credit risk is the possibility that a bank borrower or a counterparty will fail to meet its commitments in line with agreed terms. Lenders calculate credit risk upon a borrowers ability to repay a loan concerning its original terms. To assess a consumers credit risk, lenders look at credit history, capital, capacity to repay, associated collateral, and the loans conditions.

Many companies and institutions do not have the finances to open their establishments and rely on lenders and loans to conduct business, which is a tool like credit risk is essential for various organizations. Further information will be provided about credit risk and protecting the worth of an institution in the new episode of Behind The Scenes with Laurence Fishburne.

Behind The Scenes with Laurence Fishburne is cautiously reviewed before broadcast to a broader viewing audience. The educational show has received a variety of awards for its efforts.


The leader made the suggestions at a meeting in Hanoi on March 12th with representatives of private economic groups in tourism, services, aviation, food and industry, to consult them on national economic development in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic spreading globally.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc described the domestic business community as a bastion in the fight against diseases and social recession, and lauded their active role in job generation and ensuring the macro economy.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the meeting. (Photo: VNA)

He expressed his approval for the enterprises measures during this tough time, especially improving governance, restructuring, applying technology and expanding linkage and cooperation.

The PM also urged businesses to optimise opportunities generated by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the domestic market with a population of nearly 100 million.

He assigned localities to take synchronous measures in support of enterprises, particularly those hard hit by COVID-19, and pledged that the Government will set forth suitable mechanisms to assist sectors that are severely affected by the epidemic, especially aviation, tourism and services.

The participating businesspeople expressed their belief in the countrys macroeconomic stability as well as the Governments resolve in completing the twin targets of containing the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuring economic development.

Ho Ngoc Yen Phuong, Deputy General Director of Vietjet Air, proposed that the Government roll out supportive measures for the aviation sector, including exempting import duty and environmental tax for jet fuel and reducing 50-70 percent of aviation fees such as fees on take-off and landing and airport services.

She also asked the Government to promote investment attraction in aviation infrastructure.

Other business representatives suggested localities increase dialogues with enterprises to collect their ideas on disease combat, while helping them remove difficulties in business and production./.
T he World Health Organisation has moved to bust myths over coronavirus and pet dogs.

Rumours and panic have been swirling around social media in recent days, asking one key question: can my pet give me Covid-19?

Many of the fears stem from the pre-existing belief that the coronavirus pandemic began in a wild animal market in Wuhan, where alive and dead fish, birds and other species are traded with humans.

The worries have grown greater because many of those living with the disease do not know they have it; it can be asymptomatic.

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

But WHO experts today said that there is no scientific base to the claim that animals or pets can become infected with the latest strand.

"At present, there is no evidence that companion animals/pets such as dogs or cats can be infected with the new coronavirus," the organisation wrote in a graphic.

However, it is always a good idea to was your hands with soap and water after contact with pets.

"This protects you against various common bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella that can pass between pets and humans."

It comes after the Hong Kong government confirmed last month that a dog had tested "weak positive" for coronavirus and been placed in quarantine. Cases in the UK soared by their highest daily amount yet, 202, to hit a total of 798 on Friday, and the eleventh Brit patient died tonight in Scotland. This comes from nearly 30,000 tests.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson switched the UK from a "contain" to "delay" phase following an emergency Cobra meeting with top government health advisers earlier this week.
Its a wrenching decision that will put at risk some kids whose families rely on public schools for regular meals and child care. But Houston ISD and districts across the region made a correct calculation this week: the risk of keeping schools open appears greater.

Close the schools. And keep them closed for a while.

HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathans announcement late Thursday to keep schools closed through spring break through March 30 followed courageous steps by other school leaders that can save many lives.

At this point, every day counts in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. In the Houston region, we have potentially only a few weeks left to contain the virus before it overloads our health system.

Houston is starting to understand what other cities have already learned: This pandemic is different from others that have come and gone. Acting too slowly will have deadly consequences, and early containment is the only way to stop its lightning spread.

Sure, some people will accuse superintendents of overreaction. Just yesterday, when Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo made the painful decision to cancel the rodeo, Councilman Greg Travis had the audacity to say the move served only to perpetuate the artificial panic being proliferated by the media. He tweeted a video telling people to just wash their hands and carry on as during a regular flu season.

We dont have the luxury of such ignorance. Hand-washing, although vital, isnt enough. Social distancing has been shown across the world to contain the virus  the earlier the better. As such, a moratorium on the daily ritual of sending millions of Texas schoolchildren into often crowded classrooms where sniffles and germs abound is the responsible thing to do  especially in spring break traveling season.

Its true that the science isnt precise as to exactly how shuttering the schools will affect the spread of the disease. Its a new virus, and its unclear how important children are in the transmission of it. But evidence suggests closing schools was helpful in containing the 1918 influenza pandemic. Researchers found that cities such as New York that were quick to close schools, limit business hours and discourage gatherings had a vastly lower death rate than cities such as Pittsburgh that didnt.

Any risk that closing the schools is an overreaction is outweighed by the fact that doing so is likely to slow the spread of the disease, giving our health system a chance to get a handle on the widening crisis. One look at the nightmare scenario were seeing in Italy should show us what happens if we dont slow the rate of infection.

Sure its a gamble, but a prudent one.

It may be going overkill  but by necessity, Dr. Peter Hotez, a Baylor vaccine researcher and infectious disease specialist, told the editorial board Thursday. Weve delayed testing so much, theres no margin for error.

Hotez didnt take a position on school closure but he emphasized that every day counts in combating this virus. He estimates only a two or three week window when we can stop it before catastrophic results in terms of overwhelming health systems.

Across the nation, more than 2,100 schools have closed or planned to close, Education Week reported Thursday. Governors in states such as Ohio and Maryland have already ordered all schools in their states closed. Locally, Rice University is relying on remote learning and closing the campus for the semester.

Whats the right duration? Time will tell. HISD may need to adjust the timeline.

Districts must use Spring Break to quickly address challenges such as how to ensure children have enough to eat and proper care in the meantime. They can start with their protocols to provide for kids during holidays and the summer months. State and federal governments, meanwhile, must act to support families during this time, including with paid leave policies, so that parents arent forced to leave kids alone while they work.

Like the decision to close the rodeo, this one will hurt.

But right now, the potential of saving lives  lives of our parents and grandparents, lives of our health care workers, lives of immunocompromised children and adults  should be the highest priority of school leaders across the region.

Close the schools, as long as it takes. Like ignorance, hesitation is another luxury we dont have.
General Secretary of Uttar Pradesh BJP Pankaj Singh on Friday said that he has requested the state government to shut down schools and cinema halls in Noida for a few days, amid coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Pankaj Singh, who is also a BJP MLA from Noida, said in a tweet, "Have requested Principal Secretary of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, State Minister for Basic Satish Dwivedi and District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar, to shut down schools and cinema halls for a few days in Noida amid coronavirus outbreak in the country."

Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Delhi governments have already said that all schools will remain shut till March 31.

Delhi and Jammu administrations have even shut down cinema halls till March 31.

The number of persons infected from coronavirus has climbed up to 73 in India while worldwide the virus, which originated in the Wuhan city of China, has spread to more than 100 countries infecting over 1,20,000 people.

A 76-year-old man from Karnataka, who passed away recently, had tested positive for COVID-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- Russian oil companies were supposed to meet with the Russian energy ministry this week to discuss the possibility of once again resuming its cooperation with OPEC. Instead, discussions sidelined OPEC, with giant Gazprom Neft saying that it was getting ready to increase production in April. A return to OPEC was not even an option. Russian oil companies have been vocal opponents of the deal for years, and are unlikely to break out their pom-poms in support of further production cuts, in what would, in their opinion, simply take cheaper Saudi and Russia barrels off the market and open the door for more expensive US shale. Saudi Arabia, however, is breathing down Russias neck and is now flooding Russias European customers with super cheap Arab Light in a bid to woo them away from Urals blend.

- Saudi Arabia has booked multiple VLCCs to ship its crude oil, including to the US Gulf Coast, despite having its own fleet of VLCCs. While China is still struggling under the weight of COVID-19 and its oil refineries are scaling back their runs, Saudi Arabia is planning to increase shipments to that region of the world, and its lowered OSP is will be attractive for China - even if they dont need it right now. The bookings for the VLCCs are just preliminary and can still be canceled, but even just a show of force at this point may be enough to move oil prices even lower on one hand, and shipping rates up on the other.

Market Movers

- Saudi Arabia has booked multiple VLCCs to ship its crude oil, including to the US Gulf Coast, despite having its own fleet of VLCCs. While China is still struggling under the weight of COVID-19 and its oil refineries are scaling back their runs, Saudi Arabia is planning to increase shipments to that region of the world, and its lowered OSP is will be attractive for China - even if they dont need it right now. The bookings for the VLCCs are just preliminary and can still be canceled, but even just a show of force at this point may be enough to move oil prices even lower on one hand, and shipping rates up on the other.

- Russian oil companies were supposed to meet with the Russian energy ministry this week to discuss the possibility of once again resuming its cooperation with OPEC. Instead, discussions sidelined OPEC, with giant Gazprom Neft saying that it was getting ready to increase production in April. A return to OPEC was not even an option. Russian oil companies have been vocal opponents of the deal for years, and are unlikely to break out their pom-poms in support of further production cuts, in what would, in their opinion, simply take cheaper Saudi and Russia barrels off the market and open the door for more expensive US shale. Saudi Arabia, however, is breathing down Russias neck and is now flooding Russias European customers with super cheap Arab Light in a bid to woo them away from Urals blend.

- The United States has suspended its scheduled sale of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to keep oil prices from falling further.

- Iraq - OPECs #2 producer - has plans to cut oil prices for April crude sales and will slash by $5/barrel the selling price for Basra Light crude for May (for Asian buyers). Exports are expected to be boosted for April, as well. OPECs #2, UAE, is planning a production increase to 4 million bpd--up from 3 million bpd, following Saudi Arabias lead.

- Venezuela has reached out to OPEC and Russia to open a dialogue on the production cut deal that last week fell apart. Venezuela has seen its production fall by half over the last two years and is sensitive to oil price shocks. Venezuela has a history of rallying the OPEC troops to manipulate the market to bring about higher oil prices, and now the stakes for Venezuela are particularly high. Maduro is calling this oil price crash a brutal blow, and could shave $6 billion off oil revenues for the country.

- The oil price crash has had other devastating effects, including a panicked sell-off of Nigerias Eurobonds that are due in 2047. The fear was that Nigeria would be forced to let the naira weaken, but the bank is assuring traders that it will do whatever it must to protect Nigerias economy.

Stock Watch

- Occidental Petroleum cut its quarterly dividend by 86% this week as oil prices plunged. Capital spending for 2020 will also be cut from $5.2-$5.4 billion down to $3.5-$3.7 billion. OXY shares lost over 50% Monday and then rebounded a bit Tuesday.

- Apache lost nearly 55% Monday, and then further later in the week, managing to reach a 28-year low when it said it would slash its quarterly dividend by 90%, cut 2020 capital expenditure significantly and reduce its Permian rig count to zero.

- Marathon Oil lost over 47% Monday. The giant has scaled back drilling activity and cut spending by at least 30% from a year earlier. Marathon said it was reducing its 2020 capital to $1.9 billion, $500 million less than its 2019 spending. Marathon is also exploring the sale of the assets of its MPLX LP pipeline subsidiary for up to $15 billion to reduce debt burden. MPLX operates natural gas processing facilities around Marcellus, Utica, Appalachia and in the Southwest.

- ExxonMobil lost 12% Monday, but while half of analysts say steer clear of the giant, the other half remind us that when it comes to balance sheets, this is pretty much as good as it gets.

- Devon Energy stock, which has lost nearly 69% in the last thirty days, said it would cut its 2020 capital spending by 30% compared to its previous plan for this year.

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict

- Overnight, the U.S. launched airstrikes against what it said were Iranian-militia-backed positions in Iraq, sparking a major row with Baghdad, which says the strikes targeted Iraqi military bases. Washington said the strikes were retaliation for an attack the day before on a base in Iraq housing coalition forces in which two US service members and one British service member were killed. That attack is believed to have been launched by Iranian-sponsored militia Kataib Hezbollah. Baghdad isnt buying it, and is already spooked from the very public assassination on its soil of Iranian general Soleimani. Baghdad has now summoned the American and British ambassadors over the deadly airstrikes.

- In Libya, efforts by Egypt, the UAE, and the Saudis aim to keep the Turks from getting more weapons to the GNA in Tripoli, while the UN is sidelined and ineffective. Given the clear uptick in momentum in support of Haftar, it would seem that the general is gaining the upper hand, though for now he is not visibly closer to taking Tripoli, and oil production remains shuttered. As of March 8th, Libya was producing 114,331 b/d and financial losses related to this had exceeded $2,932,005,883 since January 17th.

- Turkey and Russia are reportedly in talks about the joint management of oil fields in eastern Syria, in place of the Kurdish-led forces which control them now. During talks in Moscow last week Turkish President Erdogan proposed that idea to Putin. What will be interesting to see is whether Putin goes for this deal, which would have to have a quid pro quo, and at this point, that would likely concern Turkeys actions in Libya against Haftar, which is supported by Russian mercenaries, unofficially.

- The US administration sanctioned the second subsidiary of Russia's state-controlled Rosneft for brokering the sale and transport of large amounts of sanctioned Venezuelan oil. Officials blacklisted TNK Trading International, the Swiss subsidiary of Rosneft. Last month, sanctions were slapped on Rosneft Trading SA, which resulted in Venezuelan cargoes shifting to TNK.

Climate Crunch

- Swiss-based UBS bank has ended support for offshore drilling in the Arctic amid efforts to tackle climate change. In the last three years, the bank invested about $300 million in Arctic oil and natural gas projects. The move is part of banks target of reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 by 75% from 2004 levels with a 71% reduction already achieved in 2019. U.S. banks Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase have previously announced similar policy shifts.

- Hawaiis capital, Honolulu, has filed a lawsuit against 10 fossil-fuel companies seeking monetary damages to compensate for flooding and rising sea-levels as a result of climate change. City officials are accusing oil producers of profiteering while concealing the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions. The companies named in Honolulus lawsuit include Aloha Petroleum, BHP Group, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Marathon Petroleum, Phillips 66, Royal Dutch Shell, and Sunoco.
Among the issues discussed at a regular meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) in Minsk, was the issue of mobile service provided by Vodafone-Ukraine in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR).

Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the TCG, Ambassador Heidi Grau, said this in a statement to the press following the TCG meeting and its working groups in Minsk on March 11, 2020.

The Economic Working Group concentrated on the issues of water supplies, as well as mobile communication provided by Vodafone-Ukraine in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR), she said.

As Ukrinform reported, the regular meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas was held in Minsk on March 11, which was attended by Head of the Ukrainian Presidents Office Andriy Yermak and Deputy Head of the Russian Presidents Administration Dmitry Kozak.

In particular, the political working group discussed aspects related to the special status of CADR and CALR, as foreseen by Article 11 of the "Package of Measures". The decision was taken to establish an Advisory Board at the working group. Its draft mandate and working procedures have been defined.

The task of the Board shall be to develop recommendations on political issues within the Groups purview.

iy
Hungarys media players are active and express a wide range of views, the US State Department said in its 2019 country report on human rights practices in which it also cited reports of legal restrictions on civil groups.

The report also said that Hungarys courts had generally functioned independently over the past year. It added, at the same time, that though the government generally respected the rights of detainees, official statistics and NGOs had reported overcrowding and poor physical conditions in the countrys prison system.



The State Department also touched on the United Nations and the European Commissions criticism of the governments treatment of migrants and asylum seekers, noting reports from 2018 of migrants being pushed back to the Serbian side of the fence on Hungarys southern border.



During the past year, however, human rights groups reported receiving fewer complaints of excessive use of police force and abuse against refugees and migrants, as the number of asylum seekers decreased from previous years, the document said.



Concerning the issue of anti-Semitism, the report said the Jewish organisation Action and Protection Foundation (TEV) had registered 32 anti-Semitic hate crimes in 2018.



Of those, 19 cases concerned hate speech, 10 were crimes of vandalism, and three were assault. The report also noted that Hungary successfully hosted the European Maccabi Games in Budapest between July 29 and Aug. 7.
The government will send an Air India flight to Milan on Saturday to bring back around 200-250 Indians stranded in the Italian city due to the coronavirus outbreak there, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said.

"GoI will send an Air India flight tomorrow afternoon to evacuate Indians stuck in Milan due to #Covid19. We expect to bring back around 200-250 passengers by this flight," Muraleedharan said in a tweet on Friday.

A senior Civil Aviation official said the flight would take off around noon or 1 pm and it will land on Sunday morning at 7.45 am at the Delhi airport.

The coronavirus outbreak, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday, has led to more than 4,000 deaths globally.

The government on Wednesday suspended all visas, barring a few categories like diplomatic and employment, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus. COVID-19 cases across India have risen to more than 80.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ammo Grrrll is the grrrll of the moment. She reveals herself to be the PANTRY PREP QUEEN! She writes:

Okay. I have overstated my Prepping Cred as any kind of royalty by several orders of magnitude. I understand there are religions that advise their adherents to store up to a years worth of food, and at least one serious prepper I know who not only makes his own ammo (childs play in Prep World), but also has a wide variety of food dehydrators, plus good old-fashioned canning skills, multiple generators, water purifiers and the like. I bow low.

Nevertheless, when there is a chance that my family may be asked to isolate itself for several weeks, I want to be ready to do that. So I have done quite a bit of preparation beyond my normal OCD levels.

First of all, I figure with my incredibly slow metabolism (picture a car that could go from coast to coast burning but one gallon of gas), I could probably live for most of those weeks just on water and the occasional doughnut for morale and still only lose five pounds. So I got that goin for me, which is nice. I can give almost all our stored food to Mr. AG who is a foot taller and whose metabolism burns through probably 6,000 calories a day, no problem. As I write this, he has just consumed five Hebrew National Hot Dogs, two baked potatoes, sauerkraut and two bananas. Also 3 chocolates and a granola bar. And thats what I know about.

Secondly, I have more than a touch of agoraphobia  odd for a comedian, but perfect for a columnist  and was born to be under either quarantine or house arrest for an indefinite period of time! As a bookish child with minimal social skills, I used to dream of being locked in the public library for several years. The fantasy was vague on important details like food. The highlights of the daydream were simply that there would be no school, no old-maid teachers, several of them psychotic enough to make Hillary and Elizabeth Warren seem almost pleasant, and books as far as the eye could see. Heaven on earth!

You know how when some guy goes off the rails, the journalists always interview his surviving neighbors, most of whom swear that he was a quiet guy, kept to himself, seemed nice enough, this was totally unexpected? Well, I think I was odd enough that my neighbors would not have been all that surprised.

Uh, listen, her parents were great. But she used to go into the nearby swamp alone and write poetry. She did not like to play with the other children; she liked to READ! Sometimes she wrote little skits and put them on in the backyard and she once started a newspaper, each copy written by hand and sold it door to door. Just a very strange little girl

Had I not met my twin besties in ninth grade, who (miracle of miracles!) also liked to read, and then met my bashert (my fated beloved) as a teenager, I might still be working on my 72-page single spaced Manifesto, wearing a hoodie and sunglasses.

Thirdly, ALREADY, long before the COVID-19 Panic, I had a dread fear of not being able to feed my loved ones. Once in San Francisco when our son was a baby, there was some sort of long-forgotten dairy panic and all the milk disappeared from the shelves of the grocery stores. Or at least the one I could walk to since we didnt own a car.

One barefooted dirty hippie girl had just finished loading all twelve remaining gallons into her cart. I said, Look, I have a six-month old. I breast-feed him, but I need the milk for me to make the milk. May I please have just one? You will still have eleven. She refused. She said she didnt even have kids and just planned to scalp it to other desperate people. I said, Well, you havent paid for that yet, so if you are going to be a (several bad words), I will just take one then. And so I did. She screamed in outrage and, frankly, shock, but there were no cameras in stores yet, so what could she do? She briefly considered fighting for it, but thought better of it. I mean, what kind of scary lunatic takes stuff out of another womans cart? Without so much as a Swiss Army Knife? Better to cut your losses and move on.

Now since that time, I have always had a full pantry that looks like a food shelf warehouse, two fridges and two freezers, and backups to my backups of everything from the newly-scarce toilet paper, to garbage bags to aspirin, vitamins, and laundry detergent.

Here is my plan in the unlikely event that we are quarantined in our Gated Geezerville. First, we will eat what is probably two weeks worth of lovely prepared meals in the freezer  Red Beans and Rice, Moroccan Lamb Stew, Short Ribs, Sloppy Joes, and Turkey-Rice Casserole, to name just a few items. We will eat up all the fresh food in the fridge  various salad fixins, cottage cheese, other kinds of cheese, ice cream, eggs, all the fruits and vegetables. We will eat really well in Phase One, maybe even invite friends over for dinner.

Mr. AG, sadly, will run out of what I call his Joe-ceries quite quickly  he eats 3 or 4 bananas a day, so we should hit the Banana Crisis by Day 4 or 5. The Yogurt Depletion would come next. But Potato Chips, Whiskey and Granola Bars will last forever.

I have diced and frozen little bags of onions and peppers. When the fresh vegetables are gone, Mr. AG will raise a glass rather than complain. Given the choice between broccoli and death, he would have to channel the great Jack Benny line, Im thinking; Im thinking!

If we still cant get to a market safely when all that is gone, we move to the Involuntary Vegan Stage  staples like rice, beans, kasha, quinoa (a trendy ancient grain supposedly good for you), nuts, pastas, oatmeal, cereal, grits, and soup. I have a bread machine and am not afraid to use it. We have tuna to last several monotonous weeks.

Weeks 6-8 would entail the challenging Freestyle Phase  things like Lima Bean, Salsa, and Cheezit Surprise; my grandsons leftover CapNCrunchberries cereal with Almond Milk; Aunt Lucys gift fruitcake (Aunt Lucy died in 1997) and Gefiltefish (think fish SPAM) with Water Chestnuts, Craisins and Dill Pickles. Pretty much anything left with a calorie in it. I expect by this phase, what with being locked in the house with each other and God forbid, running low on coffee or butter, that an active bartering system could arise with neighbors. Will trade Vintage 2017 Canned Beets for a banana will probably not win the day.

Well, speaking of hoarding, gotta run to my gun store to check out the new AR-14 Joe Biden spoke of at the auto plant. He also argued that nobody needed 100 rounds of ammo. Oh my. If thats 9 mm, the idiot is talking about ONE BOX. Gone in maybe 15 minutes at the range. Twenty-some contendas in the Dem primary and this is what is left. Well done, Democrats, you must be so proud!
Following in the footsteps of other districts in the area, New Fairfield and Sherman have decided to close their public schools due to coronavirus concerns.

As a cautionary measure, public school buildings and offices in New Fairfield and Sherman will be closed until further notice, officials from each district announced Thursday evening.

Although there had been no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in either New Fairfield or Sherman, both school districts decided to close their doors following a call with superintendents and state Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona.

Before there were any confirmed COVID-19 cases in Connecticut, New Fairfield town and school officials were taking precautionary measures and staying up-to-date on the virus, according to Superintendent Pat Cosentino.

School buildings were undergoing extra cleaning, students were allowed to bring hand-sanitizer and disinfectant wipes to school, and teachers had been preparing lessons and activities for students to do at home in case schools closed, Cosentino said in a newsletter last week.

Over in Sherman  which has only one public school serving students in preschool through eighth grade  administrators had also been developing alternate school session plans.

In the event that we are out of school for some reason, we just want to make sure that we have some plans in place and ready to go, Superintendent Jeff Melendez said at a Board of Education meeting earlier this month.

Other school districts that have announced closures amid the coronavirus outbreak include Danbury, Bethel and Brookfield.
Mr. Mnuchin has spent the week crisscrossing Pennsylvania Avenue to meet with Ms. Pelosi and the two have talked repeatedly on the phone. On Tuesday, after Mr. Mnuchin briefed Senate Republicans at the Capitol, Ms. Pelosi spontaneously invited him to her office. The two sometimes call each other directly on their cellphones. By Friday evening, Mr. Mnuchin and Ms. Pelosi had spoken by telephone 13 times as they raced to strike an agreement to provide government support to workers and businesses affected by the virus.

The two sides parried behind the scenes as Republicans resisted a broad proposal to provide paid sick leave and pushed for the inclusion of language into the emergency package to ensure that federal funding could not be used for most abortions. At a news conference, Ms. Pelosi called Mr. Mnuchins suggested changes to the legislation very reasonable.

At first blush, a constructive relationship might seem unlikely. When Mr. Mnuchin and Ms. Pelosi shared a table last year at the annual Alfalfa dinner, Politico quipped that Gerard Araud, the French ambassador sitting between them, had the most awkward seat. But Mr. Mnuchin and Ms. Pelosi both hail from California and over the years, they have crossed paths and exchanged pleasantries in social circles.

An aide to Ms. Pelosi said that her relationship with the secretary was cordial and operational and that she appreciated that he is a realist when it came to recognizing facts for what they are. A senior Treasury official said that Mr. Mnuchin viewed Ms. Pelosi as a shrewd professional and someone with whom he had a good personal rapport.

In a White House filled with ideologues, few have been able to work successfully across the aisle. Maneuvering with Congress has not always come easily for Mr. Mnuchin, a former banker, hedge fund manager and Hollywood producer who had never worked in government before he was tapped for Treasury secretary after serving as the finance director of Mr. Trumps 2016 campaign.

His initial foray into congressional diplomacy was not smooth: Mr. Mnuchin served as chief pitchman for the presidents 2017 tax cut, rankling Democrats by producing a one-page economic assessment of a nearly 500-page bill that claimed the $1.5 trillion package would not add to the budget deficit. When he urged Republican House members to support debt ceiling legislation as a favor to him, they groaned and hissed at the request.

But by last year Mr. Mnuchin found himself on firmer footing. With the country facing the prospect of defaulting on its borrowing obligations, Mr. Mnuchin was assigned by Mr. Trump to work with Ms. Pelosi to reach a budget deal. During a meeting last June in Ms. Pelosis office, Mr. Mnuchin impressed the speaker when he said he was prepared to stay until they found a solution, according to a person who heard the exchange.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has gone into isolation after his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau tested positive for coronavirus.

Trudeau's office released a statement Thursday night confirming that the 44-year-old has tested positive for the virus a day after she reported feeling mild flu-like symptoms, including a low fever, on Wednesday night.

'She is feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild,' the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Justin Trudeau, 48, is 'in good health' has no symptoms but will be in isolation for 14 days, according to the statement. He is the first world leader to go into isolation.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau s wife Sophie Trudeau, 44, has tested positive for coronavirus Thursday evening, a day after she was reported mild flu-like symptoms and a low fever. She is pictured in London last Tuesday March 3 at the WE Day UK charity event and concert

Sophie Trudeau released a statement Thursday saying she's doing well despite experiencing 'uncomfortable symptoms'

Justin Trudeau, 48, is 'in good health' has no symptoms but will be in isolation for 14 days, and will continue to work and conduct his duties remotely, according to the statement. The couple pictured above in December 2019

In Canada as of Thursday there were 138 confirmed cases of coronavirus

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CORONAVIRUS? Like other coronaviruses, including those that cause the common cold and that triggered SARS, COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. The most common symptoms are:

Fever

Dry cough

Shortness of breath

Difficulty breathing

Fatigue Although having a runny nose doesn't rule out coronavirus, it doesn't thus far appear to be a primary symptom. Most people only become mildly ill, but the infection can turn serious and even deadly, especially for those who are older or have underlying health conditions. In these cases, patients develop pneumonia, which can cause: Potentially with yellow, green or bloody mucus

Fever, sweating and shaking chills

Shortness of breath

Rapid or shallow breathing

Pain when breathing, especially when breathing deeply or coughing

Low appetite, energy and fatigue

Nausea and vomiting (more common in children)

Confusion (more common in elderly people)

Some patients have also reported diarrhea and kidney failure has occasionally been a complication. Avoid people with these symptoms. If you develop them, call your health care provider before going to the hospital or doctor, so they and you can prepare to minimize possible exposure if they suspect you have coronavirus. Advertisement

He is not being tested at this time because he is asymptomatic. He is slated to address Canadians on Friday.

Trudeau was also scheduled to hold meetings over the next two days and Ottawa with provincial premiers and First Nations leaders, but those meetings have been postponed, according to the BBC.

Sophie Trudeau began to exhibit symptoms on Wednesday evening after returning to Canada from a trip to the UK where she attended the WE Day UK Charity event and concert in London last Tuesday March 3.

Idris Elba, Jamie Oliver, race car driver Lewis Hamilton and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard were also present at the event.

Sophie released a reassuring statement Thursday saying she's doing well despite experiencing 'uncomfortable symptoms'.

'First, Id like to say a big thank you to all of you who have reached out to me asking how Im doing. Although Im experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon. Being in quarantine at home is nothing compared to other Canadian families who might be going through this and for those facing more serious health concerns.

'We will get through this situation together. Please share the facts and take your health seriously.

'I send you all my courage and warm thoughts (but only "get better" hugs from afar!)' she wrote.

Health officials will reach out to those who've been in contact with her as necessary, the office said.

After she felt ill, the Canadian Prime Minister's office released a statement saying she will get tested and she and her husband would be put in isolation.

'I have some personal news to share today. Sophie recently returned from a speaking event in the UK, and last night she was experiencing mild flu-like symptoms. Shes feeling better, but following the advice of our doctor she is self-isolating as we wait on COVID-19 test results,' Trudeau tweeted Thursday afternoon.

Sophie Trudeau pictured speaking at the panel with Former Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard and singer Leona Lewis at the SSE Arena, Wembley in London

She shared this snap on Facebook posing with actor Idris Elba and race car driver Lewis Hamilton

On Thursday despite being in isolation, it was a typical work day for Prime Minister Trudeau, who held virtual meetings and briefings from home.

He spoke with world leaders - including President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Italian leaders - and joined a special Cabinet committee discussion on the new coronavirus. He cancelled an in-person meeting with Canadas provincial premiers.

On Thursday a meeting between Trudeau, the premiers and Indigenous leaders that was scheduled to begin in Ottawa has been postponed indefinitely due to the outbreak.



The Prime Minister's Office released this statement on Thursday morning, detailing her symptoms

Justin and Sophie Trudeau have been married since 2005, and share three children

The killer coronavirus already has a grip on Canada with 138 reported cases as of Thursday as per government data.

On Wednesday, Trudeau announced $800million USD in new financial measures to help mitigate the effects of the widening coronavirus outbreak in Canada.

Trudeau told a news conference that the money would help buy surgical equipment and fund research for a new vaccine. He also promised to make it easier for sick workers to claim employment insurance.

Quebec premier Francois Legault, meanwhile, is asking all people returning from travel abroad to self-isolate for 14 days. The measure will be mandatory for all government employees.

He is also asking organizers to cancel all indoor events attracting crowds of more than 250 people and all other large gatherings that are not considered essential. Alberta and British Columbia are also urging all events with more than 250 people be cancelled.

Ontario, Canadas most populous province, is closing schools until April 5.

British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix says so far there has not been widespread community transmission of the virus in Canada, unlike in the US.
(Natural News) Were well into the week following the one where the United States was supposed to get about a million more testing kits for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), and theyre still not here.

Despite promises by the Trump administration that everything is under control, reports are emerging to suggest that authorities have failed to produce even a small number of testing kits, according to former Affordable Care Act (ACA) head Andy Slavitt. There have also been only 77 new coronavirus tests conducted this past week by the CDC.

Labs and states are worried, Slavitt tweeted, chiding the Trump administration for failing to deliver on its promises. Expect next to no availability to continue for weeks. It is vital to self-quarantine.

Slavitts announcement came just before President Trump made an announcement from the Oval Office about suspended travel from most European countries, save for the United Kingdom (UK), for the next 30 days.

To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days, Trump announced.

The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight, he added, pointing to Friday the 13th. These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground. There will be exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings.

Following this announcement, Trump clarified in a tweet that this travel suspension only applies to foreign nationals who have traveled to one of 26 European countries in the past 14 days. American citizens are supposedly exempt and will be directed to limited airports for government screening.

Listen below as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, unpacks President Trumps current failures in responding to this epidemic, warning that the U.S. is not at all prepared for this pandemic:

Congress grills CDC over failure to deliver on increased coronavirus testing

Testifying before lawmakers on Wednesday, officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tried to defend the agencys failure to elicit a formidable response to this burgeoning crisis.

CDC head Robert Redfield was chided during one particularly heated exchange, prompting him to respond with claims that the federal agency has maintained an aggressive response to this unfolding pandemic.

The truth, however, is that the CDC has been slow to roll out a proper testing protocol, and is also lacking in testing kits. The few testing kits that the CDC did unveil earlier on were also largely defective, which set the process back even further.

Recovering from that misstep cost us precious weeks and now months, stated Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois. Meanwhile, the virus spread and people died.

When he was interviewed later about Redfields testimony, Krishnamoorthi told reporters that Redfield seemed to paint a rosy picture of the CDC.

I think that really ran contrary to the facts, he added about Redfields rhetoric, which doesnt seem to match reality.

Because there still arent enough testing kits to go around, the CDC and the Trump administration are still pushing the narrative that only the highest-risk patients need to be tested. Everyone else, the story goes, is just fine and has a low risk of infection.

Sending out faulty tests is unforgivable, added David Ho, a leading AIDS researcher from Columbia University who blasted the CDC for sending out test kits early on that didnt even work.

There was so much time to prepare, he added.

Former New York City Health Department Commissioner and CDC Director Tom Frieden also piped in on the situation, noting that when he was in charge during the Zika and H1N1 crises, the CDC didnt run into these types of problems.

This current situation is certainly disappointing, Frieden is quoted as saying.

To keep up with the latest Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) news, be sure to check out the all-new Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

Yahoo.com

CBSNews.com

Bloomberg.com

NaturalNews.com
Two candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination for the 93rd District Illinois House of Representatives.

Emiliano Vera and Scott Stoll are both newcomers running for the Democratic nomination Tuesday during the March primary election.

Vera, 26, of Bushnell is a full-time substitute teacher at Bushnell-Prairie City Elementary School and has worked as an activist, as well as a campaign volunteer for Greg Johnson and John Curtis.

He graduated from Bushnell-Prairie High School in 2011, graduated with a bachelors degree in social policy from Northwestern University in 2016 and a masters degree in international relations from the University of the Americas Puebla.

He lives with his four pets, a beagle named Bailey and cats Ella, Cezy and Chalupa.

Ive done a lot of work as a social activist, so I was out there trying to make changes to laws and structures to make families lives better, Vera said.

If elected, Vera said he wants to focus on education, workers rights and jobs, taxes, health care and a green economy.

In education, Vera said, he wants to find ways to fairly fund each level of education from pre-kindergarten to college level, including universal pre-school and public daycare opportunities.

The minimum wage, the Fair Tax amendment, universal healthcare and access to unions are other issues he plans to explore if elected. He said he also wants to help expand green energy projects to help the state become 100% green from an energy standpoint by 2050.

Stoll, 40, of Rushville is currently chief operating officer for Moreland and Devitt Pharmacy and serves as an alderman for Rushville City Council. He also serves on the Rushville Chamber of Commerce, the Brown/Schuyler County CEO education board and Grow Rushville.

He lives with his wife, Mandy; and has three daughters, Madeline, 13; Mackenzie, 10; and Emersyn, 2.

He graduated from Rockford University in 2001 with a degree in business administration.

Ive had three years in local government, which I think helps quite a bit when understanding the walls and pitfalls local governments have to go through, Stoll said. I also have more than 20 years of leadership experience.

Stoll said he plans, if elected, to focus on health care, education funding and economic growth and community development.

He said he would like to work to limit the influence of companies in the health care industry on health care laws and policies to protect customers, better fund education and resources for students while limiting the need for increased property taxes, and find ways to help small communities grow and increase businesses, while also support smaller, local businesses.

The winner of the primary will face Republican incumbent Norine Hammond, who is running unopposed for the Republican nomination.
Day after joining BJP, EOW re-opens forgery case against Scindia

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 13: A day after Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP, the Economic Offences Wing, Madhya Pradesh decided to verify facts afresh in a complaint. The allegation is that Scindia and his family had falsified documents while selling land.

An order has been given for re-verification of facts based on a complaint filed by Surendra Shrivastava. A new complaint had been filed against Scindia and his family alleging that by falsifying a registry document, they sold Shrivastava land at Mahalgaon, which was smaller by 6,000 square feet than the original agreement in 2009.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

He lodged the complaint first on March 26, 2014. The case was investigated and closed. After he moved the wing again, it was decided to re-verify the facts.
She confirmed in January she has hung up her shoes as Lance Corporal Georgie Lane in the gritty BBC drama Our Girl.

And for her next venture, Michelle Keegan, 32, has revealed she would love to take on a completely different role- and join the cast of Downton Abbey for the second movie.

Michelle told The Sun: 'Would I be upstairs or downstairs? You know what, I don't mind, but anything that pushes me as an actor and changes people's perception to say, "Oh I didn't expect her to do that", would be really good.

Next adventure: Michelle Keegan, 32, has revealed she would love to take join the cast of Downton Abbey after quitting her role as the lead character in BBC drama Our Girl

'I would love to do a period drama, not just because I'm really interested in history but because I've never done a period piece before.

'I'd totally immerse myself in the role  and, yes, I can do a posh accent . . . but I'm not gonna do it for you right now.'

The second Downton Abbey has not been confirmed as of yet, but Joanne Froggatt said on This Morning earlier this month there had been 'whisperings' of a sequel.

Downton Abbey: Michelle said: 'Would I be upstairs or downstairs? Anything that pushes me as an actor and changes people's perception' (Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern)

The former Coronation Street star announced in January she was quitting her Our Girl role as the corporal after four years filming on the show.

Michelle said at times she often felt frustrated when the feedback from viewers would be based on her appearance rather than her acting ability and so would relish the chance to play a completely different character.

The actress said she found it annoying people would comment on her 'tattooed eyebrows' or the fact she was wearing mascara because women in the military 'don't wear make-up'.

Michelle told the publication she has 'been around female medics who do' and said it was 'so hard' for the crew to get negative comments about how she looks on screen as opposed to the show itself.

Moving on: The former Coronation Street star announced in January she was quitting her Our Girl role as the corporal after four years filming on the show

The demanding filming schedule of the show has seen the Stockport born star travel to South Africa, Nepal and Malaysia for several months of filming a year.

Michelle's husband Mark Wright, 33, recently moved back to the UK from Los Angeles where he was working on US TV.

The actress, who rose to fame as Tina McIntyre on Coronation Street, said Mark supported her in her decision to step back from Our Girl.

Michelle told the publication she had two 'amazing' months off at home since finishing work in December but is looking forward to getting in front of the camera once again.

Previously speaking about her decision to quit the show the ex-Coronation street star told The Sun: '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.'

The show producers are currently looking for another female to play the lead in the hit series, which starred former EastEnders actress Lacey Turner, 31, for its first run in 2014.
Religious authorities across the Middle East have moved to cancel or limit weekly prayer gatherings to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

In Kuwait on Friday, religious authorities asked Muslims to pray at home as the Gulf states stepped up measures to fight the spread the novel virus.

In Jerusalem, Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders said services would continue to be held in the Holy Land but moved to limit indoor gatherings after the Israeli Health Ministry said they should not exceed 100 people.

The Islamic endowment that oversees the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, said Friday prayers would be held as normal but encouraged people to pray in the outer courtyards and refrain from crowding inside the mosques.

It advised the elderly and sick not to enter crowded mosques.

Hard-hit Iran cancelled Friday prayers in major cities, and Egypt has ordered all mosques to limit Friday prayers, including the weekly sermon, to no more than 15 minutes.

The prayers usually last around an hour.





The outbreak has reached Irans top officials, with its senior vice president, cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Revolutionary Guard members and Health Ministry officials among those infected.

Iran has reported more than 10,000 cases and over 400 deaths, making it among the worst outbreaks worldwide. There are concerns that the number of infections is much higher.

Iraq, which has reported more than 80 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and eight deaths so far, scrapped Friday prayers in Karbala and in the countrys predominantly Kurdish northern region.

Last week, Iraqs most influential Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, urged people to abide by a ban on mass prayers.

In Lebanon, Friday prayers have been temporarily suspended in all Shia mosques. The countrys top Sunni authority has said it is forbidden for anyone with a contagious disease to attend prayers and has urged elderly people and those with weakened immune systems to pray at home.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia banned Umrah for residents and citizens. Umrah, which can be completed in a few hours, is a pilgrimage that can be undertaken at any time of year, unlike the much more intensive and time-consuming Hajj  one of the five pillars of Islam performed during a few specific days each year.

Saudi Arabia also said it was preventing foreigners from reaching the holy city of Mecca and the Kaaba, the building at the centre of the Great Mosque, and said travel was suspended to Prophet Muhammads mosque in Medina.

Other events cancelled

Bahrains King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa released nearly 1,500 prisoners, around 900 of whom were pardoned. The move appeared aimed at preventing the virus from spreading inside detention facilities.

The moves to limit religious gatherings come on the heels of several cancellations of sporting events, conferences and other meetings worldwide.

To date, the virus has infected nearly 130,000 people worldwide and caused more than 4,700 deaths.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes.

But the rapid spread of the virus has caused worldwide alarm, tanking financial markets, disrupting travel and leading to large-scale shutdowns in some areas.
Nepal has closed Mount Everest and all of its Himalayan peaks because of coronavirus fears, a government minister has announced.

Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai said expeditions to all peaks in the March-May spring climbing season had been suspended.

The decision effectively shuts down the worlds tallest mountain, after China closed its side of Everest over similar concerns about Covid-19.

Climbing this season has been closed, Mr Bhattarai told Reuters. It is as a precaution for that, he added, when asked it its was because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The government also said it was cancelling all visas on arrival for tourists and that those arriving after Saturday would be subject to 14 days of self-quarantine.

Visitors will also no longer be able enter through land borders and must travel through the only international airport, which is situated in the capital, Kathmandu.

Nepal has eight of the highest peaks in the world and the adventurers who head to the country to climb them are a significant source of revenue for the government and the thousands of workers who support the expeditions.

Even before the closure, expedition operators in Nepal had said cancellations for the spring climbing season had been pouring in.

There had been concerns about the new virus and how it could spread among climbers living for weeks on the mountains in shared tents in extreme temperatures. Fever, coughs and colds are already common among climbers.

It is the second time in recent years that the climbing season has been disrupted. Expeditions were suspended in 2015 after a major earthquake struck Nepal on 25 April that year, killing some 9,000 people. Eighteen people were killed at the Everest base camp when an avalanche triggered by the quake roared down a slope.

Nepal has confirmed one case of coronavirus in a student studying in China on a trip home.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday met Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan and informed him about the attacks being carried out against his party leaders and cadre allegedly by YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

Naidu alleged that many opposition candidates, who are willing to contest the local body polls, are being threatened and attacked to scare them away from the electoral process.

"Submitted a representation to Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan Garu outlining the appalling attacks being carried out by YSR Congress Goondas on TDP leaders and cadre," Naidu tweeted on Thursday.

He said that he urged the Governor to do everything in his powers to stop Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

"Many opposition candidates willing to contest in the Local Bodies' Election are being threatened / physically attacked / and in several cases documents being torn to keep them away from participating in the electoral process which is a right granted by the Constitution," Naidu said.

"This has never happened before. Such actions are a clear & substantial threat to democracy in AP & the action of subduing the voice of opposition is a strong concern. Urged Hon'ble Governor to do everything within his powers to stop YS Jagan Mohan Reddy from walking this ruinous path," he said in another tweet.

On Wednesday night, Naidu held a sit-in protest after two of his party leaders, Buddha Venkanna and Bonda Umamaheswara, were attacked allegedly by YSRCP workers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the United States, colleges and businesses throughout the country are shutting down campuses or shifting to working from home.

Health officials are instituting measures to decrease the number of mass gatherings and public events are being postponed, companies are implementing work from home policies and universities are canceling in-person classes.

MORE: Coronavirus symptoms: Answers to your COVID-19 questions

Social distancing, a term that means actively avoiding crowded public places, is a key element in decreasing the rapid spread of COVID-19, which scientists call "flattening the curve." This is an effort intended to "limit exposure by reducing face-to-face contact and preventing spread among people in community settings," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the Center for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention telebriefing to the media.

But some may be viewing this as an early start to spring break partying and social get-togethers.

"The first day that school was canceled, people went out to a bar during the day and got Corona beers," a graduate student in New York City told ABC News.

PHOTO: A street performer sits alone at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Jeff Chiu/AP)

With the weather warming up, parks and public spaces appear to be more packed than ever, raising the question: Are people overlooking the reasoning for these recommendations or are they just throwing caution to the wind?

"Students were playing spike ball on the lawns. The class cancellations produced more mass gatherings, which were exactly what the school was trying to prevent," an undergraduate student at Columbia University told ABC News.

MORE: Coronavirus live updates: More states close schools, Fauci warns it'll 'get worse before it gets better'

Risk perception experts say that empowering the public with information and educating them about the risks is essential for smooth cooperation -- something that may be lacking in certain circumstances. According to the graduate student, "the theory behind canceling wasn't explained."

Story continues

However, some find that adjusting to these new norms can be a challenge even when equipped with the reason for their importance. The Columbia student said that although the school was informative about their rationale for moving classes online, "students don't feel it will be as effective and are less engaged."

"I think a range of responses would be expected," said Dr. Jennifer Beckjord, senior director of Clinical Services at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Western Psychiatric Hospital. "The typical college student may not be feeling stressed by the widespread implications of the situation because they may not be seeing confirmed cases of COVID-19 on their campuses, have significant investments in the stock market or be in the workforce, and therefore are not directly affected."

A 41-year-old employee working from home for a major company in Boston said they think part of the disconnect may be due to age.

"I think that's partially related to reaching an age where people are in the same boat with me in terms of having older parents and children or other relatives with health challenges; they understand that this virus poses a serious health risk," the employee said. "Younger coworkers seem to be taking it a little less seriously."

MORE: Two-thirds of Americans concerned about contracting coronavirus, as country grapples with growing crisis: POLL

"People our age sometimes feel like they'll be fine no matter what, not realizing that they could spread this to older people or those with weaker immune systems," said the graduate student.

The Columbia student echoed this sentiment, saying, "We felt like we were removed enough from the potential exposure and at this point, it was a joke rather than a serious concern."

Beckjord agreed that it may be more difficult for people to recognize the significance or risk when they are in a situation where it hasn't hit home yet, and that their widely variable responses depend on what information they are actively seeking out.

"We don't have context to compare this to, and people in their personal lives may not yet be affected," Beckjord said. "It doesn't feel real -- that could certainly be a factor."

Health experts are urging the public to comply with recommendations. However, this will require consistent and transparent messaging from organizations of all kinds -- government, corporations and religious institutions -- about the gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of social changes.

"People need to understand that there are personal responsibilities that we're asking everyone in the United States to take to make sure that they're doing their best to protect themselves and their families and their communities," Messonnier said recently on a CDC briefing.

Eden David is studying neuroscience at Columbia University and matriculating to medical school later this year. Melanie R. Graber, M.D., is an internal medicine resident physician at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Chloe E. Nunneley, M.D., is a pediatric resident physician at Boston Children's Hospital & Boston Medical Center. They are all contributors in the ABC News Medical Unit.

Slowing the spread of coronavirus: Why some people aren't social distancing originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Trump has made it clear that the death of American personnel in Iraq is a red line for his administration. The death of a U.S. contractor in a rocket attack late last year set in motion escalating tit-for-tat strikes that brought Washington and Tehran to the brink of war after Trump ordered the killing of renowned Iranian military commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Iran hit back with a wave of ballistic missiles that injured more than 100 U.S. soldiers.
The United States on Thursday confirmed that it conducted 'defensive precision strikes' against Iran-backed militia group Kata'ib Hizbollah (KH) facilities across Iraq.

In a statement, the Pentagon said that the strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks.

The strikes were carried in response to yesterday's attack on Camp Taji killed two US and one UK service members and wounded 14 others.

Secretary of Defence Mark T. Esper said that the US will "not tolerate" attacks against its people, its interests and its allies.

"The United States conducted defensive precision strikes against Kata'ib Hizbollah (KH) facilities across Iraq. These strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces. These weapons storage facilities include facilities that housed weapons used to target US and coalition troops," Pentagon said.

"The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies. As we have demonstrated in recent months, we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region," Esper said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Trend

Polish Embassy in Azerbaijan, due to the threat of coronavirus (COVID-19), has stopped the reception of clients and applications for a national visa, Trend reports with reference to the embassy's official Facebook page.

The statement said the new regime will be in force starting from March 16 to March 29, 2020.

The embassy has decided that applications for Schengen visa will be accepted only in urgent and justified cases.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 4,700. Over 128,000 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 68,000 people have reportedly recovered.

Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche announced it has received emergency approval from US regulators for a new and much faster coronavirus test.

On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted an 'emergency use authorization' to commercialize the test, which is 10 times faster than the American government's kit.

The test can be run in high volumes on fully automated equipment, Roche said, suggesting it could provide more results far faster than other tests available.

Widespread testing is essential in the race to rein in the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 134,000 people and killed more than 5,000 worldwide.

The FDA has approved Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche's new highly-automated coronavirus test. Pictured: Medical personnel collect a sample from a person at a drive-thru testing station at a Kaiser Permanente facility in San Francisco, California, March 12

Roche's new test can deliver results in just 3.5 hours, which is 10 times faster than the US government's test is able to. Pictured: A medical technologist tests a respiratory panel for coronavirus at Northwell Health Labs in Lake Success, NY, March 11

According to Roche, its largest machines will be able to process up to 4,128 tests in a 24-hour period. Pictured: Medics transport a patient into an ambulance at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington, March 12

'We are increasing the speed definitely by a factor of 10,' Thomas Schinecker, head of Roche's diagnostics unit, told Bloomberg News.

The new Roche tests, which will also now be available in markets that accept the European CE-mark certification, can provide results within about three-and-a-half hours, the company said.

In a 24-hour period, the largest machines can reportedly process up to 4,128 tests.

'It is important to quickly and reliably detect whether a patient is infected' with the virus,' Schinecker said, insisting that speeding up the process of providing reliable diagnostics was 'crucial to combat this serious disease.'

Roche said it would have millions of tests available each month, and that it was committed to pushing the limits of its production capacity and delivering as many tests as possible.

DailyMail.com has reached out for comment, which was not available at the time of publication.

Worldwide, more than 134,000 people have been infected and more than 5,000 people have died

Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the FDA, praised the news on Twitter, saying it would 'significantly improve' the capacity to test patients across all labs.

In the US, more than 1,700 people have been infected and 41 people have died, but Gottlieb said the figures are probably lower than the true number.

'We are likely to find that spread is far more distributed in communities across US and while total case count may still be in high thousands or probably low ten thousands, the widespread seeding make an epidemic inevitable,' he tweeted.

'We must focus on slowing spread through tough mitigation steps and reducing the scope and severity of the epidemic by good medical planning. Every day, every hour, is critical to preparedness.'

As of Friday, just 13,624 specimens have been tested at CDC labs and US public health laboratories. Pictured: A woman who tested positive with coronavirus is brought to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in an isolation pod, March 6

The news also comes on the heels of criticism surrounding the delay of US officials to conduct widespread testing.

Less than week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shipped its first batch of kits, several state labs said the diagnostic was returning 'inconclusive results.'

This forced the federal health agency to remanufacture components of the kit.

Ever since the CDC started to address this issue, delays have continued.

As of Thursday, just 13,624 specimens have been tested for the virus that causes COVID-19 at CDC labs and US public health laboratories. according to the CDC's website.

At a Monday press conference, Vice President Mike Pence said that one million test kits had been distributed and that four million were expected to go about by the end of this week or the next.

However, he did not specify where the kits were sent to, or would be sent to.

Both Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Vice President Pence said the government currently does not have enough kits to keep up with demand.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, insists that only is widespread testing occuring but that it's going smoothly.

'Frankly, the testing has been going very smooth. If you go to the right agency, if you go to the right area, you get the test,' Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday.
YPSILANTI, MI -- A downtown Ypsilanti ice cream shop has set up community sink for hand-washing amid concerns over the spread of the new coronavirus.

GO! Ice Cream at 10 N Washington St. in Ypsilanti has a sink in its overflow seating area thats open to everyone, including non-customers. Owner Rob Hess said the setup is part of the shops efforts to develop a unique relationship with the community.

When I started the business, I started off of a tricycle selling at the farmers market, Hess said, who opened the brick and mortar shop four years ago. The community has always been at the heart of the ice cream store... They also come to us when things are bad. Ice cream really fills a special spot in the heart of the community. Everything that affects our customers, affects us.

Michigan coronavirus patient being treated at University of Michigan Health System

Hess said he thought about what his community needed and ways to ease fears after two COVID-19 cases were reported out of Oakland and Wayne counties, one of which was being treated at the University of Michigan Health System. It led Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to declare a state of emergency, stressing the importance of preventative measures such as thorough hand-washing with soap and water, and residents avoiding touching their faces with unwashed hands.

Thats when we thought: Were experts in hand-washing. We have to wash our hands all the time. Were always bleaching things. We never touch our faces. We never touch our hair, Hess said, adding he and his staff sanitize public surfaces and door handles every three hours.

Hess said concerns over the new virus have not impacted the ice cream shops day-to-day operations, but as a small business, its important to find creative ways to help the community and his staff.

You get to be part of running the community, Hess said. Instead of limiting hours, lets try to do more for them.

CDC warns those over 60: stock up and stay home as coronavirus spreads

Dance marathon fundraiser becomes virtual event due to fears of coronavirus spread

Big House 5K run, Take Back the Night Walk, more canceled in Ann Arbor

Closures, postponements, cancellations in Ann Arbor due to coronavirus fears

University of Michigan students concerned about coronavirus impact on classes, graduation

Thursday, March 12: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan
By Express News Service

COIMBATORE: Seventeen of the 18 passengers from Tamil Nadu, including a Pollachi-based elderly couple, who were stranded in a cruise ship at Luxor in Egypt due to coronavirus scare, safely returned to their native places on Thursday.

Vanitha (63) and her husband Rengaraj (65) from Pollachi were among those quarantined at the ship.

After returning to Coimbatore on Thursday morning, Vanitha told Express, When we boarded the ship after touring Alexandria, as many as 150 passengers were quarantined in the vessel fearing coronavirus outbreak.

When a few passengers tested positive for COVID-19, the ships kitchen was closed for a day and we had to suffer without food. Normalcy returned with the intervention of foreign embassies. For five days, all crew members and passengers were made to undergo various tests.She also told that a 65-year-old Chennai-based passenger quarantined at a hospital in Alexandria tested negative for the virus.

Meanwhile, a 30-year-old Coimbatore-based man stranded in Italy blamed the Indian Embassy officials after all his attempts to get a coronavirus negative certificate went in vain. Srinithin Jayabal (30) told Express over the phone, When I contacted the Embassy officials as directed by the office of the Ministry of External Affairs, they did not respond well to help me return to India.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with Railways Minister Piyush Goyal and IT Minister Prakash Javadekar spoke on India's preparedness to fight coronavirus. During a press conference after the cabinet meeting on Friday, Sitharaman said that that the government is continuously monitoring the impact of coronavirus on the economy.

"Government of India and state governments are continuously monitoring and making sure that timely, effective steps are being taken. Global markets have all had severe volatility and we are monitoring. We are conscious of the developments. Together with RBI, we are closely monitoring. Each department is working best on ways to provide relief," said the Finance Minister.

Nirmala Sitharaman also added that interaction and engagement with concerned sectors is happening almost on a daily basis. "RBI Governor recently recognised the need of the hour," stated the minister.

Also read: Coronavirus Live Updates: Karnataka announces closure of all malls, cinema halls, pubs over virus outbreak

As many as 75 people have been confirmed with COVID-19. A 76-year-old man from Karnataka succumbed to coronavirus on Thursday. Schools, colleges as well as theatres in multiple states including Delhi, Bihar and Karnataka have been shut down due to the infection. Public libraries, gyms, swimming pools, water parks in Chhattisgarh have been closed till March 31. Additionally, BCCI has postponed the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 from March 29 to April 15. India has also suspended visas of all countries till April 15. Delhi government has asked all buses coming from other states to Delhi to be disinfected at all the ISBTs.

Air India has cancelled its flights to Italy, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea and Sri Lanka till April 30. The government has also asked airlines to waive off cancellation fees.

Also read: Coronavirus update: BCCI postpones IPL 2020 till April 15

Also read: Coronavirus fallout: Imports issue solved, but Indian pharma now faces exports problem
New Delhi, March 13 : Congress member of Parliament Manish Tewari on Friday claimed that coronavirus is a "bioweapon" either accidentally or deliberately released to create terror.

In a tweet, the opposition Congressman called the coronavirus outbreak was an "act of terror". He, however, did not name any country for the outbreak.

"Coronavirus is a bioweapon that went rogue or was made to go rouge. It is an act of terror," Tewari, a lawyer, tweeted, demanding that "international investigation be conducted either under the auspices of the International Court of Justice or International Criminal Court." This, the Lok Sabha MP said, is "necessary to unearth the truth and bring focus back on eradicating biological weapons." Questioned on Twitter by senior journalist Praveen Swami, who pointed out that not a single reputable geneticist at any major university worldwide had backed his claim, Tewari countered: "Has a single reputable geneticist been able to tell you how the mutation of the virus from a bat to a snake took place till the time it was not artificially done?"

The Congress leader based his comment on a news report in UK-based website of Daily Express that quoted Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois who served on the advisory board for the council for responsible genetics and drafted the US legislation for the biological weapons convention.

Boyle has said that coronavirus is a bioweapon that was accidentally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a level-four biosafety laboratory seven miles from the epicentre of the outbreak.

His claim is based on study titled 'Coronavirus 2019-nCoV contains a furin-like cleavage site absent in CoV of the same clade', published by the US government's reputed National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in February and also by Science Direct earlier this month.

While Boyle and some other prominent people in the US have accused China of engineering the coronavirus bioweapon, some media outlets in China and Iran, both countries hit badly by the pandemic, have alleged that Covid-19 is a US bioweapon.

In India, Tewari is the first Parliamentarian to back the theory that coronavirus is a bioweapon. But he has refrained from blaming China or the US for it.

(Aarti Tikoo Singh can be contacted at aarti.t@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The release date of Vicky Kaushal's biographical drama 'Sardar Udham Singh' has been pushed back to January 15, 2021, the producers of the film announced on Friday.

The Shoojit Sircar film which is being produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar was earlier slated to hit the big screens on October 2, 2020.

The production company of the film - Rising Sun Films - made an official announcement in regard through Twitter.

"On March 13th 1940, #SardarUdham singlehandedly assassinated Michael O' Dwyer in London to honour the lives lost at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. His story deserves justice onscreen too. Starring Vicky Kaushal, we will now see you in cinemas on 15th January 2021!" tweeted Rising Sun Film Production.

'Sardar Udham Singh' is the cinematic portrayal of the life of freedom fighter of the same name.

Sardar Udham Singh is known for assassinating former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, Michael O' Dwyer in 1940.

The assassination was intended to avenge the brutal Jallianwala Bagh massacre which took place in Amritsar on April 13, 1919.

Vicky Kaushal who was last in Karan Johar's horror drama 'Bhoot Part One: The Haunted Ship' will be seen as Sardar Udham Singh in the film.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The CRPF has collected the medical test sample of a jawan deployed in Chhattisgarh to check against coronavirus after he reported high fever and cough, officials said on Friday.

They said the trooper, part of a battalion deployed for anti-Naxal operations in the state, had reported to his unit on March 10 after coming from his hometown in Kerala's Kottayam district.

The jawan, they said, is suspected to have visited a hospital in Kerala where some people were kept under isolation.

The jawan was initially attended by CRPF doctors as he was suffering from high fever and cough.

He has now been kept in an isolation ward at his camp in Chhattisgarh and his samples have been taken and sent to Mumbai for confirmation, they said.

The 3.25 lakh personnel strong Central Reserve Police Force has deployed around 25,000 personnel of over 25 battalions to conduct anti-Maoist operations in the central Indian state.

India reported its first death due to coronavirus on Thursday as the number of positive cases soared to 75.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WHITESBORO, N.Y.  Students at Whitesboro Middle School were held on buses for 45 minutes Friday morning after school officials learned an employee may have been exposed to coronavirus.

Superintendent Brian Bellair posted an update on the districts website to inform the school community of the situation.

Bellair said the district reached out to the county health department, and due to the timing of the exposure, could continue with normal schedules.

Parents are advised that bus schedules may be behind for the remainder of the day.

Read Bellairs full update below:

The district has added a coronavirus section to its website: www.wboro.org.
Photo courtesy : Photoville International

MANILA, Philippines  The government would be strictly enforcing the ban on mass gatherings in Metro Manila during the month-long community quarantine to combat the spread of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a Palace official said Friday.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said mass gatherings include concerts, large seminars, and conventions, as well as sporting events and social gatherings.

Nograles said this is part of the stringent social distancing measures that would be implemented during the quarantine period from March 15 to April 14.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday night placed Metro Manila under community quarantine in a bid to stop the spread of the virus to nearby cities and provinces.

The declaration follows the raising of Code Red Sub-level 2 amid rising cases of novel coronavirus infections in the country.

During the quarantine period, land, domestic air, and domestic sea travel to and from Metro Manila are suspended, subject to daily review of the government.

Work in the executive branch and classes in all levels in Metro Manila are also suspended.

Mall and shop owners were earlier urged by authorities to continue operations. The delivery of goods and services will also be allowed as long as it follows regulations.

Private companies were also encouraged to implement a flexible work arrangement or a work from home set up for the meantime to protect their employees.

Nograles stressed that movement of residents in Metro Manila will not be restricted but everyone should cooperate and obey the rules to help stop the contagion.

Government will not stop us from going about our businessbut we have to understand that it cannot be business as usual if we hope to overcome this public health threat, he said in a statement.

In a separate interview with the media, the Palace official also admitted that this process would require a huge adjustment on the part of residents of Metro Manila.

Malaking adjustment po ito para sa atin sa Metro Manila, but we ask everyone to cooperate because allowing these gatherings during this crucial time could be more painful in the long run, he said.

Story continues

The Palace official added that additional details would be forthcoming as the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) irons out the details of the implementing guidelines that would cover mass gatherings like worship services and religious gatherings, among others.

The task force will also discuss possible measures for those who will defy the ban on mass gatherings.

Ibi-bring-up po namin kay Pangulo ang lahat ng mga options, mag-de-desisyon po ang Pangulo, he said.

He also expressed gratitude to all medical and government personnel helping keep the coronavirus at bay, and reiterated that the publics vigilance and observance of precautions are crucial to beat the disease.

[The] government is resolute in its efforts to contain this outbreak, and we thank all the medical and government personnel at the frontlines helping us keep Covid-19 at baybut we in government cannot do it alone, he said.

The cooperation of everyone is a crucial component of our campaign to beat this disease; if we remain calm, continue to be vigilant, and take the necessary precautions, mga kababayan, magtulungan po tayong lahat, kaya po natin ito, he added.

The IATF has been tasked by the president to meet daily to regularly monitor and assess developments in the campaign to contain the outbreak.  RRD (with details from Correspondent Harlene Delgado)

The post Strictly no mass gatherings during Metro Manila community quarantine  Palace appeared first on UNTV News.
Ahead of the 9th anniversary of Syrias devastating conflict on Sunday, March 15, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres highlighted the urgent need for a peaceful solution to the crisis.

By Robin Gomes

The conflict in Syria is entering its tenth year. A decade of fighting has brought nothing but ruin and misery. And civilians are paying the gravest price. There is no military solution. Now it is the time to give diplomacy a chance to work", UN Secretary-General wrote in a post on his Twitter account on Thursday.

What began as peaceful pro-democracy protests against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011, developed into a complicated conflict involving many parties, including world powers. It has killed hundreds of thousands of people and made millions of refugees.

Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in Syria's war, agreed on March 5 to halt military activity in Idlib after an escalation of violence displaced nearly a million people and brought the two sides close to confrontation.

Humanitarian crisis of monumental proportions

Overall, more than 11 million people across Syria require aid relief, nearly half of them children, according to the latest estimates.

Fighting has displaced more than six million people inside Syria, sometimes repeatedly, while another five million Syrians are living as refugees beyond its borders.

The brutal conflict has exacted an unconscionable human cost and caused a humanitarian crisis of monumental proportions, Guterres said in a statement on Thursday.

"Millions of civilians continue to face protection risks...We have seen nine years of horrific atrocities, including war crimes. Nine years of human rights abuses on a massive and systematic scale, eroding international norms to new depths of cruelty and suffering.

Tens of thousands are missing, disappeared, detained, subjected to ill-treatment and torture. Untold numbers have been killed and injured. There must be no impunity for such horrific crimes, the UN chief said.

My message today is clear, Guterres said. We cannot allow the tenth year to result in the same carnage, the same flouting of human rights and international humanitarian law, the same inhumanity.

The situation in Idlib governorate, in northwest Syria, remains an urgent concern for the humanitarian community.

Worst cases of healthcare hit by war

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that only half of the 550 health facilities in the region remain open nearly a decade after the war began.

Syria represents one of the worst cases of healthcare being affected by conflict, according to the UNs health agency, with a total of 494 attacks recorded between 2016-2019, mainly in the northwest.

During that same period, 470 people were killed in attacks on health facilities.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis has been a leading voice among world leaders for an immediate end to the Syrian conflict and the suffering of its people. In yet another heartfelt appeal on Sunday, the Holy Father particularly addressed the humanitarian crisis in Idlib.

He reiterated his great apprehension and pain for the inhumane situation of these defenceless people, among whom are many children whose lives are at risk. He urged the world not to look away from this humanitarian crisis, but to give it priority over all other interests.

Funds to saves lives

The UN and its partners are seeking $3.3 billion for the humanitarian response in Syria this year. They also will require an additional $5.2 billion to support Syrian refugees and host communities across the region.

Last year, humanitarian agencies reached over six million people each month throughout Syria. If given the needed support, they hope to reach as many people as possible this year.
"Serving in the military changes you. The shades and degrees of change vary for everyone, but no one is ever the same as...
According to Lee, collaboration is a two-way process. However, the status quo is that insurers unilaterally determine the fees paid to doctors that are part of insurance panels. These fees, Lee said, are mostly pegged substantially below the doctors usual rates.

While it is reasonable to set a cap on doctors fees, doctors deserve to be properly remunerated, Lee said.

In deciding on fair remuneration for doctors, we suggest that the insurers refer to the fee benchmarks published by the Ministry of Health Unfortunately, many insurers have not adopted them but instead offer remuneration rates below the lower bound of the benchmarks.

Read more: Insurers welcome Singapore surgery fee benchmarks

Lee said that the Singapore Medical Association supports the efforts of insurers to keep insurance premiums affordable. However, the association also maintained that patients must not be overly restricted in their choices, and that doctors should be remunerated appropriately.

Our view is that if fair remuneration is provided, more doctors will come on board, and patients will benefit from being able to choose from a wider pool of providers, said Lee.

Along the same lines, insurance panels should not be closed panels that benefit only a select group of providers.
Congress leader Rajeev Shukla on Friday said that the detention of former Union Minister Farooq Abdullah should have ended long ago.

"The detention of Farooq Abdullah should have ended long ago. He has always talked about patriotism. He never speaks anything against the country. Such a person did not need such long detention. They should have freed him much earlier," Shukla told ANI.

Earlier today, the government issued orders to revoke detention of Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, who was detained under the Public Safety Act following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

The three-term chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state was under house arrest for several months.

Commenting upon the political uncertainty in Madhya Pradesh, Shukla said: "Shivraj Singh Chauhan had not eliminated all corruption in the state. We are seeing that it is Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath who is taking action against corruption. Hence, he is popular in the state. He has met the Governor himself and hopefully, he will save the government during the floor test."

Earlier today, Chief Minister Nath held a discussion on floor test with Governor Lalji Tandon. He requested the Governor to make efforts for the release of the MLAs allegedly held in captivity in Bengaluru by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Regarding his nomination to the Rajya Sabha, Shukla said: "The Congress president offered me to contest the Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat. I requested her that I want to work for the organisation. So, I requested if she offers this proposal to someone else, which she accepted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 22:49:18|Editor: yan

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NAIROBI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on Friday donated three aircrafts to boost Kenya's fight against desert locusts that have spread to 26 counties in the country.

Tobias Takavarasha, FAO representative in Kenya said that the aircrafts will help intensify aerial and ground desert locust control activities.

"We hope the donation will help Kenya upscale response actions during the current level three emergency," Takavarasha said.

He said that donation that now makes total aircrafts delivered to the country to five will provide a much-needed boost to the desert locust control efforts.

Takavarasha hailed donors for their response to the desert locust menace that is affecting Kenya and seven other countries in the Greater Horn of Africa region.

He said that the new swarms have recently been reported to have flown in from Ethiopia and Somalia as first-generation hopper bands have also been sighted to have hatched in northern and eastern parts of the country.

Takavarasha said that during the first phase of desert locust control measures, FAO and the government of Kenya deployed four spray aircrafts and four surveillance aircrafts in northern parts of the country grappling with the voracious pests.

"These aircrafts have for the last two months undertaken aerial surveillance and control of locust swarms in the affected regions," said Takavarasha.

Hamadi Boga, principal secretary for the State Department for Crops Development and Agriculture Research in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Blue Economy and Cooperatives hailed support from FAO that will boost the war against desert locusts.

"The additional aircrafts are very timely, and will be deployed to desert locust control bases in Isiolo, Turkana and Marsabit counties in northern and northwestern Kenya respectively," said Boga.

He said that the counties are very vast geographically, and aerial control is the most effective course of action for the mature and immature swarms that continue to come in from Ethiopia and Somalia.

Boga said that with the tracking tool that was donated by FAO, Kenyan officials are capable of monitoring the movements of desert locust, their pattern and where they are heading to.

"With more than 3.1 million people facing acute food insecurity in the semi-arid areas of the country, uncontrolled breeding of the desert locusts poses the risk of decimation of crops grown at the germination stage as well as loss of pasture," said Boga.

FAO recently made an appeal for 13.8 billion shillings (138 million dollars) to support action on desert locusts in the greater horn of African region.
Nepal has halted all mountaineering expeditions, including Mount Everest ascents, and stopped issuing on-arrival tourist visas after the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and urged countries to take precautionary measures.

The Himalayan country attracts mountaineers from all over the world and earns millions of dollars a year from Everest permits. Nepal has so far confirmed only one case of coronavirus, though dozens of people suspected to have coronavirus were admitted to the government hospital for tests.

A high-level coordination committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokhrel during a meeting on Thursday night decided to suspend climbing permits for spring expeditions on Mt Everest and other mountains due to the coronavirus that has spread to more than 100 countries and region.

The meeting decided to revoke the already issued or to be issued permits for the spring climbing season.

China on Thursday also suspended foreign expeditions on the north side of Mount Everest in Tibet.

The Tibet Mountaineering Association (TMA) said that if a climber gets infected, the high altitude and rough terrain on Mt Everest would make it difficult to provide appropriate treatment.

The Nepal government also decided to suspend on-arrival visa for tourists entering the country from the immigration point at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

In the beginning, the government had suspended the on-arrival visa for tourists from five highly-affected countries, which has now been extended in view of COVID-19 being a pandemic, said government spokesperson and Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada.

The meeting at the Prime Ministers Office also held discussions on Nepals preparedness to stay safe from the pandemic, according to officials.

As part of preparedness measures, the government has decided to additionally set up quarantine zones and isolation wards and increase the supply of equipment and test kits for the virus with the WHO identifying Nepal as a high-risk nation.

Similarly, health workers and representatives of Nepal Red Cross, Nepal Scouts and other social institutions associated with medical sector would be put on standby.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has blasted the US response to the coronavirus crisis  saying that more needs to be done more quickly to protect working-class Americans from the disease.

The New York Democrat hit out at Donald Trump's claim that the US 'has the best healthcare system anywhere in the world', pointing out that South Korea is testing 10,000 per day compared to just a handful in the US.

'It almost seems like the more wealthy and powerful you are, the more able you are to access a test,' she told Fox News on Thursday.

'But the rougher the road you've got here, the more difficult it will be to access healthcare. That's exactly the recipe for a disaster in a pandemic.'

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has blasted the US response to the coronavirus crisis  saying that more needs to be done more quickly to protect working-class Americans from the disease. She said: 'It almost seems like the more wealthy and powerful you are, the more able you are to access a test'

The New York Democrat hit out at Donald Trump's claim that the US 'has the best healthcare system anywhere in the world', pointing out that South Korea is testing 10,000 per day compared to just a handful in the US

While the White House has promised that millions of Americans will get test kits, data available suggests that number is currently in the low tens of thousands. Above, healthcare personnel speak to a person in a car during a campaign to provide testing for coronavirus, outside Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco on March 12

Widespread problems have been reported across the country with coronavirus testing, with medics unable to keep up with demand.

While the White House has promised that millions of Americans will get test kits, data available suggests that number is currently in the low tens of thousands.

The CDC admitted that it had only tested 77 people in the first two days of this week, while state numbers recorded by the COVID Tracking Project late Thursday reported 15,000 tests had been carried out.

But inconsistencies in the data  with some states only reporting positive results and others reporting none at all  means the true figure remains unknown.

As the disease sweeps rapidly across the country, it has become virtually impossible to know for sure where confirmed cases are and who might have come into contact with those people. Trump made only a brief mention of testing during his Wednesday evening address to the nation on coronavirus, with no pledge to ramp up testing nationwide

According to federal guidelines, only those who have travelled to a country where the disease is endemic  such as China, Italy and South Korea  qualify for a test, along with those who have come into contact with a confirmed case.

But as the disease sweeps rapidly across the country, it has become virtually impossible to know for sure where confirmed cases are and who might have come into contact with those people.

Trump made only a brief mention of testing during his Wednesday evening address to the nation on coronavirus, with no pledge to ramp up testing nationwide.

Other countries have also largely given up on testing as the disease rapidly spreads, with the UK advising that those with only mild symptoms will not be offered tests.

Test kits will only be given to those who require hospital treatment with symptoms similar to those known for coronavirus.

In late February, workers at Massachusetts biotech firm Biogen were told they did not qualify for tests despite several staff testing positive for the virus after a company-wide meeting.

Experts believe it could ultimately infect 70 per cent of the global population, with the potential for hundreds of millions of deaths  making it the deadliest pandemic since Spanish Flu in 1918

Two weeks later, 77 were confirmed positive out of 91 total cases in the state.

The number of coronavirus cases recorded across the US is fast approaching the 2,000 mark with 41 recorded deaths, though experts have warned the true number of cases could be ten times higher.

Meanwhile stock markets have tanked 20 per cent into 'bear market' territory not seen since the 2008 crash as fears over the virus grow.

The Trump administration has been widely criticized for its slow response to the disease, which the President initially downplayed as little worse than the flu.

In fact, those researching the disease say it is many times more deadly than seasonal flu  with those over 60 and with underlying health conditions most at risk.

The Trump administration has been widely criticized for its slow response to the disease, which the President initially downplayed as little worse than the flu. Pictured, commuters in masks on the New York subway

Trump on Wednesday announced a ban on all travellers coming to the US from the EU's 26-nation Schengen borderless zone for 30 days, with US citizens, permanent residents and their relatives exempt.

The ban is due to come into effect from Friday at midnight, though it is still largely unclear how it will be enforced.

Trump also stopped short of announcing widespread testing or bans on public gatherings and internal travel across the US  measures adopted by other outbreak hotspots such as Italy.

Globally, coronavirus has sickened more than 125,000 people and killed almost 5,000.

Experts believe it could ultimately infect 70 per cent of the global population, with the potential for hundreds of millions of deaths  making it the deadliest pandemic since Spanish Flu in 1918.
The United States on Thursday launched retaliatory airstrikes aimed at an Iran-backed terror group after a recent deadly rocket attack on a U.S. military base in Iraq that killed two Americans and a Brit.

Earlier this evening, the United States conducted defensive precision strikes against Kataib Hizbollah (KH, also Kataib Hezbollah) facilities across Iraq, read a statement from the Department of Defense released Thursday.

These strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces. These weapons storage facilities include facilities that housed weapons used to target U.S. and coalition troops.

The Associated Press reported, citing anonymous American officials, that two of the locations targeted were Karbala Province and Jurf al Sakhar.

The Pentagon said in its statement that the strikes were defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups (SMG) who continue to attack bases hosting OIR coalition forces, and that the SMGs must cease their attacks on U.S. and coalition forces or face consequences at a time and place of our choosing.

The U.S. and the coalition remain committed to the lasting defeat of ISIS, and the long-term security, stability, and sovereignty of Iraq, the statement from Pentagon read.

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East, will give more information regarding the strikes at 8:30 a.m. in the Pentagon Briefing Room on Friday.

Trump authorized the U.S. military to respond to Wednesdays rocket attack, Esper said earlier in the day.

Camp Taji Attack

The attack on March 10 involved about 18 rockets fired at Camp Taji and killed two American troops and a 26-year-old British soldier, and wounded 14 others.

The U.S. military said that the 107 mm Katyusha rockets were fired from a truck launcher that was found by Iraqi security forces near the base after the attack.

You dont get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it, Esper told reporters at the Pentagon earlier.

When asked at the time if any counterattack could include a strike inside Iran, Esper said, We are focused on the group that we believe perpetrated this in Iraq.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters that the United States knows with a high degree of certainty who launched the attack.

Milley said there are no systems on the base capable of defending against that type of attack when he was asked why none of the rockets was intercepted. Milley also said that the 14 injured include U.S. and allied troops as well as contractors. They will be monitored for possible traumatic brain injury, he added.

Earlier Attacks

This is not the first defensive strike the United States has conducted against KH. Esper said in late December 2019 that the United States launched successful defensive strikes on Dec. 29 at KH targets in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. strikes followed an attack on a military base in Kirkuk on Dec. 27 that killed a U.S. contractor.

In apparent anger at the U.S. airstrike on KH, thousands of protesters and members of multiple Iran-backed groups stormed the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Dec. 31. The protesters included members of KH.

On Jan. 3, a U.S. airstrike killed Qassem Soleimani, Irans most powerful military officer, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, of which KH is a member.

Iran, in apparent response to Soleimanis death, launched a ballistic missile attack on Jan. 8 at al-Asad airbase in Iraq. The attack caused more than 100 U.S. troops to suffer from traumatic brain injuries.

McKenzie told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday morning that the killing of Soleimani and the increase in U.S. troops and assets in the region has made clear to Iran that the U.S. will defend its interests there, reported The Associated Press.

What has not been changed is their continuing desire to operate through their proxies indirectly again us, he said. That is a far more difficult area to deter.

He said that the most recent attack at Camp Taji created a red line for the United States, adding that he didnt think Iran has a good understanding of where our red line is.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

From The Epoch Times
CAIRO  The voice of a 3,000-year-old mummified Egyptian priest, recreated by researchers at the Royal Holloway University of London, has created an echo in Egypts parliament. A parliamentarian accused Egyptian scientists and archaeologists of just standing by and watching as other countries made discoveries on Pharaonic civilizations.

Parliamentarian Shereen Farrag criticized the ministries of Archaeology and Education for not making similar discoveries.

"While European scientists are revealing the secrets of Pharaonic Egypt from a single Egyptian mummy, Egyptian scientists and authorities, who are in possession of hundreds of mummies, are [late] in the discovery of the secrets of our own ancient civilization," she said in a March 3 statement.

Farrag told Al-Monitor that the two ministries are not interested in conducting scientific experiments on mummies. They just promote discoveries and display them in museums," she said. "Meanwhile, foreign universities and research centers conduct ongoing experiments on the antiques to reveal more secrets about the Pharaonic civilization. They are the ones who make use of new technological applications to give a more accurate image of the lives of Pharaohs, including the voices of these symbols.

A team of researchers affiliated with the Royal Holloway University of London and headed by scientist David Howard replicated the voice of a mummified Egyptian priest, called Nesyamun, according to the experiment published in Scientific Reports Jan. 25.

According to the abstract, the scientists were able to measure the dimensions of the mummy's vocal tract and then use a tool that "provides a user-controllable artificial larynx sound source" to recreate Nesyamun's voice.

The experiment began in 2016 on the mummy, which has been in the Leeds Museum in the UK for more than two centuries. Howard and his team had used the same technique to recreate the voices of living people. Howard noted that the team chose Nesyamun because the soft tissues in his larynx and vocal tract were relatively intact.

The discovery has provoked respect and envy in Egypt, as well as efforts to downplay its significance.

Mohammad Ahmad, a physics professor who specializes in voice studies at the University of Cairo, told Al-Monitor that the voice naturally comes out of the mouth after air hits the curvatures of the vocal tract, the larynx and the vocal cords. The voice of a mummy can be accurately reproduced if the air path is retraced," he said. "If Howard and his team succeeded in designing the tongue and teeth, then vocal recordings of the mummy could be recreated.

Howard and his team chose to replicate a sound close to the words bad and bed, as they are not affected by the mouth and teeth, which the mummy did not have. The tissues of Nesyamun's tongue had decomposed before the mummy was discovered. Historians said he died around the age of 50, and his teeth and gums were severely damaged to the extent that he had perhaps lost all his teeth.

Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Antiquities, brushed off the experiment as hocus-pocus.

News about replicating the voice of Nesyamun is all hocus-pocus, he told Al-Monitor, reacting to the remarks of Farrag. This is not the first time such an incident happens. The red mercury discovery [by the Soviet Union in the 1980s] caused an increase in grave robbers when it was claimed the mercury was found in the neck of a mummy. It was sold for millions, and it was just hocus-pocus.

Waziri was referring to the myth that "red mercury"  a fictional substance said to have healing powers  had been found in the mouths and necks of ancient Egyptian mummies. The myth first appeared in the Soviet Union and then spread around the world. At the time, Egyptian scientists and archaeological authorities denied the existence of red mercury, saying it was the result of oxidation of the remaining fluids in the tomb.

Mummies contain natural material like cinnamon and acacia and resin material to preserve them," Abdul Hamid Kafafi, a professor of antiquity restoration at Fayoum University, told Al-Monitor. "Resonance and trans-sectional rays, if combined with materials, might not give exact results as those with living beings. Mummification does not preserve the body 100%. Consequently, Nesyamuns replicated voice cannot be the same as the one he had when he was alive.

John Schofield, an archaeology professor at the University of York and the co-author of the study, told the BBC that they hope to eventually use computer models "to generate words and string those words together to make sentences."

"We're hoping we can create a version of what he would have said at the temple at Karnak," he continued.

An expert in mummy restoration told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Egyptian authorities' objections and skepticism of the discovery cannot overshadow that this will likely attract thousands of tourists to the Leeds Museum.

He said Egypt trails behind in using technological applications like magnetic resonance or 3D printing because fatwas ban the excavation of corpses from Pharaonic tombs. Just imagine what religious authorities would think of scientific experiments on these corpses, he said.

The Islamic Research Academy affiliated with Al-Azhar issued a fatwa in November 2017 prohibiting the extraction of Pharaonic mummies from tombs, as well as their display in museums, because these actions desecrate the sanctity of death, which many Quranic verses and prophetic words insist on respecting.

But Ahmed Abdul Raouf, professor of forensic medicine at Tanta University, told Al-Monitor that replicating the voices of Pharaohs is controversial scientifically, regardless of religious beliefs.

He said that mummies' vocal tracts cannot reproduce an accurate voice for several scientific reasons, as well as the changes the body undergoes even a few hours after death. For example, the pores that partially absorb the air that goes through the vocal tracts are blocked; saliva dries up in the throat; and tissues stiffen due to the interruption of blood circulation. It is unlikely, he said, that the voice created resembles that of Nesyamun.
As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe and new cases surface each day, parents are becoming more cautious around the ways in which they speak to their children about the infection.

Australian parenting expert Sharon Witt has revealed her recommendations for parents, how to communicate with children about the issue and shield them from alarming news updates.

She also urges parents to never speak about 'death' in relation to the virus, to encourage hand-washing routines and limit children's exposure to the news.

Parenting expert Sharon Witt revealed her recommendations about the topic and how to communicate with children about the issue and shield them from alarming news updates

Generalise and don't say the virus is fatal

While there are serious side effects of coronavirus, Sharon said the best way to communicate these facts is to generalise.

'Never say you're going to die from this virus; never say it's deadly or fatal, because realistically any illness is deadly  even chickenpox,' Sharon told FEMAIL, as worrying comments can place unnecessary stress on a child.

'All you really need to do is remind them not to worry and how we all need to wash our hands more often.'

By describing the virus as a 'bad bug that can make you sick' is one general way to describe it to a young child.

While there are continuous serious side effects of coronavirus, Sharon said the best way to communicate these factors is to generalise

Use home cleansing tactics to practise hygiene

Sharon said encouraging children to thoroughly wash their hands with warm, soapy water for up to two minutes is essential.

'This is a timely lesson for us to remind children about good hygiene practices and to wash your hands properly after going to the toilet and playing outside,' she said.

'You don't have to mention the virus, simply say "there's nasty bugs out there and we need to wash our hands for one or two minutes every time so we don't get sick".'

One handy way to teach children this habit is to put a timer in the bathroom to use and place friendly reminders around the taps.

Sharon also recommended children wash their hands with soapy water rather than using hand sanitisers.

Sharon said encouraging children to thoroughly wash their hands with warm, soapy water for up to two minutes is essential

Limit what children are watching or listening to

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 176 New South Wales: 92 Victoria: 27 Queensland: 31 South Australia: 11 Western Australia: 9 Tasmania: 4 Northern Territory: 1 Australian Capital Territory: 1 TOTAL CASES: 176 DEAD: 3 Advertisement

Viewing news headlines, hearing bulletins and reading reports can cause anxiety to rise among children and adults, but limiting this can reduce and control stress levels significantly.

Restricting television programs while at home and choosing specific radio stations in the car are two important boundaries to set.

'With all these heightened news stories and headlines, it's a good idea to limit what children (particularly in primary school) are watching or listening to,' Sharon said.

'Younger kids may not be directly watching the television, but they're always listening, and there's a chance they could watch or hear something alarming.'

If they do react to threatening information, communicate and generalise the situation to calm them down and ensure everything is okay.

Talk it through with curious children and kids

Those with curious kids who may have been exposed to news stories or heard about it in school, its a good idea to remind them theres nothing to worry about.

For anxious teenagers who are prone to view frequent updates on social media, sit down and talk it through with them to discuss their worries on the topic further.

Stay up to date with facts and keep sick children home

It is the responsibility of the parents to stay informed with updated facts about coronavirus and keep children home if needed, even if they have a runny nose.

As the symptoms between a common cold and the virus are vastly similar, it's vital to restrict the risk rather than sending children to school who possess symptoms.

'Dropping your kids off at school if they're sick, even if they have a runny nose, is quite a selfish thing to do,' Sharon said.

'If you send your kids to school when they're ill you are putting other children, teachers, parents and even grandparents at risk.'

Stay informed of updates by reading school newsletters regularly and listening to the news yourself while the children aren't around.
ODESSA  It took a lot of research and a lot of work to start Fix West Texas, a grassroots organization working to fix the pet overpopulation problem in West Texas, said the groups president.

We moved out here five years ago, and we realized that this area has an overpopulation of animals and not enough homes, Midlander Karen Patterson said. I did some research and the research shows that the way to help something like that, and what other cities have done is low-cost spay and neuter. When I did my research, spay and neuter around here ran anywhere from $350 to $750.

Those prices arent affordable for everyone in the area, Patterson said. She then started cold-calling veterinarians around the state.

I found a veterinarian with PetVet Relief of Dallas, who agreed to come here if we would host clinics and he would come and do the veterinarian work, she said. At first he had agreed to do one clinic every quarter or every six months, but when we started publicizing it -- there was such a huge need -- he saw that we needed to do it monthly.

Veterinarian Linwood Starks of PetVet Relief brings a trailer and veterinarian technicians from Dallas for a four-day clinic. Fix West Texas hires local veterinarian technicians and has about 40 volunteers who help each day.

A trailer containing all of the equipment that had been donated to Fit West Texas during the last few months was stolen on Monday, Patterson said.

More Information --Donations to Fix West Texas can be made through Venmo, username Fix West Texas. Paypal is donations@fixwesttexas.org. A GoFundMe has been set up at https://www.gofundme.com/f/restore-fix-west-texas?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link-tip&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet. --Appointments can be made at FixWestTexas.org. --Spay and neuter fees are: Dog spays - $75 to $105 and dog neuters - $65 to $85, depending on the weight of the dog. Cat neuter is $45 and spay is $65. See More Collapse

Board member Lori VanHoozer said they were able to get all new stuff within two days, but they arent back to where they were before the trailer was stolen. Fix West Texas lost more than 90 kennels and an anesthesia machine. Patterson said they were lucky to be hosting this clinic in the warehouse behind the Odessa Police Department.

Patterson said the clinic wouldnt have been put on if it werent for OPD, which was able to provide foldable tables and chairs to use during the clinic. Patterson said the hardest part has been having to tag all the new items so volunteers know what items the nonprofit has. People cleaned out closets to donate linens and electric blankets that werent available in stores but were needed for the recovery of animals, she said. People not from the area also donated through Fix West Texas Amazon wishlist.

For the clinic on Thursday, about 570 cats and dogs had been signed up for spay and neuter services and 300 to 400 animals were signed up to receive vaccinations. Odessas animal shelter had dogs at the clinic waiting to be fixed, and Danielle Piatt from Permian Basin Animal Advocates trapped 12 feral cats that were to be fixed on Thursday and today.

In two clinics this year, more than 800 dogs and cats have been spayed or neutered and vaccinated, Patterson said. The clinic will continue to be rotated between Midland and Odessa to serve both communities. She said they have to find a site where they can set up for free.

Our target market is those that really cant afford traditional vet care, she said. About 90 percent of our owners have never taken their animals to a vet, and they normally do not have vaccinations as well.

Patterson said any animal that comes to the clinic has to have had a rabies shot or has to get one at the clinic because it is mandatory by state law. The clinic also provides other vaccinations such as feline leukemia and parvo distemper vaccines for dogs.

Patterson said that she has never volunteered in this capacity before so its all new to her. She said that a lot of the volunteers also work with rescue, transport and foster services in the area. The purpose of Fix West Texas is for the birth control and well-being of animals.

Its not that people are going out and adopting animals; they arent going out and paying for these animals, she said. A lot of the times theyre taking in a stray and it gets pregnant then it becomes a full-blown crisis because theyre really struggling to feed the stray they took in. Then all of a sudden, they have seven or eight more animals to feed, plus medical care.

Patterson said that a goal Fix West Texas moving toward is getting a more permanent location to host smaller more frequent clinics.

We are slowly making purchases and getting all of our own equipment, Patterson said. Once we have all that, then we would like to have a more permanent location. Were hoping that somebody will either donate the use of some sort of facility on a more permanent basis. If we got that, then we can utilize more vets (who) could come help us and then we could make it weekly.

Patterson said the clinic isnt just for the pets.

Its not just for the animals, Patterson said. I love the animals dont get me wrong, but its for the humans too because so many people call them for assistance. All these people have feelings and all these people need help. Its just they dont always have the money and then sometimes they need that personal one-on-one connection that we can provide.
Thursday, March 12, 2020

Welcome back to our Chief Digital Officer JOBS Update, through February 2020.

Last months Chief Digital Officer JOBS Update was RED HOT, with new hires announced at Bayer, Chubb, Cognizant, McDonalds, Microsoft, Panera Bread, and Sainsburys, among others.

New CDO hires continued its torrid pace again in February, with new hires last month at Amway, General Mills, Lloyds, Marriott, and Trustmark, among others.

Most importantly, in February alone, NINE CDOs made the transition to CEO and/or Board Director  the most weve ever tracked in one month  showing the strategic importance of CDOs on Boards, and in the top leadership spot. More on all this below.

Congratulations to all CDOs, CAOs, and CDAOs!

In this issue, we list SIXTEEN new CDO appointments for February; we tracked 52 CDO ARTICLES; and hand-picked TWENTY-THREE CDOs who made the news last month; and we posted more new open global CDO positions on our CDO Career page!

New Chief Digital Officer placements (through February 2020): SIXTEEN new CDOs were hired in February alone, we provide the highlights below. Congratulations to the new Chief Digital Officers at Amway; ComfortDelGro; General Mills; Lloyds; Marriott International Inc.; Schafer Condon Carter (SCC); Tillys, Inc.; and Trustmark, among many others. Welcome to the CDO Club!

Chief Digital Officers to CEO or Board Member: This month there were NINE Chief Digital Officers who became CEO or Board Members, including Aarti S. Shah, Ph.D.; Adam Sussman; Brigitte Cantaloube; Dr. Frank Possel-Dolken; Dr. Ameet Nathwani; Gail Evans; Hironori Kamezawa; Kevin Chase; and Yael Cosset!

Take a look at the report we published with Bain Capital in 2018 101 CDOs Who Have Become CEO/President and our Hall of Fame page.

Chief Digital Officers In the News: Consider us your personal CDO news clippings service. We tracked 52 CDO ARTICLES and hand-picked TWENTY-THREE CDOs who made the news in February, including Accent Groups Mark Teperson; Digis Praveen Rajan; Entercoms J.D. Crowley; General Pants Co.s Paula Mitchell; NHSXs Tara Donnelly; and Novartis Bertrand Bodson! How did they make news? Find out inside.

Open Chief Digital Officer Jobs: Our career page lists over two dozen current CDO/CAO jobs. Youll find open posts for Chief Digital Officers, Chief Data Officers, Chief Analytics Officers, and other C-level positions. Be sure to review the open posts on our dedicated career page.

Youll find the details on all this and more below.?

NEW: BENEFITS FOR CDO CLUB MEMBERS FROM IDC!

We are thrilled to announce IDC as Exclusive Research Partner to the CDO Club, and Presenting Analyst Partner at the NYC CDO Summit on May 6, 2020 at Columbia University, our 8th year.

Effective January 2020, IDC will provide these new benefits to paid CDO Club members:

New CDO Club SILVER and GOLD members will now receive:

IDC Digital Transformation Planning Guides (Silver/Gold members)

IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Digital Transformation 2020 Predictions (Gold members)

Complimentary ticket to IDC Directions West; IDC Directions East; IDC Agenda20 (Gold members)

New CDO Club PLATINUM and CORPORATE members will now receive:

All benefits listed above for Silver and Gold members PLUS

IDC Analyst group conference call with a member of IDCs senior research team

IDC Market Perspective: The CEOs Agenda for the Digital Enterprise

See Our New CDO Club Membership Benefits:

Click here to register or find out more.

We created the CDO Club community to enable our members to share their experiences and best practices, and to help them to stay on top of the rapid changes taking place in this dynamic market.

A CDO Club Membership still allows you to:

Find out which companies are hiring Chief Digital, Data, and Analytics Officers.

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February 27, 2020: Top 50 People in E-Commerce 2020 revealed

Revealed at a launch party in Melbourne on Wednesday evening, the Top 50 in E-Commerce 2020 report celebrates the biggest and brightest talents in Australias e-commerce industry.

1. Mark Teperson: Chief Digital Officer at Accent Group

16. Michael Gillespie: Group Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Dominos Pizza Enterprises

18. Paula Mitchell: Chief Digital Officer at General Pants Co

41. Caroline Swarbrick: Chief Digital Officer at Seafolly J.D. Crowley: February 20, 2020

Entercom Chief Digital Officer J.D. Crowley to Receive Digital Leadership Award at 2020 NAB Show

Entercom Chief Digital Officer J.D. Crowley will receive the NAB Digital Leadership Award (DLA) at the 2020 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The award presentation will take place at the Achievement in Broadcasting Dinner on Monday, April 20 at the Encore in Las Vegas.

NOTE: You will need to be a registered CDO Club member to view this post, with at minimum SILVER, GOLD, or PLATINUM status.

.....

*The rest of this article is for CDO Club members only*

If you are tasked with understanding what digital and data leaders must do in order to succeed in almost any industry, the best place to learn more is at the CDO Summit.

Our CDO Summits cover DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, DATA, and ANALYTICS. We stack the agendas with the BEST digital and data leaders in the public and private sector. Register today for the NYC CDO Summit on May 6, 2020!

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The CDO Summit is the must-attend digital event of the year. The 2013, 2014 and 2015 CDO Summits received stellar endorsements from dozens of speakers and attendees alike:

"Thank you both for a wonderful experience yesterday at the NYC CDO Summit! I thought the event was terrific, and I so enjoyed our panel discussion. Took a lot of notes and connected with some great people." Lisa Schneider

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"Great conference today! Thank you for the opportunity to join the Data panel discussion at the 2018 NYC CDO Summit. I enjoyed contributing, and your questions and commentary were very insightful allowing for a dynamic conversation." Gina Papush

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Ivan Cholakov/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. military conducted airstrikes in various locations inside Iraq on Thursday targeting an Iranian-backed militia group it says is responsible for Wednesday's rocket attack that killed two American service members, a British service member and wounded 14 others.



In a statement, the Pentagon characterized the strikes as "defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups" to coalition bases in Iraq.



"Earlier this evening, the United States conducted defensive precision strikes against Kata'ib Hizbollah (KH) facilities across Iraq," according to a Pentagon statement. "These strikes targeted five weapons storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces."



The storage facilities that were targeted include facilities that housed weapons used to target U.S. and coalition troops, according to the Defense Department.



"The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a statement following the airstrikes. "As we have demonstrated in recent months, we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region."



Earlier on Thursday Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups were responsible for the attack on the large training base known as Camp Taji.



"All options are on the table as we work with our partners to bring the perpetrators to justice and maintain deterrence," Esper told reporters earlier on Thursday.



The defense secretary said President Donald Trump was presented with options that the U.S. military could take in response to the attack, adding that the president gave him the authority he needed.



Asked on Thursday whether Iran should expect a response from the U.S., Trump replied, "I'd rather not say."



"Let's put it this way, you will see. I can't say," Trump said. "I was working on that last night also. They sent a lot of rockets. It hasn't been fully determined it was Iran."



He added, "As you know, it was a rebel group but most likely it could be backed by Iran, but we'll see what the response is."



Milley said that about 30 Katyusha rockets were fired with about 12 to 18 rockets impacting at Camp Taji. He characterized five of the 14 wounded as "urgent," and said they were a mix of Americans, Brits and Poles -- as well as contractors.



Following the attack, U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces found a rocket-rigged truck a few miles from Camp Taji.



"We have a good indication based on forensics where it was fired from, who did the firing, so on and so forth," Milley said.



Testifying before Capitol Hill on Thursday, the commander of U.S. troops in the Middle East, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, noted that "the Iranian proxy group Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH) is the only group known to have previously conducted an indirect fire attack of this scale against U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq."



The militia group was found responsible for the December attack on a base in northern Iraq that killed an American contractor. That incident led the U.S. to take military retaliation against the group, carrying out airstrikes on several locations in Iraq and Syria.



Tensions continued to escalate, as demonstrators attacked the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Then on Jan. 2, the U.S. military conducted a strike on Qassem Soleimani, killing the top Iranian general as he left Baghdad International Airport.



The U.S. said he was plotting additional attacks against U.S. personnel and interests in the region. But in a show of force, the Iranians launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at bases in Iraq, where U.S. troops were present, causing traumatic brain injuries to more than 100 American service members.



Speaking about the death on Soleimani in January, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, "Judging from the type and intensity of the strike, the regime certainly must now understand what we will do if they ever again pose risk to American lives. If Iran escalates, we will end it on our terms."



On Thursday, McKenzie added that the newest attack had crossed a line.



"I would believe a red line for the United States is going to be the death of U.S. service members or those of our partners and allies," McKenzie said on Thursday. "So that's a red line."



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Actor Saif Ali Khans first marriage did not turn out to be a successful one. While he divorced Amrita Singh in 2004, he shared the responsibility of his two kids Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan Pataudi. The bond between Saif and his kids is quite visible.

A few days ago, Saif in an interview with Mumbai Mirror had said that while he may not have been responsible at various times in his 20s but he had tried his best to be there for his kids. However, he feels he was a bit more selfish back then as compared to Taimurs upbringing.

However, Sara Ali Khan has now come in his defense and talked about how Saif shared his responsibilities. She told Hindustan Times, I know my father very well. Dad is like me, so he says what he is thinking at that particular point. He never really says things for any ulterior motive.

She also mentioned him as a great father. While Sara is close to her mother Amrita Singh, she doesnt not deny the fact that Saif has been there with them without living in the same house. The Kedarnath actress mentioned that her father is always just a phone call away.

Sara last starred in Imtiaz Alis Love Aaj Kal, which failed to create a magic onscreen. She is now awaiting the release of her next movie Coolie No 1, helmed by David Dhawan and co-starring Varun Dhawan.

Follow @News18Movies for more
ANALYSIS is now complete by MBA students at the Asper School of Business, examining how realistic are projected reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from the current federal carbon pricing system. Frankly, it does not look good for Canada. The results also continue to paint the federal Liberals as less than honest with Canadians, in this case about emission reductions.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

ANALYSIS is now complete by MBA students at the Asper School of Business, examining how realistic are projected reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from the current federal carbon pricing system. Frankly, it does not look good for Canada. The results also continue to paint the federal Liberals as less than honest with Canadians, in this case about emission reductions.

There are many proponents of carbon taxation in Canada. Public relations aside, calling this measure a tax is not bad, given that is exactly what it is. There are, however, important subtleties. In a public 2016 paper, Ross McKitrick, a prominent economist from the University of Guelph, made the key point that such systems are not about, or at least should not be about, setting reduction targets. Rather, they are about setting price targets, then letting the market decide what happens.

He further emphasized that it is even possible greenhouse gases emissions could increase under a carbon tax, if that is how the market responds.

Yet, despite this, the federal government still touts carbon taxation as its primary means to reduce greenhouse gases emissions for the Paris Agreement. The federal minister recently reiterated the claim that their tax is the "most efficient way to reduce pollution." A report from late 2018, entitled "Estimated Results of the Federal Carbon Pollution Pricing System," claimed reductions by 2022 will total 80 to 90 million tonnes. The indicated reduction is very large, but is it realistic?

As I have noted previously, the operation of a carbon tax is based on economic fundamentals. Any resulting reductions depend on two key factors: first is the absolute magnitude of the tax, for which there is already broad consensus that the current price is too low to achieve meaningful change; second, and more important, is how responsive consumers are to the tax, with consumer sensitivity characterized by the technical parameter called price elasticity of demand.

The federal Liberal government has stubbornly refused to disclose exactly how sensitive they assume consumers will be to the tax in their economic modeling. This persistent reluctance also suggests something is being deliberately hidden. At the same time, recent financial data on revenues for the federal tax over the next few years allow for presumed sensitivity values to be at least roughly estimated for the three main commodity fossil fuels, namely gasoline, diesel, and natural gas. Results from federal data can be then compared to a variety of calculated sensitivity values based on market experience, as published in literature.

So what does the analysis yield? Consumer sensitivity values implied from federal financial data are all optimistic compared to market experience across North America, within Canada, and especially in Manitoba. Depending on the fuel involved, findings range from being somewhat optimistic to being wildly and unrealistically optimistic. The latter is especially the case with gasoline.

The implications are sobering. Actual reductions are unlikely to be even close to federal claims. My own calculations based on Manitoba experience with the three main fossil fuels over the past decade suggest reductions here due to the carbon tax are likely to be less than 0.1 per cent  effectively meaningless.

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In other words, the dogmatic Liberal pursuit of carbon taxes for political reasons is failing miserably, and leaving Canada with an onerous emission-reductions shortfall. The sooner we abandon carbon taxation, the better. On a positive note, two examples of policies that have already shown success in Canadian provinces are, first, continuing to decarbonize the grid, and, second, increasing electrification.

Some can reasonably ask, "But what about tax saliency?" Some academics suggest consumers are more responsive to carbon taxes than to mere changes in base fuel prices. But in Manitoba, we have been able to observe in real time that this effect has not occurred. If it had, we would already be able to see noticeable reductions in fuel consumption, but that has not happened.

Some can also reasonably ask, "But cannot revenues from a carbon tax be used to fund emission-reduction projects?" This is completely reasonable, and indeed is a positive application for a carbon tax. Except that is not what is being done; instead, money is supposedly channelled back to households. And even that claim is not true  last spring, the Canada Revenue Agency reported $1.75 billion was distributed to households as Climate Action Incentives; but Finance Canada, as part its fall economic update, reported the anticipated carbon tax collections for the year as $2.6 billion.

Thus, less than 70 per cent of collected tax was rebated, not 90 per cent as claimed, with Canadians stiffed for close to $600 million in one year alone.

On this file, we need less arrogant bravado, and less grandiose but empty claims from the federal government. More honesty and practicality are needed if we are to make progress forward.

Robert Parsons teaches sustainability economics in the MBA program at the I.H. Asper School of Business.
Michigan parents will be able to pickup school meals for their children during state-mandated closures after federal agencies approved alternative forms of lunch distribution Friday.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered the closer of all Michigan K-12 schools Thursday night after announcing new Michigan cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

All Michigan schools to close as coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved a waiver from the Michigan Department of Education on Friday, March 13, allowing school lunches to be distributed without the requirement that students eat meals in a group setting or at school, according to a news release from state police.

Schools may now provide food to students at designated pickup locations or school bus stops, the state announced. The move will allow schools to continue providing children food while simultaneously promoting social distancing, one of the Center of Disease Controls recommendations to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Michigan confirms four more coronavirus cases, bringing total to 16

The program is called Unanticipated School Closure SFSP, the news release stated.

Schools and sponsors that participate in Unanticipated School Closure SFSP help ensure children do not experience a lapse in food security with schools being closed from March 16, 2020, through April 5, 2020, the state announced.

Coronavirus closed the schools. Now volunteers are stepping in to help feed the students.

The Food Bank of Michigan could be another option to fill gaps for hungry children during the mandated school closure.

The food bank and its seven regional affiliates are working with the state Department of Education to approve a waiver to activate the Summer Feeding Program early, according to a food bank news release.

"Our immediate needs are startup funding and volunteers, said Phil Knight, executive director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan in the release. Our seven regional food banks are excellent at meeting the daily needs of our residents and families facing food insecurity. The issues surrounding the COVID-19 virus, however, substantially impact our ability to feed nearly a million more children and others during this national pandemic.

The Food Bank plans to distribute meals to school-aged children by packaging food into boxes at its regional affiliates, working with schools to determine the right time to distribute food and communicating the time and location for families to pickup the meals. In addition, food bank trucks would start distributing the meal boxes.

Volunteers can call the Food Bank Council of Michigan at 517-485-1202 or visit www.fbcmich.org for donations.

VIEW UPDATES ON CORONAVIRUS IN MICHIGAN HERE

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
New Delhi, March 13 : The Aam Aadmi Party government has called a special Delhi Assembly session on Friday, with Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai moving a resolution against the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The Assembly will also see a discussion on the current status of Coronavirus in the city.

The resolution is also most likely to be passed by the House as the AAP enjoys majority in the Assembly. AAP had bagged 62 of the 70 seats in the last Assembly elections.

According to sources, the AAP wants the National Population Register (NPR) to be carried out as per the 2010 format.

The AAP has already made its stand clear that it is against the NRC, saying the country's attention should be on the economy and employment.

The party is of the view that the poor people do not have enough documents for the NRC.
A well-known market intelligence solutions provider, Infiniti Research has partnered with companies across the globe to provide turnkey solutions to combat their buisness challenges.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005293/en/

Although most specialty chemical companies achieve huge profitability in the domestic market and foreign markets, they struggle to replicate the same success in China. In their recent article, experts at Infiniti Research dissect the problem areas for specialty chemical companies in China and explain how international specialty chemical companies can rethink their market strategy to successfully establish their business in the region.

"Margins in specialty chemicals in China for international companies are structurally lower than in other regions and also show wide variance between leaders and laggards," says a chemical industry expert at Infiniti Research.

Infiniti's market entry strategy has helped several global companies enter and establish themselves successfully in foreign markets. Planning to venture into new territory? Request a free proposal to know how our solutions can help your business. Request a free proposal

The performance shortfalls of specialty chemical companies in China are fueled by a number of factors. Some of them include insufficient tailoring of products to suit the Chinese market, limited access to important potential customers when compared to local players, and rapid adoption of western technical know-how by local competitors. Considering the fact that China's specialty chemical market is witnessing steady growth, international specialty chemical companies operating in China must rethink their existing approach and strategies to avoid getting left behind. International specialty chemical companies operating in China can learn from their past mistakes and strategize to reengineer their operations to thrive long-term in the country. Correctly positioning themselves in the market will prove crucial for specialty chemical companies over the next decade. Read the complete article for more insights on how chemical companies can re-engineer their existing strategies to suit the specialty chemical market demands in China.

Request for more information to know more about Infiniti's market intelligence and how we can help you strategize to successfully establish your business in a foreign market.

About Infiniti Research

Established in 2003, Infiniti Research is a leading market intelligence company providing smart solutions to address your business challenges. Infiniti Research studies markets in more than 100 countries to help analyze competitive activity, see beyond market disruptions, and develop intelligent business strategies. To know more, visit:https://www.infinitiresearch.com/about-us

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Contacts:

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Two Rowan University students, who Glassboro police mistakenly pulled over in 2018 and detained at gunpoint, filed separate federal civil rights lawsuits against the police department Friday, according to court documents.

In the two lawsuits, classmates Altaif Hassan and Giavanna Roberson alleged that the Glassboro police department violated their civil rights when officers mistakenly pulled over the two and then held them for over an hour at gunpoint.

Video of the traffic stop quickly went viral and drew criticism from students, as it occurred in a busy part of the South Jersey campus. A video taken by a bystander shows police, including one with what appears to be an assault rifle, ordering the two to get out of the car and slowly walk backwards with their hands up.

Oppression is everywhere. Specially right in our own safe spaces. Fun fact: For Blacks in America the idea of a safe space has not and still does not apply to us. Salute to that man @humbledeuce2 for making it through this experience. Rowan University Posted by Quacy Dolphin on Monday, October 1, 2018

I was never so sure I was gonna die, Hassan, who was a senior biology major at the time, told NJ Advance Media shortly after the incident. To not be able to see whats going on. What if I trip? Boom. Im shot.

According to the lawsuits, Glassboro officers Richard Henry and Thomas Bruynell initially responded to an unrelated shoplifting incident in the Collegetown Shopping Center.

Henry identified the suspects vehicle in the shopping center parking lot and began to pursue it. During his pursuit, according to the lawsuits, he radioed the suspects vehicle description to patrolmen in the area. One of those patrolmen, officer Sean Aitken, stopped Hassans car and soon a number of other heavily armed patrolmen drew their firearms on the stopped vehicle.

At the time, the Glassboro police department issued a statement, saying police followed the driver and pulled his vehicle over because a bystander told them he had a gun, contradicting the universitys statement that Hassans car matched the description from a 911 call about a nearby armed robbery.

The lawsuits allege that the officers then unlawfully searched Hassans vehicle. No weapon was found and the two did not face any criminal charges.

The two were held for more than an hour, which the lawsuits say was an unreasonable length of time.

The pairs attorney did not immediately return a request for comment.

The four-count lawsuit includes allegations of violations of the states civil rights act, unreasonable and excessive force, and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The lawsuit names the Glassboro police department, its police chief and a number of the officers who were involved in the incident.

The police department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Staff writer Rebecca Everett contributed to this report.

Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Follow on Twitter @monavage.

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About 400 Guardsman in six states have been activated so far in response to the novel coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19, with numbers expected to swell to about 1,000 by the weekend as more states take action, the National Guard bureau announced early Friday morning.

Air and Army National Guard members in Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, New York, Rhode Island and Washington state are providing support to civilian authorities, according to the announcement. That includes 378 Guard members providing cleaning and transportation help in New York, and four providing emergency management support in Washington.

Elsewhere, Guard and Reserve units halted training exercises, including a Navy Reserve plan to postpone all drill weekends scheduled for March 14 and 15.

As of about 1 p.m. Eastern Friday, California and Maryland both had plans to activate Guardsman, officials said. Thirty-three states had declared emergencies as of that time.

Related: More COVID-19 Coverage

"The National Guard is fully involved at the local, state, and federal level in the planning and execution of the nation's response to COVID-19," officials said in a release. "The National Guards of the 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia have a very deep bench of nearly 450,000 experienced and proven Air and Army National Guard professionals."

State emergency response training with local authorities is common practice in Guard units nationwide, and typically includes large-scale disaster and health-focused exercises.

"Guard units frequently train side-by-side with state and local emergency responders, making them well-suited for domestic operations," the release states. "The National Guard has unique capabilities, such as its Civil Support Teams and [Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, and Explosive units] (CBRNE) that could provide local first responders with additional resources to combat COVID-19."

Meanwhile, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has asked Defense Secretary Mark Esper for a briefing on just how ready those CBRNE units are to handle the crisis.

"As you are aware, National Guard and Reserve engineering, medical, water purification and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) units have the capability to play a decisive role in combating the spread of the COVID-19 virus and helping communities weather and recover from any outbreak," Duckworth said in a letter sent to Esper on Friday. "I am concerned that the readiness of these units has not been assessed in any systematic fashion to date and that potential preparations for them to activate have yet to be taken."

-- Amy Bushatz can be reached at amy.bushatz@military.com.

Read more: North Korean Military Appears to Be on 'Lockdown' over Coronavirus, 4-Star Says
Quang Binh province is looking to accelerate the B&T wind farm cluster (Illustration image)

B&T wind farm cluster is a large-scale foreign-invested renewable energy project that fits the provinces economic development strategy.

Covering an area of 252MW, the cluster combines two projects. The first, B&T 1, has a capacity of 100.8MW and is expected to start operation in December 2020. The second has a capacity of 151.2MW and is expected to come into operation in June 2021. The total investment capital of the two farms is VND8.9 trillion ($386.96 million).

Quang Binh Province has the potential to develop 800-1,000MW of wind power projects and has been actively pitching investment opportunities to investors in the power sector.

The province also managed to draw the attention of giant investors. In June 2018, the province expressed its support to AC Energys plan to develop several renewable energy projects in Vietnam, particularly in wind power generation.

The representative of the provincesigned an MoU with AC Energy led by its president and CEO Eric Francia on an investment in a wind power project in the province. AC Energy, through its subsidiary New Energy Investments (NEI), plans to invest in the 352MW B&T wind farm in Quang Binh province with a total estimated cost of $493 million. However, no information was revealed since then.

As of mid-February 2020, a Dohwa solar power project was added to Quang Binh province's 2016-2025 power development planning with vision to 2035. This project is located in the Dohwa renewable energy complex of Dohwa Group (Korea), which has a capacity of 49.5MW and occupies 75.1 hectares in Le Thuy district.

The solar project will be connected with the grid by a generator step-up transformer with a capacity of 63MVA and voltage of 22/110kV, and a 110kV single transmission line from the project to Cam Lien 110kV transformer substation with a length of 6.5km. The construction of the project was started in August 2017. During the implementation process, the company has been facing difficulties in evaluation procedures and procedures to build transport infrastructure to connect with factory and electricity selling price, thus the construction is still running behind the plan.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA)  Two doctors were killed on Thursday after their vehicle was targeted on the coastal road, western Tripoli, the judicial police announced, adding that they belong to the health care unit of the judicial police section of Misrata (220 km east of Tripoli)
All our offices across the country remain open at this time and employees who want to continue to work in the office can do so, a Liberty Mutual Insurance spokesperson said in a statement. We already have a flexible work environment and many employees across the company have the ability to work from home.

Boston Herald reported that the insurance company has also restricted global business travel until the end of April.

We have restricted employees from holding or attending any in-person meetings with over 25 people through the end of April and have asked that these meetings be canceled, postponed or held virtually, a company spokesperson explained.

News of local companies asking their employees to work from home comes as an expert warned that the outbreak in Massachusetts could get much worse.

Samuel Scarpino, assistant professor in the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University, cautioned that the state is heading in the same direction as Italy in terms of how drastically the viral epidemic has affected the region.

Were on a similar trajectory that Italy was on and every action that we take today is going to flatten out that epidemic curve reducing demand on the health care system, Scarpino told Boston Herald.

The professor also warned that the state is probably underestimating the amount of cases by three to 10 times the total amount.
Labour has told Boris Johnson to get off your backside in responding to coronavirus, as cross-party support for the prime ministers cautious strategy started to fade.

Opposition parties criticised the failure to properly explain why the UK is not imposing the wide-ranging restrictions implemented in other countries, at a forceful meeting to discuss emergency legislation.

Jonathan Ashworth, Labours shadow health secretary, demanded the government publish the scientific data said to justify the reason for keeping offices, schools and sporting events open for now.

Concern was also raised over the failure to take further steps to protect the elderly and most vulnerable  including possibly urging them to stay at home and out of contact with others.

John McDonnell also accused the prime minister of having self-isolated himself from coordinated international action to prevent a recession, in stark contrast to the response to the 2008 financial crash.

Recommended Premier League agree to postpone season after coronavirus crisis talks

There has been no leadership and no action from either the prime minister or the chancellor, the shadow chancellor said. It seems No 10 is following Donald Trumps lead yet again.

We are saying to Boris Johnson, bluntly, get off your backside and show some international leadership. That is what UK prime ministers of all political colours have traditionally done.

Plaid Cymru, which attended the meeting, said: You can see growing public concern and the government needs to be clear on the reasons why it is taking less action than other countries to manage the spread of Covid-19.

Eyebrows were raised when the government sent Helen Wheatley, the little-known junior prevention minister, to the talks with the opposition parties.

Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK The usually busy Royal Mile in Edinburgh is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 13 March Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Ho bart's Amusement Arcade in Westward Ho!, Devon is offering toilet roll and soap as prizes in grabber machines Rob Braddick/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK An empty platform at Farringdon Station in London the morning after the Prime Minister said that Covid-19 "is the worst public health crisis for a generation" PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Shopkeepers Asiyah Javed and husband Jawad from Day Today Express, in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk are giving away facemasks, antibacterial hand wash and cleaning wipes to the elderly in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A usually busy street in Cambridge is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 2 March James Linsell-Clark/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitiser dispenser is seen inside the stadium during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on 8 March Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Maaya Indian Kitchen in Milton Keynes is offerig customers a free roll of toilet paper with every takeaway order SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Oliver Cooper[L], was sent home from school for selling spurts of handsanitiser to fellow pupils at 50p a time. He poses with mum Jenny Tompkins by their home in Leeds Ashley Pemberton/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in London on 12 March EPA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A member of the public is swabbed at a drive through Coronavirus testing site set up in a car park in Wolverhampton Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A passenger wears a protective face mask as she travels on a bus in the City of London AFP/Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A Southampton fan wears a face mask before the match against Newcastle United on 7 March Reuters Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A loudspeaker placed in grounds of St Mary's Catholic Church in Broughattin, Dundalk, County Louth ahead of funeral mass later this morning. The loudspeaker has been placed in the grounds after the Catholic Archdiocese said that funerals and weddings should not exceed 100 attendees within the church building PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitising station set up outside Cheltenham Racecourse during day four of the Cheltenham Festival on 13 March PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK People wearing protective face masks walk across London Bridge on 11 March AFP/Getty

In contrast, Jeremy Corbyn, Ian Blackford and Ed Davey  leaders of Labour, the Scottish National Party in Westminster and the Liberal Democrats respectively  attended.

The criticism came as No 10 declined to echo the chief scientific advisers statement that it would be helpful for 60 per cent of the population to catch coronavirus in order to develop herd immunity.

However, the prime ministers spokesperson did say the scientists advising ministers had been very transparent in setting out how the government expected the outbreak to develop.

Mr Ashworth said ministers should move onto the explain stage and explain why their strategy is correct and the strategy in Ireland or Spain is incorrect.

If the government can publish more of the science, if they can publish the modelling they are basing their decisions on, if they can explain the assumptions and judgements they are making about human behaviour and allow scientists, other experts in the field, to stress test it, to peer review it, I think that will help maintain public confidence, he said.

The Department for Health and Social Care is expected, later on Friday, to release specific advice for care homes, as some started to impose their own restrictions.

However, pressure to advise older people not to go out is being resisted. One government source said: It would mean four months not seeing anyone and sitting in your home on your own.
With the growing concerns related to the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) , Mayor Andy Berke issued a formal statement today and signed an Executive Order suspending all public events in the City of Chattanooga for 30 days to combat the spread of the virus. This comes one day after Governor Lee declared a State of Emergency in Tennessee and a few days after the This comes one day after Governor Lee declared a State of Emergency in Tennessee and a few days after the CDC recognized COVID-19 as a public health emergency in the US and the World Health Organization declared it a global pandemic.

As a division of the City, Outdoor Chattanooga will implement the strategies presented by the Mayor and the CDC and cancel all scheduled events to reduce the opportunity for the virus to spread.

Officials said, "We make this decision with a heavy heart and with the safety of our community in mind.

"Per the Mayors statement, effective March 14, Outdoor Chattanooga will suspend all public programs for the next 30 days. This includes our Cumberland Trail Guided Hikes on March 15, all Archery Programs through the end of March, the Big Foot Hike on March 28, our Mountain to Town downhill bike adventure on April 4 and all Fireside Outdoor Concerts at Tatum Park, scheduled for Thursdays in April. If you are registered for any of these events, we will notify you personally and issue a refund if necessary. For now, our building, located in Coolidge Park, will remain open to the public during regular business hours.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 06:16:46|Editor: yan

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LJUBLJANA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia got its 14th government amid the coronavirus pandemic as the National Assembly approved the center-right cabinet of Janez Jansa in a 52:31 vote at a session on Friday.

Prime Minister Jansa promised concerted and far-reaching measures to fight the coronavirus epidemic, telling the National Assembly that the new government was taking over at a critical time after the outgoing government botched its response to the outbreak of the virus, according to the Slovenian Press Agency STA.

"This is a battle with time, a battle that has to be won inasmuch as this is possible," Jansa said.

The ruling coalition said once the situation normalises the government would focus on its priorities, in particular demographic policy, regional development, infrastructure investments, housing policy and healthcare, and presidency of the European Union (EU) in 2021.

Jansa put forward the list of cabinet members late last Friday.

Former Prime Minister Marjan Sarec resigned on Jan. 27, saying that his minority government could not push through important legislation.

The Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), Modern Centre Party (SMC), New Slovenia (NSi) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) reached an agreement on forming a center-right coalition which holds 48 out of 90 parliamentary seats.
Air India on Thursday decided to cancel all its flights to Kuwait till April 30 and curtail services to various other countries, including Spain, France and Sri Lanka.

The move comes a day after the national carrier announced temporary suspension of its services to Rome, Milan and Seoul, amid the coronavirus pandemic which has triggered imposition of travel restrictions by various countries across the globe.

An airline official said all flights operating to and from Kuwait have been cancelled till April 30.

The existing curtailment of services to Seoul (South Korea), Rome and Milan (Italy) too has been extended till April 30, he added.

In view of the prevailing fettle due to pandemic / COVID-19, the market planning has taken feedback from respective stations and based on their recommendations, some of the flights to various international destination are being temporarily suspended while the frequency of other services are being reduced accordingly, the official said.

Air India at present operates to Kuwait from Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Goa and Mumbai.

As per the revised flight schedule, Air India would operate only two flights on the Delhi-Madrid-Delhi route up to April 30, in place of the existing three.

The third flight would remain cancelled between March 17 and April 28, the official said.

On Wednesday, the government decided to suspend all visas, except a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, from March 13 to April 15.

Similarly, of the seven flights per week between Delhi and Paris now, the carrier has cancelled four services between March 16 and March 30. The other three flights will remain operational up to April 30, he said.

The air services to Frankfurt from New Delhi have also been scaled down to three per week from seven now between March 16 and April 30 while the Mumbai-Frankfurt services have been restricted to twice a week from March 18 to April 30 from four flights now, he added.

Starting March 15, Air India will operate only two flights per week on the Delhi-Tel Aviv-Delhi route as against four services at present, the official said, adding even these two services on the route will not operate on March 15 and 16.

AI 275 on the Mumbai-Colombo route and the return flight will operate only twice a week between March 17 and April 30, the official said. PTI IAS RAM RAX RAX
Fearing that he could be killed, West Bengal's ruling TMC MLA Jayanta Naskar has got his own statues built so that people remember him after his death.

The 71-year-old two-time MLA from Gosaba in South 24 Parganas district hired a sculptor three years ago from Kumartuli, a Kolkata neighbourhood famous for potters and sculptors, to craft his two life-size statues made of fibreglass and a clay bust.

"Four criminals had escaped from the Alipore Central Correctional Home. After they were recaptured, they admitted they were hired by local politicians to kill me. The then district SP Praveen Tripathi had informed me about this. The state government enhanced my security to Y-category after that," said Naskar, who is now guarded by 11 policemen.

"I then decided to get my statues built so that if get killed these statues will remind people of me," he told PTI.

Naskar, who has been with the TMC since its inception, said his family members are also fear that he could be killed and keep calling him to inquire if everything was fine.

"I've many enemies within the TMC. These leaders belonged to other parties earlier and they are my enemies since then," said the father of five.

After he hit upon the idea, Naskar started looking for a sculptor in Kumartuli.

"After finding one, I had to go there more than five times for sittings to ensure the sculptor builds the statues with utmost exactitude possible," he said.

The septuagenarian politician admitted he felt a bit awkward after people came to know of it.

"These statues were built a few years back but nobody knew about it. The statues are kept in a room on the ground floor of my house. During a recent mass outreach programme of the party, some people saw them and clicked photos. I feel a bit awkward now," he said.

Asked where his statues would be erected, Naskar said the headmaster of a local school, of which he was the secretary from 1993 to 2016, has promised he will put up the bust at the institute after his death.

"About the other two, I've no idea. If the locals want, they will erect them at places they choose," he said.

When contacted by PTI, district Trinamool Congress president Shaukat Molla took a jibe at Naskar, saying he should get more statues and erect them in every corner of his constituency.

"I have never heard of such a thing. This is the job of someone who has got no sense. It's funny," Molla said.

A senior official said the state government has no information about any potential threat to the MLA but he has been provided with adequate security.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TIPPECANOE COUNTY (WLFI)  The growing impact of the Coronavirus outbreak is giving many people anxiety over contracting the virus themselves.

The American Psychiatric Association estimates nearly 30 percent of adults suffer from an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives.

A local mental health professional said isolating yourself from other people could make it worse.

COVID-19 is officially a pandemic and all you have to do is scroll through your social media page to see how concerned people are about catching the virus.

"I certainly think reacting or responding with anxiety and fear is a completely normal response," said Susan Kersey.

Kersey is the director of mental health at Purdue's School of Nursing.

She said constantly checking your phone for updates could make your anxiety worse.

"Avoid watching things or reading news reports or listening to the radio if it's causing you anxiety," said Kersey.

Your anxiety shouldn't stop you from being informed.

"Try to just pay attention to the practical information that's available; the kind of information that gives us specific steps to prepare and plan so that we can protect ourselves and our loved ones," said Kersey.

Even though health experts said you should avoid contact with other people mental health providers said you shouldn't isolate yourself from loved ones.

"Fear and anxiety, it just breeds with isolation so I think we need to be talking to one another," said Kersey. "I think if you are specifically anxious about this don't keep it inside."

For individuals who are under self quarantine due to the virus mental health professionals said it's important to stay engaged with your loved ones through technology.

"You can still talk on the phone," said Kersey. "You can still talk over online platforms if you have children try and maintain contact with them as much as possible."

Most importantly if your mental health is being severely affected by anxiety over the Coronavirus you should see help from a mental health professional.

"If you feel overwhelmed with this, if it's really affecting your functioning, your functioning, your appetite, then get help," said Kersey.
On March 12, Humble ISD, the Lone Star College System and the Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce announced closures and cancellations as the region works to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner declared a local state of disaster due to a public health emergency on March 11 and Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough signed a declaration of local disaster on March 12, according to reporting from chron.com.

Humble ISD will be closed from March 12-21 to support the community and health care professionals with the goal of containing COVID-19. This closure includes any events held by the district and all buildings will be closed. Employees have been asked to work from home unless other arrangements have been made in advance with their supervisor.

Related: Humble, Kingwood area businesses, hospitals look to help stop spread of coronavirus

Teachers will be providing learning opportunities for students while campuses are closed and families will receive an email from their school on the evening of March 16 with further information.

By taking this step now, our community will help slow the spread of COVID-19 and assist in preserving the capacity of our health care systems, Humble ISD wrote in a notice sent to all parents and staff on March 12. Social distancing helps protect students, staff, and the larger Humble ISD community. Health and safety is our top priority.

The district wrote that it is their goal to provide food care packages to families on free and reduced lunch, but the district is currently working to find a method to do this while practicing social distancing.

One day after Lone Star College announced all study abroad trips, which included travel to Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal have been canceled for the remaining semester, the system said it will be extending its Spring Break by one week and plans to resume classes on March 23. According to the press release, Lone Star Colleges administration is working with officials to finalize a plan for completing the rest of the semester with the least amount of disruption. This comes after universities in Texas and the U.S. have worked to move in-person classes to online platforms, including the University of Houston, Houston Community College and Rice University.

LSC is working diligently with our community leaders, area colleges and ISDs to share best practices and ensure the best outcome for our community, the press release read. This is a moment in which institutions and individuals must work together.

More Information Lake Houston area canceled events or closures: Good Oil Days Bender Performing Arts Center activities through the end of March Humble Senior Activity Center, closed March 16-31 City of Humble activities, rentals at City Parks with more than 250 people, canceled through the end of March Humble ISD board meeting Humble ISD's Cardboard City Lake Houston area postponed events: Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce Teachers of the Year Luncheon Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce BizCom-Kingwood This is a list of the known event cancelations at time of print and may not reflect all canceled events in the area. See More Collapse

Breaking News: Get email alerts from Chron.com sent directly to your inbox

Lone Star College is requiring a 14-day self-quarantine for all students and employees who have traveled to countries that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have classified as a Level 3 country, which includes China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea and Level 2 countries, which includes Japan according to their press release.

The Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce announced through a press release on the afternoon of March 12 that the chamber will be postponing all scheduled events and programs through April 3 as a precaution for the coronavirus and are considering rescheduling events. For those who paid a registration fee for an event that was set to take place on or before April 3 can receive a full refund or can have credits applied to the rescheduled dates or other future events by emailing chamber@lakehouston.org according to their press release.

Committee meetings will continue but will have the option to call-in. The Chamber has created a business resource page online that provides tool kits and information to businesses and individuals in the Lake Houston area in regards to the coronavirus at lakehouston.org/coronavirus, which will be updated as new information is available according to the press release.

For live updates on the Houston Chronicles coverage of the coronavirus, visit www.chron.com/.

savannah.mehrtens@chron.com
Yesterday, I was in hospital for a minor procedure and my hands are red raw from squishing hand sanitiser on them every three minutes.

Nurses were worried about schools shutting because they would not be able to get into work. Im worried that schools havent been shut because although the virus is sparing healthy children, they DO have a habit of jumping all over grandparents and breathing all over everything.

I have a friend whose husband is only 38 but has lung cancer. She is worried that the decisions made by the government accept that vulnerable people are not regarded as valuable, and so there is disregard for protecting them.

In short, everyone is worried  and dont get me started on dating.

I went on a date with a chap two weeks ago, we had a snog, and now Im texting him daily, casually asking him at 6am every morning ARE YOU COUGHING AT ALL? Its very romantic. I think soon we will be in the hes blocked my number stage of our courtship.

Another operation I was due to have in April on the NHS was cancelled suddenly, with no explanation other than sorreeeee! Well be in touch again when we can! I read it as we are going to need every spare inch we have in April so your routine op can wait! Ciao! which of course is fair enough. I am cheerily trying not to panic because panic attacks are not medically proven to kill viruses and more importantly, I do not want my children to know how worried I am.

They are 12 and six. The 12-year-old is a science fanatic and was the first person to tell me about the coronavirus in China back in those halcyon days a few weeks ago when if someone coughed in your face on the Tube you didnt immediately want them arrested for attempted murder.

My six-year-old then noticed that every time we turned on the radio, they were talking about the Chinese Virus! I swiftly nipped calling it that in the bud. She has two Chinese classmates and as an Iranian kid in the Eighties, I know only too well how horrible it feels when bad things are attributed to you by other kids, simply because they happen in the geographic space you originated from.

My role in life, first and foremost, is being a parent (I wish it was flying the trapeze but I made my choices and here we are) and whatever my fears and anxiety, my job is to shield the children from those feelings.

This is the first time for many of my generation when the entire country fears something we cant control taking away our freedom and putting our lives at risk. My family fled post-revolution Iran; the Ayatollah Khomeini sent his goons to assassinate my dad in our London refuge. My parents couldnt hide this information from us. Detectives came to our home and ordered us to leave with them that instant (though my mother still kept them waiting as she packed a suitcase full of essentials; coriander, tea and our samovar).

 Schools and colleges in Ireland close for two weeks to stop coronavirus

When the 19-year-old uncle we adored was shot dead in a demonstration in Tehran, or when our other uncle who was aged just 15 was sent to the front line in the Iran/Iraq war, they couldnt hide it from us then either. Uncle Mehrdad was still a child when he was captured and tortured for six months in Iraq and we saw our parents beside themselves on the phone, to whoever they could get hold of during blackouts, for news of him. When he returned, his jet-black hair was snow-white (fear not, he is now a nurse and a wonderfully upbeat man who married the love of his life). During these times, our parents answered mine and my brothers questions matter-of-factly, honestly and allowed us to get the information we need, then run off and play. Children need questions answered honestly and simply and they need to know that if their parents are ok, they will be too.

I look back and marvel at how, despite everything, my parents hung on to their sense of humour. Even now, as my brother is on lockdown in Rome, our family WhatsApp is full of my parents cheerfulness and jokes, keeping up our spirits. They have already shepherded us through a time when life as we knew it, with all its security and freedom, changed beyond all recognition. Now, here they are, among the most vulnerable to this virus, doing so again.

(My column this week has been tested negative for coronavirus. I cannot say the same for whatever you are reading it on, but do wash your hands before, after and, if you can tuck it under your chin, during reading it. I am NOT panicking!)
An Iran Air flight carrying Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran, landed at the airport here on Friday afternoon, according to an official.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working on plans to bring back Indians stranded there.

The number of passengers onboard the Iran Air plane could not be immediately ascertained.

An official told PTI that the Iran Air flight landed at the Mumbai airport at around 12.08 pm.

The passengers would be taken to Jaisalmer on an Air India aircraft, another official said.

On Thursday, a Defence spokesperson said around 120 Indians would be brought to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan and quarantined at an Army facility there.

"They will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility created under the aegis of Southern Command. The patients will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility under escort of civil administration," Defence Spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh had said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Thursday, said there are over 6,000 Indians in various provinces of Iran.

Coronavirus outbreak is a matter of "great concern" and the government's initial focus is to bring back Indian pilgrims stranded in Iran, he had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LONDON  Even as governments around the world struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic, many officials are themselves falling victim to the pathogen, undermining global efforts to address the crisis.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada put himself in isolation after his wife tested positive, and a number of other senior officials from Britain to Iran to Australia were confirmed to be infected. President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil said on Friday that he tested negative, after one of his aides tested positive.

There is, though, rising concern that President Donald Trump and members of his staff and cabinet might have been exposed in meetings with different officials from overseas, including with Mr. Bolsonaros aide.

In a closely connected political world where officials crisscross the globe as they take part in frequent meetings with heads of state and other policymakers, the cases vividly illustrate how no one is immune from a virus that does not distinguish between the powerful and everyone else.
Earlier, citizens were recommended to limit movement while abroad.

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov is urging Ukrainians to limit their trips across the country over the situation with the Covid-19 coronavirus.

The statement came during a Kyiv briefing following an NSDC meeting on Friday, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

"We have a big request: to limit travel within the country, to limit as much as possible any movement while abroad, in order to protect ourselves from the disease that is raging across the world," Danilov said.

Read alsoUkraine to close border for foreigners in 48 hours for two weeks

UNIAN memo. In late December, Chinese authorities reported an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown origin in the city of Wuhan. The causative agent of the disease was a new type of coronavirus, Covid-19.

The virus is transmitted from person to person, the incubation period is about two weeks.

In Ukraine, to date, three lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus infection have been recorded, one of them lethal.

As of the morning of March 13, a total of 128,343 cases of coronavirus infection were registered across the world, with 4,720 deaths and 68,324 recoveries.
Google and its parent company Alphabet are working on a website for coronavirus testing, according the internal materials viewed by CNBC and an announcement by President Donald Trump on Friday.

Trump said during a press conference announcing a state of emergency due to the coronavirus that Google has 1,700 engineers working on the effort now.

The screening website from Google will be where people can fill out a questionnaire and learn how they can get a test for the coronavirus, government officials said during the press conference. The website will have options to learn about risk factors and symptoms of coronavirus.

Pichai, in an internal memo sent Thursday that was viewed by CNBC, said employees asked about whether the company could help in COVID-19 testing efforts.

"Yesterday at TGIF, someone had a question about whether Verily could assist in the effort to test people for the COVID-19. I know we are all looking for ways to help right now, so I checked in with their team to see if they could use support from Google and our other bets for a new effort being planned," Pichai said. "The good news is that a planning effort is underway to use the expertise in life sciences and clinical research of Verily in partnership with Google to aid in the COVID-19 testing effort in the U.S."

Verily is Alphabet's life sciences company.

Pichai said the company is working with governing officials to direct vulnerable patients to its Project Baseline website. It wasn't immediately clear whether this was the same website mentioned by President Donald Trump.

"As more test kits become available, the planners are looking to develop a pathway for public health and healthcare agencies to direct people to our Baseline website, where individuals who are at higher risk can be directed to testing sites based on the latest guidance from public health authorities," Pichai said in the memo.

Project Baseline, which says it's "collaborating to build the next generation of healthcare tools and services" is an initiative that maps health data points used in clinical research. That research is used in collaboration with other researchers, clinicians, engineers, designers and volunteers, according to Baseline's website.

The company-wide memo comes as Google employees  along with others in the tech industry  voice their concern about the virus and what their employer is doing to help the rapidly-spreading COVID-19 outbreak. This week, the company ordered nearly all of its global employees to work from home, including its more than 100,000 North American employees. CNBC found that a Google employee in its Bangalore, India, office tested positive for the COVID-19 Thursday and is in quarantine.

Google did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The company later said on Twitter it is developing a triage tool it will deploy near its Mountain View headquarters in California. It did not make any additional comments related to the president's remarks.

"We are developing a tool to help triage individuals for Covid-19 testing," Google's communications team tweeted Friday afternoon following the president's press conference. "Verily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time."

"We appreciate the support of government officials and industry partners and thank the Google engineers who have volunteered to be part of this effort," it continued.

The Verge and Wired both reported that Google was caught off-guard by Trump's announcement, and that Verily had originally intended to roll the tool out only for health care workers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Verily is already developing a small, body-worn temperature patch that transmits data to a phone application for early diagnosis of flu-like sicknesses, Pichai said in a blog post earlier this week.

The World Health Organization this week declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. As of Friday, the outbreak has caused more than 5,000 deaths and 135,000 confirmed cases globally, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, not everyone with symptoms have access to the limited testing kits.

"Verily is part of the Alphabet family and could use our help in the coming days and weeks to respond as quickly as possible to the rapidly evolving situation of the COVID-19 pandemic," Pichai said in the memo.
Iraq has condemned overnight US air strikes on Friday, with its military saying they killed six people and describing them as violation of sovereignty and a targeted aggression against the nations regular armed forces.

President Barham Salih said such repeated violations could cause Iraq to unravel into a failed state and revive the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.

Iraqs security problems will be solved by supporting its government, not turning it into a battlefield for a proxy war, Salih said, warning that ISIL might seize on any chaos.

The repeated violations the state is being subjected to are a dangerous and deliberate weakening of its abilities especially at a time when Iraq faces unprecedented challenges on political, economic, financial, security, and health fronts, he said.

Meanwhile, Iraqs foreign minister summoned the ambassadors of the United States and United Kingdom over the deadly overnight air raids against Iraqi military positions.

The foreign minister held an emergency meeting in which the ministrys undersecretaries, advisors and official spokesman discussed the measures regarding the recent American aggression. He has ordered the summoning of the United States and British ambassadors to Baghdad, a spokesman said in a statement.

It came after Iraqs military said at least one civilian and five security personnel were killed in the US raids, which it denounced as a violation of sovereignty and a targeted aggression against Iraqs armed forces.

The civilian killed in the overnight attack was a cook working at an airport under construction in Karbala, the military said in a statement. The death toll included three soldiers and two policemen, while four soldiers, two policemen, one civilian and five militiamen were wounded, it said.

Earlier, the Pentagon said the US conducted defensive precision strikes against the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah facilities across Iraq, in an attack that was in response to an earlier rocket barrage that killed two US troops and one British soldier.

A US official told The Associated Press news agency that the raids were a joint operation with the British.

Reporting from Baghdad, Al Jazeeras Simona Foltyn said there had been widespread condemnation of the attacks that targeted different southern positions belonging to the Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella organisation of several armed militias, with the latest incident likely to once again ignite calls in Iraq for the expulsion of US troops.

Citing the militarys statement, Foltyn said the fatalities suggest that these air strikes were not as precise as the US said that they were, and this is rather embarrassing for the US because the Iraqi army and police are its partners under the coalition to fight ISIL.

Essentially, rather than deterring Kataib Hezbollah and other Iranian-linked groups from conducting further attacks on US servicemen, the US in fact ended up further rupturing the relationship between its Iraqi partners and its presence here in Iraq.

Members of Iraqi security forces inspect the damage at the airport hit by US air strikes in Karbala [Alaa al-Marjani/Reuters]

US President Donald Trump gave the Pentagon the authority to respond to Wednesdays attack, responsibility for which has not been claimed, again raising tensions with neighbouring Iran after the two countries came to the brink of war earlier this year.

Washington had blamed Kataib Hezbollah for an attack in December that killed a US contractor, leading to a cycle of tit-for-tat confrontations that culminated in the January 3 US assassination of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on January 3. Five days later, a retaliatory Iranian missile attack on two bases in Iraq housing US troops left more than 100 US troops with brain injuries but caused no fatalities.

Iran on Friday warned US President Donald Trump against taking dangerous actions after the overnight air raids.

The United States cannot blame others  for the consequences of its illegal presence in Iraq and the nations reaction to the assassination and killing of Iraqi commanders and fighters, foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.

Instead of dangerous actions and baseless accusations, Mr Trump should reconsider the presence and behaviour of his troops in the area, he added.

The Pentagon said late on Thursday that its strikes had targeted Kataib Hezbollah that housed weapons used to target US and coalition troops, it said.
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Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13 2020

Safe haven: The MS Coral Adventure cruise ship from Australia docks at Soekarno-Hatta Seaport in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Thursday. Carrying 78 passengers and foreign crew members, the cruise ship was previously denied entry to Palopo city and Bulukumba regency. It was allowed to dock at Soekarno-Hatta Seaport after undergoing medical assessments by local health officials to prevent the spread of COVID-19.(Antara/Abriawan Abhe)

Days before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on Wednesday, postponements and cancellations became the new normal for many walks of life as fears of the coronavirus spread grew globally.

But it was not until an international conference specifically convened to address the virus outbreak itself was canceled that many in the international cooperation community began to feel the gravity of the situation.

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Chicago-based Ryan Specialty Group (RSG) has appointed Mark S. Katz executive vice president, general counsel. In his new position, Katz will lead RSGs Legal, Compliance and Regulatory functions.

Katz joined Ryan Specialty Group in February 2019 as senior vice president and counsel, Insurance Services, and has been responsible for leading a team focused on supporting the insurance operations of RSG and its subsidiaries.

Prior to joining RSG, Katz was a partner with the law firm Mound Cotton Wallan & Greengrass LLP for 25 years where he analyzed and litigated complex insurance coverage disputes on behalf of insurers, with a special emphasis on commercial first-party property litigation. He is admitted to the New York and New Jersey bars, and is a graduate of Syracuse University, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and Hofstra Law School where he was an editor of the Hofstra Law Review.

Source: Ryan Specialty Group
The BJP's Mizoram unit on Friday



accused the Mizo National Front (MNF) government headed by Chief Minister Zoramthanga of misusing central funds for political gains.

BJP state president Vanlalhmuaka said he has come to learn from "certain quarters" that the state government has misused various central schemes for the benefit of the MNF.

He also charged the state government with "fooling people" over the Centre's healthcare scheme.

"The Centre introduced a healthcare scheme providing an annual insurance cover of Rs 3 lakh, which was later raised to Rs 5 lakh," he said at a programme in Champhai town.

The MNF government is misusing the central healthcare scheme by claiming it is providing Rs 2 lakh annual insurance under its flagship programme 'Socio-Economic Development Policy', the BJP leader added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
King Edward VI School.

Schools across Stratford District have reacted to Government advice on coronavirus by cancelling trips and making preparations in case they are advised to close at a later date.

The Government is not currently calling on schools to close and whilst those in Stratford District are continuing to operate as normal they are monitoring the situation closely as it evolves.

KES has taken the decision to cancel all non-urgent events before the end of term, including all trips, fixtures and visits, while Alcester Grammar School has cancelled a trip to Sorrento and is talking to trip providers about forthcoming visits to Greece, the USA and South Africa.

Alcester Grammar School has confirmed that teaching staff have been asked to consider contingency plans in case of a shutdown, and would keep parents informed via groupcall messaging if this occurred.

KES say any closure will be posted on the schools website and on Twitter, should the school be advised to close its doors.

In a letter to parents Bennet Carr, headmaster at KES, explained that if the school was advised to close during the school day, students would also be allowed to contact their parents using mobile phones or using the school's telephones and staff would remain at the school office until all students were safely on their way home.

He also warned that it was possible the school may be forced to close at some point due to high staff absence.

Stratford School says it is maintaining business as usual at present, but like Kes and Alcester Grammar it is advising parents and students to follow Government advice if they have symptoms of the virus and stay at home for seven days.

Warwickshire County Council have confirmed that no schools in the county have closed due to coronavirus at this point.
Clare Sanders, 43, and her boyfriend Tomas Vaitkevicius, 45, are accused murdering four-week-old daughter Eva, who died of traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. She is pictured above leaving court on an earlier date

A City worker and her lover shook a baby so hard her injuries resembled those caused from falling off a multi-storey building, the Old Bailey heard today.

Clare Sanders, 43, and her boyfriend Tomas Vaitkevicius, 45, are accused murdering four-week-old baby Eva, who died of traumatic brain and spinal cord injury.

Injuries to Eva's eyes showed signs of severe 'trauma' from up to two days before she died, an expert witness told the Old Bailey.

Both defendants deny all charges against them.

Optimologist Dr Jo McPartlind, who examined Eva after her death, appeared via video link to give evidence.

Asked if she found an optic nerve haemorrhage in Eva's left eye, Dr McPartlind said: 'Yes I did. I saw it around the optic nerve sheath but it extended a distance of a maximum 4mm.'

She added there was also haemorrhaging in the right, extending 'to a maximum of 5mm'.

The expert added: 'I was able to confirm bleeding along the optic nerve, the entire length and circumference of the nerve. Both optic nerves.' She also found retinal haemorrhaging, but just in the right eye.

Dr McPartlind continued: 'Some bleeding occurred at least 48 hours before death. But there was later fresh bleeding after that time.

'The findings indicted trauma.

Vaitkeicius, 45, pictured above, wore a black suit. Sanders and Lithuanian-born Vaitkeicius, of Mitcham, deny murder and the alternative charge of allowing the death of a vulnerable child

'It can be seen in very severe types of accidents - for example fatal car accidents, falls from multi-storey buildings onto concrete, severe head crash injuries'.

She said signs pointed to an injury involving an acceleration then sudden slowing down of the head.

It could be just one injury if it was 'very severe' with a large 'degree of force'.

The court has heard Sanders's phone was used to search 'shaken baby syndrome' on August 27 2017, six day's before the victim's death at St George's Hospital in London.

City worker Sanders, 43, in a white shirt and scarf, looked impassively ahead in the dock. Vaitkeicius, 45, wore a black suit.

Sanders and Lithuanian-born Vaitkeicius, of Mitcham, deny murder and the alternative charge of allowing the death of a vulnerable child.

The trial continues.
Bangor-area car shoppers can save on their favorite Toyota-brand models at Downeast Toyota during the Toyota Ready, Set, Go Sales Event in March.

The annual Toyota Ready, Set, Go Sales Event is going on now at Downeast Toyota in the Bangor area. With budget-minded lease and finance incentives dedicated to Toyota-brand favorites that include the Toyota Highlander, Toyota RAV4 and Toyota Tacoma, the dealership will help local car shoppers save on their favorite Toyota models. Toyota Ready, Set, Go sales incentives are available until March 31.

Families in the Bangor area who are interested in the next-generation 2020 Toyota Highlander can save on select models during the Toyota Ready, Set, Go Sales Event. Potential owners who are approved via Toyota Financial Services can lease a 2020 Toyota Highlander LE AWD for 36 months with just $3,199 due at signing and $359 per month. Drivers who upgrade to the 2020 Toyota Highlander XLE AWD can lease the popular trim for 36 months with $3,199 down and $401 per month.

The 2020 Toyota RAV4 is a premier competitor in the compact crossover class that families will love. Toyota RAV4 lease incentives available at Downeast Toyota in March include a 36-month lease with a $2,999 down payment and $229 per month. Hybrid Toyota RAV4 LE AWD-e editions are available with a 36-month lease, $2,999 due at signing and $266 per month. Qualified buyers who prefer to finance a Toyota RAV4 may be eligible for a zero percent Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for 60 months.

Bangor-area drivers who are interested in a 2020 Toyota Tacoma may be eligible to lease Toyota Tacoma SR5 Double Cab models for 24 months with $3,499 down and $211 per month. A 36-month lease is also available for Tacoma SR5 Double Cab variants. Potential owners who prefer to finance a Toyota Tacoma may be eligible for 1.9 percent APR with a 60-month contract. A 72-month finance contract is available with 3.9 percent APR.

Local car buyers who are interested in saving on popular Toyota cars, trucks and crossovers at Downeast Toyota during the Toyota Ready, Set, Go Sales Event can learn more about available sales incentives online at http://www.downeasttoyota.com. Individuals who prefer a more personal interaction can contact a dealership representative directly by calling 207-989-6400.
FCT Combustion wins Titan Cement burner order

13 March 2020

FCT Combustion has been awarded an EPC contract to convert Titan Cement's existing 5000stpd kiln system at its Pennsuco plant in Florida, USA, for 100 per cent natural gas firing.



The scope comprises a new Gyro-Therm Mk3 burner with dual fuel capability as well as a spare Gyro-Therm Mk3 burner with 100 per cent natural gas firing capability. Accessories, field instruments, BMS and valve train will also be supplied for the safe and optimised operation of the system according to NFPA 86.



Additionally, FCT Combustion will provide all the civil, structural and mechanical erection including the new gas pipeline and full electrical and automation installation.



The contract re-affirms FCT Combustion's capabilities not only as an EP supplier, but also a provider of complete EPC solutions in the United States.

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A large and glittering European premiere for Disney's Mulan had been planned in London on Thursday night, but in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic the red carpet was scaled down and hand sanitisation stations were positioned as guests entered the cinema.

Mulan's leading lady Liu Yifei, 32, posed for cameras in a black lace corset gown as she was joined on the red carpet by the movie's director Niki Caro.

Dave Benett

The Chinese-American actress won the part after over 1000 other actresses who auditioned for the role. The story sees her save her ailing father from serving in the Imperial Army by disguising as a man to take his place.

getty images

Shortly after cast posed for pictures on the red carpet, Disney announced that the film's March 27th release date would be delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Director Niki Caro also posted a statement on Instagram addressing the delay.

getty images

"We are so excited to share this film with the world" she wrote, "but given the current ever-shifting circumstances we are all experiencing, unfortunately, we have to postpone the worldwide release of Mulan for now. Our hearts are with everyone the world over who is affected by this virus, and we hope that Mulans fighting spirit will continue to inspire those who are working so hard to keep us all safe."

She added, Thank you for all of your enthusiasm and support, and I cant wait for the day where we will all get to experience this tale of a girl warrior who became a legend together.

Insider's Vicky Lee at the premiere in Atelier Zuhra and De Beers / Dave Benett
Male students take action against gender-based violence

By Luvo Mnyobe, fourth year BJourn student

Rhodes University recently hosted dialogues for male students to discuss issues surrounding gender-based violence (GBV). These dialogues facilitated a space where male students could interrogate gender inequalities and think about how to create more gender equitable societies.

Taking place across eight dining halls on campus, the dialogues targeted both undergrad and postgraduate students, with the aim of raising awareness and providing early intervention strategies to fight GBV.

In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared GBV in South Africa as a national crisis. The Department of Higher Education is currently working on a comprehensive GBV Policy Framework for institutions of higher learning to respond to this scourge.

Rhodes University invited trusted and experienced researcher and Rhodes University alumni, Dr Gcobani Qambela, to facilitate these discussions. Qambelas research focuses on gender, Xhosa boyhood and masculinity. He previously worked as a researcher at Brothers For Life, an organisation that advocates for men to take an active stand against GBV in their community.

While this is not the first time that Rhodes University has held GBV dialogues, it is the first time that these are exclusively for male students and led by a male facilitator. Previously, both male and female students attended GBV dialogues together, and sessions were facilitated by a woman.

Rhodes Universitys Harassment and Discrimination Manager, Dr Zethu Mkhize, said her office received a request from the Student Representative Council (SRC) that these sessions be restructured.

There was a feeling that there was no free-flow of communication. The SRC was of the view that we should have dialogues specifically for males only. The Transformation Councillor further expressed that the best way forward would be to find a male facilitator, she said.

The dialogues consist of two phases; the exploration phase and an action plan phase. In the exploration phase, male students are given a non-judgemental and shame-free space to share their views on gender and patriarchy.

There are male students who might have been sexually molested or who might have been sexually harassed, but have not had a chance to be open about these experiences. Providing a non-threatening space for them allows for a free flow of dialogue to discuss such issues, explained Mkhize.

Qambela said that these dialogues provide organic learning, so students are able to challenge their own ideas of gender and masculinity.

In almost all the sessions, we have gone way over time  sometimes by 30 to 45 minutes. This shows how necessary these types of dialogues are for male students. Although the sessions were held during mid-term, at the peak of assignment deadlines and tests, many stayed right up till the end, Qambela said.

Jonathan Hellerman, the Warden of Stanley Kidd House, believes the dialogues have been well received by students in his residence.

Hellerman, who attended the male dialogue with the students in his residence, said that it was important that students see leaders on campus participate in these dialogues.

Gender-based violence and gender inequalities are not just issues these students generation have to deal with alone; they are something that both young and old have to solve together, he said.

The male dialogues will conclude with an action plan session on 14 March 2020. During this planning phase, a group of students from each dining hall will create a workable plan to tackle the scourge gender-based violence at Rhodes University.

Source: Communications

Please help us to raise funds so that we can give all our students a chance to access online teaching and learning. Covid-19 has disrupted our students' education. Don't let the digital divide put their future at risk. Visit www.ru.ac.za/rucoronavirusgateway to donate
When one of Rapps recipients wanted to attend Taniss nursing school, Rapp helped Tanis become an approved District vendor, records showed. In the process, Tanis asked Rapp to have $47,895 in benefits awarded to five students at his school, even though they were ineligible, according to Taniss plea. Tanis provided one of Rapps relatives with a full scholarship, as well as money at Rapps request, plea documents showed.
A married Brooklyn couple have been detained for stealing $1million in high-end jewelry from a Hudson Yards store, with police sharing that the male suspect sported a burqa during the robberies.

Patrick and Ernestine Preville, both 29, were arrested on Thursday and charged with grand larceny for the February 23 heist.

They were detained at their Canarsie home, police sources explained to the New York Post.

Patrick and Ernestine Preville, both 29, were arrested on Thursday and charged with grand larceny for the February 23 heist

According to police, Patrick - who is said to have worn the religious garb while holding bag containing a spray bottle - walked into the store at approximately 4pm, asking to see a necklace.

A clerk assisted Patrick, pulling out the necklace and a ring, but noticed that the suspect was also holding onto a watch from the luxury store.

When the clerk began questioning the suspect, Patrick is said to have pulled the spray bottle out and squirted liquid at the clerk

According to police, Patrick - who is said to have worn the religious garb while holding bag containing a spray bottle - walked into the store at approximately 4pm, asking to see a necklace

Patrick is said to have stolen the necklace and two watches from the store. All the jewelry was recovered at the couple's Brooklyn home when they were arrested

Patrick is said to have then grabbed the necklace before running out of the store, taking two watches with him.

The necklace was priced at roughly $21,000 while one watch was worth $64,000 and the other was worth a staggering $715,000, according to authorities.

All of the jewelry was recovered at the couple's home.

It is currently unknown what they planned to do with the jewelry.

Both are awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Stock short selling in Korea surged to a yearly high on increased global financial uncertainties. Yonhap



Stock short selling in South Korea soared to a yearly high on increased global financial uncertainties, bourse data showed Friday, sparking controversy among individual investors over an "unfair game."



According to the data compiled by bourse operator Korea Exchange (KRX), the daily short selling volume averaged 1.09 trillion won (US$891.8 billion) as of Thursday's closing. The tally replaced the previous record of 1.08 trillion won in only four days.



The rapid growth in short selling is largely attributed to foreign investors, who traded as much as 753.1 billion won, up 78.6 percent from the previous session's close. On the same day, institutional investors' short selling dropped by 41.7 billion won to 323.7 billion won.



Stock short selling is a trading technique in which investors sell stocks they borrowed on the belief that share prices will fall in the near future. The more stock prices fall, the more profit they get.



Short selling soared Thursday as the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) tumbled 2.78 percent to close at 1,834.33, the lowest level since Aug. 24, 2015.






LOCKPORT, N.Y. - Rapper Kodak Black pleaded guilty Thursday to a weapons charge stemming from a stop at the Canadian border crossing near Niagara Falls last April.

The music artist, whose legal name is Bill Kapri, was arrested after he drove a Cadillac Escalade across the Lewiston-Queenston International Bridge into the United States with three other men. State police say the men had marijuana and a loaded pistol without a permit when they were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.

Kodak Black pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in Niagara County Court, according to WKBW in Buffalo. He faces two to seven years in prison when hes sentenced on March 24.

In November, Kodak Black was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for illegally buying a gun in his home state of Florida. The New York sentence will be served concurrently with the federal one, according to State Supreme Court Justice Richard Kloch.
By Azernews





By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijans daily oil production amounted to 750,6 thousand barrels, including 667,000 barrels crude oil and 83,2 thousand barrels condensate in February 2020, the Ministry of Energy reported on March 10.

Daily export of crude oil constituted 530,3 thousand barrels, while export of condensate and oil products accounted for 79,6 thousand and 12,4 thousand barrels respectively.

Azerbaijan has completely fulfilled its commitment to maintaining the daily production at 769,000 barrels.

It should be mentioned that according to the agreement reached at the 7th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting held on December 6, the commitment for Azerbaijan was set as 27,000 barrel.

Implementation of the Declaration of Cooperation will be completed by the end of March 2020.

The Ministry of Energy presented data on daily oil production in February to the Joint Technical Commission of the Joint Monitoring Committee of OPEC.

To remind, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov attend the 8th of OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting to be held on March 6.

The situation on the global oil market will be discussed at the meeting, and the issue of decision-making on the level of production for the period after March were considered.




The United States says there have been serious human rights violations in Zimbabwe following the 2018 disputed general election won by President Emmerson Mnangagwas Zanu PF party.

In a document released Thursday titled 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Zimbabwe, the U.S. claimed that the Zimbabwean army gunned down 17 people during the January 2019 protests over fuel price increases while other state security agents used various methods of silencing political dissent.

The government says about six people died during the protests.

The U.S report, citing several sources, reads in part, Human rights groups reported government agents continued to perpetrate physical and psychological torture. Reported torture methods included beating victims with sticks, clubs, cables, gun butts, sjamboks (a heavy whip), falanga (beating the soles of the feet), as well as pouring corrosive substances on exposed skin.

As of September 23, there were more than 50 reports of short-term abductions and assaults allegedly performed by state security actors. These instances typically occurred at night. The abductors removed persons from their homes by force and assaulted them for hours before abandoning them, usually severely injured and naked, in a remote area.

Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum reported 16 rapes, one sexual assault, 26 abductions, and a minimum of 586 assault and torture cases involving security forces from January 14 to February 5.

According to the report, in January, February, August, and November, last year, uniformed and plainclothes soldiers and police officers systematically assaulted civilians in the Harare central business district and suburbs.

Soldiers accused many of the victims of participating in the January 14-16 and August 16-21 (2018) demonstrations. In November police officers assaulted civilians who gathered at an opposition partys headquarters to hear a speech. Another NGO reported 124 victims of organized violence and torture sought medical treatment and counseling after sustaining injuries in multiple incidents across the country in August. The abuses included 11 abductions and assaults, 34 assaults, 77 arrests, one tear gas victim, and one undetermined. Of the 47 cases requiring medical attention, the NGO classified the cases as 13 severe, 26 moderate, and eight mild.

The United States said there were also reports of short-term abductions and abuses during this same period.

It further cited other incidents of alleged state-sponsored violence, which included the abduction of Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association president Peter Magombeyi and Obert Masaraure, leader of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe. The two were demanding salary increases and better working conditions.

(ARTUZ) leader Obert Masaraure abandoning him in a remote field on September 19.Magombeyi was the face of a nationwide doctors strike. The abduction occurred after the ZHDA, through Magombeyi, rejected the governments offer to increase doctors salaries by $20 per month. Victims in several Harare suburbs reported assaults and hours-long interrogations in remote locations regarding opposition members whereabouts and plans for demonstrations. For example, plainclothes state security agents abducted Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) leader Obert Masaraure in January and again in June. Masaraure claimed the agents ordered him to strip off his clothes and shoes, and then they beat him with whips while they forced him to roll around in mud and interrogated him about union activities, such as encouraging persons to participate in the January 14-16 demonstrations. The attackers abandoned him in a remote area on a winter night, with substantial injuries and no clothing.

On August 13, Tatenda Mombeyarara, a civil socety activist, reported being abducted by individuals claiming to be police officers. The men interrogated him for hours about a civic engagement training he attended. He claimed the men undressed him and beat him with wooden rods on his buttocks, legs, and soles of his feet. They poured an unknown corrosive substance on him and left him with a broken tibia and finger in an abandoned quarry.

The United States claimed that detainees were abused by state security agents.

Authorities often did not allow detainees prompt or regular access to their lawyers and often informed lawyers who attempted to visit their clients that detainees or those with authority to grant access were unavailable. The government also monitored, harassed, intimidated, and arrested human rights lawyers when they attempted to gain access to their clients.

It noted that arbitrary arrests were the order of the day in Zimbabwe.

The government regularly used arbitrary arrest and detention as tools of intimidation and harassment, especially against political activists, civil society members, journalists, and ordinary citizens asserting their rights. There were NGO and media reports that security forces arbitrarily arrested political and civil society activists, including at least 1,000 persons from January 14 to February 5 and another 150 from August 16 to August 21 for their alleged involvement in planned demonstrations in Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, and other cities.

In May the government arrested seven civil society activists upon their return to the country from civic engagement training in the Maldives. The government alleged the seven planned to subvert a constitutionally elected government. As of years end, the seven activists were still awaiting trial. They and their family members continued to receive threats and intimidation from unknown sources, and security services subjected them to onerous reporting requirements.

Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo and Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa were not available for comment.
US forces have carried out airstrikes near Baghdad in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed two Americans and a Briton on Wednesday, the Pentagon has confirmed.

In a statement, the Defence Department said the targets had been five weapon storage facilities run by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shia militia, and that the weapons would have been used to target US and coalition troops.

On Thursday the Pentagon said it believed that groups backed by Tehran were behind this week's rocket attack on Camp Taji, near the Iraqi capital, which also wounded 14 people.

The Pentagon statement said: "These strikes were defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups who continue to attack bases hosting Operation Inherent Resolve coalition forces."

Mark Esper, the US defence secretary, said: "The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies. As we have demonstrated in recent months, we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region."

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

It was not immediately clear whether there had been any casualties or how much damage had been caused.

Medic Lance Corporal Brodie Gillion, 26, has been named by the Ministry of Defence as the member of the British armed forced killed in the attack on Camp Taji on Wednesday evening.

She was killed while volunteering as part of the Irish Guards Battle Group.

Her commanding officer said she was a hugely popular character in a tribute, adding he was proud and humbled to have served alongside her.

Lieutenant Colonel William Leek, Commanding Officer Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry, said: She was a larger than life soldier who was determined to deploy on operations, help others, develop herself and gain practical experience.

She had already achieved a great deal in her relatively short time with us and it was abundantly clear that she was destined for great things in her civilian and military careers. Her loss is keenly felt.

My deepest condolences go to her family and loved ones. They are in my thoughts and prayers, and those of the wider Regimental family.

Earlier on Thursday, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said the attack would not be tolerated, while foreign secretary Dominic Raab said it was a cowardly act.

He added: We will defend against these deplorable acts and hold those responsible to account.



American forces also carried out airstrikes in December following an attack that killed a US contractor. That was seen as revenge for the US assassination in Iraq of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on 3 January.

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has pledged to take "severe revenge" for the killing.
The Chief Justice of the United States

One First Street, N.E.

Washington, D.C. 20543

March 11, 2020

Dear Chief Justice Roberts:

I hereby resign my membership in the Supreme Court Bar.

This was not an easy decision. I have been a member of the Supreme Court Bar since 1972, far longer than you have, and appeared before the Court, both in person and on briefs, on several occasions as Deputy and First Deputy Attorney General of Hawaii before being appointed as a Hawaii District Court judge in 1986. I have a high regard for the work of the Federal Judiciary and taught the Federal Courts course at the University of Hawaii Richardson School of Law for a decade in the 1980s and 1990s. This due regard spanned the tenures of Chief Justices Warren, Burger, and Rehnquist before your appointment and confirmation in 2005. I have not always agreed with the Courts decisions, but until recently I have generally seen them as products of mainstream legal reasoning, whether liberal or conservative. The legal conservatism I have respected that of, for example, Justice Lewis Powell, Alexander Bickel or Paul Bator at a minimum enshrined the idea of stare decisis and eschewed the idea of radical change in legal doctrine for political ends.

I can no longer say that with any confidence. You are doing far more and far worse than calling balls and strikes. You are allowing the Court to become an errand boy for an administration that has little respect for the rule of law.

The Court, under your leadership and with your votes, has wantonly flouted established precedent. Your conservative majority has cynically undermined basic freedoms by hypocritically weaponizing others. The ideas of free speech and religious liberty have been transmogrified to allow officially sanctioned bigotry and discrimination, as well as to elevate the grossest forms of political bribery beyond the ability of the federal government or states to rationally regulate it. More than a score of decisions during your tenure have overturned established precedentssome more than forty years old and you voted with the majority in most. There is nothing conservative about this trend. This is radical legal activism at its worst.

Without trying to write a law review article, I believe that the Court majority, under your leadership, has become little more than a result-oriented extension of the right wing of the Republican Party, as vetted by the Federalist Society. Yes, politics has always been a factor in the Courts history, but not to todays extent. Even routine rules of statutory construction get subverted or ignored to achieve transparently political goals. The rationales of textualism and originalism are mere fig leaves masking right wing political goals; sheer casuistry.

Your public pronouncements suggest that you seem concerned about the legitimacy of the Court in todays polarized environment. We all should be. Yet your actions, despite a few bromides about objectivity, say otherwise.

It is clear to me that your Court is willfully hurtling back to the cruel days of Lochner and even Plessy. The only constitutional freedoms ultimately recognized may soon be limited to those useful to wealthy, Republican, White, straight, Christian, and armed males and the corporations they control. This is wrong. Period. This is not America.

I predict that your legacy will ultimately be as diminished as that of Chief Justice Melville Fuller, who presided over both Plessy and Lochner. It still could become that of his revered fellow Justice John Harlan the elder, an honest conservative, but I doubt that it will. Feel free to prove me wrong.

The Supreme Court of the United States is respected when it wields authority and not mere power. As has often been said, you are infallible because you are final, but not the other way around.

I no longer have respect for you or your majority, and I have little hope for change. I cant vote you out of office because you have life tenure, but I can withdraw whatever insignificant support my Bar membership might seem to provide.

Please remove my name from the rolls.

With deepest regret,

James Dannenberg
Officials continued to move forward Friday with plans designed to prevent the new coronavirus' spread through South Carolina and curtail the negative economic impact.

Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency at 5 p.m. and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control confirmed a 13th presumptive, positive case of COVID-19  the illness caused by the virus.

The new case was identified in Camden, which has emerged as a major center of the South Carolina outbreak. Nine out of the state's 13 cases were identified in Kershaw County where the city is located.

McMaster's emergency declaration closed schools in Lexington and Kershaw counties, triggered the state's anti-price gouging laws and suspended jail and prison visitations.

Local officials and private organizers were already calling off gatherings in a bid ease the pandemic's impact on residents.

I have declared a state of emergency in South Carolina in response to COVID-19. -Schools in Lancaster and Kershaw Counties shall be closed for a period of 14 dayshttps://t.co/q6hirJL5PP(1/3)  Gov. Henry McMaster (@henrymcmaster) March 13, 2020

Friday also saw President Donald Trump declare a national emergency.

So far, DHECs Public Health Laboratory has conducted 123 tests, of which 110 came back negative for the virus, according to the agency. Six cases have been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The sole Charleston County patient has self-isolated, DHEC said. Officials are monitoring one case in Spartanburg and two in Lancaster, along with the nine-person hotspot in Kershaw County.

Amid the concerns on Friday, Charleston's Cooper River Bridge Run was postponed until Aug. 1.

The 42-year-old race is the largest participation sporting event in South Carolina and has never before been postponed or canceled.

Summerville's annual Flowertown Festival was postponed until Labor Day weekend because of the virus.

While we understand the impact, the safety and well-being of our community remains our top priority. More information will be provided in the upcoming weeks, spokeswoman Erin Roach said.

The festival is one of the largest events in the South Carolina, averaging around 200,000 attendees each year.

Charleston police are putting an "Alternative Call for Service Plan" in place to try and limit contacts for its employees amid concerns over the virus, said Charles Francis, an agency spokesman.

"Until further notice, officers may respond to complaints of nonviolent incidents that have occurred in the past with a telephone call to the complainant," Francis said. "Incident reports can still be written and follow-up investigations, where necessary, will still occur."

Charleston Police Department Alternative Call Response Plan for Non-Emergency Calls#chsnews pic.twitter.com/70AZ4ZPzqg  Charleston P.D. (@CharlestonPD) March 13, 2020

Residents should still call 911 in an emergency and call 843-743-7200 for non-emergency matters.

The department has put guidelines in place for its officers including extra gloves, masks and hand sanitizer for officers. Police officials have directed officers to thoroughly disinfect their work stations, vehicles and surroundings; stay home when sick; and wear proper personal protective equipment, especially when interacting with someone exhibiting symptoms like sneezing or coughing.

Charleston Police Department Guidelines and Procedures for Officers to Deal withe the Coronavirus #chsnews pic.twitter.com/TckVVrNFV9  Charleston P.D. (@CharlestonPD) March 13, 2020

As South Carolina authorities insist there's no reason to panic, local officials and event coordinators are preparing strategies in case of the virus' spread.

Harris Teeter placed a three-item limit on some products Friday, including toilet paper, water, pasta, canned meat, and medications for cold, flu and allergy.

Several utilities in South Carolina are giving customers a break if they fall behind on their monthly bills, ensuring any financial distress caused the novel coronavirus won't limit people's access gas, water and electricity.

But other utility providers say they've yet to decide if they will forgo shutting off services if people's finances are damaged by the public health response to COVID-19.

"If washing your hands is the most protective thing we can do, why would we take away the water?" said Clay Duffie, the general manage for Mount Pleasant Waterworks. "We always want to protect public health."

Fort Jackson in Columbia canceled basic combat training graduations Thursday night until at least April 30.

"I could not with a clear conscience, allow family members to travel from around the country ... to potentially put themselves or their soldiers at risk," Brig. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr., the base commander, said in a Thursday night statement.

Court officials in the Palmetto State also took action, all but closing Richland County Courthouse after concerns arose over a person who may have had indirect contact with the virus.

S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty issued multiple orders Thursday and Friday directing county-level, family, summary and magistrate courts to take precautions and other measures.

Around the state, some court officials moved to postpone jury trials and put other measures in place aimed at limiting exposure to the virus.

Andrew Brown and Gregory Yee contributed to this report.
SILVER SPRING, Md. - A Maryland man who was shot and killed by a police officer was asleep in his bedroom when police opened fire from outside his house, an attorney for the 21-year-old mans family said Friday. The mans girlfriend was also wounded.

The Montgomery County Police Department said in a news release Friday that Duncan Socrates Lemp confronted police and was shot by one of the officers early Thursday. Rene Sandler, an attorney for Lemps relatives, said an eyewitness gave a completely contrary account of the shooting. She said police could have absolutely no justification for shooting Lemp based on what she has heard about the circumstances.

The facts as I understand them from eyewitnesses are incredibly concerning, she told The Associated Press.

The warrant that police obtained to search the Potomac home Lemp shared with his parents and 19-year-old brother doesnt mention any imminent threat to law enforcement or the public, Lemps relatives said in a statement released Friday by their lawyers. Nobody in the house that morning had a criminal record, the statement adds.

Any attempt by the police to shift responsibility onto Duncan or his family, who were sleeping when the police fired shots into their home, is not supported by the facts, the statement says.

A police department spokesman didnt immediately respond to the statements by the family or their lawyer.

The departments news release on Friday says tactical unit members were serving a high-risk search warrant around 4:30 a.m. when one of the units officers fatally shot Lemp. Police detectives recovered three rifles and two handguns from the home. Lemp was prohibited from possessing firearms, police said.

Detectives were following up on a complaint from the public that Lemp, though prohibited, was in possession of firearms, the release says without elaborating.

Sandler said the family believes police fired gunshots, not a flashbang or other projectile, from outside the home, including through Lemps bedroom window, while he and his girlfriend were sleeping. Nobody in the home heard any warnings or commands before police opened fire, she said.

There is no warrant or other justification that would ever allow for that unless there is an imminent threat, which there was not, Sandler said.

The police departments news release says the facts and circumstances of the encounter are still under investigation. Prosecutors from neighbouring Howard County will review the evidence at the conclusion of the investigation.

An established agreement between the Montgomery County States Attorneys Office and the Howard County States Attorneys Office stipulates that when an officer-involved shooting involving injury or death occurs in one county, the other countys States Attorneys Office will review the event, police said.

Lemp was Caucasian, according to Sandler. She did not know the race of the unidentified officer involved in the shooting because she said the officers were wearing masks. The officer was placed on administrative leave, a standard procedure after police shootings.

Sandler said Lemps grief-stricken family is traumatized. Their statement says they intend to hold each and every person responsible for his death.

We believe that the body camera footage and other forensic evidence from this event will support what Duncans family already knows, that he was murdered, the statement says.

Lemp worked as a software developer and was trying to raise money for a startup company, according to friends and co-workers.

He was a talented, smart guy. Super nice. Didnt deserve to get shot, said Samuel Reid, whose Canadian software company employed Lemp as an independent contractor.

Tsolmondorj Natsagdorj, 24, of Fairfax, Virginia, said he met Lemp in 2016 and bonded with him over their shared interest in cryptocurrency. They also talked about politics. He described Lemp as a libertarian who frequented the 4chan and Reddit message boards, sites popular with internet trolls.

Duncan was a young guy with a bright future as an entrepreneur, Natsagdorj said. He was working on things to change the world.

On social media accounts that friends said belonged to him, Lemps username was YungQuant. On an internet forum called My Militia, someone who identified himself as Duncan Lemp, of Potomac, and posted under the username yungquant said he was an active III%r and looking for local members & recruits. Thats an apparent reference to the Three Percenters, a wing of the militia movement. The groups logo, the Roman numeral III, has become popular with anti-government extremists, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

On his Instagram account, Lemp recently posted a photograph that depicts two people holding up rifles and included the term boogaloo, slang used by militia members and other extremists to describe a future civil war in the U.S.

Friends said they never heard Lemp espouse any anti-government rhetoric. Sandler said Lemp was not a part of any anti-government or militia-type group.

He was pro-America and supported wholeheartedly all the protections of the Constitution, she said.
Mike Francesa is a hard marker, even when it comes to President Donald Trump.

The WFAN/Radio.com host criticized Trumps response to the COVID-19 pandemic with a Thursday tweet.

Ive been a supporter of The President, Francesa wrote, but he has to stop telling us he has done a good job on the virus. He has not.

LATEST CORONAVIRUS UPDATES FROM NJ.COM

Francesa later added: If our leaders, on both sides of the aisle, cant work together during a national crisis. Then they all need to find another line of work.

Francesas comments came after he took Trump to task in an earlier tweet for his Oval Office address about the coronavirus crisis on Wednesday night. That was a disappointing address from The President on so many levels. He has to do better, Francesa wrote.

Francesa supported Trump prior to the 2016 election, but had mostly refrained from discussing him during his first few years in office. His Twitter feed has become packed with political analysis since he retired from WFAN drive time for the second time in December 2019 and shifted to his current schedule of a daily streaming show followed by a half-hour on terrestrial radio.

Francesa has commented heavily on the Democratic primary, calling the race for former Vice President Joe Biden in recent days and dismissing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ability to rally.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.
Democratic Party leaders in November appointed Patrick Joyce of Essex in Kankakee County to the seat. That decision essentially gave Joyce a four-month head start by granting him some of the advantages an incumbent has over political opponents. Joyce faces challenges from Chicago Heights City Clerk Lori Wilcox, Monica Gordon of Flossmoor and Marta Perales of Momence. Eric Wallace of Flossmoor is unopposed in the Republican primary.
On March 6, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an asset freeze and other emergency relief against Florida-based investment adviser Kinetic Investment Group, LLC and its managing member, Michael Scott Williams, in connection with an alleged fraudulent, unregistered securities offering that raised approximately $39 million from at least 30 investors located mostly in Florida and Puerto Rico.

According to the SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Kinetic Group and Williams fraudulently raised millions of dollars by making material misrepresentations to investors who they solicited to invest in Kinetic Funds I, LLC, a purported hedge fund that they managed. The defendants allegedly represented, among other things, that Kinetic Funds' largest sub-fund invested solely in U.S.-listed financial products and that at least 90% of its portfolio was hedged using listed options. The SEC alleges, however, that Williams actually invested a significant part of the sub-fund's assets in a private start-up company owned by Williams. The complaint further alleges Williams misappropriated at least $6.3 million through undisclosed loans to himself and his entities.

On March 6, 2020, U.S. District Court Judge William F. Jung granted the SEC's request for emergency relief, including an asset freeze and an order for records preservation, against Kinetic Group, Williams, and a number of companies charged by the SEC as relief defendants. The court also granted the SEC's request to appoint Mark Kornfeld as receiver over Kinetic Group and the relief defendants.

The SEC's complaint charges Kinetic Group and Williams with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and Sections 206(1), 206(2), 206(4) and Rule 206(4)-8 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ("Advisers Act"). The SEC's complaint also charges Williams, in the alternative, with aiding and abetting Kinetic Group's violations of Sections 206(1), 206(2), 206(4) and Rule 206(4)-8 of the Advisers Act. The SEC seeks injunctions, disgorgement of allegedly ill-gotten gains, with pre-judgment interest, and financial penalties against the defendants.

The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by Barbara Viniegra, John T. Houchin, and Crystal Ivory in the Miami Regional Office and supervised by Eric. R. Busto, Fernando Torres and Glenn S. Gordon. The SEC's litigation is being led by Christine Nestor and Stephanie Moot, under the supervision of Andrew O. Schiff. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation and the Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions.
(L-R) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) attends a press conference in the Rayburn Room of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 5, 2020. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images) Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) delivers a campaign update at the Hotel Vermont in Burlington, Vt., on March 11, 2020. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Pelosi Says Sanders Shouldnt Drop out of 2020 Race

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on Thursday that she doesnt want to see Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) drop out of the 2020 presidential race, despite the democratic presidential candidates recent losses to former Vice President Joe Biden.

Pelosi made the comments at the Capitol on Thursday, a day after she said she would be comfortable with Sanders as the Democratic presidential nominee ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

In case you were going to ask, no, I dont think Bernie Sanders should get out of the race. I thinkIm a grassroots person, Pelosi told reporters. I know the enthusiasm of supporters for candidates and they want to see it play out for the ideas, the causes that the candidates advances, for the opportunity for people to show their support.

The congresswoman said she was looking forward to Sundays debate, where the two Democratic candidates will face each other without a live audience amid coronavirus fears.

I congratulate both of the candidates as they go into debate on Sunday. I wish them both well, Pelosi added.

When asked on Wednesday morning if she would be comfortable with Sanders as the Democratic presidential nominee, Pelosi said, Yes.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday expressed a similar position over Sanders potentially securing nomination to face President Donald Trump in November, The Hill reported.

Look, the bottom line is very simple, Schumer said. We have a lot of strong nominees.  Im not supporting one over the other, but I think every one of them will beat President Trump.

Pelosis comments came as Biden announced he had hired Jen OMalley Dillon, a veteran of Barack Obamas and Hillary Clintons White House bids, as his Democratic presidential campaign manager. Biden hopes the campaign leadership shakeup will help close out the Democratic primary against Sanders.

Earlier this week, Sanders fell behind in the Democratic primary race against rival Biden, with losses in Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho, and the battleground state of Michigana state he won against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. Sanders won North Dakota on Tuesday.

The elections in the six states marked the first time voters weighed in since the contest narrowed to a two-person race on Super Tuesday, when Bidens campaign made a dramatic comeback after underwhelming performances in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.

Sanders didnt make a public statement after his losses when he returned home to Vermont late Tuesday, a departure from his usual practice on primary nights. The senator wrote on Twitter in the early evening expressing concerns of voter suppression.

At a time when Democrats correctly attack Republicans for voter suppression, to see voters standing in long lines for hours in Michigan and around America is an outrage, Sanders wrote.

Tuesdays results compound the lead Biden secured on Super Tuesday the week before. The candidates now head to the March 17 primary contests in the populous states of Florida, Ohio, Illinois, and Georgia. Polling averages tallied by Real Clear Politics suggest Biden is the clear favorite in Florida and Georgia.

Biden has secured 847 delegates to the national convention, compared with Sanderss 685. An additional 682 delegates are on the line on March 17. Either candidate can secure an outright victory before the convention by winning 1,911 delegates.

Sanders vowed to concede if Biden had more delegates by the time of the Democratic national convention in July. He also promised not to drop out regardless of the results on March 10.

Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
The UK Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to certain regions in Spain.

The restricted areas are Madrid, La Rioja and the municipalities of La Bastida, Vitoria and Miranda de Ebro.

"Airlines are continuing to run flights as normal to and from these areas," the Foreign Office said in a statement today.
STORY LINK Pound New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) Exchange Rate Slides as UK Coronavirus Measures Criticized

Pound Sterling New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) Exchange Rate Slumps as UK Coronavirus Cases Jump to 798

New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Rises as Markets Rebound from Yesterdays Sell-Off

Pound New Zealand Dollar Outlook: Coronavirus in Focus

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The Pound Sterling New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate slumped by around -0.7%, leaving the pairing trading at around NZ$2.0415.Sterling slumped at the end of the week as the UKs measures announced following Boris Johnsons Cobra meeting were widely criticized.The UK has now moved from the contain phase to the delay phase, although the lack of stringent measures have been criticized.The number of confirmed cases in the UK rose by 35% in a day to 798 and the death toll hit 10. Pound sentiment was left under pressure as health officials warned the actual number of those infected is likely to be between 5,000 and 10,000.Ex-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for the government to enact more stringent measures. Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Hunt said the decision not to cancel large gatherings was surprising and concerning when the UK has four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.European leaders have warned that this will get worse before it gets better and the US 30 day flight ban to Europe was a clear sign of an escalating crisis.On Friday afternoon, the New Zealand Dollar rallied against a handful of currencies including the Pound.London stocks rebound today after the recovery in oil prices and moves from central banks to limit the economic damage of coronavirus. Stocks were able to rebound after yesterday saw the worst sell-off since the 1987 Black Monday crash a day earlier.Meanwhile, an upbeat PMI reading from New Zealand provided NZD with an upswing of support.Februarys Business NZ PMI rose from an upwardly revised 49.8 to 53.2.According to BNZ senior economist Craig Ebert, this may be the calm before the storm and added:I guess a lot of people might have been expecting it to fall into clear contraction territory and basically it didn't do that.The big issue is where that index is going to be over the coming months and what it will represent and of course we're conscious of downside but for the moment it's holding up.China really woke a lot of people up when its PMI proved to be far worse than what was expected. Everyone expected it to fall, but not nearly as far as it did.On the other hand the PMI indices in Europe and America weren't showing any real degree of contraction through the course of February, which again highlights that this is a moving feast.I think we can all agree that a slowdown is upon us we're just not sure of the extent and the duration of it.Looking ahead, the spread of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be the main catalyst for movement in the Pound New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate.If the cases worldwide continue to surge, risk appetite will decline and dampen sentiment in the risk-sensitive Kiwi.Meanwhile, Sterling could receive some support on Tuesday following the release of better than expected labour market statistics.If unemployment edges lower while wage growth increases at the start of the year, the Pound (GBP) will rise against the New Zealand Dollar (NZD).

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

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I am a board-certified internal medicine physician practicing in a small outpatient clinic with a highly reputable academic organization in the greater Boston area. Regarding COVID-19, I am not panicked, but I am concerned concerned for our patients, concerned for our workforce and health care providers, concerned for our parents and loved ones.

The situation in Massachusetts and across the country is evolving rapidly in response to COVID-19. In the past several days, our local academic centers and area hospitals have enacted changes in practice and protocol that have not been witnessed in any of our careers as physicians- including bans on domestic and international employee business travel and cancellation of in-person conferences and meetings. Schools and universities have moved to virtual classes. Members of Congress are pressing leadership to take steps to protect lawmakers, even potentially recessing for a period of weeks.

We are seeing more community spread of COVID-19, and this will likely escalate in the coming weeks. There is much we do not know yet about how this virus spreads; it is possible that healthy seeming individuals or those showing very mild symptoms may have the virus and contribute to the spread. While we are infinitely thankful that the virus appears to be sparing our children, for the most part, it is possible and likely that they are functioning as vectors of the illness and further contributing to community spread. Our older, more vulnerable population is at risk as well as our health care providers and staff. Many small primary care offices across the country are not prepared to handle the very likely scenario that an infected patient presents to their clinic, meaning that they do not have N95 masks, personal protective equipment, a HEPA filter, or protocols for the use of such equipment.

In the absence of clear protocols and guidelines from the government, we as health care providers must be proactive rather than reactive in controlling the rapid spread of this virus. I am imploring medical centers and hospital systems across the country to offer virtual and telehealth options to their health care providers to increase patient access and help protect our patients and the workforce during these unusual times. Many patients in a primary care setting do not need to be physically evaluated at this time. The majority of our patients are scheduled for the following: symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections (cough, fever, sore throat), follow-up visits for chronic diseases like hypertension or diabetes, health care maintenance/preventative exams, or medication refills. At this time, the risk far exceeds the necessity to be physically evaluated.

To the patients out there, not just my patients but all patients across our nation, particularly the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions, please re-consider scheduling an in-person visit with your primary care physician. Given the current climate, I assure you most of your questions and concerns can be just as easily and much more safely addressed virtually by your provider. We, as physicians, do not want our patients coming to our clinics for non-urgent appointments where the likelihood of exposure to this virus is higher than average. These visits are potentially jeopardizing your health and the health of your health care providers who you will so desperately need to count on in the weeks and months to come.

To our administrators, most of our primary care visits can be easily converted to telephone encounters and billed for time. Patients with mild upper respiratory tract symptoms such as cough, congestion, low-grade fever do not need to come in and expose our more vulnerable population to potentially severe illness. Under the current guidelines and simply because of lack of testing kits, this population with milder symptoms will likely not be tested for coronavirus. These visits can be done virtually by telephone, and appropriate medications can be prescribed if deemed necessary, such as antibiotics or antivirals like Tamiflu. Patients with more severe symptoms such as shortness of breath or chest pain should call their primary care office for guidance-these cases will likely need to be triaged to a higher level of care. Patients who are scheduled for routine follow up visits such as diabetes and hypertension are typically our older population and are placing themselves at risk for coming into the clinic. These visits can also be converted to telephone encounters during which a detailed history and review of symptoms are elicited, medications refilled, and pertinent orders placed. And finally, those healthy patients scheduled for routine health care maintenance exams should postpone these non-urgent preventative visits until the situation is deemed safe. There is absolutely no reason to place our patients at risk.

As an internist and the mother of two small children ages 20 months and four years old who are both sick at the present time and the daughter of a 72-year-old mother who lives with us, I have a duty to protect my patients and my family who I love more than anything. As physicians, our top priority right now is preventing new cases of this disease. In addition to hygienic measures of washing hands, wiping down surfaces, avoiding shaking hands and coughing/sneezing into elbows, converting patient care to a virtual platform during these uncertain times is one critical type of social distancing we can implement as a health care system that will have a profound effect on saving the lives of our patients, health care providers, and families. As we learn more about COVID-19, converting to telemedicine will not only help prevent the spread of this disease, but will also reduce the impending massive burden on the health care system, allowing it to provide adequate care to our patients who really do need it.

Solmaz Amirnazmi is an internal medicine physician and can be reached on Facebook and Instagram.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Sardar Udham, directed by Shoojit Sircar and featuring Vicky Kaushal in the lead role, will hit the theatres on January 15, 2021. The film was earlier scheduled to release on October 2 this year. The new release date seems to have been chosen after it was announced earlier on Friday that Ranveer Singhs Jayeshbhai Jordaar and John Abrahams Satyamev Jayate will clash with the film of October 2.

The film is a biopic on Sardar Udham Singh, the revolutionary who assassinated Michael ODwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in British India in 1940, to avenge the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Sharing the update on Instagram, Vicky wrote, On March 13th 1940, #SardarUdham singlehandedly assassinated Michael O Dwyer in London to honour the lives lost at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. His story deserves justice onscreen. Keeping that in mind, we will now see you in cinemas on 15th January 2021!

He also shared a picture of himself as Sardar Udham Singh. He is seen in a sharp grey suit with a green waistcoat and a grey hat. Earlier, actor Irrfan Khan was chosen to play the lead role but had to be replaced by Vicky after he was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour and couldnt return for an action role.

In an interview to Mumbai Mirror, Shoojit said about casting Vicky, Theres a burning intensity and anger that I saw in his eyes during our first meeting itself, that convinced me he was the one right man to play Udham. He added, The film is based on Udham Singhs life, particularly one event which we had already researched. Since Vicky is from Punjab, a Sikh family, its a huge responsibility for him too.

Also read: Deepika Padukone says ex begged and pleaded to be forgiven after she caught him cheating

Vicky is elated to be a part of the film and had earlier said in a statement, Since the time I started working as an actor in the industry, there was a wish list of the directors I wanted to work with. Shoojit sir was always on top of that list. So it is like a dream come true that he is finally directing me. And, what better story than Udham Singh! Being a Punjabi, I have always heard about his stories, heard about his life as I was growing up and he has always come across as a mysterious character. The more mysterious a character, the more stimulating it becomes for an actor and for the director as well. I am so looking forward to becoming Udham Singh and translating Shoojit sirs vision. I just feel that this is one person whose life story India should know and I am really excited for this journey to start.

The project is a Rising Sun Films Production, backed by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar. The movie was earlier scheduled to release on October 2 this year.

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ORLANDO, Fla., March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- (NYSE: TUP) -- Tupperware Brands Corporation (the "Company") today announced that the Compensation Committee of the Company's Board of Directors (the "Committee") granted certain inducement equity awards to its new President and Chief Executive Officer, Miguel Fernandez, effective upon Mr. Fernandez's commencement of employment with the Company on April 6, 2020, and that the Committee also granted certain inducement equity awards to its new Executive Vice Chairman, Richard ("Rich") Goudis, effective upon Mr. Goudis' commencement of employment with the Company on March 12, 2020.

The awards were granted to induce Mr. Fernandez and Mr. Goudis to enter into employment with the Company and were granted outside of the Company's stockholder approved equity incentive plan, in reliance on the employment inducement award exception under NYSE Listing Rule 303A.08. The Company is issuing this press release pursuant to the requirements of that rule.

Mr. Fernandez's offer letter with the Company contemplates that, effective upon his commencement of employment with the Company, he will receive a grant of two hundred thousand performance share units, which vest upon the later of April 6, 2023 and the Company's common stock price exceeding a price hurdle on or before April 6, 2025, and a 2020 annual long-term equity award having a grant date value of one million five hundred thousand dollars, divided between performance share units (sixty percent), which cliff vest on April 6, 2023 subject to satisfaction of the applicable performance goals, and restricted stock units (forty percent), which vest in three equal annual installments beginning on April 6, 2021. Mr. Goudis received a grant of eight hundred thousand performance share units, which vest upon the later of March 12, 2023 and the Company's common stock price exceeding escalating price hurdles on or before March 12, 2025, and a stock option covering one million shares with an exercise price equal to one hundred fifteen percent of the Company's common stock closing price on the grant date, which vests on March 12, 2023. In each case, the inducement awards are subject to accelerated vesting upon the occurrence of certain events.

Tupperware Brands Corporation, through an independent sales force of 2.9 million, is a global manufacturer and marketer of innovative, premium products across multiple brands utilizing social selling. Product brands and categories include design-centric preparation, storage and serving solutions for the kitchen and home through the Tupperware brand and beauty and personal care products through the Avroy Shlain, Fuller Cosmetics, NaturCare, Nutrimetics, and Nuvo brands.

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CHARLEVOIX, MI  A Honduran man has been sentenced to prison for attempting to make a terrorist threat that included threatening to cut a corrections officer into many little pieces and referring to him as dead man walking while he was in custody.

Oscar Guillen-Torres, 33, of Charlevoix, was sentenced Friday morning to 38 to 60 months in prison for the threats, according to a news release from Charlevoix County Prosecutor Allen Tengenhof. He was also sentenced to 23 to 60 months for carrying a concealed weapon and 148 days for resisting and obstructing a police officer. All three sentences were handed down by in Charlevoix County Circuit Court Judge Roy C. Hayes III were at the high end of sentencing guidelines. The sentences will be served at the same time.

Guillen-Torres has no legal status in the United States and will likely be subject to a deportation hearing, the release said. He is from Honduras and was living in Charlevoix.

Guillen-Torres was stopped by police on Oct. 17, 2019 for running a stop sign in East Jordan, the release said. He didnt have a valid drivers license and there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Guillen-Torres resisted arrest. Once in custody, searches of his person and vehicle led to the seizure of four knives, including one with a blade longer than three inches concealed in his boot.

The terrorism charge was related to continued threats Guillen-Torres made to corrections officers at the Charlevoix County Jail, beginning on Oct. 18.

Guillen-Torres told an officer that he would regret the day he was born and that the officers actions toward Guillen-Torres would cost him a hand, a leg and his eyes just for fun. He also told the officer that I swearI will cut you into so many little pieces and that his family would find all his remains in the garbage. The defendant also asked other officers for personal information on that corrections officer and told them it would go easier on them if they helped him. Guillen-Torres referred to the corrections officer as dead man walking.

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Willie Mullins waited a long time to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup but, having finally got his hands on the prize he craved most last year, he was again the toast of Prestbury Park today after 100-30 favourite Al Boum Photo provided another picture-perfect moment.

In victory, Al Boum Photo became the first horse since the great Best Mate to retain the Festivals showpiece and gave Midleton jockey Paul Townend a fifth win of the week, a success that saw him crowned the weeks leading jockey at the expense of Meaths Barry Geraghty, who also had five winners, but lost out on placed finishes.

It also completed a 2196-1 four-timer for Carlow trainer Mullins, who was crowned the weeks leading trainer for a seventh time having helped Ireland to a 17-10 win over Britain in the Prestbury Cup.

A mammoth achievement was all the more remarkable for the fact that Mullins had to wait until the 14th race of the 2020 Festival to get off the mark.

I was expecting a lot more from the first two days and it's tough, Mullins admitted. People expect us to have winners. We don't expect to have winners but we hope to have winners.

"Its a big story when we don't have winners but you have to earn them. We just didn't have the luck on Tuesday. I self-medicated a lot that night!

Come the Gold Cup, he was far happier, confident the light campaign he had opted for with Al Boum Photo would pay off.

I thought he had a great chance, he said. Last year I thought it was a tough race but this time I thought it was winnable with a clear round and he won it. I suppose the light campaign paid off.

For Townend, victory was equally as sweet.

I thought Id never get a feeling like last year again but this year was right up with it, its the weirdest feeling in the world, the best feeling in the world, he said.

This is huge, this is the main stage. Before this I was having a brilliant day, but this is the icing on the cake as the Gold Cup is the Gold Cup.

There was more than a hint of good fortune about Mullins first win as Burning Victory cashed in on the last-flight fall of 5-2 favourite Goshen to win the JCB Triumph Hurdle.

In truth, Mullins 69th Festival win was almost certainly his most fortuitous as Goshen was miles clear when he clipped the top of the final obstacle to unseat jockey Jamie Moore.

I feel like a bit of an imposter in here (the winners enclosure), Mullins admitted. These things happen, unfortunately.

There was nothing lucky about Mullins next victory as Saint Roi powered clear to justify 11-2 favouritism in the Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle.

It was yet another handicap success for the green and gold silks of JP McManus, who ended the week as the leading owner with seven winners.

"I feel like a bit of an imposter in here. I'm very sorry for Gary and Jamie Moore."



Willie Mullins is a gentleman after his Burning Victory is a fortunate JCB Triumph Hurdle winner over luckless last-flight faller Goshen #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/uywemCBXIs  Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 13, 2020

It also meant that jockey Geraghty ended the week with five winners from 11 rides, not bad for a 40-year-old.

Victory number three came in the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle when 5-1 shot Monkfish provided Townend with the second leg of his final-day treble.

Mullins domination finally ended in the St James's Place Foxhunter Chase as 11-4 favourite Billaway ultimately had no answer for 66-1 outsider It Came To Pass, the biggest priced winner of the week, who was steered to victory by Maxine OSullivan, daughter of Cork trainer Eugene.

All the big guns were queuing up behind but Maxine knew what she had, she rode him accordingly and I'm very proud of her, the trainer said.

Meath trainer Gordon Elliott saddled his seventh winner of the week when Chosen Mate, ridden by Youghal jockey Davy Russell landed the spoils in the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase.

Like Mullins, Elliott has seven seconds to go with his seven winners but he lost out to his great rival as todays man of the moment had more thirds through the week.

There was just no beating Mullins today. Or Townend. Or Al Boum Photo.
Chandigarh, March 13 : The movement of people and commodities from Pakistan at the joint check post (JCP) at Attari near Amritsar in Punjab was suspended indefinitely on Friday as a precautionary measure against coronavirus, officials said.

Also, commodities arriving from Afghanistan via Pakistan would also not be allowed to enter India through this Attari-Wagha JCP, around 30 km from Amritsar, a Customs official told IANS.

Travel by Indian devotees from Dera Baba Nanak town through the Kartarpur Sahib corridor to visit Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Shakargarh tehsil in Narowal district of Pakistan is also likely to be suspended soon, it was learnt.

The 4.1 km corridor links Dera Baba Nanak town in Gurdaspur district with Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara.

The trade with Pakistan across the Attari-Wagha border has already been low after the levy of 200 per cent trade tariff on goods by India after the Pulwama attack.

Earlier, the Border Security Force had suspended the Retreat ceremony conducted in the evening hours at the JCP.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
MIDLAND, VA / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2020 / Smith-Midland Corporation (SMID) production update.

A recent contract signing for an $8.28M total Army Corp of Engineers architectural design-assist project on an undisclosed Military base in Maryland brings Smith-Midland's current production backlog total to $30.9M. The project to be delivered in 2021 with production starting in September 2020, is just one of several recently signed, including: a $2.2M Lagging panel project in Northern Virginia; a $3.22M garage at Norfolk International Airport; and several smaller projects across all three production facilities.

Ashley Smith, CEO stated, "This is another in a long line of projects with a long-term customer who values our quality, attention to detail and innovation as a construction partner."

About Smith-Midland Corporation

Smith-Midland Corporation is a publicly traded company (SMID). Smith-Midland develops, manufactures, and sells a broad array of precast concrete products for use primarily in the construction, transportation, and utilities industries. Smith-Midland Corporation has three manufacturing facilities located in Midland, VA, Reidsville, NC, and Columbia, SC, and a J-J Hooks Safety Barrier rental firm, Concrete Safety Systems. Easi-Set Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Smith-Midland Corporation, licenses the production and sale of Easi-Set products, including J-J Hooks and SoftSound, and provides diversification opportunities to the precast industry worldwide. For more information, please call (540) 439-3266 or visit www.smithmidland.com.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results may differ significantly from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors which might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, product demand, the impact of competitive products and pricing, capacity and supply constraints or difficulties, general business and economic conditions, the effect of the Company's accounting policies and other risks detailed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Story continues

CONTACT:

Media Inquiries: media@smithmidland.com

Sales Inquiries: (540) 439-3266, info@smithmidland.com

SOURCE: Smith-Midland Corporation





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/580201/Smith-Midland-Projects-309M-Backlog-with-Multiple-Recent-Contracts




B ritish Airways CEO Alex Cruz has reportedly warned staff of job cuts and axed flights amid the coronavirus outbreak.

CEO Alex Cruz sent a video message to all staff on Friday entitled "the survival of British Airways", Sky reports.

The message told staff that the virus is "a crisis of global proportions like no other we have known", worse than 9/11 or SARS.

He added: "To be frank, given the changing circumstances, we can no longer sustain our current level of employment and jobs will be lost - perhaps for a short period, perhaps longer term."

Mr Cruz said that the airline will be "suspending routes and will be parking aircraft in a way that we have never had to before."

And he warned that airlines with a weak balance sheet or that have heavy debts face "a dire future".

Airlines face an uncertain future amid the global spread of coronavirus.

BA has cancelled flights to China, Italy and Spain in an attempt to stop the virus' progression around the world, along with Ryanair and easyJet.

British airline Flybe went into administration in early March after a sharp drop in bookings.

But the share price of IAG, BA's parent company, rose five per cent on the news that the airline would be cutting costs.
The Watergate Theatre, Watershed Leisure Centre, and other Kilkenny institutions are now closed as part of measures to tackle Covid-19. A number of religious gatherings, including Masses, are being cancelled.

Today, Kilkenny County Council issued a statement saying that a number of practical measures have already been activated such as provision of information to staff, public notices and provision of hand sanitisers in prominent locations within offices.

With effect from today (Friday, March 13), the following additional measures are being put in place and will remain in place until March 29:

Public facilities/amenities such as all Libraries, Medieval Mile Museum, Watershed Leisure Centre, and Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny City are closed.

All Council run Festivals or events are cancelled.

The Councils Covid-19 Response Team is also continuing to meet on a daily basis, liaising with

Public Health and other agencies and reviewing the Councils Business Continuity Plan in relation to identifying the critical risk areas in terms of service provision and mitigation of impacts on the public and communities we serve.

"Kilkenny County Council has a very loyal and dedicated staff who want to continue to serve the people of Kilkenny by maintaining public services through this crisis. The Councils public offices at Kilkenny City, Castlecomer, Thomastown, Callan and Ferrybank will continue to remain open but measures will be put in place to look at ways that we can implement the public health advice on social distancing and limiting visitors to our offices as much as possible in the interest of staff welfare.

Much of the Councils business can be carried out by phone, email or online and members of the public are encouraged to avail of these opportunities where at all possible. The following are the main contact numbers for the Council and further details can be accessed on our website at www.kilkennycoco.ie."

Contact Numbers for queries: 056 779 4000  County Hall

056 779 4900  Housing Section and 056 779 4229  Receipts Office.

"Kilkenny County Councils response will be informed at all times by advice from the HSE and Public Health Authorities. As a general rule, social distancing is the only way to reduce the transmission rate so outside of work people should seek to reduce social interactions as much as possible.

The council seeks public cooperation to stop the spread of COVID-19 and to take the necessary precautions during this difficult time. Simple measures like, washing your hands frequently for 20 seconds or more, avoiding close contact with people who are ill and cleaning down surfaces can make a huge difference.

"Further updates and advice will issue throughout the coming days via local and national media and on the Councils website, facebook and twitter.

Meanwhile, holy water local councillor Michael Doyle reports:

"To all concerned: Saturday evening and Sunday Masses in The Rower, Inistioge and Clodiagh are cancelled until further notice. This is in light of the guidelines from the Government , HSE and Irish Bishops Conference and also includes Masses cancelled on St Patrick's Day. Bishop Farrell will celebrate Mass live on KCLR on Sunday morning at 9.30AM allowing us to join in prayer with him. Your understanding is very much appreciated.
Whenever possible, courts should turn to video conferencing, just as many colleges and universities now are doing for classes. In Australia, the Supreme Court of New South Wales on Thursday announced it would send lawyers and clients to online courts, with video and teleconferencing, to minimize the need for parties to come to the court. An emergency law proposed in Britain includes a provision for virtual courts for criminal and civil cases. A few years ago, I watched judges in Newark seamlessly conduct bail hearings by video conference. The technology is there. Courts should also explore increasing access for people to pay fines for traffic offenses or violations of municipal ordinances by mail or online. They should not simply close, stranding people in jail.

Instead, the pandemic is an opportunity to rethink how the system treats low-level offenses, which account for more than 60 percent of arrests nationally. Police officers often have the discretion to issue tickets and summonses for many misdemeanors, and thats what they should do, rather than booking people on such charges. That would reduce the potential of spreading the virus in police stations and to the families and friends of officers. Judges and prosecutors should suspend bail for defendants who are arraigned (rather than ticketed) for nonviolent crimes.

Jails and prisons, with crowded and sometimes dirty conditions, are known vessels of infection. The extra risk outweighs any benefit from setting bail for defendants accused of nonviolent crimes who cant post it. Judges can also delay court appearances for misdemeanor defendants.

Its nuts to force people to choose between their health and an added fine or bench warrant, as Radley Balko, an opinion writer for The Washington Post, pointed out this week, especially for alleged offenses that, by definition, arent comparatively serious. He added that hes not advocating lawlessness: Make rolling decisions as public health picture evolves, so public knows that any misdemeanors committed going forward could still be punished.

It also makes sense to stop arresting and incarcerating people for technical  that is, noncriminal  violations of parole and probation. About 4.5 million people live under court supervision around the country. In 2017, they made up 25 percent of new admissions to state prisons, not because they committed new crimes, but for infractions like missed curfew or unauthorized travel. This practice often makes little sense in terms of public safety; it is particularly hard to justify now.

There are limits to what justice officials should do in response to the pandemic. They should not release people accused of violent acts who are likely to pose a threat, a group that can include those charged with misdemeanors relating to domestic violence. They should reduce the call for jury service but not violate a defendants right to a speedy trial with lengthy postponements for those who have already been waiting for long periods in jail.

But right now, local and federal justice systems arent at risk of doing too much too soon. Theyre at risk of doing too little, too late, and missing a chance to show that the government is working to protect everyone.

Emily Bazelon is the author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution. and End Mass Incarceration.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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If you or your employees are working from home while our governments lurch awkwardly through the current crisis, then there are several security considerations that must be explored.

Your enterprise outside the wall

Enterprises must consider the consequences of working from home in terms of systems access, access to internal IT infrastructure, bandwidth costs and data repatriation.

What this means, basically, is that when your worker accesses your data and/or databases remotely, then the risk to that data grows.

While at normal times the risk is only between the server, internal network and end user machine, external working adds public internet, local networks and consumer-grade security systems to the risk mix.

Here are some of the approaches to take to minimize these risks.

1. Provide employees with basic security knowledge

People working from home must be provided with basic security advice: to beware of phishing emails, to avoid use of public Wi-Fi, to ensure home Wi-Fi routers are sufficiently secured and to verify the security of the devices that they use to get work done.

It is likely that attempts to subvert security using phishing attacks will increase at this time.

Employees should be particularly reminded to avoid clicking links in emails from people they do not know, and installation of third-party apps should be confined to bona fide app stores, even on personal devices.

Your people need to be in possession of basic security advice, and it is also important that your company has an emergency response team in place. People need to know who to contact in the event they detect a security anomaly.

2. Provide your people with VPN access

One way to secure data as it moves between your core systems and externally based employees is to deploy a VPN. These services provide an additional layer of security, which (in simplified terms) provides the following:

Hiding the user's IP address

Encrypting data transfers in transit

Masking the user's location

Most larger organizations already have a VPN service in place and should check they have sufficient seats to provide this protection across their employee base. Smaller enterprises may need to appoint a VPN provider.

There are lots of VPN service providers, but not all of them can be trusted. (Especially avoid the free services.) ExpressVPN and NordVPN appear to be good choices, but it is in your best interest to do your own due diligence before selecting a provider for your company.

Once chosen, you should ensure that all remote employees are provided with access to the service, and that they use it for all business-related activity.

3. Provision security protection

Make sure up-to-date security protection is installed and active on any devices that will be used for work. That means virus checkers, firewalls, device encryption should all be in palace. I have two articles which should help with some of this:

4. Run a password audit

Your company needs to audit employee passcodes.

That doesnt mean requesting peoples personal details, but does mean passcodes used to access any enterprise services are reset and redefined in line with stringent security policy.

Alphanumeric codes, use of two-factor authentication should become mandatory, and you should ask your people to apply the toughest possible protection across all their devices. You should also ensure all your business-critical passwords are securely stored in the event anything happens to key personnel. An enterprise-focused password manager such as LastPass may help here.

5. Ensure that software is updated

Encourage your teams to upgrade their software to the latest version supported under the company's security policy. (Some enterprises lag the release schedule for Apple software, though most dont.) Activate automatic updating on all your devices.

6. Encourage the use of (secure, approved) cloud services

One way to protect your employee end points is to ensure your confidential information is not stored locally.

Content storage should be cloud-based where possible, and employees should be encouraged to use cloud-based apps (such as Office 365). Its also important that any third-party cloud storage services used are verified for use by your security teams.

NB: This is particularly important if your business requires use of critical personal data.

7. Reset default Wi-Fi router passwords

Not every employee will have reset the default password for their Wi-Fi router.

If you have an IT support team, then providing telephone guidance to secure home routers should become a priority. You do not want your information being subjected to man in the middle, data sniffing or any other form of attack.

You may also need to make arrangements to pay for any excess bandwidth used, as not every broadband connection is equal. Some providers (most recently, AT&T) are making positive sounds around extending available data packages in the current crisis. Employees should be told to avoid public Wi-Fi, though doing so is made a little more secure if used with a VPN.

8. Mandatory backups

It will be useful to ensure that online backup services are used, if available.

Otherwise, employees should be encouraged to use external drives to back up computers. If you use a mobile device mananagement (MDM) or enterprise mobility management (EMM) service, then it is possible youll be able to initiate automated backups via your systems management console.

(NB: Im a little concerned about backup to local storage in employee homes, as this simply becomes another potential security problem.)

9. Avoid the use of USB sticks

Dont use USB sticks at all if you can avoid it. There have been too many examples of such devices being infested with malware. The Department of Homeland Security has a page about this.

10. Use an MDM/EMM solution

It may make sense to deploy an MDM or EMM system at this time.

This will make it much easier to provision and manage your fleet of devices while also separating corporate from personal data. It also ensures device and Mac security can be better controlled.

This is a whole topic in itself, but the experts at companies such as Jamf, Addigy or even your Apple business advisor should be able to provide useful advice.

11. Develop contingency plans now

Triage your teams. Ensure that management responsibilities are shared between teams and ensure you put contingency plans in place now in case key personnel get sick. Tech support, password and security management, essential codes and failsafe roles should all be assigned and duplicated.

12. Foster community and care for employees



The reason many people are working from home is because there is a health pandemic. The grim truth is that your employees may get sick, or worse, during this crisis.

With this in mind, community chat, including group video chat using tools such as FaceTime or Zoom, will become increasingly important to preserving mental health, particularly for anyone enduring quarantine.

Encourage your people to talk with each other, run group competitions to nurture online interaction, and identify local mental health and grief counsellors who may help if the crisis becomes more extreme.

I have heard of one group of people working remotely that are using a home exercise app and Group FaceTime to exercise together during the day, which they think helps boost team feeling even while working remotely.

The bottom line is that your people are likely to be under a great deal of personal stress, so it makes sense to raise each other up through this journey.

Also read:

Good luck, everyone.

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
(Natural News) Researchers from China report that they have successfully treatment coronavirus patients with doses of vitamin C. In a statement, the medical team from Xian Jiatong University described how coronavirus (COVID-19) patients who were suffering from severe coronary pneumonia  a complication of the virus  recovered after being given extremely high doses of vitamin C.

The National Institute of Health recommends a daily intake of 90 mg and 75 mg of vitamin C for adult men and women, respectively. The team from Xian Jiaotong University, on the other hand, recommends 50 to 100 mg of vitamin C per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg) per day, injected intravenously, and up to 200 mg/kg per day for severe and critically ill patients.

The team recommends the administration of vitamin C to critically ill patients and those with severe neonatal pneumonia, or if the coronavirus patient is an infant who has developed a lung infection. Vitamin C should be given as soon as possible after the COVID-19 patient is admitted to the hospital. They also mentioned how early applications of vitamin C could have a strong antioxidant effect on the virus, potentially reducing inflammatory responses and improving endothelial function. They believe that numerous studies showed how much vitamin C is needed to have a positive effect on patients. (Related: ICU no longer  a daily dose of vitamin C proven to reduce ICU times.)

They also noted how their past experience with other patients shows that high doses of vitamin C can not only improve antiviral levels in critical patients but also possibly prevent and treat acute respiratory distress and acute lung injury.

Furthermore, the Shanghai Medical Association put out a statement expressing their findings on how to treat COVID-19. With the help of over 30 experts on the treatment of pneumonia caused by coronavirus and with data gathered from over 300 patients, they recommend the administration of high doses of vitamin C even for light and ordinary COVID-19 patients, or those who are asymptomatic or only experience mild symptoms.

Retailers report surge in demand for vitamin C

It seems that Chinese people understand how important vitamin C is for their health because Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com and other retailers of supplements are reporting a surge in demand for health-supporting products, including vitamin C effervescent tablets.

Two traditional Chinese medicines, ban lan gen (Isatis tinctoria) and xiao chai hu tang (a formula made from several herbs), are also seeing a big upswing in demand. These supplements are reportedly useful for helping to prevent fever, cold and other respiratory concerns.

JD.com reports that the coronavirus outbreak is causing a surge in the consumption of health supplements. They believe their higher sales can be attributed to consumers who prefer to order supplements online instead of walking to supermarkets and pharmacies to get their vitamins, where they can risk exposure to the virus.

Given the spike in sales for products like vitamin C that support the immune system, suppliers are also working around the clock to be able to meet demand. DSM, a vitamin C manufacturer with a production facility in Jiangshan in eastern China, is one such supplier.

Jiang Weiming, president and group vice president of DSM China, said in an interview, Demand has been robust as vitamin C plays an important role as an immune system booster. A strong immune system is not only an important defense line to prevent infection, but also the key to controlling the diseases development and restoring health after infection.

While many manufacturing companies shut down their operations in mainland China during the extended Lunar New Year holiday, DSM China took advantage of the coronavirus outbreak by remaining operational during this period. Their Jiangshan facility continued producing approximately 25 kilotons of vitamin C per day, both of which are for global export, as well as for sale in the domestic supplement market.

Sources include:

GreenMedInfo.com

2Yuan.XJTU.edu.cn

ODS.OD.NIH.gov

NutraIngredients-Asia.com
The European commission, the EU's executive arm, warned Friday that growth in Europe would fall into negative territory due to the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak.

An EU official told a briefing that it "is very likely that growth for the euro area and for the EU as a whole will fall below zero this year."



The final reading could "potentially even be considerably below zero," the official added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced he tested negative for the COVID-19 coronavirus on Friday following reports that claimed he had tested positive after his spokesman was confirmed to have contracted the virus.

On his Twitter account, Bolsonaro made the confirmation. His son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, also wrote that the result for [Bolsonaro] for coronavirus  was NEGATIVE.

A report from a Brazilian newspaper made the claim that he tested positive for COVID-19, which was disputed by the younger Bolsonaro.

Too much lies and little information, he wrote on Twitter on Friday morning. Coronavirus exam done with the team that were with JB in USA have not yet been completed There are always those people who tell lies in the media and if the story is confirmed they say I told you! if not will be just 1 more fake news.

His press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive for the virus earlier this week. They had dinner with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend, and photos showed the Brazilian president meeting with Trump during their dinner. He also shook hands with him afterward.

Wajngarten, meanwhile, had posted a photo standing near the president while holding and wearing Make Brazil Great Again hats.

It came after Brazils government said he was being tested and monitored for the virus, which emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year before spreading across its borders to more than 100 other countries.

The Trump administration also confirmed that Trump was with Bolsonaro and Wajngarten.

The White House is aware of public reports that a member of the Brazilian delegations visit to Mar-a-Lago last weekend tested positive for COVID-19; confirmatory testing is pending, Grisham said in a statement. Exposures from the case are being assessed, which will dictate next steps. Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time.

As stated before, the White House Medical Unit and the United States Secret Service has been working closely with various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First & Second Families, and all White House staff healthy, she added. To reiterate CDC guidelines, there is currently no indication to test patients without symptoms, and only people with prolonged close exposure to confirmed positive cases should self-quarantine.

Trump said this week that he was told about Wajngarten contracting the virus.

We had dinner together in Florida, at Mar-a-Lago, with the entire delegation, Trump told McClatchy. I dont know if the press aide was there, if he was there, he was there. But we did nothing very unusual.

From The Epoch Times
Collective investor wealth in BSE-listed companies grew over Rs 3.55 lakh crore on Friday as benchmarks recovered after crashing over 10 percent during the day

New Delhi: Collective investor wealth in BSE-listed companies grew over Rs 3.55 lakh crore on Friday as benchmarks recovered after crashing over 10 percent during the day.

Recovering over 5,380 points from its intra-day low of 29,388.97, the BSE Sensex ended 1,325.34 points or 4.04 percent higher at 34,103.48.

Trading was halted for 45 minutes in early session after the index hit its lower circuit limit.

The mayhem on Dalal Street had eroded investor wealth worth Rs 12,92,479.88 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,12,78,172.75 crore on the BSE in early trade.

However, as stocks pared the losses, investor wealth grew by Rs 3,55,590.19 crore, taking the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies to Rs 1,29,26,242.82 crore at the end of the session.

The m-cap of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 1,25,70,652.63 crore on Thursday.

On the BSE, as many as 1,193 scrips declined, while 1,191 advanced and 164 remained unchanged.

Volatility heightened in global markets as benchmarks world over went into panic mode on fears of the coronavirus pandemic triggering a recession.

Domestic investors, however, began bargain hunting at beaten-down valuations, leading benchmarks in the positive territory.

Concerns over the economic impact of Covid-19 is expected to keep markets highly volatile in the near term, analysts said.

More than 1,30,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.

The number of coronavirus patients in India has risen to 75, as per the health ministry.
Known for his sarcastic quips when required to report on the love lives of the Royal Family, waggish BBC news anchor Simon McCoy has a cheerful personal bulletin of his own.

McCoy has found love with Eighties pin-up Emma Samms  and friends say he will soon become her fourth husband.

'We are very happy together,' he tells me.

The couple are already living together at the actress's home in the Cotswolds and an engagement is on the cards.

McCoy has found love with Eighties pin-up Emma Samms (pictured together) and friends say he will soon become her fourth husband

'They will get married as soon as his divorce is through,' claims one of his BBC colleagues.

Last year, I disclosed that McCoy, 58, had separated from his wife, the television presenter Victoria Graham, 45. 'It is very sad,' he told me at the time.

Emma, 59, was one of the biggest television stars of the Eighties, playing fiery heiress Fallon Carrington Colby in Dynasty after making her name in General Hospital.

Emma, 59, was one of the biggest television stars of the Eighties, playing fiery heiress Fallon Carrington Colby in Dynasty after making her name in General Hospital

Last year, I disclosed that McCoy, 58, had separated from his wife, the television presenter Victoria Graham, 45 (left). 'It is very sad,' he told me at the time

The London-born actress twice declined offers to appear in Playboy. She divorced her third husband, the psychiatrist John Holloway, in 2003. Her previous husbands, Bansi Nagji and Tim Dillon, were both lawyers. She was previously engaged to the late American composer Marvin Hamlisch.

Former royal reporter McCoy has a grown-up son from his first marriage, while Emma has two children with Holloway.

After becoming estranged from McCoy, his wife embarked on a relationship with her BBC colleague Jon Gripton, who was her editor at the Spotlight news programme for South-West England, where she is a presenter.

Former weather girl Victoria told me: 'It's been an incredibly sad time. After years of living apart, failed fertility treatment and the death of my father, life changes.' She added: 'Every time I see Simon on the TV I feel tremendously proud  his career goes from strength to strength.

'We remain very good friends and still have two beautiful border terriers to love between us.'

The smart set's talking about... Deliciously Ella's deli disaster

She made her name as the popular food blogger 'Deliciously Ella', but Ella Mills's food business has left a sour taste.

The daughter of former Labour minister Shaun Woodward and supermarket heiress Camilla Sainsbury has shut up shop at her Mayfair delicatessen, Deliciously Ella, blaming the coronavirus crisis.

'We're really sad to be temporarily closing our deli,' says Ella, who declines to say if staff will still be paid.

She made her name as the popular food blogger 'Deliciously Ella', but Ella Mills's food business has left a sour taste

'It's been a very tough week, and making decisions like this is the worst part of running a business.'

Ella established the deli with her husband, Matthew Mills, son of the late Cabinet minister Dame Tessa Jowell in 2016.

Its menu includes such trendy delicacies as avocado toast at 6.50, acai bowl for 6.95 and cauliflower dahl at 9.50.

She adds: 'We've seen a substantial drop in trade in a very short period of time due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, and it's impossible for us to keep operating in this climate.'

Astaire's dancing for joy

He used to be London's best-connected bachelor but publicist and novelist Simon Astaire is to become a father again  at the age of 58.

Simon, whose former girlfriends include Ulrika Jonsson, had a son with model Saffron Aldridge in 1993. He quietly married a legend of the high-end art world, Pilar Ordovas, in 2018, and she's expecting their first child in June.

'Another older dad,' he jokes. 'To become a parent is always a miracle, but at my age, and a first child for my wife, truly feels like a wonderful gift.'

Gallery owner Pilar, 46, bought Lucian Freud's painting Benefits Supervisor Sleeping for a record-breaking 21 million on behalf of an anonymous buyer.

When she wed Astaire, whose clients include Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, in New York, Sting was best man.

Nun's the word for Bond girl Gemma

Screen star Gemma Arterton was delighted to don a nun's wimple for the forthcoming BBC1 production of Black Narcissus.

She has the leading role of Sister Clodagh, who was played by Deborah Kerr in the classic 1947 big-screen version of the psychological drama.

'I play a nun and loved it because I didn't have to worry about my hair,' Gemma tells me at a West End party. 'It was very freeing, actually. She's quite a strict nun and isn't very charming.'

Screen star Gemma Arterton was delighted to don a nun's wimple for the forthcoming BBC1 production of Black Narcissus

The role even seems to have led to something of a religious conversion for Gemma, 34, a welder's daughter from Gravesend, Kent. She says: 'I ended up respecting the faith, because we really don't have much faith these days.'

Pink Floyd star Nick Mason has discovered 'the most expensive therapy on the planet'  flying aeroplanes. 'I learned to fly because I was frightened of flying,' the drummer says.

'A friend of mine who's a pilot said: 'You need to learn to fly yourself.' My wife does it for fun, and I do it for therapy.' Set the controls for the heart of the sun . . .

(Very) modern manners

He made his name in Men Behaving Badly, so perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised that Neil Morrissey has been banned from social media by his lawyer girlfriend Emma Killick  because she fears he'd behave badly.

He tells me: 'My missus says, 'You will get in a spat  if someone says something horrible to you, you're going to do a 12-page reply'.

'I just keep away from it really, and I don't read anyone else's either.'

Morrissey, 57, who stars in hit ITV medical drama Good Karma Hospital, which returns tomorrow, fears he'd soon become addicted. 'Once I see the usefulness of it, I'll probably be doing it all the time.'

The Duchess of Sussex's visit to this country last week was merely a curtain call, claims Princess Diana's wedding dress designer David Emanuel.

'We've lost her,' he tells me at a West End show. He jokes that Meghan will lose her regal style in the move across the Atlantic and she'll end up shopping at a budget retailer. 'Meghan's style is interesting, simple and understated, but we've now lost her to Canadian fashion, so there's no hope. She'll be shopping at Target now.' Miaow!

The Duchess of Sussex's visit to this country last week was merely a curtain call, claims Princess Diana's wedding dress designer David Emanuel

Samira Ahmed, who recently won her 700,000 equal pay case against the BBC, might be willing to jump ship after 30 years.

'I don't think anyone would ever say, 'I wouldn't consider an offer from anybody',' she tells me at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, where she picked up the Audio prize.

'Let people ask, and we'll take it from there.'

Could her battle with her employer become a Hollywood movie?

She says: 'I'd like Meghan Markle to play me in the film.'

Widow's tribute to baddie Rickman

Harry Potter star Alan Rickman is much missed, and now his widow is planning to celebrate his life on screen with a new book.

'It's been four years since his death, so it's taken a while to figure out what his legacy should be,' Rima Horton tells me at the first night of On Blueberry Hill at Trafalgar Studios in the West End. 'There'll be a book and a film to do with Alan's life. In the meantime, we're planning on getting his archives placed somewhere that people can have access to what he thought or did. Every film script Alan ever worked on, he annotated with thoughts on how to play that character.'

Rickman  Professor Severus Snape in the Potter films  was a memorable baddie in Hollywood blockbusters such as Die Hard and Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.

Some rare good news for Prince Andrew: I hear he's in line for a promotion.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to be removed from the 'Future Engagements' section of the royal website at the end of this month, when they officially give up duties, and this means their Uncle Andrew is going up in the world.

He would move from ninth to seventh on the site's list of royals, even though he stepped back from official duties last November. Buckingham Palace made clear at the time that this was temporary, so Andrew did not lose his ranking.

One of the Duke of York's friends tells me: 'Andrew very much hopes to make a comeback when the Jeffrey Epstein scandal has blown over.' Time will tell.

Some rare good news for Prince Andrew: I hear he's in line for a promotion

Kirstie blasts Harry and Meghan pals' 'fake news'

Prince Harry and Meghan like to surround themselves with sycophants, but some people are prepared to speak their minds.

TV's Kirstie Allsopp has criticised the couple for allowing friends to suggest they left ten-month-old Archie in Canada last week as a precaution against coronavirus. Medical experts say children are at much lower risk than the elderly.

'[It's] irresponsible for those with as much access to the latest data as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,' Kirstie commented online. 'Jet lag is a nightmare with small kids, and who wants to disrupt their routine. But using coronavirus? Not cool.'

TV's Kirstie Allsopp has criticised the couple for allowing friends to suggest they left ten-month-old Archie in Canada last week as a precaution against coronavirus

Kirstie (right) tells me: 'One should be very careful with one's language when it comes to coronavirus and children. The last thing we want is for NHS 111 to be overloaded by the worried well.

'If any of us were in a situation where we have a vulnerable family member who isn't able to get to the right healthcare because misinformation was allowed to be spread, we'd never forgive ourselves.'

Dead Ringers' Jan reveals heartbreak

When TV impressionist Jan Ravens's husband, music mogul Max Hole, came down with a brain bug, she devotedly helped nurse him back to good health.

Now, she has revealed that his illness spelt doom for their 20-year marriage. 'My husband got very ill with encephalitis and lost his memory,' says Jan, who is best known for BBC show Dead Ringers.

'After two years of rehab, he admitted that he didn't know me. We'd been a golden couple, and I thought our marriage would last for ever.'

Max is said to have made a full recovery. Former Strictly contestant Jan, right, who has one son with Max, is currently starring in Alan Bennett's Talking Heads at the Watford Palace Theatre.
Charges have been upgraded against a Birmingham man charged in the weekend death of his girlfriends 1-year-old son.

Christopher Eugene Knight, 35, is now charged with capital murder in the slaying of toddler Jayden McGee. He was initially charged with aggravated child abuse and has been in the Jefferson County Jail since Tuesday.

Jayden, who just turned 1 on Feb. 28, was rushed to Childrens of Alabama Saturday after he was unresponsive and having trouble breathing. Doctors there, as well as a subsequent autopsy, found severe head injured. The boy remained on life support until Tuesday when the support was removed. He was pronounced dead a short time later.

Jaydens mother, 23-year-old Natasha McGee, was at work when Knight  her boyfriend of about two months  called her to say that Jayden was having trouble breathing, McGee told AL.com in an interview. She said he refused to call 911 and told her to come home, which she did.

It was about 7:30 a.m. and McGee left her job at UAB and rushed to the home at 1100 Huffman Road. When I saw my son, I knew something was wrong. I could tell by the way he was acting.

McGee grabbed Jayden and put him in the car to take him to the hospital, but realized she needed to call paramedics instead. He was alive, but he wasnt saying anything, she said. He was fighting to breathe. I knew he was still alive, but he wasnt alert.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service took the boy to Childrens of Alabama. Once at the hospital, doctors told McGee that Jayden had suffered a fractured skull and had a blood clot. He immediately was taken into surgery. They took a piece of his skull so his brain would have room to swell, she said.

Doctors told her the outlook was grim and brain activity tests confirmed the prognosis. They said the damage was done before they did surgery. I knew my baby was gone right then and there, she said. But they kept doing tests and I let them keep trying and I kept praying that he would get better.

For the next 72 hours, McGee held vigil at Jaydens bedside. I was telling him, Hang in baby boy. Be strong, she said. I was telling him I was sorry.

Its just been a nightmare, McGee said Wednesday. Waking up today knowing that I cant see him again, Im just sad.

McGee said this was something she never saw coming. Knight, who has children of his own, has watched Jayden before and she trusted him, she said.

As for her son, she said Jayden was playful and full of life. He touched so many peoples hearts, she said. He just loved to play. He would smile and just brighten up your day.

Court records show Knight was arrested in September 2017 by Birmingham police on a charge of breaking and entering a vehicle. He eventually pleaded guilty to the crime and, in January 2019, was sentenced to two years of supervised probation, court records show.

A probation review was set for May 2019, but Knight failed to show up for court. A failure to appear warrant was issued for his arrest accompanied by a no-bond order. It wasnt immediately clear why he was not arrested.

On Jan. 7, 2020, a warrant was issued against Knight for theft of property in connection with an incident that happened in November 2019 at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Center Point. The Jefferson County District Attorneys Office on that day filed a motion asking that his probation be revoked, citing the failure to appear charge and the new theft warrant.

Jaydens funeral is scheduled for March 18 at Living Faith Baptist Cathedral on Old River Road in Bessemer. The Rev. Raymond A. Lightfoot Jr. is officiating. A GoFundMe has been set up to help with Jaydens service. Donations can be made here.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday wrote to the state election commission alleging that a plot was underway to reject the nominations of opposition parties for the upcoming local polls.

"This is to bring to your notice that several officers are hatching a plot to reject the nominations filed by candidates of opposition parties in general and TDP in particular, during the scrutiny of nominations," Naidu said in the letter.

He alleged that the authorities, after accepting the nominations, are playing mischief with the nomination papers.

"After granting due acknowledgment for the nomination papers filed, the officials are harassing contesting candidates belonging to opposition parties by saying that a paper is missing in their nomination set. The concerned officials themselves are removing the papers or altering the details," Naidu said.

"Concerned officials who are on election duty are looking for every minor and negligible aspect is blown up as a blunder in order to pin down TDP candidates and reject their nomination papers," he added.

Naidu requested the state election commission to examine and enquire about the rejected nominations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Medical staff treat patients infected by the COVID-19 CCP virus at a hospital in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 24, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

China Goes on Propaganda Offensive

Beijing joins Tehran in risking escalation of hostilities in blaming the US for global spread of COVID-19

Commentary

Now that the world is awash in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is doing what it does best: put the blame anywhere and everywhere else but where it belongs.

The blame for the outbreak, of course, belongs squarely with the Party itself and no one else.

But Chinese government officials have now openly speculated about U.S. responsibility for the outbreak and even accused the U.S. military of planting the virus in China. At the same time, other officials are sticking to the unsubstantiated Wuhan market story to explain the outbreak.

Telling a Simple Truth

The latest words of deflection came from at least two high-ranking Chinese officials this week, in response to comments made by U.S. national security adviser Robert OBrien.

OBrien said that the delayed reaction and deception on the part of the Chinese regime probably cost the world two months when it could have been preparing for the outbreak.

OBrien is right, of course. It is well-documented that the Party prevented discussion of the outbreak that occurred as early as October of 2019, arrested medical professionals who tried to sound the alarm to the country, censored internet traffic about it, and delayed deploying preventative measures by weeks and months.

All of these failures by the Party leadership enabled an outbreak that was eminently containable to rapidly rise to a nationwide epidemic and eventually to where we are now, in a global pandemic. Again, that timeline is documented.

Let the Projection Begin

Within a day, however, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded to OBriens accusations on Twitter in English, writing:

When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!

Such a detailed response was undoubtedly ordered and approved at the very top of the Party, which must have felt the need to respond. Whats more, the tone of the response reveals the deep concern of the Party leadership regarding its damaged credibility within the minds of the Chinese people.

The Chinese people are rightfully angry at their government for the gross mistreatment of doctors, such as Dr. Li Wenliang, who was prevented from warning people about the danger in the very early days of the outbreak. Li was eventually arrested, forced to sign a bogus confession, and died on Feb. 7 from the disease that, according to the CCP, was no threat to the public.

The Partys recent censoring of another doctor, Ai Fen, who works at a medical center in Wuhan, has generated a massive new wave of public anger. Fen was censored for repeating the reality that the state missed opportunities to contain the virus.

A Massive Response to Censorship

And yet, the Chinese people are finding incredibly resourceful ways around the Partys censorship, including 3,000-year-old, outdated versions of Chinese characters, to express their anger toward their governments policies of delay, deflect, deny, and destroy toward anyone who second-guesses its authority or competency.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called the United States immoral and irresponsible for saying that Beijings delayed response to the coronavirus outbreak made it worse.

Furthermore, China state-run media has attacked the United States on a variety of ideological fronts, declaring that Western values and democracy are insufficient to fight the coronavirus, that racism and income inequality will mean unequal treatment, and more.

In an ironic twist, Chinas Global Times has accused the United States of the politicization of the virus to gain negotiation advantage in the trade war and to punish Huawei, as well as harboring anti-Asian sentiments and other nefarious motives.

Iran Hypes Conspiracy Theories

Not surprisingly, in the wake of its massive outbreak, Iran has ramped up its propaganda to an entirely new level.

The regime in Tehran is blaming the United States for waging biowarfare against Iran. Thats quite a charge, accusing the United States of an act of biological warfare. Why would Tehran make such a claim? The answer is simpleIrans government is literally ground-zero for the countrys infection. The outbreak has decimated the Iranian leadership, with 10 percent of the ruling government members either infected or dying.

But given its close relationship with China and its obvious lack of preparation for the outbreak, Irans high infection rate should have been expected. But the truth isnt useful to Tehran. Its much easier and more helpful to peddle conspiracy theories.

In that context, its certainly reasonable to wonder if the recent attack by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq against U.S. and British soldiers was a staged reaction to divert the Iranian publics attention away from the real cause of the high COVID-19 infection rate.

Was the attack meant to reframe the virus narrative as being the fault of the United States?

Thats unknown. But with tensions as high as they are in the region, its a high-risk move in any context.

It also tends to paint the Iranian government into a tight policy box: What is the proper response, average Iranians might ask themselves, to a biowarfare attack on the government?

Does Tehran have an answer to that question? Is it preparing the nation for a bigger response?

Although propaganda is, by definition, intended to misinform and control the public narrative in order to support the ruling regime, it is also provocatively dangerous. Inflammatory messaging, that is, telling a lie so big that it cant be withdrawn, can drive regimes to engage in contrived acts of revenge to justify their lies and preserve their positions of power.

Escalation often follows, which can quickly lead all of us down a path that would be better for everyone if it were avoided.

James Gorrie is a writer and speaker based in Southern California. He is the author of The China Crisis.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
In Japan, Australia and Indonesia, policymakers offer cash injections and other measures for investors and businesses.

Asian policymakers stepped up efforts on Friday to curb the economic effects of the virus pandemic, pumping billions of dollars into money markets and announcing other stimulus measures.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) said it would buy 200 billion yen ($1.9bn) of Japanese government bonds with five to 10 years to maturity in an unscheduled move, as the local debt market capitulated to investors rush for liquidity.

More:

The BOJ also announced it would inject an additional 1.5 trillion yen ($14.2bn) in two-week lending in a sign of alarm at the central bank over drying liquidity in financial markets.

The country must take bold and unprecedented steps to beat the economic fallout from the coronavirus, its economy minister said, suggesting large-scale fiscal stimulus is in the works as the government tries to fend off a recession.

The government and the central bank share a strong sense of concern about fallout from the coronavirus, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday, signalling that a mix of fiscal and monetary steps are being prepared.

In Australia, the central bank injected a surprisingly large amount of cash into the financial system on Friday, following a similar move in the United States the day before.

The Reserve Bank of Australia used its daily money market operation to pump 8.8 billion Australian dollars ($5.52bn) into the system via repurchase agreements, more than twice the amount it had originally intended due to an enormous bank demand for cash.

The money was loaned for periods ranging from 17 to 95 days, with 5.6 billion Australian dollars ($3.52bn) going at the longest date.

The US Federal Reserve on Thursday surprised markets by injecting $500bn into the US banking system and pledging to add a further $1 trillion.

Global stock markets, which crashed on Thursday and early Friday, scaled back losses by Friday noon after governments announced more stimulus measures.

Japans Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Yoshiki Takeuchi told reporters the government and the BOJ stood ready to work as one, as needed.

Well watch market moves with a stronger sense of urgency and act accordingly based on the G7 agreement, the countrys top currency diplomat said after a meeting with his colleagues at the BOJ and the Financial Services Agency on Friday.

The remarks came in the wake of a conference call among the Group of Seven nations, which underscored the groups commitment to cooperate in tackling the coronavirus.

Indonesia announced a 120 trillion rupiah ($8.1bn) stimulus package on Friday to support Southeast Asias biggest economy as the spread of the coronavirus disrupts global activity.

The stimulus, representing 0.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), includes exempting some workers in manufacturing from income tax and giving manufacturing companies a discount on corporate tax payments, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told a news conference.

This wont be the last announcement we make because the situation is very dynamic, Indrawati said as she unveiled details of the new tax measures.

We will prepare all instruments to mitigate and minimise the impact on companies and people, she said.

The stimulus package was expected to widen the budget deficit this year to 2.5 percent of GDP, from an initial plan to keep it at about 1.8 percent, Indrawati said.

The tax relief for manufacturing workers will be given to those who make 200 million rupiah ($13,361) or less a year.

The government is also exempting companies in 19 manufacturing sectors from having to pay import taxes while giving them a 30 percent corporate tax discount.

Refunds for value-added tax would be made easier for companies, especially for exporters, to help manage cashflows.

The tax breaks, lasting six months starting in April, were estimated to cost the government 22.9 trillion rupiah ($15,559).
The Union Health Ministry on Friday confirmed 81 positive cases of coronavirus in India, out of which 64 are Indian citizens, 16 Italians and 1 Canadian national. The ministry also reiterated that there is no epidemic of the novel coronavirus in the country and advised people to focus on hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene and social distancing.

Till now, there are 81 confirmed cases in India, out of which 64 are Indians, 16 Italians and 1 Canadian national. All passengers returning to India should report their travel itinerary to the authorities and everyone should reremember to wear a mask before steppuing out to see a doctor, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry told reporters at a press briefing.

Watch | Over 80 positive coronavirus cases in India, confirms Health Ministry

To check the spread of coronavirus, the Indian government has decided to inspect international traffic through land immigration checkposts.

We have 37 such checkposts, and we have allowed traffic through 19 of them to India. Cross-border buses and trains from Bangladesh will remain suspended till further notice. However, Bhutanese and Nepalese citizens will have visa-free entries to India, a health ministry official said.
The first patient to have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in Morocco has recovered, the Ministry of Health announced.

The patient, 39, had arrived in Morocco from the Italian Northern city of Bergamo late February and was tested positive on March 2.

Medical tests confirmed the patients recovery, the ministry said, adding that he will leave the hospital this Friday evening.

The patient is among seven confirmed cases in the country. One of the patients, however, died last Tuesday as she had a weakened immune system. The deceased patient was an 89-year old woman, who also arrived in Morocco from Italy last month. She was suffering from chronic diseases.

The ministry assured that four of the other confirmed cases, a French couple and their daughter, and a Moroccan who lives in Spain, have responded positively to treatment and their condition is reassuring and constantly improving.

The fifth case, which concerns a French national of Senegalese origin, is still in intensive care because of the chronic illnesses she suffers from, the ministry said.
An Italian couple and a Thai national have been admitted to an isolation ward of a government hospital here with symptoms of novel coronavirus, an official of the health department said on Friday.

Two more people are also under observation at the isolation ward of the Beliaghata ID Hospital, taking the total number of patients admitted with symptoms of novel coronavirus at the facility to five, he said.

The Italian couple, in their mid 30s, came to India on March 5 and arrived in Kolkata recently, the official said, adding their blood and swab samples have been collected and sent for tests.

Two other foreigners -- one from Malaysia and another from Australia -- who were visiting ISKCON in Mayapur have been admitted to a medical facility run by the organisation.

"These two persons had visited ISKCON, Mayapur for the Gour Poornima festival and they complained of fever following which they have been admitted to the hospital run by ISKCON. We are keeping an eye on the situation," the official said.

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the Purba Burdwan administration has asked three Italians, who have been in the district to organise a programme on women empowerment, to leave the area.

"We have asked them to leave because they have come from Italy where the coronavirus outbreak is severe. We have also found that they have violated the 14-day self-quarantine period after arriving in India on February 28.

"We have not allowed them to hold their programme since it involves a mass gathering," the official of the district administration said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON - Except for wrapping duct tape around my head, I'm trying not to get hysterical over the coronavirus.

I know, it's not funny. If you're elderly, it's potentially serious. Maybe. Sometimes but not always. We don't actually know. Yet, to follow news reporting on the elaborately named coronavirus disease 2019 is to conclude that WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE. To avoid dying, we're told, we should wash our hands, steer clear of sick people and stay away from cruises. No problem whatsoever.

If you're over 60, which until now was the new 40, we should consider "social distancing."

For something so potentially lethal, at least more than the usual flu but not as much as SARS or MERS, two other coronaviruses, hand-washing seems bland advice considering that people really ought to wash their hands frequently under any circumstances. An aunt of mine gave her nieces, nephews and cousins an early jump on obsessive-compulsive disorder with her greeting whenever we entered the house: "Go wash your hands," she'd sweetly command. As such things go, I've become my aunt.

Social distancing, meanwhile, is my specialty so, I think I'm all set for the duration. I tend to avoid crowds as a personal policy and otherwise have never minded solitude.

On the other hand, what if I've been surrounded by sick people without realizing it? We now know that the two-week dormancy of coronavirus means people are sick and contagious without being symptomatic. And, without adequate tests, we have no way of knowing how many people are infected.

Self-quarantine is the state of nature for an at-home writer in residence. It comes with the job. And there may be to some a certain appeal to the notion. Imagine the quiet if everyone stayed indoors for a few weeks, the calm, the serenity. Or, alternatively, the domestic disputes, disorder and dysfunction when cabin fever peaks.

Many of my former Georgetown neighbors in Washington are being asked to self-quarantine after discovering that the rector of Christ Church was unknowingly infected as he shook hundreds of parishioners' hands the past couple of weeks. Some of those congregants are well within the designated demographic - we'll call them older -- that COVID-19 can hit hard.

The latest entry in the Center for Disease Control's advice column is that the over-60 peer group should "stock up," in case they're forced to stay home for a long period, and to avoid crowds. But stocking up means what, exactly? And how much is enough? Naturally, I've made my list. For some reason, I thought Ramen noodles should be on it, though I've never bought them before. Other items not usually in my cart - a gallon jug of Clorox, Popsicles and saltines. One might think I was planning to get sick.

But do I do the shopping myself or order online? Am I being ridiculously paranoid or sensibly cautious? The constant media coverage, for which we are alternately grateful and resentful, begins to feel like an invitation to hysteria. Given that hand sanitizers and masks are out of stock everywhere, I'm buying 190 proof alcohol and glycerin to make my own sanitizer and avoid the busy checkout lines. Down South, of course, pollen coats everything, which is making lots of people cough and sneeze without having the bug.

The order of the day then: Wash those hands, per usual. Check on your elderly neighbors, as we should anyway. Be prepared but don't panic. But even that message kindles paranoia. Or worse: some eye rolling. In South Carolina, where I'm holed up at an undisclosed location, I've heard several people call the viral scare a nuisance to be ignored. With President Trump, normally a germaphobe, still shaking hands and promising that everything is just fine, it's little wonder that some are skeptical.

My view is different: hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

And, no matter what, keep plenty of duct tape on hand. It's more comfortable than you might think.

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By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The Special Operations Team of Rachakonda police on Thursday arrested two Gulf returnees for illegally sending Nepalese women to Gulf countries for work. The police also rescued five women from Nepal who were being sent to Gulf countries by using fake visas by them.

According to the police, the accused persons have been identified as Dyavalla Naresh, 29, and Kosna Tirupati Reddy, 29. They have so far sent over 150 Nepali women abroad by creating fake documents, the police officials told Express.

Based on a tip-off about the activities of the duo, the police raided an apartment in Boduppal. They found that the duo has been operating out of the apartment.

Inquiries revealed that the accused belong to Jagtial district and had worked in Kurdistan and Dubai for three years, where they operated a travel agency. As they incurred losses, they shut it down and returned home.

After coming to India, they hatched a plan to gain easy money by bringing women from Nepal to India to send them to Arab countries by creating fake work visa or visit visa without any immigration permission, police said. They targeted Nepalese women for this and started sending them. They initially operated from an office at Dilsukhnagar and recently shifted to Boduppal.

Since 2017, they have sent more than 150 Nepalese women to Arab countries on work and visit visas by creating fake documents.The accused were arrested and the Nepalese women were rescued. Further investigation is underway, said police officials.
Cory Watson Attorneys is proud to announce that firm Principal and Co-Founder Leila H. Watson has been named a Lifetime Fellow of the Birmingham Bar Foundation.

The designation of Lifetime Fellow recognizes a lawyer who has made significant contributions to the legal profession, to the Birmingham Bar Foundation, and to their community.

The Birmingham Bar Foundation Society of Fellows is a membership organization of select attorneys who are committed to giving back to the profession and supporting legal services in our city. Through their contributions, they support initiatives that make access to justice a reality for those in need.

About Leila H. Watson

Leila Watson has dedicated her life to helping people through the law. As a co-founder and principal of Cory Watson Attorneys, she has practiced with Ernest Cory for more than 38 years. She has provided unparalleled counsel to her clients and great servant leadership to the firm.

As an attorney, Ms. Watson is truly dedicated to her profession. While she has led precedent-setting cases and is known for her legal skills and passion for studying the law, she has also dedicated her time to bring lasting change through community service here in Birmingham, Alabama.

She is widely recognized among the legal community, serving as President of the Bar Association in 2017 and earning nationwide recognition from Best Lawyers as a 2018 Birmingham Lawyer of the Year.

Fellows are invited each year to join the Society of Fellows by the Board of Directors of the Birmingham Bar Foundation. The new class was inducted at the Ninth Annual Fellows Dinner on February 28, 2020.

On behalf of our thousands of clients in Alabama, Tennessee, and nationwide, the attorneys and staff at Cory Watson Attorneys congratulate Leila H. Watson for this well-deserved recognition.

About Cory Watson Attorneys

Cory Watson Attorneys is a nationally recognized personal injury law firm with offices in Birmingham, Alabama; Memphis, and Nashville, Tennessee. The firm has recovered more than $2.7 billion for clients across the country. Cory Watson attorneys are frequently at the forefront of major class actions and multidistrict litigations involving dangerous pharmaceuticals and product liability, and are often appointed to leadership positions in national cases. Firm practice areas include Personal Injury, Product Liability, Class Action, Asbestos, Business & Commercial Litigation, Dangerous Pharmaceuticals, Defective Medical Devices, and Environmental/Toxic Torts. To learn more, visit CoryWatson.com.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13

Trend:

Azerbaijan and the World Health Organization (WHO) have signed a donor agreement at the WHO headquarters in Geneva. The document was inked by Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva Ambassador Vagif Sadiqov and WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The government of Azerbaijan has previously decided to donate $5 million in voluntary financial aid to the "COVID-19 appeal" fund as part of the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) of the World Health Organization (WHO) aiming to contribute to global efforts to contain coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, WHO Director General Ghebreyesus hailed Azerbaijans contribution, stressing that at the WHO they are closely following and highly appreciating the care and attention shown by the country towards its healthcare sector, especially the fight against COVID-19. Noting that the voluntary financial donation by Azerbaijan to combat the COVID-19 is the greatest expression of global solidarity, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed deep appreciation on behalf of the WHO for the Azerbaijani Governments decision.

Ambassador Vagif Sadiqov said that Azerbaijan attached great importance to cooperation with the WHO. He expressed his gratitude for the team of WHO experts who are currently in Azerbaijan at the request of the countrys Government, working with the national response committee to develop a national preparedness and response plan for COVID-19.

Azerbaijan highly appreciates WHO's efforts to fight COVID-19 globally. The recommendations of the World Health Organization for COVID-19 are taken into consideration and implemented by Azerbaijan, the ambassador added.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-13 07:00:31

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LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / Condor Gold (AIM:CNR)(TSX:COG) is pleased to announce its results for the year ended 31 December 2019 ("Annual Report and Accounts"). A copy of the Annual Report and Accounts, along with a Notice of AGM, will be posted to Shareholders in due course and a further announcement made at that stage which will include details of the time and date for the AGM. A copy of the Annual Report and Accounts is available on the Company's website, at www.condorgold.com and on Sedar at www.Sedar.com . Extracts are set out below.Highlights for the year ended 31 December 2019:In January 2019, Condor announced a Mineral Resource update on La India Project totalling 9.85 million tonnes ("Mt") at 3.6 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold for 1,140,000 oz gold in the Indicated category and 8.48Mt at 4.3g/t gold for 1,179,000 oz gold in the Inferred category;This includes an open pit Mineral Resource of 8.58 Mt at a grade of 3.3 g/t gold, for 902,000 oz gold in the Indicated category and 3.01 Mt at a grade of 3.0 g/t gold, for 290,000 oz gold in the Inferred category, together with an underground Mineral Resources of 1.27 Mt at a grade of 5.8 g/t gold, for 238,000 oz gold in the Indicated category and 5.47 Mt at a grade of 5.1 g/t gold, for 889,000 oz gold in the Inferred category;Of note is the new open pit Mineral Resource on Mestiza of 92 thousand tonnes ("Kt") at a grade of 12.1 g/t for 36,000 oz contained gold in the Indicated category and 341 Kt at a grade of 7.7 g/t gold for 85,000 oz contained gold in the Inferred category. The four satellite open pits outside the main, permitted La India open pit have combined open pit resources of 206Kt at 9.9 g/t gold for 66,000 oz gold in the Indicated category and 2.127 Mt at 3.23 g/t gold for 221,000 oz gold in the Inferred category;In February 2019, the Company raised 1.75 million by way of a private placement of new Ordinary Shares;In March 2019, the Company announced it was permitting the Mestiza and America satellite feeder pits, which have the potential to increase production to 120,000 oz gold per annum for a seven year life of mine. The Mestiza and America open pits have, in aggregate, 206 Kt at a grade of 9.9 g/t (66,000 oz contained gold) in the Indicated category and 1,018 Kt at 4.6 g/t (152,000 oz contained gold) in the Inferred category;In July 2019, a 132km, 25-year exploration and exploitation concession, the "Cerro Los Cerritos concession" was awarded. It is adjacent to current La India concession package and potentially hosts the strike extension of the gold mineralisation at La India. It expands La India Project concession area to 588 km2;Additional private placement closed in July of 20,192,520 new shares at a price of 20p per share to raise 4,038,504 including a Directors and CFO subscription for 6,350,000 shares and 9,842,520 shares subscribed by Nicaragua Milling Company Ltd.Additional positive metallurgical test results on La India and satellite deposits announced in November;In November 2019, Condor submitted Environmental and Social Impact Assessments ("ESIAs") to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources ("MARENA") for the Environmental Permits for the development and extraction of contained gold from the America and Mestiza open pits;In December 2019, Condor sold the non-core Potrerillos exploration and exploitation concession to Nicoz Resources S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mako Mining Corp. (TSX-V: MKO) for a gross cash consideration of US$ 600,000.Post Period HighlightsIn January 2020, appointed SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP as sole Broker to the Company;Extension granted until 27 July 2021 to complete the conditions of the key Environmental Permit to develop and extract ore from La India open pit;In March 2020, the Company announced a high-grade open pit mining scenario as part of on-going mining dilution studies.Chairman's StatementDear Shareholder,I am pleased to present Condor Gold Plc's ("Condor", the "Company" or the "Group", www.condorgold.com) annual report for the 12-month financial year to 31 December 2019. The Company's twin strategy remains the construction and operation of a base case processing plant with capacity of up to 2,800 tonnes per day ("tpd") capable of producing approximately 100,000 oz of gold per annum, increasing this production capacity, and proving a major Gold District at the 588km La India Project, in Nicaragua.The Company's main focus during 2019 has been on fulfilling the conditions of an Environmental Permit granted in August 2018 by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources ("MARENA") for the development, construction and operation of an open pit mine, a 2,800 tpd or 1.0 Mt per annum CIL processing plant and associated infrastructure at the La India Project, Nicaragua. The permitted La India open pit is estimated to produce between 80,000 oz to 100,000 oz gold per annum or a total of 600,000 oz gold over a 6 to 7-year period.In January 2019 Condor announced an updated Mineral Resource on the La India Project totalling 9.85 Mt at 3.6 g/t gold for 1,140,000 oz gold in the Indicated category and 8.48 Mt at 4.3 g/t gold for 1,179,000 oz gold in the Inferred category. The Mineral Resource update includes 8,222 m of drilling since the Mineral Resource update in September 2014. The new Mineral Resource Estimate was prepared by SRK Consulting (UK) Limited ("SRK") and uses the terminology, definitions and guidelines given in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May 2014). The total open pit Mineral Resource is 8.58 Mt at a grade of 3.3 g/t gold, for 902,000 oz gold in the Indicated category and 3.01 Mt at a grade of 3.0 g/t gold, for 290,000 oz gold in the Inferred category. Total underground Mineral Resources are 1.27 Mt at a grade of 5.8 g/t gold, for 238,000 oz gold in the Indicated category and 5.47 Mt at a grade of 5.1 g/t gold, for 889,000 oz gold in the Inferred category.Of note also is the new open pit Mineral Resource on Mestiza of 92 Kt at a grade of 12.1 g/t for 36,000 oz contained gold in the Indicated category and 341 Kt at a grade of 7.7 g/t gold for 85,000 oz contained gold in the Inferred category. The four satellite open pits outside the main, permitted La India open pit have combined open pit resources of 206 Kt at 9.9 g/t gold for 66,000 oz gold in the Indicated
BILLINGS, Mont.  Montana regulators have reached a deal allowing the state to enforce environmental laws at a large coal mine bought by a Navajo-owned company, officials said Thursday.

For months, executives from the Navajo Transitional Energy Company and state officials had been unable to resolve demands the company waive its immunity as a tribal entity from future lawsuits.

The mine shut down briefly in October when the dispute over sovereignty first emerged. Thursdays agreement came a day before a temporary waiver agreement was set to expire.

The Navajo company bought the 275-worker Spring Creek strip mine along the Wyoming border and two mines in Wyoming last year from bankrupt Cloud Peak Energy.

Spring Creek is Montanas largest coal mine. It produced almost 14 million tons of the fuel in 2018, ranking it the eighth largest mine in the U.S. in terms of coal production.

The ability to take a company to court over environmental violations is a key enforcement tool for mining industry regulators. But as a sovereign tribal entity, the Navajo-owned company couldnt normally be sued in state court.

CEO Clark Moseley said in a statement that the company was extremely pleased to have the final limited waiver in place.

The agreement does not change the companys status as a contract operator of Spring Creek under the mines existing permit held by Cloud Peak. Before the permit can be transferred, the Navajo Transitional Energy Company must acquire bonds sufficient to cover an estimated $110 million in future reclamation costs.

In a separate action, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality also on Thursday gave preliminary approval to a 977-acre expansion of Spring Creek.

The expansion includes about 72 million tons (65 million metric tons) of coal and would extend the life of the mine by about four years, to approximately 2031. Final approval is pending.

The Navajo Transitional Energy Corporation in February reached a deal with Wyoming regulators that waived immunity for the Antelope and Cordero Rojo mines.
Testing capacity for the coronavirus in the U.S. will dramatically increase in the coming days, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Friday.

"By probably next week, we'll be at capacity of tens of thousands of tests a day," Gottlieb said on "Squawk Box." "Certainly by the end of next week, I think you're going to see capacity really sharply ramp up in our ability to test patients."

Gottlieb said he believes capacity will increase because the FDA will continue to approve new tests, such as one from Swiss diagnostics maker Roche. It is an automated system, allowing for more tests to be conducted, he said.

The Roche test, given emergency approval Friday by the FDA, can give results in 3.5 hours and produce up to 4,128 results in a day, according to Reuters.

"I think you're going to see a rapid succession of approvals of these systems," said Gottlieb, a CNBC contributor who sits on the boards of Pfizer and biotech company Illumina.

Gottlieb noted that more tests running in the U.S. will produce an increased number of confirmed cases.

As of 7:25 a.m. Friday, the U.S. had around 1,700 confirmed cases and 40 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Gottlieb's comments come one day after a top U.S. health official admitted the country's coronavirus testing system was "failing."

"The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we're not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But we're not," Fauci testified in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Gottlieb also said Friday that Americans who are able to avoid hospitals for issues unrelated to the coronavirus should do so.

"I would try to avoid interactions with the health-care system if I can right now," he said. "I think hospitals should also be looking at canceling elected procedures to try to preserve volumes in the hospitals."

In addition to preserving the health system's capacity, it also reduces one's likelihood of contracting the virus inside a hospital, he said.

"This spreads when it gets inside institutions and inside the health-care system. That's how a lot of the virus is propagated in our countries," he said. while adding that U.S. hospitals already do strong infection control and have likely added to that regime due to the coronavirus.

"We're going to have less of those kind of problems, but there is a risk in an institutionalized setting of spreading this virus," he said.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister and Chair of the Emergency Operations Center Silveria Jacobs, has made the decision to postpone Carnival 2020 after emergency meetings held with the EOC and Members of Parliament on Thursday, March 12, 2020. The emergency EOC meeting was called due to the announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) that COVID-19 is considered a pandemic as of March 11, 2020. PM Jacobs had also invited the MPs to be updated and give feedback on the current state of affairs. A meeting was then promptly called with the President of the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) Alston Lourens and Treasurer Michael Granger in to inform them of the decision taken.

The decision to postpone Carnival was taken in keeping with the WHO recommendations which advises persons to avoid large crowds. Carnival involves the gathering of large crowds over a long period of time, involving close contact between persons. This is a scenario which would pose a threat to the safety and well-being of the staff, participants and the community at large.



Prime Minister Jacobs stated, While St. Maarten currently has no confirmed cases of COVID-19, we continue making all necessary preparations to prevent the spread of the virus, as well as to prepare for the possibility of an outbreak. Government is taking all necessary precautions to ensure public health.

In the interest of safety and security of the community, Government has also put a hold on the issuance of permits for events catering to large crowds. The maximum number of persons allowed to gather during this critical period will also be established. This decision can also impact gatherings which do not require a permit, and the general-public will be informed once other such gatherings have been identified. These measures together with travel restrictions are being encouraged to prevent exposure to the COVID-19 virus. Further information will be forthcoming.



As government, we understand that some may be affected by the decision taken, however the health and safety of the population outweighed the postponement of our largest cultural event, and we will look forward to a time when the threat has been minimized enough for us to return to normalcy, Prime Minister Jacobs stated in an invited comment.
An official uses a thermal screening device on a devotee to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic. (PTI)

Mysuru: As many as 22 people from Mysuru and five people from Kodagu who had travelled to Corona hit countries are being identified and being quarantined.

With 12 confirmed coronavirus cases reported in Kerala, bordering districts Kodagu, and especially Mysuru which receives large number of tourists from other states and foreign countries are on high alert.

Among 22 people from Mysuru who travelled from coronavirus hit countries, two had come from Wuhan in China itself. Among them seven people have completed quarantine period.

Among five persons from Kodagu who had travelled to coronavirus hit countries, two had travelled from China. Three people have already completed quarantine period and one person from Iran, and one more person from Dubai who returned on Thursday, are still in isolation.

Six people from Mandya who had travelled to Covid-19 hit countries are being identified, and among them three people have completed quarantine period.

Test results for all of them have arrived negative. However, the result of one Kodagu resident who came back from Dubai is still awaited according to state health department officers.

Mysuru district commissioner Mr Abhiram G Shankar held meeting of all officials related to Covid-19 on Friday. He directed authorities of Mysuru Palace board to check currencies of foreign tourists with thermalic liquid.

Authorities of Mysuru airport too have begun thermal screening of passengers arriving from other places.
Infosys Knowledge Institute (IKI), the thought leadership and research arm of Infosys (NYSE: INFY), today published a global research report on the workplace transformation landscape titled, Drive Change from Within. The research revealed that CEOs are now prioritizing on driving a workplace transformation roadmap and contributing to its development in the organization.

Infosys surveyed more than 1,300 senior leaders from banking, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, telecom, and energy and utility firms, with revenues of more than $1 billion, for this report. The study offers a detailed view into how transforming the workplace can lead to the growth and success of an enterprise in todays competitive landscape, market dynamics, and customer expectations. It also provides perspectives on workplace transformation trends, adoption of various contemporary tools, transformation benefits, and apprehensions, across organizations.

Key findings of the survey:

45 percent respondents believe that CEOs are the most influential in driving a workplace transformation roadmap.

57 percent of organizations consider digital tools (e.g. enterprise productivity suites, enterprise communication software etc.) to have the maximum impact on workplace transformation. The impact of digital tools on workplace transformation is ranked higher than that of physical elements (e.g. co-working, smart buildings, etc.) and cultural changes (e.g. training & upskilling, work-life balance, etc.), which are at 38 percent and 15 percent respectively.

Organizations strongly believe that digital workplace transformation can improve collaboration across teams (86 percent), and provide superior customer experience (84 percent).

Adoption of the workplace transformation strategy is well underway with more than 80 percent organizations already having a well-defined strategic roadmap in place.

55 percent of respondents reckon choosing the right solutions/technology is a significant concern before embarking on workplace transformation. During implementation, data security (77 percent) and obtaining a buy-in across the organization (74 percent) were stated as the biggest challenges.

The ability to drive alignment with business outlook (60 percent), leverage the latest technologies (55 percent) and manage cultural change (53 percent) are seen as the top advantages of working with external partners for workplace transformation.

While workplace strategy and implementation is prevalent across industries, Banking, Financial Services & Insurance, Retail, Consumer Goods, Logistics, Communications, Media and Technology sectors lead the pack.

Ravi Kumar, President, Infosys, said, The current multi-generational workforce demands a workplace that is highly collaborative, productive and engaging. Therefore, today organizations are utilizing the power of digital technologies to create a modern workplace where employees aspire to grow not just as individuals but as a focused network of teams. This entails reimagining employee experience and engagement in a meaningful way, while encouraging collaboration and ensuring information security. This report reinforces that workplace transformation has moved beyond physical infrastructure and has become a key priority for the C-suite who are looking to empower their employees with the right set of digital tools and fresh experiences.

John Laherty, Senior Research Analyst, NelsonHall, said, The paradigm shift in the workplace transformation space has made it imperative for organizations to provide their employees consumer-like experiences. The research report by Infosys, Drive Change from Within highlights the fact that companies are embracing digital tools and technologies in order to foster collaborative workplaces which will culminate into increased efficiencies. Organizations today stand to gain from building workplaces that enable employees to utilize their true potential, increase their productivity and provide a seamless user experience without compromising on security. The first movers in this transformation journey can use this competitive edge to their advantage and get more value from their workplace, faster.

For a full copy of the report, please visit: https://www.infosys.com/services/microsoft-cloud-business/insights/workplace-transformation-research-study.html.

Survey Methodology

Over 1,300 senior leaders from banking, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, telecom, and energy and utility firms, with revenues of more than $1 billion were surveyed for the study. These business leaders represent some of the leading organizations operating across the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and AustraliaNew Zealand (ANZ).

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 46 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over three decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements mentioned in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectations intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.

Media contacts:

For further information, please contact: PR_Global@infosys.com
Youve probably heard it by now in news stories, text messages and conversations with loved ones  most of the people getting the sickest and dying from COVID-19 are older, have an underlying medical issue, or both.

And its true.

If you are young and healthy you are not likely to get seriously ill.

Age is the biggest risk factor, the older you are the greater the chance youre going to get really sick, and even (of) dying, said epidemiologist Jeff Kwong.

And then second is having these chronic health conditions, which can include cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and immunosuppression (whether because of a condition or drugs taken to treat a condition).

Very young, healthy people have a very low risk of dying but as you get older theres kind of an exponential increase, he says.

If you get it and are over the age of 60 or have one of these health issues, it doesnt mean youre going to die or get a more severe illness. Its just that death or a more serious case is more likely than for the general public.

But the group of people most at risk includes millions of Canadians: grandparents, parents, even the co-worker or friend you might not realize.

As youre asked to make sacrifices and change your daily routine  from keeping your kids home from school to avoiding large events or cancelling a vacation  keep them in mind.

This is who youre doing it for.

Name: Samantha Kemp-Jackson

Age: 54

Health condition: Kemp-Jackson is an immunocompromised person, due to drugs she takes to manage lupus.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, she has learned to limit her outside interactions to whats absolutely necessary. But its challenging since she teaches part-time at Seneca College.

When Im there, Im heavily hand sanitizing, washing my hands and wiping down surfaces with disinfecting wipes at every turn, she says.

She used to take the TTC to work and run errands, but has since taken to driving. Its more expensive but my health is worth it, I think, she says.

To those who are in good health and have a low risk of contracting the COVID-19, Kemp-Jackson advises to remember theyre lucky.

She says if you can limit your potential risk of getting or giving the virus to others, please do.

And wash your hands! she adds.

Name: Kerrie Lambier

Age: 37

Health condition: Type-1 diabetes

Comments: The London, Ont. resident says shes had diabetes since she was nine, but says she feels in really good health. But shes seen her anxiety levels increase during the spread of COVID-19, given shes among the group with a higher risk from the virus.

She just pulled out of a leadership workshop she was supposed to attend this Friday, and shes doing all she can to social distance herself from big crowds.

My husband and I am not going to the malls, the gym, movie theatres and what not, she says. Its a big change since were both considerably young and trendy and want to do things, but we had to pull back.

Seeing people spread misinformation about the coronavirus on social media is one thing that makes Lambier even more annoyed at how society is viewing this pandemic.

We want people to take this seriously, she said, noting actual medical professionals are advising everyone  including healthy people  to take precautions to stop the spread.

Its not just the flu because its mortality rate is like much higher. So seeing these healthy people just kind of shrugging it off is irritating and adds to the anxiety that we feel.

Name: Michele Hogg

Age: 58

Health condition: Lyme disease

Comments: Hogg, an Oshawa resident, has Lyme disease and gets severe pneumonia twice a year.

My immune system is very compromised, she says. I am scared to death.

Hogg is already staying at home as much as possible, except for visits to her doctor for injections. She and her husband have already decided not to go to an upcoming family gathering in Toronto.

Her kids and grandkids already know not to come near her if theyre not feeling well because all somebody has to do is sneeze around me and Im sick. But this is a new level of stress.

What I want people to know is that when youre out there in the public and you have a sniffle or a cough or whatever, you dont know who youre standing next to, you dont know what sort of health issues theyre dealing with and taking that sort of risky behaviour puts everyone else in jeopardy, she says.

Stay home, stay home, please stay home.

Name: Zelik Bocknek

Age: 85

Health condition: Age

Comments: The active senior feels like hes in pretty good shape, and would like to keep volunteering at the Toronto Zoo as long as hes able.

Hes still going to the gym in his condo building, but disinfecting first with wipes.

His family is considering postponing a bar mitzvah, and telling his son in Australia to cancel an upcoming trip.

Another son has a place in Collingwood and the plan is to go there with his wife if things get bad.

I think a lot of people have to worry about it, especially older people whose systems arent as strong they used to be, says the father of three and grandfather of six.

If youre a human being, you have to be concerned about whats going on here.

The message to other people who might feel more cavalier: Youve got to be careful, and know what youre not supposed to do and what youre supposed to do  dont shake hands; keep your hands clean; keep them off your face.

Bocknek also urges people to stay away from crowds, as they could come back and spread the virus to seniors like him.

Most people who get the virus will be fine, but those who have bodily functions that arent quite as good anymore, theyre the ones who are going to suffer and could die, he says.

Name: Dirk Soeterik

Age: 50

Health condition: Soeterik has Crohns disease, a condition where his immune system overreacts. To manage his condition he gets infusions of a drug called Remicade every few weeks to suppress it.

Comments: Soeterik is very aware of the situation, but not living in a bubble or anything. The Oakville resident is grateful his job at a professional services company allows him to work from home, which hes been doing for a few days.

He and his wife and two daughters have upped their handwashing game at home for sure.

But he has gone about his daily life, running errands to places like the grocery store, library and Costco (not to stockpile toilet paper, he says, he needed something else).

He also lived through SARS but finds it harder now because of the 24-7, non-stop barrage of information  You cant turn on the radio, you cant turn on the TV, you cant open your phone, your friends are texting, without hearing the words coronavirus, or COVID-19, he says.

Hes remaining vigilant but what hes telling people is to keep calm.

Id like to try to be a role model, to deal with this in a sensible way that doesnt stoke fear in everybody, he says.

Name: Mairead Cavanagh and son Maleek

Age: Shes 46, her son is 11

Health condition: Maireads 11-year-old son Maleek has CHARGE syndrome, a rare disorder thats left him very medically fragile with a range of complications, including an IV line in his chest and a tube hes dependent on to breathe.

Comments: Maleek is in and out of Sick Kids and relies on home-care nursing supports.

If he does need to go to the hospital hell have to go to emergency, where he could be exposed to people with COVID-19.

Mairead is very frustrated and worried, saying theyre not getting enough guidance from the health system on the evolving situation, and need proactive protocols.

Im really feeling the lack of support more than I normally am. Its pretty intense to begin with, but now its even more frightening, she says.

Were always scared. Were always washing our hands, were always on the lookout, but I think this has taken on a different intensity and the lack of support is kind of glaring. It puts a spotlight on the holes in the system.

They usually have to avoid large crowds during cold and flu season but now theyre unsure about safety in places like the hospital.

She uses masks and wipes as part of Maleeks everyday care and is worried they could run out because of stockpiling. She wants people doing that to remember families like hers.

We use them to keep my son alive on a daily basis, she says.

Shes used to pleading for community support for infection control.

In some ways its heartening to see people becoming a bit more aware but at the same time, its just the sense that, gosh, this is always our reality.

But she still hears people dismissing COVID-19 as just a problem for other people.

Its a community problem and its not OK to say just the elderly or just the disabled, thats I think a really frightening, frightening response, she says.

Our policies are only as good as how we manage and support our most vulnerable.

Name: Karen Musgrove

Age: 44

Health condition: Musgrove is immunocompromised due to medication she takes to keep her ulcerative colitis under control. Her 15-year-old daughter has asthma.

Comments: Musgrove, who lives in Ottawa, is lucky that her colitis is very well controlled but wants people to be aware of invisible illnesses like hers.

She still sees a lot of comments from people saying its not that serious or its like the flu.

Seasonal flu has a death rate of less than one per cent, which makes COVID-19 at least 10 times as deadly.

Officials have warned against all non-essential travel outside the country, but she worries people will go ahead with plans over March Break. Shed like these people to get informed, rather than brushing it off.

Rushing to Costco in a panic to stockpile toilet paper also isnt going to help anyone.

Vulnerable groups  the elderly, the disabled, those living in poverty  arent able to rush to the stores and stock up, she points out.

Stores will be open today, tomorrow, and the day after that  and theres also online grocery ordering for quick pickup to help avoid going into stores once you begin running out of things.

If they want to help, healthy people could offer to help the more vulnerable with shopping.

Experts say washing your hands, staying home if youre sick and avoiding shaking hands are all things you can do to prevent spreading the virus to people such as Musgrove, who you might not even realize is more at risk.

Theres far more of us out there than what people are aware of.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: A section of railway employees staged a protest outside the Apollo Hospitals in Malleswaram on Thursday afternoon for over two hours, against referral hospitals attached to the Bangalore Railway Division asking the employees to pay treatment charges.

The protest, staged by the South Western Railway Mazdoor Union (SWRMU), began at 12.30 pm and concluded only after top railway officials and police rushed to the spot and pacified the agitating employees.

The issue came to the fore after a couple, Padmavathi (Senior Technician) and Shankarachari (Junior Engineer) working in the Carriage and Works section, met with an accident at Yeshwantpur on Wednesday night after their two-wheeler slid on a road. The night staff at the hospital had charged `2,800 for administering drugs and treating the couple, when they were admitted last night (Wednesday). The final figure they were asked to pay came to Rs 5,000 per day.

Union Divisional Secretary B V Raghavendra told TNIE that hospitals which have a tie-up with the Indian Railways should not charge anything from railway employees for treatment, but a few of them tried to charge patients. They approached us. We intervened and spoke with hospital authorities to sort out the matter. This has been going on for the last two years, and we staged a sudden protest today, he said.

Dr M Ravindran, Chief Medical Superintendent, Bengaluru Railway Division, said, We have a tie-up with 20 corporate hospitals in the city for cashless treatment. Employees who cannot be treated within the Railway Hospital and require tertiary care can walk into these hospitals and avail cashless treatment. Sometimes due to the distance from the Railway Hospital or due to emergencies too, they go directly to these hospitals.

Despite repeated calls,hospital authorities could not be reached.




Events to celebrate the countrys biggest homecoming of Zimbabweans living and working in the Diaspora have been moved to December as the world is trying to manage and control the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).





April. Running under the ZimThrive banner, the initiative, which is the biggest since independence, involved hosting a month long holiday in Zimbabwe for citizens scattered around the world inApril.





The World Health Organisation, the Zimbabwean Government and respective governments globally have been urging minimised travel since the outbreak of Covid-19 in China a few months ago, before it spread to many other countries.





In a statement, Zimthrive executive leadership said it believed it was important to lessen travelling in order to prevent the impact of the virus.





The management has tentatively set December as the hosting month, depending on how the situation unfolds.





Our key priority is the safety and health of our fellow Zimbabweans and we have collectively made a decision to postpone the impending homecoming scheduled to take place from 1-30 April 2020, the management said in a statement.





The event will now take place from 1-31 December 2020. Through the initiative, Zimbabweans who are scattered around the world are meant to reunite in their motherland.





It will be an opportunity for those who have never visited Zimbabwe to join the group, learn, explore more about the country, enjoy and sight see the famous Zimbabwean culture, art, beauty and history.





The homecoming event will include networking events, sport, parties and concerts, so that there will be something for everyone.





Tours to all key destinations, a move that will promote Zimbabwean tourism, are also expected. Prior to the cancellation, the event had been aggressively marketed.




A special court here has dismissed the application of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking the cancellation of bail of accused-turned-witness Rajiv Saxena in the AgustaWestland chopper scam case.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar, while passing the order, observed that the failure of the accused to comply with the conditions on which the pardon is tendered makes the accused liable to be tried.

"Rajiv Saxena is yet to enter into the witness box to depose before this court. The status of Rajiv Saxena, as on date, is of a witness and he has ceased to be an accused. Therefore, there is no question of cancellation of bail of Rajiv Saxena," the court observed.

The court had recently refused to revoke the approver status of Saxena, sought by the ED through an application.

The Dubai-based businessman was extradited to India on January 31 last year in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore alleged scam relating to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To the annoyance of some shareholders, M.D.C. Holdings (NYSE:MDC) shares are down a considerable 39% in the last month. The recent drop has obliterated the annual return, with the share price now down 5.4% over that longer period.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). Investors have optimistic expectations of companies with higher P/E ratios, compared to companies with lower P/E ratios.

View our latest analysis for M.D.C. Holdings

Does M.D.C. Holdings Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 7.01 that sentiment around M.D.C. Holdings isn't particularly high. If you look at the image below, you can see M.D.C. Holdings has a lower P/E than the average (8.3) in the consumer durables industry classification.

NYSE:MDC Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

Its relatively low P/E ratio indicates that M.D.C. Holdings shareholders think it will struggle to do as well as other companies in its industry classification. Since the market seems unimpressed with M.D.C. Holdings, it's quite possible it could surprise on the upside. It is arguably worth checking if insiders are buying shares, because that might imply they believe the stock is undervalued.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.

Story continues

It's great to see that M.D.C. Holdings grew EPS by 11% in the last year. And it has bolstered its earnings per share by 29% per year over the last five years. So one might expect an above average P/E ratio.

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

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. Theoretically, a business can improve its earnings (and produce a lower P/E in the future) by investing in growth. That means taking on debt (or spending its cash).

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.

So What Does M.D.C. Holdings's Balance Sheet Tell Us?

Net debt is 43% of M.D.C. Holdings's market cap. While it's worth keeping this in mind, it isn't a worry.

The Bottom Line On M.D.C. Holdings's P/E Ratio

M.D.C. Holdings has a P/E of 7.0. That's below the average in the US market, which is 13.3. The EPS growth last year was strong, and debt levels are quite reasonable. If it continues to grow, then the current low P/E may prove to be unjustified. Since analysts are predicting growth will continue, one might expect to see a higher P/E so it may be worth looking closer. Given M.D.C. Holdings's P/E ratio has declined from 11.4 to 7.0 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. If it is underestimating a company, investors can make money by buying and holding the shares until the market corrects itself. So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold the key to an excellent investment decision.

You might be able to find a better buy than M.D.C. Holdings. 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.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  Shipments of food and goods in and out of Metro Manila will remain unchanged even after the region is placed on lockdown, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Friday.

The government said it wants the private sector to go business as usual despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, which has prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to cancel classes and government work until April 12.

Stores, restaurants, malls factories, offices, banks are open, (but) just on flexible working arrangements, Lopez told CNN Philippines in a text message. Cargoes, food and non-food, are ok to move.

RELATED: Metro Manila lockdown only effective if supplies of essential items are enough  VP

Duterte on Thursday night announced several measures to contain the spread of the disease known as COVID-19, which has so far infected 52 people and led to five deaths in the country. These include banning land, domestic air and sea travel to and from the capital.

Jojo Garcia, general manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, also told CNN Philippines The Source that trade flows will be sustained despite the so-called community quarantine in Metro Manila, where most of the COVID-19 cases have been confirmed.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said separately that theres enough food supply in Metro Manila, as he assured that the flow of goods will be continuous even when the travel restrictions kick in on March 15.

Dar said rice stocks stored in the warehouses of the National Food Authority are good for at least 80 days. This will be further augmented by the current harvest this dry season, providing additional stocks for another two or three more months, he added.

Coupled with sacks maintained by private traders and households, supply is assured for about nine months, according to the DA official. Other basic food items such as pork, chicken, eggs, fish, vegetables, fruits, sugar, and cooking oil are also ample.

Both Dar and Lopez appealed to the public not to resort to panic-buying, as products can be easily replenished by manufacturers. A price freeze on key items such as face masks, alcohol, and food items are also in place.

RELATED: The psychology behind why toilet paper, of all things, is the latest coronavirus panic buy

Lopez also clarified that employees working for companies based in Metro Manila will be allowed to go in and out of the region despite travel restrictions earlier announced. He said these workers will have to show their IDs, but are encouraged to stay within Metro Manila for one month so theres less movement.

The coronavirus pandemic has also spooked financial markets, causing two consecutive trading halts at the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index as shares plunged by more than 10 percent. Stocks closed at an eight-year low of 5,736.27 on Thursday, wiping out 933.35 billion in value in a day, the PSE said.
In Atomwaffen chat rooms, according to prosecutors, Denton went by the nickname Rape. He is accused of organizing a threatening campaign against a ProPublica reporter who had named him and other Atomwaffen members. Fake threats were called in to ProPublicas New York office and the reporters home. Such threats are called swatting, because the goal is to provoke an overwhelming police response that includes a SWAT team.
Rome: Thousands of migrants and asylum seekers on Greece's Aegean Islands are to be offered 2000 ($3550) each to return to their countries of origin, in the latest attempt to address the migrant crisis.

The offer by the European Union will be open to up to 5000 migrants living in overcrowded, rubbish-strewn camps on Lesbos, Kos, Chios, Samos and Leros.

The voluntary return scheme will be valid for just one month, so as not to act as an incentive for migrants who are currently in Turkey to try to reach the islands. It is hoped it will help ease tensions on the islands, where refugee facilities have been burnt down and aid workers and journalists attacked by right-wing vigilantes.

A volunteer music teacher in the burnt facilities of the school for refugee children, part of the "One Happy Family" NGO's project on the island of Lesbos on March 8, 2020. Credit:Getty Images

There are an estimated 40,000 asylum seekers stuck on the islands, with more arriving from Turkey all the time.
Nico Hulkenberg will struggle to return to the Formula 1 grid.

That is the claim of another former German F1 driver, Timo Glock, who thinks ousted Renault racer Hulkenberg should instead target a DTM race seat.

"Once a driver is out, a comeback is always difficult," Glock told ran.de.

"Many young drivers are always coming up, including ones who bring sponsorship with them. It is difficult for an experienced driver to come back," he added.

Glock, who last raced for Marussia in 2012, continued: "I think a big and experienced name like him would be a great thing for the DTM.

"I would really like to see Nico in a DTM car," the 37-year-old, who drives a BMW in the premier German touring car series, said.

(GMM)
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Standex International Corp. (SXI) has agreed to sell the Refrigerated Solutions Group, part of the Food Service Equipment segment, to Ten Oaks Group, for $11 million. RSG manufactures refrigerated cabinets and walk-ins for customers food service and retail end market. Standex International expects to incur approximately $27 million in non-cash charges associated with the divestiture including goodwill impairment in the third quarter. The company expects the sale to have immaterial impact on earnings per share for the remainder of fiscal 2020. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
In old movies, before movies became overtly political, Hollywood writers were adept at creating utterly meaningless speeches for their political characters. These speeches sounded good but meant nothing. Think of a whole speech filled with various iterations of the line from Toy Story  "To infinity and beyond"  which seems aspirational but is actually nonsense. Much the same can be said about Joe Biden's grand announcement that he has a plan to combat the coronavirus.

Hidden behind his banal platitudes was something more disturbing: when Biden moved on from criticizing Trump's actions for minimizing the coronavirus's impact, he offered a plan that's essentially a carbon copy of everything Trump has already said or done. Either Biden has become more of a dullard than anyone realized, which is worrisome, or he thinks the American people are incredibly stupid, which is insulting.

A subdued Biden, his head swinging rhythmically from one TelePrompter to another, portentously announced that the coronavirus requires a national response. He said people have to change their behaviors, wash hands, self-quarantine, and stop hugging and hand-shaking. He promised to put Americans' health and safety first.

Stop me if you've heard this before...

Oh, you have? You're correct. It's precisely (a) what Trump has been saying and (b) what everybody else has been saying.

But wait! There's more.

Biden announced that he has a committee of experts advising him and that he will "lead by science." It's unclear what he thinks the alternative is. Magic? The Black Arts?

Biden then moved in for the kill, like an old dog gumming a worn out chew toy:

Downplaying it, being overly dismissive, or spreading misinformation is only going to hurt us and further advantage the spread of the disease. But neither should we panic or fall back on xenophobia. Labeling COVID-19 a foreign virus does not displace the accountability for the misjudgments that have been taken thus far by the Trump administration.

Biden was obviously attacking Trump and he was wrong on every point.

Trump didn't downplay the coronavirus.

Trump addressed the coronavirus immediately with travel restrictions and quarantines.

Trump was not overly dismissive but worked quickly with the CDC and other scientists.

Trump was the victim of misinformation that the media spread, whether lying that he called coronavirus a " hoax " or lying that he told people to go to work

Trump has not panicked.

Trump was not being xenophobic when he stopped travel from areas in which the virus was and is spreading.

Having finished gumming Trump, Biden went back to saying the same things Trump has already said and promising to do things Trump has done. That's right: Biden, with his history of plagiarizing, is at it again. He's plagiarizing Trump's coronavirus policy:

He promised to make testing free and eliminate cost barriers for treatment, something Trump is already working on with private companies and with government programs.

He said his plan would help develop a vaccine, something the private sector here and in Israel is working on with support from Trump.

He said he'd deploy supplies and personnel, which Trump is already doing.

He said he'd deliver economic help to families and small businesses, something Trump made a centerpiece of his remarks on Wednesday.

He said he'd provide emergency paid leave for those affected by the virus, something Trump also said he's pushing.

Tim Murtaugh, the Trump 2020 communications director, slapped back hard:

In the past, Joe Biden has shown terrible judgment and incompetence in the face of public health issues[.] ... The Obama White House had to publicly apologize for and clean up after Biden when his irresponsible remarks caused panic during the swine flu outbreak in 2009. Just weeks ago, he was openly critical of President Trump's early move to restrict travel from China to the United States in response to the coronavirus  a decision which medical experts agree helped impede the spread of the virus to this country. Yesterday his campaign actually raised the vile conspiracy theory that the President purposely allowed the coronavirus to spread. In times like this, America needs leadership and Biden has shown none. President Trump acted early and decisively and has put the United States on stronger footing than other nations. His every move has been aimed at keeping Americans safe, while Joe Biden has sought to capitalize politically and stoke citizens' fears.

Trump had a few things to say, too:

Sleepy Joe Biden was in charge of the H1N1 Swine Flu epidemic which killed thousands of people. The response was one of the worst on record. Our response is one of the best, with fast action of border closings & a 78% Approval Rating, the highest on record. His was lowest!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020

The Obama White House had to immediately issue an apology for Joe Bidens remarks, and any alarm that he might have caused, an alarm about a Swine Flu outbreak that took 6 months for President Obama to declare a National Emergency, and that killed 12,000 Americans. @LouDobbs  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020

To the extent that Biden's plagiarism is wrapped around unfounded and demoralizing attacks against Trump (demoralizing not to Trump, but to the general public), Joel Pollak made an excellent point about both Biden and Bernie:
A Google employee in Bengaluru has tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and the company of Friday asked staff in that office to work from work as a precautionary measure for the day.

"We can confirm that an employee from our Bengaluru office has been diagnosed with COVID-19. They were in one of our Bengaluru offices for a few hours before developing any symptoms," a Google spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that the employee has been on quarantine since then, and the company has asked colleagues who were in close contact with the employee to quarantine themselves and monitor their health.

It has asked employees in that Bengaluru office to work from home on Friday, the spokesperson said. "We have taken and will continue to take all necessary precautionary measures, following the advice of public health officials, as we prioritise everyone's health and safety."



The Bengaluru office is among the oldest facilities of the company in India and houses hundreds of engineering staff.

The company did not comment on the number of employees in the facility.

In the past few days, employees of various IT firms like Mindtree and Dell have tested positive for coronavirus.

Many companies are now asking employees to work from home, and use technologies like telepresence and video conferencing to ensure business continuity.

More than 1,30,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.

The number of coronavirus patients in India has risen to 75, as per health ministry records.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Despite widespread calls to shut down the citys public schools, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday he plans to keep schools open.

Instead, the mayor will take a number of steps to keep the schools up and running.

Those steps include moving meals from school cafeterias to classrooms, moving physical education classes outside, canceling field trips and work that takes school officials from school to school.

I look at this through the lens of parents that Ive known and as a parent myself and I know there are many many factors that have to be looked at here, but Im also looking at this from how we protect those three pillars I keep talking about: schools, transit, and healthcare, he told reporters at a press conference at City Hall Friday evening.

The mayor cautioned that if he closed down the citys schools, kids would still go all over their buildings and their communities looking for something to do, which would compromise a schools closure.

He also said that if the city closed the largest school district in the country, it might not reopen for the rest of the calendar year.

I think there is an illusion out there that you can shut down schools temporarily in the midst of a growing crisis, he said. I think the sober honest reality is if you shut down, you have to be ready for the possibility that thats it for the school year, that might be it for the calendar year.

If conditions around the outbreak change, the mayor said he would be willing to go in a different direction if thats what I think is in the best interest of the city.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Earlier on Friday, New Dorp High School closed its campus after a parent of one of the students in its Hungerford School tested positive for the disease.

The mayor said the school would likely reopen on Monday after being cleaned, but noted that would be determined after the school is cleaned and an evaluation done over the weekend.

As of Friday, 154 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in New York City, including five cases on Staten Island -- the same number as of Thursday. But the mayor said that the borough breakdown was not up-to-date and those numbers would be updated soon.

The mayors announcement Friday comes after days of pressure from his fellow elected officials and the wider community for the closures in an effort to limit the spread of the disease.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, the United Federal of Teachers and members of Staten Islands delegation of elected officials have called on the mayor to make the call to close the public schools. Parents and teachers have also urged the city to close schools.

The mayor pointed to guidance Friday from the Centers for Disease Control on school closures to help explain his decision. The guidance points to issues that de Blasio spoke about, including working parents, particularly those in medical fields, who would need to leave the workforce to care for their children.

The mayor said that 68% of the 1.1 million children in city schools attended classes on Friday.

A day earlier, he said he expects the number of confirmed cases to rise to 1,000 citywide by next week as he declared a state of emergency to tackle the coronavirus.

But as the citys public schools remain open, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday any decision to close down schools is up to a locality.

Based on the current 421 positive coronavirus cases across the state, Cuomo said he is not ready to issue a statewide school closure directive.

Like de Blasio, Cuomo has cautioned that a mass school closure was not without its consequences.

For now, the state is only requiring that if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19 a school will be closed for at least 24 hours. The local Health Department will notify schools if and when a school must close due to COVID-19.

Earlier this week, Brooklyn Councilman Mark Treyger (D) shared a temporary contingency plan with the Department of Education that would direct schools to move to a summer school model where school sites are combined into a few buildings in each borough to service students.

Treygers plan would move to that type of model where schools could provide grab and go meals to the most vulnerable students and keep those schools fully staffed with healthcare professionals to give students any medical services they require.

Parents who cannot put their children in childcare would also have the option to send their kids to those schools.

But the mayor said Friday he had yet to see Treygers plan.

On Thursday, the Archdiocese of New York Superintendent of Catholic Schools Michael J. Deegan announced that Catholic elementary schools across the city will be closed next week from Monday, March 16, to Friday, March 20, with the possibility of a lengthier closure, according to a notice posted on the Archdioceses school website.

***

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Archaeologists excavating the site of Lacanja Tzeltal in Mexico have discovered the ruins of the capital of a kingdom known from Classic period Maya inscriptions as Sak Tzi (White Dog). Among their findings is a trove of Maya monuments, one of which has an important inscription describing rituals, battles, a mythical water serpent and the dance of a rain god.

The archaeological site of Lacanja Tzeltal is located in what is today the state of Chiapas in southeastern Mexico. It was likely first settled by 750 BCE and then occupied for over 1,000 years.

Sak Tzi was by no means the most powerful of the Maya kingdoms, and its remnants are modest compared to the more well-known sites of Chichen Itza and nearby Palenque.

Finding Sak Tzi is still a major advance in our understanding of ancient Maya politics and culture, said Dr. Charles Golden, an anthropological archaeologist at Brandeis University.

The residents of Sak Tzi lived in the countryside harvesting a wide variety of crops and making pottery and stone tools.

The archaeologists found the remnants of what was likely the citys marketplace where these goods were brought to be sold.

The kingdoms residents also came to the city to attend ceremonial ball games in which players kept a solid rubber ball, sometimes as heavy as twenty pounds, bouncing back and forth across a narrow playing field using their hips and shoulders.

On the northeastern end of the city are the ruins of a 45-foot (13.7 m) high pyramid and several surrounding structures that served as elite residences and sites for religious rituals.

The center of religious and political activity was the Plaza Mukul Ton (Monuments Plaza), a 1.5-acre (0.6 ha) courtyard where the people gathered for ceremonies. A staircase leads from the plaza to a towering platform, where temples and reception halls were arrayed and members of the royal family once held court and might have been buried.

Sak Tzi had the misfortune of being surrounded on all sides by more powerful states. For the inhabitants of the capital and countryside, this meant the perpetual threat of warfare and violent interruptions of daily life.

The researchers found evidence that the capital was surrounded on one side by steep-walled streams. On the other side, masonry walls were built to keep out invaders.

These fortifications werent always effective. Inscriptions on one monument tell of a time when at least a portion of the city was set ablaze during a conflict with neighboring kingdoms.

Ultimately, the survival of Sak Tzi may have depended as much on its ability to make peace with its neighbors  and even play them off of each other  as its military strength.

This is one of the reasons Sak Tzi holds so much interest for researchers, Dr. Golden said.

Little is known about how mid-size Maya realms maneuvered and managed to persist in the face of constant hostilities from more powerful kingdoms.

So far, dozens of sculptures have been found among the ruins at the Sak Tzi site, though many have been damaged by looters or degraded over the millennia by rain, forest fires and lush tropical vegetation.

The best-preserved sculpture is a 2- by 4-foot (0.6 x 1.2 m) tablet. Its inscriptions tell stories about a mythical water serpent, described in poetic couplets as shiny sky, shiny earth, and several elderly, stony gods whose names arent given. There are also accounts of the lives of dynastic rulers.

Another inscription tells of a mythic flood, while others list what are probably historic dates for the births and battles of various rulers, including a king named Kab Kante.

This intertwining of myth and reality is typical of Maya inscriptions and had special meaning for ancient scribes and readers.

At the bottom of the tablet is a dancing royal figure. The Maya believed royalty could become one with or even transform into a god. In this case, the ruler is dressed as the rain god connected to violent tropical storms, Yopaat.

In his right hand, he carries an axe that is the lightning bolt of the storm, which has a deified aspect named Kawiil. In his left hand, the figure carries a manopla, a stone gauntlet or bludgeon used in ritual combat.

The teams paper was published in the Journal of Field Archaeology.

_____

Charles Golden et al. 2020. Centering the Classic Maya Kingdom of Sak Tzi. Journal of Field Archaeology 45 (2): 67-85; doi: 10.1080/00934690.2019.1684748
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 13

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

The World Bank Board of Directors today approved a $239 million loan from the International Development Association (part of the World Bank Group) to finance a project to develop the water services sector and its institutional support in Uzbekistan, Trend reports citing the World Bank.

"Upon completion of this project, more than 500,000 people in three regions of Uzbekistan will have access to better water supply and sanitation services," said Hideki Mori, head of the World Bank's Uzbekistan office.

The project will modernize sewerage and wastewater treatment facilities in Nukus, Tahiatash and Khojeyli cities in Karakalpakstan. Water supply and sewerage networks will also be expanded and reconstructed in Syrdarya region and Kattakurgan town in Samarkand region.

One of the key objectives of the project is to reduce energy and water losses throughout Uzbekistan. This is planned to be achieved through implementation of a financing mechanism for energy efficiency measures in the water supply services sector, as well as water consumption metering programs, which will be available to local water channels.

In addition, under the project, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs will provide a grant of $7.8 million to develop institutional and regulatory capacity in the water services sector. These project activities will assist the Government of Uzbekistan in reforming the sector to increase its efficiency and transparency.

The World Bank is assisting in the implementation of reforms in Uzbekistan through technical assistance and financing 21 projects with a total value of about $3.5 billion. They are being implemented in the areas of macroeconomic policy development, agriculture, health, education, water supply and sanitation, energy, transport, social protection, as well as urban and rural infrastructure.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
Too many American Christians worship 'lesser gods' when engaging in politics, Democratic activist says

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A Democratic political strategist has warned that all too often Christians end up worshiping lesser gods when they're involved in politics.

Justin Giboney, an attorney who's also president of the AND Campaign, spoke at the Just Gospel 2020 conference at Del Ray Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, last week.

Giboney said that when it comes to politics, while Christians should be shining like the North Star in the dead of night, too many sound like generic Republicans or generic Democrats.

Our faith is not evident in our tactics, in our posture, or in our rhetorical devices, said Giboney. Lets be serious, our politics isnt winning over any converts.

He said that many American Christians involved in politics have shown that they have become converts to lesser gods and lesser institutions, with Christians discipling backwards.

We have evangelicals using terms like patriotism to silence pleas for injustice. Even worse, we have some folks using the Gospel as a reason not to do justice, continued Giboney.

Then we have some Christians who rightly concern themselves with justice, but arent bold enough to speak on the necessity of obedience and personal transformation along with liberation.

Giboney felt that many Christians have placed their trust in methods and ideologies that are built on a foundation thats certain to collapse.

Weve placed our faith in the tenets of conservatism or the forecast of progressivism, he added. Weve outsourced our public witness to secular commentators and think-tanks that now do the thinking for us.

Christians have separated our faith from our politics and weve allowed our political affiliations to become religious in nature, liturgical in display.

Giboney believes Christians in the public square must advocate for both justice and moral order, arguing that conservative and liberal ideologies have failed to sufficiently lobby for both.

He cited as a positive example Catholic social activist Dorothy Day, who advocated against war and on behalf of impoverished Americans while opposing abortion and the sexual revolution.

Giboney also warned against Christians engaging in brain-dead politics, noting that Christians involved in politics should critique both parties.

You can be in a party and not approach politics as a partisan. To refuse to approach an issue along partisan lines doesnt mean you are necessarily playing the fence, he explained.

It could mean that youre being decisive on your own terms. It could mean that you understand that that Democrat rock is not our rock. That that Republican rock is not our rock. A prophetic witness wont conform to the current partisan frameworks.

Giboneys remarks came as part of the Just Gospel conference, held March 5-7, which seeks to help American Christians better engage politics.

We hope to model how Christians who differ in secondary and political matters can nevertheless do so charitably and in a way that preserves both unity and freedom of conscience, the conference website said. We need and want healing conversations that serve the Church. We need pilgrim politics that bear witness to Christ and Kingdom to which we are headed.

In 2018, Andrew Sullivan, author and columnist with New York Magazine, wrote a piece arguing that politics was filling the need for meaning found with increased secularization.

The need for meaning hasnt gone away, but without Christianity, this yearning looks to politics for satisfaction. And religious impulses, once anchored in and tamed by Christianity, find expression in various political cults, wrote Sullivan at the time.

Sullivan believed that these political cults threaten liberal democracy because of their rejection of compromise, doubt, reason, and the primacy of the individual.
The Left parties have decided to observe March 23, marking the anniversary of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, to oppose Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Population Register (NPR) and Register of Citizens (NRC).

Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary , CPI(M); D. Raja, General Secretary, CPI; Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary, CPI(ML)-Liberation; Debabrata Biswas, General Secretary, AIFB and Manoj Bhattacharya, RSP issued a statement regarding the same.

"The police under the BJP is being used to advance its communal polarization and mount attacks on the democratic rights of the people to organize peaceful protests. The brazen attacks at Jamia Millia University, Aligarh Muslim University followed by the attack by masked goons under police protection at JNU, continued with vicious attacks in Uttar Pradesh, other BJP ruled states and in Delhi," Left parties wrote in the statement.

"All our units will jointly work out programmes in the state capitals and at district headquarters. Marches from different parts shall be organised to culminate at a central venue where political leaders, cultural personalities and activists, intellectuals and people's movements shall hold a public meeting and a cultural programme. An oath on the enclosed pledge shall be taken at the end of the function," read the statement.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A top 'Ndrangheta clan member was arrested in Italy after police, helped by the anti-coronavirus lockdown, spotted the fugitive smoking inside a seemingly deserted safe house, authorities said Friday.

Cesare Cordi, described by police as a "leading figure of the 'Ndrangheta of Locri" in southern Calabria, had been on the run since August, when a judge issued a warrant for the 42-year-old's arrest.

Thanks to the empty streets and stay-at-home orders imposed throughout the country due to the coronavirus risk, the police, who had been tracking Cordi for days, found him at a house in the town of Bruzzano Zeffirio, at the tip of Italy's boot, late on Thursday.

"The faint glow of a cigarette -- caught through the crack of a shutter -- was enough to give the carabinieri the certainty that in that house was the wanted man," the police of the province of Reggio Calabria, who staged the raid, said in a statement.

About a dozen people linked to the Locri clan were arrested in August on suspicion of various crimes, including mafia-type association, extortion, illegal competition, fraudulent transfer of assets, and possession of and carrying weapons in public.

The 'Ndrangheta, a loose confederation of about 100 organised groups centred in the Calabria region, is considered the country's most powerful and most organised crime syndicate.

Cordi's father Antonio was head of the Locri clan before his death in 2007.

In December, authorities carried out a massive raid against three other related clans within the group, arresting over 300 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump said Friday that he would waive the interest on all federal student loans amid the coronavirus outbreak, meaning borrowers could pause their payments without any penalties.

The measure is part of a larger strategy to mitigate the economic consequences of the pandemic which has so far infected more than 130,000 people and killed over 5,000 worldwide since January. Further details weren't immediately available such as how long the pause might last.

Currently, the U.S. Department of Education allows borrowers to put their federal student loans into a so-called deferment or forbearance if they want or need a break from their monthly bills. However, interest can accrue on the debt under those options, leaving a borrower with a bigger balance when they resume repayment.

While details are still scant on Trump's proposal, it appears that borrowers could use these options without their debt growing.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to the president on Wednesday with 30 Senate Democrats, asking him to grant six months of forgiveness for those with student debt. Meanwhile, consumer advocates have warned that the impacts of the pandemic could make it hard for many people to keep up with their student loan bills.
(JNS) Democrats blocked a bill on Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives that would have prohibited U.S. support for the anti-Israel BDS movement.

The Israel Anti-Boycott Act, introduced by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), would have expanded the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to include prohibiting U.S. support for foreign boycotts of Israel from groups including the European Union and the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Lawmakers defeated consideration of the bill by a tally of 219-194.

We cannot be quiet when it comes to combating anti-Semitism and anti-Israel mentalities, said Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) on the House floor. We need to work together in Congress and pass common-sense legislation on this issue. H.R. 5595 does just that.

BDS tries to delegitimize Israel by turning it into a pariah state, cut off from all trade, tourism, military, diplomatic and cultural ties with the rest of the world, said Zeldin, who mentioned in his speech on the House floor about the U.N. Human Rights Council releasing a blacklist of companies that do business in the West Bank.

The bill stated that it would not apply to a persons noncommercial speech or other noncommercial expressive activity.

Democrats have been reluctant to support anti-BDS legislation due to First Amendment concerns, although it is unclear whether that rationale was the reason that House Democrats blocked the bill.
Professor Robert Bob Cunningham (Second row standing 4th from right) will work with students of the Teacher Education (pictured) to equip them to impact positively at the classroom level. (Photo Credit: SVGCC)

The St. Vincent & the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) has welcomed renowned Mathematics-teaching educator Professor Robert "Bob Cunningham to its faculty, as the College looks to improve the quality of Math specialisation graduates from its Division of Teacher Education.





Director of the SVGCC, Nigel Scott, welcomed Cunningham to the institution stating, "Prof. Cunninghams stint at the SVGCC will be of great significance to the Mathematics teaching landscape, not just here at the College but also at a national level, as our graduates from the Division of Teacher Education move on to classrooms all across St. Vincent and the Grenadines where they impact the lives of Vincentian students.





Scott recognized that "Mathematics has long posed a challenge to our youth across the Caribbean, but he expressed the hope that "Prof. Cunninghams innovative teaching approach towards the subject would bring a much needed boost to our students.





Professor Cunninghams time at the institution is made possible through the Fulbright Fellowship Programme.





He intends to integrate research-based strategies utilised at his home institution (The College of New Jersey) into the curriculum at the SVGCC, in hopes of promoting global excellence in the teaching and learning of mathematics.





Through funds provided by his Fellowship, Prof. Cunningham has already purchased "manipulatives - physical objects used as teaching tools to engage students in the hands-on learning of mathematics - which he intends to leave in the possession of the institution.





The Professor, whose assignment at the College lasts until the end of April, said he has enjoyed working with the student teachers at SVGCC and those placed in local schools. (Source: SVGCC)




A 43-year-old man, who returned



to India from Malaysia on Friday, was later in the day admitted to a government hospital here for suspected exposure to the novel coronavirus, said an official.

The man, who returned home from Malaysia, was suffering from cold and cough, Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Praveen Jadia said.

He was taken to a government hospital in the city and admitted in its isolation ward as a precautionary measure, Jadia said.

The man has been kept under supervision of a group of doctors, Jadia said.

His blood and swab samples have been sent to Bhopals All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for examination, the officer said.

Jadia said in the last 42 days, samples of 16 people from Indore have been sent for examination for suspected coronavirus infection.

So far, reports of 14 of them have been received and all of them came negative, he said.

Reports of the remaining two are awaited, Jadia said.

No positive case of the novel coronavirus has been reported so far from Madhya Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
British Airways today revealed coronavirus is threatening its very survival as staff were told there will be job cuts and aircrafts must be mothballed because of the 'worsening' worldwide pandemic.

Chief Executive Alex Cruz has written to all 45,000 workers saying the virus' relentless spread is a crisis 'of global proportions like no other we have known', more serious than the 2008 financial crash, SARS or 9/11.

Mr Cruz warned people would be put out of work and planes would be grounded 'like we've never had to do before' and urged: 'Please do not underestimate the seriousness of this for our company' in a message entitled 'the survival of British Airways'.

Yesterday Norwegian Air said it would lay off around half of its 11,000 staff and cancel 4,000 flights as it struggles to stay afloat - but BA has yet to say how many workers they will let go.

Mr Cruz claims that BA, which along with Iberia and Aer Lingus is owned by the IAG Group, is more resilient 'than ever before' - but the airline was under 'immense pressure' and would 'have to react fast and definitively in response to the worsening situation', he said.

His letter to staff was leaked this afternoon - but despite the bad news it contained shares in BA's parent company jumped upwards five per cent this afternoon as investors reacted positively to news that the airline would be cutting costs. Although IAG's stock price has fallen by 42 per cent in the last month.

The world's airlines are 'switching to survival mode' as the travel industry buckles under the weight of the coronavirus outbreak - just eight days since the collapse of British regional carrier Flybe who also blamed coronavirus for its demise.

Heathrow also saw a 4.8 per cent year-on-year decline in passenger numbers in February due to coronavirus, it has also emerged, with airport terminals across the UK exceptionally empty today.

Chief Executive Alex Cruz has warned that British Airways' future could be at risk because of coronavirus revealing staff would go and planes grounded 'like we've never had to do before'

Mr Cruz has sent a message to 45,000 staff entitled 'the survival of British Airways' where he revealed there would be job cuts

Heathrow Terminal 5, BA's main home at the country's biggest airport, was quiet again today

The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) today the Government must act immediately to support the UK airline industry, which is creaking under the pressure of the effects of coronavirus.

Summer booking are significantly down, and as a result, airlines are scaling back operations and asking employees to take unpaid leave, freezing and pay and considering redundancies.

BA has already been forced to cancel flights to mainland China, Italy and Spain to stop the spread - as have Ryanair, easyJet and other major carriers.

Airlines around the globe are cutting flights and costs amid plunging demand with experts saying they will collectively lose $130billion this year.

As a result, jobs would be lost 'perhaps for a short period, perhaps longer term' and the company was in discussions with trade unions, Cruz added.

Aircraft would be grounded in a way that the airline has never had to do before, he said.

A spokesman for BA, which is based at Heathrow in London, declined to comment when asked how many jobs could go among its 45,000-strong workforce.

While Britain was exempt from Donald Trump's travel ban, flight sales are already tanking.

A map showing the latest number of cases across Europe, with Italy by far the worst affected. The small dots represent small nations such as Vatican City, San Marino and Andorra

The UK now has 798 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, 11 people have died and more than 31,000 people have been tested (Figures accurate as at 2pm on Friday March 13)

British Airways aircraft would be grounded in a way that the airline has never had to do before,

Flybe collapsed last week. The company's collapse saw around 2,300 people lose their jobs

An employee works at an almost deserted check-in desk at the International Departures terminal at Logan airport in Boston the day after the Trump administration shut down most air traffic from the EU

Today new British government advice warned against all but essential travel to parts of Spain.

This will will further hurt BA, which has 17 flights to Madrid daily, plus dozens to other Spanish cities.

Q&A: WHAT IS THE US'S TRAVEL BAN? WHO WILL BE BANNED FROM ENTERING THE US? US President Donald Trump said any foreign citizens who have been to a country in the European Schengen zone within the past two weeks will not be allowed to enter the United States. This applies to people who have been to Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. US citizens, their immediate family members, and people who are legal permanent residents are not included in the ban and will still be allowed into the country. People travelling from the UK will be able to fly into the US as usual  as long as they haven't been to an EU country  because Britain is not in the free movement area. Americans who are travelling back from the affected areas will be funnelled through select airports where they will go through 'enhanced screening procedures'. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO PEOPLE WHO FALL FOUL OF THE RULE? The travel ban will come into force today, Friday March 13 Anyone who decides to travel in violation of the new law is expected to be turned away at either their departure airport or at the US border when they land. It is not known whether the US will quarantine people who demand to enter the US or simply force them to fly home. The Department of Homeland Security said it will issue more details about how the rule will be enforced by Friday. Advertisement

But despite the gloomy news for staff, shares in IAG traded up 8 per cent to 355.8 pence in the hour after Cruz's warning over jobs, paring gains of as much as 14% earlier in the session.

US President Donald Trump's shock decision to impose a 30-day ban on flights from Europe means the industry is facing a crisis 'bigger than the airspace closure after 9/11 and the Icelandic volcano groundings', according to consultant John Strickland.

It will badly disrupt transatlantic traffic that is key to the earnings of major European companies, analysts warned, as the move hit stocks that have already been some of the worst affected the outbreak.

Norwegian lost a fifth of its value after announcing the string of emergency measures.

It said the changes would apply until the end of May  but warned that the numbers could increase further.

The cancellations amount to around 40pc of its long-haul schedule and a quarter of its short-haul flights.

Chief executive Jacob Schram said it was an unprecedented situation. Norwegian was already struggling under the weight of a mammoth debt pile.

Tui, the worlds largest tour operator, said it would freeze payments and suspend contracts with some hotels due to a collapse in demand.

Hays Travel, which bought 550 Thomas Cook stores in January, asked staff to take unpaid leave due to the slump in demand in the travel industry.

The Sunderland firm employs more than 5,000 people and is the countrys largest independent travel agents.

The warnings came as shares on the London Stock Exchange dived more than a tenth - the second worst day in its history as the impact started to affect jobs.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said as many as 10,000 people could be infected in the UK, and urged anyone with a persistent cough or high temperature to self-isolate for seven days.

Businesses are facing up to a period of many months when families will stay indoors, rather than heading out to spend their money.

The change will put a huge strain on shops, bars, restaurants and other leisure businesses such as cinemas, music venues and sports venues.

President Donald Trump banned air travel from mainland Europe to the US for 30 days battering the airline industry.

The International Air Transport Association, which represents airlines around the world, has predicted the industry could lose 88billion of sales in 2020.

Cruise operator Carnivals Princess Cruises division will shut down for two months due to the disease after two of its ships became floating hotbeds

WH Smith, have also been affected by the travel chaos, halved their expectations for the year and predicted their sales would take a 130million coronavirus hit.

The Budget on Wednesday put 7billion of emergency measures in place to protect businesses starved of cash during the delay stage of the virus. There were guarantees for loans, a business rates holiday, and freezes on duties on beer, wine and spirits.

Another Instagram user captured his ghost Delta flight from MinneapolisSaint Paul International Airport in Minnesota last month as airlines go into 'survival mode'

The coronavirus pandemic is putting up to 50 MILLION travel and tourism jobs at risk, with BA warning it will lay off staff and ground aircraft

Up to 50 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector are at risk due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), and BA is warning that it will cut jobs and ground aircraft.

The latest figures from the WTTC, which represents the global travel and tourism private sector, show that global travel could be adversely impacted by up to 25 per cent in 2020.

This is the equivalent to a loss of three months of global travel, which could lead to a corresponding reduction in jobs of between 12 and 14 per cent.

Up to 50 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector are at risk due to the global Covid-19 pandemic

Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: 'WTTC figures show the stark impact on the travel and tourism sector of the present Covid-19 outbreak, with analysis now suggesting that up to 50 million jobs are at risk in the sector globally.

'When the time is right, WTTC and the global private sector will be ready to help and support the government and countries to recover.

'The Covid-19 outbreak clearly presents a significant threat to the industry as a whole, to those employed within it, and those wishing to continue travelling.

'Travel and tourism has the strength to overcome this challenge and will emerge stronger and more robust by taking all necessary measures to tackle Covid-19 and the understandable concern which surrounds it.'

The WTTC, which is headquartered in London, is calling for a series of measures to be taken to enable the swift recovery of the sector once Covid-19 is under control.

Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: 'WTTC figures show the stark impact on the travel and tourism sector of the present Covid-19 outbreak'

These include the removal or simplification of visas, the lifting of the 80-20 'use it or lose it' airport slot rule for airlines, the reduction or elimination of travellers' taxes and support for hard-hit destinations, such as cash-injections for marketing campaigns.

As the WTTC released its figures, BA's CEO Alex Cruz told staff in a global message seen by Reuters that the airline will ground aircraft like never before and lay off staff due to coronavirus, in a battle by the company to tackle what he called the most serious crisis in aviation history.

'It is a crisis of global proportions like no other we have known,' he wrote. 'Please do not underestimate the seriousness of this for our company.'

Cruz told staff in the message that jobs would be lost 'perhaps for a short period, perhaps longer term' and that the company was in discussions with trade unions.

There were 6,729 new coronavirus cases recorded globally on Thursday, bringing the total confirmed number to 134,317. The death toll rose by 351 to 4,968.

It led to several countries being effectively put into lockdown as they closed schools, mass events and shops, while in the US, the mayor of New York declared a state of emergency in the city.

The death toll in Italy  the hardest-hit country after China  climbed from 827 to 1,016 and total infections soared by 21 per cent to 15,113.
Legislative leaders had intended that senators would discuss and move two state budget bills Thursday and adjourn early in the afternoon for a four-day recess.

That plan was sunk when Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne found multiple examples of spending in the budget he believed benefited rural Nebraskans, but didn't help people in his north Omaha district.

Senators also took time to talk about the COVID-19 cases in Nebraska and closings and repercussions they are causing.

Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh said 90,000 uninsured Nebraskans are facing the possibility of needing treatment or testing for the coronavirus. But the state has delayed implementing Medicaid expansion until October.

"I'm concerned that we are not moving nimbly enough as a state to make preparations," she said.

There are children who may need respite care needs if schools close. "How are we going to keep them out of the hospital and off respirators?" she said.

Near the end of the day, Appropriations Committee Chairman John Stinner added an amendment to the mainline budget bill that will be discussed on second-round debate next week to make $10 million available for public health emergency response to the virus. It would be distributed to areas where there is a need to provide emergency response to prevent or contain the illness or other virus-related needs.

It took a cloture vote to advance both budget bills. The $9.4 billion mainline bill (LB1008) was advanced 41-2, with Wayne and Sen. Ernie Chambers voting no. The fund transfer bill (LB1009) advanced on a 40-1 vote, with the negative vote coming from Chambers.

Sen. Lou Ann Linehan filed an amendment on the mainline budget bill that would ensure $130 million would be appropriated in fiscal year 2020-21 for "property tax relief and state aid to schools."

Property tax reductions are not a line item in the budget, she said, even though in Gov. Pete Ricketts' budget proposal, he called for $520 million in reductions to be delivered through increased state school aid over the next three years, beginning in fiscal year 2020-21 with $140 million.

"That's been the plan all along," she said.

Linehan said Lincoln Public Schools would lose $20 million in state aid next year because property valuations in the district increases; Omaha Public Schools loses $9 million in state aid for the same reason.

She and senators have met with multiple school districts across the state to get ideas on what to do to move the property tax and school aid proposal forward, but they have not gotten ideas from any of them.

"The Revenue Committee is not the one not trying to negotiate here," she said. "We need some help besides no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That is what we're getting from the larger schools."

She withdrew the amendment but said it will come back on second-round consideration, which could be next week.

The budget includes $1 million in increases in the Opportunity Grant Program. Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas said Nebraska is 35th in the country for need-based state aid awarded to low-income students for community colleges, trade schools and four-year colleges.

About 65% of students qualify for the funding but don't get it.

"This is what our workforce development is about, making sure people can afford and have some access," Vargas said. "We're not where we need to be, but this is a step in the right direction."

Wayne said there are fundamental issues in the budget that he could not support. The budget places rural issues over urban and increases the urban-rural divide, he said.

Millions of dollars are going to rural workforce development housing, he said, but as long as he has been in the Legislature, there has never been an appropriation for affordable housing in urban areas.

He said the budget contains $3.8 million for repairs for two tunnels and related canal work in the Gering-Fort Laramie Irrigation District but no funding for West Point residents for repairs of drinking water facilities.

"How do we justify one over the other?" he said. "People who need drinking water should have that."

He said he was tired of giving money to the Property Tax Credit Fund when it doesn't help his community and is disproportionate.

He wasn't interested in rushing the budget bills through because of the virus "situation," he said.

"Well, my community's been in a situation for over 100 years," he said. "I've got people getting shot, 14-year-olds, every day. It's been a crisis every day. I've got kids who can't read, graduating, going to McDonald's and can't fill out applications every day."

Lincoln Sen. Kate Bolz, vice chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, disputed Wayne's contention that there was a rural-urban divide created in the budget.

"I think the majority of what this budget does is lift up the state as a whole." she said.

While $3.8 million is going to a water project in western Nebraska, the budget spends $9.2 million on counties affected by flooding in eastern Nebraska, she said.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSLegislature

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Around 200 Indians stranded in Iran are scheduled to land at Mumbais Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) Friday afternoon.

An official from the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said the flight will land around 1pm, following which they will be flown to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan where they will be quarantined for 14 days.

This comes after external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday said that their initial focus is to bring back stranded Indian pilgrims.

There are around 6,000 Indians stranded in Iran, which include 1,100 pilgrims and 300 students, all of whom tested negative for coronavirus on Wednesday.

Read: Canadian PM Justin Trudeaus wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau tests positive for new coronavirus

The Indian embassy in Iran called us for the test. After the travellers tested negative, they said they would mail us our mandatory certificates declaring us fit. However, we havent received them yet, said a Mumbai resident in Iran who is expected to board the flight.

Sources close to the development said screening of these passengers will be conducted in an isolation bay. These passengers will arrive via Iran Air aircraft but will be flown to Jaisalmer on an Air India special flight that will be parked next to the Iran Air aircraft, said the source.

Also read: How coronavirus impacts the human body

As per the governments latest advisory, all the passengers from Iran will be quarantined for 14 days. Jaisalmer has a large spacious centre, specially made for this purpose and is on defence land. The Army will take over immediately after the passengers land and take them to the quarantine centres, said the source.

A ministry official said that a few Iranians from the city could be sent to Tehran via the same aircraft.

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A couple in Vancouver have made over $100,000 by selling Lysol cleaning products on Amazon, amid coronavirus panic.

With Covid-19 officially classified as a pandemic, consumers around the world have started stockpiling goods, with soap, toilet roll and cleaning products the main targets.

The couple, Manny Ranga and Violeta Perez told the Toronto Star that they visit all of the Costco's in their area every day, buying as many disinfecting wipes and liquid cleaners as possible, before selling them on Amazon.

Mr Ranga said that although they sometimes spend over $1,000 on a trip, they can sell a $20 pack of wipes for over $80 online.

"It's as easy as supply and demand." Ms Perez told the Star. "And now, there's excessive demand."

Although they have already had to spend $70,000, short term profit has been vast with over $100,000 worth of products sold so far.

The couple have taken on buying and selling these products full time after the market turned into what Ms Perez described as, excessive demand.

"The whole lot we do, we're within the second." Ms Perez told The Star, "we're hustlers."

Amazon have stated they will crack down on those capitalising on Covid-19 by selling products for an inflated price.

In a letter to senator Edward Markey, the corporation wrote: "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."
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar.13

By Nargiz Ismayilova - Trend:

The supply of Azerbaijani oil via the Ukrainian Port of Odessa using the Druzhba pipelines southern section will not hinder the transit of Russian oil to the West via the same section of the pipeline, Trend reports referring to the Belarusian media.

Belarus expects the delivery of the first tanker with Azerbaijani oil today in the second half of the day. Then, the oil will be shipped from the Port of Odessa and transported via the Odessa-Brody pipeline, and then via the Brody-Mozyr pipeline, said the report.

"Belneftekhim (Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry) is ready to work with Azerbaijani oil. The oil will be accepted, the Brody-Mozyr pipeline is almost ready to receive it. The arrangements for the supply of Azerbaijani oil are organized in such a way as not to affect the transit, the media reported citing spokesperson of the Concern Alexander Tishchenko.

On March 5-6, SOCAR sent first batch of Azerbaijani oil to the Belneftekhim Concern from the Turkish Port of Ceyhan, and the second batch tanker is scheduled for shipment from Georgian Port of Supsa on March 20.

Alexander Tishchenko said earlier that SOCAR will send two oil tankers to Belarus with the volume of 160,000 tons of oil to the Odessa Port in March, with its further transportation via the Odessa-Brody pipeline. About one million tons of oil is planned to be supplied to Belarus from various sources. At the same time, negotiations with the Russian suppliers are under way.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @IsmailovaNargis
School districts from all over the Greater Houston Area, including Houston ISD, Humble ISD, Conroe ISD and Spring ISD, have announced today that they will be closed and school will be canceled for all of next week.

Now Crosby ISD will be joining them.

At 4 P.M. Crosby ISD Superintendent Scott Davis released a note announcing that all district activities will be canceled until Monday, March 23.

The purpose of this serious decision is to increase social distancing so that the spread of COVID-19 is slowed, delayed, or stopped, the note reads. It will require that we ALL participate in social distancing and impeccable hygiene for quite a while into the future.

Crosby ISD is on spring break all of this week. Davis stated that he does not know if the cancellation will extend beyond next week.

I give you my solemn word to stay on top of the situation and make the best decisions in the best interests of all of us, he stated We are all smart people and can stay above panic and fear to make rational decisions that are in the best interests of our individual, family, and community healths best interests.

He went on to say that he will send out an updated message on Saturday, March 14 as well as on Wednesday, March 18 and again on Saturday, March 21.

We are going to work toward one of two things for March 23rd: coming back to regularly scheduled school or making adjustments for online/website academic, meaningful lessons and activities on that Monday. Davis continued. In saying that, I feel that you should know that next week off is intended to put social distance between students and staff. We will see where the health status of the area, region, state, and country rest prior to making further decisions for the week of March 23rd.

Related: Houston Rodeo canceled over coronavirus concerns, prompted by Montgomery County case

Huffman ISD to reassess after spring break next week

Huffman ISD superintendent Benny Soileau mentioned that the district is in a little bit better position than most because its spring break is already scheduled for the week of March 16-20.

He confirmed that the district will have classes tomorrow.

There are no confirmed cases in the Huffman area, and we have a safe environment for our kids to be in their classrooms tomorrow, he explained.

He and other district leaders have been on multiple conference calls throughout the afternoon with people such as the Texas Commissioner of Education and other local superintendents.

The district has asked teachers and students where they will be going over spring break and will use that information to help make necessary plans going forward.

He said he will make an announcement about further plans at the beginning of next week and mentioned that the situation is extremely fluid and dynamic and is changing by the hour.

He and other district leaders will continue to be on constant conference calls with Harris County Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and other Greater Houston Area superintendents, among others.

He said that, while each school district is unique, Greater Houston area superintendents tend to be pretty consistent.

Peoples patience and understanding in a difficult situation is always appreciated, and we want everyone to take care of themselves and pay attention to what officials are saying and heed their warning, he concluded.

Related: Houston-area event, school closures due to the coronavirus outbreak

elliott.lapin@hearst.com
When she was 12 years old, Anaya Cheyenne decided to move from her hometown of Norwalk, Conn. to her godmother's house in Atlanta so she could attend a performing arts program full-time. Now, at just 16-years-old, her training in singing brought her through the first round of auditions on NBC's "The Voice."

Back when she was living in Norwalk, Cheyenne attended Fox Run Elementary School and West Rocks Middle School where she was active in the drama club and school plays.

"I've always known I wanted to pursue singing. but I started really getting into it at age of 12," she said. Her godmother has been a source of support and encouragement as she pursues her singing career, and she was also the one who got Cheyenne connected with "The Voice."

Cheyenne has a YouTube and Instagram account where she shares her solo music and music with her singing group "Pink Heart," and some of her fans had started suggesting she audition for "The Voice." Serendipitously, someone from "The Voice" team took notice and called Cheyenne's godmother to ask if Cheyenne would want to audition, so they sent a tape and made the cut.

On the March 9 episode of the show, Cheyenne sang "I'll Never Love Again" by Lady Gaga from the movie "A Star is Born" for her blind audition. Her godmother was on hand to cheer her on as were her mother and sister who traveled to Los Angeles from Connecticut.

"That's been a song that I fell in love with since the movie came out, and I've just been singing that song. When someone goes 'sing a song,' that would always be my go to," she said. "I feel like I have a deep connection to it. I think about my dreams and what it would be to not have that anymore. When I sing that song I'm fighting for what I believe in. I really wanted to show not only range, but I wanted them to feel who I am."

That passion paid off. Her rendition of the power ballad promoted both Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton to turn their chairs. But John Legend had kind words for Cheyenne despite not turning his chair.

"At the beginning it sounded like you were maybe a little bit young, a little bit shaky, a little bit nervous. But by the end, 'Oh my God' some of those runs you were doing were just stunning," said Legend.

"I didn't have your range at 16. I had to work very hard for that," added Clarkson. "I feel like technique is my jam, and I can do that with you."

Cheyenne chose Clarkson. "I chose Kelly because not only is she a powerhouse, but I just really felt that she was going to help me get to the next level," she said.

As far as being starstruck by the judges, though, Cheyenne said it was Nick Jonas that made her the most giddy.

"I feel like every teenage girl would be so star struck by Nick Jonas. Ever since I was younger I was so obsessed with him and brothers and 'Camp Rock,'" she said. "He was my favorite (Jonas Brother) so it's crazy to just stand right in front of him."

Despite singing in front of one of her favorite artists, Cheyenne said she was not nervous being up on stage.

"At first I felt a little nervous, and when I get on the stage and start singing all the nerves go away and I'm in my own world. I don't know how to explain it, but I'm just into it, and I just start singing from my heart," she said. "It's freeing for me up there. I feel like I'm speaking to the people."

Being comfortable on stage and a love for the city of Los Angeles have solidified Cheyenne's dreams of pursuing singing as a career. "First of all, I'm absolutely in love with LA. I love the trees, the vibe of LA," she said.

Her music style is a mix of pop, ballads and R&B she said, citing H.E.R and Ariana Grande as two of her most inspirational artists.

Cheyenne will now go on to compete in the battle round to secure her spot on "The Voice." If she wins, it will be validation that the hard work is all worth it, she said.

"Winning the whole thing would mean so much.," she said. "It would be clarification that 'Hey, you know you made it. You're ready for the next level.' All the time I spent away from my family and sacrificed  I'm not the average teen girl that gets to go to the movies and hang out with friends all the time. I'm training and working all the time.  it would be clarification."
Meanwhile, the crisis thus far is institutional and systemic. Our health-care system is currently inadequate to the challenge of testing, which has helped reduce the viruss spread in other countries, and treatment, should the numbers of infected people suddenly explode. And the Trump administrations response, recently including the addition of at-large fixer and son-in-law Jared Kushner, has been inept to ludicrous. To wit: Trump has said the media are creating hysteria in order to help defeat him in November. That would be a solid trick if most reporters werent actually competing with each other while editors struggle to agree on the proper use of the semicolon.
FILE PHOTO: A Norwegian Air plane is refueled at Oslo Gardermoen airport

Reuters

Companies around the world are laying off workers as demand in industries from travel to events decline sharply because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Norwegian said on Thursday it would temporarily lay off up to 50% of its workforce across all departments.

After canceling its annual event, South by Southwest is laying off a third of its workforce.

Here's a list of companies laying off employees because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As travelers and event-goers stay home during the coronavirus pandemic, companies are taking a hit and some are laying off employees.

From airlines like Norwegian to events like South by Southwest, workers around the world are feeling the impact of the coronavirus.

Here's a list of companies laying off employees due to the pandemic.

Work at a company that cited the coronavirus as a resaon for layoffs? Contact the reporter of this piece, Bryan Pietsch, at bpietsch@businessinsider.com

Norwegian

FILE PHOTO: Passengers board a Norwegian Air plane in Kirkenes, Norway October 26, 2019. REUTERS/Gwladys Fouche/File Photo

Reuters

Norwegian said it would lay off up to 50% of its employees across all departments because of a decline in flights.

The company said that because of the pandemic and President Trump's restrictions on some travel from Europe for 30 days, it would ground 40% of its long-haul fleet, and cancel up to 25% of short-haul flights through the end of May.

Norwegian is consulting with unions and will contact impacted departments and employees.

South by Southwest

2020 03 07T013058Z_401150502_RC2PEF90UWW9_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH CORONAVIRUS SXSW.JPG

An event flag for SXSW blows in the wind after the music and tech festival was canceled over growing concerns related to the coronavirus outbreak in Austin, Texas, U.S. March 6, 2020. REUTERS/Sergio Flores

South by Southwest canceled its annual event in Austin, Texas because of the coronavirus, and said that because of the cancellation it would lay off about a third of its full-time employees, as first reported by Wall Street Journal reporter Elizabeth Findell and confirmed by a spokesperson to Business Insider.

Story continues

"Due to the City of Austin's unprecedented and unexpected cancellation of the SXSW 2020 events in March, SXSW has been rigorously reviewing our operations, and we are in the unimaginable position of reducing our workforce. Today we said goodbye to approximately one-third of our full-time staff," the spokesperson said.

South by Southwest has around 175 full-time employees who work on the event year-round, the Wall Street Journal reported, so the move will cut jobs for around 58 people.

Port of Los Angeles

port of los angeles

Port of Los Angeles

At the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest shipping port in the country, 145 drivers were laid off and other employees were sent home with no pay, according to a report by The Washington Post.

Workers told The Washington Post that the port has become a "ghost town" since ships from China stopped arriving, and that the port is more empty than it was during the Great Recession.

Christie Lites stage-lighting

Stage

Yulia Buchatskaya/Shutterstock

Christie Lites, a stage-lighting company that services events across North America, laid off more than 100 of its 500 workers, according to The Washington Post.

The company's CEO, Huntly Christie, told The Washington Post that the company will likely lay off 150 more employees, as event companies around the world are grappling with cancellations and declining attendance.

China Visa Service Center

Visa application

Shutterstock

The Washington Post also reported that the China Visa Service Center in Los Angeles let go of around 20 employees.

The center had previously processed visas for Americans traveling to China at a rate of 400 visas per month, but only 22 processed in February, according to a former employee quoted in the report.

Work at a company that cited the coronavirus as a resaon for layoffs? Contact the reporter of this piece, Bryan Pietsch, at bpietsch@businessinsider.com

Read the original article on Business Insider
Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner, students from Los Angeles Unified and PBS SoCal/KCET CEO and President Andrew Russell. Images via Los Angeles Unified, PBS SoCal and KCET As education is one our organizations highest priorities, we want to harness the power of public media in assisting all students, said CEO of KCET and PBS SoCal Andrew Russell. Our mission is to connect communities so were talking to stations throughout the country to follow our model.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest district in the nation, has announced a plan in partnership with PBS SoCal and KCET, Southern Californias flagship PBS organizations, to provide for continuity of learning for its students during the recent school closures effective for the next two weeks beginning on Monday, March 16, due to the coronavirus.

This measure will allow 700,000 local Los Angeles Unified students educational resources via television in light of recent significant school closures. The plan is for all students to have access to free educational resources at home provided by the local public media organizations, both on-air and online, regardless of their broadband access. The initiative will entail three local public media channels broadcasting content specifically targeted to kids Pre-K through the 12th grade. The partnership can be a model for other partnerships between public media organizations and school districts throughout the U.S., as PBS SoCal and KCET work together to deliver a satellite feed that other public media stations can use.

We want to continue to provide the best possible education for our students, while we work to evaluate the significant number of school closures for the next two weeks, said Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner. So we asked PBS to work with us with a simple goal: We know what good looks like, lets find a way to share it with our students.

As education is one our organizations highest priorities, we want to harness the power of public media in assisting all students in Southern California, commented President and CEO of KCET and PBS SoCal Andrew Russell. As cornerstone institutions in our community, PBS SoCal and KCET have a mission to connect communities so were already talking to stations throughout the state, and even across the country, to follow our model.

Los Angeles Unified serves almost 700,000 students in diverse communities spread across more than 700 square miles. About 80% of students come from families living in poverty, 73% of students are Latino, 8% are African-American and 13% are students with disabilities. Los Angeles Unified serves more than 17,000 students who are homeless and about 24,000 students with moderate to severe disabilities. An estimated 50% of students in Los Angeles Unified lack the digital tools (computer or tablet) to participate in online curriculum and 25% of families lack access to the internet at home.

As Southern Californias flagship PBS organizations, KCET and PBS SoCal currently serve 19 million people in the area. With Los Angeles Unified closing schools, the public media stations are prepared to unveil a curated schedule of programming and digital resources that will be broadcast as follows:



PBS SoCal (Daytime programming from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pre-K through 2nd grade)

KLCS (Daytime Programming would highlight content for Pre-K through 12th grade from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with additional educational programming in the evenings)

KCET (Daytime programming: 9th grade through 12th grade)

Additional educational programming on PBS SoCal and KLCS digital channels

This effort began when Superintendent Beutner reached out to Paula Kerger, CEO of PBS in Washington D.C., and Andrew Russell, President and CEO of KCET and PBS SoCal, concerned about the lack of access many students and their families might have to online learning which might be available in more affluent communities. Superintendent Beutner asked the team from PBS to work with the instructional team at Los Angeles Unified to come up with the best standards-based instructional content they could find with rigorous lesson plans. In addition, educators and families gave input to the plan.

The public media organizations are collaborating with Los Angeles Unified to create a schedule by working with curriculum leads in subjects such as math and history and developing new online resources that will adhere to the state curriculum. KCET, PBS SoCal and KLCS-TV, Los Angeles Unifieds television station, will collaborate to leverage their educational programming and resources as well as content including the Emmy Award-winning series NOVA and Ken Burnss THE CIVIL WAR and several PBS KIDS series including Peg + Cat and Cyberchase. The primetime schedules for both KCET and PBS SoCal will remain the same beloved PBS programs and original local content that viewers expect and have come to love.

Los Angeles Unified teachers will have training utilizing PBS LearningMedia, a national resource that offers additional content to support educational assignments. Joining this collaboration is PBS member station KQED in San Francisco, which is leading the development of digital resources that align to state standards. This robust digital toolkit for educators and students will include: standards-aligned PBS video content, associated lesson plans and support materials, as well as online training sessions hosted by KQED for teachers. The PBS LearningMedia materials will be offered in conjunction with the on-air content and will be available online.

Content also streams on pbssocal.org and kcet.org and on the free KCET app (available on Roku and Apple TV), the PBS Video app (available on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, the App Store and Google Play), as well as on YouTube.

For updates, follow @LASchools on Twitter/Instagram, @LosAngelesSchools on Facebook, @PBSSoCal and @KCET on social media.

ABOUT KCET

On-air, online and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and educational enrichment of Southern and Central California. KCET offers a wide range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public television programs from around the world. Throughout its 54-year history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions, its quality educational family and children's programs, its outreach and community services and its website, kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community institution. For additional information about KCET productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org. Select original programming from KCET is also available for streaming on Apple TV, YouTube, Amazon and Roku platforms. For more information please visit kcet.org/apps. KCET is a content channel of the Public Media Group of Southern California.

ABOUT PBS SOCAL

PBS SoCal is a donor-supported community institution that is a part of Public Media Group of Southern California, the flagship PBS station for 19 million diverse people across California formed by the merger of PBS SoCal and KCETLink Media Group. PBS SoCal delivers content and experiences that inspire, inform and entertain  over the air, online, in the community and in the classroom. We offer the full slate of beloved PBS programs including MASTERPIECE, NOVA, PBS NewsHour, Frontline, Independent Lens, a broad library of documentary films including works from Ken Burns; and educational PBS KIDS programs including Daniel Tigers Neighborhood and Curious George. Our programs are accessible for free through four broadcast channels, and available for streaming at pbssocal.org, on the PBS mobile apps, and via connected TV services Android TV, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Second largest in the nation, Los Angeles Unified serves over 700,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, early education and adult education at over 1,000 schools. The District has authorized over 200 independently-operated public charter schools. Additional details are available on the Fingertip Facts page. Los Angeles Unified's boundaries stretch across 720 square miles and include the City of Los Angeles as well as all or parts of 31 municipalities and several unincorporated regions of Southern California.


Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13) Workers and employees may be allowed to enter Metro Manila despite the proposed travel restriction in the region, government officials said Friday.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said those who have daily jobs inside the capital region but live in nearby provinces will be exempted from the travel order as long as they present a work identification card or proof of employment.

"Sa ngayon, lahat ng nagta-trabaho ay pinapayagan nating pumasok, pati 'yung mga nakatira just outside Manila, 'yung outskirts, pero may permanenteng trabaho sa Manila," Ano told CNN Philippines.

[Translation: Right now, we will allow those who are working in Metro Manila to enter, including those who live just outside Manila, in the outskirts, but have permanent jobs in Manila.]

Metro Manila Development Authority General Manager Jojo Garcia shared the sentiment, saying officials only wanted to limit "unnecessary" crowds in the capital region.

"'Yung iniiwasan natin dito 'yung namamasyal lang eh. 'Yung walang business na seryoso sa Maynila," Garcia said in an interview with The Source.

[Translation: What we're avoiding here are those who are just traveling, roaming around. Those who don't have any serious business in Manila.]

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, however, said the task force has yet to iron out the details and specific protocol for the directive, but said checkpoints will likely be set up in various borders throughout the metro area.

A group of executives handling human resources said they still face a problem in dealing with the so-called lockdown, saying there were no clear directives yet from the government.

The primary duty of every member of our association is to make sure that their employees have their IDs to identify their point of origin and that they are representing one company that is located in Metro Manila, Louisa Echevarria, president of the People Management Association of the Philippines, told CNN Philippines Business Roundup.

She said a lot of workers actually come from Bulacan, Cavite and even Pampanga. Echevarria added that those employed under manufacturing, retail, services, and healthcare sectors still have to show up for work, as their jobs cannot be carried out via teleconferences or e-mails from home.

Coping mechanism: Live in Manila?

Filipinos who live in nearby provinces were meanwhile urged to look for temporary boarding homes in the metro, to limit the movement of people in the city.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said moving to Manila can be one "coping mechanism" for those who ply expressways for work every day.

"I'm sure 'yung mga ibang kompanya will just encourage their people, their employees to find a place muna dito sa Metro Manila," Lopez said in a briefing in Malacanang. "Umupa muna sila, para less ang movement ng mga tao. Sa ganoong paraan din, malilimitahan ang pasok-labas ng mga tao."

[Translation: I'm sure other companies will just encourage their people, their employees to temporarily find a place here in Metro Manila. Just find a boarding house, so that there will be less people movement. With this way, we will be able to limit the exit and entry of people.]

Metro Manila, the country's economic and political center, is bracing for a "community quarantine" starting Sunday, after health authorities raised the the highest COVID-19 alert in the Philippines.

President Rodrigo Duterte, upon the government task force's recommendation, announced that people living in Metro Manila would not be allowed in and out of the region by land, domestic air and local sea travel from midnight of March 15 until April 14.

MMDA, however, clarified that the proposed "lockdown" only meant to "slow down" the movement in the metro.

"Actually, the term that they wanted to use was to slow down, slow down 'yung movement sa [the movement in] Metro Manila. But you're allowed to go out... We should not be very literal about this," Garcia said.

Ano, for his part, said Manila will implement a "modified" model of a lockdown, as residents will not be forced to be quarantined in their homes.

"Kanya-kanyang level ito. Dito sa Metro Manila, in and out, modified 'yung ginagawa natin. Meron pa ring pwedeng makapasok. 'Yun mga non-essentials, hindi na natin papayagan," the Interior chief said.

[Translation: Lockdowns are implemented on different levels. Here in Metro Manila, in and out, we'll have a modified one. We will still restrict entry, the non-essentials will not be allowed.]

Other exemptions

Apart from the working sector, also exempted from the travel order are food and goods shipments, and medicine supplies, Nograles added. Government workers with business trips and official duties will also be considered entry, he noted.

Despite the order, Nograles said provincial buses will also still be allowed to enter Metro Manila, pending official protocol.

The Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines said it is still awaiting the task force's final guidelines on the travel order before implementing changes in its operations. The group, however, assured commuter bus personnel have been following safety protocol measures, and also urged its partners to avoid overcrowding (standing) in the vehicles.

COVID-19, now considered by WHO as a pandemic, has infected more than 128,000 people in 116 different countries and territories including China. Over 4,700 persons have been killed by the disease as of Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins University's global tracker.

Here in the country, 52 confirmed cases of the infectious disease have been recorded, including five casualties.
Page by page, the narrative is driven by Pybus moral imperative to account for what happened, both as a Tasmanian and as someone whose family was complicit in the first wave of dispossession. Truganini is also an act of atonement and truth telling. Pybus writes in visceral shock and with barely tempered rage  despite all the knowledge she carries as a historian  that this history could have played out as it did. Cassandra Pybus' narrative is driven by her moral imperative to account for what happened. At the heart of Truganini one figure looms large: George Augustus Robinson, the London-born builder of irrepressible missionary zeal who arrived in Hobart in 1824 and  five years later, shortly after martial law was declared in Tasmania  found himself appointed by Governor George Arthur to conciliate the natives on Bruny Island. What began as an attempt to distribute rations and establish friendly relations, quickly turned into an island-wide drive to round up Aboriginal people and remove them to the desolate islands in Bass Strait. In January 1830, Robinson left Bruny Island with Truganini and Nuenonne cleverman Wooredy and his two sons, informing Governor Arthur that the Nuenonne were now extinct. For the next five years, he circled the island, relying on Truganini, Wooredy and a growing band of Aboriginal charges to persuade the members of surviving clans to come with him. He warned them that if they refused, they would likely suffer total annihilation at the hands of the governments Black Line  a notorious and unsuccessful attempt on the part of 550 soldiers and 1650 settlers to drive Tasmanias remaining population of Aboriginal people into the Tasman Peninsula  or fall victim to bands of irate settlers determined to take the law into their own hands. Wherever he travelled on his mission of conciliation and rescue, Robinson heard people talk of the extirpation of the original inhabitants.

By tracking Robinsons mission through the island at walking pace, Pybus captures the full tragedy and sheer madness of his mission. Between January and July 1833 alone, 66 Indigenous people were captured on Tasmanias west coast and within a year nearly all of them were dead. Credit: As one of two lead actors in Truganini, Robinson emerges as a bundle of contradictions  ambitious, vain, obsessive, deluded, devious, considerate, selfish, sentimental, exploitative and God-bothered  there was no risk of underestimating his capacity for duplicity. Here was a man who could weep for the cruelties visited upon such hapless and un-befriended people and yet repeatedly break his promises to them. He told the esteemed leader Mannalargenna that he and his people would be allowed to return to their country, but instead delivered them to a miserable, windswept exile at Wybalena on Flinders Island, a place that will surely be forever marked by the indelible sadness of its history. On his treks throughout the island, Robinson danced and sang at corroborees, stomping his feet and playing his flute in ecstatic revelry. He recognised that the people he was trying to save were the lawful owners of the land. We have desolated them, he admitted, despoiled them, of their country, the land of their forefathers. At the same time, he trafficked in human remains, sending the skulls of two Aboriginal men to Lady Jane Franklin.

Ironically, it was reading Robinsons journals that set [Pybus] to being a writer in the late 1980s. The man she frequently chastises for not paying attention, or seeing only what he wanted to see is also the most important source for her portrait of Truganini. So she reads against the grain, trying to release Truganini and others from their entrapment in a paternalistic and self-serving account of the colonial past. She knows that she can never really access what Truganini thought and felt, nor avoid the challenge faced by every writer of Indigenous history: how to avoid the binary depiction of Aboriginal people who lived a healthy happy life for millennia until their utopia was shattered by European invasion? Without adequate sources, how is it possible to accord Indigenous Australians who lived in the early colonial period the same human frailties and moral complexity as the Europeans who usurped them? Pybus sets the story of Robinsons death march against her beautiful evocations of the Tasmanian landscape  in some ways Truganini is a paean to her homelands natural beauty  a veritable paradise and land of abundance; one that she sensitively depicts as having been created by Aboriginal people over millennia, only to be radically transformed in less than four decades by the waves of sheep and settlers occupying the land. She re-inscribes Indigenous place names into the country and recounts its dreaming stories, details hunting expeditions, explains the significance of sacred places and ceremonies, and takes her readers through villages containing large huts marked with perfectly drawn circles. The islands landscape and Indigenous cultures are seen anew  no mean feat considering the wealth of literature that has been produced on Tasmania. She also shows how the destruction of Indigenous cultures in Tasmania was intimately connected to the creation of the island as a European Arcadia. As Robinson worked assiduously to clear the island of its Indigenous people  in 1835, he (wrongly) announced that Tasmania was cleared of its original inhabitants  he also came into contact with what would become some of the foundational European visions of the Tasmanian landscape.
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI -- Police believe alcohol was a contributing factor in a single-vehicle crash that killed one person early Friday morning, March 13.

A male passenger was declared dead at the scene after the vehicle he was riding in left the roadway and struck a tree. The driver survived.

The crash occurred before 12:55 a.m. on E. McMillian Road near Dalson Road in Cedar Creek Township, according to Michigan State Police.

Police determined that a 2007 Chevy Cobalt was eastbound on E. McMillian Road when it left the roadway.

While the passenger was killed, police said the driver and other involved party were taken to Hackley Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

The crash is under investigation by state police. Troopers were assisted on scene by the Muskegon County Sheriffs Office, Muskegon Township Fire Department and ProMed.

Read more on MLive:

Michigan confirms 12 total coronavirus cases

Were going to get through this, says Gov. Whitmer as she orders K-12 schools closed over coronavirus
[March 13, 2020]

Numerati Partners Invited Talespin to Present at the Second InsurTech Alliance (ITA) Science & Engineering Expo

NEW YORK, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Talespin was one of three firms invited to present technology offerings at the InsurTech Alliance (ITA) Science & Engineering Expo (Expo), co-hosted by Numerati Partners on January 30, 2020 in New York City. The ITA is a collaboration between Numerati Partners, a New York-based data analytics and technology enablement firm, which seeks to foster the next generation of data-intensive risk and liability management enterprises in risk technology (RiskTech), and leading global reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, a founder of the ITA. In collaboration with Numerati Partners, Guy Carpenter expands its insurance technology (InsurTech) offering through the ITA, in order to serve client needs for engagement with the dynamic, rapidly evolving InsurTech sector.

Talespin, which is building an XR (virtual, augmented, and mixed reality) platform that will power knowledge transfer and skill alignment for the future of employment, was one of the three technology offerings with which Numerati Partners conducted a deep-dive Proof-of-Concept (PoC) technical assessment and proposed for further engagement with Guy Carpenter, the ITA, and the broader insurance and reinsurance sector. Talespin combines expertise in immersive technology development, learning design, user experience, and artificial intelligence (AI) to enable enterprises to build a more collaborative, inclusive, and productive future of work.

Eli Weisman, Talespin Chief Client & Growth Officer, presented a deep dive demo of their offerings, and then participated, with representatives from two other Numerati Partners PoC Cohort firms in a Q&A session about the unique experience of participating in a Numerati Partners PoC, in addition to a prospective pilot discussion.

"Emerging technologies like extended reality and AI are transforming how we work, and as a result, we need to rethink employee training and reskilling solutions," said Stephen Fromkin, Chief Content Officer at Talespin. "We built our platform with this in mind, so employees in the insurance space can develop their skills before facing a challenging situation in real life, like investigating property damage in a home or navigating conversations with customers. Exposing our platform and use cases to the critical evaluation of industry professionals such as Numerati Partners, Guy Carpenter, and the ITA continues to validate our progress."

The second Expo highlights the completion of Numerati Partners' first cycle with the ITA, in addition to the concurrently ongoing second cycle. During the first cycle, Numerati Partners conducted five deep-dive technical assessments -- Proofs-of-Concept (PoCs) -- of emerging technology offerings, performed research on another 60 technology offerings, and created quarterly bootcamps comprised of hands-on technical and scientific demonstrations, presentations and exhibits.

The Numerati Partners bootcamps, including substantive interactive presentations focusing on automotive telematics, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and cybersecurity, were designed in conjunction with scientists, engineers and technologists enlisted from the Numerati Partners ecosystem of technical experts at the leading edge of their respective fields including those associated with RiskEcon Lab @ Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences NYU.

"The 2020 InsurTech Alliance Science & Engineering Expo demonstrates our ongoing commitment to advancement at the leading edge of rigorous, substantive, science-based, and industry-focused innovation which is relevant across the global insurance and reinsurance sector. We are pleased to continue our collaboraton with Guy Carpenter via the InsurTech Alliance, and anticipate further progress in our shared goal of advancement in the insurance technology sector," said Samantha Kappagoda, Co-Managing Member of Numerati Partners.







"Prudent adoption and responsible deployment of technology by insurers and reinsurers require ongoing commitment to technical assessment by specialists and functional testing by experts at a fundamental level, as a foundation for reliable insurance and reinsurance innovation," said David K.A. Mordecai, PhD, Co-Managing Member of Numerati Partners.

About Numerati Partners LLC

Numerati Partners LLC coordinates a data analytics and technology development ecosystem, with the mission of advancing and fostering the next generation of scalable data-intensive risk and liability management enterprises. The firm provides resources fundamental to advancing the development of nascent leading-edge inferential surveillance, monitoring, and predictive analytics technologies for deployment within the RiskTech domain: risk technologies associated with adaptive distributed, networked and embedded systems such as remote sensing, agent-oriented data analytics, computing and control systems. Numerati Partners curates integrated RiskTech solutions as well as forensic and use-case applications in RiskTech sub-domains such as LitTech, RegTech, FinTech and InsurTech (litigation technology, regulation technology, financial technology and insurance technology). For more information, visit http://numeratipartners2012.com/.

About RiskEcon Lab for Decision Metrics @ Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences NYU

The mission of RiskEcon Lab for Decision Metrics @ Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences NYU is the development of experimental testbeds and analytics that employ high-dimensional datasets from innovative sources by applying a range of computational and analytical methods to commercial and industrial sensor networks and edge computing embedded systems, focusing primarily on research and development (R&D) of remote and compressed sensing, anomaly detection, forensic analytics and statistical process control. By employing applied computational statistics within the context of robust and scalable data analytic solutions, our goal is robust integration of machine learning with signal processing for measurement and control, in order to conduct research fundamental to large-scale, real-world questions in risk and liability management. For more information, visit https://wp.nyu.edu/riskeconlab/.

About Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC

Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC is a leading global risk and reinsurance specialist with more than 3,100 professionals in over 60 offices around the world. Guy Carpenter delivers a powerful combination of broking expertise, trusted strategic advisory services and industry-leading analytics to help clients adapt to emerging opportunities and achieve profitable growth. Guy Carpenter is a business of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC), the leading global professional services firm in the areas of risk, strategy and people. With 75,000 colleagues and annual revenue approaching $17 billion, Marsh & McLennan helps clients navigate an increasingly dynamic and complex environment through its market-leading companies including Marsh, Mercer and Oliver Wyman. For more information, visit www.guycarp.com and follow Guy Carpenter on LinkedIn and Twitter @GuyCarpenter. Guy Carpenter Privacy Policy.

About Talespin

Talespin is building the spatial computing platform to power talent development and skills alignment for the future of work. Founded in 2015, the company leverages its proprietary XR technology platform Runway to deliver XR-based learning and training applications, mixed reality field tools to support employee job performance, and to advance the collection and alignment of skills data. With offices in Los Angeles and Utrecht, The Netherlands, Talespin envisions a world where peoples' purpose and talents are matched, enabling career paths that blur the line between our passions and our work.

Contacts:

Samantha Kappagoda

David K.A. Mordecai

Tel: (212) 214-0537

Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Numerati Partners LLC
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The administration of Hoi An City in the central province of Quang Nam has officially stopped selling visitors' tickets to its famous Ancient Town, as well as ordered shops in the neighborhood to close, adding to a long list of attractions in the city shuttered over the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Nestled along Vietnams central coast, Hoi An and its UNESCO-recognized Ancient Town are popular with both domestic and foreign visitors.

The city welcomed 5.35 million tourists, three-quarters of whom were foreigners, in 2019.

Since Thursday morning, however, the town has been closed off to tourists, according to a regulation approved by the city's administration.

Previous restrictions outlining which streets are pedestrian or non-motorized vehicles only are no longer in effect.

Bars, pubs, and clubs located within the Ancient Town have also been ordered to close.

On Thursday, medical workers were seen disinfecting streets and buildings, including historical and cultural relics, within the Ancient Town.

Previously, Hoi An had been restricting tourists to its Cham Islands, Bay Mau Coconut Forest, Thanh Ha Pottery Village, and Tra Que Vegetable Village over COVID-19 concerns.

Art performances such as Hoi An Memories, water puppet shows, and shows performed at the Hoi An Traditional Art Performance Theater and the Lune Center have been halted.

The mass closures mark the first time since 1985, when tourism in the central city began to take off, that Hoi An has had to cease its tourism activities on such a large scale.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 132,900 people and killed more than 4,900 globally as of Friday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 44 COVID-19 patients, 16 of whom had fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26.

A British man is currently being quarantined in Quang Nam after testing positive for the novel coronavirus this week.

He had arrived in Hanoi on a flight from London on March 2 that also carried a Vietnamese woman, the countrys patient No. 17, who was the first new infection reported in the Southeast Asian in about three weeks.

Patient No. 17, a 26-year-old Hanoi resident, was diagnosed on Friday last week after the country had reported no infection since February 13.

The flight VN0054, operated by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, carried 216 passengers and crew members.

Over a dozen passengers on the flight have been infected with COVID-19.

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HURON COUNTY -- Chief Judge David B. Herrington said that the county courts are currently monitoring the development of the COVID-19 pandemic across the state and nation, but at this time all hearings and daily functions of the courts are continuing.

In an advisory sent out earlier in the week from Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack, the courts have been granted latitude to make decisions based on recommendations by local and state health departments, including postponing court cases, implementing plans for remote hearings and adjournments for civil and criminal jury trials.
While most businesses brace for an economic collapse caused by coronavirus, the outbreak has prompted creation of a new service offering by the nations largest claims administrator.

Sedgwick, based in Memphis, Tenn., announced Thursday that it has expanded the scope of its nurse consultation and incident-response services because of the growing number of COVID-19 infections. The company said its clinical consultation program, which offers 24/7 nurse triage services, will now advise employees who have been exposed to coronavirus on whether they should seek care. The nurses can also advise employers regarding testing options and suggested direction of care, the company said.

The crisis care program was started with the intention of helping clients prepare for the unexpected so they could feel completely supported amidst stressful situations and complex crises, stated Andrea Buhl, managing director of clinical operations at Sedgwick. As coronavirus continues to spread, it made sense to expand the services of the crisis care program to support the needs of our clients.

Sedgwick said it is also ready to advise employers to ensure their buildings are safe for employees. The company said that it has approved contractors readily available throughout the United States to perform cleaning and disinfection of affected buildings and their contents according to standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sedgwick has also formed a partnership with EFI Global, an environmental consulting firm, to assess sites, write cleaning protocols, oversee the work and perform testing of indoor environmental quality.

Steve Powell, an executive vice president for Sedgwick, said EFI Global has experience dealing with emergency responses and microbial contamination assessments in hospitals, nursing homes and public and private schools throughout the country.

Sedgwick said it has been in touch with clients to educate leaders on best practices and worki with senior leadership to implement workplace polices in response to the outbreak.

Sedgwick, with 2018 gross revenue of $2.7 billion, is the largest U.S. based third-party administrator, according to Business Insurance.

According to the World Health Organization, 125,048 people globally have tested positive for COVID-19 as of late Thursday. The virus had killed 4,613, including 313 in the past 24 hours, WHO said.

The Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday that 1,215 COVID-19 cases in the United States. Those had resulted in 36 deaths as of Thursday afternoon. The New York Times reported that 1,599 U.S. cases had been confirmed, with 38 deaths.

Sedgwick was not the only claims administrator to take note. Crawford & Co., a global claims administration company based in London, announced last week that it has established a Coronavirus Claims Instruction and Technical Support Desk to assist clients. The desk will collect and disseminate the latest information on the impact of the virus as well as the insurance response to it, the company said.

Crawford & Co. also said it expects the impact of coronavirus to be low for property and casualty insurers, but travel cancellations caused by the outbreak are likely to affect the hospitality sector.

In past years, we have had Zika virus, SARS, avian flu and swine flu, all of which caused a number of events to be cancelled and we are aware that carriers and brokers are receiving a large number of enquiries, stated Rohit Verma, global chief operating officer. We want to give carriers, brokers and corporates easy access to experts who are experienced in handling contingency, business interruption and casualty claims arising from such events.

Business Insurance ranked Crawford & Co. the second-largest U.S. claims administrator, with $1.2 billion in gross revenues in 2018.
At the beginning of the day on March 12, Dan Meaux had 15 catering jobs booked for the Crawfish Shack. By mid-afternoon, four had canceled.

Meaux is extremely concerned about the effect that COVID-19, the novel Coronavirus, could have on business at the iconic Crosby establishment. Crosby and Huffman area businesses should continue to monitor the situation, officials with the Crosby-Huffman Chamber of Commerce said.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Houston Rodeo canceled over coronavirus concerns, prompted by Montgomery County case

This will definitely hurt the economy and has already started to, acknowledged Kim Harris, president of the Crosby-Huffman Chamber of Commerce. We are just hoping and praying that it doesnt last very long, and everyone can get back to regular business.

Catering is a big part of Meauxs business, but there have been no COVID-19 cases in the Crosby-Huffman area, so Meaux has yet to see business be affected yet at The Crawfish Shacks drive-thru and sit-down restaurant.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Tomlinson: Coronavirus threatens with an economic recession, depends on what governments do next

Yet hes seen what has happened in Italy where the entire country has been placed under quarantine and all restaurants and bars have been shut down.

The Crawfish Shack is a seasonal business. The sit-down restaurant is only open for four months and the drive-thru for a few more weeks than that.

So even if we lose just two or three weeks, thats a drastic hit to our seasonal business, he said. It could take out 20% of our revenue. So Im pretty concerned.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Its here: Houstonians navigate a world marked by fear of coronavirus

While Meaux acknowledges that he could probably keep the drive-thru open in most quarantine situations, he estimates that the sit-down restaurant accounts for about 75% of his revenue.

Meaux said that people in the restaurant/hospitality business in the area are recognizing the increasing probability that there will be some kind of quarantine but are all praying that it does not come to that.

Yet Meaux recognizes that the Crawfish Shack is in a fortunate position.

CORONAVIRUS CLOSINGS: Houston-area event, school closures due to the coronavirus outbreak

Yes; we can survive it, he said. Were established. Ive paid off my property here, so we dont have a mortgage and that large expense like a lot of businesses would, so I guess were better off than most in that situation.

But the fact that were seasonal and have such a short season, even two or three weeks of that could have a big effect, he added.

elliott.lapin@hearst.com
Members of Parliament (MPs) of the Volta Caucus have appealed to the Minister of Interior and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to beef up police presence in the South Tongu District.



The appeal followed the murder of Marcus Mawutor Adzahli, Assemblyman for the Sogakope Electoral Area a couple of weeks ago.



They also called for swift and independent investigation into the crime was necessary to bring the perpetrators to book.



Mr Kobena Mensah Woyome, MP for South Tongu, speaking at a news conference in Accra, said justice would be served with the immediate arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators to allow calm to return the area.



Mr. Adzahli was murdered during the late hours of Sunday, 1st March 2020. He left behind a wife and two daughters.



He was attacked by unknown people, some of who broke through his door, while others were shooting in order to deter the neighbours from coming out to rescue him.



Mr Woyome urged the Minister and the IGP to consider posting more men to the district and to supply them with the requisite logistics to make policing of the people and foreign nationals more effective.



He said Sogakope was one of the strategic areas in the Volta Region as it was the route for numerous transistors from neighboring Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameron among others.



He said the movements come with huge security challenges, which demanded vigilance on the part of the Police and National Security operatives.



Mr Woyome also ascribed the murder of the Assemblyman to breakdown of security in the district, adding, "This is due to the fact that despite the distress call made to the District Police Commander, it took almost two hours for a patrol team to be dispatched to the scene."



He said the incident exposed the lack of the necessary resources and high sense of professionalism to fight crime, saying that it was like Ghanaian Police Service feared for their own lives.



He therefore appealed to government to take a critical look at the situation and resource the police to protect the citizens better.



Some of the Volta Caucus MPs present at the conference included; Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP for North Tongu, Mr Alexander Hottordze, MP for Central Tongu, Mr Kwasi Bedzra, MP for HO West, Mr Benjamin Kpodo, MP for Ho Central and Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandor, MP for Juaboso.

Source: GNA









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Scientists have detailed the first known locally-transmitted case in the US of the novel coronavirus infection, COVID-19, tracing it to a man who contracted the disease from his wife travelling from Wuhan, China.

According to the researchers, person-to-person transmission of the deadly coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, occurred between the two people with prolonged, unprotected exposure while the first patient showed symptoms.

They said despite active monitoring and testing of 372 contacts of both cases, no further transmission was detected.

The study, published in the journal The Lancet, noted that on January 23, 2020, Illinois reported the US state Chicago's first laboratory-confirmed case, or index case, of COVID-19 in a woman in her 60s returning from Wuhan, China in mid-January, 2020.

Subsequently, the scientists said, the first evidence of secondary transmission in the US was reported on January 30, when her husband, who had not travelled outside the US but had frequent, close contact with his wife since her return, tested positive.

Following this, public health authorities conducted an intensive epidemiologic investigation of the two confirmed cases, the researchers noted in the study.

In the research, the scientists report the clinical and laboratory features of both patients and the assessment and monitoring of several hundred individuals with potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

In total, they identified 372 individuals as potential contacts with 347 of them actively monitored after confirmation of exposure to the woman or her husband on or after the day of symptom onset.

This included 152 community contacts, and 195 healthcare professionals, the study mentioned.

There were 25 people that had insufficient contact information to complete active monitoring, the scientists said.

They said they also tested a convenience sample of 32 asymptomatic healthcare personnel contacts.

According to the study, these 347 contacts underwent active symptom monitoring for 14 days following their last exposure.

Of these, 43 people developed fever, cough, or shortness of breath were isolated and tested for SARS-CoV-2, as well as asymptomatic healthcare professionals.

The scientists noted that all 75 individuals tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.

Assessing the data, the researchers observed that on December 25, 2019, the female patient travelled to Wuhan where she visited a hospitalised relative and other family members with undiagnosed respiratory illness.

On her return to the US on January 13, 2020, the study noted that she experienced six days of mild fever, fatigue, and cough before being hospitalised with pneumonia and testing positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Prior to hospitalisation she was living with her husband who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic cough, it said.

These conditions, the researchers said, made it difficult to determine the timing of his symptom onset related to COVID-19.

Eight days after his wife was admitted to hospital, the husband was also hospitalised with worsening shortness of breath and coughing up blood, and also tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, according to the study.

The scientists said both patients recovered, and were discharged to home isolation, which was lifted 33 days after the woman returned from Wuhan, following two negative tests for SARS-CoV-2 taken 24 hours apart.

"This report suggests that person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 might be most likely to occur through unprotected, prolonged exposure to an individual with symptomatic COVID-19", said Jennifer Layden, Chief Medical Officer of the Chicago Department of Public Health, US, who co-led the research.

"Our experience of limited transmission of SARS-CoV-2 differs from Wuhan where transmission has been reported to occur across the wider community and among healthcare professionals, and from experiences of other similar coronaviruses," Layden said.

She said healthcare facilities should rapidly triage and isolate individuals suspected of having COVID-19, and notify infection prevention services and local health departments for support in testing, management, and containment efforts.

The scientists emphasised that individuals who think they might have been exposed to COVID-19, and experiencing a fever, cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should call their healthcare provider before seeking help so that appropriate preventive actions can be taken.

They warned that without adequate protective equipment even people living together are at risk of contracting the deadly disease from their companions.

"Without using appropriate facemasks or other personal protective equipment, individuals living in the same household as, or providing care in a non-healthcare setting for, a person with symptomatic COVID-19 are likely to be at high risk of infection," said study co-lead author Tristan McPherson from the Chicago Department of Public Health.

"Current CDC recommendations for individuals with high-risk exposures to remain quarantined with no public activities might be effective in reducing onward person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2," McPherson said.

The researchers, however, said these data are preliminary and note several limitations, including that the report describes only one known transmission event, therefore the findings may not be generalisable or representative of broader transmission patterns.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pollock said the George Kaiser Family Foundation agreed to step in and control the title.

Its exciting for us to finally be closing this chapter, she said. Our kids overcome so much, and theyre able to accomplish so much regardless of what space theyre in. Nonetheless, were just glad to be able to provide a facility thats a really great learning environment for them.

THA, which originally served only fifth-graders and adds a grade each year, has endured numerous growing pains since opening in 2015. After several moves, the school settled into a former east Tulsa elementary school two years ago.

The expansion into high school started this year. A lack of space resulted in the installation of a portable building for the approximately 100 new ninth-graders.

Finding a larger property for the addition of 10th grade next year became a priority for Pollock. She hoped to keep the high school in east Tulsa but had to expand her search to the rest of the city.
New Delhi, March 13 : As people around the world celebrate World Sleep Day on Friday, Twitterati has taken to social media to remind each other about the importance of good sleep. The day is dedicated to spreading awareness about all aspects of sleep, including the importance of getting good sleep, sleep medicines and social aspects of sleep problems. The theme of this year's World Sleep Day is 'better sleep, better life, better planet'.

On the occasion of World Sleep Day, Twitter users took to social media to raise awareness of sleep as a human privilege that is often compromised by the habits of modern life.

A user wrote, "Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together..." Another wrote, "Maturity is realising that no relationship is more important than your quality sleep!"

A post read, "Take the day off, sleep as long as you want. Celebrate one thing that everyone loves at the end of each day. You'll feel refreshed afterward." "It's #WorldSleepDay, a celebration of sleep & a call to action on important issues related to sleep, including medicine, education, social aspects & driving," a user remarked.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Imagine you have been a respectable, hard-working chicken farmer for the past 25 years.

Imagine the government encouraged you to partake in a renewable energy scheme which was "sold" to you as guaranteed, reliable, long-term, certain and offering a good return on your investment. Arlene Foster even wrote to your bank to ensure this.

Imagine that you decided to invest your savings and seek out loans in order to join this government-backed scheme.

Imagine the government subsequently had to admit that this "guaranteed" scheme had been mismanaged through their own incompetence and ignorance.

Imagine if the same government then insinuated that you were in the wrong. To deflect from their own failings, they decided to infer that you were abusing the scheme by publishing your name in the newspapers, listed your rebate payments for five years - and added the helpful note that you hadn't done anything wrong. Wink, wink.

Imagine they revealed the income you had received via the scheme, but neglected to reveal the massive investment and continued running costs borne by you and hadn't considered that you pay tax on that same rebate.

Imagine thinking that your family, friends, neighbours, church, pub and business acquaintances now looked at you as some type of fraudster involved in dishonest dealings.

Imagine if it led to sleepless nights, constant worry, unfounded shame, anxiety, regular visits to the GP and the long-term use of anti-depressants - all because you decided to partake in a scheme which was endorsed by the government.

Imagine if, due to the failings of the government, it was decided that your guaranteed returns would be decimated - not once, but twice - on the advice of the department that had created your nightmare.

You would no longer receive your guaranteed payments, but instead would receive barely enough to cover the additional electricity costs of running the system.

Imagine the department, in calculating your rebate, used a different formula and different statistics to those used by scheme administrators elsewhere in the UK or next door in the Republic of Ireland.

Imagine the anxiety you have, knowing that you will have to replace this vastly expensive, but no longer cost-effective, system with a gas equivalent that will pollute the atmosphere.

Imagine having to work out where this money is going to be found.

We don't have to imagine.

This is our reality.

We signed up for DfE RHI.

Andrew Trimble is executive chair of the Renewable Heat Association Limited.

Northern Ireland farmers 'on their knees' after slashing of RHI subsidies

Michael McHugh

Farmers who took part in the RHI scheme are "on their knees" due to subsidy cuts, one participant said.

Ronnie Wells (60) breeds poultry and wants a public inquiry to restore payments he believes he is owed.

Ahead of Friday's report, Mr Wells said: "People are on their knees. They can go no further."

He is angry at the decision to cut tariffs from the government payable in exchange for energy produced, adding: "A lot have turned back to fossil fuel."

Mr Wells said he discussed the subsidy with his bank and was told it was a good deal.

He said he borrowed on the basis of the government's word and that had been reversed with the cut in tariff rates.

He added that competitor poultry farmers in England earned 18-19,000 in subsidies compared to his 1,850.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of MPs has previously said some participants stood to lose hundreds of thousands of pounds in subsidies that will be paid to those using a similar green energy scheme in Great Britain.

Department for the Economy officials have said they were bound by EU state aid rules and a maximum 12% rate of return for participants.

Mr Wells added: "We were gutted when they decided to cut the tariffs. We signed up for a 20-year contract and took the figures to the bank and I was borrowing 200,000 to put in the four boilers. They looked at it and said this is the way to go.

"We got a couple of years of running at what we were promised then they just pulled the rug from under our feet.

"We are gutted - this has us struggling big time."




AMID THE anxiety surrounding the coronavirus and its spread across Ireland, a number of people in Limerick are going the extra mile to make sure their community is safe.

Across the city and county, people are offering a helping hand to the elderly, the ill and anyone else who may need assistance.

St Marys Aid has said they will continue to deliver meals to the door, Monday through Friday in St Mary's Parish including Kings Island, Grove Island, Corbally, Lower park, Shannon Banks and also along with the Dublin Road and Garryowen areas.

Should you need a meal delivered to your door please contact us on 061 318106. Meals cost 5 per meal, this includes dessert. If you know vulnerable adults and or older persons who may need this service please let them or their carers know that this service is available. We continue to monitor advice from the government and health, said a post on the organisation's Facebook page.

Residents in Garryowen have also offered help to any elderly in the area, who may need help. Those in need can get in contact through the Members of the Garryowen Residents Association Facebook page.

Councillor Elisa O'Donovan has taken to offering help to anyone who needs basic supplies or support accessing health care. People can contact her on 08791203231

Councillor Conor Sheehan also took to Twitter to offer a helping hand.

If any elderly or infirm people need help with shopping, groceries, prescriptions etc, please contact me on Facebook or by text or phone on 085 7525385. I have called to as many elderly people as I could today and will call more in the morning, he said.

John Moran has teamed up with a number of students at the University of Limerick to help where they can.

To help our community in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, the volunteers at#LiveableLimerick and UL Student Life and others have teamed up to create a virtual Meitheal to support a number of programmes and initiatives and help disseminate information at this critical time, said a spokesperson in a statement.

We are asking everyone to make a small daily effort to check in with their neighbours right and left to make sure that they are okay. They may be afraid to go out in public and need some medicine or food or even someone to walk their dog. They might not know where to go for information or help.

You do not need to go in person if you yourself are self-isolating but make a phone call, send an email or text or if you do not know them, knock on the door or leave a short note with your details. If you find that anyone needs help, which you cannot provide yourselves, shoot us an email to info@liveablelimerick.com or a tweet to @liveablelimk and well see what we can do to get help, they added.

If you are offering help to those in need in Limerick, please contact Ryan.orourke@limerickleader.ie
To the annoyance of some shareholders, Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant (MCX:CHKZ) shares are down a considerable 36% in the last month. Indeed the recent decline has arguably caused some bitterness for shareholders who have held through the 47% drop over twelve months.

All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

Check out our latest analysis for Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant

Does Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant's P/E of 6.89 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. If you look at the image below, you can see Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant has a lower P/E than the average (8.7) in the auto components industry classification.

MISX:CHKZ Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

This suggests that market participants think Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant will underperform other companies in its industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Generally speaking the rate of earnings growth has a profound impact on a company's P/E multiple. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.

Story continues

Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant's earnings made like a rocket, taking off 117% last year. The cherry on top is that the five year growth rate was an impressive 16% per year. With that kind of growth rate we would generally expect a high P/E ratio.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

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

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.

Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant's Balance Sheet

Net debt totals a substantial 175% of Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant's market cap. This is a relatively high level of debt, so the stock probably deserves a relatively low P/E ratio. Keep that in mind when comparing it to other companies.

The Bottom Line On Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant's P/E Ratio

Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant has a P/E of 6.9. That's below the average in the RU market, which is 7.9. The company may have significant debt, but EPS growth was good last year. If it continues to grow, then the current low P/E may prove to be unjustified. Given Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant's P/E ratio has declined from 10.7 to 6.9 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. If it is underestimating a company, investors can make money by buying and holding the shares until the market corrects itself. Although we don't have analyst forecasts you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

You might be able to find a better buy than Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant. 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.
610 Shares Share

She is 11, a fifth-grader, as prepubescent as nature allows, and utterly terrified.

She hasnt eaten normally for nearly a month, her mother reports. She sleeps poorly, reports nightmares, and cleans her hands so obsessively that she is literally bleeding raw.

Her fifth-grade peer group typically does not guard its language nor govern its remarks, so every utterance is attention-demanding, black-and-white, dripping with drama. And she hears the constant drumbeat reporting of wave upon wave of corona virus-related events: community spread, local outbreaks, of testing kit and supply shortages, school and event closings, absenteeism, hospitalizations, death  even more than the history lesson, more than the math, more than the reading.

School had become nightmarish enough with the onset of puberty, but all this tension has quite collapsed any sense of security. Even mom acts afraid.

And this tension is reinforced by endless health warnings delivered by faculty, administration, and media. She must learn a new way to smother a cough, into her sleeve they say, but her uniform is short-sleeved, and she has to use Purell, but her eczema is on fire from the alcohol. And now with a sore throat and her fear that a cold will kill her, she and her mother finally seek medical attention, convinced that the worst is soon and inevitable.

What is the impact on children, families, and the general public when every fifteen minutes there is an update on the latest coronavirus news? The health department serves up statistics and guidelines to professionals with incredible frequency these days: hospitalizations plus morbidity/mortality rates, availability of PCR testing kits and designated facilities, vaccine development and availability projections, guidelines for sheltering-in-place (i.e., quarantining), demographic and biological susceptibilities and population vulnerabilities.

In parallel, however, bewildering and inexplicable silences from the various health authorities on the status for the development of any antiviral medications to offer the populations that are being sheltered-in-place. When did the treatment of the individual patient become isolation and containment for the good of the remaining healthy, without the promise or effort to treat the disease?

All this interspersed with political posturing and assignment of responsibility for the epidemic and its management by media pundits and sundry experts.

Lets examine crisis management now that various states and agencies have evoked declaration of health emergency statuses to cope with sheltering-in-place enforcement, control of public travel, behavior, influence over personal comportment and hygiene, in the setting of an appearance of inadequate or unavailable screening test kits and an absolute absence of any antiviral treatment medication. Even the development and distribution of a vaccine remains a promised future event, rather than a current solution.

In effect, the law allows, once an emergency is declared, that the public health authority can compel treatment (for example, mandatory vaccination), enforce travel restrictions, commandeer, ration, and otherwise control water, food, and medication supplies, and use medical and/or public facilities as deemed necessary for the management of the health crisis.

Under the U.S. Constitution, state and local governments have the primary responsibility and legal authority for public health. Also part of their mission and duties is the repetitious cycle of public information, believed by the public health community to reinforce the notion that its comportment is for the public good and to achieve its mission. The goal targets and sustains the concept of the greater good, meaning the health and safety of the general population. What may be lost is the treatment of patients, especially the elderly, and the immunocompromised, those seen as the most vulnerable to COVID-19. The young and healthy, especially the pediatric population, appear to be resistant to the more lethal aspects of this virus.

COVID-19 and coronavirus awareness are new for the general public, but perhaps somewhere in the news cycle, it might be of merit to reveal that human strains of coronavirus have long been identified by the medical profession as causes of upper respiratory infections, a.k.a. colds, during winter and early spring. As a species, we have lived a long time with colds  without panic or quarantines  just Robitussin and fluids and commercialized OTC regimes.

The notion that we are in full crisis mode is quite evident, yet the general population and especially the pediatric population are quite a bit more victimized by the constant alarm bells being rung. And the absence of any offered treatment(s) suggests that many bureaucrats and health officials have a great deal more to gain by sustaining the problem rather than solving the problem. Such is fundamentally ethically challengeable.

While the statistics of those affected are significant, the results appear so far to be manageable. Perhaps we can tone down the sky-is-falling just a bit? And besides, most Americans are aware of the problem and pursuing the advice being given. We get it.

The primary role of public health authorities is to provide guidance to the public and other health professionals and government authorities in identifying and dealing with the disease, meaning the promise of effective treatment, as well as provide laboratory facilities where exposure can be evaluated, diagnoses definitively established, and treatment plans proposed. That is what the public seeks and expects, and has shown itself as clearly engaged in cooperating with the public health authorities. Scaremongering is so 19th century, anyway.

Our 11 year old will need counseling, but she will be all right. What may not survive, however, is the trust that we have placed in public health programs that are based on force and coercion, declarations of emergencies, and are relics of the 19th century. The 21st century depends on good science, consistent statements, good communications, trust, and apolitical truth-telling.

Jeffrey Hall Dobken is a bioethicist and an adjunct assistant professor of public health, New York Medical College.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
The global aviation association warned Thursday a US-imposed trans-Atlantic travel ban would further hurt an industry already hard-hit by the coronavirus crisis, insisting airlines needed "emergency measures" to get through.

US President Donald Trump has announced a shock 30-day ban on travel from mainland Europe over the coronavirus pandemic.

Track live updates on the coronavirus

The move, which sent airline stocks into free fall Thursday, "will create enormous cash-flow pressures for airlines," Alexandre de Juniac, head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), warned in a statement.

"Airlines will need emergency measures to get through this crisis," he insisted.

He pointed out that airlines were already struggling with the severe impact of the pandemic, which has so far infected more than 127,000 people globally and killed over 4,600, according to an AFP tally.

On March 5, IATA estimated that the crisis could wipe out some $113 billion in airline industry, but the organisation stressed that that estimate did not include the severe measures the US and other governments, including Israel, Kuwait and Spain, have since put in place.

The US measures "will add to this financial pressure," the organisation said, pointing out that the total value of air travel between the US and Europe's Schengen area last year was $20.6 billion.

The markets facing the heaviest impact, it said were the US-Germany market, valued at $4.0 billion, followed by US-France at $3.5 billion and US-Italy at $2.9 billion.

"We have already seen Flybe go under," de Juniac said, referring to the British regional airline that collapsed earlier this month.

"And this latest blow could push others in the same direction," he warned.

]

IATA pointed out that the World Health Organization had advised that any travel restrictions that significantly interfere with international traffic "should be "proportionate to the public health risk, be short in duration and be reconsidered regularly."

De Juniac urged the US and other countries to follow the WHO guidance.

He also insisted that "governments should be looking at all possible means to assist the industry through these extreme circumstances."

"Extending lines of credit, reducing infrastructure costs, lightening the tax burden are all measures that governments will need to explore," he said.

"Air transport is vital, but without a lifeline from governments we will have a sectoral financial crisis piled on top of the public health emergency," he warned.
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a fresh case against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, his wife Bindu Rana Kapoor and industrialist Gautam Thapar among others alleging that the private banker took a lavish 1.2-acre bungalow at 40, Amrita Shergill Marg in New Delhi at half its market price as bribe from Thapar in lieu of extending loan worth around Rs 1,900 crore to his group company.

The agencys teams on Friday raided the premises of Kapoors, their company - Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd, Thapars Avantha Realty Ltd and Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd in Delhi and Mumbai  said an official who did not wish to be named. Kapoors, their company Bliss Abode, Thapar and his company have been named as accused in the CBI FIR registered on Thursday evening.

Indiabulls, however, issued a statement denying any CBI raids. The CBI raids have happened on Yes Bank/Rana Kapoor who have their offices in Indianbulls Finance Centre in the capacity of a tenant,Amit Jain, company secretary, said in the statement.

A CBI official said the raid was conducted at Indiabulls office in Delhi.

Email query sent to Avantha remained unanswered.

The CBI has alleged that Rana Kapoor and his wife Bindu, a director in Bliss Abode - an alleged shell company with no business activity  bought the posh bungalow at Rs 378 crore, and it was immediately mortgaged to Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd for a loan of Rs 685 crore, Rs 307 less than the market price.

The CBI has termed this amount of Rs 307 crore as bribe in its FIR.

According to the transaction, Bliss Abode paid much less than market value to Thapars Avantha Group for alleged relaxation in other existing loans to group companies and for advancing new and additional loans.

The agency has alleged that the property was under mortgage with ICICI Bank, which was released in favour of Yes Bank through a loan of Rs 400 crore in 2016 given to Avantha Realty. As MD of Yes Bank at that time, Rana Kapoor approved this loan of Rs 400 crore to ARL as well as the release of property against the repayment of loan, the CBI said.

Rana Kapoor is suspected of been imvolved in money laundering worth Rs 4,300 crore, along with his family members, through 78 shell companies that are being probed for diversion of funds.A firm controlled by his three daughters had also received Rs 600 crore loan from troubled reality firm Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) which had been loaned a massive amount by the bank, which eventually turned into bad debt.

The family is being probed for suspicious transactions worth several thousand crores over the years.
Three private school students have been forced to self-isolate after the KFC where they worked was shut down.

The three boys from St Patrick's College in Shorncliffe, north of Brisbane, were tested and required to go into self-isolation.

St Patricks principal Chris Mayes told Daily Mail Australia that the students had been contacted by KFC Deagon over COVID-19 fears.

'Three young men who work at the local KFC were contacted by their employer and asked to self isolate,' he explained.

The principal said that none of them had a confirmed diagnosis as of yet.

Three students from St St Patrick's College (pictured), just north of Brisbane, were forced to self isolate after a fellow employee at KFC Deagon tested positive for COVID-19

KFC Deagon (pictured) shut down on Thursday and will remain closed until further notice

Parents at the Christian Brothers school were sent a letter this morning informing them of the situation.

The KFC in Deagon was shut down on Thursday after another student employee tested positive for coronavirus.

KFC sent text messages to multiple primary and high schools after making the discovery.

A spokesperson told 7 News: 'A team member from our Deagon restaurant has tested positive for COVID-19. As a precaution we've closed the restaurant until further notice.'

'All employees exposed to the member have been asked to self-isolate,' a spokesperson said in a statement,' they said.

Queensland has reported 35 cases of the respiratory infection and Australia's total sits at 194.

The coronavirus crisis has wrought havoc nationwide - with schools closed, flights grounded and stock market plunging almost 30 per cent from its February 20 peak.
LONDON (Reuters) - The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was set up in 1960 to coordinate oil production policy among its members but in recent decades it has increasingly cooperated with producers outside the group to manage the market.

This month, OPEC's latest deal on oil supply cuts with Russia and other non-OPEC nations collapsed, sending the oil price into a tailspin.

Below are key periods when OPEC has faced tumbling oil prices:

1985-1986

OPEC curbed output in the early 1980s to support oil prices, with Saudi Arabia carrying the biggest burden of cuts. But prices, which were above $30 a barrel in 1980, still slid amid rising production from outside OPEC, such as the North Sea and Alaska, and as some OPEC states exceeded their quotas.

Frustrated at losing market share and seeking to punish overproducers within OPEC, Saudi Arabia ramped up production, initially driving oil prices below $10 in 1986.

Prices recovered slowly from the lows, partly by forcing oil majors with higher costs than OPEC to delay production projects. But Ahmed Zaki Yamani, the Saudi oil minister who had championed the drive for market share, was fired in 1986 by the kingdom's ruling family who wanted to target higher prices, not higher volumes.

1997-1999

OPEC hiked output in 1997 at the behest of Saudi Arabia's then oil minister, Ali Naimi, who said the increase was needed to meet rising demand from China. But the Asian financial crisis and OPEC overproduction led to a collapse in oil prices to about $9 a barrel by 1999 as demand crumbled.

OPEC announced three output cuts between April 1998 and April 1999, withdrawing 4.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil. The cuts were accompanied by a Saudi ultimatum delivered to Venezuela and other OPEC producers to stop producing more than their quota.

In addition to OPEC's cuts, the Vienna-based group also helped oil prices rally by securing promises of cuts by several non-OPEC producers, including Mexico, Norway, Oman and Russia.

Story continues

2008

The global financial crisis gave the market one of its biggest oil price shocks as crude, which had roared to an all-time high of $147 in July, plummeted to $36 by December.

Between September and December, OPEC held three meetings where the group agreed to withhold a combined 4.2 million bpd from the market.

2014-2016

Booming U.S. shale production had been grabbing market share from OPEC since 2012. But, even as prices began to fall, Saudi Arabia kept the taps on to avoid losing further ground. Oil prices tumbled to almost $27 in 2016 from above $115 in 2014.

Facing strains on their budgets, Saudi Arabia and Russia collaborated to create an informal alliance of OPEC and other producers, dubbed OPEC+. The group agreed its first cuts in 2016 and by January 2020 the cuts totalled 2.1 million bpd, with Saudi Arabia again making the deepest reductions.

Naimi, the Saudi minister behind the volume policy in 2014, was replaced in May 2016 before OPEC+ forged a deal on cuts.

2020

The coronavirus outbreak in China and its rapid spread took its toll on the global economy, driving down demand for oil in the first weeks of 2020.

In response, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC states called for OPEC+ to make additional cuts to reduce supply by a total of 3.6 million bpd -- insisting on non-OPEC agreement. When Russia rejected the plan, OPEC scrapped all output limits.

By March 9, shortly after OPEC+ talks collapsed in Vienna, oil had fallen to as low as $31 from about $66 at the end of 2019 as Riyadh said it would lift production to record highs.

(Writing by Edmund Blair; editing by Jason Neely)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 02:33:53|Editor: zyl

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NAIROBI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- An official with the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday urged African governments to reinforce surveillance against COVID-19 to help contain the virus.

Rudi Eggers, WHO Country Representative to Kenya said that the confirmation of a case in Kenya on Friday was a wakeup call for governments to step up their efforts.

"Governments must prepare for an eventual outbreak, and respond rapidly to contain and isolate these initial cases," Eggers said in a statement.

Eggers said that the state of the spread has reached a critical stage that calls for thorough preparation in surveillance and health facilities.

He said that since the Kenyan case transmission is believed to have occurred abroad, it is important that ports of entries are carefully manned and travelers asked to respond to the requirements.

"We have provided testing kits to national laboratories, trained laboratory technicians, dispatched personal protective equipment for health workers, thermal scanners and other essential supplies for screening and handling suspect cases at airports and other points of entry," said Eggers.

He said that the health agency will continue to provide technical and material support to countries in Africa, including the training of health workers.

Kenya's Ministry of Health on Friday announced the country's first case of COVID-19, a female Kenyan national.

The patient is believed to have contracted the virus abroad having returned from the United States where she lived, presented herself to a hospital.

She is currently being managed in isolation at the Infectious Disease Unit at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
Shiv Sena (Hindustan) leader Narinder Bhardwaj has been arrested for allegedly faking an attack on himself, police said on Thursday.

According to the police, Bhardwaj had earlier lodged an FIR claiming that he was attacked by some unidentified people on March 6.

"Narinder Bhardwaj lodged an FIR claiming that he was attacked on March 6. During the probe, it was found that he faked the attack to get security cover," police said.

Further details are awaited.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The city of Odessa and Downtown Odessa Inc. on Thursday announced the cancellation of Tap Into Downtown, according to a release from the city. The event was scheduled for March 21. The event was canceled in the interest of public health, according to the release.

This was not an easy decision to arrive at, however the safety and well-being of our guests, vendors, and our community are our top priority, the release states.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As borough residents cope with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, they woke Friday to find fears over the illness are impacting all facets of life.

The key news on borough: Department of Education confirmation that a student who attends the Hungerford program at New Dorp High School tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the closure of the school for at least 24 hours, beginning Friday.

It was a dramatic scene at New Dorp on Thursday, when many kids left early amid word a student was undergoing testing following the positive test of a parent.

Also, the YMCA in Eltingville remains closed as it undergoes cleaning after an adult member was confirmed to have the virus.

Stores on Staten Island remained a chaotic scene on Friday, as shoppers, many wearing medical masks, began lining up before opening to stock up on food and supplies.

Here are the top stories affecting Staten Island right now:

The latest updates will be posted below as they unfold. You can also click here for Staten Island-specific cancellations and postponements.

4:58 p.m. -- No new jury trials starting Monday; other appearances to be limited

Concerns about the coronavirus will sharply diminish activity at Staten Island courts beginning next week.

As of Monday, no new civil or criminal jury trials will start in the borough or in courts around the state.

Civil and criminal trials currently underway will continue to their conclusion.

4:45 p.m. -- Coronavirus: Juicy Lucy first Staten Island restaurant to close a la carte service

Richie Holmes sees up to 300 guests on the weekends at his almost one-year-old barbecue joint, Juicy Lucy. With that in mind, he will adjust his business model in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the states recent restrictions on occupancy and large gatherings. Effective Saturday, the Ocean Breeze eatery will drop its a la carte service and focus only on delivery until further notice -- becoming the first Staten Island restaurant to do so.

4:10 p.m. -- Coronavirus at New Dorp High School: Parents urged not to 'respond to fear

NYC Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza has issued an update on the closure of New Dorp High School following a student in the building testing positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), stating that all protocols are being followed and asking Staten Islanders to not respond to fear.

We are writing to inform you that the State has confirmed that a student in the school building housing New Dorp High School and Hungerford School has tested positive for COVID-19, Carranza wrote in a letter posted to the schools website. We are handling this situation with the utmost seriousness. At this time, it is important to listen to facts and not respond to fear. We are following all protocols and will continue to keep you updated.

4 p.m. -- Coronavirus on NYC food supply: How have purveyors been affected?

From the milkman to the mozzarella- and ravioli-makers, food industry purveyors are being impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which means that in addition to concerns around occupancy restrictions and event cancellations and loss of business, restaurants have to worry about delivery of the products they rely upon.

3:15 p.m. -- New York has most coronavirus cases in the country with 421; Cuomo not ready to close schools

3 p.m. -- FDA passes emergency act allowing city, state to process more tests

2:01 p.m. -- How are Staten Island gyms disinfecting?

Many gyms throughout Staten Island are taking precautionary steps to keep their facilities disinfected following an increase of positive cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) -- one of which was a member of the YMCA in Eltingville.

1:48 p.m. -- Island officials urge immediate public schools closure

Staten Islands elected officials are urging New York City to close down the public school system to stop the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), as Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza have yet to make a call.

In a joint statement, they said:

1:21 p.m. -- All hell has broken loose! -- Stores a nightmare for shoppers

Angry customers. Empty shelves. An hour-long line that wraps around the store.

The coronavirus has turned the lives of shoppers on Staten Island into a nightmare -- with one customer telling us, All hell has broken loose!

1:20 p.m. -- Various Catholic S.I. high schools shifting to virtual learning next week

Since the Archdiocese of New York announced the closure of all Catholic elementary schools next week, with the possibility of a lengthier closure, at least three Catholic high schools in the borough have elected to follow suit.

Monsignor Farrell and St. John Villa Academy notified parents of the decision Thursday. And on Friday, St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School issued an update regarding its plans to shift to virtual learning next week, following two previously scheduled days off on Monday and Tuesday for St. Patricks Day.

1:10 p.m. -- NYC public schools remain open: Parents, teachers push for closure

Though the vast majority of New York City public schools remain open as coronavirus (COVID-19) cases continue to rise, parents and teachers are calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to close all public schools to ensure the safety of students and staff members.

We want our schools to remain open. We intend for our schools to remain open, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday afternoon at a press conference, during which he announced that there are five confirmed cases of coronavirus on Staten Island.

However, some Staten Island parents and teachers view the decision as tone deaf, requesting that the mayor close all public schools as early as next week.

1:00 p.m. -- Staten Island Greenmarkets to remain open, with precautions in place

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads, the Staten Island Greenmarkets will remain open this weekend.

GrowNYC, the entity that coordinates the farmers markets, issued a statement Thursday that all of our markets are currently operating as normal.

12:48 p.m. -- PS 8 holds school play, ignores citys ruling to cancel non-essential activities, parent says

A parent at PS 8 is angry over the schools decision to hold the schools second-grade play less than 24 hours after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced all non-essential school activities would be immediately cancelled.

The kids practiced all month and they were so excited for it but it wasnt supposed to happen, the mayor said no, said a concerned parent.

12:20 p.m. -- Occupancy restrictions, cancellations: Challenges for restaurants as coronavirus spreads

As restaurant owners and catering halls work to manage a changing customer mindset and event cancellations in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, an additional wrinkle was added Thursday when Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced restrictions on occupancy at establishments.

Ed Canlon, of Canlons in Oakwood, said hes irked about New York States restrictions on guests. One dining room at his establishment holds 50 guests, another 60.

Im hoping for the best. Im hoping for good news, said Canlon on the future of festive gatherings, adding that people are going to do what they want to do anyway.

12 p.m. -- SIUH emergency department doctor explains what to do if youre feeling ill

Director of Staten Island University Hospitals (SIUH) Emergency Department, Dr. Nicole Berwald spoke to the Advance about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and what Staten Island residents should do if theyre feeling ill.

One of the main things to remember, Dr. Berwald said, is that we are still in the middle of the flu season and many people are still being tested and treated for the regular flu.

Whether a person has a cold, the flu, or COVID-19, the same thing needs to be done: stay home and self-quarantine, practice good hygiene, stay six feet away from other people and contact your primary doctor for guidance.

8:15 a.m. -- Little Leagues on Staten Island have plan in place

District 24 administrator Frank Cambria said Staten Islands seven leagues will follow protocol as suggested by Little League headquarters in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and, unfortunately, that means a prolonged delay to the start of the new season.

8 a.m. -- Some Staten Island parents scared away from daycare centers

Daycare workers on Staten Island are wiping down more often, and keeping a closer eye out for sneezing children and staff as the number of people in New York who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus continues to rise.

Of the five centers the Advance/SILive.com reached out, all remained open, though attendance had dropped slightly for at least two of the businesses.

7 a.m. -- How are Staten Islands largest employers coping?

From Amazon to the Staten Island Mall, many large employers on the borough are taking various safety measures and assuring workers they will be paid and keep their job should they have to miss work because of COVID-19.

6:25 a.m. -- New Dorp High School closed

The city Department of Education has shuttered New Dorp High School due to the coronavirus. The school is being temporarily closed in an abundance of caution, according to a DOE post on social media.

The move is prompted by a student who tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the post.

6 a.m. -- A country in lockdown: A look at life in Italy

Advance/SILive.com breaking news reporter Irene Spezzamonte spent most of her life in Italy. She spoke with relatives and contacts in the countrys Veneto region to provide an intimate look at what life is like in a country under lockdown due to coronavirus.
The day that San Francisco banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people, and the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus to be at pandemic stage, Clement Street felt pretty much the same as always.

Every outdoor table at Brecks was full, patrons enjoying coffee and the oddly warm March sun. Shoppers selected produce from the sidewalk stands of multiple markets. Parents paused at the parklet outside Cumaica while their children enjoyed ice cream, and there were laptops aplenty inside All-Star Donuts at 10th Avenue.

Its slowed down a little bit this week, but not too much, shrugged Bori Sroy, the wife of the owner. Its OK.

The life-goes-on air of Clement Street hints at the reality of San Francisco the week that COVID-19  a virus unknown outside China just months ago  became the only news that seemed to matter.

Some parts of the city feel hollowed out. Others, in an unsettling way, feel more at home than they have in years.

Its such a stark difference between our two areas, said Lauren Crabbe, the proprietor of three Andytown coffeehouses, two in the Outer Sunset and one at 181 Fremont St., a recent office tower connected by a bridge to the popular park atop the Transbay transit center. I see more people out and about in the Outer Sunset. Downtown, its like somebody flipped the switch and the power went off.

The impact is real, no question, especially in the blocks south of Market Street that in the past decade have filled with towers leased to firms like Salesforce, Facebook, Instagram and Slack. These companies and others have all instituted voluntary or mandatory work-from-home policies.

You cant blame them, given the unfathomable implications of a virus about which we still know so little. But it also means that House of Shields, a historic saloon on New Montgomery Street that fills like clockwork at 5 p.m. on weekdays, had a grand total of eight men nursing cocktails at the bar at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Now Playing: As Bay Area deals with the Coronavirus there are fewer people out in the city and in the streets making the Bay Area look and sound different as the population practices social distancing. Video: SFGATE

Andytown has seen its business at 181 Fremont fall as much as 60%. Two weeks ago, as many as seven workers in a shift would be behind the counter to keep long lines of caffeine-seeking patrons happy. Now, managers are wrestling with how to trim employee hours in an equitable way.

It doesnt feel right, but it may be what we have to do, said Jackie Szymborski, the general manager. It seems like every day, another big company tells its workers to stay home.

The pace of the shift has been fueled by City Halls aggressive efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus in San Francisco.

First came Mayor London Breeds declaration of a state of emergency on Feb. 25. Then there was the Department of Healths pronouncement March 6 urging that large events be canceled and that people practice social distancing, as in steering clear of crowded situations. Wednesday, shifting from requests to restrictions, San Francisco banned all gatherings with more than 1,000 people for the next two weeks.

Against this backdrop  especially given international medias tech-saturated fascination with all things San Francisco and Silicon Valley  its no surprise that outsiders are depicting the local landscape in near-apocalyptic terms. Some streets were largely deserted of pedestrians, the Washington Post intoned on Wednesday.

But when I explored Hayes Valley on Tuesday evening, the commercial strip still hummed with life. The Riddler on Laguna Street was still doing brisk business in $17 glasses of Champagne. Ever-popular Absinthe at Hayes and Gough had no shortage of drinkers and diners.

The difference, in an eerie sort of way, is that the scene was reminiscent of the pace back in 2011 or 2012  before we all started talking about how San Francisco was getting too hectic, too crowded, too much.

If Hayes Street attracts people who want to be part of the action, Clement Street is something else. Its the embodiment of a city that exults in neighborhoods that feel like miniature worlds of their own.

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 Inner Richmond has attracted different communities at different points in its evolution, each layer adding to the richness of the whole. The newest layer? In part, younger people who work downtown  often for companies now telling them not to come in.

At Brecks, a former corner store that morphed into a combination wine shop-wine bar-cafe last year, owner Will Eagle said business actually is up slightly this week.

My thought is that I wont be affected as people downtown, unfortunately for them, Eagle commented as he surveyed a mostly full shop late Wednesday morning. As more people stay home, theyre going to go local. Even if theyre working out of their apartment, they want a change of scenery for an hour or so.

That may have been the case at Progressive Grounds cafe on Cortland Avenue in Bernal Heights.

Nearly every table was full on Thursday, six occupied by people staring at their computers. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, there was no sign of the parking spaces that usually are empty on weekdays. At Precita Park, toddlers explored the playground while adults dotted the long sunny green.

Andytowns Crabbe and others compared the feel of the city this week to the holidays: quiet downtown while usually quiet neighborhoods have come to life. Its a shift of focus at both ends, each sharpened in quite different ways.

The difference is that holidays are scheduled on the calendar. With the coronavirus, we dont know how the next weeks or months will play out, or when people who cant work from home will escape todays feel of economic dread.

It feels similar to the week between Christmas and New Years, but theres no sense of excitement. People are moving with an extra level of caution, Crabbe said. Its a weird time. What worries me is that its going to get worse before it gets better.

John King is The San Francisco Chronicles urban design critic. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron
Netflix NFLX recently launched its mobile-only subscription plan in the Philippines for P149 per month, as per director Patrick Flemming.



In addition to the existing basic, standard and premium plans, the new mobile plan will enable users to watch films and shows, uninterrupted and without ads, on one smartphone or tablet at a time.



The plan will also be launched in Thailand simultaneously and individuals will have to download the Netflix app or visit the streaming platforms website and select the P149 per month plan to avail the benefits.



Netflix, Inc. Price and Consensus

Netflix, Inc. Price and Consensus

Netflix, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Netflix, Inc. Quote

New Plan to Expand International Footprint



The new mobile-only plan is a part of Netflixs strategy of expanding its global presence. Notably, the low price of these plans will enable the company to enter the low-income demographic of emerging international markets.



The plan was initially launched in India in July 2019, the success of which led to its launch in Indonesia and Malaysia.



Notably, Asia-Pacific (APAC) revenues surged 51% year over year to $418.1 million in fourth-quarter 2019. Moreover, the company stated that the plans have led to increased user retention in these regions.



The mobile-only plan is expected to succeed in the Philippines and drive the top line. The company stated that Filipinos watch two times more Netflix on mobile than other parts of the world, while two out of three Filipinos download content on their phones to watch Netflix on the go.



Further, the platform has a rich catalogue of Filipino content. Netflix released its first original Filipino movie  Dead Kids  in Dec, 2019. These factors are expected to increase its subscriber base in the country.



Mobile-Only Plan to Strengthen Competitive Position



Competition is becoming more intense in the streaming space with platforms like Apples AAPL Apple TV+ and Disneys DIS Disney+ rushing to strengthen their presence in international markets.



Notably, Disney+ is set to launch in India on Mar 29, with Hotstar that has a large subscriber base in the country. Moreover, Amazons AMZN prime video already has a strong global presence.



Netflixs mobile-only subscription plan is likely to provide it with a competitive edge in emerging markets. Other streaming service providers have no similar plans to cater to the low-income demographic. Further, the companys focus on developing local content is expected to aid it in acquiring new subscribers and retain existing ones.



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Stocks in the news today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus in Friday's trading session based on latest developments.

PVR: The cinema hall company has announced the launch of its premium cinema viewing experience 'PVR Sapphire' at Pacific Group's D21 Mall located at Dwarka, New Delhi. PVR Sapphire is the new premium category cinema experience and is an addition to PVR's bouquet of GOLD Class and Director's Cut.

63 Moons: National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has dismissed the plea of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to supersede the Board of 63 Moons Technologies. NCLAT has completely exonerated the present Board of 63 moons of all the baseless allegations of oppression and mismanagement.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank: On clarifying over a media article, suggeting 'LVB is in trouble', the lender announced that the said article is misleading and factually incorrect. Bank's liquidity coverage ratio is at a comparable level more than what is prescribed by the Regulator and it is in the process of recovering NPAs and the quantum of NPA has in fact marginally come down in the last quarter (December 2019).

Subros: The manufacturer of thermal products for automotive applications has announced that it has been in continuous review of the impact of Novel Carona Virus on its supplies to its customers so far. The company confirms that there is no disruption in supply to customers as per plan given by them. Further on banking disruption, there is no impact of such disruptions on its business, as per the filing.

Arvind Fashions: The company has has decided to issue equity shares on rights basis in the ratio of 16:47, i.e 16 equity shares for every 47 equity shares held at an issue price of Rs. 150 per equity share (including premium of Rs 146 equity share). As per the filing, the company will issue 1,99,75,953 equity shares through this rights issue.

SeQuent Scientific: The company has announced receipt of WHO Geneva approval for API Praziquantel (Anthelmintic) under pre-qualification program. Alivira's Vizag site is India's only US FDA-authorized and EU GMP-compliant facility focused on production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for the animal health sector. This approval further emphasizes our focus on compliance standards, the filing added.

Coal India: The company board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 12 per equity share for FY2020.
Im being asked over and over again why the United States is so far behind other countries and why the American people cannot get tested, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) said at a House Oversight and Reform Committee Hearing earlier this week. South Korea can test more people in one day than we tested over the past two months.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Amidst the rapid spread of Coronavirus, countries have been cancelling visas, leading to the civil aviation industry taking a hit. As a result, the Wings India 2020, the civil aviation fete which started on Thursday was dampened in terms of participation from international delegates. Usha Padhee, joint secretary, Civil Aviation Ministry, said that in this years edition, there was nearly 1/3rd reduction in terms of participation by both national and international participants.

She said there was a 20 per cent to 30 per cent decline in air traffic in the country owing to people denouncing air travel. The foreign delegates chose not to travel to India in fear of the virus leading to merely 500 delegates turning up. However, despite this, several states held B2B discussions with clients at the mega biennial show.

The Wings India 2020 in a tweet said, Due to the outbreak of #COVID19, the entry for the general public at #WingsIndia2020 has been restricted. All visitors whove purchased tickets for the event will get their money refunded back.

City-based company looks to break into seaplane market

An aviation company with its management from Hyderabad and Sweden is looking to make its mark in the aerospace industry by manufacturing a seaplane, which it claims will be one-of-its-kind. Senior officials of the company, Revinaviation, said the seaplane is on the drawing board. Nils Pihlblad, CEO and founding partner said the seaplane will have twin-engine with space for two pilots and 10 passengers, and will cost 5 million. He said presently available seaplanes have either lesser seats with single engine or double engine with higher seating capacity
The U.S. launched airstrikes targeting Iranian-backed Shia militia members in Iraq Thursday in retaliation for a deadly attack in which two American troops were killed, American officials said.

The airstrike targeted militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at Camp Taji, a base north of Baghdad, on Wednesday.

Officials said multiple strikes by U.S. manned aircraft hit five locations and mainly targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside Iraq.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters at the Pentagon earlier Thursday that President Donald Trump had given him the authority to take whatever action he deemed necessary.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the United States was working 'to bring the perpetrators to justice' before the airstrike was confirmed on Thursday evening in retaliation for Wednesday's attack from Iran-backed militia which killed three, including two American troops

Army Colonel Myles Caggins, the Operation Inherent Resolve spokesperson, retweeted these images of rocket launchers on Wednesday after two U.S. troops were killed in an attack on an Iraqi base by Iran-backed militia. The U.S. has now launched an airstrike in retaliation

Wednesday's attack is said to have involved small rockets, pictured here, and killed two American troops and one British personnel. A U.S. airstrike targeted five locations in retaliation for the attack on Thursday night after Trump allowed for whatever action deemed necessary

'We're going to take this one step at a time, but we've got to hold the perpetrators accountable,' Esper said.

'You don't get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it.'

'As I stated earlier, the United States will not tolerate Iran-backed attacks against our people, our interests, and our Allies,' Esper added in a tweet.

'All options are on the table as we work with our partners to bring the perpetrators to justice, and maintain deterrence.'

The airstrikes were also confirmed in a tweet from Department of DefensePress Secretary Ayyssa Farah.

'This evening, the U.S. conducted defensive precision strikes against Kataib Hizbollah facilities across Iraq. These strikes targeted 5 weapon storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against the U.S. & coalition forces,' she wrote.

'These strikes were defensive, proportional, & in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups who continue to attack bases hosting OIR coalition forces.

'The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies. We will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region.'

Defense Secretary Mark Esper revealed President Donald Trump had given him the authority to take whatever action he deemed necessary after a deadly attack on U.S. troops in Iraq on Wednesday. The U.S. launched airstrikes in retaliation on Thursday night

The strikes marked a rapid escalation in tensions with Tehran and its proxy groups in Iraq, just two months after Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against American troops at a base in Iraq.

They came just hours after top U.S. defense leaders threatened retaliation for the Wednesday rocket attack, making clear that they knew who did it and that the attackers would be held accountable.

Officials said Karbala Province and Jurf al Sakhar were two of the locations.

At the White House, Trump had also hinted that a U.S. counterpunch could be coming, telling reporters, 'We'll see what the response is.'

And Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters the U.S. knows 'with a high degree of certainty' who launched the attack.

On Capitol Hill earlier in the day, Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East, told senators the deaths of U.S. and coalition troops created a 'red line' for the U.S., but said he didn't think Iran has 'a good understanding of where our red line is'.

Asked if any counterattack could include a strike inside Iran, Esper said, 'We are focused on the group that we believe perpetrated this in Iraq'.

US soldiers walk around at the Taji base complex in Iraq which hosts Iraqi and US troops. Two American troops were killed in a rocket attack on the base at around 7.35pm Wednesday

Operation Inherent Resolve spokesperson Army Colonel Myles Caggins shared these pictures on Twitter when confirming Wednesday's rocket attack which killed two Americans

Two U.S. troops and one British service member were killed and 14 other personnel were wounded when 18 rockets hit the base Wednesday.

The U.S. military said the 107 mm Katyusha rockets were fired from a truck launcher that was found by Iraqi security forces near the base after the attack.

U.S. officials have not publicly said what group they believe launched the rocket attack, but Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shia militia group, was the likely perpetrator.

And the U.S. strikes, which came in the middle of the night in Iraq, targeted that group.

Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for a late December rocket attack on a military base in Kirkuk that killed a U.S. contractor, prompting American military strikes in response.

That in turn led to protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

They were followed January 3 by a U.S. airstrike that killed Iran's most powerful military officer, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, of which Kataib Hezbollah is a member.

In response to the Soleimani killing, Iran launched a massive ballistic missile attack on January 8, at al-Asad air base in Iraq, that resulted in traumatic brain injuries to more than 100 American troops.

McKenzie told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday morning that the killing of Soleimani and the increase in U.S. troops and assets in the region has made clear to Iran that the U.S. will defend its interests there.

He said the U.S. has re-established a level of deterrence for state-on-state attacks by Iran.

However, he said: 'What has not been changed is their continuing desire to operate through their proxies indirectly again us. That is a far more difficult area to deter.'

On Thursday, Esper and Milley said they spoke with their British counterparts about the attack, but declined to provide details.

Asked why none of the rockets was intercepted, Milley said there are no systems on the base capable of defending against that type of attack.

He also said the 14 injured personnel were a mix of U.S. and allied troops as well as contractors, and they will also be monitored for possible traumatic brain injury in the wake of the blasts.
MIAMI  Andrew Gillum, one of the Democratic Partys fast-rising political stars, was in a Miami Beach hotel room early on Friday when emergency workers were called to treat another man suffering from a probable drug overdose, the police said.

By the time the police arrived at the Mondrian South Beach shortly after midnight, paramedics had treated the man, and he was in stable condition. Officers tried to speak to Mr. Gillum but were unable to due to his inebriated state, according to an incident report filed by the Miami Beach Police Department. Mr. Gillum was intoxicated and vomiting in the bathroom, according to the report.

The police said they had impounded three small plastic bags containing suspected crystal meth that officers saw on both the bed and floor of the hotel room.

At this time, the incident is not being investigated as a criminal matter, Officer Ernesto Rodriguez, a department spokesman, said in an email.
Leading Australian personal trainer Sam Wood has revealed why you shouldn't go to the gym - as the coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep across the globe.

The Melbourne-based PT said while it 'pains' him to say it, we should all be having a 'rest from our gym routines' - or at the very least ramping up our workout hygiene habits.

Speaking to FEMAIL, the former Bachelor star shared how you can look after your health as the spread of COVID-19 gets worse every day.

Sam also shared how you can minimise your risk of getting coronavirus if you do go to the gym.

Leading Australian personal trainer Sam Wood (pictured) has revealed why you shouldn't go to the gym - as the coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep across the globe

According to the personal trainer, he recommends men and women steer clear from the gym right now:

'As a gym owner, it pains me to say that it's probably a good time to have a rest from your normal gym routine,' Sam told Daily Mail Australia.

'The spread of coronavirus is getting worse everyday and while we are in a state of unknown as to where it will end up, it's always better to be safe than sorry.'

The fitness expert highlighted that 'hot, sweaty and confined spaces with lots of people breathing and sweating everywhere' is definitely something that needs to be avoided.

'According to the Australian government's Department of Health, coronavirus spreads by coming into contact with droplets from an infected person's cough or sneeze,' he said.

Sam also said you can contract coronvarius by touching 'objects or surfaces that have droplets from an infected person and then touching your mouth or face'.

Gyms obviously have a high volume of people coming in and out, and people put their hands 'all over' various different pieces of equipment - sweating over different surfaces (stock image)

Gyms obviously have a high volume of people coming in and out, and people put their hands 'all over' various different pieces of equipment - sweating over different surfaces.

What can you do to stay on top of your hygiene at the gym? * Wash your hands properly with soap * Wipe down equipment before and after you use it * Bring your own mat * Don't share drink bottles * Use hand sanitiser * Don't touch your face after using equipment * Avoid the steam and sauna * Avoid heated classes Advertisement

For this reason, Sam said if you possibly can, you should avoid going to a gym and exercise at home or outside instead.

If you feel as though you must go to the gym, Sam explained there are several precautionary measures you can take to try and make sure your health stays in top form.

'Wash your hands properly with soap for at least 20 seconds after you've been to the gym,' he said.

'You should also bring your own mat and towel, and wipe down equipment before and after you use it.'

The PT advises that you never share a drink bottle with anyone, and always use hand sanitiser - which should be available in your gym.

'Don't touch your face after using equipment, even to wipe down sweat,' he said.

'And avoid the steam room and sauna, as well as heated classes.'

When it comes to what you can do instead, Sam (pictured) said the best possible course of action is to be aware of the risks and work out from home where possible

When it comes to what you can do instead, Sam said the best possible course of action is to be aware of the risks and work out from home where possible.

'Look at alternative ways to stay healthy, safe and boost your immunity,' he said.

'Home workouts have been on the rise for the past few years due to their affordability, convenience and effectiveness, but in the current landscape, the additional benefits are we stay clean, safe and don't have to leave the house.'

For more information about the possible home workouts you could do, please click here.
Written by ACM





*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- Expressing a surprizing European Oprtimism and Voluntarism, even in the middle of one of the Worst Health and Economic Crisis, when Europe has just been hit by a Deadly Virus more than any other area the World after China (See "Eurofora"s Warning at : ..., etc), embattled French President Emmanuel Macron strongly Urged to act for "Europe to have all Trump Cards in order to Offer to the World, during the Next Months, the Antidote to Covid-19" Virus !



- Already, "many, French and European (Public and private) Projects and Clinical Tests are evolving in order to Produce Fast, Performant and Efficient Diagnostics", with "Hopes for the first Treatments in some Weeks or Months", followed by "a Vaccine in many Months", as he said.

=> "We must Take Control, Build better a Sovereign ... Europe, able to firmly Master its Fate", by taking, "during the next Weeks and Months", certain "Breakthrough Decisions".

- Pointing, inter alia, at "a General Mobilisation of our (Medical) Researchers", he praised "our Best Virologists, Epidemiologists, very Famous Specialists, and Clinicians on the spot", engaged in "Many French and European Programs", with "our Professors, supported by Private Actors", and vowed to "Ameliorate things, Both in France and at a European level".

- "The Principle that Guides us, in order to determine our actions, ... is to Trust Science : Hear those who Know", Macron stressed.

----------------------------

- Already, at EU Level, the competent EU Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides from Cyprus, had announced Earlier, that Europe "will Finance 17 Projects, involving 136 Research Teams from across the EU".

+ And the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has just observed, after the Latest EU Leaders' Tele-Conference on the Virus, (10 March 2020), that, "on (Medical) Research and development, we Will reinForce the European Initiative to Fund Targeted research on the Coronavirus", while, already, "we (the EU) have mobilised 140 Millions of public and private funding for promising Research on Vaccines, Diagnosis and Treatment".

This is obviously Added to the Financial Efforts done also by the 27 EU's Member States themselfs, but, a priori, one may Wonder whether it's really Enough, or not, when we see that, f.ex., the USA have reportedly earmarked 8 Billions $ for Scientific Research on how to Fight against that Virus, for a Population of some 350 Millions of Peope, while the EU has more than 500 Millions of Citizens...

Moreover, it's also a Fact that, at least for the Time being (12/3/2020), the specialized International Website "https://clinicaltrials.gov" does not mention, among the declared Research Projects on CoronaVirus but Only ...6 Projects in Europe (+2 in Russia), compared to 15 in the USA and 43 in China... But this might be due, perhaps, to a Delay in Registering there, and/or of attributing those Funds by the EU to the various Candidates, the Dates their Work Starts, etc.

Lsst, but no least, it's Difficult to understand why EU Commission might Spend several Hundrends of Millions of uros for Mass Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants Smuggled through Turkey to trespass EU's External Borders in Greece, (including Big Sums of Money, each Day, for the Controversial "Non Accompagnied Minors", many of whom are notoriously Adults), while it hasN't yet earmarked but Only 1 (one) Million  for Scientific ree=to Protect 500 Millions of innocent European Citizens' Lives from the Threats of that Deadly Virus....

--------------------------------

+ At the Same Time, Macron launched a vibrant Call for "Solidarity" and "Union", stressing that, for the Moment, at this Stage, in practice, "it's Urgent to Protect ...the most Vulnerables", i.e., particularly, "the Persons Aged more than 70 Years, Suffering from Chronic illnesses or Respiratory Toubles, Handicaps", etc.

- "Our Absolute Priority is Health. I will not hesitate on anything", he promised. Human "Health is Priceless", and we "shall use all necessary financial means to Help, Care for the Sick, and Save Lives, at whatever cost". But, at the same time, "we shall Keep the Changes that we shall make" for that purpose, "we Shall Learn the lessons of this Crisis", with "our Medical Staff, keen for Innovation and Mobilisation", so that "we shall survive with an even Stronger Health System" for the Future.

- In fact, "this Pandemia (as the WHO has just Named this "COVID-19" row) reveals that Free Health Care, withOut Conditions on Income, Career or Profession, our Wellfare State, is not about Costs, but Precious Assets, Indispensable Trump cards, when Fate hits hard. What reveals this Pandemia, is that certain Goods and Services must be placed Out of the Laws of the Market"...

(../..)

("Draft-News")
I dont know that actions we take are going to calm markets. I think the markets recognize that theres going to be disruption because of the coronavirus, Romney said. There are things we can do to help people who have health issues, and there are things we can do to help small businesses.
Adaptive immunity is a powerful defense mechanism in vertebrates. A finely tuned interplay of different cell types provides a pathogen-specific immune response to eliminate for example bacteria and viruses. Max Planck researchers now identify the mechanistic basis of antigen receptor gene assembly that more than 500 million years ago independently evolved in one of the two sister branches of vertebrates. The results by the scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg are an important step to answering the question which of the many functions that are carried out by the immune system of living vertebrates are absolutely essential. The findings may help to understand the causes and consequences of failing immune functions and autoimmune syndromes.

Pathogens such as viruses and bacteria have been at war with their hosts for millions of years. The arms race between the immune system of the hosts and infectious pathogens is considered to be a critical driver of evolution. All vertebrates, including humans, developed a very sophisticated self-protection device, which is called the adaptive immune system. Specialized immune cells called T cells and B cells detect and destroy invading pathogens. One of its key features and its secret weapon is immunological memory. The cells remember infections leading to an even more efficient reaction to the same pathogen when re-exposed.

Searching for the design principles of adaptive immunity

In recent years, researchers have found that adaptive immunity has evolved at least twice independently in the early phases of vertebrate evolution. Vertebrates are commonly divided into two groups. Animals of the most numerous group all possess a jaw, and hence are called "jawed" vertebrates; they encompass such diverse creatures as sharks and humans. By contrast, a small group of vertebrates lacks jaws, and hence these animals are called "jawless" vertebrates; lampreys and hagfish belong to this group.

"The basic design of the adaptive immune systems in these two groups of vertebrates are surprisingly similar, considering that these groups evolved independently for more than 500 million years," explains Thomas Boehm, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics. The scientists know that all vertebrates share the two lineages of T and B cells that are equipped with receptors capable of recognizing foreign structures, often referred to as antigens. Because the immune system has to distinguish between very different types of antigens, the structures of the receptors also vary; they are made up of similar but not identical building blocks that are produced in a random fashion during the development of T and B cells.

Dissecting adaptive immunity with CRISPR/Cas9

One of the big surprises of recent research was that the building blocks of antigen receptors of jawless and jawed vertebrates are structurally different, yet serve the same purpose during immune defence. "Lampreys use short peptides, called leucine-rich repeats and arrange them like strings on a bead to form the so-called variable lymphocyte receptors. However, up to now, it was unclear how these strings are stitched together," explains Ryo Morimoto first-author of the study. This important question has now been answered by the Max Planck researchers in Freiburg, working together with scientists at the French INRA in Rennes.

To do this, the scientists succeeded for the first time in using the famous gene scissor CRISPR/Cas9 to study gene function in the immune system of lampreys. By using CRISPR/Cas9, they specifically destroyed a gene in lampreys that they long suspected to be required for the assembly of a particular class of variable lymphocyte receptor genes, which contain the blueprint of lamprey antibodies. Indeed, when the so-called cytidine deaminase gene 2 (CDA2) was crippled, the lamprey could no longer produce antibodies.

Shared tool-kit to create antibodies

The CDA2 gene is of great interest to immunologists, because it is related to a gene, called AID, of jawed vertebrates that helps to refine the specificity of their antibodies. "It seems, that nature has chosen molecules from a shared tool-kit to support the formation of useful antibodies in both types of vertebrates. These results are an important advance in our understanding of the evolution and function of the immune system of vertebrates," says Thomas Boehm. Now that the scientists have successfully used gene scissors to investigate immune gene function in lampreys, they plan to test the role of many other genes that are suspected of supporting immune functions in these ancient vertebrates.

By collecting more information using this genetic approach, they hope to eventually reconstruct the key components of the immune system of the first-ever vertebrate. Doing this will allow them to learn which of the many functions that are now carried out by the immune system of living vertebrates are absolutely essential and which can be dispensed with. Ultimately, the Max Planck researchers hope to use this information to better understand the consequences of failing immune protection in human patients suffering from autoimmune diseases and cancers.

###

Original Publication

Ryo M, O'Meara CP, Holland SJ, Trancoso I, Souissi A, Schorpp M, Vassaux D, Iwanami N, Giorgetti OB, Evanno G & Boehm T (2020)

Cytidine deaminase 2 is required for VLRB antibody gene assembly in lampreys

Science Immunology 5, eaba0925. 13 March 2020
New Delhi: The Kalaburagi man who tested Covid-19 coronavirus positive after he died was discharged against medical advice (DAMA) from a hospital in Bidar on the demand of patients attendees, said a statement issued by the Central government.

In the hospital, the patient was provisionally diagnosed as "mid-zone viral pneumonia" and "suspected Covid-19".

"Though Kalaburagi district health officer met the patient's relatives and requested them to shift the patient to an isolated ward within GIMS, according to the instructions of the deputy commissioner of the district, the relatives did not heed them and moved the patient without the officer's knowledge to Hyderabad," a statement issued by the government said.

"The sample was collected on March 9 by Viral Research Diagnostic Laboratory, Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Kalaburagi to rule out Covid-19 and the sample was dispatched to the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories, BMC&RI, Bengaluru," the statement said. The patients attendees insisted on discharging him before the test results were out.

Later, the man was discharged from the private hospital in Hyderabad and died while he was being brought back on the way to GIMS in Kalaburagi on March 10.

The man visited Saudi Arabia on January 29 and returned to India a month later on February 29.

"While he was asymptomatic on his return, he developed symptoms of fever and cough a week later and died on Tuesday," the government said in the statement.

The central government on Thursday said that the death of the 76-year-old man from Karnataka is confirmed to be caused due to co-morbidity and was also tested positive for Covid-19.
Political representation is at the forefront of conversations about the 2020 census, which has officially begun on Thursday. The latest estimates predict that New York will lose one congressional seat. If its residents are severely undercounted, the state could lose two congressional districts in the aftermath of the decennial count. Thats what happened in 2010, so the risk that history repeats itself is real.

This isnt entirely shocking given that New York has consistently lost congressional representation since 1950, when the state had 45 representatives. That number has since fallen to 27. While New Yorks population has grown by nearly 5 million since 1950, the countrys overall population has more than doubled in that same time period. Major population growth, particularly in the South and Southwest and on the West Coast, has therefore resulted in congressional seats being increasingly being reapportioned from states like New York and Pennsylvania to states such as Florida and Texas.

But the process surrounding how New Yorks new districts are drawn will be entirely new for the next redistricting cycle, and many questions remain about how politicized the process may become. We're at a crossroads, in that we have a new process, said Jeff Wice, an adjunct professor and senior fellow at New York Law School who has helped draft redistricting plans in the state Assembly and state Senate. That's an untested new process that hasn't started yet. It gives the Republicans and Democrats equal footing in a body created by the Legislature. And we know people will be looking to see how independent the commission members will be. There'll be much more public focus and involvement.

During the last redistricting cycle, in which New York lost two congressional seats, Assembly Democrats and state Senate Republicans failed to come up with a compromise on drawing boundaries for congressional districts. The creation of a new congressional map was left to a panel of federal judges and redistricting experts, who drew the current map. The state Legislature did successfully pass plans for state legislative, though it faced a failed lawsuit pushed by state Sen. Martin Dilan accusing Republicans of unfairly carving out a new Senate district.

To avoid similar gridlock in the future, New York changed its approach to redistricting in 2014 via a state constitutional amendment. Whereas, in the past, state legislators were responsible for redistricting, the new process is meant to reduce political influence by relying on an advisory commission. No one who has been an elected official, lobbyist or political party chair within the past three years is allowed to serve on the commission.

But experts emphasize that its still not considered a fully independent body. Most members are appointed by legislative leaders of both parties  who pick two people each  and the Legislature must approve any proposed maps the commission puts forward.

Democratic and Republican leaders in the Assembly and state Senate have already appointed their members. State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins picked John Flateau, a business professor at Medgar Evers College and former chief of staff to New York City Mayor David Dinkins who has experience in census work, as well as David Imamura, an attorney at Debevoise & Plimpton. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie selected Elaine Frazier, a longtime legislative and state employee who served as a member of the city of Albany redistricting commission, and Eugene Benger, who has held varying legal roles in state government.

On the Republican side, there are two former state elected officials. Senate Minority Leader John Flanagan picked George Winner Jr., a former state senator, and Ed Lurie, former executive director of the New York Republican State Committee and the New York Senate Republican Committee. Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay chose Charles Nesbitt, former minority leader in the Assembly, and Keith Wofford, a lawyer who ran to become attorney general in 2018.

These eight members will collectively pick the final two members who will serve on the commission. Once census data comes out next year, the members will begin the process of creating maps for Assembly, state Senate and congressional seats.

How the commission votes will vary according to the composition of the state Legislature. If Democrats retain control of both legislative bodies, the threshold for the commission to pass its voting plans is higher. At least seven out of the 10 commissioners must sign off, including at least one appointee from each party in both the Assembly and the Senate. Meanwhile, if Republicans were to take back the Senate, the barriers to approving plans would be lower. The seven out of the 10 commissioners signing off on the plans would have to include only an appointee from both the Democratic Assembly Speaker and Senate Republicans.

Party composition in the state Legislature will also affect the threshold needed to approve any plans the commission puts forward. Under one party control, 60% of legislators in the Assembly and Senate must vote to approve it. Under a divided government, a simple majority would suffice.

All of these mechanisms, I think, are designed with good intentions, which is to facilitate compromise and make sure that the interests of different political persuasions in the different chambers are taken into account, Yurij Rudensky, a redistricting expert with the Brennan Center for Justice. But, practically speaking, it means it can be an easy process to derail.

The state Legislature can also regain full control over redistricting if the commission fails to produce a plan or if legislators or the governor reject the plans they put forward. This means, in a scenario where Democrats keep control of the Senate, the Democratic appointees on the commission could hypothetically decide to veto any plans put forward, in order to kick control back over to the Legislature.

It's going to be incredibly important that the people who are selected by legislative leadership are approaching this in good faith, Rudensky said. Not to game the system, because they perceive there's an ability to get some sort of political advantage.

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, expressed similar concerns about how the commission will work in practice. Some of the criteria are appropriate and good but it remains to be seen to what extent they will be followed.

If New York does end up losing at least one congressional district, there is also a question of which representative gets pushed out. But given how many variables go into that making that decision, its too early to predict who would likely be affected. Anybody who thinks they know what's going to happen now has no idea and is probably the least involved in the redistricting, Wice said. Some incumbents may no longer be around next year, because they could lose their bid for reelection.

Members of Congress, unfortunately pass away, they retire, they leave office, Wice said, and that always happens during the redistricting cycle where members just decide theyre not going to run again, making the elimination of that district a bit easier. During the states last redistricting cycle, the two eliminated seats were respectively held by a Democrat who chose not to run for re-election and a Republican who decided to run for the U.S. Senate.

Information from the census will be vital to determining which parts of the state are seeing population loss that will inform the new congressional boundaries. If certain parts of the state lose more residents, they will be more likely to lose a district. That may likely be the case in upstate New York, which has lost more residents than much of the rest of the state.

Those potential losses also raise questions about how New York would abide by another provision included in the 2014 constitutional amendment, which requires any redistricting plan to maintain the existing shape of districts as much as possible.

We don't know how that's going to impact what the maps actually do, Rudensky said, and particularly in the circumstance of the congressional delegation and potentially losing a seat, if not two, how that criterion will be implemented when certain districts will just cease to exist anymore.
Two elderly persons were beaten up by a group of people allegedly over a disputed plot of land in Rajasthan's Barmer, police said on Thursday.

Three accused have been taken into police custody.

"We have registered a case under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and three accused have been taken into police custody," Superintendent of Police (SP) Anand Sharma told reporters here.

Further investigation is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sardar Udham Singh, a biopic starring Vicky Kaushal, has had its release date postponed. The film is about the revolutionary freedom fighter Udham Singh who assassinated General O'Dwyer, the perpetrator of Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Sardar Udham Singh was earlier slated for release on Gandhi Jayanti, October 2, this year. Owing to its clash with Ranveer Singh's Jayeshbhai Jordaar and John Abraham's Satyamev Jayate, the film will now see its release on January 15, 2021.

Vicky took to his Instagram page to share the news. Sharing a still of himself as Udham Singh, he wrote, "On March 13th 1940, #SardarUdham singlehandedly assassinated Michael O' Dwyer in London to honour the lives lost at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. His story deserves justice onscreen. Keeping that in mind, we will now see you in cinemas on 15th January 2021!" (sic).

The film is being directed by Shoojit Sircar and produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar of the Rising Sun Film Production.

Earlier, Irrfan Khan was chosen to play the titular character, but after the diagnosis of his neuroendocrine tumor, he had to back out because he could not play an action role.

Talking about Vicky being cast to play Udham Singh, director Shoojit Sircar had said in an interview that he saw a burning intensity and anger in Vicky's eyes during their first meeting. This convinced him that Vicky was right for the role.

Expressing his elation over getting to work with Shoojit, Vicky had said that he was in the list of directors he wanted to work with.

ALSO READ: Vicky Kaushal Says He Was Willing To Pay To Act In Films During Struggling Days: Just Wanted To Act

ALSO READ: Vicky Kaushal Announces Wrap Of Sardar Udham Singh Biopic, Shares Picture From Streets Of London
Los Angeles Public Library Cancels Public Events in March, All 73 Libraries Continue to Operate With Standard Hours

The Los Angeles Public Library has canceled all programs, events and meeting room bookings through March 31. The action follows state and city recommendations and is taken as a precaution to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and protect staff and patrons including the most vulnerable Angelenos.C

All libraries remain open and are providing services during standard hours. The Librarys many digital services are available at lapl.org 24/7, and include e-books and e- audiobooks, streaming TV, movie and music services, classes, and digital subscriptions to newspapers and magazines.

The health and safety of our patrons and staff are our priority, and we are suspending public programs at the direction of health authorities and out of an abundance of caution, said City Librarian John F. Szabo. Our 73 libraries remain open and continue to offer essential library services.

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The Library continues to follow best sanitation practices for workplaces and has removed toys and other difficult-to-sanitize playthings from childrens areas and is in the process of increasing supplies of hand sanitizers and wipes.

The library has added a resource page at lapl.org/coronavirus with up-to-date information about the COVID-19 virus.

Patrons can stay updated on library services by visiting its website at lapl.org and following its social media accounts (@lapubliclibrary).

A recipient of the nations highest honor for library servicethe National Medal from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Los Angeles Public Library serves the largest and most diverse urban population of any library in the nation. Its Central Library, 72 branch libraries, collection of more than 6 million books and state-of the-art technology accessible at www.lapl.org provide everyone with free and easy access to information and the opportunity for lifelong learning.

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* Maduro allies sought to sway 30 opposition deputies, sources say

* Lawmaker recorded saying he received cash offers, threats

* National Assembly was last institution outside Maduro's control

By Mircely Guanipa, Angus Berwick and Mayela Armas

CARACAS, March 13 (Reuters) - In January, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed a major victory: congress lawmakers elected his favored candidate as National Assembly leader, putting the increasingly authoritarian nation's last independent institution within his grasp.

Opponents cried foul, accusing the Venezuelan leader of intimidating and attempting to bribe lawmakers to oust Maduro's arch-rival, opposition head Juan Guaido, in the Jan. 5 vote.

An examination by Reuters of the circumstances surrounding the vote shows there was evidence to support their accusations.

A previously undisclosed recording of a conversation between two congressmen - along with interviews with a dozen other lawmakers and unreported text messages - sheds light on the ruling Socialist party's strategy of making cash offers and threats to exploit divisions within Guaido's coalition.

Maduro's leftist government, branded a dictatorship by Washington and targeted by U.S. sanctions, denied using coercion, as did the newly elected head of congress, Luis Parra.

In the recording, at 9 a.m. on Dec. 15, Kerrins Mavarez, a 34-year-old congressman for the coastal state of Falcon, took a phone call from a senior opposition figure worried the government was plotting to wrest control of congress.

The caller, Luis Stefanelli, told Mavarez he believed Maduro's allies were trying to buy and scare opposition politicians into backing Parra.

Mavarez confirmed to Stefanelli he had received phone calls from an unnamed government emissary threatening him with arrest and asking how much money he wanted to change sides.

"I'm really scared," said Mavarez, who did not identify the emissary. Mavarez said he had resisted the offer but asked Stefanelli for the opposition's support: "Don't leave me alone."

Story continues

"It's important for us to know we can rely on you," Stefanelli said in the recording, which he shared with Reuters, promising Mavarez that opposition leaders would back him.

"Your position will mark your life."

By the time of the Jan. 5 ballot, Mavarez had made up his mind. He joined some 15 other opposition lawmakers in voting against Guaido's re-election and instead backed Parra, who had aligned himself with Maduro's Socialists.

At a news conference four days after the vote, Mavarez denied accusations by other opposition figures that he took a bribe and said he acted with "bravery" after Guaido failed to advance solutions to Venezuela's economic and political crisis.

Asked by Reuters about the recording, Mavarez did not deny its authenticity and said both sides pressured him, but he voted "with full freedom."

He accused the opposition of staging the threatening calls he received in December to assess if he was involved in a conspiracy, but did not give evidence for that. A spokesman for Guaido said no calls or messages were staged.

Reuters was unable to determine whether any bribes were actually made or who made the December calls. Stefanelli said he recorded Mavarez because he suspected that he already had been "bought," without elaborating further.

Neither representatives for Parra nor Venezuela's Information Ministry responded to requests for comment.

"HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT?"

The opposition politicians interviewed by Reuters said Parra's allies in December had solicited 30 of their colleagues - the number needed to swing the majority - with offers of up to $700,000, picking targets in financial need and frustrated with Guaido. They offered evidence for three cases, which are detailed in this story.

"They were calling up those who had doubts or who were unhappy with the leadership," said lawmaker Jose Guerra.

Citing his conversations with colleagues targeted, Guerra said one lawmaker close to Parra, Jose Noriega, who was formerly in Guaido's Popular Will party, made many of these calls.

Noriega denied this to Reuters.

According to the deputies and people close to the Socialist party, Maduro wanted to take advantage of Guaido's diminished popularity to place a new pliant opposition in congress that could pass legislation required by his government.

But, according to these people, Parra failed to sway enough opposition legislators.

This, they said, forced him to bar entry to Guaido and his allies and claim control of the 167-seat congress without proof he met the requirement that half of lawmakers be present. Parra has said the vote did have quorum, but he has never presented an official list of which legislators voted for him in a show of hands.

On the day of the vote, soldiers with riot shields blocked Guaido and allies from entering parliament, according to Reuters reporters, enabling pro-government legislators to elect Parra.

Maduro said on state television that Guaido did not want to enter congress as he did not have the votes. He celebrated Parra's rise as a "rebellion" within congress.

Although opposition lawmakers later re-elected Guaido as head of the National Assembly in a separate session at a nearby newspaper's offices, Parra's rival election was a symbolic blow and deprived them of control of the building itself.

Guaido, who accuses Maduro of stealing the 2018 presidential election, proclaimed himself rightful president last year based on his status as head of congress - with the support of Washington and dozens of other nations.

In December, before the vote, the main opposition coalition evicted Parra after a local media report accused him and others of abusing their positions to burnish the reputation of a government-linked businessman. Parra denied that at the time and remains as head of congress.

Mavarez replaced Stefanelli in congress after the elder lawmaker fled abroad due to a Dec. 13 Supreme Court request to investigate him for alleged crimes related to a plan to seize military installations. A pro-government legislative superbody agreed to remove his parliamentary immunity three days later, though it is unclear how the case has proceeded since.

Stefanelli denies the treason and conspiracy allegations.

In a phone interview, he said he could not reveal his location or when exactly he left due to security concerns.

Venezuelan authorities have opened criminal probes into Guaido's finances and involvement in anti-government protests and stripped many more of his colleagues of parliamentary immunity on grounds they also conspired to overthrow Maduro. Some 30 lawmakers remain detained, in exile, or in refuge at embassies in Caracas.

During his call with Stefanelli, Mavarez said the go-between had told him he too would be arrested for participating in an unsuccessful military uprising against Maduro last April. Furthermore, the intermediary warned him that Mavarez lacked immunity as a substitute lawmaker, making him more vulnerable, the recording reviewed by Reuters shows.

In the call, Mavarez recounted to Stefanelli that earlier that morning the emissary asked him: "How much do you want and which bank account do you want it in?"

Mavarez declined to identify the emissary to Reuters and Stefanelli said he did not know who the individual was.

"THE SCORPION WANTS TO STING ME"

Lawmaker Alfonso Marquina was another target.

On Dec. 11, Marquina attended a congressional meeting during which he chastised colleagues for mistakes the opposition made last year, Marquina told Reuters. Afterwards, Noriega, the lawmaker allied with Parra, approached him and suggested they talk.

Suspicious of Noriega's motives, Marquina messaged Guaido to keep him apprised of the proposition.

"My president, the scorpion wants to sting me," Marquina told Guaido, referring to government pressure over the National Assembly vote that the opposition dubbed Operation Scorpion.

They agreed Marquina would go to find out more.

The next morning, Noriega wrote to Marquina. "Comrade, good morning. I'll wait for you at 8 a.m. at the Tamanaco so we can have breakfast," he said, referring to Caracas' plush Tamanaco hotel, according to their unreported messages seen by Reuters.

Once at the hotel restaurant, Marquina said he placed a phone in a bag by their table to secretly record their conversation.

According to the 5-minute tape, which Marquina released publicly in January, Noriega offered him $700,000 to support Parra, with an initial payment of $150,000 before the vote, along with the chair of the congress' finance commission.

"Whoever extends their hand and accepts the initial amount gets a commitment," Noriega said.

In a statement to Reuters, Noriega reiterated previous denials that the conversation took place and said the recording formed part of a Guaido-led campaign to discredit Parra's election. The Guaido spokesman said the tape was genuine.

Marquina stands by the audio's authenticity. He said he refused the money - but claims 15 other lawmakers had a price.

Arkiely Perfecto, who left a pro-Maduro party to join the opposition early last year, told a colleague on Dec. 10 that she had accepted 50,000 euros ($57,000) to vote for Parra, though she felt "terrible" for doing so, according to WhatsApp messages published by her political organization, which later expelled her.

"The dignity that I have maintained has meant a lot of people I love in my family have gone to bed with empty stomachs," Perfecto said in one text to the colleague seen by Reuters, referring to previous offers she had turned down.

Perfecto told Reuters she had not accepted any money and said the messages were fabricated by her group, the Democratic and Inclusion Movement, to damage her.

Her group's leader, Nicmer Evans, said Perfecto's expulsion followed a proper disciplinary investigation which found she had received a payment.

($1 = 0.8809 euros) (Additional reporting by Vivian Sequera, Corina Pons and Shaylim Valderrama; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Dan Flynn and Andrew Cawthorne)
Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington on March 2, 2020. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo)

US Launches Retaliatory Strike on Iran-Backed Group After Deadly Attack

The United States on Thursday launched retaliatory airstrikes aimed at an Iran-backed terror group after a recent deadly rocket attack on a U.S. military base in Iraq that killed two Americans and a Brit.

Earlier this evening, the United States conducted defensive precision strikes against Kataib Hizbollah (KH, also Kataib Hezbollah) facilities across Iraq, read a statement from the Department of Defense released Thursday.

These strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces. These weapons storage facilities include facilities that housed weapons used to target U.S. and coalition troops.

The Associated Press reported, citing anonymous American officials, that two of the locations targeted were Karbala Province and Jurf al Sakhar.

The Pentagon said in its statement that the strikes were defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups (SMG) who continue to attack bases hosting OIR coalition forces, and that the SMGs must cease their attacks on U.S. and coalition forces or face consequences at a time and place of our choosing.

The U.S. and the coalition remain committed to the lasting defeat of ISIS, and the long-term security, stability, and sovereignty of Iraq, the statement from Pentagon read.

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East, will give more information regarding the strikes at 8:30 a.m. in the Pentagon Briefing Room on Friday.

Trump authorized the U.S. military to respond to Wednesdays rocket attack, Esper said earlier in the day.

Camp Taji Attack

The attack on March 10 involved about 18 rockets fired at Camp Taji and killed two American troops and a 26-year-old British soldier, and wounded 14 others.

The U.S. military said that the 107 mm Katyusha rockets were fired from a truck launcher that was found by Iraqi security forces near the base after the attack.

A rocket launcher mounted on a truck in Rashidiya after a rocket attack on Taji military base in Iraq, in a photo released by the Media Security Cell on March 12, 2020. (Media Security Cell via AP)

You dont get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it, Esper told reporters at the Pentagon earlier.

When asked at the time if any counterattack could include a strike inside Iran, Esper said, We are focused on the group that we believe perpetrated this in Iraq.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters that the United States knows with a high degree of certainty who launched the attack.

Milley said there are no systems on the base capable of defending against that type of attack when he was asked why none of the rockets was intercepted. Milley also said that the 14 injured include U.S. and allied troops as well as contractors. They will be monitored for possible traumatic brain injury, he added.

Earlier Attacks

This is not the first defensive strike the United States has conducted against KH. Esper said in late December 2019 that the United States launched successful defensive strikes on Dec. 29 at KH targets in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. strikes followed an attack on a military base in Kirkuk on Dec. 27 that killed a U.S. contractor.

In apparent anger at the U.S. airstrike on KH, thousands of protesters and members of multiple Iran-backed groups stormed the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Dec. 31. The protesters included members of KH.

On Jan. 3, a U.S. airstrike killed Qassem Soleimani, Irans most powerful military officer, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, of which KH is a member.

Iran, in apparent response to Soleimanis death, launched a ballistic missile attack on Jan. 8 at al-Asad airbase in Iraq. The attack caused more than 100 U.S. troops to suffer from traumatic brain injuries.

McKenzie told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday morning that the killing of Soleimani and the increase in U.S. troops and assets in the region has made clear to Iran that the U.S. will defend its interests there, reported The Associated Press.

What has not been changed is their continuing desire to operate through their proxies indirectly again us, he said. That is a far more difficult area to deter.

He said that the most recent attack at Camp Taji created a red line for the United States, adding that he didnt think Iran has a good understanding of where our red line is.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 17:48:59|Editor: Lu Hui

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NEW DELHI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday proposed that countries in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) should formulate a joint strategy to fight COVID-19.

"We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," Modi wrote on twitter.

Modi said South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population, should leave no stone unturned to ensure their people are healthy.

The number of COVID-19 cases in India has risen to 75.

India has suspended all visas, barring diplomatic, official, UN/International organizations, employment and project categories until April 15.
- The man is said to have succumbed to a heart attack while en route to Nairobi from Qatar aboard a Qatar Airways plane

- He was discovered dead after the aircraft landed at JKIA and his family was informed of his demise and asked to collect his luggage

- Travellers that had sat close to him in the six-hour journey were interrogated as authorities kicked off investigations into the matter

A 37-year-old Kenyan man who was aboard a Qatar Airways plane was found dead after the plane landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on the morning of Thursday, March 12.

The man is said to have succumbed to a heart attack while en route to Nairobi from Doha, Qatar.

READ ALSO: My muscles are becoming stronger, my faith is stronger - CS Tuju

A picture of a Qatar Airways plane. The man died while en route Nairobi from Qatar. Photo: Middleeastmonitor.com

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: MP chased out of parliament over virus fears

According to K24, investigations into the matter kicked off as those who were seated with him in the six-hour journey were questioned by authorities.

"His father was informed of his death and even asked to come collected his luggage," a senior officer at JKIA told K24.

READ ALSO: Mbunge Otiende Amollo asherehekea siku ya kuzaliwa ya mapacha wake 3

The deceased's remains were driven to the city mortuary and airport officials are expected to make a statement concerning the unfortunate incident.

A section of JKIA. The man was discovered dead upon landing at JKIA. Photo: KAA.

Source: UGC

In a separate story, an investigative report was recently released and revealed that the May 5, 2007, crash involving a Kenya Airways (KQ) plane in Douala Cameroon was caused by pilot error.

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.

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
The student returned to Ukraine on March 5 after travel to Sweden, Finland and Estonia

Open source

In Kremenchuk, Poltava region, a student of Kremenchuk National University was hospitalized with suspicion for coronavirus as Unian reported.

It is reported that a man was hospitalized in the evening on March 12 to the infectious unit of the acute therapy hospital of Kremenchuk. The doctors took the analyses; they were sent to Poltava. The results are expected. The patient stays in a separate box.

The student returned to Ukraine on March 5. Earlier, he was in Sweden, Finland and Estonia. He appealed to the doctors as he had a high fever, 39 degrees.

On March 12, the Healthcare Ministry officially confirmed two new cases of Chinese coronavirus in Ukraine. Thus, currently, there are three coronavirus cases in Ukraine. Previously, a man in Chernivtsi was diagnosed with it; his current health state is satisfactory.

Later, the wife of a man from Chernivtsi was also diagnosed with Covid-19. Another case is spotted in Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region. A 71-year-old woman appealed to the hospital too late and attended the church since the moment of infection.

The local authorities of Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region (northern Ukraine) announced the emergency mode in this town. The decision takes effect on Friday, March 13.

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Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne has told her US counterpart the outbreak of coronavirus should not diminish any of the other priorities facing the two nations, including the security of the Pacific.

Senator Payne and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have agreed the two countries are in for a tough time over the coming months dealing with the global pandemic.

Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, meeting Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne in 2019. Credit:Edwina Pickles

But she said Australia and the US "will get through the COVID-19" outbreak and the focus on "security, stability and prosperity in the Pacific" needed to remain.

The Australian Foreign Ministers pitch comes amid rising Chinese influence in the Pacific and concerns over whether the US will continue to have the capacity to play an active role in the region.
In 2020, the wood industry aims to export USD 12.5 bn worth of goods, but these impressive figures do not help to ease the anxiety that is presently facing the Vietnamese wood export industry.

Concerns over Vietnamese labelled exports

The five most important wood export markets for Vietnam in 2019 were the US, Japan, China, South Korea and the EU, accounting for 90% of the total turnover of wood exports of the entire industry in Vietnam, and which saw a turnover of around USD 9.3 bn.

The US was the largest of all wood export markets, importing USD 5.1 bn of wood products from Vietnam, up 42% compared to the turnover in 2018. Currently, the turnover from the US accounts for 50% of the total export turnover of Vietnam in all wood markets. The three markets of Japan, China and the EU had a growth rate of about 10-17% compared to 2018. The items of high export value included furniture, wooden chips and planks.

However, when looking at the structure of enterprises exporting wood and wooden products from Vietnam, it is easy to notice that foreign-invested enterprises (FDI), or enterprises working with foreign capital, still account for a large portion of the industry.

According to a recently published report, "Foreign investment in Vietnam's timber industry 2019: Current situation and a policy aspect" by the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Vifores), in 2019 there were 663 FDI enterprises directly participating in timber exports, up 25% compared to 2018. Also in 2019, the export turnover of FDI enterprises reached USD 4.95 bn, up 25% compared to the export turnover in 2018, accounting for nearly 48% of the total export turnover of the whole wood industry in 2019 (table below).

Notably, along with growth in exports, more FDI capital invested in the wood industry and the proportion of imported raw materials from FDI enterprises also increased significantly. The source of FDI capital in the wood industry is mainly from Asia, in particular China.

Table shows export turnover of FDI enterprises in wood industry in the period 2018-2019

Source: Statistical data of Foreign Investment Agency and General Department of Customs According to statistics of the Foreign Investment Agency in the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in 2019, the total registered investment capital of FDI enterprises reached USD 6.3 bn, up 13.2% of total registered capital by the end of 2018. Taiwan ranked at number one with 220 enterprises and total registered capital at USD 1,067 bn, accounting for 17% of total registered capital of all FDI enterprises; followed by Hong Kong with 58 projects and 15.2% of investment capital.

Although ranked 5th in terms of total registered investment capital, China has risen to the 2nd position in terms of number of enterprises investing in Vietnam's timber industry. In 2019, there were 56 Chinese-invested wood industry projects, up 2.3 times compared to 2018, with registered capital of USD 203 mn which was up 3.4 times compared to 2018.

Import of wood materials also increased in proportion to FDI capital. In 2019, FDI enterprises imported nearly USD 820 mn of wood material, accounting for 32% of total wood import turnover. China is the leading market on the list of wood products for FDI enterprises operating in Vietnam.

In 2019, FDI enterprises imported wood products from China with import value of more than USD 316.1 mn, accounting for 39% of total import turnover. At the same time, Chinese enterprises also led the FDI group in terms of import turnover with imports worth USD 156 mn, accounting for 19% of total import turnover of FDI enterprises.

The strong growth of FDI enterprises in the wood industry, together with the unusual export-import proportion of these enterprises in recent years, shows that concerns about Vietnam becoming a transit station for FDI enterprises to avoid tariffs in exports is justified. The export figure reached USD 11.2 bn in 2019, a record high in the wood industry so far, largely from contributions of FDI enterprises, which also shows a serious imbalance in the structure of the Vietnamese wood industry today.

Trade risks

Contrary to a strong growth of FDI enterprises, domestic enterprises in the wood industry are quite sluggish. In addition to capital and production line restrictions, Vietnamese wood enterprises cannot control the source of materials, and depend largely on materials imported from outside, mostly from China. Although the country currently has 3 million hectares of forest land, domestic wood enterprises have to import upto 80% of raw wood.

This not only reflects the instability of raw materials, it also shows that the volume of Vietnam's exported wood furniture is not high. In addition, some major markets such as the US and EU require furniture exporters to have FSC certification, a standard certification to declare origins of raw material. This standard is not easy to acquire without proof of planted forests in Vietnam.

Dr. To Xuan Phuc, an expert in forest trends, and the author of reports on the current status of Vietnam's wood industry, said that trade risks in Vietnam's wood exports are more pronounced and importance of key export markets is tightening. The signs of trade fraud are indicated more clearly when some Chinese wood products are imported into Vietnam, then exported to the US with Vietnamese labels. This becomes an excuse for the US and EU to implement sanctions on goods, resulting in even more difficulties for domestic enterprises to export wood products.

The Vietnam Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Agreement (FLEGT) signed between Vietnam and the EU, will prove to be a barrier for Vietnamese timber exporters to export their goods to this market. Similarly, in the US, the Lacey Act tightens control over the origin of wood products. The US Department of Justice has specified that Vietnamese wood products are mainly imported from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Therefore, when exporting to the US, it is likely that manufacturers, exporters and retailers of furniture will face being fined or banned on suspicions of origin of the products.

Translated by Khoa Anh



Luu Thuy
2020 is Nepal's year. As part of an attempt to boost tourism in a country still reeling from the 2015 earthquake, Nepal is celebrating Nepal 2020 which means there will be more to see and do. Importantly, as of today, India has removed Nepal from its Coronavirus watch list.

Bhaktapur Durbar Square

The airplane cabin goes silent. Its not that its a noisy cabin to begin  there were no crying babies nor loud passengers  but silence has a way of making its presence felt. Its one of those things that you can, somewhat paradoxically, hear. Even if its a soft hum that fades out, you tend to instinctively turn around and look. But how do you trace the source of the silence? It takes a bit; youre disoriented and then you realise that the reason why the soft hum of passengers chatting behind you has died out is the view outside of your window.

Before we took off from New Delhi on the inaugural Vistara flight to Kathmandu, I joked with my co-passenger that the pilot would probably fly over Everest. With a straight face, I assured her that he would circle over the tallest peak in the world and tell us exactly when wed pass it by. She believed me. Some 45 minutes into the flight when the cabin fell silent and I looked out of the window, even I believed my own fib. I may not admit this again but for a brief second, I thought to myself: Could I have been right?!?

Of course I wasnt. Everest isnt on the flight path from New Delhi to Kathmandu; I had looked it up before we left. But there was something even more mesmerising. Peaks after snowy peaks, sticking out of the clouds, like a crumpled sheet of white against a deep blue of the sky, the kind of blue you almost never see. I half expected the captain to make a short announcement, asking passengers to look out and behold the sight of the majestic Himalayas but the PA remained mute. Not even a crackle. We passed by the greatest mountain range in the world in the way one should  in complete, almost reverential, silence.

Story continues

Ive occasionally wondered what it must seem for someone looking at this scene from the outside  the aircraft with its Royal Aubergine and Pale Gold Vistara logo on its tail, roaring past an abyss of white. On the inside though, its just white noise, the kinds you can tune out and drift into an easy slumber. Its what Ive always loved about airline travel  the quiet and sanitised predictability of a pressurised cabin. You know the drill from the moment you step in  the flight attendants polite welcome as you board, the safety demonstration, the anticipation of the take-off as the aircraft gains speed on the runway and then that one swift movement with which the wheels leave the ground. Youre off on an adventure.

Ariel view of New Delhi

Much has been said about the golden age of airline travel, a time when most of us werent born. And in the crowd of low-cost airlines, its easy to assume that its well behind us. Certainly it is true for most part. But every so often, when youre flying an airline like Vistara you tend to imagine what it mustve been like  dignified cabin crew, top class service and meals that defy all cliches of airline food.

In-flight meal on board Vistara

And so it is, after a happy meal and a smooth landing at New Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport, Im on Vistaras inaugural flight to Kathmandu. We leave behind the sunny plains of Delhi, fly past the Himalayas and soon enough find ourselves looking over a cluster of tiny colourful buildings that signal our arrival in the capital of Nepal.

What to see and do in Kathmandu:

For most part, Kathmandu has been a haven for high rollers and hippies alike. The countrys obsession with Bollywood isnt difficult to miss. Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Dev Anands cult hit from the 70s, is still very fresh in Nepals collective conscious as you find yourself listening to the guide talk about his nations brief but romantic tryst with the hippie culture at our first stop:

1. Explore the Bastanpur Durbar Square

Temple of the Living Goddess

The ancient city of Kathmandu is set around this Durbar Square, which was also the official residence of the Nepalese royal family until the 19th century. In 1979, this Durbar Square was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Home to several Hindu and Buddhist temples as well as the home of the living goddess of Nepal, the square can tend to be quite crowded. Several of the temples were destroyed in the earthquake of 2015 and are still being restored. It is easy, however, to spend a few hours here, photographing the many buildings in this square, shopping and walking down Freak Street, the erstwhile hippie abode that now houses cafes and stores.

2. Party at Thamel

Jazz Upstairs

Kathmandus tourist district has all the trappings of one. Rows and rows of shops with selling bright clothes, hiking gear, lanterns, thangka paintings, bronze statues etc. Make sure you bargain down to a third of the price quoted by the shopkeeper. When the sun goes down, Thamel turns into a cool party district with nightclubs, restaurants and bars playing everything from techno to Bollywood. Although not in Thamel but certainly a place worth visiting is Jazz Upstairs, Kathmandus only jazz club that has live performances every night.

3. Circumambulate Boudhanath

Swayambhunath Stupa

Swayambhunath (also known as Boudhnath) is the largest Buddhist Stupa in Nepal and an important centre of Tibetan Buddhism. The stupa lies at the heart of Kathmandus Tibetan community. Like the Durbar Square, Swayambunath is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Join the Tibetan monks, and fellow tourists as you circumambulate the stupa chanting Om Mani Padme Hum. Most locals arrive here sundown when it can get quite crowded. You can also arrive here early mornings when the crowds are much lesser. There are several monasteries around Boudhnath where you can learn more about Tibetan Buddhism and its philosophy.

4. Offer your respects at the Pashupatinath temple

Pashupatinath Temple

Nepals most sacred Hindu temple is dedicated to Shiva and attracts thousands of devotees every day  from curious tourists to ascetics. Expect a long queue to pay your respects to the deity but you can give that queue a pass in case you dont mind just a peek into the sanctum sanctorum from a short distance away. The Pashupatinath temple complex has several other smaller shrines and overlooks a lake where Hindus perform the final rites of their near and dear ones. Note that entry into the temple complex is restricted only to Hindus and photography is not permitted.

5. Take a half-day trip to Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur Durbar Square

Located about an hour away from Kathmandu, Bhaktapurs Durbar Square isnt unlike Kathmandus. The temples and monuments in squares such as these were a result of a competitive spirit between the local rulers whod commission architects to construct grand buildings as an exercise of one-upmanship. Bhaktapurs square holds several temples and cultural monuments. Its also in a significantly better shape since the 2015 earthquake didnt affect it as much as it did Kathmandus square. From erotic carvings to religious monuments, Bhaktapur is a photographers delight. It also houses an art gallery and museum that are worth a short visit but youll likely be transfixed by the sheer number of monuments and their diversity.
Kathmandu, March 13 : Nepal has temporarily suspended its visa-on arrival system till the end of April and has also cancelled all the spring mountaineering expeditions, including that to Mount Everest, as precautionary steps to combat the spread of the coronavirus, a government official said here on Friday.

A day after the World Health Organization on Wednesday declared COVID-19 as a pandemic, the Nepali government on Thursday took these decisions, Xinhua news agency reported.

Nepal has so far reported only one coronavirus case and the infected person has already recovered, according to the Ministry of Health and Population.

"Visa-on arrival for nationals of all countries has been suspended until April end," Bikas Devkota, a spokesperson at the Ministry, told Xinhua on Friday morning.

"Suspension of this facility begins on Saturday." Earlier, the Nepal government had suspended visa-on arrival for nationals of China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Spain, Germany and France.

Devkota said that the Nepali government has not suspended providing other types of visas.

According to the decisions taken by the High Level Coordination Committee formed to combat the COVID-19, even diplomatic and official passport holders who come to Nepal for the first time or return to after staying abroad should stay in self-quarantine in Nepal for 14 days.

The Himalayan nation has also suspended the facility of entry through the land routes for foreigners except Indian nationals from March 14 to April 30.

"Cross-border movement of Nepali and Indian nationals will be allowed through certain border crossings only," the decision read.

Nepal and India share a porous border and there are more than 100 border crossings between the two neighbours.

Regarding the cancellation of the spring mountaineering expeditions, Meera Acharya, Director at the Department of Tourism (DoT), told Xinhua: "All the permits that have been issued so far or were about to be issued for spring expeditions in 2020 have been called off for now." According to the official, the Department had already issued five permits for the spring expeditions, and was in the final step of issuing other permits.

Spring is the major climbing season in the Himalayan country, which begins in April and extends through May, generating millions of dollars of revenues through the issuing of expedition permits.

An expedition to Everest usually takes 45 to 90 days, a short climbing window, depending on favourable weather, and generally falls after mid-May.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Bucharest, March 14 : Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has appointed caretaker Prime Minister Ludovic Orban to form a new government.

The head of state made the decision after Florin Citu, caretaker finance minister, tendered his resignation as Prime Minister-designate on Thursday.

"The only proposal I have received is Ludovic Orban," said the President at Cotroceni Presidential Palace after consultations with the parliamentary parties and formations in a teleconference system, aimed at designating a candidate to the Prime Minister office.

According to the president, all political parties promised him that they will get involved in the parliament to fast-track the proceedings so that, in a very short time, possibly on Saturday, a vote of confidence may be taken in the new cabinet, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Political battles and matches have no point in the current context," Iohannis said late Thursday after Citu's resignation, stressing that the number one priority is to protect peoples' health amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Soon after the designation, Orban proposed the same ministers in his new cabinet, with the current governing program.

The Parliament announced it will start the hearing of the proposed ministers in the specialised committees on Saturday morning through a video-conference and voting for the investiture of the new cabinet.

Most parliamentary political parties in Romania have stated that due to the current coronavirus epidemic, they will temporarily abandon political fight and give their confidence votes to the new government.

Citu tendered his resignation on Thursday, just minutes before the joint plenary session of parliament meant to cast a vote on the investiture of his cabinet.
The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday charged three individuals who, while working for an investment adviser, falsified and withheld documents that were requested by staff of the SEC during an examination and ensuing enforcement investigation.

According to the SEC's complaint, Stacey Beane, of Florida, Justin Deckert, of Virginia, and Travis Laska, of North Carolina, helped conceal a fraudulent offering of more than $10 million in promissory notes by Stephen C. Peters, the owner and principle of VisionQuest Wealth Management, LLC, to Peters's advisory clients. The SEC previously charged Peters and his companies based on the fraudulent offering, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina filed criminal proceedings against Peters based on the same misconduct, as well as Peters' providing false information to Commission staff. On June 6, 2019, following a trial by jury, Peters was convicted in the criminal case of twenty counts, including counts alleging investment adviser fraud, fraudulent sale of unregistered securities, mail and wire fraud, and falsification of documents provided to the Commission.

Beane, Deckert, and Laska allegedly fabricated documents to suggest that Peters had disclosed potential conflicts of interest to VisionQuest's compliance officer, altered other documents to make certain clients appear to be accredited investors, and forged or backdated client signatures on various agreements, all of which Beane, Deckert, and Laska knew would eventually be provided to the SEC. In addition, in response to SEC staff requests for emails sent to and from Peters, the complaint alleges that Beane and Laska used keyword searches provided by Peters to identify certain responsive emails that should be withheld from the production to the SEC.

The SEC's complaint, filed yesterday in federal court in Raleigh, North Carolina, charges Beane, Deckert, and Laska with aiding and abetting VisionQuest's violations of the books and records provisions of Section 204(a) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and Rule 204-2 thereunder. The complaint seeks injunctions and civil monetary penalties against each defendant.

Deckert has, without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, consented to a judgment that enjoins him from aiding and abetting violations of these provisions, and orders him to pay a $30,000 penalty. Deckert has also consented to an order by the Commission that bars him from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization, with the right to apply for reentry after five years. In accepting Deckert's offer to settle the Commission considered Deckert's cooperation in the criminal case against Peters.

The SEC's litigation is being led by Edward Sullivan and Graham Loomis. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(Natural News) Iran is building so many burial pits that satellite photos were able to detect them. These new satellite images show that the coronavirus outbreak in Iran may either be worse than what government sources are reporting, or they may be preparing for a possible disaster.

In the city of Qom, just 80 miles south of Tehran, theres a massive cemetery known as the Behesht-e Masoumeh Complex, which lies around six miles north of the city center. Satellite images from as early as February 21 show that excavation teams have been hard at work creating a new section in the graveyard. By the end of February, two large trenches, around 100 yards in length total, had been dug out  they were so large that they were visible from space.

According to video testimony, official statements as well as analysis from experts, this excavation project wasnt just a routine expansion of a cemetery, but these fresh graves were dug out to accommodate the countrys near-uncontrollable death toll from the coronavirus pandemic.

The pictures of the new graves were taken on March 1 by Maxar Technologies, a private space technology company based in Colorado. A senior imagery analyst from Maxar told Vox that the trenches were made very quickly and that these new graves mark a clear departure from the countrys past burial practices when it comes to individual and family grave plots.

Furthermore, the same Maxar analyst said that they have an image of a large pile of lime right next to the freshly-dug plots. Iranian health officials have previously said that theyre using lime to bury those killed by COVID-19.

A video released by BBC Persia purportedly shows the mass graves in Bahesht-e Masoumeh. In the video, the narrator describes the scenes hes seeing in the cemetery. (Related: Leaked video published by the BBC shows victims of coronavirus in Iran PILING up in stacks of body bags.)

This is the section for the coronavirus victims, says the narrator, as the camera pans to a small portion of the trench, showing small, simple markers placed on mounds of dirt and people in blue protective suits standing nearby. More than 80 [people] have been buried in this section so far, and they say only 34 deaths. The man is citing Irans official death toll on February 28.

Fabian Hinz, a research associate and geospatial analysis expert for Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, reviewed the video as well as another video that was also supposedly shot on sight, said that unique geographical markers in the videos match landmarks found in the massive graveyard. This provides evidence to support the hypothesis that the trenches at Bahesht-e Masoumeh were made to supply Qom with more burials for coronavirus victims.

Mistrust and mishandling hamper Irans efforts to combat outbreak

As of press time, Iran reports having 10,075 cases of coronavirus and 429 deaths. They also reported 75 new deaths over the past 24 hours  the most deaths reported by Iran in a single day.

https://twitter.com/AlinejadMasih/status/1238085542543269890

Reports came in last week that dozens of dead Iranians were being kept in black body bags, unburied, on the floor of a morgue in Qom, meaning that morgues all over the city may be struggling to find space for all of the dead. This underscores how one of the holiest cities in Shia Islam is struggling to contend with so many deaths in such a short span of time.

Two medical workers in Qom even told reporters that they worry the coronavirus may put an end to traditional Islamic burial practices, which involves washing the body with soap and water before laying it to rest, due to the fears over catching the infection from dead bodies. Instead, the bodies are being treated with lime so that the coronavirus doesnt infect the soil. Ali Ramezani, director of Bahesht-e Masoumeh, told a state-run news agency that there was a pile-up of bodies at the cemetery.

Fear and confusion as Iranian government officials keel over due to their COVID-19 infections

Iran is currently being criticized for its lack of transparency with regards to the progression of the outbreak in their country. Many experts believe that the real infection rate and death toll are much higher than what the Iranian government reporting.

For example, Mohammad Hossein Ghorbani, a representative for the health ministry of Gilan province, commented that the death toll in the province alone was over 200  which would represent nearly half of the entire countrys reported deaths.

Over the weekend, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a Paris-based political organization made up primarily of Iranian expatriates dedicated to the toppling of the countrys current regime, held an online conference that featured addresses by Iranian nurses, medical practitioners and health experts from 19 different locations. Their main topic: the beginning and the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in their home country. Some who spoke at the conference put the real death toll at over 2,000.

While the Iranian regime claims the #Coronavirus death toll for the entire country is 194, the Health Minister's Plenipotentiary Representative in Gilan Province says the death toll in Gilan province alone is 200. https://t.co/uPYclIr8NW  NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 8, 2020

A surprising number of current and former government officials in Iran have either been infected by the coronavirus or have succumbed to it. Here are the 14 known current and former politicians who have COVID-19:

Eshaq Jahangiri, First Vice President

Masoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President for Women and Family Affairs

Reza Rahmani, minister of Industry, Mines and Business

Ali Asghar Mounesan, acting minister of Cultural Heritage and Tourism

Iraj Harirchi, deputy minister of Health

Esmail Najar, head of emergency response organization, the National Disaster Management Organization

Pirhossein Koolivand, head of emergency medical services

Mohammad Sadr, member of the Expediency Council, which acts as an advisory council for the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, former minister of justice and adviser to the current justice minister

Farideddin Haddad-Adel, close ally of the Supreme Leader, his sister is Khameneis daughter-in-law

Mojtaba Zolnour, member of parliament (MP) and chair of the Committee for National Security and Foreign Affairs

Masoumeh Aghapour Alishahi, MP

Zohreh Elahian, MP

Mahmoud Sadeghi, MP

Furthermore, the speaker for Irans parliament reported that 23 MPs have tested positive for COVID-19, including the four MPs listed above. The countrys has also experienced an unprecedented amount of clerics and government officials dying from the virus. Here are 14 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19:

Mohammad Mirmohammadi, member of the Expediency Council

Fatemeh Rahbar, newly-elected MP

Hadi Khosroshahi, former ambassador to Vatican City

Hossein Sheikholeslam, former ambassador to Syria and former adviser to the current minister for foreign affairs

Ahmad Toyserkani, adviser to the current head of the judiciary

Reza Pourkhanali, official in the ministry of agriculture in Gilan province

Mohammadreza Rahchamani, former MP

Mousa Torabzadeh, former prosecutor

Farzad Tazari, former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and former deputy of the IRGCs political bureau

Ayatollah Reza Mohammadi Langroudi, a high-ranking cleric

Ayatollah Mohsen Habibi, high-ranking cleric and member of the Supreme Council of Tehrans Seminaries

Ali Hosseini, cleric and head of the Islamic Development Organization

Akbar Dehghan, cleric and head of Qom seminarys interpretation staff

Reza Modaressi, cleric from Qom

We Iranians are about to lose many of our friends and families to this epidemic, said Sina Dashti, a member of NCRI and an infectologist residing in Sweden.

Iranians are fighting with two enemies. One is COVID-19 and the second is the Iranian regime. Transparency is key to fighting epidemics. The regime is preventing news of the epidemic from being broadcast.

Sources include:

CTPost.com

Vox.com

Reuters.com

Vice.com

AlJazeera.com

English.AlArabiya.net
Team Personal Finance

Lightning has struck twice. In a short span of around six months, bank depositors have been at the receiving end of the short circuit as it were. Punjab and Maharashtra (PMC) Co-operative Banks depositors faced restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in September 2019. Last week, turbulence hit YES Bank, which is in the process of being rescued by the central bank and State Bank of India (SBI).

Not surprisingly, the two events have shaken the confidence of retail depositors in banks, considered failsafe so far. While such events cannot be predicted, you can draw some lessons to protect yourself against such risks.

How many bank accounts should you have?

We thought only equity markets were risky. Who would have thought our neighborhood bank, where we keep our lifes savings through our accounts, fixed deposits, lockers and so on, would go bust? But such events have indeed occurred. Spread the money across more than one bank account to get the benefit of the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) insurance cover (of up to Rs 5 lakh), says Joydeep Sen, Founder, Wiseinvestor.in.

You can segregate your funds in these accounts according to your needs. I think two bank accounts should be just enough. For example, your salary account can be used to pay your equated monthly installments (EMI), while another account can be used for investments, including systematic investment plans (SIP), says Amol Joshi, Founder, PlanRupee Investment Services. The investment account should also be used to route your life insurance and health insurance premiums, apart from your SIP money into mutual funds and receiving redemption proceeds and income tax refunds. If the bank where you maintain your salary and EMI accounts is affected, the investments in the other account can be redeemed to keep your EMI payments going. Conversely, if the investment account is affected, your cashflows will not be under pressure and the EMIs can continue, explains Joshi.

Too many bank accounts also can be a headache because you need to monitor them, make sure you file interest income in your annual tax returns and keep complying with know-your-customer norms.

Customers should park an amount equal to least three months household expenses, including equated monthly instalments, in one of the bank accounts. Excess money (that you are likely to need in the short term, over and above emergency needs) can be parked in overnight or ultra short-term funds, suggests Viresh Patel, Founder, Lifestyle Financial Planner.

Choose safety over convenience

Many depositors of PMC Bank preferred it over other, bigger banks due to the convenience the former offered  timings, availability of branches the neighborhood and friendly staff. However, the banks management was allegedly embroiled in fraudulent deals, leaving unsuspecting depositors in the lurch when the RBI suspended its operations. Moreover, the dual control structure of co-operative banks also created hurdles in successful and quick resolution of its woes.

Now, this is not to say that you should not deal with co-operative banks, as they do have an important role to play in the banking system. But opening an account with one just because it is in the neighborhood could be costly. Its always better to stick to reliable names even if you have to walk an extra distance.

Guaranteed returns, really?

The one sales pitch that was made to all individual and large retail investors who were mis-sold Yes Banks Additional Tier I (AT1) bonds was that they offered high and guaranteed returns. In reality, high and guarantee fly against the basics of finance. Guarantee does not come for free. How high can guaranteed returns go?

Anything above what the State Bank of India (SBI) offers for its one-year deposits is bound to come with an element of risk. That is the threshold you need to keep an eye on, advises Joshi. Avoid products that you do not understand. And know what youre signing up for. Many of those who invested in AT1 bonds did so on the premise of the guarantee peddled by smooth-talking Yes Bank relationship managers, as publicized all over social media these past few days.

If the instrument seems fancy and the fine-print complicated, its best to stay away. If the returns on deposits or schemes recommended by bank representatives are too good to be believed, then there is definitely high risk involved. There are no short-cuts to wealth generation, says Anuj Kakkar, Partner, Vriddhi Advisors.

Link multiple bank accounts to MF investments

When a bank account gets frozen, your SIP payments stop. And, any redemption that comes in gets locked in too. Soon after the RBI imposed a moratorium on YES Bank, several fund houses proactively decided not to disburse their investors redemption proceeds to YES Bank accounts. However, you would do well to link more than one bank account to your folios; fund houses offer the option of linking up to five bank accounts to a single folio.

Fill up the bank accounts registration form, get all investors to sign on it and submit it to your fund house or to the registrar and transfer agents office. Within seven working days, the addition of the account is effected and the investor is intimated. Of all the accounts you register, you need to designate one as your primary account. The others act as back-ups. You can even add bank accounts at a later date.

You could choose the account in which you want your redemption proceeds at the time of selling of selling units. For offline sale, some fund houses provide the option of choosing from the bank accounts registered.

Do not panic

Diversification helps, but avoid doing so mindlessly. The rationale is the same as that of diversifying across, say, several large-cap equity funds  there is no point over-diversifying across several scheduled commercial banks. What has happened with YES Bank is a very rare event. In the last 15 years, no scheduled commercial bank has been allowed to fail, notes Joshi.

The PMC Bank fiasco remains unresolved due to the dual control structure; the state government also has a say in the regulation of co-operative banks affairs. In the case of commercial banks, the RBI has complete regulatory control and we have seen how swiftly they acted to safeguard YES Bank depositors interests. It was mentioned in the first communique, which was the not the case with PMC Bank, points out Joshi.

Opening and managing multiple accounts will be an unwieldy affair. Several text and WhatsApp messages have been doing the rounds of social media and messaging apps, cautioning accountholders and asking them to withdraw funds from vulnerable banks. Not only are these messages misleading, but also put banks that are not facing any crisis in trouble. On Saturday, SBI chairman advised accountholders to stick to their existing banks. "By and large, India's banking system is robust. In general, depositors need not fear. They can continue to maintain accounts with their existing banks," he said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K Shanmugam has called the representatives from the Muslim community for a meeting on Saturday, March 14 at State Secretariat over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The members of the Muslim community are holding demonstrations across the state since December in Chennai's Washermanpet against the CAA.

After several protesters were arrested on February 14, protests resumed on February 15 and have been ongoing ever since.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US launched airstrikes Thursday in Iraq, targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad, the Pentagon said

Washington: The US launched airstrikes Thursday in Iraq, targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad, the Pentagon said.

US officials said multiple strikes by US fighter jets hit five locations and mainly targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside Iraq. A Defense Department statement said the strikes targeted five weapons storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks.

The strikes marked a rapid escalation in tensions with Tehran and its proxy groups in Iraq, just two months after Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against American troops at a base in Iraq. They came just hours after top US defence leaders threatened retaliation for the Wednesday rocket attack, making clear that they knew who did it and that the attackers would be held accountable.

The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. As we have demonstrated in recent months, we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region.

The Pentagon statement said the facilities hit in the precision strikes were used to store weapons used to target the US and coalition forces. It called the counterattack defensive, proportional and in direct response to the threat posed by the Iranian-backed Shia militia groups.

US officials said the locations of the strikes were largely around the Baghdad region. One US official said there were two strikes at Jurf al-Sakher, one in Karbala, one at Al-Musayib, and one at Arab Nawar Ahmad. The official said the US expected casualties would be lower than 50, and said the main effort was to hit the weapons.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because some details about the operations had not yet been made public.

An official with the paramilitary Popular Mobilization Units told The Associated Press that two Iraqi federal police personnel were killed in Jurf al-Sakher. An Iraqi military statement said the aerial "aggression" occurred at 1:15 am in the areas of Jurf al-Sakher, Al-Musayib, Najaf and Alexandria on the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Units, emergency regiments and commandos of the 9th division of the Iraqi army.

Esper told reporters at the Pentagon earlier Thursday that President Donald Trump had given him the authority to take whatever action he deemed necessary.

We're going to take this one step at a time, but we've got to hold the perpetrators accountable, Esper said. You don't get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it.

At the White House, Trump had also hinted that a US counterpunch could be coming, telling reporters, "We'll see what the response is. And Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters the US knows with a high degree of certainty" who launched the attack.

On Capitol Hill earlier in the day, Marine General Frank McKenzie, the top US commander for the Middle East, told senators the deaths of the US and coalition troops created a red line for the US, but said he didn't think Iran has a good understanding of where our red line is.

Asked if any counterattack could include a strike inside Iran, Esper said, We are focused on the group that we believe perpetrated this in Iraq.

Two US troops and one British service member were killed and 14 other personnel were wounded when 18 rockets hit the base Wednesday. The US military said the 107 mm Katyusha rockets were fired from a truck launcher that was found by Iraqi security forces near the base after the attack.

US officials have not publicly said what group they believe launched the rocket attack, but Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shia militia group, was the likely perpetrator. And the US strikes, which came in the middle of the night in Iraq, targeted that group.

Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for a late December rocket attack on a military base in Kirkuk that killed a US contractor, prompting American military strikes in response.

That, in turn, led to protests at the US Embassy in Baghdad. They were followed 3 January by a US airstrike that killed Iran's most powerful military officer, General Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, of which Kataib Hezbollah is a member. In response to the Soleimani killing, Iran launched a massive ballistic missile attack on 8 January, at the al-Asad airbase in Iraq, that resulted in traumatic brain injuries to more than 100 American troops.

McKenzie told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday morning that the killing of Soleimani and the increase in US troops and assets in the region have made clear to Iran that the US will defend its interests there. He said the US has re-established a level of deterrence for state-on-state attacks by Iran.

However, he said: What has not been changed is their continuing desire to operate through their proxies indirectly again us. That is a far more difficult area to deter.

On Thursday, Esper and Milley said they spoke with their British counterparts about the attack, but declined to provide details.

Asked why none of the rockets was intercepted, Milley said there are no systems on the base capable of defending against that type of attack.

He also said the 14 injured personnel were a mix of US and allied troops as well as contractors, and they will also be monitored for possible traumatic brain injury in the wake of the blasts.
Pakistan on Friday ordered the closure of all education institutions in the country till April 5 in view of the coronavirus outbreak which has claimed over 5,000 lives globally.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, attended by key minister, services chiefs and other senior officials.

Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood tweeted, "It has been decided to close all educational institutions in the country till April 5. This includes all schools and universities, public and private, vocational institutions and madaris."



He said the decision to close educational institutions would be reviewed by the Ministry of Education on March 27.

Earlier, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial administration had announced that all educational institutions would remain closed for 15 days.

The provincial cabinet had ordered the evacuation of students from hostels and postponing of examinations, among other official events and festivals.

The KP cabinet also banned public gatherings and urged the people to reduce number of wedding events.

Educational institutions were already closed in Sindh and Balochistan provinces as well as Gilgit-Baltistan region.

Also on Friday, the National Assembly prorogued its session for indefinite period due to concerns raised by the treasury and opposition members over coronavirus.

Pakistan has also decided to let around 2,000 pilgrims to leave the quarantine facility in Taftan near the Iranian border after completing the mandatory 14-day isolation period.

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 last week.

The virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 5,000 lives and infected more than 130,000 across 101 nations and territories.

The World Health Organisation called the virus a global pandemic on Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SANAA, Yemen  Following the fall of al-Jawf province in northern Yemen to the Houthi rebels March 1, attention shifted to the oil-rich province of Marib amid a looming Houthi offensive on the city of Marib. UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths felt the danger and paid a rare visit to the city, raising Houthi ire.

Speaking at a press conference following his meeting with Marib Gov. Sultan al-Arada on March 7, Griffiths said Yemen stands at a critical crossroad, adding, We will either silence the guns and resume the political process or we will slip back into large-scale conflict and suffering that you have already seen here in Marib.

In response to Griffiths statement, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam tweeted that the solution in Yemen is based first on stopping the aggression and lifting the siege, then holding serious political negotiations. He called on Griffiths to distance himself from the conflict.

Political analyst and Sanaa-based researcher Abdul-Bari Taher said the battle for al-Jawf and Marib provinces is approaching the point of danger.

The situation is heading toward dangerous escalation because the war has now reached the point of explosion, Taher told Al-Monitor in a phone interview. The 5-year-old war was a disastrous one, but it was [focused] in the less sensitive regions for the parties to the conflict.

Taher's point about a possible explosion has to do with the two oil-rich provinces where fighting could have a strong impact on civilians' lives. However, following the fall of al-Jawf, some media reports indicated that the Houthis are conducting negotiations with Marib tribes to hand over the province peacefully and avoid escalation, as tribal leaders in Sanaa who are aligned with Houthis are still in contact with tribes in Marib. Previous tribal mediations have succeeded in reaching prisoner swap deals.

Two tribal leaders aligned with the Houthis  Sheikh Mujahed al-Quhali of Amran in central Yemen and Hussein Hazib of Marib  were quoted as saying negotiations are ongoing with Marib's tribes to hand over the province peacefully and avoid fighting and destruction. The Houthis reportedly seized the Raghwan district of Marib on March 3 with no fighting after an agreement was reached with its tribes.

Quhali had said the tribes would reply to the Houthis by March 4, but the date passed with no response. Since then, Houthi military activities have been limited in the province.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have said their operation in north and central Yemen aims to open the Sanaa-Marib highway, reopen the Marib power station to provide electricity to areas that have been cut off, including Sanaa, and involved oil and gas wealth, which they said belonged to all Yemenis. The Sanaa-Marib highway has been closed since 2016, when government forces took control of Nihm, which lies on the highway. Since then, the area has witnessed daily clashes between the warring sides and civilians have used alternative routes through other provinces.

The withdrawal of government forces and the fall of al-Jawf reminds us of the fall of Amran and Sanaa, Yemeni political researcher Sultan Dahnish tweeted March 7. He warned the Saudi-backed army about recently appointed military commanders whom Dahnish blamed for the fall of the province.

A day before the fall of al-Jawf, internationally recognized President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi had appointed Lt. Gen. Sagheer bin Aziz who served as commander of the armys Joint Operations since 2019  as chief of staff at the Ministry of Defense. Ben Aziz was previously defeated by Houthis in 2010 in his birthplace village of Harf Sufyan in Amran, after years of fighting during the six wars of Yemen from 2004 to 2010 between Houthi rebels and the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh was killed in 2017.

Taher said the fighting that broke out in January in Nihm district is now taking on another dimension involving fighting over wealth and also protecting wealth zones.

Marib, which lies 173 kilometers (107 miles) east the capital, borders al-Jawf, al-Bayda and Shabwa provinces. Marib province hosts several important heritage sites and is the base of the state-run Safer Exploration and Production Operations Co.

In addition to producing natural gas, Marib is known for its oil fields and Safers oil refinery. The province had the only operational border crossing (Wadia) with Saudi Arabia before the kingdom closed it March 9 in response to the coronavirus outbreak; the Saudis only allowed trucks to pass through.

Taher said the battle for Marib is more disastrous and dangerous because it directly affects the borders with Saudi Arabia and touches also the areas of wealth.

The war is now a disaster if they [warring sides] do not reach an agreement, Taher said, adding that reaching a political solution is the least possibility that warring parties can do and that the greater possibility is that war will escalate and take a more disastrous and dangerous approach.

Yet some say they believe that even if the reported talks between Houthis and Marib tribes fail, the Houthis will not launch an offensive against the province.

Mohammed al-Maqaleh, a pro-Houthi analyst, tweeted March 7, For some, it's better for Marib to remain in the hands of mercenaries [Saudi-backed forces] so that [Houthis] dont bear the responsibility toward citizens [of providing] oil, gas and electricity. Maqaleh added: The matter is all a masquerade and proof is that they [Houthis] left Marib and went to [attack] al-Jawf.

Before the war broke out, Marib provided about 80% of Yemenis with their oil, gas and electricity needs. But today, the Saudi-backed government is blamed for the power shortages, and should Houthis seize the province, more pressure will be placed on them.

However, Taher said, "The fighting in any region of Yemen had the ultimate target of [reaching] al-Jawf and Marib, since these areas are close to Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, taking the province would cut the road to the front lines in the southern provinces.

I expect that the war will escalate and Marib is now standing at the gate of an upcoming battle, Taher added.

As UN efforts have failed to force the warring sides to implement the Sweden Agreement reached in December 2018, it appears that only a miracle could stop the fighting in Yemen, including the looming battle in Marib. Even southern separatists are concerned that their provinces might fall into Houthi hands if the Houthis then push toward the southern provinces.

After the fall of Hazm, the capital city of al-Jawf, Saudi-backed government forces in Taiz and Marib were reportedly under a state of undeclared emergency preparing for an expected Houthi offensive. In the event that this occurs, all provinces in the north would be under Houthi control.

I do not really rule out that there will be a battle in Marib, Taher said. This war is similar to the mobile warfare in which they [Houthis] achieve a victory in Nihm, then in al-Jawf, to be followed by a state of ebb and flow toward Marib.
When concerns about the novel coronavirus -- and subsequent changes in activity -- are not bringing productivity to a halt (and perhaps especially in times of needing to be as efficient as possible), one of the bigger IT trends has been a push to streamline how people work by creating better integrations between the different apps that they use. Today, a startup out of Berlin, Germany is announcing seed funding to help it enter the fray of those that are helping make those integrations happen seamlessly and more reliably.

n8n, a Berlin-based company that has built a "fair code" workflow automation platform to let developers quickly integrate any of the apps that they use to work together automatically -- from standard third-party APIs to internal tools created by developers themselves -- has picked up a seed round of $1.5 million to continue building out its service, and specifically to introduce its first commercial elements after announcing its existence last October and meeting an unexpected surge of interest.

"I was surprised, but it seems like people were waiting for me," Jan Oberhauser, n8n's founder and CEO, said in an interview, who added that n8n has picked up "a lot of traction" so far.

The investment is being co-led by UK's firstminute Capital and Sequoia, with participation also from Runa Capital, Tiny VC and System.One, as well as Kevin Hartz, co-founder of Eventbrite & Xoom, Ilkka Paananen, co-founder of Supercell, and Nan Li and Daniel Liem of Obvious Ventures (individually, not via Obvious).

Within that pretty impressive list, investment represents a significant step in particular for Sequoia, as it is the storied firm's first seed investment in Germany amid a much bigger push into the region. The Silicon Valley VC has been quietly putting down roots in the European market over the last several months, including scouting for talent and local deals. The first hire in that process was announced this week: Luciana Lixandru, poached after years at Accel, is the firm's first European partner, but for now this isn't extending to raising a local fund.

Story continues

According to a source familiar with the matter, Sequoia will continue to invest in Europe out of its U.S. funds and doesn't have any plans to launch any funds in Europe at this time.

There are a number of other firms, startups as well as much bigger outfits, that have identified the opportunity for making tools to help developers and others who are less technical to stitch together disparate apps. They include other startups like Zapier, RapidAPI, and Tray.io, as well as companies that have well and truly transitioned out of the startup phase of life, such as MuleSoft (acquired by Salesforce for the princely sum of $6.5 billion).

Oberhauser is well aware of all of these, because he is a developer himself who has tried them all -- and found them all lacking, for a number of reasons. Either they were too pricey, or not flexible or robust enough to use in the wide variety of niche applications that he was using in his previous life in film production, or required a ton of reading of arcane documentation, or lacked the ability to scale or operate on his own company's infrastructure rather than in the cloud. His answer was to build n8n, first for his own purposes and then to consider how it might be something that could be turned into a service for others.

[gallery type="slideshow" ids="1958989,1958987,1958986"]

One of the unique things about n8n is that it's not "open source" per se, but is built on a model that is somewhat akin to it that is referred to as "fair code".

The idea here is to take some of the free and flexible aspects of building (and third-party developers building upon) open source, while also trying to create a model that lets the original developer of the code make money off of it -- either by offering services around it (similar to the kind of integration and other work that has sprouted around open source) -- or, indeed, by charging for it when the user passes a certain size, or wants to use it in a different format, such as on a SaaS model.

Oberhauser is not only a user of fair code, but has become something of a pioneering entrepreneur in the space, also helping to run a site, appropriately called Fair-Code.io to encourage more fair code developers.

"Free and sustainable; open but pragmatic; community oriented; meritocratic and fair" is how n8n describes it, although there are definitely plans for n8n to bring in monetising elements into the mix.

The current version is one that can be hosted by a user locally -- which in itself is a key part of the proposition for companies to meet certain data protection compliance, or to ensure themselves against any changes that might happen with n8n over time -- and that will remain free to use.

"If the company goes bust or changes policy, you are in trouble," Oberhauser said of platforms that don't freely share their code. "That means they can never go to insurance or government organizations, for example. And people really like and care about data privacy, and are getting like that more every day. They want to own it and change it. Developers want to have access to the the code that is underlying and extend it really easily. What we have built you can integrate and use forever."

But n8n also plans to launch a version under a SaaS model that be charged on a typical SaaS subscription model, which is due to launch next month. "If you want to run it on our cloud, you pay a fee," Oberhauser said.

The second way it plans to make money is through consulting, support and integration services, which will take another year likely to launch (remember the startup is only five months old).

The third area for making money will be through licensing fees for larger users (a size which it has yet to determine) but even now the service as it stands "can be deployed to 1 million people" and still be free, Oberhauser said.

Right place, right time

Oberhauser, pictured here, said his startup came to the attention of Sequoia and London firm firstminute (the London VC co-founded by Brent Hoberman, Spencer Crawley and Henry Lane-Fox that specialises in early stage investments and counts VCs like Atomico as partners) through the responses that he got to his short post on HackerNews, and then subsequent hunt on Product Hunt.

n8n had been invited to Y Combinator to be a part of its cohort but declined because Oberhauser didn't want to relocate from Berlin, where he has a young family to help support and where he intended to found the company (joining YC would have included incorporation in Delaware, which also didn't interest Oberhauser). In fact, he built all of n8n bootstrapped as a side hustle while working part-time at other places, such was the need for income before this seed round.

That kind of grit, combined with identifying and fixing a clear gap in the market addressing what a defined audience (in this case, developers) needs, in a scalable way, with the proof being immediate interest and take-up from said target market, seemed to make the startup a no-brainer for funding.

As talent is becoming more scarce, every organization is looking to get more from the great people they have, Matthew Miller, a partner at Sequoia who has also worked closely with Docker, Confluent, Tessian, and Graphcore, said in a statement. This is driving a surge in automation solutions in every industry. We were impressed by n8ns early adoption in the open source community and Jans vision to build an open and flexible solution in this space, and were thrilled to have n8n as our first seed investment in Germany.

Although Sequoia has yet to set up a full-fledged outpost here, sources have told us (and there have been reports) that this is intention, with the timeline being to set it up later this year. This is with the caveat of recent events related to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic, which have included a huge drop in the stock market and a major reassessment of business activities, which could materially change that course.

But more generally, having Sequoia -- which has been involved some of the most high-profile startup exits of recent years, perhaps most famously Facebook's $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp -- operating a bigger office in Europe would represent a big vote of confidence in the region. European VC firm Atomico projected in November 2019 that there would be $35 billion of investment this year in European technology, a high water mark for the region. That represents an opportunity both in terms simply more startups but also later rounds for the biggest of these, both areas where Sequoia would want to be more active, is my guess.

Although Sequoia hasn't announced any Europe-specific fund yet, the firm seems to currently have no shortage in raising money. It was reported last month that the VC is currently raising a fresh $1.3 billion, earmarked for Asia. And as recently as late December, it filed papers to raise $1 billion for US growth rounds and $2.4 billion for China.

Without committing ('at this time') to any region-specific funds, Sequoia is getting increasingly active in Europe anyway.

Even before hiring Lixandru (a hire it had been working on since last year, we understand), the firm had been making later-stage investments in Europe for years, including investments in Skyscanner (acquired by Ctrip), Wunderlist (acquired by Microsoft) and more recently Tessian.

This latest funding in n8n signals how now it is diversifying into a wider set of investment opportunities. These include not just earlier rounds like this first seed investment in Germany. But also newer technologies: for example, as part of the investor group putting $12 million into cryptocurrency wallet Argent earlier this week.
Kroger has issued a statement about what the grocer is doing to protect customers and workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

We believe that everyone deserves to have access to fresh, affordable food and essentials, especially in times of uncertainty, the company said. Thats why our teams are working so hard to keep our stores clean, open and stocked. Thats why we took the precautionary step on March 2 to limit the number of cold, flu and sanitary products per order ... so everyone can have access to the items they need. And thats why our supply chain teams are working to ensure that the food, medicine and cleaning supplies our customers need are reaching our stores as quickly as possible and are available through our pickup, delivery and ship services.

The grocer said it is following guidance from federal, state and local agencies, including the CDC and other health organizations.

Here are the steps Kroger says it is taking to protect customers and employees:

In Stores:

 Cleaning commonly used areas more often, including cashier stations, self-checkouts, credit card terminals, conveyor belts and food service counters, and cleaning shelves when restocking products.

 Sanitizing restrooms more frequently and restocking with supplies, including soap, paper towels and hand sanitizer.

 Adding extra hand sanitizer at cashier stations, food service counters, and all Pharmacy, The Little Clinic and Starbucks locations.

 Wiping down shopping carts, baskets and equipment.

 Partnering with our suppliers to replenish high-demand preparedness products.

 Continuing to provide our customers with free disinfectant wipes at our store entrances to sanitize their shopping carts or baskets.

 Following best practices for safe food handling, as always.

For Associates

 Encouraging our associates to closely monitor their health and well-being.

 Providing hand sanitizer and tissues in breakrooms and meeting rooms.

 Asking our associates to stay home if they, or someone in their household, are sick.

 Providing financial support from our Helping Hands fund  a company-sponsored employee assistance fund  to associates who may be directly affected.

 Suspending business air travel for associates through March 31, 2020 and recommending virtual meetings.

For Customers

 Encouraging our customers to follow the CDCs suggested hygiene practices to reduce the spread of the virus.

 Recommending that our customers also practice safe food handling at home.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

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I became a physician to help people. So isnt fighting for issues that help protect my patients such as racial equality, LGBTQ rights, gender pay equity, access to health care, and education all part of patient care?

Dont my patients want to have a doctor who is fighting for them both in the office and outside it?

When I started working as a resident physician and later went on to my attending physician role, I had countless family members, friends, and colleagues who know my passion for social and political advocacy advise me against being outspoken on social media regarding my beliefs.

Statements such as doctors should remain neutral in the public sphere, you may not get a job based on your views, and patients may be turned off all echoed in my social circle.

I struggled with this concept of separating my political self from my professional self and strived to find a happy medium where I didnt feel I was threatening my occupation but also felt I was being true to myself.

Finding this balance was (and still is) challenging, to say the least. But despite the reservations I had, I realized early on how much politics influences the daily rendering of patient care and chose to stay committed in my own way.

After all, arent politics and social policies inextricably linked to the practice of medicine? Are there not a multitude of shortcomings within the health care system that make it difficult for our patients to receive appropriate care? Dont we, as physicians, deal with the consequences of pharmaceutical companies monopolizing drug prices? Arent we all appalled by the neglect of marginalized communities and patient populations? Isnt there frustration in our voices when we are arguing with an insurance provider and pleading the party on the other line to authorize this very essential diagnostic test or drug that a patient needs? Arent we all sick and tired of this fight, and shouldnt we be allowed to express that without fear that we will lose our jobs?

As I become further entrenched within the world of medicine, I see more and more why politics is intimately related to the practice of medicine and, in fact, in some instances a necessity.

I often reflect on the role physicians have played in the political sphere. In the last few years, weve seen a massive uptick in gun violence across the United States, and as a response, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement advocating for stronger gun laws and subsequently published a study concluding that tougher gun laws were linked to fewer firearm deaths.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) responded by telling physicians to stay in their lane to which many physicians across the United States, most notably Dr. Judy Melinek, essentially retorted, this is our lane  this is our highway.

Some of my most salient memories of my medical training in Chicago are related to the devastating consequences of gun violence and its mental and physical toll on patients, their families, and physicians. It occurred to me then that caring for our patients also meant doing our best to protect them outside of the hospital and office space as well.

Interestingly, the advent of seatbelts in the 1930s was inspired by physicians who urged manufacturers of automobiles to create lap belts for new cars. In fact, a neurologist, Dr. C. Hunter Shelden, introduced retractable seatbelts in the 1950s after witnessing so many head injuries in the emergency room. His proposal to the automotive industry spurred the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966 by Congress, which required safety standards that automobile companies had to abide by. Dr. Sheldon responded to the needs of his patients. So how can I treat patients day in and day out and witness the roadblocks to adequate patient care and stay silent about it? Isnt it part of my responsibility for improving the health and quality of life of patients, fighting for their health care needs against a defunct system?

This brings me to my proposal: Lets get political!

Instead of empathically bowing our heads down when patients tell us they cannot afford a medication or treatment or their insurance company wont cover it, ask them to call their senators.

We spend hours on the phone with insurance companies, so why not spend some time calling members of Congress?

Why not take on issues we are passionate about and build advocacy groups around those issues to support our patients and, in some cases, ourselves (advocating for paid maternity leave, student loan debt relief, gender pay equity, etc.)? We educate our patients about the dangers of smoking, the dangers of refusing vaccinations, the dangers of not wearing seatbelts, but we fail to educate them about the dangers of voting against their own self-interest and their own health.

Lets inspire patients to be their own health advocates and together, compel society to hear our perspective.

We are in the unique position of being privy to the obstacles of equitable patient care. That privilege is not one that should be taken lightly. Our patients listen to us (most of the time) because they trust our expertise or our experience, so why not the rest of society?

Im not saying everyone should start posting their views on social media outlets and getting into political discussions with their patients, but we should all be using our voices to start a conversation whether that be on social media, during an interview, or by attending an advocacy meeting.

We should simultaneously encourage patients to educate themselves on issues that pertain to their health care and wellbeing so they can be their own advocates.

As physicians, we prescribe a lot: medications, physical activity, therapy. So lets prescribe an impetus for advocacy and empowerment.

Jessica Kiarashi is a neurologist and can be reached on Twitter @jkiarashimd.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
The operation of hydropower dams must not have negative impacts on public security or production, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has said.

The Hoa Binh hydropower dam, the largest in Vietnam and the second largest in Southeast Asia. Photo dantri.com.vn



In a document sent to Vietnam Electricity (EVN), the ministry said it has received the group's plans for its hydropower dams in the dry season.

The ministry said it had studied EVNs recommendations. Based on the current status of water levels in reservoirs, as well as meteorological and hydrological developments and operational data, the ministry had agreed that adjustments to water discharged in the early months of the dry season to save water for the peak months were necessary.

However, it said this must not impact households downstream.

The ministry has agreed with EVNs proposal to adjust the schedules at the Hoa Binh, Thac Ba and Tuyen Quang reservoirs in the Hong (Red) River Basin.

EVN has been instructed to coordinate closely with Song Da Clean Water Joint Stock Company to ensure intake at the Da River Water Plant.

It would also work closely with localities downstream to ensure the operation of reservoirs did not affect production or safety.

The ministry has also issued a document on the operation of the Se San 4 Reservoir in Gia Lai Province.

EVN has been directed to closely co-ordinate with the Se San hydropower development company to discharge water downstream as required.

For the Hua Na and Cua Dat reservoirs in the Ma river basin, the Ban Ve reservoir in the Ca river basin, and the A Vuong, Song Bung 4, Song Bung 4A and akMi 4 reservoirs in the Vu Gia-Thu Bon river basin, the ministry has asked EVN and the operators to coordinate with localities to agree on plans to discharge water.

The plans must ensure safe water supplies for people on the basis of inter-reservoir operating procedures.

The ministry would consider and adjust the schedules for each reservoir as needed, while EVN would be in charge of reporting any problems, it said. VNS

Central hydropower plants' reservoirs lack water Many hydropower plant reservoirs in the central region are facing water shortages, impacting electricity generation and water reserves for the ongoing dry season from February until July.

Vietnam needs solutions for sustainable development of rivers Vietnam's rivers have greatly contributed to socio-economic development, but over-exploitation in recent years has seriously affected this valuable resource, an expert has said.
Photo: Carlo Bressan/AFP via Getty Images

Please note the story youre reading was published more than a day ago. COVID-19 news and recommendations change fast: Read the latest here to stay up-to-date. Weve lifted our paywall on all essential news and updates about the coronavirus.

It feels like its just around the corner: the moment when New York City fully shuts down. While events are being canceled and cultural institutions shuttered, many New Yorkers are still out on the streets keeping up some semblance of their daily routines. For now, there are still people in cafes hunched over their laptops, still annoying crowds of tourists to navigate in Soho. But as the virus approaches a tipping point in New York and the U.S. in general, that probably wont be the case for much longer. For a look at what living in a city under lockdown could be like, we spoke to Luca, a 30-year-old hotel employee in Florence, Italy, where the entire country has been placed on a two-week hiatus to contain the rapidly spreading virus.

When they first talked about the coronavirus in Wuhan, everyone was pretty skeptical about it. Then suddenly it was on the news that the biggest outbreak in Europe was in Italy, and still people were pretty skeptical about it. But then the cancellations started coming in.

Up until a few days ago, I was going to bars, though there were a lot less people there. We werent going to clubs, but we would go out and have an aperitivo. I had people over, I went snowboarding. But then there was news of more and more cases, and the prime minister decided to shut everything down. First they closed off the Lombardy region, and now its all of Italy. Its going to be like this until the 25th of March. So for two weeks, everythings closed except supermarkets and pharmacies. And then, on the third of April, they said that they want to lift the red zone, which means being able to travel around the country. If I wanted to go to Milan right now, I couldnt. Were just waiting and seeing. Thats probably the worst part of it, having to wait and see. Were powerless.

Theres a lot of police doing police checks making sure people are keeping to the self-isolation rules. Now theyre saying the first fines are being handed down, because a lot of people are just going places anyway. Especially the older generation still wants to do whatever they were doing before. Right now everyone my age is mostly worried about their parents and their older family members.

Its really ghostly here. I was talking on the phone with a friend in Vancouver the other day, and I could hear she was in a cafe, and I could hear people talking and music, and that made me pretty sad. I havent heard that here at all in the past few days. Its eerie, the silence. Now I really pay attention to it. Walking around, its like a deserted city. I do have to walk the dog every day, and there are a couple of people here and there  pet owners and people with masks and police cars.

I work in tourism, but now I cant work. There are no guests in the hotel. Who knows how long itll be? It could be another two weeks or another two months or more, and were approaching tourism season. Some of my friends have businesses that are failing. Theres a woman who has this this amazing brunch place that all of the American tourists go to because theres no brunch culture in Florence. She was going open a second one, but then this shit started. They had already put a deposit down, and they lost their deposit. You cant keep a restaurant open and pay the rent if you dont have any guests.

I recently went through a breakup, and I definitely wish I had a significant other to spend this time with. Being single and quarantined isnt fun. The dating scene in Florence is really tourism-oriented. Social dating apps are all about meeting travelers and people visiting. Thats all completely gone because you cant really leave your house now. I open a lot of chats with Hows quarantine going for you?, and we usually end with Well, maybe see you in two weeks.

I just discussed with two friends having them come over to chill and play Catan, and I dont think anyone felt comfortable enough leaving the house. Its kind of a patriotic thing where it feels like youre betraying the trust of the Italian government. It sucks to be forced to be at home. But at the same time, I saw a meme the other day where they asked our grandparents to go fight wars, and theyre asking us to just sit on the couch.

My mom was saying that shes using this time to reflect. It feels like a pause. Its time for you to really do some soul-searching, I guess, and think about life and what you want to do when this is over. Its made me want to go to work a lot more. It definitely pushes you to feel like: lets just get through this and then try to keep going.
The facade of the former Trump Plaza, where the shadows of MP PLAZ can still be seen. Read more

ATLANTIC CITY  Billionaire Carl C. Icahn says that hes already in the process of tearing down the old Trump Plaza building on the Boardwalk, and that Atlantic City does not need to go to court to force him to do so, which it did Thursday.

Once the centerpiece of Donald Trumps seaside casino empire, the empty Trump Plaza is crumbling before the citys eyes, shedding large chunks of its stucco facade and creating an imminent hazard to anyone walking near it, Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. said Thursday.

On Friday, Icahn Enterprises issued a statement from Hunter Gary, president of real estate, saying the decision to tear down the building had already been made by the time the city conducted an emergency inspection and then filed a request in Superior Court asking that Icahn be forced to wrap and then demolish the eyesore.

We are puzzled by the citys actions, Gary said. In fact, we have already decided to demo the building and have commenced the process, including finalizing contracts. If the mayor had simply called us instead of holding a press conference, we could have updated him too.

The Plaza, which opened on May 15, 1984, was one of four casinos to close in 2014, as Atlantic Citys economy cratered. Once a jewel, it was a stained-carpet, squeaky-revolving-door, no-room-service center of the Boardwalk Icahn-owned embarrassment by the time of its final hand of blackjack. Its condition has deteriorated since.

Small said Friday the city had no notice of Icahns activity and would continue its court action. We want them to put that on the record when they go to court and [then], done deal, Small said.

The city has long been in negotiations with Icahn to tear down the building, but escalated its actions after video showed a large concrete slab of the facade falling to the street minutes before people began arriving for a wrestling tournament at Boardwalk Hall last Saturday.

In its court filing, the city described the property as posing an actual and immediate danger to life, and asked the court to order Icahn to wrap the building to prevent debris from falling and then to demolish it.
TRUE BLUE, Grenada, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- St. George's University (SGU) has been closely following the global outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), including its recent characterization as a pandemic as well as the potential implications it may have on their True Blue Grenada campus and the larger community in Grenada.

While at this time there are no confirmed COVID-19 cases in Grenada, the safety and well-being of the university's students, faculty and staff and the larger Grenada community are of paramount importance to SGU. Their goal is to make prudent decisions that reflect the university's commitment to the ongoing safety of their campus community and that of the people of Grenada.

SGU has decided to encourage all international students on the Grenada campus to return home with the situation being re-evaluated by April 15th. Students will only return to Grenada when it is well advisable and the global pandemic has stabilized. They will be in close coordination with the Ministry of Health regarding the timing of students' return. Some students and faculty, both local and international, will remain in Grenada and SGU's campus will remain open for all who continue to reside there, with full use of campus facilities. This approach is consistent with recommendations for Institutions of Higher Education from public health officials, and mirrors the actions taken by many universities around the globe to limit the density of large populations on their campuses. The plan is for only small groups to meet face to face, with appropriate social distancing, with the further development and implementation of online education to reduce the need for face to face classroom gathering.

The university will continue to operate the campus in Grenada with full staffing, with no change to current employment status, pay or benefits.

These actions are taken out of concern for their students, faculty and staff and the desire to maintain public health in Grenada, in light of this rapidly changing situation. SGU is also working closely with the Government of Grenada to assist with preparations for enhancing the public health infrastructure on the island.

"As SGU has done in the past during challenging times, we will continue to stand with our Grenadian partners and the people of Grenada with support and close collaboration," Dr. Charles Modica, Chancellor of SGU stated.

Prime Minister Mitchell stated, "We appreciate the close partnership with SGU and Chancellor Modica, and want to support all efforts to lessen the risk to Grenada of COVID-19. We will continue to closely coordinate with SGU to address this issue and mitigate the impact on Grenada."

To date, no member of the university community has contracted COVID-19. They have been working diligently with the Ministry of Health, Grenada and our international partners to consider every contingency that will allow us to limit exposure to the disease among members of the SGU and Grenadian community.

Media Contact:

Sard Verbinnen & Co.

[email protected]

(212) 687-8080

SOURCE St. George's University
Joel Osteens Lakewood Church cancels all worship services due to conoronvirus Church members told to watch services online

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Pastor Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church announced Thursday that all worship services are being canceled to help contain the coronavirus.

After Houston, Texas, Mayor Sylvester Turner issued a health emergency on Wednesday for the city of Houston and Harris County following the area's first possible non-travel related coronavirus case, the church decided to take safety precautions to help decrease the virus' spread to non-infected people.

In an email alert to members, Lakewood Church said: In consideration of todays public health emergency declaration on COVID-19 by Houston Mayor, Sylvester Turner, along with the fact that Lakewood draws such large numbers of international visitors each week, Lakewoods leadership has decided not to hold public services this weekend, Lakewood announced in its statement.

While we apologize for any inconvenience this causes to our members and visitors, we feel that this move is necessary to ensure the well-being of all of the citizens of this great city, especially the most vulnerable among us, the church added.

Although all Saturday and Sunday services are being canceled, Lakewood Church said it will broadcast its services online.

The church said staff will be monitoring the situation week by week and will update members on their plans as they follow guidelines set by local officials.

[We] hope to resume the assembly in the very near future, the letter concluded.

Osteens sermons will be broadcast on Facebook, YouTube, Roku, AppleTV and online at JoelOsteen.com.
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Motorolas new foldable Razr phone has been garnering mediocre notices from early reviewers.

If this phone didnt fold in half, it would be a solid mid-tier Android phone, Patrick Holland wrote for Cnet.

Even harsher was Adam Ismails verdict in Toms Guide: Between the Razrs questionable build quality, underwhelming performance, middling camera and awful battery life, the folding gimmick  neat though it may be  isnt enough to save this device.

Most reviewers found the Razrs performance underwhelming for a phone priced at US$1,500.

To get it so thin, and for it to be able to work without overheating, the company made too many compromises on performance, Sascha Segan wrote for PCMag.

Everything here is subordinate to the design, he added, resulting in a phone that looks and feels like a $1,500 statement piece, but sure doesnt perform like one.

Although the Razr wasnt as peppy as he would have liked it to be, Motorola found a good power-to-performance ratio with the Razr, Cnets Holland maintained.

A Phone With Personality

Despite its deficiencies, Holland said, the Razr has something most phones these days lack: personality.

And as Jules says in Pulp Fiction, Personality goes a long way,' he wrote. The Razr feels more personal than any phone Ive used.

Personality can go a long way in the smartphone market, agreed Bob ODonnell, chief analyst at Technalysis Research, a technology market research and consulting firm in Foster City, California.

Weve reached an era where phones are incredibly personal. Thats why I think youre going to find a bunch of people who like the Razr. Its radically different from all the other phones that are out there, he told TechNewsWorld.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

In an era when people like to reflect their personality in their phones, this phone does that, ODonnell added.

Nagging Durability Issue

Although Motorola has assured the public that it thoroughly tested the Razrs durability, doubts remain.

Are these things going to last three years like people expect them to? asked Frank E. Gillett, principal analyst at Forrester Research, a market research company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The target audience seems small to me  people who value a tiny phone in their pocket above all else, he told TechNewsWorld.

The only way to know is to use it for months on end, Holland acknowledged.

The best evaluation of the phones durability will come once it has been in the hands of consumers for a significant time, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research, a high-tech research and advisory firm based in Phoenix, Arizona.

The mechanical repetitious testing of the phone does indicate some care should be taken with it, he told TechNewsWorld. I expect it is more fragile than most phones, but there are people excited by the new form factor that are willing to take a chance on it.

Undersized Battery

The Razrs battery life disappointed reviewers. For a phone its size, the battery is on the small side.

Ultimately, the Motorola Razr battery size means it has a lower potential maximum battery life compared to other phones, regardless of how you use it, Nirave Gondhia wrote for Android Central.

Although he could get through most of day on a single charge, Holland noted, he had to plug in around dinner time.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

PCMags Segan got six hours, 54 minutes, of video playback time on his review unit.

More scarily, though, other applications consumed more energy than the video player, he added. Thirty minutes of playing Asphalt 8 hit the battery by 10 percent, working out to just five hours of gaming on a charge.

Quacking Noise

Reviewers also were annoyed by the noise made by opening and closing the phone.

How bad is this sound? Holland asked in his review. Its not record skip loud, but its not great either. If I bought this phone, Id think something was wrong and want to swap it.

Segan performed his own durability tests on the Razr, opening and closing it 1,000 times without damage.

But after a mere 200 flips  and to this moment  the phone now makes a loud creaking noise when its opened or closed, he wrote. It didnt do that at the start; it opened and closed quietly and smoothly. Now it practically quacks, to the point that I want to get out some WD-40.

Screen Divot

While reviewers raved over the engineering behind Razrs flexible display, the screen itself received mixed assessments.

The Razrs display quality is good, Holland wrote. Colors pop nicely and the contrast is crisp without looking overly sharp.

According to Android Centrals Gondhia, the Razrs display lacks the punchiness or peak brightness of a Samsung phone, and opts for a more neutral profile vs. vividly displaying colors like other displays.

Toms Guides Ismail knocked the screens brightness.

At a peak brightness of just 386 nits, the Razrs screen is far too dim compared to leading flagships from Apple and Samsung, which routinely achieve nearly twice that these days, he wrote.

Motorola says bumps and lumps are normal, and youll certainly feel them when scrolling, Ismail added. Our unit has a circular depression right in the center of the top half, and whenever I ran my index finger over that divot, it was never a great feeling.

Camera Criticized

The 16 megapixel, f/1.7 camera in the Razr was another sore point for reviewers.

Photos taken in good light are sharp with impressive contrast. But as soon as youre in medium-to-low light things start to fall apart, Holland wrote.

Without optical image stabilization, the Razr compensates with a longer shutter speed, which leads to motion blur, he continued. Video is there. Its fine. No one will be making a film for Netflix with the Razr.

Segan described photos he shot with the Razr as soft and indistinct  enlarged versions of lower-resolution pix taken with a Pixel 4 or iPhone 11.

As the light goes down, he wrote, the Razrs performance declines further, with photos getting dim and noisy. Ultimately, I felt like I was taking pictures with a $250 phone, not a $1,500 one.

Foldable Wave Coming

Shortcomings aside, the Razr is breaking new ground for the smartphone market. I believe that the Razr is helping to open the way for foldable devices that previous efforts largely failed to do, said Charles King, principal analyst atPund-IT, a technology advisory firm in Hayward, California.

However, the Razrs use of older components could hurt it in the very near future, as Samsung readies to launch its own flip phone, the Z Flip.

Unless a substantially upgraded Razr is in the works, the Z Flips introduction is likely to present significant challenges to Motorola, King told TechNewsWorld.

Meanwhile, consumers can expect more foldables in their future.

Foldables will eventually become mainstream, Technalysis ODonnell predicted.

They will be what most people will have, because people are looking for larger screens in smaller physical spaces, and the only way to do that is with a foldable display, he said.

Folding form factors and dual screens are hot design innovations, noted Tirias Krewell, for not just phones, but for PCs this year, too.
South Africa: Ranch Resort to house repatriated South Africans

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has confirmed that the Ranch Resort in Polokwane will host the 122 repatriated South Africans from Wuhan, Hubei Province, in China.

Three sites were identified. Of the three sites that were shortlisted, The Ranch Resort was selected. An agreement has been signed with the owner of the resort. We went through 84 sites for possible quarantine, said the Minister.

Mkhize made the announcement on Thursday evening during a briefing by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Coronavirus in Polokwane.

Mkhize reiterated that those returning are not sick but healthy citizens. All military and health department personnel including the crew that undertook the repatriation will be housed at the resort.

To allay the fears of workers at the Ranch Resort, insurance company Momentum has partnered with government to offer a limited life cover to the workers.

Staff will also receive medical screening ahead of the arrival of the South Africans.

With the SANDF as the head of operations, Mkhize reiterated that military rules will apply with police playing a supportive role.

Minister Mkhize said those who test positive for the virus during the quarantine in Polokwane will be removed and taken for treatment.

Coronavirus cases revised to 16

Mkhize also revised the number of confirmed Coronavirus cases from 17 to 16 after a Free State man who had initially tested positive was subsequently found to be negative.

Coronavirus tests decentralised

Government also took a decision to decentralize testing for the virus to the provinces with the ultimate verification done by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).

With private sector laboratories partnering with government to scale up testing, the Minister said he will meet with private laboratories on Saturday to strengthen protocols.

Limpopo students cleared of Coronavirus

On the matter of 14 Limpopo TVET students who recently returned from China, the Minister says amid mounting speculation, tests were taken as a necessary precaution and to allay the fears of the community.

They were tested two days ago and today the results have come out. They all tested negative for the Coronavirus. The fact that they came from China should not cause public concern. They do not have an infection, he said.

Mkhize also took the time to dispel myths that the Coronavirus targets specific races.

"Coronavirus doesnt look at your passport, doesnt look at your nationality, doesnt look at your circumstances whether youre rich or poor, doesnt care whether youre within one metre of somebody sneezing, a droplet of infection will hit you, he said. - SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A Dutch man has been jailed for two months for falsely announcing that his mother, who he had been in contact with, had coronavirus on an inbound Aer Lingus flight.

Job Van Der Broek, a 30 year old trainee driving instructor caused mayhem on the flight as he refused to comply with in-flight policies and allow the air hostesses to conduct the safety demonstration.

On the Amsterdam to Dublin flight yesterday, the man refused to hang up his call and place his phone on airplane mode before the flight took off. This situation rapidly turned hostile as other personnel on the flight began to retreat and flight attendants burst into tears.

Upon landing in Dublin's terminal 2, the plane was immediately quarantined for HSE inspection and passengers were stuck on the runway for a number of hours.

The man attempted to get pictures with members of An Garda Siochana and HSE staff as he thought this experience was a joke. He was subsequently jailed for 2 months, but was later granted bail.

This news came as the coronavirus has claimed its first Irish life, and infected many more.
Turkey: 125-year jail term to Alan Kurdi smugglers Three convicted of murder, human trafficking

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, MARCH 13 - Three Turkish human smugglers who organized the crossing of the Aegean sea in which in 2015 a little boy, Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, died have been sentenced to a total of 125 years in prison on human trafficking and murder charges by a court in Bodrum, Anadolu news agency reports.



Alan's body, who was three years old when he died, was found on September 2, 2015 on a beach in Bodrum, on the Aegean coast of Turkey. The dinghy on which he was travelling had left from there before the shipwreck. The photo of the little victim sparked indignation at a global level for the Syrian refugee crisis. In the same shipwreck, four others died while nine people were rescued. Magistrates identified five people suspected of organizing the crossing, two Syrians and three Turkish nationals. The Syrians had already been arrested in 2016 and sentenced to four years and two months in jail each for ''favoring illegal immigration''. The Turkish nationals instead were on the run until they were recently arrested in the southern province of Adana near the Syrian border. They were tried on Friday morning in a conference call by judges in Bodrum, where the trial took place. (ANSAmed)
A corridor connecting the United Nations Secretariat and the General Assembly was virtually empty on Thursday, March 12, 2020, after the organisation cancelled many meetings and asked many of its staff to work from home. (Photo: Arul Louis/IANS) Image Source: PK

United Nations, March 13 : Located in the middle of New York that is facing the coronavirus threat, the world organisation of 193 nations is hunkering down to meet the coronavirus threat as a diplomat has tested positive for the disease.

The UN headquarters has been placed in Phase 2, "which is an active risk reduction mode", of the three-level response activation system, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said on Thursday.

The Philippines mission reported to the UN medical service that one of its diplomats has tested positive for the disease, Dujarric said.

The diplomat had last visited the UN for a meeting on Monday and had been in contact with two diplomats from another country, but not with UN staffers, he said.

The meeting room the diplomat had been in has undergone three cycles of cleaning and the medical service was reaching out to the two diplomats, the spokesman said.

He however, did not identify the infected Filipino diplomat.

Dujarric said that as of Thursday, none of the 3,000 or so UN staff members at the headquarters have tested positive for the disease.

The UN is taking several steps to meet the crisis and be prepared if the headquarters complex has to be shut down.

Guterres has ordered the cancellation of all but the charter-mandated meetings of the UN at the headquarters till the end of April and has also asked countries to drop their side events, Dujarric said.

India's UN Mission cancelled a Women's Day event last week at which the International Monetary Fund's Chief Economist Gita Gopinath was to have participated.

A centre for people from around the world, the UN headquarters faces an added risk from being located in New York City, which has 96 cases with 146 more clustered in a suburb.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency and on Thursday banned meetings of more than 500 people.

General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande has asked missions to limit participation at meetings to two New York-based members, his spokesperson Reema Abza said.

That would help keep the numbers below 500 at the Assembly-related meetings with 193 member countries.

The Security Council held a test of a cybermeeting on Monday as a backup should the UN building be shut down.

China's Permanent Representative Zhang Jun, who is the Security Council President for this month, said that its 15 delegations have been asked to "scale down" participation by reducing the number of those attending the meeting.

About 40 per cent of the staff at the headquarters is expected to telecommute and provisions have been put in place for key staff to operate remotely in case of a shutdown.

Dujarric said that he was equipped to run the daily briefings from his living room.

Diplomats have generally been exempted from President Donald Trump's restrictions on travel from Europe to the US, but Guterres has suggested minimising travel.

The UN has banned visitors from entering the headquarters building and suspended tours of the facility.

The meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women that was scheduled for this week with the participation of several hundred people from around the country was suspended.

The Youth Plenary scheduled for March 31 to prepare for the 75th anniversary of the UN has also been suspended.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
March 9, 2020

On March 7 (Sat.), 2020, an opening ceremony of the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field (FH2R) was held, bringing together Mr. Abe Shinzo, Prime Minister, and Mr. Kajiyama Hiroshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, among other participants. FH2R is the worlds largest-class facility for producing hydrogen from renewable energy. Prime Minister Abe, who came to the site of the ceremony by driving a fuel cell vehicle, a next-generation vehicle under development, delivered a speech and stated that Japan will make use of hydrogen produced in FH2R for the Olympic relay torches and other proceedings in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and that it will also utilize such Fukushima clean hydrogen in plants, buses, trucks and other automobiles, drones and other technologies.

1. Overview

Date: March 7 (Sat.), 2020

Venue: Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field (FH2R), Namie Town, Fukushima Prefecture

Organizers: The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and businesses concerned

Participants: Prime Minister Abe; METI Minister Kajiyama; Mr. Tanaka Kazunori, Minister for Reconstruction; Mr. Uchibori Masao, Governor of Fukushima Prefecture; Mr. Yoshida Kazuhiro, Mayor of Namie Town; Mr. Ishizuka Hiroaki, Chairman, NEDO; Mr. Tsunakawa Satoshi, President and Chief Operating Officer, Toshiba Corporation; Mr. Harada Hiroya, Representative Director and President, Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc.; and Mr. Makino Akiji, Chairman and CEO, Iwatani Corporation, and others

Note: The ceremony was held at a smaller scale than originally planned, taking measures against the novel coronavirus disease to prevent participants from being infected.

2. Details of the ceremony

Following the speeches by the representatives of the organizers and businesses concerned, Prime Minister Abe, who came to the site by driving a fuel cell vehicle, a next-generation vehicle under development, delivered a speech and stated that Japan will make use of hydrogen produced in FH2R in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as fuel for the fire of the relay torches, fuel cells used in the Olympic/Paralympic Villages, and fuel cell vehicles and buses used during the event. He also expressed that [i] placing the facility as the worlds largest-class innovation base, Japan will utilize clean hydrogen produced in Fukushima as energy supplied to plants and fuel for various vehicles including buses and trucks, [ii] it will embark on commercialization of hydrogen drones taking advantage of the Fukushima Robot Test Field and [iii] it will cultivate a new era of hydrogen through these efforts.

Following this, as an event to celebrate the opening of the facility, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held, bringing together Prime Minister Abe, Minister Kajiyama, Minister Tanaka and the representatives of the participating businesses and other organizations.

Full text of the speech by Prime Minister Abe

I hereby offer my heartiest congratulations on the completion of the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field.

As the worlds largest facility for producing hydrogen from renewable energy, FH2R has finally embarked on its operation. The annual amount of clean hydrogen produced here is 200 tons with no carbon dioxide emitted. Over a half of the total hydrogen annually used by all fuel cell vehicles can be supplied by this facility alone. Fukushima Prefecture, a region severely affected by the nuclear power station accidents, is now about to turn a new page toward a hydrogen society in the future. The Fukushima Plan for a New Energy Society policy will go into full-fledged motion.

On March 26, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic relay torches will start from here, in Fukushima. The hydrogen, the fuel for lighting such torches, will be produced at this site. Also, during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, hydrogen-fueled vehicles and buses will run across Tokyo and hydrogen-based electricity will be used in the Olympic/Paralympic Villages.

In the year of 2020 and toward the future beyond 2020, Japan will strive to achieve a hydrogen society in a single burst. To this end, I believe that FH2R will work as the worlds largest-class innovation base.

Last year, I attended a Davos Meeting in Switzerland and upheld, before people worldwide, Japans ambitious goals of decreasing the current hydrogen manufacturing cost to one-tenth or less by 2050 and providing hydrogen less expensive than natural gas. A stage for taking on this dynamic challenge is here, Fukushima. I have a firm resolution to make a great change, together with all of you, in the conventional energy frameworks all over the world. Fukushima clean hydrogen will become a source of energy for operating manufacturing floors in plants and fuel for various vehicles including buses and trucks. The Robot Test Field built in the Hamadori area is expected to become a place over which hydrogen drones fly around. Lets work together and cultivate a new era of hydrogen to accomplish these goals.

Finally, I express my heartiest respect to all the people concerned for their efforts for opening this worlds-leading research field and wish for your continued success and prosperity. Again, I offer sincere congratulations on the completion of this facility today.

[i]Prime Minister Abe, Mr. Matsumoto Yohei, Director-General of the Local Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarter (also METI State Minister) and other officials touring the facility

[ii]Prime Minister Abe coming to the site by driving a fuel cell vehicle, a next-generation vehicle under development

[]Prime Minister Abe and Minister Kajiyama attending the ceremony

[iv]A ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the facility

(From the left): President Harada, Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc.; Chairman Ishizuka, NEDO; Minister Tanaka; Minister Kajiyama; Prime Minister Abe; Fukushima Prefecture Governor Uchibori; Namie-Town Mayor Yoshida; President Tsunakawa, Toshiba Corporation; and Chairman Makino, Iwatani Corporation

Source: Photos of [i], [ii] and [iv] above are reproduced and processed for this press release from those shown on the website of the Prime Ministers Office.

Division in Charge

Advanced Energy Systems and Structure Division, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Department, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy
The UK government has accepted India's appeal against the closure of Ambedkar House in north London and said the memorial to the architect of the Indian Constitution will remain open to visitors.

UK Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick confirmed that he had granted retrospective planning permission on Thursday for 10 King Henry's Road in Camden, where Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar lived in 1921-22 during his student days at London School of Economics (LSE), to function as a museum.

"I was pleased to grant planning permission for a museum in London to Dr Ambedkar one of the founding fathers of modern India and an important figure to many British Indians," said Jenrick.

The minister had "recovered" the appeal in the case last September after the memorial faced closure due to an alleged breach of planning norms for the residential area.

The UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government stepping in meant that the government was to decide the case based on recommendations from an independent inspector appointed by the UK's Planning Inspectorate.

The Inspector oversaw an inquiry into the Indian government's appeal in the case last year.

"Mr Jenrick decided the government should make the final decision on the appeal, citing the importance of the site and the lasting contribution of the British Indian community on the shared cultural heritage of the country," the ministry said.

The home was bought by the Maharashtra government for around GBP 3.1 million and refurbished to transform into a memorial-cum-museum, which now houses photographs and belongings of Ambedkar, with the walls adorned with his famous quotations.

It had been an important stop on Narendra Modi's first visit to the UK as Prime Minister in November 2015 but it ran into trouble after it emerged that the right clearances for the creation of a museum on the site had not been sought.

The Indian High Commission in London re-filed an appropriate planning application, which was rejected last year.

During an appeal hearing in September 2019, the Indian side argued that the home holds special significance for a huge section of Indians in the UK and outside because it was where Babasaheb lived during a crucial formative period in his academic life.

"This will have widespread implications for India-UK relations, especially under the current political scenario when we are Brexiting and need to further strengthen our bilateral relations with India," said Alex Sunshine, who presented himself as a witness on behalf of the Indian government as someone who works with the Dalit community in Maharashtra.

The council, on the other hand, presented expert witnesses to try and establish that the Dalit rights activist's association with the particular London house was very brief and any memorial can be moved elsewhere in order to not deprive the local area of crucial residential and housing space.

"It is just not the right place for it. The association with Dr Ambedkar is tangential at best," said Nick Baxter, Senior Heritage and Conservation Officer for Camden Council.

However, with the appeal being allowed this week, the requisite permission has been granted to ensure the memorial will remain at its current site.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A court here on Friday sentenced all Unnao rape case convicts, including expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar to 10 years in prison in connection with the custodial death of Unnao rape victim's father.

The court has convicted Kuldeep Singh Sengar, his brother Atul Sengar and others in various sections of IPC including 120(b) criminal conspiracy and 304 part (2) (Section 304 Part II of the IPC). The court thinks that the accused had knowledge that his act had the likelihood of causing death.

The court directed Kuldeep Singh Sengar and Atul Singh to pay fine of Rs. 10 lakhs each, which will be paid as compensation to the victim's wife and children, If not paid within three months from today the court directed the amount to be recovered as arrears of land revenue in terms of Section 421 read with Section 431 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

This is the second conviction of Kuldeep Singh Sengar. He was earlier convicted in a rape case with the sentence of life imprisonment.

"All the sentencing and imprisonment will go concurrent. Sentences that may all be served at the same time, with the longest period controlling, are concurrent sentences. Judges may sentence concurrently out of compassion, plea bargaining, or the fact that the several crimes are interrelated," The court said.

The rape victim's father died in judicial custody on April 9, 2018.

The fast track court recently convicted seven accused including Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is already convicted in the rape case, in the case and acquitted the other four accused.

The court convicted Kuldeep of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in connection with the death of the victim's father.

CBI in its charge-sheet said all this while Kuldeep Sengar was in continuous touch with the district police superintendent, and the police station's in-charge Bhadauria.

CBI filed a charge-sheet in the case on July 13, 2018. Thereafter, the charges were framed against Sengar, his brother Atul, Makhi police station's in-charge Ashok Singh Bhadauria, Sub Inspector Kamta Prasad, Constable Amir Khan and six others in the case.

On August 1 last year, the Supreme Court transferred the case to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh. In December 2019, Sengar was convicted and jailed for life for raping the woman in Unnao in 2017 when she was a minor.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is not considering broad relief from import tariffs on Chinese goods to ease economic pain from the coronavirus, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday, dashing the hopes of industry and some lawmakers.

President Donald Trump, however, would likely consider some specific exemptions to aid small businesses hurt by the virus, Mnuchin said on CNBC and to reporters at the White House.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was looking at additional exemptions for companies that are particularly hit and have issues with the virus, Mnuchin said. To the extent that there are company-specific issues, we will address that with the president and react accordingly.

Anti-tariff forces both outside and inside the government see the virus crisis as their biggest opportunity for rolling back at least some import taxes since a U.S.-China Phase 1 trade deal was reached in December.

Tariffs of up to 25% remain on some $370 billion worth of Chinese goods imported annually. U.S. importers were billed for $48.1 billion in duties on Chinese goods from the Trump administrations Section 301 tariffs over the past 20 months, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

This is a tax that is fully within the authorities of the executive branch, so they can very quickly give American businesses and American consumers a tax cut by lifting the tariffs that are in place, U.S. Representative Stephanie Murphy told Reuters on Thursday.

The Florida Democrat urged Lighthizer on Wednesday to declare a trade detente by removing tariffs on both Chinese and European goods to aid small and medium-sized businesses.

Lighthizer, who for three years has led the Trump administrations efforts to impose tariffs on Chinese goods, was not receptive to the idea during a closed-door meeting with members of the House Ways and Means Committee, Murphy said.

USTR did not respond to a request for comment.

The agency on Thursday night granted exclusions here for 19 medical products from China, including face masks, stethoscope covers and blood pressure cuffs, the second such action in the past week.

The U.S.-China Business Council is also pressing for tariff reductions by both China and the United States as a way to help the worlds two largest economies weather coronavirus pressures.

Both economies are suffering from a common challenge, said USCBC President Craig Allen. Both sides should use this as an opportunity to rein in the self-inflicted damage that tariffs cause.

But there are differing views on tariffs within the Trump administration, Allen said, with no clear consensus on moving forward with a tariff reduction no matter how obvious it may be that its in both countries interest.

ELECTION LOOMS

Trump has touted his tough stance on China trade as a key differentiator from Democratic challengers in the November presidential election. Keeping tariffs in place on Chinese goods allows him to say he is maintaining leverage over China for a Phase 2 trade deal.

But rapidly deteriorating financial markets and worries that COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, will grind worldwide economic activity to a halt may be changing some trade thinking inside the administration, said a person familiar with White House trade deliberations.

Its not likely to happen because of the election argument, the person said. But COVID has changed a lot of things and industry sees an opening here.

Before the coronavirus significantly reduced its global forecasts, the International Monetary Fund had estimated that U.S. and Chinese tariffs still in place after a Phase 1 trade deal would reduce 2020 global economic output by about 0.5%, or around $450 billion.

Suspending the tariffs would generate immediate economic savings for American consumers and be a goodwill gesture to China and other trading partners suffering from the economic effects of COVID-19, The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina, wrote in an editorial on Friday.

The National Association of Manufacturers on Monday published a coronavirus action plan that urged the administration to develop a targeted list of products for which Section 301 tariffs and retaliatory tariffs can be suspended or removed to spur economic growth and job creation.

Derek Scissors, a China policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute who has advised the administration in the past, said Mnuchin still favors broader tariff relief as a way to boost economic growth.

The Wall Street representatives in and out of the administration constantly push for tariff cuts, from the time the deal was struck through last week, Scissors said. The risk of a trade deficit jump later in the year, as the China tries to export its way to a V-shaped recovery, has blocked them.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, the administrations loudest anti-China voice, denied that tariffs might be lifted.

There are no discussions within the White House about that. That is simply a fake news gambit by the usual Wall Street suspects who never met an American job they didnt want to offshore for the sake of a buck, he said.

Even economists who support lifting tariffs say it may not be effective as a short-term stimulus.

Permanently lifting the tariffs on China is a good idea, said Heritage Foundation economist Paul Winfree. Rapid changes in trade policy linked specifically to the pandemic might not give them the bump they want because it will contribute to the long-run trade uncertainty that has depressed growth.
A bankruptcy judge has approved a $34 million settlement between the Diocese of New Ulm in Minnesota and nearly 100 people who say they were sexually abused by priests and others.

Bishop John LeVoir apologized to sexual abuse survivors during the hearing, where U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel gave final approval to the settlement. Several survivors of clergy sexual abuse testified tearfully at the hearing, the Star Tribune reported.

I apologize again on behalf of the church to all who have been harmed by clergy sexual abuse, LeVoir said.

The diocese serving Catholics in southern and west-central Minnesota also agreed to implement 17 child protection protocols.

Attorney Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, who represents many of the survivors, told The Associated Press that both the settlement and the hearing were powerful.

This is a massive cleanup of a massive cover-up, Anderson said. He said survivors could start receiving compensation in May.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy protection three years ago and reached the settlement last June. All 93 claimants have approved terms of the settlement, the Star Tribune reported.

In court and in a letter to local Catholics, LeVoir thanked the survivors for coming forward.

The courage that claimants showed in coming forward to share how the Church failed them has changed our Church for the better. Our ministry is safer for children and young people, our practices and policies are now more open and transparent, and we are more humble, the bishop wrote.

Of the $34 million settlement, $26 million comes from diocesan and parish insurance coverage; $7 million in cash contributions from the diocese, including cash from a $2 million mortgage on the Pastoral Center; and $1 million contributed by all parishes within the diocese, including parishes that were not sued, the diocese said.

The diocese previously agreed to release the names of priests credibly accused of sex abuse, Anderson said.

The New Ulm diocese is among several Roman Catholic dioceses in Minnesota that have filed for bankruptcy protection amid child sex abuse claims or are considering it.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis emerged from bankruptcy in December 2018, three months after a federal bankruptcy judge approved a $210 million settlement.

Last May, the Diocese of Duluth reached a $40 million settlement with dozens of people who said they were abused as children by priests.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation Abuse Molestation Minnesota
WASHINGTON  An email seemingly from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns of new coronavirus infections and urges readers to click on a link to see a list of infections in their community.

But the email actually comes from cybercriminals looking to use the crisis to their advantage.

Cybersecurity researchers have identified a growing number of phishing scams in which fraudsters are using coronavirus to entice victims. With phishing, recipients unwittingly click on emailed or texted links designed to trick them into giving their personal information.

It is the most clickable lure that an attacker can send out. Everyone has jumped on the bandwagon, said Ryan Kalember, an executive vice president at Proofpoint, a global cybersecurity company that is monitoring the phishing activity. Their success depends on getting people to click. Coronavirus drives clicks like nothing else right now.

Officials in some states have alerted government staffers and the public about that threat. And some states have stepped up monitoring for malicious email involving coronavirus.

In Washington state, the nations epicenter of coronavirus, with 366 confirmed cases and 29 deaths as of Thursday, the top information security official issued a warning to staffers and the public to be on the lookout for such threats.

Bad actors are using phishing emails that claim to have information about coronavirus infections in the surrounding area and encourage users to click on a link or an attachment to find out more, Vinod Brahmapuram, the state chief information security officer, wrote in a recent blog post.

Attackers create a sense of urgency, of panic, almost forcing people to take action. The coronavirus gives them an advantage, Brahmapuram said in an interview with Stateline. Its new. Its unknown. When there is something unknown, the fear is so high.

In Connecticut, information technology officials have asked the states emergency management department to spread the word about phishing scams related to coronavirus, Chief Information Officer Mark Raymond said.

And in Virginia, state IT workers are flagging keywords in emails related to coronavirus that are coming from outside parties that could be phishing attacks, Chief Information Security Officer Michael Watson said.

A lot of these malicious parties are trying to play on your fears and have you make a rash decision, Watson said. Theyre saying that there is some immediate action youre going to have to take to protect your own life and safety.

Criminals often prey on people during natural disasters or crises, exploiting uncertainty and fear. But the difference with coronavirus, cyber experts say, is that the information is constantly changing, and new warnings are expected to be issued for weeks  or even months.

Scammers already are selling bogus products online, offering vaccines they claim will cure the virus or asking for donations for victims, the Federal Trade Commission has warned.

Hackers, too, have gotten in on the action, aiming to steal victims usernames and passwords or plant malware that will help them get ahold of other personal information.

In one phishing campaign, cybercriminals sent emails that look like they came from the World Health Organization, asking people to click on a malicious link to view coronavirus safety measures.

Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an alert warning people to be vigilant about phishing and other scams involving coronavirus.

Phishing attacks can be lucrative for criminals. In 2018, victims of phishing or similar attacks lost at least $48 million, according to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Were seeing them exploit this highly topical thing called coronavirus, said Ekram Ahmed, spokesman for Check Point, a global cybersecurity company. Its not uncommon for certain events to be exploited. But we found it far exceeds anything else, in terms of malware.

Malware is malicious software that infiltrates and damages computers.

Check Point found that 3% of the more than 4,000 coronavirus-related domains registered globally were malicious  a 50% jump over the industry average of 2% for these types of cyber threats. A domain name is the address of a website at the top of a browser window. Many of those malicious domains probably will be used for phishing attempts, Ahmed said.

Thats extremely alarming to us, he said, noting that another 5% of the domains were considered suspicious.

Check Point recommends that people be cautious about opening email and files received from unknown senders and beware of look-alike domains that actually are phony websites.

Proofpoints Kalember agrees that coronavirus-related email threats have been ramping up.

It started out as a few small attacks. Each day were seeing larger and larger amounts, he said. Over five weeks, its into the millions of messages.

People most likely are clicking at an incredibly high rate, Kalember added, because the volume of attacks is spiking, and cybercriminals wouldnt bother if it wasnt effective for them.

State and local governments need to be especially careful of coronavirus phishing threats because they can lead to ransomware attacks, according to Kalember.

Ransomware typically spreads through phishing emails. It can hijack a governmental computer system and hold it hostage until officials pay a ransom or restore the system on their own.

Last year, there were at least 113 successful ransomware attacks on state and local governments, according to global cybersecurity company Emsisoft.

State and local governments should be paying more attention to email, Kalember said, and making sure their staff knows that coronavirus communications arent going to come in a zip file or Word document that theyd click on. Their people should be trained to look at things skeptically.

Pennsylvanias Department of Banking and Security is offering the following tips and resources:

Frequent characteristics of scams include:

Sense of urgency and limited time offers. Scammers will attempt to prompt you into immediate action and catch you off guard. No government agency will call you asking for payment or take punitive action against you if you dont act quickly.

Payment with wire transfer or gift cards. Once information is provided, the money is essentially gone and you cannot get it back.

Secrecy and the need to not tell anyone. Never make a decision without consulting a credible and trustworthy source.

Low or minimal risks with guaranteed high returns. Be cautious of any offer that guarantees a high rate of return with little or no risk or does not disclose risk.

Unsolicited offers, including social media avenues. A new post on your Facebook wall, a tweet mentioning you, a direct message, an email, a text, a phone call, or any other unsolicited communication regarding an investment opportunity related to coronavirus (COVID-19).

Pennsylvanians should know the red flags of potential fraud and scams:

Has someone contacted you unexpectedly? If you werent expecting a phone call or didnt initiate the contact, it should be a red flag.

Have they promised you something? If theyre offering you something that seems too good to be true, its a red flag.

Have they asked you to do something? Are they asking you for money or account information? If you didnt initiate the conversation, dont provide it.

At this time, the department has had no reported cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) financial scams. Anyone can contact DoBS at 1-800-PA-BANKS or 1-800-722-2657 to ask questions or file complaints about financial transactions, companies, or products. If you believe you have fallen victim to a scam, contact local law enforcement.
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If you open Google and do a search for Caribbean medical schools, it will quickly become clear to you that not everyone is a fan, but just because something doesnt work for one person doesnt necessarily mean it hasnt worked for hundreds. Established, upper-tier Caribbean medical schools are credible alternatives for hardworking students unable to secure seats at U.S. schools. Thats a provable fact. Thousands of students across multiple Caribbean and international medical schools have secured residencies and moved on to fulfilling careers in medicine.

Then why do they have a negative reputation? Because not all of these schools are reputable and accredited. There are more than 80 Caribbean medical schools, all of which award doctor of medicine (M.D.) degrees, and the majority of them claim to offer a U.S.-modeled curriculum. So far, so good, right?

Well, not necessarily.

Caribbean medical schools and residency

Completing your medical education and earning your medical degree is an incredible accomplishment, but it wont be enough by itself to launch your medical career. Youll need to be accepted to and complete a residency programa period of intensive postgraduate training in whichever specialty you select, whether its a primary care discipline or more competitive specialties.

Long story short: Without completing residency, you cant become licensed to practice medicine. And to complete a residency, youll need to secure an invite to the program you want.

The probability of a student successfully attaining a residency is directly tied to his/her academic performanceand academic performance, of course, correlates with both the quality of your medical program and the efforts you put into learning and retaining the material. Residency program directors look at your clinical performance, your results on licensing exams, and a host of other metrics when they make decisions on who to invite to their programs.

Medical school graduates who fail to place in residency can try again for a future cycleand indeed, some graduates find success on their second or third attempts. But some, unfortunately, never do, and all theyre left with is a medical degree they cant use, mounting debt, and horror stories to share on social media. Not all Caribbean med schools are created equal. Just like medical programs in the United States, low-quality programs are far more likely to give you low-quality results.

Dont worry, though. Weve got you covered. Out of those roughly 80 Caribbean schools mentioned above, there are a scant handful considered reputable, successful, and legitimate by the public at large. Well even show you how you can use hard dataquantifiable metricsto objectively measure a Caribbean medical schools quality as best you can.

How can you determine a Caribbean medical schools quality?

Though quality is subjective, there are three hard metrics you can point to that can help determine a Caribbean medical schools overall quality.

Caribbean medical school accreditations

Accreditation is a process in which experts evaluate a given program and determine whether it meets the accrediting bodys standards. Medical schools are subject to accreditationits a key indicator of whether an objective, outside agency believes in the legitimacy of the degree-granting institution.

Note that there isnt an official U.S. accrediting body for Caribbean medical schoolsmeaning the Department of Education (DOE) does not personally come to assess Caribbean med schools.

Rather, youll want to look for a Caribbean medical school that holds an accreditation recognized by the World Federation for Medical Education/Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (WFME/FAIMER). This is important. After 2023, the Educational Commission on Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) will issue certification only for degrees from a school accredited by a WFME-recognized agency.

The two most common accrediting bodies youll see for Caribbean medical schools are the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) and the Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine (ACCM). Both are recognized by the WFME, and the standards employed by both agencies are recognized by the US DOEs National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation as comparable to U.S. medical programs.

If the Caribbean medical school youre considering holds one of those two accreditations, consider that a stamp of high educational quality. If they dont, well, caveat emptor.

The final word on Caribbean medical schools

Lets sum up. As youre vetting Caribbean medical programs, youll want to look at the following things, in addition to other important topics like financial aid and scholarships:

Strong residency performance

Accreditations

USMLE Step 1 first-time pass rate

One thing to noteand that most of the top-tier Caribbean medical schools stressis that medical programs are chances for you to succeed, but they arent magic bullets. Youll have the tools, the information, and the support from faculty and peers that all medical school students need to succeed, but at the end of the day, excelling in medical school is up to you.

Jerry Wargo is vice-president of enrollment management, American University of Antigua.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
(Photo : Pixabay)

A scientist who claims coronavirus got here from Earth by meteor now says triumphing winds are spreading the disease to the hardest-hit countries.

Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology has alleged that the meteor that exploded over China in October released viral particles.





ALSO READ: Federally Funded Tests Now Suggest Coronavirus Is Airborne: How Long Can It Survive in the Air?





COVID-19 either fell to Earth or caught up in the stratospheric air current





Wickramasinghe told MailOnline the virus both fell to Earth or got caught up in the higher stratospheric air currents of the Earth.

The unexpected outbreak of a brand new coronavirus could be very probable to have a space connection,' Professor Wickramasinghe instructed The Express in February.

The astrobiologist is a proponent of 'panspermia' - the principle that life is seeded throughout the universe by traveling on meteorites, comets, and area dust.

A meteor was seen blazing like bright fireball flying throughout the sky in Northeastern China at around 12:16 am on October 11, 2019.

The space rock - which reportedly shone so brightly that it made the night sky look light day - is a concept to have disintegrated inside the surroundings.

When asked about the correlation of a single meteoroid sighting with a virus outbreak proved that the former caused the latter, Wickramasinghe said how the phenomenon took place doesn't prove anything.

Professor Wickramasinghe previously claimed that other deadly diseases came from an extraterrestrial source, including the 1918 flu pandemic. He also liked SARS to a 2002 meteorite that exploded over the border of China and Russia.

The professor said there is a shred of growing evidence that announces this DNA came from space and landed on Earth through micro-meteorites.

The sudden outbreak of a new coronavirus is very likely to have a space connection,' Professor Wickramasinghe told The Express in February.





ALSO READ: Are Aliens Behind the First US Coronavirus Confirmed Case of Unknown Origin? A Scientist Claim It's Possible!





Other scientists debunk Wickramasinghe's claim





Infectious disease experts have debunked Professor Wickramasinghe's claim, however, noting that COVID-19 is just like other regarded coronaviruses.

This, they explained, would advise that the disease transmitted to human beings from animals - not from a recent meteorite fall.

Infectious disorder expert, Dominic Sparkes of University College London, told IFLScience SARS-CoV-2 didn't come from a meteorite since the disease is so closely related to other known coronaviruses.

SARS, according to Sparkes, is the result of bats transferring the virus to civet cats, which transmitted on to humans. At the same time, MERS is known to be passed on to humans from camels.

"It is, therefore, is far less of a leap to assume the closely-related SARS-CoV-2 virus has been passed on to humans in the same way," he said.

According to DailyMail's report, Virologist Ian Jones of the University of Reading said viruses from space is "an old chestnut" that "deserves to be roasted immediately."

Wickramasinghe's argument, according to Jones, detracts from the really detailed work that is currently ongoing to track, cope with, and prevent infection.













 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
: Two foreign tourists, admitted



to the coronavirus isolation ward of the medical college hospital here following fever and cough, allegedly gave police and hospital authorities the slip on Friday, police said.

The two from the UK, in their 20s, also refused to give samples for testing, the police said.

The tourists had gone to the hospital with fever and were sent to the isolation ward, but were not prepared to be there and left the place, they said.

The two had not given their passport details also to the hospital, Alapuzha Superintendent of Police James Joseph told PTI.

They had come to Kochi from London via Doha on March 9, attended a kathakali show in Kochi, went for a houseboat ride the next day in Alapuzha, stayed at a Fort Kochi resort, before going to Varkala near Thiruvananthapuram before returning to Alapuzha, according to police.

They came to the Alapuzha medical college hospital complaining of fever, cough and stomach upset.

The doctor had admitted to the isolation ward.

The two, however, absconded in the evening without giving their samples, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It goes without saying that personal remittances  cash transfers to Cuba from outside family members  are a critical part of daily sustenance on the Caribbean island. Some estimates (because the Cuban government doesnt typically publish these numbers) put Cuban financial remittances in the top three of foreign exchange-generators (after receipts from medical professionals working abroad and ahead of mass tourism dollars)  bringing in roughly US$6.5 billion annually.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

It goes without saying that personal remittances  cash transfers to Cuba from outside family members  are a critical part of daily sustenance on the Caribbean island. Some estimates (because the Cuban government doesnt typically publish these numbers) put Cuban financial remittances in the top three of foreign exchange-generators (after receipts from medical professionals working abroad and ahead of mass tourism dollars)  bringing in roughly US$6.5 billion annually.

From the very outset, and now with his gaze firmly fixed on retaining the battleground state of Florida, U.S. President Donald Trump has been determined to reverse former president Barack Obamas policy of engagement with revolutionary Cuba. The Obama White House, after negotiating a ground-breaking 2014 entente, agreed to eliminate restrictions on personal remittances (and enhanced the less costly and widely used Western Union wire transfers) and encouraged Americans to travel to Cuba.

Unfortunately, Trump has only sought to tighten the screws on Cuba economically, diplomatically and militarily. Much of that stems from Trumps preoccupation with winning the 2020 presidential election and removing Venezuelas president, Nicolas Maduro, from power in Caracas.

Last September, the Trump administration instructed the U.S. Treasury Department to limit family remittances to Cuba to $1,000 every three months (to a single close relative on the island). This was designed to make life in Cuba more difficult for the struggling Cubans, to increase pressure on the Maduro-friendly government in Havana.

As U.S. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin explained, "We are taking additional steps to financially isolate the Cuban regime. The United States holds the Cuban regime accountable for its oppression of the Cuban people and support of other dictatorships throughout the region, such as the illegitimate Maduro regime."

He then went on to add, "Through these regulatory amendments, Treasury is denying Cuba access to hard currency, and we are curbing the Cuban governments bad behaviour while continuing to support the long-suffering people of Cuba."

Then, in late February, Western Union abruptly suspended financial transfers to Cuba (with the exception of those originating from the U.S.) with little in the way of corporate explanation. A statement issued by the company noted the following: "Given the unique challenges of operating remittance services to Cuba from countries outside the United States, Western Union is unable to operate money transfers to Cuba from countries other than the United States as of February 26, 2020."

It is understood that this damaging move, which does include transactions from Canada, was undertaken to align the U.S. companys activities with the decades-long U.S. economic blockade of Cuba. It is also possible that Western Union was growing increasingly nervous about the prospects of the company running afoul of the controversial Helms-Burton Act and facing costly lawsuits from Cuban-Americans in such places as Miami.

While this step by the Trump White House wont prevent other companies in other countries from filling the remittances void left by Western Union (which had a virtual monopoly on these transactions), it will complicate matters for Cubans living abroad.

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Similar companies in Latin America are not always trustworthy, face domestic legal restrictions on transfer amounts and do not want to be seen by Washington as violating the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba. In a country such as Canada, financial transfers cost considerably more, take much longer to arrive electronically in Cuba and are just less convenient.

A key question here is whether the Canadian government will have anything to say about this. Canada maintains a cordial diplomatic relationship with Cuba, engages in two-way trade and has a history of challenging the "extraterritoriality" of the U.S. isolation of Cuba. Simply put, the Canadian government does not believe that a flawed U.S. Cuba policy should have implications for American companies operating in Canada.

Of course, this recent Western Union flare-up touches upon Canadian sovereignty, the rights of those living in Canada to engage directly with Cubans, and Ottawas long-standing independent position toward Havana. There is also a law on the books, the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (FEMA), which could be invoked by the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau to counter the U.S. move (and potentially to impose fines on Western Union).

But are the Trudeau Liberals, known for their friendliness toward the Cuban government, willing to pick a fight with Trump? I just dont see it  especially given that Canada is also opposed to the Maduro government.

Thats too bad, though. Standing up to Trump on Cuba might be a worthwhile attempt to bolster our efforts to secure a rotating seat on the UN Security Council. Since Canadians largely prefer Cuban engagement over estrangement, taking a tougher stance would also play well politically in Canada.

Peter McKenna is professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown.
Congress leader once again targeted the central government after bloodbath in the markets in India over coronavirus fears. The former Congress president also accused the Centre of being in a stupor.

Tracking Coronavirus Outbreak: Live Updates

I will keep repeating this. The coronavirus is a huge problem. Ignoring the problem is a non solution. The Indian economy will be destroyed if strong action is not taken. The government is in a stupor, Gandhi said on Twitter.

I will keep repeating this.



The #coronavirus is a huge problem. Ignoring the problem is a non solution. The Indian economy will be destroyed if strong action is not taken. The government is in a stupor. https://t.co/SuEvqMFbQd  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 13, 2020

Gandhi tagged his yesterdays tweet in which called coronavirus an extremely serious threat to our people and our economy. My sense is the government is not taking this threat seriously, he had said in his Thursdays tweet.

Investor wealth worth nearly 12 lakh crore was wiped off in less than 15 minutes of trade opening on Friday, with benchmarks crashing over 10 per cent on mounting fears over coronavirus pandemic.

Also Watch l Like a tsunami: Rahul Gandhi blames PM Modi for Indias economic slowdown

The 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted 3,380.59 points, or 10.31 per cent, to 29,397.55 shortly after opening on Friday. It hit an intra-day low of 29,388.97, falling up to 3,389.17 points. The trading had to be halted for 45 minutes.

Traders said besides global sell-off, incessant foreign fund outflows also weighed on investor sentiments.

Volatility heightened in global markets as benchmarks world over went into panic mode, insinuating a freakish sell-off.

Bourses in Shanghai dropped over 3.32 per cent, Hong Kong 5.61 per cent, Seoul 7.58 per cent and Tokyo cracked up to 7.97 per cent. Wall Street lost 10 per cent in overnight trade.

More than 1,30,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.

The number of coronavirus patients in India has risen to 75, as per Union health ministry. The government has taken unprecedented step of putting the country in a partial state of lockdown by suspending almost all the visas for a month. Screening is also underway on people arriving at 12 major sea ports and 65 non-major ports, and major land border crossings.

The government has also invoked two laws giving officials at state levels powers to take extraordinary steps to combat the outbreak. Shortly after this, the Delhi government announced the shutting down of cinema halls till March 31.
The Friday morning ceremony for Air Force recruits graduating from basic training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland was a snapshot of life in an America dramatically transformed by quarantines and social distancing.

Rather than standing in formation on a sprawling parade field and marching past commanders, families, friends and well-wishers, Airmen 1st Class Elijah Baxter and Lukasz Talalaj were among hundreds of recruits who sat in a large auditorium at Lacklands Pfingston Reception Center for their graduation.

Theyd spent most of basic training preparing to serve as guidon bearers in the parade, an event full of pomp, circumstance and a band playing patriotic songs.

Instead, they listened to recorded music and sang the Air Force song a cappella.

Yes, absolutely I wanted to go down the bomb run as guidon bearer with Baxter here, but things are tough. We were told what the deal is, what were going to have to do, and we just have to go along with that, said Talalaj, 18, of Jackson, N.J.

Flexibility is the key to air power, as we always say.

The changes in routine were a first for Lackland, home to Air Force basic training. No one here said the word coronavirus, but the pandemic was the reason. Parents were not allowed at the ceremony and the newly minted airman were restricted to base this weekend to lower the risk they could be infected.

Families and friends could watch the ceremony on the 37th Training Wings Facebook Page.

Let me begin by saying, I can only imagine how disappointed you are that youre not here physically sitting beside your loved ones, said Col. Michael Newsom, who oversees basic training as commander of the 737th Training Group.

But one thing that I do know is that you are very proud of each and every one of them because today we get to graduate 854 lethal, ready airmen, he added. So despite the situation, I want you to know our Air Force family is sitting right here beside them  as family.

If there had been no threat of coronavirus, the ceremony would have been held on the parade field, as it has for decades, the airmen making a triumphant pass in front of the reviewing stand led by their military training instructors. But the Air Force this week told families and friends of the recruits to stay away, and then canceled the parade and moved it into the reception center.

The ceremony caps 8 weeks of basic training.

Under normal circumstances, the new graduates would be free to leave the base for an afternoon and evening with their families. They often show up on the River Walk in their blue suits, holding hands with girlfriends and boyfriends in Alamo Plaza, and dining in restaurants around town.

This weekend, theyll be stuck on base until some board buses or planes Saturday and head to their technical training schools. A few wont travel at all. Baxter, a combat control candidate, and Talalaj, who will enter the Tactical Air Control Party training pipeline, will stay at Lackland.

So, too, will Airman Tabea Atakisief as she trains as a medical material specialist on JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, but Airman Nicole Panozzo will move on to Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Miss., as she goes into personnel.

Im pretty disappointed just because we cant graduate the same way the other airmen have, but  this is historical, Panozzo, 19, of Phoenix Ariz, said.

It is definitely a story, said Atakisief, 23, of Berlin, Germany, and a child of a military family. Theyre OK with it because they know its not our fault  its nobodys fault.

The head of the Air Forces training command said he loves to see families and recruits unite for graduation ceremonies but cautioned military preparedness and readiness were crucial  especially in times of crisis.

I can certainly appreciate the disappointment that is felt by our Air Force families in not being able to attend graduation events, Gen. Brad Webb said, and I would ask for everyones understanding as the Air Force, and our nation, work through these difficult next few weeks.

Commanders at the lectern took pains to address those who couldnt be at the ceremony but watched on Facebook. Chief Master Sgt. Learie Gaitan, superintendent of basic military training, told them, I get it. I understand. Thank you for trusting us with your sons and daughters.

Saying it was a great day in our Air Force, its an exciting day in our Air Force and, Ill acknowledge, its also a challenging and a little bit difficult day, Lt. Gen. David D. Thompson noted that airmen would see it as an opportunity. He used the moment, which came after they recited the Airmans Creed, to remind the airmen of their purpose  to defend the nation.



If their booming voices during the ceremony was an indication, the new airmen made the most of the day. Still, one benefit of things working out as they did is the airmen were allowed to use their cell phones soon after returning to their squadrons later in the day. That gave them the chance to call home, text and use FaceTime.

I am sure it will not make up for the fact of not actually being there with their loved ones, but actually having that connection will hopefully lessen the blow, said Newsom, the basic training commander.

Even before Baxter, Talalaj, Atakisief and Panozzo exited basic training, a new group of recruits arriving Wednesday at Lackland experienced Zero Week, a time when they get haircuts, uniforms, shots and a taste of the military discipline to come  often in the form of scowling instructors wearing Smokey Bear hats.

Theres no way to know now if theyll graduate during early May in a low-profile ceremony far from the parade field or if theyll march on a sunny morning that might hint of another hot Texas summer. One top commanders couldnt say what might lie ahead.

For us, at the installation level, its day by day because we are watching whether its increasing. Thats our concern right now is that its getting worse, Brig. Gen. Laura Lenderman, commander of 502nd Air Base Wing, said when asked if the Air Force might resume graduation ceremonies if there are no coronavirus cases here in three or four weeks.

sigc@express-news.net
On any given day last year, an average of about 25,000 European residents, excluding people based in the UK, entered the US. Some were there for work, others commencing long-awaited vacations, or visiting faraway family members.

For the next 30 days or more, the daily number of these US-bound travelers will be much closer to zero, due to wide-ranging travel restrictions imposed as the new coronavirus makes its way across the world.

In a televised address yesterday, US president Donald Trump announced a ban on incoming travel from the 26 European countries in the Schengen area where passports arent required to cross borders: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. With infection rates rising rapidly in the UK, the country may yet find itself added to the list. US citizens in those countries will be permitted to return home.

For the travel industry, the news couldnt be much worse. For the past three weeks, airlines have barely limped along, with share prices plummeting. Norwegian Air today announced it would be laying off 50% of its staff. Airlines most affected are likely to be those running regular transatlantic routes, including the German airline Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, which has its headquarters in the Netherlands. These new restrictions will affect 3,500 flights per week and up to 800,000 passengers, according to aviation analysts at Bernstein.

How much itll all cost is a harder question to answer. Before the travel bans were announced, the International Air Traffic Association predicted annual revenue losses of $113 billion to the sector. These additional restrictions will likely require revisiting these already troubling numbers. The only bright spot, if you can call it that, is a near-guaranteed fall in carbon emissions, with fewer gas-guzzling flights taking to the sky. But given the number of jobs lost in the processand the tragic circumstancesits decidedly cold comfort.

Story continues

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New Delhi, March 13 : Delhi Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai on Friday moved a resolution in the state Assembly against the NPR and NRC and demanded that the Centre instead focus on the Indian economy and coronavirus outbreak.

Rai moved the resolution during a special session of the Assembly called on Friday.

In his resolution, Rai demanded that if the exercise to build a National Population Register (NPR) is to be carried out, it should be in accordance with the 2010 format.

"On the basis of the NPR, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be done. People are scared of this... I request the Centre that at a time when the Indian economy is down and coronavirus is spreading, it should use its resources on these issues. The Centre should roll back the NRC and the NPR. Even if they wish to go forward, the NPR should be done as per the 2010 format," Rai said as he tabeled the resolution.

If NPR has to be implemented, must ensure that all new entries in the NPR are withdrawn, Rai said.

"The NPR updation should be stalled in Delhi. And if the Centre insists, the process should be carried out in accordance with the 2010 format," Rai said.

Later, the House took up the resolution for discussion, during which AAP MLA Atishi said: "The Census Act doesn't define the NPR, but the Citizenship Act does. The only purpose of the NPR is to convert it into NRC. Through the NPR, the central government is trying to make a back-door entry to the NRC. We oppose the NPR." The resolution is most likely to be passed by the House as the AAP enjoys a brute majority with 62 in the 70-member Assembly.

The AAP has verbally clarified several times that it is against the NRC, saying the country's attention should be on the economy and employment. The party had been saying that the poor do not have enough documents for the NRC.
S ara Bareilles and Gavin Creel are to leave Waitress a week earlier than planned, citing concerns over international travel restrictions.

The duo are currently starring in the West End production of the musical, for which Bareilles wrote the lyrics and music.

In a statement posted on the official Waitress Twitter account, Bareilles and Creel confirmed they would make their final appearance at the Adelphi theatre on Saturday March 14  cutting short their planned stay by a week.

In response to the outbreak of COVID-19, the US has suspended flights arriving from all European countries, apart from the UK and Ireland.

However, Bareilles and Creel  who are both American  said they would make their way back to the States before any further measures are implemented.

It was an agonising choice as we have so loved our time here at the Adelphi diner, the statement continued. The warmth and generosity of the West End audiences has been unparalleled.

It was a gift to get the opportunity to tell this story again alongside this masterful cast, crew and band. We will miss you all dearly.

Bareilles was making her West End debut in this run of performances, playing the lead role of Jenna. Creel was acting as the characters love interest, Dr Jim Pomatter.
The music is by Alan Menken, who shares Oscars for best original song with Howard Ashman for Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid and the title song from Beauty and the Beast, Tim Rice for A Whole New World from Aladdin, and Stephen Schwartz for Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas.
Queen Elizabeth II meets President of Malta George Vella and his wife Miriam Vella during an audience at Buckingham Palace, London. (Press Association)

The Queen has ditched her gloves again, the day after wearing them for investitures at Buckingham Palace.

While giving out awards at the palace on Tuesday afternoon, the Queen was seen in long white gloves, despite it being a fiddly process to attach the medal to clothing.

But as she received the president of Malta and his wife on Wednesday, she was gloveless, shaking bare hands with the couple.

It came amid growing fears of the spread of coronavirus.

The Palace did not confirm whether the Queen wore gloves earlier in the week because of the virus, but she has not worn gloves at investitures for some time.

A royal source said she would be following government advice.

Queen Elizabeth II did not wear gloves for her audiences on Wednesday. (Press Association)

Read more: Coronavirus: Queen wears long gloves while handing out honours to members of the public

In her one-to-one audiences on Wednesday, the Queen, dressed in a vibrant red dress, met President of Malta George Vella in the Palaces 1844 room.

She also held an audience with Cuban Ambassador Barbara Montalvo Alvarez.

The monarch shook hands with her guests, who were also without gloves.

Government advice is that people wash their hands regularly and for 20 seconds, with soap and water and use hand sanitiser.

The Royal Family posted a video on social media of the Queen meeting Vella, who tells her he always dreamt about meeting her, and at last it has happened.

The Queen replies: Oh thats very nice isnt it.

 The President of Malta, George Vella and Mrs. Vella meet The Queen at Buckingham Palace.



 Her Majesty last visited Malta in 2015 to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. pic.twitter.com/M3LcZoZHw2  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) March 4, 2020

Queen Elizabeth II wears gloves as she awards the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) to Miss Anne Craig. (Press Association)

Read more: World Health Organisation issues warning over new coronavirus scam

The Queen and Philip have a special relationship with Malta as they lived there in the early years of their marriage, because the death of the Queens father.

Story continues

Audiences with the Queen last about 15 to 20 minutes and the conversations take place in private.

She holds several throughout her working week and are usually for members of the diplomatic community, though this sometimes extends to political, religious or military leaders.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will continue to shake hands with people despite the outbreak of coronavirus.

Prime ministers usually have an audience with the Queen each Wednesday, where they typically shake the monarchs hand.

See latest coronavirus news and updates.
Update 3:41p.m.: President Trump formally declared a national emergency Friday afternoon to address the burgeoning coronavirus pandemic.

President Trump plans to declare a national emergency due to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, according to multiple reports.

Trump will also invoke the Stafford Act to direct federal aid to areas affected by the outbreak, Fox News and the New York Times confirmed. The legislation gives the Federal Emergency Management Agency authority to coordinate the governments disaster relief.

Trump will also address the nation from the Oval Office at 3 p.m. on Friday. During a Tuesday address, Trump announced a travel ban on foreign nationals coming from Europes Schengen zone (excepting immediate family members of U.S. citizens), and attempted to reassure viewers that the economic whiplash from the outbreak did not constitute a financial crisis.

This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome as a nation and as a world, Trump said. We are all in this together. We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship and unify together as one nation and one family.

However, the president and federal agencies have struggled to coordinate a response to the outbreak, drawing bipartisan backlash from lawmakers. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in particular, has come under fire for a shortage of coronavirus diagnostic tests.

The system is not really geared to what we need right now. . . . That is a failing. Lets admit it, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the House on Thursday. The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it a were not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But were not.

More from National Review
The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) has warned the public about the hacking threat to medical devices.

Devices running on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol are vulnerable to hacking according to the HPRA.
Two more persons were arrested on Friday for their alleged involvement in last month's communal violence in northeast Delhi in which over 50 people were killed, police said.

The accused have been identified as Tanvir and Gulfam, they said.

On Thursday, two members of the Popular Front of India -- Parvez and Iliyas -- were arrested for allegedly being involved in the riots.

They were arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Officials begin aerial Sargassum monitoring for Riviera Maya

Riviera Maya, Q.R.  Sea monitoring for the potential arrival of sargassum has begun for Riviera Maya. The Secretary of the Navy has begun aerial monitoring to verify conditions of the coast of Quintana Roo for the possible arrival of sargassum.

A team specialist, oceanographer and crew member Alejandro Bravo Quezada, said they have made the first flyover along the Quintana Roo coast, noting that they were able to see the deterioration in the amount of sargassum compared to previous years.

He says that the air monitoring will be preformed every week during the sargassum season. When the seaweed is seen, navy personnel will head out to the affected area where they will contain the sargassum at sea using specialized containment equipment.

On land, any sargassum that does make it to shore will be collected with shovels and wheelbarrows. Navy personnel will deal with any sargassum that accumulates in the sea barriers laid along the coast.

The navy will work in coordination with the custom built sargassum collection vessels, which are relocated according to need. Helicopter flyovers of the coast will continually be conducted with the objective of monitoring the presence of sargassum in the area of operations. With the aircraft, personnel are able to guide and direct surface units to the areas with the highest incidence of sargassum.

The aircraft departed from the naval base in Chetumal, monitoring the coast from Xcalak to Mahahual, Sian Kaan, Riviera Maya, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Cancun and Isla Blanca.
At least six US states have ordered schools to close in an attempt to curb the spread of the new coronavirus which has infected more than 1,660 people across the country.

Schools in Ohio, Michigan, Oregon, Maryland, Kentucky and New Mexico were told to shut from Monday for at least two weeks, affecting millions of students and likely to cause problems for many low income families who rely on free or subsidized school meals.

"This is a necessary step to protect our kids, our families, and our overall public health," Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement Thursday night announcing the closure of the state's schools until April 6.

"I am working with partners across state government to ensure educators, parents, and students have the support they need during this time, and to ensure our children who rely on school for meals have access to food," she said.

Kentucky governor Andy Beshear recommended schools close for at least two weeks and the state was making arrangements to continue feeding children from low income families.

Nearly 75 percent of the 650,000 children attending public schools in Kentucky are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, according to the state department.

Maryland governor Mike Hogan closed schools for two weeks and banned all gatherings of more than 250 people among a series of measures to tackle the coronavirus.

"This problem continues to evolve and will escalate rapidly and dramatically," Hogan said.

"For Marylanders, the actions I have announced here today will be disruptive to your everyday lives. They may seem extreme, and they may sound frightening. But they could be the difference in saving lives and keeping people safe."



In Oregon, governor Kate Brown said they had tried to keep schools open but "it has now become impossible to functionally operate schools due to workforce issues and student absences." Schools there will close until the end of March.

New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said schools in her state would also shut for three weeks.

"This is a proactive measure to limit the potential community spread of COVID-19," said New Mexico secretary Ryan Stewart.

"We have seen other states take this measure after they have experienced community spread of this virus. New Mexico is going to be proactive and do everything we can to prevent the potential spread of the virus."



Ohio Governor Mike DeWine ordered schools to close for three weeks but said they should find alternative ways to provide classes. Ohio has also banned gatherings of more than 100 people.

"We want to thank educators and administrators for the extraordinary efforts they will take to continue offering services during this time of national crisis," DeWine said.

Washington state, which has recorded 31 of the 40 coronavirus deaths in the US, according to Johns Hopkins University, has also closed all schools in three counties in the Seattle area through April 24.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 11:22:27|Editor: huaxia

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SHANGHAI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai reported two new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Thursday, with one imported from the United States and one from Italy, local health authority said Friday.

One who works in the United States flied to Shanghai from New York via Hong Kong on Tuesday and had been since under observation at home. The person of Guangdong origin was sent to hospital on Thursday after showing symptoms, according to the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

The other one who works in Italy and is of Zhejiang origin arrived at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport via Moscow on Wednesday. The person was sent directly to medical observation after showing symptoms at the airport.

As of Thursday, Shanghai had reported a total of 346 confirmed cases. Of all, 145 once lived or travelled to Hubei Province, the epicenter of the epidemic. It also reported eight imported cases, with four from Iran, three from Italy and one from the United States.
By Marja Novak

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Slovenia's parliament confirmed late on Friday the 16-member cabinet of the centre-right Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who has pledged to do everything to slow the spread of the coronavirus epidemic in the country.

The cabinet was confirmed by 52 votes to 31, parliamentary speaker Igor Zorcic said.

Slovenia has reported 141 confirmed coronavirus cases, up from 96 on Thursday, and has closed all schools and introduced health checks at its border with Italy.

"We are fighting against time ... and we need to win this battle. ... The change in our living habits in the coming days and weeks is necessary in this case," Jansa told parliament on Friday, before the vote.

Jansa was confirmed by parliament earlier this month and will replace the outgoing centre-left Prime Minister Marjan Sarec, who resigned in January saying he did not have sufficient support in parliament to pass important legislation.

Jansa, 61, is the leader of the largest parliamentary party, the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), and pledges to cut red tape and build more fences on the border with Croatia to reduce the inflow of illegal migrants.

He led the Slovenian government from 2004 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2013, and is close to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The four parties of his government coalition together hold 48 out of 90 seats in parliament. One of the main tasks of the government will be to hold the rotating presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2021. The next parliamentary election is due in mid-2022.

(Reporting By Marja Novak; Editing by Alex Richardson)
ROME, March 12 (Reuters) - Italian Transport Minister Paola De Micheli demanded that Austria lift "unjustified" border controls by Thursday evening after spot health checks on truck drivers at the Brenner pass caused huge tailbacks at the frontier.

The comments came after Vienna ordered the checks on its border with Italy last week over the coronavirus outbreak.

"We expect Austria to return the situation to normal by tonight, as the measures taken are totally unjustified," De Micheli said in a statement.

The minister said she had also written to European Commissioner asking it to intervene.

(Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri; editing by James Mackenzie )
Kartik Aaryan has a massive female fan following and he often has a lot of fun banter with them online and offline. Recently, he decided to respond to a fan who commented on her photo. What happened thereafter was hilarious.

Twitter

It all started after Kartik Aaryan posted a picture of himself with a caption that had a Breaking Bad reference. "Jesse, you asked me if I was in the meth business, or the money business Neither. Im in the empire business," he wrote in the caption.



Responding to this, a female fan wrote in the comment section, "Bhai me tere ko ek lakh dungi reply Dede yr bhen ko".

Kartik indeed took notice of it. "Ye lo reply, kaha hain (money bag emoji)?," he quipped in response to that.

His reply triggered a sea of fans who offered him money. Some ever suggested that he can be a millionaire by simply responding to the fans.



"Reply me lll give you chocolate," wrote another fan.



"@kartikaaryan bhai ye 25 din me paise double karane Bali ladki nikli," commented another one.



Twitter

Some even dissed the actor asking for money and said that he should have instead asked for love.



"@memer_._queen abeeee auratttt... Bhai bolke kon maangta h yar reply kya miss krdia yr tune.. paise deke hi mangna tha kch to thoda pyar maang leti".



After Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal alongside Sara Ali Khan, which garnered mixed response, Kartik Aaryan will next feature in Bhool Bbhulaiyya 2. The movie is helmed by Anees Bazmee.
In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday chaired a meeting to review the situation.

Several officials, including the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Principal Secretary (Health Department), attended the meeting.

The World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and expressed deep concern both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India has risen to 75. The country has also reported its first coronavirus death in Karnataka, the health ministry had stated earlier.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
If you went ahead with your travel plans anyway, imagine your surprise and confusion when you find everyone suddenly in full-on prepper mode in the country you are visiting.

The coronavirus outbreak had been widespread in China and many other countries, with a rising number of fatalities recorded as of now.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises household members to be well-prepared for the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak in their community. Public health officials may instruct community actions plotted to help keep people healthy, reduce exposures to the novel coronavirus, and slow the spread of the disease.

The simple answer to what preparedness looks like in practice is to "Do not panic - but do prepare." Rebecca Katz, director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University, recommends not only contingency planning, but also preparedness planning for your family. To ensure self-sufficiency at home for weeks, we compiled a list for you:

Make it a consideration to stock up on enough non-perishable food to last about two weeks. Make sure that they are shelf-stable and require no refrigeration.

This has been repeated over and over again: wash your hands. Wet your hands with clean running water and then lather them with soap. Don't forget the backs of your hands, between your fingers or under your nails.

Also Read: WHO Declares Global Coronavirus Pandemic: Epidemic vs. Pandemic, What's the Difference?

With the prevalence of the pandemic, self-isolation or quarantine is one of the key strategies in "flattening the curve" of diagnosed cases. These 14-day isolation periods involve people staying within their homes and not having physical contact with those outside.

Being the most at risk of becoming seriously ill, elderly people with underlying health conditions should stock up on food and prepare to isolate themselves at home. This tip is from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the recommendations aimed at the most vulnerable populations and originates partly from a new study of 70,000 Chinese patients with the novel coronavirus.

Stay away from malls and other crowded places. You should refrain from checking books out of the public library because such volumes have been passed through so many other hands.

If your employer does not offer to work at home, remind them of the threat or send them the guidance plan for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The coronavirus can be problematic and you might be feeling uncertain or fearful about what is to come. Those feelings can feel even more heightened, according to Laura Hawryluck, a critical care physician and associate professor at the University of Toronto. "We don't realize just how social beings we are until that contact is reduced or diminished because we can't leave our homes."

Social distancing is keeping at least 2 meters (3 steps) from other people in your home, particularly older people or those with long-term health conditions.

Ask the people in your life and delivery services to deliver necessities like food shopping and medicines.

Related Article: Tom Hanks, Wife Rita Wilson Share How It Feels to Have Coronavirus After Testing Positive

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
[March 13, 2020] RoofClaim.com to Donate $25,000 to Meals on Wheels America

On March 13th, 2020, RoofClaim.com, a technology-focused roofing service company dedicated to connecting homeowners with qualified roofing professionals, announced the company will be donating $25,000 to Meals on Wheels America. This decision comes on the heels of the NCAA suspending the March Madness Tournament, which forced the company to cancel its annual bracket contest. The 2020 contest would have marked the 3rd annual competition where employees of Jasper INC, RoofClaim.coms parent company were able to submit their bracket picks for a chance at the grand prize. In years past the grand prizes were each $10,000. RoofClaim.com CEO, Brain Wedding decided to up the stakes this year and increase the grand prize to $25,000. With no games to be played, RoofClaim.com was left with a decision to enact another contest or use those funds to help those that may be affected by COVID-19. RoofClaim.com is proud to be able to make this donation. Meals on Wheels provides the ability for those qualified to stay in doors and not have to arrange transportation to obtain food. The ompany understands the older population will be more vulnerable and is hopeful this donation will allow the organization to reach more citizens.



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. About Meals on Wheels America: Meals on Wheels America is the leadership organization supporting the more than 5,000 community-based programs across the country that are dedicated to addressing senior isolation and hunger. This network serves virtually every community in America and, along with more than two million staff and volunteers, delivers the nutritious meals, friendly visits and safety checks that enable America's seniors to live nourished lives with independence and dignity. By providing funding, leadership, education, research and advocacy support, Meals on Wheels America empowers its local member programs to strengthen their communities, one senior at a time.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005326/en/

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Amid the growing coronavirus scare, a video of Prince Charles greeting people with an Indian-style namaste has gone viral on social media, leaving netizens impressed.

In the video, Prince Charles, 71, could be seen greeting people with a namaste at the yearly Princes Trust Awards which was held on Wednesday at the London Palladium. Parveen Kaswan, an Indian Forest Service (IFC) officer, shared the video on his Twitter handle with the caption: Namaste... See we Indians told to do this to world many many years ago. Now just a class on how to do namaste properly.

In the shared video, Prince Charles could be seen getting out of his vehicle and extending his hand to greet one of the guests before he quickly changes his gesture to a namaste upon realising the precautionary measure in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Namaste  



See we Indians told to do this to world many many years ago. Now just a class on how to do namaste properly. #CoronaVirus pic.twitter.com/P1bToirPin  Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) March 12, 2020

As the post went viral, social media went abuzz with reactions.

A user wrote, Now our millennials will accept it because the whites are doing it. But had any Indian done on social gathering before COVID-19, he would have been ridiculed by the same lot. Another wrote, Slowly but surely our way of greeting is picking up worldwide. After Yoga... Namaste would be the biggest export... Now experts will dive in and create various flavours of authentic Namaskar to suit their international clients, read one post. Another user remarked, In my opinion, this form of greeting makes more sense.
Ann Curry can always be counted on to bring reason and thoughtfulness to any dialogue or discussion.

With the coronavirus (COVID-19) occupying every possible level of thought on social media, television, and print, the 63-year-old has been taking the opportunity to bring solid information and reassurance to her followers.

Ann Curry | Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival

The journalist, after hearing of the positive diagnosis of Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, offered her two cents on how this changed the coronavirus situation.

Tom Hanks shocking news

Hanks made the startling announcement this week, shortly after U.S. president Donald Trumps address from the Oval Office to the nation on the coronavirus outbreak, that both he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had been diagnosed with the illness.

The Cast Away stars willingness to let the world know of his situation touched millions. Many fans were emotional to learn that this actor, who so many revere, trust, and love, had been sickened.

Hello, folks, he wrote on his Instagram and Twitter accounts, @ritawilson and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive.

His reassuring message made fans feel better about the overall situation and hopeful that any diagnosed in the future would fare as well as he and his wife seemed to be.

Well, now. What to do next? The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no? Well keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves! Hanx!

Currys tweet about Hanks

Curry tweeted the perfect response to Hanks news shortly after his post, saying Ok, now we all have someone we love diagnosed with #coronavirus. Send Tom Hanks and his wife Rita some love.

Ok, now we all have someone we love diagnosed with #coronavirus.



Send Tom Hanks and his wife Rita some love: https://t.co/Cdf2bIRNel  Ann Curry (@AnnCurry) March 12, 2020

The former Today anchor expressed what so many were feeling. That, up until that point, if they didnt know someone who had been affected by the novel coronavirus, the diagnosis of the well-known actor and his wife hit home. Hanks divulgence made the world realize it could happen to anyone.

Other celebrities reactions to Hanks news

Many other celebrities reacted to Hanks revelation. Angie Harmon, responded to his tweet, saying Noooo!! Get better soon & safe travels home.

Tweeting her best wishes, Ellen DeGeneres said, Wishing you both a speedy recovery, and sending lots of love.

Woody,

I should have made you two wear my space suits! You and Rita rest and get well! pic.twitter.com/5mZUsh60SN  Tim Allen (@ofctimallen) March 12, 2020

Julia Louis-Dreyfus tweet was Love and get well soon and come home soon to you.

Hanks Toy Story co-star, Tim Allen, most humorously, responded, Woody, I should have made you two wear my space suits! You and Rita rest and get well!

Read more: The 1 Piece of Advice Former Today Co-Host Ann Curry Turned Down And What She Had To Say About Recent Matt Lauer Allegations
New research from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Dental Medicine gives a satellite-level view of how biofilms grow and expand on a surface

Microbiologists have long adopted the language of human settlement to describe how bacteria live and grow: They "invade" and "colonize." Relations dwelling in close proximity are "colonies."

By pairing super-resolution imaging technology with a computational algorithm, a new study in Nature Communications confirms that this metaphor is more apt than scientists may have realized. The findings show that, as individual bacteria multiply and grow into a dense and sticky biofilm, such as the community that forms dental plaque, their growth patterns and dynamics mirror those seen in the growth of cities.

"We take this 'satellite-level' view, following hundreds of bacteria distributed on a surface from their initial colonization to biofilm formation," says Hyun (Michel) Koo, a professor in Penn's School of Dental Medicine and senior author on the work. "And what we see is that, remarkably, the spatial and structural features of their growth are analogous to what we see in urbanization."

This new perspective on how biofilms grow could help inform efforts to either promote the growth of beneficial microbes or break up and kill undesirable biofilms with therapeutics.

The idea for the research emerged from conversations among Koo; Geelsu Hwang, a Penn Dental Medicine assistant professor who applies engineering to problems of oral health; and Amauri Paula, a physicist who worked as a visiting professor with Koo's lab.

"Usually when people study biofilms, they analyze a single cell in a narrow field of view as it multiplies, becomes a cluster, and starts to build up," says Koo. "But we wondered if we followed multiple individual cells simultaneously whether we could identify some patterns at large length-scales."

Hwang developed powerful time-lapse imaging tools, employing confocal laser scanning microscopy capable of analyzing surface topography and tracking bacteria populating a surface down to the individual cell in three dimensions over time. Meanwhile, Paula worked to build an algorithm that could analyze the behavior of this growth over time.

For their study, they used the microbe Streptococcus mutans, an oral pathogen responsible for causing cavities when it forms a the biofilm known more commonly as dental plaque and releases acids that decay tooth enamel.

They distributed the bacteria on a tooth enamel-like material and followed hundreds of individual microbes during several hours as they divided and grew.

Overall, the growth patterns were reminiscent of the formation of urban areas, the team found. Some individual "settlers" grew, expanding into small bacteria "villages." Then, as the boundaries of the villages grew and, in some cases met, they joined to form larger villages and eventually "cities." Some of these cities then merged to form larger "megacities."

Surprising the researchers, their results showed that only a subset of the bacteria grew. "We thought that the majority of the individual bacteria would end up growing," says Koo. "But the actual number was less than 40%, with the rest either dying off or being engulfed by the growth of other microcolonies."

They also didn't expect a lack of inhibition when this engulfment took place. They thought that, as different microcolonies met, they might compete with one another, causing the two edges to perhaps repel.

"Instead they merge and begin to grow as a single unit," says Koo.

On both the individual bacteria and biofilm-wide scale, the researchers confirmed that the gluelike secretion known as extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) enabled bacteria to pack together closely and firmly in the biofilm. When they introduced an enzyme that digested EPS, the communities dissolved and returned to a collection of individual bacteria.

"Without EPS, they lose the ability to densely pack and form these 'cities,'" says Koo.

Finally, the researchers experimented to see how the addition of a microbial "friend" or "foe" would influence the original bacteria's growth. The "foe" was Streptococcus oralis, a bacteria that can inhibit the growth of S. mutans. This addition dramatically impaired the ability of S. mutans to form larger "cities," like disruptive neighbors that can affect the collective growth of the community.

The "friend"--the fungus Candida albicans, which Koo and others have found to interact with S. mutans in biofilms and to contribute to tooth decay--did not affect the biofilm's growth rate but did help bridge adjacent microcolonies, enabling the development of larger "cities."

Koo cautions about taking the urbanization metaphor of biofilm growth too far but underscores the useful lessons that can result from studying the system holistically and by looking at the events under both "close-up" and "bird's eye" views.

"It's a useful analogy, but it should be taken with a grain of salt," Koo says. "We're not saying these bacteria are anthropomorphic. But taking this perspective of biofilm growth gives us a multiscale, multidimensional picture of how they grow that we've not seen before."

###

Hyun (Michel) Koo is a professor in the Department of Orthodontics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

Geelsu Hwang is an assistant professor in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

Amauri J. Paula is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics at the Universidade Federal do Ceara in Brazil. He was a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

The study was supported in part by the National Institutes for Dental and Craniofacial Research (grants DE027970 and DE025220), a Brazilian CAPES scholarship grant to Paula (Grant 88881.119452/2016-01), and Brazilian agencies CNPq and FUNCAP (grants PRONEX PR2-0101-00006.01.00/15 and PRONEM PNE-0112-000480100/16).
As I wrote in a previous column, it seems inevitable that a coronavirus case will be confirmed in Northwest Indiana before this crisis subsides in our country. We are nowhere near the peak of COVID-19, and no one yet knows how much of our nation will be affected by it. Im not being alarmist, only realistic.
Ex-president of Bank of Moscow gets 14 years in absentia for $200 mln embezzlement

 Bank Of Moscow press service

14:34 13/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 13 (RAPSI)  Moscows Meshchansky District Court on Friday sentenced ex-president of the Bank of Moscow Andrey Borodin to 14 years in prison in absentia for embezzling over 14.5 billion rubles (about $200 million at the current exchange rate), the courts spokesperson Yulia Kotomina told RAPSI.

The court also ordered Borodin to be fined 2.5 million rubles (about $35,000).

His former first deputy Dmitry Akulinin was sentenced to 12 years in jail and a 2-million-ruble fine (about $30,000) in absentia.

The defendants are on the international wanted list. However, the UK earlier refused to extradite them to Russia.

Investigators believe that Borodin along with his accomplices embezzled over 14.5 billion rubles from the Bank of Moscow between 2008 and 2011 by granting knowingly unrecoverable loans and making loss forex trading transactions through companies controlled by them.

Borodin, whose Bank of Moscow functioned as the capital's chief investment vehicle under its then-mayor Yury Luzhkov, fled to the UK in 2011. In November 2011, the Russian Interpol bureau put Borodin and Akulinin on the international wanted list. In March 2013, Borodin was granted political asylum in the UK.

In 2016, Moscows Meshchansky District Court sentenced former top managers of the bank Konstantin Salnikov and Alla Averina to 4.5 and 4 years in prison respectively for embezzling over 1 billion rubles (about $15.6 mln) from the bank. Later, the Moscow City Court reduced prison term for Salnikov to 4 years.
Economic ministers from member states of ASEAN discussed orientations to speed up the conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), at a meeting in Vietnams central Da Nang city on March 11.

At the meeting

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, who chaired the event, said the 10 member countries are striving to sign the deal at the end of 2020.

Currently, among the stakeholders, only India has yet to reach an agreement on opening its market for partner countries, he said.

ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi called on ASEAN economic officials to double efforts to boost the signing of the agreement.

At the ASEAN Summit in 2019, the countries leaders set a goal of signing the RCEP in 2020, he said, adding that he hoped after this meeting, the involved parties could finalise all necessary documents in May and ink the deal at the end of the year.

Launched in November 2012, the RCEP consists of 10 ASEAN member countries Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and six ASEAN partners  China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand.

Once signed, the deal will create the largest free trade area in the world with about 3.5 billion people and making up 30 percent of the global GDP./.VNA
W hat is more obscene: being accused of sexually assaulting more than 80 women or being sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault? The gall of Harvey Weinsteins defence lawyer to call his sentence handed out this week obscene is flabbergasting even by her standards. I know its her job to stick up for him but that word lingered uncomfortably.

While Weinsteins conviction is a huge relief, it must also serve as a reminder of how much more there is to do, not least to tackle the bullying that flies under the radar, the comments and aggressive shouting, which arent actually illegal, but can still destroy lives.

The actress Kate Beckinsale summed this up in an Instagram post about her experience with the movie mogul yesterday. She wrote about the 2001 premiere of Serendipity, which now will be remembered less as a harmlessly saccharine rom-com and more for another example of the insidious coercion that so many get away with. The film came out weeks after 9/11 and so the cast refused to go to the premiere as it felt tone deaf and insincere but Weinstein insisted.

Afterwards, he summoned Beckinsale and her daughter to his house for a playdate with his children and he screamed at the actress, telling her she ruined his premiere by wearing a white suit rather than a tight dress. Its my premiere and if I want pussy on the red carpet thats what I get  not you looking like a f***ing lesbian. While vile, these comments arent illegal so she felt powerless to act.

Its only recently that she felt she could talk about this. Still, Beckinsale was criticised for speaking up  shes rich and famous, who cares if she was once shouted at? And wasnt she trading on her body anyway? I do not recommend reading the comments underneath her story unless you fancy having a rage blackout. Instead of rushing to criticise Beckinsale or calling the sentence given to the man who abused so many obscene or trial by MeToo, we must listen to those who are brave enough to come forward. Imagine the opposite, if Weinstein hadnt been convicted and we ignored all these stories.

Kate Beckinsale (Getty Images ) / Getty Images

Brilliant new film Promising Young Woman is a study in how much this matters. Cassandra Thomas (Carey Mulligan) is destroyed by what happens when a vulnerable woman is dismissed as hysterical because when men behave badly its just a big boyish joke.

When I waitressed as a teenager my boss told me to have smooth, bare legs and be friendly  code for flirt

This extends beyond than the film industry. When I was a teenager I waitressed for a catering company that routinely told me how to dress and to be friendly with the older male clients  code for flirt. On one occasion when we had to wear skirts with no tights a girl was sent home for having hairy legs. She would not be paid because she had broken her side of the arrangement, they said. The (female) manager didnt see anything wrong  she had stipulated that legs must be smooth when she had emailed us about the job. It sounds trivial but these incidents contribute to a culture where people get away with atrocious behaviour. As Beckinsale points out, covert abuse within relationships didnt used to be illegal. At the moment people are listening and trying to change the world so lets speak up.

WFH doesnt mean slacking. Ask Isaac

Its all very well saying everyone should work from home to avoid spreading coronavirus, but so far it just seems to be driving everyone into cafes. Furious freelancers report their usual spots are taken as offices close  they resent these amateurs hogging the plug sockets. Sorry, freelancers but Im one of those invaders.

After two hours doing self-isolated work in my cramped and draughty flat I decided setting up my workstation elsewhere was preferable to staying put in pyjamas, mindlessly spooning peanut butter that was supposed to have been saved for emergency rations into my mouth, and generally going a bit feral, laughing to myself about things like hamsterkauf, the German word for panic-buying. On the plus side, at least certain people are finally realising that WFH doesnt mean slacking.

A friend has endured years of her boss calling her part time because she works from home on Wednesdays to look after her son. Now hes extolling the benefits of flexi-working. Shes taking it with a patient smile and hoping his new attitude lasts.

After all, Isaac Newton developed the theory of gravity while working from home when Cambridge University closed due to bubonic plague. No pressure then.

Secret superspreader
Bernie Sanderss message has resonated among young people, particularly younger Latinx voters. In California, where they make up about a third of the constituency, Latinx voters under 30 overwhelmingly supported Mr. Sanders. That electorate helped his campaign carry enough delegates in California and Texas to keep the nomination contest within 100 delegates after the Super Tuesday contests. Though he didnt win Michigan, they also backed him there. So why are young Latinx voters rallying behind Mr. Sanders?

The answer is not very complicated: His campaign organized and prioritized outreach to Latinx communities.

In the past, the Democratic Party believed immigration to be the central issue that mobilized Latinx voters. And yet, a poll conducted in March by Univision and the Latino Community Foundation found that like most Americans, Latinx voters in California considered health care and the economy to be top policy issues. While Mr. Sanders has a comprehensive and progressive immigration plan, he has not made it the focal point of his campaign. Instead he has centered his debates and messaging on issues like health care, the economy and jobs.

Opinion Debate Will the Democrats face a midterm wipeout? Mark Penn and Andrew Stein write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond.

write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond. Matthew Continetti writes that time and again, the biggest obstacle to a red wave hasnt been the Democratic Party. Its been the Republican Party.

writes that time and again, the biggest obstacle to a red wave hasnt been the Democratic Party. Its been the Republican Party. Ezra Klein speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging.

speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging. Michelle Cottle examines two primary contests that will shake the parties well beyond the states in play.

Campaigns that have historically tried to target Latinx voters have usually relied on Spanish-language media, including some comically translated campaign websites. But audiences are usually older and nonvoters. The Latinx population in the United States is characterized by its youth  30 years old on average. The Sanders campaign has figured out that to mobilize a mass of Latinx voters, they needed to target the youth. Older Latinx voters may come along anyway after their children persuade them  there is empirical research that Latinx youth often serve as news interpreters and information brokers for their parents.






Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said Thursday that an employee has tested positive for COVID-19 at its Kokomo, Indiana, transmission plant, but the location will remain open.

The Italian-American automaker said the company placed the employee and his immediate co-workers and others he may have come into direct contact with in home quarantine. The automaker said it is deploying additional sanitization measures across the entire facility, re-timing break times to avoid crowding and deploying social spacing.

Fiat Chrysler is canceling all in-person meetings unless business critical and conducted meetings through video conferencing technologies. Automakers also have canceled non-essential travel.

Ford, meanwhile, said its plants in North America remain unaffected. General Motors spokesman Jim Cain said the Detroit automaker has not had any cases of the coronavirus in its North American plants yet, citing such measures as reduced travel and restricted entry to plants as helping.

How the No. 1 U.S. automaker would respond to a positive test would depend on the situation, he added.

You do plan to operate with a certain amount of absenteeism, but every facility has a different operating plan, he said.

The Fiat side of the FCA operation, meanwhile, is temporarily halting operations at some plants in Italy and will reduce production rates in response to coronavirus in the country, the largest outbreak in Europe, a spokesman for the automaker said on Wednesday.

FCA said in a statement it had stepped up measures across its facilities, including intensive sanitation of all work and rest areas, to support the government's directives to curb the spread of the infectious disease.

"As a result of taking these actions the company will, where necessary, make temporary closures of its plants across Italy," it said.

The spokesman said affected plants were Pomigliano, Melfi, Atessa and Cassino, each of them halted for two or three days between Wednesday and Saturday.

Story continues

FCA said that to allow greater spacing of employees at their workstations, "daily production rates will be lowered to accommodate the adapted manufacturing processes."

However, a source close to the matter said FCA did not expect an impact on overall production rates.

The source added that temporary closures were in no way linked to disruptions of auto parts supplies following anti-virus measures imposed by Rome all over Italy.
As more and more people practice social distancing in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, brides and grooms-to-be are facing the crushing decision of whether or not to cancel or postpone their weddings.

Some have no choice: Because of bans on large gatherings in several states, weddings exceeding the limit have to be bumped.

Meanwhile, other couples fearing for the safety of family and friends are choosing to call their celebrations off  and while that may be the responsible move, it's nonetheless heartbreaking for men and women who'd been eagerly awaiting the occasion.

Here comes the COVID-19: Brides and grooms-to-be are facing the crushing decision of what to do about their weddings in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak (stock image)

So sad: Several people who were due to wed in the next few weeks have already called off their nuptials

In the US, New York, Washington state, Oregon, Ohio, and California have all banned gatherings of large capacities.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has capped public gatherings at 250 people  which would include not just wedding guests but the band and event staff.

Los Angeles events planner Jimmy Koh told the AP that two of his clients have already postponed their weekend weddings until summer and fall.

Meanwhile, he is awaiting a third couple to do the same, because some of their relatives planned to travel from Finland  and now travel has been shut down from Europe.

This doesn't just mean devastation for brides and grooms who'll miss their big days and presumably lose large amounts of money. It also means a hit for a lot of professionals in the wedding industry who will lose income over the coming months.

Heart-breaking: Some are angry, though others are sharing that they're 'absolutely devastated'

'We are not going to ask for a (financial) penalty or anything,' Koh said about the event changes. 'We know the situation. We understand.'

Lea Abergel told Hello! that she and her fiance Ruben Fellous, who live in Israel, were set to wed on March 23  but then Israel closed its borders to people traveling from France, where much of their guests are from.

'We are devastated and heartbroken,' she said. 'I sobbed. That was more than half of our guest list. I had hoped that it would go on as most of my family live in London, but in time things got worse.'

Then Israel implemented a 14-day quarantine for anyone arriving from overseas, and they realized they needed to call of the nuptials.

What's more, she added, 'The venue manager was happy to go ahead with the wedding. Because it was our choice to cancel, they are not willing to pay us back and we have lost 100 per cent of our fees.'

Not coming: Others are sharing stories about guests cancelling en masse

Others are sharing stories of cancelled weddings on social media.

David Zhou, a PhD student in Boston, tweeted: 'Welp its official. All of my wedding plans have been cancelled due to COVID-19.'

'My wedding and honeymoon cruise all got cancelled due to the coronavirus. As a logical person I get why it happened, but as someone who has planned this wedding for almost two years Im absolutely devastated,' wrote Katlyn from Florida.

Guests and family member are chiming in, too.

'My cousin and his Bride to be cancelled their wedding reception just two nights ahead to keep all their guests safe, and thats the most selfless act I have seen through these difficult times,' tweeted one woman.

'Today we cancelled my sons wedding,' wrote a parent from Orlando, Florida. 'Weve been planning for over a year. In 24 hours 40% of our guest list cancelled for next weekend. Coronavirus has left in its wake, one crushed family [sic].'

Anxious: Some brides haven't cancelled yet, but are nervously waiting to see if it will be necessary

Just us two: Others say they'll marry no matter what, even if they're the only people there

While many people are devastated, there are some who are trying to look on the bright side and keep their heads up.

'It sucks, but we're doing the right thing,' a Redditor wrote on Thursday. A wedding has all of our family, relatives, and friends in ONE place  how ironic would it be to put the health of all your favorite people at risk? "I love you so much, that's why I want to endanger you to a global pandemic!"'

'We were getting the sense that our guests were starting to feel more anxious than excited,' she added. 'That's just not the atmosphere of a happy, festive, cheerful wedding.'

'I made the same decision today,' wrote another. 'Once I made it, I felt so much better. The stress around the uncertainty was the worst part for me. I'm obviously devastated and have been crying all day but there are so many more serious and important things to consider in times like these.'

'Just cancelled our march event,' commented a third. 'It was awful and stressful, but I feel relieved not feeling responsible for asking all of our loved ones to make a risky decision.'

'Cancelled my wedding today due to coronavirus,' tweeted Zachary Cohn from Washington state. 'Was going to be March 28th. It just didn't feel responsible to ask so many people to travel and congregate in Seattle.'

Others are still forging ahead, but are saddened that several of their guests are backing out.

One Tennessee woman who's brother is getting married this Saturday, March 14 said that 15 people have already rescinded their RSVPs.

'I own an airBnB. My guests this weekend cancelled their wedding plans due to all their guests not coming due to this pandemic,' wrote another.

However, some couples are digging their heels in, refusing to cancel their weddings  even if it means they're the only ones there.

'No matter what, my wedding is not getting cancelled; Id be happy to elope,' wrote a woman named Dominique.

Angry: One bride ranted to friends and family on Facebook about her upcoming nuptials, saying anyone who missed them would be 'dead' to her

Spreading: There are currently more than 1,800 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US

'I have an anxious wife to be who is worried about the possibility of a cancelled wedding,' Florida resident Daniel Martinez tweeted. 'Doesnt matter if everything goes to hell honey we are getting married on May 16th no matter. I promise you that. All we need is to be together and healthy and maybe one of the pets.'

And then there are the few who are refusing to cancel and taking their fury out on guests who decide not to come.

One bride ranted to friends and family on Facebook about her upcoming nuptials, which are still over a month away.

'I've spent thousands of dollars. I've been working out, budgeting, dodging family politics land mines, chased rsvps, tried my hand and both electrical and wood work, personalized gifts, answered a million emails, aaand drank lots of wine in the bathtub,' she wrote.

'So I feel justified in remind my guests that I don't care. If you miss my wedding because of coronavirus paranoia. You are dead to me.'

It seems her friends didn't react too kindly to the threat, though: One commented that she 'hope[s] he leaves you for a nicer girl in less than a year.'
A frantic search is under way for a two-year-old Kansas girl who disappeared after her father drove them both into a river while fleeing from police.

Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet says the body of the father, identified as 44-year-old Christopher Johnson, was recovered from the Walnut River near Leon Wednesday night, but his daughter has not been found.

Herzet says Johnson drove into the river after Leon officers tried to take the toddler from him because he had been drinking.

Christopher Johnson, 44, is pictured with his baby daughter, Addison, who is now the subject of an intense search in Butler County, Kansas, after her dad's death

Police say Johnson on Wednesday drove his truck into the Walnut River with the two-year-old inside while fleeing police who tried to take her away

Johnson, who had been drinking, drove off a 30-foot embankment and his Chevy pickup landed on its roof in the river, killing him

During a chase that ensued, the truck went off a 30-foot embankment and into the river, landing on its top.

Officers launched a search for Johnson on Wednesday afternoon after his fiancee, the girls mother, called police asking to perform a welfare check because she said her friends had spotted the man buying alcohol at a grocery store with their daughter in tow.

NBC News reported that Johnson had picked up his daughter early from her day care because she was not feeling well.

The child's mother called Johnson, asking him to bring their daughter home. When he refused, telling her, 'We'll be fine,' she called police for help.

At 6.45pm, officers located Johnson's Chevy pickup truck in a field by the river. They saw that his daughter was sitting in his lap and that there was no car seat inside the vehicle.

'When they told him they were going to have to take the child, he started the pickup and drove off,' Herzet told KWCH12.

The man's truck crossed the field, drove off the embankment and splashed down in the water.

It took emergency crews 90 minutes to reach the deceased Johnson, who was found trapped inside the vehicle, with its rear window smashed.

Addison, pictured left with her older half-sister, left, has not been located as of Friday afternoon, but according to Johnson's obituary, she is presumed dead

Johnson's fiancee called him Wednesday afternoon, asking him to bring their child home after he was spotted buying alcohol with Addison

Police believe his baby daughter went out the broken window. She is presumed dead.

It is unknown at this time whether the crash was intentional or accidental. The sheriff said alcohol played a role in the tragic incident.

Officials have not identified the missing child, but Johnson's obituary states that her name was Addison Jo Johnson.

According to the obituary, Johnson was a mechanic and an electrician, and had five children from his first marriage.

'Christopher loved working with his hands and being outdoors. He especially loved hunting and fishing, and passed on that love to his children,' the tribute posted on Warren-McElwain Mortuary's website reads. 'He had a very dry sense of humor, was a hard worker, never gave up and cooked a delicious BBQ feast.'
[March 13, 2020] ComEd Taking Steps to Support Customers

In coordination with work being led by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to protect Illinoisans, ComEd is taking action to help its customers with payment assistance programs and by imposing a moratorium on service disconnections and waiving new late payment charges through at least May 1, as many businesses and institutions are following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by taking temporary measures to shut down or limit operations to control the spread of COVID-19. ComEd is also taking steps to expand awareness of the programs in place to help customers through temporary or extended financial hardship and will be working with customers on a case-by-case basis to establish payment arrangements and identify energy assistance options. "We know this time is difficult for so many of our customers, who may be experiencing health or economic challenges, and we want to be there to help them navigate the support available to them," said ComEd CEO Joe Dominguez. "Through our own programs, as well as those offered by community and government partners, we're committed to working with every customer who contacts us." "As one of the largest nonprofit community action agencies in the country, we see firsthand the impact that the necessary business slowdowns to slow the spread of this virus has on the people we serve," said Harold Rice, president and CEO of the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, Inc. (CEDA). "We appreciate the support and partnership of ComEd in stepping in to help people who may now be facing an even greater hardship." Payment Options Customers who struggle to cover their energy expenses have a growing range of assistance options from ComEd. The company offers financial assistance programs and flexible payment options, all of which can help eligible customers reduce budget strain and avoid disconnection of service. Particularly during this time when some customers are facing unforeseen circumstances, ComEd will work on a case-by-case basis with customers who are struggling to pay their energy bills to help them remain in service. ComEd offers payment options such as budget billing, which averages payment out over a 12-month period to help customers manage their monthly energy bill, and flexible payment arrangements, including individually tailored payment installment plans. Customers who may be experiencing financial hardship should visit ComEd.com/CARE or call 800-334-7661.



Financial Assistance Programs Under the Residential Special Hardship program, customers who face financial hardship such as job loss, illness or military deployment, or senior or disability hardships, may be eligible for grants based on need.

The CHAMP (ComEd Helps Activated/Veteran Military Personnel) program enables activated and deployed members of the U.S. Armed Forces, National Guard and Reserves, and honorably discharged veterans to apply for grants of up to $1,000 once every two years, deferred payment plans, cancellation of late charges and other benefits.

Under the Nonprofit Special Hardship program, nonprofit organizations that struggle to pay their electric bills may be eligible for grants of up to $2,000 once every two years to help them cover their expenses and continue to fulfill their missions and serve the community.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) enables low-income households to apply for assistance paying for winter energy services. Administered by community agencies throughout the areas ComEd serves, LIHEAP is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the state of Illinois. "We make every effort to empower customers who face circumstances that make it hard to cover their energy expenses," added Dominguez. "The last thing we want our customers and communities to worry about in the current situation is whether they will be disconnected. We are coordinating with state, city and county officials and are here for our customers and our nonprofit community partners, and we will consider additional ways to support them as necessary."

ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 100 energy company with approximately 10 million electricity and natural gas customers - the largest number of customers in the U.S. ComEd powers the lives of more than 4 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population. For more information visit ComEd.com and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005536/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Alwar's Juvenile Justice Board on Friday sent two minors to an observation home for three years for their involvement in the PehluKhan lynching case of 2017.

"The board sentenced the minors to three years in juvenile home," Superintendent of Police, Bhiwadi, Amandeep Singh said, adding that the duo was convicted last week.

They were part of the mob that allegedly lynched the 55-year-old dairy farmer.

In August last year, six men accused of lynchingKhan were acquitted by a lower court in Alwar. The state government had filed an appeal against the court order in high court on October.

Khan, his two sons and a few others were transporting cows from Jaipur when they were intercepted and thrashed by cow vigilantes near Alwar's Behror on April 1, 2017.

Pehludied on April 3 in a hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Not for Distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for Release, Publications, Distribution or Dissemination Directly, or Indirectly, in Whole or in Part, in or into the United States.

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / International Montoro Resources Inc. (TSXV:IMT)(Frankfurt:O4T1), (the "Company"). Further to our news releases dated January 9th, February 6th, and February 21, 2020, as a result of difficult market conditions relating to COVID-19, the Company announces that the TSX Venture Exchange has granted the Company a further three week extension to close its previously announced private placement as to a 2nd tranche. Closing is expected to be on or before April 6, 2020. The Company is offering up to 10,000,000 common share units (the "units") at a price of $0.035 per unit to raise gross proceeds of up to $350,000 (the "Private Placement"). Each unit will consist of one (1) common share (the "Common Share") and one warrant the ("Warrant"). Each full Warrant shall entitle the holder to acquire one (1) Common Share at a price of $0.05 for a period of 24 months. The Company closed its 1st tranche as to 5,465,000 units for gross proceeds of $191,275 on February 5, 2020.

The pricing of the Private Placement was made in reliance on the temporary relief measures established by the TSX Venture Exchange Bulletin dated April 7, 2014. The price per Common Share was set at the last trading price on the TSX Venture Exchange before the issuance of the initial press release.

The Company may pay commissions of 8% to eligible parties in connection with this Private Placement, payable either in cash and/or in warrants; in accordance with the policies of the TSX-V.

While the Company intends to spend the net proceeds from the offering as stated in the February 21, 2020 news release, there may be circumstances where, for sound business reasons, funds may be reallocated at the discretion of the Board.

The securities issued under the Private Placement, and the Common Shares that may be issuable on exercise of the Warrants, are subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day from the date of closing. The closing of the 2nd tranche is subject to the prior approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About International Montoro Resources Inc.

Int. Montoro Resources Inc. listed on the TSX Venture Exchange for over 25 years, is a Canadian based emerging resource company. The Company is systematically exploring its extensive property positions in:

Red Lake, Ontario ( Camping Lake - Au prospect)

Elliot Lake, Ontario (Serpent River/Pecors - Ni-Cu-PGE discovery) & (Uranium- REE's)

Quebec (Duhamel - Ni-Cu-Co prospect & Titanium, Vanadium, and Chromium prospect)

Prince George, British Columbia (Wicheeda North - Rare Earth Elements prospect)

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Gary Musil"

Gary Musil,

President/CEO and Director

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information:

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements which reflect the expectations of management. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain expectations, estimates and assumptions which may prove to be incorrect.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: International Montoro Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/580656/Int-Montoro-Resources-Inc-Private-Placement-Closing-Extension
The 2018 Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum was present in a hotel room where one man was treated for a suspected overdose and baggies of suspected crystal meth were found, according to the Miami Herald, which cites a police report.

Gillum, a CNN contributor, was too intoxicated to answer questions, according to the Herald, but was able to leave the South Beach hotel room with no incident. He has not been charged with anything.

In a statement given to the Herald, Gillum said, I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends. While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines. I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement.

Also Read: Watch Andrew Gillum Concede in Florida Governor's Race to Ron DeSantis (Video)

He also thanked emergency responders and said he intends to spend the next few weeks with his family in private.

A representative for CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gillum, a former Tallahassee mayor, conceded the gubernatorial race to Republican Ron DeSantis in 2018. DeSantis caused a stir that August, drawing accusations of using a racist dog whistle during a Fox News interview while talking about voters potentially ellecting Gillum, who would have been the states first black governor.

Also Read: 'Florida Man' Rom-Com Procedural From Nick Stoller Gets Put Pilot Commitment at Fox

Read original story CNN Contributor Andrew Gillum Found in Miami Beach Hotel Room With Bags of Suspected Meth At TheWrap
Residents of Awe community, Nasarawa state where deposed Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido was banished to were treated to a rare view of the former central bank of Nigeria governor as he led their Muslim prayer in company of his long time friend, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai who flew in to check up on him.

Also, reports indicate that he is set to depart the community in company of the Kaduna state governor.

This is believed to be in line with the federal high court, Abuja which ordered his immediate release from custody.

Read Also: Court Orders IG, DSS DG To Release Sanusi

El-Rufai arrived the town to visit the deposed Emir around 12:30noon.
Tourists are seen on the observation deck of Jin Mao Tower in east China's Shanghai, March 12, 2020. Shanghai Tower, China's highest building, reopened its "Top of Shanghai Observatory" tourist attraction starting on Thursday. Two other landmarks also started receiving tourists from Thursday, including the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower and the Shanghai Jinmao Tower. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

SHANGHAI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai Tower, Chinas highest building, will reopen its "Top of Shanghai Observatory" tourist attraction starting on Thursday.

The observatory allows visitors to enjoy a 360-degree birds-eye view of the city's renowned buildings, natural beauties and sky.

Two other landmarks will also start receiving tourists from Thursday, including the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower and the Shanghai Jinmao Tower.

Tourists will be required to pre-book tickets with their identity certification online and arrive at the pre-booked time.

Visitors should wear facial masks, take body temperatures and show a barcode indicating health status before entering the attractions.

Shanghai rolled out a guideline for the municipality's tourist attractions to combat the novel coronavirus epidemic, as businesses gradually resumed since March 7.

Shanghai Disney Resort partially resumed operations on March 9 with a limited number of shopping, dining and recreational experiences available in Disneytown, Wishing Star Park and Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, while Shanghai Disneyland remained temporarily closed.
[March 13, 2020] Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market 2020-2024|High Adoption of AI Chips in Data Centers to Boost Growth | Technavio

Technavio has been monitoring the artificial intelligence (AI) chips market and it is poised to grow by USD 36.6 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of about 39% 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 latest free sample report of 2020-2024 This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005224/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. The high adoption of AI chips in data centers will offer immense growth opportunities. 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. High adoption of AI chips in data centers has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market is segmented as below: Product GPUs

ASICs

CPUs

FPGAs Geographic Segmentation Americas

APAC

EMEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30203 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market 2020-2024: Scope Technavio presents a detiled picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our artificial intelligence (AI) chips market report covers the following areas:



Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market Size

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market Trends

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market Industry Analysis This study identifies convergence of IoT and AI as one of the prime reasons driving the artificial intelligence (AI) chips market growth during the next few years. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the artificial intelligence (AI) chips market, including some of the vendors such as Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Huawei (News - Alert) Technologies, Intel and NVIDIA. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the artificial intelligence (AI) chips 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 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chips Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist artificial intelligence (AI) chips market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the artificial intelligence (AI) chips market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behaviour

The growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) chips market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) chips market vendors PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition

Market sizing 2019

Market size and forecast 2020-2024 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

GPUs - Market size and forecast 2020-2024

ASICs - Market size and forecast 2020-2024

CPUs - Market size and forecast 2020-2024

FPGAs - Market size and forecast 2020-2024

Market opportunity by product PART 08: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 09: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

Americas - Market size and forecast 2020-2024

EMEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2024

APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity PART 10: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 11: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers

Market challenges PART 12: TRENDS Convergence (News - Alert) of AI and IoT

Increasing investments in AI start-ups

Advances in the quantum computing market PART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario PART 14: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Advanced Micro Devices

Alphabet

Huawei Technologies

Intel

NVIDIA (News - Alert) PART 15: APPENDIX Research methodology

List of abbreviations PART 16: 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/20200313005224/en/

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Thoughtful Brits have taken to social media to offer help to vulnerable neighbours during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Offers of help poured in on social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Reddit amid fears for the frail and elderly, who are at greatest risk of serious illness as a result of the virus.

Catherine Mayer, co-founder of the Womens Equality Party, posted on Twitter urging fellow users to volunteer or ask for support by using the hashtag #HowCanIHelp.

All of us rely on others for help & the coming weeks will see carers & support networks impacted by #coronavirus. Use #howcanIhelp to ask or offer practical assistance. Already have offers of shopping/driving in NW, W, C & E London & Hastings. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/YnoHxLPgtv  Catherine Mayer (@catherine_mayer) March 13, 2020

All of us rely on others for help and the coming weeks will see carers and support networks impacted by coronavirus, she said.

Use #HowCanIHelp to ask or offer practical assistance.

With things rapidly changing in the uk and self isolation looking more likely keep an eye on those around you who may be more vulnerable. Elderly neighbours may need help with shopping etc #letslookaftereachother #Covid_19  Rachael Marshall (@RachMarshall28) March 13, 2020

Among those to volunteer their time was Kimberley Scott, 28, who posted an offer on her local areas Facebook page.

She told the PA news agency: I have a disabled vulnerable mum and I thought to myself, what about all the people that dont have family or friends that can go and get their food or medication?

I would hate to think someone is risking their life to nip to the shop or go pick up their tablets and I am sat at home with the time and health to help them.

She explained that she had since seen more offers to help people than people asking for help themselves.

She said: I think if we all work together then our loved ones will be safer and protected.

Support groups have formed on Facebook, with users offering to help vulnerable people access food or run errands.

In one such group, users shared a printable postcard which could be dropped in to neighbours letterboxes, with offers to pick up shopping, post mail or even just join them for a friendly phone call.

The card was created by lecturer and copywriter Becky Wass from Falmouth, who told Cornwall Live: If just one person feels less lonely or isolated when faced with this pandemic, then Ill feel better about it.

Coronavirus is scary.

Lets make kindness go viral.

As well as individuals taking action under their own steam, organisations including Nextdoor UK are encouraging people to look out for those close to them.

The websites advice includes using local online groups and reaching out to vulnerable neighbours.

We are proud to say that we've teamed up with our friends @edencommunities to form a Community Action Response to encourage everyone to look out for those that live in their community in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Check it out:https://t.co/KXQjiWQEDL#CommunityResponse pic.twitter.com/Kef12xIjAU  Nextdoor UK (@Nextdoor_UK) March 12, 2020

Age UK issued guidance on helping the elderly during the coronavirus outbreak, saying: If you know an older person who is concerned about leaving the house because of Covid-19, make sure you stay in touch over the phone, see if they need any help shopping, and encourage them to stay active in the house.
Alden took a 32% stake in Tribune Publishing in November, mostly through buying the shares owned by former Chairman Michael Ferro. Two Alden representatives were added to the newspaper companys board, expanding it to eight members, but Alden was restricted from increasing its stake in the company to more than 33% until June 30.
New Delhi, March 13 : Even as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to people not panic following coronavirus scare, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi on Friday asked its students to leave the hostel rooms till March 31 with the exception of foreign students and PhD scholars.

The rooms have to be vacated by Sunday night.

According to an email sent by IIT-D Assistant Registrar Mukesh Chand on Friday, all students of B.Tech, M.Tech, M.Sc, MBA and other courses are to leave the hostels by midnight on March 15.

The email added that students were allowed to leave their stuff locked in their rooms. "The students are required to lock their rooms properly before leaving the hostel and fill the entry/exit register of the hostel concerned and the mess rebate form," the email said.

"This also applies to students currently living in Nalanda, IP Apartments and off-campus (Katwaria Sarai and Ber Sarai)," the administration added in an email.

Relief was extended to international students and those who were enrolled in PhD programmes, that too, "in case their research is in a crucial stage." Such students are allowed to stay back. But for that, the student would have to get prior permission from their supervisors.

Over 70 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in India.

The coronavirus outbreak was first reported in December last year in Wuhan city of China. The disease has affected more than 100 countries and has been declared a pandemic by World Health Organisation (WHO).

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Clare O' Neil appointed as Discovery in Africa commercial director

Discovery Inc has announced it has appointed Clare O' Neil to the commercial director role for Discovery in Africa to drive commercial growth for the company's TV brands on the continent.



O' Neil has over 30 years of experience within the media and broadcasting industry, having started her career at the Argus Group and went on to hold positions at M-Net, e.TV and SABC. She was also a non-executive director on the SABC board and held the role of chief executive officer at Broadcast Research Council (BRC) from 2015 to 2018.



"I have an unflagging passion and tested dedication to the media and broadcasting industry, and I am extremely excited to embark on this new journey with Discovery." O' Neil commented on her appointment



O'Neil will be based at the company's Johannesburg office, joining insights and marketing services manager, Setshwano Setshogo.
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As the spread of coronavirus takes hold across the United States, many are wondering what actions state governments may be able to take in order to ensure the poor are receiving adequate health coverage during this time.

In the past, presidential administrations from both political parties have loosened rules governing the disbursement of Medicaid funds in order to address events such as these, including after the attacks of September 11, Hurricane Katrina, and the H1N1 flu pandemic.

But per reporting from the Los Angeles Times, it appears the Trump administration isnt ready to make that jump quite yet, for what may be vanity reasons.

not even a global pandemic will stop dead-eyed right-wing extremists from trying to eviscerate the social safety net https://t.co/sVpfKchGFj  b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) March 13, 2020

President Donald Trump could declare a national emergency under the Stafford Act, for instance, which would allow certain Medicaid agencies to give out waivers making it easier for individuals to apply for the government-run health insurance program.

So far, the president has refused to declare an emergency, however, likely because it would contradict his messaging that the virus will go away and that his administration is doing a great job with it.

Sara Rosenbaum, a Medicaid expert at George Washington University, explained to the LA Times how the interference could disrupt people from getting adequate care.

Medicaid could be the nations biggest public health responder, but its such an object of ire in this administration, she said. Their ideology is clouding their response to a crisis.

This is why the stock market completely crashed yesterday. The same idiot who declared an emergency to build a stupid wall in the middle of nowhere as a monument to racism wont declare a Stafford Act emergency to fight the #CoronavirusPandemic https://t.co/Wg7v5XsIsw  Grant Stern (@grantstern) March 13, 2020

Indeed, the situation is more dire, according to health experts, than the president is letting on. Dr. Brian Monahan, Congress on-call doctor, spoke to lawmakers earlier this week during a closed-door meeting, warning them that they should expect some pretty alarming outcomes.

Monahan said that as many as 70 million to 150 million could get infected from COVID-19, Axios reported. Other health experts estimate that between 200,000 to 1.7 million could die as a result.
SPRINGFIELD  The Illinois State Board of Education is strongly encouraging school districts to develop contingency plans to ensure students continue to have some access to educational resources if schools close because of COVID-19.

The office also is working to provide more flexibility for e-learning plans and offering suggestions for home-based educational activities.

In a letter sent to school districts, State School Superintendent Carmen Ayala, We encourage you to consider activities like those you might use over winter or spring break to keep students engaged in curriculum and prevent learning loss.

Among ideas suggested in the message are:

 Send books home with students and/or print out articles, poetry, and writing prompts.

 Assign a long-term research-based project aligned to multiple standards.

 Put together learning packets to review or enhance material already taught.

 Assign simple science projects that could be done at home.

 Review textbooks and print the supplemental lessons that one often does not have time to do in class.

 Use any online resources available to teachers and print assignments to do at home.

 Have students write reflection essays about a movie watched or a book read and scaffold the assignment for different age ranges.

"If your school district is providing grab-and-go meals or meal delivery, make take home packets available at the same location or through the same delivery mechanism," the letter said.

ISBE staff is working to obtain greater flexibility regarding current requirements for e-learning, according to the letter.

These efforts will focus on such things as:

 Removing the limit on the number of e-learning days that may be used during a state disaster proclamation.

 Allowing district superintendents to adopt a plan without board approval.

 Removing the requirement that school boards hold a public hearing on the plan.

On Tuesday, ISBE will offering a webinar for school administrators on how to develop an e-learning plan that can be approved.

Contact Lenore Sobota at (309) 820-3240. Follow her on Twitter: @Pg_Sobota
There are no solid walls and a security guard is required 24/7 to ensure the contents are protected while operating for Design Week.

Created for coffee entrepreneur Joseph Haddat from Code Black, this temporary installation does not have the traditional hallmarks of architecture.

ZWEI (meaning two in German) Interiors Architecture has created a pop-up coffee house Citizen MDW, as part of Melbournes Design Week.

"This one doesnt come with the fixtures and fittings we regularly use, says interior architect Hanna Richardson (who was raised in Germany and hence the name ZWEI), who works closely with co-director architect and interior designer Katherine Kemp.

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The duo floated the idea of creating a cafe/installation to Haddat as part of Design Week, but one that was fully sustainable and could be easily put together and taken apart for the 10 days of the event.

Located at Freshwater Place, Southbank, directly in front of the Bates Smart apartment towers, ZWEIs goal from the outset was to create zero energy emissions.

The scaffolding, for example, was hired for this installation and will be returned after the event.
The Legislature announced more restrictions Thursday in response to the COVID-19 virus spread in Nebraska.

Speaker Jim Scheer said that when senators return from a four-day recess Tuesday, the balcony in the chamber will be closed to visitors. The chamber's roped-off areas on the floor are already closed to visitors.

He and Executive Board Chairman Mike Hilgers also made these changes:

* Notes to senators from lobbyists and visitors will not carry the presumption that senators will go into the lobby to talk to the sender. The notes will be used as a message service, and senators can respond in writing.

* Letters will be sent to school districts to encourage them to postpone school visits to the Capitol until next school year.

* At daily adjournment, it will be left open to reconvene at the "sound of the bell," rather than a specific date and time, allowing for potentially lengthier recesses of the Legislature because of the spread of the virus. Scheer said he expects the Legislature will meet next on Tuesday, but that could change.

"We are in a 60-day session. By law we have to start on a certain date. We do not have to end it by a certain date," Scheer said. "If we have to leave the session, we will finish the session when I determine it is safe to reconvene."

Scheer said the trigger for a decision to recess the Legislature for a significant period of time would be one confirmed case of COVID-19 community spread in Lincoln. He could weigh the question if another community outside of Lincoln had one or more community spread cases.

With community spread, the state is unaware of how or where every infected person in the state contracted COVID-19.

"This is a fluid situation with decisions being made on a day-by-day basis," he said.

The public will be notified on the Legislature's website.

Latest updates on coronavirus

Reach the writer at 402-473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSLegislature
Almost a third of the people who died in car crashes in 2018 were not wearing a seat belt, according to a report.

A freedom of information request by PACTS, a charity that advises Parliament on transport safety, and the insurers Direct Line, revealed the proportion of road crash deaths where victims did not use a seat belt has jumped by a quarter to 31 per cent.

The PACTS report entitled 'Seat Belts: A Time for Action' cited a lack of deterrents, road safety policing funding cuts and a lack of education campaigns surrounding the issue as the cause of the rise in road fatalities.

Cuts to road police funding means the number of fixed penalty notices handed out by police for non-seat belt wearing fell by 70 per cent from 172,000 to 51,500 between 2011 and 2018.

Stock image of a child in a car seat having their seat belt fastened by their parent

Road safety education campaigns such as the 'Clunk Click Every Trip' public information films and road safety policing campaigns were credited with seeing a rise in seat belt use fall in the 1970s.

David Davies, PACTS executive director, said: 'Not wearing a seat belt doesn't cause a crash but it is probably the most important factor in whether you live or die.'

Mr Davies continued: 'The absence of penalty points for not wearing a seat belt is a real omission. It is compounded by cutbacks in roads policing.

'You see that by the dramatic reduction in the number of fixed penalty notices. At the same time there has been a cutback in road safety education.'

PACTS has recommended the Government introduce a three point penalty on offenders' driving licences as a deterrent to breaking the law.

A survey commissioned by Direct Line found that 72 per cent of the British public believe that three or more penalty points should be mandatory for those not wearing a seat belt.

In July 2019, the Department for Transport announced that it was considering introducing penalty points for seat belt non-wearing and start a consultation.

It has yet to put measures forward despite the move being supported by police chiefs.

Seat belt non-wearing results in as many fatalities as drink driving but only results in a fine

Anthony Bangham, National Police Chiefs' Council lead for Roads Policing said: 'Consideration should be given as to whether the penalty for not wearing a seat belt should be brought in line with other fatal road offences such as speeding, drink or drug driving, or using a mobile phone at the wheel.

'Twice as many people die on UK roads than through homicide each year. Most of these deaths are preventable.'

Northern Ireland introduced penalty points for seat belt offences in 2007, subsequently saw the proportion of motorists wearing belts rise from 75 per cent in 2003 to 95 per cent by 2011, the highest in the world. They also have the lowest motor fatality rate in the UK.

The PACTS report states: 'The most recent and comprehensive study of the effectiveness of seat belts found that seat belts reduce both fatal and non-fatal injuries by 60 per cent amongst front seat passengers and by 44 per cent among rear seat passengers.

'Seat belt non-wearing is more prevalent amongst men and young people, namely those aged 16-35. It is also more common amongst those who live in the UKs most deprived areas, those that travel in the passenger seats, and those that drive older cars.'
Clark County public health officials disclosed Friday that two more people in their county had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The patients are a husband and wife in their 80s who live in separate longterm care facilities, said Dr. Alan Melnick, Clark Countys public health officer. He said the county learned about the couples presumptive positive tests Friday morning.

The county public health department said one of the patients lives at Van Mall, a retirement home near the Vancouver Mall. The other patient lives at a small adult residential home. All residents of that home will be quarantined.

Public health officials said they are tracking down close contacts of the patient who lived at Van Mall, and that those people would also be quarantined.

Emergency responders who transported at least one of the patients to the hospital have also been asked to stay home and monitor for symptoms of the virus.

The county did not disclose the patients conditions.

Dr. Lawrence Neville, chief medical officer of PeaceHealth Southwest hospital where the patients are being treated, said he also could not comment on either patients condition.

Nelville and Melnick spoke at an afternoon press conference during which county officials declared a formal state of emergency.

The two new cases bring to three the number of coronavirus patients in Clark County, just north of the Columbia River from Portland. The first case was announced March 6, after a man in his 70s had tested positive for the virus, known as COVID-19.

The announcement of the two new cases follows a request from county officials Thursday to limit large gatherings. The response escalated Friday. Many county departments told workers to start working from home. Vancouver school administrators said the district would close starting Monday through April 24, administrators said.

Gov. Jay Inslee ordered a similar statewide schools shutdown Friday.

Washington has emerged as a hotspot for coronavirus cases in the U.S. The virus has concentrated near Seattle. More than 20 residents of a King County nursing home have died as a result of the disease.

This is a story has been updated with additional information.

-- Molly Young

myoung@oregonian.com
Nicole Loher felt the symptoms come on all at once. She had a cough, body aches and due to an exercise heart monitor she wears on her wrist, could even see that her heart rate was elevated.

The 26-year-old New Yorker had also been in contact with someone who suspected they had contracted the coronavirus, so she did what all the health experts have advised and called the specialised emergency advice number.

But that call sent her down a bureaucratic dead end that many sick Americans have experienced in the past week as they try and fail to seek testing from their medical providers.

I was on the phone for 30 minutes with a woman who was reading off a prompt, she told The Independent of the call she made on Wednesday.

Her call was transferred to her local hospital board, who were unsure why she was transferred there. Confusion followed.

They went on a hunt to find someone who could help me. Turns out they only had two nurses on staff that are helping patients evaluate their symptoms on the phone, she said.

Three days later, her symptoms have not subsided, and she is still waiting for a call back.

Cases like Ms Lohrs have raised concerns that many cities across the US are not adequately dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, and that the true number of cases may be significantly higher than officials are admitting.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 1,678 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 414 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 5 to 41.

I kind of just went into pure shock, Ms Lohr said after her failed attempts to get medical attention. I was taking stock of what I have and trying to mentally figure out what I may need help with.

The difficulty of getting tests is fast becoming one of the weakest links in the chain of the US governments response to the crisis.

The Trump administration has sent conflicting signals about who is able to receive tests for the virus. Donald Trump said last week that anyone who wants a test can get a test  but that has not been the experience for many.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a congressional committee on Thursday that the lack of testing was a failing.

The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we are not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But we are not, he added.

Experts have said the high frequency of testing by Chinese authorities played a key role in slowing its spread. In some of the worst-affected areas, peoples temperatures were monitored as they entered public spaces and sent for tests if it was elevated.

The White House has also appeared at times to downplay the importance of testing. A number of associates of the president have gone into quarantine after coming into contact with infected people, but Mr Trump has not yet been tested.

On Friday, Mr Trump appeared to blame his predecessor, Barack Obama, for the governments difficulties in testing.

For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped, Mr Trump wrote on Twitter.

President Obama made changes that only complicated things further. The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go! he added, without providing any evidence for the claim.

Meanwhile, the restrictions in testing in the US appear to be affecting even those who have travelled to countries with high rates of infection.

Michael Page, a 37-year-old NGO manager, returned from a work trip to Paris earlier this month with a cough. He contacted his physician to outline the symptoms and was brought in for a brief checkup.

They checked my lungs, ear nose and throat. But there wasnt even a question of getting tested for coronavirus, he said. It wasnt even brought up because there is absolutely no availability.

Not only that, there is no follow up, he added. "Ive been practicing social distancing but I can't test one way or another. You essentially cant get the test until you are at death's door.

He added: "I'm very fortunate that I have healthcare, I am in good health, and I have access to resources. But for people who don't, their government is absolutely failing them."
A demand for enacting a stringent



law to control population by barring individuals with more than two children from government benefits as well as from contesting elections was made in Rajya Sabha on Friday.

BJP's Harnath Singh Yadav made the demand through a Zero Hour mention, saying population explosion was putting enormous burden on resources and environment.

During the current Budget session, Parliament should enact a stringent law barring anyone violating the two child norm from contesting any village panchayat, assembly or parliament election.

Mohd Nadimul Haque (TMC) raised the issue of personal privacy of citizens being compromised through the government's bulk data sharing policy of vehicle registration.

He said personal information can be accessed by anyone through a simple search of vehicle registration number on road transport and highway ministry's mobile app 'Vahan'.

The ministry, which collects and holds data as part of issuance of vehicle registration certificates (RC) and driver licenses (DL), has sold vehicle data to several government and private entities for Rs 65 crore, compromising on individual's privacy, he said.

The Vahan app maps registration details against names. In some cases, it can help track other details, including addresses, e-mails, and phone numbers, putting personal safety at risk, he added.

DMK's P Wilson demanded appointment of election commissioners to be separated from the executive and bureaucrats not appointed to the body.

Independence of the Election Commission is a mirage and myth, he said demanding appointments by high-power committee similar to the one that appoints Lokpal.

K Ravindra Kumar of the TDP wanted a national policy to be framed for setting up of capitals.

He said after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradhan, a capital at Amravati was approved by the state government led by TDP. The prime minister had even laid the foundation stone of the capital and Rs 1,500 crore was sanctioned from the central government.

But after a new government came in the state, three decentralised capitals - judicial, legislative and executive, were proposed, he said, adding there is no such provision in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

Acceptance of this model may lead to demands for decentralised national capitals in other parts of the country, he said demanding evolving a national policy on the issue.

While L Hanumanthaiah (Cong) raised the issue of inadequate infrastructure including provision for electricity at schools, Binoy Visham (CPI) wanted the government to distribute free of cost face masks to prevent spread of coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Minister of Energy John Peter Amewu says the recent intermittent power outages in the country have come to an end.

His assurance comes after the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited's (WAPCO) successful completion of the cleaning and inspection of its 20 feet offshore pipeline from Badagry in Nigeria to Takoradi in Ghana.

The Internal inspection of the 569km offshore pipeline was completed last week almost one month ahead of the scheduled completion date of March 20, 2020.

The cleaning and inspection exercise triggered pockets of power outages following the shutdown of WAPCo's pipeline.

Speaking to the media, John Peter Amewu reiterated the government's commitment to providing constant power supply.

We admit there were interruptions but we managed it. I am happy to announce that the cleaning exercise is completed and we have resumed gas flow. I can assure you that a lot of measures have been put in place for a stable supply of power. We have sufficient generation power and we have sufficient finances to back it. Dumsor is a thing of the past.

WAPCo in a statement announcing the completion of the cleaning exercise said, with this completion, it is better positioned to offer reliable and improved service to its customers in Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

With the completion of the pipeline cleaning and inspection exercise, WAPCo is better positioned to offer reliable and improved service to its customers in Ghana, Togo, and Benin in their effort to provide greater access to affordable and reliable power for economic growth, it said.

WAPCo, which is the operator of the West African Gas Pipeline was built for the sole purpose of supplying natural gas to the Republic of Benin, Togo, and Ghana.

citinewsroom
Photo credit: Samir Hussein - Getty Images

From Harper's BAZAAR

Update 3/19/21:

Buckingham Palace has confirmed that Trooping the Colour will not take place this year. Rather than opting for the lavish parade traditionally thrown every year to celebrate the monarch's birthday, the palace is considering a smaller celebration to take place at the quadrangle at Windsor Castle.

"Following consultation with Government and other relevant parties it has been agreed that The Queens Official Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, will not go ahead this year in its traditional form in central London," read the statement from Buckingham Palace. "Options for an alternative Parade, in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle, are being considered. The annual Garter service, usually held in June, will not take place this year."

Update 6/10/20:

Buckingham Palace revealed on Wednesday that a pared-down version of Queen Elizabeth's annual birthday celebration, Trooping the Colour, will take place this year.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony, which is scheduled for June 13, will be a "much smaller" fete in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle, where the sovereign and her husband, Prince Philip, recently posed for the Duke of Edinburgh's 99th birthday.

A smaller-sized parade and military salute will happen in the courtyard, where the queen will also make a brief appearance.

Confirmed: The Queen will take part in a much reduced parade for her official birthday on Saturday.

The annual Trooping the Colour parade was cancelled by #coronavirus. But therell be a much smaller military commemoration in Windsor instead  pic.twitter.com/c0TcLX6fJ0  Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) June 10, 2020

Update 3/27/20:

Story continues

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect the U.K., the queen's annual birthday celebration, Trooping the Colour, will not take place in it's normal fashion. A statement from Buckingham Palace confirmed that new ways to mark the queen's birthday are being considered, while adhering to government advice amidst the pandemic.

"In line with Government advice, it has been agreed that The Queens Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, will not go ahead in its traditional form," read a statement from Buckingham Palace. "A number of other options are being considered, in line with relevant guidance."

Update 3/20/20:

The traditional Changing of the Guard ceremony will no longer take place at the queen's estates of Buckingham Palace, St. James's Palace, and Windsor Castle due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"In line with Government advice to avoid mass gatherings, it has been agreed that the ceremonial of the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, St Jamess Palace and Windsor Castle will be postponed until further notice. Advice will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, with a view to restarting when appropriate," read an official statement from Buckingham Palace.

Photo credit: Leon Neal - Getty Images

Update 3/17/20:

Along with upcoming travel plans, Queen Elizabeth II is set to announce the cancellation of her annual Buckingham Palace garden parties, according to The Evening Standard. The queen hosts three garden parties each year at Buckingham Palace and one at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. Due to the growing global concern surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, the Buckingham Palace garden gatherings will be postponed until next year.

"We are studying the implications of the new Government advice and its impact on forthcoming events," read an initial statement from Buckingham Palace on Monday. "For guidance we hope to inform the public of any amendments shortly."

Shortly after, another press release from Buckingham Palace provided detail on changes and adjustments to the Queen's social calendar. According to the release, the queen's upcoming audiences with the Prime Minister, Commanding Officer and Bishop of Hereford will continue as scheduled. Audiences afterwards will be reviewed on "an ongoing basis, in line with the appropriate advice."

The queen is also expected to move to Windsor Castle for the Easter period beginning March 19tha week earlier than initially plannedand she is expected to stay at Windsor beyond the Easter period.

Upcoming public events with typically large crowds and attendance by members of the Royal family are expected to be cancelled or postponed in the coming months. Whether or not special events such as Trooping the Colour, the 75th anniversary of VE Day and a State Visit from the Emperor and Empress of Japan will continue to take place will be decided "in due course, with consultation [from the] government."

Original Story 3/13/20:

Coronavirus concerns continue to affect the royal family. It was announced today that Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, and Duchess Camilla have canceled upcoming royal travel engagements amid growing concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

The queen was expected to embark on a trip to Northern England and visit the towns of Cheshire and Camden. Meanwhile, Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla were slated for an upcoming tour of Bosnia, Herzegovina, Cyprus, and Jordan. Charles was originally scheduled to leave for Bosnia on Tuesday with Camilla joining him later on in Cyprus and Jordan.

"In consultation with the Medical Household and Government, Her Majestys forthcoming visits to Cheshire and Camden will be rescheduled," read a press release from Buckingham Palace. "Audiences [with the queen] will continue as usual. Other events will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in line with the appropriate advice."

Photo credit: DOMINIC LIPINSKI - Getty Images

A statement from Clarence House regarding Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla's upcoming travel plans echoed a similar message: "Owing to the unfolding situation with the Coronavirus pandemic, The British Government has asked Their Royal Highnesses to postpone their spring tour to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Jordan."



BAZAAR.com understands that both Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla are in good health and will instead use the dates of the tour to carry out other domestic engagements. The royals will continue to follow government guidance when it comes to participating in public appearances, such as avoiding large crowds.

The announcement of their tour cancellation follows news that Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan did not bring their 10-month-old son Archie along for their U.K. return, also as a safety precaution amid coronavirus concerns.

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The state-owned telco, BSNL has passed a warning note to alert people about the fake job offers posted by a fraudulent company named BSNL 4G. The fake messages and letters are doing rounds promising job against a ransom.

"It has come to the notice of BSNL that certain fraudulent agencies are circulating fake news regarding recruitment in a company named BSNL 4G using our company logo. Such fake news is likely to mislead and deceive those interested to apply into believing it to be our official and authentic notification," states BSNL in an official statement.

The fake letter has plea from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi while the joining letter is been signed by the company's former chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava. Hence, the company has cautioned people stating that its recruitment process would be published on its official website.

"The public at large is hereby cautioned against dealing with such fake entities and BSNL assumes no responsibility for any funds transfer or ash deposits to them or any other resultant loss to any person or otherwise," says the statement.

Recently, the company had announced a voluntary retirement scheme to its employees as a move to cut down the cost incurred on their remuneration. Under the BSNL Voluntary Retirement Scheme 2019, staffs of age 50 and above were eligible to choose voluntary retirement.
The coronavirus scare has abruptly cut short the charter tourism season in Goa midway with visas for international travellers getting suspended from March 13 midnight onwards.

India on Wednesday suspended all visas, except a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, till April 15 in a bid to contain the spread of novel coronavirus. The suspension will come into effect from March 13 midnight.

With this, the already struggling state tourism industry is staring at huge losses as it depends on foreign travellers to a large extent for revenue generation.

Goa Airport Director Gagan Malik said the actual situation on chartered flights, which bring tourists to the state, will be clear only in the wee hours of March 14.

Those who are flying before 5.30 am of March 14 will be allowed to enter in the country. But considering the current situation, it looks difficult that any charters will come now, he said.

READ | Coronavirus Outbreak: Top Adviser To Iran's Ali Khamenei Quarantined With Virus Symptoms

Malik said the airport was expecting 60-70 more chartered flights to arrive till end of the May, when tourist season ends. Now, empty charters will arrive to take back the tourists to their destinations in the days to come, he said.

Travel and Tourism Association of Goa President Savio Messiah said the chartered season will come to an early end with the ban on visas.

We want to approach the government seeking exemption for Russian travellers from the visa ban. Russia is not affected by the coronavirus, he said.

But it looks unlikely that the Centre will listen to the request as scare is widespread. We have to look at the issue from broader perspective, he added.

During the last tourist season, 250 chartered flights had arrived from different countries, including Russia and the UK. The collapse of travel firm Thomas Cook in the UK last year had severely affected chartered flights to Goa.

READ | Google Confirms Employee Diagnosed With Coronavirus In Bengaluru Office, Put On Quarantine

READ | 120 Indians Evacuated From Coronavirus-hit Iran To Be Quarantined In Jaisalmer
Photo: Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Queensbridge Houses is Americas largest public housing development. Located in Long Island City, it is comprised of 96 six-story apartment buildings, spanning six blocks. Its official population count is 6,400, though the actual number is almost certainly higher. At 1 p.m. on Wednesday, seven senior citizens gathered at an on-site senior center for a thrice-monthly discussion about community issues, led by a Department for the Aging employee named Frank McCrea. All the attendees were black women, and their ages ranged from 64 to 79. There were fewer people at the meeting, and at the center, than usual. This week, they would discuss the coronavirus.

The mood, when the meeting began, was not heavy. McCrea read from a fact sheet: Wash your hands, dont touch your face. The women bantered and traded rumors. Somebody had heard the presidents son had it. Another said a guy was spraying people with Lysol on the MTA. Another had recently returned from a cruise to Mexico. People wore masks and gloves, but were still mixing it up on the dance floor. The disease was on their minds, but it was, for the moment, an abstraction. So, asked Janie Edwards, 64, You think well be okay at the casino? A monthly seniors trip to Empire City Casino, in Yonkers, was scheduled for the following Wednesday. She joked that she could wipe the slots with Clorox. (COVID-19s first New Jersey fatality worked at Empire City Casinos Yonkers Raceway. The track has been closed since Tuesday.)

As the session went on, concerns grew more pointed. McCrea read from the fact sheet, People most at risk are those with health conditions including: chronic lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or weakened immune system. This described essentially everybody in the room. Catherine Jordan, 78, has diabetes. Clovia Thomas, 70, has diabetes, bronchitis, and high blood pressure. Nellie Pettway, 79, has asthma, congestive heart failure, and suffers from complications from multiple strokes. You name it, I got it, she says. April Simpson, 58, the president of the Queensbridge Tenant Association, was not able to join the discussion. Simpson has diabetes, early-stage pulmonary disease, and kidney disease. She had developed a cold that week and worried she had contacted the virus. She wanted to see a doctor before interacting with residents. (On Friday morning, Simpson said a doctor told her she was asymptomatic.)

Soon, somebody at Queensbridge will test positive for the novel coronavirus. The seniors wondered how a quarantined resident would receive meals and medical attention. All seven said they live alone. Jordan and Pettway are dependent on home health aides, who help them five days a week, five to six hours a day. Who would care for them if their health aides were to contract the virus? Other units across the New York City Housing Authority face a different problem. Many apartments are overcrowded with unreported tenants, making close contact hard to avoid. (NYCHA officially has 400,000 residents, but some estimates put the number closer to 600,000.) If one person in the whole building would have it, Edwards asked, do you think they would shut down the whole building? There is no answer to this question. NYCHA, in an email, said its quarantine protocol is the same as it is for every New Yorker and that it must follow the guidance of various city, state, and federal partners.

The problem is not just that NYCHAs aging and sick are uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19. Its that the agency has little track record of creating healthy conditions for its residents. Residents over the age of 20 have been found to be four times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma than other New Yorkers, according to New York Citys Department of Health; a 2018 report by the New York State Department of Health found that roughly half of NYCHA units it tested had visible mold growth. In 2019, the conditions of its 2,351 buildings were deemed so deplorable, the housing authority was forced to address the chronic lead, mold, busted heating, and general disrepair that plague its residents, under the eye of a federal monitor. The Department of Housing and Urban Development pledged $0 to the effort. In January, NYCHAs capital shortfall was estimated at $40 billion.

Now, introduce a global pandemic to the equation. Rents are calculated based on previous years income, which will tax residents who lose work because of the virus. Public spaces  mailbox areas, elevators, stairwells , garbage chutes  may be hard to keep clean. Chaney Yelverton, the tenant association president of the Morrisania Air Rights development told New York he had to inform NYCHA chair Gregory Russ a week ago that the pink cleaning product used in his Bronx buildings was in fact devoid of disinfectant. The homeless population, itself vulnerable to COVID-19, often shelters in NYCHA buildings. Ancient pipes regularly break and leak sewage into apartments; it appears COVID-19 can be transmitted through feces.

New York was scheduled to interview Russ and his general manager Vito Mustaciuolo at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. NYCHA canceled that interview and instead sent a written statement from Russ. According to the statement, NYCHA has contracted with a vendor that has begun deep-cleaning at senior residences, while also increasing the frequency of daily disinfecting cleanings by NYCHA maintenance staff. NYCHA would also be observing a moratorium on residential evictions and extending our rental hardship policy to impacted households. Beyond that, some of the burden will fall on non-profit community centers housed on NYCHA property, which are being encouraged to place restrictions on congregate settings while also continuing to provide the free cafeteria lunches that many seniors eat every day. As the situation escalates, residents are left making judgment calls. By Friday, after the mayor had declared a state of emergency, Edwards had decided to skip the trip to the casino.

Since the start of the outbreak, NYCHA hasnt held one meeting for residents about the virus, across any of its 316 developments. Now, it is likely too imprudent, and too late, to do so.

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Jaipur: The doctors at Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh Hospital succeeded in treating coronavirus positive patients by treating him with medicines of swine flu, malaria and HIV. The treatment and monitoring of the patient were done by ACS Medical Rohit Kumar Singh and his team.

The medicinal formula developed by the team of SMS's doctors also got its approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Talking about the successful treatment of the patient Additional Chief Secretary, Health Department Rohit Kumar Singh said that the patient was given a dose of lopinavir 200mg and ritonavir 50mg twice a day which has helped him recover. He further informed that the patient was given osletamivir a medicine which is used for treating swine flu, malaria, chlotoquine.

However, this is not the first case were anti-HIV drugs have been used for recovering a corona positive patient. Earlier, Thailand's Health Ministry had also claimed that a woman suffering from corona was cured with a drug of flu and anti-HIV drugs. Many hospitals around the world have now started to use this formula.

Meanwhile, the total positive coronavirus cases in India has gone up to 81, out of which 64 are Indians, 16 Italians and 1 Canadian national. In the wake of rising coronavirus cases several states including Delhi have put a ban on public gatherings and have announced the closure of schools and colleges to avoid the spread of the virus.
Investigators found blood in the getaway car used by a gang fleeing a fatal hit and run of a teacher in south Dublin on Tuesday night.

Detectives now believe this DNA evidence will play a key role in the prosecution of the criminals involved.

Special needs assistant Jacqueline McGovern (54) was killed when she was hit by an out-of-control car in Killiney following an armed robbery at a Centra shop just seconds earlier.

"Blood detected in the abandoned car is key," a senior source said last night.

"Gardai have a clear idea who was behind this crime. Now this vital DNA is crucial to proving it."

It's understood the three raiders involved in the crime are from the Ballybrack, Sallynoggin and Monkstown areas.

The trio, all men in their early 20s, are known to gardai for involvement in crime, including violent disorder.

Gardai are probing if the gang who killed the innocent teacher during their getaway went to a local pub in the aftermath of the incident.

Three men were in the speeding car after they carried out the robbery at the Centra shop, Barnhill Stores on Barnhill Road, in Dalkey, minutes before the fatal crash. Ms McGovern and her friend and colleague Audrey Behan (51) were injured when the out-of-control getaway car hit them at 9.20pm on Tuesday at the junction of Ballinclea Road and Avondale Road, in Killiney, Dublin.

The two friends were out having a walk when they were injured by the 'reckless' driver.

The women were rushed to St Vincent's Hospital, where Ms McGovern later died.

Ms Behan's injuries are not believed to be serious and she is expected to make a full recovery.

There were indications last night that the large convenience shop did not have CCTV in operation during the robbery, as it was in the process of being replaced.

Two men armed with a knife held up staff at Barnhill Stores on Tuesday at 9.10pm.

They threatened staff and made off with the contents of the till, believed to be around 2,000.

Following the crash, the three raiders walked away.

But detectives at Dun Laoghaire have now identified the pub - close to the scene of the fatal crash - where the raiders hid out in the aftermath.

Officers have now obtained CCTV from this premises.

"The three men were reported to have been in a local bar drinking pints after this robbery occurred, and they were rattled by all accounts," a source said.

"This is one line of inquiry being looked at by gardai to establish if these men were involved in the earlier robbery."

The Nissan Almera used by the gang was 'mangled' following the crash.

The getaway vehicle has not been taxed or insured since last April.

Its last registered owner, a man from Bray, was interviewed extensively on Wednesday.

He has told gardai he sold the car on for a small sum.

His account has been accepted by gardai and this man is not involved in criminality.

On Wednesday shattered plastic, and scrape and tyre marks showed where the driver of the getaway car lost control, most likely after hitting a speed bump.

"There was one car crashed and another in the middle of the road, and the women were on the ground," one local woman told the Irish Independent.

"I think they were walking on the path but there were three shoes in the middle of the road too," she added.

Ms McGovern was an SNA in the local Our Lady of Good Counsel girls national school.

Ms Behan is also an SNA at the same school.

Both women were prayed for at Mass in the parish yesterday morning.

Principal of the school Caroline Quinn paid tribute to the women.
SAGINAW, MI  Many area schools are closed Friday, March 13, ahead of the scheduled closure Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced would begin Monday, March 16.

Some schools and school districts in Saginaw, Bay, Genesee, Sanilac, Lapeer and other counties closed their doors Friday apparently in response to the threat of coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, which the World Health Organization has declared a global pandemic.

Bay City Public Schools is closed for Friday, March 13, out of caution due to COVID-19 prevention, said Bay City Superintendent Stephen Bigelow on Twitter.

A complete list of school closings is available on the ABC 12 website here.

Whitmer announced Thursday evening, March 12, that all K-12 school buildings will close Monday, March 16, through Sunday, April 5, as a precautionary measure. Schools will re-open April 6, though Whitmer said that may be adjusted or extended.

"This is a necessary step to protect our kids, our families, and our overall public health, Whitmer said Thursday.

I am working with partners across state government to ensure educators, parents, and students have the support they need during this time, and to ensure our children who rely on school for meals have access to food. I know this will be a tough time, but were doing this to keep the most people we can safe. I urge everyone to make smart choices during this time and to do everything they can to protect themselves and their families.

The state now has 12 presumptive positive tests for coronavirus, up from the first two announced on Tuesday, when the governor declared a state of emergency.

Coronavirus symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus. They include fever, cough and shortness of breath. For most, the symptoms are mild, but it poses a serious danger to others.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus has sickened 1,215 people and resulted in 36 deaths, nationally.

What Michigan residents need to know about coronavirus

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

Read more on MLive:

Michigan governor asks Trump to open special Obamacare enrollment period during coronavirus threat

Heres a list of specific recommendations from state health officials

Huge Michigan tourist destination, The Henry Ford Museum, closing amid coronavirus

GM tells visitors to stay out of plants if theyve had cold or flu-like symptoms

Some Michigan jury trials, probation reporting canceled due to coronavirus outbreak
Connecticut has long been a leader in preventing gun violence through strong regulation of firearms. We were the first state in the nation to implement an extreme risk protection order, more than 20 years ago; one of the first to ban assault weapons and one of the few to require a permit to purchase, which was credited with reducing gun homicides by 40 percent in the 10 years following its implementation.

Yet there is still too much gun violence in Connecticut  on average someone is murdered with a gun every five days. The victims are disproportionately people of color, and more likely than not to live in our largest cities. Black men are at highest risk, killed by guns at 25 times the rate as non-Hispanic white men. We need to do more to prevent community gun violence.

Thats why CT Against Gun Violence has proposed a standing, state-level commission to focus on reducing community gun violence. The commission would be responsible for identifying, overseeing implementation of and holding accountable community-centric programs and strategies to reduce gun violence. It would include community leaders, representatives from law enforcement, executive branch agencies, urban policy experts, public health experts, and gun violence prevention advocates; representing the constituencies that have a stake in reducing community gun violence.

There are no shortage of evidence-based programs in cities across the United States that are successfully reducing urban gun violence using hospital-based violence intervention, group violence intervention (GVI) and focused deterrence models. The challenge is identifying the programs that work, making sure they receive adequate funding and monitoring their results to ensure accountability. Permanent commissions, rather than short-term task forces, are best suited to deliver this type of policy development, planning, implementation and oversight work.

Programs like these are already operating in Connecticut, but struggle to receive adequate, sustained funding. One of these is Project Longevity, a GVI program that has been implemented with great success in cities across the nation. A 2015 Yale study concluded that the Project Longevity program in New Haven prevented five group-member involved shootings and homicides each month. Despite its success, the program struggles to get adequate funding.

There are other examples of organizations led by extremely dedicated individuals working hands-on in their communities to de-escalate conflict, interrupt the cycles of violence, and help victims and families deal with the immense social and economic consequences of gun violence. The Connecticut Violence Intervention Program (CVIP) operating in New Haven and Hamden demonstrates the value they bring. As New Haven assistant police chief Karl Jacobson remarked last October at the inauguration of CVIPs new community center, They go to areas and talk to people who wont talk to us, going on to say, the significant decrease [in violence] is attributable to them.

Putting more resources into gun violence prevention is not only a moral imperative, its fiscally smart. Beyond the loss of life, gun violence has a tremendous economic cost. Its estimated by the Giffords Law Center that the direct cost to Connecticut taxpayers of all forms of gun violence is $90 million every year. The tangible costs, including lost income, are estimated at $430 million, and the total societal cost brings the total to $1.2 billion annually.

Connecticut needs to and can do more to reduce the gun violence that is victimizing communities of color. The state should invest in the organizational infrastructure to find, fund and follow evidence-based programs that work. A permanent commission to reduce community gun violence should be a priority for legislators and the governor.

Greenwich resident Nicole Heath is a member of the board of directors for CT Against Gun Violence.
(Photo : Baz Ratner on Reuters ) US Launches Airstrikes Again vs Iraq as 'Defensive' Measures for Killing Americans and British Troops in War (Photo : Wissam Al-Okaili on Reuters ) US Launches Airstrikes Again vs Iraq as 'Defensive' Measures for Killing Americans and British Troops in War

On Thursday evening, Mar. 12, The Pentagon released a statement that United States forces have recently launched another set of airstrikes aimed towards Iraqi military bases. This was a counter-attack by US forces after Iraq reportedly started a rocket attack on Wednesday, resulting in the death of three military men, including two American soldiers and one United Kingdom servicewoman.

USA fights back vs. Iraq on a 'defensive' way by launching another airstrike

The 'retaliation' attacks made by US forces were launched in order to push back forces of Kata'ib Hezbollah militia of Iraq-- a paramilitary group with strong ties with Tehran-- that are said to be planning future attacks in the country.

The Pentagon clarified that the launching of airstrikes against Iraq are made in order to make sure that the deaths of the three soldiers that were bombed at Camp Taji near Baghdad were given justice. This is also a way for the military forces to make sure that the Iraqi forces would no longer be able to strike back again after they had fired the facilities of Kata'ib Hezbollah militia.

"This evening, the US conducted defensive precision strikes against Kata'ib Hezbollah facilities across Iraq. These strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against the US and coalition forces," said The Pentagon spokeswoman, Alyssa Farah. "These strikes were defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups who continue to attack bases hosting ... coalition forces," she added.

Though the Wednesday rocket strikes were not yet verified as created by the Iraqi forces, The Pentagon said that they are confident that they created this attack since the country's forces were inside the facility in Baghdad.

US Defense Secretary: "You don't shoot at our bases, kill Americans, and get away with it."

Aside from The Pentagon's statement regarding the matter, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that President Donald Trump already gave him the authority to do anything he deemed necessary in order to fight forces attacking the country. He even said that this counter-attack would serve as a warning to all forces that plans to attack the US that they will be punished if they attack the country.

"We're going to take this one step at a time, but we've got to hold the perpetrators accountable," Esper said. "You don't get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it."

United Kingdom supports these US Airstrikes

Since one official from the United Kingdom was killed due to the Wednesday attack, United Kingdom said that they support what the United States did regarding airstrikes against Iraq.

"The coalition stands shoulder to shoulder in Iraq...When we and others are attacked, we reserve the right to defend ourselves," said UK Defense Secretary, Ben Wallace. "We support the right of the United States to defend themselves, as they have done tonight."

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Delhi Minister Gopal Rai on Friday moved a resolution in the Assembly against the implementation of the process of Population Register (NPR) enumeration in Delhi.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government called a special Delhi Assembly session on Friday to hold a discussion on NPR and the Register of Citizens (NRC).

The Assembly will also discuss the situation arising out of coronavirus.

This comes a day after, Union Home Minister Amit Shah while replying to debate on the Delhi violence in Rajya Sabha, had said that time has come to remove apprehensions about CAA and NPR which will begin next month.

Shah said no documents would be sought from people during the NPR enumeration.

The Centre on Thursday reiterated that no documents would be needed for NPR and there will be no 'D' (doubtful) category.

"I am again repeating that no documents will be needed for the NPR. All the information asked is optional. Nobody has to fear from the process of NPR. There will be no 'D' (doubtful) category," Home Minister Amit Shah said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Last month, the Centre had said that during the updation of NPR, "no verification is done to find individuals whose citizenship is doubtful.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Path of Peaceful Change has called for people to take part in the People Assembly elections, to create a serious internal opposition in Syria reports Russia Today.

The opposition Path of Peaceful Change movement in Syria has called for serious internal national opposition forces to take part in the Peoples Assembly elections.

In a document called Statement and Appeal published in the name of the movements leader, Fateh Jamous, it said that it was correct and necessary for, a group of actors, forces and figures who affiliated with or who see themselves as being in the ranks of the serious internal domestic opposition forces to take part in the elections.

The statement called for these activities to crystallize in the form of a single rank, with one program and title: The internal national opposition. The statement suggested that a democratic and participatory dialogue take place to define and formulate the program, and suggested a number of points, including:

That the elites of the internal national opposition take it upon themselves to launch a popular resistance against the American, Turkish and Zionist foreign occupations, and to form a broad front in support of the Syrian Arab Army and preserve the Syrian homeland and Syrian state;

Resisting fascist fundamentalism and its allies, and defeating it.

Radical and comprehensive democratic change, in a progressive, peaceful, secure process, and a national dialogue between the parties of the internal national division authorities and loyalists.

The statement called on comrades of the movement to submit applications for nomination before the end of the specified period, and encouraged others to do so as well.

The movement also appealed to, all actors and figures who see themselves as part of a class, system, approach, or way of thinking and program of the internal national opposition to issue statements of participation and to call for a dialogue of democratic participation and move quickly to present the necessary papers for the nomination.

Jamous, a former leader of the Communist Labor Party, founded the Path of Peaceful Change with several figures in February 2012. Later the movement, like the Popular Will Party (founded by Qadri Jamil), joined the Popular Front for Change and Liberation.\

Note from Syrian Observer

Fateh Jamous, a former leader of the opposition Communist Labor Party, was arrested multiple times in the 1970s and 1980s. After the start of the revolution, he defected from the party and took a position closer to that of the regime and adopted the regimes vision of the revolution as a foreign conspiracy and Sunni Islamist rebellion. While the new party joined the moderate or internal opposition coordinating bodyas it described itselfJamous moved awayor farther awayand headed toward an alliance with former minister Qadri Jamils group to form the Popular Front for Change and Liberation.

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.
Xie Binrong corrects the homework that has been handed in by her students, who live in a remote mountainous area in southwest China. (Photo/thepaper.cn

Certainly custom is most perfect, when it beginneth in young years: this we call education; which is, in effect, but an early custom.

Francis Bacon, Of Custom and Education

For community volunteer Xie Binrong, teaching online is no easy job. Every day after work, the 49-year-old veteran picks up her phone and corrects the homework that has been handed in by her students, who live in a remote mountainous area in southwest China.

Xie Binrong is a former senior engineer with over 20 years of service at an air force base in northwest China. Now, she works as a volunteer teacher in Zhaganluo Village, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province. The village has only a dozen households, and most of the residents are children.

When recent concerns over coronavirus forced the school to close, disrupting their education, Xie began holding online classes so that they could keep learning during this testing time. For Xie, it was unfamiliar and challenging territory.

I had planned to go back to the village in February to start the new semester, but now I can't. I dont want the children to fall behind, said Xie. She is currently teaching 26 kids, all of whom are in fourth grade.

Xie Binrong corrects the homework that has been handed in by her students.

Although live-streamed online classes are available on various teaching platforms, it is difficult for the children to take them as the hours clash with their farming duties, and the speed of online education is too fast for these kids to keep up with. As a result, Xie decided to teach them through WeChat after first learning the new lessons herself.

She began by selecting four online teaching platforms and taking the classes every day, sometimes writing six or seven pages of notes in a single class. Generally, it takes her two days to prepare for each lesson. Every morning before going out to work, Xie would send the materials to the kids, and correct their homework online in the afternoon.

As Xie is not particularly tech savvy, learning how to teach online took a great deal of effort. She had to learn a range of modern skills, such as creating a WeChat group, editing pictures, and searching for teaching materials through various Apps. Im learning and growing with the kids, she joked.

Xie started teaching the children at Zhaganluo Village in 2014, after noticing by chance online that the poverty-stricken Liangshan was in need of teachers. When she first arrived, some children didnt even know double-digit addition and subtraction, while others couldnt speak a single sentence of Mandarin.

Xie Binrong works as a volunteer teacher in Zhaganluo Village, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province.

Over the years, as well as teaching the children how to read and do math, she has also been teaching them to cultivate good habits. Thanks to her efforts, the children have become polite and hard-working.

In Xies eyes, only when these students acquire a certain level of literacy, broader horizons and a good lifestyle can they have the confidence and ability to get rid of poverty and build a better future for themselves.

Xie Binrong takes a photo with the children.

This year is a decisive year in the fight against poverty. Education is essential to lifting Zhaganluo Village out of poverty. Childrens education cannot wait, she said, adding that when this group of children become parents, the village will seem like another world.

When the coronavirus began spreading, Xie told the children to protect themselves and that she would come back as soon as the virus was defeated. She is now learning a dance routine from a video App, and promised to teach it to them when they are reunited.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has written a poem to warn his fans against coronavirus, saying washing hands was the way to beat the spread of the disease.

Bachchan chose his mother tongue, the Awadhi dialect, to recite the poem on social media.

"There are many discussions on coronavirus around us. It has done a lot of damage. People are not leaving their homes and are worried about their health. This morning, I thought I should speak about it, so I have written a few lines," Bachchan said in a video.

In the poem, the 77-year-old actor spoke about how different people were talking about remedies like 'kalonji powder and 'amla' juice but it was important to not touch anyone without washing one's hands with soap.

"Hum kahen chalo hamahu kar det hai jaisan bole sab. Aave da corona vorona, thengwa dikhaub tab. (I said let me follow what people are saying. Let corona vorona come, I will show 'thenga' to it.)," Bachchan said in the poem.

The actor said though those not familiar with Hindi or Awadhi will be at a disadvantage, he did not translate it as it would lose the flavour of the moment.

"There is more to be said and thought about... on lines similar to the ones above.. WHO and UNICEF have also asked me to send out video messages, which I did but they are more formal.. this in Awadhi was my own doing... one is never too far away from their Mother tongue... stay safe, stay alert , stay," Bachchan said.

Other celebrities also shared concern about the spread of the virus in India as the number of cases rose to 81.

Actor Varun Dhawan said the spread of virus should make people introspect about other species.

"As we all battle this virus. I think it is time we realise that the human race has been extremely selfish. It's time we introspect. We share this planet with many other species. Development is important but not at the cost of killing other species. We will overcome this but we must realise that messing with Mother Nature comes at a cost," he wrote on Instagram.

Actor Parineeti Chopra urged fans to take the warning about the virus seriously.

"Stop calling it a 'hype on social media'. Stop saying 'it only affects the elderly'. Stop saying 'oh but the death rate of flu is more'. Stop thinking you are smarter than the virus. You are not. Coronavirus is real. Its extremely contagious and unstoppable. Please be smart. And be safe. #coronavirus," she wrote on Instagram.

Priyanka Chopra shared a short video in the 'Namaste' pose, saying, "It's all about the Namaste. An old but also new way to greet people in a time of change around the world.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
These are trying times. Tensions are running high because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has left thousands dead and almost 400,000 sick worldwide. Grocery store shelves are emptying, schools are closing and officials are urging many to stay inside.

In times of crisis, a timeless quote from the late Fred Rogers tends to emerge again and again on social media: "Look for the helpers."

His mother reminded him to find these people in times of tragedy and anxiety, and it continues to ring true because of the man who made the comment.

"You can always find people who are helping," he said. Fred Rogers died in 2003.

As the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to shape Americans' daily lives  affecting how, when and where we work, if at all, getting sick or anxious from the seemingly endless deluge of bad news; worrying if our families are affected  it's easy to feel like your individual actions may not matter in the grand scheme of things.

Fred Rogers has some wise words in these trying times.

But consider being a good neighbor  and help your community. It can help alleviate any feelings of helplessness you may face as the virus continues to spread worldwide.

Here's how to make an impact in your community with a few tangible actions:

Donate money

Plenty of organizations and charities  those in your community, as well as those that serve globally  are looking for monetary support. Charity Navigator has compiled a list of trustworthy multinational charities to donate to, and food banks, shelters and other charities in your area certainly need financial aid. Beyond that, there are plenty of people struggling to make ends meet, with coronavirus affecting their employment, some of whom have set up GoFundMe campaigns.

Tip extra

If you do order delivery, make sure to add a couple of extra bucks to your usual tip. Not all service, health care and retail workers have the privilege of working from home  or even calling in sick. Also, business may be slowing down wherever you go out to eat or drink due to the coronavirus, so some cash goes a long way in ensuring their livelihood, and ensuring that your favorite businesses stay open in the long run.

Story continues

Buy a couple of gift cards

You may not want to grab delivery right now, which is understandable given the heightened anxiety about coronavirus transmission. But an easy way to support small businesses in your community is to buy a few gift cards online for a restaurant or shopping spree in the near-future. Plenty of businesses have websites that offer this feature, and Gannett, the owner of USA TODAY, has recently launched a website that expedites the process for businesses and customers. Visit supportlocal.usatoday.com for more.

Be kind to people working

A little kindness can go a long way. Don't take out your anxiety and stress on someone working the cash register, or a pharmacist looking to help you fill necessary prescriptions. They're trying to help you out  and are dealing with hundreds of frazzled people.

Donate resources to food banks, shelters

Donations to food banks are always helpful, but make sure not to donate expired foods. Check in with your local food banks and shelters to see what items they may need  and donate accordingly.

How to help hospitals amid the face mask shortage

Masks and other protective gear is also in short supply for the health care workers who need them the most. The viral hashtag #GetUsPPE  short for "personal protective equipment"  has evolved into a full-blown website, listing ways that people with spare medical equipment or skills to produce their own can help during this pandemic.

Hospitals and medical centers need N95 respirators, surgical masks, protective googles, gloves, face shields and disinfectant wipes. Here's a list of donation sites.

If you're a business or part of the maker community, you can get involved through 3D printing, manufacturing and sewing. Read more here.

Let someone into your home

As colleges nationwide have shut down in light of coronavirus pandemic, there are plenty of young students who are getting displaced and may not be able to fly back home due to cost or family reasons. Students at some schools with these mandates have set up shared online spreadsheets that let individuals volunteer their homes and other resources to stranded students. If you have the capacity, consider letting a college student into your home while they wait out their school's mandated breaks.

Here are some instances of people exhibiting true kindness and generosity  being "helpers," if you will  despite these trying times.

Community steps up to help displaced students

Brooke Felts, a first-generation alumni of Denison University in Granville, Ohio, understands how hard it is to support yourself as a working college student.

So when she got word that her alma mater was requiring students to leave campus, she knew how that could affect students who might not have anywhere to go or money to spare.

Felts put her name down in a shared online document made by Denison students listing community members willing to offer housing, employment, travel funds and other support for displaced students. She offered a wealth of things: two bedrooms, plus food, internet service, storage for items that students cant take home and use of a car if needed.

With things being uncertain, I think that its always important to help in whatever way you can, Felts said.

 Jennifer Smola, The Columbus Dispatch

Boy donates 1,000 hand sanitizer sprays to community

He's the heart and soul of one New Jersey community, says his town's mayor.

Jayden Perez, 11, and his family will donate over 1,000 hand sanitizer sprays to the Woodland Park school district, fire department, police department and library amid concerns over coronavirus.

"He was concerned that some students didn't have sanitizer because they were selling out everywhere," said his mother, Ana Rosado. They ordered sanitizer in bulk in February, before the crisis hit the state in March.

Perez is also planning on donating hand sanitizer to neighbors and family members.

He has a charitable streak: In 2017, Jayden organized a toy drive for victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and he collected over 1,000 toys for the children affected.

 Anthony Zurita, Bergen Record

Woman volunteers to help grocery shop for neighbors in need

Courtney Igne, a resident of Mansfield, Massachussetts, was feeling anxious over the coronavirus pandemic. She told WBZ-TV in Boston that she had some spare time, given that her company gave her the go-ahead to work from home.

"If Im anxious, certainly there are other people around here who are also more anxious because they might have cancer or theyre immunocompromised or theyre elderly, she told WBZ-TV.

Igne posted in a Facebook group offering to help older or immunocompromised people grocery shop, which sparked a wave of other do-gooders in her area volunteering their time.

"Id really appreciate if someone did that for me if I were in that situation," she said to WBZ-TV.

Paying it forward

Kindness can be demonstrated in the smallest of ways.

For Janelle Schenderlein and her 7-year-old son, Jaxon, it was with a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Schenderlein was short $3 for her purchase at a Publix in Fort Meyers, Florida, which she needed to help clean her home. The woman behind her in the line offered to take it off her hands so they wouldn't hold up the queue.

As the Schenderleins were walking out the door, the woman  a nurse  gave it to her.

"She said she was a nurse and that I have children and that I needed it," Schenderlein said. "I was moved to tears."

As they drove home, they talked about paying it forward.

 Stacey Henson, Fort Myers News-Press

Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: How to help small businesses, people, hospitals
AMSTERDAM  Rembrandts 1661 painting, Two African Men, is one of the Dutch old masters more inscrutable works. One man, dressed in a Roman-style costume and shawl, seems to be giving a speech, while another man leans attentively over his shoulder. The canvas was painted with a thin layers of earth tones and looks unfinished, but it bears the artists signature.

Why did Rembrandt paint it, and who were his subjects?

These were some of the questions that came to mind for Stephanie Archangel in 2015 as she found herself lingering in front of the work at the Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery in The Hague.

A sociologist by training, she had been searching in paintings for black people in which I could recognize myself, said Ms. Archangel, who was born and raised on Curacao, an island that was once a Dutch colony. Described by the Mauritshuiss website as likely showing free men who lived in Amsterdam, Rembrandts portraits seemed human and worthy, Ms. Archangel said.

It was the first time I saw black people in the 17th century painted by a Dutch master looking proudly back at me, said Ms. Archangel, who is now a junior curator at the Rijksmuseum. I was wondering if that was true or not, or if it was my imagination, or just my hope to see that kind of proud representation.
Universities in Australia, however, have not taken very proactive steps. Of course, political leaders have said that we are not yet at a level of widespread community transmission. But that statement is hard to evaluate. We dont know how long (or when) patients are infectious. Some new studies suggest the contagious period might extend beyond 14 days, and happen also when patients are asymptomatic. We dont know how long the virus survives on surfaces, but it might do so for days. We dont have enough tests made or even available. All of these factors makes it next to impossible to be certain about the danger, and the real level of community transmission.

Italy has since locked down its entire population , and others might follow suit. In the US, the NBA has stopped and most universities have switched to online classes. We know that these measures will not prevent contagion. But they are the only effective tool to spread it out over time, to buy more time to allow our system to cope with the increasingly difficult cases.

A few weeks later, a rather unknown town in the north of Italy (Codogno) reported the first case. It was discovered by accident, by a doctor who decided to take the responsibility of stretching the envelope and test for an impossible disease  COVID-19. Then, more and more people started testing positive.

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There are steps that could be taken to face this unknown, and buy more time for our system to put in place the extraordinary measures it needs. For a start, we should not go to the footy, as some suggested, but take seriously the suggestions to avoid large gatherings. But we should also look into changing our educational practices. Some political leaders might be wary of closing primary schools  these children would need to be cared for by parents, at home. The blow to the economy would be significant. Shutting down universities completely also poses problems  what about international or regional students who might be relying on on-campus accommodation?

Without giving in to panicked decisions, a good alternative would be to switch most of our lectures and lessons online. Of course, nothing replaces in-person education. Many professors are worried that, if we go online now, that might prove disruptive to the sector in the future. University leaders might be worried about the reputational effects, as in the UK. But why waste the time that the sacrifice of Chinese, Italian, European citizens has bought us and offer the virus faster routes? Why bring together hundreds of students in closely-packed theatres for hours on end? Many of our students already watch lectures online and are generally old enough to be take other proactive measures, if the right messaging is delivered.

Our students are overwhelmed by conflicting information and operating under the false sense of security that, in Australia, all will be OK. Isnt it better to switch now, with calm, while we still can  before the emergency hits us?

I understand that for many in Australia, including healthcare workers, the COVID-19 might feel unreal. It did in Italy too. My friends and family tell me that, just a month ago, they could not picture what was to come. They never thought their cities would turn into ghost towns. And it is tempting to think this is not going to happen in Australia. To push back fear with a veneer of calm, of normalcy. But if we want to avoid the worst of the infection, we need to take all the proactive measures we can to slow and push back the infection rate. Going online is a small price to pay for a fight that is going to last a long time.
Agartala, March 13 : A youth reportedly burnt alive a 22-years-old girl after raping her in a West Tripura village, police said on Friday. The police have arrested the accused Sourab Paul, 28, a driver.

"A girl was reported missing since Thursday. The victim's burnt body was recovered on Friday. We are investigating," said a police officer.

Villagers of Rangachara under Sidhai police station in West Tripura suspect that the accused, Sourab Paul, might have burnt the girl alive after rape.

"We are awaiting the post-mortem report of the victim," said a police officer.

A team of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's women wing headed by state President Papia Datta visited the homes of the victim girl at Rangachara and asked the police for maximum punishment to the culprit.
Photo credit: Raydene Hansen

From Cosmopolitan

Earlier this week, colleges and universities around the country began responding to the widespread coronavirus, which the WHO has now deemed a global pandemic. Schools like the University of Dayton, in Ohio, instructed students to leave campus immediately, and many like Columbia University and University of Washington have taken classes online.



While most administrations say they are most concerned with keeping students and faculty members safe, theres no denying how devastating and disruptive it can be to leave school in the middle of a semester, especially when youre taking classes you love, spending precious time with your friends, and, oh yeah, have already shelled out thousands of dollars in tuition, housing costs, and travel expenses.

Here, Cosmopolitan spoke to college students to see how their schools reactions to COVID-19 have affected them.

I had to leave so abruptly that all my belongings are still in Rome.

I was studying abroad this semester in Rome, Italy, and was required to return home early from my program due to COVID-19. All my classes are online for the rest of the semester and I have to self-quarantine for the next 14 days. But I had to leave so abruptly that all my belongings are still in Rome and there are no plans for me to get them back anytime soon since the country is under lockdown. Im doing fine now, but my stuff is still in Italy and Im not sure when Ill get it! Jenna Bush, 20, University of Alabama

We are all being told to go home to places that are way more dangerous.

Students at Williams College have been told to leave campus by Tuesday at 5 p.m. Spring break is starting a week early and will be a week longer than expected. In the past, Williams has done whatever it can to make sure that classes dont get cancelled and that student life goes on as per usual, so this is definitely out of character for the administration.

My biggest frustration is the fact that we are all being told to go home to places that are way more dangerous than here in the corner of rural Massachusetts. When I go back to New York City, where Im from, I am at a much higher risk of getting infected than if I had stayed here, but I have to go back to the city anyway. I feel the safest when I am at Williams and to be told to leave during this time is just really hard to process or accept.

Story continues

My friends and I are spending as much time as we can together before we leave. We still have classes this week, but we are watching Jeopardy! and having a hoedown birthday party for one of our friends tonight. We just want to have fun and have good memories to take with us before we have to leave for the rest of the school year."

Bellamy Richardson, 18, Williams College

I definitely did not pay thousands of dollars and go to a school 200 miles away just to be subjected to online classes.



My school, Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, finally made a statement today and decided the best option is to have all classes be online. But they encouraged us not to leave campus. The email shocked everyone and there are so many questions.

For starters, I am a fashion student. My classes are creative and project-based. I am missing out on so many tactical opportunities I simply cannot learn or do online. Granted, I am not opposed to doing what is the safest option for all of us, but keeping me in a dorm full of other people, still having me eat in dining halls (again full of other people), and having me take tests in a testing lab filled with germs is not helping my health.

Will we be on lockdown for a year? Will I be able to have an internship this upcoming summer? I want my fashion career to take flight, not live in fear. And I definitely did not pay thousands of dollars and go to a school 200 miles away just to be subjected to online classes. This all may sound selfishthat is not my intention. I truly do want what is best for everyone. But that doesnt make this process any more easy or fair.

Breana Cowan, 19, Ball State University

I dont even know if my graduation requirements will be met.



We were told that up until March 31, students arent allowed on main campus and classes will be carried our virtually, but a lot of people are saying thats probably going to be for the rest of the semester.

I work on campus and none of the student staff who work here are allowed to carry out their shifts. I know for a lot of students who have work study on campus, they wont have an income and thats really scary for a lot of people.

But otherwise, theres a really sad feeling among seniors. We only have a month and a half left of school and at this point, were only taking classes were really passionate about. My favorite class was canceled for the rest of the semester. I also intern for a college credit. Its up to the people in that office to determine whether they shut down for the intern program. If that happens, I dont know if Ill get a credit for that. Its really frustrating and I dont even know if my graduation requirements will be met. Lydia Niles, 22, Syracuse University

Theyre not giving us any info...

Im at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia. Right now, were on spring break and all theyve done is send out a few vague emails about how well go online if necessary. Theyre not giving us any info and everyone is stressed out. I really just want the college to send out an official statementlike, are we closing or not? (We all know its going to happen, but I want confirmation!) Laura Stordy, 21, Agnes Scott College

This just feels like a huge unnecessary disruption.

Honestly, this just feels like a huge unnecessary disruption. My school is leaning into the abundance of caution mindset, which I respect to some degree. However, moving things online indefinitely is especially frustrating for me as an out-of-state student because it requires packing up (as much as I can) with no real return date. It has not impacted me [financially] because Im here on scholarship, but its definitely been a topic of conversation. Online classes are obviously not the same. It feels like a rip-off. Caroline Collins, 21, Florida State University



I mean, currently we are paying $75,000 a year to open our laptops and sluggishly retain a Philosophy lecture in our PJs and bedhead.

Fordham University has done the best they can in keeping all the students updated. We started receiving emails about the virus weeks ago. Monday, we got the notice that we needed to leave ASAP and everything would be online until March 29.

My biggest frustrations are that they are waiting to tell us if we get to go back or not after that. Being from the West Coast, it is not easy to go back and forth [to New York]. Some of my teachers even forgot to take into account that there are different time zones when giving online lectures at the regular class time. I totally slept through my 8:30 a.m. class this morning because that is 5:30 a.m. for me. It was not on purpose, but hey, when a pandemic comes around, who knows what will happen?

I mean, currently we are paying $75,000 a year to open our laptops and sluggishly retain a Philosophy lecture in our PJs and bedhead. But in times like these, you just have to be thankful you are not somewhere worse. Isabelle Hesse, 19, Fordham University



Now that classes are moving online, I know I dont possess enough focus to be able to still truly understand the material, let alone get a decent grade.

Im really scared about what the remainder of this semester is going to be like. I have pretty difficult ADHD that Ive struggled with my entire academic career. Now that classes are moving online, I know I dont possess enough focus to be able to still truly understand the material, let alone get a decent grade. Elizabeth Bovay, 20, SUNY Geneseo



It feels like the world ended overnight.

It feels like the world ended overnight. My professor compared this to 9/11 in terms of how things went from feeling normal to this surreal uncertainty within such a short time. I am the musical director of the Binghamton Treblemakers, a cappella group. At rehearsal last night, our president announced we wont be able to have our semester show or use our funds for sound and lighting. I started crying. Seniors are being robbed of their senior solos theyve waited for for four years.

Rachel Slotnick, 21, University of Binghamton



Weve been told well be reimbursed for a quarter of a years room and board.

Wednesday afternoon, we were told that on-campus classes were over for the semester and we had to move out by the 23rd. The administrations communication has really been lacking, and because of that, theres been a good bit of misinformation going around. But all housing at Wesleyan is on campus, and weve been told well be reimbursed for a quarter of a years room and board (around $4500) unless we are approved to stay on campus.

The student and alumni response has been huge though. Theres a big Wesleyan mutual aid spreadsheet going around where people are offering housing, transport, food, money. Thats encouraging at least! Amy Geiger, 20, Wesleyan University

There are a lot of unknowns at this time.

We got a very abrupt email Wednesday saying that all classes were being suspended for the rest of the semester and transferred to online starting Thursday. I live on campus and the residence halls are staying open, but they are restricting any visitation, including students visiting other students. They are planning on consolidating the halls if they need to in order to try to move everyone staying on campus into one-person rooms. They are not planning on reimbursing us for any housing costs or meal plans.

All Greek life events including formals and philanthropy events were cancelled without any warning. A lot of people are panicking about what they will do about housing, how to get home, how to move their stuff. There are a lot of unknowns at this time. Whitney McBay, 20, Loyola University, New Orleans

Everyone found out that we are online for the rest of the semester from Governor Cuomos tweet.

I go to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and they only told us we were closed for next week. But everyone found out that we are online for the rest of the semester from Governor Cuomos tweet before the school let us know. I have friends that are transferring after this semester and are now in a panic because our semester has come to such an abrupt halt. Its been a really eerie and unsettling feeling not knowing how long this will last or how much worse it could get. Carli Brennan, 20, Fashion Institute of Technology

Will I be able to walk across a stage and get my diploma?



All I want to do is spam my professors emails for answers as to whats going to happen, but at the same time, I dont want to overwhelm them more than they already are. What makes things worse is Im supposed to graduate in the spring. I cant help but wonder whats going to happen: Will I be able to finish everything in time? Is this semester like a free pass or will I have to make it up? Will I be able to walk across a stage and get my diploma? I dont think anyone has these answers at this point. So now all Im left to do is sit and wait. It is quite unsettling. Molly Tarase, 21, Cleveland State University



Everyone is terrified and we have all gotten to the point of not knowing how to stay calm.

Central CT State just closed immediately until further notice because a student may have it. I know people who have no where to go because they are getting kicked out of their dorms. One of my professors said yesterday, I know they say well see you again after spring break but my educated guess? This is the last time I will see you guys this semester. Everyone is terrified and we have all gotten to the point of not knowing how to stay calm. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Christina Plourd, 22, Central CT State University

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A woman of the world. This is how we could introduce the stylist Letar. Born in Thailand before setting sail to the United States and then Australia to continue her studies in fashion design, Letar has now returned with her suitcases filled with ideas to her dear country, Thailand, and more precisely Bangkok. This is where I pictured setting up my brand, NARA," says Letar. "I wanted my collections to be created by artisans of the region while bringing my inspirations from elsewhere.

Letar  Maurice Lacroix

Letars signature? Collections whose cuts are assertive and minimalist while providing freedom of movement and undeniable craftsmanship. I didnt choose an easy job, but for me, it wasnt a choice, it was a no-brainer," she confesses. "Im always exploring new techniques, especially in eco-friendly fabrics, I also dream of setting up an exhibition allowing you to see the similarities between the craftsmanship used to create my clothes and art.

For her, Maurice Lacroixs mindset is perfectly aligned with her vision of the world: The brand pushes people to believe in their potential. I could only find myself in this vision! Also, the AIKON collection represents power associated with design. Its completely in line with my brand and my personality!

Letar  Maurice Lacroix

We like the assertive style that Letar displays through her brand," says Stephane Waser, Managing Director of Maurice Lacroix. "Focused, passionate and with an open perspective on the world, she is a bright young woman whose vision is completely aligned with ours. We are looking forward to working on projects together.
Forty-four Indian nationals who



returned to Mumbai from Iran on Friday were shifted to a quarantine facility set up by the the Western Naval Command (WNC) here, a defence release said.

The Navy has set up a 100-bed quarantine camp in suburban Ghatkopar.

On Friday, a team from the WNC received an Air Iran flight at the Mumbai Airport and shifted 44 Indian nationals who returned from the country to the quarantine facility, the defence spokesperson said.

They would be kept under medical observation for two weeks, he added.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working on plans to bring back the Indians stranded there.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Other manufacturers say the Chinese government is still claiming all the masks that their factories in the country make. Mask exports are still not authorized, but we are following the situation every day, said Guillaume Laverdure, chief operating officer of Medicom, a Canadian manufacturer that makes three million masks a day at its Shanghai factory.

Much as it dominates manufacturing of cars, steel, electronics and other necessities, China is essential to the worlds supply of protective medical gear. Most of what it makes are the disposable surgical masks worn by health professionals. It makes a smaller number of N95 respirator masks, which provide more filtration for doctors and nurses.

The general public does not need to wear masks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But demand for surgical masks has skyrocketed in China, where the police require anyone who goes out in public to wear a mask.

Though companies say China is claiming virtually all mask output, the Chinese government said it had never issued a regulation prohibiting mask exports and was willing to work with other countries to share.
If someone presents to a health care facility and they are really sick, they get hospitalized, theyve tested for flu, it wasnt flu," she explained. "Theyve tested for many other bacterias, viruses, fungi and cannot find an etiology, that would also be a criteria to say, 'Look, we cant find etiology for this illness, theyre critically ill, this also qualifies to be a person under investigation, so that sample would also qualify to be sent to the public health lab.
Snow in Arnold View Photo

A cold weather system will bring significant snow to the Sierra Nevada and the upper elevations of the Mother Lode this weekend.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the Sierra Nevada above 3,000 feet, from 5 AM Saturday morning through 5 PM Monday Night.

Snow will begin to develop on Saturday morning and become moderate to heavy at times from Saturday night through Monday.

Generally, snow levels will range anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 feet during the duration of the Warning.

Total snow accumulations around the 2,500 foot elevation, could range between four to eight inches. Above the 4,000 foot elevation, the total snow accumulations will range between one to six feet.

Wind gusts will range from forty to sixty mph over the Sierra crest. Whiteout conditions are possible.

Mountain travel will be very difficult to impossible from early Saturday evening through early Sunday evening. If you must travel, carry a winter emergency kit and check road conditions before you go. Expect chain controls, travel delays and possible road closures.

A Winter Storm Warning means there will be snow covered roads and limited visibilities. Travel is not recommended while the Warning is in effect. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.
Elmer Alegado, an experienced healthcare professional, helps keep medical facilities in California fully staffed.

LATHROP, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / Many hospitals and healthcare facilities are struggling to stay fully staffed. There simply aren't enough qualified candidates to fill the ever-growing number of available positions, which means that some healthcare positions remain open for months. Job vacancies can lead to a number of other problems for both hospitals and patients. Elmer Alegado, the President of StrategiCareStaffing, runs the company to help address the serious problem.

When healthcare facilities are not adequately staffed, it directly impacts the people who need immediate care. Patients receive less attention because nurses and doctors must split their time between more people than usual. Elmer Alegado explains that, in turn, the patient's safety and comfort are put at risk. The safety and health of the patient should always be the top priority.

Patients aren't the only ones suffering from this dilemma, however. Elmer Alegado notes that hospitals are also negatively impacted by being short-staffed. Patients expect to receive high-quality care services, which puts pressure on the hospital to become more efficient. They must tighten up all procedures, protocols, budgets, and schedules, which puts even more strain and stress on existing team members.

When team members are continually struggling to keep up, they are more likely to rush and make mistakes in their departments. Elmer Alegado notes that stressed staff members also feel less contentment and satisfaction in their roles, which in turn threatens more vacancies. The longer positions stay open, the more responsibility is shifted to others.

After 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Elmer Alegado realized the importance of strategic healthcare staffing. He saw the need throughout his career, having worked in a community hospital, medical clinic, and marine school, among other places. StrategiCareStaffing, located in Lathrop California, has been making notable contributions to the industry since its inception, thanks to Elmer Alegado and his skilled team of dedicated professionals.

Both large and small hospitals alike count on StrategiCareStaffing to quickly fill positions with qualified candidates that have undertaken a rigorous screening and training regimen. Elmer Alegao and his team look for healthcare candidates that have a wide range of skills and past experiences. Medical facilities trust Elmer Alegado to fulfill the mission of StrategiCareStaffing, which is to assist and support healthcare facilities in the community with needed professionals in the delivery of healthcare services.

Elmer Alegado strives to make StrategiCareStaffing the leading and most reliable healthcare staffing resource for the community. The company always aims to provide staff with the highest degree of professionalism and integrity. Their 24/7 healthcare facility staffing is now sought-after by some of the best medical facilities in California.

As president of StrategiCareStaffing, Elmer Alegado brings his lifelong passion for serving his fellow countrymen. When combined with the skills he's perfected from years of working in different nursing positions, Elmer Alegado is able to deliver exceptional healthcare staffing services for his clients.

CONTACT:

Caroline Hunter

Web Presence, LLC

+1 7865519491

SOURCE: Web Presence, LLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/580577/Strategic-Staffing-President-Elmer-Alegado-Fulfills-Company-Mission
Tibor Nagy Archives

Ambassador Tibor Peter Nagy Jr., the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs has expressed reservations with the recent declarations of Cameroons Minister of Territorial Administration, Atanga Nji Paul regarding the role of Nongovernmental Organisations in the countrys North West and South West Regions.

Atanga Nji in a media outing 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 Cameroon.

The US diplomat took to twitter Friday, March 13, 2020 to state that Nongovernmental Organisations are out to help feed and care for the people in need, calling on government to let them do their work according to established humanitarian principals.

The United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs was apparently taken aback when Minister Atanga Nji said 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, fabricate 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 the Cameroon army is carrying out acts against the civilian population.

Hear Nagy: NGOs help feed and care for people in need, if governments let them do their work according to humanitarian principles. Sad to see Cameroon use NGOs as scapegoats, as recently done by Minister of Territorial Administration and Cameroon rep to Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Cameroon-Info.Net recalls that Minister Atanga Nji had 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.

The Minister of Territorial Administration says 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.

He said his attention had been drawn to the recurrent manipulations of some NGOs and Human Rights Associations in Cameroon.

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, said Atanga Nji before thundering: 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.

Cameroons defence and security forces have since 2017 been fighting to dislodge armed separatists who seek to make the North West and South West regions an independent country christened Ambazonia.

According to United Nations agencies, nearly 600,000 children have been prevented by armed separatists from going to school since late 2016, and only 19 percent of primary and secondary schools are open across the aforementioned regions.

Open sources say thousands have been killed, hundreds of thousands displaced internally with others as refugees in neighbouring Nigeria. According to Human Rights Watch, separatists have been specialised in kidnappings, arsons, maiming, and killings among other atrocities. Government forces have also been blamed for excesses.
The status of Prince Harry and Prince Williams tense relationship is unclear right now but, given their icy exchange at their last royal appearance together, some wonder if they will ever have the close bond they once shared. One royal source believes the brothers relationship has been forever changed.

Prince Harry, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince William, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge | PHIL HARRIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Prince Harry confirmed he and Prince William were feuding

During an interview for the 2019 documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Prince Harry admitted that things had been tense between him and Prince William. Rumors had been floating for some time that the brothers had been feuding, with many reports pointing towards Williams well-intentioned advice for Harry about not rushing into a relationship with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, as a possible cause of their disagreement.

Part of this role and part of this job and this family being under the pressure that its under inevitably, you know, stuff happens, Harry said during the interview.

He continued: But, look, were brothers. Well always be brothers. Were certainly on different paths at the moment but I will always be there for him and, as I know, he will always be there for me.

But as brothers, you have good days and you have bad days, he noted.

The brothers didnt seem warm towards each other at their final engagement

Of course, all eyes were on the brothers when they both attended to the Commonwealth Day service, as it would be their final public appearance together. Royal fans hoped to see some warmth between them, but it appeared there was a cold exchange.

They had the briefest of interactions  as Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, arrived to their seats, Prince Harry and Meghan gave a smile and wave.

It wasnt the warm reunion that we were all hoping for, body language expert Judi James shared with The Mirror. The tension in Harrys 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.

She added, Even when she was beside him after they had stopped holding hands, he was missing her, needing her support. As Harry walked up the aisle, they both waved at the children, but his face otherwise was quite tense and unsmiling.

Harry and Meghan looked a lot more genuinely cheerful, and Harry especially, threw a really affectionate smile at Kate, James noted. 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.

Prince Harry and Meghans exit isnt likely to improve things

The two have shared a bond as brothers, but Prince Harry and Prince Williams recent tension may not see any improvement with Prince Harry and Meghan leaving the royal family, an insider claims.

A source told People that Prince Harry and Prince Williams relationship is forever changed, explaining, They wont get back to the way they were. Harry is looking straight ahead at his future with his family.

Hes not looking back, the source added.

Royal biographer Ingrid Seward believes that Princess Diana would be disappointed by the brothers rift. One thing Diana said was, Please, whatever happens, remember you always have each other, and I want you always to stick together. And clearly that cant happen for a long time, Seward noted.
Scotland Yard chiefs were more concerned with 'restricting access' to a damning judge-led report into the VIP child sex abuse scandal than learning lessons from it, according to police watchdogs.

The Metropolitan Police's shocking response to its disastrous 'Nick' inquiry is laid bare in a devastating report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary today.

It revealed the force did little to improve practices for nearly three years, training regimes were outdated and nearly half of officers polled in a survey had received no training on how to apply for warrants.

'Inexperienced supervisors, weaknesses in understanding, inconsistencies and a superficial approach to supervising crime investigations aren't the most promising findings to have to report,' the HMIC said.

On another day of shame for the Metropolitan Police over the 'Nick' affair, the inspectorate report said senior officers largely ignored criticisms made by retired High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques in a 2016 review.

Pictured: Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick makes her way to Southwark Cathedral in London, before the funeral of PC Keith Palmer (April 2017)

His dossier identified 43 major blunders in the inquiry - known as Operation Midland - and made 25 recommendations.

The HMIC inspection found the Metropolitan Police had 'initially not done enough to learn the lessons from the Henriques report'.

'There were things the Met could and should have done when it received the report on October 31 2016. However, the force only properly began implementing the recommended changes much more recently,' it added.

Former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, falsely accused of being a child sex killer by serial liar 'Nick', real name Carl Beech, said today's report 'clearly indicates the Met tried to cover-up its wrongdoings in Operation Midland'.

Pictured: CPS screengrab from video interview of serial paedophile fantasist Carl Beech, known as 'Nick' during Operation Midland, who made up claims of murder and rape (July 2019)

Pictured: Former MP Harvey Proctor, falsely accused of murder and rape (November 2019)

The HMIC inquiry was instigated by Home Secretary Priti Patel last October after the Daily Mail led the way in exposing the scandal of the 'Nick' affair after Beech was jailed for 18 years for his VIP abuse lies and other offences.

Its bombshell findings raise questions about the leadership of Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, who took over the force in early 2017 in the wake of the Henriques report.

HMIC inspectors examined a summary of the minutes of 16 'gold group' meetings of senior officers at the Met which took place between February 2018 to August last year.

Its report stated: 'We were left with the impression that the group saw no particular role for itself in overseeing implementation of the recommendations or ensuring that the Met had learned the wider lessons. The discussion was heavily weighted towards restricting access to the report, rather than learning the lessons from it.'

It said it believes it would have been 'appropriate for the force to carry out some form of review into its use of search warrants' while a police watchdog investigation into the conduct of five Midland officers was under way.

HMIC investigators reviewed 61 search warrant applications which suggested that some officers making applications to raid properties still do not understand what they should disclose to courts.

Just under half (48 per cent) of 1,700 police officers who responded to a survey said they had never had any training in how to apply for a search warrant. The HMIC added: 'Some officers told us the focus was on increasing the number of search warrants executed rather than improving the quality of the applications.'

HM Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said: 'The Henriques report made uncomfortable reading for the Met and the force has been slow to learn the lessons.'

However, he added: 'I'm pleased to see that, since October 2019, the force has been taking bolder steps to learn the lessons.'

How lies perpetuated by a paedophile fantasist were swallowed by police, fanned by Tom Watson, and led to the blighting of the lives of former MPs and Britain's most decorated wartime hero Pictured: Former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques, who identified 43 major blunders in Operation Midland and made 25 recommendations in 2016 Allegations made by Carl Beech sparked the million-pound Metropolitan Police investigation known as Operation Midland, with officers raiding the homes of several high-profile figures who were falsely accused. Here are the key dates along the way. 2012: December 6 - Carl Beech is interviewed by Wiltshire Police Detective Constable Mark Lewis after making a complaint about child sex abuse;

He says his stepfather, Major Ray Beech, and shamed celebrity Jimmy Savile, who died the previous year, both abused him. The force later marks the case as 'undetected' and takes no further action. 2014: October 23 - After meeting reporters, Beech brings to the Metropolitan Police a string of allegations against high-profile figures;

November 14 - Police announce the launch of the Operation Midland investigation into claims of 'possible homicide' linked to an alleged VIP paedophile ring. The investigation centres on claims by 'Nick';

December 18 - Scotland Yard appeals for information regarding the alleged murders of three young boys linked to the supposed paedophile ring. People who lived in or visited London's Dolphin Square apartments in the 1970s are asked to come forward. A Met officer describes the allegations made by 'Nick' as 'credible and true'; 2015: March 4 - The home of former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor is searched by officers investigating 'historic child sexual abuse'. He denies being part of a 'rent-boy ring' or attending sex parties. The homes of Lord Brittan - the former home secretary Leon Brittan - and Lord Bramall are later searched;

April 30 - Normandy veteran Lord Bramall, 91, is interviewed under caution;

August 25 - Mr Proctor denounces the allegations made by 'Nick' and claims he is the victim of a 'homosexual witch hunt';

September 22 - Alison Saunders, the then-head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), admits Scotland Yard may have 'overstepped the mark' in describing the allegations as 'credible and true'; 2016: January 15 - Lord Bramall is told he faces no further action and Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, then Metropolitan Police commissioner, apologises to him.

March 21 - Mr Proctor reveals he has been told he will face no further action. Operation Midland is closed without a single arrest. Days later, the widow of Lord Brittan is told her husband would have had no case to answer.

November 2 - Beech's three-bed home in Gloucester is raided by police.

November 8 - A report by retired High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques finds Scotland Yard made 'numerous errors' in Operation Midland. 2017: September 7 - Northumbria Police passes a file to CPS to determine if 'Nick' should face charges of perverting the course of justice and fraud. 2018: February - Aware that charges may follow from Northumbria Police's investigation, 'Nick' flees the country to start a new life in Sweden.

July 3 - 'Nick' is charged with 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud.

October 20 - Having been extradited from Sweden, 'Nick' appears in court.

December 3 - 'Nick' is unmasked as Carl Beech after Judge Paul Sloan QC lifts a reporting restriction preventing the media from naming him. 2019: January 22 - Beech pleads guilty to voyeurism, making indecent images of children and possessing indecent images.

February 18 - Beech denies perverting the course of justice and fraud.

May 14 - His trial begins with prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC describing his account to detectives as 'totally unfounded, hopelessly compromised and irredeemably contradicted'.

July 3 - Beech stands by allegations he made to detectives when he gives evidence.

July 22 - The jury takes just four-and-a-half hours to convict the ex-NSPCC volunteer after hearing evidence including that he made a claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for 22,000, which was used to put down a deposit on a Ford Mustang.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) clears three detectives after looking into how a district judge granted warrants to raid the homes of Beech's innocent victims.

July 26 - Beech, a 51-year-old former nurse and divorced father, is jailed for 18 years.

Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson is accused of being the 'cheerleader in chief' of the false claims. The then-West Bromwich MP had spoken with Beech in 2014 and raised the issue of a possible high-profile criminal VIP ring during a House of Commons debate two years earlier.

July 30 - Lord Bramall said it was 'completely ridiculous' that no officer involved had faced criminal or disciplinary action.

Sir Richard said police officers involved in the probe should be investigated.

August 8 - It emerges police spent 4,670 on a trip to Sydney only to find that Scott Masterton - named by Beech as a murder victim - was still alive, according to reports.

August 21 - Beech appeals against his conviction and sentence.

September 4 - It emerges the saga could cost the Metropolitan Police more than 4 million: 2.5 million for the Met investigation; 900,000 spent by Northumbria Police in investigating and convicting Beech, which will be charged to the Met; Mr Proctor is suing the Met for 1 million

September 9 - Mr Proctor said the Henriques report revealed 'staggering incompetence', and his lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC said the investigation had been conducted with 'institutional stupidity'.

October 3 - The Home Secretary asks chief inspector of constabulary Tom Winsor to review the force over the bungled probe.

October 4 - More findings from the Henriques report are released, which pinpoint the main cause of the investigation as 'poor judgment and a failure to accurately evaluate known facts'.

Mr Proctor said should 'consider her position'. The next day, he also called on Mr Watson to resign.

October 7 - The IOPC identifies 'shortcomings and organisational failings' but find no evidence of misconduct by five officers involved in Midland probe.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said she is 'deeply sorry' for mistakes made in police investigations into the 'appalling lies spun by Carl Beech'.

November 4 - Mr Proctor reported five former Met officers to the police in a bid to spark a fresh inquiry into their investigation.

November 6 - Mr Watson stepped down as deputy leader of the Labour Party, for 'personal, not political' reasons. Mr Proctor said the MP had done his constituents a 'great favour' by standing down.

November 12 - Lord Bramall, one of the victims of Beech's lies, died aged 95.

November 28 - The court grants Mr Proctor 500,000 in compensation from Scotland Yard.

December 21 - Dame Cressida is referred to the IOPC over her role in the Beech investigation following a formal complaint from Mr Proctor. 2020: January 17 - The Met voluntarily refers itself to the IOPC over complaints the force had failed to fully investigate two men known as 'A' and 'B', who gave accounts that apparently backed up Beech, for lying about being abused as children.

January 25 - The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) finds no evidence of a 'Westminster paedophile ring'.

March 9 - Dame Cressida is cleared by the IOPC.

March 13 - Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) publishes its report on the Met's response to the Henriques report. Advertisement

A redacted copy of the Henriques report was first released in November 2016, with the Metropolitan Police publishing a much fuller version in October last year, prompting the HMIC inquiry.

In July last year Sir Richard used an article for the Mail to accuse Midland officers of using false evidence to obtain warrants for raids on the homes of leading figures accused by Beech.

Among those falsely accused by the former nurse were retired Armed Forces chief Lord Bramall, former home secretary Lord Brittan and Mr Proctor.

Scotland Yard said yesterday that it noted the criticism in the inspectorate report that 'despite some initial good work, more could have been done after Sir Richard's report was received'.

'However, the Met was deliberately cautious so as not to impact on the ongoing criminal investigations into Carl Beech by Northumbria Police or the independent investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct into the conduct of our officers,' it added.
Disney has announced that it will close down its theme parks in Florida and Paris beginning March 15 amid coronavirus escalation in the United States and Europe. The latest development came hours after Disney announced that it will shut down its California resort. According to a statement issued by Disney, as of now, the closure will last until the end of March. Disney also announced that it will suspend all new departures of its four Cruise ships beginning March 14.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Top Adviser To Iran's Ali Khamenei Quarantined With Virus Symptoms

According to the statement, "The Disney Dream will depart on a three-night cruise from Port Canaveral as scheduled on Friday, March 13, and will return to Port Canaveral on Monday, March 16. The Disney Fantasy and Disney Magic will return to port on Saturday, March 14. The Disney Wonder, which is currently in the midst of a westbound Panama Canal cruise, will continue on its scheduled itinerary, with guests disembarking in San Diego on Friday, March 20."

Read: Google Confirms Employee Diagnosed With Coronavirus In Bengaluru Office, Put On Quarantine

Disney in its statement further informed that it will offer guests affected by this decision a future cruise credit or a full refund, the details of which will be provided directly to them. Disney also said that it will compensate all its crew members and shoreside Cast members.

Read: Trump Won't Be Tested For Coronavirus Despite Meeting Infected Bolsonaro Aide: White House

Coronavirus outbreak

As per data acquired by worldometer, the United States has so far recorded 1,762 coronavirus cases, of which 65 cases came in the last 24 hours. According to the data, there are currently 1,690 active COVID-19 cases, of which 10 are under critical condition. 31 patients in the United States have recovered fully while 41 have lost their lives. Meanwhile, France is more affected by coronavirus where at least 61 people have lost their lives since the disease first broke out in December last year. There are currently 2,803 active COVID-19 cases in the country.

Read: Amazon Announces Stringent Policies For Sale Of Face Masks Amid Coronavirus Price Gouging
This aerial photo taken on March 10, 2020 shows an almost empty street in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Some Cities in Chinas Coronavirus Epicenter Partially Lift Lockdown Measures

Five local governments within Hubei province, where the novel coronavirus outbreak in China is most severe, announced that lockdown measures would be partially lifted.

On March 12, the cities of Qianjiang, Jingzhou, and Shishou, and the counties of Gongan and Zhuxi, announced that they would allow limited travel and resumption of business activities.

Since late January, authorities enacted lockdown measures on Hubei residents, in order to contain the virus. Such policies included public transportation bans; restrictions on when and how often people could leave their homes; and stringent traffic checkpoints.

But coinciding with Chinese leader Xi Jinpings visit to coronavirus ground zero Wuhan on March 10, his first since the outbreak began, authorities began to ease restrictions.

The Hubei government announced that local regions could allow limited travel, based on a new system whereby residents will download an app onto their phones and input their health information.

The app will then assign a color code based on ones health condition: green, yellow, or redwhich corresponds to different levels of mobility. Authorities at checkpoints would allow or deny passage to residents.

For example, Shishou City announced that those with the green code would be allowed to enter or leave housing estates and public venues.

But there appeared to be miscalculations along the way.

Qianjiang city announced on March 10 that all public transportation would be resumed, business firms reopened, and traffic checkpoints removed. That made the city the first in Hubei to lift lockdown measures.

But just a day later, Qianjiang authorities rescinded the notice and said all transportation and personal travel will again be restricted.

And on March 12, Qianjiang again lifted, though partially, the restrictions.

In recent days, the Chinese regime has aggressively pushed the narrative that the epidemic has been successfully contained.

Chinese authorities ramped up publishing media articles that portray their containment efforts in a positive light.

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.

But locals in Wuhan say that many are still sick.

A Wuhan doctors spouse told Epoch Times affiliate NTD in an interview that some patients who were released from local hospitals hadnt actually recovered, and later transmitted the virus to their neighbors in Hanyang district.
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenya's top national security organ, convened a crisis session to discuss the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on Friday, and decided to enforce a ban on public gatherings
Oscar Ousback-King is patiently explaining the finer points of the price difference between a T-shirt from Elton Johns 1992-93 world tour (around $120) and the rarer Versace Elton John tee ($380). Draped on the wall behind Ousback-King is a vintage 1994 tour tee of the Elton John/Billy Joel Face to Face tour, priced at $150.

A very rare band T-shirt from the 1990s can be valued in the thousands, explains the genial 26-year-old, who is manager of The Stitch Up, a go-to vintage clothing store in Sydneys inner west. But Ousback-King, who is sporting a Gucci watch from the late 1980s (which he snapped up for $40), Stone Island jeans and Mossimo runners, makes it clear hes not a fan of old rockers; its all about the design.

Oscar Ousback-King (left) and Alex Vellins find their vintage wares are popular among Millennials. Credit:James Brickwood

Nobody listens to their music, he says, glancing back at the Elton John tee. Were all into rap.

Alex Vellins, the tattooed owner of The Stitch Up, tells me Millennials are into vintage clothing because of affordability and quality. Vellins, whose late father, Ian, owned Ashwoods record and book store, a Sydney institution for more than 70 years until it closed in 2009, says he met the likes of Frank Zappa and Dave Gilmour when they visited his dads shop. Weve had celebrity visitors in our shop, too, but we dont really care about that.
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 24: Ryan Thomas and Lucy Mecklenburgh attend the Specsavers 'Spectacle Wearer Of The Year' at 8 Northumberland Avenue on October 24, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Lucy Mecklenburgh has joked that sleep is already hard to come by after welcoming a baby boy with her fiance Ryan Thomas.

The former The Only Way Is Essex star announced on Thursday that she had given birth to a baby boy.

Sharing the first snap of the couples new arrival on Instagram, she revealed that they had named him Roman Ravello Thomas.

Hours later, the star shared a funny GIF on her Instagram Story, showing a character asking: Sleep?

Whats that?

Screengrab from Lucy Mecklenburgh Instagram

Mecklenburgh, 28, and former Coronation Street star Thomas, 35, revealed late last year that they were having a baby boy.

The couple, who got together in 2017 after meeting on Celebrity Island With Bear Grylls, shared the news with fans in a video on Instagram.

In the clip, Mecklenburgh found out the gender of their unborn baby first then turned to Thomas and told him: Its a boy.

The pair have been inundated with good wishes following the arrival of Roman.

Super mumma, posted Loose Women star Stacey Solomon on Instagram, while actress Helen Flanagan wrote: Congratulations darling.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 2019/08/08: Ryan Thomas and Lucy Mecklenburgh arrive at the Bloomsbury Street Kitchen Restaurant Launch Party in London. (Photo by Keith Mayhew/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Coronation Street star Samia Longchambon wrote: Aw, so nice to hear some good news... congratulations guys!

Fellow The Only Way Is Essex star Sam Faiers joked: I thought you had gone a bit quiet.

She added: Huge congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby boy lots of love. Xxxx.
A day after a Minister in the crisis-stricken Kamal Nath government was allegedly stopped by police from entering a resort near here where 19 of the 22 rebel Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh were believed to be holed up, Karnataka Congress' President-designate D K Shivakumar along with him approached the ADGP, seeking help.

Shivakumar, accompanied by Madhya Pradesh Ministers Jitu Patwari and Balaram Choudhary, along with Narayan Choudhary, who is father of one of the MLAs Manoj Choudhary, met ADGP Amar Kumar Pandey at the DGP office here.

Narayan Choudhary requested police to give him an opportunity to meet his son and submitted a memorandum in this regard.

Alleging that his son Manoj was forcibly brought here by "some people" and kept in the resort, Narayan Choudhary said, "Though my son wanted to meet us, he was not allowed by some local people said to be BJP members threatened us and took us to the local police station without any reason."



"As all of us have come from Madhya Pradesh to see my son, who is in the custody of the local people, I request you kindly provide necessary protection to us and allow us to meet my son without any further delay," he added.

MP Minister Jitu Patwari, was briefly detained along with a few Congress supporters on Thursday as he sought to enter the resort in BJP-ruled Karnataka, and had engaged in a heated argument with the police.

Patwari had later called on Shivakumar, considered a troubleshooter of the party, along with Narayan Choudhary, and alleged they were not allowed to meet Manoj (the MLA) and were forcefully taken to the police station.

Speaking to reporters after meeting police officials, Shivakumar on Friday said, "we have requested police to facilitate the meeting of father and the son, without any threat or force and in a free and fair manner."



He said the father had come here on the request of his son to meet him, but police did not allow them.

Noting that he has highest respect on the police of Karnataka, he said police without allowing any BJP leaders or others, should allow them to meet.

"I'm sure that police will be fair."



Responding to a question about reports that MLAs will leave for Bhopal to meet the Madhya Pradesh Speaker, Shivakumar said he has heard about the movements, but doesn't want to comment.

Regarding Karnataka Congress extending help to Madhya Pradesh Congress, he said, "...our entire life is dedicated for (party). We don't want to make it a big issue. Very patiently we are waiting for various things."



The 19 legislators, said to be loyalists of Jyotiraditya Scindia who has joined the BJP, in their letter to the DGP earlier this week had said they have come to Karnataka "voluntarily" on some "important work".

All 19 had announced their resignation on Tuesday, pushing the Kamal Nath government into a crisis.

It is not clear whether all the 19 are staying at the resort where Patwari had gone.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The New York State court system has banned the start of any new jury trials across the state in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. There wont be any new grand juries convened, either.

But the state and U.S. Constitution likely prohibit a total shutdown of the court system: people are still getting arrested, still need to be arraigned and still need to be tried within speedy trial deadlines. The courts are still required to be open to the public.

Even the courts in New Rochelle, inside the Coronavirus Containment Zone, remain open, with huge signs cautioning the sick to remain home.

State Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks noted that placing a hold on all jury trials and grand juries statewide requires an Executive Order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. That order was expected imminently, Marks said in a public memo Friday afternoon.

Starting Monday, March 16, the courts will start the process of winding down certain activities. Juries that are in the middle of trial or deliberations can continue. But no new jury trials can begin.

The jury selection process in civil and criminal trial matters shall be suspended until further notice, Marks wrote in the memo.

The Onondaga County District Attorneys Office, located in the criminal courthouse, will remain open, DA William Fitzpatrick said.

And it remains to be seen how judges handle their daily appearances. The Constitution requires cases to move at a certain speed, especially involving criminal defendants in jail. Those rules can only be bent so far, even for Coronavirus.

On the other hand, cases involving defendants who remain at liberty, or are charged with minor crimes, are more flexible. Those cases are more likely to be adjourned.

Civil courtrooms, where lawsuits are handled, are expected to see the first closures due to Coronavirus. Criminal courtrooms could come later.

As of Friday afternoon, though, courthouses remain open and business continues that does not involve new juries or new grand juries.

Rarely do courtrooms hold hundreds of people, as barred by Cuomos directives. But spectators are often squeezed into gallery benches. Juries and grand juries spend hours together in close quarters.

Non-essential travel by state court officials is also banned. The courts encouraged the use of Skype or other teleconferencing, when possible.

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
In cases of sexual harassment, due process is held up as a kind of golden ideal. But how does it translate into practice? If an organisation is committed to social justice and human rights, does this automatically make its own workplaces egalitarian or safe? And what does a complainant do when due process has failed her? These are among the questions development sector professional Shivani Lal confronted after filing a complaint of sexual harassment against a former colleague, Mathew Jacob, in October 2018.

In cases of sexual harassment, due process is held up as a kind of golden ideal. But how does it translate into practice? If an organisation is committed to social justice and human rights, does this automatically make its own workplaces egalitarian or safe? And what does a complainant do when due process has failed her?

These are among the questions development sector professional Shivani Lal confronted after filing a complaint of sexual harassment against a former colleague, Mathew Jacob, in October 2018. In a Medium post she shared (along with the added testimonies of two other women) on 24 January 2020, Lal has spoken of experiencing sexual harassment at the workplace, and also how she felt further silenced when she attempted to seek redressal for it.

Firstpost has received permission from Lal and her peers  Bondita Acharya, who worked at the same organisation as Lal; and an unnamed third woman, an ex-employee of Amnesty International India  to quote from their statements (which can be read in their entirety here).

Lal, Jacob and Acharya were all associated in some capacity with the Madurai-headquartered human rights NGO Peoples Watch. As employees or volunteers, they were variously involved in the work of Peoples Watch and its allied networks such as Human Rights Defenders Alert  India (HRDA) or Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN (WGHR; of which Peoples Watch was a founding member). The work of these groups overlapped; an individual could be formally part of one network, and have a role in the functioning of another.

The harassment Lal details dates to May of 2015, when she and Jacob were out of the office on a work trip. Lal was with WGHR at the time, and Jacob with HRDA, but their work brought them together on numerous occasions. After the days schedule had wrapped, and they conversed over drinks in Jacobs room, Lal says he began pressurising her to have sex with him. Since her repeated refusals seemed to have no effect, Lal told Jacob she was queer, hoping this would make him stop. However, he persisted, until Lal managed to get away from the room.

The next few months, as Lal writes in her statement, were filled with anxiety. She had moved to HRDA as well, and as the only female member of a then four-member team (apart from Lal herself, there was Jacob and another male colleague, and a male intern from Peoples Watch), she feared being alone with Jacob. She also worried that he would out her to their peers. In January 2016, unable to cope with the strain and Jacobs presence, Lal quit. I felt suffocated, unsafe and anxious all the time. The organisation had not put any effort into making it a safe working space, she says.

In October of 2018, as the second wave of the #MeToo movement took over social media timelines in India, Lal shared her account anonymously, through a friends Twitter handle.

To Lal, the initial response must have seemed hopeful: Within days, Peoples Watch issued a statement. Lals allegation would be looked into, the statement noted, urging her to participate in the process; Jacob had stepped down from his position as programme director with Peoples Watch.

But Lal says the complete and transparent support she was promised never materialised. Instead, due process, as carried out by Peoples Watch, turned out to be a sham, upholding entrenched power structures rather than leading to any real redressal.

***

When Bondita Acharya, then HRDAs Northeast coordinator, heard about Lals complaint in October 2018, it struck a chord with an incident she had witnessed two years ago.

In October 2016, Acharya says she was in Manipur for a training programme and was in the same car as Jacob and a young woman. According to Acharyas statement as published on Medium, even as the woman protested, an inebriated Jacob insisted she accompany him to his guesthouse room. Acharya was hesitant to intervene at the time  she didnt know the other woman well. She says she did, however, confront Jacob about his behaviour, which he seemingly passed off as having [human] needsand being unable to devote time for his personal life due to his workload. All of this was to justify his behaviour, Acharya says.

As Lals allegation against Jacob emerged during the #MeToo movement, Acharya aired her concerns to fellow human rights activists and peers in the development sector. She was advised that since the woman herself had not complained about the 2016 incident, it was best that Acharya refrained from bringing it up in the absence of proof. (Acharya says she has since sought permission from the woman to speak about the episode with Jacob.)

Since Acharya felt unease at remaining quiet about what she perceived as her knowledge about a troubling pattern of behaviour on Jacobs part, she decided to reach out to Peoples Watch founder Henri Tiphagne in November 2018.

In a WhatsApp message, a screenshot of which has been shared with Firstpost, Acharya detailed the October 2016 incident.

She also brought up another issue: Acharya told Tiphagne she was harassed by a colleague named Narottam Joshi in January 2018 at the HRDA Delhi office. In her Medium post, Acharya has accused Joshi of following her into the small kitchen on the premises, holding her tightly from behind, and tickling her  an action that made her extremely uncomfortable as it was not a casual or friendly touch, and anyway [they] did not share such a close relationship that Joshi could hug her in this manner. She says she immediately tensed up and slipped out of Joshis grip.

Tiphagnes response (or lack thereof) to her message astounded Acharya. She says the Peoples Watch founder neither asked her for more details of the incidents involving Jacob or Joshi, nor did he provide a time when he might be free to discuss the matter further. In a later meeting, Tiphagne asked Acharya to submit her complaint against Joshi in writing, which she says was surprising, considering that when an FIR can be registered over the phone, here was the head of a human rights organisation, who didnt want to talk to a female colleague about her facing sexual harassment at the workplace.

That November Acharya and Tiphagne attended the Human Rights Defenders World Summit in Paris. She says Tiphagne didnt carry the discussion forward at this juncture either.

By March 2019, Acharya too had left HRDA.

***

Meanwhile, Lal was struggling with the process of seeing through her formal complaint against Jacob. Between October 2018 (when the allegation was first tweeted) and February 2019, she was engaged in an increasingly sporadic and inconsiderate email exchange with the ad hoc committee that had been set up to look into her complaint and report back to the Peoples Watch Internal Committee (IC).

Since her hearing was to be held in Delhi (Lal is based in Mumbai, Jacob was in Delhi, and Peoples Watch is headquartered at Madurai), Lal requested that the committee let her know the date sufficiently ahead of time so she could make economical travel arrangements. Despite repeated emails to the committee, Lal says she was finally informed of the hearing date only five days in advance.

With the response time between mails  our only means of communication  so stretched, I waited anxiously over these four months, not knowing what to expect, says Lal. There was no roadmap to rely on, no timeline stipulated on how this ad hoc committee would operate. It seemed as though they were determined to make the process as punishing as possible for me. A process which is supposed to be survivor-friendly should not be this taxing to a persons mental health.

For Lal, the hearing itself was an ordeal. The committee dealt with the evidence and testimonies presented before and during the hearing as a matter of public trial, needing proof beyond reasonable doubt, she says. She still fumes over a question the convener of the committee, a leading lawyer, asked her: Do you remember how many drinks youd had by the end of the night? Do you remember how empty the bottle was?

Lal says the committee relied on the testimony of one individual in reaching its conclusion  a colleague who said he had been sharing a room with Jacob on the evening Lal says she was harassed. The man was deemed an independent witness  i.e. a third party who can present an unbiased opinion as he/she is not connected to the complainant or the respondent  by the committee, even though Lal says this man and Jacob had a continued association since 2015. On the other hand, four women whose testimonies were presented by Lal (after they reached out to her on Twitter, saying they too had been harassed by Jacob) werent deemed independent witnesses.

The committee concluded that upon consideration of the material brought before us, we are unable to find the allegation in the complaint proved.

In spite of having shared her concerns about Jacob, Bondita Acharya was not asked to participate in the inquiry process. And Acharya says that during this time, Jacob continued to be part of the organisations messaging and social media groups, even though he had seemingly stepped down from his position. She also states that Jacob seemed to enjoy the support of most peers and colleagues within Peoples Watch and its allied networks, whereas she [Acharya] was made to feel guilty for cutting off contact with him.

***

Lal had little recourse left at the end of the hearing.

Mentally exhausted and supremely disappointed not just with the committees findings but also the entire process, Lal wrote to the committee, rejecting its report in its entirety. To her surprise, the convener wrote back to her saying the committee had been dissolved and any further grievances would need to be addressed to Peoples Watch.

Lal sent an email to Peoples Watch, and also wrote to the larger network, WGHR, of which Peoples Watch is a member. WGHR told Lal that it was not in their power to address her concerns regarding the findings of the external committee, and that they regretted not having a sexual harassment policy in place during [Lals] tenure with WGHR, and unwittingly creating a work environment [she] did not experience to be safe. While we recognise that you felt unable to submit a complaint while you were working with us, we nonetheless clarify that had you done so, we would have responded immediately, WGHRs email read.

In effect, Lal says this essentially meant she was being blamed for not reporting her harassment to WGHR in 2015, while the group itself admitted they had neither the mechanisms nor the capacity to deal with a complaint like hers at the time.

***

Away from Peoples Watch, a third allegation had been made against Jacob in May 2018, by a woman who was then employed with Amnesty International India. [She no longer works there.] The woman, who is being identified as N in this report, said she had been sexually harassed by Jacob during a conference, and Amnestys IC began an inquiry into her complaint.

According to N, despite repeated summons and assurances of impartiality, Jacob chose not to engage with Amnestys IC. He maintained that the IC at Amnesty did not have jurisdiction to investigate complaints against an employee of another organisation, and dismissed Ns allegation as false and baseless.

The inquiry by Amnestys IC found that Jacobs actions did constitute sexual harassment. N says that the management at Amnesty International India contacted Peoples Watch to implement the recommendations of the IC, but were told once again that they [Amnesty] did not have the jurisdiction to investigate Jacob.

***

Firstpost reached out to a member of Amnesty International Indias IC, who said details of Ns case could not be divulged in accordance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

In requests for comment shared with Henri Tiphagne, Mathew Jacob and Narottam Joshi, all three refuted Acharya, Lal and Ns statements.

Joshi denied any knowledge of the incident Acharya outlined, saying, I am not aware of any allegation against me till now... I was only helping out as and when it was required by Peoples Watch, completely on a volunteer basis and extended my services pro-bono, which on an average, never exceeded two days in a month. I have always been employed elsewhere full time.

Mathew Jacob said he and Lal had formally consented to the composition of the external committee, its mandate and process and that they had been provided opportunities to submit both allegation and response, and further responses, before the hearing. Additional submissions were allowed following the hearing, after which, the committee, in its report, concluded that the allegations werent proved, Jacob says.

He says that he voluntarily stepped aside from the time of Lals allegation, until the board of Peoples Watch accepted the external committees report, and his official email account was suspended.

Jacob also told Firstpost that he and Lal werent colleagues in 2015, at the time that Lal says the harassment occurred: We worked together on certain instances because of the associated networks. She joined Peoples Watch only four months after the said allegation. At that time in PW Delhi, the team composed of only three people including the complainant, myself and one other male colleague. However, to Lal, Jacobs statement that she wasnt directly working under him seems like misdirection: while she was with WGHR when the incident occurred, she closely worked with Jacob as he was virtually steering the WGHR secretariat, she notes.

Regarding Ns statement that he had not compiled with the Amnesty ICs inquiry, Jacob says he wrote to them on seven occasions between November 2018 and February 2019, requesting an independent committee be set up by the organisation. Jacob felt he was at a disadvantage given the complainant is an immediate colleague of the committee members and his public criticism of Amnesty International India and participation in a collective intervention with its international counterpart [into] certain allegations of discrimination within this organisation. Jacob says Amnesty failed to act on his requests for an external committee to inquire into Ns complaint.

***

Sumitha, a member of the Peoples Watch IC, told Firstpost that the allegations against Jacob were brought to the committees attention a day after being shared on Twitter in October 2018.

The committee then forwarded it to the board of trustees of Peoples Watch and it was decided to form an external committee based in Delhi, in consultation with the complainant. While stating that the details of the inquiry could not be shared as they are confidential, Sumita confirmed that the external committees findings were placed before the board of trustees on 12 April 2019, following which, Shivani Lal appealed to the executive trustee against the findings of the committee. The board of trustees, after due consideration of the appeal made by the complainant, decided to accept the findings of the external committee, Sumitha said.

Peoples Watch founder Henri Tiphagne says the organisation has a strong policy against sexual harassment at the workplace and that due process had been followed and proactive measures taken, in the case of Mathew Jacob. Jacob was reinstated only after the board of trustees accepted the findings of the external inquiry committee.

Tiphagne told Firstpost he vaguely recollects the WhatsApp message from Bondita Acharya, but that the allegation against Joshi was not made known to [him] as a complaint by her. When I next met [Acharya] in Delhi, I asked why she had remained silent on these concerns for so longwithout lodging a complaint. I remember asking her to formally communicate the complaint to me if she wanted me to take action. She did not. He says Acharya did not raise the issue when they met at the Paris summit.

[Firstpost asked lawyer Amba Salelkar in an interview  a summary of which is included later in this report  if the head of an organisation is bound to act on a female employees disclosure of having experienced workplace harassment if the information was shared via an informal channel such as a WhatsApp message rather than a formal letter. Salelkar would not comment specifically on this case, but said of such a scenario: I would think the head of the organisation must forward this to the IC for action.]

Tiphagne also said that Amnesty International India did not refer to Peoples Watch at the time they initiated action on their employees complaint against Mathew Jacob. We were not made party to the inquiry or invited to jointly constitute an independent external committee in the matter, he says.

On 9 May 2019, when Amnesty International India emailed Peoples Watch, sharing their findings from their inquiry into Ns complaint, Tiphagne says he learnt from Jacob that he had not submitted to the jurisdiction of the [Amnesty] IC since he was not an employee and requested an independent external inquiry committee be constituted in the matter in line with the POSH Act. Tiphagne wrote back to Amnesty in a few days, requesting a response on the jurisdictional, legal and procedural objections raised to the IC before taking any final decisions at our end, but didnt hear further from Amnesty.

This is where the matter stands, with us being unable to proceed in the absence of a response. There is no question of us not having followed due process when we were not involved in the process initiated by Amnesty International India, Tiphagne says.

***

In an interview with Firstpost, lawyer Amba Salelkar noted that in many organisations, there is little clarity on where the workday begins and ends. And while the law is quite clear in defining the workplace as any place you need to be on account of your work, people tend not to be aware, or dont appreciate this aspect. Volunteers and interns are also included under the scope of the law.

Even if two people who work together go out in a completely non-work context, and one of them is made to feel unsafe, its not like when they come to work the next day, everything is forgotten. The objective of workplace sexual harassment law and policy is to ensure that the workplace is safe, says Salelkar.

Salelkar says that organisations [in the development/NGO sector] are small, and with the closing spaces for civil society in general, there is a wariness of anything which involves press/government scrutiny  and unfortunately, this includes cases of sexual harassment at the workplace. So the instinct of management often is to dissuade these complaints rather than address them head on.

Another issue is the perception that the sector is woke and thus immune to perpetuating harassment. Salelkar observes that many NGOs have actually expressed that while they feel that their staff is at risk of sexual harassment from outsiders, they dont perceive risks from their own staff. So they dont actively encourage training among staff and management that addresses issues such training should actually be talking about.

Salelkar clarified a few aspects of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013:

ICs needed training to facilitate survivors participation in the inquiry process. The mandate of the IC is to ensure a safe working environment. Inquiry committees are not courts, nor are they police. Their conclusions may be guided by whether or not the narrative put forth by the complainant is a plausible one. If a complainant is not satisfied with the report of the IC, she may file an appeal with the authority specified for this purpose. If a woman is harassed by an employee of another organisation in a professional situation (such as an industry-wide event or conference), the IC of her company must support her in raising a complaint with the IC of the company that employs her harasser.

Salelkar says there is lack of clarity about how ICs must operate. Government ICs and PSUs are quite stuck in the departmental inquiry mode of operation and so they follow that, which isnt always survivor friendly. There is also a lack of appreciation of this idea of what the burden of proof is and how it operates. Organisations arent investing in good external persons or training IC members as they often dont see sexual harassment at the workplace as a problem, or they would rather not be seen to be acknowledging it by really investing in mechanisms, she says.

People who are looking for help when they have been sexually harassed often come up against a lot of bad advice. Salelkar points to reliable online resources like the FAQ section of shebox.nic.in but notes that wed be better off ensuring a human interface for those seeking to file complaints.

For Shivani Lal, the way her complaint was handled has made her feel as though she was silenced twice. In coming forward with her account, she hopes to make people aware of the misogyny and gaslighting at play in the development and NGO sectors and hold them accountable to some inalienable truths.

With no clarity on how ICs are supposed to function, and no guidelines to follow to ensure an already vulnerable survivor is not made to feel shame, guilt and pressure in the face of a tough task  confronting their aggressor  I believe some capacity building is required, Lal says, of what the sector needs to address. And the first step towards that is to acknowledge our inherent biases when it comes to dealing with issues of exploitation at the workplace.
Turkish forces and groups affiliated with them, have been responsible for committing crimes against humanity in northern Syria, despite claims that Turkey is establishing a safe zone writes Levant News.

The Violations Documentation Center in northern Syria has observed up to the end of February 2020, the deaths of 1,926 civilians. It also said that Turkish forces or militant groups loyal to them had arrested 6,201 people since the Turkish incursion into northern Syria, with the fates of 3,051 of them still unknown, while some had been transferred to Turkey an there was no information about them.

The center said in a report that the Turkish forces and Syrian militias that it backs had carried out more violations and that they did not heed calls to stop the daily raids and arrests of civilians and their kidnappings. They also prevented their families from learning where those who were kidnapped were held, or why, and refused to send them to trial and denied them legal representation.

The center also said in its monthly report, issued on Feb. 29, 2020, that there had been an increase in the rates of violence and crimes, arrests and kidnappings in various areas under the control of the Turkish armed forces and the Syrian militant groups backed by them in northern Syria.

The center also warned about an escalation in the pace of violations since the Turkish incursion east of the Euphrates, adding that armed groups backed by the Turkish government and armed forces were responsible for these violations which had reached the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that the Turkish state bore responsibility.

Sarah Lee Whitson, director for the Middle East section at Human Rights Watch, said that, Executions, the looting of property, and preventing displaced people from returning to their homes is compelling evidence that the safe areas proposed by Turkey will not be safe.

She added that, Contrary to Turkish accounts that its operations would result in a safe zone, the groups it is using to administer the area are committing crimes against civilians and discriminating on an ethnic basis.

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.
Nepals government has announced it is suspending climbing permits for Mount Everest and all other peaks due to concern over the spread of the coronavirus.

The decision effectively shuts down the worlds tallest mountain after China earlier closed its side of Everest over similar fears.

Shutting down the popular spring climbing season across the country is a precautionary measure to block any possibility of the spread of Covid-19, said Surendra Thapa, an official with Nepals Department of Tourism, which issues climbing permits.

The government said it was also cancelling all visas on arrival for tourists and that those arriving after Saturday would be subject to 14 days of self-quarantine.

Climbers queuing on Mount Everest (Rizza Alee/AP)

Visitors will also no longer be able enter through land borders and must travel through the only international airport in the capital Kathmandu.

Nepal has eight of the highest peaks in the world and the adventurers who head to the country are a significant source of revenue for the government and the thousands of workers who support the expeditions.

Even before the closure, expedition operators in Nepal had said cancellations for the spring climbing season had been pouring in.

There had been concerns about the new virus and how it could spread among climbers living for weeks on the mountains in shared tents in extreme temperatures. Fever, coughs and colds are already common among climbers.

Nepal so far has had one confirmed case of the virus  a Nepali student who had returned home for a holiday from China. They have already recovered.

Schools in the country have been ordered to wrap up the academic year by next week and close down, while citizens have been advised to stay away from crowded gatherings and avoid unnecessary travel.
For the newest story covering live updates, click here.

LATEST, March 15, 9:15 p.m. Sonoma County now has five cases of coronavirus. A second case of community spread was reported on Sunday.

March 15, 5:56 p.m. Officials have announced the Grand Princess cruise ship will be temporarily moved to the San Francisco Bay, departing the Port of Oakland at approximately 7 p.m. on Sunday night. It will anchor there for two weeks, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, with about 340 crew aboard as well as six passengers from abroad. Additional crew will depart on chartered flights from a non-commercial area of SFO.

March 15, 2:15 p.m. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced all "bars, nightclubs, wineries, brewpubs and the like" must close temporarily due to the threat of coronavirus.

"We are directing that all bars, nightclubs, wineries, brewpubs and the like be closed in the state of California," Newsom announced Sunday afternoon, calling them "nonessential" businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.

"We have absolute expectation this will be socialized in real-time today," he said.

The directive does not apply to restaurants, which are still considered essential, as Newsom said some individuals cannot safely prepare food in their homes. "We don't believe this is necessary at this moment," he said.

However, all restaurants will be required to halve their occupancy in order to achieve appropriate social distancing.

In addition, Newsom asked the state's 5.3 million residents who are 65 or older to self-isolate at home. Seniors and those with chronic illnesses are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.

"We recognize that social isolation for millions of Californians is anxiety inducing ... but we need to meet this moment head-on," he said.

Newsom said 335 cases of coronavirus have been identified in California, a 14-percent increase from Saturday.

March 15, 12:30 p.m. San Mateo County reported its first death in a patient with COVID-19. No further details about the patient were immediately available.

San Mateo County public health officials reported 12 new cases of coronavirus this weekend, bringing the total of infected patients to 32.

The county's health department has banned gatherings of more than 50 people for three weeks starting on Sunday. The order also advises against get-togethers of more than 10 people. This is a change to the Thursday declaration that barred gatherings larger than 250 people.

March 15, 10:30 a.m. Santa Clara County public health officials reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday morning. This brings the total number of cases in the county to 114.

"We expect numbers to grow and urge everyone to follow Public Health recommendations," the county said in a statement.

March 15, 8:15 a.m. The San Francisco Unified School District said Sunday seven students at Glen Park Elementary School who reported respiratory illness tested negative for COVID-19. Read the full story.

March 15, 5:50 a.m. Two health care workers at UCSF tested positive for coronavirus, a hospital spokesperson confirmed to The Chronicle.

Both workers are quarantined and the hospital is contacting any patients, doctors, nurses or staff who may have come into contact with them.

March 14, 10:45 p.m. Sonoma County health officials announced the first coronavirus case contracted through community spread on Saturday night.

The latest case involves an adult resident and is the fourth case of COVID-19 in the county. A person who came into contact with the adult patient has also been tested, but results are not yet available.

March 14, 9:35 p.m. An Alaska Airlines agent who worked at San Francisco International Airport tested positive for COVID-19.

The employee, who left work sick on Tuesday, March 10, tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, March 13.

All Alaska Airlines employees who possibly came in contact with the patient were told to self-isolate. The airline said it doesn't believe that any customers were put at-risk.

March 14, 6:18 p.m. A graduate student of UC Berkeley has tested positive for COVID-19, the university announced in a statement on Saturday.

The person neither lives on campus nor in the city of Berkeley, the statement added. The patient is in self-quarantine in an unspecified city, and was described as being in "good condition" with no "serious symptoms."

March 14, 4:18 p.m. Marin County confirmed two more cases of novel coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the county's total to five.

The latest patients confirmed to have COVID-19 had no known contact with previous cases, according to the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, making them the first cases in the county to be the result of community spread.

March 14, 12:45 p.m. Contra Costa County announced four new cases of coronavirus Saturday as well as the fact that it is issuing a ban on gatherings of 100 people or more. The ban will last from Sunday, March 15 through Tuesday, March 31. The full order can be seen here.

There are now 29 cases in the county.

March 14, 11:15 a.m. Five new cases of coronavirus have been reported in San Francisco, bringing the city's total to 28.

March 14, 11:00 a.m. Public health officials in Santa Clara County announced 17 new known COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the county's total up to 91.

No details were released on the 17 individuals, but the county "expects numbers to grow" in the coming days.

March 14, 9:30 a.m. An undergraduate student at Stanford University has tested positive for coronavirus, the university announced in a statement Friday night.

Stanford had previously instructed as many students as possible to leave campus by March 18, and stated the university would "only be able to provide on-campus undergraduate housing and dining for a very limited number of students  those who have no other option than to be here."

The student who tested positive is self-isolating and teams are working to identify contacts.

March 14, 7:30 a.m. Three more firefighters in the San Francisco Bay Area have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The City of San Jose announced that two more firefighters in the city have tested positive, bringing the number of infected SJFD members up to eight.

Additionally, officials in Alameda announced that one of the city's firefighters have tested positive, and eight others who may have been exposed are in quarantine.

March 13, 6:20 p.m. The San Francisco Department of Public Health website stated Friday the county has 23 cases. This is up from 19 on Thursday.

March 13, 6 p.m. Santa Clara County reported its second coronavirus-related death Friday evening. The person who passed away was a woman in her 80s, officials said. She was hospitalized on March 9.

"The Public Health Department is saddened to share this news and expresses its condolences to her family," Santa Clara County Public Health said in a statement.

The first death in the county was reported March 9. The patient had been hospitalized at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View for several weeks, officials said.

Santa Clara County has the most confirmed cases in the Bay Area with 79 infected patients. Of these, 36 are hospitalized.

March 13, 3 p.m. Alameda County now has four more confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to KCBS. The new cases bring the county's total to 7.

Two of the cases are the county's first instances of community spread, Doug Sovern reported.

Edit: This update originally read 11 total cases. The correct number of confirmed cases in Alameda County is currently 7.

March 13, 1:30 p.m. The California Department of Public Health announced the fifth death in California related to COVID-19. The agency did not disclose where in the state the death occurred.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state of California is now 247, though that does not include those aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship who tested positive, CDPH noted.

March 13, 12 p.m. Santa Clara County now has 79 cases of coronavirus with seven infected patients hospitalized.

Of the total cases, 43 are a result of community transmission, meaning the individual doesn't have a travel history to an area with an outbreak or known contact with an infected patient.

"We expect many, many more cases to come," said Dr. Sara Cody, the county's health officer.

Cody signed an order banning events with more than 100 people.

The county has the most coronavirus cases in the Bay Area and has a population of 1.9 million people.

Beginning Monday, schools in the county will be closing for three weeks.

March 13, 11 a.m. Six members of the San Jose Fire Department have tested positive for COVID-19, the City of San Jose said in a statement Friday.

An investigation is underway on the 70 firefighters who may have been exposed. These individuals have all been contacted and are in quarantine.

"The fire department has been able to successfully backfill all temporarily vacant positions and we expect to maintain normal resource levels indefinitely," city officials said.

Fire Stations 9 and 31 and the Fire Training Center are undergoing a deep cleaning. If an individual was not contacted, then there is no risk of having been exposed by a SJFD firefighter.

Additionally, a San Jose Mineta International Airport TSA worker tested positive for COVID-19, according to the city of San Jose. The employee reportedly last worked on March 7. He had been stationed at the security identification display doors.

March 13, 10:30 a.m. Contra Costa County health officials reported Friday morning that 25 people in the county are now infected with COVID-19.

This is an increase of eight cases as yesterday the county was reporting 17 infected individuals.

"We expect this number to grow in the days and weeks ahead," the county said on Twitter.

The county didn't release information on how the new patients contracted the virus.

Where cases have been confirmed in the Bay Area:





ALAMEDA COUNTY: 15 confirmed cases

Fore more information on Alameda County cases, visit the public health department website.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: 29 confirmed cases

Fore more information on Contra Costa County cases, visit the public health department website.

MARIN COUNTY: 5 confirmed cases

Fore more information on Marin County cases, visit the public health department website.

NAPA COUNTY: 0 residents, 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: 32 confirmed cases

For more information on San Mateo County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY: 114 confirmed cases

Fore more information on Santa Clara County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY: 28 confirmed cases

For more information on San Francisco County cases, visit the public health department website.

SOLANO COUNTY: 6 confirmed cases

For more information on Solano County cases, visit the public health department website.

SONOMA COUNTY: 5 confirmed cases

For more information on Sonoma County cases, visit the public health department website.

In California, 7 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported:





The first death 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 second California death, the first in the Bay Area, 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.

Sacramento County announced on March 10 that a woman in her 90s in an assisted-living facility died from corornavirus. This was the first death in the county and the third in California. Health officials said the patient had an underlying health condition and "died of complications" related to the pneumonia-like virus.

Los Angeles County announced the fourth death on March 11: a woman who had traveled extensively (including a layover in South Korea) and who was visiting Los Angeles from out of town.

A fifth death was reported on March 13, though officials did not disclose where it occurred.

Santa Clara County reported its second coronavirus-related death and sixth in the state on March 13. The patient who passed away was an adult woman in her 80s, officials said.

San Mateo County reported its first coronavirus death on March 15. The age of the individual has not been released.

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.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

Amy Graff and Alyssa Pereira are digital editors with SFGATE. Email them: agraff@sfgate.com and apereira@sfgate.com.


By Jason Lim





The world is running out of toilet paper because everyone's buying it up to somehow ward off the coronavirus.



Seriously, the disconnect between toilet paper and anything that might be helpful to protect one's family during a coronavirus crisis is difficult to bridge. I understand people stocking up on water  what if they have to leave on a road trip into the countryside to escape the marauding zombies? We've all definitely seen a movie or two.



I also understand hoarding baby wipes and other throwaway cleaning products  definitely want to keep everything clean and sanitized these days. And I totally get boxes of ramen and even SPAM  those things will last forever and still taste good. But toilet paper?



The Canberra Times in Australia quotes four experts who weighed in with different flavors of explanations.



First, Alex Russell, from the School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, says: "I think we're noticing the toilet paper more than the other things because toilet paper packs are big items that take up a lot of shelf space. Seeing a small product sold out at the supermarket (such as hand sanitizer) is not that unusual, and it's only a small hole in the shelf that is often temporarily filled with nearby products."



So, people are not really hoarding toilet paper over other items, but we are noticing it more because the empty spaces are bigger? Hmm. Doesn't pass the smell test. I am not noticing the empty shelves more  I am noticing that there is literally no toilet paper to buy!



Second, David Savage, from the Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle, says: "I think it is the perfect product. It is completely non-perishable and one of the few products that you can stock up on that you are guaranteed to use eventually. I don't know for certain, but I suspect that most people only buy toilet paper when they are just about to run out, which could be a problem if you need to stay isolated for two weeks. So I think this is just a preparation process, because we have seen that toilet paper has become a shortage item elsewhere."



OK, Savage makes more sense than Russell to me. You can't argue with the logic that toilet paper will be used eventually, as long as your body is alive and functioning. And, yes, you need some safety stock for a potential quarantine. But stocking up on a year's worth of toilet paper? When does preparation transition into aluminum foil land? I think we have already crossed it. It didn't take much, did it? Scary.



Third, Niki Edwards, from School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, says: "Toilet paper symbolizes control. We use it to tidy up and clean up. It deals with a bodily function that is somewhat taboo. When people hear about the coronavirus, they are afraid of losing control. And toilet paper feels like a way to maintain control over hygiene and cleanliness."



When faced with uncertainty, one that's potentially life-threatening, we feel a need to do something to give us a sense of control. Basically, it's our way of escaping anxiety. I mean, religion is basically feeling the same need  providing a narrative with a set of rituals to give us a sense of influence and control over an uncertain future in a scary world. Having said that, I don't think toilet paper buying qualifies as a religious experience. Why can't buying water and baby wipes give you enough psychological comfort? How did toilet paper become synonymous with achieving a sense of control?



Fourth, Brian Cook, from the Community Engagement for Disaster Risk Reduction Project, the University of Melbourne, says: "My suspicion is that it is to do with how people react to stress: they want an element of comfort and security. Stocking up on toilet paper is also a relatively cheap action, and people like to think that they are doing something when they feel at risk."



But how did it become THE action to engage in when they feel at risk? How did toilet paper buying go "viral" as the universal means to regain the element of comfort and security? How does a behavior cross national and cultural boundaries with such speed and universality that everyone's doing it in the face of a common threat? Put it in another way, how did toilet paper become the protagonist in a story that we are clutching at to recover a sense of well-being?



We know that stories are essential because they make us feel that we have control over our surroundings. They allow us to see patterns in chaos and purpose in randomness. "Humans are inclined to see narratives where there are none because it can afford meaning to our lives  a form of existential problem-solving." I just never thought that I would see a day when we would communally buy into such an unexpected story in response to a collective threat.





Jason Lim (jasonlim@msn.com) is a Washington, D.C.-based expert on innovation, leadership and organizational culture.


HERKIMER, NY - Superintendents from several Herkimer County school districts met with the New York State Department of Health Friday morning and decided to close schools and cancel activities until April 14.

The closure will begin March 16, and affects the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES as well as the following: Central Valley, Dolgeville, Frankfort-Schuyler, Herkimer, Little Falls, Mount Markham, Owen D. Young, Poland, Richfield Springs and West Canada Valley.

Students and 10-month staff will not go to school, but teachers can go inside buildings to prepare curriculum or materials.

All 12-month employees will continue to work while schools are closed, unless they are experiencing symptoms. In that case they should not come to work and self-quarantine.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo waived the 180 school day requirement in New York, and left the decisions on closures up to individual districts.
PRINCETON, N.J., March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With coronavirus case counts climbing, New Jersey hospitals and the New Jersey Hospital Association are moving to enact no-visitor policies to protect patients, visitors and staff. The move comes as state officials announced 50 confirmed cases of coronavirus in New Jersey today, the fifth highest total in the country.

"With a growing number of cases and evidence of community transmission, the standard policy now bars visitors with some limited exceptions," said NJHA President and CEO Cathy Bennett. "These updated guidelines are voluntary, but are informed by the support and feedback of hospital CEOs and more than 270 clinicians from hospital and post-acute facilities who joined NJHA on a conference call today."

The standardized policy states:

No hospital visitors will be allowed until further notice.

Limited exceptions include:

Patients in hospice or end-of-life care



One visitor/support person for maternity patients



One visitor/support person for pediatric patients



One visitor/support person for an individual undergoing same-day surgery or an ambulatory procedure.

Visitors who meet these exceptions will be screened for symptoms before being allowed to visit.

These visitor precautions are becoming the standard across a growing number of healthcare facilities, including nursing homes and other post-acute care settings.

While sensitive to the difficulties facing the loved ones of hospitalized patients, Bennett said healthcare providers must keep patient and staff safety paramount at this unprecedented time.

SOURCE New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA)

Related Links

http://www.njha.com


Not only the candidates of the Presidential Election but also the general public was unaware that the powers of the President had been changed and drastically reduced by the 19th Amendment.





by Victor Ivan





The forthcoming Parliamentary Election has become the main concern nowadays of not only educated people but also the whole of society. Yet it is rather unfortunate that they do not see the streaks of dark shadows of anarchy splash beneath the carnival of a Parliamentary Election.













The country is going through a major crisis day by day, causing a great destruction to the whole country in general. The sociopolitical system and the economy of the country are gripped in a massive crisis which can explode at any moment. The worst thing is that it is not seen by the general public and the political leaders themselves and the educated and knowledgeable people of the country. Even those who see it appear to act like blind men, ignoring the situation.





Even during the Yahapalana regime, this crisis had reached an unmanageable height. Disappointingly, the Yahapalana regime did not adopt a precautionary policy to arrest the situation. What it did was to follow a wasteful policy that only aggravated the crisis. The attempt to hide the gravity of it from the people rather than enlightening them on the reality of the crisis which had been devouring the country can be considered one of the worst mistakes committed by the rulers of the Yahapalana regime.





The chaos of the Constitution





Not only the candidates of the Presidential Election but also the general public was unaware that the powers of the President had been changed and drastically reduced by the 19th Amendment.





It can be said that there was hardly any mention at all about it in the sociopolitical dialogue that arose, connected with the Presidential Election.





The majority of Sinhalese voted en masse for Gotabaya Rajapaksa and elected him the President of the country with the conviction that he possessed the required ability to make Sri Lanka a prosperous country like Singapore while preserving the Sinhala Buddhist identity. But the people who voted for Rajapaksa were not aware that according to the 19th Amendment, the Executive Power of the President had been removed and he has only a nominal power. Even the new President does not appear to have been aware of this reality in its correct perspective until he had won the Presidential Election.





The new President and the new Government should have realised quickly that the country was in a massive and unprecedented crisis and made the public enlightened of the gravity of the situation. But they ignored that responsibility. Their main focus was not on the crisis the country was facing, but the next Parliamentary Election that they wanted to win somehow. To win the election, the new President and his Government had to adopt a policy that ignored the gravity of the crisis the country was facing which eventually resulted in the crisis being further exacerbated. Sri Lanka is now in an unfortunate situation that will thrust the country into a state of anarchy soon after the Parliamentary Election.





The shadows of anarchy





It can be said that some features of the impending anarchy have already begun to manifest themselves. It need not be reiterated that the sociopolitical system and economy of the country are in a big mess. A number of new factors that will exacerbate and intensify the chaos in the political system have come to the fore after the new Government came to power.





Whatever may be the good or bad of the 19th Amendment, according to the law, Executive power now rests with Parliament and not with the President. Even when the President had the absolute power of the State, the subject of financial control was assigned to Parliament and the Minister of Finance. Following the election of the new President, the UNP-led coalition which had a majority in Parliament handed the Government over to the Peoples Alliance which represented the Pohottuva, the flower bud. Though this transfer has made a change in the ruling power, the newly-elected Government did not have a majority in Parliament. Thus, the new Government which was formed after the Presidential Election has become only a transitory Government set up with no majority in Parliament, until the Parliamentary Election is held.





Although the new Government submitted a provisional supplementary estimate of Rs. 360,000 million to Parliament to meet the expenses of the Government. It eventually withdrew it fearing that the Opposition would defeat it. The next Budget will take time until August, September or perhaps October to be presented and approved by Parliament. Until then, all finances of the State will have to be managed unconstitutionally and arbitrarily and without the approval of Parliament. This can be considered an important and serious issue which should have been discussed and debated in Parliament; yet neither the Government nor the Opposition had paid much attention to it.





Unconstitutional character





Under the circumstances, all expenditure incurred by the Government, including the cost of holding the forthcoming Parliamentary Election, will have to be borne in an arbitrary and unconstitutional manner, with no formal appropriation of funds from a Budget or a provisional supplementary estimate duly approved by the Parliament.





The fact that the funds required for the Parliamentary Election have not been allocated and the questions already raised in regard to that is the best and timely example that reflects the seriousness of the situation.





According to the Commissioner of Elections, the Election Commission has yet to pay Rs. 3,000 million to the Government press for the services rendered by it at the last Presidential Election. The Election Commissioner said that the printing cost for the Parliamentary Election will amount to Rs. 7,000 million, and if this amount is not provided, it will not be possible to get it done on credit.





This is not a situation confined to just one place. It prevails almost everywhere at different levels. There is a marked shortage of essential drugs at government hospitals. Similarly, there is a noticeable slowdown of the work done in respective areas due to a persistent delay in the payment of debts owed to Government suppliers and contractors. Financially, the Government is not in a strong position. It is in a chaotic mess. This has rendered the conduct of day-to-day affairs of the Government extremely difficult.





The new President, as he promised, revised the tax system to ease the tax burden. While the tax revision may prove to be beneficial for taxpayers, it will however not help ease the economic crisis of the country. Although the tax amendments are already in effect, they have not received parliamentary approval yet.





The subject of tax belongs to Parliament and not to the President. The Minister of Finance has the power to revise the tax system and implement it with the approval of Parliament. But the President does not have such power.





Most things are not happening in a proper way and in accordance with the Constitution. Such things happened not only during this regime but also during the Yahapalana regime as well. Whatever may be good or bad about former Chief Justice Mohan Peiris, the way he was removed from service was improper and not in accordance with the Constitution.





The 19th Amendment too was enacted in an informal way which was improper and not in accordance with the Constitution and the directions given by the Judiciary.





Even under the new Government, there are many things happening in an informal way and contrary to the Constitution. It is not proper to deploy military forces to carry out Police functions except in a state of emergency. Yet, even the Opposition did not object when the new Government decided to deploy the Army to perform certain police functions. There is a deep interconnection between anarchy and the prevalence of certain practices which are not in conformity with the Constitution.





Foundations of crisis





The problem of foreign debt servicing has now become the main factor that determines the crisis Sri Lanka is facing. However, we must admit that it is not an issue confined to the problem of foreign debt servicing. Rather, it can be considered a more complex issue associated closely with the degeneration of the sociopolitical system and the economy of the country.





The violent struggles that broke out from time to time, repressive measures adopted in containing them, the brutality unleashed on society in the process and the breakdown of the rule of law had a collective impact on this crisis.





Similarly, State rule turning to a deplorable system of plundering of public property and the bureaucracy aiding and abetting the political regimes to plunder the resources constituted a key factor that accelerated and enhanced the process of degeneration set in the State.





The volume of public property looted by successive ruling parties that came to power from time to time since 1977, with the help of bureaucrats and their cronies, is enormous. There is hardly any institution that has escaped exploitation.





This process did not stop at corrupting the entire institutional system; it continued beyond that and eventually resulted in bankrupting all institutions and the entire country.





Consequently, all those who looted the country became extremely rich while the country has become squeezed dry due to its sap being sucked out to the maximum by looters. The cronies in the private sector have also played an important part in this robbery. The hands of these looters are not only soiled with corruption but stained with blood as well.





The Central Bank robbery





The investigation reports on the Central Banks bond scandals during the past two regimes have made it possible for the public to understand not only how the ruling parties have plundered the resources of the Central Bank in collaboration with their cronies in the private sector and the bureaucracy of the bank itself, but also the contemptible and ruthless manner in which the stock market had been manipulated and plundered.





The amount of wealth earned illegally is huge. It must be emphasised that the robbery of the Central Bank is not confined only to the times of Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Yahapalana regimes. It can be safely assumed that such robberies had taken place even during earlier regimes although the volume of corruption may be different.





The Central Bank of Ceylon is the only institution which has the sole authority of the administration, supervision and regulation of currency, finance and payment systems of Sri Lanka including the issue of currency notes and determination of exchange rates. If the standard of such a dignified and authoritative institution has declined to such a low and contemptible level, what will be the status of other institutions?





If the Central Bank of Ceylon is so corrupt, the subordinate institutions such as banks, finance companies and the stock market that come under its control cannot be expected to be in good shape. This can be described as a common characteristic inherent not only in the Central Bank and other financial institutions that come under its control but also the State itself and the institutional system linked to it. It can be presumed that there is hardly a single institution in Sri Lanka that has not fallen prey to this plunder and maintained transparency in its dealings.





Logical conclusion





I can proclaim myself to be a keen critic who has conducted an in-depth study for a long time on the State of Sri Lanka, its institutional system, heads of State, leaders of political parties, social system, races, castes and religions, economy and overall workings. The decline and putrefaction of the Sri Lanka State and its institutional system can be described as the major scope which most attracted my attention. Most of the articles I have written for nearly 40 years and all the books authored by me except for only two can be considered to have been dedicated to illustrate this situation.





The observation I made on the State and the social system of Sri Lanka, following the end of the internal civil war, had been that they had become so messed up and rotten that the country could not expect to move forward any longer without making structural reforms conducive to recreating its institutional system and social system. I made a concerted effort to point out this need to political leaders and the public and am sad to say that it was not successful.





After this unsuccessful attempt, the conclusion I reached was that it would not be possible to effect the desired structural reforms through political regimes or society; and the entire system will collapse on its own at some point without any external influence, and due to the deterioration of the system from within, and eventually the country will be plunged into a state of anarchy. In this context, I was compelled to publish a book titled Sri Lankava Galavaganeema (Rescuing Sri Lanka) in 2011 to explain my idea. In my opinion, nine years later, Sri Lanka has now neared this dismal fate.





Ajit Kanagasundram



The term rot (kunuveema in Sinhala), which I often used to explain the deterioration of the system in Sri Lanka, can be said to have become a popular term in the Sri Lankan political lexicon. It is worth mentioning here that Ajit Kanagasundram, an eminent economist and political analyst, has made a similar observation on the rotten status of Sri Lanka, which I had attempted to elaborate using the same term.





Kanagasundram became an internationally renowned businessman after he left Sri Lanka to seek his fortune in Singapore following the communal riots of 83 Black July. Kanagasundram never severed his links with the land of his birth. He can be described as a critic of the LTTEs separatist program.





In 2018, Kanagasundram published an excellent book titled Tale of Two Countries based on his experience and observations of Sri Lanka and Singapore. There is also a Sinhala translation of it, titled Derataka Kathava (Tale of Two Countries). It is a must-read for everyone interested in understanding the present fate of Sri Lanka. It is in this book that he has elaborated his observations which are similar to those of mine, about Sri Lanka.





According to him, the Government of Sri Lanka despite its good intention, is like a car with the engine disconnected from the wheels, or to mix metaphors, a ship without a rudder, at the mercy of the wind and tides, drifting. In his opinion, the rot really started after J.R. Jayewardene assumed power in 1977 with a four-fifths majority and in five or seven years, (2023 or 2025) what happened to Greece will happen to Sri Lanka. In my opinion, it may happen before 2023. Most likely it can happen in 2021.
New Delhi: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday (March 13) that he had tested negative for coronavirus, after a scare over a US trip on which at least one infected member of his staff rubbed shoulders with Donald Trump.

The President's Facebook page said, "The Armed Forces Hospital and (diagnostic laboratory) Sabin have returned a negative test result for COVID-19 for the President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro."

The post was accompanied by a picture of Bolsonaro flashing an obscene arm gesture at the press, writing "Don't believe in the fake news media!"

Brazilian media reports on Friday said that President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for coronavirus. The positive test came after the President's press secretary was found to be infected following a trip to the US.

During his three-day US trip from March 7, Bolsonaro had met US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Bolsonaro`s medical team "is adopting all the preventive measures necessary" to ensure the President and his delegation on the trip, as well as other aides, are in good health, the government said.

Earlier, President Bolsonaro`s press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, who met US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence just days ago, tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Wajngarten had met Trump, Pence and other White House officials at Trump`s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

Xinhua report said the Brazil government had confirmed that Wajngarten tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday. The government reportedly said that it also notified US officials about Wajngarten.

The White House, however, said on Thursday that Trump and Pence had no plans to undergo testing. President Trump reportedly said that he was not worried that he may have been exposed to the virus.

Trump told reporters "Let's put it this way: I'm not concerned," while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Brazil's Health Ministry has confirmed 60 cases of the virus in the country as of Thursday. The country has not yet reported any deaths from the pandemic.

(With Agency Inputs)
Epidemic respects no borders. Thats why mankind shall emerge as a community with a shared future more than ever in the face of crisis.

Five experts from the Red Cross Society of China arrived in Teheran, Iran with China-aided medical supplies on Feb. 29 to help the Islamic Republic fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic. (Photo courtesy of the Chinese Embassy in Iran)

On March 9, Chinese Embassy in South Korea announced that China would export face masks to South Korea to help the latter and its people fight the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The first batch has been sent to the destination on Tuesday, including surgical and N95 masks totaling 5 million pieces.

Humanity shines through the dark cloud of the epidemic. While overcoming difficulties at home, China is ready to render support to its neighbor South Korea, in an attempt to jointly defeat the virus.

Before the exports of masks, the Chinese government had already donated 1.1 million masks and 10,000 protective suits to South Korea.

Whether China will export masks and relevant raw materials is receiving huge attention from the international society as the epidemic exacerbates in the global context.

Li Xingqian, director of the Department of Foreign Trade of Chinas Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) explained on March 5 that masks are free trade products, and China has never imposed any restrictions on the export of masks and related raw materials, responding to certain foreign media agencies that had falsely blamed China for banning the export of such supplies.

Li noted the MOFCOM has never announced such bans even after the outbreak of the COVID-19, and enterprises can totally trade these products under market-oriented principles. China is willing to offer medical supplies including masks for relevant countries within its capacity, he added.

The international community has rendered China precious support in the latters battle against the epidemic. By March 2, a total of 62 countries and seven international organizations have donated medical supplies to China, such as masks and protective suits.

Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu introduced, behind these numbers are lots of touching stories. The Myanmar government provided China with rice, while Sri Lanka donated black tea, Ma said, adding Mongolia gifted 30,000 sheep to China and Pakistan donated masks from hospital inventory across the country. These timely and sincere donations at this difficult time will be remembered by China, he said.

The 25,000 pieces of masks donated by the Chinese Embassy in the Republic of Korea to Daegu are ready to depart the embassy in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Feb. 27. (Photo courtesy of the Chinese Embassy in South Korea)

The daily output and production capacity of masks nationwide have grown swiftly and exceeded 100 million pieces, respectively, announced the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on March 2.

Many countries have lent a helping hand to China. So China will also offer help to them as much as it can since it has gradually controlled the epidemic and resumed production, said Wang Yong, professor with the School of International Studies, Peking University, during an interview with the Peoples Daily.

China, while facing a severe situation domestically, is reaching out to help others when the epidemic is exacerbating globally.

The country has dispatched experts from the Red Cross Society of China to Iran and Iraq to help them curb the disease, and offered medical supplies such as nucleic acid test kits and masks to Japan.

The timely assistance demonstrate the sense of responsibility of a major country, and also Chinas determination to join hands with other countries to secure the final victory over the epidemic.

China assistance differentiates according to the national conditions of the receivers, said Jin Canrong, professor of the School of International Studies at Renmin University when receiving an interview from the Peoples Daily.

He explained that China donated materials to developed countries like Japan and South Korea as they enjoy advanced medical technologies and are suffering only temporary short supplies, while for Iran, China has not only donated medical materials, but also dispatched medical experts and offered COVID-19 treatment plan in Farsi.

Moreover, China also shared multiple technical documents with over 100 countries and a dozen of international and regional organizations, such as plans on epidemic prevention and treatment. Besides, it conducted 20 technological exchanges with international and regional organizations and relevant countries through teleconference and other ways, sharing its experience on lab testing, epidemiological investigation as well as clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Epidemic knows no borders. China will continue to join hands with global countries to overcome the difficulties and actively support and participate in international cooperation to fight the epidemic, so as to make its contributions to safeguarding regional and international public health security and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
This year ten researchers - including four women and six men - will receive the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize, the most important award for early career researchers in Germany. The recipients were chosen by a selection committee in Bonn appointed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). They will each be presented with the 20,000 prize on 5 May in Berlin.

The 2020 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizes are being awarded to:

Dr. Dr. Daniel Kotlarz, Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, LMU Munich

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Ulrike Ingrid Kramm, Physical Chemistry of Solids, Technical University of Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Elvira Mass, Immunology, University of Bonn

Dr. Fruzsina Molnar-Gabor, International Medical and Data Protection Law, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Dr. Timothy Nunan, Global History, Free University of Berlin

Dr. Georg Oberdieck, Mathematics/Algebraic Geometry, University of Bonn

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Michael Saliba, Materials Science, Technical University of Darmstadt

PD Dr. Erik Schilling, Modern German Literature, LMU Munich

Dr. Monika Undorf, Cognitive Psychology, University of Mannheim

Dr. Wolfgang Zeier, Physical Chemistry of Solids, Justus Liebig University Giessen

The Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize has been awarded annually since 1977 to outstanding researchers at an early stage of their academic careers who do not yet have a permanent professorship. The prize serves as both recognition and an incentive to continue pursuing a path of academic excellence. Since 1980 it has been named after the atomic physicist and former DFG President Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, during whose period in office (1973-1979) it was first awarded. The Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize is regarded as the most important award for the promotion of early career researchers in Germany.

A total of 126 researchers from all fields of research were nominated for this year's prize. The winners were selected by the responsible committee chaired by DFG Vice President and mathematician Prof. Dr. Marlis Hochbruck.

The recipients:

Dr. Dr. Daniel Kotlarz (41), Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, LMU Munich

Daniel Kotlarz investigates the genetic causes of primary immunodeficiencies - rare and heterogeneous groups of genetic defects that can affect the immune system in many different ways - in early-onset forms of chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Kotlarz's work as project leader in a DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre has demonstrated for the first time that individual genes can also trigger these conditions, which in turn has provided important stimuli for personalised treatment strategies. He also leads a Junior Research Group in the department of paediatric gastroenterology at Boston Children's Hospital at Harvard Medical School, which uses animal models to understand human immunodeficiencies. Kotlarz has documented his work in numerous high-calibre publications as both first and co-author.

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Ulrike Ingrid Kramm (40), Physical Chemistry of Solids, Technical University of Darmstadt

Platinum and platinum alloys are currently used as catalysts in the oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. The optimisation of the individual stages in the reaction is a fundamental problem. The search for more cost-effective catalyst materials is also economically and societally important. This is the area in which Ulrike Ingrid Kramm's research is focused, and she has made key contributions to understanding the active centres of transition metal complexes. Kramm's methodologically broad and interdisciplinary approach has enabled her, among other things, to establish Mossbauer spectroscopy as an essential technique in electrocatalysis. Kramm has published her results, achieved with the help of DFG funding, in prominent journals.

Prof. Dr. Elvira Mass (33), Immunology, University of Bonn

Elvira Mass investigates the development and function of macrophages, cells of the innate immune system. Her work has resulted in seminal insights into the molecular basis of the role of tissue macrophages in organogenesis - the process of organ development in the embryo - which she has published in high-calibre journals. Her insights are contributing to a better understanding of certain conditions such as osteopetrosis, in which bones become abnormally dense, and neurodegenerative disorders, which are caused by mutation-carrying microglial cells. Elvira Mass earned her doctorate in Bonn and worked as a researcher in London and New York before returning to Germany to lead an independent junior research group at the LIMES Institute at the University of Bonn, where she was recently appointed to a W2 professorship.

Dr. Fruzsina Molnar-Gabor (35), International Medical and Data Protection Law, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Fruzsina Molnar-Gabor works at the interface of health and medical law and data protection law. Through her research, she is helping to establish the field of biomedical law in Germany. Previously, academic engagement with the legal regulation of biomedical issues was mostly separated into the conventional legal subject areas, such as criminal, civil and public law. In her international publications, which are not limited to traditional legal journals, Molnar-Gabor takes a different approach by engaging in genuine interdisciplinary dialogue with experts in biomedicine. A trained lawyer, she is a member of two interdisciplinary working groups, "Machine Learning in Medical Technology" at acatech, Germany's National Academy of Science and Engineering, and "The Future of Medicine: Healthcare For All" at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Dr. Timothy Nunan (34), Global History, Free University of Berlin

Timothy Nunan has studied and researched in the field of global history at Oxford, Princeton, Harvard and Berlin and is fluent in several languages. This, combined with his outstanding knowledge of the regions his research focuses on - Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran - allows him to examine his research topics from multiple perspectives. In his dissertation, Nunan was already developing new insights into Central Asia, Afghanistan, the Cold War and the role of humanitarian aid, which opened up new research questions for scholars in the field. Nunan's research stands out by virtue of its scholarly breadth, bringing together topics in East European and pan-European history in the research region of Central Asia. In this sense, he is carrying out pioneering work, considering the history of the Cold War - especially the role of the Soviet Union - together with that of the Islamic Revolution. Through his research, Nunan has thus contributed to global historiography topics that were not previously recognised, or not examined together.

Dr. Georg Oberdieck (31), Mathematics/Algebraic Geometry, University of Bonn

Mathematician Georg Oberdieck works in the field of algebraic geometry. This involves investigating geometric objects described by simple equations. Since there are so many of these objects, the question often arises of how many objects of a particular kind occur in certain contexts. Numerical tasks of this kind are referred to as enumerative geometry. In concrete terms, numerical problems like these arise in theoretical physics, to name one example. Oberdieck has solved problems such as these in concrete physical contexts and in so doing provided a much better description of the mathematical structure of these objects than was previously available. The paper he authored with Aaron Pixton, "Gromov-Witten theory of elliptic fibrations: Jacobi forms and holomorphic anomaly equations", has been especially influential. In this paper, the authors demonstrate their impressive grasp of methods in a range of fields, which they apply brilliantly to their core questions.

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Michael Saliba (36), Materials Science, Technical University of Darmstadt

Michael Saliba's core research area is perovskite-based solar cell development, an inexpensive and easily produced alternative to traditional silicon technology. In particular, he has helped to develop material structures for photovoltaics and his work has resulted in many high-calibre publications and patent developments. Saliba studied mathematics and physics in Stuttgart, earned his doctorate in physics at Oxford and has researched at Stanford and in Fribourg, Switzerland. He is involved in a project in the DFG Priority Programme "Perovskite semiconductors: From fundamental properties to devices" and is a member of the Global Young Academy.

PD Dr. Erik Schilling (36), Modern German Literature, LMU Munich

Erik Schilling's research is concerned with the literature and theory of the postmodern era, modern lyrics, the history of genres, and forms of intertextuality, particularly intertextual relationships between modern and ancient literature. In his dissertation, Schilling examined the contemporary German-language historical novel through a comparative look at the works of Umberto Eco. His habilitation thesis dealt with hymnic poetry in its contexts from the 18th to the 20th century. In this work, Schilling adopts a novel method to take a fresh look at texts by writers such as Goethe, Holderlin, Nietzsche and Rilke. His approach combines remarkable productivity and diversity with philological diligence and great sensitivity in dealing with literary objects and the available research on them. Of particular note is the way in which his studies of literature and literary theory relate to and stimulate one another. In this way, Schilling is contributing important new impetus to the self-description of literary studies and its interpretive practice.

Dr. Monika Undorf (39), Cognitive Psychology, University of Mannheim

Monika Undorf is an experimental psychologist and an expert in metacognition, particularly metamemory. This term refers to knowledge about one's own memory - in other words, knowledge about how we learn and retain information. One key question for researchers is how metamemory judgements come about and how we acquire knowledge about our own memory. In her experimental studies, Undorf has shown that experiences at the moment of learning and storing content contribute significantly to metamemory judgements. Building on innovative method development, Undorf's findings have made important contributions to the theoretical and empirical development of memory research and have quickly gained international attention. Her DFG-funded work has been published in high-calibre international journals.

Dr. Wolfgang Zeier (34), Physical Chemistry of Solids, Justus Liebig University Giessen

To achieve a sustainable energy supply, we need to overcome current obstacles to increasing battery efficiency. One aim of Wolfgang Zeier's research is to develop better electrolytes for solid-state batteries which are safer, charge faster, and offer higher capacity and better performance. Through his work, he has made significant contributions towards a fundamental understanding of ion conduction. His core hypothesis is that lattice dynamics have an important influence on ion transport. In his most recent publications he has clearly demonstrated such an effect, which has brought him very close to confirming this hypothesis. Zeier's work has been met with a considerable international response in the materials science community.

###

Further Information

Representatives from the media are cordially invited to attend the award ceremony. Please register in advance with the DFG Press and Public Relations Office, Tel. +49 228 885-2109, presse@dfg.de

The 2020 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizes will be presented on 5 May at 4pm in the Festsaal of the Humboldt University of Berlin, Luisenstrae 56, Berlin.

More information about the 2020 prizewinners will be available soon at: http://www.dfg.de/en/funded_projects/prizewinners/maier_leibnitz_prize

DFG Head Office contact: Annette Lessenich, Scientific Prizes Team, Tel. +49 228 885-2835, annette.lessenich@dfg.de
PARMA, Ohio -- The coronavirus pandemic is prompting area leaders to close senior centers. This includes Parmas Donna Smallwood Activities Center and Office of Aging, which have suspended operations until further notice.

We thought it was in everybodys best interest to stop having activities indefinitely at the senior center, Parma Mayor Tim DeGeeter said. The YMCA has a room in there. Those activities will be suspended, as well. Also, were going to stop senior transportation next Friday (March 20).

The Donna Smallwood Activities Center will remain a local polling location for the March 17 presidential primary election.

Parma will continue community and home-delivered meals at their usual times to registered senior citizens. The city noted that meal delivery is already at capacity.

We should adhere to CDC protocols -- continue washing hands, employ social distance and stay in small groups, DeGeeter said. Right now, its time to stay at home with your family and try to have less contact so we can work through this and do what the medical community and government leaders are suggesting.

A similar announcement was made in Parma Heights regarding its senior offerings.

Due to health concerns relating to the coronavirus, Ive decided to close the Parma Heights Senior Center immediately after lunch is served today (March 12), Parma Heights Mayor Michael P. Byrne said in a press release.

In an attempt to limit the spread of the virus and protect our senior population, I believe this is in the best interest of our community," he said.

The city is also suspending all senior transportation services effective tomorrow (March 13) until further notice, as well as all scheduled activities at the Parma Heights Senior Center and bus trips.

Homebound meals will continue to be delivered to all participating individuals.

Brooklyn is also following suit, suspending all senior and Silver Sneaker programs taking place at the John M. Coyne Recreation Center and Brooklyn Community Center through at least April 1. Also, Brooklyns Senior Community Center is now closed to the public until further notice.

Finally, Seven Hills has suspended senior activities at city hall and the community recreation center, which after closing tonight (March 16) will stay closed through a tentative date of April 4.

Read more news from the Parma Sun Post.
WASHINGTON  Vice President Mike Pence plans to raise money for two New York congressmen  U.S. Reps. John Katko and Lee Zeldin  at a minimum $500 per person reception in Washington, D.C. later this month.

Pence will headline the joint fundraising reception 4:30 p.m. March 23, according to an invitation to the event. The invitation says the address will be disclosed to those who RSVP.

Tickets cost up to $2,800 per person and $5,000 per political action committee to be included in a photo opportunity with Pence, the invitation said.

Katkos campaign confirmed Thursday night that the fundraising event is planned for March 23. But it remains uncertain whether the reception, like many large group gatherings, will be postponed due to the coronavirus.

Money raised at the event will benefit a joint campaign fund set up to benefit Katko, R-Camillus, and Zeldin, R-Long Island.

Pence has a history of raising money for New York House Republicans, including Katko.

In June 2018, the vice president headlined a $30,000 per ticket dinner at the Trump International Hotel in Washington to benefit Katko, former Rep. Claudia Tenney and 20 other House Republicans.

Pence also visited Syracuse in June 2018 for a $1,000 per ticket fundraiser for Katko at the Embassy Suites hotel next to Destiny USA.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751

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The world is full of books by terrible people. The Marquis de Sade was a serial rapist who enjoyed a successful literary career. William Burroughs, the Naked Lunch author and totem of the Beat Generation, shot his wife. Saddam Hussein published a romance novel in the early 2000s, and liked the experience so much he wrote three more, thus expanding the rarefied if not feted genre known as dictator lit (other authors include Castro, Gaddafi, Mussolini and Hitler).

While I couldnt tell you about the literary merits of the film director Woody Allens memoir Apropos of Nothing, I do know I have no desire to read it. This is because Im not keen on being in the company of a man who slept with, and later married, his partners adopted daughter (The heart wants what it wants, he said, by way of justification), and whose films went off the boil a quarter of a century ago. Anyway, even the so-called classics such as Husbands and Wives and Manhattan, with their flagrant ogling of young girls, dont look so jolly now.

But none of this is to say I think a book by Woody Allen should be dumped by a publisher previously keen to publish it, but which was caught on the hop by a spate of bad press. Apropos of Nothing was due for publication early next month via Hachette in New York before Allens estranged son, Ronan Farrow, found out about it and cried foul. Referencing his sister Dylans claim that Allen sexually abused her when she was seven (Allen denies the allegations), Farrow wrote a public statement about the company  which also published his Pulitzer prize-winning book Catch and Kill  decrying its lack of ethics and compassion for the victims of sexual abuse, and adding he could no longer work for it.

Every Pixar film, ranked Show all 22 1 /22 Every Pixar film, ranked Every Pixar film, ranked 22 | Cars 2 (2011) Unlike pretty much every other Pixar film, Cars 2 is aimed squarely at the kids. There are some thrills to be had  the espionage storyline places Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) amid a nefarious scheme by villain Miles Axlerod (a Range Rover L322 voiced by Eddie Izzard, naturally)  and its fun to see a Pixar version of London. But sadly, it lacks the original Cars sheen. Pixar Animation Every Pixar film, ranked 21 | Brave (2012) The message at the heart of Brave  obey your parents wishes  doesnt rank as Pixars most progressive, but even if it was a powerful moral, turning the mother character into a bear might not be the best way to convey it. Princess Merida is a solid lead and the visuals are stunning, the waterfall particularly so, but Brave is also let down by a weak set of supporting characters, something the studio usually nails. Pixar Animation Every Pixar film, ranked 20 | The Good Dinosaur (2015) The Good Dinosaur seems to have become a Pixar afterthought (not for its makers  Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3 and Coco, told The Independent its the film that makes him most emotional). The Good Dinosaur has fighting spirit: its story of a wayward young Apatosaurus trying to reunite with his family delivers the goods the more you re-watch it. Still, its a far cry from Toy Story. Pixar Animation Every Pixar film, ranked 19 | Cars 3 (2017) The Cars franchise must have amassed more in merchandise sales for Pixar than any of its other releases. Its cynical to say that Cars was given a second sequel to capitalise on this, but sadly the film struggled to register as anything near the studios best. Theres a warmth to Cars 3 that certainly wasnt present in the previous instalment, but its a shame that a film about a character whos concerned he wont be remembered is this  well  forgettable. Pixar Animation Every Pixar film, ranked 18 | Toy Story 4 (2019) The runt of the litter when it comes to Pixars flagship franchise, Toy Story 4 feels like several different movies haphazardly stitched together  probably because it was. Plagued by production troubles, its a film that works best when it plays as an adventure romcom anchored by Woody and Bo Peep. Whenever theyre off screen, and Toy Story 4 is distracted by a sentient fork or a villainous baby doll, it loses all of that traditional Pixar sparkle. Rex Features Every Pixar film, ranked 17 | Monsters University (2013) When news of a Monsters, Inc follow-up surfaced, fans were in two minds: some questioned why youd revisit a film as opposed to making something new, while many rejoiced in the fact they would finally get to see Sulley reunited with Boo. Instead, what they got was a prequel showing John Goodmans big blue creatures days as a student at college  the place he met his future scaring partner, Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal). The result is fun if unnecessary. Rex Features Every Pixar film, ranked 16 | Incredibles 2 (2018) While it never totally justifies its existence, largely replicating what worked so well in the first film, this belated sequel at least makes up for its lack of creative energy with stunning animation. Theres a thrilling chase sequence through the skies between Elastigirl and the villainous Screenslaver here, while even post-Marvel, the comic-book storytelling feels dazzling Pixar Animation Every Pixar film, ranked 15 | A Bug's Life (1998) Sandwiched in between two Toy Stories, one representing Pixar at its dazzling beginning and the other as it became a world-conquering behemoth, A Bugs Life is easy to overlook. But it remains delightful all the same, its lack of creative inventiveness made up for in its elegant creature designs and gentle humour. Its also at least aged better than DreamWorks Antz, which now bears the indignity of being anchored entirely around Woody Allen. At least Kevin Spacey is merely a supporting player in Pixars film. Rex Features Every Pixar film, ranked 14 | Cars (2006) Theres no doubt that Cars has a special place in this writers heart due to a brother who watched it on repeat as a three-year-old. Commonly disregarded as Pixar for kids, the film actually has much to recommend it, from the gratifying journey of its lead character  who starts out arrogant and ends up a changed, erm, automobile  to the moving mid-section in Radiator Springs, the ghost town McQueen finds himself stranded in. Pixar Animation Every Pixar film, ranked 13 | Finding Dory (2016) A belated sequel that no one expected to be quite as good as it was, Finding Dory positions Ellen DeGeneress forgetful fish centre stage, with lush results. There are a raft of memorable supporting characters and an appropriate amount of familial sadness to counteract the cheer. DeGeneres is spectacular, and the whole thing has a relaxed charm that makes it irresistible. Rex Features Every Pixar film, ranked 12 | Up (2009) Ups opening sequence, charting a decades-long love story, is the most brilliant thing Pixar has ever done. The rest of Up is completely fine. Theres still a lot to adore here, of course, from the cutesy charm of its unlikely heroes (an old man and a plucky boy scout) to its sort-of talking dog. It doesnt, however, entirely conceal the fact that Up peaks very early. PixarPixar Animation Every Pixar film, ranked 11 | Wall-E (2008) WALL-Es early sequences, nearly wordless and anchored entirely by a lonely robot, are as radical and ambitious as Pixar gets. Much like Up, however, the film becomes slightly more conventional as it goes along. It finds itself in a traditional run-and-escape pattern, which is often smart and clever, but lacking in a ton of emotional resonance. Every Pixar film, ranked 10 | Onward (2020) Pixar has a near-perfect track record with its original films, and yet Onwards brilliance still came as a surprise. It follows two teenage elf brothers who, against all odds, are faced with the chance to spend one last day with their father, who died when they were too young to remember him. Its twists and turns subvert expectations throughout  and there is slapstick comedy aplenty. You will belly laugh, you will slide towards the edge of your seat and  as is the Pixar norm  you will weep into your jumper. Disney/Pixar Every Pixar film, ranked 9 | The Incredibles (2004) Pixar was always going to tick superheroes off its list, and it did so in 2004 with a film that remains an unmitigated joy. The film has a lot of fun contrasting the Parrs banal home life with the breathless action scenes where they unite as crime-fighting superheroes. Plus points, too, for giving us the hilariously OTT fashion doyenne Edna Mode, voiced by the films director, Brad Bird. Rex Features Every Pixar film, ranked 8 | Finding Nemo (2003) Finding Nemo more or less laid the groundwork for much that would follow, with parental absence and childhood trauma factoring into a number of the Pixar movies to be released in its aftermath. Finding Nemo remains remarkable on its own, though, for both its slapstick comedy and emotional power. Rex Features Every Pixar film, ranked 7 | Inside Out (2015) To its credit, Pixar has always avoided stunt-casting, for the most part preferring character actors over starrier celebrities. Inside Out is one of its best in that regard, with sentient emotions portrayed by their most obvious real-world counterparts  Amy Poehler as a sunny Joy, Lewis Black as a literally hot-headed Anger, the marvellous Office alumna Phyllis Smith as Sadness. Away from its cast, Inside Out is also a glorious gut-punch, its feelings lived-in and authentic, its climactic character death by far and away the most heartbreaking in the Pixar canon. RIP Bing Bong, we hardly knew ye. Pixar Animation Every Pixar film, ranked 6 | Coco (2017) Pixar further proved its verve with Coco, a film that tapped into a completely different culture while also exploring the fantastical. Mexicos Day of the Dead is the inspiration behind a film thats tied together by legacy and memory via a love of music. Its also an existential minefield as viewers are told that to be forgotten by your living relatives is to suffer a final death in the afterlife. Coco might be an entry point to the tough topic of death for many youngsters, but it remains a remarkable, often hilarious experience, albeit one filled with tears. Pixar Animation Every Pixar film, ranked 5 | Toy Story 3 (2010) If an entire generation came of age with Pixar, Toy Story 3 marks their final step into adulthood. Ranking the Toy Stories is a matter of consternation for any self-respecting Pixar fan, but its not outrageous to claim that the third is the best one. It feels like a goodbye  not only for young Andy, who says farewell to his toys as he prepares to head to college, but also for the most sustained period of greatness in Pixar history. Everything works here, from the Barbie and Ken comedy to the melancholy brilliance of our heroes believing theyre facing imminent death. Rex Features Every Pixar film, ranked 4 | Monsters, Inc (2001) Sulley and Mike  the unlikely pals at the heart of Monsters, Inc  are characters for the ages and precisely why the film lands as well as it does. Which isnt to say theres nothing else to marvel at. Its concept (monsters only scare kids because their screams power the city they live in) is ingenious and its supporting players  the villainous Randall, the studious Roz, not to mention the long-suffering George  make it a treat to revisit. Wary of its high placement? Look no further than the chase sequence on a conveyor belt of doors that double as portals to different worlds. Its masterful. Pixar Animation Every Pixar film, ranked 3 | Toy Story (1995) Where it all began. After a series of shorts released from 1984, Pixar announced itself as a major player in the film game with 1995s Toy Story, a benchmark for animation 25 years on. Theres no denying that without Toy Story we wouldnt have any of the films that follow, but its testament to the studios genius that it managed to retain the wonder and adventure presented in this world. Its that rarity that makes the impossible seem real  even more impressive for an animated film. Rex Features Every Pixar film, ranked 2 | Ratatouille (2007) It feels like sacrilege to say that Ratatouille, Pixars most traditionally animated film, is its second best. Theres not a ton of spectacle here, no elaborate water effects or invented worlds, but rather a twinkly and dreamy take on Paris. Its gorgeous, and matched in power by the films incredibly weird yet marvellous storytelling. Both a wacky comedy about a rat who cooks, and a rich celebration of nostalgia, childhood joy and imagination, Ratatouille is a daring encapsulation of Pixars singular brilliance. Rex Features Every Pixar film, ranked 1 | Toy Story 2 (1999) The toy repairman montage; Jessies heartbreaking flashback; that traffic cone action sequence  Toy Story 2 is effervescing with pitch-perfect scenes. It takes what made the original film so special and expands on it, while always keeping the spotlight on the central theme: belonging. Toy Story 2 is one of the great adventure films, too, putting the characters on a quest to retrieve Woody after hes stolen by fiscally minded toy collector Al, voiced indelibly by Wayne Knight. As close to a perfect film as youll get. Rex Features

Shortly afterwards, the companys staff staged a walkout, prompting Hachette to announce that it wouldnt be publishing the book after all. We take our relationships with authors very seriously and do not cancel books lightly, said a spokesperson. We have published and continue to publish many challenging books. As publishers, we make sure every day in our work that different voices and conflicting points of view can be heard.

Farrow is, of course, well within his rights to object to the book. While Mia Farrow and Ronan have stood firmly with Dylans version of events, her brother Moses has sided with their father. The heart breaks at what this family has been through and the lengthy trauma, involving police investigations and assorted public statements from family members, that has played out under the public gaze.

But it is possible to feel compassion for the family while recognising a decision that smacks not so much of conscience as expediency. Had Ronan Farrow, among the most lauded figures in the #MeToo movement after his investigation into the crimes of Harvey Weinstein, not loudly voiced his objections, you can be sure that his fathers book would still be in production. The fact that Farrows book has topped bestseller lists here and in the United States is significant  out of the two authors, its obvious which of them is more likely to keep the tills ringing.

Ronan Farrow spoke out against the publication of his fathers memoir (Getty) (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Also clear is the fact that the company made an error in signing up Allen in the first place. As the author Stephen King put it, It was f***ing tone-deaf of Hachette to want to publish Woody Allens book after publishing Ronan Farrows. But this row is about more than tone. Its about a major publishing house clumsily trying to protect its reputation in an era when moral outrage increasingly trumps common sense.

If the memoir in question had been by Roman Polanski, a celebrated filmmaker who was found guilty in 1977 in the US of the rape of a 13-year-old and who evaded punishment by fleeing the country before sentencing, then it would be a different matter (in fact, Polanski did publish a memoir in 1984). Objections to Allens book by protesting Hachette staff may come from a place of sympathy with the Farrows, but they ignore the fact that Allen has been investigated on two occasions related to Dylans allegations. In both instances, he was not charged or convicted.

Of course, cases of historic sex abuse are, by their nature, extremely hard to prove, and often boil down to the word of the accuser vs that of the accused. Its likely that well never know the truth about what took place between Allen and Farrow.

Nonetheless, to argue that Allens memoir shouldnt exist at all because the idea of it makes me queasy would be to undermine the concept of a justice system, however imperfect it may be. It would also advocate a form of cultural mob rule in which specific artefacts are only allowed out into the world if the majority feel comfortable with them. For a publisher to actively suppress the publication of a book isnt a good look, and nor is the silencing of writers through fear of being upbraided on social media. Far better to let Allens book come out and leave it to consumers to make their feelings known. Because to ignore it would be the most powerful statement of all.
Every school, college and childcare facility in the country, as well as cultural institutions, are to close until the end of the month after 27 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the country, bringing the total number of cases to 70.

NEWS

27 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ireland, according to the Department of Health. Three of the new cases are in intensive care units bringing the total number of patients in ICU to six. There are now 70 confirmed cases in the Republic of Ireland.

Read more here

Minister for Health Simon Harris (left) and Tanaiste Simon Coveney (right) walk to a news conference at Government Buildings in Dublin after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that all schools, colleges and childcare facilities in Ireland will close until March 29 as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. (Brian Lawless/PA Wire)

The decision to shut every school, college and childcare facility in the country, as well as cultural institutions, was done without Cabinet approval, it can be revealed. The Irish Examiner has confirmed that the decision to execute the shut down was not subject to Cabinet approval before it was announced this morning, but that some ministers were contacted to be told of the decision.

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The Government today announced that educational institutions will close until Mar 29. Liz Dunphy answers some of your questions about the closures, including how they affect exams and childcare.

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All Catholic confirmation ceremonies have been postponed while baptisms, weddings and funerals will be limited to 100 people in all churches across the country. The latest guidelines were issued by the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference in response to the Governments decision to move to the Delay phase of Covid-19 engagement.

Read more here

President Trump today confirmed that Ireland would not be included in the US travel ban

Ireland will remain outside the American coronavirus travel ban, President Trump has confirmed. Speaking in the Oval Office during a visit with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, President Trump said: It was made very clear last night who is and who isnt (included in the travel ban)."

Read more here

Covid-19 is the worst public health crisis for a generation, the British Prime Minister has said as the UK governments top scientist warned that up to 10,000 people in the UK are already infected.

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ANALYSIS

Health Minister Simon Harris, Tanaiste Simon Coveney and chief medical officer Tony Holohan at a news conference today. Picture: PA

The Covid-19 outbreak is not easy on any of us, but the most important thing is we all pull together, writes Alison O'Connor.

Read more here

People participate on the sidelines of the parade along 5th Avenue in New York City, the largest St Patricks Day parade in the world.

Parades in Boston, Seattle, and LA have been cancelled, meaning one of the biggest revenue generating days for bars will be curtailed, write Matthew Townsend and Angelica LaVito

Read more here

A Concerted response could help stop the coronavirus in its tracks

Its taken almost 40 years but Conor Cruise OBriens 1982 phrase  GUBU  has at long last been found wanting. The phrase, shorthand for grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented, can hardly adequately describe yesterdays announcement that from six oclock yesterday Ireland is in lock-down to try to contain the coroanvirus pandemic.

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A man shot dead by police in Westminster as he held two knives has been named.

Hassan Yahya was shot on Sunday night, in an incident which is not being treated as terror-related.

The 30-year-old was killed following an incident which started at about 11.30pm on the South Bank.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which is investigating the circumstances of the shooting, said it is believed the victim had run over Hungerford Bridge.

He then went into Northumberland Avenue, where he was shot by City of London Police.

Officers were responding to an emergency call.

In a statement the IOPC said: Our investigators attended the scene of the shooting and the police post-incident procedure. They have obtained accounts from officers on the scene and gathered CCTV and body-worn video footage.

The investigation is at an early stage and we are still gathering information. The coroner has been informed, a post-mortem examination carried out and we are awaiting the results.
By PTI

BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Thursday decided to verify facts afresh in a complaint against former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his family, where they are accused of falsifying a property document while selling land.

The development came after Scindia quit the Congress and joined the BJP on Wednesday.

Twenty-two MLAs who belong to his camp also tendered their resignations, threatening the survival of the Kamal Nath government in the state.

"Yes, an order has been given for re-verification of facts in the complaint filed by Surendra Shrivastava," an EOW official told PTI.

An EOW release said Shrivastava on Thursday filed a new complaint against Scindia and his family, alleging that by falsifying a registry document, they sold him a piece of land at Mahalgaon which was smaller by 6,000 sq feet than the original agreement in 2009.

He had lodged the complaint first on March 26, 2014.

But it was investigated and closed in 2018, the EOW official said.

"As he again petitioned us today, we will re-verify the facts," the officer said.

ALSO READ | After Scindias arrival in Bhopal as BJP leader, Shivraj Singh Chouhan likens him to 'Vibhishan'

Scindia's close aide Pankaj Chaturvedi alleged that it was political vendetta.

"The case had been closed for want of evidence. Now for vengeance, it is being reopened. We have full faith in the Constitution and law. We will get justice and Kamal Nath government a befitting reply," Chaturvedi said.

Scindia on Thursday said he considers himself fortunate that the BJP accepted him in the party and assured party workers that he will work wholeheartedly for them.

Speaking at the state BJP office, Scindia also said the one thing he was bringing to the table was hard work.

"I am feeling fortunate to join the BJP. Party president J P Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah opened the doors of this party for me," Scindia said.

"I have brought only one thing with me (to BJP) and that is my hard work," Scindia said.

Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was present to welcome Scindia at the party office.

ALSO READ | Will Jyotiradtiya Scindia's entry have an impact on aunt Vasundhra Raje's future in BJP?

"The organisation and family in which I have spent 20 years, the organisation where I have put my hard work and efforts, I am leaving all that behind and handing myself over to you," said Scindia, who joined the BJP on Wednesday.

"It is a very emotional day for me today. I consider myself fortunate that this family (BJP) opened the doors for me," he said.

Scindia said he joined the BJP "by leaving everything and came with only a full heart.

He said his aim is "not politics but doing public service" and told the BJP leaders: "We had fought against each other in 2018, but today we are one."

Lauding Chouhan, Scindia said, "There are only two leaders in the state who never use air-conditioner in our vehicles. Chouhan and me."

Scindia said when he raised issues like injustice to farmers falsely accused in the Mandsaur firing case, he was asked (by Congress) to take to the streets.

"When Scindia family is challenged then it won't remain silent," he said.

Scindia said his only aim is to make a place in the heart of each and every BJP worker.

Welcoming Scindia, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar assured him that he will not have any complaints with the large BJP family.

Chouhan said, "We had a direct fight with Scindia ji, but someone else took the post (of Chief Minister)."

Taunting Chief Minister Kamal Nath for organising IIFA ceremony, Chouhan said the government has no money for farmers but enough funds for the Bollywood event.
- President Salva Kiir named a new Cabinet for the Transitional Government of National Unity

- He handed the Ministry of Defence to Angelina Teny, wife of Vice President Riek Machar

- Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, the wife of liberation hero John Garang, is one of South Sudans three vice presidents

South Sudan president Salva Kiir has appointed the wife of the country's first Vice President Riek Machar as the Minister of Defence in the new South Sudan Cabinet.

Kiir announced the new transitional Cabinet on state television on the evening of Thursday, March 12, after opposition leaders submitted the lists of their nominees.

READ ALSO: Nairobi woman narrates how she persevered four years of abusive marriage for the sake of her kids

Salva Kiir (right) announced the new transitional cabinet after opposition leaders had submitted the lists of their nominees. Photo: Daily Nation.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: I wish to sleep on a mattress before I die - Old woman

The new council of ministers include 34 ministers and 10 deputies, composed of politicians who will be running the revitalised transitional government of national unity (R-TGNoU).

The main opposition SPLM-IO led by Machar took the prominent cabinet dockets of the petroleum as well as the defence ministry while Kiirs supporters hold the finance and interior ministries.

The president nominated 20 ministers, while SPLM-IOs Riek Machar nominated nine ministers.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: 10 telltale signs and symptoms one could be infected with COVID-19

South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) nominated three ministers, former detainees two ministers and other opposition political parties one minister.

Kiir reappointed Kuol Athian Mawien who was the was the Minister of Finance between 2010 and 2011 as the Minister of Trade and Industry.

Ayaa Benjamin Warille, who was appointed Minister of Gender and Social Welfare, is the wife of late Aggrey Idri who was deported from Kenya and later died.

READ ALSO: Saudi Arabia bans flights to Kenya, EU in bid to contain coronavirus

Vice President Riek Machar and his wife Angelina Tery in the bush. Photo: Edge.

Source: UGC

According to critics, it is a government of Machar and Garang families and dubious allies of Kiir who are very corrupt.

Here is the list of their relations:

Rieks family:

1: Riek Machar  First Vice President

2: Angelina Teny  Wife  Minister of Defence

3: Elizabeth Achuei Yol  Mother-in-law to a Rieks son Minister for Health

4: Taban Deng Gai  Cousin to Angelina  Vice President.

Garangs family:

1: Rebecca Nyandeng  Vice President

2: Mabior Garang  son  Minister of Interior

3: James Hoth Mai  Father-in-law to Mabiors cousin  Minister for Labour

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly

Source: TUKO.co.ke
By PTI

TEHRAN: Iran on Friday warned US President Donald Trump against taking "dangerous actions" after American forces launched air strikes that they said targeted a pro-Iranian armed group in neighbouring Iraq.

"The United States cannot blame others for the consequences of its illegal presence in Iraq and the nation's reaction to the assassination and killing of Iraqi commanders and fighters," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.

"Instead of dangerous actions and baseless accusations, Mr Trump should reconsider the presence and behaviour of his troops in the area," he added.

The statement was issued hours after the Pentagon said the US had launched strikes against the Kataeb Hezbollah armed faction.

The United States said the strikes targeted five weapons facilities across Iraq. It said they were carried out in response to the killing on Wednesday of two Americans and a Briton in a rocket attack on Taji air base.

Wednesday's attack was the 22nd on US installations in Iraq, including the American embassy, since late October.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Washington has blamed what it says are Iran-backed factions from the Hashed al-Shaabi network, a state-sponsored umbrella group that includes Kataeb Hezbollah, for recent similar violence. Iran has always denied it backs Iraqi militias.
CHICAGO, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To help protect taxpayers and employees against the spread of the new coronavirus, the Cook County Treasurer's Office will close at noon today, March 13, 2020, and remain closed indefinitely, Treasurer Maria Pappas said today.

"We have not had a case of the coronavirus in our office and I want to keep it that way," Pappas said. "While it is of surpassing importance to protect our employees and visitors to the building from this virus, it is important to continue serving taxpayers."

In the meantime, key personnel will work remotely to collect tax payments, issue refunds and perform the other office functions, Pappas said. Further aspects of our plan include:

The Office continue to accept payments at cookcountytreasurer.com, where more pay than at Chase branches.

Mail and payments continue to be accepted at the Chase lockbox, community banks and Chase branches, ensuring that distribution of tax revenue to taxing districts is not interrupted.

Taxpayers seeking answers to questions regarding property taxes can contact us via the website. Questions are answered by email by staff working remotely.

Callers to 312.443.5100 remain able to use the automated menu to answer basic questions. They will be directed to the website should they need additional information.

The website is available in more than 100 different languages. Visitors can download informational brochures in 24 languages.

"I will evaluate the situation on a daily basis to determine when it is advisable to reopen," Pappas said.

SOURCE Cook County Treasurer's Office

Related Links

http://www.cookcountytreasurer.com


In brief: Microsoft originally planned to host its annual Build developer conference in Seattle in mid-May. The in-person portion of the event has since been scrapped due to ongoing concerns about Covid-19, or the coronavirus.

Earlier this week, Washington Governor Jay Inslee put a ban on events that attract more than 250 people. The ban is in effect for several counties across the state including King County, where Microsofts hometown is located.

A Microsoft spokesperson told The Verge that they will deliver Build as a digital event this year. We look forward to bringing together our ecosystem of developers in this new virtual format to learn, connect and code together, the spokesperson added.

More details will be released as they become available, were told. It's unclear how Microsoft will handle access to the digital event as tickets to the in-person experience are quite pricey at $2,395 each.

As we get deeper into the pandemic, it is becoming clear that the leading line of defense in the absence of a vaccine and medication approved to treat it is to take social distancing measures. This means that most events where people gather in large groups, like sporting events and tech conferences, are being suspended at unprecedented levels.

The approach wont stop the virus in its tracks, mind you, but could instead slow it enough to make it more manageable. One of the worst things that could happen is a sudden influx of infections that overwhelm healthcare facilities.

Canceled button by Pepsco Studio.
China on Friday distanced itself from a tweet put out by one of its officials alleging that the US Army may have brought the deadly coronavirus to Wuhan, saying the origin of the outbreak required scientific assessment, amid a war of words between Washington and Beijing over the source of COVID-19.

China's official media on Thursday reported that US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield reportedly acknowledged some flu patients in America may have been misdiagnosed and actually had coronavirus.

Referring to Redfiled's remarks, Zhao Lijian, who until recently was China's Deputy Ambassador to Pakistan, alleged in his tweet that the US Army might have brought COVID-19 to Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus' outbreak in China.

"CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!" Zhao tweeted on Thursday with a video of Redfield's comments.

His tweet alleging US conspiracy for coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan sparked furore on Twitter.

"There are many different opinions about the source of the coronavirus among the international community. We believe this is a matter of science and required professional and scientific assessment," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters here on Friday while answering questions on Zhao's tweet.

Asked whether it was also the Chinese government's view which has lodged a protest to the US over the issue, Geng said: "what I said represents the Chinese government's attitude".

When asked whether the media should take Zhao's tweet as an official position of the Chinese government and the Foreign Ministry as he is one of its spokesmen, Geng replied: "I think you may want to ask certain US officials, do they speak on behalf of the US government when they attacked and smeared China recently".

Elaborating on China's stand, Geng said, "we noted recently there are some discussions about COVID-19 virus. Certain US congressmen, senior officials made untrue and irresponsible remarks on the issue to attack China".

"We firmly reject that. In fact the international community including US have a different opinion about the source of the virus. But China always believes that this is a matter of science which requires professional and scientific assessment," he said.

Known for his Twitter outbursts from the days of his Pakistan posting where he attacked critics of the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and interning of thousands of Uighur Muslims in what China terms as education camps, Zhao after his recent posting as Deputy Director-General of Information Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry turned his ire against the US highlighting racial tensions in America.

He was the first Chinese diplomats to open an official account on Twitter and used the platform prolifically with an apparent backing of the Chinese government.

Now, most of the Chinese diplomats, including Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong, have taken to Twitter to convey their policies and opinions.

The novel coronavirus which according to Chinese officials is the worst disaster faced by China in recent decades has resulted in 3,176 deaths with 80,813 infection cases in the country.

Since the corona outbreak which came to light on December 31, several media reports attributed the source of the disease to an animal market in Wuhan which was subsequently shutdown.

On March 5, Zhao told a media briefing that the origin of the virus was yet to be determined, raising questions over reports that the virus had originated from the live animals' market in Wuhan.

"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 had said.

China in recent weeks has sharply criticised US officials especially Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for terming the virus as "Wuhan virus" even after the WHO has officially named it COVID-19.

On Monday, Geng condemned Pompeo for branding the coronavirus as "Wuhan virus", terming his remarks as "despicable behaviour" and an attempt to stigmatise the Communist country.

The virus has claimed 4,925 lives and infected 131,500 people across 116 countries and territories.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday characterised the COVID-19 outbreak as a "pandemic" and expressed deep concern over its "alarming levels" of "spread, severity, as well as inaction".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BANGKOK (AP)  The Latest on the virus outbreak (all times local):

6:30 a.m.

Families of residents at the suburban Seattle nursing home where nine people have died from the new coronavirus are angry about conflicting information concerning their loved ones.

The families held a news conference Thursday in front of the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington.

Kevin Connolly, a spokesman for the group, says one woman was told her mother had died, but later received a call from another staff member saying her mother was doing well. This caused her distress because her mother had, in fact, died.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has sent inspectors to Life Care along with experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to figure out how the coronavirus outbreak happened there and to determine whether the nursing home followed guidelines for preventing infections.

Washington state has reported 70 confirmed COVID-19 cases, almost all in the Seattle area.

___

5:30 a.m.

The announcement of a case of the new coronavirus in Las Vegas came as no surprise to at least one public health care expert, who says what happens in Vegas doesnt necessarily stay in the tourism hub.

Brian Labus is an assistant professor of public health at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas and a former senior epidemiologist at the Southern Nevada Health District.

Labus says, People bring things here all the time and take things home as well.

He predicts that it wont be long before more infections are uncovered in the city. Especially among the gamblers playing with cards and dice.

Labus says, You dont know what's on a surface that someone touched before you did."

___

3:50 a.m.

The European Parliament's plenary session initially scheduled next week in Strasbourg, France, will instead take place in Brussels because of the novel coronavirus.

Parliament president David Sassoli said Thursday that according to the legislative body's medical services "the health risks are considered to be significantly higher" if lawmakers gather in Strasbourg.

Story continues

Sassoli says the necessary security conditions are not in place for the usual transfer of the European Parliament to Strasbourg.

As of Thursday, there are 50 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Belgium, compared to 377 in France.

The city of Strasbourg is the official seat of the European Parliament, with plenary sessions also organized in Brussels on a regular basis.

___

3:40 a.m.

California authorities say they have confirmed a third case of novel coronavirus from a passenger who traveled on the Grand Princess cruise ship last month from San Francisco to Mexico.

Authorities said Wednesday that a passenger on the Feb 11-21 cruise has died and another is infected.

Sonoma County health officials said Thursday that a third passenger has tested positive for the virus. They identified that person as a resident of Sonoma County who is being treated at a hospital with the other infected passenger, who was also a Sonoma County resident.

A Coast Guard helicopter on Thursday delivered test kits to the cruise ship off the coast of California. Officials say the ship began another voyage to Hawaii after last month's cruise to Mexico and now has passengers on board with flu-like symptoms.

Separately, San Francisco announced the first two cases of the virus in the city itself on Thursday.

___

3:30 a.m.

Italian grandparents are ignoring a government plea to stay home to contain the spread of the new coronavirus and are instead stepping in as last-minute baby-sitters after schools were closed nationwide.

With 148 virus deaths, Italy is the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe. It also has the worlds oldest population after Japan. And the elderly are particularly vulnerable to the new virus.

Schools nationwide were closed Wednesday, leaving 8.4 million students with no place to go for the next two weeks.

So, despite a government decree that aims to curtail the spread of the virus among the most vulnerable, Roman playgrounds indicate the measures had the unintended boomerang effect of sending the elderly out on duty at the nation's sandboxes, swings and jungle gyms.

One grandfather, Lorenzo Romano, says he is happy to look after his grandchildren, regardless of the risk to his health, because he wants them around him more.

3:10 a.m.

The notoriously congested freeways of Seattle have become much easier to navigate since authorities urged commuters to stay home when possible during the coronavirus outbreak.

Major Seattle-area employers such as Microsoft and Amazon have told workers to not go into work. Between them, the tech giants employ more than 100,000 people in the region.

Washingtons Gov. Jay Inslee and local leaders have implored workers to telecommute if they can.

The Washington State Department of Transportation says travel times during the Thursday morning commute dropped significantly. Transportation officials say the 24-mile drive from suburban Federal Way north to Seattle averaged 36 minutes as opposed to the usual 56 minutes.

Ten people have died in Washington state from COVID-19. Authorities on Thursday reported 70 confirmed cases in the state, up from 39 the day before.

___

1:55 a.m.

The Vatican says it is working with Italian authorities to coordinate measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the tiny city state, where Pope Francis is recovering from a cold.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni declined to elaborate on possible measures. It seems likely that the Vatican will suspend Francis weekly general audiences, given the Italian ban on large public gatherings and recommendations that people stay separated by 1 meter. Several upcoming Vatican conferences have been canceled or postponed.

One Vatican official has been placed under protective quarantine in France after a priest from the French church in Rome tested positive for the virus when he arrived there. The official, who isnt sick, lives in the same church.

Bruni says the 83-year-old pope continues his positive recovery from the cold that forced him to cancel several official audiences and miss a weeklong spiritual retreat.

___

1:45 a.m.

Colombian President Ivan Duque has been tested for the new coronavirus after participating in a conference in Washington attended by several people who may have been exposed to the illness.

Colombia's Ministry of Health announced Thursday that Duques coronavirus test came back negative.

Officials say they considered the presidents potential exposure to the virus at the recent American Israel Public Affairs Committee event low risk, but decided to test him as a precaution.

According to AIPAC, a group of conference attendees from New York may have had contact with someone diagnosed with the coronavirus before attending and are now on a self-quarantine list.

The organization states that more than 18,000 people attend the event.

Colombia currently has no confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

___

12:20 a.m.

The number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in New York state has doubled overnight, from 11 to 22.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave the figures Thursday. The newly diagnosed cases include two hospitalized patients in New York City and a hospitalized man in Long Islands Nassau County.

The other positive tests were in people with mild symptoms  or none at all  in Westchester County, where a cluster of cases emerged earlier in the week. One of the previously diagnosed patients from Westchester County has been hospitalized.

Overall, the U.S. has 11 deaths among the over 3,300 people worldwide who have died from the new coronavirus.

___

12 midnight

A patient with an underlying health condition in southeast England has died after testing positive for the new coronavirus, the first person in the UK to succumb to the disease.

The person, who was not identified, is among the 115 people in the U.K. who have tested positive for the new virus. Switzerland also reported its first virus death on Thursday.

Italy has by far the highest number of dead in Europe at 148 people. France has reported six deaths.

Englands chief medical officer said Thursday that U.K. authorities have largely shifted from efforts to contain the new coronavirus to now attempting to delay its spread. Chris Whitty said there's evidence the virus is being passed from person to person in the U.K.

He said Britains official response had gone from mainly contain with some delay to mainly delay.

___

11:30 p.m.

The head of the World Health Organization says nations cannot stop their battle against the coronavirus that is sweeping across the globe.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking in Geneva on Thursday, told reporters: "This is not a drill. This is not the time for giving up. This is not a time of for excuses. This is a time for pulling out all the stops."

He added that "countries have been planning for scenarios like this for decades. Now is the time to act on those plans."

He said "the worst thing that can happen to any country or even to any individual is giving up. So WHO is saying don't give up. Don't surrender."

U.S. health officials, meanwhile, said Thursday said they expect a far lower death rate for the virus than WHO's current estimate of 3.4% -- saying that it does not account for mild cases that go uncounted. Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Brett Giroir, citing a model that included mild cases, said the U.S. could expect a death rate somewhere between 0.1%  like seasonal flu  and 1%.

___

10:50 p.m.

A U.S. envoy says the United States has offered humanitarian assistance to Iran to help them deal with their coronavirus outbreak but "the regime rejected the offer."

U.S. special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, spoke Thursday at a news conference in Paris. Iran has reported 107 virus deaths, same as Italy, the two hardest-hit nations outside of China.

In an interview later, Hook says "we asked the regime to identify what their needs are" but Iran did not respond. He said the offer would stand.

Hook also said the U.S. has asked Iran to release all Americans from its prisons "on medical furloughs" over fears the coronavirus may be infesting the country's prisons. He said five Americans are being held in Iran. He added that Washington was working through Switzerland on this and could not provide more details.

Hook attributed the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Iran to the government's mismanagement.

___

10:30 p.m.

A school district north of Seattle with 22,000 students will close for up to two weeks because of coronavirus concerns.

All 26 schools in the Northshore School District will be closed for up to two weeks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and protect vulnerable staff members, the district's superintendent said in a letter to parents. The district is largely in Bothell, Washington, 20 miles north of Seattle.

There have been at least 39 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Seattle area. Ten people have died.

Northshore School District superintendent Michelle Reid said school officials will consult with health authorities on further recommendations.

The district had closed a high school for two days last week over concerns about coronavirus exposure. Reid said about 20% of students had been absent recently as parents decided to self-quarantine students at home.

___

9 p.m.

South Africa has announced its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus.

Health Minister Zwele Mkhize said a 38-year-old man had returned this week from Italy with his wife and other travelers. He fell ill at his home in the KwaZulu-Natal province Tuesday and was tested. A health team is now getting in touch with all the people he had contact with.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will speak to the nation later Thursday about the health challenge posed by the virus.

South Africa is the first country in southern Africa and the third in sub-Saharan Africa to register a case of the new coronavirus. To date, seven countries in Africa have recorded cases: Algeria, Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia and South Africa.

___

8:35 p.m.

Italy has placed temporary restrictions on visiting relatives in nursing homes and is urging the elderly not to go outside unless absolutely necessary.

The Italian government, which closed schools nationwide to try to contain the coronavirus, has opened a campaign to urge ordinary Italians to do their part to limit infections given that Italys elderly population risks overwhelming the public health system with virus cases.

Italy, the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe, has the worlds oldest population after Japan. The elderly are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 virus. The 107 people who have died so far in Italy are all elderly, sick with other complications or both.

In a decree that takes effect Thursday, the government is limiting access to the elderly in nursing homes to prevent possible contagion.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte justified the extraordinary measure of closing schools and universities nationwide until March 15 by warning that there might not be enough intensive care units to treat patients if the virus continues its exponential spread.

___

6:10 p.m.

Facebook says its temporarily closing an office in Seattle after a worker was diagnosed with the new virus.

A contractor based in our Stadium East office has been diagnosed with the COVID-19, the company said. Weve notified our employees and are following the advice of public health officials to prioritize everyones health and safety.

Facebook said the last time the worker came to the office was on Feb. 21, so it will shut the office until March 9, when the incubation period ends. The company is following guidance from local authorities and encouraging Seattle staff to work from home until March 31.

An Amazon employee at the e-commerce giants Seattle office also reportedly tested positive for the virus this week.

___

6 p.m.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japan will impose a 14-day quarantine on all visitors from China and South Korea before they are allowed an entry permit.

They will be sent to a government facility for the quarantine and will not be allowed to use public transportation, Abe said Thursday as officials stepped up their efforts against the spread of the virus.

Japan has more than 1,050 confirmed cases, including 706 from a quarantined cruise ship, as transmission inside Japan has accelerated. Abe said the current week or two is a crucial time for Japan to get the outbreak under control as his government faces pressure to contain the virus ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

___

5:30 p.m.

Authorities in Switzerland say a 74-year-old woman infected with the new virus has died, the first confirmed death in the country.

The Federal Office of Public Health said Thursday that the death was reported by authorities in the western canton of Vaud. The woman had been hospitalized since Tuesday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 58 infections had been confirmed in Switzerland.

___

5:25 p.m.

Sri Lankan health authorities say they have decided to quarantine all Sri Lankan passengers arriving from Italy, South Korea and Iran for 14 days.

They will be quarantined at a center to be set up at a state-run hospital formerly used to treat leprosy patients on the outskirts of the capital, Colombo. Soldiers are now converting the hospital into a quarantine center.

Sri Lanka officially eliminated leprosy in 1995 and the facility was used for the countrys 16 remaining patients, who will now be transferred to another hospital.

More than 104,000 Sri Lankans reside in Italy, with more than 60% in the Lombardy region that has been hit hard by the virus. More than 20,000 Sri Lankans reside in South Korea.

___

5:25 p.m.

The virus outbreak couldnt have come at a worse time for millions of Hindus who are preparing to celebrate Holi, the festival in which people smear each others' faces with colorful powder.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Hindu nationalist leaders said they won't attend any celebrations on March 10 because of the coronavirus outbreak and are advising people to exercise restraint.

Modi tweeted that he would not celebrate Holi as experts have advised that mass gatherings should be reduced.

Community leaders are canceling street celebrations as well as large gatherings of people in condominiums.

Across India and Nepal and in countries with Indian migrants, Hindus celebrate Holi, the joyous festival of color, smearing one another with red and yellow powders and spraying each other with squirt guns. Water-filled balloons are also used to color each other.

___

4 p.m.

China says a visit by its president, Xi Jinping, to Japan has been called off because both countries are focusing on combating the virus outbreak.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian says the two sides will be in close communication about a new time for the visit.

"The two countries both agree that President Xi Jinping's state visit to Japan must take place under the most appropriate timing, environment and atmosphere, and must be a complete success," Zhao said at a daily news briefing on Thursday.

The visit had been expected in April.

China has striven to improve ties with Japan as both come under U.S. tariffs meant to punish them for their trade practices. However, mutual suspicion runs high on both sides, driven in China primarily by memories of Japan's brutal occupation of parts of the country last century and China's claim to islands in the East China Sea controlled by Japan.
HOUSTON, March 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hicks Thomas LLP is pleased to announce that three of its attorneys have been selected to the 2020 list of Texas Rising Stars, an exclusive listing of the top young lawyers in the state.

Senior Associate Abbie Sprague, Kasi Chadwick and Joshua Bauer are among the top 2.5 percent of Texas Lawyers in the state identified through a rigorous Super Lawyers selection process. To be eligible for inclusion, attorneys must be either 40 or younger or in practice for 10 years or less.

Ms. Sprague, who is honored for her general litigation work for the fifth consecutive year, has also been named among the Up-and-Coming 50, which recognizes the state's top women attorneys. She focuses her practice on a broad range of commercial and business disputes, including construction, real estate, employment and bankruptcy matters. She is a graduate of the University of Houston Law Center.

Ms. Chadwick earned recognition for her work in employment litigation. She focuses her practice on representing employers in pre-litigation investigations before governmental bodies and a variety of litigation, post-judgment and appellate matters. This is her second consecutive year on the Texas Rising Stars list. She is a graduate of the University of Houston Law Center.

Mr. Bauer, who is being honored for the first time, is recognized for his work business litigation. His practice includes advising companies in a variety of industries, including real estate, insurance, healthcare and financial institutions. He earned his law degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.

"Congratulations to our firm's Rising Stars. We are pleased and proud of the recognition bestowed on these talented members of our team," said John B. Thomas, co-founder of Hicks Thomas LLP. "We see how hard these lawyers work and our clients see the results. It is nice to see them honored in this way."

The Rising Stars list is compiled through peer nominations and attorney-led research by Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters. The complete listing of this year's Texas Rising Stars will appear in the April 2020 issue of Super Lawyers magazine and at https://www.superlawyers.com/.

Founded in 1997, Texas-based Hicks Thomas LLP is a premier litigation firm representing plaintiffs and defendants across the nation. With offices in Houston, Austin, Beaumont, Amarillo, and Sacramento, California, the firm provides in-depth experience in cases involving oil and gas, environmental, complex commercial, toxic tort, construction, products liability, corporate governance, securities, banking, insurance coverage, transportation, trade secrets, and business litigation. Visit the firm at http://www.hicks-thomas.com.

SOURCE Hicks Thomas LLP

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BRIDGEPORT  The head of Danbury Hospitals respiratory department told a judge Thursday he cant be jailed on charges that he sexually assaulted a teenaged girl because he has to help fight the coronavirus.

Superior Court Judge William Holden agreed to reduce Dr. Stanley Davidsons bond from $200,000 to $100,000.

Davidson was expected to post the bond late Thursday afternoon. The hospital is currently treating one patient who has been diagnosed with COVID-19. The patient is currently in a coma.

Davidson, 39, the clinical respiratory supervisor at Danbury Hospital, was charged Thursday with second-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a child and enticing a minor by computer.

This is a travesty of justice, his lawyer, Lee Samowitz, said later. He was trying to mentor a troubled girl and she has made unsubstantiated allegations against him.

Officials at Nuvance Health, Danbury Hospitals parent company, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bridgeport police said a now 20-year-old local woman told them she was sexually assaulted on numerous occasions by Davidson beginning when she was 12. She claims the assaults continued until she was 16 and that Davidson had told her to take their secret to the grave.

Police said the woman told them that Davidson had also convinced her to text him dozens of sexually explicit photographs of herself.

Police said detectives later interviewed Davidson and he told them the victim was having problems at home because her parents wouldnt let her talk about boys. He said he invited her to his home to help her. Once there, he would give her money and be the answer to her prayer, police said.

They said Davidson told them he would often text the girl about sex to educate her and make sure she was safe. And while police said Davidson admitted the girl had texted him nude photographs of herself, he told detectives, I never did anything illegal with that girl.
Of tax cuts and travel-industry and oil-company bailouts vs. paid sick leave, expanded unemployment and free coronavirus testing, only the latter three address the immediate problems faced by working families. But even those dont address the inability to pay for health care by the uninsured or underinsured. Why not start with a health-care plan that provides adequate coverage to all Americans? A Yale study clearly showed that, rather than increase the cost of health care, Medicare-for-all would reduce it. Elimination of employer-provided plans in favor of national health care would reduce the impending economic burden on American businesses, make them more competitive with foreign companies and enable them to afford to pay sick leave, as well as ensure all families have adequate coverage in this time of most need, while reducing overall costs. Sounds like a win-win-win to me.
H ollywood actress Winona Ryder has leapt to the defence of Johnny Depp over domestic violence claims by saying it is impossible to believe he was abusive towards ex-wife Amber Heard during their marriage.

The Stranger Things star said she cannot wrap my head around these accusations, insisting Mr Depp was loving and caring during their four-year romance in the early 1990s.

In a statement filed at court in the US, Ms Ryder said she was absolutely shocked, confused and upset when allegations first emerged of the Pirates of the Caribbean star being violent towards Ms Heard during their marriage.

The idea that he is an incredibly violent person is the farthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved, she wrote.

Mr Depp and Ms Heard are due to battle each other in both the UK and US courts, with competing claims about abuse in their volatile relationship.

Mr Depp, 56, has brought a 40 million ($50m) defamation lawsuit in Virginia against his ex-wife, 33, after she called herself a domestic abuse victim in an op-ed piece she wrote for The Washington Post. The actor claims Ms Heard was the perpetrator of abuse towards him.

Lawyers are expected to pour over messages they sent to each other and their celebrity friends, as well as recordings made during their romance.

In her statement to the Virginia court, Ms Ryder, 48, said: I knew Johnny very well years ago. We were together as a couple for four years, and I counted him as my best friend, and as close to me as family.
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Linkedin Bjorn Lomborg (The Jakarta Post) Copenhagen  Fri, March 13, 2020

If you listen to the media, a green automotive future has arrived and a tsunami of electric cars are outselling gasoline and diesel around the world, transforming the planet and solving climate change.

We need a reality check. Battery-powered electric vehicles are fairly popular in urban China and California, as well as a few countries that subsidize their drivers heavily. But globally, fewer than 0.3 percent of all cars are pure electric, and across Europe, BMW says customers dont want them.

Unsurprisingly given the price-tag, electric cars are often playthings for rich people. One United States study shows the richest quarter of people receive almost all the public money spent on electric car subsidies.

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Amy Forliti is a reporter for the Associated Press in Minneapolis. She is a competent mainstream media journalist. Long after it could have had any bearing on Ilhan Omars election to Congress from Minnesotas Fifth District in 2018  i.e., long after the DFL primary  Forliti took a detailed look at the story that Omar had married her brother in 2009 for some dishonest purpose and only recently went through the exercise of divorcing him. The story was Minnesota House hopeful calls marriage, fraud claims lies. Omar actually called the claims disgusting lies.

Omar refused to be interviewed by the AP for the story. Omar further refused to provide the AP with a list of her siblings[.] Indeed, Omar refused to facilitate the APs investigation of the claims in any way. Attempts to communicate with Omars ex-husband, now in London, also proved unavailing (The APs efforts to speak with Elmi were unsuccessful). Forlitis experience reflects Omars public relations strategy since I first began writing about the story in 2016.

Without explicitly saying so, Forlitis AP story retraced the steps Preya Samsundar and I took to look into the claims in 2016. I think that Forlitis story left the claims roughly where Preya and I left them, though Forlitis story carried the imprimatur of a mainstream media organization. The Star Tribune encountered essentially the same hurdles to its investigation of the story in June 2019.

Forliti now turns to the news of Omars remarriage for the AP in Omar marries political consultant, months after affair claim. The link is to the story as posted by the Star Tribune, with comments. The story is posted by the AP here.

Though brief, Forlitis AP story is superior to the Star Tribune story by Ryan Faircloth (discussed here yesterday). Forliti concludes her story: Omar has been dogged by questions about her personal life since she first ran for state representative in 2016, with conservatives alleging she was married to Hirsi and another man at once, and that the other man was her brother. She has called those claims disgusting lies.'

Forliti omits any mention of her own contribution to examination of the questions and of her inability to resolve them in Omars favor. Forlitis story is nevertheless respectable, while Faircloths story is more or less pitiful.

With the local angle and the resources at its disposal, the Star Tribune should own Omars saga. Yet the opposite is closer to the case. The Star Tribune resists competent coverage of Omar and continues to disserve its core Fifth District DFL readership.

One wonders what it might take to embarrass the Star Tribune. Whatever the answer, the bar is set incredibly high.
CROWN POINT  Franciscan Health hospital in Crown Point is manning entrances with screening stations to comply with coronavirus-related restrictions.

The screenings and enhanced restrictions began Thursday, the hospital said in a news release. Visitors will not be allowed to visit if they or someone from their household has traveled to China, Japan, Iran, South Korea, Italy or if they have been on a cruise ship or airplane in the last 14 days.

People will also be denied further entry if they are showing signs of respiratory symptoms such as a cough, or if their temperature is greater than 100.4 degrees.

Other restrictions prohibit visitors if they or someone from their household has had contact with a confirmed or suspected coronavirus patient. Visitors under the age of 18 will also not be allowed, except for siblings for obstetrics patients.

The restrictions were adjusted to comply with Indiana Gov. Eric Holcombs announcements earlier Thursday, including barring anyone who is from a community with a known coronavirus patient.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards speaks about the new coronavirus while U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, right, listens on Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Baton Rouge, La. The number of cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus are on the rise in Louisiana. Read more

BATON ROUGE, La.  Louisianas governor planned to postpone the states presidential primaries due to fears of the coronavirus, an aide said Friday, which would make it the first state to do so.

Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards planned to sign an executive order delaying the April 4 primary until June 20, said his spokeswoman Christina Stephens.

We are experiencing community spread of coronavirus in Louisiana, and the governor is taking decisive action to slow its progress, Stephens said on Twitter.

Louisiana also postponed elections in 2005 after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and in 2008 after hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Early voting in Louisiana's election was scheduled to start in a week. But with a large number of elderly poll workers and worldwide concerns about people gathering in groups, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, who asked Edwards to sign the executive order, said he didn't feel comfortable continuing with the election plans.

"This weighty decision has been made out of an absolute abundance of caution for Louisianas voters, voting officials and the general public as a whole," said Ardoin, a Republican.

As of Friday, the number of residents testing positive in the state had jumped to 33, centered largely in the New Orleans area, according to the state health department's latest figures. The positive tests are awaiting confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of parishes with infected residents has grown to eight, with most of those in the New Orleans area, but one case has been identified in northwest Louisiana, in Caddo Parish.

For most people, the virus 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. Most people recover within weeks.

Edwards has declared a public health emergency for the state. State prisons have suspended visitation for 30 days, and hospitals and nursing homes are limiting visitor access, in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus to vulnerable populations.

As they were around the country, events in Louisiana were being canceled. The Southern University System joined the Louisiana State University System and several New Orleans universities in moving all of its classes online. The Louisiana Legislature, only one week into its three-month session, began working on contingency plans for must-pass bills, such as the budget, in case lawmakers decide to end the session early.

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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The battered airline industry began another round of flight cuts Thursday, this time in response to the Trump administration's strict new travel restrictions on Europe travel that go into effect late Friday.

American Airlines is suspending service to all destinations in Europe including Paris, Madrid and Frankfurt through early May or June depending on the city, a move that will eliminate 15 daily flights in each direction and reduce its transatlantic capacity by 50 percent in April alone. London and flights to Ireland are excluded.

"With the restrictions placed on travel to and from Europe for the next 30 days, we expect customer demand to significantly decline over the next month,'' American CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom said in a memo to employees late Thursday. "We are making the following proactive cancellations to minimize disruption to our team and customers.''

Coronavirus travel news: American Airlines pilot tests positive for COVID-19

United Airlines is cutting the number of daily transatlantic flights by nearly 50 percent, dropping those flights per day from 63 to 34.

United CEO Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby called the coronavirus spread a "fast-moving, ever-changing global crisis'' in a memo to employees released by the company late Thursday.

"Just in the last 48 hours, a lot has happened: new travel restrictions between the United States and Europe; the cancellation of large events like St. Patricks Day parades and professional sports events; and colleges and universities sending students home early and transitioning to online learning,'' the memo said. "Each of these changes has a direct impact on our business.''

Delta is immediately suspending seven flights between the United States and Europe and said further cuts are under evaluation based on demand.

"The economic fallout of this will be broad"

A flurry of flight cuts are expected from U.S. and foreign carriers due to the restrictions, which prohibit foreign nationals from traveling to the United States in the next 30 days and add airport screening measures and a self quarantine for Americans and permanent legal residents returning from Europe.

Story continues

There are about 550 flights per day carrying about 125,000 travelers between the United States and the Schengen Area of Europe the ban covers, according to the International Air Transport Association.

The region includes 26 countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The United Kingdom and Ireland are not part of the Schengen Area.

"The economic fallout of this will be broad,'' the trade association said in a statement.

These are in addition to a series of previous flight cuts to Italy and several destinations in China this year.

IATA previously estimated that the crisis will cost international airlines as much as $113 billion in revenue but that does not include the new U.S. ban.

The group says flights between the United States and the Europe excluding England and Ireland, brought in $20.6 billion in revenue in 2019.

This will create enormous cash-flow pressures for airlines. We have already seen Flybe go under. And this latest blow could push others in the same direction,'' IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac said in a statement Thursday.

The new Europe flight cutbacks by airline:

AMERICAN

American's sweeping changes, coming just days after the airline and others announced dramatic flights cuts on international and domestic flights due to plunging demand, will reduce its international summer flights capacity by 34 percent.

American said it will still offer about 20 daily flights to London.

The cuts:

Suspending flights from Philadelphia and Charlotte, North Carolina, to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich, Madrid and Zurich from March 13 through May 7.

Suspending flights to Madrid from Miami and Dallas and all flights to Barcelona and Paris from March 19 through May 6.

Suspending service from Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina to London Heathrow from March 19-May 7 and reducing the number of daily flights between London Heathrow and New York, Dallas and Chicago through May 7.

Suspending flights from Dallas and Los Angeles to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and flights from Dallas to Santiago, Chile, from March 19 from March 19-June 4.

Discontinuing flights between Miami and Cordoba, Argentina.

Most seasonal Europe routes that were due to resume in late March/early April will be delayed to May or June.

UNITED

United said it will fly its regular Europe schedule through March 20.

After that, it will operate 18 daily flights to and from London and daily flights to Zurich, Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, Manchester and Edinburgh, and some flights to Frankfurt and Munich.

Travelers whose flights to Europe are canceled will be rebooked, or are eligible for a refund even on non-refundable tickets.

DELTA

Delta Air Lines said it will suspend seven routes between the US and Europe on Friday.

The routes:

Cincinnati-Paris

Indianapolis-Paris

Orlando-Amsterdam

Portland-Amsterdam

Raleigh/Durham-Paris

Salt Lake City-Amsterdam

Salt Lake City-Paris

The airline said in an advisory on its website that further flight cut are under evaluation based on travel demand.

Travelers whose flights are canceled are eligible for a refund, even if they're holding a non-refundable ticket. Other passengers with tickets to or from Europe through May 31 can change or cancel their ticket without paying the usual hefty ticket change fee under a travel waiver Delta issued after Trump's prime time address Wednesday.

Earlier this week, before the ban was announced, Delta said it was reducing seat capacity to Europe by 15 to 20 percent, along with other significant flight cuts, as it copes with staggering declines in ticket bookings and a surge in passenger cancellations due to coronavirus concerns.

Unlike the recession, which hurt business travel more than vacation travel, the drop in bookings is broad, Delta executives said.

"This clearly is not an economic event,'' CEO Ed Bastian said. "This is a fear event probably more akin to 9/11 than what we saw in (the recession) in 2009.''

Lufthansa Group

Lufthansa said it is canceling all but a handful of daily flights between the United States and Europe. The airline said it will suspend flights between the US and Munich and Dusseldorf, Germany, and Geneva, Switzerland.

.What's remaining for the German carrier and its sister airlines:

Chicago-Frankfurt

Chicago-Zurich

Chicago-Vienna

New York-Frankfurt

New York-Zurich

Washington, D.C.-Brussels

Norwegian Air

Norwegian Air, a discount carrier offering flights between several U.S. cities and Europe, on Thursday said it is suspending most of its transatlantic flights as it grounds 40 percent of its long-haul planes and lays off up to 50 percent of its employees.

The airline, which has struggled financially, said it will still offer flights between the United States and London, which isn't affected by the ban.

Norwegian's cuts:

March 13-March 29: Canceling the majority of flights to the United States from Amsterdam, Madrid, Oslo, Stockholm, Barcelona and Paris.

March 13-May 31: All flights between Rome and the United States canceled.

March 29-April 30: All flights from Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Amsterdam, Athens and Oslo to the US canceled.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus Europe travel ban fallout: Airlines cancel more flights
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Linkedin Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 14 2020

The historic success of South Korean dark comedy thriller Parasite did not start in a vacuum.

Its sweeping victory at the Oscars was a result of the country's decades of effort to cultivate a formidable film industry and enter the international market.

Indonesian film producer Meiske Taurisia of Palari Films, whose productions have had global commercial releases pointed out that coming up with a second Parasite would not be an easy feat  yet not impossible.

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TMALL Star Rating 2019 In 2019, transcosmos China launched the Marketing Solutions Team for analyzing consumer behaviors and running the best promotional campaigns by leveraging GROW, an analytics model advocated by TMALL, thereby successfully focus on clients target market at speed.

transcosmos inc. is delighted to announce that Shanghai transcosmos Marketing Services Co., Ltd., its wholly-owned subsidiary, was awarded a five-star rating as TMALL service partner for the second half of 2019 by TMALL, the largest online marketplace in China, on February 17, 2020.

TMALL star rating program evaluates all companies that provide e-commerce operations services on TMALL and TMALL Global every six months. Highly regarded for its high quality operations services, transcosmos China received a five-star rating as TMALL services partner again after winning the award in the first half of 2019. This marks the fourth consecutive year that transcosmos China has won five-star rating since 2016.

transcosmos's two capital and business partners in China, both e-commerce service operators, also continued to win the five-star ratings. The two companies are UNQ (Shanghai) Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. (commonly known as UNQ), an online distributor that specializes in personal care and baby & kids categories, and Shandong Ya Nuoda E-Commerce Co., Ltd. (commonly known as Magic Panda), an e-commerce store operations service provider specializing in fashion brands.

As the new retail model continues to evolve in the Chinese retail market, TMALL service partners are expected to prove their abilities to elevate customer experience and leverage data on top of effectively providing e-commerce store operations services. In 2019, transcosmos China launched the Marketing Solutions Team that is designed to analyze consumer behaviors and run the best promotional campaigns by leveraging GROW (*), an analytics model advocated by TMALL, thereby successfully focus on clients' target market at speed. transcosmos China will continue to contribute to clients in elevating their customer experience and expanding their sales.

(*) "GROW" is an analytics model advocated by TMALL. The model consists of four elements, namely, Gain, Retain, bOOst and Widen that are essential for any product category to achieve sustainable growth.

transcosmos entered the Chinese market and launched its offshore services business in 1995. Today, transcosmos has its bases and subsidiaries across 20 cities in China including Shanghai, Beijing, Tenzin, Hefei, Xi'an, Changsha, Wuhan, Suzhou, Taipei and more. The company offers extensive services such as business process outsourcing (BPO) including contact centers, e-commerce one-stop, digital marketing and system development for both Chinese and global brands.

transcosmos China launched its operations in Shanghai as a digital transformation partner for businesses in 2006. In 2009, the company launched its e-commerce business and now, in partnership with platforms such as TMALL, JD, and WeChat, transcosmos China offers a variety of services that include e-commerce store/website development & operations, sales channel development, online and offline data integration, system development, consumer operations, and integrated marketing services in the new retail industry (including cross-border e-commerce) to clients in diverse industries including the 3C Industry (Computer, Communications, and Consumer Electronics), cosmetics, apparel, baby care, toy, sports, beverage, musical instruments, homewares, home theater/audio equipment and more.

*transcosmos is a trademark or registered trademark of transcosmos inc. In Japan and other countries.

*Other company names and product or services names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies.

About transcosmos inc.

transcosmos launched its operations in 1966. Since then, we have combined superior "people" with up-to-date "technology" to enhance the competitive strength of our clients by providing them with superior and valuable services. transcosmos currently offers services that support clients' business processes focusing on both sales expansion and cost optimization through our 168 bases across 30 countries/regions with a focus on Asia, while continuously pursuing Operational Excellence. Furthermore, following the expansion of e-commerce market on the global scale, transcosmos provides a comprehensive One-Stop Global E-Commerce services to deliver our clients' excellent products and services in 48 countries/regions around the globe. transcosmos aims to be the "Global Digital Transformation Partner" of our clients, supporting the clients' transformation by leveraging digital technology, responding to the ever-changing business environment.

https://www.trans-cosmos.co.jp/english/
By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijani Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov has said that Armenia deliberately protracts the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, despite the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to find a peaceful resolution.

Hasanov made the remarks while meeting German Ambassador Wolfgang Manig, the ministry reported in its official website on March 12.

The minister spoke about the policy of aggression pursued by Armenia against Azerbaijan. He also expressed gratitude to the ambassador for Germanys respect and support for Azerbaijans territorial integrity.

Furthermore, the parties discussed Azerbaijani servicemens representation at the headquarters of the German Armed Forces in order to exchange experience, the participation of representatives of the Azerbaijan Army as observers in military exercises involving German servicemen, the organization of mutual visits of military experts, the joint security of regional energy projects and other issues of mutual interest.

Noting that relations in various fields between Azerbaijan and Germany are built on a solid foundation, the minister spoke about the prospects for the development of cooperation both in the bilateral format and within the framework of NATO programs, in particular in the field of military education.

In turn, the German Ambassador Wolfgang Manig expressed satisfaction with the development of relations between the two countries and emphasized that his country will make every effort to expand relations with Azerbaijan, and will contribute to the development of cooperation in the military sphere.

Hasanov noted that the implementation of new projects in the field of military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Germany will be continued this year.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
This rendering shows two planned towers in the Schuylkill Yards development around 30th Street Station. The law firm Dechert LLP is looking to utilize the state's Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) tax breaks to move its headquarters in the nearby Cira Centre (also a KOZ project) to new office space within the Yards. Read more

For the top Philadelphia law firm Dechert LLP, theres no place like home in a Keystone Opportunity Zone. Thats the state tax break program the law firm wants to use to help pay for a new global headquarters  a short walk from the headquarters it established in 2005 using the same tax breaks. What some would describe as double-dipping or zone-hopping is not specifically prohibited by the 1998 law that launched the KOZs as a tool to spur development of vacant land in neighborhoods statewide. The law needs amending.

Pennsylvania clearly asks far too little of the corporations and other companies that benefit directly from KOZ incentives, which create state and local tax-free zones that last 10 years. The KOZ was established in 1999 to spur economic and employment benefits in distressed neighborhoods. The state did turn down Decherts latest KOZ application; the firm is suing, and while were glad Pennsylvania is fighting back, the program ought to be revamped regardless of how the judges rule.

For one thing, there is no rule that companies cant use the tax breaks more than once. But more worrisome is the lack of data collected on whether the return on these investments are reality or fantasy.

Companies typically promise that a certain number of jobs will be created in exchange for a tax break. But scrutiny into whether and how many jobs are created is light. Pennsylvanias Department of Community and Economic Development acknowledges that it does not track the costs associated with creating those jobs. Nor is there a requirement in the KOZ statute that ensures the laws intent is met. Additional oversight measures, the department says, would have to be voted upon by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Theres lots of evidence that tax incentives and similar subsidies generally dont work as advertised. There are indications that other ways to invest in neighborhood development, such as the bond market, may work better. New Jersey incentives primarily aimed at luring companies to Camden have rightly been criticized for lacking oversight or effective targets for job creation. And the federal Opportunity Zone program in President Trumps 2017 tax cut package also is heavy on enabling investors to profit but remarkably light when it comes to ensuring that zone residents benefit.

Philadelphia officials cite the dramatic transformation of the Navy Yard, where some developments have utilized KOZs, as a marquee example of how the program is working in the city.

 READ MORE: No Keystone-zone tax breaks for Comcast's tower

 READ MORE: Pennsylvania taxpayers may never know what Keystone Opportunity Zones cost or accomplished

A 2014 analysis of KOZ impact in Philadelphia by then-city Controller Alan Butkowitz found that 617 businesses received city tax credits worth $384.7 million from 1999 through 2014. But two-thirds of those were partnerships or limited liability companies with no employees, meaning, no one paying wage taxes to the city. The analysis did conclude that the 3700 new jobs created thanks to the KOZ cost $103,971 per job.

Competitive pressures mean that Pennsylvania likely will continue offering tax breaks. Pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into programs without a clear assessment of whether theyre successful is bad enough. Ignoring the opportunity to amend the program to close loopholes and make it more effective is even worse.
 Flash

A delegate from the permanent mission of the Philippines to the United Nations has tested positive for COVID-19, the first known case at the UN headquarters in New York, a UN spokesman said Thursday.

"Earlier today, the permanent mission of the Philippines informed the UN Medical Services that one of its delegates has tested positive for COVID-19," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in an e-mail to UN correspondents.

"The delegate was last in UN headquarters on Monday for about 30 minutes around mid-day and visited only one meeting room, which has gone through three cleaning cycles since then," he said.

"The delegate did not have contact with UN staff but met two delegates from another mission. UN Medical Services is reaching out to them," he added.

The patient is a female diplomat from the Philippine mission, said Kira Azucena, the Philippine acting UN ambassador, in a message sent to different missions earlier.

"As of today, the Philippine mission is in lockdown, and all personnel are instructed to self-quarantine and to seek medical attention should they develop the symptoms," said the message.

In response to the coronavirus crisis, Guterres has canceled all UN system sponsored side events at headquarters scheduled for March and April, but not legislative meetings such as for the General Assembly and Security Council, Dujarric said at a daily briefing.

UN General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande has postponed the UN Youth Plenary to a later date, said Reem Abaza, spokeswoman for Muhammad-Bande.

The event in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the UN was scheduled to be held from March 31 to April 2.
A 15-year-old boy has been stabbed to death during a violent brawl between two rival gangs in a Brisbane carpark.

The groups came to blows in a carpark on Anzac Avenue in Redcliff, in the city's northern suburbs, at 8:10pm on Friday.

During the fight the young boy was stabbed in the chest once.

The 15-year-old was rushed to Redcliffe Hospital in an ambulance but later died of his injuries.

Police are searching for the driver of a white wagon (pictured) and three other men after a 15-year-old boy was fatally stabbed during a brawl between two gangs

Three men are wanted for questioning over the incident, with two of them understood to have travelled to and from the scene of the stabbing on push bikes.

Officers are appealing for any information or anyone with dashcam footage in the area to come forward.

The owner of a white wagon is also wanted for questioning after the car was seen leaving the carpark shortly after the stabbing.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
The Chemours Company announced a five-year, $275,000 grant to support STEM initiatives within Salem County school districts.

The announcement was made at the 31st annual Salem County Science Fair held Wednesday.

It was grants like this that sent me to trainings like the National Science Teachers convention where I went out to learn and got to bring it back to our community, said Nancy Anderson, science fair coordinator. It sends a message to the students and teachers that Chemours thinks this is important. They see these career choices as important and that funding just brings it to another level.

The grant will support all 19 school districts in the county and will allow teachers to be sent to trainings and conventions, will provide funding to future science fairs for fourth grade through high school, as well as provide the proper materials to science classrooms.

What were trying to do is have grants that are actually transformative in the communities in which we operate, which is a big difference over a five year commitment, said Kristine Wellman, plant manager for The Chemours Company. Were partnering with the schools in both hands on environmental education, and also with respect to events like the science fair, and we think that thats really transformative.

The science fair allows students from the fifth grade through high school choose from a multitude of topics, including behavioral science, physics, engineering, computer science and math. They create displays and experiments which are judged by over 50 judges, the majority being Chemours employees volunteering their time.

We have a one to five ratio of one judge for every five kids. So every kid gets an undivided attention in interview time, said Anderson. Chemours made that possible because it hasnt always been the case. But now with the support, we've really been able to lock that in and make sure every kid gets adult time to show off their project.

The students who win the Salem County Science Fair will then move onto the Delaware Valley Fair, where they have the opportunity to receive over $6 million in scholarships.

Mackenzie Fitchett can be reached at mfitchett@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
This month in New York, candidates for office and their teams have been knocking on doors, shaking hands and sharing pens and with as many people as they can. Its petitioning season, when candidates need to get residents of their district to sign a sheet saying their name deserves to be on the ballot.

But its also coronavirus season, and the petitioning process seems tailor-made to spread germs.

So in the last few days, candidates have been stuck with a difficult choice: keep petitioning, potentially putting staffers  and vulnerable voters  at risk, or stop petitioning, and risk not making the ballot.

Many candidates have taken matters into their own hands. Rep. Carolyn Maloney announced on Thursday that she would immediately suspend petitioning, and that she wouldnt challenge any of her opponents signatures. Michael Weinstock, a Democratic congressional candidate on Long Island, announced Friday that he would stop petitioning too. Same for Jason Salmon, a Democratic state Senate candidate in Brooklyn.

Since candidates typically have to collect two to three times the minimum amount of signatures in order to withstand a potential challenge, pledges like Maloneys would effectively limit the number of signatures her opponents would need to gather.

Of course, politics is politics, and nothing can stop an inspired volunteer. Maloneys campaign denied knowledge of it, but a Manhattanite tweeted on Friday that somebody was still gathering signatures for Maloney.

Apart from voluntary steps, some New Yorkers are now calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to take official action. It would be better if there was an edict from on high to either stop the petition process or say, Lets reduce the petitions, said Lupe Todd-Medina, a Democratic strategist working with candidates trying to get on the Democratic primary ballot in June.

Were being encouraged by the governor and the mayor to practice social distancing, Todd-Medina added. To then ask volunteers to put themselves in a situation where theyre not practicing social distancing seems hypocritical.

Rep. Jerry Nadler joined dozens of candidates and political organizations at a virtual press conference Friday asking for petitioning requirements to be changed. Ive asked the governor to use his emergency powers to drastically reduce the number of signatures that any candidate needs, said Nadler, whos facing several primary challengers this cycle. This is the prudent thing to do.

Candidates were able to start collecting signatures on Feb. 25, and all petitions are due by April 2. The signatures required vary by office, from 500 for a state Assembly hopeful to 1,250 for a congressional candidate to 2,000 for a candidate for borough president.

The goal of changing the requirements has united establishment incumbents and upstart insurgents, candidates from across the city and the state and members of both parties. Westchester Republican Party Chairman Doug Colety has called for the requirements to be altered or eliminated, while state Sen. Julia Salazar, a democratic socialist from Brooklyn, tweeted her frustrations, saying, The requirements should be adjusted to reflect the state of emergency. Nadler and long-time Manhattan Assemblyman Richard Gottfriend joined the virtual press conference on Friday, but so did Shaniyat Chowdhury and Melanie DArrigo, who are challenging congressional incumbents  and Nadlers colleagues  in the June primary.

The candidates may get their wish, but not immediately. At a press conference on Friday, Cuomo said that petitioning was something we have to address, but didnt elaborate on any plans.

The state Legislature may take action too. Assemblyman Nader Sayegh told the Journal News that hes introducing a bill to reduce the number of required signatures by one third, in counties stricken by the outbreak. Sayeghs district is in Westchester County, which saw some of the states earliest coronavirus cases and has been hit hard by the outbreak. Colety, the leader of the Westchester Republican Party, called for the state to suspend early voting or go to an all-paper vote, in order to limit the number of voters touching the same screens.

State Sen. James Skoufis also announced that he will introduce a bill on Monday that would postpone New Yorks April 28 Democratic presidential primary until June 23  the same day as state and congressional primaries.

Actions taken to slow the spread of coronavirus may affect elections in other ways, too. New York City Councilman Donovan Richards, a leading candidate in the March 24 special election for Queens borough president, has called on the governor and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to postpone that election  although that step has not been taken so far.
Newly elected Israeli MP Iman al-Khatib, greeting supporters in Nazareth, shook hands with women but tapped her heart with her right hand for men. The gestures signalled the Muslim identity of the woman who is about to become Israel's first hijab-wearing MP and part of a group of Arab women poised to expand their voice in Israel's male-dominated politics. All major parties in the Jewish state are led by men, with women making up only 25 percent of lawmakers in the Knesset, or parliament. But in March 2 elections, one party managed to double its female representation, albeit from a low base. The predominantly Arab Joint List won 15 of the Knesset's 120-seats, the alliance's best-ever performance and up from 13 during stalemate election last September. The List also counts four women among its incoming MPs, up from two in September. Khatib will be part of the Knesset's largest ever contingent of Arab women, including three Joint List colleagues and a Druze woman from the centrist Blue and White party. The List draws most of its support from Israel's roughly 20-percent Arab minority -- who have Israeli citizenship but are Palestinian by heritage. Israel's Arab minority complain of discrimination and accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of treating them as second-class citizens. Netanyahu counters that his government has invested more in Arab neighbourhoods than any in the history of the Jewish state. The List's elected women told AFP that while they will focus on their constituent's concerns, they also care about wider issues in Israeli society. "Do not make the veil a barrier. Look at the capabilities of the veil's wearer -- their ethics, work, skills and attitudes," said Khatib, a 54-year-old mother of four. There are "religious Jewish women in the Knesset", she added. "We didn't hear any comment about them." "We must deal with people first as human beings." - 'Lack of options' - Like other Arab-Israeli MPs, Khatib speaks fluent Hebrew. She studied social services at Tel Aviv University, specialising in women's support. In parliament, she wants to tackle issues ranging from violence in Arab neighbourhoods to poverty and housing. "Sixty-four percent of women are excluded from work, not because they don't want to work but due to conditions and lack of travel options," she said, referring to the Arab population. Inflexible hours mean Arab women often need to leave for work before their children go to school, she said. "These issues must be put on the table at the Knesset." The new parliament will be sworn in next week but some fear it will last only a few months. No bloc has a 61-seat majority, a repeat of inconclusive polls in April and September 2019. Netanyahu's right-wing Likud won 36 seats and controls a total of 58, counting its allies. Netanyahu's main rival Benny Gantz, who heads Blue and White, needs the Joint List's support to even consider forming a government. The List's head Ayman Odeh has indicated he could back Gantz under certain conditions. - Israel's youngest lawmaker - Aida Touma, a Christian Arab-Israeli re-elected on March 2, is on the List's four-person team negotiating with Gantz. A women's activist before entering parliament in 2015, Touma stressed that the List's incoming female MPs "are from all walks of life and are capable and serious representatives of the whole of society". The Joint List is an alliance of parties representing both Muslim and Christian Arab Israelis, as well as some Jewish leftists. Its members range from Islamists to communists. One member, Sundus Salih, is at 34 about to become Israel's youngest lawmaker. The mother of three is from Al-Mashhad town near Nazareth and has a masters in science and technology. "There are differences between the (List's) parties... but we four women unite and agree on most things," Salih told AFP. "As a mother and a teacher I am worried by the proliferation of violence and guns." The fourth member of the quartet almost didn't make it on the ballot. Hiba Yazbek, also from Nazareth, was blocked as a candidate by the Central Elections Committee over Facebook posts allegedly supporting terrorism. She denied the charges and won an appeal. Now she is determined to use her Knesset seat to fight for Arab rights. "We intend to translate our great electoral strength into political positions that reinforce our position as Arabs in this country and confront the right-wing and its agendas," she told AFP. Iman al-Khatib, an Arab Israeli newly elected to Israel's parliament, speaks to supporters in the northern Israeli town of Kafr Kanna, with her brother at her side Sundus Salih, an Arab Israeli newly elected to Israel's parliament, speaks to AFP at the Knesset in Jerusalem
Gabon and Ghana confirmed their first cases of coronavirus on Thursday, becoming the ninth and tenth countries in sub-Saharan Africa to register positive cases.

The region has so far been less badly hit by coronavirus than Europe or China. Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Togo, South Africa, Burkina Faso and Democratic Republic of Congo have also registered cases.

In a statement, Gabons government said its case was a 27-year-old Gabonese man who had returned from France on March 8.

Ghanas health ministry said its two cases were people who had returned recently from Norway and Turkey.

These are imported cases of COVID-19. Both patients are currently being kept in isolation and are stable, the ministry said in a statement.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
(CNN)  A source close to Donald Trump said the US President is telling people close to him that he is indeed concerned about coming into contact with people who have contracted the coronavirus, including the Brazilian official who tested positive after coming face-to-face with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

"He is very concerned about all the people he met who have it, including the Brazilian," the source said.

Fabio Wajngarten, the press secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, two sources have told CNN. Bolsonaro's health is being monitored.

Bolsonaro's aide posted an image of himself standing with Trump and US Vice President Mike Pence at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend.

Wajngarten was accompanying Bolsonaro on a trip to the US, during which Trump and the Brazilian President dined together.

Earlier Thursday, the US President insisted he is not concerned about being exposed.

"We did nothing very unusual, we sat next to each other for a period of time," he told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to Bolsonaro.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham in a statement issued later said: "Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time."

She added: "The White House Medical Unit and the United States Secret Service has been working closely with various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First & Second Families, and all White House staff healthy."

The source did not know whether the President has been tested or not.

Meanwhile, other public officials who interacted with Wajngarten have decided to self-quarantine, including Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott.

"On Monday, I met with the President in Miami, and while I do not believe I interacted with the infected person, that individual was in the same room as me," Scott said in a statement.

"After consulting with the Senate's attending physician and my personal doctor, I have been told that my risk is low, and I don't need to take a test or quarantine. However, the health and safety of the American people is my focus and I have made the decision to self-quarantine in an abundance of caution," Scott added.

Close Trump ally Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also decided to self-quarantine over the incident.

The South Carolina senator's office released a statement on Thursday saying: "Sen. Graham was at Mar-a-Lago last weekend. He has no recollection of direct contact with the President of Brazil, who is awaiting results of a coronavirus test, or his spokesman who tested positive."

But, "in an abundance of caution and upon the advice of his doctor, Sen. Graham has decided to self-quarantine awaiting the results of a coronavirus test."

The statement described the move as a "a precautionary measure" and said that Graham will "continue to work from home."
Mr. Wuorinen was remarkably prolific, with a corpus of 279 pieces often suffused with brainy wit as well as influences from Renaissance and medieval music. Over time, his output became less forbidding than his reputation.

His music used to be chilly and desiccated, a hothouse product, wearing its dissonance as a spiky shield to dissuade all comers, the critic Tim Page wrote in 1986, describing a new orchestral work, Movers and Shakers. Mr. Wuorinens harmonic language is still uncompromising, he added, but Movers and Shakers has passages of aching lyricism, and many moments of sheer, visceral excitement.

Charles Peter Wuorinen was born on June 9, 1938, in Manhattan. His father, John, emigrated from Finland and worked in factories before earning a doctorate at Columbia University, where he was subsequently chairman of the history department. His mother, Alfhild (Kalijarvi) Wuorinen, earned a masters in biology from Smith College.

Charles grew up in the elite intellectual environs of Manhattans Upper West Side, where he developed a deep connection to the classical canon and began writing music at age 5. Though his parents discouraged a career in composition, he found support from the eminent historian Jacques Barzun, a family friend.

From an early age he studied with Columbia composers, including Vladimir Ussachevsky and Jack Beeson. He won a Young Composers Award from the New York Philharmonic at 16.

He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia in 1961 and a masters in music there in 1963 and soon became a major voice on the academic scene, with icy, dense pieces like his String Trio and Piano Variations.
The iconic "A Friend" statue by Wilmington, Del., artist Charles Cropper Parks outside the Philadelphia Police Administration Building at Race and Arch Streets. Read more

Most people dont go willingly down to the basement of the Philadelphia Police Headquarters building known as the Roundhouse, home to the Police Detention Unit. Theyre taken there on charges ranging from drunken driving to murder, held there for about 18 hours, and then  after a two- or three-minute hearing conducted by video conference  either released or shipped off to jail to await trial.

But Evan Dubchansky was eager to start work there.

My idea was to intervene in someones circumstances as early as possible to reduce their contact with the system, knowing that the system usually causes more damage, more isolation, and more problems for the defendant than it does any good, said Dubchansky.

Dubchansky was hired in 2018 as one of the Defender Association of Philadelphias first bail advocates, social workers who could gather information or provide referrals that might sway bail magistrates to release defendants.

It worked better than anyone expected, according to a new independent evaluation by a University of Pennsylvania researcher. It reduced new arrests and bail violations and correlated with better case outcomes, including acquittals and lighter sentences. It also accomplished a goal that has eluded other city efforts: It significantly reduced racial disparities in a system where the jail population is now 90% black or Latino.

Despite its success, the bail advocate program is no longer running. The two advocates were pulled out of the Police Detention Unit after seven months of what they described  in interviews and in formal complaints  as verbal abuse, sexual harassment, hostility, and intimidation by the police correctional officers who staff the unit.

It was emotionally and verbally abusive, and it was what our clients experienced as well, one of the advocates, Maggie Dekker, said, describing a degrading and frightening onslaught of comments by staff.

Dubchansky said that whenever he opened the door of his small office, which was actually a converted holding cell, the officers would yell at me to go back into my cell. 

A police spokesperson said the departments Office of Professional Responsibility initiated two investigations as a result of a complaint made in February 2019. Both investigations resulted in findings of not sustained, which means that there was insufficient evidence to either prove or disprove the allegations, Staff Inspector Sekou Kinebrew said in an email.

Kinebrew said police correctional officers have since received training in the citys sexual-harassment policies. We are also evaluating measures to provide use-of-force training to all personnel assigned to the PDU, he added.

He said the department welcomes the return of the program. But the Defender Association is seeking a way to do so without putting advocates back on-site, possibly by investing in a closed-circuit television system, chief defender Keir Bradford-Grey said. The agency does not currently have funding for such a system.

Paul Heaton, the senior fellow at Penn Law who evaluated the program, said it could be a preferable alternative to controversial algorithmic risk-assessment tools for a city that has committed to reducing its jail population without introducing new public safety risks.

He believes two factors powered the reduction in recidivism. The data that advocates generated helped magistrates make better, more informed decisions. And defendants behavior shifted as a result of that first supportive encounter in an otherwise hostile system.

Potentially one of the things thats happening is: If you treat people like human beings, they have a different sense of procedural justice, and they respond differently when the court asks them to do things like show up, Heaton said.

As to how the bail advocate program reduced racial disparities, he said: In contexts with implicit bias, one of the commonly recognized solutions is Lets slow down the process a little bit and let people think a little longer, with a richer information set. 

Dubchansky and Dekker said that slowing down was relative. They had an average of eight minutes with each client, enough to try to calm them down, make a phone call to let a family member know where they were, learn about physical and mental health needs, and, on a good day, make a referral.

I would hear about poverty and addiction and inequality and lack of education and housing challenges  the things that stem from the disparities in our society, that also pull people into the criminal justice system, Dubchansky said. Hed present that information to a public defender, who would sometimes be able to argue for lower or no monetary bail.

In other cases, hed scramble to line up a treatment bed and find a caseworker willing to pick up a defendant from custody. It was those kinds of arrangements that had the most sway for the bail magistrates, he said.

But at work every day, he said, he watched officers yell at and berate prisoners, punching one in the head and more kicking than nudging people slumped on the floor in opioid withdrawal. Kinebrew, the police spokesperson, said the advocates complaints were not sufficiently specific for the department to prove or disprove.

Both advocates said they were subjected to insults and sexual harassment. Additionally, they said, the officers made it difficult for them to do their jobs: ignoring requests to bring clients out to speak with them, preventing advocates from making phone calls to notify families of bail decisions, and in some cases, putting defendants on a transport van to prison in Northeast Philadelphia even when families were en route to post bail.

John Gross, policy director for the Defender Association, said the situation should raise alarms. [The advocates] were not treated well, so if you extrapolate from that, how is the average person who is under arrest treated? Gross said. It really strips people of the idea that they can expect to be treated fairly.

Its one reason that Bradford-Grey, the chief defender, argues that instead of arresting every defendant, police should begin issuing summonses to those facing low-level charges that are unlikely to lead to pretrial detention.

If we took those [low-level cases] out of the process altogether, we would have far more time to look at the middle tier who might have more options for release, she said.

To her mind, what the bail advocate experiment underlines is both the need for early supportive interventions to help defendants stay out of further trouble and for a more comprehensive review of each case to identify those who can be safely released.

People have been made more desperate, she said, just because we didnt take the time to do a careful analysis.
By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA, March 13 (Reuters) - The United States is halting around $50 million in economic aid for Kosovo due to Kosovo's refusal to lift tariffs on goods produced in Serbia, a U.S. government agency said on Friday.

Kosovo introduced the tariffs in November 2018 after Serbia blocked the breakaway former province's membership of international organisations, including Interpol and UNESCO.

In response, Belgrade broke off talks with Pristina, saying it would continue only once the tariffs were removed.

Kosovo and Serbia have been in talks since 2011 to normalise relations, which would allow both countries to move towards European Union membership.

"Until Kosovo's tariff issue is resolved, MCC will pause implementation of the threshold program and development of the proposed compact program in Kosovo," said a press release from the Millennium Challenge Corporation or MCC, a U.S. government foreign assistance agency, referring to the aid package.

"Once a resolution (on tariffs) is reached, MCC will resume operations as appropriate," the statement added.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said Kosovo would remove the tariffs partially and with some conditions. (Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Alex Richardson)
These findings should have a significant impact on future vaccination strategies and pave the way for new treatments of an underperforming or over-reacting immune system. The results of this research are published in Cell Stem Cell on March 12, 2020.

Stem cells in our bodies act as reservoirs of cells that divide to produce new stem cells, as well as a myriad of different types of specialized cells, required to secure tissue renewal and function. Commonly called "blood stem cells", the hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are nestled in the bone marrow, the soft tissue that is in the center of large bones such as the hips or thighs. Their role is to renew the repertoire of blood cells, including cells of the immune system which are crucial to fight infections and other diseases.

Until a decade ago, the dogma was that HSCs were unspecialized cells, blind to external signals such as infections. Only their specialized daughter cells would sense these signals and activate an immune response. But work from Prof. Michael Sieweke's laboratory and others over the past years has proven this dogma wrong and shown that HSCs can actually sense external factors to specifically produce subtypes of immune cells "on demand" to fight an infection. Beyond their role in an emergency immune response, the question remained as to the function of HSCs in responding to repeated infectious episodes. The immune system is known to have a memory that allows it to better respond to returning infectious agents. The present study now establishes a central role for blood stem cells in this memory.

"We discovered that HSCs could drive a more rapid and efficient immune response if they had previously been exposed to LPS, a bacterial molecule that mimics infection", said Dr. Sandrine Sarrazin, Inserm researcher and senior-author of the publication. Prof. Michael Sieweke, Humboldt Professor at TU Dresden, CNRS Research Director and last author of the publication, explained how they found the memory was stored within the cells: "The first exposure to LPS causes marks to be deposited on the DNA of the stem cells, right around genes that are important for an immune response. Much like bookmarks, the marks on the DNA ensure that these genes are easily found, accessible and activated for a rapid response if a second infection by a similar agent was to come."

The authors further explored how the memory was inscribed on the DNA, and found C/EBP? to be the major actor, describing a new function for this factor, which is also important for emergency immune responses. Together, these findings should lead to improvements in tuning the immune system or better vaccination strategies.

"The ability of the immune system to keep track of previous infections and respond more efficiently the second time they are encountered is the founding principle of vaccines. Now that we understand how blood stem cells book mark immune response circuits, we should be able to optimize immunization strategies to broaden the protection to infectious agents. It could also more generally lead to new ways to boost the immune response when it underperforms or turn it off when it overreacts", concluded Prof. Michael Sieweke.

The research group of Prof. Michael Sieweke works at the interface of immunology and stem cell research. The scientists focus on the study of hematopoietic stem cells and macrophages, long-lived mature cells of the immune system that fulfil an important role in tissue regeneration. In 2018, Prof. Michael Sieweke received the most valuable research award in Germany: the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, which brings top international researchers to German universities. In addition to his position as Research Director at the Centre for Immunology at the University of Marseille Luminy, he now acts as Deputy Director at the Center for Regenerative Therapies at TU Dresden (CRTD). CRTD is academic home for scientists from more than 30 nations. Their mission is to discover the principles of cell and tissue regeneration and leveraging this for recognition, treatment and reversal of diseases. The CRTD links the bench to the clinic, scientists to clinicians to pool expertise in stem cells, developmental biology, gene-editing and regeneration towards innovative therapies for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, hematological diseases such as leukaemia, metabolic diseases such as diabetes, retina and bone diseases.

###

This study was funded by TU Dresden / CRTD through the German Excellence Initiative, the German Research Foundation as well as through an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The study was further supported by funding from the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Aix-Marseille University, the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, the Foundation ARC pour la Recherche sur le Cancer, an INSERM-Helmholtz cooperation programme and the Einstein Foundation.

Publication: Cell Stem Cell: "C/EBP? dependent Epigenetic Immune Memory in Hematopoietic Stem Cells", authors: Be?renge?re de Laval, Julien Maurizio, Prashanth K. Kandalla, Gabriel Brisou, Louise Simonnet, Caroline Huber, Gregory Gimenez, Orit Matcovitch-Natan, Susanne Reinhardt, Eyal David, Alexander Mildner, Achim Leutz, Bertrand Nadel, Christophe Bordi, Ido Amit, Sandrine Sarrazin and Michael H. Sieweke
Andrew Nolans sophomores were finishing up Catcher in the Rye and his juniors had started the Vietnam War novel The Things They Carried.

But the high school English teachers lesson plans came to a screeching halt Friday when over the PA system the College Park High principal announced that the Mount Diablo Unified School District would shut down starting next week due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nolan, like many other teachers throughout the Bay Area and elsewhere, has started to scramble to bridge his students curriculum and balance his own family pressures. Nolan has fourth- and second-graders in the district who will join him and his wife, who also must work from home, in their crowded Pleasant Hill home for an unknown period of time.

Im foreseeing a lot of screen time in their future, Nolan said Friday. This obviously places an even greater burden on working parents who cant be at home.

But how to continue teaching students or ensure they are completing assignments are questions being asked by thousands of instructors facing unprecedented school closures. Campuses across the Bay Area have closed in recent days, impacting hundreds of thousands of students.

Its less of a concern at the high school level because they dont need constant supervision, Nolan said. But I know kids for whom school is a safe, comforting place and obviously others who rely on it as a source of food, not to mention structure.

Nolan said College Park has a previously scheduled teachers work day on Monday where more formal plans will likely be drawn up before the closure starts Tuesday.

I have no idea how teaching online would work, Nolan said. The English instructor and his colleagues have web pages with assignments, attendance and grades, and electronic files could be attached to that, such as a paper. But hes not sure if its workable.

The law says that all students have to be given equal opportunity, so how can you assure they all have access to online material? Nolan said. For now Im telling them to take their books home and that all long-term project due dates still apply and they should wait until we know more. But I dont have any way to mass communicate with them once theyre gone that would be 100% certainty.

In Tiffany Delloues first-grade class at E.R. Taylor Elementary School in San Francisco, she handed out work packets Friday with sight words, addition and subtraction review, a writing journal and online resources for her students. The district announced its schools would shutter until April 6.

But Delloue and the rest of the teachers on campus have larger concerns about health, the 22-year veteran instructor said Friday.

Our biggest concern coming up is ... we dont have a comprehensive plan on illness containment, she said. There are no plans for deep cleaning, and they want some staff to report back to the school next week and teachers the following week.

Many students traveled to areas in the coronavirus hot zones across the globe, as did family members, she said. While kids and staff were taught to bump elbows to avoid touching, Delloue lamented that many of the approximately 700 students were eating next to each other in the cafeteria.

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.

We want to work with the district and make this safe, she said, adding that her teenage son has an underlying immune problem that has her wary of bringing any virus home with her.

In addition, she expects the shutdown will impact next months state test scores as students were about to begin preparation.

Even with the anxiety, more than 900 city educators, parents and community members volunteered to distribute meals to students during the closure, according to the United Educators of San Francisco union. The district is still ironing out details, but the union expects its teachers to be paid during the closure and it is working on plans for teachers who are potentially high risk or sick.

Back in Pleasant Hill, College Park junior Kailey Jacoby already had her SAT test canceled for Saturday and shes worried an extended shutdown will impact her three Advanced Placement tests in May.

Im definitely nervous about it, I dont want to forget everything, the 16-year-old said. I have no idea how they are going to continue to teach us. In one class, I heard that our assignments will just be due when we come back.

An even bigger concern on campus, she said, was the fact junior prom was canceled and is now tentatively merging with the senior ball in May.

Every single student is freaking out about it, Kailey said, because no one wants that.

Matthias Gafni is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mgafni
US judge orders release of former US army analyst who refused to testify to grand jury over WikiLeaks.

Former US army analyst Chelsea Manning has been released from prison on a judges order after being held since May for refusing to testify in an ongoing US investigation of WikiLeaks, the pro-transparency group.

US District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered Mannings release after prosecutors said the grand jury that subpoenaed her had disbanded. The Alexandria sheriffs office later confirmed Mannings release, which came a day after she attempted suicide in jail.

The court finds Ms Mannings appearance before the grand jury is no longer needed, in light of which, her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose, Trenga wrote, ordering Mannings release.

A detention hearing due on Friday was cancelled.





In 2010, Manning, a then-army intelligence analyst in Iraq, shared with WikiLeaks more than 700,000 classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She was sentenced to 35 years in a military prison but was released after seven years on the order of former US President Barack Obama.

Mannings leaks made her a hero to anti-war and anti-secrecy activists.

I object to this grand jury  as an effort to frighten journalists and publishers, who serve a crucial public good, Manning said in a letter to the court last year, according to the Sparrow Project support group.

Manning has also said she answered all questions about her involvement with WikiLeaks years ago.

On Wednesday, her defence team said Manning had attempted to commit suicide and had been taken to hospital, where she was recovering.

Spokesman Andy Stepanian said that despite her imprisonment and the imposition of financial sanctions  Manning is still liable for $256,000 in fines for her refusal to testify  the former army private remained unwavering in her refusal to participate in a secret grand jury process that she sees as highly susceptible to abuse.

Prosecutors could possibly convene another grand jury and again subpoena Manning and she could again be jailed for refusing to testify. But there is no clear indication from prosecutors that they would do so.

WikiLeaks, an internet-based dead letter drop for leakers of classified or sensitive information, was founded by Australian citizen Julian Assange in 2006.

Assange is being held in a London prison as British courts consider a request from US prosecutors for his extradition to the United States. He is wanted on charges of conspiring with Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer system containing classified materials.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  At least one person is dead after cement truck rolled over on a van around a sharp curb on Clevelands East Side.

The crash happened about 11 a.m. Friday on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between Fairhill Road and Cedar Road.

The cement truck was driving around the sharp curve that skirts the edge of Ambler Park when it tipped over onto a van, according to police and fire officials.

The truck crushed the car, killing at least one person, Cleveland fire spokesman Lt. Mike Norman said. Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said the person who died is believed to be a woman in her 30s.

A large crane is lifting the truck off the car and a cement barrier that leads to a steep slope into the park. Norman said they will search the car for more occupants after thats completed.

The truck driver was extricated but was unharmed.

Read more from cleveland.com:

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The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) revealed Perths top five rental suburbs amongst young adults aged 20 to 29.

First on the list is Northbridge, which has a median rent price of $390. Its proximity to the Perth train station is one of the reasons why it remains popular amongst young adults, which comprise 35% of its population.

"With something to do at every hour of the day, this vibrant suburb offers endless bars, shops, cafes, restaurants, and gyms," said Sjanna Sandalova, media specialist at REIWA.

West Perth is also a go-to suburb for renters due to its accessibility. Around 30% of its population belong to the 20-29 age group. It has a median weekly rent price of $400.

"West Perth offers a diverse range of aesthetic properties, from old-style cottages to modern, simple living apartments and townhouses which are increasingly popular among young professionals," Sandalova said.

Also read: Why investing in Perth is a good idea

Next on the list is Leederville. Sandalova said the suburbs urban lifestyle and culture attract the younger generation of renters. Dwellings in this suburb have median weekly rents of $405.

"Leederville is known for its range of fashion outlets with brands ranging from classy chic to the laid-back hipster. And, don't forget, the vibrant Oxford Street is home to some of Perth's best cafes, bars, and restaurants," she said.

Scarborough, a coastal suburb, is also on the list. With a median rent price of $410, Sandalova said it remains a hotspot for young adults looking to rent a home.

"Scarborough has it all, amazing white-sandy beaches, rooftop and coastal bars along with endless things to do and see," Sandalova said." Scarborough's recent urban growth and development has seen the suburb expand and gain popularity from everyone chasing that ultimate beach lifestyle.

Mount Lawley is also considered a rental hotspot. Amongst the five suburbs, it has the lowest median weekly rent price of $330.

"For those of you chasing a character home, Mount Lawley's leafy green streets presents plenty of this and there is also a good selection of modern townhouses," Sandalova said.

Around one in five Australians in the city belongs to the 20-29 age group.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) Chairman and CEO, Warren Buffett, announced today that the company's annual meeting will be held without shareholders present this year. The move is being made in line with other event cancellations in order to avoid large crowd gatherings to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Berkshire's meeting is typically attended by tens of thousands of shareholders. The Omaha, Nebraska meeting is also set up as a convention hall shopping event displaying many of the Berkshire-owned brands, including Dairy Queen, See's Candies, and Fruit of the Loom among others.

Woodstock for capitalists

The event has become an annual destination for many business people and shareholders. Buffett expressed his feelings, saying "I very much regret this action; for many decades the annual meeting has been a high point of the year for me and my partner, Charlie Munger."

The announcement stressed the need to avoid large gatherings in the midst of the coronavirus spread, saying the company didn't want to put employees, shareholders, or the Omaha community at risk.

The meeting will, however, proceed as scheduled on May 2, 2020. Buffett said that he will attend as well as several Berkshire employees needed to provide proxy votes. His partner Charlie Munger will possibly attend. The meeting will be streamed by Yahoo, which has covered the event in the past.

A question and answer session with Buffett and Munger is normally a highlight of the event. He said a decision on whether some journalists will still attend to pose previously submitted questions is being considered.
Three Indian-origin company directors  two based in Mumbai and one in London  have been banned for 21 years after they failed to rein in a call centre that used aggressive and misleading tactics to secure sales from vulnerable people in the UK.

The Insolvency Service said on Thursday that Ramakant Lal, Melvine Elias DSilva and Soriyano DSouza each signed 7-year disqualification undertaking; they are banned from acting as directors or directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

While DSilva (44) is from Hounslow, west London, DSouza (35) and Ramakant Lal (37), are from Mumbai, the service said.

They were directors of a company called Vivid Lifestyle Limited, incorporated in 2013 and trading in health supplements. The company was wound-up in August 2018 following confidential enquiries after the service received complaints about its activities.

Investigators discovered that throughout the life of the company, the three directors had allowed the company to trade with a lack of commercial probity and failed to provide suitable governance over their sales agents.

The company used an overseas call centre to sell the health supplements but without proper supervision, the sales agents pursued high-pressure sales tactics to dupe vulnerable people into buying the products, the service said.

Sales agents often misled customers in thinking they were medically trained, had appropriate medical qualifications or worked with the National Health Service. Call centre staff also wrongfully claimed they were existing health care providers or were calling on behalf of a government organisation.

Besides, the service said the three directors failed to ensure customer credit card and bank details were used for their intended purpose. Investigators assessed that the company secured more than 1.9 million from just over 11,000 customers.

Martin Gitner of the Insolvency Service said: As directors, it was entirely down to Ramakant Lal, Melvine Elias DSilva and Soriyano Dsouza to supervise the activities of the call centre they had contracted to sell their products.

Their conduct as directors was completely unacceptable and these substantial bans, along with the courts approval to liquidate Vivid Lifestyle, should put a stop to their misconduct, while protecting vulnerable people from further harm.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Prasun Sonwalkar Prasun Sonwalkar was Editor (UK & Europe), Hindustan Times. During more than three decades, he held senior positions on the Desk, besides reporting from Indias north-east and other states, including a decade covering politics from New Delhi. He has been reporting from UK and Europe since 1999. ...view detail
LANSING, MI -- Amid fears over the spread of the coronavirus, Michigans private colleges have joined public universities and K-12 schools in the suspension of in-person classes.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday, March 12, ordered all K-12 schools to close their doors to students through April 5. The states public universities had already done the same.

Whitmer conducted a conference call Wednesday, March 11, with representatives from each private college and university in Michigan recommending they end in-person classes, according to the notice posted on the Andrews University website.

In most cases, classes are expected to continue in an online format for the remainder of the spring semester. Some have announced the expectation that in-person classes will resume for the summer semester.

Below is a list of Michigans private universities with links to each of the respective coronavirus information pages and updates:

Adrian College, Lenawee County, Adrian

Albion College, Calhoun County, Albion

Alma College, Gratiot County, Alma

Andrews University, Berrien County, Berrien Springs

Aquinas College, Kent County, Grand Rapids

Baker College, Genesee County, Flint (and all other campuses)

Calvin University, Kent County, Grand Rapids

Cleary University, Livingston County, Howell

College for Creative Studies, Wayne County, Detroit

Compass College of Cinematic Arts, Kent County, Grand Rapids

Concordia University, Washtenaw County, Ann Arbor

Cornerstone University, Kent County, Grand Rapids

Davenport University, Kent County, Grand Rapids

University of Detroit Mercy, Wayne County, Detroit

Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Wayne County, Detroit

Finlandia University, Keweenaw County, Hancock

Grace Christian University, Kent County, Grand Rapids

Great Lakes Christian College, Ingham County, Lansing

Hillsdale College, Hillsdale County, Hillsdale

Hope College, Ottawa County, Holland

Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo County, Kalamazoo

Kettering University, Genesee County, Flint

Kuyper College, Kent County, Grand Rapids

Lawrence Technological University, Oakland County, Southfield

Madonna University, Wayne County, Detroit

Northwood University, Midland County, Midland

Olivet College, Eaton County, Olivet

Rochester University, Oakland County, Rochester

Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Wayne County, Detroit

Siena Heights University, Lenawee County, Adrian (in-person graduate courses not altered)

Spring Arbor University, Jackson County, Spring Arbor

Walsh College, Oakland County, Troy

As of March 13, Michigan health officials had identified 16 cases of likely coronavirus.

Coronavirus symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus. They include fever, cough and shortness of breath. For most, the symptoms are mild, but it poses a serious danger to others.

What Michigan residents need to know about coronavirus

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips: What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

 Always cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.

 Stay home if you are sick and advise others to do the same.

 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 warm water for at least 20 seconds.

 Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, if soap and warm water are not available.

 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces (computers, keyboards, desks, etc.).

 Its not too late to get your flu shot ! While the influenza vaccine does not protect against COVID-19 infection, it can help keep you healthy during the flu season. For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

Read more on MLive:

Secretary of State closes offices to walk-ins

All Michigan schools to close as coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

Michigan governor asks Trump to open special Obamacare enrollment period during coronavirus threat

Heres a list of specific recommendations from state health officials

Huge Michigan tourist destination, The Henry Ford Museum, closing amid coronavirus

GM tells visitors to stay out of plants if theyve had cold or flu-like symptoms
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 10:12:46|Editor: huaxia

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A 9-member Chinese aid team, together with tonnes of medical supplies, has arrived in Rome, as part of China's efforts to help Italy contain the novel #coronavirus outbreak. #COVID19
A senior Australian minister has tested positive for the deadly coronavirus and was placed under quarantine in a Brisbane hospital on Friday, days after his return from America where he met Ivanka Trump and US Attorney General William Barr.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who sits on the national security committee, said on Friday he was feeling fine after waking up with fever and sore throat.

"I immediately contacted the Queensland Department of Health and was subsequently tested for COVID-19," he said in a statement.

"I was advised by Queensland Health this afternoon that the test had returned positive. It is the policy of Queensland Health that anyone who tests positive is to be admitted into hospital and I have complied with their advice. I feel fine and will provide an update in due course," he said in a statement.

A total of 196 coronavirus cases have now been confirmed across Australia while three people have died due to the disease in the country. The health officials warn that millions more are likely to contract the virus within the next six months.

US actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson are in Queensland after being tested positive for the virus.

Minister Dutton travelled to the US on March 5 for a meeting with security ministers of the FiveEyes intelligence alliance - Australia, the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.

Dutton met with United States Attorney-General William Barr and US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka while in Washington DC last week, according to the reports in Australian media.

According to a photo posted by the Australian embassy in Washington, Dutton can be seen standing close to Ivanka.

He returned to Australia at the weekend. On Tuesday, he attended a meeting of federal Cabinet in Sydney and travelled in a commercial plane from Brisbane to Sydney.

Dutton is the latest political figures to have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in quarantine for two weeks after his wife tested positive for the virus.

British Health Minister and Conservative MP Nadine Dorries has also been diagnosed with coronavirus.

The virus has claimed 4,925 lives and infected 131,500 people across 116 countries and territories.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday characterised the COVID-19 outbreak as a "pandemic" and expressed deep concern over its "alarming levels" of "spread, severity, as well as inaction".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Caritas Karachi and doctors from the Ahsas-e-Insaniat charity help provide free eye treatment to 650 poor patients.

By Robin Gomes

The development and social action arm of the Catholic Church in Pakistans financial capital of Karachi recently organized free medical eye camps during Lent, inspired by Pope Franciss message for the Churchs World Day of the Sick, 11 February.

Caritas Karachi helped 51 poor people undergo cataract surgery free of charge. Doctors and eye surgeons from the Ahsas-e-Insaniat, a non-profit charity, treated a total of 650 people of all ages in two different sessions.

The first eye camp was held from 23 to 29 February at St Michaels Parish, in the Khuda Ki Basti (City of God) area. The second was held on March 16-17 in St Lukes Parish, Itehad Town. Both made their churches available to doctors and health workers.

Eye surgeon, Dr Birbal Genani, said that doctors at the camps diagnosed a number of vision disorders, medicated infections and, in some cases, prescribed glasses.

They selected 51 patients with cataract problems who had surgeries on Monday at Karachis Al-Khair Eye Hospital. All operations were successful and the bandages were removed on Wednesday. The patients will be followed up in the coming weeks for check-ups and medications, the surgeon told AsiaNews.

He pointed out that the cost of a cataract operation at a private clinic in Pakistan can cost between $300 to $400, a huge amount for the poor.

One of the patients, Ashiq Masih, had his cataract diagnosed five months ago but could not afford the surgery until Caritas stepped in. Caritas truly understands the conditions of the poor. This act of generosity pushes me more and more to believe in God who really listens to the poor and needy," he told AsiaNews.

Another patient, Sharefan Bibi, a widow, could also visit the doctors at St Lukes Parish. She is grateful to Caritas and Ahsas-e-Insaniat. Their work in support of the marginalised, suffering and poor people is inspired by the teachings they received from their families and the institutions they work for , she said.

According to Mansha Noor, the executive secretary of Caritas Karachi, there are around 1.6 billion people worldwide living in precarious conditions because of political instability and weak governments that are unable to provide basic healthcare services. This is a serious challenge for global health, he explained. Feeling and reacting to the suffering and pain of the poor is the aim of Caritas, he added.

According to a report by the United Nations World Health Organization last year, at least 2.2 billion people around the world have a vision impairment. Of these, at least 1 billion have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed. (Source: AsiaNews)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath is meeting Governor Lalji Tandon here in the midst of political crisis in the state triggered by the resignation of 22 rebel Congress MLAs three days ago. Nath, whose government is teetering on the brink of a collapse following the rebellion, reached Raj Bhavan late Friday morning to meet Tandon, who arrived here on Thursday night from Lucknow.

The chief minister is expected to brief the governor about the current political situation in the state, Congress sources said. The ruling Congress has alleged that 19 of the rebel Congress MLAs, including ministers, have been held "captive" by the BJP in a resort in Bengaluru, a charge denied by the opposition party.

Nath's meeting with the governor comes amid unconfirmed reports that six ministers, said to be close to former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, will be coming to Bhopal from Bengaluru to hand over their resignation letters in person to the Assembly speaker.

Attempts to contact these ministers proved futile. Scindia joined the BJP on Wednesday, a day after quitting the Congress.

Also read: Madhya Pradesh crisis: BJP to seek floor test on March 16

Also read: Make petrol Rs 60 per litre instead of destabilising govt': Rahul Gandhi to PM Modi
The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K), has decided to suspend all classes and exams till March 29 (Sunday) in view of coronavirus outbreak, which has now been declared a pandemic.

All students who have gone home and are planning to return to the campus in the next few days are advised not to return until March 29. The situation will be reviewed periodically and necessary updates will be provided to all, said Dr Abhay Karandikar, director, IIT-K.

He said, Those students who have already returned to the campus are strongly advised to visit the Health Centre directly. The campus residents returning from vacation are also strongly advised to contact the Health Centre.

The students, who are back, are advised to stay on the campus and avoid any travel outside the campus until further instruction, director said in a statement.

The scare of coronavirus has also forced the IIT-K administration to cancel Techkriti-20, a prestigious four-day annual technical festival of students.

The festival was to start from March 19.

According to the organisers over 5,000 students from about 130 institutes of the country and abroad were to take part at the Techkriti-20. The prize money for this year was of Rs 42 lakh to be given to the winners of different events.

Over a dozen events were planned for the Techkriti-20 and several eminent speakers from abroad and from with the country were to interact with the students during the festival period.

Among the most important speakers were the director of Sarabhai Space Centre S Somnath, Noble prize winner US scientist Dr Jhon C Mather, Magsaysay award winner Dr Rajendra Singh ,Animation expert from US PT Mishel Padamshri Dr Vikas Sinha noted physicist and Padamshri Dr M S Raghunath a noted Mathematician and several other senior executives of prestigious Indian companies.

Deputy Director of the IIT-K Professor Manindra Agarwal said the festival has been deferred till April 15.

Besides, faculty members and students had been advised to suspend their journey to abroad and holding seminars and workshops the IIT-K sources said.

Principal of the GSVM Medical College Dr Arti Lalchandani said the three-day conference of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Society of India (FOGSI) has been cancelled after getting the directives from the union government. The conference was to be held from March 20 to March 22.

The district administration has proposed to cancel the conventional Holi Milan program on the Holi Mela Day on March 15. It has released an advisory to police personals that they should keep a strict watch over the people having cough and cold.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13

Trend:

Most public places have closed due to coronavirus outbreak in Italy. Turana Huseyn, an Azerbaijani student at Sapienza University of Rome (Sapienza Universita di Roma), told Trend on March 13.

Italy - a country of some 60 million people - was placed under quarantine as the government stepped up efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. Italy saw a surge in deaths on March 10. A lockdown came into force across the entire nation and will remain in place until at least April 3. Italians are facing a new reality of life with a curfew, travel restrictions and enforced space between people in public places.

Everything is closed everywhere. All the shops, cafes and restaurants, and large shopping centers are closed here. All educational institutions have suspended classes. Going out without special need is prohibited. Currently, apart from small shops and pharmacies, nothing works. Lessons are held online, Turana Huseyn said.

Pharmacies and shops are open during certain hours. That is, it is impossible to go there at any time we please. First comers are asked why they come in, necessary documents are needed. On the streets people try to keep distance, Huseyn said.

I have applied to the Azerbaijani Embassy in Italy to return to the country, Turana Huseyn added.

We have contacted the embassy and said that we want to return home. We got contacted from the Azerbaijans State Committee on Work with Diaspora and got ourselves registered. So now we're expecting news regarding our return home," said the student.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 4,700. Over 128,000 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 68,000 people have reportedly recovered.

Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. The symptoms include cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing. It is primarily spread through airborne contact or contact with contaminated objects. In mild cases, according to the Chinese authorities, treatment takes about a week, in severe cases - two or more.

Several countries are developing a vaccine against the new virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
The first mailers for the 2020 Census are arriving in mailboxes this week, but not everyone will be getting a paper form like in years past.

The 2020 Census is the first in which most U.S. residents are expected to complete online at my2020census.gov rather than by using a paper form.

Some initial mailers wont include a paper questionnaire at all. In areas where online participation is expected to be high, households will only receive an invitation to participate online or by phone.

Others, in areas where response rate were lower in years past, will receive a traditional paper questionnaire as well.

The letters inviting households to participate will look like this:

Letters inviting households to participate in the 2020 Census will look like this.U.S. Census Bureau

Households that fail to respond will receive follow-up mailers in March and April, eventually with a paper questionnaire enclosed. If they still dont respond, they can expect a knock at the door from a U.S. Census Bureau field worker.

For Oregon, the census determines the fate of billions of dollars in federal funding, as well as representation in Congress.

Oregon is poised to receive a sixth congressional seat, one the state only narrowly missed when population growth slowed in the lead-up to the 2010 Census. Oregons estimated number of constituents per congress member is now among the highest in the nation.

Dozens of federal programs are funded based at least in part by data gleaned from the census. They include safety-net programs like food stamps and housing vouchers as well transit construction funds, homeland security grants and Medicare.

In Oregon that all added up to $13.5 billion in 2016, according to the George Washington University Institute of Public Policy.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com; 503-294-5034; @enjus

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Yellowstone County health officials are planning to create a centralized testing center for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, but where the center will be or when it might be operational is uncertain.

Tests for the virus still require a doctor's order, which will continue going forward, said RiverStone Health CEO John Felton, who spoke for Yellowstone County's Unified Health Command on Friday.

President Donald Trump also announced Friday that drive-thru testing based around major retail chains would become available across the country, but Felton was unaware of Trump's announcement when rolling out the centralized testing center concept.

Felton spoke to uncertainty about testing and about the general outbreak.

"People really want a certain answer," he said. "Those of us who are in the middle of it don't have any certainty."

Testing is still being done at hospitals, Felton said, and only people who doctors suspect may have COVID-19 will be tested.
Cyprus said Thursday that a cruise ship denied entry by Israel could anchor offshore but no one would be permitted to disembark after some passengers displayed coronavirus symptoms.

State broadcaster CyBC television said the cruise ship Marco Polo is scheduled to arrive at Limassol port on the southern coast Friday morning carrying 800 passengers, mostly Italians.

CyBC said the cruise liner has been at sea for a month after a trip to India and sailed for Cyprus after being denied entry by Israel.

"The cruise ship will remain anchored, so there is no issue of passengers disembarking, on the matter of health we are in coordination with the health minister to face this," Cyprus Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos wrote on Twitter.

He said President Nicos Anastasiades issued the order.

CyBC TV said the ship's doctor told Cypriot authorities that some passengers had experienced symptoms of pneumonia, including a female passenger who needed medical treatment.

The broadcaster said officials from the ministries of health and transport are in contact with the vessel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The facts and circumstances of the encounter are still being investigated by detectives from the Major Crimes Division, police said in a statement. The involved officer has been placed on administrative leave per standard protocol and will be identified at a later date.
Paramount Pictures has delayed the release of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt's thriller "A Quiet Place Part II" indefinitely amid coronavirus outbreak.

The film, a sequel to 2018's horror hit directed by Krasinski, was slated to bow out worldwide on March 18, with a UK premiere scheduled for March 19 and a North American release set for March 20.

"After much consideration, and in light of the ongoing and developing situation concerning coronavirus and restrictions on global travel and public gatherings, Paramount Pictures will be moving the worldwide release of A Quiet Place Part II,'"the studio said in a statement to Deadline.

"We believe in and support the theatrical experience, and we look forward to bringing this film to audiences this year once we have a better understanding of the impact of this pandemic on the global theatrical marketplace."



Paramout has not set a new release date for the movie yet.

Krasinski, who has penned and directed the sequel, also released a statement on social media.

"One of the things I'm most proud of is that people have said our movie is one you have to see all together. Well due to the ever-changing circumstances of what's going on in the world around us, now is clearly not the right time to do that. As insanely excited as we are for all of you to see this movie .. I'm gonna wait to release the film till we CAN all see it together! So here's to our group movie date! See you soon," he wrote.

"A Quiet Place II" also features Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, while Krasinski has a cameo appearance.

The film is the latest addition to the list of movies that have been delayed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Sony Pictures recently pushed the global release of "Peter Rabbit 2" to August, while the new James Bond movie "No Time to Die", which was set to arrive in cinemas in April, has been postponed to November.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dileep V Kumar By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Expecting more cases that need hospital isolation in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the state Health department will reconsider the proposal of starting field hospitals. A mini temporary hospital raised to address a serious medical issue, field hospitals are expected to address space constraints and difficulties faced by regular patients arriving at taluk, general and medical college hospitals, where isolation wards have been set up. At the same time, the department also released revised guidelines for testing, quarantine, hospital admission and discharge on Thursday.

Considering the scenario, cases needing hospital isolation might go up. But our current facilities are inadequate. Thus, district collectors have been instructed to identify suitable locations or buildings to set up field hospitals, said an officer with the Health department. The state had earlier considered setting up field hospitals when the Union government started to evacuate Indian citizens from China in January.

Revised guidelines

The major highlight of the Health departments new guideline is an advice to patients with mild symptoms not to come to hospitals. Testing is not going to change the clinical course or management of the patient with mild symptoms. The epidemiology of COVID-19 shows that 75 to 80 per cent of the affected develop only mild symptoms. Like any viral infection, this too will subside by itself in a majority of patients. Unwanted exposure to hospitals will act as amplifying centres, reads an excerpt of the guideline. It also identifies the high-risk groups where severe infection and mortality are seen. The group consists of senior citizens, those with chronic lung, heart, liver or renal diseases, malignancies, pregnancy, post-transplant, hematological disorders, HIV and those on chemotherapy and long-term steroids.

Three categories have been identified. Category A requires no testing. But for B and C, testing is required, said Dr Amar Fettle, state nodal officer, public health emergency of international concern. Category A includes those with low-grade fever/mild sore throat/cough/rhinitis/diarrhoea. Category B includes those with high-grade fever or severe sore throat or cough, whereas those with breathlessness, chest pain, drowsiness, fall in blood pressure, children with influenza-like illness, respiratory distress and worsening of underlying chronic conditions are included in category C.

The hero doc who helped trace patients in Ranni

Chengannur: Accolades are pouring in for Dr Shambu M, who works at the Ranni Taluk Hospital. Hailed a hero, his intervention helped spot the Italy-returned family who tested positive for COVID-19. Health Minister KK Shailaja had praised Shambu in the assembly on Wednesday. When a patient approached the hospital with fever, Shambu grew suspicious and asked whether the person had returned from any foreign country recently.

As the answer was no, he asked whether any relative had arrived from abroad recently. This was the turning point for identifying the affected patients. It is the duty of a doctor to follow the directives of the Health department. This was no heroism, he said. His wife, Dr Laya, is working in Alappuzha Government Medical College. Govindakrishnan and Muralikrishnan are their children.
March 13, 2020



POCATELLO  Several dozen volunteers, with help and direction from Idaho State University Facilities Services, cleared and maintained Red Hill trails to celebrate ISUs second annual Turner Day on Friday, March 13.

We focus on a campus project each year because we really want students, employees, alumni and community members to come out and feel the importance of giving back to the university and the importance of volunteering, said Ginny Lawrimore, ISU director of brand management and trademark licensing, and ISU Staff Council member. We are hoping to expand this every year and would like to expand it to other campuses.

Turner Day honors Theodore Turner, the father of ISU, who devoted 50 years of his life ensuring a comprehensive four-year college education would be available in Pocatello.

We are marrying tradition and the history of the University with giving back through service, Lawrimore said.

Volunteers used shovels, rakes, clippers and other tools to maintain the trail. They were also given a T-shirt sporting an image of Turner and a voucher for a free lunch at the aptly named Turner Dining Commons.

Today we are helping out with Turner Day, said Chris Wagner, ISU landscape manager, Facilities Services Grounds and Landscaping. We are doing a cleaning project around the Red Hill trail system, just widening the trail system of overgrown shrubs, bushes and grass, and picking up any trash we might find and doing a spring cleaning.

Volunteers gave different reasons for showing up.

It was an interesting activity to do and I feel like it is good to get out into the community and make sure you give back, especially with ISU being such a good community partner, said Esther Robles, an ISU junior from Caldwell majoring in social work.

Zach Reed from Payette, a business administration major, gave his reasons for showing up.

It fit into my schedule, I actually had a time for it, Reed said, It is always nice to give back to the community, and free lunch.

The event was sponsored by Associated Students of ISU, ISU Student Opportunity Development, Idaho Health Care for Families and Children AmeriCorps, ISU Facilities,

ISU Grounds and Idaho State University Traditions Committee.

For more information on Turner Day, visit isu.edu/turnerday.
Scott Z Burns, the writer of Contagion, a film that has seen a massive resurgence in popularity for its seemingly soothsaying analysis of pandemics amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, has spoken about the film, and the learning that could be taken from it to prevent the virus spread. Contagion was released in 2011, and Burns wrote the screenplay after researching the 2003 SARS epidemic and the 2009 flu pandemic.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh and featuring an all-star cast that included Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and others, the film told the story of a pandemic through the eyes of various characters. Its depiction of societal collapse, mass panic and lapses in policy have taken on new relevance in current times.

Asked about the films prescient narrative, Burns told Variety, What was really important to the scientists that I worked with and Steven was that what we did was their best guess at what would happen with a pandemic. We didnt see it with SARS, because SARS burned out very quickly. But I think we would have probably gone down the same path if SARS, which is also a coronavirus, had gained this kind of foothold. I wasnt surprised that scientists were right. I have a lot of faith and confidence in science. There are other aspects of it that have been surprising.

He added, I hadnt contemplated as a screenwriter what would happen in an administration where we defunded public health and defunded pandemic preparedness and defunded science, and then went one step further and discredited health officials who were trying to protect us. That was something, as a screenwriter, I never could have anticipated. Burns was referring to the cuts made to the Centre for Disease Controls budget by US President Donald Trump.

Asked about what hes doing to stay safe, Burns said, I am doing what public officials say. Im washing my hands very often. I am avoiding large gatherings. And I think thats all we can do now until we get a handle on this. Unfortunately, because our response was delayed, were way behind the curve. And to compound that, you have officials of the government saying this isnt a problem or this isnt a bad thing. I think to me, the scary part is, even though you may say that the mortality rate is around 1%, if 10 million people end up getting sick, thats a lot of people who will die. Most of them, even if theyre old, some of my favourite people are over 70 years old. And we need to take care of them.

Also read: Tom Hanks sons Chet, Colin share health updates after parents coronavirus diagnosis

As the global tally of infected cases has crossed the 134000 mark, with 75 cases in India, the film has risen to the top of the charts on iTunes, and has earned newfound popularity in China, the epicentre of the virus. In the film, the fictional virus originated in Hong Kong.

Actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, became the first Hollywood celebrities to make public their coronavirus diagnosis. They are currently in isolation in Australia.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
WASHINGTON  During the financial crisis a decade ago, President Barack Obama could look around the room and turn to an economist who served as Harvards president, a former president of the New York Federal Reserve and a renowned academic considered one of the worlds authorities on the Great Depression.

As President Donald Trump confronts the public health and economic maelstrom caused by the coronavirus, his economic team has a much different background.

His top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, is a former financial analyst who was a commentator on CNBC. His treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, is a Goldman Sachs veteran and former Hollywood producer whose credits include the 2016 film Rules Dont Apply.

The threat from the pandemic has sent markets plummeting and created grave uncertainty about broader effects that could turn an economy Trump relentlessly showcases to one that leaves Americans struggling and puts the presidents central argument for reelection at risk.

The collapse in stock and oil prices has become the most important test of Trumps economic leadership team. Unlike the impeachment process that ended with Trumps acquittal last month, there is no partisan backstop that can halt infections or restore confidence to shuddering financial markets.

We need an adult in the room to manage these issues, said Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard economist and co-author of This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, a global history of financial crises. Obama had an extraordinary team and so did Bush. There were great men that rose to the occasion. The current Fed team in place is very strong, but theyre not central to response here. They can help at the margins.

Rogoff, who believes the chances of a global recession have risen dramatically with the health crisis, said he also worries about the Trump teams ability to navigate the unpredictability of politically fraught negotiation.

On one hand, he said that he worries that Trump could undercut Mnuchin, who is leading negotiations with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on an economic package to address the crisis. The economist said hes also concerned that Democrats might be tempted to torpedo a deal to weaken Trump politically in the months before the November elections.

Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, said Trump arrived at the crisis with a short bench at the Treasury Department and has failed to appoint a permanent chairman to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, a key group of administration economists who advise the president on a range of economic policies. Tomas Philipson a University of Chicago economist and former George W. Bush administration official, has been serving as acting chairman for the council since June.

The things that we usually rely on in the middle of a crisis  usually a big group of talented bureaucrats  we just dont have there, Swonk said. Clearly the administration is further behind than Id like, because it took until this week to talk about economic measures. They got ahead of themselves when they said they had a plan, when they didnt.

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 68,000 have so far recovered.

Trump has moved more aggressively in recent days, meeting with leaders of banks, insurance companies and health care providers in an effort to calm market fears, so far with limited success. He addressed the nation Wednesday night and announced that he was sharply restricting travel from Europe for a month and that the government will defer certain tax payments for individuals and businesses for three months to lessen the pain of the virus outbreak.

Now the administration must work with Congress over how to best address the crisis, with proposals ranging from a payroll tax holiday to large-scale fiscal stimulus.

There is no one on that team that has a real experience and understanding of fiscal stimulus, said Jared Bernstein, a former economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden during the Obama administration. He said hes spoken to Kudlow about ideas to assist hourly workers impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. That said they can mitigate that problem, because there are lots of people, lots of economists with those experiences. The question is: Will they reach out?

Mnuchin this week tried to assuage Americans who have watched their retirement savings sink by saying that this crisis is likely to have an end in sight, unlike the financial crisis. Kudlow has suggested that it may be a good time to buy stocks on the cheap.

Trump, who in late January boasted that U.S. officials had coronavirus very well under control, has called on Americans to calm down as he seeks to blunt the economic and health-related damage caused by the outbreak.

This is a one-time event, Mnuchin said during Wednesday testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee. I couldnt be more pleased that the U.S. economy is the most resilient in the world, and we will get through this very successfully.

Trump predicted tremendous pent-up demand will boost the economy once the crisis passes. But he also seemed to acknowledge that his version of a payroll tax cut faced long odds. Een as he called for major stimulus to stabilize the stock market and address concerns that the U.S. is headed toward a recession, Trump insisted in an Oval Office address to the nation that the economic pain will be temporary.

This is not a financial crisis, he said. This just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world.

Paul Winfree, a former White House domestic policy adviser in the Trump administration, said the administration has plenty of firepower to deal with the crisis and that Trump has been well-served by his advisers. But Winfree said hes concerned that the administration and Democrats are pushing for measures, such as the temporary payroll tax cut, that arent directly related to the coronavirus outbreak.

If I were the treasury secretary or leading the administration response to this, Id be viewing this as were at the forefront of a demand-side shock  that will have real economic consequences, said Winfree, who is now an economic policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. But lets address the cause of the hemorrhage. And the cause of the hemorrhaging right now is the coronavirus.

Trumps push for a payroll tax cut was met with a lack of enthusiasm even by many Republicans and White House aides, who were either unsure it was needed or werent convinced that it was the best way to address the crisis, according to administration officials who were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. The president wants the yet-to-be-detailed tax cut to run through the end of the year, ensuring that workers would benefit from it through his reelection effort.

Republicans say Trumps chances at getting a deal ultimately come down to what Mnuchin can work out with Pelosi. The speaker, who spent time with Mnuchin on Tuesday and Wednesday, described her relationship with the treasury secretary as professional.

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 68,000 have so far recovered.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Daly and Andrew Taylor 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.
You can hug, air-kiss or shake hands of course. But in the age of the coronavirus, the world, it seems, is looking at the traditional Indian 'namaste' to greet, convey respect and also maintain a safe distance.

Several world leaders and others are now using the simple joining of hands to say "Hello", "Hi" and "How do you do" the Indian way with the 'namaste', a combination of the Sanskrit words 'namas' (bowing) and 'te' (to you).

Falling in line with one of the fundamental precautionary measures to avoid physical contact, US President Donald Trump on Thursday greeted Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar with a 'namaste'.

Britain's Prince Charles did the same recently when he put out his hand for a handshake but then quickly withdrew to fold them together in a 'namaste'.

French President Emmanuel Macron also did a 'namaste' to welcome Spanish king Felipe on Monday.

And earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advised his citizens to adopt 'namaste' as a way of greeting instead of shaking hands to check the spread of COVID-19, that has been declared a pandemic by the WHO and infected 131,500 people in 116 countries and territories. More than 4,900 people have died of the infection.

"Religious and secular culture come together in the increasing use of namaste (pronounced \NAH-muh-stay\) in English: the term is associated with both Hinduism and yoga," says the Merriam Webster dictionary.

While the coronavirus is responsible for the recent surge in popularity of the 'namaste', it became familiar in the West thanks to yoga, originating in India but practised by millions all over.

In yoga, 'namaste' is a 'mudra' or a posture that involves holding both palms together close to the heart. It is practised to ensure wellness of the upper body.

"When we put our hands together and hold it close to the heart, it stimulates the heart 'chakra'. The 'namaste mudra' benefits the thoracic region, including the immunity of the lungs," Vinod Sharma, a Delhi-based yoga instructor, told PTI.

According to Kesavan Veluthat, a professor of history at Delhi University, the cultural origins of the Indian greeting are rooted in Hindu society's deeply entrenched casteism.

The Sanskrit scholar said 'namaste' came into existence to allow those belonging to the higher castes keep their distance from the "untouchables".

"India, particularly the Hindu society, is heavily hierarchical, with caste defining social norms," Veluthat told PTI.

"Other societies also have inequalities for example class differences in the western world. But in those societies there is no untouchability...," he added.

He added that historically, it was customary for members of the same caste to exchange a 'namaste'. But a Brahmin, for instance, would never offer a 'namaste' to a Dalit.

After a boost through the spread of yoga several decades earlier, the traditional form of greeting is back in vogue because of COVID-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The price of bitcoin has fallen to its lowest level in nearly a year, losing more than half of its value amid a major cryptocurrency sell-off sparked by the spread of coronavirus.

Bitcoin was trading above $9,000 (7,100) over the weekend but dropped to nearly $4,000 on Friday morning following a series of flash crashes that began on Thursday.

Other major cryptocurrencies experienced similar losses, including ethereum, XRP and bitcoin cash.

This is obviously a knock-on effect from the sell off weve seen on the traditional stock markets, while even so-called safe haven assets like gold have seen their values drop, Simon Peters, a market analyst at online trading platform eToro, told The Independent.

As governments across the world impose drastic public restrictions to halt the spread of the virus and financial authorities struggle to implement measures to limit the economic impact of Covid-19, investors are clearly overwhelmed with bad news.

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 dramatic price fall calls into question the theory from some analysts that bitcoin had become a safe-haven asset in times of geopolitical instability.

According to the theory, investors look to non-sovereign assets and currencies in order to safeguard their wealth during moments of global crises.

Global unrest at the start of the year appeared to support this idea, with bitcoin increasing in price by nearly a third in the first month of 2020.

The latest cryptocurrency price crash, however, has mirrored the fortunes of traditional markets.

Bitcoin is a very young currency and does not have the volumes to act as a safe haven asset, said Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of London-based cryptocurrency firm Luno.

However, as we head into a bear market we think investors will see the benefit of holding uncorrelated cryptocurrencies.

Whistleblower Edward Snowden was one of several prominent figures on social media suggesting that they might buy during the dip, with others dubbing it "the greatest sale of the decade".

Bitcoin has seen a strong rebound since reaching a low of $4,100, suggesting that some investors have sought to capitalise on the low price.

It is currently trading at around $5,650, with an overall market cap of just over $100 billion.

The next few days will be crucial for cryptocurrencies to see if the sell off has bottomed out, Mr Peters said. Sentiment seems to be turning, perhaps off the back of investors tempted by the low prices of the likes of bitcoin.
New Delhi: Even as Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that Gwalior royal Jyotiraditya Scindia feared for his political future prompting him to switch sides, former Tripura Congress chief Pradyot Debbarman feels that joining the "BJP is not the right option" and that it's time for Rahul to talk to young leaders to stop desertion.

"I think all of us should sit together and think of the way ahead as all of us belong to the Congress ideology," Debbarman said.

Debbarman, who belongs to the Tripura royal family and is Scindia's cousin, said, "Jumping on to the BJP bandwagon is not the right option. We should sit down and find ways as to how we can contribute for the country in a situation where the Congress leadership seems unwilling to give space to the youth."

He said all the young leaders in Congress have worked together and "it's time we should come out with a solution as India needs an effective opposition".

"I think leaders such as Sachin Pilot (Rajasthan), Ajoy Kumar (Jharkhand) and many others have the capability," he said.

Facing neglect, Debbarman himself had resigned as the Tripura Congress chief last year. Former IPS officer and Jharkhand Congress chief Ajoy Kumar, too, stepped down in August last year and joined the Aam Aadmi Party.

Debbarman said if the Congress is not willing to wake up and not ready to fight against the BJP, "then it is important to come out with a new independent centrist party which works for all and without leaning towards one extreme".

When asked about his Facebook post, where he mentioned that Scindia did not get appointment from Rahul Gandhi's office, he said, "Scindia had asked for an appointment with Rahul Gandhi's office five months ago, but he did not get any. And yesterday, Rahul claimed Scindia was one leader who could walk to his residence anytime. He (Rahul Gandhi) should ask his office why Scindia wasn't given time."

Debbarman said ever since Rahul stepped down as the party chief, he has not been taking day-to-day decisions, which is known to everyone in the party.

"Another important point that Rahul Gandhi had raised in his resignation letter was that he had felt alone in the party as senior leaders were putting their children first and not the party. He, in fact, referred to the party's old guard. So, what I am saying is nothing different from what Rahul had said," said Debbarman.

When pressed further whether Rahul Gandhi is facing betrayal within the party, the former Congress leader said, "It is not Scindia's son or Pilot's son and we know that. He had spoken briefly about three leaders and we know who they are... problem lies there."

His remarks came soon after Rahul Gandhi replied to a question on Scindia joining the BJP.

Rahul Gandhi said, "I know the ideology of Scindia as he was in college with me. Scindia feared about his political future and he moved to the RSS by keeping his ideology in his pocket. But the reality is that in BJP, he will not get respect. He will understand this with time. I have an old friendship with Scindia, but what lies in his heart and what he says are completely different," he said.

When pressed further about the number of young leaders who were promoted in the front row of the party by him, he said, "Who is in my team and who is not and what else is going on is of no consequence as I am here talking about the country's economy."

The unceremonious exit of Scindia has put the focus back on the young turks of the party, who have been sidelined since Rahul Gandhi stepped down from his post following the 2019 Lok Sabha election debacle.

Following Rahul Gandhi's resignation during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25, just two days after the Lok Sabha results were out, the old and veteran leaders of the party instantly came into action and started sidelining the young leaders appointed by the Gandhi scion in the last few years.

Besides Scindia and Debbarman, the young leaders who felt slighted included Milind Deora, Deepender Singh Hooda, Jitin Prasada, Sachin Pilot, Ajoy Kumar and Sandeep Dikshit.

The young leaders feel alienated, especially after Scindia was overlooked for the post of Madhya Pradesh Congress chief. Similarly, Sachin Pilot, despite being Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan, is being pushed by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to give up the state President's post, a party source said.

Even Prasada is said to be unhappy as he has been denied the top party post for many years, despite commitments being made by the top leadership. He was also upset during the Lok Sabha polls, but was pacified by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, said a source, adding he was also promised a Rajya Sabha seat.

The former Union minister, Prasada has been a special invitee to the working committee, but one of his close aides said his heart lay in Uttar Pradesh, where the party made Ajay Kumar Lallu the state unit chief.

Meanwhile, calls and messages to Jitin Prasada and Milind Deora remained unanswered. On Wednesday, Congress leader Anand Sharma rejected the "young versus old" rift in the party and said the party combined a blend of youth and seniors.
Berkshire County Schools Closing for Two Weeks

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  Schools across Berkshire County will be closed for the next two weeks in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision follows teleconference meetings held on Friday with the state Departments of Elementary and Secondary Education and of Public Health, as well as between the Berkshire County Superintendents Roundtable.

DESE left much of the decisionmaking up to local authorities but there was a recommendation that communities seeing an increase in community transmission of the novel coronavirus should consider closing for 14 days. Community transmission means that there are patients who are diagnosed or presumptive for the coronavirus who do not meet the patterns related to international travel or close contact with a confirmed coronavirus patient.

While most of the cases so far identified in Massachusetts have been linked to a Biogen conference in Boston in February, no such connection could be found with the first patient in Berkshire County, a man in his 60s from Clarksburg. Since then, six more people have been identified as part of a Berkshire Medical Center cluster.

North Adams Public Schools district staff are working to ensure that all students will have access to meals during the closure period with meal distribution being made to Colegrove Park and Brayton elementary schools from 11 a.m. to noon daily.

In addition, all NAPS district staff will continue to be paid for the next two weeks.

Mount Greylock Regional School District also confirmed it would be closing next week and reopening on March 30.

"It is important to note that the district currently has no students or staff with presumptive or confirmed cases of COVID-19," Superintendent Kimberley Grady stated in the notice to families and staff. "However, we recognize that neighboring communities do have cases. As a precautionary measure and to limit the potential of community spread, we have made the decision to close school."

Updates for Mount Greylock schools will be posted on the district website here.

Many of the schools closed on Friday for cleaning and Clarksburg School was closed the entire week along with other town buildings.

"This is an unprecedented and challenging decision, but we believe it is the correct decision for our students, our educators, and the community," stated Mayor Thomas Bernard and Superintendent Barbara Malkas in their letter to the school community. "We know this will disrupt routines and lives for many families and caregivers, and we do not have all the answers at this time."

Malkas said she was convinced it would be right decision to close after being informed on Thursday night of an uptick in COVID-19 cases and the number of people who are now self-quarantining.

"I didn't have enough adults to safely and effectively supervise our students," she said, adding that she and the mayor had been preparing for this eventuality. "Our decisions are based on what is good for the community."

Additional information regarding to access to technology for educational programming and communication with the administration can be found at the district website

In a post on the McCann Technical School website, Superintendent James Brosnan wrote that the school year would on June 25, as things stand now.

"We realize this is a disruptive measure to take and has implications that will ripple through the community but also recognize the gravity of the situation with all the other districts around us closed and feel we are acting in the best interest of all parties involved," he wrote.

State officials had provided guidelines for prohibiting assemblies of 250 or more and to alter group interactions by staggering lunches, recesses and entry and dismissal times. Many schools had already taken action on other recommendations such as eliminating after-school activities and field trips and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.

Northern Berkshire School Union Superintendent John Franzoni said it was difficult for schools to carry out those types of staggering or getting students, especially younger ones, to practice social distancing of the advised 3 to 6 feet. What it hadn't done is recommended closure.

Only in the case of community transmission, "School leadership should strongly consider closing" for the two-week recommended quarantine. However, the statement also reads "there are no communities in the Commonwealth that meet this criteria."

"The state hasn't been giving us the guidance we need," Franzoni said at a meeting of Clarksburg town official earlier in the day. The Board of Selectmen voted to keep public buildings closed, including the school. The School Committee was expected to endorse that decision on Friday afternoon after the county superintendents met.

"The NBSU administrative team is currently developing plans to coordinate efforts at all four individual schools to distribute materials to students and families in an effort to keep the children connected to their education during this two-week period," Franzoni said in a notice sent out to the school communities in Clarksburg, Florida, Monroe, Rowe and Savoy. "Principals will be communicating directly with their school staffs and families to finalize those plans for early next week."
Only those who arrive from Covid-19-taken countries will be checked

Ukrainians who stayed in countries where the coronavirus epidemic is fixed will be sent for observation upon returning home. National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov stated this during a briefing.

"Citizens of Ukraine who are currently abroad will have the opportunity to return to their homeland, but those who are in countries affected by the epidemic of coronavirus will undergo observation procedures," he said.

After the meeting of the NSDC, it was decided to close the border of Ukraine for foreign citizens for two weeks. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must warn all institutions and all countries of respective decision.

As we reported earlier, the first death of a person infected with a coronavirus was recorded, as the Health Ministry reported.

A 71-year-old woman from Zhytomyr region who was hospitalized on March 12 with a laboratory-confirmed case of ovid-19 died today, on March 13.

The relatives of the woman and persons with whom she contacted stay under the supervision of doctors.
13.03.2020 LISTEN

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, wife of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, has tested positive for coronavirus, a statement from the prime ministers office has said.

This is according to the BBC.

She will remain in isolation for the time being. She is feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild, it read.

The couple is now self-isolating.

Mr Trudeau is in good health and has no symptoms, according to his office, but he will remain in isolation for 14 days.

There are no plans at present for Mr Trudeau to be tested for coronavirus.

The prime minister will continue to fully assume his duties and will address Canadians tomorrow (Friday), his office said.

There are currently approximately 103 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Canada. Meetings postponed

Ms Gregoire Trudeau began to show mild flu-like symptom including a low fever on late on Wednesday night after returning from London.

After she tested positive for Covid-19, she said: Although Im experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon.

We will get through this situation together. Please share the facts and take your health seriously.

Health workers will contact people whom Mrs Gregoire Trudeau has recently met.

However, those who have been in contact with the prime minister are deemed not to be at risk, as Mr Trudeau has shown no symptoms.

A number of politicians around the globe have been self-isolating in recent days after coming into possible contact with the virus, including five senior US Republicans and a Canadian cabinet minister.

Mr Trudeau was scheduled to hold meetings over the next two days in Ottawa with provincial premiers and First Nations leaders.

Those meetings have been postponed.

Mr Trudeau will now be speaking with those provincial counterparts over the phone, with the topic focusing on Canadas response to the pandemic, said the prime ministers office in a statement on Thursday morning.

Another federal party leader, the NDPs Jagmeet Singh, said on Thursday he was also staying at home because he was feeling unwell, though doctors have told him that his symptoms are not consistent with the coronavirus.

Their advice is for me to limit contact with the public until I am feeling better, he said on Twitter.

What is the situation in Canada?

There are currently approximately 103 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Canada, in the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, and Manitoba. There has been one death linked to the disease.

BBC
Sumerian RecordsPalaye Royale has announced a new album.

The third studio album from the Canadian "fashion-rock" trio is called The Bastards, and is due out May 29. It includes the previously released single "Hang on to Yourself."

Palaye Royale plan to launch a U.S. headlining tour April 17 in Sacramento, California.

Here's the track list for The Bastards:

"Little Bastards"

"Massacre, The New American Dream"

"Anxiety"

"Tonight Is the Night I Die"

"Lonely"

"Hang on to Yourself"

"F***ing with My Head"

"Nervous Breakdown"

"Nightmares"

"Masochist"

"Doom (Empty)"

"Black Sheep"

"Stay"

"Redeemer"

"Lord of Lies"*

*Bonus track.

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
LAS VEGAS - A veteran Las Vegas police officer who was fired for hesitating in a casino-hotel hallway in October 2017 while a gunman upstairs carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history has been reinstated to his job, authorities said Friday.

Officer Cordell Hendrex is due to return to work March 21 following an arbitrators ruling in his bid to get his job back, according to the head of the citys police union.

Nothing coming out of 1 October is a victory, Steve Grammas, Las Vegas Police Protective Association executive director, said of the shooting that left 58 people dead and more than 850 injured. But Officer Hendrex is happy that everyone can put this behind them.

Department officials confirmed Hendrexs reinstatement in a short statement that declined additional comment.

Body-camera video showed Hendrex, a Las Vegas officer since 2007, leading a rookie officer and three Mandalay Bay security officers on the 31st floor of the hotel, one floor below where the gunman was firing, and stopping when they heard volleys of gunfire during a three-minute span.

Upstairs, Stephen Paddock, 64, a former accountant and high-stakes video poker player, was using a cache of assault-style weapons hed amassed to rain bullets for more than 10 minutes from the windows of a 32nd floor suite into a country music festival crowd of 22,000 people. Most of the rifles were fitted with rapid-fire bump stock devices and high-capacity magazines. Paddock killed himself with a handgun before police used explosives to blast through his door and find him more than an hour later.

Hendrexs group remained in the hallway for about five minutes before Hendrex led them halfway up a stairwell toward the 32nd floor. They remained there for at least 15 minutes, when the video clip ends.

Hendrex later acknowledged in a written police report that he was terrified.

I froze right there in the middle of the hall for how long, I cant say, he wrote.

Grammas said Hendrex was the only Las Vegas police officer disciplined for inaction directly related to the shooting.

His reinstatement through a union arbitration process was first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

(The arbitrator) wrote in her opinion that she didnt feel that his actions that evening rose to the level of termination or any discipline at all, Grammas told the newspaper.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said last year that some officers received lesser discipline for turning off or failing to activate body-worn video cameras. Another was disciplined for accidentally firing a three-round burst of gunfire inside the shooters hotel room.

Grammas noted Friday that Hendrex didnt run out of the hotel, but became part of the team heading toward Paddocks room.

The truth is, we are not superhuman the union official said.
The economic cost from the outbreak of coronavirus strain COVID-19 is still uncertain but countries must work together to combat it, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said.

Speaking to an empty briefing room on Thursday (local time), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided not to invite reporters into the regular news briefing as part of an effort to limit gatherings and transmission of the virus.

Taking questions online, Rice said that the forecast will for growth in 2020 will undoubtedly be lower than predicted at the beginning of the year.

"So on the first economic impact, as we have said, under any scenario, the global growth in 2020 will drop below last year's level, which was 2.9 per cent. How far will it fall? How long? What is our forecast? It is difficult to predict at this point, obviously, given the uncertainty," said Rice.

"It depends, of course, on the spread, the propagation of the outbreak. It depends on the measures taken to respond and how effective they are," he added.

The IMF and World Bank have announced that they will hold their upcoming Spring Meetings in a virtual setting. Rice committed to releasing all the regular briefings and publications but due to travel restrictions and precautionary measures they will be presented to authorities and the public online.

"What we have been seeing is indeed international cooperation is essential to effectively address the coronavirus outbreak. Again, obviously, this is not a disease. This is not something that stops at national borders. We need to work together," said Rice.

Rice expressed sympathy and condolences for victims of the virus and the IMF has urged coordinated global action.

The IMF has made up to 50 billion dollars available to its members to help contain the economic impact of the virus. Part of that is the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT), a fund created to help low-income countries deal with disasters.

Rice warned that the CCRT was running low on funds and welcomed a pledge by Britain on Wednesday to help replenish it and urged other countries to follow suit.

"We have the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, which is another instrument the IMF has for very poor countries to help them with debt relief. These are essentially granting for debt relief. And we have called upon our membership," he said.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has called on the federal government of Nigeria to suspend flights to and from countries with prevalent cases of coronavirus as the world struggles to contain the deadly disease.

Speaking via his official Twitter handle on Friday, Atiku, however, stated that Nigerian citizens should be the only ones allowed back into the country no matter their status.

He wrote:

Two weeks ago, when #Nigeria recorded its index case of the #coronavirus, I had cause to urge the Federal Government to restrict flights from nations with a high prevalence of the Coronavirus plague. This is in line with global best practices.

This is a patriotic call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to take every reasonable step to protect the citizens of Nigeria, by temporarily suspending flights to and from such countries, until we build up our ability to contain the coronavirus.

Read Also: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Self-Isolating Over Coronavirus Fears

Our borders should, however, be open to Nigerian citizens, regardless of their status.

Despite the commendable efforts of our patriotic health officials, it will be recalled that to date, we are yet to identify and or locate multiple passengers who flew in with the index case from Italy. They could be anywhere.

We must, therefore, err on the side of caution. We cannot afford to broaden the possibility of future infections.

The economic impact of a widespread infestation of the virus in Nigeria will be catastrophic and will affect our national security, and status as Africas leading economy.

The ravages of this scourge, which has officially been classified as a global pandemic, must not be allowed to test our already fragile economy.

I urge that every political & any other differences be put aside. On my part, I am first a Nigerian, & I am willing & ready to work with anybody, at anytime, at whatever cost, to ensure the safety of this country, which is the only country we have to call our home, & her peoples.

We must act now. We must put Nigeria and her citizens first. We must ensure that our national policy is deliberately tailored to protect our most excellent national resource, the great Nigerian people.

May God bless Nigeria. -AA

Two weeks ago, when #Nigeria recorded its index case of the #coronavirus, I had cause to urge the Federal Government to restrict flights from nations with a high prevalence of the Coronavirus plague. This is in line with global best practices.  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) March 12, 2020

Our borders should, however, be open to Nigerian citizens, regardless of their status.  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) March 12, 2020

We must, therefore, err on the side of caution. We cannot afford to broaden the possibility of future infections.  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) March 12, 2020
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday announced in the state Assembly that all schools and educational institutions shall remain closed till March 31 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, the Odisha Chief Minister said: "All educational institutions shall remain closed till 31st March except for holding examinations. Cinema halls, swimming pools, and gyms are also to be closed till 31st March."

On Thursday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that cinema halls, schools and colleges where examinations are not being held are to remain closed till March 31.

World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday had declared the coronavirus outbreak a 'pandemic' and expressed deep concern.

In India, 75 people have so far tested positive for coronavirus. Recently, a 76-year-old man in Karnataka died due to coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Convicted rapist and disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been rushed to hospital a short time after receiving a 23-year jail sentence.

The sentencing capped off the sensational trial which found Weinstein guilty of two offences. He spent a short time in prison before being taking to hospital after suffering chest pains.

A spokesperson for Weinstein confirmed he had been taken to Bellevue Hospital in New York after the staff at Rikers Island jail decided to send him there for his safety, Reuters reported.

"We appreciate the care and concern of the Department of Corrections officers and staff," Weinstein's spokesperson said.

Harvey Weinstein, pictured entering court in February, was sentenced to at least 23 years in jail. Source: Getty Images

This is the second time the 67-year-old has been taken to hospital following a jury finding him last month guilty of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and sexually assaulting Mimi Haleyi in 2006.

Weinstein spent most of the trial hunched over a walker and after sentencing left court in a wheelchair.

Despite his failing health, defence attorney Arthur Aidala said Weinstein had not given up by any stretch of the imagination.

Weinstein faces more charges in Los Angeles, where prosecutors announced they were beginning the extradition process hours after his sentencing in New York.

The disgraced media mogul stands accused of raping a woman and sexually assaulting another in California in 2013.

He wants to fight California, and he wants to win his appeal here. Thats his plan, Mr Aidala said, according to the Associated Press.

Mr Aidala said when it came to Weinstein all bets are off and said the defence team did know what was happening.

Weinstein was transported from Rikers Island Jail to Bellevue Hospital in New York after suffering chest pains. Source: Getty Images

Following the sentencing Mr Aidala appeared on Australias Today Show, where he vented about the outcome and criticised the judges sentence, prompting Karl Stefanovic to accuse him of having a whine because he lost.

During the sentencing, defence attorney Donna Rotunno described her client as a sick man, saying Weinstein would need constant care behind bars.

Story continues

This is a situation where the loss of freedom that he will suffer will not only affect his general overall health, but it will affect his ability to get the type of medical care that hes going to need for the list of issues that he is dealing with, she said.

The 67-year-old was found guilty last month of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and sexually assaulting Mimi Haleyi in 2006. Source: AP

Weinstein also listened to his victims give powerful statements about how his actions impacted them, while he rambled during his own statement about building a hospital.

Not a hospital like the regular hospital, he said.

A hospital that deals with rehabilitation and redemption.

Weinsteins lawyers said he was also dealing with the ramifications of the unsuccessful back surgery he had last year following a car crash and he now requires injections in his eyes to prevent him from going blind.

 with Reuters and Associated Press

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.
A neuroscientist at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine studies opioid use in rats to understand how drugs affect the next generation

By Angela Nelson

In 2018, more than forty-seven thousand Americans died from an opioid overdose, and ten million misused prescription opioids. The highly addictive drugs have destroyed lives and families, regardless of income level, race, age, or gender.

Fair Vassoler, PhD, a neuroscientist at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine has spent years researching opioid use in rats and the effects the drugs have on the rats offspring. We recently sat down with her to discuss what her research can tell us about opioid addiction in humans.

Tufts Now: The United States is in the midst of an opioid addiction crisis. Why study opioid addiction in rats? Whats the advantage of studying that species?

Fair Vassoler: Rats have the same reward system as humans. In the wild, these systems are designed to get an individual to repeat a behavior because they find it pleasurable, like eating and mating. Its really for survival of the species. Because rats and humans have the same reward system, rats can be great models for human addiction and human substance-use disorder. We have a huge amount of literature already about rats and their responses to drugs of abuse, and their behaviors are very similar to what we see in humans.

We can see escalating behaviors in the rats where they take more and more drugs if you give them more access. We see the same thing in humans. We can see relapse behaviors in rats the same way that we see them in humansif you take the drug away and then put the rats back in an environment that reminds them of the drug, theyll start searching for it just the way a human would.

With rats, we can look at what is happening in the brain at that time. We can record data from different parts of the brain and see what changes are happening and relate those changes back to humans.

Your research looked at how opioid addiction affected the rats offspring. What did you find?

When the parents were adolescents, they were given injections of opioids for ten days, and then we stopped giving them any more opioids. So it was very brief exposure. We let them grow up to adulthood, then mated them and looked at their offspring to determine if the offspring were more or less likely to take opioids or cocaine.

We found that if the rats fathers had been exposed to opioids, then the rats were more likely to take opioids and worked harder to obtain opioids. But they were less likely to take cocaine.

If the rats mothers had taken opioids, we found exactly the opposite. The rats had decreased likelihood to take opioids and increased likelihood to take cocaine.

We looked at both drugs because a lot of people think substance-use disorder is substance-use disorder. You may think that if someone is interested in taking drugs, then theyd be interested in taking all the drugs. But the rats definitely discriminated, and this can give us clues about which part of the brain is changed.

What is the practical application for this research right now? Can any of it translate to humans?

Its not that we can take the results and say that humans would be the same as rats. Humans are a very tricky species to study because they have so many different environmental experiences that are hard to control for. But I do think our research can suggest which areas are vulnerable, such as how a predisposition to addiction can get passed on from one generation to the next, and different places for intervention.

We have to think about how this widespread exposure to opioids is going to be impacting the next human generation. If we can find the right interventions, we can provide support for people who have had past issues. If we can help them enrich their environment for themselves and for their children, it can really be helpful. Environmental enrichment is another form of epigenetic modification that may be able to reverse the developmental trajectory and contribute to normal healthy neurodevelopment. Im definitely on the side of compassion, enrichment, and social support, and I think that those things are going to be really important going forward.

Where is your research headed next? What other questions are you hoping to answer?

The research Im doing now is trying to look at the development from embryo, to prenatal pups, to postnatal day-one pups, and throughout development to see if we can figure out how the offspring rats are developing differently. That could help us understand why they would respond to these two drugs, opioids and cocaine, so differently.

If we can figure out the specific biological mechanisms by which such behaviors are transmitted from one generation to the next, then we can work to intervene medically, and well understand more about how evolutionary biology operates. Thats what will make our research more applicable to humans in the future.

If effects like you describe did leave a child predisposed to addiction, could you reverse that somehow, maybe with nurturing or environment?

What this research can tell us is that our environment can impact our offspring. All the experiences youre collecting throughout your life are changing your epigenetics, or the way that your offspring are going to develop. For the rats, the only thing that the male donates to the offspring is his sperm. He doesnt do any fathering. So, theres something in the sperm thats changed as a result of the previous drug exposure. We think these are epigenetic modifications.

For a long time, people thought an individuals genetics were responsible for everything. But even if you have the same genetics, your environmental experiences can change how you react to things and how your offspring are going to react to things. I also think some tendencies are going to be reversible. So just the same way that your own opioid use might change the way your offspring take drugs, if you provide lots of environmental enrichment, for example you read to your child every day, then that could change or mitigate some of the effects of your past opioid use. Environmental enrichment is beneficial for everyone and can be particularly helpful in providing a strong foundation for neurodevelopment of children.

Some peoples brains are going to be more vulnerable to addiction, and its a combination of environmental exposures and genetics. Its not a failure of morality. Understanding that this is not a choice, that its a disease, is important.

Angela Nelson can be reached at angela.nelson@tufts.edu.

Tufts University
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Anzac-class frigate, HMAS Arunta (FFH 151) has test-fired its first Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) off the coast of Western Australia following a 20-month AMCAP upgrade.

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Anzac-class frigate, HMAS Arunta (FFH 151) has test-fired its first Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) off the coast of Western Australia following a 20-month AMCAP upgrade.

HMAS Arunta AMCAP ESSM firing (Picture source: Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence)

The RIM-162 ESSM is a surface-to-air weapon that uses radar homing guidance to counter anti-ship missiles moving at supersonic speeds and forms part of Aruntas air defence capability. It is a development of the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile.

Australian Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said the missile firing is an important part of testing the ships upgraded capabilities. Arunta is the first of her class to undergo the Anzac Midlife Capability Assurance Program (AMCAP) upgrade at Henderson, Western Australia.

HMAS Arunta fires its 5-inch gun as part of a surface firing trial off the coast of Western Australia (Picture source: Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence)

HMAS Arunta is a long-range frigate capable of air defence, surface and undersea warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance and interdiction and is homeported at HMAS Stirling, Western Australia.

HMAS Arunta (FFH 151) is an Anzac-class frigate of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ship, named for the Arrernte people, was laid down in 1995 and commissioned in 1998. Since entering service, Arunta has performed a wide range of duties, including border protection patrols in northern Australian waters, and several deployments to the Persian Gulf.

Each frigate has a 3,600-tonne full load displacement. The ships are 109 metres (358 ft) long at the waterline, and 118 metres (387 ft) long overall, with a beam of 14.8 metres (49 ft), and a full load draught of 4.35 metres (14.3 ft).

As designed, the main armament for the frigate is a 5-inch 54 calibre Mark 45 gun, supplemented by an eight-cell Mark 41 vertical launch system (for RIM-7 Sea Sparrow or RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles), two 12.7-millimetre (0.50 in) machine guns, and two Mark 32 triple torpedo tube sets (initially firing Mark 46 torpedoes, but later upgraded to use the MU90 Impact torpedo).
The co-founder of a group running orgies and swingers parties for the rich has reportedly been given a top job inside 10 Downing Street.

Before moving into Tory politics in 2003, Dougie Smith co-founded Fever Parties, an agency which organised sex parties for up to 50 couples at a time from London's 'fast set'.

He was responsible for hosting orgies for the beautiful and wealthy in Mayfair townhouses.

Dougie Smith (pictured), the co-founder of a group running orgies and swingers parties for the rich, has reportedly been given a top job inside 10 Downing Street

He has now landed a position as a strategist and opposition researcher in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's most senior political office, internal documents seen by the Mirror show.

Mr Smith, who is married to head of Downing Street's policy unit Munira Mirza, organised swingers parties and orgies for five years and asked couples to submit photos and pay a fee of 50 to attend his illicit events.

He also worked as a coordinator for the think-tank Conservatives for Change.

In 2003 he insisted his different work ventures did not 'overlap'.

One of Fever Parties' 'typical venues'. The agency organised sex parties for up to 50 couples at a time

One of Fever Parties' 'typical venues'. Mr Smith organised swingers parties and orgies for five years and asked couples to submit photos and pay a fee of 50 to attend his illicit events

His appointment has again raised questions about the vetting process for candidates for government positions. It is understood he reports to the PM's top aide, Dominic Cummings.

It comes a month after aide Andrew Sabisky was sacked last month when it emerged he previously suggested enforcing the uptake of contraception and claimed black people are mentally inferior. He is believed to have been recruited to Number 10 as part of a drive by Cummings to bring 'misfits and weirdos' into the government.

Labour MP Stephen Doughty questioned how Mr Smith could have passed the vetting process. 'This revelation raises yet more questions about the hiring and vetting process at the heart of government,' he said.
Payment holidays for the tourism and hospitality sectors are being sought by ministers Shane Ross and Brendan Griffin to help stabilise businesses until the coronavirus crisis eases.

They want payments to Revenue, banks, and local authorities to be postponed as a first step in supporting the sectors.

During their meeting with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe on Thursday, they looked for immediate measures to stabilise cash flow, liquidity, and working capital.

The sectors are already facing unprecedented challenges as a result of widespread cancellations.

We must minimise business closures and job losses, and the best chance of achieving that is to minimise cash outflows from the businesses, said Transport, Tourism, and Sport Minister Shane Ross.

Mr Ross said significant reductions in Vat, local rates, water charges, and other outgoings must be made implemented.

Mr Donohoe said he expects that the Government will announce several measures very soon.

Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said they want to meet acting Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as soon as he returns to Ireland to discuss the survival of the industry.

Mr Cummins said he understands that everything that was on the table during discussions with the two ministers between Mr Ross and Mr Donohoe will form part of a rescue plan for the business sectors.

The impression that I got was that measures would be in place before next Monday, he said.

Mr Cummins believes that Vat should go to 0% during the crisis, PRSI should be reduced for employers, and that local authorities should waive all charges.

He said the RAI will fully comply with the Covid-19 safety measures and has cancelled its two upcoming regional awards events in Munster and Connacht.

Taoiseach, Leo Mr Varadkar said that restaurants, cafes, and other businesses could stay open, but they should look at ways that they could implement the public health advice on social distancing.

Mr Cummins urged people to dine out at the weekend, saying:

We are open for business.

The Irish Hotels Federation expects the number of cancellations to increase in the coming weeks and has demanded immediate and decisive action from the Government to mitigate the impact on tourism businesses.

Payment holidays for the tourism and hospitality sectors are being sought by ministers Shane Ross and Brendan Griffin to help stabilise businesses until the coronavirus crisis eases.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13

Trend:

The Public Health and Reforms Center of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health is developing a new website to provide the population with up-to-date information regarding the coronavirus infection spread, Trend reports on March 13 referring to the Center.

The materials and confirmed information about this epidemic will be posted on the website www.koronavirus.az, which will be available next week.

As is known, presently, news websites and social networks distribute unfounded materials every day in connection with this disease, some of which not only are false, but also pose a great threat to healthcare.

The purpose of the website is to provide the public with reliable information about coronavirus (COVID-19), to quickly inform about the work and preventive measures which are carried out by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health.

The instructions, recommendations and materials of WHO, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and other international organizations will be available on the website.

The materials of the website will also be posted in the information section about coronavirus created on the website of the Public Health and Reforms Center of the Ministry of Health.

The Center urges all institutions and enterprises to cooperate to strengthen measures to combat the disease and preventive measures and calls for the population to believe only confirmed and valid information.
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference about the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on March 13, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Corporations Banding With Government in Nationwide Coronavirus Testing Operation

Google, Walmart, Walgreens, Target, CVS, LabCorp, and Quest Step Into Fight Against Pandemic

Several of the largest corporations in the United States are working together with the government to soon offer large-scale testing for the Wuhan coronavirus across the nation, according to details released during a press briefing at the White House on Friday.

Approximately 1,700 engineers at Google are developing a screening website which would allow users to enter their symptoms and, if necessary, provide them with a local drive-thru location for rapid testing.

Walmart, Walgreens, Target, and CVS have agreed to allow for parts of their parking lots across the nation to be used as drive-thru testing sites.

LabCorp and Quest, the nations largest clinical laboratory companies in the United States, will be ready to process a high volume of tests within 24 to 36 hours.

And Roche, a Swiss pharmaceutical giant, has received the fastest regulatory approval for a new coronavirus test and will make 500,000 kits available. President Donald Trump said millions of tests can be made available in the near future.

Trump marshaled the private sector to step into the fight against the coronavirus, according to Vice President Mike Pence. Trump issued the order to bring the private sector into the battle immediately after he appointed Pence to lead the White House coronavirus task force.

I trust that people around the country are looking on at this extraordinary public and private partnership to address the issue of testing with particular inspiration, Pence said.

The Google website where people can input their symptoms to find out if they should be tested will be available as soon as this Sunday, according to Pence. The vice president thanked the large retailers who are offering parts of their parking lots to the testing efforts.

Trump rolled out the details of the private-sector effort at a press conference during which he announced a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic. The president said he will use the emergency powers to cut the red tape hampering the rapid response to the spread of the disease.

The president also announced that he is suspending interest being charged on federal student loans, barring all non-essential visits to nursing homes for the elderly, and banning entry to travelers who have visited mainland Europe in the last 14 days. The Europe travel restriction does not apply to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

Trump and Pence thanked the leaders of the private-sector companies, several of whom were in attendance during the White House briefing.

When we got the call yesterday from the White House we were eager to do our part to help serve the country and, given what were facing, thats certainly important to do, said Doug McMillon, Chief Executive Officer of Walmart.
Ministers from the South-south have endorsed the deputy national secretary of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Victor Gaidom, to replace the embattled national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

Four of the ministers attended a meeting of South-south leaders of the APC in Abuja on Thursday where the resolution was passed, PUNCH newspaper reports.

The ministers are Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation), Osagie Ehanire (Health), Festus Keyamo (State, Labour) and Goddy Jeddy Agba (State, Power).

PREMIUM TIMES efforts to reach the ministers were unsuccessful. Calls and text messages sent to Mr Keyamo and the spokespersons of Mr Amaechi (David Iyofor) and Mr Ehanire (Enafee Bob-Manuel) were not replied.

Mr Oshiomhole, who was suspended last week by an Abuja High Court, is from Edo State, also in the South-south.

Mr Gaidom has since taken over the partys secretariat, brushing aside protests from Mr Oshiomholes faction in the partys National Working Committee (NWC).

Mr Gaidom has also called a meeting of the National Executive Committee for March 17, a decision that has also been upheld by the same court with an addendum that the resolutions from the meeting should take effect without any obstruction.

According to the PUNCH newspaper report, the South-south leaders caucus reached the resolution on Thursday in Abuja at a meeting attended by four federal ministers from the zone.

READ ALSO:

The leaders in a communique read by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, asked members of the party from the region to attend the NEC meeting called by Mr Giadom.

At the meeting, the leaders of the zone deliberated extensively on the situation in the party and at the end of the meeting, they adopted the following resolutions:

That as a party, we commend our brother, the Acting Chairman of the APC, Victor Giadom, for rising to the occasion by providing leadership for the party in this trying times.

That we fully support the convening of the National Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday, March 17th, as the NEC is the only recognised organ under the constitution of our party to resolve the APC crisis.

That we insist that the party should respect the current zoning arrangement by retaining the chairmanship of our great party in the South-South zone even in an acting capacity, the resolution stated.
Workers in protective clothing wait for passengers from the Grand Princess, a cruise ship carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, to board a chartered plane in Oakland, Calif.

Jeff Chiu/AP

Americans could face jail time, criminal charges, and fines if they break quarantine or isolation, according to the CDC.

Federal, local, and state health officials have quarantine and isolation enforcement power within state borders.

While lawful quarantine and isolation measures can be implemented, they are rarely enforced.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Around the United States, people are being told to go into quarantine to help halt the spread of the novel coronavirus.

It's a new experience. If a state tells you to enter quarantine, what will happen if you don't? The father of a coronavirus patient in Missouri apparently broke the family's quarantine to take his other daughter to a school dance, leading officials to warn that they could be quarantined "by the force of law."

It's not an idle threat. Depending on state and local statutes, individuals could face fines, criminal charges, and even jail time for breaking quarantines.

There's a difference between "self-quarantine" and a legally enforced quarantine order

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, "federal, state, or local public health orders may be issued to enforce isolation, quarantine or conditional release."

COVID-19 mainly spreads from person-to-person through close contact (about 6 feet) and through respiratory droplets released when an infected person coughs or sneezes, according to the CDC. For this reason, health officials have recommended various isolation and quarantine measures for people who could be infected with the coronavirus.

Workers in protective clothing wait for passengers from the Grand Princess, a cruise ship carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, to board a chartered plane in Oakland, California.

Jeff Chiu/AP

While "isolation" refers to the separation of someone who is "reasonably believed to be infected with a communicable disease and potentially infectious," the CDC clarifies that "quarantine" in general means the separation of individuals or groups who are "reasonably believed to have been exposed to a communicable disease but not yet symptomatic."

Story continues

Recommendations of "self-quarantine" or "self-isolation" are voluntary, however, isolation and quarantine measures can be legally enforced.

Because state and local governments are primarily responsible for maintaining public health and controlling the spread of diseases within state borders, many have laws authorizing quarantine and isolation, usually through the state's health authority.

Another page on CDC's website adds: "Public health authorities at the federal, state, local, and tribal levels may sometimes seek help from police or other law enforcement officers to enforce a public health order."

However, the CDC only recommends taking such measures with individuals who have a high risk of exposure to the disease, which includes people who have traveled to the Hubei Province in China or live with or provide care to a patient that has tested positive for COVID-19 "without using recommended precautions."

Many of the quarantine and isolation measures during the US coronavirus outbreak have been recommended without the force of the law, meaning that violating these health orders would not mean jail time or fines.

Passengers from the Grand Princess, a cruise ship carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, exit a bus before boarding a chartered plane in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, March 10, 2020. The passengers on the flight are going to San Antonio to be quarantined at Lackland Air Force Base.

AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

According to the St. Louis County Executive, Sam Page, officials relied on "relied on common sense and goodwill toward the community" when asking the Missouri father and his family to self-quarantine after his daughter became symptomatic. The man, however, did not comply.

"The way the family has reacted to this situation is really a tale of two reactions," Page said. "A study of how people should and should not react to the coronavirus." Page later leveled a warning to the family that they could be lawfully forced to quarantine.

While authorities do have the power to implement legal authorities to enforce public health orders for these measures, the National Conference of State Legislatures noted that they are rarely used. The last time large scale isolation and quarantine was enforced in American was in response to the influenza pandemic in the early 1900s, according to the CDC.

However, if quarantine measures were to be legally enforced by state or local authorities, the severity of possible punishments range from state to state.

Depending on states and localities, you could face felony charges and be imprisoned for up to a year

The worst penalties an individual could face are felony charges (in Texas, South Carolina, New Hampshire, and Mississippi), imprisonment for up to a year (in Wyoming), or fines up to $10,000 (also in Wyoming). A person could be liable for both breaking isolation and quarantine orders or for entering isolation or quarantine premises without explicit authorization from a public health authority.

The National Conference of State Legislatures outlines state quarantine laws and measures but notes that it may not be a comprehensive list.

Breaking a quarantine could lead to jail time.

Zoka74/Shutterstock

The novel coronavirus has swept across the country, infecting more than 1,350 and taking the lives of at least 38 people in the US. Nineteen states across the US have declared a state of emergency in response to the outbreaks and have passed measures including banning gatherings of more than 250 people in some states.

While it does not appear that anyone has been punished by the law for not complying with quarantine and isolation measures yet, individuals have faced real repercussions in the past.

A Wisconsin man was criminally charged for breaking a measles quarantine on February 22, according to NBC News.

Jeffery Murawski allegedly was charged with a misdemeanor for "willfully violating the recommendations of a local health officer or subjecting others to danger of contracting a communicable disease" after he left his home to go to the gym.

His wife, Christine Bennett, who allegedly aided him in breaking his quarantine by driving him to the gym was charged with the same misdemeanor.

Read the original article on Insider
By PTI

NEW DELHI: A meeting was held on Thursday evening at the residence of Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde to discuss the coronavirus outbreak and the possibility of limiting the Supreme Court's functioning.

Besides the CJI, the other judges who attended the meeting were Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit, said lawyer and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) secretary Ashok Arora who also attended the meeting.

"Regarding COVID-19, a meeting was held today (Thursday) at 7 pm at the residence of the CJI with Justice Arun Mishra and Justice U U Lalit, Attorney General, Solicitor General, Secretary SCBA, Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) and officials of Ministry of Health and Ministry of Law," Arora said.

He said the judges would take a call by Friday afternoon on whether to extend the ongoing vacation of the apex court or have limited functioning.

Arora said the apex court may consider using technology such as video-conferencing to ensure that there is less crowd of lawyers and litigants in the courtrooms.

He said it was discussed at the meeting that the top court may also consider not to list fresh and after-notice matters where the chances of lawyers and litigants coming to the courtrooms in large numbers are high.

The Bombay Bar Association (BBA) on Thursday urged its members to avoid handshakes and asked litigants not to visit its premises in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The BBA issued a notice asking members to use hand sanitizers, wear mask or cover their mouth and nose with a handkerchief while sneezing.

Handshakes should also be avoided, it added.

As per suggestions made by the BBA, the Bombay high court administration has agreed to provide temperature guns at security gates to screen entrants and issue directions to litigants to not attend proceedings unless asked by the court.

So far, 11 coronavirus cases have been reported in Maharashtra, including eight in Pune, two in Mumbai and one in Nagpur.
By Azernews





By Akbar Mammadov

The State Tourism Agency and the Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau presented a domestic tourism campaign to the public on March 11.

The purpose of the campaign called Adventure Is Near! is to promote domestic tourism at the state level and bring together all the tourism offers for the Azerbaijanis citizens by encouraging the local population to take advantage of the country's tourism opportunities.

The campaign, initiated by a joint initiative of the State Tourism Agency and the Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau, aims to promote domestic tourism among citizens and individuals who have temporary or permanent residence permits in Azerbaijan.

Thus, the website www.macerayaxindadir.az will contain offers of special discounted services or tourism packages offered by campaign partners and hotels. All local companies are invited to cooperate within the campaign.

As part of the state regulation of domestic tourism activities, the campaign will promote the development and activation of domestic tourism.

In the framework of the event, an advanced and updated version of the website azerbaijan.travel, which includes a wide range of functions and offers various options for foreign tourists, was presented. The new website not only gives tourists enough information about the tourism potential of the country but also provides versatile opportunities by offering flight tickets, hotels and various tour packages in a comparable format.

At the same time, the second edition of the Experience Azerbaijan magazine, which is intended for foreign audiences, and discusses the tourism potential of Azerbaijan, was introduced to the public.




Scientists Use Lab Equipment to Reveal Ancient Hidden Text

A sample Assyrian page scanned with X-rays showing the never-before-seen under text (green), especially visible in the left margin. ( University of Manchester/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) There is more to the Declaration of Independence than "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." Further down the parchment, the future Americans list reasons why the king of Great Britain is an unfair and unsuited ruler for America. At one point, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends & brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands." However, there is a smudge--rather than a cross out, which is common throughout the rest of the document--by the word citizen.

Heritage science researchers recently used a variety of instruments typically found in the laboratory to discover that Jefferson actually wrote fellow "subjects" before smudging the ink to replace the word with "citizens."

"It is a fairly distinctive change given what was happening at the time," said Fenella France, Chief, Preservation Research and Testing Division at the Library of Congress, in an oral session at Pittcon 2020.

France emphasized the multi-disciplinary nature of heritage science research, with collaboration from often disparate fields needed to undertake basic and applied research. In physical, chemical, optical and aging laboratories across the world, researchers rely on hyperspectral and multispectral imaging, FTIR, SEM, particle analysis, XRF, FORS, XRD and more to uncover secrets of the past and enable preservation of our world cultural history.

Hidden Medicine for Gladiators

Galen of Pergamon was a physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire from 129 to 210 AD. Tending to gladiators and emperors alike, Galen was one of the most influential physicians of the time, and his views went on to influence Western medical science. One of his many works, "On the Mixtures and Powers of Simple Drugs," was an important pharmaceutical text; however, the 6th-century manuscript was erased and written over with hymns sometime in the 11th century, creating a palimpsest, as it's called.

"The palimpsest's importance lies in the fact that Galen wrote in Greek. His medicine has been influential for over 1,000 years, especially in the Arab world. The question is, 'How did these Arab writings come about? Were they directly translated from Greek, or did they come through Syria, translated through Syriac?' Being able to read the Syriac translation of Galen's work, we might shed light on how the information was transmitted from the Greek/Roman empire to the rest of the world," said Uwe Bergmann, a distinguished staff scientist at the Stanford PULSE Institute at SLAC, during a session at Pittcon 2020.

To make a palimpsest, ancient peoples used lemon juice, milk or wine to wash out the old writing, cut the parchment in two, rotated it by 90 degrees, and then wrote over it.

"That's why the original text and new text are in different directions on palimpsests," explained Bergmann. "In the case of Galen's work, the original text is vertical and the new text is at a 90-degree angle."

After failed attempts to use multispectral imaging to see the important writing underneath the hymn, Bergmann proposed using XRF, which he had previously leveraged to decipher hidden mathematical theories in a copy of a work by Archimedes.

Using XRF, synchrotron X-rays knock out electrons close to the nuclei of metal atoms, and the holes are filled with outer electrons, resulting in characteristic X-ray fluorescence. However, XRF can be time-consuming and results in an immense amount of data. For example, a single scan of the Galen palimpsest takes about 10 hours and leaves vast amounts of nuanced data, so the researchers turned to machine learning.

William Sellers, an expert in data processing and the director of the University of Manchester's zoology department, designed an algorithm that enhances the XRF signal. Rather than focusing on just one location, Sellers taught his algorithm to recognize different parts of the manuscript--including the undertext, partial text and the overtext--and measure spectra there.

"He trained the images to emphasize what is in this part of the spectra, which is the text," said Bergmann. "Incredibly, after several iterations, the image did enhance."

As shown in the photo to the left, this kind of data mining results in colorized images of the layers of text and parchment, giving scientists a much sharper image to analyze.

While the researchers are still processing the data and results, Bergmann was excited about the doors opened by the possibility of using XRF enhanced by machine learning for future projects.

"Next, we are thinking of going to Google next door to see if we can use non-linear algorithms," he joked.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020

Police arrested two men in February for allegedly vandalizing heavy equipment belonging to a logging company operating in a forest on Seram Island, in the eastern province of Maluku.

They joined 24 other indigenous Sabuai people who were arrested the previous week for similar offenses as they tried to stop CV Sumber Berkat Makmur from felling trees on what they claimed to be their tribal land, in the vicinity of historic sites in eastern Seram.

The Maluku Forestry Agency defends the company, claiming it has licenses for both logging and cultivating the area.

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Aer Lingus will waive fees if customers want to change their flights from 3pm today.

Anyone who booked before March 6 for travel in March, April and May will now only have to pay the fare difference if they want to move their flights.
In a brief, insincere speech yesterday evening, President Emmanuel Macron announced the indefinite closure of schools and issued empty calls for solidarity against the coronavirus epidemic. As cases surge globally, however, he announced no new health funding or construction of new hospitals or expanded production facilities to make medical equipment, testing kits and medicine to face this deadly global pandemic.

Macron announced that starting Monday and indefinitely, day care centers, schools, high schools and universities will be closed. This countermanded Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer, who yesterday afternoon was still insisting that all educational facilities would remain open, even though they would then spread the virus. Macron also announced that the state would reimburse business owners and pay reduced wages to workers at firms forced to close for public health reasons.

Other measures included banning visits to the elderly in retirement homes, freeing up beds in hospitals including by postponing all noncritical surgery, and the decision to continue nonetheless with the municipal elections, whose first round is scheduled this weekend.

While quarantining as much of the population as possible at home to limit personal contact and the spread of disease is essential, Macrons plan is fatally flawed from its inception. A successful quarantine involves not only isolating the population to limit the spread of the disease, but also identifying and treating the sick, so they can recover and do not reinfect the rest of the population after the end of the quarantine. However, French health authorities have already announced that they will try to deny testing and care to many of those they suspect to be infected.

Currently there are 2,786 confirmed coronavirus cases in France and 61 deathsa small fraction of the 12,462 cases and 827 deaths in neighboring Italy, the pandemics epicenter in Europe. French authorities nevertheless insist it is already beyond them to test and treat all the sick. Dr Wilfrid Sammut of the Association of Emergency Doctors of France (AMUF) stated: Given the number of contaminated individuals, we have decided to only test potentially serious cases, elderly patients with symptoms, and health care staff.

As a result, younger individuals in France who experience coronavirus symptoms after being exposed to other coronavirus patients are often sent home without testing, told to take over-the-counter drugs and contact health authorities only if they become critically ill. Adopted in Italy, these methods have led to a surge in deaths among patients in their 30s and 40s, who only arrive in hospital for treatment when they are already dying of pneumonia.

Asked about these guidelines by Le Monde, who euphemistically noted that patients and health care professionals are perplexed, Professor Eric Caumes of the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris defended them. He said, What is happening to us is just what happened in China: initially, doctors tested everyone, then later they established diagnoses by doing x-rays. However, the situations in China and Europe are clearly different. X-rays of younger patients in China were taken after they were admitted to hospitalsomething health authorities in Europe increasingly refuse to do.

This echoes the fascistic policy announced by Macrons ally, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has said that while tens of millions of Germans will contract coronavirus, they should not overburden the health care system.

Macron tried to give this sinister policy a progressive veneer, cynically posing as an opponent of selfish nationalism and demanding solidarity from the French people on this basis. Warning of the danger of nationalist isolation, he said: This virus has no passport. We must unify our forces, coordinate our responses and cooperate. European coordination is essential, and I will ensure it goes forward.

This is a political lie. In fact, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the selfish and nationalist policy pursued by the European Unions (EU) leading powers. France has requisitioned all its national stocks of medical equipment, and Germany has banned exports of medical supplies, ignoring urgent appeals for help from Italyeven as thousands of Italians die, and large swathes of Italys health system are submerged with badly ill patients.

The European coordination Macron wants aims not to save lives, but to let the European Central Bank (ECB) print money to bail out financial markets and the super-rich. Macron was speaking as a global stock market crash unfolded yesterday that saw the Paris stock exchanges worst one-day performance in history: a 12 percent fall. Several financial commentators attacked the ECB for not further cutting its rates from -0.5 to -0.75 percent, and for printing only 120 billion for bank bailouts instead of nearly 3 trillion euros after the 2008 Wall Street crash.

Macron, a former investment banker, indicated that he would demand a far greater ECB payoff to the financial markets. The European Central Bank has already informed us of its first decisions, he said. Will they be enough? I dont think so. Europe will react in an organized, massive way to protect its economy.

The care for tens of thousands of coronavirus patients across Europe and internationally cannot be left subject to the whims of the markets and of bankers like Macron. The coronavirus crisis has exposed that the entire course of European austerity policy, implemented since the 1991 Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union and the creation of the EU in 1992, was destructive and socially reactionary. Workers must be mobilized across Europe and beyond against corrupt capitalist ruling elites to defend basic social rights, including access to medical care.

With stunning hypocrisy, Macron went on to praise Frances public health care system: What this pandemic has already revealed is that universal free medical care ... and our welfare state are not costs or burdens, but precious goods, indispensable strengths when fate strikes. He claimed that he had concluded from the pandemic that there are goods and services that must be placed beyond the laws of the market.

Who does Macron think he is kidding? For two years, he has been sending riot police to viciously crack down on yellow vest protests against social inequality and mass strikes against his policies of privatizing railways, slashing public sector workers wages, and slashing pensions. It has been widely reported that, after he finishes his pension cuts through the National Assembly and then cutting unemployment insurance, he plans to next slash Frances Social Security system for financing health care.

Macrons lying promises won him accolades from the pseudo-left charlatan Jean-Luc Melenchon. Demanding that there should not be polemics but solidarity and cohesion, Melenchon claimed Macron had had a change of heart: It took a crisis, an international one in fact, to convince the president that a certain model of society is dead and that everyone should get care as a priority.

Melenchons attempts to stimulate illusions in Macron, who is widely hated, are absurd. New eruptions of class struggle are being prepared. In this context, defeating the coronavirus pandemic requires the political mobilization of the working class, independent of Melenchon and his allies in the union bureaucracy, to prevent capitalist governments in France and beyond from denying care to the sick. Workers will have to fight for:

 Free health care of equal quality for all. Treating the pandemic will require a massive mobilization of industrial, personnel and financial resources, organized and coordinated on an international scale. Markets demands for profit cannot be allowed to interfere with life-saving medical care.

 Dignified conditions during quarantines. Democratic rights must be respected, and all those forced to stay at home in quarantine must receive social support, food, and all necessities.

 Independent factory and neighborhood committees. In quarantine or not, workers must organize to coordinate their collective strength and force necessary measures to be taken. These include ensuring that capitalist police states do not use the quarantine as a pretext to further attack democratic rights; instead, the working class must concentrate power in its hands to carry out a socialist transformation of society, based on social need not private profit.

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Aaron Paul. Photo: HBO

No offense, but are you a human?

A veteran turned construction worker named Caleb (Aaron Paul) asks that question, in season three of HBOs Westworld, during a phone call with a company hed hoped would hire him. The phrasing speaks to the series preoccupations: The first two words suggest that even though humans are still in charge of the planet, that might not always be the case, so its smart to be polite when vetting biological bona fides.

In the first two go-rounds of HBOs sci-fi puzzler, inspired by Michael Crichtons 1973 film, the lifelike robots were slaves, trapped on an island where rich guests frequented amusement parks inspired by postCivil War America, early-20th-century India, and 17th-century Japan, entering tales reminiscent of pre-internet role-playing games and killing, raping, and otherwise terrorizing the resident androids (or hosts) once prefab displays of heroism became dull. Now the synthetics have started to leave the nest and circulate. After a robot uprising that dominated season two, killing over a hundred humans at the parks, showrunners Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan have now refocused their attention on the world beyond, doubling down on classic late-night dorm-room prompts like What makes us human? and Do artificial beings have innate rights? and Are we obligated to behave morally if God isnt watching?

Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright), a replicant version of Westworlds late co-founder Arnold Weber (also Wright), is living under an assumed identity and working at a synthetic-meat farm, while Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood), the onetime damsel in distress who remade herself as an android John Brown, is stalking the one-percenters. Maeve (Thandie Newton), rendered inoperable last season following a desperate quest to reclaim her kidnapped daughter, makes her way back into the show as well, though it would be unsporting to say exactly how; ditto the Man in Black (Ed Harris), a.k.a. William, a Westworld addict and controlling investor whose wife, Juliet (Sela Ward), killed herself after learning of his depraved behavior during his regular visits to the park, and who killed his own daughter, Emily (Katja Herbers), because her questions about her mothers death made him wrongly assume that she was an android with an agenda.

At first its unclear from season three if realer-than-real androids are common in the outside world  a place that was frequently mentioned but rarely glimpsed in prior seasons  but the answer appears to be no. Bernard fools nearly everyone into thinking hes a beleaguered working stiff living in a metal igloo in a verdant field, and Dolores easily passes for Homo sapiens, thanks in part to her immaculate Hollywood-arm-candy look: ironed hair, stiletto heels, designer cocktail dresses. The technology depicted onscreen is a few steps up from what weve got now, from snarky yes/no push notifications alerting Caleb to criminal opportunities (the reply options are No, I Like Being Basic and Fuck Yeah), to SUV-size drones that apparently have replaced helicopters as the preferred mode of transit for the rich, to references to algorithms taking command of every collective action (war included).

Not content to be a 21st-century rehash of Crichtons best-selling Frankenstein riffs  the novelist-filmmaker also created Jurassic Park, another tale set at an amusement park where artificial beings turned against their creators  the show folds a hundred years worth of stories about synthetic people, from Fritz Langs Metropolis and Isaac Asimovs I, Robot to the Blade Runner and Alien franchises, into a self-aware and often self-regarding mega-narrative. Like other ferociously aestheticized TV dramas, including The Leftovers, Hannibal, and Mr. Robot, Westworld seems to have made a list of everything that detractors didnt like about it  including fussily shifting timelines, Russian-nesting-doll perception games, and a presumption that it was ahead of audiences that were often ahead of Westworld  and handed it off to the writing staff as a to-do list.

But theres something to be said for fanatically believing in ones artistic vision, even if it includes a propensity for turning thoughtfully conceived subtext into boldfaced and underlined text. (Lines like Williams What is a person but a collection of choices? Where do those choices come from? and Doloress Ive evolved into something new, and I have one last role to play: myself might make you wonder if its possible to reset a shows priorities by unplugging it and then plugging it back in.) And theres no denying that many of the concerns that dogged the first half of season one (such as the shows seeming reluctance to engage with the white supremacy, brutal patriarchy, and Orientalism embedded in the conception of the parks) were later answered and expounded on (particularly in a brilliant season-two stand-alone that followed Zahn McClarnons Lakota warrior, Akecheta, as he acquired self-awareness and plotted to reunite with the wife he adored in a canceled story line and figure out how to escape).

The nagging fear that humankind is on the brink of ceding its dominion thrums under every scene. Its the power source that keeps the dramatic electricity running whether the show is delivering on its considerable promise, shambling into a narrative or rhetorical cul-de-sac, or certifying its HBO-ness by piling on gruesome murders, tortures, and eviscerations that feel like narratively unimportant time-wasters. Its the most frustratingly not-quite-there show on TV: structurally bold, visually arresting, often brilliantly acted, show-off-ily erudite (to the point of having three rich folks argue the accuracy of a Plutarch quote during a society gala), and woefully predisposed to turn subtext into text. But its sense of dread is so effective that it draws even skeptical viewers into its narrative mazes, and the self-regarding metafictional overlays invite viewers to compare the series to video games, Choose Your Own Adventure books, myths, fables, philosophical and ethical systems, the assembly-line production of series like Westworld, and the larger corporate forces that affect TV storytelling.

In the first two seasons, reps from Westworlds ownership, the Delos Corporation, pressured the parks co-creator Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) to move away from stories, characterizations, and thought prompts and let guests cut right to the sex, violence, and acting out; that debate teased the difference between erotica and pornography and implied that, among other things, Westworld was also a critique of HBOs moral-relativity-based storytelling model, a formula so successful that it seems to have survived despite a takeover by AT&T, this worlds version of the Delos Corporation. The most basic questions are variants of ones that drive so much science fiction: After this, what comes next? Will we recognize ourselves afterward? Or will we be transformed? Or destroyed? If were transformed, what will be the cost to our species and all the rest? If were destroyed, will our replacements say we deserved it, if they remember us at all?

*This article appears in the March 16, 2020, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now!
Three Indian-origin businessmen, two based in Mumbai and one in London, have been banned from acting as directors of any company without the permission of the UK court for their mismanagement of a health supplements firm operating out of India.

Melvine D'Silva, 44, from west London, and fellow directors Soriyano DSouz, 35, and Ramakant Lal, 37, from Mumbai have each signed seven-year disqualification undertakings, which bans them from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

The three bosses were directors of Vivid Lifestyle Limited, a health supplements company incorporated in July 2013. The company, however, was wound-up in the courts five years later in August 2018 following confidential enquiries after the UK's Insolvency Service received complaints about Vivid Lifestyle's activities.

"As directors, it was entirely down to Ramakant Lal, Melvine Elias D'Silva and Soriyano Dsouza to supervise the activities of the call centre they had contracted to sell their products, said Martin Gitner, Deputy Head of Investigations for the Insolvency Service.

Without that proper oversight, sales agents were left to their own devices and carried out aggressive and reckless sales tactics, often against vulnerable people, he said.

Investigators discovered that throughout the life of the company, the three directors had allowed Vivid Lifestyle to trade with a lack of commercial probity and failed to provide suitable governance over their sales agents.

The company used an overseas call centre to sell the health supplements but without proper supervision, the sales agents pursued high-pressure sales tactics to dupe vulnerable people into buying the products.

Sales agents often misled customers into thinking they were medically trained, had appropriate medical qualifications or worked with the UK's state-funded National Health Service (NHS). Call centre staff also wrongfully claimed they were existing health care providers or were calling on behalf of a government organisation.

The Insolvency Service concluded that without effective supervision, Lal, D'Silva and Dsouza allowed the call centre to act in a reckless manner while selling Vivid Lifestyle's health supplements.

The mental wellbeing of potential customers was not considered and assessments didn't take place to determine whether the supplements were harmful if used in conjunction with existing medication.

Their conduct as directors was completely unacceptable and these substantial bans, along with the courts approval to liquidate Vivid Lifestyle, should put a stop to their misconduct, while protecting vulnerable people from further harm, added Gitner, in reference to the Insolvency Service's investigation.

The three directors failed to ensure customer credit card and bank details were used for their intended purpose. In their undertakings, Lal, D'Silva and Dsouza also did not dispute that they had received 17 complaints from customers who had payments taken from them for goods they either did not order, did not receive or were pursued for additional payments.

UK investigators calculated that Vivid Lifestyle secured more than 1.9 million pounds from just over 11,000 customers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, March 13 : Second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims arrived in India on Friday from Iran, Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar tweeted.

The group reached Mumbai. Earlier it was reported that these 44 would be sent to a quarantine centre in Jaisalmer, but a top Rajasthan official told IANS that there is no confirmation about that.

Hailing the efforts made by the medical team of the Indian embassy in Iran and Iranian authorities involved in the evacuation operation, the Minister said: Second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims has arrived today from #Iran.

"Our efforts to bring back the others continue. @India_in_Iran and our medical team - keep up the good work. Appreciate the support of Iranian authorities and their airlines." After Wuhan, Italy and Iran witnessed the worst outbreak of novel Coronavirus. Many Indians, including students, pilgrims and fishermen, have been stranded in Iran amid the outbreak.

The government will carry out next evacuation on March 15 and one more such opeartion, but the date is yet to be decided, a Ministry official had said on Thursday at a press conference.

The Indian government has set up testing lab in Iran where the screening and tests are being conducted and prospective cases are detected there itself before bringing Indians back from Iran.

Earlier, Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said "We have been informed by the central government that 44 Indians evacuated from Iran will arrive today at the Army camp in Jaisalmer.

"All are tested negative. As per the protocol, they will be kept in isolation at the Army Hospital for 14 days. Collector Jaisalmer has been provided all requisite support and logistics by us and there is no need for any panic," he added.
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Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020

When the coronavirus outbreak began affecting the global economy, including the tourist industry in Indonesia, the government made the decision to provide incentives for businesses and extra days off for potential travelers.

The measures might just bring results, with many across the country mulling over plans to go on vacation domestically.

Faisal Ardi, a credit analyst at a regional lender, said he was considering a visit to Bali or Lombok after learning that airlines began cutting their fares for domestic routes on Sunday. A day later on Monday, the government increased the number of national holidays this year to 24 days from the previous 20 days.

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Game streaming is a relatively new way to play games, with players like Google, Nvidia and Microsoft leading the way with their own services. Microsoft has been testing console game streaming in India too, however we now finally have more news about its streaming service in regard to India. Microsoft has been rumoured in the past to be working with Jio to bring project xCloud to India and it was finally confirmed by the company to The Mako Reactor.



 Microsoft

Yes, we confirmed the news of our intent to bring Project xCloud to Indian gamers with Reliance Jio as part of our Future Decoded event in Mumbai in late February, a spokesperson for the company told 'The Mako Reactor' in a statement. We announced this intention to come to India at X019 London in November, and will have more news soon on how and when this will play out for your local market.



Weve argued previously that game streaming would be an ideal fit for the Indian gaming scene when Google Stadia was first announced. India is one of the biggest markets for smartphones and mobile gaming has taken off in the country, thanks to games like PUBG Mobile. India is potentially the biggest untapped market for game streaming as it will give millions of mobile gamers a way to play AAA games on their phones.



 Microsoft

Indias console and PC gaming scene is still in its nascent stages due to high barriers of entry such as import duties, expensive games and lower purchasing power than other countries. An affordable game streaming service will introduce potentially millions of mobile gamers to console-level games.



 Microsoft

While Microsoft is yet to announce any pricing and launch date details, the company is expected to announce their plans soon. Microsoft plans to host a digital event on March 18th where the company is expected to discuss more details about the Xbox Series X and Project xCloud.



The partnership with Jio is a welcome move, however we still have no idea how the two companies are planning to tackle latency issues, data caps and the total cost of the service. India is also behind when it comes to 5G connectivity and running a game streaming service without high data speeds could pose a bigger problem for the upcoming game streaming service.



Source: The Mako Reactor
Norway has reported its first death from the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Erna Solberg said "an elderly person" died on Thursday in Oslo. She, however, did not elaborate further.

Protectively, King Harald V, members of the royal family and some government members have been put in quarantine because they had travelled abroad in recent weeks.

In Denmark, lawmakers have passed a temporary law under which authorities can force people who are suspected of having the virus to undergo tests.

The law, which is to expire in March 2021, also gives authorities the ability to ban access to public places and stores.

The Danish government has already closed all schools and daycare facilities and ordered government workers who do not perform critical functions to stay home for the next two weeks.

Denmark's popular Queen Margrethe has cancelled all events around her 80th birthday on April 16.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CHICAGO, March 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, members of the city council, and a coalition of consumer, community, and environmental advocates on Thursday called on state legislators to demand transparency and accountability over reckless spending passed on to consumers by Peoples Gas and other gas utilities in Illinois -- spending that has led to a home heating affordability crisis in Chicago.

"Utility bills that our low income residents can't afford are forcing Chicagoans to make impossible choices," said Mayor Lori Lightfoot. "It's driving many of them, particularly our senior citizens, out of their homes. Chicago must do better."

At a City Hall news conference, the city and state leaders, joined by representatives from AARP Illinois, Illinois PIRG, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC), and Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) urged state legislators to pass a bill aimed at ending surcharges forced on consumers and restoring utility accountability.

"I want people who helped build this city to be able to age in place and to live without constantly worrying about the next utility bill," Lightfoot said.

Peoples Gas has been using the surcharge to recover costs for its mismanaged pipe replacement program, driving heating bills to unaffordable levels for an increasing number of Chicagoans. In 2019, Chicagoans fell $60 million behind on their heating bills and Peoples Gas sent out over 300,000 disconnection notices.

"My constituents are already struggling to pay for basic living expenses, like rent, food and healthcare," said Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (Ward 25). "They cannot afford to take on added costs, especially ones that are being passed on to them unknowingly by greedy utility companies only interested in making a profit on the backs of hardworking Chicago residents."

The city and state leaders urged the General Assembly to pass the Heating Affordability & Utility Accountability Act (House Bill 5247/Senate Bill 3497). Sponsored by state Rep. Joyce Mason and state Sen. Ram Villivalam, the bill would end the "Qualified (or Qualifying) Infrastructure Plant" (QIP) surcharge on Peoples Gas, Nicor Gas and Ameren Illinois gas bills in 2021.

"Chicago residents who work long hours to make ends meet are the backbone of this city. They shouldn't also carry on their backs the cost of a modernization program that has run amok at the expense of safety and affordability," said Ald. Susan Sadlowski-Garza (Ward 10).

Illinois' major utilities have launched expensive, accelerated and mismanaged pipe-replacement projects, which they fund through delivery charges on gas bills. In 2013, the General Assembly allowed them to add the QIP charge to bills. This regulatory shortcut allows utilities to recover certain costs more quickly and outside a standard Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) rate case proceeding.

The utilities claim the surcharge is a necessity to pay for the pipework. While everyone agrees that old pipes should be replaced, consumer advocates contend that the utilities are already legally obligated to do so, and they did it for decades without slapping customers with an extra charge.

At the news conference, consumer advocates argued the utilities have abused the QIP charge, using it to cover unnecessary, wasteful workgold-plating of the gas delivery systemand then leave customers on the hook for their spending spree.

Peoples Gas' projected cost for its capital program has skyrocketed from about $2 billion to $11 billion, and an analysis by the Illinois Attorney General's office estimated that gas bills could double over the next 20 years. Many customers are already having a hard time affording their bills: Peoples Gas saw a 54 percent jump in uncollectible bills in 2019. In 2018, one in seven Peoples Gas customers got a disconnection notice. As for the QIP charge, last year customers reportedly paid an average of $104 on the fee (up $30 from 2018), and the Attorney General's office has warned it could jump to $750 by 2040.

Similar problems exist with suburban gas utility Nicor and downstate gas utility Ameren.

"With 1.7 million members across the state, AARP Illinois has heard heartbreaking stories from older adults who say the costs of their utility bills are forcing them to make difficult choices between paying their gas bills, or paying for other necessities like food, clothing or necessary medication," said Bob Gallo, AARP Illinois State Director. "We are committed to demanding transparency and accountability from utility companies so that Illinois older adults and their families can stay in the homes they love."

"This surcharge gives Illinois' major gas utilities a faster way to put more of our money in their pockets," said Bryan McDaniel, CUB's director of governmental affairs. "In effect, it allows the utilities to treat customers like their own personal ATM machine."

"The Peoples Gas pipe replacement program is a mismanaged, poorly designed, bad deal for Chicago," said Abe Scarr, Illinois PIRG Director. "We didn't give Peoples Gas a blank check, and we can't afford to waste money on upgrades we don't need, especially when we could be investing that money on cleaner, safer energy to heat our homes."

In addition to the groups mentioned above, the coalition fighting for the bill includes Illinois Action Now, LUCHA, the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA), Housing Action Illinois, the Center for Changing Lives, the Heartland Alliance, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Environment Illinois, Faith in Place Action Fund, Blacks in Green, the Northwest Side Housing Center, the Brighton Park Neighborhood Center, Chicago Physicians for Social Responsibility, One Northside, and the Jane Adams Senior Caucus.

SOURCE AARP Illinois

Related Links

http://www.aarp.org


Religion is a personal belief and whether to convert to a different faith or not is an individual's choice, the Delhi High Court said on Friday while declining to entertain a plea for stopping or regulating religious conversions.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar asked the petitioner, a lawyer, to withdraw the petition as it did not want to reject it.

"Why don't you withdraw it? Why should we reject it," the court said.

Subsequently, the petitioner -- BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay -- sought permission to withdraw the matter and the bench allowed him to do so.

When the petition came up for hearing, the court said, professing a religion was a matter of personal belief and whether to convert to a different religion was an individual's choice.

"Tell us how can we regulate it? What will we regulate? If someone is threatening someone or intimidating someone, it is an offence under the Indian Penal Code," the bench said and added there was no reason for an individual to succumb to threats, intimidation or allurement to convert to a different faith.

Upadhyay, in his plea, had contended that many individuals, NGOs and institutions are converting downtrodden persons, particularly of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community, by "intimidating, threatening, luring by monetary benefits and by other acts, including miracle healing, black magic and more".

"Many individuals/organisations have started conversions of SC/STs in rural areas and the situation is very alarming. The mass religious conversion of the socially economically downtrodden men, women and children, and, in particular of the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe community, is on the rise in the last 20 years," the petition had claimed.

It had also claimed that as per the 2011 census, Hindus constitute 79 per cent of the population down from 86 per cent in 2001 and if no action is taken "Hindus will become minority in India".

Upadhyay had suggested enacting of a law to prevent conversions by force or deceit and to award jail term for any violation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At the Costco in Lincoln Park, lines of shoppers stocking up on supplies snaked across the store late Friday morning, one from the register all the way to the back of the store where the meat and paper goods sit. No toilet paper could be found, and large packages of paper towels disappeared by noon.
Bhopal: Section 144 was imposed at Bhopal airport on Friday (March 13, 2020) as BJP, Congress supporters gathered in large number outside the airport, three days after the political crisis erupted in Madhya Pradesh.

Soon after the Madhya Pradesh police was informed of the situation, a large number of police personnel were deployed outside the airport in order to avoid any further clashes.

The tussle between both BJP and Congress in Madhya Pradesh began after former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the party on March 10 as he was sidelined by the leadership. The Madhya Pradesh Congress was divided into two after 22 MLAs close to Scindia resigned from the party the same day.

Scindia joined BJP on March 11 in the presence of BJP President JP Nadda. Addressing the press conference at the BJP HQ, Scindia said, ''I would like to thank BJP chief JP Nadda Ji, PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah that they invited me to their family and gave me a place in it.''

Scindia also accused his former party Congress of corruption and said that it is not the same party which it was earlier. Scindia filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh on Friday.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath confidently stated that his government is 'stable' and there is nothing to worry about. The statement of Kamal Nath came hours after meeting Governor Lalji Tandon.
Mickeisha Gumbs, pictured with her one-year-old daughter, was stabbed multiple times by her enraged boyfriend.

A Park Hill woman who had dreams of one day becoming a graduate teacher, had those dreams cut short in tragic fashion.





Mickeisha Gumbs, a 26-year-old Preschool teacher and mother of three girls, was killed in that North Central Windward community sometime around 5:30 pm last Saturday, allegedly by her boyfriend, Vandike Dez King, 33-year-old Security Officer at the Argyle International Airport.





Unconfirmed reports are that Mickeisha and her 9-year- old daughter received a ride with a pastor from Colonarie to Park Hill, after arriving from Kingstown. Someone saw her getting into the vehicle and called King at his work place to inform him of what they had witnessed. King then left his job and travelled to Park Hill where he aggressively confronted Mickeisha.





King, unconfirmed reports said, went in search of a cutlass, and when that was unsuccessful, he is said to have gone to his home and returned with a knife.





It is that knife which, it is believed, King used to inflict multiple stab wounds to Gumbs.





The woman succumbed to her wounds on the spot, in the presence of her 9-year-old daughter.





A sisters trauma





Mickeisha Gumbs was the youngest child among a brood of five.





Her oldest sibling Joseth Gumbs, told THE VINCENTIAN that she last saw her sister twenty minutes before her death.





She said that Mickeisha had just returned from Kingstown and was finalizing plans for her daughters 10th birthday next week.





Her sister then left home with her 9-year-old daughter, a close friend and her children, as well as a number of other young family members, but about twenty minutes later she heard a close friend of Mickeisha calling to her.





It took a while before she could discern that the friend was saying, God, Josette, Dez a kill Mickiesha.





"I start to run in the direction and when I was almost there, I saw a small crowd. Somebody come to me and say dont come any closer. I pull away from them and I went down. When I went down, I saw my sister. I notice blood was coming from her neck, her eyes were rolling up and she was like gasping for air, with her daughter lying on her, said the grieving sister who admitted to bursting into a scream.





Mickieshas dream





Joseth described her sister as very ambitious, creative and "jokeyfy, sentiments shared by many others in the community who knew her.





She had plans to enroll in the Division of Teacher Education of the SVG Community College, and was attending evening classes towards fulfilling that intention.





In the meantime, she was happy to serve at a preschool to which she was assigned under the YES programme.

Joseth said that her sister had a five-year relationship with her alleged killer, who had fathered her one-year-old child.





"Lately it (relationship) was getting worse, and the more she told him it was finished and dont come back, he would find ways to come at her home especially during the night.





As it stands, Joseth said she will now be charged with caring for the one-year-old niece, while the other two girls will live with their father.





She wants to see justice for her sister. "He shouldnt just get a few years but the maximum, said Joseth.





Mickieshas death brings the homicide count for the year to four.
Chinas abysmal human rights record, particularly in persecuting the spiritual group Falun Gong, was a focus of the latest human rights report by the U.S. State Department.

In China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses high-tech surveillance systems to monitor potential dissidents, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a March 11 press briefing on the reports release.

Every year, the State Department assesses countries around the world on their human rights record.

Pompeo reiterated his remarks from July last year at a State Department-hosted religious freedom conference, calling Chinas treatment of Uyghurs in northwestern Chinas Xinjiang the stain of the century. He added that Beijing tries to hide what its doing by intimidating journalists.

More than a million ethnic Muslim minorities, including Uyghurs, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz people, are being detained in roughly 1,200 internment camps in Chinas Xinjiang region, according to the 2019 Trafficking In Persons report by the State Department. Beijing claims these camps are vocational training centers.

Its imprisoning religious minorities in internment campspart of its historic antipathy to religious believers, Pompeo said.

Pompeo also criticized Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba for their human rights abuses.

We pray for a day when Cubans, Venezuelans, Chinese, Iranians, and all peoples can speak and assemble freely without fear of their own governments, he concluded.

Organ Harvesting

The report also pointed to Chinas state-sanctioned practice of killing prisoners of conscience for organ transplant surgery, citing two recent findings.

In June 2019, a nongovernmental independent peoples tribunal in London found direct and indirect evidence of forced organ harvesting in China, citing extraordinarily short waiting times and massive infrastructure development of facilities and medical personnel for organ transplant operations.

The panel, known as the China Tribunal, concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting had taken place for years in China on a significant scale, and is still taking place today.

Additionally, panelists found that adherents of Falun Gong have been the main source of organs.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual practice with meditative exercises and moral teachings. Since July 1999, the Chinese regime has initiated a nationwide persecution, throwing hundreds of thousands of adherents into prisons, labor camps, and brainwashing centers, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.

The tribunal released its full judgment on March 1, including new evidence about Chinese officials direct involvement in forced organ harvesting.

The State Department also questioned Chinas claim in 2015 of having stopped sourcing organs from executed prisoners for use in transplants, citing a 2019 study by the Australian National University and published in the scientific journal BMC Medical Ethics. Beijing claims that since 2015, it has relied on a voluntary donation system for organ transplants.

The study found that there was highly compelling evidence that Chinese official statistics on organ donations were falsified, including data that corresponded to a mathematical equation. The study pointed out that Chinas donation system likely involved nonvoluntary donors, possibly prisoners, that are misclassified as voluntary donations.

Lawyers

Lawyers in China are also being targeted by the Chinese regime for taking on sensitive cases, such as defending pro-democracy dissidents, house-church activists, Falun Gong practitioners, or government critics, the report stated. Such lawyers were punished by authorities, including with revocation of their licenses or imprisonment.

For example, Liu Zhengqing, a lawyer based in southern Chinas Guangdong province, is known for defending rights activists and adherents of Falun Gong. In January this year, Liu had his license revoked after he was charged by local prosecutors with jeopardizing national security.

According to a December 2019 report by Radio Free Asia (RFA), Lius charges were related to his representation of two clients: Zhang Haitao, an electronics salesman who was given a 19-year prison sentence in 2016 for online criticism of Chinese authorities for their treatment of Uyghurs; and Li Yanming, a Falun Gong adherent living in Guangdongs Foshan city.

Lawyers are required to be members of the CCP-controlled All China Lawyers Association, and the Ministry of Justice requires all lawyers to pledge their loyalty to the leadership of the CCP upon issuance or annual renewal of their license to practice law, the report explained. The regulation was issued in July 2018, a move that drew concerns about the further erosion of rule of law in China.

Another Chinese lawyer, Qin Yongpei, who worked on cases involving Falun Gong adherents and lawyers arrested in connection to a nationwide crackdown in July 2015, was disbarred in May 2018. The crackdown, whereby hundreds of lawyers were rounded up across China, is commonly known as the 709 incident.

He was then detained by secret police in southern Chinas Guangxi region in October last year, on charges of inciting subversion of state power, according to the State Department report. He was formally arrested in December.

On March 11, RFA reported that Qings wife, Deng Xiaoyun, was denied access to her husbands court file by the prosecutors office in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi. The court denied her request on the grounds that the file involved national secrets.

Continued Persecution

The report identified many political prisoners that are still detained in China as of the end of last year, including two Falun Gong adherents, Bian Lichao and Ma Zhenyu.

Bian, a former middle school teacher in Tangshan city in northern Chinas Hebei province, was sentenced to a 12-year prison term in 2012, according to Minghui.org, a website that monitors the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

In March 2014, Bians wife and daughter were kidnapped by local police in Hebei. They were then tried in court in December the same year. In April 2015, the daughter was sentenced to 3.5 years and the wife 4 years, on charges of promoting Falun Gong on the internet.

Ma Zhenyu was formerly a radar engineer working for the 14th research institute of the state-run China Electronics Technology Group Corporation.

In July 2019, Mas wife, Zhang Yuhua, who has escaped to the United States, said that her husband was serving a 3-year prison term.

Appearing at the aforementioned 2019 religious freedom conference hosted by the State Department in Washington, Zhang expressed worries that he may be killed for his organs while imprisoned.

According to Zhang, Ma was sentenced in 2017 for sending six letters to the Chinese regimes top leaders urging them to end the persecution of Falun Gong.

From The Epoch Times
One more person was confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus in Pune on Friday, taking the number of Covid-19 cases in the city to 10 and that in Maharashtra to 17.

The person who tested positive for the virus in Pune on Friday had travel history to the United States, said divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar.

Earlier in the morning, two more persons tested positive for the disease in Nagpur.

Two days after a 45-year-old man was found to be infected with coronavirus in Nagpur, his wife and friend also tested positive, Divisional Commissioner Sanjiv Kumar had said.

"The man had returned from the US last week along with his wife and the friend," he had informed.

There are now ten confirmed coronavirus patients in Pune, three each in Mumbai and Nagpur, and one in Thane.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Monday, Le Monde, the French daily newspaper, published an open letter signed by over one hundred female lawyers, headlined, A disturbing presumption of guilt is present too often for sexual crimes.

The letter, which defends Franco-Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski and the presumption of innocence for all those accused of crimes, constitutes a powerful rebuke to the campaign launched by right-wing feminists and the Emmanuel Macron government against the celebrated filmmaker. More generally, it is an exposure of the reactionary trajectory of the #MeToo campaign launched in October 2017.

Roman Polanski in 2017

The ten individuals listed as the letters authors are prominent defense attorneys based in Paris: Frederique Baulieu, who defended Dominique Strauss-Kahn; Delphine Boesel, the president of the International Observatory of Prisons in France, which works to reduce prison sentences; Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard; Francoise Cotta, a renowned criminal defense lawyer; Marie Dose, who represented the families of French citizens in Syria; Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt; Emmanuelle Kneuse; Jacqueline Laffont; Delphine Meillet and Clarisse Serre.

Polanski has been vilified by the French government and the #MeToo campaign in the run-up to and aftermath of the Cesar awards, where he won the best director prize for Jaccuse (An Officer and A Spy in English), which deals with the Dreyfus affair. The Macron government and numerous commentators in the French media and internationally denounced the awarding of the prize to Polanski.

In their letter this week, the French lawyers state: The polemical vehemence that has followed the 45th Cesar award ceremony obliges us, we who are women, lawyers and specialists in criminal law viscerally attached to the principles which underlay our rights, to begin from the presumption of innocence and the statute of limitations; [we are] lawyers who are confronted every day with the pain of victims, but also, and no less, with the violence of an accusation.

The letter goes on to point out that an accusation is never proof of anything: otherwise it would suffice to assert its truth in order to prove and condemn. It is not a question of believing or not believing a plaintiff, but of preventing oneself from assigning any probative force to accusation alone: believing, in good faith, every woman who claims to be a victim of sexual violence would end up arbitrarily making sacred her statementsand not at all liberating her.

Polanski, the signatories note, has been the subject of multiple public accusations, including one sole criminal complaint which did not give rise to any charges being filed: He is therefore not guilty of what he is being reproached for, after the case involving Samantha Geimer. In 1977, Polanski pled guilty in the United States to unlawful sexual acts with Geimer (then Gailey), when she was 13. As for her, the only legally recognized victim, she has appealed countless times for an end to the exploitation of her story.

In an interview with the French-language Slate on February 28, opposing the calumny of Polanski, Geimer stated that A victim has the right to leave the past behind her, and an aggressor also has the right to rehabilitate and redeem himself, above all when he has admitted his mistakes and apologized.

Frederique Baulieu

The lawyers letter continues: The ceremony in honor of the great cinema family [i.e., the Cesars], where Roman Polanski in the end was humiliated more than awarded, will therefore contribute a little more to hurting this woman who, in vain for over 40 years, has attempted to turn the page on a history that, in fact, is no longer hers.

Since 2010, another 12 accusations of sexual assault have been made against Polanski, six of them anonymously. All of them relate to events that occurred more than 44 years ago, and are far beyond the statute of limitationsand therefore could not be examined or challenged by Polanski in a court of law. All but one of the accusers announced that she did not wish to file criminal charges. Nonetheless, the #MeToo campaign has declared that Polanski is guilty and accepted all the accusations as though they were fact, treating the presumption of innocence and statute of limitations as inconvenient barriers to a conviction.

Responding to this campaign, the lawyers write: It is urgent to stop considering the statute of limitations and the presumption of innocence as instruments of impunity: In reality, they constitute the only effective defense against arbitrary power, of which anyone can, in these deleterious times, become a victim at any moment. There is no claim more dangerous than that every memory is virtuous and every act of forgetting reprehensible.

Delphine Boesel

The lawyers add that it is false to claim that the judicial system today displays a systemic violence toward women, or that it does not take their word sufficiently into account. We note, on the contrary  that a worrying and powerful presumption of guilt is present too often in the case of sexual infractions. Thus is it becoming more and more difficult to respect the principlehowever fundamentalaccording to which the benefit of the doubt must reside stubbornly with the accused.

Tweet after tweet, hashtag after hashtag, what we sense emerging would alarm any genuine democrat, and worries us even more that we already see wrongdoing: The triumph of the court of public opinion. In a click and with a hail of unwholesome accusations, certain women no longer hesitate to proclaim themselves victims and thereby designate the accused as a criminal. From then on, if the court finds the accused innocent, he is doubly guilty of having committed the crime and escaping justice 

As criminal lawyers, we will always fight against every form of arbitrary accusation that, almost automatically, leads toward generalized lynching.

The day after the lawyers letter was published, Le Monde published a reactionary reply, in the form of another open letter, signed by 18 female supporters of #MeToo, including several lawyers and medical professionals, and representatives of female advocacy and feminist political organizations.

We say it very calmly, they write, These lawyers are mistaken. They believe the judicial world is a protectedby what miracle, they do not explainfrom all the ideas, inequality and violence throughout society  The justice system, like the healthcare system, the police and the professional world, is not neutral. Like all institutions, it is torn by the mechanisms of domination that exist in society.

This is intended to sound very left, and is consciously designed to resonate vaguely with powerful and ingrained democratic sentiments in the working class, who correctly know that the courts, the police, the workplace, the two-tier healthcare system, are all rigged in favor of the rich and powerful, and are used to exploit and oppress the vast mass of the population. Their argument, however, is the opposite of what has always been associated with every left-wing and socialist movement, resistance to the strengthening of the capitalist state and its institutions. In fact, the authors call for an unbridled expansion of state power.

Our reality is that of a judicial order that today displays a violence toward female victims of violence and does not sufficiently take their word into account, they write. Our reality is that of a permanent presumption of lying that weighs on female victims of violence. Barely having opened ones mouth to speak, one sees this in the look of those men and women who greet us. The look that says: Hmm, are you sure?, But how did that happen?, But you mean it was rape?. This look freezes us. This look silences us.

This sums up of the hostility of #MeToo to democratic rights. The presumption of innocencewhat they term presumption of lyingmeans that every criminal charge is assumed to be false, unless it is proven beyond reasonable doubt, through a trial with the accused having all the rights to due process, includingyesto deny the charges, and to face his or her accusers and challenge the charges against him or her.

That the authors take offense at even cursory questioning of rape and sexual assault allegations simply means they reject the presumption of innocence and due process. Their version of due process would involve an accusation, following which the accused would be denounced by an inquisitor-in-chief, pronounced guilty and frog-marched to jail.

The upper-middle class social layers who are leading the #MeToo hysteria and anti-Polanski campaign in France are completely indifferent to these life-and-death democratic questions. This also includes the pseudo-left New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA), which has eagerly embraced the campaign against Polanski. These movements are aligned with the Macron administrationas it attacks the working class and immigrants, and slashes social spending to funnel money to the richand the most reactionary political forces who remain hostile to the outcome of the Dreyfus affair and therefore Polanskis film.

If the Macron administration announced tomorrow it was ending the requirement for a trial in the case of sexual assault cases, endowing the government with vast powers it would then use to imprison workers and its political opponents, the #MeToo witch-hunters and their pseudo-left supporters would shout: Hurrah!

There is nothing remotely progressive about any of this.

The author also recommends:

Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison: Obscene culmination to a travesty of a trial

[12 March 2020]

New York Times posts anti-Semitic caricature of Harvey Weinstein

[26 February 2020]

The New York Times attempts to discredit defense as Harvey Weinstein trial begins

[23 January 2020]

The lawless frontier of the #MeToo campaign

[7 March 2018]
Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Rwanda's national carrier, RwandAir, has suspended all flights to Mumbai, India, after the Indian authorities announced new measures to close the border and all consular services for about a month over coronavirus concerns, Rwanda public television reported on Friday
The Government is advising Irish citizens to 'exercise a high degree of caution' before deciding to travel to other EU states amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Tanaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney issued the advice tonight.

NB TRAVEL ADVICE: In light of rapidly changing conditions & restrictions across a number of EU countries, my Dept is now advising people to exercise a high degree of caution before deciding to travel to other EU States. We will continue to update advice. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/5ai8U4SGiH  Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) March 13, 2020

In a tweet, Mr Coveney said:

"In light of rapidly changing conditions & restrictions across a number of EU countries, my Dept is now advising people to exercise a high degree of caution before deciding to travel to other EU States. We will continue to update advice. "

Its understood the same warning was not applied to the UK because of the Common Travel Area which allows free movement with Ireland.

Such a warning could also impact on people who have shared citizenship.

Mr Coveney's advice comes as 20 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the Republic of Ireland this evening.

Meanwhile a number of EU countries have introduced stringent measures at their borders in order to stem the spread.

Poland will close its borders to foreigners and any resident returning to the country will be quarantined.

Denmark and Cyprus has also shut its borders, with restrictions in place for flights in and out of the Czech Republic also.

In Austria border checks with Switzerland and Liechtenstein will be introduced along with a ban on flight connections with France, Spain and Switzerland to slow the spread of coronavirus, the government said on Friday.

In the USA, President Donald Trump declared a national state of emergency this evening.
As colleges throughout Massachusetts prepare to continue their educational programs remotely in response to the new coronavirus, Simon Halliday acknowledges challenges for both students and professors.

For educators, the skills necessary for effective, face-to-face classroom instruction do not always translate smoothly to online delivery. For students, he says, the adjustment is at least as much emotional as technical.

"To these students, especially seniors, its like someone ripped out the final chapter of a book before the book ended,'' said Halliday, an assistant economics professor at Smith College  one of the first institutions in Massachusetts to tell students not to return from spring break.

They will complete their spring semester with online or other distance learning techniques. Smiths response to the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, was soon mirrored by other colleges and universities across the state.

For many, online education will be the path for at least a couple of weeks. Others have declared the entire semester online-only. Still more have kept the remote learning end date open-ended.

A small handful hold out hope to continue classroom learning after spring break, but have extended the break anyway, to prepare to remote learning if necessary.

"The seniors are more worried they will lose the chance to spend their final semester with their friends and at a place they love. But they do appreciate that faculty is willing to meet them where they are, and find other ways to continue their education,'' Halliday said.

The bond between college students and their professors has always been a hallmark of higher education. To some, it explains why online classes, for all their usefulness, cannot replace traditional classroom teaching.

Halliday is one of those people, but he hopes the shared experience of confronting a difficult situation  and overcoming the obstacles as best as possible  forms a different type of bond. What almost no one questions is that remote learning is a better alternative than closing schools altogether, and thereby delaying the education and graduation for young adults who want to move on to new phases of their lives.

Different courses will require unique adjustments, Halliday said. "Every discipline has specific challenges,'' he said.

In science or other courses where laboratory work is included, the hands-on element will be replaced by different means. For instance, professors might purposely make mistakes when showing students an experiment online, and then have the students identify and correct those errors.

That type of learning, though, often requires extensive preparation and sophisticated, often expensive technical tools, in addition to savvy technical knowledge that not all professors possess.

Hallidays own economics curriculum will involve different adjustments. Under normal conditions, he allows students to choose a research topic and upload journals that relate to it.

In the online scenario, he expects to pick topics for students, thus taking away their choice  a step he calls quite valuable  but creating a more expedient and practical path to a reachable learning goal.

Colleges including Smith are bringing in technical experts, helping the less technologically advanced faculty members get up to speed. Halliday said what cant be reproduced is a change in a students facial expression, or interaction with other students or the professor during class, that allows the teacher to react on the spot and respond to questions or confusion.

"We have to re-envision what class looks like and what is achievable,'' he said.

Reliance on remote or online education represents a dramatic new chapter of an educational debate thats gone on for the past generation. As online-only schools claim positive results for students, administrators and faculty of traditional institutions have found themselves defending the value of brick-and-mortar college, even as soaring costs have plunged the nation into a broader cost-versus-value national debate about higher education.

It raises fair questions: if a technique delivered by necessity proves at least adequate, will a greater debate begin about whether traditional classroom methods are obsolete and more readily replaceable? Will families strapped by college cost ask whether paying for structure and on-site faculty is no longer a value choice?

For that matter, will they be satisfied if the investments theyve already made be re-evaluated after a full semester of online courses? Students at many colleges are seeking reimbursement for meal plans, dorm fees and travel costs affected by the evacuation of campuses. Its too early to tell if a significant number of families will inquire about rebates because the educational product promised in one form was temporarily delivered through another.

Institutions will no doubt ask or expect them to understand the crisis-driven (and presumably temporary) nature of online-only education. They will focus on the emphasis on health and safety. And many families will agree with college administrators that remote learning is not so much a reduction of educational quality as a welcome if challenging alternative to closing schools altogether  which would have been the only health-conscious option, not that many years ago.

Halliday does not consider the next semester a watershed moment for the growth of online learning, nor as a litmus test of remote education in relation to traditional means.

"Do I see this as a (long-term) replacement or substitute? No,'' he said. "We are doing this spontaneously. It is an effort to get us as close as possible to reaching the goals and values of our programs for the next six to eight weeks.

We all have to look at what our courses will look like, and ask how we can achieve that with the available technical tools.

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It's Friday the 13th. For all our sakes, let's hope it's a lucky one.

Here's what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.

(You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

1. Coronavirus

Life in some parts of the US has come to an utter standstill so the country can reduce the impact of the coronavirus. Disney World and Disneyland are closed. The March Madness tournament that was going to be played without fans? It's canceled now. Major League Baseball has wiped out the rest of spring training and postponed its season. Some cities have banned large gatherings. Millions of students are out of school. Adding to these major disruptions, continued issues with the availability of coronavirus test kits have left medical professionals and patients confused and concerned. As the virus continues to spread, a slow trickle of public figures are announcing their diagnoses or close contact with the disease. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife has tested positive, and Sen. Lindsey Graham is the latest US legislator to self-quarantine after exposure to it. Do you have a question or a story about the outbreak? Share it with us here.

2. Iraq

The US carried out airstrikes against multiple Iranian-backed militia sites in Iraq a day after an attack on a coalition base killed two American service members and one British service member. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper officially blamed that attack on Iranian-backed forces, and yesterday's airstrikes were intended to be a direct, defensive response. The strikes were carried out by manned aircraft and targeted five weapons storage facilities, which US forces hope will harm the ability of Kata'ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-sponsored Shia militia group, to conduct future strikes against American troops.

3. Election meddling

Russian trolls are back and ready to meddle in this year's presidential election, but this time they're coming from an unexpected source. A CNN investigation has revealed that part of the meddling campaign has been outsourced to the West African nations of Ghana and Nigeria. The trolls are focusing almost exclusively on racial issues in the US, with the aim of deepening divisions and provoking social unrest. Facebook has removed dozens of pages, accounts and Instagram accounts (remember, Facebook owns Instagram) in response to the revelations. Some Instagram accounts had hundreds of thousands of followers.

4. Homelessness

The LA Alliance for Human Rights, a coalition of housed and homeless people, has filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles to require the city to provide beds and shelter for thousands more people, plus provide services like training and health care more quickly. The lawsuit alleges Los Angeles is too slow in its response to the growing homelessness crisis. About 60,000 people were considered homeless in Los Angeles in 2019. Job loss and high costs of living are just two factors that have deepened the crisis. Unhoused people are subjected to harassment and displacement, and homeless encampments across the state are a source of major controversy and contention.

5. USWNT

The president of the US Soccer Federation has stepped down after the organization released a controversial legal filing claiming it wouldn't pay women equally because being a male player requires more "skill." The filing came in the ongoing gender discrimination suit filed by the US Women's National Team, which is demanding equal pay. Carlos Cordeiro said in his resignation announcement that he regretted the wording of the document and called it "unacceptable and inexcusable." US captain Megan Rapinoe tore into US Soccer management over the filing and had this message for some young fans: "You are not lesser just because you're a girl."

BREAKFAST BROWSE

Here are 20 other things to do since March Madness is canceled

Trash-can basketball, anyone?

Gloria Gaynor demonstrated proper hand-washing technique while singing her hit, 'I Will Survive'

A national hero.

Adidas and Beyonce will release more Ivy Park gear this year

Is there such a thing as gymwear that's too fabulous for the gym?

Most Neiman Marcus Last Call stores are closing

You don't have to shop at home, but you can't stay here.

A man found a stack of portraits in a closed down studio. Now he's searching for the owners

We know a good screenplay idea when we see one!

TOTAL RECALL

Quiz time!

Modell's Sporting Goods has announced it is filing for bankruptcy and closing all stores. What was the retail chain's famous tagline?

A. Mo' Saving, Mo' Winning

B. Mo's Has It

C. Mo Knows Sports

D. Gotta Go To Mo's

Play "Total Recall," CNN's weekly news quiz, to see if you're right.

TODAY'S NUMBER

372

That's how many days a year lasted on Earth when dinosaurs roamed the land. Earth actually spun a lot faster because of a slightly different gravitational relationship with the moon, so days were shorter, and there were more of them in a year.

TODAY'S QUOTE

"The world has made important progress on gender equality thanks to the unceasing drive of committed champions everywhere. But I am seriously concerned that online harms facing women and girls -- especially those of colour, from LGBTQ+ communities and other marginalised groups -- threaten that progress."

Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, in an open letter commemorating the 31st anniversary of the technology

TODAY'S WEATHER

AND FINALLY

Octopi aren't just smart, they're ... a little vengeful

Watch what happens when someone messes with Arnold the Octopus' favorite barrel. (Click here to view.)
A recommendation to deny Rochester Public Schools request to annex 80 acres into southwest Rochester came without comment from school officials Wednesday.

"I honestly cant make an informed decision without hearing from the school," Rochester Planning and Zoning Commission member Ian Lochridge said. "I just feel Im not getting a complete story."

While Lochridge opted against voting on the request, four commissioners supported recommending denial even as a couple cited a desire to hear from school officials.

"I definitely feel we are hearing one side of the story, which is all factual -- obviously the facts are in front of us -- but I feel like there are certain parts that are missing and could have been filled if the school was here making their case," commission member Asif Hossain said before joining others in the 4-1 vote to recommend denial of the request.

The school district wants the city to annex 80 acres into southwest Rochester to make way for a new middle school, which is proposed as part of the construction funded by the recent voter-approved $180.9 million referendum.

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The district has a $2.9 million purchase agreement for 150 acres of land on property commonly known as Hart Farms, along 40th Street Southwest, west of 18th Avenue.

Wednesdays commission decision followed a report by city staff, but didnt require a public hearing. The lack of a public hearing meant school district representatives, as applicants for the annexation, were not allowed to participate.

The district will have its chance to state its case for annexation when the Rochester City Council holds a public hearing on April 6, and John Carlson, the districts executive director of finance, said school officials plan to speak at that meeting.

Carlson said the district disagrees with issues raised Wednesday, among them is whether the annexation meets city plans for future growth.

The requested 80 acres sits in an area identified for potential development in the next 20 years, but Rochester Community Development Director Cindy Steinhauser said its outside established sewer service.

"It would take it out of sequence of other investment the city has made in areas intended to be developed sooner," she said of the cost to extend the sewer utilities to the property.

The area also sits on a location cited in the recently adopted Sanitary Sewer Master Plan as the most expensive for expansion.

Matt Crawford, the citys Public Works project development manager, said serving the proposed school site would cost approximately $3 million, but another $30 million in improvements could be required to ensure the system addition doesnt cause problems for neighbors.

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To pay for the added sewer infrastructure, the city would likely seek to open other land in the area for development.

"The school district would force our hand," he said.

Carlson said Thursday the district and its consultants have offered options, which would allow the city to avoid significant sewer expansion.

He said the middle school could tie into existing residential sewer service east of the property without adding a new trunk line.

Crawford said the option was discussed, but concerns remain about capacity on the existing line and whether it would limit growth in areas already within city boundaries.

It wasn't our favorite connection point," he said.

Carlson said the district indicated a willingness to make adjustments to use, if required.

"The district has offered other options to reduce impact, including providing onsite storage and release during off-peak hours at night," he added.

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Planning and Zoning Commission member Tyler Despins cast the sole vote against the recommendation to deny the annexation request, stating the property appears to meet school district needs.

"Thats what the school district is there for -- to tell us where they need schools," he said.

Steinhauser said city staff believes other locations would be a better fit for the overall community.

"Were continuing to have conversations on other options for the school district," she said.

Among options is a proposed donation of up to 40 acres from Mark Kramer, an Iowa-based developer who has tackled various Rochester projects. Kramer owns approximately 500 acres north of Valleyhigh Drive Northwest, between 50th and 60th avenues.

Planning and Zoning Commission member Krystal Gillespie said such options show the district has better alternatives than the proposed southwest annexation.

"At this point, theres other proposed areas where the cost is less," she said.

Carlson said many options discussed with the city fail to meet the districts needs based on being land-locked by U.S. 63 or being located in a flood plain. Other sites are not for sale or are not in residential areas.

Additionally, he said many of sites proposed by the city, including the Kramer property, are in the northwest, which would be locations contrary to the districts Facilities Task Force recommendation.

Southwest school site fails to get commission backing

Would a southwest middle school require added fire crews?

RPS still eyeing SW land for new school

School district encouraged to look at alternatives to annexation

Munoz maintains proposed donation not right for middle school
A sixth grade lesson plan to teach Comal ISD students the value of water resulted in the kids raising enough money to fund a water well in Rwanda  and theyre going for a second.

Students at Pieper Ranch Middle School raised $8,500 in one week in late February for a water well to be drilled for a school in Rwanda. They were inspired to help by a book about students there who walked more than four hours each day carrying containers of water, according to a news release from the school district.

The money they raised covers the cost of one $5,000 well with WHOLives, a nonprofit organization the class partnered with. Now, the students are extending their fundraising efforts to come up with an additional $1,500 to supply a second well.

The students are the ones who pulled it off. Weve never done a project like this before and they came through and they did it, said sixth grade social studies teacher Tiffany Covington.

Teachers at Pieper Ranch collaborated to create project-based learning for their students, developing lesson plans that focused on water as it related through each of their core subject classes: social studies, math, science and English. In social studies, students read A Long Walk to Water, a true story about children in Sudan who made the two-hour trek twice a day to carry water home to their families in the 1980s.

In math class, the students used math formulas and the running track to calculate how long it would take to carry two one-gallon containers of water the same distance the children in the book traveled. The students logged their water usage in science class and learned about water conservation and contamination. In English, the students wrote persuasive letters seeking donations for the wells.

Through the book, I realized how fortunate we are to live where we live, student Kenedi Thornock said.

The kids are already generating ideas for another class project to help less fortunate people, Covington said.

Donations can be made online at www.wholives.org/donate/. A section on the website lets givers enter the name of the school theyre helping raise funds.

Krista Torralva covers several school districts and public universities in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | Krista.Torralva@express-news.net | Twitter: @KMTorralva
With two more persons from Thrissur and Kannur district in Kerala tested positive for COVID 19, the number of total positive cases in the state has climbed up to 17.

These two new coronavirus-infected persons have recently returned from the Middle East.

On Thursday, Vijayan said that two more persons from Thrissur and Kannur district were tested positive for COVID 19.

Meanwhile, Health Minister KK Shailaja, in a press conference, said that samples of one more person have been tested positive for coronavirus in Thiruvananthapuram. However, the sample of the said person has been sent to the Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune for confirmation.

"One more case tested COVID 19 positive in a lab test conducted in Thiruvananthapuram. We have sent it to the Institute of Virology, Pune for confirmation. The patient is currently admitted to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College," she said.

Thiruvananthapuram district collector K Gopalakrishnan on Friday said that contact tracing has started after samples of a person, who is admitted in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, were tested positive for coronavirus.

"We have sent the samples to NIV, Pune for confirmation. The person has travel history from Italy. He also travelled to Germany. He took Doha - Thiruvananthapuram flight. There were 92 passengers on board, of this 31 passengers are high risk and we have home quarantined them," he said

District Collector said that the person wore a mask and acted responsibly throughout his journey.

As per the Chief Minister, all efforts are in place to tackle coronavirus scare. He urged people to maintain high hygiene standards.

Emphasising on the need to follow guidelines issued by Health authorities, he said strict action would be taken against those who try to take the law into their hands.

"In Alappuzha, there was an instance of some local people trying to forcefully evict tourists staying in a resort. Strong action will be taken against such people, who try to disturb tourists who are visiting the state as guests. Not only foreigners, but Indians have also contracted the disease. At times like this, we expect responsible behaviour," said Kerala Chief Minister.

He said senior citizens and those suffering from other ailments should take extra precautions. "It also has come to the notice of the government that many people (Non-Resident Indians) who have returned from other countries to Kerala are unable to go back and join duty due to travel restriction imposed by respective countries. The government will request other embassies to find a solution to it and also will notify the Centre regarding this."

He said that Keralites are stranded in foreign countries after the Centre has demanded COVID 19 negative certificate from people who want to return to India. "I have taken this issue with Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister to relax these restrictions so that stranded Indians can return back to the country," he said.

As there is a surge in a number of calls regarding Coronavirus on given helpline numbers, the government has decided to add two more numbers at COVID 19 call centre.

The Kerala Chief Minister also launched an app for spreading awareness on Coronavirus outbreak. The Kerala government has partnered with Kerala Startup Mission to develop the app.

"The aim of the app is to give out the correct information and it can be downloaded from the play store. This has been launched as there were various rumours regarding coronavirus. The government wants to give correct information to the people, ' he added.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

Coronavirus, which originated in the Wuhan city of China, has so far spread to more than 100 countries infecting over 1,20,000 people. India has confirmed 75 cases of lethal infection.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The first MP to catch coronavirus has revealed her 84-year-old mother has also tested positive for the infection.

Nadine Dorries, a Tory health minister who is self-isolating, reassured that her octogenarian parent, who is living with her, was 'made of strong stuff' and 'doing ok'.

She tweeted this evening: 'We have had my 84-year-old mum's results through. She tested positive.

'She's a pre war baby, doing ok. Made of strong stuff. #Coronavirus.'

Elderly people are particularly vulnerable to the virus, which has so far infected 798 and killed 11 in the UK.

When news broke of Ms Dorries's coronavirus on Tuesday, the Mid Bedfordshire MP made clear her 'worry' for her elderly mother who had developed a cough.

Nadine Dorries, a Tory health minister who is self-isolating, reassured that her elderly parent is 'doing ok'

She tweeted this evening: 'We have had my 84yo Mum's results through. She tested positive. 'She's a pre war baby, doing ok. Made of strong stuff. #Coronavirus'

When news broke of Ms Dorries's coronavirus on Tuesday, the Mid Bedfordshire MP made clear her 'worry' for her octogenarian mother (pictured) who had started coughing

The 62-year-old minister's diagnosis fanned fear that the UK's outbreak had contaminated the heart of government after she attended a Downing Street reception prior to showing symptoms.

Fellow health minister Edward Argar and Labour MP Rachel Maskell are also in self-quarantine after coming into contact with the Mid Bedfordshire MP.

Despite thanking well-wishers for their support, Ms Dorries was today embroiled in a bizarre spat with the wife of a Tory colleague after being accused of endangering their young son.

Nevena Bridgen, whose MP husband Andrew is also self-isolating after coming into contact with Ms Dorries in the Commons last week, blasted her on Twitter for not revealing her diagnosis soon enough.

The 62-year-old minister's (middle) diagnosis fanned fear that the UK's outbreak had contaminated the heart of government after she attended a Downing Street reception prior to showing symptoms

Nevena Bridgen, whose husband Andrew is self-isolating after coming into contact with Ms Dorries in the Commons last week, launched at attack on her, saying she had left her baby and aged other 'jeopardised'

The Serbia-born musician accused the minister of leaving the couples' young son, Blake, and her aged mother 'jeopardised', even 'liking' a tweet calling for the politician to be arrested.

Mrs Bridgen asked: 'Why did you not tell them that you sit next to my husband Andrew Bridgen on Thursday in a tea room and that he can't get the test now!

'I have the baby and a 75 years old mother jeopardised. You were treated but no one is coming to help us!'

This prompted Ms Dorries to hit back, replying: 'Because, I did not sit next to your husband.

'He was in tea room when I walked in, on another table not close to me.

'He text me and told me he had sat next to me, I was too ill to discuss but not sick enough not to know, that wasn't true. I told him if he was worried, to call 111.'
Louisiana announced Friday that it will postpone its presidential primary, originally scheduled for April 4, for two months over coronavirus, making it the first state to alter its election over the outbreak.

The decision was made jointly by Republican secretary of state Kyle Ardoin and Democratic governor John Bel Edwards, who said they would use a provision of state law that allows them to move any election in an emergency.

This decision has been made out of an absolute abundance of caution for Louisianas voters, voting officials and the general public as a whole, Ardoin said. The new date for the primary is set for June 20.

Our poll workers are by large elderly, over the age of 70 and we think it is unsafe for them to be monitoring the election. We dont think we would have enough poll workers . . . and we think we should be discouraging people from congregating in that way, Christina Stephens, an Edwards spokeswoman, added.

The alteration runs afoul of the Democratic National Committees current rules, which require that states hold their nominating contests by June or face delegate penalties. But a DNC spokesperson told Politico that the Committee will work with every state party as they adjust their delegate selection plans around coronavirus.

Other states have been resistant to changing their elections, with Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio all set to host primaries on Tuesday.

I want to make clear the election will proceed forward on Tuesday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said on Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control recently issued protocols for election officials, encouraging mail-in voting and early voting to help minimize direct contact with other people and reduce crowd size at polling stations.

More from National Review
A dozen countries, including India and the US, on Friday asked publishers to make all coronavirus-related research and data immediately available to the public to contain and mitigate the rapidly evolving pandemic.

The virus, which first surfaced in China in December, has now killed more than 5,000 people globally.

"To assist efforts to contain and mitigate the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, basic science research and innovation will be vital to addressing this global crisis. Given the urgency of the situation, it is particularly important that scientists and the public can access research outcomes as soon as possible, science officials from these countries said in an open letter to the Members of the Scholarly Publishing Community.

A copy of the joint open letter was issued by the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Member of President Donald Trump's Coronavirus Task Force, Dr Kelvin Droegemeier on behalf of the government science leaders including science ministers and chief science advisors from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

"We, as national leaders on science policy, applaud the efforts of researchers to understand and prevent the infection and spread of COVID-19. We also greatly appreciate the funders and publishers who play the important role of supporting, reviewing, and communicating research outcomes and making publications and data available to the global community for scientific research and public awareness, they wrote in the call-to-action.

These leaders requested that existing and new articles be made available in machine-readable format to allow full text and data mining with rights accorded for research re-use and secondary analysis. This will allow researchers to apply artificial intelligence to answer critical questions and identify trends and relevant information in their efforts to characterize this novel virus and address the global health crisis, they said.

They said that this information should be in both human and machine-readable format to allow for full text and data mining using artificial intelligence with rights accorded for research re-use and secondary analysis.

We further respectfully request this arrangement apply to articles published to date as well as future articles for the duration of this crisis, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LOS ANGELESBad Girl Mafia, the studio devoted to original transgender content founded by TS performer Kimber Haven, and prominent distributor Joy Media Group have announced that the companies have entered an exclusive distribution deal. Joy Media Group has already started offering DVDs, VOD, and licensing rights for broadcast from the Bad Girl Mafia titles to retailers.

Bad Girl Mafias rise in our industry as a studio has been most impressive, assessed Joy Media Group's VP of Sales David Peskin. CEO Kimber Haven and her team have managed to deliver high quality TS femdom and niche content, and it has become a proven winner for retailers on every platform. Were very excited about this opportunity, and look forward to our continued growth together in building the Bad Girl Mafia brand.

Effective immediately, Joy Media Group will release one new DVD title per month. The big budget science-fiction release T-Girl Space Pirates, which was released last August, is scheduled to ship from Joy Media on March 25. The studios previous releases; Shemale Scares, Tgirl Bitches In Charge, and Wendy Williams' School's In Session have now officially been restocked and are shipping now under Joy Media Group to fill all retailer re-orders.

"We're very excited with this new distribution deal. Joy Media Group seems like an obvious choice to grow our brand. It's good for our company, the retailers, and of course, the customers. I anticipate big things coming out of this deal for everyone involved and I'm thankful for those who have helped bring us to this point," said Bad Girl Mafia CEO Kimber Haven.

I'm honored to once again represent Bad Girl Mafia to the marketplace. We're most excited about the upcoming release and to now be shipping the previous library," added Peskin.

Buyers not currently offering Bad Girl Mafia titles to their customers can view all of the box covers and trailers here.

For more information and sales inquiries, Peskin can be contacted at [email protected] or 818-237-5136 ext. 2305.
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T he government has warned universities to stop bringing in restrictions over coronavirus.

It comes after a series of top institutions cancelled teaching and exams.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told education leaders they shouldnt be closing campuses and urged them to follow medical and scientific advice.

The Prime Minister said school trips abroad should be stopped but that mass closures could do more harm than good, prompting fierce criticism today amid clamours for urgent action to stem the pandemic. Cases surged by 200 to 798 tonight, their biggest daily increase, with deaths at 11.

Gavin Williamson criticised education leaders for closing parts of their operations / REUTERS

But at least eight British universities have defied government advice to move parts of their classroom teaching to online, with some also axing exams and field trips.

At Oxford, where six students have been diagnosed with Covid-19, the university has advised all UK undergraduates to return home as soon as possible after the current term ends, and has cancelled or postponed all Easter exams.

A statement published on Oxfords website says that it is also encouraging the use of technology for meetings, teaching and assessment where possible.

Students at Durham University have been advised they can leave the university a week early and participate in classes remotely for the final week of term.

Boris Johnson stood firmly by the science at a press conference in Downing Street, alongside top medical experts / Getty Images

Glasgow and Sheffield universities have cancelled international field trips and global travel, and urged students to return home from exchange years abroad.

The University of East Anglia, Lancaster, Nottingham and Northumbria have also axed most classroom teaching to give lectures and seminars online for the rest of the academic year. Bristol University, where a student has tested positive, this afternoon brought the Easter break forward a week
The fallout from the coronavirus spread across the Pacific on Friday, with Australian travel firms issuing profit warnings and Japanese carriers cutting capacity, while US airlines rushed to cut flights to Europe in the wake of new travel restrictions.

US travel curbs on much of continental Europe, announced by Donald Trump on Wednesday, deepened the sectors misery that began after the virus emerged in China late last year and reduced traffic.

United Airlines Holdings Inc warned of US travel disruption as the virus spreads domestically, while major tourist attractions like Walt Disney Cos theme parks in California and Florida said they would close.

American Airlines Group Inc (AAG) and United said they would continue normal flights to and from Europe for the next week, but would be reducing capacity to Europe by around 50 per cent in April.

AAG also said it was cutting international capacity by 34 per cent for the summer travel season and accelerating the retirement of its Boeing Co 757 and 767 planes.

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

Delta Air Lines Inc also said it would significantly reduce its US-Europe schedule after Sunday as it continues to watch customer demand.

German airport operator Fraport said on Friday that passenger numbers at its key Frankfurt airport dropped by around 30 per cent in the first week of March due to the coronavirus epidemic.

We have to assume that the strong decline in air traffic volumes will continue during the next few weeks and months, CEO Stefan Schulte said in a statement.

Air France KLM SA said on Friday that it had drawn down on 1.1bn (977m) worth of its revolving credit facility to help its financial position.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata), a global industry group representing airlines, called on governments to consider extending lines of credit, reduce infrastructure costs and cut taxes.

Iata last week estimated that the crisis could wipe out some $113bn (904bn) of industry revenue, in a forecast that did not include the US clampdown on European travel.

There is a heightened concern there will be increased airline bankruptcies in 2020 given the fallout from the coronavirus, Cowen analyst Helane Becker said.

We expect some governments to step in to help some airlines, but ultimately we expect more airlines to fail this year than last year, she said in a note to clients, citing Cirium data that 41 airlines with 324 aircraft went bankrupt last year.

Cash-strapped low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA said on Thursday it would cut 4,000 flights and temporarily lay off up to half of its employees due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Indian government said it would extend the deadline for submission of early bids for ailing state carrier Air India until 30 April, in part due to the virus situation.

Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd, Auckland International Airport Ltd, Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd and Corporate Travel Management Ltd said they would take hits to earnings from reduced travel demand.

Australias No 2 carrier, Virgin Australia, said it would offer discounted fares and cut some flights from Sydney to Los Angeles as demand for trans-Pacific travel fell.

You will see us continue to be very disciplined with capacity as the situation evolves, Virgin Australias chief executive Paul Scurrah told reporters, echoing similar comments made by rival Qantas Airways Ltd earlier in the week.

Virgin and Flight Centre joined a growing list of travel companies, which includes the big US airlines, that are freezing hiring, halting executive bonuses and offering unpaid leave.

Singapore will, from Monday, deny entry or transit to visitors who have been in Italy, France, Spain or Germany in the last 14 days, the health ministry said on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Singapore Changi Airport announced seat capacity for the month of March was down nearly 30 per cent from what was originally scheduled.

Raymond Yap, analyst for financial services firm CGS-CIMB, said the global spread of the virus meant the fall in demand for Singapore Airlines Ltd regional flights was likely to spread to long-haul flights, hurting the take-up rate in the lucrative business and first-class cabins.

Japans ANA Holdings Inc (ANA) and Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL) closed 7.6 per cent and 13 per cent lower respectively.

JAL said it would cut 1,468 domestic flights between 20 March and 28 March stemming from lower demand because sporting and cultural events had been suspended in Japan.

ANA will cut the number of daily flights from Japan to Los Angeles and New York and reduce operations to other cities in North America from Monday, it said. It also said there will be fewer flights to Europe including France, Germany and Belgium.

Reuters
A US judge on Thursday ordered former US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning released from jail, a day after a support group said she tried to kill herself. She had been imprisoned since May 16 last year for refusing to appear before a grand jury targeting anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. Because the grand jury was discharged on Thursday, "the court finds that Ms Manning's appearance before the grand jury is no longer needed, in light of which her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose," US District Judge Anthony Trenga wrote in his decision from Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington. However, the judge ordered Manning, 32, to pay $256,000 in fines levied for her refusal to testify. Under the order detaining her last year, Manning was to be held either until she agreed to testify or for the life of the grand jury, but no longer than 18 months. Manning's leaks years earlier of classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan made her a hero to anti-war and anti-secrecy activists, and her actions helped make WikiLeaks a force in the global anti-secrecy movement. "I object to this grand jury... as an effort to frighten journalists and publishers, who serve a crucial public good," Manning said in a letter to the court last year, according to the Sparrow Project support group. Manning has also said she answered all questions about her involvement with WikiLeaks years ago. The Sparrow Project said on Wednesday that Manning was recovering in a hospital after trying to commit suicide. Manning was ordered to testify last year for an investigation examining actions by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2010. At the time Manning, a transgender woman then known as Bradley Manning, was a military intelligence analyst. She delivered more than 700,000 classified documents into WikiLeaks's hands. The documents exposed cover-ups of possible war crimes and revealed internal US communications about other countries. Sentenced in 2013 to 35 years in prison, she was released in May 2017 after the commutation of her sentence by president Barack Obama.
Amid deepening uncertainty over a spreading virus and growing anxiety about an economic meltdown, that kind of classic presidential campaign ended and something extraordinary has begun: A real-time, life-or-death test of competency and leadership for those seeking the White House this November

Washington: For the past year, the Democratic presidential candidates debated the merits of sweeping liberal ideas, fretted over notions of electability and bias, and rose and fell in the polls as voters struggled to choose a frontrunner. And through it all, President Donald Trump sniped from the sidelines, demonising the party and its 2020 contenders as socialists.

Almost overnight, everything has changed. Amid deepening uncertainty over a spreading virus and growing anxiety about an economic meltdown, that kind of classic presidential campaign ended and something extraordinary has begun: A real-time, life-or-death test of competency and leadership for those seeking the White House this November.

Over 18 hours from Wednesday night through Thursday afternoon, the three major candidates for the presidency, including the incumbent, made quick pivots to shape and guide the countrys new political discourse. It was an attempt to demonstrate how they would lead Americans across a muddled terrain of social disruption and stock market collapse, of worry about testing kits and concern about travel bans and crowd sizes.

Just hours after Trump delivered a wooden address from the Oval Office, former vice-president Joe Biden sought to position himself as a sober steward of the national interest, delivering a speech echoing the language and tone of addresses given by presidents in moments of crisis. Biden also went much further than Trump in proposing a detailed plan and a set of goals on testing, increasing hospital capacity and supporting an accelerated push for a vaccine.

This virus laid bare the severe shortcomings of the current administration, Biden said, standing in front of a backdrop of American flags. Public fears are being compounded by pervasive lack of trust in this president, fueled by adversarial relationships with the truth that he continues to have.

With his sharp criticisms of Trumps shifting statements about the crisis, and the administrations inability to stem the falling stock market, Biden was also taking direct aim at Trumps oft-heard arguments for reelection in November.

The spread of the virus is rapidly becoming a test of Trumps core message: That despite the controversy the president creates, Americans are better off economically than before he took office and should stick with him, rather than siding with Democrats whom Trump portrays as feckless halfwits who botched the Iowa caucuses and much more.

Now it is Trump who risks looking out of his depth to many Americans, not only in protecting their health but also in guarding their 401(k)s.

Two hours after Biden spoke, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont  the other leading candidate for the Democratic nomination  warned that the death toll of Americans from the coronavirus could exceed the number of US soldiers killed during the Second World War.

We have an administration that is largely incompetent and whose incompetence and recklessness have threatened the lives of many, many people in this country, Sanders said.

The setting of the speeches underscored the unusual situation the campaigns now face. Normally at this time candidates would be travelling the country, rallying supporters at town hall meetings, fundraisers and mass rallies. But both Biden and Sanders have curtailed their travel and cancelled big gatherings because of the virus, and on Thursday they found themselves addressing small groups of reporters in sparse hotel ballrooms in their hometowns, Wilmington, Delaware, and Burlington, Vermont.

Political strategists compared the virus to a hurricane, a deeply disruptive event likely to affect broad swaths of the country in unpredictable and devastating ways. The response to those moments can make or break a political career, they say.

You dont blame the elected officials for causing the damage that the hurricane ravages across the state, said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster with experience on presidential and Senate campaigns. You evaluate elected officials on how they handle the situation.

Even as the fate of the countrys health remains uncertain, the dynamics of the primary race are clarifying. After a series of primary wins, Biden now has a delegate lead that would require a nearly impossible turnaround from Sanders to overcome.

That leaves Trump likely to face an opponent whom he spent much of 2019 trying to destroy. Yet, in a moment of crisis, some Democrats argue that the country may turn to a creature of the Washington establishment, seeing Biden as an experienced hand.

A lot of people, not just Democrats, are going to start looking to Biden and sizing him up. Its a real-time test at some level, said Addisu Demissie, who managed the presidential campaign of Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. Even though he doesnt have authority, he can show and not tell what four years of a Biden presidency would feel like.

In particular, Democrats believe the virus will help them hold more moderate, independent suburban voters who dont like the presidents tone but have stayed with him because of the strong economy. The party won control of the House in 2018 largely on the strength of their support among those voters, flipping a number of seats in battleground districts. Exit polling from Tuesdays primaries showed that a majority of voters saw Biden as the candidate they trusted most to handle a major crisis.

For rural voters, who are more likely to vote for Republicans, the economic ramifications could affect their bottom lines, particularly farmers and oil workers who are already hurting from trade policies.

Yet, the fiercely partisan moment in Washington has scrambled the politics of unity that traditionally kick into place during national crises. The partisan divide is so pervasive that it has affected not only peoples feelings about the presidents response, but also their fears about the virus itself.

Roughly six in 10 Republican voters nationwide said they were not particularly concerned that the coronavirus would disrupt their lives, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this week. Democratic voters were twice as likely as Republicans to say they are concerned

While privately concerned about the impact on the presidents reelection prospects, Republicans are largely following Trumps lead in minimizing the worries over the coronavirus and blaming Democrats and the media for focusing on the deaths it has caused.

One thing the press has not covered at all is the people who have really recovered, said Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, an ally of Trumps. Right now all people are hearing about are the deaths. Im sure the deaths are horrific, but the flip side of this is the vast majority of people who get coronavirus do survive.

In recent days, Trump and his administration have taken a more active hand in the public messaging around the response. But senior public health officials have frequently contradicted or corrected statements made by the president; in the late hours of Wednesday evening various administration officials corrected four separate policies that Trump had announced during his nationally televised address.

On Thursday morning, after news broke that the Brazilian president and his aide had both tested positive for the coronavirus days after dining with Trump at his South Florida hotel, Trump said he was not worried. The White House later said he had not been tested for the virus himself.

Lets put it this way, Trump said. Im not concerned.

As the election year progresses into unknown territory, the candidates must now find ways to motivate voters from a distance. A number of Bidens donors and supporters were quietly nervous about the effect that the coronavirus could have on events large and small in coming weeks, saying it had injected a fresh measure of uncertainty into the race.

Scheduled Biden campaign events in Chicago and Miami are being transformed into virtual events ahead of next Tuesdays primaries in Arizona, Illinois, Florida and Ohio. On Thursday, both the Biden and Sanders campaigns instructed staff members to begin working from home.

Trump appears to be stopping all campaign-related events indefinitely, which would remove a major political weapon from his arsenal as he moves into the General Election campaign.

Beyond the rallies, the virus throws into question nearly every mechanism of modern campaigning. Already, officials in Arizona, Ohio and Illinois are scrambling to move polling places out of nursing homes  with early voting already well underway.

On Thursday, the Democratic National Committee announced it would move Sundays presidential debate to Washington from Phoenix to minimise travel. At least nine members of Congress have self-quarantined after exposure to the virus, including several who had interactions with the president. Across the country, political events are being canceled, including some state party conventions where the delegates who vote on the nominee are elected.

Democratic activists are exploring ways to expand their virtual organizing efforts through Facebook and text. Abortion rights activists are planning a virtual call centre on Sunday to support a Democrat challenging an incumbent in the Chicago suburbs. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin on Thursday canceled all in-person voter canvassing before the states 7 April elections.

As a campaign, it is completely against every instinct you have: no fundraising and no big events, said David Pepper, the chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. In the final week of a primary thats the opposite of everything youd want to do.

Yet the questions go well beyond mass events and voting and will only get more challenging the longer the virus continues to disrupt social contact. Whats a baby-kissing politician supposed to do when he cannot kiss a baby? How do you gather staff members in a war room, if they cant be in the same room? Can volunteers go knocking on doors in affected areas? If the campaign moves even more online, can officials protect against a heightened threat of election interference and disinformation?

Its not known how long the coronavirus and its aftereffects will affect the election or be paramount on voters minds.

Theres a long time until the election, said Corry Bliss, who ran the House Republicans super PAC in 2018. Last month, the world was convinced the only thing that would matter in 2020 was impeachment.

Lisa Lerer and Reid J Epstein c.2020 The New York Times Company
ANN ARBOR, MI -- Two tattoo shops are requiring customers to sign a document indicating they have not been sick, around sick people or recently traveled amid fears of the spread of COVID-19.

Lucky Monkey Tattoo at 3024 Packard St. in Ann Arbor and Lovely Monkey Tattoo and Piercing at 9541 Main St. in Whitmore Lake posted signs outside their shops Thursday telling customers not to enter if they are not feeling well, and noting they have the right to refuse service. Both shops posted the announcement online amid concerns over the new coronavirus.

We dont want to put tattoo artists and clients at risk, said Dana Forrester, owner of both shops. I created a coronavirus questionnaire to see if they have any symptoms.

The document asks whether clients have experienced shortness of breath, cough or fever symptoms in the last 14 days, whether theyve been around anyone with various symptoms and if theyve traveled in the last four weeks. If clients show any of these symptoms, they will be turned away and encouraged to reschedule, the shops warn. Deposits will be refunded if necessary.

Typically, we dont refund deposits, but in this case, we will, Forrester said, stressing that clients should answer the questionnaire honestly.

Employees are taking extra precautions by sanitizing the shops counters, door handles, light switches and other surfaces every 30 minutes to reduce the risk of spreading anything, Forrester added.

I know this is a tough time, but Im confident well all get through this, Forrester said. I feel this is an extra burden on small businesses and small business employees."

The shop is running the screening until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determine the public health risk is low, Forrester added.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday declared a state of emergency after two coronavirus cases were confrimed in Michigan.

For the latest COVID-19 health information, visit Washtenaw.org/COVID19 and the Centers for Disease Control website.

8 things to know about coronavirus now that its in Michigan

Health screening clients are required to fill out and sign a waiver at Lucky Monkey Tattoo in Ann Arbor and Lovely Monkey Tattoo and Piercing in Whitmore Lake.Dana Forrester

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Thursday, March 12: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan
By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) - After weeks of playing down the threat posed by the coronavirus, U.S. President Donald Trump conceded on Thursday that his re-election campaign rallies would have to be suspended, and he stopped shaking hands with foreign dignitaries.

Welcoming Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to the White House, Trump avoided the customary handshake. The two men bowed to each other instead. And the traditional handover of a bowl of shamrocks to celebrate the upcoming St. Patrick's Day was canceled out of an abundance of caution, the White House said.

At another meeting with foreign officials last week, Trump dined with Brazil's communications secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, who Brazilian officials say has now been tested positive for coronavirus. Trump told reporters on Thursday he was not concerned.

The U.S. president, though, has dropped his recent boasts that his campaign rallies for the Nov. 3 election would proceed as usual, acknowledging that they now need to be put off.

"We need a little a separation until such time as this goes away," he told reporters.

The changes appeared to show that Trump is absorbing the grim reality that the coronavirus is a mounting threat.

More than 1,300 U.S. cases of coronavirus have been confirmed and 33 people have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

The spreading contagion has forced Americans to cancel trips and large gatherings, battered the stock market, and sent shockwaves across the U.S. economy.

For weeks, Trump had said the impact from the virus would be limited within the United States and that Americans should get on with their lives, while taking common sense steps like washing hands and staying at home when sick.

In a televised address to the country on Wednesday night, he ordered travel from Europe to the United States restricted for 30 days in response to the crisis.

But he said nothing about expanding tests to determine who might have coronavirus and how to contain its spread. The speech drew criticism that Trump was not handling the crisis capably.

On Thurday morning, Trump changed focus and tweeted out guidance about ways that Americans can keep themselves safe, such as by setting aside a room in their homes to quarantine family members suspected of having the virus.

Story continues

Trump, a former New York real estate tycoon, has frequently gauged the health of the U.S. economy as dependent on the ups and downs of the stock market.

But on Thursday he said human lives are more important than Wall Street losses and gains.

"I don't want people dying, and that's why I made these decisions. And whether it affects the stock market or not, very important, but it's not important compared to life and death," he said. (Reporting By Steve Holland Editing by Alistair Bell)
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a directive on March 11, requesting stronger actions to prevent and control COVID-19 amid new developments of the outbreak.

A COVID-19 quarantine area at a military school of Hoa Binh province

The acute respiratory disease has been recorded in 105 countries with 114,000 infected people. Over the last 10 days, the numbers of infection cases and deaths have risen sharply.

In Vietnam, after 22 days without any new cases, 18 infection cases have been recorded over the last four days, including many from countries with large trading and traveller volumes with Vietnam.

Facing the new developments, the PM ordered ministries, sectors and localities to continue strictly and drastically implementing directions by the Party Central Committees Secretariat and the Government leader to minimise the spread of COVID-19, stay ready to deal with the outbreak, and protect peoples health and lives.

He asked them to gear up for all circumstances and keep in mind the spirit of fighting the epidemic is like fighting an enemy and protecting peoples health and lives even at the expense of economic benefits.

In particular, PM Phuc requested ministries, ministry-level agencies and the Peoples Committees of provincial-level localities to push ahead with quickly detecting and strictly controlling sources of infection, both in the country and from other nations; quarantining or monitoring those who have contact with confirmed cases in line with the Health Ministrys guidance; and checking people entering the country within the last 14 days but not having to stay at concentrated quarantine areas.

He also demanded tightened control of those entering Vietnam via points of entry by air, land and sea; and suspension of the unilateral visa exemption for citizens of, as well as for Vietnamese people and their spouses and children in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, the UK, France, Germany and Spain.

Health declaration is compulsory for all people entering Vietnam; those coming from or travelling through areas affected by the outbreak must be quarantined; and flights between the country and those areas, including those by foreign airlines, must be minimised, according to the directive.

The PM also asked agencies and localities to strictly manage and ensure safety for tourism activities, postpone overseas trips, and advise people against going aboard, especially the areas affected by COVID-19.

In his directive, the Government leader also ordered relevant parties to ready plans for large-scale quarantine; step up the research on COVID-19 prevention, treatment and vaccines; and strictly deal with persons publicising fake news, intentionally inflating prices or violating regulations on health declaration and quarantine.

Steering committee calls on joint efforts to fight against COVID-19

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam at Wednesday morning's meeting of National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Hanoi.

Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam

Vietnam continues implementing drastic measures and joint efforts to prevent and control the acute respiratory outbreak of COVID-19.

At a meeting on Wednesday morning, members of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control agreed that strict monitoring of people entering the country at this time was a must.

It's expected that starting from Friday (March 13), new requirements will demand that passengers on all Viet Nam-based airlines must wear face masks, and so should all passengers travelling through airports across the country, according to deputy transport minister Le Anh Tuan.

If passengers do not have masks, airport staff will be responsible with providing them free of charge, Tuan said.

All incoming travellers  both Vietnamese and foreigners must also declare their health condition.

Those who submit false information on their health declaration would be strictly punished in accordance with Viet Nams laws and regulations.

Foreigners entering Viet Nam are subject to both international and Viet Nams legal regulations, a representative from Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, emphasising that without reporting accurate health status, the visitors could face fines and even criminal penalties if their actions led to serious disease spread in community.

Viet Nam highly recommends passengers of foreign airlines wear face masks too. Free face masks would be available at Viet Nams airports.

The committee asked international airports' operators to arrange separate spaces for those who are in transit.

Anyone suspected of showing symptoms must not be allowed to enter the country.

Public transport drivers, especially taxi drivers at the airports must wear face masks too.

Concentrated quarantine

According to the steering committee, 14-day-long concentrated quarantine would still be applied to people suspected of carrying the virus SARS-CoV-2 and those who have been in close contact with COVID-19 infected persons.

Ministry of Health is requested to instruct agencies and localities on concentrated quarantine, especially on reducing density at quarantine centres.

Accordingly, suspected people who are at quarantine centres for three days and tested negative could be self-isolated at home.

When at home, they must continue submiting health declarations online and would be checked by the local authority.

The health ministry was also asked to deliver instructions on disinfecting homes, schools and offices to ensure effectiveness, avoid waste and prevent panic among the public.

Thirty-eight COVID-9 cases were confirmed in Viet Nam as of Wednesday morning, with 16 first cases reported from January 23 to February 13 recovered. The other 19 cases including 8 Vietnamese and 11 foreigners were reported from March 6 to March 11.

Dong Nai to keep schools closed until March end

Students of a school in Vinh Phuc Province have their body temperature checked before being allowed to enter their classrooms.

The Peoples Committee of the southern province of ong Nai on Tuesday decided to keep kindergartens and primary and middle schools closed until the end of March as a safety measure against the spread of the new coronavirus.

These were scheduled to reopen on Sunday.

Secondary schools and continuing education centres reopened on March 2 and are functioning normally.

Cao Tien Dung, chairman of the Peoples Committee, instructed schools to comply with COVID-19 prevention and control measures and communicate preventive measures to students.

The province will provide all schools with one or two thermometer guns to measure students and teachers body temperature.

The Mekong Delta provinces of Long An, Ben Tre and Tra Vinh are keeping kindergartens, primary and middle schools closed until Sunday.

In Tien Giang Province, all schools are closed until Sunday mainly because of the epidemic threat but also because a shortage of water means many schools are unable to ensure students and teachers hygiene.

All students in HCM City, except those studying in the HCM City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, remain home until Sunday.

The universitys nearly 14,000 students resumed classes on Monday after a five-week break. They had to declare their health status and everyone in good health has been allowed to attend classes.

In the first week the university has been organising training for students and lecturers about COVID-19 prevention and control.

The students have been divided into small groups to study at various facilities. Air conditioners are not switched on in lecture halls and hand sanitisers have been provided to students and also placed in front of elevators, classrooms and toilets.

Students are encouraged to take the stairs rather than elevators.

On Monday a Lat and Nha Trang universities also reopened.

a Lat University has more than 10,000 students, but only 2,700 attended on the first day.

Nha Trang University has divided its students into two groups, with nearly 3,500 attending classes on Monday and the remaining 12,000 starting on March 30. VNA/VNS
Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum yesterday recieved a report on the Regional Stabilization Facility Project at the Government House, Maiduguri.

The Regional Stabilization Facility (RSF) is a financing facility developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with the support from Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), to facilitate the implementation of the Regional Stabilization Strategy (RSS) of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC).

The RSS seeks to restore security and bring relief to communities affected by Boko Haram insurgency.

It will be recalled that the facility was launched in July 17, 2019 during the 2nd Governors Forum in Niger, by the UNDP Africa Director, Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa together with representatives of the various partners and Governors.

The facility was aimsed to provide immediate stabilization, within 18 months, to improve community safety and security; restore essential infrastructure and basic services and provide livelihood opportunities for households in the affected communities. It will also provide extended support to the LCBC to strengthen its capacity.

Our Correspjndent reports that the Facility will be implemented with a planned budget of $100 million for the first phase across the four countries of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

Gov. Zulum who was optimistic of achieving the facility's nine pillar strategic objectives, commended the United Nations and other organisations for supporting the state.

"I want to assure you that Borno State and other sister states are committed towards achieving the nine pillar strategic objectives of the facility.

I am happy that our interface with the United Nations is yielding positive results, sources of livelihood in our communities have improved", Zulum said.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, Ambassador, Mamman Nuhu commended Governor Zulum for his efforts in addressing security challenges in the state and execution of developmental projects across Borno state.

Ambassador Nuhu also added that the facility apart from the security concern in the region will equally look into the humanitarian response, improve delivery of basic services among others.

He added that the facility strategy has outlined both short, medium and long term plans for the development of the Lake Chad Basin region.
On March 12, Humble ISD, the Lone Star College System and the Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce announced closures and cancellations as the region works to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner declared a local state of disaster due to a public health emergency on March 11 and Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough signed a declaration of local disaster on March 12, according to reporting from chron.com.

Humble ISD will be closed from March 12-21 to support the community and health care professionals with the goal of containing COVID-19. This closure includes any events held by the district and all buildings will be closed. Employees have been asked to work from home unless other arrangements have been made in advance with their supervisor.

Related: Humble, Kingwood area businesses, hospitals look to help stop spread of coronavirus

More Information Lake Houston area canceled events or closures: Good Oil Days Bender Performing Arts Center activities through the end of March Humble Senior Activity Center, closed March 16-31 City of Humble activities, rentals at City Parks with more than 250 people, canceled through the end of March Humble ISD board meeting Humble ISD's Cardboard City Lake Houston area postponed events: Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce Teachers of the Year Luncheon Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce BizCom-Kingwood This is a list of the known event cancelations at time of print and may not reflect all canceled events in the area. See More Collapse

Teachers will be providing learning opportunities for students while campuses are closed and families will receive an email from their school on the evening of March 16 with further information.

By taking this step now, our community will help slow the spread of COVID-19 and assist in preserving the capacity of our health care systems, Humble ISD wrote in a notice sent to all parents and staff on March 12. Social distancing helps protect students, staff, and the larger Humble ISD community. Health and safety is our top priority.

The district wrote that it is their goal to provide food care packages to families on free and reduced lunch, but the district is currently working to find a method to do this while practicing social distancing.

One day after Lone Star College announced all study abroad trips, which included travel to Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal have been canceled for the remaining semester, the system said it will be extending its Spring Break by one week and plans to resume classes on March 23. According to the press release, Lone Star Colleges administration is working with officials to finalize a plan for completing the rest of the semester with the least amount of disruption. This comes after universities in Texas and the U.S. have worked to move in-person classes to online platforms, including the University of Houston, Houston Community College and Rice University.

LSC is working diligently with our community leaders, area colleges and ISDs to share best practices and ensure the best outcome for our community, the press release read. This is a moment in which institutions and individuals must work together.

Breaking News: Get email alerts from Chron.com sent directly to your inbox

Lone Star College is requiring a 14-day self-quarantine for all students and employees who have traveled to countries that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have classified as a Level 3 country, which includes China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea and Level 2 countries, which includes Japan according to their press release.

The Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce announced through a press release on the afternoon of March 12 that the chamber will be postponing all scheduled events and programs through April 3 as a precaution for the coronavirus and are considering rescheduling events. For those who paid a registration fee for an event that was set to take place on or before April 3 can receive a full refund or can have credits applied to the rescheduled dates or other future events by emailing chamber@lakehouston.org according to their press release.

Committee meetings will continue but will have the option to call-in. The Chamber has created a business resource page online that provides tool kits and information to businesses and individuals in the Lake Houston area in regards to the coronavirus at lakehouston.org/coronavirus, which will be updated as new information is available according to the press release.

For live updates on the Houston Chronicles coverage of the coronavirus, visit www.chron.com/.

savannah.mehrtens@chron.com
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan  Fri, March 13, 2020 19:37 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a737ad 2 World Kazakhstan,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,health Free

Three Kazakh citizens have tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from Germany or Italy, Healthcare Minister Yelzhan Birtanov said on Friday, the first cases of the disease in the Central Asian country.

He told a briefing two patients were staying in a specialized hospital in Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggest city, where they arrived separately on March 9 and March 12. The third person arrived in Nur-Sultan, the Kazakh capital, from Italy.

The ministry is working to quarantine people who arrived on the same regular flights as two of the infected people, he said, while all passengers and crew from the third flight - which was not a regular one - have already been quarantined.

Kazakhstan has already pre-emptively moved to shut down schools, colleges and universities from next week and cancel all public events.
Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker NP Prajapati has issued notices to 22 Congress MLAs who have resigned, asking them to appear before him by Friday and clarify whether they have quit voluntarily or under pressure.

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker NP Prajapati has issued notices to 22 Congress MLAs who have resigned, asking them to appear before him by Friday and clarify whether they have quit voluntarily or under pressure, a legislature official said on Thursday.

The BJP, meanwhile, has said it will seek a floor test in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on 16 March, while the Congress said it is ready to face the test only after a decision on the resignations of the 22 MLAs.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said Speaker Prajapati has issued notices to the 22 MLAs, including six ministers, who have resigned.

Singh also sought to know why the MLAs were not meeting the Assembly speaker to submit their resignations.

The speaker has asked the 22 MLAs to appear before him by Friday to clarify whether they have resigned voluntarily or under any pressure, Vidhan Sabha principal secretary AP Singh said.

The 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led government has been facing a deep crisis following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs after former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party on Tuesday.

"Since the government is in minority, we are going to request the governor and the Assembly Speaker for a floor test on March 16 when the state budget session begins," BJP's chief whip in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Narottam Mishra told reporters.

The governor and the speaker have the resignations of 22 MLAs. Now it is up to them to take a call, he said.

"This government has lost the majority," senior BJP leader former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.

BJP spokesman Rajnish Agrawal also said that on the opening day of the state Assembly's budget session on 16 March, they will press the Speaker for a floor test.

When asked about the BJP's demand, Digvijaya Singh said the chief minister is ready for a floor test.

"As Kamal Nathji has already said we are ready for the floor test. But, there should be a decision on the resignation of MLAs before the floor test," Singh said, while blaming the BJP for the constitutional crisis in the state.

"The resignations will be accepted when the MLAs meet the Speaker one-on-one and verify their signatures without any pressure. Then the resignations will be accepted and the floor test can be conducted," he said.

He said the speaker has already issued notices to the rebel MLAs, who should now go to him and clear the air.

"Nineteen Congress MLAs are in their (BJP's) captivity. The family members (of MLAs) are unable to talk to them. Their phones were taken away. It is also strange that the resignation of Congress MLAs were submitted to the speaker by BJP leader Bhupendra Singh," he said.

"Now, they (BJP) are expecting that their resignations should be accepted," the Congress leader said.

The BJP claimed this is an "internal matter" of the Congress, but at the same time leaders of the saffron party submitted the resignations of ruling party (Congress) MLAs to the speaker, he pointed out.

The Congress veteran also said people of the country should understand what kind of "manipulation the BJP has been doing to form its government".

Digvijaya Singh further said he never comprised with his ideology and believes in political accountability.

On Tuesday, 22 Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh resigned soon after Scindia quit the party.

Of these legislators, 19 are currently staying in a resort in Bengaluru while three are still in Madhya Pradesh, sources said.

The Congress has a wafer-thin majority in the 228- member Assembly. Before the rebellion, its tally was 114.

It also has the support of four Independents, two BSP MLAs and one from the SP, but some may now switch sides to the BJP.

If the resignations of the 22 MLAs are accepted, the strength of the Assembly will fall to 206.

The Congress, on its own, will then be left with 92 seats, while the BJP has 107 seats with the magic number for a majority being 104.
She is one of the fashion industry's most promising up and coming models.

And Hana Cross cut a stylish figure as she attended the Richard Orlinski's Pop-Up Launch At FLANNELS London alongside Lottie Moss on Thursday.

The brunette, 23, donned a grey long-sleeved crop top that displayed her taut abdomen along with a matching miniskirt.

Event: Hana Cross, 23, cut a stylish figure as she attended the Richard Orlinski's Pop-Up Launch At FLANNELS London alongside Lottie Moss, 22, on Thursday

Adding height to her frame with a pair of black boots, Hana also donned matching trousers for the event.

Letting her locks fall loose down her shoulders, the star completed her look with a light palette of makeup.

Meanwhile, Lottie showed off her sense of style in a black short sleeved minidress with a square neckline.

The model, 22, wore a matching pair of tights along with a pair of black ankle boots to the event.

Sensational: The brunette donned a grey long-sleeved crop top that displayed her taut abdomen along with a matching miniskirt

Lottie, who has previously appeared on Made In Chelsea, wore her platinum tresses straight and also wore a simple gold necklace.

Anais Gallagher was another famous face in attendance at the bash where she posed for a snap with Lottie.

The 19-year-old went for a casual look in a black top and matching blazer along with a pair of mustard trousers.

Stunning: Lottie showed off her sense of style in a black short sleeved minidress with a square neckline

Glamour: Hana let her brunette locks fall loose down her shoulders while Lottie added to her look with a simple gold necklace

Pals: Anais Gallagher was another famous face in attendance at the bash where she posed for a snap with Lottie

Anais also carried a black handbag while she styled her blonde locks into loose waves.

Hana has moved on from her turbulent romance with Brooklyn Beckham and is now dating Nasser Alfallah, who is a Loyola Marymount University student in Los Angeles and is originally from Kuwait.

Back in September, reports surfaced Victoria and David were relieved when Brooklyn and Hana split in the summer after nine months together.

A source told The Sun at the time: 'Brooklyn and Hana have called off their romance for good. David and Victoria very glad and relieved and are backing him 100 per cent.'
The California Supreme Court has strengthened a law that allows workers to sue their employers in the name of the state for labor law violations, saying companies cant sidestep the dispute by settling their employees individual claims.

The 2004 Private Attorneys General Act, or PAGA, the only law of its kind in the nation, authorizes employees to file claims with the state alleging violations of wage or workplace laws. The state can take up the case itself or let the employee sue on behalf of all affected workers, who receive 25% of all court-awarded penalties plus attorneys fees. The rest goes to the state.

Business groups labeled PAGA a job-killer, but state officials say it has helped to fill gaps in labor law enforcement caused by state staffing shortages. A recent report by groups supporting the law said it netted the state more than $88 million from employers last year while increasing compliance with workplace laws.

The latest court ruling involved a suit against Reins International California, which operates Japanese restaurants. Justin Kim, a Los Angeles-area employee classified by the company as a training manager, sued Reins under PAGA and other laws, accusing the company of failing to pay legal wages or overtime and failing to provide meal and rest breaks.

After the company settled Kims individual claims for $20,000 plus attorneys fees, a Superior Court judge dismissed his PAGA suit, finding that he was no longer an aggrieved employee covered by the law. A state appeals court agreed but was overruled Thursday by the states high court in a unanimous decision that reinstated the suit.

Kim became an aggrieved employee, and had PAGA standing, when one or more Labor Code violations were committed against him, Justice Carol Corrigan said in the 7-0 ruling. Settlement did not nullify those violations.

Quoting an earlier ruling, Corrigan said the purpose of the 2004 law was to increase state labor officials limited enforcement capability by allowing employees to enforce the laws as representatives of the state. That goal would be thwarted, she said, if employers could avoid the underlying workplace issues by reaching agreements with the workers who first raised those issues.

Employers could potentially avoid paying any penalties to the state simply by settling with the individual employees, Corrigan said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Kims lawyer, Eric Kingsley, commended the court for strengthening workers rights.

The lower-court ruling that the justices rejected Thursday allowed employers to buy the government off by settling with the individual who brought suit, avoiding much larger financial penalties, Kingsley said.

A lawyer for Reins International could not be reached for comment. The companys position was supported in court filings by business groups that included the California Restaurant Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The case is Kim vs. Reins International California, S246911.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
CHICAGO, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite a stock market plunge that sent a decade-long bull market into freefall, individual investors are not overreacting, according to a new report from Spectrem Group, The Corona Crash: What Advisors Should Be Saying To Investors Now.

The findings indicate that while individual investors may have concerns about the economic impact of the crash caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus, they have not let their concerns impact investment decisions. Rather, institutional trading has fueled the drop, which reached almost 20 percent by March 11.

The report analyzes the opinions of 845 investors surveyed the last week of February and 795 investors surveyed March 4-9. Investors with a net worth between $100,000 and $25 million, not including their primary residence, were surveyed.

Key findings include:

From late February to mid-March, investors' concern level over the impact of the coronavirus on the economy jumped 10 points, from 60.94 to 70.49 on a 100-point scale.

20 percent of investors indicated they were not impacted by the "Corona Crash."

17 percent of investors purchased equities during the market decline while only 9 percent of investors sold equities.

Less than a third of investors had not heard from their financial advisor from late February to mid-March, showing financial professionals are communicating with their clients during this challenging time.

Most investors believe their financial situation at the end of 2020 will be the same as it is today, and most investors do not plan on making dramatic changes to their portfolios in the next 12 months.

More than half of investors believe coronavirus is being blown out of proportion by the media.

"While the world adjusts to the impact of the coronavirus on the health of the world, it is vital to financial advisors that they understand how investors are reacting to the stock market decline,'' said Spectrem President George H. Walper, Jr. "The timeliness of this study provides real-time reactions that advisors can use to address investor concerns in the days and weeks to come."

Additional information on Spectrem studies can be found at Spectrem.com.

About Spectrem Group: Spectrem Group ( www.spectrem.com ) strategically analyzes its ongoing primary research with investors to assist financial providers and advisors in understanding the Voice of the Investor.

Contact:

George H. Walper, Jr.

(224) 544-5350

[email protected]

SOURCE Spectrem Group

Related Links

http://www.spectrem.com/


WASHINGTON  The coronavirus pandemic inched ever closer to President Donald Trump, his top aides and his family on Friday as questions swirled about why the president wasnt going into self-quarantine or being tested for COVID-19.

The White House was grappling with a string of potential and confirmed exposures. A top Brazilian official tested positive after spending time with Trump and others at the presidents private club in Florida last weekend. Also testing positive: An Australian Cabinet minister who met a week ago with top administration officials including U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Trumps daughter and senior adviser Ivanka.

Trump has also had repeated contact with lawmakers who were themselves exposed to people who later tested positive and chose to self-isolate out of an abundance of caution.

In the midst of the personal health scares, Trump announced he would hold an afternoon press conference about his administrations response to the virus. The president is facing growing criticism about his mixed messages on the severity of the outbreak and over the administrations scattershot response.

The president has so far declined to be tested for the virus or to limit his contact with others, professing no concern about potential exposure as his White House insisted they were following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. He told reporters on Thursday: Lets put it this way: Im not concerned.

Trump, according to two people close to the White House, has not wanted to take the test because it would project weakness or worry. Trump wants to appear in full control during the crisis, especially as he tries to calm the markets amid historic drops, and believes that taking personal steps could undermine that.

Trump spent time over the weekend with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaros communications director, Fabio Wajngarten, who tested positive just days later. Wajngarten posed for a photo with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club and attended a birthday party for Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is dating the presidents eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. The president attended the party as well.

The White House stressed that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time.

The CDC advises those who have been in close contact with a person with symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 to remain home and practice social distancing.

The Australian who met with Barr and Ivanka Trump, Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton, said he woke up with a temperature and sore throat on Friday, one week after his meeting with the Americans.

White House spokesman Judd Deere said Ivanka Trump worked from home Friday out of an abundance of caution, but said that Dutton had been asymptomatic during their interaction and that the White House Medical Unit determined she was exhibiting no symptoms and does not need to self-quarantine.

Trump has also had repeated contact with others who were exposed to the virus and quarantined themselves out of an abundance of caution. That included Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who traveled aboard Air Force One with the president on Monday and found out mid-flight that he was among a handful of GOP lawmakers who were exposed to a person who tested positive for the virus after last months Conservative Political Action Conference.

Also staying home: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who announced Friday he would be extending his CPAC-related self-quarantine after coming into contact with another person who later tested positive, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who announced Thursday he was self-quarantining after spending time in Mar-a-Lago and his own meeting with Dutton. Florida Sen. Rick Scott was also isolating himself following his interactions with the Brazilian delegation.

Many doctors across the country have been advising those who have been exposed to someone with the virus to isolate themselves. And Trump, who is 73, is considered to be at higher risk of developing serious complications because of his age.

The president should get tested, even if he is not exhibiting symptoms, said Stephen Morse, a Columbia University expert on the spread of diseases.

If f I were in that position Id certainly want to be tested, rather than waiting until something happened,said Morse. Beyond Trumps own health, he said, he could pose a risk to others if he is infected and keeps meeting other political leaders.

Anyone whos infected is a risk of spreading it to other people, and that can be true of people who are infected but dont have symptoms, Morse said.

The press conference also comes as the president is growing increasingly frustrated that his words to the nation so far have done little to calm the public or the financial markets. He has been lashing out at those around him for failing to do more.

The presidents mood was as black as it has ever been on Thursday, according to one confidant. He has called around to allies while watching cable news coverage of the Wall Street plummet, furious that his efforts to bolster markets did the exact opposite, according to three White House officials and Republicans close to the White House who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.

The president has obsessively asked for updates on case numbers and the impact on the economy and has expressed a reluctance to use the word bailout or declare a national emergency for fear that either would rattle the markets further, according to the officials.

Thats despite the fact that many in the White House, along with Republican allies on the Hill, have been urging him to declare one.

Still, Trump was preparing to invoke emergency powers over the coronavirus outbreak Friday as an aid package teetered in Congress without his full public support.

___

Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writer Micheal Stobbe in New York contributed to this report.
National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah's release from detention will be a right step for the restoration of a genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir, the party said in a statement here on Friday.

The NC said the process will receive a further fillip when party vice-president Omar Abdullah and other political detainees are set free. "We urge the government to do so at the earliest," it said.

"As the pre-eminent political party of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference has played a key role in strengthening the voice of the people through democracy and will continue to do so," the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man who previously worked for a township water authority was sentenced to nearly a year in jail Wednesday, months after his guilty plea in a child pornography case, authorities said Thursday.

Scott Lucas, of Evesham Township, must also register as a sex offender and be on parole supervision for life, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said in a statement.

Lucas was charged last March after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a tip to the High-Tech Crimes Unit in Coffinas office.

Detectives who examined Lucas internet history learned he was using search engines to find pictures of pre-pubescent girls." After acting on a search warrant at his home, they found child pornography files on electronic devices, authorities said at the time.

Lucas pleaded guilty in November to one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

He previously worked for Eveshams Municipal Utilities Authority.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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With its safaris and tanzanite, Arusha is Tanzanias biggest tourist hub and the biggest centre for traders in tanzanite, a new precious stone found only in that east African county. For more than four years, however, the small town has been deprived of the presence of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), a huge judicial machine that closed in December 2015 after some 20 years.

Since January 2016, all the residual functions of the ICTR are the responsibility of a much more modest structure called the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. Created by the UN in December 2010, this Mechanism, as it is known for short, was gradually put in place after its Arusha branch was opened in July 2012. There is another branch in The Hague charged with handling the residual tasks of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Four years and $8.7 million dollars

Situated some 20 kilometres from the former ICTR, on a vast plain visited by runaway wildlife from Manyara National Park, the Arusha Mechanism consists of three buildings. They took four years to build and cost about US$8.7 million. While the ICTR was housed throughout its existence in rented offices at the Arusha International Conference Centre, the Mechanism paradoxically has purpose built UN-owned premises. The first building houses a courtroom with state-of-the-art equipment, the second is dedicated to the archives and the third is the administrative block.

Located twenty kilometres from the centre of Arusha, in the heart of a plain haunted by wild animals, the Mecanism consists of three buildings, which took four years to build and cost $8.7 million.  IRMCT

200 employees and three big fish

The main task of the Arusha Mechanism, which currently has 200 employees of 65 nationalities and an annual budget of some $40 million, is to complete the ICTRs judicial mandate by tracking down its eight fugitives and trying three of them considered big fish. The arrest of the fugitives remains our main concern, Serge Brammertz, the prosecutor of the Mechanism, told Justice Info. The Belgian magistrate and his team are looking primarily for businessman Felicien Kabuga, often presented as the financier of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda; former Minister of Defence Augustin Bizimana; and Major Protais Mpiranya, who commanded the presidential guard of Juvenal Habyarimana. If arrested, these three big fish would be tried by the Mechanism, while the other five fugitives would be handed over to the Rwandan judicial authorities.

Hassan Jallow, Brammertzs Gambian predecessor, often claimed that Kabuga was hiding in Kenya, a six-hour drive from the Mechanism. But Brammertz thinks the octogenarian has muddied the waters. He says his team is following a whole series of leads and that today Kenya isnt our best lead. Kabuga, who started as a small trader and became the richest man in Rwanda, is accused of ordering the machetes used to kill Tutsis in 1994.

And where might Bizimana and Mpiranya be? Some say that the three big fish are no longer alive but Brammertz says there is no proof of this at the moment. He said his office is also actively involved in the search for the other five accused whose files have been transferred to Rwanda: a lieutenant-colonel, two former mayors, an ex-police officer and a former restaurateur. The majority of our fugitives are living under false identities, some as many as 20 different identities. Some of them manage to obtain passports illegally, allowing them to cross borders and escape, the prosecutor added.

The arrest of the fugitives remains our main concern, says Serge Brammertz, the prosecutor of the Mechanism.  IRMCT

No cooperation from South Africa?

Addressing the UN Security Council on December 11, 2019, Brammertz accused South Africa for the second time of long-standing failure to execute a Mechanism Arrest Warrant. After assurances in July that cooperation would be forthcoming, I was cautiously optimistic that the arrest would take place expeditiously, said Brammertz, who did not reveal the identity of the accused person. My Office was greatly surprised, then, to receive in September a formal response from South Africa informing us, for the first time after more than a year of discussions, that it could not cooperate because it lacked the necessary domestic legislation.

South Africas representative to the United Nations, Mfundiso Mabhongo, replied that his country strictly respects its obligations and the delay should in no way be seen as a rejection of its obligations. The diplomat said the international arrest warrant had already been endorsed, and that his country would continue to cooperate fully with the prosecutor to arrest the wanted fugitive. Three months have passed since then. We are still in contact with South Africa, says the prosecutor, without going into details.

Chill in relations between Pretoria and Kigali

The ICTR in its day was able to secure the arrest on South African territory of former Rwandan mayor Ignace Bagilishema and businessman Gaspard Kanyarukiga in 1999 and 2004 respectively. So whats the problem now? The current chill in relations between South Africa and Rwanda is one possible reason. Dont forget that at the time of the Bagilishema and Kanyarukiga arrests, it was the honeymoon between Kigali and Pretoria, says another Mechanism official who did not wish to be named.

Brammertz reports difficulties obtaining the cooperation of States in a timely manner. We have sent requests for mutual legal assistance to several countries in the region, but they are taking a long time to respond, and speed is very important, he says. Important and urgent requests have remained unanswered for more than a year, even though we have provided useful information, such as telephone numbers, places of residence, identity documents.

A failure, according to Rwanda

During a UN debate in New York in July 2019, Rwandas representative to the United Nations Valentine Rugwabiza castigated the Mechanisms failure to deliver on its core mission to complete the unfinished work of the ICTR. In the absence of arrests, only one review trial  that of former Planning Minister Augustin Ngirabatware  has taken place in the Mechanisms new, state-of-the-art courtroom. The judges sat from 16 to 24 September 2019, only to dismiss Ngirabatwares case three days later. The only current detainee at the UN detention centre in Arusha, Kabugas son-in-law, is still awaiting trial in contempt of court proceedings for alleged witness tampering.

Fortunately, the Mechanism also has other tasks, including supervising the sentences being served outside Tanzania by ICTR convicts. Eighteen are currently imprisoned in Benin, seven in Mali and five in Senegal. Any of them can apply to the president of the Mechanism for a pardon, commutation of sentence or early release. Its first president, the American Theodor Meron, attracted the wrath of the Rwandan authorities by granting early release, according to a common judicial practice, to convicts who had served two-thirds of their sentences. Accusing Meron of rubbing salt in the wounds of survivors, Kigali argued that released convicts were engaged in genocide denial, an argument supported by Prosecutor Brammertz and some Security Council member countries. Rwandas concerns appear to have found a sympathetic ear with the new Mechanism president, Maltese Judge Carmel Agius, who took office in January 2019. In relation to enforcement, I also look forward to continuing to improve the quality and transparency of the Mechanisms approach to early release and related matters, he told the UN Security Council in December 2019. An updated Practice Direction will be forthcoming once the usual consultation process is complete.

In the meantime, requests for release are piling up on the table of the new Mechanism president, including that of Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, the most notorious convict at the ICTR.
The requested page is currently unavailable on this server.

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London, March 13 : New satellite images have revealed mass graves dug in the Iranian city of Qom, sparking additional concerns about the growing coronavirus outbreak in the country which has so far killed 429 people and infected 10,075 others making it the worst-hit in the Middle East, a media report said.

The satellite pictures, first reported by the New York Times, showed two large burial trenches, each around 90 metres long, recently dug in Behesht-e Masoumeh cemetery, about 80 miles south of Tehran, the London-based Metro newspaper said in the report on Thursday night.

Other pictures, published by the US-based Maxar Technologies, showed much of the graveyard lying unused in October 2019.

But by the beginning of this month, one previously half-filled quadrant appears to have now been completely filled up, while work was starting on another unused section.

An analyst pointed out that piles of lime could also be seen in the images, the Metro newspaper quoted a Washington Post report as saying.

Authorities in Iran have previously confirmed the use of lime when burying coronavirus victims.

Lime can be used to manage the decay and odour caused by mass graves.

The expert also said the plots had been dug differently from other graves on the site, suggesting they could have been created hastily to keep up with the country's growing death toll.

This development comes after the Iranian government was accused last month of lying about the scale of the nation's outbreak by a legislator in Qom, who said there had already been 50 deaths in the city, the Metro newspaper said in the report.

At the time, the Iranian Health Ministry had claimed that only 12 people had died from the disease.

Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, who had "categorically denied" the allegations, later tested positive for the virus.

Among the deaths in Iran from COVID-19 were MPs, a former diplomat and a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The move is expected to help enable greater social distancing and lessen the impact of virus on public transportation. "In light of the ongoing international COVID-19 developments, we are changing Amazon's guidance globally for all corporate offic employees who work in a role that can be done from home, do so through the end of March," a communication letter sent to the employees noted. However, it may be noted ...

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Digital Editor
By PTI

MUMBAI: Air India on Thursday decided to cancel all its flights to Kuwait till April 30 and curtail services to various other countries, including Spain, France and Sri Lanka.

The move comes a day after the national carrier announced the temporary suspension of its services to Rome, Milan and Seoul, amid the coronavirus pandemic which has triggered the imposition of travel restrictions by various countries across the globe.

An airline official said all flights operating to and from Kuwait have been cancelled till April 30.

"The existing curtailment of services to Seoul (South Korea), Rome and Milan (Italy) too has been extended till April 30," he added.

"In view of the prevailing fettle due to pandemic / COVID-19, the market planning has taken feedback from respective stations and based on their recommendations, some of the flights to a various international destination are being temporarily suspended while the frequency of other services are being reduced accordingly," the official said.

Air India at present operates to Kuwait from Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Goa and Mumbai.

As per the revised flight schedule, Air India would operate only two flights on the Delhi-Madrid-Delhi route up to April 30, in place of the existing three.

The third flight would remain cancelled between March 17 and April 28, the official said.

On Wednesday, the government decided to suspend all visas, except a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, from March 13 to April 15.

Similarly, of the seven flights per week between Delhi and Paris now, the carrier has cancelled four services between March 16 and March 30.

The other three flights will remain operational up to April 30, he said.

The air services to Frankfurt from New Delhi have also been scaled down to three per week from seven now between March 16 and April 30 while the Mumbai-Frankfurt services have been restricted to twice a week from March 18 to April 30 from four flights now, he added.

Starting March 15, Air India will operate only two flights per week on the Delhi-Tel Aviv-Delhi route as against four services at present, the official said, adding even these two services on the route will not operate on March 15 and 16.

AI 275 on the Mumbai-Colombo route and the return flight will operate only twice a week between March 17 and April 30, the official said.
All Irish tourists returning from any part of Italy of Spain will be asked to "restrict their movements for two weeks", Minister for Health, Simon Harris said today.

The advice comes after the situation with Covid-19 in Spain began to significantly deteriorate this week and the Department of Foreign Affairs upgraded its travel advice, urging Irish people to avoid Spain, along with Italy unless absolutely necessary.

There are now almost 3,000 cases of the virus in Spain  a rise of more than 800 in 24 hours; Italy, which is under a countrywide quarantine, has had 15,113 cases and at lest 1,000 deaths.

Mr Harris said this morning that for any countries where the government are urging Irish people not to travel to, they should also be ensuring that they monitor the spread of the virus from Irish people coming back from.

"The national public health emergency team met last night. This is the team chaired by our chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan, and it's constantly looking at best practice and we obviously took a number of measures yesterday," he said.

"It decided last night, that we should now give more advice to people who are coming back into our country from affected areas, from a European perspective that's currently Spain and Italy - these are countries that were telling people not to make unnecessary travel to.

"So as of today, people who come back to Ireland from those countries will be given information at the airport, and that information will tell them to restrict their movements for the next two weeks, what that effectively means is, to not go to work, and to lessen your social context.

"They will be met by Environmental Health Officers in the airport from today, they'll be given that leaflets, and they'll be asked to, not quite self isolate, but to restrict their movements, and that is another precautionary step we're taking.

"Because the reality of the situation is this virus is fast evolving, and it obviously was really gripping Italy and still is, but it's now spread very much to Spain. And indeed, we'll have to monitor this in the coming days, as we can see worrying trends and other countries like France and Germany."

Mr Harris was questioned by Brian Dobson on Morning Ireland, however, on how thousands of Irish people were allowed to travel to Cheltenham Festival, which saw around 60,000 in close quarters attend every day.

Asked whether those returning from Cheltenham should follow similar advice as self-isolate, MR Harris said: "So I know it seems counter-intuitive to all of us here in Ireland as we're restricting mass gatherings and the likes to see such a large one taking place in the UK, but the Public Health emergency team did consider this specifically last night, and it is a statement of fact that as of now the UK is not deemed to be an affected area in the same way as Spain or Italy.

"So what will happen to all people who come back through the airport, including those from Cheltenham, is they will all receive information on things to watch out for in terms of symptoms and the likes, but there's a specific restrictions on those

"So again, I've been really clear and they're not doing something that is politically expedient but following the public health advice, and that advice is restricted movements need to apply for people returning from Spain and Italy but not currently Cheltenham."
WASHINGTON  With the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the United States, including the first ones reported in Michigan this week, local representatives at the national level are also taking preventative measures.

Congressman Paul Mitchell, of Michigans 10th Congressional District, said that while he and his staff have not shown any symptoms of coronavirus, his offices in Washington and Shelby Township would be temporarily closed and his staff would be working remotely.

Disruptions to his office would be minimal due to a planned Congressional recess lasting this week.

My team and I will be working remotely and will continue to serve the people of MI-10 as promptly as possible during this time, Mitchell said in a statement. I will continue to participate in legislative business in the House.

Mitchells office plans on posting the latest information and resources for how to deal with the coronavirus on its website, www.mitchell.house.gov.

U.S. Senator Gary Peters, a ranking member of the Senates Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has called for aggressive, bipartisan action in addressing the outbreak.

As the Coronavirus outbreak continues to threaten public health, our economy and the daily lives of Michiganders, we need a comprehensive and effective federal response to protect Americans and support the efforts of state and local government, Peters said in a statement. Unfortunately, the Trump Administrations response has been woefully inadequate. Its clear that the Senate needs to work together in a bipartisan manner and quickly to help hardworking Americans and Michiganders impacted by this pandemic.

Peters called for emergency funds and the Federal Emergency Management Agencys resources to be available to state and local governments by declaring a state of emergency. He also introduced bipartisan legislation, the Coronavirus Worker Relief Act, to provide disaster unemployment assistance to people who are unable to work due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Other senators working with Peters on the legislation include Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, both Democrats from Hawaii, Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana, and Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah.

The bill would expand FEMAs disaster unemployment assistance program by making those impacted by the outbreak eligible for benefits. It would:

 Provide access to disaster unemployment assistance for workers, including self-employed individuals and independent contractors, who are sick, quarantined, furloughed, laid off, or whose individual or family circumstances have changed as a result of COVID-19 or government containment efforts.

 Waive state waiting periods and work search requirements to ensure that workers can get the assistance they need as soon as possible.

 Set a minimum amount of assistance at parity with that of state unemployment compensation laws.

 Assist states in the administration of this unemployment assistance.

Another bill Peters has co-sponsored with other lawmakers, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Act, would also provide federally funded unemployment assistance to affected individuals.

Aside from Peters, the bill is sponsored by 21 other Democratic Senators and Independent Bernie Sanders.

The bill would create a temporary unemployment compensation program to provide benefits to individuals unable to work because of coronavirus. It is modeled on the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program.

Workers who qualify for this include:

 Individuals who are sick or who have been exposed to coronavirus

 Individuals who must care for someone who is sick with coronavirus

 Individuals who cannot reach their place of work because of a quarantine

 Individuals who need to self-quarantine to protect themselves from coronavirus

 Individuals who must care for a child because of a school closure

 Individuals who are working reduced hours due to coronavirus

Benefits and administrative costs associated with this program would be federally funded through federal unemployment insurance trust funds. It would be administered by state unemployment offices and would end six months after the end of the pandemic.
Heres Exactly What Medical Experts Mean by a 'Dry' Cough

From Men's Health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently list three main symptoms of COVID-19.

Fever

Cough

Shortness of breath

Photo credit: PeopleImages

The World Health Organization has also further described this cough as a "dry" cough.

But what, exactly, does having a dry cough entail? What does it feel like--especially when compared to other coughs? How do you know if you really have a dry cough?

Photo credit: Kadek Bonit Permadi

To help answer these questions, The University of Pennsylvania Health Systems offered one of their top experts: Vivek Ahya, M.D., an associate professor of Pulmonary Medicine and Vice Chief of Clinical Affairs for the Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division at Penn Medicine.

Allow Dr. Ahya to, ahem, clear up all your questions.

What are the main differences between a dry cough and other types of coughs?

Photo credit: PeopleImages

"A dry cough is one that does not result in production of mucus or phlegm," says Dr. Ahya. "This is in contrast to a productive cough which results in mucus production. Both types can be the result of infections."

So you could call a cough that results in the production of mucus or phlegm a "wet" cough, but that's kinda gross.

How do I know that what I have is a dry cough? What does it feel like? Is there a way I can check?

This is pretty simple, Dr. Ahya says: "If you are coughing but not spitting out mucus, than you have a dry cough."

What could a dry cough be a symptom of?

This is more complicated.

"A dry cough, one in which there is no production of mucus, can be due to many causes," says Dr. Ahya, "including respiratory viral infections, allergens like pollen, animal dander, smoke, pollution, heart burn, chronic lung disease, certain medications, etc."

So while knowing if you have a dry cough is straightforward, the reasons you may have a dry cough aren't. Which brings us to another important question...

If someone has a dry cough, should they get tested for COVID-19?

"Current recommendations are that folks with a fever, new dry cough and/or an increase in shortness of breath should contact their doctor regarding COVID-19 testing," says Dr. Ahya.

Story continues

Getting a test is currently challenging, Dr. Ahya acknowledges, but you can read our guide on coronavirus testing here.

Dr. Ahya also recommends the American Thoracic Society and CDC resources for more information about COVID-19.

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In December 2019, the UK-based transparency campaign group Fair Tax Mark caused a global ripple by alleging that the big six US tech firms - Amazon, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Apple and Microsoft had avoided paying $100 billion in tax (or Rs 730,000 crore at exchange rate of Rs 73) over the past decade (2010 to 2019).

This amount is the gap between their declared tax liability (current tax provisions) and what they actually paid in tax.

What is worse, the tax avoidance "continued" post-2017 and the implementation of the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (which reduced corporate tax rate), "which indicates that historic aggressive tax avoidance is not only unresolved but still growing", said their investigating report, The Silicon Six and their $100 billion Global Tax Gap.

The gap between the headline tax rates and actual tax paid, better understood as effective tax rate was even higher during the period-$155.3 billion (Rs 11,33,690 crore at exchange rate of Rs 73).

Global tax avoidance by multinationals: $240 billion a year

But they are not the only ones.

The Financial Times, one of the world's leading news organisations carried out its own investigation in 2018 in which it examined 25 years of financial statements of the world's 10 biggest public companies by market capitalisation in nine sectors.

It also found that "the gap between companies' reporting of what they expect to pay in tax, and the actual payments as revealed by cash transfers has also grown because of anomalies in the tax system that encourages some US companies to park cash or profits overseas..."

While these two studies (Fair Tax Mark and Financial Times) were limited in their coverage of multinationals, there is an overall estimate of how much overall tax multinationals avoid.

Also Read : Taxing the untaxed IV: All that's wrong with India's tax system, GST

This comes from the OECD-G20 initiative, Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), meant to fight such tax avoidance: $240 billion every year (or Rs 17.4 lakh crore a year at exchange rate of Rs 73) - as reproduced below.

Over 135 countries, including India, are collaborating to put an end to tax avoidance strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules. They have drawn up a 15-point action plan which is in various stages of being implemented.

Relevance for India: Most tax avoidance happens on foreign soils

The Fair Tax Mark's investigation is relevant for India because it found that most of the tax avoidance took place outside the US, as have other such studies too.

The Silicon Six's operations outside the US accounted for 52% of their booked revenue and 64% of their booked profits. But the tax liability (current tax charges) from these operations was just 8.4% of the identified foreign profits, a mere third of their consolidated (total) tax charge of 25.3%.

The gap of $100 billion in the declared tax liability (current tax positions) and actual tax payment also point to a disturbing phenomenon: For a decade, these multinationals are making different disclosures to their shareholders and tax authorities.

As for India, there is no recent study to rely on. A 2017 working paper of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), a finance ministry think tank, pointed to some such studies in the past and relied on anecdotal evidence to flag concerns about tax avoidance by multinationals.

Also Read: Taxing the untaxed III: Is govt oblivious to leakages in direct tax collection?

The relevant paragraph is reproduced below.

How do they do it: Shifting revenue and profits to tax havens through subsidiaries

The Fair Tax Mark's investigation revealed a perceptible pattern of behaviour, shifting revenue and profits to tax havens, especially Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. While Bermuda is a no-tax jurisdiction, others are low-tax jurisdictions.

These tax havens figure prominently in India's FDI inflows and outflows too.

The businesses use various loopholes in different tax havens to shift profits between subsidiaries and lower tax burdens or avoid it, which go by colourful names such as 'Double Irish', 'Single Malt' and 'Dutch Sandwich'. There can be a combination of low-tax jurisdiction with a no-tax jurisdiction as the final destination.

Another study also came to a similar conclusion about the involvement of tax havens while investigating "phantom investments" by multinationals, investments that pass through empty corporate shells.

The IMF-University of Copenhagen published their report, The Rise of Phantom Investments, in September 2019. It said these empty corporate shells "undermine tax collection in advanced, emerging market and developing economies". It found 85% of all phantom investments being hosted by well-known tax havens of Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Hong Kong SAR, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Singapore, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Ireland and Mauritius.

Phantom investment was estimated at about $15 trillion of the total of $40 trillion of FDI being channelled around the world or 37.5% of the total FDI, up from about 30% a decade back.

Worryingly, it said most economies were now investing heavily in empty corporate shells abroad and received substantial investments from such entities which could indicate that domestically controlled multinationals engage in tax avoidance.

Also Read: Taxing the untaxed II: Why India's smaller taxpayers bear heavier burden

What is tax avoidance and why is it being frowned upon

Tax avoidance is not an illegal activity; it is a legal exploitation of existing tax laws to one's advantage. It has now lost acceptability globally after the 2007-08 global financial crisis and substantial lowering of corporate tax, from a global average of 40% in 1990 to about 25% in 2017.

Why is it then frowned upon?

The ORCD-G20's Action Plan on BEPS lists three reasons.

One, governments are harmed as they have to cope with less revenue, which leads to critical under-funding of public investments, undermines the integrity of tax system as low corporate tax is deemed unfair, and a higher cost of compliance.

Two, individual taxpayers are harmed as they bear a greater tax burden when some businesses are allowed to reduce the tax burden by shifting their income away from jurisdictions where income-producing activities are conducted.

Three, domestic businesses are harmed for not being able to compete by shifting their profits across borders to avoid or reduce tax.

In India, the Parthasarathi Shome Committee which examined the General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) of 2012 in the Income Tax Act of 1961, brought in to check such tax avoidance commented: "On considerations of economic efficiency, fiscal justice and revenue productivity, a taxpayer should not be allowed to use legal structures or transactions exclusively to avoid tax."

GAAR: India defers the deadline to FY21

The GAAR of 2012 was introduced in India to guard against schemes designed for tax avoidance, following the hugely controversial tax dispute over telecom major Vodafone buying Hutchison Essar's India operations in a tax haven, the Cayman Islands, in 2007.

The GAAR provides that certain transactions would be "impermissible avoidance arrangement" (IAA) if (a) the main purpose is to obtain tax benefit and (b) it has one of the following characteristics: (i) it creates rights and obligations, which are not normally created between parties dealing at arm's length (ii) it results in misuse or abuse of the provisions of the tax law (iii) it lacks commercial substance and (iii) it is carried out by means or in a manner which is normally not employed for an authentic (bona fide) purpose.

The Parthasarathi Committee was set up to review it before being implemented. It recommended that the implementation should be deferred until FY17 for administrative reasons (lack of preparations, training and clarity on some concepts).

Since then the deadline is being extended. Last heard, it was deferred till March 31, 2020.

In the meanwhile, several advanced economies have implemented the GAAR, prominent among them are- the US, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, China, Poland and Australia.

Also Read: Taxing the untaxed: Why govt should tax agricultural income

India lacks reliable data on the financials of multinationals

Repeated postponement of the GAAR is not the only stumbling block. Unreliable and inadequate data is also a major constraint.

While the Income Tax Department (ITD) does not provide relevant financial details, the RBI does for the FDI companies/enterprises, defined as entities in which a direct investor, who is a resident of another country, owns 10% or more of equity or voting power every year. This data is very problematic.

For one, each RBI report is based on surveys and provides financial data (sales, profit, tax, royalty etc.) for three fiscal years. This means, some years have multiple data on every entry as shown for 'current tax' in the graph below.

Secondly, the sample size varies each time, varying from 914 in FY13 survey to 9,428 in FY17 survey and 7,314 in FY18 survey. Besides, the coverage of the FDI companies varies in every survey too.

The lack of comparability of data makes any meaningful interpretation or understanding difficult.

What is the way out: Digital sales tax, unitary taxation

Apart from the GAAR, some of the developed economies have moved to adopt digital sales tax to counter profit-shifting.

Some countries like Austria, Czech Republic, France, India, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and the UK are considering or have progressed in introducing such a tax. These range from 2% (the UK) to 7% (Czech Republic) of sales. The focus is on corporate sales, not corporate profits in order to circumvent bilateral nation-to-nation tax treaties that may exist.

The OECD-G20 has initiated a 15-point action plan (BEPS). This is a multinational effort to ensure that profitable multinationals pay tax wherever they have significant consumer-facing activities and generate their profits and pay a minimum rate of tax even when they are operating in low-tax jurisdictions.

International tax experts, however, have been calling for changing the existing system. Instead of treating individual subsidiaries in different countries as separate taxable entities, as it is now, to a new taxation system which treats a multinational group as a single taxable unit.
Roush appeared in a video taken Jan. 10, where detectives observed a large male striking James legs with his hands and a wooden paddle. James was forced into a sitting position with his feet on the floor, his knees bent and his back against the door to the garage of the home.

The larger male in the video later forcefully tapped James several times with a wooden stick on the outside of James thigh and struck James on his other thigh with his hand. James appeared to be in pain and afraid of the man, according to documents.

Detectives learned Roush was a friend of Sasser III, and investigated photos on Roushs public Facebook profile. The clothing worn by the man in the video was similar to clothing worn by Roush in the photos on his profile. Roush was seen wearing waterproof pants with a white logo on the knee in the video that matched pants worn by Roush in the photos.

Sasser III also identified the man striking James as Roush, according to court documents.

Roush told investigators that he had grown up with the Sasser family and often visited their residence. He said that he was close to the family, and would refer to Sasser Jr. and Batts as mom and dad.
Nineteen rebel Congress MLA from



Madhya Pradesh, including six ministers, on Friday cancelled at the last minute their plan to return to Bhopal from Bengaluru, where they have been camping, a former Congress leader in the state said.

As per the previous plan, most of the MLAs were scheduled to arrive in Bhopal by Friday evening.

"The legislators had reached the Bengaluru airport. However, at the last minute they dropped the plan to return to Bhopal. They were told not to go to the Madhya Pradesh capital for security reasons as Congress workers have gathered outside the Bhopal airport holding sticks," Pankaj Chaturvedi, a loyalist of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who recently quit Congress and joined the BJP, said.

Some TV channels had earlier aired video clips of the rebel MLAs waiting to catch their flight at the Bengaluru airport lounge.

Earlier on Friday, Governor Lalji Tandon removed the six ministers, supporters of Scindia, from the cabinet, on the recommendation of the chief minister.

Twenty-two Congress legislators in the state resigned after former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress earlier this week. Nineteen of the MLAs have been camping in Bengaluru.

The 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led government has been facing deep crisis following the resignation of the 22 MLAs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Oil prices jumped almost four per cent in Asian afternoon trade on Friday, reversing earlier losses sparked by the Saudi-Russia price war and fears about the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

West Texas Intermediate was up 3.9 per cent at nearly USD 33 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 3.7 per cent to more than USD 34 a barrel, after the US military launched air strikes in crude-rich Iraq.

Both contracts had fallen more than two percent in early trade.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A police sergeant taking a break to eat on his night shift was justified in firing at three suspects in a 2017 gun battle, authorities said Friday.

The Mercer County Prosecutors Office said the Trenton sergeant would not be charged after the office reviewed the Aug. 21, 2017 incident with the state Attorney Generals office.

While the agencies did not name the cop, sources previously identified him to NJ Advance Media as Sgt. Charles Lamin.

The sergeant, on the 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift that night, used his personal vehicle to go out for his meal break. He was in uniform with a badge and had his police-issued firearm, but no police radio.

Just before 10 p.m., Lamin was on Southard Street near Martin Luther King Boulevard when he heard gunshots.

He lowered his windows to try to hear where the shots were coming from, before heading to the Donnelly Homes project at Southard and New Willow streets.

He saw two men in masks and hooded sweatshirts running from the project. One of them turned around and fired two shots back toward the buildings, before another pointed a gun at Lamin, still sitting in his car. The men then got in a sedan and drove away.

Lamin followed, and lacking his police radio, called Trenton police dispatch from his cell phone to tell them what he saw. He would remain on the phone with them during the entire encounter.

The sedan stopped at Kulp Street and Summit Avenue, about a mile away. Three men got out of the car and fired at the sergeant.

Using his vehicles door as cover, he returned fire at the men, before the three fled on foot down Summit. He got back in the vehicle and zipped down after them, but could not find them.

Trenton police pulled up to that scene, and Lamin tracked down a sergeant in a police vehicle parked at a nearby corner - using that police vehicles radio to broadcast a description of the suspects.

A group of officers who were sent out to the Donnelly Homes found two men matching that description while en route to Kulp and Summit.

Those men, Tommy S. Allen and Darryl Milton, were frisked for weapons but did not have any. Allen was jailed on active warrants while Milton was briefly released from the scene.

Lamin, who could have identified Milton, was at a nearby hospital for a medical examination. His gun was sent to a New Jersey State Police lab, which later determined he fired at least seven shots.

The citys ShotSpotter system detected 20 gunshots near the entrance of the Donnelly Homes project where Lamin first heard shots. The system picked up 10 shots in the gun battle at Kulp Street.

Milton was later picked up after footage from a police body camera and city surveillance cameras.

The two men were later charged and pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated assault for the shooting at the Donnelly Homes that wounded a man, J.H. They are awaiting sentencing after their pleas on Feb. 6, 2019.

Lamin was unhurt in the shootout.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has criticised the government's measures to tackle the spread of coronavirus, saying they don't go far enough. (Picture: PA)

Downing Street has defended the governments measures to tackle to spread of coronavirus after coming under fire from critics including former health secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Hunt had criticised the approach, which saw new measures put in place on Thursday, saying they didnt go far enough.

On Friday Downing Street said Boris Johnson had been briefed on the latest situation concerning the coronavirus outbreak by the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser.

In response to Hunts criticism, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said: We are very clear where we take our advice from. That is from the chief scientific adviser and the chief medical officer.

Our aim is to reduce the peak of the outbreak so the NHS will be in stronger state as the weather improves.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of Covid-19 cases in your local area

Explained: Symptoms, latest advice and how it compares to the flu

Earlier, the UKs chief scientific adviser said some of the measures, including self-isolating for seven days, are actually quite extreme and are hoped to help create a herd immunity to the disease.

Sir Patrick Vallance told the BBC that the advice the government is following is not aiming to suppress the virus entirely but to help create a herd immunity in the UK while protecting the most vulnerable.

Government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said the government isn't trying to suppress coronavirus, but help create a "herd immunity". (Picture: SIMON DAWSON / POOL / AFP)

He said: If you suppress something very, very hard, when you release those measures it bounces back and it bounces back at the wrong time.

Our aim is to try and reduce the peak, broaden the peak, not suppress it completely; also, because the vast majority of people get a mild illness, to build up some kind of herd immunity so more people are immune to this disease and we reduce the transmission, at the same time we protect those who are most vulnerable to it.

Those are the key things we need to do.

On Thursday Boris Johnson announced that the UK is moving to the delay phase of its strategy to tackle the spread of the virus and said anyone with any symptoms such as a continuous cough or high temperature, must stay at home for seven days.

Story continues

The Prime Minister said school trips abroad should be stopped while people over 70 with serious medical conditions should not go on cruises, but stopped short of banning large-scale public events.

Some experts welcomed the measures but Hunt said he was surprised by the measures amid what he dubbed a national emergency.

A breakdown of the number of coronavirus cases in Europe, as of Friday morning. (Picture: PA Graphics)

Asked about the decision not to cancel large gatherings yet, he told BBC Newsnight: I think it is surprising and concerning that were not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.

You would have thought that every single thing we do in that four weeks would be designed to slow the spread of people catching the virus.
Britain's biggest banks pledged last night to immediately make available 20billion of emergency cash to small and medium-sized enterprises brought to their knees by coronavirus.

The commitment was made at a high-level meeting called by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak at the Treasury, attended by the governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, his successor Andrew Bailey and the chief executives of the major banks.

At the follow-up session to his coronavirus budget  at which the Chancellor committed 12billion to combat disruption caused by the virus  Sunak said the Government would do 'everything it takes to support businesses through this difficult time'.

At a meeting called by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, banks pledged to make available 20bn of emergency cash to small and medium sized enterprises brought to their knees by coronavirus

His Budget stimulus package includes a 'Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme', which provides lenders with a guarantee of 80 per cent on each loan, extending statutory sick pay, business rates relief, and small business grant funding.

The Bank of England also unleashed emergency stimulus on Wednesday worth up to 290billion, designed to boost lending to struggling firms and homes.

Carney declared the Bank would be 'monitoring closely how the banks use the enormous resources to help keep firms in business.'

Stephen Jones, boss of UK Finance, which represents the banking industry, noted the banks were already responding to the crisis through repayment holidays, invoice-free extensions and fee-free emergency loans.
Aviva and Direct Line have become the latest insurance giants to stop selling travel cover to new customers in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Holidaymakers who have already booked trips but do not have cover are being left stranded by the insurance industry, as insurers pull the plug on selling cover.

The pair followed in the lead of LV, the Post Office and Admiral, who announced yesterday that they would stop the sale of travel policies to new customers.

A number of insurers have stopped selling policies to new customers due to the coronavirus

Aviva said it was 'necessary to make some changes to the travel insurance we can offer our direct customers at this challenging time' but believed it was a temporary decision.

Meanwhile, Direct Line revealed that due to the impact of coronavirus, it had experienced a huge increase in demand for travel insurance and felt its priority was to 'protect and service' its existing customers.

Churchill and Direct Line customers were told: 'For [those] who already hold a travel insurance policy with us there is no change and they can continue to contact us to make a claim or amend their policy.'

Aviva confirmed that the changes meant no new customers are able to buy travel insurance from 3pm today but also that existing travel insurance customers booking trips may not be covered on their multi-trip policies for cancellation and abandonment, depending on their destination.

Both said they would continue to monitor the situation closely.

LV was the first to stop selling travel insurance on Wednesday night in a move described by one expert as 'alarming'.

In a message on its website, LV said it was 'unable to give' new customers travel insurance 'at the moment', and said it had 'made the difficult decision to pause the sale of travel insurance to new customers.'

It added it had considered 'excluding cover or increasing prices for new customers', but described prioritising customers who had already bought insurance as 'the right decision'.

It said in a follow up statement: 'In the last couple of weeks, we've seen the number of policies sold double.

'Whilst LV is a major motor and home insurer, we are a small travel insurance provider and it's important for the long-term benefit of all our customers that our exposure to this market remains at a sustainable level for the overall business.'

Existing policyholders will see no change, but it gave no indication as to when it would begin selling travel insurance again, despite describing the move as 'temporary'.

LV has stopped selling travel insurance to new customers due to the coronavirus outbreak

Which insurers have stopped sales?

Aviva: As well as not selling travel insurance to any new customers, the insurer has stopped selling travel disruption cover, an add-on which would covers some delayed flights, as well as 'airspace closure' which covers people if the airspace they were due to fly from is then closed for 24 hours or more.

Existing Aviva travel insurance customers who have already purchased travel disruption and airspace closure add-ons are not affected by this decision.

Post Office Travel Insurance: The Post Office is continuing to sell Travel Insurance policies to new customers.

However, with regards to its Extended Travel Disruption (ERGO Policies), or Natural Catastrophe and Terrorism, Enhanced Trip Disruption (Collinson Policies) it is now advising customers that there is no cover provided for any claims related to COVID-19 for policies purchased after 11 March 2020.

This was the date when it was confirmed that Covid-19 is a Pandemic by the World Health Organisation.

Customers can still purchase the additional cover, but if they purchase it after 11 March, they are not able to make a claim related to Covid-19. Post Office confirmed it is monitoring the situation very closely and will update its Travel Alerts page with the latest information for policy holders.

Admiral: It said: 'Like other insurers we've made the difficult decision to pause the sale of new travel insurance policies in light of the global impact of coronavirus.

'We considered different options, such as excluding cover, for new customers before introducing this temporary measure.

'We strongly believe that pausing the sale of new policies to focus on our existing customers is the right decision and will keep monitoring the situation. Our existing customers are not affected and annual multi-trip policies can still be renewed.'

Some insurers are changing their policies in response to the worldwide coronavirus ourbreak

Zurich: The insurer said it has not made any changes to the cover available under Zurich travel policies.

It is, however, continuing to closely monitor the situation and will keep the decision to adjust cover and pricing under constant review.

Direct Line and Churchill: The insurers will not be selling travel insurance to any new customers but will honour existing customers policies.

Axa: A statement on its website reads: 'If you purchase a new policy now, it will not cover any trip cancellation or disruption in relation to coronavirus.

'If you already have an annual multi-trip policy and you book a new trip now, you may not be covered to cancel that trip, or for any disruption you experience.

'The coronavirus exclusion only applies to cancellation or disruption claims. We will continue to cover medical costs if customers become ill in a country or region the FCO hasn't advised against visiting.'

Allianz: The insurer said that it will continue to offer travel insurance to UK customers.

It said: 'We do not have any intention at this stage to stop selling and continue to closely monitor global updates.'

Customers are advised to check their individual insurance policies moving forward

Alarming restrictions on travel insurance

A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said: 'We all appreciate that this is such a fast developing situation, which is why insurers are constantly keeping their position under review.

'Obviously, we are aware of changes that some travel agents insurers have announced, especially on new policies. It is it important to remember that travel insurance is designed and priced to cover the unforeseen events when you take the policy out, rather than events that are already known.

'Travel insurance is a competitive market, and people should shop around for the policy that best meets their needs.'

Gareth Shaw, head of money at consumer group Which?, said: 'It's very alarming that LV have withdrawn the sale of travel insurance and that other providers have also started restricting the policies they offer customers.'

'Anyone planning a holiday should get insurance as soon as they book. If you haven't already booked insurance and are travelling soon we urge you to get cover immediately from a reputable insurer.

'The Government, insurers and the travel industry must immediately tackle the huge challenge provided by coronavirus, as the industry depends on people having the confidence that they can travel with the knowledge that they will be covered'.

Earlier in the week, comparison website Go Compare said policy sales had risen 170 per cent since the coronavirus outbreak.

Brian Brown, Consumer Finance Expert at Defaqto, said: 'This week alone we have seen Aviva remove their optional cover for cancellation due to Coronavirus, LV= have pulled out of the market, and today Insurance & Go has updated it's policy to not pay ANY claims related to Coronavirus.

'This is a fast moving issue, and it's very likely that over the next few days or weeks we will see other insurers follow suit.

'Our advice for people travelling this spring/summer is to check their policy NOW to make it covers them for cancellation due to FCO advice, and if they are not covered they should buy insurance from another insurer while they still can.'

Some flights to Italy and parts of China have already been cancelled in the fallout from coronavirus

What do people booking travel insurance need?

Earlier this week This is Money looked into what travellers should look for when buying insurance which will cover them if their holiday is hit by coronavirus.

Insurance will likely only cover you if the Foreign Office has described the country you are going on holiday to as somewhere you should only travel to in an emergency.

If you booked a holiday to somewhere and at the time it was booked the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was not advising against all travel to that country, you should be covered under the insurance you have purchased.

Customers are advised to look at the policy section labelled 'Cancellation/Curtailment Cover' or similar.

Brown added: 'They should look to see if one of the perils insured against is the FCO advising against all, or all but essential, travel to a region.

'If that isn't mentioned they should look at the exclusions to cancellation cover to see if the policy won't pay out in the event the FCO advises against travel.

'If the policy section makes no mention of the FCO advice either way, it is likely that it will not cover the customer if the FCO advice changes.

'Sometimes though, insurers, especially those with a brand to protect, will pay claims in these circumstances even if the policy doesn't strictly cater for this eventuality, for example, this happened a lot with the Icelandic volcanic ash.

'If they decide to buy a new policy now, they must make sure that it will cover them if the FCO changes its advice and tells people not to travel.'

Sally Jaques, of GoCompare travel insurance, said: 'The situation is developing all the time and travellers are advised to compare cover closely to meet the specific challenges presented by the coronavirus outbreak.

'Buying travel cover shouldn't just be a box-ticking exercise where the cheapest policy will do.

'The potential risks are very specific, and you should check you have the relevant cover and that you understand how your policy will work.

'We are advising people to check their cover levels for Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance in light of the Flybe collapse, as we may see more airlines struggling with the knock-on effect of coronavirus.

'SAFI provides cover for your flights if your airline goes into administration and ceases trading, so if your travel insurance includes SAFI, you'll get your money back for the cost of your flights.'

But it is unlikely anyone who bought travel insurance for a trip to somewhere where coronavirus was a known problem will be covered by that insurance.

You can read more answers to some common questions here.
Delta state 2020 budget may not get up to 60 percent performance following the dwindling oil prices, the state governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has said.

The governor also disclosed that the trade battle between Saudi Arabia and Russia is also another major setback, as Saudi Arabia, vowed to pour more oil into the market.

The South-south governors forum Chairman, lamented that oil prices have fallen from $66 per barrel to as low as $35 per barrel.

He gave the revelation Thursday at the 2020 quarterly media interaction held at the press centre, Government House Asaba.

Also the governor has acknowledged the presence of herders in the state which seemed to have defeated the security architecture of the state.

He revealed that while the state government was still battling the herders menace, kidnappers swoop in.

Governor Okowa stated that the anti-grazing bill, would not be the answer to the herders menace, "we are still thinking about it. The herders and farmer clashes are still there but I don't think that is the solution", he stressed.

He called on the federal government to make policy statement which he believed would end the killings.

Hear him: "The federal government will have to do something about it, a very strong will on the part of the federal government will really put a stop to it".

He disclosed that the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chiedu Ebie, was doing something about it, "he is meeting with security agencies. The families of those affected, we have put something in place to assist them", Okowa added.
A British couple have told how their 11,000 cruise from hell on the Grand Princess where 21 passengers caught coronavirus ended with them being airlifted back to the UK on a windowless cargo plane where 'air stewards' wearing hazmat suits served them sandwiches and bottles of water.

Denise and Len McConkey say they and 100 other passengers endured a 'truly terrifying' flight back to the UK - as six passengers with confirmed Covid 19 were on board and kept in a metal box in the cargo hold and they were barked at by cabin crew using a megaphone.

Speaking to MailOnline back home in London where they are self-isolating until March 25, Denise said passengers from the California cruise were loaded onto a jumbo cargo plane after disembarking and were met at the airport by 'frightening' federal agents wearing protective clothing.

British passengers on board the stricken Grand Princess were flown home on a windowless cargo plane and had instructions barked at them by federal agents in hazmat suits (above)

Passengers are fitted with face masks on board the 10-hour 'flight from hell' where they were served sandwiches, salads and bottles of water on their way back to the UK

A member of 'cabin crew' in a protective suit goes inside a meat locker style cabin in the cargo hold where six passengers with confirmed cases of Covid-19 were being kept for the flight

Up to 100 holidaymakers from the cruise were flown back to the UK from California to Birmingham where they were served sandwiches, salads and bottles of water on plastic trays

Denise and Len McConkey, of London, told MailOnline of their terrifying flight to Birmingham. They got a taxi the rest of their journey back to London and enjoyed a meal at McDonald's

'It was truly terrifying,' said Mrs McConkey. 'We were met at the plane by these federal agents all dressed in hazmat suits. It was like that scene in ET.

'We boarded but there were separate areas for those who had been diagnosed with the virus, those thought to have it and us other passengers.'

Mrs McConkey, who runs a mini cab firm in Elton, south London, said an agent told them the plane belonged to a friend of President Trump who had called in a favour to transport the passengers.

'It had no windows and the inside was just bare with these seats clamped onto the metal interior.

'They spoke to us with this scary megaphone - no tannoy or anything and there were loads of places on the bare interior where you could trip up which wasn't ideal for the many elderly travellers.

'It was like we were cattle or something. My dad was so frightened he didn't eat or drink for the whole time. It was a 10-hour flight and it was just exhausting.

'No-one knew where we were going or where we'd be landing - in fact when we touched down we were told we were in London but we were in Birmingham. The organisation was a shambles and no-one really seemed to know what they were doing.'

Passengers are led on the tarmac at Oakland, California, where they then boarded a cargo plane that had reportedly been loaned to Donald Trump as a favour from a wealthy associate

Brit passengers wearing facemasks board the flight (left) and a female passenger (right) is driven to the airport in Oakland, California. Six confirmed cases flew back to the UK with them

Concerned cruise ship holidaymakers all don protective facemasks as they are flown home

The McConkeys said those with coronavirus were shuffled on board before everyone else and shut in a metal box marked with a biohazard sign.

Mrs McConkey said: 'We couldn't see inside the box. There was a big metal door with a swing handle, a bit like a large meat fridge. There was another door on the inside so you couldn't see what was going on.

The agents in suits went in to see them.

'We thing that there were six people inside because they all had to fill in a form and an agent came out with six forms in his hand.

The ship, which holds 3,500 passengers, had been circulating the Californian coast since March 5 after the first virus cases were confirmed. They finally disembarked on Tuesday

British holidaymakers Justine Griffin, from Leicestershire, had been is travelling with her husband Dave and friends had previously said she would be bottom of the list to disembark

She went on: 'The cabin crew didn't really act as such. They were just five men in suits. They gave us sandwiches, salads and water on a plastic tray, but you had to look after yourselves.

'There was no safety briefing at all. A man with a megaphone said: 'You all know how to use a seatbelt so let's put them on.'

'He told us that if a blue light flashed then we should all return to our seats as it meant we were hitting turbulence. It was very worrying as we're all used to a safety briefing on board a plane.

'Luckily there was no turbulence - the first we saw of the blue light was when we were coming down to land. We didn't know we were landing because there were no windows. It was very disorientating.'

The McConkeys who were confined to their ship cabin for several days have now been told they have to self-isolate for a fortnight and they have had to send their two daughters out of the house.

'One is staying with a friend but the other has had to go to a hotel. It's been a nightmare and one I hope we never experience again.'

Mrs McConkey, her father and stepmother Edwin, 82 and Jean, 78, and her husband Len, 66, had booked the holiday of a lifetime - 15-night cruise from San Francisco to Hawaii and back - at a cost of around 11,000. But on the return leg from Hawaii passengers began to go down with coronavirus and were eventually told to confine themselves to their cabins.

Mrs McConkey said: 'It was an utter nightmare from start to finish. From the moment we were confined to our cabins on the Princess Grand it was a shambles of organisation.

The Grand Princess docked in nearby Oakland, California, on Tuesday, and was expected to initially only allow sick people and Americans off, who will be quarantined before others leave

'I can only imagine what it's like to be on a prison ship but I'm pretty sure it's similar to what we experienced. 'It was ridiculous because we couldn't get food and drinks. If you asked for a cup of tea is would take six hours to get to you. The crew were clearly struggling to deal with the situation.'

After circling for days after being forbidden to dock at San Francisco they disembarked in Oakland and were transferred to a cargo plane.

Following their ordeal, all the passengers were driven home in separate taxis.

Mrs McConkey said: 'I was pleased about that. The taxi took us all the way home and we stopped off on the way to pick up a McDonald's - that was our first meal back. We were all starving hungry.'

She added: 'We're all so relieved to be back. It was a total nightmare and so exhausting. We're just so pleased to be back in Britain sleeping in our own beds again. Thank goodness it's over.'
People want to liken the novel coronavirus pandemic to the 1918 Spanish influenza, but experts say the more useful comparison is to SARS and MERS  the well-known cousins of the current virus.

The good news about the comparison is that the new coronavirus is significantly less likely than its kin to kill you.

Thats also the bad news.

Any infection thats really lethal makes infected people too sick to walk around transmitting it, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a Houston infectious disease specialist. Thats what makes this coronavirus such a problem. It can be lethal, but in most cases, its moderate enough that people still go about their business  which is why its able to infect such large swaths of populations.

No one knows the swath that COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, ultimately will cut in the U.S., but experts agree that its combination of potential lethality and high transmissibility could cause the number of deaths to pile up if the spread isnt checked.

The prospects are making for some grim projections. At a webinar presentation hosted by the American Hospital Association in February, one experts best guess estimate was that the U.S. could suffer 96 million cases, 4.8 million hospitalizations and 480,000 deaths as a result of the new coronavirus. Even the usually staid New England Journal of Medicine asked if were seeing a replay of the 1918 pandemic, which killed more than 50 million people and has become the benchmark against which all other serious outbreaks and infectious disease emergencies are measured.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust.

But other experts note the different eras  1918 was before antibiotics, antivirals, respirators, protective equipment for health care workers and testing that enables quarantines. They say the greatest similarity in the two pandemics is the anxiety and fear in the population.

Of all the epidemics since 1918, this one is the loudest, said Dr. Howard Markel, the director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan. The amplification, the sound and the volume all feel higher.

Of course, theres good reason for that. After emerging in China less than three months ago, the new coronavirus already has infected nearly 120,000 people globally, killing more than 4,200. The number of U.S. cases went from 15 to 800 in less than two weeks.

No other recent pandemic compares. The global death toll more than a month ago exceeded that of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), the coronavirus diseases that spread to different parts of the world in 2002-04 and 2012, respectively. SARS killed 774, and MERS killed 527.

The coronavirus family, so named because of the spikelike proteins that stud their surface, are cold viruses that spread to people after jumping from animals. They typically cause respiratory symptoms, which, particularly in vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those already sick or with compromised immune systems, can progress to pneumonia.

On HoustonChronicle.com: PHOTO GALLERY- How coronavirus compares to other epidemics

SARS, which killed about 10 percent of people who contracted the virus, burned out quickly because of that lethality, said Mark Cameron, an immunologist who was part of a response research team at the University of Toronto, when the Canadian city became one of the disease hot spots in 2003 and 2004. Because people became so sick so fast, Cameron said, it was easier to identify people infected with the virus and isolate them. And tracing their contacts was more straightforward because the outbreak originated from a patient zero, one individual who came from China.

SARS2  the shorthand term used by some doctors for SARS-CoV-2, the viruss scientific name  provides no such advantages. Because its relatively moderate in 80 percent of people who contract it, easily confused for the flu, its not as easily identifiable and spreads more widely, including to communities more susceptible to severe reactions to the virus, such as nursing homes. And because those infected keep coming to the U.S. from around the globe, tracing patients is a seemingly unremitting process.

Still, one expert emphasized the U.S. doesnt have to look far for a lesson in how to respond to COVID-19.

China has gotten the number of infections to go from 5,000 a day to 150 a day and projects to be rid of the disease by the end of April, said Dr. Ali Khan, author of The Next Pandemic: On the Front Lines Against Humankinds Gravest Dangers and dean at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health. It took a herculean effort of social distancing, but they appear to have put the virus back in the box.

Khan questions whether the United States has the stomach to pull off such a containment strategy over a protracted period. He noted that the nation knew there was a global problem brewing in December and squandered much of the time it had to prepare.

Others are more optimistic. Cameron, now at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, praises the public health response thus far and casts doubt on projections that call for the pandemic to overwhelm the health care system, arguing that there would be a lot more cases today if the outbreak was likely to hospitalize millions of Americans.

The key question is the death rate associated with COVID-19. The rate currently cited is about 2 percent  based on the number of global cases and deaths  which is just a little less than 1918 Spanish influenzas 2.5 percent. But many suspect that the actual rate is lower because some people with mild COVID-19 cases are never tested. In addition, death rates are always evolving  often declining as a new virus moves through a population, higher in some geographic areas than others.

South Korea is reporting a COVID-19 death rate of 0.65 percent, for instance, based on its 7,478 confirmed infections. Thatd be closer to the U.S. seasonal flu rate, which is roughly 0.15 percent.

On HoustonChronicle.com: How to know if its a cold, the flu or coronavirus

Some scientists, such as Cameron, say they wouldnt be surprised, given its footholds in so many places, if COVID-19 stays in the community and becomes more seasonal, like the flu, dwindling in the summer and returning in the fall and winter. In such a scenario, he said, it wouldnt go away so much as move from place to place.

For now, of course, the flu is killing exponentially more people in the United States. In Texas, which began seriously tracking such deaths in recent years, the flu has killed more than 10,000 people each of the last three years. COVID-19, in comparison, has yet to kill anyone in Texas.

Dr. Jamie McCarthy, chief physician executive at the Memorial Hermann Health System, says hed love to see people treat the flu as seriously as they do this new virus.

Still, there are some key differences between the flu and COVID-19. For one, there's no vaccine for COVID-19 like there is for the flu. And for another, because the virus is new, people don't have some measure of immunity to it like most do the flu.

For that matter, because it's new, the virus is completely unpredictable. So dont take too projections too literally, say some scientists.

Anyone who says they know whats going to happen with this pandemic is not telling the truth because no one does, Markel said. Thats the problem with epidemics. They involve living organisms, both inside and outside our bodies, and they spread. You just dont know how things are going to play out.

todd.ackerman@chron.com
Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon expelled six Congress rebels on March 13, following the recommendation of Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

The six ministers were expelled for rebelling against Kamal Naths government and going incommunicado in the days leading to Gwalior royal Jyotiraditya Scindias defection to the Bharatiya Janata Party. These six leaders were lodged in a Bengaluru resort with 13 other Congress rebels.

Though the MLAs have already sent in their resignation to state Assembly Speaker NP Prajapati, they have been told to back their action with reasons in person, reported the Quint.

Earlier on March 13, Kamal Nath had told Governor Tandon that the BJP allowed horse-trading of Congress MLAs with the aim of toppling his government. In a letter written to the Governor he accused the saffron party of indulging in immoral, unethical, and illegal acts in Madhya Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Jyotiraditya Scindia urged the Governor to seek a floor test as Kamal Naths no longer enjoys majority support in Assembly.

Kamal Nath has agreed to take a floor test to prove its majority next week on March 16. I invite and would welcome a floor test of my government in the forthcoming session of the Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly, already notified from March 16, on a date fixed by the Speaker, he said.
Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday announced that his country will close down its borders for foreigners for two weeks. According to reports, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danylov said the latest measure will come into effect in 48 hours. Oleksiy Danylov also asked Ukrainian citizens to limit their overseas travels and said that those already abroad will be able to return home but will have to undergo an observation procedure.

Read: UK Announces Paid Sick Leaves For Employees In Self-isolation Amid Coronavirus Dread

According to reports, Ukraine has so far reported three cases of coronavirus, of which two patients tested positive on March 12. All coronavirus patients in the country have been kept under observation and are currently isolated, the health ministry had said. According to reports, the first COVID-19 case in Ukraine was reported in February after a man with his wife travelled from Italy to Romania and then to his home country by car. The couple tested positive of coronavirus on March 3 and were quarantined.

Read: Germany Promises unlimited Credit To Companies Hit By Coronavirus Pandemic

Coronavirus outbreak

The world is scrambling to battle the coronavirus outbreak as the pandemic has claimed more than 5,000 lives globally. The COVID-19 has infected over 1,38,000 people across the world since the disease first broke out in December last year. According to reports, the new coronavirus originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally. Italy on Friday became the second country after China to report more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths.

Read: Amid Coronavirus, Clean Your Apple Products With These Methods To Avoid Damage

As per reports, many countries across the world have put restrictions on non-essential travelling, with some sealing their borders completely. The World Health Organisation had said that 132 countries and territories have reported coronavirus cases so far, of which 55 countries have reported 10 or fewer cases. According to WHO, there are still 77 countries and territories that have not reported any cases of coronavirus.

Read: Japan Approves Bill To Give PM Shinzo Abe Emergency Powers To Tackle Coronavirus

(Image credit: AP)
Expressing the readiness of his government for a floor test in the Assembly, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday accused the BJP of holding 22 Congress MLAs in captivity.

Nath said he will welcome a floor test in the assembly, whose budget session is beginning from March 16, on a date fixed by the speaker.

The chief minister made the statement after calling on Governor Lalji Tandon here, his first meeting since rebellion by a section of Congress MLAs three days ago which pushed his government into crisis.

He also submitted to the governor a three-page letter in which he accused the BJP of being involved in horse- trading and holding the rebel Congress MLAs in captivity.

The opposition BJP has consistently denied the Congress charge of poaching MLAs to topple its government.

The CM-governor meeting at Raj Bhavan, which began around 11 am, lasted for around half an hour.

I wished Governor on the occasion of Holi. Our 22 MLAs are being held captive. I have submitted a letter to him alleging horse-trading by the BJP.

"I have demanded that these MLAs be released immediately. Floor test can be held anytime, Nath told reporters after meeting Tandon.

Naths letter said, As a responsible leader of Indian National Congress, I invite and would welcome a floor test of my government in the forthcoming session of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly already notified from March 16, 2020, on a date fixed by the Speaker.

"This is the minimum a constitutional authority can offer to address the ongoing turmoil."



Nath sought the governor's intervention for release of the captive Congress MLAs.

We request your excellency may use your good office as constitutional Head of the state with the Union Home Minister to ensure the release of MLAs held captive in Bengaluru.

We expect enquiry and investigation in the resignation letters submitted by the BJP allegedly of the captive Congress MLAs and its timely completion, the letter said.

Nath mentioned the sequence of events from the intervening night of March 3-4 to March 10, and claimed there were incidents of horse-trading during this period.

In the first attempt (of horse trading), on 3rd/4th of March 2020, the mid-night drama leading to whisking away the MLAs to Bengaluru is in public domain," he said in the letter.

Post failure of first attempt, the BJP, on March 8, 2020, arranged three chartered aircraft to whisk away 19 MLAs of the Congress to Bengaluru. Since then these 19 MLAs, of who six are cabinet ministers, are incommunicado in the resort arranged by the BJP," the chief minister said.

"Nobody is allowed access and/or any sort of communication with the 19 captive MLAs," he said.

Nath pointed out that senior BJP leaders reached the speakers residence at about 5.50 pm on March 10 to handover 19 resignation letters allegedly of these Congress MLAs.

None of these MLAs were present to tender their resignation, he said.

In a most unusual act and/or conduct, the resignation of 19 Congress MLAs are submitted by leaders of BJP and not by MLAs themselves. This demonstrates the complicity of BJP leaders in entire conspiracy and illegal action, the letter stated.

The CM also mentioned about the incident on Thursday in Bengaluru where MP ministers Jitu Patwari and Lakhan Singh were allegedly manhandled by the police when they reached to meet Congress MLA Manoj Choudhary.

"In these circumstances, the very edifice of democracy is in danger," Nath said in the letter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai, March 13 : The makers of Irrfan Khans "Angrezi Medium" will be re-releasing the film in Kerala, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir -- regions where cinema halls will remain shut till March 31 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

On Thursday, it was announced that cinema halls and schools will be shut in several regions as an effort to prevent the highly-contagious virus from spreading. While the Akshay Kumar-starrer "Sooryavanshi" was immediately postponed, the makers of "Angrezi Medium" went ahead with the release on March 13 despite not being able to play the film in Delhi theatres.

Watch Angrezi Medium Public Review and Rating

" 'Angrezi Medium' has been a journey I shall cherish all my life. The one thing I've learnt from its making is that whatever be the obstacle, if we pour our heart and soul into something, the universe will have our back. As the film now reaches India, we have already recieved unabashed love from Dubai and other international territories. Due to unforeseen circumstances it will however not release in Kerala, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir. We hope for the same affection and support you've been giving us since day one. Our movie will reach these places when the time is right, but rest assured, just like Irrfan said, 'wait for us'," said the film's producer Dinesh Vijan.

Earlier, a statement released by the maker read: " 'Angrezi Medium' opens exceptionally in Dubai! The movie is released as scheduled across India except for - Kerala, Delhi and UT of Jammu & Kashmir. The makers will be releasing the movie in these respective regions once the theatres re-open. The movie has been appreciated by the critics and is sure to fill your hearts with love and laughter."

"Angrezi Medium", revolves around a father-daughter relationship, played out by Irrfan and Radhika Madan. The film also features Deepak Dobriyal, Dimple Kapadia, Ranvir Shorey and Kareena Kapoor Khan. The film is presented by Jio studios and Prem Vijan.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 17:23:35|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has sent a congratulatory message to Hishammuddin Hussein on his assumption of office as Malaysia's foreign minister.

In his message dated Wednesday, Wang said China and Malaysia are traditional friendly neighbors and important cooperative partners.

The bilateral ties have been developing smoothly and achieved remarkable results in the cooperation of jointly building the Belt and Road in particular, Wang said, adding that tangible benefits have been brought to the people of the two countries in this regard.

Wang said he appreciates Hishammuddin's keen interest in China-Malaysia relations and expects to keep close communication with him to jointly promote the bilateral ties and safeguard regional peace and stability.
NEWSAGENTS have called on Bank of Ireland (BoI) to reverse a planned hike in the fees it charges firms for handling cash.

The rise will apply to firms lodging and withdrawing cash and cashing cheques.

BoI's fee hike will hit shops, pubs, restaurants, petrol stations, cafes and other cash-generating businesses hard.

The bank told business current account holders the cost of lodging cash will rise to 80c for every 100 lodged from 60c.

The fee for withdrawing cash will also rise to 80c for every 100 taken out. The fee for exchanging notes will rise from 1.20 per 100 to 1.60.Fees for cashing cheques will also rise.

The changes mean it will cost a business 8 to lodge 1,000 in notes and 80 to lodge 10,000 from May - and even more to lodge coins.

The Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association (CSNA) wants the bank to row back on the decision immediately.

Bank of Ireland had been preparing to introduce the new fees from May 18, but the outbreak of the coronavirus has meant a decision on when to implement the new charges is now under review.

CSNA, which is Ireland's largest independent retailer body, representing more than 1,500 convenience store owners, newsagents and forecourt operators, said it was outraged at the plans to increase cash handling fees by 33pc for commercial customers.

Chief executive of CSNA Vincent Jennings said: "This price hike will have a negative effect on all Irish retailers and CSNA is calling on Bank of Ireland to reverse this immediately."

He said that the proposed increases will put a huge strain on retailers.
Patna, March 13 : The Patna Medical College and Hospital here has cancelled the leave of all its doctors and other staff in view of the coronavirus scare across the country.

The medical staff has been asked to remain on an alert mode.

Though no coronavirus case has been reported in Bihar so far, one suspected case is admitted in the third-floor isolation ward of the PIMS, the largest health facility in the eastern state.

The suspected patient, hailing from Samastipur district, had arrived here from Dubai a few days ago, it was learnt.

The state government has also suspended till further orders the functioning of around 1.5 lakh 'anganwadis' in all districts of Bihar.

The Bihar Startup Enclave, scheduled to be held in the state capital on March 14, too stands cancelled.
Bloomer Tech, a Cambridge, Mass.-based Health technology company, raised $3M in a seed funding round.

The round was led by Material Impact, joined by One Brave Idea and several prominent angels that include John Abele, co-founder of Boston Scientific. Adam Sharkawy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Material Impact and a former cardiovascular healthcare executive, will be serving as Bloomers Chair of the Board.

The company intends to use the funds to expand its pilot program, collect key clinical data and further develop the commercial product and user experience.

Led by Alicia Chong, CEO, Bloomer is tackling the leading cause of death in women with an electrocardiogram device that looks and feels like a bra. By embedding patented, medical-grade fabric sensors and machine learning algorithms into a garment that women wear every day, the company provides users and doctors with access to heart health data. Bloomers patented technology platform leverages over 20 years of evidence-based research showing sex and ethnicity-related differences in the cardiovascular system enabling women, researchers and care providers to learn from each individuals unique physiology and provide data-driven care.

FinSMEs

12/03/2020
MASSES in the Diocese of Killaloe have been suspended until at least March 29 following Government recommendations in relation to the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

In a Pastoral Message, Bishop Fintan Monahan said "following the recommendations of the Government and Public Health Authorities, the Diocese of Killaloe wishes to put measures in place to help ensure the containment of the virus and the protection of the faithful who may be particularly vulnerable at this time. The provisions will have immediate effect and will be followed by all parishes in the Diocese of Killaloe. These provisions will remain in effect until otherwise advised by the Public Health Authorities.

"I am mindful of the concern for the well-being of our communities and the anxiety being felt by members of our families who may be elderly or living with chronic illness. The current situation presents real challenges to us as a community and society. Our first obligation is to the care of our people who may be most vulnerable to the effects of this virus. Guided by the advice of those in the medical community and the public health authorities we are instigating a series of measures to limit some of our activities that involve gatherings of people. This will affect our celebrations of the Sacraments including the Eucharist. I appreciate that many of these measures may be a great challenge to people of faith but our priority is the care and well-being of our brothers and sisters.

Call To Prayer

"I encourage all people of faith to bring the current situation to the heart of their prayer and I invoke the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary on all those who are suffering and on all who care for and love them.

Existing Precautions

"Recommended best practice in relation to hand-hygiene, environmental-hygiene and social distance will continue to be observed. We remind those who are elderly, vulnerable or feeling ill that they are under no obligation to attend religious services.

Open For Prayer

"In challenging times like this people find strength, consolation and hope in prayer. We rediscover the value of traditional prayers such as the Rosary, the Memorare, St Patricks Breastplate etc. Churches will remain open for prayer each day at times to be advised locally.

Public Celebration Of Mass

"In view of the Government statement and the need to avoid indoor public gatherings of more than 100 people, and the difficulty of guaranteeing this in practice, following consultation I have decided as follows:

"All public Masses in this diocese, Sundays and weekdays (with the exception of Funeral Masses and the Celebration of Marriage  see below) are suspended until March 29 or until further notice.

"The obligation to be physically present at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days (including St Patricks Day) is therefore suspended for everybody until further notice.

"Priests will continue to remember the needs of parishioners at Mass celebrated privately.

"The faithful are encouraged to join spiritually in the celebration of Mass, either on parish radio or on web-cam. Parishes that have web-cams include: Kilrush, Roscrea, Ennis, Quin, Nenagh and Shannon.

"Parishioners are also encouraged to pray at home, including especially prayers for the sick, for those who are caring for the sick and for all who are working so hard to protect us.

Confirmations

"With immediate effect, all Confirmations scheduled to take place have been postponed. The re-scheduling of these events will be reviewed after March 29.

Baptisms

"The Irish Bishops Conference has issued guidelines in relation to the celebration of Baptism which will continue to be followed. Only immediate family should attend the celebration of Baptism. People who might be susceptible to severe reactions to the virus should not attend.

Weddings

"It is important that we observe the government guidelines in relation to public gatherings. The recommendation is that no gathering of more than 100 persons take place indoors. Wedding guests should be limited to the Bridal Party and immediate family. Guests are asked to observe the hygiene protocols and observe social distance while in the Church.

Funerals

"We appreciate that a bereavement is a very sensitive time in the life of any family and that the support of friends and neighbours is an integral part of the grieving and healing process. This has involved the tradition of expressing sympathy by attendance at the funeral rites and making physical contact with the bereaved. In the light of the guidelines received we ask that only immediate family and close friends would attend the funeral liturgy, observing the protocols already mentioned. At such a time as this, a thoughtful card or note expressing sympathy might be effective in expressing our solidarity with the bereaved.

Eucharistic Adoration

"Eucharistic Adoration should not be held in confined spaces. People are encouraged to pray before the Blessed Sacrament in the many Churches of the diocese which will remain open for personal prayer.

Meetings

"All non-essential public meetings are suspended pending further review on March 29."
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Two prominent Wisconsin Republicans may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus, including one who may self-quarantine after complaining about there being too much talk of people dying from COVID-19 and not enough about people who have recovered.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, and former Gov. Scott Walker either met or were in close proximity to people who recently tested positive for COVID-19, the virus originating in Wuhan, China that has rapidly spread around the globe.

A Johnson spokesman said the senator, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee, met March 2 with a member of the Spanish parliament who has tested positive for COVID-19.

"Senator Johnson is consulting with doctors about the need to self-quarantine, but he feels healthy and well," spokesman Aaren Johnson said.
Around 40-45 Bangladeshis coming to India through the Akhaura check-post in Tripura on Friday were sent back from the border after they were found to be having fever, cough and difficulty in breathing, amid the coronavirus outbreak, officials said.

All of them had valid travel documents, they said.

"A total of 40-45 Bangladeshis were sent back as they were found to be having fever, running nose, cough and difficulty in breathing. These are the symptoms of the COVID- 19. So, they were sent back," said West Tripura District Surveillance Officer Sangeeta Chakraborty.

Those who were allowed to enter India through the Akhaura Integrated Check Post would be quarantined for 14 days in Tripura, she added.

Chakraborty said those having medical visas were allowed to enter till 5.30 pm only after they passed the thermal scanner test.

Tripura, which is surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides, shares an 856-km-long border with the neighbouring country. It has eight designated check-posts, including the Akhaura ICP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
San Francisco nonprofit Zero Foodprint won the James Beard Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year Award this week. The award is given to an individual or organization whose work has improved the lives of others and benefited society at large.

The goal of Zero Foodprint, run by San Francisco restaurateurs Anthony Myint and Karen Leibowitz (Mission Chinese Food, The Perennial, Commonwealth), is making the whole restaurant industry a part of the solution to the climate crisis by funding farmers healthy soil projects. Last year, Myints work with Zero Foodprint nabbed him the Basque Culinary World Prize, an international honor that celebrates chefs for their work outside the kitchen.

We were really honored and touched because they made it for the organization Zero Foodprint and not just me or some chef doing something, Myint said. It was good validation for the overall work for the organization, especially the good work our colleagues are doing.

For the first time, the James Beard award also comes with a $20,000 prize. Last year, the honor went to Giving Kitchen, and in 2018 to celebrity chef Jose Andres, whose nonprofit feeds people displaced by natural disasters.

A lot of past winners have been doing incredible work for many years, Myint said. In a lot of ways, I feel like our work is really just beginning.

Zero Foodprints work has great accelerated in just a few short years. The nonprofit first got the states attention in 2018 during the Global Climate Action Summit, for leading more than 40 Bay Area restaurants in going carbon neutral for a week.

Last year, Zero Foodprint announced a collaboration with the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the California Air Resources Board to allow restaurants statewide the option of charging diners an additional 1% to help farmers transition to methods that put carbon back in the soil.

Myint called healthy soil a big opportunity  bigger than electric cars and renewable energy.

But how do you help farmers transition relatively quickly and with scale?

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Right now, you have places like Chez Panisse and Zuni sourcing really well and a sandwich shop on the corner buying turkey from Costco, Myint said. No matter what happens in the food system, that sandwich shop is never going to go to the farmers market six days a week.

While Zero Foodprint already works with a number of top restaurants to add the 1% climate charge, the current goal is to have restaurants in an entire city or county institute the charge  with the option for a restaurant to opt out  and that money would go into a fund specifically to help that city or countys farmers transition to carbon-friendly practices.

The whole model is to create an effortless way for restaurants to become part of the solution and make change in the food system  not just make different choices within the same system, he said. My hope is at some point in certain markets, the situation will switch from, What is this charge? to Oh wow, the city is so progressive to be working with local farmers.

An earlier version of this story misstated the year Jose Andres won the award, which was 2018.

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 15:35:44|Editor: xuxin

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SEOUL, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Negotiators from South Korea and the United States will hold talks in Los Angeles next week over the sharing of the upkeep cost for the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.

The seventh round of negotiations for the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA), a South Korea-U.S. accord to share defense cost for about 28,500 U.S. troops stationed here, would be held in the U.S. city on March 17-18.

The latest negotiation was held in Washington D.C. in mid-January.

The Seoul ministry said South Korea will closely consult with the U.S. side to reach a mutually acceptable agreement as rapidly as possible under a basic principle of sharing the upkeep cost at a fair and reasonable level.

The 10th SMA, which was reached in March last year, expired at the end of 2019.

Under the 10th SMA, South Korea paid 1.04 trillion won (about 850 million U.S. dollars) last year for the stationing of U.S. soldiers, up 8.2 percent from the previous year.

The United States reportedly demanded a sharp growth in contribution from the South Korean side for this year's defense cost.

Since 1991, South Korea has shared the upkeep cost for U.S. forces here, including costs for South Korean civilians hired by the USFK, construction of military installations and logistics support.

The USFK said in late February that it issued an advance notice of possible furlough to South Korean employees as the cost-sharing deal remained in deadlock.
These reductions were necessitated by the state being months behind in paying the $15 million in Medicaid funding owed to the Weiss and West Suburban Hospitals," Lehner said in a statement. "The states failure to pay hospitals serving large volumes of Medicaid patients on a timely and adequate basis is severely straining our hospitals at exactly the time we need their support most.
Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], Mar 13 (ANI): Calling Jyotiraditya Scindia a "power-hungry" leader, Chhattisgarh Minister and Congress leader TS Singh Deo on Friday said that if someone joins another party to occupy the top position of the state that he should never become a Chief Minister.



When enquired if Deo has any plans to join the BJP in the future, he quickly said that he would never be able to relate himself with the "ideology" of the party.

"People may make claims but I will never join BJP, even if I get 100 lives I will never associate with that ideology. A person who joins BJP for not being able to become Chief Minister should never become a Chief Minister," he said while speaking to media in Raipur.

"A single person does not remain as captain forever, Kapil Dev got his chance when Gavaskar was there. Currently, Virat Kohli is the captain but in T20 there are different captains. Will Kohli join Pakistan's team if he is not made the captain? This is beyond understanding."

On Wednesday, Scindia joined BJP in New Delhi in the presence of party President JP Nadda. He had resigned from Congress a day earlier after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He will file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections on March 13. (ANI)
Far From Home unveils the first gameplay teaser for their sci-fi, action-survival game coming to Steam Early Access in 2022 and later to consoles.
(Natural News) I am cursed with the Cassandra Complex. It means you can see the future but when you tell people about it, no one believes you.

So over the last year or so, Ive been explaining the arriving future  the events you are seeing unfold now  in a series of podcasts that openly and unambiguously revealed exactly what we are seeing today. Here are just a few of the titles and links to those podcasts posted over the last year and a half:

If people knew what was coming, ALL survival supplies would be wiped out right now (three months ago)

Why the coming COLLAPSE will be far worse in left-wing cities (six months ago)

Bill Gates has a plan for mass genocide on a planetary scale (six months ago)

COLLAPSE is coming: Be prepared to LIVE with LESS (seven months ago)

Modern society is more FRAGILE than you think (eight months ago)

How to survive the global CULLING of the human race (ten months ago)

Your window for PREPAREDNESS is rapidly CLOSING (twelve months ago)

When the SUPPLY LINES crater, how will you survive? (fourteen months ago)

Prediction for 2019: The coming COLLAPSE of Communist China (over fourteen months ago)

CounterThink: The End Game Approaches  Global DEPOPULATION (about 16 months ago)

So now, when we see the stock market plunging 25% and an engineered biological weapon deployed to exterminate the human population, I am not the least bit surprised. In fact, I saw it coming as you can see from the podcast titles above.

And 22 days ago, I posted this last-ditch warning to all, weeks before most Americans had any clue what was coming:

Of course, nobody likes a know-it-all, and thats not my intention here. I only offer this brief history so that you know what Im about to say is grounded in reality and a track record of calling things with an uncanny sense of foresight.

So heres a short list of whats about to occur. Plan accordingly. You can either believe me now or believe me later, but it will be increasingly painful the longer you wait to embrace whats coming:

Events you will see emerging soon

 Amazon will begin shutting down fulfillment warehouses as infections spread through staffers there. Amazon.com order fulfillment will crater. Supply lines of products to many consumers will collapse, especially as certain cities go under lockdown.

 Domestic air travel will be shut down from airports and regions that are being hit the hardest: Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, NYC, Atlanta and Denver. Eventually, all commercial air traffic may be shut down for a while. Expect to see airports start to close within 10 days or sooner.

 Hospitals will be overrun in several US cities, including Seattle and NYC. We are about 3-4 weeks away from those regions becoming Italy in the sense of exploding cases requiring hospitalization. The near-total lack of CDC testing of US patients for the coronavirus is only going to make this situation more disastrous. (It was all done on purpose, of course, to hurt Trump.)

 President Trump will declare a national emergency. He will deploy the military to support US infrastructure (mostly medical infrastructure). The National Guard will be deployed in most large cities across both coasts. Looting and lawlessness will explode in those cities until the Guard comes in to restore order. Los Angeles may become an active domestic war zone.

 More heads of state will be confirmed as infected (not just the wife of Justin Trudeau), and this may even include President Trump. A significant percentage of Congress will become infected. Older members of the US Congress / Senate will begin to die from the coronavirus because they are all Big Pharma prostitutes and they will not use vitamin C, spirulina, elderberry or other things to boost their immune systems, so they will die as the whores they became by selling out America to Big Pharma.

 Some banks will begin to fail. Globally. It will become increasingly obvious to many that central banks may have reached their limit of influence on financial markets, and we may be looking at the beginning of the end of the current global system of debt creation. If a certain critical mass of banks fail, the cascading effects become globally catastrophic, and perhaps even fatal. We could be looking at a global reset of the entire finance infrastructure.

 In the aftermath of all this, by the way, America will have a whole new insanely horrible homeless problem as people who currently are barely holding on to rent arrangements or home ownership are clobbered by the economic shutdown. They will end up on the streets. Homelessness will explode in cities across America, coming to smaller towns that never saw it before. Homeless camps will rapidly expand in size and filth, and these camps will harbor mutations of the coronavirus, seeding the rest of the population in an ongoing basis that will make any attempt to permanently snuff out the virus virtually impossible.

 Some smaller cities and towns will erect their own local form of martial law  i.e. local militia control over all traffic in and out. The federal governments failings will lead to a rapid decentralization away from federal resources and increased reliance on local power. In effect, many small towns will attempt to wall themselves off from the rest of collapsing society.

 By the time this is all said and done, no one will have any remaining shred of faith in the CDC, the FDA or the federal government. It could very well be the beginning of the end of the United States of America as we know it something I have repeatedly predicted in my Health Ranger Report podcasts, where I boldly projected that President Trump would be the last president of the USA as we know it.

 All the idiots stocking up on toilet paper and nothing else will soon come to realize if you dont buy food, you wont need toilet paper. People in many cities are right now on the verge of total panic. NYC is already right on the cusp of devolving into widespread panic, looting and crime sprees.

 The stock market carnage has only just begun, yet sheeple will not sell their stocks until they lose a lot more money. Im having conversations with people right now that go something like this:

THEM: Gosh, you were right, the market really plunged! Ive lost about 25%.

ME: Its not too late to sell your overpriced stocks, because the market will probably continue to plunge a lot more before this ends.

THEM: But if I sell now, I will lose 25%. Id rather just hold it and wait for the bounce.

ME: If you dont sell now, you will lose 50%. Why would you want to hold on to something you know is going to continue to lose value?

THEM: Because I dont want to take the loss now.

ME: No losses or gains are realized until you sell the asset. You havent taken a loss until you sell. It seems you would rather sell once you have achieved a much more painful loss. Is that your plan?

THEM: No, I just dont want to turn the paper loss into a real loss.

ME: You are playing mind games with yourself, and in the end you will sell in a panic and lose almost everything

etc.

In other words, sheeple always buy high and sell low. This is why they get financially murdered during market swings. They follow the herd and believe the drivel they hear on Fox News or from Rush Limbaugh. They will finally sell once blood is in the streets and they panic. That will be the LOW of the market. Thats the time for the rest of us to buy. (Smart people buy low and sell high, and they do so without allowing rash emotions to drive their decisions.)

If you refuse to plan for the pandemic, at least plan for your funeral

If you still find yourself believing Rush Limbaugh, or Dr. Drew, or Fox News or other illiterate denialists who continue to somehow peddle the old its just the flu lie, then you should make funeral arrangements for yourself, because you arent likely to survive whats coming.

In about another 6-8 weeks, everything Ive listed above will be considered obvious. Right now, you have advanced warning, so use this warning wisely.

Im not trying to sound arrogant in any of this. I just dont have time to waste on trying to deal politely with stupid people who are already dead. Dont waste time with them. Save your family. Stop trying to convince others. If they dont get it by now, theyre too mentally incapacitated to survive. Be prepared to defend your supplies, by the way, because those are the very same people who will come to loot your food and leave you starving or dead after they realize that you prepared but they failed to.

Remember what Ive always said: The greatest danger in any collapse scenario is the masses of unprepared, desperate people. Thats why we call it the zombie apocalypse.

Youve also heard me say, over and over again, that cities will be the death hubs in any collapse.

Heres todays map from the NYT, in case you were wondering what Ive been referring to. Notice where the outbreaks are occurring? Ask yourself this question right now: How far away do I want to be from these outbreak hubs?

Right now, Idaho is looking pretty damn sweet.

If you want to live, read Pandemic.news. If you prefer to die, listen to any CIA-controlled fake news media outlet, which is basically the entire media.
All government and private schools, colleges and universities where exams are not being held will be closed in Punjab till March 31 following coronavirus outbreak.

Disclosing this, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh said the decision has been taken as a precautionary measure. He clarified that the ongoing school examinations will continue as per schedule.

The state machinery is working round the clock to prevent the coronavirus outbreak and I urge all to avoid crowding at public places and take necessary precautions, the CM tweeted.

The state government has set up helpline number 104 for any health-related information and suggestion. Besides, the national call centre number 011-23978046 and state control room numbers 88720-90029 and 0172-2920074 have also been activated.

Meanwhile, the group of ministers (GoM) formed the CM to monitor day-to-day preparedness to tackle the possibility of virus outbreak met on Friday and announced to launch a statewide awareness drive at mass level to educate the people.

The GoM led by local bodies minister Brahm Mohindra also ordered deputy commissioners not to grant permission for mass gatherings. Religious leaders and dera heads have also requested to postpone the schedule of their congregations.

Mohindra said the mandate of this GoM is to take stock of the situation on day-to-day basis and to ensure the availability of medicines, medical and paramedical staff and setting up of adequate quarantine wards across the state to isolate the suspected Covid-19 cases.

He said the state administrative machinery took immediate action to check the spread of the virus and at present 2,200 quarantine beds are ready across the state. Besides 250 ventilators in private hospitals, 20 in government medical colleges at Amritsar and Patiala have been set up, he said.

The minister said the awareness campaign would be launched in co-ordination with all government departments, Indian Medical Association, social and religious organisations and NGOs to educate the masses to refrain from shaking hands, mass gatherings, religious congregations and to follow the disinfectant practices to keep themselves away from reach of Covid-19.

He said the GoM will review the action taken report on compliance and progress of directions on Monday.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island minister has been indicted on murder charges by Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in the 1980 murder of a 19-year-old woman in East Flatbush.

James Burrus, 63, who, according to Advance records, was the pastor of By Divine Purpose Christian Center in West Brighton as recently as 2017, is accused of strangling Lorraine Snell in late September 1980, Gonzalez said.

A law enforcement source told the Advance/SILive.com only that Burrus currently leads a storefront ministry in West Brighton. The By Divine Purpose Christian Center did not respond to a phone call seeking comment on Thursday afternoon.

My thoughts today are with Lorraine Snells mother, Pearl, who has waited for decades to see her daughters killer brought to justice, said Gonzalez. With this indictment, the result of a thorough reinvestigation of the case and the evidence, including a crucial DNA association, we will now seek to hold the defendant accountable.

Burrus was seen with Snell at around 11 p.m. on Sept. 25, 1980 leaving the Midwood Terrace catering hall located on Flatbush Avenue, where she went to reserve the space for a party for her boyfriend, according to Gonzalez.

The next day, Snells lifeless body was found on the back floor of a station wagon that was parked in the rear of a C-Town grocery store located at 1895 Nostrand Avenue in East Flatbush, Gonzalez said.

The car belonged to the owner of the C-Town supermarket, where Burrus was once employed, according to the DA.

The medical examiner later determined Snells cause of death was strangulation.

Burrus admitted that he saw Snell on that night and his DNA was allegedly positively associated to foreign DNA found under the victims fingernail, Gonzalez explained.

Thank you, Jesus, Pearl Snell, 81, told Pix11. Lorraine finally has her justice.

Burrus was arraigned in Brooklyn supreme court Thursday afternoon before Justice Danny Chun.

He is currently held without bail and is expected to return to court on March 25.

Burrus is currently charged with one count of second-degree murder and could face up to 25 years to life in prison.

A publicly available lawyer representing Burrus was not yet listed as of Thursday night.
Workers at the Songyo Knitwear Factory in Pyongyang, North Korea produce masks for protection against COVID-19 on February 6, 2020.

Residents of North Korea, facing a confusing mix of warnings and an information gag order that has left them uninformed about the COVID-19 epidemic, are ignoring the advice of authorities to wear face masks in public to prevent the spread of the deadly illness, RFA has learned.

As of Friday afternoon, North Korea has still not reported a single confirmed case of coronavirus. The government has, however, taken comprehensive preventative measures, such as cancelling large events, quarantining entire counties, and converting a large hotel in the capital Pyongyang into an isolation center. Experts believe that it is extremely unlikely that North Korea is virus-free.

Sources told RFAs Korean Service March 6 that interest in masks among North Koreans is very low because the government has not been forthcoming with how widely COVID-19 has spread.

These days, quarantine authorities are emphasizing that we should wear masks to prevent the new virus from spreading, but nobody cares about masks, and no one is rushing off to the markets to buy them, a Pyongyang resident told RFA.

The central quarantine agency is saying that the masks will help block the coronavirus, but people are more concerned because food prices have skyrocketed, so not many people are looking for masks, the source said.

The U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) do not recommend that healthy people wear masks or respirators in public to protect themselves from COVID-19, but officials in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan say that they should wear masks in crowded places. Masks worn by the sick can prevent some of the droplets expelled by a cough or sneeze from going airborne.

The source said people in North Korea are not buying masks because they do not know how severe the situation is locally.

This is because the authorities are only emphasizing the risk of the coronavirus. They arent disclosing how the disease is spreading, the number of infected people by region and the number of deaths, the source said.

A second source, a resident of North Hamgyong province, told RFA on March 8 that the reason people lack information about COVID-19 is because of a gag order in affected areas.

In areas where the coronavirus has been spread and people have died, the Central Committee [of the Korean Workers Party] has ordered local residents not to reveal anything about the situation, said the second source.

Residents who think authorities are deliberately covering up the number of patients and deaths are instead stockpiling food and fever reducers instead of spending money on masks.

But once the authorities advised the public to wear masks, they started to appear in the markets as savvy entrepreneurs hoped to cash in, the first source said.

But buying masks would seem to be a luxury for most as the average monthly government salary is less than $5.00.

North Korean masks, which have not been proven to be effective, are traded at 3,000 North Korean won (U.S. $0.37) to 8,000 won ($1.00). Those made in China go for about 7,000-8,000 won, and South Korean masks, known for their high quality, are sold at 12,000 won ($1.50), the first source said.

Residents are not looking to shell out money for the masks despite the advisory.

The residents just dont care about the coronavirus. The authorities have not revealed the exact number of patients and infections even though there seems to be a high number of suspected infections, said the first source.

The common people are having a hard time making a living, so theyre not interested in masks, they only worry about the price of food going up.

The second source said that rather than buying masks, people in North Hamgyong are spending their money on drugs.

The authorities are emphasizing that people wear masks to prevent coronavirus infections, but some residents here are absurdly arguing that ice [the local street name for crystal meth] is more effective, the second source said.

Mask prices are falling in the marketplaces these days. Meanwhile the price of ice is suddenly on the rise as it is a popular belief that meth is a cure-all drug, and can prevent the invasion of the virus and boost immunity in users, said the second source.

Reported by Jieun Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Noida, March 13 : A Delhi resident working in Uttar Pradesh's Noida leather strap manufacturing factory with travel history to China has tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Chief Medical Officer said on Friday.

Gautam Buddha Nagar CMO Anurag Bhargav told IANS, "Yes an employee of the Noida firm has tested positive for COVID-19. He has a travel history of China and France." Bhargav said the person has been sent for quarantine and all the employees of the company has also been put under isolation. A total of 707 people worked in that Noida factory.

He said that the factory has now been shut and health officials were ensuring the entire factory was sanitised.

India witnessed its first coronavirus death in Karnataka, state Health Minister B. Sriramulu on Thursday confirmed that a 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi in the state's northern region died of COVID-19.

The Union Health Ministry on Friday confirmed 75 coronavirus cases till 10 a.m. on its official website. With the Delhi resident now testing positive for the COVID-19, total number of people affected with the coronavirus has now gone up by one more.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Madison Stalker from Below Deck Sailing Yacht wanted to make one thing clear: she is in a good place with the group of Long Island charter guests with the exception of Lenny Michel.

Madison Stalker |Karolina Wojtasik/Bravo

Michel was seen lifting Stalker off her feet against her will. She calmly asked Michel to put her down but he didnt listen. After she was finally returned to the ground, she kept her cool but walked away looking rattled.

An interview with Michel indicated that he thought he and Stalker were in a good place now. But Stalker says that simply isnt true. She shared a screenshot of the story and her own comments.

He says they are fine, she says they are not

In the Newsday article, Michel said Stalker understood he wasnt being inappropriate. I was just having a good time, man, he said, adding they are now friends Were under the same clear understanding. Like, it just is what it was. It wasnt perceived [as inappropriate touching] on either side.

He added, If someone felt they were put in a position where they were completely uncomfortable with somebody, why would they fly out to a state where that person lives to come hang out with them?

Stalker was not amused by Michels comments and wanted to clarify. This article is very misleading. The rest of the boys and I are good now, she wrote on her Instagram story. They apologized, weve talked since. Im a very understanding and forgiving person. Not Lenny. Were not good. Makes my skin crawl to be in the same room as him.

Stalker further clarified

She also shared a message exchange she had with Michel too. He blamed the tequila or just the fact he likes to lift things up and put them down. Stalker wasnt buying it telling him getting drunk wasnt an excuse. He added that at least she didnt slap him. Deplorable, Stalker wrote along with the accompanying screenshot of the message exchange.

Fans were also confused when they saw Stalker, stew Georgia Grobler and deckhand Parker McCown go out with the guests in New York. Grobler and McCown were guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. Stalker sat in the audience.

Stalker shared that guest Dr. Francis Frank Martinis, Graciously had us over for a great dinner and even picked me up from the airport. Tommy planned a lovely lunch at his familys winery. Marshalls just a misunderstood teddy bear, Stalker shared on her Instagram story. She included a playful video from a home where the crew and guests were having fun.

She also responded to a tweet asking why she, Grobler and McCown went to dinner with the guests. People can act differently in front of cameras. Now, add an Olympic sized pools worth of alcohol and bam. Horrible concoction. I told them they were being assholes. Some of them checked themselves and apologized. I had a great weekend with the guys. Really like 5/6, Stalker replied.

Below Deck Sailing Yacht airs on Monday at 9 p.m. / 8 p.m. Central on Bravo.
Three more coronavirus positive cases have been confirmed in Kerala on Friday even as confusion continued over the death of a man admitted to an isolation ward in Kottayam.

Talking to the media, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said an Italian tourist and two others who have travel history to the United Kingdom and UAE had tested positive. He said the condition of 19 infected people was stable. We are trying our best to contain the virus. We have to be more vigilant as more people are expected in coming days, he said.

The CM has lauded the social responsibility of a youth who missed his fathers funeral in Kottayam. Working in Qatar, Lino Abel had rushed to Kerala after hearing the news that his father was serious after a fall from the bed. Arriving at the airport, Abel showed some symptoms of the virus and got himself admitted at the isolation ward. By that time his father died of stroke. Though his fathers body was at the same hospital in Kottayam he could see his fathers funeral only through a video conference.

We really laud his social responsibility and commitment. He put his social responsibility before his personal loss. We really salute him, the CM said. His situation came to light after he posted a message on his social media handle paying rich tribute to his father. His post has gone viral since then.

Meanwhile, a man admitted to an isolation ward in Kottayam died on Friday but state health authorities said he had not tested positive and the exact cause of death will be known only after the final report from the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

The 72-year-old patient was the neighbour of two coronavirus infected patients in Kottayam. He was isolated two days ago after he came in close contact with the two infected people but did not show signs of the disease, said district medical officer A N Sheeja adding that initial examination showed he died of septicaemia.

She said he tested negative at the Alappuzha virology laboratory and they are awaiting test results from the NIV. He had been kept in isolation as a precaution since he had come in contact with his coronavirus-infected neigbours, she said adding his body will be buried as per the World Health Organization norms.

His death comes just a day after the Union Health Ministry confirmed the countrys first coronavirus-linked death in neighbouring Karnataka. The test results, which confirmed that the 76-year-old man who died two days earlier in Kalburgi district was coronavirus positive, had surfaced on Thursday.

Kerala has reported 19 of Indias 81 confirmed coronavirus cases and it was the first to report three cases in the country in January but all three were discharged after they fully recovered. Since the state has a large expatriate population it began an intensive surveillance in January itself but three people who returned from Italy had dodged the health authorities and hid their travel history compounding the states woes. At least eight others got infected through these cases.

A 24-year-old man and his parents had landed at the Cochin International Airport on February 29 and came out of the airport allegedly concealing their travel history. A week later they fell ill and rushed to the isolation ward and later tested positive. By the time, they had contacted hundreds of people in two districts, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam.

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Some seven years ago, to illustrate an article about the international success of the Canada Goose jacket, the Star published a photo of several female workers on the Toronto factory floor of that iconic global brand.

Can you imagine the surprise  and indeed the anger  of one of the women pictured in that 2013 image when she saw it published in the Star this week to illustrate a business column about the need for protection and financial help for vulnerable workers throughout this COVID-19 crisis?

Excuse me, neither did I consent nor was given notice that a photo of me was being used. I appreciate any further information on how you were permitted to make this post of myself and my colleagues, said the woman on reaching out to the Star to express her concerns on seeing a seven-year-old picture of herself published on the Stars website with a column about the coronavirus.

Clearly, this photo was used entirely out of context. This woman and the other women shown in the photo have nothing to do with the current global pandemic. Selecting and publishing this image from the Stars photo archive files to generically illustrate this weeks big news story seems to me unfair to these clearly identifiable  but unnamed  women.

And, to compound that problem, there was no indication to readers that this was a file photo taken in 2013. The photo caption simply referred to workers on the factory floor of the Toronto Canada Goose factory. In failing to provide this necessary context, this was an error of omission.

For me, there are two issues of concern here.

First is the need for newsrooms to take great care in determining the images used to illustrate this global pandemic.

Second are the questions raised by the increasing use of file stock photos to illustrate news stories at a time when photos for publication are chosen by many people throughout the newsroom, not just a dedicated photo editing desk as in past years before the economics of journalism brought cutbacks to editing staff.

Images matter in telling the story of this pandemic. Indeed, as the cliche goes, a picture paints a thousand words. In many cases, we know readers see the image and scan the photo caption without ever reading the article. So, context matters. Being aware of the stereotypes that images can create matters. So, too, does following best practices for image use on all platforms, including social media posts.

This was not the first photo issue we dealt with regarding the Stars COVID-19 coverage. Last weekend, the Star Twitter account tweeted an image of an Asian woman in a mask to illustrate a column about the postponement of the opening of the new James Bond movie because of the coronavirus outbreak.

This is not in line with the best practices for journalists suggested this week by the Asian American Journalists Association and the photo was replaced. We urge media to be mindful of photos, context and word choice surrounding #coronavirus. We warn against usage of images of people wearing face masks without proper context, the AAJA states.

First Draft News, a global non-profit working to support journalists in providing trustworthy journalists, also addressed the issue of image use in its Tips for Reporting Responsibly on COVID-19 issued this week. Avoid stock images that feed stereotypes or cause more panic, it says.

Beyond the need for great responsibility in photo use throughout this current global pandemic, the file photo of the women in the factory  which was subsequently removed from the article  raises more complex questions about the fairness, accuracy and transparency of the Stars increasing use of file stock photography to illustrate news and feature stories.

Is it fair to publish a photo of a person many years after it was taken and for entirely different reasons than it was initially taken? Should identifiable people in such photos be informed  or provide permission  for their photos to be used outside of the context they first agreed to?

Certainly, the Star owns the publishing rights to all the photographs its photographers take, and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get permission to publish these file photos. Still, I have much empathy for any individual who is shocked to see an image of themself published in the Star with a story to which they had no connection whatsoever.

These are the bigger questions the Stars newsroom must grapple with. In the meantime, making clear to readers when an image is a file photo and providing the fullest context of the circumstances and time of that image being taken is the fair and accurate thing to do.
As the world grapples with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the Centre and state governments are constantly engaging in taking all necessary steps to contain the spread of the virus in their respective ways.

Amidst the many moves, the internet is hailing the initiatives of the Kerala government in their efforts to keep its people consistently under their care and making sure they face no dearth of any commodities as many services have been asked to be shut down until further notice.

Recently, a viral image on social media showed how an Anganwadi teacher delivering food from the mid-day meal at a child's home. The image which was taken by Jins Michael and published in Malayala Manorama, shows the little boy staring at his teacher in joy.

The image was shared by journalist Liz Mathew, who took to Twitter to say, "Priceless! This boy is really happy to see his Anganwadi teacher who came to his house with the midday meal stuffs as the schools in Kerala are closed in view of #CoronavirusPandemic!"

Priceless! This boy is really happy to see his Anganwadi teacher who came to his house with the midday meal stuffs as the schools in Kerala are closed in view of #CoronavirusPandemic ! Pic in Malayala Manorama pic.twitter.com/lxOfQTSqMv Liz Mathew (@MathewLiz) March 13, 2020

On Tuesday, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan took to social media to announce that all schools will be shut down, but however food will be delivered to people under concern.

Cabinet Decisions | Fighting #Covid19 State put under high alert All public programs suspended till this 31st Educational institutions of classes up to VII will remain closed No change in exams for classes VIII to X Awareness programmes across the State Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) March 10, 2020

Hailing the government's humane response to the outbreak of the virus, social media took to Liz's post to praise the efforts of the teacher and authorities.

why can't the whole world be Mallu? you all have the best food anyway Kavitha Rao (@kavitharao) March 13, 2020

What a pic and news to bless your TLKuddos to the Kerala Government  mahua dey (@mahuadey20) March 13, 2020

Seriously !! Heartwarming  Puja Ibadat Kaur Williams (@DConquered) March 13, 2020

Kerala is awesome  NAMOs (@kabirazad2017) March 13, 2020

God's own country Achayan Left agnostic (@Biju21141657) March 13, 2020

Keralites are amazing in all possible ways! davidoff! (@JonPositive) March 13, 2020

Meanwhile, Kerala has reported a total of 16 coronavirus cases with 270 people kept under observation across different hospitals in the state.

The government has also released an app named, GOKDirect, that will make sure that people in the state are constantly alerted about the virus through text messages. This initiative is more for people, who do not have proper internet connection, to stay up-to-date with the COVID-19 affairs.
SAO PAULO, March 12 (Reuters) - Brazil's privatization secretary said on Thursday that concerns surrounding the coronavirus have hit government privatization plans.

"The crisis triggered by the coronavirus affects our financial markets and our privatization program," Salim Mattar wrote through his Twitter account.

On Wednesday, Brazilian state-controlled lender Caixa Economica Federal suspended an IPO of its insurance subsidiary, confirming a previous Reuters story.

"Caixa decided to suspend an initial public offering which would raise 15 billion reais ($3.09 billion)," Mattar wrote.

The Brazilian government was planning to sell 150 billion reais of assets this year as part of a plan to reduce its corporate footprint to slim down, combat corruption and generate cash.

($1 = 4.8570 reais) (Reporting by Aluisio Alves; Writing by Carolina Mandl; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Coronavirus shutdown: What is closed and what is open in Karnataka

Unlock-1: SOPs for malls mandates 6-ft distance, face masks; Cinema halls and gaming arcades to remain shut

Mumbai eases lockdown curbs: Malls sans food courts, cinemas, markets can re-open from 9 am to 7 pm

Coronavirus shutdown in Karnataka: Malls, theatres, pubs closed for a week

India

oi-Deepika S

Bengaluru, Mar 13: The Karnataka government has ordered the closure of malls, theatres and pubs for a week throughout throughout the state, in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

The order applies to weddings, conferences, parties like birthdays and engagements, nightclubs, swimming pools, play areas, music festivals, summer camps and sporting events. The order to come in place from tomorrow.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa also issued instructions to stop all kinds of exhibitions, summer camps, conferences, marriage events and birthday parties state-wide for a week.

"We will close all universities for a week in the entire state", he told reporters.

Yediyurappa said the measures were taken in public interest and sought their cooperation.

The Chief Minister said the decision has been arrived at after discussion with medical experts and officials.

On reviewing the situation after a week, the next course of action would be decided, he said.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 13th, 2020

In the wake of the first coronavirus death reported from Kalaburagi district, the district authority had ordered the closure of all anganwadis, schools, other educational institutions, parks, shopping malls for a week.

Earlier on Friday, an employee of Google Bengaluru's office tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total COVID-19 positive cases in Bengaluru to 5.
Indiana State University has won first place in Selective Insurances Collegiate Competition. Second place was claimed by Middle Tennessee University, while Appalachian State University placed third.

The month-long, intensive collegiate competition for risk management and insurance students is designed to help them gain industry knowledge and experience as they prepare for a career in insurance. The competition began in 2018 as a joint initiative of InVEST and the Big I Diversity Task Force and is now being sponsored and managed by Selective Insurance Company of America, an insurance company of Selective Insurance Group Inc. This years competition was launched at the beginning of February and concluded on February 21.

There are so many different facets of the insurance industry, said Chuck Musilli, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Selective Insurance, in a company press release. This competition enabled the students to build their business and financial acumen by gaining valuable insights into key topics impacting the insurance marketplace and learn how their own interests and abilities can be applied to an exciting and fulfilling career in insurance.

The competition uses the Agency Challenge computerized business simulation developed by PriSim, a provider of customized, computerized business simulation games and management simulation training, to allow each team to run its own virtual insurance agency.

The team of six students from Indiana State University (ISU) placed first in the competition for their strategic planning and decision making in running virtual insurance agencies in a computer simulated environment, beating out six other college teams. The team was comprised of juniors and seniors in the Insurance and Risk Management Program at ISUs Scott College of Business and included support from leaders at Selective and an agency mentor, Peter Forsee, from ONI Risk Partners in Indianapolis, Indiana. Forsee and the leaders from Selective guided and advised the team as they navigated the challenges of the competition.

The Selective Collegiate Competition offered a unique hands-on learning opportunity for our students to gain real-world knowledge on how to manage an insurance agency while also strengthening their communication and teamwork skills, said Rebecca Wray, director of the Gongaware Center for Insurance and Financial Services at Indiana State Universitys Scott College of Business, in the release. From this experience, the students were exposed to the factors that go into running a successful insurance agency and enhanced their ability to analyze complex financial and personnel scenarios and implement decisions based on their analysis.

Members of the ISU team will visit Selectives corporate office in Branchville, N.J., to present their winning strategy to Selectives executive leadership team, as well as participate in a design-thinking exercise in the companys new innovation lab, LAUNCH.

The second and third place winning teams will be visiting Selectives Southern Regional Offices in Charlotte, N.C., and will also present their strategies to the management team. They will also participate in networking opportunities with regional personnel and local agency mentors and learn more about insurance career opportunities from a carrier perspective.

The academic institutions participating in Selectives Collegiate Competition included: Appalachian State University, Howard University, Indiana State University, Illinois State University, Middle Tennessee State University, Temple University and University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

Source: Selective Insurance Company of America

Topics Education Universities Indiana
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohio casinos and racinos remained open Friday, though it is uncertain whether that would change as a result of the governors order a day earlier to ban most gatherings of 100 or more people over concern of the spread of coronavirus.

See update: Ohio casinos, racinos ordered closed, unless they keep employee/guest count under 100. MGM Northfield Park and Hollywood Casino Columbus among first to close.

We are working in conjunction with the governors office to determine the impact of the directive on casino operations, said Jessica Franks, spokeswoman for the Ohio Casino Control Commission, which regulates Ohios four casinos in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo.

Franks said she could not speak to plans specific to each casino.

But the JACK Cleveland Casino remained open Friday, as were the two racinos in the Clevaland/Akron area - MGM Northfield Park and JACK Thistledown Racino.

A spokeswoman for the Ohio Lottery Commission, which overseas Ohios racinos, said all seven racinos across the state remained open Friday.

MGM Resorts said earlier this week that it would temporarily close buffets at its Las Vegas properties - ARIA, Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Luxor and Excalibur - on Sunday, but have not announced any such decision for Northfield Park.

The gambling industry in Ohio was off to a fast start for the year, with gambling revenue, after paying out winnings, up 14.6% to $338.9 million for January and February over the same point in 2019.

Read previous stories

MetroHealth creates hotline for coronavirus questions; should you seek medical attention?

MetroHealth Dr. Amy Ray offers helpful coronavirus advice in video

Why are stores selling out of toilet paper? Empty shelves as people prep for coronavirus

Compiling a COVID-19 coronavirus quarantine prep kit: What you should have on hand at home

The latest on coping with the coronavirus: Friday, March 13
Ideally we want everybody to be moving toward using reusable bags, and there is evidence that demonstrates that a ban on plastic bags and charging for durable bags really does move people to use reusable bags, Lierman said. But grocery stores have the ability to charge if they want to.
Four people were arrested for allegedly killing a 25-year-old man in the national capital after he turned down their offer of free ice-cream, police said on Friday.

Lakshay (27), a student, his elder brother, Karan (29), a sales executive at a car showroom, and friends -- Dhiraj (26), a sales executive and Avinash (27) a shopkeeper were held within four hours of killing Amit Sharma (25), police said.

According to police, Lakshay, a student of Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College in Meerut, had recently cleared his MBBS exam and was celebrating at home in Rohini along with Karan, Dhiraj and Avinash on Thursday night.

Later, the group went out for ice-cream and noticed Sharma, his brother-in-law Rahul and a friend Ishant.

Under the influence of alcohol, Lakshay along with his brother and friends offered free ice-cream to Sharma, Rahul and Ishant but they turned down the offer which resulted in an altercation between the two sides.

The group led by Lakshay left but returned soon after and caught Sharma near Sector 3, Rohini. After assaulted him with sticks, they fled the scene, police said.

Sharma, who worked at a lubricant manufacturing unit owned by his father, sustained injuries on his head and was taken to a hospital but the doctors declared him brought dead, they said.

"The eyewitnesses -- Rahul and Ishant noted down the registration numbers of attackers' bikes. Using the information, we caught the four men within four hours of the incident. A case of murder was registered at South Rohini Police Station, " Additional Commissioner of Police (Rohini) S D Mishra said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chicago Board of Elections officials said the combination of early votes and votes by mail was already running ahead of 2016 figures with Saturday, Sunday and Monday  always big days for early voting  still remaining. Vote by mail figures had tripled, the board said. Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough said voters in the countys suburbs were on track to surpass 2016s early vote record. She extended weekend hours at all suburban early voting locations to run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said Friday the state will step in to close schools for six to eight weeks once the spread of the coronavirus in a community cannot be traced to a specific source  which has not yet happened with the 13 confirmed cases.

The tipping point for state officials  when they close schools and cancel large public gatherings -- will be when 1 percent of the states population has the novel coronavirus, Ricketts said at a news conference.

Ricketts said the state has been able to figure out how the individuals contracted it, which has typically been travel-related. In deciding whether to close schools statewide, the governor said other factors also will be considered, such as a spike in flu symptoms but a decrease in positive flu tests.

Omaha Public Schools announced Thursday it was closing, along with other Omaha-area schools, joining seven other districts across the state.

Noem announced South Dakota's emergency order Friday morning as news broke of one new presumptive positive case of coronavirus in McCook County, according to the state Department of Health.

In a press conference, Noem said schools should use this time to "clean their facilities and prepare for the following week."

In discussing when schools will reopen, Noem said, "We will continue to reevaluate, which is what we've been doing all along on all of these decisions."

Rasmussen said the governor's action wasn't anticipated. He is waiting to see how Dakota Valley's school year length may be impacted.

"We are waiting for guidance from the governor on whether her emergency declaration has an impact on school calendars and the end of the school year. Weve been told that information will be forthcoming," Rasmussen said.

Dakota Valley teachers who are on salary will remain being paid.

"For our hourly staff, we are offering opportunities to come in and assist with doing additional cleaning and sanitization. We had increased what we were doing for the normal flu season, but extra hands will help lessen the load," Rasmussen said.
A GREEN Party councillor has criticised the number of buy-to-rent apartments in a planned housing development in the city.

City East councillor Sean Hartigan was speaking after members received a presentation of the proposed Pa Healy Road housing development, which could see almost 450 homes constructed along the Canal Bank.

In plans exclusively revealed by the Limerick Leader, Revington Developments has sought planning permission to build 442 units, comprising 363 build-to-rent apartments in a mix of studio, one bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

There will also be 61 student apartments in a mix of two, three and four bedroom apartments, totalling 189 student bed spaces.

And as part of the proposal, 18 dwelling homes will be constructed, according to the plans which were shown to members of the metropolitan district this week.

But Cllr Sean Hartigan feels the buy-to-rent element of the plans will lock any young couple out of owning their own home.

Id have serious reservations around the build-to-rent scheme, he said.

This will take away peoples chances to own their own homes. A site like this is an area where the council should be building public homes.

And he warned that many of the apartments will lie idle, with an institutional landlord only letting them out if they can extract the maximum value from them.

Cllr Hartigan also warned that the site is challenging, as it contains contaminated soil and is also a known habitat for otters.

Cllr Kieran OHanlon expressed concerns around the traffic on the site, pointing out that vehicle use on the Pa Healy Road is already high.

Lots of students will also be using the canal and walkway. Unfortunately we are without a cycle-way and footpath, he noted.

Planning official Stephane Duclot said that 10% of the homes will be designated as social housing.
At a time of near-record wealth concentration, more than twice as many young Americans say the existence of billionaires is bad for society as those who say it is good.

According to the Pew Research Center, 39% of adults younger than 30 support the view that people whose personal fortunes exceed $1 billion "is a bad thing," while 16% say billionaires are good for society.

It's worth noting, however, that a plurality of young Americans - 45% - profess indifference either way.

These attitudes were likely sharpened by the Democratic presidential campaign, which at one point pitted a multibillionaire (Mike Bloomberg) against a socialist senator who says that billionaires shouldn't exist (Bernie Sanders) for the right to challenge the billionaire in the White House come November.

"The recent reigning conventional wisdom over the last several decades of what I call the 'Age of Capital' is that [billionaires] are 'up there' because they are smarter than us," said Anand Giridharadas, author of "Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World." But the Pew data, he says, suggest that young Americans are concluding that billionaires have amassed their wealth "through their rigging of the tax code, through legal political bribery, through their tax avoidance in shelters like the Cayman Islands, and through lobbying for public policy that benefits them privately."

The financial situation of young Americans also explains some of their suspicions toward the ultra-wealthy. In 2016, the median household headed by a person younger than 35 had a net worth of about $11,000, which is lower, in real terms, than the net worth of a comparable younger generation in the 1980s. Those smaller nest eggs are due, in part, to things like massive student loan debt owed to the people and institutions at the opposite end of the financial spectrum.

"The billionaire class is 'up there' because they are standing on our backs pinning us down," Giridharadas said.

Meanwhile, Americans 30 to 49 years old are slightly more likely to say billionaires are bad (24%) than good (20%). Among respondents 50 and older, just 15% say billionaires are a bad thing.

It might have been easy for baby boomers to see themselves as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires," coming into adulthood as they did during an era of relatively high wages and cheap expenses. But millennials appear to be more cynical about wealth creation, graduating as they have with five-digit student loan debt into a labor force where bosses are often more concerned with shareholder profits than living wages.

The survey also shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans now say that rich people are rich because "they have had more advantages in life." That's up considerably since 2017 and 2018. Just 33% say personal wealth is attributable to working harder.

Again, it's hard not to see the effects of the Democratic presidential race - with its emphasis on inequality and wealth accumulation - at work in these numbers. Even among Republicans, the share pointing to life advantages as a driver of wealth has increased by more than 10 points since 2018. Today, 45% of Republicans agree with that statement.

"Bernie Sanders taught a lot of people [about wealth inequality], including people who did not vote for him," Giridharadas said.

Other public opinion data show high levels of support for redistributive policies and ideas, even among traditionally business-friendly Republican voters. Last year a New York Times survey found that 63% of Americans, including 57% of Republicans, favored a wealth tax on multimillionaires.

Sixty-one percent of Americans, including 41% of Republicans, say "there's too much inequality in the country today." Two thirds of Americans say the federal government "should have a lot of responsibility" for reducing inequality. And about half of Republicans say large businesses and corporations bear a lot of responsibility for reducing income and wealth extremes.
The outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus, which was recently labeled a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), has highlighted the longstanding issue of Americas dependence on China for medical supplies.

President Donald Trump is expected to announce a new executive order aimed at ensuring medical supplies and pharmaceuticals are made in America, in response to the spread of the virus.

While a White House spokesperson didnt respond to a request for comment by The Epoch Times about the order, an official statement from Sen. Marco Rubios (R-Fla.) office appeared to confirm its existence, as did media reports.

The announcement comes as the Chinese Communist Party-run Global Times published an article saying that China could ban the export of face masks and other medical gear to America which are in acute shortage, over recent actions by the United States to restrict market access to Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, which was founded in 1987 by a former Peoples Liberation Army engineer.

The United States is dramatically dependent on China for medical supplies that include among them masks, scans, prescription drugs, and their ingredients, according to Rosemary Gibson, a senior adviser at the Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute, and the co-author of China RX: Exposing the Risks of Americas Dependence on China for Medicine.

Our dependence is a risk to our national security, she told The Epoch Times. For prescription drugs, 90 percent of the core ingredients, the chemicals, and other ingredients depend on China.

Gibson said the dependence on China is a huge risk because it exposes the lack of availability of certain medicines that are crucially needed in the United States, especially antibiotics. Doctors and nurses could also be at risk if theres a shortage of masks and protective gowns.

Last week, the Trump administration granted exemptions from tariffs on medical products imported from China, which include protective masks and medical gloves.

This is about life and death here, Gibson added. This is about survivability.

The United States is ramping up efforts to quell the spread of the virus, which is now confirmed in over 1,300 people across the country, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. At least 38 people have died from the virus, as of press time.

Rubio praised the administrations expected executive order, a day before chairing a March 12 hearing titled, The Coronavirus and Americas Small Business Supply Chain. He serves as chairman of the Senates Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

The coronavirus outbreak has been a wake-up call that we must combat Americas supply chain vulnerabilities and dependence on China in critical sectors of our economy, Rubio said in a statement.

The Trump Administrations forthcoming Executive Order is a very strong first step toward increasing domestic production by enforcing Buy American requirements for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, as well as fast-tracking FDA approval of critical products impacted by the coronavirus outbreaks strain on the supply chain.

Gibson said the reliance on China for medical supplies stems from the communist regimes engagement in a strategy of illegal trade practices to fix prices to dump products [and] medicines on the global market at below-market prices.

They subsidized their domestic companies, they dont want to import our products and so that has driven out western companies, she said. Its not just lower costs, its market manipulation.

Details of what the executive order would entail remain unclear. Trump announced late on March 11 that the United States will impose a 30-day travel ban on travelers from Europe amid coronavirus concerns, with exemptions for the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Robert J. Bunker, adjunct research professor at the U.S. Army War Colleges Strategic Studies Institute, told The Epoch Times it would be a massive strategic mistake for the United States to allow itself to continue to be vulnerable to Chinese pharmaceutical blackmail potentials.

The communist regime could use such leverage for international gains such as further cracking down on Hong Kong or isolating Taiwan by threatening to withhold pharmaceutical deliveries to the United States if its demands are not met, he said via email.

The State Department is also urging Americans to think carefully before traveling outside the country because of the spread of the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. The department advises U.S. citizens to reconsider travel abroad due to the global impact of COVID-19, it said in an updated global health advisory on March 11.

In multiple states, people are also being cautioned against attending major gatherings. Public health officials in California are advising against gatherings of 250, and in New York state, public gatherings of 500 people or more are being banned.

On March 12, Vice President Mike Pence said officials are expecting to see thousands of cases of coronavirus in the United States. Trump also announced on March 11 that he will instruct the Treasury Department to allow individuals and businesses negatively affected by the coronavirus to defer their tax payments beyond the April 15 filing deadline.

From The Epoch Times
Last Wednesday, after a person, who lived near the vicinity of Montgomery County was allegedly the cause of the spread of the coronavirus in the community, Texas announced a public health emergency. The crisis is going to have a significant impact on the economy and the culture of one of the state's biggest cities. As the entire state of Texas faces problems because of the outbreak, over 30 persons have already acquired the virus.

SXSW, or South by Southwest, is a celebration to coincide with the music industry, motion picture and more. The first celebration was in 1987 in Austin. Since then, it has been celebrated by the citizens of Austin every year. This year's SXSW is called off and won't be celebrated due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The city of Texas, San Antonio, which is nearby the Lackland Air Force Base, stakes are similar and has been pushed into the discussion about how to protect its citizens from the outbreak of the virus. Authorities are proceeding to screen the circumstance, yet up until this point, Fiesta is still being anticipated to begin in early April.

Erik Walsh, the City Manager, stated that the Fiesta is a few weeks away, and most likely is actually too early to settle on any significant choices like that.

Coordinators declared that they are working with nearby wellbeing authorities to play it safe like giving adequate hand sanitizer to the occasion. A retraction could be destroying. For example, the recent report found that Fiesta bolstered 3,464 full-time-equal nearby employments, prepared a total of thousands of volunteers, contributed $340 million in deals to the neighborhood economy and gathered more than 2 million participants.

Past effects on their main urban communities' economies, these occasions currently hazard their own main concerns. Neither SXSW, the Houston Rodeo nor Fiesta has occasion on particular diseases wiping out protection, which isn't phenomenal for enormous occasions, regardless of whether they have some inclusion to shield against money related debacle.

Garcia stated that most strategies won't spread infections, scourges, pandemics. In any case, there are supports you can buy that will cover that additional piece. He also added that saying this doesn't imply that that that is modest in any way shape or form. Be that as it may, it is without a doubt accessible out there.

In the midst of fright about the pandemic, a yearly oil and gas industry meeting, CERAWeek, set to happen in Houston this week, was dropped. The occasion deployed 5,300 agents, including eminence, CEOs and industry titans from around the world last year. Calling off that occasion, together with the two others in Long Beach and New Orleans, implying a $50 million misfortune for coordinators.

According to J.B. Bird, the laws of the city don't make a difference to the University of Texas at Austin occasions since it is a state establishment, however, the college will gauge a considerable lot of similar components that assume a job in the city's dynamic, representative. Games are so far but still expected to continue, yet a few occasions might be dropped, and the colleges are getting ready to move all classes on the web if COVID-19 cases are affirmed in the area of Austin.

Effectively, Chinese organizations have started endeavoring to summon power Majeure arrangements, with at any rate one prominent dismissal. Be that as it may, it's not satisfactory how generally those assignments will be acknowledged in the United States. Eventually, contested agreements will precede a court to choose.

Meetings have been dropped and deferred in San Antonio and Dallas, as indicated by the urban communities' travel industry offices. Yet, games and shows are still on, until further notice, for the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Symphony.
The recent arrests in Saudi show the US can no longer rein in MBS, and any attempt could backfire on Trump.

In the saga of the Saudi royal familys palace intrigue, it is sometimes difficult to draw a line in the sand between gossip and reality.

The prevailing understanding, however, is that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has arrested potential rivals within the Saudi royal family with apparent consent from his father, King Salman.

MBSs timing and motivation may be debated, but we can be almost certain that one consideration weighed in his calculations: the US factor.

This is not the first time we have heard about MBS seeking to either consolidate or exert power. In a palace coup in June 2017, MBS replaced Mohammed bin Nayef, who, crucially, has deep connections with the Washington establishment, as crown prince and next in line to the throne.

In November 2017, MBS detained members of the royal family, among other Saudi elites, to eliminate and neutralise potential rivals and critics.

Last week, Mohammed bin Nayef and his brother Mohammed bin Nawaf, as well as King Salmans younger brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, were all reportedly arrested.

The USs silence on all of this has once again been deafening.

No longer on parole

Since the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018, MBS steered clear of his prior controversial policies to repair his public image abroad and ease his ascendancy to the throne when the time comes.

He appeared to be a king in the making on parole, keeping a low profile and approving the return of Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz from the UK  a move that was widely seen as a step in the direction of diversifying views in the Saudi royal family and potentially appointing Prince Ahmed, who is the last surviving brother of King Salman, as crown prince once MBS takes over as king.

Prince Ahmed is one of the three members of the Allegiance Council  the body responsible for determining future succession to the throne  who, in 2017, opposed MBS becoming first in line. While in London, he had appeared to publicly oppose MBSs military campaign in Yemen.

Prince Ahmed had previously been given assurances that he would not be detained upon returning to Riyadh.

His arrest last week suggests that MBSs self-imposed parole period has come to an end.

Sending a message to Washington

The reason why MBS has chosen now to remind those concerned at home and abroad that there is only one sheriff in town does not appear to be connected to any imminent takeover from his father, King Salman. The more he gives the impression of consolidating power, the firmer his grip will be on the system of Saudi tribal alliances, which remains loyal to him and is the foundation of his rule and popularity.

However, MBS has recently come under pressure from both Washington and Moscow on issues that could have an effect on Saudi domestic politics.

Last month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent three days in Riyadh to discuss ways to potentially end the Saudi-led war in Yemen and release detained Saudi American citizens, including the Harvard-trained doctor, Walid Fitaihi, who was arrested in November 2017.

President Donald Trumps administration is under pressure from Congress to push towards a peaceful resolution in Yemen, to unveil a US government unclassified report about Khashoggis killing and to release dual Saudi American citizens detained by Riyadh.

But Pompeo returned to the US with no apparent breakthrough and without exerting any public pressure on Riyadh to move in this direction.

This new move by MBS against weakened potential rivals in the Saudi royal family could, therefore, be interpreted as a message to the Washington establishment that he will not be swayed to change his policies.

Riyadh is sensing a shift in Trumps policies, which are now sparking difficult conversations on Yemen and human rights. Furthermore, MBS is keenly observing an increasingly tough tone on the Saudi leadership coming from the Democratic presidential candidates in the lead-up to the US election in November.

As MBS has put all his eggs in Trumps basket, his nightmare scenario might be to deal with the pushback from the Washington establishment if either former Vice President Joe Biden or Senator Bernie Sanders wins the election.

It is not clear whether US officials made direct contact with members of the Saudi royal family before their detention, but MBSs justification for arresting his potential rivals has, interestingly, shifted from corruption, which was the rationale used in 2017, to treason by referencing an alleged coup attempt and some sort of US involvement, as sources have revealed in recent days. MBS distrusts the Washington establishment and it is possible he is concerned that Trumps views may be becoming more closely aligned with it.

We do not know if Saudi security officers loyal to the detained princes have also been arrested, but if they have been, it would reflect an increasing paranoia typical of authoritarian leaders  as if MBS needed to remind everyone abroad that he is the only Saudi interlocutor.

A distraction

This power grab also serves as a distraction from other domestic challenges facing the Saudi leadership which, incidentally, are coming from Moscow. The economic dimension of the Saudi Vision 2030, which was announced in April 2016 to reduce the countrys dependence on oil and develop public sector services, has hit a challenging deadlock.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected a proposal by OPEC to cut 1.5 million barrels per day of production aimed at supporting oil prices, which has increased energy tensions in a global market already under stress since the coronavirus outbreak.

Putin partially appears to be retaliating against the Trump administrations decision last month to impose sanctions on Russian oil giant Rosneft for transporting Venezuelan oil.

This energy war between Moscow and Riyadh could, in the long run, negatively affect the American stock market and US energy companies, as well as change Saudi Arabias regional and domestic priorities.

MBS might not be interested in having this rather public conversation about the impact on the oil market since a decrease in oil revenues might mean halting or delaying some of the economic and investment activities in the Saudi Vision 2030, so the arrests could serve as a useful distraction.

Incidentally, both the arrests and the Russian rejection of the OPEC offer occurred on the same day  March 6  as if these Saudi princes are being held hostage until this oil price war is over.

The US has traditionally been involved in the Saudi royal familys palace intrigue out of concerns about the House of Sauds impact on the stability of the global oil market.

As the US has moved from being energy dependent to being a competitor of Saudi oil over the past 10 years, the dynamics of this relationship have changed. MBS can now use the steep decline in oil prices as leverage against Trump, which could further complicate the US-Saudi relationship.

If there is an oil price war in the global market  something which could trigger an economic slowdown in the US  American policymakers would be hampered by Washingtons lack of access to what is happening behind the scenes inside the Saudi royal family. Meanwhile, US energy companies are bystanders in the Russian-Saudi oil showdown.

The assumption that the Trump administration is in control or is even particularly aware of the palace intrigue in Riyadh is not accurate. MBS remains in the driving seat and in full control of the country. However, Trump has directly or indirectly emboldened the young Saudi prince to the extent that Washington can no longer rein in MBS without creating a crisis in US-Saudi relations.

Any attempt by the White House to pressure the Saudi crown prince over oil prices or the arrests of US-Saudi dual citizens could backfire at this stage, given the leverage MBS has on Trump, by potentially affecting the US economy in a presidential election year.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Thanks to Coronavirus, everything is canceled  schools, events, parties, concerts, music festivals, film festivals, Broadway, the NBA. I mean, even Disneyland has been shut down. And now, added to the ongoing list is one of the beauty industry's biggest events  BeautyCon, which announced its postponement.

In a recent Instagram post, the BeautyCon team announced that the LA event that was scheduled to take place in August has been rescheduled to December 5 and 6.

Related | Four Women Shaking Up the Beauty Industry





"Due to COVID-19 concerns and the strong recommendations of our brand partners, talent, consumers and public health officials, we have rescheduled BeautyconLA," reads the statement. "While we are optimistic that COVID-19 will be better understood by summer, many of our partners have been impacted by the delays and closures of their partners throughout Asia and other parts of the world."

Since the Coronavirus outbreak, California has cancelled any gatherings of more than 250 people. BeautyCon usually attracts a crowd of over 20,000. New York governor Andrew Cuomo also called for the cancellation of gatherings of more than 500 people at a time. It'll be interesting to see if this decision affects BeautyCon NY, which is still scheduled to take place in October. Meanwhile, BeautyCon Tokyo has been postponed to 2021.

All tickets purchased for BeautyCon LA 2020 will be honoured for the new December 5 and 6 dates.
In Oaxaca, Mexico, dancers in jewel-tone gowns, each balancing a basket of roses on her head, were part of a "calenda" (parade) celebrating a milestone through the historic center of the city. Read more

Sometimes we travel with a sense of urgency because something inside us, over time, has gone dim.

Years ago, thats what drew me to Oaxaca, Mexico.

I lived alone in Oregon, a misty place where it was so rare to find anyone who looked like me that I once chased down a stranger in the grocery store produce section and asked him to lunch because I heard him pronounce mango with a Spanish accent.

Starved for color, I booked a flight to that city in southwestern Mexico that Id heard so much about. I had no way of knowing then just how much Oaxaca (wa-HA-ka) would wrap itself around my life for years to come, starting with the first phone call.

A friend suggested Las Bugambilias, a quaint bed-and-breakfast near the center of town, so I called to make a reservation. The woman on the phone said she was booked solid.

"This time of year," she told me, "you wont find a place anywhere else."

It was in July, a week before La Guelaguetza, Oaxacas biggest fiesta. Stumped, I was about to hang up, but then the woman made an offer unheard of in those pre-Airbnb days:

"If you want, you can stay at my house," she said. "My family will be in Texas. Youll have the place to yourself."

Weeks later, I met Aurora. She was gracious and easygoing. She handed me the keys to her two-story house tucked behind a courtyard. For $20 a night, I spent the week sleeping on her sons twin bed, guarded by his small army of stuffed animals.

The first full day I awoke without plans  no map of the city, no travel guide, no list of top restaurants. I wanted to get to know Oaxaca bit by bit, to let Oaxacans show me their city.

When I found my way to Calle Macedonio Alcala, the main strip, I was mesmerized by the scene: Dozens of Oaxacans in their Sunday best filled the plaza outside Santo Domingo Church. Fathers held hands with their daughters. Boys gathered on the pavement for an intense game of marbles. Women dressed in traditional indigenous huipiles (blouses) and colorful wraparound skirts sat in the shade selling rebozos (shawls) and sombreros.

Suddenly, there was a blast of fireworks. Then, booming live music. Trumpets, trombones, saxophones.

A 12-piece brass band was marching down the cobblestone street. Behind the musicians came two dozen dancers in jewel-tone gowns, each balancing a basket of roses on her head. Behind them, two 10-foot-tall papier-mache puppets carefully maneuvered far above the heads of two ruddy-faced boys.

This must be a major holiday, I thought. Maybe a tribute to Oaxacas most revered saint. I ran up to a trombone player and asked what they were celebrating.

"A little boys birthday," he said. His name was Carlitos, and he had just turned 3.

I soon learned that these elaborate parades, known as calendas, date back centuries. Its how locals celebrate just about every milestone: baptisms, weddings, funerals, divorces, pregnancies, new homes, store openings.

In Mexico, the state of Oaxaca (pop.: 4 million) is the king of fiestas. Year-round, its nearly 600 towns elect mayordomos (fiesta mayors) to host local parties for their patron saint. Many towns compete annually in the states most exclusive event: La Guelaguetza. Thousands of people flood the capital those two weeks to see the regions finest musicians and dancers.

I missed the big show by a couple of days, but there was so much to see that week that I stuck close to the city center. I floated from old churches to shops, museums, cafes, and bookstores. I drank lots of fresh-squeezed jugo verde and got by on street food: $3 enfrijoladas (tortillas drenched in a creamy bean puree) and $4 tlayudas (pizza-size tortillas topped with beans, quesillo, avocado, and salsa.

Every day, I walked to Nieves Oaxaquenas Chaguita, an ice cream stall inside Mercado Benito Juarez, where I diligently tried to tackle the menu of nearly 40 homemade flavors: tequila, cajeta (soft toffee), arroz con leche, passion fruit, leche quemada (burnt milk) and mamey (a sweet, creamy tropical fruit).

Sundowns, I spent in the zocalo, the bustling heart of the city, where every night magicians put on shows, comedians told jokes, and kids ran around tossing giant balloons toward the sky. There were live orchestras, cumbia concerts, and marimba shows. Some nights couples dressed in heels and suits to dance, cheek to cheek).

My trip ended so soon that the next year I returned to celebrate my 30th birthday. My boyfriend, David, and I stayed at a charming bed-and-breakfast called Estancia de Valencia, where owner Lorena Santos became a fast friend.

We focused on exploring Oaxacas renowned food and ventured to nearby towns: Teotitlan del Valle, where weavers make masterful rugs, and San Bartolo Coyotepec, known for black pottery. We also went to Tlacolula, home to one of the oldest indigenous outdoor markets.

David fell in love with the city. As an artist, he was overwhelmed by the colors. He would sneak out before sunrise to photograph locals and chase calendas up the cobblestone paths. One night, we laughed so much after I lost him in the zocalo and he reappeared, moments later, his face painted like a clown.

To us, this trip was much more than a vacation. Oaxaca was warm and inspiring. It embraced us, let us in on precious traditions Oaxacans have nurtured for generations.



For the next few years, I kept the walls of my gray cubicle at work plastered with photos from Oaxaca: the brass bands, dancers, textiles, and flowers from the market. Whenever I met Oaxacans, Id tell them how lucky they were to call such a special place home.

In the summer of 2011, a funny thing happened. David and I got engaged, and we began planning a big farm-style wedding. We had a venue, a priest, a caterer, and a guest list that grew longer each day. My Salvadoran family was huge, and Davids Armenian family was tight-knit and included lots of friends.

The more we thought of the day, the more we realized that this celebration didnt feel at all like us.

One rainy afternoon, as we sat in our tiny apartment swamped by to-do lists, David said: "Lets go to Oaxaca. Lets forget all of this, and just get married in Oaxaca."

The moment he said it, it made absolute sense.

We canceled everything and called Lorena Santos, who had hosted us the year before.

Her family was among the first to start a bed-and-breakfast in Oaxaca. In the 1980s, her mother-in-law, Conchita, turned the beautiful home where shed raised her children into La Casa de Mis Recuerdos, a bed-and-breakfast built around a lush courtyard covered with bougainvillea. I knew that courtyard was where I wanted to get married.

A few minutes into the call, Lorena, a firecracker of a woman who had never planned a wedding, cheerfully volunteered to handle everything.



"Were going to Oaxaca!" I told our families.

"Wa-WHO-kuh?" my soon-to-be mother-in-law asked. It took many of our invitees days just to learn how to say the name. Many of our family members had not traveled in decades. Some had never left the United States, never boarded a plane, or didnt speak Spanish. They were nervous about parachuting into this place.

In March 2012, our wedding party  a motley crew of nearly 50 Salvadorans and Armenians  descended on Oaxaca. We purposely didnt give our guests a map of the city, travel guide, or list of top restaurants. We wanted them to explore the city, bit by bit, on their own.

Within a day, we were amazed to see my aunts happily wandering the Juarez market and my soon-to-be father-in-law comfortably strolling down Alcala with a sombrero on his head and a bottle of mezcal in one hand.

"Oh, Esme," he kept telling me, smiling ear to ear. "I love this place very much."

When the time came to celebrate our wedding calenda, we paraded down the cobblestone path, dancing with the booming brass band and two 10-foot-tall bride and groom puppets.

A waiter came up to me at the end of the fiesta. He carried a pair of red stilettos in one hand and a silk necktie in the other.

We found these in the bushes, senora, he said, smiling.

The tie belonged my husband. The stilettos to one of my many aunts, who, like everyone else, had made the most of the tequila.



Years later, David and I returned to that same courtyard, this time with our first child. It was Christmas and our daughter was 2 years old. She wandered into the shade of the bougainvillea and was immediately mesmerized by the scene.

Conchita was hosting a small gathering. On the ground, she had lovingly created a Nativity scene, something she does every year in painstaking detail. Much like an ancient city, it had tiny trees and rolling hills, a running stream, miniature houses, shepherds, and sheep.

When another visitor grabbed his guitar and broke into song, our daughter smiled.

She wiggled her feet and danced her first dance in Oaxaca.

General information: visitmexico.com/en and search for Oaxaca.
The Pentagon said the strikes targeted five weapons stores used by Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups, including facilities housing arms used in past attacks on U.S.-led coalition troops. But an Iraqi military statement said no paramilitary fighters had been killed.

Three soldiers, two policemen and one civilian were killed, it said. Four soldiers, two policemen, one civilian, and five militiamen were wounded, the military said.
Military officials identified an Owasso man as one of the two American servicemen who died during an enemy engagement at Camp Taji in Iraq.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Marshal D. Roberts, 28, of Owasso, died Wednesday when his unit was engaged by indirect enemy fire at the camp, according to a U.S. Department of Defense news release.

Roberts was assigned to the 219th Engineering Installation Squadron, Oklahoma Air National Guard.

Army Specialist Juan Miguel Mendez Covarrubias, 27, of California, also died during the engagement.

Roberts and Covarrubias were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve at the camp, located about 17 miles north of Baghdad, when the engagement occurred, according to the Department of Defense.

Roberts enlisted in May 2014. He was the first Oklahoma Guardsman killed in action and the 20th Oklahoma Guardsman who has died while deployed overseas since Sept. 11, 2001, according to an Oklahoma Air National Guard news release.

Gov. Kevin Stitt said Oklahomans across the state mourn Roberts death.
Headteachers have demanded to know if exams will go ahead when the coronavirus peaks as a petition urging Boris Johnson to close schools soars to 445,000.

Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Geoff Barton has asked for clarity from the Government on whether GCSEs and A-levels will take place.

He said: 'Parents and pupils are worried about being the victim of something out of their control and are asking, ''Will I get into college or university''?'

But Education Secretary Gavin Williamson replied: 'We're doing everything we can to make sure it's fair for students, we're having regular discussions with Ofqual.'

Concerns have been raised over what students who have had to self isolate will do when exams begin, but there is a system for marking in exceptional circumstances.

And other questions remained today over:

Problems schools face in losing staff and pupils, and potentially having to close;

How revision and exam preparations for GCSEs and A-levels will be affected;

And what this could mean for university admissions if A-levels are cancelled.

Among the possible solutions for pupils if schools close are:

Staff setting work remotely for students if they cannot get into school or it is shut;

Revision packs for pupils which can be taken home or delivered for private study;

Exams being moved back if they cannot start on the current scheduled dates;

Using Google Classroom to help pupils learn and give immediate feedback;

And Ucas potentially extending the date of August 31 by which students have to meet their university offer conditions.

However, there are doubts over whether GCSEs and A-levels could be done outside school, with Mr Williamson saying the 'integrity of the exam system' was 'vital'.

Mr Williamson has also said schools and universities 'shouldn't be closing' as he urged education leaders to follow medical advice amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson arrives at the Cabinet Office in London yesterday

The Education Secretary said teachers were considering how to provide lessons with distance learning technology amid fears the virus will affect schools.

But concerns remain over exams potentially being postponed, with the first GCSEs due to take place on May 5 and oral tests starting even earlier in some schools.

What are the possible solutions to teaching pupils and holding exams if schools shut? Staff could set work remotely for students if they cannot get into school or it is shut. Teachers already set work for pupils if they are ill, but this method could be utilised far more in the coming weeks. Sarah Hopkins, headteacher at Bishop Hedley Catholic High School in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, said: 'I've asked staff to make sure that there is a bank of resources readily available should we be in a position where we have to have enforced closure.' Revision packs for pupils can be taken home or delivered for private study. The packs would be intended to go over content from previous lessons that pupils would already have some understanding of, and help parents work with their children on subject matter. Teachers may also start using Google Classroom to help pupils learn and give immediate feedback. The tool helps teachers manage coursework, create classes, distribute assignments and grade work with feedback. It also lets students and teachers have conversations about work, and helps teachers track pupil progress. There is also the possibility that exams themselves could be moved back, with the first GCSEs due to begin on May 5  with foreign language oral exams beginning before then in some schools. However, there are doubts over whether GCSE and A-level exams could be done outside school, with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson saying the 'integrity of the exam system' was 'vital'. Ucas has said it will consider extending the date of August 31 by which students have to meet their university offer conditions. A spokesman said: 'In the past, universities have taken mitigating circumstances into account when assessing applications/ changes to exam results due to events beyond the student's control.' Advertisement

Teaching leaders added that schools would probably authorise pupil absences if concerned parents had made a personal choice to keep their child off lessons.

Mr Williamson said the Government was also working with exam boards, through regulator Ofqual, teaching and schools bodies to make sure there was 'stability' in pupils' education, whatever happens.

He added the Department for Education (DfE) would not be 'penalising' schools if pupils are taken out of lessons by parents concerned about coronavirus.

Amid announcements of cancellations of face-to-face lectures and exams at some universities, he said: 'I would urge any educational establishments, whether a school, a childcare or early years setting, whether it be a college or a university, to actually look at what the medical and scientific advice is.

'And the medical and scientific advice is we shouldn't be closing educational settings at the moment.'

Mr Williamson said he was also discussing a range of measures to 'support children who may be outside of school' as the coronavirus outbreak continues.

The Secretary of State is meeting with the ASCL, the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) and the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) on Monday.

An Ofqual spokesman told MailOnline that its advice was for students to 'continue to prepare for exams and other assessments as normal'.

But it added that it is working closely with exam boards, other regulators and the Department for Education, and have met to 'plan for a range of scenarios'.

Ucas said it would consider extending the date of August 31 by which students have to meet their university offer conditions, if necessary.

A spokesman told MailOnline: 'Students applying through UCAS have until August 31 to meet the academic conditions of their offer, therefore possible delays to the publications of exam results until then should not impact students' places being confirmed.

'If necessary, extensions to this date will be considered in consultation with universities and colleges.

'In the past, universities have taken mitigating circumstances into account when assessing applications/ changes to exam results due to events beyond the student's control.'

Boris Johnson has refused to close schools amid the coronavirus pandemic, but advised schools not to take trips abroad

Speaking on the first day of the ASCL conference in Birmingham today, Mr Williamson thanked 1,000 delegates for their 'incredible leadership'.

Afterwards, he said the DfE had already started discussing how schools go about delivering GCSE and A-level exams during the coronavirus outbreak.

Mr Williamson added he was also looking at options to make sure disadvantaged children, currently in receipt of free school meals, continued to get unbroken support in the case of any school's 'temporary closure' or if advice on a full closure changed.

He added it was 'a very rapidly changing situation' but that any changes to current Government policy would be 'communicated early' with teachers.

Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Geoff Barton has asked for clarity from the Government on whether GCSEs and A-levels will take place

Earlier, the ASCL described the announcement yesterday to keep schools open as 'absolutely the right decision'.

ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton also said he felt schools would probably authorise pupil absences, where concerned parents had made a personal choice to keep their child off lessons, likening it to snow-day absences.

However, he added it was likely to be a 'small scale' issue, as the Government's decision, taken together with scientific advice, was 'legitimising children staying in school'.

Asked about how pupils might be supported from home, through distance learning technology, Mr Williamson said: 'At the moment we're doing a lot of work.

'The first thing is making sure schools can continue to provide for vital education service within the school setting, which I think we all agree is the best place for the young people to be able to learn.

A petition, started by Sami Attout, urged Boris Johnson to shut down schools and colleges 'in the coming weeks of as soon as possible', to prevent the spread of Covid19

'We are looking at different ways that we can support children who may be outside of school, for a couple of weeks - making sure they continue to be in a position to be able to learn.

School sends hundreds of pupils home as university lectures finish early Manchester Metropolitan University students received an email on Thursday afternoon detailing plans to finish lectures a week before the end of term. The spring term will finish on April 3, but no lectures, seminars or any contact teaching will take place after March 27. Students have been advised that face-to-face teaching could end even sooner, if a request is made by the government. University bosses say planning is already underway to assess the way they deliver assessments and exams for the summer term. Christ's Hospital school in Horsham also said the current school term would finish at 3pm today for all pupils except those taking public exams this summer. Some 240 pupils from years 11 and 13 will remain at the school with around 660 from the other years being sent home, a spokeswoman said. A spokesperson for the university said the wellbeing of students was a 'top priority'. Durham university is also advising that students on placement in Italy should return home and that large scale conferences and events should be cancelled. Advertisement

'That is something the department is looking at, together with other organisations.

'How we support children who are not in a position to attend school, and how schools are able to deliver it.

'There are pupils that aren't going to be able to attend school but it's really important they continue their education in the best way possible.'

Regarding the possibility of GCSE and A-levels having to be done outside school, he said the 'integrity of the exam system' was 'vital'.

'But we recognise this is a very rapidly changing situation.'

Mr Williamson added: 'This is why we're working with Ofqual, the exam boards, with schools, to ensure that if changes do need to be made they will be communicated early so that teachers and most importantly students are in the best possible place to be able to exceed and excel at these exams.'

He would not be drawn on exactly what issues would be discussed with school chiefs on Monday, but added: 'It will be a very full agenda.'

Teachers at Bishop Hedley Catholic High School in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, told BBC Wales that they were worried about students preparing for GCSEs.

Headteacher Sarah Hopkins said: 'I've asked staff to make sure that there is a bank of resources readily available should we be in a position where we have to have enforced closure.'

'Staff are used to setting work remotely for learners, especially if they've got an illness and they can't get to school, or they're using it for revision purposes for key stage four [GCSE] classes, and also any holiday sessions that learner might need. The learners all have revision packs already.'

Students at LSE received an email alerting them to the dramatic decision

The school already helps pupils learn at home with Google Classroom, which also gives them immediate feedback online.

University of Southampton brings Easter holiday forward by a week A top university today announced it is closing amid coronavirus fears. The University of Southampton brought the Easter holiday forward by a week, cancelling all lectures and seminars from the end of today. It comes after the government increased the national risk level relating to the outbreak from Moderate to High. Senior staff hope the impact on the university's 25,000 students - who will now be off for five weeks - will be kept to a minimum. The university also postponed with immediate effect all international and UK field trips for the next six weeks. In an email to students, vice chancellor Mark Smith, wrote: 'We have made the pragmatic decision to bring forward by one week the end of term to the close of today, Friday 13 March. 'We will keep any impact to the absolute minimum and ensure all students can successfully complete their term's learning.' The Russell Group university has also had to cancel a number of events - including all conferences on campus over Easter. Summer graduations are being postponed until further notices to allow for a longer academic year in the hope students can complete their education. Advertisement

A pupil called Jack, 15, who is preparing for GCSEs this summer, added: 'I'm already stressed enough as it is, and then added on to this they might close the school which could damage learning and it's not the best.

'Some of my friends are panicking... it is very uncertain. The teachers are doing a lot to help. We're learning as much as we can.'

It comes as a petition calling for the PM to send students home nears 500,000 signatures amid the killer virus threat.

The petition, started by Sami Attout, urges the PM to shut down campuses 'in the coming weeks or as soon as possible', to prevent the spread of Covid19.

It comes as the official number of cases in the UK today reached 798, with 10 deaths.

But the Government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said the true number was probably up to 10,000.

Hundreds of thousands of worried parents are demanding MPs step up measures to allow them to take their children out of school.

The PM has held off the drastic measure - which has been enforced across Europe - saying washing hands for 20 seconds remains the most important step.

The petition has garnered more than 440,000 signatures, surging past the 100,000 needed to secure a debate in Parliament.

It states: 'We would like the government to at least consider closing schools/colleges down in the coming weeks or as soon as possible, in addition to taking necessary actions to prevent further spread.

'We would like the Government or Parliament to enforce this action due to the growing fear among parents and students that attend school.

Chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty said children appear to have a milder response to the virus compared to adults

'The ability to focus or concentrate is affected in addition to the growing fears of the Coronavirus.

'In our view, the government and health officials around the world are more ''reactive'' rather than ''proactive''.

'This will result in more spread as time is given for the virus to do so. We hope to come to an agreement as soon as possible in a timely manner.'

School leaders fear students' GCSEs will overlap with the predicted peak of the coronavirus in the UK.

The ASCL said its members are answering tough questions from anxious parents.

The Department for Education in England has set up a Covid19 hotline for school staff, while exam regulators urged them to continue preparations for tests.

Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said you cannot expect children not to come into contact with each other for 16 weeks

Yet major universities have taken precautions, with the London School of Economics saying all teaching, taught exams and other assessments will be moved online for the rest of the academic year.

A university spokesman said: 'These actions are taken as a precaution and to provide clarity and reassurance to the LSE community in exceptional circumstances.

Secondary school is closed after positive coronavirus test A secondary school was closed today after an individual tested positive for coronavirus. South Lanarkshire Council and NHS Lanarkshire chose to close Lanark Grammar School 'as a precautionary measure'. The local public health team were contacting staff and parents to inform them of the decision and plan to reopen the school on Monday. The individual is self-isolating at home and was said to be 'giving no cause for concern'. Dr John Logan, NHS Lanarkshire consultant in public health medicine, said: 'We would like to reassure all staff and parents that the risk of contracting coronavirus from this individual is very low. 'Our public health team is in the process of identifying and contacting the limited number of people who were in very close contact with the confirmed case and issuing public health advice. 'We want to reassure these teachers and parents that they should follow the most up-to-date healthcare advice, which can be found on the NHS Inform website. We are working towards reopening the school on Monday.' Tony McDaid, executive director for education at South Lanarkshire Council, said: 'As soon as we were notified of this matter we... agreed that to close temporarily as a precaution would be the most appropriate step to take. We will keep all parents, staff and teachers updated during this period.' Advertisement

'The LSE campus and halls of residence will remain open. Guidance from Public Health England maintains that there is presently low risk for LSE and that buildings, services and facilities can run as usual.

'We will take any additional necessary steps, such as a campus closure, if we are advised to do so in the future.'

Durham University previously announced classroom teaching, including small groups and one-on-one meetings, will cease from March 16.

The university and its library will remain open, but all lessons will be delivered online as much as possible.

Manchester Metropolitan University said it will end in-person teaching from March 27, for the final week of term.

Northumbria University have asked all academic staff to change the format and delivery of their teaching from Monday, when classroom teaching of all forms will cease.

Students have been advised they can leave the university a week early and participate in classes remotely for the final week of term.

A lecturer in organic chemistry at the University of Lancaster tweeted this morning: 'All classroom teaching at Lancaster University suspended from next week due to the coronavirus. Good decision in my opinion.'

The University of Glasgow has cancelled all field trips, both in the UK and international, in a bid to prioritise preparations for online teaching after the Easter break.

Imperial College will remain open but is encouraging students with weakened immune systems, or other conditions, to work remotely after speaking to an academic adviser.

Meanwhile Michelle O'Neill, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, has urged the immediate closure of schools and colleges to slow coronavirus,.

The Sinn Fein member said: 'People are rightly concerned about the impacts on their families and their children and as a parent, I share those concerns and I have been contacted by many parents who did not send their children to school this morning.

'To protect the public, schools and colleges should now be closed. There has been contradictory medical evidence and in that context my view is that we should err on the side of caution.'

The Prime Minister yesterday faced a growing backlash after he refused to shut schools across the country as the coronavirus pandemic gripped the public.

A number of other countries such as Ireland, Austria, Turkey and Norway have taken drastic measures to stymie the spread of the disease, including closing schools, colleges and childcare facilities.

But the Prime Minister and his chief medical advisers decided to hold back these responses in an effort to delay the peak of the 'worst public health crisis for a generation', and instead recommended only stopping school trips abroad.

He outlined his plan in a press conference on Thursday, advising people to avoid cruises, school trips, and to stay at home for seven days if they notice any mild symptoms.

One of his advisors also said it was unreasonable to expect children to remain isolated for up to 16 weeks.

Mr Johnson said: 'We advise all those over 70 with serious medical conditions against going on cruises and we advise against international school trips.

'At some point in the next few weeks we are likely to go further.'

Despite the warnings, Mr Johnson said the UK would not close schools yet. He said: 'The scientific advice is that this could do more harm than good.

'But we are keeping this under review and this could change as the disease spreads. Schools should only close if they are specifically advised to do so.'

Chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty later reiterated the Prime Minister's point, saying: 'Fortunately, and this is one silver lining in this particular infection, it looks as if children are affected much less than adults based on the early data we have at the moment.

'Our view is not that they don't get infected, we think they probably do, but they seem to have a much milder disease in general.'

Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance also said schools would have to be closed for up to 16 weeks and it was not realistic to expect children to be cooped up that long.

He said: 'It is true that there is some effect in closing schools but that effect is minimal and actually you would have to do it for 13 to 16 weeks or longer.

'You do not have to be a very advanced mathematician to work out that the chances of keeping children not speaking to each other or playing with each other are zero.'
WASHINGTON - When President Donald Trump announced new travel restrictions on Europe in a prime-time Oval Office address Wednesday, many national-security experts, including some who worked in his White House, declared the move probably would do little to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus already confirmed in 44 states and the District of Columbia.

When he floated a payroll-tax cut to juice the economy as stock markets plummeted, many financial analysts said it would not be enough help for the hourly workers hit hardest by the slowdowns in major industries and the low-income families burdened by the closings of schools.

And as he has repeatedly sought to play down the threat of the virus - calling it "very, very low" in his Wednesday address and emphasizing that the United States has fewer cases than other nations - Trump has gone against the warnings of his administration's medical experts, who have bluntly stated that the numbers are likely to grow significantly.

Trump's response to the global pandemic has represented the most serious crisis of his presidency, one with widespread ramifications for public safety, national prosperity and his own reelection chances. But the solutions his White House has proposed have in many cases fallen short of what experts say has shown promise in China and South Korea, raising alarms that the nation has lost crucial time in meeting the challenge.

The spread of the virus has also left Trump vulnerable to political attacks from rivals such as leading Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who laid out his own plans Thursday and said "the virus laid bare the severe shortcomings of the current administration."

Trump aides have countered that the administration has mounted a robust, all-of-government response to a massive international crisis that has caught the world by surprise. Production of testing kits has been ramped up after initial missteps, and officials have convened round tables to consult key stakeholders, including tourism and service industry executives, private health insurance providers and banking executives.

During a meeting Thursday with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar at the White House, Trump said the administration was considering invoking emergency powers under the Stafford Act that could allow federal officials to tap more resources.

"The United States, because of what I did and what the administration did with China, we have 32 deaths at this point," Trump said, referring to an earlier move limiting flights from China, where the novel coronavirus originated. "Other countries that are smaller countries have many, many deaths. Thirty-two is a lot. Thirty-two is too many. But when you look at the kind of numbers that you're seeing coming out of other countries, it's pretty amazing when you think of it."

By Thursday night, the number of deaths had climbed to 41.

But for Trump, the rapid spread of the illness in the United States since those early steps with China has undermined his chief talking point that he has handled the outbreak with decisive action. More than 1,600 cases have been confirmed in the United States since then, and the numbers are expected to spike further as testing ramps up.

The president's biggest initiative this week - the ban on foreigners coming to the United States from 26 European countries - was one that World Health Organization officials and other leading health experts have warned against, saying it complicates a coordinated global response.

Such bans can cause people to keep their travel surreptitious, making it harder to do crucial contact-tracing of the infected, experts say. It also can choke the supply chain of health workers, expertise and medical supplies. Travel bans, experts also point out, can caused friction, hampering information-sharing and international efforts - as has happened between the United States and China at a time when coordination and transparency has been crucial to fighting the virus.

"It's entirely unwise. First of all, it violates WHO recommendations and treaties that the U.S. has signed on to. But it doesn't even do anything to impact the epidemic," said Lawrence Gostin, a global health law professor at Georgetown University. "Many of the countries in Europe besides Italy have just as many cases or less than the United States. The idea this would reduce transmission here is not based on evidence. The reality is germs don't respect borders."

One federal official involved in the response, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering others in the administration, said the travel ban on Europe was too late and should have been done at the end of February, when cases began surging in Italy.

Tom Bossert, who served as Trump's homeland security adviser, credited the president for a "positive step" in sounding the urgency of the threat during his prime-time address Wednesday. But Bossert, in a tweet, called the travel restrictions of "little value" and a "Poor use of time and energy." He predicted that in two weeks the administration might "regret wasting time."

Another former administration official echoed those thoughts in an interview, saying the White House should have been making sure hospitals had adequate resources and guidelines to make sure they had enough bed space and capacity for an influx of patients.

"They should have a standard playbook on what they should be recommending," said the former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about the administration's response. "They're making this up as they go."

That also seemed true in the case of the White House's other big remedy this week, a proposed payroll-tax cut that the president boasted would offer the public "substantial relief" - a move he hoped would bolster investor confidence to stabilize the free-falling stock market.

In a rare appearance in the White House briefing room Tuesday, Trump told reporters he would present his plan the following day to Republican senators. Employing his flair for showmanship, Trump called the tax cut "a big number," "very major" and "very dramatic."

But Democrats, and some Republicans, have rejected the idea, and some economists have said its impact in stemming losses for ordinary workers amid the coronavirus scare would be applied unevenly and be less effectual than other options.

Brookings Institution fellow Jay Shambaugh said a payroll-tax cut would help higher-wage earners more than lower-income workers and that it would mete out assistance slowly rather than deliver a shorter-term economic jolt that could bolster investor confidence.

"What would really help give the markets confidence would be a policy response that is dealing with the public health issues, as well as dealing with the economic issues," said Shambaugh, who served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration. He called for more money to go to states, which are on the front lines of responding to the crisis, as well as strengthening social safety nets and sending direct payments to the public to boost consumer confidence.

On top of the administration's policy struggles, the president has overseen a disjointed public messaging operation.

Trump initially put Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in charge of an interagency coronavirus task force. But weeks into the crisis, he moved to install Vice President Mike Pence as the leader in a bid to exert more White House control.

That has led to conflicting public guidance and the muzzling of key medical experts. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hold media briefings twice a week, but those often are delayed to allow the White House coronavirus task force to make its own remarks first. Trump has often overridden others with his own remarks; the president announced three policies during his Oval Office address that contained errors and were later cleaned up by his aides.

Trump's insistence early in the crisis that the virus was being contained gave Americans a false sense of security, said Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

"When you have the chief executive and the vice president who clearly say things that are not only scientifically inaccurate, but operationally inaccurate, that everybody can be tested, it's no wonder people are confused and they get a false sense of security," Marrazzo said. She pointed to Pence's announcement March 3 touting a new policy allowing "any American" to be tested for the novel coronavirus with a doctor's order. That has created tremendous confusion among doctors and clinicians at hospitals.

To some observers, the chaotic messaging has been perhaps the most damaging response of all. One HHS official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter frankly, noted that when the coronavirus task force has its daily briefings, the officials are huddled close together in the White House briefing room - a visual image that Trump sees as a show of force but one that conflicts with the CDC's guidance on social distancing to limit the spread of the illness.

"They would all be considered close contacts if one of them was actually sick," the official said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Yasmeen Abutaleb and Jeff Stein contributed to this report.
Family drama is difficult and is likely something that just about everyone has experienced at one time or another. For the royal family, this drama is even harder considering as to how they are usually going through it in front of the entire world.

Now that Princess Beatrice recently became engaged, royal fans around the world are looking forward to the next royal wedding. We recently found out that despite their exit from the royal family, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry have been invited to attend the event.

While this may have been expected, considering how Prince Harry and Princess Beatrice are first cousins, it does raise a few questions. Here is why royal fans believe that Prince Harrys relationship with Princess Beatrice is complicated.

Both are grandchildren of Queen Elizabeth

Prince Harry | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

As we know, Prince Harry is the son of Prince Charles, who is next in line to become the ruling monarch of Great Britain. Princess Beatrices father is Prince Charles younger brother, Prince Andrew, making them both grandchildren of Queen Elizabeth.

Although they are cousins, one of the major differences is that, until the spring of 2020, Prince Harry is a senior royal, while Beatrice is not. Even so, Prince Harry and Princess Beatrice spent time together as children.

Naturally, Princess was also a guest at Prince Harrys wedding to Meghan. The two of them have appeared at many important events together, and have been photographed numerous times making appearances with the rest of the royals on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Meghan and Prince Harry recently made a snub toward Prince Beatrice and her sister

Things have been changing quite a bit in the royal family, and now that Megxit is almost final, things are getting even more intense. So, what exactly happened? Well, according to MSN, Meghan and Prince Harry made a recent statement that may have been a dig at the York sisters: Prince Beatrice and her younger sister, Princess Eugenie.

According to The Sun, the statement, which was focused on Megxit, royal duties, and the fact that Meghan and Prince Harry will have a 12-month review period, referenced other royals, and many believe that they were referring to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

It is pretty well-known that Meghan and Prince Harry feel that they are being treated differently, and it may appear that they are taking out their frustration on other members of the royal family.

Royal fans believe that Prince Harrys relationship with Princess Beatrice is complicated

Most people will agree that relationships with cousins are some of the best that anyone could ever have in life, and that is exactly the way it should be for Prince Harry and Princess Beatrice. However, due to some things that happened recently, some fans are believing that their relationship is actually pretty complicated.

Many people remember as to how Princess Beatrices mom, Sarah Ferguson, was invited to Saint Georges Chapel for Meghan and Prince Harrys wedding. But she was not included on the guestlist for the night time reception at Frogmore House, which likely didnt make Princess Beatrice very happy.

Although many fans believe that Prince Harry and Princess Beatrice have always been extremely close, it very well may be that there is some tension between them at this time. It appears to be complicated, to say the least, and we can only imagine that the drama is pretty upsetting.

With all that is currently happening with Megxit, things arent exactly running as smoothly as they usually do, and Page Six reports that there is a possibility that Meghan and Prince Harry may choose not to attend Princess Beatrices upcoming wedding.
Amid the novel Coronavirus breakout, the Health Ministry confirmed that so far 81 positive cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the country. Out of these 81 cases, 3 from Kerala were treated and discharged, in addition, 7 more from Safdarjung have also recovered while 64 cases of the 81 confirmed are of Indian nationals, 16 Italian nationals, and one Canadian national, said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary Health Ministry on Friday.

Speaking to media on Friday, Lav Agarwal said, "It is important to understand that it is not a health emergency. We are trying to support the initiative taken by the state in terms of managing the situation. We have 56 collections centres. We hope we continue to remain in the same state where not many tests are to be done."

READ | Coronavirus Scare: CM Nitish Kumar To Prorogue Bihar Assembly Budget Session From March 17

'1131 people evacuated so far'

Elaborating on the steps taken by the government to rescue citizens stranded abroad, Agarwal said, "So far the government has evacuated 1,131 people including 48 individuals from countries such as Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, United States, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru. Till date, 890 evacuees from these 19 affected countries have been discharged, after 14 days of isolation and having tested negative."

READ | Anna Hazare Urges People To Refrain From Visiting Ralegan-Siddhi Amid Coronavirus Scare

Furthermore, he added, "We have spared no efforts from getting our people back from these Covid-19 affected countries. We have sent scientists, equipment for labs, regents and brought back samples for testing from these countries. So far 1,199 samples have been collected in Iran and brought to India for testing. We have also operated an airforce flight to bring back 58 passengers from Iran on March 10. We are preparing to operate flights to bring back Indians who have tested negative and are coordinating treatment of positive people in Iran as per protocol."

READ | CM Uddhav Declares 'Coronavirus Epidemic In Maharashtra'; Mumbai Malls, Gyms, Cinemas Shut

Coronavirus and precautions to be taken

The coronavirus (CoV) is a novel strain in the large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes. Common symptoms of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties, as per WHO. While there is no vaccine to protect against this family of viruses, WHO has released a list of precautions that must be followed amid the worldwide outbreak of the virus.

Wash your hands frequently

Maintain social distancing

Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth

Practice respiratory hygiene

If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care as soon as possible

Stay informed and follow the advice given by your healthcare provider, stay away from fake news

READ | Karnataka Bans All Large Gatherings Including Marriages For 1 Week Amid COVID19 Scare
[March 13, 2020] Fagerhult Provides a General Market Update and Communication HABO, Sweden, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AB Fagerhult (publ.), ("Fagerhult") have updates regarding several activities in the first quarter. Firstly, regarding the Covid-19 virus, Fagerhult has taken a significant amount of actions. Fagerhult's focus is to protect employees, continue deliver to our customers, and take social/civic responsibility. Fagerhult encourage all employees to avoid close contact with `social distancing' and split-shift working implemented in operations and offices and travel is cancelled. Up to today, Fagerhult see no significant effect as a result and we continue to monitor the situation in all of our markets and follow decisions and recommendations from local authorities and national governments. The underlying business activity is so far not affected by Covid-19 and the organic order intake is positive compared to last year for the first ten week period of the year. This is across many markets and companies. However, so far deliveries are slightly lower than last year and two events affect our earnings in the period. Due to Covid-19, Messe Frankfurt has decided to postpone the Light & Building exhibition, originally scheduled to take place this week, now rescheduled for the autumn. The rescheduled timing does not suit Fagerhult and our participation is cancelled for this year. This results in a one-off additional cost of approximately 20 MSEK in the first quarter. As previously communicated, there has been challenges regarding implementation of a new ERP-system at our recently acquired iGuzzini business in Italy. The challenges have been dealt with and closed out, and this is regarded as an isolated and now corrected event. The situation did, to some extent, affect our earnings in the period. This information is inside information that AB Fagerhult (publ.) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out below, at 14:30 CET on March 13, 2020. Habo March 13, 2020 CONTACT: Disclosures may be submitted by Bodil Sonesson CEO, mobile: +46-72223-7602 e-mail: bodil.sonesson@fagerhult.se Michael Wood CFO, mobile: +46-73-087-46-47 e-mail: michael.wood@fagerhult.se This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/fagerhult/r/fagerhult-provides-a-general-market-update-and-communication,c3058718 The following files are available for download:



https://mb.cision.com/Main/1781/3058718/1210942.pdf Fagerhult, Press release 2020_03_13 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fagerhult-provides-a-general-market-update-and-communication-301022965.html SOURCE Fagerhult

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It's not just Montana universities that are taking coronavirus precautions.

The Office of Public Instruction told K-12 schools to have a plan for continuing classes in the event of a school closure because of a COVID-19 outbreak, through preparing either take-home coursework or online options.

State officials also applied for a waiver from U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow schools with summer food programs to use those to provide grab-and-go meals for kids instead of the usual cafeteria sit-down.

Montana has no coronavirus cases in the state, but harder-hit areas like Seattle, Ohio and Maryland have closed public schools.

School District 2 announced Friday morning that the district was suspending out-of-state travel for student groups, postponing indoor events open to the public, suspending staff travel for training and postponing in-district training events, and barring outside volunteers from district buildings.

That doesn't include barring in-state travel for student activities or calling off outdoor events. Schools will continue to operate "in normal operating procedures, including transportation and food service."

OPI also told schools that the department could waive class time requirements for communities that suffer outbreaks, which would let schools off the hook for penalties or lost funding.

In a Friday update, OPI said that the state has submitted a waiver that could allow children to get school meals in the event of a school closure. An OPI spokesman said that any statewide school closure would be director by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Governor's office.

"The Governors emergency declaration yesterday does not direct school closures at this time but OPI staff are in communication with the Governors Office as the situation evolves," the press release said.

Federal officials also released guidance Thursday. Schools could have the option of getting a free pass if they miss required standardized testing because of an outbreak, and they could get a break on other federal accountability measures like attendance.

Billings Public Schools superintendent Greg Upham said that the district was evaluating actions to prevent the spread of the virus, but hadn't yet finalized its plans. The district is continuing to work with county health officials, he said.

Gov. Steve Bullock, during a press conference about coronavirus, said that there was not talk about closing K-12 schools "as of today, on Thursday."
The Walt Disney Co. has postponed the release of its upcoming China-set live-action movie "Mulan" amid a global spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.



"We are so excited to share this film with the world, but given the current ever-shifting circumstances we are all experiencing, unfortunately, we have to postpone the worldwide release of Mulan for now," director Niki Caro wrote in a statement on the film's official Twitter page on Thursday.

The highly anticipated film was originally scheduled to hit U.S. theaters on March 27 with an early estimate of at least 85 million U.S. dollars in its opening weekend.

"Our hearts are with everyone the world over who is affected by this virus, and we hope that Mulan's fighting spirit will continue to inspire those who are working so hard to keep us all safe," she said.

"Making this film has been one of the most satisfying and exhilarating experiences of my entire career, and I've been so fortunate to be on this journey with some of the best cast and crew in the business, people who truly embody the attributes of Loyal, Brave, and True," the director added.

Without revealing a future release date, Caro said that "I can't wait for the day where we will all get to experience this tale of a girl warrior who became a legend together."

Based on the legend of an ancient Chinese heroine, Hua Mulan, the film is a live action adaptation of Disney's 1998 animated film of the same name.

Mulan, according to the folk legend, lived during a tumultuous era of the Chinese history more than 1,400 years ago. She disguised herself as a man to serve in the army in place of her aged father and fight for the country.

The film stars Liu Yifei as the title role following a year-long global casting, with Gong Li as a powerful and dangerous witch, Donnie Yen as an army commander, and Jet Li as the emperor of China.

In addition to "Mulan," a batch of Hollywood films, including the latest James Bond film "No Time to Die," "Quiet Place 2," and "Peter Rabbit 2," have been reportedly delayed, as the epidemic continues to spread.
Bengaluru: People seen wearing masks as a precautionary measure against Coronavirus, in Bengaluru on March 4, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: PK

Bengaluru, March 13 : City-based real estate major RMZ Corp on Friday confirmed that one Google employee operating from its property tested positive for coronavirus.

"We hereby confirm that an employee of Google, has been tested positive for coronavirus and he was working within the premises of RMZ Infinity," told an RMZ Corp spokesperson to IANS.

She said the tech giant quickly apprised RMZ about the development and both organisations joined forces to fight the virus.

"Google was swift in bringing this to our notice. We have been working very closely with Google and have taken on sanitization and fumigation procedures at RMZ Infinity in the interest of mitigation," said the real estate major's spokesperson.

RMZ said all other offices located in the Infinity building have been apprised of the situation and necessary safety measures being taken.

On Thursday night, Karnataka Health Minister B. Sriramulu confirmed that a 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi died of coronavirus.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
U.S. 231, a major commuter four-lane highway south of Huntsville, will be closed for about 12 months to repair a dramatic landslide beneath the roadways surface.

John Cooper, director of Alabama Department of Transportation, made the announcement Thursday night at a public meeting at Arab High School and described the repair timeline as a working estimate. Cooper said he hoped that it would be completed sooner than a year.

Curtis Vincent, ALDOT engineer for the region, said in a presentation that the plan is for bridges to be built over the damaged area on both the northbound and southbound lanes. The columns supporting the bridge will be built atop solid limestone and remove dependence on the soil where the slide occurred.

Vincent put the estimated cost at about $18 million. The bridges will be about 1,000 feet long -- the length of the damaged section of road. The bridges will be low to the ground and will essentially be dropped into the damaged area with seamless connection to the existing road.

A 3-D rendering of twin bridges proposed on U.S. 231 over the slide area in Morgan County that led to the road being closed last month.

The damaged road, located on the side of Brindlee Mountain in Morgan County and about 7 miles south of Huntsville, closed Feb. 12 after ground shifting under the road opened large cracks so severe that they could not be patched by road crews as they had done in the same area last year.

The highway averages about 15,000 vehicles per day in the area where the repairs are ongoing, according to a traffic count conducted last year by ALDOT.

ALDOT began excavation at the site of the repairs last weekend, a project that will take two months that's needed before repairs can begin. The excavation is intended to remove excess material at the site to reduce weight on the ground that contributed to the slide, ALDOT said.

ALDOT said it has all but eliminated an option to move the roads further up Brindlee Mountain because the landslide would still need repair even after shifting the lanes. The highway is still be a stair-step design with the northbound lane at a slightly higher elevation than the southbound lane on the side of the mountain.

A detour has been in place since the closure on a series of two-lane roads through Morgan County.

Updated today, March 12, 2020, at 7:21 p.m. with new information throughout.
With the coronavirus sending many companies into lockdown, the Kyle & Jackie O Show has been preparing for the worst.

Speaking on the KIIS FM radio program on Friday, Jackie 'O' Henderson revealed their studio experienced a 'scare' after someone in their offices needed to be tested for coronavirus.

Although they ultimately tested negative, the whole ordeal prompted Jackie, 45, and co-host Kyle Sandilands to think about what they'd do if they were put into lockdown.

Making a plan: With the coronavirus sending many companies into lockdown, the Kyle & Jackie O Show has been preparing for the worst. Pictured, hosts Jackie 'O' Henderson and Kyle Sandilands

The show's newsreader, Brooklyn Ross, asked them to come up with a plan, with Kyle, 48, suggesting they should just work from Jackie's house on the beach.

'It's got the ocean view, we can smoke on the balcony...' Kyle explained.

Jackie said while she was happy to host the show from her home in Sydney's Bondi, she'd be enforcing a 'limit' on the number of people who could be there.

Lockdown: Speaking on the KIIS FM radio program on Friday, Jackie 'O' Henderson revealed their studio experienced a 'scare' after someone in their offices needed to be tested for coronavirus

Kyle then rattled off a list of people who would need to come, claiming someone would have to be there to 'make coffees'.

But he said their producer, Adam Price, would need to stay behind in the studio 'in the contagion suit'.

Kyle even volunteered to go over to Jackie's home later in the afternoon with 'a couple of tradie mates' to turn her balcony into a makeshift radio studio.

Home sweet home: The show's newsreader, Brooklyn Ross, asked them to come up with a plan, with Kyle suggesting they should just work from Jackie's house on the beach

Cases: Friday 4pm CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 199 New South Wales: 92 Victoria: 36 Queensland: 35 South Australia: 16 Western Australia: 14 Tasmania: 4 Northern Territory: 1 Australian Capital Territory: 1 DEAD: 3 Advertisement

A nervous Jackie asked how long they would need to be working out of her home, with Kyle immediately responding: 'Six months.'

In an attempt to dissuade him, Jackie said the 'noise' on the balcony might pose a problem, but Kyle insisted it would all be fine.

'There'll be no noise, it's the bloody ocean... The serenity of it all, it'll be beautiful,' he assured her.

For the long haul: A nervous Jackie asked how long they would need to be working out of her home, with Kyle immediately responding: 'Six months'

Outbreak: There have been 194 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, including three people who have died from the virus

On Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced gatherings of over 500 people would be banned starting from Monday.

'We will be advising against organised, non-essential gatherings of persons of 500 people or greater from Monday,' he said in a press conference on Friday.

The number of cases across the nation has soared to 199 - up more than a third in just 24 hours, according to health officials.
Lisa Armstrong has shared a beautiful heartfelt tribute to her late dad to mark ten months since his passing.

The make-up artist, 43, posted the sweet throwback snap on social media Friday of her smiling alongside her father Derek when she was a teenager.

The pair are joined in the picture by mum Linda, who has her arm draped over Lisa's shoulder.

Moving: Lisa Armstrong has shared a beautiful heartfelt tribute to her late dad Derek to mark ten months since his passing

She captioned the photo 'Still feels so unreal...' and used the hashtags '10months' and 'loveyousomuch.'

Lisa has acknowledged that the last few months have been tough following her father losing his battle with cancer aged 71.

On New Year's Eve, she shared a picture of Derek as well as one of her tattoos, writing: 'Always with me and forever in my heart..... #dad #RIP #Theydaythefirstisthehardest #hurls #ohana.'

Tribute: The make-up artist, 43, has acknowledged that the last few months have been tough following her father losing his battle with cancer aged 71

Memories: On New Year's Eve, she shared a picture of Derek as well as one of her tattoos, writing: 'Always with me and forever in my heart.....'

Lisa kept her dad's illness hidden during her public divorce battle with ex-husband Ant McPartlin, and was last seen with Derek on a beach during a break in Los Angeles in July 2018.

It comes at the end of a tormenting two years where Lisa finalised an arrangement with her former partner.

Ant, 44, settled the divorce in January, having split from Lisa in 2018.

Heartbreaking: Lisa Armstrong also shared a touching tribute to her late father Derek via Instagram to mark six months since his death late last year

He reportedly handed their 5 million home in West London over in the settlement, after an 'eight-hour negotiation'. The former-couple also now share custody of their pet Labrador, Hurley.

Ant is said to have offered up more than half of his estimated 50m fortune, but was 'delighted' that the case has come to an end as he can 'move on', two years after announcing their split.

However, as the news broke, Lisa took to Twitter to deny the reports, posting: 'Nope a load of nonsense AGAIN....'

Split: Ant and Lisa finalised their divorce in January following a 12-year marriage (pictured in April 2015)

She went to 'like' tweets that stated, 'No amount of money could ever compensate or what this poor girl has had to endure', and 'Get what you can! You deserve it!'

Another read: 'Terrible treatment of you since you found out when we did! And with a so called friend! Its heartbreaking behaviour.

'I bet the money means nothing in some respects, it certainly can't buy the respect she deserves or make up for the sh***y spineless way he scurried off & tried to silence her.

Over and out! Meanwhile, it's been reported that Lisa wants to sell the house she has won in the divorce

Meanwhile, it's been reported that Lisa wants to sell the house she has won in the divorce.

And according to a source, she is looking to shack up with a pair of girlfriends so she can 'enjoy the single life'.

She is allegedly selling both the house in Chiswick and a further property previously owned by the pair, so she can close her door firmly on the past.

'She and Ant lived in the house for years. It holds a lot of bad memories and now the divorce is being finalised she wants to start again somewhere new.
Michael Corbat, chief executive officer of Citigroup Inc., center, speaks while Brian Moynihan, chief executive officer of Bank of America Corp., second right, and U.S. President Donald Trump listen during a meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, March 11, 2020.

As the coronavirus pandemic paralyzes the country, some companies need billions of dollars to pay the bills.

The country's largest investment banks say they're ready and willing to give it to them. That means the biggest corporate pain won't be felt from a short-term squeeze. It will likely come later.

Leveraged-finance bankers who spoke to CNBC from some of the largest Wall Street banks say stress tests and the capital requirements imposed on them by the Dodd-Frank Act in the fallout of the Great Recession put in place a cash cushion that prepares them well for the massive amount of liquidity companies will soon demand.

Bankruptcy bankers, meantime, expect the bigger carnage to come later, after the impact has been fully absorbed.

The most imminent problem is for travel, leisure and hospitality companies. Airlines and cruises, in particular, have seen their bookings dry up but not the costs of managing and owning their equipment.

Carnival's Princess Cruises on Thursday announced it is suspending operations for two months and will allow its guests with bookings a free refund. United Airlines on Tuesday reported a 70% drop in domestic demand and said it expects to cut May flights by 20% from its original plan.

Already, some companies have begun to tap the well.

Boeing plans to draw down the full amount of a $13.8 billion loan. Wynn Resorts plans to draw down a portion of its $850 million revolving credit line, according to Bloomberg. Hilton Worldwide Holdings is planning to draw down the remaining amount under a $1.75 billion revolving credit line, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday.

Bankers say to expect more such moves in the travel, leisure and energy industries, all of which are facing pressure. There may also be requests from those who supply the airline companies, as they see their own demand dry up.

Notably, General Electric, one of Boeing's biggest suppliers, has a $35 billion revolving facility, according to its latest regulatory documents.

But bankers who spoke to CNBC said they are not concerned about companies overdrawing the well from the country's largest banks.

"This is not a financial crisis," Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat said Wednesday during a meeting at the White House.

"The banks and the financial system are in strong shape and we are here to help."

Beyond the cash cushion they've established for themselves, bankers note that, so far, the credit requests are largely limited to the travel, hospitality and energy industries.

And there are other sources of capital, such as private equity, that continue to wait in the wings. They may offer their liquidity in cash infusions known as private investments in public equity. Private equity firm Silver Lake on Monday struck a deal with Twitter that included a $1 billion investment in the company.

And in times of financial strain, suppliers that have the power to put the squeeze on a struggling company are more willing to offer flexible financial terms than let everything come toppling down at once.

The government, meantime, has weighed its own intervention to help the travel and energy industries. The airline industry, in particular, is considered by bankers and politicians alike a critical U.S. industry.
Im not sure when it came. Im not exactly sure of the time or date or precise location in which the virus entered my body. I dont know how long it was there or when exactly my body started to fight it. All I know is that 67 days after my wife and I packed our bags and left Utah for vacation, I found myself in quarantine on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, at a port in Yokohama, Japan, on Feb. 3; that six days later Id come down with an intense fever and extreme nausea; and that on Valentines Day I would test positive for the new coronavirus.

When we came aboard the cruise, we had already completed the first two months of a vacation that we had dreamed of for several years to celebrate our retirement. Singapore, Cambodia and other parts of Southeast Asia had already been checked off the list. Boarding the Diamond Princess on Jan. 6, we were looking forward to the next leg of the trip: A monthlong cruise followed by four months of exploring Thailand, then traveling to Australia, then hitting another cruise from Sydney to Hawaii.

My wife and I had heard of the coronavirus by the time we boarded the ship  from the news and other passengers  but there werent any major travel warnings or bans at the time for any of our destinations.

As scheduled, we were set to disembark the cruise in Japan on Feb. 4. And ship life on that night before was cheerful and festive; everyone aboard was making plans to return home or go off on other adventures. We were busy meeting with new friends we had met aboard, exchanging phone numbers and email addresses, hoping to stay in contact and offering the usual goodbye hugs and well wishes.
Theres only one topic thats dominated the travel news agenda  and every other news agenda  for the past month. Coronavirus. Covid-19.

What started as something vaguely worrying that we in the West could distance ourselves from  its only affecting travel to mainland China, after all  has wildly escalated, with confirmed cases jumping up by hundreds per day and the entire population of Italy now on lock-down.

The situation is changing at such a pace its hard to keep up with developments, but one things for sure  it marks a near-unprecedented crisis for the travel industry and, in particular, airlines.

Carriers started cutting their routes, tentatively at first, now with the equivalent of a machete, not because of health concerns but because of a huge drop in demand. People are too worried to travel, and that means cancelled bookings, half-empty planes and a massive dent in revenue.

Thats only set to get worse: President Trump has announced a ban on all foreign nationals travelling from the Schengen countries in Europe; the Czech Republic has just closed its borders on citizens from 15 high-risk nations, including the UK.

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

As the travel advisories keep piling in, airline capacity is slashed further. Travellers are staying put. Theyre grounded, just like me  albeit for a very different reason.

Its not something I ever thought Id be saying  its not really something I want to say, when I think of all those cabin crew, all those pilots, all those let-down holidaymakers  but this could be the thing that breaks the aviation industry as we know it. The flying business has always been a precarious, knife-edge one, as weve seen in the case of Monarch, Flybe et al. Throw in a global pandemic (and an economy subsequently in freefall) and, quite honestly, only the strongest, the leanest, the most agile and the most robust of airlines can possibly survive. The rest will surely go the way of Wow Air, Primera and Air Berlin (all of which went bust in the last three years).

It may not be a particularly jolly thought, but it might have one very poignant effect  it could actually put us in a position to lower the number of planes in the sky, the very thing that many activists and scientists argue is vital if were to beat the oncoming climate crisis.

 Coronavirus: Doctor from WHO says we will have to learn to 'accept that we will have to live differently'

As more people than ever inadvertently join me in the flight-free movement, I hope we can all do what we need to do to stay safe, to stop the spread, to self-isolate wherever its necessary. But when we come out the other side of this, I hope all of us are able to truly appreciate the freedom that travel has given us, however we choose to do it. The aviation landscape may have changed by then, but the possibility of packing a bag, picking a place, and heading off somewhere new to discover will not  whether its a staycation or a train across the Channel and beyond.

Its funny to think that, for years, governments and airlines and everyone else in between has been telling us we couldnt reduce the amount we fly: it was impossible, they said. The world is more connected than ever before, they said. Its completely unthinkable that it could change, they said.

Yes, the virus outbreak is terrifying, awful and devastating; but it is also the one thing that has made the unthinkable, thinkable.
The Visva-Bharati university on Tuesday directed all students, except foreign nationals, to immediately vacate their hostel rooms in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The varsity also announced that all classes will be suspended till March 31.

"As per the decision of the competent authorities and in conjunction with the directive of the various bodies of Government of India, all hostels under Visva Bharati (including Patha Bhavan hostels) will remain closed until further orders due to the immediate threat of coronavirus (COVID-19)," said a notification issued by proctor Sankar Majumder.

In another notice, signed by the acting registrar, the varsity said all classes will remain suspended till March 31 and no programme of the varsity will be held and the entire 'ashrama complex' will be completely sealed till further orders.

The authorities also decided that all theory papers of the school certificate examinations, which were scheduled to be held up to March 30, stand cancelled.

"A review of the situation shall be made by the university authority after March 31, 2020," the notification said.

The decisions were taken at a meeting held chaired by vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty in presence of all heads of departments, principals of bhavanas, the proctor and other senior officials of the varsity in compliance with a communication by the University Grants Commission, a source said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Italy's in dire need of help.

Its health care system is collapsing. The coronavirus has put the whole country in quarantine. There are now 15,000 cases, along with 1,018 deaths, the last 24 hours bringing in 188 more. The casualty count is the highest outside China. And it's spreading fast. Until a few days ago, the problem was concentrated in the north. Now, it has spread throughout the whole country.

Anyone with a heart can feel pity and an urge to help them. They need help, bad.

But don't go asking the European Union.

Turns out this open-borders globalist set-up is stiffing the Italians in their hour of need:

First, the EU created the problem by failing to shut down their borders with China, enabling its spread into Italy in the first place. While President Trump was acting swiftly to protect America from the lethal virus, the European Union was saying there was no crisis and calling Trump a xenophobe.

Now, with Italy hit hard based on that hate-Trump 'logic', its medical system is overwhelmed. Its doctors and nurses are exhausted. There's not enough equipment, there's not enough supplies, and the patients keep coming. The Italians are appealing for help with masks, surgical equipment, doctors, anything that will enable them to get through it and save human lives -- and the EU is not giving it.

David Freddoso of the Washington Examiner (hat tip: Instapundit) has a must-read column on how the EU is leaving Italy to fend for itself in its hour of need.

Maurizio Massari, Italys permanent representative to the European Union, wrote an opinion piece for Politico Europe Tuesday evening publicly shaming fellow EU states for their failure to help, and once again asking them to come together. Instead, European countries are banning the exportation of face masks and other medical equipment needed to deal with the crisis. Germany's health minister, quoted by Politico, argued that this was necessary: The market is such at present that masks are not going where [they're most] urgently needed, its where people pay most money for them. This is absurd. First of all, if Germany's government is really so worried about masks not getting where they're needed (as opposed to covering its own backside), they can donate masks to the Italians, can't they? This complaint about profiteering is really just cover for their own fearful selfishness.

Why is that a problem? Because the European Union is supposed to be all about lovey-doviness, nations giving of their surplus to help others in the name of the greater good. Everybody sharing, the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Helping the poor out, putting people first (remember how Angela Merkel 'volunteered' the rest of Europe to take in some of the migrant masses she herself invited in? -- I invite, you pay?) But so much more virtuous than that cowboy regime across the pond.

Freddoso continues:

And it may be perfectly understandable for Germany to want to protect its own national interest in a time of crisis, but it runs counter to the entire concept of the EU that we've been hearing so much about during the debate over Brexit. Member states are supposed to benefit by putting aside their own selfish needs. French President Emmanuel Macron has [called] for an even more united post-Brexit EU. What happened to that? Right now, his government is seizing control of masks throughout France. I haven't seen anything about them ending up in Italy.

And as Freddoso notes, all the Italians are getting is empty EU words, nothing more. So much for all that 'sharing.'

Everyone's a conservative about things they know best.

The hard reality here is that nations act in their own self-interest whether they say so or not. That so much propaganda to the contrary has been mouthed by the European Union in the name of preserving its stateless bureaucracy, and is often believed by local citizens, is a sad story. Up until now, the Italians had to have been confident their association with the EU would help them. Turns out that is a load of hooey, it hasn't. That's reason enough to leave the EU as if the restive nation didn't already have enough such reason. Open borders for disease, closed borders for help with disease, what a bargain. One hopes the Italians will get wise to this and finally pull the plug.

That's not the only thing that's being discredited, though.

Globalism of this EU sort, as it turns out, is absolutely lethal when combined with local socialism.

Italy has socialized medicine, the kind Bernie Sanders seeks to push on America, leaving the country way less prepared to handle the pandemic than countries with free market health care systems.

Italy's central planners didn't plan for enough beds. There's not enough staff. There's no free market to step in and pick up the slack, because it's not allowed. According to this disturbing piece in the Wall Street Journal, there are signs of a medical system failure, the same kind of thing that in previous socialist hellholes, has triggered man-caused famines: the crops were there, the delivery system was disrupted. Now it's a health-care famine for Italy, because, same as Venezuela's oilfields, the cash was spent on today-needs and political crowd pleasers such as "free" stuff, instead of investment in to increase "production" (read: profitability) in the operation itself, the way the private sector does. The net result in Italy is the same result seen in Venezuela and all socialist hellholes: underinvestment, leading to shambling, subpar, shortage-brimming results. Ain't party-elites making all the decisions grand? According to the Journal:

Italy lags other large European countries in provision of acute-care hospital beds, furnishing 2.62 of them per 1,000 residents as of 2016, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In Germany its 6.06 and in France and the Netherlands its 3.15 and 3 respectively. That year, Italy devoted around $913 per capita to inpatient acute and rehabilitative care, compared with $1,338 in France, $1,506 in Germany, and $1,732 in the U.S.

The writer, Joseph Sternberg, notes this:

What accounts for these divergences in health-care resources requires more study than a single newspaper column can provide, but a few early hints emerge. One is the observation that the U.K. and Italy are significantly more dependent on direct government financing of health-care than is France or Germany. Government accounted for 79% of total health-care spending in the U.K. in 2017, according to Eurostat, and 74% in Italy. Germany and France both rely on compulsory insurance schemes with varying degrees of subsidy and government meddling, but outright government expenditure amounts to only 6% of total health spending in Germany and 5% in France. Covid-19 in this sense is a test of how much one trusts central health planners to make wise long-term decisions that boost resilience in the face of unusual dangers.

And with government making all the decisions about 'universal' health care, what happens now is inhuman. According to And with government making all the decisions about 'universal' health care, what happens now is inhuman. According to Paula Bolyard at PJMedia: Health officials in Italy have issued guidelines for rationing care as hospitals there struggle to keep up with the surge of patients infected with the coronavirus. Doctors are being told that they'll likely need to deny care to senior citizens and those with other health conditions as the virus explodes across the nation. Italy has been rocked by the still not-well-understood COVID-29, with more than 1,200 confirmed cases and 827 deathssecond only to Chinaand 16 million residents currently under quarantine. An article published by the Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care translated here by Yascha Mounk) warns that "It may be necessary to establish criteria of access to intensive care not just on the basis of clinical appropriateness but inspired by the most consensual criteria regarding distributive justice and the appropriate allocation of limited health resources." The report goes on to recommend rationing care to certain populations. Imagine paying high taxes for socialist health care all your life only to be told in your hour of need 'too bad, you're too old, no health care for you'? There must be a tremendous sense of helplessness and being cheated. It's enough to make one hope that Italy snaps to attention on what the EU's multilateral globalism combined with socialized medicine, have done for it. At some point, the customer, the human being, has to count. If the Italians can't recognize that and get out of both socialism and the EU, it remains a lesson for the rest of us, as Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other socialist siren-songers promise the world from all their socialization schemes, always done with the best of intentions, and always collapsing into rubble right when it counts. Socialism fails every time it's tried. Wrap it in the European Union and it fails spectacularly.

Image credit: Dany Crash, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 22:45:32|Editor: yan

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LAGOS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China has been successful in reducing its COVID-19 cases by mobilizing the whole country in response to the novel coronavirus, a top Nigerian official said here late Thursday.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, said collective responsibility is required to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the West African country.

Nigerians should adopt the Chinese way of supporting the government, said Ihekweazu, who has been in self-isolation after returning from China recently.

He added that citizens should support the government's response by sharing information from only verified sources, stressing that the present declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic calls for facts, not fear.

Ihekweazu said the government should intensify its efforts of enhancing surveillance at ports and encourage a 14-day quarantine for people coming from countries with confirmed cases.

Maintaining thorough hand washing and respiratory hygiene should become daily habits for Nigerians, not only during outbreaks, said the director-general.

He urged the public to disregard all rumors of new COVID-19 cases in Abuja, the nation's capital, noting that there were only two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country which are being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Lagos.
Donald Trump announced a ban on visitors from Europe to the US

THERE was more carnage on the stock markets yesterday as share in airlines and hotels plunged after President Donald Trump announced that the United States is closing its borders to visitors from most European countries until next month.

Shares in Aer Lingus owner IAG had collapsed more than 13pc by the time markets in the US opened. Ryanair had sank 6.5pc.

Dalata, Ireland's biggest hotel operator that also has operations in the UK, tumbled almost 12pc by mid afternoon. Shares in French hotel operator Accor were 15pc lower. Disney also fell 12pc.

The unprecedented move by the United States to seal its borders amid the coronavirus outbreak is another hammer blow to the world economy as it grapples to contain the impact of the pandemic.

The move is even more drastic than that seen immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001. US airspace reopened to civilian traffic just three days after those events.

The 2010 eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano, saw vast swathes of European airspace closed, but largely open again within eight days.

IAG also owns British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Level. The group's shares would likely have declined even more sharply except for the fact that the UK and Ireland have not yet been hit by the US travel ban.

Shares in Lufthansa, which this week said it's likely to slash its schedules by about 50pc, were down 11.5pc as the afternoon drifted by. Norwegian Air - already trying to get into financial shape even before the crisis - saw its shares plummet as much as 27pc.

Shares in American Airlines had sank 9pc soon after the open in New York, while United tumbled 16pc.

The US ban puts enormous financial pressure on both European and American carriers, as well as a range of businesses from airport operators to duty free shopping firms, retailers and travel agents.

The shake-out in the airline industry as a result of the virus that was predicted by the likes of Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary now looks like it will be rout that will leave the sector bruised and battered for years.

Goodbody Stockbrokers chief economist Dermot O'Leary also pointed out that tourism accounts for 10pc of total employment in Ireland.

He said that while Ireland and the UK are not yet part of the travel ban, "one has to think that they may soon be".

That will have a devastating impact on the tourism sector.

The economist pointed out that though the UK is the most important source of tourists into Ireland, with 4.7m visitors from there, the number from the US has been increasing in recent years. Those US tourists also spend much more.

In 2019, US and Canadian tourists to Ireland spent an average of 701 each here, excluding airfares. That compared to the 549 spent by German tourists and the 258 by those from the UK.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 20:23:56|Editor: zyl

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Eckehard Scharfschwerdt speaks in an interview at his office in Altensteig, a small town 60 km west of Stuttgart, Germany, Feb. 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Zuo Wei)

FRANKFURT, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese calligraphy hangs on the wall of Dr. Eckehard Scharfschwerdt's practice in Altensteig, a small town 60 km west of Stuttgart. It manifests the doctor's bond with the country 7,000 km away.

Scharfschwerdt spent 15 years working in the countryside of southwest China's Yunnan Province, treating patients and training local professionals before returning to Germany in 2016. He received the Friendship Award from the Chinese government in 2017.

A Sinophile doctor, Scharfschwerdt has been closely following the novel coronavirus epidemic in China over the past weeks and has voiced his support for his Chinese peers.

"I am a doctor. I also worked in hospitals. I know they (Chinese medics) are tired and have been working hard. I saw that many young people working in other cities' hospitals went to Wuhan in Hubei Province to help. I admire them," Scharfschwerdt said in fluent Chinese in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Scharfschwerdt was in China when the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic broke out in 2003. Seventeen years have passed, and the Chinese public health system has improved a lot and its response to an epidemic has been faster and better, he said.

Scharfschwerdt remained in frequent contact with his friends in China, many of whom are medical professionals. Over the past weeks, he contacted them on WeChat almost every day and encouraged them, Scharfschwerdt told Xinhua.

Thanks to weeks of epic fighting and hard-working by medical staff, China on March 12 said the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country is over, hours after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

"China has worked hard" to curb the spread of the disease, Scharfschwerdt said, noting that it would put great pressure on the healthcare system of any country should an epidemic of such magnitude break out there.

Over the past weeks, the novel coronavirus has spread quickly to about 40 European countries. Scharfschwerdt said that Europe has won some time by China introducing quarantine and strict containment measures, enabling doctors and researchers to study the virus and understand it more.

Based on the experience of Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, "we must work hard to slow down the spread of the virus or else our medical system will be overwhelmed," he said.

"From China and Italy we can learn that the population most at risk is elderly people and people with chronic diseases, so we must find ways to protect them," Scharfschwerdt said, adding that the nursing home in Altensteig has been closed to visitors.

Cooperation across nations is needed in researching and developing a medicine and vaccine against COVID-19, Scharfschwerdt said, noting that timely release and sharing of authentic data will be key to making international cooperation effective.

Scharfschwerdt has also learned from young people in China that Chinese schools did a good job in providing online courses during the school closures. He said that Germany could rely on the Chinese experience if schools here were to be shut down.

Scharfschwerdt returned to Germany in 2016 but he still visits China twice every year. In the future, he plans to organize training programs in Yunnan and take young people from Germany for visits China to help them "find out that China is a beautiful place and the Chinese people are hospitable," he said.
Weekly briefing: Churches closing over coronavirus, Wash. sex ed, practicing Christians in decline

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We've compiled the top stories of the week. Here's what you need to know:

Coronavirus cases nearing 2,000 in US, churches asked to cancel services

As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases increases in the U.S. and is now approaching 2,000, churches are being asked to cancel worship gatherings to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Some in Washington state, which was hardest hit, already chose to cancel services over the weekend and more megachurches, including Lakewood Church, led by Joel Osteen, in Houston, are going strictly online and suspending services temporarily.

But not all churches are closing. Some in Kentucky plan to hold their regular services though Gov. Andy Beshear urged houses of worship to close. Some say they will be taking precautions such as not passing the offering plate around and keeping worshipers at a certain distance from one another.

Parents protest Washington sex ed bill that governor is expected to sign

Parents are protesting a bill in Washington state that would teach comprehensive sex education to students starting from kindergarten.

While conservative legislators contended that the material is not age-appropriate and that it usurps the parent-child relationship, Democratic legislators argued that it would improve safety for children.

Im offended at the pornography that were going to be forced to teach our children. Im offended at what this government is doing to the parents out there.  Rep. Robert Sutherland

Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to sign the legislation.

New York allows minors to change sex on birth certificates

Minors who are transgender or nonbinary can now change their sex on their birth certificates in New York.

New York Attorney General Letitia James made the announcement this week after a 14-year-old sued.

Democratic presidential primaries update: Biden widens lead

Tuesday marked another big day for Democratic presidential candidates as voters in six states went to the polls. Former Vice President Joe Biden widened his lead over Bernie Sanders.

The current delegate count for Biden is 881 while Sanders has 725.

Here are 5 things to know about Joe Biden.

Here are 5 things to know about Bernie Sanders.

Study: Steep decline in practicing Christians in US

The percentage of practicing Christians in the United States has nearly dropped in half over the last two decades, according to the Barna Group.

Today, only 25 percent are practicing Christians. Since 2000, many have either becoming non-practicing Christians or left Christianity altogether.

While fewer Americans are going to church, the percentage of adults who read the Bible and pray has remained steady over the last two decades.

Monthly, committed churchgoers are now about half as common as they were two decades ago. This shift has major repercussions for church leaders as there is increased struggle to attract and retain the active segment of churchgoers.  David Kinnaman, president of Barna

In case you missed it

Interview with Tony Evans, who talks about trusting God even when Hes confusing

Interview with the National Association of Evangelicals first minority president, Walter Kim, who wants to focus on reconciliation amid an identity crisis

Pray for

Christians in Nigeria, where 350 have already been killed since the start of 2020

Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, who has bone cancer

New releases

Film:

I Still Believe (March 13)

Albums:

One Voice by Seth & Nirva (March 13)

Grace Is on Our Side by Vertical Worship (March 13)

Books:

Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christians Guide to Engaging Politics by Eugene Cho (March 1)

The Gift of Forgiveness: Inspiring Stories from Those Who Have Overcome the Unforgivable by Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt (March 10)
Court Win: Use of M-44 'Cyanide Bombs' Halted in Idaho We're celebrating a key victory for wildlife this week.



The Center for Biological Diversity and allies finalized an agreement setting strict limits on how and where federal agents can kill wolves in Idaho. It also bans the use of M-44 "cyanide bombs" statewide and outlaws using snares to kill wolves on public lands.



The new restrictions on wolf snares and the M-44 ban will remain in place until the federal Wildlife Services program finishes a detailed study of the environmental impacts of killing wolves.



"Cyanide bombs and traps are vicious and indiscriminate. Often they bring tremendous suffering to wildlife and pets they're not meant for," said the Center's Andrea Santarsiere. "This victory is a step forward in reducing the suffering of animals at the hands of our federal government."



Learn more and consider supporting this work with a donation to our Stop Wildlife Services Fund.
SHASTA COUNTY, Calif.  Shasta County Superintendent of Schools, Judy Flores announced Thursday non-essential gatherings will either be postponed or canceled until and after April 10.

The Shasta County Superintendent of Schools, Shasta Countys Public Health Officer, and Branch Director for Shasta County Public Health held a meeting Thursday with school administrators and school nurses to discuss COVID-19 for schools, students and staff.

During the meeting, Public Health Officer, Dr. Karen Ramstrom gave background information on COVID-19 and how Shasta County is preparing. Ramstrom said the best advice for students who are running a fever, coughing, or sneezing, should stay home.

RELATED: COVID-19 Important links and resources

Officials also discussed the state school guidance that came out March 7, so that school and district leaders understand at what point schools would need to be closed.

Any school closures will be agreed upon with the Shasta County Public Health and the local school district, said Shasta County Superintendent of Schools, Judy Flores.

Following Governor Gavin Newsoms guidance on non-essential gatherings, the school agreed that field trips, sporting events, and school club competitions will either be postponed or canceled until and after April 10, Flores said.
In real life, however, the coronavirus pandemic now spreading across the planet has triggered little in the way of visible public panic. In the District, far from ostracizing those who may be vectors for the bug, people have rallied around the church where the citys first case appeared. In the Seattle area, so far the hardest-hit U.S. region, stories abound of neighbors helping one another. And in Italy, where the government has taken extraordinary measures to shut down public life, calm has prevailed even as hospitals consider harsh decisions to ration medical care to people with the best chances to survive.
We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in OncoSil Medical Limited (ASX:OSL).

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. 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.

View our latest analysis for OncoSil Medical

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At OncoSil Medical

In fact, the recent purchase by Martin Cross was the biggest purchase of OncoSil Medical shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being AU$0.096). It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. 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.

While OncoSil Medical insiders bought shares last year, they didn't sell. They paid about AU$0.073 on average. We don't deny that it is nice to see insiders buying stock in the company. But we must note that the investments were made at well below today's share price of AU$0.096. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Story continues

ASX:OSL Recent Insider Trading, March 13th 2020

OncoSil Medical is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

OncoSil Medical Insiders Bought Stock Recently

We saw some OncoSil Medical insider buying shares in the last three months. Independent Non-Executive Director Martin Cross shelled out AU$56k for shares in that time. We like it when there are only buyers, and no sellers. However, in this case the amount invested recently is quite small.

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 17% of OncoSil Medical shares, worth about AU$12m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At OncoSil Medical Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. But on the other hand, the company made a loss last year, which makes us a little cautious. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of OncoSil Medical we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing OncoSil Medical. Our analysis shows 7 warning signs for OncoSil Medical (2 are a bit concerning!) and we strongly recommend you look at them before investing.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 21:58:49|Editor: huaxia

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London, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Most British businesses remain optimistic about China's growth despite a short tough period that could follow the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a recent survey by the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC).

A comprehensive survey of its members carried out by the CBBC between late February and early March found that most firms expect the Chinese economy to recover later in the year.

"This survey demonstrates that British businesses are keeping their eyes on the horizon while weathering a number of significant impacts from the COVID-19 outbreak," said CBBC Chief Executive Matthew Rous.

"China is a market which demands long term commitment and a strategic approach," he said.

The survey also shows that only 3 percent of exporters are now planning to shift their long-term focus away from China, a sign that British companies still see massive potential from China's growth.

Commenting on the prospect of China's economic growth, Cambridge University professor Alan Barrell told Xinhua last week that the Chinese industrial economy could return to a healthy state and "I remain confident about China's long-term economy to be successful."

Based on what he has seen about China in the past 30 years, Barrell said China's industrial base has developed impressively as hugely efficient and effective, well focused and well resourced.

"China has become, in the past 20 years, a technology leader and has invested very significantly in R&D (research and development). In many areas, China is already considered to be a 'tech leader'. For example space travel technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, aspects of genetic knowledge, computer science, telecommunications," said the professor.

As Britain's leading business network promoting trade and investment with China, the CBBC has a 1,000-strong membership including some of Britain's largest and most established companies as well as innovative SMEs.
The Lehigh Valleys case of the new coronavirus is one of 22 now presumed in Pennsylvania.

More than 200 Pennsylvania residents have been tested for the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic  116 state tests have come back negative and 81 are still pending as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

If you think you may have been exposed to the coronavirus either locally or through travel, and if you are experiencing symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath, then call the state health department at 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1-877-724-3258).

These are the main symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.CDC

We can discuss with the individual their symptoms, travel history and where they would like to be seen, if applicable, department spokesman Nate Wardle told lehighvalleylive.com. We can then coordinate with the hospital or other healthcare facility the patient goes to, to ensure they get tested and to protect the health of the individual, healthcare workers, and all others who may be at the facility.

Tests are available just like (how) you can test for the flu or for strep throat, and can be done at most healthcare facilities, Wardle added.

Test samples are taken at a doctors office or hospital and sent to a state lab for analysis. Positive tests from there account for Pennsylvanias COVID-19 count. The federal Centers for Disease Control has so far confirmed only two of the states results  Delaware and Wayne counties  but Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine has said there is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the other tests.

Current guidelines from the CDC say tests should be available for anyone who, in the opinion of their doctor, needs one. But reports from NPR and the Philadelphia Inquirer say state-level labs are overwhelmed or, in the case of Pennsylvania, still denying some tests based on older guidelines.

At least two private lab companies  LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics  say they also have COVID-19 tests available. Those tests still must be ordered by a healthcare provider.

The COVID-19 patient in the Lehigh Valley is from Northampton County and is being treated at St. Lukes Hosptial in Bethlehem Township. The spread of the pandemic coronavirus has led to numerous school closings and event cancellations.

Globally, the World Health Organization has reported more than 125,000 cases with 4,613 deaths.

State health officials advise against relying on social media for information on the coronavirus. Instead, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov or www.nj.gov/health and the CDC website.

MORE: What to know about coronavirus testing in New Jersey

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.
At the heart of Syria's latest humanitarian crisis, locals call Idlib "the forgotten city", still paying the price for one day in the 1970s when the former president was pelted with tomatoes. The city and its surroundings have suffered furious bombardments since December at the hands of Syrian forces and Russian jets, leaving hundreds dead and forcing huge numbers to flee towards the Turkish border. With a tentative ceasefire announced on March 6, villager Malek Haj Khalil returned to his home in Sarmin, just east of Idlib, hoping to recover a few belongings from the ruins of his house. But he found nothing beyond an air conditioning unit and a few broken pans among the twisted iron bars that were once his home. "We were hoping to find a few things, some furniture or blankets, but there is nothing," he told AFP. Some neighbours had more success, and were loading gas cookers, mattresses and sofas on to trucks. "When the army came, it poured out all the hatred it has against us... targeting civilians and their houses," said Khalil. - Destroyed - Idlib was one of the first provinces to join the uprisings against President Bashar al-Assad, and is now the last to remain in rebel hands, but the roots of that "hatred" predate the revolution in 2011. Tucked in the northwest of the country, Idlib's residents have long felt overlooked by their rulers in Damascus. Locals and researchers particularly recall the time in the early 1970s when Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father who ruled from 1971 until his death in 2000, made his first and only visit to Idlib. An angry crowd pelted him with tomatoes and a shoe. "After that incident, Hafez al-Assad never returned to the city. It has since been cut off, and that shows in the quality of its infrastructure and schools," said Mohammad Sarmini, head of Syrian research centre Jusoor in Istanbul. "It was this marginalisation that pushed Idlib to join the revolution," he added. According to Taleb al-Dugheim, a specialist on Syrian history, the slight against Assad senior in Idlib "was never forgotten, and transformed into repression and marginalisation" that continued under his son decades later. The regime also remembers Idlib's role in the protests of the 1980s, Dugheim said, when many supported a Muslim Brotherhood uprising in the city of Hama that was brutally suppressed. - 'Not Syrians' - Asaad Falaha knows the hatred well. He leads a charity running a primary school in Binnish, east of Idlib city, that the regime has bombed three times during the recent offensive. "Seventy percent of it has been destroyed. To target a school like this shows the hatred of the regime," he said. The province shelters three million people -- half of them displaced from other regions -- and is partially run by Turkey-backed armed groups and a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Assad has taken a close interest in the battle to retake it. "When Bashar al-Assad visited the town of Al-Habit in Idlib province in October, he personally supervised artillery shelling against (the then rebel-held) Maaret al-Numan," said Dugheim. "The regime acts as though the inhabitants of the Idlib are not really Syrians," he added. Assad's forces retook the town of Kafranbel in the south of the province in February. It was one of the last standing symbols of the revolution, full of darkly ironic slogans against the regime. That spirit still shows flickers of life further north in the province: on a partially destroyed school in Binnish, someone has written advice for protecting against the coronavirus, with Assad depicting as the virus. On the wall of a gutted-out classroom, someone has offered a history lesson: "Date: the era of dictators. Course: revolution. Lesson: death." A man walks in al-Mastuma, about seven kilometres south of Idlib city in northwest Syria, on March 10 Syrians rummage through a landfill in Kafr Lusin village on the border with Turkey in Syria's Idlib on March 10
KDNC Information

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Burma Karenni Farmers Jailed in Land Dispute With Army Leave Prison

A group of 19 Karenni farmers after their release from detention in Demoso Township on Friday. / Karenni State Farmer Union / Facebook

A group 41 Karenni farmers and activists who were detained for more than six months for damaging property during a land dispute with the Myanmar army were released from prison after completing their sentences and paying fines in the Kayah State capital of Loikaw on Friday, according to local sources.

A court in Loikaw authorized the release of 22 prisoners and another court in Demoso Township approved the release of the remaining 19. Khu Tu Reh, the chairman of the Karenni State Farmer Union (KSFU), who was present at the Demoso court for the announcement, told The Irrawaddy that the 19 farmers in Demoso were released after paying fines of 10,000 kyats each (about US$7).

The farmers paid fines as per Article 447; they paid 10,000 kyats each. They would have been required to serve another 25 days in prison if they did not pay the fine, according to the verdict from the court, he said.

The farmers were sentenced to six months in prison under Section 6(1) of the Public Property Protection Act for damaging a fence put up by the Myanmar military. They were released upon completing their sentence, he added.

The farmers are indigenous Karenni people. According to their traditional customary law, they own the land. The court in Demoso rejected this claim, however, because they could not present ownership documentation to the court.

The Myanmar army (or Tatmadaw) was able to present maps and other documents establishing its claim to the land.

The courts decision [to jail the farmers] was unfair; the court favored the Tatmadaw. The indigenous farmers were denied their rights. They used their law, and bullied our indigenous people, said Khu Tu Reh.

By jailing the farmers, the court legitimized the Tatmadaws strategy of using the law to persecute indigenous people who fight for their land, he said.

The 41most of whom are farmers, with three activistswere sued in two groups in Demoso and Loikaw under Articles 447 and 427 of the Penal Code for trespassing and causing damage, and also for damaging military fences under the Public Property Protection Act.

Dee De, a rights activist who was present at the court in Loikaw on Friday, told The Irrawaddy that the court based its verdict on the countrys Constitutionsomething he said was unfair.

I do not believe the courts verdict delivered justice. Even though the court ruled that those lands belong to the Myanmar army, we continue to believe that the land belongs to our people, he said.

The courts violated the rights of the farmers by making them stay in prison for about six months, causing them many difficulties including physical and mental problems, and making it very hard for their families to survive, he said.

According to the government, Khu Tu Reh said, Myanmar is undergoing political reform and moving towards democracy, but farmers are powerless to sue the Myanmar army when it confiscates land from local people. He said local people needed to find out how to fight back against the Tatmadaw in court.

We will find out which articles we can use to sue the Tatmadaw under international law [in support of indigenous rights]. If we dont fight them, they will continue to confiscate our indigenous land, he said.

The Myanmar army has been engaged in a long-running dispute over land with indigenous Karenni farmers, and this is not the first case in which the Tatmadaw has sued locals.

The military has filed around 60 lawsuits against farmers in Kayah State since July. The land had been farmed by local communities for about 50 years, according to the KSFU, which says the local farmers had Form 7 land-registration certificates.

In May, artillery and infantry battalions in Loikaw and Demoso townships started building fences on land that had sat unused since the military seized it from the farmers in 1990, according to the KSFU.
Reuters

US lawmakers plan to unveil a bill on Thursday that could be used to block Huawei Technologies Ltd from accessing US banks for certain transactions, in a bid to thwart the Chinese telecoms giant amid frustration over the failure of prior sanctions to curb its business.

The bill, with sponsors including top Senate Democrat Charles Schumer, Republican Senator Tom Cotton, and House Republican Mike Gallagher, would ban US firms from taking part in "significant" transactions with foreign companies that produce 5G telecommunications technology and engage in industrial espionage.

If the bill were passed and Huawei designated, the company would be shunned by US banks in certain dealings with customers worldwide, since most dollar payments clear through US financial institutions.

"It is time for the Trump administration to take swift and forceful action to block Huawei from accessing the US financial system," Schumer said in a statement, adding that allowing China to dominate global 5G networks through Huawei poses a threat to national security. Huawei did not respond to a request for comment.

The legislation is part of a broader campaign to crack down on Huawei, the top producer of telecoms equipment, since the company has continued to thrive despite American sanctions.

Citing national security concerns, the Trump administration placed Huawei on a blacklist known as the "entity list" last May, forcing some firms to seek a special license to sell to it.

But under current rules, key foreign supply chains remain beyond the reach of US authorities, fueling a push within the Trump administration to impose tougher regulations on the company, as Reuters revealed in November.

That effort appears to have stalled, as US authorities on Wednesday again postponed a high-level meeting on the matter, sources said, amid deep divisions between China hawks and doves in the administration.

"The entity list is not getting the job done," Gallagher said, in describing the goals of the legislation.

Still, Gallagher acknowledged that policy differences in the Trump administration could pose challenges to imposing the proposed sanctions on Huawei. "I'm sure there will be a debate in the White House ... but my hope is to convince [the President] it is necessary in order to at least fight Huawei to a draw on 5G and preserve the hope that Western firms can compete for 6G and beyond," he said.

The legislation has plenty of exemptions, such as carve-outs for Huawei to continue engaging in transactions related to 3G and 4G and to participate in international standards setting bodies. It also gives the US president the authority to grant waivers of up to 90 days at a time.

But with no clear definition of "significant" transactions, banks would struggle to implement the rules, in the face of stiff civil and possibly even criminal penalties for violations, sanctions specialists said. That would compel regulators to develop their own more concrete definitions, they added.

"The legislation would result in a much more complex web of prohibited and permitted transactions that would be relatively challenging for an agency to implement and likely very difficult for the regulated public, particularly the banks, to follow," said Matthew Tuchband, a former Treasury official.

It is not the first time US officials have mulled the concept for addressing Huawei. The White House considered a more sweeping ban on Huawei's use of the US financial system last year, Reuters reported, though that plan was ultimately shelved.

The US government has brought criminal charges against Huawei, alleging theft of trade secrets, bank fraud, violations of US sanctions against Iran, allegations the company has denied.

Additional sponsors of the bipartisan legislation include Senators Rick Scott and Chris Van Hollen, as well as members of Congress Ruben Gallego, Liz Cheney and Chrissy Houlahan.
Hitting out at the government after the release of National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah from detention, the Congress asked the Centre if former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti who fought with separatists and trusted the country's Constitution were "traitors".

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, in the Parliament premises, said, "Three former chief ministers were detained for several months. Those who trusted the Constitution and democracy and fought with separatists, with whom Modi ji promised to form the government, were all traitors".

Pointing out that two former chief ministers are still in the government's custody, he asked, "Will this strengthen the country's democracy or will it give strength to those plotting against the country? I leave the decision to the people of the country".

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram also hit out at the Modi government for keeping former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah under detention for seven months, alleging that "despotism and arbitrariness" constitute the rule of law in the union territory.

Abdullah was under detention since August 5 last year when the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two union territories.

The former J&K chief minister thanked parliamentarians who "fought for my freedom" from detention and said he will be able to take a decision on his future course of action only after other leaders are released.

Abdullah also expressed hope that he would be able to attend Parliament.

"I am free... Hope other political leaders would be released soon. Thank all parliamentarians who fought for my freedom. Will be able to take decision on future only after other leaders are released," Abdullah, Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, told reporters at his residence here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dozens of British military planners are being deployed across the country to help local areas cope with the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

A combination of military personnel and Ministry of Defence officials will be stationed at 38 'local resilience forums' to form emergency contingency plans.

There are fears that communities could struggle to deal with the effects of a mass outbreak of the virus, including the need to isolate the elderly and the strain on medical services.

Army General Sir Nicholas Carter visited Downing Street on Thursday as military planners are being deployed across the country to help with the coronavirus outbreak

A defence source said: 'There will be one military planner in each local resilience forum. The military is used to dealing with a crisis more so than other agencies.'

Military planners are normally despatched to war zones or theatres of operations to map out contingency plans.

Local resilience forums, known as LRFs, plan for localised incidents and 'catastrophic emergencies' in the UK. They include representatives from councils, the police, other emergency services and health bodies.

Earlier this week, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick launched a taskforce to strengthen local plans to tackle the virus.

It will bring together senior experts from across key sectors, including local government, public health and adult social care. They will assess LRF plans and provide support and advice to ensure they are robust.

Mr Jenrick said: 'We all have a part to play in managing the spread of coronavirus and I am working to ensure local partners are fully equipped to play their part, too.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick launched a taskforce to strengthen local plans to tackle the virus

'With extensive experience, the new taskforce will provide LRFs with the capability and expertise to respond quickly and effectively.'

The taskforce will analyse local flu response plans, and discuss with LRF chairmen support for vulnerable people and how key services could be maintained.

This is the second time UK forces have been asked to help with the epidemic.

British personnel also helped with the evacuation of UK and foreign nationals who were airlifted from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, and brought to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire last month.

The Army could also be put on standby to substitute for the police in guarding duties at high-profile sites, such as nuclear power stations and Parliament. This would free up police officers for frontline roles.

The Prime Minister has previously said there are 'long-established plans' for the Army to 'backfill' in emergencies, but Government sources have played down suggestions that the military would play a wider role.

LRFs were previously tasked with carrying out 'No Deal' Brexit preparations.
If the whole idea of cancellation is to stop people gathering in large numbers and making each other sick, then its not ideal to have a whole bunch of them show up, mill around Albert Park for a couple of hours and then just chuff off.

The clamour for cancelling the race had been growing for more than a week, so how did we end up with hundreds of F1 fans rocking up for the event, thinking it was going ahead as planned?

You only get one chance to get it right - just ask Italy. The debacle of the cancelled Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Friday morning was a bad start for the Victorian State Labor government.

If youre the government trying to look like you're in charge, decisive and in-the-know, then having the event cancelled the morning after the Health Minister said it was on and about an hour after the Premier said it might be on, but without spectators, isn't great either.

The chaotic scenes outside the grand prix gates on Friday morning will look bad on TV at a time when you want people to keep calm and carry on.

The best that can be said of the whole thing is that it could have been worse; Formula 1 fans came together in the hundreds, not their thousands or tens of thousands.

But what happened? It looks like three outfits; the state government, federal government and the race organisers were all talking, but nobody made a decision until the health advice changed or the McLaren team forced the issue by pulling the pin on the race.

Nothing like that can be allowed to happen again. If sporting bodies or anybody else plays funny buggers with public gatherings in this state, then Premier Daniel Andrews needs to take decisions out of their hands.
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Washington, D.C., March 13, 2020  Bangladesh authorities should spare no effort to locate missing journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol, and should not allow a criminal defamation case to proceed against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Yesterday, the journalists family filed a report with the Chawkbazar Police Station in Dhaka, the capital, stating that Kajol, a photographer and editor of the biweekly Pakkhakal magazine, had not been since March 10, according to news reports.

Kajol disappeared one day after he and 31 others were named in a criminal defamation complaint filed by Saifuzzaman Shikhor, a member of parliament from the ruling Awami League, alleging that they had published false news, according to news reports.

The complaint was filed under the Digital Security Act, a piece of legislation that CPJ previously expressed concern could create extensive legal dangers for journalists carrying out their professional activities.

The disappearance of journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol is especially concerning after he was named in a dubious defamation complaint filed by a member of parliament under the draconian Digital Security Act, said Steven Butler, CPJs Asia program coordinator. Police need to find Kajol quickly and return him to his family, and ensure that a criminal defamation case does not proceed against him or any other journalist.

On March 11, The Editors Council, a local organization of professional editors, demanded the withdrawal of the defamation complaint, pointing out that Shikhor was not named in the story in question, according to reports.

CPJ sent a text message to the officer-in-charge at the Chawkbazar Police Station seeking comment, but did not immediately receive a reply.

CPJ also emailed Shikhor and the officer-in-charge at the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, where the defamation suit was lodged, but did not immediately receive any replies.

CPJ has previously reported on journalist disappearances in Bangladesh, and the atmosphere of fear those disappearances create for members of the press.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: As the number of cases crossed 80 in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged the leadership of the SAARC nations to chalk out a strategy to fight the spread of the deadly virus.



I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy, he tweeted.



The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation has India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka as its members.

I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus.



We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy.



Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 13, 2020

In another tweet, the PM said, South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population, should leave no stone unturned to ensure that the people are healthy. Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it.



Leaders of several nations welcomed the initiative and expressed willingness to work to deal with the spread of the virus.



This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference, Bhutans PM Lotay Tshering tweeted. Nepalese PM KP Sharma Oli also took to Twitter welcoming the idea advanced by Prime Minister Modiji.

I welcome the idea advanced by Prime Minister Modiji @narendramodi for chalking out a strong strategy by the leadership of the SAARC nations to fight Coronavirus. My government is ready to work closely with SAARC Member States to protect our citizens from this deadly disease.  KP Sharma Oli (@PM_Nepal) March 13, 2020

My government is ready to work closely with SAARC Member States to protect our citizens from this deadly disease, he said. Similar interests were expressed by Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Bangladesh deputy foreign minister Shahriar Alam.
Two girls, hailing from Bihar, who were found in an "abandoned condition" in the capital were handed over to their family members by Delhi police on Thursday.

"Three days ago, Constable Rohitash, of Chanakyapuri Police Station went on patrolling in Sanjay Camp cluster area and found two girls in an abandoned condition," said a police official.

" He talked to them and brought them to the police station for proper care and protection. Upon inquiry, it was revealed that a missing case had already been registered in Sonpur Police Station of Bihar," told police.

"Thereafter, the girls were medically examined in RML hospital and shifted to a shelter home in Karol Bagh. Senior Superintendent Of Police (SSP), Sonpur, Bihar was informed. Yesterday, the family members of the girls along with local police staff of Sonpur police station, reached Chanakyapuri police station. The girls were then handed over to their family members," Police added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
We have a revolution going on. Weve never had a revolution like this. The closest weve come is maybe the Internet, says the Harvard geneticist George Church. For a change, the word revolution is the apt one for what hes discussing. Buckle your seatbelts for whats about to occur.

Church is one of many scientists and ethicists who walk us through the mind-boggling scientific advances in gene-editing described in the documentary Human Nature, an intensely engaging and important documentary. Thanks to a DNA sequence called CRISPR that was discovered in the process of finding ways to make the bacteria in yogurt resist destruction by virus, imperfections can now be edited out of our genes. Starting with a single heartbreaking case of genetic malady, that of a Bay Area boy named David Sanchez afflicted with sickle-cell anemia, this wondrous and provocative film uses elegantly designed digital imagery to illustrate how genetic mutations can be repaired by cutting out the faulty code and replacing it with a flawless one. The applications are of such a scale that the word colossal seems inadequate. Berkeley biochemist Jennifer Doudna, one of the key figures in the new science, notes that mastering genetic codes fundamentally allows us to change our relationship with nature. It actually allows us to change human evolution if we want to.

What if you could edit out mutations that cause breast cancer or Alzheimers? Moreover, science can even fix the germlines, meaning you could remove the threat of a genetic disorder such as hemophilia for all of your descendants. An impossibly young woman named Luhan Yang, a co-founder of the firm eGenesis, is altering the genes of pigs so that their organs might be transplanted into humans in dire need of a kidney or lung. She has wittily named a trial pig Laika, after the first dog in space, but unlike mans extraterrestrial adventures, this generations scientific breakthrough seems likely to yield something considerably more important than Tang and moon rocks.

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Adam Bolt, the director and co-writer of the documentary, nails the scientific aspects of the story, making them easily digestible yet mind-blowing in interludes set to stirring classical music, and even the talking heads he consults to explain lab work are endearingly wacky and memorable. Some of these people are, however, engaged in troubled soul-searching. Doudna, who co-wrote a landmark paper on gene-editing, had a chilling dream in which Adolf Hitler asked her to explain her research. Bolt includes a clip of Vladimir Putin musing about the possibility of creating super-soldiers. Scientists have already identified the DNA mutation that blocks pain receptors. What might happen if we could eliminate a persons pain? On one end is what Putin dreams of, but on the other are terminal-cancer patients, who suffer unimaginably. Who would deny people in extremis the opportunity to conclude their lives without pain? Should we not even try for this breakthrough because some might misuse natures hidden code? And who is we, anyway? In 2018 scientists in China genetically altered the embryos of twin girls. Regardless of what American science does with gene-splicing, China is going to move full-speed ahead.

And CRISPR has been there the whole time, waiting for man to discover it, like everything else weve discovered. Geneticists altered the tomato, once a bitter thing the size of a pea, to make it a large, appealing fruit; these geneticists are known as farmers. Mans entire history has been a tale of taking advantage of nature for good and ill.

Yet the stakes are about to be so much higher. Leaving aside super-soldiers, should gene-splicing be used in ways that could be considered frivolous? Blonde hair, blue eyes, math ability, heightwhat is frivolous, anyway? Toward the end of the movie, Bolt pivots back to Sanchez, an insightful kid whose disease figures to end his life before he turns 50. I dont think Id be me if I didnt have sickle-cell, he says. We also meet a couple whose child was born with albinism and a resulting visual impairment; they have learned to appreciate certain aspects of what the mutation has done to their daughter, who seems delightful and happy.

Human difference, even to some extent human imperfection, would be a terrible thing to lose, and yet all technology is what you make of it. Perhaps, as one scientist muses, all of human history to this moment has merely brought us to the end of the beginning. Yep, theres a clip from Jurassic Park in Human Nature. The questions raised by Jeff Goldblum in Dinosaurland are no longer matters for a future generation to mull.

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KAMPALA  Members of Parliament have protested the removal of teaching their kingdom culture history in the new lower secondary curriculum, saying the changes have caused unrest within kingdoms.

The protest was in response to a concern raised by Stephen Mukitale (Buliisa County) who petitioned Parliament the decision by the Ministry of Education to delete the history of Bunyoro-Kitara in the new curriculum, saying the move hasnt left the kingdom at peace.

Thomas Tayebwa (Ruhinda North) was one of the MPs who defended the decision by the Ministry of Education to delete teaching of kingdoms history in schools, but he was shut down by fellow MPs prompting Speaker Rebecca Kadaga to order the clerk to expunge his comments from records of Parliament.

Putting issues of Ankole kingdom aside, in this era where we are talking of unemployment, skilling, you are here discussing about kingdoms, no way, even us Bakiga had kingdoms but they are no more. To me I would think, if it was for me, we wouldnt be having kingdoms in this curriculum, said Tayebwa.

Alex Ruhunda (Fort Portal Municipality) said that the Ministry of Education should return the teaching of culture in the curriculum, a submission that was backed by Speaker of Kadaga who described the matter as extremely serious because even Buganda kingdom complained about the same curriculum that erased the history of kingdoms culture and history.

Mathias Mpuuga (Masaka Municipality) reminded Parliament the Katikiro of Buganda Peter Mayiga had written to the Ministry of Education about the content of the curriculum especially on making Agriculture, History and local languages optional subjects, with advise to make these subjects compulsory in secondary schools.

Mpuuga who doubles as Shadow Minister of Education said that the authors of the new curriculum were not certain of what type of curriculum the country wanted and hence there is need to have the policy reviewed.

Elijah Okupa (Kasilo County) said that the review of the curriculum over omitting teaching of history and local languages should not be limited to Buganda and Bunyoro kingdoms but the policy review should be done in most of the sub-regions across the country.

Paul Mwiru (Jinja Municipality East) described the decision by the Ministry of Education to push out teaching of history on local languages as an attempt to take away the identity of Ugandans.

However, Minister of State for Higher Education, John Chrysestom Muyingo denied Mwirus allegations saying that there is no intention to destroy everyones culture and history and promised to study the concerns raised by MPs and give a report to Parliament over this matter within two weeks.

Related
State Representative Ina Minjarez was a guest on last Saturdays Platica Politica, a weekly talk show on KEDA Radio Jalapeno.

The shows host, political operative Robert Vargas III, asked Minjarez which local race in the March 3 Texas primary had surprised her the most. Without hesitation, Minjarez cited the Democratic contest for Precinct 1 County Commissioner.

That primary featured Sergio Chico Rodriguez, a four-term commissioner from a powerful South Side political family, against Rebeca Becky Clay-Flores, a first-time candidate for elective office.

Rodriguez raised more than $140,00, spent nearly $200,000 and entered the final days of the campaign with more than $293,000 in cash on hand. Clay-Flores raised less than $20,000, spent only $14,000 and had $5,000 left at the end of the campaign.

Rodriguez had the support of powerful lobbyists. He got a $12,500 contribution from the Texas Association of Realtors PAC. Clay-Flores relied on relentless block-walking and $25-$50 contributions from true believers in the precinct.

Nonetheless, Rodriguez now finds himself fighting for his political life. He emerged from the primary with 47.9 percent of the vote, while Clay-Flores had 42.6 percent. The two candidates will meet again in the May 26 runoff.

Local political watchers often grumble that Rodriguez has little to show for his 16 years in office and seems disengaged and detached from the concerns of his sprawling precinct. But nobody thought he was vulnerable in this race. Even Clay-Flores friends tried to talk her out of challenging him.

I did have some strong discouragement, said Clay-Flores, a special projects manager in the citys health department. But the reasons that people told me, as I evaluated it and talked to mentors and prayed about it, were not good reasons to not run.

They said things like, Youre going to make an enemy out of the Rodriguez family. You cant win, going against an incumbent from a big political family. Youre not going to be able to recover from this if you want to run for something else. No one, not one single person, told me, Hes doing a great job.

Clay-Flores, 44, is that rare candidate who combines intellect, empathy, organizational skills and a formidable work ethic.

Her candidacy has a spark of fresh possibility about it, in a way that recalls Ana Sandovals long-shot (but ultimately successful) 2017 bid to unseat Cris Medina from the City Council.

As she approaches the runoff, Clay-Flores is not only confronting a South Side machine (Rodriguezs brother, Ciro, is a former congressman and current justice of the peace, and his niece, Xochil, is running for state Senate), but also a 19-year drought for women on the Commissioners Court.

Clay-Flores passion for public service grew out of a traumatic childhood in which her family was homeless for the first four years of her life.

I think I matured quickly, which is a common thing for lots of children in trauma, she said.

She credits her mother, a native of Mexico, with nurturing a sense of responsibility in her and her two older brothers.

Every summer she took us back and forth to Mexico to do community service work, Clay-Flores said. So thats where it was really instilled in us the importance of serving, the importance of being a voice for the voiceless, the importance of standing up for change. Thats why I do what I do and thats why I live my live as a servant leader.

Clay-Flores graduated from Brackenridge High School, did her undergraduate work at Princeton and earned a Masters in Education from Harvard.

She spent 15 years working in education, including a teaching stint in Chattanooga, Tenn., where she recruited college kids to take a year off from school to go abroad and do community service.

During Ivy Taylors first year as mayor (2014-15), Clay-Flores served on her staff, handling Taylors Spanish language interviews and overseeing womens and Latino issues as well as health, education and faith-based policy.

Representing Precinct 1 is a major challenge. It stretches from Southtown down to rural areas on the far South Side with basic infrastructure deficiencies. Its Old Frio City Road on the west and Salado Creek on the east.

Clay-Flores wants to enhance mental health services and nonprofit funding in the county, explore new potential interlocal agreements with the city and push for campaign-contribution and term limits for commissioners, which would require the help of state lawmakers.

Above all, she wants to use the office as a platform for change.

I think we need to be more transparent and encourage these wealthy donors, who are giving large amounts, to perhaps give to a scholarship fund for students in Precinct 1, or perhaps sponsor another social worker at a school in their school district, she said.

These are things we can talk about without making mandates or laws, but just encouraging people. I think that goes a long way, that elected officials use their voice and their platform, which so often they dont.

Gilbert Garcia is a columnist covering the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
After Vietnams pork industry was hit hard by the outbreak of African Swine Flu and COVID-19, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) say they will increase pork imports to reduce prices for the domestic market.

Vietnam will increase pork imports to meet domestic demand.  Photo vietnammoi.vn

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien was speaking at an online conference promoting agricultural production during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak held by MARD in Hanoi on March 12.

He said MARD representatives visited the US at the end of February to discuss issue of agricultural trade promotion between the two countries, including the increase of pork imports in the future.

Earlier this month, MARD leaders worked with the President of Russian Miratorg Group to increase trade activities in agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors.

The group hopes to export more pork to Vietnam this month, Tien said.

Meanwhile, the ministry has been completing procedures to import livestock from Laos and Cambodia.

According to the ministry, Vietnam purchase 65,865 tonnes of meat in the first two months this year from Brazil, Germany, Russia, Australia and the US. Of which, pork imports reached 13,816 tonnes, up 150% over the same period in 2019.

Imports also included 12,459 tonnes of buffalo meat and beef, and 26,656 tonnes of poultry.

Tien said the ministry has asked large enterprises to further reduce the price of pigs to around VND70,000 per kilo to ensure stable price on the domestic market.

Higher imports mean more supply, which will help bring the price down, he said.

The ministry would coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance to keep prices in check to prevent speculation.

At the same time, to stabilise the price, the agriculture sector needs to speed up re-production, according to the ministry. African swine fever has made national pork output reduce sharply.

The livestock sector has 2.7 million sows, meeting demand for re-production. Pork output is expected to reach about four million tonnes this year.

In addition, other kinds of livestock are expected to continue to have strong growth, including poultry with a rate of 13% and beef up 5%. The total output of poultry meat and beef is estimated to reach 1.8 million tonnes this year.

With a total meat output of 5.8 million tonnes this year, Vietnam would have enough meat supply for domestic consumption, said Nguyen Van Viet, head of MARDs Department of Planning.

During the conference, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said localities should promote agricultural production while the ministry would take measures to control diseases. Those solutions would help prepare enough supply to meet higher demand for farming product when the epidemic ends.

The ministry would also continue developing key seafood products, such as black tiger shrimp, white-leg shrimp and tra catfish, and high-value farming products to increase commercial value.

The industry would diversify exports and develop the processing industry to raise added value, Cuong said. It would also cooperate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Vietnamese embassies abroad to improve efficiency of trade promotion programmes.

Viet said the agricultural sector has seen a surplus of US$1.04 billion in the first two months of this year. It saw a year on year reduction of 6.7% in import value to US$4.3 billion and a year on year drop of 2.8% in export value to US$5.34 billion.

This year, the sector has targeted US$42 billion in total export value of farming, forestry and fishery products, including US$20 billion from farming products, US$11.5 billion from forestry and wooden products and US$10 billion from fishery products. VNS
Sanjivani actor Surbhi Chandna has penned a heartfelt note on the completion of the show which is reportedly set to go off air this month and has asked her fans to wait for some newness ahead. She called her character of Dr Ishani her most difficult character to decode while making her loveable, vulnerable, inspiring yet extremely strong.

Surbhi posted several pictures of her onscreen look on Instagram and wrote, And today we air the last episode of what i call - a Fulfilling experience of my life #sanjivani .. @siddharthpmalhotra @sapnamalhotra01 I cannot thankyou both enough for having the faith in me and throwing this sweet challenge ... A risky subject in todays TV TIMES ..letting me play her my way and immense respect to @starplus my home channel like i love calling it.

Talking about how she brought her character of Dr Ishani to life, she wrote, Dr. Ishani has to be the most complicated the most difficult girl/character to decode and it has been a task cracking her and to still make her loveable - vulnerable - inspiring yet extremely strong was only possible because of my writers directors & the creatives.. the stylish doctor that i have looked in all phases of this season can only be credited to the stylists and the Hair Makeup Team. To add to the that and give the whole hospital drama feel was the fab team of cameramen.. in pictures you see different look tests , me going super short with my hair , these are the memories i will want to look back at - all the time.

Also read: Coronavirus crisis: Angrezi Medium gets limited release, Tom Hanks posts first pic post diagnosis

To all my co actors the Seniors and Juniors for all the fun-great times but most importantly helping me learn from you to helping me better my craft in the process.. this was possible because of the crazily hardworking team including the ones i havent mentioned but make the workplace home away from home and never stop smiling ever. Then is the Fan Family and Viewers of #sanjivani that make it a ride in itself.. We are the ones playing and living the characters and are extremely proud so nobody can feel them the way we do but respect always for the way you feel for them . #jobdonewell to us, she added.

She ended the post saying, For now its a bye bye from #Dr.ISHANI. To some newness ahead .. Wait for it.

Sanjivani had already crossed the 100-episode milestone and had also undergone a 3-year leap. Gaurav Chopra had joined the lead cast as Dr Ishanis husband while Namit Khanna was already the male lead. The show timings were changed a few weeks ago. According to an India Today report, Sidharth had said about the show going off air, The change of time slot wasnt the reason at all. The Channel took the call which is always the case and there were some branding issues apparently.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 20:22:55|Editor: huaxia

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CHONGQING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- All of the 840 major foreign trade firms in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, neighboring Hubei Province which was hit hardest by the coronavirus, have resumed operations, according to a press conference Friday.

Since the virus outbreak, Chongqing has issued a number of preferential policies to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment, facilitating companies to resume work and production, said Peng Heliang, deputy director of the municipal commission of commerce.

Local authorities have further simplified the process in areas including trade management, customs clearance, logistics and transportation and foreign exchange settlement, Peng said.

According to the official, 840 key foreign trade enterprises in Chongqing, with their import and export volume exceeding more than 10 million yuan (about 1.43 million U.S. dollars) last year, had resumed work and production as of March 12.

The city will continue to promote the coordinated resumption of work of upstream and downstream companies in the industrial chain, supply chain and sales chain, Peng added.

With the implementation of supporting measures, Chongqing's foreign trade will maintain a positive trend in the long term, said Li Yu, deputy director of the Chongqing Customs.

Now, the import and export activities of enterprises in the city have resumed rapidly, with the number of customs declarations returning to 80 percent of last year's average in early March, Li added.

Supported by the government's policies, nearly all major foreign trade firms in provincial regions have resumed production so far.
GREENWICH  As heathcare providers cope with the first cases of the coronavirus in the state, Greenwich, just up the highway from a Westchester County hotspot, already has see the emergence of another type of virus perhaps inevitable in the social media age: a coronavirus hoax.

As cases started mounting in New Rochelle last week, the crisis seemed to spill over into western Greenwich, with social media users in the Port Chester-Greenwich area cautioning people to avoid a local medical office and pharmacy.

The Greenwich Police Department stepped in to correct a hoax that spread across social media last week, Lt. John Slusarz said. Greenwich police were alerted to a post on social media that incorrectly identified somebody in Greenwich as having the condition.

A community impact officer reached out to the individual who posted the information, Slusarz said.

There is a lot of misinformation out there, people are fearing and changing their operations. To correct that misinformation is important, Slusarz said.

The officer provided the social media user with the correct information that the town had at the time and asked that in the interest of public safety and the good feelings about people if she would take it down, which she did, Slusarz said.

Slusarz could not confirm the contents of the post, but last week posts went up on Facebook of a possible confirmed case of coronavirus in Greenwich. The Facebook posts were reportedly linked in the hyperlocal social network, NextDoor.

Guy showing symptoms just got back from Italy, one post read.

It claimed the person visited a particular medical office in town and a pharmacy, and urged people to stay away from both.

At the time there had been no confirmed cases in Greenwich. The first confirmed case at Greenwich Hospital occurred Thursday  a New York state resident who returned home.

The post was shared from one persons account 25 times, and was shared to a Facebook group. The person did not return a request for comment. The administrator for the group did not return a request to confirm whether the post was deleted from the page.

The Facebook post could still be seen this week. The same information was published on a Twitter account that provides a source of news, comedy, in-depth interviews and analysis on new world order and global conspiracy theories on Feb. 29. The Tweet is still available.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
Haryana Government on Friday decided that all universities and colleges in the state will remain close till March 31, 2020, as a precautionary measure in the wake of coronavirus, said Director-General of Higher Education, Haryana.

The Haryana Government on Thursday notified, 'The Haryana Epidemic Disease, COVID-19 Regulations, 2020' under section 2, 3 and 4 of the Epidemic Disease Act 1897.

According to the press note, the regulations shall come into force immediately and shall remain valid for a period of one year from the date of publication of this notification.

"Under these regulations, all hospitals should have Flu corners for the screening of suspected cases of COVID- 19. All hospitals during the screening of such cases shall record the history of travel of the person if they travelled to any country or area where COVID-19 has been reported," it read.

"In case the person has any such history in the last 14 days and the person is asymptomatic then the person must be kept in home quarantine for 14 days from the day of exposure," it further stated.

It stated that no person, institution, organization will use any print or electronic media for information regarding COVID-19 without prior permission of the Haryana Health Department.

The total number of persons infected from coronavirus has climbed up to 75 in India. The virus, which originated in the Wuhan city of China, has spread to more than 100 countries globally, infecting over 1,30,000 people.

A 76-year-old man from Karnataka, who passed away recently, had tested positive for COVID-19.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The coronavirus epidemic is putting up to 50 million jobs in the global travel and tourism sector at risk, with travel likely to slump by a quarter this year, Asia being the most affected continent, the World Travel and Tourism Council said on Friday.

This impact would depend on how long the epidemic lasts and could still be exacerbated by recent restrictive measures, such as those taken by the U.S. administration on travel to Europe, WTTC's managing director Virginia Messina told Reuters.

"Certain measures are not helping and they can prompt the economic impact to be way more significant," Messina said referring to the U.S. decision.

She argued that such policies are too generic and not proven to be effective to contain the virus. She also said that such restrictions could complicate travel by medical experts and delivery of medical supplies.

Around 850,000 people travel each month from Europe to the United States, equivalent to a $3.4 billion monthly contribution to the U.S. economy, Messina said.

Of the 50 million jobs that could be lost, around 30 million would be in Asia, seven million in Europe, five million in the Americas and the rest in other continents, she projected.

The equivalent to a loss of three months of global travel in 2020 could lead to a corresponding reduction in jobs of between 12% and 14%, the WTTC said, also calling on governments to remove or simplify visas wherever possible, cut travel taxes and introduce incentives once the epidemic is under control.

She also encouraged flexibility in the sector, so that travelers can postpone and not cancel their plans.

By sector, airlines and cruise ships were currently being more impacted than hotels, the official added.

The tourism industry accounts for 10% of the world's GDP and jobs.

The WTTC official defended the confinement of certain towns - as is currently happening in Italy and Spain - if health officials recommend it to contain the outbreak, but only in specifically targeted areas or for certain age groups.

Messina estimated that, once the outbreak is under control, it would take up to 10 months for the tourism sector to return to its normal levels. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Why are international medical bodies accepting the Chinese Communist Party line? As the coronavirus spread from China across the world in January and February, the World Health Organization repeatedly praised Beijings efforts to contain it. The agency did so despite Chinas censorship of medical professionals and evidence of undercounting deaths . As the second-largest donor to the United Nations, which oversees the WHO, China, it appears, has induced the agency to provide a veneer of legitimacy while it engages in cover-up, thereby worsening the global crisis.

Yet the coronavirus is not the only instance of the WHOs credulity when it comes to Chinese claims. The same is true with Chinas organ-transplant system. The evidence overwhelmingly indicates that China forcibly harvests organs from prisoners of conscience, most notably Falun Gong practitioners and Muslim Uighurs. Yet the WHO and the Transplantation Society (TTS), the professions global governing body, refuse to acknowledge this. Their silence has also given pause to human-rights organizations that may otherwise condemn Chinas exploitation of innocents.

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation highlights this in a new report on Chinas organ-harvesting system, released Tuesday. Drawing from internal and public Chinese archives and sources  many unearthed and translated for the first time  as well as undercover investigations, the report shows that none of Beijings explanations about where it obtains organs are credible. The report is authored by Matthew P. Robertson, a published scholar who has studied this issue both inside and outside China for nearly a decade and whose work using statistical forensics has previously demonstrated the falsification of Chinese organ-donor-registry data by the Chinese Communist Party.

Beijing has claimed since 2015 that all organs come from voluntary deceased donors. But the growth of the voluntary figures is highly questionable  rising from 34 in 2010 to 6,316 in 2016  and follows a quadratic equation to the 99.9 percent level. Nor does it make sense that China can provide organs on demand, often within hours or days, from such a small population. Only forced organ harvesting of blood-typed prisoners can meet that timeline.

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The report also shows that China transplants far more organs than authorities admit. Some 173 Chinese hospitals are currently authorized to do transplants, yet just ten hospitals account for nearly 14,000 annual procedures. The total number of transplants is likely at least several times larger. Beijing is falsifying both the number and the source of the organs it sells for profit.

These findings give further credence to the 2019 findings of the Independent Tribunal into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience in China and of the 2016 report Bloody Harvest / The Slaughter: An Update. When confronted with the evidence, the WHO and TTS invariably defend Beijing. Both organizations supported Chinas transplant reforms in 2015 and regularly declare that Chinas system is now ethical and unobjectionable.

The WHOs leading transplant official said in 2019 that Chinas organ transplant reform has achieved remarkable results in a short period of time, and Chinas experience can serve as a model for the entire Asian region and the world. Dr. Francis Delmonico, chairman of the WHO transplantation task force, said in 2016 that the media has to challenge those who are making such assertion[s] about forced organ harvesting. He has praised the Chinese system several times since.

As for TTS, at a 2018 panel with a leading Chinese transplant doctor, then-president Dr. Nancy Ascher dismissed concerns of widespread abuse. Absent the condemnation of these global bodies, medical journals have been publishing large numbers of Chinese papers with research that likely relied on organs from prisoners of conscience.

The silence has also emboldened Beijing. Free from global criticism, Communist officials hardly bother to explain the discrepancies and shortcomings in their transplant data or to provide real figures. China is also becoming less worried about people linking transplants to the oppression of the Falun Gong and the Uighurs. At the TTS 2018 conference in Madrid, one of the featured speakers was Chinas third-most-prominent transplant official. His other job was to head the Communist agency that devises the propaganda against Falun Gong. As he wrote in a book, the group is a public nuisance to mankind and a cancer on society. China can now trot him out for public praise from the very organization that should be condemning him.

Historically, human-rights organizations would speak out where global bureaucracies might not, but that is not the case with Chinas organ-harvesting scheme. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch appear to be deferring to the WHO and TTS. Neither has devoted serious resources to researching it, while issuing carefully worded statements that make it unclear if they believe the allegations or not.

With the evidence mounting, including this new report, hopefully these groups will embrace their historic role as defenders of the oppressed. But the World Health Organization and the Transplantation Society are unlikely to admit the truth anytime soon. Their current leaders have a career investment in proclaiming that their efforts to reform China were a success. But their claims to the contrary cannot mask the Communist Partys murder of countless prisoners of conscience every year. The victims need the international medical communitys moral clarity, not its cowardice.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Health officials in Kent County are choosing to keep specific details private about where the first three local persons who tested positive for the coronavirus have been.

Although they said Friday they would release that information if they thought it would be beneficial for public safety.

Unlike other county health departments in Michigan, the Kent County Health Department said it wont be releasing the list of places the three local residents have been prior to being tested for the virus.

Three people who tested presumptive positive for COVID-19 in Kent County are all older than 60 and recovering at home, Kent County health officials previously announced late Thursday night.

All three people -- two women and a man -- have histories of international travel to areas that have known COVID-19 transmission. The three were not traveling as one group.

Two of the people have been in quarantine since they returned to the United States and the third person had very limited contact with other people, Kent County health officials said Thursday.

It has no public health value and by releasing it," said Steve Kelso, spokesman for the department, "it may be tantamount to identifying these people.

Adam London, administrative health officer for the Kent County Health Department, said Friday afternoon at a press conference that there is very low risk for someone to contract COVID-19 by dining in the same restaurant and there needs to be close contact for transmission to happen.

Theres already enough fear out there," London said. "We dont want to exacerbate it with information that has little public health value.

Kelso said the department also is worried that by releasing the information it could lead to a negative stigma for the people involved and the areas they were at.

If the department believed the information would help the public prevent exposure, Kelso said, officials would release it.

We will always inform people when we know about actions they can take or avoid to have a positive impact on their health, he said. There is no such information in these three cases.

Other health departments, like Oakland County, have chosen to name the specific locations and times of where people were before they tested positive for the virus. The state is leaving it up to individual health departments to decide whether to release that information.

As of Friday, 16 positive cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Michigan.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and issued recommendations to control the spread of the virus, including avoiding gatherings of 100 or more people, staying home when sick and practicing good hygiene.

She has also put in place a statewide ban of gatherings of more than 250 people.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

MLive reporter John Tunison contributed to this report.

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New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday said it has filed a fresh case against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, his wife Bindu Kapoor and Avantha Realty Promoter Gautam Thapar in a fresh case involving the crisis-hit bank, officials said. The CBI is also conducting searches at several locations in the national capital and Mumbai in connection with the fresh case.

A CBI official related to the probe in Delhi said the agency has registered a case against the couple for the bungalow deal at Amrita Shergill Marg and alleged bribe for relaxation in realisation of loans worth over Rs 2,000 crore to Thapar`s companies.

The official said that the fresh case was filed after it was alleged that Kapoor conspired with other named accused to obtain illegal gratification in the form of a bungalow at 40 Amrita Shergill Marg in the national capital, a prime location in Lutyens` Delhi, by paying only Rs 378 crore approximately through Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd, where his wife was one of the two directors.

The official said the said property was immediately thereafter mortgaged to India Bulls Housing Finance Ltd for a loan of Rs 685 crore.

"It was further alleged that much less consideration than the market value was paid to Avantha Realty Ltd for relaxation in other existing loans of Avantha Group of companies and for advancing new or additional loans to Avantha Group of companies," the CBI official alleged.

The CBI official said the multiple teams of the central probe agency were carrying out searches at various locations in Delhi and Mumbai, including the residence of Kapoor, office premises of Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd, which is linked to Bindu Kapoor, IndiaBulls Housing Finance Ltd, and offices of Thapar linked firm Avantha Realty.

However, India Bulls Housing Finance Limited in a statement said, "CBI has not raided at any of the offices of IndiaBulls group. The CBI raids have happened on Yes bank or Rana Kapoor who have their offices in IndiaBulls Finance Centre complex in the capacity of a tenant."

Amrita Shergill Marg is one of the prime areas of Delhi and sources said that the property was priced around Rs 450 crore. This is the second case filed by the CBI against the couple within a week following the Yes Bank crisis.

The CBI began 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. The ED also registered a case of money laundering on the basis of the CBI FIR and arrested Rana Kapoor on Sunday morning.

One of his daughters was stopped from boarding a flight to London by Immigration Department officials at Mumbai airport.The ED had arrested Rana Kapoor on Sunday morning and he is currently under the ED custody till March 16.
In what should prove to be the most embarrassing endeavor ever undertaken by a prominent periodical, the New York Times is publishing a series of essays called the "1619 Project," which argues that "out of slavery grew nearly everything that has truly made America exceptional," citing first and foremost its "economic might" and "industrial power."

Not surprisingly, this project wasn't the brainchild of a historian, but of a staff writer named Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose introductory essay "provides the intellectual framework for the project," according to the Times. Lacking any credibility to spearhead a discussion on the subject at hand, Hannah-Jones engaged Leslie M. Harris, a professor of history at Northwestern University and author of In the Shadow of Slavery, African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863, among other books on slavery.

Writing at Politico, Harris recalls that Hannah-Jones had reached out looking for academic confirmation of the primary contentions of the 1619 Project's introductory essay, which were:

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 in both North and South.

"I vigorously disputed the claim," writes Harris. Hannah-Jones and the Times published the provocative lies anyway, though, because if there's anything we've learned from the dedicated "journalists" at the Times in recent years, it's that truth should always take a back seat to good story if it stokes the "woke."

And as leftist propaganda goes, this one's a doozy. The "framework" of the series is predicated on the two central arguments that Hannah-Jones lays out. The first is the contention that the Founders revolted against Britain in order to protect the institution of slavery from potential British efforts to abolish it. The second is the contention that slavery is not only what made the colonies rich, but that America's historical association with slavery cobbled the path to America's "economic might" and "industrial power."

Both arguments are absurdly false, of course, and I'll leave it to two famous historians to explain why.

After the publication of the 1619 Project, some historians were signatories to a letter asking the Times to correct the "factual errors" present in the series which amounted to "a displacement of historical understanding by ideology." Among them was Gordon Wood, noted historian and author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution. When the New York Times refused to make any of the historians' recommended corrections, Wood sent a letter which can be best described as an intellectual bludgeoning.

Wood's letter kindly begins by saying that he has no problem with "demonstrating the importance of slavery in the history of our country," but is concerned that such a "worthy goal will be seriously harmed if the facts turn out to be wrong" and the "interpretations of the events are deemed to be perverse and distorted." He then goes on to ruthlessly decimate the first of the Project's central contentions with facts.

Now, please remember that Hannah-Jones has spent just under two decades as an investigative journalist, and is making the radical argument that the American colonials revolted against the British Empire because it represented a threat to the institution of slavery in the colonies. Gordon Wood, who earned his Ph.D. in history from Harvard over a decade before Ms. Hannah-Jones was even born, thoroughly shatters that contention, writing:

I have spent my career studying the American Revolution and cannot accept the view that "one of the primary reasons the colonists decided to declare their independence from Britain was because they wanted to protect the institution of slavery." I don't know of any colonist who said that they wanted independence in order to preserve their slaves. No colonist expressed alarm that the mother country was out to abolish slavery in 1776.

Furthermore, he writes:

There is no evidence in 1776 of a rising movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade, as the 1619 Project erroneously asserts, nor is there any evidence the British government was eager to do so. But even if either were the case, ending the Atlantic slave trade would have been welcomed by the Virginia planters, who already had more slaves than they needed. Indeed, the Virginians in the years following independence took the lead in moving to abolish the despicable international slave trade.

This is more than a simple misunderstanding of historical facts. The Times is telling a malicious lie that does little to veil the subversive attempt at delegitimizing America and its Founding. If this alone doesn't completely destroy the credibility of the 1619 Project, perhaps we should address its other central argument, which is that America's "economic might" and "industrial power" derives from its association with slavery.

Consider this. Throughout the history of human civilization, slavery was a common and fundamental feature of economic production. What makes the West African slave trade in the Americas unique is not that it existed. It was unique only because, in the land to which the slaves were brought, there was a relatively new, competing economic model emerging alongside slavery.

In 1836's Democracy in America, French historian Alexis de Tocqueville observes the history and practical outcomes of this conflict of economic visions. Discussing the history of slavery in America, he notes that slavery existed in 1621, "as well in the rest of the globe," largely in the South, and "diminished towards the Northern states."

However, "a century had scarcely elapsed" when the "attention of the planters [in America] was struck by the extraordinary fact that the provinces which were comparatively destitute of slaves increased in population, in wealth, and in prosperity more rapidly than those which contained many of them."

No matter how far west you went, de Tocqueville writes, "the same result occurred at every step; in general, the colonies in which there were no slaves became more populous and prosperous than those in which slavery flourished. The farther they went, the more it was shown that slavery, which is so cruel to the slave, is prejudicial to the master."

Clearly, by the time of the American Revolution, it had become obvious that slavery was inferior to a free market economic system. This fact wasn't lost on the Southern planters, either. Few among them, de Tocqueville observes, "regard slavery as necessary to the wealth of the planter; on this point many of them agree with their Northern countrymen, in freely admitting that slavery is prejudicial to their interests."

However, the Southern planters were also "convinced that the removal of this evil would imperil their own existence." In other words, slavery didn't persist in America's colonial era or afterward because it created substantial wealth and prosperity in the places that inherited the institution, but because those living in such places saw no practical means of destroying it.

America's industrial and economic might doesn't exist because of its history of slavery. Quite the contrary, that industrial and economic might exists in spite of its history of slavery, and this should be obvious when one considers that increases in wealth and industry greatly accelerated after slavery was abolished in America.

A free market arrangement, with few economic interventions by government, was allowed to uniquely flourish in the America, creating a stark contrast which only served to highlight the economic and moral inferiority of slavery. And as to that moral question, de Tocqueville couldn't be clearer or more correct (emphasis added):

The [harmful] influence of slavery upon the production of wealth must have been very imperfectly known in antiquity, as slavery then obtained throughout the civilized world And, indeed, Christianity abolished slavery only by advocating the claims of the slave; at the present time it may be attacked in the name of the master, and upon this point interest is reconciled with morality.

America not only allowed for that reconciliation, but its foundational doctrine -- that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights -- necessitated its urgency. As Berkeley professor Steven Hayward has remarked, the American Founding had an "indispensable role in making slavery a central political problem for the first time in human history."

All of this used to be common knowledge, imparted to our children in grade school. These blatant and malicious lies spread by the 1619 Project are a new low for American progressives, and the fact that "woke" fiction is now masquerading as history on the pages of the New York Times is a sad testament to just how far the once-reputable Gray Lady has fallen.

Image: Adam Jones via Flickr.
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Linkedin Hengky Ola Sura (The Jakarta Post) Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara  Fri, March 13, 2020 16:19 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a620fb 1 Business QRIS,bank-indonesia,NTT,digital-payment,cashless-payment,banks Free

Bank Indonesia (BI) wants 50,000 merchants in East Nusa Tenggara to use the digital Indonesian Standard Quick Response Code (QRIS) payment system by the end of this year.

BI East Nusa Tenggara province head I Nyoman Ariawan Atmaja said that as of March, 10,533 merchants had implemented the QRIS system in the island province.

"The merchants switched from the old QR to the new QRIS from August to December last year, he said as quoted by Antara news agency on Wednesday.

He said the new QR system could help develop micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the province.

I Nyoman said he would continue to accelerate the implementation of the QRIS system to reach the 50,000-merchant target. He added that banks such as Bank Mandiri, Bank NTT and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) had also helped carry out the QR switch.

Transactions through the QRIS system have been promoted as being more efficient because they use one standardized code for all mobile phone digital payment applications.

The government has said that the payment system is universal, easy, profitable and direct and that it aims to encourage transaction efficiency, accelerate financial inclusion, promote MSMEs and boost economic growth.

The switch to QRIS is part of the central banks National QRIS Week event across Indonesia, which is being held from March 8 to 15 to promote cashless transactions in small businesses.

The central bank has disseminated information about the technical details of the QRIS system and the registration process for small businesses that want to begin using it.

As of February, the QRIS code had been adopted by about 2.7 million merchants across the country, according to central bank data, 18 percent of BIs 15 million-merchant target by the end of 2020. (eyc)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 15:46:28|Editor: huaxia

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SHENZHEN, March 13 (Xinhua) -- SF Airlines, the aviation branch of China's express giant SF Express, Thursday launched a new direct all-cargo flight service linking Shenzhen in southern China with Osaka of Japan.

The new cargo route is operated by B757-200 cargo freighters, with three round trips scheduled every week. It is the fourth such direct air route launched by SF Airlines to link Chinese cities with Osaka, according to the airlines.

The new cargo liner route is expected to help restore the import and export logistics channel for the domestic manufacturing industry and offer more capacity support to transport international epidemic prevention materials.

As of Thursday, SF Airlines has made 194 flight trips carrying a total of 4,782 tonnes of emergency supplies to support the novel coronavirus-hit regions.

SF Airlines now operates a total of 58 all-cargo freighters on its global air cargo service network linking more than 60 destinations, ranking as China's largest air cargo carrier.
Dianna Jacksons life was forever changed in the most horrific of ways on Jan. 8, 2020.

The 55-year-old Birmingham mother lost her only living child  who was also her best friend  when he was gunned down in an apparent ambush in the garage of Diannas Killough Spring Road home.

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Tristian Jackson survived almost 20 years in the military and deployment in Operation Iraqi Freedom only to die just feet from his 4-year-old daughter for reasons still unknown.

This is still a tremendous shock for the entire family, said Dianna. We cannot believe he is gone.

Still-grieving and desperate for answers, Dianna spoke Thursday for the first time publicly since the slaying of her 36-year-old son. She is offering a $10,000 cash reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction for the person or people responsible for Tristians death.

My son had no enemies that he knew of, that I knew of, Dianna said. I want to know who, and I want to know why.

The deadly shooting happened just before 9:30 p.m. at Diannas east Birmingham home between Five Mile Road and Orchid Lane. Tristian, who had custody of his daughter, picked her up after school and again after gymnastics and headed to Birmingham from Montgomery where he was an Army recruiter.

On the way to his mothers house, Tristian picked up his mothers sister and her grandbaby. When they got to the Killough Springs Road home, he unloaded their bags and was about to shower. Before doing so, however, he decided to move his car into the garage.

His aunt heard him pull in the car and then she heard pop, pop, pop, she would later tell family members. She said she didnt realize what it was. Evelyn went toward the kitchen and she saw her dad laying on the floor, Dianna said. She said, Auntie, my daddy broke his soda. But it was his blood. Thats when my sister said she realized what had happened and she grabbed the kids and ran to the back room and called 911.

Diannas sister called her and got no answer. She immediately called again. She said you need to get home, and thats just what Dianna did. As she drove down Five Mile Road and neared her neighborhood, she saw a sea of blue police lights.

When I got to the corner, I heard my sons voice that said, Yall tell my momma that Im OK. So, when I turned the corner, I had a sigh of relief because I heard my son say, Im OK, Dianna said. But as I parked my car and jumped out...the police officers grabbed me and wouldnt let me come in and wouldnt tell me anything. I realized then what happened to my baby.

She tried to see Tristian, but police held her back, and told her to wait. This went on until my family members walked up and thats when they told me, Dianna said. I remember I broke down and I just kept saying, Please let me see my baby, and they kept telling me You dont want to see him like that she said. I needed to see my son, but they never would let me.

That was Wednesday night, and it had been three days since Dianna had last seen her son. We went to church, we ate dinner, we hugged, and they went home, she said. He called me to let me know they had made it home and I had made it home. We both said, I love you.

We talked every day and we FaceTimed that day when he took Evelyn to gymnastics, but the last time I physically hugged my child was that Sunday, she said.

Tristians service was held Jan. 24 at Maxwell Air Force Bases Faith Chapel. He was later buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The Fairfield High Preparatory School graduated in 2001 and went straight into the Army as a military police soldier. He was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and stayed there for one year. It was during that deployment that Tristian earned the Combat Action Badge and was recognized for his actions during Operation Phantom Fury combat operations in Fallujah.

In 2006, he was reassigned to Germany. After several more assignment changes, Tristian in 2012 became a Detailed Army Recruiter, which became his passion. He received multiple awards for his service and was posthumously awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and the Gold Recruiter Badge. At the time of his death, he was starting to plan his retirement.

From the time he was about 5 years old, my aunt always called him my little husband, Dianna said. He was a mamas boy.

Hes always been smart, always wanted to do something to try to make a dollar, she said.

As a single mother working two jobs, Dianna taught her boys at a young age to become self-sufficient. As young as elementary school, Tristian was so good at ironing that his uncle would pay him to press his jeans. And, Dianna said, after school and homework, Tristian would hang out at the neighborhood store where the owner eventually put him to work. He was probably no more than 8 years old when he was behind the register. I cant remember her name, but she said, Ive never seen a child this young who could count back money like your son can, Dianna recalled.

She said she is stunned the case appears to be at a standstill. Thats why she is offering the reward money. A GoFundMe was launched by Tristians friends to help raise money for the reward.

Im asking, Im begging, Im pleading to anyone with information to please come forward, she said. I stay up nightly just replaying stuff in my mind, just trying to think. My sons life was taking care of Evelyn. His job, his daughter, his mom, his family  thats what he was all about.

She absolutely believes can be solved. I have my thoughts, as do everybody, she said. We just got to prove it.

Evelyn is now with her mother, who also is in the military, and they live out of state. Dianna hasnt seen her granddaughter in person since Arlington. She misses her daddy, and she misses me, she said.

Dianna lost her other son, Charles, to illness in 2007. And now somebody took my baby from me, she said. My fight everyday to keep going without my child is to find who killed my baby. That was my son, my baby, my best friend. And I was his.

Anyone with information on the slaying is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
At the heart of the Consumer Advocate's opposition to NorthWestern Energy buying a larger stake of Colstrip is a simple premise: Show us your numbers. If buying more Colstrip is really such a good deal, said lead attorney Bob Nelson, then when more information is disclosed, then we should all be able to agree.

Remember Nelson's constitutionally-mandate job is to make sure that in any major energy or utility purchase, Montana's ratepayers are getting a reasonable deal. His entire job is watching out for us. Whether Montana's Public Service Commission can get beyond its most recent antics and politics and listen is another question entirely.

A close reading of Nelson's comments should give commissioners and consumers pause. Often, ratepayers and utility cases are complex and it is difficult to understand the nuances and intricacies of them. However, Nelson's arguments are straightforward and we hope the answers to the questions are as plainly spoken.

Billings Gazette reporter Tom Lutey pointed out, "NorthWestern would like its Montana customers pre-committed to covering costs associated with the larger share, many of which remain undisclosed."

In other words, NorthWestern is asking the Public Service Commission to essentially either not disclose the costs of Colstrip or, maybe even worse, keep them hidden from consumers. That's simply not fair and it ensures NorthWestern essentially insulates itself from risk at the ratepayers' expense. It would be like walking into a car dealer, purchasing a car agreeing to pay whatever cost and not even checking on the condition. That situation is so ludicrous that no one would agree to it. Yet, the consumer advocate argues that's what may be at stake here.

And Nelson's words are sobering and unequivocal.

For the vast majority of work papers submitted by NorthWestern, the source of the information relied on is not provided, the analysis is incomplete, or is based on unsupported assumptions, Nelson wrote in his comments to Montanas Public Service Commission.

Among NorthWestern's shortcomings were a failure to address nearly $20 million in needed boiler repairs at Colstrip. That speaks to the condition of the plant and the ongoing maintenance that ratepayers could face in the future  and be saddled with.

The consumer advocate also pointed out that with the plentiful supply of natural gas and a number of new gas-fired generation units coming online, NorthWestern and other companies have a widening array of options that are cheaper and cleaner, potentially avoiding the environmental impact of coal, and its costly clean-up. Nelson and the consumer counsel found that NorthWestern had not adequately addressed that, and we believe if buying more Colstrip is such a good deal for Montanans, then a market analysis will prove that.

There may be a very logical, straightforward answer to all these questions. And it's worth noting that NorthWestern told The Gazette that it would respond to all of Nelson's questions by the end of the week. Well, it shouldn't just be Nelson who has a responsibility to hold out for answers. Every NorthWestern ratepayer in Montana, which means many people in Billings, should be equally adamant about answers.

We also believe that reliability is another key aspect as well as affordability. Billings and Yellowstone County uses a lot of power. We have three refineries which can't afford to lose power without losing millions. Our industry and economy also rests upon reliability.

Most of all, we think the PSC should absolutely halt the process and force NorthWestern to go back and present a more transparent, detailed and realistic plan, the kind that Nelson has asked for. If the PSC won't demand straightforward, transparent answers, it kind of makes you wonder: Why wouldn't they, and whose interest are they really serving?

The Billings Gazette

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The postmortem report of the 9-year-old girl who was raped and murdered on the day of Holi in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh has revealed the sheer brutality of the crime.

The girl had over two dozen injury marks on her body and her intestines completely ruptured, the report said.

According to the doctors, the girl died strangulation and excessive bleeding.

BCCL

The girl, a resident of Shuklakhera village in Unnao was raped by an unidentified man while the village was busy with Holi celebrations on Tuesday.

The family was informed about the incident by some villagers who spotted the girl lying in a critical condition in the field.

She was first taken to the Patan community health centre and later shifted to LLR hospital in Kanpur, where she died on Wednesday during treatment.

"A minor girl died while receiving treatment at a hospital where she was admitted after being allegedly raped in Bihar police station limits on March 10. An FIR has been registered, an investigation is being done," said Jyoti Narayan, Inspector General of Police (Law and Order), Uttar Pradesh.

AFP

On Thursday, the family had initially refused to accept the body and demanded that the culprit should the hanged or shot dead like what happened in Telangana.

The family had refused to cremate her till UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath came and assured them of strict and swift action against the guilty.

However, in the afternoon, after being assured by some senior government officers, including district magistrate Ravindra Singh and superintendent of police Vikrant Veer the family conducted her last rites.

Though the police have registered a case, they have not been able to identify the culprit yet.

"Prima facie, it seems a villager or known person has committed the crime. However, we are not clear yet," SN Sabat, ADG Lucknow Zone said.

The cops are pinning their hopes on a DNA test on skin and hair strands recovered from the victims nails to identify the culprit.

Unnao has been in the news for all the wrong reasons for some time now.

BCCL

First, it was the gang-rape case involving now expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Senger, who was accused of sexually abusing a girl who was a minor at the time in 2017.



Senger who was found guilty in the case has been sentenced to jail for the rest of his life.

He was also found guilty in the custodial death of the victim's father. Senger is also an accused in the murder attempt on the girl last year.

In December 2019 there was another similar case in Unnao, where a 23-year-old rape victim was burned alive by five men, including two who were accused of raping her. She was beaten with sticks and stabbed before they poured kerosene and set her on fire. According to eyewitnesses, who came to her rescue, the girl had run for nearly a kilometer screaming for help.
The recently minted Alvarez defense has become an important sword in Florida homeowners property insurance carriers arsenal against overstated, excessive, and false claims. Every Florida insurance defense attorney and adjuster should be aware of and using this very effective defense. The Alvarez defense establishes that an excessive and overly exaggerated estimate constitutes a false statement under an insurers policy preventing any and all recovery by the insured.

Florida suffers from a negative litigation climate that is in many ways driven by excessive estimates written by public adjusters, estimators, and the always nebulous loss consultant trying to skirt the line between public adjuster and estimator. The script is well-known at this point. The insureds public adjuster, estimator, or loss consultant writes an incredibly excessive estimate that is a gross and intentional overstatement of the actual damages that the property sustained. Naturally, the insurer does not pay this estimate. The insureds plaintiff attorney then sues the insurer, relies on the hope that the jury awards at least one cent more than the insurer paid pre-suit (so as to trigger statutory fee entitlement under Florida Statute  627.428), and holds this potential fee entitlement as leverage over the insurer to extract an undeserved amount. This strategy is based on the jurys tendency to play King Solomon and split the difference between estimates. Indeed, to trigger fee entitlement, all the plaintiff attorney needs to obtain is any amount more than the insurer paid pre-suit.

The hypothetical scenario described above plays out in claims offices and courtrooms across the state to the detriment of Florida insurers and insureds, who end up suffering the costs of higher premiums. This circumstance begs for a solution. Enter the Alvarez defense.

On April 17, 2019, the Florida Third District Court of Appeal issued its opinion in the case of Alvarez v. State Farm Fla. Ins. Co., 2019 WL 1646121, rev. denied 2019 WL6248551. In Alvarez, the plaintiffs submitted an estimate that the defendant asserted constituted a false statement. See Id. The verdict form submitted the following question to the jury: 1. Did the Defendant prove, by the greater weight of the evidence, that Plaintiffs intentionally and materially misrepresented the extent of the loss such that no other conclusion can be drawn than that a purposeful misrepresentation was intended? YES ______ NO ______ Id. at 3. The jury returned an answer of Yes. See Id.

Curiously, the jury in Alvarez also provided a monetary award for the plaintiffs. See Id. The plaintiffs argued that it was a compromise verdict and the plaintiff should still receive the jurys award. The judge made the correct decision, and issued judgment not withstanding verdict in favor of State Farm (the insurer), ruling that the jurys verdict finding material misrepresentation voided the homeowners coverage for the claimed loss. Id. at 3. The Third DCA affirmed. See Id.

The importance of this ruling cannot be understated. The Alvarez case conclusively stands for the proposition that an exaggerated, overstated, or inflated estimate can constitute a false statement or material misrepresentation and that said false statement or material misrepresentation can void the insureds ability to recover any damages whatsoever. By eliminating the ability to recover any damages, the court has prevented plaintiffs counsels who submit exaggerated estimates from recovering a fee. This defense turns the table on the script described above, where the plaintiffs counsel submits the estimate and uses recovery of any amount to threaten a fee and leverage an unwarranted settlement. Now, the insurer possesses a fighting chance to eliminate the false claim and the unwarranted fee by means of the Alvarez defense.

It is essential for carriers and insurance defense practitioners to remember to assert this affirmative defense in their pleadings. If it is not pleaded, it may not be available at trial. Such a crucial and important defense should be pleaded. When pleading same, one should look at the specific policy language forbidding false statements or material misrepresentations. If a particular policy requires materiality, plead materiality. Also, make sure to plead sufficient facts to withstand a motion to strike.

When deposing a plaintiff who has submitted a false or exaggerated estimate, it is important to confront said plaintiff with the estimate and see how the plaintiff justifies it. Practitioners should also challenge the estimator to support the estimate. Sometimes discovery will reveal the presence of overlapping damages already paid for in a prior claim, or old, never repaired damage that was not claimed, but that was clearly unrelated to the subject loss and claimed in the insureds excessive estimate. Including such damages in an estimate constitutes a false statement on its own apart from the Alvarez defense, but, also, certainly supports and strengthens an Alvarez defense.

Sometimes on the eve of trial, the plaintiff will submit a new lower and more reasonable estimate. This is often part of an attempt to obtain unwarranted attorneys fees. The situation often plays out as follows: The plaintiffs counsel will submit an extremely exaggerated and excessive estimate and then proceed to litigate the case to the hilt, building up very large numbers of hours. Faced with this clearly false estimate, the insurer obviously chooses not to pay it. Then at the 11th hour, the plaintiffs counsel produces a new, reasonable estimate that is a fraction of the false estimates total and sometimes barely in excess of what the insurer paid pre-suit. The obvious goal is to appear reasonable to the jury, obtain a small judgment in favor of the plaintiff, and obtain a grossly excessive fee based on the unnecessary litigation that the plaintiffs counsel himself or herself drummed up. The cart (the fee) is before the horse (the actual claim), so to speak, as this litigation tactic serves only the plaintiffs attorney.

The Alvarez defense is extremely helpful in this scenario. When the plaintiff attempts to withdraw the estimate, the defense counsel should refuse and insist that the prior estimate is relevant to the properly pleaded Alvarez defense and must be presented to the jury. If defense counsel has a thorough exhibit list listing the plaintiffs excessive estimate, the judge would be hard-pressed and likely subject to reversal if the judge permitted the plaintiff to shift the entire playing field right before trial (usually after discovery has cut-off too) by denying the insurer to present evidence timely disclosed and clearly in support of a well-pleaded affirmative defense.

Florida insurers and insureds have too long suffered under the burden of vexatious litigation designed to extract excessive damage payments and unwarranted legal fees from both Florida insurance companies and the public itself (via higher premiums). While the deck sometimes feels stacked against insurers, the Alvarez Defense presents a crucial and important tool that permits insurers to obtain a defense verdict. A defense verdict eliminates the fee entitlement that drives so much of this litigation. This potentially decisive defense shifts the playing field upon which insurance litigation is being litigated in such a manner that plaintiffs and their counsel need to be aware of the significant risks they face by submitting excessive estimates prepared by unscrupulous public adjusters, estimators, or loss consultants.

Florida insurers need not file for or obtain summary judgment on every case to make use of the Alvarez defense either. Its mere presence is a useful bargaining tool at mediation tables and informal negotiations. Skilled attorneys and adjusters can leverage this defense to obtain effective results for homeowners insurance carriers throughout the state.
MARCO BERTORELLO, Contributor / AFP via Getty Images

Its 6:30 in the evening, the sun has set, and Im at my desk writing by the light of my iPhone. Its the rainy season here in Mchinji, Malawi, but they experience power outages year round. Im a pediatrician in Houston and am here for work in collaboration with Malawian clinicians and researchers. About 3 percent of Malawian children diagnosed with pneumonia die, and were hoping our work makes a dent. That is why I feel compelled to shine a light on a threat to global child health and our national security: President Donald Trumps 2021 budget. If passed it would result in a 34 percent decrease in funding for global health programs by the State Department, in addition to cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Disease Control. Our children simply cannot afford for this to happen.

Nearly a week after the budget was released, a commission led by the World Health Organization on the future of the worlds children was published. Spoiler: we must act now to ease the damage inflicted by unchecked human-induced global warming. Our children will bear the greatest burden of its health effects as well as the economic and geopolitical consequences. It is already happening  between the increased length of the hungry seasons here in Malawi and the flooding we see in our backyard. The worst is yet to come and our government should work towards solutions, not further debilitate the Environmental Protection Agency with a 26 percent budget cut.
UA engineers collaborate on $3.5M DOE traffic-flow project

University of Arizona electrical and computer engineering researchers are collaborating on a multi-institution project that uses connected and autonomous vehicle technology to smooth traffic and decrease fuel consumption. The project, funded through a U.S. Department of Energy $3.5 million cooperative research agreement, aims to demonstrate for the first time in real traffic that using intelligent control of a small number of connected and automated vehicles can improve the energy efficiency of all vehicles in the flow by reducing the effects of congestion.

ECE's Jonathan Sprinkle, Litton Industries John M. Leonis Distinguished Associate Professor, and professor Roman Lysecky are principal investigators for the University of Arizona's $875,000 portion of the grant.

"More and more passenger vehicles come with features that automate some driving tasks," said Sprinkle. "New advancements in machine learning are showing how small changes to those features can work to address societal-scale challenges, such as the amount of fuel spent while sitting in stop-and-go traffic during a daily commute."

Alexandre Bayen, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, is leading the project.

"We are very excited to lead this project and contribute to relieving the negative impacts of congestion and dependence on fuel," said Bayen.

The project is a continuation of the research team's prior work, which introduced an autonomous car into a traffic circle to calm stop-and-go traffic waves, resulting in smoother flow and significantly reduced fuel consumption.

In previous field experiments funded by the National Science Foundation on a single-lane track, fuel consumption decreased up to 40%. With more complex traffic conditions, including vehicles with drivers, researchers estimate that automating fewer than 5% of vehicles in the traffic flow will result in a greater than 10% energy gain.

Also on the research team are Benedetto Piccoli, Lopez Chair Professor of mathematical sciences at Rutgers University, Camden; Benjamin Seibold, associate professor of mathematics at Temple University; Daniel Work, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Vanderbilt University; and Brad Freeze, director of traffic operations at the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

The project is part of $59 million the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Vehicle Technologies Office has allocated for 43 projects involving research for advanced batteries and electric drive systems, co-optimized engine and fuel technologies, materials for more efficient powertrains, alternative fuels and energy-efficient mobility systems.

"Vehicles drive our national economy," said DOE Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes. "At DOE, we support a broad portfolio of technologies, generating the knowledge needed for industry to further develop and commercialize affordable, secure and reliable transportation systems."

In the United States alone, vehicles annually transport 11 billion tons of freight -- more than $35 billion in goods each day -- and move people more than 3 trillion vehicle-miles. The average U.S. household spends nearly a fifth of its total family expenditures on transportation, second only to housing.

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This story has been published on: 2020-03-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus, retailers are scrubbing stores, capping how many germ-killing products customers can buy and suspending food samples.

For H-E-B customers buying hand sanitizer, hand soap, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol and wipes, disinfecting and antibacterial sprays and wipes and latex gloves, the maximum is four units per person per shopping trip.

Liquid bleach, toilet paper and face masks are capped at two per person, and for water, purchases are limited to four multi-packs and four gallons.

The San Antonio retailer is cleaning stores and hard surfaces more frequently, providing hand sanitizer for cashiers and customers at check-out stations and stopping its food samples for now. It is also providing free delivery of pharmacy orders from stores that offer the service.

Walmart is cleaning stores daily, considering whether to change hours at 24-hour facilities to allow for more cleaning and pursuing easier ways to sanitize shopping carts, the company said in a statement.

Store managers have the discretion to cap sales quantities for certain items.

Online, we are taking a firm stance related to the potential for price gouging by third-party sellers, Walmart said. Violations of our seller pricing policy and seller prohibited items policy will not be tolerated and will be resolved quickly.

Target and Trader Joes also are scrubbing stores more frequently and focusing on high-traffic areas, as well as temporarily stopping food sampling.

As demand for cleaning products, medicine, pantry stock-up items and more remains high, were sending more products to our stores as quickly as possible, Brian Cornell, Targets chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

Last weekend, we started to limit the number of key items per purchase, which will allow more guests to get what they need, he added.

A spokesperson for Costco didnt respond to inquiries about what measures the company is taking.

Stores, restaurants opening

Burlingtons new 35,000-square-foot store at the Rim shopping center on La Cantera Parkway opens next Friday, the retailer announced this week. The company has hired about 70 employees for the new location.

Work on Black Rifle Coffee Co.s location at 180 W. Bitters Road is expected to wrap up in June, a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation shows. The Salt Lake City-based business opened its first local coffee shop in Boerne last year.

Signs at Local Coffee locations in San Antonio are changing to display the name Merit Coffee but will otherwise stay the same, Staff Writer Paul Stephen reports. The alterations are part of a rebranding process that started two years ago.

Mi Roti, a restaurant from the chef behind local Jamaican restaurant The Jerk Shack, is opening at the Pearls food hall at the end of March, Staff Writer Mike Sutter reports. The restaurant will serve flatbread wraps with West Indies and Caribbean flavors.
London, March 13 : There were probably between 5,000 and 10,000 people infected with the novel coronavirus in the UK at this time, the government's chief scientific adviser said, adding that the 590 confirmed cases in the country could be "just the tip of the iceberg".

"Currently we are on a trajectory that looks as though it is about four weeks or so behind Italy and some other countries in Europe," The Sun newspaper quoted Patrick Vallance as saying on Thursday.

"There are currently 590 cases that have been identified in the UK and there are more than 20 patients in intensive care units.

"If you calculate what that really means in terms of the total number, it is much more likely that we have between 5,000 and 10,000 people infected at the moment. That is still a relatively small number," he added.

Also speaking after an emergency meeting on Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the number of cases in the UK was expected to rise sharply, warning the peak was still weeks away.

He announced the government has moved to the second stage of a four-part plan to tackle the outbreak in the country.

The "delay" phase means steps will now be taken to slow the spread of the deadly bug, to reduce the number of people who fall ill, The Sun newspaper reported.

The Prime Minister said coronavirus was the "worst public health crisis for a generation" as he set out new measures that could cause "severe disruption for many months".

He said anyone with symptoms, however mild, including a continuous cough or high temperature, should now stay at home and self-isolate for seven days.

On Thursday, official figures showed that the UK cases have exploded, reaching 590 - up from 456 on Wednesday. With 134 new infections reported, it marks the sharpest rise in cases recorded so far.

So far, 10n people in the UK have lost their lives.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A former British spy who murdered a child was awarded 60,000 by blaming his horrific crime on alleged PTSD caused by working for UK intelligence.

The man, who cannot be named for security reasons, alleged MI5 and SIS chiefs allowed him to conduct dangerous missions undercover in Egypt and Pakistan - despite knowing that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Reported to be in his 40s, the former spy claims to have infiltrated al-Qaeda, and to have been tortured as he shared company with Taliban insurgents.

His career ended in disgrace when he was convicted of murdering a child. In 2015, the man launched a legal bid to sue the Home Office for compensation.

A former spy who murdered a child won 60,000 compensation from the Home Office after blaming his crime on alleged PTSD caused by working for UK intelligence (MI6 HQ)

The child killer won 20,000 for alleged PTSD, and was also awarded 40,000 which he argued was money owed him by the Government, The Sun reports.

It is believed to be the first occasion in which a convicted murderer has been paid compensation linked to work carried out for the UK intelligence establishment.

However, critics blasted the out-of-court settlement yesterday.

Ex-Met detective Chief Insp Mick Neville told The Sun newspaper: 'The idea of a child killer receiving this compensation is abhorrent.

'The public will understandably be outraged. No matter what service you give to the Crown, or what effects are suffered, nothing can excuse killing a child.'

MailOnline has since approached the Home Office for comment.

Britain's top spy reveals teenage school leavers are being recruited to MI6 after the intelligence service cut its minimum age to 18 as espionage adapts to the technological revolution

Sir Alex Younger revealed how teenagers are being recruited to MI6 as it cut its minimum age to 18 to attract the 'best talent' from across the country.

This unprecedented move by the Secret Intelligence Services comes amidst a background of sweeping technological and geopolitical change.

By lowering the minimum age of employment from 21, MI6 hopes to capture the hearts and minds of a generation savvy with modern technology.

SIS invited 30 teenagers from inner London into its Vauxhall Cross HQ to encourage school leavers to apply for a career in British intelligence.

Sir Alex Younger (pictured) told a Q&A session at Vauxhall Cross HQ how MI6 hopes to capture the hearts and minds of a generation savvy with modern technology

Dispelling false perceptions, such as its exclusive recruitment of Oxbridge graduates, and intelligence officers having a 'licence to kill', Sir Alex - known simply as C - told the stunned teenagers: 'Your generation is key.'

According to the Evening Standard, many of the youngsters only realised they were going to an MI6 event when their buses pulled up outside the security gates.

Britain's teenagers have been propositioned to consider serving as intelligence officers combating threats posed by hostile foreign governments, terrorist organisations, and organised criminal gangs.

They can also apply for posts in tech, business support, HR, and finance, and move from IT support to spy posts if they show the right skills and values.
An official of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has stated that Northern Ghana is the largest producer of groundnuts in the country.



Madam Hawa Musah, Northern Regional Director at (MOFA) who disclosed this on Wednesday stated that statistics available at MOFA, puts the northern sector production level to 85 per cent of the total nationwide production.



She said more than 70 percent of farmers in Northern Ghana produced groundnuts as major crop even though on small to medium scales and involved more women in the production and processing chains of the leguminous crop over the years.



Madam Musah said this in a speech read on her behalf at a two-day meeting of the Ghana Groundnut Working Group (GGWG) held in Tamale to showcase new technologies and innovative ways involved in processing the crop, and to develop participants' interest to add greater value to the production of the crop through innovation.



The meeting brought together key actors across the country in the groundnut value chain to support sound foundation to fill critical gaps that limited the development of the groundnut industry in the country.



The programme funded by USAID, and supported by CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute was mandated to provide farmers in the five regions of Northern Ghana, including; Northern, North East, Savannah, Upper East and Upper West with appropriate technologies to increase food and fibre crop production based on a sustainable production system that maintained and increases soil quality and fertility.



Madam Musah said the country's average net export of groundnut was low, and suggested the need to expand the export base to estimated surplus of 17,228 metric tons (MT) of total production of the crop annually to boost the economic situation of farmers.



She noted that the consumption of groundnut in Ghana increased from 78,000 MT in 2010 to 93,020MT in 2018 due to its multiple benefits.



Dr Stephen K. Nustugah, the Director of Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) later in an interview with the GNA stated that it was important to increase the efficiency of the value chain through the supply of mechanisation services at all levels to increase efficiency and quality of products that would meet both local and international markets.



He called on the stakeholders to campaign and sensitise the farmers on the reduction of aflatoxin levels on groundnut farms to increase yields and incomes.



Dr Mumuni Abudulai, Chief Research Scientist and Entomologist, who is also the Principal Investigator of the peanut Research Innovation Lab of USAID at the CSIR-SARI, stated that the five-year programme started last year to increase the production levels of the crop over the years, indicating that it presented another opportunity for the establishment of processing plants that would improve on the current labour intensive processing practices.

Source: GNA









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San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg confirmed the city's first case of COVID-19 outside of the evacuees at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

The case is related to out-of-state travel and isn't related to the evacuees from the Grand Princess cruise ship being housed at Lackland, Nirenberg said during a news conference Friday.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

"That we have the first case in the city of San Antonio isn't all that surprising," said Nirenberg, as he reminded people to wash their hands and continue prevention efforts.

City officials said the patient is in self-quarantine and are trying to determine who the patient has come in contact with.

The mayor said they will update the public as information becomes available.

"In the absence of information is fear," the mayor said.

Nirenberg also issued a declaration of public health emergency to help limit the spread of the virus and prohibits large gatherings. The declaration will expire in seven days.

The declaration states that any events with 250 people or less should be limited and events with 500 people or more will be postponed or canceled.

Exceptions to the declaration include hospitals and schools. Nirenberg said local school districts are assessing what their next steps should be.

San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said the citys first responders are also taking precautions. Hood said some firefighters have been placed under isolation because of travel and not because of patient contact. There is no indication the firefighters have coronavirus, it is a precautionary measure.

Hood said fire crews are under strict guidelines for responding to calls. Emergency dispatchers will heavily screen calls with coronavirus-related conditions.

Only one or two firefighters or paramedics will initially arrive outfitted in the proper equipment and will make visual assessments from at least 6 feet away from the patient.

If we believe it is coronavirus, we will tell the patient they need to call their provider and get tested, Hood said. We dont want to overload the emergency rooms; we dont want to put our first responders at risk and we dont want to put a fire station out of commission.

SAFD also canceled all community service events such as its annual Fill the Boot fundraiser.

The city warned those exhibiting symptoms should visit their primary care provider first and only show up to an emergency room as a last resort.

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
WASHINGTON  Tests for the coronavirus will be covered by insurance policies, as will treatments for people who are infected, said Robert Redfield, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in congressional testimony on Thursday.

That assertion mirrors what both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have said about the coronavirus testing regime, which has been slow to get going. We want the American people to know that they are covered through private insurance, Pence said on Tuesday. They are covered through Medicare and Medicaid. And there will be no surprise billing.

If people refrain from getting tested, public health authorities will have trouble tracking the spread of the disease, which has so far infected about 1,300 Americans, killing 38.

Trump made a similar point as Pence in his Wednesday night address on the coronavirus from the Oval Office. Earlier this week, I met with the leaders of the health insurance industry, who have agreed to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatments, extend insurance coverage to these treatments and to prevent surprise medical billing, Trump said, apparently referencing the same meeting in which Pence made his own assurance about coverage.

Despite that, reports out of Seattle indicate that people are in fact being charged for tests: as much as $500 for individuals with insurance and $1,600 for those without it, according to HuffPost. (HuffPost and Yahoo News are both part of Verizon Media.)

And yet, as Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., told Redfield during Thursdays congressional hearing, the CDCs website lacked information about what the test costs, who will cover it and whether uninsured people can be tested. And so this has contributed to the confusion and the panic.

At the same time, Pressley managed to get Redfield to plainly say that coverage for testing and treatment would be universal.

Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Thursday. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Will the cost of testing be covered? she asked.

The cost of testing will be covered, Redfield answered.

Story continues

And what about treatment? Pressley asked.

Redfield again answered in the affirmative. Cost of treatment will be covered, he told her.

A coronavirus treatment does not yet exist and is not likely to be available for many months. The same is true for a vaccine. Tests do exist, but only a few thousand Americans have been tested so far.

This is a public health crisis and we must confront it with every tool at our disposal, Pressley said in a statement. Coronavirus testing and treatment must be affordable and available to everyone to prevent the further spread of the pandemic. While CDC Director Redfield committed to covering the costs of both testing and treatment, I have little faith in this administration to make good on their promises.

Later, Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., also confronted Redfield, informing him that as the director of the CDC he has the legal power to waive any fees for testing.

Redfield repeated to Porter what he had told Pressley, that he would invoke that authority, though he offered no details about when he would do so or whether he could confer with Trump beforehand. A press representative for the CDC did not respond to follow-up questions.

Still, it was enough for Porter. Everybody in America, hear that, she said. You are eligible to go get tested for coronavirus and have that covered regardless of insurance.

This story has augmented reality! Tap the video above to see how it looks and download the Yahoo News app to launch the full experience. Augmented reality is currently available to iPhone users (iPhone 8 and later) with the latest version of iOS.

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Americans traveling in Europe scrambled to buy last-minute plane tickets, in some cases spending thousands of dollars each, in hopes of speedily returning to the country before President Trumps travel ban comes into effect.

One family of three paid nearly $8,000 for three one-way tickets from Paris to New York.

I feel like they were putting a price tag on peoples safety, Coral McNary told ABC News on Friday.

Thats scary, especially if people cant afford it.

Some of the European airline counters at John F. Kennedy International Airport are seen empty in New York on Friday

American Sarah McNeil and her friend Nick Goddard wear protective masks as they make their way to Sarah's departure gate to return to the United States at Tegel Airport in Berlin on Friday

A passenger wearing protective mask stands at customer assistance of American Airlines before the Trump European travel ban goes into effect on Friday at Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez Airport

Passengers, including American citizen Dylan Clairmont (right), 20, wait to board the last direct United Airlines flight from Berlin to New York at Tegel Airport on Friday

Jake Genachowski, an American who was traveling in Switzerland, made it back home just in time before the ban kicked in.

He said that when he arrived, there was no screening for coronavirus.

Just made it through customs, Genachowski told ABC News shortly after arriving back in the states.

He said arriving passengers were asked if they had flu-like symptoms, but they were not asked if they had been to Italy or any other country hard-hit by the coronavirus.

Weary and confused travelers, many wearing face masks, rushed to board flights from European airports to the US on Thursday after Trump announced the new travel restrictions.

His 30-day travel order applies to citizens of 26 European countries but excludes Britain and Ireland as well as American citizens.

It takes effect from midnight on Friday.

The departures area is nearly empty in the international terminal of Logan Airport in Boston on Friday

Security at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, checks that passengers have signed the self-declaration that allows them to violate the quarantine and travel on Friday

Passengers wait by a closed check-in counter at Frankfurt Airport on Friday

It caused a mass panic, said 20-year-old Anna Grace, a US student on her first trip to Europe who changed her booking to fly home from Madrids Barajas airport instead of going on to France.

Her friends were less successful in rebooking flights.

Though American citizens are exempt from the travel ban, Grace and many others said they preferred to return home in case the restrictions are expanded or for fear of contracting coronavirus while in Europe.

We are nervous that we wont be able to get back into the country, said Atlantia resident Jay Harrison, 29, hoping to board a flight in Brussels.

Thus far, there have been 41 reported deaths from coronavirus in the United States

As of Friday, authorities in the US reported 1,776 cases of novel coronavirus

If its going to be another 30 days and were stranded, its going to be very difficult, very expensive and just tough to get back in and tough to live with.

Paola Mesa, 29, a Spanish woman flying from Barcelona to San Francisco, said she backed Trumps ban on travel from Europe.

Its what Spain should have done before, she said.

The death toll from coronavirus in Spain nearly doubled to 84 on Thursday and the number of cases rose to nearly 3,000.

Trump says he had to act as the European Union had failed to take adequate measures to stop the coronavirus.

The EU dismissed his comments and criticized the lack of consultation from the US side.

A woman wears a protective mask as she waits to check into a flight to the United States in the main terminal of Brussels International Airport in Brussels on Friday

A woman wears a protective mask as she waits to check into a flight to the United States in the main terminal of Brussels International Airport in Brussels on Friday

Many travelers, however, were critical of Trumps decision.

Its ridiculous. Why do we impose a ban now when the virus is already in the United States? said Leo Mota, 24, who had just arrived at Pariss main international airport, Roissy Charles de Gaulle, from Los Angeles.

Miguel Paracuellos, a Spaniard who works in the United States, said Trump was trying to compensate for his failure to expand testing and screening programs at home.

He is blaming an external enemy, in this case Europe, he said.

Jon Lindfors, an American traveler in Paris, was equally scathing about Trump, who will seek re-election in November.

Trump said its not a health crisis but it is, that its not an economic crisis but it is. We dont believe what Trump says anymore, Lindfors said.

A Delta crew member, who asked not to be named, said Trumps travel ban had caught the airline off-guard.

Its going to be a big mess... We were not expecting something like that. We dont have all the details to know what it means for us and for the company, the crew member said.

At Romes Fiumicino airport, largely empty due to draconian measures taken by Italy to combat coronavirus, one Italian traveler just back from New York said the United States would soon face the disruption Europe is now experiencing.

(In New York)... there were only a few flights canceled or delayed... They dont understand the situation yet, said Giuseppe Riccio, who wore a face mask.

Kennedy Airport is a ghost town on Friday after Trump instituted a ban on travel to and from Europe for 30 days

One of the departure terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Friday is seen in the above photo

The Lufthansa counter is seen above at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday

The Air France departure terminal is seen above at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday

The image above shows the AirTrain, which links John F. Kennedy International Airport to New York City, on Friday

There are no controls in place, shops are full of people.

Gregory and Ada Goldberg, an American couple from San Francisco, were trying to bring forward their flight home from Barcelona but were not getting much help at the airport.

This was meant to be two weeks of pleasant vacation but it has become a nightmare, said 69-year-old Ada.

Trump on Friday will hold a press conference to address the spiraling coronavirus pandemic as he seeks to calm a panicked nation amid mixed messages and growing criticism of his administration's scattershot response.

'I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House,' Trump tweeted. 'Topic: CoronaVirus!'

The news conference comes as the virus edged ever closer to the worlds power centers, including a positive test for a Brazilian official who spent time with Trump and top administration officials last weekend and an Australian Cabinet minister who met with Attorney General William Barr, Trump's daughter Ivanka, and other top aides.

And it comes as the world has been lurching to try to contain the virus's spread, with millions of students staying home across three continents, large gatherings canceled and more and more bars, restaurants and offices closed.

Trump and his administration have been under intense criticism amid testing failures and following a Wednesday night address to the nation in which Trump sowed confusion as he announced that the U.S. would be dramatically limiting travel from much of Europe.

Trump, who is rare to admit a mistake, told aides within minutes of finishing the speech that he had made an error when he mistakenly said the newly announced travel ban would include cargo, which it doesn't.
Defense Ministry of Israel has reportedly denied a report that scientists in their country made a "significant breakthrough" in developing a Coronavirus vaccine. Earlier on March 11, Hebrew media cited unidentified officials and reportedly said that the scientists at the Ness Ziona-based institute, under the control of the Defense Ministry are expected to announce a vaccine in the coming days. According to news reports, the team made a significant breakthrough in understanding the virus but further tests would be carried out for months.

READ: Coronavirus Outbreak: Israeli PM Netanyahu Dials 'friend' PM Modi

Scientists at the Migal Galilee Research Institute in Israel are about to begin production of a COVID-19 Vaccine, which is then expected to be fast-tracked through the trial and approval process. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/s8z45f9Xfu  Chootchy Face (@chootchyface) March 10, 2020

READ: Israeli President Urges Deadlocked Blocs To Consider Unity

Process to take some time

A spokesperson for the Defence Ministry reportedly said that the process would take some time. She reportedly said in a statement that presently there is no breakthrough in the efforts of the Israel Institute for Biological Research, to develop a vaccine for the COVID-19 epidemic.

She further added that the activities of the institute are taking place within a stipulated framework which will require some time. According to Israeli news reports, she added that nearly 50 experienced scientists are currently working on the research and development of a new vaccine.

READ: Coronavirus: Israel Announces Two-week Self Quarantine For All Arrivals In The Country

READ: Coronavirus: Uttarakhand Schools To Remain Closed Till March 31

(Pic Credit: Twitter)
Ghanaian actress and TV host, Selly Galley has reacted to rumours that she wears the pants in her marriage to Praye Tietia.



According to her, her husband has his own stream of income, hence theres no way shes controlling their marriage.



My husband makes his own money, I make my own money. Together were a powerful team and he has a lot of other businesses he does besides music. Hes into rice farming, its a family business.



His father of blessed memory was a contractor, he was, in fact, the engineer [who worked] on the motorway  Aflao stretchTherere contracts he executes and all that, so he has his own money and he just bought me a new car with his own money, she said during an interview on Accra FM.



Selly and Praye Tietia have been together for over 10 years. They made their relationship official when they tied the knot in September, 2015.













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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Co-founder Bill Gates is stepping down from the board of Microsoft, the company announced

Bill Gates is leaving the board of Microsoft, the company announced Friday.

The Microsoft co-founder, 64, is to dedicate more of his time to his charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

He has been spending more time on his philanthropic work since 2008, when he transitioned out of his day-to-day role at Microsoft.

Now the world's second-richest person worth $103.6 billion, Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen, who died in 2018.

Gates remained as Microsoft CEO until 2000 when he was succeeded by Steve Ballmer. He stepped down as director of the board in 2014.

Microsoft did not announce a replacement on the board to Gates but said that it will now consist of 12 members.

'It's been a tremendous honor and privilege to have worked with and learned from Bill over the years,' said current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who took over the role in 2014.

Melinda Gates and Bill Gates. He will be dedicating more time to their foundation

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen who Gates founded the company with 45 years ago

'Bill founded our company with a belief in the democratizing force of software and a passion to solve society's most pressing challenges. And Microsoft and the world are better for it.

'The board has benefited from Bill's leadership and vision. And Microsoft will continue to benefit from Bill's ongoing technical passion and advice to drive our products and services forward.

'I am grateful for Bill's friendship and look forward to continuing to work alongside him to realize our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.'

Gates remains one of Microsoft's main shareholders owning 1.36 percent in shares.

It is one of the most highly valued company's in the world, valued at $1.21 trillion.

'On behalf of our shareholders and the Board, I want to express my deep appreciation to Bill for all his contributions to Microsoft. As a member of the Board, he challenged us to think big and then think even bigger. He leaves an enduring legacy of curiosity and insight that serves as an inspiration for us all,' added John W. Thompson, Microsoft independent board chair.

Gates is said to be stepping down to dedicate more time to his philanthropic work and his foundation but will remain as Technology Advisor to CEO Nadella.

Current Microsoft Corporation Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella gave his thanks to Gates

His charity work focuses on global health, development, education and tackling climate change.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc also announced on Friday that Gates is retiring from the conglomerate's board of directors, and is expected to be replaced by Kenneth Chenault, who spent 17 years as chief executive of American Express Co.

The change was disclosed in Berkshire's annual proxy filing, ahead of its scheduled May 2 annual meeting.

Gates has served on Berkshire's board since 2004.

Chenault, 68, led American Express from January 2001 to February 2018, and became one of the most prominent black CEOs in corporate America.

Berkshire is the largest shareholder in American Express, ending 2019 with an 18.7 percent stake in the travel and financial services company.

It said its governance committee reviewed 23 possible candidates for board seats in 2019, and Chenault emerged as 'a standout and unanimous choice'.

The proxy filing also detailed compensation for top Berkshire executives in 2019.

Buffett, 89, was awarded $374,773, including his usual $100,000 salary plus $274,773 for personal and home security services.

Vice Chairmen Greg Abel, 57, and Ajit Jain, 68, who respectively oversee Berkshire's non-insurance and insurance operations, were each awarded $19 million, up from $18 million in 2018.

Buffett sets compensation for Abel and Jain, who many investors view as top candidates to eventually succeed him as chief executive. Berkshire does not grant stock options.

As Gates invests more and more time to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the charity has begun 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 foundation is dedicated to eradicating illness in developing countries.

Gates has 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 at the end of February.

'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).'
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Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on an abortion case out of Louisiana. The law in question mandates that an abortionist have access to a hospital in case something goes wrong.

Abortions go wrong more often than we are led to believe. Federal Law does not require clinics to report abortion complications and deaths to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) where most statistics are collated. Cheryl Sullenger, vice president of Operation Rescue, has written extensively on how abortions are often unsafe for the women seeking them. Yet, abortion advocates will fight tooth and nail against even the most common sense protections for women undergoing abortion.

While arguments were taking place inside the Court, protesters were speaking outside. The most famous of these was Chuck Schumer, Senate minority leader. He tried to intimidate the two Trump appointees to the High Court: They're taking away fundamental rights. I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind! And you will pay the price! You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.

In a rare rebuke, Chief Justice John Roberts said, Senator Schumer referred to two Members of the Court by nameJustices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.

The next day, Schumer gave a quasi-apology, excusing his threat because, after all, hes from Brooklyn, and they tend to speak in strong language up there.

Meanwhile, another liberal senator, Sheldon Whitehouse, from Rhode Island, rebuked the chief justice, stating: As the architect of an 80-case barrage of partisan, 5-4 decisions for big Republican donor interests, Chief Justice Roberts has zero credibility playing umpire in any political squabble.

Here is the bottom line: The Supreme Court has been doing the dirty work of the liberals for decades, and only slowly is it nearing a stop, or so it would seem.

Read the Constitution, including its 27 amendments, and tell me: Where, exactly, is a womans right to choose in there?

Roe v. Wade, which is sacrosanct to the left, admits: The Constitution does not explicitly mention any right of privacy. In a line of decisions, howeverthe Court has recognized that a right of personal privacy, or a guarantee of certain areas or zones of privacy, does exist under the Constitution. The Roe court claimed this guarantee is found in:

the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action,

the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people.

This privacy right, Roe claims, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. You can read these amendments until youre blue in the face, and it doesnt take long to see that the Supreme Court invented a right out of whole cloth and called it constitutional.

Conservative critics note that for decades now, the U. S. Supreme Court has often engaged in judicial activism  of which Roe v. Wade is a quintessential example.

Justice Byron White, appointed by JFK, gave a great dissenting opinion in Doe (Doe v. Bolton was a companion decision of Roe, both decided the same day, January 22, 1973): I find nothing in the language or history of the Constitution to support the Court's judgment. The Court simply fashions and announces a new constitutional right for pregnant mothersand, with scarcely any reason or authority for its action, invests that right with sufficient substance to override most existing state abortion statutes.

With the bang of a gavel, White notes, the justices had overturned virtually all laws dealing with abortion in what he called an exercise of raw judicial power.

I once interviewed Robert Bork, a former Yale Law School professor, who had been appointed to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court, until he was borked. So many lies were told about him that it sank his nomination. Bork went on to write some important books against judicial activism  of which Roe is a prime example.

Bork told me, The Constitution is being rewritten by judges.

When I asked Bork about Roe v. Wade, he commented, [I]ts a very interesting opinion. Its about 51 pages or something of that sortTheres not an ounce of legal reasoning in it.Its a terrible opinion.

Judges should not be making law, only adjudicating it. If they had not been making law, the 1973 Court would not have divided the country and spilled the blood of 60 million unborn babies. That Chuck Schumer is so invested in abortion  even to the detriment of the mothers health  that hes willing to issue implied threats of violence against Supreme Court justices, is quite telling.
Cassie Pekarski was a few hours into her trip from New York to Madrid when her phone pinged with a message from her mother. She paused the "Friends" rerun on her inflight television and glanced at her phone.

"So ... the US just banned travel between the US and Europe starting Friday," the message read Wednesday night. "You NEED to check with your tour guide group about coming back early."

In remarks from the Oval Office, President Donald Trump had just announced he was restricting travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days beginning midnight Friday in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Pekarski was midair headed to Spain for 10 days, and her mind started racing with questions on what's next. Would she be able to return home before the 30 days? Should she get another flight home as soon as she lands in Spain -- before Friday?

"I started shaking," Pekarski, an American citizen who lives in the Nashville suburb of La Vergne, messaged CNN from aboard the flight. "My nerves are still going crazy. I definitely can't sleep now. I'm so worried."

Ban will only apply to foreigners, officials say

Trump's announcement of a 30-day ban on travel from Europe and restrictions on cargo sparked panic and confusion.

But immediately afterward, his administration made clear the change was not as drastic as he'd stated. The ban applies only to foreign nationals -- and not American citizens and permanent residents who'd be screened before entering the country.

Trump was also forced to clarify he was not blocking goods from Europe -- despite saying his ban would "apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo" across the Atlantic. He tweeted the ban would apply to "people not goods" after stock futures tumbled on the prospect of a trade freeze.

With all the uncertainty and confusion surrounding the announcement, Pekarski said she's not taking any chances and will try to get a flight back home as soon as she lands in Madrid.

She'd looked forward to the adventure, leaving her job as a warehouse employee to travel with a tour group with stops in Toledo, Seville, Granada, Valencia, Barcelona and a day trip to Morocco.

She even purchased Wi-Fi on the flight, eager to share her excitement with family and friends.

"It's infuriating," she said about the prospect of canceling her trip. "I'm trying my hardest to stay calm, but it's hard to when you can't control anything. I'd turn the plane around now if I could."

The UK is exempt from the travel suspension

Thousands of miles away in Nashville, her mother, Anna Pekarski, said she'll be up for a while. She's working on getting her daughter a flight home before Friday with or without the tour agency's help.

"We are both stressed and trying to figure out how to get her home before the borders close," she said. "We will most likely try to find and pay out-of-pocket for a flight home if there is a flight available."

The ban exempts trips to the US from the UK and applies to 26 nations in the Schengen zone. They are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Trump used his previous restriction on travel to the United States from China, where the coronavirus originated, as an example of measures he's taken to combat the virus.

"We made a lifesaving move with early action on China. Now we must take the same action on Europe. We must not delay," he said.

Trump has described the outbreak as a "foreign virus" washing on American shores, despite increasing instances of community spread nationwide.

His top advisers had discussed potential new travel advisories on Europe during meetings at the White House on Wednesday, according to two officials familiar with the matter. Administration officials view Europe as a new epicenter for the pandemic.

Some European ambassadors in Washington said they were caught off guard by the announcement and are regrouping to sort out their next steps.

The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic earlier Wednesday.
Working as a nurse is one of the most rewarding careers that you can pursue. However, it is also a very challenging field to work in. Before you commit to training to be a nurse, it is important to know what you are letting yourself in for.

What Skills Do Nurses Need?

Nursing is a unique profession, both in terms of the opportunities that it provides and the challenges that it presents. People who are able to flourish in a nursing role will find it to be one of the most meaningful and rewarding roles that they can fill in life. However, while there are lots of people out there who would genuinely love to help other people in their professional work, not everyone is well suited to the unique challenges that nursing presents.

 Compassion: Perhaps the single most important quality for any professional nurse to have is compassion. As difficult as any individual case might be for the nurse who has to oversee it, it is almost certainly going to be far more emotionally trying for the patient themselves to deal with. Even the best of us can be prone to outbursts of frustration or anger when we are faced with a serious health issue. Part of being a compassionate nurse means understanding the confusion and fear that patients often feel and helping them to work through this.

 Resilience: Nurses take responsibility for shepherding their patients through some of the most difficult areas of their lives. This requires them to be both empathetic and compassionate. In most settings, nurses will have to see to the needs of multiple patients; they will not be dealing with multiple cases simultaneously. This means that when a particularly emotionally trying case presents itself, nurses need to have the emotional resilience to not let this affect the way that they give care to the other patients.

 Problem-solving: It would be nice if nurses had all of the answers to hand whenever they needed them. However, given the infinite variety of situations that nurses might have to deal with, and the infinite complexity of individual cases, it is inevitable that nurses will find themselves presented with problems that they do not immediately know how to solve. Part of a nurse's role is working out how to solve these issues, potentially while under enormous pressure. Of course, there will always be doctors and more senior nurses within a healthcare facility who can provide advice, but in time-sensitive situations, nurses are not necessarily going to be able to reach out to these people. A nurse who is not confident in their abilities to solve problems with minimal assistance is going to struggle in the long-term.

 Organization: It is easy to underestimate just how many responsibilities nurses have in modern hospitals. Many people view the role of a nurse as essentially being like that of an assistant to doctors. In other words, they see nurses as simply carrying out menial work that isn't worth a doctor's time. However, this is a wildly incorrect view of the actual dynamics that exist. Nurses need to be just as capable as doctors at staying on top of their duties and ensuring that every one of their patients is receiving the highest standard of care possible. In order to achieve this, nurses need to be capable of organizing themselves and making their own decisions about patient care. Nurses cannot always expect a doctor to provide guidance for them.

We Need More Nurses (And Probably Always Will)

One of the reasons that nursing is such a fantastic degree to pursue at this point in time is that the United States is facing what appears to be a chronic shortage of nurses. There aren't many professions that are truly recession-proof, but nursing is absolutely one of them. It doesn't matter what else is going on in the world, we will always need nurses to staff our health care facilities and provide care to patients.

We live in a rapidly changing world where automation, and technology more broadly, are transforming the nature of many different professions. While there are numerous exciting pieces of technology on the horizon that might revolutionize the way that we approach the dispensation of healthcare in the United States, it is inconceivable that we will ever reach a point where we no longer need human nurses on hand.

Opportunities Beyond The Hospital

 Research nurse: Working as a nurse provides nurses with a unique opportunity to help their patients and to make a very real difference in their quality of life. However, the work of a research nurse goes beyond this. Research nurses are involved in helping to make decisions about the industry as a whole, and therefore, potentially help millions of patients.

Nurses who are particularly passionate about science and technology should seriously consider pursuing a research-based role. Research nurses can work in a variety of settings, in fact, any nurse can double up as a research nurse. Regardless of what your individual specialty or preferred field is, there are boundless opportunities for nurses to play a pivotal role in conducting important research.

 Pediatric nurse: Pediatric nurses work with children. While children and adults share the same basic physiology, there are significant differences in the way that some conditions are treated in children and adults. For nurses who want to work with children, in particular, it is worth considering online pediatric acute care nurse practitioner programs. This qualification will prepare you for working with pediatric patients in an acute setting and is one of the most rewarding nursing roles there is.

You Can Progress At Your Own Pace

Unlike most professions, nurses are in charge of their own progression through the ranks. When a nurse feels that they are ready to progress, they simply need to enroll on a course for the relevant qualification. Of course, just because a nurse studies for a particular degree, it doesn't mean that positions will automatically open up. However, there is nothing to stop a nurse from earning a higher qualification and then hanging onto it until an opportunity presents itself.

As long as you are properly prepared for the challenges ahead, working as a nurse should be one of the most incredible things that you can do with your life. Make no mistake, the work that nurses do is not only invaluable, but it is also selfless and represents a very noble sacrifice. If you have the resilience to navigate the more difficult aspects of the job, nursing is a career that just keeps on giving.
As of this writing, the COVID-19 coronavirus has officially been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, and can be positively identified in 42 states and the District of Columbia. It's about the only thing most people are thinking about right now. While its important to take the virus seriously and respond appropriately, an important part of that response should be managing your anxiety.

Managing anxiety associated with the epidemic is like managing chronic stress, said Dr. Melissa Hagan, the Lab Director for the Stress Trauma and Resilience Lab at San Francisco State University. Though its trickier, because youre supposed to maintain social distance, and social activity is such an important part of managing stress levels.

So what are we to do? Based on her advice and a our own creativity, weve put together tips to help make the upcoming weeks or months easier.

When following the news, focus on what's practical

Theres a lot in the news about how fast the disease is spreading, Dr. Hagan said. A lot of that information is not important for people to be ruminating on.

Its easy to find yourself reading iterations of the same stories about China, Italy, or other places where the virus has spread quickly. At a certain point, youre not getting new information; youre just dwelling on fear.

Instead, you should monitor and modulate your access to news, said Dr. Hagan. Knowing just enough about how to mitigate your own risk is best.

In the case of coronavirus, most of what you can do is simple: Maintain social distance, and practice proper hygiene (like you would during a bad flu season). This basically comes down to limiting your time spent on the internet  particularly social media sites, where misinformation and scare-mongering run rampant.

Talk to friends and family

As Dr. Hagan notes, coronavirus fears come with a built-in complication of depriving us of our most important source of comfort: Friends and family. Luckily, there are other ways to keep in touch with people.

We encourage people to engage in social activity online, she said, talking on the phone with friends or family can do a lot to relieve anxiety.

In addition to calling up your close family and friends, call up the more distant family and friends, like that cousin who lives in one of the infected hotspots or the friend from school that you lost touch with. Thats good advice in any context, and in this situation can do a lot to take your mind off things.

Exercise

Physical activity is so important, Dr. Hagan said, Even though youre not supposed to gather in crowds, theres nothing wrong with going out for a walk around the block. The dangers of infection dont come about from being out in the open air.

Youre not on lockdown  you can see the sun, take a walk in the park. If thats not strenuous enough, but youre hesitant about going to the gym, there are plenty of options for streaming at-home exercise classes. ClassPass Live is basically the Netflix of fitness, and exercise will build up your immune systems strength while bringing your anxiety down. Think of it as a two-fer.

Get enough sleep

Sleep is really important, Dr. Hagan said, so its good to avoid reading too much news before bed, and be extra cautious of your caffeine input. If anxiety is keeping you from getting enough rest, the dangers could compound, because less sleep will make it more difficult to manage your general anxiety.

Non-prescription sleep aids include Melatonin (though its safe, this writer would recommend you start with a small dose), a heavy meal, and any variety of sleep apps or appliances that produce white noise, pink noise, or natural sounds to help you drift off.

And speaking of a heavy meal

Cook something elaborate

Despite what you may think of your own cooking ability, theres no reason you cant have a delicious, elaborate meal in the comfort of your own home. Sure, you might screw up a few times, but if you put in the work, you might come out the other end of this crisis able to absolutely crush your favorite meal  and thats a skill youll have forever.

To get started, just check out your grocery delivery options for The Bay Area.

Splurge on something fun to do alone or with your family

Whether youre fully self-quarantined or just being prudent, youre probably going to be spending less money at bars and restaurants over the next few weeks. Consider putting some of those savings into fun activities you can do at home to make this time more engaging, and less bottled-up.

That can entail small things, like a new board game or art supplies, or something fancier like a new video game or your favorite movie. Or maybe you just want to check out a program to help you write that novel you have kicking around your head. It could even be new toys for your dog or cat. Something special to balance out everything else on your mind.

Provide context to the younger members of your family

Despite the advice to avoid social environments, Dr. Hagan thinks its good if kids, particularly younger owns, have the situation theyre in carefully explained by an adult who can provide context. Its heartening that public schools have stayed open, and that families can continue to support each other by talking about the virus, she said.

I hope that parents are being careful in monitoring childrens intake of the news and talking to them practically about what this infection means In terms of social distancing and travel bans, all these things that sound really scary are just to make sure people dont get sick all at once. Were not worried about killing everyone, were worried about the health system getting overwhelmed.

Your first responsibility is to yourself and your family. If you take care of that, you're doing your part.

In addition to these tipes, the CDC has a guideline available for coping with disasters or traumatic events that includes guides on taking care of your mental health and talking to children, and SAMHSA has a packet on supporting children during infectious disease outbreak..

Hearst Newspapers participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.

Joshua Sargent is an editor for Hearst Newspapers. Email him at josh.sargent@hearst.com.
Following Michigan Governor's directive, Midland Public Schools will be closed beginning March 16 through April 5.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made the announcement at about 11 p.m. Thursday, March 12, that all Michigan schools were to cancel in-class learning until April 5.

MPS Superintendent Michael Sharrow updated the community about the district' decision to follow-suit at about 9 a.m. Friday morning in a special edition communique.

"We know there are many questions and concerns from all MPS stakeholders on a variety of topics and not a lot of clear answers at this point," he stated. "MPS promises to work through the issues diligently  always with the mindset of having the students best interest at the root of all decisions."

Learning will continue via online platforms. According to the statement, the district will be providing staff with online teaching training early next week, the details of which will be discussed today with the Midland City Education Association.

ALSO SEE:

 Northwood University makes move to online

 Coronavirus related cancelations for Midland, and elsewhere

 What happens if Coronavirus comes to Midland?

 No confirmed COVID-19 cases in Midland County: local public health director

Today, students will be sent home with devices to facilitate the online learning. Further daily updates are expected from the district.

"We expect the online opportunities to provide a way for MPS students to stay connected to learning, but it will not be a one-for-one replacement for the learning that occurs in our classrooms," Sharrow stated.

The district will be working with the Michigan Department of Education to workout details regarding free/reduced breakfast and lunch programs, and updates will be made as soon as possible. Sharrow stated they want to provide these meals to students if possible.

To organize updates, the district will have a link on it's website homepage that will contain all Coronavirus updates. For more information, visit www.midlandps.org
Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership came in for praise on Friday from at least four of Indias neighbouring countries after he proposed that the SAARC leadership chalks out a joint strategy to fight the deadly coronavirus threat to the region.

The leadership of Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan welcomed the proposal with a special praise for the initiative shown by the prime minister.

I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy. Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet, the tweet by the prime minister said.

The response was positive and swift with President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih tweeting back acceptance of the idea.

Thank you PM @narendramodi for taking the initiative on this important endeavor. Covid 19 requires collective effort to defeat it. Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort, Solih tweeted.

In another tweet, the Prime minister had emphasised that South Asia should leave no stone unturned in its fight against coronavirus.

Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it. South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy, PMs tweet said.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa described the proposal as great initiative and said the region needed to stand in solidarity during these trying times.

Thank you for the great initiative Shri @narendramodi - #LKA is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Lets unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe, he tweeted.

The most effusive endorsement for the prime ministers idea came from Bhutan PM Lotay Tshering, who had hosted Modi not so long ago. He said PM Modis initiative was example of leadership.

This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference, a tweet from Tsherings official twitter account @PM said.

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, too, welcomed PMs idea and said his government was ready to work closely with SAARC member states to protect the citizens.

I welcome the idea advanced by Prime Minister Modiji @narendramodi for chalking out a strong strategy by the leadership of the SAARC nations to fight Coronavirus. My government is ready to work closely with SAARC Member States to protect our citizens from this deadly disease, Olis tweet said.

SAARC or South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation comprises of eight countries- India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Maldives
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Linkedin Muhammad Syamsu Rizaludin (The Jakarta Post) Wageningen, Netherlands  Fri, March 13, 2020 16:27 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a63e3c 3 Opinion climate-change,pest,agriculture,food-security,agricultural-extension-workers Free

The United Nations Assembly declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH), dedicated to raising global awareness on preserving plant health and how this can sustain the lives of the billions of people on Earth.

This goal is no exaggeration, considering that crop plants provide the majority of the foods we consume. However, we often neglect the urgency of keeping plants healthy, and unfortunately, this neglect might threaten our future food security.

According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), approximately 40 percent of global food crops are lost each year to plant pests. This alarming rate of crop loss could lead to global famine, with hundreds of millions of people likely to face starvation. Furthermore, it can significantly impact the crop production sector, which provides the primary source of income for many smallholder farmers in developing countries, including Indonesia.

To make matters worse, the changing climate is not only disrupting crop production around the world, but also creating conditions that are favorable for plant pests and diseases. The FAO has assessed that climate change is "altering the distribution and potential distribution" of pests and diseases.

Amid the challenging impacts of extreme weather on global agriculture, pest outbreaks could deal the final blow to crop production.

While it is difficult to determine the eventual, long-term impact on crop production, the rise in global temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns have clearly contributed to an increase in pest infestations.

The current desert locust outbreak affecting several African countries shows how the changing climate could lead to increased incidence and range of pest invasions.

The unusually heavy rainfall since October 2019 and the cyclones in 2018 that hit several East African countries, including Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, spurred locust reproduction and growth. The locust swarms that have emerged since January 2020 are wreaking havoc as they devastate millions of hectares of food crops.

The UN estimates that 20.2 million subsistence farmers across Africa are facing severe food insecurity.

Indonesia is also facing similar problem, although the type of insect pests and the intensity of invasion might be different. From December 2019 to February 2020, the invasion of Spidoptera frugiperda (Gayak caterpillar) has adversely affected 4,585 hectares of the total 12,072 ha of maize grown areas in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). The hungry caterpillars can reduce up to 60 percent of crop yields in NTT, as estimated by the Agricultural Technology Assessment Center (BPTP).

East Java has in the past seen swarms of wereng (brown planthopper) devouring hundreds of hectares of paddy fields in Jember and Madiun regency, terrifying farmers with the prospect of massive crop failure. Meanwhile, pengerek batang (rice stem borers) have threatened paddy fields in parts of West Java.

The prolonged drought, followed by a sudden change in humidity from the onset of heavy rainfall, create the perfect environment for the destructive insects to reproduce in larger numbers. Unfortunately, such natural threats to agriculture are unlikely to stop anytime soon as extreme weather continues to strike across the archipelago.

Aside from climate change, the manmade threat of unsustainable farming practices have made our crops more vulnerable to pests and diseases. Our agricultural systems are intended to maximize short-term income while disregarding the consequences in terms of their long-term environmental impacts and resilience against pests and diseases.

For instance, farmers still use high concentrations of chemical pesticides to kill plant pests in their fields. Yet, overusing pesticides can also decimate the pests natural enemies  the insects and other organisms that naturally prey on the pests they are trying to eradicate. As a result, the farmers have made their fields more vulnerable in the event of an unusual surge in the population of pest species, as they have killed off the pests' natural predators.

Evidence is also growing that plant pests are developing increased resistance to pesticides. In response, farmers increase their use of pesticides to eventually inflate production costs and increase the amount of chemicals in the air and water to negatively impact on environmental and animal health.

Furthermore, most farmers typically use the monoculture system of cultivating a single crop on a single field at a given time. This can increase the risk and exacerbate the effects of pest outbreaks, as pests that prefer a specific crop, like rice, can easily eat their way from field to field on a farm or in a farming area that cultivates the same crop.

While mitigating the impacts of climate change requires a holistic, unified effort from the public to industry to government, the agriculture industry and individual farmers can still control pests while increasing output and minimizing environmental impact by employing the sustainable approach of agroecology.

Agroecology emphasizes the application of ecological processes to a variety of farming practices, including crop protection and production. At the same time, taking the agroecological approach reduces the negative environmental impacts of agriculture, such as from the use of chemical pesticides.

There is no silver bullet that can stop a pest outbreak, and that is exactly why this approach should be considered. Agroecological pest and disease management relies on preventive rather than reactive measures, and focuses on increasing plant immunity and resistance amid climate change.

In this way, we can establish the adaptive environment of an agroecosystem in which pest populations cannot explode out of control. Instead of using chemical pesticides to temporarily eliminate insect pests, farmers can grow particular tree and flower species near their fields to attract the pests natural enemies.

Bunga kenikir or sulfur cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus), for instance, can be planted in the dikes surrounding paddy fields to lure insect predators like ladybugs, bees and dragonflies that feed on rice pests. Farmers can also cultivate indigenous or locally developed crop varieties that are better adapted to the environmental stresses in an area, such as droughts and floods.

Amending soil with organic materials such as compost or crop residue might prevent the eggs or larvae of insect pests from developing to maturity, as healthy soil is rich in beneficial organisms and microorganisms that present natural antagonism toward plant pests and disease.

Farmers can also adopt the polyculture system, also called intercropping, in which two or more different crops are cultivated simultaneously in a single field. This will help reduce the distribution of pests that prefer a single crop. At the same time, farmers will benefit from the crop diversity and ensuing increase in yield that polyculture offers.

Of course, agricultural extension workers are needed to transfer agroecological knowledge and skills to farmers. Hence, central and local governments have an important role to fill in realizing this strategy toward a successful outcome.

As the FAO has stated, protecting crop plants from pests and diseases is far more cost-effective than dealing with full-blown plant health emergencies. Prevention is thus critical to avoiding pest and disease outbreaks in our agriculture industry and to ensuring food security for our nation.

***

The author earned his Master of Science in Organic Agriculture with an agroecology specialization at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He is now pursuing a doctorate in microbial ecology at The Netherland Institute of Ecology.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Yuliasri Perdani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 18:48 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a6ea7a 1 City coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients Free

The family of a COVID-19 patient in Jakarta has said the patient was initially rejected by a hospital and underwent a sluggish screening process before testing positive for the virus.

The patients son said that the slow process and poor response from the Jakarta Health Agency and hospitals had left him frustrated.

The son said that the father had a high fever for about two weeks, leading the family to suspect him of having COVID-19, the illness resulting from the novel coronavirus.

The father then went to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Persahabatan Hospital in East Jakarta to get tested.

He waited for three hours only to be rejected. The hospital said that my father did not need to get tested yet and mentioned some other reasons, the son told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The son later called a hotline managed by the Jakarta Health Agency to seek help. The hotline operator promised to contact him in a short time through the Whatsapp messaging app.

The hotline sent a brief message, asking the father to get checked at the Matraman Regional Hospital in East Jakarta.

I told them that my father showed strong symptoms and was previously rejected by a hospital that had been appointed as a COVID-19 referral center, the son said.

I lashed out at them and threatened to make their poor response viral. They eventually agreed to an ambulance. We waited for almost three hours for the ambulance to arrive.

The ambulance took his father to the Persahabatan Hospital. After taking a blood sample, the hospital discharged his father and asked him to self-quarantine while waiting for the results.

A day later, a health officer came to the fathers home to take a swab sample.

Two days after that, they informed us that my father had tested positive for the coronavirus, and they took him to be treated at a hospital, the son, who is now under self-quarantine, said.

There is no clear evidence about how the father was infected but the son suspected the virus had been transmitted by a relative, who is now being treated for severe pneumonia at a hospital.

While my father was waiting for the test results, I suggested the mans family get themselves tested. They turned down the suggestion, fearing that if the results turned out to be positive, they would have to leave their work and get treated in an isolation ward for 14 days.
H2020 European Research Council, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Israel Science Foundation, Alex Grass Center for Drug Design and Synthesis

Clinicians combat the drug resistances of some cancer types by using a combination of different drugs. To make this approach more effective, chemists have designed a chemical conjugate that can simultaneously attack several cellular targets using different modes of action. Such a single-drug therapy would increase the chances of killing all cancer cells, the authors state in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

The most frequently clinically applied chemotherapeutic drug is cisplatin, a metal complex based on the platinum(II) ion. The drug's mode of action is binding to the DNA in the tumor cells, where it distorts the DNA structure and ultimately triggers cell death. Other chemicals facilitate the interaction of cisplatin with DNA, and they are often combined with cisplatin for chemotherapy. The photodynamic therapy (PDT) approach, in contrast, relies on the activation of a metal complex by laser light. A reactive form of oxygen is formed, which interferes with cell metabolism, triggering cell death.

"In clinical protocols, each drug is administered separately and may not reach the tumor at the same time or at a fixed ratio," says Prof. Gilles Gasser from the Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) University in Paris, France, who is one of the leading authors of the study. His group, in collaboration with Prof. Dan Gibson's group from Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, combined cisplatin, phenylbutyrate, which is a chemical enhancer for cisplatin, and a PDT drug, which is a metal complex based on ruthenium(II), into a single compound called Ru-Pt. The idea was that the three drugs in conjunction could travel the bloodstream intact and enter their target tumor cells, which would reduce side effects and the need to adjust the dosages.

The scientists have designed the phototherapeutic Ru(II) half of Ru-Pt so that it can be excited with laser light in the deep red section of the wavelength spectrum, which penetrates deeply in the biological tissue. The cisplatin and phenylbutyrate containing half of Ru-Pt was designed as a prodrug, which would be activated by cellular components inside the cell. Both therapeutic components were attached to each other by a molecular spacer. "The correct spacer length was critical to ensure that both drug compounds will not interfere with each other, but the molecule remains small, water-soluble, and able to travel across membranes," Gasser says.

The researchers added Ru-Pt to some normal and cancer cell lines and found that Ru-Pt was significantly more efficient in killing cancer cells than the single compounds Ru(II) and Pt(IV). The authors also reported that the irradiated samples had significantly higher tumor-killing rates, which means that the specific drug activation in tumor tissue is possible. And finally, Ru-Pt had a ten times higher efficiency for drug-resistant cell lines than the single reagents. These results demonstrate the high potential of multimodal drugs for developing more selective and effective drugs that have fewer side effects and allow for a simple handling for an effective cancer treatment.

###

About the Author

Professor Gilles Gasser heads the Laboratory for Inorganic Chemical Biology, PSL University, Paris, France. His group is devoted to research on metal complexes for biological or medicinal purposes to understand, identify, and/or influence biological processes in living cells. Professor Dani Gibson heads the laboratory for platinum-based anti-cancer agents at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. The group works on the development of multi-action platinum anticancer drugs

http://www.gassergroup.com/gilles-gasser/
A 35-year-old widow was allegedly strangled to death and later cremated by her brothers who were opposed to her relationship with a man belonging to another community in Kookda village here, police said.

Police said they registered a case of murder against the woman's brothers - Sumit Kumar and Sonu in New Mandi police station and arrested them on Thursday.

According to the complaint lodged by the woman's lover Zulfikar, it is alleged that she was murdered and her body cremated without giving any information to the police regarding her relationship.

The woman had entered into a relationship with her lover and apparently wanted to marry him after the death of her husband two years ago in an accident, police said.

She had married the man based out of Delhi seven years ago. Later, she had returned to her parents house in Kookda village.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Emancipation of Mrs. Meyers. Photo: Courtesy of @mariahcarey/TikTok

In 2019, Mariah Carey won the TikTok dance challenge where users danced to her song Fantasy  by dancing to her song Fantasy. Now, shes started a new Fantasy challenge, involving less choreography and much more WHO-guideline awareness. On Friday, Mariah posted a TikTok of her and her adorable twins, Moroccan and Monroe, washing their hands in their Batman and Elsa pajamas (because stars, theyre just like us) in a gold sink (because stars: LOL, jk never mind). She tees them up: Are you ready? We got 20 seconds! Then the kids turn to the camera and sing along to O.D.B.s verse from Fantasy (Remix) while scrubbing, which is honestly more multitasking than most of us can do. The timer goes off, the kids cheer, its a party. Mariah posted the TikTok to Twitter with the caption: Exercising this to 20 seconds of Ol Dirty Bastard! Wash your hands! Stay safe!!! Mariah and her babies are Americas First Family and we should treat them as such: by airing this as a coronavirus prevention public service announcement. If anyone has the power to stop the spread and raise awareness of best practices, its them.

Exercising this to 20 seconds of Ol' Dirty Bastard! Wash your hands! Stay safe!!!  https://t.co/lStI918GmF pic.twitter.com/SO8SQJNrk7  Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) March 13, 2020
Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for coronavirus

Bolsonaros son Eduardo told Fox News that they are doing further testing to confirm the diagnosis, adding that they expect the second set of testing results later Friday.

The positive diagnosis comes just days after the right-wing Bolsonaro met with President Trump in Mar-a-Lago.

In the wake of the news out of Brazil, a number of White House officials were called into an urgent meeting in the chief of staffs office, Fox News is told.



Bolsonaro had been tested after one of his deputies, who was also in attendance at the Florida resort, was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Fabio Wajngarten, the communications secretary for the 64-year-old Brazilian leader who had traveled to Miami for the meeting as well, showed flu symptoms and tested positive for the virus early Wednesday.

It also comes after Peter Dutton, Australias minister for home affairs, tested positive after traveling back from Washington D.C., where he met Attorney General William Barr and Ivanka Trump.

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Canadian authorities advise cancellations of major events and are cautioning against unnecessary travel.

Canada shut down Parliament and advised against all nonessential travel outside the country while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau governed remotely from his home, in self-imposed quarantine after his wife tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Dr Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer, also advised more social distancing, and no handshakes or kisses.

More:

The Canadian government is advising the cancellation of all large events such as concerts. Transport Minister Marc Garneau said cruise ships with more than 500 people will not be able to dock in Canada until July 1.

Overseas flights returning to Canada will also be restricted to a small number of airports in the country.

Canadas House of Commons voted to shut down for at least five weeks to help ensure lawmakers do not contribute to the spread of the virus.



The moves came a day after Trudeaus wife tested positive for the virus after returning from the United Kingdom. The prime minister himself has been in self-imposed quarantine. Trudeau said on Friday that his wife has mild flu-like symptoms but is doing fine. He said neither he nor their three children are showing symptoms.

More than 5,000 people have died and over 137,000 are infected globally, according to the World Health Organization. Nearly 70,000 victims have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the virus.



All parties in the Parliament of Canada agreed to the suspension, which means lawmakers will miss two weeks of sessions since they had previously planned to be away next week and two weeks in April. The House is scheduled to next meet on Monday, April 20.

The pandemic has been found across the world, prompting closures of borders and entire cities [George Osodi/Bloomberg]

This just shows you how seriously our government and members of the house are taking this, Government House leader Pablo Rodriguez said.

Part of the deal for closing Parliament for five weeks was ratifying the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the new version of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Rodriguez said lawmakers have passed legislation to ratify the USMCA, and the Senate is expected to follow suit later Friday.



The suspension of the House of Commons means the federal budget wont be presented March 30 as Finance Minister Bill Morneau had promised.

Rodriguez said the federal budget will be announced at a later date.



Trudeau was spending Friday in briefings, phone calls and virtual meetings from home, including speaking with other world leaders and joining a special Cabinet committee discussion on the coronavirus.

Trudeau spoke with US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday. But Trudeau did cancel an in-person meeting with Canadas provincial premiers.

The prime minister planned to address the nation later Friday, according to his office.



Trudeau himself had not been tested because he was not showing symptoms, his office said. The doctors advice to the prime minister is to continue daily activities while self-monitoring.



Trudeau said his government will likely recommend that Canadians avoid travelling outside the country except for essential purposes.



We are going to be able to get through this if everyone is going to follow the advice of our medical professionals and experts, Trudeau said to the CBC.
Parcels grow but mail down at Austrian Post

Group revenue at Austrian Post increased 3.2% to 2bn (US$2.2bn) in 2019 with strong parcel growth offsetting declines in the mail division.

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Revenue for the Parcel & Logistics Division increased 15.9% in Austria and by 8.7% in the southeast and eastern European subsidiaries.

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The national and international parcel market growth was driven by the expansion of online shopping and is impacted by ongoing competition and price pressure.

Georg Poelzl, CEO of Austrian Post, said, The partnership between Austrian Post and Deutsche Post DHL Group in Austria launched on August 1, 2019, has started off very well. From a logistics perspective, Austrian Post has effectively managed the major challenge of coping with increased daily delivery and transport volumes since then.

Mail & Branch Network Division revenue declined by 0.8% as letters continue to face competition from electronic communications.

Letter mail was subject to a structural decline, and Austrian Post said it was negatively affected by General Data Protection Regulation uncertainty.

The new product and postage rate model, and special mailing and elections, had a positive impact on the division.

Austrian Post said earnings were good in 2019, with EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) improved 4.3% to 319m (US$355m).

Reported EBIT was down 4.9% to 200.6m (US$222m) due to one-off effects such as special provisions for data protection.

Sorting capacity was increased in 2019, with the Parcel Logistics Centre Lower Austria in Hagenbrunn being launched.

Capacity will continue to grow in 2020 with the launch of the Parcel Logistics Centre Styria in Kalsdorf and the Thalgau/Salzburg Delivery Base.
Jewish Academy of Orlando celebrated Purim with a megillah reading, celebration, performances, delivery of mishloach manot (Purim baskets), and grogger sculpture creations.

Third and fourth-grade students performed in the annual Purim play that tells the holiday's story through music and dance.

At the Purim celebrations, the students participated in games and songs and even read from an emoji megillah.

Kindergarten students, dressed in costumes, visited residents at Savannah Court. They sang Purim songs, brought mishloach manot and hand-made groggers.

Fifth grade students created groggers using plaster craft material, paint, and fabric. Their groggers are modeled after a character from the Purim story. This is part of the school's art curriculum integrating Judaism and art, using 3D materials to create sculpture.

The parent teacher organization was also involved by preparing and delivering mishloach manot to the community.

"The Purim story teaches our students many Jewish values and life skills including leadership, giving, making good choices, and standing up for what is right. By integrating the story into art, music, and performing arts, these skills truly come to life. We are delighted that our students are able to participate in a program that synthesizes academic lessons, Jewish values, art, music, and performance to our entire student body," stated Alan Rusonik, head of school.

Jewish Academy of Orlando serves central Florida students of all faiths from transitional kindergarten through fifth grade. The school delivers a whole-child education fostering academic excellence and character education rooted in Jewish values. Jewish Academy of Orlando is accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools.

To learn more about Jewish Academy of Orlando, please visit: jewishacademyorlando.org or follow the school on Facebook facebook.com/JewishAcademyOrlando.
Bulk buyers have shown off their fully-stocked fridges, freezers and stockpiled pantries as they prepare for coronavirus quarantine - despite world leaders urging shoppers to exercise restraint when it comes to stocking their homes with essentials.

Social media users from Australia, the US and the UK shared snaps of their fridges, freezers, kitchen cupboards and attics stocked with essentials like toilet roll, nappies and non-perishable food items.

One Australian homeowner started a thread on Reddit, while others took to Facebook and Instagram to share their supplies using '#stockpile'.

Many of those sharing are savvy shoppers and couponers who are used to buying in bulk and had substantial stores before the coronavirus panic started.

One Australian homeowner started a thread on Reddit, posting this photo of their fridge/freezer along with the caption 'fully prepared for the coronas (90 plus meals)'

Many said that they have been working on their stockpiles for a matter of months or even years to get them to such impressive levels

A Canadian couponer shared this photo of her attic packed with essentials for her family

This American couponer said she already had a stockpile of toilet roll ready to go, pictured

Others shared images of their neatly organised pantries including peas, pasta sauces, pickles, Dorito's, as well as hundreds of cleaning products for use in the shower and around the house.

When asked how she got started, one woman said she started to focus on buying discounted items five years ago after going through a period of time where she 'couldn't afford to feed the family'.

'There have been lots of learning curves. I only ever buy half price or less for items to stockpile. I wouldn't stockpile perishables unless you are positive you will use them,' she said.

Most months she will only have to purchase additional meat, fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy for her family, because otherwise they rely on the stockpile.

It wasn't long before others on Facebook shared snaps of their own impressive stockpiles - many of which boasted multiple bottles of cleaning products

One woman showed how she had enough bathroom products to last her family for up to a year stored on her shelves

One homeowner said she has pureed enough fresh tomatoes to keep her family going for an entire year

This British Instagram user shared stacks of tinned food ready to go in her kitchen cupboard

One homeowner said she has pureed enough fresh tomatoes to last their family for an entire year.

'The tomatoes were just skinned in hot water, pureed in a food processor, and then cooked down for a while to remove the air from pureeing them,' she wrote.

'Then, they were put in jars and processed using the Fowlers Vacola method to vacuum seal them. I'll use them for sauce and casserole bases during the year now.'

When it comes to stockpiling, a professor has said it pays to be 'smart' rather than 'panic buy'.

'We can get in a bit of stock, foods, dried foods, dried fruits, some medicines - if you have any prescriptions it's good to get those filled now,' Professor Ian Mackay, an infectious disease specialist from the University of Queensland, told the ABC.

'Just ahead of time, in case there are any disruptions to shelf stock or shelf supply - things like truck drivers getting sick.'

One woman shared her nearly organised stockpile towards the beginning of the month, helping to kickstart the trend

When it comes to stockpiling, a professor has said it pays to be 'smart' rather than 'panic buy' items, but that hasn't stopped people from stocking up on non-perishable items

Others stocked up on bottled water and soft drinks to keep their homes well-equipped with food and drink

Meanwhile, the US Department of Homeland Security has advised US citizens to keep a two-week supply of food and water, a 30-day supply of prescription medication, and convert and store all family health records electronically.

What are the best tricks for stockpiling? Only buy items that are half price or less.

If they are cheap buy as many as six of the same product at a time.

When placing them on a shelf ensure the best before label is in order of when they go off.

Don't buy perishables unless you know you'll be able to eat them.

Cans are easy to stockpile, as is toilet paper and soft drink. Advertisement

However, shoppers are being urged to exercise restraint as they prepare for a potential quarantine, with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio telling residents that there is 'no need' to stock up fridges and cabinets.

'Our supply chain is active and deliveries are rolling in as normal. Shelves will restock,' de Blasio wrote.

The warnings appear to be falling on deaf ears however, with images showing shoppers in the city waiting in enormous lines in order to get into their local stores and stock up on food.

Concerned shoppers revealed that some stores were limiting the number of people allowed inside because of the need for distancing between customers and so lines waiting outside were becoming more extreme.

'Apparently [grocery stores are] restricting occupancy due to coronavirus, so the line just to get to the door runs all the way down the block and onto the side street,' one Twitter user wrote.

Images have shown empty shelves and trolleys filled to the brim at major supermarkets in Australia, such as Coles and Woolworths, as people rush to fill their pantries

Shelves in New York were empty by 7.30pm on Thursday as New Yorkers began to panic shop as the city was declared to be in a state of emergency

Shoppers in London have also stripped shelves bare of essential items, like pasta, rice, and toilet paper
Nearly 85 days after violence during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest, the Lucknow police imposed on Friday Gangster Act against 28 people arrested in connection with the violence, loot and setting ablaze a police outpost in Thakurganj police station limits on December 19 last year.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (west) Vikas Chandra Tripathi said as many as 28 people, including their gang leader Mohammed Tahir, were arrested in connection with two cases registered for setting ablaze Satkhanda police outpost and looting police belongings during ant-CAA protests.

Over a dozen people were arrested from the spot while others were arrested after been identified through photographs and video footages of the violence, he stated.

Tripathi said most of the accused booked in the fresh FIR under Gangster Act are still in jail and those out on bail would be again arrested. He said the police decided to book them under Gangster Act as investigations confirmed that they acted as a gang and intentionally targeted police outpost and police personnel during the violence. He said the police had sufficient evidence against them to justify imposing of Gangster Act against them.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump announced Wednesday night that he will instruct the Treasury Department to allow individuals and businesses negatively affected by the coronavirus to defer their tax payments beyond the April 15 filing deadline.

In an address from the Oval Office, Trump said he would use his emergency authority to allow individual taxpayers ad businesses to defer paying their taxes by next months deadline if they have suffered adverse effects from the spreading virus.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Congress earlier Wednesday that the payment delay would have the effect of putting more than $200 billion back into the economy that would otherwise go to paying taxes next month. He did not indicate what the new deadline would be.

Mnuchin told reporters that the delay would cover virtually all Americans other than the super-rich.

He said the delay would not apply to large corporations or very wealthy taxpayers but he did not offer any specific income or asset thresholds that would be needed to qualify for the delay.

Mnuchin told a House Appropriations subcommittee that the administration could grant the tax delay without having to go to Congress for approval.

Mnuchin said the delay would allow individuals to not pay their taxes by the April 15 deadline. The IRS would also waive interest payments or other penalties for missing the deadline.

Under current IRS rules, taxpayers can get an automatic extension on filing their tax returns but they are required to pay tax on the estimated amount they will owe when they do file.

Members of Congress have urged the administration to take this step amid the coronavirus crisis.

Given the growing nationwide concerns regarding the potential spread and the resulting economic and public health impact of such an outbreak, we urge you to act quickly and remove one source of stress that individuals face during the crisis, Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.

Story continues

The American people should not have to worry about filing IRS forms in the middle of a public health emergency, the two senators wrote.

In addition to using emergency authority to allow taxpayers who have been affected by the virus to defer their taxes, the president said, effective immediately, he would have the Small Business Administration start providing low-interest loans for businesses in states and U.S. territories that have been affected by the virus.

He said these loans would help small businesses overcome the economic disruptions that have been caused by the virus. In addition, he said he would request that Congress boost this loan pool by providing an additional $50 billion in funding for the SBA.

Trump said he would also take emergency action to provide financial relief to allow working Americans who have been affected by the virus to stay at home if they are ill, quarantined or taking care of others dealing with the coronavirus.

He said he would ask Congress to provide additional funding for this worker relief.
Air Serbia has cancelled almost 300 flights since Monday through to May 25 as the airline deals with an unprecedented decline in demand resulting from the coronavirus Covid-19 outbreak. Under the orders of the Serbian government, the carrier has been forced to suspend all of its operations to two key markets - Italy and Switzerland, from which the bulk of the cancellations come from. Furthermore, the airline has suspended services to Beirut until early June. Other destinations to have sustained select flight cancellations include Thessaloniki, Prague, Helsinki, Ljubljana, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Sofia, Bucharest and Kiev, although more are expected. It is unclear at this point whether the United States decision to temporarily ban arrivals from Schengen Zone countries will impact on the carriers New York route. So far, it has cancelled one return service between Belgrade and New York, in mid-April.





Late last week, the airline acknowledged it was experiencing a slowdown in bookings as a result of Covid-19. Somewhat lower demand has been recorded for March and April, similar to other airlines. Air Serbia will continue adjusting its capacities based on demand and new circumstances on the market, following the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and national authorities, while the safety of our passengers and crew members remain our utmost priority, the company said. At the same time, the Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency said it had registered a 10% decline in overflights between March 1 and 10 when compared to last year, following record figures in January and February.





Thousands of flights have been cancelled worldwide as airlines struggle to cope with a slump in demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Ryanair will stop services to and from Italy from Friday until April 8. Norwegian Air Shuttle has also said it will cut about 3.000 flights in the next three months, about 15% of its capacity, while the Lufthansa Group has cancelled a total of 23.000 services during April alone. Alan Joyce, Qantas Chief Executive Officer, said, I think this will be a survival of the fittest, as the Australian carrier outlined drastic cost cutting measures that include suspending almost a quarter of all international flights, asking staff to take unpaid leave and sacrificing his own salary for the next three months. We know we can ride this out but not all airlines around the world will, Mr Joyce said.
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Bucharest, Romania  Fri, March 13, 2020 20:09 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a76c92 2 World Romania,quarantine,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,pandemic,health Free

Romania's interim prime minister Ludovic Orban said on Friday that he and his entire cabinet would quarantine themselves after coming into contact with a senator who was later confirmed to have the coronavirus.

Liberal Party leader Orban said the senator had attended a meeting of the party's senior figures on Monday, prior to getting tested. He added that he, his 17-member cabinet and all Liberal senators would quarantine themselves and be tested.

"All government members ... will do their duty and take all the measures to fight coronavirus, regardless of whether they are confirmed to have the virus or not," Orban told reporters. He urged journalists who had covered his news conferences to seek testing as well.

The quarantine could extend a political crisis that began when Orban's cabinet was toppled in a no-confidence vote called by the main opposition party last month.

Even before Orban's quarantine announcement, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis was due to hold consultations with political parties later on Friday in the latest attempt to install a new government. With concerns growing about the spread of the new coronavirus, the presidency said Iohannis would now hold consultations with parties via teleconference.

On Thursday Iohannis said he aimed to designate a new prime minister - widely expected to be Orban - who would have to be approved by a parliamentary vote next week. If successful, the premier would appoint a cabinet with full powers to fight the virus.

Orban has held meetings with leaders of other political parties this week, as well as with Iohannis and other officials including the central bank governor.

Romania has reported 70 cases of the coronavirus but no deaths.
Taking cue from the state government putting up posters against anti-CAA protesters, a Samajwadi Party leader has erected a hoarding here with pictures of two controversial leaders associated with the ruling BJP warning the "daughters of the state against them for their safety".

SP leader I P Singh put up a large poster on Thursday night with photos of former BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar and rape-accused Swami Chinmayanand next to the government's hoarding featuring those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests in Lucknow who have been issued recovery notices.

"When the protesters have no privacy and the Yogi government does not remove the hoardings despite instructions from the High Court and the Supreme Court, then, at the Lohia junction, I too have put up a poster of some criminals named by the courts in public interest. Daughters beware," the party's national spokesperson said in a tweet in Hindi.

The poster carries the pictures of Sengar and Chinmayanand along with the charges against both men with the heading - "These are the culprits of the daughters of the state. Be careful of them."



On Friday morning, the former minister tweeted, "I thank all of you for the support from all over the country. My intention was only to awaken the blind government that is greedy for cheap publicity. Our priority should be the problems of farmers, ensuring safety of women, employment for youth. The country is in need of statesmen."



After the court declared its verdict on Sengar in the morning, he tweeted, "Kuldeep Sengar has been punished by the Delhi court...and on the other hand the Uttar Pradesh police is busy removing the hoarding that I had put up. This is the difference between BJP's words and actions. Shame on using daughters to serve political interests."The UP government had erected posters of anti-CAA protesters in Lucknow after which the Allahabad High Court had taken suo motu cognisance and ruled that the hoardings should be removed by the administration.

The state government, then, moved the Supreme Court against the HC order which on Thursday stated that there was no law so far that could back their action of putting up such roadside posters.

An apex court bench refused to stay the March 9 order of the Allahabad High Court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Separate shootings in south-east Queensland overnight have left two men dead, one of whom was driven to hospital in the tray of a ute.

A 22-year-old was dropped at Gympie Hospital with a gunshot wound to his head about 8.15pm on Friday after an incident in Amamoor, about 20 kilometres south.

The man was treated by doctors before being transferred to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, where he passed away overnight.

A crime scene was established at a Frayne Road property after police inquiries, with investigations continuing.

In a separate incident at Lockyer Waters, about 90 kilometres west of Brisbane, a 40-year-old Fernvale man was found dead with a gunshot wound in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Lee Hae-chan speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. The DPK announced it will join a progressive coalition of civic groups and minor liberal parties to create a separate party to run for the proportional representation seats in the April 15 general election. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun



Opposition parties condemn DPK for creating 'quasi-satellite' party



By Jung Da-min



The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) announced Friday that it will join a progressive coalition of civic organizations and minor liberal parties to create a separate party in a bid to gain more proportional representation seats in the upcoming general election.



The decision runs counter to the ruling party's initial stance that big parties should not set up "paper parties" under the revised electoral system which gives more proportional representation seats to minor parties. It said the decision was an inevitable response to the same tactic being used by the main opposition party.



The DPK put the issue to a vote of 789,000 party members with rights to participate in its primaries, over 24 hours between Thursday and Friday morning. Around 241,000 of them cast ballots, and 74.1 percent said the DPK should join the coalition.



"The party leadership is taking the 74 percent approval rating as overwhelming support," DPK chief spokesman Kang Hoon-sik said in announcing the vote result at the National Assembly press center.



The decision came after many discussions among party members as some strongly opposed the move, saying the DPK could lose the trust of the public and other minor parties it partnered with to pass the electoral reform bill in December.



At the time, the then-main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), which is now a part of the United Future Party (UFP) after a merger with other minor conservative parties, strongly opposed the bill but later created a satellite party to get more proportional representation seats, under the name Future Korea Party in early February. The satellite party is expected to rejoin the UFP after the election.



DPK leaders said their move was an inevitable choice to respond to the cheating by the UFP.



"We regard the overwhelming consent from party members as a show of support to punish the UFP's foul and anti-reform move, and to continue to carry out the reform of state administration," DPK Chairman Lee Hae-chan said at a party meeting at the Assembly.



The decision immediately drew criticism from other parties.



"The DPK has left an indelible dishonor in the history of Korean politics," said UFP spokesman Park Yong-chan in a statement. "It deceived citizens without making any apology over breaking a promise it made with the tattered election bill, blinded by the calculation of votes for the election."



Other minor parties who had partnered with DPK to pass the election reform bill, including the Justice Party and the Minsaeng Party, also condemned the DPK's "foul." They said the DPK joining the liberal coalition was no different from it creating its own satellite party.



When the then-LKP, now the UFP, created its satellite party, the DPK has strongly condemned the move as being against the purpose of election reform.



However, the DPK leadership changed its stance stating that it needed to explore "other options" over concerns that it could lose its majority in the Assembly to the conservative "big tent."



Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, who co-leads the DPK's strategy committee for the election, has been condemned for his recent remark that "criticism stays for a moment, but responsibility is much longer."




A Commonwealth Court panel dealt another hand in the ongoing dispute over gambling in Pennsylvania on Friday by denying a request by an Order of Eagles post for the return of five gaming machines seized by the state police.

The issue came down to whether the seized SkillTouch machines are games of skill  which are allowed by law  or games of chance, which are not. In the state courts opinion, Senior Judge Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter agreed with a Cambria County judge that the SkillTouch devices fall into the second, illegal category.

According to court filings, troopers seized the machines from Order of Eagles Conemaugh Aerie 1811 in June 2017 following an undercover investigation. They seized $1,076 in cash as well, which Leadbetter also refused to return.

She based her decision on a ruling by county Judge Tamara R. Bernstein, who turned aside arguments from the Eagles and Gracie Technologies Inc., the provider of the machines, that the devices which offer 13 game choices involve the degree of skill by players required by law to make them legit.

Bernstein noted that while a Gracie expert testified players must use their judgment  a skill  he also ultimately conceded that there is no amount of skill a player can input into playing the machine that will change the outcome.

That is becausethe ultimate outcome and prizes are pulled from a finite pool of sequential outcomes that are generated by the SkillTouch machines software, Bernstein wrote.

So, she found, the machines offer illegal games of chance.

We agree with (Bernsteins) conclusion that the machines in question are gambling machines prohibited by state law, Leadbetter wrote.

The Commonwealth Court decision comes soon after state police staged a series of raids statewide to seize gaming machines they deemed illegal.

Last month, troopers announced they had confiscated a total of 71 machines in Allentown, Altoona, Erie, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Punxsutawney, Wilkes-Barre and Williamsport.
We are so happy and relieved with the verdict, but are overwhelmed with sadness that he is no longer with us, the statement read.Paul was a hero, but there were other heroes who came upon the scene quickly and put the offender under arrest without incident. We are forever grateful to you.
UNITED NATIONS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday stressed the role of regional organizations in the fight against terrorism in Africa.

African countries cannot go it alone in combating terrorism and extremism. The African Union and other relevant regional and sub-regional organizations have a more comprehensive knowledge of the countries in the region and their counter-terrorism needs and are uniquely positioned to help solve the issues of the continent, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

China supports African countries in coming together to empower themselves and tackle the threat of terrorism as one, he told an open debate of the Security Council.

"We shall continue to support the African Union's initiative of silencing the guns in Africa by 2020. It is our hope that the United Nations will scale up its coordination and cooperation with the African Union and other regional and sub-regional organizations, support African countries in actively implementing relevant Security Council resolutions and the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, step up the sharing of best practice and lessons learned and work in synergy."

China attaches great importance to the concerns of African countries and stands squarely behind African countries and regional organizations in their tireless efforts to combat terrorism and violent extremism, said Zhang.

China is ready, along with the rest of the international community, to support and assist African countries in combating terrorism and extremism, and continue to contribute to peace, stability and development in Africa, said the Chinese ambassador.
Anthony Strong runs Prairie, one of the hottest dining spots in San Franciscos Mission District, but when a company this week canceled a booking for his entire restaurant, he realized the next couple of months wont be business as usual.

Locals concerned about the spread of coronavirus are dining out less, he said, which means people are cooking at home more. But grocery shopping for home cooks is presenting its own set of problems as much-needed commodities such as rice and canned beans are quickly disappearing from store shelves.

So in attempt to pivot to a new market, while assisting folks left wanting at local grocery stores, Strong is adding a shopping element to Prairies operations, which before only included dine-in and delivery.

Prairie opened in 2018 as a modern Italian restaurant with a menu focusing on pasta. Last month changed its concept shifted toward live-fire cooking with dishes such as octopus roasted on charcoal and skate wing cooked in a cast-iron skillet over fire.

Starting next week, Strong will begin sell some of these ingredients in prep kits for people to use at home. The boxes will have about 14 items, including piquillo chile peppers, almonds, quinoa crackers, Calabrese vegetable spread, grilled and marinated artichokes, chorizo and marinated chickpeas, among other things. Each box will be sold on the restaurants website at around $96, or $6 to $7 per item, about the cost of shopping at retailers such as Whole Foods.

I know some people are concerned about access to food supplies, and I even have friends who have waited an hour to get into a store only to find items they wanted already sold out, he said. As chefs, we have access to all of these great products. Were in the hospitality business. To me, its our role to provide for people no matter whats going on in the world.

Strong said he plans to continue to tweak what will be offered in the kits. His move to add an entirely new concept to his business during as the coronavirus pandemic could be a precursor to what other food establishments may try. In Seattle, celebrated fine-dining restaurant Canlis is planning to add a drive-through component to the business next week. Canlis, which features a four-course menu priced at $135 with dishes such as caramelized mussels, will offer burgers, vegetables and ice cream sandwiches.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Strong is also no stranger to testing new concepts in San Francisco to suit public demand. In 2017, he made waves by operating the citys first delivery-only fine dining restaurant, Young Fava. The restaurant closed after a few months.

The products were putting in the boxes are un-handled and are ready to eat. More than that, theyre all shelf-stable, which is important, he said. Were just doing what we can for people right now. This isnt something thats going to help our business when it comes to profits or anything, but it could help the people who cant get items at a store.

Prairie, 3431 19th St., San Francisco. 415-483-1112. www.prairiesf.com. Dinner 5:30-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 5:30-11 p.m. Saturday; 5:30-9 p.m. Sunday. Brunch 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
A man who had both his legs amputated because of diabetes was forced to move into a care home for the elderly after spending months in hospital waiting for a house with disabled access.

Brian, 46, from Liverpool, who featured in last night's BBC2 documentary Hospital, was unable to return home after being deemed fit enough to be discharged, because the house he shared with his father was no longer suited to his needs.

The former accountant was left waiting in hospital for over two months waiting for one of only four temporary disabled access beds in all of Liverpool to become available.

Brian was visited by Lindsay Dixon from the Homeless Hospital Discharge service at The Whitechapel Centre, and was reassured that he wouldn't end up in a hostel, and that they would do their best to find an accessible home for him.

But due to a lack of suitable housing, Brian was confronted with the choice of moving into a care home for the elderly, with viewers branding his predicament 'awful' and 'upsetting'.

Brian, 46, from Liverpool, (pictured) who worked as an accountant for 25-years, was made homeless after his second leg amputation meant he could no longer live with his father as his home was unsafe

Healthy following his operation, Brian was made to wait in hospital for over two months waiting for one of only four temporary disabled access beds in all of Liverpool to become available

Brian told how he had spent two years 'fighting' his disease, but eventually the pain from his diabetes was so bad he 'pulled off his own toe'.

'I've suffered with diabetes for about 15 years I spent two years trying to save my left leg', said Brian, 'And that went belly up and took that leg off. So I went home had about 18 months of trying to get back to normal.

'In May I got the same pain the same cramps in the right leg as I did in the left, until I ended up pulling one of my own toes off, the pain was that bad.'

After his second amputation left him in a wheelchair, Brian was unable to return to home he shared with his father where he lived on the top floor.

Brian explained that although he feared the real prospect of being homeless, he was also worried about his father being alone.

'Because the house is so unsafe it's not possible for me to go back there', said Brian.

'I have the worry of my dad as well, I don't like the idea of him being alone. Even though I lived separately, I would always come down and interact.'

Appearing on tonight's BBC2 documentary Hospital, he told how he had spent two years 'fighting' his disease, but eventually the pain from his diabetes was so bad he 'pulled off his own toe'

After spending five weeks in hospital, Brian was confronted with the choice of moving into a care home for the elderly or risk being stuck in a bed

He said: 'I can't make it sit right, that I'm 46-years of age and I'll need home help. It's mind blowing, it's incomprehensible for me.

'Losing my leg just meant I lost complete control of my destiny. I don't know what path it's going down, I don't know where i'm going to end up. All I know is, this is a temporary truck stop and I can't move and it's driving me mental.'



Later in the documentary, Brian visited a care home where the average age of residents was 77 - and became emotional after taking a look around.

Later in the documentary, visited a care home he could potentially have moved in to, with the average age of 77

He became emotional after taking a look around the home and realising some of facilities were not self contained

Noticing the shared facilities, he said: 'Communal toilet, I didn't sign up for that. I don't like the idea of a communal toilet.

'I thought everything was self contained. I thought I could be in a room and just left alone and it's worrying me the lift doesn't work sometimes, if someone doesn't close the door.

'It's nice enough and it's furnished lovey it's just, it just doesn't seem right. I'm sorry I've wasted everyone's time. This for me is worse than being in a hospital.'

Social media users were distraught at seeing Brian placed into a care home for the elderly and took to Twitter following the episode

Later on in the documentary, after spending another month in hospital, Brian finally accepts a care home that is more 'suited' to his needs.

He said: 'We went to a nursing home that seemed better, or more suitable, than the others for what I need'.

Social media users were distraught at seeing Brian placed into a care home for the elderly and took to Twitter following the episode.

'I am sure all of these people in the home are amazing, but, that's not the right place for Brian,' one person said.

Another added: 'This is awful. The scenes at the nursing home was very upsetting. He is too young to go into nursing home.'

Hospital airs on BBC2 on Thursdays at 9pm
As much as it sounds like something out of Isaac Asimov, we have to say it: we cant surrender our discernment to the computers. What we need now  what will make our social media feeds and our national discourse saner  is not better artificial intelligence but more actual intelligence. We dont need better algorithms; we need deeper wisdom. Were not getting that from Facebook.  Dallas Morning News
NEW YORK (JTA)Over the course of our millennial history, Jews have had many encounters with contagious diseases. Often were blamed for them.

Maybe Im paranoid, but I cant help feel uneasy with the amount of attention the New York Jewish community is receiving because of the first confirmed cases of the coronavirus. (We are hardly first: Asians around the globe already faced prejudice because of the epidemics origins in Wuhan, China.) The ominous flow charts demonstrating the spread of the contagion, featuring silhouettes of unnamed individuals connected with Jewish schools and synagogues, makes me think of the hidden hand propaganda of the 1940sand also the long, horrible history of anti-Semitic charges that Jews spread disease. Im sure its nothingIm just starting to feel a little queasy, thats all.

Given Jewish history, its vital to avoid anti-Semitic tropes about the spread of diseaseand sobering to know the consequences when we dont.

Manetho, an Egyptian priest who lived 2,300 years ago, was probably the first to level this charge against Jews. He retold the Exodus with rather creative flair, arguing that the Jews werent redeemed from slavery with signs and wondersthey were, he claimed, expelled by the Egyptians because they were a source of contagion. Not unlike the Nazis, who justified the walling off of the ghettos as a prophylactic against the spread of typhus, Manetho sought to associate Jews with the silent spread of the dreaded plague, as invisible as it is unstoppable.

Manethos ethnocentric, sour-grapes reading of Jewish history might have had some credibility if there were any reason to assume that Jews were less susceptible to disease than non-Jews. This widely held myth is especially associated with stories of the Black Death, the horrific plague that ravaged Europe from 1348 to 1351.

Ive read all kinds of wishful thinking on this topic: Some hold that Jews dodged the plague because they were inherently cleaner (they do wash their hands sans soap before eating bread, but bathing in the 14th century was at most a weekly affair). Also, since theres an assumed historical tradition for Jews not keeping dogs as pets, the Jewish cats kept the rats away, along with their plague-bearing fleas. These are wonderful, heartwarming theories. Its just too bad theres no historical evidence to support them.

If anything, Jews tended to suffer from plagues at a greater rate than the population at large, particularly because they were far more urbanized than the peasantry (plague is part of what some scholars call the urban health penalty) and had a much higher level of contact with potentially infected individuals. In many cities they lived in extremely cramped quarters, hemmed in by residency restrictions, often with limited sources of barely potable water.

But that hardly stopped anyone from blaming the Jews for the Black Death, notorious for its fatality rate approaching 50% of the infected. On the contrary, unhinged conspiracy theories circulated widely, building on centuries-old charges that Jews were poisoning wells out of a deep-seated misanthropy.

The intellectual roots of the slander of poisoning stretched back centuries, given the Jews unusually prominent role as medical professionals: a risky business, especially whenever ones patient expired. As late as 1610, the medical school in Vienna had no compunction making the bizarre assertion that Jewish law required physicians to poison one patient in 10.

The heroic Jewish historian Joshua Trachtenberg (heroic because he published a stunning work on the history of anti-Semitism in 1943) identified the trope of the Jewish doctor/sorcerer/poisoner in several works of early modern literature, including this bit of dark dialogue from John Malstons Malcontent (1604):

Mendoza: Canst thou empoyson? Canst thou empoyson?

Malevole: Excellentlyno Jew, pothecary or politician better.

Historian Iris Ritzmann has demonstrated, contrary to long-held opinion, that the wide-scale persecution of Jews cannot solely be understood as a reaction to the plague-borne social hysteria. Its roots clearly lie a few decades earlier in the popular association of Jews with unlikely partners in crime: lepers, perhaps the only people more despised than the Jews themselves.

Already in the 1320s, lepers were apprehended for suspected well poisonings, and after a judicious application of torture, confessions were provided. Complete, detailed recipes of poisons were listed, including such rare toxins as human blood and urine, spiders, snakes heads, toads legs, womens hair, and of course communion wafers pilfered from the Church.

With the beginnings of the Black Death, Jews also were seized and tortured, although the confessions often demanded a wider net of culpability: In one 1348 trial held near Lake Geneva, Jews were forced to assert that the Torah requires every Jewish person over the age of 7 to participate in the poisoning of wellsthe absurd claim forming the flimsy justification for the genocidal wave of persecutions that followed.

According to historian Hillel Ben-Sasson, some 300 Jewish communities were destroyed in the mass hysteria associated with the plague. Much of the agitation came from the local population: Church officials often issued appeals on behalf of the Jews, including Pope Clement VI, and Emperor Charles IV and Peter IV of Aragon urged an end to the violence, to no avail.

Jewish communities charged with well-poisoning were typically taken out to their own graveyards, ordered to build their own funeral pyres, and set alight. Aware of their ultimate fate, the Jews of Nordhausen dressed themselves in their Sabbath finery before proceeding to their fiery deaths.

The horrific massacres proceeded apace until 1351, undoubtedly accelerated by the practice of distributing the confiscated property of the murdered Jews among the villagers who participated in the public burnings. In 1349, the municipality of Brandenburg actually indemnified the pogromists in advance by warning the Jews that they would be held to blame if plague broke out in the city.

Samuel Cohn, who has written extensively on the relationship of plague and anti-Semitic violence, noted that authorities often returned to more rational explanations of the plague only after the Jews were dispatched. The Burgess of Narbonne, for example, issued the final word by pinning the plague deaths not on the Jews but on the effect of the planets.

But as late as 1401, a half-century after the Black Death, Jews in Freiburg were accused of poisoning the air.

So yeah. In terms of Jewish history, its not always about the virus itself. Its what might happen after the virus.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.




Adelaide, AUS, Mar 13, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - Award-winning Australian bioanalytical laboratory Agilex Biolabs announced today it has expanded its lab facilities by more than 30% to accommodate demand, mainly from US and APAC-based biotech companies.As the only FDA-inspected lab of its type in the region, Agilex is located in Adelaide, South Australia, in a science and biotech specialist hub.The company specialises in bioanalysis for small molecules and biologics for PK, immunogenicity and biomarkers utilising the two platforms of LC-MS/MS and Immunoassay (MesoScale, Gyrolab).Agilex also offers pharmacodynamics services that include immunobiology services using the latest state-of-the-art technology to support immunology, cell biology and mode of action assays, including:- Immunophenotyping- Receptor occupancy- Cytokine release assays (whole blood or PBMC stimulation assays) and cytokine / biomarker profiling- PBMC assays and cellular mechanism of action assays (eg: ADCC)Agilex Biolabs CEO Jason Valentine said they will now be offering virtual tours of the lab for customers who have travel restrictions during the current Covid-19 outbreak.CEO Jason Valentine said:"Our FDA-inspected facilities have more than 65 dedicated laboratory staff, and annually support more than 80 clinical trials. This year we will analyse more than 60,000 samples for pharma / biotechs from US, Europe and APAC."By combining specialised expertise, technological innovation and a 20-year track record, we have supported hundreds of preclinical and clinical trials around the world."Our world-class bioanalytical facilities have OECD GLP Recognition with NATA (Australian Government OECD GLP Compliance monitoring authority) and ISO 17025 Accreditation for global recognition."Learn more:- Watch the Agilex Biolabs video: https://youtu.be/3lyodiqqM_k- Download the New Services data sheet: https://tinyurl.com/AgilexBiolabsAbout Agilex BiolabsAgilex Biolabs began as a group of academic scientists providing clinical trial and bioanalytical services to the local Australian pharmaceutical industry in the 1980's, and has now grown into a global business for early phase clinical trials. In our 20 years of performing regulated bioanalysis of small and large molecules, we have accelerated hundreds of preclinical and clinical trials around the world. Today, our clients include many of the leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in Asia, Europe and the USA. Call +61 8 8302 8777 or +1 800 247 1909 or visit https://www.agilexbiolabs.com/.Media Contact:Team@DMGPR.ComDavid JamesAU: +61 2 8218 2144USA: +1 415 951 3228Asia: +65 3159 3427Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
An international team of scientists from the United States, France, China and Hong Kong was able to identify how quickly SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease, can spread, a factor that may help public health officials in their efforts at containment. They found that time between cases in a chain of transmission is less than a week and that more than 10% of patients are infected by somebody who has the virus but does not yet have symptoms.

To measure whats called the serial interval of the virus, scientists look at the time it takes for symptoms to appear in two people with the virus: the person who infects another, and the infected second person.

University of Texas at Austins Professor Lauren Ancel Meyers and colleagues found that the average serial interval for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in China was approximately 4 days. This also is among the first studies to estimate the rate of asymptomatic transmission.

The speed of an epidemic depends on two things  how many people each case infects and how long it takes cases to spread.

The first quantity is called the reproduction number; the second is the serial interval.

The short serial interval of COVID-19 means emerging outbreaks will grow quickly and could be difficult to stop.

Ebola, with a serial interval of several weeks, is much easier to contain than influenza, with a serial interval of only a few days, Professor Meyers said.

Public health responders to Ebola outbreaks have much more time to identify and isolate cases before they infect others.

The data suggest that this coronavirus may spread like the flu. That means we need to move quickly and aggressively to curb the emerging threat.

Professor Meyers and co-authors examined more than 450 infection case reports from 93 cities in China and found the strongest evidence yet that people without symptoms must be transmitting the virus, known as pre-symptomatic transmission.

According to the paper, more than 1 in 10 infections were from people who had the virus but did not yet feel sick.

Previously, scientists had some uncertainty about asymptomatic transmission with the coronavirus.

This new evidence could provide guidance to public health officials on how to contain the spread of the disease.

This provides evidence that extensive control measures including isolation, quarantine, school closures, travel restrictions and cancellation of mass gatherings may be warranted. Asymptomatic transmission definitely makes containment more difficult, Professor Meyers said.

With hundreds of new cases emerging around the world every day, the data may offer a different picture over time. Infection case reports are based on peoples memories of where they went and whom they had contact with. If health officials move quickly to isolate patients, that may also skew the data.

Our findings are corroborated by instances of silent transmission and rising case counts in hundreds of cities worldwide. This tells us that COVID-19 outbreaks can be elusive and require extreme measures.

The findings appear in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

_____

Z. Du et al. 2020. Risk for transportation of 2019 novel coronavirus disease from Wuhan to other cities in China. Emerg Infect Dis 26 (5); doi: 10.3201/eid2605.200146

This article is based on text provided by the University of Texas at Austin.
Details added (first version posted on 17:10)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 12

Trend:

The Armenian Armed Forces opened fire on the positions of Azerbaijans Nakhchivan Separate Combined Arms Army, Trend reports on March 12 referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The Armenian Armed Forces have grossly violated the ceasefire regime with Azerbaijan since morning, shelling the positions of the Nakhchivan Separate Combined Arms Army, the statement said.

The positions of the Nakhchivan Separate Combined Arms Army were mainly shot at with heavy machine guns and sniper rifles from the Armenian armed forces positions located on the slopes of Tejgar and Bagarsig mountains in Armenias Ararat region, the statement said.

The personnel of the Separate Combined Arms Army are taking decisive retaliatory measures, the statement said. The consequences of the shelling are being investigated.
OAKLAND (BCN)

A federal jury has ordered BART to pay $6.34 million in damages to the family of a 28-year-old man who was fatally shot by a BART police officer near the West Oakland station two years ago.

At the end of a two-week trial in U.S. District Court in Oakland, jurors on Wednesday awarded $5.7 million in damages to the family of Sahleem Tindle because his constitutional rights were violated by the use of excessive force by Officer Joseph Mateu and an additional $608,000 to his two children because Mateu was negligent.

The Alameda County District Attorney's Office said in a 48-page report in October 2018 that it wouldn't file criminal charges against Mateu because he acted in what he reasonably believed to be self-defense in the incident across the street from the West Oakland station at about 4:40 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2018.

The report said Mateu fatally shot Tindle three times in the back while Tindle struggled over control of a gun with another man in the 1400 block of Seventh Street across the street from the West Oakland station at about 4:40 p.m. on Jan. 3.

The majority of the witnesses in the District Attorney's report said they believed Tindle was the aggressor in the fight with the other man, who wasn't named.

The report said Tindle was walking with his fianc, their two young children and his fianc's sister toward the West Oakland BART station, intending to travel on BART to San Francisco, when he got into a confrontation with the other man after the other man accused Tindle of stealing a bag containing Air Jordan shoes that he'd inadvertently left on the sidewalk.

The District Attorney said Tindle and the other man eventually separated but Tindle's fiancee egged him on and told him to "pop" the other man and "knock him out."

The report said the other man "grabbed" Tindle a few minutes later and the two men began struggling in front of a barber shop at the corner of Seventh and Chester streets and during the struggle Tindle pulled out a semi-automatic pistol and two shots were fired.

One of the shots went through a window at the barber shop, although no one there was hit, but the other shot caused a wound to the other man's leg, according to the report.

Mateu was inside the West Oakland at the time of the initial shooting and raced across the street to the scene, where he saw Tindle holding a gun in his left hand, the report said.

Tindle and the other man ignored Mateu's repeated commands to show their hands as they struggled over the gun and at some point Mateu could no longer see the gun, according to the report.

Mateu told investigators he feared Tindle might have the gun in his right hand and could have been pointing the gun at the other man and also said he feared that if Tindle stood up he could have turned to shoot the other man or turned around to shoot him, the report said.

Mateu then fired "three rapid shots into Mr. Tindle's back," according to the report.

Oakland civil 5ights Attorney John Burris, who represented Tindle's family, said in a statement, "The "shooting was outrageous in that Tindle was shot in cold blood with his back to the officer while attempting to surrender by raising his empty left hand."

Burris said, "Tindle could not raise his right hand because the other man was holding it down as they continued to struggle over the gun."

Burris said he successfully argued to the jury that Mateu panicked when he couldn't see Tindle's right hand and later admitted that he did see Tindle and the other man struggling when he shot Tingle in the back.

Burris said he's also critical of Mateu for not giving a warning before firing his weapon, which he said is contrary to BART policy that requires giving a warning when feasible.

Burris said Mateu had ample time to give a warning to both men once he saw the weapon.

BART spokesman James Allison said, "We respect the process. We are currently reviewing our options."

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Mumbai, March 13 : With the total number of coronaVirus cases touching 17 in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday appealed to all companies to allow their employees to 'work from home' wherever possible.

Making a statement in the Assembly, the CM also asked people to avoid unnecessary travel and avoid crowded places.

He asked all companies that wherever feasible, employees should be allowed to carry out their duties from home in view of the coronavirus concerns among the people.

Besides, all theatres, multiplexes, swimming pools and gymnasiums will be shut in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nagpur from midnight tonight till March 31, or until further orders.

Additionally, in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad -- where the maximum 10 Covid-19 positive cases have been reported -- even schools will remain shut barring those where SSC/HSC examinations are being conducted, until further orders.

"We will consider postponing school, college and university examinations after a status review over the next few days, and if the situation warrants it, a decision will be taken accordingly," Thackeray said.

The latest development comes a day after the state government directed that all public functions, gathering and events shall be cancelled till further notice in view of coronavirus. Thackeray reiterated on Friday that all permissions given for such functions shall be revoked until the next order.

The new measures are expected to reduce overcrowding in the Mumbai suburban trains, public buses and cabs, besides preventing large gatherings witnessed at other public places like theatres, multiplexes, or crowds at swimming pools and gyms.

However, there is no immediate plan to impose a statewide lockdown on educational institutions in view of the ongoing annual (final) school-college examination seasons, an official from the education department informed.

The two found positive today in Nagpur were among those who came in 'first contact' with one patient already found positive here three days ago. They are admitted to Mayo Hospital for treatment and their condition is stable.

With this, Maharashtra has total 17 coronavirus cases including 10 in Pune, three each in Mumbai and Nagpur, and one in Thane.

After one person with a history of foreign travel tested positive on Thursday several schools/colleges in Thane advised students against attending classes for the next few days.

Thackeray reiterated that the situation in the state is being monitored closely but there were no immediate plans to impose a shutdown of educational institutions in the state.

Health Minister Rajesh Tope has appealed to people to remain calm and not to resort to panic purchases of masks, sanitisers, medicines, etc, and said that family doctors can easily treat coronaVirus symptoms without the need for quarantine.

Simultaneously, many mosques in Mumbai cancelled or truncated the traditional Friday prayers (today), the BCCI has postponed the upcoming IPL series till April 15 and most public places now wear a near-deserted look.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Chinese Regime Ramps Up Global Propaganda on Coronavirus Pandemic

The Chinese Communist Party has ramped up its propaganda efforts to control the narrative surrounding the novel coronavirusby rejecting criticism and painting a picture that Beijing is effectively handling the outbreak.

The regimes propaganda has gone through several phases: first ignoring the severity of the outbreak, then creating positive coverage, and now, blaming the United States.

Internal government documents obtained by The Epoch Times have highlighted how the regime bungled its data tracking and censored discussions of the outbreak, fueling the viruss spread.

High-ranking communist authorities have pushed a handful of talking points to deflect blame, including that the origin of the virus isnt clear and may have come from the United Statesa conspiracy recently pushed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

The virus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.

Zhao wrote on Twitter on March 12, When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army [sic] who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe [sic] us an explanation!

A February opinion article by state-run Global Times claimed that so far, even the scientific world has no conclusion where the virus came from.

Beijing has also pushed the narrative that its efforts to contain the virus bought the international community time to prepare, with the official Twitter account of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs writing that Chinas endeavor to combating the epidemic has bought time for intl preparedness. Our contribution is there for all to see.

That was echoed by a Harvard economist who said in a March 9 interview on NPRs Marketplace program that China really did great work in buying the rest of us time.

Stories hyping Chinas capability to contain the disease were pushed by Chinese state media at the same time that Beijing accused the United States of fear-mongering surrounding Chinas outbreak.

Author and China expert Gordon Chang told The Epoch Times: Theres been a repeated, relentless campaign against the United States, and its been malicious, irresponsible, false, of course, and dangerous. This whole notion of China being beneficial to helping the world is misguided and indeed dangerous.

Chang said Beijing is bent on this narrative because the epidemic has become an existential crisis for the Chinese Communist Partys rule.

Because the Chinese people are hot, angry, theyre demanding fundamental political change, and so China needs to change the subject to show  that the Communist Party is leading the defense.

Chang believes more such propaganda materials will be published in the coming days.

Beijing is going to relentlessly pursue them because it sees this as essential to its survival, he said, adding that the United States has an ally, which is the Chinese people, and we should never forget that our enemy is the regime.

Beijing has also accused the United States of creating panic by implementing restrictions on travelers from China.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, has said that the travel ban made a difference in combating the spread of the virus in the United States.

The blame game narrative against the United States is gaining steam and appears to be one of the more effective talking points not just for countries outside of China, but for people inside China, according to Sarah Cook, senior research analyst for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at Freedom House, a U.S.-based human rights group.

It seems like they may have stumbled on this last one accidentally, as various conspiracy theories along these lines started circulating on social media and then officials piggybacked on it and amplified the narrative after discovering that it was actually convincing people, Cook told The Epoch Times via email.

Cook said that this anti-American narrative has resonated with many in China and has to some degree been successful in refocusing anger and frustration away from the Party. She said the narrative was subtly stoked by official statements, state media reports, and the convenient absence of censorship for posts shifting the blame to the United States.

Li Wenliang, one of the eight whistleblowers who first publicized information on the virus and who later died from it in February was reprimanded by Chinese authorities for posting information about the virus. Wuhan officials said on Jan. 1 they took legal measures against eight people, including Li, who had spread rumors about the disease, which caused adverse impacts on society according to a statement posted on Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like platform.

In the United States, over 3,200 people have contracted the virus and at least 62 people have died, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at John Hopkins University, at the time of writing.

The White House and the State Department didnt respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.
Continental Mitsubishi proudly holds the self-proclaimed goal of getting everyone who applies for financing approved.

Continental Mitsubishi, a dealership serving Chicago and the entire surrounding area, is currently offering special lease rates on select new models. These offers will last until the end of March; specifically, they expire on March 31, 2020.

Special lease offers currently available at Continental Mitsubishi include the:



2020 Mitsubishi Outlander AWC at $239 per month for 48 months, with $3,043 due at signing.

2020 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport at $219 per month for 36 months, with $2,828 due at signing.

The above offers apply to specific incarnations of each model, designated by their particular stock number. Tax, title and license fees are not included in the prices listed. To qualify, individuals must receive credit and insurance approval. The financial offers are available through Ally Financial, the organization which handles Mitsubishi financing.

Those interested in leasing should also note that they are responsible for the maintenance, repairs and excess wear costs of the vehicle. The leases in question include 10,000 miles per year, after which lessees will be charged 20 cents for each mile above that figure.

Continental Mitsubishi proudly holds the self-proclaimed goal of getting everyone who applies for financing approved. To accomplish this, they work with several different banks and resultingly insist that having no credit is not a problem. They also accept foreign drivers licenses and ITIN.

Those interested in the special lease rates offered by Continental Mitsubishi for the month of March are encouraged to head to the dealership website at http://www.continentalmitsubishi.com for more information. The possibility also exists to make a phone call to the dealership at 708-669-0516. Finally, prospective customers are welcome to make their way to the dealerships physical location; its located at 5800 South La Grange Road, Countryside.
 A retirement open house will be held for Joyce Schriner at the Utica Senior Center on Sunday, March 15, from 2-4 p.m. A special program will be held at 3 p.m.

Milligan American Legion

 The Milligan American Legion will hold a Fish Fry on Friday, March 13 from 5:30  8 p.m. A free will offering will be taken.

 The Milligan American Legion, HSSK Unit #240 will be hosting their 100th birthday party along with the 100th year celebration of the American Legion Auxiliary on Thursday, March 26 at the legion hall. Registration starts at 5:30 p.m. with a potluck dinner starting at 6 p.m. The program will include the presentation of Quilts of Valor recipients followed by the Milligan Czech Brass Band from 7:30 - 9 pm. This is open to the public. Please plan to attend a great evening on honoring our veterans and the supporters of our legion!

Fairmont American Legion Auxiliary

 The Fairmont American Legion Auxiliary will have a supper from 5-8 p.m., on Friday, March 13. Nachos and tacos and all the fixings will be served. Take-outs are available. A free will offering will be accepted with proceeds going toward updating the kitchen.
T hese surreal photographs show how London landmarks have been abandoned during the coronavirus outbreak.

Sites that are usually ram-packed with commuters and tourists at rush hour have been left desolate in the wake of Covid-19.

Charing Cross, Trafalgar Square, and the Euston Underpass were all practically empty on Friday morning following Boris Johnsons announcement that many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.

Growing numbers of workers are staying home and avoiding travelling to the office.

Charing Cross station was empty on Friday morning / Jeremy Selwyn

On Wednesday, it was reported that Transport for London is facing a 400m drop in fares income, according to credit rating agency Moodys.

It predicted a 30 per cent fall in passenger income in the four months to the end of June, assuming that 20 per cent of the workforce will work from home and leisure trips will fall due to social distancing.

New measures to delay the spread of coronavirus in the UK came into full force on Thursday after Boris Johnson chaired an emergency Cobra meeting.

Roads pictured empty on Friday / Jeremy Selwyn

Mr Johnson told people with even mild symptoms - a new, persistent cough or fever - to self-isolate for seven days.

The latest Government approach has also brought measures to try to protect the elderly and those most vulnerable to the disease, with Mr Johnson warning the precautions will mean severe disruption across the country for many months.

It was announced on Friday morning that Londons St. Patricks Day parade had been cancelled.

Trafalgar Square pictured empty during the virus outbreak / Jeremy Selwyn

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted: Londons St Patricks Day celebrations are an annual highlight for many, so I'm incredibly disappointed that this years event has had to be cancelled as key performers and parade participants are no longer able to participate due to the ongoing threat of coronavirus.

Shutdowns and cancellations of events are expected to hit the massive tourist industry in London.

It is thought that up to 10,000 people in the UK may have the coronavirus, according to the Governments medical advisors.

As of 9am on Thursday, 590 people had tested positive for the virus. There have been 10 deaths in the UK.
CLINTON, N.Y.  After spring break, Hamilton College will be temporarily switching to online classes, according to President David Wippman.

See his letter to the campus community below:

Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, and Parents,

As I noted in my message to our community yesterday, it might prove necessary to adjust our plans on short notice. Im afraid I didnt anticipate just how short. It is with enormous regret that I must inform you we will be shifting temporarily to online education immediately following spring break.

Specifically, remote instruction will begin Monday, March 30, and continue for at least two weeks. As we near mid-April, we will reassess whether it is possible to resume normal operations safely for the remainder of the semester.

We will be asking all students to return home this coming week. We understand that for some students, this may not be feasible, for a variety of reasons. The Dean of Students Office will work with those who may need to remain on campus or need other assistance. This message will be followed soon by more detailed information about the timeline for leaving residence halls and related issues.

I make this decision with great reluctance. I understand how precious the Hamilton residential experience is, and how much of the social, extracurricular, and cocurricular experience will be lost by moving to remote instruction. I have spoken with many of our students, especially our seniors, and I know how saddened they will be at the prospect of losing a substantial portion of their remaining time on campus.

Unfortunately, developments over the last 24 hours make this the only safe and responsible option. Those developments include:

The World Health Organization declared that coronavirus has reached pandemic status.

Several additional states have declared a state of emergency.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the presidents coronavirus task force, noted in testimony yesterday that the worst is yet to come.

New Yorks Governor, Andrew Cuomo, indicated yesterday that he expects cases in New York to skyrocket and directed SUNY and CUNY schools to shift to online education.

President Trump decided to restrict travel from Europe for 30 days.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued a Level 3 warning (avoid nonessential travel) for most of Europe, recommending that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to the specified countries.

A student in Hamiltons program in Washington has been in contact with a coworker at the students internship placement who has tested positive for COVID-19. All of the students and the program director are in voluntary self-isolation, pending direction from the D.C. public health authorities.

In addition to moving to remote instruction for at least part of the semester, we will also shortly restrict gatherings to fewer than 50 people, restrict visitors to campus, ban all College-funded international travel, and prohibit all nonessential business travel by College employees.

We are taking these measures for multiple reasons.

First and foremost, we want to protect the health and safety of our students and the rest of our community. While students are generally among those least likely to experience serious effects from COVID-19, almost 20 percent of our community includes individuals who fall into one of the higher risk categories, including older individuals and those with significant underlying health issues.

Second, despite all our contingency planning, we face significant limitations in terms of our ability to manage an outbreak of COVID-19 on campus. Our quarantine space is limited and medical services in the region have inherent limitations.

Third, we want to maximize the chance that we can continue in-person classes at some later point in the semester. By taking steps to limit the possibility of COVID-19 appearing on our campus now, we may be better positioned to resume normal operations should the outbreak start to diminish with the arrival of warmer weather.

I know this decision will prove heartbreaking for many of our students, especially our seniors. Understandably, many are concerned about disrupted academic work, lost performance opportunities, missed campus activities, and most of all time with their friends. Believe me, I would not make this decision if I felt there was any other choice.

The rapidly changing situation and the imposition of travel restrictions from Europe pose extraordinary challenges for our students studying abroad. We will do everything possible to assist these students, to bring them safely home, and to ensure they can complete their academic work. We will send shortly a more detailed communication to our study abroad students. Because so many are enrolled in programs sponsored by a wide range of third-party providers, much of the guidance we provide may be specific to those individual programs.

For faculty, this decision will also impose significant burdens. We will do everything we can to assist you in preparing for online instruction. We recognize this is a profound change and we know our faculty will want to make the experience as positive as they can for our students. Our faculty are deeply committed to student learning, and I know they will rise to this challenge. We will provide more detailed guidance to faculty soon.

Staff will also face difficult challenges. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment, as we support our students and faculty in the transition to online instruction after the break. We will do all we reasonably can to support staff throughout this period.

I know this email will leave many of you with lots of questions. We will be following up with additional information soon, so please bear with us. I felt it important to communicate the key decisions now, before having in hand all the answers to questions that will inevitably arise.

None of us wanted the semester to go this way. But I know our community, I know its strength and the resilience of our students, faculty, and staff, and I know that collectively we will make this work.

David
Gov. Kristi Noem confirmed Thursday that there are no new positive tests, and no sign of community spread of COVID-19 in the state at this time but there are 41 pending cases at the state lab in Pierre.

Noem said each of South Dakotas eight presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 had recently traveled outside of the state, and that on average, they each came into contact with 10 people.

Seven of those contacts have symptoms so far, and they are being tested, Noem said. Noem said the lab in Pierre would have the 41 pending results by 11 a.m. MT Friday.

None of the positive cases had participated in large community events in the state, Noem said.

The state Department of Health is still waiting to confirm the cause of death for the Pennington County man in his 60s with pre-existing conditions who was tested positive for coronavirus and died Tuesday.

Regarding the $4.5 million the state received in funding from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control to respond to COVID-19 on Wednesday, the Department of Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon said they received guidance from the CDC on where those dollars should go and expects they will go towards the states response efforts.

Legislators who finalized the state budget, which will take effect in July, did not allot extra funds to respond to the virus.

Noem said the state has what it needs, and the state health lab can test 800 people for the virus.

Malsam-Rysdon said the DOH has the ability to provide tests at the state health lab in Pierre for free without CDC money.

States like Colorado and Minnesota have begun testing patients more aggressively, with tactics like roadside testing and free testing for patients without health insurance. Noem said roadside testing was not necessary at this time, and that the state continues to evaluate its testing protocol every day.

Tony Mangan, a representative for the state Department of Public Safety, said the state Department of Health is able to receive tests from tribal entities.

Rep. Dusty Johnson said that seniors should be proactive in avoiding large crowds, nonessential travel and stay home as much as possible in the coming days and weeks.

All of the experts, the people that are following this most closely, top public health officials, acknowledge that theres no reason to panic but this is a real threat, he said. It is more contagious than the flu and it is more lethal. Once its been around as long as the flu has been, I think well see that this is a threat that we need to treat responsibly.

Costs

Individuals who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 must call their health-care provider, who will ask them a series of questions about their symptoms, recent travel history and who theyve come into contact with.

From there, their provider or physician will decide if they should come in or not to have their sample taken. Physicians take a nasopharynx and oropharynx sample, which then is sent to the state health laboratory in Pierre for testing.

At Pierre, the samples are tested. If it comes back positive, the test is considered a presumptive positive until it has a matching positive result at the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. Pierre and the CDC conduct the same test.

Once the CDC has a result, they notify Pierre, which then notifies the physician that conducted a test for the patient. Once the patient is notified of their results, the state DOH updates their numbers online.

Noem said those without health insurance have the ability to go through federally qualified providers and get tested free of charge.

I would encourage individuals to do that, and if theyre not sure where those places are in their communities, they are on the website, Noem said, referring them to covid.sd.gov. For those patients, there are no copays with this test and they also have the ability to get free testing for those that need it.

Malsam-Rysdon echoed that people can go to federally qualified health-care centers across the state.

Those health centers work with folks with a variety of insurance options including folks that are uninsured and have sliding-fee scales in place based on income, she said.

Dan Daly, a communications specialist for Monument Health, said those who come in to be tested for COVID-19 are charged only as a regular office visit.

Health care

Monument Health has stopped allowing visitors at its Custer Care Center, Assisted Living in Custer and its Sturgis Care Center. Monument advises residents to avoid leaving care centers and assisted living facilities, and suggests phone calls or online chats instead of in-person visitors.

Monument has also limited visitors to patients with potentially infectious conditions, in order to conserve personal protective equipment like masks, gloves and eye protection.

Dr. Kurra said there are 32 individual low air flow rooms for patients with severe symptoms who would have to be isolated at the hospital, who also require aerosol generating procedures. He said Monument overall has the capacity they need to address any influx of patients coming from urban and rural areas in the region, and plan for overflow.

In Hot Springs, the Michael J. Fitzmaurice State Veterans Home has limited visitors and volunteer groups from entering the facility.

Brad Richardson, home superintendent, said family member requests will be taken on a case-by-case basis. If the visitors can enter, they will be surveyed about their health and recent travel history and have their temperature taken.

Dr. Wendell Hoffman, an infectious disease doctor at Sanford Health, said the coronavirus acts like influenza, causing fever, cough and shortness of breath, but that it has a spectrum of presentation.

From the China outbreak, we learned that about 15 percent of that group had severe disease, or disease severe enough to be hospitalized, Dr. Hoffman said. Within that is the critical group of patients who actually need intensive care units and potential ventilatory support. The primary issue here is viral pneumonia, and it can easily overwhelm patients who have pre-existing conditions.

Dr. Hoffman said most health-care providers think coronavirus is here to stay.

Its not just going to be a one-off, he said. Its going to incorporate itself into the community, a collection of viruses that we deal with.

Education

The South Dakota Board of Regents announced Thursday that spring break at the six public universities in the state will extend through Friday, March 20. The SDBOR is also cancelling all non-essential travel and limiting domestic travel on a case-by-case basis until further notice.

A press release said that the extended spring break will allow faculty and staff to adjust programs and coursework and prepare for other responses for COVID-19 going forward.

Students on campus can still access essentials, such as food services and residence halls, according to the statement.

Mike Ray, communications manager for the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, said he would have more information tomorrow about any event cancellations.

Ann Bolman, president for Western Dakota Tech, said they plan to resume class as scheduled on Monday.

Across the state, Augustana University in Sioux Falls is extending its spring break until March 20 and anticipates classes will resume March 23.

Rapid City Area Schools cancelled some music events and suspended all outside use of school facilities beginning Friday. Students returning from high-risk countries, or exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, will be excluded from school.

Katy Urban, public information manager for Rapid City Area Schools, said RCAS will host a press conference Friday relating to their response to COVID-19.

The South Dakota High School Activities Association announced that a limited ticket model will be implemented for the duration of the Girls State B Basketball Tournament in Spearfish. Any all-season passes that were purchased will be refunded.

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The Indian Railways on Friday told the Delhi High Court that it has put in place safety and security measures like baggage scanners, hand-held metal detectors and CCTV cameras in stations as sought in a PIL.

The court granted the railways time till May 15 to file an affidavit and asked it to indicate the steps taken by it and the future road map with regard to safety and security measures in its stations.

"Whatever they (petitioner) have asked for, we are already providing or are in the process of doing so," the Railways' lawyer told a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar and sought time to file an affidavit containing details of the steps taken.

The bench was hearing the petition by a lawyer, Kush Kalra, seeking safety and security measures like baggage scanners, hand-held metal detectors and CCTV cameras at all railway stations in the country.

Kalra, in his plea, has alleged there is a lack of safety and security measures, including anti-collision devices, at majority of the stations in the country.

He has contended in his petition that he had brought to the attention of the Indian Railways the lack of safety measures at various stations, yet it has not taken any steps to rectify the situation.

The plea has also claimed that railways have in replies to Right to Information (RTI) queries admitted that it has received huge budgetary allocations for providing safety and security measures at all of its stations.

"Despite the availability of resources, the respondent (railways) has failed to implement and take necessary steps towards making railway stations safe and secure through installation of the desired safety and security mechanism," the petition has contended.

Kalra has also claimed that railway stations are soft targets for terror attacks as such incidents have occurred in the past and have led to huge casualties.

"Some safety and security measures are already existing in some railway stations while being completely absent from the others. The respondent cannot adopt a pick and choose method and decide in its own wisdom to identify railway stations for installation of safety and security measures to the exclusion of the others," he has said.

The petition has further said that while the stations and trains now have state-of-the-art amenities and modern facilities, the railways has failed to improve upon its safety and security mechanisms commensurate with the amenities being provided to its passengers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
THIS NEWS RELEASE IS INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN CANADA ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.



TORONTO, March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North Bud Farms Inc. (CSE: NBUD) (OTCQB: NOBDF) ("NORTHBUD" or the "Company") announces that its annual financial statements for the year ended November 30, 2019, including the related management discussion and analysis, and CEO and CFO certifications (collectively, the Annual Financial Filings) are not expected to be filed by the required filing deadline of March 30, 2020 (the Filing Deadline).

The Annual Financial Filings are not expected to be filed on or before the Filing Deadline due to the two recently completed acquisitions in the United States. The Company acquired two businesses, one in Nevada and one in California, shortly before the most recently completed year-end, namely, November 30, 2019. The two businesses are private and did not have financial statements and related disclosures prepared in a manner consistent with the requirements of a publicly-listed entity. Accordingly, the Company has been working diligently with accounting teams to prepare the necessary statements for consolidation and audit with the Companys Canadian audit firm. As a result, the auditors need more time to complete the audit.

The Company is working on the steps required to complete the Annual Financial Filings as soon as possible and expects to be able to file the Annual Financial Filings by May 29, 2020. The Company will provide updates as further information relating to the Annual Financial Filings becomes available.

The Company has applied to the applicable securities regulatory authorities for a management cease trade order (MCTO) to be imposed against all the directors and officers of the Company precluding them from trading securities of the Company. If granted, the MCTO will be in effect until the Annual Financial Filings are filed, and will require that the Annual Financial Filings be filed on or before May 29, 2020.

Until the Annual Financial Filings are filed, the Company intends to issue bi-weekly default status reports in accordance with National Policy 12-203 - Management Cease Trade Orders. The Company intends to satisfy the provisions of the Alternative Information Guidelines during the period it remains in default of the filing requirements. The Company confirms that there is no other material information relating to its affairs that has not been generally disclosed.

About North Bud Farms Inc.

NORTHBUD, through its U.S. subsidiary Bonfire Brands USA, has acquired cannabis production facilities in California and Nevada. The Salinas, California 11-acre farm is actively cultivating cannabis in its 60,000 sq. ft. of licensed greenhouse production space, and also has active distribution and processing licenses. The Reno, Nevada property contains a world-class cannabis production, research and development facility with 5,000 sq. ft. of indoor cultivation, and holds medical and adult-use licenses for cultivation, extraction and distribution. Through its wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, GrowPros MMP Inc., the Company is pursuing a license under The Cannabis Act, to cultivate in its state-of-the-art purpose-built cannabis production facility located on 135 acres of agricultural land in Low, Quebec, Canada.

For more information visit: www.northbud.com

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements and information included in this press release that, to the extent they are not historical fact, constitute forward-looking information or statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements, include but are not limited to those identified by the expressions anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, should and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management.

Forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, those regarding the Companys US and Canadian strategies, the success of the Companys licence application with Health Canada, the Companys ability to execute its strategic plan, conditions in the cannabis market, the Company entering agreements in connection with the B2B supply of cannabis and the Companys transition into a revenue-generating operational phase of development are based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the risk factors included in the Companys final long form prospectus dated August 21, 2018, which is available under the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company's management to predict all of such factors and to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Company's business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect information, events, results, circumstances or otherwise after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law including securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities of the Company.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

North Bud Farms Inc.

Edward Miller

VP, IR & Communications

Office: (855) 628-3420 ext. 3

investors@northbud.com
Ravindra Rao

Gold price breached $1,700/oz this week for the first time since late 2012. However, the momentum did not last long, and price retreated to trade near $1635/oz. Gold is struggling to build on the gains as safe haven buying is offset by concerns about consumer demand.

The virus outbreak continues to remain out of control, threatening to have a major health and economic impact. Meanwhile, increasing restrictions to limit the spread of the virus has added to economic concerns. The nervousness in the market has caused market players to seek refuge of safe haven assets like gold, bonds and Japanese Yen.

With increasing economic risks, more and more central banks are considering monetary easing measures to support their economies. The Bank of England is the latest in the list of central banks to cut rates while market players are hoping for more action from the US Federal Reserve at next weeks meeting. Monetary easing measures have also helped gold prices move higher.

However, with increasing risks to the global economy, market players are also worried about impact on consumer demand. The Chinese economic activity has slowed down significantly and this may keep consumer spending low on luxury goods. Record high prices and growth concerns may also keep demand low in India.

ETF flows also show that market players have become increasingly price sensitive. Gold holdings with SPDR ETF surged to 963 tonnes earlier this week, the highest since Oct.2016, but has seen outflows as price failed to sustain.

Golds rally is also hampered as market players assess the possibility of recovery later in 2002. Chinese virus cases have slowed down drastically and it is already working to resume normal operations soon. Once the virus outbreak peaks worldwide also, we may see a quick rebound in economic activity which will be helped by the monetary and fiscal measures announced in the last few weeks.

While gold is struggling to build on the gains, there is still lots of uncertainty relating to virus outbreak and unless there are clear signs that the virus has been controlled, market players may remain wary to reinvest in riskier assets and this may keep buyers engaged.

The author is VP- Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities.

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
San Francisco, March 13 : In a somewhat discriminatory gesture, Facebook has reportedly banned its contractual workers (third-party content moderators) from work out of home, and has instead encouraged regular staff to avail work from home option amid new coronavirus outbreak in the US.

According to The Interceptor, many contract workers said that, "contrary to statements to them from Facebook, they are barred by their actual employers from working from home, despite the technical feasibility and clear public health benefits of doing so.'' Facebook has hired contractors employed by Accenture and Wipro and most of those are content moderators.

These workers said they've been told that the only way they can stay home is by using the paid time off (PTO) days they're allotted each year.

"Most people here are sick, coughing, and sneezing. The office ran out of Clorox wipes," the workers were quoted as saying in the report on Thursday.

"One Accenture employee told The Intercept that their entire team of over 20 contractors had been told that they were not permitted to work from home to avoid infection".

In fact, Facebook had to shut its Seattle office after one of its contractors tested positive for COVID-19. According to Tracy Clayton, a Facebook spokesperson, a contractor based in the Stadium East Office was diagnosed with coronavirus.

The social media giant has "strongly recommended all its workers in the Bay Area to work from home.

According to a company spokesperson, "there is some work that cannot be done from home for content reviewers, some of this work must be done from the office for safety, privacy and legal reasons".

"We're exploring work from home options on a temporary basis, and have already enabled it in some locations," the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

According to a post from an Austin Facebook contractor, Accenture "is only sending home people who exhibit flu like symptoms in the workplace".

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, March 11: Amid the coronavirus scare across the world, a woman from the US who was infected with coronavirus during the last week of February, shared a post on Facebook about about her experience regarding COVID-19. In the post, the Seattle-based woman named Elizabeth Schneider revealed how she contracted the virus, symptoms, immune system, precautions and misconceptions about it and the fact that she has now recovered. Facebook Invites Applications from NGOs for CSR Grant.

Her post has gone viral and has got over 27,000 shares and 3,500 comments. In her post, Schneider wrote: "I had COVID-19 and here is my story. I made this post public out of several requests from my friends who asked me to share. I hope it gives you some good information and peace of mind!" "First how easily you can get it. I believe I caught it when attending a small house party at which no one was coughing, sneezing or otherwise displaying any symptoms of illness. It appears that 40 per cent of the attendees of this party ended up sick. The media tells you to wash your hands and avoid anyone with symptoms. I did," Schneider wrote from her FB account.

"There is no way to avoid catching this except avoiding all other humans. 40 per cent of folks were all sick within 3 days of attending the party all with the same/similar symptoms including fever," she explained. "Second, the symptoms appear to be different depending on your constitution and/or age. Most of my friends who got it were in their late 40s to early 50s. I'm in my mid 30s. For us it was headache, fever (for first 3 days consistently and then on and off after 3 days), severe body aches and joint pain, and severe fatigue," she added.

"I had a fever that spiked the first night to 103 degrees and eventually came down to 100 and then low grade 99.5. I felt nauseous one day. Once the fever is gone some were left with nasal congestion, sore throat. Only a very few of us had a mild itchy cough. Very few had chest tightness or other respiratory symptoms," Schneider wrote. "Total duration of illness was 10-16 days. The main issue is that without reporting a cough or trouble breathing many of us were refused testing. I got tested through the Seattle Flu Study.

"As of Monday, March 9th, it has been 13 days since my symptoms started and more than 72 hours since my fever subsided. The King County Public Health Department is recommending you stay isolated for 7 days after the start of symptoms or 72 hours after your fever subsides," Schneider added. "I have surpassed both deadlines so I am no longer isolating myself however I am avoiding strenuous activity and large crowds and I obviously will not come near you if I see you in public. I was not hospitalised. Not every country is hospitalising everyone with a COVID-19 infection and in my case, and in many other cases, I didn't even go to the doctor because I was recovering on my own and felt it was just a nasty flu strain different from the ones I have been protected from with this season's flu vaccine," Schneider wrote.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 12, 2020 11:34 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
State health officials on Thursday night announced six new presumptive cases of the novel coronavirus at a Linn County veterans home, bringing the total of coronavirus patients at the veterans home to eight. The new cases bring the number of known coronavirus patients in Oregon to 30.

The nursing home patients who tested positive for coronavirus are all male veterans at the Edward C. Allworth Veterans Home in Lebanon, the Oregon Health Authority said.

One man is between the ages of 55 and 74, and the other five are 75 or older. Their illnesses are considered linked to the two earlier cases, but the exact sources of their illness are still unknown. All the infected people are quarantined at the veterans home, the state said.

The cases also raise questions about how public health officials will stop COVID-19 from sweeping across the nursing home, where 151 people live. Elderly people are much more likely to die from the disease. An outbreak of the virus at a long-term care facility near Seattle has killed more than 20 people so far.

In light of the news, Linn County Commissioner Roger Nyquist said he wanted state and federal officials to immediately start testing all elderly and medically vulnerable residents in long-term care facilities in Linn County.

We need our partners at the state and federal level to step up big time, he said.

The veterans home already had two presumptive positive cases  two men older than 85. Nyquist told The Oregonian/OregonLive that both men were doing well and were quarantined inside the veterans home. Both men had symptoms and sought medical treatment before they were tested Wednesday. Two other residents at that time had been tested and were negative.

Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen said on Thursday night that they were working with the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, the veterans home staff and Linn County Public Health to support and care for those infected.

Tonight our thoughts are with these veterans and their loved ones, Allen said.

Kelly Fitzpatrick, the director of the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, said they were deeply concerned with the affected residents.

Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones, and with our staff at the Oregon Veterans Home who are working tirelessly to provide exceptional care to all residents. Our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by this rapidly evolving pandemic, but we cant help but feel special concern for what is happening at our Veterans Home.

On Wednesday night, Oregon Health Authority officials announced that all of the homes residents, as well as care providers, would be tested for the virus. Nearly all of the residents are older than 70, and about one third are 90 or older.

State epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said Thursday that he believes as many as 250 Oregonians already have coronavirus, and that without proper actions to stop the spread, the number of cases could top 75,000 by mid-May.

Brown on Wednesday issued a statewide ban on gatherings of more than 250 people, implementing the social distancing practices that health officials say will slow the virus spread. On Thursday, a few public school districts and private schools in the Portland announced that they would cancel classes for the next week, which leads up to Oregons spring break. Tigard-Tualatin School District made the decision Thursday in an emergency board meeting, closely followed by the Lake Oswego School District.

There are now known coronavirus cases in 11 counties: Clackamas, Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Umatilla and Washington counties.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

Fedor Zarkhin; 503-294-7674; fzarkhin@oregonian.com; @fedorzarkhin

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
I f the steepest market fall since the South Sea Bubble hadnt scared investors silly, todays shorting ban will.

For those of a certain age, the rules curbing bets against share prices in 2008 were one of the most desperate they did what? events of the crisis.

Up there with the collapse of Lehman Brothers or Bank of Americas rescue of Merrills.

But while these are troubled times for sure, they arent that bad. Smaller banks could go bust but the giants of Wall Street arent crashing as they did back then.

Which is why this ban on shorting troubles me. It gives the impression that we are in a 2008-style death spiral when were (probably) not.

Worse still, if its intended to keep share prices up, it probably wont work. In fact, theres plenty of evidence that it doesnt prevent shares from falling.

Rather, bans mainly serve to crimp shares liquidity, widen price spreads (making it harder to buy and sell) and increase price volatility.

How does that benefit anybody?

Shorts may manipulate their positions to force companies into real crises, but thats only in a tiny minority of cases.

Overall, as profs writing on 2008 for the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance concluded: Future observers will look back at this shorting ban with the same kind of wonder economists reserve for Nixonian price controls and other similarly fruitless and costly government interventions.
(Photo : Screenshot from Twitter of @kennycoffee)

Two officials have been sacked as per the investigation into their doings when government staff used a garbage truck to ship a bulk load of pork for human consumption, local authorities have stated.

Read More About: Iranian Mass Graves for Coronavirus Victims Have Been Dug and 300ft Trench Added as Death Toll Rises

The Public Outcry and Demand for Justice

Residents from the Yuanlin community of Qingshan district were almost in a frenzy to find out that the pork that they have purchased from the government stores were delivered via a garbage truck last Wednesday, Mar. 12. According to the investigation, the two government officials were in charge of the distribution and logistics and giving the go signal for the delivery.

Aftermath, the public was outraged by the mere fact that they would even allow such gross misconduct on how poorly the decision was made to use the truck to deliver food that was to be served to the already suffering population of Wuhan.

What Went Down

The meat was packed into plastic bags that contained about 1,000 portions that were blown open onto the ground and then handed out to the paying customers. This was from users from Weibo, China's Twitter version that the food itself most probably might be contaminated because of the means of how it was delivered and the unsanitary way it was given out.

Here is a photo that was shared, the bags were clearly seen being dumped from a dirty-old truck onto a massive plastic sheet just there on the side of the road. Several workers as well were stepping on the sheet to count the bags that were placed.

Why Was It Handled Like This?

As Wuhan is basically on lockdown, the government has been in charge of the food delivery for the city late January. This is in hopes to deter the need for citizens to go out of their houses and shop for their food, but due to this new way of delivery, residents are now more careful than ever of what they put into their stomachs.

Read More About: How Did The Deadly Coronavirus Spread Quickly? Scientist Believes Prevailing Winds From Outer Space Caused It

When Will The Lockdown End?

The residents of China are still under lockdown in an indefinite time, which is obviously due to the coronavirus pandemic and country's aim to keep its people safe and to deter the spread of the virus. The quarantine is working as the stats given by the Chinese officials disclosed that the number of new cases mid-February was about 4,000 a day compared to now, only eight were confirmed new cases on Wednesday.

Luo Ron, deputy head of Qingshan district, was under investigation, which the city's discipline commission said on Thursday.

Read More About: History Reapeats Itself! Coronavirus Similar to SARS and Scientists Have The Pictures to Prove it!

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Paris Resort will be closing Sunday until the end of the month amid coronavirus concerns.

The Walt Disney Company announced the park closures, along with changes to Disney Cruise Line on Thursday evening via social media. The company also said it will pay its cast members during the closure period.

Disney Cruise Line will suspend all new departures from Saturday until the end of the month.

Disneyland in California announced its closure Thursday as well.

Domestic employees who are able to work from home are being asked to do so, including those at Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Television, ESPN, Direct-to-Consumer and Parks, Experiences and Products.

Disneyland, California Adventure parks to close amid coronavirus concerns in California SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Sweeping guidance for Californians to avoid unnecessary gatherings to try to prevent the spread of the new coronavir

Hotels, retail and dining complexes at both the Florida and Paris parks will remain open, including Disney Springs at Walt Disney World and Disney Village at Disneyland Paris.
South Africa: Suspect arrested for drug possession

Fifty-one-year old, Wynand Harmse, was arrested in Johannesburg by members of Hawks South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) Gauteng for possession of drugs with an estimated street value of R300 000.

The SANEB members followed up information about a drug courier at OR Tambo International Airport, who was about to fly out to Hong Kong.

Harmse was allegedly stopped after one of the members searched his luggage as well as conducted a body search.

The luggage did not contain any illegal substances but upon conducting the body search, a black plastic containing cocaine was discovered, concealed beneath a black waist corset around his waist.

The 1kg of cocaine is worth an estimated street value of R300 000 and was confiscated.

He has since appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrates court for dealing in drugs, and his case was postponed to 13 May 2020, for formal bail application as well as further investigation.

The suspect remains in custody. - SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Wendie Wilson of Bank of SVG (left) makes a ceremonial presentation to President of the SVG Netball Association  Doris Mc Intosh, at last Sundays Opening Ceremony.

One young netballer participating in the 2020 National Netball Club Tournament, can earn herself a two-year scholarship to the SVG Community College.





Providing the opportunity to that person is the new sponsors Bank Of SVG.





Disclosure of this came from the banks representative Alana Mc Master, at last Sundays Opening Ceremony of the 2020 National Netball Tournament.





Addressing the ceremony at the Kingstown Netball Centre, Mc Master said: " Given that education is a very important component of our Corporate Social Responsibility, an amount of $ 4000 will be allocated in the form of a scholarship to the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament, to attend the SVG Community College for two years.





Her announcement drew loud applause from the large crowd at the venue.





Mc Master noted that the $4000 is part of the banks yearly sponsorship to the tournament, which is a value of $30 000 per year for three years





Apart from the actual sponsorship, the Social Club of the bank assisted in sprucing up the Kingstown Netball Centre, ahead of last Sundays opening.





"This year, we have worked closely with the Executive of the Association and have invested some additional resources to improve the grounds and general facilities, Mc Master disclosed.





Mc Master related that the Bank Of SVG was moved to add its sponsorship to the National Netball Tournament, given the financially disadvantaged position of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Netball Association.





"Unlike most of the major sports, Netball does not have an international or regional body that provides funding for administration and Tournaments, Mc Master reasoned.





The Bank Of SVG will be the lead sponsor of the 2020 National Netball Tournament, with FLOW also providing some financial support.
The University System of Georgia has announced that all 26 USG institutions will remain open for face-to-face education at this time amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a message sent to the presidents of all USG insitutitions and forwarded to the University of Georgia community.
Jennifer Mendez, 36, with her son Max, 8 months, at their home in Burlington. Jennifer Mendez is part of the "sandwich generation," people who are responsible for raising their children and caring for aging family members. Her 79-year-old grandmother has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Read more

Jennifer Mendez often checks on her 79-year-old grandmother, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, before or after her shift at a hair salon in Hamilton Square, N.J., bringing her groceries and other necessities.

Mendez, who has two young sons at home, is part of the sandwich generation  people, increasingly in their 30s and 40s, who are responsible for bringing up their children and caring for aging family members. According to data from the Pew Research Center, 12% of parents are in this generation. A 2007 survey by the American Psychological Association also found that nearly 40% of sandwich generation caregivers report extreme levels of stress.

As coronavirus increases in the Philadelphia area, experts say that sandwich generation caregivers are in a uniquely difficult situation. Their parents or grandparents are often in the group most at risk for coronavirus-related illness, and theres reason to think that kids, though not likely to suffer severe consequences from infection, may be helping amplify transmission. The American Health Care Association has said that routine social visits are strongly discouraged at nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

If there was a mandatory quarantine, I have no plan on how I would continue care for my grandmother, said Mendez, who is 36 and lives in Burlington Township. Shes my main concern. Shes in the group thats dying from this. Im definitely worried about her.

More financial stress

Even before Gov. Phil Murphy ordered on Monday that N.J. schools close, Mendez said that if her 6-year-old sons school was unavailable for a significant period of time, it would be a real financial setback.

That would send me into hysteria, for sure, she said before the statewide closure. In these days, I dont really know any family that doesnt need two incomes. It would be great if I could get some type of supplement to help, but its hard because I work on commission.

Dual caregivers already shoulder significant financial burdens  a T. Rowe Price survey found that nearly a third of them spend more than $3,000 a month caring for an aging parent or relative and are significantly more likely to pull from retirement and college savings to afford it.

Philadelphia passed a paid sick-leave law in 2015, but many workers still dont know about it, according to a recent Temple University report. People who work for an employer with more than nine workers are entitled to paid sick days, while people who work for an employer with fewer than 10 employees are entitled to unpaid sick days.

In New Jersey, most workers, full time, part time and temporary, get 40 hours of sick leave a year. The law also allows New Jersey residents to use earned sick time to care for immediate family members, such as spouses, grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren.

We dont have the policies and care infrastructure in place to deal with this crisis, said Charlotte Dodge, a senior policy associate with Caring Across Generations, a national initiative to change the long-term care system in the country. A lot of people are having to make decisions about whether to go to work, or whether to put the health of their loved ones first. It brings to light how critical this is for people.

Dodge and her husband, who live in Montgomery County in Maryland, have two young children. Her mother, a 68-year-old hospice nurse whose work also could put her in harms way, lives with them. Although Dodge has the flexibility to work from home and can care for her kids, she said that more workplaces should proactively communicate to their employees that their health and safety come first.

Its a chance to offer more flexibility and assure someone that their financial security wont be put at risk because theyre putting their health first, Dodge said. Encourage people to speak up if theyre feeling ill. Tell them to stay home.

Refraining from panic

For Suzanne Simons, her 75-year-old mother, who has lupus, is her biggest concern right now. Simons, a 37-year-old Realtor in Voorhees, also cares for her two children  an 18-month-old daughter and a newborn son.

My mom has a weakened immune system, and so does my son, being 5 weeks old, Simons said. And theres no vaccine, no other way to really take precautions besides what we are already doing, like washing our hands and wiping things down.

Lisa Paganelli King, 36, a stay-at-home mom to a 14-year-old son and a 15-month-old daughter, has similar concerns about her father, who has been undergoing chemotherapy for more than a year. King, who has a background in nursing and lives in Mount Laurel, disconnects her fathers chemotherapy pump every two weeks so he doesnt have to drive to Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. She said she wasnt concerned about a potential outbreak at first, but now is worried.

One of my biggest areas of concern is that some people arent taking it very seriously and saying that its media hype," King said. "I dont think they realize that they can be sick and not know they have it, and pass it to someone. I dont know if my dad would have a chance if he got this, so when I see people sharing stuff about media hype on Facebook, Im like, No, please take it seriously, my parents are so important to me.

Simons said she and her mother are not panicking. Rather, they are spending their energy on precautions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All I really can do is hope for the best, Simons said. If we dont feel good, then well stay home. Of course, I dont want my mom or my kids to get it, but I dont want to keep everyone cooped up.

Dodge said that right now is a good time to check in with family caregivers, if you have one in your life.

Recognize that there are little things you can do to help that person, like picking up groceries or a child from school, she said. Offering up support in any way you can, while still taking precautions for yourself and your family, goes a long way.
Russian oil firms plan to raise their oil production from April and they are comfortable with the current oil prices and even lower, oil executives said after meeting this week with Energy Minister Alexander Novak  a meeting which didnt discuss the possibility that Russia may return to the OPEC+ production cut deal as earlier reports suggested.

Top executives from the major Russian companies, including Rosneft, Lukoil, Gazprom Neft, Tatneft, and Surgutneftegas, met with the minister on Thursday to discuss the companies plans and the market situation after the collapse of the OPEC+ deal last week.

Alexander Dyukov, chief executive at Gazproms oil arm, Gazprom Neft, told reporters that returning to the OPEC+ deal was not discussed at the meeting.

The coronavirus outbreak and concerns about recession would have sent oil prices to $35 a barrel anyway, even if OPEC and its Russia-led allies had reached a deal last week, Dyukov said.

Gazprom Neft is disappointed with the OPEC+ break-up, Dyukov said, but noted that OPEC is to blame for the no deal outcome of the talks.

Gazprom Neft, Russias third-largest producer, could increase its production by between 40,000 bpd and 50,000 bpd in April, Dyukov said, as carried by TASS.

Gazprom Neft can work with $35 oil, the manager said, while Tatnefts CEO Nail Maganov boasted that even $8 oil is not critical for the company, Russias Prime news agency reports.

Commenting on reports that Saudi Arabia is now preparing to flood the markets with its cheaper oil, including Russias key market Europe, Dyukov said that Gazprom Neft isnt concerned that its oil would be pushed out because basically all its volumes have been contracted despite the current market conditions. Related: Yergin: No End In Sight For The Oil Price Crisis

Earlier this week, minister Novak said that Russia has the potential to ramp up its oil production by 500,000 bpd. On Friday, he told reporters that Russia would be able to restore by the end of April all the production cuts under the deal with OPEC, which would boost production by 200,000 bpd from current levels.

Commenting on the OPEC+ (semi)broken alliance, Novak said that Russia doesnt see constructive conditions now to return to discussing the OPEC+ deal, days after saying that the doors arent closed to future cooperation with OPEC.

We dont see conditions to discuss the deal, you can all see how OPEC members behave, Novak said.

OPEC members are flooding the oversupplied market with oil, going for Russias market share, and Saudi Arabias Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Reuters on Tuesday, commenting on possible OPEC+ meetings:

I fail to see the wisdom for holding meetings in May-June that would only demonstrate our failure in attending to what we should have done in a crisis like this and taking the necessary measures.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The young mothers didnt tell their children they had the coronavirus. Mama was working hard, they said, to save sick people. Instead, Deng Danjing and Xia Sisi were fighting for their lives in the same hospitals where they worked, weak from fever and gasping for breath. Within a matter of weeks, they had gone from healthy medical professionals on the front lines of the epidemic in Wuhan, China, to coronavirus patients in critical condition. The world is still struggling to fully understand the new virus, its symptoms, spread and sources. For some, it can feel like a common cold. For others, it is a deadly infection that ravages the lungs and pushes the immune system into overdrive, destroying even healthy cells. The difference between life and death can depend on the patients health, age and access to care  although not always. The virus has infected more than 132,000 globally. The vast majority of cases have been mild, with limited symptoms. But the viruss progression can be quick, at which point the chances of survival plummet. Around 68,000 people have recovered, while nearly 5,000 have died. The fates of Ms. Deng and Dr. Xia reflect the unpredictable nature of a virus that affects everyone differently, at times defying statistical averages and scientific research. As the new year opened in China, the women were leading remarkably similar lives. Both were 29 years old. Both were married, each with a young child on whom she doted. Ms. Deng, a nurse, had worked for three years at Wuhan No. 7 Hospital, in the city where she grew up and where the coronavirus pandemic began. Her mother was a nurse there, too, and in their free time they watched movies or shopped together. Ms. Dengs favorite activity was playing with her two pet kittens, Fat Tiger and Little White, the second of which she had rescued just three months before falling sick. Before the epidemic, Ms. Deng had promised to take her 5-year-old daughter to the aquarium. Dr. Xia, a gastroenterologist, also came from a family of medical professionals. As a young child, she had accompanied her mother, a nurse, to work. She joined the Union Jiangbei Hospital of Wuhan in 2015 and was the youngest doctor in her department. Her colleagues called her Little Sisi or Little Sweetie because she always had a smile for them. She loved Sichuan hot pot, a dish famous for its numbingly spicy broth. Dr. Xia loved traveling with her family. She had recently visited Wuzhizhou Island, a resort destination off the southern coast of China. When a mysterious new virus struck the city, the women began working long hours, treating a seemingly endless flood of patients. They took precautions to protect themselves. But they succumbed to the infection, the highly contagious virus burrowing deep into their lungs, causing fever and pneumonia. In the hospital, each took a turn for the worse. One recovered. One did not.

Symptoms Onset of virus & hospitalization Ms. Deng, a Wuhan native who liked makeup and hanging out with her friends at Starbucks, had worked for eight years as a nurse, following her mothers career path. Dr. Xia, who was a favorite among elderly patients, spent long hours at the hospital helping to treat people suspected of having the virus. The symptoms came on suddenly. Dr. Xia had ended her night shift on Jan. 14 when she was called back to attend to a patient  a 76-year-old man with suspected coronavirus. She dropped in frequently to check in on him. Five days later, she started feeling unwell. Exhausted, she took a two-hour nap at home, then checked her temperature: It was 102 degrees. Her chest felt tight. A few weeks later, in early February, Ms. Deng, the nurse, was preparing to eat dinner at the hospital office, when the sight of food left her nauseated. She brushed the feeling aside, figuring she was worn out by work. She had spent the beginning of the outbreak visiting the families of confirmed patients and teaching them to disinfect their homes. After forcing down some food, Ms. Deng went home to shower, and then, feeling groggy, took a nap. When she woke up, her temperature was 100 degrees. Fever is the most common symptom of the coronavirus, seen in nearly 90 percent of patients. About a fifth of people experience shortness of breath, often including a cough and congestion. Many also feel fatigued. Both women rushed to see doctors. Chest scans showed damage to their lungs, a tell-tale sign of the coronavirus that is present in at least 85 percent of patients, according to one study. In particular, Ms. Dengs CT scan showed what the doctor called ground-glass opacities on her lower right lung  hazy spots that indicated fluid or inflammation around her airways. The hospital had no space, so Ms. Deng checked into a hotel to avoid infecting her husband and 5-year-old daughter. She sweated through the night. At one point, her calf twitched. In the morning, she was admitted to the hospital. Her throat was swabbed for a genetic test, which confirmed she had the coronavirus. Her room in a newly opened staff ward was small, with two cots and a number assigned to each one. Ms. Deng was in bed 28. Her roommate was a colleague who had also been diagnosed with the virus. At Jiangbei Hospital, 18 miles away, Dr. Xia was struggling to breathe. She was placed in an isolation ward, treated by doctors and nurses who wore protective suits and safety goggles. The room was cold.

Treatment Day 1, hospitalization begins After Ms. Deng was admitted to the hospital, she told her husband to take care of himself, reminding him of the 14-day incubation period for the virus. He assured her his temperature was normal. Dr. Xia asked her husband about the possibility of getting off oxygen therapy soon. He responded optimistically. When Ms. Deng checked into the hospital, she tried to stay upbeat. She texted her husband, urging him to wear a mask even at home, and to clean all their bowls and chopsticks with boiling water or throw them out. Her husband sent a photograph of one of their cats at home. Waiting for you to come back, he said. I think itll take 10 days, half a month, she replied. Take care of yourself. There is no known cure for Covid-19, the official name for the disease caused by the new coronavirus. So doctors rely on a cocktail of other medicines, mostly antiviral drugs, to alleviate the symptoms. Ms. Dengs doctor prescribed a regimen of arbidol, an antiviral medicine used to treat the flu in Russia and China; Tamiflu, another flu medicine more popular internationally; and Kaletra, an HIV medicine thought to block the replication of the virus. Ms. Deng was taking at least 12 pills a day, as well as traditional Chinese medicine. Arbidol, an antiviral medication, was prescribed to help alleviate Ms. Dengs symptoms. Despite her optimism, she grew weaker. Her mother delivered home-cooked food outside the ward, but she had no appetite. To feed her, a nurse had to come at 8:30 each morning to hook her up to an intravenous drip with nutrients. Another drip pumped antibodies into her bloodstream, and still another antiviral medicine. Dr. Xia, too, was severely ill, but appeared to be slowly fighting the infection. Her fever had subsided after a few days, and she began to breathe more easily after being attached to a ventilator. Her spirits lifted. On Jan. 25, she told her colleagues she was recovering.  I will return to the team soon, she texted them on WeChat. We need you the most, one of her colleagues responded. In early February, Dr. Xia asked her husband, Wu Shilei, also a doctor, whether he thought she could get off oxygen therapy soon. Take it easy. Dont be too anxious, he replied on WeChat. He told her that the ventilator could possibly be removed by the following week. I keep on thinking about getting better soon, Dr. Xia responded. There was reason to believe she was on the mend. After all, most coronavirus patients recover. Later, Dr. Xia tested negative twice for the coronavirus. She told her mother she expected to be discharged on Feb. 8.

Decline Day 4 to 16 after hospitalization In the hospital, Ms. Dengs only contacts were her roommate and the medical staff. She added a caption to a photo with her doctor, saying laughter would help chase the illness away. Two tests indicated that Dr. Xia was free of the virus, but her condition suddenly deteriorated. By Ms. Dengs fourth day in the hospital, she could no longer pretend to be cheerful. She was vomiting, having diarrhea and relentlessly shivering. Her fever jumped to 101.3 degrees. Early in the morning on Feb. 5, she woke from a fitful sleep to find the medicine had done nothing to lower her temperature. She cried. She said she was classified as critically ill. The next day, she threw up three times, until she was left spitting white bubbles. She felt she was hallucinating. She could not smell or taste, and her heart rate slowed to about 50 beats per minute. On a phone call, Ms. Dengs mother tried to reassure her that she was young and otherwise healthy, and that the virus would pass like a bad cold. But Ms. Deng feared otherwise. I felt like I was walking on the edge of death, she wrote in a social media post from her hospital bed the next day. China defines a critically ill patient as someone with respiratory failure, shock or organ failure. Around 5 percent of infected patients became critical in China, according to one of the largest studies to date of coronavirus cases. Of those, 49 percent died. (Those rates may eventually change once more cases are examined around the world.) While Dr. Xia appeared to be recovering, she was still terrified of dying. Testing can be faulty, and negative results dont necessarily mean patients are in the clear. She asked her mother for a promise: Could her parents look after her 2-year-old son if she didnt make it? Hoping to dispel her anxiety with humor, her mother, Jiang Wenyan, chided her: Hes your own son. Dont you want to raise him yourself? Dr. Xia also worried about her husband. Over video chat, she urged him to put on protective equipment at the hospital where he worked. She said she would wait for me to return safely, he said, and go to the frontline again with me when she recovered. Then came the call. Dr. Xias condition had suddenly deteriorated. In the early hours of Feb. 7, her husband rushed to the emergency room. Her heart had stopped.

Recovery Day 17 after hospitalization After being discharged, Ms. Deng briefly got to see her mother, who had been working at the hospital during her illness. She then went home to isolate herself for two weeks. In most cases, the body repairs itself. The immune system produces enough antibodies to clear the virus, and the patient recovers. By the end of Ms. Dengs first week in the hospital, her fever had receded. She could eat the food her mother delivered. On Feb. 10, as her appetite returned, she looked up photos of meat skewers online and posted them wishfully to social media. On Feb. 15, her throat swab came back negative for the virus. Three days later, she tested negative again. She could go home. Ms. Deng met her mother briefly at the hospitals entrance. Then, because Wuhan remained locked down, without taxis or public transportation, she walked home alone. I felt like a little bird, she recalled. My freedom had been returned to me. She had to isolate at home for 14 days. Her husband and daughter stayed with her parents. At home, she threw out her clothing, which she had been wearing for her entire time in the hospital. Since then, she has passed the time by playing with her cats and watching television. She jokes that she is getting an early taste of retirement. She does daily deep breathing exercises to strengthen her lungs, and her cough has faded. The Chinese government has urged recovered patients to donate plasma, which experts say contains antibodies that could be used to treat the sick. Ms. Deng contacted a local blood bank soon after getting home. She plans to go back to work as soon as the hospital allows it. It was the nation that saved me, she said. And I think I can pay it back to the nation.
SYDNEY/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The fallout from the coronavirus spread across the Pacific on Friday, with Australian travel firms issuing profit warnings and Japanese carriers cutting capacity, while U.S. airlines rushed to cut flights to Europe in the wake of new travel restrictions.

U.S. travel curbs on much of continental Europe announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday deepened the sectors misery that began after the virus emerged in China late last year and reduced traffic.

United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL.O) warned of U.S. travel disruption as the virus spreads domestically and major tourist attractions like Walt Disney Cos (DIS.N) theme parks in California and Florida said they would close.

American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) and United said they would continue normal flights to and from Europe for the next week but would be reducing capacity to Europe by around 50% in April.

American also said it was cutting international capacity by 34% for the summer travel season and accelerating the retirement of its Boeing Co (BA.N) 757 and 767 planes.

Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) also said it would significantly reduce its U.S.-Europe schedule after Sunday as it continues to watch customer demand.

German airport operator Fraport (FRAG.DE) said on Friday that passenger numbers at its key Frankfurt airport dropped by around 30% in the first week of March due to the coronavirus epidemic.

We have to assume that the strong decline in air traffic volumes will continue during the next few weeks and months, CEO Stefan Schulte said in a statement.

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Air France KLM SA (AIRF.PA) said on Friday that it had drawn down on 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) worth of its revolving credit facility to help its financial position.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a global industry group representing airlines, called on governments to consider extending lines of credit, reducing infrastructure costs and cutting taxes.

IATA last week estimated that the crisis could wipe out some $113 billion of industry revenue, in a forecast that did not include the U.S. clampdown on European travel.

There is a heightened concern there will be increased airline bankruptcies in 2020 given the fallout from the coronavirus, Cowen analyst Helane Becker said.

We expect some governments to step in to help some airlines, but ultimately we expect more airlines to fail this year than last year, she said in a note to clients, citing Cirium data that 41 airlines with 324 aircraft went bankrupt last year.

Cash-strapped low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA (NWC.OL) said on Thursday it would cut 4,000 flights and temporarily lay off up to half of its employees due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Indian government said it would extend the deadline for submission of early bids for ailing state carrier Air India until April 30 in part due to the virus situation.

ASIA-PACIFIC HIT HARD

Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd (VAH.AX), Auckland International Airport Ltd (AIA.NZ), Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (FLT.AX) and Corporate Travel Management Ltd (CTD.AX) said they would take hits to earnings from reduced travel demand.

Australias No. 2 carrier, Virgin Australia, said it would offer discounted fares and cut some flights from Sydney to Los Angeles as demand for trans-Pacific travel fell.

You will see us continue to be very disciplined with capacity as the situation evolves, Virgin Australia Chief Executive Paul Scurrah told reporters, echoing similar comments by rival Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX) earlier in the week.

Virgin and Flight Centre joined a growing list of travel companies, which includes the big U.S. airlines, that are freezing hiring, halting executive bonuses and offering unpaid leave.

Singapore will deny from Monday entry or transit to visitors who have been in Italy, France, Spain or Germany in the last 14 days, the health ministry said on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Singapore Changi Airport announced seat capacity for the month of March was down nearly 30% from what was originally scheduled.

CGS-CIMB analyst Raymond Yap said the global spread of the virus meant the fall in demand for Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIAL.SI) regional flights was likely to spread to long-haul flights, hurting the take-up rate in the lucrative business and first-class cabins.

Japans ANA Holdings Inc (9202.T) and Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL) (9201.T) closed 7.6% and 13% lower respectively.

JAL said it would cut 1,468 domestic flights between March 20 and March 28 stemming from lower demand because sporting and cultural events had been suspended in Japan.

ANA will cut the number of daily flights from Japan to Los Angeles and New York and reduce operations to other cities in North America from Monday, it said. It also said there will be fewer flights to Europe including France, Germany and Belgium.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 21:54:54|Editor: xuxin

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ADDIS ABABA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government on Friday urged the public to take precautionary measures in order to contain the spread of the virus, while avoiding panic as the country confirmed its first coronavirus case.

The call was made by officials at the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) as the East African country on Friday reported its first COVID-19 case after a 48-year old Japanese national is tested positive for the virus in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian Health Minister, Liya Tadesse, told a press conference that the confirmed patient came to Ethiopia from Burkina Faso on March 4.

The health minister also stressed that the individual has been put in isolation, while other people who have come to immediate contact with the patient have been identified and are being quarantined.

The 48-years old Japanese national, who is now quarantined in an isolation centre in the Ethiopian capital, is now undergoing medical follow up and "is in a stable condition, and those who have been in contact with this person are being traced and quarantined," Tadesse said.

The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) also in a statement issued after the East African country's first COVID-19 positive case said that "since fear and panic are as dangerous as the disease itself, this first positive case in the country should not let us lower our guard but should propel us to redouble our effort to control the disease."

The EPHI also stressed that "most people infected with virus do get well soon with very little pan, but elderly people with underlying illness may develop serious health problems because of the new infection."

The institute also emphasized that the Ethiopian government has been "working a lot to ramp up our preparedness to detect and contain, as well as mitigate its impact if transmission occurs."

Ethiopia, Africa's second populous nation with an estimated of about 105 million total population, had already established a high-level National Ministerial Committee to lead and support the COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts.

A multi-sectoral technical task force composed of various Ethiopian government offices and the Public Health Emergency Operating Center at the EPHI is also presently coordinating efforts against the spread of coronavirus.

Noting that the Ethiopian government has recently allocated additional budget for prevention efforts and mobilizing more resources, the EPHI also disclosed that quarantine and isolation centers have been also established while a dedicated hospital has been assigned, "equipped with trained medical staff and has opened its doors to receive and care for COVID-19 patients in the country, while we are also working to hire more professionals to support this response."

"By confirming the fact that the Ethiopian government is doing everything to contain the spread of the disease and reduce its impact, we at the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) urge our people not to panic but stay calm and do everything it can to stop the spread of the disease in our country," the EPHI said.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The Cleveland school district will offer free grab-and-go lunches and breakfasts to anyone under 18 during the coronavirus shutdown, regardless of where students attend school.

District CEO Eric Gordon said the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the district to distribute food to any needy minor. So distribution centers at 22 schools will offer two meals a day from Monday to Friday to youths, no matter whether they attend a district, suburban, charter or parochial school.

You can pick up a lunch and a breakfast, so youll get a lunch and a breakfast for the next day, Gordon said.

See below for the full list of meal pickup and shuttle sites.

The district will also run shuttles from all of its PreK-8 schools to the distribution centers, so parents and children have easy access.

They only have to walk to their closest school in the neighborhood, get on the bus, get their grab-and-go food and then be dropped back off at home, he said.

For district students, their Regional Transit Authority passes will remain active during the shutdown, so they can use them to get to the distribution points.

And the district will use the food distribution centers to also give students take-home lessons periodically during the three weeks.

Were going to have them picking up as they go, so that they are getting a little dose every day, he said.

Gordon said Clevelands 21 city recreation centers will offer dinners in the evening, as they do now. Gordon said the Cleveland Public Library will also offer a light meal in the afternoon. The district is directing families to the Cleveland Food Bank and other food pantries for weekend food.

Take-home bags of food that the district gives some families each week will continue, but just for those families already in that program.

The Breakthrough charter schools in Cleveland are referring students to the Cleveland schools locations, as well as offering their own grab-and-go lunches from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday - Friday at each Breakthrough school.

We wanted to not just tell our families to go to CMSD, said John Zitzner, one of Breakthroughs founders. We wanted to do it ourselves too.

He said his schools do not have federal money to give meals to anyone but their own students, so meals will be limited to them.

Gordon also told families that teachers and administrators will be working from home during the break, but custodial staff will be doing deep cleaning of schools.

Whether students will complete enough work over the shutdown to count as full school days is still to be determined. Though Gov. Mike DeWine told schools today that he expects education to continue, Gordon said the district is looking at its take-home lessons more as enrichment than as full classes.

We really are not thinking of this as a replacement for the instruction thats being lost, he said.

He said that the legislature may have to reduce the minimum number of hours and days in the school year. Thats already being discussed in Columbus, with the Ohio Department of Education urging districts to worry about student and staff safety first.

Students left school today with worksheets and packets of lessons to do over break, even before having to pick up other lessons later.

Mostly for every class weve got stuff to do, said Aleiya Sawyer, a sophomore at the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine at the John Hay campus. She said she is torn about whether school should close.

With people having corona and not having symptoms, its a little bit scary because you dont know if you have it," she said. But she is also worried about losing ground before her finals and state tests.

To be honest, Id rather be in school," she said.

She and LaTanza Chapman, a sophomore at Early College High School on the same campus, showed the stacks of schoolwork tucked into their backpacks as they left for the day, including a packet for English class and assignments in her chemistry book.

Some people were excited," she said of the last school day before a surprise extended break. "But it was pretty sad, because we had a lot of homework and finals.

Here is the list of meal and shuttle sites and times:

Other stories by Patrick ODonnell:

Roundup of Greater Cleveland school districts cancelling student trips, events because of coronavirus

Hawken, Lawrence, Laurel and University schools students on AIPAC bus with person with coronavirus

Merged Montessori campus throws lifeline to Stonebrook Montessori and Michael R. White schools

Euclid Superintendent pulls woman from burning vehicle: I just did my best to help.

What private schools use the most vouchers in Ohio? A few may surprise you

Voucher wars: St. Ignatius routs St. Edward, 85-42. But did it really?
Production was suspended on an upcoming Marvel Studios kung-fu movie filming in Australia as director Destin Daniel Cretton awaits results of a coronavirus test.

The Australian crew was told that first-unit production on Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings was being suspended as Cretton, 41, was under self-isolation, according to an article Thursday by The Hollywood Reporter.

Cretton has a newborn baby and made the decision to get tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and Marvel Studios 'in an abundance of caution' decided to suspend first-unit production until his test results come back.

Kung-fu movie: Production was suspended for an upcoming Marvel Studios movie filming in Australia as director Destin Daniel Cretton, shown in September, awaits results of a coronavirus test

Shang-Chi was not shutting down with second unit and other parts of production continuing.

The film based on the Marvel Comics superhero Shang-Chi will mark the character's live-action debut.

Shang-Chi will be played by Canadian actor Simu Liu, 30, who will become the first Asian actor to lead a Marvel Studios film.

The comic book character was created in the early 1970s by writer Steve Englehart, 72, and artist Jim Starlin, 70, who also created Marvel characters Thanos, Drax The Destroyer and Gamora.

Marvel comics: Shang-Chi is shown on the cover of a Marvel Comics book

The Shang-Chi movie due out in February 2021 also will star Tony Leung, 57, as the Mandarin and Awkwafina, 31, in an undisclosed role.

The note to the film's crew read: 'As many of you know, Destin, our director, has a new born baby. He wanted to exercise additional caution given the current environment and decided to get tested for COVID-19 today. He is currently self-isolating under the recommendation of his doctor.

While he waits for the results of the test, we are suspending 1st unit production in an abundance of caution until he gets the results this coming week. Second unit and off production will continue as normal. We will reach out to everyone by Tuesday for the latest update.'

Leading role: Shang-Chi will be played by Canadian actor Simu Liu, shown in July in San Diego, who will become the first Asian actor to lead a Marvel Studios film

'This is an unprecedented time. We appreciate everyones understanding as we work through this,' the statement added.

Warner Bros. earlier this week halted pre-production of its Elvis Presley biopic in Australia after star Tom Hanks, 63, tested positive for COVID-19 along with his wife Rita Wilson, 63.

Hanks and Wilson remain in isolation in Australia after testing positive.
Overachieving was as common as skinned knees in her childhood home in Dix Hills, N.Y. She grew up on a 75-acre parcel she called a family compound. Her paternal grandparents bought the property, surrounded by potato farms, in the early 1920s. Then her parents, Barbara Eckhardt McIntyre and Angus Philip McIntyre, and an aunt and uncle, Randall and Helen McIntyre, settled there. Ms. McIntyre was one of five siblings, and she had three cousins. So there were eight of us running around, she said. We had horses and a swimming pool. We were all really close. Expectations ran high: Mr. McIntyre, chairman of the familys direct marketing company, O.E. McIntyre, would give us little math problems at the breakfast table. Three of the siblings went to Harvard. A fourth went to Yale and a fifth to Dartmouth.

If no one was surprised by Ms. McIntyres dedication to her career, almost everyone was surprised by her attitude toward marriage  most of all her mother, a former fashion writer for The New York Herald Tribune who now lives in Greenport, N.Y. (Ms. McIntyres father died in 2010.) She always expected me to be the first to get married and have a whole bunch of kids, Ms. McIntyre said. Because I was very social and I loved people and I was always dating somebody. It was kind of a blow to her that I didnt get married. There was a constant refrain of, When are you going to get married? Youre going to lose your chance to have children.

Her mothers disappointment weighed on her. But it was preferable, she thought, to caving to the pressure of committing to someone for life. Despite being single for so many years, Ms. McIntyre has rarely been lonely. Throughout law school, she lived with a boyfriend she met in college. And by the time she met Mr. Corrsin in September 1986, after the relationship with her law school boyfriend had ended, she was causing sparks to fly in multiple directions at the Boston law firm Palmer and Dodge, where both were new associates.
Reflection Riding will be closing all public programming until March 30.

Mark McKnight, president, said, "We are currently working with our education staff to provide online opportunities for any schools that may be interested in virtual classroom experiences.

"We are following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for keeping schools and workplaces safe, namely:

Encouraging all staff and visitors to practice good hygiene Postponing large gatherings Encouraging staff and visitors to stay home if they are feeling sick or have a sick family member in their home

"In the CDC guidelines for keeping schools safe, they recommend when possible, hold classes outdoors or in open, well-ventilated spaces. One thing we have in abundance out here is wide-open space.

While little is known about this novel virus, we believe in the power of the outdoors and we know that parents and all of our members will need a place to relieve stress and recreate as we all deal with this global threat.

"Please consider becoming a member online and visiting our 317-acre oasis in the city. Members are welcome on the property during daylight hours. Feel free to park in our gravel parking lot or the member parking lot just outside the gates. Print your receipt or place your member cards in the window of your car so we know youre a supporter.

"For now, our welcome center and bathrooms will be closed to the public as we turn our staff loose on deferred maintenance items and take the opportunity to engage in some early spring cleaning.

"We hope to be open and full of visitors again as soon as possible."
REUTERS

HONG KONGBombastic Chinese government officials are laying the groundwork to blame the United States for the global coronavirus pandemic, and in turn extricate the Chinese Communist Party from any blame. Trumpian rhetoric, it seems, has a clear mirror reflection on the other side of the globe. The American president calls the pandemic sweeping the globe a foreign virus? The Chinese are calling it an American one.

Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry and face of the CCP, insinuated by tweet in both English and Chinese on Thursday that the United States is behind the the novel coronavirus outbreak in China: CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in U.S.? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be U.S. army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! U.S. owe us an explanation!

The rant was inexplicably paired with a video clip from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfields testimony before Congress on Wednesday, subtitled in Chinese, about Americans who may have been misdiagnosed with the flu when they actually had COVID-19, the disease brought on by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Zhaos creeping escalation of rhetoric is the latest example of the Chinese Communist Partys attempt to shift blame after its officials bungled efforts to contain the virus at the onset of the outbreak. And who better than its key geopolitical foethe United Statesto be the scapegoat?

The claim by Zhao was first seeded in late February, when Zhong Nanshan, a seasoned epidemiologist and pulmonologist who identified the SARS virus in 2003, said that the coronavirus may not have originated in China even though the first known cases were in the city of Wuhan and the majority of confirmed infections were there and in the rest of Hubei province.

It didnt take long for state media and Chinese trolls to grab hold of Zhongs talking point, merging it with the crackpot theory that the coronavirus is a bioweapon. Soon they were asking which nation has sophisticated biowarfare capabilities and can release its viral weapons to wipe out an unsuspecting population. The obvious conclusion, for them, was the United States.

Story continues

Simultaneously, on Chinese social networks like Weibo, hashtags for the Japanese virus and the Iranian virus helped shape the narrative that SARS-CoV-2 could be of foreign origin, and China merely got a raw deal. Now, the Italian virus tag is doing the same.

Never mind that Chinese researchers, like Shi Zhengli, the Bat Woman virologist profiled by Scientific American, have conducted field research in Chinas rural areas to locate and identify dozens of lethal viruses that are similar to SARS and the coronavirus that is now infecting many around the world. They recognize that there are many more strains that could make the leap to humans, causing new viral outbreaks like the one China went through in the past three months.

Like Trump, Zhao has a history of posting combative outbursts on Twitter, which is banned in China except for some of the partys officials. He is one of the first Chinese diplomats to register and run an official account on Twitterand the first to weaponize his feed, rallying Chinas paid trolls through talking points spewed onto the social network. Last August, he was promoted from his post as deputy chief of mission in Pakistan to become deputy director of the Chinese foreign ministrys information department.

Thats all to say, in an age of post-truth misinformation and disinformation, Zhao is Beijings vociferous master of spin. Other Chinese officials often echo his talking points online. There is little doubt that the CCPs ranks coordinate the content of their Twitter feeds.

As new infection numbers taper off to mere dozens per day in China, the pandemic is politicized more than ever. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan this week in what was essentially a victory tour for the countrys war against the virus. To prevent the embarrassing situation from the previous week, where residents shouted Its all fake! from their balconies when a CCP official staged a photo op, two police officers were stationed in every apartment near locations where Xi was set to appear.

Right now, people in mainland China and Hong Kong are baffled by the current situations in Western Europe and the United States. There have been months of warnings from Asia, and thousands have died from COVID-19, yet all of that was insufficient for many nations in the West to prepare for the virus landfall.

If it were purely a financial crisis in Asiaan illness of capital, a venture investor said to me offhandedly this week, institutions [in Europe and America] like banks and hedge funds would have reacted with no delay. But public health, she suggested, wasnt as much of a concern even in an era of globalization, when, normally, many millions of people are moved across continents each day.

In the past three months, some of those who suffered in China thought their cases would be signals of a global threat. That their warning signs were mostly ignored may serve to feed Zhaos disinformation suggesting the U.S. is behind it all.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Coronavirus patients with severe cases often have difficulty breathing.

That's because their lungs fill up with fluid, which shows up on a CT scan in the form of white patches called "ground glass."

Patients with pneumonia also have these patches, but doctors look for a few more distinct features to diagnose the new coronavirus.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Most coronavirus cases are diagnosed through a laboratory test that samples saliva or mucus, but there's another way to tell whether a person has been infected.

The disease caused by the coronavirus, COVID-19, is a respiratory illness, so patients will often develop a dry cough or difficulty breathing.

Patients with severe cases typically develop fluid in their lungs, similar to those with standard pneumonia. That fluid can be detected on a CT scan, where it shows up in the form of white patches that doctors call "ground glass."

CT scans are considered less thorough than lab tests, but they offer a quicker way to diagnose patients  or help identify the virus in people who died before a test could be administered.

Here's what physicians look for to detect the virus on a scan.

Normal lungs should appear black on a CT scan.



Normal Lung CT Scan

Karan Bunjean/Shutterstock

It's common to have small masses of tissue, or lung nodules, that show up as tiny white dots.



But coronavirus scans tend to have white patches that radiologists refer to as "ground glass opacity."



ground glass coronavirus lung

Weifang Kong and Prachi P. Agarwal

"It kind of looks like faint glass that has been ground up," Paras Lakhani, a radiologist at Thomas Jefferson University, told Business Insider. "What it represents is fluid in the lung spaces."

On its own, Lakhani said, ground glass isn't particularly helpful for identifying a coronavirus.

"You can see it with all types of infections  bacterial, viral, or sometimes even non-infectious causes," Lakhani said. "Even vaping could sometimes appear this way."

Story continues

But the patches are significant, he added, when they extend to the edges of the patient's lungs.

"That's something we don't often see," Lakhani said. "We saw that with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and we saw that with Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)."

Both SARS and MERS are also coronaviruses. An outbreak of the former in China resulted in 8,000 cases and 774 deaths from November 2002 to July 2003.



An analysis of nearly 140 coronavirus scans said patches of ground glass on both lungs were a hallmark of the virus.



JAMA coronavirus scans

Dawei Wang, Bo Hu, Chang Hu, et al.

Researchers analyzed scans from patients at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, the majority of whom were older men with preexisting health problems. The images above are scans from a 52-year-old patient.

The first group of scans (group A) were taken on January 7, five days after the patient started displaying symptoms. They show patches of ground glass at the bottom of both lungs.

The man was put on life support from January 7 to 12. After that, his condition seemed to improve. The second set of scans (group B), taken January 21, show that many of the white patches either shrunk or disappeared.



Many patients tended to worsen quickly. Their ground-glass patches became more pronounced after a few days.



Coronavirus patient chest scan

Junqiang Lei, Junfeng Li, Xun Li, and Xiaolong Qi

A 33-year-old woman arrived at a hospital in Lanzhou, China with a fever and five-day-old cough. Her temperature was 102 degrees Fahrenheit, her breathing was "coarse," and she had a low white blood cell count  a sign of infection.

In an initial CT scan, researchers at the First Hospital of Lanzhou University found the recognizable white ground-glass patches in the lower corner of her lungs.

They gave her a protein used to treat viral infections, called interferon. But three days later  and further into her treatment  the patches were more pronounced. Lakhani said the same thing occurred in SARS patients.

"If you didn't know about this outbreak, you'd read the scan and you would just say, 'Okay, this patient has pneumonia,' because that's the most common thing we see," he said.

But Lakhani added that "pneumonia usually doesn't rapidly progress," so it could be ruled out in this case.



Scans from a 27-year-old woman who worked in Wuhan showed a "ground-glass halo"  white patches that surround a small nodule.



COVID 19 chest scan

Xiaohu Li, Xiaosong Zeng, Bin Liu, and Yongqiang Yu

Researchers at Anhui Medical University in Hefei, China examined the woman after she was admitted for a fever and cough. Her breathing was also coarse. The "ground-glass halo" they found can be a distinguishing feature of viral infections and pneumonia, the researchers said.

After four days in the hospital, the nodule on the patient's right lung had grown.



Some patients also exhibited a "crazy-paving pattern," which refers to little lines inside the ground-glass patches.



crazy paving pattern CT lung

Feng Pan et al.

A study of 21 patients across three Chinese provinces found four patients with a "crazy-paving pattern" in their scans.

"It almost looks like a cobblestone road," Lakhani said. "Sometimes when we see it, it's everywhere  the whole lung has it. But to see it in a few small areas is a little less common, a little more unusual."

The pattern has also appeared in some SARS and MERS scans, he said.

Another study of patients who recovered from the coronavirus suggested that crazy-paving could be common among patients with milder cases.



A Shanghai study also identified a mesh-like pattern called "reticulation," which is visible in this scan of a 75-year-old man.



CT scan coronavirus lungs

Fengxiang Song et al.

Researchers at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center analyzed this patient's scan three days after the man was admitted to the hospital. In addition to ground glass, it shows a web-like "reticulation" pattern  a sign of lung damage commonly associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

A recent study in The Lancet found that the coronavirus can lead to ARDS, which is often fatal.

According to the Shanghai researchers, 22% of the 50 patients they looked at displayed reticulation on their scans. Around 77% had ground-glass patches, while nearly 60% had consolidation  lung tissue that filled with liquid instead of air.



The Shanghai researchers ultimately determined that three components are needed to diagnose a coronavirus patient: fever and/or cough, ground-glass patches in both lungs, and a history of exposure to the virus.



Wuhan coronavirus

THE CENTRAL HOSPITAL OF WUHAN VIA WEIBO /via REUTERS

But the coronavirus doesn't always show up in scans right away.

"We can't rely on CT alone to fully exclude presence of the virus," Michael Chung, the lead author of the Lanzhou study, said on February 3.

Lakhani said CT scans are "one of four or five things" needed to make a diagnosis, along with symptoms, clinical history, the progression of the disease, and the laboratory test.

Read more about the coronavirus:

Many coronavirus patients are passing the virus before showing symptoms, a new study found  yet another reason for social distancing

The US decided to make its own coronavirus test, but the process was plagued by errors and delays. Here's a timeline of what went wrong.

Coronavirus patients over age 80 have a death rate of 15%. Here's the death rate for every age bracket.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Romania's Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said Friday he would self-quarantine after attending the same meeting as a senator from his party who tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"I will put myself in isolation (...) while continuing to exercise my duties," Orban told journalists.

Orban, 56, and his ministers will all be tested for Covid-19 Friday, possibly leading to a decision to put the whole government in quarantine, government spokesperson Ionel Danca told AFP.

Apart from the premier, most cabinet members and all senators on Monday attended the meeting with the senator who was later found to be infected.

The quarantine comes amid a political crisis in Romania, with President Klaus Iohannis set to name Friday evening a new premier-designate after consultations with political parties.

Orban's cabinet was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament last month.

Romania, which has reported 70 cases of coronavirus infection, has ordered the closure of schools, universities and cultural establishments as well as quarantine for passengers arriving from a number of countries, including Italy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Technavio has been monitoring the smart mattress market and it is poised to grow by USD 109.31 mn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 11% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Request a free sample report

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005286/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Smart Mattress Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. ReST, Simmons Bedding Company, Sleep Number Corp., Tempur Sealy International Inc. and Variowell Development GmbH are some of the major market participants. The increasing penetration of smartphones will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Increasing penetration of smartphones has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Smart Mattress Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Smart Mattress Market is segmented as below:

Distribution channels

Offline

Online

Geographic Segmentation

APAC

Europe

MEA

North America

South America

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Smart Mattress Market 2020-2024: Scope

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Smart Mattress Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

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Smart Mattress Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist smart mattress market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the smart mattress market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behaviour

The growth of the smart mattress market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of smart mattress market vendors

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

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2019

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 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

Market segmentation by distribution channel

Comparison by distribution channel

Offline Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Online Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by distribution channel

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

Introduction of smart mattresses that are compatible with smart speakers

Increasing investments in R&D

Promotion of smart mattresses through branding and advertising

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Amanda Sleep

Eight Sleep Inc.

iOBED Inc.

Kingsdown Inc.

Naturaliterie

ReST

Simmons Bedding Company

Sleep Number Corp.

Tempur Sealy International Inc.

Variowell Development GmbH

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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Four Canadian companies were recognized for helping immigrants find work and settle into their communities

Canadian employers awarded for exemplary work with newcomers Four Canadian companies were recognized for helping immigrants find work and settle into their communities

Canadian employers awarded for exemplary work with newcomers Four Canadian companies were recognized for helping immigrants find work and settle into their communities

Canadian employers awarded for exemplary work with newcomers Four Canadian companies were recognized for helping immigrants find work and settle into their communities Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Canadas immigration department announced the winners of the 2020 IRCC Employer Awards for Newcomer Employment on March 11.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) recognizes Canadian businesses who have made significant efforts to help newcomers integrate into the labour market. The awards have been handed out annually since 2015.

Canadas immigration minister, Marco Mendicino, announced the four winners for 2020:

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

Glen Haven Manor New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

One of the largest long-term care facilities in Nova Scotia, Glen Haven Manor, was the first to be a part of the Economic Mobility Pathways Project (EMPP), which was designed to help refugees find employment in Canada.

Recently, Glen Haven recruited 15 continuing care assistants from Kenya and Jordan through EMPP. The facility is also working with community partners to formalize a recruitment, training and retention program for newcomer continuing care assistants that can be used by other care organizations.

KPMG in Canada Toronto, Ontario

KPMG offers audit, tax and advisory services in 40 locations across the country. The organization has put effort in developing the intercultural competence of its leaders and recruiters.

They recruit international talent, and have hired more than 250 international employees from around the globe. Their global mobility team supports newcomers who come to Canada to join KPMG.

KPMG has provided 306 mentors from their staff and mentored more than 580 newcomers through the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Councils mentoring program.

MUFG Fund Services Ltd. Halifax, Nova Scotia

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Groups Halifax location supports newcomers by offering extensive information, coordinating temporary housing, and providing basic needs to ensure new employees have a positive experience when first arriving in Canada. Immigrants are then put in contact with local IRCC-funded settlement services.

The company ensures that culturally significant dates are recognized and celebrated.

MFUG is a designated employer under the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, and is also an approved training facility for chartered professional accountants. They help candidates qualify to be designated, chartered financial analysts. They also provide support to newcomers in either transferring their designations to Canadian recognized charters, or starting the designation process from scratch.

In addition, MFUG offers mentoring, support groups, and networking opportunities for newcomers.

They have hired 27 staff who were new to the province and 19 new international graduates since January 2019. The retention rate among these 46 new employees is 91 per cent.

White Hat Drycleaners and Commercial Laundry Campbell River, B.C.

White Hat Drycleaners is owned by Ai Guo Zhang, who is a Canadian immigrant himself.

Seven out of his 10 staff are also newcomers. He has hired several vulnerable people referred by a local settlement service provider, offering them their first experience working in Canada and on-the-job training.

In addition to creating jobs for immigrants, Zhang supports new families in pursuit of their settlement goals.

Immigrants sometimes have difficulty integrating into the labour market. In issuing these awards IRCC recognizes businesses that go the extra mile to create environments where immigrants can thrive.

I am so pleased with the outstanding efforts these organizations have made to ensure that their newcomer employees feel welcome and have the support they need to realize their full potential in Canada, Mendicino said in a media release.

Settlement and integration is a two-way street, and these employers recognize that they have a role to play in helping newcomers maximize their potential and contribute to Canadas economy and society in a meaningful way.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

 2020 CIC News All Rights Reserved
Peter Wickham, renowned pollster and political commentator, said he will not allow a threat to prevent him from doing his work. (Photo Credit: Starcom Network)

Police in Barbados are investigating a threat on the life of pollster and talk show host Peter Wickham.





The threat, according to Barbados Today, was made on Tuesday on live national radio, on Voice of Barbados call-in programme Down to Brass Tacks, hosted by Wickham.





A caller, apparently irate because of comments made by Wickham on the post-election fallout in Guyana, is reported to have said, "I warned you before sir to stay out of the affairs of my country and you still meddle into it.





Wickham asked: "You are Guyanese?





The caller did not reply but said: "Now I know that you are travelling soon from now, make your peace with the Lord before you leave. The call ended.





Wickham, the well-known Director of the Caribbean Development Research Services, which conducts public opinion polling across the Caribbean, had expressed concern about the election process in Guyana.





As it stands, after more than a week since the March 2 election, a winner is yet to be declared, not least because the Opposition Peoples Progressive Party/Civic filed an injunction asking the court to bar the declaration of a winner while the court reviews the case with respect to counting of votes in one Region.





Wickham suggested that the data published so far favours the Opposition PPP/Civic, and the party was likely to be declared the winner.





He described the call as a threat and confirmed to Barbados Today that he had lodged a report with the police who, he said, have begun an investigation into the matter.





A defiant Wickham said: "I should also add that I remain committed to my work in the region and promise to continue offering professional opinions whenever the opportunity arises (as long as I am in this business).
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called a cabinet meeting for Saturday in which the government will declare a "state of alarm", among other emergency measures.

The move comes after cases in the country reached more than 4,200 on Friday lunchtime.

The "estado de alarma" regime gives the government the power to restrict movement of citizens for up to two weeks.

Pedro Sanchez said on Friday that the measure was designed to protect the population.

"The victory [against the virus] depends on each one of us," said Sanchez. "United, we'll stop this virus."
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Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 07:11 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a34ad5 1 Editorial BPJS-Kesehatan,#Editorial,BPJS-Kesehatan-losses,budget-deficit,Supreme-Court,health-insurance,COVID-19 Free

The Supreme Courts decision to annul premium hikes for the national health insurance (JKN) program will bear overarching consequences, particularly with regard to the sustainability of the program, dubbed the worlds largest universal healthcare scheme. To prove its pro-people commitment, however, the government has no other choice but to respect the ruling and seek every path possible to keep the program running.

That will be a tall order. With little room for the economy to grow, theres the new coronavirus outbreak, which the World Health Organization has just declared a pandemic, following clear signs of the global spread of the virus in the past weeks.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has estimated that the budget deficit will potentially increase to between 2 and 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, from the target of 1.76 percent set for the 2020 fiscal year, on account of the epidemic. With such a scenario, which could worsen, more funds need to be allocated to plug the deficit that has been plaguing the health insurance program since its inception in 2014.

The deficit ballooned to Rp 28 trillion (US$1.9 billion) in 2019, excluding the claims the government owes to about 5,000 health facilities, including hospitals. The president director of the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan), Fachmi Idris, once said the deficit would reach Rp 39.5 trillion in 2020 and hit a staggering Rp 50.1 trillion in 2021 if the premiums did not increase.

When the government decided to raise the premiums late last year, it expected Rp 17.3 trillion in surplus in 2020 and Rp 12 trillion in 2021, allowing BPJS Kesehatan, the national health insurance provider, to breathe easier and further improve its services.

About 96.8 million poor people are now entitled to free access to health care and more are to come if the economic doldrum pushes those in the lower-middle income group into poverty. Therefore, the government needs to act quickly to ensure every citizens right to health care remains intact.

A cigarette excise is a difficult choice but in this time of crisis, the option should be taken into consideration. The rise in cigarette tax, effective last January, would give the government Rp 5 trillion to Rp 6 trillion to lower the BPJS deficit.

Internally, the government has to tighten its control over expenditures reported by hospitals participating in the healthcare program. There have been reports of inflated claims and other misappropriations of state funds, which could otherwise minimize the deficit.

But more importantly, prevention is always better than a cure. The government needs to redouble efforts to promote healthy lifestyles, which should be a top priority. Policies to support healthy lifestyles, such as a sugar tax, are imperative not only to significantly reduce hospital claims but to also improve the quality of the nations human resources.

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak, however painful, is a blessing in disguise in this regard. To protect themselves from the virus, people must maintain their health and hygiene.

At the end of the day, health insurance, while important, remains a tool we need in a state of emergency.
Humans are very good at a lot of things. But our greatest, most terrible skill may be making other species go extinct. Our planet has already begun its sixth mass extinction cycle, according to many scientists, with species across the globe dying off at an alarming rate. In the last century, animals have gone extinct 100 times faster than the normal "background" rate. That means the global rate of extinction, which should have taken 800 to 10,000 years, occurred in just 100.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) keeps track of how endangered a species is with its authoritative Red List of Threatened Species. The global organization cites factors like residential and commercial development, climate change, and energy production as the reasons species become endangered, and tracks species populations from year to year. There are currently over 30,000 species around the world threatened by extinction, according to IUCN's findings, representing almost 30% of all assessed species. Specifically, those numbers represent about 41% of all amphibians, 34% of conifers, 33% of reef corals, 30% of sharks and rays, 27% of crustaceans, 25% of mammals, and 14% of birds.
Most of the worst-affected European nations are now about 10 days away from catching up to Italy's current position, but some have been gifted as many as three to four weeks to prepare for the deluge. Leaders are now grappling with how to use that time. School and university closures have been popular, so too bans on mass gatherings. Some countries - such as the Czech Republic - have banned flights from certain parts of Europe, and Austria isn't letting people from Italy over the border without a doctor's certificate. In Belgium, all restaurants, bars and gyms have been ordered to close. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Thursday banned all indoor gatherings of 100 or more people. Even St Patrick's Day parades have been axed. "Its going to involve big changes in the way we live our lives," Varadkar said. "And I know Im asking people to make enormous sacrifices. But were doing it for each other."

One country isn't following the crowd, however. As the rest of Europe gradually switches off its economy and large parts of society, the British government has resisted enacting any so-called social distancing measures. If anything, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned them as counter-productive. Johnson calls the virus the "worst public health crisis for a generation" and admits it will spread to all corners of Britain. But armed with reams of modelling and relying heavily on the advice of his chief medical and science officers, he is holding his nerve on when to clamp down. The plan is to essentially wait until the crisis worsens before implementing social distancing. Officials believe the peak of the emergency is still up to 14 weeks away and say behavioural science modelling shows the public will get sick of draconian measures if they are implemented too early. "If you start too early and then people's enthusiasm [to comply with the measures] runs out just at the peak, which is exactly the time we want people to be complying with these interventions, that is actually not a productive way to do it," says England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty.

For now, the British government is urging all people with flu-like symptoms to stay at home for seven days and if possible, away from family members. Most will not be offered testing for coronavirus. Britain's chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance says asking people with mild symptoms to self-isolate could reduce the peak of the pandemic by 20 to 25 per cent, and asking whole households to self-isolate could achieve a further reduction of 25 per cent. On top of that, eventually limiting the general population's access to the elderly and people with pre-existing medical conditions could lower the eventual death rate by 20 to 30 per cent. "Those are the three most important measures to take," Vallance told reporters in Downing Street. "It doesn't mean other things don't have additional effects as well, but those are the ones which have the biggest effect and therefore they need to come in first." Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces Britain will move from a 'containment' phase to a 'delay' phase. Credit:Bloomberg He also says closing schools would have minimal impact and classes would have to be suspended for up to four months to make any material difference to the rate of spread.

In a line graph form, Italy's outbreak will ultimately resemble an upside down capital 'U'. This curve means the pandemic may pass more quickly but the impact on the health system of such a massive short-term caseload is severe. The British government says its strategy will flatten that curve and spread out the infections over a longer period - Johnson calls it "squashing the sombrero". The social distancing measures put in place by other countries should achieve the same effect but Britain's plan is using different techniques to achieve it. Loading Not everyone is convinced. Former British health secretary Jeremy Hunt - Johnson's opponent in last year's Conservative leadership contest - says he is "concerned" only four weeks remain before Britain finds itself in the same situation as Italy and "what we do every single day of those four weeks is absolutely critical". "The point of taking drastic measures is to slow the onslaught on the National Health Service. If 5 per cent of the population gets the virus and 5 per cent of those people need an intensive care bed, that's over 150,000 people who will need intensive care and we only have 4000 beds."
WHO IS COVERED BY THE NEW TRAVEL BAN?

Most foreign citizens who have been in continental Europe in the 14 days before their scheduled U.S. arrival would be barred. The United Kingdom is not part of the 26-country Schengen Area and will be exempted from the ban, along with Ireland, Romania, Croatia, Ukraine and several other European states.

Neither Trump nor the Homeland Security Department explained the reason for leaving out the U.K. A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations said the U.S. sees the biggest threat coming from the European continent, not the U.K. - although the U.K. has at least 459 confirmed coronavirus cases and eight deaths.

The ban doesn't apply to American citizens returning from abroad, at least for now. It also doesn't cover foreigners who are lawful permanent residents of the U.S., or the spouses or children of American citizens and foreign children being adopted by Americans. The official said there are no plans to expand the order to include American citizens or lawful permanent residents who have been to Schengen countries, which have no passport controls within its borders.

Trump's executive order also carves out exemptions for airline crews, people on United Nations business, foreigners invited by the U.S. government to help contain the virus, and anyone whose entry is deemed to be 'in the national interest.'

WHERE CAN AMERICANS RE-ENTER THE COUNTRY?

Like previous bans applying to people who have been in China or Iran, they will be funneled to one of 11 airports: Atlanta; Dallas-Fort Worth; Detroit; Newark, New Jersey; Honolulu; Kennedy Airport in New York; Los Angeles International; Chicago O'Hare; Seattle; San Francisco; and Dulles International outside Washington, D.C.

WILL THE BAN PROTECT AMERICANS?

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the the National Institutes of Health's top official on infectious diseases, said Thursday that 70% of new infections can be traced to Europe. 'It was pretty compelling that we needed to turn off the source from that region,' he told a congressional panel.

Other medical experts are skeptical, noting that the virus is now being passed through so-called community transmission - among people who haven't traveled overseas or been in contact with someone who has.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, who led a World Health Organization team in China as the COVID-19 disease was surging last month, said countries might gain in the short term by limiting travel but overall 'it doesn't help to restrict movement.'

HOW DOES THE OUTBREAK COMPARE TO PAST CRISES FOR THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY?

The combination of the drop in demand, widespread and growing restrictions on travel, and uncertainty over how long it will last is unprecedented, even by the U.S. travel industry's decline after the 2001 terror attacks and the brief but sharp downturn in global travel during the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2002.

Security measures after 9/11 made the few passengers who kept flying feel safe, and they sensed things would get better, said Seth Kaplan, a transportation analyst and longtime industry observer.

'This is new territory. You have a 9/11-like drop in demand, but you can't tell people that you're absolutely safe to fly - you're not absolutely safe around any group of people,' Kaplan said.

WHICH FLIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE BAN?

American Airlines said late Thursday it will suspend flights to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich on Friday. It will fly to Paris, Madrid and Barcelona for up to seven more days before stopping those routes. It will reduce flights to London. American hopes to resume the flights starting in early May.

Delta said Thursday that it will suspend seven routes between the U.S. and Europe after Friday. United Airlines said it will fly its normal schedule to Europe through March 19, then cut back from an average of 63 flights a day to about 34 a day while monitoring demand. Delta, United and American all said they were capping fares on flights from Europe to the U.S. They are also waiving fees for changing or canceling tickets through April 30.

Germany's Lufthansa Group said it will keep flying to Chicago and the New York and Washington, D.C., areas from Frankfurt, Zurich, Vienna and Brussels to maintain 'at least some air traffic connections to the USA.' But it will stop U.S.-bound flights from Munich, Geneva and Duesseldorf. The group's subsidiaries include Lufthansa and Austrian, Swiss and Brussels airlines.

Norwegian Air said it would cancel most of its flights to the U.S. but operate flights from London normally. The budget carrier announced other schedule reductions too, and said it would furlough up to half its employees.

WILL AIRLINES ASK FOR GOVERNMENT HELP?

Airline officials say they haven't asked for assistance - yet. After a decade of heady profits, U.S. airlines are much stronger financially than they were after the 2001 terror attacks, when they got government help.

The longer the virus disrupts travel, however, the more likely a bailout becomes. Airlines are lining up more credit from banks to preserve liquidity. They are slashing capital spending. They could cancel or defer aircraft orders, although none have announced such moves.

The trigger on a request for aid could be the kind of massive airline layoffs that followed 9/11. Most airlines have already frozen hiring and asked workers to take unpaid leave.

'These airlines are not yet on the precipice of going out of business, but if they feel they can't responsibly avoid furloughs to save the company, at that point they could go to the government,' Kaplan said.
ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2020 / Findit, Inc. a Nevada Corporation (OTC PINK:FDIT) which owns and operates the website UrbanCBDCollective has been approved for credit card payments on the website. With a full line of Topical CBD Lotions and Oils, the approval for merchant processing will enable customers to purchase any of the topical lotions or oils available on Urban CBD Collective.

Findit owns the brands Urban CBD Collective and Urban Lifestyle Collective, and both lines have their products available for purchase on Urban CBD Collective. The lines currently consist of over 30 SKUs of topicals that come in 5 different fragrances.

The lines consist of topical oils and lotions in a variety of sizes and five fragrances. Sizes range from 30ml to 120ml tinctures, 2oz to 4oz salves and 4oz to 8oz lotions. Most CBD consumers will be able to purchase a topical that can meet their wants and needs. We also provide a variety of milligrams of CBD Isolate in the various sizes of the products. Currently, products contain between 100mg to 1000mg depending on the product(s) you select.

Clark St. Amant of Findit stated, "With the approval of our online checkout on Urban CBD Collective, we will now devote more resources to our online marketing efforts to drive retail buyers to Urban CBD Collective in an effort to increase sales and earnings from our CBD Topical line."

The price points offered on Urban CBD Collective provide our customers with extremely competitive price points for topical oils and lotions. Urban CBD Collective provides current COAs from Steep Hill in Arkansas, a third party lab under the transparency tab.

Tinctures are available in three sizes of 30ml, 60ml, and 120ml and three different amounts of 250mg, 500mg, and 1000mg of CBD Isolate of the highest quality. Our price points have made it possible for consumers who need CBD topical products on an ongoing basis to find and purchase what they need when previously the high cost associated with high quality CBD topical products may have prevented them from doing so.

Story continues

Findit is focusing on the B2C market for its CBD Topical line along with making the products available to retail outlets at wholesale prices in 2020. In 2019, our line Urban CBD Collective was available at TJ Maxx and Marshalls retail stores. Findit has been receiving orders from consumers that previously purchased the products from TJ Maxx and Marshalls.

Become a Seller

Retail store owners and e-commerce websites that are looking to carry CBD topical products can add Urban CBD Collective or Urban Lifestyle Collective to their line of products. We currently have 35 SKUs to choose from at prices that are competitive and consumer friendly. Our CBD products are formulated, bottled and labeled in an FDA approved facility in the United States that has been in operation since 1992. Findit recently added ApolloHempire.com as a seller of our full line of topical oils and lotions.

Become a Sales Representative

Urban CBD Collective is looking for sales reps throughout the United States that would like to carry our line of topical CBD products. Please contact us today for more information on this opportunity.

About Findit, Inc.

Findit, Inc., owns Findit.com which is a Social Media Content Management Platform that provides an interactive search engine for all content posted in Findit to appear in Findit search. The site is an open platform that provides access to Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines access to its content posted to Findit so it can be indexed in these search engines as well. Findit provides Members the ability to post, share and manage their content. Once they have posted in Findit, we ensure the content gets indexed in Findit Search results. Findit provides an option for anyone to submit URLs that they want indexed in Findit search result, along with posting status updates through Findit Right Now. Status Updates posted in Findit can be crawled by outside search engines which can result in additional organic indexing. All posts on Findit can be shared to other social and bookmarking sites by members and non-members. Findit provides Real Estate Agents the ability to create their own Findit Site where they can pull in their listing and others through their IDX account.. Findit, Inc., is focused on the development of monetized Internet-based web products that can provide an increased brand awareness of our members. Findit, Inc., trades under the stock symbol FDIT on the OTCPinksheets.

Safe Harbor:

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), including statements regarding potential sales, the success of the company's business, as well as statements that include the word believe or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Findit, Inc. to differ materially from those implied or expressed by such forward-looking statements. This press release speaks as of the date first set forth above, and Findit, Inc. assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to factors such as the lack of capital, timely development of products, inability to deliver products when ordered, inability of potential customers to pay for ordered products, and political and economic risks inherent in international trade.

CONTACT:

Clark St. Amant

404-443-3224

SOURCE: Findit, Inc.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/580459/Findit-Inc-Receives-Approval-to-Accept-Credit-Card-Payments-on-Urban-CBD-Collective-Website




All educational institutions in Odisha have been ordered closed on Friday till March 31 over the coronavirus threat, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Friday, and earmarked Rs 200 crore to combat the disease.

He said cinema halls, public swimming pools and gyms will also be shut till the end of March.

The chief minister said the government has declared COVID-19 a 'disaster' though nobody has so far tested positive for the virus in the state.

"An amount of Rs 200 crore has been earmarked to augment the Public Health Response Fund to combat the threat of the pandemic and for making the required expenditure," Patnaik said in a statement in the state Assembly.

All educational institutions will remain closed in till March 31, though examinations will be held according to the schedule, Patnaik said, stressing that "social distancing" is the only effective way to prevent the spread of the disease.

"All of us should ruthlessly practice social distancing," he said.

Patnaik said the state Cabinet met on Friday morning and declared COVID-19 a 'disaster' under the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, to adequately empower public officials to check the spread of the disease.

A total of 17 blood and swab samples collected from those admitted to hospitals on suspicion of coronavirus infection so far have tested negative, health officials said.

Patnaik referred to the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic to emphasise the seriousness of the situation.

"We must remain calm but not complacent...We must remain prepared, but not panic," the chief minister said.

He said non-essential official gatherings such as seminars, workshops, and conferences will be cancelled.

Social gatherings and assemblies like religious congregations, wedding receptions and parties will be regulated by local authorities, he said.

He said the health and family welfare department and its directorates, the collectors and the municipal commissioners have been authorised to make emergency purchase of necessary medicines, consumables and equipment.

Being confined to home, restricted social interaction and avoiding public gatherings will decrease the vulnerability to the disease to a great extent, Patnaik said.

He said officers of the state government have been authorised to impose restrictions on public gatherings by invoking powers under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

An empowered group of ministers has been constituted and a committee of secretaries headed by the chief secretary will be set up to evaluate the emerging situation and take necessary steps for preventing and containing the spread of the disease, Patnaik said.

The COVID-19 Odisha Regulations, 2020, have been approved, he said.

"We are faced with a threat that does not discriminate between developed and under developed countries, democratic and non-democratic countries. Rich and poor societies are equally vulnerable," Patnaik said.

The virus has not spared anyone. The UK's health minister, senators in the US, big movie stars and sportspersons have been stricken, he said, adding that this extraordinary circumstance calls for extraordinary response.

He said no individual or government alone can handle the situation.

"The experience of China, Singapore and Italy has given us a learning on what to do and what not to do. I must confess the entire world is on a learning curve about handling this disaster," the chief minister said.

He said the state will promote sanitisation on a mission mode.

"My personal appeal to you is that this is an opportunity for Odias to stop spitting in public. I urge the members of this august House to take personal care of themselves and also provide inspiring leadership in your constituencies," Patnaik said.

He also warned of strict action against those spreading rumours and misinformation about the disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The companies say they market only to governments to fight terrorism and crime and follow strict protocols to ensure the correct use of their products. But critics argue that commercial spyware has been a boon for authoritarian rulers, who use it to spy on citizens, journalists, political rivals and nonviolent dissidents. No longer must the authorities deploy secret police to shadow opposition figures or plant bugs in their phones. Now they dispatch links via text message that can put them inside peoples devices, allowing them to see contacts, read chats and eavesdrop on calls in real time.

The proliferation of hacking technologies has led to a spike in reports of their use across the globe, from Mexico to Ethiopia to Tibet, and they have proved to be especially popular in the Middle East. Bill Marczak, a senior research fellow at Citizen Lab at the University of Torontos Munk School of Global Affairs who tracks commercial spyware, said evidence has emerged of such products being used by Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and other countries  most of them not known for their tolerance of critical views. The lack of outside regulation and the huge sums the companies charge leave the door open for abuse by oppressive states, he said.

Mr. al-Qahtanis trajectory provides an object lesson in the rise of hacking technologies in an authoritarian state that is also a United States ally. Mr. al-Qahtani earned a law degree and a masters degree in criminal justice before joining the royal court as a media monitor in 2008 under King Abdullah.

The next year, he appeared on Hack Forums, an online space for aspiring hackers and cybercriminals  and he was almost immediately hacked. He bought malware from another user and soon realized it had infected his computer. He was shocked that a hacker had hacked him.

i think he is a very good man and look trusted!!! he wrote.

He was tricked at least three more times by the hackers whose services he sought, and three times acknowledged posting while drunk, according to a report on his online footprint by the research group Bellingcat.

im on party and drunk and now im really happy, he wrote. will go to drink tackila and dance lol.

Over his six years on the forum, he made hundreds of posts and donated more than $10,000 to the site, while often inquiring about surveillance technologies, offering high sums for simple services and requesting help with specific targets.
- Three African countries have confirmed first cases of coronavirus on Friday, March 13

- Guinea, Sudan and Ethiopia all confirmed first cases as the deadly virus spread across countries and continents

- The index case confirmed in Sudan, however, died on Thursday, March 12, while the country stepped up measures to avoid an outbreak

Despite all efforts to contain coronavirus, the deadly disease is still spreading across countries and continents like a raging wildfire.

Three first cases of coronavirus have been reported in three African countries, namely Guinea, Sudan and Ethiopia on Friday, March 13.

According to Reuters, the index case in the West African country of Guinea is an employee of the European Union delegation.

Lagos health commissioner, Akin Abayomi, inspecting the facilities put in place to contain coronavirus spread in Nigeria

Source: Facebook

Legit.ng gathers that the spokesman of the delegation, Halimou Sow, confirmed the development on Friday, adding that the patient had self-isolated after she felt ill upon returning from Europe.

The government of Guinea has not released any official statement on the index case.

The US News also reports that Sudan confirmed its index case on Friday which is an unnamed man who had returned from the United Arab Emirates.

The man reportedly died on Thursday, March 12, according to a statement by the country's Ministry of Health.

In its bid to avoid the virus outbreak, the Sudanese government has reportedly stopped issuing visa flight services to eight countries including Italy and Egypt.

It also suspended bus trip to Egypt.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Ethiopia also recorded its first case of the deadly virus.

The East African country's public health institute said it confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus on Friday.

Takele Uma Banti who is the mayor of the capital Addis Ababa disclosed on Twitter that the country's index case is a Japanese citizen.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, the second coronavirus case in Nigeria, a Nigerian who had contact with the Italian index case, has now tested negative and will soon be released, Nigeria's health minister Dr Osagie Ehanire has said.

The minister made the disclosure on Friday, March 13, in Abuja.

The contact of the index case is testing negative for the virus now, meaning he has cleared the virus and will be allowed to go home, Ehanire said.

The minister added that the Italian's health is also improving, adding that the index case will be under close monitoring till early next week when he is also expected to be released.

In another report, amid the coronavirus fear, a 64-year-old Nigerian, Okunuga Olumide Saraju, was found dead in his home in Modena, Italy, where he lived alone.

Legit.ng gathered that Okunuga, a native of Ikenne in Ogun state and the president of Egbe Omo Yoruba in Emilia Romagna region, was found dead at about 11 am on Tuesday, March 10, at his home.

There were suspicions that he may have died of coronavirus infection, a disease that has ravaged Italy in the past few weeks.

Saraju who was well-known in the circles of associations and voluntary workers had lived in Modena for 30 years.

A friend had raised the alarm, saying that upon entry, there were no signs of violence or break-ins in the house, nor traces of blood.

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
As the Sussexes bow down from their royal status, ending their last engagement as senior royals in the annual Commonwealth Service last March 9, the next question is was there a closure between the "Fab Four?

Meghan and Prince Harry's farewell was described as "bittersweet" and emotional.

The couple, especially Meghan tear up as they bid goodbye to their loyal London-based staff as they prepare to close down their office at Buckingham Palace and relocate to Vancouver, Canada.

Per Bazaar.com's royal editor at large, Omid Scobie, he revealed that the Sussexes resignation from the royal family was "unnecessarily cruel."

"Things might have been different if a family member or two had stood up for them during the darkest times," the expert added.

A source also told People Magazine: "It's been really sad for them because they tried."

Although the final round of official engagements has already ended, the couple will officially transition as non-royals effective March 31.

Meghan and Harry, Not in a Rush to Fix their Relationship with William and Kate

The Sussexes and Cambridges had an awkward reunion during the Commonwealth Service in Westminster Abbey.

This was their first reunion since the bombshell news broke out.

Speculations about the royal rift intensified as the tension between them was super visible. There were a little to no interactions between the couples.

The royals remained cordial to each other; however, the public should not expect that Harry, Meghan, William, and Kate will be on great terms anytime soon.

According to Us Weekly, the Sussexes are in no rush to fix their wrecked relationship with the Cambridges.

"Harry misses his brother and Kate, but there's too much mud under the bridge at this point for any meaningful communication," the source added, "They're cordial, but that's about as far as it goes."

Although Harry was emotional with his reunion with his brother William, the Duchess of Sussex seems to be unfazed since she has been estranged from the royal family even before.

The Duchess of Sussex, Excited to See Baby Archie in Canada

Now that they are transitioning their life as a non-royal, their main focus is their 10-month-old son, Archie Harrison who was left in Canada with Sussex nanny and Meghan's best friend, Jessica Mulroney.

"These early days with Archie are so precious. They're really happy to be raising him outside of the public eye, for now at least," the insider told the news outlet.

The former "Suits" star has already left the soils of the UK to be with Archie in North America.

Royal expert Scobie mentioned in a separate report: "She's flying back to Canada on the last commercial flight of the day, eager to be back in Vancouver Island by the morning before Archie wakes up."

Prince Harry is still in London after he pledged his commitment to his military duties.

The Duke of Sussex was seen at Buckingham Palace to attend meetings for his work in the UK.

READ MORE: Meghan Markle Bothered By Kate Middleton on the Last Farewell, Happy To Never See Her Again
(Natural News) Disaster can strike anywhere  now might be a good time to consider bugging out, and looking for good bug-out locations, especially if youre living in the Eastern United States. Geographically speaking, its a prime location to set up your own homestead. Here are four areas in the Eastern United States to consider as retreat options in case SHTF. (h/t to SurvivalBlog.com)

Maine

The interior of Maine is made up of large tracts of sparsely populated forests, both publicly and privately owned. This makes it a key asset if you set up your homestead somewhere deep in Maines interior, as it provides you with enough depth to steer clear of any conflict brewing in densely populated locations. If you need to stock up on food, Maines coast is easily accessible and filled with industries that catch a lot of fish, shellfish and crustaceans. Maine also has favorable gun laws that will make stocking up on firearms and ammunition less difficult. (Related: Ammo stockpiling now underway as coronavirus spreads across America and uncertainty grows about how to stop it.)

New Hampshire, Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains

New Hampshire and Vermont are great states to set up shop in. Theyre both also sparsely populated and their gun laws are good enough for your firearm needs. The Adirondacks in northeastern New York State, while it doesnt have the best gun laws in the country, is still a great place to go to when the going gets rough. It wont be difficult to set up a farm anywhere in these three areas. If youre in Vermont, you may also be able to set up an organic cattle operation due to the states massive dairy farming industry.

Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania

Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania are also very sparsely populated areas in the Northeastern United States. There is a large forested area in northern Pennsylvania that can be a strategic refuge if youre looking to stay away from much of civilization. The geography of the area makes farming a viable option for self-sufficient living. The area surrounding the Finger Lakes in New York, for example, has an excellent micro-climate for growing grapes and making wine  which you can use to barter with different communities for food and other supplies. This area is also filled with apple orchards and dairy farms.

The Allegheny Mountains

The Alleghenies are an ancient and heavily eroded mountain range, part of the Appalachian Mountain Range, that extends in the north from north-central Pennsylvania and cuts southwest through western Maryland, eastern West Virginia, and ends in southwestern Virginia. While they arent as high in elevation, they are still a formidable barrier for foot travelers, having held up the westward progress of the early American settlers for decades. The soil is also very fertile in this region. This makes the Allegheny Mountains both defensible and a great place to set up a self-sustainable homestead.

There is a viable strategic reason for wanting to set up a bug-out shelter in rural parts of the country. The high population density in the many megalopolis in the Northeastern United States makes those areas highly vulnerable to the spread of diseases, and it also makes them prime targets for terrorists and foreign invaders. Bugging out to a rural part of the Eastern United States makes you more likely to survive even the worst SHTF scenarios.

Sources include:

SurvivalBlog.com

MoreThanJustSurviving.com
Rome is set to reopen some of its Catholic churches after an order for their closure to slow Italy's outbreak of coronavirus was disputed by Pope Francis, who called the move 'drastic'.

Cardinal Angelo De Donatis has today issued a new decree, stating that some of Rome's churches will stay open, despite his initial order to close all of the religious sites just a day ago.

The rethink comes after Pope Francis remarked that 'Drastic measures are not always good' and the cardinal's decision was criticised by Catholics on social media.

Many accused the cardinal of caving in to the government after he announced the closures in his initial decree on Thursday night.

An Italian Carabinieri police officer walks past the San Luigi dei Francesi church in Rome

Andrea Fauro said on social media the move had put 'Christ in quarantine'.

Catholic bishops around the world were deciding how to deal with the pandemic in their own dioceses and what guidance they should give to the 1.3 billion-member Church in places from Little Rock to Lyon.

In improvised remarks at the start of his morning Mass today, Pope Francis said: 'Drastic measures are not always good'.

The service streamed on the internet and televised live without outside participants in order to limit gatherings of people.

Francis prayed that God give pastors 'the strength and even the capacity to choose the best means to help' those suffering from the pandemic 'so that they can provide measures that do not leave the holy faithful people of God alone'.

St Peter's Square in the Vatican is empty yesterday after the piazza and basilica overlooking it were shut down to visitors over coronavirus fears

Hours after the pope spoke, De Donatis modified the decree. Whereas most of Rome's more than 750 churches were to have been closed until April 3, the new decree says all parish churches and those run by religious communities will remain open.

Those that will close number fewer than 300 and do not have a parish community or are visited mostly by tourists.

Previously, only Masses had been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak. Individual bishops can decide whether to keep their churches open, and many are open in parts of Italy.

The pope is bishop of Rome and the cardinal is his administrative vicar.

Queues at the Esselunga supermarket in Milan yesterday with many shoppers making sure to keep a healthy distance between them as they wait

The Italian government on Wednesday closed virtually every commercial activity in the country apart from pharmacies, food shops and other stores selling essential goods and services.

Customers must enter a few at a time, keep a safe distance from each other and wear surgical masks in some cases.

Critics said being allowed to pray in a church, albeit with precautions similar to those imposed on stores, should be seen as an essential service.

'My heart is in pieces,' Father Maurizio Mirilli, a pastor of a Rome parish said in an anguished tweet on Thursday. 'I have to close everything, even the church ... I feel like a father whose children have been snatched from him.

The Vatican has already shut down St Peter's Square, St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican museums to tourists, with weddings and funerals called off.

Pope Francis has been kept away from the public since appearing visibly ill (pictured) during an Ash Wednesday service

But the total church closure was not even implemented during World War II when the Nazis and Italian fascists kept Pope Pius XII confined to the Vatican - with some places of worship keeping their doors open.

The cardinal's initial statement said access to 'churches of the Diocese of Rome open to the public - and more generally to religious buildings of any kind open to the public - is forbidden to all the faithful'.

The statement added that monasteries would remain open to 'communities that habitually use them as residents'.

Paramedics work at a makeshift medical centre in Brescia, in northern Italy which has been worst affected by the outbreak

'This provision is for the common good,' De Donatis wrote.

De Donatis is officially the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, standing in for the Pope who is technically Bishop of Rome but regarded as too busy for local duties.

The cardinal said he was finally moved to close Rome's churches in his initial decree by 'the even more binding restrictions placed on the ordinary movement of people'.

Italy's government has imposed an ever-growing crackdown as the virus continues to spread, with all shops now closed except for food stores and pharmacies.

The Pope himself has been kept away from the public since he appeared to have a cold during an Ash Wednesday service last week.

Pope Francis has been appearing via a Vatican live-stream and has complained of feeling 'caged'.

The deserted Candiolo church in Turin is pictured earlier this week with church attendance taking a hit from Italy's unprecedented nationwide quarantine

The 83-year-old was forced to miss his weekly Wednesday appearance on St Peter's Square where he often hugs and shake hands with the faithful.

The pontiff also had to read his traditional Sunday Angelus Prayer into a camera instead of his usual window overlooking the square.

Francis is thought to have tested negative for coronavirus last week after appearing visibly ill and cancelling a series of events.

The Vatican has recorded one Covid-19 infection and is awaiting the results of another person who attended one of its functions at the start of the month.

Italy as a whole has now recorded more than a thousand virus deaths after 189 new fatalities took the total to 1,016 last night.

The number of daily infections rose to 2,651 from 2,313 on Wednesday, reaching 15,113 overall.

The virus is thought to be more dangerous for older people and at Italy has one of the oldest populations in the world.

Italian streets have been left empty by the unprecedented quarantine as tourists stay away from usually crowded landmarks.

An elderly patient is helped by a doctor in one of the emergency medical areas that were set up to ease procedures at the Brescia hospital

Famous piazzas in Rome, Florence and Venice have been deserted except for sanitation workers spraying them with disinfectant.

Restrictions were tightened even further on Wednesday night when bars and restaurants were shut down, leaving only a few shops open.

The quarantine is in place until at least April 3, but top health official Walter Ricciardi told Italian TV yesterday that his countrymen should prepare for a 'long war'.

Italy's government has also announced plans to boost the economy with extra spending, with particular fears for the tourist industry.

Meanwhile, time is running out for Britons to return home from Italy with the last flights leaving tonight and neighbours shutting their borders.

Austria has ordered a halt to flights and trains from Italy while Slovenia has begun imposing controls at its border with the country.

Workers for the 'Napoli Servizi' municipal services fumigate the Church of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples to stop the spread of contagion

Switzerland said yesterday that the border remained open for commuters with work permits, but nine border crossings have been closed.

A spokeswoman for Germany's Deutsche Bahn said that the only service it had linking it to Italy, between Munich and Venice, has also been suspended.

France's national train company SNCF said on Tuesday it was 'waiting for advice' about how to proceed regarding services to Italy.

Since late February, French staff on cross-border SNCF trains have been getting off before the Italian border and being replaced by Italian colleagues.

British expats who are still in in Italy have described eerie scenes and fears over their finances after Italy was placed in lockdown.

A queue outside a supermarket in Milan yesterday - with shoppers apparently taking the government's requirement of a 3ft safety distance to heart

Philip Jones, 53, from Swansea, moved to Venice with his wife eight years ago, and works as a writer, teacher and translator.

'We're in the period now when the tourist industry (usually) really starts to kick in and you start to see significant numbers of visitors,' he said.

He added: 'I was in Piazza San Marco last Friday morning, even before the main restrictions came in, and it was empty at 10 o'clock in the morning, absolutely empty. It's usually packed.

'I've never seen the canals as empty as they are now, I've never seen such a lack of water traffic.

'It's been amazing, it's like somebody has turned the key and switched the visitors off.'

A queue of people standing 3ft apart at a post office in the Umberto I Gallery in Naples yesterday

Others expressed concerns about the impact the crisis would have on the economy, in particular part-time workers and the self-employed.

Melissa Stott, 47, originally from Bishop's Stortford, has lived in Italy for 24 years and works as a self-employed music and dance teacher.

'My work has completely stopped which I am really going to feel next month or the month after,' she said.

'This is the third week and we've got another three weeks after this, so six weeks with no pay. Any hours I don't do I don't get paid for.'
Frances local elections could fall victim to the coronavirus, with fears that voters will fail to go to the polls, despite President Emmanuel Macrons decision that the first round should go ahead on Sunday.

Party activists in the working-class Paris suburb of Noisy-le-Sec were out on the streets this week in an effort to stir up enthusiasm for their candidates.

Nadege Guillard canvases in her neighbourhood of Noisy-le-Sec in northeastern Paris, stopping to greet residents as she walks past.

People are friendly and they will tell you what they want and dont want. But getting them to go out and vote on Sunday is difficult, says the independent candidate, who is running on a dual list with the citizen-led platform A new energy for Noisy."

Noisy-le-Sec, a town of 1,000 residents peppered with high-rise towers, saw an abstention rate of 50 percent in the last local election of 2014. A trend witnessed in many suburbs in the north and east of the capital, which have often felt run-down and neglected.

Look at the rubbish lying on the ground, Guillard points out, vowing to keep streets clean if her running mate Alexandre Benhaim is elected mayor.

Public frustration with politicians however, is high and 37-year-old Guillard admits it will take a lot of convincing to persuade the youth to turn up for Sundays first round.

"Young people dont vote and with the coronavirus, I think that old people who often do vote will be too afraid to do so.

French authorities have loosened restrictions on proxy voting to enable the elderly to accomplish their civic duty.

If dont vote, dont complain

Despite fears of abstention and the coronavirus epidemic, Guillard says the local elections are too important to miss.

When you choose a mayor, you choose a team for six years. So, its better to take 30 minutes on Sunday to choose rather than put up with a mayor you dont want. You dont vote, you dont complain.

Guillard, a psychologist who was born in Cameroon, west Africa, first entered politics in 2017. Back then, as a member of President Emmanuel Macrons party Republic on the Move.

Story continues

Emmanuel Macron appeared to me as the candidate most able to govern and straighten out our country, she says.

Three years on, Macrons party is trying to quell a Yellow Vest movement and anger over a controversial pension scheme.

Is this why Guillard decided to run on a new list?

When it comes to local elections, the issues are different, and I wanted to focus more on the interests of my city as a Noisy citizen.

Security is one of them she says; referring to the killing last year of a 17-year-old boy who was beaten to death in what was believed to be gang-related violence.

The mother of three, who has helped other mothers wean their children out of gangs through community building, believes in mediation.

Stiff competition

We want to improve relations between law representatives and the youth so that they know they are not enemies.

Relations between local authorities and the youth, essentially from immigrant backgrounds, have been strained in recent years, due to concerns over police brutality after two teenagers of North African origin were electrocuted as they tried to escape police in the town of Villiers-le-Bel in 2005, sparking months of riots.

Guillard wants better education opportunities for young people, but at Noisy-le-Sec market, her citizen-led-platform struggles to reach unanimity.

One woman tells her she has already decided on the communist party, one of the nine lists in competition, because they have better incentives for young people.

And for all of Guillards talk of improving the cleanliness of Noisys streets, the Green party insists it has the right expertise.

A lot of these parties became green a few months ago, or a few weeks ago. We have been green for years, says Baptiste Gerbier, a member of Europe Ecologie les Verts Solidaires, who rubbed shoulders with Guillard at the market.

We are actually convinced of these issues, he said, as he continued to hand out flyers promising cleaner cities and energy-efficient housing.

Both Guillards citizen-led platform and the Greens are competing with Noisy-le-Secs outgoing mayor Laurent Rivoire, whose centre-right list is backed by the ruling party.

I am the mayor and Im confident, well see on Sunday, said Rivoire, who is hoping to secure a third term after ten years in office.

High hopes

We have a project for an Olympic swimming pool for 2024, its very important for us. We have plans for a new metro that will connect many streets. We have many ideas.

Rivoires campaign has nonetheless been plagued by allegations of favouritism and rumours that he offered voters council properties in exchange for votes. Allegations, he denies.

People know me. I dont think its important. They know my integrity, honesty. So, when I speak with Noiseans [people of Noisy-le-Sec], they dont speak about that, he said.

Polling booths open on Sunday at 08h00 local time. If a single ticket wins more than 50 percent of votes in the first round, there is no need for a run-off on 15 March.

Rivoire is confident there wont be one.

Im 24 hours each day in the town. I made a 130 million investment in the town without raising tax. Noisy has changed in ten years. So, another six years, I think Noiseans agree.
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by PennLive/The Patriot-News, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter.

Story by Angela Couloumbis and Cynthia Fernandez of Spotlight PA

HARRISBURG  Despite calls from lawmakers to close the state Capitol amidst coronavirus fears, the legislatures session will go on as planned Monday.

Starting Friday, all public events in the Capitol are canceled until further notice, state officials said. That includes tours, school field trips, and rallies.

Yet lawmakers in the state House and Senate are still planning to meet next week  although legislative leaders signaled those plans are fluid.

The coronavirus situation changes daily, the top Republican and Democratic senators said in a joint statement Thursday, adding: Evaluation of circumstances are ongoing and changes to Senate operations will be made if necessary.

Still, some lawmakers were bristling at having to convene in Harrisburg, even as Gov. Tom Wolf encouraged suspending gatherings with more than 250 people.

There are more than 250 lawmakers in the Capitol, and the legislature employs hundreds of staffers on top of that.

Reconvening the #PAHouse for legislative session next week is an aggressively bad idea, state Rep. Chris Rabb (D., Philadelphia) wrote in a tweet Thursday.

Right now #PAHouse is still scheduled to report to session Monday. If we're not prepared to discuss:

Paid sick leave

healthcare 4every Pennsylvanian

moratoriums on evictions & utility shut offs

humane plan for state prisons...



We don't need to be there.This is baseline  Summer Lee (@SummerForPA) March 12, 2020

Some legislators have said privately they want to convene so they can pass bills related to the coronavirus rapid spread. Already, several lawmakers have circulated bills to address everything from ensuring the public can vote safely in elections to suspending testing in public schools in the midst of the public health crisis.

On the Senate side, lawmakers are heeding advice from the state health department and have measures in place should lawmakers need to work remotely.

In the event of a closure or quarantine, we have taken measures to ensure that essential staff and senators will be able to work remotely and continue all core functions of the Senate, said Brittany Crampsie, spokesperson for Democrats in the chamber.

Five senators instructed their staff to work remotely as of Thursday afternoon, she said, including lawmakers from Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties  all areas with at least one COVID-19 infection.

All state employees who work or live in Montgomery County have been told to work from home, Wolf said Thursday.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



The state House is communicating with other state agencies to monitor the situation and working to ensure every decision we make is in the best interest of public health, said Mike Straub, spokesperson for House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster).

At this time, we have not made any changes to session schedule, or for policies regarding our members and district staff, Straub said.

House members cannot vote remotely, but they can place themselves on leave if they think it is necessary, Straub added. The chamber has passed temporary rules in the past to allow ill members to vote from home, he said, and those kinds of rule changes are being discussed at this time.

Such a change would require a vote on the House floor.

Senators can still cast votes on bills even when they arent in the Capitol  they have to take what is called legislative leave, meaning they are working in their districts or are traveling between Harrisburg and their district.

Bill Patton, a spokesperson for House Democrats, said he looks forward to Mondays session, when Philadelphia special election winner Roni Green will be sworn in as a representative.

House leaders are monitoring developments and asking legislators, staff, and Capitol visitors to follow the Department of Healths guidance, notably on washing hands, he said.

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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China auto sales in February plunged 79.1% year on year to only 310,000 units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), but it is not at all surprising after we heard of too many slumps announced by automakers, which all suffered a coldest ever month hit by the coronavirus.

For the first two months, auto sales in this country tumbled 42% from the year-ago period. Apart from the coronavirus, the Spring Festival holiday was another key factor that brought down the whole volume.

The close-knit industrial chain was shut off due to the epidemic. Automakers and suppliers generally deferred the resumption of their manufacturing businesses, which no doubt resulted in the flagging outputs. Last month, only 285,000 vehicles were produced countrywide, a significant year-on-year slide of 79.8%, said the association.

The downturn in PV sales was much higher than that of CVs. Within the PV sector, the SUV was the least-hit unit in terms of both Feb. and year-to-date performance. Regarding the concrete volume, the SUV also outsold the car so far this year.

I think you must be mentally prepared what happened to the NEV market. The CAAM stated NEV outputs and sales were only 8,342 units and 10,680 units in Feb., collapsing 82.9% and 75.2% from a year ago. Moreover, the year's cumulative outputs and sales reached 53,840 units (-63.8%) and 59,705 units (-59.5%), of which the volumes for fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) stood at 145 units and 171 units, down by 24.5% and 8.6% respectively.
Nathaniel Woods, 44, was sentenced to death for the murders in 2004 of three police officers in Ensley, Birmingham in Alabama. He was executed on March 5 - despite not being the gunman

The sister of an executed inmate, whose case drew national scrutiny because he was not the gunman, confronted Alabama's governor on Thursday for not stopping the lethal injection - telling her, 'You killed my brother'.

Nathaniel Woods's sister approached Alabama Governor Kay Ivey as she spoke with reporters about coronavirus and the US Census.

'You killed my brother. Governor Ivey, you killed my brother. He was an innocent man,' Pamela Woods told Ivey after going up to her at the Alabama Capitol, WSFA reported.

The governor - who reserves the right to grant clemency at any time and halt an execution - ignored her and was quickly escorted away by her security officer.

Nathaniel Woods was put to death March 5 by lethal injection after the US Supreme Court and the governor both declined to intervene - in a case which also saw Kim Kardashian and Martin Luther King Jr's son protesting his innocence.

The 44-year-old was sentenced to death for the murders in 2004 of three police officers in Ensley, Birmingham - despite another man, Kerry Spencer, confessing to being the lone gunman in the slayings.

Ivey said there was no evidence that Nathaniel Woods tried to stop the shooter from committing the 'heinous crimes'.

Pamela Woods (right), the sister of Nathaniel, approached Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (center) during a news conference at the Alabama Captiol and said, 'You killed my brother'

Governor Ivey - who reserves the right to grant clemency at any time and halt an execution - ignored her and was quickly escorted away by her security officer during the confrontation on Thursday

Testimony showed the officers approached a small house where Woods and Spencer were believed to be dealing drugs; at least two other people were also inside.

State lawyers wrote in court filings that Woods said he was surrendering to officers and soon after Spencer opened fire with a high-powered rifle.

At Woods' 2005 trial, a prosecutor told jurors that Woods was the 'bait' and lured officers into the apartment.

Ivey denied clemency in the case ahead of the execution.

In a statement afterwards, Ivey said: 'There is no evidence, and no argument has been made, that Nathaniel Woods tried to stop the gunman from committing these heinous crimes.'

Nathaniel Woods (above, during his murder trial in 2005) was put to death by lethal injection after the US Supreme Court and the governor both declined to intervene - in a case which also saw Kim Kardashian and Martin Luther King Jr's son protesting his innocence

Left to right: Officers Carlos Owen, Harley A. Chisholm III and Charles R. Bennett were killed while serving a warrant at a home in Birmingham in 2004. Testimony showed the officers approached the small house where Woods and Kerry Spencer - who later confessed to pulling the trigger - were believed to be dealing drugs; at least two other people were also inside

'In fact, he later bragged about his participation in these horrific murders. As such, the jury did not view Woods acts as those of an innocent bystander; they believed that he was a fully engaged participant,' the statement said.

Woods had been set to die by lethal injection at 6pm on March 5 at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. But in a dramatic turn of events, the Supreme Court issued a stay just minutes before his execution at around 5:30pm.

The courts backpedalled on the move hours later, despite his attorneys filing a petition claiming ineffective counsel in his first trial and the outcries that he was innocent of the crime.

The case was widely publicized after celebrities and activists waded in, protesting Woods' innocence of the crimes. Kim Kardashian, who is trying to rebrand herself as a justice reform activist, tweeted the case to her 64 million followers and had called on the courts to grant a stay of execution

King tweeted a message to the governor and sent a letter 'after she denied my phone call'

Kardashian and Martin Luther King Jr's son took to Twitter in a last-ditch attempt to get Woods a reprieve after the Supreme Court reversed its decision, lifting the stay and putting the execution back on

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall had also publicly urged to let the execution proceed.

Woods was executed by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 9:01pm.

Kerry Spencer (pictured), who confessed to pulling the trigger, also drew a death sentence and remains on Alabama's death row

Authorities acknowledged he was not the triggerman in the slayings, but prosecutors maintained he was a culpable accomplice.

Spencer, who confessed to pulling the trigger, also drew a death sentence and remains on Alabama's death row.

Speaking after Thursday's confrontation, Woods told reporters that her brother had received bad legal counsel and added: 'I want Kay Ivey to abolish the death penalty.'

Iveys general counsel sent Woods attorneys a letter before the execution saying the governors review of the case determined clemency was 'unwarranted.'

Supporters had waged a last-minute appeal to block the execution as the case drew national attention.

''He is actually innocent,' Pamela Woods told reporters outside the prison before her brother's execution.

'Kerry Spencer the actual shooter has stated many times that he did it on his own with no help from anyone.'

Spencer told The Appeal in an article about the case that Woods was '100% innocent.'

No execution date has been set for Spencer.

Pamela Woods, sister of Nathaniel Woods, spoke to reporters outside Holman Correctional Facility ahead of his scheduled execution on Thursday

Martin Luther King III (pictured in January) was among those calling for a stay of execution for Nathaniel Woods

Woods tagged as an accomplice and sentenced to death

During Woods' trial in 2005 prosecutors accused him his roommate Spencer of being involved in the sale of crack cocaine from their home in the Ensley area of Birmingham.

When police officers Chisholm, Owen and Bennett were gunned down on the afternoon of June 17, 2004, in the Ensley area of Birmingham, they were trying to serve Woods with an outstanding warrant for misdemeanor assault.

Officers were said to have entered the apartment intending to arrest Woods - but he broke away and ran to the front of the house.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey had given no indication of granting a reprieve as of Thursday morning. In the eleventh hour a reprieve was granted but the decision was then reversed. Ivey's office sent Woods' attorneys a letter saying the judge was not planning to issue a new stay because it was 'unwarranted'

A federal court filing from the Attorney Generals Office detailing the crime said: 'Woods, who was still standing behind his screen door, began to curse again and told the officers to leave.

'Officer Owen informed Woods that they had a warrant for his arrest and that he needed to come outside.

'Woods refused, even after the officers showed him the NCIC printout and his mugshot. He told the officers, If you come in here, well f*** you up.'

The report then notes that after his initial resistance Woods backed down. 'None of the officers had their weapons drawn. Woods quickly surrendered,' it says.

Spencer then opened fire on the officers, killing three of them and wounding the fourth with an automatic SKS rifle.

The surviving officer, Michael Collins, said at the time that he believed Woods helped plan the shooting but did not fire the gun.

Collins said Woods yelled: 'I give up. I give up. Just don't spray me with that mace,' before the shooting initiated.

The officer said that he 'knew it wasn't Nathaniel' who had fired at him.

Prosecutors did not dispute that it was Spencer who shot at the officers, but Woods was tagged as an accomplice, meaning he was still eligible for the death penalty in Alabama.

The jury recommended by a vote of ten to two that Woods be sentenced to death.

The conviction and sentence was affirmed by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals and the Alabama Supreme Court.

An appeal was dismissed in 2010 another attempt failed in 2016.
The confrontation marked a low point in relations between two neighbors who have long had a fragile coexistence within NATO, and it threatened to upend a fine balance in the strategically important, energy-rich southeastern Mediterranean.

It also brought front and center the European Unions dependence on Turkey to limit the movement of migrants toward its territory, as well as Mr. Erdogans willingness to weaponize migrants for his own purposes.

But experts said Mr. Erdogans mobilization of migrants and security forces at the borders with Europe could have backfired, being so provocative that it may have made European politicians less willing to make concessions.

The problem is that because of the blackmail used by Turkey, getting an agreement from the European Council is going to be more difficult, said Mr. Pierini, who is now an analyst for Carnegie Europe, a research organization.

The European Union in 2016 agreed to funnel 6 billion euros to organizations helping the nearly four million Syrian refugees in Turkey, in exchange for Turkeys help in securing its borders with Greece.

That deal came after nearly one million refugees left Turkey for Greece, allowing them to reach the Continents prosperous north relatively easily.

But Turkey has complained that European funding has been slow in coming, and has been paid to aid groups as well as into its own government coffers, making it less efficient. At a meeting in Brussels this week, European Union leaders discussed with Mr. Erdogan whether the agreement would be extended and how to restore it.
UTICA, N.Y. -- Several people in Oneida County are currently awaiting the results of their coronavirus tests.

"I would say a handful of seven or eight...some symptomatic but hadn't been in countries but fell into that fifth category," says Oneida County Director of Public Health Phyllis Ellis.

The 'fifth category' is a new criteria for testing for the coronavirus. Expanded criteria means an expanded test pool.

"They added a fifth category that at the discretion of their primary care physician or their healthcare provider, they may potentially have been exposed and they're allowed to request testing," said Ellis. "So at this point, those tested currently, some have come back negative already and some we're waiting for their lab results so we do not have any pending cases that we think are positive at this moment."

The governor, on Thursday, banned all mass gatherings of 500 or more. Local, brewery and race officials are looking ahead to Saranac Thursdays and the Boilermaker.

"...we're going to follow what state and local departments of health say and err on the side of safety. If there's any grey area, we're going to err on the side of safety," says FX Matt Brewing Co. president and Boilermaker Board chair, Fred Matt.

Information is coming at local officials nonstop, and changing almost by the minute.

"This is something that is unprecedented; we've never seen something of this magnitude," says Utica Mayor, Robert Palmieri, who held a news conference with Oneida County Executive, Anthony Picente and the county's director of public health Thursday afternoon. They say it's likely that even the best efforts won't prevent the virus from coming to Oneida County, but slow its progression.

"We believe it's inevitable that we will have a case at some point," says Oneida County Executive, Anthony Picente, Jr.

New York state has 325 cases of coronavirus as of Thursday afternoon.
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With the novel coronavirus spreading rapidly in the U.S., its understandable that people who develop a cough or fever might wonder whether they have COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Many people may think they have the disease, even if their symptoms are more consistent with other health problems, like a cold or the flu, says Gary LeRoy, M.D., a family physician in Dayton, Ohio, and president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Contributing to the confusion is that this is a rapidly evolving situation, where what is known about the disease changes by the day, even by the hour, LeRoy and other experts say.

The result: Minor respiratory symptoms that otherwise people would dismiss are causing a lot of anxiety, says Michael Hochman, M.D., director of the Gehr Family Center for Health Systems Science and Innovation at Keck Medicine of USC in Los Angeles.

In addition, testing for the virus is still not widely available, making it difficult for people to know for certain when they are infected.

But some facts are clear: COVID-19 is a viral respiratory illness, with common symptoms of fever, dry cough, and, sometimes, shortness of breath. These range from mild to severe, and the most serious cases are potentially fatal, particularly in people who are older or have underlying medical conditions.

And like other viral respiratory illnesses, its thought that this new disease spreads primarily through close contact with an infected person, through the droplets produced during coughs or sneezes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is definitely a situation we should be taking seriously, Hochman says. But panicking isnt helpful. Carefully evaluating your symptoms, risk factors, and known exposure can help you decide when you can treat at home, when you should be tested, and whether you should contact a doctor.

Story continues

Cold, Flu, or COVID-19?

Currently, three respiratory diseases caused by viral infection are circulating in the U.S., according to LeRoy: the common cold, the flu, and COVID-19.

It can be hard to distinguish among them because some symptoms overlap and others can vary substantially from person to person. Still, each of these infections tends to have certain defining characteristics that may give you some helpful clues.

Colds. These viral infections typically come on gradually, according to LeRoy, with runny nose, congestion, sore throat, and cough usually at their worst three or four days after onset. Colds can sometimes also cause headaches, body aches, and fever, but theyre generally milder than those associated with the flu.

Flu. This infection is notable for coming on fast and causing high fever, severe body aches, and extreme fatigue. Often, it has a very sudden, abrupt onset, LeRoy says. Its like a train hit you. Occasionally, the flu can cause vomiting and diarrhea, but this is more common in children.

COVID-19. Fever, dry cough, and less often, shortness of breath, are the major tip-offs. According to a World Health Organization analysis of 55,924 patients, people infected with the new virus developed a fever in 88 percent of cases, a dry cough in 68 percent, and shortness of breath in 19 percent. Symptoms tend to appear two to 14 days after exposure to the virus, according to the CDC.

The cough may be persistent, without easing at all throughout the day, LeRoy says. People sometimes report being unable to catch their breath or to breathe or talk easily, or may feel out of breath after minor exertion, like walking around the house.

We're learning that a variety of other symptoms may also come with this disease, sometimes appearing before cough and fever.

For instance, more than 35 percent of people reported body aches and almost 15 percent said they experienced chills in a new analysis of healthcare workers in King County, Wash.the nation's first coronavirus hot spotwith COVID-19. In some cases, these were the first signs to emerge.

Including more than fever, cough, and shortness of breath in symptom-based screening might help catch more cases early in the course of the illness, according to this analysis, which was published in the medical journal JAMA.

Around 18 percent of people with COVID-19 also experience gastrointestinal problems, such as diarrhea or nausea, according to a systematic review published in The European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology earlier this month. These symptoms are sometimes the first to show up.

In addition to the symptoms mentioned above, the CDC's list of symptoms now includes repeated shaking with chills, headache, sore throat, and new loss of taste or smell. People have also reported loss of appetite and runny noses, and in rare cases, hives or sores on the skin, particularly in children and young adults with suspected COVID-19.

What about seasonal allergies? Along with the viral illnesses that are circulating, its also allergy season. Seasonal allergies can cause a mildly scratchy throat; itchy, watery eyes; sneezes; and a runny nose, usually with clear mucus. But if you have a fever or aches or pains, a viral illness is more likely.

When to Seek Testing and Treatment

Most cases of COVID-19 are relatively mild and can be treated at home. (Note: Severe symptomswhich should be considered emergency warning signsinclude significant trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, sudden confusion, and bluish lips or face, according to the CDC. See more below, in You have severe symptoms.)

As with the flu and the common cold, there is no cure for COVID-19. While certain antiviral drugs, such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu), can sometimes limit the duration and severity of the flu, those drugs have not been shown to help with COVID-19, though at least one antiviral, remdesivir, is being tested, along with other types of potential treatments.

Instead, as it does with the cold and flu, treatment typically focuses on easing symptoms by resting, drinking plenty of fluids, and using over-the-counter pain relievers for fever or accompanying discomfort.

When to pursue testing or get professional medical care can be more complicated and depends on whether youre likely to have been exposed, the severity of your symptoms, and your age and underlying health. Here is when to reach out for medical care.

You have no symptoms, dont think youve been exposed, and are at low risk. People in this group who are younger than 65 and in good health dont need to get tested, Hochman says. Instead, simply practice basic infection prevention protocols. Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol if you cant wash your hands, avoid sick people, and listen to recommendations from your local health department.

If you have to go out, wear a cloth face covering to protect others in case you are infected. Everyone should practice social distancing measures, trying to stay home as much as possible and trying to keep at least 6 feet away from others when you do have to go out, according to the CDC.

You have no symptoms but have had contact with someone who has COVID-19. Currently, the CDC does not recommend that you be tested for COVID-19. But check with your local health department to see whether its guidance differs. Monitor your health carefully and try to avoid public settingsif you can work from home, for instance, do so. Its especially important to stay alert for symptoms if you are older than 65, are immunocompromised, or have an underlying medical condition such as asthma.

You have mild to moderate symptoms but are at low risk and are unsure whether youve been exposed. If you fit into this group and are younger than 65 with no other medical conditions, you can monitor and treat yourself at home, Hochman says. Isolate yourself as much as possible, as you would with the flu. You can consider asking your primary care doctor or health department about testing, but it might not be available, depending on where you live. Call your doctor if symptoms worsen.

You have mild to moderate symptoms and are at high risk. If youre older than 65 or have underlying health problems, contact your health department or doctor to see about getting tested, even if you are unsure whether youve been exposed to the virus. But note that testing may or may not be available.

You have mild to moderate symptoms and know you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. Contact your doctor or local public health department to see about getting tested, Hochman says. Call first; dont just show up at a doctors office or other healthcare setting, such as a clinic or emergency room, he saysthe staff may want you to take special precautions, such as using an alternative entrance and having you wear a face mask upon arrival. Otherwise, you may expose others to the disease or may be exposed yourself by other sick people.

You have severe symptoms. If you have a high fever, a persistent cough that continues to worsen, or shortness of breath that makes it hard to talk, contact a doctor immediately, no matter what your age or risk level.

And if it feels like a medical emergency, with significant difficulty breathing, call 911, Hochman says. The shortness of breath might make you feel like you have to keep breathing rapidly, as if you just ran a mile, according to Avir Mitra, M.D., an emergency physician at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and a spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians. That, more than any other symptom, is a cue that you may need emergency medical attention, he says.

Tell the dispatcher you may have COVID-19 when you call, and put on a cloth mask before emergency personnel arrive.

Editors Note: This article, originally published March 12, has been updated to include additional research and expert advice.





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COLUMBUS, Ohio  Coronavirus is creating sweeping disruptions in Ohioans lives this week. That includes college students, who unexpectedly have seen in-person classes canceled through the end of the school year, and some of whom even have been given short notice to leave their dorms.

These changes are occurring the week before the Tuesday, March 17 primary election, which has voting advocates concerned that college students wont have time to figure out how to vote.

Its kind of thrown their lives into disarray, and voting might not be the first thing on a lot of their minds, said Mike Brickner, the Ohio director of All Voting is Local, an advocacy group.

If youre a college student in Ohio trying to figure out how to cram voting into the next few days, heres what you need to know.

Step 1: Figure out where you vote

The most important consideration is where you are registered to vote  something that you cant update for this election, since the legal deadline has passed.

College students have a right to register to vote either where they attend school or where they consider home, such as their parents house.

If you dont remember where youre registered, you can check your voter registration status at voterlookup.ohiosos.gov, at the Ohio Secretary of States website.

If youre in town on Election Day where youre registered to vote, then its pretty simple. To find your polling place, visit www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/toolkit/polling-location. Poll locations are open on Election Day, March 17 from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

If youre registered to vote at school but live somewhere else

If youre not going to be around on Election Day, the best, simplest option is to stop by the county board of elections office where you attend school before you leave town to cast an early, in-person vote, Brickner said. For a list of addresses for county boards of elections locations, click here.

Early voting hours are the same around the state. Today (Friday), county boards of elections are open for early voting from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Saturday, March 14, theyre open for early voting from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Sunday, theyre open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. And on Monday, theyre open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

If youve already requested an absentee ballot, you can check your mailbox and fill it out. You can physically drop it off at the county board of elections office where youre registered, or mail it there, as long as its postmarked by Monday.

If youre registered to vote in your home county

You can either vote early in-person at the board of elections for your home county, or just show up to your polling place on Election Day.

About absentee / mail-in ballots

If youve requested and received an absentee ballot, but forgot to grab it before you left town or cant find it, you can still vote on Election Day. Poll workers likely will require you to cast whats called a provisional ballot, which are counted days later, after elections workers spend extra time making sure you havent voted twice. But youll still be able to vote.

Its still possible to request a mail-in ballot. But Ohio law requires you to first submit an application for one, which the county then will process and respond by sending you a blank mail-in ballot. Given slowdowns that could occur in this process, its probably best to just vote early in-person.

But if you really want a mail-in ballot, you should visit the county board of election where youre registered to vote and pick one up. If you cant do that, you can print off an application here and send it to the county where youre registered to vote and hope for the best.

If youre not too busy on Election Day

Consider being an elections worker. Elections officials are worried about a shortage of poll workers, since they tend to be older, and many have called off citing health concerns.

And in some counties, poll workers are college students who have called off because theyve left town after in-person classes were canceled.

Visit www.ohiosos.gov/defenddemocracy for more details.

Read other recent Ohio political news:

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines clear coronavirus response seen as contrast to White House approach

Advocates launching text campaign to reach Ohio voters whose polling places were moved over coronavirus concerns

36 Cuyahoga County polling places moved for March 17 primary election; new locations TBD

Joe Biden touts gun control record during Columbus stop a week before Ohio primary

Ohio moving polling places, urging early voting, for March 17 primary over coronavirus concerns
Crowds line up outside the Supreme Court as it resumes oral arguments at the start of its new term in Washington, October 7, 2019.

The coronavirus pandemic has shuttered the doors to major sporting events, concerts and Broadway plays.

It could also keep the public from hearing major arguments at the Supreme Court, which announced it would close indefinitely on Thursday.

That includes high-profile cases scheduled for later this month over whether President Donald Trump may keep his tax returns shielded from investigators and an April dispute over a policy that makes it easier for employers to deny insurance coverage for contraception.

On Friday, 11 national progressive and civil rights groups representing millions of members urged the top court not to let that happen. The coalition is pressing the justices to broadcast all of its arguments live to the public while the building remains closed to spectators.

"Though we applaud the Court's quick response to the threat, we believe strongly that it must make alternative arrangements in order to ensure that the public has full transparency into the Court's dealings," the groups wrote in a statement.

The signatories are Demand Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Indivisible, the Center for Popular Democracy, People for the American Way, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the Progressive Turnout Project, the National Action Network, the National Women's Law Center, the National Partnership For Women and Families and The Revolving Door Project.

"In order to ensure full transparency and maintain trust from the public, the Supreme Court must make its oral arguments available to the public via live audio and video, at least until it can reopen its doors to the public," they wrote.

The plea with the court comes one day after the Supreme Court announced that it would bar the public from its historic building indefinitely even as it moves full steam ahead with its ongoing cases. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.

The court has long resisted calls from lawmakers, court observers and activists to make its arguments available live over the internet or television, fearing that it would affect the manner in which attorneys and the justices operate.

Justices Elena Kagan and Samuel Alito reiterated that position last year during an appearance before the House Appropriations Committee. Kagan warned that cameras would be "a very bad bargain" and Alito cautioned they could come "at the expense of damaging the decision-making process."

The court provides same-day transcripts of oral arguments and releases audio generally within a week. Reporters and court artists are allowed to attend arguments and take notes, though without access to electronic devices.

Those who wish to attend oral arguments in person must wait for hours in line  overnight in high-profile cases  and hope for one of about 250 seats available to the public. Cases involving religious disputes often draw professional line-waiters who camp out by the court to reserve seats for their generally anonymous benefactors.

Gabe Roth, the executive director of Fix the Court, a nonpartisan Supreme Court watchdog group, said in a statement on Thursday that the court "at a minimum" could provide live-streamed audio.

Roth noted that the court appeared to already have the technological capacity to do so, citing the 2016 webcast of Justice Antonin Scalia's memorial service.

"Live audio is the smartest way to balance the now-competing concerns of public safety and public access," Roth said.

Lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require the court to provide greater transparency around its arguments.

In January, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. and Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, introduced the Eyes on the Court act, which would require cameras in virtually all Supreme Court and federal appellate court proceedings.

A month later, Nadler, Quigley and Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., introduced the 21st Century Courts Act, which makes live audio a requirement at the top court within two years of enactment, among other measures championed by court watchdogs. That legislation, though, provides an exception in cases where the building is not open to the public.

The Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment.
The novel coronavirus can remain in the air for up to 3 hours and live on certain surfaces for up to three days, new research suggests.

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UCLA, and Princeton University stressed in their study (pdf) published Wednesday that the findings do not prove that anyone has been infected through breathing the virus from the air or by touching contaminated surfaces.

Were not by any way saying there is aerosolized transmission of the virus, said study leader Neeltje van Doremalen at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. However, van Doremalen added that transmission in this way is theoretically possible as research suggests that the virus stays viable for long periods in those conditions.

The team used a nebulizer to put traces of the novel coronavirus in the air, to re-create what would happen if an infected person were to cough or make the virus airborne some other way.

Findings suggested that three hours later, a viable virus could still be detected in the air. Meanwhile, the virus survived on copper surfaces up to four hours later, and up to 24 hours later on cardboard. The virus was detected as viable on plastic and stainless steel surfaces up to two to three days later.

However, researchers said results they obtained from tests they did on the virus that caused the 2003 SARS outbreak were similar, therefore suggesting the differences in durability of the viruses do not account for how much more widely the novel coronavirus has spread.

The researchers suggest that the larger scale of the coronavirus outbreak could be contributed to evidence suggesting coronavirus infected patients shed and transmit the virus while pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic.

Other factors likely to play a role include the infectious dose required to establish an infection, the stability of virus in mucus, and environmental factors such as temperature and relative humidity, the study suggests.

The findings have not yet been peer reviewed by other scientists, and were posted on a site where researchers can quickly share their work before publication. However, if verified, the studys findings would correlate with increasing evidence of community spread of the virus.

Julie Fischer, a microbiology professor at Georgetown University described the study as a solid piece of work that answers the publics questions and highlights the importance of the hygiene advice that public health officials have been stressing.

What we need to be doing is washing our hands, being aware that people who are infected may be contaminating surfaces, Fischer said.

Van Doremalen suggested cleaning surfaces with solutions containing diluted bleach is most likely to kill the virus.

The coronavirus was on Wednesday declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), as the the UN health agency urged aggressive action from all countries to fight it. The virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, has rapidly spread all over Europe, the Middle East, and parts of the United States.

While China, where the epidemic started, still has by far the most cases of the virus, with more than 80,000, Italy has the next highest number of cases with about 12,400, followed by Iran at around 10,000 infections, and South Korea with more than 7,800 cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action. We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear, WHOs chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.

All countries can still change the course of this pandemic. If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilize their people in the response, he said. We are deeply concerned by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.

President Donald Trump later announced that the United States will impose a 30-day travel ban on travelers from Europe amid coronavirus concerns.

The ban will come into effect on Friday at midnight and excludes non-Schengen countries like the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as returning Americans who have had appropriate screenings for the virus.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From The Epoch Times
Lehigh Valley Congresswoman Susan Wild is urging the public to rely on the COVID-19 hotlines established by the regions health networks and shes working to develop a consistent plan for all of the regions school districts.

The Democratic lawmaker hosted a press call Friday on the heels of a lengthy conference call with Lehigh Valley leaders in all sectors ranging from health care to the local chamber of commerce.

She plans to start tackling the most pressing issues immediately, as she waits for an expected vote Friday afternoon on the coronavirus aid package that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Trump administration have spent days hammering out.

The package would fast-track federal aid to anxious Americans and calm teetering financial markets amid the global crisis. Central to the effort is free testing for the virus and guaranteed sick pay for workers who are taking time away from jobs, along with an infusion of dollars to handle unemployment benefits and boost food programs for children, families and seniors.

Currently, Pennsylvania has 33 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, with 130 tests pending. Gov. Tom Wolf is urging Pennsylvanians to implement social distancing measures, like avoiding large gatherings, and he ordered more extreme steps in Montgomery County, the suburban Philadelphia county at the epicenter of the states outbreak.

This new bipartisan group will continue to convene throughout the crisis to tackle the issues that arise, Wild promised.

I think that it is important the messaging to the public is not construed in anyway as a political or a partisan issue, Wild said.

Heres what Wild had to say about everything from healthcare to protecting gig economy workers.

The Valleys health care system

Lehigh Valley and St. Lukes University health networks have both created coronavirus symptom hotlines and Wild is urging people to pick up the phone before they go to an emergency room or urgent care.

LVHN: 1-888-402-5846 (LVHN)

St. Lukes: 1-866-785-8537 (STLUKES), option 7 or email coronavirus@sluhn.org

Hotlines are manned by nurses who will begin the screening process and, if someone meets the testing criteria, will direct folks where they should get tested.

They currently do have the test kits that they need, Wild said, adding that whether more will become available, if needed, is a concern. We are hopeful that we will have enough for the entire community that needs to be tested.

Current guidelines from the CDC, which Wild says the health networks are following, say tests should be available for anyone who, in the opinion of their doctor, needs one. But reports from NPR and the Philadelphia Inquirer say state-level labs are overwhelmed or, in the case of Pennsylvania, still denying some tests based on older guidelines.

When asked how many people could be tested a day in the Lehigh Valley, Wild said the health networks did not put a figure on that because it is gradually increasing.

There is nobody who has been perceived as needing a test that has been denied a test, she said.

State officials are working to address the shortage of masks, hand sanitizers and gloves in the state, she said.

What about the primary?

Pennsylvania is exploring how to handle its upcoming April 28 primary. Does the state need to invest in a full mail-in ballot election or prep for a rigorous sanitation policy?

That is yet to be determined and we will keep you posted, Wild said.

She also drove home the importance of the 2020 Census in determining future federal funding allocations.

Will schools close? Should they close?

Wild heard the most consternation from the Lehigh Valley school districts that joined the call. School leaders, parents and students want continuity and consistent information about whether schools need to close, she said.

There was discussion about getting a consistent plan, Wild said. We are not there yet.

Wild thinks it is crucial that all the school districts in the Lehigh Valley have one plan and they all follow that plan or there will be pandemonium for families and students. Shed like to see each Congressional district following the same plan.

Wolf shut down all schools in Montgomery County, where 800,000 people live, in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus. And in Philadelphia, 63 schools closed because more than 2,000 of its 18,000 employees live in that county.

Three schools -- Easton Arts Academy, Whitehall-Coplay and the Allentown school districts -- all closed Thursday and Friday for deep cleaning after students and staff reported they may have been exposed to the virus. And Easton Arts Academy extended the closure to Monday.

Wolf administration officials, in an online address to hundreds of school district officials Friday, said they are otherwise leaving the decision to close schools to districts and would try to speedily approve requests for flexibility to meet the requirement that schools be open for instruction 180 days each school year.

Wild plans to work with state elected officials to establish a clear plan for the Lehigh Valleys school districts and determine how the regions neediest children keep access to free meals if schools do close. She noted the Pennsylvania Department of Education is working on a way to do that right now.

The lawmaker noted an infections disease specialist on the call discussed how young people have a low incidence of contracting coronavirus, but they often return home to parents and those most at-risk: elderly grandparents.

St. Lukes Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, senior vice president of medical and academic affairs and the section chief of infectious diseases, told lehighvalleylive.com that individuals under 19 make up only 2% of coronavirus cases worldwide.

And the governor is discouraging gatherings of more than 250 people, which nearly every public school in the state does each day, Wild said.

What about bartenders, servers and Uber drivers?

The business communitys biggest worry is how long-term closures will hurt the local service industry and gig economy, Wild said. She vowed to continue to work with local businesses and the chamber to get them the help they need.

The coronavirus aid packages sick pay for workers is a crucial element of federal efforts to stop the rapid spread of the infection. Officials warn that the nations healthcare system could quickly become overwhelmed with gravely sick patients, as suddenly happened in Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by the virus.

The ability to ensure paychecks will keep flowing  for people who stay home as a preventative measure or because theyre feeling ill or caring for others  can help assure Americans they will not fall into financial hardship.

Caring for the seniors

Wild outlined measures county nursing homes are taking to protect residents, like barring visitors and volunteers, and said she wants to find ways to curb the social isolation felt by seniors in nursing homes and those who self-isolate at home.

The Associated Press contributed to this story. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
T he Queen has postponed two upcoming visits due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

A statement from Buckingham Palace said: "As a sensible precaution and for practical reasons in the current circumstances, changes are being made to The Queens diary commitments in the coming weeks.

"In consultation with the Medical Household and Government, Her Majestys forthcoming visits to Cheshire and Camden will be rescheduled."

It added some engagements will continue, though events will be reviewed amid developments.

"Audiences will continue as usual," the statement added. "Other events will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in line with the appropriate advice."

The Palace does not generally give updates on the Queen's well being, though a representative of the Palace confirmed she was "in good health".

A statement said:  As you know we dont give general updates on The Queens wellbeing but for guidance, as some of you have asked, The Queen is in good health.

The Queen, 93, was due to visit the Bentley Motors Factory in Crewe as well as the Jodrell Bank Observatory and Square Kilometre Array Global Headquarters in Macclesfield on March 19.

She was also due to visit Camden on March 26. Full details of the trip had not yet been released.

Charles was preparing to travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 17 and 18.
Construction has finished on a new prison in Homs province, which consists of eight new prison blocks reports Zaman al-Wasl.

The Syrian regime army has finished building and equipping the deserted Hassia Prison in central Homs province , a well-informed sources told Zaman al-Wasl.

The so-called the Military Disciplinary Center is located on the western side of the Homs-Damascus highway, just across from the industrial district of Hassia.

The main section was completed in 2011, and although its interior was ready, construction stopped with the outbreak of the revolution.

The regime wanted to establish the Military Disciplinary Center as the new headquarters for the Disciplinary Center 336 of the Military Police, moving it from its old location near Palmyra (Tadmur) Military Prison.

The regime had officially assigned a company of the 812th Battalion of the 67th Brigade, 11th Division, to protect the prison, switching the company shifts every three months.

According to satellite images obtained by Zaman al-Wasl, the prison is surrounded by three concrete walls, each about six meters high. Its overall area is 505,000 square meters.

The main prison block is divided into two symmetrical sections. Each sections has eight blocks and each block consists of three floors. The prison also includes a separate three-storey administrative building, with an area of 4,500 square meters, located between the outer wall and the central wall, and which was completed in the past two months.

Earlier this month, the regime appeared to have started transferring some military prisoners from Sednaya prison and other prisons to this prison.

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.
Rebel Wilson's Pooch Perfect has continued to attract dismal ratings in its third week on air.

The dog grooming reality show's episode on Thursday brought in a measly 388,000 viewers in its prime time 7:30pm slot, losing out to the ABC's 7.30 and Ten's Ambulance Australia.

After losing almost half of the viewers that tuned into the show's premiere, industry commentator and Mediaweek editor James Manning told the Daily Telegraph on Friday that the disappointing results might be down to Rebel Wilson.

Is Rebel Wilson to blame? Pooch Perfect has continued to struggle in the ratings in its third week on Channel Seven

'Despite reasonable figures for the first episode, the audience drop off has been dramatic for weeks two and three,' he said.

'The series indicates that Rebel Wilson is yet to prove herself a major drawcard for Australian TV audiences.'

The program launched on February 27 with 624,000 viewers.

Flop: The dog grooming reality was beaten on Thursday by ABC's 7.30 and Ten's Ambulance Australia

But in the space of one week, viewership has dropped by 223,000 viewers - a 29 per cent loss of audience for the second episode.

Viewers failed to connect with The Hustle actress in her role as host, with many taking to Twitter to say they were shocked by Rebel's 'adult humour' on the family-friendly program.

With gags including 'stop scissoring', a joke about a 'pearl necklace' and calling the dogs 'b***hes', some claimed they didn't make it past the opening few scenes.

'Intro jokes done and I'm out': Rebel's use of 'adult humour' has turned viewers off

'I'm out. This s**t has been advertised and rammed down our throats and it's a train wreck from the first five minutes,' one fan complained.

Another added: 'Whoever wrote the jokes for this Pooch Perfect show, needs to bin themselves. Absolute dog s**t humour.'

'Rebel Wilson is making a bit of a mockery of this show. She doesn't want to be there and the pearl necklace joke... just no,' a third added.

Another agreed, writing: 'Why is this show so bad? Not even the over-sexualised innuendos towards dogs are helping.'

Pooch Perfect continues Thursday at 7.30pm on Channel Seven
Last December 2019, 17 presumed members of a Mexican cartel and three policemen were killed during shootouts throughout the end of the week in a town in Mexico which is close to the U.S. border, days after President Donald Trump raised respective pressures by saying he would assign the posses as psychological militants.

Remaining outside the Villa Union which are ridden workplaces of the civil chairman, Miguel Angel Riquelme, Coahuila Governor, reported to the journalists that the state had acted unequivocally to handle the cartel partners in crime. He stated that 4 policemen were murdered and 6 were harmed.

Riquelme stated that for more than 60 minutes, the battling continued during which several shooters were killed, three of them from the police authorities.

Specialists reported another seven speculated cartel shooters were killed a few days after due to a shootout in the morning which brought casualties.

Recently, another assault supposedly by a posse or cartel individuals. In an area in a city of Mexico, attackers have blocked the streets with vehicles and traded fire with security authorities, while the latter denied that a needed leader of the pack had been caught.

The bold clashes in the Celaya city in the state of Guanajuato started bits of gossip via social media that security authorities had surrounded Jose Yepez, known as the El Marro and the leader of the Santa Rosa de Lima criminal cartel, and potentially captured him.

Behind the monstrous robbery of gas from unlawful taps on pipelines having a place with national oil organization Pemex is allegedly the cartel, a criminal ruckus that had developed altogether as of late.

El Marro is additionally associated with sorting out the robbery of fuel legitimately from a close-by Pemex processing plant in the city of Salamanca.

His wife was captured in late January just to be discharged a couple of days after the fact after an appointed authority decided there was deficient proof against her. A week ago, Yepez's dad was confined, blamed for driving a taken vehicle.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador forcefully stood up to fuel burglary early a year ago, not long after getting down to business, requesting the transitory conclusion of particularly helpless pipelines which thus incited a long time of fuel deficiencies.

A Guanajuato security official, Luis Ernesto Ayala, composed on social media that bits of gossip spread via social media proposing that an anonymous pioneer of a criminal gathering in the state had been captured were bogus. He included in the post that they keep working in an activity.

Other state and government security sources additionally denied that Yepez had been captured.

The savagery in Celaya reviewed the incident last October in Culiacan, in northwestern Mexico, where several Sinaloa Cartel contenders incidentally assumed control over the city of around a million people and constrained the administration to discharge a child of imprisoned Joaquin Guzman, knowns as El Chapo and a Coahuila Governor, who had been quickly captured.
All 15 judges of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals listened this week to arguments over an Ohio law that would outlaw abortions on babies with Down syndrome.

According to the Associated Press, the law prevents abortion providers from performing an abortion if they are aware that a Down syndrome diagnosis, or the possibility of a Down syndrome diagnosis, is influencing the womans decision.

Under the law, abortion providers who perform an abortion on the babies could face a fourth-degree felony charge and lose their medical license.

Federal attorneys, however, say the law is unconstitutional because it doesnt seek to ban all abortion, but selectively chooses circumstances surrounding abortions, CBN News reports.

Justice Department attorney Alexander Maugeri said at the hearing that the Ohio law serves an important purpose because it lets people with Down Syndrome know they have lives that are worth living.

Opponents of the law, however, say it is a reason ban and doesnt allow a woman to make her own decision.

Jessie Hill, an attorney for the ACLU of Ohio, argued that the law could cut off communication between a woman and her doctor.

A group of mothers whose children have Down syndrome joined with the ACLU against the law, saying it actually perpetuates discrimination against Down syndrome children.

Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, the states oldest and largest anti-abortion group, said legally, the Down syndrome law is not an outright ban on abortion  since the prohibition depends on the doctors knowledge of the diagnosis.

In previous decisions, a federal judge and a three-judge panel ruled the Ohio law is likely unconstitutional.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department said: Nothing in Ohios law creates a substantial obstacle to women obtaining an abortion.

The appellate judges from this week did not say when they might have a ruling on the case.

Down syndrome happens in about one in 700 U.S. babies or about 6,000 babies each year.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Tatiana Dyuvbanova

Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
Global Intraoperative Neuromonitoring Market: Snapshot

Intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) refers to a key technology used during surgical procedures. The use of IONM serves to provide additional information and helps to maintain nerve integrity, brain function, and neural pathways.

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Intraoperative neuromonitoring is mainly used for a few medical specialties. These include neurosurgery, ENT surgery, emergency surgery, visceral surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, orthopedics, vascular surgery, and general surgery. The use of IONM helps to reduce risk of damage of neurophysiologically-relevant nerve structures at the time of surgical intervention or possible damage of nerve function as a result of improper positioning of the patient. With the help of targeted neurostimulation, nerve structures can be spotted and potential damage prevented by adopting to surgical approach. This allows surgeons to focus on optimizing the intervention whilst maintaining function.

Prior to the development of equipment and techniques for IONM, interventionists carried out a simple visual check to determine if the muscle in question shrunk after neurostimulation. These methods have become obsolete and no longer meet the demands of todays operating room.

Today, intraoperative neuromonitoring mainly involves two methods  continuous monitoring and neuromonitoring for localization. Continuous monitoring involves clinicians to monitor patient tabular data in real-time to observe changes to the morphology of the data. Continuous monitoring includes modalities of EMG, AEP, EEG, SEP, MEP, and VEP.

On the other hand, neuromonitoring for localization involves use of targeted stimulation that enables the surgeon to spot critical nerve structures in the area of surgery. Using this, surgeons have a better spatial orientation and use targeted neurostimulation.

Intraoperative neuromonitoring has been gaining traction to reduce the incidence of stroke and paralysis in major vascular interventions.

Global Intraoperative Neuromonitoring (IONM) Market: Overview

On account of the increasing care toward patient safety, the demand for intraoperative neuromonitoring has continued to rise at a steady pace. The burden of healthcare costs on patients and their desire to avoid readmission have upped the adoption of intraoperative neuromonitoring around the world. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) uses electrophysiological techniques such as electromyography (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), and evoked potentials to effectively monitor the integrity of neural structures such as spinal cords, nerves, and certain parts of brain. IONM is mostly conducted to provide functional guidance to surgeons besides reducing risk to patients suffering from iatrogenic damage.

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Global Intraoperative Neuromonitoring (IONM) Market: Key Trends

As per findings of the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 80% of disorders leading to disabling conditions are neurological. Intraoperative monitoring has thus become imperative in neurosurgery as it offers early warning with regards to sensory & motor functions during a surgery. It has therefore enabled surgeons yield better results by eliminating post-operative neurophysiological deficits. Safer surgery consequently results in reduced risk and intervention time. On account of these benefits the demand for intraoperative neuromonitoring has surged exponentially across the healthcare sector.

This, coupled with, favorable reimbursement scenario especially in developed nations is augmenting market prospects for the future. Also the market players are focusing on strategic collaborations to expand their footprint and offer innovations. These calculated steps witnessed in the global intraoperative neuromonitoring market will act in favor of its growth in the coming years.

Global Intraoperative Neuromonitoring (IONM) Market: Market Potential

Recently, SpecialtyCare renowned as a leading provider of surgical services, perfusion, and intraoperative neuromonitoring acquired Sentient, a prominent IONM provider in October 2016. With this transaction SpecialtyCare was able expand their leadership as one of the most comprehensive providers of patient-centered outsourced IONM services to hospitals, surgeons, health systems, and surgery centers.

Following the acquisition, SpecialtyCare has increased the overall number of intraoperative neuromonitoring associates to support cases in the U.S., which is also its existing market, besides expanding coverage across the Atlantic States. Such mergers and acquisitions will have a positive impact on the market in letting it expand its distribution network across markets yet to be explored. Leading players in the global intraoperative neuromonitoring market are also looking to extend strategic collaboration with counterparts across emerging nations to expand their overall footprint.

Global Intraoperative Neuromonitoring (IONM) Market: Regional Outlook

Regionally, opportunities witnessed by the intraoperative neuromonitoring market in North America are highly lucrative. Besides this, considerable growth potential exists for the market in Europe as well. Considering improving reimbursement scenario across North America and Europe, these regions are expected to remain at the global markets fore also in the coming years. Besides this, a majority of developed countries have clearly defined procedure and codes for patients and insurance companies, which have made reimbursement processes easier and more convenient. Such well-defined guidelines has resulted in better outcome, thus benefiting hospitals and patients alike and accelerating the pace of gains for intraoperative neuromonitoring market in turn.

A large number of neurological centers in the U.S. are recommending the use of intraoperative neuromonitoring in order to bridge the manpower gap and cater to the rising demand. Hospitals are encouraging physicians besides the doctorate-level IONM providers to get trained and certified from institutions such as the American Board of Nuclear Medicine. With the healthcare system making an effort to encourage the use of IONM, its demand is expected to surge further in the coming years. In addition, the market is expected to witness rising opportunities in Asia Pacific in the near future.

Global Intraoperative Neuromonitoring (IONM) Market: Competitive Landscape

Some of the most prominent enterprises operating in the global intraoperative neuromonitoring market are Biotronic NeuroNetwork, Natus Medical Incorporated, SpecialtyCare, NeuroMonitoring Technologies, LLC, Accurate Monitoring, Medtronic, Sentient Medical Systems, and NuVasive Inc.

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Paris, March 13 : Coronavirus has claimed 1,016 lives in Italy, officials said, adding at least 15,113 people are infected with the virus.

Civil protection officials say 1,258 have recovered, although the number of cases has gone up by 2,651 since Wednesday. Italy is the world's worst-hit country after China.

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said he hopes his country will be the first in Europe to get over the emergency, the BBC reported on Thursday.

He said the measures imposed in the first area of the outbreak were proving effective.

Two weeks after the first 10 towns in northern Italy were declared a "red zone" and put under lockdown, he said they had no new infections.

This then served as a model to tighten measures across the country.

"Italy was the first nation in Europe to be affected so badly," said Di Maio. "But I hope it also means that Italy is the first one to leave the emergency behind." Movement has been limited to urgent medical or professional need. All shops are now closed, except for pharmacies and those stocking food; companies have been ordered to shut non-essential departments; a wide range of venues - from theatres to schools and hairdressers to museums - are closed.

"Our grandfathers were drafted to go to war; we're being asked to stay at home," said Mr Di Maio.

"If a doctor and a nurse can work for 24 hours non-stop, we can give up leaving our own home. The huge majority of citizens are respecting the rules. Those who aren't will face sanctions: either fines or criminal charges." Italian authorities say it could take two weeks for the impact of the restrictions to be seen on the coronavirus outbreak nationwide, which is still surging in towns and cities outside the initial red zone.

It is placing exceptional strain on Italy's healthcare system - one of the best in Europe.

The government has named a new commissioner to deal with the virus, Domenico Arcuri. He will co-ordinate the programme to resupply hospitals with equipment they urgently need.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
In Iran, official estimates of the infection rate and death toll from coronavirus keep accelerating. But even after recording 54 deaths on Tuesday alone, the regime's narrative of the local epidemic is still nowhere near reality.

According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)  a coalition leading the push for a democratic alternative to the clerical regime  more than 3,000 deaths can already be attributed to an outbreak that has encompassed 139 cities across every Iranian province.

This information comes from intelligence-gathering by the NCRI's main constituent group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). The MEK maintains an elaborate network throughout Iranian society and inside the regime. Several of its activists have lost their lives while helping the virus victims, it said. It has previously proven to be a reliable source of information about various other matters, including the clerical regime's clandestine nuclear work and anti-regime protests.

The NCRI issued a full report on the scale of Iran's COVID-19 outbreak on March 10. As well as contradicting Tehran's lowball estimates for the numbers of infections and deaths, the report details the ways in which authorities bungled their response to early reports of the illness spreading from China to Iran. It also notes that the epidemic is rapidly spreading within a number of Iranian prisons, facilitated in large part by the regime's chronic disregard for the well-being of prisoners, especially political prisoners.

The president-elect of National Council of Resistance of Iran, Maryam Rajavi, earlier urged human rightsdefenders and the international community to "take urgent action to save the lives of the prisoners and prevent a major humanitarian catastrophe." There is little evidence that anyone internationally has taken serious action.

The new report highlights the ways in which the coronavirus outbreak is refocusing a longstanding conflict between the Iranian regime and its people. It notes, for instance, that both President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have attempted to cover up the coronavirus spread.

Medical supplies have been misappropriated, under-utilized, or hoarded and resold by corrupt institutions tied to the clerical regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Mrs. Rajavi has said that "the country's medical and health care resources ... must be put at the disposal of the Iranian people, hospitals, and physicians," instead of being left with the likes of security forces and the IRGC.

The ayatollahs rejected the concept of large-scale quarantine out of hand, leading to the disease spreading like wildfire from its singular hub in the holy city of Qom.

The decision to leave Qom open to travel and tourism has led the situation to escalate to a point at which numerous other countries are implementing their own measures to isolate Iran.

These measures, unfortunately, are part of a reaction to the damage the Iranian regime has already done beyond its own borders. COVID-19 involving people who traveled to Iran has been recorded in around ten other countries in the region, as well as Australia, Canada, and the United States. In fact, at a time when the spread of the virus seems to have been largely contained in China, where it originally came from, it is now using Iran as perhaps its greatest single vector for global transmission.

It would be wise for the international community to think of this as a metaphor for the Iranian regime's overall role in the region and the world. The worsening epidemic is a testament to the mullahs' disregard for the welfare of Iran's own people and humanity overall. To the mullahs, the only thing that matters is their hold on power.

Unless the Iranian people have an opportunity to take hold of their own affairs, the coronavirus death toll will only accelerate. And even if the damage from this one crisis proves to be something less than irreparable, there will inevitably be others that showcase the regime's same destructive impulses.

The mismanagement of the outbreak "has been very costly to the regime," according to the NCRI report. This came close on the heels of mass protests against that regime, sparked by the sharing of entirely different grievances among Iran's various demographic groups. There is little doubt that that same population will rise up again.

The international community should take this time to consider how they will stand with the participants in such an uprising. Doing so, in one way or another, would benefit not just the Iranian people's welfare, but also the long-term prospects for democracy in the Middle East and peace throughout the world.
Bhopal, March 13 : Two days after Jyotiraditya Scindia switched to the BJP, he filed his Rajya Sabha nomination on Friday in Bhopal amid much fanfare and excitement. Though just three days old in the party, BJP workers accompanied Scindia to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly.

Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and state BJP chief V.D. Sharma were by Scindia's side when he filed his nomination, believed to have been vehemently blocked by two of his former Congress colleagues -- Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh.

Wearing a white Kurta and his trademark black sleeveless jacket, Scindia seemed much at home.

Soon after filing his nomination from Madhya Pradesh, Scindia tweeted: "Today I filed my nomination as a party candidate for Rajya Sabha seat along with senior party functionaries." He tagged BJP's Twitter handle.

Earlier in the day, his day started with meeting his aunt Yashodhara Raje, who was the first to welcome him after his induction into BJP. Scindia met her for nearly 20 minutes.

It was not known what they discussed, sources close to Scindia said it wasn't a "political conversation". Yashodhara and Vasundhara Raje have been with the BJP, while their brother Madhavrao Scindia, whose son is Jyotiraditya, remained with the Congress.

Later in the day, he met Narottam Mishra, a power centre in the Madhya Pradesh government and is believed to be the key man behind 'Operation Kamal'. The meeting was followed by a lunch.

Scindia then went to the party office amid slogan-shouting BJP activists who tried to garland the new BJP inductee. From there, he went straight to the Vidhan Sabha.

On Thursday, when Scindia stepped into the BJP party office in Bhopal, a large gathering of BJP cadre welcomed him. Wearing the unmistakable saffron stole around his neck, Scindia also addressed them in a packed room.

Scindia resigned from the Congress on the day of Holi, soon after meeting BJP President Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Later in the presence of party chief J.P. Nadda in New Delhi, Scindia alleged that the Congress was "living in denial".

The Rajya Sabha election is scheduled on March 26.
The certification was received after audits were conducted at four of the companys manufacturing facilities

Pharma major Lupin Limited (Lupin) has announced that the Company has received certification for International Sustainability Rating System (ISRS), 8th edition, from DNV GL, a global service provider for managing risk and helping customers to safely and responsibly improve their business performance.

The certification was received after audits were conducted at four of the companys manufacturing facilities located at Mandideep, Tarapur, Ankleshwar and Dabhasa, in India. The results were declared on 6th March 2020. ISRS is a leading global system to assess, improve and demonstrate the health of an organizations business processes. The ISRS certification helps ensure that business operations are safe and sustainable.

Commenting on the certification, Mr. Rajendra B. Chunodkar, President - Manufacturing Operations, Lupin said, Lupin had first received the ISRS 8th edition certification in 2013 and was then the first pharmaceutical company globally to be recognized by DNV. Maintaining the certification and improving this years ranking by achieving the highest level for three of our locations endorses the best practices we have adopted in Risk Management, Safety and Sustainability at our manufacturing sites.
LUSAKA (Reuters) - U.S.-based Railnet International plans to invest an estimated $11 billion in a modern railway line and high speed trains linking Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, its chief executive said on Sunday.

Railnet CEO Donald Kress said in an interview his railway development and construction company was in talks with governments in the three countries and signed an agreement to start feasibility studies in Zambia.

We have a group known as Magcor International and their CEO has arranged financing through a group of investors, Kress told Reuters on Sunday following the signing of an agreement on Saturday.

Until we have signed a contract with the investors, they have requested to remain anonymous, Kress said in an interview.

The investment in the project, running from Zambias Copperbelt province to the port of Beira in Mozambique via Harare in Zimbabwe includes the cost of locomotives and wagons, he said.

Feasibility studies were expected to begin in the next six weeks and would be followed by detailed engineering design for the project on the Zambian side, Kress said.

Construction was expected to begin in January 2021, Kress said, adding that Railnet would replace the existing system to allow freight trains to travel at 120 km/hour and passenger trains at 160 km/hour.

Transport and Communication Permanent Secretary Misheck Lungu, who signed the agreement for Zambia said Railnet would build the new railway line parallel to the existing old one.

Lungu said the project would enable business including mining companies in Africas second-largest copper producer to transport bulk cargo by railway instead of using roads.

Railnet would operate the modern railway for a number of years and hand it over to the government after recovering its investment from the profit made, Lungu said.

Reporting by Chris Mfula;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle
With 17 confirmed coronavirus patients found in Maharashtra, the state government on Friday ordered closure of cinema theatres, gymnasiums and swimming pools in cities of Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad till March30.

The closure order will come into effect from Friday midnight, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, announcing that the government has invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 to tackle the virus outbreak.

As provided under the Act, schools and colleges in Pune and neighbouring twin industrial towns of Pimpri and Chinchwad will remain closed till further orders, he told reporters.

Wherever possible, private sector companies should allow employees to work from home, he said.

Theaters, gymnasiums, swimming pools and in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune will be closed till March 30, he said. People should also avoid visiting malls and other crowded places, he added.

We will review the situation and take further decision, Thackeray told reporters after making the same announcement earlier in the Assembly.

As many as 17 patients have been confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus in Maharashtra, he said. Ten of these patients are in Pune, three eachin Mumbai and Nagpur, and one in Thane which abuts Mumbai.

These decisions were taken as a precautionary measure, the chief minister said, adding that the epidemic was successfully contained in Chinas Wuhan city after it was virtually shut down.

Event organizers have been asked not to organise social, political and religious gatherings, the chief minister said, adding that permissions granted earlier stand canceled.

People have been advised not to visit malls, hotels, restaurants, he said.

Bus and train services fall under essential services and cannot be stopped, the CM said, while urging people to avoid unnecessary traveling.

He also mentioned that the symptoms of those who have tested positive in the state are mild and some of them have no symptoms of the disease at all.

At present four confirmed coronavirus patients are admitted to isolation wards at Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai, ten at Naidu Hospital in Pune and three at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Nagpur.

Of the 17 patients, 15 had returned from places such as Dubai, France and the United States.

Isolation wards have been kept ready at district hospitals, government hospitals in urban areas and some private hospitals as well, the chief minister said.

As per the Centres advisory, passengers arriving from China, South Korea, Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Iran are quarantined whether they show any symptoms of the disease or not.

We will ask the centre to include the US and Dubai in the list since patients diagnosed as positive in the state have arrived from these two countries, Thackeray said.
T he number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK has spiked by 208 in just 24 hours.

The new cases, marking the biggest daily increase recorded so far, took the UK total at 9am on Friday to 798.

As of Thursday morning at the same time, the figure stood at 590, with 10 deaths.

Scientists have said that the true figure for people with coronavirus in the UK is between 5,000 and 10,000.

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By Friday morning, 31,971 people had been tested for Covid-19. Of those, 31,173 tested negative.

It is the first time the day-on-day increase has been higher than 200.

One week ago, on March 6, the total number of cases stood at 163.

Todays total of 798 is almost five times greater than the equivalent figure one week ago.

Coronavirus update: What you need to know about the 'delay phase'

It comes after the UKs chief scientific adviser said it is hoped the Governments approach to tackling coronavirus will create a herd immunity to the disease.

Sir Patrick Vallance said some of the social distancing measures put in place by the Government, including self-isolating for seven days if symptoms develop, are actually quite extreme.

He said millions of Brits - around 60 per cent - would need to contract the disease to lessen the impact of what is likely to become an annual virus.

On Friday, a London Underground driver tested positive for coronavirus and at least eleven MPs were in self-isolation following advice from public health authorities.

A man wears a mask as he crosses London Bridge / PA

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have postponed their spring tour to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Jordan because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Clarence House said the request came from the Government.

Heir to the throne Charles and Camilla are understood to be in good health.

Meanwhile, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said MoD planners would use their expertise in helping local areas to prepare for the outbreak.

It is 38 non-uniform MoD planners who will be helping local areas to draw up their plans as to how they will support public services and emergency services throughout the outbreak, the spokesman said.

They will also be in a position to help them test their existing plans.

Mr Johnson is set to hold talks with world leaders about the international response to the coronavirus outbreak, Downing Street said.

The PM's official spokesman said he has spoken to French president Emmanuel Macron and Canadian prime minister Justine Trudeau and will be talking to other leaders.
ROCHESTER, Minn., March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, March 9, 2020, 11:00 a.m., CBS News recorded an FDA conference call with Dr. Nalini Rajamannan, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Cardiology, Mayo Medical School Graduate and Adjunct Visiting Scientist, Mayo Clinic.

The FDA called the meeting on behalf of Secretary HHS Azar and FDA Commissioner Hahn while Dr. Rajamannan has kept the Trump Administration fully updated on the meeting and request for decisions from the FDA.

Public Domain Photo White House

The transcript from the call recorded and published provides critical evidence to call the FDA to immediate action to protect U.S. patients:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cbs-interviews-dr-rajamannan-while-recording-meeting-fda-rajamannan

"To be clear, both Dr. Edwards' heart attack and Ms. Obermiers' heart attack are missing from the final publication, the clinical study used by the FDA to eventually clear the Model 5100 with a new name and a new indication, claiming the device as safe since there were no heart attacks or deaths published in the Myxo study."

"According to Northwestern IRB, Dr. Edwards was included in the Myxo Study unknowingly without consent and without the knowledge that he suffered a heart attack during the experimental surgery."

"In 2018, during a 3 1/2 hour meeting at the FDA District office in Minneapolis, I learned from a Freedom of Information disclosure that the FDA inspection records confirmed the fact that the Myxo Protocol was terminated by Northwestern University, as of June 2006 for future data analysis, future testing and final publications."

"The FOIA confirmed that the protocol 1532-004 was the protocol for the Myxo study to test the device and the caliper measurements as published in the study. Furthermore, the FDA learned that the protocol was terminated by Northwestern University IRB in 2007, with a mutual agreement by the Principle investigator to stop any future testing under the protocol."

"Since this time, there are at least 700 patients who got the Model 5100 before the recall and there are hundreds if not over a thousand patients who got the Model 5100 before the recall."

"Under the Federal Wide Assurance and 21CFR820.30, these patients are required under the federal and global laws to be informed of the investigational status of the device, the recall and follow-up testing to be sure they did not suffer a heart attack or have heart failure secondary to the experimental heart surgery.

"The most recent victim, Mr. Bill Knotts whose story was published by the Daily Northwestern, died from the failed measurement protocol using the calipers in November 2018.

"I have been reporting to Northwestern University since May 2007, until today but the University is continuing to conceal the evidence of the facts. The fact that the device was never approved for use in humans as of March 2006, as claimed by the manufacturer and reported to the ARDC of Illinois on 12-6-2019 by the general counsel for Northwestern University."

"In the end, the cardiac surgical research registry must be placed on a mandatory hold at Northwestern, as it is a 'Trojan horse protocol' which allows the surgeon to test his own inventions without informing the FDA nor the University nor the patients to gain research and development experience on his inventions."

"The Model 5100 during this testing period in 2006 was found to have 122 failure modes or identified product defects during the testing, which required several large modifications to be made to ensure safety prior to the sales on the US market; these details are outlined in a letter from Congressman Glenn Grothman to Ms. Abrahms, and he is still waiting for a reply as of today."

The University has made recent claims to the ARDC of Illinois; see this letter that the device was FDA approved as of March 2006 based on a three-line email, a decision by the FDA that reversed the claims made in the 2007 three-line email, as of March 2009.

The reversal by the FDA was confirmed by the Congressional office to the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Charles Grassley.

The decision to not approve the device prior to March 2009 by the FDA was confirmed in 2011, by Dr. Shuren to the Chicago Tribune:

"If a device is supposed to get cleared by the agency first before you're marketing it, we consider that investigational," Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, head of the FDA's medical device branch, told the Tribune.

"KIMT News 3 did reach out to the FDA for comment and is still waiting on a response." -Jessica Bringe, KIMT Rochester MN

Dr. Nalini Rajamannan is a heart valve expert in the field of cardiovascular medicine. She earned her undergraduate science pre-professional degree from the University of Notre Dame, her Medical Doctorate from Mayo Medical School and her post-graduate training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the Mayo Clinic and Research Fellowship on the NIH training Grant. She also worked at the Mayo Clinic as a staff consultant in Internal Medicine and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University and the Lakeside and Westside VA. Currently, she practices consultative valvular medicine and Osteocardiology at Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Cardiology and Valvular Institute, WI.

Press Contact

Nalini M. Rajamannan

Medical Director for Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Cardiology and Valvular Institute

312-498-9496

[email protected]

Related Files

NW IRB Resp Ltr June 2011.pdf

paper_ring_Highlighted_problems_ Model 5100.pdf

Related Images

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Dr. Rajamannan Reports to the White House

Public Domain Photo White House

Related Links

KIMT/CBS Rochester Faulty Heart Valves

CBS Interviews Dr. Rajamannan and Records FDA meeting

SOURCE Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Cardiology and Valvular Institute
Retaliatory airstrikes carried out by the United States against Iran-backed militias in Iraq on Thursday struck a civilian airport in Karbala, according to Iraqi defense officials and religious authorities, who say one civilian was killed in the attack. And on Friday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamad Alhakim summoned the US and UK ambassadors over "the recent American aggression," according to a ministry statement.

The Pentagon said the overnight strikes targeted weapons storage facilities belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shiite militia group US defense officials blame for Wednesdays deadly attack on an Iraqi base housing US and coalition troops.

Two Americans and one British service member were killed and 14 others wounded after more than a dozen Katyusha rockets struck Camp Taji, a base north of Baghdad.

While US military officials maintain the strikes were defensive and proportional in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, officials condemned what they saw as a blatant attack on a civilian facility. Photos emerged late Thursday night showing the damage inflicted on an airport that was under construction in Karbala.

This airport is purely civilian, and the Holy Shrine of Imam [Hussein] is supervising its construction in agreement with many Iraqi companies and purely civilian Iraqi personnel, the administration of the citys Imam Hussein shrine said in a statement provided to Al-Monitor.

The American attacks were met with widespread condemnation by Iraqi officials including President Barham Salih, who blasted the air raids as a violation of national sovereignty that put Iraq at risk of further chaos. Salih had earlier condemned the strike on Camp Taji, calling it a "terrorist attack."

The Iraqi governments Security Media Cell said three soldiers, two policemen and one civilian were killed in what it described as a treacherous attack.

An official with the Imam Hussein shrine who was not authorized to speak publicly said the civilian killed was a 23-year-old cook with two children who was working the overnight shift feeding construction workers.

The air raids are the latest escalation in hostilities between Tehran and Washington that have played out in Iraq. A rocket attack blamed on Kataib Hezbollah that left one American dead at a US base in Kirkuk in late December set off a series of tit-for-tat moves that brought the United States and Iran to the brink of war.

After the United States killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in January, Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack on US forces that left dozens of American troops with traumatic brain injuries.

In a Friday morning briefing at the Pentagon, US Central Command commander Gen. Frank McKenzie told reporters the locations struck by US warplanes Thursday night were clear locations of terrorist bases and that each targeted storage site contained weapons that would enable lethal operations against US and coalition forces in Iraq.

"We believe that this is going to have an effect on deterring future strikes of this nature," McKenzie said. "We've seen in the past what happens when you dont respond."
Nine private members bills were introduced in Rajya Sabha on Friday, which include draft legislations on providing reservation to transgenders in Parliament and state assemblies, and on punishment for offences related to incest and sexual abuse of females in family.

BJD member Sasmit Patra introduced the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (substitution of articles 331 and 333) in the Upper House on Friday which provides for reservation to transgenders in Parliament and state assemblies.

Patra also introduced The Incest Offences and Sexual Abuse of Females in Family (Prevention) Bill, 2020.

The bill seeks to define the offences relating to incest and sexual abuse of females in family and prescribe the special procedure for punishment for the offences.

Congress member Abhishek Manu Singhvi introduced The Animal Factory Farming (Regulation) Bill, 2020, which seeks to provide for the regulation of animal factory farming industry in India and for matters connected with it.

Another Congress member Amee Yajnik introduced The Victim and Witness Protection and Assistance Bill, 2020, which seeks to to provide adequate protection and assistance to victims and witnesses in criminal cases.

TMC member Shanta Chhetri introduced The Third Language Bill, 2020.

The bill seeks to provide for compulsory third language education from primary to senior secondary level in all schools in the country, to make it imperative for each student to study a third language other than Hindi, English or the student's mother tongue from one of the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution and for making it obligatory for the central and state governments to provide requisite infrastructure for the purpose.

BJP member Amar Shankar Sable introduced the Backward Areas Development Board Bill, 2020 which seeks to provide for the establishment of a board for overall development of economically backward areas of the country.

AAP member Sanjay Singh introduced The Public Health (Prevention, Control and Management of Epidemics) Bill, 2020, which seeks to provide for public health and for prevention, control and management of epidemics and for matters connected with it.

BJP member Saroj Pandey introduced The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and BJD member Amar Patnaik introduced The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Meanwhile, nominated member Narendra Jadav withdrew The Foreign Investment in Financial Services, Critical Infrastructure and Technology Affecting National Security (Regulation) Bill, 2018.

Jadav withdrew his bill in the light of assurance given by Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur that all checks and balances are in place and said that he wanted to present his point of view on the issue.

The bill sought to provide for measures to ensure national security, while promoting foreign investment, to reform the process of examination of such investment, vis-a-vis their effect, if any, on national security.

It also sought to establish a Committee on Foreign Investment to effectively guard against the risk to national security posed by certain type of foreign investment in financial services, critical infrastructure and technology sector and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto, be taken into consideration.

Replying on the discussion, Thakur said that recognising the risk associated with foreign investments in certain sectors, the foreign direct investment policy of the Centre has already placed sensitive sectors under the approval route.

Regarding the proposed bill, which seeks to set up a committee on foreign investments, Thakur said the government in June 2017 abolished the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) and hence setting up of a committee (for screening foreign investments) will be a retrograde step.

Another private member bill, The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2014, was also withdrawn by the Congress member M V Rajeev Gowda.

The bill sought to remove the limits of election expenditure in the country.

Replying to the discussion on the bill, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that this is not the new debate. He stressed the government cannot accept this bill because elections should be fair, and display of wealth cannot be allowed.

The minister said that sovereign element will be compromised if government accepts this bill.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Aruna Harjani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 15:45 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a5f5cb 4 Lifestyle coronavirus,pandemic,COVID-19,patient,panic-attack,panic-buying,by-the-way Free

The ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has put the whole world in a state of constant anxiety.

Schools have been shut down, stock markets have succumbed to fear and employers have asked their staff to work from home.

In addition, peoples minds have been clouded by rumors. All this has had a mental toll.

All of a sudden Covid-19 has become more dangerous than most diseases, even if the research says that other diseases kill more people.

The scary part of the outbreak is that if a large percentage of the population gets infected and requires medical care, there will not be enough hospitals to accommodate the patients.

However, more infectious than the virus itself is the plague of panic it has caused all over the world.

The trending topic these days is panic.

Yes, it is contagious, yes it has killed many people, but the consequence of the stress and fear over the virus will surely kill more people.

Companies may also go bankrupt because of fear.

Country lockdowns will affect tourism. Thousands of people may lose their jobs. Right now, the stock market is being affected. Many people could go bankrupt within a margin call.

People cannot go to work because transportation has been stopped. People do not want to spend. They cannot go out. How will the economy run?

Another issue triggered by the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, is discrimination against those who are infected.

I was in a lobby in a hotel abroad with my friends who have East Asian features.

I overheard a husband telling his wife, Hey, look there are Chinese people, lets move away from them.

I was dumbfounded.

I could have given them a piece of my mind but I did not want to start a commotion.

Even funnier, those same friends of mine were looking for masks to wear on the way back to Jakarta because there might be Chinese people on the plane.

I wanted to scream and shout, How can you be so discriminatory?

Again, I told myself to just maintain my composure.

A number of videos shared on social media show many Asians living in the West being screamed at to move away because they were associated with the coronavirus even if they were not carriers.

Here in Indonesia, rumors say that if you become infected, you will be shunned and ridiculed by people in your neighborhood.

Seeing the rapid rise of Covid-19 infections can also be very scary.

What if I get it? each of us often asks whenever we see the latest update of the infection numbers.

Sometimes, we also find it difficult to discern what Covid-19 information is valid and what is a hoax.

They advise us to wash our hands as many times as we can but for Gods sake, didnt Tom Hanks, the first A-list celebrity to get infected, wash his?

It drives me crazy when I think about how the virus has reached so many countries.

I saw one video showing people purposely spreading the virus by touching all the buttons in a lift so the next person who touches them will get infected. I hope this video is a hoax, otherwise it will be the answer to my question about how it reached other countries so fast.

On the other hand, there has been a positive side to the Covid-19 outbreak. With many factories closing down, and fewer cars on the streets, pollution has decreased. Families have also clustered together because many now work from home while their children study online.

One WhatsApp message sees a husband thanking the virus because his wife is not going to the mall to shop, and so doesnt spend as much money.

So, friends, I fold both my hands together, and say Namaste to you, as I am tired of hearing, after a million times, that we shouldnt shake hands. Peace be with you.
[March 13, 2020] OKB Global Empowerment with Enhanced Ecosystem Applications

VALLETTA, Malta, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest OKB Ecosystem Report for Feb 2020 was released by the OKB team on March 10. During the past Feb, OKB, an exchange token adopted by OKEx, has expanded 5 new application scenarios internally and externally and 5 new trading channels for spot trading and pending order mining. What's more, the launch of OKChain testnet and OKEx DEX, the announcement of 700 million unissued OKB has been burned and the completion of the 7th OKB buy-back and burn, are all expected to utilize the potential of OKB. As of today, the OKB team has developed up to 13 platform-based application scenarios along with 35 external application use cases, which allow OKB holders to purchase products or services with OKB token. Besides, OKB has also strengthened its global presence, now supporting 8 major fiat gateways including US dollar, Euro, South Korean won, Vietnamese dong, Indonesian rupee, etc., and islisted on over 50 trading platforms, including Bitfinex and Bitmax.



The report also announced that OKB will soon be migrated to the OKChain mainnet from the Ethereum ERC-20 network and 100% of the genesis block of OKT, the native token of OKChain, will be mapped to OKB holders. Besides, OKB holders will be able to participate in the governance of OKChain and become a supernode in the future as OKT and OKB will be interconnected to foster the ecological development of OKChain. OKB continues to expand its ecosystem

As an exchange token adopted by OKEx, the world's largest spot and derivatives exchange, OKB now supports spot margin trading (up to 3x leverage) and Savings services on OKEx with a borrowing rate as low as 0.01%. In terms of external use cases, OKB reached cooperation with 3 new partners, including ZelCore, HiCats and InfinitioWallet, covering crypto storage and blockchain game, which further improved the ecological layout of OKB. The OKB globalization On Feb, OKB has been listed on 5 exchanges, including Bitribe and BW, two well-known Korean trading platform, to open OKB/BTC and OKB/USDT trading pairs, Malta-based exchange BHEX, and BitSG, a notable exchange in Singapore, to support OKB depositing and withdrawal services and the ETF of OKB for spot margin trading. Apart from that, OKB also landed on ViteX, one of the major decentralized exchanges in the world, to support OKB's pending order mining services. OKB is now in rapid global expansion, covering 141 countries and regions around the world, and is constantly working to enhance its liquidity and competitiveness in the market to reach new heights. About OKEx The world's largest and most diverse cryptocurrency marketplace, OKEx is where global crypto traders, miners, and institutional investors come to manage crypto assets, enhance investment opportunities, and hedge risks. We provide spot and derivatives trading, including futures, perpetual swap, and options, of major cryptocurrencies, offering investors great flexibility in formulating their strategies to maximize gains and mitigate risks. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/okb-global-empowerment-with-enhanced-ecosystem-applications-301022970.html SOURCE OKEx

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In Italy, millions are locked down and more than 1,000 people have died from the coronavirus, meanwhile in South Korea, hit by the disease at about the same time, only a few thousand are quarantined and 67 people have died.

As the virus courses through the world, the story of two outbreaks illustrates a coming problem for countries now grappling with an explosion in cases.

It's impractical to test every potential patient, but unless the authorities can find a way to see how widespread infection is, their best answer is lockdown.

South Korea: Medical team checks suspected COVID-19 patients at the drive-through testing stations at the Jamsil Main Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, March 11

Italy started out testing widely, then narrowed the focus so that now, the authorities don't have to process hundreds of thousands of tests. But there's a trade-off: They can't see what's coming and are trying to curb the movements of the country's entire population of 60 million people to contain the disease. Even Pope Francis, who has a cold and delivered his Sunday blessing over the internet from inside the Vatican, said he felt 'caged in the library.'

Thousands of miles away in South Korea, authorities have a different response to a similar-sized outbreak. They are testing hundreds of thousands of people for infections and tracking potential carriers like detectives, using cell phone and satellite technology.

Both countries saw their first cases of the disease called COVID-19 in late January. South Korea has since reported 67 deaths out of nearly 8,000 confirmed cases, after testing more than 222,000 people. In contrast, Italy has had 1,016 deaths and identified more than 15,000 cases after carrying out more than 73,000 tests on an unspecified number of people.

South Korea: The team take a swap from the patient's mouth while they remain in the car

South Korea: They then take details of the patient's past travel to build a forensic picture of how cases develop

Epidemiologists say it is not possible to compare the numbers directly. But some say the dramatically different outcomes point to an important insight: Aggressive and sustained testing is a powerful tool for fighting the virus.

Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, said extensive testing can give countries a better picture of the extent of an outbreak. When testing in a country is limited, he said, the authorities have to take bolder actions to limit movement of people.

'I'm uncomfortable with enforced lockdown-type movement restrictions,' he said. 'China did that, but China is able to do that. China has a population that will comply with that.'

Italy: An operator at work during road sanitation to counter the spread of Covid-19 Coronavirus in Brescia, during Italy's lock down, March 13

St Peter's Square in the Vatican, Italy, is empty yesterday after the piazza and basilica overlooking it were shut down to visitors over coronavirus fears

The democracies of Italy and South Korea are useful case studies for countries such as America, which have had problems setting up testing systems and are weeks behind on the infection curve. So far, in Japan and the United States particularly, the full scale of the problem is not yet visible. Germany has not experienced significant testing constraints, but Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her people on Wednesday that since 60% to 70% of the populace is likely to be infected, the only option is containment.

South Korea, which has a slightly smaller population than Italy at about 50 million people, has around 29,000 people in self-quarantine. It has imposed lockdowns on some facilities and at least one apartment complex hit hardest by outbreaks. But so far no entire regions have been cut off.

Seoul says it is building on lessons learned from an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2015 and working to make as much information available as possible to the public. It has embarked on a massive testing programme, including people who have very mild illness, or perhaps don't even have symptoms, but who may be able to infect others.

Pope Francis has been kept away from the public since appearing visibly ill (pictured) during an Ash Wednesday service at the Santa Sabina church in Rome

This includes enforcing a law that grants the government wide authority to access data: CCTV footage, GPS tracking data from phones and cars, credit card transactions, immigration entry information, and other personal details of people confirmed to have an infectious disease. The authorities can then make some of this public, so anyone who may have been exposed can get themselves - or their friends and family members - tested.

In addition to helping work out who to test, South Korea's data-driven system helps hospitals manage their pipeline of cases. People found positive are placed in self-quarantine and monitored remotely through a smartphone app, or checked regularly in telephone calls, until a hospital bed becomes available. When a bed is available, an ambulance picks the person up and takes the patient to a hospital with air-sealed isolation rooms. All of this, including hospitalization, is free of charge.

South Korea's response is not perfect. While more than 209,000 people have tested negative there, results are still pending on about 18,000 others - an information gap that means there are likely more cases in the pipeline. The rate of newly confirmed cases has dropped since a peak in mid-February, but the system's greatest test may still be ahead as authorities try to track and contain new clusters. South Korea does not have enough protective masks - it has started rationing them - and it is trying to hire more trained staff to process tests and map cases.

South Korea: Medical workers wearing protective clothing against the COVID-19 novel coronavirus walk to a decontamination area at the Keimyung University hospital in Daegu

South Korea: Medical workers gather outside an office tracking cases of COVID-19 novel coronavirus at the Keimyung University hospital in Daegu

And the approach comes at the cost of some privacy. South Korea's system is an intrusive mandatory measure that depends on people surrendering what, for many in Europe and America, would be a fundamental right of privacy. Unlike China and the island-state of Singapore, which have used similar methods, South Korea is a large democracy with a population that is quick to protest policies it does not like.

'Disclosing information about patients always comes with privacy infringement issues,' said Choi Jaewook, a preventive medicine professor at Korea University and a senior official at the Korean Medical Association. Disclosures 'should be strictly limited' to patients' movements, and 'it shouldn't be about their age, their sex, or their employers.'

Traditional responses such as locking down affected areas and isolating patients can be only modestly effective, and may cause problems in open societies, says South Korea's Deputy Minister for Health and Welfare Kim Gang-lip. In South Korea's experience, he told reporters on Monday, lockdowns mean people participate less in tracing contacts they may have had. 'Such an approach,' he said, 'is close-minded, coercive, and inflexible.'

South Korea: Precautions are taken as medical staff attend to a woman with unknown symptoms upon her arrival at the Keimyung University hospital in Daegu

ITALY 'AT THE LIMIT'

Italy and South Korea are more than 5,000 miles apart, but there are several similarities when it comes to coronavirus. Both countries' main outbreaks were initially clustered in smaller cities or towns, rather than in a major metropolis - which meant the disease quickly threatened local health services. And both involved doctors who decided to ignore testing guidelines.

Italy's epidemic kicked off last month. A local man with flu symptoms was diagnosed after he had told medical staff he had not been to China and discharged himself, said Massimo Lombardo, head of local hospital services in Lodi.

The diagnosis was only made after the 38-year-old, whose name has only been given as Mattia, returned to the hospital. Testing guidelines at the time said it was not necessary to test people who had no link to China or other affected areas. But an anaesthetist pushed the protocols and decided to go ahead and test for COVID-19 anyway, Lombardo said. Now, some experts in Italy believe Mattia may have been infected through Germany, rather than China.

Italy: Workers during street cleaning operations on March 12, in Naples. While the spread of coronavirus runs all over the globe, 2,500 new cases were traced in Italy just on March 12

Decisions about testing hinge partly on what can be done with people who test positive, at a time when the healthcare system is already under stress. In Italy at first, regional authorities tested widely and counted all positive results in the published total, even if people did not have symptoms.

Then, a few days after the patient known as Mattia was found to have COVID-19, Italy changed tack, only testing and announcing cases of people with symptoms. The authorities said this was the most effective use of resources: The risk of contagion seemed lower from patients with no symptoms, and limited tests help produce reliable results more quickly. The approach carried risks: People with no symptoms still can be infected and spread the virus.

On the other hand, the more you test the more you find, so testing in large numbers can put hospital systems under strain, said Massimo Antonelli, director of intensive care at the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS in Rome. Testing involves elaborate medical processes and follow-up. 'The problem is actively searching for cases,' he said. 'It means simply the numbers are big.'

The Piazza Duomo on March 12 in Milan, Italy. The Italian Government has shut all commercial activities except for pharmacies, food shops, gas stations, tobacco stores and news kiosks

Italy has a generally efficient health system, according to international studies. Its universal healthcare receives funding below the European Union average but is comparable with South Korea's, at 8.9% of GDP against 7.3% in South Korea, according to the World Health Organization.

Now, that system has been knocked off balance. Staff are being brought into accident and emergency departments, holidays have been cancelled and doctors say they are delaying non-urgent operations to free up intensive care beds.

Pier Luigi Viale, head of the infectious disease unit at Sant' Orsola-Malpighi hospital in Bologna, is working around the clock - in three jobs. His hospital is handling multiple coronavirus cases. His doctors are shuttling to other hospitals and clinics in the area to lend their expertise and help out with cases. In addition, his doctors also have to deal with patients with other contagious diseases who are struggling to survive.

Italy: Tough lockdown measures, pictured in Brescia, kicked in throughout Italy on March 12 after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced all non-essential shops should close

'If it drags on for weeks or months we'll need more reinforcements,' he told Reuters.

Last week, the mayor of Castiglione d'Adda, a town of about 5,000 people in Lombardy's 'red zone' which was the first to be locked down, made an urgent online appeal for help. He said his small town had had to close its hospital and was left with one doctor to treat more than 100 coronavirus patients. Three of the town's four doctors were sick or in self quarantine.

'Doctors and nurses are at the limit,' said a nurse from the hospital where Mattia was taken in. 'If you have to manage people under artificial respiration you have to be watching them constantly, you can't look after the new cases that come in.'

Italy: Sanitation vehicles disinfect the streets near the Monaldi hospital on March 12 in Naples

Italy: Italy's epidemic kicked off last month. A local man with flu symptoms was diagnosed after he had told medical staff he had not been to China and discharged himself

Studies so far suggest that every positive case of coronavirus can infect two other people, so local authorities in Lombardy have warned that the region's hospitals face a serious crisis if the spread continues - not just for COVID-19 patients but also for others whose treatment has been delayed or disrupted. As the crisis spreads into Italy's less prosperous south, the problems will be magnified.

Intensive care facilities face the most intense pressure. They require specialist staff and expensive equipment and are not set up for mass epidemics. In total, Italy has around 5,000 intensive care beds. In the winter months, some of these are already occupied by patients with respiratory problems. Lombardy and Veneto have just over 1,800 intensive care beds between public and private systems, only some of which can be set aside for COVID-19 patients.

The government has asked regional authorities to increase the number of intensive care places by 50% and to double the number of beds for respiratory and contagious diseases, while reorganising staff rosters to ensure adequate staffing. Some 5,000 respirators have been acquired for intensive care stations, the first of which are due to arrive on Friday, deputy Economy Minister Laura Castelli said.

Italy: Tourists and police officers by the Trevi Fountain in Rome during quarantine amid the COVID-19 pandemic on March 8

The region has already asked nursing institutes to allow students to bring forward their graduation to get more nurses into the system early. Pools of intensive care specialists and anaesthetists are to be set up, including staff from outside the worst affected regions.

To add to the burden, hospitals in Italy depend on medical personnel to try to trace the contacts that people who test positive have had with others. One doctor in Bologna, who asked not to be named, said he had spent a 12-hour day tracing people who had been in contact with just one positive patient, to ensure those who next need testing are found.

'You can do that if the number of cases remains two to three,' the doctor said. 'But if they grow, something has to give. The system will implode if we continue to test everyone actively and then have to do all this.'

Italy: Deserted stairs leading to Capitoline Hill (Campidoglio) are pictured in central Rome on March 12

'MAXIMUM POWER'

In South Korea as in Italy, an early case of COVID-19 was identified when a medical officer followed their intuition, rather than the official guidelines, on testing.

The country's first case was a 35-year-old Chinese woman who tested positive on Jan. 20. But the largest outbreak was detected after the 31st patient, a 61-year-old woman from South Korea's southeastern city of Daegu, was diagnosed on Feb. 18.

Like the patient named Mattia in Italy, the woman had no known links to Wuhan, the Chinese province where the disease was first identified. And as in Italy, the doctors' decision to recommend a test went against guidelines at the time to test people who had been to China or been in contact with a confirmed case, said Korea Medical Association's Choi Jaewook.

'Patient 31,' as she became known, was a member of a secretive church which Deputy Minister for Health and Welfare Kim Gang-lip said has since linked to 61% of cases. Infections spread beyond the congregation after the funeral of a relative of the church's founder was held at a nearby hospital, and there were several other smaller clusters around the country.

South Korea: Workers clean a subway station in Seoul, more than 209,000 people have tested negative in the country but results are still pending on about 18,000 others

Once the church cluster was identified, South Korea opened around 50 drive-through testing facilities around the country. In empty parking lots, medical staff in protective clothing lean into cars to check their passengers for fever or breathing difficulties, and if needed, collect samples. The process usually takes about 10 minutes, and people usually receive the results in a text reminding them to wash their hands regularly and wear face masks.

A total of 117 institutions in South Korea have equipment to conduct the tests, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The numbers fluctuate daily, but an average of 12,000 is possible, and maximum capacity is 20,000 tests a day. The government pays for tests of people with symptoms, if referred by a doctor. Otherwise, people who want to be tested can pay up to 170,000 won ($140), said an official at a company called Seegene Inc, which supplies 80% of the country's kits and says it can test 96 samples at once.

There are also 130 quarantine officers like Kim Jeong-hwan, who focus on minute details to track potential patients. The 28-year-old public health doctor spends his whole working days remotely checking up on people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

South Korea: A man wearing mask to prevent the coronavirus (COVID-19) walks along the street on March 13, in Seoul

Kim, who is doing military service, is one of a small army of quarantine officers who track the movements of any potential carriers of the disease by phone, app or the signals sent by cell phones or the black boxes in automobiles. Their goal: To trace all the contacts people may have had, so they too can be tested.

'I haven't seen anyone telling bad lies,' Kim said. 'But lots of people generally don't remember exactly what they did.'

Underlining their determination, quarantine officers told Reuters they located five cases after a worker in a small town caught the virus and went to work in a 'coin karaoke,' a bar where a machine lets people sing a few songs for a dollar. At first, the woman, who was showing symptoms, did not tell the officers where she worked, local officials told Reuters. But they put the puzzle together after questioning her acquaintances and obtaining GPS locations on her mobile device.

South Korea: Shopkeepers wearing a masks to prevent contracting the coronavirus (COVID-19) on March 13 in Seoul

'Now, quarantine officers have maximum power and authority,' said Kim Jun-geun, an official at Changnyeong County who collects information from quarantine officers.

South Korea's government also uses location data to customize mass messages sent to cellphones, notifying every resident when and where a nearby case is confirmed.

Lee Hee-young, a preventative medicine expert who is also running the coronavirus response team in South Korea's Gyeonggi province, said South Korea has gone some of the way after MERS to increase its infrastructure to respond to infectious diseases. But she said only 30% of the changes the country needs have happened. For instance, she said, maintaining a trained workforce and up-to-date infrastructure at smaller hospitals isn't easy.

'Until we fix this,' Lee said, 'explosions like this can keep blowing up anywhere.'

(Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Milan and Josh Smith in Seoul, Julie Steenhuysen in New York; Edited by Sara Ledwith and Jason Szep)
Grand Rapids, MI  The Refugee Education Center recently announced it is expanding into Ottawa County to help more students and their families become fully participating members of the West Michigan community.

The nonprofit has worked closely with K-12 school systems in Kent County for years and will now partner with the Ottawa Area ISD to offer its High School Transitions program to refugee students in area high schools.

Matt Clark, advancement director for the Refugee Education Center, said the High School Transitions program offers broad, individualized support for refugee students. He said the goal is to initially serve 45 students.

Our program coordinator will be engaged in one-on-one counseling with students like a guidance counselor but specific to the refugee population, knowing the nuances and the unique needs within the population, Clark said.

We will be helping those students achieve the goal of a high school diploma and taking it a step further by preparing them for whats next. We want them thinking about and preparing for college or trade school, recognizing their desire to join the workforce and help support their family.

Clark said Michigan is one of the top destinations for refugees in need of resettlement. He said one of the reasons they are expanding into Ottawa County is because of the growth theyve seen in recent years.

He said between 2016 and 2020 approximately 8,700 people resettled in Michigan and Kent County received a higher portion those refugees than previously, with about 55 percent or just over 4,000 coming to the area. Last year, he said they served about 900 children and their parents through various programs and services.

Related: How a nonprofit is helping refugee students, schools

Clark said the Ottawa Area ISD is helping connect them with high school administrators and working with those schools to help identify students for the program. In December, he said the educational agency will be co-hosting workshops with teachers and administrators aimed at enhancing support for refugees.

Besides language and cultural barriers, he said refugee students also are dealing socio-emotional issues related to being forced to flee their country because of persecution, war or violence. He said refugees come to this region from around the world but the most are coming from the Congo, Burma and Bhutan.

The center has partnered with the Kent and Ottawa Area Intermediate School District to provide area teachers and school administrators with ongoing professional development opportunities that include best practices for addressing the unique needs of students of refugee background.

"As our schools continue to warmly welcome immigrant and refugee students with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, we are thankful for strong community partners that can provide services to assist us in building upon the unique assets and meeting the individualized needs of these students, said Pam Schwallier, regional English learner consultant for Ottawa Area ISD, Muskegon Area ISD and Allegan Area ESA, in a statement.

The Refugee Education Center has provided invaluable support for many throughout Kent ISD, and we are looking forward to the expanded services available throughout Ottawa Area ISD as our refugee students and families make Ottawa county their home."

Help with graduation plans and transitioning into post-secondary education is just one part of the program that also has mentoring opportunities and provides age-out support beyond high school age.

Assessments and ongoing support for students are often on-site at area high schools for students age 14 to 20. Participation from students parents or guardians is encouraged.

Clark said their program coordinator with the transitions program, Hannah Werth, will be connecting with students and families over the summer and/or at the start of the 2020-21 school year. He said she and Schwallier have already been working on the new initiative.

"We are focused on how are we supporting our neighbors and the youngest members of our community to really build and create a really exciting and growing community overall,'' Clark said.

The expansion is possible because of a three-year, $28,000 grant from the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area and a one-year, $5,000 grant from the Perrigo Company Charitable Foundation.

"We are thankful that the Communitys Endowment allows us to support the Refugee Education Centers expansion to Ottawa County, said Mike Goorhouse, president of the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area, in a statement.

We look forward to seeing the unique ways this program will help young refugee students in our community thrive now and into the future.

School administrators, English language learner providers, school counselors, and/or parents and guardians who want to learn more about connecting their students to this program, can contact the Refugee Education Center at info@refugeegr.org or call 616.247.9611.

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member of the Rajya Sabha Sanjay Singh here on Thursday accused the central government for Delhi riots, saying it was "conspired and carried out in a well planned manner". "This is my direct allegation," he said.

He questioned the silence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the government and non-deployment of army and other forces to contain the riots, even when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had sent a written request.



"Humaneness and humanity were killed in riots. It didn't happen in a day. The fire was planned before the Assembly polls, and ignited after that," he said.





Singh said one BJP parliamentarian said during the poll campaign that if the people didn't vote for the BJP, women in their houses would be raped. "It's shameful. You incite people of this country," Singh said.



While for three days Delhi was burning, the Home Minister remained silent. "Police remained silent," he said.



Hindus and Muslims were killed. Their houses were torched. 53 people were killed, including one policeman and one Intelligence Bureau official, and the Home Minister was silent, he said.



"What was he doing? Such kind of the Home Minister has no moral right to be in that place. It (government) started riots," Singh yelled. He also questioned why the Home Minister didn't visit the victims.



"Kapil Mishra says he will destroy Delhi. And the judge who ordered registeration of an FIR against, you transferred him out. The judiciary is under threat," he said.



He also questioned about the identity of 300 people who came from UP. "In UP, you have a government. Why no action has been taken," Singh said.
4180 persons are under observation in Kerala, among which 3910 are under home quarantine. (PTI)

Thiruvananthapuram: Two more confirmed cases of Covid-19 novel coronavirus have been reported from Kerala on Thursday, in Kannur and in Thrissur district. The total number of confirmed cases in the state now touches 19, including the three medical students who have been discharged.

The new cases are not connected with the Italy-returned family from Ranni in Pathanamthitta from whom eight persons contracted the virus infection.

The patients have been admitted in the isolation wards at Government Medical College hospital, Pariyaram, Kannur and Government General Hospital, Thrissur, said chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

While talking to media persons in Thiruvananthapuram, the chief minister said that as more cases are being reported, the situation is not fully under control.

Strict screening is being done in all airports. The newly detected persons have been screened and were under the surveillance of health authorities. Though another person in Thiruvananthapuram is suspected to have the infection, it is yet to be confirmed

- Pinarayi Vijayan, chief minister of Kerala

A total of 4180 persons are under observation among which 3910 are under home quarantine while 270 are admitted in hospitals. Of the 1330 swab samples sent for testing 953 samples turned negative.

Sample testing facility has started functioning in government medical colleges at Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.

In the wake of fake messages is being forwarded through social media, the state Public Relations department has launched a mobile app named GOK Direct for disseminating details of the virus, its transmission, prevention and control using text message alerts. The app will be used to circulate instructions for passengers coming from other countries, and persons under isolation.

Minister level review meetings will be conducted in all districts to assess the situation. Government secretaries on leave have been asked to rejoin duty at the earliest.

The state government is planning to constitute a team of community volunteers who will be given training in assisting the health authorities in virus prevention and control.

The chief minister has also promised measures to ensure that expats who are stuck in Kerala due to travel ban are not losing their job. Department of Non Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) will coordinate with embassies in those countries. A call centre will be launched to provide assistance in this regard.
Some Houston restaurants are using infrared devices to take workers' temperatures. Photo: ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP via Getty Images Photo: ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP via Getty Images

Houston restaurants, which will continue to be hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, are taking to social media to let their customers and dining public know they are going to great lengths to conduct sanitary businesses. And some of those measures include taking the temperature of employees.

Phat Eatery in Katy has even removed tables to create more personal space between diners. Phat Eaterys owner Alex Au-Yeung took to Facebook to note that his Malaysian street food restaurant was removing a third of its tables; sanitizing door handles and communal surfaces multiple times an hour; and even checking the temperature of its employees using infrared thermometers three times a day.

We want to (assure) you that we are taking extensive measures for your protection, Phats page states. Amidst this coronavirus crisis, this is more important than ever.

Roost restaurant in Montrose posted on Facebook that it is our absolute word that we take your health in 100 percent concern with every decision. The restaurant stated that its servers will wear gloves and change them every 20 minutes.

Kenny & Ziggys New York Delicatessen restaurants posted a note to customers detailing added precautions such as suspending the use of hand-held tableside pay devices.

H-Town Restaurant Group posted on all its Facebook pages the actions the company is taking to support prevention of possible spread of the virus and promote the health and safety of customers and employees. Writing on behalf of Backstreet Cafe, Hugos, Caracol and Xochi restaurants, owner Tracy Vaught stated that hand sanitizers will be stationed throughout the restaurants and that hard surfaces will be wiped down throughout service. Additionally, Hugos, Caracol and Xochi have suspended their brunch buffet services, switching to a la carte menus.

Dish Society, which has five restaurants in Houston and Katy, posted on Facebook measures it has undertaken including increasing cleaning and sanitizing work surfaces, addition sanitizer dispensers, and conducting daily staff meetings to cover coronavirus updates and sanitation protocols. Beginning March 16 the restaurants also will take employee temperature checks prior to clocking in.

Bartender/restaurateur Bobby Heugel posted on Facebook that he and business partner Justin Yu were implementing additional policies at concepts they own and operate (for Heugel that includes Anvil, Better Luck Tomorrow, Penny Quarter, The Pastry War, Squable and Tongue-Cut Sparrow). Heugel stated that sick employees are not allowed at work; plates and silverware are being cleared with disposable gloves; tables are detailed with sanitizer after each seating; and door handles are sanitized every 15 minutes.

Paulies restaurant took to Facebook to alert customers that Paulies and its adjacent Camerata wine bar are sanitizing door handles, touch screens, chairs, tables, countertops and pagers.

Its unfortunate so many different events have been cancelled thus far. Im sure more will follow this month, owner Paul Petronella wrote. I understand the precautions we should be taking, we dont have a playbook for this type of situation and should not take lightly.

Houston restaurateur Paul Miller, owner of Gr8 Plate Hospitality, said he is being cautiously optimistic about how his restaurants, which include multiple The Union Kitchen and Jaxs Grill locations, will fare as the pandemic continues. For now, though, letting customers know about increased sanitation efforts might help keep people coming in the doors, he said.

Ive been in communication with our leadership team and talked to our GMs and a few fellow restaurateurs. Were doubling down on all of our sanitization procedures. Educating, making sure everybody knows exactly what to do. Talking to staff, asking how theyre doing, making sure theyre healthy and ready to serve, said Miller, who also is on the board of the Greater Houston Restaurant Association. We have a sanitation solution that we use to clean the tables. You should be checking that every half hour or hour to make sure its at the correct levels. Were following procedures and checking the dish machine, checking sanitation water and cleaning utensils, like we always do. If everything is running well, theres nothing to worry about. Were doing everything that we know to stop things like this from spreading.

The owners of Orleans Seafood Kitchen in Katy said they will post on their Facebook page that they are taking the greatest standard of care for anyone that steps foot into our restaurant. Those measures include removing menus from tables (directed to menu board instead), wiping down terminals after every transaction, adding additional hand sanitizers throughout the restaurant, and passing out cutlery kids in lieu of silverware.

Greg Morago writes about food for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Send him news tips at greg.morago@chron.com. Hear him on our BBQ State of Mind podcast to learn about Houston and Texas barbecue culture.
A smartphone with the Huawei and 5G network logo is seen on a PC motherboard in this illustration picture taken on Jan. 29, 2020. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

France to Allow Some Huawei Gear in Its 5G Network: Sources

PARISFrance will authorize the use of some of Huaweis equipment in the rollout of its 5G network, two sources close to the matter told Reuters, despite U.S. calls to exclude the Chinese telecoms giant from the Wests next-generation communications.

The French cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, is due to tell telecoms operators which equipment they are allowed to use for the deployment of their 5G network in France, but has not made public any decision.

The two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said ANSSI had decided to approve the use of Huawei gear, but only for what they described as non-core parts of the network, as these pose less significant security risks.

They dont want to ban Huawei, but the principle is: Get them out of the core mobile network, one of the two sources said.

A spokeswoman for ANSSI declined to comment.

Core mobile networks carry higher surveillance risks because they incorporate more sophisticated software programs that process sensitive information such as customers personal data.

French authorities decision over Huaweis equipment is crucial for two of the countrys four telecoms operators, Bouygues Telecom and Altice Europes SFR, as about half of their current mobile network is made by the Chinese group.

State-controlled Orange, has already chosen Huaweis European rivals, Nokia and Ericsson, which U.S. operates have favored over Huawei.

Up to now, sources close to the French telecoms industry have said they fear Huawei will be barred in practice even if no formal ban is announced.

Britains Footsteps

By granting a partial authorization to Huawei, France would follow Britains footsteps, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson granted Huawei a limited role in the countrys 5G network.

Neighboring Germany is also struggling to reach consensus on the way forward. Chancellor Angela Merkels ruling conservatives back tougher rules on foreign vendors but have stopped short of an outright ban on Huawei.

France is likely to follow instructions given by European Unions industry chief Thierry Breton, who said in interviews that telecoms operators should not select risky vendors for strategic sites such as capital cities, military bases and nuclear plants, a separate telecoms industry source said.

Without ever citing Shenzhen-based Huawei, Breton has said a risky vendor was a company that heavily relies on a foreign state or a state that could compel it to disclose clients data.

ANSSI was initially due to give the first results of the screening of the 5G telecoms gear about a month ago.

The cybersecurity agencys decision was delayed because it asked operators additional questions in December, the same telecoms source said.

But it also has had intense exchanges with its overseeing authority, Frances prime minister office, as well as its British and German peers, to find a common approach toward Huawei, one of the two sources close to the matter said.

Huawei said last month that it planned to build its first European manufacturing plant in France as it seeks to ease concerns stoked by U.S. charges that Beijing could use its equipment for spying.

By Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic
As the 2020 election cycle enters an unprecedented phase of virtual campaigning and social distancing, candidates and party officials are wrestling with how to best adjust amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

There are at least 1,701 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and 40 coronavirus-related deaths, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Tune into ABC News Live at noon ET every weekday for the latest news, context and analysis on the novel coronavirus, with the full ABC News team where we will try to answer your questions about the virus.

(MORE: Coronavirus live updates: Trump expected to declare emergency, LA schools to close)

Here's how the election cycle is rapidly changing.

Trump campaign officially announces virtual shift

President Trump's reelection team officially announced their shift to virtual campaigning, which will include events with top surrogates, online volunteer training and phone banking, the campaign announced in an email.

"Next weeks campaign efforts will kick off with a National Day of Action and National Week of Training," the campaign said in an email, confirming news first reported by ABC News. Sources also told ABC News that all in-person door knocking has been suspended.

While the email announces upcoming events with "top surrogates," the campaign doesn't mention of any upcoming virtual events with the actual candidate, President Trump.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally, March 2, 2020, in Charlotte, N.C. (Brian Blanco/Getty Images, FILE)

Notably, while not clear if planned, the email announcement went out shortly after the abrupt close to Joe Biden's first virtual town hall which had technical problems.

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale boasted of the campaign's "data and technology operation" as the "most sophisticated in history" in a statement:

The Trump campaigns data and technology operation is the most sophisticated in history, so were better positioned to virtually engage voters than any other campaign, said Brad Parscale, Trump campaign manager. We have a huge advantage over Democrats and are well on our way toward our goal of two million trained volunteers, which means we already have a massive army we can mobilize to help re-elect the President.

Story continues

Joe Biden's first 'Virtual Town Hall" is a technical flop; campaign apologizes to participants in email

Former Vice President Joe Biden's first virtual town hall Friday night with voters in Illinois was a rocky affair filled with technical glitches.

The campaign originally advised the town hall would take place on Facebook, but after delaying the start of the event for two hours, and then an additional 30 minutes, the link disappeared around 7:30 pm EST, and reporters had to scramble to find an alternate link to join the event in progress.

Even Biden seemed annoyed with the technical difficulties--apologizing multiple times to the few questioners we were able to hear because of the issues.

I'm sorry this has been such a disjointed effort here because of the connections, Biden said after the aide running the town hall announced it would be ending around 7:45pm EST.

An email to supporters originally listed that the event would be held from 7pm to 9pm EST.

PHOTO: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks about the coronavirus outbreak, at the Hotel Du Pont, March 12, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Biden, who stood before an American flag and Illinois flag, appeared on screen holding a phone that he spoke into throughout the video, and at one point, turned to his left and wandered away from the center of the screen, leading the campaign to put up a slate of his logo as he continued to speak.

During the portion press was able to watch the event, Biden did field one question on how his healthcare plan would deal with the current health crisis, which he answered by pitching a public option, which he says he can actually get through Congress.

Following the event, the campaign sent an email apologizing to participants for how badly things went:

Thank you for registering to cover Vice President Biden's Illinois virtual town hall today. We apologize for the technical difficulties we ran into and will be posting a recording of the full town hall as soon as possible and will be sharing Vice President Biden's introductory remarks as prepared for delivery momentarily," the email read. Thank you for your patience as we continue developing our virtual town halls and ensure voters have the opportunity to connect with Vice President Biden as he lays out his vision for America, the email said.

Donor recently at Mar-a-Lago tests positive for coronavirus, according to Trump Victory email

Trump Victory on Friday informed donors via email who attended a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday that a donor who also attended the event has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to an email obtained by ABC News.

"We unfortunately write today to notify you that an attendee at the Trump Victory-sponsored event you attended at Mar-a-Largo on Sunday, March 8," the joint committee between the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee wrote in an email sent today.

A senior campaign official tells ABC News the donor did not interact with the president. The RNC did not return a request for comment.

Read more here.

Wyoming Democrats cancel in-person caucus method of voting, county convention amid COVID-19 concerns

The Wyoming Democratic Party has decided to cancel its county conventions and the in-person caucus voting method of its contest this cycle amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of its delegate selection plan, the party had already implemented a vote-by-mail option and a ballot drop off option in addition to the in-person caucus, and those will both continue as planned for now.

"We're very glad that we made that change this year, so voters can still participate," Nina Hebert, communications director for the party, told ABC News.

Voters had to register to request a ballot to vote-by-mail by March 10. That date has not changed. All ballots will be sent out today to voters who did that (and a first round of ballots have already gone out). The returned ballots must be postmarked by March 20.

If voters didn't do that, on March 28 or April 4, they can go to a ballot drop off location and pick up/fill out a ballot on site. Additionally, Wyoming residents must be registered Democrats to participate and they must be registered by March 20.

The ballots are rank-choice, to reflect the caucus-style. Candidates can rank up to five candidates, including "uncommitted," and there is no minimum.

The state convention is still planned for June 6. With the cancellation of the county conventions, the party is working on finalizing a plan where the county parties can hold their county conventions electronically to be able to still develop their party platforms and elect delegates to the state convention.

Louisiana moving primary to June 20 violates current DNC rules, party says

Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin announced Friday that the primary that was set to take place on April 4 has been delayed to June 20 -- a move that the Democratic National Committee said runs afoul of the committee's "rule on timing" since all contests must be held before June 9th.

Ardoin said he requested postponing the primary out of an abundance of caution for Louisianas voters, voting officials, and the voting public as a whole.

A key stakeholder in the decision was to protect the election day polling commissioners. More than half of the commissioners are over the age of 65, a population that is particularly vulnerable to the disease.

Safe and secure elections also mean safety to the people of Louisiana, Ardoin said.

He said that they tried to find ways to hold the election but kept running into barrier after barrier."

Ardoin said that he is not sure if any other state is delaying their elections and that he has not gotten any calls from other election officials.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he would sign a separate executive order approving the request.

"The limits on gatherings of 250 people or more statewide is based on federal CDC guidance given the community spread which we are currently experiencing. These steps are necessary to protect the health and safety of the people of Louisiana from the risk of COVID-19," he said in a statement.

At least 45 states have laws on the books that address Election Day emergencies, according to the National Conference of Legislatures. But the laws vary widely between states.

PHOTO: 'I Voted' stickers cover a table at a polling station during the North Carolina primary on Super Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. on March 3, 2020. (Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images)

Only Florida, Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia and Louisiana explicitly give governors the power to move election dates in an emergency. Other governors could likely adjust elections, though they would probably have to work with relevant agencies and state legislatures to do so, rather than acting unilaterally.

In response to the Louisiana secretary of state's request, the DNC notes that changing the primary to June 20 violates the committee's "rule on timing" since all contests must be held before June 9th. Any violation of the rules could result in a delegate penalty.

All contests must happen by June 9 and delegates must be elected by June 20, as stated in the rules passed by the full DNC. The Rules and Bylaws Committee within the DNC will now have to review the request.

"We will continue to work with every state party as they adjust their delegate selection plans around coronavirus. This change would violate our rule on timing which provides that all states hold their contests by June 9th. Any violation of our rules could result in a penalty that would include a state losing at least half of its delegates," a DNC spokesperson told ABC News. "This change will be reviewed by the Rules and Bylaws Committee."

Former Vice President Joe Bidens campaign has already responded to the postponement. Bidens Deputy Campaign manager and Communication Director Kate Bedingfield released a statement encouraging those who are still well to go out and vote in primaries Tuesday, and suggesting those who are at risk or have been expose explore other ways to vote.

Voting is at the very heart of who we are as a democracy. As election officials working with public health officials are demonstrating throughout the country, our elections can be conducted safely in consultation with public health officials. If voters are feeling healthy, not exhibiting symptoms, and dont believe they've been exposed to COVID-19, please vote on Tuesday. If voters are members of an at-risk population, exhibiting symptoms, or have been exposed to a diagnosed case of COVID-19, we encourage them to explore absentee ballots and vote by mail options, Bedingfields statement read.

Meanwhile, officials in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio released a joint statement saying they "are confident that voters in our states can safely and securely cast their ballots in this election, and that otherwise healthy poll workers can and should carry out their patriotic duties on Tuesday."

"As each of our four states prepare for voters to head to the polls on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, we are working closely with our state health officials to ensure that our poll workers and voters can be confident that voting is safe," the statement read.

Sanders says postponing primaries is a 'tough question,' campaign is 'thinking through' work-arounds

In yet another press conference from his hometown of Burlington, Vermont on Friday--his third in three days-- Sen. Bernie Sanders again outlined proposals to address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and pitched his signature Medicare for All plan, saying that the outbreak could be the turning point at which the public begins to question the fundamentals of the American health care system.

Working from a teleprompter -- something rare on the campaign trail for Sanders -- the senator largely repeated his remarks from Thursday, calling for scientists to take the lead on the response to the emergency, arguing that the costs of testing and treatment need to be made affordable, and pushing for the expansion of safety net programs for those economically impacted.

As to whether upcoming primaries should be delayed amid the pandemic, Sanders acknowledged it was a tough choice.

"Rescheduling elections is not something we do lightly or should do lightly. On the other hand, at this particular moment, it is absolutely appropriate that public officials, governors, etc., listen to public health officials," he said.

He also stressed President Trump should be tested for coronavirus, given reports he's been in close proximity to people affected.

"I would. You know,I was asked early on, to the best of my knowledge, I have not been in proximity to somebody who had the virus. If I knew that I was, I would get tested, and I think that holds true for the president," he said.

States scramble to move polling places, stock up on hand sanitizer and recruit poll workers

Local election officials are stocking up on rubber gloves and hand sanitizer, moving polling places away from nursing homes and encouraging early and mail-in voting to combat the growing coronavirus crisis in the middle of an election year.

Logistically, election officials have scrambled to relocate dozens polling places out of senior homes and away from vulnerable populations, taking steps to notify voters where they can and reduce health risks for elderly voters where they havent been able to move operations.

Officials are encouraging more early voting and voting-by-mail to help people avoid long lines at their polling places on Tuesday. Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio are among the 39 states with early voting laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislature.

State and local election officials are concerned about having enough workers at polling locations around the country next week, worried that volunteers, who tend to be older, will drop out with concerns about the coronavirus.

Officials across the states are circulating polling location-specific guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, encouraging volunteers and workers to stock up on cleaning supplies and offering to reimburse them for any extra equipment they need to purchase.

Read more about those efforts here.

Two-thirds of Americans concerned about contracting coronavirus, as country grapples with growing crisis: POLL

Two-thirds of Americans are concerned that they or someone they know will be infected with the novel coronavirus, but in a country with a growing partisan divide, political tribalism is having a large impact when it comes to anxiety over the disease, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Friday.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19)? (ABC News/Ipsos Poll)

Although unease over the coronavirus is high, it also strongly breaks along partisan lines. Among Democrats, 83% are concerned about getting coronavirus, including 47% who are very concerned, and among Republicans, 56% are concerned, including only 15% who are very concerned. Only 17% of Democrats are not concerned while a larger 44% of Republicans are not concerned.

Read more of the poll's findings here.

Trump campaign calls Biden a "rotting corpse of a candidate" on Twitter

A growing pandemic hasn't stopped the Trump campaign from escalating their attacks on Democratic frontrunner Joe Bidennow calling the former vice president a "rotting corpse of a candidate" on Twitter.

In a tweet on Friday, the official Trump campaign account appeared to reiterate an opinion piece from the The Washington Times, blasting Biden as what they called a "rotting corpse of a candidate."

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, March 12, 2020, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)

The tweet follows Biden's continued criticism of the president's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. The former vice president delivered a speech designed to hammer Trump's response to the outbreak on Thursday, arguing that the virus had "laid bare the severe shortcomings of the current administration.

Hours later, the president himself fired back at Biden on Twitter, and tried to use the Obama/Biden administration's handling of the Swine Flu in 2009 to argue his own response to the coronavirus has been "one of the best."

ABC News' Luke Barr, Meg Cunningham, Chris Donato, Kendall Karson, Adam Kelsey, Molly Nagle, Quinn Scanlan, Ben Siegel, Will Steakin and Johnny Verhovek contributed to this report.

Coronavirus and the 2020 campaigns: Candidates experiment with virtual campaigning with mixed results originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 21:33:57|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Chinese expert Xu Yonghao demonstrates wearing a protective suit in Baghdad, Iraq, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

A Chinese medical team is helping Iraqi health authorities fight against the COVID-19 outbreak and brings China's experience to benefit the country.



by Zhang Miao, Jamal Hashim

BAGHDAD, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese team of seven health experts is providing guidance and medical assistance to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraq.

The experts are helping Iraqi health authorities prioritize response strategies, fill testing gaps and bring China's experience to benefit the worn-torn country.

Chinese medical team members arrive at Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad, Iraq, on March 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

PRIORITIZE RESPONSE STRATEGIES

Iraq's first detected case is an Iranian student who tested positive on Feb. 24. Most confirmed cases in Iraq have a travel history in neighboring Iran, an epicenter of the outbreak of the coronavirus in the Middle East.

Iraqi Health Ministry on Thursday confirmed that there are a total of 83 COVID-19 cases across the country, of whom eight have died and 24 recovered.

Baghdad, the worst affected area in the country, has reported 32 confirmed cases. Iraqi authorities have tightened precautionary measures, including closure of schools, restaurants and malls and suspension of Friday prayers for Muslims.

However, concerns mount because Iraq's fragile health system has been racked by decades of conflicts and sanctions. The country now faces severe shortages of medical supplies, such as masks and personal protective equipment.

Furthermore, health authorities have struggled to update daily confirmed numbers and assess the overall situation because of a lack of a nation-wide infectious disease prevention and control plan and a digital surveillance system.

Sent by the Red Cross Society of China, seven Chinese health experts, including epidemiologist, nucleic-acid testing expert, critical-care specialist and other medical experts, arrived at Baghdad International Airport on Saturday night.

Based on preliminary assessment by the team, Han Mengjie, expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that Iraq is still in the early stages of the epidemic of COVID-19.

However, he warned that further spread is possible because cross-border travelers are still being smuggled into Iraq from the sprawling border with Iran.

Han said that Iraq needs to implement a national strategy to fight against COVID-19, and community-based prevention measures should be given priority.

In addition, religious and tribal leaders should encourage the public to focus on practicing hand sanitation, avoiding mass gathering and wearing masks, he added.

Chinese experts conduct video epidemic prevention guidance in Baghdad, Iraq, March 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

FILL TESTING GAPS

According to a COVID-19 situation report issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), local transmission has been recorded in Iraq.

However, the Central Public Health Laboratory in Baghdad is the only place that has equipment to conduct PCR testing in Iraq, with an inadequate number of diagnostic kits donated by WHO. So far, the lab has tested some 700 suspected cases with symptoms, of which approximately 10 percent tested positive.

"We don't know the situation on the ground," said Assad Mahdi, deputy director general of Iraqi Health Ministry's Public Health Department. He told Xinhua that Iraq needs to widen surveillance and expand testing.

Early testing paves way for early detection and treatment, said Tao Zhongquan, leader of the Chinese medical team, highlighting that China donated lab equipment, PCR machines and 50,000 fast diagnostic kits to Iraq.

Adham Abdel-Moneim, WHO representative in Iraq, said that with China's donation, the country can implement a broader testing strategy to test more samples.

Workers sterilize a house of a family infected with COVID-19 in the province of Kirkuk, Iraq, March 8, 2020. (Xinhua)

BENEFIT FROM CHINESE EXPERIENCE

As WHO declared that COVID-19 is characterized as pandemic, international community should demonstrate solidarity to contain the spread of the virus.

The Chinese team not only brings medical equipment to Iraq but also its experience in clinical guidelines, case management as well as infection prevention and control that are required at this stage in Iraq.

By visiting local hospitals and carrying out technical briefing with Iraqi health officials and experts, the Chinese medical team shares their expertise in combating the virus.

Rana Hajjeh, deputy director for WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, led a six-member team working in Iraq to assess the preparedness and response in the country.

"I think the experience from China is extremely helpful to us including its large database and the experience in managing to decrease the number of the infected cases," Hajjeh said.

"I do believe the experience of China in terms of clinical management is a wealth for this country to benefit from," Abdel-Moneim noted. 
Karnataka imposes weekend curfew to contain the surge in Covid-19 cases; details here

Google employee in Bengaluru tests positive for coronavirus

India

oi-Deepika S

Bengaluru, Mar 13: Tech Giant Google has confirmed, one of its employees in Bangalore office has been diagnosed with Covid-19 and the company has told all its employees to work from home.

The 26-year-old man had recently returned from Greece and reportedly visited several places in the Karnataka capital.

"We can confirm that an employee from our Bengaluru office has been diagnosed with COVID-19. He was in one of our Bengaluru offices for a few hours before developing any symptoms. The employee has been on quarantine since then," the tech giant said in a statement.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking employees in that Bengaluru office to work from home from tomorrow. We have taken and will continue to take necessary precautionary measures, following the advice of public health officials," it added.

All job interviews at Google offices to be virtual as it restricts visits to curb coronavirus risk

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

The state government has started precautionary measures around the Google staffer, who is believed to be the sixth virus case.

"Primary contacts (of the 26-year old man) have been traced and are asymptomatic. Home quarantine has been advised and follow-up is being done," state health minister Sriramulu was quoted by news agency PTI.

The employee reportedly had no symptoms and was allowed inside the Google office as he did not have fever. When he felt unwell a few hours later, he was taken to hospital.

The cab in which he travelled from the airport back home has also been found and the driver and his family are quarantined at home, say reports.

This is the third case where an employee of a tech giant has been diagnosed with coronavirus followed by Dell India and Mindtree.

A 76-year-old man who died two days ago in Karnataka while being treated for suspected coronavirus has become India's first COVID-19 fatality with his samples taken earlier confirming the infection.

The Union Health Ministry has confirmed 76 coronavirus cases so far.
The global economy will almost certainly not grow this year, and may even go into recession, as a result of coronavirus. We know from the 2008/9 financial crash that the weakest economies are likely to be hurt the most, so parts of Northern Ireland could have a tough time this year.

Brexit provides additional challenges for the whole of the UK, but especially for Northern Ireland. Businesses here have little idea what the Irish Sea border will mean in terms of customs paperwork, or even whether the trade talks with the EU will collapse and the likely impact of that on border arrangements.

This limits the capacity to plan or invest, further undermining our economy.

The impact of coronavirus is unlikely to be just a one or two-month difficulty.

Our health service is already in crisis. If it can handle the coronavirus crisis on top of its existing crisis, a lot of people will be very surprised, as well as happy.

Fundamental NHS reform, backed by the funding to enable it to happen, cannot be delayed.

Not doing so is a serious risk to the health and wellbeing of people here, but also to our economy.

We cannot afford to have lots of people too ill to work. That would further damage our already weak level of productivity.

We also need to consider how our economy will be reshaped this year, either temporarily or, in some cases, permanently.

It is difficult to see how the cruise industry will survive intact. The outbreaks of Covid-19 on both the Grand Princess and Diamond Princess illustrate how cruise liners can provide a perfect environment to spread a virus.

Few people are likely to want to go on a cruise holiday this year or next, damaging a trade that was scheduled to deliver tens of thousands of visitors to Belfast this year and in the following years.

Airlines are also in bad shape and the ban by Donald Trump on passenger flights from continental Europe to the United States will make their situation much worse.

The sector will suffer much more widely than just the collapse of Flybe, which was already in serious trouble before coronavirus hit its bookings and cash flow.

Korean Air has grounded 80% of its fleet and warned staff it may not survive. Other airlines, including Norwegian and South African Airways, are already struggling.

We can expect some airlines to fold, others to merge and a significant reduction in flight numbers this year.

It is still too early to guess how long that reduction will continue.

At home, it is difficult to see Belfast City Airport replacing all the destinations and flight schedules lost with Flybe's collapse.

Many in Northern Ireland had hoped Chancellor Rishi Sunak would this week lift Air Passenger Duty on flights between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, recognising the special circumstances here in terms of our reliance on these air links.

Instead, he announced a review. Without that assistance, we can expect a significant reduction in air connectivity for Northern Ireland.

The wider damage to the tourism sector was recognised in the Budget. Sunak provided business rates holidays for small firms in the tourism and leisure sector - in England.

Northern Ireland's Finance Minister, Conor Murphy, has warned that copying the measure here would cost 200m, which he doesn't have.

Ironically, business rates reform in Northern Ireland was shifting the rates burden from struggling retailers to what had been a booming hotel sector, yet hotels are now in the front line in terms of lost trade.

Restaurants are also reporting a significant reduction in trade. Derry has seen some of its restaurants and cafes close in recent weeks following a difficult winter. Coronavirus is likely to cause many more to cease trading across Northern Ireland.

Measures announced by the Chancellor will help some businesses - deferring payment of taxes and the provision of some grants and loans can assist firms through difficult times.

But if the international tourism sector fails to recover quickly - and it may not, given the damage to consumer confidence - then these moves may merely delay the collapse of some traders.

I have always been concerned about the focus on tourism in terms of Northern Ireland.

It can be of value in adding to a functioning economy, but it should not be relied on at its core.

For Northern Ireland, we need to boost our high-value manufacturing and private sector services. True, the Wild Atlantic Way has been great for many parts of the Republic, but the reality is that many jobs created in the sector are badly paid, part-time, seasonal and zero-hours.

There was some relief in the Budget for vulnerable workers in terms of the Government paying statutory sick pay for the first two weeks of a person being off work, providing quicker payment of the Employment and Support Allowance and easing the rules for the self-employed to receive Universal Credit.

But there are lots of people on zero-hours contracts who will fall ill, be in preventative isolation,or laid off. Without savings to fall back on, they are at risk of not having the financial support they need.

The really big question is, what impact will the coronavirus pandemic have on the global economy for the rest of this year and beyond that?

There was already a limited move to 'near-shoring' (bringing production back closer to markets) in order to increase speed to market, provide greater production flexibility and reduce carbon emissions. That trend may now accelerate.

We can expect people to travel less this year, holidaying nearer to home and more home working and less commuting.

With Belfast just recognised as having the most congested roads of any city in the UK outside London, that would be welcome.

An economy with more home working requires good broadband, yet many parts of Northern Ireland suffer from poor broadband connectivity.

Plans to roll out faster broadband will need to themselves be sped up.

It is too soon to say that Covid-19 means life will never be the same again. But it is certainly making businesses, workers and consumers pause for reflection about working and travelling behaviour. Some things will now be different.
Early episodes, written by Simon and Burns, struggle to find the sliver of space that exists between topical significance and emotional consequence. Characters tend to expound rather than converse, having arguments with one another that sound more like op-eds than the range of personal experience. Spectors Herman is saddled with passionate diatribes; Kazan, as Bess, is able to give a much more effective performance, shaded in an awareness that the life she and her husband envisioned for themselves is inexorably crumbling away.
CHI Memorial is actively monitoring new developments related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Tennessee and Georgia, and across the United States. As the situation evolves, all CHI Memorial Hospital locations are making changes related to visitation and operationally.

Since the beginning of the flu season, the hospitals have implemented seasonal restrictions, and those are still in place. In light of the COVID-19 situation, the hospitals are reinforcing those restrictions and taking additional precautionary steps.

Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation phase 3 will be closed through March 27. There is no change to cardiac rehabilitation phase 2. Group classes will continue as usual.

Visitation

To protect patients, visitors to the oncology unit (4 East) or Intensive Care Units are limited to only close family members and preferably one at a time.

No school age children visit these units. Officials request that visitors to all patients be limited to only necessary individuals.

Visitors with fever, cough, sore throat or other flu-like symptoms are not permitted to visit any area of the hospital until the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided. People who have traveled to high-risk area for COVID-19 or had contact with a person know to be infected with COVID-19 are not permitted to visit any area of the hospital until the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided.

The pet therapy program has been suspended until further notice.

The church meal service is suspended until further notice.

The farmers market is suspended until further notice.

The visiting musicians program is suspended until further notice.

Volunteers

For the safety and well-being of volunteers, officials are temporarily pausing volunteer programs. Many volunteers at CHI Memorial are over age 60 and are particularly vulnerable should they be infected with COVID-19.

CHI Memorial is working with CommonSpirit Health and the health departments at the state and local levels, as well as with local governments on community response.

CHI Memorial advises patients to avoid emergency rooms unless symptoms are severe, such as high fever, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. Patients should contact their regular health care provider by phone first if they are experiencing symptoms like cough, low-grade fever, or other respiratory issues.

CHI Memorial encourages everyone to use standard precautionary measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Wash your hands frequently; its one of the most important steps in avoiding COVID-19 and other illnesses, including the flu. And if you are sick, stay home. If you develop a fever and lower respiratory symptoms, such as a cough, talk with your physician or care provider.

For more information on how to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, visit memorial.org/coronavirus or cdc.gov/coronavirus.








Health authorities are preparing for a hospital surge as the spread of the coronavirus accelerates in Australia, with the peak body for intensive care medicine outlining an ambitious plan to double the number of ICU beds equipped with ventilators to more than 4000 to deal with a spike in demand.

The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society will on Monday hand new guidelines on critical care for patients with COVID-19, quickly drawn up by a working group of 30 intensive care experts, to Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy, to guide the federal government's planning for a rapid increase in cases.

"If it was a truly catastrophic situation, we could potentially in Australia double the number of ICU beds for a period of time," the society's president Anthony Holley told the Sun-Herald and Sunday Age.

Australia would need 2000 extra ICU beds to cope with a 'catastrophic' spread of COVID-19. Credit:AP

This would mean adding more than 2000 new intensive care beds to hospitals around the country, he said, a task that would require some hospital wards to be converted into intensive care units and fitted with ventilators - machines that help patients with pneumonia to breathe.
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Friday approved reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank under which SBI will acquire 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden private sector bank.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Union Cabinet has approved the reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank as suggested by the Reserve Bank.

On March 5, the RBI imposed a moratorium on Yes Bank, restricting withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per depositor till April 3.

The RBI also superseded the board and placed it under an administrator, Prashant Kumar, former deputy managing director and CFO of SBI.

Giving details about the scheme, Sitharaman said SBI will invest for 49 per cent equity in Yes Bank and other investors are also being invited.

There will be a three year lock-in period for all the investors, she said. However, the lock-in period for SBI would be only for the 26 per cent of the shareholding.

The authorised capital of the lender has been increased to Rs 6,200 crore from Rs 1,100 crore, the finance minister said.

Sitharaman said the scheme has been approved with the objective of protecting the interest of depositors and providing stability to Yes Bank as well as to the entire financial system.

The moratorium on the bank will be lifted within 3 days of notification of the reconstruction scheme, while its board will be in place in 7 days, she said.

On Thursday, SBI said it will invest Rs 7,250 crore in Yes Bank, which is much higher than Rs 2,450 crore it had planned initially for 49 per cent stake in the private sector lender that began operations in 2004.
A managing director of a mercantile credit society was kidnapped from Kamothe, taken to Pune where he was held hostage for a day and let go only after he paid  37.1 lakh to his kidnappers. The victim had gone to Kamothe from south Mumbai after a man called him to discuss a fixed deposit of 5 crore.

Satyanarayan Rao Bhandari, 45 , who is originally from Hyderabad, heads the AP Mercantile Cooperative Credit Society Limited. Bhandari arrived in Mumbai in February to open a new branch of the credit society. On March 6, he received a call from a man named Ankit Jain. Jain said he owns a garment shop in Kamothe and wants to deposit 5 crore in the society.

When Bhandari asked Jain to meet him at their new branch in Bhuleshwar in south Mumbai, Jain cited the long distance and asked Bhandari if he could come to his Navi Mumbai shop.

Bhandari and the branch manager Syed Moinuddin went to Kamothe by train. At the railway station, a man approached them and told Bhandari that Jain had sent a car to pick him up. The person asked Moinuddin to wait at the station.

Two more people got in the SUV. They snatched Bhandaris phone, forced him to unlock it and demanded a ransom of 1 crore. When he said he does not have the money, they went through his messages to check his account balance, said an officer from Kamothe police station.

The two assaulted Bhandari in the car and took him to Pune where they kept him at a farmhouse. The accused made him transfer 37.1 lakh in their account and left and a day later, dropped him at a bus stand on Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The accused gave him a ticket to Mumbai and put him in a bus.

The case was registered in Nagpur and has been transferred to us. We will record the statement of the complainant when he arrives here on Monday, said Babasaheb Tupe, senior inspector at Kamothe police station.

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While we're all trying to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, one way to deal with the anxiety stemming from everything happening is to watch some of your favorite comfort shows to get you through it all.

Sure, it may sound simple, but professionals actually suggest there is some science behind it. Will Meyerhofer, a New York-based psychotherapist and author, said watching our favorite old shows can be a useful tool for dealing with anxiety and mild depression.

"For my clients, these old shows are like the food they grew up with. 'The Brady Bunch' or 'The Facts of Life' or 'The Jeffersons' is like that beloved bologna sandwich on Wonder bread with just enough mayo the way mom used to make, he told TODAY last year.

In therapy terms, it's an instant  and for the most part healthy  regression in the service of the ego, Meyerhofer added.

So, if you need a break from the news, a good binge-watch will remind you that if Kevin Arnold can get through middle school, we can get through this.

1. "The Golden Girls"

Image: THE GOLDEN GIRLS (Getty Images)

Slide up a chair on the lanai, grab a slice of cheesecake and join Blanche, Rose, Dorothy and Sophia for some laughs.

Where to watch: Hulu

2. "Cheers"

CHEERS KELSEY GRAMMER as Dr Frasier Crane, TED DANSON as Sam Malone, WOODY HARRELSON as Woody Boyd [front row] JOHN RATZENBERGER as Cliff Clavin, RHEA PERLMAN as Carla Tortelli, KIRSTIE ALLEY as Rebecca Howe, GEORGE WENDT as Norm Peterson [Front] , (Alamy)

A stiff drink with Sam Malone and the eccentric gang at the bar where everybody knows your name is always welcome  especially since this is offered on both Netflix and Hulu.

Where to watch: Hulu, Netflix

3. "Seinfeld"

Seinfeld (NBC)

Sure, your anxiety may go up a little when watching the show about nothing, but the familiar high jinks and antics this quartet gets into time and time again are so familiar, it will distract you.

Where to watch: Hulu

4. "Saved by the Bell"

Saved by the Bell (NBC)

Now is no better time to familiarize yourself with the gang at Bayside High, especially before the upcoming reboot premieres.

Where to watch: Hulu

5. "Parenthood"

2015 TV Land Awards (Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images)

Although there is plenty of drama that fills the lives of the Braverman bunch, seeing how they are able to help one another and pick up the pieces may be enough to remind us how to deal with what we're going through.

Story continues

Where to watch: Hulu

6. "This Is Us"

This Is Us (NBC)

If you haven't gotten into this prime-time favorite, you have plenty of time to do so now.

Where to watch: Hulu

7. "Will & Grace"

Will & Grace - Season 1 (NBC)

While the new episodes are great, rewind with the first few seasons of this sitcom classic to remind yourself why you fell in love with Will, Grace, Jack and Karen.

Where to watch: Hulu

8. "The Wonder Years"

THE WONDER YEARS (Getty Images)

Nothing says nostalgia like "The Wonder Years," which looks back on the joys and tribulations of growing up in a typical suburban household in the '60s.

Where to watch: Hulu

9. "The Brady Bunch"

Image: THE BRADY BUNCH (ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images)

Depending on what generation you grew up in, a rerun of The Brady Bunch can trigger happy childhood memories, needed now more than ever.

Where to watch: Hulu

10. "Gilmore Girls"

Image: (The WB)

The quick wit between this mother-daughter duo is always a good pick-me-up.

Where to watch: Netflix

11. "Full House"

Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen (Getty Images)

The Tanner family's adventures are the perfect distraction while you're cooped up indoors.

Where to watch: Hulu

12. "Glee"

Cast of the show

The fabulous musical montages and Broadway bravado make for the perfect soundtrack.

Where to watch: Netflix
Italian influencer Chiara Ferragni urged followers on Instagram not to underestimate the problem of coronavirus, and called out celebrities like Kendall Jenner for sharing uninformed opinions.

Ferragni, whose Instagram feed is followed by over 18 million people, has traded glamorous fashion week and luxury vacation photos for house look of the day pictures as she and her family are required to stay in their Milan home as part of the country-wide coronavirus quarantine in Italy.

Over the past week, Ferragni has been vocal on social media about the seriousness of the virus, which has reportedly infected over 15,000 in Italy, making the country the worst to be hit with coronavirus after China where it originated.

Chiara Ferragni and Fedez in Milan, Italy / Getty Images

On Monday, the 32-year-old and her husband, Italian rapper Fedez, organized a Go Fund Me campaign to help with the crisis, as hospitals became overwhelmed with patients. The couple developed the page with Professor Alberto Zangrillo, head of the cardiovascular and general intensive care department at Milans San Raffaele hospital, where funds were to be donated.

Since it was first posted, the Go Fund Me page has raised over $4 million, including a 100,000 euro donation from Ferragni and her husband, according to WWD.

Ferragni models her "house look of the day" during coronavirus quarantine / Chiara Ferragni via Instagram

But as Ferragni pushed to help Italy and raise awareness for other countries, she also called out those who have downplayed the issue, specifically model Kendall Jenner, who Ferragni starred alongside in a Giambattista Valli campaign for H&M in 2019.

The situation is really getting out of control because there are so many complications connected to this disease, especially breathing problems, Ferragni began in an Instagram story.

Ferragni attends the 2019 amfAR Cannes Gala with Kendall Jenner / Pascal Le Segretain/amfAR/Getty Images for amfAR

I read so many bad comments and so many jokes about coronavirus saying, Its just a f**king flu. And guys, I can assure you, its not just a f**king flu. It might be for some people, but for so many others, it gives so many complications, she continued, speaking in English, which is her second language.

If so many people get sick at the same time, like its happening in Italy, the hospital will collapse because we dont have enough intensive care units and breathing machines to help everybody - even young people that have complications, she explained, adding, The problem here is not the mortality rate.

An infographic shared by model Kendall Jenner / Kendall Jenner via Instagram

Ferragni then went on to address recent Instagram story posts from Jenner. In her stories, Jenner shared a series of infographics from various sources like the China Centre for Disease Control & Prevention, which highlighted how mild the seriousness of symptoms was, before she shared a story that encouraged fans to swipe up to buy her Moon teeth whitening products.

Its so important to spread the right messages right away and raise awareness, Ferragni continued, saying, People that have such a huge voice like Kendall Jenner, please dont underestimate the problem, Ferragni added, tagging Jenner in the post.
Finance Minister on Friday said that the Union Cabinet has approved the reconstruction scheme for as proposed by the and the moratorium will be lifted within three days after the notification is issued.

Hours after the Cabinet approved restructuring scheme for YES Bank, private lenders ICICI Bank, HDFC, and came to the cash-strapped bank's rescue.

said its board has approved investing Rs 1,000 crore in "This investment is likely to result in Ltd holding in excess of 5 per cent shareholding in Yes Bank," the lender said in a regulatory filing.



is set to invest Rs 1000 crore.

will pour Rs 600 crore to pick up 60 crore shares of The in its regulatory filing said, "The board has approved to invest a sum of up to Rs 600 crore for acquiring up to 60 crore equity shares of Rs 2 each of Yes Bank Limited, for cash, at a premium of Rs 8 per equity share."

And infusing an equity capital of Rs 500 crore under the RBI's bailout plan.



As part of the YES Bank restructuring plan, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) would buy around 1.35 billion shares at a price of Rs 10 apiece, according to TV report.

State Bank of India yesterday said it would infuse Rs 7,250 crore into ailing YES Bank to pick up to 49 per cent equity as part of the Reserve Bank of India-mandated bailout plan.

The developments of other investors came hours after Finance Minister said that other investors are also being invited.There will be a three year lock-in period for all the investors, Sitharaman said. However, the lock-in period for SBI would be only for the 26 per cent of the shareholding.



The authorised capital of the lender has been increased to Rs 6,200 crore from Rs 1,100 crore, the finance minister said, adding that the scheme has been approved with the objective of protecting the interest of depositors and providing stability to Yes Bank as well as to the entire financial system.The finance minister further added, "a new board will be constituted and two directors from SBI will be made its members. Seven days after the notification to lift the moratorium the Administrator will vacate his office."

SBI cannot reduce its holding below 26 per cent for the next three years. The SBI investment of Rs 7,250 crore is much higher than the Rs 2,450 crore it had planned initially for 49 per cent stake in the private sector lender.



On March 5, the RBI had imposed a moratorium on the country's fifth-largest private-sector lender, restricting withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per depositor till April 3 following a serious deterioration in the bank's financial position. The central bank had also superseded the board and placed it under an administrator, Prashant Kumar, who is a former deputy managing director and chief financial officer of SBI.

The private sector lender is scheduled to announce its results for the third quarter ended December 2019 (Q3FY20) on Saturday, March 14.

YES Bank is banking on investment by SBI, speedy resolution with support from the RBI and SBI, and fundraising plans to instil confidence among customers, according to administrator. Today, shares of YES Bank closed 2 per cent higher at Rs 25.55 per share against around 4 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The stock has surged a mammoth 424 per cent from Fridays low of Rs 5.65

To know more, listen to this podcast
By Trend

The non-commodity sector share in Azerbaijan's economy is 60 percent, however there is some dependence in country's export, which affects the behavior of country's economic agents, Assistant on economic issues to the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Khalid Ahadov said, Trend reports.

He said that the facts and expectations always affect the behavior of consumers.

"The first fact is that coronavirus spreading affects behavior of consumers. The second fact is that oil prices have decreased by nearly $20, which is led to banks' customers forming certain expectations. However, it should be noted that the budget and macroeconomic structure of Azerbaijan differs of some countries, for example from Russia. Azerbaijani economy is built in such a way that via some kind of 'buffers' the influence of changes in oil prices is prevented. Changes in oil prices can affect the budget insignificantly or have indirect influence," he said.

Talking expectations of banking services users on the foreign currency market, Ahadov reminded that over the period of 2014-2016 sharp decrease in oil prices affected the banking sector.

He added that following that time, the banking sector has undergone significant preparations, a great number of banks have accumulated major funds.

Ahadov explained that banks do no provide foreign currency denominated loans to physical entities, which is an important factor to banks steadiness.

Lately all banks have been operating in enhanced mode due to the great number of customers. It should be mentioned that certain safety measures are being taken against coronavirus threat, however banks will also be operating on holidays, and the demands will fully be met. No queues will be observed before the banks, he said.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The federal government wants technology companies' aid in helping students continue their education, as more are asked to do so from home amid the coronavirus outbreak, putting unprecedented pressure on America's network.

Representatives from companies including Amazon, Google, IBM and Cisco met at the White House on Wednesday with officials who asked the firms how they can help manage the crisis. The discussion ranged from how the technology companies could use their data to help track the virus to rooting out misinformation spreading online, according to people familiar with the discussions and a meeting readout.

The meeting included U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios and representatives from departments including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, Department of Education and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Participants in the meeting described the tone as collaborative, with each company offering their own ideas and ways to help.

Of keen interest to some of the people who either dialed into the call or participated in person was how companies will support schools and companies as the country deals with quarantines, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon are among the states that have already asked some students to learn from home.

Nearly 43% of the American population do not have broadband or high-speed internet access, according to testimony by Gigi Sohn, a fellow at the Institute for Technology Law & Policy at Georgetown University, before Congress earlier this year. Roughly 18% of schoolchildren in remote rural areas either had no home internet access or dial-up connections only, according to a 2018 Education Department report.

"Few school districts have experience providing wide-scale educational services online for all students, and not all families have access to home computers and high-speed internet to take advantage of such online options," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., wrote to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, seeking guidance on how schools using online learning can work for students without computers or access to the internet.

Murray's home state has been one of the states hit hardest by the coronavirus epidemic.

Some lawmakers are hoping that companies such as Microsoft, Google and Apple, which make educational devices, or work with manufacturers that support their service, will either provide those products to schools in need for free or give them priority purchases, a person familiar with the situation told CNBC. That issue was not a focus in the White House meeting, a person familiar with the situation said.

Microsoft, Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Google said earlier this month it is rolling out free advanced video-conferencing capabilities to all customers of G Suite and G Suite for Education cloud-computing product.

On Friday, Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., and other Democrats sent a letter to communication providers including T-Mobile, AT&T, CenturyLink, Verizon and Comcast asking them to outline any potential plans they are considering implementing to address connectivity challenges related to the pandemic, particularly for individuals who are impacted by the digital divide.

"As an operator of a network so critical to ensuring vital education, health, and employment continuity, we hope that you are thoughtfully considering all the ways you can serve the broader community during this worldwide challenge," wrote McNerney and 11 other Democrats.

The representatives asked the companies how they are working with schools to help those without broadband services and what steps they are taking to provide low-income, highly affected areas broadband connectivity.

There are limitations, though, to how quickly companies could move to broaden their bandwidth to meet the country's immediate need. The FCC had sought to expedite the expansion, announcing in April new initiatives aimed at making it easier for internet providers to more rapidly expand into rural areas. But, even then, carriers need more wireless spectrum, and an auction to supply that doesn't begin until December.

Still, there are steps companies could do with their existing infrastructure, such as opening their networks for free.

The FCC on Friday said major internet providers have agreed not to cancel service for consumers who can't pay due to coronavirus for the next 60 days and open its Wi-Fi hotspots to any American who needs them.

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, meantime, has called on the agency to identify how it can use its authority to provide Wi-Fi hotspots on loan for students whose schools have closed. She's also called on companies to remove potentially prohibitive data limits.

Comcast on Thursday announced plans to expand its affordable "Internet Essentials" program by increasing speeds and offering 60-day complimentary programs. Verizon also announced plans to increase network infrastructure investment by $500 million.

Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC.


Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on Friday tweeted that he has been banned by airline Vistara, more than two months after he was grounded by four other airlines for heckling TV journalist Arnab Goswami on an IndiGo flight.

Air vistara has also banned me now till the 27th April, following orders like they show... at a time where no one can fly, all I want to say is, neither am I sorry nor am I surprised, nor am I suffering... pic.twitter.com/LSYHDkNzDD  Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) March 13, 2020

Kamra was banned from flying by four airlines on January 28, after he tweeted a 111-second video that showed him heckling Goswami on a Mumbai-Lucknow flight. Neither the journalist nor the pilot had lodged a formal complaint against Kamra. But once the video was circulated, there were calls for action against the comedian.

IndiGo specified a six-month period while other airlines  Air India, Spicejet and GoAir  imposed an indefinite ban on him.

Sources: Vistara Airlines has also banned stand up comedian Kunal Kamra from flying till 27 April. Decision was made after investigation of internal committee of Indigo concluded.A flying ban was imposed on him on Jan 28 this year for heckling journalist Arnab Goswami on a flight pic.twitter.com/3UYn7Bjmwy  ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

Aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on February 27 told the Delhi High Court that IndiGo airlines flying ban imposed on Kamra in January had been reduced to three months.

Kamra had approached the aviation regulator against the flight ban, asserting that the airline hadnt gone by the rulebook in his case. He pointed out that Captain Rohit Mateti, the pilot who was incharge of the flight, hadnt complained against him as should have been done under aviation rules relating to unruly passengers.

Justice Navin Chawla had pulled up the regulator at the last hearing for its tweet backing the airlines decision to impose the flight ban and refusing to act on Kunal Kamras representation to him. The judge told the regulator that once Kamra had lodged a complaint before the DGCA, claiming violation of Civil Aviation Rules by the airlines, the regulator could not say it would not look into it.

After the court was informed about the decision to reduce the duration of the flight ban, the judge disposed of Kunal Kamras petition but gave him the right to come back with a fresh plea if the regulator did not take a call on his representation within the next two months.

In a video clip posted by Kamra in January, he was seen asking the journalist if he is a coward or a journalist. While Goswami can be seen sitting in the plane and watching something on his laptop with his earphones plugged in, Kamara continued to troll him.
Friday, March 13th, 2020 (7:24 am) - Score 11,126

Something like this had to happen eventually. BT Group has confirmed that their CEO, Philip Jansen, tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday and has followed the Public Health England protocols to self-isolate. The telecoms chief recently met with the UK Culture Secretary (Oliver Dowden) and leaders of O2, Vodafone and Three UK.

As youd expect, Jansens office and other parts of the BT Group HQ are currently working with PHE to undertake a full deep clean of relevant areas, while also ensuring that any employees who may have had contact with the CEO are informed about the situation.

On top of that he has also informed those he recently met, including the bosses of the aforementioned mobile operators and the Culture Secretary. At this stage its unclear if any of those people have been tested for the virus or gone into self-isolation until they know the outcome.

According to some research, symptoms of the virus could appear as soon as three days after exposure to as long as 13 days later, which creates a worryingly wide window for the contagion to spread before people become aware. At this stage its unclear if BTs CEO was continuing to shake hands or had already been adopting distancing measures and different forms of greeting than a handshake.

Philip Jansen said: Having felt slightly unwell I decided as a precaution to be tested. As soon as the test results were known I isolated myself at home. Ive met several industry partners this week so felt it was the responsible thing to do to alert them to this fact as soon as I could. Given my symptoms seem relatively mild, I will continue to lead BT but work with my team remotely over the coming week. There will be no disruption to the business.

Naturally we wish Philip a speedy recovery and hopefully his case will serve as a reminder of the need to do things differently for awhile. We are not in normal times.
Ivanka Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr posed for a photograph with Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton days before he tested positive for coronavirus.

The trio stood shoulder to shoulder in Washington DC on March 5 as part of a meeting between officials from the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US.

The next day, she attended an event at Mar-a-Lago with her father and Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, the same day that one of Bolsonaro's aides tested positive for the virus.

Senator Lindsey Graham has self-quarantined because he was at Mar-a-Lago at the same time as the infected aide Fabio Wajngarten, but the White House has not said whether Trump or his daughter Ivanka have been tested or taken extra precautions.

Dutton confirmed on Friday morning, March 13 - a week after their meeting - that he had tested positive after returning to Australia.

He has since been being treated in the hospital and the severity of his condition remains unknown. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in isolation after his wife tested positive.

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MARCH 5: Ivanka and Barr posed with Australian minister Peter Dutton (right) at the White House. He has since tested positive for the virus

MARCH 7: Trump, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro (left) and Ivanka among a table of dignitaries at Mar-a-Lago. One of Bolsonaro's aides tested positive for the virus that day

Trump has not addressed whether or not he has been tested since spending time with Bolsonaro.

The White House said earlier this week that he had not.

It is not known whether Ivanka or Barr, or any other officials who are not showing symptoms have been infected.

As of Friday morning, there were more than 1,700 cases of coronavirus in the US and 41 people had died from it.

The government has predicted that as many as 150million Americans will eventually become infected.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House coronavirus expert, said on Friday morning in an interview on Good Morning America that he did not want to comment on Trump's condition or whether or not he should get a test.

He said that if it were him, however, he likely would.

'I leave that to the president's white house physician who is an extremely competent individual who I know well, and the decisions there were between what would be a potential patient and the physician,' he said.

Bolsonaro is waiting for the results of his COVID-19 test. He and Trump are shown shaking hands on March 7

'Likely I would, but I'm not sure. It depends on the circumstances. We should follow the guidelines of the CDC about when you are at a risk what you should do,' he added.

Fauci went on to say that the current state of crisis could last for up to eight weeks.

Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for coronavirus on Mach 6

Flights from Europe to the US are stopping at midnight on Friday.

Americans who are overseas will be able to come home unless they too test positive for the virus in which case, according to comments made by the president, they will not be allowed to board planes.

A state of emergency has been declared in New York City, Broadway has shut down and large gatherings of more than 500 people have been banned.

Businesses have been told they must operate at half their legal capacity - putting enormous strain on shift workers and small business owners, some of whom have been advised to shut up shop until the chaos subsides.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday the situation may last for six months.

MARCH 7: Wajngarten (right) posed for photos with President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence at Mar-a-Lago just days before he recieved his positive test results

This is the rate of growth of coronavirus cases in the US since January. Experts are predicting that 150million will become infected
FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2019 photo, guests watch a show near a statue of Walt Disney and Micky Mouse in front of the Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Disney officials said Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, that the iconic Cinderella Castle would be renovated over the next several months. The most noticeable changes will be the addition of gold trim to most of the castle and the darkening of the blue hue on the castle's turrets. Work on the castle will last through the summer. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)AP

Hours after Disney Parks announced the closure of Disneyland Resort in California, Disney World and Disneys Paris park are added to the list of upcoming closures, the company announced Thursday.

In an abundance of caution and in the best interest of our guests and employees, we are proceeding with the closure of our theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Paris Resort, the company said. The closures will begin at end of day Sunday and run through March 15.

Disney Cruise Line is also suspending new departures through the end of the month, starting Saturday, the company said.

The hotels at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris will remain open until further notice, the company said. The retail and dining complexes, Disney Springs at Walt Disney World and Disney Village at Disneyland Paris, will remain open.

Disney employees in the U.S. who are able to work at home are being asked to do so, the company said, including those at Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Television, ESPN, Direct-to-Consumer and Parks, Experiences and Products.

Read more on PennLive:

For complete coronavirus coverage, click here.
NANUET, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / Bryan Paarmann knows the value of teamwork better than most. A veteran and former FBI Special Agent, he recounts multiple times in life in which a critical outcome depended on the cohesion of his team. Likewise, throughout his decades-long career as a national security professional, there have been numerous instances in which others have relied on him and his team to get things done.

Bryan Paarmann's father, a former FBI agent and WWII veteran taught his son the importance of teamwork and leadership from an early age. When Bryan Paarmann graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, these lessons were driven home as he completed peacetime and combat assignments in the U.S. and abroad as an infantry officer in the Army.

Upon completing his military service, Bryan Paarmann followed in his father's footsteps and became an FBI agent. It wasn't long before he established himself as a very capable professional in the Bureau. He was promoted through the years with each successive job increasing in scope and responsibility. Eventually was appointed to lead the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) as a Special Agent in Charge of the New York Office Counterterrorism Division.

The JTTF is one of the nation's front lines of defense against domestic and international terrorism. Joint Terrorism Task Force structure consists of cadres of professionals from various Local, State, and Federal government organizations all housed under one roof and working collaboratively with each other across organizational lines to mitigate terrorism threats. By leveraging different authorities and capitalizing on capabilities and expertise in security, analytics, investigation, linguistics, and other areas, the Task Force is able to focus, combine, and apply the totality of U.S. efforts and most effectively keep the American people safe. The JTTF is a one-stop-shop capable of addressing the terrorism threat from multiple angles simultaneously from inception to resolution.

The New York Joint Terrorism Task Force is one of the largest and oldest of the 102 JTTFs nationwide.

Reflecting on his time with the NY JTTF, Bryan Paarmann said that his time working with some of the most capable partners in the business on one of the most critical missions was one of the greatest honors in his life. He said that it really was a "one team, one fight' approach. He focused on utilizing innovative techniques and collaborative leadership skills to instill cross-organizational unity and commonality of effort among his JTTF colleagues and local, national, and international partners.

As Andrew Carnegie said, "Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results."

With his ability to seamlessly coordinate efforts between multiple organizations in the New York area and beyond to protect the community and nation, Bryan Paarmann and the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force are an excellent example of how impactful successful teamwork can be.

To inquire about booking a training or speaking engagement with Bryan Paarmann FBI, connect with him via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-paarmann-11a4a1aa/

CONTACT:

Caroline Hunter

Web Presence, LLC

+1 7865519491

SOURCE: Web Presence, LLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/580603/Bryan-Paarmann-FBI-retired-Discusses-the-Importance-of-Teamwork
Pentagon officials announced late Thursday that US and British warplanes had launched airstrikes against multiple targets in Iraq in retaliation for a missile attack the day before on a military base north of Baghdad that killed two US troops and one British medic while wounding over a dozen other coalition troops. The number of Iraqi casualties from the attack was not initially reported.

According to a US official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, the targets for the US bombing raids were sites associated with the Kataib Hezbollah militia, one of the largest components of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the coalition of largely Shia-based militia groups. Baghdad designated the PMF as part of Iraqs armed forces after the militias played the predominant role in defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which had routed government troops and overrun a third of the country in 2014.

Let me be clear: The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests or our allies, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told a Pentagon press conference. All options are on the table as we work with our partners to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The missile attack on Wednesday saw 18 Soviet-era Katyusha rockets rain down on Camp Taji, north of Baghdad. The attack and the US-led retaliation could reignite military conflict with Iran, threatening to drag the Middle East and the world into war.

Esper told reporters Thursday that US President Donald Trump had given the military authorization to do what we need to do, while claiming that the US military was focusing on Shia militia groups in Iraq which it believes were responsible for the attack.

There is widespread speculation in the media that the US will refrain from a direct attack on Iran under conditions of the mounting crisis over the coronavirus pandemic and the collapse of financial markets in the US and worldwide. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is attempting to salvage a crumbling agreement providing for a US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The administration, however, may still seize on the missile attack in Iraq as a pretext for launching a major military action for the very purpose of shifting public attention from the increasingly catastrophic consequences of its criminal incompetence and indifference in the face of the pandemic.

There were no initial reports of Iraqi casualties resulting from Thursday nights air raids. Previously, however, warplanes struck positions held by Iraqi Shia militia groups near the Syrian-Iraqi border town of Albu Kamal, reportedly killing at least 26 people. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the casualties and said that US warplanes had carried out the raid. The US Central Command, which oversees American military operations throughout the region, however, claimed that none of its planes had carried out operations in the area. Israel has also conducted continuous bombing raids in Syria over the past nine years.

Iraqi Shia militias have been deployed to Syria to join with government troops in combating the US-backed Al Qaeda-linked militias that have served as Washingtons proxy ground forces in a war for regime change aimed at toppling the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The town of Albu Kamal, bombed on Wednesday night, sits astride a strategic land route linking Iranthe Assad governments closest regional allythrough Iraq and into Syria.

Wednesdays attack on the base north of Baghdad came after over 20 others launched against US-linked facilities, including the American embassy in Baghdad, over the past several months.

The Pentagon also charged the Kataib Hezbollah militia with responsibility for an attack late last December that killed a US military contractor in northern Iraq. It retaliated with air strikes in western Iraq that killed at least 25 fighters, which in turn provoked angry demonstrations in Baghdad and the storming of the US Embassy.

This was followed by the January 3 US drone missile assassination of Gen. Qassem Suleimani, one of Irans most senior officials, after he arrived at Baghdads international airport aboard a commercial flight and passed through Iraqi customs with his diplomatic passport.

Killed in the same drone strike were Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the chief of the Kataib Hezbollah militia and deputy leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces, along with several other Iraqis and Iranians.

Initially, Trump administration officials claimed that the strike was carried out to preempt imminent attacks being prepared by Suleimani against US forces in the Middle East. This phony pretext was later dropped, with Trump claiming that he needed no such justification and that the attack was justified as an act of vengeance for attacks on US troops by the Iraqi resistance to the American occupation. It has since become clear that Suleimani was targeted because he was carrying out a diplomatic mission to Iraq as part of an attempt to defuse tensions with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and break up Washingtons anti-Iranian axis with the Gulf oil monarchies and Israel.

Wednesdays missile attack on Camp Taji was carried out on what would have been Suleimanis 63rd birthday. Not only the Iranian government, but Shia-based militias in the Middle East and beyond have vowed to take revenge on the US for the assassination. Shia militias in Iraq have made similar statements about avenging the killing of the PMF leader al-Muhandis.

Irans immediate response to the killing of Suleimani was a ballistic missile attack on the al-Asad Airbase in Iraq, which left some 110 US troops with traumatic brain injuries. In the aftermath of this strike, both Washington and Tehran appeared to draw back from the spiral of attacks and counter-attacks that threatened to unleash all-out war.

The renewed clashes come in the midst of a continuing crisis of the Iraqi government, which has been besieged by mass protests against social inequality, joblessness and rampant corruption within the state apparatus that was forged by the US invasion of 2003 and the subsequent American occupation.

Iraqs Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi has proven unable to form a new government, as demanded by the mass protests. Meanwhile, the Iraqi parliament is confronting Washingtons open defiance of its demand made last January, in the wake of the Suleimani assassination, that the 6,000 US troops remaining in Iraq be withdrawn.

Instead, the Pentagon has indicated that it intends to deploy US Patriot missile batteries in Iraq to counter any possible new threat from Iranian ballistic missiles. US Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of CENTCOM, told the House Armed Service Committee on Tuesday that the Pentagon was in the process of bringing air defense systems, ballistic missile defense systems, into Iraq in particular, to protect ourselves against another potential Iranian attack.

Last month, Iraqs caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi addressed a letter to US Defense Secretary Esper warning that any deployment of Patriot missile batteries would be in defiance of the Iraqi government and would inflame popular opposition by signaling that the US has no intention of withdrawing its troops.

For its part, Tehran opposes the Patriot deployment as an attempt to secure US troops in Iraq for the purpose of freeing the Pentagons hand to carry out a war of aggression against Iran by reducing the threat of retaliation.

There is little likelihood that Tehran ordered Wednesdays rocket strike against the US-led occupation forces in Iraq. The country has been plunged into a deepening crisis by the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit it harder than any other country with the exceptions of China and Italy. The devastating maximum pressure campaign by Washington to drive the countrys oil exports down to zero and cut it off from the world market has denied it essential medical supplies. The Iranian government has issued an appeal to the International Monetary Fund for $5 billion in emergency funding to deal with the outbreak. It is hardly likely, under these conditions, to launch a military confrontation with the US.

Even as the world, and the United States itself, reels from the consequences of the pandemic and the failure of capitalist governments to either prepare for or adequately respond to its devastating effects, Washington continues to pursue its predatory interests in the Middle East and across the planet. The renewed violence in Iraq makes it clear that the threat of US imperialism dragging humanity into a catastrophic regional and even world war continues unabated.
Judge orders his release

The dethroned Emir oF Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, has won the first round of the battle in court, defeating the Federal Government and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State over restriction on his freedom.

Accordingly, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday granted an interim order releasing the deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, from detention.

Justice Anwuli Chikere granted the order while delivering judgement on the exparte motion filed on behalf of the deposed Emir by Lateef Fagbemi SAN.

The judge noted that the order for the release of the dethroned Emir should be served on the respondents to the application.

The respondents to the application marked FHC/ABJ/CS/357/2020 include, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Muhammed Adamu; the Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi; the Attorney-General of Kano State, Ibrahim Muktar, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN). They are state agents or appointees acting the mandate of either Governor Ganduje or President Muhammadu Buhari.

The judge, thereafter, fixed March 26, 2020, for the hearing of the substantive suit challenging his detention.

The former Emir had earlier on Thursday approached the court seeking an interim order of the court directing his immediate release from detention.

He prayed the court to order his release from the detention and or confinement of the respondents and to restore his rights to human dignity, personal liberty, freedom of association and movement in Nigeria, (apart from Kano State) pending the hearing and determination of the applicants originating summons.

Sources from Nasarawa told National Daily that the court order has been served on the respondents this Friday.

PV: 0
(Alliance News) - The chief executive of BT Group PLC has tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the first publicly confirmed case of a FTSE 100 chief executive who has coronavirus.

Philip Jansen tested positive for the virus on Thursday afternoon and is self-isolating, as advised by Public Health England, the company said.

In a statement to the PA news agency, Jansen said: "Having felt slightly unwell I decided as a precaution to be tested. As soon as the test results were known I isolated myself at home."

The BT boss said he decided to go public because he had attended an industry event earlier in the week with other mobile phone operators.

Attendees are now being contacted and given further advice, BT said.

Jansen, 53, added: "I've met several industry partners this week so felt it was the responsible thing to do to alert them to this fact as soon as I could.

"Given my symptoms seem relatively mild, I will continue to lead BT but work with my team remotely over the coming week. There will be no disruption to the business."

Employees who have been in contact with the chief executive have been advised to self-isolate.

Jansen has been chief executive of the telecoms group for just over a year.

source: PA

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020

The Gunungkidul Investment and Integrated Service Agency in Yogyakarta has not issued a building permit (IMB) for the regional classis office of the Javanese Christian Churches (GKJ) in Grogol I village, Bejiharjo, Gunungkidul regency, amid protests from residents despite a 2018 court ruling that supported the offices establishment.

We cannot see it as black and white. We will issue the permit when there are no more refusals from residents, agency head Irawan Jatmiko told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The Gunungkidul regency administration and the local Interfaith Harmony Forum (FKUB) conducted a mediation session, which included the Grogol 1 villagers and the executive body of the Gunungkidul classis, at the regency hall on Tuesday. However, no agreement was made between the two parties.

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Former President Jerry John Rawlings has commended the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) for its efforts to mechanise cocoa farming in the country.



He said the board's decision to replace the age-old cutlasses and machetes used to prune cocoa trees and weed farms, with motorised pruners and slashers was forward-looking and the right step to help sustain the cocoa business.



The Former President made these comments when a team from COCOBOD demonstrated how the motorised pruners and slashers were used to him in his office in Accra.



The demonstration followed an invitation that Mr Rawlings extended to the Board to come and show him how the equipment, which were unveiled this Tuesday, would be operated by the cocoa farmers.



The Former President, who was noticeably impressed with the demonstration, thanked the management of COCOBOD for focusing on the wellbeing of cocoa farmers, and for introducing mechanisation to reduce the backbreaking labour of the farmers. He encouraged further steps to be taken to mechanise more aspects of cocoa farming.



Explaining the rationale behind the introduction of the slashers, Dr Emmanuel Nii Tackie-Otoo, the Head of the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) of the COCOBOD said COCOBOD had banned the use of weedicides because of their harmful impact on the soil and on the ecosystem of the farming communities.



The decision, he added, was then taken to introduce an effective means of weeds control on the farms, hence, the slashers. He noted that the machines were dual-purposed; for weeding and for pruning.



We realized that the continuous use of weedicides was having a serious effect on our cocoa and the soil, so, management decided to engage experts to design this machine to provide an alternative way of controlling weeds while preserving the environment and the cocoa, he said.



A Senior Manager at the Public Affairs Department of COCOBOD, Mr Fiifi Boafo, also added that the introduction of the equipment is part of COCOBODs larger Productivity Enhancement Programmes (PEPs) aimed at increasing national cocoa production, improving the wellbeing of farmers and attracting the youth.



The PEPs, Mr Boafo, said include mass pruning, hand pollination, cocoa rehabilitation and the cocoa irrigation programme, which is presently being piloted. All these farmer-focused interventions enhance the very nature of cocoa farming, leading to more earnings and enhancement in the living standards of the farmers.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The 19th-century stained-glass windows at Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Americas depict an auburn-haired Mary and a teenage Jesus with ginger hair. The church at 273 Central Ave. was built in 1867 by Irish immigrants who often donated their labor. When they were prosperous enough to buy stained-glass windows for the church (originally named for Saint Patrick) they enjoyed seeing some of Ireland reflected.

The windows are richly colored and so detailed, they're almost cinematic. St. Patrick stars in one window. His rough robes are replaced by a silver-trimmed green velvet cape studded with emeralds, rubies and sapphires.

He offers a shamrock to an angry king holding a giant sword.

"That king wanted to behead Patrick but Saint Patrick converted him," explained Frank DeNucci, who has been a congregation member since he was a baby. Both he and his friend, Judith Houck (who traces her roots to German immigrants) were christened in the church's ornate marble fountain.

DeNucci describes himself as "100 percent Italian." As he and Houck offer visitors a tour of the stained glass, it's clear how proud they are of the church and the welcome it has given for 153 years to immigrants.

In 2010, the church was renamed Our Lady of the Americas. It offers services in both Spanish and English. But it also has church members from Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan and Iran.

And art lovers come to see the Austrian-made stained glass.

The red hand of the O'Neill crest fills one pane. DeNucci tells the legend of men sailing along the Northern Ireland coast. Their king promised that the first whose hand touched the land would rule it. A man named O'Neill cut off his hand and threw it onto the beach.

The spectacular rose window features winged angels with flowing hair plus a wingless girl with short brown hair. DeNucci explains that the window's donor sent the Austrian artist a photo of his daughter who died at age 20 so she could be among angels.

Her long tresses were cut because they were too uncomfortable when she was plagued by typhoid fever.

The windows were made by Austrian artists and the church provides a jewel box of a setting.

"(The architect) laid out a Church design that was unique and audacious," DeNucci wrote in a history of the church he researched. "He designed the church building to be a wide open space, with no pillars, no alcoves to distract the eye. It was a ground breaking design."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Houck is delighted new immigrants are taking places in the pews. But she worries the congregation may be too small to maintain its building. A February church bulletin reminded worshippers that $2,500 per Sunday collection were needed "to break even."

She hopes the downtown congregation can grow.

"I hope we can reach out to our neighbors more and welcome them," Houck said.

She believes church after-Mass social hours and many ministries like Family Promise (church members host homeless families who stay a few nights) will attract newcomers.

As Saint Patrick's Day approaches Tuesday, she wishes the church's name were even more inclusive since many members came from further away than Central America. Maybe Our Lady of the Immigrants?
(JNS)In what is being dubbed as a historical development, Israels Transportation Ministry announced this week that it is moving forward with plans to extend the new Tel Aviv-Jerusalem high-speed rail line in order to connect Ben-Gurion International Airport directly to the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

The new route for the railway extension was approved by the National Planning and Construction Commission. It will feature a 1.8-mile underground tunnel with two new stations, including one adjacent to the Khan Theatre Complex in downtown Jerusalem and the other inside the Old City.

Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich hailed the announcement, saying the new line would help ease Israels transportation crisis. In fact, recent studies show that Israel suffers the worst traffic congestion out of all OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) nations.

At the same time, the minister said that new line allows us to advance a Zionist and Jewish ideology.

Tourists arriving in Israel will be able to hop on a train straight to the Western Wall as their first destination while visiting the country.

In response to the new rail line, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan-Nahoum told JNS we are thrilled that the Transport Ministry has decided to build the train line from Tel Aviv directly to the center of our capital city and the beating heart of our people. This is the modern expression of King Davids vision of Jerusalem and the Old City as the place where people ascend to from Israel and indeed across the world.

Rabbi Steve Burg, CEO of Aish HaTorah, with headquarters based in the Old City of Jerusalem, told JNS that the extension of the high-speed rail to the Old City of Jerusalem is a major achievement for Israel. Jews from around the world will be able to land at Ben-Gurion and in a short amount of time be at the Western Wall to be spiritually uplifted. Its the perfect blend of modern technology and ancient spirituality.

Might improve hotel prices in Jerusalem

But not everyone is praising the approval. As JNS reported earlier this week, Jordan officials called the move a flagrant violation of international law.

Its foreign ministry spokesman, Daifallah al-Fayez, insisted that the international community assume its responsibilities to resist the illegitimate and illegal Israeli steps.

Jerusalem resident Yomi Groner, a licensed tour guide with Israels Ministry of Tourism for the past 11 years, hailed the project, telling JNS that Israel has a massive problem, especially in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem vis-a-vis public transportation. With the planned development of a business center at the entrance to Jerusalem, you are going to have major problems getting from one part of the city to the other. But if you can ride a train across the city, it will be more beneficial to the majority of people.

He added that unless you are going to tell people not to drive cars inside the city of Jerusalem, this is the only solution which is realistic and effective.

Groner said colleagues in the tourism and travel industry, including bus drivers and mini-bus drivers, as well as tourists themselves have been complaining about the situation for years. He noted that some of the problems include not only the traffic itself, but a lack of parking available near tourist sites around the Old City.

He did acknowledged that while under construction the train project will most likely be a headache for Jerusalem residents, but in the end, it is a must to alleviate the congestion.

At the same time, he mentioned, it might improve hotel prices in Jerusalem.

Groner said, If people know they can stay outside of Jerusalem and hop onto a train and get to the Old City, maybe it will start pushing hotels in Jerusalem to bring down their prices.

Smotrich concluded his comments on the announced approval, saying, The Temple Mount and the last standing remnant of the Holy Temple, the Western Wall, represent our [the Jewish] right to exist here. Millions of visitors come on pilgrimages and are forced to hike to the Western Wall due to a lack of proper transportation. The Jewish state cannot allow such a reality, and today we have taken an important step towards a solution.

A rail line to the Western Wall is a huge development for Israeli citizens and millions of tourists who enter the gates of Jerusalem, he continued. This is an exciting moment for the State of Israel and for future generations. This is a true expression of Zionism.
Authorities in Kosovo have announced the first two cases of novel-coronavirus infection to hit Europe's newest independent state just as global health experts say the continent has become COVID-19's new "epicenter."

Kosovar Health Minister Arben Vitia said one of those who tested positive for the virus that causes the potentially deadly, pneumonia-like COVID-19 illness is a 77-year-old Kosovar man and the other is a 20-year-old Italian woman.

Both are reportedly in stable condition.

Vitia told a news conference attended by Prime MInister Albin Kurti that both patients are at a Pristina-area clinical center.

The former Yugoslav republics of the Western Balkans have mostly shown relatively low levels of infection despite their proximity to Italy, which has been early European hub of the new coronavirus.

After a day that saw the first confirmation of coronavirus cases in Ukraine, Kosovo's neighbor Montenegro is the lone European country that has not reported any COVID-19 cases.

World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on March 13 that COVID-19 deaths had surpassed 5,000 and that "Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic" that began late last year in central China.

Ukraine

Ukraine has reported its first novel coronavirus death. Authorities said on March 13 that an elderly woman died after being hospitalized a day earlier in a western region of the country, prompting security officials to announce a border closure to foreigners within two days.

Later, the speaker of the country's parliament said authorities would be shutting down all air traffic after March 16.

Officials were also said to be shutting down most of Ukraine's 200-plus border crossings, which could deal a blow to the 2 million or so Ukrainians who work as migrant labor elsewhere in Europe.

Ukraine has announced three confirmed cases of infection by the new coronavirus.

The 71-year-old woman who died of the resulting COVID-19 illness, a resident of the town of Radomyshl in the Zhytomyr region, had reportedly felt unwell after returning from Poland on March 1 but did not initially seek medical care.

Ukrainian authorities said the borders would be closed to foreigners for two weeks but Ukrainian nationals would be allowed back into the country.

"In 48 hours, our country will close the border to foreigners," Oleksandr Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said.

State media said Ukrainian citizens who have been to any country with an acute outbreak of the virus will be allowed to enter but must comply with special observation procedures.

The Healthy Ministry said the woman who died was hospitalized on March 12 after her COVID-19 test came back positive.

Her case was the third confirmed coronavirus infection in the country.

Iran

Iranian security forces have been ordered to clear the streets across the country within 24 hours as the government struggles to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Major General Mohammad Bagheri, the armed forces chief of staff, made the announcement on March 13, saying in televised remarks: "Our law enforcement and security committees, along with the Interior Ministry and provincial governors, will be clearing shops, streets and roads."

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry announced another 85 deaths from the virus, pushing the total number of fatalities in the country to 514.

Iran, one of the countries most-affected by the pandemic outside of China, reported a total of 11,364 diagnosed infections as of March 13.

Critics fear the real number of cases, however, could be much higher as questions swirl over the government's transparency with regard to the issue.

Clerical rulers have already closed schools and universities and suspended religious, cultural, and sports events across the country to combat the outbreak.

On March 12, Tehran said it was seeking a $5-billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help finance the countrys efforts to fight the contagion.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on March 12 to immediately lift sanctions over the countrys nuclear program. He said they made it difficult to import medicine and medical equipment.

COVID-19 Symptoms

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's Health Ministry says it has recorded the Central Asian nation's first four confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus.

Health Minister Elzhan Birtanov said in a statement on March 13 that a Kazakh woman who returned to Nur-Sultan from Italy had tested positive for the virus.

The statement came just hours after Birtanov had announced the country's first two positive cases, a woman and a man who returned to Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, from Germany. Both are Kazakh nationals.

A fourth case was announced hours later.

Earlier in the day, Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev held a meeting with government members and a coronavirus task force after which he suspended trips abroad for officials due to the coronavirus alert.

"Trips abroad for state and other officials will be banned. Only trips aimed to ensure the security of our citizens and the country will be allowed," Toqaev's official website said.

Toqaev also ordered the cabinet to provide financial support to companies and organizations to help them cover paid leaves of their employees who have to stay at home with their children as early spring break at schools was announced due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The president called on state and government entities to focus on public relations with citizens to prevent panic associated with rumors about the spreading of the virus.

RFE/RL correspondents reported from Almaty that local residents have stormed grocery stores and other shops buying food and other items en masse in recent days.

Also on March 13, Toqaev wrote on Twitter that his country "faces the task of keeping the economy in a sustainable development mode in a completely new reality," while in another tweet, he said his government "will fulfill all of its social obligations."

At the meeting with cabinet officials and the coronavirus task force, Toqaev ordered the government to allocate 300 billion tenges ($740 million) to create more jobs via infrastructure maintenance projects in the oil-rich former Soviet republic.

Kazakhstan's national currency, the tenge, plunged to all-time lows in recent days following the abrupt fall in oil prices and chaos in the world's stock markets caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Bulgaria

Bulgarias parliament has voted unanimously to declare a monthlong national state of emergency to help stem the spread of the coronavirus in the southeastern European nation.

We are showing people that we are thinking about them at a difficult time," Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said after the March 13 vote, which came as the Bulgarian Football Union suspended all soccer matches for one month.

The state of emergency allows the imposition of measures such as travel bans to and from countries with large coronavirus outbreaks and the closing of schools and universities.

Police will also be permitted to intervene when the imposed isolation of infected people is not observed.

Earlier this week, the Balkan country confirmed its first death of a patient who had the virus, while the number of confirmed cases jumped to 23.

On March 12, Borisov said "legal considerations" should be put into place to set penalties for noncompliance by those ordered into quarantine, asserting that 14 people who were supposed to be under quarantine did not observe the procedures.



"In some countries, the penalties are up to seven years in prison.... Let's not get there, but a fine of 5,000 leva ($2,857) should be considered, he told the Council of Ministers.



He also told the council that "discos, bars, and nightclubs -- where people sweat and hug -- should be closed immediately," but no decision regarding such establishments or restaurants was immediately taken.



Bulgaria has already limited indoor gatherings to 250 people, and the government has urged businesses to be flexible and allow employees to work remotely if possible.

Russia

A lawmaker in the Russian Duma and other deputies who had contact with him were ordered into self-quarantine on March 12 after it was discovered that he had been to France.

State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin had Liberal Democratic Party of Russia lawmaker Sergei Katasonovs parliamentary entry badge taken away and Katasonov was told to isolate himself for 14 days.

Let the quarantine pass. With regard to aides with whom he had contact -- there should be the same decisions, and, colleagues in the faction, be sympathetic. Here is the row where our colleague was located, and the row in front and behind is under quarantine, " Volodin said.

Russia on March 12 reported six new cases of coronavirus infection, including four in Moscow, one in Kaliningrad, and one in the Krasnodar region. Altogether, Russia has 34 registered cases. No deaths related to COVID-19 have been recorded in the country.

The virus has infected 2,876 people in France, of whom 61 have died, making it the country's worst health crisis in a century, French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address to the nation the same day.

On March 5, Russia started heightened prevention measures and everyone who has been to some of the hardest-hit countries with the coronavirus like China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, Germany, and Spain, have been told to self-isolate themselves for 14 days.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 deemed the new coronavirus a global pandemic and urged countries to take aggressive measures to prevent the outbreak from worsening.

Some 125,000 people have been infected worldwide and about 4,600 have died -- most of them in China but with numbers now rising elsewhere.

Some 68,000 have recovered from the virus, which is generally only fatal for elderly people and those with preexisting health problems.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, AP, UNIAN, Espreso.tv, TASS, dpa, and Hromadske
NEW YORK - Charles Wuorinen, winner of the 1970 Pulitzer Prize in Music and composer of the operas Brokeback Mountain and Haroun and the Sea of Stories, died from injuries sustained in a fall last September. He was 81.

Wuorinen, who composed more than 270 works, died Wednesday at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, spokeswoman Aleba Gartner said Thursday.

Known for much of his career as an admirer of the 12-tone system of composition, Wuorinen was opinionated.

We have a world in which the instant response of the untutored becomes the sole criterion for judgment, he told The New York Times in 1988, ahead of his 50th birthday. A great work like a Beethoven symphony becomes like a blob of toothpaste. There is the bored orchestra. There are the indifferent audiences. They wait it through. They applaud. They leave.

Just two years ago, he decried the awarding of that years Pulitzer Prize in Music to hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar, telling the Times that signalled the final disappearance of any societal interest in high culture.

Born in New York on June 9, 1938, Wuorinens father, John, was chairman of Columbia Universitys history department. Wuorinen received a bachelors degree from Columbia in 1961 and a masters in music two years later.

He won the New York Philharmonics Young Composers Award when he was 16 and premiered a choral work O Filii et Filiae (Sons and Daughters) at Town Hall in 1954.

Wuorinen was 32 when he won the Pulitzer for Times Encomium, a four-channel work for synthesized sound that became the first electronic composition to earn the honour.

His work was cerebral. Haroun, based on a childrens novel by Salman Rushdie and with a libretto by James Fenton, premiered at the New York City Opera in 2004. It opened with references to Boccaccio, Proust, Tolstoy and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Actions that befuddle were called P2C2E  a Process Too Complicated to Explain. The chorus sang out: This is minimalism, prompting the audience to a laugh.

Brokeback, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys in love, was first adapted into a movie and then an opera. It was commissioned by New York City Opera but moved to Madrids Teatro Real and premiered in 2014 after City Opera filed for bankruptcy.

It is very beautiful, as the film shows, Wuorinen told The Associated Press, but it is definitely not sentimental. It is not a romantic landscape. Its a deadly one  its dangerous.

Brokeback finally reached the reconstituted New York City Opera for its American premiere in 2018.

Longtime Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine was among Wuorinens advocates and conducted the 2008 premiere of Time Regained, a fantasy for piano and orchestra. Levine commissioned five works by Wuorinen, including his Fourth Piano Concerto for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and pianist Peter Serkin for its premiere in 2003.

Wuorinen wrote six compositions for the New York City Ballet. His last completed work was his Second Percussion Symphony, debuted by Miamis New World Symphony last September.

He is survived by his husband of 32 years, Howard Stokar.
POP-up urinals have been suggested as a way of reducing the number of people peeing in public.

One in every 18 fines given out under a ban on anti-social behaviour has been for urination.

Street-drinkers remain the biggest issue  accounting for three-quarters of the 143 breaches since the public space protection order was introduced two years ago.

The figures were discussed by Rotherham Councils Improving Lives select commission.

Cllr Clive Jepson said: Should we be looking at providing more public conveniences rather than closing them down?

It does seem that theres a need for them at some point in time, judging by these figures.

Cllr Rose McNeely said: About ten years ago, as part of the planning board, I had to visit Reading and they have two Urilifts.

Through the day, its just a normal road but at night they turn a key and up pops a toilet for the men to use.

Its a fantastic idea and might be worth considering.

Readings innovativeTardis-like facilities  disguised as manhole covers during the day  were installed in 2002.

Colchester Council splashed out 25,000 on one in 2006 and they have also popped up in big European cities like London and Paris.

The only free public toilets in Rotherham town centre are at the market building, railway station and Riverside House, with pay facilities at the bus station and All Saints Square.

Cllr Emma Hoddinott, RMBC cabinet member for community safety, said: We still have our town centre toilets.

Theres no excuse for people to be doing it in a public place.

I find it really disgusting but Im pleased that we are picking up that kind of behaviour and people are being punished for it.

Some of these issues are regards the impact of drugs on peoples bodies.

That came through on some of the evidence when we put this together.

There was a discussion about whether urination should be in here at all.

I think the fact that they have fined people doing it in the town centre is reason to have it in there.

Cllr Alan Atkin said: I get what has been said about it being disgusting. but when you have got 143 fines, six per cent is eight.

So in two years you have caught eight. Its eight too many but its not an epidemic.

Sam Barstow, RMBC head of community safety, said it was encouraging to see fines across a range of the offences, which also include spitting and failing to keep a dog on a lead.

And he added: Eight offences is eight times we have caught people.

That represents a much bigger amount of issue than the actual figure suggests.
AN attack on press freedom.

This is how media associations around the world have described the police raid on the Express newsroom.

Police descended upon the Express on Wednesday, armed with a warrant to search the office of Express editor-in-chief Omatie Lyder for information to identify the source of a Sunday Express investigative report.
Fairfield town officials have agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by a former police detective who claimed his superiors put him in the position to steal thousands of dollars in heroin and Oxycontin pills from the Police Department.

The Fairfield Board of Selectman is expected to approve the settlement for Stephen Rilling, son of Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling, at its Monday night meeting. Sources said the settlement is for just under $100,000.

Michael Rose, the lawyer representing the town, said the settlement is not official until approved by the selectman. He would not comment further.

Town Attorney Jim Baldwin said the settlement would be paid by the towns insurance carrier.

Rillings lawyer, Eric Brown, did not return calls for comment.

The settlement was reached as the case was scheduled to go to trial before a jury later this month.

Stephen Rilling claimed in his lawsuit against the town of Fairfield that his superiors in the Police Department ignored his pleas to keep him away from drug investigations and later refused to allow him to retire on a disability  being addicted to powerful pain killers.

Rilling, a 19-year veteran of the Fairfield Police Department, agreed to a plea bargain in March 2018 and pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor possession of narcotics and three counts of fourth-degree computer crime. He was sentenced to a suspended 5-year sentence with three years probation.

Police said between June 2016 and February 2017, Rilling signed out more than 225 folds of heroin, more than 800 Oxycontin pills and a few packets of cocaine from the departments evidence room on the false pretext of needing to have the drugs tested. He ultimately converted these narcotics for his personal use and consumed them as a result of an addiction to said drugs.

Police said the drugs originated from a number of raids, undercover operations and from the homes of people who had overdosed.

In one instance, between Feb. 20 and May 1, 2014, police said Rilling conducted an investigation that resulted in the seizure of 58 folds of heroin. Police said the target of the investigation pleaded guilty in October 2016 and on Dec. 31, 2016, Rilling signed out all 58 folds from the evidence room on the pretense that a follow up investigation was being done.

In his lawsuit, Rilling claims he was injured in a car accident in 2009 while on the job and was prescribed opioids which led him to become addicted. He states in the suit that in 2013, he told his superiors in the department he was addicted to opioids and admitted himself to a drug treatment facility.

When he returned to work, he claims that  despite his protests  he was ordered to resume investigating narcotics crimes. This led him to relapse and begin using opioids again and taking these and heroin from the Police Departments evidence locker, the suit states.

The plaintiff was forced to resign from employment with the defendant but if his disability had been accommodated, he could have continued in his position as a Fairfield police officer without relapse or resignation, the lawsuit states.
Bengaluru, March 13 : The Karnataka state government on Friday cancelled leaves for all health department employees and contract workers until further notice, an official said.

"In the light of prevailing coronavirus outbreak in the state, the Karnataka government has ordered the cancellation of leave for all health department workers and contract employees," said state Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey.

The order applies to all government hospital doctors, nurses, medical staff and contract workers across the state.

According to the order, government hospital employees cannot take a leave until the outbreak subsides.

The order negates second Saturday holiday and all government holidays.

Senior government doctors have also been restricted from taking leave or granting one to subordinates.

On Thursday night, Karnataka Health Minister B. Sriramulu confirmed that a 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi died of coronavirus.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Aims for maximum domestic production of urea and reduce import dependency

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the proposal of Department of Fertilizers to remove ambiguities in the Modified New Pricing Scheme -III (NPS-III) for determination of fixed costs for the urea units.

Modified NPS-III was notified on 2 April 2014. However, due to ambiguous language of the notification, it could not be implemented. The above decision will facilitate its smooth implementation which will result in grant of Additional Fixed Cost of Rs 350/MT to 30 urea manufacturing units. The implementation of the Modified NPS-III will result in gains to existing urea units to the extent of their actual increase in fixed cost with ceilings as mentioned in the proposal which will ensure that no unit is benefited unduly.

This will facilitate the continued operations of the urea units resulting in sustained and regular supply of urea to the farmers.

The approval will also grant the special compensation of Rs 150/MT to urea units which are more than 30 years old and converted to gas which will incentivize these units to remain viable for sustained production.

The measures will ensure maximum domestic production of urea and will reduce import dependency.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The relative of someone retired from the military who traveled to South Korea and the Phillippines tested presumptive positive on March 11 at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

Now the unnamed person is self-quarantined in their home in Waldorf, Maryland while health officials work to analyze the diagnosis.

A presumptive positive occurs when a patient is tested positive for coronavirus by a local public health facility, pending confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new diagnosis brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maryland to 13.

President Donald Trump walks down the steps of Air Force One, which is operated out of Joint Base Andrews in Maryland

The military retiree dependent is the 13th person in the state of Maryland to test positive

'We are focused on the health of our base personnel and their families,' Col. Andrew Purath, the commander of the 11th Wing and Joint Base Andrews, said. 'We will continue to mitigate the effects and potential spread of COVID-19 in coordination with our community and interagency partners.'

Joint Base Andrews is the home of operations for President Donald Trump's Air Force One.

Officials at Joint Base Andrews have said base operations are running normally after the coronavirus diagnosis.

Joint Base Andrews officials announced they are work to keep base personnel and their families safe by working with health departments in Prince George's County, the state of Maryland, the Defense Department, and the CDC.

On Thursday, activated the National Guard and signed an executive order to close the port of Baltimore for cruise ships. These moves are a part of the State of Emergency declared by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. has reached 1,930, including 42 deaths

The governor also signed a bill to provide more funding to combat the emergency coronavirus.

As a cautionary move to prevent the spread of the virus, Hogan also closed Maryland public schools from March 16 to March 27.

When schools reopen, Maryland students will attend school during the planned spring break days between April 6 to April 13 to make up for the school days that were lost due to the coronavirus shut down.


MEXICO CITY  A two-train subway collision in Mexico City killed a male passenger, injured 41 people and disrupted service Wednesday on the bustling metro system serving this megalopolis of over 20 million people.

Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said via Twitter that one of the trains apparently reversed into the other by accident the previous night, shortly before midnight.

Twenty-five of the injured were treated at the scene, and the other 16 were taken to hospitals, Sheinbaum said. All the injuries were light to medium and not life-threatening. Hours later, Sheimbaums chief of staff, Rosa Icela Rodriguez, said that only four of the 16 remained in hospitals.

She said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

Metro authorities said the two drivers of the trains were among those hurt.

Mexico City Metro director Florencia Serrania said at a news conference that the black boxes from both trains, which will provide a second-by-second record of what happened, were turned over to the city prosecutors office and their information appeared to be intact.

Workers had separated the stacked metro cars and were working to clear the track. She said she expected the line to be ready for service Thursday morning.

Serrania said the accident occurred 20 minutes before the end of service Tuesday night when one train was headed to the garage to prepare for Wednesday morning service.

She added that an international expert had been hired to conduct an independent review of the incident.

Images of the accident published in local media showed wrecked subway cars derailed in the Tacubaya underground station, and rescuers carrying people away.

Diana Segura Canchola, who was selling sweets from her street stall outside the station on Wednesday, said she was packing up the previous night when she heard a loud bang as if a transformer had exploded, followed by a burned odor.

Soon people began emerging from the station saying there had been a crash, and about 10 minutes later police, firefighters and ambulances started arriving.

A lot of people came out disoriented, in shock  very frightened by what had happened, Segura said.

The Mexico City Metro system, one of the worlds largest and most transited, has seen at least two serious accidents previously since it opened five decades ago.

In 2015 a train failed to brake in time and smashed into another at the Oceania station in the citys north, injuring 12 people. Authorities later blamed double human error.

In the most serious incident, two trains collided at the Viaducto station in 1975, killing at least 31 and injuring more than 70, according to the national newspaper El Universal.

Tacubaya is a key station for the Metro system, with three of its 12 lines intersecting there, and there were disruptions during the Wednesday morning commute as people formed long lines outside Tacubaya station waiting to board buses.

Metro authorities said service on Line 1 would be reduced throughout the day with Tacubaya and a neighboring station out of action and 45 buses deployed to bridge the gap of about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers).

Serrania told Milenio television that about five cars on each train were damaged.

Mexico Citys Metro system transported more than 1.6 billion passengers in 2018, according to official figures, or about 4.4 million per day.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This News Release is not for Distribution to U.S. Newswire Services for Dissemination in the United States

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / CubicFarm Systems Corp. (TSXV:CUB) ("CubicFarms" or the "Company") announces that its offering of common shares (the "Offered Shares") in the amount of up to approximately $8,000,000 (the "Offering") with respect to its preliminary short form prospectus (the "Prospectus") filed on March 4, 2020, has been deferred until further notice, due to market conditions and the Company's sufficiently capitalized position as a result of the receipt of deposits from fresh produce and nutritious livestock feed machine sales previously disclosed this month.

The Offering was being conducted on a "best efforts' agency basis under the terms of an agency agreement to be entered into between the Company and Raymond James Ltd. as sole bookrunner and co-lead agent with Canaccord Genuity Corp. (the "Lead Agents") and Beacon Securities Limited (collectively, with the Lead Agents, the "Agents").

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States. The Offered Shares to be issued pursuant to the Offering have not been, nor will be, registered under the Unites States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), and such securities may only be offered or sold within the United States pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws.

About CubicFarm Systems Corp.

CubicFarm Systems Corp. ("CubicFarms") is a technology company that is developing and deploying technology to feed a changing world. Its proprietary technologies enable farmers around the world to grow high-quality, predictable crop yields. CubicFarms has two distinct technologies that address two distinct markets. The first technology is its patented CubicFarm System, which contains patented technology for growing leafy greens and other crops. Using its unique, undulating-path growing system, the Company addresses the main challenges within the indoor farming industry by significantly reducing the need for physical labour and energy, and maximizing yield per cubic foot. CubicFarms leverages its patented technology by operating its own R&D facility in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, selling the System to farmers, licensing its technology and providing industry-leading vertical farming expertise to its customers.

The second technology is CubicFarms' HydroGreen System for growing nutritious livestock feed. This system utilizes a unique process to sprout grains, such as barley and wheat, in a controlled environment with minimal use of land, labour and water. The HydroGreen System is fully automated and performs all growing functions including seeding, watering, lighting, harvesting, and re-seeding - all with the push of a button - to deliver nutritious livestock feed without the typical investment in fertilizer, chemicals, fuel, field equipment and transportation. The HydroGreen System not only provides superior nutritious feed to benefit the animal, but also enables significant environmental benefits to the farm.

Cautionary statement on forward-looking information

Certain statements in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, statements with respect to the listing of the Offered Shares. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of CubicFarm Systems Corp., or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict", and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events, or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will" be taken, occur, or be achieved.

These statements reflect the company's current expectations regarding future events, performance, and results and speak only as of the date of this news release. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except as required by securities disclosure laws and regulations applicable to the company, the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if the company's expectations regarding future events, performance, or results change.

Information contact

Kimberly Lim

kimberly@cubicfarms.com

Phone: +1-236-858-6491

www.cubicfarms.com

SOURCE: CubicFarm Systems Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/580521/CubicFarm-Systems-Corp-Defers-Proposed-Offering-of-up-to-8000000-of-Common-Shares-in-Connection-with-Preliminary-Short-Form-Prospectus
The sherpas of the leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) countries have adopted a joint statement on the international response to the coronavirus pandemic pledging to facilitate the development of early warning systems, appropriate treatments, and vaccines.

"We underscore the importance of close cooperation between the international organizations and we invite them to report regularly to the G20 on their actions and assessment of needs. We will step up support for the development of early warning systems, appropriate treatments, and vaccines," the statement published on the Kremlin website said.

The document was adopted following the G20 sherpas' meeting in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, on March 12.
Page Content

Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs announced on Thursday that the travel restrictions list via air and sea to Sint Maarten has been further updated as of March 12, 2020 to include Spain and Germany which have large COVID-19 clusters.





On Wednesday the travel restrictions list was upgraded from 14 to 21 days.





Passengers and airline crew who have been in China (Peoples Republic), Hong Kong (SAR China), Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea (Rep.), Macao (SAR China), Singapore, Spain and Germany in the past 21 days, are not allowed to transit or enter Sint Maarten.





This does not apply to nationals of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (being from Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Netherlands, St. Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten); and this does not apply to residents of Sint Maarten.





The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Chair and the Department of Foreign Affairs are currently in discussions with the Kingdom partners, French counterparts, and other international stakeholders to determine how best to protect Sint Maarten from passengers who have travelled to infected cities within these countries, and will update the general public accordingly as soon as enough information has been garnered to take a decision in this regard.





The protection of the people of Sint Maarten remains the Governments highest priority in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic which remains an evolving situation on a daily basis.





Listen to the Government Radio station  107.9FM - for official information, statements and news updates or visit the Government website: www.sintmaartengov.org/coronavirus or and Facebook Page: Facebook.com/SXMGOV




Cover-More Travel Insurance has suspended its Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) add-on product in Australia and New Zealand following the announcement that COVID-19 (coronavirus) is now a pandemic.

Judith Crompton, chief executive officer of Cover-More Asia Pacific, confirmed that they had suspended the sales of the product for an interim period as they continue to assess the risk profile and immediate sustainability with Zurich  the insurers underwriter in Australia and New Zealand.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Hungary Nguyen Tien Thuc spoke highly of the multifaceted cooperation between the two countries over the past 70 years.

The Ambassador also expressed his thanks to members of the Hungarian-Vietnamese Friendship Association and the Vietnamese community in Hungary for their positive support in promoting Vietnamese culture in Hungary.

As proud host of the exhibition, head of District 16 Kovacs Peter appreciated the positive contributions of the Vietnamese community living in District 16 in particular and in Hungary in general.

The beautiful and diverse photos through the lenses of Hungarian photographers on display at the exhibition showed their affection and attraction for the people and culture of Vietnam, he added.

The event is scheduled to run until April 12.
National carrier Air India has cancelled flights to Italy, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea and Sri Lanka till April 30, an airline official said on Friday.

The decision has been taken in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

On Thursday, the carrier said it was curtailing services to various other countries, including Spain, France and Sri Lanka.

The carrier has already cancelled flights to Kuwait.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ability of the world's tropical forests to remove carbon from the atmosphere is decreasing, according to a study tracking 300,000 trees over 30 years, published today in Nature.

The global scientific collaboration, led by the University of Leeds, reveals that a feared switch of the world's undisturbed tropical forests from a carbon sink to a carbon source has begun.

Intact tropical forests are well-known as a crucial global carbon sink, slowing climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in trees, a process known as carbon sequestration. Climate models typically predict that this tropical forest carbon sink will continue for decades.

However, the new analysis of three decades of tree growth and death from 565 undisturbed tropical forests across Africa and the Amazon has found that the overall uptake of carbon into Earth's intact tropical forests peaked in the 1990s.

By the 2010s, on average, the ability of a tropical forest to absorb carbon had dropped by one-third. The switch is largely driven by carbon losses from trees dying.

The study by almost 100 institutions provides the first large-scale evidence that carbon uptake by the world's tropical forests has already started a worrying downward trend.

Study lead author Dr Wannes Hubau, a former post-doctoral researcher at the University of Leeds now based at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium, said: "We show that peak carbon uptake into intact tropical forests occurred in the 1990s.

"By combining data from Africa and the Amazon we began to understand why these forests are changing, with carbon dioxide levels, temperature, drought, and forest dynamics being key."

"Extra carbon dioxide boosts tree growth, but every year this effect is being increasingly countered by the negative impacts of higher temperatures and droughts which slow growth and can kill trees.

"Our modelling of these factors shows a long-term future decline in the African sink and that the Amazonian sink will continue to rapidly weaken, which we predict to become a carbon source in the mid-2030s."

In the 1990s intact tropical forests removed roughly 46 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, declining to an estimated 25 billion tonnes in the 2010s.

The lost sink capacity in the 2010s compared to the 1990s is 21 billion tonnes carbon dioxide, equivalent to a decade of fossil fuel emissions from the UK, Germany, France and Canada combined.

Overall, intact tropical forests removed 17% of human-made carbon dioxide emissions in the 1990s, reduced to just 6% in the 2010s.

This decline is because these forests were less able to absorb carbon by 33% and the area of intact forest declined by 19%, while global carbon dioxide emissions soared by 46%.

Senior author Professor Simon Lewis, from the School of Geography at Leeds, said: "Intact tropical forests remain a vital carbon sink but this research reveals that unless policies are put in place to stabilise Earth's climate it is only a matter of time until they are no longer able to sequester carbon.

"One big concern for the future of humanity is when carbon-cycle feedbacks really kick in, with nature switching from slowing climate change to accelerating it.

"After years of work deep in the Congo and Amazon rainforests we've found that one of the most worrying impacts of climate change has already begun. This is decades ahead of even the most pessimistic climate models.

"There is no time to lose in terms of tackling climate change."

To calculate changes in carbon storage the scientists measured the diameter and estimated the height of every individual tree in 565 patches of forest, returning every few years to re-measure them. By calculating the carbon stored in the trees that survived and those that died, the researchers tracked the changes in carbon storage over time.

After the final re-measurement, the study authors used a statistical model and trends in carbon dioxide emissions, temperature and rainfall to estimate changes in forest carbon storage until 2040.

By combining data from two large research networks of forests observations across Africa (AfriTRON) and Amazonia (RAINFOR) the authors show that the Amazon sink began weakening first, starting in the mid-1990s, followed by a waning of the African sink about 15 years later.

The continental difference arises from a combination of Amazon forests being more dynamic than those in Africa, and Amazon forests facing stronger climate impacts. Typical Amazonian forests are exposed to higher temperatures, faster temperature increases and more regular and severe droughts, than African forests.

Dr Hubau, Professor Lewis and their colleagues have spent years travelling to numerous remote field sites, including spending a week in a dug-out canoe to reach Salonga National Park in central Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dr Hubau said: "The ability of forests to slow climate change is a crucial element of understanding how the Earth system functions - particularly how much carbon is absorbed by the Earth and how much is released into the atmosphere.

"Continued on-the-ground monitoring of intact tropical forests is required to track the effects of accelerating environmental change. We need this more than ever, as our planet's last great tropical forests are threatened as never before."

The authors also highlight that tropical forests are still huge reservoirs of carbon, storing 250 billion tonnes of carbon in their trees alone. This storage is equivalent to 90 years of global fossil fuel emissions at today's level.

Study author Professor Bonaventure Sonke from the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon said: "The speed and magnitude of change in these forests suggests that climate impacts in the tropics may become more severe than predicted.

"African countries and the international community will need to seriously invest in preparation for ongoing climate change impacts in tropical regions."

Study author Professor Oliver Phillips, from University of Leeds, added "For too long the skills and potential of African and Amazonian scientists have been undervalued. We need to change this by ensuring their work is properly supported. It will fall to the next generation of African and Amazonian scientists to monitor these remarkable forests to help manage and protect them".

As tropical forests are likely to sequester less carbon than predicted, carbon budgets and emissions targets may need reassessing to account for this.

Professor Lewis said: "The immediate threats to tropical forests are deforestation, logging and fires. These require urgent action.

"In addition, stabilising Earth's climate is necessary to stabilise the carbon balance of intact tropical forests. By driving carbon dioxide emissions to net-zero even faster than currently envisaged, it would be possible to avoid intact tropical forests becoming a large source of carbon to the atmosphere. But that window of possibility is closing fast."

###

Notes to editors

Carbon uptake is expressed in units of carbon in the Nature paper and as carbon dioxide here. Multiply carbon values in the paper by 3.667 to obtain the mass of carbon dioxide given above.

In the 2000s intact tropical forest sequestered 36 billion tonnes carbon dioxide, equivalent to 9% of human-made carbon dioxide emissions.

Further information

Video and images, along with captions and credits are available for download: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ebnNhWqAh2SN85AIJIi_y9zh3_KMfhZW

To request additional information please contact the University of Leeds Media Relations office via +44 (0)113 343 4031 or a.harrison@leeds.ac.uk

French language version of the press release available on request.

The paper 'Asynchronous Carbon Sink Saturation in African and Amazonian Tropical Forests' is published in Nature on 4 March 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2035-0 ; URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2035-0

The paper was funded by over 50 grants over two decades, including a European Research Council grant, Tropical forests and the changing Earth system, T-FORCES, to Oliver Phillips and Simon Lewis.

University of Leeds, UK

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.

Professor Simon Lewis is listed as one of the world's most highly cited scientists in 2019 (highlycited.com).

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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Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium

The Royal Museum for Central Africa (AfricaMuseum) is a centre for knowledge and resources on Africa in a historical, contemporary and global context. The museum exhibits unique collections, including the World's most important collection of African wood samples, with more than 80,000 specimens belonging to 13,000 different species.

The core endeavours of this Africa-oriented institution consist of conducting scientific research, implementing the results of this research, disseminating knowledge, and mounting selected exhibitions of its collections. Apart from fostering understanding of and interest in Central Africa among the public at large, the museum aims at contributing substantially to Africa's sustainable development through partnerships and research collaborations.

In 2019, the AfricaMuseum hosted and supported more than 100 African trainees, MsC and PhD students, and visiting researchers, including by launching a new wood biology laboratory in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Located in the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve it will be used by Congolese and international scientists to conduct world-leading research on wood anatomy and dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) to better understand forests' contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The new AfricaMuseum opened its doors on 9 December 2018, and received more than 350,000 visitors in the course of 2019. Forest ecosystem services and the carbon balance in Central Africa are showcased in the zone dedicated to biodiversity and the "resource paradox". http://www.africamuseum.be/en/home
This Is Still Happening is a feature in which Slate will attempt to offer an update on Cabinet-level corruption, what could be done to bring the officials to account, and what Democrats are doing in response (generally, nothing). The sixth installment is about the man responsible for our nations health care system, Alex Azar.

The Official: Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar

What Is Still Happening: The catastrophic lack of public information surrounding the spread of the novel coronavirus has led to tanking financial markets and possible economic meltdown, but the greater concern is how many Americans might get seriously sick or even die from the outbreak who need not have. For the past month, the United States has been flying blind into the deadly new pandemic due to a lack of available testing, and Alex Azar is the official most responsible for that failure.

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Is it fair to blame Azar and the Trump administration generally for a global disease that apparently started with bats in Wuhan, China? No. It is fair, though, to blame him for the woeful federal response that has resulted in a horrifying under-identification of cases, the actions of public health officials that may have actually exacerbated the crisis, and the many lies and misleading statements he has told to the public as the disaster has unfolded.

How have Azar and HHS failed in this crisis? Let us count the ways.

 The most critical failure is Americas tragic testing regime. While testing has been widespread in other countries, it has been tightly restricted in the United States due to a broken health care system; terrible, unexplained decisions not to use available resources; and the use of faulty tests. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of Trumps coronavirus task force, acknowledged as much on Thursday. It is a failing. Lets admit it, he told the House Oversight Committee. The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing itwere not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes, but were not.

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The shortages, incomprehensibly, continue to this day.

How did this happen? Federal officials still havent offered any explanation as to why the United States refused to use tests shipped by the World Health Organization, which distributed tests to almost 60 countries, when the contagion was in its early phase, a move which could have helped with detection and slowed community spread. Instead, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opted to design and use its own tests, which turned out to be faulty and resulted in many inconclusive results. As the New York Times has reported, researchers in Seattle who had the capacity to step in and help fill the shortage as cases exploded in the region were instructed not to test.

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The shortages, incomprehensibly, continue to this day. On Tuesday, Politico reported that even as test availability has increasednot up to need, but beyond the initial low numbersa shortage of necessary lab equipment has continued to hamper testing and led to further undercounts. On Thursday, it was reported that only about 11,000 tests had been conducted in the United States, as compared with more than 10,000 per day in South Korea. Public health officials also confirmed that just 77 people were tested by the CDC between Sunday and Wednesday morning. All of these failures belong to Azar and his department.

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 HHS leadership repeated an early mistake of quarantining cruise ship passengers on ships where the disease was likelier to spread, rather than disembarking and quarantining infected passengers on land.

 Last month, a whistleblower reported that federal health officials did not have the protective gear or infection training they needed when working with American evacuees from Wuhan who had been exposed to the virus and were quarantined at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California. These federal workers then took commercial flights to return to their communities without being tested. CNN further reported on Wednesday that workers at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, California, were similarly ill-equipped and also returned to their communities without testing. Theyre spraying down streets with bleach in China, one of CNNs sources said. We would go straight from quarantine to Starbucks. As CNN further reported: In an after-action report filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services one of the workers stated that when he complained about the lack of proper protective equipment, a supervisor told him: If you dont feel comfortable, well find another job for you. 

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Azars HHS department responded to the whistleblower complaint by saying that workers were asymptomatic and therefore, testing for the virus is not medically necessary. Health experts say that some people who contract the coronavirus may be asymptomatic or presymptomatic and still spread the disease. Azar himself has stated, without proof, Even if these allegations prove to be true, there was no spreading of the disease from this.

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 Reuters, meanwhile, reported on Thursday that Azar kept dozens of coronavirus threat meetings classified at the White Houses insistence, restricting access from public health officials who needed information about the outbreak. We had some very critical people who did not have security clearances who could not go, one official said. These should not be classified meetings. It was unnecessary. As Reuters reported, the move was apparently part of a White House media strategy of keeping information from the public: One of the administration officials suggested the security clearances for meetings at HHS were imposed not to protect national security but to keep the information within a tight circle, to prevent leaks.

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 The Associated Press reported last week that Azar gave in to White House demands not to publish guidance by the CDC recommending that older Americans not fly.

 President Donald Trump has added to the harm of the lack of testing by lying to the public constantly about it. The secretary of Health and Human Services, whose job in a public health crisis is to make sure the public is as informed as possible, has excused or amplified the presidents deceit and misinformation. For instance, after Trump said last week that anyone who wants a test can get a test, Azar said the president was just speaking in shorthand. What he meant to say is were not in the way of that, Azar said. And when Trump said, A lot of people think it goes away in April with the heat, Azar validated these comments, claiming, He said he hopes it will go away with warmer weather. In that same interview, Azar also claimed the virus was contained.

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Overall, Azar has backed Trumps administration line of downplaying the effects of the virus that other public health officials have acknowledged is at least 10 times as deadly as the flu. The risk to any average American is low from the novel coronavirus, Azar said on Feb. 29. The risk remains low. Thanks to the unprecedented actions President Trump has taken and the actions hes announcing today, that risk remains low. But this can change rapidly.

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Early in the crisis, Azar flatly lied about the number of people who had been tested and said that there is no testing kit shortage, nor has there ever been. As recently as Tuesday, Azar gave the misleading statement that there are millions of tests out there now, when in reality, testing numbers have remained in the thousands.

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How Long It Has Been Going On: Azar trained for his role as the Baghdad Bob of the coronavirus as a senior health official in the George W. Bush administration. During Azars time as HHS general counsel, the department implemented a policy that sought to keep congressional investigators from interviewing HHS staff, granted a waiver to allow one of the architects of Bushs Medicare prescription drug bill to interview for jobs with drug companies while crafting that bill, helped suppress internal cost estimates of that bill, and helped promote abstinence-only sex education programs to the detriment of public health.

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After leaving the administration, Azar became one of the top executives at the drug manufacturer Eli Lilly at a time it was sued for, and repeatedly accused of, price gouging and fixing. In just the most disturbing instance, the company more than tripled the price of insulin, participating in an industry price spike that is killing people.

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Rejoining the government as Trumps HHS secretary in 2017, Azar resumed his support of Republican ideological crusades: backing Medicaid work requirements, lecturing the international community with anti-abortion rhetoric, and going so far as to rebrand HHS as the Department of Life.

The biggest previous indication of how Azar would put Trump administration propaganda ahead of the lives and health of Americans was seen in his departments treatment of undocumented immigrant children during the family separation crisis. Earlier this month, the HHS Office of Inspector General released a report describing in excruciating detail how top officials reporting to Azar had ignored warnings that families were being separated en masse, that children were being traumatized, and that the Office of Refugee Resettlement had inadequate capacity to actually care for these kids.

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As the report described: ORR staff believed that the [Unaccompanied Alien Children] Program lacked the bed capacity to accommodate a large increase in separated children and were also concerned about the trauma such a policy would inflict on children. At several points before the zero-tolerance policy was implemented, ORR staff shared these concerns with the ORR Director, the Acting Assistant Secretary for ACF, and the Counselor to the Secretary for Human Services Policy. OIG found no evidence that these three senior HHS officials took action to protect childrens interests in response to the information and concerns raised by ORR staff. HHS leadership, for instance, ignored specific warnings, such as We had a shortage last night of beds for babies. One of Azars top lieutenants said he believed family separation would have a positive deterrent effect. Another said I do not know what the moral right thing to do is in this situation.

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Azars department ultimately wholeheartedly backed family separation, putting out a statement as the crisis was exploding that if parents do not wish to be separated from their children, they should not violate the laws of the United States or endanger minors through criminal smuggling. Azar himself repeated that talking point and claimed falsely that his department was tracking all separated children and communicating regularly with separated parentsstatements ultimately disproven by the OIG.

The OIG further reported that Azars department actively tried to suppress and hide internal criticism of the policy proposal before it was fully enacted. From the report:

Some ORR staff described an organizational culture that discouraged putting potentially controversial information in writing, including but not limited to information about separated children.  For example, ORR staff recalled receiving repeated, general reminders to be cautious about putting information in writing, as well as being instructed to provide verbal-only briefings and offer verbal-only comments on certain matters. Some ORR staff also reported that they were criticized for documenting certain topics. For example, one ORR employee recalled that immediately after sending an email that included concerns about family separation, a superior within ORR verbally advised the employee that those concerns should not have been put in an email. Collectively, these repeated reminders to limit written information may have had a chilling effect on frank discussion about the possibility that larger-scale family separation would occur, impeding the UAC Programs ability to prepare. The lack of documentation may also have contributed to senior HHS officials ability to dismiss staffs concerns about capacity and childrens well-being rather than squarely address them. Additionally, the lack of written records on these topics hampers subsequent efforts to determine what occurred and how HHS could better respond to similar challenges in the future.

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Now the entire country will experience that culture of misinformation and unpreparedness that was beta-tested on migrant babies.

What Would Normally Happen: Family separation was one of the most shameful, unlawful, and brutal policies the federal government has enacted in its history. That abuse alone in a normal world would result in removal from office for any official involved.

As for the pandemic that is currently spreading across the country, this is such a rare event that theres not great precedent for how such a tragically botched response would be treated. Perhaps the closest point of comparison is George W. Bushs Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael D. Brown, who resigned in disgrace after his mishandling of the response to Hurricane Katrina likely cost hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.

What Democrats Have Done: Some Democrats have gone the standard and ineffectual route of calling for Azar to resign over his departments mishandling of the coronavirus crisis, without any organized or sustained pressure campaign. Aside from a few scattered resignation calls, there was no such campaign for Azar to vacate following his departments horrific family separation work.

What Is Likely to Be Done: Democrats will continue to hold oversight hearings on the coronavirus, but the efforts to prevent a complete collapse of our financial and health care systems may distract them from holding anyone accountable for these horrific failures, even if they were inclined to do so.

How Impeachable This Stuff Is: Azar claimed that his departments work during family separation was one of the great acts of American generosity and charity. In a more just world, he and others involved would be brought before the Hague. 9 out of 10.
[March 13, 2020] PFS & EML Payments Primed to Assist Governments & NGOs with Coronavirus Payment Disbursement Requirements

Today, Prepaid Financial Services (PFS) along with EML Payments (EML) has stated that it is strategically positioned to help local and central governments and non-governmental organisations with the distribution of payments as the world battles the global COVID-19 pandemic. Lee Britton, CCO at PFS expressed: "This is a time for international governments, NGOs, businesses and communities to pool their resources to problem-solve during this unprecedented time in history. The PFS team is at the ready to help Governments and organisations as they strive to combat this serious health crisis and we have extensive experience in humanitarian relief globally. Alongside the other group companies within EML Payments, we have capabilities to provide relief services in North America and Australia and elsewhere." About PFS PFS is one of Europe's largest eMoney issuers and PFS' products and state-of-the-art technology platforms are trusted by Govrnments, Local Authorities, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Traditional Banks.



PFS, an agile and Dual Regulated FinTech, is a payment provider of choice delivering robust payment technology solutions and offers world-class innovation in electronic money. A pioneer in the evolution of the FinTech ecosystem, PFS' award-winning solutions include eWallets, physical and virtual prepaid cards, IBAN accounts and consumer and business current accounts in the UK and EEA. Prepaid Financial Services Limited, trading as PFS, is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom. PFS Card Services Ireland Limited, trading as PCSIL, is Authorised and Regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

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The annual meet of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the highest decision making body of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, will be held here from March 15 to 17.

The confluence this time would see participation of around 1,500 elected representatives of RSS and associated organisations.

ABPS is likely to deliberate and decide in activating its 15 lakh swayamsevaks to bring about positive changes in society.

"Last year, a survey of working swayamsevaks above 30 years was conducted in which 15 lakh swayamsevaks were covered.

In the next 2-3 years, our planning is to get them involved in working as dutiful citizens and responsible towards society through social work in their neighborhood," RSS-Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh (All India Media Head) Arun Kumar said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, "The information about their availability of time, skills and interest areas were collected in the survey.

In this ABPS, deliberations will be conducted to activate these swayamsevaks to serve the needs of the society aligning to their areas of interest to bring positive change in the society."



According to RSS office bearers, meetings over three days will be conducted by Suresh Joshi, Sarkaryvah Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, in the presence of Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat.

Being held at Janaseva Vidya Kendra here, this is the seventh ABPS meet taking place in Karnataka.

RSS has 11 zones called 'kshetras' under which 44 work units called 'prant' are there for its easy working, and its officers will be part of the meet.

Also, presidents and other state office bearers of 35 parivar organisations like VHP (Justice Vishnu Sadashiva Kokje and Alok Kumar), ABVP (Prof Subbaiah Shanmugam), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (Saji Narayanan), Vidya Bharati (Ramakrishna Rao), Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (Jagadev Rao Oraon), BJP (J P Nadda) and Sakshama (Dyal Singh Pawar) will participate.

On March 14, there will be Akhil Bharatiya karyakari mandal in which ABPS' agenda along with resolutions to be proposed will be decided, Kumar said.

He said the ABPS would commence on March 15 morning, and during the three days, review of last year's plan implementation and sharing of experiences and achievements will be taken up.

Tour programme of Akhil Bharatiya office bearers and schedule for summer training will also be finalised.

Responding to a question whether there will be resolution on the Citizenship Amendmente Act during the ABPS, Kumar said "What resolution-it will be decided tomorrow.

Usually on contemporary scenario discussions are held, so scenario after CAA may be discussed and there may also be a resolution, but it is yet to be decided.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Laurence Fox attends the Walpole British Luxury Awards 2019 at The Dorchester on November 18, 2019. (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Walpole)

Actors' union Equity has apologised for calling Laurence Fox a "disgrace" and agreed an out-of-court settlement with the ex-Lewis star.

The comment was made in a series of tweets after the 41-year-old discussed, on the BBC's Question Time earlier this year, the media's treatment of Meghan Markle.

A source close to Fox told the PA news agency it had been a "very difficult period for him and his family".

Equity apologised in a statement, saying "it did not intend to suggest that the actor should be denied the ability to work".

The union announced on Twitter: "We are sorry that in the tweets he was called a 'disgrace' by Equity.

"It was a mistake for Equity as an organisation to criticise him in this way.

On 17 January a series of tweets were posted by the @EquityMEM Twitter account about Laurence Fox's appearance on BBC Question Time. We are sorry that in the tweets he was called a 'disgrace' by Equity. Please read Equity's full statement. https://t.co/NlW8f88iRs pic.twitter.com/5zgbG5623d  Equity (@EquityUK) March 13, 2020

"Nothing in Equity's later statement was intended as a slur on his character or views, or to suggest that he should be denied the ability to work. We would like to make that clear.

"Equity and Laurence Fox condemn prejudice unequivocally in all its forms."

Read more: Laurence Fox apologises for Sikh comments

A source close to Fox told PA that an out-of-court settlement had been agreed.

"Equity have finally apologised and agreed an out-of-court settlement with Laurence after calls for him to be 'unequivocally denounced' by the Equity Minority Members' Committee," the source said.

EQUITY logo, British actors union, graphic element on white

"He is pleased and grateful to Equity for this decision. He looks forward now to moving on in his professional and personal life after what has been a very difficult period for him and his family."

Story continues

Fox had complained to his fans that "Equity called (amongst other things) for actors to denounce me", saying it had "been very hard to deal with".

Following the apology, he said: "Hopefully this might (be) an opportunity for us to continue to celebrate diversity in all its forms. Including diversity of opinion."

But Equity's apology sparked conflict within the organisation.

The tweets calling Fox a "disgrace" were posted by Equity's Minority Ethnic Members' Committee (renamed the Race Equality Committee).

Chairman Daniel York Loh announced that he has resigned from his position, saying the apology was "not in my name".

I've resigned as @EquityREC Chair over this. @Equity and La*rence F*x can issue as many joint statements and apologies as they like. It's nothing to do with me and I apologise for nothing #NotInMyName https://t.co/q9aempoTTU  Daniel York Loh  (@danielfyork) March 13, 2020

"Equity and Laurence Fox can issue as many joint statements and apologies as they like. It's nothing to do with me and I apologise for nothing #NotInMyName," he wrote on Twitter.

The committee said that "all members of Equity's recently renamed Race Equality Committee (formerly the Equity Minority Ethnic Members Committee) feel we have no choice but to resign as committee members".

Fox sparked controversy when he responded to a claim from an audience member that the media's treatment of the Duchess of Sussex amounted to "racism".

"It's not racism ... we're the most tolerant, lovely country in Europe," the star, part of the Fox acting dynasty, said.

"It's so easy to throw the charge of racism and it's really starting to get boring now."

Laurence Fox attends the 65th Evening Standard Theatre Awards at the London Coliseum in London (Keith Mayhew / Echoes Wire / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

The audience member then described Fox as a "white, privileged male", to which he responded: "To call me a white, privileged male is to be racist."

The episode received more than 250 complaints and sparked a social media backlash, which Fox called "water off a duck's back".

Fox, who was previously married to actress Billie Piper, said he had received death threats and had suffered from "temporary insomnia" after his appearance.

He later hit out at black and working-class actors for complaining about the industry once they have "five million quid in the bank" before saying he was signing off Twitter because "I have to turn this noise off for a while".
The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Friday gave its nod to an ordinance on recovery of losses due to damage to state and private properties during political processions.

The move comes in the backdrop of the Allahabad High Court's March 9 order, directing the state government to remove the posters put up on roadsides with details of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests in Lucknow.

The Uttar Pradesh government moved the top court challenging the high court order but was told that there is "no law" which backs its action of putting up the posters.

Friday's decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

It is not immediately clear whether this is with retrospective effect.

"The cabinet has approved UP Recovery of Damage to Public Properties Ordinance-2020 for recovery of losses of government and private properties during political processions, illegal agitations," state minister Suresh Kumar Khanna told reporters after the meeting.

When asked about the rules and regulations regarding this, the minister said, "Everything will be clear in the rules and regulations being framed."



"As per the SC decision to constitute recovery tribunal to recover losses to government and private properties in political and illegal agitations in the country, the resolution to bring the ordinance has been passed in the cabinet," he said.

Cabinet Minister Sidharth Nath Singh said at present, recovery was done through government order but after the Supreme Court orders, the ordinance was brought in.

He also said that during the cabinet meeting, all the ministers praised the chief minister for his decision "to approach the Supreme Court as it will help prevent incidents of vandalism and damage of properties in future".

The Supreme Court had on Thursday put a poser to the Uttar Pradesh saying whether the fundamental right to privacy of alleged protesters can be waived by the state by "castigating them for all times" to come.

A vacation bench of justices U U Lalit and Aniruddha Bose referred the appeal of the state government to a larger three-judge bench next week on the ground that it required "further elaboration and consideration".

It, however, did not stay the Allahabad High Court's order asking the Lucknow administration to remove the posters.

The high court had also directed the district magistrate and the Lucknow police commissioner to submit a compliance report on or before March 16.

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) in the state capital on December 19 last year.

Besides IPS officer SR Darapuri, activist-politician Sadaf Jafar is among those whose names and photos have been put up at major road crossings in Lucknow.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu asked the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Friday to issue an advisory to allay the concerns of people on consumption of chicken and eggs in the wake of fears about the impact of coronavirus on the poultry industry.

Dissemination of correct information was necessary to assure both consumers and sellers, Naidu said.

A statement from the Vice President's Secretariat said Naidu spoke with the ICMR brass after a delegation of the All India Poultry Breeders' Association apprised him on Friday of the problems being faced by the poultry sector in the wake of fears about the impact of the novel coronavirus on the industry.

The delegation claimed that "false news" on the threat to the poultry industry was triggering panic among people and had resulted in a massive reduction in consumption of poultry products, the statement said.

"The Vice President also spoke to the Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Balram Bhargava, and advised the ICMR to issue an advisory to allay the fears of people on consumption of chicken and eggs," it added.

Quoting American biologist Bruce Lipton, Naidu said the "fear of coronavirus is more deadly than the virus itself".

He asserted that "all forms of rumour-mongering must stop and efforts must be made to restore the industry to normalcy", the statement said.

Noting that millions of farmers were dependent on the poultry sector, especially in rural India, Naidu said the sector had a key role in creating secondary income for farmers, apart from providing nutritional security to people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Six new cases of infection with COVID-19 were confirmed on Friday in Romania, the total number of confirmed cases reaching 70.

"Four new cases of infection in Constanta. Three men and one woman, all contacts of the infected person," the Health Ministry announced.

Yet another two cases emerged, one man of 26 from Mehedinti, returned from Italy, and one woman of 52, also from Mehedinti County, a contact of the man above-mentioned, who has also come from Italy on 12 March, with both cases quarantined in the residence county.

AGERPRES




President Mnangagwa is happy with the work that the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) is doing to bring solutions to some of the challenges facing the country.





This came out of a meeting of thematic committees that presented reports to the full assembly of Polad at State House yesterday.





President Mnangagwa was among other Polad leaders that received reports from the six thematic committees.





Briefing journalists after presentation of the reports, the President said: I am extremely happy. It was very nice, especially the one that dealt with engagement and the economy, it was very detailed and I think its very useful.





He said the committees raised some issues on which that they were not in agreement with the Government. The President promised to review the issues.





Another meeting of leaders of political parties in Polad has been scheduled for next week where President Mnangagwa will give feedback on some of the issues raised yesterday.





Yesterdays meeting was an opportunity for the six sub-committees to give their reports to the full assembly of POLAD.





The first one was the economic committee, which hosted the economic forum last time, which in my view, did a sterling work, said President Mnangagwa. It brought together the major stakeholders in our economy; industry, commerce, mining, agriculture, Consumer Council (of Zimbabwe) and labour, were all represented.





They submitted their reports. There was the governance and the constitutional legislative committee chaired by Professor Lovemore Madhuku. They also presented their report which was broken into major two components  the process of the constitutional amendments and the content of the amendments.





The third one was the one on international relations, which is mandated to deal with engagement and re-engagement. They have done a fantastic job, which I was not aware of.





The International Relations Committee has met several embassies representing African countries and those outside the continent.





President Mnangagwa said the Committee has plans to travel outside Africa for the engagement and re-engagement drive, but the plans were on hold due to the outbreak of coronavirus in many countries in Asia, Europe and Africa.





The Covid-19 pandemic has seen many countries announcing travel restrictions for their citizens to prevent the rapid spread of the disease, which first broke out in Wuhan, China, in December last year.





The President said the National Building and Peace Building Committee presented on issues relating to political parties using civil language so as to avoid inciting people to engage in violence.





The Committee also said the media, which have a role to play in uniting the nation and spur development, were largely negative and unpatriotic.





Added President Mnangagwa: The other one was on information, on how to disseminate information and the last one was on the monitoring, which monitors the work of the other five other sub-committees to see whether these committees have been discharging their mandate.





Prof Madhuku, who leads the National Constitutional Assembly party and who chaired the Governance and the Constitutional Legislative Committee, said they made presentations to President Mnangagwa in his capacity as the Head of State and Government.





He said President Mnangagwa will take their proposals to his Government for further deliberations before coming up with feedback at next weeks meeting.





Some of the positions he was able to deal with them directly here because they are often administrative, but the others are more fundamental like the one that came from our Committee on Constitutional and Legislative Reforms, said Prof Madhuku.





We have presented before him that we are not happy with the process that has been followed.





Prof Madhuku said the Government was ready to compromise on many of the issues.





Dr Thokozani Khupe of MDC-T said: Our job as the Re-engagement and International Relations Committee is to engage the international community so that we build relations that have been soiled in the past two decades.





We want to build those relations so that Zimbabwe gets back to the family of nations. Sanctions have been imposed on Zimbabwe and we are saying in as much as they say they are targeted; they are not affecting those who are targeted. They are affecting the ordinary Zimbabweans; 14,6 million people in Zimbabwe are being affected.





Dr Khupe said it must never be about positions and power, but about the citizens who want a better life.





Ms Lucia Matibenga, who chaired the National Healing and Peace Building Committee, said they wanted local politics to be played in an environment where the members and supporters participate freely without intimidating each other, despite opposing views.




How to Do It is Slates sex advice column. Have a question? Send it to Stoya and Rich here. Its anonymous!

Every Thursday night, the crew responds to a bonus question in chat form.

Dear How to Do It,

A few months ago, I went on a date with a guy I met online. He was really sweet overall, but I didnt find myself very romantically attracted to him, and I was also put off by some comments he made about some other members of the LGBTQ community (were both cis gay men). He continued to bring up the possibility of a relationship between us, however, and I equivocated on it because I wasnt wholly against a relationship but wasnt head over heels for him.

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We got food and watched the sunset, and eventually we wound up making out, and I proposed we have sex. He said yes, but quickly withdrew and began talking about some of his past sexual trauma. I immediately stopped everything and asked if he was all right, and he said yes and that he wanted to continue. I asked if he was sure, and he said yes, and then we engaged in mutual masturbation and mutual oral sex in his car. It was good, though not the best sex of my life, and we both came in the end.

On the way back to my apartment, he asked again about having a relationship and if I only agreed to the date in order to hook up. I said I didnt want to immediately go into anything, but that Id be open to more dates and getting to know him better, and that my motivation to go on this date was more than just hooking up. He said OK, and we parted ways. I wake up the next morning to find hes blocked me across every form of communication that we had each other on.

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Im really worried that something went wrong, and that I sexually assaulted him or generally engaged in sexual misconduct, but didnt realize in the moment or somehow subconsciously denied to myself that he wasnt consenting to what we did. It truly did seem to me like he was willing to do what we did, and that I communicated I did not want to have any sexual contact with him that he didnt agree to. Ive been wanting to reach out to him through Instagram (I have an account he didnt know about) to try and understand what happened, but I dont want to annoy, retraumatize, or hurt him. What should I do?

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Blocked

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Get How to Do It in Your Inbox Sex advice from Slate, 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 Blocked,

Stoya: Next time, bail earlier.

Rich: You think he should have stopped when his date brought up his sexual trauma?

Stoya: I think the emphasis on relationship was the flag.

Rich: I agree. And it feels like, by including that information, the letter writer knows it too. The guilt in this letter feels almost Catholic to me.

Stoya: Exactly. Our writer knew he wasnt super into the idea of a relationship, and that his interest was more physically driventhe exact thing his hookup was sensitive about.

Rich: I will say that someone who is already talking about the relationship on a first date is generally too intense for my taste, unless I happen to have fallen in love at first sight. In a way, this guy was signaling to the letter writer that he needed a lot more than a casual roll in the back seat.

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The guilt in this letter feels almost Catholic.

Stoya: The thing about trauma and sex is that you kind of have to warn your partners. And people who are in the thick of it might not be able to warn their partners in a succinct or direct way. If a person cant handle navigating that, they need to move on to the next potential sexual partner.

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Rich: Perhaps the dates experience with trauma is related to his desire for a relationship, or maybe theyre separate issues. But the way I interpret his blocking is that he was frustrated that he met (what Im presuming) is yet another guy who just wants sex without love. It can be really difficult to find someone whos serious about getting to know yousomeone who wont just hit it and quit it.

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Stoya: Regardless of the whys behind the blocking, our writer should chill out. And absolutely not reach out to him through this unknown, unblocked account. Worst-case scenario, he could re-retraumatize the hookup. At best, its pushy.

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Rich: I agree. He trusted the date to affirm consentkeep trusting him. Do you think its fair to assume that the date would have said something or reached out if he experienced this as an assault?

Stoya: I dont think its fair to assume anything in cases of sexual assault. Not that I think our writer full-blown assaulted anyonehe just led someone along a bit to get his dick wet. If the hookup is retraumatized, there are myriad reactions that would make sense. If he feels used and sad, theres still myriad reactions that would make sense. At the end of the day, hes sent a clear signal that he does not want further communication. Sure, an apology might help, but it also might make things worse. Its best to listen to the signal hes being sent.

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Rich: Yes, which the writer didnt quite do initially. He knew there was no future for them, but he hooked up with this relationship-minded guy anyway. So its time to learn from that. Starting right now.

Stoya: That icky oooh, maybe I messed up feeling is something he should note.

Rich: Sometimes the ethical thing to do is disengage when you know things are not headed in the direction desired by the person youre sitting across from, no matter what words are spoken.

More How to Do It

Im a woman in her early 30s. I started seeing a new guy after a bad breakup. I expected it to be a fling, but Im starting to get real feelings for him. The best thing about this is also my problem: The sex is incredible. Specifically, he is incredible at sex. He knows exactly how to touch me and where, he is very responsive to my bodyhes just really skilled. So much so that I almost feel shy having sex with him! I am pretty experienced and confident, but when we have sex I feel lazy, like Im doing less than hes doing. Hes a good guy and I like him a lot, but I feel a weird pressure to up my game with him because hes so good, and that in turn makes me wary of sex . Its making me feel inadequate. How do I get over this?
Wavemaker, the media, content and technology agency from GroupM, announced the launch of its debut content production venture Spirit of Scotlandtoday. Hosted by Bollywood star Kunal Kapoor, the show is a 5-part exploration series focusing on the lesser known facets of Scotland. It showcases the interesting and captivating features of Scottish culture and takes the viewer on a breath-taking visual journey into what makes Scotland truly remarkable.

Talking about the series, Karthik Nagarajan, Chief Content Officer said, We are extremely happy that our first ever production is about an experience called Scotland. Crafted specifically for the audience with a discerning taste, the series explores the diversity of experiences that Scotland has to offer  from the fascinating northern lights, to their indigenous culinary history, to the luxury hospitality and their crowning glory  their legendary distilleries, home to brands like Glenlivet, Aberlour, Ballantine, Chivas and The Royal Salute. We take great pride in this content and hope it will bring Scotland alive both on television and digital screens, later this month.

Spirit of Scotland is an ode to the country through its legends, its culture, it's landscapes and it's scotch whisky.

Talking about his experience as the host of the show, Kunal Kapoor said, Scotland has a certain charm which is too tough to escape. Be it the Scotch which rules the world, the scenic beauty, the unparalleled modern history or the architectural heritage, Scotland is simply breathtaking. In this series I have tried to bring to you the authentic Scotland experience and the charm of this beautiful country.

The five-part series to be aired on Times Now and ET Nowand would see Kunal Kapoor visiting people and places which are an embodiment of this romance.
Coronavirus impact on Madhya Pradesh floor test? What Kamal Nath discussed with Governor

India

oi-Deepika S

Bhopal, Mar 13: Coronavirus has become pandemic. The havoc wrought by the noval virus is now there for all to see. But will the deadly disease affect the Madhya Pradesh floor test, crucial for chief minister Kamal Nath, after the exit of 22 Congress MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia pushed his government to the brink of collapse.

The senior Congress leader reportedly referred to the coronavirus pandemic during his meeting with the Governor on the inevitable floor test.

Politics in Madhya Pradesh has been infected by the coronavirus, quipped the chief minister.

Madhya Pradesh govt crisis: CM Kamal Nath expresses readiness to face floor test

"The coronavirus to yahan politics me hai...baad me dekha jayega (the coronavirus is here in politics... will see later)," Nath said when asked about threat of the viral infection in Madhya Pradesh.

The chief minister was speaking to reporters outside Raj Bhavan after meeting Governor Lalji Tandon.

The Kamal Nath government, which assumed office in December 2018, plunged into crisis after a rebellion by a section of Congress MLAs earlier this week.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 13th, 2020

Kamal Nath plans to postpone MP assembly session

Reportedly, Kamal Nath is mulling to postpone the state assembly session slated to open March 16 while India battles a growing epidemic of the new coronavirus disease, Covid-19.

BJP to seek floor test in Madhya Pradesh Assembly on March 16

Declared a "controllable" pandemic (see definition) by the World Health Organisation, the coronavirus has infected over 70 and killed one in India. No cases have been reported in Madhya Pradesh, and tests so far have come out negative, according to a PTI report dated March 12.

If this happens, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh will get time to reach out to the rebel MLA's ahead of the crucial floor test.

The number game

Now that 22 MLAs of the Congress have tendered their resignations, the strength of the Congress drops to 92 on its own. The Congress has seven allegiance legislators and that makes the tally 100. The BJP on the other hand has 107 on its own.

Prior to the resignations, the half way mark was 115. The Congress had 115 and the BJP 107, while the others are 7. With two seats vacant in the 230 member house, the half way mark stood at 115.

Now once the speaker accepts the resignations, the house strength would come down by 24. This means that the half way mark would be 102. The Congress in this scenario would have 92 and the BJP, 107.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 13, 2020, 14:58 [IST]
Film and TV festivals are falling like flies. Across the world, as the coronavirus outbreak continues, event after event is being cancelled or delayed. This years South by Southwest festival (SXSW) in the US, due to start at the weekend in Texas, has been scrapped; the inaugural Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia has been stopped in its tracks; MIPTV, one of the major television markets, has likewise been abandoned. All over the world, from Europe to Hong Kong and Qatar, movie events are being shelved, postponed or downsized. The talk now is that the queen bee itself, Cannes (12-23 May), the biggest, most prestigious festival of them all, might not happen. Cannes has been shut down only once before (if you dont count the interruption of the Second World War). That was in 1968 after protests led by Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut in support of striking workers, but was considered a one-off aberration. Nobody contemplated that it could ever happen again.

At present, attitudes within the industry towards the potential cancellation of Cannes are split. Some are saying that it would be absurd to give up on the festival now, a full two months before it is due to take place. They accuse their more wary colleagues of scaremongering and point out that by mid-May, the spread of the virus might well have been arrested anyway. They doubt that the virus would survive in the Mediterranean sunshine. Festival organisers are claiming that applications to attend are higher than last year and are insistent that, as matters stand, the event will go ahead. Unless the infection rate in the south of France shoots up, it will be business (almost) as normal, although it is far from clear that the restrictions on public gatherings will be lifted by May.

Unless there is a major development, a huge outbreak and we find out that Nice has a thousand confirmed outbreaks, I dont know why we would pick on Cannes, says Dennis Davidson, founder of DDA, the PR and marketing agency which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and which remains a major power broker at the festival.
YES Bank, courtesy: ANI

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Gaurav Garg

Masses were only reviving and starting to gain their faith in the financial system of the country when we witnessed yet another setback, this time to the banking segment of the nation. Private banking player Yes Bank, which once had a dominant position in the country saw its NPAs climbing fast with the banks primary lenders currently undergoing steep valuation declines or started undergoing an investigation itself.

The resultant cash crunch was responsible for the trickle-down effect that not only affected the direct account holders but had an impact on various other fronts as well.

The first and foremost effect of the Yes Bank crisis was on Life Insurance Corporation of India. The insurer has usually seen a high amount of revenue collection coming in the month of March every year. The premiums usually flow in these days as online payments. With the automation of processes, the bank for NACH debit and cheque clearances for LIC was Yes Bank which is expected to affect the collections for the corporation for the month of March for Q4 20.

LIC had also earlier sent a message stating there would be a delay in premium debit for policies. This would add to the distress that the crisis has already been causing.

Another impact is on the account holders as the bank is under a moratorium restricting the monthly withdrawal to Rs 50,000, subject to certain exceptions and prior approvals from RBI. This is not only bound to hinder the day to day activities for people whose, primary bank accounts were in yes Bank, but may also hamper small businesses.

Not only would this affect the daily lifestyle, but it may also demotivate the people who wanted to apply for the SBI Card IPO. Out of all the applications for allotments received for the IPO, applications worth Rs 1,500 crore were through people with their accounts in Yes Bank.

Even though the company said that if the applicants are able to pay the amount through an alternative bank account the allotment would still be done, this may not be a practically feasible option for many in such a short notice. Thus, the crisis is expected to have its effects on the IPO too, affecting the listing price and number of participants to a huge extent.

On the other side however, one should also keep in mind that a good participation even if after the effects of the crisis, may help Yes Bank in the long run. This can be said based on the fact that SBI would be infusing capital in the beleaguered bank soon, taking a 49 percent stake as a part of restructuring scheme that has been proposed. The collections of the IPO would thus help SBI fund this move too. However, whether each process would be executed successfully is based upon the IPOs performance in the current bearish markets.

The author is Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited- Investment Advisor.

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
The South-east caucus in the Senate, on Thursday, complained about the exclusion of the region in infrastructural projects for which the federal government has borrowed $22.7 billion.

The senators took the protest to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

This comes about a week after the Senate approved the foreign loan as requested by President Muhammadu Buhari. The approval was preceded by a heated argument and disagreement among the lawmakers.

However, the South-east senators joined their colleagues to unanimously approve the loan, after a closed-door session of the Senate.

Members of the House of Representatives, however, suspended the consideration of the loan request with no new date set for it.

The leader of the caucus and former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, told journalists that they have been assured of inclusion in the loan projects.

He said they believe the matter will either be revisited or since it has not been passed in the House, the appropriate thing will be done and our peoples fears will be allayed.

He also said the loan request was approved by the Senate because many South-east senators were out of the chamber to attend to other important things.

He was asked why the caucus had resorted to a belated move when it should have had an idea of the content of the proposals since it was once before the Eighth Assembly where many of them served.

The lawmaker noted that the region still has a window through legislative process which would be exploited to address the issue.

Regrettably last Thursday, the Senate passed a borrowing plan which excluded the whole of South-east. We like to use this opportunity to thank some of our colleagues who were at the chamber like Enyinnaya Abaribe who made spirited efforts to get the matter addressed to see that there is equity distribution.

Most of us were not in the chamber. I was at an INEC retreat so we want to commend him for what he did and those of our colleagues who were there during the conversation. We met as a caucus of legislators of the South-east last night after consulting with our people and getting their feelings regarding this issue.

We felt that the best approach was for a constructive engagement with the National Assembly leadership, so this afternoon, we had a very good conversation with both the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, he said.

He thanked the leadership for its assurances. Mr Ekweremadu also hoped that what was presented by the federal government was just a plan and theres still an opportunity to look at distribution.

If we are going to be part and parcel of the payment, it makes every sense that we are going to benefit from the utilisation of those funds. Our concerns about certain facilities within the eastern corridor railway of Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, we are also concerned about the access to the sea for people of the South-east to open seaports in our area. We hope by the time the matter is addressed, the fears of the people will be allayed.

Another form of exclusion

The caucus also complained about poor representation of the region in the appointments in the National Assembly institutions.

This complaint, he said, was also laid before the National Assembly leadership.

The other issue we raised with them is the issue of the distribution at the National Assembly with respect with the bureaucracy. When you look at the bureaucracy the South-east is also excluded in the National Assembly bureaucracy.

If you look at the Clerk of the National Assembly, the clerk of the Senate, the clerk of the House of Representatives, Head of NILDS and also the chairman and secretary of the National Assembly Service Commission as well as Public Complaint Commission, the South-east is excluded in these places.

He, however, assured that the leadership of the National Assembly has agreed to address it as soon as vacancy(ies) occur in the need of those positions.
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"Not all those who wander are lost."

-J.R.R. Tolkien





They call him Bumdog. Well, he calls himself Bumdog. He's got shirts featuring said name and his distinctive silhouette he'll sell you for $75. He is on the streets by choice, describing himself as a "career homeless bum." When I buy us lunch at Lulu's Cafe in the Fairfax District I notice he's a popular guy. As we're outside eating, people passing by say "hello," others stop to greet him. One woman introduces him to her friend and they exchange pleasantries.

People in the neighborhood know Bumdog. At an art gallery not far away he met broadcaster Mark Thompson, who later interviewed him on his podcast, The Edge. He even got some space in the Los Angeles Times recently.

I met Bumdog Torres a few weeks prior to our interview while sitting outside the Starbucks on the corner of Beverly and Detroit. I was reading Brave New World, using my TIFF membership card as a bookmark. He saw it and struck up a conversation. We talked about movies, books, photography. Turns out, Bumdog is a skilled photographer. It's one of his many talents.

He was raised in the Crenshaw District by his politically active mother. He told Thompson that one of his earliest memories was attending a Free Angela Davis rally with her. At times, he and his mom stayed in hotels, a situation he compared to being near homeless, "a Florida Project type of deal." He wasn't a big fan of school. After taking medical leave in the seventh grade, he never returned.

Do not take this to mean Bumdog is stupid or uneducated. He is well read, a fan of Schopenhauer, Socrates and Diogenes. His mother kept lots of books, which he readily consumed.

He was never drawn to the life of the average late-capitalist worker. He preferred his freedom. During his interview with Thompson, Bumdog said he was inspired by the "bums" he saw growing up.

"Back then, these were men who'd just decided to, you know, sleep on the sidewalk and just not get up. I used to get on the bus and, on the way to school, I used to just envy them. You just lay on the sidewalk and just watch the world go by. That's something I admired. I thought I was just nuts and then I started reading up on Buddhism and Daoism [sic] and I realized there was a precedent for my aspirations," he told Thompson.

His choice stands in contrast to the circumstances of most homeless people in Los Angeles, who end up on the streets not by choice but primarily due to economic factors, a fact Bumdog acknowledges.

He started living on the street when he was in his early twenties. Not just L.A.'s streets though. Bumdog is a world traveler. San Francisco led him to Las Vegas then to Florida. He eventually found his way to England, the Netherlands, France, and Morocco. He made money in various ways. In England, he had a "hustle" where he joined up with a crew to steal antique fireplaces out of old buildings.

Eventually, he got kicked out of Spain and ended up back in the United States.

"I was over my visa. They caught me up in the mountains and when I was living up in the mountains, they realized I didn't have any money," he said. That was the mid-'90s.

From 2011 to 2014, he lived in Thailand. He taught English, worked as a translator and announced Muay Thai bouts. He says it was one of his favorite places (friendly people, delicious food), the other being the south of France (beautiful countryside).

After another visa issue, he wound up back in the U.S. Since then he has lived in Los Angeles and mostly keeps to the Westside. His day-to-day is different. Sometimes, he's working on a project, sometimes he's trying to make money, sometimes he's just passing the time. At night, he sleeps in parking lots, in abandoned buildings, on side streets.

Bumdog takes a self portrait in a mirror with a label reading "You are beautiful." (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

In addition to his travels, Bumdog has completed what so many Angelenos only talk about doing. He has directed a feature film. His creation, Sketches Of Nothing By A Complete Nobody, is a near two-and-a-half hour collection of dreamlike images, music videos, and vignettes that follow Bumdog's wanderings and daily activities around the city.

It took him three years to finish. He got the idea when a friend filmed him and showed him a demonstration of iMovie. He would find people who had cheap, "little one chip" camcorders and shoot scenes whenever and wherever he could.

Bumdog has called the movie "unwatchable." He's self-deprecating like that. It's constrained by low-end equipment and bad sound. Still, Bumdog is a natural talent with a sharp eye for Los Angeles. The streets, the lighting, the murals, the parking lots. He captures the feeling of being in this city in a way few filmmakers have achieved. In one scene, he has a wide-ranging, nearly 15-minute conversation with an Orthodox Jewish woman about faith, God and mental health. It's excellent.

"So this whole movie is for you, to throw in your scrapbook, photo album, closet, or the bottom pit of your storage. To pull out in twenty years and say 'oh yeah, I remember that bum,'" the dedication reads in part. "So the question begs 'was it worth all the heartache everyday for 3 years, just to make a home movie for your friends to watch once every decade?' The answer is: friendship is the only thing that's worth it."

Anyone who knows anything about filmmaking knows it's a collaborative exercise, and Bumdog is no diva. He's not one to forget those who helped him.

"It was about friendship. When you're making a film, all you think about is the people who aren't helping you. You get very, very bitter as you're making it. But after you're finished, all you can think about is the people who actually helped you," Bumdog says.

He makes money by selling Sketches Of Nothing DVDs on the street for $25 a piece.

He's skilled at teaching the craft, too. He says he once had an offer to teach film in India. He has produced a series of how-to videos, aptly called "The Bumdog School of Film." I'm a big fan of "The 12 Shots of Composition," which provides advice that has improved my own photography.

"So, now you might be asking yourself, how can some career homeless bum teach you how to make a film?" he says in the introductory video. "Well, for one thing, this career homeless bum actually made a film, and I did it with less resources than 99% of the people who are watching this now. And if I can do it, you have no excuses."

When Bumdog first showed me some of his photography I was so mesmerized I bought three photos. He's a master of street photography and portraits, especially self-portraits. He likes to shoot them in a mirror a la one of his inspirations, Vivian Maier.

As for his motivations, Bumdog is without a hint of pretension. "It's just something I know how to do," he says of his art.

Later, he says, "It's just a knack. I just have a natural talent for it. I'm just a naturally creative person."

You can see that talent in the beautiful, gritty images he posts on his Instagram page. They don't show the world through rose-colored glasses but they're not cynical or misanthropic. They offer a clear-eyed view of the city and its people. The ability to render life is something he respects. He's a realist, an admirer of Fyodor Dostoevsky, John Fante and Charles Bukowski.

"I like underground writers," Bumdog says of Bukowski.

"I'd never read Dickens, but when I went to London I met those characters that he described, and they were accurate characters. That's what gave me a perspective on this."

Bumdog is a writer, too. He has self-published a book, also titled Sketches Of Nothing By A Complete Nobody (the basis for the film), and posts some of his writing on his Medium account.

There are times when his work reminds you that his life isn't a cakewalk. The caption on one picture, taken from inside a dumpster looking out at the soaked streets during a rainstorm, reads, "Man this is the coldest and wettest I've been in a long time."

I ask him how he doesn't get hypothermia. "The grace of God," he replies.

Make no mistake, Bumdog isn't a complainer, and he doesn't fish for pity. He has had jobs intermittently over the years. Selling furniture and doing a little graphic design, for example. But he's much more critical of the two-and-a-half years he spent living in an apartment on Beverly Boulevard. He ended up favoring the internet and TV above all else. He says living on the streets helps him stay sharp.

"I accomplish more on the streets than most people do in their homes. I'm much more creative when I'm on the streets," he says.

For now, the 50-year-old Bumdog gets by selling his art and with some help from social programs. He is still taking photos and making movies. He shot my portrait and I helped him film a scene for his new project, a recently premiered mockumentary entitled Tarantino's Basterds: The Homeless Filmmakers of Hollywood.

More than 4 million people live in Los Angeles. From his home on the streets, Bumdog stands as a chronicler of them. He has traveled the world, and through film, photos and literature lends us a glimpse of his unique perspective. It is there, available to anyone curious and wise enough to seek it out.
This is why people hate politics.

Ever notice how quickly once-bitter political rivals seem to be able to forgive and forget, and become the best of friends? They go from attacking each other to linking arms against a member of the rival party.

One minute, theyre saying how this other person is not up to the task of leading. The next minute, theyre following that person.

In the latest example, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker  two African American senators who, just a few months ago, were themselves running for president and using Joe Biden as a punching bag  have now endorsed the former vice president to fill the office they once sought.

Last June, Harris stood on a debate stage and hammered Biden for his coziness over the years with Southern segregationists in the Senate and his opposition to mandatory court-ordered busing in the 1970s.

Harris recalled: 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. That little girl was me.

The point that she was trying to get across was this: If Biden wasnt himself a racist, then, at the very least, he appeared comfortable around actual racists, as well as willing to tolerate the vestiges of racism.

At a subsequent debate a few months later, Booker had his shot at Biden. He used it to attack Biden for saying that he opposed legalization of marijuana. I thought you might have been high when you said it, Booker joked. The New Jersey senator also blasted Biden for anti-crime polices that destroyed communities like mine through harsh penalties and mass incarceration.

When Biden tried to deflect the criticism back onto Booker  a former mayor of Newark, N.J.  for allegedly letting the citys police department violate peoples civil rights, Booker snapped at Biden: Youre dipping into the Kool-Aid, and you dont even know the flavor.

Now were supposed to believe that Harris, Booker and Biden are all just one happy family? What about the legitimate issues that were raised amid all that mudslinging?

This kind of flip-flopping is very common in politics, and it happens frequently in both parties.

It happened to the Republicans in 2016, when Donald Trump emerged victorious from a crowded field of presidential candidates that included Ben Carson, then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and Sens. Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham. All of those individuals are now on board the Trump Train. In fact, two of them  Carson and Perry  went on to serve in Trumps Cabinet.

It happened to Democrats in 2008, when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton went after each other aggressively over issues like trade. Clinton accused Obama of lying about her support of NAFTA, and Obama tweaked Clinton by assuring her that she was likable enough. Later, after serving as Obamas first secretary of state, Clinton wrote a book that criticized the Obama administrations handling of the Syria crisis.

But the point is, this sort of thing should not happen. Its weird and unnatural. It feels inauthentic, and it fuels cynicism. It plays into the farcical quality of politics, where so much seems make-believe as it is.

All this forgiving and forgetting also calls into the question the truthfulness of our elected officials. Were they telling us the truth before when they were running down the other candidate? Or are they telling us the truth now that theyre building him up?

We have the right to roll our eyes and feel uncomfortable when politicians turn themselves inside out  whether its to be a team player or to advance party unity.

Not everyone has to cave. When youre a politician, there is nothing wrong with standing your ground and refusing to endorse someone whom you were running against 10 minutes ago. Its rare but not unheard of.

In fact, in 2016, there was one Republican presidential candidate who  after losing to Trump  did not publicly support him. Hes the same person whose name I wrote on my ballot, in the general election, in protest of what I saw as a pair of impossible choices. That makes me think that he would have made a good president  better than Trump or any of his enablers.

Lets hear it for Jeb Bush.

ruben@rubennavarrette.com
Luxembourg is implementing a variety of new measures in an attempt to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.

Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Minister of Health Paulette Lenert presented the set of drastic measures at a press conference after the exceptional state council meeting. In their words, "coronavirus has definitely arrived in Luxembourg."

26 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Luxembourg as of Thursday evening. More than 90 people are quarantined. A 94-year-old is in critical condition, according to Minister of Health Paulette Lenert. Luxembourg is ramping up testing.

New measures at a glance

All schools will shut down on Monday and remain closed until 27 March. It possible that this time period will be extended depending on future developments. Creches, nursery schools, and the University of Luxembourg will also be closed. The shutting down of schools is a precautionary measure and not synonymous with mass quarantine of pupils and teachers. Minister of Education Claude Meisch will present the details on Friday morning. Teachers will still be in contact with their pupils to assign homework via email. Parents will be able to benefit from additional leave to look after their young ones.

Lenert stressed that children and adolescents are not necessarily at risk themselves. They can, however, easily contract the virus without displaying severe symptoms and proceed to infect the elderly or other vulnerable members of society.

Read more: Chief Medical Officer Jean-Claude Schmit answers common questions on Coronavirus

The government also decided to ban all visits to care homes and hospitals until 27 March at the earliest. Xavier Bettel underlined that it could be "fatal" for grandparents to look after grandchildren. The risk of infection is too high.

People aged 65 and over, individuals suffering from autoimmune diseases, and other vulnerable citizens are encouraged to stay at home and avoid large gatherings of people. Trips to the supermarket should take place outside of peak hours.

All events taking place inside and attracting more than 100 people are cancelled - this follows a similar measure being implemented in the Netherlands earlier today. Outside group events larger than 500 people are also banned. Cinemas or swimming pools will for example not be allowed to let more than 100 people inside a confined room. Supermarkets are not affected by the ban.

Public transport will continue to be operational. There will be more buses at peak hours to reduce the risk of large crowds in confined spaces. Passengers will have to enter the bus from the back door in order to protect bus drivers.

Only people displaying alarming symptoms or complications will be tested for the virus to prevent supply shortages. Lenert explained that it is not unlikely that 70% of the population will contract the virus.

The state coronavirus hotline is struggling to keep up with the high number of daily callers. Lenert urged the public to consult the government's website and determine the level of urgency before calling.

It is not an option to close the borders as this would trigger collapse. Bettel explained that Luxembourg heavily relies on the daily commuters. Around 70% of medical staff are non-residents.

Each individual is required to take responsibility and play his or her role in fighting against the virus. Regular hand washing and avoiding close physical contact with other people are key.

The government is working on facilitating teleworking of cross-border workers. Discussions with Luxembourg's neighbouring countries are ongoing.
LA JOLLA--(March 13, 2020) Just like humans and other animals, plants have hormones. One role of plant hormones is to perceive trouble--whether an insect attack, drought or intense heat or cold--and then signal to the rest of the plant to respond.

A multicenter team led by current and former investigators from the Salk Institute is reporting new details about how plants respond to a hormone called jasmonic acid, or jasmonate. The findings, which were published in Nature Plants on March 13, 2020, reveal a complex communication network. This knowledge could help researchers, such as members of Salk's Harnessing Plants Initiative, develop crops that are hardier and more able to withstand assault, especially in an era of rapid climate change.

"This research gives us a really detailed picture of how this hormone, jasmonic acid, acts at many different levels," says Professor Joseph Ecker, co-corresponding author and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "It enables us to understand how environmental information and developmental information is processed, and how it ensures proper growth and development."

The plant used in the study was Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering plant in the mustard family. Because its genome has been well characterized, this plant is a popular model system. Scientists can take what they learn in A. thaliana and apply it to other plants, including those grown for food. Jasmonic acid is found not only in A. thaliana but throughout the plant kingdom.

"Jasmonic acid is particularly important for a plant's defense response against fungi and insects," says co-first author Mark Zander, a staff researcher in Ecker's lab. "We wanted to precisely understand what happens after jasmonic acid is perceived by the plant. Which genes are activated and deactivated, which proteins are produced and which factors are in control of these well-orchestrated cellular processes?"

The researchers started with plant seeds grown in petri dishes. They kept the seeds in the dark for three days to mimic the first few days of a seed's life, when it is still underground. "We know this growth stage is super important," says co-first author and co-corresponding author Mathew Lewsey, an associate professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, who previously worked in Ecker's lab. The first few days in the soil are a challenging time for seedlings, as they face attacks from insects and fungi. "If your seeds don't germinate and successfully emerge from the soil, then you will have no crop," Lewsey adds.

After three days, the plants were exposed to jasmonic acid. The researchers then extracted the DNA and proteins from the plant cells and employed specific antibodies against their proteins of interest to capture the exact genomic location of these regulators. By using various computational approaches, the team was then able to identify genes that are important for the plant's response to jasmonic acid and, moreover, for the cellular cross-communication with other plant hormone pathways.

Two genes that rose to the top in their degree of importance across the system were MYC2 and MYC3. These genes code for proteins that are transcription factors, which means that they regulate the activity of many other genes--or thousands of other genes in this case.

"In the past, the MYC genes and other transcription factors have been studied in a very linear fashion," Lewsey explains. "Scientists look at how one gene is connected to the next gene, and the next one, and so on. This method is inherently slow because there are a lot of genes and lots of connections. What we've done here is to create a framework by which we can analyze many genes at once."

"By deciphering all of these gene networks and subnetworks, it helps us to understand the architecture of the whole system," Zander says. "We now have this very comprehensive picture of which genes are turned on and off during a plant's defense response. With the availability of CRISPR gene editing, these kinds of details can be useful for breeding crops that are able to better withstand attacks from pests."

Another noteworthy aspect of this work is that all of the data from the research has been made available on Salk's website. Researchers can use the site to search for more information about genes they study and find ways to target them.

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Other authors of the study included Anna Bartlett, J. Paola Saldierna Guzman, Elizabeth Hann, Amber E. Langford, Bruce Jow, Joseph R. Nery and Huaming Chen of Salk; Lingling Yin of La Trobe University; Natalie M. Clark and Justin W. Walley of Iowa State University; Aaron Wise and Ziv Bar-Joseph of Carnegie Mellon University; and Roberto Solano of Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas in Madrid, Spain.

The work was funded by a Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft research fellowship and an EU Marie Curie FP7 International Outgoing Fellowship, and by grants from the National Science Foundation; the National Institutes of Health (R01GM120316); the Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences, Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the U.S. Department of Energy (DE-FG02-04ER15517); the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF3034); the Ministry of Economy (BIO2016-77216-R), Industry and Competitiveness of Spain; the ISU Plant Sciences Institute; and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Every cure has a starting point. The Salk Institute embodies Jonas Salk's mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature and fearless in the face of any challenge. Be it cancer or Alzheimer's, aging or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin. Learn more at: salk.edu.
RICHMOND  Gov. Ralph Northam today ordered all K-12 schools in Virginia to close for a minimum of two weeks in response to the continued spread of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.

Schools will close through March 27, and localities will maintain authority over specific staffing decisions to ensure students maintain continuity of services or learning, while protecting the public health of teachers and staff, the governor's office said in a release.

We are taking this action to keep Virginians as safe and healthy as possible, and to minimize exposure to COVID-19, Northam said in the release. I recognize this will pose a hardship on many families, but closing our schools for two weeks will not only give our staff time to clean and disinfect school facilities, it will help slow the spread of this virus. This is a fluid and fast-changing situation. We will do everything possible to ensure that students who rely on school nutrition programs continue to have access to meals, and that the disruption to academics is as minimal as possible.

The release said Virginia Department of Education officials are working closely with school divisions and the Department of Social Services to ensure students who qualify for free or reduced lunch programs are able to access those programs while schools are closed.

The Department of Education will issue guidance and memos to superintendents across the Commonwealth to provide specifics about the continuity of education, school nutrition, and updated public health guidelines.

We recognize this decision places burdens on many of our parents and families, especially for those who rely on school nutrition programs for access to healthy food for their children, Secretary of Education Atif Qarni said in the release. However, we believe closing Virginia schools is in the Commonwealths best interest as we seek to stop the spread of COVID-19. Virginia will continue to explore and implement innovative approaches to provide meals to students who qualify for free and reduced lunch during this closure.

School officials are also working to minimize disruptions to instructional time.

The Department of Education is working closely with divisions to minimize disruptions to our students academic development by encouraging schools to provide students and families with educational resources throughout this time, said Dr. James Lane, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. We are committed to help divisions address all the implications of these closures and will seek to provide each division with maximum flexibility to address local needs as they arise, especially as it relates to make-up days.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland parents said Friday that while they support Ohios decision to shutter schools to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the three-week closure creates some anxiety and lingering questions about daily issues including childcare and lunches.

Parents at Luiz Munoz Marin elementary school in the Tremont neighborhood said they understand Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines order Thursday to close K-12 schools for three weeks. However, the extended break brings pressing questions for working parents who might stay home to watch their children or find someone else to care for them.

Every parent was caught off-guard, said Connie Barres, whose three children  in kindergarten and 7th and 9th grade  attend Cleveland public schools. Youre trying to figure out what youre doing for three weeks.

DeWines order officially goes into effect at 3:30 p.m. Monday and means public, private, and charter schools will close until at least April 3. Teachers will still work during that period and will utilize online learning options, he said, at a news conference Friday.

Many Cuyahoga County school districts, including Parma, North Olmsted, Chagrin Falls and Euclid, preemptively canceled classes Friday as a precaution. Other school districts, including Cleveland and Cleveland Heights-University Heights, will not have classes starting Monday.

Most parents were already preparing for an annual, one-week spring break. The extended closure means they will need to make preparations for an additional two weeks.

Were concerned, Ivelisse Castellano, a mother with children in 1st, 3rd and 9th grades, said Friday outside Luiz Munoz Marin. Right now, I probably cant go to work.

DeWine said at a news conference Friday that daycare centers do not have to close at this time, but officials are considering an order to shutter them.

State officials are still working to determine how DeWines order will impact standardized testing and school hour requirements. In Ohio, state law requires students in grades 1-6 to have at least 910 hours of instruction a year; students in grades 7-12 at least 1,001 hours; and half-day kindergarteners at least 455 hours.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture granted Ohios request to keep school lunch programs running while the schools are closed, DeWine said Friday. Schools will continue to have staff members make and distribute food, he said.

At Luis Munoz Marin, parents said they agree with the governors decision to close schools for an extended period. They do not want to see their children or other family members get sick.

I know its a real problem, said Dayanies Torres, who has a son in kindergarten. I just prefer he stay at home.

School children leave Luis Munoz Marin School in Cleveland on Friday afternoon, March 13, 2020, to start their extended spring break due to the coronavirus epidemic. David Petkiewicz, cleveland.comDavid Petkiewicz

Read more from cleveland.com:

13 coronavirus cases confirmed in Ohio: Gov. Mike DeWine briefing

Ohio students will be out of school for at least 3 weeks. Will they be exempt from testing, hour requirements?

Ohio Gov. DeWine announces 3-week spring break for Ohio schools to control coronavirus
The morning commute is starting to look much different due to the coronavirus outbreak increasing the number of employers, now including Detroit automakers, directing or allowing employees to work from home.

General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles have all announced or expanded some form of remote work program in recent days as Michigan state and public health officials push social distancing and other steps to slow the spread of Covid-19.

The work-from-home guidelines apply to employees who aren't required to work assembly lines and in other similar assignments.

GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra and Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett both sent letters Friday with work-from-home directives beginning Monday. FCA CEO Mike Manley sent a letter Thursday that the company's remote work program, called "Smart Working," is available to all employees.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra speaks to reporters after a meeting with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, to discuss GM's announcement it would stop making the Chevy Cruze at its Lordstown, Ohio, plant, part of a massive restructuring for the automaker, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018.

Ford Motor Company announced Friday that, starting Monday, its global workforce except those in business-critical roles that cannot be done away from Ford facilities will be working remotely until further notice. China operations also are not included in the work-remote mandate.

On Thursday, the company confirmed it was testing its computer systems to allow access and capacity. When asked if Ford would rotate teams to accommodate server capacity issues, spokesman T.R. Reid said the company had transitioned in recent weeks and didnt anticipate any issues.

While Ford employs an estimated 198,000 workers globally, that includes approximately half in factory settings that cannot work remotely, Reid said. The company did not immediately provide a total number of employees working remotely in North America and Europe.

Barra's letter told workers that beginning Monday, all GM employees and contract workers are asked to work remotely, although it acknowledged exceptions. The directive is for all parts of the globe except for China, where "existing protocols" are in place.

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The letter, which encourages close contact with team leaders, said not everyone can work remotely, and that the company is taking precautions to make sure employees are safe and that it is adjusting other functions, including manufacturing and product development, to allow for more cleaning.

Barra also presented a message of mission for the automaker in light of so many disruptions.

"Given the current drop in use of public transportation and extensive flight cancellations, our customers are looking to us more than ever to ensure they have the vehicles, parts and services they need. Thank you to everyone for helping to ensure that we continue to deliver," the letter said.

FCA has been particularly affected by the pandemic because of the extensive outbreak in Italy, where the company has extensive operations.

Manley noted that working remotely had become the "new normal" at FCA's offices in China, South Korea, Japan and Italy.

Follow Free Press reporter Eric D. Lawrence on Twitter: @_ericdawrence. Phoebe Wall Howard contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler announce work-from-home plans
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 00:45:11|Editor: yan

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PRAGUE, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The foreign ministers of the Visegrad (V4) group -- namely the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary, and Germany on Friday held a video conference to discuss pressing issues concerning European Union (EU), the Czech Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

The foreign ministers were originally meant to meet in Prague for the conference but it was changed to a video conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ministers discussed the priorities of the German EU presidency, EU relations with the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe, the EU's role in global affairs, the COVID-19 outbreak, migration and asylum policies, and the situation in Syria. Together, the foreign ministers signed a joint declaration urging for a united and effective Europe on the global stage.

"Close cooperation between the V4 and Germany is crucial for events in Central Europe, but also for the future of Europe," said Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek.

On the topic of the COVID-19 pandemic, the foreign ministers agreed that the solution to the problem could not only be at national level, but that it was a common European and global problem where common resources would have to be involved, according to the release.
The Odisha government on Friday declared coronavirus as a state disaster and ramped up measures to tackle its spread, including closing schools and colleges among others, as the number of infected people went up across the country.

Two people have died of Covid-19 and the number of coronavirus patients in the country has risen to more than 80, including foreign nationals, so far.

The Biju Janata Dal government ordered the closure of all educational institutions, cinema halls and swimming pools in the state till March 31 and asked people to avoid non-essential gatherings and assemblies like religious functions and wedding parties.

Highlights Patnaik said Rs 200 crore has been earmarked to augment the Public Health Response Fund to combat the threat The chief minister advised people to remain at home, reduce social interactions and avoid gatherings 17 samples of suspected patients of coronavirus have tested negative in the state

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who chaired a cabinet meeting on measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the sate, told the assembly that Covid-19 has been declared as a state disaster under the provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005 to adequately empower public officials to combat its spread.

The COVID-19 Odisha Regulations, 2020, have been approved, the chief minister said.

Patnaik said Rs 200 crore has been earmarked to augment the Public Health Response Fund to combat the threat of the pandemic and for making the required expenditure.

The last 45 days have seen human beings as a race facing one of the biggest challenges of the century. We are faced with a threat that does not discriminate between developed countries and underdeveloped countries between democratic or non-democratic countries, he said in the assembly.

Rich and poor societies all are equally vulnerable. UKs health minister, the first family of Canada, senators in the US, half of Irans cabinet, major movie stars, sportspersons  the virus has not spared anyone, he added.

The state assembly was suspended until the end of March.

Further measures

An empowered group of ministers has been constituted and a committee of secretaries under the chief secretary would be constituted to evaluate the emerging situation and take all necessary steps for preventing, containing the spread of coronavirus in the state.

Patnaik said the health and family welfare department and its directorates, as well as the district collectors and the municipal commissioners, have been authorised for making emergency procurement of necessary drugs and consumables, equipment and other required services etc. as are necessary to prevent, contain coronavirus.

Competent officers have been authorised to impose required restrictions on assemblies, congregations, institutions and establishments aiming at social distancing to contain the spread of the virus by invoking powers under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

This extraordinary circumstance calls for an extraordinary response. This response cannot be only at the individual, government or sectoral level. Each one of us in Odisha has to rise to the occasion and be responsible. In the absence of any vaccine or treatment, our collective responsibility is the only hope we have, to fight this epidemic, said Patnaik.

The chief minister advised people to remain at home, reduce social interactions and avoid gatherings and go for frequent hand washing and adhere to strict sanitisation protocols. He also appealed to the people to stop chewing and spitting betel leaves in the open to stop the virus from spreading.

In Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, police have cancelled all permissions given for holding processions and protests.

The state government also announced the opening of an additional coronavirus ward in the SCB Medical College and Hospital with 60-100 beds for infected patients.

Numbers

In Odisha, so far 21 samples of suspected cases of coronavirus, including an Irish as well as a Japanese national, have tested negative.

Officials said 141 people, who returned from coronavirus-affected countries after January 15 and identified by the state surveillance system were kept under isolation facility as well as home quarantine as per the protocol.

In the latest case of suspected coronavirus, a couple from Titlagarh in Bolangir district who had returned from Canada were advised home isolation. Though the couple did not show any symptom of the virus infection, they will be kept under home isolation.
Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) has begun gearing up for the upcoming 2022 Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections. The party announced its national executive committee meeting in Lucknow for Saturday.

To be held at the SP Headquarters, this will be the first executive body meeting since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In 2019, the party did not perform as per expectations even after a pre-poll alliance with the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

With almost two years still remaining for the next assembly polls, SP will be discussing the road map on how to take on the incumbent Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government. The party currently holds a strength of 47 members in the UP State Assembly; in 2012 SP had bagged a whopping 224 assembly seats.

Letters have already been sent to post holders for the crucial meeting, which will be chaired by the party's National President Akhilesh Yadav. Emphasis could be laid on Yadavs stance to go solo in the next assembly elections but alliance with smaller parties could also be on the cards in specific parts of the state, sources said.

If SP decides to go solo, this will be the first such instance since Yadav took the charge of the party. In the 2017 state assembly polls, SP had contested in alliance with Congress. And in 2019 it had forged an alliance with its arch rival BSP. However, both these alliances did not work and were later called off.

A decision could also be taken in the meeting to make the party proactive with more focus on protests and dharnas, sources said. Bicycle rallies and public gatherings may also be organised, directions for which could also be issued in the meeting.
Sickening US Sanctions on Iran By Finian Cunningham March 12, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - At a time of global crisis as seen with the coronavirus epidemic, it is heartening to witness compassion and solidarity that unites all human beings.

Russia, which has so far been relatively unscathed from the disease, is reportedly sending 50,000 test kits to Iran for detecting the virus. The Islamic Republic has recorded over 300 deaths so far and there are fears of many more fatalities to come over the next few weeks as the flu-like disease spreads to all provinces. Meanwhile, China  where the outbreak originated in December  is sending thousands of ventilators, respirators and other equipment to Italy, which has become the worst-affected country in Europe by the disease. In stark contrast to these international humanitarian actions, the United States continues to impose crippling economic sanctions on Iran under its policy of maximum pressure. Irans parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani this week called on the rest of the world to demand the lifting of US sanctions because they are hampering the fight against Covid-19 in Iran. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Washington claims that its sanctions on Iran do not specifically target medicines and humanitarian supplies to the country. But that claim is cynical sophistry. Even the US-based Human Rights Watch organization  usually uncritical of American foreign policy  has stated that sanctions are hitting Irans public health services. A ruling by the United Nations International Court of Justice in October 2018 also found that US sanctions were unlawful, especially because they prevent Iran from importing vital humanitarian supplies.

Two weeks ago, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that his country would offer humanitarian assistance to Iran over the coronavirus crisis if Tehran made a request. Pompeo said the US stands with the people of Iran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has subsequently rejected Washingtons offer, dismissing it as a disingenuous propaganda stunt. He said that if Washington really was concerned for the people of Iran then it would immediately revoke its economic sanctions that are restricting every industrial sector, including banking and shipping.

Any fair-minded person would agree with President Rouhani. What is charitable about throttling a country and then offering superficial respite? Its tantamount to waterboarding a prisoner and then letting him breathe for a few seconds before continuing the torture.

The Trump administration re-imposed crippling US sanctions on Iran in May 2018 after the Americans decided to dump the international nuclear accord. As the ICJ ruling above makes clear, those sanctions are unlawful. Again, let that fact sink in: US policy towards Iran is unlawful.

The American economic stranglehold has slashed Irans global oil exports, plunging the countrys economy into turmoil. Even before the coronavirus epidemic emerged, Iranians have been deprived of life-saving medicines because of failing import-purchasing power and skyrocketing inflation. Untold numbers of patients have died from lack of drugs for cancer treatment and other terminal illnesses  all because of the US blockade on the country.

But from the callous American point of view, this is all going to plan as part of maximum pressure to incite regime change. Professed concern for the Iranian people by President Trump and his administration is simply sickening.

Unfortunately, the rest of the world can become inured to the barbarity of economic sanctions inflicted on Iran by the US. The slow, daily death toll of people perishing from chronic lack of medicines can become invisible due to the seeming abstract nature of these deaths.

However, with the coronavirus now gripping Iran it suddenly becomes clear again just how monstrous US policy towards that country is. Whatever American propaganda fantasies might claim about Iran, there is absolutely no justification for kicking sick innocent people when they are down.

Washington calls Iran the worlds number one terror state. What does that make the US when it is choking a nation that is trying to fight off a disease that may kill thousands?

At the end of the day, what comes around goes around. There are growing fears that the Covid-19 virus is set to explode in the US, mainly because of years of underfunding of public health services. American governments have for years pandered to the rich elite, while the majority of its citizens have become mired in poverty and deprivation. The US authorities are nowhere near prepared to deal with the impending humanitarian crisis, according to American medics and nurses.

The heartlessness of successive US governments towards Iran  and in particular under the current Trump administration  is heartlessness shown towards all human beings, including ordinary American citizens. And vile US policy will reap what it has sown.

Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent.

" Source "
The NCLAT has also directed to complete the resolution plan according to the revised framework as suggested by the central government within 90 days

New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday accepted a fresh distribution framework based on "pro-rata distribution" among creditors of debt-ridden IL&FS group from the proceeds of the sale, as suggested by the government.

A two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya said that the resolution framework should be "fair and equitable" and should ensure that interests of all stakeholders are considered and balanced.

The appellate tribunal rejected the objections raised by the creditors, which wanted the NCLAT to follow Section 53 of IBC for distribution of funds, the appellate tribunal said that it would be against the public interest as the money invested by these public funds, in fact belonged to share and unit holders.

"We reject the objections raised by some of the Creditors, as noticed above, we accept the suggestion of pro-rata distribution as suggested by Union of India and the procedure as suggested by it for the purpose of completing resolution process," the NCLAT observed.

Besides, the NCLAT has also directed to complete the resolution plan according to the revised framework as suggested by the central government within 90 days.

"The Union of India, the Board of Directors of IL&FS and the Committee of Creditors' already constituted or which may be constituted are directed to conclude resolution of all the Entities preferably within 90 days," said NCLAT adding that development should be "brought to the Notice of this Appellate Tribunal every month".

The appellate tribunal has directed to list the matter on April 14 further for orders.

"The maximization of the asset and distribution of it to all the stakeholders are the object to be kept in mind while following any Resolution Framework for the IL&FS Group Companies," said NCLAT in its 101-page-long order.

Under the revised distribution framework, all the public fund creditors such as pension and provident funds, army welfare, employee provident, gratuity and superannuation funds be repaid at least a part of their dues.

If these public funds were not paid their hard earned dues, the central government had said in the revised distribution framework, it could result in a debt contagion from which the financial markets of the nation would not be able to recover.

Further, for the lenders of IL&FS' holding companies, the resolution plan should consider paying the interest component.

While, SBI, a lead financial creditor with respect CNTL and some other IL&FS group entities had on the other hand, suggested a resolution framework for companies under the 'Red' and 'Amber' category, which has also been accepted by the NCLAT.

The banker had suggested that in companies where no Committee of Creditors (CoC) had been formed until now, a CoC should immediately be formed.

"Out of the 347 Group Companies 169 domestic entities have been categorized as Red, Amber and Green companies. The Resolution Consultant (Alvarez & Marsal India) must be directed to forthwith categorise the remaining domestic entities," it said.

For companies in these categories where a CoC had been formed, the resolution consultant should contact the committee with latest fair market and liquidation value reports, the audit reports obtained, the bids received, as well as the recommendations of the consultant.

"A central coordinating team under the supervision of a former Judge or senior advocate comprising 7 to 8 representative of IL&FS, senior lender banks, resolution consultant may further be constituted for monitoring and supervising the developments, SBI had suggested.

As per the roadmap for IL&FS, which has a total debt of over Rs 90,000 crore, its group companies have been categorised into three categories -- Green, Amber and Red -- based on their respective financial positions.

Companies under the green category will be those that continue to meet their payment obligations.

Amber category is for those companies that would not be able to meet their obligations but can meet only operational payment obligations to senior secured financial creditors.

Amber category entities "are permitted to make only payments necessary to maintain and preserve the going concern".

"Companies falling in the red category are the entities which can not meet their payment obligations towards even senior secured financial creditors," as per the plan.

Passing an interim order on 15 October, 2018, the NCLAT had stayed all proceedings against IL&FS group companies, whose total debt is Rs 94,215 crore.
The government plans to bring out a National Fisheries Policy for holistic development of the sector which is growing at an annual rate of 8 per cent, Union Minister Giriraj Singh said in Rajya Sabha.

The government will take care of the interest of traditional fishermen while framing the policy, Singh, the Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said while replying to supplementary questions during Question Hour.

"Government of India envisages to bring out a National Fisheries Policy for holistic development of the fisheries sector," the minister said, adding that the sector is growing at a rate of 8 per cent annually.

The policy would focus on bringing new technology and ways to deal with threat from cyclones as part of the overall objective to improve income of fishermen, Singh said.

The proposed policy would incorporate the provisions of the existing National Policy on Marine Fisheries 2017. It would have provisions for sub-sectors of inland fisheries, aquaculture, mariculture including elements of post-harvest.

"Given the cross-cutting nature of various fisheries sub-sectors, it is considered that an integrated National Fisheries Policy would better serve the public interest rather than individual sub-sector wise policies," Singh said.

The minister said allocation of fund to boost the sector would depend on sectoral needs and priorities.

Singh highlighted that the government has allocated Rs 560 crore for continuation of Blue Revolution scheme during 2020-21 fiscal for undertaking various ongoing fisheries development programmes.

The government had created the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) during 2018-19 with a fund size of Rs 7,522.48 crore spread over a period of five years.

The fund provides finance at concessional rates to states and its entities, including private sector, for development of fisheries infrastructure facilities in marine and inland fisheries sectors.

Moreover, the government in Union Budget for 2019-20 announced a new scheme called Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) for the sector.

The ministry has formulated PMSSY scheme which envisages a total investment of about Rs 20,050 crore, which includes central, states and beneficiary shares over a period of five years, with effect from 2020-21.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE). By way of learning-by-doing, we'll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of AEW UK REIT plc (LON:AEWU).

AEW UK REIT has a ROE of 5.4%, based on the last twelve months. That means that for every 1 worth of shareholders' equity, it generated 0.05 in profit.

See our latest analysis for AEW UK REIT

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations)  Shareholders' Equity

Or for AEW UK REIT:

5.4% = UK8.0m  UK148m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2019.)

Most readers would understand what net profit is, but its worth explaining the concept of shareholders equity. It is all earnings retained by the company, plus any capital paid in by shareholders. Shareholders' equity can be calculated by subtracting the total liabilities of the company from the total assets of the company.

What Does ROE Mean?

ROE looks at the amount a company earns relative to the money it has kept within the business. The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. The higher the ROE, the more profit the company is making. So, as a general rule, a high ROE is a good thing. That means ROE can be used to compare two businesses.

Does AEW UK REIT Have A Good ROE?

Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. If you look at the image below, you can see AEW UK REIT has a similar ROE to the average in the REITs industry classification (6.4%).

LSE:AEWU Past Revenue and Net Income, March 13th 2020

That's neither particularly good, nor bad. ROE tells us about the quality of the business, but it does not give us much of an idea if the share price is cheap. If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Story continues

The Importance Of Debt To Return On Equity

Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. That cash can come from retained earnings, issuing new shares (equity), or debt. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. Thus the use of debt can improve ROE, albeit along with extra risk in the case of stormy weather, metaphorically speaking.

Combining AEW UK REIT's Debt And Its 5.4% Return On Equity

Although AEW UK REIT does use debt, its debt to equity ratio of 0.34 is still low. Its ROE isn't particularly impressive, but the debt levels are quite modest, so the business probably has some real potential. 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. A company that can achieve a high return on equity without debt could be considered a high quality business. 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.

Having said that, while ROE is a useful indicator of business quality, you'll have to look at a whole range of factors to determine the right price to buy a stock. It is important to consider other factors, such as future profit growth -- and how much investment is required going forward. So you might want to check this FREE visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Lets do it virtually instead. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Tuesday nights election results appear to have wrapped up the Democratic nomination for Joe Biden much faster than seemed possible even just a few weeks ago. But if before Super Tuesday we werent at all sure who would be the Democratic nominee, we thought we had a pretty good idea of what their campaign would look like  it would look like every other presidential campaign in memory, full of rallies and rope-line greeting, and debate halls full of voters. Thanks to the coronavirus, its beginning to look more likely that well be at least launching the general election  and conceivably even completing it  without any of that, a 21st-century pandemic giving us, potentially, the first post-hustings presidential election.

The possibility dawned on the campaigns somewhat slowly. As Bernie Sanders got ready to speak at the St. Paul, Minnesota, convention center the night before Super Tuesday, congresswoman Ilhan Omar looked out at the tightly packed crowd and asked the 6,000 Democrats to hold hands. The nervous laughter that usually greets that kind of request dribbled out at first, swiftly followed by an uncomfortable, mumbled hush. Concern about the coronavirus wasnt yet at deadbolt-your-doors-and-seal-your-windows levels. But it was acute enough that Sanderss press corps  now looking up, eyes wide and disbelieving  had already nicknamed the senators recent campaign swing the #coronatour, and some news outlets had begun restricting their reporters travel.

Then, a moment later, everyone dropped their neighbors hands and moved on. They were just another crowd of thousands huddled for hours indoors (strike one) amid the emerging pandemic, gathering to hear yet another septuagenarian man with underlying health issues whos spending all his time in transit (strike two). They were, whether they knew it or not, just another set of participants in an eerie, weeks-long pattern repeating itself at Sanders and Joe Biden events as the campaigns made their COVID-19 responses up as they went along, assuring the journalists trailing them that they wouldnt sleepwalk into disaster even as the public woke up to the threat, then started to panic.

The night before Sanders spoke in Minnesota, more than a few N95 masks dotted his crowd of over 15,000 in Los Angeles. The following one, when a burly Sanders supporter in Essex Junction, Vermont, joked to me while washing his hands that he had just left quarantine, no one in earshot laughed, and everyone in line for the sink kept their distance. Crowds didnt thin, but within days, hand soap started appearing at rallies, first in the press pens and then at the doors.

And the campaigns rolled on, frantic for votes and for approval even as the world around them shook. They insisted to anyone who would listen that they were in constant contact with local health officials everywhere they went  ready but desperately hesitant to make any drastic decisions that would take them off the trail. The AFL-CIO canceled its Orlando forum for the Democrats, and the Washington Democratic Party axed its big weekend fundraiser. Biden, eventually, agreed to cut back on his beloved intimate rope-line sessions with his fans, and Sanderss braintrust decided against a Seattle-area rally the weekend before Washington States primary, an adviser told me, avoiding a hotspot for the disease.

And still the headlines grew grimmer as the willful ignorance of the third candidate in the race, Donald Trump, grew more glaring.

On Saturday night, around the time three new cases were identified in the D.C. area, Trump said hed continue to hold his tremendous rallies. A reporter asked if the president, sitting for dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Brazils right-wing leader, Jair Bolsonaro, was concerned that the virus was getting closer to the capital. (One of Bolsonaros aides, also on the trip, would soon test positive.) No, Im not concerned at all, Trump insisted. No, weve done a great job. Two nights later, as Trump refused to tell journalists in D.C. whether hed been tested yet, Biden rallygoers in Detroit were greeted by peppy volunteers offering pumps of hand sanitizer as they entered. That afternoon, Sanders held a roundtable with medical professionals at the Detroit airport Westin. Addressing a room stacked with Purell dispensers, Sanders criticized the administration for ignoring science, reiterated his calls for Medicare for All and paid sick leave, and insisted anyone should be able to get tested, regardless of their socioeconomic or immigration status.

Still, when a reporter asked Sanders about the precautions he himself was taking, he brushed the question off: I am running for president of the United States, he said, and that requires a whole lot of work. Sanders had headlined two rallies in Michigan the day before, and had another scheduled for Cleveland the next day, too. At least a dozen reporters were still following him everywhere  to North and South Carolina, Massachusetts, Virginia, California, Utah, Minnesota, Vermont, Arizona, Illinois, and Michigan in the preceding days alone  and at least 3,000 voters were greeting him at every stop. Clearly fed up with the line of questioning that night, on CNN, he offered Chris Cuomo a drop of reassurance: I have used more hand sanitizer in the last two weeks than Ive used in my entire life.

The next afternoon, Sanders canceled his evening speech. We are heeding the public warnings from Ohio state officials, who have communicated concern about holding large, indoor events during the coronavirus outbreak, his communications director said in a written statement, shortly before the candidate flew back home to Burlington, offering no public comment of his own. All future Bernie 2020 events will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

That morning, a video of Biden had gone viral. In the clip, he confronted a Detroit Fiat Chrysler factory worker who accused the candidate of trying to take away his guns. The setting was at least as jarring as the back-and-forth: Biden was standing in a sea of laborers, just inches away from them on all sides. Meanwhile he, too, was scheduled for an evening event in Ohio. But 32 minutes after Sanderss announcement, Biden canceled his too, and soon after also scrapped his planned Thursday event in Tampa. Network cameras captured him arriving in Cleveland, then re-boarding his campaign charter jet a few minutes later. He was heading back to Philadelphia, where his campaign is headquartered, and where no crowd was waiting. Soon after Biden boarded, a pair of announcements landed in reporters inboxes just about simultaneously. The DNC and CNN had one warning: Sunday nights debate in Phoenix would now be held without a live audience, a press filing center, or a spin room, at the request of both campaigns and out of an abundance of caution.

The Trump campaign, perhaps unsurprisingly, had a very different idea: The president would be headlining his next rally, in downtown Milwaukee, the following Thursday. Which suggests, of course, another possibility for the summer and possibly fall, if the outbreak should continue or even reemerge then, as scientists suggest it might: With the Democratic nominee campaigning primarily virtually, the president could continue to run an incautious, (relatively) traditional out-and-about race, in part to signal normalcy to voters and consumers, but more realistically out of resentment for the advice of experts  in part to support the perception in some quarters of the right that the outbreak is a liberal plot designed to take him down, and in part because, being who he is, he loves nothing more than a rally and all those people chanting his name. However many might be infected, or even die, as a result.

Or not. Slightly over 24 hours later, Trump canceled his rally in Wisconsin. The Democratic debate was moved to Washington, D.C., and Jorge Ramos, one of the anchors, was pulled from the broadcast because of possible exposure. Biden and Sanders both instructed their staffs around the country to work from home, and canceled the rest of their upcoming in-person events. In a week, the general election has entered totally uncharted territory.
The Kolkata Port Trust on Friday said it has stopped issuing shore passes to crew members of all ships as the coronavirus threat intensified.

The decision means no crew, whether Indians or foreign nationals are being allowed to deboard after the ships have berthed at Kolkata port.

"We have stopped issuing shore passes to all vessels be it coastal or foreign, since the last two weeks," Kolkata Port Trust chairman Vinit Kumar said.

The directive is the same for the crew of barges coming here from other Indian ports and Bangladesh.

There is, however, no restriction on the movement of ships.

The government and the airlines have restricted flight movement to some countries as a precautionary measure.

The port's cargo handling so far has not been affected except for iron ore exports to China.

The port has also set up isolation units at Kolkata and Haldia.

Since January 29, we have screened 8,100 odd crew members of 470 ships, Kumar said.

The chairman said the port has created isolation beds and taking measures to identify some buildings that may be used if the situation demands.

The shipping ministry has banned the entry of all cruise ships into Indian ports.

The passenger ship which operates between Port Blair and Kolkata has not been affected but the passengers are being screened.

The KoPT said that it was adhering to all Standard Operating Procedures issued by the Ministry of Health and Shipping Ministry.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
GAUTIER, Mississippi -- The City of Gautier has reached an agreement to purchase the former Singing River Mall property for $7 million, but there are a couple of catches.

Chiefly, the Citys request for $7 million in RESTORE Act funds must be approved by the legislature. Two, by state law, government entities cannot pay more than appraised value for any property.

But Mayor Phil Torjusen and other City officials are very optimistic the deal will go through and development of the 55-acre site will finally move forward.

We qualify for all the bullet points that were demanded by the legislature, Torjusen said of the RESTORE funding request. Weve got a pretty good bit of support for it right now from a legislative standpoint and some other players.

Last year, the legislature approved a local and private bill which would allow the City of Gautier, after taking ownership of the mall property, to offer rent-free, 75-year leases to developers -- the only instance in the state where a municipality has that ability.

Torjusen calls that a game-changer for his city.

That will allow developers to market the property to retailers and build on it with no land cost to anybody, he said. Thats what theyre doing in neighboring states.

The mayor noted he and other officials invited officials from neighboring states to come in and offer some insight on how best to bring development to the mall property.

We asked them to meet with us and explain to us what theyre model is -- what they are doing that were not doing in Mississippi, Torjusen said.

It was during those meetings Gautier leaders learned of the 75-year, rent-free leases by municipalities.

Now, all we have to do is finalize getting ownership of the property, Torjusen said. Once we do that, well be able to offer developers free dirt, so to speak, to come in and begin whatever type of business -- retail, restaurants, housing. Weve got a lot of people in the legislature interested in helping us.

Singing River Mall closed in October 2013. Demolition began in February 2014, with only the Belk department store remaining and continuing to operate, surrounded by little more than a shell of the old mall.

Original plans called for construction of a new 380,000 square-foot, open-air mall, coupled with a 150,000-SF Walmart Supercenter. The project was to be part of a $90 million redevelopment plan dubbed the "Gautier Town Center." In 2011, under Mayor Tommy Fortenberry, Gautier adopted a plan to assist with the financing, which included up to $20 million in Tax Increment Financing Revenue bonds, which would be paid back by sales and property tax revenue generated from the project.

But that development never materialized and the property has remained vacant, save for Belk, ever since. The City continues to maintain areas of the property for use during special events such as Cruisin the Coast and the annual Mullet Fest.

Torjusen noted the agreement to purchase the property also gives the City the option to assign the right to purchase to anyone of their choosing, but he added the City intends to keep ownership.

We dont plan to assign the property to anyone else -- we intend to keep ownership but offer the 75-year lease, he said.

For now, the ball is in the legislatures court as Gautier officials await word on RESTORE funding.

Its in the hands of the legislature as far as what RESTORE funds theyre going to approve or even if they approve any this year, Torjusen said. But Im hearing its very unlikely they wont hand out some RESTORE money this year.

The City of Gautier has already entered into a contract with Blackwater Redevelopment, the same company which developed The Wharf at Gulf Shores, Ala.

They are very, very experienced, Torjusen said. "They are already out marketing the project and have some people very, very excited about it. Weve got the whole project ready to go and were ready to pull the trigger.

The day we own the property, things start moving.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 22:24:33|Editor: huaxia

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Medical team members encourage each other before leaving for Wuhan in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Feb. 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

The Chinese experience shows that the COVID-19 can and will be contained. Here are seven things China has done to battle the virus.

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China has passed its peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, with new cases trickling down to single digits and overall epidemic situation improving.

On Thursday, the Chinese mainland reported eight new cases. Close to 80 percent of over 80,000 infected patients on the Chinese mainland have recovered.

Thanks to arduous endeavors, China has been witnessing a domestic trend in which the situation of epidemic prevention and control is making sustained progress, and the order of life and production is being restored at an increasing pace, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday during a phone call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Though China still needs to be vigilant for imported infections, its experience shows that the disease can and will be contained. Here are seven things China has done right to battle the virus.

1. FULL RESPONSE

To battle a highly infectious disease, the first and foremost task is to stop it from spreading. Therefore, China locked down virus epicenter Wuhan, where 10 million people live, on Jan. 23. Across Hubei, as many as 60 million people faced some sort of outbound restriction.

At its peak, Hubei's capital city of Wuhan designated 86 hospitals to treat the disease. Within about two weeks, it built two field hospitals -- Huoshenshan and Leishenshan -- to offer 2,600 beds for the severely-ill. The city added another 13,000 beds in 16 public-facility-turned hospitals for people with mild symptoms. By far, all the 16 temporary hospitals have been closed as the spike in cases is already over.

The outbreak of the virus coincided with the Lunar New Year holiday in China from Jan. 24 to Feb. 2. The country launched a nationwide prevention campaign, calling on people to wear masks, wash hands, self isolate, and refrain from gathering. Banners, drones and raps were used to get the message across the country. The holiday passenger volume was slashed by half, and for those who needed to travel, seats were spaced out to minimize contact.

Across China, patients with fever, a key symptom of the disease, are directed to fever clinics to prevent cross-infection. Infected patients are sent to designated hospitals, depending on their level of severity. Tests are free of charge, and treatment is covered by medical insurance.

China's National Health Commission rolled out seven editions of a guideline on diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Companies that make reagents and testing kits went full throttle.

Medical workers help the first batch of patients infected with the novel coronavirus move into their isolation wards at Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 4, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

2. MASS MOBILIZATION

Across the country, all hands have been on deck.

Medical resources poured into Wuhan and other cities in Hubei, the hardest-hit by the virus. A day after Wuhan lockdown, 450 military medics arrived to help local doctors. By far, about 42,000 medical staff from other parts of China, including the military, were dispatched to Hubei. Under a "pairing-up support" system, 19 provincial-level regions sent medics to help virus fight in Hubei. One in 10 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) specialists in China has been dispatched to Hubei to treat critically-ill patients.

During the early stages of the outbreak, medics faced a dire shortage of supplies. Therefore, factories that previously made garments, plastics, and even tofu, shifted rapidly to mask production, even though the transformation may come at a cost.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's output of protective clothing surged to 500,000 pieces per day from fewer than 20,000 pieces at the beginning of the outbreak. The daily output of N95-rated medical masks rose from 200,000 to 1.6 million, while regular masks production reached 100 million.

For ordinary people, a two-week quarantine is required on anyone who has traveled to virus-affected provinces or countries. The Chinese people followed government rules, locked themselves at homes, and kept social distances in selfless sacrifice to maintain stability and public health.

Big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have strengthened "people's defense" and ramped up contingency plans. Community workers have to go grocery shopping, buy medicine, and run other errands for families who served quarantine rules. Large-scale body temperature testing is mandated in workplaces, public venues, and residential communities.

Workers make face masks on production lines at a workshop of SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW), a major Chinese automobile manufacturer in Liuzhou City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Feb. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Yang Chi)

3. POLITICAL DETERMINATION

What China faces is the hardest major public health emergency to contain since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. President Xi said the epidemic is a major test of China's system and capacity for governance.

On Jan. 20, Xi ordered resolute efforts to curb the spread of the virus, putting people's safety and health as the top priority. Under his command, China carried out the most comprehensive and rigorous prevention and control measures in a people's war. Since January, the epidemic response was on the agenda in a series of Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership meetings Xi chaired, including seven meetings of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

On Jan. 25, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang began heading a central leading group on the epidemic response, and the country initiated an interagency mechanism. Daily announcements are made on the number of diagnosed and suspected patients in each city. Vice Premier Sun Chunlan has been in Hubei to oversee work on the ground.

Local officials who failed their responsibility in containing the epidemic were fired. In February, Party chiefs of Hubei and Wuhan were replaced in light of the serious problems exposed in the initial response.

In a visit to Wuhan on March 10, President Xi vowed victory for the fight.

Chinese President Xi Jinping talks with a patient and medical workers through a video link at Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

4. TIMELY POLICY ADJUSTMENT

To stem the outbreak, Chinese authorities extended the New Year holiday and kept schools shut. In February, China announced it will postpone the annual sessions of the national legislative and political advisory bodies, a key event on the country's political calendar.

By Jan. 29, all provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland had activated top-level emergency response to the epidemic, canceling mass events, suspending long-distance buses, and closing tourist spots. When the situation began to improve, provinces took differentiated measures to resume economic activities amid prevention work.

According to a national guideline, regions with relatively low risks should focus on preventing imported cases and comprehensively restoring the order of production and life. Medium-risk regions should promote work and production resumption in an orderly manner, while high-risk regions such as Wuhan should continue to be fully committed to epidemic prevention and control.

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)

5. EASING ECONOMIC PAIN WHILE FIGHTING DISEASE

To keep the economy on track, ministries and local governments rolled out policies to ensure agricultural production in the spring season, facilitate business operation and employment, with specific measures such as provisionally lowering or waiving employers' social insurance contributions. Authorities have kept consumer prices stable and punished price gouging.



China's State Council unveiled a new policy to support foreign trade and investment. Measures in the pipeline include a shorter negative list of foreign investment and more foreign trade loans from financial institutions.

China has about 170 million rural migrant workers employed away from their hometowns, and getting them back to work after the holiday posed a significant challenge. Companies chartered buses, high-speed trains, and planes to get them back to workplaces safe and sound.

During the mass quarantine, life goes on as much as it can, online.

China has over 854 million people with access to the Internet. Mobile payment and express delivery services are ubiquitous, sustaining everyday needs amid the epidemic.

The number of online meetings supported by Tencent Meeting on Feb. 10, when most companies started resuming work, jumped 100 times from its previous daily use. Ten online medical platforms in China have over 100,000 doctors online every day, and some platforms provide free Q&A for users in Hubei.

Medical specialists provide online services to patients in Henan Provincial People's Hospital in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Feb. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Jianan)

6. TRANSPARENCY, COORDINATED ACTION

Domestically, officials handling the outbreak faced constant scrutiny from the public and were pressured to make good on the promise to keep the people safe.

On the international stage, Chinese authorities have vowed transparency and coordinated response with the global community. On Jan. 12, China shared the genome sequences of the new virus with the World Health Organization, after identifying the pathogen on Jan. 7.

So far, China has shared multiple files on epidemic control as well as diagnosis and treatment plans with over 100 countries and more than 10 international and regional organizations. It provided medical supplies and testing kits to other countries hit by the virus, including Italy, the Republic of Korea, and Japan. China also sent medical experts to Iran, Iraq and Italy to aid the anti-virus battle.

Chinese medical team meets with Iranian Red Crescent Society officials in Tehran, Iran, March 2, 2020. (Chinese Embassy in Iran/Handout via Xinhua)

7. POWER OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY

No one knew how to treat the new disease. However, science and technology are the most powerful weapon in humanity's battle against diseases. President Xi called for accelerated development of new-type testing kits, antibody medicines, vaccines, diagnosis, and treatment plans.

Several drugs, such as Chloroquine Phosphate and Remdesivir, are being tested. Convalescent plasma therapy has been experimented with. A vaccine is being developed.

Outside research labs and hospital wards, technology has also come to the fore, making life easier and safer. China saw robots spraying disinfectants, drones taking temperatures and wider use of health codes.

Hangzhou was the first Chinese city to adopt QR codes for medical service. The QR codes, produced with mobile app Alipay, is connected with users' electronic health cards and social security cards, facilitating everything from registration to medicine taking. Instead of filling in health report forms, residents can now show the QR codes at community or expressway checkpoints. Thus, no-contact checks can be carried out to reduce virus transmission risks. 
TELFORD  Voting in the Bucks County portion of Telford will be different in this years upcoming elections. At the March 2 borough council meeting, Bucks County Commissioner Robert Harvie addressed council members about the changes.

He explained that throughout the county, there will be a new voting system and machines. The new voting will be optical scanners, where voters will fill in the bubbles using pencils. He told council members that voters can color outside of the lines of the circles, and the votes will still be counted.

Harvie said that on the countys website, theres a video which shows voters how to use the new voting system.

Its a 15-second video because its that simple, he said.

Once a voter casts a vote, they will put the paper into the machine and get a receipt. The paper ballots will be saved.

He also said magnifying glasses will be available, as well as an ADA compliant machine which will allow voters with vision difficulties to use keypads.

Havie told council members that the 2020 Census is taking place this year, and its extremely important for people to participate  the official kickoff for the Census is April 1. He explained that in the 2010 Census, Pennsylvania was next to last in accuracy. Only Texas reported lower.

This equates to $2,000 of federal funding lost for every person missed.The lack of representation cost Pennsylvania tens of millions of dollars for veterans, schools, and federal funding in 2010, he said.

Borough Manager Mark Founrier urged council members to file a joint grant application for a feasibility study for the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commissions Liberty Bell Trail. Upper Gwynedd and Hatfield Townships have the largest area of the trail, but Telford and Soudeton will also have a portion of the trail.

In other business, the borough hall renovation project is moving along. Fournier expects the work at the former Univest Bank building to be completed by the beginning of June. He said that while the work will be complete, it will take months for the borough to start operating out of the building.

The next council meeting will be April 6.
Pritzkers edict came just hours after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she had no plans to close the schools and that the governor had not pressured her to do so. As she has repeatedly done in recent days, Lightfoot noted the significant secondary effect of closing Chicago public schools because working parents would need to find child care while the kids were out of class and because many of the 355,000 CPS children count on the schools for multiple meals each day.
The biggest April Fool's prank regarding the upcoming Census, which launches on April 1, is played by those who pretend that get-out-the-vote campaigns are charity.

The 2020 census count starts next month, and Democrats and professional activists who came out en masse to decry the Trump administration's attempt to include a citizenship question will no doubt be celebrating their win.

That's because the Supreme Court ultimately blocked the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question, agreeing that citizenship questions are "unconstitutional"  even though they were included in every Census since the presidency of James Monroe until the Obama administration slashed it from the 2010 census.

But here's a secret not everyone knows: Trump's biggest opponent in the census fight wasn't partisan Democrats or the Supreme Court's ambiguous ruling  but rather the well heeled, well coordinated, wealthy leftists pushing Democratic voter strategies in battleground states under the guise of "philanthropy."

These are the shadowy foundations bankrolling the left's efforts to increase Democratic voter turnout and gerrymander congressional districts in 2020.

Some are well known, like George Soros's Open Society Foundation and the Tides Foundation. Others are obscure "pass-through" machines, like the nonprofit empire run by the for-profit consultancy Arabella Advisors.

They're all part of the Funders Committee for Civic Participation, where the who's who of the left's moneyed elite direct hundreds of millions of dollars each year toward their ultimate goal: painting America blue. All told, these foundations and mega-funders poured out a staggering $6.1 billion in 2016 alone.

As InfluenceWatch explains, the Funders Committee is a strategic hub for top-tier mega-funders on the left: the Democracy Alliance, AFL-CIO, Ford Foundation, and Pierre Omidyar's Democracy Fund are just a few of its 90-odd members. It's headed by Eric Marshall, whose last job was managing election activism for State Voices, a left-wing voter mobilization group.

Everything is synchronized using the Funders Committee's "Integrated Voter Engagement." The model's partisan goal couldn't be simpler. It "strengthens organizational infrastructure and builds resources  in and out of election cycles  that can be mobilized to win effective public policies" (emphasis added). In other words, it builds support for Democratic politicians. That's accomplished by a seven-step process beginning with "registering voters" and ending with "achieving policy impact."

The Funders Committee calls its model one of "the most effective ways to increase voter turnout," and little wonder.

In 2005, the Colorado Progressive Coalition put the model to use. The result: Thousands of new voters helped the coalition suspend the Colorado Taxpayers Bill of Rights in a referendum, opening the floodgates to greater state spending.

The next year, the Colorado Progressive Coalition followed up with a successful ballot initiative to raise the state's minimum wage. It struck again in 2008, using the Integrated Voter Engagement model to defeat a ballot initiative that would have ended race- and sex-based affirmative action.

By carefully targeting Colorado, the left was able to flip a battleground state into a reliably Democratic one  thanks in no small part to systematic efforts by the Funders Committee.

So it's no surprise that the Funders Committee is beloved by Democrats. As now disgraced Sen. Al Franken (Minn.) told Committee members in 2017, the Census is critical in "determining how many seats in Congress are allocated," and "I know you're working hard to make sure that [it] goes smoothly."

The Funders Committee isn't an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Just search services like Guidestar, ProPublica, or the IRS itself  no results.

Instead, it's one face of NEO Philanthropy, one of the Left's darkest "dark money" operations. Unlike traditional foundations, NEO wasn't created with a donor's financial endowment. Instead, NEO funnels millions of dollars from groups like the Ford Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York to activists like the ACLU, New York Immigration Coalition, and CASA de Maryland  three of the most prominent plaintiffs in the Trump administration's citizenship question case this summer.

If you're like most Americans, a get-out-the-vote drive may strike you as an unusual activity for tax-exempt foundations to spend their tens of millions of dollars on. Getting politicians elected isn't "charity."

So here's the fix: bar nonprofits and foundations from doing Census and get-out-the-vote work. Leave that to the U.S. Census Bureau and political parties, which were created to handle those activities. Foundations should spend their tax-exempt dollars on real philanthropy, not electing their favorite politicians to public office.

Hayden Ludwig is an investigative researcher at the Capital Research Center in Washington, D.C.

Image: David Crosby via Flickr.
Up to 50 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector are at risk due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), and BA is warning that it will cut jobs and ground aircraft.

The latest figures from the WTTC, which represents the global travel and tourism private sector, show that global travel could be adversely impacted by up to 25 per cent in 2020.

This is the equivalent to a loss of three months of global travel, which could lead to a corresponding reduction in jobs of between 12 and 14 per cent.

Up to 50 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector are at risk due to the global Covid-19 pandemic

Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: 'WTTC figures show the stark impact on the travel and tourism sector of the present Covid-19 outbreak, with analysis now suggesting that up to 50 million jobs are at risk in the sector globally.

'When the time is right, WTTC and the global private sector will be ready to help and support the government and countries to recover.

'The Covid-19 outbreak clearly presents a significant threat to the industry as a whole, to those employed within it, and those wishing to continue travelling.

'Travel and tourism has the strength to overcome this challenge and will emerge stronger and more robust by taking all necessary measures to tackle Covid-19 and the understandable concern which surrounds it.'

The WTTC, which is headquartered in London, is calling for a series of measures to be taken to enable the swift recovery of the sector once Covid-19 is under control.

Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: 'WTTC figures show the stark impact on the travel and tourism sector of the present Covid-19 outbreak'

These include the removal or simplification of visas, the lifting of the 80-20 'use it or lose it' airport slot rule for airlines, the reduction or elimination of travellers' taxes and support for hard-hit destinations, such as cash-injections for marketing campaigns.

As the WTTC released its figures, BA's CEO Alex Cruz told staff in a global message seen by Reuters that the airline will ground aircraft like never before and lay off staff due to coronavirus in a battle to tackle what he called the most serious crisis in aviation history.

'It is a crisis of global proportions like no other we have known,' he wrote. 'Please do not underestimate the seriousness of this for our company.'

Cruz told staff in the message that jobs would be lost 'perhaps for a short period, perhaps longer term' and that the company was in discussions with trade unions.

There were 6,729 new coronavirus cases recorded globally on Thursday, bringing the total confirmed number to 134,317. The death toll rose by 351 to 4,968.

It led to several countries being effectively put into lockdown as they closed schools, mass events and shops, while in the US, the mayor of New York declared a state of emergency in the city.

The death toll in Italy  the hardest-hit country after China  climbed from 827 to 1,016 and total infections soared by 21 per cent to 15,113.
Kermit Ward says that the Clarksville school district is already seeing the benefits of the increased funds.

CLARKSVILLE, TX / ACCESSWIRE / March 13, 2020 / Kermit Ward is proud to announce that the Clarksville school district is seeing the positive impacts of the proposal that was approved in August 2019 by local voters.

In August, the local school district's tax ratification election took place, with 85% of voters in favor of raising the district's tax rate from $1.04 to $1.06835. The extra funding goes directly to the Maintenance and Operations side and is for improvements within the school district. Traditionally, the district has voted against any tax increases

With decades of experience as an educator, Kermit Ward currently serves as superintendent of the Clarksville Independent School District. Previously, Mr. Ward worked as a school principal.

Kermit Ward is very happy about the tax ratification, as he says it is helping the local school district tremendously. He notes that the tax rate increase has brought in more local and state funding to the district's schools, allowing adequate staffing and much-needed upgrades to technology.

"We are already experiencing the effect of the increased funds and have added some extra supports that we have not been able to provide in the past for our students," says Kermit Ward.

"We anticipate that our students will be much better off for this moving down the stretch."

Kermit Ward was also recently featured in an interview for Thrive Global.

About Kermit Ward

Kermit Ward has decades of experience as an educator. Born in Waco, Texas, Mr. Ward came from humble beginnings and was raised in a large project housing project. His single mother worked to ensure the Mr. Ward had the best opportunities growing up and he was enrolled in a high-to-middle class elementary school, where he quickly grew into his passion for education. He graduated with a degree in Accounting from Baylor University in 1992. He began his career as a math teacher. He knew his impact on his students would go beyond the walls of a single classroom and he went on to become a school principle. He now works as the superintendent of the Clarksville School District.

Contact:

Kermit Ward

news@kermitward.com

SOURCE: Kermit Ward

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/580566/Kermit-Ward-Announces-Updates-for-the-Texas-House-Public-Education-Finance-Plan
WASHINGTON  Inmates at all 122 federal correctional facilities across the country will no longer be allowed visits from family, friends or attorneys for the next 30 days, in response to the threat of the coronavirus, officials told the Associated Press on Friday.

The restrictions, now in effect, were portrayed as a precaution, since no federal inmates or Bureau of Prisons staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. The officials said some exceptions could be made for legal visits.
A woman has revealed how she and her boyfriend sustained horror injuries after a thief tried to steal her bag while they were riding a motorbike.

Stacey Serrano, 27, and Sean Connelly, 31, from California, have been living in Jalan Pantai Berawa, in Bali, on-and-off for more than two years.

However on Tuesday they were the victims of an attempted robbery - leaving them with horrifying wounds over their bodies.

Stacey Serrano, 27, and Sean Connelly, 31, have been living in Jalan Pantai Berawa, in Bali, on-and-off for more than two years

However on Tuesday they were the victims of an attempted robbery - leaving them with horrifying wounds over their bodies

The couple were riding home at around 11.30pm after dinner when a man, who was also on a motorbike, rode on their right side in an attempt to grab Ms Serrano's purse.

'My purse was across my body, so when he pulled down hard we fell off our bike,' Ms Serrano said.

'When we fell [off our bike] I hit my head and we rolled and slid across the road a little bit but we didn't break anything.'

The social media manager said her boyfriend quickly grabbed the man and tried to hold him down until they had a chance to call the police.

But the would-be thief managed to wriggle free and escape.

'The guy ended up getting away. We didn't get a good look at him or anything but there were some witnesses who came to help us,' she said.

Ms Serrano said no one could believe it because she and Mr Connelly lived in a 'quiet and safe' part of town.

The couple were riding home at around 11.30pm after dinner when a man, who was also on a motorbike, rode on their right side in an attempt to grab Ms Serrano's purse

Ms Serrano said no one could believe it because she and Mr Connelly lived in a 'quiet and safe' part of town

'We are lucky to be alive - as cliche as that is to say - because we could have been going faster, or he could have pulled us off the bike immediately,' she said.

Ms Serrano told Daily Mail Australia she and her boyfriend are in an extreme amount of pain.

'Today we went back to the hospital to have our wounds scrubbed and dressings changed and it was so much more painful than our original visit,' said.

Ms Serrano told Daily Mail Australia she and her boyfriend are in an extreme amount of pain.

'It's amazing how much adrenaline affects you in a situation like that.'

She said the pain medication she is on isn't very strong and they are unable to get the event out of their head.

Ms Serrano wants people to learn from what happened to them and be aware of their surroundings

Ms Serrano wants people to learn from what happened to them.

'Be aware of your surroundings. Don't travel alone at night. If at all possible, always keep belongings out of sight,' Ms Serrano said.

'We thought we were safe and I kind of treated this like home. When we first started travelling I would never wear my handbag when I was on the bike,' she said

'My boyfriend is a very experienced motorcycle rider, so I'm 100 per cent positive that our injuries would have been way worse if he hadn't kept control of the bike as much as possible.'

Ms Serrano said anyone who doesn't feel comfortable riding a bike should not attempt it.

'Always wear a helmet. My head hit the ground and scraped against the asphalt. Had I not been wearing one, I'd be in a coma, if not dead,' she said.

Stacey Serrano's journey following the attempted robbery can be found on her Instagram page here.
Two men were arrested for opening fire during Holi celebrations in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district after a video allegedly showing them went viral on social media, police said on Friday.

The accused identified as Sumit Chouhan, an engineering student, and his friend Suresh were arrested from Asarpurpur village under Jhinjhana police station area on Thursday, Shamli Superintendent of Police Vineet Jaiswal told media.

The SP said a case was registered against the duo and the pistol used in the firing has been recovered.

In the video, Sumit is seen opening fire and his friend Suresh had filmed it on his phone.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A South Sudanese refugee child prepares a meal at Jewi refugee camp in Ethiopia.  UNHCR/Eduardo Soteras Jalil

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners are jointly appealing for US$1.3 billion this year to address the vast humanitarian needs of refugees fleeing seven years of unrest and conflict in South Sudan.

We welcome the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity of South Sudan. However, many challenges remain in finding solutions for millions of South Sudanese people forcibly displaced by years of conflict.

Africas biggest refugee population is from South Sudan. Some 2.2 million people have been forced to flee and an overwhelming majority - 83 percent - are women and children. An additional 2 million people are displaced inside the country.

Refugee arrivals continued in 2019, with more than 74,000 South Sudanese seeking refuge in Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

Funding is urgently needed to provide life-saving assistance. This includes care for 65,000 unaccompanied or separated refugee children, access to safe drinking water and action on sexual and gender-based violence. In addition, gaps persist in refugee education and there is a need for activities to allow refugees to gain skills to enable them to provide for themselves and their families.

Renewed support is needed for all five major refugee hosting countries, as they maintain an open door asylum policy. Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda have proved exceptional hosts and increasingly include refugees in their national social services. Progressive out-of-camp refugee policies are also being commendably applied by the governments of Sudan and the DRC and these merit greater support.

Since November 2017, more than 270,000 refugees have returned to South Sudan on their own initiative, but most of those who remain outside the country are waiting to see if peace holds.

The Regional Refugee Response Plan brings together 95 humanitarian and development partners to provide a coherent inter-agency response, supported by host governments across the five countries of asylum. It complements the $1.54 billion Humanitarian Response Plan for South Sudan launched in December 2019.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
robin hood

Lionsgate

A Robinhood trader said he turned $5,000 into more than $123,000 in five days.

A Redditor with the username SpeaksInBooleans said he netted the 2,400% return by buying VXX and SPY calls, which paid off when coronavirus fears and an oil shock spooked markets.

"I got VERY lucky when oil tanked, and that tanked the market," he told Business Insider.

The amateur investor said he would safely invest most of his windfall but might buy "a $100 bottle of scotch and nice pair of cowboy boots."

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A Robinhood trader said he turned $5,000 into more than $123,000 in five days.

A Redditor with the username SpeaksInBooleans netted the 2,400% return by purchasing call options on the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX), an exchange-traded note linked to the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX). The VIX, known as the "fear gauge" because it indicates expectations of market volatility, soared on Monday as fears about the coronavirus outbreak and the start of an oil-price war sparked a brutal market sell-off.

SpeaksInBooleans then invested a portion of his profits into calls on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500. The benchmark stock index rallied on Tuesday.

The amateur trader posted a screenshot of his massive windfall on the WallStreetBets subreddit on Tuesday. Business Insider reached out to learn more and confirmed his trades by reviewing screenshots of his Robinhood account.

The interview below has been lightly edited.

Theron Mohamed: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

SpeaksInBooleans: I'm male, I'm in my late 20s, and I live in Colorado. I work as a consultant in the technology sector. I've been investing for over 10 years; however, what I did over the past week was far from investing.

Mohamed: Walk us through the trades you made.

SpeaksInBooleans: On March 5, I bought $5,000 worth of $40 calls on the VXX with an expiry date of March 20. I sold them on March 9. Later that day, I bought $30,000 worth of SPY calls with an expiry date of March 13 and sold them on March 10.

Story continues

Mohamed: What was your thought process?

SpeaksInBooleans: I bought the VXX calls because the VXX was near a 52-week low. I saw the market potentially becoming more volatile. I got VERY lucky when oil tanked, and that tanked the market. I was right for the wrong reason. My rationale on the SPY calls was that typically after a large drop Monday there is always at least a 2% recovery on Tuesday.

Mohamed: Did you worry about risking your VXX return by buying the SPY calls?

SpeaksInBooleans: I set aside most of my profits and only risked around $30,000 of my $100,000 in VXX profits on the SPY calls. I was happy with my return and wanted to lock in some of my gains. Never a bad move!

Mohamed: What do you intend to do with your return? Are you planning to buy anything fun?

SpeaksInBooleans: Firstly, set aside money for taxes in a high-yield savings account. Secondly, reinvest in a long-term position in the S&P 500 to supplement my retirement accounts.

As far as anything fun, I like to live below my means. Maybe a $100 bottle of scotch and nice pair of cowboy boots, but other than that, I'd rather grow it over the next few decades.

Mohamed: Do you think you'll be able to resist the temptation to buy calls again?

SpeaksInBooleans: I really would love to say I could risk $100,000 or more, but I don't see any real plays I want to make. And I got lucky on the last one, so that's a big nope, staying away from options. I'm smart enough to see a nearly 3,000% return isn't sustainable.

Mohamed: You said you got lucky and wouldn't even call what you did investing. How come?

SpeaksInBooleans: What I did wasn't investing. I 100% got lucky. I hate getting messages from people who say, "I want to be like you, teach me."

My advice is and always has been: Pay off debts, have an emergency fund, max out retirement, then you can decide how you want to spend your money.

I chose to use it to gamble in the stock market. I bought where I thought the VXX would end up because of coronavirus fears and because of the VXX 52-week low. I might not have been wrong, but the primary driver for my gains was the oil, and I didn't see that coming.

I honestly didn't expect to be selling my VXX calls this week  but I take gains when I can get them!

Mohamed: Do you have any advice for investors at this turbulent time? Should they play it safe in the next few weeks, or look for opportunities to profit from the volatility like you did?

SpeaksInBooleans: Disconnect emotions from decision-making that involves financials. This is not financial advice, but I don't think we have hit the bottom.

I'm personally waiting for a number I have in mind for the S&P 500 to buy an S&P 500 index fund and hold for the long term. The stock market may drop more. Fine. I'm not rebalancing my 401(k). I'm not rebalancing my IRA. I'm living below my means.

I've got plenty of time left on this Earth to make money hands-off, and I plan to. Hands-on money management is a great way to lose money quickly and is often the result of emotional decisions. I'm sure there are plenty of great opportunities, and I may participate in some on a small scale in the future. But for now, my luck has peaked.

Update: SpeaksInBooleans posted a screenshot on Wednesday showing $250,000 in his Robinhood account. He told Business Insider that he boosted his previous return by investing in SPY puts.

"What can I say, I couldn't help myself. And hell, if I gave it all back, my life won't change in the slightest," he said.

"I already invest for the long term in other areas," he added. "Anything else I can get on top of that is just frosting."

Read the original article on Business Insider
New Delhi: Leaders of four South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations - Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives - on Friday endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s proposal to chalk out a joint strategy to combat the coronavirus outbreak, promising their complete support towards the collective efforts against the pandemic that has killed nearly 5000 people globally.

Taking to Twitter, Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said that his government is ready to work with SAARC member states -- India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Sri Lanka -- to protect the people from the deadly disease.

KP Oli tweeted, "I welcome the idea advanced by Prime Minister Modiji @narendramodi for chalking out a strong strategy by the leadership of the SAARC nations to fight Coronavirus. My government is ready to work closely with the SAARC Member States to protect our citizens from this deadly disease."

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that his country is ready to join the discussion and share its learnings and best practices to combat the outbreak. "Thank you for the great initiative Shri @narendramodi - #LKA is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Let`s unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe," he tweeted in response to PM Modi`s call to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Modi on Friday had proposed that the leaders of the SAARC countries should chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus. "I would like to propose that the leadership of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," PM Modi had tweeted.

Within hours, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said he has no doubt that under PM Modi`s leadership the region would see immediate and impactful outcomes. "This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference," Tshering tweeted.

It may be noted that all eight SAARC nations have reported cases of coronavirus, according to the World Health Organisation website. India has reported upto 75 cases, while one person has died from the infection.Prime Minister Modi had also said that SAARC countries can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.

"Our planet is battling the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it," PM Modi said in another tweet.Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih also came forward in response to Modi`s proposal.

"Thank you PM @narendramodi for taking the initiative on this important endeavor. Covid 19 requires a collective effort to defeat it. Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort," he wrote on the micro-blogging site.PM Modi asserted that South Asia should fight against the virus to ensure people`s safety.

"South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy," he added.

Pakistan, too, hinted at working with the neighbouring countries -- including India -- to deal with coronavirus. Responding to a question at her weekly news briefing on the same, Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said Islamabad was ready to extend assistance to neighbours.

"Government of Pakistan is monitoring the situation very closely and will take measures required for the citizens within Pakistan and any assistance we can provide to our neighbouring countries," the spokesperson said, as reported by the Express Tribune.
Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani Thursday appointed former envoy to South Africa, Mohamed Ould Hanani, as the countrys new envoy to Morocco, le360 news outlet reports citing a Mauritanian diplomatic source.

The diplomatic source, however, said the appointment has not been announced officially yet.

The Mauritanian embassy in the kingdom had been void of a head of mission for the past six months after President El Ghazouani named former envoy Ould Aboye, one of his top aides.

Hanani, a magistrate by profession, is a veteran diplomat with a long career. The former Supreme Court Chief was first named ambassador in 2005 under the regime of former President Ould Mohamed Vall.

He was later positioned as ambassador to South Africa, Eswatini and Seychelles.
What I would say is, the governor has concerns, not only about CPS, obviously, but schools across the state, she said. Were having multiple conversations every single day about what were doing, why were doing what were doing, using the data to be driven. That is a conversation the governor and I continue to have, in partnership with his team and my team. So in the event we need to take some action, were going to be doing that in partnership with the state.
Police in Bangladesh has arrested two men for selling a fake coronavirus vaccine, it was reported on Friday.

One of them, Nazrul Islam Rubel, 27, a native of Mymensingh district, advertised the "vaccines" through a loudspeaker at Ganda union in Kendua Upazila of Netrokona district throughout Wednesday and Thursday, bdnews24 quoted the police as saying.

Rashedul Islam, 35, a so-called doctor from the same district, started selling them on Thursday afternoon.

On hearing about the incident, the police arrested the two men from the spot and recovered the "magical ayurvedic type medicines" from them.

They were sentenced to two years in jail.

In South Asia, India (75), Pakistan (20), Bhutan (one), Maldives (two), Afghanistan (seven) and Nepal (one), Bangladesh (three) have reported cases.

On Thursday, India became the first country in the region to report a death due to the disease.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 11:45:45|Editor: huaxia

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WELLINGTON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday the government will announce further COVID-19 border measures over the weekend.

Speaking at a press conference, Ardern said the COVID-19 Cabinet Committee agreed additional border measures were necessary and decisions would be made over the weekend.

"I'm not ruling in or out any country currently who are experiencing cases. Instead, I'm going to follow the best advice I have from our experts and make sure we keep ahead and we protect New Zealanders' public health," Ardern said.

For the sixth consecutive day, there are no additional confirmed or probable cases of the COVID-19 in New Zealand, according to the health ministry.

New Zealand currently has five confirmed cases based on positive test results and two probable cases. The two patients who had been in hospital, one confirmed case and one probable case, are recovering at home with daily checks by health staff, the ministry said in a statement.

All 252 close contacts of the confirmed cases in self-isolation are being monitored daily by health staff.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff announced on Friday Auckland Pasifika Festival had been cancelled over COVID-19 concerns. However, the national remembrance marking the one-year anniversary of the March 15 terrorist attacks has not been canceled and will proceed as scheduled on Sunday.

The health ministry advised people to stay home if feeling unwell.
COVID-19 cases hit 200 in Singapore with 13 new diagnosed on March 13, including an Indian national

Photo courtesy: Twitter/@sporeMOH

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Singapore hit the 200-mark as the Ministry of Health confirmed 13 new cases as of 12 pm on March 13, including an Indian national (case 189). They also announced the discharge of one patient, bringing the total number of those who have recovered and been discharged to 97.

Of the new cases, one is part of the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on February 15, nine are imported cases, two are linked to previous cases (Case 190 is linked to Case 172; Case 200 is linked to Case 165), and one is currently unlinked.

Case 188: Likely to be an imported case involving a 53 year-old male Singapore Citizen who had been in Thailand from February 23 to March 1. He is currently warded in an isolation room at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH).

Prior to hospital admission, he had run errands at Northpoint City (930 Yishun Avenue 2) and 743 Yishun Avenue 5. He stays at Yishun Street 51.

Case 189: Likely to be an imported case involving a 36 year-old male Indian national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and had been in India from February 21 to March 1. He is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

Prior to hospital admission, he had gone to work at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (3 Temasek Ave). He stays at St Georges Road.

Case 190: A 53 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on March 13 morning, and is currently warded at NCID. He is linked to Case 172.

Case 191: Likely to be an imported case involving a 24 year-old female Malaysian national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and had been in Germany from February 24 to 28, and Malaysia from February 28 to March 3. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on March 13 morning, and is currently warded at NCID.

Case 192: An imported case involving a 32 year-old male American national who arrived in Singapore on March 10 from the US. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on March 13 morning, and is currently warded at NCID.

Case 193: An imported case involving a 26 year-old male Malaysian national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and had been in Germany from March 1 to 3, Czech Republic from March 4 to 6, Austria from March 7 to 8, and Hungary from March 9 to 10. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on March 13 morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He is linked to Case 194.

Case 194: An imported case involving a 24 year-old female Chinese national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and had been in Germany from March 1 to 3, Czech Republic from March 4 to 6, Austria from March 7 to 8, and Hungary from March 9 to 10. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on March 13 afternoon, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is linked to Case 193.

Case 195: An imported case involving a 47 year-old male Singapore Citizen who had been in the United States from February 4 to 17, and Canada from February 17 to March 9. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on March 13 morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

Case 196: A 73-year-old female Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on March 13 morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a contact of Cases 107 and 148 and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

Case 197: An imported case involving a 30-year-old male Singapore Citizen who had been in Malaysia from February 28 to March 2. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on March 13 morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He had attended a mass religious gathering at a mosque in Malaysia, and the Malaysian authorities had subsequently reported several confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to the event.

Case 198: A 61 year-old female Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on March 13 morning, and is currently warded at NCID.

Case 199: An imported case involving a 37-year-old male Singapore Citizen who had been in Malaysia from February 26 to March 2. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on March 13 morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He had attended a mass religious gathering at a mosque in Malaysia, and the Malaysia authorities had subsequently reported several confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to the event.

Case 200: A 62-year-old female Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on March 13 morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a family member of Case 165.

Of the 103 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. 11 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Australians are being urged to take extra precautions when dining out in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Food courts, fast-food outlets, self-serve buffets and busy restaurants have been identified as high-risk spots for contracting the disease.

There is no evidence suggesting the virus can be spread through food, but experts believe the virus can be spread in those environments.

The warning comes as the number of cases continues to rise with 194 confirmed cases in Australia, including three deaths.

Food courts, fastfood outlets, self-serve buffets and busy restaurants have been identified as high-risk spots for contracting the disease

Fastfood outlets, like McDonald's, have had to take extra precautions to combat the spread of the virus

Michael Knight, an assistant professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said customers should stay away from busy restaurants to reduce the risk of infection.

'During peak times in a busy restaurant, you are often in much closer proximity to your fellow diners,' he told Eater.

'Within six feet, you are more likely to come in contact with respiratory droplets released from someone's nose or mouth, that may carry the virus.

'You are better able to slow the spread [of coronavirus] by limiting your eating out to restaurants where you will not be in close proximity to others.'

In addition, experts said a customer could become ill after touching a contaminated item, such as a table, a credit card machine or even the counter.

Curtin University professor Archie Clements  who specialises in the spread and control of diseases - told Daily Mail Australia there was relatively low levels of transmission in Australia, which means the risk is much lower compared to other countries, such as America or Europe.

However, he said the situation could change as the number of cases continues to skyrocket.

He said nursing homes, hospitals and other health facilities were the highest risk locations.

'People need to remain calm and measured in their personal response to the epidemic,' Professor Clements said.

'For the vast majority of people who do become infected, the disease is a relatively mild illness  like a bad cold, or the flu.

'For some people, especially the elderly or those with significant health conditions like chronic respiratory diseases, immunocompromised people, and people on renal dialysis, it might be a good idea to avoid public gatherings or public places.'

Foodcourts are high-risk spots due to the volume of people who visit them daily

Experts have recommended people stay away from busy restaurants to reduce the risk of contracting the virus

Cautious Australians have already started taking steps to prevent the spread of the virus, with restaurants in Sydney's busy Chinatown reporting an 80 per cent decline in customer numbers.

The outbreak has left many business owners in the normally bustling area on the brink of collapse.

A number of eateries in Melbourne's Chinatown have already closed due to the downturn, the ABC reported.

Politicians have urged Australians not to abandon businesses but take precautions to reduce the risk.

On Thursday the federal government announced a $17.6billion emergency stimulus package to ward off a potential recession caused by the coronavirus.

The number of cases continues to rise with 194 confirmed cases in Australia, including three deaths

The Prime Minister and his Liberal deputy, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, announced that from March 31, $750 payments would deposited straight into the bank accounts of 6.5million Australians - or quarter of the population.

The lump-sum payments will cost $4.8billion and are expected to be delivered by Easter, as part of an overall $17.6billion spending package.

Mr Morrison refused to guarantee his stimulus package would avert a recession.

'The government will always engage in responsible financial and economic management,' he said.

The bulk of the $17.6billion stimulus is being spent during the next four to six months, with Treasury hoping it will give the economy a boost of $22.9 billion or 1.2 per cent of gross domestic product.
An Australian family trapped in China are struggling to afford food after their Centrelink payments were cut off.

Joanne Bao and her three teenage daughters became trapped in Wuhan after traveling there in January to spend time with their sick grandmother.

One of the daughters, 16-year old Antonia Harb, said that that Centrelink had ended the family's welfare payments as they had been overseas for too long.

'They cut off everything including the money for us kids, even after we told them our situation here,' she told ABC.

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Joanne Bao (pictured right) and her three teenage daughters had their Centrelink welfare payments cut off after they became trapped in Wuhan while visiting their grandmother (left)

The Sydney family have been stuck in Wuhan since the city went into coronavirus lockdown almost two months ago.

They tried to leave on the final evacuation flight to Christmas Island but were turned away at a military checkpoint.

Ms Harb said that the family were struggling to afford food and desperately needed supplies delivered to their lockdown apartment.

The high school student said that her family were also facing eviction from their western Sydney home in Guildford.

Ms Harb explained that the lanlord said: 'They'd kick us out if we don't pay rent but the money in our account isn't enough for both rent and food.'

The Services Australia General Manager, Hank Jongen, told Daily Mail Australia that impacted citizens could contact Centrelink to arrange a solution.

'People receiving a payment from us who arent able to return to Australia as planned, should contact us on the relevant international number,' he explained.

Mr Jongen said that people who were 'affected by COVID-19 Australian travel bans can request an extension' to 'ensure their payment is not suspended or cancelled.'

The Sydney family are struggling to afford food deliveries to their Wuhan apartment. Pictured: A woman wears a protective mask as she rides a bicycle through Wuhan

Ms Harb said that her family had contacted Centrelink for help multiple times before they were cut off.

Centrelink had asked the family to prove that their grandmother was sick but they were not able to leave their apartment to obtain a medical certificate.

Ms Harb said: 'We really don't want to stay here anymore. We just want to come home.'

Over 350 Australian citizens remain trapped in China's Hubei province including two dozen children.

There are currently no evacuation flights planned.

Coronavirus is believed to have originated from a market in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, in December.

The bug has caused the deaths of more than 3,000 people in China and has since swept the world, causing more than 4,000 deaths across the globe.

There are at least 141 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, with most patients contracting the deadly virus after returning from overseas travel.
Speedy and widespread testing will prove to be one of the make-or-mar measures in stopping the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) transmission from turning into an acute community transmission.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the countrys apex health research body, has increased testing capacity from 51 to 65 not just for preliminary testing, but also for confirmatory testing. The improved strength will cut the lag time by 24-48 hours for test results.

The secondary test for reconfirmation of the virus, which was earlier conducted only at the National Institute of Virology [NIV] in Pune, have also been expanded to 31 laboratories. These steps will enable India to expedite detection of the virus and will help in effective management, said Dr Balram Bhargava, director general, ICMR.

Indias capacity of testing 100,000 samples for Covid-19 can be increased further by adding ICMRs network of 106 virus research and diagnostic laboratories (VRDLS) within days.

ICMR is also negotiating with the private sector for rapid-testing kits that can cut the testing time from five-six hours to 15-20 minutes. Given that the symptoms of Covid-19 and the common flu could be similar, effective screening and diagnostics is key to prevent undue anxiety and focus on providing care to those infected, and containing further spread of the infection in the vicinity of those infected, said Dr Shravan Subramanyam, managing director, India and Neighbouring Markets, Roche Diagnostics India Private Limited.

The reported increase in the number of cases across India calls for rapid scaling up of the availability of screening and diagnostic tests in more centres across India. We have the potential to offer three types of test kits that can be used to screen and further diagnose Covid-19 infections in our existing systems that run other infectious disease panels. These systems are installed across the countrys 15 major cities, said Subramanyam.

We are evaluating some rapid testing kits; a couple of tests have shown promise but we are evaluating further before allowing them as there is always a risk of getting false positives. For any diagnostic test, its sensitivity and specificity that are of utmost importance, said Dr Priya Abraham, director, NIV, Pune.

There are plans to involve the private sector in diagnostics, quarantine or isolation of cases once there is an increase in cases. Dr Harsh Mahajan, founder, Mahajan Imaging, agreed that the private sector is willing and capable, and should be engaged if not in testing then at least for sample collection.

There was a meeting between the health ministry and the private sector a week ago. The private sector expressed its willingness about being a part of the diagnostic process as it has both the capacity and capability. All the laboratory that can do swine flu testing can also do Covid-19 testing. There are at least a few hundreds across India. The government may be managing well for now, but if the numbers rise exponentially then it will have no choice but to involve the private sector, he said.

At this stage of the pandemic in India, the government testing infrastructure is still hugely underutilised. We have also placed an order for more testing reagents from Germany that will help us perform at least 200,000 more tests. We are adequately prepared but as compared to the capacity of performing 90 tests per day in all our laboratories, we are getting about 60-70 samples daily, said Dr Bhargava.

Not everyone needs testing, according to the experts.

Only symptomatic people, especially those with a travel history or contact of a laboratory positive case, need to get tested as there is a risk of getting false negative results in the early stages of disease. When there are no symptoms that means viral load in the body is very low and it may not show up. The person may think he is Covid-19 negative when he is not. Home quarantine for 14 days is the most effective way to break the transmission cycle if theres any kind of suspicion, said Dr Lalit Dar, professor, microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

The government is pulling out all the stops to contain the spread of infection, and to prepare for a surge in cases, including suspending almost all types of visas till April 15, and invoking the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897, and Disaster Management Act, 2005, even though it maintains that the disease in India had not reached epidemic proportions yet.

Invoking these acts does not mean there is Covid-19 epidemic in India. It means the government is working proactively to ensure the situation does not reach epidemic proportions, said Lav Aggarwal, joint secretary, health ministry.

The government has taken several pre-emptive, timely and proactive measures for prevention, containment and management of Covid-19 that includes strict screening of passengers at entry points, strengthening our quarantine and isolation facilities and scaling up our testing capacity by adding more laboratories to the network, he added.

All essential facilities such as community surveillance, quarantine, isolation wards, adequate personal protection equipment, trained manpower, rapid response teams are being strengthened further in all the states and union territories to prevent more people from contracting the infection.

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(Photo : Deepanker Verma from Pixabay) Google Maps issued an update to business owners regarding any changes made due to coronavirus outbreak. (Photo : Ann San from Pixabay) Changes made, such as operating hours, should be updated on your business profile, says Google.

Google Maps has recently issued updated advice to entrepreneurs and business owners to ensure their customers are well-informed about any changes in their business amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Google Maps Makes an Announcement

According to a report by the Daily Express, the update is created to keep both loyal and potential customers in the loop of any changes a business might have due to the COVID-19 scare.

Google has published its update advice on its support page, encouraging business owners to "provide accurate information" to its customers.

Among the possible changes are hours of operation, or whether the establishment is temporarily closing its doors--as with several businesses in the US, such as big dim sum parlors in New York as well as universities and colleges.

Any changes you make will be shown on your profile, both Google Search and Google Maps, but are subject to possible reviews for quality by the company.

The tech giant also advised a few changes that businesses can do.

Many large companies, including Google, have been permitting their workers to work remotely for now to avoid further spread of the disease.

Customers Should Be Made Aware

Businesses that have done this are likely to have shorter operating hours, and customers must be made aware of these changes so they can schedule their visits and avoid going out unnecessarily.

Additionally, Google Maps also wants business owners to provide further information about any changes, especially precautions they are taking if there are any--if they are experiencing delays, or they are offering any extra services for their customers.

If they are affected in any way by the novel coronavirus outbreak, Google Maps encourages them to share the information they can.

They are also advised to update their contact details where customers can reach them.

Lastly, Google encouraged business owners to create and share posts to communicate with their customers regularly.

"Share more detailed and timely updates about what's going on with your business through Posts. For example, add information about what products and services you have available, and link to other resources," the company wrote.

Following Apple's Announcement

Google Maps' move comes after Apple has made its own coronavirus-related announcement to iPhone users, stating that they can now use disinfectant wipes to clean their smartphones, Mac laptops, computers, and iPads.

Apple has also allowed its employees to work remotely for now.

As of writing, there are over 100,000 cases around the world, with China and Italy on the lead, as well as more than 4,700 COVID-19 death-related cases confirmed in the first three months since it was discovered in Wuhan, China.

ALSO READ: Apple Was Battered By Coronavirus. Could 5G iPhones, New MacBook Line Help the Tech Giant Bounce Back?

Businesses around the world are affected, driving low sales from lockdowns and people's fear of coming out.

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), the best way to avoid infecting the disease is to properly wash your hands for 20 seconds on a regular basis, disinfecting "high-touch" surfaces such as doorknobs and table surfaces, as well as social distancing.

Recently, WHO has officially announced that the novel coronavirus is a pandemic.

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Benchmark indices continued to feel the heat of the coronavirus outbreak as investors are yet to get over the jitters exacerbated by the rising threat of the deadly disease across the globe.

On March 12, both Sensex and Nifty registered their worst fall in absolute terms.

The Indian economy, already battling a prolonged slowdown before the coronavirus outbreak, is unlikely to bounce back with Moody's Investors Service slashing its growth forecast for India to 5.3 percent for 2020 from 5.4 percent estimated earlier.

OECD also lowered its India's GDP growth forecast to 5.1 percent from the earlier projection of 6.2 percent for 2020 on concerns of impact of deadly coronavirus on the domestic as well as the global economy.

FIIs on March 9 net sold Rs 6,595.56 crore worth of shares, the biggest single day outflow since November 3, 2017.

They sold Rs 17,316 crore worth of shares so far in March, in addition to Rs 18,000 crore of selling in previous two months.

Here are the top six picks from brokerages in which they expect xx-xx percent upside in the medium to long term:

Bharti Airtel | Brokerage: Emkay | Rating: Buy | LTP: Rs 464 | Target: Rs 591 | Upside: 27 percent

The INRs depreciation and the sharp fall in crude will have implications for Bharti but cash generation should be able to offset the impact.

Africa is in a strong position with positive cash flows, and India has the potential to improve cash flows meaningfully with the recent tariff hike, amid a moderation in capex spends.

Emkay maintain its positive view on Bharti as the underlying India business is strong enough to weather any kind of weakness coming from Africa, and it should continue to gain subscriber market share as VIL remains weak.

Orient Refractories | Brokerage: Emkay | Rating: Buy | LTP: Rs 161 | Target: Rs 320 | Upside: 98 percent

The NCLT has disapproved the long-awaited proposed scheme of amalgamation among Orient Refractories, RHI India Pvt. Ltd, RHI Clasil and their respective shareholders

The merger was expected to make Orient Refractories an integrated player, leveraging sales and distribution network and utilizing resources in an optimal manner, backed by the pooling of management, expertise, technologies and other resources.

Despite the setback from NCLT, Emkay continue to maintain its positive view on the standalone business given the recent strategic acquisitions (Manishri Refractories and Intermetal Engineerings) and strong return ratios (RoE/RoCE at 25%/35%).

ABB India | Brokerage: Motilal Oswal | Rating: Buy | LTP: Rs 1,034 | Target: Rs 1,410 | Upside: 36 percent

ABB has announced the sale of its solar inverter business to the Indian subsidiary of FIMER for INR1b on a slump sale basis.

In the domestic market, Siemens has demonstrated a better performance with domestic revenue CAGR of 10% v/s 4% for ABB.

ABBs strong exports growth over the past two years demonstrates the increasing emphasis of the parent company on the Indian entity for global sourcing. ABBs exports for the continued business have increased at 37% CAGR over CY17-19.

Lupin | Brokerage: Motilal Oswal | Rating: Buy | LTP: Rs 593 | Target: Rs 815 | Upside: 37 percent

With near-term outlook may be subdued, broking house remain positive on the company due to limited price erosion in the base business, robust ANDA pipeline and better-than-industry growth in branded domestic formulation (DF).

It expect 23% earnings CAGR over FY19-22E, led by limited competition products in US generics and improved operating leverage in the DF segment.

However, it reduce the P/E multiple to 20x (from 21x earlier) to factor in regulatory headwinds and arrive at price target of Rs 815.

Tata Motors | Brokerage: Motilal Oswal | Rating: Buy | LTP: Rs 88 | Target: Rs 178 | Upside: 102 percent

The reduction in China sales resulting from the Coronavirus impact is estimated to reduce JLR's full-year EBIT margin by about 1%, however, free cash flow in 4QFY20 is still expected to be modestly positive.

The spread of the virus to other markets such as South Korea, Japan, and Italy will also impact sales in those markets.

For the UK operations, JLR has visibility of parts availability for 2 weeks or more. The company has managed to avoid potential shortage of parts by working closely with its suppliers and with some increased use of air freight.

Motilal Oswal lowering its EPS estimates for FY20/FY21E to factor in the impact of Coronavirus on the JLR business and weaker-than-expected recovery in the India CV business.

Fairchem Speciality | Brokerage: HDFC Securities | Rating: Buy | LTP: Rs 494 | Target: Rs 690-750 | Upside: 51 percent

The company has been expanding its product range through its in-house R&D facilities. The Company enjoys cost efficiencies as most of its raw materials are derived from waste products.

The market for FSL products is growing by 10-15% p.a. The management expects to grow at 15-20% by gaining market share from others and launching new products.

The company has spare capacity in existing products giving it considerable room to grow. The topline and margins have improved sharply in FY19 and FY20 and broking house expect the growth to continue at a slightly lower pace.

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
In New Mexico, four more individuals have acquired the coronavirus in the state's initially known instances of infection. On Wednesday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pronounced a general health emergency and prompted that all enormous open occasions should be delayed to constrain the spread of the infection.

A couple in the age of over 60 in Socorro County, according to her, confirmed positive, including a lady around 70 years old in the vicinity of Albuquerque and a lady in her 60s from the county of Santa Fe.

The couple has a travel history from Egypt, while the two ladies just came back from vacation to New York City.

Chad Smelser, State Epidemiologist, stated that the infections seem, by all accounts, to be a consequence of trips and not transmitted from the communities in the neighborhood. He added that they will effectively look out for the individuals that the infected people interacted with.

The previous secretary for the state Health Department, Lujan Grisham, emphasized the significance of washing hands and limiting contact with others where hacking or sniffling can empower transmission.

She added that they are proactively and forcefully dropping enormous and open occasions that we have command over and that they are exhorting emphatically that nearby government and the others stick to this same pattern.

Insignificant state representatives in a working-class of somewhere in the range of thousands of individuals were suggested to work from home. Lujan Grisham proposed that bosses think about comparable measures and asked people to reset schedules that may include having dinner outside of home or visits to see family members.

Coordinators of the yearly Gathering of Nations delayed the yearly April conference that draws a huge number of indigenous individuals from around the globe to Albuquerque.

The Health Department has underscored worries about the older and plans to send general wellbeing attendants this week to help care offices.

The coronavirus, for the vast majority, leads to just gentle or reasonable indications. For the others, particularly more seasoned grown-ups and individuals with existing medical issues, it can cause progressively extreme sickness, including pneumonia. Most individuals recuperate from the new infection.

Doctor Ravi Bhasker and mayor of Soccoro, stated the couple who was confirmed positive live in a rustic region and segregated themselves in the wake of coming back to the state. Bhasker added that the restraints presentation in his work as a specialist by treating and taking swabs from patients with infection side effects while they sit in their vehicles past his office.

School locales in Santa Fe and Albuquerque set limitations on staff and travel for students. As ordered by the CDC, the University of New Mexico has called off college-related travel to zones in the U.S. where a highly sensitive situation has been announced and to remote nations.

It has been announced that a total of $6.5 million was handed to the health and government authorities of the state of New Mexico by the CDC to help combat the spread of the virus.

The authorities for the state health refused to discharge figures on the quantity of accessible emergency clinic beds or ventilators in case of far reaching hospitalizations.
According to reports, Meghan Markle is now back in Canada with baby Archie after bidding farewell to royal life in the U.K. with a dazzling slate of appearances. (Prince Harry is expected to join them soon.)

Publicly, we last saw the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the Commonwealth Day services at Westminster Abbey, alongside other members of the royal family. But prior to that event, Markle hosted one last gathering at Buckingham Palace for a cause close to her heartand by all accounts, it was quite emotional.

The reception honored 22 students from Commonwealth countries studying for either their master's or Ph.D.s in the U.K., gathered together by one of the duchess's patronages, the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). Thats what so powerful, Meghan said, per royals reporter Omid Scobie who covered the event for Harper's Bazaar. This incredible union and the ability to gain so much knowledge and to be able to take that back home.

He writes that Markle chatted with the guests about their various areas of study. I think its so important to actually engage with people, she said. I care about these things! She talked about sustainable travel with one Ph.D. student from Kenya, even revealing a private detail about her life with Prince Harry.

"Thats something my husband is incredibly passionate about, Markle said, according to Harper's Bazaar. During our travels to Botswana and different parts of Africa, weve seen the link between tourism and how much money is going outside of the country instead of back to communities. There has to be a symbiotic relationship."

"When we go to Botswana, we grab a backpack and pitch a tent! she added. Its not much, but thats how we like it!

And while the event sounds like a lovely one, it was also bittersweet, according to Scobie and fellow royals reporter Victoria Murphy, who was also in attendance. Both noted that the duchess shed some tears while saying goodbye to members of the staff before departing for the Commonwealth Day services and then a flight back to Canada.

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"At this point, the 1844 Room is almost empty, and tears that the duchess had been bravely holding back are free to flow among familiar faces," Scobie writes. "As she embraces some of the loyal staff she will most likely not see again, I cant help but feel sad for the dedicated team members whose tireless effortsto promote the couples work, launch landmark projects, and deal with the near-daily crises brought on by tabloid lieshave come to an abrupt end."

Murphy echoed the same sentiment. "The magnitude of their decision was spelled out as Meghan was about to depart on Monday. Turning to some of her loyal, outgoing staff, there was an emotional realization that she didnt know when she would see them again," she wrote for Town & Country. "Then, with a hug for almost everyone in the room, she was gone."

Meghan and Harry plan to continue working with their royal patronages, like the ACU, and are said to be launching their own charitable entity soon. The terrain may be a little different but their priorities are exactly the same as before, a source told Scobie. Keeping the family, most importantly Archie, safe is what will make all of this worth it.

Originally Appeared on Glamour
Today, the seventh anniversary of his election, Francis spoke of clericalism, unfaithfulness to the covenant of those who appropriate it, "ideologizing" it, of the free gift of self made by God.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - In this time marked by the epidemic, on the day of the seventh anniversary of his election to the papal throne, Pope Francis said we are uniting ourselves to those who are ill and to their families. I would also like to pray today for pastors who need to accompany the people of God during this crisis. May the Lord grant them the strength and the ability to choose the best ways to help. Drastic measures are not always good. Therefore, we pray that the Holy Spirit might grant pastoral discernment to pastors so that they might perceive measures that might not leave the holy, faithful people of God alone, and so that people of God might feel accompanied by their pastors.

Later, during his homily during the daily Mass celebrated in Casa Santa Marta, the Pope reflected on the parable of the tenants presented in the Gospel of the day (Matthew 21:33-46).

This parable refers to Gods care for His people, the Pope said. The vineyard is the chosen people, the tenants are the Doctors of the law, and the servants are the prophets. God did His work well in the vineyard, he Pope said. The hedge, the winepress and the tower can be compared to Gods election of the chosen people, the promise He made to Abraham, and the covenant relationship He entered into with them on Sinai.

The Pope said that The people must always keep that election in their memory  that they are a chosen people; the promise so they always look ahead in hope; and the covenant in order to daily live in fidelity.

When God sends His servants to receive the fruit of the vineyard from the tenants, they are beaten, killed and stoned. Instead of respecting His own Son, they kill Him to get His inheritance. They robbed the inheritance, Pope Francis said. Its a story of infidelity to Gods call ; infidelity to their election, to the promise and to the covenant, which are Gods gifts.

They don't understand that it was a gift. They take it as a possession. These people appropriated the gift. They took away the aspect of the gift to transform it into their own possession. The gift that was richness, openness and blessing was closed, put inside a cage.

Pope Francis attributes this transformation of the gift into a possession as the result of the sin of forgetting. We forget that God has made a gift of Himself to us so that He might be given as a gift. Instead of receiving the gift, we begin to own it.

So, the promise is no longer a promise, the election is no longer an election, the covenant is interpreted according to my own opinion. It becomes an ideology.

It is possible that the Gospel hints at clericalism which was already present even then, the Pope said. Clericalism, always denies the gratuitousness of the election and the promise. Since God has made a gift of Himself to us, this gift must be given freely to others and not as if it belongs to us.

The Pope concluded his homily with a prayer that we might be granted the grace of receiving the gift as a gift and of transmitting this gift as a gift and not as a possession, not in a sectarian, rigid or clerical manner.
Contractors without paid sick leave are on the front lines of the pandemic.

Michelle Goitia usually has 25 mothers and babies in her postnatal yoga class. This week, only four turned up at the studio where she teaches in Brooklyn, New York, as fears about the growing coronavirus pandemic continue to spread across the United States.

New York state has more than 200 confirmed coronavirus cases so far and the governor has declared a state of emergency, which means Goitia expects attendance will continue to plummet  along with her pay.

I am a teacher at a studio that pays me based on attendance: the more people, the more money I make, Goitia told Al Jazeera. I am a private contractor, so if I do not teach or work, I do not get paid.

Goitia has taught yoga, worked as a doula, led birth workshops and anchored new mother support groups for the past 15 years. That the population she works with is extra vulnerable to illness makes a pandemic like this even harder on her financially.

My client base is pregnant women, and women that bring their young babies to my class, so I have to be extremely careful to not get them sick as well, she said.

Across the gig economy, independent contractors such as Goitia are bracing themselves for a drastic drop in income. Ride-share drivers, nannies and carers for the elderly, freelancers, house cleaners, fitness instructors and delivery people are among those who could feel the pinch as their customer base dwindles.

Working close to the line

Some 36 percent of Americans participate in the gig economy in some way, according to a 2018 Gallup poll and while those gigs offer flexibility, they also have virtually no safety net, says Erin Hatton, an associate professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Now, the widening coronavirus outbreak has shed new light on just how vulnerable workers in this sector are.

Many of these workers are working very close to the line, they need the hours because theyre low-wage workers and they dont get paid sick leave, Hatton told Al Jazeera. Many of them are also frontline service providers, so that they interact with a lot of people, which means they are potentially exposed and put in a vulnerable position and then also they can expose others.

Democratic lawmakers in Washington, DC have called for relief in the form of paid sick leave, enhanced unemployment insurance, food assistance and affordable coronavirus testing and treatment for American workers.

And ride-sharing corporations Uber and Lyft, as well as delivery services DoorDash, Postmates and Instacart, are reportedly discussing ways of setting up a fund to help drivers affected by the coronavirus. At least two ride-share drivers have tested positive for the virus in New York.

A Lyft spokesperson told Al Jazeera that the company will provide funds to drivers should they be diagnosed with COVID-19 or put under individual quarantine by a public health agency, with the amount of relief based on the rides they provided on the Lyft platform over the last four weeks. But the policy doesnt cover lost income from a decrease in demand or time off to care for a sick family member.

Faced with the prospect of being unable to afford medical care or health insurance and a decline in business, many independent contractors are worried about the financial repercussions.

The majority of workers in America just dont have that cushion to go without pay, Hatton said. So this provides a really bad incentive during this crisis to continue to work at all costs.

Cant afford to miss work

Public health experts say it is crucial for those experiencing any symptoms to stay home and get tested but that is easier said than done when 27.9 million Americans do not have health insurance, according to the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.

Out-of-pocket medical costs can become an enormous burden for independent contractors as well. The average three-day hospital stay in the US costs about $30,000, according to HealthCare.gov.

But they are not equally affected if they miss work. While 94 percent of company managers had paid sick leave in 2019, just 58 percent of service workers had it, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And only about 4 percent of workers have more than 14 paid sick days per year, the period for which people exposed to the coronavirus are asked to self-quarantine, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

In an address to the nation on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump announced his plan to defer payments on federal loans to small businesses and defer taxes for businesses hit by the virus. Trump has also said he would propose some sort of relief for hourly workers amid the coronavirus outbreak but has yet to put forth a detailed plan.

The state and the federal governments should provide significant incentives to businesses to provide paid sick leave for all workers, so that anyone who has been exposed to the virus cannot go to work and be OK, Hatton said.

This is a point where they could step in and provide this basic social safety net to everyone right now. Because I think it will be absolutely crucial to contain the virus.

Loss of customers

Besides the loss of income from taking sick leave, independent contractors stand a higher chance of contracting the virus  as their jobs could bring them into contact with people who may already have it.

The catch-22 is that people vulnerable to contracting the coronavirus  such as the elderly  could become even more dependent on gig workers. Public health officials in other countries have already advised those with underlying medical conditions to stay home. But it is gig workers who are often the ones responsible for caring for them and delivering food and medicine to their homes.

A rise in demand for gig work would definitely put gig workers at greater risk, particularly those who provide services such as ride hailing and transportation, home care, house cleaning, other personal services and food delivery, Maria Figueroa, the director of labour and policy research at Cornell Universitys Worker Institute, told Al Jazeera.

But couriers and delivery workers are more exposed, then, to buildings and individuals who might be infected, she added.

Unexpected surge in business

The outbreak has already changed the way many Americans work and live, with some companies advising people to telecommute and many cities cancelling large public gatherings. Perhaps surprisingly, this has led to an uptick in business for some gig workers.

Rosalia Fiske is an aesthetician who performs facials and waxing in Hoboken, New Jersey. She said she has had more customers book services recently since more people in the small city across the river from Manhattan are now working from home.

I havent felt the burn of the coronavirus yet like the market has, Fiske told Al Jazeera.

Many Prof

are also frontline service providers, so  they interact with a lot of people, which means they are potentially exposed and  can expose others.]

Aaron Robinson works 20 to 25 hours per week as an Uber driver in addition to his full-time job at a BMW warehouse.

Robinson lives in Teaneck, New Jersey, where two of the states more than two dozen coronavirus cases have been confirmed. New Jerseys governor recently declared a state of emergency, but Robinson says he has not seen a decline in people hailing rides and he is not worried about the coronavirus. He has paid sick time through his warehouse job.

I take care of myself. I wash my hands regularly, I hydrate, Robinson told Al Jazeera.

Uber announced on Wednesday it may suspend the accounts of drivers and riders who have tested positive for the coronavirus or have been exposed to it directly. Robinson said he receives daily emails from Uber with tips on how to keep himself safe.

They dont want us to allow sick people into the cars and stuff like that. Like if we know somebody looks sick, they dont want us to pick them up, Robinson explained.

Robinson said he sprays down his car at the end of each day, and since the outbreak began, he has picked up several physicians, using those rides as an opportunity to ask them questions about the virus.

I cant control the coronavirus, so I do the best I can to do what Ive got to do.

Across the gig economy, independent contractors such as yoga teacher Michelle Goitia are bracing themselves for a drastic drop in income becuase of an economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 outbreak [Courtesy: Michelle Goitia]

Uncertain times

It is the uncertainty of how much the virus will spread  and how much it will disrupt daily life  that has made many gig workers worry.

Fiske, the aesthetician, said if more people were urged to self-quarantine  or discouraged from touching their faces  it could hit her business hard, which is why she spent this week posting on social media about the extra precautions with hygiene and sanitary conditions she is taking, including using a hospital-grade antimicrobial cleaner to disinfect her materials.

Fiske said after Hurricane Sandy devastated Hoboken in 2012, she learned to save and has enough in the bank for a few months to keep her afloat.

Goitia, the yoga teacher, said she tries to keep two months expenses in her savings account.

But not everyone has such a cushion. A recent study by the Federal Reserve found that nearly 40 percent of US households would struggle with an unexpected $400 expense, let alone go weeks or months without income.

The outbreak may be drawing much-needed attention to the necessity for better protections for gig workers, Cornells Figueroa says.

It might change peoples minds about the need for healthcare access for gig-workers, as its now a public safety issue, not purely social justice, she said. If theyre safe, we are all likely to be safe, too.

Hatton agreed, saying she would like to see many of the social benefits we rely on decoupled from employment, so that people have full access to affordable health care, regardless of whether their employer offers it. Federal sick leave for all would help, too.

That could potentially be a silver lining that comes out of this very dark cloud, because people are talking about and thinking about the many, many workers who just cant afford to take time off if they contract it, Hatton said. Thats new. That has not been a part of our national conversation or our national thought process before.
It is very easy at times like these to slip into the old comforts of grand historical figures. Given the nature of the incidents, a viral infection of illiquidity upon the world, prime among such a list of great persons is undoubtedly Walter Bagehot. Jay Powell would do well to study some over the coming days and weeks. Which works, though?

Everyone knows his famous decree for central banks. But Bagehot was a scholar maybe even more properly characterized as a philosopher and thinker than strictly some astute financial observer. He was a deep man already established in reputation and esteem long before leaping into the topic of central banking and money.

Six years before writing Lombard Street, Walter had published The English Constitution. The Reform Act of 1867 was being debated in Parliament so the topic of the British monarchy was central to the minds of everyone who fell under the Queens domain. Near half of Earth's people. To Bagehot, there was more than politics at stake.

The Queen, he wrote, indeed all monarchs, they are more than the simple functions of government. Indeed, the majesty was, in his view, a requirement for the effective function of it. This reverence was a shroud and a necessary one because being a ruler was of a far different chore than making and sticking to rules. Specialists are required for both ends.

That secrecy is, however, essential to the utility of English royalty as it now is. Above all things our royalty is to be reverenced, and if you begin to poke about it you cannot reverence itIts mystery is its life. We must not let in daylight upon magic.

A government contrarily made up of bureaucrats is therefore no government at all. Stripped of all its humanity, shorn of the lights given to it by science and reason, the bureaucratic form of rule-making must inevitably devolve into dysfunction and an existence hard against its original purpose.

It is an inevitable defect, that bureaucrats will care more for routine than for results; or, as Burke put it, that they will think the substance of business not to be much more important than the forms of it. Their whole education and all the habit of their lives make them do so.

These pitiful charlatans care more for what they do than what they do does. Governed by rules established long ago, or not so long ago, they care little for what may be accomplished by them only that they exist and provide the bureaucrat with existence.

Does bond buying actually work? The bureaucrat doesnt care. They only desire that there be some expressed need to do it, so that the operation itself gives them their purpose. Efficacy becomes a defect, actually.

They said we wouldnt be Japan.

The United States Federal Reserve is about to embark on a course beyond the already renewed full-scale QE. I have no special inside knowledge on the matter, no direct line to Jay Powell (I doubt hed take my calls if I did). Call it a hunch, an entirely reasonable one that I believe most observers already share.

The circumstances clearly call for something. And the reason they do is because all those prior somethings amounted to exactly nothing.

Again, the bureaucrat doesnt care. The crisis is their purpose; therefore, the presence of crisis justifies their presence. After all, its been very well established that failure is to be celebrated so long as it sticks within the confines of the rules. Im looking right at you, Christine Lagarde.

In the odd twist, the modern central bank bureaucrat has been married to Bagehots old notions of monarchical reverence. Most people, indeed nearly all persons, no one has any real idea what central banks actually do. Theyve held some vague notions about gyrating fed funds (in the US) around or maybe something about a printing press, ideas all given to them bycentral bankers.

The whole of the monetary game in this age is reverence. You arent supposed to ask any questions of the Jay Powells, merely gape in awe at their presumed presence and be warmed by it. To let daylight in upon his magic is to destroy it.

It is the worst of both worlds: the bureaucrats who care only for their rules while staying in the dark demanding the world to worship what they do as they operate purposefully in obfuscation. Maybe such a thing was necessary for Queen Victoria, I personally doubt it, hardly useful to anyone for this day and this age.

And to what end does all this majesty serve in light of Bagehots main dictum: to lend freely at high rates on good collateral?

With markets melting down further exposing the sham that has been QE and not-QE, this is both a time for examination as well as reckoning. To use my own frank vernacular, repo operations my ass!

These guys have no idea what they are doing. None. Secrecy has only aided in the incompetence, cloaked in the ideas of reverence while operating in bureaucracy the entire time. It was a bad marriage, the worst kind.

The funny thing about it has been this 21st century fiction of an open central bank. Ben Bernankes special project, indeed what he thought would be his legacy, to open up and be more transparent  so as to prove the works behind the awe. Once they let you see them up close, youd be even more impressed and then let them set about their habits in complete peace.

How about now?

What will follow will be a parade of QEs. Functionally, there will be differences, categorically all the same regardless. The main category they all belong to is: failure. They wont work, not a single one.

But Jay Powell doesnt care. Not really. QE is the central banks post-2008 routine. Thats what they do; what they all do. Effectiveness is, believe me, subjective. When it does fail, as the others have, volumes of econometric literature will spring up declaring it a success by declaring success a miniature of its promises. QE lowered term premiums! (in some studies.)

The real world has much bigger problems on its hands. A little technical proficiency would go a very long way, not unlike the kind Walter Bagehot had in mind a very long time ago. Indeed, what might hold the greatest chance of successfully mitigating this unfolding disaster, more than a coronavirus vaccine, is some good ol fashioned currency elasticity.

Except, what currency counts for elasticity in this day and age under these systemic conditions? It would have behooved their majesties if they had found out sometime before now, maybe even around the last time it got this bad (for the same reasons, min you, and they werent subprime mortgages).

The central banker has only bank reserves, and weve observed time and again how they arent relevant, monetarily speaking. Whether it was during the 2008 crisis or at this very moment.

Ever since Septembers curious repo rumble, Jay Powells followed the routine. Repo operations and T-bill buying, both upscaling the level of bank reserves. And during that time, cloaked in majesty, obscured by reverence, no one officially able to explain just what had happened  and no one seeming to care that it went unexplained. Thats the magic.

September was only a dress rehearsal, but everyone dressed up to rehearse what? That much we are finding out today even if it took six months over the interim. The global markets had been making noises for two years, unheeded because they didnt conform to the established rules. September merely took those noises a step further, which apparently wasnt a step far enough.

In my very much unofficial version, money dealers, who more appropriately belong at the center of all monetary understanding, had grown risk averse by nature of collateral and risk perceptions, or risk perceptions driving increasing questions about collateral. Whichever way you want to look at it, the main but not exclusive element has been the infection of the repo collateral system with too much stupid junk (on the advice of central bankers and their globally synchronized growth).

Weve seen this before, you know. Jay Powells predecessors saw it, too. Except, this sort of thing doesnt make entry into the central bank manual, the list of routines and rules by which predetermine to policymakers, really everyone, what policymakers will do. Therefore, it was ignored, this strong worldwide demand for safe assets written off as an uninteresting quirk or outlier.

Questions about collateral mean questions about all things liquidity. Risk aversion from the one equals growing reluctance about everything.

An actual quirk and outlier on September 16, 2019, a combination of unusual (but not unpredictable) factors led money dealers to step back at the first, smallest little sign of irregularity. The repo rate rose a little and rather than step in and fill the gap dealers stepped to the sidelines  and remained there convinced of such righteousness as the repo rate surged higher and higher.

While officials have been off trying to uncover what they are convinced must be the smoking gun of a benign technical factor so that we can all go back to sleep, it really was just that simple. Risk aversion about something so small could only have been a warning  for when it got real. A warning that only a bureaucrat could have so thoroughly missed.

These dealers were, in fact, showing you what they would do in that other situation. Thats why Ive called it a dress rehearsal, play practice that Jay Powell and his buttered band of bureaucrats decided to skip so that they could conduct their own rehearsal  of their own routines.

The Fed gave us repo operations that had nothing directly to do with repo markets. The central bank raised the level of bank reserves without once establishing that the level of bank reserves had anything to do with it. Routine. Stay within the rules.

Over the last couple of weeks, collateral, collateral, collateral. Whats the superlative far beyond strong? Whatever the word might be, it is right now what belongs in front of worldwide demand for safe assets. And the reason is frailty, a systemic fragility never once recognized inside the official shroud.

A signal very much confirmed by the world piling into massive demand for the most pristine and useful form of repo collateral. T-bill prices, primarily, have surged. A liquidation event stemming from a global collateral call as crap collateral further implodes and therefore impedes systemic functions  as if the central bank just isnt there.

What have dealers been doing during all this? Theyve been bidding in excess for excess funds at the Feds repo operations and then sitting on what theyve procured. They are, very clearly, on the sidelines again right where six months ago they told Jay Powell they would be.

All of that crap in between, collateral and repo operations, and markets are left to wither, dealers very much proved righteous once more in their reluctance. Very predictable on all sides.

The imagined majesty of QE had you imagining a robust market system with an effective backstop against the worst of disruptions, guided by the unseen royalty of Economics. Ask no questions about time or process, just believe. Pay no attention to the lack of attentiveness, a dearth of realistic answers, and the religious, cult-like devotion to the rules of practice and routine. Bask only in the glow of bond buying!

Or, as it will be, stock buying!

What there wont be, what there already hasnt been, is currency elasticity. Though it may be strange and unrecognizable as such, collateral is its own currency. And thats just where the money problems begin.

In Japan, its central bank has conducted 10 major QE-type programs, 24 different variations by my count, and that tenth one is fast approaching its seventh birthday. This certainly counts as a parade, though one you would be unlucky enough to ever have experienced.

The same parade is coming here; has just about arrived. Seeking guidance from the wrong Bagehot work, monetary authorities dont know what else to do. Since Greenspan, operating under delusion that they are some sort of bureaucratic monarchy. True to its type, theyll dutifully follow procedures believing the substance of their business is never more than this form of it.

And dont you dare question it!

Ill tell them what to do. Let the light finally shine in and destroy whats left of their magic, before it does any more damage to the rest of the world. Enough is enough.

Jeffrey Snider is the Head of Global Research at Alhambra Partners.
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The Government of St. Maarten has taken note of the notice by French President Emmanuel Macron and by extension the Prefet of St. Martin and St. Barths Ms. Sylvie Foucher related to school closures within all French territories. This decision does not affect schools on Dutch St. Maarten.





In previous discussions held with the Prefet, this topic was discussed at length, that given a situation where either sides of the island were to have (2 on Dutch St. Maarten or 3 on French Saint Martin) confirmed and unrelated cases requiring hospitalization, that closure of schools would be the first phase of shut down to prevent further spreading of the virus. Prime Minister Jacobs stated, As that is currently not the case on either side, while the French side has to follow the lead of the state, St. Maarten will make that call when and if it is deemed necessary.





At this point, St. Maarten has not yet reached the threshold as agreed upon for school closure. The Collective Prevention Service (CPS) and the St. Maarten Red Cross have been actively involved in executing the COVID-19 awareness programs amongst the various stakeholders in the Education sector. Inspectors will continue to monitor, report and advise should school closures be necessary.





The general public is encouraged to remain calm, continue to use proper hygiene, washing hands often, keeping hands away from the face, and ensuring cleanliness in and around living areas. Parents are reminded to teach and re-enforce proper hygiene at home, and to keep sick children at home until they are well.





Follow Governments Facebook page Government of Sint Maarten for official updates




The authorities are doing their utmost to prevent the spread of the disease in Kyiv and across Ukraine.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko has asked Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry and the management of Boryspil International Airport to halt flights between Ukraine and countries with a significant coronavirus spread.

Read alsoUkraine's Cabinet decides to close several border crossing points

"We are doing our utmost to prevent the spread of the disease in Kyiv and Ukraine. Airports are the gateway to our country and one of the first filters to prevent [the entry of] infected people. The termination of flights with countries where the epidemic is spreading today is required to minimize the likelihood of a coronavirus outbreak both in Kyiv and across the country," he wrote on Facebook on March 13.

The official said he had addressed the Infrastructure Ministry and the management of Boryspil International Airport with relevant request.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 11, Klitschko announced that mass events and the educational process would be temporarily limited in Kyiv from March 12 to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
March 13 : Producer, Chairman and Managing Director of T - Series is considered as one of the Bollywoods leading and young producers. The producer who has constantly grown his company from strength to strength expressed that due to the coronavirus film Industry is facing heavy losses. Because many theatres have been shut down in Delhi and many films release date has been postponed.

Bhushan Kumar was seen interacting with the media on Thursday in Mumbai at the success party of the movie Malang.

When asked about the impact of coronavirus on the film industry on this Bhushan said, Its a natural calamity and many people around the globe are getting affected to it. Everyone is in a state of panic because no one knows what is going to happen next. But yes, the Film Industry is facing losses. Even in Delhi cinema halls have been shut down till 31st March. And its obvious because safety comes first.

Unfortunately, even the release date of the film Sooryavanshi and 83 has been postponed on the basis of safety. Hence, I want to say that its a natural calamity, we cant do anything in it. Because to get out of this situation it will take time. So, there is no certainty when we will release the films. There are many films which have been pushed ahead, so right now its impossible to decide anything. We have to just wait and watch, added Bhushan.

As a producer, there are many films in his kitty like Satyameva Jayate 2, Bhuj: The Pride Of India, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Madam Chief Minister, Mumbai Saga, Navy Day, Jhund, Ludo. All the films are scheduled to release in the year 2020.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
THE government has quashed rumours that it plans to announce a 'status red' emergency announced next week due to the coronavirus crisis.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe this afternoon said: "I want to be very clear that there are no such plans in place."

Rumours have been circulating on social media today that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will be making such an announcement on Monday morning along with tougher lock-down measures, perhaps involving the Defence Forces.

Mr Donohoe was asked about the online claims this afternoon.

He said: "The Taoiseach is making comments on this [the coronavirus outbreak] nearly every day, as are ministers, every day.

Mr Donohoe said he can't predict what will be happening on Monday.

However, he was strident in shooting down the rumours saying:

"I want to be very clear that there are no such plans in place.

We will review every day what is happening and communicate everyday.

"There are no such plans in place for an announcement like that," he added.

The HSE confirmed today it is having discussions with hotels about using rooms for isolating people with the coronavirus if the numbers escalate.

HSE chief Paul Reid said it has already been approached by some hotels offering to accommodate patients.

These patients would need isolation until they clear the virus and would not be sick enough to be admitted to hospital where the most seriously ill would be treated.

He said the delay phase measures which are in place until the end of the month are now the main focus. Ireland has not reached the extreme emergency planning stage at this point and to discuss so is a distraction.

It has been estimated that around 10,000 beds would be need to cope the demand if the spread of the virus escalates to an extremely high level.

HSE official Dr Colm Henry estimated that the that cases of the virus could be cut by 30pc if measures such as identifying people positive with the virus, isolating them and ensuring people maintain social distance rules.

The plan is to set up more around 12 community testing centres where people would be referred to give a swab to see if they are positive.

Asked if people should stock up on food, Mr Reid said panic buying at this stage was dysfunctional and that is not where we are.

Meanwhile, the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) have urged the public to avoid panic buying, or stockpiling medicine as they say there is no medicine shortage and pharmacies will remain open and well-stocked.

Read More

The union urged the public not to stockpile any medicine or purchase medication they do not need. One months supply of prescription medicines is the maximum quantity allowed by the HSE under the GMS or other Community Drug Schemes.

Individuals who require medication on a regular basis should ensure their prescriptions are up to date.

Patients or carers are asked, if possible, to phone the pharmacy in advance to request that their prescription be dispensed for a particular time and date so that the pharmacy can have it ready when they come in.

The IPU has advised people to check with elderly family members and neighbours to make sure they have their medicines and, if necessary, help them to contact the pharmacy if they need advice or information.

The IPU said that there are 1,900 community pharmacies in Ireland, all working at the frontline of the health service in the fight against Covid-19. The pharmacists "will continue to perform their vital role as a first point of contact for people within our health care system".

IPU Secretary General Darragh O Loughlin said: We remain in close contact with public health officials and have reassured them that pharmacists and pharmacies are available to help and support the health service in any way we can, including the dissemination of information and advice to the public.

He reiterated the warning that there is absolutely no need for the public to stockpile any medicines. While pharmacies have experienced an understandable increase in demand in recent days, there are no supply shortages, stockpiling is completely unnecessary and, in fact, could itself trigger drug shortages, he said.

The union did, however, warn that people who have been to an affected place in the last 14 days, or who have had contact with someone with coronavirus, or who are exhibiting fever, cough or other respiratory symptoms of Covid-19 should not attend at a pharmacy or GP clinic.

Instead, they said, they should stay at home and phone their GP or local HSE helpline without delay - they can be contacted on 1850 24 1850 or 041 6850300 between Monday to Friday: 8am and 8pm, Monday to Friday and between 10am and 5pm on weekends.

While Business Minister Heather Humphreys has warned panic-buyers "you're wasting your money".

She said the shops were restocked overnight after people cleared shelves of essential groceries and added that they'd be full again tomorrow.

Ms Humphreys also pointed out that Ireland produces enough food for 40m people and appealed to people to "behave normally".

Her remarks came amid continued reports of panic buying due to the coronavirus outbreak and measures to delay its spread.

Ms Humphreys met with retailers this morning and she said: "they remain confident that we have sufficient supply to meet demand."

She said: "I want to be very clear. People do not need to stockpile. Supermarkets and shops will remain open. Stockpiling could cause problems, so please don't do it."

The Cavan-Monaghan TD warned that it would negatively impact on others, including vulnerable people."

"Theres absolutely no need to do that. We produce enough food in this country for 40m people.

"So, we may be in an abnormal situation but we definitely have supply.

"Please, behave normally and shop, as you normally would do".

Ms Humphreys said preparations for a possible no-deal Brexit means Ireland has "never been in a stronger position" to deal with supply issues.

She said supermarket shelves "were full again this morning and theyll be full again tomorrow morning."

Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland

Retailers told her: "Theres food in the depots and there are supplies and all the things that you need are in the different distribution centres."

She told stockpilers "youre wasting your money."

Ms Humphreys said that it's not necessary for retailers to restrict sales of key items to a certain number per customer "because there is sufficient supply".

She said some shops may decide to do this but it would be their prerogative.
Barry Sheelan, in Sardinia

Today (Friday) marks the 4th day of the national lockdown here in Italy.

As of today, there are 42 confirmed positive cases of the COVID-19 Coronavirus on the island of Sardinia - an increase of 4 cases since yesterday. We are under complete lockdown until at least April 3rd, and the government have advised us not to leave our houses unless we need to do grocery shopping, for medical reasons, or to work for essential services.

Two main public airports on the island, Alghero and Olbia, have been shut down completely, and Cagliari airport only remains open for essential flights in and out of the island.

The Police are continuing to stop and check peoples reasons for travelling, and are making their presence well felt across the island. There are still reports of people being stopped and fined 206, and threatened with 3 months in custody for travelling without a justified reason. Slowly, the wider population of Sardinia are coming to terms with life under lockdown.

Other expats like myself are also trying to come to terms with the restrictions, and are doing our best to cope, and carry on.

A friend of mine, originally from Wales but based in Sardinias capital city Cagliari, wrote today (I) woke up at around 5am to a strange, melodic, repetitive beeping sound. Looked outside and there was a truck spraying some kind of liquid/mist all over the streets and buildings. Very bizarre.

Another, a fellow Irish expat, also based in Cagliari, told me Seeing people queueing down the street to keep the one metre distance, wearing masks and plastic gloves, is for our good health but also really creepy. When have we ever experienced anything like this? Its hard to take it in. I guess many of us are in a state of shock  I am trying to be positive but the latest increase in cases and deaths in Italy chills me, numbs me. Its shock.

It has now been eight days since the school where I work closed in Cagliari, following the first wave of restrictions announced by the Italian government. At home, it felt like a holiday initially, but the novelty quickly wore off as we realised the seriousness of the situation. My wife and I are now trying to structure our days as much as possible.

On Monday, the day before the national lockdown took effect, we both agreed that we would try and soldier on and normalise our lives as much as possible, given the circumstances. Were continuing to wake up (relatively) early, prepare breakfast, shower, and get dressed, in order to start our day properly. This might seem like common sense and quite mundane to point out, but its completely necessary to avoid the dreaded cabin fever syndrome while being stuck at home.

As all gyms remain closed, and were advised against unnecessarily going outside, we have resorted to following home-workout plans on YouTube in order to try and stay in shape. The sheer amount of different workout/exercise tutorials online are enough to keep us occupied and help stave off the boredom. Im planning to try-out a few new recipes, and have even resorted to perfecting homemade peanut butter!

People across Italy are also trying to normalise. The wider sense of community is growing. On Italian social media, musicians are being called together for a unique flash mob - they are invited to pick up their instruments and to start playing from their windows this evening at 6pm. According to the open invitation on social media Our country will thus become, for those few minutes, a gigantic free concert.

#DistantiMaUniti - Distant but united.
Australia's Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton announces measures against online sexual exploitation on March 5, 2020 during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Australias Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton Contracts Coronavirus

Update March 17: Peter Dutton is now in quarantine at his Queensland home and his family has temporarily moved out after the federal minister was diagnosed with coronavirus and briefly hospitalised.

Ive been discharged from hospital and am at home self-isolating with my dog Ralph. Thank you for all the kind messages, Im feeling much better. pic.twitter.com/00D6ZORHBs  Peter Dutton (@PeterDutton_MP) March 17, 2020

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Australias Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus.

Dutton said that after waking on Friday morning with a temperature and sore throat, he was tested for COVID-19. He was then told in the afternoon that the test had come back positive.

I feel fine and will provide an update in due course, he said in a statement.

Australias Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton announces measures against online sexual exploitation during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on March 5, 2020. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Dutton recently returned from Washington where Five-Eyes countries have decided to collaborate with big tech companies to stop the online sexual abuse of children, The Epoch Times reported.
A militant was killed on Friday in a brief encounter with security forces in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

The encounter broke out between security forces and militants in Shahtullo village of Baramulla after security forces launched a cordon and search operation there, a police official said.

He said one unidentified militant was killed in the exchange of firing with security forces.

The identity and group affiliation of the slain militant was being ascertained, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government will hold regular consultations with the parliamentary parties with regard to the coronavirus situation, Gergely Gulyas, head of the Prime Ministers Office, has said.

In the current crisis it is necessary to build a partnership, even with adversaries, he said. Ensuring that all conditions are in place for combatting the virus is in the interest of both the government and the opposition, he said, adding that parliaments consent is required should the 15-day state of emergency, introduced earlier in the day, need to be extended.



Mate Kocsis, ruling Fideszs group leader, welcomed plans to hold weekly consultations, adding that there is no room for political debates over coronavirus. He called for the broadest possible cooperation within parliament.



Answering a question, Kocsis said that Fidesz does not support suspending parliaments work because while others are working, parliament will have to do so, too.



Socialist deputy group leader Tamas Harangozo pledged his partys support for any parliamentary measures necessary to combat the epidemic.



Laszlo Gyorgy Lukacs, deputy group leader of the Jobbik party, said his party supported measures against the virus, but also noted his partys objections such as against the governments reluctance to close down schools.



LMP co-leader Erzsebet Schmuck said that the opposition wishes to participate in constructive cooperation that rise above party interests and fight successfully against the epidemic.



Sandor Burany, Parbeszeds deputy group leader, said that we cannot afford to have no coordination within the government and criticised the government for not providing any assistance to Hungarians wishing to return from Italy, adding that there were no protocols to screen those arriving in Hungary.



The Socialist Party is submitting a package of proposals to lawmakers in connection with the new coronavirus, with a view to protecting health-care employees, the elderly and children.



At a news conference on Thursday, Bertalan Toth, the partys leader, also announced that the Socialist Partys congress scheduled for Saturday will be cancelled. Toth proposed placing disinfectants on public transport, increasing the duration that jobless people can receive benefits, and hiking pensions by 6.5% with immediate effect.



Further, in the event of school closures, parents should benefit from more flexible regulations in the workplace, he said. Toth also said multinationals should refrain from repatriating their billions of forints of profits from the country.



The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) has asked the government to implement three proposals the party has prepared with a view to protecting people above the age of 60, a group most vulnerable to the new coronavirus, MEP Klara Dobrev said.



DK asked the government to allocate resources for local councils to organise services for people in the age group to get food, medical supplies and any necessary administration in order to enable them to stay at home for the next four to six weeks.



The party wants the government to oblige employers to reduce working hours for parents with small children in order to alleviate the need for grandparents to pick up their grandchildren from schools and kindergartens, she added. Any cut in wages resulting from this measure should be reimbursed from a dedicated state fund, she said.



Additionally, the party wants the government to extend the deadline for all public utility bills so as to prevent older people from having to stand in line at the post office for making the paper-based payments, she said.



In response to a question concerning the state of emergency introduced by the government, Dobrev said the government should have introduced protective measures weeks ago. She added that 8 billion forints (EUR 23.7m) had been allocated for combating the coronavirus as against 150 billion forints for government communication, whereas everybody would feel safer if this was the other way round.



Meanwhile, The PSZ and PDSZ teacher unions are calling on the government to order a suspension of classes at all schools in Hungary due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus, PSZ leader Zsuzsa Szabo said at a press conference. She said PSZ disagreed with the governments decision not to apply the state of emergency declared on Wednesday to schools, citing worldwide public school closures.



Szabo argued that although few children and young people were getting infected with the virus, they presented a high risk to others as potential virus carriers. She added that closing schools would also protect teachers whose average age range is 48-50.



She said both Hungarys education law and the human resources ministry resolution regulating the school calendar allowed for extraordinary school breaks. Even if schools could not make up for all of the time lost during such a break, the law would allow for them to cover any leftover material in the 2020-2021 school year, she argued.



PDSZ also argued in favour of closing schools, saying that schools could still get through the curriculum by moving to distance learning.



MTI Photo




He was born in Britain and then taken as a slave to Ireland, before he escaped to safety and freedom in his homeland.

But Patrick  a man with a deep faith  wasnt content to let the people of Ireland die without hearing the gospel. He felt called by God to go back to the land he once hated.

A new film, I Am Patrick, tells the inspiring and captivating true story of St. Patrick, who lived in the fifth century and whose life is as misunderstood as it is legendary.

A docudrama, it stars John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings series) as Patrick and was scheduled to be in theaters March 17-18, although its release was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. (A DVD can be ordered at CBN.com/IAmPatrickDVD.)

Here are three things you should know:

Photo courtesy: CBN





1. It Separates Fact from Fiction

No, Patrick didnt rid Ireland of snakes, as the movie makes clear. In fact, he wasnt even  aghast  Irish. (He was born in Britannia, the region now known as Britain.)

The film is based on two autobiographical works of Patrick: his Confessio (better known as the Confession of St. Patrick) and his Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus.

Historians agree that both documents are historically accurate and the actual words of St. Patrick, said CBN CEO Gordon Robertson, the executive producer.

We decided we would limit ourselves to what St. Patrick wrote, Robertson told Crosswalk. ... Our intent was, let's let St. Patrick tell his story again, in his own words.

The film includes one scene not in the two documents: an event known as the lighting of the Paschal Fire, in which Patrick reportedly defied the pagans by lighting a fire on Easter weekend.

The first record of that is more than a century after St. Patrick died, but we felt that that record was accurate enough that St. Patrick would have challenged the druid authorities, Robertson said.

Photo courtesy: CBN





2. Its Moving and Educational

Its common for Christians to use religious holidays  such as Christmas and Easter  as a spiritual discussion-starter with their non-Christian friends.

The same can be true of St. Patricks Day. We hold parades, drink Shamrock Shakes, and wear green from head to toe  yet most of us dont even know what were celebrating.

Who is this man that we've named a day for? What did he do? And why did he change a nation? Robertson asked, rhetorically.

The film, shot in Ireland and Britain, includes interviews with multiple experts on Patrick, including Tim Campbell of Irelands Saint Patrick Centre, Elva Johnston of University College Dublin, and Frier Billy Swan of the Diocese of Ferns (Ireland).

Patricks story is inspiring.

He's going to go back to Ireland  back to the very people that enslaved him, to preach the gospel, Robertson said.

Although Patrick is often thought of as a Catholic saint, his story is one every Christian can embrace, Robertson said. Indeed, Patrick was never canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church.

Patrick is a saint by acclamation and not a saint by act of a pope, Robertson said. ... He was an apostle to Ireland and universally recognized as so.

Photo courtesy: CBN





3. Its Entertaining and Mission-Centric

I Am Patrick isnt a dull documentary. Instead, it weaves dramatic reenactments with expert interviews and visually stunning scenes of Ireland. Its as entertaining as it is educational.

Its also missions centric.

Robertson hopes moviegoers are motivated by Patricks story to take the gospel to others.

There are still unreached people groups today, he said. In St. Patricks day, Ireland was considered the end of the earth. God still calls people today, and He still calls them to go preach the gospel to people who have never heard it before.

Patricks story should motivate people to share Christ in their own land, too, Robertson said.

You can change a nation  whether that nation is your own neighborhood, your own city, your own state, your own nation, or it is another nation, Robertson said. Realize that God can use you and you can really make a difference.

Visit IAmPatrick.com

Photo courtesy: CBN

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
A group of activists has written to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urging him to increase the compensation amount of Rs 10 lakh announced by his government for the next of kin of those who killed in the communal violence in northeast Delhi.

Kejriwal had last month announced Rs 10 lakh ex gratia for the families of those killed in the riots in Delhi. He had also said that the families who lost any minor member would get Rs 5 lakh in damages, while those seriously injured will get Rs 2 lakh.

"The clarification of different compensation rates, according to degree of damage, and recognizing floor-wise units for compensation of destroyed residential property is a welcome step towards developing compensation norms that respond to the tragic ground situation of survivors, by the Delhi government," stated the letter.

It was signed by a number of activists, including Anie Raja, Amrita Johri, Harsh Mander and Anjali Bhardwaj.

"However, an amendment to this order must specify the floor area for which these rates have been determined, and allow for flexibility and additional compensation, as warranted, on the basis of actual assessment of destroyed properties.

"There is also an urgent need to enhance compensation under other heads, taking into account the quantum given to violence affected persons in earlier incidents," the letter added.

It also urged the Delhi government to respond to the "real needs" of the survivors, including workers rendered jobless, tenants evicted overnight, those whose insurance policies did not cover cars, bikes, and other goods destroyed in the violence and also provide market value based compensation of animals and other means of livelihood that were burnt or looted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Trump administration and House Democrats appeared to have clinched a deal on a coronavirus rescue package Friday, which includes provisions to boost sick leave, unemployment insurance, and food-stamp programs. However, as the Washington Post reports, its still unclear whether congressional Republicans, who were not involved in the negotiations, would come on board.

President Donald Trump announced in the afternoon that he was invoking emergency powers to contain the outbreak.

Infectious disease specialists told the Post that COVID-19 is shaping up as a pandemic possibly on the scale of the global outbreak of influenza in 1957, though projections indicate its unlikely to be as catastrophic as the Spanish flu of 1918."

AirBnb on Friday agreed to allow cancellations without charge for bookings made in the U.S., according to TechCrunch. The San Francisco-based company came under criticism earlier for only allowing free refunds for bookings in China, Italy and South Korea.

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, has tested positive for coronavirus, according to CBS News. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who recently met with Trump, has tested negative for the disease, Reuters reports, though his press secretary has come down with the virus.

In Ohio, four new cases of COVID-19 are being treated in Butler County, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The city of Columbus is set to declare a health emergency, which gives city health commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts sweeping powers to quarantine people, force people to undergo examinations, and use police and deputized quarantine guards to enforce such efforts against those who dont cooperate, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Gov. Mike DeWine is winning plaudits, even from Democrats, for his actions so far to limit the spread of the coronavirus, which include shutting down schools for three weeks and banning most mass gatherings.

Vice President Mike Pence has canceled a scheduled appearance in Akron on March 23, as the Ohio Republican Party has postponed all public events until April 12.

And why is toilet paper flying off the shelves of grocery stores as people prepare for the virus? Cleveland.coms Emily Bamforth has answers.

Heres what else you need to know today about the coronavirus:

By the numbers

World cases and deaths: 137,385 confirmed cases, 5,088 deaths

U.S. cases and deaths: 1,268 confirmed cases, 33 deaths

Ohio cases and deaths: 13 confirmed cases, 0 deaths, 159 people under investigation

General information

Coronavirus timeline: How the coronavirus spread from cases in China to Ohio in less than three months

Coronavirus in Ohio: Department of Health opens call center to field questions, open 7 days a week

Ohio is under a state of emergency because of the coronavirus. What does that mean?

Coronavirus patients can take a turn for the worse two weeks into the illness, experts say

Kids and coronavirus: Children have come down with COVID-19, but usually with milder symptoms

Risk/mitigation factors

Hypertension could be a leading factor in coronavirus deaths: Heres what to know

How will coronavirus affect allergy sufferers?

Heres why mitigating the pandemic curve matters

What you might not know about using face masks to protect against coronavirus

Will the shingles vaccine help me fight coronavirus? No. Heres why

Hygiene/etiquette

Washing your hands: Best public restroom etiquette in the age of coronavirus

How to protect yourself from coronavirus: An infocomic goes viral

Ohio health department chief regularly cites school study on hand-washing. What does it say?

Coping at home

Compiling a COVID-19 coronavirus quarantine prep kit: What you should have on hand at home

How to treat coronavirus at home? Ibuprofen, acetaminophen may be best over-the-counter medication

Should I take elderberry supplements to ward off flu, coronavirus?

Homemade hand sanitizer to battle coronavirus? Dont use denatured alcohol -- or vodka

10 essential tips to working from home during the coronavirus outbreak

Working from home? These 10 must-have items will make the transition easier

Comfort TV options you can stream if things get too quiet while working from home

Have a back-up plan for pets in case you get sick with coronavirus, Cleveland APL says

Travel

Could Ohio shut down travel for coronavirus quarantine?

Travel in the age of coronavirus: Some Clevelanders cancel trips, others wait and see

Closings/cancellations

The latest list of coronavirus delays and closings in Ohio for Friday, March 13, 2020
I would not criticize [Trump] too hard on this, which is a first for me, Cadier said. Because I think its so difficult to be an executive these days that we dont know. So hes very easy to criticize on this one. I was personally shocked on a personal point of view, because it was going to affect my life deeply. But as a policy, I dont know.




The Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) plans to collect $1,275 billion this year from tollgates, vehicle licensing, road transit fees, overload fees and fuel levy after the new management plugged revenue leaks.





The money is to be spent on maintaining and extending the road network, with only a modest percentage retained to cover administrative costs.





The new management, which came into office in September last year, has tackled corruption and theft and is using new technologies to promote accountability.





Skyline tollgate along the Harare-Masvingo highway, which was notorious for theft and corruption, was upgraded by the new management, resulting in revenue collection jumping from $251 451 in December 2019 to $2 071 415 in January 2020.





At its 2020-2023 strategic meeting recently, Zinaras acting finance director Mr Strauss Tembo said the administration had set a target collection of $1 billion.





Zinara came up with innovative revenue collection strategies at its 2020-2023 strategy formulation session where the target for 2020 was set at $1,275 billion, said Mr Tembo.





Major revenue drivers will be pinned on strategic alliances with the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Univern, Vehicle Inspectorate Department and (Harare) City Parking for licensing and toll fees compliance. Further revenue assurance will be buttressed through the introduction of an integrated point-of-sale system at all revenue centres for real time revenue accounting.





More-so, process transformation strategies will be deployed on transit fees, which will see the ease of doing business encour aging transiting haulage trucks to use the Zimbabwe route. The road administrator has introduced spot checks at tollgates and other revenue halls.





Mr Tembo said overall revenue collection had increased by 50 percent since September 2019 following radical revenue assurance strategies deployed at tollgates and other revenue centres.





He said they were also ridding the system of corrupt elements. Zinara has removed the familiarity risk at tollgates by rotating staff and dismissing corrupt elements.





It has also restored revenue collection systems that had been vandalised.





Said Mr Tembo: In order to further improve revenue assurance, Zinara will deploy the services of loss control officers and introduce tip-off anonymous to ensure corruption is nipped in the bud and revenue leaks are plugged.




DEPUTY First Minister of Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill has called for the immediate closure of all schools and colleges in the UK in response to the spread of Covid-19.

Yesterday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the closure of all schools, colleges and cultural institutions in the Republic of Ireland until at least March 29.

Ms O'Neill has called for the approach to be taken by the UK government, amid a climate of uncertainty compounded from mixed messages from Boris Johnson and his government about the severity of the virus, and a lack of action in comparison to European countries, even where the virus has not taken such a hold.

Read More

The Sinn Fein Vice President said: "People are rightly concerned about the implications of Covid-19, on them and on their families and their loved ones.

"I believe that on the back of the public concern that's clearly there, on the back of the angst that's there among the wider public, now is the time to take action.

"Now is the time to ensure that all schools are closed, that universities and colleges are closed. That needs to happen immediately."

The government in the UK has been criticised for its delay in taking action against the coronavirus. British Prime Minster Boris Johnson has previously underplayed the toll the virus would take, but yesterday called it "the worst public health crisis for a generation".

Ms O'Neill said that the lack of consistency in the message being relayed to the UK public is spreading fear, and quicker action from Westminster needs to be taken.

"I think the fact that there has been contradictory medical evidence out there is a problem," she said.

"It's a problem for people trying to make the right decision for them and their families. I believe, given that as a situation we need to air on the side of caution.

"I think we need to give the people that reassurance that they're looking for in terms of a government approach. It's very clear in my mind that what we need to see is one approach across this island, one message that's consistent so that the public are not even more confused than what they are as we speak today."
Open source

One more citizen of Chernivtsi hospitalized with the suspicion for coronavirus as Chernivtsi state administration reported.

Today, on March 13, one more citizen of Bukovyna hospitalized to regional clinic hospital with the suspicion for coronavirus. A woman has signs of the infectious disease and she visited Italy. She returned home on March 8, the message said.

Besides, the wife of Chernivtsi citizen, diagnosed with Covid-19 on March 12, stays in the infectious unit. She feels fine and has no signs of the disease. However, she decided to isolate in the medical institution not to endanger other people.

Thus, as of 1:00 p.m., March 13, there are two confirmed cases of the infection with coronavirus in the region.

Totally, six people with suspicion for coronavirus hospitalized to the infectious unit.

On March 12, the Healthcare Ministry officially confirmed two new cases of Chinese coronavirus in Ukraine. Thus, currently, there are three coronavirus cases in Ukraine. Previously, a man in Chernivtsi was diagnosed with it; his current health state is satisfactory.

Later, the wife of a man from Chernivtsi was also diagnosed with Covid-19. Another case is spotted in Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region. A 71-year-old woman appealed to the hospital too late and attended the church since the moment of infection.

The local authorities of Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region (northern Ukraine) announced the emergency mode in this town. The decision takes effect on Friday, March 13.
J. Seward Johnson Jr., renowned sculptor and heir to the Johnson pharmaceutical fortune, died this week at his home in Key West, Florida. He was 89 and died Tuesday of cancer, according to a published report.

Johnsons sculptures were literally larger than life, such as a supersized depiction of the celebration at the end of World War II when a sailor kissed a nurse in New Yorks Times Square.

J. Seward Johnson, sculptor and heir to Johnson pharmaceutical fortune, died on March 10. One of his works was a recreation of an iconic photo.

Another one of his works, Double Check, a disheveled businessman sitting on a bench going through his briefcase, survived the destruction of the World Trade Centers in 2001.

The sculpture in Liberty Park outside of the Trade Centers was so lifelike firefighters frequently mistook it for an actual victim of the attack that needed to be rescued, according to a report in the New York Times.

The New Jersey native son was also known for his 42-acre Grounds for Sculpture in Trenton, which featured dozens of his works laid out in a lifelike, doubletake fantasy exhibit. He opened it in 1992.

It also featured a foundry for other emerging artists to craft their works.

One of Seward Johnson's lifelike sculptures.The Saginaw News/MLive.com

We have all these paths in the park that go different ways and we want people to use their own intuition about which path to take, which has nothing to do with what anyone would teach about art, said Johnson in a 2014 interview with NJ Advance Media.

He also encourages people to go their own way when interpreting the art itself.

Art has its own message for each viewer and it must be viscerally received to have it be powerful, he said.

Johnson explained what he hoped the park brings to someone who might not be particularly knowledgeable about contemporary art.

Its easy sometimes to forget the simple things that give us pleasure, a statement on Steward Johnson Atelier website said. If we open our eyes, life is marvelous.

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. 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.
All six female Utah senators - Democrat and Republican - walked out in protest and refused to vote before their male colleagues passed a bill requiring that a woman be shown an ultrasound of her baby before receiving an abortion.

Republican Sen. Deidre Henderson said the walkout late Tuesday was a spontaneous decision to underscore concerns about the 'invasive nature' of the legislation.

The two Republican and four Democrat female lawmakers would not have changed the outcome. Five Republican men voted against the measure that passed 16-7.

Scroll down for video

All six female Utah senators are pictured embracing after staging a walkout on Tuesday night to protest a bill requiring that a woman be shown an ultrasound of her baby before receiving an abortion

The measure passed 16-7, with five Republican male senators voting against it

Henderson said she is pro-life but the mandatory ultrasound proposal went too far. It would require showing a pregnant woman images and making the fetal heartbeat audible, if possible.

Women now get an ultrasound before abortions, but providers aren't required to show them the results. Under the bill, doctors could be fined $100,000 or more if they perform the procedure without showing an ultrasound.

Republican Sen. Deidre Henderson said she is pro-life but the mandatory ultrasound proposal went too far

Republican Sen. Curtis Bramble, who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, said a woman could look away from the images or not listen to the heartbeat.

'If you are going to take the life of a child, if you are willing to terminate that life through an abortion, it seems appropriate that you get the best information about the development, the stage of development, heart beat - we are talking about a human being,' Bramble told the Deseret News.

Before the vote, Henderson successfully added an amendment prohibiting a transvaginal ultrasound, a procedure she called 'incredibly invasive.'

Democrat Senator Luz Escamilla tweeted: 'Love my sisters in the Senate A spontaneous decision not planned of sisterhood against the invasive nature of HB 364.'

Fellow Democrat Senator Jani Iwamoto slammed the measure as 'invasive and government intrusion at its worst.'

'If a man is going to get a vasectomy, does he have to watch a movie about babies?' Democrat Senator Kathleen Riebe inquired, reported Fox 13 Now. 'This is a personal choice each person comes to on their own. If a man doesn't have to watch a movie, a woman shouldn't have to either.'

Democrat Senator Luz Escamilla tweeted that the walkout was a 'spontaneous decision'

Republican Sen. Curtis Bramble, who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, said a woman could look away from the ultrasound images

The bill now returns to the House for consideration of the amendment. Three medical organizations have asked Republican Gov. Gary Herbert to veto the proposed ultrasound mandate, and a fourth has taken a neutral position, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Sen. Karen Mayne said she was sad that women had to tell their own life stories as they spoke against the bill, and yet their male colleagues didn't appear to believe the proposal was too invasive.

'Why do we have to explain to you why this is not right? Why?' she said.
The North West Company is selling 34 of its 46 Giant Tiger stores in Western Canada, after deciding to focus more intently on its northern and remote retail operations.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The North West Company is selling 34 of its 46 Giant Tiger stores in Western Canada, after deciding to focus more intently on its northern and remote retail operations.

With that announcement  as well as the completion of a multi-year installation of a $35-million information technology project  it renders a number of head office responsibilities redundant.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Edward Kennedy, the CEO of NWC, says the restructured head office is required to lower prices at its stores in northern Canada and Caribbean and South Pacific islands.

The company will eliminate almost 25 per cent of the 540 jobs at its head office.

Of the close to 130 positions that will be cut, about 86 people will be laid off and 40 positions will be eliminated through attrition. The layoffs will take place over the next several months.

"We are sorry about the personal impact this decision has on our people," said Edward Kennedy, NWCs chief executive officer.

"We built up these numbers (at the head office) and when they come down like this in terms of peoples jobs and roles, it is a reflection on us because we had committed to people that this is place to grow their careers.

"When you have to make adjustments  and with changing conditions it can happen with any business  we regret that."

The companys head office had grown by about 70 per cent during the past 10 years.

After the Giant Tiger divestiture, the company will have about 200 stores, mostly in Canadas North and Alaska, as well as a few in remote Caribbean and South Pacific islands.

The decision was made to sell the stores to the parent company, Ottawa-based Giant Tiger Stores Ltd.

In addition to switching the focus to its northern outlets, some of its stores consistently under-performed.

The sale price is $45 million, with an additional $22.5 million coming when certain milestones are met at those stores after the sale closing, which is expected by the end of May.

NWC will retain six Giant Tiger stores in what Kennedy refers to as northern gateway locations: La Ronge, and Meadow Lake, Sask., The Pas and Thompson, Man., and Sioux Lookout, Ont. Its Prince Albert, Sask., Giant Tiger store will be converted to a Valu-Lots clearance centre.

It will close six stores in Red Deer, Fort Saskatchewan and Wetaskiwin, Alta.; North Battleford and Weyburn, Sask.; and the Stafford Street location in Winnipeg.

Most of the discount food and merchandise retailers 260 stores across the country are owned by franchisees.

NWCs master franchisee status for Western Canada will end but it will continue to be a Giant Tiger franchisee.

As well, the two companies will maintain a relationship in which each of them supplies each other.

NWC will distribute some food to Giant Tiger stores and Giant Tiger will start to distribute some household and soft goods lines to NWCs Northern Stores.

Paul Wood, president and chief operating officer of Giant Tiger, said, "We are thrilled to be reacquiring these stores and at the same time transitioning our relationship with NWC, not ending it. It has been a long relationship between our companies. We know each others strengths. We will be able to work together to a mutually beneficial solution."

The NWC made no secret of the performance challenges it had with Giant Tiger stores in the last couple of years.

"We continued to look at how we could improve that performance," Kennedy said.

"Eventually, we did not see how we could, and we are OK with that."

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Without the distraction of trying to maximize Giant Tigers operation  Kennedy said that was getting harder to provide when the company had other priorities  NWC is refocusing on streamlining its Northern Stores operations.

The company also announced a $10-million undertaking to work towards lowering prices for its network of stores in northern Canada and Alaska.

"Remote communities are a structurally high cost environment," Kennedy said. "We want to find ways to reduce costs and our prices. While everyone wants lower prices, our customers are income-challenged and when that happens, high prices are just magnified even more as a problem."

Kennedy said the restructured head office is just part of the process required to lower those prices.

"To really get sustainable growth in what we think is still a very attractive market we have to look hard at our own cost structure," he said.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Jim Zelter, Co-President, Apollo Global Management. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

London staff at $330bn (262bn) private equity giant Apollo Global have recently begun working from home amid fears about coronavirus, executives said on a call Thursday.

Jim Zelter, co-president of Apollo, told investors on a call that all of the companys Asia-based staff and those in London were already working remotely. Apollo has a London office in the elite Mayfair neighbourhood.

Zelter said Apollo was testing remote working in the US and was confident it could keep operating if staff are forced to work from home.

The pipes are all working and we are open for business, he told investors.

Apollo is one of the biggest private equity companies in the world, with $331bn of assets under management. As well as private equity, Apollo also invests in credit markets and real estate.

The move to send staff home comes as the UK ramps up precautions to stem the spread of COVID-19. Some companies, such as JP Morgan, have already executed contingency plans.

The spread of novel coronavirus has also sparked panic in financial markets. Zelter told clients Apollo has $50bn of dry powder on hand to navigate the current market volatility and cherry pick any attractive investments that crop up amid falling prices.

Were now seeing attractive investments in well-known and high quality names where we can take secured risk and earn excess returns, Zelter said.

Co-president Scott Kleinman, who was also on the call, said the slump in the market had created an opportunity to buy shares in companies at attractive valuations.

At this moment in time there are about 50 names that are on our watch list that have moved into the zone of interesting and we are actively starting to acquire in a number of those, Kleinman said.

The slump in equity values in public markets has also created new opportunities for outright acquisitions, Kleinman said.

I would expect to see those in the coming months and quarters, he told investors.

A spokesperson for Apollo declined to comment.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 00:11:57|Editor: huaxia

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Workers spray disinfectant at the Ayasofya museum in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 13, 2020. Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Friday said the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Turkey increased to five, all related to the first patient. (Photo by Yasin Akgul/Xinhua)

ANKARA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Friday said the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Turkey increased to five, all related to the first patient.

"Three more cases are confirmed related to the first case... The number of cases increased to five," Koca told reporters.

Earlier in the day, he announced the second confirmed case of COVID-19, who had close contact with the first patient.

The Turkish government confirmed the first case of novel coronavirus infection on March 11. The male patient was then completely isolated, and his family and other people who had contact with him have been under quarantine as well.

As part of the measures to prevent the spread of the virus, Turkish Transport Minister Cahit Turhan announced Friday to halt flights with nine European countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands, until April 17.
But the secrecy has meant that the inquiry process may not be as open to challenge as it should be, she said. The suppressions and the limited terms of reference mean that we cant access any testimony and challenge it, or say whether or not it fits with our experience. There is definitely a power imbalance here, but thats not the fault of the commission  its on the government.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has named deputy of his former envoy to Libya, Stephanie Turco Williams, as Acting Special Representative in Libya until appointment of a new successor to resigning Ghassan Salame.

The US UN officer has been deputy of the Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) since 2018.

Before her appointment, she served as Chargee dAffaires at the Embassy of the United States in Tripoli, a statement by Guterres office said.

Mrs. Williams is known for mediation skills and contact with tribes and speaks Arabic fluently. She has nearly a 25 year-experience across the Mena region, having worked for the US government and the UN in Libya, Iraq, Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Salame gave up his position early this month citing health reasons. The Lebanese veteran UN officer took up his job in 2017.

Before resigning, Salame criticized, without naming any country, international interference into Libyan internal affairs.

The oil-rich country has been gripped by rivalries since the fall and death of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-led uprising in 2011.

The country has been at the mercy of militia groups controlled by two rival administrations: the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) and its foe, east-based administration, backed by General khalifa Haftar.

Both administrations have their own international allies. The GNA is backed by Turkey, Qatar and Italy while the Beida-based government is supported by Egypt, UAE, France, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Stephanie Turco Williams faces a daunting task to broker a ceasefire between the two sides at war since April after Khalifa Haftar and his self-proclaimed Libyan national Army (LNA) launched a military offensive to unseat the GNA.

Several attempts by Salame to snatch a ceasefire had failed despite pressure from world powers.

Williamss appointment comes as reports indicate that UN Secretary has considered appointing former Algerian foreign minister Ramtane Lamamra as his new Libya envoy.
A lawyer who met with Jeffrey Epstein in the days before his death doesnt believe the convicted sex offender died by suicide.

David Schoen, a Federal Criminal Defence and Civil Rights Lawyer told Fox Nations Deep Dive on Thursday that when he met with Epstein, he was upbeat and excited about going forward.

Epstein died by suicide on 10 August 2019 while in custody, ahead of a trial for sex-trafficking charges.

In the days before his death, he met with several lawyers to plan a case strategy and Mr Schoen claims that he and Epstein were planning for the future.

We met for five hours on 1 August. I said that I would want to meet with his team first to see how they felt about that and then we would go forward.

Recommended Loaded gun found smuggled into prison where Epstein died

We mapped out a strategy going forward.

Mr Schoen claimed the conversations he had with other lawyers helped convince him that Epstein didnt die by suicide.

The following day, I got a phone call from one of his lawyers saying he just met with him after I met with him. How excited he is about going forward with this. If I could get in that night and start giving orders to the team, it would be a great help. Mr Schoen said.

The lawyer says he met with Epstein just a few days before his death and that they agreed to start working together.

The reason I say I dont believe it was suicide is for my interaction with him that day. The purpose of asking me to come there that day and over the past previous couple of weeks was to ask me to take over his defence.

We came to an agreement during the course of that discussion,

Mr Schoen's claims come as the documentary, The Final Hours of Jeffrey Epstein is released on Fox Nation.

Questions have been raised about Epstein's death for months and Dr Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner of New York City who was hired by the family to oversee the autopsy has previously suggested Epstein may have been murdered.

I think the evidence points toward homicide rather than suicide, Mr Baden said during an interview with Fox News last year, noting that some bones in Epsteins neck were broken in a way that would suggest pressures inconsistent with a hanging."
New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath is at a meet with Governor Lalji Tandon at Raj Bhavan in Bhopal on Friday (March 13, 2020).

Kamal Nath is likely to discuss the political developments in the state with the governor and demand to extend the assembly session. It is also probable that the CM could demand to bring back the missing MLAs, supporters of former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who are currently lodged at a resort in Bengaluru.

On Wednesday, Scindia joined the BJP after ending his 18-year long association with the Congress party.

The resignation of 22 Congress MLAs has put Chief Minister Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh in a serious crisis and it highly unlikely that the Congress would be able to survive this setback.

The Madhya Pradesh assembly has a strength of 230 members but two seats are presently vacant due to the demise of two MLAs. The effective strength of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly is now 228 and the magic number required to form the government is 115.

Of the 228, Congress has 114 MLAs, BJP 109 MLAs, BSP 2 MLAs, Samajwadi Party 1 MLA and 4 Independents MLAs.

The Congress alone does not enjoy a majority in the Madhya Pradesh assembly and has been in power for the last 15 months with the support of the BSP and SP MLAs, taking its tally to 119.

But if the resignation of the 22 legislators is accepted then the overall strength will come down to 206, and the magic number required to form the government will come down to 104.

In that scenario, the Congress would be left with only 92 MLAs out of its own, which will allow the BJP to come to power as it has around 109 MLAs in the state assembly.
New York

Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff wants to make a "dying, personal plea" by telephone to a judge to request early release from his 150-year prison sentence, his lawyer said Thursday.

Attorney Brandon Sample told Judge Denny Chin that Madoff, 81, and confined to a wheelchair, should be allowed to contest claims by prosecutors that he has failed to show remorse for his decades-long scheme to cheat thousands of investors out of billions of dollars.

Prosecutors filed papers last month in Manhattan federal court opposing the request by Madoff for compassionate release. They noted that 500 victims opposed early release for a man suffering from kidney disease. Only 20 letters were written by victims in support of release, prosecutors said.

The federal Bureau of Prisons has agreed that Madoff has less than 18 months to live but has denied early release on the grounds that it would minimize the severity of his crime.

Chin, who still presides over the Madoff case even though he is now a federal appeals court judge, sentenced Madoff in 2009 after the once highly respected financier admitted to squandering $17.5 billion entrusted to him by investors worldwide. A trustee has recovered nearly $14 billion for investors.

Sample said the judge would benefit from "hearing directly from Mr. Madoff about his acceptance of responsibility."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

"Allowing Mr. Madoff to give what is, in effect, a final dying, personal plea is imminently reasonable," Sample wrote. "Mr. Madoff's live, personal statement could also help the Court in reaching its weighty decision on whether to grant Mr. Madoff compassionate release."

Madoff has been serving his sentence at the federal prison in Butner, N.C.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Drew Skinner said in a one-paragraph letter to Chin Thursday that he took no position on Madoff's request to address the judge.

But he said any acceptance of responsibility by Madoff would be "self-serving and of limited, if any, evidentiary value."
SAN RAFAEL (BCN)

San Rafael police said the body of a male was found in a vehicle behind San Rafael High School Friday morning.

Police responded to a call for a welfare check around 8:20 a.m. The death is considered suspicious, San Rafael police Lt. Dan Fink said.

In an email to the San Rafael City Schools community, Superintendent Jim Hogeboom said a Madrone High School student passed away.

Members of the school district's crisis response team met with Madrone and San Rafael high school students individually and in groups and will be available over the coming days and weeks, Hogeboom 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.
Those who are now staying abroad are required to show maximum awareness and cautiousness

Ukrainian international biometric passports Open source

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry persistently urges citizens to refrain from traveling abroad. The press office of the authority reported that on Thursday, March 12.

"This, first of all, concerns the People's Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Japan, as well as (...) tourist destinations that are popular among Ukrainians - specifically, the Italian Republic, Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Republic of Greece, the Federal Republic of Germany, Egypt, the UAE, the Republic of Turkey, the Kingdom of Thailand, Israeli state and others", reads the message.

Those who are now staying abroad - in the countries where the cases of Covid-19 are registered, are required to show maximum awareness and cautiousness. The Ministry calls on the citizens to abide by the requirements of the local authorities, avoid visiting the dangerous areas and report on their whereabouts to the closest diplomatic institution of Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukraine's Healthcare Ministry officially confirmed two new cases of Chinese coronavirus in this country. This is mentioned on the official Telegram channel of the Ministry.

"Two new cases of coronavirus infection are observed in Ukraine; it's a retired woman from Zhytomyr region and a man from Chernivtsi region whose wife stayed in Italy over the last 14 days", reads the message.

Both patients are isolated, and the symptomatic treatment is underway.
New Delhi/IBNS: The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on Friday welcomed PM Narendra Modi's proposal that the leadership of the region should chalk out a joint strategy to fight the deadly coronavirus.

SAARC Secretariat tweeted, "#SAARC Secretariat welcomes the timely proposal of Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, as well as the support of other Honourable SAARC leaders and stands ready to work with all Member States towards a strong strategy to fight the Coronavirus in SAARC region."

#SAARC Secretariat welcomes the timely proposal of Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, as well as the support of other Honourable SAARC leaders and stands ready to work with all Member States towards a strong strategy to fight the Coronavirus in SAARC region  SAARC Secretariat (@SaarcSec) March 13, 2020

Leaders of Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan earlier welcomed Modi's proposal.

Amid the worldwide panic over the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped up on Friday to propose to all South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nation to chalk out a "strong strategy" to combat the deadly virus.

Modi tweeted, "Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it. South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy."

India recorded its first death from the virus on Thursday. The deceased was a 76-year old man from Karnataka.

Three people from Kerala have, however, recovered.
Maharashtra industries minister



Subhash Desai on Friday alleged that some "erratic" decisions by the Centre may have caused economic slowdown in the country.

The minister was discussing issues related to slump in industrial investment in Maharashtra in the Legislative Council.

"The Centre has made some erratic decisions, which could have slowed down investment here," he said.

The Centre has created a "trust deficit" among the potential foreign investors, the minister alleged.

Instances like cancellation of a global tender for constructing a new Assembly complex at Amravati in Andhra Pradesh may have created a negative image of the country, he said.

The industries minister also cited disputes between some companies and the Union government.

"There have been instances such as Vodafone case, where several old tax dues are now being recovered. The company has openly expressed its disappointment over the decision," he claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. launched airstrikes in Iraq Thursday, American officials said, targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad.

One U.S. official said multiple strikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside Iraq. The strikes were joint operation with the British, that official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because operations were still going on.

The strikes marked a rapid escalation in tensions with Tehran and its proxy groups in Iraq, just two months after Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against American troops at a base in Iraq.

---

The original story follows below:

U.S. defense leaders on Thursday threatened a retaliatory strike against Iranian-backed Shia militia in Iraq, saying they know who launched the rockets in Iraq that killed and wounded U.S. and coalition troops and the attackers will be held accountable.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters at the Pentagon that President Donald Trump on Wednesday night gave him the authority to do what he needs to do. The rapidly unfolding events signaled a renewed spike in tensions with Tehran and its proxy groups in Iraq, just two months after Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against American troops at a base in Iraq.

Were going to take this one step at a time, but weve got to hold the perpetrators accountable, Esper said. You dont get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it.

At the White House, Trump said the attackers were a rebel group that mostly likely looked like it could be backed by Iran. And well see what the response is. And Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters the U.S. knows with a high degree of certainty who launched the attack.

Esper and Milley declined to provide any more information about any impending U.S. retaliation for the attack at Camp Taji north of Baghdad. But Esper said all options are on the table. On Capitol Hill, Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East, told senators that the deaths of U.S. and coalition troops is a red line for the U.S., but said he doesnt think Iran has a good understanding of where our red line is.

Asked if any counterattack could include a strike inside Iran, Esper said, We are focused on the group that we believe perpetrated this in Iraq.

Two U.S. troops and one British service member were killed and 14 other personnel were wounded when 18 rockets hit the base on Wednesday. The U.S. military said the 107 mm Katyusha rockets were fired from a truck launcher that was found by Iraqi security forces near the base after the attack.

U.S. officials have not publicly said what group they believe launched the rocket attack, but Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shia militia group, is likely.

Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for a late December rocket attack on a military base in Kirkuk that killed a U.S. contractor, prompting American military strikes in response.

That in turn led to protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. They were followed Jan. 3 by a U.S. airstrike that killed Irans most powerful military officer, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, of which Kataib Hezbollah is a member. In response to the Soleimani killing, Iran launched a massive ballistic missile attack on Jan. 8, at al-Asad air base in Iraq, that resulted in traumatic brain injuries to more than 100 American troops.

McKenzie told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday morning that the killing of Soleimani and the increase in U.S. troops and assets in the region has made clear to Iran that the U.S. will defend its interests there. He said the U.S. has re-established a level of deterrence for state-on-state attacks by Iran.

But, he said, What has not been changed is their continuing desire to operate through their proxies indirectly again us. That is a far more difficult area to deter.

On Thursday, Esper and Milley said they spoke with their British counterparts about the attack, but declined to provide details.

Asked why none of the rockets was intercepted, Milley said there are no systems on the base capable of defending against that type of attack.

He also said the 14 injured personnel were a mix of U.S. and allied troops as well as contractors, and that they will also be monitored for possible traumatic brain injury in the wake of the blasts.
A woman whose boyfriend is insisting on travelling to Spain amid the coronavirus outbreak has threatened to end the relationship if he goes ahead, because she could be left on her own with their children if he ends up being quarantined.

Posting anonymously on British parenting site Mumsnet, the woman explained that she's concerned how she will cope if her four children are off school or if she becomes unwell, while he has to self-isolate or potentially gets stranded in Spain.

The mother-of-four admitted she's already anxious by the spread of the virus and feels like her partner is prioritising his boys holiday over their family, especially because one of their children has respiratory issues.

There is currently no official advice against travelling to Spain, which has reported more than 3,000 cases of coronavirus and 86 deaths, and insurance cancellation cover will not apply to people who don't want to risk travelling.

Responses to the post were torn but many agreed they wouldn't be happy with their loved ones travelling during the pandemic.

An anonymous British woman blasted her boyfriend on Mumsnet for planning to travel to Spain, despite the coronavirus outbreak (stock image)

The woman outlined concerns that she could struggle to manage the children, while her boyfriend is abroad with his friends

Explaining her predicament, the mother said her partner 'refuses not to go' on the boys holiday.

Official guidance on foreign travel The Foreign Office is currently advising against against All travel to: Hubei Province, in China All but essential travel to: The rest of mainland China, Daegu, Cheongdo and Gyeongsan in South Korea and Italy. There is currently no advice against travel to any other country or territory due to coronavirus risks. If the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advises against all but essential travel there, airlines, cruise companies and tour operators should offer you a full refund or alternative travel. For accommodation, car hire or excursions, your travel insurance may cover the cost. If you travel against FCO advice this will likely invalidate your insurance policy. If your cruise itinerary is changed you may be able to get a refund or credit, but this is not guaranteed and it is likely your trip would need to be significantly impacted. Advertisement

'Concerned that he could pick up the virus during his trip, she warned him that he would have to stay away for two weeks.

'He has a flat anyway so he says he will just stay the leaving me to deal with 4 kids for the next 3 weeks alone. With them possibly being ill/ quarantined from school/f*** knows what over the next few weeks.

'I'm anxious about it all already and now I'm facing it alone because he priorotises his 4 night boys holiday over us.'

Parts of Spain are now in lockdown, including Madrid, the Basque Country, La Rioja and Catalonia, posing the risk of not being able to get a flight back.

'I'm with you,' one commenter told the worried mother. 'He could show no symptoms but still be a carrier and pass it onto your son with respiratory issues.

'The whole thing is just so selfish. People saying travelling is no big deal really aren't getting how this thing spreads.

'Especially if you're saying this is just the latest in a long line of selfish behaviour, yes I would end it,' wrote one.

Another said: 'This is more about him being able to just swan off and leaving you to do all the child care. I bet he makes all his plans and doesn't even stop to think about who will look after the children.

'He's selfish and YANBU to end your relationship the coronavirus is probably the final nail in the coffin for you.'

A third added: 'YANBU. That is very selfish. Yes, it's not Italy but is it worth the risk? No, especially when your son has respiratory issues.

'My partner was supposed to be going to London for an event at the end of March and he was going to cancel, much to the dismay of his friends, but he just didn't want to risk it.

'We have an 18-month-old, so we were both worried. Thankfully the event is now cancelled. I wouldn't split up just for this reason seeing as you have children together but if there's other reasons and he's consistently selfish, then I would.'

A flood of responses agreed with the mother that her boyfriend shouldn't leave his family to travel during the pandemic

Others argued that the chances of the children being diagnosed with the coronavirus is slim, therefore ending the relationship with their father because he's travelling seems like an overreaction.

One person wrote: 'YABU he's not going to Northern Italy. Coronavirus is all over Europe/UK so why not still go unless schools shut down and you would need child cover. Your DC will be okay as far as CV goes it is very low risk for them even with respiratory issues.'

Another said: 'You are overreacting, going to Spain isn't a guarantee he catches coronavirus. I think you're using this as a reason to split in an unhappy relationship.'

'Yes YABU to end a relationship because he is going away abroad, unless there is another reason as to why you want to end it with him,' added a third.
Its stormy times as we enter the unknown and we need to be mindful of one another. Mental ill-health affects us all at some stage in our lives and it is important to remember that and be kind to those in distress.

On Tuesday, I was at the launch of the Feasibility Study for an Out of Hours Crisis Cafe in Kilkenny. Commissioned by Lifelinkk, its a study undertaken by Workhouse Union and financed by Kilkenny LEADER Partnership.

The Crisis Cafe Kilkenny Feasibility Study explores aspects of developing a self-referral, non-clinical out of hours services and support for people presenting with a mental health crisis in Kilkenny.

What defines a Crisis?

According to the feasibility study, a mental health crisis is described as feeling unable to cope or control a situation. In times of crisis, people need empathy, support, social interaction, a warm welcome and help.

Deputy Malcolm Noonan, Trish Finegan of Lifelinkk & Siobhan Donohoe

Deputy Malcolm Noonan, attended the launch in the capacity of his first official engagement as our new TD. He was delighted to officially launch the publication, especially with his back history in helping with mental health initiatives. As one of the founding members of Lifelinkk, Noonan said with this virus, we need to be mindful that self-isolation is going to be challenging on our mental health. We have to watch out for each other over the next couple of months and be careful of all the noise that is out there.

Where did the idea of the Crisis Cafe come from? The motivation to explore the crisis cafe model was in response to the high demand on current services, the inadequate out of hours support and the negative experiences encountered by people accessing mental health supports through A&E.

Dr. Mike Watts

Dr. Mike Watts who came up with the idea of the crisis cafe said at the launch, I want this Cafe to become a port in stormy weather. I hope Kilkenny will eventually become like Finland and Norway where no medication is used for mental health.

Watched by the assembled guests in Rothe House, Liam from the Rhyme Rag Ensemble gave a presentation

In addition to the speakers, there was also moments of music and poetry. According to Trish Finegan of Lifelinkk it is also important when launching something as serious as the report to lighten the event a little, so we included the music and the poetry to lift the spirits and remind ourselves that life is for living. Through collaboration we can make the lives of those who are struggling a little better.
Various corruption indexes have rated the Nigeria Police Force and the judiciary among the top five most corrupt institutions in Nigeria. The Transparency International (TI) in its 10th edition of Global Corruption Barometer Africa 2019, rated the police and judiciary 1st and 3rd most corrupt institutions in Nigeria. Also, in 2019, a public survey by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), ranked the police first, and the judiciary third. In the report, 70 per cent of Nigerians said they have been extorted by an official of the court. Indeed, these two institutions are peas in the same pod.with one constantly trying to outbeat the other in corruption.

Securing bail is more difficult when we charge suspects to court. It is better you negotiate at the station and get your person released than allowing them to be charged to court, Saudi, one of the corrupt police officers at the anti-cultism unit told this reporter.

Sadly, Saudi was right. The fear of being locked up in prison, pending a prolonged process of perfecting bail condition is one of the several reasons many Nigerians succumb to extortion at the police stations. The corrupt policemen know this and milk it.

Paying the ransom demanded at the police station and getting charged to court are decisions likened to the red sea and the devil itself for many Nigerians. Pay the ransom at the station or get locked up in the prison while being extorted to the last naira notes by judicial clerks, prosecutors, and prison wardens.

Within the court system, especially the magistrate which is closer [to the people], the level of rot is killing. It can even lead to a revolution overnight. The moment youre charged to the court on any case, the magistrate does not have your time, they do not care if you committed the crime or not, Mr Awosanya said.

Shoddy Investigation, Languid Prosecution

This case is hereby dismissed for lack of diligent prosecution, is a familiar verdict in many magistrate courts in Nigeria. Of course, such pronouncement comes after months of protracted court hearing with no tangible evidence to prosecute the crime alleged.

The police prosecutors sometimes do not have detailed information beyond what is provided on the surface of the charge sheets. They appear before the court in lacklustre attires, and with no enthusiasm. So disenchanted are many of them, they fail to see how incompetent they look in an open court as they seek an adjournment, reciting the same reason as a pupil learning by rote in a kindergarten class.

In one case monitored by this reporter, Michael Unah, a prosecutor at the Lagos State Magistrate Court in Ogba, told the court for the fifth time  that his witnesses were not in court. The magistrate nodded in agreement, adjourned the matters and the defendants were returned to prison.

Thousands of the inmates in Nigerian prisons experience this. They are remanded in prison custody as their cases get adjourned indefinitely.

Ideally, a case is thrown out after three appearances where the prosecutor presents no new evidence or witness before the court. Although, the discretionary power of the court could sway the judge otherwise.

The lack of diligent prosecution is one of the reasons for protracted legal battles and reason many defendants remain in prison for months, sometimes years.

Defendants seated on the floor during court hearing

Dolapo Agbaje, Usman Olamilekan, Chinma Ogbeeze were in prison for more than a year. They were raided and subsequently accused of stealing. The young men denied committing such an offence. They were each granted bail in the sum of N50,000 and two sureties in like sum. As the case dragged, the men, in their early 20s, could not perfect their bail. Mr Ogbeeze said he has no relation in Lagos that could stand surety for him.

DOLAPO AGBAJE, USMAN OLAMILEKAN AND CHINMA OGBEEZE

Mr Agbaje and his co-defendants appeared four times before Magistrate Fashola and all the while Mr Unah did not produce a single witness or evidence against them.

After one year, Mr Unah had not presented a shred of evidence before the court. He again asked the court for more time. In the end, the magistrate struck out the case and released the defendants.

Defendants who paid to stay out of the cell

In another case, Babajide Olosande, a 62-year-old bus driver, was charged to court to pacify a complainant who accused him of stealing his bus, the IPO, Ada, later owned up. Mr Olosandes traducer, Oladipupo Jacob, was becoming an irritating nag to Ada; so, she charged Mr Olosande to court to save herself the trouble. He was accused of theft without any shred of evidence to establish he stole the said bus.

Olosande AND CO-DEFENDANT in court

We do not want to charge you to court yet but Baba Ade [Oladipupo Jacob] was coming to the station every day to cry and saying we have collected money from you, Ada said in the presence of this reporter while trying to pacify Mr Olosande when he made it out of Kirikiri Prison three months later.

While Olosande was in prison, unable to perfect his bail, the police found the alleged stolen bus parked at an army barracks in Yaba. The prosecutor, Mr Unah, was informed of this development but he refused to follow it up or bring the new information to the attention of the magistrate.

MICHEAL UNAH IN THE PROSECUTORS OFFICE at 1.35.04 PM

A little investigation by the police could have saved Mr Olosande from wrongful incarceration but for shoddiness and a prosecutor who cared only about his pocket, he was unduly locked up for so long.

Lawyers as cogs in the wheel of Justice

The entrance of a typical court in Nigeria is often crowded with legal merchants. There are the non-legal professionals making a business out of the ignorance of potential deponents to affidavits.

Affidavit, affidavit, swear your affidavit here, they call out to potential deponents.

On the other hand, there are professional sureties who stand for strangers in exchange for some money. Typically, they charge between N20,000 to N40,000.

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However, the leaders in this ecosystem are the lawyers. They loiter around the court, seeking clients. The slur; charge and bail lawyer must have roots anchored in this practice. These lawyers simply represent new suspects brought to court in securing their bail. Thereafter, the suspects can decide they no longer need their service.

But, while this is legal, some of these lawyers, most times, are accomplices in, and other times, facilitators of many extortions that go on daily in Nigerian courts.

When Mr Olosande was arraigned before Magistrate Fashola, he was represented by a lawyer from A.A Adekunle & Co, a small chamber at Sango area of Lagos State.

This lawyer was expected to facilitate the perfection of Mr Olosandes bail conditions but he did none of it, according to Bose, the victims wife. Mr Olosande would later spend over a month in prison with no attempt to get him out by his lawyer.

The lawyer charged us N250,000 as his professional fee, Bose disclosed. We pleaded with him and he agreed to take the first installment of N50,000 which was given to him the night before he appeared in court.

However, when Mr Olosande was granted bail, it was Mr Adekunle who informed the family members that the prosecutor had requested N40,000 each for verification of the two sureties requested as part of Mr Olosandes bail conditions.

The family paid the N80,000 hoping it would expedite the release of Mr Olosande. Mr Adekunle did not issue a receipt for this payment neither did he ensure the prompt release of Mr Olosande. He left the family unattended while Mr Olosande was held in Kirikiri prison.

KIRIKIRI WARDENS

After weeks of failed attempt at perfecting the bail, Bose went back to Mr Adekunles chambers. The lawyer insisted he would get his complete legal fees before he released the bail bond to the family.

When I went back to the lawyer, I told him weve been asked to bring [a bail bond], Bose said. He then requested he would get his balance before he released the [bond]. I then reminded him that our agreement was that he would get his balance once we have [Babajides] vehicle released from the police station.

She continued, I took people to his chambers to beg him. He then requested for another N50,000 else he would not release the bail bond. He also told us he had used the N80,000 he said was for the prosecutor to pay for other expenses at the court.

SAUDI AND ABDUL TWO CORRUPT POLICE OFFICERS

Mr Adekunle is required to raise a bail bond for Babajide as the legal representative. A bail bond is a legal agreement that guarantees the appearance of a criminal defendant for trial, failure with which a sum of money would be paid to the court. The bail bond is co-signed by a bail bondsman, who charges the defendant a fee in return for guaranteeing the payment.

At the next court hearing, by which time Mr Olosande had been in prison for about 30 days, Mr Adekunle sent a young lawyer who came to court without the case file nor the bail bond. Mr Olosandes case was again adjourned and he was returned, again, to the prison.

Fraudulent prosecutors

Seeing that her husband might again spend months in prison, Bose gave the young lawyer from Mr Adekunles chambers some money for transport back to the office to retrieve the case file.

LETTER HEAD OF A.A Adekunle & Co

About 3 hours later, the young lawyer, Kehinde, brought the case file. At this time, the prison warden had taken Mr Olosande into custody.

Kehinde met with the prosecutor, Mr Unah, who by duty would verify the residence of the sureties before the document is sent to the magistrate for his signature.

Micheal Unah

The reason for verification is for the court to ensure the sureties can be traced in the event that suspect jumps bail.

Contrarily, the prosecutors hardly do the verification. Instead, they demand bribe, fabricate an address and submit a fraudulent document to the magistrate to assent.

Verification is not a problem, we can try to bribe the [prosecutor]. Not even bribe [but] to fast track, the young lawyer from Mr Adekunles chambers told Babajides family members, in justification for the nefarious act,

Mr Unah and his orderly, Sunkanmi, run the verification scam in court 10, Magistrate Fasholas courtroom. When the bail bond was handed over to Sunkanmi, who fronts for his boss in negotiating the deals. He demanded N30,000. This was what the illegal N80,000 allegedly collected by Mr Adekunle was meant for.

At this point, Kehinde had also abandoned the case. She had done the part she could. Except her principal or the family members provided the N30,000 being demanded by the prosecutor, she was incapacitated. Without any authority to compel the prosecutor to do his job legally, she simply informed the family of the prosecutors demand and left to get further instructions from her boss. She never checked back to know if Mr Olosande was released, neither did her chambers.

The next day, she was not in court. The family members were left once again to find their way through the shrewd legal process. The wife approached Mr Unah for details on the verification process but it was obvious that without paying, the verification would not be done. At least, not soon enough to get Mr Olosande out of prison.

Mr Unah eventually agreed to accept N20,000 which he instructed be given to his orderly, Sunkanmi. Once the bribe was paid, the hitherto tangled process became easier. Right there in the courtroom, Sunkanmi lied on the bail bond that he had verified the homes.

From Oshodi, enter bus to Ijora, alight at 7up and locate the palace and locate the address. I have verified the address and found to be correct, he falsely declared on the court papers and signed off. Sunkanmi never left the courtroom, neither did he visit the location. Everything he wrote on the court papers were fabrication off his imagination.

Courtrooms of Injustice

A lot goes on in many of the courtrooms beyond the routine adjudication on matters. There is the power show among the judicial clerks, and the unspoken comradeship between these clerks and the prosecutors against the most vulnerable persons in any courtroom, the defendants. The courtroom, for many Nigerians, does not represent justice. It is in fact where they are stripped of their dignity, restricted to a box for offenses they have no reason to answer for.

DEFENDANTS IN THE COURT ROOM

The conduct of a rotund, fair complexion woman who is a clerical staff at the courtroom of Magistrate Fashola, is an example of how judicial clerks aid and abet corruption in the courtroom. Rude, condescending and corrupt, this woman wields her powers as the intermediary between the courtroom and the courts inner chamber.

When Mr Olosandes wife approached her for the release order of her husband, she flared up, sparing no insult as she ordered the embattled woman out of her small cube-like office.

Why are you disturbing me? she yelled at an already frustrated wife trying to ensure her husband stays no longer than he had in prison. Am I the one who kept your husband in prison? If the document is not signed today, you will come back on Monday.

Mr Olosandes wife remained unmoved by her provocative blares. She quietly retreated from the office, willing to wait as long as the clerks chit-chat lasted with her colleagues. About 45 minutes later, she had the signed release paper of Mr Olosande on her table but she would not hand over the papers until her palm was greased.

You will pay N2,000 for the release order, she declared. Of course, that was an illegal payment. It was not receipted nor was an invoice raided for it.

Unending legal battles

Perfecting bail and getting released from detention are only half the trouble for many defendants. The other half of the pod is facing trial for the alleged offenses. In several instances, this process can go on, moving from one courtroom to the other, with no definitive end in view.

The ordeal of 17-year-old Daniel started in 2018 and lasted well over a year. Daniel and his friends were arraigned alongside four other boys before the Yaba Magistrate Court. They were arrested from totally different areas.

The boys soon become their nemesis, the reason the trial remained active despite lack of diligent prosecution for over a year. The prosecutor did not call a single witness nor was there evidence presented to the court for prosecuting the boys on the alleged cultism offense preferred against them.

But the magistrate said the case has to go on except the other boys arraigned with Daniel and his friends were reproduced before the court. Apparently, the other boys jumped bail, refusing to appear for any of the hearing after they were released from prison upon perfecting their bail.

We dont know where the boys are, Awal said. The magistrate keeps adjourning the case. She said she cannot strike out the case until they bring in the boys. We dont know the boys. I have never seen them before until they were arraigned with my apprentices.

Awals apprentices could have been tried differently, Inibehe Effiong, a human rights lawyer said. The lawyer opined that the law provides for the charges to be severed for the young apprentices to be tried separately.

He explained that when one or more parties in a joint trial abscond, and the prosecutor is unable to effect a re-arrest, the prosecutor should by law split the trial to exclude the names of the fleeing defendants who can be tried separately.

It is very unfair to allow people who are still presumed to be innocent to suffer for the iniquities of their co-defendants, he said.

The case of Daniel and his fellow apprentice is only just one instance of how peoples life routines are disrupted by unending legal process. For some others, they are locked up in prison while their case files get transferred from one judge to another without their knowledge.

That was the case for Yussuf Yaya. He was arraigned for theft in July of 2018 at the court 3 of old Ikeja magistrate court. Yaya said he has no relatives in Lagos and no money. It was not surprising that he had remained in prison, though, he was granted bail.

They [prison authorities] have refused to take me to court. I have only been in court two times since last July, said Yaya.

PEOPLE BEHIND BARS

He was arraigned with his friend, Azeez Dauda, on allegation of theft. He admitted that his friend indeed stole a phone and necklace but the items had been returned to the victim. The victim also told the police he was not interested in litigation since he had reclaimed his properties.

Brushing aside the intervention of the complainant, Yaya and Dauda were still charged. They were both granted bail in the sum of N100,000 and two sureties. Dauda met his bail conditions and was released from prison in weeks.

In 2018, the Lagos State Government relocated Court 3, which shared the same compound with the Nigerian Bar Association, to Ogba Magistrate Court. With this transfer, Yayas case file got lost in transit.

I dont know my next adjournment, Yaya lamented.

Investigation showed that Yayas case file was transferred to Court 14 at Ogba Magistrate Court. Dauda, Yayas co-defendant, had jumped bail and arrest warrant had been issued against him. In his case file, it was recorded that Yaya has not been produced from prison custody consistently for three hearings.

Mr Effiong said the judge should have issued a reproduction warrant to the custodian authority. But, as at July 2019, a year after Yaya was first arraigned, the reproduction warrant was not issued. Yaya remained in prison.

Addressing Illegality in Court

Various administrative failures and judicial inefficiencies account for some of the reasons the court system no longer represents justice for many Nigerians. A poll conducted by Gavel, a civic-tech organisation with a focus on the judiciary, showed that 87 per cent of Nigerians do no trust the system.

Mr Effiong said to restore the confidence of people in the system, the court must purge itself of these inefficiencies and corrupt officials. Ordinary Nigerians must be able to see moral rectitude in the courts, the human rights lawyer opined.

He also asked that there should be a fixed time within which the prosecutors must verify residence of sureties.

What we need is to have the Chief Judge, the Chief Magistrate championing transparency and accountability in the courts, he suggested.

PARADED VICTIMS

The reason we see what seem like corrupt act or illegality within the court system is primarily because of the culture of impunity. People know they can do whatever they want and get away with it without consequences.

Form the police officers and prosecutors who file frivolous charges against people to the court officials who collude to extort people who are standing trial need to be made to understand that there is a price to pay.

He said there is a need for a top-to-bottom attitudinal change among the court officials.

There should also be a life-line, a phone number that is specifically designated for lawyers and defendants to report the misconduct of registrars and prosecutors. There should be a standing committee that should be saddled with responsibilities of receiving complaints arising from perfection of bail and other administrative matters from the courts. When people know that there is a process of seeking redress, it becomes easier to lodge complaints.

We also need to institutionalize the processes of perfecting bail, which of course is one of the most ways in the criminal justice system that people are susceptible to extortion. Part of the reform we need to insist on is to make it possible for compensation to be paid to people who are wrongfully detained. That compensation should not only be paid by the police, but there should also be legislative framework that makes it very easy to target the salary account of police officer.

There has to be consequences for filing frivolous charges. When the officers know they will pay personally for injuries and discomfort caused to people, we would have reformed the system.
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Catering to 120+ global clients belonging to different industries ranging from e-commerce, Fintech, BFSI, NBFC, Telecom, Consumer Internet, Cloud Service Platforms, Manufacturing, Healthcare among others; Kratikal has successfully established its position in India as well as international markets as the most innovative cybersecurity company. Its unique services include cyber-attack simulation and awareness tool ThreatCop, email authentication and anti-spoofing solution KDMARC; anti-phishing, fraud monitoring & take-down solution KPMonitor; phishing incident response TAB, risk detection & threat analysis and code risk review.

About Kratikal



Founded in 2013 by alumni of NIT Allahabad Pavan Kushwaha (CEO), Paratosh Bansal (CTO) and Dip Jung Thapa (COO), Kratikal is one of the leading cybersecurity solutions provider companies. The company is backed by Gilda VC, Art Venture, Rajeev Chitrabhanu, Madhusudan Gopinath, Shangrila Infotech LLP, Equentia Natural Resources, Artha Ventures & LetsVenture. The new age cybersecurity startup Kratikal was incubated under the Ministry of Telecom, recognised under Startup India and also counted as one of the top 6 companies in Nasscom Product Conclave showcase 2018.

About CISO Awards & Annual Summit



It is an online social network exclusively for IT Security Professionals. Their goal is to provide the highest quality information to CISOs to help them excel in their role. The 12th Top 100 CISO Awards & Annual Summit Bengaluru, aimed at recognizing the top contributors in the field of IT Security, making a difference to the world of security. It is India's only Security conference focused on 'Security buying decision' by educating on the Benchmark, Security Investment, evaluation of Security Products.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has summoned an emergency meeting with ministers and senior officials on Friday to discuss the situation.

The schools, malls and other public places have been shut to control the spread of the deadly virus.

Schools in the state have announced early summer vacation for their students this academic year as a precautionary measure amid COVID-19 scare.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mind-boggling myths surrounding the rapidly spreading coronavirus has added to the mounting stress about the pandemic. One among them is the misplaced fear of furry friends catching the virus. But there's good news on this front and there's no need to fret.

Twitter

For people who own cats and dogs, fear is understandable, but now, as confirmed by the World Health Organization, there's no scientific evidence about companion animals such as dogs or cats contracting the infection.

When the coronavirus peaked in China a month ago, local officials of a village in Zhejiang province asked all residents to quarantine animals and slaughtered all stray dogs on the street. Another village in China made a similar rule at the end of January to kill animals to contain the spread of the virus.

Asia Wire

A similar case was reported in Karnataka after coronavirus fear gripped the country, a farmer forcefully buried chickens amid fears. But these assumptions hold no water, as experts have warned that there's little evidence about the virus spreading from animals to humans.

According to reports, COVID-19 transmits primarily through droplets of coughing, sneezing, saliva, or discharge from the nose. In the case of animals they have different cell receptors than humans and that can prevent them from catching any kind of infection.

Facebook

Some animals have closely related structures, but if people are thinking about whether dogs or cats could transmit the virus, I think it is very highly unlikely," the Express UK quoted Dr Grace Roberts, a virologist at Queens University Belfast, as saying.

Viruses would have to make so many mutations to make that jump. It just becomes so unlikely that would happen," says Dr Roberts.



If your family is healthy, and your pets are at home and don't often come into contact with other animals, they're unlikely to be at risk, according to Oregon Veterinary Medical Association.
Jersey City has slapped a dollar store with $90,000 in fines after accusing the owners of exploiting the coronavirus crisis by overcharging customers for cleaning supplies.

Municipal Prosecutor Jake Hudnut, who heads the citys Quality of Life Task Force, said the 99 Cent Dream store on Newark Avenue was issued nine tickets  at $10,000 per offense  for inflating the price of disinfectant wipes, disinfectant sprays and rubbing alcohol.

The city received concerns through social media that certain stores were raising the cost of cleaning and disinfectant supplies, Hudnut said. As always with our quality-of-life enforcement, the number one goal is compliance rather than punishment.

The two owners of 99 cent Dream could not be reached for comment Friday.

Hudnut said first offenses are $10,000 each and any offense that follows carries with it a $20,000 fine.

The officers did have a conversation with the store owners that responded, we do believe that the prices were returned or lowered to the lawful amounts after our response, Hudnut said.

Mayor Steve Fulop, who was with Hudnut at the store Thursday, tweeted footage of officers looking through the store. One example of the price gouging at the store was a bottle of rubbing alcohol raised from $2.99 to $6.99, Fulop said.

We wont accept people taking advantage of residents, Fulop tweeted. People sometimes can be terrible in how they treat each other.

Im w/ Prosecutor @JakeHudnut + JCPD issuing tickets for price gouging. We wont accept people taking advantage of residents. Tissues, Clorox, cleaning items, all doubling +. Rubbing alcohol went from $2.99 to $6.99. People sometimes can be terrible in how they treat eachother.. pic.twitter.com/GarSAkAW35  Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) March 12, 2020

Since Fulops tweet Thursday, the city has received reports of 10 stores price gouging. Hudnut said he was checking out those stores  a collection of corner stores, bodegas and food stores  Friday.

City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said the Quality of Life Task Force will continue to investigate stores that maybe inflating prices in the upcoming weeks to protect residents during this COVID-19 outbreak.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday that New Jersey has a total of 50 cases of coronavirus, including three in Hudson County.

COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, has sickened more than 1,800 people nationwide and led to at least 40 deaths.

According to the state Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA), New Jerseys price gouging law prohibits excessive price increases during a declared state of emergency, or for 30 days after the termination of the state of emergency. Excessive price increases are defined as price increases that are more than 10 percent higher than the price before the state of emergency.

We appreciate people reporting to us and we know that we are all in this together, consumers and business owners alike, Hudnut said. We just want everybody to operate within the parameters of the law.

Hudnut said residents who believe a store is price gouging should call the police department at 201-547-5477 or the state DCA at 800-242-5846.
External Article

13 March 2020

Top executives of the big three U.S. airlines say lower fares will not overcome potential passengers' fear of coronavirus. But that doesn't mean fares won't fall as a result of the travel crisis the disease has created. Nor does it mean that everybody is staying home.

In fact, ridiculously low fares seem to pop up frequently. For instance, several carriers are offering round-trip fares from San Francisco to New York and Newark, departing Saturday April 18, with various return dates, for $177.

Moreover, in some segments, travel demand remains strong. For instance, American said it is seeing continued demand in its biggest hubs of Charlotte and Dallas.

And Delta President Glen Hauenstein said, "Millennials are much less impacted than people over 55, and the West Coast is more impacted than the East Coast."
NBU plans to replenish reserves via sale of currency received by Naftogaz from Gazprom

12:10, 13.03.20 1235

Most of the currency received from Gazprom has not yet been sold.
Manitobans won't get a peek at the Pallister government's 2020 budget until Monday, at the earliest.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans won't get a peek at the Pallister government's 2020 budget until Monday, at the earliest.

For a second consecutive day, the Opposition New Democrats employed procedural tactics Thursday to disrupt proceedings in the legislature, bringing the government's legislative agenda to a halt.

The procedural manoeuvres also delayed the introduction of Finance Minister Scott Fielding's budget, which had initially been scheduled for release Wednesday.

Tory Premier Brian Pallister blasted the NDP strategy Thursday, saying the Opposition should not be playing politics during a global pandemic.

"Blockading the work of the legislature is wrong," he told reporters at his office.

The NDP said its aim was not to block the release of the budget, but to slow a flurry of planned government bills, party Leader Wab Kinew has said, will "do damage to schools, to pensions (and) to jobs."

When the Manitoba legislature convened Thursday at 1:30 p.m., the NDP unsuccessfully sought unanimous agreement to change the order of business in the house to have Fielding deliver his budget speech and table his budget documents.

The Opposition has said its main concern all along has been the more than 20 bills the government is poised to introduce  not the budget itself.

Introduction of bills is generally the first item of business on the assembly's order paper.

Manitoba premier Brian Pallister speaks to media after the tabling of his party's provincial budget was filibustered by the opposition NDP at the Manitoba Legislature on Wednesday March 11, 2020. (John Woods / Canadian Press files)

Government house leader Kelvin Goertzen said the government was not about to change longstanding rules to accommodate the NDP. He told the legislature the rules and procedures "allow for a democracy to properly function."

He said the NDP proposal would have prevented the health minister the opportunity to update MLAs about the coronavirus outbreak and to answer their questions about the global pandemic.

NDP house leader Nahanni Fontaine argued the government could inform the public about the pandemic outside the chamber.

"There is the opportunity for the health minister and the premier himself at any given time, at any given moment, to go outside and give a press conference and to disseminate important information for Manitobans," she said in the legislature.

"Blockading the work of the legislature is wrong."  Premier Brian Pallister

Pallister said the government would continue to attempt to introduce its budget in the usual manner.

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.

"We are going to continue with the business of government and the priorities of Manitobans," he said. "I'd encourage the Opposition to do the same."

While he acknowledged the government had intended to introduce about 20 bills on budget day, he rejected the Opposition's notion it was trying to ram them through the legislature without proper debate.

Manitobans can't learn what's in the bills if they aren't introduced, he said. The passage of bills is a months-long process that includes public hearings, he added.

"The NDP is unwilling apparently to allow presentation of bills they have yet to read," he said. "They're playing on the fears of people who have legitimate fears. They don't need to add illegitimate fears to the mix."

The New Democrats are apparently attempting to stall the introduction of at least some bills until mid-March, after which their passage is not assured this spring, according to house rules.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
Lagos State Government said it will on Friday begin an eight-week massive deratisation and fumigation of no fewer than 27 model colleges with hostel facilities, abattoirs and slaughter houses, agricultural produce markets as well as regular markets in the State.

The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Prince Gbolahan Lawal who disclosed this on Wednesday in Lagos noted that the deratization and fumigation exercise was aimed at preventing the outbreak and spread of the Lassa Fever in Lagos State.

He listed the Model Colleges to be deratized to include the Lagos State Senior and Junior Model Colleges, Meiran; Lagos Senior and Junior Model Colleges, Igbookuta; Civil Service Senior and Junior Model Colleges, Igbogbo; Oriwu Senior and Junior Model Colleges, Ikorodu; Girls Junior Model College, Agunfoye, Igbogbo; Government Senior and Junior Model Colleges, Owutu, Ikorodu; Eva- Adelaja Memorial Senior and Junior Secondary Schools, Bariga; Lagos State Senior



and Junior Model Colleges, Badore; Lagos State Senior and Junior Model Colleges, Igbonla; Lagos State Senior and Junior Model Colleges, Agbowa-Ikosi; Government Senior and Junior Colleges, Ketu-Epe; Lagos State Senior and Junior Model Colleges, Kankon, Badagry; Lagos State Senior and Junior Model Colleges, Ojo; and Badagry Senior and Junior Grammar Schools, Badagry.

The Commissioner added that the agricultural produce and regular markets to be deratized are the Agboju Market; Afolabi-Ege Market, Iyana- Iba; Agbalata Market, Badagry; Ikoga Market, Badagry; Alayabiagba Market, Ajegunle; Mile 12 Market; Ketu Market; Sabo Market, Ikorodu; Ejina Market, Ikorodu; Flower Market, Odogunyan; Ito-Okin Market; Ayetoro Market, Epe; Ebute Chief Market, Epe; Mojoda Market, Epe; Pobo Market, Poka, Epe; Sura Market, Lagos Island; Oke-Arin Market, Lagos Island; Ajah Market; Sangotedo Market; Eleko Market; Oyingbo Market; Idera Market, Agege; Ile-Epo Market; Ogo-Oluwa Market, Arena, Oshodi; Onitire Market, Itire; Ogba Sunday Market; Alade Market, Ikeja; and Ojuwoye Market, Mushin.

According to the Commissioner, all the abattoirs and slaughter houses in the State would also be deratized, stressing that the State Government was taking the proactive measures in order to improve the overall general sanitation and hygiene situations of these public places in the State.

Lawal urged residents to ensure that rats were totally exterminated from their homes while also taking effective measures to discourage rats from entering homes adding that the importance of promoting good community hygiene cannot be over emphasized.

The Commissioner advised members of the public to always store grains and other foodstuff in rat-proof containers; that garbage should be disposed far from homes; clean households culture should be maintained while understanding and practicing basic hand- washing hygiene.

The deratization and fumigation exercise would end on Thursday, 7th May, 2020.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
As New Jersey coronavirus cases spread, more and more employers are telling their workers to work from home.

Some companies are stepping up to provide paid sick time to their employees, but what happens if your boss isnt one of them?

Can you get fired if you miss work because of coronavirus? What laws protect your job if you decide to stay home?

We took these issues to Rosemarie Cipparulo, a labor and employment lawyer and assistant teaching professor in the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations.

Q. Can my boss fire me if I stay home from work because of coronavirus?

A. The first issue we have to address here is the Employment-at-Will doctrine. Under that doctrine, an employer can hire, fire, or discipline for any reason or no reason. It also means that an employer can change its policies with no or little notice to employees, provided that the Employee Handbook is not considered a contract.

Most employers' handbooks contain clear and prominent disclaimers that say something like, "This handbook is not a contract" or "You are an employee at will." Further, these handbooks usually include language that warns employees that the employer can change its policies at any time.

If the handbook does not include such a disclaimer, then under New Jersey law, that handbook is a contract and the employer can be held to the terms of that contract. Provided the language of that handbook addresses absences due to contagious illness or quarantine, then the employer may be sued for breach of contract.

When it comes to sick, personal, or vacation leave, most handbooks include the reasons employees can take paid leave, particularly sick leave. But again, employers can change those reasons at any time.

Q. What does my boss need to do to keep employees safe from coronavirus at work?

A. With regard to workers who are sick due to the virus, it is certainly unwise for an employer to require them to come to work.

Additionally, there are Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations that require employers to provide a workplace that is free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

So, if an employer requires a sick employee to come to work, then they may be in violation of OSHA.

Q. What laws protect me from being fired if I stay home because of coronavirus?

A. In both unionized and non-unionized workplaces, employers may be in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides for 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the workers own illness or to take care of an ill family member with a "serious health condition.

At the state level, the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFMLA) provides for paid leave to care for an ill family member. Further, New Jersey now requires all employers to provide at least five days of paid sick leave, depending on the amount of hours an employee works.

It is unclear if that paid time off can be applied to a worker who is quarantined. Additionally, most employers are subject to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act, which include discrimination based on disability, but it probably does not apply to a quarantined worker who is not ill.

Q. Can my union protect me if I need time off because of coronavirus?

A. Terms and conditions of work in unionized workplaces are defined by the collective bargaining agreements. Most of those agreements include language addressing when and why leaves may be taken.

For example, I have seen many agreements that allow the use of sick or personal leave for the worker's own illness, to take care of an ill child or spouse, and for a workers illness or child's illness that is contagious.

Further, most collective bargaining agreements also include "just cause" provisions. This means that the employer must have just cause to discipline or discharge a worker. It seems to me that penalizing an employee for being quarantined could be a violation of the just cause provisions. Further, a reduction in salary due to quarantine may be a violation of the wage provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.

So, the upshot is that in non-unionized work environments, the employer can refuse to pay for sick, personal, or vacation leave if the employee is quarantined or for any other matter. This is just one of the reasons why workers who belong to unions have better terms and conditions of work.

Q. What are companies doing to help their workers?

A. This is rapidly evolving. The State of New Jersey is not penalizing its workforce for COVID-19 related absences. Further, companies such as Walmart, McDonalds, Trader Joes, and Instacart are not penalizing workers for coronavirus issues.

Several companies are providing two weeks of paid leave for those who may have been exposed. Other companies such as Uber and Lyft are offering their drivers financial assistance for coronavirus related issues.

Q. What can I do if my boss ignores my rights with coronavirus absences?

A. If a worker believes their employer is discriminating against them for being ill or denying leave under the FMLA or NJFLA , then the worker may file a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights, or report that matter to OSHA.

Public employees can file complaints under the New Jersey Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health Act (PEOSH).

Have you been Bamboozled? Reach Karin Price Mueller at Bamboozled@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KPMueller. Find Bamboozled on Facebook. Mueller is also the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Stay informed and sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.




A total of 126 countries and territories were imposing an entry ban or tougher quarantine procedures for people from South Korea over coronavirus fears Friday, up by three from the previous day, the foreign ministry said.







As of 9 a.m., 50 countries and territories were barring the entry of travelers who have been in Korea at least in the past two weeks, joined by Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Sudan.







Slovakia now bans the entry of all foreigners, with some exceptions applied to those with residential permits or diplomats. The Czech Republic bans the entry of foreigners from over a dozen virus-hit countries, except for permanent residents and those with work visas.







Sudan also bars arrivals of travelers from Korea, China, Italy and a few others.







China added one more province  the northern province of Hebei  to its list of provinces imposing tougher quarantine procedures, putting the total at 22. Including China, the number of countries and territories enforcing stricter quarantine programs on people from Korea remained unchanged at 18.







Fifty-two countries and territories were conducting stricter immigration controls, and requiring or recommending isolation for visitors from Korea.







Guyana, a country in South America, and Mali in West Africa were the latest to have jointed this category.







Six countries, including Japan and Indonesia, were barring the entry of travelers from Korea's Daegu city and North Gyeongsang Province  the two epicenters of the COVID-19 outbreaks.







South Korea reported 7,979 cases of infections on Friday morning, with 67 deaths linked to the virus. (Yonhap)


Scholarship search websites promise students access to millions of awards totaling billions in free money for college.

All you need is an email address to use sites like Fastweb, Cappex and Unigo. But once you provide it, scholarship listings aren't the only things you'll receive.

"(You) are going to get a lot of spam," says Monica Matthews, creator of the website how2winscholarships.com.

Don't let a barrage of emails deter you from signing up  or sticking with  a scholarship website, though.

You don't have to repay scholarships, making them the best way to pay for college. You can win private awards before you even know where you'll go to college. And giving a scholarship site some basic data can simplify your search by identifying potential matches.

Here's how to use these tools to get more than just marketing emails.

Decide whether to opt out

Scholarship sites let you opt out of email communications. But you may not want to unsubscribe from everything.

Fastweb, which has helped students find scholarships since 1995, lets you pick specific communications when you register. That way, you'll receive messages about award deadlines but not part-time jobs, for example.

"Our aim is to keep students informed," says Kathryn Knight Randolph, Fastweb's associate content editor.

Other scholarship sites may feature more general communication preference choices. Even then, deleting messages as they arrive can make more sense than opting out altogether.

"Let it come in and at least take a quick glance," says Marianne Ragins, publisher of ScholarshipWorkshop.com. "Sometimes, it might be something good."

But even if you opt out of emails, personal information like your address or phone number can still be sold to third parties. Look for an opt-in addressing this when you register and check the website's privacy policy to understand how it handles your personal information and your rights.

Create a dedicated email

Providing an email is the price of doing business with many scholarship search engines.

"Our service is free," Randolph says. "With that comes working with advertisers and people who want to market to students."

That doesn't mean you have to give them your primary email address.

Instead, create an email account solely for scholarship mail. It will keep marketers from your main inbox and help you track your applications.

Matthews recommends using "something clean" for your scholarship email, like your first and last name with an additional number, symbol or dash if needed. Be sure to check this account's spam folder. Important messages like acceptance notices from scholarship providers could end up there by accident.

Use a site that doesn't require registration

The scholarship sites that don't require an email are unlikely to save your results or send you reminders, but you'll avoid marketing messages.

To see if you prefer to not share your email, try sites such as CareerOneStop from the U.S. Department of Labor and the College Board's Scholarship Search. Ideally, you'll use both kinds of sites, registered and not, and multiple scholarship search engines.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

"Five is a good place to start," says Kristina Ellis, creator of CollegeNinja.com. "You don't want to get too overwhelmed."

Avoid websites that charge a fee, since there are plenty of free choices.

Evaluate awards wisely

Some scholarships may be more likely to lead to spam  or be outright scams.

Never pay for awards. And be wary of applications that require information like a Social Security number, says Shauna Grant, financial aid director at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

"If it feels invasive, put the brakes on," Grant says.

Ragins says to know what you're getting into if you enter sweepstakes, for example. These scholarships may not be scams  you can win money  but their primary goal is collecting information to sell.

Don't rely on websites alone

Scholarship search sites are a great way to find awards, but they shouldn't be your only strategy. Consider the following tactics as well:

Look locally: Visit your high school guidance counselor or college financial aid office to find awards from local organizations or businesses, as well as your state.

Google it: Use searches that include your interests, potential majors, year in school and other details.

Read scholarship books: Check your library for recent editions of titles like "The Ultimate Scholarship Book" and "Scholarships, Grants & Prizes."
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed criminal justice reform initiatives this week as part of Governor Bill Lees legislative package. This includes legislation streamlining and appropriately leveraging alternatives to incarceration, namely Recovery Courts and felony probation. The bill is sponsored by Senate Republican Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Ken Yager (R-Kingston), and Senator Steven Dickerson (R-Nashville).

There are currently 30,000 people incarcerated for felonies in state prisons and jails, with our corrections budget now costing taxpayers in excess of $1 billion annually, said Senator Yager. Fifty percent will return, making Tennessees recidivism rate the highest in the Southeast. This legislation addresses this problem by helping these individuals with a pathway to a productive life beyond crime, with the ultimate goal of making Tennessee a safer state.

Senator Yager said Tennessees high incarceration rates are fueled by non-violent drug and property offenses which have increased the states custody population growth by more than 50 percent since 2009. Senate Bill 2195 expands Tennessees Recovery Court System, which is a specialized diversion program focused on comprehensive supervision, treatment services and immediate sanctions and incentives for substance abuse offenders. The proposal broadens eligibility for Recovery Courts to include misdemeanors, except domestic assault offenders, and encourages judges to consider available sentencing alternatives.

With $1.7 million in additional funding proposed in the budget, Recovery Courts will expand capacity by 20 percent and serve an additional 500 Tennesseans each year. Individuals who are successfully diverted through this programming are estimated to save the state an average of more than $20,000 per individual in recovered correction costs each year, said officials.

I am very pleased that this important legislation is advancing through our Senate committees, said Leader Johnson. These bills take a holistic approach with evidence-based alternatives to incarceration to reduce recidivism and ensure that state resources are squarely focused on public safety in Tennessee.

The legislation also addresses the high mental health caseload in Tennessee Department of Correction facilities and requires courts to consider use of available sentencing alternatives for defendants with a documented history of behavioral health problems. Prisoners treated for mental illness have increased 26 percent from 2016 to 2019, with nearly 8,000 individuals currently being treated. In addition, the number of inmates diagnosed with serious persistent mental illness has nearly tripled over the past 10 years.

Day Reporting Centers are also highlighted in the legislation as an alternative for judges to use instead of incarceration. These centers serve as alternatives to incarceration by placing eligible participants in structured and intensive outpatient programs. The programs provide resources and services to offenders to assist them as they work towards becoming productive citizens in their communities. There are currently six centers across the state, with two additional centers and extended hours funded in the governors proposed budget. Approximately 74 percent of admissions are for non-violent offenses, with property offenses as the most common reason for admission.

Finally, the legislation clarifies criteria for revoking community supervision status, updates the permitted amount of time that an individual can be sentenced to probation or have their supervision extended, and limits the ability to revoke supervision for non-criminal violations of conditions, also known as technical violations.

Re-Entry Stabilization Act seeks to improve public safety through a multi-pronged approach

The second bill, called the Re-Entry Stabilization Act of 2020, is a multi-pronged approach to help improve public safety and facilitate positive outcomes for those leaving incarceration. Nearly 40 percent of the felony population expire their sentence, returning to the community without oversight. Senate Bill 2194, sponsored by Johnson, Senator John Stevens (R-Huntingdon) and Dickerson, establishes mandatory re-entry supervision, so that all individuals exiting state custody will have a minimum of one year supervised re-entry integration. The mandatory supervision does not create parole eligibility for those who are not eligible, including those convicted to life without parole or to the death penalty.

Our State prison population is swelling, but violent crime rates are not dropping, said Senator Stevens. Too few low-risk inmates are being paroled and too many inmates who have served their full sentence are returning to prison for technical, non-violent violations of the conditions of their parole. Far too many individuals released back in our communities fail re-entry because of a deficit of resources to assist individuals overcoming barriers faced.

The proposal establishes the Office of Re-Entry Services, which will act as a clearinghouse of existing resources, primarily focusing on providing services to those whose sentences are expiring and are reentering the community. Similarly, it addresses the parole process, incorporating the findings of a validated risk-and-needs assessment into the review process. In doing this, the Board of Parole is better supported in making data driven decisions regarding parole and protecting public safety, while also improving transparency for both victims and perpetrators, said officials.

To facilitate a successful reentry for prisoners into communities, the Re-Entry Stabilization Act seeks to advance employment outcomes by improving the certificate of employability process, clarifying occupational licensing for those with a criminal history, and granting limited employer liability to businesses who make good faith hires within certain criteria.

In addition, the proposal standardizes parole revocation practices for technical violations. Approximately 40 percent of those prisoners rearrested land back in prison because they broke their parole on technical violations, not for committing new crimes.

"Tennessee ranks number one in violent crime rate when compared to our neighbors in ten surrounding states, added Senator Stevens. This legislation focuses on improving our parole processes, improving oversight for those leaving jail and prison, and expanding opportunities for better outcomes for prisoners once they return to the community.
Midlands Open Door announced Friday afternoon that its shelter and community soup kitchens will continue.

With the mandated school closings, we anticipate our soup kitchen numbers will increase as they do in the summer months, a news release states. In addition, some of the modifications made for our soup kitchen services will increase our food and supply cost.
BOSTON  A person who visited the Encore Boston Harbor casino last week subsequently tested positive for for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission said Thursday.

The Boston Globe reports the infected person was Utah Jazz basketball player Donovan Mitchell.

The commission said it is working with Encore owner Wynn Resorts and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to identify the facts, assess the situation, and determine next steps.

The person visited the Everett casino on March 5 and was not exhibiting symptoms at the time, the commission said in a news release. They were there for about an hour and had contact with seven other people, the commission said. Encore notified the seven and they have self-quarantined, the commission said.

DPH has advised that the risk of exposure to COVID-19 by persons who came into contact with this individual at Encore is minimal, the commission said.

The state agency recommended that Encore continue enhanced sanitization practices, the commission said.

The MGC is making every effort to maintain a safe and healthy work environment, while closely following guidance issued by federal, state, and public health officials, its news release said. As a reminder, important information is available from the DPH and the CDC.

In statement Thursday on the Encore website, CEO Matt Maddox said Wynn Resorts starting this weekend would cancel all large entertainment gatherings, including buffets, nightclubs and theaters at its Boston and Las Vegas casinos.

The casinos will also use non-invasive thermal cameras at their entrances to screen for customers who may have fevers, he said. They will also create appropriate distancing between customers at restaurants and gambling offerings.

We are going to continue to pay our full-time employees that work in these spaces, Maddox said. We will monitor the situation to determine any additional action that may be required.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 03:12:56|Editor: yan

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TUNIS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Tunisia has risen to 16, the health ministry announced on Friday.

During a press briefing, Chokri Hamouda, the ministry's head of Primary Health Care Department, said three new confirmed cases were detected on Friday, "including a case from Egypt and two local infections."

"A 14-day quarantine is now obligatory for all passengers arriving in Tunisia," Hamouda said.
British lingerie brand Agent Provocateur enlists four amazing athletes  gymnast Georgia-Mae Fenton, hurdler Queen Harrison-Claye, pole vaulter Alysha Newman, and rock climber Sasha DiGiulian to star in their Spring Summer 2020 Play To Win campaign lensed by fashion photographer Charlotte Wales. In charge of creative direction was Sarah Shotton, with styling from Charlotte Collet, and casting direction by Rosie Vogel. Beauty is work of hair stylist Kiyoko Odo, makeup artist Jen Myles, and manicurist Adam Slee.

This season, Agent Provocateur celebrates the superhuman force of the female. Four incredible athletes star, exploring how ambition transforms in body and mind. Find the fire that drives you, and let it push you harder, faster, stronger. Play to win. #WePlayToWin
US President Donald Trump announced a national state of emergency on Friday, freeing up $50 billion in federal funds for the battle against the coronavirus pandemic as he vowed to vastly ramp up testing capacity.

To unleash the full power of the federal government, Im officially declaring a national emergency, Trump told a news conference on the White House lawn.

The next eight weeks are critical, he said. We can learn and we will turn a corner on this virus.

Trump called on all US states to set up emergency operation centers and said the government was partnering with the private sector to vastly increase and accelerate our capacity to test for the virus, amid criticism about a lack of test kits nationwide.-

Im also asking every hospital in this country to activate emergency preparedness plan to meet the needs of Americans everywhere, Trump said.

Well remove or eliminate every obstacle necessary to deliver our people the care that they need and that theyre entitled to. No resource will be spared, nothing whatsoever, he added.

The national emergency would also confer broad new authority on the US health secretary to waive a series of regulations, including on telemedicine or allowing hospitals to bring additional staff on board.

US authorities have come under fire for lagging behind in deploying test kits, which leading health experts have said allowed the virus to spread beyond the countrys ability to detect it.

The Trump administration announced earlier Friday it was providing almost $1.3 million in funding to two labs to develop tests that return results in about one hour  DiaSorin Molecular of California and QIAGEN of Maryland.

The US Food and Drug Administration has already given emergency approval to Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche for a new and much faster coronavirus test.

As a result of the Roche approval, Trump said half a million additional tests were expected to be available early next week, with details on test locations to be announced Sunday night.

He said he hoped another 1.4 million tests could be available next week, and five million within a month.

SOURCE: AFP
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

The capacities of Kazakhstans Almaty city to manufacture three million medical face masks a month will be increased, citys Head of Entrepreneurship and Investments Department Yerkebulan Orazalin said, Trend reports with reference to the citys akimat (administration).

He said that the citys akimat is currently taking measures to provide city with necessary amount of medical equipment, especially of masks and antiseptic agents.

We have a company which manufactures masks, its current capacity is three million masks a month. In the nearest days, well launch additional production to meet local demand, Orazalin said.

He added that new equipment for the plant will be purchased soon which will allow to increase masks production volume to eight million masks a month.

Orazalin also noted that local pharmacies will be supplied with additional volume of masks.

In order to avoid speculation on the market, additional funds will be allocated to ventures to purchase raw materials, which will give them an opportunity to influence products supply volumes and to directly make contracts with the largest pharmacies in the city.

Additional funds will also be allocated for production of antiseptic agents, sanitizers, Orazalin said.

On March 13, 2020, first two cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 4,700. Over 128,000 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 68,000 people have reportedly recovered.

Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. The symptoms include cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing. It is primarily spread through airborne contact or contact with contaminated objects. In mild cases, according to the Chinese authorities, treatment takes about a week, in severe cases - two or more.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.

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Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
TORRINGTON  Charlotte Hungerford Hospital (CHH) has updated its visitor policy and is instituting a single entry point at its front circle main entrance for patients, visitors and vendors until further notice.

At Hartford HealthCare, we are fully committed to both the community and our healthcare colleagues during the coronavirus outbreak. Safety comes first. We recognize all of our staff, the discretionary efforts, the responsiveness and the sacrifices, said president & CEO Jeff Flaks in a statement.

This policy change applies only to the main Hospital Tower Building and Turner Coe Annex at 540 Litchfield St. The CHH campus Medical Office Building at 538 Litchfield Street and all other CHH offisite facilities and provider practices including the Center For Cancer Care are not affected at this time.

All visitors to the patient areas must enter through the main front hospital entrance at 540 Litchfield Street. If entering at any other entrance they will be directed to go to the main entrance for screening. Patients and visitors may still enter the hospitals Emergency Department.

The hospital is also asking that no one age 16 and under will be allowed.

The Emergency Department is open to patients and visitors of ED patients.

Main Front Entrance is open to all other visitors, patients and vendors. All individuals will be health screened and have their temperature taken.

Outpatient/Blood Draw Entrance is closed to patients/visitors.

The Turner Coe Annex Entrance is closed to patients/visitors.

All incoming patients and visitors coming through the main entrance will be asked to do the following prior to hospital entry:

Have you traveled to any of the following countries within the last 14 days? (China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan).

Do you have, or have had over the last 48 hours, symptoms including fever, shortness of breath, or cough?

Have you had exposure in the last 14 days to anyone with flu-like symptoms, i.e. fever, shortness of breath, coughs or recently been quarantined or treated for COVID-19?

Have you been on a cruise ship in the last 14 days?

Are you under the age of 16?

Patients will also have their temperature taken.

Visitors are asked not to visit the hospital if they are ill or have symptoms of cold or flu. People not visiting patients are asked not come to the hospital. Only one visitor per patient is allowed at a time.

New visiting hours are 12-8 p.m. daily. No visitors are allowed under the age of 16. For patients using same day services, the hours will be our normal business hours 6 a.m.-9 p.m. The Charlotte Gift Shop and hospital cafeteria will not be available to the public who are not visiting patients until further notice.

Parking is available in the hospitals main circle and the adjacent lot. In addition a valet service is available.

In addition, and out of an abundance of caution, all Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Cardiac Rehabilitation and Pulmonary Rehabilitation appointments in Torrington and Winsted are cancelled until further notice.

As the novel coronavirus situation continues to change rapidly, Hartford HealthCare wants to provide the latest information, including dedicated coronavirus websites in English at www.hartfordhealthcare.org/coronavirus and Spanish at https://espanol.hartfordhealthcare.org/pacientes-y-visitas/coronavirus-covid-19

Get text updates by texting keyword COVID19 to 31996. In addition, CHH offer a 24-hour coronavirus hotline, 860-972-8100 or, toll-free, 833-621-0600.
India reported its second casualty due to coronavirus on Friday with the Health Ministry saying a 68-year-old woman, whose son with a travel history abroad had tested positive, died in Delhi.

The death was caused due to co-morbidity (diabetes and hypertension), it said, adding she had tested positive for COVID-19.

The woman was admitted in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, officials said.

She became the second person to die of coronavirus infection in the country. On Thursday, the first death was reported in Karnataka.

The Health Ministry said so far 82 cases have been reported across the country with seven in the national capital.

Health Ministry and Delhi government officials said the woman came in contact with her son, the fifth case of coronavirus in the national capital, with a history travel history to Switzerland and Italy between February 5 and 22.

"She had history of contact with a positive case. The son had returned to India on February 23. He initially was asymptomatic, but developed fever and cough after one day and reported to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on March 7.

"As per protocol, the family was screened and since he and his mother had fever and cough, both were admitted," a Health Ministry statement said.

The woman also suffered from diabetes and hypertension.

Her sample was collected on March 8 and her condition worsened a day later, the statement said.

"She was shifted to the intensive care unit. Her sample also tested positive for COVID19," the Health Ministry said.

Since March 9, she was having respiratory fluctuations and was provided ventilatory support.

"However, due to co-morbid conditions, she died on March 13 at the RML Hospital, Delhi as confirmed by the treating physician and Medical Superintendent," the statement added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Banned events, empty restaurants and airports that resemble ghost-towns. This is the new normal and an unimaginable reality for Houston in the wake of the coronavirus.

As Houston city leaders grapple with the real impact of the coronavirus outbreak, its not the first time Houston has dealt with a pandemic of this magnitude. Just a century ago, the Spanish Flu pandemic was disruptive and devastating, killing millions nationwide in 1918. Nearly 50 million men, women and children were killed when the Spanish Flu put its deadly grip on communities across the globe in 1918.

View the gallery above to see how Houston handled the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic-->

In the Spring of 1918, an initial outbreak called the three-day-fever signaled a warning sign to the more serious strain of the Spanish Flu which took hold. In some of the most severe cases, the Spanish Flu was a ruthless and quick killer, filling the sick patients lungs with fluid so that they inevitably suffocated.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Here's everything we know so far on the Coronavirus outbreak in Houston

According to a Houston Chronicle report on September 24, 1918, there were between 600 and 700 cases of Spanish influenza at Camp Logan, which is now the home of Memorial Park. By the end of 1918, tragically nearly 110 men would die at the camp after exposure to the virus. In light of the rising death toll, public gatherings were called to halt to stop the virus from spreading. Many of the flu deaths in Texas occurred between September and October of 1918.

Revisiting a Bayou City History blog post, a Houston Chronicle editorial at the time attempted to assure the community with a sense of calm.

"There is no need to discuss whether it was necessary to close the public schools and places of amusement in Houston. Since this has been done by those in authority, acting under high medical advice, let us abide by the decision without complaint or criticism," the paper wrote. Initially The Houston Post disagreed with shutting down the city, but finally shifted its perspective.

In a 1918 health bulletin, The Texas State Board of Health urged school leaders how to stop the spread of the flu.

"Every day . . . disinfectant should be scattered over the floor and swept. All woodwork, desks, chairs, tables and doors should be wiped off with a cloth wet with linseed, kerosene and turpentine. Every pupil must have at all times a clean handkerchief and it must not be laid on top of the desk. Spitting on the floor, sneezing, or coughing, except behind a handkerchief, should be sufficient grounds for suspension of a pupil. A pupil should not be allowed to sit in a draft. A pupil with wet feet or wet clothing should not be permitted to stay at school."

READ ALSO: How a mild case of novel coronavirus can turn deadly

It's estimated that nearly 30 percent of the U.S. population was affected by the Spanish Flu, according to the CDC. Houston's death toll was roughly calculated to be around 111. The mortality rate was especially high in people younger than 5 years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and older.

As October wrapped up in 1918, nearly 106,000 residents in Texas' urban centers had been afflicted by the Spanish Flu. More than 2,100 would die from the illness.

In contrast to the first strains of the coronavirus, young adults were often struck a death blow with the Spanish Flu. According to the CDC, the average age of those who died was 28 years old. There were reports of some people dying within 24 hours or less. The Spanish flu often progressed to organ failure and pneumonia, with pneumonia the cause of death for most of those who died.

Approximately 675,000 Americans died from this flu which ultimately ran its course by spring 1919. In fact, more U.S. soldiers are said to have died from the 1918 flu than were killed in battle during World War I. It's believed that President Woodrow Wilson contracted the Spanish flu during the World War I peace negotiations in Paris in April 1919. Those who were exposed to the virus died or developed a life-saving immunity to the illness.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Here's why the coronavirus pandemic is different

The strategies that helped control the spread of the Spanish Flu included interventions such isolation, good personal hygiene, quarantine, and the use of disinfectants, in addition to bans on large public gatherings.

Of particular note, researchers found six controlled studies in which the use of blood plasma, serum or whole blood from recovering flu patients reduced the mortality rate of severely ill patients during the Spanish Flu era. According to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, featured authors in the medical literature of the time suggest that antibodies in the blood products help stem the effects of the flu virus.

"Patients with Spanish influenza pneumonia who received transfusion with influenza-convalescent human blood products may have experienced a clinically important reduction in the risk of death," noted Thomas C. Luke of the New Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. The report was published by Annals of Internal Medicine.

At the end of the day, Houstonians remained resilient throughout the Spanish Flu era with a vigilance to stemming the spread of the flu. The ban on public gatherings is said to have only lasted a few weeks, and life soon returned back to normal.

STAY INFORMED: Sign up to receive breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.

alison.medley@chron.com
Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announcedits global strategic partnership with PLEXIS Healthcare Systems.

This partnership will enable a streamlined, efficient, accurate and integrated plan administration solution to support healthcare payers and plan sponsors worldwide. The aim is to offer secure, compliant, high-value, end-to-end "digital first" plan administration solutions at a cost-effective price point along with enhanced customer experience. The partnership will initially focus on supporting Medicare and Managed Medicaid programs, but will expand to support Accountable Care Act and commercial lines of business.

At its core, Wipro's Medicare platforms will combine with PLEXIS' healthcare payer claims and care management platforms, to deliver a state-of-the-art technology backbone. This will enable Wipro to deliver world class Business Process as-a-Service (BPaaS) for efficient and effective management of the entire value chain including enrollment processing with Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) member billing, fulfillment, care management, claims processing and Encounter Data Processing to CMS.

Wipro-PLEXIS partnership will provide Medicare and Medicaid plans, a CMS compliant, easy and affordable turnkey option, with focus on member satisfaction, improved care outcomes, data collaboration and reduced administrative costs.

Jorge Yant, President and CEO, PLEXIS Healthcare Systems, said, "The healthcare market is going through a major digital transformation. Operating an intelligent back office is instrumental to increase productivity, revenue and quality and optimized technology to enable intelligent operations will be the key to transform the payer enterprise. Partnering with Wipro will allow us to deliver the very best combination of secure, compliant, on-demand software to unlock the full potential of digital transformation and place our clients on the best path for success."

Mohd Haque, Sr. Vice President and Global Head of the Healthcare Business Unit, Wipro Limited, said, "With technology playing an increasing role in every aspect of global healthcare services delivery, healthcare payers recognize the need to accelerate the development of integrated, cost-effective digital solutions to ensure they remain on the competitive vanguard. The Wipro-PLEXIS partnership brings together deep domain expertise in payer software and business process and technology strategy to support healthcare payers through successful digital transformations."

About PLEXIS Healthcare Systems

PLEXIS Healthcare Systems is a leading payer technology company that delivers trusted enterprise core administration and claims management solutions to healthcare payers and delivery systems around the globe. Since 1996, PLEXIS has helped to empower the business of healthcare, igniting growth, innovation, and efficiencies across diverse business lines for payer organizations. Based in Southern Oregon, PLEXIS currently serves organizations in 44 states (doing business in all 50), 15 countries, and over 70 million people worldwide. PLEXIS provides mission-critical solutions that catalyze efficiencies and connect evolving business ecosystems to a wide range of payer organizations.

To learn more about how PLEXIS platforms can benefit an organization, please contact the PLEXIS Sales team at sales@plexishealth.com or call toll-free 1+ 877-475-3947.

About Wipro Limited

Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help our clients adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have over 175,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents. Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a bold new future.

Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005251/en/

Contacts:

Nisha Chandrasekaran

Wipro Limited

nisha.chandrasekaran@wipro.com
One of the ironies in politics is how our nations leaders often employ rhetoric that results in the opposite effect of what was intended. Whether by design or effect, rhetoric plays an enormous role in politics, and it can produce negative as well as positive outcomes.

Let me explain.

I am a lifelong Democrat and a fervent critic of Donald Trump, remaining convinced that he has been perhaps the most dangerous president in the history the United States. Nevertheless, as a more objective observer who for more than 40 years was a scholar and teacher of communication, I am astounded and perplexed by the all too frequent examples of Democratic leaders engaging in counterproductive and self-defeating rhetoric  something that undermines their political advantages.

The two most recent examples of this: Speaker Nancy Pelosis tearing up the presidents State of the Union address, and the verbal attacks on Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch leveled by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer outside the court while oral arguments on a Louisiana abortion case were being made.

As a partisan, in both cases I completely understand  and even sympathize with  the motivation underpinning these behaviors. At the same time, however, they underscore a persistent rhetorical miscalculation resulting in potentially disastrous political consequences.

If there is one thing we have learned since Trump became president, it is that using tactics directly out of his playbook inherently are doomed to failure and, in fact, will backfire. As tempting as it may be to employ Trump-like discourse, all this succeeds in accomplishing is adding grist to his and the Republican rhetorical mill.

It was hardly surprising, for instance, that following Pelosi and Schumers actions, a disingenuous but arguably persuasive outrage was voiced by the president and his minions, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Pelosi and Schumer dished up the perfect rhetorical opportunity to persuade some that Democrats are guilty of the very things for which they correctly accuse Trump.

The moral of the story: Its time for Democrats to stop shooting themselves in the foot. They need to be more communicatively astute, avoiding discourse that damages their own cause, credibility and capacity to persuade others. After all, character will be on the ballot in 2020. Why would Democrats want to weaken their most persuasive argument?

Richard Cherwitz is the Ernest A. Sharpe Centennial professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin.
President Trump blamed his predecessor, President Obama, for the coronavirus test not being easily accessible to Americans in a set of Friday morning tweets.

'For decades @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped,' Trump wrote. 'President Obama made changes that only complicated things further,' the president offered.

Trump then went on to call the Obama administration's response to Swine Flu 'a full scale disaster, with thousands dying.' The president said nothing 'meaningful' has been done to fix the testing problem 'until now.'

President Trump tried to blame President Obama for the coronavirus testing snafu that happened under his watch. He said he's now cut any red tape to allow for coronavirus testing to happen at a 'large scale basis'

THE BUCK STOPS ... WITH OBAMA: President Trump dashed off two tweets Friday morning blaming the Obama administration for the testing problems that have made it difficult for Americans to be tested for the Coronavirus

Dr. Anthony Fauci gave a candid assessment about the testing during a Capitol Hill hearing Thursday admitting that Americans aren't 'easily' going to be able to get tested and calling it a 'failing'

THANKS OBAMA: President Trump pointed a finger at President Obama and said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, under his predecessor, looked at the testing system and did nothing to fix it. He then said Obama put regulations in place to make it worse

'The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis,' he tweeted. 'All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!'

Trump's comments came after Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified frankly on Capitol Hill Thursday.

He told lawmakers sitting on the House Oversight Committee that Americans were not 'easily' able to be tested for the virus and called it a 'failing.'

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz had brought up concerns to the witnesses that health care professionals, in her example nurses, were unable to obtain the test after potentially being exposed to the virus.

'The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we're not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes, but we're not,' Fauci said on Capitol Hill. 'That is a failing. It is a failing. Let's admit it,' he also said.

The development of a coronavirus test in the U.S. has not gone smoothly, as early test kits were sometimes inaccurate. There were also rules set in place to narrowly define who might get tested.

Wasserman Schultz brought up a nurse who, despite having symptons, was refused a test by the CDC.

'They said they would not test me because if I was wearing the recommended protective equipment, then I wouldn't have the coronavirus,' the nurse said. 'What kind of science-based answer is that?'

Additionally, Fauci and Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, talked about the problems of bringing the tests to scale in order to get them, more broadly, to American patients.

'Its really the engagement of the private sector to get these tests into clinical medicine, which is a partnership between the private sector and CDC,' Redfield testified Thursday.

Wasserman Schultz asked, 'Basically you're saying ... there's not one person that can ensure that these tests can be administered? Yes or no?'

'The system is not really geared to what we need right now - what you are asking for,' Fauci answered. 'The system was geared for the individual doctor-patient, what we're dealing with now transcends that,' he also explained.

Trump, meanwhile, was in the Oval Office with the prime minister of Ireland painting a rosy picture about the testing.

'They have a million tests out now. Over the next few days they'll have 4 million tests out,' Trump told reporters saying testing ''is going very smooth.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 07:58:07|Editor: Liu

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KINSHASA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Congolese Health Minister Eteni Longondo announced on Thursday the confirmation of a second case of novel coronavirus in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

According to the minister's announcement, a Cameroonian who lives in the DRC with his family went on vacation to France and returned to Kinshasa on March 8. When he returned, he showed no symptoms, but when he got home he started to feel sick. He alerted the health services and tested positive for the coronavirus.

Currently the patient is being taken care of by the coronavirus response team in Kinshasa. The announcement of the second case came only two days after the declaration by the health authorities of the DRC of the first case.
The number of cases of the novel coronavirus has started creeping up in Connecticut while it balloons in other states.

Before, travelers were bringing the virus home. Now, its starting to spread through communities. With this shift, health officials have changed their approach from containing the few numbers of cases to mitigating its inevitable spread.

When the cases were more isolated, health departments identified and quarantined people who tested positive as well as those who interacted with the patient, said Richard Martinello, a Yale School of Medicine associate professor of infectious diseases.

When there are very few people who are sick, that works very well, said Martinello, who also is the medical director of Infection Prevention for Yale New Haven Hospital.

As the spread picked up pace, however, the strategy has changed to mitigation. In this phase, it is more important for everyone to know how to prevent themselves from getting sick and how to recognize if they are starting to get sick.

Because our society really dont have vast resources, we focus on making sure we are paying attention to those who are sick, and making sure theyre not getting anyone else sick, he said.

Connecticut is following the lead of other states by taking more extreme measures for social distancing: closing schools, canceling large events and telling people to work from home when they can.

Without these efforts, the number of cases spike in a short window as the virus quickly spreads through a community. The spike would far exceed capacity at hospitals and other healthcare facilities, making it difficult to treat everyone while also providing care unrelated to COVID-19.

As a family practitioner in Westport, Dr. Steven Benaderet was shocked when he peeked at his social media after the towns school district closed due to fears about a form of the respiratory illness coronavirus.

There were posts from parents about what they should do with their children, and what activities might be available for them.

I thought Youre missing the point,  said Benaderet, who is also regional medical director of Northeast Medical Group, which is part of Yale New Haven Health.

The idea is to limit the amount of time people spend in close contact with each other, thus preventing anyone who might unknowingly infected from passing it to others. This, experts said, can help slow the spread of COVID-19  a phenomenon known as flattening the curve.

Benaderet said flattening the curve means spreading out the amount of people infected with COVID-19 over time, to better allow hospitals and health care workers to properly treat the influx of cases. Other experts echoed the need to decrease contact with others  also known as social distancing  to keep the virus from spreading at an out-of-control rate.

Benaderet compared curtailing the spread of the illness to fighting a rash of house fires.

If there are 100 house fires in Westport on one given night, there wouldnt be enough firefighters to fight them all, and someones house would burn down, he said. But if there are 100 fires in a year, then there is a system in place to respond to that.

Similarly, Benaderet said, if there are thousands of COVID-19 cases in a week, thats a much heavier burden on the health care system than if there are thousands of cases over the course of a year or even a few months.

People have pointed to Italy, where thousands of cases and hundreds of deaths have overwhelmed the health system and forced a national shutdown, as a worst-case scenario.

If the United States in general, and Connecticut in particular, dont do something to slow down infection rates, experts worry that the same thing will happen here.

You could have people who are seriously ill and need to go to the hospital, and there wont be enough (resources) to handle it, said Patrick Kelly, a distinguished fellow in nursing and health studies at Fairfield University.

Thats already happening to some degree, said Dr. Alis Pose, chief quality officer for Optimus Health Care, which provides affordable health care for uninsured and underinsured people at its 31 locations throughout Southwest Connecticut (including Bridgeport, Stamford, Stratford and Milford).

She said she is concerned about the impact of a spike in COVID-19 cases, particularly since the centers are already running low on masks and alcohol disinfectants. Were already in our reserves, Pose said.

The clinics are trying to limit the staffs exposure, and handle cases as best they can by screening everyone who comes in to see if they have a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher. Those who are aware that they have a fever and/or a dry cough  two prime symptoms of COVID-19  are asked to call before they come to the centers, so staff can be prepared.

Optimus also is limiting the dental services it provides, to help limit exposure. But Pose is still worried about that the centers will get overwhelmed. She has worked in France, which has also been hit hard by COVID-19, and is in contact with people there and in Italy.

Shes heard stories about shortages of intensive care unit beds and of patients being treated in gymnasiums when proper facilities arent available.

I hope were not going to get there, but I dont know, Pose said.

Like Benaderet, Pose said the best way to keep health systems from getting overwhelmed is to slow the spread by avoiding others.

No parades. No parties. No crowded restaurants. No crowded grocery stores, she said. Stay in and watch Netflix.
Amid coronavirus fears, even PM Narendra Modi tweeted that people should avoid travelling abroad and cancel all unnecessary travel plans. But it seems Air India isn't taking things so seriously.

While many airlines like Alaska Airlines in the US have waived cancellation fees on air tickets booking, Air India Express reportedly asked a passenger in Mumbai to pay a hefty amount in cancellation charges to the tickets to Dubai they had booked earlier.

Twitter

Many people online have been tweeting to and about Air India and its refusal to waive cancellation fees:

Have ticket booked from Milan to Delhi to Kolkata, both flights on Air India but after March 31 as return for planned multi-city summer vacation tour of Europe. Air India says no free change for us and no refund upon cancellation, though the GOI has issued "no travel warning"  sbveda.writer@gmail.com (@SbvedaW) March 13, 2020

@airindiain worst airlines. I cancelled my flight due to Coronavirus and Panic in New Delhi Airport. Air India still charged me cancellation fee which was 50% of ticket price. all other airlines are providing full refund. RIP Air India. will never book air india  Sandeep (@sandyparhar) March 11, 2020

Air India is refusing to provide full refund after Indian Ministry Travel Advisory has suspended travel from March 13th. Why should we have to burdened with cancellation fees? Please provide full refund. @airindiain @narendramodi  Raj Sehrai (@rajsehrai) March 13, 2020

One such person according to a report is Priyanka Dutt, an entrepreneur and a resident of Andheri. She was supposed to travel to Dubai along with her husband and two children, including an infant. When she contacted Air India Express customer care to get her tickets cancelled, she was asked to pay a cancellation and convenience fees of over Rs 20,000!

"We are a family of four and have booked tickets for a 12-day vacation (From March 15 to 26) to Dubai. But given the circumstances, due to coronavirus, there was a lot of confusion and we finally decided to cancel the plan. Therefore, I contacted Air India asking them to cancel the ticket. However, they said that there will be cancellation fees of Rs 18,900 and Rs 2,800 as a convenience charge, Mirror online quoted her as saying.

Twitter

She further said, "They are making a joke of the public. I want a solution. It is unfair for the national carrier to do so when India and Dubai both the countries are asking to avoid non-essential travel. In fact, hotels in Dubai are refunding the payment."

Meanwhile, GoAir airlines has waived cancellation fees for tickets booked till April 30.





Air India on its part said that Air India Express passengers can reschedule their tickets free of cost for new bookings but there will be no refund.
LOGAN, Ohio  A teen suspect in the death of a photographer who was killed by a large, falling branch last year in Hocking Hills has been taken back into custody as he awaits trial, according to reports.

Jaden Churchheus, 16, will be tried as an adult on charges of murder, aggravated murder, and reckless homicide in connection with the September death of Victoria Schafer, 44, of Chillicothe, Ohio. Jordan Buckley, 16, also is awaiting trial on the same charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.

The Chillicothe Gazette reports Churchheus was taken into custody after a court appearance Thursday. He is being held on a $250,000 cash or surety bond.

According to WBNS Channel 10, it is unclear how Churchheus violated his previous bond. He had been under house arrest with electronic monitoring. The Gazette reports he is scheduled to go on trial in May.

Both teens are accused of pushing a 74-pound log off of a cliff that struck and killed Schafer as she took photos near Old Mans Cave in Hocking Hills State Park on Sept. 2, 2019. Initial reports indicated Schafer had been killed by a falling branch. But officials with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources say they began investigating the two teens after receiving information that they might be involved in Schafers death.

Investigators with the Hocking County Sheriffs Department obtained a confession from the two teens about their involvement in Schafers death, according to reports. Schafer reportedly was taking senior photos of six high school seniors when the incident occurred.

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Half Yearly Report and Accounts

Perth, Mar 12, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - At the end of the period under review, Hastings Technology Metals Ltd ( ASX:HAS ) ( FRA:5AM ) reported a significant increase in the measured and indicated portions of the global Geological Resources. Combined Measured and Indicated Resources increased by 13% or 1.7Mt to 15.1Mt.An increase in the Probable Ore Reserves at the Yangibana Project was also announced with total Probable Ore Reserves increasing to 12.20 million tonnes at 1.13%TREO including 0.40%Nd2O3+Pr6O11, an 18% increase in ore reserve tonnes compared to the previous announced ASX release entitled "Reserves Increase by 34% to 10.35MT covering 10 Years" dated 29 January 2019.The updated Ore Reserve of 12.20 million tonnes represents an 18% tonnage increase compared to the previously announced mining reserve, which was the result of a successful geological re-interpretation of the mineralisation delineating the ore deposits.A significant increase in the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources was generated through the re-interpretation and re-estimation process of the Mineral Resources. This process brought mineralisation previously un-classified and uneconomic from outside of the original geological wireframes inside of the new wireframes, as announced in ASX Release "13% Increase in Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources" dated 31 October 2019.The resultant Mineral Resource upgrading has extended the mine life from 11 years to 13 years. The extension to mine life is underpinned by increases in the Ore Reserves of all economic pits, in particular the closest pits to the processing plant, Bald Hill and Frasers Pits. The Bald Hill pit alone represents over 40% of the Total Ore Reserves and supplies feed to the processing plant for almost 9 of the 13 years of mine life.To view the report, please visit:About Hastings Technology Metals Ltd

Hastings Technology Metals Ltd (ASX:HAS) (FRA:5AM) is advancing its Yangibana Rare Earths Project in the Upper Gascoyne Region of Western Australia towards production. The proposed beneficiation and hydro metallurgy processing plant will treat rare earths deposits, predominantly monazite, hosting high neodymium and praseodymium contents to produce a mixed rare earths carbonate that will be further refined into individual rare earth oxides at processing plants overseas.

Neodymium and praseodymium are vital components in the manufacture of permanent magnets which is used in a wide and expanding range of advanced and high-tech products including electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics, medical applications and others. Hastings aims to become the next significant producer of neodymium and praseodymium outside of China.

Hastings holds 100% interest in the most significant deposits within the overall project, and 70% interest in additional deposits that will be developed at a later date, all held under Mining Leases. Numerous prospects have been identified warranting detailed exploration to further extend the life of the project.

Brockman Project

The Brockman deposit, near Halls Creek in Western Australia, contains JORC Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources, estimated using the guidelines of JORC Code (2012 Edition).

The Company is also progressing a Mining Lease application over the Brockman Rare Earths and Rare Metals Project.

Hastings aims to capitalise on the strong demand for critical rare earths created by the expanding demand for new technology products.
The Pentagon on Thursday confirmed that the United States had carried out strikes against five Iran-backed militia weapons storage facilities in Iraq, a day after a deadly rocket attack killed two American and one British service member.

The United States conducted defensive precision strikes against Kataib Hezbollah facilities across Iraq, a Pentagon statement said.

These weapons storage facilities include facilities that housed weapons used to target US and coalition troops, it said.

The strikes were defensive, proportional and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups, the statement added.

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ANKARA, March 12 (Reuters) - Turkish and Russian officials have largely reached an agreement on details of a ceasefire in Syria's Idlib region during talks in Ankara, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying by state media on Thursday.

Last week, Turkey and Russia agreed on the ceasefire meant to halt an escalation of violence in Idlib. A Russian delegation arrived in Ankara this week to discuss the details including a security corridor and joint patrols on the key M4 highway.

Akar said talks with the Russians were still underway, and all Turkish forces in Idlib remained in place. He said Turkey would continue its military offensive in Idlib if the ceasefire is violated, reiterating a warning by President Tayyip Erdogan a day earlier. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that two more COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Kerala, both in Thiruvananthapuram.

With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases has risen to 19 in Kerala.

Of the two new confirmed cases, one is a native of Italy who was staying at a resort in Varkala. The second person is a Kerala native who had recently returned from the UK.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday said that so far 81 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in India out of which 64 are Indians, and the rest are foreign nationals.

Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a 'pandemic'.

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city, has so far spread to more than 100 countries infecting over 1,20,000 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Up until March 10, organizers of the 2020 Texas Library Association Annual Conference, which had been set for March 2427 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, were optimistic that the show would go on. But in hindsight, it didnt stand a chance.

As the outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus continues to prompt the cancellation of numerous trade shows around the world including the London Book Fair and the Bologna Book Fair, as well as SXSW in Austin, Tex.TLA representatives confirmed on March 11, after an emergency meeting of the TLA executive board, that the show would not go on.

With a heavy heart the TLA Executive Board made the difficult decision to transition to a streamlined, virtual event and cancel TLA 2020 activities in Houston to protect the health and safety of our members, attendees, sponsors and exhibitors, reads a March 11 statement from TLA organizers. While we are devastated that the TLA 2020 event will not take place in Houston, the statement concludes, we are excited to offer a quality professional development experience to the library community.

At press time, the logistics of the virtual event were still under discussion, including a plan to offer prerecorded programs online for registered attendees to view on demand. But a registration page and information page went online on March 12. And while TLA is offering the option of getting a full refund of this year's conference fee, organizers are hoping registrants will choose to apply those funds to the virtual conference, or at least choose to apply their 2020 fees to next year's show.

"The TLA Annual Conference represents 80% of our organizations annual revenue, and the greater the number of registrants who opt to attend the virtual conference or use their registration fee toward the 2021 conference, the higher the likelihood that we will come through this crisis intact," a message on the TLA website reads. "We have long been both the voice and the heart of the Texas library community and hope to continue in that role for many years."

The cancellation of TLA was not unexpected, and it comes despite the best efforts of conference organizers, city employees, and convention center staff to ensure a safe environment. Prior to canceling the event, TLA executives said more hand sanitizer units were being installed throughout the conference facility and more cleaning crews had been added that would be using hospital-grade disinfectants to regularly wipe down escalator hand rails and doors and to sanitize high-traffic areas and restrooms.

By the morning of March 10, however, publishers and other exhibitors had begun to pull out. And after a hastily called TLA executive board meeting the following morning, the group pulled the plug, just as the city of Houston was moving to shut down other large events, including the popular Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

As of this writing, the Houston Chronicle reports that there are 14 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Houston area, and both Houston and Harris counties have declared a health emergency.

Its fair to say that efforts to address the outbreak have now entered a new phase. On March 11, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic as the global death toll passed 4,300 and the number of confirmed cases worldwide exceeded 121,000, prompting a prime-time Oval Office address from President Trump.

Nationwide, the number of new cases also continues to rise, leading to the closures of many schools, including university campuses, and public libraries, and prompting many companies, including publishers in New York City, to offer their employees the option of working from home.

A focus on diversity

Until its cancellation, the TLA annual conference was certainly shaping up to be a strong one, and it was only fitting that the city of Houston was hosting. Equity, diversity, and inclusion have been a focus of the TLA for years, reflected in the theme of this years show: A Vision for All Texans. And according to the most recent U.S. Census data, Houston is one of the most ethnically diverse metropolitan areas in the United States, with at least 145 languages spoken by its residents.

Expanding diversity and inclusion efforts was a main plank of 2020 TLA president Cecilia Barhams platform when she was elected last year, but she says a particular TLA experience impressed upon her just how vital that mission is.

I went to a session for the TLA Reading List Coordination Committee, where all of TLAs reading list members go to learn why it is so important to ensure that they are inclusive in their book selection process, she recalls. We had a great panel of diverse authors, and at the end of the talk, the moderator asked if there was anything else the authors wanted to share. And one author, who writes science fiction, said that she is invited to serve on a lot of panels about diversity. And while she said she was always grateful for that opportunity, she would really love to be asked to sit on a panel about science fiction. When it came time for Barham, as TLA president, to take the lead in planning this years TLA program, that authors comment, she says, stayed with her.

I was just so moved," Barham told PW. "That was such a profound statement for me. And I realized its just not enough to put together 12 programs and say, ok, these are our diversity programs, and consider that box checked. We made sure that we looked at our conference holistically. We wanted to be sure that on every level, not just the program committee but all of the program planners throughout TLA, that we were really not just checking boxes but were really looking at all of our programming, each and every program, to ensure that we were being inclusive.

 Its just not enough to put together 12 programs and say, ok, these are our diversity programs, and consider that box checked. 

Funnily enough, the solution Barham and her TLA planning committee came up with to avoid falling into a check the box approach on diversity and inclusion was, well, a checklist.

We had a subcommittee put together a list of things that make up a truly diverse program, Barham says, and we shared it with all the program planners. Did that kind of resource work? Barham thinks so, but, she added that the proof would be in the pudding. And unfortunately, the pudding has now been canceled.

But despite the obvious disappointment of not seeing the program she and her colleagues worked so hard on come to life in Houston, Barham remains, upbeat and says she sees in the cancellation an opportunity for TLA to up its virtual programming game.

Decisions like these are always difficult, and ultimately how we face challenges is what defines us as individuals and organizations, she says of the cancellation. And TLA has responded in a thoughtful and innovative way that will, I believe, ultimately strengthen our organization and how we serve our members. So, while it was a difficult decision, I am excited to see the innovation and outcomes of our TLA 2020 virtual conference.

Meanwhile, the planning and programming is already well underway for the 2021 TLA annual conference, set for San Antonio. And incoming TLA president Christina Gola, associate librarian at the University of Houston Libraries, says her focus will also be on diversity and inclusionbut with a twist.

The tagline weve settled on is, Celebrate Differences, Empower Voices,  Gola says, adding that her goal is also to highlight advocacy and mentorship. We want to do something a little bit different in 2021, and thats to challenge our attendees to engage differently with the conference. The idea is to encourage TLA members to attend different programs or different events, or engage with different groups within TLA than they have at past conferences. In short, Gola is hoping to push librarians at the 2021 TLA annual conference out of their comfort zonesto experience difference as well as talk about it.

We hope to bring in a little bit of discomfort, and to help people move past that discomfort, Gola says. We want to raise up different voices, to encourage the voices of librarians who maybe havent had the stage before to be at the forefront, to help us explore what we need to be hearing and learning about.

Gola acknowledges the sheer ambition of the idea. Its going to be a big challenge. But its always a challenge to make new connections and to view things through a new lens.And while she says that she too is disappointed that the 2020 show will not go on as planned, like Barham, she is excited by the possibility of delivering virtual content. And, she adds, shes proud of the way the TLA executive board is handling the current crisis.

We had to consider the health and concerns of all our members, as well as the communities that might be affected by the potential spread of Covid-19, Gola says. The response by the TLA staff and the leadership of our executive director, Shirley Robinson, and our president, Cecilia Barham, have been thorough and thoughtful, and I feel confident in working through this.

In This Together

No question, losing this years show is disappointing, and a financial blow, as well. But there is reason for optimism. TLA is by far the nations largest and most engaged state library association, regularly drawing more than 7,000 attendees and 450 exhibitors to its conference. Yet, despite its size, TLA members often remark how the annual conference manages to feel like a family gathering. And that sense of togetherness will no doubt serve TLA well, and will help the annual conference bounce back in 2021. Because, as Barham once explained, Texas librarians (whether school, public, academic, or special) are in it togetherwhatever it is.

It was amazing, Barham says when asked to reflect on the past two years of work shes put in as president-elect and then president of TLA.

When I agreed to run, my only thought was that it was an opportunity to give back to an organization that has served me so well for the last 18 years of my career, where Ive met mentors who have guided me and helped me to grow personally and professionally, and made many friends. But its been so much more. To work with librarians from across the state and to feel their enthusiasm and their passion for the professionits been such an honor, and really humbling. TLA just continues to give to me.
[March 13, 2020] Grubhub and Major Cities Across the U.S. Launch Economic Relief Effort up to $100 Million for Independent Restaurants and Delivery Partners Impacted by COVID-19

CHICAGO, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In collaboration with the mayors of large cities across the United States who are on the front lines of the COVID-19 response efforts, Grubhub today announced it is temporarily suspending collection of up to $100 million in commission payments from impacted independent restaurants nationwide. Grubhub's initiative will provide immediate and substantial cash flow relief to qualified independent restaurants -- restaurants that make up the majority of Grubhub's 350,000+ restaurant community and drive more than 80 percent of the company's orders. Matt Maloney, Grubhub Founder and CEO said: "Independent restaurants are the lifeblood of our cities and feed our communities. They have been amazing long-term partners for us, and we wanted to help them in their time of need. Our business is their business -- so this was an easy decision for us to make." Grubhub has also created a fund that will enable proceeds from its Donate the Change program to go toward charitable organizations that support restaurants and drivers impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis. The program will allow diners to round up the change from every order and donate it to the Grubhub Community Relief Fund -- with donations from Grubhub+ (and Seamless+) members matched by the company. Grubhub has been raising more than $1 million dollars per month through Donate the Change. Grubhub will work with local city officials to identify the organizations that can utilize the funds and to consider other support programs during the pandemic. "The City of Chicago is deeply concerned about the risk COVID-19 is placing on the health of our residents and communities, as well as the impact it's having on our working families and neighborhood economies and restaurants," said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. "That is why we applaud corporate leaders like Grubhub who are stepping up with practical measures to support small businesses and their employees. Now more than ever, we must work together to ensure hardworking Chicaoans receive the support they need to thrive while also staying safe, secure, and healthy."



In Chicago, where Grubhub was founded in 2004 and is headquartered today, there are more than 10,000 restaurants on the platform, and thousands of drivers bringing delicious food from these restaurants to hungry diners. This relief fund will provide support for food industry workers, which are anticipated to become among some of the most impacted by the economic losses due to coronavirus and social distancing practices. This includes residents at small, neighborhood-based businesses like Chicago's Home of Chicken & Waffles, based in Bronzeville. As dine-in traffic is expected to slow up to 75 percent over the next few weeks, restaurants will rely on pickup and delivery orders to stay in business. "We have seen revenue decrease in the past week as a direct result of our customers staying home," said Darnell Johnson, owner of Chicago's Home of Chicken & Waffles. "Grubhub has helped us generate more delivery and takeout orders as our customers' dining habits have changed. This has helped us continue serving our loyal customers and our employees can continue living a sustainable lifestyle."

"Banding together during hard times, putting people over profit, and supporting our local businesses is a model we should all follow, and I thank Grubhub for leading the way," said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. "Restaurants are a pillar of the San Francisco small business economy and so important to the culture of this city," said Joaquin Torres, Director of San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development. "We are committed to doing everything in our power to support them in this time of crisis, but if we want to come through this public health emergency intact, we'll need more private sector partners to follow Grubhub's lead, do the right thing and invest locally to mitigate this crisis." These initiatives follow a series of measures taken by Grubhub to keep restaurants, diners, and drivers safe during the outbreak  including contact-free delivery and health and safety guidance to drivers, restaurants and diners. Additionally, Grubhub offers pickup from the largest restaurant network in the country, which helps individuals who might feel safer acquiring food on their own. About Grubhub

Grubhub (NYSE: GRUB) is a leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery marketplace with the largest and most comprehensive network of restaurant partners, as well as more than 22 million active diners. Dedicated to connecting diners with the food they love from their favorite local restaurants, Grubhub elevates food ordering through innovative restaurant technology, easy-to-use platforms and an improved delivery experience. Grubhub features over 350,000 restaurants and is proud to partner with more than 165,000 of these restaurants in over 3,200 U.S. cities and London. The Grubhub portfolio of brands includes Grubhub, Seamless, LevelUp, AllMenus and MenuPages. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grubhub-and-major-cities-across-the-us-launch-economic-relief-effort-up-to-100-million-for-independent-restaurants-and-delivery-partners-impacted-by-covid-19-301022993.html SOURCE Grubhub

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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.
Microsoft issued an urgent security update to fix a remote code execution security bug in Windows 10, two days after releasing the March 2020 update.

Microsoft explained in an official Windows announcement centre that on March 12 it released an 'out of band' security update to the vulnerability in its Server Message Block 3.1.1 (SMBv3) protocol which impacted Windows 10 version 1903 and 1909, and Windows Server version 1903 and 1909.

The company assured that it did not observe an attack exploiting this vulnerability. However, it is recommended that systems running the affected versions should be installed with the latest security update.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  The country lists 12 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 64.

The new patients are four female and eight male. They are between 30 and 49 years old.

The new cases were identified as the following:

PH53  30-year-old male from Mandaluyong City

PH54- 40-year-old male from Pasig City

PH55- 59-year-old female

PH56- 41-year-old male

PH57- 65-year-old male

PH58- 45-year-old female from Makati City

PH59- 27-year-old male

PH60- 49-year-old male from Makati City

PH61- 70-year-old female

PH62- 35-year-old female

PH63-33-year-old male from Rizal

PH64- 32-year-old male from City of Manila, but is confined in a hostpital in Bataan

With this development, the number of COVID-19 patients from Makati City is now at 10.

While San Juan City reported nine cases, even though Health department data shows the city has only eight.

Quezon and Pasig cities each have six confirmed cases, Marikina has five, Manila three, Mandaluyong two, and one each in Las Pinas City and Taguig.

Two patients have so far recovered from the virus, while five died.

How the other COVID patients are related?

PH31, a 28-year-old woman from San Juan City is the attending physician of PH9.

PH9 is an American man who travelled recently to the United States and Korea.

Meanwhile, PH9s wife (PH29) , another couple from his household, and a niece are also confined in a hospital for the virus.

They are all from Marikina City.

The other new patients are PH52 of Batangas and PH49, who are siblings. They are 79 and 72 years old, rspectively.

PH12 from Manila and PH43 from Makati City are brothers in law.

The other couples who got infected were PH28 and PH30, and PH5 and PH6 who are now both dead.

PH16 and PH17 travelled recently to Indonesia.

Despite the rising cases globally, the latest data from the John Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering, showed that 69,643 have so far recovered from the virus.
Presidente @MartinVizcarraC: Comunicamos que estan verificados y comprobados 28 casos de coronavirus en el pais. El incremento se esta dando de manera gradual pero de manera controlada gracias a las medidas que debemos seguir adoptando con la responsabilidad de toda la poblacion.
Description

GIS - 13 March 2020: Government severely condemns the actions of those who are spreading fake news on Covid-19 through social media. This irresponsible and anti-patriotic behaviour is having a negative impact on the image of Mauritius, nationally and internationally.

The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailash Jagutpal, denounced on 11 March 2020, during a press conference in Port Louis, the anti-patriotism of the people who spread false news on the Web. He added that fake news create a climate of fear and put pressure on health services.

Also present at the press briefing, Inspector Robin Bundhoo of the Cybercrime Unit of the Police Force, said that those found guilty in Mauritius of having disseminated false news on the Covid-19 risk a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 1 million for each false news broadcast.

Dr Jajutpal reassured the public that Governments priority remains public safety and that it favours a healthy line of communication. He added that there is no case of Covid-19 in Mauritius and clarified that if a case is detected, Government has the obligation to inform the World Health Organization and the population.

The Health Minister gave the assurance that surveillance and control at the port and airport are strict and that stakeholders respect the protocol established in the Operational Plan. He also stated that the committee chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, is closely monitoring the situation.

Dengue

According to a statement from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, as at 11March 2020, five cases of dengue have been identified in the Port Louis region. The patients have been taken care of and all present a stable state of health.

The Ministry has already initiated a series of actions, namely fumigation and larcividing exercises, in places considered to be at risk.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday suggested the Saarc grouping should frame a strategy to counter Coronavirus, a rare outreach involving Pakistan that drew a positive response from the six other members of the bloc.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) has been moribund since a summit scheduled to be held in Pakistan in 2016 was called off after a terror attack on an army camp at Uri in Kashmir. Since then, India has expended more diplomatic capital in shoring up alternative groupings such as Bimstec.

Modi caused a flutter in diplomatic circles by suggesting that Saarc could work jointly to counter COVID-19, and even calling for a discussion through video conferencing by the leadership of the eight member states.

I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy. Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet, he tweeted.

In another tweet, he said governments and people around the world are trying their best to combat COVID-19. South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population, should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy, he added.

Pakistans health minister Zafar Mirza told a briefing in Islamabad that Modis proposal wasnt discussed at the National Security Committee meeting chaired today by Prime Minister Imran Khan and attended by the military leadership.

Diplomatic circles noted the formulation of Modis tweets, including a reference to Saarc after a long gap. A person familiar with developments said the message from India was that regional countries could set aside differences and set an example for others by working on a global challenge.

It wasnt clear whether Pakistans National Security Council discussed Modis proposal during a meeting on Friday chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan and attended by the military leadership.

The proposal was welcomed by the leaders of other Saarc states. It is understood the Indian side could go ahead with the move because of the support from a majority of members.

Bhutan was the first Saarc state to endorse the move, with Prime Minister Lotay Tshering tweeting: This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghanis spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi tweeted his government strongly welcomes the proposal and the readiness of other Saarc members to work together [in] devising a unified strategy to fight the Coronavirus in the region.

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih thanked Modi for taking the initiative on this important endeavour, and tweeted COVID-19 requires collective effort to defeat it. He added, Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort.

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli welcomed Modis idea and tweeted: My government is ready to work closely with SAARC Member States to protect our citizens from this deadly disease.

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa thanked Modi and tweeted his country is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Lets unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe.

Bangladesh minister of state for foreign affairs Mohammad Shahriar Alam tweeted that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had welcomed the proposal and looked forward to a constructive dialogue with Modi, Solih, Oli, Tshering and Rajapaksa and other heads of government who already consented to discuss way forward at this testing time for the region and the world.

Afghanistan has so far reported seven positive cases and 60 suspected cases. Officials in the country with limited health facilities are bracing for a possible increase in infections as Afghanistan shares a 920-km border with Iran, the fourth most affected country.

India has so far recorded one death and 81 infections, including 17 foreigners. Pakistan has reported 21 cases.

The figures for other Saarc states continue to be low  one case each in Bhutan and Nepal, two in Sri Lanka, three in Bangladesh, and eight in the Maldives.

On Friday, officials of the external affairs, home and health ministries briefed representatives of more than 130 countries and international organisations on Indias steps to counter COVID-19. People familiar with developments said the officials, including the external affairs ministrys pointperson for COVID-19, additional secretary Dammu Ravi, offered clarifications on government advisories.

The diplomats mostly raised questions about health facilities and current travel regulations applicable to nationals of their country already in India or wishing to travel to India, said a person who declined to be named.

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Owen Hargreaves has heaped praise on Manchester United's new midfielder Bruno Fernandes after his recent performances.

Speaking on BT Sport during Manchester United's 5-0 win against LASK in the Europa League, Hargreaves even likened him to Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne.

'Every time he gets the ball he makes something happen,' said Hargreaves, after Fernandes created chance after chance against the Austrians.

Bruno Fernandes put in an impressive performance as Manchester United beat LASK 5-0

BT Sport pundit Owen Hargreaves heaped praise on Manchester United's new signing

'Fernandes is on fire, he created five chances in that first half,' said Hargreaves.

He continued on his recent form in the first-leg win. In eight appearances for United prior to Thursday's game he had scored three and provided three assists.

'Like De Bruyne, he plays at his own speed, he's never rushed, finds pockets of space,' Hargreaves continued. 'He just has a feel of when to do things.'

Fellow pundit Paul Ince said that Fernandes 'seems to be the midfield player United need,' before Hargreaves added 'he has given everyone at the club a lift.'

Hargreaves went on to liken Fernandes to Manchester City's star midfielder Kevin de Bruyne

Manchester United's game against LASK was played behind closed doors due to the threat of coronavirus.

It created an odd, quite atmosphere inside the stadium, and the pundits put LASK's poor performance in part down to the lack of fan support.

'As soon as they went 2-0 down their heads dropped,' said Paul Ince. 'There was no 12th man to help them forward. Fans are massively important, we saw we need them at these games.

UEFA is expected to address the coronavirus situation on Tuesday with regards to European competitions going forward.
Three terrorists who were jailed for firebombing a Melbourne mosque might not have their appeals heard unless Victoria Legal Aid reverses a decision to not fund their cases.

Abdullah Chaarani, Ahmed Mohamed and Hatim Moukhaiber were found guilty last year of an Islamic State-inspired attack on a Shiite mosque in Fawkner in December 2016 in what a jury was told was a sectarian terror act aimed at advancing their devotion to extreme Sunni Islam.

Ahmed Mohamed, Abdullah Chaarani and Hatim Moukhaiber are appealing their convictions on terrorism charges. Credit:Joe Armao and Darrian Traynor

Moukhaiber was jailed for at least 12 years, while Mohamed and Chaarani won't be eligible for parole for at least 28 years as they were also found guilty of being part of a conspiracy to plan a terror attack on Federation Square, which they intended to carry out in the weeks after torching the mosque.

The fire at the mosque caused $1.5 million worth of damage but no one was inside.
Political advisers to the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France will hold a phone conversation next week during which they will discuss the date for the next Normandy format summit in Berlin.

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said this at a briefing following a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"A meeting of the (political) advisers was supposed to take place on March 12, but it was postponed due to quarantine. The advisers will have a telephone conversation next week, during which they will also talk about the date of a possible summit of the Normandy Four leaders in Berlin. I hope that it will take place in April," Yermak said.

As reported, the previous Normandy format summit was held in Paris on December 9, 2019.

ish
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[This article is part of the developing coronavirus coverage, and may be outdated. Go here for the latest on the coronavirus.]

On Saturday, the Trump administration extended the ban on foreign nationals from certain European countries to include those traveling from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The latest restrictions go into place on Monday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

The ban on travelers from the European continent, which went into effect on Friday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time, does not apply to United States citizens, green card holders or their immediate family members. The same will be true of the extended ban. But regardless of nationality or residency, all travelers could still be affected  by increased security screenings, airline service reductions or other effects of the coronavirus outbreak.

Heres a guide on which countries are affected, and what changes to air travel and airfare could occur.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Friday the White House and Congress are nearing a deal on stimulus and that the administration is committed to doing whatever it takes to spark the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

He did not provide specifics, though he mentioned previous statements from President Donald Trump advocating for a payroll tax holiday that could last through the end of the year.

"I think we're very close to getting this done," Mnuchin said in a "Squawk on the Street" interview. "The president is absolutely committed that this will be an entire government effort, that we will be working with the House and Senate."

He also promised that the administration, working with the Federal Reserve, will take aggressive measures to make sure businesses have access to capital.

"There will be liquidity available," Mnuchin said. "Whatever we need to do, whatever the Fed needs to do, whatever Congress needs to do, we will provide liquidity and this will be an entire whole-of-government approach led by the president."
Human rights and media freedom watchdogs are urging Pakistan to release from pretrial detention the owner and editor in chief of the countrys biggest independent media group.

Mir Shakilur Rehman of the Jang group of newspapers and TV stations was arrested in the eastern city of Lahore on March 12 by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with allegations of tax evasion in a real-estate purchase 34 years ago.

The Jang group, which has been critical of the government and the activities of the NAB, rejected the allegations against Rehman and described his arrest as an attack on the freedom of expression.

Daniel Bastard, the head of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Asia-Pacific desk, said Rehmans arrest is not based on anything legal and is clearly harassment in order to bring the Jang group into line.

The Pakistani authorities have shown tremendous creativity in intimidating journalists who try to do their jobs independently, Bastard said in a statement.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), called Rehmans detention just the latest case of harassment against Pakistans beleaguered media.

The space for dissent in Pakistan is shrinking fast, and anyone who criticizes government actions can become a target, Adams added.

Pakistans media operate in a climate of fear, the New York-based watchdog said. Media outlets are under pressure from authorities not to criticize the government.

The statement also said that the NAB has been widely criticized for being used for political purposes.

Pakistan is ranked 142nd out of 180 countries in RSFs 2019 World Press Freedom Index.
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2020) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Matica Enterprises, Inc. (OTCQB: MMJFF) ("the Company"), a multi-faceted, innovative company in the Quebec cannabis space. CEO of the Company, Boris Ziger, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly.

Jolly began the interview by commenting on the medical sales license that was recently secured by the Company's subsidiary, RoyalMax. "That's a huge development for us. This has really been what we've been working towards for several years," said Ziger. "RoyalMax is a Health Canada license holder. So, we can actually grow and process cannabis now, which is absolutely huge for us," explained Ziger. "Right now, we are steps away from revenue."

Ziger then expanded on the Company's repurposed indoor cannabis grow facility, which is located inside a former undercover police station. "We've built a first-class facility over there," said Ziger. "It's a small one, about 10,000 square feet," he added. "We've been growing absolutely incredible cannabis over there."

Jolly then commented on the plummeting stocks associated with many companies in the cannabis industry, and asked Ziger about the future of the cannabis industry and what it means for the Company. Ziger shared his background as a stock broker, and explained that the cannabis industry experienced an irrational exuberance followed by a correction in the markets. "We've had a lot of challenges in the industry, a lot of regulatory challenges," said Ziger. He then explained that the correction seems to be slowing, leaving the quality cannabis companies to emerge.

"What do you think the biggest challenges are for your company and the industry itself?" asked Jolly. "The biggest challenge right now is getting through the growth period of the retail markets," said Ziger. "There's not enough outlets for our products," he explained. "It's a huge issue I think, but it's being addressed really well now," said Ziger. "We really need Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia to come on in a big way, and it is happening."

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Jolly then asked about the Company's goals over the next two to three quarters. "The big thing for us, and this addresses what we talked about before, is quality," said Ziger. "There's mediocre product out there and there's a lot of it," he continued. "We want to show that we can grow very good product, and that all of Quebec can grow very good product," said Ziger. "That's going to be a big challenge for us. We want to make sure that what we're growing continues to be a high-quality product," he said. "That will develop a following and a brand, and that's what we need."

To hear Boris Ziger's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7529075-matica-enterprises-inc-discusses-upcoming-revenue-potential-with-the-stock-day-podcast.

Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/.

About Matica

Matica is a multi-faceted, innovative company in the Quebec cannabis space. Its subsidiary, RoyalMax Biotechnology Canada Inc. is a Dorval, Quebec based Health Canada Licence Holder. RoyalMax has been granted a standard cultivation licence, standard processing and medical sales licences by Health Canada. In the township of Hemmingford, Matica is building 1,000,000 square feet of greenhouse growing space, in 200,000 square foot increments, on a sprawling 181 acre property.

For more information on Matica Enterprises please visit the website at: www.maticaenterprises.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

MATICA ENTERPRISES INC.

Boris Ziger

Boris Ziger, CEO & Chairman

The Company's public filings are available for review at www.sedar.com and www.thecse.com.

For further information, please contact Boris Ziger, at:

Telephone: 416-304-9935

E-mail: info@maticaenterprises.com

Website: www.maticaenterprises.com, www.maticammj.com

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

Certain information in this press release may constitute forward-looking information. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. The Corporation assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Corporation. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Corporation's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com.

This news release contains statements about the Company's information that may be made available on the S&P Capital IQ Corporation Records Listing Program and the business of Matica that are forward-looking in nature and as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. We seek Safe Harbor.

About The "Stock Day" Podcast

Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America. Stock Day recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona.

SOURCE:

Stock Day Media

602-441-3474

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53389
The Karnataka government on Friday issued an order closing all shopping malls, cinema halls, public swimming pools, gymnasiums and pubs starting Saturday for one week.

The governments decision comes in the wake of the first confirmed death of a coronavirus (Covid-19) patient in the state. A 76-year-old resident of Kalburgi had returned from Saudi Arabia on February 29 and died on Tuesday night on his way back from Hyderabad to Kalaburgi.

Chief minister BS Yediyurappa held an emergency high-level meeting with senior health department officials to assess the overall preparedness of the state government.

Health minister B Sriramulu, minister for primary and secondary education S Suresh Kumar, medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar and deputy chief Minister Dr Ashwath Narayan were also present in the meeting.

The CM addressed the media after the meeting and appealed to the people to cooperate with the state government. We will revisit the decision after a week. Till then I appeal to everybody to avoid all unnecessary travel. All international travellers coming to Bengaluru will also be compulsorily quarantined for two weeks, the state government said.

Karnataka has reported five confirmed coronavirus cases and 982 people are under quarantine. Earlier, the government had issued orders for schools and universities to be closed. However, scheduled examinations like those for Grades 10 and 12 would be held.

The government also said that no conferences, temple fairs and big fat weddings would be permitted for the next one week.

However essential services, including medical, government offices, pharmacies, milk booths and public transport, would remain operational as usual. The government said that no person suspected of being infected will be allowed the right of refusal to treatment.

If necessary the quarantine of such persons is mandatory irrespective of consent, it said.

The government urged information technology and information technology-enabled services companies to allow their employees to work from home for a week.

A Flipkart spokesperson in a statement said: In light of the current updates on the coronavirus [Covid-19] situation and keeping in mind the well-being of our employees, we have decided to extend work from home for our employees till the end of next week.

Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) said that the industry body would suffer substantial losses because of the week-long shutdown.

KFCC Vice President Umesh Bankar said that the shutdown of movie theatres for a week and other activities connected to the industry would result in losses that could run up to ~80 crore.

Earlier, late on Thursday night global search giant Google acknowledged that the fifth person in Karnataka to test positive for coronavirus (Covid-19) was its employee and announced that as a matter of abundance of caution, we are asking employees in that Bangalore office to work from home tomorrow [Friday].

The Google employee had travelled to Greece.
UPDATE as of 9 a.m. March 16: Atlantic City School District is closing March 17. Student will return after spring break on Monday, April 20.

ATLANTIC CITY  Superintendent Barry Caldwell announced Thursday that schools in the district will be closed to students Friday in preparation for possible future shutdowns due to the new coronavirus.

Were closing school tomorrow for students only. Staff will be coming in for an essential planning day. Were planning in the event that there is an emergency school closing in the state of New Jersey and we would have to provide remote home instruction, Caldwell said.

Local schools preparing for possible closings due to COVID-19 In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, school sporting events have been postponed, fans banne

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In addition to Friday, the district is moving another professional development day from next Thursday to Monday for more preparation.

Caldwell said students should expect to return to school Tuesday.

The districts planning will include preparation of Chromebooks for all the students to complete work in the event of a closing for up to 30 days. Caldwell said the district plans to operate the business office and feed the students if a closing is necessary.
Lisnagar Oscar ridden by jockey Adam Wedge celebrates winning the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle during day three of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse.

It was business as usual at the track as the Cheltenham festival entered its final hurdle after a busy week of racing and socialising.

Despite speculation that today's Gold Cup finale may be cancelled after the British government called an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss the coronavirus, they have decided to allow large-scale gatherings to continue.

Day three of the annual festival saw huge crowds continuing to gather at the Cotswolds course for the annual blow-out.

There was no end to the thrilling racing on the track after a 50/1 long shot caused a massive upset in the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle as it was first past the post as onlookers watched in shock.

Trained by Rebecca Curtis, winning entry Lisnagar Oscar was superbly piloted to victory by jockey Adam Wedge.

Willie Mullins also scored a big win after Min was finally a winner in his fourth Cheltenham festival, after flying to victory in the Ryanair Chase under Paul Townend.

"He's been a super horse for us and it's great he's had his day here," Mull-ins said.

There was no shortage of nail-biting finishes for punters either.

Top jockey Davy Russell and Samcro (4/1) held off strong rival Melon in a photo finish to win the Grade One Marsh Novices' Chase in the opening race.

Afterwards, delighted trainer Gordon Elliott said that to "win a Grade One in Cheltenham is something else".

Speaking about the day's racing, Nicola McGready of Ladbrokes said they "couldn't have asked for a better result in the Stayers' Hurdle with 50/1 shot Lisnagar Oscar causing a huge upset".

"Wins for Samcro and Min were also great results, but with the Gold Cup still to come, we're not getting ahead of ourselves," she added.

Meanwhile, thousands of racing-mad Irish people who attended the Cheltenham Festival will begin pouring home through the country's major airports today and tomorrow, with no thermal screening currently in place.

Cancelled

While travel agents say that a "small number" of people cancelled their packages to attend the Gloucestershire event in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, huge numbers still pushed ahead.

Some of them opted to attend for just two days, but a huge number went for the whole week while Ireland bans events attracting crowds of more than 500 people.

An estimated 15,000 people from these shores travel over to Cheltenham every year, and there was a noticeable and noisy Irish contingent in place this year.

Around 250,000 racing fans were expected to attend over the week.

The HSE told the Herald that while Cheltenham is a large gathering, the risk remains low, and anyone infected should be in containment phase in a hospital at this point.

The health authorities added that anyone who has come in contact with someone showing signs of Covid-19 should ring their GP immediately.
Congress workers on Friday waved



black flags at former party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who recently joined the BJP, when he was on his way to the city airport.

The incident occurred near Kamla Park in the city in the evening.

Scindia was going to the airport after holding a meeting with BJP national vice president Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the latter's residence.

"The party workers showed black flags to Scindia as he has deceived the party," state Congress secretary Abdul Nafees said.

"Besides waving black flags at Scindia, they also blackened a vehicle which was part of his motorcade," he claimed.

A police officer said that the Congress workers tried to stop Scindia's motorcade near Kamla Park.

However, the police personnel removed the protesters and cleared the way for Scindia's vehicles, he added.

Twenty-two Congress legislators in the state resigned after Scindia, a former Union minister, quit the Congress earlier this week, pushing the Kamal Nath government to the brink of collapse.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hours after Jyotiraditya Scindia joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) re-opened a six-year-old forgery case against him.

The development came after Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was a veteran of the Congress for almost 2 decades, left the grand old party and joined the BJP on Wednesday.

The Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has decided to begin the inquiry afresh by re-verification of facts in a complaint against former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his family, in which they are accused of falsifying a property document while selling land.

Scindia has been accused of falsifying a property document while selling land worth 10,000 crores.

The Madhya Pradesh EOW has started an investigation into the case.

On Wednesday, Scindia joined BJP in New Delhi in the presence of party President JP Nadda. He had resigned from Congress a day earlier after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He will file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections on March 13.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MOSCOW (Reuters) - All of Russia's 85 regional parliaments have voted in favour of constitutional amendments that would allow Vladimir Putin to run again for president again in 2024, the RIA news agency cited senior Russian lawmaker Andrei Klishas as saying on Friday.

Putin in January unveiled a major shake-up of Russian politics and a constitutional overhaul, which the Kremlin billed as a redistribution of power from the presidency to parliament.

But Putin, 67, who has dominated Russia's political landscape for two decades as either president or prime minister, made a dramatic appearance in parliament this week to back a new amendment that would allow him to ignore a current constitutional ban on him running again in 2024.

His intervention raised the prospect of him remaining in power until 2036, though the Kremlin points out that Putin has not yet said whether he will run again in 2024.

Both houses of the national parliament have since backed the new amendment and a majority of regional parliaments endorsed it on Thursday, sufficient for it to move to the next stage of the approval process.

But Klishas was cited on Friday as saying that every single one of Russia's 85 regional parliaments had now said yes.

"The Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) has received the results of voting in all 85 regional parliaments," said Klishas. "They are all positive," RIA cited him as saying.

The list of 85 regions he referenced includes two which are part of Russian-controlled Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Russia's constitutional court must now examine the constitutional changes, which are due to be put to a nationwide vote in April.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, told lawmakers on Thursday to rally behind Vladimir Putin against what he said was a foreign campaign to discredit the constitutional reforms.

(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova, Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
TORONTO, March 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Unisync Corp. (TSX: "UNI") (Unisync") is pleased to announce that Public Works and Government Services Canada has awarded a long-term Managed Clothing Solution Contract (MCSC) to its wholly owned subsidiary, Unisync Group Limited (UGL), for the provision of uniforms and related accessories to the Canadian Coast Guard, a Special Operating Agency under the umbrella of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. This contract involves the provision of uniforms and related accessories, and management services including but not limited to uniform design, manufacturing, inventory management and warehousing, ordering, distribution and on-line web-based ordering and program data management services. The MCSC, which is for an initial term of three years with two two-year extension options, is estimated initially at $1.6 million per annum.



The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) helps ensure the security and prosperity of Canada by providing essential services to the marine community. These services include waterways management, aids to navigation, search and rescue, environmental response, icebreaking (escort and flood control) and marine communications and traffic services. The CCG also plays an important role in maritime security and provides and operates the federal governments civilian fleet. It is a significant symbol of Canadian Sovereignty, especially in remote northern areas. The CCG carries out its responsibilities with a workforce of approximately 6,000 employees, including approximately 3,500 uniformed personnel who provide services at approximately 107 staffed shoreside locations, aboard 118 ships and 4 Air Cushion Vehicles, numerous smaller vessels and 22 Helicopters.

ABOUT UNISYNC

Unisync is a broad-based vertically integrated North American enterprise with exceptional capabilities in garment design, domestic manufacturing, and off-shore outsourcing, including state-of-the-art web based B2B ordering, distribution, and program management systems. Unisync operates through two business units: UGL and Peerless Garments LP (Peerless).

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UGL provides full-service, managed apparel programs for major corporations and government-related entities through operations across Canada and has recently expanded into the US marketplace through the establishment of a 45,000 sq. ft. distribution and service facility in Henderson, Nevada, and a sales and service facility in Lakewood, New Jersey. The Nevada facility is now staffed and distributing new uniforms for the launch of its first major US based airline account which is currently rolling out its new designs to employees. UGLs customer base includes a broad list of North American iconic brands as well as municipal and provincial agencies across Canada.



Winnipeg based Peerless specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of highly technical protective garments, military operational clothing, and accessories for a broad spectrum of Federal, Provincial and Municipal government agencies in Canada.

For more information on our capabilities, products and services please visit the Unisync website at www.unisyncgroup.com .

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Matthew Graham, CEO

Investor relations contact:

Douglas F Good 778-370-1725 or Email dgood@unisyncgroup.com



Forward Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risk and uncertainties that may cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such forward-looking statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13

Trend:

The Armenian armed forces continue provocations on the state border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Trend reports on March 13 referring to the Azerbaijani State Border Service.

The Armenian armed forces deployed near Berkaber, Lalagukh and Sevkar villages of Armenias Ijevan district intensively shelled the residential buildings and civilian vehicles in Abbasbayli village of Azerbaijans Gazakh district while using large-caliber weapons, from 11:45 (GMT+4) on March 13.

The Armenian armed forces provocation was prevented. The firing points of the combat positions of the Armenian armed forces, from which the Azerbaijani settlements were fired on, were suppressed by return fire.

Currently, the operational situation is under the full control of the border guard posts of the Azerbaijani State Border Service.
Noticing fewer people on the road? You're not imagining things.

The coronavirus pandemic is leading to reduced highway traffic on American roadways in certain major metropolitan areas as many people begin to telecommute and avoid social interaction.

Congestion is easing in places like New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco, according to traffic figures provided exclusively to USA TODAY by HERE Technologies, a location data and technology company with more than 9,000 employees.

COVID-19 is having a rolling impact on traffic congestion across the U.S., with significant reductions in traffic levels seen across West Coast cities, with East Coast cities starting to see tangible drops as well," said Steve Harding, HERE's director of traffic and connected services.

The upshot is that driving from place to place could quickly become faster than ever.

But that doesn't mean you should be hitting the road since authorities are advising people to practice "social distancing" and avoid public gatherings wherever possible. Hundreds of thousands of lives may be a stake, according to health authorities.

Dine out or eat in?: Here's what public health and food safety experts say

Market chaos: Here's what happens when you panic and sell your 401(k) investments

Here's a snapshot of how highway traffic is changing in several major cities (all figures reflect 8 a.m. local time on March 11, 2020, compared with 8 a.m. local time on March 11, 2019).

Highway traffic in Seattle, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, has fallen sharply. This map, created by location data firm HERE Technologies, shows the difference in traffic between March 11, 2020, and March 11, 2019. Red shows heavy congestion, yellow shows moderate congestion and green shows no congestion. (Black indicates road closure or construction.) Traffic on the core highways of Seattle has declined 64%.

Seattle

In Seattle, highway traffic plummeted 64%, according to HERE. Seattle has been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 outbreak, and major local employer Amazon has encouraged its employees to work from home.

HERE's data is based on real-time and historical traffic figures and is created through the aggregation of billions of data points from internet-connected devices, car sensors and public sources.

Highway traffic in San Francisco has fallen sharply amid the coronavirus outbreak. This map, created by location data firm HERE Technologies, shows the difference in traffic between March 11, 2020, and March 11, 2019. Red shows heavy congestion, yellow shows moderate congestion and green shows no congestion. (Black indicates road closure or construction.) Traffic on the core highways of San Francisco has declined 59%.

San Francisco

In San Francisco, highway traffic plummeted 59%. San Francisco is at the heart of the nation's tech economy, which has converted many workers to telecommuting in recent days.

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Highway traffic in Los Angeles has fallen amid the coronavirus outbreak. This map, created by location data firm HERE Technologies, shows the difference in traffic between March 11, 2020, and March 11, 2019. Red shows heavy congestion, yellow shows moderate congestion and green shows no congestion. (Black indicates road closure or construction.) Traffic on the core highways of Los Angeles has declined 13%.

Los Angeles

In Los Angeles, highway traffic was down 13%. Like other major cities, major employers and events in Los Angeles have taken steps to prevent people from interacting in tight quarters.

HERE also reported that the typically congested roads entering Los Angeles International Airport were showing no levels of congestion on Wednesday morning.

Highway traffic in New York has fallen amid the coronavirus outbreak. This map, created by location data firm HERE Technologies, shows the difference in traffic between March 11, 2020, and March 11, 2019. Red shows heavy congestion, yellow shows moderate congestion and green shows no congestion. (Black indicates road closure or construction.) Traffic on the core highways of New York has declined 10%.

New York City

In New York, highway traffic was down 10%. That was a day before Broadway closed. Many of the city's major museums, sporting venues and other large public spaces have also been temporarily shuttered.

Highway traffic in Washington, D.C., has increased the coronavirus outbreak. This map, created by location data firm HERE Technologies, shows the difference in traffic between March 11, 2020, and March 11, 2019. Red shows heavy congestion, yellow shows moderate congestion and green shows no congestion. (Black indicates road closure or construction.) Traffic on the core highways of Washington has declined 47%.

Washington, D.C.

In Washington, D.C., highway traffic was up 47%. "Most" federal agencies have not yet authorized telework for their employees, according to trade journal Government Executive.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus pandemic is cratering road traffic in these US cities
RABAT, March 13 (Reuters) - Morocco will close all schools and universities and other educational and vocational training institutions starting from March 16 until an indefinite date as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus outbreak, the education ministry said on Friday.

Classes will be substituted by distance learning, the ministry said in a statement.

Morocco, which confirmed seven coronavirus cases including one death and one recovery, suspended trips with China, Italy, Spain, Algeria and France. (Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
China on Friday issued a report on human rights violations in the United States.

Titled "The Record of Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2019," the report said the facts detailed in the document show that "in recent years, especially since 2019, the human rights situation in the United States has been poor and deteriorating."

The State Council Information Office released the report based on published data, media reports and research findings. It began by citing a quote from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a speech on April 15, 2019: "We lied, we cheated, we stole ... It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment."

"The remarks of U.S. politicians have completely exposed their hypocrisy of adopting double standards on human rights issues and using them to maintain hegemony," read the report.

The United States released annual reports to "distort and belittle" human rights situation in countries and regions that did not conform to U.S. strategic interests, but turned a blind eye to the "persistent, systematic and large-scale" human rights violations in its own country, the report said.

Consisting of foreword and seven chapters, it detailed facts on human rights violations in the United States relevant to civil and political rights, social and economic rights, discrimination suffered by ethnic minorities, discrimination and violence against women, living conditions of vulnerable groups, and abuses suffered by migrants, as well as U.S. violations of human rights in other countries.

The lack of restraint in the right to hold guns has led to rampant gun violence, posing a serious threat to citizens' life and property safety in the United States, the report said.

"The United States is a country with the worst gun violence in the world," read the report. In total, 39,052 people died from gun-related violence in the United States in 2019, and a person is killed with a gun in the United States every 15 minutes, figures showed.

Wealth polarization in the United States hit a 50-year high in 2018, the report said. In 2018, the wealthiest 10 percent held 70 percent of total household wealth. The bottom 50 percent saw essentially zero net gains in wealth over the past 30 years, it noted.

Regarding discrimination suffered by ethnic minorities in the United States, the report said the political structure and ideology of white supremacy in the United States have caused ethnic minorities to suffer all-round discrimination in various fields such as politics, economy, culture and social life.

Since 2016, white supremacy in the United States has shown a resurgence trend, leading to racial opposition and hatred, it noted.

Women in the United States face severe discrimination and violence, according to the report. Women in the United States were 21 times more likely to die by firearm homicide than women in peer nations, it noted, adding that sexual assault cases against women kept increasing.

About the living conditions of vulnerable groups, the report said tens of millions of U.S. children, elderly people, and disabled people live without enough food or clothing, and face threats of violence, bullying, abusing and drugs.

"The U.S. government not only has insufficient political will to improve the conditions for vulnerable groups but also keeps cutting relevant funding projects," read the report.

While levels of extreme poverty worldwide had dropped dramatically, the poverty ratio of U.S. children was about the same rate as 30 years ago, it said.

The report noted the increasingly strict and inhumane measures taken by the U.S. government against immigrants in recent years, in particular, the "zero-tolerance" policy, which caused the separations of many immigrant families.

Many unaccompanied immigrant children were held in overcrowded facilities, without access to adequate healthcare or food, and with poor sanitation conditions, the report said.

It noted grave abuses at detention facilities for immigrants, including injecting them with sedatives, keeping them in handcuffs, and depriving them of clothing and mattresses.

The United States also wantonly trampled on human rights in other countries and was responsible for many humanitarian disasters around the world, according to the report.

The economic embargo against Cuba and the unilateral sanctions against Venezuela imposed by the United States had been a massive and flagrant violation of the human rights of people in these countries, the report said.

The United States withdrew from several multilateral mechanisms, including the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Global Compact on Migration, shirking off its international obligations and making troubles to the international governance system, it noted.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday that market fundamentals were sound and there was no need for "excessive panic", after the island's bourse at one point plunged more than 7% amid global alarm over the coronavirus pandemic.

Taiwan's main index skidded in morning trading to its lowest in more than a year, echoing slumps in financial markets around the world. However they pared earlier losses to close down 2.8% to a 11-month low. On her Facebook page, Tsai said Taiwan's trade-reliant economy remained sound, exports continued to grow and its virus control work was well in hand.

Aside from a $2 billion stimulus package, the government was pushing ahead with other steps to revive the economy, which would support the stock market, she added. "Taiwan stock market fundamentals are good," Tsai said. "(I) hope investors can keep their confidence and have no need for excessive panic."

The Finance Ministry, Central Bank and other departments are paying close attention to movements on the international markets, and will "react immediately" if the time comes to maintain stability in the foreign exchange market and momentum in the stock market, she added.

Taiwan's state-backed banks bought stocks on Friday at the government's request to support the market, three sources with direct knowledge told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. A government fund also bought stocks, said a separate source with direct knowledge of the purchases.It was unclear how many stocks they bought. The Finance Ministry declined to comment.

Tsai said on Thursday another $1.33 billion was available to stimulate the island's economy on top of the previous $2 billion package, after the central bank warned the coronavirus epidemic will have a longer impact than previously thought.

Taiwan also has a National Stabilisation Fund it can activate to intervene in the stock market if needed. Taiwan is ready to use that to ensure market stability, its finance minister said earlier on Friday before the market opened.

Finance Minister Su Jain-rong told reporters in Taipei minutes before the stock market opened that the fund "is prepared for battle at any time" and has already drawn up a strategy to protect the markets. Su urged investors not to be unduly pessimistic about short-term global market volatility and "not to panic".

Taiwan has reported only 50 cases of the virus, versus more than 80,000 in China, but it has ramped up containment efforts, suspended visits to the island for most Chinese visitors and severely limited flights to China, including Hong Kong and Macau.

Taiwan, a key part of the global technology supply chain whose largest trading partner is China, had already cut its estimate for 2020 economic growth to 2.37% last month, citing the threat from the outbreak to its export-dependent economy.

Also read: Coronavirus effect: Dollar stands tall as investors scramble for liquid currency

Also read: Coronavirus Live Updates: 46 people quarantined in Karnataka where virus claimed the life of 76-year-old man
(Newser)  With bail bondsmen refusing to work with her, Lori Vallow remains jailed in Idaho on charges of felony child abandonment, obstructing an officer, solicitation of a crime, and contempt of court, all related to the disappearance of her children, Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7. It's a far cry from Vallow's days in the spotlight some 15 years ago. As Oxygen.com reports, Vallow won $17,000 on Wheel of Fortune in 2004, shortly before strutting across the stage in the Mrs. Texas beauty pageant. In video footage of the pageant, an announcer mentions Vallow's third husband, Joseph Ryan. Like several others linked to Vallow, Ryanthe father of Tyleeis now dead. The FBI has asked Phoenix police for information on his 2018 death from an apparent heart attack, per AZFamily.com, which reports Ryan was cremated.

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A family member claims Vallow received money from Ryan's life insurance policy despite her describing him as "evil" and claiming "God took care of him." Vallow also claimed "God told her she was going to be on Wheel of Fortune before she auditioned," Ryans sister tells Inside Edition. Vallow's brother, Alex Cox, had previously been convicted of attacking Ryan with a stun gun and threatening to kill him. Cox shot and killed Vallow's fourth husband, Charles Vallow, in July 2019. On Oct. 2, months before he was discovered dead, Cox may have also fired a bullet at Brandon Boudreaux, the husband of Vallow's niece, from a vehicle registered to Charles Vallow, reports the East Idaho News. That same month, Vallow married current husband Chad Daybell, whose wife had died in her sleep two weeks earlier. That death is also under investigation. (Much more here.)
(File Photo)

By Zheng Siyuan and Shi Yang

ANKARA, March 13 -- The first Chinese language training course for Turkish Armed Forces, jointly hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Turkey and the Confucius Institute of the Middle East Technical University (METU), was launched in Ankara on March 10. Representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Turkey, the METU Confucius Institute and the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces attended the opening ceremony.

Chinese Military Attache to Turkey Senior Colonel Chen Qingsong stated at the ceremony that the relations between the two countries and the two militaries have been developing continuously in recent years and the Turkish Armed Forces' first Chinese language training course is of great significance. The course will enable the Turkish military to have first batch of Chinese-speaking personnel, help them to better understand China and Chinese military, enhance mutual trust. It will also attract more Turkish military members to learn Chinese and better know China, said Snr. Col. Chen.

Cultural Counselor Shi Ruilin of the Chinese Embassy in Turkey claimed that the METU Confucius Institute will ensure high quality teaching resources for Turkish military personnel. China is willing to keep in touch with the Turkish side and continue to provide necessary support and assistance for future training course as always.

An official from the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces expressed best wishes for such a cultural event, saying that the Turkish military has selected 10 service members to study Chinese fulltime for five months. It is an active attempt of the Turkish military to train Chinese-speaking talents. In the future, they will explore the possibility of establishing a long-term Chinese language training mechanism based on the experience from this course.
Cash withdrawal restrictions and other moratorium conditions on Yes Bank will be lifted within 3 days of "very soon" to be notified SBI-led bailout plan for the beleaguered lender, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.

Meanwhile, private sector lender ICICI Bank has announced to invest Rs 1,000 crore for an equity in excess of 5 per cent in the crisis-ridden bank. HDFC will also infuse Rs 1,000 crore, while Axis Bank will invest up to Rs 600 crore to purchase 60 crore shares in the bank.

Sitharaman said the central bank is engaged with other financial institutions for investment as part of the scheme to resurrect Yes Bank under RBI imposed moratorium since March 5.

Cash withdrawal from the bank was capped at Rs 50,000.

"Today the Cabinet has approved reconstruction scheme for the Yes Bank as was proposed by the RBI," she said.

"The decision to provide a reconstruction scheme keeps at its core the protection of depositors' interest, keeps at its core providing stability to Yes Bank and also keeps at its core keeping a stable financial environment, banking system," she added.

The minister said the bank was being monitored for past one year.

She said the State Bank of India (SBI) will invest up to 49 per cent of the equity in Yes Bank and other investors are also being invited. RBI has been engaged in lot of engagements to bring in other investors, she added.

"After the notification of the scheme, within 3 (working) days the moratorium will be lifted and within 7 days, a new board will be constituted," Sitharaman said, adding that the notification will be issued "very soon".

There will be two directors from the SBI on the new board of the Yes Bank.

The administrator will vacate the office within 7 days of notification and new board will take charge.

Following the moratorium, the RBI had superseded the board of Yes Bank and placed it under an administrator, Prashant Kumar, former deputy managing director and CFO of SBI.

There will be a three year lock-in period for all the investors, she said. However, the lock-in period for SBI would be only for 26 per cent of shareholding. It would be 75 per cent in case of other investors.

The authorised capital of Yes Bank too has been increased to Rs 6,200 crore "so that we can accommodate immediate and also subsequent raising of capital requirements", the finance minister said.

As per RBI's draft reconstruction scheme for the bank, its authorised capital was to be Rs 5,000 crore.

On Thursday, SBI said it will invest Rs 7,250 crore in Yes Bank, which is much higher than Rs 2,450 crore it had planned initially for 49 per cent stake in the private sector lender that began operations in 2004.

The minister declined to comment on a query regarding write-off of AT1 (Additional Tier-1) bonds, saying the matter is in court.

In a stock exchange filing, ICICI Bank said it will invest Rs 1,000 crore in Yes Bank for cash consideration.

The decision on the investment, it said was taken at the board meeting of ICICI Bank held on Thursday.

This investment is likely to result in ICICI Bank Ltd holding in excess of 5 per cent shareholding in Yes Bank, with the final shareholding to be determined based on the final Scheme of Reconstruction and share issuance thereunder, it added.

HDFC also announced investing Rs 1,000 crore in Yes Bank for an equity stake.

Meanwhile, Axis Bank said it will invest up to Rs 600 crore in Yes Bank for up to 60 crore shares as part of the reconstruction plan for the cash-strapped peer lender.

"The Board of Directors of Axis Bank Ltd at its meeting held today has accorded approval to invest a sum of up to Rs 600 crore for acquiring up to 60 crore equity shares of Rs 2 each of Yes Bank Limited, for cash, at a premium of Rs 8 per equity share, under the proposed Scheme of Reconstruction of Yes Bank Limited under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949," Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing.

Since the RBI action on Yes Bank, the central agencies ED and CBI have arrested Yes Bank's co-founder and former CEO Rana Kapoor for alleged money laundering and corruption, while his wife Bindu and three daughters are also being quizzed by these agencies for their role in siphoning of public funds.

One of the biggest charges against Kapoor is that he illegally benefitted to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore by lending to certain troubled companies like DHFL, Anil Ambani group and Essel Group -- all the loans worth around Rs 20,000 crore that have turned into bad debt.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PHOENIX  A transgender woman seeking asylum should be released after she was sexually assaulted and harassed while being detained in an Arizona immigration facility with men for nine months, advocates said Thursday.

Alejandra Alor Reyes, who is from Mexico, is suffering from PTSD and should be released on humanitarian grounds while she awaits an appeal in her asylum case, according to several groups, including ACLU of Arizona, Trans Queer Pueblo and Detention Watch Network.

They say her case is a further indication that transgender immigrants face unsafe conditions and that none are being held with members of the gender they identify with.

Reyes, 24, says she fled Mexico after suffering abuse and discrimination because she is transgender. Shortly before presenting herself at an official border crossing to seek asylum, Reyes was kidnapped and beaten, and part of her thumb was cut off, advocates said.

She asked for asylum in June and has been in custody since then, serving two stints one for a month in solitary confinement, according to the advocacy groups.

Supporters are pleading with ICE to release her from custody while she appeals her asylum denial. They say the agency has violated its own polices by placing Reyes in solitary for longer than it should.

ICE continues to fail to address her needs and further harms her by keeping her in custody, said Yvette Borja, an attorney with the ACLU of Arizona.

The Associated Press doesnt typically name people who say they are sex abuse victims, but Reyes and her advocates have gone public with her claims, hoping to bring attention to her case.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it had offered to transfer Reyes to housing for transgender detainees in August but she declined.

ICE is committed to upholding an immigration detention system that prioritizes the health, safety, and welfare of all of those in its care and custody, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals, spokeswoman Yasmeen Pitts OKeefe wrote.

However, the nations only housing for transgender migrants was located in New Mexico before it closed in January amid long-standing allegations of inadequate medical care and mistreatment.

Asylum-seeker Roxana Hernandez, 33, was held at that facility after making her way to the U.S. from Honduras in 2018. An autopsy by the New Mexico medical examiner showed Hernandez died of a rare disorder that developed quickly due to AIDS. Supporters said she didnt receive the medical care she needed when she became ill. Hernandez died at a hospital.

Advocates estimate there are currently about 90 transgender migrants in immigration detention, all being held with detainees who identify as a different sex.

They say transgender inmates face a lack of sufficient medical care and that staff arent trained to deal with whats considered a more vulnerable population.

Reyes, who is being held at a facility about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of Phoenix, knew she was transgender as a child and faced harassment at home for being effeminate.

She ran away when she was 13 and has spent her life fleeing abuse, living on the streets off and on for many years, according to Cyrina King, an immigrant advocate. In detention, Reyes devours romance novels by Isabel Allende while she waits for her appeal.

Reyes is in peril as long as shes detained, advocates say.

We are concerned about her mental health because she has been diagnosed with PTSD. It will lead to mental health deterioration if she is not released, Borja said.
Scott Olson | Getty Images

Municipalities in west-central Illinois are not planning on making major changes to polling places for Tuesdays primary in the wake of the spread of COVID-19.

The new coronavirus has led to dramatic changes in the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Both Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden have canceled major events out of concern over the virus. In Illinois, election officials confirmed that they are proceeding with the primary.
ROME (Reuters) - A planeload of medical supplies, including masks and respirators, has arrived in Italy from China to help it deal with its growing coronavirus crisis.

The coronavirus outbreak began in China late last year but has since swept the globe. Italy is now the worst-affected nation in the world after China, with 1,016 dead and 15,113 confirmed cases since the contagion came to light there on Feb. 21.

A team of nine Chinese medical staff arrived late on Thursday with some 30 tonnes of equipment on a flight organized by the Chinese Red Cross.

"In this moment of great stress, of great difficulty, we are relieved to have this arrival of supplies. It is true that it will help only temporarily, but it is still important," said the head of the Italian Red Cross, Francesco Rocca.

"We have a desperate need for these masks right now. We need respirators that the Red Cross will donate to the government. This is for sure a really important donation for our country," Rocca said.

The outbreak risks overwhelming Italian hospitals and some key supplies are running low.

In contrast to China, Italy's partners in the European Union earlier this month refused Rome's requests for help with medical supplies as they looked to stockpile face masks and other equipment to help their own citizens.

(Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Houthi rebels in Yemen this week secured crucial areas of oil-rich Marib province  the main stronghold of the internationally recognized government of exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

The Houthis took over critical parts of the province March 10, building on recent victories that gave them control over the strategic Nahm district, east of the capital, Sanaa, and the Hazm district, the center of al-Jawf province. They also captured al-Ghail district adjacent to Hazm in the country's northeast.

This comes in light of the retreat of the forces of Yemen's internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led Arab military coalition, and Riyadhs declining military support to this government. Government military sources told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity for security reasons that Saudi Arabia didn't adequately support government forces in the al-Jawf battle.

The recent defeat of government forces is due to several reasons, most notably the struggle of field military wings with multiple political and ideological loyalties. While many of them are affiliated with al-Islah Party (the Muslim Brotherhood), other forces are loyal to the General People's Congress political party led by Lt. Gen. Sagheer bin Aziz, the president's recently appointed chief of staff.

In addition, rampant corruption rages within the national army. Yemeni Defense Minister Mohammed Ali Maqdashi revealed in April 2019 that only 30% of the armys troops are on the front lines; 70% stay home while getting paid for fighting.

Meanwhile, Riyadh's reluctance to provide military support in the battle of al-Jawf can be traced to political, economic and military reasons.

At the political level, Saudi Arabia is holding unofficial peace talks with the Houthis. The kingdom, expected to host the G-20 Summit later this year, could be seeking to defuse the heated confrontation with the Houthis in part for that reason. Meanwhile, the Houthis on Feb. 14 downed a Tornado jet belonging to the Saudi air force in al-Masloub district in al-Jawf. They also bombed the facilities of Saudi oil giant Aramco in the industrial city of Yanbu Feb. 21 in tandem with the battle in al-Jawf. In addition, Saudi Arabia is pressuring the Yemeni army to restructure to reduce al-Islah's influence.

The strategic importance of al-Jawf province stems from its location on the Saudi border. If the Houthis can get control of the entire province, they would add to their current border control in Saada province. Moreover, controlling al-Jawf would pave the way for Houthis to take over Marib.

The Houthis control areas surrounding Marib from three directions, to the east from Nahm, to the south from Sirwah, and to the north from al-Jawf.

If the Houthis manage to impose full control on Khub and al-Shaaf district, the largest district in al-Jawf province, they would clear their way toward the Wadi Hadhramout region of northeastern Yemen. But field indications and movements show that the Houthis are making Marib their priority.

The Yemeni government issued multiple statements after the Houthis victory in al-Jawf. But the most daring and foreboding was by presidential adviser Ahmed Obaid bin Dagher, in a series of tweets. The fall of al-Jawf may change the balance of military forces once and for all in the crucial battle with the Houthis," he began.

Bin Dagher, a former prime minister, added, If we deal with this victory like we did with the fall of Nahm, we would be deciding the battle in favor of the Houthis in Yemen and in favor of Iran regionally. He pointed out that this would be the end of the Saudi-led Arab coalition intervention that started in March 2015.

At the military level, by controlling Nahm, the Houthis secured an administrative stronghold  the center of Sanaa. By controlling the center of al-Jawf, they also secured their main stronghold in Saada.

However, on the political level, by advancing in al-Jawf province, the Houthis seek to gain an upper hand in negotiations with Saudi Arabia or any future talks the United Nations might encourage between the Yemeni parties.

Adel Shujaa, a member of the General People's Congress party, told Al-Monitor, External reasons led to the fall of the center of al-Jawf province, most notably the conflict between the UAE and al-Islah Party on one hand, and the conflict between the UAE and Saudi Arabia on the other. Each of these parties believe this is a matter of settling scores. This falls in favor of the Houthi militia. If the Houthis achieve a complete victory, they will control land and sea regional security.

Even as the Houthis have their eyes set on Marib, UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths made a surprise visit to the province March 7, anticipating any military escalation.

He called for an immediate and unconditional freeze of military activities and the start of a comprehensive, inclusive and accountable de-escalation process, demanding the parties of the conflict ensure that Marib  not become the next epicenter of fighting and of the war.

This UN concern was accompanied by clear and direct warnings to avoid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Marib province, especially as it represents a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of displaced Yemenis amid the madness of war.

In his statement to the media after he met with Gov. Sultan al-Arada in Marib, Griffiths said, Last week alone, thousands of displaced people arrived here to escape the fighting in al-Jawf.

It seems that the Houthis might use their recent military victories as a trump card during unofficial peace talks to pressure Riyadh to reduce its support for the Hadi government. However, the Houthis are likely to avoid any direct confrontation with Saudi Arabia, to present a reassuring message regarding the borders.

Meanwhile, Houthis are likely to focus on controlling the vast areas in al-Jawf, and then advance toward Marib. This would open another path toward the oil and gas provinces of Shabwa and Hadhramaut in southeast Yemen.

Based on these recent developments, Riyadh's priorities are likely to pivot toward protecting its borders and improving its economy, away from its direct and crucial interference in the military confrontations on the Yemeni scene.

The Houthis succeeded in gaining a short-term military path to the source of wealth in Marib, home to oil wells and refineries, without the need to storm the center of the province, for now. They seem to be applying a well-known tactic of accepting negotiations or a truce to take a breath, and then launching a painful military strike against their opponents.
A Longford man has recently been appointed to the role of Commissioner for Oaths in the Supreme Court.

Michael McLoughlin, from Newtownforbes, made the ambitious decision to study the fundamentals of law after he retired from the Defence Forces following 33 years of service at home and abroad.

I have always had a great interest in all aspects of law and, rather than talk and read about it, I decided to do something about it, and I did, he told the Leader, adding that, while going back to school was not easy, it was certainly very rewarding.

If youre going to return to college after a good few years out, you might as well participate in a challenging course. It certainly was that and more.

I graduated with distinction in legal studies. Since this, I have done an online course in contract and employment law - must be the renewed education bug.

I received great encouragement from the legal profession, so I decided to apply to become a commissioner for oaths through the Supreme Court Dublin.

Having met the criteria, Mr McLoughlin was appointed to the role by the Chief Justice, to whom he is very grateful for the opportunity.

He is now authorised to verify affidavits, statutory declarations and other legal documents.

If he could do it all again, he says he certainly would - but maybe a few years earlier.

If you have a real interest in any specific subject, go for it, he advised anyone thinking of going back to college in later life.

Like I say, Ive done it and Im proud to have done it, as are my family and friends.

Read next: Longford's Philip Reynolds pinning hopes on Percy Gold Cup triumph
Cumberland County Prison is limiting visitation to inmates as a precautionary measure, the county announced Thursday afternoon.

In a post to social media, the county said all visitation by family, friends and volunteers is suspended until further notice. The county said this was due to rapidly changing developments involving 2019 novel coronavirus.

Officials at 7 other central Pennsylvania county prisons were not available Thursday evening to discuss precautionary measures being taken at county facilities.

Read more on coronavirus on PennLive:
Sharjah, March 13 : Sharjah Police on Friday were on the lookout for three Indian men who attacked and robbed their employer of 4 kg of gold biscuits, before catching a flight to Mumbai within an hour of the incident, a media report said.

The incident occurred on Friday afternoon when the three workers attacked their 57-year-old Bangladeshi sponsor, snatched the gold and passports from a locker in the latter's gold workshop and fled the United Arab Emirates, reports Gulf News.

A police spokesman said the suspects meticulously planned the crime.

A team from Sharjah Police's Criminal Investigation Department visited the crime scene and examined the CCTV footage which showed the workers attacking the owner and hitting him with a steel rod.

The police have issued an arrest warrant and informed Interpol.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Students who choose to leave campus as classes shift to an online format will be able to get some money back.

Grand Valley State University said it will reimburse students that live on campus for a portion of their food and housing costs that theyve paid to the university.

As an institution we are always student-centric, said Maria Cimitile, provost and executive vice president for Academic and Student Affairs at GVSU. We recognize our students have to think about their finances greatly and this is just business as usual for us where we put students at the center of what we do.

The exact amount that students will be reimbursed hasnt been worked out, Cimitile said, because it is a dynamic situation and they dont know how long students will be off campus.

On March 11, GVSU announced that it was canceling in-person classes for the rest of the week and moving to online-only classes through at least March 29.

I realize the spread of the COVID-19 virus is concerning to all of us, GVSU President Philomena V. Mantella said in a letter to students. Be assured, you will get the support you need to get through this pandemic that has found its way to our state.

That support also includes allowing work-study students to keep working when possible, Cimitile said.

GVSU is working on virtual work study for students in those programs who want to keep working during the remote learning period. If its not possible and the students have to be on campus to work, Cimitile said the university will educate the students about the coronavirus pandemic before allowing them to work on campus.

So while students will have the opportunity if there is work for them, we will make sure that theyre making informed decisions about what theyre doing, she said.

The school also has funding set aside for students who have a financial hardship, including the Momentum Fund, which exists to provide help to those GVSU students struggling financially.

Some other universities in Grand Rapids are also looking into refunding on-campus students who leave due to the coronavirus. All Michigan public universities have suspended in-person classes and replaced them with online-only formats.

Cornerstone University is moving all classes to an online format, but the residence halls and dining commons will remain open for students that stay on campus.

The university plans to consider prorated room and board refunds for students who complete the Off-Campus Response Form and live off campus for at least a week at a time during the schools three-week shift to online learning. The university said the prorated refunds will determined closer to the end of the semester.

Three people have tested presumptive-positive for COVID-19 in the Kent County area as of Friday March 13.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has closed all PreK-12 schools in the state starting March 16, and banned gatherings of more than 250 people.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

More From MLive on Cornoavirus:

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer bans gatherings of more than 250 people as coronavirus spreads

Possible coronavirus exposure locations named across Michigan

Church groups in Michigan issue coronavirus guidance, some urge suspending in-person worship
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 05:44:00|Editor: yan

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LIEGE, Belgium, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A plane carrying Chinese medical supplies for Europe to assist its battle against the novel coronavirus landed in Liege, Belgium on Friday night.

The supplies were donated by two charities -- Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation and comprise half a million face masks, which will be sent to Italy.

The two charities are donating in total two million masks and other crucial supplies such as test kits.

Friday's shipment, which is the first batch, arrived at Alibaba's logistics hub at Liege Airport. Further shipments are due over the next few days.

Parties sponsoring the efforts include Liege airport and the Wallonia Export-Investment Agency, a governmental agency of the Walloon Region of Belgium.
Skills and talent development company NIIT on Friday said it will not hold classes in its centres located in Delhi-NCR until further notice amid the coronavirus outbreak.

"In compliance with Delhi government order to close all educational institutions as a precautionary measure to control COVID-19 spread, NIIT has decided not to hold classes in its centres located in Delhi- NCR, until further notice," NIIT Senior Vice President (Corporate Communications and Marketing) Prateek Chatterjee said in a statement.

He added that the company is reviewing the situation and will keep the students informed on a regular basis.

"Till such time the classes restart, we are working on online modes of imparting training to our learners to minimise disruption," he said.

The number of coronavirus patients in India has risen to 75, as per health ministry records.

The national capital has so far recorded six cases of coronavirus.

The Delhi government on Thursday ordered all educational institutions in the national capital including schools and colleges to be closed till March 31 in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

More than 1,30,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A jury has been asked to return to the Central Criminal Court on March 30th for a fishmonger's murder trial which had been scheduled to get underway today.

Fishmonger Edmundas Dauksa (50), of Castletown Road in Dundalk, Co Louth, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his partner Ingrida Maciokaite (31) at Bridgewater Mews, Linenhall Street, Dundalk, Co Louth on September 18th, 2018.

This morning Ms Justice Eileen Creedon told the jury of five men and seven women that, as they know, there are matters concerning health currently in the community and people are being asked to minimise their interactions over the next fortnight.

The judge said as a consequence of these circumstances, and out of an abundance of caution, she was asking the jury to return to the court on Monday, March 30th, when the trial will commence.

She added that obviously things might change between today and March 30th but she told the jurors that the registrar has the jurors contact details and any changes will be communicated to them.

Ms Justice Creedon told the jury that the trial is not expected to last any longer than two weeks. After asking the jurors if any of them would have any difficulties sitting for two weeks from March 30th, one man indicated that he may have a problem with April 5th.

The judge then told the jury that they will reconvene on March 30th. Thank you very much, she told the jurors.

On Monday, as Mr Justice Paul McDermott empanelled the jury, he told the jurors that the facts alleged include that Mr Dauksa 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.
One of the biggest fraudsters in US history plans to make a 'personal plea' for early release after medics said kidney disease had left him with less than 18 months to live.

Bernie Madoff was jailed for 150-years in 2009 after he squandered more than $17.5billion entrusted to him by investors.

He has reportedly failed to show remorse for his crimes in the decades-long scheme, but now plans to make a 'dying' appeal by telephone to Judge Denny Chin, who sentenced him, for mercy.

Madoff, 81, is currently confined to a wheelchair at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina. He also requested early release last year, allegedly to care for his wife Ruth in her old age.

Bernie Madoff, 81, pictured outside court in New York, has reportedly failed to show remorse for his crimes where he squandered more than $17.5billion from investors. He is currently confined to a wheelchair at federal prison in Butner, North Carolina

Vehicles are parked outside the medical center at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina, where Madoff is being held

Attorney Brandon Sample told judge Chin that Madoff should be allowed to contest claims by prosecutors that he has failed to show remorse.

He told Judge Chin, who is now in the federal appeals court but presides over the case, that he would benefit from 'hearing directly from Mr Madoff about his acceptance of responsibility'.

'Allowing Mr Madoff to give what is, in effect, a final dying, personal plea is imminently reasonable,' he said.

'Mr Madoff's live, personal statement, could also help the Court in reaching its weighty decision whether to grant Mr Madoff compassionate release.'

However, prosecutors have filed papers opposing this request. 'Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil,' they said. 'His sentence was appropriately long. It should not be reduced.'

Prosecutors opposed Bernard Madoff's request to be freed from prison even if he is close to death from kidney failure. The convicted financier is show in a 2008 mug shot

As many as 500 of his victims have also written in to call for his early release to be denied, saying 'one of history's worst fraudsters' should face the consequences of his crimes.

One victim, an 84-year-old man, said in a letter handed in on March 4: 'Why should he be shown any compassion, when he had none for his many victims?'

Only 20 victims said they would be happy for him to be released early.

The federal Bureau of Prisons, which published the estimate of his remaining lifespan, has also refused to offer him early release as this would 'minimize the severity of his crimes'.

Assistant US Attorney Drew Skinner said that any move to release Madoff would be 'self-serving and of limited, if any, evidentiary value'. He did not, however, give a view on whether the criminal should be released.

Since his crimes were committed an estimated $14billion of the money lost has been recovered.

Madoff pictured after suffering a heart attack in federal prison, according to a report

Madoff also appealed for release last year ostensibly to look after his wife Ruth in her old age

Madoff confirmed on Wednesday last week that he is 'terminally ill'.

'There's no cure for my type of disease. So you know, I've served. I've served 11 years already, and, quite frankly, I've suffered through it,' Madoff said.

His lawyer Brandon Sample says that despite the prosecution's claims, Madoff 'is remorseful for his conduct,' and 'remains hopeful' his request will be granted.

Madoff also requested for his sentence to be reduced last year, claiming that he wanted to take care of his wife Ruth in her old age.

Madoff's case is the biggest test of the First Step Act, a bipartisan law signed by President Donald Trump in December 2018 affording early freedom to some older prisoners, often for health reasons.

Among those released is Bernard Ebbers, who once led phone company WorldCom Inc. He died on February 2 at age 78.

Among those released under the First Step Act was Bernard Ebbers, who once led phone company WorldCom. He died on February 2 at age 78

Prosecutors said Madoff used his firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities to swindle thousands of individuals, charities, pension funds and hedge funds, including many with ties to the Jewish community.

A court-appointed trustee estimated Madoff's customers lost $17.5billion. Nearly $14billion has been recovered.

Madoff was arrested in December 2008 after admitting his fraud to his sons, who have since died, and pleaded guilty three months later to 11 criminal counts.

They also said his request last year that President Trump commute his sentence was mainly so he could care for his wife Ruth in her old age, 'apparently confident' his health would allow it. Trump has not acted on that request.
Worldwide Facilities has revealed that it has appointed John Curry to the role of senior vice-president of the national wholesale insurance brokers New York, NY office.

Curry most recently served as a vice-president for RT Specialty. In that role, he led a casualty team with a focus on construction risks, and specializing in New York placements. Curry has worked in brokerage roles within the New York casualty market since 2007.
Sonora, CA  A 91-year-old man from Gardnerville, Nevada suffered major injuries in a crash on Highway 49 near Jackass Hill Road.

It happened Thursday evening at around 6pm. The CHP reports that Radisha Nichiporuk lost control of his 2000 Honda Accord while traveling through a curve in the roadway. The car went into a pasture and collided with a dirt embankment. He suffered major injuries and was flown to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto for treatment.

CHP Officer Steve Machado reports, During this investigation, Officers learned that Mr. Nichiporuk was recently reported as being a missing person out of Douglas County, Nevada. The Douglas County Sheriffs Office was notified at approximately 9:30pm regarding the location of Mr. Nichiporuk. The Douglas County Sheriffs Office was able to contact his family and notify them of his location and condition.

No additional information is available in regards to why he was in Tuolumne County, and how he became missing. The CHP was notified that family members would be meeting him at the hospital.
With 17 confirmed coronavirus patients found in Maharashtra, the state government on Friday ordered closure of cinema theaters, gymnasiums, swimming pools and public parks in cities of Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad till March30.

The closure order will come into effect from Friday midnight, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, announcing that the government has invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 to tackle the virus outbreak.

As provided under the Act, schools and colleges in Pune and neighbouring twin industrial towns of Pimpri and Chinchwad will remain closed till further orders, he told reporters.

Wherever possible, private sector companies should allow employees to work from home, he said.

Theaters, gymnasiums, swimming pools and parks in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune will be closed till March 30, he said. People should also avoid visiting malls and other crowded places, he added.

"We will review the situation and take further decision," Thackeray told reporters after making the same announcement earlier in the Assembly.

As many as 17 patients have been confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus in Maharashtra, he said. Ten of these patients are in Pune, three eachin Mumbai and Nagpur, and one in Thane which abuts Mumbai.

These decisions were taken as a precautionary measure, the chief minister said, adding that the epidemic was successfully contained in China's Wuhan city after it was virtually shut down.

Event organizers have been asked not to organise social, political and religious gatherings, the chief minister said, adding that permissions granted earlier stand canceled.

"People have been advised not to visit malls, hotels, restaurants," he said.

Bus and train services fall under essential services and cannot be stopped, the CM said, while urging people to avoid unnecessary traveling.

He also mentioned that the symptoms of those who have tested positive in the state are mild and some of them have no symptoms of the disease at all.

At present four confirmed coronavirus patients are admitted to isolation wards at Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai, ten at Naidu Hospital in Pune and three at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Nagpur.

Of the 17 patients, 15 had returned from places such as Dubai, France and the United States.

Isolation wards have been kept ready at district hospitals, government hospitals in urban areas and some private hospitals as well, the chief minister said.

As per the Centre's advisory, passengers arriving from China, South Korea, Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Iran are quarantined whether they show any symptoms of the disease or not.

"We will ask the centre to include the US and Dubai in the list since patients diagnosed as positive in the state have arrived from these two countries," Thackeray said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
About 1.5 million American seniors now live in nursing homes. Seventy percent of them rely on Medicaid to pay the bill, which means they are low-income or have otherwise spent down their assets.

My mother spent the last few months of her life in a nursing home. My first wife died in a nursing home. My wifes mother spent a lot of time in nursing homes. Today, I have elderly friends in nursing homes who I try to occasionally go and see. Its the same old story. I continue to see a multitude of lonely, forgotten people who have been warehoused in facilities until they breathe their last breath.

Placing my wife in a nursing home was one of the hardest things Ive ever done. She was in the final stages of multiple sclerosis and needed 24-hour care which I couldnt physically give. However, looking back emotionally and even physically I dont think I would have been as drained if I had just kept her at home and tried to have cared for her. Nursing Homes are exhausting. You think at the time its the only answer, but then you are there numerous hours every day trying to make sure your loved one is not being neglected. In todays nursing homes the chances are great they will be neglected because the average nursing home cannot keep enough staff to take care of everyone. One worker told me once she was in charge of taking care of 60 people every night. She said that oftentimes there would be people she never saw on her shift.

Nursing home care cost is astronomical. Just a bed, three meals a day and an occasional bath will cost you around $7,500 a month. My mother-in-law needed rehabilitation. Three years ago her cost was over $15,000 a month for four months. My father-in-law shelled out $60,000 of their life savings for rehab. They had worked hard to save that money, but you cant take it with you. However, most people dont intend to work all of their lives so that they can turn their savings over to a nursing home.

Nursing homes are not a relief emotionally or physically and financially they will break you. Most Americans end up paying for their nursing home care via Medicaid. Going on Medicaid is no picnic as it means, in reality, you no longer have any means to pay for your care. Twenty years ago I was the pastor of a church with a small salary and financially we didnt have anything except a house payment. Going to the local county office for health and family services and applying for Medicaid for nursing home care for the care of my invalid dying wife was tough. It was our last resort. We were glad it was available but it was emotionally tough. Its the same office where you go and apply for food stamps.

There are some good nursing homes out there and many, many hardworking, caring nurses. There are some really bad ones out there too and they are all extremely expensive.

All the time we hear about Americans being medically insured. What about long term care insurance for aging Americans? Our nation is getting older. The baby boomers are a large chunk of our population  75 million! Baby boomers are going to face bankruptcies and mega financial challenges as is this nation with the long term care of our generation.

Our politicians must come up with a long term care plan that does not require the financial ruin of millions of Americans. I know long term care insurance is available if you are not sick and can afford it. However, somehow we have to add long term care insurance to Medicare. Yes, it will cost us every month to pay for it just like we are paying for Part B now. However, it would be for real medical care in the nursing home with real rehabilitation if it is needed; and not just for a bed and three meals a day and an occasional bath. Plus it would spare the elders in this nation from having to file bankruptcy and go into poverty to have a shelter over their heads the last few months or even years of their lives.

Please add this issue to the national discussion.

Glenn Mollette is the author of Nursing Home Nightmares  Americas Disgrace. He can be reached at GMollette@aol.com.
This is the hunky gay escort found naked and overdosing on crystal meth in a hotel room with a leading Democrat, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Andrew Gillum, a married father-of-three who narrowly missed out on becoming Florida's first black governor, was too 'inebriated' to speak when cops arrived at the ritzy Mondrian Hotel in Miami's South Beach party district.

He was inside the room early Friday with two more men, one of them a 30-year-old male escort named Travis Dyson who was being treated by paramedics for a suspected drug overdose.

Cops found three plastic bags of suspected crystal meth and the third man present, Aldo Mejias, 56, told officers that Gillum and Dyson had been 'under the influence of an unknown substance', according to a police report obtained by DailyMail.com.

Andrew Gillum was found in a hotel room at Mondrian South Beach early Friday morning with two other men, Travis Dyson, 30, and Aldo Mejias, 56

Paramedics were called to the room after Dyson, a male escort, overdosed on crystal meth

DailyMail.com can reveal Dyson posts explicit photos and homemade porn movies online and has previously had a profile on the Rent.men website, which advertises male escorts and sex workers

The report also noted that 40-year-old Gillum, a former Tallahassee mayor and regular CNN contributor, was seen vomiting in the bathroom and required a welfare check to see if he was okay.

Gillum, who is married with three young children, denied using any drugs in a statement Friday but admitted to having 'too much to drink' (pictured with his wife R. Jai Howard)

Police are not pressing charges over the incident and Gillum denies taking drugs, however he later issued a groveling apology over his behavior.

'I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends,' he said in a statement. 'While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamine.

'I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement.'

Miami Beach resident Dyson describes himself as a trauma certified ER nurse on social media, where he posts photos of himself working out in the gym, partying at gay nightspots and lounging on luxury yachts.

But DailyMail.com can reveal he also posts explicit photos and homemade porn movies online and has previously had a profile on the Rent.men website, which advertises male escorts and sex workers.

It is not clear how he is connected to Gillum, who narrowly missed out on becoming Florida governor in 2018 when he lost the gubernatorial election to Republican Ron DeSantis.

Gillum met his wife R. Jai Howard while they were studying at Florida A & M and together they have three young children.

When contacted by the Miami New Times, Dyson said he had known Gillum 'for a while' but didn't know anything about a wedding.

Dyson describes himself as a trauma certified ER nurse on social media, where he posts photos of himself working out in the gym, partying at gay nightspots and lounging on luxury yachts

Paramedics were called to the four-star Mondrian South Beach hotel early Friday, which costs $220 per night

According to the Miami Beach Police Department, officers were called out at 12:55am after reports of a guest suffering a cardiac arrest at the four-star Mondrian Hotel, where room costs upwards of $220 per night.

They arrived to find paramedics performing first aid on Dyson in the wake of 'a suspected drug overdose' and preparing to take him to the hospital.

Mejias - described in the report as 'the complainant' - told officers he had given his credit card details to Dyson on Thursday afternoon to rent a hotel room.

'Mr Mejias arrived at the hotel at approximately 23:07 hours where he discovered Travis Dyson and Andrew Gillum inside the room under the influence of an unknown substance,' the report states.

'Per Mr Mejias, Mr Dyson opened the hotel room door and immediately walked over to the bed and collapsed in a prone position. Mr Mejias observed Mr Gillum inside of the bathroom vomiting.

'Mr Mejias stated that he observed Mr Dyson having difficulty breathing, prompting him to wake him up. Mr Dyson then began vomiting on the bed and immediately collapsed again.

'Mr Mejias began conducting chest compressions on Mr Dyson and proceeded to contact police and fire rescue.'

'Officers then attempted to speak to Mr Gillum. Mr Gillum was unable to communicate with officers die to his inebriated state.'

It is not clear how Dyson is connected to Gillum, but Mejias said he and Dyson had plans to meet up

Police arrived to find paramedics performing first aid on Dyson in the wake of 'a suspected drug overdose' and preparing to take him to the hospital

The report says officers performed several welfare checks on Gillum and he was described as being 'in stable condition and his vitals are normal.'

Dyson, meanwhile, was conscious and in stable condition in the hospital.

'Inside of the hotel room, officers observed in plain sight three small clear plastic baggies containing suspected crystal meth on both the bed and floor of the hotel room,' the report went on.

'Mr Gillum left the hotel room and returned to his residence without incident.'

No arrests were made and police do not plan on bringing charges.

'At this time the incident is not being investigated as a criminal matter,' said a spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department.
On March 6, workers at a Faurecia Interior Systems facility in Spring Hill, Tennessee voted 7863 to reject joining the United Auto Workers (UAW). This is the latest in a string of defeats of UAW efforts to expand its dues base into the American south. It is also the third such rejection in the state of Tennessee, following the rejection by workers at Volkswagens assembly plant in Chattanooga in 2019 and at Nissans Smyrna facility in 2017.

Faurecias 145,000 square-foot facility, which first opened last August, is located near General Motors sprawling Spring Hill Assembly complex, and supplies door panels and plastic interior moldings for the Cadillac XT5 and XT6 and the GM Acadia SUVs. These components were originally produced at GMs Vehicle Interior Systems Plant, adjacent to its manufacturing facility, but were outsourced to the Faurecia plant, in a move which was facilitated by the UAW.

The results of the vote were reported in a public Facebook post by Local 1853 GM Chair Mike Herron, who wrote:

Faurecia won the business, built a plant and immediately began fighting the UAW which was attempting to gain union recognition just like many of the other Faurecia plants. Instead, Faurecia hired a union busting firm to come in and scare the living daylights out of these Faurecia workers. More than 20 of these would-be union workers were fired before the vote.

The World Socialist Web Site opposes these retaliatory firings of workers who were exercising their democratic right to seek union representation. That being said, the UAWs portrayal of the outcome as solely due to management intimidation is self-serving and dishonest. It is a matter of historical fact that the UAW was built in the 1930s in the face of intense and even deadly opposition by General Motors and the other auto companies.

But the UAW of today is a very different organization, which has spent decades collaborating with auto companies to enforce layoffs and wage cuts. Faurecia workers evidently saw no need to risk their necks to bring in an organization whose entire top leadership, including former president Gary Jones and his predecessor Dennis Williams, has been implicated in a massive bribery and corruption scandal, and which was described in a recent lawsuit by General Motors as a Fiat Chrysler controlled enterprise.

The UAW is in the midst of an ongoing federal corruption investigation, which has led to the indictments of more than a dozen individuals, including most recently, former UAW President Gary Jones. Jones is being charged in relation to a scheme to illegally embezzle over $1 million in union funds.

Elsewhere in Herrons post, he writes contemptuously of Faurecia workers who voted against the UAW, declaring: It always amazes me to no end that a worker would turn down opportunities to upgrade their families quality of life through higher pay, bonuses, job security, free or low cost health care, decent retirement plans, car purchase discounts, potential legal services, job transfer processes, safety and ergonomic programs to protect the workers, vacation program, regular wage increases, skilled trades apprenticeships, leave of absence provisions and limitations on the number of temporary workers. Having a voice in the workplace is also crucial which a union guarantees.

Herrons rosy depiction of the benefits flowing from the union is belied by the experience at the General Motors plant next door, one of many that took part in a nationwide strike last year. During the 40-day walkout, which it only called in the face of overwhelming opposition and distrust among autoworkers, the UAW strung out workers on starvation strike pay and refused to call out workers at Ford and Fiat Chrysler. It eventually forced through a sellout containing almost all of GMs main demands, including a blank check on the use of temps.

During the voting for that contract, the president of Spring Hill Local 1853, Tim Stannard, called the police on union members who were exercising their democratic right to free speech by protesting the contract, literally depriving them of their voice.

The dress rehearsal for the betrayal at GM was at another Faurecia facility in Saline, Michigan. The union shut down a walkout there by 1,900 workers, after just nine hours and rammed through a sellout deal that addressed none of the workers demands.

In opposition to the bankrupt UAW, the World Socialist Web Site and the Socialist Equality Party fight for independent rank-and-file committees, which take as their starting point not what management demands but what workers require.

The need for such organizations is all the more urgent given the fact that the automakers, with the support of the UAW, are now forcing workers to stay on the job during the massive coronavirus pandemic, endangering hundreds of thousands to exposure. Such committees should demand the immediate closure of all non-essential factories and workplaces, with full compensation for lost hours.
(JTA)Israel will require all travelers from abroad to complete a 14-day quarantine, according to the latest regulation aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

The decision, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced late Monday, capped days of open deliberations about how far Israel would to go to stop the diseases spread.

The country had taken aggressive early action against the disease and last week began requiring quarantines for travelers from more than a dozen European countries. But it had not instituted the step for travelers coming from the United States, even as multiple outbreaks in New York, California, and Washington state signaled a growing presence of the coronavirus there.

Reports in Israeli media suggested that Netanyahu was reluctant to follow the recommendations of health officials because of the close ties and economic relationship between the United States and Israel.

After a day of involved considerations, we have made a decision, Netanyahu said in a video message. Anyone arriving to Israel from overseas will enter into quarantine for 14 days. This is a difficult decision, but critical to maintaining the health of the Israeli public. And the health of the public is above all. The decision will be in force for two weeks, and at the same time we are making decisions to preserve Israels economy.

Israelis already must enter quarantine when returning from abroad. The new regulation will go into effect for non-Israelis in 72 hours and will not apply retroactively.

Elad Strohmayer, a spokesperson for the Israeli embassy, said foreigners who arrive in Israel will need to show proof that they have the ability to be quarantined for two weeks.
The Government of Ghana has suspended consular services provided by embassies and high commissions in countries affected by the deadly Coronavirus.

The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charles Owiredu said this while outlining measures being taken by the government to prevent the spread of the virus.

The Deputy Minister also pointed out that although consular services had been suspended, emergency services are still being provided.

When this virus started spreading from the epicenter into China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its missions decided to put in place some measures. So what they have done is that countries that are under total lockdown  countries such as China and Italy. This restricts movements so what we have said is that because it restricts movements it is difficult for even consular officers, mission staff to even go to work and perform their jobs. We have suspended Consular services and once we have suspended consular services it does not mean we have banned it or it is under total lockdown.

We have created some skeletal staff in these embassies and we have also provided consular numbers that when people call, expedited services will be provided. Once you call, if you are a Ghanaian in Italy, and you want Consular services, we have provided two numbers. Call any of these numbers and somebody will attend to you. If it is about a passport you want or a visa service, your passport will be posted back to you so these are some of the measures we have put in place to curtail the spread of the virus. And I think so far it is working, the Deputy Minister said on Eyewitness News. Cases in Ghana

As of Wednesday 11th March, 2020, officials in the country had recorded 57 suspected cases of the disease which have all proved negative .

This was announced by the President, Nana Akufo-Addo when he addressed the nation on Wednesday, 11th March, 2020, on the country's preparedness for a possible outbreak of the disease in Ghana.

Our country's two main research institutions, the Noguchi Memorial Institute and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research, which has the capacity to investigate and confirm or otherwise suspected cases of Coronavirus infections, have been very supportive in this regard. So far, they have found that the fifty-seven (57) suspected cases, as of Wednesday, 11th March, have proved negative, he said.

The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has been directed to make available the cedi equivalent of US$100 million to enhance Ghana's Coronavirus preparedness and response plan.

This amount, according to the President, is to fund the expansion of infrastructure, purchase of materials and equipment, and public education.

Citizens have also been advised to desist from foreign travels as much as possible as the novel coronavirus assumes pandemic status.

This advice comes after the President temporarily suspended foreign travels for all government officials as part of the government's measures to prevent an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Ghana.

Akufo-Addo urged officials to make use of technology during the travel ban.

---citinewsroom
A woman wearing a protective mask is seen past a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping on a street as the country is hit by an outbreak of the coronavirus, in Shanghai, China, March 12, 2020. Reuters




At least 31,000 Chinese students have arrived in Australia despite the country's travel ban, after waiting out their two week isolation period in a third country.

The Department of Home Affairs said 31,196 Chinese students have arrived in the country since the middle of February. They have been arriving at the rate of about 1,000 people per day.

The students have satisfied the 14-day quarantine period in a third country, meaning they can then enter Australia because they have no come directly from China.

Thailand, Bali and Cambodia were hot spots for those waiting out the isolation period.

Since the middle of February, a total of 31,196 Chinese students have arrived in Australia with as many as 1,000 coming each day to return to studying

The travel ban for China was first announced on February 1 in a desperate attempt to stop the disease spreading from it's origin in the city of Wuhan.

Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia said there were still around 75,000 students who were missing out on their studies.

'We are talking about young people who have invested an incredible amount of time and finances into getting an education outcome from an Australian university or other provider,' he told The Sydney Morning Herald.

He said those that were still unable to return to Australia to study may consider other options such as studying in places without travel bans like Britain and Canada.

Catriona Jackson, Universities Australia chief executive, said those who were unable to return to Australia just yet could study online.

People wearing face masks walk by Flinders Street Station after cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Melbourne

'For those who remain offshore, universities have worked tirelessly to provide maximum flexibility to allow them to continue their studies where possible, including online learning options,' she said.

Some universities were even offering cash grants to students that were affected by the travel ban.

University of Melbourne has said it would give students who have been affected by the virus and its 'associated travel restrictions' support packages of up to $7,500.

Eligible expenses include accommodation costs, fees from flight changes, costs associated with the 14-day quarantine period, and other financial losses.

'The student support grants are intended to help students with unanticipated expenses incurred as a result of the travel restrictions related to COVID-19 and to help students transition to or return to study at the University of Melbourne,' University Provost Professor Mark Considine said.

The University of Melbourne said on Wednesday it would give students who have been affected by the disease and its 'associated travel restrictions' support packages of up to $7,500

Western Sydney University said it was willing to subside the cost of airfares and accommodation to allow them to reach Australia 'through a third country'.

Days later, The University of Adelaide said it was offering a care package worth about $5,000 to about 3,000 Chinese students.

The package includes a 20 per cent discount on semester one tuition fees and up to $2000 towards airfares which they can access only once the travel ban is lifted.

It also offered online study help including videos of lectures, peer networking support and library resources so Chinese students who cannot be on campus by the March 26 start date, so can keep up with their courses remotely.

There have been 176 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia with three deaths.

There are travel bans for South Korea, Iran, Italy and China.




Rabiu Kwankwaso and Deposed Emir Sanusi

Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the former Governor of Kano state has dismissed allegations that he issued queries to the deposed of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II during his tenure as governor of the state.

He made the clarification while speaking to BBC Hausa News, monitored in Kano on Wednesday.

According to him, l have never issued a query to His Highness the Emir of Kano .

The spokesman of Governor Ganduje Salihu Yakasai spoke in Osogbo, that the deposed Emir Sanusi was queried three times by the administration of former governor Rabiu Kwankwaso for disrespecting tradition.

Kwankwaso also denied the allegation that Kwankwasiyya loyalists have contributed in the raging feud between Governor Ganduje and Sanusi.

He explained that Sanusis sin against Ganduje was his statement that whoever won the 2019 governorship election in Kano state should be given his mandate.

Kwankwaso, however, described the dethronement of Sanusi as a sad incident to Kano, Nigeria and the world at large, stressing that, Sanusi is a global citizen.

He further, described the recent removal of Muhammadu Sanusi II as Emir of Kano by the state government as unconstitutional.

According to him, it is an act of impunity which is also beyond the powers of the state Governor alone.

He expressed dismay over the way and manner the Emir who he described as a global figure was treated, insisting that it was a violation of his fundamental rights as provided by section 35 of the constitution of the country.

Honestly speaking what happened on Monday the 9th of March 2020 is a sad thing for the entire people of Kano, Nigerians and the entire people of the world because the dethroned Emir is a global figure because of the struggles he lead in his entire life especially when he served as the CBN governor and this job at the Kano Emirate.

On this day, we have seen very annoying things especially the way impunity and disregard to the constitution and the laws were implored in dethroning His Highness the Emir of Kano. We see this action as totally unjust.

More so, the way we saw the deployment of security agents, it is clear that this is beyond what a state Governor alone can do. Despite the intervention of his (Sanusi II) lawyers seeking for him to be allowed to move to Lagos where he chose, he was forcefully put in a plane and taken to the remotest place in the country and after some plea, he was taken to another part of the same Nasarawa state.

But even as you have chosen to use impunity to dethrone him, l wish to remind you that this is a democratic dispensation and not military regime, he said.
Bhopal: Expressing the readiness of his government for a floor test in the Assembly, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday accused the BJP of holding 22 Congress MLAs in captivity.

Nath met Tandon and submitted a letter to him accusing the BJP of being involved in horse-trading and holding the Congress MLAs in captivity.

Nath met Tandon in the midst of political crisis in the state triggered by the resignation of the 22 Congress MLAs three days ago. He met the governor at around 11 am and submitted the three-page letter to him.

In the letter, released by a Congress spokesman to the media, Nath expressed his readiness to hold the floor test during the budget session beginning from March 16.

Nath also mentioned the sequence of events from the intervening night of March 3 and March 4 to March 10, and claimed there were incidents of horse-trading during this period.

In these circumstances, the very edifice of democracy is in danger, Nath wrote in the letter.

Nath also told the governor to use his office to ensure the release of Congress MLAs held in captivity in Bengaluru.

Nath, whose government is teetering on the brink of a collapse following the rebellion, reached Raj Bhavan to meet Tandon, who arrived here on Thursday night from Lucknow.

The chief minister briefed the governor about the current political situation in the state, Congress sources said.

The ruling Congress has alleged that 19 of the rebel Congress MLAs, including ministers, have been held captive by the BJP in a resort in Bengaluru, a charge denied by the opposition party.

Nath's meeting with the governor comes amid unconfirmed reports that six ministers, said to be close to former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, will be coming to Bhopal from Bengaluru to hand over their resignation letters in person to the Assembly speaker.

Attempts to contact these ministers proved futile.

Scindia joined the BJP on Wednesday, a day after quitting the Congress.
HALIFAX - Nova Scotia is requiring public sector workers and public school children who travel abroad to isolate themselves for two weeks when they return to Canada, but Premier Stephen McNeil confirmed Friday the province has no immediate plans to close any schools.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil makes an announcement in Halifax, Friday, Friday, Dec 20, 2019. Nova Scotia is requiring public sector workers and public school children who travel abroad to isolate themselves for two weeks when they return to Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ted Pritchard

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia is requiring public sector workers and public school children who travel abroad to isolate themselves for two weeks when they return to Canada, but Premier Stephen McNeil confirmed Friday the province has no immediate plans to close any schools.

"We all need to do our part to reduce the spread (of COVID-19) and keep Nova Scotians healthy and safe," the Liberal premier told a news conference.

"This virus is impacting our daily lives whether we are infected or not."

The province has yet to report any presumptive or confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Ontario schools have been ordered to remain closed from March 14 through to April 5, and Quebec is closing all schools, junior colleges, universities and daycare centres for two weeks beginning Monday.

The Manitoba government announced late Friday it is closing schools for three weeks.

Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health, said the province "may well move in the near future to be more directive" by closing schools or using provisions of the Health Protection Act to officially limit gatherings by law.

However, Strang said those kinds of restrictions weren't required at this point, given the fact the province had yet to record any cases of the novel coronavirus. So far 226 people have been tested.

"We fully expect that (infections) will happen," Strang said.

"We just have to look around the world in the last couple of weeks. There's been a significant spread in Europe, and now in the United States ... and increased activity in some of our provinces."

McNeil said Nova Scotians who travel abroad should "show the courtesy" of isolating themselves for 14 days when they return.

"We are encouraging the private sector to take the same approach when it comes to their employees who travel outside of Canada," he said.

The province is also recommending that organizations limit social gatherings to no more than 150 people.

"It's when we get large numbers of people coming together ... that's where the virus can really take hold and spread," Strang said.

When asked if the recommendation extends to bars and other entertainment venues, the premier said it did.

"I would encourage them to follow the protocol," he said. "This is about public health. We don't want to impact your business, we don't want to impact routines, but the reality is that we have a responsibility to care for one another."

Meanwhile, Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Friday that no cruise ships carrying more than 500 people will be allowed to dock in Canada until at least July 1.

In Sydney, N.S., where the cruise season was set to begin April 28, officials said they supported the decision. But the delay to July 1 will scuttle 22 cruise ship calls and keep some 32,288 passengers from visiting the Cape Breton port, the port authority said in a statement.

"This decision increases community safety but does has a negative economic impact for the many individuals and businesses who rely on tourism income," the authority said.

In Halifax, where the first cruise ship of the season was slated to visit on April 20, the federal measure will stop about 40 cruise ships from bringing an estimated 75,000 passengers to the city.

Later in the day, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court confirmed it had suspended all upcoming jury trials in the province for the next 60 days.

Other measures implemented by the province include doubling the number of phone lines available for the province's 811 health-information service, which offers a screening protocol for people who suspect they may have contracted the novel coronavirus.

As well, the province will ramp up its online learning resources to ensure students in Grade 12 graduate on time.

In Prince Edward Island, which also has no confirmed or presumptive cases, health officials are recommending Islanders cancel all non-essential travel and reconsider attending social gatherings where a two-metre distance between people is not possible.

The Island's Public Health office is also suggesting any residents who have travelled outside of Canada should self-isolate for 14 days following their return.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2020.
A militant was killed in a



firefight between insurgents of the NSCN(IM) and Zeliangrong United Front (Kamson) faction in Manipur's Tamenglong district on Friday, police said.

The firefight took place in Longchai village near the Assam-Manipur border around 7 am, a senior police officer said.

"The slain militant has been identified as 31-year-old Kadining Golmei. However, it is yet to be ascertained which outfit he was a member of," he said.

An AK-56 rifle and ammunition have also been seized, the officer added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Bloomberg) -- Joe Bidens campaign said it would be nearly impossible for Bernie Sanders to make up his shortfall in delegates in the remaining months of the Democratic primary calendar.

Should our broad base of support remain  and we have seen no signs that would indicate otherwise  it will be nearly impossible for Sanders to recoup his current delegate disadvantage, the Biden campaign said in a memo that was obtained by Bloomberg News.

Even though more than half of all the pledged delegates have yet to be decided, the math is not in Sanderss favor. The count from a series of races Tuesday was incomplete as of Wednesday evening, but the Biden campaign expects the candidate to have a lead of about 160 delegates over Sanders going into next weeks primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio -- states where he is also expected to reap the majority of delegates.

The memo argues theres no way for Sanders to clinch the nomination if the same kind of voters who have turned out for Biden continue to do so. The only upcoming state where Sanders leads in public polling is Oregon, which awards 61 delegates, not enough to help him gain enough ground.

Bidens Florida, Illinois Events to Be Virtual (4:56 p.m.)

Joe Bidens campaign took a further step away from contact with voters Wednesday, saying that his next few scheduled events would be held remotely out of concerns for the spread of coronavirus.

The campaign had scheduled events in Illinois and Florida on Friday and Monday. The two states are the biggest delegate prizes in next Tuesdays quartet of primaries, but state officials requested the campaign not hold rallies where people would be gathered together.

Biden also formed a Public Health Advisory Committee for his campaign to provide science-based, expert advice on how the campaign should reduce health risks to the 77-year-old former vice president, his staff and supporters from the virus.

Trying to exhibit a contrast with President Donald Trumps approach, Biden is scheduled to deliver an address on Thursday about the COVID-19 virus, which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on Wednesday.

Story continues

Bidens advisory committee includes prominent names including Homeland Security advisor Lisa Monaco, former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, as well as Zeke Emanuel, vice provost of global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler. -- Emma Kinery

Sanders Will Stay in Presidential Race (1:23 p.m.)

Bernie Sanders vowed to keep up his quest for the Democratic nomination for president at least until a debate on Sunday, despite a series of stinging defeats that left him no clear path to overcoming Joe Bidens lead.

Sanderss move came the day after he lost four states to the former vice president, including Michigan, where he had hoped to anchor a comeback.

The one-time front-runner lost across regions and demographic groups, failing to gather the diverse coalition necessary to lead the party.

On Sunday I am very much looking forward to the debate in Arizona with my friend Joe Biden, he told reporters in Vermont, saying that defeating President Donald Trump was his ultimate goal. The American people will have the opportunity to see which candidate is best positioned to accomplish that goal. -- Tyler Pager

Biden Super PAC Says Primary Is Over (12:31 p.m.)

A pro-Joe Biden super PAC declared the Democratic primary essentially over after Tuesdays primaries.

In a memo to supporters released Wednesday, Unite the Country announced it had secured tens of millions of dollars in donations and commitments since the former vice president won South Carolina and started racking up wins in primaries across the country.

Last nights results made one thing clear: the functional primary phase of this election is over, the memo said. With last nights wins, and states like Florida, Illinois, and Ohio that will vote on March 17th, Joe Bidens delegate lead over Bernie Sanders will be equal to, and possibly even higher than, Hillary Clintons at the same stage of the election.

The group said it has raised nearly $10 million in the past 10 days and had three times that much committed. It said it would keep working to ensure that Biden accrues a majority of all pledged delegates to the nominating convention. -- Jennifer Epstein

Latinos in Florida Wary of Sanderss Socialism (10:27 a.m.)

Bernie Sanderss brand of democratic socialism is hurting him among Florida Latinos, who favor Joe Biden in the March 17 primary by double digits in a recent poll.

But even if Sanders were to win the nomination, he might lose these voters to Donald Trump, according to a Telemundo survey conducted by Mason-Dixon.

In the poll, 48% of Latinos in Florida backed Biden, while only 37% supported Sanders in the primary. In a Trump-Sanders contest, 45% said they would vote for Trump and 44% said they would back Sanders. By comparison, in a Trump-Biden contest, 58% said they would back Biden and 38% said they would vote for Trump.

Sanders has done well among Latino voters in other states, but Florida immigrants who fled Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba tend to view socialism negatively, according to Democratic analysts there.

The survey of 1,250 Hispanic likely voters in Florida and Arizona was conducted March 4-7. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.

Coming Up

Guam will hold a convention on March 14, Northern Mariana will hold a caucus on March 14-15.

Democratic candidates debate again on March 15 in Phoenix.

Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio will hold primaries on March 17.

(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, also sought the Democratic presidential nomination. He endorsed Joe Biden on March 4.)

--With assistance from Jennifer Epstein, Tyler Pager and Emma Kinery.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ryan Teague Beckwith in Washington, D.C. at rbeckwith3@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Epstein in Washington at jepstein32@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, John Harney

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.
Rivals: Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden (right) at the Gaillard Centre in Charleston, South Carolina. Photo: REUTERS

Bernie Sanders has conceded that he was losing the nominating contest to former vice-president Joe Biden and had failed to persuade Democrats that he was more electable.

But he also made clear that he was staying in the race, at least for a few more days, determined to meet Mr Biden in a one-on-one debate on Sunday that he said would expose important distinctions between their records.

He even listed a number of challenges he said he would issue to Mr Biden, including how he would fight poverty and how he would handle healthcare.

And he issued a warning to party leaders not to take lightly the resonance of his sweeping liberal ideas or his dominance among younger voters - showing how it is in his and the party's interest to forge the common ground that eluded Democrats after his loss to Hillary Clinton four years ago.

"Today I say to the Democratic establishment, in order to win in the future, you need to win the voters who represent the future of our country, and you must speak to the issues of concern to them," Mr Sanders said.

"You cannot simply be satisfied by winning the votes of older people," he added.

In effect, Mr Sanders was signalling that although Mr Biden's advantage in the race might ultimately prove too difficult to overcome - he notably did not vow to run against him through all 50 state contests as he did against Ms Clinton in 2016 - he intends to pressure Mr Biden to adopt more-liberal positions and has no intention of quietly stepping aside before getting a chance to take him on directly.

"Bernie Sanders won so much support on the left because of his vision, and today he offered Joe Biden a blueprint of things he needs to do to bring over part of the Sanders coalition," said Rebecca Katz, a liberal strategist.

"He's basically telling Biden what the olive branch should be."

Mr Sanders's statement was a wide-ranging recitation of priorities rather than a bill of policy particulars, but it suggested that he could be open to bringing his passionate liberal supporters into the Democratic fold and setting the stage for a highly unusual debate on Sunday that might unfold more like a public negotiation.

That presents Mr Biden, a centrist who has rejected many of Mr Sanders's left-leaning policy ideas, with the delicate challenge of appearing open to the proposals while staying true to his own principles.

That conundrum will be on vivid display at the debate, since Mr Biden has not shown himself to be the most nuanced speaker or nimble debater.

At the same time, Mr Sanders's eagerness for a renewed fight against Mr Biden threatens to complicate Democratic hopes of fostering unity after a bruising stretch.

With the once-sprawling field culling quickly in recent weeks and Mr Biden emerging as the likely nominee in the minds of many Democrats, some are hoping that the former vice-president's critics are ready to lay down their arms now and join the fight against President Donald Trump.

"That's a huge mistake to think that basically he's just not in it to win it," said RoseAnn DeMoro, a long-time Sanders friend and former union head, who said this is an "extremely volatile" time in politics.

The senator spoke on Wednesday from a hotel ballroom in Burlington, Vermont, where he had been hunkering down since scuttling a planned rally in Cleveland on Tuesday over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

After making brief remarks to reporters, Mr Sanders left without taking questions. He was to appear on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' later in the day.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Mr Biden had extended his lead over Mr Sanders in the all-important race for delegates to the Democrats' July nominating convention, notching big wins in Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho. Mr Sanders won North Dakota, while Washington state remained too close to call.

Mr Sanders, delivering his first public comments since the losses, didn't try to sugar-coat his humbling defeats.

"Last night was obviously not a good night for our campaign from a delegate point of view," he said.

But he cited a silver lining: his dominance among young voters and the popularity of his policy ideas. ( 2020, The Washington Post)

 Washington Post
The Metropolitan Chief Executive, Hon. Ernest Arthur this morning received a 15 member delegation made up of representatives from the United States National Association of REALTORS (NAR) and the Ghana Real Estate Professionals (GREPA) to discuss economic cooperation and investment opportunities.

The United States of Americas National Association of REALTORS has invited Hon. Ernest Arthur and a delegation from Cape Coast to the United States of America to attend its annual REALTORS Conference which will take place in the City of New Orleans, United States in November this year. The invitation from NAR is as a result of the Sister City Partnership between Cape Coast and the City of New Orleans.

The visit by the delegation was to firm up plans for the visit and to also discuss investment opportunities in Cape Coast. The meeting also discussed a trade show Cape Coast intends to put up at the conference Expo in New Orleans during the conference

Hon. Ernest Arthur expressed his appreciation for the visit and promised to forge closer ties with NAR and GREPA for the development of Cape Coast. "Since I became the Chief Executive, I have combed around the world to seek private investments for the development of Cape Coast. I have been particular about investment in the area of real estate, and agro-processing to improve the economy of Cape Coast. We have presented proposals on the Marina City and the Heritage Walk Projects all in an attempt to boost tourism infrastructure in the city. I therefore welcome this cooperation to work to attract investors", Hon Arthur added.

The delegation was overwhelmed about the numerous investment opportunities in Cape Coast. Speaking at the meeting, the Project Coordinator for GREPA, Mr. Kwabena Adusei Peasah indicated that they are ready to work the Metropolitan Assembly to put Cape Coast on the global map to boost investments in the city.
Instead, the deal quickly hit several snags, including a bitter struggle among Afghan political rivals and a Taliban dispute with President Ashraf Ghani over the promised release of thousands of insurgent prisoners. Taliban attacks resumed after a brief partial truce, and the follow-up talks were put on hold. Now, Pakistanis say they are worried that the crisis could unleash the same kind of violence and refugee exodus that followed the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989.
Photo taken on March 12, 2020 shows the closed Guided Tours Ticket Desk at the UN headquarters in New York. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, reacting to the coronavirus crisis, has cancelled all UN system-sponsored side events at headquarters in New York, but not legislative meetings such as for the General Assembly and Security Council, a UN spokesman said on Thursday. (Xinhua/Wang Jiangang)

UNITED NATIONS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, reacting to the coronavirus crisis, has cancelled all UN system-sponsored side events at headquarters in New York, but not legislative meetings such as for the General Assembly and Security Council, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, also said the UN chief urges all 193 member states to consider cancelling all side events they are sponsoring.

President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande of the General Assembly already has postponed to an unspecified date the Youth Plenary in preparation for commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, said his spokeswoman, Reem Abaza. It was slated for March 31-April 2.

The related Economic and Social Council Youth Forum also was postponed.

The decision to postpone was taken "given recent developments related to the global health emergency (COVID-19) and guided by risk assessments carried out by the UN Secretariat," said a UN website notice.

Abaza also said Muhammad-Bande sent a letter to member states, "strongly" recommending canceling side events in March and April, scaling down the number of people at gatherings within UN premises and encouraging delegations to limit participation at meetings to no more than two New York-based delegates and holding meetings in larger rooms.

Dujarric said the secretary-general was sending a letter Thursday to member states explaining that "a three-phase response activation system to manage and coordinate health emergencies is in place and that UN headquarters in New York is currently in phase two, which is an active risk reduction mode."

Guterres said this includes taking measures for social distancing in the workplace and assessing the criticality of travel and meetings against associated risks.

Telecommuting at UN headquarters was ordered to reduce the staff "footprint" and non-essential travel was curtailed, his spokesman said.

Governor of New York State Andrew Cuomo -- who previously declared a state of emergency -- banned meetings of 500 people or more and said meetings of less than 500 had to be halved in size. Broadway theaters suspended productions for a month.

Shortly afterward, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency.

Dujarric said earlier in the week that the UN headquarters in New York was abiding by recommendations of the host city and state in taking measures to mitigate effects of the virus. He did not expect any immediate reaction to the latest edict.

In a video message released Wednesday evening, Guterres said classification of the crisis as a pandemic "is a call to action and a call for responsibility and solidarity," the spokesman said. "He stressed that, as we fight the virus, we cannot let the fear go viral."

"We can still change the course of this pandemic -- but that means addressing inaction," the secretary-general said in the message. "The best science tells us, if countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilize their people in the response, we can go a long way to mitigating transmission,"

Guterres called on every government to immediately step up and scale up their efforts, and he added that we must move forward with resolve and without stigma.
[March 12, 2020] Quadient Continues CCM Expansion into the Utilities Market with Chuo Electric Power in Japan

PARIS, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Quadient, a leader in helping businesses create meaningful customer connections through digital and physical channels, announced today that Chuo Electric Power, Japan's top market share provider of collective power supply for apartments, has selected Quadient's award-winning customer communications management (CCM) platform, Quadient Inspire, to create and deliver its monthly statements faster, with more efficiency and reduced manual overhead. This first enterprise deployment for the Inspire platform in Japan contributes to Quadient's strategic ambition to expand its advanced and powerful customer experience management (CXM) solutions in highly-regulated industries, including utilities. Additionally, the initiative is Quadient's first digital solution project in Japan with partner and system integrator EvangTech, Co. Traditionally, Japan has been a strong print market. However, there is a growing demand for organizations to make the move to digital customer communications. "Our existing processes required a great deal of manual preparation to create a data set," said Hiroyasu Takano, executive officer, IT Division head, Chuo Electic Power. "It took significant amounts of time to make changes to existing forms, if needed. Quadient Inspire will significantly reduce our development time, allowing us to get to market faster with critical customer communications. Additionally, we expect Quadient's communication platform to be a vital part of our business foundation and to drive us in achieving our management philosophy, 'creating the future with united power.' Quadient Inspire's innate capability to create relevant, personalized communications and connections will give us great opportunities to bring new businesses into the market swiftly and continuously while realizing our business principle."



Quadient worked closely with its partner, EvangTech, to demonstrate to Chuo Electric Power how Quadient Inspire can help create a nimble, effective and unified customer communications infrastructure to improve the customer experience. As customer interactions turn increasingly digital, Quadient Inspire offers flexible implementation options, including on-premise, hybrid and cloud solutions, that will help meet this demand. "EvangTech is an internationally diverse organization consisting of multinational young engineers and senior leaders drawn from major companies," said Toshiyuki Koyama, representative director, EvangTech. "We are headed to be the top partner of Quadient in Japan by leveraging our global nature and wide-ranging network of contacts, while contributing to the success of CCM transformation with customer-focused companies."

"Providing Chuo Electric Power with the capabilities needed to achieve its customer communication goals further strengthens Quadient's global commitment to organizations that require faster and more effective ways to communicate with their customers," said Chris Hartigan, chief solution officer, customer experience management, Quadient. "Working in partnership with EvangTech gives us the ability to provide enhanced support through a direct presence. EvangTech's well-established reputation in this market ensures our success in helping businesses in Japan experience all the benefits Quadient Inspire brings for reducing costs, meeting the demand for better digital interactions and strengthening relationships with customers." About Quadient Quadient is the driving force behind the world's most meaningful customer experiences. By focusing on four key solution areas including Customer Experience Management, Business Process Automation, Mail-Related Solutions, and Parcel Locker Solutions, Quadient helps simplify the connection between people and what matters. Quadient supports hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide in their quest to create relevant, personalized connections and achieve customer experience excellence. Quadient is listed in compartment B of Euronext Paris (QDT) and belongs to the SBF 120 index. For more information about Quadient, visit www.quadient.com. Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200312/2747992-1LOGO SOURCE Quadient

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There is little doubt Indian communal politics is reaching a crossroads  but there are many paths from here, and all but one leads to perdition

Five years ago, as the Islamic State's armies spilled a great tide of blood across Iraq, Abdus Sami Qasmi stood at the pulpit of an Ahmedabad mosque, gently seducing his audience into the cult of death. "Each day," the cleric began, "Shah Ismail would walk barefoot on the searing stones of the Jama Masjid. He would swim from Delhi to Agra. He learned to use the sword and the lance. Then, when the day came in 1831, he faced the army of Raja Ranjit Singh in Balakote, and drank the elixir of martyrdom."

"But you," Qasmi taunted the young men in his audience: "You paint bridal mehndi on your feet, so you have an excuse not to step out from your homes."

Last week, the Delhi Police made the latest in a long string of arrests linked to Islamic State cells Qasmi, a resident of northeast Delhi's riot-torn Seelampur, is alleged to have inspired. Kashmir resident Jahanzaib Sami Wani and his wife Hina Bashir Beigh, the Delhi Police claims, were producing Islamic State propaganda, and seeking to acquire weapons for a terrorist strike.

Behind the arrests lies a long, dark story: To some in India's beseiged, riot-torn Muslim ghettos, the flickering fires set off by the Islamic State appear to be lighting the way to salvation.

***

In speeches made across the country through 2015, Qasmi claimed Islam was founded not on prayers or ritual, but the sword. Indeed, he argued, war was the keystone of the faith. "Had Islam not come in the form of Muhammad Bin Qasim, to Sindh," he thundered, "Had Islam not led Mahmood Ghaznavi to triumph at Somnath; had Islam not brought Ahmad Shah Abdali victory at Panipat; then you and I would have been ringing bells and breaking coconuts every morning."

Qasmi's audience included a young college dropout from Hyderabad, Mohammed Abdullah Basith. Ever since he had discovered Islamism as a teenager, influenced by his uncle and former Students Islamic Movement of India president Syed Salahuddin Salar, Basith had venerated Osama Bin Laden  and longed, since then, to act on the jihadist patriarch's call.

In the summer of 2014, four men from Thane had made their way, through Iran, to the Islamic State  the first Indians known to have made the journey. A 2016 prosecution by the National Investigation Agency revealed evidence that one of that group, Areeb Majeed, had set up an online recruitment platform for aspiring jihadists from India, funded by supporters in the United Arab Emirates.

Funds from these networks made their way to Basith  but frustration followed. He was dragged home from Malda by the Telengana Police at his first attempt in 2014. Then, he stole Rs 90,000 from his father, and left for Nagpur, hoping to travel to Syria through Turkey. He was arrested, again.

Long sessions with professional counsellors and family elders followed; his anxious family even arranged his marriage, hoping it would lead Basith to settle down. The journey to paradise, it became clear, was going to be harder than he'd thought.

His online mentors were less fortunate. Adnan Husain Damudi, a resident of Bhatkal in Karnataka, received a seven-year prison sentence. Like Basith, Damudi had been drawn to jihadism as a teenager, through his chilhood friend, fugitive Indian Mujahideen jihadist Riyaz Shahbandri. Kashmir resident Sheikh Azhar-ul-Islam, among the founders of an Islamic State in Srinagar, received a seven-year prison sentence.

Basith did indeed realise his hopes of travelling to Iraq were over. But he soon discovered Qasmi's message: The jihad wasnt something over there; it was here. In 2018, Basith would be arrested again  this time, on charges of seeking to assassinate Hindu-nationalist politicians.

Jahanzaib Sami Wani, the Delhi Police says, was one of several of Basith's acquaintances to be targeted for discreet electronic surveillance.

***

For Qasmi, the idea that Indian Muslims might seek support from Pakistan was absurd. "The Pakistan Army," he said in his Ahmedabad speech, "has torn Waziristan apart, destroying mosques and killing thousands of Muslims. It has never, once, done anything to harm America. A Muslim sultanate is obliged to raid its adjoining unbeliever Sultans twice a year  but has the Pakistan Army ever done this?" In his view, Islamabad was ruled by enemies of Islam, just as surely as New Delhi.

In 2001  not long after Damudi first encountered jihadist ideas in Bhatkal, the Indian Mujahideen's founders had begun to travel to Pakistan for military training. Helped by relatives in Hyderabad with organised crime links, former Mumbai air-conditioning mechanic Sadiq Israr Sheikh made his way into a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp near Muzaffarabad, learning bomb-making and combat skills.

Following the 2002 riots in Gujarat, a small core of jihadists like Sheikh began to find new recruits. This network would coalesce into the Indian Mujahideen, which would wage India's most lethal urban terrorist campaign.

The jihadists grouped around Qasmi, the NIA has alleged in charges filed before a Delhi court, followed a similar trajectory. Ten men from New Delhi and Amroha, in Uttar Pradesh, it claims, set up the Harkat ul-Harb e-Islam, or Group for the War for Islam.

Instead of turning to Pakistani jihadists for training, the NIA says, the men trawled the internet to learn to fabricate improvised explosive devices. They purchased chemicals to make explosives, bought locally-made pistols, and even assembled a crude rocket-launcher from tractor parts.

Families of the arrested men have denied the charges, but there's little doubt the jihadist impulse by which they are alleged to have been driven, has real power. Early in 2018, just as the Delhi jihad cell was gathering, Hyderabad-born Muhammad Taufiq was shot dead along with two ethnic-Kashmiri jihadists in Anantnag. Taufiq, the police says, had twice been cautioned for trawling Islamic State websites, and sent for counselling.

His face masked with a white handkerchief, an assault rifle cradled in his lap, Taufiq left behind this videotaped testament: "These perfidious Hindus will keep changing their tactics until their mission is accomplished  and that mission is the elimination of every last Muslim."

The words run to script. Ever since December 1993, there have been successive waves of jihadist recruitment. That tragedy saw the rise of jihadists lead by Abdul Karim Tunda heading into the arms of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Following 2002, another generation formed the Indian Mujahideen. And following the Indian Mujahideen's collapse, many of its members fled for the Afghanistan-Pakistan borderlands, and then Syria.

Now, a new cohort is learning from the failures of their predecessors. Instead of turning to Pakistan, they believe, the foundations for an Islamist insurgency have to be laid at home.

***

From Qasmi's Ahmedabad speech, it's easy to see the contours of the dystopia he wanted to build: India's Muslims, he argued, ought to practice the brutal punishments prescribed by Shari'a religious law for criminals; burn apostates and idolators. The National Anthem, he insisted, was blasphemy, seeking to supplant god as the true arbiter of human destiny. Parliament, he went on, was an obscenity, arrogating to man the right to reverse god's laws against sins like homosexuality.

His ugliest invective was reserved for secular Muslims: Former chief minister Farooq Abdullah and Congress leader Salman Khurshid were assailed for having daughters married outside their faith; newspaper editor Shakil Shamsi was, simply, a "stinking Shi'a", and his colleague Asad Raza "worthy of slaughter".

"The heroes of our people are those who conquered the world," Qasmi concluded, "The lovers of democracy cannot be representatives of the Muslims." He went on, "Islam is rising,... the world must choose between submission and the sword."

Language like this isn't new.

In a 1996 statement, the Students Islamic Movement of India had declared that since democracy and secularism had failed to protect Muslims, the sole option for Muslims was to struggle for the caliphate. Soon after, the movement put up posters calling on Muslims to follow the path of Mahmood Ghaznavi and appealing to God to send down a latter-day avatar of the 11th Century conqueror to avenge the destruction of mosques in India.

India's jihad, moreover, has deep historical roots. Eighteenth Century East India Company records describe fidayeen suicide-squad attacks along the Malabar coast, the acts of self-described jihadists. The historian historian Ayesha Jalal's work has shown that the notion of jihad was an important ideological theme elsewhere in India both during the pre-colonial and colonial period. Qasmi's speech shows, like the Indian Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed writings before it, that the failed jihad waged by Shah Islamil Dehlvi against Ranjit Singh's empire has lost its power to inspire.

As ever-greater numbers of Muslims turn to religious ghettos in search of security against violence, Islamists have come to realise that this communal cleavage offers them an unprecedented opportunity to expand their influence. Ever since the mid-1980s, though, as large-scale communal violence escalated, and the legitimacy of the Congress-centred Muslim political leadership collapsed, jihadist voices like Qasmi have gathered legitimacy. As the scholar Yoginder Sikand perceptively noted of the Students Islamic Movement of India, jihadist movements give "supporters a sense of power and agency they were denied in their actual lives".

Figures like Jahanzaib Sami and Hina Beigh  both the children of elite Srinagar business families, with stellar educational qualifications and successful careers  ought have been the core of a new Muslim political leadership. Instead, the new middle-class they represent has found its engagement with modern India being shaped by communal hatreds and political marginalisation.

In the still-unfolding protests at Shaheen Bagh, we have one vision of what the future of Muslim politics in India could be: A politics centred around constitutional claims, and the demand for inclusion as citizens of a secular republic. Less than a few kilometres away, in Qasmi's Seelampur seminary or the Sami home in Okhla, very different ideas have been birthed  and are also thriving.

For both Hindus and Muslims, the outcome of this political struggle is critical. There is little doubt Indian communal politics is reaching a crossroads  but there are many paths from here, and all but one leads to perdition.
ANN ARBOR, MI  The University of Michigan announced Friday it has canceled all spring commencement ceremonies across all three campuses in Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus.

Former Vice President Al Gore was scheduled to give the commencement address May 2.

In a tweet, UM President Mark Schlissel said he recognizes the difficulties created by the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and appreciates the support and engagement from the community.

Today, we take further important action to reduce density and protect the health and safety of our staff, faculty and students, Schlissel wrote in the tweet.

I recognize the difficulties #COVID19 has created and appreciate the engagement and support we've seen within our community. Today, we take further important action to reduce density & protect the health & safety of our staff, faculty, and students. https://t.co/DZjKoZcK53 pic.twitter.com/kqlWyfHa89  Dr. Mark Schlissel (@DrMarkSchlissel) March 13, 2020

The announcement said the university will look at ways to celebrate 2020 graduates in the future.

Along with canceling commencement ceremonies, UM announced that all final exams will take place remotely in alternative formats, and the university encourages opportunities for employees to work remotely.

UM announced Wednesday it will canceling all in-person classes and delivering class remotely in alternative formats for the rest of the semester, which is April 21. They also said any students who can do so are encouraged to move home as soon as possible.

University of Michigan transitioning to remote classes through end of semester due to coronavirus

The university has also advised the UM community not to gather socially in large groups. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Friday banned gatherings of more than 250 people. Whitmer also ordered the closure of all K-12 school buildings until April 5.

Michigan State University spokesperson Emily Gerkin Guerrant said MSU is still evaluating and will make a decision on commencement in the coming weeks.

The state of Michigan now has at least 12 presumptive positive cases of coronavirus, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

MORE CORONAVIRUS NEWS:

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer bans gatherings of more than 250 people as coronavirus spreads

Were going to get through this,' says Gov. Whitmer as she orders K-12 schools closed over coronavirus

University of Michigan students concerned about coronavirus impact on classes, graduation

2 people with coronavirus in Washtenaw County recovering at home, officials say

Ann Arbor agencies aim to continue food-security programs amid coronavirus outbreak

Federal courts in eastern Michigan postponing nearly all court hearings amid coronavirus concerns

Ann Arbor Film Festival in-person events canceled due to coronavirus concerns

Michigan Flyer suspends bus services to Detroit Metro Airport through April 15

Big Ten puts Michigan State football spring practice on hold, Spartans pro day canceled

Monster Energy AMA Supercross at Ford Field cancelled, wont be rescheduled

Gilmore Keyboard Festival canceled amid risk of coronavirus

The Ark cancels nearly 20 concerts in Ann Arbor due to coronavirus outbreak

Big Ten Mens basketball tournament canceled

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
France announced Friday it was limiting gatherings to no more than 100 people in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus, a day after closing schools until further notice in its toughest measures yet.

"The idea is that we can slow the progression and the circulation of the virus," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told TF1 television, adding the limit would come into force immediately and nationwide. France previously limited gatherings to 1,000 people, and the tightened measures could squeeze venues even further.

"100 people -- that means that there will inevitably be signficant consequences for the theatres and the cinemas," the premier added. Educational establishments in France will be shut for the next two weeks "at least", a minister said earlier Friday, describing the move as part of a nationwide "applying of the brakes" to halt the spread of COVID-19.

In an address to the nation late Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron announced a range of stringent measures to slow the spread of the virus, including closing creches, schools and universities from next Monday.

"What we want is a massive applying of the brakes nationwide. The schools will be closed for as long is needed. It will be at least 15 days," Health Minister Olivier Veran told Europe 1 Radio. The measure "is the right one to take to prepare for the circulation of the virus," he added.

Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told France Inter radio the school closures would last until at least the two-week Easter holidays -- which begin on April 4 in Paris -- but final exams were still scheduled to go ahead in June.

"We hope that by June the epidemic will be more behind us than in front of us," he said.

The coronavirus has killed 61 people in France and infected 2,876, according to figures released by the health ministry late on Thursday.

Macron urged people aged over 70 to stay at home and announced measures to keep the economy afloat during the crisis, including compensating workers who are temporarily laid off for its duration.

"We will do everything that is necessary and even more," said Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, acknowledging such help would cost the state "tens of billions of euros". However, France is allowing nationwide local elections to go ahead on Sunday, followed by a second round on March 22.

"We took this decision by listening to scientists and we believe we can organise the first and second rounds in good conditions," Philippe said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister is meeting Governor Lalji Tandon here in the midst of political crisis in the state triggered by the resignation of 22 rebel MLAs three days ago.

Nath, whose government is teetering on the brink of a collapse following the rebellion, reached Raj Bhavan late Friday morning to meet Tandon, who arrived here on Thursday night from Lucknow.

The chief minister is expected to brief the governor about the current political situation in the state, sources said.

The ruling has alleged that 19 of the rebel Congress MLAs, including ministers, have been held "captive" by the in a resort in Bengaluru, a charge denied by the opposition party.

Nath's meeting with the governor comes amid unconfirmed reports that six ministers, said to be close to former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, will be coming to Bhopal from Bengaluru to hand over their resignation letters in person to the Assembly speaker.

Attempts to contact these ministers proved futile.

Scindia joined the on Wednesday, a day after quitting the Congress.
A pedestrian was fatally struck by a dump truck Friday afternoonafter he walked onto Interstate 10 on the North Side.

The man, between 40 and 50 years old, walked onto the south lanes of I-10 at 3:12 p.m. at the Fresno Drive exit, San Antonio police said.
Justice officials have won a fight to freeze the financial assets of a man who admitted to defrauding a century-old crane company of over $4 million, forcing it into bankruptcy.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Justice officials have won a fight to freeze the financial assets of a man who admitted to defrauding a century-old crane company of over $4 million, forcing it into bankruptcy.

In a decision released Thursday, Queens Bench Justice Theodore Bock ruled there are "reasonable grounds to believe," that money former Litz and Sons CFO Peter Ramdath had deposited into a tax-free savings account and guaranteed income certificate "are proceeds of unlawful activity."

"I have also concluded that there is no reason that it would not be in the interests of justice to make a preservation order," Bock said.

Ramdath, 43, pleaded guilty in January to one count of fraud over $5,000. He is set to be sentenced in June.

In October, lawyers with the criminal property and forfeiture unit filed a motion seeking a court order prohibiting Ramdath and his wife from liquidating, selling or otherwise disposing of certain assets in advance of a formal decision forfeiting them to the Crown.

Ramdath opposed the motion only in respect to the two accounts, arguing the Crown had not proven money in the accounts were the proceeds of crime.

Bock said the Crown need only satisfy the court that it is "more likely than not that at least part of the cash used to fund the TFSA and GIC was acquired as the result of unlawful activity."

Prosecutors allege that between April 2012 and October 2017 Ramdath created and entered fraudulent invoices into Litzs accounting system to artificially inflate the credit available on the companys lines of credit, in order to redirect funds to his own personal line of credit and personal credit cards.

Ramdaths actions pushed the company, which was founded in 1904 and was into its third and fourth generation of ownership, into bankruptcy.

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As of November 2017, Ramdaths TFSA had a balance of $51,342. According to an investigation by receiver PriceWaterhouseCoopers, at least $18,500 of that balance was drawn from Ramdaths TD chequing account after March 1, 2014.

"The report comments that further investigation was required in order to determine the source of the remaining funds," Bock said. "The report did conclude, however, that the majority of the funds deposited into the TD chequing account after March 1, 2014 were primarily from sources other than Mr. Ramdaths legitimate payroll deposits, for which Mr. Ramdath had offered (PriceWaterhouseCoopers) no explanation."

Investigators could not determine the source of the $4,000 Ramdath deposited into a GIC in March 2017.

"In the circumstances, it is also reasonable to believe that some or all of the TD GIC, apparently acquired... when Mr. Ramdath was defrauding Litz Crane of millions of dollars, is also the proceeds of unlawful activity," Bock said.

At the time of Ramdaths January 2019 arrest, he owned an East St. Paul house, another on Manitoba Avenue, luxury vehicles including a 2008 Aston Martin, BMW, and Maserati, jewelry, including a $43,000 ring, designer sunglasses, handbags and shoes, and cash in several bank accounts. He also owned side businesses, including two fitness clubs.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
SAN FRANCISCO  Audium, a 49-seat theater that is enclosed by 176 speakers, is a vestige of oddball experimentation in a rapidly gentrifying city. Stan Shaff, 91, who began his experiment six decades ago, just a few years before the Summer of Love, describes it as a sound sculpture.

Mr. Shaff was inspired to create it in the 1960s, after performing as a classically trained trumpet player with the dance ensemble of Anna Halprin, who was a postmodern pioneer.

Today the space, which is in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, houses a community of fans of sound art and the citys iconoclastic past. Every Thursday through Saturday night the eclectic composition is shaped by the performer  Stan or his son David  who uses a control board affixed with glow-in-the-dark labels to manipulate it, directing sound from rumbling bass speakers beneath the seats to small horn speakers above.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  The Philippine National Police will be manning the entry and exit points in Metro Manila for the lockdown that is set to be implemented on Sunday.

Acting PNP spokesperson Benigno Durana said Friday that the PNP will handle checkpoints in Metro Manila for the community quarantine implementation to contain the new coronavirus disease or COVID-19.

The President said, community quarantine is nothing but a lockdown. Lets not be coy about that, Durana told CNN Philippines on New Day.

He added that Friday and Saturday will be a transition period as they meet to finetune the enforcement guidelines.

The goal is to prevent the movement of the public to safeguard the health of those in Metro Manila and neighboring areas, he added.

Durana said the Labor Department will issue guidelines on whether workers in Metro Manila who live outside can go inside the metropolis during the community quarantine.

President Rodrigo Duterte announced Thursday night that he is placing the entire Metro Manila under a lockdown over the coronavirus disease outbreak, while raising the alert level of the country to Code Red Sub-level 2, which is the highest alert level for COVID-19.

For Manila, ayaw namin gamitin yan pero --- kasi takot kayo sabihin lockdown [For Manila, we dont want to use that because you are scared to say lockdown]. But its a lockdown, he said.

Along with the PNP, Duterte will also tap the Armed Forces of the Philippines to ensure effective and orderly implementation of the said measure.

He stressed that this move is not equivalent to martial law.

It is not a martial law. It's not even something extraordinary. But what is sought to be solved here is again, walang iba [nothing else] except to fight the virus and to exact compliance, Duterte said in his speech.

Around 12 million people living in Metro Manila will not be allowed in and out of the country's economic and political center by land as well as local air and sea travel from midnight of March 15 until April 14 as the region is placed under community quarantine. Details of the lockdown, however, remain unclear.

In a statement after Dutertes address, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the current situation does not merit a total and absolute lockdown. Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said workers will be allowed to enter Metro Manila provided they have an indentification card to prove their place of work is in the metropolis.

Railways traversing Metro Manila  the LRT, MRT and the Philippine National Railways  will continue operations, but the Transportation Department was tasked to issue guidelines to ensure adequate distance between people on the trains to prevent the spread of diseases.

READ: Metro Manila to be placed on 'lockdown' due to COVID-19
The Moroccan authorities have shut the border with Spain in Ceuta and Melilla as a preventative measure to protect Morocco from coronavirus.

This latest measure comes after the suspension of all flight connections and maritime movements both to and from Spain.

A government spokesperson commented, "The decision was taken late on Thursday as a precaution against coronavirus."

The Moroccan press has indicated that the border will be closed indefinitely with estimates predicting that it could last for around 15 days.
By Express News Service

VISAKHAPATNAM: Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Botcha Satyanarayana here on Thursday said attempts are being made to disturb the law and order situation during the local body elections.

Addressing mediapersons, the minister took exception to the statements by opposition leaders for an ordinance to nominate local body heads. He said the State government was doing everything to conduct elections as per Election Commission (EC) guidelines.

More than 50,000 nominations were filed for 9,060 MPTC seats across the State. If the situation was not conducive, how can so many nominations be filed? he questioned. That so many nominations have been filed indicates that the elections are being held in a peaceful manner, he said.

He said the EC can be approached by the parties if they feel they were not allowed to submit nominations. He said the YSRC will respect the decision taken by the EC. The minister said Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy wanted to conduct the elections minus the ills of liquor and money. Is it wrong, he asked.

The TDP leaders, who visited Macherla on Wednesday, incurred the peoples wrath as their car hit a physically challenged person. Any leader is free to visit any place in the State.

However, the TDP leaders should have given the police prior information about their visit to the particular area. Botcha ridiculed the statements of BJP State president Kanna Lakshminarayana and Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan. He said, Why the BJP-Jana Sena combine could not field candidates in all MPTC and ZPTC constituencies in the State is beyond me. With regard to BC reservations, he blamed the TDP leaders who, he said, filed cases against the reservation in the court. He said the Chief Minister decided to give 10% more party tickets to BCs.
UTLA calls for LAUSD to close schools

Tonight UTLA called on LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner to take decisive action to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

We are calling for the rapid, accelerated, and humane closure of LAUSD schools, UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl said. Other countries have shown that a proactive  not reactive  approach slows the spread of the virus, makes sure healthcare providers are not crushed with overwhelming demand, and dramatically reduces fatalities.

As part of the call for school closures, UTLA released 10 Common Good Community Demands to support students and families, including 15 additional paid sick days for all LA County workers, a weekly disaster stipend, and creation of a food supply network.

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The state has a $20 billion reserve and this is exactly the time to tap into that reserve to support students and families, Caputo-Pearl said. There is an opportunity here to build a social safety net through our Common Good Community Support demands. Lets take the opportunity to build those now.

UTLAs call for an accelerated timeframe for school closures is supported by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents nurses, medical technicians, and other healthcare experts across the country.

As a healthcare union representing workers on the front lines of this pandemic, we must take proactive steps to protect our communities, said Sal Rosselli, president of NUHW. Although closing schools is a difficult decision, only decisive action will slow the exponential growth of this pandemic and prevent our healthcare system from becoming overloaded.

Link to the UTLA Statement on the Proactive Closure of LAUSD Schools
EDWARDSVILLE  Since it began setting up bike/pedestrian trails in the mid-1990s, the Madison County Transit District has developed more than 130 miles of trails. Now officials are looking at expanding and improving the system.

About 40 people, ranging from citizens to elected officials, met at Lewis and Clark Community Colleges N.O. Nelson Campus for a two-hour trail workshop Friday.

Before the workshop, interim MCT Managing Director SJ Morrison said part of the idea behind the meeting is to tell the MCT trail systems story, but also get feedback on and help develop a vision for the future of the trail system.

MCT has built an incredible framework, 137 miles, he said. Now were looking for feedback on how we extend our system.

In addition to input from participants at the workshop, he said MCT plans a public survey later. He said previous surveys showed a large number of peoples neighborhood trips are within 3 miles of home.

Thats a 20-minute bike ride, he said. Can we extend our system in such a way that we can really change the culture of Madison County and get people on their bikes and out of their cars?

The workshop began with an overview of the trail system.

We want to give everybody here today to have an opportunity to see what the trail system looks like, MCT Board Chairman Ron Jedda said. The MCT board is very committed in making improvements, enhancements to the trail system; and were also looking at ways to make the system a little bigger and get it into more neighborhoods and parks.

Since MCT started rail-banking abandoned railroad right-of-ways in the 1990s, the trail system has expanded to become what is considered one of the best in the nation.

Morrison also shared some of the history of the trail systems development and discussed several types of improvements desired, including tail extensions, connection and enhancements.

Trail extensions would be large-scale projects of more than one-half mile, which he called significant expansion of the trail system. He said the recent opening of an extension of the Goshen Trial from Troy-OFallon Road in November was a good example.

Trail connections would be spurs that connect trails to local parks, neighborhoods or commercial areas. First-mile, last-mile is kind of a buzzword right now, Morrison said.

Trail enhancements would be include partnerships with businesses to offer services and amenities such as repair stations or showers, to artistic and historical displays.

Several participants noted they original were skeptical of the trail system but were now very supportive.

Former Madison County Board Member Kent Scheibel talked about having juried art contests where winning sculptures could be placed along the trails. Tom Pelot, of Godfrey, suggested extending a trail from the Vadalabene Trail along the Great River Road up the old Hop (also known as Hopp) Hollow Road to Pierce Lane or the surrounding area.

Hop Hollow Road extends from the Blue Pool along the river toward Mullin Lane in Godfrey. The road predates the Civil War and is noted on numerous paranormal websites as the route taken to transport smallpox victims and others from the Alton Penitentiary to what is now the Confederate Cemetery on Rosier Street. The road was considered haunted, in part because of stories of lazy soldiers burying corpses along the way rather than at the cemetery.

Fridays participants broke into smaller groups to discuss specific projects or plans.

Reach reporter Scott Cousins at 618-208-6447.
Washington: A US federal judge has ordered that former US Army soldier and WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning should be immediately released from prison, where she was being held for refusing to testify in an ongoing US investigation of WikiLeaks.

The grand jury investigating the anti-secrecy website, federal judge Anthony Trenga of the Eastern District of Virginia said, is no longer active.

"Ms Manning's appearance before the grand jury is no longer needed," he wrote. "Her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose."

Chelsea Manning has refused to testify to a grand jury. Credit:AP

But an entry in the court docket in Alexandria, Virginia, signed by Trenga, rejected a request by Manning to cancel fines which he had imposed for her refusal to testify and ordered her to pay a total of $US256,000 ($400,000).
Liberian authorities should drop the police investigation into journalist Kaluba Akois work and allow him to cover the news freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On February 28, police in Voinjama, the capital of northern Liberias Lofa County, summoned Akoi, a reporter with the Kintoma Radio FM broadcaster and a freelance journalist, and arrested him when he arrived at the police station, according to a statement by the Liberia Press Union, a local trade advocacy group, and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ via phone and messaging app.

He was held for four hours before police released him, saying that they would summon him again, Akoi said. He told CPJ that police hit him against a wall and dragged him by his trousers during the arrest.

His arrest followed a complaint filed by Samuel Kpene Ngaima, president of the Lofa County community college, claiming that Akois posts on Facebook alleging fraud at the college constituted criminal conspiracy, criminal malevolence, and illegal disclosure of official documents, Toby Reeves, Akois lawyer, told CPJ in a phone interview.

As of March 11, Akoi had not received a second summons, he told CPJ.

Kaluba Akoi should never have been arrested or detained, and the ongoing investigation into his work should be dropped, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator, in New York. Authorities intimidating and harassing journalists for reporting on matters of public interest is inconsistent with Liberias basic standards of press freedom.

Akoi has over 1,300 followers on his Facebook page , where he posts reporting and commentary on local news. In one post about Ngaima in December and another in January , Akoi alleged that the college president had overseen the misuse of funds, and posted images of financial transaction records.

Reeves told CPJ that police had yet to provide a physical copy of the complaint, but said officers told him they intended to prosecute Akoi if their investigation uncovers any lawbreaking.

Criminal malevolence is no longer part of the Liberian penal code following reforms in February 2019, but criminal conspiracy and the illegal disclosure of official documents each carry penalties of up to three months in detention and fines to be set by a court, according to Reeves.

Ngaima told CPJ over the phone that he could not comment on the case because it was under police investigation.

Liberian national police spokesperson Moses Carter and Voinjama police spokesperson James Taylor both told CPJ in phone interviews that they could not comment on details of the case.
The high consumption of beer in Viet Nam has previously attracted brewers to cash in. But now, the Vietnam Beer Alcohol Beverage Association (VBA) is asking the Government for help.

The Hai Xom - a Ha Noi popular beer franchise - closed its branch in Hoang Quoc Viet Street in January as it was difficult to attract customers.  Photo nld.vn

In early March, VBA sent a dispatch to the Prime Minister and some relevant ministries proposing they remove difficulties for the beer-alcohol-beverage industry. The association said: Since the beginning of 2020, the industry has been affected by the double impact from COVID-19 epidemic and Decree 100.

The association attributed Decree 100 and the Law on Alcohol Harm Prevention, which bans drivers from drinking alcohol and took effect on January 1, and the current COVID-19 pandemic to the drop in alcohol sales.

In the first two months of the year, sales of beer and wine decreased sharply despite Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays and festive season, which were often the largest consumption period of the year for the products.

VBA said in the letter: Beer trading firms saw consumption fall by 40-50 per cent in the period, while restaurants and catering services lost 70-80 per cent of customers compared to the same period in 2019.

A representative of the association claimed: Lots of small businesses have had to close due to difficulties.

The representative thought the reduction in beer and wine consumption has not only influenced the industry but also affected partners and suppliers, restaurants and bars, leading to thousands of unemployed workers, especially in the service sector.

More importantly, the representative thought the decline would lead to difficulties in tax collection, as the industry was facing high special consumption tax, corporate income tax, value-added tax and personal income tax.

He added: The reduction of alcohol and beer consumption could lead to a shortfall of about VND30 trillion (US$1.28 billion) in the State budget in 2020, caused by less contribution from alcohol and beer enterprises as well as related services.

After clarifying all difficulties, the VBA asked the Government to reduce taxes and fees to help the industry overcome the situation to stabilise production.

The association also asked the Government to postpone increasing taxes for the industry in the near future so that businesses can invest in developing production.

At the same time, it expected the Government to develop policies encouraging the production of low or alcohol-free products to meet the new demand of consumers after Decree 100.

The VBA also asked the Prime Minister to lower the sanctions related to the use of alcohol when driving.

No official data is available for the countrys consumption of alcohol in 2019, but different sources estimated it at 4.9 billion litres. According to VBA, the figure is expected to climb to 5.6 billion litres in 2035.

Each Vietnamese person drank an average of 43 litres per year, making the country the third-largest per capita consumer in Asia, just behind China and Japan.  VNS

Vietnam beverage industry potential appeals to foreign players Listed among leading Asian consumers of alcoholic drinks, Vietnam remains potential for foreign investors.
Classroom courses at Cayuga Community College will shift to an online format on March 20 in response to the coronavirus outbreak in New York state.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's announced earlier this week that all State University of New York institutions would be moving to a distance-learning format in an effort to minimize the potential for spreading the disease, known as COVID-19. Since that order was announced Wednesday, CCC officials have been working on an implementation plan.

On Friday, the school said classes will continue with the current schedule and format through Thursday, March 19, with a switchover date on Friday, March 20. The online format will be in effect until further notice.

"Faculty members are communicating with students to convey the specific information, guidance and support they need for this change," CCC said in a press release. "Portions of some small classes may still run on campus as academic leaders ensure educational continuity while respecting stringent standards of health and safety. This information will be communicated with students by their course instructors."

The college said both its Auburn and Fulton campuses would remain open, with in-person support services continuing.

The Cayuga Community College Childcare Center is also staying open. Enhanced cleaning operations have been put in place and the center is providing additional guidance to parents and guardians.

The college said it's also continuing its partnership programs with area school districts "with consistent evaluations for health and safety. School district leaders are being consulted in these decisions."

On-campus events will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, the college said, "with health and safety the foremost factors in whether these events continue."
Just days after 22 MLAs resigned pushing Congress government into crisis, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday confidently stated that his government is "stable" and there is nothing to "worry" about.

The statement from the Chief Minister came just hours after meeting Governor Lalji Tandon. CM Nath also accused the BJP of horse-trading.

"I have told the Governor how MLAs are being kept in captivity in Bengaluru and how their resignations are being given to Speaker by a BJP leader. This is a joke. This is a conspiracy by BJP. My government is stable and there is nothing to worry out," he said in an exclusive interview with ANI in Bhopal.

When asked to comment on Jyotiraditya Scindia exiting Congress and joining the rival BJP, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister quickly said, " Only he can say why he has gone."

Earlier in the morning, CM Kamal Nath held a discussion on floor test with the Governor requested him to make efforts for the release of the MLAs allegedly held in captivity in Bengaluru by the BJP.

The Chief Minister had also pointed out at the BJP's act of handing over the resignations of legislatures on behalf of the missing Congress MLAs and called it the "entire conspiracy" and "illegal actions."

On Wednesday, Scindia joined BJP in New Delhi in the presence of party President JP Nadda. He had resigned from Congress a day earlier after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Scindia will file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Parents wait for their children outside an elementary school in New Taipei City's Xindian district on March 3.

Getty Images

Though the island state is only 81 miles from mainland China, Taiwan has managed to stem what could have been an even bigger coronavirus crisis.

The country leveraged its public-health infrastructure and affordable healthcare to keep its population safe and healthy compared with nearby countries.

Countries struggling to manage their COVID-19 epidemics can learn something from Taipei's swift, multifaceted response to the virus, experts say.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Only 81 miles from mainland China, the island state of Taiwan and its nearly 24 million residents faced a dire threat as the novel coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, China, late last year.

But instead of fueling pandemonium, the country has taken control of the situation. Taiwan has only 77 confirmed cases and a single death from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, and nearly 30% of infected people have recovered. China, by comparison, has about 81,000 confirmed cases.

China is one of the largest countries by population, with 1.4 billion people to Taiwan's nearly 24 million. Still, China's per-capita case rate is more than 25 times Taiwan's.

In its fight against a countrywide epidemic, the government in Taipei has implemented 124 safety protocols, a testament to its quick, vast, and well-considered policy measures.

"The policies and actions go beyond border control," Jason Wang, a Stanford University pediatrics professor and policy-analysis expert, told Stanford Health Policy earlier this month, "because they recognized that that wasn't enough."

How did Taiwan manage to stem a health crisis that originated in nearby China and has seen more than 127,000 infections and nearly 5,000 deaths around the globe?

In an article published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Wang credited the government's early and swift action: It took advantage of public-health infrastructure and data analytics, affordable healthcare, and extensive educational outreach.

Story continues

Taiwan quickly implemented extensive screening for people traveling from Wuhan

On December 31, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization that China had several cases of pneumonia. That day, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control began monitoring passengers who arrived in the country from Wuhan. Government officials boarded flights from Wuhan as soon as they landed, monitoring passengers for symptoms.

Less than a week later, the government began monitoring people who had traveled from Wuhan since December 20.

"Suspected cases were screened for 26 viruses, including SARS and MERS," the Stanford Health Policy report said. "Passengers displaying symptoms were quarantined at home and assessed whether medical attention at a hospital was necessary."

People in Taipei view lanterns on display for Lunar New Year in February.

Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo

In mid-January, Taiwan sent a team of experts on a fact-finding mission to China  with permission, even though Taiwanese-Chinese relations are less than stellar.

"They didn't let us see what they didn't want us to see, but our experts sensed the situation was not optimistic," Kolas Yotaka, a Taiwanese government representative, told NBC News.

Then the government ramped up safety and health protocols even further.

By late January, Taipei had established a Central Epidemic Command Center, centralizing policy measures to protect public health. On January 26, Taiwan became the first country to ban flights from Wuhan.

People pray at the popular Longshan Temple in Taipei on Thursday.

Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo

Around the same time, the government banned the export of face masks and ensured they were affordable by capping prices at about $0.17 each.

By late February, Taipei had distributed nearly 6.5 million masks to primary and secondary schools, as well as after-school institutions, plus 84,000 liters of hand sanitizer and 25,000 forehead thermometers.

Intensive health monitoring through big data and repeat testing

Taiwan's health infrastructure, including big-data analysis, is partially the result of the 2003 SARS outbreak, which killed 73 people and stunted its economy.

After the 2003 epidemic, Taiwan put temperature monitors in airports to screen travelers for fever, a symptom of COVID-19. The government had learned its lesson.

Travelers can also report their travel and health history with a QR code, which the government uses "to classify travelers' infectious risks based on flight origin and travel history in the last 14 days," the Stanford report said.

Lanterns on display for Lunar New Year in Taipei on February 9.

Chiang Ying-ying/ AP Photo

"People who had not traveled to high-risk areas were sent a health declaration border pass via SMS for faster immigration clearance," the report said. "Those who had traveled to high-risk areas were quarantined at home and tracked through their mobile phones to ensure that they stayed home during the incubation period."

Crucially, the government does not forget about people who tested negative for the virus  it retests them to keep track of new cases, Wang told NBC News.

'Taiwan's health insurance lets everyone not be afraid to go to the hospital'

Taiwan's health-insurance system covers 99% of the population, Kolas told NBC News, adding that affordable coverage virtually guarantees that people don't need to choose between their personal and financial health.

"Taiwan's health insurance lets everyone not be afraid to go to the hospital. If you suspect you have coronavirus, you won't have to worry that you can't afford the hospital visit to get tested," she told NBC News. "You can get a free test, and if you're forced to be isolated, during the 14 days, we pay for your food, lodging, and medical care.

"So no one would avoid seeing the doctor because they can't pay for health care," she added.

Easy access to information

To stem the crisis, Taipei required television and radio stations to broadcast hourly public-service announcements about the coronavirus, including how it spreads and how people should prevent infection, NBC News reported.

"We think only when information is transparent, and people have sufficient medical knowledge, will their fear be reduced," Kolas told the outlet.

Two children watch as chefs make dumplings in Taipei on Saturday.

Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo

In turn, citizens have intensified their safety practices. Tu Chen-yang, a school principal, told NBC News that this was especially evident in schools.

"More than 95% of our parents take their child's temperature at home and report it to the school before the children arrive," Tu said. "Regardless of what the government does, people have to take responsibility for their own health."

Public and private buildings have screened entrants for signs of fever, and apartment buildings have put hand sanitizer inside or outside elevators, NBC News reported.

It takes an entire country to keep people safe, and Taiwan's extensive coordination and swift action have helped stem the tide of coronavirus cases in the country.

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Abuja, Nigeria, March 12, 2020  Liberian authorities should drop the police investigation into journalist Kolubah Bobo Akois work and allow him to cover the news freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On February 28, police in Voinjama, the capital of northern Liberias Lofa County, summoned Akoi, a reporter with the Kintoma Radio FM broadcaster and a freelance journalist, and arrested him when he arrived at the police station, according to a statement by the Liberia Press Union, a local trade advocacy group, and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ via phone and messaging app.

He was held for four hours before police released him, saying that they would summon him again, Akoi said. He told CPJ that police hit him against a wall and dragged him by his trousers during the arrest.

His arrest followed a complaint filed by Samuel Kpene Ngaima, president of the Lofa County community college, claiming that Akois posts on Facebook alleging fraud at the college constituted criminal conspiracy, criminal malevolence, and illegal disclosure of official documents, Toby Raynes, Akois lawyer, told CPJ in a phone interview.

As of March 11, Akoi had not received a second summons, he told CPJ.

Kolubah Bobo Akoi should never have been arrested or detained, and the ongoing investigation into his work should be dropped, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator, in New York. Authorities intimidating and harassing journalists for reporting on matters of public interest is inconsistent with Liberias basic standards of press freedom.

Akoi has over 1,300 followers on his Facebook page, where he posts reporting and commentary on local news. In one post about Ngaima in December and another in January, Akoi alleged that the college president had overseen the misuse of funds, and posted images of financial transaction records.

Raynes told CPJ that police had yet to provide a physical copy of the complaint, but said officers told him they intended to prosecute Akoi if their investigation uncovers any lawbreaking.

Criminal malevolence is no longer part of the Liberian penal code following reforms in February 2019, but criminal conspiracy and the illegal disclosure of official documents each carry penalties of up to three months in detention and fines to be set by a court, according to Raynes.

Ngaima told CPJ over the phone that he could not comment on the case because it was under police investigation.

Liberian national police spokesperson Moses Carter and Voinjama police spokesperson James Taylor both told CPJ in phone interviews that they could not comment on details of the case.

[EDITORS NOTE: The names Kolubah Bobo Akoi and Toby Raynes have been corrected throughout.]
Alleged kidnap kingpin, Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike also known as Evans has been told by a judge that he will have to defend himself in his criminal trial if he appears in court without legal representation.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), during Fridays proceeding, the judge, Justice Hakeem Oshodi of an Ikeja High Court was told that Evans had changed his defence counsel four times during trial, an action which has slowed the pace of proceedings.

Read Also: Is Evans Herdsman?  Tinubu Reacts As Herdsmen Kills Fasorantis daughter

The first defendant (Evans) informed the court that his lawyer has left and that his people have gone to approach Okparas chamber.

If the first defendant is not represented in the next adjourned date, he will have to conduct his defence himself. The first defendant has himself changed counsel four times during proceedings.

The first defendant should take this as a warning. This is my ruling on this matter, Justice Oshodi said.

Earlier during proceedings in which the defendants were to open their defence, Evans solely of all six defendants had no legal representation.

When Justice Oshodi enquired why, he told the court that his defence counsel had stopped representing him in court.

My former lawyer is no longer appearing in this matter. My people have gone to the chambers of Victor Okpara to represent me, Evans said.

NAN reports that Evans is standing trial alongside Uche Amadi, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu and Victor Aduba over the alleged kidnap of Mr Donatius Dunu who is the Chief Executive Officer of Maydon Pharmaceutical Ltd. The six defendants were arraigned on Aug. 30, 2017 on two counts of conspiracy and kidnapping.

According to the prosecution, the defendants allegedly kidnapped Dunu along Ilupeju Road, Lagos on Feb. 14, 2017 and collected 223,000 Euros (N100m) as ransom from his family.

The pharmaceutical boss, allegedly still held captive by the defendants because his family had not paid additional money to the ransom already collected, escaped captivity and alerted the police.

The case was adjourned till April 3 for hearing of the no-case submissions.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/12/2020 -- Advance Market Analytics released a new market study on Global Mobility Software 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 Mobility Software Forecast till 2025*. Some are the key players taken under coverage for this study are VMware, Inc. (United States), Microsoft (United States), IBM (United States), SAP (Germany), Dell (United States), Intel (United States), Kaspersky (Russia), Famoc (Ireland), CA Technologies (United States) and S&T (Austria).



Mobility Software is a technology that allows organizations to deploy, integrate, monitor and manage mobile devices in a workplace. This software enables the use of devices such as smartphones or tablets for business purposes. This technology provides mobility to employees and facilitates them to do their job from anywhere. An employee can work from a variety of devices provided it is integrated into the system. Mobility software is vital since it allows flexibility and choice for employees. Increased penetration of mobile devices in enterprises, rising focus on employee satisfaction to boost productivity are prominent drivers for the market of mobility software.



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1) What all companies are currently profiled in the report?

Following are list of players that are currently profiled in the report VMware, Inc. (United States), Microsoft (United States), IBM (United States), SAP (Germany), Dell (United States), Intel (United States), Kaspersky (Russia), Famoc (Ireland), CA Technologies (United States) and S&T (Austria).

** 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.

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Market Drivers

- Rise of Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled (COPE) Devices at Work Places

- Time Zone Barrier Is Increasing Need for Flexibility

- Increased Penetration of Mobile Devices to Manage Various Enterprise Operations



Restraints

- High Deployment Costs



Opportunities

- Increasing Adoption of BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Devices) At Workplaces

- Rise of Work-From-Home Culture likely to Increase Adoption



To comprehend Global Mobility Software market dynamics in the world mainly, the worldwide Mobility Software 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.

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- Asia-Pacific: India, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia.



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Major Highlights of TOC:

Chapter One: Market Overview

Chapter Two: Executive Summary ---------- Free of Cost

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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 Mobility Software, by Market Segmentation and Geography (value, volume**) (2013-2018) ------ USD1400



Global Mobility Software

By Type: (Enterprise Email and Content Management, Mobile Device Management, Mobile Application Management, Others

End-User Industry :IT & Telecommunication, BFSI, Government, Retail, Automotive, Others



Global Mobility Software 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)



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------ Sections same as Chapter Five ------

Chapter Eight: Company profiles / Competitive Landscape [12 Players] ------ USD1250

Chapter Nine: Methodology/Research Approach, Data Source, Disclaimer

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The Madhya Pradesh government on Friday ordered closure of schools as well as cinema halls in view of the coronavirus threat.

While schools, both government and private, will remain closed indefinitely till further order, cinema halls will remain closed till March 31, or as per further order.

An order issued by the Commercial Tax Department and signed by deputy secretary S D Richharia said all cinema halls across the state have been asked to remain closed from March 14 to March 31 or till further order.

Earlier in the day, the state government ordered closure of private and government schools for an indefinite period in view of the virus threat.

School examinations, though, would be held as per the schedule.

The order signed by Principal Secretary, School Department Rashmi Arun Shami said all private and government schools would have a temporary holiday with immediately effect.

Teachers and non-teaching staff will have to attend schools during this period, the order stated.

So far, no confirmed case of the coronavirus has been found in the state.

The step to close schools has been taken as a precautionary measure, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
JERSEYVILLE  An expert witness testified Thursday that bone fragments found on the rural Jerseyville property of Roger Carroll, on trial for the apparent 2010 murder of East Alton woman Bonnie Woodward, do no belong to her.

Matt Davis, an Illinois State Police forensic anthropologist and expert in human remains, told jurors there were several human bone fragments on the burn pile site where prosecutors believe Woodwards body was destroyed.

The fragments were sent to university experts who said two of the fragments were not from Woodward and the others were so degraded by fire or so small that no DNA evidence could be extracted. Davis did not explain the origin of the fragments that were not linked to Woodward.

Also on Thursday, the third day of testimony, an expert in forensic wood anatomy testified Thursday that a significant fire in May or June 2010 damaged a tree at a Jersey County site where Carroll is accused of destroying the lifeless body of Woodward.

Alex Wiedenhoeft of the U.S. Forest Service showed a jury a thick slice of wood from the site on Carrolls land near Jerseyville. He explained how the tree rings revealed the time of the fire that caused the damage. Wiedenhoeft has a doctorate from University of Wisconsin.

You can clearly see that the event happened in 2010, he said. It happened during a growth season in May or June when the growth was quite active.

His story supports the testimony of others  including Carrolls wife, Monica Carroll  that a huge fire burned on the property shortly after Woodward, 48, of East Alton, went missing and was allegedly shot by the defendant.

Roger Carroll, 53, was charged April 12, 2018, with the June 25, 2010, first-degree murder of Woodward. He was an early suspect in the 2010 investigation, but the case lay dormant until his alleged assault of his wife, Monica, and subsequent testimony by his son, Nathan Carroll, about the killing.

Woodwards disappearance roughly coincided with the disappearance of her step-daughter, Heather Woodward, who was living with the Carrolls during that time citing a bad situation at home.

Monica and Nathan Carroll have testified under a promise of immunity. Heather Woodward, who was allegedly used as bait by Roger Carroll to attract Bonnie Woodward, has also testified but did not get immunity.

The tree evidence was initially collected by Frank Scoggins, a former Jersey County States Attorneys investigator who noticed the burned tree in April 2018 while investigators were searching the burn site. He testified that Nathan Carroll was showing him around the property, pointing out significant sites at which the crimes occurred.

The younger Carroll testified earlier this week that the fire was accelerated with oil and gasoline, burning hot for several days. He avoided telling about the alleged murder until 2018 after Monica Carroll was severely attacked by Roger Carroll.

The jury also heard a video of an interview by Roger Carroll with then-Alton detective Scott Golike. In the interview, Carroll denied being in Alton on June 25, 2010, when Woodward was last seen in the employee parking lot of Eunice Smith Nursing Home in Alton where she worked. Her Chevrolet Avalanche was found in the lot.

His statements conflicted with the testimony of eye-witness Wanda Bousley, then a co-worker of Bonnie Woodward at the nursing home. She said she saw Roger Carroll standing next to the Avalanche, talking to Bonnie Woodward.

Your fingerprints were found on the car, and thats a problem, Golike told Roger Carroll in September 2010. He hinted that Roger Carroll could perhaps get a second-degree murder plea agreement, but Roger Carroll asked for an attorney.

Another forensic scientist on Thursday testified a projectile and a shell casing found at the reported site of the shooting near the Carrolls house likely came from a semi-automatic handgun the younger Carroll earlier this week described as the murder weapon.

Witnesses said Roger Carrolls son, Nathan Carroll, pointed out the site of the shooting behind the house, the site of the burn pile and the site where Roger Carroll allegedly dumped Woodwards remains along with those of the burn pile into a creek using a front-loader.

Testimony is expected to continue Friday in the trial.
While some artisans specialize in furnishings and decor, Mr. Toledo focuses on the architecture, selling complete dollhouses as well as individual rooms  like a bathroom in a shadow box  for as much as $20,000. He designs the rooms by hand, milling moldings and using miniature tools, like a table saw the size of a shoe box, for carpentry work.

The advent of 3-D printers has opened the door for people without such advanced woodworking skills, too  to the disappointment of traditional dollhouse makers, who view such technology as taboo. Ms. Coffee of Walla Walla, for example, uses a 3-D printer to make smaller objects, like decorative pumpkins, which she sells for $5. She makes other items, such as throw pillows, using everyday materials and tools like glue, fabric, tweezers and quilt batting.

A year into her craft, Ms. Coffee now sells enough printable herringbone floors and cowhide rugs on her website to turn a profit, although still not enough to give up her day job as a graphic designer. She also uses the dollhouses to work out design challenges in the real-life houses that she and her husband renovate and flip. If shes not sure about a floor color or a pattern for a rug, she can try it out on a tiny scale for a few dollars. Her actual home has the same rustic wide-plank flooring as her dollhouses.

While miniatures have long had their enthusiasts, this new generation of dollhouse makers is turning to idealized contemporary homes at a time when the real-life version is increasingly out of reach for many Americans. High real estate prices and stagnating wages make it difficult for many homeowners to consider a $100,000 kitchen with a farmhouse sink and a Wolf stove. But you could have a very little one  or three of them, and fill them with teensy espresso makers, cheese boards and bottles of Dom Perignon. Like the idea of a barn door, but dont actually have a place to install one? Tuck it into the dollhouse attic, and if it grows tiresome, refurnish the entire room with rattan chairs, a shag rug and a soft pink palette.
(Newser)  Many Americans are infected with coronavirus and don't know it, authorities sayand because of difficulties getting tested, some will get sick and recover without ever knowing for sure whether they had it. Officials warn that America is far behind other countries in testing for coronavirus, making it even more difficult to fight the outbreak. "The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told House lawmakers Thursday. "It is a failing. I mean, lets admit it." More:

Demand is outstripping supply. The New York Times spoke to dozens of people across the country days after President Trump promised that anyone who wants a test can get a test, and found that many had been rejected even when they showed symptoms and lived in areas with serious outbreaks. Some were told they didn't meet the criteria for testing; others were told there just weren't enough testing kits.

story continues below

Only 11K have been tested . Members of both parties said after congressional briefings Thursday that they were shocked only 11,000 of America's 327 million people have been tested by the CDC and public health labs so far, the Guardian reports. South Korea, with 51 million people, tests almost the same number every day, which has helped authorities there control the outbreak. According to a CDC database, only eight Americans were tested Tuesday.

. Members of both parties said after congressional briefings Thursday that they were shocked only 11,000 of America's 327 million people have been tested by the CDC and public health labs so far, the Guardian reports. South Korea, with 51 million people, tests almost the same number every day, which has helped authorities there control the outbreak. According to a CDC database, only eight Americans were tested Tuesday. This is why numbers are low . New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he had outsourced testing to private labs because of a "federal bottleneck" that has left testing "way behind." "Its because we have no testing capacity, thats why the numbers are low. If you actually had testing capacity you would see how high the numbers are already," he tells CNN. "As we do ramp up testing you are going to see those numbers go sky-high."

. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he had outsourced testing to private labs because of a "federal bottleneck" that has left testing "way behind." "Its because we have no testing capacity, thats why the numbers are low. If you actually had testing capacity you would see how high the numbers are already," he tells CNN. "As we do ramp up testing you are going to see those numbers go sky-high." Supply chain problems . A shortage of ingredients could make the delay in testing worse, the Financial Times reports. Qiagen, which makes a chemical used to extract genetic material from swab samples, says it is ramping up production in the US and elsewhere, but still has to ration ingredients. "Like everyone in the industry, we are addressing supply constraints and allocating shipments to the customers with highest needs, a spokesperson said. It is imperative that the industry works together to address the unprecedented demand for testing components across the entire workflow." California Gov. Gavin Newsom says some state labs have been unable to use test kits because they lack ingredients.

. A shortage of ingredients could make the delay in testing worse, the Financial Times reports. Qiagen, which makes a chemical used to extract genetic material from swab samples, says it is ramping up production in the US and elsewhere, but still has to ration ingredients. "Like everyone in the industry, we are addressing supply constraints and allocating shipments to the customers with highest needs, a spokesperson said. It is imperative that the industry works together to address the unprecedented demand for testing components across the entire workflow." California Gov. Gavin Newsom says some state labs have been unable to use test kits because they lack ingredients. Lawmakers frustrated . Lawmakers from both parties expressed frustration after Thursday's briefings and complained that they weren't getting straight answers from coronavirus task force members, the Wall Street Journal reports. "This has been botched from the beginning," said Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.

. Lawmakers from both parties expressed frustration after Thursday's briefings and complained that they weren't getting straight answers from coronavirus task force members, the Wall Street Journal reports. "This has been botched from the beginning," said Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. The dangers of failing to test. Without large-scale testing to track the spread of the virus and allocate resources, health providers could be rapidly overwhelmed by undetected cases, the AP reports. Analysts say a big part of the problem is that the US response is split between public labs and private labs that don't report to the CDC.

(Read more coronavirus stories.)
LOS ANGELESAs people ensure they are stocked up on water, toiletries, non-perishables, and other vital necessities for their homes, SOS Distribution is reminding pleasure products companies to ensure they are stocked up for their businesses as well.

The global pandemic is spreading here stateside; it's crucial now more than ever to properly stock up on your top selling brands and products, the company said in a release.

SOS Distribution is working around the clock to stay ahead of the crisis, however it's up to individual buyers to properly stock individual products while supplies last.

Ports are backed up. Borders are closing. Travel has come to a screeching halt. It's time to take advantage of being in the adult industry How?

There will be delays and shortages for nearly all industries, we're no different. However, our industry will likely turn profits as people stay home from work, travel, and group outings, Hamed Allen, CEO of SOS Distribution said. No one is calculating the amount of NetFlix and Chill people are going to be conducting! That means they will need enhancers, lubes, condoms, and toys for all the stay home action, and the worst thing you can do is run out of stock. Be vigilant and stay ahead of this crisis.

I got word last night that China keeps running out of condoms, Allen continued. My friend in quarantine overseas sends me nightly updates and adult products are continuously selling out just like toilet paper! It's not a time to panic but it's most definitely a time to stay well prepared. Instead of panicking, devise solutions for free delivery, free shipping, anything clever to safely get your products into buyers hands! The demand is cumming!

Given the current climate, SOS Distribution has allotted classic brands as emergency stock to help fellow resellers stock up and turn profits through murky waters. Supplies are limited, and priced accordingly with no price gouging or upcharges. SOS Distribution stocked up months ago to ensure they can pass the savings onto buyers during a crucial time of need.

For more information contact Jorge Solorzano at [email protected]
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 13

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Export value from Turkish cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir to Azerbaijan in February 2020 made up $87.1 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend on March 13.

Istanbuls export to Azerbaijan in the reported period increased to $67.2 million, which is 21.6 percent more compared to February 2019, the ministry noted.

In February 2020, Ankaras export to Azerbaijan grew by 51.2 percent compared to the same period of 2019, amounting to $14.3 million, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, Izmirs export to Azerbaijan in February of this year made up $5.5 million, which is 15 percent more compared to the same period of 2019.

In January-February 2020, the total export volume from Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir to Azerbaijan amounted to $168 million.

Istanbuls exports to Azerbaijan in January-February 2020 made up $136.8 million, which is 32.6 percent more compared to the same period of 2019.

Exports from Ankara to Azerbaijan in the reported period increased by 26 percent compared to the same period of 2019 and stood at $20.9 million.

During the reporting period, exports from Izmir to Azerbaijan amounted to $10.2 million, which is 11.4 percent more compared to the same period of 2019, the ministry noted.

In January-February 2020, Turkeys export to Azerbaijan increased by 26.8 percent compared to the same period of 2019 and made up $245 million.

Turkeys foreign trade turnover in January 2020 exceeded $33.9 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
A proposed law that would make it slightly easier for foreigners to get a permanent residency in China set off a slew of racist and xenophobic backlash on Chinese social media, that eventually spilled over to Twitter.

But the U.S. social media company says many of those tweets do not violate its policies and some remain online.

The posts, which use offensive language and racial slurs, are a response to a proposed legislation at the end of February by Beijing that appears to ease some of the requirements for foreigners to get a permanent residency or so-called "green card" in China.

With the proposed law, China is looking to attract overseas workers in areas such as science and technology, people with big investments in the country and talent to fill shortages in the economy.

"From this exposure draft and this broadened eligibility criteria, we see the intent of the Chinese government to attract more foreign talents through a long-term working period in China," Dezan Shira & Associates, a professional services firm helping companies do business in Asia, said in a recent article.

The company noted that "stringent criterion" still apply,however.

Despite this, Chinese "netizens"  or people on social media  were up in arms about the proposal. A hashtag that translates as "regulations on the administration of permanent residence of foreigners," was widely-used on Weibo, a microblogging site in China. But that hashtag and posts related to it were quickly banned on the service by the country's censors.

The conversation moved onto Twitter, using the same hashtag.

Several tweets, directed at black people and Africans, used the "N word." A couple of these tweets had been taken down, but several still remain. CNBC cannot show these tweets here due to the offensive and racist language.

Others were more subdued.

TWEET 1: We really don't want you to live in China. China has not been an immigrant country since ancient times. We don't have racial discrimination. We just feel that our country has the right to say no

TWEET 2: 5000 years of Chinese civilization,,China has 1.4 billion people, I don't want China to be the second "France"

A spokesperson for Twitter declined to comment when contacted by CNBC.

Twitter's hateful conduct policy says users "may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease. "

"We prohibit targeting individuals with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to dehumanize, degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category," the policy reads.
AUSTIN, Texas  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott isnt making decisions on canceling public gatherings in response to the coronavirus outbreak, even as some local officials seek guidance and other U.S. governors urge bans on big crowds and school closures.

It is a stance that puts Abbott, a Republican, in contrast with governors in both parties who have called for curtailing events in similarly big states, including California and Florida. But Abbott has resisted publicly saying whether big events in Texas  like the South By Southwest Festival shelved last week  should go on, insisting that local health officials are better suited to make the call.

He continued to defer in private Wednesday on a call with mayors and county officials across Texas, some of whom sought direction. One was a small-town administrator in Bruceville-Eddy, a rural community of about 1,800 people, who asked whether to scrap a city council meeting that was likely to draw an older crowd.

Without being able to be there, without knowing all the facts on the ground, I wouldnt be able to tell you what is the right thing to do other than use your best instincts, said Abbott, urging her to consult with local health officials.

Sonya Bishop, who asked the question, said in an interview later the guidance was fine but had hoped for a straighter answer.

 It kind of contradicted what they said earlier in the conversation, she said. In one aspect they were saying social distance and avoid crowds, but then they we saying its kind of up to you all how you take care of it.

Texas has more than two dozen cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

The call came on the same day that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, strongly advised municipalities and businesses Thursday to limit or postpone large gatherings. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, also urged an end to gatherings of more than 250 people to counter the spread of new coronavirus.

The new coronavirus  which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on Wednesday  causes only mild or moderate symptoms for most people. But it can cause more severe illness including pneumonia in older adults and people with existing health problems. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus, which causes COVID-19, within weeks.

On the Texas border, El Paso County Judge Richard Samaniego said he supported Abbott leaving the decision up to them, saying that his first call would be to Mexico, not Austin, if a border crosser was found to have the virus.

We are so different. I like the local freedom that he gave us today, he said.

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Associated Press reporter Cedar Attanasio in El Paso contributed to this report.

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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.
On Friday, Louisiana became the first state to announce it would be postponing its April 4 presidential primary. Meanwhile, officials in the next four states to hold primaries announced the votes would go forward this coming Tuesday. With the Democratic primary contest winding down of its own momentum, how to hold an election during a pandemic may feel at the moment like one of the less urgent questions. With our national election just less than eight months away, though, it is not. Congress can and should act to secure the ability of voters to cast ballots this November sooner rather than later.

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Most immediately, in light of the uncertain time frame for disruption of life and political activities due to the coronavirus, Congress should pass a law requiring states to offer no-excuse absentee balloting for the November elections. Congress has the power to do so, and it should fully fund the efforts. The bill has to be drafted carefully to protect all voters. But time is short. For this to happen, it must happen quickly.

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First, heres why we need such a law: In one-third of American states, one needs to offer an excuse acceptable to election officials in order to vote by mail. We are already seeing disruptions stemming from the need for social distancing and other extreme measures because of the pandemic. Ohio, which votes on Tuesday, has seen a shortage of older poll workers, reluctant to expose themselves at the polls. As noted, Louisiana announced on Friday it is postponing its primary for two months. As Jon Stokes argues in pushing for an expansion of absentee balloting, we dont know how long social isolation and disruption are going to last, but it is not out of the question that we will still have problems in November.

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Mail-in balloting, which is used almost exclusively in several states such as Washington and Colorado, would give voters a chance to vote without having to show up at the polls. It would ensure that fewer people would be disenfranchised. And importantly it would provide a good argument against an attempt to try to postpone voting in November (or worse yet having state legislatures appoint presidential electors themselves without a vote of the people). Our democracy needs to continue to function, and the election could well be a referendum on President Donald Trumps leadership during the coronavirus crisis. The worst result would be for Trumps own incompetence to provide a basis for keeping him in office longer.

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Second, Congress has the power to pass such a law. The elections clause in Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution gives Congress broad powers to overrule the states on the time, place, and manner of holding congressional elections. It is this same broad power that gives Congress the ability to require states to follow certain streamlined procedures in registering voters, and to offer voter registration ability at government offices like the Department of Motor Vehicles. So long as Congress pays for all the costs, there should be no constitutional issue with requiring states to offer this means of voting. And paying for these costs is key, because even in states allowing for vote by mail, there could be millions more ballots cast by this method than are usually cast in this way, ramping up costs significantly.

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A law requiring each state to offer a mail-in balloting option would have to be carefully crafted. It has to deal with the language provisions of the Voting Rights Act, which require language assistance for voters whose first language is not English. As Dale Ho argues, the rules for processing those absentee ballots have to be fair so voters are not disenfranchised by administrative error. And as Dave Daley argues that vote by mail is not without its problems for minority voters and other vulnerable voters, meaning the congressional legislation should address issues like reaching voters who are not regularly served by the postal service. Sen. Ron Wydens bill is a good start in thinking about what final federal legislation should look like.

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Finally, this step would have to happen quickly because ramping up vote by mail puts a huge burden on election administrators. Ballots have to be produced (in multiple languages) and mailed to millions of people. Procedures have to be put in place to verify voter identity and to assure that voters voting by mail are voting freely and fairly. Although election-related fraud is very rare in the United States, it most commonly happens with absentee ballots, such as the absentee ballot tampering in North Carolinas 9th congressional district in 2018, which caused the state board of election to throw out the election results and call a new election.

If we think of the country as at war with coronavirus right now, as part of the war effort we should put plans in place to insure that voters may cast their ballots easily and freely in November. This time the enemy is not another country. But national mobilization to protect our democracy from this virus is urgent, and enhanced use of vote by mail is one key tool of protection. If Congress does not act, millions of people who live in states without no-excuse absentee balloting face the risk of disenfranchisement.
Bari Community Has Diverse Religious Following

"I pray that our Archdiocese of Juba doesn't break up and let us all overcome this challenge and build a stronger Metropolitan Archdiocese that includes all South Sudanese and those who live within the Archdiocese."

By Roger Alfred Yoron Modi



I don't want to underestimate the grievances of those against the appointment of the Archbishop of Juba. It's up-to Vatican to make conclusion. It's also not right to call the entire Bari community tribal over the current disputes. Even there are a number of Bari who support the appointment of the Archbishop while there are others have not taken side with those who are protesting.

Moreover, the Chairman of Bari Community Hon. Cornelio Befo recently made it clear that Bari Community is made up of people from various denominations, including Protestants, while others are Muslims, etc and that the Community has nothing to do with what's going on in the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba.

In December last year, I promised to make a comprehensive analysis and give my opinion in an article over the issues, but I later decided that up to now, as someone who knows the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba in and out, my article would do more harm than good for the Archdiocese and the Country at large. That's why I decided to remain silent and refrain from expressing my opinion. Maybe I shall change my mind in the near future as the situation changes. I don't know. But whatever the case maybe, I'm a journalist, I can't campaign for any side.

All I can say now is that violence, especially by the faithful, over a religious matter is wrong and unacceptable. Available peaceful avenues and dialogue should be explored, even if it means resorting to a Court of law.

As a compromise, it's also not a problem to create a new Diocese in northern or southern Bari given the number of faithful there, while the Archdiocese of Juba remains a Metropolitan one that includes all people, as long as the Capital City of South Sudan shall remain in Juba.

Still, Vatican shall be the one to make final descion.

I pray that our Archdiocese of Juba doesn't break up and let us all overcome this challenge and build a stronger Metropolitan Archdiocese that includes all South Sudanese and those who live within the Archdiocese.
Beijings iconic Summer Palace tourist resort is the home of a huge new ice rink thats opened just ahead of the Winter Olympics. The rink measures 300,000 square meters and consists of two areas designed for different types of activities. The city has opened seven municipal ice rinks and four snow resorts to the public. Since 2014, ice and snow activities in municipal parks have attracted nearly 2 million visitors, according to the Beijing Municipal Administration Center for Parks

Jan 11, 2022 07:26 PM
This is an opinion column.

Jerry Falwell Jr. went on Fox & Friends and suggested to the world, without anything resembling evidence, that the coronavirus is overblown and politically motivated, and that the virus might in fact be a bioweapon gifted us by North Korea, and maybe China.

Its fair to say he was unbalanced.

Impeachment didn't work, and the Mueller Report didn't work, and Article 25 didn't work, Falwell said. And so maybe now, this is their next  their next attempt to get Trump.

And the hosts just let him say it. Unchallenged.

Falwell went on to talk about a conversation he had with an unnamed restaurant owner who said North Korea threatened a Christmas gift for America.

Could it be they got together with China, and this is that present? Falwell said. I dont know. But it really is something strange going on.

All this a day after Fox staffers got a memo from their bosses emphasizing the seriousness of the global pandemic and networks responsibility to give viewers accurate information.

Responsibility. To whom?

And people told me I was going to hell for supporting yoga in Alabama public schools.

But there has to be a special place down there, a special ring for those who would politicize a pandemic, for those who would urge ignorance in the face of crisis, for those who would use sickness and death for advantage, for those who would counsel others to ignore the risk and the advice of medical professionals far more capable of assessing the threat.

There has to be a special circle of hell for those who sit by and let people like Falwell spew his nonsense without so much as a But...

There were more than 125,000 cases of the coronavirus confirmed across the planet by today. There had been more than 4,600 deaths, mostly in places where it never occurred to a soul that the grief and pain they experienced might in some way affect the politics of a president in a country on the other side of the world.

The first case in Alabama was confirmed in Montgomery Friday, after the state finally and slowly began testing a few high-risk patients. More than 1,000 people were infected nationally, and those with immune deficiencies have come to feel particularly vulnerable.

So people like Falwell, who spew conspiracy theories under the presumed (by some poor souls) authority of God risk creating disaster. They are like parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated, like promiscuous men who refuse to wear condoms, like audience members in a burning theater who scream for others to keep their seats, for there really is no fire at all.

You are, of course, free to believe the threats of coronavirus are exaggerated, that closings and postponements and reaction is just too much. You are of course free to believe if was sent by God to punish false prophets, or that it was created by space aliens determined to cause the extinction of humanity so they can steal the rights to The Bachelor.

You are free to believe what you want. But once you encourage others to ignore precautions you become an active participant in their disregard, endangering those who listen to you and to those who will, inevitably, come in contact with them. Once you use your pulpit to discourage men and women from taking the threat of pandemic seriously, you risk preaching the gospel of death.

This virus is not political. This virus is a threat to Democrats and Republicans and Christians and Jews and Muslims and agnostics and atheists and people of all description.

So watch what you say, and what your silence supports.

John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is a columnist for AL.com. His column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register, Birmingham Magazine and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com.
Toronto, March 13 : Even as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus wife tested positive for COVID-19 and the countrys markets posted their biggest one-day loss in history on Thursday, a team of Canadian researchers, including an Indian, said they have isolated the virus behind the global pandemic.

The isolation of the virus by researchers from Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital, the University of Toronto and McMaster University in Waterloo raised hopes for a cure for COVID-19.

The researchers, including Indian-origin postdoctoral student Arinjay Banerjee, worked on samples taken from two patients. In a secure facility, they managed to isolate and propagate the virus, creating a source of COVID-19 for study as to how the virus behaves.

The isolation of the virus will help them to work on solutions to the pandemic, the researchers said.

Arinjay Banerjee, who is a postdoctoral researcher at McMaster University's Institute for Infectious Disease Research and specializes in coronaviruses and in bats, said: "Now that we have isolated the SARS-CoV-2 virus, we can share this with other researchers and continue this teamwork. The more viruses that are made available in this way, the more we can learn, collaborate and share." Highlighting the significance of their work, Banerjee said: "You can't validate anything without a virus." Ecstatic about his contribution to the pathbreaking research, Banerjee said he always told his friends, "When I grow up, I want to be a guy who gets called in if there's an outbreak." He added, "What's happening with the outbreak is sad, but I'm glad I can contribute to the process of understanding this and controlling this outbreak." Fellow researcher Dr Samira Mubareka, who is a microbiologist and infectious diseases physician at Sunnybrook Hospital, said their team now needs key tools to develop solutions to the Coronavirus pandemic.

"While the immediate response is crucial, longer-term solutions come from essential research into this novel virus," she added.

Congratulating his co-researchers, Toronto University microbiologist Rob Kozak, said, "Researchers from these world-class institutions came together in a grassroots way to successfully isolate the virus in just a few short weeks."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
As the world continues to grapple with the growing number of coronavirus-positive cases, scientists are trying their best to find a cure to stop the spread.



In the quest to find a cure is a team of Canadian researchers, including an Indian-origin man, who have said they have isolated the virus behind the global pandemic.

Twitter/Picture For Representation

According to ANI, isolation of the virus by researchers from Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital, the University of Toronto and McMaster University in Waterloo raised hopes for a cure for COVID-19.

The researchers, including Indian-origin postdoctoral student Arinjay Banerjee, worked on samples taken from two patients. In a secure facility, they managed to isolate and propagate the virus, creating a source of COVID-19 for study as to how the virus behaves.

The isolation of the virus will help them to work on solutions to the pandemic, the researchers said.

Arinjay Banerjee, who is a postdoctoral researcher at McMaster University's Institute for Infectious Disease Research and specialises in coronaviruses and in bats, said, "Now that we have isolated the SARS-CoV-2 virus, we can share this with other researchers and continue this teamwork. The more viruses that are made available in this way, the more we can learn, collaborate and share."

Highlighting the significance of their work, Banerjee said: "You can't validate anything without a virus."

Ecstatic about his contribution to the pathbreaking research, Banerjee said he always told his friends, "When I grow up, I want to be a guy who gets called in if there's an outbreak."

Twitter

He added, "What's happening with the outbreak is sad, but I'm glad I can contribute to the process of understanding this and controlling this outbreak."

Fellow researcher Dr Samira Mubareka, who is a microbiologist and infectious diseases physician at Sunnybrook Hospital said their team now needs key tools to develop solutions to the Coronavirus pandemic.

"While the immediate response is crucial, longer-term solutions come from essential research into this novel virus," she added.

Twitter

Congratulating his co-researchers, Toronto University microbiologist Rob Kozak, said, "Researchers from these world-class institutions came together in a grassroots way to successfully isolate the virus in just a few short weeks."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has quarantined himself as his wife Sophie tested positive for COVID-19. India too reported its first death due to coronavirus on Thursday as the number of positive cases soared to 77, with authorities taking emergency measures to contain its spread.

ALL INPUTS ANI
Indians have been bowing their heads in namaste since eternity, and while the West has always been proud of their way of life, seems like they are finally catching up to the greater nuances of our culture and opening their eyes to the true essence of our ancient heritage.



With the monumental rise in Novel Coronavirus cases globally, world leaders are leading the way in ditching traditional forms of greeting and switching to namaste instead. Here are 5 such global instances when public figures opted for the namaste greeting.



1. Donald Trump

Hours ago, during a bilateral press meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, US President Donald Trump shared how the two leaders greeted each other with folded hands amid the coronavirus outbreak across the globe. He went on to add how India was ahead of the curve in terms of greeting each other with namaste already, ages before the latest outbreak.

No handshake  so Donald Trump and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar salute namaste https://t.co/AUuUH51ogN pic.twitter.com/8KzNe5mK5t  ExBulletin (@ExBulletinUk) March 13, 2020

2. Prince Charles

Prince Charles became the talk of social media when he went from a possible handshake to a namaste greeting within a span of seconds a few days ago. He was spotted greeting people with a namaste on multiple occasions since, be it at the Commonwealth Day 2020 celebrations or with Ant and Dec at the Princes Trust Award.

Prince Charles greets Ant and Dec with namaste gesture at Princes Trust Awards https://t.co/mzUEH0gM04 pic.twitter.com/HIWHamXY5V  ITV News (@itvnews) March 11, 2020

3. Emmanuel Macron

Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron also joined the list of leaders who switched to namaste instead of traditional handshakes. Earlier this week, President Macron greeted King Felipe of Spain and his wife in the Elysee Palace courtyard with a bow and namaste.

4. Benjamin Netanyahu

During a press conference earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged his people to adopt namaste and stay away from the handshake. He even went on and demonstrated how to do a namaste.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu @netanyahu encourages Israelis to adopt the Indian way of greeting #Namaste at a press conference to mitigate the spread of #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/gtSKzBDjl4  India in Israel (@indemtel) March 4, 2020

5. King Willem-Alexander

During their recent visit to Indonesia, the Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima stayed away from shaking hands. While the Queen resorted to waving, King Willem-Alexander greeted officials with clasped hands and a bow.



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Prince Harry and Meghan Markles exit from the royal family shocked fans around the world, and now one expert believes it could have been avoided altogether. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently said goodbye to their UK team as their departure will become official in a few weeks. With the couple set to start fresh in Canada, the expert claims they were left to fend for themselves after unnecessarily cruel treatment.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle experience a tearful goodbye

Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, recently completed their final set of royal engagements before their exit from the monarchy goes into effect on March 31. This includes several solo and joint appearances on behalf of the crown.

Once Prince Harry and Meghans exit is finalized, the couple will no longer use their royal titles and will be spending the majority of their time in North America.

They are fully expected to launch a new charitable foundation in the coming months and will be seeking financial independence from the monarchy  something that has yet to be ironed out. Following the couples last public event, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex endeared a tearful goodbye with members of their staff.

According to Page Six, royal expert Omid Scobie, who has worked closely with the couple in the past, claims that Harry was heartbroken over having to forfeit his military titles, calling it a wound that will take time to heal.

Whats even worse is that Scobe claims that Megxit could have been avoided if the Sussexes would have gotten more support from the rest of the royals.

Did Harry and Meghan really want to stay in the royal family?

Many royal watchers thought that Prince Harry and Meghans exit was inevitable, especially given all of the drama they endured the past two years. But Scobe says that the pair thought that leaving the royal family wasnt necessary.

Instead, Harry and Meghan felt like they were forced into the decision because nobody else in his family stood up for them in the media.

[They were] left to fend for themselves against impossible circumstances  even during her pregnancy, he shared. One cant help but wonder if things might have been different if a family member or two had stood up for them during the darkest times.

Scobe was with Prince Harry and Meghan during their final tour of the UK. This includes their appearance at the Mountbatten Festival of Music, where Harry wore his Royal Marines uniform for what might be the last time.

The expert noted that Harry and Meghan were very proud of their roles within the royal family and that forcing them to give up their positions was unnecessarily cruel.

Whats ahead for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle?

Harry and Meghan have not revealed much about their future plans, but Scobe offered a glimpse at whats ahead for the Sussexes.

Despite an emotional goodbye, Scobe revealed that Prince Harry and Meghan are really looking forward to what the future holds. In particular, the couple likes the idea of working at their own pace and not being weighed down by protocols.

And while much has been (incorrectly) speculated about specific commercial endeavors they might be taking on, both Harry and Meghan are eager to get stuck into their work, which will still revolve around their humanitarian efforts and helping amplify the voices of young people around the world on a wide gamut of issues, he added.

Scobe also noted that Harry and Meghans priorities have not changed in light of Megxit. The couple remains determined to keep their family safe and are committed to their various charitable endeavors.

Harry and Meghan have not commented on the latest rumors surrounding their exit. Meghan has already returned to Canada to reunite with her son, Archie Harrison. Harry is expected to follow her shortly.

Harry and Meghan share new Instagram photo

While we wait to see what Harry and Meghan do next, the pair recently shared a new photo on Instagram that might be the least official-looking image on their page.

Before saying goodbye to the royals, Harry and Meghan visited with leaders of Queen Elizabeths Commonwealth Trust in secret. The photo they shared of the meeting features the couple looking very relaxed  with Prince Harry resting his feet on a couch and Meghan laughing.

It is unclear when the photo was taken, but it is one of the last meetings the couple scheduled before their exit becomes official.

Harry and Meghans final joint appearance was at the Commonwealth Day service on Monday afternoon. The Sussexes joined other high ranking members of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton.

Outside of a quick hello, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did not interact much with their royal counterparts.
Ignoring voters is the opposite of what the president is supposed to do, as the only elected official in America whose job it is to represent everyone equally, wherever they live. This is why the winner-take-all rule is so destructive to our nations politics and culture. It deforms our political relationship to one another, creating a false picture of a country carved up into bright red and blue blocs, when in fact we are purple from coast to coast. It undermines policies with broad public support. It increases mistrust of government and decreases voter turnout. And it warps how presidential candidates campaign and how presidents govern.

The way you can get elected in the U.S. is what shapes the campaigns, Mr. Hundt told me. The campaigns are what shape the candidates. And the candidates are what shape the presidency.

So how would a national popular vote serve us better?

In the course of writing a book on the history of the Electoral College and the case for a national popular vote, I spoke to dozens of campaign managers, field directors, ground-game coordinators and other top officials from Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns of the last few decades. I figured if anyone could envision how a national popular vote election might play out, its the people who have devoted their professional lives to winning national elections.

Almost to a person, they said they would far prefer to run to win a popular-vote election.

It would expand the map dramatically, said Matthew Dowd, George W. Bushs chief strategist in 2004. Instead of having five, six or seven key states in 2020, youd have a concerted campaign in at least 40. Youd still campaign in Ohio, and in Michigan, and in Wisconsin, but also in Texas, California, New York, New Jersey and Louisiana. Youd add red states and blue states to the mix that both candidates would have to campaign in.

Both parties would work to rack up votes in places where they know they will do well  cities and inner-ring suburbs for Democrats; outer-ring suburbs, exurbs and rural areas for Republicans. At the same time, they would also work to get out the vote everywhere  if not to win outright, then at least to lose by less.

Mr. Dowd recalled the day in 2004 when he realized how much the existing system encouraged narrow, unrepresentative campaign strategies. I said to myself, Why are we doing all these national polls? Why are we talking to voters in 40 states that were not even competing in? We didnt run a single national poll in the year of the re-election campaign. What difference does it make?

Practically, what that does is, whatever the national dialogue is doesnt matter. And that one thing  basically saying no more national polls and only polls in five or six or seven states  is really detrimental to democracy.
Six people more have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 28, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said Friday.

Four of the news cases are in Montgomery County and two are in Delaware County. People had previously tested positive in both.

The state said all six are adults, with some hospitalized and some in state-required isolation at home.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



Unlike some neighboring states, Pennsylvania is not closing schools.

Instead, state Department of Education spokesman Eric Levis said, Were currently tracking and monitoring cases in Pennsylvania but are also examining whats happening in Ohio, Maryland and other neighboring states.

On Thursday, Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the closing of all schools in Montgomery County along with other facilities, which is seen as the epicenter of Pennsylvanias outbreak of COVID-19 cases, starting Friday.
Billionaire John Arnold, who calls himself a special interest pot stirrer, has decided to join New York City  which is suffering through a crime wave with its new arrest and release program  to meddle in the issue of bail reform.

As part of Arnolds scheme to remake the criminal justice system by releasing criminals before they are tried, he created a Public Safety Assessment (PSA) tool, which is basically a formula that is supposed to assess whether suspects are safe to be released before their trials. (The tool is used by judges in Bernalillo Countys Second Judicial District.) According to Arnolds website, it is a risk assessment tool that helps judges make accurate, efficient, and evidence-based decisions about which defendants should be detained prior to trial and which can be safely released.

New York Citys program differs insofar as the state has simply barred police from detaining criminals for most offenses. But the results are the same as criminals go free.

Unsurprisingly, Arnolds efforts at releasing criminals have encountered a lot of resistance from law enforcement professionals from across the country who are alarmed at what they are seeing in municipalities that participate, and they just dont want to take the risk.

One law enforcement professional who opposes the use of the hedge fund managers formula is Eric Siddall, the vice president of the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys. Were trying to use a method that hedge funds use to make money to make a determination of whether someone should be in custody or not The problem is if a hedge fund makes a mistake, they lose money. If we make a mistake, someone dies, said Siddall.

For those unfamiliar with Arnold, he is the former trader who collected the largest bonus in Enrons history and went on to found his own hedge fund before retiring at the age of 38. Maybe thats why he thinks its safe to gamble with public safety.

Incredibly, the assessment tool assigned two armed robbery suspects the lowest risk score  a one out of six. The two Indiana residents are alleged to have entered a New Orleans pharmacy early in the morning wearing gloves and hoodies, robbed the pharmacy at gunpoint, bound two employees with zip ties, and engaged in a shootout with police as they attempted to flee, injuring an officer.

Fortunately, the PSA scores were completely disregarded and bail for each of the suspects was set at more than $1 million. The assistant district attorney at the bail hearings asserted the assessments were unconscionable. The district attorney followed up by calling the PSAs score for one of the suspects absurd and stated it shows exactly why the skepticism of the PSA is both warranted and deserved.

Two former sheriffs  David Clark, the former sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, and Bob White, the former sheriff of Pasco County, Florida  wrote an op-ed opposing the use of the PSA tool: John Arnold claims to have cooked up a mathematical formula that can somehow predict whether a given criminal suspect will abscond or commit another crime  in other words, Mr. Arnold wants to play of game of Russian roulette, but the gun is always pointed at your head, not his.  Pre-trial release determinations are complicated and fraught with danger to the public. They are difficult decisions best made on a case-by-case evaluation of all the evidence and circumstances by an experienced judge who has heard arguments on all sides. You cant leave those decisions to a mathematical formula.

In addition, former Gov. Susana Martinez, a career prosecutor with more than 20 years of experience, issued the following warning about the PSA tool: Here in New Mexico, weve been working hard to crack down on a catch-and-release revolving-door criminal justice system  a problem that irresponsible interpretations and rules implemented by courts and the Arnold pretrial risk assessment tool have only aggravated. New Mexico implemented this pretrial risk assessment tool to devastating results.

Even a supporter of the PSA tool admits there are significant problems. Alex Bastian, a San Francisco assistant district attorney who is also a spokesman for the office stated, We feel as though the calculations have not been done accurately on many occasions.

Throughout Arnolds career of gambling on natural gas prices, formulas may have been helpful to him in amassing his fortune, but neither human nature, nor justice, nor public safety can be reduced to a simple formula utilizing only basic information about a suspect. That is why the decision of whether or not to release a suspect from custody should be made by an experienced professional  one who is not relying on a magic formula.
The chief executive of BT Group has tested positive for COVID-19 days after attending an industry event where other telco bosses were present.

Philip Jansen tested positive for the virus on Thursday afternoon and is self-isolating, as advised by Public Health England, BT said.

Jansen met executives from other mobile phone operators, including O2 CEO Mark Evans, Three CEO Dave Dyson and Vodafone boss Nick Read, in London on Monday.

The bosses and other industry leaders signed the government-backed deal that day to improve rural phone coverage, announced this week.

BT told MailOnline that Jansen was in attendance with Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden regarding the Shared Rural Network.

O2 and Vodafones leaders are also self-isolating, the FT reports, although there has been no official word from either companies on their current health.

In BT's statement, Jansen said his symptoms seemed mild and he would work remotely over the coming week, avoiding disruption to BT's business. Mr Jensen has led BT for just over a year

Jansen becomes the first publicly confirmed case of a FTSE 100 chief executive who has the virus, which has infected 125,000 and killed 4,600 people worldwide.

The BT boss will now be working remotely as he continues his duties during his isolation period.

'Having felt slightly unwell I decided as a precaution to be tested,' Mr Jansen said in a statement to the PA news agency.

'As soon as the test results were known I isolated myself at home.'

The BT boss said he decided to go public because he had attended the event earlier in the week.

All attendees are now being contacted and given further advice, BT said.

BT's HQ building on Newgate Street in London, which is reportedly undergoing a deep clean

'I've met several industry partners this week so felt it was the responsible thing to do to alert them to this fact as soon as I could,' the 53-year-old CEO said.

'Given my symptoms seem relatively mild, I will continue to lead BT but work with my team remotely over the coming week.

'There will be no disruption to the business.'

Employees who have been in contact with the chief executive have been advised to self-isolate.

BT says it is now working with Public Health England to undertake a full deep clean of relevant parts of its headquarters on Newgate Street, central London.

Mr Jansen has been chief executive of the telecoms group for just over a year.
ATLANTA (March 13, 2020)As part of a partnership with The National media outlet in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), The Carter Center announces that applications are now open for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism Program in the UAE.

Since 1996, the Center has awarded one-year fellowships to more than 220 journalists, connecting them with resources and experts to increase the quality and accuracy of mental health reporting around the world. The program is currently in the United States, Latin America, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and was previously in New Zealand, South Africa, and Romania.

These fellows reshape how media in the Middle East covers one of the most significant, misunderstood public health problems. Like the fellows before them, they will likely impact their colleagues and newsrooms, and become the point person in their field on mental health issues, said former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

The Carter Center provides training, educational materials, mentorship, evaluation tools, and technical assistance to develop a sustainable and tailored program in the UAE. The National manages the program in the UAE and is responsible for the selection of journalists and the adaptation of the program to meet the needs of the population. Fellowship deadline is April 30, 2020. Learn more details and how to apply here: http://bit.ly/39KE9FD.

Fellows will be assisted by a local advisory board in the UAE and experts and mentors in the U.S. They will visit The Carter Center in Atlanta in September, when they will discuss their fellowship work with a community of journalists and mental health experts and attend workshops on behavioral health.

Since Rosalynn Carter established the Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism Program in 1996, fellows have produced more than 1500 stories, documentaries, books, and other works during and after their fellowship year. Their projects have garnered Emmy Awards, nominations for the Pulitzer Prize, and other awards.

Contact: Rennie Sloan, rennie.sloan@cartercenter.org

Contact for fellowship questions: carterfellows@cartercenter.org

###

"Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope."

A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
The Bethlehem Planning Commission this week panned a rezoning request by developer Abe Atiyeh to allow him to build a 40-unit independent living facility adjacent to the Saucon Creek.

Atiyeh operates several adult care housing facilities throughout the Lehigh Valley and he wants to rezone 10 acres at 2105 Creek Road in the city from rural residential to build a four-story facility and a 60-space parking lot.

There is a significant void for senior housing in Bethlehem, said Priya Atiyeh, vice president of Manors of the Valley and Atiyehs daughter.

Neighbors from the Stever Mills development across the street, the Borough of Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township along with the Bethlehem Environmental Advisory Council and the Monocacy Creek Watershed Association all oppose the project.

The land is bordered by Friedensville Road -- the boundary with Lower Saucon -- and the Saucon Creek; across the waterway sits Hellertowns Water Street Park.

The 269-year-old historic Heller Homestead, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is directly across the street on Friedensville Road. The township sent attorney Charles Elliott to Thursday nights Bethlehem Planning Commission meeting to express opposition to the project, which he said flies in the face of Bethlehems comprehensive plan.

Neighbors worry about adding traffic to a winding road thats popular with Lehigh University athletes, cyclists and walkers, the potential harm to wildlife and fears that the development would increase flooding.

Stever Mills resident John Vivian spoke about how often the Saucon Creek has flooded in recent years and about the need to protect the high-quality cold water fishery and A-plus trout stream.

All the adjoining communities oppose it, Vivian said. There has to be a better place to place this community.

Commission members voted 4-1 against rezoning the former horse farm with Commissioner Tom Barker casting the only vote in support of the project.

Barker envisioned the property as the perfect spot for a 75-year-old Bethlehem Steel retiree to spend his twilight years still in his hometown, walking down to the Saucon Creek to fish or soak up the peaceful property.

I couldnt think of a better spot to put this project, Barker said. I feel like we almost owe it to the elderly.

But his fellow commissioners raised concerns about the property sitting in a floodplain, something the developer promised to address; increased traffic; and the change in the propertys zoning.

Member Joy Cohen said developers should research the zoning of a property before they purchase it and develop it based on whats allowed, not what they dream of doing there.

Stever Mills resident Robert Ashford, who organized the Save Creek Road group, said when he bought his home several years ago he researched the Creek Road property and the city told him the floodplain made it impossible to develop. The group presented the commission with a petition signed by 250 people opposing the project.

Planning commission member Matthew Malozi said he would love to see the project built elsewhere, but he saw no justification for changing the zoning.

The negative recommendation will be sent to Bethlehem City Council, which is scheduled to review the request at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Current zoning would allow for single family homes or farming and some other uses by special exception, such as a church or school.

Priya Atieyh said the company respects the feedback, but passionately feels this is the best use of the property.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Saga is suspending all its cruises from 15 March to 1 May after heeding Government warnings about the risks posed to over 70s and those with underlying medical conditions from the coronavirus outbreak.

The over 50s holiday and insurance group warned that its cruise arm will lose up to 15million worth of profit as a result of the move.

Customers booked to set off on a cruise with Saga over the next few weeks will be contacted by phone by the company in the next few days and offered either a full refund or credit for a future departure.

Docked: Saga is suspending all its cruises from 15 March to 1 May after heeding Government warnings about the risks posed to over 70s

The company said it had not made the decision lightly, adding that 'in the current circumstances, we no longer believe that we can give you the cruise experience you would expect from Saga.'

Anyone booked on a Saga Open Cruise over the suspension period will be offered an additional future cruise credit to the value of 25 per cent.

Is your cruise affected? Saga will be contacting affected cruise customers by telephone over the next few days. But, if you are worried about your booking, call Saga's cruise line for existing customers on 0800 504 505.

The company said: 'This means if you choose to amend your booking to a future date, the full amount you have paid for your cruise, plus an extra 25% will be transferred to that booking; or we can send you a voucher for this amount to be redeemed against any future Sags Ocean Cruise, 'the company said.

It added: 'This future credit will last for a period of 24 months'.

If customers are unable to use the future cruise credit within the 24 month time-frame they will automatically receive a refund equal to the amount they originally paid for the cruise.

Alternatively, affected customers can also simply be issued a full refund.

Options: Affected customers can get a credit for a future date or a full refund

Empty: Cruises have become something of a hotbread for the spread of the coronavirus

For cruises booked with Saga falling outside the current suspension dates, the company said it was 'continuing to monitor any updated Government advice and any impact it may have on your cruise.'

If the situation changes, Saga said it will contact any further customers affected as required.

It has been a torrid week for travel groups, and Saga's share price has fallen by over 4.5 per cent this morning to around the 14.29p mark.

In a stock market update today, Saga said its decision to halt its cruises until 1 May will hit its cruise arm profits by between 10milloin to 15million.

The company said that while the travel environment was 'uncertain', it had significant liquidity available, including a 100million credit facility, 33million of cash at the end of February and strong cash generation in its insurance business.

Saga said its insurance arm remained unaffected by the coronavirus outbreak and enjoyed a 'good start' to the financial year.

The group said demand for its cruises had been 'very positive', with bookings of around 80 per cent of the full year revenue target.

It added: 'While cancellations had increased in recent weeks, as of 11 March 2020, the average booked load factor for the remaining five Cruise departures in March was 79% and the average booked load factor for five April departures was 85%.'

A number of cruise ships have been stranded amid the global spread of the coronavirus. Last night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson advised against people aged 70 or over going on cruises for the time being.

Earlier this week, around 4,000 passengers were stranded on the Carnival Panorama while they waited for the outcome of one person tested for the virus. Shares in Miami-based Carnival are currently down over 30 per cent.

Elsewhere, the Diamond Princess became one of the world's largest clusters of virus cases when more than 700 people tested positive during a two-week quarantine in Japan.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 00:27:49|Editor: yan

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DAR ES SALAAM, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The African Development Bank (AfDB) and Tanzania on Friday signed loan agreements to the tune of 495.59 million U.S. dollars for financing three mega projects.

The agreements were signed in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam between the AfDB Country Manager for Tanzania, Alex Mubiru and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Doto James.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Finance and Planning said out of the total loan, 271.63 million dollars will finance the construction of Msalato international airport in the capital Dodoma, 168.76 million dollars for the Bagamoyo-Horohoro-Lungalunga-Malindi road project, and 55.2 million dollars for the good governance and private sector development program.

The statement said the construction of Msalato international airport and upgrading of the Bagamoyo-Pangani road section to bitumen standard will help the government to bridge the infrastructure gap for accelerating socio-economic development, poverty reduction and boost tourism.

The implementation of the projects will enhance transport connectivity and unleash gains from economic integration for Tanzania with the neighboring countries and beyond, said the statement.

The statement said the government will also implement good governance and private sector development program to enhance economic competitiveness and private sector investment in the country.

"The program will address challenges identified in the Blue Print for Regulatory Reform to improve the business-enabling environment, particularly in tax, business registration and licensing reforms," said the statement.

The statement added that the program will also build on the ongoing efforts to improve budget credibility, public sector oversight, accountability, transparency, and institutional capacity to efficiently and effectively manage public resources.

"All of these three projects for which we are signing various loan agreements are aligned with Tanzania's Vision 2025, the document currently guiding the country's socio-economic development efforts up to the year 2025," said Alex Mubiru, the AfDB Country Manager for Tanzania.

"As you are aware, the objective of that Vision is to awaken, coordinate and direct the Tanzanian people's efforts, minds and their national resources towards those core sectors that will enable the country to attain its development goals and withstand the expected intensive economic competition ahead," he added.
Cannabis cultivators here have had two pieces of good news in recent time.





First was the eagerly anticipated implementation of the Amnesty for traditional cultivators that came into effect on March 3. This allows individuals, who would otherwise face convictions for the illegal cultivation of cannabis under current law, to "surrender their crop or harvest upon the issuance of a traditional cultivation license.





The second bit of good news came when government announced that it would grant permission for licensed cannabis cultivators to open bank accounts.





As it stands, the Bank of St. Vincent and the Grenadines will absorb the risks in this regard, and its decision to do so is heralded as a significant step for the local as well as the regional cannabis (medical) industry.





The risks relate to the United States banking regulations. Because cannabis is federally illegal in the US, it is risky for financial institutions in other countries to work with cannabis companies, for fear of jeopardizing banking relationships in the United States.





The bank accounts will allow holders to directly accept investments from, and complete financial transactions with, legal entities from countries with established cannabis industries, Jerrol Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of the countrys Medicinal Cannabis Authority, told licensees in February.





SVG is the only Caribbean island that has been able to establish a firm basis in terms of banking, according to Dr. Thompson.





The facility  bank accounts  will facilitate the legitimate movement of money between Canada and Europe and SVG.
TOKYO, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 21, Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) will launch an official online reservation service (*) allowing oversea travelers to purchase, before coming to Japan and from all over the world, tickets for the Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen (bullet train) which runs through Japan's golden route connecting Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Hakata and other destinations.

(*) Service available in English.

Image: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105965/202003057731/_prw_PA1fl_W2e5XE9I.pdf

The Shinkansen offers high speed and convenience. Trains run frequently and on time, seating is readily available, and travel is comfortable, safe and enjoyable. It is an efficient and reliable choice for long distances as well as short day trips.

Of course, Shinkansen tickets may be purchased at station ticket offices in Japan. But, this new service makes it easy and simple to book and buy tickets from countries outside of Japan. Moreover, travelers may change their booking as many times as they like without any additional charge. For leisure and business travelers planning a visit, register now to get Shinkansen tickets and enjoy travel in Japan.

For more details, please visit: https://smart-ex.jp/en/lp/app/

Features:

1. Book seats and purchase tickets

-Beginning one month prior to departure

-From inside and outside Japan

2. Change reservations

-Without charge

-As many times as wanted

-Up to 4 minutes before departure



*Foreign transaction fee prescribed by the credit card company may be charged according to the card used.

3. Pick up tickets

Collect tickets easily and quickly at ticket machines in Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen stations

4. No train restrictions

Tickets may be booked and purchased for all types of Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen, including the fastest NOZOMI, with up to 17 departures per hour during peak times.

For travelers with oversized baggage

Reservation is required when bringing oversized baggage with overall dimensions (length + width + height) of between 160 cm and 250 cm (about 62 in. and 98 in.). Any oversized baggage carried onboard without a reservation is subject to a carry-on oversized baggage fee.

For more information, please visit: https://global.jr-central.co.jp/en/info/oversized-baggage/index.html

*Credit cards

Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express and Diners Club cards are accepted.

SOURCE Central Japan Railway Company
24/7 fraud experts are also available to provide advice on the mitigation of cyber risk while customers will be able to access a wide range of tools such as data backup software plus optional credit and identity monitoring to help detect any misuse of personal information, all helping improve their cyber posture.

Insurance Business sat down with McMurdo to learn more about the product, precisely why it was needed and how CyberScouts involvement sets it apart.

Read more: Is the insurance industry getting to grips with new forms of cyber risk?

The high net worth segment is a value sensitive model, as opposed to a price sensitive model, explained McMurdo. Brokers and high net worth individuals expect much more from high net worth insurers than just a one-dimensional product, they want broader solutions which prevent incidents from happening in the first place.

The two companies set out to build a product that was wide in scope but impressive in its specifics. AIG and CyberScout believe that Family CyberEdge provides broad protection to prevent cyberattacks happening, but that it is backed up by a strong support system in case one succeeds.

Customers rely on us to help solve their problems, it is that expectation that inspires us to continually innovate, said McMurdo.

McMurdo and Tom Spier, global markets commercial director at CyberScout, explained to Insurance Business the threats in the cyber-sphere that required the new protection product.

Technology has allowed us to do some pretty amazing things, said McMurdo. But that luxury and convenience can sometimes come at a cost, namely the risks to peoples data, information and privacy.

Spier added that the threat of attack is on the rise.

The threat to individuals is growing every day, he said. As peoples lives become more and more digitised and people have access to devices and services that add great convenience into everyday life; criminals, hackers and scammers stay one step ahead of the pack to extract data and cash from ever more vulnerable people.

McMurdo believes Australians now have a greater chance of their identity being stolen, than they do of being burgled or assaulted in the street.

When an incident happens, victims spend so much time and energy on trying to recover from the damage caused, but unfortunately most have no form of personal cyber protection, he said.

McMurdo explained that the product helps deter potential cyberattackers, due to its comprehensive protection platform, as well as providing insurance coverage that reacts if an attack succeeds.

Family CyberEdge is the first product in the market that offers substantial cover limits against a wide variety of cyber threats, all backed by the support of CyberScout experts whenever they are needed, Spier explained. This access is provided free at the point of need and claims only need to be made when external vendors or services might be required.

Ultimately, the two firms hope that the new product can provide security for customers in a volatile cyber-space.

AIG is a strong and long-standing partner of CyberScout globally, said Spier. AIG leads the charge around the world in innovation and new products to help protect against these emerging risks - having established markets in the USA and Canada, AIG and CyberScout both identified that Australia is likely the next key market that these threats will permeate.
Coronavirus is prompting colleges and universities nationwide to cancel in-person classes and close dorms. So, whats a college student to do when theyre forced to leave campus dorms on short notice?

U-Haul announced this week they will offer 30-day free storage to displaced college students, nationwide and in Canada.

The U-Haul website states the free month applies to new customers with college IDs and is a limited-time offer subject to availability.

Typically offered to communities impacted by a natural disaster, this is the first time the Phoenix-based company has extended the 30-days free self-storage offer company wide, as stated on U-Hauls website.

How is U-Haul prepared to help?

As the number of schools evacuating campuses due to coronavirus precautions continues to grow, U-Haul states it is prepared for an early spring moving rush, with 22,000 truck- and trailer-sharing locations.

To operate its vans and trucks the age requirement is 18, and one must have a valid drivers license.

In addition, U-Haul also accepts third-party pay, which allows family members to fund their loved ones moving and storage needs.

Visit uhaul.com or call 1-800-GO-UHAUL to reserve a truck or trailer.

Additionally, U-Haul states the 30 days free self-storage offer also applies to usage of portable moving and storage containers. Containers have 257 cubic feet of space and one-ton capacity. They can be filled at U-Haul facilities and stored in their secure warehouses.

Other U-Haul services for college students

Besides the 30-days free self-storage offer, U-Haul offers Collegeboxes which serves 205-plus schools. Students can contact (866) 269-4887 or info@collegeboxes.com for more information and to create an account initiating an order. Here, boxes and packing supplies are delivered to a students residence. Once packed, an at-home service picks up the boxes from the dorm or apartment at no additional charge, says U-Haul.

And there is an international option. Items can be shipped anywhere across the globe, or students may opt to have Collegeboxes hold their personal belongings in secure storage at a nearby U-Haul facility.

How do I access these services?

To find the U-Haul store nearest you, click on uhaul.com/storage. To take advantage of the offer, contact the store by phone or visit in-person.

Go to uhaul.com or call 1-800-GO-UHAUL to reserve a truck or trailer.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



Read more on PennLive:
When Palagie Niyukuri fled conflict back home in Makamba Province, Burundi, 7 years ago, all she had was her family and her education. Now, the 34-year-old mother of six is the first female refugee motorbike taxi rider in Kakuma refugee camp.

People around here call me Mama Boda-boda, now it has become my nickname.

Motorbike, popularly known as boda-boda, is a popular mean of transport in East Africa including in Kakuma. They are considered faster, more affordable, and gives refugees a source of income.

For Palagie, her motorbike is her only source of income to feed and raise her six children. The single mother says she is able to supplement humanitarian assistance she receives in the refugee camp with income from her taxi driving business which also repays for the loan she borrowed to purchase the motorbike.

Im slowly paying back just like anyone else in weekly instalments.

People call me Mama Boda-boda

She portrays a confident rider as she stops to park her motorbike alongside male riders. Despite the numerous challenges in the male dominated business, she has been riding for months and has curved a niche as a safe and reliable rider.

I believe in my abilities and I know I am strong and ride well and safely. Sometimes, men will want me to transport them because they know Im a safe rider.

Palagie (centre) picks up a male passenger at Kakuma refugee camp. She has with time motivated more women to join the business. UNHCR/Samuel Otieno Although small in numbers, female taxi riders like Palagie have made a breakthrough because some customers prefer riding with women. UNHCR/Samuel Otieno

Although small in numbers, female taxi riders like Palagie have made a breakthrough because some customers prefer riding with women than men. However, unlike their male counterparts, female riders are faced greater responsibility and have to find a balance between the business and taking care of family.

My day begins with preparing my kids for school. I have to do several trips to ensure all my children get to and from school on time, and perform my duties as a mother,  Palagie says.

I am doing this for other women

For Palagie, her safety and that of the passengers comes first. Her decision to venture into the taxi business emanated from her undesirable experience as a female passenger.

I am doing this for other women who could experience the same.

She notes that women tend to feel more comfortable and secure with female riders. During the rides, she is able to strike conversations with passengers on women issues which help her to build relationships and trust.

But her successful venture did not come easy. She continues to face numerous challenges including gender stereotypes and bias, and access to capital.

Some people ask me why Im doing this work that is meant for men, but I have learnt to encourage myself and other women to go ahead. We ought to come together and work together regardless of the gender, Palagie says.

Access to start-up capital remains the biggest hurdle for budding refugee entrepreneurs despite efforts by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), partners and the private sectors giving support to refugees. For motorbike taxi riders like Palagie, poor road infrastructure also means huge part of their profits is gobbled by repairs and maintenance.

Women tend to feel more comfortable and secure with female riders

On 8 March 2020, UNHCR joined the world marking the international Womens Day with a call to forge a gender equal world. Palagies inspiring story is just one of the numerous success stories by women that challenge gender stereotypes and bias.

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Konni, Niger (PANA) - Nigerien police have seized a group of five armed individuals, who were last weekend accused of a shooting that left one person dead and seven injured in Konni town, 420 km east of the capital, Niamey, reported the Nigerien News Agency (ANP) on Friday
Switzerland: Ham radio Taskforce processes consultation response

The Swiss Telecommunications Act (FMG, 784.10) has been comprehensively revised. The revised law will enter into force on January 1, 2021

A translation of the USKA post reads:

As part of the necessary adjustments to several ordinances, the responsible Federal Office of OFCOM sent the draft of the affected or new ordinances in a consultation process . The USKA was also addressed in the consultation process. The USKA is therefore legitimized to submit a statement.

(The USKA had already submitted several applications during the consultation process on the law, which are mentioned in the summary).



On Saturday, March 7, 2020, the permanent USKA commission "Task Force Legal Framework for Amateur Radio" met in Belp for a full-day meeting. The meeting was chaired by Bernard Wehrli HB9ALH. Willi Vollenweider HB9AMC, our new board member Jean-Michel Clerc HB9DBB, Dr. iur. Markus Schleutermann HB9AZT, Walter Kagi HB9XBG, Renato Schlittler HB9BXQ, Niklaus Blaser HB9GUJ and Christian Huber HB9FDS.



The main item on the agenda was the examination of the ordinance texts proposed by OFCOM, insofar as they relate to amateur radio. Several proposed changes and additions were discussed as drafted proposals and approved by the task force. Bernard HB9ALH will edit the consultation entry. After internal consultation, it will be submitted to the USKA Board of Directors for approval so that it can be submitted on time by March 25, 2020.



Another item on the agenda was the implementation of the new amateur radio article FMG 37a into cantonal and municipal law. Various ideas and approaches were discussed. The sections have been aware for some time that the implementation in their cantons requires good contacts with cantonal politics and cantonal authorities.

In almost all sections there are members who are or were active in official functions. Or otherwise work in professional positions that provide them with the necessary contacts. Those present in Belp believe that the USKA task force should coordinate these efforts and support the sections in fulfilling their plans in this regard. For this purpose, further conferences are certainly required, to which the board members and politicians from the sections are then invited.



I would like to thank all participants in this important task force meeting for the lively discussion and for their valuable contributions. With such activities, USKA makes a significant contribution to ensuring that amateur radio can continue to thrive in Switzerland. We thank all USKA members for their support of these important activities.



It should be remembered once again how important it is that all Swiss radio amateurs are members of the USKA! This is the only way we can act credibly vis-a-vis authorities and politics and hope for understanding of our interests.



Willi Vollenweider HB9AMC



Source USKA

https://tinyurl.com/SwitzerlandUSKA
Article 257 Clause 6 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana states that every mineral in its natural state in, under or upon any land in Ghana, rivers, water course throughout Ghana, the exclusive economic zone any area covered by the territorial sea or continental shelf is the property of the Republic of Ghana and shall be vested in the President on behalf of, and in trust for the people of Ghana. This simply means that Ghanaians are the sovereign owners of the natural and mineral resources, and for that matter must derive maximum benefits from their exploitation no matter who exploits them.

But after losing to mining companies for over 150 years of modern mineral production (not to mention the almost 500 years of looting, theft, pillage and plunder), Ghana is on its way to lose again on its new found oil and gas, because of bad oil and gas deals or contracts it entered into with Foreign oil Companies (FOCs.)

After almost ten years of oil and gas production, Ghana has received less than 20% of total production as government take. This is just unheard of, unacceptable and unbelievable in the 21st century order of things. This is total madness in the midst of plenty information governing the oil and gas sector across the world, where BEST PRACTICES and STRATEGIC NEGOTIATING SKILLS abound. Currently, oil and gas fiscal regimes in Ghana are Concession Agreements : royalties to the state, company tax and additional entitlement as the case may be. This fiscal arrangement has not profited Ghana all these ten years of oil and gas production. Why? Because Ghanaian leaders failed to negotiate good terms and rate under the concession agreements. It is a great failure from our leaders and this has set a very bad precedent till date.

Ghana is on her way to losing again on her new found resource to the old Trojan horse, the imperialist now masquerading as an INVESTOR, but truly the neocolonialist, the same capitalist from the old West, the greatest enemy of Africa for 500 years, whose major goal and desire is to seek and promote its SOLE interests. Period!

Let Ghanaians wake up and demand FAIR TRADE SHARE in their oil and gas resources. We are sovereign owners of the resources, not beggars, to be given alms, peanuts and crumbs from the proceeds of our own natural resources. Those days are over. New Dawn, New Day, New Thinking! The new Africans must wake up! The new, young African generation must wake up and say Nay, to Naysayers, and to the Old Order.

Forget about those mental 'poisons, toxins and venoms' and lame arguments that the gullible people throw at us saying that the sector is risky, capital intensive, technology-based, demands for experience and expertise, etc. Folks, all those things cost how much and for how long compared to the value of the resources underground? After all, don't they (Foreign oil companies- FOCs) recover the cost in about five years and make handsome returns on investments? Return on Investments (ROIs) of 25-40%, is it not handsome for the FOCs? If not, then, it is no more business or investment; it is rather pillage, plunder, predation and looting through the Looting Machine, as Tom Burgis called it. Could they have made those returns if they had kept all those investments home in their bank accounts? Of course, not!

Some also argue that the resources while underground have no economic value. Thats another lie being thrown at gullible Ghanaians. If the resources underground have no economic value, why do investors leave their home countries, wives, children, bring capital (human, technological, infrastructural, etc) and come to Ghana to prospect for the resources that they claim have no economic value? This argument is not tenable and should be discarded. Ghanaians are being slaughtered every day on the altar of oil and gas deals which yield little to nothing to the citizens, the sovereign owners of the resources. Who will save Ghana from the pains and pangs of being inflicted everyday on vulnerable Ghanaians in the name of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs)?

Please, don't misunderstand me. This is the new thinking, the new wave of approaches that CAN only make Ghana, and for that matter Africa, to derive the maximum benefits from its Extractive Industries. Anything short of that will spell CONTINUAL GRINDING POVERTY, DOOM AND NEEDLESS DEATHS once again for Africans in the 21st century. Is that how Ghanaians are going to derive the maximum benefits from the oil and gas resources God has freely given to them in the 21st century, the century of knowledge and best practices?

After almost ten years of oil and gas production in Ghana, what a sorry state we are in! Something has definitely gone wrong. Never again, should we make such a mistake in any of our mineral deal. Generations after us will never forgive. We must learn our lessons from our forerunners such as Indonesia, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Algeria, etc. And newcomers like Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Chad, Togo and Mauretania which are all signing Production Sharing Agreements. We cannot and do not need to reinvent the wheels with an obnoxious law like Act 919 which sanctifies illegal, bad laws proactively. We just must learn how others have done it right. History will not forgive our leaders who have freely given away our natural resources for naught. Our development as a nation hinges on such deals we sign. Mention can be made of Australia, Libya, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba, Brazil, etc. who have made good deals on their mineral resources. We can change the narrative. It's possible. The greedy leaders must be shaken up to wake up by the citizens. Time to derive full and maximum benefits from our resources is here. Let's do it for once. History will reckon with us. Let's do it for generations unborn. Ghana needs to derive the very best from its natural resources. We cannot be beggars in the midst of plenty. Be a citizen, not a spectator! Be a citizen, not a subject!

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has revealed that Ghanas natural resources including gold, oil, gas bauxite, manganese and iron ore are worth over $12 trillion.

http://www.myjoyonline.com/business/2019/november-19th/ghanas-natural-resources-deposit-is-worth-12-trillion-iea-reveals.php

For over 120 years, Ghana has given its natural resources exploitation to foreigners through obnoxious, predatory, imperialist, colonialist, neo-colonialist contract deals in the name of foreign direct investments by these pillaging, plundering, and predatory multinationals. Today, Ghana has become a very attractive oil and gas frontier to foreign investors because of sweet and juicy contracts that are freely given out to these foreign companies that are taking almost all the revenues away, giving us crumbs which the politicians, bureaucrats and technocrats also sharing a lot among themselves to the detriment of the 30 million people whose socio-economic lives have never improved since independence. PIAC is only making hollow noise about prosecuting people.

Oh, Ghana! Up to when will you fulfill the dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers, by being the true BLACK STAR of Africa, taking the commanding heights of your natural resources for the socio-economic development of your sons and daughters?

Let Ghanaians rise up and pressurise for the right things to be done thing by the leaders they have been voting for and, by so doing, derive the maximum benefits from our natural resources.

I will quote only two references to support my points.

"Fiscal regimes for the Extractive Industries (EI) vary greatly, a wide range of instruments being used. The paper attempts to gauge how current regimes share rents between government and investor. Data analyzed here suggest that in mining, governments commonly retain one-third or rather more; simulations suggest higher government shares (4060 percent), but do not capture all possible sources of revenue erosion. They also suggest that the government share is higher in petroleum: around 6585 percent. Fiscal regimes that raise less than these benchmark averages may be cause for concern, orwhere agreements cannot reasonably be changed regret."

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND Fiscal Regimes for Extractive Industries: Design and Implementation Prepared by the Fiscal Affairs Department. Approved by Carlo Cottarelli August 15, 2012. Source: https://www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2012/081512.pdf

Another:

"Ghanas petroleum fiscal regime should be reformed to ensure maximum long-term revenue generation, even if the state is not fiscally dependent on oil revenue. Much of the regime is currently formulated to attract investment to a young industry. Given the long resource horizons of its newly discovered reserves, Ghana is in a position to enact measures that will ensure long-term revenue stability. These measures should account for the governments changing financial position, and the fluctuations in oil prices. The regime can also achieve greater take by increasing the states share in production sharing agreements."

Sara Zedingle Ghebremusse (2014), Assessing the Petroleum Fiscal Regimes of Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon, published thesis for a Master of Laws, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto.

Unfortunately, both the leaders of the NPP and NDC regimes, for the 2-5% shares they have been negotiating for themselves as local investors, often hiding behind surrogates, have been literally handing over our finite oil and gas resources to foreigners using a pack of lies and dubious rationalizations to dupe the unsuspecting public of a fair share of what is due them. When are the lucky to be educated Ghanaians with conscience going to wake up and lead the less privileged to take their own destinies into hands?

Joel Degue ([email protected])

Resource Development Expert/Consultant,

Founding Member/Secretary, Centre for Natural Resources and Environmental Management (CNREM)

www.cnrem.org
Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin listens while talking in his office about the state's election security, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. Louisiana is the only state slated to vote entirely on paperless machines that experts say are more at risk of cyber attacks and other issues than newer machines with paper backups.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The European Central Bank will not tolerate any risks to the smooth transmission of monetary policy in all jurisdictions of the euro area, Executive Board member Philip Lane said in a blog post on Friday. 'We clearly stand ready to do more and adjust all of our instruments, if needed to ensure that the elevated spreads that we see in response to the acceleration of the spreading of the coronavirus do not undermine transmission,' Lane worte. The ECB had left its key rates unchanged but unveiled fresh stimulus on Thursday. After the decision, President Christine Lagarde said it was not the role of the ECB to close spreads between sovereign bonds. After Lagarde's comment, Italian government bonds saw sharp sell offs on Thursday and lifted the spread between 10-year German bunds and Italian bonds. Economists expect Italy to enter recession due to the mounting damage caused by the spread of coronavirus. Supporting ECB's decision to hold rates, Lane said a move in the short-term rate is typically most powerful if it is expected to be persistent. This persistence channel is less relevant in the context of the spreading of the coronavirus, he said. 'While this major shock is hitting us at high speed, our baseline scenario is that it will be ultimately temporary in duration,' he said. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
An Bord Pleanala has refused planning permission to Westar Investments Ltd. for 305 residences at Capdoo and Abbeylands, on the Dublin Road in Clane.

The plan included 112 houses and 193 apartments with a creche for up to 50 children.

It also included the building construction of a 1.88 hectare linear park along the River Liffey with three car/pedestrian accesses, two off the Brooklands Housing Estate Road and one off Alexandra Walk.

The plan involved a new road, joining the R407 College (Kilcock) road to the Capdoo Park access road and the R403 Celbridge road.

SEE ALSO: Driving tests suspended as close proximity counteracts COVID-19 social distancing

Previously, Bord Pleanala granted permission to another company, Ardstone, for 366 residences at Capdoo in Abbeylands, close to Lidl on the Dublin road.

In the Westar case, the Bord said the proposed development was dominated by roads and surface car parking, resulting in poor and substandard design.

SEE ALSO: more Kildare stories

Bord Pleanala also said it did not promote a high quality street layout that prioritises people rather than vehicles.

It also failed to integrate the existing hedgerows.

Altogether, it would seriously injure the residential amenities of future occupants.

It refused permission generally in accordance with the recommendations of its inspector.

In a note, Bord Pleanala said the application should have included a Material Contravention statement as it would have materially contravened part of the Clane Local Area Plan 2017-23, in relation to the area known as KDA1.

The initial application met a lot of opposition local due to concerns over the number of new residence planning permissions for the Clane area.
The wife of Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada has been tested positive for the novel coronavirus after she went on a trip to the United Kingdom.

On Thursday evening, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau made an announcement that she was tested positive for COVID-19, a disease that emerged in Wuhan, China late in 2019 and is now considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic. Sophie also announced her plans to remain in isolation for two weeks and noted that she was only exhibiting mild symptoms.

Furthermore, Sophie also said that despite feeling uncomfortable with the virus's symptoms she believes that she will soon be back on her feet. She also expressed her concern for all other Canadian families who are facing more serious health concerns saying that amid her condition is light compared to theirs, even if she was being quarantined.

Canadian Prime Minister to Self-Quarantine.

After his wife contracted the disease, fears sparked that the Prime Minister has also harbored the virus. However, according to his office, the Prime Minister Trudeau is in good health and is not exhibiting any symptoms of the disease.

Nevertheless, in efforts to mitigate and control the spread of the disease Trudeau will be self-isolating as well for the next 14 days. Despite this, he still plans to work remotely from his home and will also address the country from there.

Read also: 'Whistleblower' Doctor Breaks Silence: Chinese Netizens Spread Info Using Emojis in WeChat

COVID-19 and Canada's oil and economic fallout

Trudeau has previously planned to have a meeting with the provincial and territorial premiers regarding the plunging oil prices and economic fallout brought by the coronavirus pandemic, which has also been canceled due to the evolving situation of COVID-19

There have been concerns raised about the possibility of Canada falling into a recession after oil prices plunged due to the country's economy relying heavily on fossil fuel exports. The government has announced on Wednesday that they have a billion-dollar plan to address the concerns about the continued spread of the virus, which included additional medical research funding. However, due to Trudeau's self-isolation, he and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has made plans to speak with provincial leaders via phone conference instead.

Other Canadian Officials also on self-isolation

Trudeau's decision to self-isolate after his wife became positive, comes after the announcement of two other cabinet members to self-quarantine. Natural resources minister Seamus O'Reagan and Trade Minister Mary Ng both decided to isolate themselves with the same efforts to control the virus spread after they both attended a large mining conference where another attendee was diagnosed with COVID-19 in Toronto. All the 25,000 participants in the said symposium were asked by health officials to self-isolate and monitor any symptoms of coronavirus.

In addition, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party also chose to go on self-quarantine after falling ill. He posted on Twitter that he already went to the doctor and was advised that he did not have any symptoms which were consistent to COVID-19, however, he was also advised to limit his public contact.

Up to this day, Canada has reported 140 confirmed cases and one fatality due to coronavirus. On Thursday, there were 17 new cases that were announced in Ontario. Officials, however, have noted that the new cases did not appear to spread through the community and were rather on people who have recently traveled.

Related article: WHO Declares Global Coronavirus Pandemic: Epidemic vs. Pandemic, What's the Difference?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A leader of the Samajwadi Party had put up a poster against former BJP leaders Kuldeep Sengar and Chinmayanand, who have been accused of rape, near the hoardings with the names of alleged protesters who demonstrated against the amended citizenship act in Lucknow.

IP Singh had put up the poster against Kuldeep Sengar and Chinmayanand near the hoardings by the government in Lucknow with names, addresses and photos of those accused of violence during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests last year.

My poster will be opposed by only those who are supporting anti-women people and rapists. If the government will insult the high court and the Supreme Court and do something anti-constitutional, then the BJP must look into its own faults. The BJP is anti-women, he said in a tweet in Hindi.

His tweet accompanied a photograph of the poster.

Highlights IP Singhs posters against Sengar and Chinmayanand came up near the hoardings by the government in Lucknow These are the culprits of the states daughters, beware of them, says the poster Allahabad high court had on March 9 ordered the state government to remove hoardings and on Thursday the Supreme Court did not stay the judgement.

When protesters have no privacy and even after the orders of the high court and Supreme Court, the Yogi government is not removing the hoardings, then take this. I have also released posters of some of the court-named criminals in the public interest at Lohia crossing, daughters beware of them, he added.

The poster has the photographs of Kuldeep Senger and Chinmayanand as well as the details of the cases against them in Hindi.

These are the culprits of the states daughters, beware of them, says the poster right next to one of the CAA hoardings.

Daughters must be aware for Hindustan to remain safe, it added.

Asian News International reported that the poster was later removed by the police.

Sengar, who represented Unnao in the state assembly, has been sentenced to jail on December 20 last year for remainder of his natural biological life for raping a woman in 2017 in Unnao when she was a minor.

He was also convicted for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the death of the Unnao rape victims father.

Former BJP leader Chinmayanand was arrested in September last year after a 23-year-old woman accused him of sexual harassment and blackmail. She was a student of the Chinmayanand-controlled SS Law College in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

He is out on bail in the case, which is being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed on the directions of the Supreme Court.

The Uttar Pradesh police had, on March 5, put up several hoardings across Lucknow, identifying those accused of violence during the protests that took place against the CAA in December last year.

The accused were also asked to pay for the damage to public and private property within a stipulated time or have their properties seized by the district administration.

Allahabad high court had on March 9 ordered the state government to remove hoardings and on Thursday the Supreme Court did not stay the judgement.

A bench of top courts justice UU Lalit and justice Aniruddha Bose, however, referred the case to a larger bench.
President Trump declares a national emergency

Medical workers heavy burden

Why New York City hasnt closed schools yet

Get the latest updates here, plus maps and full coverage

Still the beginning?

President Trump declared a national emergency for the growing coronavirus pandemic on Friday, capping a week in which the virus began to alter nearly every part of life in the United States. Cases in the U.S. have climbed to almost 2,000, even with sparse testing, and the death toll has risen to 41.

There are signs that we are still much closer to the beginning of the outbreak than the end. Our colleague Sheri Fink reported today that officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have projected that in a worst-case situation, 160 million to 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected.

The projections suggest that 2.4 million to 21 million people in the U.S. could require hospitalization, potentially crushing the nations medical system, which has only about 925,000 staffed hospital beds, in an outbreak that could last months or even over a year.

Those dire scenarios are not guaranteed to come true. They dont account for interventions that are now underway: increased testing, tracing contacts of infected people, and limiting social interactions by banning large gatherings and encouraging people to stay home. (And, yes, frequently washing your hands and not touching your face.)
The All-China Journalists Association on Thursday strongly condemned the US for its unwarranted suppression and discriminatory practices against Chinese journalists in the country, slamming US double standards on "freedom of the press" and its hegemonic bullying.

This is the second time in a week that the association has spoken out for the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese journalists overseas following Washington's latest decision to cap Chinese media employee numbers in the US.

The association said in recent years that US suppression of Chinese media has been intensifying. In December 2018, the US Department of Justice registered China Global Television Network's North America station as a "foreign agent." On February 18 this year, the US State Department announced that five Chinese media agencies in the US, including the Xinhua News Agency, would be designated as "foreign missions" and required to submit information on their staff and real estate. On March 2, the US State Department announced that starting March 13, the number of Chinese employees in the US from the five Chinese media would be cut by 60, or 40 percent, a move interpreted as expelling Chinese journalists from the US.

The association also criticized discriminatory US policies on visas for Chinese journalists.

The US only allows Chinese journalists stationed in the US to enter the country once. Chinese journalists who return home or go to a third country need to apply for a new visa when they enter the US again, while the US grants multiple-entry visas to journalists from other countries and regions.

Since 2018, the US has been making it difficult for Chinese journalists to apply for visas. It has arbitrarily added more application materials that Chinese journalists are required to submit. In addition to the normal application materials, it also requires Chinese journalists to submit a large amount of additional materials, such as social media accounts, exit records over the past 15 years, company registration information and organizational structure in the US, and social relations.

The US also extended its visa approval time, delaying visa approvals indefinitely or even refusing visa applications, claiming administrative review. Statistics show that since 2018, the visas of more than 30 Chinese journalists have been delayed indefinitely or have even been refused by the US. Among them, nine resident journalists have been unable to re-enter the US after leaving. Some Chinese journalists have not received any feedback from the US and their passports have not been returned since they applied for visas in mid-December.

The association also condemned the US for restricting Chinese journalists from reporting in the US for a variety of reasons. On the grounds that their agencies were "foreign agents," the US denied journalists from CGTN, China Daily (which was registered in 1983) and other media outlets the right to apply for US Congress press credentials. The US also demanded that some Chinese journalists regularly submit employment certificates to the White House. Chinese reporters were often "looked at differently" or even interrogated during reporting.

The US has removed some Chinese journalists from its email invitation list for small-scale events, or excluded them from coverage of small-scale events on the grounds that the number has been reached. It has become increasingly difficult to conduct interviews for Chinese reporters in the US after their agencies were listed as "foreign agents."

Calling these actions "political oppression driven by its Cold War mentality and ideological bias," the association said they have seriously violated the normal and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese journalists overseas, seriously damaged the reputation of Chinese media, and seriously interfered with their normal operations.

"We urged the US to effectively correct the wrong practices that violate the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese journalists in the US and take action to ensure their normal operations," the statement said.

Chinese experts have said that the latest US move serves as "retaliation" for China revoking the press credentials of three Wall Street Journal journalists over a racist headline, and also as one of its cards to contain China.

Da Wei, director of the Center for Strategic and International Security Studies at the University of International Relations, said no matter how the US chooses to designate them, these journalists help the two countries better understand each other. There have been challenges in China-US relations, and the two countries should try to increase mutual understanding rather than closing their doors to one another and creating further misjudgments.

The US' move this time can be seen as a step that further leads to China-US decoupling. Such incidents will accumulate and eventually lead to a complete decoupling. The US is accelerating this trend, Da said.

It has become a trend for the US to impede normal exchanges with China, which can be gleaned from US efforts to limit the activities of the Confucius Institute, viewing some Chinese students and visiting scholars in the US as potential security threats, and sharply reducing or suspending cooperation in scientific research. The decline in normal social and academic exchanges between the two countries will certainly have a profound negative impact on the sound development of China-US ties, said Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University.

The recent moves by the US government will not achieve the results it wants. The deliberate discrimination against the Chinese media will only make the international community more aware of the double standards of the US. At the same time, such actions are likely to provoke retaliation from China, which could cause collateral damage to US media in China as well, said Zhang Tengjun, an assistant research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies.

The attempt by the US to suppress China's rising influence by clamping down on its media will not succeed. If the US continues to suppress China, it will eventually lead to its own isolation, Zhang said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  After officials in every level of government pleaded with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it was announced Friday morning that it was taking two actions to increase COVID-19 testing capabilities in the state.

The FDA announced that it is allowing the state Department of Health to authorize labs to begin patient testing, as well providing authorization for labs to immediately begin running automated tests on Roches high-volume platform.

Hundreds of labs across the nation already have the system, developed by Roche, to run the test.

FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Caccomo said that under the FDAs current policy, labs do not need to wait for its approval to begin testing patients. They only need to validate that the tests work for themselves and notify the FDA. They can then pursue emergency approval while simultaneously conducting tests.

Under our new policy, we have heard from 22 labs, 15 of whom already have begun patient testing, Caccomo said.

What you are seeing now is just that everybody is starting to complete their validations (the science). We were faster than most, said Dr. Dwayne Breining, executive director of Northwell Health Labs, which processes Staten Island University Hospitals tests.

A spokesman for Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) directed questions about testing to the city Department of Health which processes the hospitals specimens at the New York City Public Health Lab.

A city Department of Health spokeswoman told the Advance that this is an intermediate step by the FDA, on the way to an FDA Emergency Use Authorization, which would allow the test kit and the machine to be used for automated testing.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

FANTASTIC FIRST STEP

Rep. Max Rose told the Advance that this has been his offices number one priority and said this is a fantastic first step.

Rose initially wrote letters to the FDA and the CDCon Wednesday, urging the agencies to make the approvals so testing can increase. Rose also questioned Dr. Stephen Redd, Senior Advisor for COVID-19 Response and Deputy Director for Public Health Service and Implementation Science for the CDC as to whether the approvals would be a top priority for the centers.

This is absolutely essential; we have been pushing for this on a bipartisan bases. This virus does not speak Democrat or Republican and we need to work together to solve this, Rose said.

Rose said the need to fully automated testing is critical and will improve testing tenfold at the New York City Public Health Lab and other labs across the city and state.

While it shouldve happened much sooner, the FDAs announcement to give New York necessary approvals and flexibility is a critical step. But let me be clear, were behind the 8-ball and playing catch-up. I will not stop fighting until coronavirus testing is widely available and capacity matches the demand, Rose said in a statement.

Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis said the move will greatly increase New Yorks capacity for testing and turnaround time.

Malliotakis told the Advance Thursday that she had written to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional Director Anthony Ferreri to urge his agencys assistance in getting the FDA approvals.

STATE WILL SOON DOUBLE ITS TESTING CAPACITY

On the Brian Leher Show Friday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio said testing is going to ramp up now.

This is the first time were finally going to be able to have the testing capacity to get a lot more people, which weve been needing for a long, long time, de Blasio said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state will soon have the capacity to run 6,000 tests, double the current capacity.

NYS is partnering with @BioReference to run an addition 5,000 #coronavirus tests a day.



That is on top of the testing being done at 28 public & private labs.



As we test more, the numbers will rise. But remember that the more positives we find, the more we can reduce the spread.  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 13, 2020

Additionally, he said the state has partnered with Bio Reference Laboratories to run an additional 5,000 tests per day.

WHAT TO DO IF YOURE FEELING ILL

Director of Staten Island University Hospitals (SIUH) Emergency Department, Dr. Nicole Berwald spoke to the Advance about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and what Staten Island residents should do if theyre feeling ill.

Theres a large opportunity for community spread that needs to be minimized, Berwald told the Advance. But it is important to mention that we expect a lot of people to be exposed to the virus.

First, people who are beginning to or who are feeling symptoms of a virus, coronavirus or otherwise, should think about what their symptoms are and the severity -- mild or very severe.

The severity of the symptoms should determine the next step.

People experiencing mild symptoms can go to a Go Health, which is affiliated with Northwell Health and reserve the hospitals emergency department for those who are very ill.
Updated at 1 p.m. Friday with a statement from Auditor Nicole Galloway, who is running for governor.

GREENE COUNTY  Gov. Mike Parson announced Thursday that there is a second presumptive positive case of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Missouri in the southwest part of the state.

The patient is a person from Springfield in their 20s that had recently traveled to Austria and Parson called the case "travel-related." There has been no known community person-to-person transmission in Missouri, the governor said.

The patient is expected to recover and is under quarantine, said Greene County Health Department Director Clay Goddard.

In addition to the announcement of the second diagnosed person, the governor announced Missouri will receive nearly $13 million in federal emergency funding to support response efforts.

Authorities are still working on how to use the money effectively to protect Missourians, the governor said.
The Mandalorian

Creator - Jon Favreau

Cast - Pedro Pascal, Nick Nolte, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Werner Herzog, Giancarlo Esposito

Both in terms of scope and the simplicity of its story, The Mandalorian embraces the Spaghetti Western origins of Star Wars. The eight-episode series is a welcome relief  narratively and cinematically  from the convoluted conclusion to the larger Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, that was released roughly in parallel with the show.

Unlike JJ Abrams disappointingly unambitious trilogy capper, which succumbed to perceived fan pressure and set the franchise back by at least a decade, multi-hyphenate creator Jon Favreau discards perennial Star Wars themes of legacy and lineage in The Mandalorian. Instead, he chooses to tell a stripped down story that pays homage to the samurai and western films that inspired George Lucas to create Star Wars in the first place.

Watch The Mandalorian trailer here

Aided tremendously by Oscar-winner Ludwig Goranssons stunning score and cinematographer Greig Frasers tone-setting work on the first episode, The Mandalorian revisits familiar Star Wars ideas such as parenthood and honour. On several occasions, the titular character, played partially by the helmeted Pedro Pascal, affects the swagger of Clint Eastwood, strolling in and out of frontier towns, making trouble and not minding his own business. On others, he struggles with his own morality, like a Toshiro Mifune character from an Akira Kurosawa film.

After Mando  thats the (slightly racist) nickname that people call him by  is tasked with retrieving a valuable package in exchange of a solid bounty, he discovers that the object of everyones desire is in fact an infant belonging to the same species as the legendary Jedi master Yoda. Struck by a sudden bout of conscience, Mando saves The Child, and embarks on a planet-hopping adventure, evading other bounty hunters and warlords. Its a familiar set-up -- a weary man is forced to protect a special child -- that brings to mind stories such as Children of Men and Logan.

But structurally, The Mandalorian is a cross between the iconic graphic novel Lone Wolf and Cub, by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima, and the Red Dead Redemption video games  sparse, episodic and rather melancholy. Despite the involvement of the very funny Favreau, and Taika Waititi, who has directed one episode, the show is rather sombre in tone.

After spending several episodes wondering what the larger point of it all was, a short speech by the legendary Werner Herzog, no doubt written as an homage to the Bavarian filmmakers famously nihilistic worldview, made it all very clear. The Empire improves every system it touches, Herzogs character, The Client, says. Judging by any metric: safety, prosperity, peace. Compare Imperial rule to whats going on now. Is the world more peaceful since the revolution? Look outside. I see nothing but death and chaos.

The Mandalorian is set shortly between the fall of the Empire, at the end of Empire Strikes Back, and the rise of the First Order, before Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It is a period of anarchy, as a society struggles to get back on its feet after having survived authoritarian rule. This lawlessness leaves a vacancy in seats of power all across the galaxy, inspiring men like The Client to stake their claim. It poses the very intriguing, and rather cynical question: what is the cost of a revolutions success?

Indeed, during long stretches of The Mandalorian, the storytelling is done visually, with extended combat sequences and montages; not through dialogue. Favreau and his visual effects department have utilised state-of-the-art rear projection techniques that enable the crew to shoot in makeshift virtual sets. Even in spirit, it seems, the show mimics the innovative methods that Lucas employed in the 70s.

But what little fan service there is  one brief pit stop at everyones favourite wretched hive of scum and villainy hit me with a blast of nostalgia  is handled in a much more subtle manner than the largely pandering The Rise of Skywalker.

Its unfortunate then that The Mandalorian has been released in India via Hotstar, infamous internationally for being the service from which a Game of Thrones episode was stolen before its premiere, and for surreptitiously censoring John Oliver. In a bizarre move that in hindsight is exactly the sort of thing one shouldve expected of Hotstar, the streamer, after announcing that the entire Disney+ slate would be made available in India on March 29, released all of it on March 11, without any warning whatsoever. And then, as if having fully committed to this comical goof up, the service revoked all the Disney+ content less than 24 hours later. Except The Mandalorian.

Its difficult to appreciate the shows gloriously cinematic visuals -- the entire series seems to have been set during a perpetual sunset -- with regular interruptions and drops in video and audio quality. The first live-action Star Wars show deserved better than Hotstar.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

The author tweets @RohanNaahar
NEW YORK (AP)  Bank of America is slashing the amount it charges customers when they spend more than they have in their accounts and plans to eliminate entirely its fees for bounced checks.
Korean airlines have suspended most flights to Europe and the U.S. as the coronavirus outbreak has led to a drastic fall in travel demand.

Korean Air canceled flights on eight of its dozen routes to America and is operating only one route to Europe as of Thursday. Flights to those regions accounted for 48 percent of the carrier's total revenue in the third quarter of last year.

Asiana Airlines is also struggling. After suspending flights to and from Japan, it has now suspended most of its routes to America and Europe.
The head of the Northern Ireland Hospice has said the organisation faces an "unprecedented challenge" as the coronavirus crisis escalates.

Chief executive Heather Weir called on the Stormont Executive to ensure that the services it provides to vulnerable people can continue to receive adequate funding as disruption continues.

More than 4,000 vulnerable children and adults have been in the care of the hospice and the Children's Hospice in the last year, with 295 new adult referrals since January alone.

It takes 15.5m every year for the Northern Ireland Hospice and the Children's Hospice to deliver palliative care services.

In 2019, approximately 4m of this was funded by Government with the remaining 11.5m generated through corporate support, shops and fundraising activities

Already, however, there are signs that income from the charity's shops is falling, the chief executive revealed.

"Our hospice shops have already seen an 11% reduction in revenue within the last week due to decreased footfall, and this is only likely to decline further," Ms Weir said. "Should mass gatherings be cancelled, this will include our upcoming fundraising events, which are expected to raise 250,000 in the coming weeks alone."

Ms Weir said charities, such as the Northern Ireland Hospice, are already under great financial pressure and this outbreak adds extra pressure.

"A further reduction in income would have a devastating impact on our ability to continue caring for the 4,000 babies, children and adults who rely on our services," she added.

"This, coupled with increasing demand for our specialist palliative services, poses an unprecedented challenge."

Ms Weir said it was vital the government at Stormont offered urgent additional financial support to help the hospice.

"Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a 30bn boost to combat the coronavirus threat in this week's Budget. We are now strongly calling upon Government to consider the third sector and charities such as the Northern Ireland Hospice when it comes to the allocation of these funds," she added.

Ms Weir said she had already been in touch with both the Department of Health and the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister to make clear the challenges her organisation was facing because of the coronavirus crisis, and was waiting for a response.

"We operate 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and we depend heavily on two sources of funding - from Government, and from our charity fundraising," she added.

"Any reduction from either of those sources may hit our ability to deliver those services.

"The impact of further reduction in income should not be underestimated - and we hope this will be understood by our Northern Ireland Executive with urgent additional financial support to follow."
Saudi Arabia has extended its travel ban to include the European Union and 12 other countries, including India, as the number of coronavirus cases in the Kingdom jumped to 62, according to media reports on Friday.

Saudi health officials on Friday announced 17 new coronavirus cases, raising the number of cases in the country to 62, according to the official Saudi news agency.

There are 11 foreign nationals among the people who contracted the virus, Saudi Press Agency quoted the Saudi Health Ministry as saying.

One person was discharged from hospital after recovering from the virus, the statement said.

Saudi Arabia early Thursday suspended flights to all EU countries as well as Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia.

Saudi Arabias government decided to temporarily suspend the travel of citizens and residents, and to suspend flights to the European Union countries, as well as Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia, Saudi Gazette quoted a source at the Ministry of Interior as saying.

The government will also be suspending the entry to those coming from the aforementioned countries and entry to those who were in those countries within a time period of 14 days prior to their arrival to the Kingdom, it said.

The governments decision grants Saudi nationals and citizens of those countries with valid Saudi residency visas 72 hours to return to the Kingdom before the travel suspension comes into effect.

The travel ban excludes Indian and Filipino medical practitioners working in the Kingdom, taking into account the necessary and required precautions, the report said.

The ministries of interior and health would coordinate while dealing with humanitarian and exceptional cases, without prejudice to the necessary precautionary and preventive measures.

The decision expanded the number of countries included in the travel ban list to 53.

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 114 countries.

Saudi Arabia on March 9 suspended travel to Oman, France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Italy, and South Korea.
While it is too soon to say whether the Likud and Blue and White parties will form an emergency unity government to confront the coronavirus crisis, one thing is clear: A minority government comprised of Blue and White and the Arab Joint List is no longer in the cards.

On March 10, Gesher faction head Orly Levy-Abekasis dropped a political bomb when she announced in a Facebook post  without informing her partners on the center-left Labor-Meretz ticket  that she would not vote for a minority government dependent on the support of Arab parties. She even hinted that she would not recommend Blue and White leader Benny Gantz as the countrys next prime minister. Her move stunned Labor Chair Amir Peretz who had moved heaven and earth in recent months to forge a partnership with her small Gesher party, fending off critics who warned that her heart was on the political right from where she hailed. Her decision could wipe out his long political career and could also be the last nail in the coffin of the Labor party.

The leftist Meretz party, which received Levy-Abekasis as part of its package deal merger with Labor ahead of the March 2 elections, and even agreed that she be in second place on the joint ticket after Peretz, is now conducting a damage assessment.

The merger of Labor, Gesher and Meretz, which pushed back the only Arab representative on the slate of candidates  Meretz member Issawi Freij  to the unrealistic 11th place, was perceived as a strange, eclectic ticket. That is probably one of the reasons that many Jewish Meretz supporters switched to a Joint List ballot this time around. For example, in the suburban Tel Aviv town of Ramat Gan, the number of Joint List voters doubled from 289 in the September 2019 elections to 573. In neighboring Givatayim, 325 residents voted for the Arab alliance compared with 179 in the previous elections. In Tel Aviv-Yafo, the Joint List got 11,413 votes in the March elections, compared with 8,446 in September.

The Labor-Gesher-Meretz ticket was an ad hoc response to concerns that if the three veteran parties ran separately, only one of them, or neither one, would garner sufficient votes to be voted into the Knesset.

That was also how the Joint List was born prior to the 2015 elections when its four constituent parties feared they would fail to cross the electoral threshold raised to 3.25% in legislation sponsored by hard-liner Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman in a bid to keep the Arab parties out of the Knesset. The rest is history. After all, what does the nationalist secular Balad party have in common with the communist Hadash party? And what is the connection between the Islamist Raam party and the Taal party of Knesset member Ahmad Tibi? However, exigent circumstances forced them to overcome their many divisions and run together. And this time around, they even got stronger, with 90% of the vote in Arab towns and villages. Arab turnout was also unusually high, almost equaling the Jewish one for the first time since 1999.

In the run-up to the March 2 vote, Israels third elections of the past 11 months, the Joint List set a target of 15-16 seats in the 120-member legislature. They achieved the target and its 15 seats constitute a significant bloc that prevents Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a government comprised of his right-wing and ultra-Orthodox allies.

On the other hand, the disappointing performance of the Labor-Gesher-Meretz ticket, seven seats in all, was a fatal blow to Israels Jewish political left. And then came Knesset member Levy-Abekasis and delivered the knockout punch, leaving Gantz with insufficient Knesset backing to form a minority government. Unless an emergency unity government is formed, Israel will probably be forced into a fourth election later this year.

Still, it is worth noting the condition Gantz set on March 12 for his agreement to join a unity government with Netanyahu to confront the epidemic. Gantz demanded that the Arab Joint List be included in the emergency government as an integral part of the center-left political bloc that he heads, even if Netanyahu does not appoint an Arab minister. This is an interesting turnaround for the man who refused to consider any partnership with the Arabs prior to March 2 and his fellow party leaders spoke of their desire to achieve a Jewish majority in the elections.

After recovering from the shock of Levy-Abekasis' flip, a growing number of left-wing voters began advocating for a joint Jewish-Arab faction  in other words, a union between the Joint List or parts of it with Meretz and perhaps with Labor. My colleague Akiva Eldar wrote this week in Al-Monitor, The political constellation created by the latest elections offers an opportunity to build a Jewish-Arab coalition and foster Jewish-Muslim reconciliation. The political-social infrastructure of this partnership could be based on accepted democratic principles, such as equal opportunity, narrowing of socio-economic gaps, cultural autonomy and an end to the occupation.

However, as good as such ideas are, political reality has different ones in mind. The Joint List as well as Labor-Gesher-Meretz were formed as default options to save their constituent parties from political demise. The Joint List has come a long way since, and is now the third-largest Knesset faction after Likud and Blue and White. Knesset members Ayman Odeh, Tibi, Mtanes Shehadeh and Mansour Abbas, the chairs of the Joint Lists four parties, no longer have any reason to seek a partnership with Meretz or Labor in order to save them from an additional defeat. On the contrary. Its unsentimental, calculated goal now is to win over additional voters disappointed with the results of the eclectic Jewish left-wing slate and expand their power further, even to as many as 20 Knesset seats.

A March 11 opinion article by Hadash Knesset member Yousef Jabarin on the leftist website Siha Mekomit offers a glimpse of the Joint Lists intense sense of accomplishment and the improbability of a new Arab-Jewish slate. Anyone who thinks the Joint Lists only political horizon is a choice between Netanyahu and Blue and White Chair Benny Gantz is wrong.  We must serve the Arab population better in Knesset committee debates and parliamentary activity, but often our work outside the walls of the legislature is no less important.

In other words, Jabarin is saying that having finally convinced the states Arab citizens that the Joint List is their only viable political alternative, the alliance must now continue along the same lines and dedicate itself to improving the lot of the 21% Arab minority. Jewish-Arab partnerships can be achieved within other frameworks, and the Joint List has no reason to burden itself with the failing Meretz party, Jabarin believes.

A senior Joint List source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that for now, a minority government is out of the question, and not only because of Levy-Abekasis betrayal. Therefore, the source added, the Joint List is preparing for a fourth election. We do not need Meretz or Labor to strengthen our ranks, the source said. They may end up standing in the way of the new target we have set ourselves if, indeed, additional elections are held. If Netanyahu wants another round of elections, we will tell him, 'Tfadal' ['Please' in Arabic]. The Joint Lists numbers are growing with each election and it has managed to convince the Arab voting public that despite the significant differences among the Arab parties, we have managed the alliance wisely, serving as loyal representatives of the Arab citizens, and posing a serious and substantive obstacle to Netanyahu, who cannot now form a government that will continue to incite against us.

On the evening of March 12, Netanyahu grabbed Gantz in a tight virtual embrace to steer him toward an emergency government. Gantz will probably be unable to resist and may not even continue to demand the inclusion of the Joint List. If such a government is formed, it will likely serve for a limited time after which Israelis will once again head for the ballot boxes. Maybe then, the scenario to which the Joint List impatiently aspires will play out, changing Israels political map.
New Delhi, March 13 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said there are a lot of myths about coronavirus among the people and said masks and sanitisers are not necessary for healthy people in the control of the disease.

Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, he said masks are important only for infected persons.

"There are a lot of myths about coronavirus. It enters our body through the eyes, nose and the mouth. No mask is required for a healthy man. It is required for pollution but not for coronavirus," the Chief Minister said.

He added that sanitisers are also not important.

"Washing hands with soap is sufficient." He said there is no treatment for it as of now. "Only prevention is the option." Six people in Delhi have been reported positive.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government has banned mass gatherings and have closed cinema halls, public swimming pools and schools and colleges as a preventive measure.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., March 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 11th, President Trump announced a travel ban restricting travel from 26 European countries to the United States. Travel insurance comparison site, Squaremouth.com, explains how the travel ban impacts travel insurance coverage on policies purchased now.

Limited Impact to Coverage Despite Evolving Situation

While this drastic move is causing unease among travelers, it does not further impact travel insurance coverage.

Travel insurance providers began limiting coverage for the coronavirus on their policies as early as January 21st, the date the first CDC alert was issued. Since then, travel insurance providers have worked to keep up with the evolving event, and have issued statements about what coverage can be applied as the situation continues to develop.

Limited Coverage for Cancelled Flights

Although the travel ban may not apply to U.S. citizens currently, major airlines are cancelling flights to and from Europe. While an airline cancelling a flight isn't covered by most travel insurance policies, many airlines are offering refunds or allowing affected travelers to change their flights with no change fees. If a traveler's itinerary has been impacted by a cancelled flight, some travel insurance policies may provide coverage for related travel delays or missed connections.

Concern Over Possible Quarantine

US residents returning from European countries may face a quarantine back home. Some travel insurance policies may provide cancellation or interruption coverage for travelers who are quarantined and unable to travel as planned. However travelers afraid to travel due to the possibility of being quarantined, will not be covered to cancel under a standard policy.

Cancel for Any Reason Upgrade Still the Best Option for Worried Travelers

For travelers concerned that the travel ban may be extended, Squaremouth.com is only recommending a Cancel for Any Reason upgrade. While this benefit is only available for recently booked trips, it is the only benefit that would extend cancellation coverage.

Cancel for Any Reason typically costs 40% more than a standard policy and must be purchased within 21 days of the first trip booking, but it will reimburse travelers 75% of their insured trip cost if they cancel for their trip for a reason not covered by their policy.

As of March 12th, 2020, eleven providers on Squaremouth.com offer the Cancel For Any Reason upgrade. This upgrade may still be available for travelers who are planning trips to destinations affected by the travel ban. Travelers can search and compare policies that include Cancel for Any Reason coverage here: Cancel for Any Reason.

ABOUT SQUAREMOUTH

SQUAREMOUTH compares travel insurance policies from every major travel insurance provider in the United States. Using Squaremouth's comparison engine and third-party customer reviews, travelers can research and compare travel insurance policies side-by-side . More information can be found at www.squaremouth.com .

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Embarrassing Bodies star Dr Christian Jessen has said Italian people are using the coronavirus outbreak as an excuse to have a long siesta, while acknowledging his comments are a little bit racist.

The death toll from Italys coronavirus outbreak passed 1,000 on Thursday (12 March). The entire country remains paralysed, with non-essential shops and businesses closed, and yesterday, Romes Catholic churches were ordered to close due to the pandemic  a move believed to be unprecedented in modern times.

During an interview on FUBAR Radios Access All Areas about the outbreak, Jessen said: This might be a little bit racist to say this, [and] youll have to make apologies, but do you not think its a bit of an excuse?

The Italians, any old excuse to, you know, shut down everything and stop work for a bit and have a long siesta.

When asked whether he agreed with Boris Johnsons decisions to delay closing schools, Jessen said: I do agree with him actually. I think its an epidemic lived out more in the press than in reality.

I mean if you think about flu right, without getting too heavy, flu kills thousands every single year.

When told by host Stephen Leng that 10 people have now died in the UK from coronavirus, Jessen added: Now I know thats tragic for those involved but its not exactly huge numbers is it compared to flu, which is thousands.

It doesnt affect mothers, it doesnt affect pregnant women, it doesnt affect children so far as we know. So why this massive panic?

This is like a bad cold really, lets be honest.

When asked if the press were scare mongering, he answered: Totally. Totally. I think its a Daily Mail epidemic. I dont think its a  its a real epidemic. Well, its obviously a real epidemic, but I think we are more worried than we need to be.

Now I might have to eat my words and I really hope I dont!

Since the coronavirus outbreak, there has been a rise in racism and xenophobia. Earlier this week, a photo of a Dutch students wearing Chinese traditional costumes and conical hats while posing with a sign reading "Corona Time" sparked fierce backlash from east Asians after being posted on social media.

A coronavirus-themed advert showing a cartoon mattress wearing a surgical mask alongside the words no nasty imports has also been banned for racist overtones.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe is canceling its church services and closing its schools until further notice, effective immediately, following the lead of state officials who have ordered the closure of all New Mexico K-12 public schools for three weeks, Archbishop John C. Wester announced late Thursday.

The measures were taken to prevent community spread of COVID-19.

The church is very much pro-life and we see this as very much a pro-life issue, Wester said. We are concerned about the health of our parishioners, particularly those who are elderly, and people with underlying and chronic health conditions.

Wester said he made the decision in consultation with Vicar General Rev. Glennon Jones and Episcopal Vicar Monsignor Lambert Luna.

I think its important that if we err, we err on the side of caution.

Wester also said he informed Bishop James Wall of the Diocese of Gallup and Bishop Peter Baldacchino of the Diocese of Las Cruces what measures the Archdiocese of Santa Fe was taking. They are autonomous and can act independently, of course, but I imagine that we will all be on the same page.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe will release more detailed information Friday about how it will handle such events as weddings, funerals, confirmations and baptisms, Wester said. There are all kinds of things well have to address.

The archdiocese had planned to continue Masses, but that decision was reversed when state officials late Thursday announced that public schools were going to be closed for three weeks.

Also Thursday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said it was suspending public gatherings of church members worldwide until further notice, according to a statement released by the Utah-based faith.

That means canceling all Sunday services and midweek activities for more than 30,000 congregations around the globe.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump does not plan to be tested for coronavirus or go into self-quarantine, the White House said, despite the fact he was in close proximity to a senior Brazilian official who attended weekend events with the president in Florida and who has tested positive.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaros communications director, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive just days after traveling with Bolsonaro to a meeting with Trump and senior aides in Florida. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement Thursday that exposures from the case are being assessed, which will dictate next steps.

"Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time," Grisham said.

Wajngarten joined Bolsonaro on a three-day trip to the U.S. and on Saturday was at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, where he posted a photo of himself posing beside Trump. A video from the event also showed him standing directly behind both presidents as they addressed a crowd. Bolsonaro and Wajngarten later attended a birthday party for Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is dating the president's son Donald Trump Jr.

If they say he was there, he was there, Trump said with a smile, the New York Daily News reported. Im not concerned.

While Trump was not taking any apparent action in response, two Republican lawmakers announced they will self-quarantine for two weeks after coming in contact with Bolsonaro's delegation. Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who met Bolsonaro in Miami, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, announced Thursday that they will isolate themselves.

Graham's office said he had been tested for the coronavirus and was awaiting the result.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, demurred when asked whether the president should be in self-isolation. Fauci has been the face of the administration's response to the public health emergency

"Questions like that I leave up to the physicians in charge of the president's health," he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that he was quarantining himself at home after his wife exhibited flu-like symptoms. He said they were awaiting coronavirus test results.

The Mar-a-Lago meeting also included Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner, Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Brazil's foreign minister Ernesto Araujo and Bolsonaro's son Eduardo, who is a federal lawmaker, among others. Vice President Mike Pence went to Mar-a-Lago that evening.

"We had dinner in Florida at Mar-a-Lago with the entire delegation," Trump told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office. "I don't know if the press aide was there. But we did nothing very unusual."

U.S. Southern Command, which Bolsonaro visited Sunday, said it has no cases of the virus. Southcom, which is in charge of U.S. forces in the southern hemisphere, is based in Miami and is led by Adm. Craig Faller. The statement issued Thursday said Faller has not experienced any symptoms of the virus and has not been tested.

The confirmed exposure comes after Trump was in repeated contact with people who themselves had contact with people who tested positive for the virus. Trump's newly named chief of staff, Mark Meadows, emerged from self-quarantine Thursday. Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida traveled back to Washington with Trump on Air Force One on Monday but isolated himself on the flight after being informed that he had been in contact with a person who later was confirmed to have had the virus.

It was not immediately clear what precautions the White House was taking to protect the president from the virus. Trump on Wednesday canceled his political travel for the coming weeks, but he has disregarded the advice of medical and public health professionals to stop shaking hands.

Grisham said in a statement that "the White House Medical Unit and the United States Secret Service has been working closely with various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First & Second Families, and all White House staff healthy."

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 127,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 68,000 have so far recovered.

Wajngarten initially denied a report on Wednesday that he had been tested for the virus, saying on his social media account that his health was fine. He is now in self-quarantine at home, according to the statement.

A statement from Bolsonaro's communications office on Thursday said that Wajngarten's test results had come back positive and that the presidency was adopting preventive measures to ensure Bolsonaro's health.

Bolsonaro's son confirmed in a Thursday tweet that his father had been tested for the coronavirus and said he isn't showing symptoms.

Bolsonaro's health has been a focus since a 2018 stabbing on the campaign trail. Since the assassination attempt, he has already undergone four surgeries with a fifth upcoming. In December, he was taken to the hospital after slipping in the bathroom of the presidential residence and banging his head.

Grisham said that under U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, there is currently no indication to test patients without symptoms, and only people with prolonged close exposure to confirmed positive cases should self-quarantine.
New Delhi, March 13 : Washing hands properly may play a pivotal role in preventing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Randeep Guleria, Director at AIIMS, New Delhi has listed out guidelines on proper handwashing technique.

"Wash your hands with soap and water after visiting neighbourhoods, public places. Use proper method to wash hands. Rub your hands together with the soap. Lather the backs of your hands' palms and between your fingers and under your nails." "Wash both hands with water thoroughly with soap under the thumbs and wrists," Guleria said.

Guleria added that a hand sanitiser can be used to keep hands clean while travelling. The Delhi government has advised the people to ignore the crowded areas for a few days.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain has advised that the risk of coronavirus can be avoided by taking preventive measures.

Jain has described the mask and hand sanitiser as unnecessary for the common people.

"The masks are only required by physicians and the medical staff," he said.

"People who are suffering from cold, cough, fever etc. can use masks," he added.

He asked the people to wash their hands with soap everytime before touching their eyes, nose and mouth. If you do this, then it is possible to prevent the coronavirus spread 100%." "Hand sanitiser is necessary for the doctors and the staff involved in medicine as doctors cannot go to wash hands after every patient's examination. So, they use hand sanitiser." "Proper handwashing is as good as using a hand sanitiser," Jain said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Elderly residents at Four Seasons care homes face more uncertainty after the group transferred another 58 properties to new operators.

As the UK's second largest care home operator, Four Seasons houses around 16,000 residents.

It has been breaking up its empire after its parent companies tumbled into administration last year under the weight of a 625million debt pile.

Care home operator Four Seasons has been breaking up its empire after its parent companies tumbled into administration last year under the weight of a 625m debt pile

It announced this week that 58 of its homes would be switched over to rival providers.

All of these homes are situated in properties leased from two landlords, one of which is Hollyblue, a company connected to the notorious US hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management.

Cerberus has previously been branded a 'hound of hell' by MPs for its role in buying household debt from banks and wringing borrowers for repayment.

Four Seasons entered into negotiations with its landlords last year with the aim of pushing them to lower their rents.

An independent report into its leasehold estate found that a majority of the landlords were charging above market rent.

But the landlords have been unwilling to bow to the demands of Four Seasons and its administrators, which has led to the group simply handing the homes over to rival operators.

Former pensions minister Baroness Altmann has raised concerns the Care Quality Commission, which regulates care home providers, has insufficient powers to judge whether these new operators have the financial firepower to run the homes.

She said: 'Every time you pass on ownership to a new party it increases the risk to elderly residents.'

Rachel Harrison, national officer for the GMB union, said: 'This is yet another care catastrophe on this Government's watch.'

The group's chairman Allan Hayward said: 'Our top priority is to maintain continuity of care for our residents and patients by minimising the impact on them, their families and our colleagues.'
Technavio has been monitoring the compressed natural gas (CNG) market and it is poised to grow by USD 5.79 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 6% 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 latest free sample report of 2020-2024

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005221/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. The increase in the number of CNG vehicles will offer immense growth opportunities. 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.

Increase in the number of CNG vehicles has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Market is segmented as below:

Application

LDV

M&HDV

Geographic Segmentation

Americas

APAC

EMEA

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30435

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) 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 compressed natural gas (CNG) market report covers the following areas:

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Market Size

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Market Trends

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies increase in supply of natural gas as one of the prime reasons driving the compressed natural gas (CNG) market growth during the next few years.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the compressed natural gas (CNG) market, including some of the vendors such as BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Gazprom and NIOPDC. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the compressed natural gas (CNG) market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist compressed natural gas (CNG) market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the compressed natural gas (CNG) market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behaviour

The growth of the compressed natural gas (CNG) market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of compressed natural gas (CNG) market vendors

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

Preface

Preface

Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2019

Market size and forecast 2020-2024

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY APPLICATION

Market segmentation by application

Comparison by application

LDV Market size and forecast 2020-2024

M&HDV Market size and forecast 2020-2024

Market opportunity by application

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

APAC Market size and forecast 2020-2024

EMEA Market size and forecast 2020-2024

Americas Market size and forecast 2020-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 10: MARKET TRENDS

Increase in supply of natural gas

Increasing government support for the development of CNG infrastructure

Technological advances in the CNG market

PART 11: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

PART 12: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

BP

Chevron

ExxonMobil

Gazprom

NIOPDC

Royal Dutch Shell

PART 13: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

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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(Newser)  Sen. Lindsey Graham has put himself in quarantine after being at Mar-a-Lago last weekend with a Brazilian official who's tested positive for coronavirus. Graham will work from home, his office said Thursday, while he awaits the results of his own test for the virus. President Trump was hosting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who also is waiting to find out if he tested positive. A test has confirmed that Bolsonaro's spokesman, who was at Trump's Florida resort, has the virus, the Hill reports. Graham's office said the Republican senator "has no recollection of direct contact" with Bolsonaro or his aide.

story continues below

Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who attended the Mar-a-Lago meetings, issued a statement Thursday saying that also will self-quarantine. "While I do not believe I interacted with the infected person, that individual was in the same room as me," he said, per WFLA. The Senate's physician told him that his risk of contracting the virus is low, Scott said, and that he didn't need to self-quarantine or have a test. "However, the health and safety of the American people is my focus and I have made the decision to self-quarantine," Scott said. The White House said Trump has no plans to be tested or to impose a self-quarantine despite the presence of an infected person at Mar-a-Lago, per Time. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
The AFL season will start behind closed doors next week, with Friday's indefinite ban on gatherings of more than 500 people leaving fans wondering if they will see a live game this season.

In Melbourne, footy heartland, a city that turns on the fortunes of its clubs and stars, such a prospect is almost impossible to comprehend.

AFL hierarchy told clubs on Friday night that games will go ahead without crowds for the "foreseeable future".

Western Bulldogs super fan Sharon Cutajar has already paid about $500 for a trip to watch her team in Adelaide in April.

"It's devastating, I'm so gutted just talking about it," Dogs cheer squad member Sharon Cutajar said.
North Korea has Photoshopped face masks onto coronavirus propaganda images, an expert has claimed.

Multiple photographs depicting North Korea's response to the threat of COVID-19 were sent to Stuart Gibson, a senior lecturer in forensic science at the University of Kent, for expert analysis.

But while North Korea has gone to great lengths to show the world there is no shortage of medical equipment within the hermit state, images of Kim Jong Un show the dictator with no mask on - to bolster his image as a fearless leader.

According to Stuart Gibson, a forensic science lecturer, the resolutions on the masks of the two women working in a North Korean factory, are lower than the rest of the image. This he says, suggests they have been copied and pasted

Dr Gibson, who has 24 years experience in image processing and has written software to sniff out fake pictures, said he thought all seven images were 'probably forgeries'.

In one forged image, two woman are seen working at a factory loom, while a colleague stands at a machine in the background.

Dr Gibson said: 'I'm looking at the face masks and the resolution of them is certainly lower than the resolution of the rest of the image, and that says to me that they have been copied and pasted in.

'Particularly if you look at the lady on the right hand side: the top edge of that face mask is very pixelated.

'They've made some attempt to smooth it in, but you can still see the pixelation there.'

He continued: 'The best bit is that the figure in the background hasn't got any legs.

Gibson added: 'The best bit is that the figure in the background hasn't got any legs' (pictured)

'If they'd just taken the legs down a few more pixels they might have gotten away with it but you can clearly see that there's a gap there  that figure has been superimposed.'

Another photo shows a woman in a white apron working at a machine  but there's something jarring about the picture.

'Here you've got the added difficulty that the face is three-dimensional and the mask is wrapped around it, and in some of the forgeries it doesn't really follow the shape of the face exactly.'

Pictured: An undated photo of a woman working on a loom with a Photoshopped face mask in North Korea

Dr Gibson said: 'With a lot of these images, there's not a single light source which makes it quite difficult by eye to put a finger on exactly why the lighting is wrong.

'But the mind is very good at detecting that something is not quite right.

'That picture is almost certainly a fake. I think that's probably due to the fact that the lighting is inconsistent with the rest of the image.

'This photograph has been taken with a lot of natural light and maybe the mask has been superimposed from an image that was photographed in different lighting conditions.'

In some of the images pumped out by the North Korean regime, the lighting and contours of the face make it clear they are forgeries, Gibson said

While the regime pumps out the Photoshopped images, the Supreme Leader, and Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, still refuses to be pictured in one.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in China's central city of Wuhan in December, the North Korean dictator has been photographed numerous times, often with his underlings sporting the protective face masks.

The images show Chairman Kim in stark contrast to his officials, setting him apart from the general soldiery with their black face protectors.

Kim Jong Un and the ruling Kim family are the pinnacle of North Korea's cult of personality, which has been around for decades in the secretive country.

Followers of the cult have a fanaticism about Kim Jong Un that is so strong, many see the leader as a god with divine power, which is often played upon by the ruler's propaganda machine.

The images of him without protection shows him as a strongman, immune to the deadly consequences of the disease.

The dictatorship is guided by an ideology of self-reliance called Juche, and recent propaganda has boasted that North Korean factories are producing tens of thousands of masks a day.

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un is pictured without a mask as military officials don protective gear at a training ground in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) today

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a military drill, unprotected, at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Monday

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 03 March 2020 shows Kim Jong Un (centre), visiting a firepower strike drill, unprotected from the coronavirus, at an undisclosed location in North Korea

At a time when neighbouring South Korea is running short on face masks, the north may be hoping to emphasise the success of its self-reliance, despite having an inadequate supply itself.

It's also possible that Pyongyang is trying to make propaganda that was created before the crisis reflect the latest guidance, which bans everyone without a mask from entering public places.

The regime continues to deny that COVID-19 has any presence within its borders, however unconfirmed reports leaked to the foreign press tell a different story.

A source in the North's military told South Korea's Daily NK newspaper that 180 soldiers had already succumbed to the virus, with most deaths happening near to the closed border with China.

A further 3,700 soldiers were under quarantine, they added. Meanwhile, a Seoul government official told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper that Kim Jong-un had fled Pyongyang to escape the virus, heading for Wonsan, a coastal resort town.

The faked photos were discovered after a rumour circulated in neighbouring South Korea that its government had donated face masks to the North, even as its own supply dwindled.

The rumour was forcefully denied by the government in Seoul.
Working up a sweat is one of the best ways to combat stress, but people are abandoning the gym and turning to online workouts while practicing social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Physician Dr. Norman Swan told Australian outlet ABC that people need to be meticulous in wiping down anything they touch at the gym, though he didn't say they need to abandon their workout routines altogether.

'It doesnt mean you stop going to the gym, but it means you've got to be super careful in the gym. So you're going to wipe [things] down [there] with an alcohol hand sanitizer,' he said.

Scroll down for video

Warning: Australian physician Dr. Norman Swan has insisted people need to be 'super careful' in wiping down anything they touch at the gym to prevent the spread of the coronavirus

Staying safe: Busy Philipps, 40, took to Instagram Stories on Friday to share a video of herself streaming her daily LEKFIT workout at home instead of visiting the studio

The doctor claimed gyms were among 'high prevalence areas' from Chinese data on the viral disease, explaining that people need to take extra precautions when touching high-contact surfaces such as dumbbells and treadmill screens.

'Im still going to the gym, but Im wiping down before and after. Im using hand sanitizer and taking no chances in the gymthere's so much sweat and wetness.'

'Dampness is a bad thing for spreading germs,' he added. 'Youve got these big blokes pumping away and you never know, one of them might be a super spreader.'

While many gyms and workout classes are staying open and taking on new measures to prevent an outbreak, there is an uptick in fitness fanatics who are turning to on-demand at-home workouts and systems such as Obe, Peloton, and The Mirror to stay safe.

'We're definitely seeing a lot of people quitting their gym membership and signing up for Obe. We've seen three times our normal volume,' an Obe spokesperson told DailyMail.com.

Social distancing: Kelly Ripa, 49, touted the Obe at-home fitness program on Thursday, explaining she doesn't want to be around other people right now

Founded by Mark Mullett and Ashley Mills, the at-home fitness company offers a variety of live and on-demand classes, ranging from dance cardio to meditation.

A subscription costs $199 or $27 a month, but in lieu of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the company has extended its free one week trial to a full month for those in quarantine or affected areas.

She just likes it! Kelly noted that she has been doing the streaming workout for years and is 'not a spokesperson'

Morning show host Kelly Ripa, 49, took to Instagram Stories on Thursday to share videos of herself doing an Obe workout in her home, explaining she doesn't want to be around other people right now.

'I told my girlfriends whose kids just had their school canceled that I found the answer to their prayers. I am not kidding,' she said. 'I have been doing this for years, this workout, but people don't really know what they need until they need it. And here it is. You're welcome.

'And no I am not a spokesperson,' she added. 'I am just trying to work out from home because right now, let's face it, people are a little afraid to work out around other people, and guess what? My arms are not gonna tighten themselves.'

Actress Busy Philipps, 40, also shared an Instagram Stories clip of her latest LEKFIT workout. While she typically does the trampoline workout at the company's Los Angeles studio, she opted to work out at home using its online streaming service.

'@lektfit streaming is keeping me sane,' she captioned a video of herself doing a series of leg lifts.

'We've got you!' LEKFIT revealed on Instagram on Thursday that its pop-up studio will stay open during the outbreak, but Busy opted to stream the workout at home

Wow: 'We're definitely seeing a lot of people quitting their gym membership and signing up for Obe. We've seen three times our normal volume,' an Obe spokesperson told DailyMail.com

LEKFIT revealed on Instagram on Thursday that its pop-up studio will stay open during the outbreak.

'We have always prioritized a clean, safe and secure space and continue to keep our studio space sanitized and ready for you at all times,' the company wrote. 'Our studio remains open with business as usual as does LEKFIT Digital. In times of extreme stress, often a major stress reliever, is an extreme sweat...we've got you!'

Brynn Putnam, the founder of The Mirror, told the New York Times that the company has seen a 'noticeable uptick' in new purchases of the home exercise system, which costs $1,495.

Classes start at $39 a month, and Putnam shared that there has also been a fivefold increase in exercise frequency relative to years past over the previous several months.

With coronavirus rapidly spreading, Andrea Morganroth of Birmingham, Michigan, told the outlet that she is 'happier than ever' that she splurged on a $2,245 Peloton stationary bike, which she has been riding daily at home for a year.

Staying in: Brynn Putnam, the founder of The Mirror, revealed the company has seen a 'noticeable uptick' in new purchases of the home exercise system, which costs $1,495

Happy customer: Tamara Alexandra Elynn shared a photo of herself on her $2,245 Peloton bike, saying it was great to be able to take a class at home 'in the midst of all the global chaos'

Tamara Alexandra Elynn shared a photo of herself on her Peloton bike on Friday to thank the company for its 'amazing classes.'

'I took a ride with Ally Love this morning and in the midst of all the global chaos its so awesome to get on the bike, and just ride and forget the problems of the world for 30-45 min,' she wrote. 'Im so grateful for this company and my exercise which is SUCH an awesome form of self-care and stress reduction.'

There have been more than 132,000 coronavirus cases worldwide and over 5,000 deaths. In the U.S., the number of cases has surpassed 2,000 while the death toll has climbed to 43.

At-home fitness companies are jumping at the chance to attract new customers, with one even launching on-demand streaming classes this week.

In partnership with Equinox Media, SoulCycle has announced the official release of its new streaming platform, Variis, which offers on-demand fitness classes from SoulCycle, Pure Yoga, and Equinox, among others.

Business plan: SoulCycle launched the pre-order of its $2,500 stationary bike this week

Uptick: Tempo, an all-in-one exercise system that comes with a set of weights and a touch screen display, has also seen an increase in workouts

The Equinox Group said it had planned on rolling out Variis at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, before it was canceled, according to the New York Times.

Starting on Friday, people in select markets can also pre-order SoulCycle's $2,500 at-home stationary bike.

Tempo, an all-in-one exercise system that comes with a set of weights and a touch screen display, has also seen an increase in workouts.

Moawia Eldeeb, the company's chief executive, told the New York Times that starting in mid-February, its users were working out 35 per cent more than they had in the previous six months.

Eldeep claimed the company is providing an important service while defending the decision to increase its advertising dollars during the pandemic.

'You cannot socially distance yourself at a gym,' he said. 'It is the worst place to be. Because you dont know who touched what, you cant clean the dumbbells and barbells. I find that were actually offering something that does help in this time to reduce the stress.'
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has sent a team of investigators to Sudan to help probe the failed assassination attempt that targeted PM Abdalla Hamdok.

Sudan culture and information minister Faisal Mohammed told reports that a FBI team landed in capital Khartoum Wednesday in view of providing relevant expertise and techniques for this kind of case, The New Arab reports, adding that following the attack, Sudan asked for international assistance.

The team is reportedly made of three agents.

Hamdok survived Monday a road bomb attack after a blast targeted his convoy in capital Khartoum. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Several people including foreigners have been arrested in connection with the incident, the information minister also told the media.

Hamdok was appointed last year to lead a three-year transition team composed of members of the army and civilians.

The army in April ousted former leader Omar Bashir who ruled the country for 30 years. A group of civil society movements had challenged the army to hand over the power to civilians.
Foreign diplomats met Indian government officials here on Friday to discuss the emerging situation arising out of novel coronavirus pandemic. The officials discussed the measures to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

Denmark's Ambassador to India, Freddy Svane said, "India has done well and has taken right measures. India is fighting, Denmark is fighting and the World is fighting. I felt very assured and I think we are moving in the right direction."

Denmark has shut down schools and colleges in the backdrop of coronavirus.

Ambassador Shin Bongkil of South Korea said, "Many asked specific questions. The Indian government has taken several measures and ambassadors wanted to ask about the quarantine, and at which places the quarantines have been established. Korea has a stable situation with declining numbers of coronavirus. Korea is happy that it was able to contain the virus. We can finish the virus in months' time."

Korea was the biggest hotspot of Coronavirus outside China before it spread to Iran and Italy. South Korea so far has reported more than 7,900 cases and 71 deaths.

Czech Republic Ambassador and Charge De affaire Roman Masarik said, "I think we are very lucky to see to India taking strict measures to stop the spread of the virus, India is a big country and all of us are happy to see the steps taken by it."

India has adopted a strict virus control regime which included the temporary suspension of visas to help India fight the deadly virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Norwegian Air will lay off around half of its staff and cancel 4,000 flights as it struggles to stay afloat.

The budget airline lost a fifth of its value after announcing the string of emergency measures, which came after President Trump imposed a 30-day travel ban on flights from Europe to the US.

Norwegian said the changes would apply until the end of May  but warned that the numbers could increase further.

Norwegian Air lost a fifth of its value after announcing the string of emergency measures, which came after President Trump imposed a 30-day travel ban on flights from Europe

The cancellations amount to around 40 per cent of its long-haul schedule and a quarter of its short-haul flights.

Chief executive Jacob Schram said it was 'an unprecedented situation'. Norwegian was already struggling under the weight of a mammoth debt pile.

But analysts said the wider industry has been dealt another 'body blow' by the ban, which will badly disrupt transatlantic traffic that is key to the earnings of major European airlines.

Flights had already been scaled back from China and Italy over previous weeks.

Shares in BA-owner IAG dived 15.8 per cent, in part because Trump's move will hit its Spanish subsidiary Iberia.

Wizz Air shares fell 14.6 per cent, while Easyjet shed 13.6 per cent and Ryanair lost 7.8 per cent.

But analysts believe lower-cost airlines could be more resilient as they are used to stripping back costs.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13)  Several areas across the country have implemented travel restrictions amid the threat of the coronavirus disease or COVID-19.

Travel to Bohol island province has been suspended for five days, Governor Arthur Yap announced on Friday.

In an executive order, Yap said domestic and international travel via air and sea to the province will be suspended from March 16 to March 20.

Bohol, which is home to many tourist attractions such as the Chocolate Hills, centuries-old churches, tarsier sanctuaries and Panglao Island, welcomes foreign visitors, most of which are from China, South Korea and continental Europe, the order stated.

To date, there are still no confirmed Covid-19 cases in Bohol.

On the other hand, Oriental Mindoro has volunteered to undergo "community quarantine," prohibiting entry into the province from March 14 to March 25. Exempted from the restriction are deliveries of goods and commodities, medical doctors based in the province, national government officials and uniformed personnel, returning medical personnel and officials, and others in "extreme cases" related to health, safety, security and commerce.

Residents are also allowed to leave the province, Governor Humerlito Dolor's executive order stated.

The order comes after its neighboring province Batangas confirmed two cases of COVID-19.

Coron, a tourist hot spot in Palawan, also suspended domestic sea and air travel bound for the municipality, except those for health, food supply and immediate purposes, said Acting Mayor Asian Palanca in an order.

Domestic flights between Coron and Manila, Cebu, Clark and El Nido will be temporarily suspended from March 15 to April 14, while domestic sea travel including foreign vessels entering Coron will also be suspended during this period. Those traveling in and out of the municipality will go through police screening at checkpoints.

Palanca added that all residents are not allowed to go out of Coron except for health and emergency reasons. Moreover, short term guests will be requested to leave within two days while arriving residents or long-term visitors will have to undergo quarantine for 14 days. Social gatherings are also prohibited.

Earlier, Davao City and Cainta in Rizal imposed similar restrictions. President Rodrigo Duterte also placed the entire Metro Manila under quarantine starting March 15 until April 14.

The number of confirmed cases in the country has since risen to 64.
Scottish farmers have been granted a one-season derogation from the Basic Payment Scheme's (BPS) three crop rule following the adverse weather conditions.

Growers in Scotland have highlighted issues in establishing areas of winter crops due to the persistently cold and wet conditions.

NFU Scotland said the window of opportunity to plant and establish crops for 2020 has been 'narrow', and that meeting the three-crop rule for many farmers has been 'almost impossible'.

Scottish government's Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing has now agreed to grant a derogation from the rule.

I am aware that farmers and crofters across the length and breadth of Scotland are at risk of not meeting their crop diversification requirements," he said.

It is clear that farmers and crofters will require a period of continuous dry weather to allow flooding to dissipate and to allow spring planting to move forward.

As such, I can confirm that I have agreed to a one-season derogation from the three crop rule."

Mr Ewing added: "I believe this is a sensible approach, which will provide some much-needed relief to farmers and crofters across Scotland.

NFU Scotland said in a statement that the EUs 'blunt' Greening rules 'do not fit the profile' of Scottish agriculture.

It said they "offer little by way of environmental gain but have added significant cost to many agricultural businesses and to Scottish government in terms of inspections and compliance complexities.
Minister of Health Luke Browne said that the person affected was cooperating fully with Health Personnel.

by Gloriah/JP Schwmon





This week Wednesday, March 10, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the global spread and threat of the coronavirus had reached pandemic proportions.





Before that days end, the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment (MHWE) had announced, in a scheduled media conference, that an unidentified Vincentian who had travelled to the United Kingdom and returned to St. Vincent and the Grenadines on 7th March, was confirmed this countrys first case of the infection  COVID-19.





The Case





Hon. Luke Browne, Minister of Health, described the situation thus: "Weve received confirmation earlier today that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has recorded its first case of COVID-19. It is what is described in the literature as an imported case. The disease appeared in a Vincentian female who had travelled abroad to the United Kingdom, which is known to have cases of COVID 19, and returned home on March 7th, 2020.





He went on to state that the patienthad been informed of her status and was cooperating fully with the Ministry.





"In fact, the patient voluntarily reported her symptoms to the Ministry on March 10th and has since then been in isolation at home under the care of competent health professionals. The symptoms are mild and we expect the patient to make a full recovery, Minister Browne told the press conference.





Based on the patients travel history and symptoms, health officials suspected COVID-19. These suspicions were confirmed by laboratory testing at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) laboratory in Trinidad and Tobago, with the results arriving here at 5:20pm on Wednesday, the Minister said.





The affected individual  Patient Zero - is said to be within the age range 30 -35 and as such is "not in the high risk over 60 age group, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Simone Keizer-Beache confirmed.





Patient zeros home-based isolation, CMO Dr. Keizer-Beache affirmed, is "in keeping with [her] condition. This person is healthy, is not ill.





This person is not in any significant respiratory compromise. The person is comfortable; the person is not short of breath, so this is one of the cases of a mild COVID-19  (one that) would be managed at home.





Assurances





In allaying the fears of the public, the Ministry of Health gave assurances that the Government had been "preparing for the management of such cases by enhancing surveillance at ports of entry; informing healthcare providers about proper response protocols, disseminating up-to-date information to the general public, international travellers, and public health partners.





He also alluded to an infectious disease Isolation Unit, identified in a previous media briefing as largely a remote set of buildings "behind the Argyle International Airport, saying they were currently being renovated with indications that that work was in an advanced stage.





While the completion date of that project is not yet known, Dr. Keizer-Beache reminded concerned citizens of the existing in-country capacity. "I know everyone is very anxious about the completion date, but let it not be that you think we have no capacity to isolate someone and manage them in a sufficient way. We do have capacity. Our aim in terms of the facility at Argyle is to expand that capacity and to have a unit that is separate.





And as for the equipment necessary to allow for the performing of in-country tests for COVID-19, they are "being ordered, the Minister assured.





All of this plus a thorough health education campaign based in the communities, schools, churches and other groups, promised "relentlessness in the efforts to reach every member of the population with relevant information, Minister Browne said.





Vincentians are encouraged to visit www.health.gov.vc or call 1 784 457 2586 for any information regarding this new threat.
Thailand's health minister has ignited a controversy by warning about the possible spread of the coronavirus from vacationing Europeans "who wear dirty clothes and don't shower".

Tweets posted on Thursday night by the account linked to the minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, lashed out at Western visitors for not wearing face masks to protect against the virus, and warned his fellow Thais that they should be more careful in dealing with Westerners than with Asians.

Thailand's government has come under criticism for confusing and inconsistent handling of the health crisis.

A spokesman for Anutin's Bhumjai Thai Party confirmed that the Twitter account under the name 'anutin_c' was operated by the minister's team.

The tweets, along with the entire account, disappeared from Twitter by Friday afternoon.

Anutin early last month castigated Westerners who would not accept protective face masks from him, suggesting they be kicked out of the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Widely seen as a Southern Silicon Valley, Austin has recently hogged much of the entrepreneurial limelight in Texas. The city has topped Inc.'s Surge Cities list of the best places in America for startups in both 2019 and 2020, and it has produced numerous name-brand startups--from Dell and Whole Foods in the 1980s to Bumble and Kendra Scott today.

Yet, the story of Texas is far bigger than any one of its cities. "If you're going to do things new and different, Texas offers a very good economic and regulatory environment," says Tom Markusic, the CEO of Austin-based Firefly Aerospace, a six-year-old maker of rockets for sending small satellites into space. Before starting Firefly, Markusic worked for NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic--in Alabama, California, and Washington. But when it came time to start his own rocket company, he chose to build it in Texas.

He cites a few factors that are common refrains among business leaders who choose to launch in the Lone Star state: low cost of living, low taxes, and relatively permissive environmental regulations and land rights. "It allows you to move quickly. Texas allows new businesses to flourish," Markusic says.

If you're thinking of starting or growing your company in Texas, here's what you need to know.

1. Texas offers a very large, diverse market.

If Texas were a country, it would have the 10th-largest economy in the world. In the U.S., it's second only to California in economic might, contributing about $1.9 trillion to U.S. GDP. Consider that the 11th-largest privately held company in America, grocery chain H-E-B, has grown to its size without operating in any other state. The Houston metro area, with seven million people, is not only the fourth-largest city in the country but also the most diverse, with the Dallas area right behind it on both counts. DFW is one of the busiest airports in the world, easily accessible to both coasts. The four major cities in Texas are all a short drive from one another and together comprise nearly 20 million people. All of which adds up to an ideal test market for new products and a convenient base from which to reach the rest of the country--or the world.

"You've got all the pieces in place here: R&D spending, a global market, lots of talent," says Joshua Baer, the CEO and founder of Capital Factory, an Austin-based startup incubator that has locations in Houston and the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

2. A base of established corporations fosters both talent and opportunities.

Dallas/Fort Worth is home to many large corporate headquarters, including those of AT&T, ExxonMobil, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Kimberly-Clark, and the North American Toyota. The so-called Metroplex shapes much of the region's startup activity. Many entrepreneurs either spin out from the big companies or spot opportunities to serve them, explains Bruce Ballengee, founder of six-time Inc. 5000 company Pariveda Solutions, a Dallas tech consultancy. "If you can land a whale of a client, it gives you instant credibility," he says.

Houston, meanwhile, is the world capital of the energy industry and a global leader in health care. The Texas Medical Center is the world's largest medical complex, with some 100,000 employees. Both industries are ripe with opportunity for entrepreneurs developing new technologies.

3. Cybersecurity is expected to be a major source of growth and jobs.

San Antonio, often the forgotten member of Texas's quartet of large cities, has been building a new strength on top of its history as a military town. Joint Base San Antonio employs some 80,000 people, not including all the defense contractors orbiting it. Today the city is a hub for cybersecurity, which is projected to be a $1 trillion industry by 2021. Local companies in that industry include Inflowlogistics (No. 99 on the Inc. 5000 Series: Texas list) and Silotech Group (No. 139). The University of Texas at San Antonio has developed a cybersecurity-training program that's among the top-ranked programs in the U.S., ensuring a strong talent pipeline.

4. Texas has money--but not much of it goes to startups yet.

Challenges persist for Texan startups--especially when it comes to a tight labor market and access to startup capital. Despite the large amount of money in the state, much less of it goes into the innovation economy than in California or New York. In 2019, Texas companies raised about $3 billion in venture capital, compared with California's $58 billion, according to the PwC/CB Insights MoneyTree Report.

But even that picture has begun to change. The amount Texas startups raised last year was up by about 30 percent from the year before.

"There's a lot of older money in Texas," explains Ed Curtis Jr., author of Why Texas: How Business Discovered the Lone Star State (Brown Books Pub Group, 2019). "Most of it was in real estate and oil and gas. It's what they know, and it works. But we're starting to see a generational shift in those family offices, and the kids are starting to diversify into the venture capital and private equity worlds."
Music has always been the best way of expression of top musicians around the world. Canary Islands-based Jess Medina is no different. He is set to bring amazing tracks in 2020. 10 March 2020, Canary Islands, Spain: From a young age, Jess Medina has been making songs in Rap, trap, and hip-hop. His video Sistema is already raking in great reviews from music-lovers globally. "I find music and song-writing to 
The State of SVOD in Europe

In Europe, as in North America, the video-on-demand (VOD) market is overcrowding as major direct-to-consumer (DTC) platforms pressurise an already heated business.

Apple TV+ was first out of the box in November. It will be joined by HBO Max; short-form mobile VOD platform Quibi; NBCU Peacock, which uses the same user interface (UI) as Comcast-owned Now TV (Peacock is likely to be an ad-supported service, free to existing Sky customers in the UK); and Disney+.

Disney+ is already live in the Netherlands, where the service was beta-tested in September. The country was chosen because of a propensity of its population to pay for content. (Among its 7.5 million inhabitants, Netflix and Spotify both have 3 million subscribers, while Videoland, a competing local service owned by RTL, has 1 million subs.)

That there is growth in premium VOD has been reported by several analysts. While TV viewing remains dominant in Europe, revenue has been broadly flat over the past 5 years, and national networks have seen their audiences erode, according to Digital TV Research. Meanwhile, subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) figures are forecast by the analyst to reach 100 million subs in Europe by the end of 2021, with total SVOD revenue in the region expected to jump to $12.47 billion within 5 years.

Kantar's TGI Global Quick View data shows that 44% of consumers in Great Britain who pay for an online streaming service have at least two subscriptions, with 7% paying for four or more. The market could prove difficult for new premium streaming services as consumer attentionand walletsonly stretch so far.

"Whether people will sign up for multiple OTT services is yet to be seen, and there will be no one answer," says Steve Miller-Jones, VP of product strategy at Limelight Networks. "Pure cord cutters won't mind the idea of multiple subscriptions and will follow the content. There will be others who want everything wrapped up in one place alongside their TV and internet. To serve this second cohort of consumers, there will certainly be more integration of OTT and pay TV."

Disney+ launched in the Netherlands before it will in the rest of Europe, in part because of its residents propensity to pay for video services, such as the RTL-owned Videoland.

He adds, "One thing we can all be sure of is that competition in the streaming market is going to be fierce on all sides. After the initial hype dies down, and the first seasons of flagship shows end, the content war in the SVOD will really start as services look to prevent subscriber churn."

Kantar analyst Sushmita Jain suggests that the ever-increasing amount of available content and platforms "will lead to a paradox of choice.  [M]ore is not always better. Overwhelmed consumers will become more discerning."

It is widely expected that the streaming war will intensify into 2020, but Antonio Corrado, CEO of Mainstreaming, thinks the Apple and Disney challenge to Netflix and Amazon will benefit the consumer. "This could also mean that user experience and quality of service could become a real differentiator as these giants battle to gain market share," he says.

Netflix had a wide lead in market share as of October 2019, according to Goldmedias VOD-Ratings.

The arrival of Disney+ doesn't necessarily mean pay-TV operators will be excluded from carrying its content; "instead it heralds the beginning of a new commercial paradigm," David Sidebottom, analyst at Futuresource Consulting, writes in a blog post. "Disney will still be keen to maximise distribution and therefore will likely look to maintain relationships with pay-TV operators, seeking carriage of Disney+ as an app or through more sophisticated integration."

Netflix has made similar carriage pacts with Sky in the UK, Sky Italia, and Canal+ in France as defence against rival SVOD launches.

Netflix has an estimated 11.3 million UK subscribers compared to Amazon's 9 million Prime Video subscribers. Netflix, though, has a market share of 61% of daily SVOD usage, with Amazon Prime in second at 25% and Now TV in third at 11%. The figures are based on Goldmedia's VOD-Ratings for October 2019 as reported by Broadband TV News. According to that analysis, there are 2.6 users for every Netflix UK account, compared to 1.9 for Amazon Prime Video, which, in part, explains higher usage levels of Netflix. Now TV has 2.3 users per subscription.

Forging Alliances: Broadcasters Fight Back

To combat the threat from digital streamers, a number of broadcasters within and across European markets have allied to launch new online services. Although business models vary, they offer digital-first functionality like programme restart and content recommendations, with availability on as wide a variety of products and platforms as possible.

Some share a belief that ringfencing homegrown content is something that domestic audiences are crying out for. This concept is perhaps fatally undermined by the weak content budgets (in the low millions of euros) local broadcasters allocate for original content compared to the billions of euros of global SVODs.

Some have had to overcome anti-competition hurdles; others have been forced to get into bed with local rivals. Both dynamics have hamstrung speed to launch, ceding more advantage to SVODs.

Lovestv, a joint venture of Spain's three leading broadcasters, RTVE, Atresmedia, and Mediaset, went live in November 2018. Currently confined to smart TV devices based on hybrid broadcast broadband TV (HbbTV), it brings together catch-up VOD content and live rewind.

Spains Lovestv is a joint venture from broadcasters RTVE, Atresmedia, and Mediaset, but its limited to hybrid broadcast broadband TV (HbbTV)-based smart TVs.

German commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 partnered with Discovery to introduce freemium service Joyn to the German market in June 2019. It comprises 55 free-to-air TV channels offered as live streams, including those of public broadcasters ARD and ZDF; commercial broadcasters Viacom, Welt, and Sport1; and Bloomberg and CNBC. Its attraction is multi-screen availability (smartphones, smart TV, tablets) without prior registration and a content mix including curated theme channels and catch-up.

In November, it launched subscription layer Joyn PLUS+, costing 6.99, and plans to introduce the Eurosport Player by mid-2020. ProSiebenSat.1 also plans to roll out Joyn in other European markets.

German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 and Discovery joined forces to bring Joyn to the market in June 2019. The service offers 55 free-to-air channels from both public and commercial broadcasters.

The main terrestrial broadcasters in France (France Televisions, TF1, M6) will finally launch Salto, a joint venture, this spring, with the intent to become the default streaming video destination for French premium video. Since its initial announcement in mid-2018, however, Netflix has become increasingly dominant, with CanalPlay shuttering in mid-2018, although Canal+ Series launched in March 2019.

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(Newser)  Lori Vallow couldn't make bail, so she's currently in an Idaho jail awaiting trial on charges related to two of her children, who have been missing for months. And now she's trying to get the judge on her case disqualified, the Daily Beast reports, though her legal filing does not explain why. Tylee Ryan, 17, and JJ Vallow, 7, have not been seen since September; Lori Vallow and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell (who is not father to either of the children), left Idaho for Hawaii just before the children were discovered to be missing. Vallow did not produce the children after a court ordered her to, and was then extradited back to Idaho to face charges of child desertion, contempt of court, and promoting a criminal act. She appeared before Madison County Magistrate Judge Faren Eddins last week.

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At that hearing, Vallow requested her bail be lowered from $5 million to $10,000; the judge only lowered it to $1 million. Even at that amount, Vallow has not been able to secure bond. One bail bondsman who talked to Vallow explained to East Idaho News this week why that might be: "Its not about the money. I told her I dont want to write the bond. Id rather just have this go away if she would provide where the kids are located. If she could provide that assurance and proof of life, this goes away." Adds another bail bondsman, "If we posted her bond and she did not show up for court, our company could potentially lose the million dollars if we did not find Lori and bring her back within 180 days to Rexburg." (Much more on the strange case of the so-called "Doomsday Mom" here.)
The United States launched airstrikes on several military bases of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in southern Iraq early Friday. The strikes mark an escalation in tensions between the United States and Iran on Iraqi territory, putting Iraq at risk of becoming a site of war between the countries' proxies.

The US attack was retaliation for an attack on Camp Taji base in northern Baghdad March 11, which killed two American and one British soldier. Kataib Hezbollah and Nujaba Movement, though they did not take credit for the attack, praised it and expressed support for the perpetrators.

The United States had warned that it would take all necessary measures to prevent attacks on its forces in Iraq. We will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said.

Iraqi Joint Operations Command issued a statement immediately after the US attack March 13, stating that the United States had attacked the 19th Division of the Iraqi army, the headquarters of a unit of the Popular Mobilization Units, and the 3rd Babylon Police Regiment. The areas attacked include Jurf al-Nasr, al-Saeedat and Behbehani.

The attacks killed three Iraqi army soldiers, two policemen and one civilian, and injured five PMU fighters, according to the Iraqi Joint Operations Command. The infrastructure, equipment and weapons of the targeted locations were completely destroyed.

The command condemned the attack, describing it as a breach of Iraqi sovereignty and in contrary with principles of cooperation and alliance between Iraqi security forces and US forces."

Though the Pentagon said that the attacks targeted five weapons storage facilities of Kataib Hezbollah militants, it is clear that other bases belonging to the Iraqi army and police were also targeted, although distinguishing between the PMU and other Iraqi forces is difficult due to the close cooperation and shared bases.

Iraqi officials criticized the attacks, including President Barham Salih. Interestingly, Salih mentioned Iraqi security forces in general, without mentioning the PMU. Salih had previously called the attack against US troops a terrorist attack."

Salih warned against turning Iraq into a proxy war field, an implicit criticism against pro-Iran PMU factions.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry summoned US and British ambassadors to complain about the attack, as reports indicated that Britain was involved in the attacks against the PMU.

Kataib Hezbollah and Nujaba Movement slammed the US attacks and threatened revenge on US troops. However, Muqtada al-Sadr called for de-escalation to prevent more conflicts from coming to Iraq.

The Fatah Alliance, which is the political wing of the PMU, called for the expulsion of US troops from Iraq, stating that there is no solution but ending the foreign forces' presence in Iraq. Fatah and other blocs collected signatures to hold an urgent parliamentary session to discuss the US assault on Iraqi sovereignty.

The Iraqi street was not concerned about the attack against the PMU, which is understandable given the huge decline in PMU popularity amid the Iraqi protests that started last October. Some PMU members are accused of killing and abducting protesters.

However, the US targeting of the Iraqi army and police could bolster solidarity among Iraqis. In such circumstances, the best option for the United States would be to target PMU factions outside of Iraq and in Syria, for example. This would prevent an Iraqi backlash among politicians and citizens alike.
EUGENE, Ore. -- Gov. Kate Brown ordered all K-12 schools in Oregon to close their doors beginning Monday and running through the end of March.

The order was announced late Thursday night.

Schools must close beginning Monday and stay closed through March 31.

Brown says the decision was made due to the public health threat posed by coronavirus. She said she had "little choice," but warned that closing schools by themselves was not a cure-all.

"I want to be very clear: sending Oregon children home will not stop the spread of the coronavirus," she said.

Brown says districts must develop plans to continue nutritional services during the closure.

Lebanon Community Schools announced they will be closed on Friday in response to a possible positive case of COVID-19.

This is a developing story.
The Defense Department has identified two service members who were killed Wednesday during an enemy rocket attack on Camp Taji, Iraq.

Army Spc. Juan Miguel Mendez Covarrubias and Air Force Staff Sgt. Marshal Roberts died in the strike at the base north of Baghdad, the Pentagon said Friday.

Mendez Covarrubias, 27, was posthumously promoted to specialist. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood, Texas.

Roberts, 28, was assigned to the 219th Engineering Installation Squadron of the Oklahoma Air National Guard in Tulsa.

Related: US Strikes Iran-Backed Group Believed Responsible for Hit on Iraq Base: Pentagon

U.S. officials believe the attack was carried out by the Iranian-backed Kata'ib Hezbollah; roughly 18, 107mm Katyusha rockets struck the base in the attack, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

Also killed was British Lance Cpl. Brodie Gillon, a 26-year-old medical technician who served with the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry.

The incident is under investigation, officials said.

On Thursday, the U.S. launched retaliatory strikes on multiple locations in Iraq following Wednesday's attack on Taji, which hosts U.S. and coalition personnel for train-and-advise missions.

Fighter jets hit five locations, mainly targeting Kata'ib Hezbollah weapons facilities, the Pentagon said in a statement, as reported by The Associated Press.

The U.S. counterattack followed a stern warning from the defense secretary hours earlier.

"Let me be clear: The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies," Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters during a Pentagon briefing. "All options are on the table as we work with our partners to bring the perpetrators to justice and maintain deterrence."

Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said Friday that the Shia group supported by Iran has been involved in at least 12 rocket attacks on coalition forces within the last six months.

The group's strike on Taji injured 14 additional U.S. and coalition troops, he said.

"We have effectively destroyed these facilities and expect that they no longer contain the type of advanced Iranian-supplied weapons that were used in the [Kata'ib Hezbollah] attacks," McKenzie said of the U.S. airstrikes.

Katai'b Hezbollah figured in several attacks that led to a Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike at Baghdad's International Airport that killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani.

On Dec. 26, rocket attacks blamed on Katai'b Hezbollah hit an Iraqi compound near central Kirkuk and killed a U.S. defense contractor and wounded several U.S. troops. The U.S. responded with airstrikes on Iranian-backed militia positions on the Iraq-Syria border.

The airstrikes were followed by violent demonstrations in Baghdad and attempts to breach the gates of the U.S. Embassy on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Soleimani was killed Jan. 3. On Jan. 8, Iran launched at least 12 ballistic missiles at the Al Asad Air Base in Iraq's Anbar province.

McKenzie said Friday that Esper signed off on his request to extend the deployment of two Navy carrier strike groups -- the USS Harry S. Truman and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower -- in the region for enhanced deterrence, lengthening dual U.S. carrier operations in CENTCOM for the first time since April 2012.

"I would caution Iran and its proxies from attempting a response that would endanger U.S. and coalition forces or our partners," McKenzie said during a briefing at the Pentagon. "We have the flexibility, capability and will to respond to any threat."

-- Richard Sisk contributed to this report.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Read more: Army Offers to Repay Soldiers' College Loans if They Go Infantry
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CLEVELANDSen. Bernie Sanders once-surefooted path to the nomination has been narrowed to a tiptoe.

On Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the victor in Michigans Democratic primary, a potentially devastating setback for Sanders, who had made taking the state a top priority as he seeks to regain traction following Bidens near-sweep of the Super Tuesday tables last week.

We are not just taking on Joe Biden, we are taking on the 60 billionaires funding his campaign, Sanders said at a campaign event in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Sunday, where he called on younger votersby far his strongest demographicto unite behind his candidacy. 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.

And we, Sanders said confidently, are going to win.

He did not win. Instead, Sanders lost by a double-digit margin in the state that he won by less than two points in 2016, the latest addition to Bidens win column, capping off a Sanders slide that began with his 30-point loss in South Carolina.

The result, which was called by the Associated Press minutes after polls in the state closed at 9 p.m. on Tuesday night, gave Biden a massive boost in national delegates, as well as the less tangible but equally potent bragging rights of having beaten Sanders among the most crucial demographics represented by the Obama coalition.

To all those who have been knocked down, to all those who have been counted out this is your campaign, Biden said in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, sidestepping the question of whether the series of primary victories had effectively given him the mantle of presumptive nominee. Although theres a way to go, it looks like were gonna have a good night.

Biden thanked Sanders supporters and congratulated them on their tireless energy and passion, and vowed to bring this nation together with different demographic groups to defeat President Donald Trump in November.

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In just the past week, so many of my incredibly capable competitors have endorsed me, Biden said. Together, together were bringing this party togetherthats what we have to do.

The signs ahead of Michigans primary on Tuesday were discouraging for the Sanders campaign. The state, where working-class whites and African-American voters dominate Democratic politics, presented a difficult demographic makeup for Sanders, whose once rock-solid backing in the former has weakened in 2020 and whose favored standing among younger black voters is undercut by longstanding loyalty among older African-Americans for Biden.

Those concerns were borne out when Sanders canceled scheduled appearances in Mississippi and Missouri ahead of Tuesdays primaries in those states, moving them instead to must-win Michigan. Sanders showing was disastrous in both states, leaving him on the knifes edge of a delegate shutout in Mississippi and losing every single county in Missouri.

On election night, the trend lines continued in Bidens favorMississippi and Missouri were called early and quickly for Biden, and Sanders was denied the chance to save face and charge onward to the next contests when his rally in Cleveland was canceled due to concerns about spreading the novel coronavirus.

In county after county, Sanders much vaunted ground game in the state and 2016 track record fell apart like wet bread. In Kalamazoo County, where Sanders won by 23 points in 2016, he was up by less than a point with 90 percent of precincts reporting. In Luce County, in Michigans rural Upper Peninsula, Sanders nearly 30-point victory over Clinton in 2016 turned into a 25-point walloping by Biden.

The Associated Press also declared victory for Biden in Idaho, where Democrats used a primary for the first time. The state partys caucus in 2016 saw it pick Sanders over Clinton. However, Sanders did manage a win in North Dakota, where he won by a landslide in 2016.

Sanders losses beg the question: Where does the Vermont senator go from here? If Sanders call to massively expand the electorate with the largest voter turnout in American historythe only mechanism, he said, by which Trump could be removed from officewas never answered, then what is his path forward?

I think when the night is over, Joe Biden will be the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination, Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, whose endorsement of Biden ahead of the South Carolina primary is seen as having cemented the former vice presidents massive victory in the state, said on NPR as the results rolled in. If the night ends the way it has begun, Clyburn added, it may well be time to shut this primary down.

Ominous signs were also present in neighboring Ohio before votes in Michigan were cast. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), the longest serving woman in Congress and 2016 Sanders supporter, announced she was backing Biden in the states March 17 primary.

Still, Bidens own path, as the presumptive nominee, to the general election is far from solid. In his three campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination, the former vice president has never gotten this faror even won a race. Until a few weeks ago, Biden was running an underdog campaign, and now, largely through a confluence of lucky breaks, that campaign is supporting the likely nominee.

The growing pains have been acute. Democrats are openly worried that Bidens team is unprepared to handle the fire hose of disinformation that the Trump campaign will direct his way, and members of the Biden campaign have been quietly speculating that the former vice presidentwhose campaign rarely fires staffersis preparing a reshuffle of senior staff whose early work on the campaign lost the three first primary contests of the cycle, according to a source with knowledge of the shakeup.

They are going to have some growing pains, a former senior aide to a now-suspended rival candidate told The Daily Beast, who said that Bidens winning streak was more the result of good luck than of sound counsel. They wasted tens of millions of dollars in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevadayou cant just get Jim Clyburn to endorse you in all 50 states.

Beyond the nitty gritty of campaign structure is also the delicate balance of navigating the period when Bidens delegate majority, though functionally insurmountable, is still short of the absolute majority needed to win the nomination. Sanders thrives within that margin, as 2016 showed, and his supporters, who have grown accustomed to the Vermont senators declarations that the Democratic establishment is dead-set against his nomination, have reacted harshly to perceived presumptuousness by candidates in the past. Clintons attempts to smooth over hard feelings in 2016 were far from successful, and Sanders is clearly far from ready to make any signs toward concession.

Late on Tuesday night, Sanders campaign announced that he would be making no appearance or statements about the resultswhich, along with his announcement that he was returning home to Burlington, Vermont, was a telling statement itself.

Major surrogates, however, appeared alternately angry and despondent.

Movements arent necessarily electoral, said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in an Instagram Live chat as the results came in. Theres a generational divide in the Democratic Party on health care, on climate change, on foreign policy.

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a former gubernatorial candidate backed by Sanders who himself lost a bitter primary in the state by wide margins, dismissed the air of entitlement about Biden in seeking the White House for a third time.

Hours before Sanders cutting defeat in the states primary, a small crowd of supporters gathered outside the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, where Sanders had been scheduled to hold an election night rally before fears of the coronavirus canceled both his event and a Biden rally a few miles away, supporters of the Vermont senator were distraught but understandingand, despite his looming loss in the state, indefatigably positive.

Were super bummed, but obviously were still gonna vote for Bernie, said Mackenzie Gross, who took half a day off work and drove two and a half hours from Columbus to see Sanders speak. Coronavirus is a big reason why Medicare for All is so importantwe totally get that they have to be cautious.

Around the corner from the convention center entrance, Mercy McClung, Grace Kohler, and sisters Erica Hughes and Olivia Hughes were peering into the empty building for any sign of life. When The Daily Beast informed them that the rally had been canceled, all four let out a small wail.

We came up here, but I understand, cause school is canceled, said Kohler. Wed rather him be safe.

As much as us, Olivia said, laughingly.

On the car ride here, everybodys talking about, like, what are we gonna do with high school, but also, what are we gonna do with work? her sister said. I think thats a bigger question for people who are living paycheck to paycheckwhat am I doing to do for work

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Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapakse is rapidly militarising the state administration through the appointment of retired armed forces officers to key posts. Promoted into the higher ranks during the final stage of the communal war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), these senior officers are close associates of the president.

Rajapakses new appointments are in preparation for a confrontation with the working class. This was spelled out by Sri Lankas new defence secretary, retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne, at recent meeting of the so-called Social Media Professional Forum.

The main challenges facing the new government, Gunaratne declared, were radicalisation, the re-emergence of terrorism, separatism, religious extremism, organised crime, drug-trafficking, and internal disturbances, such as strikes.

The government, he continued, had merged military and civil capabilities through Integrated Contingency Planning to enable the military to work alongside civilian first-responders in order to mitigate the impact of disaster situations, workers strikes and civil unrest, and take the lead if necessary. These actions, he claimed, are to ensure the countrys national security.

Rajapakse came to power amidst a rising wave of working-class strikes and anti-governments protests by the rural poor, young people and the victims of the decades-long communal war against the LTTE. The new government, which faces a deepening economic crisis, mounting international debt, and ongoing social opposition, is expanding Sri Lankas repressive state machine to crush future strikes and other forms of social unrest.

After being appointed defence secretary, Gunaratne was made chairman of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, a civil sector agency that regulates all internet, electronic communications and mobile services.

Last December, former Army Commander Major General Daya Ratnayake was made chairman of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, which manages most of the countrys major sea ports and is a key revenue earner. The authority employs thousands of people, including some of the militant sections of the working class.

Over the past three years the ports sector has been shaken by a powerful wave of workers struggles in opposition to the former Sirisena-Wickremesinghe governments privatisation policies. The new Rajapakse government has made clear that it is determined to resume Colombos privatisation agenda and in particular expedite a Sirisena-Wickremesinghe agreement with India and Japan to privatise Colombo Ports Eastern Terminal.

On February 19, retired Major General Vijitha Ravipriya was appointed director general of the Sri Lanka Customs Department, another key government revenue collector. The appointment violated the previously existing seniority-based promotion procedures in the department.

In addition to the appointment of ex-military officers into civil sector positions, the government has begun using the military in administrative roles. From February 24, for example, Sri Lanka Corps Military Police personnel and their cars and motorbikes have been deployed to assist the Colombo City Traffic Division. The joint program will be supervised by the Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva. He told media that the navy and air force will also be used for traffic control in heavily congested traffic areas.

Military personnel are also being used to check the family backgrounds of unemployed graduates and diploma holders applying for jobs. Military officers are now involved in district secretariat panels interviewing graduates and diploma holders applying for new a job-creation program initiated by the new government. According to reports, military officers are keeping separate files of all those applying for jobs.

In addition, the policegenerally considered a civil service, and part of the Ministry of Law and Ordernow operate under the defence ministry.

In late February, criminal investigations into terrorist activities, currently conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the police, now come under a special task force headed by Army Intelligence Service director, Major General Jagath Alwis, who will report directly to Gunaratne. This arrangement interferes with existing legal procedures in which the police are supposed to conduct all criminal investigations in Sri Lanka.

The government, with military assistance, has also launched a new program to buy this seasons rice harvest. The purported intent of the program is to undercut the middlemen who control the price of rice. The secretary to the ministry of finance persuaded the state-owned banks to pump money into the program, claiming that its success would be assured by the armys involvement.

Ex-military officers appointed to civil sector posts have also begun openly expressing their hostility to fundamental democratic rights. Defence Secretary Gunaratne is on record saying said that the government will not allow any compromising of national security in the name of protecting democracy and reconciliation.

There are signs that the Rajapakse governments militarisation is sparking resistance amongst workers. Strong opposition was expressed in the customs department over the appointment of Major General Ravipriya as director general. The discontent was temporarily quelled following an agreement between President Rajapakse and the Customs Superintendents Union that Ravipriya will only hold the position for two years, after which it will be held by a tenured officer of the customs department.

While the mainstream media and the opposition political parties are either silent or downplay the governments militarisation of the state administration, there is simmering anger among workers and the public over the governments authoritarian measures, especially under conditions of skyrocketing living costs and the undermining of public services.

From the outset of Colombos brutal war against the LTTE, which began in 1983, successive Sri Lankan governments have boosted the military, expanded its personnel to about 300,000 and systemically increased defence spending. Last year, its annual budget was lifted to 393 billion rupees ($US2.2 billion) or around 2.6 percent of GDP. The military, which is increasingly engaged in economic activities such as farming and maintaining hotels, has become a major factor determining Sri Lankan political affairs.

The militarisation of Sri Lanka is part of the escalating moves towards the dismantling democracy and rapid development of dictatorial forms of rule. This is a sharp warning to the working class and not an isolated phenomenon. Ruling elites around the world, amidst a deepening crisis of capitalism and the rising resistance of the working class, are fast shifting towards authoritarian measures, dictatorship and fascism.
The United Auto Workers is in negotiations with Fiat Chrysler and other companies regarding compensation for quarantined employees being monitored for the coronavirus.

Such circumstances are not directly addressed in the union's contract with Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Ford Motor, according to officials. Some workers also do not qualify for sick days or the amount of sick days needed for quarantine if they contracted COVID-19 and would not be paid.

GM said Friday that all of its salaried and hourly employees, including the roughly 48,000 UAW-represented workers, if needed, would receive paid leave in connection to the coronavirus.

The discussions follow officials on Thursday confirming a UAW member at Fiat Chrysler's Kokomo Transmission plant in Indiana contracted the disease. An undisclosed amount of the others who may have come into direct contact with the person have been quarantined.

UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada, who oversees the union's Fiat Chrysler workers, told CNBC that the union would like all employees who are sick or being quarantined to qualify for paid leave.

"The UAW and [Fiat Chrysler] are working together during this unprecedented and challenging situation to address issues on a case by case basis," Estrada said in an email. "The UAW feels strongly that no member should be disadvantaged in response to the COVID-19 process. Our first priority is to ensure the health and welfare of our members."

Estrada, on a call, said she believes Fiat Chrysler "will do the right thing" for its workers, many of whom live "paycheck to paycheck" and "want to know what's going on." She credited the company for its quick response to the infected employee and identifying who the unnamed infected worker had come in contact with at the factory.
Ohio has estimated it has more than 100,000 undiagnosed cases of coronavirus, after the virus was detected in people that had not traveled to affected areas.

The state's director of health, Dr Amy Acton, who is also a licensed physician, warned the virus was moving through the population via 'community spread' as state governors moved to close all schools from Kindergaten to K-12 on Monday.

The northern state, which has a population of 11.7million, has only reported five cases of COVID-19 so far. Two have contracted the virus via 'community spread'.

Ohio's director of health Dr Amy Acton, who is also a licensed physician, made the stark warning at the legislature in Columbus. The state has so far reported five cases

Dr Amy Acton warned that one per cent of Ohio's population probably has the virus

Governor Mike DeWine has moved to close schools in the state on Monday and encouraged businesses to allow employees to work from home

Warning of the rapid spread of the disease from the Ohio General Assembly in Columbus yesterday, Dr Acton said: 'I know it is hard to understand COVID-19 since we can't see it, but we know that one per cent of our population is carrying this virus today. That's more than 100,000 people.

'I know it is very hard for us to get our heads around this and we're all waking up to this new reality. The steps we are taking now will absolutely save lives'.

Governor Mike DeWine's office and the Department of Health has warned cases will double every six days, reports News 5 Cleveland.

'Whenever you know of two people that have it due to community spread, then you can assume that one per cent of your population has it,' they said, citing a 2017 morbidity and mortality weekly report from the CDC.

Three of Ohio's cases are in Cuyahoga County, on the shores of Lake Erie, one is in Stark County, in the north-east, and one, detected in a 55-year-old man, is in Trumbull county, on the state's border with Pennysylvania.

Health officials are currently investigating 52 people and have 333 under supervision. As many as 30 of those tested have come back with negative results.

Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted pictured speaking during the Ohio meeting

New York has the largest number of cases in the US, at 327, followed by California, which has reported 241 cases and four deaths

Announcing emergency measures to limit the spread of the virus yesterday, Governor Mike DeWine said: 'At the close of school on Monday is when the school closure starts until April 3.

'This order includes all public, community and private K-12 schools in the state, but does not apply to Ohio's childcare system such as daycare centers and home-based childcare providers.

'During this extended period of closure, schools should work to provide education through alternative means.'

The governor has also recommended businesses start allowing staff to work from home where this is possible, and has banned gatherings of more than 100 people in a single room or space.

The US has reported 1,758 cases of coronavirus so far, and 41 deaths, although this is expected to significantly increase in the coming days.

New York has recorded 327 cases, the highest number in the country, followed by California, which has 241 cases and has announced four deaths.

Ohio's governors have also announced a ban on gatherings of more than 100 people

President Donald Trump suspended flights from China at the start of the outbreak and, on Wednesday, suspended flights from Europe as Italy went into lock-down and several countries in the EU reported more than 1,000 cases.

Flights from the UK and Ireland to the US are still permitted.

Empty streets have also been pictured in Disneyland California, Seattle, Washington and San Francisco as Americans crowd into supermarkets to stock up on essentials.
The Union cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday approved the Yes Bank rescue plan backed by the State Bank of India (SBI).

The notification with details of the reconstruction plan will be released as soon as possible, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, adding that the moratorium that was imposed on March 5 will be lifted within three working days after the scheme is notified.

Thereafter, a new board, including two directors from SBI, will be set up within seven days. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-appointed administrator, former SBI chief financial officer Prashant Kumar, will vacate the office seven days after the moratorium is lifted, Sitharaman said at a media briefing.

The finance minister said that SBI will invest up to 49% of equity in Yes Bank as part of the RBI-supervised Yes Bank Ltd Reconstruction Scheme, 2020. On Thursday, SBI informed the exchanges that its board had approved a proposal to invest 7,250 crore in Yes Bank by purchasing 7,250 million shares at 10 apiece. Mint has reviewed a copy of the proposal, though the contours of the final cabinet approval are not yet known.

According to the proposal, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank will infuse 1,000 crore each, Axis Bank 600 crore and Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) Ltd 500 crore into Yes Bank. The quantum of investment to be made by Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) is awaiting the boards approval, according to a person with knowledge of the development.

Under the new proposed shareholding structure, SBI may hold a 45.74% stake, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank may hold 6.31% each, and Axis Bank and KMB may hold around 3.5% each. The additional tier 1 (AT1) bondholders may hold 10.73% and existing shareholders may hold 14.79%. Despite the infusion, Yes Bank will continue to be a private sector bank, said two other people aware of the matter.

The boards of HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, KMB and Axis Bank have approved the investments.

Sitharaman also said that other investors will be subject to a three-year lock in period for 75% of their investment, while for SBI the investment lock-in is unchanged at 26%, as announced in the draft scheme.

The lock-in tenure for SBI and other investors remains three years, according to the reconstruction scheme.
Adults who are rewatching the 1994 comedy Blank Check on Disney+ are appalled to realize the film they loved as children features a romantic kiss between an adult woman and an 11-year-old boy.

Tiktok user Rob Anderson shared a video of himself watching the disturbing moment on Wednesday, writing: 'This Disney movie Blank Check has the most awkward scene ever.'

In the film, fifth-grader Preston Waters (Brian Bonsall) flirts with Shay Stanley (Karen Duffy), a 30-something FBI agent posing as a bank teller. They later agree to go on a 'date' in six years, and she ends up kissing the pre-teen boy on the mouth.

Creepy: Tiktok user Rob Anderson shared a video of a deeply disturbing scene in the 1994 movie Blank Check that shows an adult woman kissing a pre-teen boy

After watching the creepy scene, Anderson turns the camera around to show how shocked he is by what he had just witnessed.

'Imagine being this grown actress #fyp #foryou #awkward #xycba,' he wrote when he shared the short clip.

The video has been viewed more than 980,000 times, prompting plenty of outrage from critics who can't believe Disney+ is streaming the film.

'Umm ... how is this not illegal?' one person asked.

Just wrong: In the film, fifth-grader Preston Waters (Brian Bonsall) gets a kiss from Shay Stanley (Karen Duffy), a 30-something FBI agent posing as a bank teller

Shocked: After watching the creepy scene, Anderson turns the camera around to show how shocked he is by what he had just witnessed

Say what? The video has been viewed more than 980,000 times, prompting plenty of outrage from critics who can't believe Disney+ is streaming the film

'Your expression and my expression were literally identically watching this lmao,' someone else wrote to Anderson.

'Trump wrote the screenplay,' another TikTok user joked.

Some critics slammed Disney+ for streaming Blank Check after moving the Love, Simon spinoff series Love, Victor to Hulu over concerns it wasn't the right fit for the family-friendly network.

Set in the same world as the 2018 film Love, Simon, the romantic comedy series follows a high school student's journey of self-discovery as he struggles with his sexual orientation.

'But they don't want to play Love, Simon,' one person commented.

Not OK: Preston flirts with Shay throughout the movie, and she eventually agrees to go on a 'date' with him in six years

Yikes: People have also been taking to Twitter to comment on the unsettling scene after watching the film on Disney+ as adults and realizing how troublesome it is

'Lmao they have the audacity to show this but can't show guys holding hands cuz it will "corrupt children,"' someone else responded.

People have also been taking to Twitter to comment on the unsettling scene after watching the film on Disney+ as adults and realizing how deeply troublesome it is.

'Watching Blank Check on Disney+ has got me shook,' one person wrote. 'Like an 11 yr old child really took [a] grown woman on a date and by the end of the movie she kisses him ON THE LIPS!!! 90s movies really wildin.'

'Rewatched Blank Check on Disney+ and I guess I completely forgot the FBI agent KISSES THE CHILD?? lol WTF,' another added.

'I'm honestly shocked Disney+ put up Blank check. A grown a** woman is the love interest in this movie and goes on a date with and kisses a *pre-teen boyo*!!!!!! The 90s were wild.'
Following is the chronology of events in the custodial death case of the Unnao rape survivor's father, in which a Delhi court on Friday sentenced disqualified Uttar Pradesh MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar to ten years in prison.

- Jun 4, 2017: The 17-year-old girl allegedly raped by BJP MLA Sengar.

- Apr 3, 2018: Rape survivor's father beaten up by some persons and arrested in a false case of illegal arms allegedly at the behest of Sengar and 10 others.

- Apr 9: Rape survivor's father dies in custody.

- Apr 10: Allahabad High Court transfers rape case to CBI.

- Aug 1, 2019: SC transfers five cases related to the rape case to Delhi, directs the trial court to complete the trial in 45 days.

- Aug 5: Day-to-day trial commences at the Tis Hazari court here.

- Rape survivor airlifted to Trauma Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi from King George's Medical College in Lucknow.

- Aug 9: Court frames charge against Sengar and female co-accused Shashi Singh in the rape case.

- Dec 10: Court reserves judgment.

- Dec 16: Delhi court convicts Sengar for raping minor girl. Acquits co-accused Shashi Singh.

- Dec 20: Sengar sentenced to life imprisonment by court, a fine of Rs 25 lakh imposed on him.

- Feb 29, 2020: Delhi court defers judgment in murder case of the survivor's father.

- Mar 4: Delhi court convicts Sengar and six others for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

- Mar 13: Delhi court sentences Sengar and others to 10 years in prison, directs Sengar, his brother to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- The study showed the virus invades cells through combination of proteins known as ACE2 which are expressed in the testis hence prone to attack

- A team of doctors from Medicine Center of Tongji Hospital urged male patients to go for fertility tests once they recover from the deadly infection

- Lead researcher Yufeng was quick to add that the link between coronavirus and the male reproductive organ was yet to be proven or peer-reviewed

Researchers at Reproductive Medicine Center of Tongji Hospital at coronavirus-hit Wuhan city have urged male patients to check their fertility once they recover from the deadly infection.

Though COVID-19 has similar symptoms of pneumonia such as coughs, fever and breathing difficulties, doctors warned it may cause damage to patients' testicles.

READ ALSO: My muscles are becoming stronger, my faith is stronger - CS Tuju

Male coronavirus patients have been urged to go for fertility test as doctors warn the disease could damage testicles. Photo: Worldwide Weird News.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Hatimaye Jowie aondoka rumande baada ya kulipa dhamana ya KSh 2 milioni

It is theoretically speculated that new crown infection may cause testicular damage, affecting sperm production and androgen synthesis.

Therefore, males infected with new coronary pneumonia should undergo fertility examination after rehabilitation, Li Yufeng who led the team was quoted in Daily Mirror.

Yufeng was, however, quick to add that the link between coronavirus and the male reproductive organ was yet to be proven or peer-reviewed.

Illustration of COVID-19, created by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Photo: CDC.

Source: UGC

New coronavirus infections are mainly caused by damage to the lungs and immune system, but in theory new coronavirus infections can also cause testicular damage," he said.

The virus invades cells through combination of a protein (S protein) and an enzyme otherwise known as ACE2 which are expressed in the testis hence prone to attack.

"Obstructed sperm production will affect male fertility, and severe cases may cause male infertility; androgen deficiency may affect male secondary sexual characteristics and sexual function, and reduce quality of life,"the study stressed.

So far, 4,946 out of 133,009 cases have died from the infection with China where it was first reported, being the worst hit.

On Wednesday, March 11, the World Health Organisation moved to officially declare COVID-19 a pandemic.

The organisation's boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus indicated the global death toll had spread across 114 countries.

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.

Where is our son? Our only child after six miscarriages is missing, help us find him |Tuko TV.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
The dilemma of where to keep those easy-to-lose AirPods has been solved with this leather pouch from Bottega Veneta. Featuring the luxury brands signature maxi intrecciato weave, its ideal for hanging around your neck. Practical storage never looked so chic.

Bottega Veneta Intrecciato Airpods Case, $630 mytheresa.com

Bottega Veneta Intrecciato Airpods case. Credit:

In a bid to make its supply chains transparent  and more ethical  Melbourne brand Elk shares online the details of exactly who makes each of its products. These Hollie earrings are made by Zai Design Hive in the Philippines, a sustainable business Elk staff visit annually.

Elk Hollie Earrings, $45 au.elkthelabel.com
New Delhi, March 13 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday reiterated that novel coronavirus was a huge problem and warned that the Indian economy would be destroyed if the government remained in a stupor.

"I will keep repeating this -- coronavirus is a huge problem. Ignoring the problem is not a solution. The Indian economy will be destroyed if strong action is not taken. The government is in a stupor," the former Congress chief tweeted.

His remarks came after a free fall in the Indian stock markets again on Friday, as both Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange and the BSE Sensex hit lower circuit, with trading halted for the next 45 minutes.

The BSE Sensex fell over 3,000 points to trade at below the 30,000-mark. The index is currently at 29,687.52, lower by 3,090.62 points, or 9.43 per cent from the previous day's close of 32,778.14. It touched a low of 29,564.58 points on Friday.

Nifty50 is at 8,624.05, lower by 966.10 points, or 10.07 per cent from its previous close.

On Thursday also, Rahul Gandhi had targeted the Narendra Modi government and accused it of not taking adequate measures to contain coronavirus.

"There is no preparation. The government is sleeping. They don't realise that coronavirus is spreading in the country. It's going to have devastating consequences. We are heading to the highway for an accident as a nation," Rahul Gandhi said.

"Only after I had tweeted on COVID-19 that the Prime Minister started tweeting about it," he said.

The coronavirus crisis had worsened the already sinking Indian economy, the Congress leader claimed.

"We have got to start taking emergency measures now. It's already too late," he added.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
1. Yes. The downtown area needs a good draw. Some quality taverns would be a plus.

2. Yes. Too many storefronts are vacant. Bars could help to bring in needed revenue.

3. No. Putting a number of bars downtown is just asking for trouble. Dont change things.

4.No. Several churches have located downtown. Putting bars close by would be a bad fit.

5. Unsure. It would depend on how the law is written and what standards are enacted.

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A social worker here has filed a



public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court seeking its direction to the Maharashtra government as well as the Centre to take steps to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The PIL was filed before Acting Chief Justice B P Dharamadhikari and Justice N R Borkar.

Sagar Jondhale, in his petition, said that coronavirus has been spreading in India and if no proper precautions are taken, it will affect a large number of people in the country.

The petitioner said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers of various states are appealing to the people to not organise public gatherings and avoid crowd.

But gatherings continue to be held in schools, colleges, courts, and government as well as corporate offices. There is a need to bring some mechanism, which can decide as to what preventive action should be taken by the government to control the outbreak of dangerous diseases, the PIL said.

The court has posted the matter for further hearing on March 16.

So far, 17 people have tested posted for coronavirus in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 19:47:36|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sent a congratulatory message to Katerina Sakellaropoulou on her inauguration as Greece's new president.

In his message, Xi points out that China and Greece are good friends of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation who help each other and learn from each other's civilization.

Recalling his successful state visit to Greece at the end of last year, Xi said he is satisfied with the fruitful results achieved in the cooperation of jointly building the Belt and Road by the two countries and is confident in the prospect of bilateral cooperation.

Xi said he highly values the development of China-Greece relations, and stands ready to establish a sound working relationship with President Sakellaropoulou in a bid to make new progress in the China-Greece comprehensive strategic partnership.
An Indian was among 13 new persons identified with coronavirus in Singapore on Friday taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the island-nation to 200.

The 36-year old Indian, listed as case number 189, is a likely imported case as he was in India from February 21 to March 1, reported the Channel Asia. He holds a Singapore Work Pass.

He reported COVID-19 symptoms on March 11 and sought treatment at a general practitioner (GP) clinic on March 12.

The Indian man was referred to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on the same day and tested positive for the infection later that afternoon.

Prior to hospitalisation, the Indian national had gone to work at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. He lives at St George's Road, a housing estate couple of miles off Little India precinct here.

The latest 13 cases bring the total number of coronavirus cases to 200 in Singapore.

Of the 103 confirmed cases who are still in hospital most are in stable condition. Eleven patients are critical in the intensive care unit, said the health ministry.

One more patient has been discharged from hospital, taking the total number of recovered cases to 97 to date.

Among other imported cases, is a 32-year-old male American who arrived in Singapore on March 10 from the US. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday morning and is currently warded at NCID.

Another imported case is a 26-year-old male Malaysian who holds a Singapore Work Pass but was in Germany from March 1 to 3, Czech Republic from March 4 to 6, Austria from March 7 to 8 and Hungary from March 9 to 10.

He was confirmed to be infected on Friday morning and is in isolation at NCID ward.

Also, a 24-year-old Chinese national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder but was in Germany from March 1 to 3, Czech Republic from March 4 to 6, Austria from March 7 to 8 and Hungary from March 9 to 10.

She was confirmed to be infected on Friday morning, and is in isolation at NCID ward.

Among the other confirmed cases is a 47-year-old male Singaporean who was in the US from February 4 to 17 and Canada from February 17 to March 9. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Friday morning and is in isolation at NCID ward.

Meanwhile, Singapore will implement additional precautionary measures to slow the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

These include travel advisories against all non-essential travel and border restrictions for Italy, France, Spain and Germany, as well as additional social distancing measures within Singapore, said an official advisory.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 22:40:45|Editor: huaxia

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HANGZHOU, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation will donate 1 million masks and 500,000 testing kits to the United States, said Jack Ma on Weibo, a leading Chinese social media platform, on Friday.

Ma said he hopes the donations will help Americans fight against the epidemic.

Over the past few weeks, the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation have collaborated to source and donate much-needed materials to afflicted areas in Japan, the Republic of Korea, Italy, Iran and Spain, to help them combat COVID-19.

"This crisis presents a huge challenge to all humankind in a globalized world. The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by any individual country," said Jack Ma on Twitter. "Rather, we need to combat the virus by working hand-in-hand."
Chief of the Defence Staff Jonathan Vance delivers remarks at the Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence in Ottawa on March 4, 2020. Canada's top general says he is concerned about anything that would give China easier access to the Canadian military's computer networks. (The Canadian Press/ Justin Tang)

Military Concerned About Chinese Access to 5G Networks as Huawei Decision Looms

OTTAWADefence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance says he is worried about anything that would give China easier access to the Canadian militarys computer networks, but says there are ways to manage any security risks from Huaweis participation in building Canadas new 5G networks.

Vances comments in an interview with The Canadian Press come amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trumps administration to bar the Chinese telecom giant from having any role in Canadas fifth-generation wireless networks due to security concerns.

The U.S. believes letting Huawei sell equipment to the companies building Canadas upgraded data networks will make them more vulnerable to Chinese spying, and the U.S. has warned it might hold back secret intelligence if Canada does not ban the company. Huawei has denied being a national-security threat.

Canada is the only member of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network that has not made a decision on Huawei. Australia and New Zealand have followed the U.S. in banning the company while Britain has limited its involvement.

The Five Eyes network is monumentally important to Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces, Vance said, adding the government takes seriously U.S. warnings about Huawei and the potential impact on the intelligence-sharing relationship.

Ive made it clear that I have concerns about China and Chinas cyber efforts, he added, and clearly if there was to be an avenue, an easier avenue, for China to get into our digital networks then I would be concerned about that.

During a major defence conference last week, the chief of the defence staff specifically singled out China for its malign activities in cyberspace, an assessment echoed by several other Canadian and allied military officers.

The development of 5G, or fifth-generation, networks will give people speedier connections and provide vast data capacity to meet the ceaseless demand for emerging applications, like virtual reality and autonomous driving, as more and more things link to the internet.

In Canada, Huawei Technologies, Swedens Ericsson and Finlands Nokia are among the leading candidates to help telecommunication firms such as BCE and Telus build their 5G networks.

A top Trump administration adviser on telecommunications met Monday with officials in Ottawa, the latest in a growing list of U.S. government envoys to visit Canada as the Liberal government continues working on what to do about Huawei.

Robert 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, the U.S. Embassy later said in a statement.

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 percent of its less sensitive parts.

The Trudeau government has said it is studying the British decision as part of a broader review that includes a strategic look at how 5G technology can foster economic growth, but has given no indication about whether its own long-awaited decision is coming any time soon.

Given the scope of the review, several agenciesPublic Safety Canada, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Communications Security Establishment, Global Affairs and Innovation, Science and Economic Developmenthave been taking part.

Pointing to the British decision, Vance said of the federal government: Whatever decision they take, theyll also have to do the mitigation necessary to ensure that the Five Eyes architecture is not compromised.
Sylvia Daneman Saloshin, a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, died March 12, 2020 at the age of 90.

She was born Jan. 27, 1930.

Mrs. Saloshin was preceded in death by parents, Joseph Daneman and Frances Daneman Ginsberg; son, Jeffrey I. Saloshin; sister, Jacqueline Daneman Slutsky; and first husband, Arthur L. Saloshin.

She graduated from City High in Chattanooga and Edmondson School of Business and spent most of her professional life as a secretary. In earlier years Mrs. Saloshin was active in the community as a volunteer at Moccasin Bend Psychiatric Hospital, Phoenix Crisis Intervention Center, CALECO (Crime Alert and Law Enforcement Commission) and was one of only four parents appointed by the governor of the State of Tennessee to the White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals in Washington, D.C. in 1977.

Her life was dedicated to helping to fulfill the dreams and goals of her son, Jeff, by establishing and fostering the Jeffrey I. Saloshin Memorial Fund in Criminal Justice at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. The pilot seminar in Jeff's memory has become a permanent course in the curricula.

Mrs. Saloshin was a past member of Monday Mumblers Club of Toastmasters International, the first woman president of a Toastmasters Club in this area. She was a charter docent, and became a docent emeritus at the Tennessee Aquarium and remained active until her death. She was also a member of Duplicate Bridge Club #204 on Dayton Boulevard, and a western style square and round dancer at Allemande Hall.

Mrs. Saloshin belonged to B'nai Zion Synagogue and was a Life Member of Hadassah.

She is survived by former husband, sweetheart, and friend, Gene Kleiman; two nieces, Debbie Slutsky Callahan and Joanne Slutsky Lopez; two great-nephews and one great- niece, all of California; and several cousins and many long-time friends.

Graveside services will be held Monday, March 16, at 1 p.m. from B'nai Zion Cemetery with Rabbi Susan Tindler officiating.

In lieu of flowers, Mrs. Saloshin would prefer that any donations in her memory be made to a favorite charity.



Arrangements are by locally owned and operated Ponders Brainerd Chapel, 4203 Brainard Road, Chattanooga, TN. 531-4002.
BRIDGEPORT  Tactical police forces swept through Bridgeports Charles F. Greene Homes housing complex early Friday morning as part of an investigation into a recent surge of gang violence across Bridgeport.

During the sweep, state police executed multiple arrest and search warrants targeting individuals associated with Bridgeports Greene Homes Boyz gang, which operates out of the low-income housing complex.

These individuals are suspected to be directly related to recent acts of violence, to include the shooting incident at the Connecticut Superior Court located on Golden Hill Street in Bridgeport, state police said in a release announcing the arrest of five men.

Jaquon Benejan, 19, Laheem Jones, 25, Dhamoni Lockhart, 19, Jostyne Morales, 22 and Marc Busanet, 20, all of Bridgeport, were arrested on assorted drug charges. They were being held in lieu of bonds that ranged from $250,000 to $350,000.

According to the arrest warrant affidavits, on Feb. 25, task force members arranged with a confidential informant to make a narcotics purchases in the Greene Homes.

The affidavit states the informant, while under surveillance by officers, purchased a quantity of crack cocaine from the defendants in the housing project.

The investigation was conducted by the Statewide Urban Violence Cooperative Crime Control Task Force, a special unit composed of detectives from Connecticut State Police and the Bridgeport Police Department. The DEA and various local police departments also assisted in the investigation.

This investigation is part of a collaborative effort by several law enforcement agencies, focusing on efforts to reduce violent acts of crime in the city of Bridgeport, state police said.
ANN ARBOR, MI  While coronavirus fears have hit Washtenaw County, Ann Arbor officials say theres no reason to worry the virus could impact the citys drinking water.

The disinfectants we use in the water treatment process are extremely effective against viruses, said Brian Steglitz, the citys water treatment plant manager.

City water customers should be confident that their water is safe to drink, as well as a recommended source for frequent hand washing, which is one of the most effective ways to minimize transmission of COVID-19.

The Washtenaw County Health Department reported the countys first two presumptive positive cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Thursday night, March 12.

Both individuals, one adult female and one adult male, were likely exposed through international and domestic travel respectively, the health department stated. One traveled through Europe and the other to New York.

The health department has been working closely with them to identify and contact anyone potentially exposed, officials say, and additional information and guidance will be announced as soon as possible at Washtenaw.org/COVID19 and @wcpublichealth on social media.

Ann Arbor officials announced plans Thursday to alter city operations amid the outbreak, including encouraging city employees to work from home if possible.

Non-critical staff who can telecommute will begin today, Steglitz said.

Those who must stay to run the water plant, for example, are expected to take extra precautions.

The city and the water treatment plant are following Centers for Disease Control and Washtenaw County Health Department guidelines, Steglitz said, and theyre implementing procedures to minimize person-to-person contact.

As for measures such as wearing face masks, he said, thats only recommended for people who are sick.

Coronavirus fears aside, Ann Arbor is still dealing with PFAS chemicals in the citys drinking water.

The health department issued an advisory Thursday, saying coronavirus testing was continuing daily and these proactive measures are recommended:

Cancel or postpone events with more than 100 people in a shared space.

For organizations that serve high-risk communities, cancel gatherings of more than 10 people whenever possible.

Individuals at risk of severe illness should stay at home as much as possible and keep away from others who are sick.

Workplaces should encourage staff to telework when feasible, particularly individuals at risk of severe illness. Employers should also limit large work-related gatherings and limit non-essential work travel.

Implement social distancing measures as feasible, including limiting in-person meetings.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS AND MLIVE:

Were going to get through this,' says Gov. Whitmer as she orders K-12 schools closed over coronavirus

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Ann Arbor alters city operations to slow spread of coronavirus

8 things to know about coronavirus now that its in Michigan

Closures, postponements, cancellations in Ann Arbor due to coronavirus fears
- To arrive at dealerships in Indonesia on 4 April 2020

- First promotional video released on YouTube

- Indian launch yet to be announced

Kawasaki Indonesia has announced that the pre-bookings for the new Ninja ZX-25R are open. The motorcycle will be available at the dealerships in Indonesia on 4 April 2020, and the Japanese brand may announce its launch and prices on the same day.

Apart from announcing the pre-bookings, Kawasaki has also released a promotional video of its new quarter-litre, inline four-cylinder motorcycle. The Kawasaki Racing Teams World Superbike rider, Jonathan Rea rode the motorcycle Jerez Circuit in Spain. The promotional video shows the Ninja ZX-25R hitting 160kmph in the fifth gear on the start-finish straight of the circuit.

The new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R made its global debut in October last year. While the motorcycle has been completely revealed, the two-wheeler brand is yet to announce the power and torque output numbers. The quarter-litre motorcycle uses an inline-four-cylinder engine. Rumours suggest that the motor will produce 59bhp of maximum power. The engine uses a six-speed gearbox that features a quick-shifter.

The feature list on the motorcycle comprises of twin-pod LED headlight, an LED taillight, muscular fuel tank, split-style saddle, inverted telescopic Separate Function Forks at the front and a horizontal back-link suspension at the rear. The safety net on the motorcycle comprises of traction control and selectable power modes (Full or Low).

While the pre-bookings are open in Indonesia, the Indian launch details are yet to be announced.
Muhammadu Buhari

According to a report by The Nation, the dethroned Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi has revealed that God almighty approved his removal from the throne by Kano state government.

He stated this on Friday in Awe while leading Friday Muslim prayers at the place of the emir of awe with the Kaduna state governor Nasir ElRufai in attendance.

Sanusi during the prayers urged Muslim faitgful to always obey God and accept his judgement in whatever happens, adding that whatever happen to anyone of them is destined by God to happen if not there is no way it would happen.

He explained that there is no way anything that God has not destined would come to pass.

He underscored the need for Nigerians to also continue to pray for peace and progress of the country.

The dethroned Emir also urged Muslims to fear God in all their activities, reminding them that every one of them must give account of his or her deeds hereafter.

The Kaduna state governor Nasir El-Rufai who was in Awe to visit the dethrone Emir arrived the Emirs residence at about 12:45pm and was received by the dethroned emir where they quickly went into a close door meeting , after which they drove straight to Friday mosque.

Our correspondent gathered that it was the first time Sanusi was allowed to make his first public speech after he was dethroned by the Kano State Government and banished to Nasarawa State.

Those that attended the prayer includes; Governor Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Emir of Awe and his Shabu counterpart Mohammed Bwala.

There was heavy security presence during the prayer as armed policemen and other security personnel were deployed to safeguard the environment.
The former Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, will on March 26 chair the convocation lecture of the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo.

The lecture, which is titled; The Future of Developing Economies in a Digital World, is part of activities lined up to mark the institutions 24th convocation ceremony, where a total of 8,959 will be awarded certificates in various degrees and diplomas.

The ceremony is scheduled to hold between March 20 and 27.

The lecture, according to the universitys vice-chancellor, Olanrewaju Fagbohun, will be delivered by the president of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Benedict Oramah.

Mr Sanusi was on Monday dethroned by the Kano State government for disrespecting constituted authorities by not taking part in the states official activities.

The removal of the emir and his banishment to Awe in Nasarawa State has attracted wide condemnation from many Nigerians, including the founder of Stanbic Bank IBTC Plc, Atedo Peterside.

Mr Peterside declined to attend the roundtable organised on Wednesday by the Central Bank of Nigeria, citing the banishment of Mr Sanusi as his reason. He said such disregard for laws and human rights are disincentives to investment in Nigeria.

Hours after Mr Sanusis removal, the Kaduna State Government announced his appointment into both its investment agency and as the governing council chairman of the state-owned Kaduna State University.

Also in solidarity with the embattled former emir, Governor Nasir El-Rufai visited Mr Sanusi in his new abode.

Announcing the choice of Mr Sanusi as the convocation lecture chairman on Friday, Mr Fagbohun, at a pre-convocation briefing, said the choice predated the removal of the emir. He added that the removal has also not reduced the intellectual richness of Mr Sanusi.

Meanwhile, the vice-chancellor revealed that 76 graduands will bag first class degrees while six Nigerians, including Oluremi Tinubu, a senator and the wife of the former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu; Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, and the chairman of Honeywell Flour, Oba Otudeko, will receive honourary doctorate degrees.

Others being honoured include Opeyemi Oke, Aderemi Makanjuola and Segun Agbaje.

Mr Fagbohun, who disclosed that this years convocation ceremony will mark his last as the universitys vice-chancellor, said he was happy with the legacy he would be leaving behind.

He said in appreciation of both the former governing council chairmen and former vice-chancellors, some infrastructure and streets on the main campus will be named after them.

The beneficiaries include Akin Kekere-Ekun, Bode Augusto, J. K Randle, Ademola Akesode, Jadesola Akande and Oladapo Obafunwa.
President Michael D Higgins has urged people to show solidarity and concern for each other in fighting the coronavirus outbreak.

In his St Patrick's Day message, he said it is important communities come together in the weeks ahead.

The President said: "Today, as the world faces the global spread of the coronavirus we are called more than ever to follow the values embodied in the story of St Patrick."

Those values of solidarity and concern for the well-being of our fellow citizens will play a fundamental role in our effective confronting of the challenge with which we are now presented.

Mr Higgins added: "It is a challenge that calls on the tradition and practice of our communities working together, recognising the needs of all their members, and in particular those who are most vulnerable."

"So often, as President of Ireland, I have been inspired and uplifted by the generous spirit of unity that I have witnessed in communities across the country.

"I have seen so many examples of care and compassion where communities have come together to look after their elderly and sick, and to ensure the welfare of those who are vulnerable and marginalised."

The President sent out his St Patrick's day card which features a new statue installed in Aras an Uachtarain.

President Michael D. Higgins has sent out his annual St. Patricks Day card.



The card features the Pangur Ban statue that was installed at Aras an Uachtarain earlier this year: https://t.co/Q5RWr8bw92 #StPatricksDay pic.twitter.com/K5mcPhShm5  President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) March 13, 2020

The President's office issued a statement that there will be no Saturday tours of Aras an Uachtarain, following government Covid-19 guidelines. Mr Higgins finished his speech by wishing "all those who form part of the Irish family, a happy and peaceful St. Patricks Day."
KYODO NEWS - Mar 13, 2020 - 13:56 | All, Coronavirus, World, Japan

Live music clubs across Japan are struggling financially as a series of events they were scheduled to hold were canceled, particularly after a number of visitors to such venues in Osaka were found to be infected with the new coronavirus.

A small club in the western Japan city with a capacity for accommodating 100 people has seen 13 of 14 events scheduled for March cancelled. Some bands have even called off performances several months ahead.

"We won't last long if it stays like this," said the 54-year-old operator of the club. "In a few months, we will be cash-strapped."

Live music clubs are run by charging performers for using the venues and visitors for food and drinks. Without events, there is no income, but clubs still need to pay fixed costs, such as rent.

Related coverage:

Tokyo Disney parks, USJ to extend closure for coronavirus fears

Japan PM Abe in dilemma as coronavirus response could cut both ways

Singer Makihara released on bail after arrest on drug charges

Although the government has introduced policy packages to ease the adverse effect of the pneumonia-causing virus, including loans for sole proprietors, such help would be "meaningless" if financial institutions refuse to provide loans, the operator said, adding that he has already had a loan request turned down.

"I'm frustrated with this predicament caused just by following a (government) request to refrain (from holding gatherings)," he said.

The operator also said live music clubs are suffering from the widespread perception that they are dangerous places to visit with a high risk of coronavirus infection.

In Osaka, more than 80 people have been found to be infected with the virus, including participants and staff at events held at four clubs in mid- to late-February and those who came in contact with them.

As there were people visiting the venues from other parts of Japan, infections have spread elsewhere.

Sapporo, the capital of northern Japan's Hokkaido, has also seen a suspected case of group infection at a live music bar, while cancellations and postponements of events continue in Tokyo, Nagoya and many other cities.

To show support for live music venues facing their predicament, many people have turned to social media to post messages of encouragement.

"They are places in which performers and fans unite as one," said Haruka Nakamura, a 21-year-old university student in Osaka Prefecture who visits live music clubs about once a month. "I hope this situation will come to an end as soon as possible."
S amsungs new phone range was unveiled to rounds of applause in February, as the tech world eagerly looking forward to the new S range and a new folding phone.

With an updated naming scheme and an emphasis on the photography capabilities, hopes were running high for this new range of smartphones.

We spent two weeks with the largest of the new S20 range, the S20 Ultra, and though Samsung has refined some elements of its smartphone offering, there are some aspects of the device that were questioning.

Here we go...

Samsung S20 Ultra: Design

First things first: this phone is big. The display is 6.9-inches, so bigger even than last years Note 10+ at 6.8-inches  the Note range usually runs bigger than the S range but this appears to be a clear example of all smartphone design merging together.

Its quite unwieldy in how big it is. In general, I prefer using big phones, but this feels oversized. As well, the chunky rear camera layout means it doesnt sit flat on a surface so if youre charging it on a desk, you have to be careful the phone doesnt slide off onto the floor.

The new Galaxy S20 range L-R: S20 in cosmic pink, S20+ in cosmic blue and S20 Ultra in cosmic grey (Samsung ) / Samsung

Another note with regards to the screen  the screen protector the device is shipped with was shoddy. It started peeling off after being stored in my backpack between usage so if you do choose to buy one, take this off straight away and fork out for one that actually will protect your device  Zagg's InvisibleShield range is usually a good bet.

One improvement Samsung has made with this S20 range is the punch-hole camera on the front of the phone. By moving it to the centre of the screen and shrinking it down, its a subtler take on the selfie camera than last years range.

Samsung S20 Ultra: Camera

Really, this device is more about the camera than anything else, with Samsung saying that this device can easily replace a DSLR. I havent used a DSLR since about 2014 so I cant say Im the best judge of how true that statement is.

In terms of the rear camera set-up, the S20 Ultra boosts a 108MP wide camera, 48MP telephoto lens and 12MP ultra-wide angle lens. Dont forget the 100x zoom lens function and a depth vision camera which comes in handy for capturing more light for improved portrait and night-shot images.

Samsung says this 100x zoom is good enough to capture things in space. Really, this depends on how steady your hands are. Whilst waiting for the train with a clear view of the Shard three and a half miles away, I tried to see how defined an image I could capture of the skyscraper using this feature, and it wasn't great. Take your tripod with you if you want to capture decent images with this feature or maybe just swap down to the S20+ for a 30x zoom if youre not that bothered.

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The normal camera does capture lovely, defined images like this port tonic image. The colours are cooler than the iPhone image which feels more atmospheric, whilst there is some nice blurring of the background to make the colours of the drink stand out more.

In night shots, it outperforms the iPhone 11 Pro too  with vivid colours and sharper detail in the image.

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Will you be able to achieve the same performance on the S20+ or the S20? The telephoto lens on the smaller phones isnt as good as the Ultra's but the wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle lenses remain the same. So really if its a supreme camera you want then the Ultra is worth it.

Samsung S20 Ultra: Software

The S20 Ultra runs Android 10, with Samsungs updated One UI 2 interface. I still find the whole widgets thing on the home screen distracting and it can be a faff to get apps and the like set up in folders but overall its simple to use and much better than the skins Samsung used to put out with its phones.

Given that this is an Android 10 device too you get all the benefits from Googles new software features such as dark mode  which is a delight to use on this phone  smart reply in messages, and focus mode where you can block distractions from apps so you can focus on a task at hand.

The S20 Ultra in cosmic grey / Samsung

Samsung has also added additional security protections to the S20 range with its Knox mobile security platform. All phones in the range feature a new, secure processor which the company says will protect against hardware-based attacks. You should still take steps to maintain good security hygiene, such as dont use the same password for multiple accounts, but its good to have that extra peace of mind.

Samsung S20 Ultra: Performance

All the phones in the new S20 range feature 5G, though you can get your hands on a 4G version of the normal S20. As a result, I was concerned that this extra connectivity would drain the battery of the S20 Ultra but so far its 5,000 mAh battery has stood up rather well, lasting around two days.

That being said, if you are looking to get a 5G phone, make sure you have connectivity in your area. I was using the Vodafone 5G sim and there is limited coverage in the area where my office is and there is zero coverage in the area where my home is. You can check this using Vodafones status checker which is worth doing before you start spending.

The phone also features wireless power share so you can spare some juice to top up your Galaxy Buds+ on the go  though you might not need that given the 11-hour battery life on the earbuds, which stays pretty true to its word.

Samsung S20 Ultra: Verdict

If you like big, chunky phones with standout cameras then you cant really go wrong with the S20 Ultra. However, it does feel slightly unnecessary and cumbersome to use. Given the effort Samsung has made to upgrade the camera on the S20 and S20+ phones, unless you really want that 100x Zoom and larger device to watch films or game on that big screen, than it might be worth going for one of the phones lower down on the price list.

And if 5G is still out of your price range when it comes to pricing and contracts, the normal S20 (6.2-inch screen) is available as a 4G phone which should be more than suitable as an upgrade.

Samsung S20 Ultra: Price and availability

The Samsung S20 Ultra is available to buy from Friday, March 13. Prices start from 1,199 for the 128GB version at the Carphone Warehouse and go up to 1,399 for the 512GB option, and it is available in two colours: cosmic grey or cosmic black. You'll get a pair of the wireless Galaxy Buds+ thrown in for free which are honestly worth their 159 price tag for the battery length alone.
Every season, we include challenges relevant to current security trends. Last spring, it was ransomware. Last fall, it was cloud security. Were excited for players to experience what weve planned for this season."

For high school and college students looking to test their cybersecurity skills and talent, sign up for the National Cyber League (NCL) virtual competition before registration closes on March 20.

NCL gives students a real-world cybersecurity experience, all from the comfort of your institution or home. It allows players of all levels practice their cyber-savviness in an online gymnasium and then compete against others individually and then on a team. Players will face a series of challenges where they can display their abilities to break into vulnerable websites, recover from ransomware attacks or identify hackers from forensic data, in other words, work on tasks they would do in an actual cybersecurity professional scenario.

The challenges are defensive and offensive puzzle-based, capture the flag style. They are based on the CompTIA Security+ and EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker performance-based exam objectives. From this competition, students further develop their skills and as a bonus receive scouting reports of their performance that can be viewed by potential employers.

Every season, we include challenges relevant to current security trends. Last spring, it was ransomware. Last fall, it was cloud security. Were excited for players to experience what weve planned for this season, said Franz Payer, CEO of Cyber Skyline, the competition platform for NCL.

High school students can get a jump-start on a career path in cybersecurity while college students can work one step closer to a lucrative cybersecurity career by competing in the NCL.

The Spring Season runs from March 19 through May 15. Registration is $35 through March 20 and $45 until March 24 when registration ends. For more information or to register, visit nationalcyberleague.org.

About National Cyber League:

Founded in 2011 by an alliance of public agencies dedicated to developing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, the NCL is a nonprofit cybersecurity competition that measures the ability of students to perform real-world cybersecurity tasks. Powered by industry-leading cybersecurity skills evaluation technology from Cyber Skyline, the competition has students identify hackers from forensic data, break into simulated bank websites, recover from ransomware attacks, and more.
Cowtown Shut Down

State of emergency issued for Kansas City, Missouri, Jackson County WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT AS I NOTED BEFORE THE AIRPORT REMAINS. OPEN AND SO YOU NEEDN'T CALL TO CHECK FROM THEM AND CONNECTION WITH THAT.

Justice Amid COVID-19

Circuit Court judge in Jackson County suspends jury trials JACKSON COUNTY, KS (KCTV) - On Thursday night, the presiding judge of the 16th Circuit Court in Jackson County ordered the suspension of jury trials from March 16 through March 27, as well as other hearings that involve bringing in a large number of people.

Keeping Students Safe

Some KC area schools start spring break early due to coronavirus KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Some Kansas City area schools are taking action to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Barstow School confirmed a person related to a faculty member tested positive for coronavirus. The school told 41 Action News that the patient did not come into contact with students or any other faculty or staff member.

Kangaroos Sent To Internets

UMKC suspending in-person classes to address coronavirus spread KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) - The University of Missouri - Kansas City is the latest institution to decided to suspend in-person classes in the wake of the spread of COVID-19. In a letter sent Thursday afternoon, Chancellor C. Mauli Agrawal said students would have Friday off at UMKC to give faculty a chance to prepare online coursework.

Kansas City Can't Visit Granny

Kansas City area nursing homes ask visitors to stay away LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. - Nursing homes in the Kansas City metro are asking visitors to stay away. John Knox Village in Lee's Summit is one of several nursing facilities that has recently tightened restrictions due to concerns over COVID-19. The nursing facility has limited access down to one entrance and is screening people who come into the facility.

Corporate Health Crackdown

Third Black & Veatch worker being monitored for coronavirus; no confirmed cases Note: The Kansas City Star and McClatchy have lifted the paywall on this developing story, providing critical information to readers. To support vital reporting such as this, please consider a digital subscription.

1st Responder Precaution

1 KCK firefighter under self-quarantine after transporting patient who had COVID-19 KANSAS CITY, KS (KCTV) -- KCTV5 News has confirmed that at least one firefighter is under self-quarantine tonight after transporting an individual who ultimately died of COVID-19. KCKFD Assistant Fire Chief Bryan Hendin said that the firefighter was involved in transporting a Wyandotte County man to the hospital.

Show-Me Another Case

Gov. Parson confirms Missouri's second case of coronavirus, located in Springfield Watch Governor Parson's news conference from Springfield at 6 p.m. SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Gov. Mike Parson has confirmed that Missouri now has its second case of "presumptive positive" coronavirus. Parson said the case is based in Springfield, but has not provided any more information at this time.

Jail Time Out

Missouri Department of Corrections suspends visits for 30 days JEFFERSON CITY, MO (KCTV) -- On Thursday, the Missouri Department of Corrections said that they are suspending visits at state correctional centers for 30 days due to COVID-19. "While no cases have been diagnosed in Missouri correctional centers, adopting good practices, like those recommended by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, can help stop the spread of all communicable illnesses," the Missouri DOC said.

Locals Testing For Coronavirus

Local lab to begin testing for COVID-19 with same-day results A local lab has received the green light from the Food and Drug Administration to begin testing for COVID-19 and it is able to process a thousand samples a day. KMBC's Brian Johnson was one of the few visitors granted access into Viracor Eurofin's lab in Lee's Summit.

Kansas Warn Against Sickening Scammers During Harsh Times

KDHE says scam texts about coronavirus are being sent to Kansans TOPEKA, KS (KCTV) -- The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says spam text messages about coronavirus are being sent to Kansans. The KDHE said the false scam texts claim to announce confirmed cases of COVID-19 at different hospitals. For current case counts, visit www.kdheks.gov/coronavirus.

Fewer Library Resources To Protect Against Coronavirus

Kansas City Public Library's North-East branch removes access to public computers until March 31 The Kansas City Public Library North-East branch will be removing its eight public computers from its interim location as a preventative measure against the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The computers will be removed until March 31 at which time the library staff will reassess the situation to determine if the computers can be returned.

Students Now Parked In Front Of Computer Screens

Park University switches to online classes due to COVID-19 PARKVILLE, MO (KCTV) - Park University is moving entirely to online classes in an effort to quell the spread of coronavirus. On Monday, all face-to-face and blended classes at Parkville University will move online. This affects both the Missouri and Arizona campuses.

Second Chance Degree Delay

JCCC students react to 3-week long campus closure OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Johnson County Community College is one of many schools closing campus and moving classes online. Thursday's announcement left some students worried about the extra time off. Campus will close Saturday and stay that way for three weeks. Campus will be closed while students are on spring break from March 14 through March 22.

Local Super Heros Should Enter Fortress Of Solitude

Planet Comicon postpones Kansas City event KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Planet Comicon Kansas City announced Thursday afternoon that they will be canceling their event next weekend. This comes after Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas announced a State of Emergency declaration in Kansas City Under the proclamation, all events with more than 1,000 attendees within the city are canceled.

Legislator Galvin Wants Locals Away From County Meetings For Now

COVID-19 Message From Jackson County Legislator Chairman Theresa Cass Galvin March 12, 2020 Today, Jackson County Legislature Chairman Theresa Cass Galvin announced that to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19 she asks citizens and county associates to not attend the county legislative meeting on Monday, March 16 unless you have business that needs to be addressed by the legislature.

Coping With COVID-19 Stress

How to manage OCD and anxiety amid the coronavirus COVID-19, a new form of coronavirus, is dominating the news.

Old School Cher Stays Home

Cher postpones entire 'Here We Go Again Tour' including Kansas City stop at Sprint Center by: FOX 4 Newsroom Posted: / Updated: KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Cher has postponed all of the concerts in her "Here We Go Again Tour" amid coronavirus concerns, including her stop at the Sprint Center. The change is effective immediately. The concert, originally scheduled for April 18, has been moved to Oct.

Snake Saturday Shut Down

Brookside, Leavenworth cancel St. Patrick's Day parades (KCTV) -- The St. Patrick's Day parades that were set to happen in Leavenworth, Kansas, and the KCMO neighborhood of Brookside have been canceled. The city of Leavenworth decided on Thursday to cancel the parade after consulting with the county's health department, police officers, and firefighters.

Kansas City Cancellation List

List of Kansas City events canceled due to coronavirus Kansas City is under a State of Emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak. All large events are cancelled. Here is a complete list.

In the aftermath of a Kansas City "State Of Emergency" declared, the news is all COVID-19 right now and so we don't want to crowd this space with repetitive info. Instead, we offer onein order collect, compile and offer a convenient way for local newshounds to catch-up . . . With respect toand inspiringand her bright, shining example of cleanliness even if just about every grocery store is out of disinfectant right now . . .Developing . . .
In an aggressive operation that includes threats to source a lower-cost replacement workforce, Qantas is attempting to bludgeon its long-haul pilots into accepting a new enterprise work agreement, dubbed EBA10, which cuts wages and working conditions.

Earlier this month, the company abruptly terminated negotiations with the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) and announced its offer would be put directly to the pilots in a company-imposed ballot to be held between March 20 and 30.

Qantass determination to drive down the pilots conditions is bound up with the implementation of the companys so-called Project Sunrise. It is centred on the introduction of new grueling flights to operate non-stop from Australias east coast to London and New York from 2023. The flights mean pilots will spend far longer hours in the air, adding to dangerous fatigue levels and forcing them to be away from home and family for even greater periods.

The company has set the March 30 deadline, claiming it must place a firm order with Airbus for new A350-1000 aircraft before the end of March or forfeit its time slot for the planes delivery.

Qantass attack on its long haul pilots, along with its drive to slash the conditions of pilots and ground crew at its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar, is part of an ongoing offensive by airlines internationally to drastically slash costs primarily at the expense of their workforce amid ever more ruthless competition.

This global offensive is intensifying as airlines across the world prepare to implement measures designed to offload the impact of the coronavirus onto the backs of workers.

This week, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce announced that the airline will reduce capacity by almost a quarter for the next six months and turn to smaller aircrafts due to a sudden and significant drop in the demand for flights.

Joyce is notorious for grounding the entire Qantas fleet in a 2011 dispute to impose an agreement slashing jobs and conditions. That action, making use of the then federal Labor governments draconian Fair Work industrial laws, was followed by a sell-out deal brokered by the unions,

Signalling that Qantas will be seeking even greater concessions, Joyce declared at the press conference that this will be a survival of the fittest.

In a cynical move designed to create the conditions for another round of wage freezes and direct cuts, Joyce also announced his senior leadership team would take a pay cut of 30 percent and he will forgo salary for the remainder of the financial year.

Such pay reductions for the highly-paid Qantas executive team are a drop in the ocean. Joyce raked in a $23.88 million salary in 2018, or more than 275 times the full-time average wage.

Realising that further attacks being planned could spark broad opposition by Qantas workers, who are already seething over the decades-long destruction of jobs and working conditions, Joyce also issued a thinly-veiled threat. He stated that while redundancies are the last resort, the announced reduction in capacity meant about 2,000 jobs were now surplus to requirements.

There are already signs of growing opposition among long-haul pilots, some of whom are calling on colleagues to decisively vote down the EBA10 agreement. To this end, they also demanded the immediate convening of a special general meeting.

This call is in open defiance of the AIPAs recommendation for a yes vote. An email from the unions president Mark Sedgwick stated: I understand the disgust and willingness to fight. I am of the view that the best way to fight this is to stay in the tent, accept the deal, stay united and give the pilot body the opportunity to find a better way sometime in the future.

The advocacy of a yes vote by the AIPA is the latest stage in its protracted attempt to impose the company demands on the pilots. From the beginning of the dispute, the union has sought to keep long-haul pilots isolated. It has suppressed industrial action and proceeded with closed-door negotiations with the company.

Even as Qantas issued threats to hire an alternate workforce to man the Project Sunshine routes, the AIPA made no attempt to establish a united campaign with the pilots and ground staff at Qantass low-cost carrier Jetstar, who are also facing attacks on working conditions and jobs. In this they were assisted by the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) and the Transport Workers Union airline, which covers Jetstar ground workers.

At the end of last month, the Jetstar ground staff and baggage handlers were forced to accept an enterprise agreement with a pay increase of just 12 percent over four years, far below increased living costs. The sell-out deal excluded the workers essential demand for an increase in the minimum hours that Jetstar is required to offer from the current 20 to 30 hours.

In an attempt to cover its role in imposing the betrayal, the TWU claimed that its members were blackmailed by the management into accepting the agreement by a threat that any wage outcome would not be backdated to March 2019 when the previous enterprise agreement expired.

In reality, the workers acceptance of the deal amounts to a vote of no-confidence in the TWU, which worked from the outset to isolate the dispute and limit all opposition to sporadic stoppages while it brokered a deal with the company.

The betrayal of the ground staff will strengthen the hand of Jetstar against its pilots and will provide the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) with the means to pressure them into dropping their demands for improved pay and conditions.

After calling limited stoppages during December that were designed to let off steam, the AFAP rushed back into negotiations where, as the record shows, it will work to put together a deal acceptable to Jetstar.

In all the disputes, the main concern of the airline unions has been to maintain their position as an industrial police force whose privileges are directly tied to the imposition of ever-greater attacks on workers wages and conditions.

Qantas and Jetstar airline workers can only take their struggle forward through a complete break with the unions and the establishment of independent organisations of struggle, including rank-and-file committees. These would be tasked with turning out to airline workers internationally, as part of the fight for an industrial and political counter-offensive against the cost-cutting drive of the global airlines.
Golden Ocean Group Limited, or in the link below. The Annual Report is also available on the website of the Commission, www.sec.gov .

Shareholders may also request a hard copy of the Annual Report, which includes the Company's complete 2019 audited financial statements, by contacting the Investor Relations department.



Golden Ocean Group Limited

Hamilton, Bermuda

March 12, 2020



Contact Person:

Per Heiberg: Chief Financial Officer, Golden Ocean Management AS

+47 22 01 73 45

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

Attachment
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 23:00:12|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Thunderstorms and flooding that entered the second day on Friday across Egypt have killed 20 people, said Mostafa Madbouly, Egypt's prime minister.

Most of the death cases were in rural areas in Upper Egypt and slums in Helwan province, south of the capital.

The government closed the schools and suspended work in both governmental and private sectors.

The bad weather also forced the closure of major intercity highways and caused power and water cuts.

Madbouly expressed his condolences for the families of the victims, adding that the bad weather "has necessitated boosting the country's substructure."

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Friday hailed the Egyptians for their strength in dealing with the weather chaos.

Sisi said on his facebook page that "the Egyptians have proved over the past few hours their capabilities in dealing with the crisis."
A medical worker is spraying a residential area in Binh Thuan province with disinfectant. (Photo: VNA)



The new patients are among the 56 people whose samples were sent to the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute in the central province of Khanh Hoa on March 12th, as they had close contact with COVID-19 patients detected in central Binh Thuan province on March 10th-11th, according to the ministry.



Among the five new cases, a two-year-old girl, a 59-year-old man and a 28-year-old man, all live in Binh Thuans Phan Thiet city, had close contact with the 34th patient - a 51-year-old Vietnamese woman who tested positive on March 10th.

The two others are a 47-year-old woman in Phan Thiet city, who had close contact with the 38th patient, and a 13-year-old boy in Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan province, who had contact with the 37th patient.

Of the 44 cases reported in Vietnam so far, 16 had made complete recovery./.
Liberian authorities should drop the police investigation into journalist Kaluba Akois work and allow him to cover the news freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday.

The CPJ said on February 28, the police in Voinjama, the capital of northern Liberias Lofa County, summoned Mr Akoi, a reporter with the Kintoma Radio FM broadcaster and a freelance journalist, and arrested him when he arrived at the police station, according to a statement by the Liberia Press Union, a local trade advocacy group, and the journalist, who reportedly spoke with CPJ via phone and messaging app.

He was held for four hours before police released him, saying that they would summon him again, Akoi said. He told CPJ that police hit him against a wall and dragged him by his trousers during the arrest, CPJ said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES.

His arrest followed a complaint filed by Samuel Kpene Ngaima, president of the Lofa County community college, claiming that Mr Akois posts on Facebook alleging fraud at the college constituted criminal conspiracy, criminal malevolence, and illegal disclosure of official documents, Toby Reeves, Akois lawyer, told CPJ in a phone interview.

As of March 11, Mr Akoi had not received a second summons, he also told CPJ.

Kaluba Akoi should never have been arrested or detained, and the ongoing investigation into his work should be dropped, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator, in New York.

Authorities intimidating and harassing journalists for reporting on matters of public interest is inconsistent with Liberias basic standards of press freedom.

Mr Akoi has over 1,300 followers on his Facebook page, where he posts reporting and commentary on local news.

In one post about Ngaima in December and another in January, Mr Akoi alleged that the college president had overseen the misuse of funds, and posted images of financial transaction records.

Mr Reeves told CPJ that police had yet to provide a physical copy of the complaint, but said officers told him they intended to prosecute Mr Akoi if their investigation uncovers any lawbreaking.

Criminal malevolence is no longer part of the Liberian penal code following reforms in February 2019, but criminal conspiracy and the illegal disclosure of official documents each carry penalties of up to three months in detention and fines to be set by a court, according to Mr Reeves.

Mr Ngaima reportedly told CPJ over the phone that he could not comment on the case because it was under police investigation.

Liberian national police spokesperson, Moses Carter, and Voinjama police spokesperson, James Taylor, both told CPJ in phone interviews that they could not comment on details of the case.

The Liberian case is not an isolated one. Attacks on journalists in the course of doing their work are commonplace in many African nations.

PREMIUM TIMES recently reported how attacks on the press had worsened in Nigeria in recent years saying that it is perhaps not the best of times to be a journalist or civil rights activist going by the spate of attacks on freedom of the press and speech.

The report said while attacks on Nigerian journalists were no longer new, they appear to have taken a turn for concern in recent months.

An analysis by www.pressattack.ng, published by the Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom, shows that 352 total cases of attacks and harassments on journalists have been recorded from 1985 till date.

The year 2018 was initially recorded by the analysis to have witnessed the highest number of attacks (58). But the groups latest release shows that 2019 surpassed that record with at least 61 attacks.
Many Iranians hold Mahan Air, believed to be under the direct control of the Revolutionary Guard and a source of funding for its activities, responsible for the coronavirus crisis in the country. They also say "the top culprit in the coronavirus crisis", as a lawmaker put it, could not have continued its China flights, without permission from an authority above Hassan Rouhani's government. Given the political dynamic in Iran, that can only be the Revolutionary Guard which is accountable only to the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Echoing the concerns of the Iranian public on Friday MP Bahram Parsaei said the Parliament must probe the role of the National Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) and Mahan Air in the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in the country. "Their crime is bigger than those who hoard masks," he said and added that the Civil Aviation Organization has as much responsibility as Mahan Air for allowing the flights to contaminated cities in China to take place.

That the government which controls the Civil Aviation Organization has not been able to enforce a flight ban to China is evident from the many contradictory statements made by government officials. On January 31, after an urgent cabinet meeting to take measures against the spread of coronavirus to Iran Spokesman Ali Rebiee announced a Cabinet decision to cancel all flights to China. Curiously, unlike other Cabinet decisions this one was never published on the official government website.

Radio Farda's own investigation of online flight information shows that from February 4 to February 23 the airline had at least 55 return flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Gwangju and Shenzen and the flights still continue. In the face of public concern about the continuation of flights and the virus scare an official of the Roads and Transportation Ministry in early February said the airline had been allowed "a limited number of flights to China".

Mahan Air has, however, consistently denied having commercial flights to China and claims the flights have been for transporting "humanitarian aid" including coronavirus test kits, medical equipment, etc., a claim echoed by the Spokesman of the Civil Aviation Organization on March 5.

The possible role of the airline in creating and even deepening the coronavirus epidemic was first voiced on social media by whistle-blowers and ordinary citizens but now it has spread even to highly censored newspapers and news websites.

Why the airline and its owners endangered the lives of millions of Iranians by refusing to halt documented flights to various Chinese cities is a very difficult question to answer but Iranian media have in recent days shed light on some possible motives.

It is no secret that the Revolutionary Guard and other entities under the direct supervision of Khamenei have huge financial interests in many sectors of the Iranian economy. One Iranian news website (Rouydad 24) has said that the same planes which flew to China later headed to Kerman and Asalouyeh, pointing out the possibility that the airline has been shipping car parts to a car manufacturer in Kerman (Kerman Motor) and other merchandise to Asalouyeh, the home to a free trade zone and South Pars plants and refineries.

Interestingly, Mol-Al-Movahedin Charity Institute, a "non-profit charity" based in Kerman and controlled by the Revolutionary Guard owns 100 percent of the airline and 50 percent of the car manufacturer. The shady "non-profit" is in fact a huge holding with its tentacles in virtually every sector of the economy and a source of funding for the Guards, and most probably its Qods Force, activities.

But a political motivation is also possible, namely, to reinforce the alliance with China for more support against Western powers in the face of U.S. sanctions that have nearly paralyzed the country's economy. For the first time in six decades Iran has had to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $5 billion loan to manage the coronavirus crisis.

At the height of the coronavirus crisis in China, Hamid Arabnejad, the CEO of Mahan Air, held a meeting with Ambassador Chang Hua at the Chinese embassy in Tehran on February 2 and according a twitter post by the ambassador "announced that [his company] would like to continue cooperation with China".

"Looking to the East", a doctrine of forging political and economic alliances with non-western countries, China and Russia in particular, against the United States and European powers, is one of the favorite mottos of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
General Secretary of the Peoples National Convention and convener of the Mass Action Committee (MAC), Atik Mohammed, has downplayed the essence of a press conference organized by IMANI-Africa on issues pertaining to the Electoral Commission and the conduct of the 2020 polls.



According to the pressure group, the press conference by IMANI was needless. The Mass Action Movement believes the think tanks conference was just a stunt which will not inure to the benefit of the entire country as far as Ghanas democracy is concerned.



The Press conference organized yesterday by IMANI is very appalling. It is just another stunt, the groups convener said.



Speaking on Peace FM on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the Executive Secretary of MAC, Atik Mohammed explained that the information churned out by IMANI Africa through its press conference only exposes the inconsistencies and incoherence in IMANIs position as far as the new voters register is concerned.



According to Atik Mohammed, IMANI Africa has been shifting the goal post whenever their concerns on the new voters register are addressed by the Electoral Commission.



Stating a case to buttress his assertion, the executive secretary for MAC noted that after a number of accusations on the EC which he believes did not stand the test of time, they are now accusing the EC of procurement breaches; an accusation he believes IMANI can easily be addressed at the law court.



He added that IMANIs persistent opposition to the ECs idea leaves much room for doubt on whose interest the think tank is working, indicating that the think-tank had a preferred vendor who did not win the bid.



When you critically examine their discourse and the other things they have said so far since the beginning of the Electoral Commissions idea of compiling a new voters register, you will realize that their position is becoming incoherent. They keep shifting the goal post on a daily basis. Now what they are talking about is procurement. They are alleging that the electoral commission is now engaged in internal misconduct, Atik Mohammed indicated.



Meanwhile, in a Facebook post by the founding President of IMANI-Africa, Franklin Cudjoe has rubbished the claims made by the Mass Action Committees executive secretary.



I heard a certain Mr. Atik Mohamed say on Joy FM this evening that IMANIs recent comment on the ECs procurement misconduct is because IMANI has a preferred vendor which did not win. I mean how can this even be a coherent, and rational, accusation. All the companies involved filed a bid in August 2019 to supply the technology. IMANI has been opposed to the whole procurement and want it abandoned because we reject the very notion that the system is obsolette. How can IMANI oppose a tender even before it concluded in January 2020 in which it had a preferred vendor? Is this even logical? Ah!. the post read.

Source: abcnewsgh.com









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DENVER  Concerns are fueling school closures and state health officials were forced to close a drive-thru coronavirus testing center in Denver on Thursday because people were waiting in line for up to three hours.

Denver and Aurora public schools are among those extending their spring breaks. Denver Public Schools will close March 16 and reopen April 7. Scott Bookman, incident commander for the states public health response to the virus, said about 160 people came to the virus testing site at the state lab over a four-hour span Wednesday, and we had a major influx of people Thursday.

There were hundreds and hundreds of cars lined up to the point that it was going to become a safety hazard given that it was blocking traffic, he said.

The drive-thru will reopen Friday.

Demand for tests at the center, which opened Wednesday, underscored concerns about the rapid spread of the virus, with at least 49 positive cases identified statewide.

The drive-thru center serves those who have doctors orders to be tested.

Health officials urged people who feel ill to contact their doctors by telephone or email for guidance and, if needed, get an order for testing. The private diagnostics firm LabCorp is performing coronavirus tests, complementing state and federal testing.

Meanwhile, the wave of closures and cancellations intended to mitigate the virus spread continued Thursday.

State prisons suspended visits. The Air Force Academy is closing to visitors starting Friday evening. Commerce City closed its civic center and recreational facilities, and Colorados pro and college sports events were suspended.

There are not yet enough cases in the state to warrant banning large gatherings, which are considered to be 250 people or more, but the option is still on the table, Bookman said.

The more testing we do, the more likely we are to find cases. he said. We anticipate numbers to rise significantly.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says former doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in New York should consider rejoining their former hospitals and healthcare systems to handle a potential surge in coronavirus cases.

Cuomo said the state is also looking at potential sites for temporary hospitals in the state as a backup plan if New Yorks healthcare system becomes overwhelmed with coronavirus patients.

The governor said the state will help expedite the re-certification of former doctors, nurses and other healthcare who might be needed in an emergency.

Department of Health is working to get people into positions where they can work, for example, in an ICU unit, Cuomo said Thursday in Albany. We're asking former doctors and nurses to reconnect with your old hospital, your old healthcare employer, to be on an on-call basis.

Cuomo also wants to build a reserve healthcare workforce by enlisting National Guard medics, EMTs and other Guard members with medical training. He also will ask medical schools across the state to make personnel available to assist in an emergency.

To keep hospital beds open, the state will consider asking healthcare facilities to postpone elective surgeries, which take 25 to 35 percent of hospital beds.

Cuomo emphasized that the plans would only be implemented to help hospitals handle a surge in patients.

This is all if, if, if, if, if, but that's why it's planning, he said. Plan for every contingency now. Hopefully you don't have to do any of it.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751

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Realme 6 Pro sale begins at 12 pm via Flipkart and Realme India website. The new budget smartphone comes in three storage variants and two colour options. Key specifications include a 64MP quad-camera setup with 20x zoom, Snapdragon 720G processor and a 90Hz refresh rate display.

As mentioned above, Realme 6 Pro is available for purchase in three different storage options. The entry-level variant with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage is priced at Rs 16,999, whereas the 6GB+128GB model is priced at Rs 17,999. The higher storage option with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal memory can be bought for Rs 18,999.

Realme 6 Pro comes in two colour options  Lightning Blue and Lightning Orange.

As part of launch offers, Axis Bank credit and debit cardholders can avail an instant discount of Rs 1,000 during the first sale of Realme 6 Pro. The list of offers also includes no-cost EMI.

Also Read: Realme 6 Pro first impressions

Realme 6 Pro features a 6.6-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD panel with a 1080*2400 resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio. The screen has a peak brightness of 480 nits and also supports 90Hz refresh rate. For added scratch resistance, the device comes with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

The screen has a pill-shaped dual punch-hole cutout for the two front cameras. For selfies, Realme 6 Pro has a 16MP f/2.0 primary lens and an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens.

On the back, the device features four camera sensors. The primary shooter is a 64MP f/1.8 lens, paired with an 8MP f/2.3 119-degree ultra-wide lens, a 12MP telephoto lens with an f/2.5 aperture and up to 20x zoom, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro lens.

Under the hood, Realme 6 Pro houses an all-new 8nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G octa-core processor. The processor is paired with up to 8GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 internal memory. Storage can be further expanded up to 256GB via a dedicated microSD card slot.

For longer battery life, Realme 6 Pro packs a 4,300 mAh battery with 30W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0 via USB Type-C.

Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, NavIC, GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack, etc.

Realme 6 Pro boots on Android 10-based Realme UI out-of-the-box.
Former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia who ended his 18-year association with the Congress to join the BJP was given a rousing reception by his new party on his maiden visit to Bhopal on Thursday.

BJP workers thronged the Bhopal airport. Most senior leaders of the Party, Union Minister Naaendra Singh Tomar, state unit president VD Sharma, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and ministers Narottam Mishra, Bhupendra Singh and leader of the opposition Gopal Bhargava joined the road show that wound its way from the Airport to the BJP state headquarters in two hours.



The BJP's enthusiasm matched the occasion to celebrate a major acquisition like Scindia.



In response to his reception, Scindia said that politics is just a means of public service for the Scindia family. Whenever the Scindia family was challenged, it did not has hit back tellingly. It was an emotional moment for him to be joining the party that "my grandmother Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia founded."

The family has sacrificed everything to build the party family. "I can assure that I will work hard. I will not hesitate to shed my blood wherever you shed even a drop of your sweat. I'm handing myself over to you.



Chaohan welcomed Scindia and vowed to overthrow the state government. Shivraj compared Scindia with the character of Vibhishan in Ramayana. He said Scindia is with us in the same way as Vibhishan was needed to destroy Ravana's Lanka.



Scindia said, "When my grandmother was humiliated by the then ruling party leadership she chose to hit back in 1967 and the then government fell. After this, my father, the late Madhavrao Scindia was falsely accused in the Hawala case in 1990s. You all know what followed. Similarly, when I raised the issue of non-fulfilment of promises made in the manifesto about guest scholars, farmers' loans and Mandsaur farmer firing, I was also challenged. Now I will work with you to achieve the objective of public welfare."



He was delayed by two hours. Scindia who has been nominated as BJP candidate will file his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha on Friday the closing day for nominations.



BJP workers who were missing no opportunity to criticise Scindia till a couple days ago went to welcome him with great fanfare. He was taken from Airport to the BJP office for the state Working Committee meeting for the modalities of nomination. Strangely most slogans were hailing Chouhan, Tomar and Narottam Mishra. The apparent message was to safeguard the old guard of the party in the wake of the new entry.



Scindia garlanded the statues of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, grandmother Vijayaraje Scindia, Kushabhau Thackeray and father Madhavrao Scindia before filing his nomination.



On Friday, Scindia will file papers for the Rajya Sabha with senior BJP leaders. At the same time, in support of Scindia. More than 10,000 activists including many Congress district heads of Gwalior, Guna, Shivpuri have resigned from the party.



Posters put up near Polytechnic square in Bhopal were either smeared with ink or partly torn by some activists. Congress members who were offended by his joining the BJP, burnt his effigies and defaced billboards erected to welcome him.
A Class 12 student of a private school in south Delhi allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the Barapullah elevated road while returning home with her father after appearing in the board exams on Friday afternoon, the police said.

The girl was reportedly upset as her exam did not go well, the police said.

A police officer said that around 4pm, the police control room received a call regarding the incident.

Personnel from the Hazrat Nizamuddin police station reached the incident spot and learnt that the injured girl had been rushed to Safdarjung Hospital. The girl was declared brought dead at the hospital, the officer said.

According to the officer, the girls father was present in the hospital and told the police that he was taking his daughter home from the school.

The girl complained of nausea and asked her father to stop the car on the elevated road in south Delhis Hazrat Nizamuddin area, the police officer informed.

She stepped out, climbed onto the railing and jumped off a height of nearly 40 feet. Her father raised an alarm, seeking help from some passersby, the officer added.

One of the passersby called the police.

The principal of the school said, It was deeply distressing and sad news. The school is in state of shock.

The principal did not comment any further.

SUICIDE HELPLINE NUMBERS

Snehi: 011-65978181

Sumaitri: 011-23389090

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 08:32:30|Editor: huaxia

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Members of a Chinese aid team arrive at Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, on Match 12, 2020. A charter flight carrying a nine-member Chinese aid team, along with tonnes of medical supplies, arrived at Fiumicino Airport on Thursday night, in part of China's efforts to help Italy contain the novel coronavirus outbreak. (Xinhua/Cheng Tingting)

ROME, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A charter flight carrying a 9-member Chinese aid team, along with tonnes of medical supplies, arrived at Rome's Fiumicino Airport on Thursday night, in part of China's efforts to help Italy contain the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The Airbus A-350 wide body airliner, from China Eastern, landed around 22:30 local time at the cargo zone of the airport, greeted by a crowd of local experts from the Italian Red Cross, officials of the Italian Foreign Ministry and delegates from the Chinese Embassy to Italy.

The team was organized by the National Health Commission and the Red Cross Society of China. It is the third expert team sent abroad by Chinese authorities following previous teams sent to Iran and Iraq.

The expert corps departed Shanghai earlier Thursday, and all the team members and flight crew had passed health checks before boarding the plane, according to the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

They took with them more than 700 pieces of equipment and goods including ventilators, monitors and defibrillators. "We bring here 30 sets of ICU equipment," one of the team members wearing a mask told media after getting off the plane.

Cargo blocks wrapped with water proofed material were seen being unloaded from the aircraft. The equipment were selected according to the requirements of the Italian side and were proven to be useful during clinical practices in China, according to Ruijin Hospital of the School of Medicine at Shanghai Jiaotong University, which prepared the equipment.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio appeared on Facebook expressing his thankfulness. "Tonight Italy is not alone. Many people in the world are supporting us," he said, while his computer showed live broadcast of the scene at the airport.

"Another lesson comes from China, during these days in which Italy is facing great difficulties: solidarity, with messages, aids, medical equipment, and doctors," wrote Beppe Grillo, former leader of Five Star Movement, in his blog late on Thursday.

"As one of our proverbs says: a friend's love is forever, he is born to be friend in misfortune," he added.

Francesco Rocca, Chairman of Italian Red Cross, said he appreciated the Chinese experts who, after their arduous work in the front line for over a month, chose to move ahead by flying all the way to Italy to offer help.

"Tonight, (we had) the umpteenth proof thanks to the Chinese Red Cross that has arrived with a team of experts, and aids," his organization posted on twitter.

Chinese Ambassador Li Junhua noted that the Chinese support was an example that indicated the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind. "The team members are heroes in harm's way," said Li.

The Chinese experts and equipment arrived two days after the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Italy topped 10,000.

Hardest hit by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, Italy has toughened its measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and the whole country has been under quarantine for three days.

"Quite a lot of Italian doctors and medical experts want to come and show their gratitude to their Chinese colleagues, but not everyone could be allowed to go out of the town at this special moment," said a source from the Italian Red Cross.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 08:48:25|Editor: huaxia

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Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Robert Redfield attends a press conference on the COVID-19 at the White House in Washington D.C. March 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

"Some cases have been actually diagnosed that way (as flu instead of COVID-19 related) in the United States to date," Redfield responded to a question by U.S. Congressman Harley Rouda of California at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.



WASHINGTON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Some COVID-19 deaths have been diagnosed as flu-related in the United States, Robert Redfield, director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has said.

Redfield was responding to a question by U.S. Congressman Harley Rouda of California at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

"We could have people in the United States dying for what appears to be influenza, when in fact it could be the coronavirus or COVID-19?" Rouda asked.

"Some cases have been actually diagnosed that way in the United States to date," Redfield answered.

As of Wednesday night, there were over 1,300 confirmed cases and 38 deaths in the United States, according to real-time data maintained by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. 
Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has sworn in Justice Ijeoma Agugua, as the first female chief judge in the state.

Speaking at the ceremony on Friday in Owerri, Mr Uzodinma reiterated his resolve to make the state judiciary one of the best in the country as well as encourage its autonomy.

Judiciary is an important arm of government, and if our democracy must grow with its attendant dividends, we must have an efficient judiciary.

This is why every government must take seriously the leadership and membership of the judicial arm of government, he said.

Mr Uzodinma reassured that the judiciary will enjoy full autonomy as enshrined in the Constitution under his watch.

I am not unaware of the little bickering here and there in the past, the past government in the state could not foster a robust relationship with the judiciary. In my own time, it will be different, he said.

While congratulating the Acting Chief Judge on her appointment, Mr Uzodinma urged her to improve on all those things her immediate predecessor put in place and possibly drive new ideas that will take the state judiciary to greater heights.

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The Imo judiciary must be the best under my watch, I will give you all the necessary support to ensure that you have an outfit worthy of commendation, he said.

Mrs Agugua, thanked Mr Uzodinma for towing the path of justice and for being gender friendly.

You have today used your office faithfully in accordance with the spirit and internment of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and your Oath of office, she said.

Mrs Agugua replaced Paschal Nnadi, who has retired from service.

Until her appointment, she was the administrative judge in the state high court.

(NAN)
The coronavirus epidemic could not have erupted at a more opportune time for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It turned him, once again, into the father of the Israeli nation, its supreme leader and national physician. No one knows whether this epidemic is a 21st century global apocalypse, as Netanyahu described the state of affairs on a special March 12 primetime address to the nation. What has been clear for quite some time is that the coronavirus has provided Netanyahu with powerful leverage he is using to dismantle the opposition by half the Israeli electorate to a government under his leadership.

In recent days, Netanyahu has faced the cameras every evening in time for the primetime news, teaching Israelis basic rules of hygiene, using amateur video clips to show how particles are sprayed by a sneeze and a tissue to demonstrate the correct way to catch them. The gig Netanyahu has taken on as national health czar is working. He is fostering an addiction and the public is going along, convinced that without Netanyahu, we are all lost.

In the evening hours of March 12, the time was ripe for a political bomb and Netanyahu dropped it skillfully with the right timing. As he was winding down his daily health update, he called for the immediate formation of an emergency unity government. Such a government, he said, would be limited in time. Dont worry, he added, smiling, we will be able to pick up exactly where we left off before this crisis erupted.

Netanyahu has set a sophisticated honey trap to bait leaders of the centrist Blue and White party. As soon as they walk into it, they will discover that they are negotiating a minefield, a deadly arena of explosive devices from which there is no honorable way out. Netanyahu had been projecting supreme self-confidence in recent days in light of the obstacles being piled on Blue and Whites path to a minority government backed by the Arab parties. First to desert was Knesset member Orly Levy-Abekasis of the joint Labor-Gesher-Meretz ticket who announced she would not vote for such a government. She was followed by two Blue and White Knesset members  former Netanyahu aides Zvi Hauser and Yoaz Hendel, who also refused to support such a Benny Gantz-led government. Loss of these three crucial votes supposedly doomed prospects of a minority government. Nonetheless, Blue and White forged ahead with its offensive despite these setbacks. Its goal was to get the go-ahead from President Reuven Rivlin next week to try and form a new government, to replace Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein of Netanyahus Likud party with one of its own  Knesset member Meir Cohen  and to initiate legislation barring a politician under criminal indictment from heading a government.

Despite his outwardly calm demeanor, Netanyahu was more worried than ever as these moves progressed, panicking over the possibility that somehow he would indeed be forced to pack up and leave the residence on Balfour Street that he has called home for over a decade. The coronavirus turned everything on its face. His March 12 address to the nation placed the coronavirus in the same league as the greatest disasters in human history. Netanyahu was this close to summoning his favorite analogy to describe crises, the Holocaust of European Jewry in the last century. Israel is quarantining its residents, closing its gates, shutting down public institutions. Netanyahus Justice Minister Amir Ohana has even assumed powers that authorize him to freeze court deliberations  obviously nothing to do with the fact that Netanyahus trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust is scheduled to get underway on March 17.

Netanyahus ugly exploitation of the crisis to urge an emergency government confronts Gantz with a particularly cruel existential dilemma. The national climate demands a positive answer to Netanyahus call. When a mysterious epidemic threatens to fell thousands, there is no room for political nitpicking, vows of any kind or campaign promises. On the other hand, the Blue and White lawmakers know they are walking into a trap. They know that if the fight against the virus is crowned with success, Netanyahu will take all the credit. If it fails, he will take advantage of the catastrophe to blame them for the greatest health crisis to occur under his rule in the past 11 years.

Gantz's initial response was sophisticated. The Blue and White party chair said yes, in principle, but on condition that representatives of all the parties elected to the Knesset would be members of such a government. What he meant was that Netanyahu would also have to appoint an Arab minister, from the Joint List or on its behalf. That would allow Gantz to skillfully taint Netanyahu with the same stain that Netanyahu cleverly sullied Gantz ahead of the elections and in their aftermath: Partnering with the Arab Joint List. If Netanyahu refuses, Gantz could officially condemn him as a racist and blame him for the failure to form an emergency unity government. "Given the national emergency, there is no reason to differentiate between Jews and Arabs, a senior Blue and White source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Israels Arab and Jewish citizens will be struck by the disease to the same extent; no population should be excluded from the campaign to defeat it. If Netanyahu wants to pick up this glove, he is welcome. It would be a historic step toward true coexistence. Refusal will rip the mask off his face.

Blue and White is facing substantive internal divisions regarding its way forward. Some in its leadership, among them former army Chief Gabi Ashkenazi, support a true effort to put together an emergency government. Others feel it would be a mistake to fall into Netanyahus trap, suggesting instead that the party offer Netanyahu a political safety net for all measures he adopts to fight the epidemic. The state needs medical experts and resources. Any government can do that, there is no reason to turn the coronavirus into a lever for Netanyahus salvation, a senior Blue and White official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, the chess game between Netanyahu and Gantz continues, while the sand in the coronavirus hourglass is quickly running out. The number of Israelis diagnosed with the disease passed 120 on March 13 (with estimates putting the real, undiagnosed figure in the hundreds), control of the situation is slipping and no one knows what lies ahead for the state. Not even Netanyahu.
By Sputnik

March 12, 2020 " Information Clearing House " US District Judge Anthony J. Trenga ordered whistleblower Chelsea Manning released from detention on Thursday, a day after she attempted to take her own life. However, he did not release her from the fines she incurred as punishment, which total a quarter of a million dollars.

"Upon consideration of the Court's May 16, 2019, order, the motion, and the court's March 12, 2020, order discharging Grand Jury 19-3, the court finds that Ms. Manning's appearance before the grand jury is no longer needed, in light of which her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose," Judge Trenga wrote in a Thursday court order. "The court further finds that enforcement of the accrued conditional fines would not be punitive but rather necessary to the coercive purpose of the court's civil contempt order."

"According, it is hereby ordered that Chelsea Manning be, and she hereby is, immediately released from the custody of the attorney general," he wrote.

However, the judge denied Manning's request to have waived $256,000 in fines she had accrued since the previous May, which he added as an additional coercive measure to try and force her to testify.

The decision comes a day after Manning attempted to end her life while in Virginia's Alexandria Detention Center and a day before she was due to appear in court regarding a February 19 motion for her release. She has been in detention since March 2019 for her refusal to testify before a grand jury about her interactions with WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, who helped her publish a trove of stolen US government documents in 2010 revealing US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Manning, then a US Army intelligence analyst, was tried and sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for that crime, but released in 2017 when departing US President Barack Obama commuted her sentence.

Her detention has been protested by tens of thousands of activists, academics, politicians, and sympathetic persons, including the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, who wrote a letter to the US government in November denouncing her treatment and calling for her release.

On Wednesday, Melzer wrote on Twitter that Manning's suicide attempt was "typical for the confusion, dehumanisation & suffering deliberately inflicted through prolonged psychological torture."

Assange was arrested in the United Kingdom a month after Manning was detained, and the US Department of Justice revealed he was charged with 18 counts relating to his publication of Manning's documents. The first round of Assange's extradition hearings in London happened last week, which could see him shipped to the US for trial.

" Source "
Cyber criminals are exploiting fears surrounding the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic to spread dangerous malware and hack government computer systems.

Security experts have labelled the new trend Fearware, warning that victims may be more susceptible to be tricked or scammed during times of global uncertainty.

One form of attack involves well-crafted phishing emails that appear to come from health authorities but instead contain malicious software that can steal a persons data or hijack their device.

While we have all learnt to be suspicious of unsolicited emails, an official looking email that exploits trending topics, usually those inciting fear or anxiety, is much less likely to raise alarm bells, Max Heinemeyer, director of threat hunting at cyber security firm Darktrace, told The Independent.

"Fearware poses a greater challenge because traditional email security tools will block spear-phishing attacks that have been seen before but, crucially, each fearware campaign will be entirely unique in its content."

Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK The usually busy Royal Mile in Edinburgh is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 13 March Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Ho bart's Amusement Arcade in Westward Ho!, Devon is offering toilet roll and soap as prizes in grabber machines Rob Braddick/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK An empty platform at Farringdon Station in London the morning after the Prime Minister said that Covid-19 "is the worst public health crisis for a generation" PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Shopkeepers Asiyah Javed and husband Jawad from Day Today Express, in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk are giving away facemasks, antibacterial hand wash and cleaning wipes to the elderly in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A usually busy street in Cambridge is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 2 March James Linsell-Clark/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitiser dispenser is seen inside the stadium during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on 8 March Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Maaya Indian Kitchen in Milton Keynes is offerig customers a free roll of toilet paper with every takeaway order SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Oliver Cooper[L], was sent home from school for selling spurts of handsanitiser to fellow pupils at 50p a time. He poses with mum Jenny Tompkins by their home in Leeds Ashley Pemberton/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in London on 12 March EPA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A member of the public is swabbed at a drive through Coronavirus testing site set up in a car park in Wolverhampton Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A passenger wears a protective face mask as she travels on a bus in the City of London AFP/Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A Southampton fan wears a face mask before the match against Newcastle United on 7 March Reuters Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A loudspeaker placed in grounds of St Mary's Catholic Church in Broughattin, Dundalk, County Louth ahead of funeral mass later this morning. The loudspeaker has been placed in the grounds after the Catholic Archdiocese said that funerals and weddings should not exceed 100 attendees within the church building PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitising station set up outside Cheltenham Racecourse during day four of the Cheltenham Festival on 13 March PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK People wearing protective face masks walk across London Bridge on 11 March AFP/Getty

One hacking attack saw Russian-language criminals share an interactive map of coronavirus infections and deaths, which had originally been created by John Hopkins University to offer real-time information about the pandemic.

Anyone opening the map sent by the hackers would be infected by a form of password-stealing malware that had been hidden within the map.

Coronavirus is a formidable and fairly unprecedented opportunity to trick panicking people amid the global havoc and mayhem, Ilia Kolochenko, founder of web security firm ImmuniWeb, told The Independent.

The human factor remains the most burdensome to mitigate by technical means among the wide spectrum of organisational cyber risks, and the Covid-19 connection makes victims particularly susceptible to thoughtless actions.

Covid-19 has been a popular discussion topic on criminal forums on the dark web, with this particular hacking tools advertised for as little as $200. For this price, cyber criminals are able to purchase the malware needed to carry out the attack on a large scale.

There have been close to 140,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world, resulting in more than 5,000 deaths. The rising number of coronavirus infections has coincided with a rise in the number of registrations of domain names leveraging the terms coronavirus and Covid-19, however researchers warn that many of them are scams.

A campaign, uncovered by threat intelligence firm DomainTools, involves a website that lures people into downloading a coronavirus-tracking app. The Android application is infected with ransomware that hijacks a victims device and demands a $100 bitcoin payment within 48 hours in order for it to be released.

A note accompanying the ransomware states: Your GPS is watched and your location is known. If you try anything stupid your phone will be automatically erased.

Separate research from security firm Check Point discovered more than 4,000 coronavirus-related domains that have been registered globally in recent weeks, hundreds of which are malicious.

Researchers at the company intercepted a large-scale cyber attack by a Chinese group, which targeted a public sector organisation in Mongolia. The group impersonated the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sending emails with supposed press briefings attached.

Opening up these documents directed the victim to a fake website that gave the hackers remote network access that could be used to steal sensitive information.

Covid-19 is presenting not only a physical threat but a cyber threat as well, said Lotem Finkelsteen, head of cyber threat research at Check Point.

All public sector entities and telcos everywhere should be extra wary of documents and websites themed around coronavirus.
Amid the ongoing political turmoil in the state, Madhya Pradesh Police on Friday imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) at Bhopal airport after supporters of Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gathered at the site.

Earlier today, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath confidently stated that his government is "stable" and there is nothing to "worry" about, just hours after meeting Governor Lalji Tandon.

While speaking to media after the meeting, he said, "Floor test will happen on Governor's address and budget but it is only possible when 22 MLAs are freed from captivity."

On Wednesday, Jyotiraditya Scindia left the Congress and joined the BJP in the capital in the presence of party President JP Nadda.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a major crackdown, the Special Task Force (STF) of Haryana Police has seized 66,240 banned medicines and confiscated 40 boxes of illicit liquor. Two people have been arrested in this regard.

"A team of STF has recovered 57,600 tablets of alprazolam and 8,640 tablets of tramadol from the possession two people identified as Kalu Ram and Dharampal. Both are residents of Thaska Miranji, Kurukshetra," a spokesperson of Haryana Police said.

STF team also recovered 40 boxes of country-made illicit liquor apart from the banned tablets that were recovered in huge quantities, following a raid at the house of one of the accused, Kalu Ram.

Both the accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Further investigation of the case is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
IBM (NYSE:IBM) will build Europe's first quantum computer in Germany. The Armonk, New York-based tech giant will collaborate with the state-backed Fraunhofer Society to maintain this nine-foot-tall Q System One computer. The computer will be housed at a facility near Stuttgart and is expected to be operational in early 2021.

This technology will provide a massive boost to the EU. Last year, Daimler employed IBM's quantum computing technology to build a next-generation lithium battery for its cars.

Daimler ran that test in the U.S. as IBM has allowed both companies and scientific institutions to run algorithms on its system. Now, Germany will have this technology on its home turf.

The German government was initially skeptical of the need for quantum computing. However, Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed quantum computing with the now-outgoing CEO of IBM, Ginni Rometty.

This meeting, which took place at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last year, convinced Ms. Merkel otherwise. Last September, IBM began discussions with the Fraunhofer Society as the German government pledged to spend 650 million euros ($722.6 million) over two years on research in quantum computing.

Having a quantum computer in Europe should serve as a win for both parties. The announcement gives Ms. Rometty, who will be replaced by incoming CEO Arvind Krishna next month, the chance to leave the job on a high note.

The quantum computer will help both Germany and the EU as well. Members of the EU must contend with increasingly strict data sovereignty laws. With a quantum computer now based on the European continent, companies such as Daimler no longer have to transmit data across the Atlantic for this critical research. Moreover, entities such as the German Armed Forces and the federal security agencies in Germany can make use of this technology.
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Facemask-wearing Americans hugged their families in relief after landing at Bostons Logan Airport on Friday just hours before President Trumps travel ban restricting entry from Europe goes into effect.

The relieved Americans were elated to walk into the arrival hall at Logan with their luggage after making a mad dash to European airports, where travelers were eager to fly home after Trumps edict.

The president issued his ban earlier this week in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Weary and confused travelers, many wearing face masks, rushed to board flights from European airports to the US on Thursday after Trump announced the new travel restrictions.

His 30-day travel order applies to citizens of 26 European countries but excludes Britain and Ireland as well as American citizens.

It takes effect from midnight on Friday.

A young woman greets a loved one in the arrivals area at Terminal E at Logan Airport in East Boston on Friday

Americans were relieved to come home on Friday - just hours before a travel ban on flights to and from Europe goes into effect

A woman who arrived at Logan Airport on Friday removes her mask as she is greeted by a loved one

Trump declared a national state of emergency as the World Health Organization named Europe the new epicenter of the coronavirus Friday, with countries sealing borders, shutting schools and canceling events in a frenzied attempt to slow the ballooning pandemic.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the continent now had 'more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China.'

He described it as a 'tragic milestone,' and warned that it was impossible to say when the virus would peak globally.

The overall death toll jumped to more than 5,000 across the world, including nearly 1,500 in Europe, with total infections topping 140,000 internationally, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

Italy, Spain as well as Iran - which have emerged as virus hotspots - all clocked a dramatic rise in cases and fatalities in the past 24 hours, while infections were reported in Kenya and Ethiopia, the first in east Africa.

Governments have been pushing through tough restrictions to contain the spread of the disease and unveiling big-bang emergency funding plans to try to limit the economic damage.

A woman in a mask greets her father in the arrival hall of Boston's Logan Airport on Friday afternoon

A young woman breaks down in tears as she greets her mother in the arrival hall of Boston's Logan Airport on Friday

A woman wearing mask and gloves uses her phone in the arrivals area at Boston's Logan Airport on Friday

Americans traveling in Europe scrambled to buy last-minute plane tickets, in some cases spending thousands of dollars each, in hopes of speedily returning to the country before President Trumps travel ban comes into effect.

One family of three paid nearly $8,000 for three one-way tickets from Paris to New York.

I feel like they were putting a price tag on peoples safety, Coral McNary told ABC News on Friday.

Thats scary, especially if people cant afford it.

Some of the European airline counters at John F. Kennedy International Airport are seen empty in New York on Friday

American Sarah McNeil and her friend Nick Goddard wear protective masks as they make their way to Sarah's departure gate to return to the United States at Tegel Airport in Berlin on Friday

A passenger wearing protective mask stands at customer assistance of American Airlines before the Trump European travel ban goes into effect on Friday at Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez Airport

Passengers, including American citizen Dylan Clairmont (right), 20, wait to board the last direct United Airlines flight from Berlin to New York at Tegel Airport on Friday

Jake Genachowski, an American who was traveling in Switzerland, made it back home just in time before the ban kicked in.

He said that when he arrived, there was no screening for coronavirus.

Just made it through customs, Genachowski told ABC News shortly after arriving back in the states.

He said arriving passengers were asked if they had flu-like symptoms, but they were not asked if they had been to Italy or any other country hard-hit by the coronavirus.

The departures area is nearly empty in the international terminal of Logan Airport in Boston on Friday

Security at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, checks that passengers have signed the self-declaration that allows them to violate the quarantine and travel on Friday

Passengers wait by a closed check-in counter at Frankfurt Airport on Friday

It caused a mass panic, said 20-year-old Anna Grace, a US student on her first trip to Europe who changed her booking to fly home from Madrids Barajas airport instead of going on to France.

Her friends were less successful in rebooking flights.

Though American citizens are exempt from the travel ban, Grace and many others said they preferred to return home in case the restrictions are expanded or for fear of contracting coronavirus while in Europe.

We are nervous that we wont be able to get back into the country, said Atlanta resident Jay Harrison, 29, hoping to board a flight in Brussels.

Thus far, there have been 41 reported deaths from coronavirus in the United States

As of Friday, authorities in the US reported 1,776 cases of novel coronavirus

If its going to be another 30 days and were stranded, its going to be very difficult, very expensive and just tough to get back in and tough to live with.

Paola Mesa, 29, a Spanish woman flying from Barcelona to San Francisco, said she backed Trumps ban on travel from Europe.

Its what Spain should have done before, she said.

The death toll from coronavirus in Spain nearly doubled to 84 on Thursday and the number of cases rose to nearly 3,000.

Trump says he had to act as the European Union had failed to take adequate measures to stop the coronavirus.

The EU dismissed his comments and criticized the lack of consultation from the US side.

A woman wears a protective mask as she waits to check into a flight to the United States in the main terminal of Brussels International Airport in Brussels on Friday

A woman wears a protective mask as she waits to check into a flight to the United States in the main terminal of Brussels International Airport in Brussels on Friday

Many travelers, however, were critical of Trumps decision.

Its ridiculous. Why do we impose a ban now when the virus is already in the United States? said Leo Mota, 24, who had just arrived at Pariss main international airport, Roissy Charles de Gaulle, from Los Angeles.

Miguel Paracuellos, a Spaniard who works in the United States, said Trump was trying to compensate for his failure to expand testing and screening programs at home.

He is blaming an external enemy, in this case Europe, he said.

Jon Lindfors, an American traveler in Paris, was equally scathing about Trump, who will seek re-election in November.

Trump said its not a health crisis but it is, that its not an economic crisis but it is. We dont believe what Trump says anymore, Lindfors said.

A Delta crew member, who asked not to be named, said Trumps travel ban had caught the airline off-guard.

Its going to be a big mess... We were not expecting something like that. We dont have all the details to know what it means for us and for the company, the crew member said.

At Romes Fiumicino airport, largely empty due to draconian measures taken by Italy to combat coronavirus, one Italian traveler just back from New York said the United States would soon face the disruption Europe is now experiencing.

(In New York)... there were only a few flights canceled or delayed... They dont understand the situation yet, said Giuseppe Riccio, who wore a face mask.

Kennedy Airport is a ghost town on Friday after Trump instituted a ban on travel to and from Europe for 30 days

One of the departure terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Friday is seen in the above photo

The Lufthansa counter is seen above at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday

The Air France departure terminal is seen above at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday

The image above shows the AirTrain, which links John F. Kennedy International Airport to New York City, on Friday

There are no controls in place, shops are full of people.

Gregory and Ada Goldberg, an American couple from San Francisco, were trying to bring forward their flight home from Barcelona but were not getting much help at the airport.

This was meant to be two weeks of pleasant vacation but it has become a nightmare, said 69-year-old Ada.

Trump on Friday will hold a press conference to address the spiraling coronavirus pandemic as he seeks to calm a panicked nation amid mixed messages and growing criticism of his administration's scattershot response.

'I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House,' Trump tweeted. 'Topic: CoronaVirus!'

The news conference comes as the virus edged ever closer to the worlds power centers, including a positive test for a Brazilian official who spent time with Trump and top administration officials last weekend and an Australian Cabinet minister who met with Attorney General William Barr, Trump's daughter Ivanka, and other top aides.

And it comes as the world has been lurching to try to contain the virus's spread, with millions of students staying home across three continents, large gatherings canceled and more and more bars, restaurants and offices closed.

Trump and his administration have been under intense criticism amid testing failures and following a Wednesday night address to the nation in which Trump sowed confusion as he announced that the U.S. would be dramatically limiting travel from much of Europe.

Trump, who is rare to admit a mistake, told aides within minutes of finishing the speech that he had made an error when he mistakenly said the newly announced travel ban would include cargo, which it doesn't.
WASHINGTON  As census officials prepare to hire thousands of workers and send them out to count the nation's population, experts and lawmakers worry about the impact of the coronavirus on the agency's workforce, its operations and the accuracy of the count from college campuses to nursing homes.

Theres no question that the coronavirus crisis has created an unexpected and significant new challenge to conducting a successful census on time in all communities, said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a census expert. No one knows exactly how this health crisis will affect census operations, but based on what weve seen so far in various communities around the country, its likely that the Census Bureau will have to modify some of its operations.

While the 2020 census has begun in remote communities in Alaska, much of the count is about to kickoff as households begin this week to get invitations to respond to the census online or by phone. The spread of the coronavirus comes as census operations are scheduled to reach their peak in upcoming weeks.

Census officials, who said they have a nearly $2 billion contingency fund, have set up a task force to monitor the outbreak and plan to follow guidelines set by health officials to respond and train its workers.

On the way: Heres what to expect with the 2020 census

Were very well equipped to have a quick response team, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told congressional lawmakers this week. Weve done as much as we can to be ready for whatever contingencies come up whether coronavirus, whether weather, whether whatever.

Census officials are urging people to respond online when they receive invitations. Theyre also working with community partners to conduct more meetings by teleconference instead of in person.

If needed, census officials said, they will move staff from offices in affected areas and mail surveys and reminders to those communities.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrives for a House Appropriations subcommittee budget hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 10, 2020, in Washington.

Democratic lawmakers, already concerned that some communities, particularly communities of color, may be undercounted, are questioning whether the agency has an effective contingency plan.

Story continues

Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York, said she plans to ask Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham at a House Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee hearing later this month about the agency's plan to protect census takers.

Meng is part of the TriCaucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which has been pushing the census to target communities that have long been under counted.

"There are no do-overs, and a mistake will be a 10-year mistake," Meng said.

Sick map: Tracking the coronavirus outbreak in the USA

Senate Democrats, led by Tina Smith from Minnesota, wrote a letter last week to the agency asking how it will deal with the coronavirus. The offices are scheduling a meeting.

On Wednesday, Smith said there's already concern about undercounting communities of color, poor people and tribal communities and "then you layer on top of that worries about census takers going to doors.

Were asking the Census Bureau for their contingency planning on this to make sure that we dont magnify the under counting in any way because of this virus, she said.

Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee, raised concerns at a hearing March 10, 2020, about the impact of the coronavirus on the number of people who respond to the census and workers who will be sent to count people. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross testified at the hearing.

Ross told lawmakers the bureau has moved to rely mostly on online responses, which don't involve physical contact. He said households can also respond by phone and mail.

Everybody is obviously concerned, Ross said. With all the media coverage I dont think theres anybody who lacks concern about the potential for it. So well just have to play it by ear. We are ready to make responses and we will deal with the situation as it evolves.

Census will offer 'multiple ways' for people to respond to 2020 survey

The census is expected to ramp up efforts urging people to respond online, by phone or by mail.

The population survey, which is conducted every 10 years, is key to apportioning congressional districts and determining the distribution of billions in federal funds for schools, infrastructure and health systems.

Civil rights groups and advocates, who have been aggressively pushing for an accurate count of communities of color, say theyre not sure what, if any, impact there might be.

Key Census dates

Its clear that the opportunity to respond online and over the phone are not going to be affected, said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, which is part of a coalition that hosted a recent census town hall conference call. "For now, we are going to be good.

Experts said the impact may be more evident when census workers starting in mid-May visit households that have not responded.

You asked a ton:We're answering your questions about coronavirus.

The Census Bureau said it has recruited more than 2.6 million applicants and hopes to hire as many as 500,000 workers, many of whom will knock on doors.

More people might be reluctant to take this kind of job since it involves going door to door and talking with strangers, said Lowenthal, former staff director of the House census oversight subcommittee. Its possible that some residents might be reluctant to open their door to what is essentially a stranger.

Lowenthal said it's more important than ever to promote responding online, by phone or by a paper questionnaire. "That will be the easiest and safest way to make sure your household is counted especially at a time of so much uncertainty, she said.

Most at risk is the count at group quarters, including college and university housing such as dorms, and nursing homes as well as homeless shelters, Lowenthal said.

The count at group quarters starts April 2 and often starts with colleges. Historically, there are fewer self-responses from group quarters, she said.

More than 100 colleges have already sent students home to ward off the potential spread of the virus on campus.

Lowenthal said the census could also have trouble getting workers to visit nursing homes and some facilities might not want counters to come.

There may also be a challenge later this month counting people who are homeless, Lowenthal said.

Census officials said there are options to respond, including officials at group facilities reporting the count electronically.

We designed our 2020 operations precisely so we could offer multiple ways to respond, census officials said in a statement. We will adapt to make sure we are getting the same population counted another way.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: 2020 census faces uncertainty as US confronts pandemic
By Trend

Turkey's export of chemical products to world markets dropped by 1 percent and amounted to $3.2 billion from January 2020 through February 2020, Trend reports with reference to the Turkish Trade Ministry.

Turkey's export of chemical products to world markets amounted to 10.9 percent of the countrys total export for the reporting period.

In February 2020, Turkey's export of chemical products to world markets amounted to $1.5 billion, which is 7.8 percent less compared to February 2019. Meanwhile, Turkey's export of steel amounted to 10.3 percent of countrys total export.

According to the ministry, Turkeys export of chemical products amounted to $20.6 billion from February 2019 through February 2020.

Turkey's foreign trade turnover in Jan. 2020 amounted to $33.9 billion.

In Jan. 2020, Turkey's export increased by 6.4 percent compared to Jan. 2019 and amounted to $14.8 billion.

Turkey's import increased by 18.8 percent in Jan. 2020 compared to Jan. 2019, amounting to $19.2 billion.
Citizens wait in long lines to buy face masks in front of a pharmacy in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye



The government and the Korea Medical Association (KMA) have issued conflicting advice on how to use face masks to prevent coronavirus infections, creating confusion among citizens amid a continued shortages of masks.



The KMA announced its guidelines, Thursday, saying it advises against the reuse of disposable masks or wearing those made of cotton.



These are in contrast to the government's revised guidelines announced March 3.



At the time, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said the reuse of disposable masks on a temporary basis was permissible.



The ministry also said citizens could wear cotton masks if it was difficult to buy other protective masks because of the serious supply shortage.



In a televised message to the public, March 8, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun also encouraged people to use cotton masks instead of disposable ones, saying medical staff fighting COVID-19 should be prioritized.





Citizens wearing face masks walk along a street in Gangnam District, Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
NEW HAVEN  A defendant who police said shot another man on Bassett Street during an argument over a woman has been sentenced to serve 14 years in prison.

Darryl Huckabee, 47, was convicted of first-degree assault, criminal possession of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit. He was arrested on those charges in December 2018 after he allegedly led West Haven and New Haven police on a chase that began at the Connecticut Post Mall in Milford, where an armed robbery had been reported.

The pursuit ended in the Newhallville neighborhood of New Haven when the suspects vehicle collided with a West Haven police car. A firearm was seized from the suspects vehicle. Huckabee was then taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Police accused Huckabee of showing a silver or gray gun during a robbery at the malls parking lot on the evening of Dec. 22, 2018. The victim was not injured. Huckabee was charged with first-degree robbery with a deadly weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, engaging police in pursuit and risk of injury to a child. Those charges are still pending at Superior Court in Milford; Huckabee pleaded guilty to the four charges.

Trumbull police, working in conjunction with Milford and New Haven police, identified and charged Huckabee in connection with the armed robbery of two female shoppers who were leaving the Westfield Trumbull Mall. This occurred the day before the Milford mall robbery. The women were robbed of cash and personal property.

In the Trumbull case, Huckabee is facing two counts of first-degree robbery with a firearm, two counts of second-degree larceny and two counts of second-degree threatening. Those charges are still pending at state Superior Court in Fairfield.

Huckabees New Haven sentence for assault and the two weapons charges was made concurrent with another conviction: second-degree strangulation/suffocation, committed in August 2018.

After Huckabee serves his 14-year prison sentence, he will face six years of special parole.

In April 2010, Huckabee was sentenced in state Superior Court in New Haven to serve 30 months in prison for carrying a pistol without a permit and violating probation.

Huckabees public defender on the most recent New Haven convictions could not be reached for comment.

randall.beach@hearstmediact.com
QUEUES formed within minutes of a drive-through Covid-19 test centre commencing operations in Cork.

The centre - at the St Mary's health campus in Knocknaheeny - offers special testing for referred patients who can have swabs taken while they sit in their vehicles.

It is now expected to act as the model for a network of such special testing centres nationwide - with the first centres located in regions which have experienced a growing number of Covid-19 detections.

Staff manning the special test centre wear full protective clothing - including plastic gloves, face masks, goggles and plastic surgical

gowns.

All patients are dealt with through their opened car door windows - and do not have to exit their vehicles.

It is understood the swabs are then set for analysis to a new virus testing laboratory in Cork.

The Cork centre represents the second such special testing centre set up outside Dublin with a temporary 'pop-up' centre operating in Clare last week as part of efforts to deal with a cluster of Covid-19 cases in the western region.

Read More

Other tests have been conducted in patient homes by specially trained paramedics.

The southern region - and Cork in particular - has witnessed a major surge in Covid-19 detections over the past week.

Last week, Cork recorded the first case of community transmission of the virus with a Cork University Hospital (CUH) patient.

The South South West Hospital Group (SSWHG) moved to ally any public fears over such testing centres.

"The health service is involved in a significant range of preparations for the rapidly evolving situation related to COVID-19," a

spokesperson said.

"Central to these preparations is the provision of COVID-19 testing facilities that respond to the needs of our patients and staff. Each

testing facility and mode of testing has been carefully considered and risk assessed with appropriate adjustments as deemed necessary.

"There is a very understandable level of concern however, we would like to reassure the public that all National Guidance and Standard Precautions for Infection Prevention and Control in relation to COVID- 19 are being stringently adhered to.

"In addition, there is no increased level of risk of exposure to the community that are in the vicinity of any such testing facility."

Read More

Cork Kerry Community Healthcare (CKCH) have declined to comment on the latest developments at the St Mary's site.

The old Cork orthopaedic hospital had been subject to a re-organisation 10 years ago as part of a review of acute hospital

resources in the region.

It has been operated over recent years as an urgent community care centre by the Mercy University Hospital (MUH).

However, construction workers began round-the-clock operations last week at the two storey Grove House complex on the site.

Grove House will now be used as a special Covid-19 testing and, if necessary, isolation centre for less seriously ill patients.

The building had been idle and unused for a number of years.

It was previously used for the healthcare needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

The refurbishment has seen new doors and windows, enhanced insulation and interior decorations installed.

CKCH previously said it was unable to comment in specifics about the building and the work underway.

"All parts of the health service are involved in a significant range of preparations for this rapidly evolving situation," a spokesperson

said.

The statement added that a range of plans were in place and various measures were under consideration to prepare for a range of different scenarios.

It is understood the new St Mary's drive-through testing centre is for referral patients only - and aims to operate as part of the intensive contact-tracing process underway by Health Service Executive (HSE) public health officials.

People tested at the centre are referred either by their GPs or by an acute hospital.

Meanwhile, the NHS in the UK is set to "ramp up" facilities nationwide so 10,000 tests can be carried out each day.

Health officials have said sending people to such sites rather than hospitals or doctors reduces the risk to the wider public and protects patients at acute hospitals.

Those referred to the drive through hubs in the UK for swabbing will arrive in their own car, and will not enter the building. They will be swabbed outside by specially trained nurses, under a purpose built awning. Similar systems will be in place in Ireland.

Person who receive the test should remain self-isolated until they receive their results.

Such special test centres are considered better than the special 'hubs' set up in the car parks of acute hospitals across the UK.
By Trend

The Public Health and Reforms Center of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health is developing a new website to provide the population with up-to-date information regarding the coronavirus infection spread, Trend reports on March 13 referring to the Center.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Holston Conference Bishop Dindy Taylor  who oversees the United Methodist churches ranging from North Georgia through East Tennessee and into Southwestern Virginia  has encouraged all Methodist churches to suspend services and other activities for two weeks.Here is the message from Bishop Taylor:My Dear Holston Friends,I did not realize on January 31 when I sat at an Emory University Board of Trustees meeting listening to a medical expert tell us about research and work with the CDC in Atlanta that the Nouvelle Corona Virus would have spread so rapidly in six weeks for us to be talking about the number of persons who have been infected with this deadly virus and we would have such a high death toll around the world.I am writing to you during a busy week as the Cabinet and I prepare for another year of ministry.Over the last few days, we have been aware of the tension and anxiety that continues to rise as we learn more and more about the COVID-19 virus in the United States.This afternoon I spoke with Bishop Hope Morgan Ward of the North Carolina Conference about this serious concern to our community. I discovered that Bishop Ward and Bishop Paul Leeland of the Western North Carolina Conference have asked United Methodists throughout their state to cease public worship and other gatherings over the next two weeks.Out of an abundance of caution and our concern for you, our churches, and communities, the Cabinet and I strongly urge the churches of Holston Conference to suspend worship and large-group gatherings beginning today for the next two weeks.Yesterday, the World Health Organization identified COVID-19 as a pandemic. We have learned from the spread of the virus that if we delay responding the virus spreads exponentially and overwhelms our hospitals and health care systems. It is my understanding that social distancing is the most effective way of slowing the spread of the virus.According to Dr. Wes Wallace, an adjunct professor of emergency medicine at the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; medical director of State Medical Assistance Team 2, based at the University of North Carolina; medical officer in NC-1, the federal Disaster Medical Assistance team based in North Carolina; and a member of University United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill:If we use social distancing to slow transmission of COVID-19, patients will arrive at hospitals at a much slower rate, and lifesaving treatment for the critically ill will remain available. Additionally, we will be given more time to manufacture protective gear for health care workers, do research that may lead to identification of effective medicines, and perhaps experience a seasonal decline in disease transmission rates.For social distancing to be effective, it must begin early -- so early that it may feel unneeded and silly. If we wait until its need is obvious, it is too late.The faith community has an important role to play in slowing the speed of disease transmission. Large gatherings of people are a petri dish for spreading the infection. For a period of time, I strongly urge our religious communities to suspend traditional services and gatherings and find other ways to practice and sustain our faith. Our witness and our example may save many lives, especially the lives of those at risk in our own congregations.Please use your discretion regarding smaller gatherings such as small groups, Bible studies, and other meetings. These precautions are not only important for your safety but for the health and welfare of the entire community. While we are in unfamiliar territory, health care professionals advise that this is necessary for slowing the rate of the infection.During this time of unusual decisions, United Methodist congregations across the denomination are finding creative ways to continue our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness to others. It is my prayer that we will do the same.Grace and peace,Dindy TaylorResident BishopHolston Conference ofThe United Methodist Church
After Kate Beckinsale shared a story about how Harvey Weinstein had used a childrens playdate to corner her and screamed abuse including you stupid f**king C**T at her, some users began to blame her and criticise her for a number of things: for choosing to show up at his home, not speaking up sooner and making grander claims including women in Hollywood will sell themselves for a chance to be a star.

Beckinsale, who is known for speaking her mind on social media, has since responded to a number of commenters - explaining the complicated relationship she had with her former boss as well as why so many people were taken in by the convicted rapist in the first place.

She also blasted one commenter, saying I think she thinks I gaily took my child to a known rapist's house.

One user asked her, Why did you show up is my question?

In response, Beckinsale wrote, He was my boss. He had not so far been abusive nor had I seen any evidence on the one movie i did with him. He couched it as a play date for our kids. I had no idea it wasnt that or that I had done anything that could be perceived as wrong.

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

As another fan stepped in to defend her and told her she did nothing wrong, Beckinsale added, Oh I know. I think she thinks I gaily took my child to a known rapists house. I had no idea what was coming partly because the element of shock and surprise is one of the things he got off on.

After another user questioned why anyone would allow themselves to be put in one of those situations and said just leave - Beckinsale responded, I did. It still happened.

Beckinsale also provided an insight into another aspect of Weinsteins personality, after one user asked why so many people had at one time glorified him.

Beckinsale explained, He was also very talented, could be funny, generous, creative. And then absolutely monstrous. If all abusers were just awful all the time I think it would be far less confusing and less painful.

Getty Images for InStyle

She then referenced serial killer Ted Bundy, who was known to be charming to his victims and was described as handsome - in spite of the fact that he killed 36 women.

Beckinsale said, Ted Bundy took a minute to catch because he was also other things, you know.

It took years for people to come forward about Weinstein publicly, though some of his accusers as well as Gwyneth Paltrow were working behind the scenes with journalists Megan Twohey, Jodi Kantor and Ronan Farrow - who later published exposes that helped to kick-start the Times Up movement.

Prior to his downfall, Weinstein was co-founder of the Weinstein Company and a 'super producer' with huge influence in Hollywood.

Harvey Weinstein arrives at the Manhattan Criminal Court ahead of the verdict / AFP via Getty Images

After one user criticised Beckinsale for not speaking out sooner or holding a press conference earlier to talk about Weinstein, Beckinsale said, You truly dont understand any of the dynamics or anything about this. Ive tried quite hard to explain in the comments but your hatred of women is showing and its ugly and you are part of the problem.

Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison following his conviction of a Criminal Sexual Act in the first degree and third-degree rape.
Across the country, schools and universities are closing to prevent further outbreak of the coronavirusand student-teachers are caught in the middle.

Thousands of schools have been closed or are scheduled to close, according to Education Weeks database , which is continuously being updated. And dozens of colleges and universities have also canceled or postponed in-person classes, moving to online instruction.

The rash of closures has caused a lot of uncertainty for student-teachers. Will they be able to finish their student-teaching assignments? If not, will they be able to meet the requirements for the performance-based licensing test edTPA?

So far, student-teachers said, nobody really knows the answers.

Hearing that student-teaching was to be suspended until at least April 1 was a really big punch to the gut, said Kara Marlin, who is in the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities initial licensure and masters program for secondary English. The university has suspended all of its in-person classes and field experience due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.

Marlin, who uses they/them pronouns, had been going to their placement in an 8th grade English classroom a couple times a week since December. But March 9 marked the first day that they were in the classroom full-timeand three days later, that came to an end.

I was really devastated, Marlin said. I love being there, and it broke my heart to find out I cant be there with [my students] in any way.

Marlin and their cooperating teacher, Tom Rademacher, came up with a plan to keep Marlin involved with students, despite not being able to be physically there in class. On Thursday, the first day of the universitys suspension, Marlin video chatted with students to let them know whats going on.

Ok, @KaraTheTeacher is still student teaching... full and small group, even though the university wont let them come in. pic.twitter.com/Lrm2f6suie -- Tom Rademacher (@MrTomRad) March 12, 2020

It lifted my spirits a lot to see them and hear their voices, Marlin said. The student-teacher will continue to video chat with students a couple times a week, and give feedback on the students creative writing assignments.

Logistical Challenges

Some universities that have suspended in-person classes are still allowing students to go to their student-teaching assignments, provided the school districts havent closed. At West Virginia Universitys college of education, for example, officials said in a letter that students completing field placement or practicum hours would have to finish this week, but students who were completing their full-time student-teaching placement would continue to follow their local school calendar as normal until further notice.

And at the University of Washington, which is in the center of a widespread coronavirus outbreak, officials told students that even though university classes have been moved online, we will continue to serve our field sites unless a student is in a high risk group or if they feel sick or have been exposed to someone with coronavirus, said spokesman Dustin Wunderlich in an email.

We expect students who are completing an internship, practicum, service learning, fellowship, or capstone to continue those activities as long as the field site is also providing services, though we are being flexible with students, he said.

Still, that can present its own set of challenges. For Abbey Osborn, news that Illinois State University was suspending in-person classes until April 12 and closing dorms was alarming. Osborn, who uses they/them pronouns, lives in a university-owned apartment. Theyve applied for a waiver from the university to stay in their apartment, partly because moving would disrupt their commute to their student-teaching placement.

Osborns cooperating teacher has offered her spare room as a temporary solution. But Osborn, who has an anxiety disorder, hopes not to have to uproot their entire routine.

And as an added stressor, Osborn is preparing to film their videos for the edTPA assessment next week. Their school district is still open, but the situation is in flux.

Yet Osborn said the Illinois State Universitys college of education has said that all student-teachers are expected to complete the edTPA. If their school district has closed, student-teachers will need to find an alternative location, but theres been no guidance on what that location could be, Osborn said.

How can you expect me to perform well on an assessment of my teaching during all this uncertainty, Osborn said. That really doesnt feel like it would be a fair evaluation of me.

Teacher-preparation programs in 18 states are required to use the edTPA, which is administered by Pearson. In a statement, Pearson spokesman Scott Overland said edTPA registrations are valid for 18 months, and candidates can submit their portfolios for both initial submissions and retakes at any point during that time.

Individual states will have specific guidance available for their candidates, but Pearson is prepared to extend registrations for candidates impacted by COVID-19 without any change fee, he said.

Columbia College in South Carolina announced on Thursday that it would move courses online and close its dormsbut made an exception for student-teachers. Thats a big relief to Lauren Walters, a senior who is doing her student-teaching placement in elementary special education.

Her superviser at the college of education had told her that teacher-candidates are required by state law to do 64 full days of student-teaching. (The state education department has told teacher-prep programs that there might be some leniency with this requirement, but its on a case-by-case basis.) If Walters was unable to stay in her dorm and complete her student-teaching experience, she might have had to come back after graduation to finish itand Walters has an internship at Disney World starting two weeks after graduation.

The thought of having to come back is terrifying, she said, adding that her parents live four hours away from Columbia, S.C., and she recently had ankle surgery so she cant drive. Figuring out housing and transportation to keep working in her school district, she said, would have been difficult.

Its a lot of things you dont think about until all of a sudden, it happens, she said.

Image: Ken Hawkins
Senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi speaks with Firstpost about Jyotiraditya Scindia's exit from Congress and what it means for the party

Jyotiraditya Scindia's departure from Congress has not only revealed fault lines within the party, but also brought to fore a paralysed decision making process and disconnect between the Congress high command and the realities on the ground. Firstpost spoke with senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi, who had been an MP in both Houses of the Parliament, a spokesperson of the party and is a member of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra-headed Congress advisory committee for Uttar Pradesh, about Scindia's exit and what it means for the party.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

Jyotiraditya Scindia, one of the most prominent next generation leaders of your party, has left Congress and joined BJP. He has said your party was in denial of the ground realities. Your comments.

It is very unfortunate. I have to say two things: as far as Scindia is concerned, he should not have taken this step. He should not have joined the BJP. If he had formed his own party, it would have been a different thing. But at the same time, we, as in Congress party, are also at fault. We should have given thought to it, and I think, if we had talked with Jyotiraditya a compromise was possible. It has damaged out party.

Can you elaborate on what you mean when you says "fault" of the party behind Jyotiraditya's exit. Sonia Gandhi is party president. Scindia, as Rahul Gandhi has said, was his friend from college days and could walk in his house any time. He also had direct access to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra then why they couldnt sit and talk and resolve the issues?

Actually, I believe some persons would have misguided the top leaders. That I think was the reason.

Misguided whom, Sonia Gandhi?

They would have created such a situation that Jyotiraditya took this step.

But is it not a fact that Scindia was feeling left out. Kamal Nath continues to occupy state party president post despite the fact that he became the chief minister over a year and half ago. Shouldnt Scindia have been made Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president?

It is my considered opinion that one man one post formula should be applied in the Congress party, so other people can also be accommodated. If we had done it earlier then Scindia would have been adjusted as MPCC president or something.

Why one person one post is not happening? Why so many vacancies of PCC chiefs are not being filled.

This should be done by high command. I cant say more than that. One man one post formula should be implemented immediately. It is in the interest of the party.

Scindias departure is being seen as an indicator of the ills that have gripped Congress  a deep ideological and existential crisis. Could Scindia have left because he sees no future in Congress, and also no future for Congress?

Congress had given so much to him. He was a multiple-term MP, minister and general secretary. He should not have left. I repeat, if he had formed his own party, it would have been different. But joining a party which is on the other extreme of the ideological spectrum is different. How can he change his ideology overnight?

But ideology is not an issue it seems...

You are very right. Ideology is not an issue. That why people dont trust politicians.

The crisis of confidence in Congress is happening at two levels. First, party leaders taking positions different than stated by the leadership and even quitting, and second, people continuing to lose their confidence in Congress, which is reflective in the election results.

No people had voted Congress to power in several states. We won Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh and performed well in Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. But, I agree that Congress party needs to do a lot.

Sonia Gandhi has been interim Congress president. Do you think Congress needs a new full time president?

Yeah, definitely. According to constitution of Congress, a permanent president should be there. I wouldnt hesitate to say that even the Congress Working Committee (CWC) members should also be elected as prescribed in the party constitution. So that the impression of inner democracy is given to the people and maintained among the workers of party.

Who should be Congress president?

It is wrong to say who should be Congress president, everybody may have different liking. For example, if you ask me I will say Priyanka Gandhi should be Congress president. But there is a party constitution, the party president should be elected as per prescribed norms.

Many in your party are rooting for the return of Rahul Gandhi as the party president.

Surely so many leaders and lots of party workers want Rahul Gandhi to return to the party president post and take charge. Some people want Sonia Gandhi to continue, some people want Priyanka Gandhi. Some people have given statement that someone outside of the Gandhi family should be the president.

Coming to the minority plank of the party. The minority community favoured Congress for decades, but now they have gone against Congress wherever they have an option. Delhi election is the latest example. You ruled here for 15 years. You had several important Muslim leaders, but the community has completely deserted Congress and sided with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Definitely. The minorities should be given adequate representation in the party in states and at the central party structure. The feeling among the minorities is that they are not getting their due representation. In Delhi, we were expecting that both the majority and the minority community would support us but 95 percent Muslims supported AAP. I dont know whom should I blame. All over Delhi, hundreds of hoardings of Congress party was there but no Muslim face was there. The party should give due thought to it.

Why do you think Congress failed to take up challenge posed by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah? As some of your party colleagues have said, the sultanate has gone but they are still behaving like sultans. That's obviously implied for the top leadership in your party. What is the way forward for Congress?

The ideology of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi is very dangerous. They will destroy the country and are destroying the country, but at the same time, I have to say that they (Modi-Shah) are 24X7 leaders. They are working all the time. They work very hard for their ideology and for their goal. If we have to fight the BJP and Modi then we have to work like them, and fight like them. Then, we can convince the people of the country to give us a chance. We are doing our best and we are not going to leave any stone unturned to fight this communal party and communal leadership.
As COVID-19 continues to spread, its natural to want to calculate your risk of infection. If youre a smoker or vaper, its likely your risk is higher.

On Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the cases popping up in his city, including one of an otherwise healthy 22-year-old man. "Why is a 22-year-old man stable but hospitalized at this point? The one factor we know of is he is a vaper," de Blasio said. So, we don't know of any preexisting conditions, but we do think the fact that he is a vaper is affecting this situation.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston doctors frustrated by lack of coronavirus test kits

Dr. Michael Matthay, the associate director of critical care medicine at UCSF, said cigarette smoking or vaping can increase the risk of developing coronavirus. Based on prior studies with other pulmonary infections, both bacterial and viral, it is highly likely that cigarette smoking and vaping will increase the risk of coronavirus pneumonia and increase its severity, though we dont know to what extent.

Matthay said theyve seen in studies that nicotine inhaled into the lungs of mice can delay the clearance of the influenza virus, indicating that nicotine could also delay the clearance of the novel coronavirus.

This helps explain the initial suspicion that men seemed more susceptible to the disease in the cases in China, since Chinese men are more likely than women to be smokers. A World Health Organization study from 2019 found that 47.6% of Chinese men smoke, compared to only 1.8% of Chinese women.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Emergency declared in Dallas County

The UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education confirmed the link in a recent article, stating: Among Chinese patients diagnosed with COVID-19 associated pneumonia, the odds of disease progression (including to death) were 14 times higher among people with a history of smoking compared to those who did not smoke. This was the strongest risk factor among those examined.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that older Americans and people with medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and chronic lung disease are most susceptible to coronavirus.

Tessa McLean is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her at tessa.mclean@sfgate.com or follow her on Twitter @mcleantessa.

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:


Dramatic bodycam footage shows the moment armed police officers arrested a drunk killer just hours after he stabbed a father-of-two to death in the street.

Ravinder Heer, 37, knifed Dale Grice, 32, after threatening his ex-girlfriend in a jealous rage outside her home in Kingstanding, Birmingham.

Mr Grice tried to step in to protect Heer's former partner but was stabbed once in the back with a kitchen knife outside her home at 7am.

Ravinder Heer, 37, (pictured during his arrest) knifed Dale Grice, 32, after threatening his ex-girlfriend in a jealous rage

Footage shows Heer getting onto all fours as the officer shouts: 'Armed police, stay where you are. 'Get your hands up, put your hands on the floor. Get on the floor! Get on the floor now!'

He collapsed and died at the scene while Heer sped away in his car.

Five minutes after the September 7 attack, construction worker Heer was caught on a shop's CCTV buying two cans of Stella Artois lager.

He drove away but crashed and abandoned the car nearby before staggering into another shop to buy more alcohol.

When he was refused he was filmed having an argument with a shop worker and jabbing him in the chest before leaving.

Less than two hours later armed cops spotted Heer stumbling around the street and arrested him at gunpoint.

Five minutes after the September 7 attack, construction worker Heer was caught on a shop's CCTV buying two cans of Stella Artois lager

A police camera - mounted above the cop's semi-automatic weapon - captured the moment Heer was caught.

Footage shows Heer getting onto all fours as the officer shouts: 'Armed police, stay where you are.

'Get your hands up, put your hands on the floor. Get on the floor! Get on the floor now!'

After he was arrested he asked officers - who had not mentioned the victim's name: 'Is someone dead? Dale Grice is not breathing anymore?'

He then asked: 'Who grassed me up?'

Heer was cleared of murder but was found guilty of manslaughter following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

After Heer (left) was arrested he asked officers - who had not mentioned the victim's name: 'Is someone dead? Dale Grice (right) is not breathing anymore?' He then asked: 'Who grassed me up?'

When Heer was refused more booze he was filmed having an argument with a shop worker and jabbing him in the chest before leaving. Pictured is the crime scene at Cooksey Lane in Kingstanding, Birmingham

Jurors heard the grandfather of Heer's ex-partner had died and Mr Grice had been a mourner at his wake at a house in Kingstanding, Birmingham.

In the early hours of September 7, Heer barged into the house in a jealous rage and demanded Mr Grice join him outside where he stabbed him in the back.

After Thursday's verdict, Mr Grice's family paid tribute to him, saying: 'Dale was the most loyal, hardworking and loving son, dad, grandson and friend anyone could ever meet.

'Dale was the funny one in the family.

Less than two hours later armed cops spotted Heer stumbling around the street and arrested him at gunpoint. Pictured is the crime scene at Cooksey Lane in Kingstanding, Birmingham

'He always had a smile on his face and his character would always bring someone out of a sad moment.

'He offered to do anything for anyone if they were in trouble.

'Dale always looked after his sisters by giving them money and helping them out. He would walk in the pouring rain with them.

'Dale lived for his two daughters. He will never see them smile or laugh again.

'They will never hear his silly jokes and he won't get to see them grow up.

'We will never get justice for what has happened to Dale. We think we may be talking for everyone who had lost someone they have loved as much as we loved Dale.

After he was arrested he asked officers - who had not mentioned the victim's name: 'Is someone dead? Dale Grice is not breathing anymore?' Pictured is the crime scene at Cooksey Lane in Kingstanding, Birmingham

'Dale will live on through his daughters and they will never forget how their dad loved them.

'We will never let his name dull. Dale Grice is one person that once met, you'll never forget.'

Detective Inspector Jim Mahon, of West Midlands Police homicide team, said: 'First of all I'd like to praise the bravery of the witnesses who gave evidence in this trial.

'It was frightening for them, but what they provided us with proved to be crucial in piecing together the events of that fateful morning.

'Dale's family have acted with such dignity and restraint throughout the whole trial.

'They know that Dale acted in a selfless manner and simply tried to protect a friend from suffering possessive control at the hands of an ex-partner.'

Heer, of Walsall, West Midlands, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on April 3.
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty

Americans would do well to look to South Korea for an example of how to contain and possibly defeat the fast-spreading coronavirus.

After days of indecision in which President Moon Jae-in and his aides could not believe how quickly the disease was spreading from China, they woke up to the danger and instituted one of the most effective systems anywhere.

South Koreas Creepy Coronavirus Cellphone Alerts are Useful, But They May Be TMI

In one remarkable innovation, drive-by centers test those with symptoms without asking them to leave their vehicles. A quick temperature check, a rub inside the mouth and maybe the nose with a cotton swab, and its all over until the results are known a few hours later.

Dr. Ogan Gurel, who got his medical degree from Columbia in New York and moved to Seoul 10 years ago, cites drive-by testing as one of a panoply of measures designed to stop the virus from overwhelming this country of 51 million people.

There is no silver bullet, says Gurel, who teaches medicine and provides scientific advice. Individually, people might suffer, but in aggregate they end up with qualitative stabilization. That is to say, for the overall population the disease is brought under control.

The proof is in the numbers showing new cases in South Korea decreasing steadilyjust 110 on Thursday, the lowest in more than two weeks, while 177 were declared cured and sent home. All told, the number of cases totals 7,979, but the general feeling sense is the worst is over.

Korea is setting a good example for the U.S., said Jang Sung-eun, who still rides the subways to work every day while many of her colleagues try to work from home. They say we Koreans are rather effective in dealing with the problem.

Such guarded optimism reflects a discernible shift in national mood from the near-panic that engulfed the country after the virus was discovered to be emanating from a church in the city of Daegu, 170 miles southeast of Seoul. The church was one of dozens run by the secretive Shincheonji sect, whose leader, Lee Man-hee, has proclaimed himself the embodiment of Jesus Christ.

Story continues

There was some resistance among them to testing, says Gurel, but by now almost all the sects 230,000 members have been checked. Most of those suffering from the disease were members of the church or caught the virus from members who may have passed it on through two or three others, who in turn transmitted it to still more contacts.

Korean self-discipline and community cohesiveness explain much of the success in coming to terms with an illness that remains almost out of control elsewhere.

The rate of new cases is tapering much more than in Italy, Iran or the U.S., says Gurel. Theyve been taking measures that are quite constructive. Theyve been isolating cluster areas but not in a totalitarian way.

Quite aside from the availability of quick, no-cost testing, Dr. Gurel cites the discipline of Koreans in heeding advice of all sorts. There is a constant message about social hygiene, he says. Avoidance of public spaces, frequent hand-washing, all that eventually improved the situation.

Kim Ganglip, vice health minister, outlined the philosophy behind the campaign to halt the spread of the disease.

We consider two core values to be important, he told journalists in Seoul. First is that public participation must be secured through openness and transparency. Second is to respect creative thinking and use cutting-edge technology to develop the most effective means of response.

On that basis, he said, the government is working on various ways to ensure that the information that citizens need to stay safe includes detailed explanations.

Once a patient is confirmed to have the disease, the words emergency alert on mobile phones show his or her travel history, said Kim. The more transparently and quickly accurate information is provided, the more the people will trust the government.

If that approach seemed like an intrusion on privacy, Kim adopts that same argument in debunking what he called the traditional response to an outbreak of contagious disease that involved locking down afflicted areas and isolating infected victims.

That approach, he said, has had only modest effectiveness while appearing close-minded, coercive, and inflexible. In fact, he said, We have experienced harmful consequences with democracy being undermined and active public participation in the process being reduced.

As a democratic country and a pluralistic society, said Kim, we must transcend the limitations of the conventional approach to fighting infectious diseases.

But how can South Korea manage to pull off the trick of sticking to democratic principles while trying to tell people what to do and how to behave? The answer, some believe, lies in Koreas military history.

Having the large military and needing to remain in constant readiness for an outbreak of war is probably helpful, says Steve Tharp, a retired U.S. army officer whos lived on the peninsula for decades. The government was also able to quickly pull assets from the military, such as nurses and others, to assist in the effort. We see pictures of soldiers walking around in hazmat suits spraying different locations.

Then too, Tharp notes, geography helps. South Korea is essentially an island with the water on three sidesand the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea blocking the hostile nation to the north.

Finally, he adds in an email, The small geographical size of Korea and the great rail and road networks also mean that assets/resources needed to fight the virus can be redistributed quickly nationwidein just a matter of hours.

Koreas history of having battled, and defeated, previous epidemiological threats undoubtedly helped.

While President Donald Trumps people seemed oblivious to the danger of a pandemic, observes Tom Coyner, a long-time business consultant in Seoul, in South Korea the national health program is relatively immune to political pressures. Thus precautionary measures, such as those pertaining to a possible pandemic, such as SARS, MERS, and now COVID-19, were being treated seriously and unlikely to face budgetary cutbacks. 

Hank Morris, also a consultant in Seoul, agrees. The Koreans must have developed viral infection testing capacities from the time of SARS and MERS, and also for swine flu, all of which were within the past 20 years, he says. They began developing large-scale testing years ago and have allocated some resources to testing capability every year.

Amazingly, even Korean conservatives, bitterly opposed to the liberal policies of President Moon, cannot deny that Koreas approach to coronavirus actually appears to be working.

Were very advanced, says Maeng Joo-seok, a regular participant in right-wing protests before the government banned them. We are very developed and reliableenough to imbue Koreans with confidence in their ability to defeat the odds as they have done so often since the countrys rise from the rubble of war.

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SPRINGFIELD  Members of Congress from Illinois vented their frustrations Thursday with the Trump administrations response to the growing outbreak of COVID-19, as fears of the disease lurk throughout Capitol Hill.

Democratic Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Jesus Chuy Garcia slammed actions by the president and federal health officials, while Republican Rep. John Shimkus criticized the presidents communication about the virus but said he still has confidence in his leadership.

The administration has simply dropped the ball on addressing this in any kind of a constructive way, said Schakowsky, of Evanston.

Both she and Garcia said a morning briefing with the heads of federal health and defense agencies left them more confused.

The first thing we're told is that there are over a million tests. And then how many people have actually been tested? We find out it's just over 10,000, Schakowsky said.

Testing has been slow to develop after federal officials passed on a test from the World Health Organization more than a month ago in favor of designing U.S.-specific test kits that have seen some flaws. Meanwhile, countries like South Korea and Italy have tested hundreds of thousands of people with the WHO tests.

You've had all this time to figure out a system to systematically address getting people tested, Schakowsky said. I wish I could tell you that we got a firm timeline.

You could get a sense of how officials are feeling muzzled at the briefing this morning, said Garcia, of Chicago. He recalled seeing expressions of anxiety and disappointment on the faces of members from both sides of the aisle.

Both Illinois Democrats said they are frustrated with how President Donald Trump has communicated to the public about the virus. Schakowsky said the president has been cavalier, while Garcia said he has misinformed the public.

The president was dismissive of it. He downplayed its seriousness. He wanted to compare it to a flu, that it might arrive in passing but that he didnt expect much of it, Garcia said.

I think some very valuable time was lost, and I think his Cabinet and his key officials in the public health sector were impeded by that attitude from taking more aggressive measures, he added.

Shimkus, a Republican from Collinsville, had criticism of Trumps communication style.

He has an ability to say things that eventually get resolved. But when he initially says it, you wonder how or why, he said.

Shimkus, though, is confident in the presidents actions, including that he declared a public health emergency in January and has issued travel bans to other affected countries.

When you're in a crisis, I think it's bad form to finger-point and blame, he said. I think that this is a time for people to work together and try to keep our citizens safe.

Staff concerned

A staffer of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. That has others on Capitol Hill taking precautions, especially with D.C. under a state of emergency with 10 virus diagnoses.

I think a lot of us are worried, not because were here, but just like with the number of people that come in every day, said Osaremen Okolo, Schakowskys senior health policy advisor.

Okolo said she walked to work on Thursday instead of taking the D.C. subway.

In the morning, the Red Line is packed body-to-body, she said. You cannot socially isolate and Im afraid to hold onto things because you dont know if they clean them.

There is a real, palpable concern, Garcia said. Most offices are going remote now, as is ours.

The Capitol will also close to the public after Friday.

I would say its a somber time, said Shimkus, who compared it to the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Schakowsky said she was screened today by the Capitols attending physician for cold symptoms. The physician could not test for COVID-19 because there are no tests available at the Capitol.

My staff is concerned about the lack of tests, she said.

Shimkus says basic precautions like washing his hands and avoiding large crowds have helped him stay calm.

As more people get more information, that fear should subside, he said. I think it has for me.

Legislative help

Democrats unveiled a multi-billion-dollar coronavirus economic relief bill on Thursday. House Resolution 6201, dubbed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, includes free COVID-19 testing, emergency paid sick leave and an expansion of food security programs.

We're talking about saving lives. We're talking about preventing the spread of the disease. We're talking about ensuring that local frontline workers have what they need, Garcia said.

House Democrats have been negotiating with Republicans, but Garcia said he is not very optimistic. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, signaled Thursday evening she plans to call the bill to a vote before the end of the day.

It's trying to find that legislative fix that is not reaching too far, doing too many things that are objectionable, Shimkus said, and finding that common ground of things that we can agree upon that we think will be helpful.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said Thursday his chamber will be in session next week instead of taking a planned recess. As of Thursday evening, the House schedule still shows that chamber in recess next week.

Schakowsky said her staff is prepared to work from home.

President Trump signed an $8.3 billion spending bill last week to boost the countrys public health response, including state and local assistance and funding for treatments and vaccines.

Coverage of coronavirus in Illinois
The conditions that led regulators to brand a Northern Ireland care home one of the worst they had ever seen can be revealed.

A team of Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) inspectors visited Valley Nursing Home on December 16 and 17 last year and uncovered harrowing and potentially lethal failings and practices.

Among the issues raised following the two-day visit to the home in Clogher, Co Tyrone, was the use of QR (barcode) labels on residents' doors, which the inspectors described as "dehumanising" - believed to be the first time the term has ever been used in an RQIA inspection report.

The RQIA team was also told by two nurses that all emergency oxygen cylinders had been removed, meaning they were unable to administer oxygen to a resident while waiting for an ambulance.

The report said: "The only oxygen in the home was prescribed for specific patients.

"They cited a recent occasion when the general unit rang staff within the Amadeus unit to enquire if they had oxygen to manage a patient in an emergency but none was available.

"The staff were therefore unable to offer appropriate care as they awaited an ambulance."

The inspectors also raised concerns about the undignified way staff spoke to residents.

The report said: "The food looked and smelled appetising; however, given that the patient group was mainly younger men, the portion sizes may not have been adequate.

"One patient asked a nurse if he could finish someone else's dinner, stating: 'I'm hungry!' "The nurse responded by stating 'you've had your dinner and dessert and that's it!'

"We asked him if he was still hungry and he responded that he was 'starving'.

"Staff, when asked about this, claimed that he was 'always like this' and didn't know when he had had enough to eat.

"However, it was noted that his jeans were loose and he had to hold them up when walking."

Inspectors observed the registered nurse "speaking to patients as if they were children, using a firm and intimidating tone of voice", the report said.

It added: "One patient asked for a drink and was told: 'Sit down! Then I'll get you a drink.'

"On another occasion they were heard to tell a patient off for talking with their mouth full."

Concerns were raised about the way residents were dressed and whether they were being cleaned and cared for properly.

The majority of residents were noted to be wearing tracksuit bottoms with formal shirts and jumpers and some of their jumpers were soiled with food.

The inspectors were also worried about the provision of oral and fingernail care and hair washing of residents.

One resident was seen to have very long and dirty fingernails.

A member of the RQIA team had to ask staff to attend to the eye care of a resident.

The RQIA subsequently held a meeting with management from the home but was not happy that issues could be addressed sufficiently.

As a result, they issued a notice of proposal to cancel the registration of the responsible individual of the home.

The measure meant the home faced closure, however, last month the RQIA announced it was registering a new provider.

RQIA chief executive Olive Macleod said: "This is good news for the Valley's patients, their families and staff at the home who have been failed by the previous management of the home."
A group of ex-servicemen has asked the government to make elementary "sainik training" compulsory in schools in order to ensure national integration and character building among schoolchildren.

The Rashtriya Sainik Sanstha, a group of ex-servicemen, has sought the inclusion of 'sainik training' in the new National Policy (NEP) which is likely to be announced soon.

"India is a growing country and it requires strong characters to fulfil its dreams, character building starts from childhood schooling and therefore, it is necessary to impart at least elementary 'sainik training' in schools," Colonel Tejandra Pal Tyagi (retd) who is president of the body and a Veer Chakra awardee, said at a press conference.

"A student who has undergone even a symbolic sainik training is unlikely to be a part of the violent groups putting the police posts on fire and will be better equipped in self defence," he added.

Tyagi, also talked about a syllabus prepared by the ex-servicemen body.

"Devotion to duty, discipline, training and honesty are part of the sainik character which is why an Army of about 14 lakh brings any situation under control during a calamity either natural or man-made while protecting the entire country," he said.

"The syllabus we have prepared includes lessons on patrolling, first aid, disaster management, pollution control, exposure to artificial intelligence and robotics, freedom struggle, rise of nationalism besides drills and physical training," he said.

Major Sushil Goel (retd) said the body has conducted a pilot run of the training course in few schools in Muzaffarnagar, Jabalpur and Ghaziabad.

"The sainik training course was initially undertaken and designed for the unemployed youth. However, the same course has been modified for school children. Since we have experience in running such courses and our organisation has its units across 23 states of the country, the said proposal can be coordinated on a pan India basis," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An oil company is an entity engaged in at least one of the following three activities:

The oil industry is rapidly changing in the current economic climate. Find the latest information in the newsfeed at the end of this article.

Additionally, investors must consider the implications of climate change for the long-term prospects of oil and gas. The energy sector is changing a lot, and renewable energy companies are taking more market share. Even so, that doesn't mean there are few opportunities in the oil patch. Here's a closer look at some of the top oil stocks and factors to consider before buying oil stocks.

However, the oil industry is highly competitive and volatile, and profits and losses can swing wildly based on small shifts in demand or moves by petrostates such as Saudi Arabia and Russia whose interests can run counter to the public companies in the industry.

Oil companies are crucial to the global economy, providing fuels for transportation and power, as well as the core ingredients of petrochemicals used to make products, including plastics, rubber, and fertilizers, that we rely on every day.

Read on to learn more about each of these.

With the oil industrys headwinds in mind, three top oil companies worthy of investors' consideration include ConocoPhillips ( NYSE:COP ), a global exploration and production company; Exxon Mobil ( NYSE:XOM ), a large-scale, integrated supermajor; and Phillips 66 ( NYSE:PSX ), a leading refining company with midstream, chemical, and distribution operations.

ConocoPhillips

For investors looking to capitalize on rising oil prices and steady demand, ConocoPhillips is worth considering. One of the largest E&P-focused companies in the world, it specializes in finding and producing oil and natural gas and has operations in more than a dozen countries.

ConocoPhillips benefits from scale and access to some of the lowest-cost oil on earth, which includes significant exposure to the Permian Basin via its 2020 acquisition of Concho Resources (NYSE:CXO). With average costs of about $40 per barrel and many of its resources even cheaper, it can make money in almost any oil market environment. The company plans to return its entire market cap in dividends and share repurchases over the next decade as long as Brent Crude prices average only $50 per barrel.

Finally, the company complements its low-cost portfolio with a top-tier balance sheet. ConocoPhillips routinely boasts one of the highest credit ratings among E&P companies, backed by a low leverage ratio for the sector and lots of cash.

Add it all up, and ConocoPhillips has consistently been able to generate positive cash flows while paying out a dividend it's raised six times since 2015.

ExxonMobil Corp.

One of the largest oil companies on the planet, ExxonMobil is a fully-integrated supermajor. It operates in every segment of the oil and gas industry, including E&P, midstream, petrochemical manufacturing, refining, and, even farther downstream, marketing refined and petroleum products to customers.

The past decade hasn't been great for the company. Profits have steadily declined during that time, it was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average after more than a century in the index, and the climate-focused hedge fund Engine No. 1 successfully captured three seats on its board in May 2021.

But more recent efforts to reduce its business costs and boost efficiency are beginning to pay off. It has lowered its oil production costs significantly over the past couple of years by focusing on its highest-return assets while also taking steps to better leverage its massive scale.

As a result of those improvements and a recovery in oil prices and global demand, its cash flows are surging. That should continue to protect ExxonMobil's dividend and its status as a Dividend Aristocrat. With the concerns about the growth of renewables, and many investors choosing to avoid oil stocks entirely, ExxonMobil's stock price could remain undervalued for an extended period of time, offering one of the better dividend yield opportunities on the market.

Phillips 66

Phillips 66 is one of the leading oil refining companies, with operations in the U.S. and Europe. It also has investments in midstream operations -- including sizable stakes in two master limited partnerships, Phillips 66 Partners and DCP Midstream (NYSE:DCP) -- and in petrochemicals via its CPChem joint venture with Chevron (NYSE:CVX). Finally, its marketing and specialties business distributes refined products and manufactures specialty products such as lubricants.

Thanks to its large-scale, vertically integrated operations, Phillips 66 is among the lowest-cost refiners in its industry. This is the result of both leveraging its integrated midstream network to source lowest-cost crude for refining and petrochemical feedstocks and investing in projects that give it higher margins on the products it makes.

Phillips 66 also boasts a strong financial profile, which includes an investment-grade balance sheet with very manageable debt, plus it has lots of cash on hand. These factors mean it has ample capital to invest in expansion projects -- including a surprising focus on renewable fuels.

It's also been a dividend growth superstar and a share buyback dynamo over the past decade.

Investors looking to profit from oil stocks and gain exposure to renewables should give Phillips 66 a close look.
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro has tested negative for the new coronavirus, according to a post Friday on his official Facebook profile.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In this handout photo released by Brazil's Presidential Press Office, Brazilian Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, left, and President Jair Bolsonaro, wear masks as they speak about the new coronavirus during a Facebook Live transmission, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, March 12, 2020. Bolsonaro has tested negative for the new coronavirus, according to a post Friday on his official Facebook profile. Bolsonaro, 64, received the test on Thursday after his communications director was confirmed to have the virus.(Brazil's Presidential Press Office via AP)

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro has tested negative for the new coronavirus, according to a post Friday on his official Facebook profile.

Concern about Bolsonaro's exposure to virus  and possibly that of U.S. President Donald Trump  had grown after confirmation that the Brazilian leader's communications director tested positive. The senior official had joined Bolsonaro just days earlier at a meeting with Trump and senior aides in Florida.

There had been a swirl of confusing information earlier Friday, with a some media reporting Bolsonaro had received an initial positive test result. But the president's official social media account later said tests were negative, and also posted a photo of Bolsonaro making an offensive arm gesture to reporters earlier this year.

"Don't believe the fake news media!" he wrote in a subsequent post.

Bolsonaros meeting this week at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort also included Trumps daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner, Brazils Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo and Bolsonaros son Eduardo, who is a federal lawmaker, among others. Vice-President Mike Pence and Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani also went to Mar-a-Lago that evening.

ADDS TO CLARIFY THAT PHOTO WAS MADE BEFORE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT BOLSONARO TESTED NEGATIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS - Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, right, wears a mask as he walks through the official presidential residence Alvorada Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, March 13, 2020, before the announcement that he tested negative for the coronavirus, according to a post on his official Facebook profile. Bolsonaro, 64, received the test on Thursday after his communications director was confirmed to have the virus. (AP Photo/Beto Barata)

This week, Bolsonaro told a group in Florida that he believed mainstream media was exaggerating the virus severity. He reversed course Thursday, wearing a face mask on a live transmission on Facebook from the capital, Brasilia. On a televised address later, he said the World Health Organization responsibly characterized the virus as a pandemic, and tried to dissuade supporters from turning out for mass demonstrations scheduled for March 15.

The rallies demonstrate the maturity of our presidential democracy and are evident expressions of our liberty. They need, however, to be rethought in the face of these facts. Our health and that of our families must be preserved, Bolsonaro said.

Bolsonaros health has been a focus since a 2018 stabbing on the campaign trail. Since the assassination attempt, he has already undergone four surgeries with a fifth one upcoming. In December, he was taken to the hospital after slipping in the bathroom of the presidential residence and banging his head.

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 about 60,000 have so far recovered.

Brazil currently has 98 confirmed diagnoses of the virus, but no reported deaths, and is monitoring more than 1,400 possible cases. On Wednesday, the governor of the Brazilian district that includes Brasilia enacted a five-day suspension of all classes, concerts and sporting events that gather more than 100 people in an effort to contain the virus' spread.
This article, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma to donate 500,000 coronavirus test kits to US, originally appeared on CNET.com.

Jack Ma, co-founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba , plans to donate 500,000 test kits and 1 million face masks to the US amid the coronavirus outbreak. In statement shared Friday on Twitter, the Chinese billionaire said the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation have the test kits and face masks "sourced and readied for shipment."

"Drawing from my own country's experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are the most effective in preventing the spread of the virus," Ma said in the statement. "We can't beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons."

Hangzhou, China-based Alibaba Group confirmed the donation to CNET.

A lack of test kits has so far prevented the US from assessing the full extent of the virus' spread.

As of Thursday, there were more than 1,200 cases of coronavirus reported in the US and 36 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 13,000 tests have been conducted for the virus in the United States so far. During a congressional hearing Thursday, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said all Americans will have access to free testing.

Coronavirus deaths worldwide have topped 5,000, with more than 136,000 confirmed cases. On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
The continued spread of COVID-19 has prompted Oregon religious congregations to consider canceling or livestreaming services and changing aspects of their services that involve physical contact like handshakes.

The development comes as Gov. Kate Brown warned that the state should be prepared for thousands of cases of the virus.

Browns administration announced a statewide ban on gatherings of more than 250 people, noting that it applies to organized events, not places such as stores, shopping centers or schools." She said the ban extends to religious gatherings.

Brown acknowledged the ban may pose a hardship for the faithful and suggested other ways for people to engage with their spiritual communities.

There are other ways I believe through telephone, through more individual gatherings and obviously through the internet for Oregonians to get the spiritual guidance that they need, Brown said.

At Beth Israel in Portland, leaders announced on Thursday that religious school is canceled this week. They strongly encouraged members to watch services via live webcast instead of attending in person. For those who do plan to attend, leaders said they would follow social distance protocols by asking people to sit apart from each other.

Prayers will projected on a screen so congregants dont have to handle prayer books.

Events like weddings and bnei mitzvah services will go on as planned this weekend, but the synagogue asked that only immediate family members attend the events. Others should watch the service via webcast.

In a message to the Beth Israel community, Rabbi Michael Cahana emphasized that he and other clergy members remain available to members.

We will encourage social distancing such as speaking by phone or video calls, he wrote. But if personal presence is needed, please let us know. We are here for you.

We will use all our resources to remain a close community, even if some of that closeness has to be done virtually for a time, Cahana wrote in the message.

Portland Archbishop Alexander K. Sample also issued guidance Thursday, saying attendance at Mass typically doesnt reach 250. Still, he advised Catholics older than 60 not to attend Mass as well as people with underlying medical conditions, compromised immune systems and those who arent feeling well. Health officials have said all those people are particularly vulnerable to the new coronavirus.

The faithful who are in attendance at Mass are reminded to avoid all physical contact with others and should attempt to keep a safe distance from each other, the Archdiocese of Portland said in a statement. The guidance is in place until April 8.

Sample acknowledged that some parishioners may wish to decline receiving Holy Communion due to a fear of contamination. He suggested that they say a special prayer and make an act of Spiritual Communion.

The Episcopal Diocese of Oregon said its churches are weighing how to provide for the spiritual needs" of congregants "while also taking into great consideration their physical safety, said Heidi Pitts, a spokeswoman. A handful plan to cancel services, Pitts said.

She said churches have already begun social distancing during a ritual known as Passing of the Peace. Instead of handshakes and hugs, congregants are asked to bow or wave, she said.

She said she was leading training for church leaders on Thursday in livestreaming so services could continue without jeopardizing the health of the flock.

We want to be really prudent in how we create support that may expose people to unknown carriers, she said. Obviously this is spreading in ways that everyone is still learning about. We are trying to be really wise in adjusting our practices.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints also on Thursday sent a memo to its followers, saying all public gatherings of church members are suspended worldwide until further notice. That includes all public worship services.

Masjid As-Saber, the largest mosque in Oregon, issued a statement Friday, saying the restriction on large gatherings poses a challenge for worshippers, particularly if the limits remain in place through Ramadan, which begins next month.

It is a big disruption to our way of life, the statement said, adding that members completely understand this is a necessary step to stop this cruel virus from causing damage to the population.

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
MIAMI  Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, four days after the mayor attended a Miami event with a Brazilian government official who later tested positive for the virus.

Suarez confirmed the positive test Friday morning in an interview with the Miami Herald.

It is confirmed that I have the coronavirus, Suarez said. I did test positive for it.

Suarez said he is feeling healthy and strong, though his concern lies with those who have been in his close proximity in recent days.

Im concerned for people who have had some measure of contact with me, he said.

He issued a statement early Friday asking those who have interacted with him to take precautions.

If we did not shake hands or you did not come into contact with me if I coughed or sneezed, there is no action you need to take whatsoever, he said. If we did, however, touch or shake hands, or if I sneezed or coughed near you since Monday, it is recommended that you self-isolate for 14 days, but you do not need to get tested. After speaking with medical personnel, I will continue to follow Department of Health protocol and remain isolated while I lead our government remotely.

The mayor was present at Thursdays commission meeting, seated on the dais between City Attorney Victoria Mendez and City Manager Art Noriega for much of the morning. Top-level city administrators who were in close contact with the mayor have been told to self-isolate. Government workers who do not need to be physically present at city offices are being told to work from home.

Suarez was one of several politicians, including Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Sen. Rick Scott and President Donald Trump, who interacted with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his staff during a visit to South Florida last week. The mayor went into isolation Thursday after learning that one of Bolsonaros staffers tested positive.

Trump has stated that he does not plan to be tested for the virus.

Fabio Wajngarten, press secretary to Bolsonaro, tested positive on Thursday. Before learning of the Bolsonaro aides positive test and isolating himself, Suarez was scheduled to declare a state of emergency for the city of Miami at the conference. After leaving City Hall later Thursday afternoon, he was taken to be tested, at the request of health officials.

Then Suarez went to his Coconut Grove home, where he planned to self-isolate for two weeks while his wife and children stay with extended family.

Early Friday, Gimenez confirmed he tested negative for COVID-19. He said he plans to remain self-isolated for up to 14 days.
By PTI

LONDON: Three Indian-origin businessmen, two based in Mumbai and one in London, have been banned from acting as directors of any company without the permission of the UK court for their mismanagement of a health supplements firm operating out of India.

Melvine D'Silva, 44, from west London, and fellow directors Soriyano DSouz, 35, and Ramakant Lal, 37, from Mumbai have each signed seven-year disqualification undertakings, which bans them from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

The three bosses were directors of Vivid Lifestyle Limited, a health supplements company incorporated in July 2013.

The company, however, was wound-up in the courts five years later in August 2018 following confidential enquiries after the UK's Insolvency Service received complaints about Vivid Lifestyle's activities.

"As directors, it was entirely down to Ramakant Lal, Melvine Elias D'Silva and Soriyano Dsouza to supervise the activities of the call centre they had contracted to sell their products," said Martin Gitner, Deputy Head of Investigations for the Insolvency Service.

"Without that proper oversight, sales agents were left to their own devices and carried out aggressive and reckless sales tactics, often against vulnerable people," he said.

Investigators discovered that throughout the life of the company, the three directors had allowed Vivid Lifestyle to trade with a lack of commercial probity and failed to provide suitable governance over their sales agents.

The company used an overseas call centre to sell the health supplements but without proper supervision, the sales agents pursued high-pressure sales tactics to dupe vulnerable people into buying the products.

Sales agents often misled customers into thinking they were medically trained, had appropriate medical qualifications or worked with the UK's state-funded National Health Service (NHS).

Call centre staff also wrongfully claimed they were existing health care providers or were calling on behalf of a government organisation.

The Insolvency Service concluded that without effective supervision, Lal, D'Silva and Dsouza allowed the call centre to act in a reckless manner while selling Vivid Lifestyle's health supplements.

The mental wellbeing of potential customers was not considered and assessments didn't take place to determine whether the supplements were harmful if used in conjunction with existing medication.

"Their conduct as directors was completely unacceptable and these substantial bans, along with the courts approval to liquidate Vivid Lifestyle, should put a stop to their misconduct, while protecting vulnerable people from further harm," added Gitner, in reference to the Insolvency Service's investigation.

The three directors failed to ensure customer credit card and bank details were used for their intended purpose.

In their undertakings, Lal, D'Silva and Dsouza also did not dispute that they had received 17 complaints from customers who had payments taken from them for goods they either did not order, did not receive or were pursued for additional payments.

UK investigators calculated that Vivid Lifestyle secured more than 1.9 million pounds from just over 11,000 customers.
The Democratic debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders has been moved to Washington D.C. to limit 'cross-country travel' amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak.

The debate, which was scheduled to be held in Arizona, will also lack a live audience when it is broadcast on Sunday from CNN's studios.

Organizers have also replaced the debate anchor Jorge Ramos with Ilia Calderon after Mr Ramos came into 'direct contact' with a COVID-19 sufferer. He is said to be well and to have 'no symptoms'.

The campaign teams for the 77-year-old and 78-year-old presidential candidates announced yesterday that shifting the event was 'the best path forward'.

Joe Biden, 77, agreed to move the debate to Washington DC from Arizona to 'limit cross-country travel'. He is pictured speaking about the virus at Hotel Du Pont, Delaware

Bernie Sanders, 78, also agreed. Both candidates said it was the 'best path forward'

'Out of an abundance of caution and in order to reduce cross-country travel, all parties have decided that the best path forward is to hold Sunday's debate at CNN's studio in Washington, D.C., with no live audience,' a statement released by the democrats' communications director said.

'In addition, the DNC, CNN and Univision recently learned that Univision anchor and moderator Jorge Ramos was in proximity with someone who was in direct contact with a person that tested positive for coronavirus.

'Both Mr Ramos and the person he was in contact with are in good health and symptom free.

'Despite being cleared by medical professionals and out of an abundance of caution, Jorge has decided to step aside from participating in the upcoming March 15 democratic debate.

'Our number one priority has and will continue to be the safety of our staff, campaigns and all those involved in the debate.'

Coronavirus looks set to disrupt the 2020 presidential election cycle as both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have canceled rallies and asked their staff to work remotely.

There have been 1,758 cases of coronavirus in the US so far and as many as 41 deaths

Joe Biden (left of centre) and Bernie Sanders (right of centre) at the CNN presidential debate on January 14 this year

Incumbent president Donald Trump, 73, has also canceled campaign events, and started shifting scheduled rallies to virtual events, reports ABC.

A 'Catholics for Trump' event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, scheduled for March 19 has also been shelved, according to his campaigns communications director.

There have been 1,758 coronavirus cases in the US since the outbreak was declared, with this number expected to rise significantly. As many as 41 people have died from the virus.

Deaths have mostly been reported in individuals over 70 years old with underlying health conditions.

The World Health Organisation declared coronavirus a pandemic on Wednesday and warned that countries 'are not doing enough' to tackle the virus.

President Trump has suspended flights from China and from Europe, excluding the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Liva Grinberga is currently a Lead Designer at MediaMonks, in this talk she gives tips on creating impactful user interfaces, amplifying and extending existing brand guidelines, embracing your audience and identity and how to successfully design for your brand personality, at Awwwards Conference Amsterdam.

Creating an impactful interface that reflects on a brand is one of the key lessons that you have to create a successful design.

Watch 100s of UX, UI Design, Animation, Web Design and Development talks on the Awwwards YouTube Channel - subscribe here!

Get your ticket for the next Awwwards Conference: Talks, Workshops, Meetups and Parties for digital creatives to learn key tools, current trends and emerging web technologies from leading agencies, whilst making connections within the international design community.
Experts say both representatives of Ukraine, France, Germany, and the occupiers will sit at the negotiating table, in particular, at the Advisory Board.

The Political Advisory Board as part of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), the creation of which was approved during the meeting in Minsk on March 11, provides for subjectivity of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and Russia acquires the status of a guarantor along with Germany, France and the OSCE.

Read alsoZelensky: Ukraine seeks release of 200 detainees, sends list to TCG in Minsk

The relevant document has been published by Ukraine's weekly newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli (Mirror Weekly).

The TCG's decision on the establishment of an Advisory Board will be signed on March 25, 2020 after consultations with representatives of the OSCE, France and Germany.

"The main task of the Board is to carry out dialogue, consultations and formulate proposals on draft political and legal decisions to resolve the conflict in accordance with the Package of measures, in particular, regarding the conduct of elections in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions," reads the document.

The criteria and procedure for determining the members of the Board will be determined by Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France and the OSCE.

Experts say both representatives of Ukraine, France, Germany, and the occupiers will sit at the negotiating table, in particular, at the Advisory Board, and Russia will become a mediator, but not a party to the conflict.

In addition, the document only briefly mentions an immediate ceasefire, but the basic wording is "the need for an overall political settlement of the conflict."

As UNIAN reported earlier, the regular meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on Peaceful Settlement of the situation in Donbas was held in Minsk on March 11, during which Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak agreed to simultaneously open the checkpoints in the towns of Zolote and Schastia.

The sides also reached an agreement on the exchange of detained persons, the disengagement of forces and assets, as well as the establishment of the Advisory Board.
Bernard Madoff, who scammed investors out of $20bn (17.8bn) in history's biggest Ponzi scheme, wants one more chance to make a pitch: this time for his freedom.

Madoff's lawyer on Wednesday asked a New York federal judge to allow his client to personally appeal for compassionate release from his 150-year sentence on the grounds that he's dying from kidney failure. Madoff has so far served 10 years.

"Resolution of Madoff's motion for compassionate release is likely to be the last proceeding in this case before Madoff's death," said his lawyer, Brandon Sample.

"Allowing Madoff to give what is, in effect, a final dying, personal plea is imminently reasonable."

Mr Sample said Madoff (81), wants a public hearing but would make his appearance over the phone rather than in person. In a letter in response, federal prosecutors in New York told the judge that whatever Madoff had to say "at this point would be self-serving and of limited value".

Madoff last month asked for early release, saying he was likely to die within the next 18 months. Prosecutors pushed back, arguing that Madoff doesn't deserve a break because of the magnitude of his crimes and his lack of remorse.

In a separate letter to US Circuit Court judge Denny Chin late Wednesday, Mr Sample said retribution alone is not a sufficient reason to keep Madoff behind bars in his final days.

Bloomberg
An average Rs 1 crore investment can create only one job in the industrial sector, Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai told the Legislative Council on Friday

Mumbai: An average Rs 1 crore investment can create only one job in the industrial sector, Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai told the Legislative Council on Friday.

With this finding, Desai sought to debunk the general understanding that higher investments can create more jobs in the industrial sector.

During a discussion in the upper house, Desai said, "Internal data crunching in my department has revealed that in big ticket projects, the average Rs 1 crore investment creates only one job, while in small-scale industries, Rs 1 lakh needs to be invested to create one job."

The amount of investment shrinks further to Rs 25,000 in micro scale industries for creation of one job, Desai added.

"We have also noticed that 40 percent of our total exports comes from small and medium scale industries. If we assist and promote these industries, we can boost our exports and create more jobs," the minister said.
Its a cold and dreary day in Nashville, Tennessee.

Michael W. Smith is at home and enjoying whats left of his monthlong break.

The time off was much-needed, as Smith completed a fall run last year that sold out 14 of the dates.

The legendary Christian musicians coming 17-date tour is celebrating the 35th anniversary of his single Friends. The tour makes a stop in Albuquerque at Hoffmantown Church on Sunday, March 15.

I scheduled that time off for myself, he says. Ive learned over the years that sometimes you have to say no. I also did a Christmas tour. Then over the holidays, my home was full. I knew I had to recharge, and I cant overextend myself.

Smiths 35 Years of Friends tour also celebrates his 35 No. 1 singles.

Though hes had a month off of the road, Smith has spent some time writing music.

I never know whats going to come out, Smith says. Ive been working on a symphony. Im writing all of these instrumental and atmospheric things, and they are soothing and comforting. Im looking at reciting some Scripture over it. We move at a fast pace all the time; I think people are starving for something that they can rest to. It calms your spirit and slows you down.

For his tour, the 62-year-old musician wanted to cover as many songs as possible.

He ended up with over 40 songs for the set.

We have a lot of medleys and theres an acoustic set, he says. I also had to make sure that I could do this. I dont want to lose my voice during the tour. I had to be smart about planning this out. That was the biggest challenge for me.

Over the course of his career, Smith has worked hard, but also remained smart with each step.

Hes also given back to the global community. Smith has raised funds to battle AIDS in Africa; started Rocketown, a safe haven for young people in Tennessee to meet and find hope; and has helped more than 70,000 children through Compassion International.

These are things that I care about, he says. Ive been blessed with this life. I married this amazing woman, and I have a small group of people that just believes in me.

Of course, Smith also has to take care of himself  both mentally and physically.

I eat right, work out and stay active, he says. I surround myself with a bunch of kids that Im old enough to be their dad. I work with those kids, and all of them have played a significant role in my life. To top that off, people are showing up to my shows and want to listen to my music. Thats the most humbling part.
The Telangana government would implement the new Panchayat Raj Act effectively and provide funds to the rural local bodies every month as part of efforts to transform villages in the state as ideal villages in the country, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Friday.

Rao, who was speaking in the Assembly during a short discussion on the state government's 'Palle Pragathi' (progress of villages) programme, also said power tariff and property tax hike would be effected, sparing the poor.

"We will implement it (new Panchayat Raj Act) 100 per cent. We will achieve the desired results. There is no doubt about it. We have included it in the Budget. We have said in the Budget how we will give funds," he said.

The state government would get Rs 1,847 crore from the Centre for the coming financial year (towards development of rural areas) and the state government has decided to give, for the first time in the history of the state, an equal amount of Rs 1,847 crore, he said.

The state government would ensure that Gram Panchayats receive funds every month, he said.

With the intention to transform villages in Telangana as ideal villages in the country, the state government is implementing the Comprehensive Village Policy, he said in a statement on the 'Palle Pragathi' programme.

Observing that the government has taken many measures to transform the village set-up in the state, he said 'Palle Pragathi' special awareness and sensitisation programmes in villages have been conducted in two phases as part of the measures.

Talking about the new Panchayat Raj Act, it said Act clearly mentions the duties and functions of officers and elected representatives, he said.

"The government desires to see the rural areas to flourish with greenery and every village with cleanliness. It unveiled new tradition of evolving annual and five-year plans for transforming their respective villages in grand manner," he said.

The government increased accountability in governance by including stringent measures in the Act to take action on the officers and elected representatives who show negligence in their duties, he added.

Rao also said hike in power tariff and property tax is needed to ensure quality of services.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Australian Grand Prix has been cancelled and it seems like just a matter of time before other races follow suit. For example, Auto Motor und Sport are already reporting that the Bahrain and Vietnam Grands Prix are cancelled due to the coronavirus.

The Bahrain Grand Prix was due to go ahead behind closed doors, but even that now seems very unlikely. A member of the McLaren team contracted coronavirus. In Australia, reports from the German outlet suggest that the teams have decided to shut factories down for two weeks so that costs will be reduced.

In the United Kingdom, processes might be underway from the government to stop working in factories.

GP of the Netherlands at risk

If this report comes true, the Dutch Grand Prix will be the first event on the schedule. But that is also at risk. With the coronavirus situation getting worse in Europe, all activities may be cancelled until June. Almost all countries in Europe suffer from coronavirus, which means that events larger than 100 people are not allowed.
An employee of a private firm in Noida near Delhi has tested positive for coronavirus disease Covid-19, news agency ANI reported.

One employee of a private firm in Noida has tested positive for coronavirus. He has travel history to France and China. He is a resident of Delhi, ANI quoted Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Anurag Bhargav as saying.

Tracking Coronavirus Spread: Live Updates

The number of coronavirus patients in the country has risen to 75, including a foreign national. The national capital region (NCR) has so far recorded 19 cases of coronavirus.

A Delhi resident, who had a travel history to Italy was the first one to test positive from the region. The largest chunk of those who tested positive for the virus in Delhi-NCR comes from a group of Italian nationals who were confirmed for the virus at ITBPs quarantine facility in Chhawla, Delhi.

IPL will be banned in wake of coronavirus threat: Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia

As many as 14 Italian tourists, along with an Indian national, had confirmed positive for the virus. The group had travelled to Rajasthan wherein two other Italian tourists tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur.

A Paytm employee from Gurugram, a person in Ghaziabad and a man from Uttam Nagar also tested positive for coronavirus last week from the NCR region.

The global death toll from the virus has crossed 4,000 with over 1,00,000 infected with the virus in more than 100 countries.

Delhi government declared Covid-19 an epidemic on Thursday and ordered all cinema halls shut. The Delhi government has declared coronavirus an epidemic. We need to exercise abundant caution to contain the disease. All cinema halls, schools, colleges in Delhi will be shut until March 31, but exams will continue as scheduled. People are advised to stay away from public gatherings, said Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after a crucial meeting to discuss the issue on Thursday.

The Delhi administration also directed made it mandatory for all offices, shopping malls and other public spaces to be disinfected on a daily basis.
SAGINAW, MI  The Saginaw County Courthouse is remaining open amid the coronavirus pandemic, though new steps are in place to reduce potential exposure to the contagion.

In the wake of the Declaration of Emergency by Governor (Gretchen) Whitmer regarding the spread of the COVID-19 virus, until further notice, all Saginaw County Trial Courts will remain open, said Saginaw County Chief Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson the afternoon of Friday, March 13. However, since most of our employees dont have the option of working remotely from home, the next best thing is to reduce their risk and that of the general public to possible exposure to the virus.

Jackson announced a 14-step plan of intermediate steps to take effect immediately. Judges, administrators, and courthouse staff worked together to fashion the plan, Jackson said.

Its designed to reduce the need for face-to-face human interaction and thus prevent the spread of the virus, he said. None of us in Saginaw County are taking this situation lightly. Were taking this matter very seriously. We want to approach this head-on.

The plan is as follows:

1) All hearings with vulnerable persons may be adjourned (postponed) upon request. The request must be initiated by or on behalf of the vulnerable person by calling the phone number provided below.

2) Any civil case may be adjourned upon the request of any party. The request must be initiated by or on behalf of the party making the request by calling the phone number provided below.

3) All jury trials in all courts will be adjourned until April 13.

4) All citizen and/or student group courtroom field trips will be suspended until further notice.

5) Participants in specialty court programs will still attend hearings and sessions by video conferencing set up and scheduled by the individual judge in charge of the program. However, they will no longer appear in court in person until further notice.

6) All non-custody Friend of the Court show cause hearings, settlement conferences, and custody/parenting time investigations will be adjourned and rescheduled beginning in May 2020.

7) The Friend of the Court payment window will be closed and walk-ins are suspended until May as well. Payments can still be made online at misdu.com or by mail to MiSDU, P.O. Box 30351, Lansing, MI 48909-7581. Bond amounts may be paid at Saginaw County Jail using the kiosk.

8) Friend of the Court referee hearings will remain as scheduled, however parties may choose to appear by phone or may request an adjournment by calling 989-790-5300.

9) Probate conferences with the Probate Registrar may be held by telephone by calling 989-790-5323 and asking to speak to Terry Beagle.

10) Family Division show cause hearings will be adjourned and rescheduled for May 2020.

11) Family Division delinquency and abuse/neglect matters remain as scheduled; however, parties may choose to appear by phone or may request an adjournment by calling 989-799-2821.

12) All Family Division hearings with vulnerable persons may be adjourned upon request. The request must be initiated by or on behalf of the vulnerable person by calling 989-799-2821.

13) District Court probationers should report to their probation agents by phone or email on their report dates until further notice. And there will be no walk-in report dates until further notice.

14) Criminal defendants not in custody may have hearings adjourned upon request. The request must be initiated by or on behalf of the party making the request. Those individuals who fail to appear without having contacted the court first, may have a bench warrant issued in criminal cases, or be defaulted in civil cases, civil infractions, or summary proceedings (landlord-tenant matters).

Requests to adjourn matters may be made by calling the following numbers, or by email. It is not necessary to appear in person.

For 10th Circuit Court: 989-790-5470 pbecker@saginawcounty.com

For 70th District Court: Civil Division 989-790-5381 jschmoyer@saginawcounty.com

Criminal Division 989-790-5386 jroggow@saginawcounty.com

Traffic Division 989-790-5590 jstewart@saginawcounty.com

Probation Dept. 989-790-5492 jbooker@saginawcounty.com

Administration 989-790-5596 lvasold@saginawcounty.com

Probate Court: 989-790-5279 bmiller@saginawcounty.com

Friend of the Court: 989-790-5300 foc@saginawcounty.com

10th Circuit  Family Division 989-799-2821, Carol Somers: csomers@saginawcounty.com , Jenna Metivier: jmetivier@saginawcounty.com

We are keeping a close eye on this, and I am asking all our court employees to be hyper-hygienic in the meantime, Jackson said. If we start to see cases occurring, we will consider all options and take whatever action is necessary to protect the safety of our employees.

All of the 14 points are subject to change should the need arise, the judge added.

Our first concern  is to take care of our employees, he said. We also want to still be able to serve the public. Thats a dual process were trying to work out.

The Bay County Court Facility is likewise addressing the matter while remaining open.

All jury trials scheduled through April 6 have been canceled, said Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran. All departments are taking serious steps to eliminate the need for people to come into the courthouse, including having, in many cases, a probationer not report in person. The Friend of the Court is being given the option to handle matters over the phone. Weve taken steps to reduce the jail population, in terms of people who were supposed to serve weekends not have to report. Those terms would be deferred until further order of the Court.

Sheeran added that the public should not rely on this general statement to take action in their particular cases, but should consult with their attorneys or courthouse staff.

Everyone is giving the utmost cooperation to reducing the need for people to come to court during this crisis, Sheeran continued. "Were being flexible with employees in terms of time off and the need to deal with families. We have a lot of people who work here who have young families who are suddenly finding their children will be home rather than in school. Were trying to be liberal in accommodating employees needs and the publics needs.

Were taking steps with the idea to foster social isolation to slow the spread of the virus.

At the federal level, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan also announced on Friday additional measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus at its five courthouses in Bay City, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint and Port Huron.

The changes include suspending naturalization ceremonies until further notice.

The following measures take effect immediately.

 All criminal and civil matters scheduled for in-court appearances are postponed until further order.

 All grand jury proceedings are postponed.

 The time period of criminal matters postponements will be excluded under the Speedy Trial Act, as the Court specifically finds the ends of justice served by ordering the postponements outweigh the best interest of the public and any defendants right to a speedy trial.

 Case-by-case exceptions to the postponements may be ordered for non-jury matters at the Courts discretion.

 Criminal matters before magistrate judges shall continue to take place in the ordinary course.

 This order does not affect the Courts consideration of civil or criminal motions that can be resolved without oral argument or handled by telephone or video conference.

In addition, individuals entering one of the five federal courthouses in the Eastern District of Michigan must notify court security if any of the following criteria apply.

 Persons who have been in Italy, China, South Korea, or Iran within the last 14 days.

 Persons who reside with or have had close contact with someone who has been in one of the four aforementioned countries in the last 14 days.

 Persons who have traveled domestically within the U.S. where coronavirus has sustained widespread community transmission.

 Persons who have been asked to self-quarantine by any doctor, hospital, or health agency.

 Persons who have been diagnosed with, or have had contact with anyone who has, coronavirus.

 Person who are experiencing fever, coughing, or shortness of breath.

Our Court is attempting to do its part in containing the virus affecting our country, said Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood. We are doing this by limiting the number of large groups that regularly appear in our court while still protecting the constitutional rights of citizens in our community. Our goal is to keep the public and our employees as safe as possible.
The betting public liked what it saw last week when Beyond Better broke his maiden at first asking for trainer Bob McIntosh, and it was more of the same in Thursdays second kick at the can for the homebred.

Beyond Better, who was sent off as the 1-2 favourite in the $16,000 conditioned event, got away third for driver Trevor Henry while Heart On My Sleeve and Big Journey battled to the quarter pole in :27. Big Journey worked his way to the top and proceeded to carve out the half-mile clocking of :57.1 before Beyond Better took matters into his own hands.

Henry fed the son of Bettors Delight-Somethinincredible racetrack in the backstretch, and in a matter of strides the gelding found himself on top. He paced a third quarter in :29.1 to take the field to the three-quarter pole in 1:26.2 and then used a 28-second final frame to win by a length over Whitecookie in 1:54.2. Riot shot up the inside and rallied to be third.

Trainer Bob McIntoshs Robert McIntosh Stables Inc. shares ownership on the youngster with C S X Stables and Dave Boyle. The lightly-raced pacer is one of 77 sophomores that were nominated to the 2020 Pepsi North America Cup.

To view results for Thursday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Results  Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The Congress alleged on Friday that some facts about the debt of the Himachal Pradesh government were not stated in the budget, demanding a white paper on the "deteriorating economy" of the state.

On March 6, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur had presented a Rs 49,131-crore Budget for the fiscal 2020-21.

Participating in the budget discussion in the state Assembly, Shillai Congress legislator Harshwardhan Chauhan on Friday said the government should bring out a white paper on "deteriorating economy" of the state.

Chauhan, a five-time MLA, alleged that some facts about government debt have not been highlighted in the 2020-21 budget.

He alleged the debt burden of the state has risen to Rs 59,000 crore as the current government has accumulated Rs 12,770 crore loan so far but these facts have been "hidden in the budget".

Industries minister Bikram Singh, BJP MLAs Narinder Bragta, Narinder Thakur and Congress legislator Dhani Ram Shandil also participated in the discussion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP workers chant before Scindia, toh wicket gira do

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 13: 'Toh wicket gira do,' was a chant at a meet of the party workers of the BJP held after Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP. While speaking to party workers, he asked what he should do.

Toh wicket gira do or take down the wicket was the instant response from the BJP workers, who were indicating that it was time to topple the Kamal Nath led Congress government.

Scindia after joining the BJP headed to Bhopal accompanied by Union Minister, Narendra Tomar.

During the meeting, he said whenever the Scindia family has been challenged there were consequences. He spoke about his grandmother, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia had uninstalled the Congress government in 1967 after she had been slighted. He also said that his father Madhav Rao Scindia was wrongly accused in the Hawala scam and how it had its repercussions.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

Day after joining BJP, EOW re-opens forgery case against Scindia

He told party workers that he had threatened to hit the streets if the promises made in the Congress manifesto were not fulfilled. At that time, Kamal Nath had said then step down. Scindia had also all praise for former MP chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He said that he had never seen a more committed and hard-working chief minister. I am handing myself over to you after toiling in the Congress for 20 years, Scindia also told the BJP workers.
The task of the newly created Advisory Board at the Political Working Group of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) will be to develop recommendations on political issues.

The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Heidi Grau, said this in a statement following the TCGs meeting in Minsk on March 11, 2020.

"The Political Working Group discussed aspects related to the special status of CADR and CALR, as foreseen by Article 11 of the "Package of Measures". The decision was taken to establish an Advisory Board at the Working Group. Its draft mandate and working procedures have been defined. The task of the Board shall be to develop recommendations on political issues within the Groups purview, Grau said.

She also emphasized that the participation of Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak in the TCGs meeting on Wednesday "was an important expression of the sides political readiness to support our efforts."

ish
13.03.2020 LISTEN

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Technavio has been monitoring the artificial intelligence (AI) market in healthcare sector and it is poised to grow by USD 5.16 bn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 28% 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 latest free sample report of 2020-2024

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005283/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market in Healthcare Sector 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. The push for digitalization in healthcare will offer immense growth opportunities. 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.

Push for digitalization in healthcare has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market in Healthcare Sector 2019-2023: Segmentation

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market in Healthcare Sector is segmented as below:

Application

Medical Imaging and Diagnostics

Drug Discovery

Operations Management

Virtual Assistants

Others

Geographic Segmentation

APAC

Europe

MEA

North America

South America

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31914

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market in Healthcare Sector 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our artificial intelligence (AI) market in healthcare sector report covers the following areas:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market in Healthcare Sector Size

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market in Healthcare Sector Trends

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market in Healthcare Sector Industry Analysis

This study identifies growing potential for ai-based tools in elderly care as one of the prime reasons driving the artificial intelligence (AI) market in healthcare sector growth during the next few years.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market in Healthcare Sector 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the artificial intelligence (AI) market in healthcare sector, including some of the vendors such as General Electric Co., Google LLC, IBM Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Siemens Healthineers AG. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the artificial intelligence (AI) market in healthcare sector 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

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market in Healthcare Sector 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist artificial intelligence (AI) market in healthcare sector growth during the next five years

Estimation of the artificial intelligence (AI) market in healthcare sector size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behaviour

The growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) market in healthcare sector

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) market in healthcare sector vendors

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

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2018

Market size and forecast 2018-2023

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY APPLICATION

Market segmentation by application

Comparison by application

Medical imaging and diagnostics Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Drug discovery Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Operations management Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Virtual assistants Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Others Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by application

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Europe Market size and forecast 2018-2023

APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023

South America Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Middle East and Africa Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

Growing potential for AI-based tools in elderly care

Precision medicine

AI-based solutions for improving mental health

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

General Electric Co.

Google LLC

IBM Corp.

Microsoft Corp.

Siemens Healthineers AG

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/20200313005283/en/

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Whats not yet known is just how bad the drop in revenue will be for city government. At a news conference with Pritzker on Thursday, Lightfoot said she thinks the city is well suited to weather the storm due to its "very, very diverse economic system. Economically sensitive taxes, such as sales, are less than 25% of the budget, she said.
Canadas Parliament agreed Friday to shut down for more than a month while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau governed remotely from his home, in self-imposed quarantine after his wife tested positive for the new coronavirus

Canadas House of Commons voted to shut down for at least five weeks to help ensure lawmakers do not contribute to the spread of the virus.

The moves a day after Trudeaus wife tested positive. The prime minister himself has been in self-imposed quarantine.

All parties in Parliament agreed to the suspension, which means lawmakers will miss two weeks of sessions since they had previously planned to be away next week and two weeks in April. The House is scheduled to next meet Monday, April 20.

Government House leader Pablo Rodriguez said the House of Commons could come back sooner if an emergency requires a meeting.

Trudeau was quarantining himself at home because his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau tested positive for the new coronavirus after returning from Britain. He said Friday his wife has mild flu-like symptoms but is doing fine. He said neither he nor their three children are showing symptoms.

Shes getting lots of rest and drinking lots of fluids and were paying very close attention to what the medical professionals are saying, Trudeau said to the CBC.

I am feeling fine, no symptoms. The kids are all fine, happy to being staying home from school. Were doing well.

Trudeau was spending the day in briefings, phone calls and virtual meetings from home, including speaking with other world leaders and joining a special Cabinet committee discussion of the coronavirus. Trudeau spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday.

But Trudeau did cancel an in-person meeting with Canadas provincial premiers.

The prime minister will address the nation later in the day, according to his office.

Trudeau himself had not been tested because he was not showing symptoms, his office said. The doctors advice to the prime minister is to continue daily activities while self-monitoring.

Trudeau said his government will likely recommend that Canadians avoid travel outside the country except for essential purposes.

We are going to be able to get through this if everyone is going to follow the advice of our medical professionals and experts, Trudeau said to CBC.
UPDATE: Police have identified the victim. Click here for the story.

---

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 23-year-old man was pronounced dead after police responded to a shooting in Stapleton Thursday night, police said.

The shooting was reported at around 8:50 p.m. at 191 Broad St., which is in the vicinity of the Stapleton houses, an NYPD spokesman said.

A 23-year-old male was standing in the vicinity of 191 Broast St. when he was shot in the chest, according to the spokesman.

The man was initially transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze in stable condition, the spokesman said.

However, a couple of hours later the 23-year-old man was pronounced dead, according to the spokesman.

His identity has not been released yet pending family notification.

On Thursday night police were looking for a black male in his 20s wearing a black jacket, according to the spokesman.

It was unclear as of Thursday night what exactly led to the shooting, the spokesman said.

At least seven police vehicles were present on the scene and a portion of Broad Street was closed to traffic Thursday night.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- For more than seven years, Mitten Brewing Co. has made it a priority to be a good steward in the community it serves.

So on Friday, March 13, as parents were sharing their concerns about childcare and providing meals for their children following the announced three-week closure of K-12 schools across the state, the brewerys owners wanted to help.

All over the Facebook feed this morning it was obvious where the pain points would be with schools shutting down, said Max Trierweiler, co-owner of the brewery. Our vision was always to be active in our community and neighborhood. We feel its our responsibility to take care of each other.

The brewery handed out free slices of pepperoni and cheese pizza to students, teachers and parents late Friday morning at Harrison Park Elementary School, a part of Grand Rapids Public Schools.

Trierweiler didnt know how many pizzas his two cooks had made in preparation, but said they might need to return to the 527 Leonard St. NW brewery to make more.

If you are reading this in your Facebook app, use this link to view the entire gallery of photos.

Having already worked with Feeding America and the Kids Food Basket in the past through the Mitten Foundation, the brewery has experience fighting hunger issues in our neighborhoods. Theyve also partnered with Harrison Park Elementary School in the past through the foundation.

Trierweiler said he and his business partner, Chris Andrus, contacted Grand Rapids Public Schools on Friday morning to see how they could help. He said the district was coming up with a long-term solution to assist families that rely on free or reduced lunch programs, but hadnt solidified a plan as of Friday.

We know the good people at Grand Rapids Public Schools are working with external nutrition service providers to find a long-term solution, the brewery wrote on its Facebook page. For today, allow us to hand you some hot pizza. From our (sterile and gloved) hands to yours.

On Thursday evening, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered all K-12 schools to close from March 16 until at least April 6 in an effort to control the spread of coronavirus. Recommendations to control the spread of the virus include avoiding gatherings of 100 or more people, staying home when sick and practicing good hygiene.

Grand Rapids Public Schools and some others in West Michigan decided to cancel classes for Friday, one weekday ahead of the announced three-week closure for all schools.

The governor also declared a state of emergency. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus has sickened 1,215 people and resulted in 36 deaths, nationally.

Coronavirus symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus. They include fever, cough and shortness of breath. For most, the symptoms are mild, but it poses serious danger to others.

Mitten Brewing Co. previously announced that it will continue to operate with regular hours until further notice. They ask anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19 to avoid their locations and have asked their employees to do the same.

As an alternative to dining with us, the brewery offers take-out and delivery through GrubHub & Uber Eats.

We hope this ends as quickly as possible and everyone takes the precautions to ensure that happens, Trierweiler said. And please do what you can to support small local businesses. Were doing what we can to help the community.

Read more:

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Some West Michigan schools start closure early

Assisted living facilities limiting visitors to curb coronavirus spread
Analysis Chinese Electricity: Blessing or Curse for Myanmar?

A power station in Myanmar / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

YANGONFor much of the past decade, China viewed Myanmar as a potential source of electricity, which it planned to tap through large-scale hydropower projects on the countrys extensive river networks.

But the situation has changed, as Chinas massive efforts to develop hydropower have left it with a surplus of power. During the last two years, Chinas hydropower plants produced a surplus of nearly 70 billion kilowatt hours (kWh), most of that coming from southwest Chinas Yunnan province.

Myanmar has the lowest access to electricity in ASEAN; only half of the countrys 54.5 million population is connected to the national gird. To make matters worse, the country has been struggling with annual blackouts, especially in summer, as most power generation comes from hydropower.

The World Bank warned Myanmar last year that it needs to invest up to US$2 billion (about 2.8 trillion kyats) annually in its electricity sector to sustain economic growth, as electricity consumption is expected to increase by 11 percent yearly until 2030.

The bank predicts Myanmars electricity demand will reach 8,600 megawatts (MW) in 2025, and 12,600 MW in 2030, while current electricity production is just 3,600 MW. The Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) said electricity consumption has increased by 15-19 percent annually over the past few years.

With Myanmar facing a massive power shortfall amid growing domestic demand, its giant neighbor to the north is set to become its major electricity supplier, due to its lower prices, among other conditions and terms.

From Rakhine State in the countrys west to Kachin in the north, planning or construction of power projects backed by mammoth Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is underway in at least seven states and regions. The projects are expected to raise Myanmars electricity generation capacity by at least 3,500 MWdoubling the current capacitywithin one to three years. This would be made possible by cross-border power grids from Yunnan, as well as natural gas- and liquid natural gas-fired power plants.

With the rise of Chinese investment in Myanmars electricity sector, questions abound regarding Chinas eagerness to offer power so cheaply. Some put it more bluntly: Is China trying to influence the future of Myanmars power sector?

China observers in the country agree that the investments are part of Chinas strategic vision for Myanmar under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Under the BRI, Myanmar and China have agreed to implement nearly a dozen backbone projects ranging from deep seaports, industrial zones and border economic cooperation zones to a new city.

U Khine Win, the executive director of the Sandhi Governance Institute, said Chinas sale of electricity to Myanmar is motivated by self-interest.

Electricity is very crucial to implementing Chinas strategic mega-infrastructure projects in Myanmar. Likewise, selling electricity could also solve Chinas power surplus issue, he said.

Cross-border grids feed power-hungry Myanmar

During Chinese President Xi Jinpings trip to Myanmar in mid-January, the two sides signed 33 agreements, including two agreements related to a power-supply project; a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on conducting a feasibility study for the Myanmar-China Power Interconnection project, and a letter of intent on the acceleration of the Meel-Lin-Gyaing Integrated LNG project.

Also, an agreement to study Myanmar-China cross-border interconnection projects was signed between the MOEE and China Southern Power Grid (CSG), a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE).

The Myanmar government announced in mid-2019 that it will buy 1,000 MW of electricity from the CSG to cover its shortfall. The MOEE said the electricity is expected to be transmitted from Dhong Dai in Yunnan, China, to Muse, Mineye and Hopong in northern Shan State, Loikaw in Kayah State and Phayakyi in Bago Region.

As electricity demand is rising in the country, we have a target to link the Chinese and Myanmar grids in 2021-22, U Soe Myint, the deputy permanent secretary of the MOEE, told The Irrawaddy.

The government and company agreed to pay in kyats for the power and detailed negotiations are ongoing. U Soe Myint declined to provide details of the agreement price, saying China has generally agreed to sell electricity at a price that is affordable for Myanmar.

CSG is no stranger to Myanmar. The company has been lobbying to sell electricity to Myanmar since 2014.

CSG is not alone. Other giant Chinese power SOEs including State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), China Energy Engineering Group (CEEG), Union Resources and Engineering Company (UREC) and Powerchina have been taking steps to sell electricity to power-hungry Myanmar since 2016.

Another cross-border grid, according to the Netherlands-based Transitional Institute (TNI)s research, runs through Bhamo in northern Kachin State.

The Bhamo route is nearly ready to go online. The 230KV transmission will come from Chinas national grid in Yunnan to Bhamo in Kachin State and Ohntaw in Sagaing Region, where it will be connected to Myanmars national grid. TNI said Bhamo has already been linked to Chinas national grid in Yunnan via the Daepin Dam in Kachin State.

On Jan. 11, SGCC announced that its subsidiary China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co Ltd (CET) had completed the Nabar-Shwebo-Ohntaw power transmission line and a substation project in Shwebo in Sagaing Region. The grid will pass through Nabar and Shwebo before reaching Ohntaw.

A press release in 2017 from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to the Bhamo route as a Backbone Network Power Transmission Project, saying that while the Nabar-Shwebo-Ohntaw power project will be implemented by SGCC, a transmission line from Nabar to Bhamo would be built by UREC.

Myanmar officially became a BRI partner country after signing a 15-point MoU establishing the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) in September 2018. The two countries agreed to join hands to promote several sectors including collaboration on the power sector.

Investing in energy projects has always been a crucial part of the BRI mega-infrastructure plan. A study by Chinese government-backed Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDOC) on BRI energy interconnection published during the 2nd BRI forum revealed that energy investments in BRI countries would total $27 trillion by 2050, with $7 trillion alone going to power grid construction.

The research revealed Beijings grand plan to implement interconnection projects between China, Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. It recommended that cross-border interconnection be enhanced to solve power shortages in Bangladesh, India and Myanmar and that hydro, solar and wind power be developed in each country to increase electricity accessibility.

Daw Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, the head of the China desk at the Institute for Strategy and PolicyMyanmar, told The Irrawaddy that while others criticized Myanmar for its infrastructure weakness, China arrived with its own packages, such as long-term plans to sell electricity to Myanmar.

They know that electricity is important for the implementation of their projects. Chinese investment came with a long-term vision; they are well-prepared for it, she said.

LNG, natural gas projects

Since taking office in 2016, the NLD government has shifted its attention from big hydropower projects to liquefied natural gas (LNG) and smaller dams as an alternative solution to tackle the countrys power shortage, as LNG plants can be built faster. Aside from that, hydropower can be unreliable at timesparticularly during the dry season, according to the governments Myanmar National Electrification Plan.

Myanmar is unable to produce LNG on its own since it is very expensive and requires advanced technology; hence most of the investment in energy infrastructure is likely to be borne by investors.

Union Electricity and Energy Minister U Win Khaing said last year that Myanmar will implement gas and LNG power projects to fulfill the countys demand, as the power requirement is increasing by about 1,000 MW every year.

The minister said the government would call tenders for both short- and long-term projects to meet the increasing power demand in the future.

This is where Chinese companies come in.

According to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA), from 2016 to February 2020 the Myanmar Investment Commission approved about 19 electricity supply projects, among them nine projects to be developed by Chinese SOEs and their joint ventures.

In June last year, the MOEE called tenders for two gas plants and three liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants that will produce a total of 1,040 MW to cover expected shortfalls during the summer of 2020.

A consortium of Chinese SOEs and closely allied companies won the contracts to construct the projects, which are worth upwards of a billion dollars.

However, the tender process was criticized by international power companies, who cast doubt on the commercial viability of the five-year concession period, seven-month construction period and fixed tariff paid in kyats.

According to an MOEE statement, the winners were chosen because they offered the lowest unit price.

U Soe Myint declined to reveal the unit price, saying, It is confidential.

Of the five projects, Hong Kong-listed Vpower and its joint venture CNTIC were awarded three LNG projects in Thaketa and Thanlyin townships in Yangon and Kyaukphyu in western Rakhine State, where China is developing a Special Economic Zone and a deep seaport under its BRI agreement with Myanmar, aimed at giving China greater leverage in the Indian Ocean. The total power generation of the three LNG projects is 900 MW, at a cost of over US$800 million.

The other two are a consortium led by Vpower, which will implement a 20.54-MW gas power plant at Kyun Chaung in upper Myanmars Magwe Region, and a consortium of China Energy Engineering Group-Hunan Electric Power Design Institute Co. Ltd (CEEC-PHEDI), China ITS (Holding) Co. Ltd, and Shenzhen Shennan Power Gas Turbine Engineering Technique Co., which will build a 151.54 MW gas power plant in Yangons Ahlone Township. However, one week after MOEE awarded a letter of acceptance (LOA) to the latter, the World Bank debarred CEEC-PHEDI from its financed projects for 20 months for committing fraud in Zambia.

Unusual tender rules

According to the MOEEs tender rules and regulations for the above LNG and gas power projects, the winners are supposed to finish construction of the plants within seven months. Otherwise, they have to pay 300 million kyats per day as a fine. The concession period is five years from the commercial operation date.

For observers like U Khine Win of Sandhi Institute of Governance, the tenders terms and conditions are impractical and leave him wondering why the Chinese companies took the risk.

Those projects are unlikely to be commercially viable. The construction period is too short and the commercial operation date [fine] makes it very hard to get a proper profit for investors, he said.

The biggest question is why Chinese companies are grabbing this chance.

It makes it possible for them to gain a foothold in Myanmars power sector, U Khine Win said.

The link between Vpower, Chinese state firm

Of the five tenders mentioned above, Vpower and its affiliates won four.

Although Vpower is a Hong Kong-listed company, it has strong partnerships with Chinese state-owned companies, particularly CNTIC, CRRCone of the worlds largest manufacturers of railway carriagesand real estate firms based in Beijing.

CNTIC, Vpowers joint venture for three LNG projects in Myanmar, is a subsidiary of China General Technology Group Holding Ltd. based in Beijing, one of the largest state-owned Chinese conglomerates, investing in activities from machinery manufacturing and pharmaceuticals to technical consulting

According to the companys website, the co-founder of Vpower, Lee Chong Man Jason, said the companys cooperation with CRRC and CNTIC on the BRI projects positions Vpower to benefit from growth in power infrastructure development in BRI countries. Furthermore, the Kyaukphyu SEZ developer, China International Trust Investment Corporation (CITIC), holds an 8-percent stake in Vpower.

Crucial power projects under the BRI

Not every power project is officially part of the BRI. However, a 135 MW power plant project in the Kyaukphyu SEZ in western Rakhine State is recognized as an important project for the CMEC. The $180-million project will be developed by Kyauk Phyu Electric Power Co. Ltd, a joint venture between Chinese state-owned firm Power China and Myanmars Supreme Group.

The plant is expected to supply an estimated at 1,005 million units annually to Rakhine State and the national grid in 2021. The companies signed power purchasing agreement negotiations with Minister U Win Khaing on the sidelines of the BRI forum in Beijing in late April.

Supreme Group deputy chief executive officer U Htu Htu Aung told The Irrawaddy the government and company agreed to pay in kyats for the power generated. However, both sides declined to provide details of the agreement price, saying only that it is reasonable compared with other gas companies.

Another important project is the Mee Lin Gyaing LNG power plant in Ayeyarwady Region. Worth $2.5-billion, it is the biggest in the Myanmar power sector.

During the Chinese presidents trip to Myanmar in late January, the two sides signed a letter of intent to speed up implementation of the 1,390 MW project, which is to be developed jointly by Yunnan Provincial Energy Investment Group Co Ltd, UREC, Zhefu Holding Group Co Ltd and Supreme Group. The project is expected to be complete in 2023; 35 percent of the power produced will be distributed to Ayeyarwady Region, with the rest going to Yangon via the national grid.

The agreement for Mee Lin Gyaing is also being finalized. We will make the deal to complete the project during our target period, U Soe Myint said.

Dependency risk

Compared to locally generated electricity, foreign sourced power seems more vulnerable.

While the connection to the Chinese electricity grid will help cover some of Myanmars electricity needs, dependence on foreign electricity sources is always a risk because the supply could be stopped by the corporation or the Chinese government, according to TNI.

Stephanie Olinga-Shannon of the TNI told The Irrawaddy that SGCCa Chinese company responsible for the Sagaing Region transmission line for the Bhamo route cross-border gridis a for-profit corporation, meaning it could raise the price of electricity or cease supply to Myanmar if it was not profitable

The greater the dependency on foreign sources of electricity, the less control and bargaining power the Myanmar government would have in ensuring electricity supply at a fair price, said the planning and evaluation coordinator cum Chinese foreign policy researcher for the organization.

Furthermore, the infrastructure connecting the two grids will need to cross conflict areas in northern Myanmar, where ethnic armed groups and the Myanmar army are battling each other. This high-cost infrastructure could be a target for sabotage, and investors will likely want to protect their investment.

This could further militarize these areas, which could further increase the conflict there, said Olinga-Shannon.

Adding to the risk, the growing Chinese investment in Myanmars power sector could make investors from other countries jittery, as it could leave them feeling insecure, said Daw Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee from the Institute for Strategy and PolicyMyanmar.

When it comes to Chinese investment, especially in the power sector, there is a perception of insecurity among the other investors; for example, what if they shut down the power? she said, before adding, This perception could hinder foreign investment in Myanmar.

Recently, Philippine senators called for an investigation into the security implications of Chinas ownership of their countrys energy grid, after an official admitted that engineers in Beijing could plunge the whole of the Philippines into darkness.

Furthermore, Daw Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee said, relying too much on China for power would give it leverage over Myanmar.

[As a result] China will have bargaining power over Myanmar, she warned.
In the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, the DRC is trying to tackle a deadly measles outbreak with limited resources.

In early January, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the number of people killed by a measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has passed 6,000. It added that the epidemic, which affected more than 310,000 people since the start of 2019, is the worlds largest and fastest moving. According to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), three-quarters of those who have died are children.

Measles, a highly contagious airborne infection causing fever, coughing and rashes, can be prevented through a two-dose vaccine, which has been available since the 1960s. Eradication of the disease, however, has not been possible, especially in developing countries like the DRC, for multiple reasons.

According to the WHO, about 86 percent of the worlds children received one dose of measles vaccine by their first birthday through routine health services in 2018  up from 72 percent in 2000. As a result, the number of measles deaths across the globe decreased by about 80 percent between 2000 and 2017, despite a recent surge in the number of infections in Europe and North America, caused by the growing anti-vax movement.

However, a low vaccination coverage among vulnerable communities, malnutrition, weak public health systems, outbreaks of other epidemic-prone diseases, difficult access by vulnerable populations to healthcare and insecurity that has hampered response in some areas allowed the disease to spread like wildfire in the DRC and kill thousands.

Despite the devastating death toll, the international community paid little attention to the outbreak. While a few media outlets reported on the rapidly growing epidemic and the dire lack of funds to confront it, the resulting devastation remains largely uncovered  not even remotely matching the panic and concern over the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The highly mobile viral disease, officially known as COVID-19, has been dominating global headlines since the beginning of the year. The viruss capacity to diffuse quickly and easily across the borders, coupled with the relative lack of knowledge about its severity, made COVID-19 the international communitys number one concern, with the WHO declaring it a global pandemic on Wednesday.

The ensuing panic rapidly overshadowed other massive, yet locally contained, epidemics, like the measles outbreak in the DRC, both in attention and resources. The equation, once more, appears to be the more distance  physical or imagined  the less interest, compassion and engagement.

Moreover, the fact that measles is a widely known, less mysterious disease that can be prevented with a simple vaccine, caused the international community and media to pay less attention to the outbreak. The Ebola epidemic, for example, which killed about 2,000 people in the DRC since 2018, received much more attention and resources. Nineteen months after the start of the outbreak, the last Ebola patient was recently discharged from a hospital in Beni, a city in the North Kivu province of eastern DRC.

As the international community failed to respond to the crisis efficiently, the DRC government also found itself unable to contain the outbreak, for a host of reasons, not all of which are linked to war or corruption.

Political context and response

The measles outbreak has been ravaging the DRC since 2018, but the formal declaration of an epidemic came only in mid-2019. This dangerous delay was partly the result of a post-election political power vacuum in the country. When the first measles cases were reported, a government had not been formed yet and ministries were operating through interim staffing. This political-institutional deadlock exacerbated existing challenges in handling public health emergencies, making a prompt response  including prevention, surveillance and treatment  more difficult.

Since new President Felix Tshisekedi assumed office in early 2019 after a much-disputed election, he began outlining political reform and governance innovations in various sectors and provinces, including eastern DRC, where more than 100 armed groups continue to vie for local power.

With the support of aid agencies, the DRC government is reported to have vaccinated more than 18 million children below five in 2019. However, in certain areas, routine vaccination coverage remains low and 25 percent of the reported measles cases are children over the age of five. In addition to low immunisation and vaccine rates, widespread malnutrition is reported for at least 48 health zones across the country.

Moreover, the weakness of the public health system and its inability to cover  geographically and economically  basic healthcare needs has cleared the way for a quicker spread of the measles outbreak. Humanitarian agencies estimate a countrywide vaccine coverage of at least 95 percent to be necessary if the DRC was to have a shot at combating this outbreak.

To contain this epidemic, the DRC government needs to improve health services and vaccination coverage, including in rural, hard-to-access areas. This would also bolster access to more consistent healthcare for vulnerable populations and thus help prevent future outbreaks.

But the government is unlikely to be able to achieve this alone.

Regional health emergency vacuum

The DRC government undoubtedly needs support to contain the epidemic, but the much-needed help does not seem to be on offer, even on the continent.

Just like the international community, regional African powers also failed to respond to the epidemic in the DRC efficiently.

In recent years, many countries on the continent proved their ability to defeat epidemics. For example, in response to a 2019 measles outbreak in neighbouring Uganda, the government embarked on a swift, five-day immunisation campaign in which approximately 19 million children below the age of 15 received the combined measles-rubella vaccine. This makes 43 percent of Ugandas population.

Efficient response to an epidemic in one country, however, rarely translates into a regional response. From Ebola to measles, the ability of African countries to work together in containing regional health threats remains shaky. Even the countries who have the capacity to help fight epidemics beyond their borders often fail to do so as a result of existing political tensions and suspicions. Consequently, regional solutions to epidemics never materialise, making countries in need solely dependent on international powers.

This, however, does not need to be the case.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is responsible for ensuring African nations exchange knowledge and share expertise in the face of major health emergencies. It should thus work to get regional powers together to respond to the measles outbreak in the DRC. African countries are better placed and equipped than foreign NGOs and institutions to tackle the public health crises in their backyards.

At the bottom of the international response ladder

International organisations and institutions, including WHO, UNICEF, Measles & Rubella Initiative and MSF, among others, alongside the DRCs Ministry of Public Health have been leading the efforts to contain the measles outbreak in the country. Yet, the evolution of the outbreak demonstrates that their efforts, limited by a severe lack of funds and resources, have been ineffective in the face of the scale of the epidemic.

With global panic over COVID-19 spreading faster than the disease, the people battling the deadly measles epidemic in the DRC are stuck at the bottom of the international response ladder. As regional powers are also unable, or unwilling, to help, they are once again left to fend for themselves.

Short-term emergency responses, the efficiency of which is often solely dependent on the political will of international organisations and the level of interest of the international community, cannot resolve the DRCs health emergency.

International, regional and national authorities must work together and invest in the countrys health system to offer a sustainable, long-term solution. Moreover, regional institutions should encourage African nations to leave behind their political squabbles and work together to make better use of the talent and skills of the continent to respond to emergencies. Only then people in countries that are still struggling to build their health infrastructures, like the DRC, can stop living in fear of preventable diseases like measles.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
COVID-19 treatment will not be free for foreign visitors

At a meeting today (March 13), Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc confirmed strengthening solutions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and collecting health declaration from travellers because the epidemic has been detected in new areas over the world.

Thereby, the PM asked to limit the number of flights from COVID-19 infected areas to Vietnam, as well as boost immigration checks. In crowded places, the PM asked people to wear facemasks and authorities to provide masks for immigrants.

The government does not charge treatment fee for local people, however, foreign visitors will be charged for COVID-19 treatment while other fees like isolation and testing costs will be free, PM Phuc said. The Ministry of Health will establish a fund for preventing COVID-19.

The PM also recommended overseas students not to return to Vietnam for treatment because they will be quarantined upon return. Besides, management at border areas will also have to be tightened to mitigate illegal immigration into the country. The aviation sector is still promoted to ensure economic and trade activities.

Several days ago, Singapore started charging visitors around S$6,000-8,000 ($4,250-5,670) for COVID-19 treatment. Singapores new measures were announced on late Monday and came into effect on March 7, when two symptomatic Indonesian travellers arrived in Singapore.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Many Cuyahoga County employees can telecommute beginning Monday, the county announced in a press release on Friday.

The county is currently in a state of emergency because of the spread of coronavirus, with the first three cases confirmed in Cuyahoga County.

If an employees job requires in-person service, they will still be mandated to come to work. This includes deputies, corrections officers and social workers.

Employees must have a managers approval to work from home. If an employee wants to come to work as usual, they can.

"During what is clearly an extraordinary time, it is necessary for us to take strong measures to keep ourselves and others safe. This is a fast-moving situation and these policies are subject to change, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish said in a county release.

If employees need to stay home for family or personal reasons and they cant telecommute, they must se accumulated vacation, compensatory or exchange time, or sick leave, or they may request to take unpaid leave.

The state set up a hotline for questions about the coronavirus. You can access it by calling 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634) from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

An earlier version of this story used the phrase most Cuyahoga county employees. The announcement read for many employees." Cleveland.com has requested numbers on how many employees will have this option.
Pakistan on Friday announced a countrywide shutdown of all educational institutions over fears of coronavirus spread.

The announcement came after a meeting of the national security council attended by civilian and military leadership.

It has been decided to close all educational institutions in the country till April 5. This includes all schools and universities, public and private, vocational institutions and madaris, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood tweeted.

Pakistan borders China and Iran, both of which have been hit hard by the virus. It has reported 21 cases of the coronavirus but no deaths.

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Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/12/2020 -- The Global "Nurse Call Systems Market Size" is anticipated to showcase notable growth owing to the reduction in the number of patient to nurse ratio. According to a report by Fortune Business Insights, titled, "Nurse Call Systems Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Technology (Wired, Wireless), By Product (Basic Button Based Systems, Mobile Integrated Systems, IP Based Systems, Others), By End-user (Hospitals and Clinics, Assisted Living and Nursing Centres, Home Care Setting, Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026," the global nurse call systems market size was valued at USD 1.18 Billion in 2018. However, the global market is projected to reach USD 2.78 Billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 11.4% during the forecast period.



Some of the Main Key Players Covered in the Nurse Call Systems MarketReport:



Ascom Americas

Hillrom

Johnson Controls

Jeron Electronic Systems Inc.s

BEC GmbH

Azure Healthcare Services, LLC

Cornell Communications, Inc.

TekTone Healthcare Communications

GD Systems



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Increasing Incidence of Chronic Disorders to Aid in the Growth of Hospital Segment



In terms of end user, the global nurse call systems market is grouped into home care settings, assisted living and nursing centers, hospitals and clinics, and others. The report mentions that hospitals are expected to generate the highest global nurse call systems market revenue in the forthcoming years. It would occur as the nurses in hospitals depend upon nurse call systems for workforce management, emergency management, and monitoring of patients' health. Also, hospitals possess high patient pool who are in persistent need for general healthcare. Additionally, the rising prevalence of chronic diseases are leading to hospitalizations. It will contribute to the global nurse call systems market growth in the coming years.



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Ascom and Rauland-Borg Launch Advanced Nurse Call Systems to Increase Efficiency



Ascom, a global solutions provider, headquartered in Switzerland, announced the launch of its Telligence in North America in February 2019. Telligence is considered to be the world's first patient response system. It is a scalable and modular patient response system that upgrades nurse call service for unique patient-centric care. With the guidance of Telligence, caregivers can get access to appropriate information throughout the care process as well as at the point of care.



It is developed on the Ascom Healthcare Platform and it aids in collecting information from several sources, such as healthcare applications, patients, applications, and other medical devices. It has the ability to smoothly integrate with the facility's current applications and devices. Doctors and clinicians can get an in-depth view of the patient's health status that is much better than the traditional form of nurse call. It helps the caregivers to get to know about the patient's current health condition and response to their requests accordingly.



Have Any Query? Ask Our Research Experts



Detailed Table of Content:



Introduction

Research Scope

Market Segmentation

Research Methodology

Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics

Market Drivers

Market Restraints

Market Opportunities

Key Insights

Key Industry Developments - Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships, 2018

Introduction of New Products / Approvals (by Major Players)

Technological Advancements in Nurse Call Technologies

Key Market Trends

Global Nurse Call Systems Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2015-2026

Key Findings / Summary

Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Technology

Wired

Wireless

Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Product

Basic Button Based System

Mobile Integrated System

IP Based System

Others

Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By End-user

Hospitals & Clinics

Assisted Living & Nursing Centers

Home Care Settings

Others

Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Region

North America

Europe

Asia pacific

Rest of World

TOC Continued.



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Tracks the developments, such as new product launches, agreements, mergers and acquisitions, geographical expansions, and joint ventures.

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Flanked by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper (L) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Army Gen. Mark Milley, President Donald Trump meets with senior military leaders at the White House in Washington, D.C., October 7, 2019.

Kevin Lamarque / REUTERS

US and coalition forces struck back against Iranian-linked militias in Iraq, one day after a rocket attack killed a British Army medic and two Americans.

"Earlier this evening, the United States conducted defensive precision strikes against [Kataib Hezbollah] facilities across Iraq," a statement from the US military said.

"All options are on the table as we work with our partners to bring the perpetrators to justice and maintain deterrence," the defense secretary said earlier on Thursday.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

US and coalition forces struck back against Iranian-linked militias in Iraq, one day after a rocket attack killed a British Army medic and two Americans.

"Earlier this evening, the United States conducted defensive precision strikes against Kata'ib Hizbollah facilities across Iraq," a statement from the US military said. "These strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks."

Defense Secretary Mark Esper reiterated on Thursday that the US "will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies," following the rocket attack that also wounded 14 people, and that it would retaliate against maligned forces as necessary.

"All options are on the table as we work with our partners to bring the perpetrators to justice and maintain deterrence," Esper said in the Pentagon.

"You don't get to shoot at our bases, and kill and wound Americans, and get away with it," he added.

Over a dozen out of 30 rockets hit the Camp Taji base in Iraq, where US and coalition forces are hosted. Iraq forces found a truck rigged with several rockets nearby.

Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia that was formed by five smaller Shiite groups after the US's invasion of Iraq, embraces Iranian leaders and ideology, pledging to form a government similar to that of Tehran.

Story continues

The brigade's leader and deputy PMF commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was killed in the same airstrike that killed Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani earlier this year. Muhandis previously described Soleimani as "a living martyr."

The US State Department designated Kataib Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization in 2009. The group would continue to antagonize the US and threaten to fight "American occupiers" in Iraq.

Kataib Hezbollah agents killed five US soldiers during a rocket attack in Baghdad in 2011. According to the State Department, the group filmed their ambushes against US and Iraqi targets, including sniper and improvise-explosive device attacks.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A terminal cancer patient who hosted his own wake has fulfilled his dying wish of marrying his 'rock'.

Factory supervisor Chris Clark, 43, from Hebburn in Tyne and Wear, who has just weeks to live after being diagnosed with bowel cancer last year, held his 'awake wake' less than a fortnight ago so he could say a proper goodbye to loved ones.

Just days after the inspirational event, he married his girlfriend of more than a year Claire, 46, at a beautiful but heartbreaking ceremony on Tuesday.

Factory supervisor Chris Clark (pictured with his wife), 43, who has just weeks to live after being diagnosed with bowel cancer last year, has fulfilled his dying wish of marrying his 'rock'

Chris (pictured at his wedding) held his 'awake wake' less than a fortnight ago so he could say a proper goodbye to loved ones

Chris and Claire's had their first dance as a married couple to A Thousand Years by Christina Perri, and were captured on video in a loving embrace while a slideshow of pictures of the couple played behind them.

They were supported by tearful family and friends, who have come to call Chris 'Braveheart' as a result of his courage throughout his illness, during which he has fought multiple episodes of deadly sepsis.

Claire, from Sunderland, has now expressed her pride in her new husband.

She said: 'It was an amazing and emotional day with our loved ones, who laughed and cried with us.

Just days after the inspirational event, Chris, from Hebburn in Tyne and Wear, married his girlfriend of more than a year Claire (pictured together), 46, at a beautiful but heartbreaking ceremony on Tuesday

What is bowel cancer and what are the symptoms? Bowel cancer is a general term for cancer that begins in the large bowel. Depending on where the cancer starts, bowel cancer is sometimes called colon or rectal cancer. Bowel cancer is one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed in the UK. Most people diagnosed with it are over the age of 60. Symptoms of bowel cancer The 3 main symptoms of bowel cancer are: persistent blood in your poo  that happens for no obvious reason or is associated with a change in bowel habit

a persistent change in your bowel habit  which is usually having to poo more and your poo may also become more runny

persistent lower abdominal (tummy) pain, bloating or discomfort  that's always caused by eating and may be associated with loss of appetite or significant unintentional weight loss Most people with these symptoms do not have bowel cancer. Other health problems can cause similar symptoms. For example: blood in the poo when associated with pain or soreness is more often caused by piles (haemorrhoids)

a change in bowel habit or abdominal pain is usually caused by something you've eaten

a change in bowel habit to going less often, with harder poo, is not usually caused by any serious condition  it may be worth trying laxatives before seeing your GP These symptoms should be taken more seriously as you get older and when they persist despite simple treatments. Source: NHS Advertisement

'We were married at South Shields registry office and then went to the Hedworth Hall for the meal and party.

'I am so proud of Chris, it was an emotional and exhausting day and we were there into the early evening, we left at around 8.30pm. We can't thank everyone enough for their love and support.

'Our wedding day was organised at such short notice and we would like to thank Deborah Roberts from Cancer Connections and Lisa Nightingale from the Hedworth Hall, among many, many other people, who helped organise such a perfect day for us both.'

Chris, who walked up the aisle to the theme tune from Braveheart the movie to wait for his bride, paid an emotional tribute to his new wife and called her 'stunning,' and 'my rock'.

He added: 'Behind every good man is a good woman. Claire exceeds all expectations.

'To do what she has done and put up with me for the past year, she deserves an award.'

Chris came up with the idea of attending his own wake after he was told he had just a matter of weeks to live in February.

During the emotional gathering at the Lord Nelson pub in Jarrow, in Tyne and Wear, more than 7,000 was raised, through raffles and donations, for Cancer Connections, who have supported Chris through his devastating plight.

He said: 'I started thinking, "Why should I be dead for my wake and not see people?". People would come who I haven't seen for years, so why shouldn't I get to see them?

'The people I love, my friends and family, would all be together and I would actually be there to say goodbye.

'I don't want people grieving. Those close to me have gone through every step with me since my diagnosis and the wake has given them something to focus on as well.'

Chris, who works for UTS Engineering Company in Jarrow said friends and former colleagues travelled from across the UK and abroad for his wake.

Chris added: 'Claire's my rock who puts up with my mood swings. I'd be lost without her.

Chris and Claire's (pictured) had their first dance as a married couple to 'A thousand years' by Christina Perri

They were supported by tearful family and friends, who have come to call Chris (pictured with his wife) 'Braveheart' as a result of his courage throughout his illness

'People have been so generous to me since my diagnosis. Friends, family and my employers have helped non stop and there was a fundraiser to help me still enjoy life after I was diagnosed.

'Cancer Connections has been a lifeline, they help with counselling, money advice, basically anything you need. The Macmillan nurses have also been outstanding.

He added: 'I want to urge people to get checked. If you have any symptoms of anything at all then get help straight away, whether it's physical health or mental health, don't just leave it to chance, get it checked out.'

Chris raised money for Cancer Connections at the wake and donations can be made at his Just Giving page.

Chris (pictured before his cancer diagnosis) raised money for Cancer Connections at the wake

During his hospital stays, Chris penned poetry about his journey, including this one: 'Gently as the wind caresses the sea, I watch aimlessly as the waves progress.

'Wind blowing on a solitary tree, branches breaking leaves a mess. I sit in comfort in my car, anguish, anger thoughts afar.

'Why is life so unfair? I love my life I duelly care. No second chance or any respite, just hanging on tight preparing to fight.

'A glimmer of hope or a change in luck, is my body up for this ruck? Aspirations and dreams amiss, praying for change that would be bliss.

'Raw emotion and hurt is deep, head's a rollercoaster I pray for sleep. Silent thoughts I'm so confused, Cancer's laughing it's so amused.

'Another victim I'll become, I'l gain my wings and join my mum.... Days or weeks time will tell, I've went through an emotional hell.

'I'm dreading death and my fatal breath. My love, my family my friends I will leave, please celebrate my life and do not grieve.'
March 13 : Vicky Kaushal has always impressed us with his outstanding acting skills and next year, right before Republic Day 2021, we can get to witness him in the Bollywood film Sardar Udham. Take a look at his magnetic poster, and surely you would fall in love with gentleman look in the film. The film would be released on Jan 15, 2021.

As seen, he is a on a classic shade of grey. The actor wore a beared face, along with an old English hat, a grey coat, a brown vest, deep blue tie and crisp white shirt. His face was calm, yet determination shone in his gaze. He will be depicting the entire patriotic feelings that ring in our minds during the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

His post threw light on the admirable character that he had slipped into, On March 13th, 1940, #SardarUdham singlehandedly assassinated Michael O' Dwyer in London to honor the lives lost at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. His story deserves justice onscreen. Keeping that in mind, we will now see you in cinemas on 15th January 2021! @banitasandhu @shoojitsircar @ronnie.lahiri #SheelKumar @writish1 #ShubenduBhattacharya @filmsrisingsun @kinoworksllp @sadarudhamfilm

Earlier it was planned to release on October 2020, but now for many unspecified reasons, this date has been moved to a later date next year. This is a Hindi biographical Shoojit Sircar film, and produced by Ronnie Lahiri. The story was written by Ritesh Shah. Vicky Kaushal takes on the lead role as Udham Singh  who is a revolutionary leader and assassinates London of Michael O'Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of Punjab in India.

The story looks promising and with a fine actor to display  we have to await this performance.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: A 26-year-old techie who visited Greece with his wife for honeymoon has tested positive for the new coronavirus in Bengaluru. He has been isolated at Jayanagar General Hospital.

He returned from Greece to Mumbai on March 6 and then travelled without his wife to Bengaluru on March 8 evening. His wife went to Agra. He went to work on March 9 for about an hour, but he was suffering from fever, sore throat, cold and congestion, health minister B Sriramulu said at a press meet also attended by department commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) director C Nagaraj.

The engineer, who admitted himself to RGICD was then shifted to Jayanagar General Hospital on March 10. The hospital has 8 isolation beds. He lived with his brother in Bengaluru.

The engineer had 10 primary contacts including his wife, mother and brother. He interacted with four people at work - the company has a staff strength of 154 people - four other friends, the driver of autorickshaw which he rode in. He had seven secondary contacts bringing the total number of contacts to 17. The passengers onboard the Indigo flight he took from Mumbai to Bengaluru are still being traced, apart from any other cab or autorickshaw he took once he returned to Bengaluru. As many as 906 people are under home quarantine and 1220 have been identified for observation.

Woman tests negative

A 24-year-old woman returning from France was taken from Kempegowda International Airport by health department authorities for having fever. She was admitted to Bowring & Lady Curzon Hospitals at 6 pm on March 11 and her throat and nasal swabs were taken. She tested negative for coronavirus.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse)  Fri, March 13, 2020 09:04 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a41523 2 Lifestyle fashion,microfibers,environment Free

New European research has found that despite concerns that washing clothes can release harmful fabric microfibers into the environment, just wearing your clothes could actually release more.

Carried out by scientists from the Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials of the National Research Council of Italy (IPCB-CNR) and the University of Plymouth, UK, the study is the first of its kind to compare how many fibers were released from four different items of polyester clothing when they were being worn and being washed.

The research, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, showed that between 700 and 4,000 fibers per gram of fabric could be released from all four of the different garments during a single 40C wash.

However, after asking a set of volunteers to wear the clothes in a lab setting and carry out normal, everyday activities, the researchers found that up to 400 fibers per gram of fabric could be shed from clothing while wearing them for just 20 minutes.

The team says that over a year, these could lead to one person releasing nearly 300 million polyester microfibers into the environment by washing their clothes, and more than 900 million to the air by just wearing them.

Read also: Contemplating the high price of ethical fashion

The researchers also added that how many fibers were released varied greatly depending on who made the garment, and when it came to fabrics, the polyester/cotton garment released the most fibers during both washing and wearing, while woven polyester released the least.

The results build on previous studies by the same team of researchers which showed that a large number of fibers are released during washing.

Lead author of the study Dr. Francesca De Falco commented on the new findings, saying, "Recently, more evidence has been accumulating on the presence of synthetic microfibers not only in aquatic environments, but also in atmospheric ones. That is why we decided to design this set of experiments to study microfiber release by garments to both media. This is a type of pollution that should be mainly fought at its source, the fabric itself, but we investigated the influence of different textile parameters on the release. Results have shown that textiles with a very compact structure like woven, with yarns highly twisted and composed of continuous filaments, can release less microfibers to both air and water."

Topics : fashion microfibers environment
(Photo : Pixabay)

The agitated rift between full-time personnel and contract workers at Facebook and Google has just erupted. The employees now are figuring out who deserves to work from home amid an ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Throughout this week, several tech giants asked their workers to work from home as a precautionary measure to avoid COVID-19 from spreading.

Google's parent company Alphabet asked all its North American personnel to telecommute by April 10, with that same guidance later driven out to the staff in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Facebook later has also extended its guidance to allow anyone whose job would enable them to do so to voluntarily work remotely through Friday, April 10.

ALSO READ: Tech Giants Pledged to Pay Employees Per Hour Amid Working From Home Due to Coronavirus

Guidance not applicable to networks of subcontractors?

According to a couple of reports, companywide directives don't seem to apply to Facebook or Google's subcontractors and temps. These groups are employed by third-party groups and don't have access to the same benefits as full-time employees.

Contractors make up half of Google's total staff. Google's company policy prevents a few members of its so-called "extended workforce" from doing their responsibilities remotely.

A Google spokesperson told the Guardian that employees and contractors whose work required they be physically present on-site work were nonetheless required to work in. The corporation said on March 10 that it allocated a fund to provide paid sick leave to third- party contractors. However, it did not delve further into how approximately people would begin to see these advantages.

Which, understandably, isn't going over properly with a contingent of employees that have traditionally felt sidelined by Google's preferential treatment.

Josh Borden, a triage analyst for Google, told the Guardian the contractors' second-class status now has literal health implications. Because of this, he stated his fellow coworkers have started to sense that the organization's deserted them or that their health isn't considered a priority compared to full-time staffers.

The full-time employees, according to Borden, kept on heeding the employers to work at home. Borden added the contractors were "sitting in the Petri dish" with the choice of not being paid or getting sick --- which places their loved ones to get sick, too.

Third-party agencies, Facebook gave contradicting answers about contractors' options

That triumphing idea apparently isn't much one of a kind at Facebook, according to an Intercept report. Discussions from Facebook's internal worker discussion board reviewed by The Intercept gave a nation of confusion, fear, and resentment. Contrary to statements Facebook, contract workers claim they're barred by their employers from working from home, regardless of the technical feasibility and clean public health blessings of doing so.

Frustrating matters further, third-party employers and Facebook have purportedly given contradicting solutions about contractors' options ought to they want to call in sick. According to numerous employees at the discussion board, a third-party provider told Facebook that "contingent workers can select both unpaid sick leave or use PTO. They are not, however, allowed to have paid sick leave." However, another forum post from a Facebook worker in charge of the third-party group claimed the exact opposite. The worker claimed that "if any contingent employee falls ill and desires to take time to recover, they do not need to apply their sick or PTO leave."

A Facebook spokesperson told The Intercept that it's presently searching into ways to temporarily enable remote alternatives for jobs that generally require personnel to be at the workplace. The organization's also purportedly "taking extra steps to limit contact for those in the workplace.

ALSO READ: Will Silicon Valley Help White House Eradicate Coronavirus? Several Tech Companies Lent A Hand to End The Pandemic

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Express tests for the Chinese coronavirus arrived in seven hospitals across the Ukrainian capital. Mustafa Nayem, the Deputy Director of Ukroboronprom, Ukraine's state-run defense company posted that on Facebook.

"We should be washing our hands, avoiding large crowds of people... In case of any suspicions, we safely pass the free tests. The express tests are conducted solely for medical reasons, at a medical facility and free of charge", he wrote.

Earlier, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry persistently urges citizens to refrain from traveling abroad. The press office of the authority reported that on Thursday, March 12.

"This, first of all, concerns the People's Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Japan, as well as (...) tourist destinations that are popular among Ukrainians - specifically, the Italian Republic, Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Republic of Greece, the Federal Republic of Germany, Egypt, the UAE, the Republic of Turkey, the Kingdom of Thailand, Israeli state and others", reads the message.

Those who are now staying abroad - in the countries where the cases of Covid-19 are registered, are required to show maximum awareness and cautiousness. The Ministry calls on the citizens to abide by the requirements of the local authorities, avoid visiting the dangerous areas and report on their whereabouts to the closest diplomatic institution of Ukraine.
Brash Bullows, 25, from Yorkshire, has been jailed for almost two years after hurling a box ferrets at passing cars

A drunk woodland-dweller who hurled a box of ferrets at passing cars after downing ten pints of beer been jailed for almost two years.

Brash Bullows, 25, jumped on car bonnets, smashed windscreens and punched one shocked driver in a frenzied boozed-up rampage.

The aggressor, a social outcast who lives in the North Yorkshire woods, flew into a rage when he was refused 'a lift' from several motorists who were queuing in traffic.

A court heard the defendant screamed and swore at one driver as their petrified eight-year-old granddaughter sat in the backseat.

Burrows, who had knocked back ten pints before the frenzy, was chased down by members of the public and detained until the police arrived.

Nine vehicles were damaged in total, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage during the incident in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, on December 2.

Burrows appeared at York Crown Court yesterday after admitting nine counts of criminal damage.

Judge Simon Hickey slammed Bullows for terrorising motorists 'simply going about their business' and jailed him for 21 months.

Prosecutor Joseph Hudson said 'serious distress' had been caused to at least five of the victims who made a complaint to police.

Burrows appeared at York Crown Court (file photo) yesterday after admitting nine counts of criminal damage

The court heard that Bullows, who lived in North Yorkshire woodland, had 27 previous convictions for 49 offences including serious violence.

In March 2019, he was given a 17-month suspended prison sentence after charging at a man with a knife and aiming the weapon at his head.

Defence barrister Ismael Uddin said because Bullows was a social outcast who had been living in woods outside Harrogate for the past five years.

He said: 'He chooses to absent himself from society.

'He's normally in the Harrogate area (where) he says people pick on him because he lives in a wood and chooses not to associate with anyone.

'There is no rhyme or reason he can give (as to) why he damaged these cars, (but) he couldn't get out of the town centre and people wouldn't give him a lift.

'He reacted out of frustration and started throwing his worldly possessions at cars.'

It is understood there were no injuries to the ferrets, who were taken in by the RSPCA following the incident.
Srinagar: Today I am free I am free, Farooq Abdullah, the National Conference (NC) president, told waiting mediapersons from the terraced courtyard of his Gupkar Road residence on Friday shortly after he was released from his detention.

Abdullah, wearing a long black coat and his wife Molly and daughter Safia by his side, appeared calm even though he was talking to the media after over seven months of incarceration.

The Jammu and Kashmir administrations order to revoke the Public Safety Act, under which he was held, came as a surprise to many.

As the mediapersons rushed to his house in the afternoon, both local residents and police personnel were caught unawares. We were not aware of the revocation of his detention order. Had we known it beforehand, we would have reached even before the mediapersons and not allowed them to come so close to the residence, said a police officer while pushing back the journalists to the other side of Gupkar Road.

The mediapersons waited for over an hour and half for the flamboyant politician to show up as the NC flag -- white plough on a red background  fluttered in the cool breeze in the Abdullahs courtyard.

Local residents started to enquire about the fuss because of the commotion outside his residence. Some of the NC supporters also reached the spot as the news spread. I want to catch a glimpse of the leader. I have not seen him for the past many months, said Mohammad Hussain, an NC Halqa president from Srinagar.

The police whisked away two NC supporters as they appeared suspicious, but were released after a while.

Safia tweeted My father is a free man again, but kept waiting for the magistrate to open the seal on the locks, as her Twitter timeline got flooded with good wishes and congratulatory messages.

However, many locals were not enthused about Abdullahs release. Whats the big deal? Has he even cared about the neighbourhood where he lives? asked an auto-rickshaw driver near his residence.

A young man was indifferent to the three-time chief minister and Lok Sabha members plight. Its better for him to shun politics. There is nothing for him to do now. He has been reduced to a pauper and everything is up to the lieutenant governor. Had these leaders ever cared about the wishes of their people and not always crushed its own people to keep Delhi happy, they would have found sympathy today, he said on condition of anonymity.

Javaid Ahmad, a resident of north Kashmir, said that the release of Abdullah is no cause for celebrations in Kashmir. Will he be able to speak about the autonomy, which the NC has been talking about since 1953? We have seen many leaders, who only talk about statehood, he said.

Yawar Hussain, a netizen, said that Abdullah seems to have come to terms with the abrogation of Article 370. He seems to follow his father Sheikh Abdullah, who was released in 1975 by the Indian government after several years of detention. He appears to have accepted the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution like his father did with the dilutions of J&Ks special status. History would judge him like it has judged his father, Hussain said.

Abdullah visited Dargah Hazratbal, Kashmirs holiest shrine on the banks of the Dal Lake, later in the day amid the rush of visitors at the his residence.
The Construction Industry Federation(CIF)is working closely with the government to assure its members are safe against the Coronavirus.

The CIF have stated that the first, and most critcal stage for employers and employees in containment. During this phase it is imperative to minimise the spread of the Coronavirus. Decisive, proactive containment measures taken now can reduce negative impacts in the future.

Read also:HSE approved ways to protect yourself and others against the Coronavirus

Ensuring those that are affected self-isolate is essential to limit and slow down the spread of the virus, to keep the number of affected people to a minimum; and reduce peak pressure on the health service and the impact on the economy.

The Government has asked the CIF to urge its members and the wider industry to help ensure employees follow self-isolation directions by removing where possible concerns about income.

To this end, the Government will introduce a series of measures to enhance State illness payments for people affected by Covid-19. To bolster this measure, the CIF and the Government are recommending all employers support the national effort by continuing to pay workers who cannot attend work due to contracting Covid-19 or due to certified self-isolation, the difference between the special Illness Benefit rate and their wages.

The Government accepts the CIFs contention, that some companies will not be able to do so due to their financial situation in the crisis. To support companies, several liquidity measures to assist affected businesses have also been announced by the Government and are accessible on www.dbei.ie along with a definitive checklist for preparatory actions in responding to COVID-19.
The outgoing director general of the BBC, Tony Hall, wrote a piece in this newspaper last week in which he claimed the Corporation was eager to have a public debate about its future.

To those of us who cherish the best parts of the Beeb, but believe it needs fundamental reform if it is to prosper in the new multi-media world, Lord Halls apparent open-mindedness was welcome.

Unfortunately, his idea of an open debate seems to envisage tinkering at the edges while the great bloated behemoth that is the BBC sails on unchallenged for the rest of eternity, funded by a mandatory licence fee.

BBC Director General Tony Hall, pictured, has claimed he wants the public involved in the discussion about the future of the corporation

Yesterday, appearing in front of the Commons digital, culture, media and sport select committee, Lord Hall let slip something that was breathtakingly maladroit. The BBC is evidently as set in its ways as ever.

He agreed that people in their 80s and 90s could be hauled through the courts for not paying their TV licences when the free concession is withdrawn in June for everyone over 75 except those on pension credit.

Lord Hall added that he didnt want to see people going to court. Well, that is very generous of him. Who does? The fact is that he can conceive of such an eventuality. Auntie  or Capita, the company that runs TV licensing enforcement  will prosecute very old people.

What is so odd about the director generals heavy-footed intervention is that it comes only weeks after the Government announced a formal review into the possible decriminalisation of non-payment of the licence fee.

You might have thought Lord Hall would have shown greater sensitivity to the new political climate. He knows the very future of the fee is in doubt after the current charter agreement ends in 2027.

And yet here he was issuing a threat  admittedly in a soft-spoken way because he is a polite sort of chap  which seems to belong to the old world in which the BBC could rely on the permanence of its funding arrangements.

Its said that Dominic Cummings, the Prime Ministers chief adviser, dreams of killing off the Beeb or at any rate so neutering it that there is nothing much left to be taken seriously. Not so much reform as evisceration.

That would be wrong. But when I hear Lord Hall talking about the possible hounding of old and vulnerable people (some of whom may simply have forgotten to pay the annual fee  157.50 from next month) I cant help wondering whether Mr Cummings has a point.

For all his talk of open debate, Lord Hall is as hidebound as the organisation he has served as director general for seven years. The principle of the licence fee is for him so sacrosanct that he will defend it even to the point of accepting the persecution of the elderly.

He is due to stand down in the summer. The strong likelihood is that his replacement will be a long-serving BBC apparatchik equally wedded to the licence fee.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Corporation Sir David Clementi  a former banker who has gone native in his current role  misses no opportunity to dwell on what he claims would be the disastrous consequences of getting rid of the fee.

In short, the top brass at the Beeb have their heads in the sand and seem both incapable of adjusting to the new political realities and stubbornly resistant to exploring imaginative alternatives.

It has long been hard to justify making those who watch TV  but seldom or never look at BBC programmes  pay a sizeable yearly sum to Auntie. Now there is a growing number of people who never look at television but watch online.

Even if Dominic Cummings wasn't threatening it, the BBC would have to face the fact that the number of people prepared to pay the licence fee is slowly but inexorably dwindling

The media watchdog Ofcom has just published the results of a five-year review of public sector broadcasting. In the 16 to 24 age group, there was a 53-minute drop in daily live TV viewing between 2014 and 2018 as the young increasingly turned to streaming sites such as Netflix and YouTube.

Even if Dominic Cummings wasnt threatening it, the BBC would have to face the fact that the number of people prepared to pay the licence fee is slowly but inexorably dwindling.

The BBC should also ask itself whether it is necessary for every jot and tittle of the organisation to be lovingly preserved  its ten national TV channels, it huge free website which drags readers from commercial online publications, its ten national radio stations and 40 local radio stations.

So irrepressibly expansionist is the Corporation that it is reportedly thinking of reviving little-watched BBC3 as a television channel, having moved it online four years ago.

Maybe savings would be found elsewhere to fund this move. But why not bank the money  and keep the unloved BBC3 where it is? Because that is not how resolutely uncommercial (and usually grossly overpaid) Corporation bosses think.

The sad truth is that there probably isnt going to be much creative thinking about the BBCs future with a younger clone of Tony Hall running the show and the backward-looking Sir David Clementi as chairman.

Sir Davids tenure runs out next February, and his successor will be appointed by the Government. I hope it will be someone who does not blindly follow Mr Cummings agenda and combines a zest for reform with respect for the institution.

The alternative is a bare-knuckle fight with No10, which Auntie will lose. Where on Earth is the inspired person who can save the best of the BBC?

BBC boss Lord Hall admits 90-year-olds could be hauled into court for not paying their TV licence after to free viewing for over 75s

By Paul Revoir Media Editor for The Daily Mail

BBC chief Tony Hall has admitted 90-year-olds could be dragged through the courts for failing to pay the licence fee.

His comments come after the broadcaster's controversial decision to strip millions of over-75s of free TV licences from June.

Only those on pension credit will continue to get the benefit, meaning other older viewers who carry on watching without paying face criminal prosecution.

Appearing in front of MPs yesterday, Lord Hall was forced to admit it was 'conceivable' the new rules could result in 90-year-olds ending up in court  but he stressed: 'We don't want that.'

The admission sparked the fury of charity Age UK, which said 'older people should never have been put in this position in the first place'. The BBC agreed to take on responsibility from the Government for funding the benefit for over-75s, but drastically scaled it back. This means up to 3.7 million will now miss out.

BBC chief Tony Hall has admitted 90-year-olds could be dragged through the courts for failing to pay the licence fee

Lord Hall, who is stepping down as the BBC's director general in the summer, was yesterday being grilled by MPs on whether he 'was really prepared to take 80 or 90-year-olds to court' for non-payment of the fee, which rises to 157.50 next month.

He told the digital, culture, media and sport committee: 'We have got a special team to make sure our communication with the over-75s is sensitive and we'll do absolutely everything we can to make sure they understand what they need to do.

'I don't want to see people going to court, of course I don't.

'It's conceivable but we don't want that. We absolutely don't want to get there.' The SNP's John Nicolson had told the director general: 'Imagine the reputational damage.

'The distress caused to these old people... You'd be in the bizarre position of sending out your news teams to cover 90-year-olds potentially up in court for non-payment of the TV licence because of a system you, Lord Hall, signed up for.'

But BBC chairman Sir David Clementi said only a judge could deliver a custodial sentence, adding: 'The BBC cannot possibly send people to jail.' BBC director of policy Clare Sumner said it was 'very unlikely' that the elderly would end up in court.

She confirmed outsourcing firm Capita would oversee the implementation of the over-75s policy. The company has come under fire for its tactics in enforcing licence fee payments.

But the BBC claimed yesterday the handling of over-75s would be led by a separate team of 'support workers', adding 'sympathetic' letters had already been sent out to those affected.

Caroline Abrahams, director at Age UK, said: 'Whether the legal consequences are criminal or civil is immaterial, their personal distress will be the same.

'Older people should never have been put in this position in the first place.

'Now more than ever, the Government and the BBC must sit down and broker a deal to agree a solution for all over-75s that preserves their free licences.'

Lord Hall was also forced to admit to MPs that the Corporation had either lost or settled all of its recent equal pay cases, including Samira Ahmed's tribunal victory.

He confirmed there were currently 11 gender pay tribunal cases that were being dealt with.

He also said there 'could be' a paring back of BBC services if coronavirus hits hard.
National Bank spends US$700 mln this week to support hryvnia

10:53, 13.03.20 6239

The regulator sold US$270 million on the interbank foreign exchange market on Tuesday, March 10, US$350 million on Wednesday, and US$75.9 million on Thursday.
Gardai will patrol shops and pharmacies as part of crowd-control measures in the wake of coronavirus restrictions.

Senior management in Dublin have directed officers to focus on the "environs of supermarkets and chemists" following widespread bulk-buying in stores across the city.

The measure is being taken to reassure communities that gardai "will maintain order to engage with members of the community to reduce any fears".

The directive was issued by the Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) yesterday.

Gardai will also help with facilitating the resupply of shops.

Queues

"All resources should be used to optimise and reassure the communities by providing a uniformed presence on the street," the directive says.

Sources have also told the Herald that garda public order units will be deployed round the clock across the six Dublin divisions over the coming weeks.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is offering the force's training college at Templemore, Co Tipperary, to the HSE for use as a field hospital.

The offer is likely to be accepted as part of a contingency plan being drawn up to deal with an upsurge in coronavirus patients if hospitals cannot cope with the numbers affected at the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The cells area of one of the biggest garda stations in the country remained in lockdown last night as gardai awaited results to determine if three arrested men have the virus.

The situation means that over a dozen officers based at the affected stations - Kevin Street and Store Street - are in self-isolation after coming in contact with men who may have the deadly virus.

The officers had been dealing with three Brazilian men who had allegedly flown into the country illegally from Portugal.

Last night, it emerged that the cell area of Store Street had been declared "safe" after it was sterilised.

In a bizarre development in a northside Dublin garda station, a superintendent has issued a bulletin to gardai in saying that CCTV footage has been seized as part of an internal investigation into the disappearance of a "large quantity of anti-bacterial items".

"I am now requesting that anyone who may have removed items from this order to anonymously return the items to the staff office so they can be distributed evenly among the station party for their protection," the senior officer wrote.

In an even stranger development, senior gardai say that a directive ordered by a superintendent based in the north-west of the country has been "rescinded".

The directive advised, among other things, that all garda checkpoints should be cancelled and that "only essential incidents are to be recorded on the Pulse".

"This directive has been rescinded - it was not deemed practicable," a senior source said last night.

In a further twist, it can also be revealed that all superintendents who were due to retire in the coming weeks and months have been asked by Garda HQ to stay in their jobs for the next three months.

Separately, in a letter seen by the Herald, members of the Defence Forces have been instructed to have their backpacks in barracks from Monday and to be packed and ready for deployment with an "immediate notice to move".

"All non-essential activities have been suspended," the Def-ence Forces said in a statement.
Air Force Research Laboratory scientist Khanh Pham, Ph.D., has been named Department of Defense Laboratory Scientist of the Quarter.

The Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate has given me a rare opportunity to focus on the development of new and far-reaching innovations, Pham said in a news release. I take pride in the fact that my achievements have made a difference for the warfighter.

He is being recognized for his recent accomplishments in the field of Cognitive Radio Technology for Protected Tactical Satellite Communications, but also his overall contributions to the Air Force and Department of Defense missions including being recognized by the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers as the 2019 Professional Achievement Award recipient.

Through my work in mentoring, I have the opportunity to show others who may be considering the field to expand their horizons, Pham said. Im in a unique position to spread the word and potentially inspire others like me to enter a similar career path.

Phams parents, who served in the U.S.-backed South Vietnam government during the Vietnam War, were prisoners from 1975 to 1984. He and his family entered the U.S. in 1990 under the humanitarian operation Special Release Reeducation Center Detainee Resettlement Program.

Pham will take part in an awards ceremony later in March to celebrate his latest accolade, according to the release.

We welcome suggestions for the daily Bright Spot. Send to newsroom@abqjournal.com.
South Africa: SA targets African economic growth, silencing the guns

South Africa will use its 2020 chairship of the African Union to advance the economic integration of the continent and lead efforts to resolve conflicts in South Sudan, Libya, Somalia and the Sahel region.

The commitment was made by International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Candith Mashego-Dlamini during a panel discussion on South Africas year-long tenure at the University of Venda on Friday.

South Africa assumed chairship of the AU at the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) that convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 8 and 9 February 2020.

Our key strategic objective in ascending to the chairship of the African Union in 2020 is to advance the economic integration of the continent through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and lead continental efforts aimed at resolving conflicts in South Sudan, Libya, Somalia and the Sahel region, said the Deputy Minister.

South Africas goals for the African continent are the resolution of conflict and building a framework in which socio-economic development can take place.

She said socio-economic development cannot take place without peace and stability, as these factors constitute the necessary conditions for the implementation of effective developmental programmes.

Conversely, socio-economic development is necessary in the context of addressing the root causes of conflict and instability. While the above-mentioned countries are among the current flashpoints, our focus will extend to all conflict-ridden spaces on our continent, she said.

The continent recently registering notable progress in the number of new democracies. Among these is the resolution of the border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2019.

Despite this, Mashego-Dlamini said, conflicts and political instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Libya, and South Sudan continues unabated.

Trends in conflict and violent events during 2019 have indicated an increase in the number of conflict actors and the transnational nature of threats and vulnerabilities, Mashego-Dlamini said.

She said: We are concerned about the proliferation of rebel and extremist groups, bolder linkages between transnational organised crime and violent extremists in Africa and the Middle East, and a rise in the frequency and scale of riots and protests.

Attacks by militants affiliated with the Islamic State in the northern Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado have raised concerns about an IS presence in new territories where it has drawn allegiance from local militant groups.

Another area of focus in during its chairship will see South Africa continue play its role in advancing a better Africa and a better world.

With regard to trade matters, the nations of Africa took a decisive step to deepen integration in Africa through the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which came into effect on 30 May 2019.

The AfCFTA, as one of the flagship projects of the African Union Agenda 2063, aims to build an integrated market of over 1 billion people with a combined GDP of approximately US$3.3 trillion. It also aims to boost intra-Africa trade that currently stands at approximately 16% with Africas share of world trade estimated to be at only 3%.

The implementation of the AfCFTA is on track, with trading expected to come into effect on 1 July 2020.

Africa is on a sustained growth path that is unprecedented. In recent years, Africa has enjoyed an above average rate of economic growth. This is phenomenal, given our struggling infrastructure, reliance on raw materials and political insecurity in certain hotspots. For infrastructure alone, the continent needs an estimated additional 100 billion USD a year in investment, said Mashego-Dlamini.

There is no reason for Africa to not start to unleash its maximum economic growth potential in this century despite such challenges.

The AfCFTA will play a key role in unlocking investments, both domestic and foreign. This should be done within the context of silencing the guns to ensure that the environment is secure and conducive to development, she said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 11:59:20|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States will host the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting by video conference, the U.S. Treasury Department said Thursday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell "are grateful to the city of Philadelphia for its willingness to host the event, assistance in planning, and support in this decision," the department said in a statement. The physical gathering was originally planned to take place next month.

On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said G7 foreign ministers' meeting scheduled later this month in Pittsburgh would be held by video teleconference "out of an abundance of caution."

The G7 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

Fears of the spread of the novel coronavirus have been growing in the United States, as more and more companies have asked their employees to work at home, and many universities have decided to offer classes online.

In a White House Oval Office address on Wednesday night, U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration has issued guidance on school closures, social distancing, and reducing large gatherings.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday issued a ban on gatherings of more than 500 people across the state "for the foreseeable future."

As of Wednesday night, more than 1,300 cases have been reported in the United States with 38 deaths, according to a tracking tool developed by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Most large gatherings banned

Most mass gatherings of 100 or more people in Ohio will be banned due to the coronavirus threat, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday.

The order, signed by Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton, does not apply to religious services (including weddings and funerals), libraries, medical facilities, or polling places for next Tuesdays primary election, said DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted during a Statehouse news conference.

DeWine added the ban exempts typical office environments, schools, restaurants, factories, retail stores, or other places where large numbers of people may be present but where its unusual for them to be within an arms length of each other. The ban also does not apply to areas where people are in transit, such as airports, train and bus stations, and shopping malls, he said. (cleveland.com)

Coronavirus

5th Ohio case is Trumbull County man, 55 : Thursday coronavirus briefing by Gov. Mike DeWine (cleveland.com)

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines clear coronavirus response seen as contrast to White House approach (cleveland.com)

Ohio Gov. DeWine announces 3-week spring break for Ohio schools to control coronavirus (cleveland.com)

How will kids who rely on school lunch eat during coronavirus spring break? (cleveland.com)

Cleveland schools and other districts closing Friday, sooner than DeWine coronavirus order (cleveland.com)

Cuyahoga County officials will hold mass plea, bond hearings to reduce jail population over coronavirus concerns (cleveland.com)

Cleveland-area law enforcement using more hand sanitizers, but changing little else after coronavirus comes Cuyahoga County (cleveland.com)

Major retailers have frozen prices during coronavirus threat, AG Dave Yost says (cleveland.com)

Cleveland, Cuyahoga County focus on containing coronavirus, easing anxiety while testing remains limited (cleveland.com)

If you think you might have coronavirus, call your doctor before heading to the ER to avoid spreading disease (cleveland.com)

Compiling a COVID-19 coronavirus quarantine prep kit: What you should have on hand at home (cleveland.com)

How is coronavirus tested? A step-by-step explanation (cleveland.com)

State, health systems working on drive-thru coronavirus testing centers (cleveland.com)

Why are stores selling out of toilet paper? Empty shelves as people prep for coronavirus (cleveland.com)

Delaying Rock Hall Inductions the right thing to do, says museum CEO (cleveland.com)

Advocates launching text campaign to reach Ohio voters whose polling places were moved over coronavirus concerns (cleveland.com)

Playhouse Square cancels performances of Jesus Christ Superstar and other shows in wake of DeWines ban on mass gatherings (cleveland.com)

Summit County Court of Common Pleas suspends trials, except for fatal arson case, due to coronavirus (cleveland.com)

RTA guaranteeing two weeks paid leave for employees quarantined, isolated because of coronavirus (cleveland.com)

Catholic Diocese of Cleveland says missing Mass is OK to combat coronavirus spread (cleveland.com)

Mike Pences Akron visit canceled as Ohio GOP suspends public facing campaign activities for one month over coronavirus (cleveland.com)

Ohio State University will move to remote learning through rest of semester, extend spring break to give students time to move out (cleveland.com)

Local senior centers suspend operation due to coronavirus (cleveland.com)

Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio cancel grocery store booths (cleveland.com)

The latest list of coronavirus delays and closings in Ohio (cleveland.com)

Crime

Teen shot to death, tossed onto street in Cleveland, police say (cleveland.com)

Akron police arrest man accused in 1991 cold case murder (cleveland.com)

Hundreds of officers arrest dozens in connection with Mansfield-area drug trafficking (WEWS Channel 5)

Local news East

Geauga Sheriff candidate speaks to I-TEAM about sexual harassment complaints filed against him (WJW Channel 8)

Akron / Canton area

Akron man fighting Social Security in federal court: 'I will continue on this til they put the last shovel on my casket (WEWS Channel 5)

State

Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden roll out more endorsements Thursday (cleveland.com)

What are Bernie Sanders chances of winning Ohio? (cleveland.com)

Joe Biden replaces Ohio native Greg Schultz as campaign manager (cleveland.com)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 08:16:45|Editor: Liu

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BRUSSELS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Beglium announced on Thursday to close schools, discos, cafes and restaurants until April 3, in an intensified effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

All recreational, sports, cultural or folklore activities -- whether public or private and regardless of size -- will be cancelled, Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes announced, following a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC).

The goal of these measures is to slow down the spread of the virus and allow health care services to absorb the demand for care, the prime minister said.

These measures will take effect from this weekend until April 3, Wilmes said.

However, childcare will be provided for parents who work in the fields of health care, public safety, and for children who cannot be cared for by anyone other than their grandparents. Nurseries will remain open.

Pharmacies and food shops will remain open all week, which will not be the case for other so-called "non-essential" businesses. They will only be open during the week, but closed at weekends.

Public transport will continue to operate, but the government is encouraging companies to allow teleworking for their employees.

Eighty-five new COVID-19 cases have been detected and confirmed in Belgium on Thursday, bringing the total number of people infected to 399, the Federal Public Health Service (FPS Health) announced on Thursday.
A six month federal project concluded with the arrests this week of more than 20 people in San Antonio and Austin who are accused of distributing drugs for a Mexican-based cartel, officials said.

The arrests were made over the past two days as part of Project Python, a nationwide operation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration aimed at disrupting the operations of the New Generation Cartel of Jalisco, known as Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Texas.

Six people were arrested in San Antonio and charged by a federal grand jury with conspiring to distribute cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other narcotics. They are Johnathan Andrew Chapa, 33; Roger Diaz, 34; John David Medrano, 24; Julian Jimmy Gonzalez, 34; Deandra Lee Garcia, 30; and Ashley Lorraine Ruiz, 26.

In Austin, 18 other people were charged by a federal grand jury for their roles in narcotics trafficking.

Over the next two weeks, each person will see a U.S. magistrate judge who will determine their pretrial detention status. If convicted, they each face a punishment of either five to 40 years in prison, or 10 years to life, officials said.

The arrests made in Austin and San Antonio were part of a coordinated nationwide enforcement operation undertaken by the Department of Justice and DEA targeting elements of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) in the United States. The CJNG is a violent drug trafficking organization responsible for the importation of ton quantities of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine across the United States, Steven S. Whipple, DEA special agent in charge, said in a statement.

Local, state and federal authorities seized more than 70 pounds of meth, 2 pounds of heroin, 250 grams of cocaine and $13,000 in assets.

The cartel was designated one of the most dangerous transnational criminal groups by the DEA after President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13773 in February 2017. The order was aimed at dismantling cartels operating in the U.S..

On Wednesday, the Justice Department and the DEA announced the end of Project Python, which resulted in more than 600 arrests, 350 indictments and a significant seizure of money and drugs.

Authorities said a superseding indictment on charges of continuing criminal enterprise was filed against the cartels leader, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho.

According to the indictment, the cartel maintains a close alliance with another criminal group known as Los Cuinis. Investigators said the two groups are responsible for transporting drugs into the U.S., as well as carrying out numerous acts of violence including murder, kidnapping and torture.

An award of $10 million is being offered for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho, authorities said.

In February, Cervantes son Ruben Menchito Oseguera Gonzalez, who is also the alleged second in command of the cartel, was extradited to the U.S. from Mexico on charges of drug trafficking and firearm use in relation to drug trafficking.

Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA
Sacramento, CA  While the public health response remains the top concern, California lawmakers are bracing for the impact of COVID-19 on the states budget.

The Associated Press reports that California gets nearly half of its income tax revenue from the top 1-percent earners, and capital gains are taxed the same as income. The recent stock market dive could create challenges for California, which has the worlds fifth-largest economy. Governor Gavin Newsom is planning to release a revised budget proposal this May for the fiscal year that begins July 1st. Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting says the state is on a path to miss its revenue projections, and says COVID-19 could be what spurs the next recession. Some other lawmakers, however, are pointing out that California still has an estimated $18-20 billion reserve fund to utilize in the event of an extended downturn. The state has a $222-billion annual budget.
San Franciscos newest kiddie playground comes with a slide, a jungle gym, a dozen mosaics of butterflies  and three uniformed guards.

You have to be a kid to get in. If youre a grownup, you must be accompanied by a kid. Thats what the signs say at plenty of San Francisco playgrounds. But at the $2.2 million Turk-Hyde Mini Park, in the heart of the Tenderloin, the signs mean business.

The park  a quarter-acre retreat from what takes place across the street and down the block  has been packing in scores of toddlers, parents and nannies ever since it reopened last week after about a year of what park planners call reimagining.

Its clean, its pleasant, its safe  and its going to stay that way, vowed head guard Dewayne Kemp, his arms folded across his chest, as he gazed through the black metal fence separating the children from the tent-and-syringe scene across the street.

We want everyone to feel safe here, Kemp said. We pressure-wash the park every morning. No needles. No litter. No unaccompanied adults.

In the middle of the afternoon one day last week, after schools let out, dozens of kids streamed past Kemp, through the gate in the tall black fence, heading straight for the slide. Kids often navigate Tenderloin sidewalks in long lines of chaperoned school groups, holding ropes to keep them together, staying quiet. Once they arrive at places like the Turk-Hyde Mini Park, they turn back into kids.

Its a good slide, said Carlitos Vasquez, 6, after his third descent. Fast. I like going fast.

His mother, Nina Vasquez, said she liked the new park because its spotless, its closer to her residence than the Civic Center playgrounds (which also have uniformed guards) and it hasnt been messed up yet.

This park, she said, is a little break from everything that goes on all around here. You dont have to worry about stepping in things you dont want to be stepping in.

Across the street, two sidewalk tents were going up. Half a block south on Hyde Street, three men sitting by the curb were passing around a small pipe.

Another uniformed guard, Don Naly, said the park has been a great success so far, and the guards intend to keep it that way. Without the guards, he predicted, the park would quickly be overrun by big people with bad habits.

Within a week, it would be chaos, he said. Gangs would take over. The children would all be gone.

Being a Turk-Hyde Mini Park guard calls for diplomacy, Naly said. They respectfully ask smokers and imbibers to move a few steps farther down the sidewalk, and usually they do. If people linger at the Muni stop without getting on the 19-Polk bus, he said, the guards respectfully ask them to do their lingering someplace else.

The small park had been closed while the city installed a state-of-the art German play structure, a long mosaic bench, four tables, seven trees and two swinging benches for the parents and nannies. Missing are bathrooms. For that, the guards say, there is the Pit Stop public toilet trailer half a block south.

The rules are posted on three big green signs attached to the gate. No camping, smoking, bird feeding, littering. No alcohol or pets. No drugs, skateboards, scooters or bikes. Nothing with wheels  baby carriages excepted.

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.

Per park code sections 3.21, 3.12, 3.02, 4.01 and 4.04.

The Tenderloin is one of the densest areas of our city yet has the least amount of open space, said Simon Bertrang, executive director of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, which is paying the guards through the Urban Alchemy program that also staffs the Civic Center playground and downtown BART elevators.

Neighbors say the new park is a step forward, one of many breaks the Tenderloin needs and often doesnt get.

Its a great park, so far, said Mohammen Musla, a cashier at the Hyde-Turk convenience store across the street. Were selling a lot of ice cream to kids, and getting new customers. I like it.

Barbara Meyers, a minister with the Sidewalk Talks group, set up her folding chair just outside the park fence and chatted up passersby on the pavement. Even a servant of God cant get into San Franciscos newest mini park, she said, if shes not a kid or not accompanied by one.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com
The secretary of the Treasury is going to have ball control for the administration, McConnell said on Tuesday. I expect that he will speak for us as well. Were hoping that he and the Speaker can pull this together so were not playing partisan games . . . at a time that cries out for bipartisan, bicameral agreement.
Markham, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2020) - MBMI Resources Inc. (NEX: MBR.H) (the "Company" or "MBMI") announces that the Company has received the approval for its delisting application (the "Delisting Application") from the NEX Board of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") and anticipates that the common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") will be delisted from the Exchange after market close on Tuesday, March 24. In addition, the Company intends to effect the share consolidation (the "Consolidation") in connection with the previously announced proposed going private transaction (the "Going Private Transaction") on Wednesday, March 25 (the "Consolidation Effective Date").

In connection with the Going Private Transaction, the Company intends to implement the continuance from the Province of Ontario pursuant to the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) to the Province of British Columbia pursuant to the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Continuance") immediately prior to the Consolidation. The Company has received the requisite shareholders' approval for the Consolidation, the Continuance and the Delisting Application at the special meeting of its shareholders held on March 6.

On the Consolidation Effective Date:

all of the Common Shares will be consolidated on the basis of one (1) post-Consolidation Common Share for each 360,000 pre-Consolidation Common Shares without any entitlement to receive fractional post-Consolidation Common Shares ("Fractional Shares");

Fractional Shares will be cancelled and the names of the holders of the Fractional Shares (the "Fractional Holders") will be removed from the register of Shareholders of the Company;

all holders of cancelled Fractional Shares will receive payment of $0.13 (the "Consideration") in cash for each cancelled pre-Consolidation Common Share held immediately prior to the Consolidation Effective Date following the presentation and surrender to Computershare for cancellation of the certificate(s) representing the pre-Consolidation Common Shares (the "Share Certificates") held by them immediately before the Consolidation Effective Date of the Consolidation; and

after giving effect to the Consolidation, Techlink Venture Limited, the largest shareholder of the Company will be the sole shareholder of the Company holding one (1) post-Consolidation Common Share.

The Company has appointed Computershare Investor Services Inc. ("Computershare"), its registrar and transfer agent, to act as the depositary to receive Share Certificates from the Fractional Holders and to facilitate the payment of the Consideration to the Fractional Holders upon receipt of the Share Certificates. A Letter of Transmittal with specific instructions for the surrender of Share Certificates has been mailed to each registered shareholders of the Company. Fractional Holders holding pre-Consolidation Common Shares that are registered in the name of a broker, investment dealer, bank, trust company or other nominee must contact their nominee holder to arrange for the surrender of their pre-Consolidation Common Shares to Computershare.

Following the Consolidation Effective Date, the Company intends to apply to cease to be a reporting issuer in the jurisdictions where it currently is reporting.

Details of the Consolidation and the other matters relating to the Going Private Transaction are included in the Company's Information Circular dated February 3 which has been filed under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

About MBMI Resources Inc.

MBMI Resources Inc. is a Canadian-based mining company which operates 7 nickel mineral properties in the Philippines, which include the Alpha Property, Bethlehem Property and Northern Rio Tuba Property located in Palawan Philippines covering an area of 12,560 hectares (collectively, the "Palawan Properties"), and the Borongan-Maydolong Property, Gen. Mcarthur-Llorente Property, Balangiga-Giporlos Property and Homohon Island Property in Samar, Philippines covering an area of 10,150 hectares (collectively, the "Samar Properties").

The Company's principal properties, the Palawan Properties, have been subject to a dispute (the "FTAA Dispute") which led to a decision by the Office of the President of the Philippines on April 19, 2011 (the "OP Decision") that cancelled a Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (the "FTAA") granted in April 2010 for the Palawan Properties. The FTAA, if reinstated, would allow large-scale exploration, development and utilization of minerals on the Palawan Properties.

Through a series of transactions from September 2012 to March 2014 involving the sale of the company's ownership in the operating companies (the "Operating Company") that own and control the Palawan Properties and their respective holding companies, the Company's ownership in the Palawan Properties have been sold to DMCI Mining Corporation, a Philippines based mining company (the "Purchaser") for an aggregate purchase price of US$25.2 million (the "Sale Transactions"). The closing of Sale Transactions is subject to a number of closing conditions which include, among other things, the reinstatement of the cancelled FTAA.

As a result of the Sale Transactions and the FTAA Dispute, the Company has suspended its exploration and development operations in all of its properties to focus its efforts and resources on the reinstatement of the cancelled FTAA in order to conclude the Sale Transactions.

On December 9, 2015, the First Division of the Philippine Supreme Court issued a favourable decision (the "SC Decision") declaring null and void the decision of the Philippine Court of Appeals which affirmed the OP Decision without prejudice to any other appropriate remedy the parties may take against each other. It is important to note, however, that while the SC Decision is the final court decision with respect the FTAA Dispute, it is not a direct ruling with respect to the re-instatement of FTAA that would allow the Company to meet the closing conditions of the Sale Transactions. Therefore, following the SC Decision, the Operating Companies have commenced work on the documentation required to re-engage the Office of the President regarding the reversal of the OP Decision and reinstatement of the FTAA pursuant to the SC Decision. Since there is no assurance that the Office of the President of Philippines will reinstate the FTAA, the Company, the Operating Companies and the Purchaser are concurrently evaluating other recourses including, but not limited to, binding arbitration proceedings in accordance with the dispute resolution mechanism set out in the FTAA as sanctioned by the SC Decision.

Disclosure regarding forward-looking statements

This press release contains projections and forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice.

For more information, please contact:

Joseph Chan, CEO

Phone: (647) 299-9203

Email: mbmi@mail.com

Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Press release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53423
[March 12, 2020] Hong Kong Recruitment Agency STC SEARCH suggests that job market remains healthy

HONG KONG, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- For the past few months, Hong Kong has seen the economic effects of social uncertainty. The employment market is experiencing major and fundamental structural changes. Hong Kong based specialized recruitment agency STC SEARCH (Swiss Technology Consulting) suggests that glimmer of hope exists, new job categories emerge and healthy hiring appetite remains for several sectors. STC SEARCH points out that the demand for certain industries, such as IT and Fintech remain strong. The demand for banking IT and fintech talent still far exceeds supply. Sam Lam, Head of Practice at STC SEARCH, suggests local workers to consider upgrading their skills in order to benefit from the new opportunities arisen from changing market requirements. "Although we have seen some turbulence in both the real economy and the local employment market, Hong Kong's Fintech and financial recruitment remain healthy, and for certain roles exceeded last year. For Fintech, Virtual Banking, Data Engineering and Artificial Intelligence, there is still a very strong market appetite for qualified talent. We see bright future for local workers in these industries," Lam said.



Fintech and Banking Technology Sector Still Growing "The social situation and COVID-19 had its impact on the economy. However, many institutions have already in place multi year plans for IT upgrade and they are already underway. Because of this, there is no slowing in tech related hiring. And in some cases, hiring actually accelerated due to the higher demand from recent increased online transactions," Lam suggests workers to prioritize job opportunities where there are chances to upgrade their skill sets.

He added that besides the Fintech industry, overall demand for IT talent is healthy. "The Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Fund provides subsidies to qualified businesses in Hong Kong to upgrade their technology infrastructure. As such, demand for IT talent remains strong." According to the STC SEARCH Fintech Monitor, although the global market is seeing ups and downs, Hong Kong employers remain cautiously optimistic about hiring. Emerging businesses such as fintech, biotechnology and online payments are expected to see a surge in hiring in the near future. "The Hong Kong working population is generally well educated, and businesses typically have agile mindset. Although Hong Kong has had a challenging few months, as a whole, the city still thrived in the midst of difficulties." Contracting is On the Rise Lam added that the turbulence will be expected to continue in the short term. Contracting and gig work maybe a good option. Flexible workforce can help workers to gain access to immediate openings, and businesses to benefit from flexible manpower without adding on the burden of permanent headcounts. Lam advised employers and employees to face the current situation with a calm and logical mindset, and not to overreact to short term market sentiments, as global stock market always has its ups and downs cycles. Hong Kong has a special place in the world, and the future remains optimistic. About STC SEARCH (Swiss Technology Consulting) STC SEARCH is a specialized recruitment company serving financial and technology clients in Hong Kong. Website: http://www.stcsearch.com.hk SOURCE Swiss Technology Consulting

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13.03.2020 LISTEN

Today, 12th March, 2020, The Vice President, Dr Mahmoud Bawunia handed over some number of double cabin pickup trucks and some motorbikes to the Ministry of Education for onward delivery to the Ghana Education Service and other agencies under the ministry.

The procurement of these materials (pickup trucks and motorbikes) was financed by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund). Among the specified responsibilities of GETfund is the provision of such materials to facilitate the delivery of education-related services at all levels of our educational structure.

The GETfund Act, 2000 Act 581 was instituted by NDC 1 under HE JJ Rawlings. Among others, the fund was instituted to serve as a vehicle to provide financial support to the agencies like GES for the development and maintenance of essential academic facilities and infrastructure in public educational institutions. Although, this fund has been abused by successive governments as was exposed by the Auditor General a couple of weeks ago, but that objective to provide scholarship packages to brilliant but needy students was intended to solve a social problem since education is one of the social goods.

The Vice President is noted for throwing jabs since his days as a running mate up to this time that hes preparing his notes to vacate post. Aside from he, his party members and his wife, nobody knows the definition they attribute to what constitutes social intervention policy/program. So, he keeps lowering the bar of his office by seeking to throw jabs at John Mahama and the NDC with strange but unexpected questions of what social intervention policy the NDC instituted as a party in government.

If education is a social good, and if any policy is intended to provide services whether direct or supplementary to better the delivery of education and education-related services at all levels especially at the levels of need, then, one doesnt need an Oxford Dictionary definition of what a social intervention policy is. If a community which use to have a shed made of mud and grass as a school, a classroom block made of block and aluminum roof from GETfund is a huge intervention meant to solve a social problem.

If GETfund isnt a social intervention policy, is the NHIS one? Lets raise the bar of the discourse for the benefit of those who are supposed to be learning from us. Thank the NDC for instituting such a policy that is yielding social dividends today for the education sub-sector. It is not what is free alone that constitutes a social intervention if that is what my VEEP is thinking. Shalom!
When Rob Palmer set about photographing trailblazing chef Josh Niland as he was about to prepare a giant mahi-mahi fish at his Paddington shop, Fish Butchery, he knew he had to move fast.

Niland is committed to sustainability, renowned for using all parts of the fish to drastically minimise wastage.

Rob Palmer with his winning entry. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"The store's airconditioned so they get a lot of longevity out of the fish once it's out of the coolroom," Palmer says, "but it was a big thing to make sure that he could dissect that fish down to the last eyeball and scale for us [to use] in his cooking, while making sure we weren't ruining [the fish] just for the sake of an image."

The portrait, showing Niland respectfully handling the dolphinfish, was taken in "five to 10 minutes".
Celebrate the hard-won campaign for women's suffrage here in New Mexico on Saturday, March 14 from 10:30am to noon at Making Change: They Won the Vote: Suffrage and Suffragists in New Mexico at the Special Collections Librarys Botts Hall . This free , all-ages event features Sylvia Ramos Cruz, a retired surgeon, poet, writer and women's rights activist whose ongoing creative work focuses on women's history in New Mexico. Cruz was inspired to research and write about the suffrage movement here and the people who took part in it by the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. (Samantha Anne Carrillo)

Sylvia Ramos Cruz looks at the women and men whose contributions to the 72-year-long struggle still being unearthed in family lore, memoirs, songs, newspapers and scholarly works.

The campaign for womans suffrage in New Mexico is rich and deep. But, as with other aspects of womens lives, most of their storiespolitical, economic, socialare not found in history books. This talk travels from suffrage nationally to suffrage and suffragists in New Mexico. Some of the protagonists in this story, such as Adelina Otero Warren and Octaviano A. Larrazolo, are well known historical figures. Others, including Ada McPherson Morley, Isabella Selmes Ferguson, Cora Armstrong Kellam, and Evelyn Fisher Frisbie are less so. Well look at some of the women and men whose contributions to that 72-year-long struggle are still being unearthed in family lore, memoirs, songs, newspapers, and a few precious, oft-quoted scholarly works. Our speaker, Sylvia Ramos Cruz, is a retired general surgeon, poet, writer and women's rights activist. Her ongoing creative work focuses on women's history in New Mexico. The centennial of the 19th amendment to the US Constitution, Woman's Suffrage, inspired her to research and write about the suffrage movement here and the people who took part in it.
Oregons largest school district will cancel classes for the week leading up to spring break and push student vacations until April 1 in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Portland Public Schools billed the move as an extended spring break." Classes will cease on Monday and teachers will return to school buildings March 30.

District officials in a release said they made the decision in part because staff absences have become so rampant it became difficult to effectively operate the school system and causes us concern for our employees and their health.

Schools are essential to communities. We know that extending spring break will cause difficulties for many families who rely on their schools for meals, health care, and a safe place to be during the day," Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said in a release. "Because of this, we do not take this decision lightly. But we have to be responsible not only as educators and caretakers, but as members of the larger community in which we live and work.

The district will announce schools where students can receive free meals sometime in the next week, Guerrero said.

The Portland districts announcement comes after Gov. Kate Brown also said public schools across the states should close as students and teachers unions have pressured district officials across the state.

The closure of Portland Public Schools and other districts followed similar shutdowns in the Tigard-Tualatin and Lake Oswego districts. Officials in Ashland also voted to close schools Thursday.

Brown on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of events and gatherings of 250 or more people. But that mandate excluded schools, much to the confusion of some parents and teachers.

Instead, Portland Public Schools and other metro-area districts at first announced they will cancel assemblies and ban the public from attending sporting events. But by Thursday evening, districts began to announce wholesale closures with an eye on reopening after spring break.

The Portland decision affects 50,000 students, scores more than in Tigard-Tualatin and Lake Oswego, which serve around 12,000 students and 7,000 students, respectively.

The union representing Portland teachers called for closures Thursday, saying the necessity of such a move is not a matter of if, but when.

Private schools, including St. Marys Academy and Central Catholic and Jesuit high schools, were the first to announce long-term closures that ranged from two to four weeks.

Those institutions announced their closures alongside notices that students will use school-issued tech to take classes online.

But not all public schools can afford to provide students with computers or tablets for the purposes of distance learning, one of several reasons officials at the state and local level offered in justifying keeping classes open.

Some low-income students also rely on school lunch and breakfasts as a lifeline. The Tigard-Tualatin district will serve to-go meals at Metzger and Tualatin elementary schools to serve those students.

While young children and teenagers are among the least vulnerable to the virus  the majority of fatalities have been recorded in people older than 60  public health experts have said preventing crowds from gathering is one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the disease and keep hospitals and health care workers from becoming overwhelmed by serious cases.

Some health experts argue that taking preventative measures, such as closing schools before a virus is confirmed among the student population, would stem its spread and help ensure hospitals and health care centers dont get overwhelmed with a rash cases.

--Eder Campuzano | 503-221-4344 | @edercampuzano

Do you have a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email Eder at ecampuzano@oregonian.com or message either of the social accounts above.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 13

By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:

For microfinance organizations providing affordable financial services, expanding access to modern alternative financing instruments for the population has had a positive effect, Executive Director of the Azerbaijan Micro-finance Association (AMFA) Jala Hajiyeva told Trend.

Hajiyeva said that the AMFA is interested in introducing new services for cashless payments.

Currently, the EU-funded project accelerating the development of sustainable microfinance in the regions of Azerbaijan is being implemented in four economic zones of the country. The goal of this project is to expand the business knowledge and skills of micro-entrepreneurs to open and expand their business, to support existing business entities, including financial ones, to increase their income and increase the number of jobs in the agricultural sector, Hajiyeva noted.

The executive director noted that the target groups of the project are micro and small rural entrepreneurs interested in starting their own business or expanding their small business.

Microfinance was introduced in Azerbaijan in the mid-1990s to meet the economic needs of up to 1 million internally displaced persons (IDP) and refugees (as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Armenia).

In 1996, the International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) began offering microfinancing services to low-income locals and war-affected people to create income and employment opportunities.

The INGO began to meet informally to exchange business experience and remove restrictions on the provision of loans with interest rates. In December 2001, members of INGOs decided to consummate the group as an association, which will serve as the focal point for microfinance in Azerbaijan.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: Fidan_Babaeva
A 68-year-old woman, who had tested positive for COVID-19, died due to co-morbidity -- diabetes and hypertension -- at a hospital here, said Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry in a statement on Friday.

"The death of a 68-year-old female from West Delhi (mother of a confirmed case of COVID-19) is confirmed to be caused due to co-morbidity -- diabetes and hypertension. She has also tested positive for COVID-19," reads the statement.

"She had history of contact with a positive case (her son who had travel history to Switzerland and Italy between 5th to 22nd February, 2020). The son had returned to India on February 23. He initially was asymptomatic, but developed fever and cough after one day and reported to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on March 7, 2020. As per protocol, the family was screened and since he and his mother had fever and cough, both were admitted."

India had on Thursday reported the first death from coronavirus. A 76-year-old man, who passed away recently, has been tested positive of coronavirus.

"The 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi who passed away and was a suspected COVID-19 patient has been confirmed positive for COVID-19," Karnataka government had said.

"She was a known case of diabetes and hypertension. Her sample was collected on March 8. Her condition worsened on March 9 with development of pneumonia and she was shifted to the intensive care unit," adds the statement.

The press release further says: "Her sample also tested positive for COVID19. Since March 9, she was having respiratory fluctuations and was provided with ventilator support. However, due to comorbid conditions, she died on March 13th at RML Hospital, Delhi as confirmed by the treating physician and Medical Superintendent."

"All the precautionary measures as per protocol including screening, quarantine of the contacts are already taken up by the Ministry of Health, Government of Delhi and status is being monitored," the press release added.

So far, India has recorded 82 positive cases of coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Spectrum announced Friday it will offer free high-speed internet service and Wi-Fi for 60 days to households with students as many schools and colleges temporarily close or switch to online classes because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Starting Monday, March 16, the Charter Communications-owned company will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with children in grades K-12 or in college who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription at any service level up to 100 Mbps, the company said.

Families can call (844) 488-8395 to enroll. Installation fees will be waived for new student households, the company said.

Spectrum said regular pricing will take effect at the end of the 60-day period if a customer doesnt cancel or change the service.

In the coming weeks, many Americans will be affected either directly or indirectly by COVID-19, and Charter is focused on serving and supporting our 29 million customers, the company said. Americans rely on high-speed broadband in nearly every aspect of their lives and Charter is committed to ensuring our customers maintain reliable access to the online resources and information they want and need.

For eligible low-income households without school-aged children, Spectrum will continue to offer Spectrum Internet Assist, a low-cost broadband program delivering speeds of 30 Mbps, the company said.

In addition, the company said it will open its Wi-Fi hotspots across its service territory for public use. Spectrum is the largest cable company in New York.

Many schools and colleges across the nation are extending their spring breaks to guard against students and staff contracting COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Some colleges, including Syracuse University, are switching to online classes, at least temporarily. That will create more demand for high-speed internet service in students home.

Syracuse University area businesses brace for impact of no students

Spectrum, which is owned by Charter Communications, said it will partner with school districts to ensure local communities are aware of the offer of free service.

As the country works collaboratively to contain this pandemic, broadband internet access will be increasingly essential to ensuring that people across the country are able to learn and work remotely, that businesses can continue to serve customers, and that Americans stay connected and engaged with family and friends, the company said.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The disease has a much higher mortality rate than the flu, especially for older adults and people with serious chronic illnesses.

In addition to schools closing or switching to online classes, the outbreak has prompted companies to direct their employees to work from home and caused the cancellation of many sporting events.

Coronavirus: Second major Syracuse employer adopts work from home policy

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148

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The Sunday night's third Sunday Red Back Hymnal Singing at the Hullander Farm in Apison has been canceled because of the Coronavirus concern.

Organizer Bill Hullander said he hopes to resume the Singing the third Sunday night in April.
Time was when, if it was published in the newspaper, radio or television, it was authentic. Anyone who got a piece of information from these traditional media, especially a news item, could take it to the bank, or even bet on it. The usual parlance among newsmen and their trainers was, News is sacred, opinion is free. They also told themselves, When in doubt, leave out.

These age long axioms came very frequently to the mind of a professional journalist as he continued his daily routine of informing, educating and entertaining the public. With that in mind, he recognized the dire need for precision in reporting news, aware that any false information put across has the potentials to begin a conflagration of immeasurable dimensions in the society. In keeping with his surveillance role in the society, he also saw a reason to do his job responsibly and not to cry wolf when there was none.

Today, a new dimension has been introduced into the business of news and a lot has changed. The advent of social media, which followed the invention of the Internet as an intricate global system that stores information as well as helps in its retrieval and dissemination, resulted in an exponential rise in the number of untrained media men who have now ventured into reporting news, solicited or unsolicited.

This class of makeshift reporters has come to be known as citizen journalists. Armed with their smart phones, tablets, ipads and laptops, they stop by at any event, record videos and audios and begin to stream whatever they gathered into the Internet through the various websites available to them.

The awesome flexibility of the Internet, which is print and broadcast media rolled into one, makes it possible for such information to go viral as they are copied and circulated among social media users.

In as much as they play a significant role in the media by bringing to public knowledge all that may have escaped the notice of professional reporters, they are also known to have introduced some dangerous elements into the system whereby the world can now talk about the phenomenon termed fake news. In other words, news is now distorted, deliberately or inadvertently, making the news consumer confused as to whose report to believe.

An instance is the picture of a child, who was raped, and her father which a blogger, sometime, captured and published in his website. The blogger, in his caption, indicated that the man in the picture with the girl was the rapist instead of her father. According to reports, that man who actually was the girls father was sacked by his employer who came across the news in the Internet. Thus, the poor man became a victim of multiple calamities.

Some time ago, a picture of an aged and ailing Cameroonian billionaire businessman being propped in or out of an event was circulated in Facebook and WhatsApp. The accompanying caption referred to the man in the picture as Paul Biya, the president of Cameroon and castigated him for remaining in power despite being incapacitated. The man turned out not to be Biya.

There have been cases where a video clip obtained from one location is circulated as having been recorded in another, or a news item is formulated and posted to the social media as breaking news, thus misleading hapless consumers of the information. It is now a riddle discerning whether the news was actually breaking or that the writers were breaking the news.

Granted that citizen journalism as well as the ubiquity of the social media has offered the people a wide range of platforms to freely voice out their views and discontent in politics, the new phenomenon has also raised serious concerns in the dimension where it allows misinformation. In view of the Arab Spring, where fatal socio-political upheavals occurred in a rather secretive Arab world due to activities in the Internet, many people world over, Nigerians inclusive, are considering the danger inherent in an unbridled social interaction in the cyber space.

For this reason, attempts are being made to legislate on the issue with a view to enacting laws that prohibit fake news. Need we blame the purveyors of fake news and propaganda in a society where its leaders have built a seemingly insurmountable culture of lying and falsehood? The culture has regrettably permeated the various arms of government, namely the executive, the legislature and even the judiciary which was hitherto held as the sacred temple where vulnerable members of the society go to obtain justice. Heroes of integrity are frequently disappointing their admirers with their actions and utterances.

The clergy, which constitute our lords spiritual, are not left out in this debasement. Are we talking about words such as federalism, democracy, restructuring, politics and so on which have assumed new meanings just to suit the powerful men in the society?

The clamouring for laws, and more laws, to cage fake news suppliers forget that our statute books are already filled up with adequate laws that take care of infractions in news dissemination. We must not disregard the need for reorientation and attitudinal change in cubing the excessive generation of fake news, otherwise, the nation might end up building skyscrapers of ineffective laws.

Hard core newsmen are advised not to get lost in the conflict of professionalism against quackery in their field of endeavour. They must maintain the tradition of check and recheck in order to prove themselves capable of adequately informing the people and interpreting the days intelligence with an acceptable measure of precision. They must show news consumers that if it was not published in the traditional media, it might not be true.

The practice of painstakingly reading through scripts in search of errors of fact must not be jettisoned in the interest of reaching readers or audience as quickly as possible. Media men must remember that unlike the doctors that bury their mistakes, the journalists always publish theirs.
Some of Rome's Catholic churches reopened Friday after Pope Francis voiced displeasure with the Italian authorities' push to shut them because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The rare standoff between the 83-year-old pontiff and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's government came as Italy's death toll topped 1,000.

Italy has suffered more than half the COVID-19 deaths reported outside China to date and the death toll has been increasing by hundreds each day.

Conte has responded by shuttering most shops and all restaurants and other public places in the hope of stemming contagion and easing the burden on overstretched hospitals.

Italians have been told to avoid going outside without a good reason and machine-gun toting soldiers now patrol city streets.

But churches have stayed opened in the overwhelmingly Catholic country throughout what many now see as Italy's biggest crisis since World War II.

That changed when the vicar of Rome said Thursday he could no longer withstand government pressure and was closing all Catholic places of worship across the Italian capital.

The Rome diocese lists slightly over 1,000 churches -- about 900 of them Catholic ones.

Pope Francis response was unusually swift and blunt.

"Drastic measures are not always good," the Argentine-born pope said in livestreamed Friday morning prayer.

He prayed for "pastors to have the good judgement... not to leave the holy, faithful people of God alone." The vicar of Rome then issued a statement explaining that it had had "a further meeting" with the pontiff in which it was decided to let at least some churches to reopen their doors.

Vicar Angelo De Donatis said he ultimately decided that closing churches "will sow confusion" among the faithful and see some "feel even more isolated".

His decree explained that all of Rome's churches would remain closed to tourists.

But smaller churches would open in some places specifically for the faithful.

"Dear priests, we rely on your wise discernment," the Rome vicar wrote.

"Help everyone feel like the Church is not closing its doors on them." Yet Rome now stands a deserted city in which almost nothing functions and barely anyone ventures outside.

A clip that went viral from the Tuscan city of Siena showed mostly elderly voices joining in a traditional choir song that rang out from their windows and over the empty streets.

A similar scene with more upbeat signing played out in one of the residential highrise areas of the southern city of Naples.

The pope urged priests Friday "to have the courage to go out and see the sick, bringing the strength of the word of God".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
T he Government has started to draft in the military to cope with the growing coronavirus crisis.

The Ministry of Defence is making 38 non-uniform military planners available to help local areas prepare for more Covid-19 cases, Downing Street said.

It comes as Boris Johnson warned, after discussions with the Government's top medical advisers, that between 5,000 and 10,000 Brits could currently be infected.

The Prime Ministers spokesman said: It is 38 non-uniform MoD planners who will be helping local areas to draw up their plans as to how they will support public services and emergency services throughout the outbreak.

They will also be in a position to help them test their existing plans.

Boris Johnson, Chief Medical Officer for England, Chris Whitty and Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance / Getty Images

It comes as Mr Johnson faces heavy criticism from Tory ex-ministers after his refusal to bring in strict "social distancing" measures to stem the outbreak.

Italy has placed 40m people into lockdown while France and Ireland have announced they are closing all schools, but Britain has resisted following suit after top medical chiefs said it could make things worse.

Rory Stewart has promised to build 250,000 new London homes in five years / PA

Jeremy Hunt, the former Health Secretary and now chair of the Commons health and social care select committee, said he was "surprised and concerned" at Mr Johnson's approach.

Rory Stewart, Tory MP and candidate for London mayor, added: "'The Government's approach is essentially defeatist. They are saying we cannot suppress this.

"They say there is no point in spending a huge amount of money trying to suppress this, instead they are trying to manage the increase. We are taking far too much risk."

But Downing Street hit back, insisting it was following scientific advice.
Liquor liability and dram shop laws

Liquor liability insurance is particularly important for businesses in states with dram shop laws. These laws, named after establishments in 18th century England that sold gin by the spoonful, otherwise known as the dram, are present in 44 states and the District of Columbia. They hold businesses liable for the actions of intoxicated individuals who were served or sold alcohol at their establishment. They enable third-party victims to file civil lawsuits against the establishment that sold or served the liquor, as well as bring a suit against the impaired individual. If successful, they may be able to get damages from both parties under this law.

Dram shop laws are enacted on the state level, not by federal government. The scope of the laws varies quite significantly between states, so its important for policyholders with establishments across multiple states to ensure compliance in each region. According to FindLaw, there is one commonality between the state-enacted dram shop laws, which is: the application of the obvious intoxication test, where a retailer knew or should have known that the patron was so intoxicated that more alcohol would cause danger to himself or to others.

However, the legal advice website also stated: But proving fault of the alcohol vendor is a relatively difficult task. For example, how do bartenders know whether a patron is drinking on an empty stomach, has a low tolerance or was intoxicated before entering the establishment?

The visible or noticeable intoxication test under dram shop laws revolves around quite a subjective standard, according to Tom Gillingham, owner and CEO of EverGuard Insurance Services, which provides specialty insurance and service for restaurants, pubs, casinos and other hospitality businesses serving alcoholic beverages. He said: It doesnt necessarily correlate well to blood alcohol level either. A seasoned drinker often can have a very high blood alcohol concentration, be legally impaired, but function relatively normally to the naked eye, whereas somebody who doesnt drink frequently could have one or two drinks and have a difficult time with their speech or holding their composure. Thats the tough part of the business.

Liquor liability vs. host liquor liability

Liquor liability insurance is not to be confused with host liquor liability insurance, which the IRMI describes as: liability for bodily injury or property damage arising out of the serving or distribution of alcoholic beverages by a party not engaged in this activity as a business enterprise. Most host liquor liability exposures  for companies that are hosting a social event like a party  can be included in a general liability policy. The same is not true for commercial enterprises involved in the liquor trade. Liquor liability coverage is almost always excluded from commercial general liability insurance policies, meaning companies should look at buying a stand-alone policy or a coverage endorsement.

Similar to dram shop laws, hosts of private functions where liquor is served can be sued under social host liability laws. These laws hold the hosts of private functions liable for injuries or death caused by their negligence in serving alcohol and/or failing to prevent an impaired guest from driving.

Drunk driving

Businesses that sell or serve alcohol are obliged by law to stop serving alcohol to patrons who they believe might be gearing up to drive over the legal blood alcohol driving limit. If they take no action and a patron gets into a drunk driving accident, they can be held liable. Gillingham told Insurance Business: Even the best hospitality operators in the business face the risk of people getting intoxicated and then driving cars. You can underwrite them to death and select only the finest operators but its just a sad fact of the business that youre going to see some amount of alcohol-related automobile accidents and fatalities, so that makes it difficult.

Mitigating liquor liability risk

Its challenging, but there are ways for businesses to mitigate their liquor liability risks. They can:

Send servers to training and education courses

Encourage customers not to become intoxicated

Promote the availability of non-alcoholic beverages

Ask a patron to take a breathalyser test if theres concern that theyre over the limit for driving

Encourage patrons to take alternate transportation, like a taxi or rideshare service

Loss control techniques are really important right down to an account level. There are lots of nuances in state laws and even in the character of specific city neighborhoods. If a bartender misjudges a situation with a patron, the ensuing lawsuits are typically not in favor of the bar, Gillingham noted. A lot of these cases are very tragic. People are getting badly injured and killed - sometimes at absolutely no fault of their own - and if you were the last bar to serve that customer a drink, their blood alcohol level was in excess of the legal limit and they had any sort of visible signs of intoxication, then its a difficult case to win.
Chhattisgarh Minister and Congress leader TS Singh Deo on Friday slammed Jyotiraditya Scindia over quitting the party and joining BJP. According to him, "if someone is joining the party to occupy the top position of the state then he should never become a Chief Minister."

Speaking about him joining BJP, Deo said, "People may make claims but I will never join BJP, even if I get 100 lives I will never associate with that ideology. A person who joins BJP for not being able to become Chief Minister should never become a Chief Minister."

He further added, "A single person does not remain as captain forever, Kapil Dev got his chance when Gavaskar was there. Currently, Virat Kohli is the captain but in T20 there are different captains. Will Kohli join Pakistan's team if he is not made the captain? This is beyond understanding."

Scindia joins BJP

A day after quitting the grand-old party, Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday joined the BJP, in presence of party's national president JP Nadda. As Scindia joined the saffron party, after serving the Congress for 18 years, he extended his regards to BJP president Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. He also attacked the Congress party for not serving the people. While inducting him, Nadda recalled the contribution of Rajmata Scindia in the formation of Jan Sangh. He will file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections on March 13.

Read: Shiv Sena warns Congress of Scindia-esque repeat in Rajasthan between CM Gehlot and Pilot

BJP seeks floor test in MP assembly

The BJP in Madhya Pradesh will seek a floor test on March 16 in the wake of 22 Congress MLAs resigning the state, a senior BJP leader said on Thursday. The 14-month-old Kamal Nath-led government has been facing a deep crisis following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs after former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party on Tuesday. "Since the government is in minority, we are going to request the governor and the Assembly Speaker for a floor test on March 16 when the state budget session begins," BJP's Narottam Mishra said.

Read: 'Congress needs to introspect', says Goa Deputy CM on Scindia joining BJP

MP Assembly's current scenario

With the current halfway mark at 114 in the 228-MLA assembly, BJP currently holds 107 MLAs of its own. Congress which held 114 MLAs - has now been reduced to 92 MLAs. The resignation of 22 MLAs, has also brought down the halfway mark to 103. 4 more MLAs are poised to resign, as per sources. The Speaker is yet to accept any of these resignations.

Read: Scindia delivers first speech as BJP leader, heaps praises on Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Read: BIG: Congress flips stance on CAA, admits 'it won't take away anyone's citizenship'

(With ANI Inputs)
Is there the potential for teachers through tutoring or other skills that they may have that we could further deploy? Could we use them in our libraries? Casey said. Im not saying thats the answer; Im just saying thats an example of an innovative practice that we can do.

In an interview Wednesday, Casey said he wasnt calling for teachers to work more during the workday and that when he mentioned tutoring opportunities, he was referring to an existing tutoring administrative site.

He knows how much work they take home, he said. His wife is a teacher.

My role and intention was just trying to be sincere and promote what is already a product they have, Casey said. These are for the teachers who may be tutoring already who can maybe get a higher hourly rate or for those that want to tutor over a winter, summer or spring break when there may not necessarily be curriculum plans being done.

At the media briefing, Casey also raised the possibility of the Chesterfield Education Foundation raising more money, which could flow into classrooms and perhaps into teachers paychecks, by reducing out-of-pocket costs or offsetting tuition.
As the state continues to respond to a coronavirus outbreak, UMass Memorial Medical Center is setting up screening tents to limit exposure to people at the Worcester hospital.

The set-up began Thursday and is expected to be complete next week, the hospital said.

The tents at the hospitals University Campus are on loan from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, according to a statement from UMass Memorial.

Patients will be screened in the area and caregivers there will be prepared for any health care needs, the statement said.

We are grateful for your patience as we work to protect our population in the face of this global pandemic and apologize for any inconvenience, the hospital said.

UMass Memorial Medical Center has also added visitor restrictions and is prohibiting anyone who has a fever, cough or shortness of breath from coming into the hospital.

On Thursday afternoon, the state Department of Public Health announced there are now 108 cases of coronavirus in Massachusetts. Six of those cases are confirmed by the CDC and 102 are presumptive.

Only one of those presumptive cases is from Worcester County, DPH said. That person was initially treated at UMass Memorial Medical Center.

There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Worcester as of Thursday afternoon, officials said.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. On Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts.

COVID-19 first began to spread in Wuhan, China. A real-time map by The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University indicates that globally there have been 135,467 confirmed cases of coronavirus, 4,981 deaths and 69,645 people who have recovered.

Comment on this story on MassLive Worcesters Facebook page

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Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry handed a message to his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on the latest developments of Ethiopia's disputed Nile dam project during a meeting in Paris on Friday, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The message from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is meant to be delivered to French President Emmanuel Macron.



During the talks, Shoukry called on France and the EU countries to "push Ethiopia to sign an agreement on the filling and operation of dam in order to preserve security and stability" in the African region, the ministry said.



Earlier this week, Shoukry delivered similar messages on the controversial giant dam to Arab leaders in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman and Bahrain - in an effort to drum up support for Cairo in the diplomatic row.



Tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia mounted last month after Addis Ababa withdrew from the latest round of US-sponsored talks, which were expected to generate a final deal between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, another downstream country, over the filling and operation of the dam. The deal, drafted by the US, which is mediating the talks, was initialled by Egypt but not signed by the other two states.



Ethiopia hopes the massive $4.8 billion mega-dam on the Blue Nile, which has been under construction since 2011 and is now 70 percent complete, will allow it to become Africas largest power exporter.



Cairo fears the dam will diminish its water supply from the Nile, on which it relies for the vast majority of its fresh water.



During the Paris talks, the French and Egyptian ministers also discussed bilateral ties, international counter-terrorism efforts, as well as security and stability in the Middle East region.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A city in which the voices of about 12 million tourists melt together every year is now alone with what is often considered its worst enemy: The water.

Venice is, probably for the first time in its long history, entirely empty, after Italys Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte declared a lockdown in the whole peninsula until April 3 as the country registered the largest number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and deaths outside of China.

*** CLICK HERE FOR FULL COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

As of Thursday afternoon, Veneto, the region where Venice is, currently has recorded 1,297 cases of COVID-19 and 32 deaths, according to Italian officials.

Overall in Italy there have been 15,113 positive cases of which 1,258 have recovered, officials said.

St. Marks Square, one of Venices most iconic landmarks, would usually have live classic music playing from the historic bars surrounding it. Lines to enter the clock tower and the Basilica would never stop forming while multiple languages spoken at the same time would make it almost impossible to hear just one.

But now there is only one sound: Silence.

The streets of Venice, also known as calli, are usually filled with so many tourists that its hard to walk through them (and some of them can get really narrow). Those calli are now desolate.

Conte signed a decree on Monday barring unnecessary movements in the country and allowing citizens to go from and to work and to run basic and vital errands -- nothing more.

Today is the moment to be responsible, Conte said. We cannot let our guard down.

Those who need to leave their homes to go to work need to have an auto-certificate provided by the minister of the interior that states where they are going to and where they are coming from in case the police decide to stop them.

Its like being at war, said Stefano Spezzamonte, who works in Venice and whose daughter lives on Staten Island.

Those who dont respect the restrictions could face up to three months in jail and a fine of 206 euros ($230), the Italian police said.

Meanwhile, those who are quarantined or tested positive for COVID-19 and do not follow the rules imposed by the restrictions can face between one and 12 years imprisonment, according to the Italian police.

Lombardia, where Milan is located, currently has 6,896 positive cases, making it the largest outbreak in the country overall.

A doctor in Bergamo, Lombardia, said hospitals are so full doctors will eventually come to the decision of who to save.

I tell myself its like surgery on the battlefield, Christian Salaroli said. You try to save only those who can make it. That is whats happening.

On Wednesday night Conte announced the closure of almost all stores in Italy with the exception of those considered of first necessity, like supermarkets and pharmacies.

However, businesses overall around the country are suffering the consequences of the quickly-spreading virus.

Many employees are asked to use all their PTOs, some are working on a modified schedule that often results in a pay cuts, while others are not working and their salary is temporarily frozen.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri said the government will likely pass a measure of about 25 billion euros ($28.3 billion) to help the countrys economy recover and will include financial help to those workers whose jobs have been affected, according to news report by Bloomberg.

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An Indian construction worker has been jailed for six years and six weeks' in Singapore for sexually abusing a male compatriot in 2017.

Indian national Paruppa Kownder Kulanthai, 51, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault, according to a report by The Straits Times on Friday.

Paruppa, who has a wife and daughter in India, returned to his labourers' dormitory at around 10 pm on Oct 7, 2017 after a night of drinking when he found a 29-year-old man sleeping.

Paruppa went over performed oral sex on the Indian man, the report said, adding the two men did not know each other before the incident. The victim told a security officer about the incident and the police were alerted.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiagesh Sukumaran told the court: "The accused admitted that he was overcome with temptation when he saw the victim sleeping near the staircase landing (and) that he was drunk at the... time.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases around the globe has risen to 135,000, with sharp increases reported in major European countries and the United States. The death toll will soon pass 5,000. Health experts internationally are warning that unless urgent measures are taken, mass infections could take place and the virus could claim millions of lives. Italy has now reported over 15,000 infections and over 1,000 deathsa shocking fatality rate of over 6 percent, nearly triple the rate registered in China where the viral outbreak began last December.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally classified the COVID-19 epidemic as a global pandemic. They explained, in the most succinct terms, that their rationale for the assessment stemmed from their frustration that national governments had demonstrated a lack of resolve to muster the necessary resources to prevent the spread of the virus. Their exasperation was present in their voices and demeanor as they attempted to convey to reporters the dire consequences of this inaction.

WHO officials stated, without naming names, that government officials were not taking basic steps to stem the viral outbreak, despite the contrasting experiences of China, South Korea, Iran and Italy demonstrating the necessity for widespread testing and quarantining.

The belated actions taken by the Chinese government on January 23 to effectively lock down the epicenter of infections in Hubei province halted community transmission of the virus over the following month. The number of new cases has now fallen to just a few per day, with overall infections in China peaking at just over 80,900, with 3,172 recorded deaths. The majority of new cases being reported are people who contracted COVID-19 outside China.

A worker from a Servpro disaster recovery team wearing a protective suit and respirator peers out a window as he waits to exit the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash. for a break from cleaning the facility, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The nursing home is at the center of the coronavirus outbreak in Washington state. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

No measures comparable with the steps taken in China are being implemented in the United States, despite ample evidence exists that the virus is spreading rapidly and unchecked. Instead, attempts are being made to conceal the extent of the crisis. Reuters reported this week that the White House had ordered all federal health officials to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified. Such classified discussions have been taking place since mid-January, when the outbreak in China was recognized as an emerging global risk. Lower-level officials and staffers without security clearances have been prevented from attending these meetings or participating in conference calls.

The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) has authority over all health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One of its primary responsibilities is to track the development of the COVID-19 epidemic and provide guidance nationally on the outbreak. These HHS meetings have been held in secure areas called Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facilities (SCIF), which are principally used by the intelligence and military community. Cell phones and personal computers are barred from these spaces.

According to Reuters, a former high-level official who worked in George W. Bushs administration said: Its not normal to classify discussion about a response to a public health crisis. Reportedly, the talks have centered on China and the scope of infections, quarantines and restrictionsnot on how to respond to the spread of virus within the US.

Within the Trump administration, the health crisis ravaging China was initially welcomed as opportunity to ramp up trade war measures and boost the market share and profits of American-based corporations. In late January, when Hubei province was placed under an unprecedented lockdown, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross gloated on Fox Business that the outbreak would accelerate the return of jobs to North America, some to the US, probably some to Mexico as well.

Every action the Trump administration has taken concerning the COVID-19 pandemic has been geared to the interests of the financial markets and corporations. The utter disregard for public safety has been blatant. President Donald Trump baldly declared that the risk from the virus was very low and that workers could continue to work, even if they were sick.

Despite the fact that the virus had been spreading for several weeks in Washington state and other parts of the US, no straight answer has been provided from government officials as to why mass national testing is still not being carried out. Health officials have been denied the ability to even accurately assess the extent of COVID-19 infections and, on the basis of such information, recommend the appropriate response.

Mike Ryan, the World Health Organizations head of emergencies, warned: Hope is not a strategy. We are still very much in the up cycle of this epidemic Theres clearly an indication that a systematic government-led approach using all tactics and all elements available seems to be able to turn this disease around.

Such advice has been disregarded. Asish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, commented this week: Our response [in the US] is much, much worse than almost any other country thats been affected.

Dr. Jha has been evaluating hospital preparedness in Massachusetts, where the tally of cases has reached 108, with 13 more confirmed yesterday. He stated: Some of the best epidemiologists in the world are estimating that between 40 and 70 percent of adults will end up getting an infection. Even if we begin with that low end of 40 percent of adults in Massachusetts, thats 2 million people getting infected. He provided a conservative estimate of 200,000 hospitalizations in Massachusetts alone, when there are only 4,000 hospital beds available at any time in the state.

Yesterday, Amy Acton, the director of the Ohio Health Department, explained that evidence of community spread indicated that one percent of Ohioans are most likely infected with COVID-19. The office of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine stated: Whenever you know of two people that have it due to community spread, then you can assume that one percent of your population has it, This would suggest that there are over 100,000 cases in the state. The basis for the statistical assessment was a 2017 Morbidity and Mortality Report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio has declared a state of emergency as the number of infected persons in the city has more than doubled in 24 hours to 95. Health officials expect to see more than 1,000 cases by next week. In Chicago, the citys massive Saint Patricks Day parades have been canceled out of fears of the disease spreading throughout the dense crowds. Governor Pritzker announced that all public gatherings with more than 250 people would be banned. An announcement of state-wide school closures in Illinois is expected soon.

Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota, an infectious disease expert who has been warning for more than a decade that the world would face a pandemic, stated this week: We are worse off today than we were in 2017 because the health care system is stretched thinner now than ever. And public health funding has been cut under this administration.

The United States health care system lacks the capacity to treat the number of cases that will be filling the emergency departments of one city after another. Workers are expected to continue to work, despite facing the threat of the virus and a situation where every friend or colleague may be carrying the disease, which will then be further transmitted to their families and deeper into their communities.

Just this week, a worker in Indiana at a Fiat Chrysler Automobile plant tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed in quarantine at home. However, the plant, located just 50 miles north of Indianapolis and employing over 4,000 workers, announced it would continue production after cleaning the workers station. No steps have been taken to test the entire workforce.

The criminal negligence of the Trump administration, which serves only the interests of the corporate oligarchy, has all but guaranteed that there will be mass COVID-19 infection across the United States, and a terrible death toll. The working class must take matters into its own hands.
3 1 of 3 Lori Van Buren/Times Union Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Paul Buckowski/Times Union Show More Show Less 3 of 3





ALBANY - Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger says Catholics are under no obligation to attend Mass this weekend, saying the risk spreading the coronavirus should be considered when worshippers weigh whether to go to church.

"Until further notice, Catholics should use their prudential judgment as to whether or not to attend Mass," Scharfenberger said in a statement posted on the website of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese.
The number of coronavirus infections in Japan increased to 676 on Thursday with 56 new cases confirmed. The data was compiled by local governments and the health ministry.

In addition, 697 people from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have been infected, and 14 cases have been confirmed among people who returned from China's Hubei Province on chartered flights.

Twenty-six people have died. Nineteen of them were infected in Japan and the other seven had been on the cruise ship.

By prefecture, Hokkaido has the most cases at 128, followed by Aichi with 111, Osaka with 89, and Tokyo with 75. Kanagawa has 49 cases and Hyogo has 46.

The confirmed infections include 11 health ministry and quarantine officials.

The ministry said that as of Thursday, 43 patients were in serious condition. Fourteen of them had been on the Diamond Princess.

A total of 511 people had recovered and left hospital through Thursday.
Oakland County Executive David Coulter has declared a state of emergency in the county, allowing him to shift resources quickly to assist residents, businesses and communities affected by the spread of the coronavirus.

By Friday afternoon, four more COVID19 cases had been confirmed in Michigan, bringing the statewide total to 16. On Thursday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed 10 cases, including two new cases in Oakland County. None of the cases confirmed Friday are from Oakland County.

In addition, Whitmer signed an executive order closing of all K-12 school buildings, public, private and boarding to students, with the restriction lasting until Sunday, April 5. Childcare facilities will remain open On Friday, Whitmer announced a temporary ban on all public events and gatherings of over 250 people to help slow the spead of the virus through April 5.

Coulter said the declaration was necessary to open a path for federal funds, should they become available. He added that the county is in the process of creating food and medical programs for school districts, while school is suspended in the state.

We will take all necessary steps to slow the spread of this virus, he said. The effects of this public health emergency are still unfolding, and we want to ensure that people with immediate needs get help as quickly as possible. A state of emergency is meant to reassure Oakland County residents that we are leveraging every resource to contain the virus.

The county has also established the Oakland County Help Hotline, (248)-858-1000, to address non-health needs of the general public such as food or housing assistance. The hotline will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. Callers with specific needs will be directed to county departments and divisions that can help or to other agencies and programs that can assist.

Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner said no one in Oakland County will lose their property to tax foreclosure because of circumstances related to Coronavirus, including taxpayers who contract the virus, are required to self-quarantine or anyone facing circumstances related to the virus and its broad impact.

I want everyone in Oakland County to focus their attention on staying healthy and preventing the spread of the virus, not on whether or not they could lose their property, he said. The Treasurers Office has your back.

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.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has been reemphasizing what to look for and what to do:

Patients with confirmed infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of:

Fever

Cough

Shortness of breath

The best prevention for viruses, such as influenza, the common cold or COVID-19 is to:

Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for 20 seconds. If not available, use hand sanitizer.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or upper sleeve when coughing or sneezing.

Avoid contact with people who are sick.

If you are sick, stay home, and avoid contact with others.

Whitmer has also declared a state of emergency in order to maximize state efforts and assist local governments to slow the spread. Earlier this year, she activated the states Emergency Operations Center to coordinate the response to coronavirus and created four task forces to combat the spread of the virus.

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, a total of 135 Michiganders have been approved for COVID-19 testing, 120 have tested negative, and 26 test results are pending. Of the 554 Michiganders that have been asked to self-quarantine for 14 days, there are currently 172 Michiganders in isolation and under active monitoring by county health departments.

There have been more than 1,700 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in the U.S., causing over 30 deaths, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, around 128,000 cases have been confirmed in over 120 countries and regions. Of that number, around around 70,000 people have recovered while more than 4,700 people have died.
Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan, who was last seen opposite Sara Ali Khan in Love Aaj Kal, enjoys massive fanfare on social media. The Luka Chuppi actor recently took to his Instagram handle to share a denim look with a line from the popular American series Breaking Bad.

He wrote, Jesse, you asked me if I was in the meth business or the money business Neither. Im in the empire business. To this post, one of the actors admirers asked for a reply, for which she was ready to pay Rs 1 Lakh.

She wrote, Bhai me tere Ko ek lakh dungi reply Dede yr bhen ko. People demanding reply from actors on social media platforms is nothing new. But what was surprising was that Kartik actually replied to her. With a hint of quirk, the actor wrote, Ye lo reply, kaha hain? or Here is your reply, where

is (money bag emoticon)?

Soon, his fans were overflowing the comments thread with varied responses. While one user promised chocolate in return for a reply, another went several steps ahead and asked for Kartik to marry her, for which she also offered to pay ten million rupees.

Kartik is currently gearing up for Bhool Bhulaiyya sequel. Directed by Anees Bazmee, the film also stars Kiara Advani in the lead role.

Follow @News18Movies for more
Alistair Darling today blasted the lack of international cooperation on tackling coronavirus as he warned ministers not to 'close the door' on massive bailouts for struggling companies.

The former chancellor who was in charge of Britain's economy in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis said countries were not working together today in the way they did a decade ago.

He suggested that would ultimately harm the chances of a swift recovery for the global economy.

He also said the government could be forced in the coming months to prop up large businesses like airlines which could otherwise go under as a result of the deadly outbreak.

Alistair Darling, pictured at Labour Party conference in 2014, today hit out at the apparent lack of international cooperation on tackling coronavirus

Lord Darling, pictured with Gordon Brown, was chancellor in 2008 when the global economic crisis hit

Lord Darling, a Labour peer, said it was vital ministers acted to ensure the UK's 'basic economic infrastructure' remains operational so the country can get back on its feet after the outbreak abates.

His comments came after London's FTSE 100 Index yesterday suffered its biggest one-day fall since 1987 as more than 160 billion was wiped off the value of blue chip stocks amid Covid-19 carnage.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled his Budget on Wednesday which included a 30 billion package of measures designed to stimulate the UK economy and keep it afloat during the coronavirus outbreak.

But Lord Darling told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he believed Mr Sunak will need to bring forward further help for the economy as the crisis develops.

He said: As this intensifies, as it carries on, and I wouldn't criticise the Chancellor for doing this, he will need to go back to the House of Commons - I had to do it several times during the financial crisis - they must do whatever it takes to keep the economy going.

Asked if that included 2008 bank-style bailouts for companies and industries which in the weeks ahead could face financial difficulty, for example airlines, Lord Darling said: I think they shouldnt close the door to anything at the moment.

'The Bank of England has, for example, made considerable funds available to be disbursed through the banking system to provide loans to companies, particularly small and medium sized enterprises.

But the government does have to have an eye on as we come through this, and we will, at some stage we will recover, we need to make sure we have still got the basic economic infrastructure that will work.

Lord Darling said one of the reasons why the world was able to recover from the 2008 economic crisis was that countries worked together and agreed an action plan.

He said that global unity was not in evidence in the response so far to coronavirus.

I think that one other element which is similar to what happened 10 years ago but is singularly lacking today, one of the reasons that the global economy recovered 10 years ago was because of international cooperation,' he said.

We all did the same thing, from communist China to republican-led United States, international cooperation at the moment is in something of short supply.

He added: 'International cooperation to my mind is very, very important.'
(Alliance News) - Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings Ltd said Friday it has agreed an occupational disease liability transfer with UK P&I Club totalling USD103.8 million.

UK P&I Club provides protection and indemnity insurance services to the international shipping community.

R&Q noted the transfer will be subject to approval from the High Court in London. This will ensure the interests of those members who are exposed to these claims and equally the claimants who suffer from these diseases are not prejudiced by the transfer, R&Q said.

R&Q expects the transfer to be completed within the next two years.

"Most occupational disease claims result from seafarers being exposed to asbestos on ships, going back as far as the 1950s. It can be 40 years or longer before symptoms of any disease occur and these can often be fatal, and the resulting compensation awards can be significant. These claims are very uncertain and volatile, and the exposure will continue for many years to come," R&Q added.

Executive Chair Ken Randall said: "We are delighted to enter into this agreement with the UK Club which recognises our experience in this field and follows on from the previous transfer of liabilities from the Liverpool & London Steamship P&I Association in 2015. Occupational disease liability can negatively impact a Club's capital outlook and risk appetite. This transfer agreement will allow the UK Club more flexibility and stability in planning its financial future, while ensuring any claimants remain unaffected."

Shares in Randall & Quilter were 1.8% lower in London on Friday morning at 134.05 pence each.

By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Why are people all over the world hoarding toilet paper in the face of the coronavirus? It comes down to FOMO, experts say.

"Fear of missing out is a modern expression for herd mentality.

The run on toilet paper has left many supermarket shelves, including in Michigan, devoid of the bathroom essential.

The internet, Regine Tan, a student at the National University of Singapore, told Vice. People see what others are doing and they have FOMO.

Toilet paper hoarding started in Hong Kong in early February, Vice reports. A false rumor that China would stop exporting the product to the island spurred people to stockpile the product. Photos of the panic-buying were seen all over the world, inducing a global toilet paper hysteria.

When people face uncertainties about the future, they would look for information and clues with reference to others, Tan Ern Ser, associate professor of sociology at the National University of Singapore, told Vice.

When people start panic-buying, others tend to follow suit, for fear of not getting any of the product themselves, especially products considered essential, like food, hand sanitizer and toilet paper, the report said. The United States, Japan, Singapore and Australia have all fell victim to bathroom tissue hoarding.

Another theory suggests that stockpiling gives people a sense of control in the midst of public health crisis, during which they are mostly helpless, the report said.

Unfortunately, irrational stockpiling can create shortages, which can lead to increased prices. People who overbuy products they dont need  such as toilet paper, hand sanitizer and soap  are depriving others of those items.

As of Friday, March 13, Michigan has 12 presumptive positive cases of coronavirus. On Friday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used an executive order to prohibit gatherings of more than 250 people in Michigan until April 5. Late Thursday, she declared all K-12 schools closed through April 5. On Tuesday, Whitmer declared a state of emergency.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

READ MORE:

Michigan grocery stores run low on hand sanitizer, toilet paper as coronavirus concern rises

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Find MLives complete coronavirus coverage here.
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region (MCX:MRKP) share price has dived 33% in the last thirty days. Indeed the recent decline has arguably caused some bitterness for shareholders who have held through the 43% drop over twelve months.

All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

See our latest analysis for Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region

How Does Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 2.46 that sentiment around Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region isn't particularly high. We can see in the image below that the average P/E (6.5) for companies in the electric utilities industry is higher than Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region's P/E.

MISX:MRKP Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

Its relatively low P/E ratio indicates that Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region shareholders think it will struggle to do as well as other companies in its industry classification. Since the market seems unimpressed with Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region, it's quite possible it could surprise on the upside. It is arguably worth checking if insiders are buying shares, because that might imply they believe the stock is undervalued.

Story continues

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. That's because companies that grow earnings per share quickly will rapidly increase the 'E' in the equation. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up.

Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region saw earnings per share decrease by 48% last year. But over the longer term (3 years), earnings per share have increased by 25%.

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

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

Is Debt Impacting Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region's P/E?

Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region's net debt is considerable, at 133% of its market cap. If you want to compare its P/E ratio to other companies, you must keep in mind that these debt levels would usually warrant a relatively low P/E.

The Verdict On Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region's P/E Ratio

Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region's P/E is 2.5 which is below average (7.2) in the RU market. When you consider that the company has significant debt, and didn't grow EPS last year, it isn't surprising that the market has muted expectations. Given Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region's P/E ratio has declined from 3.6 to 2.5 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free 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 Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Center and Volga Region. 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.
FAMOUS writer Mark Twain said, A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds. Let us consider that we are all partially insane.

First, it was just a crazy and stupid idea that I floated. In fact, I said I might appear parochial, regionalistic, narrow-minded and funny for suggesting it. But that crazy and stupid idea turned out to be a brilliant and sound idea because no less than the National Government adopted it.

I am referring to my column last Wednesday titled A crazy idea on local travel ban where I suggested that the government should also impose a local travel ban or 14-day mandatory quarantine of people from Metro Manila, the countrys coronavirus disease (Covid-19) epicenter, in view of the increasing number of local transmission there.

The Philippines is included in the travel ban of Qatar and passengers coming from Covid-affected countries even if they just made a brief stopover were placed under 14-day mandatory quarantine upon arriving here.

Why not adopt the same policy and protocol for the residents from the National Capital Region (NCR), where the number of Covid-19 cases is increasing every day, who wish to visit other parts of the country. We are very strict with people from the other countries but we are relaxed with our kababayans. This is to avoid the spread of the disease in our locality.

Indeed, that crazy idea turned out to be a sound idea. No less than President Rodrigo Duterte adopted it based on the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. The Chief Executive declared a community quarantine for the people of NCR as the code alert system for the Covid-19 public health was raised to Code Red Sub-level Two.

This, following the pronouncement of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the Covid-19 has reached pandemic level. As of this writing, the country has more than 50 Covid-19 cases, mostly still in Metro Manila.

Story continues

Community quarantine has the same effect as a lockdown as explained by President Duterte in his nationwide radio and television address last Thursday night. They dont want to use lockdown as it might create panic. But it has the same effect.

Classes are suspended up to April 12 while work in the various agencies under the Executive department is also suspended for a month without prejudice to the formation of a skeletal workforce for the continuance of the delivery of basic services.

Private companies are advised to adopt flexible work schemes and arrangements.

Now, here is what I suggested in that Wednesday column on travel ban or travel restrictions. Under Paragraph B, sub-paragraph 7 of the Inter-Agency Task Force Resolution No. 11, Land, domestic air, and domestic sea travel to and from Metro Manila shall be suspended after the expiration of 48 hours from issuance of this Resolution and the aforementioned measures shall be subject to close monitoring and reassessment after the expiration of seven days from the issuance of this resolution. This order will take effect midnight tonight (Friday).

In my column, I suggested a local travel ban. And this is it.

The airport in Pasay will be closed to domestic flights but it is open for incoming and outgoing international flights. For those going to the provinces, passengers must fly via the Clark International Airport.

Foreigners coming from countries confirmed with local transmission of the Covid-19 shall be denied entry.

However, exempted from this rule are foreign spouses and children of Filipinos, holders of permanent resident visas and holders of diplomatic visas issued by the Philippine government.

Seaports in Manila will no longer allow the docking of domestic sea vessels. Land transportation coming in to Manila will be denied entry. However, residents from nearby provinces who are working in the NCR will be allowed entry as long as they can present their company IDs.

Travel restrictions will be reviewed on a daily basis. This will practically affect businesses, especially the aviation industry and the entire economy.

Davao City and Bohol province are also adopting community quarantine for one week. Even Boholanos are prohibited from going home. Patay, unsaon na lang ang mag-fiesta. Ang mga Bol-anon mouli ra ba gyud ug fiesta kay magkihay. (What about the fiesta? Boholanos love to go home to celebrate the fiesta.)
DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate AG (ETR:DMRE) shareholders have seen the share price descend 17% over the month. But don't let that distract from the very nice return generated over three years. In the last three years the share price is up, 18%: better than the market.

See our latest analysis for DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

During three years of share price growth, DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate achieved compound earnings per share growth of 6.6% per year. We don't think it is entirely coincidental that the EPS growth is reasonably close to the 5.8% average annual increase in the share price. This suggests that sentiment and expectations have not changed drastically. Quite to the contrary, the share price has arguably reflected the EPS growth.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

XTRA:DMRE Past and Future Earnings, March 13th 2020

It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

While it's certainly disappointing to see that DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate shares lost 6.5% throughout the year, that wasn't as bad as the market loss of 19%. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 0.8%, each year, over five years. It could be that the business is just facing some short term problems, but shareholders should keep a close eye on the fundamentals. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks, for example - DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate has 5 warning signs (and 3 which are a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

Story continues

But note: DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on DE 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.
A mechanical engineering professor from The University of Texas at El Paso will lend his expertise to early-stage space exploration technology research through a $550,000 grant from NASA to investigate the viability of power sources in the extreme temperatures of space.

Evgeny Shafirovich, Ph.D., professor of mechanical engineering in UTEP's College of Engineering, is principal investigator of the grant awarded through NASA's Space Technology Research Grants program. The money will be used to investigate the use of metal-infused fuel sources -- specifically lithium and magnesium mixed with oxygen and carbon dioxide -- and their reactions in extreme heat and cold.

The challenge of powering and heating spacecraft is intensified in the vacuum of space and intensifies the further away the craft is from the sun, where solar panels provide less energy. Shafirovich's reserach will explore storable chemical heat sources that can be controlled to provide heat and electrical energy.

"I am excited about doing research that may lead to the development of novel power systems for missions to very cold and very hot planets, where solar panels cannot be used effectively," Shafirovich said.

His primary research interests are focused on the combustion of energetic materials and combustion synthesis of advanced materials for energy and aerospace applications. His recent and current research projects, which include grants from the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and NASA, among others, include several topics such as green monopropellants, gas generators, combustion synthesis of high-temperature materials, and combustion-based methods for construction and power generation in space.

Shafirovich's research team maintains and operates various equipment and instruments for studies on combustion of energetic materials. Students will conduct combustion experiments with laser ignition. The experimental part will be conducted at UTEP while modeling will be conducted at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, by Vladimir Volpert, Ph.D., and Alvin Bayliss, Ph.D., associate professors in Northwestern's Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics.

"There are talented researchers outside of NASA, working at universities across the country, who are poised to help us look at challenging aspects of space exploration in new ways," said Walt Engelund, deputy associate administrator of programs within NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington. "With the help of these institutions and principal investigators, NASA will accelerate innovation for critical space technologies."

###

To learn more about Shafirovich's work research, visit: https://expertise.utep.edu/profiles/eshafirovich2.
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The Union Cabinet on Friday gave the nod for a 4 per cent increase in dearness allowances (DA) for all government employees and pensioners to 21 per cent. The move will benefit over 1.13 crore people.

1. The move to hike dearness allowances will come into effect retrospectively from January 1, 2020.

2. The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the release of an additional instalment of dearness allowance (DA) to all central government employees and dearness relief (DR) for pensioners.

3. There will be an increase of 4 per cent over the existing rate of 17 per cent of the basic pay/pension to compensate for rise in prices of essential commodities.

4. It will benefit about 48.34 lakh central government employees and 65.26 lakh pensioners.

5. The increase is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission. And the increase will also be calculated based on accepted formula.
U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to reassure nervous Americans Tuesday as cases of the coronavirus rose into the hundreds across the nation. But the administration is at odds with congressional Democrats who say Trumps plans to lessen the economic fallout of the crisis wont help some.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 13

By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:

Uzbekistan and Tajikistan continue discussing the draft of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the procedure and conditions of equity participation in the construction and operation of the hydro power plant (HPP) in the Zarafshan River Basin, Trend reports with reference to the press service of the Uzbek Ministry of Energy.

The next meeting of the Uzbek-Tajik working group is scheduled for March and will be held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Work on the joint construction of two HPPs with a total capacity of 320 MW on the Zarafshan River in Tajikistan was envisaged in a joint statement of the President of Uzbekistan and the President of Tajikistan, signed August 17, 2018.

The construction of hydropower plants is planned in stages: first, the construction of the Yavan HPP with an estimated cost of $282 million, a capacity of 140 MW and production of 700-800 million kWh of electricity.

At the next stage, the parties will consider the possibility of building a hydropower plant on the Fandarya River with an estimated cost of $270 million, a capacity of 135 MW and an output of 500-600 million kWh of electricity.

The project is expected to be financed by borrowed and grant funds from international financial organizations.

The constructed hydroelectric power plants will produce up to 1400 million kWh of ecologically clean electricity exclusively for the needs of Uzbekistan.

The project will also support the peak capacity of the unified energy system and create additional jobs during the joint construction and operation of the HPP, as well as the transfer of electricity to other regions of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on a parity basis.

For the first time presented by the Tajik side, the draft intergovernmental agreement on the procedure and conditions of equity participation in the construction and operation of the HPP on the Zarafshan River was reviewed on 24 April 2019 by a working group composed of representatives of interested ministries and agencies of Uzbekistan.

On January 28-29, 2020, the first meeting of the Uzbek-Tajik working group was held to discuss the draft Agreement between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on conditions of equity participation in construction and operation of HPP in the Zarafshan River basin.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
The paywalls are coming down. As the news about the coronavirus has intensified, major outletsincluding Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, the Seattle Times, and McClatchy, the newspaper chain that recently filed for bankruptcyhave made some or all of their virus coverage available for free to non-subscribers. Yesterday, the New York Times followed suit. (Its collated its free coronavirus content on a special landing page; youll need to create an account to access it, if you dont have one already.) Yesterday, Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the Times, said, on a call with staff, that the virus is the biggest story the world has seen since 9/11.

At moments like this, offering up-to-date, reliable information that everyone can access is a good thing to do. It could also be good for business. As Tom Meyvis, a professor at New York University, told Adweeks Sara Jerde yesterday, for some outlets, freeing up information on the coronavirus may reach new readers, who may stick with the publication afterward and perhaps be willing to pay later if they are impressed. There is enormous interest in the news right now, and major national news organizations have moved quickly to capitalize; collectively, theyve flooded the market with coronavirus podcasts, newsletters, and other products, many of them free. BuzzFeed, for instance, launched a newsletter called Outbreak Today. Its logo is an emoji wearing a face mask. The coronavirus has dominated regular programming on cable news, as both CNN and MSNBC have broadcast special programming in which medical experts have answered viewers questions. Last week, CNN hosted a coronavirus town hall with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, its chief medical correspondent; last night, it held another one, with Facebook and Instagram users from around the world asking questions. There was no studio audience.

ICYMI: The infinite scroll

Still, the disruption caused by the coronavirus risks impinging on news organizations ability to function. As I wrote earlier this week, routine reporting will become harder the more society is walled off. And as Joshua Benton, of Nieman Lab, has noted, the virus has the potential to pull the bottom out of an advertising market that has been tough on many media companies for years. Last week, the Times said it was already seeing an advertising slowdown, which executives attribute to uncertainty caused by the virusand that was before the rapid escalation of recent days. If the economy tips into recession, the effect on advertising could be dire.

As Benton has observed, the coronavirus could prove to be a disaster for local outlets, in particular. Despite industry-wide declines in print circulation, many newspapers still rely on dead-tree products for the bulk of their revenue; what happens when newspaper carriers become virus carriers, and get taken off their routes? Swathes of the local news market are controlled by a handful of financial firms that have already made painful cuts to their media properties; if owning newspapers becomes an (even more) unattractive proposition, the moneymen could simply decide to bail, and what then? Even the nonprofit news modelwhich has often been held up as a viable alternative to the caprices of private ownershipis not immune. As markets sag, major foundation funders might scale back their giving to protect their endowments.

Some local outlets are hurting already. Yesterday, Sarah Scire, Bentons colleague at Nieman Lab, pointed to the example of The Stranger, an alt-weekly (which publishes biweekly) in Seattle, Washington, where the coronavirus first caused major problems on American soil. The Stranger derives 90 percent of its revenue from holding its own events and providing a marketplace for othersin short, its survival depends on people getting together in groups. On Wednesday, The Strangers Twitter account urged readers to donate to keep it afloat. We pride ourselves on having navigated many storms in the world of independent local media, the post read, but this time is different.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

In recent years, weve gotten used to hearing dire prognostications about the complete erosion of the local news business in the United States. The coronavirus risks accelerating almost all of the malign trends. Its impact could end up looking loosely analogous to that of the virus itself. Big media companies with healthy finances and growing subscriber bases will likely survive, and could even profit. Outlets with serious underlying health conditions might die.

Below, more on the coronavirus:



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: Im not under quarantine. Am I?

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.
Anxious shoppers, spurred by fears of the spread of the novel coronavirus, have rushed to local supermarkets, leading to long lines, empty shelves and an increase in curbside pickups and home deliveries.

The flood of consumption has taxed grocers to the point that San Antonio-based H-E-B announced Friday afternoon that it would reduce its store hours to help meet demand. The companys grocery stores, which also include Joe Vs Smart Shop, Mi Tienda and Central Market, will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. until further notice.

Now Playing: The line outside Costco at Bunker Hill Road snaked around the building as it opened for the day on March 13. People are rushing to grocery stores amidst the new coronavirus pandemic. Video: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Staff photographer/Houston Chronicle

The Montrose H-E-B, busily restocking Friday morning, posted a message on its Facebook page attempting to calm the crowds.

Customers should not panic, as we are continuing to restock shelves around-the-clock, it said. We are encouraging preparedness, not stockpiling  please buy what you need and leave some for your neighbor behind you. We are in this as a community and its important to keep calm.

Kroger also asked customers to refrain from panic-buying. We are not going to close our stores, and we will be open and we will be here to service customers and their families, said Joe Kelley, president of Krogers Houston division.

The rush to stock up came as officials announced a Houston-area case of the new coronavirus had been transmitted locally, rather than contracted during travel. It followed a pattern observed in cities and countries around the world after local contraction of cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, were announced, according to a report by the data analytics company Nielsen.

For the week ending Feb. 29, Nielsen reported that year-over-year sales of hand santizers in the U.S. jumped 313 percent, 100 percent for aerosol disinfectants and 80 percent for thermometers.

On HoustonChronicle.com: These delivery apps can help get you through coronavirus-related quarantines

Hector Solis, 21  who had packed a grocery cart to the brim with frozen Hot Pockets, chicken and other foods at the Polk Street Kroger Thursday afternoon  said he decided it was time to start stocking up after scrolling through social media earlier in the day.

I saw online everybody posting pictures of the aisles all empty, he said. When he went to grocery stores, thats exactly what he found.

Kroger was his second stop of the day, and shelves that once housed paper towels, hand sanitizer, bottled water and potatoes stood bare. Solis said he was forced to pay for pricier organic chicken because it was the only type that remained. Then he was off to other stores to look for toilet paper and bottled water, both of which had sold out.

H-E-B and Kroger worked to reassure customers that they were working to fulfill the increased need for supplies that were suddenly in demand.

(Our) supply chain teams are working to ensure that the food, medicine and cleaning supplies our customers need are reaching our stores as quickly as possible and are available through our pickup, delivery and ship services, Kroger said in a release.

In addition, both grocers saw an increases in online sales as shoppers placed orders to pick up curbside or have delivered directly to their homes, according to company representatives. Both services, originally developed to defend against the encroaching e-commerce sector, may prove invaluable as customers increasingly seek to avoid crowds.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Tomlinson: coronavirus threatens with an economic recession, depends on what governments do next

The outbreak has already caused an array of changes in shopping behavior, and were focused on understanding the ones that will come next, how long theyll last  and whether any will stay with us after the outbreak is behind us, said Scott McKenzie, Nielsens global intelligence leader, in the report.

Even after most coronavirus quarantines are lifted, Nielsen predicted permanent shifts in the use of e-commerce and hygiene practices.

At the Montrose H-E-B, cars circled the parking lot Thursday evening looking for an empty spot, and the cart corrals near the front doors were empty  the carts were all in use or being shuttled back from the parking lot. Goods such as onions, store-brand tortillas, paper goods and plastic sandwich bags had flown from the shelves.

Its a little crazy, said Hugo Banda, 46. I didnt expect this many people. I didnt expect the empty bins. When he realized the potatoes had run out, he bought frozen tater tots instead and was headed to Costco next. Banda said that he was motivated to stock up after the private school at which he worked began discussing canceling classes, and he began worrying about what other businesses may temporarily close.

Now its real, he said.

The rush for supplies even impacted liquor stores. The Richards Fine Wine and Liquors on Voss Road had sold out of Everclear  which can have an alcohol content as high as 95 percent  on Friday afternoon as shoppers searched for alternatives for sold-out hand sanitizers.

Meanwhile, in Chinatown, where panic about the coronavirus set in weeks before they were more widly felt, grocery stores had a calmer tenor. In the Jusgo Supermarket where false rumors of a coronavirus case in January had cut business to a fraction of previous levels, customers had returned. The shelves were full, including those for toilet paper.

Some shoppers were more worried about the panic shopping than the coronavirus itself.

I think of it as just another flu, said Julia Navas, 33, who was at the Polk Street Kroger buying extra food for when her children stay home for spring break. But if (panicked shoppers) start taking everything off the shelves, well have a hard time getting the things we actually need. Youre making it harder on everyone else.

rebecca.schuetz@chron.com

twitter.com/raschuetz

paul.takahashi@chron.com

twitter.com/paultakahashi
As the number of school cancelations connected to the coronavirus grows, Massachusetts will not follow a growing trend nationwide in shutting down schools across the state.

Gov. Charlie Baker held a press conference Friday afternoon where he addressed the matter.

Our public health officials do not recommend school system shutdowns systemwide at this time," he said. "They recommend careful monitoring of students and temporary closures of schools to clean and reopen.

So far, six states - Ohio, Maryland, Oregon, New Mexico, Michigan, West Virginia - and the District of Columbia have ordered all schools close.

He called a statewide shutdown not the appropriate action at this time and said closures should be decided at the local level.

Massachusetts education officials issued guidance Friday to public and private schools in the commonwealth with recommendations on limiting exposure and temporary closures.

The guidelines call on schools to implement cleaning policies and limit groups of students from gathering by canceling large events and altering school schedules.

Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley and Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel held a conference call with superintendents, private school leaders and others in education Friday morning to discuss the recommendations.

Large assemblies of 250 people or more must be canceled for the foreseeable future, a move ordered by Baker on Friday. Schools were strongly urged to limit smaller gatherings as well, including extracurricular activities.

The new restrictions on large groups are likely to impact popular student activities, including prom and graduation, if coronavirus remains a significant health concern in the coming months.

Earlier, the Department of Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley urged all districts to cancel all international and out-of-state travel.

Additionally, school leaders were asked to further limit group interaction and take steps to keep students and staff at least six feet apart from one another. Methods recommended by state education and health officials include online learning or altering school schedules, such as: staggering recess, lunch and arrival and dismissal times.

Massachusetts schools must implement expanding cleaning policies, whether or not there is a known case of COVID-19 within a school.

The state also issued guidance for deciding when to close schools, and for how long.

If a student or staff member tests positive, they may not return to school until they are authorized to leave their home by the local board of health, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said in guidance issued Friday. Anyone who had close contact with the individual - lives in the same household, was within six feet of the person for 15 minutes or had direct contact (was coughed on, shared utensils, etc) - should be immediately identified and follow quarantine protocol.

If the student or staff member was in close contact with others in the school community immediately prior to their diagnosis, the school should close for at least two weeks, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said, citing recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control. Decisions about school closure should be made on a school-by-school basis not at the school district level.

If a family member of a student or staff member of a family member tests positive for coronavirus, the student or staff member must follow the 14-day quarantine period. The school will work with state or local health officials to determine the risk of transmission. If the school will be cleaned, it should be closed for no more than two days, state officials said, before being reopened.

If a student or staff member returns from an international trip that includes time in countries determined by federal authorities to be Level 3 - China, Iran and most of Europe currently - they must self-quarantine for 14 days.

If there is community spread, meaning multiple diagnoses not linked to international travel, school leadership should strongly consider closing or dismissing the school or group of schools, which may include the entire school district for at least 14 days, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said, adding that school officials in this scenario should work with local health leaders to determine when to reopen the school.

More than 100 school districts across Massachusetts announced school closures for Friday. Some announced single-day closures, others for two weeks and some indefinitely.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency Tuesday, allowing for educators and parents to make more decisions regarding their response to the public health crisis at a local level.

State law mandates schools make up all days lost to health, weather or safety emergencies between the first day of the school year and March 31 by rescheduling full school days to ensure a full school year.

By declaring a state of emergency, Baker granted the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education the ability to lift this restriction.

Now, the longest any elementary, middle or high school will be required to go is to its 185th day. No schools will be required to be in session after June 30th.

Additionally, state officials are lifting future attendance mandates on students. The department will consider attendance rates through Monday, March 2, and disregard all attendance data for the remainder of the year.

The typical student in Massachusetts misses nine days - about 5% of the school year. Normally, the state defines students who miss 10% or more days as chronically absent, regardless of whether the absences are considered excused, unexcused and/or for disciplinary reasons. About 12.8% of students are deemed chronically absent each year.

The new attendance policy will allow parents to keep students home sick without fear the student or the district will be penalized for extended absences.

The number of coronavirus cases in Massachusetts continues to rise. The Department of Public Health announced the total broke into triple digits on Thursday, with 102 presumptive cases in the state and six confirmed by the CDC.

Of those 102 cases, 82 are connected to the Biogen conference held in Boston last month. Five of the cases are travel-related, 8 are connected to Berkshire Medical Center and 13 are under investigation, DPH said.

Patients were hospitalized in 10 of the cases, DPH said. Patients were not hospitalized in 89 of the cases and whether or not a patient was hospitalized remains under investigation in nine cases.

Middlesex County - Massachusetts most populated county - has the highest number of cases as of Tuesday, with 49.

Norfolk has the second-highest number - 24 cases - followed closely by Suffolk County with 22.

Berkshire is the only county in Western Massachusetts reporting coronavirus cases so far. The Berkshires has nine cases as of Thursday. Essex County has two cases and Worcester County has one. The remaining case has yet to be tied to a specific region.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 14:54:34|Editor: zyl

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KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's natural rubber production surged 13.3 percent to 66,232 tonnes in January from a month earlier, official data showed Friday.

However, on a yearly basis, the natural production slumped 13 percent.

According to Malaysian Statistics Department, Malaysia's natural rubber exports fell 9.3 percent month on month to 45,827 tonnes.

China remains as Malaysia's top market, accounted for a share of 44.3 per cent.

In January, the country's natural rubber stocks grew 17.8 percent month on month to 288,586 tonnes.

Latex Concentrate average price rose 1 percent month on month to 459.6 sen per kilogram, but Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 average price fell 0.9 percent to 590.38 sen in January.
The topic of climate change  and what we can do about it  rightly dominates public discourse today as a central issue no party or business leader can ignore. Exit polls in New Hampshire last month showed 25% of Democratic voters in the state valued climate change as their top issue; other polls confirmed similar sentiments among primary voters in Iowa and Nevada. Reflective of the times, Republicans have also demonstrated real interest in advancing various climate-related bills as key voting blocs within the party are increasingly supportive of action.

As the conversation continues to evolve, innovators from the Clean Energy Business Network -- a group of business leaders across all 50 states -- are back in Washington, D.C. for the second year in a row to highlight how American ingenuity can play a role in addressing climate change. We decided to return to the nation's capital because now, more than ever, policymakers are eager to learn how they can support the small businesses powering the clean energy economy.

Semplastics, a small, family-owned materials and fabrication business from Florida, is one of the 30 plus entrepreneurs who will be meeting with members of Congress and the administration this week.

Like other members of CEBN, the company is creating some ingenious products with the potential to radically reduce future carbon emissions and boost economic growth. Thanks to partnerships with the National Energy and Technology Laboratory (NETL) and two small Department of Energy research grants, Semplastics is working to repurpose coal into high-performance and fire-retardant roofing tiles. Commercializing the tiles would help to sequester carbon and increase job growth in Appalachia and other coal-producing regions in need of new economic opportunities.

Semplastics has a bright future ahead of it, but there are thousands of other nascent energy and climate-related technologies and companies that may never break through steep economic, regulatory, and commercial barriers. Without the right mix of public and private sector support, many companies lack the capital, technical assistance, and resources to turn innovative gambles into market-ready products with tangible economic and environmental impacts.

It's time we acknowledge innovation, like our national parks and coastlines, is a critical American resource that we must constantly protect and nurture. Neglecting to do so will make innovation an increasingly scarce commodity.

There are many steps we can take to enhance our supply of innovation. We should start by raising federal funding for the national labs, research grant programs like Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), and key technical offices across Department of Energy and other federal agencies. There is no reason the United States, a global leader, historical innovator, and economic powerhouse should rank 14th in the world for public energy R&D spending as a percent of GDP (China is ranked fourth, by the way).

Advancing innovative climate solutions will also require constantly improving the federal programs that can to help facilitate, drive, and contribute to technological progress in the private sector. It will also necessitate updating the policy frameworks underpinning our energy infrastructure network to reflect 21st century dynamics and fully unleash the power of innovation.

Thankfully, there are already some members of Congress who understand the immense value investments in energy innovation can generate.

Under the leadership of Senators Murkowski and Manchin, the Senate is currently debating a package of 50 plus high-impact energy bills and innovation initiatives. Passing the package, known as the American Energy Innovation Act, would boost support for a variety of critical technologies. It would also renew and expand ARPA-E and other successful energy programs.

Others, like Senators Rubio and Cardin, have championed the importance of small business grants to innovators and been strong advocates for reauthorization and reform of the Small Business Act. Leaders of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees have also indicated their strong support; last year they negotiated bipartisan, bicameral funding legislation to provide robust funding for energy programsprogress that must continue in the upcoming appropriations cycle.

We hope our hard work this week will help show other lawmakers that advancing these kinds of priorities is not only important, but integral to the success of American innovators and the future quality of our environment. Ignoring one of the country's most precious resources will only make it increasingly difficult to scale decarbonizing technologies and grow our economy.

Lynn Abramson is President of the Clean Energy Business Network, the small business voice for the clean energy economy.

Bill and Sue Easter are Co-Founders of Semplastics, a small manufacturing business in Ovieda, Florida
A Salvation Army officer puts a pack of face masks into a charity pot during a mask donation campaign in central Seoul, Friday. Donated masks and other hygiene products will be delivered to street cleaners and apartment guards amid concerns over COVID-19 infections. Yonhap



Government struggles to contain outbreak at Sejong complex



By Jun Ji-hye



The number of fully recovered COVID-19 patients exceeded that of daily new infections, Thursday, for the first time since Korea reported its first infection, Jan. 20, the health authorities said Friday. They added that this could be a turning point in the fight against the highly contagious disease.



However, the government is still on high alert as new coronavirus cases at the Government Complex in Sejong, which houses 35 ministries and government agencies with about 15,000 workers, have continued to increase, sparking concerns over a potential cluster infection.



The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced Friday that it detected 110 new cases Thursday, bringing the nation's number of total infections to 7,979.



So far, 69 patients have died from the virus, most of whom were elderly patients with underlying illnesses.



The number of patients discharged from hospitals after being declared virus-free stood at 177 on the same day, overtaking the number of new infections.



It marked the first time that the daily number of patients recovering from the disease reached more than 100.



The KCDC said a total of 510 patients have been discharged from hospitals so far.






SYRACUSE, N.Y.  SATs scheduled at two Syracuse high schools will take place as planned tomorrow, according to the Syracuse City School District.

A city school spokesman earlier Friday told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that the SAT exams were canceled. The spokesman now says he was mistaken.

The important exams are being canceled in various other parts of the country and New York State due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The College Board has a website where it lists canceled SATs across the country, though it is not updated in real time, according to the nonprofit organization.

College Board is monitoring the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and as the situation continues to rapidly evolve, we are focused on the health and safety of students, educators, and their communities, a spokesperson for The College Board told NJ.com Thursday.

Nearly 150 tests in 28 states have been postponed or moved as of Thursday morning.
This photo, taken by a citizen journalist in 2018 shows Laos' Xekaman 1 Dam, built by a Vietnamese company in Attapeu province's Sanxay district.

UPDATED at 2:27 P.M. ET on 2020-03-17

A new dam is set to go up in southern Laos, in the district where two years ago a major dam collapse caused a flood that was described as the countrys worst in decades.

On July 23, 2018, water poured over a saddle dam in Attapeu provinces Sanamxay district at the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy (PNPC) hydropower project following heavy rains, inundating 12 villages and killing at least 40 people in Attapeu and neighboring Champassak province.

Now the Lower Sekong Hydroelectric Dam A project is in the planning stages and will begin construction later this year in Sanamxay.

The company brought in some heavy equipment and a technical team has also been there, an Attapeu official told RFAs Lao Service Friday.

There will be no relocation of the villagers because this dam can be closed and opened. When it has too much water it will release it according to its technical design, the official said.

He added that the feasibility study and environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the 86 megawatt dam were completed last year and that the dam will be located in the Khanmaknao village area and affect a total of five villages: Khanmaknao, Hadxaysoung, Namkong, Hadgnao and Mitsumphanh. Negotiations on compensation for affected villagers are currently underway.

Based on the EIA report, there are five villages will be affected with still unknown number of affected families. It is estimated that more than 3,200 hectares of land or (more than 7400 acres) will be used as water catchment.

A villager who will likely be affected by the project told RFA he was concerned.

The dam will flood our homes and villages. Now when it rains, water already submerges our village. [With the new dam] we will float away like dead logs, the villager said.

Also on Thursday, a representative of the province said at an energy meeting that the developer of the Lower Sekong Hydroelectric Dam A is doing its best to minimize the impact on the community and the environment.

The representative explained that that the dam could not flood villages because it is a run-of-river dam, meaning it doesnt hold back any water, instead generating electricity by utilizing the rivers natural flow. This is different from traditional dams which hold water back to create a large reservoir that floods land that would otherwise be dry.

The representative also said the dam would not affect the survivors of the Xe Pian Xe Namnoi collapse, because they are currently living in temporary housing on higher ground.

The Lower Sekong Hydroelectric Dam A is a joint project of the Lao government and InnoGreen Engineering Company, a Vietnamese firm.

Laos has built dozens of hydropower dams on the Mekong and its tributaries in its quest to become the battery of Southeast Asia, exporting the electricity they generate to other countries in the region, and is preparing to build scores more dams in the years ahead.



Though the Lao government sees power generation as a way to boost the countrys economy, the projects are controversial because of their environmental impact, displacement of villagers, and questionable financial arrangements.

Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
The Telangana government is



proposing to set up six new airports-three greenfield and an equal number of brownfield aerodromes in the state, Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao said on Friday.

Speaking at "Wings India 2020," an aviation-related event here, he said the state government has appointed Airports Authority of India as a consultant for preparing techno feasibility studies for existing airstrips (brownfield) and feasibility studies for the greenfield airports.

"In line with the theme of the event "Flying for All" we are now planning to re-activate old airports, create green-field airports and establish a chain of heliports to connect the remote parts of our State. We have proposed three greenfield airports and revival of three brownfield Airports in Telangana," he said.

The greenfield airports will come up at Bhadradri



Kothagudem, Jakaranpally in Nizamabad district and Gudibanda Village, Adakkal Mandal, Mahabubnagar district while brownfield airports are at Mamnoor village, Warangal Urban District, Basanthnagar in Peddapally district and Adilabad, he said.

The minister further said the government is actively working with various stakeholders to make the Warangal airport functional soon which is expected to boost regional air transport and support the mega textile park there and the information technology hub launched in the city.

"We have requested Ministry of Civil Aviation to include Warangal airport under RCS-UDAN scheme. Warangal falls within the concession zone of 150 km agreed with Hyderabad International Airport and the airport land is under the custody of Airport Authority of India," he explained.

On the ongoing "Wings India 20202," Rama Rao said the event will give an opportunity to showcase the state and the capital city to the aviation industry, as the most vibrant ecosystem in India for aviation and aerospace.

The minister said Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) industry has a great opportunity for investment leading to high value employment creation.

Telangana currently has two MROs operated by GMR Group and Air India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear UGA Faculty, Staff and Students:

Please see the update below from the University System of Georgia, which has been sent to Presidents of all of the USGs 26 institutions. Per the USGs direction, the University of Georgia will temporarily suspend instruction for two weeks beginning March 16, 2020.

Dear Presidents:

Effective Monday, March 16, 2020, all University System of Georgia institutions will temporarily suspend instruction for two weeks to allow time for USG institutions to test their business continuity plans and online instruction modules and for state officials to continue to assess the current situation regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) in Georgia.

Students who are currently on spring break are strongly encouraged not to return to campus. Students on campus are asked to depart campus by close of business Friday, March 13, 2020, and to remain away from campus until March 29, 2020. At this time, students are not being asked to move out of their dorms for the remainder of the semester. For students who are unable to leave campus, please establish a mechanism to safely accommodate those students on campus.

Please activate your relevant business continuity plans and ensure the operation of online instruction should that become necessary. Further guidance will follow as the situation warrants.

Teresa

Teresa MacCartney

Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia
GCC Microgrid Market

PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-13 21:26:15

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GMI Research

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Level 1, The Chase Carmanhall Road, Sandyford Industrial Estate, Dublin D18 Y3X2, IrelandMarketing Communication Manager+353 1 442 8820

A microgrid refers to small-scale power production and a delivery system consisting of distributed generation facilities co-located with the respective loads they serve. A microgrid can connect and disconnect from the grid, allowing it to work in both grid-connected and island mode. Microgrids encompass various types of energy generation resources, efficiency programs, and storage systems, which enables optimal utilization of renewable energy resources and facilitates advanced energy management, demand response, and solutions for load reductions. A microgrid can effectively integrate numerous sources of distributed generation, especially Renewable Energy Sources (RES)  renewable electricity and deliver a backup for grids in emergency cases. The microgrids are generally located at or near the consumption sites and are controlled through a microgrid controller to match the demand to the available supply in the safest and most optimized manner.For Additional Insights, Click to Access Complete Report - https://www.gmiresearch.com/report/gcc-microgrid-market/ The major factors driving the growth of the GCC Microgrid market during the forecast period includes the increasing requirement for uninterrupted power supply and the growing deployment of microgrids for rural electrification. The increasing demand for clean energy, and the rising instances of cyberattacks on the energy infrastructures, will drive the demand for microgrids, thereby accelerating the growth of the GCC Microgrid market over the coming years. The growing industrialization and rising population across the GCC countries will increase the demand for energy storage systems, thus propelling the growth of the market in the region. The governments have launched numerous initiatives such as UAE National Energy Strategy 2050, aiming to deliver clean, secure, affordable energy while treating the environment responsibly, and the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) under Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 focusing towards maximizing the potential of renewable energy sources in Saudi Arabia. All these initiatives will drive the demand for microgrid in GCC countries, especially in Saudi Arabia, to store and distribute energy effectively. In addition to this, the expansion in the electrification projects across GCC countries, including the Yanbu III Power Plant in Saudi Arabia, the Hassayan power plant in Dubai, and the Al Layyah Power Plant Expansion in Sharjah, which will further complement the demand for microgrids over the coming years. On the other hand, the high installation and maintenance cost will hamper the growing demand for the GCC Microgrid market during the forecast period.Request for Sample Report  https://www.gmiresearch.com/report/gcc-microgrid-market/sample-request Based on the Type, the grid connected segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period owing to the increasing adoption of grid connected microgrid, especially in the renewable energy projects such as the UAEs Hassayan power plant, the UAEs Layyah Power Plant Expansion, and the Saudi Arabias 300 MW Sakaka solar plant. The grid connected microgrid offers flexibility and enhances the power supply.Based on Offering, the hardware segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period due to the increasing usage of microgrids in the renewable sources of energy such as PV cells, wind turbines, and hydro turbines for energy generation. Microgrids are widely used in various sectors such as energy & utility and power & gas to increase the resilience of electricity supply, reduce carbon emission, and lower the future energy costs.Request for Customization  https://www.gmiresearch.com/report/gcc-microgrid-market/request-for-customization Various notable players operating in the GCC Microgrid market include ABB, General Electric Company, Schneider Electric SE, Siemens AG, Eaton Corporation Inc, Honeywell International Inc., S&C Electric Company, Exelon Corporation, Caterpillar Inc., among others.Key questions answered in this research report:1- At what pace is the GCC Microgrid market growing? What will be the trend in growth in the future?2- What are the key drivers and restraints in the GCC Microgrid market? What will be the impact of drivers and restraints in the future?3- What are the various types of the GCC Microgrid market, and how are they poised to grow?4- What companies are the major participants in this market and their business strategies, how does the competitive landscape look like?About GMI ResearchGMI Research is a market research and consulting firm which provides research-based solutions to business executives and investment professionals so that they can make right business & investment decisions faster based on real facts. We help business leaders through independent fact-based insight, ensuring their business achieve success by beating the competition. GMI Researchs leadership team with extensive experience in research and consulting together with our research and domain expertise creates a strong value proposition to create solutions that addresses our clients business problems and add significant value to long lasting relationship.The company provides syndicated research report, customized research, sales enablement research, data analytics and KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) service for Electronics & Semiconductors, Information Communication and Technology, Energy & Power, Healthcare, Automotive, Transportation & Logistics and Chemical industries. Our analysts and consultants who are passionate about research and consulting are recruited from renowned local and global universities and have worked with the leading local and international organizations.Contact UsCompany Name: GMI RESEARCHContact Person: Sarah NashEmail: enquiry@ gmiresearch.com Phone: +353 1 442 8820Address:Level 1, The Chase Carmanhall Road, Sandyford Industrial EstateCity: DublinState: DublinCountry: IrelandWebsite: www.gmiresearch.com
(Newser)  A passenger who flew from New York to Florida found out he tested positive for the new coronavirus while on the plane, and now he won't be flying JetBlue anymore. CNN reports that, per the airline, the unidentified man got the notification of his test results while traveling from JFK to West Palm Beach Wednesday evening (it's unclear if he learned of this right before take-off or mid-flight). That that was the first the airline heard about anyone possibly being sick. Per the New York Times, JetBlue says the passenger was overheard talking about the positive test results as the plane approached the Florida airport, at which point the flight crew sent word to health officials on the ground. Medical workers were waiting for him when the plane landed and also assessed other passengers. Scott Rodman tells WPTV the man, wearing a mask and gloves, sat 5 feet from him.

story continues below

"I'm not feeling great about it," Rodman says, adding to CNBC it's "crazy" for anyone who's been tested to fly. "We're asking customers who do not feel well or are concerned they may have coronavirus to not fly until cleared to travel by a doctor or health professional," JetBlue says in a statement, per the Times. It's not clear how the patient is doing, where he's quarantined, or if he'd been told not to travel. At any rate, JetBlue doesn't want him back, calling the whole thing an "unsettling situation that could have easily been avoided ... as such, this customer will not be permitted to fly on JetBlue in the future," per CNN. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says all areas the man went through at JFKincluding security checkpoints, restrooms, gates, and elevatorshave been cleaned. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
John and Gia Silveira stand in Coffee N Bagel Connection after hours last week. The couple took over the store in August of 2019. The popular coffee and bagel shop is now re-opened after undergoing renovations and remodeling last summer.
New Delhi, March 13 : In the backdrop of the pandemic COVID-19, the Supreme Court on Friday in a notification said it will have limited functioning restricted to urgent matters.

"The competent authority has been pleased to direct that the functioning of the courts from Monday, March 16, shall be restricted to urgent matters with such number of benches as may be found appropriate", said the notification issued by the apex court Secretary General Sanjeev S. Kalgaonkar.

The apex court authorities took into account the office memorandum issued on March 5 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as advisory cautioning against mass gathering and also took cognizance of the World Health Organisation declaring coronavirus as global pandemic.

The WHO said the virus will likely spread to all countries with Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying the situation is likely to worsen.

The SC decision was taken at a high-level meeting comprising apex court judges, senior government functionaries and senior officials of the bar association. A proposal was brought forward recommending extension of the Holi break.

India has quarantined itself by suspending all visas till April 15. The Delhi government has ordered shutting down of schools, colleges and cinema halls. The apex court notification added, "No persons except the lawyers who are going to act in the matter, i.e. either for argument or for making oral submissions or to assist along with one litigant only, shall be permitted in the courtroom." The apex court through this notification said that the mentioning of matters will be made before the Mentioning Officer . "Considering the importance of the safety measures for health, all concerned are requested to cooperate with the instructions of the staff on duty, in the interest of all", said the notification.

The apex court came to this decision after reviewing the advisory issued by the Centre and in view of the opinion of public health experts including medical professionals and "also considering the safety and welfare of all the visitors, litigants, lawyers, court staff, security, maintenance and support staff, student interns and media professionals." According to Supreme Court Bar Association Secretary Ashok Arora, a meeting was held on Thursday at the residence of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, which was attended by Justice Arun Mishra, the third senior-most judge, Justice U.U. Lalit and top law officers of the Centre -- Attorney General K.K. Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

The meeting was also attended by senior officials of Law and Health ministries. Senior officials of various bar associations of the apex court also attended the meeting. The judges were apprised of the existing situation of coronavirus across the country.

The Supreme Court is slated to reopen after the Holi break on March 16. "Two options were put up before the judges and top law officers: either extend the ongoing vacation or have limited functioning of the court, which does not include hearing of regular matters involving lengthy hearings,", said a source familiar with the discussion.
Nigeria has no immediate plans to impose travel restrictions on any country, passport or flights, health minister, Osagie Ehanire, has said.

Mr Ehanire told journalists in Abuja on Friday that Nigeria has seen no need to impose such restrictions because transmission risk to the country is not yet high.

Mr Ehanire said though the risk of transmission is higher among air travellers, transmission from land borders cannot be ruled out as well.

We are working in partnership with the Port Health Services, to prioritise measures for the containment of COVID-19, especially the screening of passengers at points of entry.

Home screening

Mr Ehanire said the ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organised a meeting with members of the diplomatic corps in Nigeria where they asked for their solidarity in containing the disease.

He said it is expected that citizens from countries with the outbreak inbound Nigeria should screen their citizens before allowing them to travel out of the country.

We had a meeting with the Ambassadors and High Commissioners, and called for solidarity and cooperation in responding to this pandemic, especially to urge their governments to introduce tighten(ed) health screening at their points of departure, so as to reduce (the) risk of virus exportation to other countries.

Pandemic

The World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared the ongoing coronavirus a pandemic and tasked countries to improve surveillance and preparation for the prevention of the disease.

Mr Ehanire said while the government is monitoring the outbreak on the international scene, it has seen no reason for issuing travel restrictions on any nation.

Other countries have been placing travel restrictions. The U.S., for instance, placed travel restrictions on 26 countries in Europe.

Europe has become a thriving spot for the disease, raising alarms on public health.

As of Thursday evening, almost 125,000 cases have now been reported to the WHO, from 118 countries and territories.

These cases have been increasing erratically in the past two weeks.

However, Mr Ehanire said the government would employ the measures when appropriate.

He insisted that the government is not prioritising the economic gain over the health of his people.

He said Nigerians should delay travelling to countries with high burden of the virus, except it is of high importance.

We dont go after a fly with a sledge hammer. We are operating with a tailored approach that is suitable with the situation on ground in Nigeria. We dont want to put restrictions where they are not helpful and we are monitoring the situation closely. When there is any change, we will do the needful.

Our situation is different from what is obtainable in China or USA or Italy, and as such, we cannot employ the same approach. Every response to the outbreak is country-tailored, he said.

Nigerias Status

Meanwhile, Mr Ehanire added that there has been no new confirmed case of COVID-19 in the country.

He said the country has reported only two cases of COVID-19.

The first was the index case, the Italian who had imported the disease into the country and the second, one of the persons who had been in contact with the index case.

The index case was reported on February 27 in an Italian businessman who had flown into the country from Milan on February 25, for business.

The second case is one of the persons who had contact with the Italian.

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He, however, said the local case has now tested negative.

He said the local contact case was positive in test but was asymptomatic and never fell ill. He has now tested negative of the virus and might soon be released to go back to the community.

As at today, March 13, Nigeria has recorded just two confirmed cases of COVID-19. One case is now negative and will be discharged from care, while the other will follow in a few days.

After 14 days of follow up with no symptoms, all contacts of the index case will be permitted to go home and re-join (the) society, Mr Ehanire said.
One of the employees of tech giant Google, working in its Bengaluru office, tested positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, news agency ANI reported.

Tracking coronavirus outbreak: Live Updates

We can confirm that an employee from our Bengaluru office has been diagnosed with Covid-19. He was in one of our Bengaluru offices for a few hours before developing any symptoms. The employee has been on quarantine since then, Google said in a statement on Thursday, as reported by ANI. It did no specify when the employee tested positive for the deadly disease.

Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking employees in that Bengaluru office to work from home from tomorrow. We have taken and will continue to take necessary precautionary measures, following the advice of public health officials, the statement further added.

A Google employee in Switzerland had earlier tested positive for Covid-19, prompting the tech giant to impose travel restrictions on employees to travel to Iran, Italy and China.

Earlier, one employee from software major Mindtree and Dell India each had tested positive in bengaluru following their return from the United States.

India witnessed its first coronavirus death when Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Thursday confirmed that a 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi in the states northern region died of Covid-19.

The Union Health Ministry has confirmed 74 coronavirus cases so far. The deadly virus that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 4,600 lives and infected more than 124,330 people worldwide.

Keeping in view the ramifications of the current global spread of coronavirus on public health and safety, New Delhi on Wednesday inducted health safety measures for foreign and Indian nationals entering into and exiting from India.

The measures included halt in visa issuance for tourists and non-diplomatic staffs as set criteria to mitigate the further spread of coronavirus in the country.

India is part of a US-led global initiative to share information on integrating science into coronavirus response, according to a White House statement.

Besides the US and India, the UK, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea are part of the initiative.

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The passengers should communicate with the air company and the travel agency to reissue or refund for tickets at the place, where they tickets bought

Open source

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) stops fulfillment of fights from Kyiv to Rome and Milan due to the quick spread of coronavirus Covid-19 in Italy as the UIA reported on

Thus, flights PS305/306 between Kyiv and Rome will be canceled from March 15, 2020, until April 8, 2020.

The flights PS311/312 between Kyiv and Milan will be canceled from March 15, 2020, until April 14, 2020.

The flights PS335/336 between Kyiv and Venice will be canceled from March 12, 2020, until April 12, 2020.

The passengers should communicate with the air company and the travel agency to reissue or refund for tickets at the place, where they were bought.

The company warns that the time of response will increase due to the great number of requests.

On March 13, the first death of a person infected with a coronavirus was recorded, the Health Ministry reported. A 71-year-old woman from the Zhytomyr region.

On March 12, the Healthcare Ministry officially confirmed two new cases of Chinese coronavirus in Ukraine. Thus, currently, there are three coronavirus cases in Ukraine. Previously, a man in Chernivtsi was diagnosed with it; his current health state is satisfactory.

Later, the wife of a man from Chernivtsi was also diagnosed with Covid-19. Another case is spotted in Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region.

The local authorities of Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region (northern Ukraine) announced the emergency mode in this town. The decision takes effect on Friday, March 13.
Facebook removed 49 accounts, 69 pages and 85 Instagram accounts with a total of nearly 300,000 followers

Seemingly innocuous posts such as this one were being shared by a network linked to the Russian Internet Research Agency, Facebook said. (Photo | Facebook)

Chennai: Facebook on Thursday removed 49 accounts and 69 pages on its platform as well as 85 Instagram accounts for engaging in foreign interference in Ghana and Nigeria on behalf of individuals in Russia, and primarily targeting the United States, Facebook's head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher said in a blog post.

The blog post said that 13,500 accounts followed one or more of these Pages and around 265,000 people followed one or more of these Instagram accounts, about 65% of which were in the US.

Facebook said that these accounts routinely posted targeting a US audience, posing as NGOs or personal blogs and writing about black history, fashion, celebrity news, LGBTQ issues and events related to famous Americans from history.

The posts raised suspicion as Facbook the network was linked to activity previously removed and attributed to EBLA, an NGO in Ghana, and individuals associated with past activity by the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA) in April, July and November of 2018.

The network that had been detected by Facebook had used fake accounts and coordinated with one another to mislead people about what they were doing, the company said. That behaviour was what led Facebook to action taken against them, rather than the content they posted, which dealt with police brutality, injustice and oppression, the blog said. The posts did not directly talk about the US election.

The information has been shared with law enforcement, policy makers and other tech firms, Facebook said.
Lagarde, von der Leyen and Merkel have all failed to take charge of Europes response to the virus

Who is in charge of the clattering train? That question, often put by Winston Churchill, needs to be answered with the utmost urgency by the European authorities if they are to avert disaster.

Someone has to take charge. Christine Lagarde, the President of the European Central Bank, instead said during yesterdays press conference in Frankfurt:

I really would like all of us to join forces, I very much hope that the fiscal authorities appreciate that we will only deal with this shock if we come together.

In other words, they have not yet come together. Lagarde also made this unguarded comment:

We are not here to close spreads, this is not the function or the mission of the ECB. There are other tools for that and there are other actors to actually deal with those issues.

She implied that the ECB is indifferent to the widening gap between Italian and German bond yields. Later she tried to repair the damage by saying: I am fully committed to avoid any fragmentation in a difficult moment for the euro area.

No doubt she is fully committed, but what can she actually do?

Meanwhile in Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen, the new President of the European Commission, promises on Twitter to use all the tools at our disposal to contain the spread of the Coronavirus and ensure that the European economy weathers the storm.

But what are the tools at her disposal? In the words of Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, who knows Brussels well:

The EUs legalistic spending machinery will limit any fiscal punch and slow the roll out of crisis measures. There are still no eurobonds, no shared budget, and no mutualised pan-eurozone deposit insurance for banks, which leaves vulnerable Italy in the worst of all worlds: deprived of sovereign economic instruments yet without EU fiscal support to compensate.

No wonder the Italians, doing all they can as a nation to meet the crisis, have chided the EU for being slow to come to their aid.

The usual assumption, when Europe is in crisis, is that Germany will mount a rescue mission. But in this crisis, Angela Merkel has so far shown zero leadership.

Her natural game is to hold back, to wait and see which way things are moving, to intervene only when her services are acknowledged to be indispensable.

The German tradition of consensus politics entails long periods of immobility, with decisive action out of the question until everyone has talked the subject through with impressive thoroughness, but at almost unbearable length.

Some of the federal states  Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein  have decided the epidemic demands action. Others, such as Berlin, refuse to see the need for a significant response.

Michael Muller, the Mayor of Berlin, is well aware that many Berliners are more worried by the climate crisis, and reckon the Coronavirus is not a serious problem, for it will only kill old people and those who have cancer, and might even do the planet some good.

Von der Leyen recently met Greta Thunberg, and was reproached by her young visitor for unveiling a climate law which will only make the EU carbon neutral by 2050.

Meanwhile the Dublin Government has decided to shut schools, universities and childcare facilities until the end of March: noticeably different to the sombre but more gradual approach commended yesterday afternoon by Boris Johnson and the British Governments scientific advisers.

Different nation states can and do vary in their responses to the epidemic, and those in charge will be held accountable for the decisions they are now making, especially if those decisions turn out to be wrong.

If Donald Trumps attempts to downplay the danger prove mistaken, he will lose in November.

But who will be held responsible in the EU? No answer to that question can be given, for no one is in charge.

At the end of the poem quoted by Churchill comes an answer of sorts: Death is in charge of the clattering train.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed concern over the increasing cases of coronavirus. He said, 'Our world is fighting the coronavirus. Governments and people at various levels are trying their best to counter it. South Asia, where a large number of the global population lives, should leave no stone unturned to ensure that our people remain healthy. ' Bhutan Prime Minister Lotte Tshering said, 'It is called leadership. Being a member of this organization, we need to be with each other in such times of crisis. Small economies are more affected, so we should cooperate.

With this, there will be no doubt that we will find effective solutions under your leadership immediately. ' Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa thanked Prime Minister Modi, saying, 'Thank you Prime Minister Modi for this great first, Sri Lanka is ready for this. At the same time, we have to work unitedly so that our people are protected. At the same time, President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (President of Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih) also thanked Prime Minister Modi for this important beginning. Elimination of COVID19 requires collective effort. Maldives welcomes and fully supports this proposal.

The Prime Minister said, 'Administration and public are also doing their best to deal with it. I would like to urge the SAARC countries to come up with a strong strategy to fight against the coronavirus. We can discuss what to do to keep people healthy through video conferencing. Along with this, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, on the other hand, has also advised taking a precaution on her Twitter handle. At the same time, he has posted a video in which he said, 'Today our country, including all the countries of the world, is also in the grip of an epidemic like coronavirus. At the same time, as a responsible citizen, we can stop the disease from spreading by taking a few small precautions. Let's together defeat this epidemic. ' The group of SAARC countries includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

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Anies said his administration would follow the example of Singapore and Vietnam, which proactively restricted public gatherings before the virus spread widely.

Visitors in Jakarta (Source: Jakarta Post)



The governor also said declared that priority will be given to carry out preventive measures to protect the public even though they may cause economic losses.

The Indonesian Governments report on March 11th showed that 34 people were confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the country, including one death.

Along with Indonesia, other nations in Southeast Asia have taken measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

The Lao Ministry of Health has called on shopping centers, hotels and restaurants to continue to closely monitor their premises and customers in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The government is also urging everyone to be on their guard and take precautions such as distancing themselves from people with coughs.

In Malaysia, the Ministry of Health called for the postponement of mass gatherings after at least 12 coronavirus cases were linked to a three-day religious event in Kuala Lumpur.

So far, 149 infection cases have been reported in Malaysia./.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the UK reached 596 on Thursday, with 10 deaths. This followed a rise of 140 confirmed cases over the previous 24 hours, the biggest increase in a single day. It is now generally believed that the country will enter a peak in cases of the disease comparable to the situation in Italy in around two weeks.

University College London (UCL) biology professor, Dr Francis Balloux, explained, The trajectory of the epidemic in the UK is so far roughly comparable to the one in northern Italy, but with the epidemic in northern Italy two to three weeks ahead of the situation in the UK  The Covid-19 epidemic cannot be contained anymore.

His colleague at UCL, Professor Mark Handley, posted a graph with data and projections from Italy, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, the US and Switzerland. According to the trajectories, Everyone [bar Japan] will be like Italy in 9-14 days time.

The UKs deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries said in a statement, We can expect a peak in cases, it has a relatively slow take off at the start, thats where we are at the moment, it will start to rise quite sharply  Within 10 to 14 days we will be likely to advise people with symptoms to self-isolate and we are expecting that start of the peak to come within that period.

Women wear a face mask to protect against the coronavirus in London, Thursday, March 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

The situation in northern Italy also provides a deeply concerning model of the pressures which will be placed on the UKs health care system.

The countrys worst affected region, Lombardy, had 850 intensive care beds before the crisis and is expected to need 3,000 by the end of March. Operating rooms and corridors have been turned into intensive care units. Hospitals are reportedly refusing to take older patients. With health care staff forced to work 14-hour shifts and rapidly becoming infected themselves due to shortages of protective equipment, the Italian government has declared a need for an additional 20,000 health care staff nationally. The death rate in Italy is currently between 5 and 6 percent.

Britains hospitals are even more vulnerable. Italy has 3.2 hospital beds per 1,000 people and the Lombardy region has 3.7 per 1,000. As a result of relentless health care cuts, Britain has just 2.5 per thousand, the third lowest ratio in Europe. While Italy had 12.5 critical care beds per 100,000 people in 2012, the UK had just 6.6 beds.

Dr Nick Scriven, from the Society for Acute Medicine, told the Daily Mail, Hospital bed occupancy now rarely drops below 90 per cent so any surge will cause problems.

He continued, My worry is staff. A large proportion of NHS staff are young with families. If schools close, theyre going to have to look after their children. Theres also the risk of staff illness.

There are 10,000 vacancies for doctors in the NHS and 43,000 for nurses. A recent survey by the British Thoracic Society (BTS), representing respiratory experts, found an understaffed and overstretched service with 73 percent of respondents saying staff shortages meant they were unable to cope with an increase in emergency respiratory hospital admissions.

In 2018, the UK Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) found that three out of five critical care units did not have a full complement of nursing staff and a fifth had to transfer patients elsewhere at least once a week due to a lack of beds.

General Practice (GP) services are also overstretched, with the ratio of general practitioners to patients falling consistently over the past decade. Dr Richard Vautrey, chair of the British Medical Associations GPs committee, warned, Practices that are routinely doing routine health checks  Those routine checks will need to stop during the peak of the coronavirus crisis.

The governments response to this epidemiological time-bomb has been pitiful. Chancellor Rishi Sunaks Coronavirus Budget allocates just 5 billion in emergency funding to the National Health Service (NHS). According to a Kings Fund report in 2017, the NHS faced at least a 20 billion funding gap by 2022/23. The emergency fund is not enough to keep the NHS running a regular service in normal times, let alone during a world pandemic. A measure of the extreme right-wing nationalist agenda of Boris Johnsons Tories is that 1.5 billion of this funding is being raised by increasing immigrant health surcharges by more than 50 percenteffectively denying health care to many migrants and their families.

There is also an obvious limit on how quickly any funding can be transformed into trained staff and equipment, given the gutting of the NHS. The Chief Executive of NHS England has been forced to announce plans to invite up to 18,000 third year undergraduate nurses to help out on the frontline. Plans to use retired staff were roundly condemned, given that elderly people are the worst affected by the disease.

Under these conditions, it is crucial that measures are put in place to slow the progress of the virus throughout the population, reducing the maximum number of people who will need hospital care at any one time. However, the government has so far failed to introduce any consistent and proactive procedures to this effect.

It was only yesterday that the government moved from the Contain to the Delay phase of its response to the coronavirus crisis, despite clear evidence in the previous week that the virus was already circulating in the community. Measures are limited to advising those with a persistent cough or temperature to self-isolate for seven days, banning school trips abroad and telling those with pre-existing health conditions not to go on cruises.

Professor John Ashton, former director of Public Health England, told the BBCs Newsnight on Wednesday, Im tearing my hair out really, with this  Weve got a complacent attitude, it feels wooden and academic, and weve wasted a month when we should have been engaging with the public.

If this now spreads the way it looks likely to spread, there will not be enough hospital beds and people will have to be nursed at home. We should have gotten a grip on this a month ago.

One key factor undermining any preemptive action is the lack of testing. As of 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, just 29,764 people had been tested nationally. On Wednesday the government announced plans to increase its daily testing capacity from 1,500 to 10,000, but it remains to be seen how quickly this plan comes into effect. The current number of confirmed cases is therefore likely to be a substantial underestimation of the number of infected. Many experts believe the true infection figure could be as high as 10,000.

People with Covid-19-related health concerns are advised to phone the NHS111 helpline or to access its website. Both services are overstretched. The number of calls to the helpline increased by a third compared to the same time last year, with an increase of 120,000 in the first week of March. Some callers have had to wait on hold for over an hour. Over 100,000 calls have gone unanswered. The online service received 1 million users within a week, and at points stopped working completely.

Many people have been forced to wait more than a day before being called back to discuss their symptoms in more detail with a clinician or have been given a series of conflicting pieces of advice. Even those experiencing the classic symptoms of the virusfever, dry cough, and breathing difficultiesare not guaranteed a test.

Government inaction is underpinned by sociopathic levels of indifference and cynicism in the ruling elite. Last week, the Telegraphs Jeremy Warner wrote, Not to put too fine a point on it, from an entirely disinterested economic perspective, the Covid-19 might even prove mildly beneficial in the long term by disproportionately culling elderly dependents.

As the super-rich disappear into their bunkers and private resorts, the lives of elderly workers are being traded off against the outlooks of investment portfolios. It is now vital for the working class to intervene in this crisis in defence of its own interests.
Amaravati, March 13 : Health authorities in Andhra Pradesh were waiting for the results of the tests of seven people with suspected symptoms of coronavirus while the lone patient who was tested positive on Thursday was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Nellore.

A youth, who recently returned from Italy, tested positive in the preliminary test conducted at the virology lab at the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Science (SVIMS) in Tirupathi. This is the first coronavirus case reported in the state.

The youth who returned to Nellore from Italy on March 6 approached the government-run hospital with suspected symptoms of COVID-19.

Doctors said the youth's condition was stable and his vitals were normal. The authorities brought five contacts of the youth to the hospital and quarantined them. Their samples were sent for COVID-19 test.

The department of medical and health said they were also trying to trace 102 passengers who arrived from abroad during last few days.

The department has asked all those who arrived from the coronavirus-affected countries to remain under strict home isolation for 28 days from the date of arrival in India, irrespective of whether they have the symptoms or not.

They were advised not to have close contact with other family members, allow any visitors, go out to public places.

"If symptoms like cough, fever, difficulty in breathing are developed, put on a mask and contact the nearest government health facility by availing free transport through dedicated 108 ambulance or call the 24X7 Control room 0866-2410978," the department said.

According to officials, 331 people were under observation, 12 of them in hospitals.

Out of 55 samples tested, one tested positive and 47 negative. Results are awaited for seven patients.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Alex Salmond impersonated a zombie before sexually assaulting an SNP worker, a jury has been told.

The alleged incident is said to have happened one evening at Bute House in Edinburgh in September 2014 - the month of the Scottish independence referendum.

Salmond faces 14 charges of alleged offences against 10 women, all of which he denies.

Alex Salmond impersonated a zombie before sexually assaulting an SNP worker, a jury has been told

It was heard the former first minister of Scotland was working on a high-pressure situation while on the floor facing the complainer, known as Woman J.

She told the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday the 65-year-old then told her to stand up as he did and asked her if she had seen 'that zombie movie where they do this'.

Woman J said: 'He just took a couple of steps with his arms outstretched.

'He puts his arms on my shoulders and leaned in to kiss me on my cheek and then proceeded to move my shoulders to kiss my other cheek and then leaned in to kiss my lips.'

The court heard she managed to break free from the accused, who she said then acted like 'nothing had happened'.

The alleged incident is said to have happened one evening at Bute House in Edinburgh in September 2014 - the month of the Scottish independence referendum

She added: 'I remember thinking that I was glad that his reaction wasn't angry.'

Shelagh McCall QC, representing Salmond, put it to the witness that the incident never took place, which she denied.

The woman said she was in 'complete shock' after the incident and had felt scared.

She told the court: 'I was in complete shock, I didn't really understand what was happening.'

Asked if she was frightened, she said 'yes'.

The party worker also told jurors the pair went into his study to do some work where she complained it was cold.

She claimed the former first minister then told her she should be wearing tights, to which she replied she was.

It was heard he then briefly touched her leg above her knee, while jurors were later told he made a remark about her face before touching her nose for a moment.

Ms McCall put it to the complainer this behaviour had been 'inappropriate', which she agreed.

Earlier, a former civil servant in the Scottish Government told the court she felt 'mortified' and 'demeaned' after Salmond grabbed her buttocks during a photograph.

She said the pair had been posing for a photo at an event at Stirling Castle in November 2014 when Salmond grabbed her 'forcibly'.

Woman J claimed the former first minister (pictured) then told her she should be wearing tights, to which she replied she was

The woman, known as Woman K, said she had been shocked but did not want to make a scene while the photo was being taken.

She added: 'I think my heart stopped, my adrenaline started pumping a bit.

'It made me just mortified. I just wanted to do my job, I wanted to be proud of myself coming in and doing my job and it felt like I was demeaned, that it was unprofessional, that there was nothing I could do about it.'

The woman told the court it was not an accident but 'very deliberate'.

She added: 'I can see how hands might brush past places but this was very deliberate.'

The woman, known as Woman K, said she had been shocked but did not want to make a scene while the photo was being taken. Pictured: Salmond arriving at court today

Gordon Jackson QC, also representing Salmond, put it to Woman K that the incident was not sexual but had instead been about 'power', which she had previously said in a police interview.

The former first minister of Scotland is on trial over accusations of sexual assault, including an attempted rape.

He faces charges spanning a period between June 2008 and November 2014.

His lawyers previously 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 trial, before judge Lady Dorrian, continues.
As the saga for Meghan and Harry's whirlwind life with the British monarchy is about to officially end, it drew mixed feelings from fellow royal members, their loyal staff and the public.

Now that Meghan is in North America to spend her time with 10-month-old son, Archie Harrison and Prince Harry rounding up his final meetings in the UK, there is one person that the Sussexes failed to meet- and that is the long-serving Duke of Edinburgh.

Did Prince Philip Really Snub the Sussexes?

According to a royal commentator, Prince Philip chose to remain silent and step away from the tension caused by the couple.

Perhaps the Duke of Edinburgh has taken "a dim view" on how the Sussexes have announced that they are exiting the royal family.

"We don't know if Prince Philip saw Harry and Meghan during their recent visit when they undertook their last official royal duties as senior royals," royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told Express.co.uk.

On Removing Meghan and Harry's HRH Titles

Fitzwilliams also added: "I strongly doubt that he would have made a special appearance as he has a strong sense of duty and he would not have endorsed their wish for independence and certainly not the way they handled it."

The royal expert also pointed out that Prince Philip will have fully approved the Queen's decision to strip Harry's honorary military titles and to forbid the Sussexes to use their HRH titles.

"He may well have played a part in her decision not to allow them to use their royal titles or to perform royal duties part-time," he added.

It's Not a Walk in the Park for Prince Philip

To recall, before he retired from his royal title in 2017, the 98-year-old duke sacrificed a lot when he married Queen Elizabeth II.

Although he is a part of the British royal family, he had to renounce his claim for two thrones- his position as a prince in both Denmark and Greece.

After his marriage, Philip took his mother's maiden name - Mountbatten. To acknowledge his sacrifices, the head of the monarch gave him two titles-as Baron Greenwich and Duke of Edinburgh.

The Duke of Edinburgh as Queen's Trusted Advisor

Given that Prince Philip already withdrew his position due to age and health conditions, the Duke of Edinburgh spends most of his time in Norfolk at Wood Farm on the Queen's Sandringham Estate.

Moreover, the royal commentator claims that the Queen "missed the presence of Prince Philip," most especially his strength in facing a royal crisis.

Although the 98-year-old duke is not visible during royal engagements, Fitzgerald stated that Prince Philip still plays a vital role in the royal family.

"Though he has reportedly had recent bouts of ill health the Duke is likely to have been, as he has always been, a loyal, trusted and perspicacious adviser to the Queen and, in the present troubled times for the monarchy, that is especially valuable."

READ MORE: Royal Regret: Mourning Prince Harry NOT YET Ready to Give Up Royal Life
Sitting at home, Wang Nan, a Dunhuang culture enthusiast in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, paid her first visit to the Mogao Grottoes via her smartphone.

"I was deeply touched by the breathtaking cultural relics, and I can chat with other visitors on the online tour. This is quite different from field tour," Wang said.

Amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, many Chinese scenic spots have been closed to avoid public gathering and reduce cross infections. Instead, they provide a satisfactory online touring experience for the country's vast number of stay-at-home visitors.

The Dunhuang Academy, which administers the Mogao Grottoes, in Northwest China's Gansu province, has been offering online exhibitions on various platforms, including its official website, social media platform WeChat, and video-sharing app Douyin, also known as TikTok.

The online grottoes touring programs on WeChat and media tool QQ attracted 5 million views in the first 10 days since their launch on Feb. 20, while short videos uploaded by the academy on Douyin has obtained more than 50,000 likes since Feb. 18.

By visiting the website "Digital Dunhuang," visitors can be immersed in the images of more than 4,430 square meters of murals across 30 caves. In early February, the mobile phone version of "Digital Dunhuang" was also launched.

The Mogao Grottoes are home to collections of Buddhist artwork -- more than 2,000 colored sculptures and 45,000 square meters of murals -- in 735 caves carved along a cliff by ancient worshippers.

It was first constructed in 366 AD For more than 1,000 years, it was a popular marketplace, travelers' stop, and a religious shrine on the ancient Silk Road.
The seed funding round was led by Atlas Ventures, a Singapore-based early stage venture capital fund. SGInnovate, an investment firm backed by the Singapore government, and Entrepreneur First, a leading talent investor that provides expertise to individuals to develop technology companies, also participated.

Right-Hand said that its SaaS platform analyses employee behaviour in real-time, produces user behaviour analytics, and delivers customized and user friendly micro-learning training modules to educate employees on their risky behaviours. This empowers organisations to more effectively and efficiently improve company-wide cybersecurity awareness and culture, it said.

A companys employee workforce is typically their biggest asset, but when it comes to cybersecurity, the workforce can also be their biggest liability, said Theo Nasser, CEO of Right-Hand. There is a massive gap between what most employees know about cybersecurity, and their day to day behaviours online that inflict immense cyber risk for themselves and their employer. Right-Hand aims to bridge that gap.

In 2019, IDC projected global spending on security products and services to reach US$151.2 billion in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4%. Meanwhile, spending in Asia-Pacific is predicted to reach US$34 billion by 2023.
Jared Kushner has asked the father of his sister-in-law, supermodel Karlie Kloss, for help in leading the United States response to coronavirus, according to reports.

Klosss father, a doctor, then reportedly turned to Facebook to ask other doctors for help with the situation.

If you were in charge of federal response to the pandemic, what would your recommendation be. Please only serious responses, Kurt Kloss wrote in his post to a group of emergency room doctors, according to screenshots captured by the Spectator. I have direct channel to person now in charge at White House and have been asked for recommendations.

I have already expressed concern for need for ventilators and more PPE (personal protective equipment) for frontline and test kits.

Earlier this week, it was reported by Politico that President Trump had placed his son-in-law, who was previously tasked with Middle East relations and who has no medical qualifications, in charge of deciding whether the country should declare a national emergency amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the report, the president is delaying making a final decision until he speaks to Mr Kushner about his findings.

After Dr Klosss initial post, which prompted hundreds of responses from doctors, the supermodels father shared another post in which he attempted to clarify who he is, according to screenshots.

Thanking everyone who offered suggestions for how the country should proceed amid the coronavirus outbreak, Dr Kloss explained that some members of the group had challenged him on the validity of his claims.

So for transparency I will provide some background about my unique circumstance, he wrote, adding that he has not shared this information in a professional forum before.

He continued: Our daughter Karlie Kloss (one of the top models in the world, 45 Vogue covers and counting; proud dad commentary) is married to Mr Joshua Kusher. His brother is Mr Jared Kusher, son-in-law to the president and who is now directly involved with the response to this.

According to Dr Kloss, he had repeatedly shared his concern over the countrys lack of preparation for the pandemic to his son-in-law over the last few weeks. Eventually, Jared Kusher came to him for help, at which point he decided to crowd-source responses from fellow doctors, which he explained he then planned to have the group peer-review, before sending to the presidents advisor.

I hope to have this posted before I go to bed later this morning, Dr Kloss said, before concluding: In the almost 30 years of training for and practising EMERGENCY MEDICINE I have not been afraid until today.

 Harvard professor calls US coronavirus response a 'catastrophic failure'.mp4

After receiving advice from the group, the doctor then summarised his final list of 13 points, which included suggestions such as: Nationalise as in wartime production of PPEs, testing kits and ventilators, pop-up field hospitals with ICU capability Israel seems to have expertise, decentralised testing away from hospital or if on hospital away from ED, Draconian travel restrictions, and cancelling all mass gatherings.

The list also includes measures such as providing a massive marketing public statement announcement explaining what patients to do especially not going to ED if not in respiratory distress (need to refine this message), locking down nursing homes and requiring the caregivers to wear full gear and provide frequent testing, and using emergency funding to compensate quarantined.

Upon concluding his crowd-sourcing of medical advice, Dr Kloss updated the groups almost 22,000 members that Jared is reading now, according to a screenshot of his post.

While President Trump announced Wednesday night from the Oval Office that the US would be implementing a 30-day ban on travel from Europe, it is not clear which, if any, suggestions from the doctors the US government will implement.

Despite reports suggesting that the president is awaiting Mr Kushners advice, a White House official told Politico: In his role as a senior adviser to the president, Jared Kushner is, of course involved in the coronavirus response, but he is not in charge of coronavirus research.

As of Friday, there are more than 1,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US, and 41 deaths.

The full list of Dr Klosss crowd-sourced recommendations are below:
BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (JKS) said, for the first quarter, the company projects total solar module shipments to be in the range of 3.4 GW to 3.7 GW. Total revenue is expected to be in the range of $1.00 billion to $1.08 billion. Gross margin is expected to be between 19% and 21%. JinkoSolar said the outbreak of COVID-19 is not expected to have any material adverse impact on operations. The company reiterated full year 2020 shipment guidance and capacity expansion plans. For full year 2020, the company estimates total solar module shipments to be in the range of 18 GW to 20 GW. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
While the world has launched frantic efforts to stop the spread of the new coronavirus and Oregons governor just announced the states K-12 schools will soon close for the rest of the month, the question turns once again to just how contagious is COVID-19?

If you get it, how long will you be sick?

And once recovered, can you catch COVID-19 again?

Read on for some commonly asked questions about the virus that is bearing down on the world.

HOW CONTAGIOUS IS COVID-19?

It appears that its more contagious than the flu. The R0 -- pronounced the R-naught -- for the flu is 1.3 to 1.5. That means each infected person typically spreads the flu to 1.3 to 1.5 people.

If the R0 of a virus is less than 1, it will eventually die off the face of the Earth.

A flurry of studies have been done to determine the R0 of the new coronavirus -- with half a dozen that appeared to use sound mathematical methods finding that it spread to about 1.5 to 6.5 people. The average was about 3.28 people.

That pales in comparison to a leader in infectious diseases, measles. Its believed to have an R0 of between 12 and 18 people by drifting across rooms and lingering in the air for hours. But thanks to mass immunizations, measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 2000 -- before an anti-vaccine movement rose in popularity and the disease re-emerged with numerous outbreaks, scientists say.

Experts say when a vaccine is developed for the new coronavirus, its ability to so effectively spread will drastically decline. But the development of a vaccine is still at least a year to 18 months off, by optimistic estimates.

In the meantime, the medical world will continue to furiously work on better treatments to lessen the death rate.

As of early Friday, 30 people had been diagnosed in Oregon and more than 1,700 nationwide. More than 40 had died, according to The New York Times tracker.

IF I GET IT, HOW LONG WILL I BE SICK?

The incubation period is thought to be an average of five days -- that is the time between when a person is exposed and that person starts to show symptoms. Researchers have found that the incubation period could be as long as 14 days, although it is possible its longer for a tiny number of people.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association followed the illness progression in four medical providers in January and February in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the pandemic. The study found that 12 to 32 days passed from the time they first showed symptoms to when they were deemed recovered.

According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness typically recover in about two weeks, and it can be up to six weeks for people with severe illness.

Anecdotally, we know that a Forest Grove woman, Rebecca Frasure, was isolated in a Tokyo hospital room for 28 days. She had been plucked from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan in early February.

She said that long after her light cough and slight fever dissipated, she remained quarantined because she kept testing positive for the virus. She was released after two consecutive negative test results.

On Tuesday, Frasure and her husband, Kent Frasure, returned home to Oregon. Her husband never tested positive for the disease.

ARE PEOPLE WHO RECOVER FROM COVID-19 IMMUNE FOR LIFE?

The best answer that scientists at this time can offer is the answer is unknown.

There is so much that still needs to be learned about the novel coronavirus. But studies of other coronaviruses have shown that immunity does wear off over time. And the question is how long might immunity to COVID-19 last -- months or years?

A study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focused on nine survivors of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), another coronavirus. The study found that the two who suffered the severest pneumonia from the disease still had immunity after 18 months.

But the immunity seemed to wane the less serious the bout with the disease had been.

Three patients who had suffered a more moderate pneumonia all had detectable antibodies in their system three months later. After 10 months, only one of the three did, according to the study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The remaining patients who had had only a mild reaction to the disease or had shown no symptoms had no detectable antibodies in their systems when tests were later run.

Some scientists say if individuals immunity to COVID-19 lasts on the course of years and not a few months, the spread of the disease might noticeably begin to slow when 50 percent or more of the population has been infected and recover. This is known as herd immunity.

WHAT ABOUT REPORTS OUT OF CHINA AND JAPAN OF FORMER PATIENTS BECOMING SICK AGAIN?

In late February, reports emerged of a Japanese tour bus guide who had become infected by the new coronavirus in January. The condition of the Osaka woman, in her 40s, improved, and she tested negative in early February. Three weeks later, she came down with chest pain and tested positive.

The study of the four medical providers who fell ill from the virus in Wuhan noted that all four were discharged from the hospital or home quarantine after their fevers had been gone for at least three days, they no longer had respiratory symptoms and throat swabs tested negative for the new coronavirus.

The four were tested again five to 18 days later, and their tests came back positive.

Virologists or researchers in both the Japanese and Chinese cases suspect that the patients werent re-infected so soon. Rather, they might have harbored low levels of the virus that werent detected from the throat swabs.

The Wuhan study concluded that the medical system might need to reconsider its standards for releasing COVID-19 patients from the hospital or from home quarantine orders because its unknown if people whose bodies still have detectable levels of virus can spread the disease to others.

SO CAN RECOVERED PEOPLE STILL SPREAD THE VIRUS?

Because so many Oregonians -- as well as Americans nationwide  havent been able to get tested, the Oregon Health Authority has stressed that one sensible way to lessen the spread of the disease is to stay home if you have flu-like or cold-like symptoms. In particular, thats a fever (found in 88 percent of patients in a massive Chinese study) and a dry cough (found in 68 percent of those cases).

So for those many Oregonians who want to get tested but havent been able to, the Oregon Health Authority recommends staying home for at least 24 hours after they feel better.

But some studies have found that the new coronavirus is detectable in saliva, mucus or stool days or a few weeks after people think theyve recovered.

Some scientists are skeptical that people are still contagious at this point.

Dr. Richard Leman, who is on the Oregon Health Authoritys COVID-19 response team, said that people are most effective at spreading the virus when they cough or sneeze on other people.

A student at South Meadows Middle School in Hillsboro tested positive on Saturday showing mild symptoms. Health officials have said the child will return to school after those symptoms disappear.

When asked by The Oregonian/OregonLive on Wednesday if the child will be required to test negative before returning to school, Leman said thats yet to be decided.

We are working with an advisory group in order to help us make that decision, Leman said.

Also of concern in the larger scientific community is whether people are contagious before they realize theyre sick. Some research has found that people infected with COVID-19 are shedding the virus even before they show recognizable symptoms, and the question is how contagious these people are that early on. On top of that, some people are infected but never show symptoms, and epidemiologists want to know how effective these people are at transmitting the virus to others.

IF IM A PARENT, IS MY CHILD GOING TO GIVE IT TO ME?

Research so far shows that children rarely become seriously ill from the new coronavirus. A study of about 55,000 patients by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention registered no deaths of anyone 9 years or younger.

The Oregon Health Authority and the Hillsboro School District had used this as a reason for keeping South Meadows Middle School open after the student was diagnosed. Officials said they didnt want to disrupt the learning process and in particular school closures disproportionately affect low-income students who rely on schools for meals.

Late Thursday, Gov. Kate Brown said that she would close the states K-12 schools starting Monday until April 1 -- not because she thought it was the best step toward stemming the virus spread. But she indicated that many others feel differently  acknowledging parents whove pulled their kids out of school and superintendents whove said theyre concerned for the health of staff who are over 60 years old or have underlying health conditions, the groups hardest hit by the disease.

I have heard from superintendents, school board members, teachers, parents, and students that it has now become impossible to functionally operate schools due to workforce issues and student absences, Brown said.

State health officials said they believed schools should be kept open because children are the least likely to be affected by COVID-19. But some scientists say what needs to be studied is if and to what extent children -- who might show no symptoms at all -- spread the disease to other adults, like their parents, who then in turn could spread it to co-workers or other adults.

Leman, the Oregon Health Authority doctor, said he thinks people who are no longer showing symptoms or who never showed symptoms are unlikely to spread the disease -- that the primary method of transmission is sneezing or coughing.

He said parents can help prevent getting sick themselves by practicing social distancing at home, even with their children.

A parent who is taking care of that kid needs to avoid getting nailed by a cough, Leman said. We all together need to be staying a little farther away from other people than we usually do just in case that other person is ill. Thats one of our strategies.

HOW HARD WILL THIS DISEASE HIT?

Thats widely debated. Some epidemiologists estimate that 20 to 70 percent of the worlds population could become infected.

The actual number depends, in part, on how dramatically and quickly governments, companies and other private entities act to effectively stop the virus rapid spread.

Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that his center conservatively estimates 96 million of people in the U.S., population 330 million, will come down with the virus in the next three to seven months without dramatic interventions. Of those, 48 million will be hospitalized and 480,000 will die without some sort of drastic change.

A study out of China, where the virus is believed to have crossed from wild bush animals to the first human last November, 80 percent of people who tested positive for the virus were able to recover at home while 20 percent required hospitalizations.

But in Italy, according to numbers from early March, about half of the people with confirmed cases were being hospitalized. Its believed that a big reason for that is Italys large elderly population. The country is the hardest-hit nation after China and reported Thursday that more than 15,000 people have been infected and more than 1,000 have died.

Studies have shown different rates of death. A February study out of China found the death rate to be 2.3 percent -- with a higher death rate among those over 60 years old or with underlying conditions like heart and lung problems. The World Health Organization estimated the global death rate at 3.4 percent. But some scientists think itll be closer to 1 percent.

Osterholm said comparing Chinas numbers to the U.S. might not be fair -- given that theres a big difference in the populations of both countries. About 40 percent of American adults are obese, compared to 15 percent of Chinese adults -- and obesity could hinder the American survival rate, he said.

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee

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No state in the U.S. will have enough room to treat novel coronavirus patients if the surge in severe cases here mirrors that in other countries.

A USA TODAY analysis shows that if the nation sees a major spike, there could be almost six seriously ill patients for every existing hospital bed.

That analysis, based on data from the American Hospital Association, U.S. Census, CDC and World Health Organization, is conservative. For example, it assumes all 790,000 beds will be empty.

Since two thirds are not, the reality could be far worse: about 17 people competing for each open bed.

Unless we are able to implement dramatic isolation measures like some places in China, well be presented with overwhelming numbers of coronavirus patients  two to 10 times as we see at peak influenza times, said Dr. James Lawler, who researches emerging diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Global Center for Health Security.

Philip Chaffee, senior director emergency management stands in a negative pressure tent outside the University of Utah's hospital, Monday, March 9, 2020, in Salt Lake City. The hospital is taking steps to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, including new visitor policies and the construction of outdoor negative pressure tents where people can be tested without having to go inside the hospital building.

Lawler added that no hospital has current capacity to absorb that without taking crisis care measures, such as postponing elective procedures and reserving finite resources for those coronavirus patients most likely to recover.

More: USA TODAY Opinion: You too can prevent coronavirus deaths

USA TODAYs analysis estimates 23.8 million Americans could contract COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus that first appeared in Wuhan, China. That number is based on an infection rate of 7.4%  similar to a mild flu year.

Experts say this infection rate is likely to be far higher.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security estimates that 38 million Americans will need medical care for COVID-19, including as many as 9.6 million who will need to be hospitalized  about a third of whom might need ICU-level care. In a February presentation to the American Hospital Association, Lawler estimated that as many as 96 million Americans could be infected.

The American Hospital Association wrote to congressional leaders in February to ask for money to build hospitals and housing to isolate patients.

Story continues

Most people with COVID-19 will have only mild symptoms. Studies of cases in other countries suggest that some of those responsible for community spread were never identified as infected because they didnt develop any symptoms.

But some still will need medical care  or at least medical isolation  at some point during the illness.

In my case, it was like a very mild common cold, said Carl Goodman, one of the passengers who picked up the virus while on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Goodman recently moved out of the biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center into a dorm-like monitoring room until he no longer tests positive for the virus.

The worst he felt was during the flight there from Travis Air Force Base in California.

Suddenly, I had a 103-degree fever with no symptoms other than that, he said. No sore throat, no runny nose, no body aches or chills, no coughing. The coughing came later.

For its analysis, USA TODAY used population figures from the Census and the number of hospital beds from the American Hospital Association. The AHA counts reflect figures from community hospitals  all nonfederal, short-term general facilities. It also includes academic medical centers and other teaching hospitals if they are nonfederal. It doesn't include prison hospitals or college infirmaries.

The infection rate of novel coronavirus is still unclear. The analysis used that of a mild flu season. It also assumes that the 13.8% of patients with severe symptoms and 6.1% with critical symptoms would need hospitalization.

The World Health Organization defines a case of COVID-19 as severe if patients have shortness of breath, low blood oxygen, acute respiratory distress, and fluid buildup in their lungs. People in critical condition also experience respiratory failure, septic shock or multiple organ failure.

If everyone in the U.S. who gets that ill requires hospitalization, that would be 4.7 million patients  5.7 for every domestic hospital bed.

That influx could be accommodated if its spread out over a long enough period of time but not if it comes as a rapid surge, as it did in the early stages of outbreak in China and Italy. In Italy, the virus overwhelmed the health care system in just three weeks.

Such worst-case scenarios underscore the complex decisions that could face our health care system in the weeks and months ahead.

When hospitals become much more crowded, literally stretched beyond capacity, if I have a heart attack, will I be able to get care? If I have an auto accident, will I get care? How do we triage that? said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

We cant approach this like I approach a game of checkers with my 10-year-old grandson, he added. We have to approach this like a chess master thinking 10 to 15 moves down the board.

Surge of new patients would overwhelm US hospitals quickly

A surge of new patients would be difficult any place in America. Many hospitals are designed to handle peak capacity during winter flu season, not an outbreak on top of that.

At the state level, the gaps between capacity and potential demand vary significantly.

A command center at Hard Labor Creek State Park is shown Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in Rutledge, Ga. The state is using the park to locate emergency mobile units to quarantine people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus. One person who tested positive for the virus is being isolated at the park according to a statement from Gov. Brian Kemp.

Places like Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and California might need eight times as many beds, according to the USA Today analysis. South Dakota and North Dakota have the smallest gap between beds and potential need, but still could draw three patients for every bed.

But, given the beds already estimated to be in use, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and California would need more than 20 times as many open beds. Even the states in the best shape  North and South Dakota, as well as Mississippi  could need 10 times more capacity.

Those figures assume the infections would happen all at once, which is unlikely, and that all beds are empty, when they are not. Nonetheless, experts say such estimates help pinpoint where it will be most critical to slow spread of the disease and develop robust emergency plans.

More: US coronavirus map: Tracking the outbreak

Dr. Gary Wheeler, medical director of infectious disease at the Arkansas Department of Health, said his state is aware that in an outbreak it would likely face shortages of not just beds, but staff and supplies.

Arkansas gap is among the smallest in the nation, according to the USA TODAY analysis. But a surge there still could dramatically overwhelm resources. About 44,000 people might need hospitalization in a state with about 9,500 beds, of which only about 3,400 are likely to be available on any given day.

If each person only needs to be hospitalized for 10 days  slightly less than the average in China  the state could manage if the cases were spread out over five months or more, the USA TODAY analysis shows. But if the surge compresses into four months or less, Arkansas would quickly run out of beds.

We know that, Wheeler said. And our strategy is to delay the onset as much as possible so we will have relatively close to enough beds to meet the need as it comes in.

States with large elderly populations will fall farther short

Focusing on the elderly, who are particularly vulnerable to complications from the virus, does not improve the outlook in most places.

Oregon  wedged between two states with hundreds of confirmed cases  appears to be at greatest risk for a shortage. The state would need more than twice as many beds as it has  14,100 instead of 6,900  to handle a surge of hospitalizations among its older population.

USA TODAY found that in a surge, only eight states would have enough hospital beds to treat the 1 million Americans 60 and older who could become seriously ill with COVID-19. Most were in the Midwest, in both North and South Dakota as well as Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Mississippi and Wyoming.

All eight have significant rural populations served primarily by small hospitals, however, which typically are not equipped to handle multiple patients who need intensive care.

At the local level, about two-thirds of American cities would not have enough beds to serve residents 60 and older who became seriously ill. Based on an evaluation of about 400 metropolitan areas in the United States, some would need to increase their capacity fourfold or more.

For instance, New Mexico has four metropolitan areas: Santa Fe, Farmington, Las Cruces and Albuquerque. In those cities, the need to increase hospital capacity would range from 50% to 200% to accommodate people 60 or older.

Savannah, Georgia might be able handle an estimated surge of 1,060 serious COVID-19 cases among people 60 or older because the metro area reports nearly 1,300 hospital beds. But an hour southwest, Hinesville could see 150 cases for just 25 beds. A half hour northeast of Savannah is Bluffton, South Carolina, where there could be 961 serious cases for just 331 beds.

But, in a domino effect, Savannah could quickly be overwhelmed if either Hinesville or Bluffton transferred patients to their larger urban neighbor.

Already in Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp said this week that out of an abundance of caution the state had started to isolate and monitor some people in emergency trailers set up at Hard Labor Creek State Park, which sits between Athens and Atlanta. Georgia reported its first death from the virus on Thursday.

The I-25 corridor of Colorado has potential for a similar overload, according to the analysis. Seven metropolitan areas from Fort Collins to Pueblo could be home to 13,000 older patients who need hospitalization. Yet, those cities together have just over 9,000 beds.

Preparing, and expanding hospital capacity, is key

Health officials cited many creative options for expanding capacity in an outbreak.

Hospital cafeterias can be filled with beds to become a makeshift isolation ward. So can other large buildings, such as school gyms.

Nurses can wheel a second bed into a private hospital room. Some hospitals emergency plans include setting up tents and cots in a parking lot, where they could triage incoming patients.

Dr. Susan Kline, infection prevention medical director for Minnesota Health Fairview, said public health officials there are developing guidelines for how to care for recovering COVID-19 patients at home.

Carl Goldman, a former Diamond Princess cruise passenger, is being held in a biocontainment unit in Nebraska after testing positive for COVID-19.

If a patient is symptomatically recuperated enough to go home they could be discharged even though they might not be 100%, she said.

Dr. Colleen Kraft agreed that hospitals should think creatively about how to free up beds for those most in need.

If people have to be quarantined or have to be isolated, we're finding that healthcares being used as sort of safety net for that, said Kraft, who leads the Clinical Virology Research Laboratory at Emory University School of Medicine. And that's not going to work if we have really sick people that need help.

Hospitals also might choose to prioritize coronavirus care to gain beds typically reserved for other services. For instance, officials could cancel elective surgeries and convert the recovery unit into an isolation ward.

Before hospitals run out of beds, they could face problems finding enough qualified nurses, radiology and CT technicians, and intensive care doctors.

David Savitsky continues to run his medical staffing company from home, where he is self-isolating after being exposed to the virus. ATC Healthcare helps hospitals in 20 states find temporary workers and has seen an uptick in calls related to the new coronavirus amid an already busy flu season.

Just yesterday I was on the phone with someone from a hospital where they need 75 nurses, Savitsky said. Were going to be able to help them out to some extent; were not going to be able to get them 75 nurses.

Emergency declarations could give governors the power to loosen certain professional standards or laws related to patient care. For instance, an intensive care unit that typically limits each nurse to caring for one or two patients might instead allow one nurse to monitor three patients.

States also also could provide temporary relief from laws that only recognize nursing licenses from a limited number of states, allowing hospitals to hire from a wider pool of professionals.

Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said a worst-case scenario would involve extremes never invoked, like rationing care among the coronavirus patients.

It could lead to examining the probability of salvaging this patient and that patient, he said. Its a little like in a battlefield. If somebodys not going to make it, you make them comfortable as best you can.

Mandatory community separation and isolation measures initiated quickly take pressure off of the hospitals by slowing the spread of coronavirus.

Lawler called that the most powerful tool we have. He pointed to the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic as an example of how even a few days can make a difference.

In Philadelphia, bodies were stacked on the sidewalk because they could not pick them up in time, he said, while in St. Louis, residents had a relatively benign experience and hospitals were not overwhelmed.

That difference between early and too late, between St. Louis and Philadelphia, Lawler said, appeared to be about two weeks.

How we did this analysis

USA TODAY used population figures from the U.S. Census and the number of hospital beds from the American Hospital Association. The AHA counts reflect figures provided by community hospitals  all nonfederal, short-term general facilities. It also includes academic medical centers and other teaching hospitals if they are nonfederal but it doesn't include places like prison hospitals or college infirmaries. Because the infection rate of novel coronavirus in this country remains unclear, the analysis used rates in a mild flu season. It also assumed that the 13.8% of patients with severe symptoms and 6.1% with critical symptoms all would need hospitalization. Since the World Health Organization reports that people 60 and over are most at risk, the analysis also focused on that population as reported by the Census.

Jayme Fraser is an investigative journalist for USA TODAY, focusing primarily on the Midwest and health. Contact her at jfraser@gatehousemedia.com or @jaymekfraser. Matt Wynn is a data journalist on the USA TODAY investigations team, focusing primarily on public and consumer safety. Contact him at mwynn@usatoday.com or @mattwynn.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus cases: Spike would leave US hospitals without enough beds
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President Donald Trump will hold a press conference on Friday afternoon amid confusion and chaos about the coronavirus after reports Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who dined with him on Saturday at Mar-a-Lago, tested positive for the disease but then said a second test showed a negative result.

Trump, who shook hands with his Brazilian counterpart at that meal, will declare a national emergency, Bloomberg News reported, which would open the door to more federal funds for states and cities.

Additionally, Trump and his fellow G7 leaders spoke, according to French President Emmanuel Macron, and will hold a videoconference on Monday about combatting the disease.

'Following my call with @realDonaldTrump and all G7 leaders, we agreed to organize an extraordinary Leaders Summit by videoconference on Monday on Covid-19. We will coordinate research efforts on a vaccine and treatments, and work on an economic and financial response,' Macron wrote on Twitter.

The president will answer questions at the 3 p.m. presser as the House prepares to vote on a coronavirus package, the stock market tries to recover from its worst day since the 1987 economic recession, and schools across the country have closed out of fears of spreading the virus.

He will likely be peppered with questions about his health, whether he should be tested, and why he hasn't into voluntary self-quarantine, despite CDC guidelines describing someone in his situation as 'medium risk' for infection.

The president announced the press conference after reports out of Brazil said the Bolsonaro tested positive for coronavirus. One of the major newspapers in Rio de Janeiro, Journal O Dia, noted The Guardian's Tom Phillips, reported the news of Bolsonaro's positive test.

Bolsonaro, 64, was checked for the disease after his aide Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for it.

But a second test that came back on Friday showed the president tested negative, according to a statement on Bolsonaro's official Facebook page, which is adding to the questions and confusion.

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President Donald Trump shaking hands with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night; Bolsonaro's condition remains unknown - there are reports that he has tested positive and negative for coronavirus

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, wearing a protective mask, is seen at the Alvorada Palace, on Friday

'The Armed Forces Hospital and (diagnostic laboratory) Sabin have returned a negative test result for COVID-19 for the President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro,' the posting said. It was accompanied by a photo of Bolsonaro flashing an obscene arm gesture at the press.

On Thursday, Trump brushed aside concerns about his encounter with the Brazilians - the latest in a series of brushes the president has had with the highly-contagious disease.

Both Bolsonaro and Wajngarten, his press secretary, were at the Winter White House Saturday night. Wajngarten had his photo take with President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

There are now more than 1,800 cases of coronavirus across the US and 42 people have died

Trump and the first family have resisted going into self-quarantine despite other lawmakers who came into contact with those testing positive for the disease going into voluntary isolation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends testing if you 'have been in close contact with a person known to have' the virus. The agency defines close contact as 'being within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) of a COVID-19 case for a prolonged period of time.' Also, according to CDC guidelines, the president would be considered 'medium' risk for exposure.

From left: Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump, and Fabio Wajngarten, the communications secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. The three men posed for a photo on Saturday at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida

Other world leaders are self-quarantining. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in a voluntary 14-day quarantine after his wife, Sophie, tested positive for the disease.

Several members of the first family were at the Winter White House Saturday night where there was a birthday party for Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., in addition to the working dinner for the Brazilian delegation.

One of those was Ivanka Trump, who, it was revealed late Thursday, had another brush with the disease.

She and Attorney General Bill Barr posed for a photograph with Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton on March 5 - days before he tested positive for coronavirus.

They were meeting as part of a meeting between officials from the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the U.S. The next day, Ivanka Trump attended the dinner at Mar-a-Lago with her father and Bolsonaro.

Ivanka Trump stayed home on Friday but is showing no symptoms, does not need to self-quarantine and stayed home out of an abundance of caution, the White House said.

'The White House is aware that Mr. Dutton tested positive for COVID-19. He was asymptomatic during the interaction. Exposures from the case were assessed and the White House Medical Unit confirmed, in accordance with CDC guidance, that Ivanka is exhibiting no symptoms and does not need to self-quarantine. She worked from home today out of an abundance of caution until guidance was given,' White House Deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert at the National Institutes of Health, said he would 'likely' have been tested after coming if he had come into contact with Bolsonaro's aide who tested positive for the coronavirus.

When asked hypothetically if he would get a test, he told ABC's 'Good Morning America': 'Likely I would, but I'm not sure.'

'It depends on the circumstances,' he added.

'I WOULD LIKELY GET TESTED': FAUCI ON PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LINK TO BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT AND HIS COVID-19 AIDE Anthony Fauci on Friday Dr. Anthony Fauci refused to urge the president to get tested for COVID-19 after coming into contact with the Brazilian president and one of his aides who has the virus, but said if it were him, he likely would. Trump and President Jair Bolsonaro had dinner at Mar-a-Lago on March 7, a day after one of his key aides tested positive for the virus. Bolsonaro is now awaiting the results of his own test, but the White House says Trump has not had one. The Mirror claimed on Friday that he had tested positive for the virus. That is yet to be confirmed by Brazilian officials. Ivanka Trump with Australian government minister Peter Dutton (right) on March 5. Dutton has tested positive for the virus Fauci said on Friday morning that he did not want to comment too strongly on the decision and that Trump and his doctors would know the best course of action. But when pushed, Fauci admitted that he would likely have a test if it were him who had come into contact with the infected aide. 'I leave that to the president's white house physician who is an extremely competent individual who I know well, and the decisions there were between what would be a potential patient and the physician,' he said. When asked if he would get a test, he said: 'Likely I would, but I'm not sure. 'It depends on the circumstances. 'We should follow the guidelines of the CDC about when you are at a risk what you should do.' Ivanka Trump was also at the dinner on March 7 and she has another connection to the virus - two days earlier, on March 5, she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with an Australian government minister who has now tested positive for the virus. It is unclear whether or not she has been tested. Advertisement

Wajngarten, the Bolsonaro aide who was at Mar-a-Lago for Saturday's dinner and the birthday party, tested positive for the virus, setting off a chain of events on Thursday, including a test for his boss. Brazil has at least 73 confirmed cases of coronavirus and zero deaths thus far.

The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald reported on Thursday that Bolsonaro took two tests: 'The result should be ready. But the presidential palace is now saying the result will only be released Friday, which likely means he had a second test, and that one takes longer,' he wrote on Twitter.

Bolsonaro's son Eduardo, who was also at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night, tweeted on Friday that there was 'too much lies' in the media and claimed the testing wasn't complete.

'Too much lies and little information. Coronavirus exam done with the team that were with JB in USA have not yet been completed There are always those people who tell lies in the media and if the story is confirmed they say 'I told you!', if not will be just 1 more fake news,' he wrote.

Fox News' John Roberts reported Eduardo Bolsonaro originally told the network that his father tested positive.

'After telling @FoxNews that his father had a preliminary POSITIVE test for coronavirus, Eduardo Bolsonaro now tells @FoxNews the test was NEGATIVE. Bolsonaro says has been in touch with the White House,' Roberts wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican, announced he tested positive for coronavirus after attending an event with Bolsonaro and Wajngarten in Miami on Monday.

At the event, he hugged Bolsonaro after presenting the Brazilian president with keys to the city.

'It is confirmed that I have the coronavirus,' Suarez told the Miami Herald. 'I did test positive for it.'

'Im concerned for people who have had some measure of contact with me,' he added.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Thursday he would self-quarantine and be tested for the virus. The South Carolina senator was at Mar-a-Lago this weekend. He also met with Australian official in his Washington D.C. office on March 5.

'Senator Graham was at Mar-a-Lago last weekend. He has no recollection of direct contact with the President of Brazil, who is awaiting results of a coronavirus test, or his spokesman who tested positive,' Graham's office said in a statement.

'However, in an abundance of caution and upon the advice of his doctor, Senator Graham has decided to self-quarantine awaiting the results of a coronavirus test. This is a precautionary measure. He will continue to work from home,' his office noted.

Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida also said that he will self-quarantine after he met with the Brazil delegation, which included Wajngarten.

'While I do not believe I interacted with the infected person, that individual was in the same room as me,' Scott said. He said he was self-quarantining out of 'an abundance of caution' and would work from home.

President Trump, who was photographed standing next to Wajngartenn and Vice President Mike Pence at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night, said Thursday he was 'not concerned' about possibly contracting the virus.

'Let's put it this way: I'm not concerned,' Trump told reporters Thursday while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office.

'We did nothing very unusual. We sat next to each other for a period of time,' the president noted.

MARCH 7: Trump, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro with President Trump, National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, and Ivanka Trump at a working dinner at Mar-a-Lago

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez embraces Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at an event in Miami on Monday. Mayor Suarez has the virus

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham addressed the situation before reports of Bolsonaro's test.

'The White House is aware of public reports that a member of the Brazilian delegation's visit to Mar-a-Lago last weekend tested positive for COVID-19; confirmatory testing is pending. Exposures from the case are being assessed, which will dictate next steps. Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time,' she said, referring to Wajngarten.

'As stated before, the White House Medical Unit and the United States Secret Service has been working closely with various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First & Second Families, and all White House staff healthy,' she noted.

Justin Trudeau, 48, is 'in good health' has no symptoms but will be in isolation for 14 days, and will continue to work and conduct his duties remotely, according to the statement. The couple pictured above in December 2019

'To reiterate CDC guidelines, there is currently no indication to test patients without symptoms, and only people with prolonged close exposure to confirmed positive cases should self-quarantine,' Grisham said. 'We are monitoring the situation closely and will update everyone as we get more information.'

Wajngarten accompanied his boss on the Florida visit, which included meetings with officials and the dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

The encounter was the latest brush Trump has had with the coronavirus. An attendee at CPAC, the annual conservative conference that the president addressed at the end of February, tested positive for the virus.

The American Conservative Union, which sponsors the conference, was quick to say the person had no direct contact with Trump or Pence, who also spoke.

But three lawmakers went into self-quarantine because they did and all had contact with the president: new White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Rep. Doug Collins and Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Gaetz was also at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night for the dinner and birthday party. Additionally, the Florida Republican flew back to Washington D.C. with the president on Air Force One on Monday.

The president has not been tested for the coronavirus, according to the White House.

A columnist for the newspaper, Monica Bergamo, said Wajngarten was tested for coronavirus at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.

His test result was positive, multiple news outlets reported.

In the photo he posted on Instagram from the Saturday night events at Mar-a-Lago, Wajngarten is standing next to Trump wearing a 'Make Brazil great again' cap.

Vice President Mike Pence was next to Trump.

In addition to the working dinner at Mar-a-Lago, there was a birthday party for Guilfoyle, attended by several members of the first family and many Trump allies.

Spotted at the lavish bash: Donald Trump Jr., her boyfriend of almost two years; Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump; Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner; Tiffany Trump; Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal attorney; Republican Senator Lindsey Graham; and Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson was also there as was National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien; Senator Rand Paul's Deputy Chief of Staff Sergio Gor, Fox News' Jesse Watters and his wife Emma Watters; and new acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell.

As of Thursday afternoon, there have been more than 1,360 reported cases of coronavirus in the United States. At least 39 people have died.

An attendee at the 2020 Conservative Political Action Conference on February 29 (Trump pictured at the event, above) has tested positive for the coroanavirus

Congressman Matt Gaetz, who announced he was exposed to Coronavirus, departing off Air Force One on Monday (left). He was at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday (right)

Self-isolating: NYU Langone hospital says Dr. Alan Berger, an obstetrician/gynecologist who also attended CPAC last month, has voluntarily self-quarantined. It did not say if he has tested positive for coronavirus. Texas senator Ted Cruz said he was staying at home after shaking hands with someone at the CPAC conservative conference

Last month, Trump said he was not concerned about contracting the virus after a man in his 50s who attended the three-day Conservative Political Action Conference that began on February 26.

The American Conservative Union, the organization that runs CPAC, insisted the patient had no contact with either Trump or Pence at the conservative gathering in National Harbor, Maryland.

'A New Jersey hospital tested the person, and CDC confirmed the positive result,' the ACU said.

'The individual is under the care of medical professionals in the state of New Jersey, and has been quarantined.'

The attendee did not listen to any speeches in the main hall, the ACU confirmed.

Several senior White House officials attended the event, including White House adviser and first daughter Ivanka Trump, White House senior counselor Jared Kushner, White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway and the former acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

Donald Trump Jr was also there as were several members of the president's cabinet including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Passengers, including American citizen Dylan Clairmont (right), 20, wait to board the last direct United Airlines flight from Berlin to New York at Tegel Airport on Friday

Kennedy Airport is a ghost town on Friday after Trump instituted a ban on travel to and from Europe for 30 days

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement to reporters that precautions were being taken although she did not offer specifics.

'The White House is aware of an individual testing positive for coronavirus after attending the CPAC conference that took place nearly two weeks ago. At this time, there is no indication that either President Trump or Vice President Pence met with or were in close proximity to the attendee.

'The president's physician and United States Secret Service have been working closely with White House staff and various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the first family and the entire White House complex safe and heathy,' she said.'

Donald Trump Jr did not come into contact with the individual at CPAC, a spokesman said.

'It has been confirmed that Don did not come into contact with the individual that tested positive,' said a spokesman for the president's son told DailyMail.com.

Earlier this week, a leading New York doctor and political ally of Senator Ted Cruz went into self-quarantine over fears he has coronavirus.

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 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 CPAC.

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.

Schlapp shook hands with the president and mingled with Ivanka Trump, Lara Trump and Jared Kushner during the 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 last 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.'

White House coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says complete US shutdown is 'on the table' and warns the crisis could last TWO MONTHS

In a series of interviews with Good Morning America and CBS This Morning, Fauci gave his bleak assessment of what is still to come

White House coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday morning that the current state of crisis in the US would last for two months and that 'it's all on the table' in terms of how much more severe things may become.

In a series of interviews with Good Morning America and CBS This Morning, Fauci gave his bleak assessment of what is still to come.

'It's certainly going to get worse before it gets better...there's no doubt we have not peaked yet,' he said.

Asked directly if America was heading towards a complete shutdown like China and Italy, he would not rule it out.

'I'm not sure we're going to get to that.

'I think that would be really rather dramatic, but I can tell you that all things are on the table.

'We just have to respond as things evolve over the days and the weeks,' he said.

There has been a dramatic shift in tone from the government in the last several days.

At the start of the week, President Trump was advising Americans not to panic and even said the virus would 'go away'.

He then shut the border to Europeans, and said on Thursday that even US citizens who test positive for the virus would not be allowed to come home.

Fauci's prediction was that there will be at least another several weeks of the current mode of crisis, but that it could last up to two months.

'It will be at least a matter of several weeks. It's unpredictable, but if you look at historically how these things work, it will likely be anywhere from a few weeks to up to eight weeks.

It's like buying a printer without the ink: California receives COVID-19 tests that are MISSING PARTS California Gov. Gavin Newsom California Gov. Gavin Newsom fumed on Thursday that the CDC had sent hospitals and labs COVID-19 tests with some of the crucial parts missing. In a press conference, he said: 'The test kits do not include in every case the RNA extraction kits, the reagents, the chemicals, the solutions that are components of the broader tests. 'This is imperative that the federal government and labs across the United States, not just state of California, get the benefit of all the ingredients, the components of the test. 'I am surprised this is not more of the national conversation. 'I think its very much in line with your going to the store and purchasing a printer but forgetting to purchase the ink.' Fauci, addressing the disastrous testing blunder on Friday morning, said it was 'unfortunate'. Advertisement

'I hope it's going to be in the earlier part, two, three, four weeks, but it's impossible to make an accurate prediction,' he said.

Later, in an interview with CBS, he said it was one of the worst things he had seen in his 36-year career.

'I mean, there have been an awful lot of challenges over the 36 years that I've been doing this.

'Obviously HIV/AIDS, that was a disruption for beginning a very selected demographic group in the country even though there was a lot of general fear.

'With regard to disruption of everyday life, we have not seen that before. We've not had this kind of a situation before.

'I mean, we've had pandemics, the 2009 H1N1 swine flu was a pandemic, but it was influenza.

'We were familiar with what influenza does. Familiar with its seasonal capability.

'Right now there are a lot of unknowns, I think that's the thing that's frightening people.'

Fauci told congress on Thursday that the healthcare system had was failing and that there were not enough tests to go around or get done fast enough.

On Friday, he was more optimistic and said 'very soon' there will be wider scope for testing but he did not give specifics of where these tests would be available and who was producing them.

Experts say one of the largest problems is that so many people who are not yet showing symptoms are continuing the spread the virus without knowing it.

Because of the lack of tests, only those who show symptoms and seem ill are being given them.

That will change soon, Fauci said.

'The system as it was designed, was designed for what it was designed for.

'Let's look ahead, and I believe what we're hearing at the task force that we are now getting into that phase where we'll be able to really scale it up a lot.

'I think in the next week or so, you're going to see an acceleration of availability of tests.

'Right now as I've mentioned many times and I'll stick by it, early on, the way the system was designed, as good a system as it was, it was not a design to approach that broad blanket testing.

'We're on our way to that now, and we'll be able to do it relatively soon,' he said.

To CBS, he added: 'It's not going to all happen tomorrow or the next day.

'It's going to start going like this -- that relatively soon that kind of issue that was just mentioned by the person who spoke hopefully will no longer be existing.'

However all the tests currently being used take several days to make a positive diagnosis.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday night that the situation may remain like this for six months.

He has taken the extraordinary step of declaring a state of emergency and banning gatherings of 500 people or more in the city.

Any businesses that choose to remain open whose capacity is less than that has been told to operate at no more than 50 percent occupancy.

It puts an incredible strain on businesses.

'We're worried about people's livelihoods... we're worried about people being able to pay their rent,' de Blasio said on Thursday night.

Trump said on Thursday afternoon that any Americans who are overseas and who test positive for coronavirus will not be allowed back into the country.

There is grave concern over what is being done though to test people when they get back to the US, or even.

The stock market has tanked as a result of the pandemic, dropping 2,000 points on Thursday in the worst day of trading for decades.

The Federal Reserve Bank has injected $1.5 trillion into the market to stop them from falling again.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says coronavirus crisis could last up to NINE MONTHS as he opens drive-thru testing in contained town New Rochelle which will serve 200 cars per day

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday that the coronavirus crisis could last up to nine months as he opened a drive-thru testing facility in the town of New Rochelle, one of the most intense clusters of the virus in the country.

The testing facility will serve 200 cars per day and residents must call ahead to book an appointment first.

People who are most at risk, like the elderly or sick who have underlying conditions and are showing symptoms of COVID-19, will be prioritized with appointments.

Cuomo said it was a safer way to test for positive cases because potentially infected people are not walking into hospitals and exposing others to the virus.

A group of healthcare workers at the drive-thru facility on Friday

He said the drive-thru would stay open for as long as the crisis lasted, and warned the public that it would be far longer than they may have initially planned for.

'I don't believe that this is gong to be a short term issue. We're looking at a matter of months. People should start to calibrate that into their expectation.

'I think this could be six, seven, eight, nine-month affair.

'Watching the trajectory of the virus. People should start to recognize that.

'This is not going to be over in 30 days. It's not going to be over in a couple of weeks.

'There'll be waves - it'll go a little higher, a little slower - but it's going to be a somewhat prolonged situation.

'We should be ready for that,' Cuomo said.

He also applied pressure on the federal government to release power of testing to the states to allow them to conduct their own.

Cuomo said there were 200 private labs in New York that routinely test people for HIV and Zika that he could mobilize if he was given the ability to.

Police were on hand to funnel the traffic after scores of cars showed up at the facility on Friday, without appointments, to be tested

Medical personnel arrive to start working at the facility. They all have to cover their clothes, faces and hair when they conduct the tests

The federal government is being crucified for its slow response to the virus.

Originally, it only allowed people to have their tests run at the CDC's HQ in Atlanta, Georgia.

Then, CDC tests were sent to state public health labs but some, like in California, have arrived without all the necessary parts to complete a diagnosis.

HOW DRIVE-THRU TESTING WORKS The drive-thru testing facility in New Rochelle has six lanes. Residents pick a lane and are called forward where health professionals in hazmat suits then give them a swab test. They give the health professionals their details then drive away. The facility then will send the tests to a lab. From there, after a period of several days, the test will be returned to the health workers who will then make contact with the person who gave the sample. Not everyone will be able to drive there and receive a test. Because of the density of cases in New Rochelle, many flocked to the facility on Friday and lines of up to three hours quickly formed. No one will be tested without an appointment, and at the moment, appointments are only being given to the people most at risk. They are the elderly or the sick who have preexisting health conditions and are showing symptoms of COVID-19. Cuomo however hopes to get to a position soon where everyone who wants one will be able to get a test. Advertisement

The government says it is working with private companies to use their tests, but the harsh reality is there are simply not enough to go around and not enough staff in labs to keep up with the demand for them.

Gov. Cuomo said that if it were left in his hands, the state of New York would be able to 1,000 tests per lab, per day.

In New York's private labs alone, that would allow for 200,000 tests to be done a day.

He said he is in constant contact with Vice President Pence and has asked him to consider letting go of the reins.

'Rather than try to control it all through Washington, the volume is just too high - states regularly regulate labs. We have 200 private labs in New York.

'Those labs are doing HIV testing, Zika testing - our state department of health routinely regulates them.

'Say to the state governments, God bless you - you can authorize testing, automated testing which takes a lab capacity from 30 tests per day to 1,000 tests per day.

'We have a crisis in testing. We're not up to scale. You need to change that quickly,' he said.

The drive-thru testing facility in New Rochelle has six lanes.

Residents pick a lane and are called forward where health professionals in hazmat suits then give them a swab test. They give the health professionals their details then drive away.

The facility then will send the tests to a lab. From there, after a period of several days, the test will be returned to the health workers who will then make contact with the person who gave the sample.

Not everyone will be able to drive there and receive a test.
Bengaluru, March 13 : The annual meeting of the Rashtriya Swamyamsevak Sangh (RSS) would be held from Sunday as scheduled in the city despite a week-long lockdown in Karnataka from Monday due to coronavirus scare, an official said on Friday.

"As our 3-day meeting from March 15 is internal and not for public, it will be held as scheduled in the city's southern outskirts with all precautions and safety measures in place," RSS spokesman Rajesh Padmar told IANS here.

The three-day meeting will be held at Janaseva Vidya Kendra at Channanahalli in the city's southern outskirts, where about 1,400 members of the organisation will participate and deliberate on its expansion plans.

"We have taken permission from the authorities, including police and will follow the guidelines issued by the state health department and the civic body," said Parmar.

The pro-Hindu nationalist organisation's highest decision body -- the Akhila Bharatiya Prathinidhi Sabha (ABPS) -- will also meet during the event and pass resolutions on major issues spanning politics, economics and culture.

"The focus of the meeting will be on improving 'shakhas', increasing training camps and sharing our practices and experiences for the benefit of all attending the event," the official added.

Being held for the seventh time in the southern state, the meeting will be conducted by Sangh's 'sarkaryawah' Suresh Joshi and presided over by its 'Sarsanghchalak' Mohan Bhagawat.
I t was in the shadows of Pendle Hill, a long, treeless hump, looking like a sizable, beer-induced paunch amid the deep woods, undulating hills and Lilliputian villages of the Forest of Bowland, that 11 people were accused of witchcraft. It was a purge back in the early 1600s that began after a woman called Alizon Device put a curse on a travelling salesman who refused to sell her some pins.

Ten of the witches were hung at Lancaster Gaol, cementing the reputation of the Pendle Hill area at the time as being a place fabled for its theft, violence and sexual laxity.

Several centuries on and the closest thing I see to theft is a customer begging a waiter for another mutton sausage over dinner at Northcote, a Michelin-starred 19th-century manor house retreat set in gentle, bumpy, racing-green fields with a view of the notorious Pendle Hill from the bedrooms balcony.

Inside, my bedroom is festooned with comfy lounge chairs, Temple Spa toiletries and a bed big enough to feel as if I almost have to swim a front crawl to get from one end to the other.

Lisa Goodwin-Allen has been working in the kitchens here for almost two decades. Now as head chef her creations are lusty, blowsy, Lancastrian dishes tempered, but not diluted, with precision, skill and haute levels of deftness. These qualities are perfectly manifested in my satin-soft squab pigeon, inspiringly paired with yoghurt and mango. Oh, and in the unlikely event of waking up ravenous the next morning, the breakfast options include a quite insanely sybaritic cheese souffle.

The Forest of Bowland is too often missed by visitors in a hurry to make it further north to the better known charms of the Lake District. What the crowds are missing out on is one of the most beautifully preserved parts of England; liberally scattered with villages like Slaidburn where cobbled lanes, thatched roofs and ancient, beamed pubs like the wonderfully named Hark to Bounty make you feel youve stepped into a high-budget BBC costume drama.

And then theres the main town of the region: Clitheroe. Painted many times by LS Lowry, this is the kind of traditional market town that metropolitan types fret about losing forever. Here it is however, gloriously extant and replete with Cowmans, a traditional sausage butcher with more than 70 different types of banger plus the wine merchant D.Byrne & Co, with a vast rambling warren of rooms dating back to 1879, whose own made whisky Hanky Bannister is delivered to British foreign embassies around the world.

Driving past crumbling dry stone walls as the sky cleared into a cerulean blue I spotted a telephone box standing by the green in a tiny cluster of lanes and cottages known as Dunsop Bridge. Stepping out to take a picture of this very essence of rural England, I peered inside and found a minuscule plaque. This telephone box is, so it reads, the exact geographical centre of the UK. Looking around me, all was quiet. A postman meandered over the nearby stone bridge, a cloth-capped pensioner walked his spaniel past a family of blissfully unconcerned ducks. The Forest of Bowland may be at the literal centre of things but, in a way that truly defines its beauty, it doesnt like to make too much of a fuss.

Details

Doubles at Northcote (northcote.com) from 204 per night B&B.
Donald Trump addresses the nation from the Oval Office about the widening Coronavirus crisis: Getty Images

President Donald Trump had a rough night Wednesday.

Not only was he forced to address the growing seriousness of the coronavirus - which hes been downplaying for weeks - but mics and cameras caught him in candid moments before and after his speech.

Wednesday night, Mr Trump addressed the nation, announcing a 30 day travel ban for individuals coming in from Europe. During the address he also mentioned cargo, would be banned, and had to quickly correct himself on Twitter following the address to quell confusion and concern over what was perceived to be a shipping ban.

Just as the address finished, a C-SPAN camera that was still broadcasting caught president Trump sitting quietly at the desk for a moment before letting out a long OK and exhalation before the camera zoomed out to reveal his staff waiting at the edges of the frame to remove his mic.

Before the address, C-SPAN also caught Mr Trump dealing with a stain. A voice can be heard saying Oh, f*** - Uh oh, I got a pen mark. Anybody have the white stuff  Do you see it? Which side is it on?

During his address, the president announced an unprecedented ban on "most foreign nationals" into the US from Europe beginning on 20 March and lasting a month, as health officials warn that the risk of community spread within the US poses a significant threat.

He compared the latest travel restriction to a similar ban on travel from China: "Now we must take the same action with Europe."

The pronouncement has been criticised as confusing and disorganised after the White House later clarified that many would be exempt from the ban and Trump himself was forced to tweet that it wouldn't affect cargo.

On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence defended it and said there was no confusion.

"I don't think there was confusion," Mr Pence told CNN as he was deployed to make the morning television rounds to defend the president's speech.

"We've recognised ... that the epicenter of the coronavirus has shifted ... to Europe. The health team came into the Oval Office, presented that to the president, and he made that decision on the spot after hearing all sides."

Read more

'A dystopian nightmare: Trumps Europe travel ban met with confusion
A 76-year-old man from Kalburgi, Karnataka who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia had died of coronavirus infection, the Karnataka health department said in a statement.

AFP

The man had returned from Saudi Arabia on February 29 and had landed in Hyderabad from where he headed home in Kalburgi, about 500 km from state capital Bengaluru. Read more



Indians Evacuated From Coronavirus-Hit Iran To Reach Jaisalmer, Quarantined For 14 Days

The first batch of some 400 Indian nationals who were stranded in Iran, one of the worst affected countries due to the coronavirus will be brought back to the country on Friday.

REUTERS

About 120 Indians, being evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Iran in an Air India flight, will reach Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on Friday and will be quarantined at an Army facility. Read more



Kerala Has Deployed Robots To Spread Covid-19 Awareness & Distribute Sanitisers

Kerala is taking its fight against the Covid-19 outbreak with all seriousness and has left no stones unturned.

ANI

The latest initiative is a pair of computer-programmed machines developed by Asimov Robotics which is a startup incubated at the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM). Read more



10-Year Jail For Expelled BJP Leader Kuldeep Sengar For Murder Of Unnao Rape Survivor's Father

On Thursday, convicted rapist and expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar had created some drama inside a Delhi court after he broke down, saying if he had done anything wrong, he should be hanged and acid poured in his eyes. This was during the hearing on the quantum of sentence in the case related to the murder of Unnao rape survivor's father.

BCCL

Senger was earlier convicted for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the death of the Unnao rape victim's father. Read more



After Seven Months, Former Jammu & Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah Freed From Det ention, PSA Revoked

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has revoked the Public Safety Act against former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, paving way for his release from detention.

In an order, state Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra said the PSA invoked on Abdullah on September 17 and further extended on December 13, has been revoked.

Read more

'Intestine Ruptured': Autopsy Reveals Brutality Of The Rape And Murder Of A 9-Year-Old In Unnao

The postmortem report of the 9-year-old girl who was raped and murdered on the day of Holi in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh has revealed the sheer brutality of the crime.

BCCL

The girl had over two dozen injury marks on her body and her intestines completely ruptured, the report said. Read more


A thought experiment. Lets imagine as total a shutdown of Britain as it is possible to manage. Schools closed, offices empty, shops shut  save those selling food. Minimal public transport. Airports closed. Older people deliberately isolated. No public events. An economic freeze. The country sealed off.

Sooner or later, the freeze would have to thaw: the Government would signal a return to as near normality as possible, and people would begin to emerge blinking, like post-hiberation bears, from their homes.

At this point, Boris Johnson and his advisers argue, they would run slap bang into the waiting Coronvirus. There would be health service carnage. The NHS would be unable to cope, in the manner of Italys hospitals now. The death rate would climb to  what?  six per cent; seven per cent; more.

In this view of events, the Coronavirus is like an invading army. If you hunker down, wait for it to pass, and then emerge dazzled into the spring sunshine, it will then ambush you, cut you down and defeat you.

The Prime Ministers plan is, rather, for a national fight back. This will come not so much through the eventual deployment of a vaccine, like some battlefield nuclear weapon, but through acting as close to Carry on Britain as it is possible to do.

In that way, the population will acquire herd immunity. This will beat the virus in the medium term, and flatten its peak in the short  staggering out those hospital admissions over time, and thus preventing the NHS from being over-run completely. This is the core of the case argued this week by Patrick Vallance.

That it is made by the Governments Chief Scientific Officer doesnt mean that it represents the science. For strictly speaking, there is no such thing.

Rather, Johnson is being guided by a plan partly based on a certain scientific reading of events. Some scientists agree with it; others dont. Thats in the nature of the beast. Probably because, as ConservativeHome keeps repeating, the decisions that the Government must make are not scientific, but political.

We thus find ourselves in the odd position of agreeing on paper with Rory Stewart, who has made precisely this point, while not agreeing with his call for a China-type response in practice.

He is correct to suggest that the Governments actions cant turn on the science because ultimately they must hazard a guess on the behaviour of human beings  which is not a science; or at most is a social one. And it may be that the Prime Ministers strategy, so unlike that of most other comparable governments, is fundamentally flawed.

This would be because people will behave in a more disciplined way that the Governments modelling suggests; or because herd immunity cant be acquired so quickly, or because draconian responses are the example to follow.

To follow our wartime analogy, this interpretation of whats happening sees Johnson as an Oh What a Lovely War general of legend, needlessly sending a generation of older people over the top to die amidst the viruss equivalent of barbed wire and poison gas.

None the less, we think there is a solid case for the Prime Ministers approaching  carried out against the prevailing practice elsewhere, lauded as successful, by Jeremy Hunt, in a series of Far Eastern countries and places.

This isnt to say that the Government is getting everything right. The advice from 111 to people returning from Italy lagged behind changes announced by Public Health England. Johnson was slow to concede that the local elections should called off. 111 has sometimes given conflicting advice.

But there are three solid points to make in Johnsons favour. The first is that the very same people who were only recently denouncing him as a Trumpite populist monster are now excoriating him for being not populist enough.

Charlotte Gill made this case on ConservativeHome yesterday. And if the debate was, frankly, Vallance v :Piers Morgan, one wouldnt hesitate for a moment about whose side to be on. But it is not quite as simple as that: for as we point out above, some scientists disagree with the Chief Scientific Adviser.

The second point is a development of the first. Governments like to tell voters that all will be well  in the case of this one, that it will succeed in levelling up.

But perhaps the levelling that matters most is levelling with the British people. If a Prime Minister is willing to tell them that many more will lose loved ones before their time, this sounds like a candid, politically risky statement of truth from a man accused by his enemies of telling nothing but lies. It commands respect.

War analogies in politics are dangerous, but there is something in the one that this site uses today. The struggle against the Coronavirus will be a real war with real casualties. Our snowflaky, social media-focused, Me Too culture may cope, but it is unprepared for it, and there has been nothing like it in most peoples living experience.

In these circumstances, Britains institutions may be a strength. We dont just mean right-of-centreish ones  like our first past the post system that has delivered a Government with a near landslide majority of 80.

We mean a centralised, nationalised healthcare system  itself a product of wartime thinking; not always suited to peacetime, but well set up for a command-and-control-led crisis. Or a state broadcaster that can carry public information which commercial rivals are under no compulsion to carry.

This brings us to a third point in Johnsons favour. The European Unions response to the virus has been torpid; Trumps schlerotic; China is grappling with its debt burden.

A combination of a Corovirus-driven downturn, oil price wars, corporate debt and the lack of leadership from the EU institutions and the American President threaten a real crisis for the world economy. Amidst these seething, turbulent waters, the Prime Ministers majority looks like a rock.

Gordon Brown was mocked during the financial crisis for mis-declaring at Prime Ministers Questions that he had saved the world. But now that we look back at it, the old boy didnt do badly in the hour of need  despite his responsibility for some of Britains biggest pre-crisis mistakes.

Johnson is no Brown in almost any sense. He is mistrusted by the EU and apparently alienated from Trump, at least to some degree, by his decision to keep going with Huawei.

But together with Emmanuel Macron, he is a strong domestic leader. As Ambrose Evans Pritchard argues in the Daily Telegraph, the two might just have the capacity, acting together as Britain and France still do on defence, to drive a global plan to tackle the virus.

Working together on an international fiscal and monetary stimulus package could conceivably make a difference. Something on that scale is needed. After all, this is a global and not merely a national conflict.

Whatever happens, we close with a hard thought. Perhaps here at home, Johnson will succeed in flattening the peak. However, we promise our readers that it wont feel like success. The NHS will still be over-run. A & E departments will turn the sick away. There will be agonising horrors. The service risks tottering to its knees.
Several MPs urge the president to prevent legitimization of unrecognized pseudo-authorities in Donbas as a party to the conflict in Donbas.

A number of Ukrainian legislators with the leading Servant of the People Party have appealed to President Volodymyr Zelensky over the need to observe principled positions in negotiations with the Russian Federation.

The text of their joint statement was posted on Facebook by several MPs, including Oleksandr Tkachenko, Bohdan Yaremenko, Yehor Chernev, Mykyta Poturayev, Geo Leros, Dmytro Natalukha, Vitaly Bezgin, Anastasia Krasnoselska, Viktoria Podgorna, Anna Bondar, Andriy Motovilovets, Dmytro Hurin, Ihor Vasyliv, and others.

"We share concerns of the public about the ongoing statements by various officials regarding the possibility of resuming water supplies to the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea; unacceptable statements claiming it's an internal conflict we have in eastern Ukraine, etc," the statement reads.

"We cannot but notice the decision approved by Ukraine's representatives within the framework of the Trilateral Contact Group to create an Advisory Council within the political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group," deputies say, noting that it is alarming that the newly created Advisory Council will include on an equal footing as parties to the consultations representatives of Ukraine and certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

"According to Ukrainian legislation, it's the occupation authorities of the Russian Federation that are operating in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, having usurped power there," deputies say. "Consequently, Ukrainian legislation makes it impossible to recognize in any form any authority of the so-called 'LPR', 'DPR', 'ORDLO [occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions]', etc. All negotiations regarding the protection of rights and interests of citizens of Ukraine, as well as regarding the cessation of armed aggression, must be conducted exclusively with the Russian Federation and its representatives," the statement says.

Read alsoMedia publish document signed in Minsk on March 11

"The legitimacy of representatives of the so-called ORDLO can be recognized only if they have been appointed official representatives or official authorities of our state," MPs stress.

In this regard, deputies with the Servant of the People Party appealed to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky regarding the need to instruct Ukraine's representatives to the Trilateral Contact Group and all negotiators representing Ukraine "to return to the framework of Ukrainian legislation and not allow the implementation of the announced decisions regarding the creation of the Consultative Group in the manner and forms that find no support among the Ukrainian people, contradict the existing legislation and national interests."

"We also urge President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to oblige the Ukrainian delegation to hold consultations on a regular basis and brief the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on approaches and the progress in negotiations," the statement said.

According to the Apostrophe outlet, shortly after MPs started posting the text of their joint statement on their Facebook pages, they were invited for consultations to the President's Office HQ in Kyiv.

MP Mykyta Poturayev in a comment to Apostrophe said: "We are now entering the Presidential Office for consultations. Sorry, I can't talk."

As UNIAN reported earlier, at a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group with the participation of Presidential Office Chief Andriy Yermak and deputy head of Putin's administration Dmitry Kozak, it was decided to set up an Advisory Council on political issues as part of the Group.
At least one Hong Kong tour group in Germany will not make it home before new quarantine measures affecting parts of Europe take effect late on Friday, the Post has learned.

That came as German and French trade groups in Hong Kong warned that travel restrictions affecting Europe would wreak havoc on supply chains and business travel and force exhibitions to be cancelled.

The tour party, of about 20 travellers, was likely to be among the first batch of residents to face 14-day quarantine under the extended border control measures against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Their predicament came to light as other holidaymakers complained of some tour operators pushing ahead with trips to some European countries.

The new measures, including quarantine rules and travel alerts for certain areas, caught some operators off guard, with a few tours already in the listed destinations and many more ready to depart.

From midnight on Friday, anyone entering the city from anywhere in Italy  as well as certain regions of France, Germany, Japan and Spain  will have to enter mandatory quarantine for 14 days.

Johnny So Tsz-yeung, general manager of the agency Sunflower Travel Service, confirmed that one of its tours would only return to Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon, meaning the group  about 20 people and the tour guide  would enter a quarantine facility.

Six of our customers decided to buy their own tickets and come back earlier, so they will be exempted, he added. But for the other 20 or more people, the flight was supposed to return on Friday, but it has been cancelled, So said, adding that the tour had been to cities in France and Germany.

But EGL Tours, which had two tours in Europe when the new rules were announced, said its customers would not be affected by the measures. They managed to come back or avoid the designated areas, director Steve Huen Kwok-chuen said.

Multiple tour operators on Thursday pulled the plug on tours to Europe. But some travellers were agitated as tours scheduled for this month and April, to cities near alert-affected areas, were set to go ahead.

Story continues

Yeung Yin-ping, 60, said she had booked a 10-day tour with nine of her friends for April, heading to Amsterdam and Berlin.

As of Friday, there were more than 2,360 confirmed coronavirus cases across Germany, and five deaths, but the travel warnings only covered North Rhine-Westphalia state.

Our tour operator, Charming Holidays, asked us to pay in full earlier this month, despite our concerns and requests for cancelling the trip, the retiree said. We have used lots of our savings for this trip, as it cost us HK$20,000 (US$2,570) each.

Yeung and her nine female friends, all of similar age, signed up for the trip last November, hoping to cheer up a friend with a leg injury. But now the trip has become more like a burden than relaxation, she said.

We just hope the agency allows us to postpone or refund.

The Travel Industry Council on Thursday estimated that at least 34 tours to Spain and Portugal would be scrapped in March, involving about 750 travellers. It was still tallying up the number of cancelled tours to other European countries.

Selina Lau Pui-ling, CEO of the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, said travel insurance might not cover delays or cancellations. There might also be exclusions on coronavirus contraction in the clauses if the travellers only bought insurance recently, she said. Only those who have regular insurance might cover medical costs overseas.

She suggested travellers speak to their agency or tour operator to see if they can make different insurance arrangements.

The deserted streets of Turin in Italy tell their own story. Photo: Reuters

As a result of tightened immigration measures, German Industry and Commerce chief representative Wolfgang Niedermark said supply chain and warehouse logistics would be heavily affected.

Already when capacities were reduced from just mainland China, disruptions to order fulfilments were a challenge, he said.

Now with Germany and other parts of the EU facing higher Covid-19 cases and travel restrictions, the reduction in flights and consequently air-cargo volumes will further hinder the whole process.

Niedermark added that leaders of key industries who he met on Friday expected regular orders would be cut.

Most German companies in Hong Kong have issued travel bans for all staff until March so far, he said.

Cyril Aubin, managing director of Hong Kong Tramways, which runs the citys iconic trams, said its Paris-based parent company stopped all business trips to Asia from late February. There are more phone calls instead of face-to-face meetings, he said.

The 1,000-member French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Hong Kong, which polled 415 CEOs across the Asia-Pacific region last month, found revenues were expected to drop by up to 50 per cent in 2020.

Separately, 1,350 registered travel agencies, or around 80 per cent of the citys total, received an HK$80,000 subsidy each from the HK$30 billion anti-epidemic fund, according to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau.

Meanwhile, 260 registered guest houses  about 15 per cent of the industry  received subsidies ranging from HK$50,000 to HK$80,000 each, depending on their size.

This article Coronavirus: at least one Hong Kong tour group will miss Friday quarantine deadline first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
Pa. state parks, state forests remain open in coronavirus pandemic, but all events canceled

With rising concern over coronavirus, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced Friday that all 121 Pennsylvania state parks, except for three in Montgomery County, remain open. The 20 state forests, encompassing 2.2 million acres in 48 of Pennsylvanias 67 counties, also remain open.

All public programs, events and trainings in state parks and state forests have been canceled for the rest of March, according to DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn.

But, DCNR facilities, including offices at state parks and state forests except in Montgomery County, will remain open pending any changes in COVID-19 spread.

Dunn commented, As the coronavirus continues to spread, we want to assure our visitors that their health and safety is a primary concern. We are taking extra precaution by canceling group activities in an effort to minimize the risk of exposure and spread of COVID-19, while still allowing visitors access to the recreation and beautiful outdoor places, including fishing during the upcoming trout season, that can help their physical and mental health.

The cancellation of events applies to all public educational programs, special events such as races and festivals, and teacher and other trainings. It also includes programming by Friends groups and the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation.

Overnight accommodations such as tent camping, cabins and camping cottages normally open at this time of year will remain open.

Evansburg, Fort Washington, and Norristown Farm Park in Montgomery County are closed to visitors for 14 days to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Except for the closed state parks in Montgomery County, fishing will continue to be allowed in Pennsylvania state parks and forests. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will continue to stock trout, and fishing on Mentored Youth Trout days and opening days will be permitted. For the latest on trout stocking, visit the PFBC website.

Dunn said, in consultation with the Governors Office and Pennsylvania Department of Health, DCNR will continue to evaluate visitor health and safety as the COVID-19 situation evolves and will post updates on facilities on the DCNR website, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.
Rose of Tralee Dr Sinead Flanagan and the 2019 Rose Escort of the Year Jamie Flannery, have put the call-out to the men of Ireland that time is running out to join the Rose Escort Team for this year's Rose of Tralee International Festival.

Why should someone apply? Jamie Flannery say the answer is simple.

"That's easy, it's been an absolutely fantastic experience to date and we're only halfway through the year! The week in Tralee last August was a phenomenal experience. I've made friends for life in the Roses and Rose Escort class of 2019 from all over the world; and it hasn't stopped there," he said.

"Since August, I've been lucky enough to get the opportunity to travel to Frankfurt for the Christmas markets, volunteer with Chernobyl Children International in Belarus and will shortly be travelling to New York for St Patrick's Day in a few weeks' time," said Jamie.

"The opportunities, friendships and networks that have opened up to me in the past few months are incredible, so if you think that's for you, I'd encourage you to get the application in", Jamie concluded.

The application deadline of March 20 is nearing. Candidates will then be invited for interview in April, with the successful gentlemen taking part in a team-building Boot Camp in June when they will tour and enjoy some of Kerry's most stunning locations.

Rose of Tralee, Dr Sinead Flanagan, said the Escorts play and integral part in the festival.

"They play a really important role in the overall experience of the Rose of Tralee Festival. They are always at hand to support the Roses and their energy and laughter really adds to the experience," she said.

"As Jamie mentioned, the companionship of the 2019 Roses and Roses Escorts has continued since Tralee with reunions and trips to Frankfurt, Belarus and shortly New York. To enjoy all of these opportunities, with an international circle of friends is the very essence of the Rose of Tralee Festival so I'd encourage any man interested in joining the Rose Escort Team to get their application in now", continued Sinead.

For more information; to find out if you are eligible or to apply visit www.roseoftralee.ie for all the details.
Costa Cruises is suspending all of its operations around the world until April 3 over the coronavirus outbreak.

The announcement was made on Friday as governments ramp up measures to contain the spread of the virus and a WHO official declared Europe the new 'epicentre' of the illness.

It comes as several of the Italian company's liners have been blocked in recent weeks over suspected or confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

The company has already suspended cruises in the Mediterranean.

File image of the Costa Smeralda. Costa Cruises is suspending all of its cruises around the world until April 3 over the coronavirus outbreak

'Costa Cruises announces today that it will voluntarily put on hold the global operations of ships, impacting voyages until April 3,' the company said in a statement.

The aim is to 'protect is health and safety of guests, crew and destinations,' it added.

Costa is part of Carnival Corporation, the world's biggest cruise line group, which announced on Thursday it would halt voyages on the 18 ships of its Princess Cruises for two months.

Costa, whose 11 cruise ships have capacity for thousands of passengers, said safe and smooth operations had 'become significantly complex' with challenging logistics and increased restrictions adopted by several countries.

It said cruises under way will end 'only to allow guests to disembark and return to their home,' adding it was informing travel agents and next customers about the cancellations and that they will be refunded.

The cruise ship Costa Fortuna (file photo) was denied permission to dock on the island of Phuket because 64 people on board had been in Italy in the last 14 days, Thai media said

The cruise sector has enjoyed strong recent growth and had forecast it would carry close on 32 million passengers worldwide this year.

But the coronavirus outbreak has hit it amidships, with 3,711 people aboard the Carnival Corporation-owned Diamond Princess notably forced into quarantine off Yokohama, Japan, in early February and around 700 passengers becoming infected.

Six passengers on the ship  all elderly and with underlying conditions  died from the virus.

At one point, the outbreak on the Princess constituted the worst outbreak outside of mainland China until world leaders decided to evacuate their citizens almost two weeks after isolation started.

Health authorities around the world have become wary of ocean liners after a spate of virus scares at sea.

Earlier this month, the Costa Fortuna was denied permission to dock on the island of Phuket in Thailand over coronavirus fears, after authorities raised the alarm over dozens of Italian passengers.

The Silver Shadow is being held at Recife port in Pernambuco, Brazil, while the Canadian passenger is tested. The results are expected in the coming days

All 318 passengers and 291 crew on board the Silver Shadow have been ordered to isolate in their cabins awaiting results

The pier that the Silver Shadow has been docked on has also been isolated

The cruise ship Silver Shadow operated by Silversea carrying 609 passengers was forced into isolation in Brazil after a 78-year-old passenger was evacuated with a cough and fever.

The Canadian man was rushed off the ship on Thursday after he showed symptoms consistent with coronavirus. He has been tested for the virus by authorities.

As it awaits the results, the Silver Shadow has been held at the port of Recife, in Brazil's north-eastern state of Pernambuco, today and the remaining 318 passengers and 291 crew have been ordered to isolate in their cabins.

The pier the ship is docked on has also been isolated.
Chaos is unfolding in airports across the country where media members have been kicked out, travelers entering the US complain that they aren't screened upon landing, and disgruntled Americans pay up to $20,000 to get a last minute ticket home.

On Wednesday Trump announced he will restrict travel to the US from several European countries in an attempt to contain the spread of the killer coronavirus.

The ban will apply to travelers who have visited 26 countries in the EU's Schengen border-free area in the last 14 days, but not travelers from the UK or Ireland, or to US citizens, American permanent residents and their immediate family members.

Although Trump's new measures won't take effect until Friday at midnight, travelers are still in a frenzy over the confusing new rules.

Airports across the US turned into ghost towns on Thursday hours after President Donald Trump announced his travel ban to take effect Friday at midnight. Lines were virtually nonexistent at O'Hare International Airport on Thursday in Chicago

John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York was practically empty on Thursday

An airline worker stands in the empty international terminal at LAX airport in Los Angeles

Empty shops and passenger areas at Newark Airport Terminal B on Thursday

International travelers arrive at Terminal D at DFW International Airport in Dallas on Thursday

LAX's busy roadways were completely empty on Thursday afternoon

On Wednesday the international terminal at Atlanta Airport was practically empty after Trump announced there would be no return flights from Europe for the next month

The usually packed and congested security line at LAX airport was empty save for a few stragglers late Wednesday

LAX airport is notorious for heavy traffic outside the airport and long, congested wait times for ride share cars. However on Wednesday the streets were empty

Former presidential hopeful Andrew Yang shared a snap of the empty Newark Airport on Thursday

As of Thursday evening there are over 1,500 cases of coronavirus reported in the US and 39 deaths

This chart shows how coronavirus cases in the United States have escalated since January

International airports across the country have become eerie ghost towns with few travelers in light of the coronavirus panic.

The case toll in the US hit over 1,500 and the death toll hit over 30 as of Thursday.

One of DailyMail.com's photographers was kicked out of John F. Kennedy International Airport on Thursday amid the panic related to the travel ban.

Some American travelers have complained about a lack of safety procedures and caution at airports across the country.

Mike McIntire tweeted that even though he just returned from Paris, France - a country notably on Trump's travel ban list - he was not screened upon landing at JFK on Thursday.

'Just arrived at JFK from Paris. Zero screening, testing or even questions related to coronavirus (and the Global Entry scanner spit out someone else's entry receipt for me, and the guy behind me got mine, and so on),' McIntire shared.

He said the customs process was practically 'nonexistent' and he was only asked if he had been to China recently, not other European countries also suffering from the contagious outbreak.

Mike McIntire tweeted that even though he just returned from Paris, France - a country notably on Trump's travel ban list - he was not screened upon landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Thursday

This Twitter user noted that they landed in Seattle, Washington from Tokyo, Japan on Wednesday and faced no screening whatsoever

This Twitter user said friends traveling from Vietnam with a lay over in South Korea and made it through customs with 'incredibly concerning' ease

One woman traveled to the West Coast on three connecting flights from Northern Italy, a hot spot of the coronavirus outbreak. Italy as a whole has 12,000 confirmed cases and a death toll of 827 related to the virus

One person flew from South Korea to Dulles airport in Virginia near Capitol Hill and faced no coronavirus screening. She decided to self-quarantine as a preventative measure

This man flew from Europe to Chicago's O'hare international airport and was shocked to find no type of screening for passengers from Europe, despite Trump's warning on the severity of the outbreak there just a day prior

Another Twitter user replied that they landed in Seattle, Washington from Tokyo, Japan on Wednesday and faced no screening whatsoever, despite Washington being an outbreak hotspot in the US and 676 cases reported in Japan.

Another social media user said they had friends traveling from Vietnam with a lay over in South Korea and they made it through customs with 'incredibly concerning' ease.

One woman traveled to the West Coast on three connecting flights from Northern Italy, a hot spot of the coronavirus outbreak. Italy as a whole has 12,000 confirmed cases and a death toll of 827 related to the virus.

COUNTRIES WHOSE PEOPLE ARE BANNED WHO THE BAN APPLIES TO M ost foreign nationals who have been in these countries at any point during the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival to the United States* AND WHO IT DOESN'T 'Legal permanent residents, (generally) immediate family members of U.S. citizens, and other individuals who are identified in the proclamation.'* * according to Department of Homeland Security Advertisement

One Twitter user slammed the lack of screening and health checks at US airports as 'gross incompetence'.

Kyle Moukheiber tweeted Thursday: 'Just flew home from Europe today to Chicagos Ohare airport. There was absolutely no type of screening for anyone coming in. No information. Nothing. This is gross incompetence. I have no symptoms but will be doing a #SelfQuarantine and others should too.'

Passengers arriving in New York were surprised to find that they were not screened or even asked about the disease and some said they were merely handed information cards that directed them to stay home for 14 days and monitor their health.

'I was nervous, actually, thinking there would be screening, questions, that maybe theyd tell me to self-quarantine for the first week or something,' Viki Zvolkski, 25, a German national arriving at JFK Thursday night said to DailyMail.com.

'I thought Trump said he would do that. But none of that happened. Measures have not been implement, I guess. Its kind of crazy.'

It was an emotional night for many of the new arrivals.

Maya A., a 22-year-old from France whos been studying fine arts in New York the past six months, cried tears of joy, ran up and hugged her mother Hekma, 49, who was arriving from Paris  a trip that almost never happened because the mom was originally booked for this Saturday.

Maya said she watched Trumps speech Thursday night and panicked because it meant her moms trip would be called off.

'I cried because my mom and all my family, all my friends are in Europe and many of them were planning to visit me in New York,' she told DailyMail.com,

'I miss everyone so much. Luckily, I managed to change my moms ticket at the last second,' she added.

Maya made a welcome sign she crafted with giant pink letters that read, 'MY MOM.' Just before Hekma walked in, though, Maya was still anxious, expecting her mom would get at least some scrutiny by airport screeners because of the Coronavirus. More than 2,000 people have tested positive for the virus in France, with 48 deaths reported as of Wednesday.

'I hope its going to be okay, that nobody puts my mom in quarantine,' she said. 'I dont know whats going to happen. American people get crazy with this Coronavirus.'

But Hekma made it through without even being asked whether she had symptoms.

Jordan Lemons, 21, an American who was studying business at a school in southwestern France, said she watched Trumps announcement at 2 a.m. Thursday in France. It prompted an immediate call from her dad in Columbus, Ohio.

'Ive never seen him panicked before,' Lemons said. 'He got on the Delta website and just saw all of the flights (from France) going away. He was like, "were going to book the first flight home." We paid over $3,000 - for a one way flight! And then hes like, "pack all your stuff." I had like four suitcases and hes like, "get to the airport by 10."'

She made it, and breezed through customs upon arrival at JFK.

'I wasnt screened, but I got a pamphlet,' she said, presenting a "health alert" card that warned: 'You have traveled to a country with an outbreak of COVID-19 and are of higher risk.'

It advised recipients to, 'Stay home for the next 14 days and monitor your health. Take your temperature with a thermometer two times a day and watch for symptoms.'

Melissa Kosar, 20, a New Jersey resident enrolled in a foreign study program in Strasbough, France, also received an overnight wake up call Thursday from her mom ordering her to come home.

'My mom woke me up at like 2 oclock in the morning, French time, and was like, "I just booked your flight, and you need to get on your flight at like 1:40 p.m.,"' Kosar explained.

McIntire tweeted a picture of the chaos at the Paris-Charles De Gaulle airport where Americans were scrambling to pay as much as $20,000 for last minute flights.

Americans stuck abroad are now clamoring to get back to the US before Trump's Europe flight ban starts at the strike of midnight. This Twitter user said Americans at the Frankfurt airport in Germany were 'angry' with Trump for the order that could leave many stranded.

'I didnt think I was leaving at all yesterday and then, right after Trump gave that message, my mom was like, "Youve got to leave right now." She said Trump was banning travel to and from Europe. Then we found out later it wasnt including U.S. citizens. It wasnt exactly clear. Anyway, I already had the flight and was probably going to have to come home anyway.'

Arriving at JFK, she said, she felt exhausted and disoriented, noting, 'I still havent slept and need a nap.' But she was happy, if confused, that she was allowed to exit the airport quickly.

'I was surprised, honestly,' she said. 'It was very easy. I was expecting some screening. People were saying, Oh, you might get quarantined when you come back. But Im not sick at all. Im happy I didnt have any issues. Of course, if there are sick people coming in, thats a problem.'

John Sladavic, 75, and his wife Doreen, 72, arrived at about 6 p.m. Thursday on a Delta flight from Paris. They said that airport was mobbed with people who were scrambling to book last second flights to the United States.

'People were leaving early, so it was packed, and the airport wasnt prepared for it,' John Sladavic said. 'We had to wait almost an hour and a half there just to get through passport control. We met one woman who paid $1,500 for her flight, so she could leave before Saturday.'

Despite the delay, they breezed through customs at JFK.

'I kept waiting to be tested and it never happened,' Doreen Sladavic said.

'But I still feel safe,' she added, prompting her husband to crack, 'Id feel safer if we had a different president.'

Americans stuck abroad are now clamoring to get back to the US before Trump's Europe flight ban starts at the strike of midnight.

This Twitter user said Americans at the Frankfurt airport in Germany were 'angry' with Trump for the order that could leave many stranded.

'Americans are expressing huge frustration at Frankfurt airport. Telling me they're angry with Trump for effectively ordering them home with unclear edicts about border closures. People spent thousands on new tickets and remain unsure when they have to enter US and what happens then,' Twitter user Richard Engel wrote.

McIntire also tweeted a picture of the chaos at the Paris-Charles De Gaulle airport where Americans were scrambling to pay as much as $20,000 for last minute flights.
China steps in to help Italy in its time of need as wealthy businessman Jack Ma offers to donate supplies to the US.

A planeload of medical supplies, including masks and respirators, has arrived in Italy from China to help the European country deal with its growing coronavirus crisis.

The coronavirus outbreak began in China late last year, but has since swept the globe.

Italy is now the worst-affected nation in the world after China, since the contagion came to light there on February 21.

The outbreak risks overwhelming Italian hospitals, and some key supplies are running low.

In contrast to China, Italys partners in the European Union earlier this month refused Romes requests for help with medical supplies as they looked to stockpile face masks and other equipment to help their own citizens.

A batch of medical supplies have arrived in Belgium; 1.8 million masks and 100,000 reagents are on the way. The supplies will then be delivered to Italy & Spain and to the frontline. pic.twitter.com/AZJLz4G6A6  Hua Chunying  (@SpokespersonCHN) March 11, 2020

A team of nine Chinese medical staff arrived late on Thursday with some 30 tonnes of equipment on a flight organised by the Red Cross Society of China.

In this moment of great stress, of great difficulty, we are relieved to have this arrival of supplies. It is true that it will help only temporarily, but it is still important, said the head of the Italian Red Cross, Francesco Rocca.

We have a desperate need for these masks right now. We need respirators that the Red Cross will donate to the government. This is for sure a really important donation for our country, Rocca said.

In a separate development, Chinese businessman Jack Ma, who is the founder of the Alibaba Group and among the worlds richest people, offered to donate 500,000 coronavirus testing kits and one million masks to the United States, which on Friday declared a national emergency over the outbreak.

In a statement on Twitter, Jack Ma said: Drawing from my own countrys experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate protective equipment for medical professionals are most effective in preventing the spread of the virus.

We hope that our donation can help Americans fight against the pandemic!

Over the past weeks, Mas organisations have helped provide similar supplies to virus-hit countries such as Japan, South Korea, Italy, Iran and Spain.

The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by any individual country, Ma said. We cant beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons.
The Central Valley is home to many California solar plants due to the ample sunshine and abundant flat land. The plant is expected to power more than 100,000 San Mateo County homes per year utilizing the 1500 Vdc turnkey solution SG2500U-MV.

Featuring an integration of the 2.5 MW central inverter, MV transformer and LV auxiliary power in a 20-ft container, the solution enables simplified transportation and installation as well as quick O&M. Due to the smart forced air-cooling technology, the product can work stably without derating even if it's up to 50 degrees Celsius, being an ideal match given the high temperatures in the summer months. Developed for large-scale flat ground plants, the solution also characterizes a high DC/AC ratio and is compatible with bifacial modules and tracking systems, enabling high yields, which is recognized widely in the region.

The solar facility is being developed by Clenera and constructed by Swinerton Renewable Energy with union labor hired from the surrounding areas. "Sungrow has delivered high-performing products and reliable service on a number of prominent and successful projects throughout the country. We look forward to continued cooperation as we work toward building a stronger economy and more sustainable future through solar," said George Hershman, President of Swinerton Renewable Energy.

Clenera's Vice President of Operations, Michael Gallego said, "Our Sungrow inverters continue to provide reliable energy throughout the Clenera portfolio of operating solar facilities. Ontime deliveries, speed of commissioning, and prompt service have made them a preferred partner for our growing list of assets."

Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE) is the power purchaser of the project. "This is a huge step for PCE and our customers. The Wright Solar project moves us toward our goal of providing all customers with 100 percent renewable power by 2025," said CEO Jan Pepper, in a press release.

"Sungrow is always in the pursuit of technical innovations and establishing itself as a comprehensive service platform to pave the way for growing decarbonized economics," said Hank Wang, President of Sungrow Americas.

Since entering the U.S. market in early 2010s, Sungrow continues to make big moves with inverters installed in landmark projects, in particular the largest projects in Washington State and Wyoming as well as the 200 MW Techren  solar project in Nevada. The division shipped over 3 GW across the Americas in 2019.

About Sungrow

Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd ("Sungrow") is a global leading inverter solution supplier for renewables with over 100 GW installed worldwide as of December 2019. Founded in 1997 by University Professor Cao Renxian, Sungrow is a leader in the research and development of solar inverters, with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter solutions and energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial, and residential applications, as well as internationally recognized floating PV plant solutions. With a strong 23-year track record in the PV space, Sungrow products power installations in over 60 countries, maintaining a worldwide market share of over 15%. Learn more about Sungrow by visiting www.sungrowpower.com.

About Clenera

Clenera, LLC ("Clenera") is a privately-held renewable energy company headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Clenera acquires, develops, builds and manages utility-scale solar farms and energy storage facilities throughout the United States. Combining breakthrough technology with a deeply integrated team approach, Clenera provides reliable, affordable energy systems and helps its utility partners become clean energy leaders in their communities. Clenera's current operating portfolio exceeds 1.3 GW, with more than 14 GW of solar and storage assets in development. Learn more at www.clenera.com.

About Swinerton Renewable Energy

Swinerton Renewable Energy (SRE) offers engineering, procurement, construction, and SOLV services for solar photovoltaic plants throughout North America to a diverse range of clients. Over 130 years of building landmark projects, Swinerton has forged a reputation for unsurpassed safety, workmanship, on-time delivery, and customer satisfaction. Today, our team takes pride in building cost-effective solar systems that will generate reliable, clean power for many years to come. SRE has delivered over 5 GW of solar projects and our SOLV team manages over 7.5 GW of PV plants. Learn more about Swinerton Renewable Energy at swinertonrenewable.com.

SOURCE Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd

Related Links

www.sungrowpower.com


Ostensibly, Connors job is to take tourists scuba diving, but his real business lies in persuading women hes the mistake they didnt know they wanted to make. Pieper sets this up in the opening pages, with a sweeping long-shot of Connor sitting on a hill, scanning the tourists that exit a bus for the Talent, meantime being kept at arms length from the Indian locals he lives among.

One day, however, his petty but elaborate scam goes horribly wrong, and he is blackmailed by Baba into a far more dangerous plot that coerces him to travel across the country, to Chennai on the east coast. Along the way he meets Sasha, wounded by her ongoing divorce from a wealthy surgeon. Back in New York state, shes left behind a medical career as tattered as her marriage.

After being gobbled up by middle-class ennui, shes been spat out craving intimacy and spiritual awakening. Thanks to her ex-husbands bottomless pockets, she joins an ashram led by a revered guru with a personality cult that could match Stalins. Her disciples live solitarily in a crucible in the jungle, building a kingdom of sweetness and light  all at a handsome price thats deducted weekly from her bank account.

Pieper is an endearing and generous storyteller. He writes fully: nearly half the book gives us the earlier lives of Sasha and Connor, both of them plagued by some cliched trouble  the Alcoholic Parent  but does so with sensitivity and uniqueness to look beyond its hackneyed origins. Theres a flourish of dramatic irony, too, as neither character realises the eerie similarities between their upbringings.

Sweetness and Light gives the exhausted story of Westerners driven toward the spiritual world of India a bit of punky attitude. Its belief in the undertow of karmic cycles dances gleefully between Jonestown and nirvana, refusing to preach, or drench the reader in dull mantras. Its a far cry from the Big Indian Novels, the likes of Vikram Seths A Suitable Boy, Rohinton Mistrys A Fine Balance, or even Gregory Roberts Bollywood blitz, Shantaram, which are more bitterness and dark. Instead, in Piepers entertaining tale, two lost souls roam an ancient land they barely understand.
Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), energised by its second consecutive parliamentary majority in mid-2019, quickly took advantage of its strengthened position to launch a set of policies that fulfilled long-held ideological proposals of both the party and its Hindu nationalist parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). While scattered protests over some of these initiatives took place, it is uncertain how these policies, such as abolishing autonomy for the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir, will impact on the countrys social stability.

These initiatives address key elements

of the RSS Hindutva ideology, such as national unity and a culture rooted within South Asia. Playing a significant role in formulating and implementing these policies appears to be Amit Shah, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modis closest adviser and confidant for the past 30 years, who provided strategic shape to Modis rise to power, first in Gujarat two decades ago and then as PM in 2014. Moreover, he shaped the strategy for the BJPs victory in 2019. He is now the

powerful home minister and the de facto head of the BJP, even though he is no longer the official president.

The first major policy initiative, announced in early August 2019, just months after the BJPs parliamentary victory, was a bill revoking the constitutional provisions of Article 370, which granted limited autonomous powers to Kashmir, an old demand of the RSS and BJP aimed at integrating the state more deeply into the Indian Union. Also revoked was Article 35A, aimed at preserving the states Muslim majority by excluding non-Kashmiris from owning property and holding public jobs. Tapping nationalistic support for these moves, the bill garnered support from a wide range of regional parties, thus easily passing a vote in the Rajya Sabha where the BJP and its allies still lack a majority.

To forestall anticipated violence both from within and from across the border in Pakistan, strict security measures were promulgated that included the dispatch of thousands of additional troops, a media blackout, prohibition of assemblies of more than four people and the arrest of Kashmirs largely Muslim political leaders. Some of these measures have been relaxed. Yet as recognised by BJP general secretary, Ram Madhav, who, in 2015, put together a coalition government in Kashmir with BJP participation, a stable government in the state requires the eventual restoration of a popularly-elected coalition government that somehow results in the cooperation of the largely Sunni Muslim Kashmir Valley with the Hindu-majority population of Jammu.

The second project is built on the unanimous November 2019 five-person panel decision of the Supreme Court in favour of a Hindu group claiming a site on which a five century-old Muslim religious structure at Ayodhya had stood before being demolished by a Hindu mob in late 1992. The Court mandated the formation of a Hindu trust that would supervise a national cultural and religious pilgrimage centre. The BJP and RSS applauded the decision, though the head of the RSS warned his members to avoid public celebrations. Yet, the larger issue of redeeming mosques built several hundred years ago on the sites of major temples could rise again as there remains considerable support within the RSS to convert two mosques at Kashi and Mathura into Hindu temples.

The third and probably most contentious issue is the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, amending an earlier 1955 Act. The new act provides a path to citizenship for illegal non-Muslim refugees (possessing no legal entry papers), fleeing alleged religious prosecution from neighbouring Muslim majority states of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Supreme Court is now reviewing the Act to clarify several complex provisions regarding applicability. Further complicating the larger issue of who is legitimately a citizen were announcements of bringing the National Register of Citizens up to date, a move many interpret as an attempt to deny citizenship rights to Muslims because of a lack of documentation (The government later said NRC is not on the agenda). More than the other actions, these moves were criticised at home and abroad as a blow to the secular foundations of the Indian State. These initiatives, in addition, complicate the chances of Muslim legitimately seeking refugee status because they are adherents to groups under attack in neighbouring states, such as the Ahmadiyas and Sufis in Pakistan and the Hazara ethnic group in Afghanistan.The protests may have delayed plans to create a common civil code, which has considerable support within the BJP and RSS  and considerable opposition within the Muslim community.

Curiously, the government has been far more cautious on economic reforms, even though many in the RSS and BJP view economic well-being and equity as key elements of Hindutva. Populist economic themes have been major elements in the RSS chiefs recent Vijayadashmi speeches, occasions for the RSS to inform the public of its national concerns. The relative lack of bold innovative steps on economic issues might be because Modi, a more cautious policy-maker than Shah, has retained control of economic policy (and foreign policy). With an economy declining at home and internationally, cultural-nationalist issues such as a Ram temple might at least in part represent an effort to divert attention from economic stress. Polling data, however, suggests that such cultural-nationalist issues have much less influence on local and state elections than on national parliamentary contests. Recent elections in Delhi (where the Aam Aadmi Party won a large majority), for example, indicate that policy regarding roads, schools and water shaped the popular outcome.

The long-range social impact of the surge of recent Hindutva initiatives is still unclear. If they result in increased social instability, the prospects for economic investment are likely to decrease, a development that could have negative political implications for the BJP and diminish Indias attractiveness as a strategic partner for the US and other countries concerned by the rise of an assertive China. One indication of this potential is the rioting that suddenly broke out in northeastern Delhi (apparently triggered by public intemperate remarks of a failed politician regarding the citizenship issue) during the visit of President Donald Trump to India  and thus attracted international attention. This may be the time for the government to consider how Hindutva initiatives impact the countrys social fabric.

Walter K Andersen is a political scientist and author of two critically-acclaimed books on the RSS

The views expressed are personal
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Toba, North Sumatra  Fri, March 13, 2020 15:54 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a602e2 1 Business Toba-lake,Willem-Alexander,dutch-royal,dutch-royal-indonesia,dutch-royal-tour,North-Sumatra,Wishnutama,tourism Free

Dutch King Willem-Alexander has expressed interest in assisting in the development of Lake Toba in North Sumatra, which is among the Indonesian governments top five destinations prioritized to boost tourism, a minister has said.

The king and Queen Maxima visited the world's largest volcanic lake and the surrounding area on Thursday as part of their itinerary during the four-day state visit to Indonesia.

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio said the royal couple were very pleased to visit Lake Toba and that they had indicated an interest in helping Indonesia to develop the tourist magnet.

"We will speak about the details with [Dutch] ministers. In general, the king and queen are amazed by the beauty of Lake Toba," Wishnutama told journalists after accompanying the Dutch royals in visiting Lake Toba and its surroundings on Thursday.

The minister went on to say that his office was ready to collaborate with its Dutch counterpart in various aspects, including for joint promotion to lure more tourist visits from the Netherlands, as he believed that the Dutch monarchs' visit would have a positive impact on North Sumatra's tourism.

Read also: Indonesia, Netherlands sign US$1b worth of deals during Dutch king visit

The king and queen started their journey on Thursday by briefly visiting Singgolom Hill at Lintong Ni Huta village in Tampahan district, Toba regency, during which they took photos with Lake Toba in the background.

They also visited Siambat Dalan hamlet -- a traditional Batak village -- where the Dutch royals were welcomed with the gondang batak traditional dance and clothed in ulos, a type of traditional fabric that is the pride of North Sumatra, by the local cultural head.

In the village, the king and queen also entered hundreds-years-old wooden traditional houses that are still used by the locals, and witnessed the process of manual ulos weaving. They also enjoyed the traditional Batak tor-tor dance and engaged with local cultural figures as well as residents.

From Siambat, the Dutch monarchs visited the DEL Technology Institute in Balige and later took a speedboat to visit Ecovillage Silima Lombu at Onan Runggu, Samosir Island.

Read also: North Sumatra gears up to welcome Dutch royals at Lake Toba

Samosir regent Rapidin Simbolon welcomed the king and queen by presenting them with ulos clothes and a traditional lute.

We hope that King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima are happy to visit Samosir, although we could only give ulos and a lute. These are sincere gifts from the Samosir citizens, Rapidin said, adding that he hoped the royals' visit could help attract more European tourists to visit the area.

North Sumatra Governor Edy Rahmayadi concurred with Rapidin, saying that the province was honored with the Dutch monarchs' visit to Lake Toba.

With the Dutch king and queen's visit, we hope Lake Toba will become more known to the world as a tourist destination," Edy said, "We hope more foreign tourists are attracted and will pay a visit to Lake Toba, which subsequently will boost the local economy." (gis)
We're trying to show how a bulking ambition for power, a thirst for ones own advancement leads to the death and hurting of many people, says Jeff Goldberg of his upcoming production of Julius Caesar

A furious mob has taken to the streets. Theyre out, with sticks and firebrands, to kill anyone they consider an enemy of the State. They spot a man walking by the side of the road and begin questioning him about his identity and where hes going. Hes a poet who, unfortunately, shares his name with a conspirator on the mobs enemy list. The mob starts closing in. He explains as clearly as he can that he is a poet, not the conspirator. But logic never worked with a blood-thirsty mob. Tear him for his bad verses, says a citizen from within the mob. And they do.

This mob is venting the murder of their leader Julius Caesar, in a play by William Shakespeare. While their frenzy has now led to the murder of Cinna the Poet, earlier in the play, the mob was celebrating Caesars assassination after the conspirators  including Cassius and Brutus  explained their motives. The conspirators were concerned that in time, Caesar would accept the crown and abuse his power. They wanted to prevent a shift from the Roman Republic to a Roman Empire. The crowd understands, and agrees. This Caesar was a tyrant, says one citizen. We are blest that Rome is rid of him, says another.

Even still, they listen to the following speech, this time by Mark Antony. He displays Caesars bloody body, begins with Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears, which is among the plays most stirring speeches, and informs them about Caesars will where he distributes a sizeable portion of his fortune among the citizens. Soon, public opinion has swayed and they are convinced of Caesars nobility. Furious about his assassination, they take to the streets, to kill every conspirator they can find.

While we think of them as hard and fast, almost as facts, political beliefs are like any beliefs. Beliefs are emotional. And emotions are fluid. And I think that the mob and the citizens are fluid, says director Jeffrey Goldberg in an interview with Firstpost, as he prepares to stage the play at Mumbais Royal Opera House. The mob is certainly influenced by emotional speeches and acting out of anger, but Goldberg doesn't perceive it as being either stupid or irrational. The mob is, in fact, similar to citizens today, and wants to believe primarily in whatever it thinks will be best for the people. They want the leader who they think is going to deliver the greatest good to them as a society, the director adds.

However, Shakespeare leaves his audience with a certain ambiguity about these leaders. If given the crown, Caesar might have been corrupted and abused his power. Brutus intentions in killing Caesar were entirely noble, but eventually, hints of his personal ambition also appear.

As the leaders of their country are embroiled in conflict and a power struggle, at the end of the play  a veritable tragedy  the people who have suffered the most are the common citizens.

Today, as leaders the world over encourage an aggressive, divisive politics, and the free press which should inform about these leaders is increasingly muzzled, this human cost is what Goldberg thought was potent to highlight. What were trying to show is that this bulking ambition for power, this thirst for ones own advancement, all leads to the death and hurting of many people, says Goldberg about staging among Shakespeares most political plays. And what the stage allows you to do is see what violence and the possibility of violence really, actually looks like, he adds.

Through the play, Goldberg wants people to reconsider where our resources are being invested. Arent we capable of using our thoughtfulness and our technology for something a little bit better than constantly destroying ourselves? He wants society at large to realise that as a result of a few peoples decisions, numerous real people get hurt. In the 21st century, are we really still willing and prepared to go with guns before humanity? Dont we have so much more to offer to each other if we sit down and talk rather than if we go out and get our weapons? And thats the question of the play, he says.

Theatrically, to aid the communication of this idea are Shakespeares script, a set designed according to 44 BC Rome, full Roman costumes, and a regal soundscape. For the larger, epic set pieces, Goldberg is using 18th- and 19th-century Western classical music, including Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Mozart. And for the more intimate scenes, he has found contemporary Roman music by the group Synaulia. [Its the] actual music that the people in the play would have listened to in their own time, he says.

To conceptualise the play, Goldberg first spent 18 months steeped in research. The history, myths, stories, legends, religion, society, and politics are all things about the plays world of which Goldberg wanted a first-hand understanding. His reading included Homers Odyssey and The Iliad, Virgils Aeneid, and several books about ancient philosophy and the antiquity. I wanted to make sure that I knew this world as well as an ancient Roman could possibly have known it. Because it is very important for the context of the play that the people on stage and director understand the world and the stage that they are inhabiting, explains Goldberg.

And while hes aware that several among his audience will have read the play, especially since it has been taught in school syllabi, he is of the opinion that this is not the ideal way to encounter the Bard. William Shakespeare is meant to be seen, to be performed. And thats what were really excited about, being able to finally stage this classic and show people what it really looks like, he says.

The Jeff Goldberg Studio production of William Shakespeares Julius Caesar will premiere at Mumbais Royal Opera House on 14 March. More information here.
The crisis shortage of coronavirus testing kits seems likely to continue, after a U.S. senator said that it will take weeks to roll out widespread tests and California's governor blasted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for sending test kits that are missing pieces.

'They're ramping up, but they're still saying it's two weeks before we can get widespread testing,' Senator James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, told Politico on Thursday after meeting privately with health officials.

Lankford added that President Donald Trump was 'not accurate' when he said all Americans who want to get tested can get one.

'People should not say, 'If you want a test, you can get a test' right now. That's coming. That's not here right now,' Lankford added. 'We've got a long way to go to be able to get rapid, efficient testing.'

'They're ramping up, but they're still saying it's two weeks before we can get widespread testing,' said Senator James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican

A lab technician begins semi-automated testing for COVID-19 at Northwell Health Labs in upstate New York this week. Testing responsibility has fallen largely to the private sector

As of Thursday, just 13,624 tests have been run so far at public laboratories, according to data from the CDC.

State and local public laboratories have run the majority of the tests, at 9,721, while the CDC has run just 3,903.

Last week, Trump promised that major private lab companies Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp would step in to fill the gap.

In statements to DailyMail.com on Thursday, LabCorp and Quest both confirmed that they are rapidly ramping up capacity of tests that physicians and hospitals can order from anywhere in the U.S.

'We are now able to perform several thousand tests per day and are rapidly adding new equipment and staff to create additional capacity,' said a LabCorp spokeswoman. 'LabCorp is working seven days a week, three shifts a day to perform COVID-19 testing and to increase capacity.'

Quest said that it launched its coronavirus test on Monday, adding: 'We expect to be able to perform tens of thousands of tests a week within the next six weeks.'

Both companies stressed that individuals who want to be tested for coronavirus need to first contact their physician or medical provider, who are responsible for ordering tests and sending in samples.

California Governor Gavin Newsom accused the gormless CDC of sending out coronavirus test kits that were missing key pieces needed to conduct testing

Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom fumed on Thursday that the gormless CDC had sent the state's hospitals and labs coronavirus tests with some of the crucial parts missing.

In a press conference, he said: 'The test kits do not include in every case the RNA extraction kits, the reagents, the chemicals, the solutions that are components of the broader tests.'

'This is imperative that the federal government and labs across the United States, not just state of California, get the benefit of all the ingredients, the components of the test,' he continued.

'I am surprised this is not more of the national conversation,' Newsom said.

'I think it's very much in line with your going to the store and purchasing a printer but forgetting to purchase the ink.'

Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, addressed the disastrous testing blunder on Friday morning, saying it was 'unfortunate'.

The CDC did not immediately respond to an inquiry from DailyMail.com on Friday morning.

In one spot of bright news, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche announced it has received emergency approval from US regulators for a new and much faster coronavirus test.

On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted an 'emergency use authorization' to commercialize the test, which is 10 times faster than the American government's kit.

The test can be run in high volumes on fully automated equipment, Roche said, suggesting it could provide more results far faster than other tests available.

Widespread testing is essential in the race to rein in the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 134,000 people and killed more than 5,000 worldwide.
13 March 2020

Type Event Proceeding



SSRH Information Seminars which took place on Tuesday, 10 March in Teagasc Ballyhaise and Wednesday, 11 March in Teagasc Moorepark.



The Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) is a government scheme that provides financial support to convert to renewable heat for a 15-year period. The scheme will be administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and technologies covered in the non-domestic sector include heat pumps, solid biomass, including combined heat and power. For biomass it provides a continuous income stream for 15 years in a bid to ensure renewable heat is commercially attractive when compared to fossil fuels.

The seminars covered the principles of biomass heating systems. Aspects considered include:

Interpretation of eligibility rules for biomass boilers

Biomass resources and sustainability criteria

System quality and performance

How the reduction in the farms carbon footprint could be of advantage in the market place

Consideration of payback on the investment

View presentations from the seminars below:
WASHINGTON  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised schools on Friday that closings for at least eight weeks might be the most effective way to contain the coronavirus. The Education Department released school districts from a slew of testing and accountability measures required by federal law.

But schools across the country were far ahead of the Trump administrations advice. A cascade of public school closings gained speed nationwide on Friday, with the largest school district in California, the Los Angeles Unified School District, announcing it was closing, along with the San Diego Unified School District. They joined other large cities like Washington, Miami and Seattle, and more than a dozen states like Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Oregon, New Mexico and Michigan.

At least 21,000 schools have been closed or are scheduled to close, according to Education Week, affecting at least 15 million students. A majority of closings announced by school districts range from two to six weeks, which the C.D.C. considered short- to medium-term closures that would not impact the huge wave of infections that are expected in the next few weeks.

Danny Carlson, the associate executive director of policy and advocacy for the National Association of Elementary School Principals, called the timing of the C.D.C. guidance baffling.
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Leveraging Swiss Res risk knowledge and Microsofts technological capabilities, the center will also focus on how the insurance industry creates tangible products.

In addition, the tie-up will see Swiss Re move its internal operating platform to the Azure cloud.

Swiss Res alliance with Microsoft will help accelerate the digital transformation of the insurance industry, with benefits across all lines of business, said Swiss Re Life Capital chief executive Thierry Leger.

By building digital markets and not just isolated products, we aim to transform the way businesses approach the risks they face. The alliance between Swiss Re and Microsoft presents an exciting opportunity for the insurance industry.

In Swiss Re group chief operating officer Anette Bronders view, it is only through strong partnerships that digital transformation can be achieved.
(Bloomberg) --

A top Singapore official rebuffed Facebook Inc.s criticism of the countrys fake news law as an allergic reaction to getting regulated, arguing the spread of misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic reinforces the need to police the internet.

Communications and Information Minister S Iswaran said in an interview the proliferation of falsehoods around the outbreak has demonstrated how legislation is needed to quell errant online information. He said he wasnt surprised by the U.S. social media giants response to a government order to block a page on its website. While Facebook complied, it warned that could set a precedent for stifling free speech -- a rare instance of a foreign company openly questioning the affluent nations policies.

Singapore, which is fighting a likely economic slowdown and a resurgence in Covid-19 cases, is under fire from opposition politicians and rights groups about its Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act. Tech giants from Google to Twitter Inc. are grappling with the so-called fake news law in a country that houses their Asia-Pacific headquarters. Since it was enacted in October, the law has been invoked on several occasions, stirring concerns from critics it would be used to suppress dissent ahead of elections that must take place by April 2021.

I can imagine there is a certain allergic reaction to that because Facebook is moving into a more regulated environment, said Iswaran, who oversees a large part of Singapores technology initiatives as well as relations with major trade partners. We are quite clear that we must take action against some of the adverse consequences because if not, it can undermine the confidence in our institutions and ultimately our whole democracy. And the way we have been exercising our powers has been proportionate.

Read about Singapores warning against complacency while new coronavirus infections surge

U.S. internet giants are under growing pressure worldwide to curb the spread of misinformation on their globe-spanning platforms, most recently around the coronavirus pandemic. Governments are concerned about their influence in an era where more and more people get their news online and through social media.

Story continues

Tensions with U.S. tech firms come as the Asian financial hub is trying to position itself as regional center for digital innovation. Home to more than 4,000 startups today, the country attracted the equivalent of some $10 billion in 437 venture deals during the first nine months of 2019, up 36% from a year earlier, according to Enterprise Singapore.

The fake news law may cloud relationships with tech companies. Facebook said last month it was deeply concerned by the order to block The States Times Reviews page in Singapore, after the blog was accused of conveying falsehoods and then refusing to comply with directions served under POFMA. While Singapore wont compromise on principle, it will continue to engage tech platforms, Iswaran said.

In the lead-up to the legislation, there were several rounds of consultation with tech companies in order to understand some of their concerns and see where we could accommodate some of their issues and that was in fact taken into account, he said.

How Digital Disinformation Sows Hate, Hurts Democracy: QuickTake

5G and Digitalization

The minister said Singapores goal to cover half the city-state with fifth-generation wireless technology by 2022 remains on track.

He didnt give a dollar value for the amount the country could get from carriers for the spectrum, saying the plan is to encourage investment in the infrastructure needed for the high-speed technology to succeed. Singapores telecom regulator has received proposals for 5G licenses from companies including Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and an alliance of Keppel Corp.-backed M1 Ltd. and StarHub Ltd. The watchdog expects to award spectrum licenses by the middle of this year.

We want the telcos to invest in the infrastructure, said Iswaran. If the bulk of the resources are taken away as license fees then the capacity to invest in this is significantly reduced.

The spread of Covid-19 just reinforces the importance of digitalization, he added. The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on Thursday, urging governments to step up containment efforts as the number of worldwide cases topped 120,000 and deaths exceeded 4,300.

For businesses, thinking in terms of business continuity planning and measures you put in place will now take on a sharper focus, he said. Digitalization becomes more salient than in the past in light of this.

--With assistance from Philip J. Heijmans and Michelle Jamrisko.

To contact the reporters on this story: Yoolim Lee in Singapore at yoolim@bloomberg.net;Abhishek Vishnoi in Singapore at avishnoi4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, ;Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net, Edwin Chan, Joyce Koh

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.
They are our friends, our neighbors  eminently ordinary people who are most immediately in the line of fire as our economy, our schools, and our consumer spending grind to a halt across the Philadelphia region: self-employed restaurant operators, salon owners, the bigger small businesses that supply them, and, of course, wage earners.

Already, they are starting to feel the pinch as customers cancel appointments, skip dinners out, or are ordered, as is happening locally, to stay home to contain the spread of a virus that has sent the global markets into their worst free fall since 1987.

We must help these people and with real aid from Washington. It must happen now  before calamity befalls these good people who are the bedrock of our economy but have little safety net when things go south.

My heads popping off," Le Bus bakery operations chief Patrick McMahon said Friday from his King of Prussia office. "You dont exactly contingency-plan for a pandemic. Were a sick employee away from closing completely.

We must demand that President Trump and Congress make these people first to receive direct financial relief. As Washington debates whom to rescue first, Big Corporations or The Little Guy, the answer is clear: Send cash, mortgage relief, and bolstered unemployment insurance to help The Little Guy.

Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the closure of all schools in Pennsylvania late last week and other businesses across the four suburban counties of Philadelphia. Imagine where this leaves merchants and their families and the employees they pay: Without revenue, but still on the hook to pay rent on their buildings, their business insurance, their home mortgages, their health-plan premiums.

The same goes for Philadelphia, where conventions, professional sporting events, concerts, and vendor deliveries into many skyscrapers have been scrapped.

Unlike public school teachers or corporate workers, these folks get no paychecks. As customers dry up, so does the money. Immediately. Any notion that payroll tax elimination or a Big Oil rescue package will help these people avoid disaster is folly.

What I worry about is we dont have sufficient information upon which to base projections, McMahon told me as we talked this week at the companys bakery in Montgomery County. Le Bus supplies fresh bread and pastries to hundreds of restaurants, delis, and caterers across the region and into Atlantic City. Its frozen products are distributed nationally.

On Monday, as markets hemorrhaged, I sat across from McMahons desk and asked how nervous he was. On that day, orders were holding firm, though he was flying blind, and it was harrowing.

There was no way to guess how the nations still-chaotic effort to contain the further spread of the coronavirus would affect consumers or  in another concern of his  the factories that produce the plastic and corrugated packaging that Le Bus uses.

If things start to go bad, in other words, a place like Le Bus would feel it from both ends  the supply and demand side.

There needs to be a coordinated message from state and federal governments telling us what to expect, what the next step will be," McMahon said calmly despite escalating stress. "Once you see schools closing, what does that do to restaurants?

Days later, after Wolf on Thursday ordered that all schools in Montgomery County shut down for two weeks to contain further spread of the disease in COVID-19s "epicenter in Pennsylvania, McMahon was feeling more of a pinch.

Weve had some restaurants cancel orders, he said Thursday evening. On the frozen side we have quite a number of orders for next week. However, all the major food distributors have canceled their shows, which typically drive a lot of revenue into our business. Right now we simply  were in a holding pattern because theres simply not enough information to really make good decisions.

Some of whats at stake if the calls for self-quarantines lead to big drops of business at restaurants in our region:

At Le Bus, this could jeopardize the 200 or so jobs that belong to in-house wage earners who knead and roll dough and bake pastries and croissants at all hours inside the companys 42,000-square-foot bakery along SEPTAs blue-collar workhorse, the Norristown High-Speed Line.

President Trump has seemed fixated this week on enacting a payroll tax cut. But that would be absurd if business drops so much that you cant even stay open. It does no one any good in that scenario. Same for the low-interest loans the president floated during his calamitous address to the nation Wednesday night.

No one likes to add debt, McMahon said  especially if business is gone. Getting stopgap cash from insurance policies, he added, will also be tricky: If theres a government-mandated quarantine, most business interruption policies dont cover that sort of event. Our avenues for remedy are pretty slim.

A great help, he said, would be bolstering unemployment insurance so that, in the event of layoffs, workers everywhere could retain income to survive at home. This is in a proposal being pushed by congressional Democrats  and for very good reason, if youre a policymaker who cares about more than just the Big Fish in business.

Small businesses, Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden said in his own coronavirus address Thursday, will be devastated.

We cant let that happen.
The latest technologies have been used by Vietnams agencies and organizations to fight against the spread of Covid-19

Electronic medical declarations



Since 6 am March 7, Vietnam has required compulsory health declarations from all passengers entering Vietnam.





People arriving to Vietnam from all countries have to fill out a declaration of health upon their arrival.



The Ministry of Health (MOH) joined forces with the large mobile network operators (Viettel and VNPT) and IT firms to develop a process and application for declaration that is simple and convenient for travelers.



With the declaration form, people entering Vietnam can make declaration on their mobile phones. When following check-in procedures, each passenger scans the QR Code to find what they need to declare.

The latest technologies have been used by Vietnams agencies and organizations to fight against the spread of Covid-19

All information from the declaration forms will be automatically updated to the epidemic prevention center and appropriate agencies for management.

Online Covid-19 treatment support center



On March 5, the Ministry of Healths Administration of Examination and Treatment and the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control launched the center for online management and support for Covid-19 diagnosis and treatment.



With the support of IT, central specialists can see patients and their parameters, vital functions and conditions from anywhere. This allows them to help local medical centers to make timely treatment decisions.



As the coronavirus has spread rapidly, the lack of resuscitation doctors is anticipated. Therefore, the establishment of the center is an urgent task.



Made-in-Vietnam testing kit



Vietnam has the capacity to produce 10,000 test kits for testing SARS-CoV-2 each day, and if necessary, the capacity could be tripled.



Experts say the production capacity is high enough to satisfy domestic needs or provide international aid in case Covid-19 breaks out in many countries.



The test kits are made on the production line meeting ISO 13485 standards and the laboratory conducting research meets ISO Class * standards.



The test kit has been tested for sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and repeatability at the standard laboratory at Viet A Technology JSC and the Military Medical Academy.



Made-in-Vietnam test kit has criteria equivalent to that of products made by US CDC and WHO. These criteria were independently tested at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.



Can Tho to have lab capable of diagnosing Covid-19



Can Tho City Disease Control Center is capable of carrying out tests to find SARS-CoV-2. Regarding the facilities and equipment, the center needs to take additional measures to ensure biosafety and legal properties.



The center has sent two officers to the training course at Pasteur Institute in HCM City. It is expected that the Pasteur Institute will say if the center can get recognition about the testing ability prior to March 15.

Kim Chi

Vietnam Airlines profit predicted to drop due to COVID-19 outbreak The profit of Vietnam Airlines Corporation will be strongly affected by the spread of COVID-19 in countries around the world, according to the preliminary report of the Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC).
I turn 30 this week. Bartenders will tell you I have the face of a 19-year-old. Podiatrists would suggest I have the ankles of a much older human. I have 8  fake teeth -- eight were due to a genetic fluke, the half was thanks to my twin sisters foot, the climbing rope in our elementary school gym class, and poor timing.

I have attended only one funeral. I wont tell you how many people Ive kissed. I have six tattoos -- one I inked myself during college, which was something that made a lot of sense at the time. Im certain that I dont want children and I suspect Ill end up with a few pets someday. Definitely a dog, but possibly some small birds, as well. Small birds make me laugh.

I cried the night before my 10th birthday because I realized Id never be a single-digit age ever again.

Im hoping to welcome this new decade with more grace. My birthday is on the 15th, otherwise known as The Ides of March. Its a day of ultimate betrayal and salad dressing jokes. As much as Ive steeled myself to avoid over-reflecting on the upcoming decade, I have a feeling my brain is going to give in and barrage my thoughts with comparisons to my peers as I blow out the XXX candles. Et tu birthday?

As much as I believe that we should all define our lifes trajectory on our own terms, that success has no correct path, I realize that by most standards, Im living in a state of arrested development. Im not totally convinced I ever want to be married. I dont have a knack for keeping plants alive. I seriously doubt Ill be a homeowner anytime soon. I never learned to contour. My twin sister, one minute my junior, has accomplished all of these things. Shes had less time on this planet than me, but shes managed to accumulate all the adult points. What have I been doing?

When I run my stats, Ive done alright with my first two decades. I studied abroad and got a fancy degree. Ive seen a Beatle perform live and managed to meet some of my favorite writers. Ive voted in every election where I was eligible to cast a ballot. Im almost over my fear of public speaking. I survived Y2K, which of course in retrospect was overhyped, but when our neighbors lit some fireworks at midnight, I truly thought it was end times.

Last week, I met Colette Rudolph, a death doula here in Bismarck. I wanted to know about her Death Cafes: casual meetings where people of all backgrounds come together to talk about everything from assisted suicide to coffin preferences. She works with grieving families, the dying and the death-curious to demystify the final milestone. Colette emphasized that a big part of her work is helping people realize their legacy project: to take into account what their values and passions are, and how the family can honor that once theyre gone. Whats more, its never too soon to think about your legacy project.

Maybe its morbid to contemplate the end when Im only a third of the way there. But then again, soothsayers arent always wrong, and your bestie might be a no-good conspirator. Instead of worrying about the little things I havent accomplished according to some invisible standard, I should probably focus on the greater contributions I could make. I dont have any ideas yet. All I have is a jar of baby teeth, a column in The Bismarck Tribune, and every intention of doing good. Starting Monday. On a day without so much significant historic and personal pressures. Until then, let them eat cake.

Kayla Schmidt is a freelance writer and creative collaborator with The Good Kids. She's a North Dakota boomerang: originally from Minot, she took a detour to study in England before settling in Bismarck.

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Ford Motor Company will have most of its white-collar workforce outside of China working remotely as of Monday to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, a spokesman said Friday.

Ford has seen 'limited' impact to its global operations due to the pandemic, and the US automaker has not lost any vehicle production outside of China.

The company's world headquarters is located in Dearborn, Michigan, where thousands of white-collar employees work every day.

However, a majority of Ford's 190,000 employees are blue-collar workers who do their jobs in the company's 65 plants and factories across the globe.

On Friday, the company spokesperson said that the automaker is 'taking steps' to keep its plants operating.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Ford Motor Company for comment on those specific steps.

Thousands of Americans work in Ford plants, which are located across the country.

More than 2500 work at Ford River Rouge Complex, located close to Ford's head offices in Dearborn. There are also large plants in Louisville, Kentucky; Avon Lake, Ohio; and Flat Rock, Michigan.

Ford Motor Company will have most of its white-collar workforce outside of China working remotely as of Monday to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. The Ford World Headquarters in Michigan is pictured

A majority of Ford's 190,000 employees are blue-collar workers who do their jobs in the company's 65 plants and factories across the globe. A factory worker is pictured in Dearborn, Michigan

Friday's announcement has caused angst and confusion on social media, with one stating: 'Eh, well, all the hourly people can just fester in the soon to be COVID-19 infested plants. Health and safety is the overriding priority, right?'

Meanwhile, one plant employee stated: 'Working at Ford has me a little concerned about the coronavirus considering all the parts that we have shipped into the plant from out of state/country DAILY,' the employee wrote.

She added: 'We're still building Escapes [car model] at Ford tho!! Cause sooo (sice) many people are buying cars right now! 2000 + people in a manufacturing plant... allll 2000 ppl touch that car at some point through our shift. What could possibly go wrong?'

Another wrote: 'And the fact 3000 work in a plant and come and go constantly... I'm VERY concerned. Cannot get answers from @Ford. Got left on read by the union.'

Another claimed they had heard Ford would make an announcement on plant closures on Saturday.

They stated they would be willing to stay home, even at a reduced wage, in order to stay healthy.

'Paid time off for me please. Even if it's 60% pay. I'll take it,' they wrote.

The announcement Friday caused angst and confusion on Twitter

However, others along the supply chain say they are concerned about the run-on impact of closing the plants.

'I work as an engineer for a tier 1 supplier for Ford, GM, BMW etc. If the virus shuts down our plants, then our hourly workers can't feed their families. And the autos don't get their parts... which means they have to shut down their plants... It keeps moving up the ladder.'

Coronavirus cases are increasing across the US

Meanwhile one dealer stated that they would have to stay open during the crisis.

'At the dealership level, very few of us could work remotely. Most dealerships are following best practice from the CDC (hand washing, social distancing, stay home if you're sick). I can't speak for Ford, but I imagine the assembly plants are in a similar situation.'

On March 6, Ford updated its 'Facility Visitor Procedures'. They wrote: 'Given the coronavirus outbreak's continued spread and to protect the health of everyone at our sites, only business critical visitors will be permitted at any Ford facility. We will now require additional screening of all business critical visitors prior to entry into Ford facilities and events.

Effective immediately, all visitors entering Ford facilities are required to complete the Ford Motor Company Visitor Health Screening Questionnaire. If any questions are answered 'yes,' access will be denied and the visitor will be asked to reschedule their meeting or make other arrangements.'

Ford has asked its white-collar employees to work from home amid the coronavirus outbreak spreading across the US
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Linkedin Gopal Sharma (Reuters) Kathmandu, Nepal  Fri, March 13, 2020 12:59 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a53ab6 2 Destinations Nepal,Everest,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,health,health-issues Free

Nepal has closed all of its Himalayan peaks including Mount Everest this climbing season because of fears of the coronavirus outbreak, a government minister said on Friday.

Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains including Mount Everest, gets more than four million dollars in permit fees for the world's highest peak and other mountains every year.

Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai said expeditions to all peaks in the March-May spring season had been suspended.

"Climbing this season has been closed, Bhattarai told Reuters.

"It is as a precaution for that," he added, when asked if it was because of the coronavirus.

Nepal has confirmed just one case of the coronavirus - a student studying in China on a trip home - out of 450 people tested.

The suspension of expeditions in Nepal will affect hundreds of foreign climbers now preparing for the spring season, a window or relatively good weather between the end of the bitterly cold winter and the rainy season, which begins in June.

Everest, the world's highest mountain at 8,850 meters, is on the border between Nepal and the Chinese region of Tibet. China announced the closure of its side of the mountain on Thursday.

It is the second time in recent years that the climbing season has been disrupted. Expeditions were suspended in 2015 after a major earthquake struck Nepal on April 25 that year, killing some 9,000 people.

Eighteen people were killed at the Everest base camp when an avalanche triggered by the quake roared down a slope.

"This is disappointing news for both our expedition leaders and our clients who have trained for months for this years climb," Lukas Furtenbach, of the California-based guiding company Furtenbach Adventure, said.

Adrian Ballinger of the Alpenglow Expeditions company said he understood the decision.

While cancelling a climb is never an outcome we want, this time, its the responsible thing to do, Ballinger said in a statement.

A COVID-19 outbreak at base camp would be dangerous and potentially devastating, he said.

Nepal would also stop issuing visas on arrival until April 30, an official said.
A man who returned from Italy this week and was lodged at the Army's quarantine facility in Manesar, Haryana has tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease, Army sources said on Friday.

According to the medical protocol, he has been shifted to an isolation facility at the Safdarjung Hospital here for further medical examination and recovery.

"One individual (male) who had returned from Italy on March 11 has been tested positive. The individual was employed in one of the restaurants in Italy since last 14 years," sources said.

The man was among the 83 people who returned from Italy on Wednesday. The group was moved to the Army's quarantine facility at Manesar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To mark K-9 Veterans Day on Friday, President Donald Trump honored the military working dog injured in the raid that killed the head of the Islamic State last year.

Trump's relationship with Conan, a Belgian Malinois assigned to 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, began late last year after the canine was the only American injured in a secret mission to take out Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Oct. 27.

Conan, whose exact gender has been disputed, reportedly chased the terrorist down a dead-end tunnel and trapped him as U.S. special operators closed in. The dog was injured when al-Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest.

In addition to tweeting out Conan's picture the day after the raid, the president awarded the pup an unspecified medal in November.

Related: Trump Awards Conan the Hero Special Forces Dog a Medal at the White House

"Many of our bravest and most adept military personnel were involved in the raid that brought this evil ISIS leader to justice, and Conan bravely worked by their side," Trump said in a statement Friday for K-9 Veterans Day. "Thanks to Conan, no American personnel were lost in the operation, further demonstrating the vital role K-9s play in safeguarding our national security."

Since 1942, more than 30,000 dogs have served in the America military, including about 2,500 who are working today, according to the statement.

-- Dorothy Mills-Gregg can be reached at dorothy.mills-gregg@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DMillsGregg.

Read More: Air Force Academy Dismisses Cadets amid Coronavirus Spread
Amid novel coronavirus outbreak in India as well as in the world, the Karnataka government has decided to shut down theatres, schools, universities, malls, clubs for one week. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has said that no one should travel unless an emergency.

In the statement, Karnataka CM said, "All malls, cinema halls, pubs, wedding ceremonies and other large gatherings in the Karnataka have been banned for another one week." The government also asked doctors and other medical staff to work on holidays as well as week offs until the coronavirus situation gets under control.

The statement further states, "To manage things in a result-oriented manner, doctors, office personnel, paramedical staff and other permanent and contract employees in hospitals coming under the Health Department have been instructed to work on all public holidays."

Also Read : Coronavirus: Kerala Govt Closes Cinema Halls; Likely To Affect Malayalam Films' BO Collection

Well, shutting down theatres will largely affect the movie business as many films in Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam have released this week. This decision of government comes after the first death of a 76-year-old man from Karnataka, who was diagnosed with coronavirus.

So far, India has 75 coronavirus positive patients which include 5 from Karnataka.
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia - Slovenias new, right-leaning government was sworn in on Friday, pledging stronger efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

The 90-member parliament voted 52-31 to approve a coalition government led by Prime Minister Janez Jansa, leader of the anti-immigrant Slovenian Democratic Party and an ally of Hungarys hardline Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Jansa, 61, promised a more concerted effort to contain the spread of the disease, criticizing the previous government which declared an epidemic on Thursday.

The outgoing government flunked the test in recent days, Jansa said. What was coming was underestimated and reactions were chaotic, the official STA news agency quoted Jansa as saying.

Slovenia reported 141 cases of infections on Friday, with a surge of 45 new confirmed cases in less than 24 hours in the Alpine country of 2 million people that borders Italy, the focus of Europes coronavirus crisis.

Jansas predecessor, Prime Minister Marjan Sarec, was a rare liberal head of government in Central and Eastern Europe. He announced he was stepping down in January, citing lack of support for his minority government.

Sarec, a former actor and comedian, had called for an early election, but his two former coalition partners instead agreed to form a new government with Jansa.

Jansa served twice as the prime minister in the past. He was convicted of corruption in a verdict that was later overturned by Slovenias top court, before turning harshly anti-immigrant ahead of the 2018 election that followed the mass influx of migrants into Europe in 2015-16.

Jansas SDS won the most votes in the 2018 parliamentary election, but other groups in parliament initially refused to co-operate with the party because of its right-wing policies. Analysts in Slovenia say Jansa somewhat has toned down his rhetoric to position himself as an acceptable political figure.
A rising number of young men in Australia are falling victim to online sextortion, the head of the countrys internet safety agency has warned, bucking a global trend of primarily targeting vulnerable women and girls.

Seven out of 10 victims of sextortion - a form of extortion that involves sexual acts or images as its currency - in Australia were men, according to the office of Australias eSafety commissioner, a government agency.

Many of them were foreign male students who were eager for companionship after they arrived to study at universities, with official figures showing more than half of the victims were aged between 18 and 24.

Its absolutely a thing were seeing. Its very concerning, said eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who leads the office, which bills itself as the worlds first government agency tasked with keeping citizens safe when online.

Many victims visited social media or dating sites in an attempt to make new friends, but were then coaxed into sharing intimate images of themselves and blackmailed by criminal gangs later.

Victims are often lured into a sexy Skype or Facetime call and asked to pose sexually, said Inman Grant.

When that happens, they are extorted for money. Once they have paid, the scammers will continue going back to them asking for more, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview this week.

REVENGE PORN

The warning came as new government figures showed Generation Z Australians - those aged below 25 - have emerged as the fastest-growing group of victims of scams.

Gen Z lost over A$5 million ($3.2 million) last year to scams, according to a report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission this week.

The eSafety Commission said organised crime based in countries like the Philippines, is behind many of Australias sextortion cases.

Sextortion usually targets women and girls who are then failed by a lack of laws globally to combat such abuses, anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International said in a report this month.

Australia is a world leader in fighting sextortion and outlawed revenge porn - the non-consensual sharing of intimate images - in 2018.

Inman Grants office is looking into technological solutions that can help victims scour the web and easily get their images removed.

This is so that the victims do not have to go out and look for their own images, as it is traumatising, said Inman Grant, who previously worked at tech giants Microsoft and Twitter.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

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In doing so, Sanders has effectively moved the Democratic Party to the left on climate change. Nearly every major 2020 candidate  including Biden  has called for steeper carbon cuts than President Barack Obama endorsed and has backed the idea of banning all new oil and gas drilling on public lands and offshore. But it also raises questions on how he would enact sweeping policies to curb carbon emissions if he occupied the Oval Office.
Chennai: 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.

Read More: BharatPe appoints Vijay Aggarwal as CTO

Infosys, Qualcomm partner for smart cities solutions
President of the Spanish caravan association, Jesus Gallardo, has described a recent wave of fines handed out to motor home owners in Nerja as "illegal" and a "crusade".

According to Gallardo, the Plataforma de Autocaravanas Autonoma de Espana (PACA) has received around 50 complaints from members who have been given fines for parking their vehicles in the town in recent weeks. He added that approximately 100 fines were issued in one week, at around 50 euros each.

"We are the type of visitor that respects the rules and spends around 60 euros a day in the town," he argued.

Nerja town hall has put up signs in recent week in an effort to educate motor home owners of the local laws regarding such vehicles. The laws include not parking a vehicle which is being used for camping, in a public area for more than 24 hours. This includes caravans and trailers as well as tents.

Torrox

Torrox town hall has also received complaints from neighbours in the Penoncillo area of Torrox Costa. While the local authority claims the land being used by motor home owners belongs to the regional government the Junta de Andalucia's coastal department, and therefore not in the town hall's remit to give out fines, they plan to install signs to limit access.

Torrox council also said that "private conversations" had taken place to find an area for motor homes, following an election promise last year. It added that if a solution couldn't be found privately then it would go via the town hall. Gallardo said that PACA would appeal all of the fines issued to its members.
This past Monday, Cincinnati pastor Brian Tome was feeling upbeat about the coronavirus.* To reassure the some 35,000 people who attend his churchs 12 locations each weekend, he recorded a brief video in which he strolled down a local sidewalk, talking to the camera about how fear is not the Christian response to the evolving pandemic. Im not saying people arent dying, but they tend to be very old people and people who have significant medical problems, he said. I just want to say: youre going to be ok. At the end of the video, for a bit of comic relief, a person in a hazmat suit handed him a Corona beer. He cracked it open, smiled at the camera, and took a swig.

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By Thursday afternoon, Tome had changed his approach. Crossroads Church, where hes the pastor, will move all of its weekend services online starting this weekend, and close all its buildings, in Ohio and Kentucky. There are things I believed 24 hours ago that I dont believe now, Tome told me on Friday. It was a stupid thing to say. (The video has now been taken down.) Tome said hed initially felt that the best way to serve his community was by pushing back against unfounded fear; he described himself as an anti-fear guy who rides his motorcycle at 80 miles per hour without a helmet. But by Thursday, he realized that the virus represented a very clear physical danger we cant ignore. Like a late-night talk-show host performing to an empty studio, Tome will preach his sermon this weekend to an empty sanctuary, with his congregation tuning in from home.

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Across the country, other pastors of the countrys largest churches are making their own decisions about what to do this Sunday morning (or Saturday night, as the case may be). Because religious services bring large groups of people together in close contact, houses of worship can be hubs of disease transmission. In New Rochelle, New York, a synagogue was the center of an outbreak that eventually summoned the National Guard. Many international religious groups have now made drastic decisions to restrict public gatherings. On Thursday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints canceled services indefinitely. The Catholic archdiocese in Seattle and the Episcopal Church in D.C. and Virginia are among the regional bodies that have canceled services.

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Megachurches, which have weekly gatherings of more than 2,000 people, are facing unique challenges right now.

Christian megachurches, defined as congregations with regular weekly gatherings of more than 2,000 people, face unique challenges. Their gatherings, by definition, are enormous. They are headed by figures who are both local spiritual leaders and national celebrities with their own brands to protect. And many are nondenominational, meaning they do not answer to a larger ecclesiastical body.

Now, many have independently made the decision to close. In Houston, pastor Joel Osteen canceled live services at his Lakewood Church, which attracts up to 50,000 people over the course of a weekend. Bethel Church, a prominent charismatic megachurch in northern California, is also canceling all services this weekend, despite some of its leaders posting dismissively about the virus online. Hillsong, a celebrity-friendly church with campuses on six continents, has canceled public services in New York and Los Angeles, and other campuses may also elect to do so in the coming days, according to a statement from founder and global senior pastor Brian Houston.

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Megachurches regular weekly gatherings would violate new bans on large gatherings of people in a fast-growing list of states and municipalities. In Illinois on Thursday, Gov. J.B.

Pritzker banned all gatherings of more than 1,000 people until May 1, and recommended that gatherings of 250 people also be postponed. Willow Creek, a nondenominational megachurch with eight locations in the Chicago area, canceled services at all locations the same day. (Willow Creek was the host of a leadership conference in Germany last month where four people later tested positive for the coronavirus. Life.Church pastor Craig Groeschel self-quarantined for two weeks after his return, and as of Thursday, the church was scheduled to meet as usual this weekend.)

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Some large churches have pushed back on public health recommendations from local officials. In Kentucky, governor Andy Beshear urged church leaders on Wednesday morning to consider canceling services. The states largest congregation, Southeast Christian Church, initially said that services would continue as usual at eight of its nine campuses. On Thursday afternoon, the church reversed course, canceling all in-person gatherings and moving all services online indefinitely. In Dallas, where mayor Eric Johnson announced a ban on gatherings of more than 500 people, First Baptist Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress said his church will still meet, but will break into smaller gatherings to comply with the new rules. Right now theres just about five cases in the Dallas area, so we dont think its worth cancelling, Jeffress told me Thursday, before the city announced its new policy. The church has approximately 13,000 members, and up to 6,000 attendees at Sunday services.

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Some pastors have framed their closure announcements in spiritual terms, or used them as an opportunity to shape members responses to the virus. In Georgia, pastor Andy Stanley emailed members on Thursday evening to announce that North Point Community Church would cancel live services for at least the next three Sundays. We are loving our neighbors by protecting our neighbors, Stanley wrote. This is what love requires of us in this season. Willow Creeks initial coronavirus update condemned discrimination against Asians and Asian Americans as wrong and deeply contrary to the heart of the gospel.

In many ways, large churches are uniquely positioned to pivot away from in-person gatherings. They have communications staffs, sophisticated member databases, and often their own apps to keep members informed. Meanwhile, almost every megachurch in American already broadcasts services online and is well equipped to transition to an online model. Lakewood Church, for example, will broadcast services this weekend via outlets including SiriusXM, Facebook Live, YouTube, AppleTV, and its own website.

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But larger churches will also face challenges that smaller congregations dont. A weekly gathering of thousands of people often feels more like a concert or a conference than a tight-knit community. It is easy to slip out early, or to skip for a few weeks or even months in a row, without anyone else noticingor wondering whether an absence is cause for concern. Most large churches encourage small-group participation to build those intimate connections. And so in contrast to a smaller church where everyone knows everybody, church leaders will likely not be aware of the needs of an average megachurch attendee who is, say, food insecure or in fragile health. One of the struggles that many megachurches face is individuals falling through the cracks, said Jamie Aten, the coauthor of a Coronavirus planning manual for churches published this week by the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at evangelical Wheaton College. Megachurches may have to work even harder at finding ways to leverage technology and other resources to be intentional about maintaining community.

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By now, as the virus spreads quickly across the country, canceling church seems like an obvious precaution to protect the health of worshippers and their communities. Thats especially true when church is a gathering of thousands of people. But churches are also the places where many people feel called to gather in times of crisis, and where they make meaning out of chaos and fear. For a while, at least, they will have to do so alone. People are looking to faith communities for hope and for social support, Aten said. But paradoxically its that coming together, normally our strength, that could actually put us at risk.
A doctor has urged Australians to minimise all human contact and to cancel social plans immediately to help combat the deadly coronavirus.

Dan Suan, an immunologist at the Westmead Hospital in Sydney, shared a graph from the Financial Times comparing Australia's coronavirus cases with other countries.

Australia sits much lower compared to other virus epicentres such as the USA, Iran, Italy, South Korea where the number of positive cases continue to soar.

Dan Suan, an immunologist at the Westmead Hospital in Sydney, shared a graph comparing Australia's coronavirus cases with other countries

Pictured: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases around Australia on the morning of Saturday March 14

With Australia confirming 201 cases as of Friday night, Dr Suan said Australia must do more to ensure the virus doesn't spread.

'It's at a very early part of the curve, but you can see we are doin g really well compared to other industrialised nations,' he wrote on social media.

Dr Suan stressed that the 'next two weeks are absolutely critical' as to how Australia tackles the virus.

'Total social isolation, complete interpersonal distancing, combined with massively increased testing (which we have just built capacity for this week in our labs) will flatten this curve and save countless Australian lives,' he wrote.

'We can do this with no vaccine and no effective antivirals.

'Each individual simply has to make it their personal responsibility to have minimal contact with all other people. Cancel all unnecessary things.'

Pictured: The graph indicates where Australia sits after confirming 201 cases of coronavirus

Dr Suan urged Australians to do all that they can to help minimise the risk of coronvarius by cancelling unnecessary events

Dr Suan said he was running his clinics by phone so patients don't have to go to hospital.

'We have a narrow window of opportunity to do this, this could not be more urgent,' he wrote.

Dr Dan Suan (pictured) said Australia is 'doing really well' compared to other nations in regards to the coronavirus

'I hope you understand I would not say this if I was not absolutely sure of how critical this is.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the government will effectively ban 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday - and has warned Australians not to travel overseas.

'We will be advising against organised, non-essential gatherings of persons of 500 people or greater from Monday,' Mr Morrison said.

But Mr Morrison stressed the government's ban only relates to 'non-essential organised gatherings' and doesn't include schools, university lectures or catching public transport.

He said people should go about their 'normal everyday business'. The move has been hailed by infectious diseases experts, who say it will be critical in slowing the virus's spread and help prevent overloading hospital intensive care units.

A travel ban has been put in place for mainland China, Iran, South Korea and Italy.

Mr Morrison said it is unclear whether the travel ban will be extended to other nations at this stage.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during a press conference announcing that mass gatherings of 500 people or more are cancelled from Monday

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy told leaders community transmission of the coronavirus was not yet widespread in Australia but the evidence from overseas was that it could spread rapidly among crowds at large events.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

Mr Morrison on Friday evening cancelled plans to watch the Cronulla Sharks play South Sydney on Saturday night.

The prime minister had earlier on Friday insisted that he would go to the game.

'After further consideration and the potential for the prime minister's attendance to be misrepresented, the prime minister has chosen not to attend the match this weekend,' a spokesman said.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, a rabid Rabbitohs supporter, has also decided not to attend the same match.

The NRL will let spectators watch opening round games this weekend but will play in empty stadiums from next week.

Spectators will also be barred from AFL and AFLW games starting next Thursday.

The Australian Grand Prix cancelled this weekend's race in Melbourne and Cricket Australia banned spectators from the one-day series against New Zealand.

Organisers of other large events in the near future have also been postponing or cancelling. One casualty is the Sydney Royal Easter Show, which will not go ahead.
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US airports turned into ghost towns on Friday, after thousands abandoned all travel plans and avoided flying during the coronavirus pandemic.

Major airports were deserted of any human presence, as the clock counted down to President Trump's travel ban, after which flights from Europe will not be allowed to enter the US.

Anxious Americans are staying home for the foreseeable future amid fears that if they leave the country they will no longer be able to return.

Domestic travelers are also not taking any chances after Trump warned Thursday that a domestic travel ban could be on the cards, as the government takes increasingly extreme measures to try to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The departures area in the international terminal of Logan Airport in Boston had turned into a ghost town on Friday.

The departures area is nearly empty in the international terminal of Logan Airport, Boston, on March 13. Major airports were deserted of any human presence, as the clock counted down to President Trump's travel ban, after which flights from Europe will not be allowed to enter the US

A passenger wearing rubber gloves pulls her luggage in the international terminal of Logan Airport. Anxious Americans are staying home for the foreseeable future amid fears that if they leave the country they will no longer be able to return

The departures area in the international terminal of Logan Airport in Boston had turned into a ghost town on Friday

Outside the terminal where reams of taxis and cars are usually queuing to pick up and drop off visitors and residents the parking and waiting bays stand empty

An eerie quiet had replaced the usual commotion of baggage and snaking queues of travelers and holidaymakers on what should have been one of the busiest weekends of the year for Boston. The St Patrick's Day parade had been scheduled for March 15 and was expected to attract about one million attendees

An eerie quiet had replaced the usual commotion of baggage and snaking queues of travelers and holidaymakers.

Only a handful of people could be seen at check-in desks - a stark contrast to the 3.5 million passengers who passed through the airport in March last year.

Outside the terminal where reams of taxis and cars are usually queuing to pick up and drop off visitors and residents the parking and waiting bays stand empty.

It should be one of the busiest weekends of the year for Boston.

At the arrivals area, a relieved mother and daughter hugged each other after the daughter arrived home on an international flight just hours before the ban

Emotional reunions were seen at the airport as passengers wearing face masks touched down in their home towns after the shock travel ban was announced

The St Patrick's Day parade had been scheduled for March 15 and was expected to attract about one million attendees.

March celebrations honoring Saint Patrick, the patron of Ireland, bring together more revelers in Boston and other cities across the US - where millions of people are descended from Irish immigrants - than in Ireland itself.

But the parade was canceled earlier this week amid coronavirus fears and judging by Logan airport the city's residents are staying home.

At the arrivals area, a relieved mother and daughter hugged each other after the daughter arrived home on an international flight just hours before the ban.

Emotional reunions were seen at the airport as passengers wearing face masks touched down in their home towns after the shock travel ban was announced yesterday.

At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, only a handful of people could be seen walking through the terminals Friday

A lonely visitor reads a book inside Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as the nearby US Capitol also became a ghost down, after public tours were called off until the end of the month

It was a similar story at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, where pictures showed only a handful of people walking through the terminals Friday.

This comes as the nearby US Capitol became a ghost down as public tours were called off until the end of the month.

European airline counters at JFK also lay abandoned on Friday ahead of the travel ban, with pictures of the Air France check-in desks showing not a soul in sight.

Fears over traveling ramped up on Thursday after Trump announced the new travel restrictions.

His 30-day travel ban will stop citizens of 26 European countries from entering the US, excluding the UK and Ireland.

European airline counters at JFK also lay abandoned on Friday ahead of the travel ban at midnight

Air France check-in desks show not a soul in sight as fears over traveling ramped up after Trump announced the new travel restrictions

Trump's 30-day travel ban will stop citizens of 26 European countries from entering the US, excluding the UK and Ireland

Airline counters in JFK are empty of passengers and staff as people avoid traveling out of the US

JFK airport is usually jam-packed of people as one of the busiest airports in the United States

No one to check in: People are avoiding travel and staying home, leaving JFK looking abandoned

Despite being exempt from the ban, panicked American citizens were desperately scrambling to get on the last flights out of Europe on Friday

In some cases, people have spent thousands of dollars snapping up last-minute plane tickets, in hopes of getting back into the country before the ban takes effect

It takes effect from midnight on Friday.

Despite being exempt from the ban, panicked American citizens were desperately scrambling to get on the last flights out of Europe on Friday.

In some cases, people have spent thousands of dollars snapping up last-minute plane tickets, in hopes of getting back into the country before the ban takes effect.

One family of three said they had paid nearly $8,000 for three one-way tickets from Paris to New York.

I feel like they were putting a price tag on peoples safety, Coral McNary told ABC News on Friday.

Deserted check-in desks at JFK: Trump said that a domestic travel ban was also a possibility if coronavirus gets 'too hot' in certain areas of the US

Empty airports and travel bans will do little to save the airline industry, which has taken a hammering from the coronavirus outbreak. Firms have been forced to slash flights to keep the companies' heads above water as planes are empty of passengers

Thats scary, especially if people cant afford it.

Trump said that a domestic travel ban was also a possibility if coronavirus gets 'too hot' in certain areas of the US.

During a meeting with press in the Oval Office on Thursday, the president said when asked about possibly restricting movement within the America: 'We haven't discussed that yet.'

'Is it a possibility? Yes. If somebody gets a little bit out of control, if an area gets too hot,' he said during the bilateral meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

Empty airports and travel bans will do little to save the airline industry, which has taken a hammering from the coronavirus outbreak.

Firms have been forced to slash flights to keep the companies' heads above water as planes are empty of passengers.

This week American Airlines and Delta Airlines both announced plans to cut more flights, while Southwest Airlines CEO told employees he would take a 10 per cent pay cut as the firm grapples with sagging passenger demand for flights.
The Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear only urgent cases from next week to minimise the risk of spread of coronavirus. In a notification issued by the top court on the administrative side, the court has also severely restricted the entry of lawyers and litigants into the courtroom.

The order cited the health ministrys advisory that cautioned against mass gathering as well as the World Health Organisation advising against mass congregation.

The Competent Authority has been pleased to direct that the functioning of the Courts shall be restricted to urgent matters with such number of Benches as may be found appropriate, the notification by the Supreme Courts secretary general Sanjeev S Kalgaonkar said.

It is hereby notified that no persons except the lawyers who are going to act in the matter, i.e. either for argument or for making oral submissions or to assist along with one litigant only, shall be permitted in the courtroom, Sanjeev S Kalgaonkar said in the order.

The top court has also suspended the practice of lawyers mentioning cases before Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and ordered that this request would have to be made before the designated mentioning officer.

Fridays directive came after meetings convened by Chief Justice Bobde with other senior judges and stakeholders. The judges had explored the option of extending the Holi break.

The Supreme Court campus and court rooms are overcrowded, particularly during Mondays and Fridays when a large number of cases are listed for admission raising concerns of spread of coronavirus. The court is currently shut for Holi break with only a vacation bench sitting to deal with urgent matters.
The family of a leading Bangladesh photojournalist and newspaper editor said Friday they believe he has been abducted.

Shafiqul Islam Kazal went missing on Tuesday, a day after defamation charges were lodged against him by an influential ruling party lawmaker.

Kazal, who worked as a senior photographer for several top dailies and edited his own small newspaper, disappeared after leaving his Dhaka home for work.

"We don't think my father went missing on his own. We suspect he may have been abducted," Kazal's son Monorom Polok told AFP at a family press briefing.

"We are extremely worried about his safety. We have searched the emergency wards in hospitals, but there is no trace of him," Polok said.

Awami League lawmaker Saifuzzaman Shikor, a former aide to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, lodged a case on Monday against Kazal and 31 others he accuses of defaming him by linking him to a couple who ran a Dhaka escort service.

According to a copy of the preliminary charges seen by AFP, another top editor, Motiur Rahman Chowdhury, was also among those charged.

Jane Alam Munshi, a Dhaka police inspector, denied that Kazal had been arrested but told AFP the charges were being investigated. The Amnesty International rights group issued an "urgent" appeal for the Bangladesh government to launch an independent investigation into the disappearance.

Amnesty was concerned for the safety of Kazal and the 31 others, said Saad Hammadi, South Asia campaigner for the rights group.

Enforced disappearances have mushroomed in Bangladesh since Hasina took power in 2009, according to rights groups.

Odhikar, a Bangladeshi group, says more than 500 people have gone missing in the last 12 years, including many activists suspected to have been abducted by security agencies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Without warning prepaid customers, Michelin-star chef Thierry Drapeau has suddenly but sheepishly pulled up stakes in western France and left for Asia to start new restaurants.

A woman hoping to celebrate her 50th birthday recalled considering dining at McDonald's after she and her husband drove 45 minutes in their best clothes only to find the restaurant closed.

The woman told AFP they had paid to reserve the occasion well in advance.

But Drapeau had closed his Logis de La Chabotterie restaurant in Saint-Sulpice-le-Verdon and his four-star hotel of the same name on March 2.

Staff were told of the closure just a few days before it took effect, a source close to the matter said.

The chef, who lost his second Michelin Guide star last year, wrote on Facebook he had decided to "live beside his wife Kim in her country, Vietnam, which had adopted him already, in order to see their son (Tan) grow up."

He announced he would "very soon" open his signature restaurant Thierry Drapeau in Bangkok, "as a new dream that begins," and also Le Cheval Blanc by Thierry Drapeau in Cambodia.

"For all those who feel wounded and betrayed by this sudden departure...thinking about them made my decision so much harder," the chef claimed.

He did not say whether he would reimburse customers however, and AFP was unable to reach him for comment.

Ms. Sandrine, who gave only her first name, told AFP of her shock after having paid months in advance to celebrate her 50th birthday at the now one-star restaurant.

"Dressed up, we drove three-quarters of an hour with my husband to find ourselves before a closed restaurant door, without any explanation," she said.

"However, we had received a confirmation message the night before," she added.

"After having wandered around with other customers, a resident explained to us that he had left without warning," Ms. Sandrine said.

"It's a birthday ruined. We ended up going elsewhere. We even though of going to McDo."

Drapeau also failed to notify regional authorities who rented him the building under a lease that expires at the end of May, according to the source close to the case.

Drapeau's restaurant had been operating under a restructuring plan in line with a September 2016 court ruling.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 17:28:32|Editor: Lu Hui

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URUMQI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Financial institutions in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have stepped up support for poverty-stricken areas, as part of the poverty relief efforts to help the region shake off poverty.

The Xinjiang branch of the Agricultural Development Bank of China plans to loan 33.3 billion yuan (about 4.76 billion U.S. dollars) across the region this year. Among that, more than 20 billion yuan will go to four prefectures in southern Xinjiang, which have long suffered poverty, underdeveloped economy, extreme climate and fragile environment.

As of March 9, the Agricultural Development Bank of China has loaned nearly 4 billion yuan in the region, covering more than 105 enterprises in 50 counties and cities.

Xinjiang Rural Credit Union said that since the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the institution has lent over 30 billion yuan for its customers in Xinjiang who have been affected by the epidemic, with preferential policies such as lowering the interest and extending the repayment period.

Xinjiang lifted 645,000 out of poverty in 2019. The region aims to eradicate absolute poverty by lifting the remaining 165,000 people out of poverty in 2020.
As an employer, you (hopefully) know that every time you hire a new employee, paperwork is involved. One of the most important forms your employees must complete is Form W-4. And in 2020, employers and employees alike were introduced to a new W-4 form.

So, have you been able to spot the differences between the old W-4 form and the 2020 version? No? Dont worry, we spotted them for you.

The 2020 Form W-4 Employees Withholding Certificate is an updated version of the previous Form W-4 Employees Withholding Allowance Certificate. The updated forms goal is to simplify the process of filling out Form W-4 and improve tax withholding accuracy.

Related: 75 Items You May Be Able to Deduct from Your Taxes

In case you didnt know all about Form W-4 already, heres a brief refresher. When employees start a new job, they must fill out Form W-4. Then, employers use Form W-4 to determine how much federal income tax to withhold from an employees gross wages.

The above process hasnt changed, but certain aspects of Form W-4 have. Check out everything you need to know about the updated 2020 W-4 form below.

The form had a makeover

Maybe you noticed. Maybe you didnt. But, the 2020 W-4 form had a little makeover. Why, you ask? Here are a few reasons why the IRS decided to switch things up on us employers:

To match changes to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

To make the form easier to understand and use

To help boost tax withholding accuracy

On older versions of Form W-4, employees would enter their personal information, claim allowances or exemptions, request additional withholding and sign the form. Now, the revamped form is broken up into five steps, including:

Entering personal information Adding information about multiple jobs and a working spouse Claiming dependents Adding other adjustments (optional) Signing

Along with the federal Form W-4 getting a new look and layout, states with state income taxes might be shaking things up for employers, too.

Some states have their own state W-4 form. Other states use the federal W-4 form. Because of the changes with the federal form, states had to choose whether they would use the federal W-4 form and make necessary adjustments to their state tax system or create their own state W-4 form.

Related: When Starting a Business, Beware All the Taxes and Regulations

To stay compliant and ensure all of your ducks are in a row when it comes to the W-4 form updates, check with your state to see how they adapted to the changes.

Withholding allowances are absent

If youre looking at the 2020 version of Form W-4, you might notice something missing. Did you find it? Ah yes, the withholding allowances are gone! One major 2020 Form W-4 change is the disappearance of the withholding allowances.

For those of you who arent familiar with withholding allowances, allow me to quickly break them down for you. Before the W-4 form revision, employees could claim withholding allowances on Form W-4. The more allowances an employee claimed, the less employers would withhold in federal income tax.

Before, employees would claim a certain number of withholding allowances to determine federal income tax withholding. Now, instead of claiming allowances, employees can claim dependents or other deductions.

You may have different versions of the form

Now that there is a new version of Form W-4, you likely have some older versions of the form floating around your business.

So youre probably wondering, Do I have to scrap all of my employees old W-4 forms and start from scratch?!

Thankfully, no.

Yes, its true that not all employees have to fill out the 2020 W-4 form. Employees whose first paycheck is in 2020 must use the new version of Form W-4. Current employees whose first paycheck was before 2020 that dont need to make any changes on the form are not required to fill out a new W-4 form. Employees who do want to update their withholdings or W-4 form must use the 2020 version.

Related: These Are the Most Common Tax Filing Mistakes for Entrepreneurs -- and How You Can Avoid Them

More likely than not (unless you dont plan on doing any more hiring in the future), youll probably have a couple of different versions of Form W-4 in your records.

If you want to only have the current version of the form on file for each employee, you can ask employees hired before 2020 to fill out a new form. Keep in mind that employees first paid before 2020 arent required to submit a new form. And, you cant force employees to fill out a new form or insinuate that a new form is mandatory.

New tax withholding tables exist

In addition to the IRS switching things up with a new Form W-4, employers are also being gifted new tax withholding tables in 2020. Because the new W-4 form put the kibosh on withholding allowances, new tax withholding tables were born.

The new withholding tables go hand in hand with the new W-4 form. Like the new W-4 form, the new income tax withholding tables have also said goodbye to withholding allowances.

The updated income tax withholding tables have two tables that go along with the new W-4 form:

Percentage Method Tables for Automated Payroll Systems Wage Bracket Method Tables for Manual Payroll Systems

If you have employees who filled out older versions of Form W-4, the IRS did not forget about you. There are withholding tables that support earlier versions of Form W-4 that include rates based on withholding allowances.

If youre a little lost when it comes to the new tax withholding tables, youre not alone. There are plenty of other employers in your shoes. To help clear up some confusion, the IRS provides a withholding worksheet, Publication 15-T.

Related: Cryptocurrency and Taxes: What You Need to Know

With so many W-4 changes to keep track of, it can be difficult to keep up. But no worries, employers. Like with anything in business, it takes time to learn new things.

If youre still lost, dont panic just yet. To recap the main changes we covered and clear up possible confusion, here is everything that you need to know about the new Form W-4:

There was a redesign

Withholding allowances are gone

Instead of allowances, employees can claim dependents or other deductions

Employees whose first paycheck is in 2020 need to use the new form

There are five steps on the revamped form

Employers cant force employees to submit a new W-4 form

There are new income tax withholding tables

States that previously used the federal form may either use the new Form W-4 or create a state W-4 form

If the above breakdown wasnt enough to calm your nerves about the new Form W-4, consider taking things into your own hands by doing a little homework. Take some time to research and absorb the new W-4 changes. Your business (and employees) will thank you for it later.

Related: W-9s and Four Other Business Tax Forms Entrepreneurs Need to Know About

Related:

Can You Spot the Differences on the Revamped 2020 Form W-4?

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Thanks to Bollywood for raising its voice to demand justice for Kathua, Unnao rape victims

Unnao rape: Kuldeep Singh Senger gets 10 years jail term for death of victim's father

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 13: A Delhi court has sentenced all convicts including expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Senger to 10 years imprisonment in a case related to the custodial death of the father of Unnao rape case victim's matter. Six others have also been given jail terms.

Senger and his brother Atul Senger have been directed to pay Rs 10 lakhs each as compensation to the victim's family.

"The victim lost her father. She can't return to her home. There are four kids in the family... three of them are girls...all four are minors," District Judge Dharmesh Sharma said this morning while delivering the judgment in Delhi.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

Last week, a Delhi court convicted him and several others of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in connection with the death of the victim's father in judicial custody.

Sengar was also convicted in December last year in the rape case of the minor girl in 2017. He was pronounced guilty of rape and intimidation under Section 376 IPC and Section 5(c) POCSO Act.

The incident took place in 2017 when the minor woman was kidnapped and raped by Sengar attempted to immolate herself outside Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's official residence in Lucknow.

She took the extreme step after her father was allegedly thrashed by Sengar's brother, Atul Sengar, and taken to jail instead of the hospital where two days later he succumbed to injuries in police custody.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Amid widespread disruption to the campaign schedule because of coronavirus, Rep. Marcia Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat, is cutting radio commercials for former Vice President Joe Biden targeting black voters.

With minimal campaigning happening, the campaign is using the one-minute radio spot featuring Fudge, a former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus who endorsed Biden shortly before Super Tuesday, on general market stations and stations geared toward black audiences. In the spot, Fudge focuses heavily on the electability argument pushed by Biden.

This is Congresswoman Marcia Fudge. Our nation is at a crossroads with more and more Americans left behind, Fudge says in the ad. We need a Democratic nominee who can heal the discord and build a better future. But more than anything, we need someone who can win in November and get Donald Trump out of the White House.

Above all, I believe in winning because thats where we have to start, Fudge closes the ad with.

Black voters in particular have heavily backed Biden since South Carolina voted Feb. 29. The near universal backing over Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has propelled Biden into the front-runner spot after a campaign that once seemed to be on life support.

Ohio looks to be one of those states where massive support in the black population is critical to the primary. According to exit polls from the 2016 primary, 20% of Democratic primary voters were black.

The campaign is spending in the high five figures on the ad, which will run in the Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Youngstown, Toledo, Cincinnati, Columbus, Lima and Dayton markets. The ad starts running Friday, four days before the March 17 presidential primary.

Read more cleveland.com politics coverage:

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines clear coronavirus response seen as contrast to White House approach

Advocates launching text campaign to reach Ohio voters whose polling places were moved over coronavirus concerns

Mike Pences Akron visit canceled as Ohio GOP suspends public facing campaign activities for one month over coronavirus

Joe Biden replaces Ohio native Greg Schultz as campaign manager

Bernie Sanders says hell stay in the race, setting up Ohio as his last stand in the Midwest
A medical team from India reached Italy on Friday to test stranded Indian nationals for the coronavirus so that they can be brought back.

The death toll from COVID-19 jumped over 5,000 on Friday as the number of cases around the world topped 134,000. Italy has more than 15,000 cases and over 1,000 deaths -- the most outside of China, the epicentre of the disease.

"Pleasure to welcome the medical team at the Embassy in Rome. Gearing up for the testing which starts this afternoon and will proceed through the weekend," the Indian Embassy here tweeted.

The Indian government on Wednesday said it was focusing on bringing back Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Italy and Iran after screening them.

The Indian mission in Rome said it was working actively with Indian ministries and local authorities in Italy to address COVID19 situation being faced by stranded Indians.

The mission said it was in continuous touch with stranded Indians in Rome, communicating and providing regular updates to students, working with community leaders to provide material support and food.

"In view of increasing number of calls received by the two Embassy hotlines, two more lines have been added for convenience of Indian nationals requiring assistance," it said.

The embassy officials on Thursday met Indian students stranded at Rome airport and briefed them about measures being taken by the Indian government to help them.

The mission gave following helpline numbers: +39 3201749773 / +39 3248390031 / +39 3316142085 / +39 3311928713.

As per the Italian official estimates, more than 1,60,000 Indian nationals live in Italy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Irish people have been urged not to stockpile groceries, as Government preparations for a hard Brexit mean supply chains will not be disrupted, the business minister has said.

It comes as Irelands schools, colleges, childcare facilities, museums and other tourist attractions closed on Friday in a major lockdown aimed at thwarting the virus spread and guided by European and scientific experts.

Attendance at funeral services and masses will be limited to close relatives and must not exceed 100 attendees within the church building.

Church weddings and baptisms may go ahead if attendance in church does not exceed 100 people.

Northern Irelands schools and colleges will not close at this stage, however Northern Ireland deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill has said schools must close now.

She said the public was really concerned by the different approaches to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Heather Humphreys reiterated her call for the public to stop stockpiling, saying it could be disruptive and have an impact on the most vulnerable in society.

Speaking at a Government press briefing on Covid-19 on Friday, Ms Humphreys said she held a meeting on Friday with major retailers on handling the Covid-19 outbreak.

Meeting and phone conference with all of our grocery retailers & distributors this morning. They have assured me food supply chains are secure. Supplies are being replenished on a continuous basis. Shop as normal. pic.twitter.com/UHzQweRDgP  Heather Humphreys (@HHumphreysFG) March 13, 2020

They remain confident that we have sufficient supply to meet demand. I want to be very clear  people do not need to stockpile. Supermarkets and shops will remain open. Stockpiling will cause problems so please dont do it.

In fact we have never been in a stronger position to deal with this, due to our preparations for a hard Brexit.

If people go out and buy products that they dont need and they stockpile them, then they are going to cause a problem and that is going to have a negative impact on others, including vulnerable people.

Meanwhile, Irish police are maximising numbers in preparation for the potential impact of coronavirus.

Senior gardai are being asked to delay their retirement while hundreds of Garda students will next week be attested.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the force is making sure it has enough numbers to cope with whatever situation we may see in the future.

A number of measures have been announced, including a contingency roster which will go into effect from Monday, while annual leave will be restricted to no more than 5% of a divisional workforce at any given time with effect from Friday.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has appealed for calm and said no incidents of looting have arisen.



He said there will be an additonal Garda presence amid the Covid-19 outbreak to provide reassurance but gardai will be available if organised criminals exploit the situation. pic.twitter.com/yuLPq0hzg7  Aine McMahon (@AineMcMahon) March 13, 2020

Around 325 Garda students will be attested next week and deployed, Garda members working as tutors in the Garda college will be deployed to operational duties, training at the Garda college will be deferred and gardai due to retire have been asked to defer for three months.

Additionally, the force has hired 210 additional vehicles and non-essential travel will not be taken.

Mr Harris said the force is being prudent and equipping our staff with measures in place to make sure that we can continue to protect society.

Taking questions from the media at Garda headquarters in Dublin, Commissioner Harris refused to speculate on how many of his staff might be affected by Covid-19.

We are in uncharted waters and so it would be wrong for me to speculate, he said.

What we have to do is maximise our resources, now if we have a self isolation-type scenario, we need to get those individuals tested, back to the front line if they can come back as quickly as possible.

Commissioner Harris said while gardai have been seen at supermarkets, he stressed there is currently no fear of food shortages or of looting.

Journalists keep a safe distance from Garda Commissioner Drew Harris at a press conference outside Garda headquarters in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA)

People need to remain calm about the food supply and therefore then the fear of looting should not arise, he said.

We have had no looting incidents yet, no sign of looting incidents, people have been calm, well-mannered in terms of their shopping.

We are there but thats primarily to provide reassurance and to help with traffic flow, not that we have a fear of an outbreak of disorder or indeed looting.

If we see an outbreak of criminality, if we see organised crime groups trying to exploit the situation, obviously we will be acting from an enforcement basis.

Mr Harris added: We do have concerns, we have seen it in other jurisdictions where fraudsters, organised crime groups, have engaged in fraud, engaged in criminal activity based on the fears that they are exploiting in society, we are very alive to that, we want to make sure we are being proactive in combating organised crime groups and others who would seek to criminally exploit this situation as well.

Mark Mellett, Chief of Staff of Irelands Defence Forces, and Paul Reid, chief executive of the Health Service Executive, with Defence Forces cadets (Brian Lawless/PA)

We are here to protect people, provide a policing service but also provide community support.

Defence Forces Chief of Staff Mark Mellett said the army will go on yellow alert next week to free up people to help efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Mr Mellett said 80 army cadets have been drafted in to free up doctors and healthcare workers in order to help with contact tracing.

He said the army could also provide transport, medical technicians and beds if necessary.

Twenty new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland bringing the total number to 90.

 Six cases are associated with travel.

 12 are associated with contacts of a confirmed case, four of which are healthcare workers.

 Two cases are associated with community transmission.
What should now be obvious to everyone is you're not going to be able to fire those at a U.S. or coalition base, hurt or kill our people, and escape unscathed, McKenzie told Pentagon reporters Friday. He said the U.S. has been aware of the weapons sites and knows where more are, but has exercised restraint in bombing them because in some cases strikes would kill "a lot" of civilians. He said the U.S. works with the Iraq military to take out the sites, but at times that doesn't work.
WINONA  The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Winona County's ban on silica sand mining for industrial purposes.

"This ruling affirms the power that organized people have, acting through our local governments, to protect our communities from harmful, extractive industries that would place corporate profits above communities well-being," said Johanna Rupprecht, an organizer for the Land Stewardship Project. Rupprecht was one of the driving forces behind passage of the ban in November 2016.

This, Rupprecht said, is the third time the courts have supported the ban, which was passed after more than a year of discussion by the county board of commissioners.

The court affirmed the ruling from the district court  which had also been affirmed by the Minnesota Court of Appeals  that Minnesota Sands LLC, the appellant in the case, did not show a violation of either the U.S. Commerce Clause nor an unconstitutional taking of its property interests on the leases its holds within the county for land where silica sand could be mined.

However, there was dissent in the majority opinion, written by Justice Barry Anderson and joined, in part, by two other justices.

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Anderson, in his dissent, wrote, "I cannot agree with the court that there is no discrimination between the economic interests of in-state users versus out-of-state users when the plain terms of the ordinance draw distinctions based only on the intended use."

In passing the ordinance in 2016, the county board noted that the narrow ban applied only to silica sand being used for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process for extracting oil and natural gas from shale. There is no shale rock in Minnesota producing oil and gas, so the only market for Winona County's silica sand would be shale fields, for example, in the Dakotas.

"In sum, Winona Countys ordinance erects a facially discriminatory ban on silica sand mining when intended for hydraulic fracturing that is per se invalid," Anderson wrote. "Minnesota Sands is entitled to relief, and the court of appeals should be reversed."

Anderson also dissented with the majority opinion on the takings clause.

That majority opinion argues that, among other reasons, because Minnesota Sands has not passed environmental review nor received a conditional-use permit, it does not have standing to make a claim that the government is taking its right to earn money from its property.

However, Anderson claimed in his dissent that the court is giving "confiscatory government regulations immunity from the Takings Clause."

"There is not now, nor has there ever been, a vesting requirement under the Takings Clause," Anderson wrote. "The Supreme Court has not required that a claimant obtain vested rights in a prohibited use before bringing a regulatory takings challenge."

Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea agreed with Anderson's dissent on the commerce clause. Furthermore, Justice Paul Thissen dissented in part over the issue of the takings clause.

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In a statement from Minnesota Sands, the company said, "Minnesota Sands is disappointed in the decision made by the court and the impact it will have on other regulated industries across our state. The company agrees with the Courts dissenting justices who found that 'Winona Countys ordinance erects a facially discriminatory ban on silica sand mining when intended for hydraulic fracturing that is per se invalid.'"

The company said it will review the decision before determining whether it will try to further pursue the matter in the courts.

Meanwhile, Rupprecht called the ruling an inspiration for communities fighting back against corporate power.

"People have the power, when we work together, to protect our communities and to achieve a vision for the future that upholds our values," she said.
A man wearing a protective face mask walks along the Han river in Seoul, Thursday, March 12, 2020. AP



South Korea saw another decline in its daily new infections Friday, as massive testings in the southeastern city of Daegu, the epicenter of the new coronavirus here, were nearing an end, but health authorities were ramping up measures to contain cluster infections across the nation.



The 110 new cases of the coronavirus, which were detected Thursday and marked the lowest number of daily infections in more than two weeks, brought the nation's total infections to 7,979.



Thursday's additional cases, which followed the 114 new cases detected Wednesday, were also far below the daily increases of 500 or more last week.



So far, 67 people, mostly elderly patients with underlying illnesses, have died in South Korea from the respiratory virus that emerged in China late last year, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.



About 61 percent of confirmed cases have been linked to a branch of the Shincheonji religious sect in Daegu, which is the country's fourth-largest city with a population of 2.5 million.






OTTAWA, March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) issued the following joint statement today in response to the COVID-19 pandemic:



The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the CLC are uniting our response efforts to ensure all appropriate measures are put in place to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 for Canadas employers and employees.

Canada's economy, and the workers who support it, are set to face an unprecedented test. These challenges must be met with teamwork and coordination among Canadian workers and their families, businesses and governments. We were pleased to have the opportunity to discuss the challenges facing business and labour with Prime Minister Trudeau and look forward to hearing about the governments response.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the CLC will be united in our efforts to ensure that every sector of the economy receives all necessary stabilizing support. Furthermore, we will develop complimentary policy options to help governments implement timely and meaningful programs to support Canadians through this period.

At every turn, we will be looking to work collaboratively and assist all levels of government to ensure response programs reach those who need support in a timely and effective manner.

About the Canadian Chamber of Commerce - Because Business Matters

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce helps build the businesses that support our families, our communities and our country. We do this by influencing government policy, by providing essential business services and by connecting businesses to information they can use, to opportunities for growth and to a network of local chambers, businesses, decision-makers and peers from across the country, in every sector of the economy and at all levels of government, as

well as internationally. We are unapologetic in our support for business and the vital role it plays in building and sustaining our great nation.

About the Canadian Labour Congress

The CLC is the largest labour organization in Canada, bringing together dozens of national and international unions, provincial and territorial federations of labour and community-based labour councils to represent more than 3 million workers across the country.

For more information, please contact:

Phil Taylor

ptavlor@chamber.ca
Accusing govt of spreading anti-Muslim hate, opposition asks home minister to quit over violence that has killed 52.

Indias opposition politicians have slammed the Hindu nationalist government for the deadly anti-Muslim violence in the capital New Delhi, with the main opposition Congress party calling for the resignation of the interior minister.

But the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has defended its handling of the worst violence in New Delhi in decades that killed 52 people, mostly Muslims.

Asaduddin Owaisi, the chief of the opposition All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party, accused the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spreading hatred against Muslims  the countrys largest minority.

What is my dignity when 19 mosques have been destroyed or damaged. What is my dignity when I see a saffron flag being erected on a mosque, Owaisi said during his stirring speech referring to the flag associated with Hindu far-right groups planted on a mosque minaret during the violence.

Do you have any humanity left in you? ... This is not a question of Hindu or Muslim. This is a question of whether you will rise up to your constitutional duties Assaddudin Owaisi, member of Parliament

Do you have any humanity left in you? For Gods sake show your humanity. This is not a question of Hindu or Muslim. This is a question of whether you will rise up to your constitutional duties, said the member of Parliament from the southern city of Hyderabad.

Government promises strict action

Opposition Congress party members of Parliament walked out after Home Minister Amit Shah praised the police for ending the rioting in northeastern areas of the capital within 36 hours and preventing it from spreading across New Delhi.

"1984, Nellie, Gujaratwhoever presided over these massacres built political palaces on our deadbodies. You have become prime minister on our graves. Shame on you": @asadowaisi sb expressed the anger and grief that many are feelinghttps://t.co/QqP8ZwsFPU  Aditya Menon (@AdityaMenon22) March 11, 2020

The violence coincided with a state visit by US President Donald Trump on February 24-25.

The violence followed after a series of anti-Muslim hate speeches by the BJP leaders. Hours before the violence erupted, Kapil Mishra warned Muslims protesting against a new citizenship law to wind down their sit-ins in northeast Delhi.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed last December fast-tracks naturalisation for minorities of all major faiths in South Asia except Islam.

Muslims and liberal Indians say it is against the officially secular nations constitution and is part of Modis agenda of Hindu supremacy.

Nobody likes riots. Riots shouldn't take place during any government's rule, Amit Shah, home minister

For three days starting from February 24, many areas of northeast Delhi was turned into a war zone with both Hindus and Muslims engaged in rock throwing, arson and killing.

Shah, the home minister, assured the lower house of the Indian Parliament on Wednesday that strict action would be taken against the perpetrators of violence.

Nobody likes riots. Riots shouldnt take place during any governments rule, said the home minister.

Today, I want to offer my condolences to family members of every person killed during the Delhi riots, and I also want to assure them that whoever has killed members of their family will not be spared, no matter which religion, caste, or [political] party, they belong to.

Shah said 300 people came from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state to join the rioting. More than 2,600 people have been arrested or detained and an investigation is under way, he said. He did not say who allegedly brought the 300 people to New Delhi.

He blamed inflammatory speeches by the Congress party and some Muslim leaders for triggering the rioting. He declined to say how many were Hindus or Muslims, but media reports say most of those killed were Muslims.

Muslims have reportedly suffered most of the damages to their properties and religious structures, with many of them living in relief camps.

Soros comes under attack

Meenakshi Lekhi, a BJP member of Parliament, accused a little known Islamist organisation and elements of the ISIL (ISIS) group of organising the violence.

She alleged that the US financier and philanthropist George Soros pledged to donate $1bn to finish Indias nationalism. In January, Soros had accused Prime Minister Modi of creating a Hindu nationalist state during a speech at the World Economic Forum.

In light of the scale of violence and consequent loss of lives and property, we strongly demand the resignation of the home minister. Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary, Congress party leader

Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary, a Congress party leader, accused the police of ignoring hundreds of distress calls from people who were under attack and failing to protect them.

In light of the scale of violence and consequent loss of lives and property, we strongly demand the resignation of the home minister, he said.

He also demanded a judicial investigation into the failure of the police to protect people and the prosecution of some BJP leaders for provocative speeches against the Muslim community.

Another senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal accused the government of protecting the guilty.

We know what will happen. You will punish the innocent and give protection to the guilty. Even when you know who the accused are, no FIRs are filed. Dont let such a thing happen, Sibal said in Parliament.

You can do anything for the protection of cows but nothing for the safety of humans, he said referring to the cow vigilantes who have killed dozens of people since Modi came to power in 2014.

Owaisi, the member of Parliament from Hyderabad, accused the government of failing in discharging its constitutional duties to save the lives of Indians.

Do you have any remorse on your faces? Do you have any embarrassment for what has happened right under your nose? No. You have no embarrassment, you take pride on the dead bodies, which are lying in drains, said Owaisi, who has emerged as a leading voice of Indian Muslims.

Modi has the distinction of presiding over two pogroms, he said referring to Gujarat 2002 pogrom when more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed under Modis chief ministership.

Modi and his close aide Shah have not visited the violence-affected areas of Delhi, with Modis only comment being a call for calm on his Twitter handle.
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son (Source: CPV)

Some patients have had symptoms of pneumonia but the situation was under control. The Hanoi-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases said they were treating 11 patients and all are in good condition. They haven't had any worsening case and no one has to use invasive ventilation methods. The 17th patient has not had a fever for the last three days.

On the same day, the Ministry of Health also announced that five more people had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in Vietnam so far to 44.

The new patients are among the 56 people whose samples were sent to the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute in the central province of Khanh Hoa on March 12th, as they had close contact with COVID-19 patients detected in central Binh Thuan province on March 10th and 11th, reported VNA.

Among the five new cases, a two-year-old girl, a 59-year-old man and a 28-year-old man, all live in Binh Thuans Phan Thiet city, had close contact with the 34th patient - a 51-year-old Vietnamese woman who tested positive on March 10th.

The two others are a 47-year-old woman in Phan Thiet city, who had close contact with the 38th patient, and a 13-year-old boy in Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan province, who had contact with the 37th patient.

Of the 44 cases reported in Vietnam so far, 16 had made complete recovery./.
SAGINAW, MI  Amid a growing coronavirus threat, Christian church leaders in Michigan are issuing guidance for keeping congregations healthy and safe, in some cases, encouraging churches to cancel in-person worship altogether.

Five bishops representing leadership from Michigans Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Episcopal Church are urging congregations to suspend all in-person worship services for the remainder of the month of March, while Catholic dioceses and Presbyterian Church USA say people should stay home if theyre ill.

These announcements are part of a growing collective effort to prevent or at least slow the spread of coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, which the World Health Organization has declared a global pandemic. Schools have closed, universities and colleges have suspended in-person instruction, community events have been canceled, and some people who are able have begun working from home.

Separately Friday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer banned gatherings of more than 250 people under an order goes into effect 5 p.m. on Friday, March 13, and lifts on Sunday, April 5 at 5:00 p.m.

Leaders of Michigans Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Episcopal Church are urging congregations to suspend all in-person worship services for the remainder of the month of March and to consider having online gatherings instead, but are leaving the final decision up to local leaders.

Their joint statement was signed by the Rt. Rev. Whayne M. Hougland, Jr., bishop, The Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan, the Rev. Dr. Donald P. Kreiss, bishop, SE Michigan Synod ELCA, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Bonnie A. Perry, bishop, The Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, the Rt. Rev. Rayford Ray, bishop, The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, the Rev. Dr. Craig A. Satterlee, bishop, NW Lower Michigan Synod ELCA.

As People of God, it is our moral, civic, and spiritual obligation to care for one another by taking the necessary steps to slow the spread of this virus and continue to serve our communities with generosity, hope, and joy," the joint statement reads.

In addition, Bishop Robert Gruss of the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw issued an updated statement to the Catholic community on Thursday, March 12, reinforcing and adding to recommendations made earlier this month.

"Wednesday evening, Governor Gretchen Whitmer addressed Michigan residents where she and Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun pronounced that Michigan should avoid large gatherings like assemblies in schools, concerts, or other events in order to prevent the possible spread of coronavirus.

"Many dioceses across the United States and in other countries have issued specific policies to safeguard against what has now been determined a pandemic.

"In light of the continued progression of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak and this significant public concern, I would ask that the following precautionary measures be implemented in our parishes until further notice to help prevent the transmission of any virus.

For Parishes:

Urge individuals with flu-like symptoms of any kind to remain home in order to avoid the spread of their illnesses. In this situation, it is important to note that an individual does not commit any sin by avoiding Mass to protect others from potential spread of illness. All who are unable to attend Mass are invited to view the weekly Cathedral livestream Sundays at 10 a.m. on the diocesan website: https://saginaw.org/cathedral-live

Urge everyone to practice good hygiene, washing their hands frequently, use of hand sanitizers, and avoid putting hands to the face. This would also include those distributing Holy Communion.

For those who attend Mass, parishes should refrain from the common practice of holding hands during the Our Father.

Refrain from shaking hands during the Sign of Peace. Use some other gesture without physical contact.

It is recommended that all holy water fonts be emptied and cleaned.

It is recommended that parishes suspend offering the Holy Eucharist under both species. In other words, out of great caution, suspend offering parishioners the Precious Blood of Jesus. It may also be helpful to remind parishioners that the Consecrated Host is the full Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, meaning an individual does not need to receive from the Cup in order to receive full Communion with Christ.

It is recommended that communion be received in the hand rather than on the tongue, however that would still remain at the discretion of the Communicant.

Feel free to create your own prayers to be included in the Universal Prayer. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide further updates and changes as needed.

On its website, Presbyterian Church USA has a page dedicated to coronavirus COVID-19 resources. It reads, in part:

The Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) urges congregations to make decisions about worshiping in person based on whats best for their community and for the people gathered for worship. The decision on whether church services should be canceled is between each congregation and their presbytery leaders, the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, said. They need to determine what is best for their community and the individuals who gather for worship.

In addition, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance released a Preparedness for Pandemics guide that contains common sense measures churches and individuals can take to keep themselves and their communities safe, the website states.

In Kalamazoo, First Congregational Church will ban churchgoers from attending worship services for the next three weeks. Instead, the church will live-stream the 10 a.m. church services, Pastor Nathan Dannison announced on Facebook.

Because coronavirus hits people over 60 especially hard, doctors are saying senior citizens should stay home and avoid even places like the supermarket or church.

Dr. Dennis Cunningham, an infectious disease specialist in Flint, said, "Im thinking God is still going to hear you if youre praying at home. You probably dont want to be in church, especially the older population  we really dont want them to get sick.

For those who do go to church or grocery shopping, the advice is to avoid others as much as possible  sit in an empty pew; do the shopping when the store is least likely to be busy.

Michigan now has 12 presumptive positive tests for coronavirus, up from the first two announced on Tuesday, when the governor declared a state of emergency.

Coronavirus symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus. They include fever, cough and shortness of breath. For most, the symptoms are mild, but it poses a serious danger to others.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus has sickened 1,215 people and resulted in 36 deaths, nationally.

What Michigan residents need to know about coronavirus

Read more on MLive:

See mid-Michigan school closings for Friday, March 13

Michigan governor asks Trump to open special Obamacare enrollment period during coronavirus threat

Heres a list of specific recommendations from state health officials

Huge Michigan tourist destination, The Henry Ford Museum, closing amid coronavirus

GM tells visitors to stay out of plants if theyve had cold or flu-like symptoms

Some Michigan jury trials, probation reporting canceled due to coronavirus outbreak
WASHINGTON - Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders each auditioned Thursday for the role of President of the United States, striking starkly different tones as they delivered their respective versions of the speech they believe Donald Trump should have given the virus-stricken nation from the Oval Office.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON - Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders each auditioned Thursday for the role of President of the United States, striking starkly different tones as they delivered their respective versions of the speech they believe Donald Trump should have given the virus-stricken nation from the Oval Office.

For Biden, the Democratic primary front-runner whose outbreak-themed speech in Wilmington, Del., had been scheduled several days earlier, the timing couldn't have been more serendipitous: the night before, Trump delivered a prime-time address that was as stunning for the president's demeanour and style as it was for its content.

"The American people have the capacity to meet this moment," Biden drawled, a bank of American flags behind him, as he thanked health workers and first responders, consoled the sick and grieving and acknowledged the ongoing sacrifices of those contending with the outbreak's realities.

"We're going to face this with the same spirit that has guided us through previous crises. We'll come together as a nation, we'll look out for one another and do our part as citizens."

Sanders, on the other hand  his thick Brooklyn accent and familiar gesticulations evoking a less subdued approach  opted to drive home the potential scale of the crisis rather than try to soothe the nerves of a nation.

"In terms of potential deaths and the impact on our economy, the crisis we face from coronavirus is on the scale of a major war, and we must act accordingly," Sanders declared.

"Nobody knows how many fatalities we may see, but they could equal or surpass the U.S. casualties we saw in World War Two."

Like Biden, the Vermont senator's speech was tailor-made to let him punch up some of the cornerstones of his bid for the Democratic nomination, including "Medicare for All," a crackdown on "profiteering" and "price-gouging" in the pharmaceutical industry, and an aggressive overhaul of the American social safety net to help the poor, the underemployed and the elderly.

It was classic Sanders: frank and direct, with no punches pulled. Comforting, it was not.

"If our neighbour or co-worker gets sick, we have the potential to get sick," Sanders said.

"If our neighbours lose their jobs, then our local economies suffer, and we may lose our jobs. If doctors and nurses do not have the equipment and staffing capacity they need now, people we know and love may die."

Sanders urged Trump to declare a national emergency, and called for a bipartisan expert panel to establish a science-based, fact-based response to the outbreak. He recommended national and state information hotlines to help answer the most pressing questions. And he warned of the coming impact to residents of nursing homes and rehabilitation centres, immigration detainees, prisoners and illegal aliens.

"What we do not want to see is at a time when half of our people are living paycheque to paycheque, when they need to go to work in order to take care of their family, we do not want to see people going to work who are sick and can spread the coronavirus."

The former vice-president, too, rolled out a detailed strategy, including a revamped, no-charge testing regimen that would include mobile and drive-through testing sites, with a focus on nursing homes, long-term care centres and vulnerable populations.

Biden called for fast-tracking work on a vaccine and said he would deploy the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. military to establish facilities to deal with an expected coming surge of patients.

And he repeated his call to resurrect the White House directorate on health security, established during the Obama era "for exactly this scenario," which the Trump administration shuttered in 2018.

But it was clear Biden's overarching goal was to capitalize on the reputation that had oddsmakers liking his chances long before the race got underway in earnest, and which also happens to be the albatross around his rival's neck: electability.

"No president can promise to prevent future outbreaks. But I can promise you that when I'm president, we will prepare better, respond better, and recover better," Biden said.

"We will lead with science. We will listen to experts and heed their advice. We will rebuild American leadership and rally the world to meet global threats. And I will always, always tell you the truth."

Beginning this weekend, both campaigns will abandon large-scale public events in accordance with public-health advice, favouring digital-only events, livestreams and smaller-scale outreach. Staffers will also work from home.

Sanders and Biden are to square off Sunday in the first two-man televised debate of the campaign, which was originally supposed to happen in Phoenix in front of a live audience.

Instead, the debate will happen without spectators and take place in Washington, to minimize the need for air travel.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2020.

 Follow James McCarten on Twitter @CdnPressStyle
You might have many questions due to the current status of COVID-19 around the country. UM has great resources to keep you informed. For more information, please visit UM's Coronavirus Information website.

If you are a UM faculty member, please visit our Keep on Teaching web page for more information about providing education to our students.

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IMPORTANT: If you have been traveling or if you / others with whom you have had close contact have experienced health issues, please review the Returning to Campus Questionnaire.
Description

GIS - 13 March, 2020: Three parcels containing cannabis resin and methylenedioxy-methamphetamine worth some Rs 1 million were secured at the Parcel Post Office by the officers of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) on 11 March 2020. Three parcels containing cannabis resin and methylenedioxy-methamphetamine worth some Rs 1 million were secured at the Parcel Post Office by the officers of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) on 11 March 2020.

The unclaimed parcels were selected by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Section for examination based on suspicious scanning images. Two of the parcels were destined to residents of Quatre Bornes while the third one was addressed to an inhabitant of Rose Hill.

The parcels were handed over to the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit for further investigation.
File photo

According to Sun News, the Lagos State Government has said that that all 179 identified cases who were placed on isolation for their contact with the index case, an Italian citizen who brought coronavirus into the country have been discharged.

The state Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, while giving an update at a briefing on Friday said, of the 179 people who had contact with the index case, 40 of them were quarantined in Ogun State while the remaining were monitored in Lagos State.

According to him, initially, 179 contacts with the Italian were traced and since they had exceeded the mandatory 14 days isolation, they had to be discharged as none of them developed any symptoms of the disease.

He, however, disclosed that the index case will remain on admission. The index case is perfectly well now; we are only keeping him because our test confirmed that he is still secreting some of the virus, which means he is still potentially contagious.

Our test suggests that any moment from now, his immune system will clear the infection and the moment we pick that up, If he is negative, we will conduct another test within 48 hours after and if he is still negative, he will be discharged likewise.



We are close to discharging the index case; we want to be sure he poses no danger to the society anymore, Abayomi said.

On the Nigerian who initially tested positive for coronavirus for being in contact with the index case, Abayomi said he had now tested negative twice and might have been released by now.



His tests initially showed that he was positive for coronavirus twice and now, he has tested negative for the virus twice on two consecutive tests.

Meanwhile, the remaining contact in Ogun and Lagos states remain symptom-free and they have exceeded 14 days surveillance which means that we have been able to interrupt the transmission between the index case and others. The index case and the threat to Nigeria have been eliminated.



Those isolated in Ogun State have been discharged; in Lagos, we will not follow up the contacts again because none of them has developed any symptoms. We are discharging all, he said.

The commissioner disclosed that the four children and their teacher quarantined recently, had been discharged as they all tested negative for the virus, likewise another man from the US who was earlier quarantined.



We believe that by being extremely aggressive, we will curtail the outbreak. The state government had deployed more health workers to the airport to assist the Federal medical team, he stated.
Harvey Weinstein's fame, fortune, and power went down the drain after he was sentenced to 23 years in prison for committing rape and sexual assault.

The Hollywood mogul was convicted for third-degree rape of a former aspiring actress, Jessica Mann, and a count of criminal sexual act in the first degree against former "Project Runway" production assistant, Mimi Haley.

As for the #MeToo movement, although Weinstein has been accountable for the crimes he committed, the group stands that there is "no amount of jail time that will repair the lives he ruined" and the "careers he destroyed."

The bigtime film producer's supremacy has failed to buy himself impunity for his misconduct.

Celebrities Victimized by Weinstein

Having said all that, more celebrities have come out and admitted that they were victimized by the 67-year-old film mogul, such as Hollywood A-lister Angelina Jolie who claimed that she "had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein" so she chose never to work with him again (per The New York Times).

Another one is actress and political activist Ashley Judd. She recalled that she showed up for a breakfast meeting with Weinstein, but the "Pulp Fiction" and "Shakespeare In Love" producer told him to give him a massage or she could watch him in the shower.

Beckinsale's Story

In light of the conviction, Kate Beckinsale also took a step forward and revealed how Weinstein berated her once and tried to sexualize her just to promote a movie.

"These photos were taken at the premiere of Serendipity on October 5, 2001. We all refused to go because holding a premiere mere weeks after 9/11 with the city still smoking felt like the most insensitive, tone-deaf, disrespectful idea possible, but Harvey insisted. We flew into New York and somehow got through it," Beckinsale wrote as she posted a photo of her wearing an all-white tuxedo, necktie, and collared shirt.

The actress claimed that Weinstein called her and asked if she could bring her daughter, who is only two-years-old at that time, to his house for a playdate together with the film producer's daughter.

"I turned up and he immediately called for his nanny to take the babies to another room to play. I went to go with them and he said 'No, you wait here,'" she added.

The British actress continued as she detailed what Weinstein did to her.

"The minute the door closed he started screaming, 'You stupid f--king C--T, you C--T you ruined my premiere.' I had no idea what he was talking about and started to shake. He said, 'If I am throwing a red carpet you get in a tight dress, you shake your a-- you shake your t--s you do not go down it looking like a f--king lesbian you stupid f--king c--t.'"

Beckinsale was completely shocked and just burst into tears as the film producer went ballistic. The 46-year-old actress explained that she needed to dress appropriately for the event, but Weinstein ignored and continued his outrage.

In her parting message, Beckinsale hopes that more abusers from the industry will be exposed and eliminated to prevent women from being deceived by these lawbreakers.
Albuquerque, March 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TriCore Reference Laboratories is now performing a molecular diagnostic test of respiratory specimens for COVID-19 virus. The test is provided under the FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).

Decisions for COVID-19 testing should be based on symptoms as assessed by a healthcare provider and performed for symptomatic patients. Patients should contact their healthcare provider and appropriate specimens should be collected by the healthcare provider and sent to TriCore for testing. Providers should follow guidelines for specimen collection and notification as defined by the CDC and New Mexico Department of Health. Current information about specimen collection, testing, and TriCores response to COVID-19 can be found at www.tricore.org/covid_19.

As New Mexicos premier clinical laboratory, TriCore is addressing this public health emergency. Douglas Clark, MD, TriCores Chief Medical Officer, says TriCore is mobilized to address the needs of communities throughout the state. We are collaborating with healthcare providers to provide rapid diagnosis of COVID-19 infection.

As part of TriCores response to this public health need, we are working closely with the New Mexico Department of Health State Laboratory to increase state-wide testing capacity, says Dr. Michael Crossey, MD, PhD, TriCores CEO.

Attachment

Beth Bailey

TriCore Reference Laboratories

5059388393

elizabeth.bailey@tricore.org



Green Carlson

TriCore Reference Laboratories

5059388872

green.carlson@tricore.org



Susan Hill

TriCore Reference Laboratories

5059388806

susan.hill@tricore.org


NEW YORKNew York opened its first drive-through coronavirus testing facility in New Rochelle on Friday.

The Westchester County city has become the epicentre of the outbreak in the state, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called the most significant cluster in the nation.

The facility, set up in Glen Island Park, will have six lanes for motorists and can handle 200 cars per day, according to the governor.

Its not only faster and easier, its also smarter and safer because youre not exposing people to a person who may be positive, Cuomo said.

New Rochelle residents will be prioritized at the new testing site, as well as vulnerable people. Those looking to be tested must call ahead and make an appointment.

Drivers will be swabbed by health care workers without having to leave their cars, limiting the chance for exposure.

The site is being run by Northwell Health as the state is partnering with 28 private labs to test people for COVID-19.

One lab, BioReference Laboratories, is gearing up to run 5,000 more tests per day by next week.

Cuomo said he spoke to Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday and called on the federal government to decentralize the testing process and allow individual states to do their thing.

As of Thursday, New York reported 325 cases of the respiratory illness that has spread across the globe.

Cuomo placed part of Westchester County in a mile-wide containment zone and called in the National Guard to help distribute food to those who are under quarantine. New Rochelle announced Friday that all ten schools in its district will shut down until March 25.

The state has also banned large gatherings of 500 people or more and any event of fewer than 500 would have to reduce its capacity by 50 per cent to help stem the spread.
The comment on his Facebook page comes after a Brazilian newspaper reported Bolsonaro had tested positive.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has tested negative for coronavirus, according to a post on his Facebook page on Friday.

The post came after a prominent Brazilian newspaper reported that the Brazilian leader had tested positive without citing its source.

Bolsonaros son, Eduardo, also told Fox News that the test is negative.

Bolsonaro had been tested after his communications secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Thursday following a trip to Florida where both met US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The news of Wajngartens diagnosis raised questions about whether Trump and Pence were being tested.

The White House said on Thursday neither Trump nor Pence had been tested for COVID-19 because they were not showing symptoms and had limited interactions with the Brazilian aide.

Brazils Communications Secretary Fabio Wajngarten posing with US President Donald Trump [Courtesy: Instagram/Fabio Wajngarten]

Trump said he was not concerned following reports the Brazilian aide had tested positive for the virus.

Bolsonaro appeared on social media late on Thursday wearing a mask.

The Brazilian president, like Trump, has been accused of downplaying the threat of the virus.

Earlier this month, Bolsonaro said turmoil in the financial markets was a result of fantasy and did not represent a crisis.

The novel coronavirus has infected 132,000 people and killed more than 4,900 worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

About 68,000 patients have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the virus.
Washington D.C. [USA], Mar 13 (ANI): A US commander has assessed that North Korea is likely to conduct more Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) tests, posing a greater threat to the United States.



Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, United States commander of the Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy has submitted his assessment to the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, that says, "North Korea's recent engine testing suggests the regime may be ready to test a more advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that could pose a greater threat to the United States."

In 2017, after its first ICBM test, the leader of North Korea Kim Jong-Un declared the research and development phase of the country's strategic weapons program complete and vowed to begin serial production and deployment of these new systems.

North Korea has tested several new short-range missile systems and demonstrated advancing technologies that could eventually be incorporated into its strategic systems.

In December, Kim stated it was time to take offensive measures to ensure the country's sovereignty and security and threatened to soon unveil a new strategic weapon. (ANI)


Comcast is offering two free months of Internet services to low-income customers, citing the importance of being connected during the coronavirus pandemic.

"As schools and businesses close and families are encouraged, or even mandated, to stay home, Internet connectivity becomes even more important," said a news release from Dana Strong, Comcast president of consumer services.

Comcast's Internet Essentials program, normally available to qualified low-income customers for $9.95 per month will be offered free for 60 days to new customers, the company said.

Customers are eligible to receive Internet Essentials if they are eligible for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch program, Medicaid or SNAP and live in a Comcast service area.

Want the latest coronavirus news delivered directly to your phone? Text PennLive to 717-745-7532 to receive breaking news and essential updates on your mobile device. Data and messaging rates may apply.

Comcast said it also is increasing Internet speeds for the service from 15/2 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps. Existing customers will automatically receive the increased speeds, which will be rolled out nationally over the next few days.

New customers will be sent a free self-install kit that includes a cable modem with a WiFi router. There will be no term contract or credit check and no shipping fee, the company said. To sign up for the service, visit the Internet Essentials website or call 1-855-846-8376 for English speakers and 1-855-765-6995 for Spanish.
More and more of the world is working from home as the novel coronavirus spreads -- and so is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada's leader is currently trying to run his country in self-isolation after his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, tested positive for coronavirus.

The indiscriminate virus has caused dozens of government officials around the world -- from administrators to heads of state -- to take precautionary measures after finding that they have been infected or have been in contact with infected people.

There is no suggestion yet that Trudeau himself might have the virus, but he joins a long list of officials who have removed themselves from their workplaces, including top US lawmakers, a British health minister, Iran's deputy health minister, France's culture minister and the president of the European Parliament.

Busy politicians are not always able to manage the social distancing required to keep infection from spreading. In times of crisis, they are expected to shake a lot of hands and even visit hospitals where they are vulnerable to falling ill themselves. But any leader would be wise to develop plans to continue running the government in a case of self-isolation or quarantine.

"The Prime Minister will spend the day in briefings, phone calls, and virtual meetings from home, including speaking with other world leaders and joining the special COVID-19 cabinet committee discussion," Trudeau's office said on Thursday. His wife came down with mild flu-like symptoms following a speaking engagement in the UK, according to his office. An in-person meeting of ministers has been postponed.

He's not the only one. The president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, is also self-isolating for two weeks as a precaution, after going to Italy over the last weekend. On Tuesday, he chaired a European Union meeting in Brussels by video-conference.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is currently waiting for the results of a coronavirus test, his son Eduardo Bolsonaro tweeted Thursday, after his press secretary Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for it.

In the US, President Donald Trump is telling people close to him that he is now concerned about coming into contact with people who have contracted the coronavirus, including Wajngarten, who was recently with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, CNN's Jim Acosta reports. (However the White House has said that contact was minimal and testing is not required.)

Separately, nine US lawmakers -- some of whom had recent contact with Trump -- are now taking steps to self-quarantine as a precaution after coming into contact with another infected person.

Iran's government has been particularly affected by the virus. Iran's former foreign minister and current adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati, has tested positive for coronavirus and is currently in quarantine at his home in Tehran, a Tehran hospital told Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA on Thursday. Another former adviser to Khameni recently died after being infected.

Earlier this month, officials confirmed that 23 members (or 8%) of Iran's 290-member parliament had tested positive to the virus. Two members are known to have died. Several vice presidents, of which Iran has many, have tested positive.

High-ranking officials in France have also reported infections, including several French MPs and the country's Culture Minister Franck Riester. There are doubts over whether parliament will reconvene on March 23 as planned.

In the UK, junior health minister Nadine Dorries has also reported testing positive. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was at a meeting with Dorries not long before she tested positive, but he has said he will not get tested, as he is showing no symptoms.

And in Mongolia, President Khaltmaagiin Battulga and other officials have already been placed under quarantine for two weeks, after returning from a one-day trip to China. The leader has since reportedly tested negative.

As the virus spreads, countries around the world could see more officials dealing with the virus personally, as well as politically. And the fact that the virus appears more dangerous for the elderly could become cause for concern in countries where the highest-ranking officials often spend decades climbing the ranks -- and are now in their 60s, 70s and 80s.
Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has stormed Awe community in Nasarawa where he met with the deposed Emir Of Kano state, Sanusi Lamido.

Reports of the outspoken governor coming to the community dominated headlines earlier on Friday morning as security operatives were seen moving around the community in large amounts before he finally arrived.

The duo were reported to have had lengthy discussions behind closed door.

Read Also: Omokri Knocks Buhari For Denying Involvement In Sanusis Dethronement

His visit to the community is coming only a few days after he gave the dethroned Emir a second appointment.
As Australias coronavirus outbreak worsens, health authorities are bracing for an unprecedented increase in hospital admissions and demand for acute care. Authorities in NSW are anticipating as many as 1.5 million people in the state to be infected with COVID-19. Hospitals are being asked to double their intensive care capacity in anticipation of a surge of patients.

Doctors are considering excluding older patients from intensive care. The average age of Italian patients who have died in relation to COVID-19 is 81. Credit:Getty Images

"Fever clinics"  easily accessible healthcare facilities where people can be tested en masse for the virus  are being set up nationwide to ease the stress on emergency departments. Hospitals are adapting perioperative areas to function as makeshift intensive care units. And the federal government is seeking to boost the number of ventilators in hospitals while stockpiling key medicines such as antibiotics and antivirals.

But no matter how robust our countrys emergency medical services are, a worst-case scenario pandemic will test emergency departments and ICUs to their limits. NSW Health, for example, estimates that at the peak of the outbreak up to 80,000 people in the state may require intensive care.

This raises difficult ethical questions about the rationing of resources such as ICU beds and ventilators, the latter being vital for coronavirus patients who develop pneumonia and shortness of breath. As Simon Judkins, a past president of the Australian College of Emergency Medicine, told The Sydney Morning Herald, if there is a surge, it's a very tough situation.
Two more persons tested positive



for coronavirus in Nagpur, taking the number of such cases to 16 in Maharashtra on Friday, officials said.

Two days after a 45-year-old man was found to be infected with coronavirus in Nagpur, his wife and friend also tested positive on Friday, Divisional Commissioner Sanjiv Kumar said.

"The man had returned from the US last week along with his wife and the friend," he added.

He was admitted to the city-based Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH), officials said.

After he tested positive for coronavirus, 15 persons who were in close contact with him, including his wife and the friend, were put under observation and their samples were sent to lab testing, they said.

His wife and friend, who have now tested positive, are being treated at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here, they added.

There are now nine confirmed coronavirus patients in Pune, three each in Mumbai and Nagpur and one in Thane.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Last Sunday in church we received a communication about Coronavirus from HQ. It was perfectly commonsensical and useful: consider how to greet one another, especially those on welcome duty (probably not shaking hands). Wash hands and generally be sensible in trying to limit potential for spreading the coronavirus as you meet in community.

This is all fine and good to have the issue acknowledged and basic guidelines set out.

But it did strike me as a bit odd that the advice from a church is basically identical to that of the Health Service Executive (HSE, Ireland) / National Health Service (NHS, UK).

What might be some distinctively Christian things to say at a time of confirmed pandemic? What theological issues are being raised by potential quarantining of whole countries, wall-to-wall media coverage; limitations to travel; economic crisis; pressure on health services; and heightened vulnerability among the aged and ill?

What to make of wildly divergent estimates of potential numbers of deaths? In Germany Angela Merkel said possibly 58 million people in Germany could get it (70% of the population), while an expert virologist said, based on China, it would be more like 40,000. So, give a death rate of say 2.5% of those who get it and that is a rather large margin of error of between 1000 and 145,000 deaths!

In Ireland you have health minister Simon Harris say that he takes seriously the possibility that the country with a population of 4.8 million could have up to 120,000 deaths. If the death rate is 2.5% that means everybody would have get the virus (he is obviously working with a worst case scenario much higher death rate).

The maths isnt the issue and I am not qualified to dispute the figures one way or another. The issue is the massive fear and uncertainty of just how bad things are going to get.

These are just initial sketches written on the train home from work, please feel welcome to add your own suggestions for relevant theological themes.

1. Love your neighbour

From Christianitys earliest days, it was known as a movement of compassion and care for those in need. Such teaching is embedded in the gospels and in John, James and Paul. Their teaching is in turn rooted in the Jewish scriptures which speak of Gods impartial love for the widow, alien and stranger. Christianity lay behind the development of hospitals and the idea that all people, made in the image of God, are worth caring for.

Such love is costly and other-focused. It is impartial  given to those in need rather than making judgements about who is worth loving. The twist in the tale of Jesus story of neighbour-love in the parable of the Good Samaritan is that loving your neighbour means practically caring for your enemy.

As the pandemic spreads, love means considering others before yourself. It sure isnt panic buying in supermarkets. Obviously self-care is part of this  you dont want to catch Covid-19 and pass it on. But the pandemic calls Christians to consider how they can prioritise helping the weak, the isolated, the elderly who may not have the resources and physical ability to look after themselves.

2. Do on to others as you would have them do unto you

The golden rule should govern all Christian behaviour all the time. As Bob Dylan puts it in Do Right to Me Baby (Do Unto Others) in Slow Train Coming

Dont wanna judge nobody, dont wanna be judged

Dont wanna touch nobody, dont wanna be touched

Dont wanna hurt nobody , dont wanna be hurt

Dont wanna treat nobody like they was dirt. But if you do right to me baby

Ill do right to you too

Ya got to do unto others

Like youd have them, like youd have them, do unto you.

As much as possible we are to be responsible for not unnecessarily risking the health of others. Especially if in good health and/or young, we may think there is massive hype after what is probably something like a dose of flu. But Jesus teaching calls us to put ourselves in others shoes  and those include the slippers of the elderly and those with underlying health issues, especially respiratory.

3. Hope not fear

Theres a lot of fear about. Not only for our health but also economic  and that means jobs and all they represent. There is proper and responsible caution about trying to contain the virus. Already today we are told no indoor gatherings of over 100 people which will stop a lot of churches meeting. And this may be necessary.

But when does concern for health and safety turn into unfounded fear? Fear that becomes corrosive and destructive? Fear than becomes overly self-protective? Fear is not a Christian characteristic. Crisis should reveal Christian virtues of faith, love and hope, not anxiety, selfishness and despair.

4. Pandemic as a school for exercise and probation of faith

Eusebuis Ecclesiastical History tells of how the early church was known for its sacrificial care for the sick in times of war, famine and plague. This is a description of events in Alexandria as recorded by Dionysius (Eccl Hist XXII)

For the very heart of the city is more desolate and impassable than that vast and trackless desert which the Israelites traversed in two generations  men wonder, and are at a loss to know whence come the constant plagues; whence these malignant diseases; whence those variegated infections; whence all that various and immense destruction of human lives  But now all things are filled with tears, all are mourning, and by reason of the multitudes already dead, and still dying, groans are daily resounding throughout the city [This pestilence was} a calamity more dreadful to them [the pagans] than any dread, and more afflictive that any affliction, and which as one of their own historians has said, was of itself alone beyond all hope. To us, however, it did not wear this character, but no less than other events it was a school for exercise and probation. Indeed, the most of our brethren, by their exceeding great love and brotherly affection, not sparing themselves, and adhering to one another, were constantly superintending the sick, ministering to their wants without fear and without cessation, and healing them in Christ, have departed most sweetly with them. Many also, who had healed and strengthened others, themselves died, transferring their death upon themselves  So that this very form of death, with the piety and ardent faith which attended it, appeared to be but little inferior to martyrdom itself. Among the heathen it was the direct reverse. They both repelled those who began to be sick, and avoided their dearest friends. They would cast them out into the roads half dead, or throw them when dead without burial, shunning any communication and participation in death, which it was impossible to avoid by every precaution and care.

Compared to this the Coronavirus is pretty mild stuff! The Popes call to priests to visit the sick is an echo of such courageous love. Putting others first at risk to yourself is profoundly Christian. It is not every man and woman for themselves, but how as communities of disciples we can look after those in need. Of course the Popes call is problematic as to how it would work without risk of infecting the healthy. But its instinct is absolutely right.

Behind such action is a belief that death does not have the last word. Christians believe death has been overcome already in the death and resurrection of their Lord. It has lost its sting and power.

5. The illusion of control

In this excellent article (tks SS) the author, wandering empty streets in Venice, reflects on mortality. Is a subtext of panic in the West about loss of control?

If we can only cling to these totems, if we can only wear these items, if we can only take these precautions, we will be safe  not just from death but from the consciousness of its possibility. We will be, once more, comfortably sterilized; we will exist, once more, in a world in which our bodies are under our control.

The virus has confronted us Westerners  cocooned in our technology, medicine, knowledge and freedom  with our own mortality. My daughter says sometimes that human civilisation is only a couple of short steps away from anarchy and chaos and I think shes right. We are being reminded that we are not in control  however much we like to think we are masters of events, our lives and even our bodies.

As Stanley Hauerwas likes to say, in the West we like to think we have the medical technology to get out of life alive.

The trouble is life has a 100% death rate.

6. Grace not blame

The illusion of control is closely linked to the blame game. There has to be someone to blame for things going wrong. And so you have xenophobia, racism and verbal and physical attacks on individuals or communities associated with causing the virus and threatening our way of life. Rather than solidarity, sympathy and help and there but for the grace of God go I, there is judgment, fear and hate.

I dont need to say more here  Christians are called to the former, not the latter.

7. Pray

I liked Ian Pauls comment that when washing your hands, dont sing Happy Birthday twice, pray the Lords Prayer. [SMcK: or the Jesus Creed]

Prayer is bringing our concerns and fears to God in faith and trust. It is asking his blessing on others. It brings us consciously into his presence and re-orientates us to think, talk and act in light of the truth that God is God and we are not.

8. Economics

There has been plenty said on this blog over the years about the destructive myths of hyper-capitalism and the toxic effects of the love of money. But of course a well-functioning economy is crucial for human flourishing. You only need to look at waiters standing in empty squares in Rome to see that the days ahead hold much uncertainty for millions of people in regard to possible recession, closures and loss of jobs.

There are pastoral and practical responses here for churches to help those effected. There is prayer for those in our church communities in management of businesses and organisations to make wise decisions. There is debate and lobbying of government to use its unique authority and power to help individuals unable to work and businesses to survive.

9. Gaining a sense of perspective

There is a deep modernist narrative to life in the West: expectations of endless growth, freedom, happiness, travel, insurance against risk, comfort, health, low infant mortality and long-life. The pandemic poses a moderate and probably temporary challenge to that narrative. Perhaps in a year it will be all but forgotten.

I have posted about this before, but perhaps this is a good time to reflect self-critically on those expectations. Its worth reminding ourselves how localised geographically and novel historically our modern expectations are.

If we lived in sub-Saharan Africa we would be used to death and the fragility of life. See this graphic of malaria, a preventable disease. Annual deaths are 438,000. There are 214 million new cases each year (thks SS).

10. Witness

The job of every disciple, whether in a pandemic or not, is this
The oil market has been exceptionally dramatic and eventful over the last week. A combination of fundamentals along with misinformation has led to heightened volatility and a collapse in oil prices.

But the current market narrative is deceptive. Below, are the real, crucial issues for traders. Here's what transpired and what's actually driving market instability right now:

What Really Happened:

For most of last year, the market has been obsessed with the prospect of a global economic slowdown and fear of diminishing demand growth. The emergence of coronavirus only exacerbated these concerns further and introduced the prospect of a decline in oil demand in 2020.

It was reported that Chinaground zero for the pandemic and thus far hardest hit by the coronavirusreduced the cargoes of oil it would buy from West African oil suppliers and from Saudi Arabia. The prospect of lower demand, especially from China, stoked market worries and oil prices started to drop.

At its meeting last week, OPEC reacted by floating a production cut, designed to decrease supply enough to counteract lower demand and stabilize the market. Russian support for a production cut was necessary since OPEC was working with non-OPEC members within the OPEC+ framework.

Because Russia, Chinas second-largest oil supplier, hadn't seen a reduction in its sales to China, the European nation didn't believe there was a reason to cut its own production to satisfy OPECs desires. When presented with a plan on Friday, Russia, acted in its own self-interest by vetoing the cut, seemingly splitting OPEC+ in the process.

Over the weekend, news emerged that Saudi Arabia was both offering oil at significantly discounted prices to customersprimarily in Asiaand increasing its available supply to 12.3 million barrels per day. These actions enerved the market, making it appear as though Saudi Arabia was starting a price war with Russia.

In reality, a price war means attacks come from both directions: the next salvo would have to come from Russia, then Saudi Arabia, then Russia, etc. That hasn't happened yet. The market was so anxious about a potential price war, that when international exchanges opened at the start of the week, oil prices dropped over 30%.

Russia responded to the Saudi move by saying it would increase its production (not necessarily decrease prices) and that it, if necessary, was ready to use its $150 sovereign wealth fund to support the economy and cover budget losses. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced it was prepared to supply up to 12 million bpd.

This was a big deal. That number meant Saudi Arabia would be using up its spare capacity.

However, on Wednesday the Kingdom clarified that it would increase its government-mandated capacity to 13 million bpd, immediately setting off alarm bells since there was a misunderstanding about what Saudi Arabia meant by increasing its capacity. The market seemed to believe that this indicated additional production.

While that wasn't the case, for traders, what the market thinks is key. And right now, the market is scared of a price war.

Narrative Fueling Market Instability

So far, events do not confirm that Saudi Arabia and Russia are in a price war, but we will eventually see if Russia is going to lower its prices below Saudi Arabias.

What we have now are two out of the three biggest producers in the world flooding the market with cheap oil. They are very likely looking to raise global demand numbers in hopes prices will stabilize.

Meanwhile, the market seems convinced that we have a price war, and that is why its so skittish. The instability and the threat of big drops will continue as long as this narrative persists. An actual price war could last months or years, but if Saudi Arabia and Russia instead succeed at shocking oil demand back to life, we could see stabilization at least when demand numbers come out in early May.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 15:42:22|Editor: huaxia

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TAIYUAN, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Spring is in the air. Tens of thousands of swans are leaving their winter homes in China and flying back to Siberia in droves.

Local authorities in China's regions along the swans' migration route have pledged harsh punishment on poaching and arranged special personnel to safeguard the birds on their return to Siberia.

Swans are listed as a national second-level protected animal in China and a globally vulnerable species. According to Zhang Longsheng, a senior engineer with the Shanxi provincial forestry and grassland bureau, there are three main migration routes for Siberian swans flying to China, with the middle route passing through Mongolia to northern and central China.

"Over 20,000 swans migrate from Siberia to China for winter annually. The Yellow River Wetland is their largest migration site, attracting more than half the population every winter," Zhang said.

Located between Pinglu County of Shanxi Province, and the city of Sanmenxia in Henan Province, the Yellow River Wetland has an area of 2.8 million hectares, playing an important role in protecting water sources and purifying water quality in northern China.

"Swans started to hibernate here since the 1980s, and the number has grown from 2,000 to 12,000 over the past years," said Yang Yunge, head of the wildlife conservation station of Pinglu.

In 2012, Pinglu was named "China's Swan County" by the China Wildlife Conservation Association. In order to protect the species, Pinglu has shut down all polluting enterprises around the wetland, invested tens of millions of U.S. dollars to improve the environment and established a conservation team with some 100 people as well as installed a video surveillance system.

"It is our responsibility to protect these swans. They are both part of the natural ecology and our happy life," said He Jianxi, who has been a ranger for more than 10 years in the Pinglu Yellow River Wetland Reserve. For the past few months, he has been feeding them corn and cabbage weighing over 100 tonnes.

For the past six consecutive years, Pinglu compensated 400,000 yuan (about 57,100 U.S. dollars) annually for local farmers to return farmland to wetland.

Pinglu strives to find a "balance point" between ecological and economic benefits. The county is constructing a swan ecological economic demonstration zone with an investment of 3 billion yuan. After the completion of its first stage, it is expected to receive more than 500,000 tourists a year.

The rise of the "swan economy" has strengthened the awareness of authorities and people across China to protect the species and the ecological environment.

In 2014, Sanmenxia has designated November 22 as "Swans Protection Day."

Last winter, an international academic exchange conference on swan conservation was held in the city of Rongcheng in east China's Shandong Province, another important swan migration site.

Representatives and scholars from China, Russia, Japan and other countries jointly issued the Rongcheng Declaration on Swans Conservation, aimed at strengthening international cooperation in the protection of swans.

Guo Lixin, deputy secretary-general of the China Wildlife Conservation Association, said at the meeting that Rongcheng's swan protection and management model based on community participation has formed an urban ecology in which people and nature harmoniously coexist.

In 2013, China set a "red line" of no less than about 53 million hectares of wetlands by 2020. In 2019, 158 pilot national wetland parks in China passed appraisal, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

Thanks to the introduction of multiple protection policies and increasing financial investment, China's continuous improvement of the ecological environment has become the best "escort" for the migration of swans.

"A place with a good ecological environment is the best habitat for swans. As China continues to improve its ecological environment, there may be more swans flying from Siberia to spend the winter in China," Zhang said.
Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah will be released from detention after months of custody under the Public Safety Act or PSA, officials said on Friday.

Farooq Abdullah was first placed under detention with several leaders, including his son Omar Abdullah and the PDPs Mehbooba Mufti, on August 5, when the government scrapped the special status to Jammu and Kashmir and imposed massive security restrictions and a communication lockdown.

In exercise of powers conferred under Section 19(1) of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), 1978, the government hereby revokes the detention order bearing No. DMS/PSA/120/2019 issued by District Magistrate, Srinagar, the order issued by Shaleen Kabra, J-Ks principal secretary for home, said.

Farooq Abdullah is under detention at his Gupkar House, which has been declared as a sub-jail.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration revoked the order against Farooq Abdullah under PSA days after eight opposition leaders had demanded the release of all political detainees in the Union territory.

These leaders had called for the release of Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti in a joint statement on Monday, saying their indefinite detention by the government was a blatant violation of fundamental rights.

Under these circumstances, political parties committed to safeguarding the fundamental rights of the citizens and securing the sanctity of the Constitution, cannot sit quiet, the statement issued by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar 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, read the statement, which was posted by Pawar on his Twitter handle on Monday.

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee, former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Deve Gowda, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja and Rashtriya Janata Dals Rajya Sabha member Manoj Kumar Jha had also signed the letter.

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, the statement had said.

The National Conference had recently said that the continuous detention of Farooq Abdullah was a clear signal of the Centres contempt for Kashmiri representation.

The central government has created a dangerous vacuum reversing all the gains of the past two decades by denigrating mainstream politics in Kashmir, senior NC leader and Member of Parliament from north Kashmir Mohammad Akbar Lone had said last week.

Lone said it was disrespectful to have a sitting MP, whom former Prime Minister late A B Vajpayee had referred to as the third party to Kashmir, in confinement.

Former PDP minister Altaf Bukhari, who launched a new political party on Sunday, had also demanded the release of Farooq Abdullah and other leaders who are under detention in J-K.

Lok Sabha member and three-time former chief minister Farooq Abdullah was detained on August 5, 2019, was held under PSA in September and his statements were described as a threat to peace.

Farooq Abdullahs detention order under PSA had come right ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on a habeas corpus petition filed by Tamil Nadu politician Vaiko that sought the former CMs production in the top court.

HIGHLIGHTS

Farooq Abdullah release orders came days after opposition leaders had demanded the release of all political detainees in the Union territory

Lok Sabha member and the three-time former chief minister was detained on August 5, 2019, was held under PSA in September

He is under detention at his Gupkar House, which has been declared as a sub-jail.
Pune, March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global cartoning machines market size is anticipated to reach USD 2.83 billion by 2026, on account of the increasing demand for flexible and compact cartoning machines. Cartoning machines are packaging tools used for packaging of confectionery, medicine, bottled food products, sundry goods, cosmetics, and other products. A recently published report titled, Cartoning Machines Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Vertical/Top-Load Cartoning Machine, Horizontal/End-Load Cartoning Machine), By End-Use Industry (Food & Beverage, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Goods, Others) and Regional Forecasts, 2019-2026, by Fortune Business insights provides a comprehensive overview on the market and its prime growth trajectories. According to this report, the market size was USD 2.17 billion in 2018 and will exhibit a CAGR of 3.4% within the forecast period 2019 to 2026.

What are the Report Highlights?

The report on cartoning machines market provides an elaborative overview and discusses factors promoting, repelling, challenging, and providing opportunities to the market. Other details include the table of segmentation based on factors such as type, end-industry, and regions, and the names of the leading segments determining the factor responsible for its growth. The report mentions the names of key players operating in the market and the prime strategies adopted by them to gain a competitive edge in the market. Besides this, the report talks about the current cartoning machines market trends. For more information on the market or to purchase the report, log on to our company website.



To gain more insights into the market with detailed table of content and figures, click here: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/cartoning-machines-market-102424





Market Driver



Fast Growing FMCG Sector is Positively Influencing the Market

The growth of the fast-moving consumer goods sector is fueled by shifting of consumer behavior towards brand awareness and health-conscious food consumption. The prominent cartoning machines manufacturers are utilizing the merger and acquisition strategy to expand their product portfolio, especially for the food & beverage industry and consumer goods industry. After expanding their portfolio, the players are implementing business distribution practices to grow globally. Moreover, cartoning machines provide packaging solutions to offer maximum safety to goods. Furthermore, increasing utilization of cartoning equipment to transport FMCG goods, owing to the expansion of small-medium enterprises to high-scale industries, is augmenting the market growth. For instance, in the U.K., in August, 2018, Jacob White Packaging Limited introduced a cartoner for the food & beverage industry namely, cartoner RSB3 that is utilized to pack 12 and 6 pizza up to 100 cartons per minute.



Regional Segmentation:



Asia Pacific to Witness Rapid Growth Rate Owing to High Packaging Demand from Healthcare Industry

Geographically, the global cartoning machines market is led by Asia Pacific with a revenue generation of USD 0.84 billion as per 2018 records. This growth is attributable to the rise in the number of innovative packaging applications in sectors such as healthcare and pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and others. Additionally, nations such as India and China are emphasizing on the innovative technologies such as push-button changeover technology, or carton4.0, and others will help this region exhibit the fastest growth rate and attract more cartoning machines market revenue in the forecast duration.



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Competitive Landscape:



Launch of New Website for Global Sales and Services will Encourage Players to Strive Hard in Market Competition

As far as the competitive landscape is concerned, the market is dominated by a few players holding 55% of the cartoning machines market share. These include Jacob White Packaging Ltd., Econocorp Inc., Robert Bosch LLC, and Marchesini Group S.p.A. This growth is attributed to the strong geographical presence of these players. On the other side, cartoning machines manufacturers such as Cama 1 S.P.A, Mpac Langen, and Robert Bosch LLC have launched a new website completely dedicated to cartoning machinery sale across the globe. The main objective of this new website launch is to reduce the resource consumption and increase the quality of the product especially for the pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry. Such initiatives taken by the government are likely to attract high cartoning machines market revenue in the forthcoming years.

List of Key Cartoning Machines Market Manufacturers include:

Cama 1 S.P.A. (Lombardy, Italy)

Douglas Machine Inc. (Province of Lecco, Italy)

Mpac Group plc (Mpac Langen) (Coventry, United Kingdom)

Packaging Equipment Inc. (Georgia, the United States)

PMR Packaging Inc. (Ontario, Canada)

Bivans Corporation (California, the United States)

Langley Holdings PLC (Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom)

Econocorp Inc. (Massachusetts, the United States)

Robert Bosch LLC (Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)

Jacob White Packaging Ltd. (Kent, United Kingdom)

Marchesini Group S.p.A. (Bologna, Italy)

Key Industry Developments of Cartoning Machines Market Include:

March 2017  MA400, a high-speed horizontal continuous motion cartoner was introduced by Marchesini Group S.p.A. It is a restyled equipment for packaging of healthcare and cosmetic products.

July 2018  NS-X automatic cartoner was installed by Jacob White Packaging Ltd. for packaging biscuits that are trayed at high speeds. This equipment guarantees packaging over 200 cartons in a minute.



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Table of Content:

Introduction Definition, By Segment Research Approach Sources

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Drivers, Restraints and Opportunities Emerging Trends

Key Insights Macro and Micro Economic Indicators Consolidated SWOT Analysis of Key Players Key Technological Development

Global Cartoning Machines Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2015-2026 Key Findings / Summary Market Size Estimates and Forecasts By Type (Value) Vertical/Top-Load Cartoning Machine Horizontal/End-Load Cartoning Machine By End-Use Industry (Value) Food & Beverage Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals Consumer Goods Others (Semiconductor, Etc.) By Geography (Value) North America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa Latin America



Continued!!!





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The Serious Fraud Office has admitted it spent 12.2million on its failed prosecution of senior Barclays bankers  up to 3million more than previously thought.

The agency suffered a humiliating defeat last month when chief deal-maker, Roger Jenkins, 64, and executives Tom Kalaris, 64, and Richard Boath, 61, were acquitted of committing fraud at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

The SFO has been accused of 'repeated poor judgment' throughout the seven-year investigation into the allegations.

Costly: Barclays chief deal-maker Roger Jenkins with supermodel ex-girlfriend Elle Macpherson

And its case against Barclays itself had already collapsed in 2018, with the bank's former boss, John Varley, 63, walking free last year.

At the end of the trial the SFO had estimated the costs of the trial were between 9million and 10million, but yesterday confirmed the cost was 12.2million.

This included extra funding from the Treasury to fight the so-called 'blockbuster' case.

Tory MP John Howell, a member of the House of Commons Justice Select Committee, said: 'This is a vast amount of taxpayers' cash spent on a case which ultimately came to nothing.

'The SFO were told all along that they were on thin ice.'

Prosecutors had claimed the executives were desperate to protect their massive salaries by securing Qatari investment to save Barclays from a government bailout. But the jury were not convinced, returning a not guilty verdict.

Critics claim the case was pursued because of a 'let's nail a banker' mentality borne out of the anger towards bankers after the financial crisis.

A spokesman for SFO said: 'Our prosecution decisions are always based on the evidence that is available, and we are determined to bring perpetrators of serious financial crime to justice.'
Jordyn Woods isn't letting fears over coronavirus stop her from having a great time on vacation and is 'taking advantage' of her holiday in Abu Dhabi while waiting for the first flight back to the US.

The 22-year-old influencer is being forced to cut her trip short amid panic over the spread of the global pandemic, but until she can board a flight home, Jordyn is living it up on holiday.

She headed out clubbing and spent a day at the beach with mom Elizabeth and younger sister Jodie, sharing photos and videos on Instagram on Thursday and Friday.

On holiday: Jordyn Woods isn't letting fears over coronavirus stop her from having a great time on vacation and is 'taking advantage' of her holiday in Abu Dhabi while waiting for the first flight back to the US

Explaining to her fans on Instagram Jordyn penned: 'First available flight for us isnt for a couple of days so Im taking full advantage & enjoying this view'

Jordyn modeled a yellow bikini in turquoise waters and snapped sultry seflies while sunning herself on the shores of the Persian Gulf.

Later, she dined with her family at a swanky restaurant which served several decadent courses with many prepared tableside.

The UAE, like many countries, is currently dealing with the outbreak of coronavirus with 74 confirmed cases of the illness as of March 10, according to the World Health Organization.

Luxury living: On social media, Jordyn has kept her fans abreast of her trip with fancy hotel rooms and high-end gourmet dinners

Time off: Jordyn modeled a yellow bikini in turquoise waters and snapped sultry seflies while sunning herself on the shores of the Persian Gulf

Explaining to her fans on Instagram Jordyn penned: 'First available flight for us isnt for a couple of days so Im taking full advantage & enjoying this view'

While governments the world over are recommending social distancing and banning large gatherings, Jordyn felt safe enough to head out for a night of clubbing in the capital city.

Woods touched down in the country on Tuesday and took to seeing the sights with her younger sister and mom, sharing snaps on social media.

'Dubai is one of the coolest cities I've been to so far,' she gushed. 'Stopped by the Burj Khalifa today, which is the tallest building in the world (almost 3000 ft tall)'

Vacation fun: The 22-year-old influencer went clubbing and spent a day at the beach during her holiday in Abu Dhabi with mom Elizabeth and younger sister Jodie

No social distancing: While governments the world over are recommending social distancing and banning large gatherings, Jordyn felt safe enough to head out for a night of clubbing in the capital city (Pictured: Jordyn filming a local DJ)

So far her trip has taken young aspiring model to Dubai, the capital Abu Dhabi and Saadiyat Island but she might have to come home before seeing all the sights due to the threat of COVID-19.

On Thursday, the former KUWTK star and and her family donned black head scarves for a visit to the city's famed Grand Mosque, which appeared to be empty.

Panic: The UAE, like many countries, is currently dealing with the outbreak of coronavirus with 74 confirmed cases of the illness as of March 10, according to the World Health Organization

World traveler: So far her trip has taken young aspiring model to Dubai, the capital Abu Dhabi and Saadiyat Island but she might have to come home before seeing all the sights due to the threat of COVID-19

'Triplets take on the Grand Mosque #inabudhabi,' she penned on Instagram.

She responded to some commenters who complained that her selfies in the Abaya, a traditional Islamic outfit, who in appropriate.

Writing on Instagram: 'For those of you that dont know in order to enter the Mosque you must wear an Abaya. It was such an amazing experience getting to see the beauty of another culture. The view from my hotel though, is everything.'

She might have to leave her swanky hotel early, however, which she explained in her Insta Story.

Seeing sights: On Thursday, the former KUWTK star and and her family donned black head scarves for a visit to the city's famed Grand Mosque, which appeared to be empty

Hitting back: he responded to some commenters who complained that her selfies in the Abaya, a traditional Islamic outfit, who in appropriate

Woods later took to her Instagram story to explain that she would likely be forced to cut her trip short: 'I may have to end this trip early and come home because this virus is getting out of hand.'

'I may have to end this trip early and come home because this virus is getting out of hand,' she wrote.

This week, the UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced 15 new cases of coronavirus bringing the total up to 74, according to Gulf News.

The UAEs Ministry of Education said on Twitter last week that schools and universities would be closed for four weeks.

Additionally, Reuters reported that the country 'has advised citizens and residents against traveling abroad and all schools are closing for a month from Sunday.'

Stats: This week, the UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced 15 new cases of coronavirus bringing the total up to 74, according to Gulf News

Troubling news: The UAEs Ministry of Education said on Twitter last week that schools and universities would be closed for four weeks

Stay home: Reuters reported that the country 'has advised citizens and residents against traveling abroad and all schools are closing for a month from Sunday'

The World Health Organization officially declared the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, as a global pandemic on Wednesday.

Meanwhile President Donald Trump announced a travel ban to and from Europe which would take effect on Friday.

American citizens, people with green cards and the immediate family members of those aforementioned would be exempt and could return home, getting screened for the illness upon arrival.

The United Kingdom is also exempt from the ban.
SAN DIEGO, Calif.--- We have an update on the Medford Couple in quarantine. Bud and Carla LeFever

The couple reached out to NewsWatch 12 with this update:

We are still doing fine. Today some Oregon people were flown back to Oregon. We knew nothing of the flight until about 20 minutes before we were supposed to leave. We were told we would go to Portland, not to Medford. No one told us before the fact that we would be flown to Medford and given a rental car where we could go home and start another quarantine period. Had we known that we may have tried to get on that plane. We are still waiting for test results and being put on another bus and plane for possible re-exposure did not make sense. We also have the issue of our car being in San Jose. We are hoping we can rent a car here at the end of the quarantine period and drive to San Jose then on home to Medford. Very little exposure to us or others by doing this. We will see. Still playing scrabble, reading, and other things. Thanks for checking.

SAN DIEGO, Calif.  We have an update on the Medford Couple in quarantine.

Bud and Carla LeFever are in quarantine at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Deigo. They got off the Grand Princess cruise ship a few days ago in Oakland.

The couple says they just got tested for the coronavirus . "We will not know results for at least two or three days." said LeFever. Their update says they are getting three meals a day at the Big House. The Princess Cruises even gave them some games to play online.

There is some confusion about when and how they will be able to return home. "They keep saying that we need to complete two weeks of quarantine before leaving. We have also heard that it may be sooner if the right conditions exist." said LeFever

"Will let you know when we know results. I hope we both test negative so we will not be separated." said LeFever.

Update 3/15/2020 9:35 am

A couple from the Medford area who have been confined to their room on the Grand Princess cruise ship for a week say they have finally been relocated by authorities for a two-week quarantine in California.

Bud and Carla LeFever first spoke with NewsWatch 12 earlier this week as they waited aboard the ship, docked in Oakland, California. Authorities turned the ship around shortly after it disembarked, then kept it waiting in San Francisco Bay after 21 people aboard tested positive for COVID-19 last Friday.

The LeFevers said that during their time confined on the ship, they got few answers from authorities as to what was going on. But eventually  as they watched tents, tour buses, police, and Hazmat suit-clad crews appear along the wharf  groups of passengers began to disembark over a period of days.

RELATED: A couple still aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship is suing Princess Cruise Lines for $1 million

Now the LeFevers say that they've been evacuated from the ship, arriving at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego sometime late Thursday night.

"We feel we were in better quarantine in the ship, because we were isolated," said Bud.

The LeFevers say they were told when they arrived that food would be delivered to the rooms for those under quarantine, just as it had been done on the ship, but in the morning they were directed to a mess hall where everyone got their food together.

"Last night we get on a bus with a bunch of people, and then we get on a plane with a bunch of people, and now we get up and we go to a lobby with a bunch of people  and now they're saying it's okay to get up and walk around outside," Carla said. "I don't get it."

Carla has had a cough and health providers at the base want to test her for COVID-19, the couple said. But according to the LeFevers, the base doesn't have enough tests for all of the quarantined passengers, so it's uncertain if Bud will be tested.

RELATED: A cancer patient quarantined on a cruise ship fears won't make it home for her chemotherapy

Regardless, the LeFever's are in for the long haul  they'll need to remain at Miramar for the next 14 days in order to wait out the coronavirus incubation period.

The couple says that they've been playing board games, reading books, and watching movies to pass the time . . . in addition to other "things that married people do."
The Washington Post is providing this news free to all readers as a public service.

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8 B'day special facts: Nimrat Kaur's Journey from The Lunchbox to The Test Case



Nimrat Kaur, the girl who grabbed attention with her super hit film, The Lunchbox. She has become an international celebrity after the huge success of 'The Lunchbox' and 'Peddlers'. Both the movies were screened at the Cannes Film Festival. The actress within a short period of time as made her mark in both Hollywood and Bollywood. Just after getting recognized in The Lunchbox, the actress grabbed a meaty role in Hollywood serial Homeland in which she plays the role of an ISI agent.



Nimrat Kaur was born on 13 March 1982 in Pilani, Rajasthan and Grown up in Pilani, Bathinda, Patiala and Noida. Her father worked with the Indian Army, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Kashmir. She has a younger sister, Rubine, who is a psychologist based out of Bangalore.



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DES MOINES  Secretary of State Paul Pate is asking Iowa county auditors to do a walk-through of their systems to make sure they are secure ahead of the 2020 elections.

Pate is telling auditors that his office will provide $1 million to assist them with cybersecurity resources ahead of the elections.

Its like we are asking them to walk through their house to see if any windows or doors have been left open, Pate said Thursday before meeting with the auditors who were in Des Moines.

During the next few weeks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the state Office of the Chief Information Officer will conduct scans of all 99 counties websites and internal systems to look for vulnerabilities.

That could be outdated equipment and software, for example, said Jeff Franklin, Pates chief cybersecurity officer.

Solutions may include replacing equipment and software, and separating critical infrastructure from non-critical systems, he said.

Following the scans, the Secretary of States Office will make an initial investment of $1 million to help cover the expenses of recommended upgrades.

Almost every county already receives at least three cyber services from the Office of the Chief Information Officer, including training, intrusion detection and malware prevention, to monitor for the bad guys, Pate said.

Theyve figured out that they cant kick in the front door, so now they are sneaking around looking for another way to get inside election systems, Pate said.

Some counties have their own information technology staffs, some contract with third-party vendors. Pates goal is to have all counties signed up for the full range of services available from his office.

We built a very strong foundation to secure Iowas elections, Pate said. It is now time to take our cybersecurity to the next level. We need to bolster our cyber maturity.

Franklin described the scans as a proactive way of seeing if you have issues and to prioritize whats vulnerable.

The secretary of state also is helping counties transition their websites to .gov domains to help ensure they all have top-level security. Pates office will cover the cost of the transition.

Homeland Security recommends the .gov domain, and the National Association of Secretaries of State adopted a similar resolution in February.

The Iowa election community has done a tremendous job of adapting to the changing world of election cybersecurity, Pate said. This is a team effort, and we all need to be on the same page.

The fund to assist counties with cybersecurity comes from a federal grant to Iowa through the Help America Votes Act.

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In this file photo taken on June 08, 2018, Canada's Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau arrive for a welcome ceremony for G7 leaders on the first day of the summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada. Trudeau's office says the first lady has tested positive for COVID-19. AFP



Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his office announced Thursday night.



It said Sophie Gregoire Trudeau was felling well and would remain in isolation.



''The Prime Minister is in good health with no symptoms. As a precautionary measure and following the advice of doctors, he will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days,'' the statement added.



His office said the doctor's advice to the prime minister is to continue daily activities while self-monitoring, given that he is exhibiting no symptoms himself.



''Also on the advice of doctors, he will not be tested at this stage since he has no symptoms. For the same reason, doctors say there is no risk to those who have been in contact with him recently,'' the statement said.



The office said he would resume his duties Friday.



Trudeau's wife issued a statement thanking those who have reached out.



''Although I'm experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon,'' she said. ''Being in quarantine at home is nothing compared to other Canadian families who might be going through this and for those facing more serious health concerns.''






13.03.2020 LISTEN

The strongman of Lagos State and National Leader of APC, Bola Tinubu has been strategically swallowing all his potential political opponents, vis Orji Uzor Kalu, Rochas Okorocha, Godswill Akpabio and Nasir ElRufai ahead of the 2023 presidency.

Bola Tinubu is a man loathed by professionals and feared by politicians. He has held Lagos State in firm grip since 1999 till date and has installed whomsoever he wished as governor. Tinubu has equally extended his grips to states in the South West where most of the governors, either past or present, are his boys. Therefore, you can ignore Tinubu at your own peril.

Buharis emergence as President in 2015 and 2019 has Tinubu playing a major role in swaying South West votes to the Katsina born general. It took the blackmails of people like former Senate President Saraki and ex-Governor Rotimi Amechi to stop Bola Tinubu from being running mate to Buhari in 2015.

Tinubu has made it clear with body language that he wants to rule Nigeria come 2023 and he is ruthless about it. Many top contenders for the position or their acolytes have bitter tales as Tinubu marches with his plan. His effort to make Lawan the Senate President and Gbajaiala Speaker in 2015 were botched by Saraki and the former Senate President paid dearly for it. Tinubu ensured that Saraki was retired politically in Kwara in 2019.

Tinubu knew that Orji Uzor Kalu, a bosom friend, was among top choices from the South East quest for presidency. Kalu jumped from PDP to PPA, back to PDP and moved to APC. He contested and won the Senator-ship of Abia North. He wangled his way until he became Senate Chief Whip, after efforts to become Deputy Senate President failed. Orji Uzor Kalu was basking in his new found position as Chief Whip, when he was whipped into Kuje Prison to spend 12 years due to graft.

Kalu knew where his problem came from. Speaking to AljazirahNigeria at the Kuje Prison last month, he specifically mentioned the leader of the APC, Ahmed Bola Tinubu as using the EFCC to fight him because he is afraid that he will contest against him for the presidency in 2023.

Another 2023 Presidential hopeful and former Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State had a taste of what I believe as Tinubu treatment when INEC refused to give him certificate of return following his victory as Senator-elect representing Imo West. Okorocha, a most valuable favourite for Igbo Presidency 2023 was interested in becoming the Senate Minority Leader, in preparation for his Presidency bid. It took the court order of June 6th for Okorocha to be returned as a Senator and was issued the certificate on June 12th after the elections of all officers of the National Assembly. Since he managed to enter the legislative chamber, the vociferous ex-governor had cooled down. Okorocha had told people that he knew Tinubu and Oshiomhole wanted him out of the way.

Another Presidential hopeful from the South-South zone and former Governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio, joined the ruling APC on the ground that he will become the Senate President, and help deliver Akwa Ibom to Buhari. This runs contrary to Tinubus plan and Akpabio had to be checkmated. Akpabio is also a favoured alternative to Tinubu as far as the cabals are concerned. Unfortunately, the INEC Resident Commissioner, Charles Igini, an Urhobo man, was allegedly detailed through his kinsman Senator Omo Agege to ensure that Akpabio does not near the Senate chambers.

Akpabio had to lose Akwa Ibom South Senatorial Zone. Yekini Nabena, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), urged the Independent INEC to remove Mr. Mike Igini. All attempt by Akpabio to get Igini removed failed because Oshiomhole and Bola Tinubu did not buy the idea. Akpabio had told close friends that his political travails were induced by Tinubu and Oshiomhole.

Another Presidential hopeful whom Tinubu had put in the cooler is the Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai. Angered by Tinubus interference in who becomes Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, El Rufai asked Lagosians to dethrone Tinubu as godfather and gave them formula on how to do that. Tinubu had to flex his muscles by ensuring that El-Rufais bid to succeed Ex-Gov Yari as NGF Chairman was scuttled. Instead, Kayode Fayemi was selected. Since then El-Rufai had known that Tinubus strongman-ship is not an exaggeration and the progressive governor have shelved his presidential ambition and thrown weight behind a southern candidate.

To the best of my knowledge, Tinubus long hands is in the ordeals of late Senator Uwajumogu representing Imo North, the only ranking Senator from the South East, who could have become a Senate President of principal officer in the National Assembly. INEC refused to issue him certificate of return till July 25th after a court compelled them to do so. The shock of his certificate being withheld, just as in Okorochas case, got the man sick and he never recovered till he slumped and died.

Tinubu installed Yemi Osibanjo as Vice President, Ahmed Lawan as Senate President, Femi Gbajamiala as Speaker of House of Reps and Oshiomhole as Party Chairman. He is ruthlessly decimating potential contenders and they have sorry tales to tell.

Can Tinubu make a good president? I think he can. Tinubu managed Lagos when former president Obasanjo withheld the State allocation for up to four years. Thus he ran Lagos without Federal allocation and did not overtax the people.

While Facebook and twitter critics are calling him all manners of names, the man is strategically implementing his plans. It is courtesy of Tinubu that the APC crisis have not engulfed Oshiomhole despite the cabals being against the embattled party chairman.

Can Tinubu win the presidency in 2023? With the formidable structures, formidable contacts within INEC and Judiciary, and ruthlessly strategies he has used to swallow up potential obstructs, including Orji Uzor Kalu, Rochas Okorocha, Godswill Akpabio and Nasir-El-Rufai, only God can stop him.

(Obinna Akukwe wrote via [email protected], facebook.com/obinnaakukwe)
New Delhi, March 13 : Delhi's Tis Hazari Court on Friday sentenced expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and six others to 10 years imprisonment for the death of Unnao rape survivor's father. Sengar is already serving life imprisonment for raping the minor.

While sentencing them, District Judge Dharmesh Sharma said, "There can be no denying that rule of law was broken. Sengar was a public functionary and had to maintain the rule of law. The way the crime has been committed, it does not call for leniency." Sengar and his brother Atul has been directed to give 10 lakh compensation to family of the victim for loss of their father. "There are four minor children involved, three girls and one boy. They have also been uprooted from native place," the judge said.

Seven people, including Sengar, his brother and two police personnel, were held guilty for culpable homicide and criminal conspiracy, earlier this month.

The case pertains to the death of rape survivor's father in custody on April 9, 2018. It was alleged that he was assaulted following a quarrel with some of the accused in the case.

He was taken to the police station and then framed for allegedly possessing an illegal firearm. Pursuant to this, he was sent to custodial remand, during which he died.

The case was transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the Supreme Court's directions in August last year. Both the death and illegal firearm case was later clubbed by the court.

During the arguments on sentencing on March 12, Sengar had told the court that he should be "hanged and acid poured into his eyes if he has done anything wrong".

The former MLA had also raped the daughter of the deceased in 2017 in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district and was sent to jail for "remainder of his natural biological life", last year.
A cruise ship carrying 609 people has been isolated in Brazil after a 78-year-old passenger was evacuated with a cough and fever.

The Canadian man was rushed off the ship on Thursday after he showed symptoms consistent with coronavirus. He has been tested for the virus by authorities.

As it awaits the results, the Silver Shadow has been held at the port of Recife, in Brazil's north-eastern state of Pernambuco, today and the remaining 318 passengers and 291 crew have been ordered to isolate in their cabins.

The pier the ship is docked on has also been isolated.

The Silver Shadow is being held at Recife port in Pernambuco, Brazil, while the Canadian passenger is tested. The results are expected in the coming days

All 318 passengers and 291 crew have been ordered to isolate in their cabins awaiting results

The pier that the Silver Shadow has been docked on has also been isolated

Brazil currently has 37 cases of coronavirus and has not reported any deaths

Brazilian pharmaceutical regulator Anvisa immediately suspended disembarkation on Thursday and requested the return of those who had already left the ship.

'As a preventive measure and additional health control, port management also prohibited the vessel's garbage from being discharged,' Pernambuco's health department said in a statement.

Silversea cruises, which operates the vessel, said in a statement to MailOnline: 'Silversea cruises confirms that a guest was disembarked from silver shadow on March 12 due to a medical emergency in Recife, Brazil.

'As this guest was showing respiratory symptoms the prevention protocol for COVID-19 was initiated by Silversea contacting the local authorities.

'In an abundance of caution, guests have been asked to stay in their suites today while authorities complete testing on our guest.'

They said the results are not yet available.

The Silver Shadow has been held at the port of Recife, in Brazil's north-eastern state of Pernambuco

Passengers are seen lounging about in cabins on the ship while they wait for the test results

The Silver Shadow has been moored in the north-eastern state since Thursday

The cruise ship is pictured above in Recife. The Department of Health in Pernambuco has ordered everyone to remain on board while tests are carried out

The vessel, with the Bahamas flag, sailed in from Salvador, where it docked on March 10. It also visited Rio de Janeiro on March 6, Buzios on March 5, and Itajai on March 3.

Brazil has reported 37 cases of the virus since the outbreak began and no deaths.

It comes after the quarantine of several other cruise ships including the Diamond Princess, which was stopped in Yokohama Bay off the coast of Japan after passengers tested positive for the virus.
Testing for the new coronavirus remains dramatically inadequate to meet demand, even with recent upticks in capacity, say public health and infectious disease experts.

Fewer than 2,000 Californians have been tested since the first U.S. cases were reported in late January. As of Thursday morning, around 200 people in the state had tested positive  but potentially thousands more people are actually infected. Nationwide, fewer than 10,000 people have been tested, and roughly 1,300 cases have been reported.

The testing shortfalls are hindering the ability of public health officials to define the extent of illness in their communities. In some cases, the shortages are preventing officials from testing the people most in need, such as residents of an assisted living facility in Sacramento County, where one elderly patient has died from COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus.

We need testing because the only way that you can mitigate the spread of a pandemic is to test at dramatically higher levels so you can identify folks who are infected, get them to self isolate and stop the spread, said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo at a news conference Thursday. Santa Clara County has 48 cases  more than any other part of the state.

The county is doing its best, Liccardo said, but we know the numbers are many, many times higher than that for the actual number of infected residents in our county. Until we have the testing, were flying blind.

Even defining the testing shortfalls has proved challenging, since many counties dont know, or wont say, exactly how many people have been tested, or how many test kits they have.

Things are improving, but there are still challenges, said Gov. Gavin Newsom in a news conference. And we need to own up to that and be forthright about the challenges.

Forthright has been hard to come by in some areas. But below are answers to some of the most pressing questions around coronavirus testing.

Q: How many people have been tested?

A: Newsom said Thursday that 1,573 tests, which involve taking a sample with a swab to the throat or nose, had been done in California in public health laboratories. More people have been tested through commercial labs, and places like Stanford that are doing their own testing  but exactly how many isnt clear. No one agency appears to be tracking total tests.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11,079 samples have been tested at CDC and state laboratories as of Tuesday. But samples arent the same as people. In most cases, multiple samples are tested for each person, and many people are tested more than once.

Early in the U.S. outbreak, the CDC was posting regular updates on the number of people tested, but it is no longer tracking that, at least publicly.

At the county level in California, reporting differs from place to place. Public health officials in several Bay Area counties, including San Francisco, said they dont know how many people have been tested because commercial laboratories are taking some of the load and they are not required to report all tests. San Francisco officials said they can perform several dozen tests a day at the county lab on on Grove Street, but they would not say how many had been done at that location so far.

Other counties were more forthcoming. Contra Costa County officials said they had tested 19 people at the county public health lab as of Wednesday. Sonoma County had tested 29 as of Tuesday. Napa County reported that nine people had been tested as of Wednesday  seven through the county lab, and two through a commercial lab.

Q: Is testing going to increase?

A: Yes  but its hard to say when, and by how much.

Newsom said the state currently has more than 8,200 tests, but some of them are missing an ingredient necessary to process them. State public health authorities are working now to move resources between labs so that all of the tests can be used.

Nineteen public health labs in the state are now authorized to do testing, but one of them has not yet started. Two commercial labs, Quest and LabCorp, also are testing now. When those labs reach full capacity, they will be able to test 5,000 or more people a day, Newsom said. But it wasnt clear exactly when that would happen.

Stanford, UCSF and some other academic and private health care providers also have started testing. Stanford said it is testing 20 to 30 people a day, and is working to ramp it up to 1,000 per day. UCSF said last Friday that it would be testing 30 to 100 patients a day this week.

Q: What is the hold up in doing more testing?

A: Initially, there was a massive backlog because every test had to go through the CDC labs in Atlanta. In some cases people werent getting results for two weeks. The CDC began sending testing kits to state labs in mid-February, but those first kits were faulty and had to be recalled. Usable testing kits didnt make it to state labs until the end of February.

But all of the kits were still coming from the CDC, which simply hasnt been producing enough to meet demand. The Food and Drug Administration has tried to speed up approval of non-CDC tests to allow commercial and academic labs to begin testing, but that process still takes time.

Meanwhile, there continue to be shortages of some key components in the CDC testing kits. Newsom described the missing ingredient as youre going to the store and purchasing a printer but forgetting to purchase the ink.

Another limiting factor is the capacity of the labs themselves. Many of them lack the equipment and staff necessary to meet the high demands for testing, said Kelly Wroblewski, director of the infectious disease program with the Association of Public Health Laboratories. The labs are trying to ramp up by moving people and equipment from other testing areas to coronavirus, but that takes time.

Q: Why dont we know how many people have been tested?

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.

A: There are a few reasons these numbers are hard to pin down. Some local public health authorities have said they wont provide that information for privacy reasons, though they wont say how raw numbers could infringe on individuals right to privacy.

Another factor is that most labs track the number of samples tested, not individuals. So it can be complicated to determine how many people are being tested based on the sample count, said Wroblewski. The commercial labs coming on board may further confuse the issue since they are not required to report all tests to counties  only the positive ones.

Q: Who should be getting tested?

A: This answer has shifted with time  and continues to be dynamic, public health experts said. Technically, anyone can be tested now at a doctors discretion. But there is not nearly enough testing capacity to do that.

Initially, the CDC would only test people who had recently traveled to China or who had been in close contact with someone who had already been diagnosed with COVID-19. But at the end of February, a Solano County woman with no known risk factors tested positive, four days after her doctors said they had requested a test and been refused. Her case became the fist known community-acquired infection in the United States, and not long after, the CDC agreed to expand testing.

In places where testing kits are in very short supply, public health officials said they are prioritizing people with known risk factors  such as a travel history or known exposure to another case  and people who are very ill and already hospitalized. Some areas are beginning to expand testing beyond that to people who work in health care or who work with older adults who are at risk of serious illness.

Q: Should I be getting tested?

A: The answer is probably no.

People over age 60 or who have underlying health problems like heart disease or diabetes should call their doctor if they have a fever and cough. Their doctor will probably advise them to keep an eye on their symptoms and check in if they get worse. As more testing becomes available, this group of people will likely be prioritized for testing.

Health care workers and people who work with seniors should also call their doctors if they have symptoms. They too may be prioritized for testing.

But most people do not need, and should not ask for, testing for coronavirus. About 80% of people who are infected will experience only mild symptoms and wont require medical care. Plus, there is no treatment for COVID-19, so even if a test comes back positive the course of care wont change.

People who have a fever and respiratory symptoms should stay home and keep their distance from others as much as possible. They should not demand a coronavirus test, unless they have reason to think they may be at risk of serious illness or they work with vulnerable communities.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Sarah Ravani and Catherine Ho contributed to this report.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday
(JNS) There are a lot of people who are relieved that Michael Bloomberg has dropped out of the Democratic primary race, and not all of them are named Biden.

The withdrawal of the former mayor of New York City gives a boost to former Vice President Joe Biden. Bloombergs jumping on the Biden bandwagon removes the last competition for more moderate Democratic primary voters and lessens the chances that Sen. Bernie Sanders will become the Democratic nominee. Thats a relief for both centrists who fear the Vermont Socialist cant beat President Donald Trump, as well as supporters of Israel who have been rightly outraged by Sanderss slanderous attacks on AIPAC and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But Bloombergs exit from the presidential contest also brings a sigh of relief to those who feared that his wild spending was providing ammunition to anti-Semites.

The idea that Jews buy political influence to pursue secret agendas has been a trope of anti-Semites dating back to the publication of the fake Protocols of the Elders of Zion at the start of the 20th century. Its been revived in various forms, including by some anti-Semitic supporters of Sanders, such as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who claimed that supporters of Israel were purchasing Congress in her now famous quip: Its all about the Benjamins.

Indeed, the fact that Bloomberg and two other billionaires with Jewish ties, George Soros and Tom Steyer (who has a Jewish father and who also recently ended a futile presidential bid) have been the largest donors to Democratic candidates and liberal political causes in recent years has created an unhealthy dialogue about campaign finance and anti-Semitism. The slightest hint of criticism of the triowho have invested large sums promoting liberal politicians and policieshas been seized upon as evidence of Jew-baiting.

That was also true with respect to Bloombergs astounding spending on his presidential campaign. Indeed, even a gentle jibe from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) about how Bloomberg could not only direct coverage of his campaign by his own media empire, but was purchasing other media, provoked Anti-Defamation League CEO and national director Jonathan Greenblatt to denounce the senator for encouraging anti-Semitism. Greenblatt, a partisan figure who has done much to trash the ADLs reputation, was dead wrong, but his smear of Cruz was indicative of the way some on the left have developed a hair-trigger response to any discussion of the way Bloomberg, and especially Soros, spend money on politics.

But given the scale of Bloombergs spending, there was no way to avoid a discussion about the topic.

Reportedly, the billionaire spent approximately $570 million on television ads alone. He spent even more on staff and other campaign costs, raising his total expenditures to what might have been somewhere in the vicinity of $1 billion. That sum dwarfs any previous presidential effort. Bloomberg financed all of this out of his own pocket and with an estimate of approximately $55 billion, its clear that doing so was no hardship.

That he failed miserably is credited to his inept performances in presidential debates, though the postmortem on his candidacy involves more than just a reminder that presidential politics is not a sport for those who are unwilling to do the heavy lifting of retail campaigning and debate preparation.

The moral of the Bloomberg candidacy is one that is heartening for those who worry about the role money plays in democracies. It may be true that no one can successfully run for any major office without serious financial backing. But Bloomberg has proven that money by itself cannot purchase the presidency, even when it is spent at an astounding rate.

If you calculate his spending on TV ads alone and divide by the number of Democratic convention delegates he won, that amounts to approximately $11 million per delegatea ludicrous sum that beggars any previous such effort.

This pathetic return on his investment is also a reminder to those who think that American democracy is being hacked by Russian meddling, not to exaggerate the impact of campaign spending.

According to the report issued by Special Counsel Robert Mueller about the 2016 presidential election, Russian operatives spent approximately $1.2 million per month on Facebook ad campaigns and other efforts that were aimed at discrediting Hillary Clinton, and boosting the efforts of then candidate Trump and Sanderss primary challenge to the eventual Democratic nominee.

This was both appalling and illegal. But its difficult to make a rational argument that the Russian adsmany of which were barely intelligible and mostly seen by a relatively small audiencestole that election when Bloombergs astronomically larger spending on far more sophisticated and expertly targeted ads couldnt even purchase him a competitive primary campaign, let alone the Democratic nomination.

Thats a good reason to ignore the hysteria about Bloombergs spending, even if it was unseemly. More to the point, the whole notion of anybody purchasing the American political system is bunk. In particular, that means Israel-bashers should understand that if the Jewish state has the support of most Americans, its not because of AIPAC or donors, but simply because most Americans support Zionism and the Jewish state.

Nor should we be quick to demonize spending on political speech even if it is sometimes, as Bloomberg proved, both egregious and an exercise in futility. Although anti-Semites continue to harp on the notion of Jewish money buying influence, that shouldnt stop anyone using the right of free speech to advocate for their ideas. Indeed, advocacy for causes or candidates is exactly what Americas Founding Fathers were thinking about when they wrote the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, even if they couldnt have imagined television or social media.

Michael Bloomberg may have wasted a great deal of money in recent months, but he shouldnt be blamed for helping anti-Semites. Nor should we castigate those who have lampooned his profligacy. Instead, we should celebrate the fact that though imperfect, democracy still works even when some try to game the system.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNSJewish News Syndicate. Follow him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin.
ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor has started the process of pursuing ISO 50001 certification, a global standard for energy management.

The International Organization for Standardization established the standard to help companies reduce energy use, electricity bills, and greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. Department of Energy established the 50001 Ready program to give companies a self-guided pathway to attain the designation.

Burns Harbor is excited to be working toward becoming 50001 Ready and, eventually, 50001 certified, said John Mengel, recently retired vice president and general manager of ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor. In many ways, Burns Harbor has been preparing for this process for several years now, making great strides in implementing practices that are making us a more energy-efficient operation. I have great confidence in the team that has been assembled to execute this important energy management program.

To achieve the international certification, ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor will self-assess its progress in categories: planning, energy review, continual improvement, and system management. The steel mill already fully meets the criteria of eight of the 25 steps required.
(Newser)  Thursday was "one of the longest days ever," per the Washington Post, capped off with late-night TV with no studio audiencesjust staffers, friends, and family. After a seeming avalanche of cancellations and closings across the nation due to the new coronavirus, Stephen Colbert hosted his CBS Late Show in front of just a few employees, where things got "deeply weird" as Colbert sipped bourbon, leaped around the stage, and screamed at the coronavirus. "I've had a little too much of this stuff over here, I think," he said, referencing his drink. Meanwhile, on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, Pete Buttigieg filled in for Kimmel, and the ex-Oval Office candidate made the best of things. "It's disappointing, because as you all know, I love to crowd-surf," Buttigieg joked before interviewing Sir Patrick Stewart. "When you don't have a real audience, you have to fake one. Just like Trump's inauguration," Buttigieg said.

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On Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show on NBC, the host was more serious, noting, "I'm just as confused and freaked out as you are. ... But what I do know is when we're there for each other, we're at our best. And I am here for you." Deadline reports four New York City-based showsColbert's and Fallon's, as well as Late Night with Seth Meyers and Wendy Williams' syndicated programhave since decided to temporarily halt production, as a state of emergency has been declared in New York. The first three shows are on hold until March 30, Williams' show "until further notice." Bill Maher tweeted he's also put his HBO show on hiatus. A slew of other shows are, for now, nixing their live studio audiences, including The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and The Late Late Show with James Corden. It's unclear if these programs will soon shutter temporarily as well. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) London, United Kingdom  Fri, March 13, 2020 15:02 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a5e5ab 2 Food Chefs,France,Britain,Michel-Roux,cooking Free

French chef Michel Roux, widely acknowledged as helping kickstart modern restaurant dining in Britain with Le Gavroche in London, has died at the age of 78, his scholarship fund said Thursday.

"We are deeply saddened to have lost our founding father, Michel Roux OBE," said a statement from the Roux Scholarship, a competition set up by the chef and his brother Albert to identify new talent.

"A humble genius, legendary chef, popular author and charismatic teacher, Michel leaves the world reeling in his wake.

"Michel's star will shine forever, lighting the way for a generation of chefs to follow," it added.

Roux, who had battled pulmonary fibrosis for some time, followed his brother to London in the 1960s where the pair opened the signature restaurant in 1967, at a time when Britain's reputation for cuisine was in tatters.

Read also: The one ingredient the worlds top chefs cant do without

The restaurant, along with The Waterside Inn that they opened in nearby Bray, Berkshire, were both awarded Michelin stars in 1974 and again in 1977, as fine dining slowly began to permeate British culture.

"The Waterside Inn" in 1985 became the first restaurant outside France to win three stars, and still retains its rating under the leadership of Michel's son Alain.

The brothers were also at the forefront of the television cookery revolution in Britain, hosting a show in the early 1980s.

Michel also appeared on popular cooking shows MasterChef -- presented by his nephew Michel Jr -- and Saturday Kitchen.

He founded the Roux Brothers Scholarship along with Albert in 1984.
Photo: Unsplash

You can leave your umbrella at home for today, but light rainfall is in the forecast for Berkeley starting on Saturday, according to the seven-day forecast from drone-powered weather service Saildrone. The highest chance of rain is predicted on Monday at 70%, with the potential for light rainfall of 0.82 inches.

The immediate forecast also has mild temperatures in store for today. Temperatures will reach a weekly high of 63 degrees today, then turn cooler from Saturday through Tuesday, reaching a high of just 47 degrees on Monday.

Winds are expected to rise as high as 19 mph today but will calm somewhat on Saturday. Skies will be cloudy today.

This story was created automatically using Saildrone's local weather forecast data, then reviewed by an editor. We also incorporate historic weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Julia Collins, Founder and CEO of Planet FWD

Planet FWD, a San Francisco, CA-based company building a regenerative food platform, raised $2.7m in seed funding.

The round was led by BBG Ventures, with participation from Cleo Capital, Maveron, Kapor Capital, Incite Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Jane VC and F7 Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to bring the platform to market.

Led by Julia Collins, Founder and CEO, Planet FWD is building a climate-focused snack brand, sourced from regenerative ingredients to reduce carbon emissions in the food system and promote carbon-capturing farming practices. The company is also creating a regenerative food platform, connecting brands and consumers who are hungry for climate-friendly ingredients to farmers and suppliers who are using regenerative practices.

FinSMEs

13/03/2020
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12)  The media should "use the word lockdown properly as the term could sow public fear in relation to the coronavirus outbreak, the Department of Interior and Local Government said in an appeal on Thursday.

The agency spokesperson, Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, said using the word constantly and lightly has repercussions, including panic buying.

He noted the negative connotation of a lockdown as it is typically used to describe prisoners confined to their cells.

Malaya made the statement after some reports used lockdown to mean closed.

Some government offices have been temporarily closed for disinfection.

When a building or compound is closed for disinfecting or for other purposes, thats not a lockdown. That only means that the building, compound or place is closed and therefore we should accurately described it as such. Its just closed, he said.

Malaya also said that while the Interior department and the police are ready for such an occurrence, there is no compelling reason to implement the extreme measure just yet.

He then reminded the media of their responsibility to use the proper terms because it needs to relay the facts.

People watch the news of lockdowns in China and Italy so they know what it means. So when we use the word lockdown improperly in the local setting, it causes panic and fear, he said.

Sixteen more COVID-19 cases have been recorded by the Health department, bringing the total number to 49 as of Wednesday, with two fatalities.
Editor's note: In early March, Inc. reported on how small companies across the U.S. were preparing for disruptions related to the coronavirus outbreak. Here's an update on the steps they're taking to respond to the rapidly changing business environment.

Pacific Manufacturing: Crafting new work arrangements

The coronavirus has only just started to hit San Diego, but Pacific Manufacturing, a private-label sock business, has seen how quickly it could change everything. Its 12 employees in Haining, China, have finally returned to work in staggered shifts--a social distancing measure--following a two-week quarantine.

Founder and CEO Harold Robison says he is ramping up preparations for his six U.S.-based employees, by:

changing the company's sick-leave policies to ensure that everyone will get paid in the event of extended stretches of illness,

pausing hiring plans due to the possible difficulty of onboarding new employees remotely, and

investigating the liability issues of hosting child care in his office.

Next week, the company will test remote work arrangements for all U.S. employees for three days. Robison says a longer-term work-from-home policy could come as soon as the following week.

At the beginning of March, Robison predicted a 15 percent drop in 2020 revenue due to decreased supply. Now, he's worried that he failed to account for the drop in demand that extended quarantines and an economic downturn would bring.

"If no one's going outside, they're not buying apparel," he says. "We're all kind of waiting to see if it's going to be back to normal in 60 days, or if this is a new reality."

Wonderffle: Keeping the cash flowing

Give Wonderffle's Mike Bradford some credit for making the most of a tough situation. The Pflugerville, Texas-based waffle-iron maker's founder and sole employee still isn't receiving inventory from China. He's been sold out of his top-selling product since early January. But he's been given a target date of mid-April to start getting products again.

To help cover the weeks of lost revenue and opportunity, he recently withdrew $8,000 from his 401(k) plan and switched up his sales strategies, sacrificing profit margins to ensure a base level of cash flow. Meantime, he's been creating prototypes for a new product line in his garage and filming YouTube videos featuring his stuffed-waffle irons. He says the videos have already led to a partnership opportunity with a flour company.

His products are practically the definition of non-essential items, Bradford acknowledges, meaning an economic downturn would be particularly problematic for him. But he isn't panicking yet.

"I'm optimistic, because I've invested a lot in this business so far. And it's too early to be pessimistic about it," he says. "We talk next week. It could be worse. But right now, things are still looking OK."

Cool Beauty Consulting/Nova Salon: Leading with optimism

Bennie Pollard owns a two-location hair salon business, as well as a company that supplies products for hair salons. Most of the employees of Louisville-based Cool Beauty Consulting and Nova Salon are either hairdressers or salespeople. It's hard to do someone's hair without physical interaction, and it's hard to close deals over Zoom.

Not surprisingly, Pollard foresees a dip in sales over the next 30 to 60 days. But he's also predicting an upswing once the coronavirus passes, with stir-crazy consumers wanting to get back out into the world.

"I don't think we'll make up all of the loss," he says. "Yes, I think we're going to get tested a little while. We're going to lose some momentum. But I also think that the upswing is going to be real sharp."

Some of that upbeat rhetoric is a leadership strategy, Pollard says. "We have to help our people feel better about the current situation," he says. "That optimism is going to spill over into my people. And I need them to have some emotional support, so they can still concentrate and do some nice business."

More coverage
(Photo : Screenshot from Twitter of @verge)

Google is now reported to be imposing policies on Android TV manufacturers. This policy is targetting other operating systems, for instance, the Fire OS, which is installed on Amazon Fire TV.





Read More: Apple's New Releases Could Help The Tech Giant Bounce Back From Coronavirus

By violating this indicated policy, Google will be forced to revoke licenses from them and rendering them unable to include Google Play Store and Services on their devices.





Only Google





The Android Compatibility Commitment is a policy made by Google that restricts other OS from being installed and used in Android TV. Google says that if these TV manufacturers want to have Google Applications on their TV, and particularly, Google Playstore, they must not be running third party operating systems.

This means that only Android versions that are approved by Google will be able to take advantage of Google's vast app store.

According to Protocol, this move initiated by Google limits TV manufacturers to only Google and not partner with Google's primary competitor in the Smart TV market, which is amazon.





Chain Reaction





It turns out that by cutting ties with Google would also mean disaster for several Smart TV manufacturers. This is a very crucial decision, especially for manufacturers who are also producing smartphones. The effects of not choosing Google will also be felt on their mobile devices.

This only means that they wouldn't be able to include Google's application ecosystem to their smartphones, which is by far a huge reason why a lot of people buy a smartphone. Google's share on the mobile market is vast and is continually outscoring its major competitors.





Read More: Price Gouging Alert! Amazon, eBay Bans Sales of Sanitizers, Face Masks Amid Coronavirus





Google's Intentions

According to some statements from Google, they are doing everything in the policy to implement a more secure user experience. They also add that TV manufacturers that use Google's application are provided with security and, at the same time, being reviewed to make sure that things go along with what they have in mind.





Google also noted that their intentions for this policy are for information privacy and security of their users and customers.

Another thing that Google is concerned with using a different operating system is that compatibility isn't always guaranteed. They would miss a lot of opportunities to test applications on third-party operating systems.

Third Competitor





While it is widely known that Amazon and Google are performing well on the Smart TV market, a third competitor seems to be gaining the upper hand.

Roku, another OS and Android TV option are reported to have achieved approximately 30 percent of shares in new TV purchases in the United States' first quarter.

These Roku sales are combined with its TV box variant that can be used in any kind of TV with a built-in HDMI display. Smart TV's that have Roku installed is also counted.

The Amazon Fire TV is reported to have achieved 12 percent of sales, almost half of what Roku made in the first quarter. Despite Google's efforts to remove Amazon on their targetted manufacturers, they have seen to be performing under as they have only achieved 9 percent.

Roku's dominance proves to last long, and despite Amazon and Google's effort to outrun each other, Roku still is at the top. Google, however, might seem several improvements because of these policies they are about to ship.





Read More: Netizens React to E3 2020 Cancellation As E3 2020 Eyes Hosting An Online Event





























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In the United States, corned beef tends to have two primary applications: on a sandwich with a little mustard as an iconic Jewish deli dish, and on a platter with cabbage and potatoes at Irish pubs. As these dishes couldnt be more culturally different, we have to wonder: is corned beef actually Irish?

The Best Sandwich in Every State

The answer to that question, as you might have already surmised, is no. If you travel to Ireland in search of great corned beef and cabbage, youre only going to find it at the tourist traps. What you will find is bacon and cabbage, one of Irelands most popular and beloved dishes, which is made with Irish-style back bacon, not American-style bacon.

So where did corned beef and cabbage come from?

A lot of people think that corned beef is from Ireland. Corned beef is not from Ireland, Joe Mallol, the executive chef at New Yorks acclaimed Irish pub, The Dead Rabbit, said. You go there, you dont find corned beef. Corned beef is Americanized.

When the Potato Famine brought many Irish immigrants to New York City in the 1800s, they were unable to find their traditional back bacon, but had no trouble tracking down corned beef. It was a cheap and easy substitution, so it quickly caught on. Corned beef and cabbage is an edible example of America being a melting pot, and you can try it for yourself at many of Americas best Irish pubs.
Michel Roux never did things in haste. Just as he took time in the kitchen over his signature cheese souffle, so he conducted his life with equal precision.

He was over 40 when he married the great love of his life, and he waited until the age of 59 to write his autobiography.

He adopted the same scrupulous care when it came to weighing the merits, or otherwise, of the TV chefs who had followed in his pioneering footsteps.

But the observations, when they came, were as breathtaking as the prices at the Waterside Inn, his glorious three Michelin-starred establishment on the banks of the Thames at Bray in Berkshire.

Roux, the French-born gourmand and restaurateur who has died aged 78, had every right to pass judgment. With his brother, Albert, he changed the way the world felt about British food.

When he and Albert, six years his senior, opened their first restaurant on Londons Lower Sloane Street in 1967, British cooking was considered a bad joke. Together, the Roux brothers brought Paris-style fine dining to the capital and their culinary influence and gastronomy leaves an enduring legacy.

Michel Roux never did things in haste. Just as he took time in the kitchen over his signature cheese souffle, so he conducted his life with equal precision, writes Richard Kay

Michel trained some of the best-known chefs in the country, including Pierre Koffmann, Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White.

His views on that generation were often as beautifully crafted as his delicious dishes. On Ramsay, famous for his temper tantrums, Roux was clear: Gordon is good, but not a genius, adding for good measure that he was no better than anyone else.

As for Jamie Oliver, he was barely worth commenting on. In an exchange as sharp as his rhubarb coulis, he pronounced: Hes not a chef, so we dont talk about him.

So what of Marco, that other enfant terrible of the kitchen? To be a great chef, you have to be a gourmet, he opined. Marco Pierre White had the palate so, for me, he was and still is the greatest.

Praise indeed  but the hot-headed Marco did not always reciprocate. He once reportedly said of his former patron: I dont like his food, restaurant or person. Hes yesterdays man and should accept it. He even said he hoped Rouxs restaurant  a long-time favourite of the Royal Family  would sink in the Thames.

However, he was generous in his tribute to Roux yesterday, saying he had created a movement, not a following.

When he and Albert, six years his senior, opened their first restaurant on Londons Lower Sloane Street in 1967, British cooking was considered a bad joke (pictured together at the 25th anniversary of Le Gavrouche in London, 1992)

Roux viewed Marcos youthful insubordination with haughty indifference. But then, he had earned his place at the very top of the culinary tree.

For more than half a century, his were the standards any aspiring chef looked up to.

Born in Charolles, near Lyons, Michel Rouxs earliest memory was the smell from the charcuterie run by his father Henri and grandfather, and of what was bubbling on his mother Germaines stove.

There were four children  Michel, Albert and their sisters Liliane and Martine. My mother was a marvellous cook, he recalled. I was so impatient to get to the table, Id lift the lids off the pots and poke my nose in to savour the smell. Sometimes I burnt myself.

We were all gourmands but Albert and I more than the others. We were the sort of family who would be talking about dinner while we were eating lunch.

He was very small when he began helping in the kitchen, putting my finger in the dough and pressing it into the mould to make a flan.

Journalist William Greaves is served a dish From British Airways' New Cordon Bleu Menu by BA hostess Yvonne Edmond, designed by Chef Michel Roux in 1982

At that time, France was divided and occupied by the Germans. In 1944, fearing the menacing presence of enemy troops, they moved to a friends farm, where they remained until the war ended.

They had a shock in store when Michels father abruptly abandoned his family and left home. I was nine, Albert 14 and our little sister just a baby, Roux remembered. By then Liliane, the eldest, was working in the charcuterie and life was tough.

Because of his father, a gambler who followed the credo of communists and socialists, Roux had a lifelong aversion to Left-wing politics (indeed, in 1992 he threatened to leave the UK over Labour tax plans).

His mother eventually decided to move the family to Paris for a new start. She scratched a living making sausages, hot dogs and hamburgers to sell in a market.

Both brothers knew that food would be their future. At 14, Albert left school and was apprenticed to a patissier. Michel later followed him.

Michel trained some of the best-known chefs in the country, including Pierre Koffmann, Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White

He founded Le Gavroche in London with his older brother Albert in 1967, followed by The Waterside Inn in Bray (pictured) in 1972

While still a teenager, he went to work in the kitchen of the British Embassy in Paris as a pastry cook. It was there that the seeds of his lifelong interest in Britain were sown  and where he was exposed to such culinary eccentricities as kedgeree, Christmas pudding and Stilton cheese.

Soon after, he moved into private catering as commis-chef to the French branch of the Rothschild family. The mistress of this household was the formidable hostess Cecile de Rothschild, the companion and protector of reclusive Hollywood star Greta Garbo.

Albert, who had also gone into private catering, was by then working in England for the family of the Queen Mothers racehorse trainer, Major Peter Cazalet.

When Albert ended up in hospital after a car crash, the Cazalets sent an SOS to Michel. The Queen Mother was coming to stay at their home near Tonbridge in Kent and they desperately needed a cook.

From Burgundy to Britain: Michel Roux's life 1941: Born in Charolles, Saone, France 1967: At just 26 he opens La Gavroche in Sloane Street with brother Albert 1972: The pair open Waterside Inn in Bray 1974: Le Gavroche and Waterside Inn both get first Michelin star 1977: They both get second Michelin star 1982: Le Gavroche gets third star after moving to Mayfair 1984: The chef launches his Roux scholarship 1985: Waterside Inn gets third star and wins restaurant of the year 1986: Michel focuses on Waterside, Albert takes over La Gavroche 2015: Waterside Inn reaches 30 years with three Michelin stars Advertisement

My mother rang up the Rothschilds and they agreed to let Michel come for the weekend, Anthony Cazalet recalled yesterday. Everyone was pleased but I do know the Rothschilds were furious when the brothers then decided to open their own restaurant.

It was 1967 and in Chelsea, in the heart of swinging London, that they brought elegant but formal French cuisine to the capital, working 15-hour days to build Le Gavroche into one of Londons most sought-after destinations. Their first menu contained many of the signature dishes of later years, including souffles Suissesses (twice-baked cheese souffles with plenty of cream), roast duck in two servings, and a choice of elaborate desserts. Seven years later they had a Michelin star, the first of many.

In 1972 they acquired an old pub in Bray which was to become the iconic Waterside Inn. A near neighbour was TVs Michael Parkinson, who recalled that Michel was uncompromising in his attitude to what we should eat. He was a zealot, in a sense, and there was a lot of local opposition... he sailed through it. In the end he educated us all.

By 1977, both restaurants had secured two Michelin stars. Other establishments were opened but the Waterside and Le Gavroche remained the prize venues. The brothers also launched the Roux Scholarship, hoping to pass on their passion for food and cooking to aspiring young chefs.

Soon after securing Le Gavroches new home in Mayfair, they decided to separate their business. While Albert remained with Le Gavroche, Michel retreated to the Waterside Inn, which in 1996 prepared the food for the Queens private 70th birthday party. By then Roux was divorced from his first wife, with whom he had two children. On a visit to Australia in 1982 he met Robyn on a blind date. It was something of a coup de foudre. He had told a friend he wanted to meet a nice girl in Sydney, who had something up there in the brain department and loved her food and wine.

Four days later he asked the young woman to move to England with him. She agreed, and in 1984 the couple married. (Robyn predeceased him, dying in 2017.)

The brothers were always in great demand on TV, not least because they seemed so different both physically and in their cooking styles; while Albert preferred provincial food, Michel loved gastronomy. And viewers were gripped by their bickering  over the right way to cook eggs, for instance  although the rivalry was always affectionate.

Their show At Home With The Roux Brothers ran during the 1980s and is still available on YouTube. Watching them squabble as they saw through bones is still a joy.

In 2002, Roux handed over the day-to-day running of the Waterside Inn to his son Alain.

It is hard to know where food and restaurants would have been without Michel Roux, an adopted son of this country who brought his very special brand of Gallic flair to titillate and delight the jaded British palate.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 18:35 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a6c871 1 Business Indonesia-Stock-Exchange,debut,listing,Metro-Healthcare,Makmur-Berkah,share-price-fluctuations,stocks,market-rout,trading,suspension Free

Healthcare provider PT Metro Healthcare Indonesia and property developer PT Makmur Berkah Amanda Tbk defied steep losses in the broader market when their shares were listed for the first time on the local stock exchange on Friday.

As trading was halted at 9:15 a.m. following a 5 percent plunge in the main index, the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI), the two companies saw their initial shares listing defying the broader market and receiving a warm welcome.

Share prices of PT Metro Healthcare, traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) under the code CARE, climbed 6.8 percent to Rp 110 per share, from Rp 103 per share during its initial public offering (IPO) and just a few minutes after trading started.

PT Makmur Berkahs shares, listed under the code AMAN, rose by 34.55 percent to Rp 148 per share from its IPO price of Rp 110 per share.

Read also: Indonesian stocks close higher after dramatic morning plunge

Despite the relatively warm welcome from investors  considering that the bourse has entered bear market territory defined as experiencing a 20 percent drop from a recent high  as trading of all shares on the IDX was suspended for 30 minutes following a new trading halt regulation put in place on Wednesday.

This came to no surprise for Makmur Berkah president director Adi Saputra Tedja as the global market saw a historic rout on Thursday with circuit breakers triggered in several countries around the world and some markets plunging at levels unseen since the 1980s.

Yesterday [Thursday], I predicted that as we are listed, [trading at the bourse] would be halted, Adi told reporters during the initial listing ceremony at the IDX in Jakarta.

He added that the company decided to go on with its listing as we are confident about our companys fundamentals, though he conceded that market confidence was low right now.

During the companies IPO, which took place earlier this month, Metro Healthcare and Makmur Berkah raised Rp 1.1 trillion (US$75.38 million) and Rp 64.35 billion, respectively.

Read also: Indosat to spend another Rp 9.5 trillion this year to expand 4G network

Metro Healthcare plans to allocate 60 percent of its IPO funds to land acquisitions, 30 percent to building a hospital in Majalaya district in Bandung, West Java, and 10 percent to its subsidiaries for their working capital.

We hope the [Majalaya] hospital can be fully operational in the second half of next year. [We] will need around one year to build the hospital, Metro Healthcare president director Henry Kembaren said on Friday, adding that the company currently operated seven hospitals.

Meanwhile, Makmur Berkah, which mostly works in developing industrial areas and building storage complexes, will allocate 60 percent of its proceeds for land acquisitions, 30 percent for working capital and 10 percent will be channeled through its subsidiary.

We will acquire land in Sidoarjo, East Java. From the point of view of logistics storage, its a good location because its right in the middle [of the province]. [Goods can be delivered] to Tanjung Perak, Bali and surrounding areas, Adi said, explaining how the acquisition would help expand the company's business operations.

Read also: Stock falls capped at 7%, no pre-opening trade as IDX prevents steep drops amid global market rout

Metro Healthcare and Makmur Berkah became the 17th and 18th companies, respectively, listed on the stock market this year. Last year, the IDX only saw 55 new listings, down from the 57 in the previous year.

After trading resumed, the two companies stocks remained in the green zone. Metro Healthcare closed Fridays trade at Rp 139 per share, a nearly 35 percent increase, and Makmur Berkah concluded at Rp 148 per share, also close to a 35 percent rise. (ydp)
MUMBAI, India, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As a key pharma supply player, ACG is committed to working with its partners to 'make the world healthier'. This means that of primary concern is the health of all people - around the world, and also in its own workplace.

So, in light of an escalation in the severity of the coronavirus pandemic - and effective immediately - ACG has mandated that wherever business functions allow, employees around the world should now work from home. ACG is encouraging its staff to make use of all available IT solutions, and has committed to covering the associated expenses of working remotely. Furthermore, a company-wide ban on travel has been imposed, and participation at events and exhibitions suspended.

ACG has also taken proactive preventative measures to ensure the safety of factory bound workers, including daily screening with thermal scanners, providing easy access to sanitisers, and regular cleaning of all workspaces and commute buses. A crisis plan has also been developed in case an emergency situation arises.

In this time of medical crisis, and in support of its pharma partners, ACG has reaffirmed its commitment to providing uninterrupted supply of its products and services, and factories in all locations around the world are working at full capacity. The company has also taken proactive measures to ensure supply of its own raw materials for many months.

On the measures taken to fight COVID-19, Mr. Sunil Jha, Group CHRO of ACG, said, "We are doing everything we possibly can to safeguard the health of our associates and communities, while also ensuring our ability to honour commitments made to pharmaceutical customers in terms of meeting their increased requirements. These are unprecedented times calling for unprecedented measures, and we promise to stand strong alongside all healthcare providers fighting on the front lines of this pandemic."

About ACG

In accordance with our commitment to making the world healthier, ACG has now been delivering innovative and integrated solutions to the global pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry for almost sixty years, and in over a hundred countries across six continents.

ACG is an integrated pharma manufacturing solutions company, with products ranging from capsules, to film and foil barriers, to engineering equipment, to inspection systems - all that meet international regulatory requirements.

For more information, please contact ACG's media relations team at :

Tanya Grover

tanya.grover@acg-world.com

Madhurima Chakraborty

madhurima.chakraborty@acg-world.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/640402/ACG_Logo.jpg
By Azernews

By Akbar Mammadov

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has said that the Sumgayit events of 1988 were a provocation masterminded by extremist Armenian organizations to justify Yerevans intention to illegally annex Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region to Armenia. The ministry made the remarks in its Twitter account on March 12.

Twenty-six Armenians and Azerbaijanis were killed during the ethnic violence in Azerbaijans Sumgayit city in February 1988.

An official investigation has established that Sumgait unrest in Feb 1988 had been a well-prepared provocation masterminded by Armenian extremist organizations to discredit Azerbaijan & cover-up Armenias unlawful annexationist intentions, the Foreign Ministrys said in its Twitter post.

The ministry also said that Azerbaijanis Permanent Representative to the United Nations has submitted a letter to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly in connection with Sumgayit events.

The ministry attached the letter that was submitted to the UN on March 5.

The letter was written by Yashar Aliyev with reference to the letter dated 28 February 2020 from the Permanent Representative of Armenia, containing as its annexe the statement of the MFA of Armenia on the commemoration of the so-called anti-Armenian pogroms in the city of Sumgait in February 1998.

No doubt, the said statement, which cynically alleges that Sumgait pogroms marked the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict when Azerbaijan responded to the peaceful appeal of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination, is yet another illustration of a blatant falsification and deliberate distortion of facts, the document by the Azerbaijani representative reads.

In the first part of the document, it was emphasized that the unrest in Sumgait, stirred up during the existence of the Soviet Union in February 1988, was preceded by carefully orchestrated attacks at the end of 1987 on the Azerbaijanis in Khankendi and in Armenia itself, resulting in a flood of Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons. In addition to that, the document mentioned that the forcible deportation of Azerbaijanis from Armenia started in its Kafan and Mehri districts in November 1987. It reminded that on February 22, 1988, Armenians opened fire on a peaceful demonstration, killing two Azerbaijani youths in Azerbaijan near the settlement of Asgaran on the Khankendi-Aghdam highway.

The second part of the document stresses that Armenias claims for self-determination in Azerbaijan are groundless and flawed for a number of reasons. The illegality within the Soviet legal system of the attempted separation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region from Azerbaijan was confirmed at the highest constitutional level."

Moreover, the resolutions (822, 853, 874, 884) on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict adopted by the UN Security Council were noted in the letter that Armenias territorial claims and actions are unlawful and incompatible with the prohibition of the use of the armed force in international relations, and have nothing in common with the right to self-determination.

In the conclusion, the document emphasizes that the official investigation established that it had been a well-prepared provocation masterminded by the Armenian extremist organizations Karabakh and Krunk to discredit Azerbaijan and cover-up Armenias unlawful annexationist intentions and violent methods for their achievement.

The investigation found that one of the organizers and perpetrators of criminal acts committed in Sumgayit, which claimed the lives of 26 Armenians and Azerbaijanis, was Eduard Grigoryan, an Armenian and resident of the city. Among the evidence collected by the investigation, the testimonies of the witnesses, including Armenians, provide irrefutable proof of his role and direct participation in violence. E. Grigoryan was sentenced to long-term imprisonment. Besides him, in all, 92 persons were brought to justice for offences in Sumgayit, the document reads.








THE first of what is planned to be an annual Vertikal Creative Ventures Writers Retreat will be in Tullamore May 28-June 8.

Writers from around the world and those living in the Tullamore area are invited to take part in a retreat for a small group of writers and poets, facilitated by North Carolina, USA Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton-Green.

This retreat is about more than sitting in a classroom, explains Vertikal Alliance International President/Publisher C. Stene Duckworth. Its being among people seeking space, rest, challenge and clarity for the next steps in your writing life.

The retreat includes accommodations and writing sessions at Grennans Country House (www.grennanscountryhouse.ie/) near Tullamore, plus transportation to and from the Dublin Airport and day trips that include to Shakefest Festival, a world cultures art and dance festival (www.shakefest.net/), Charleville Castle (www.charlevillecastle.ie), Tullamore Dew Welcome Center (www.tullamoredew.com,) Galway, Dublin, Tullamore Pub Crawl and more.

Sponsored by Vertikal Alliance International, a global media & communications firm, and Black Chateau Enterprises, an award-winning book public relations company, the Creative Salons writing sessions will include a Journey Exercise, Building Our Human Museums, and Writing in Liminal Spaces.

Attendee Laurie Fagen, a crime fiction novelist, is a member of the Chandler (AZ, USA) Tullamore Sister City, and this will be her fourth trip to Tullamore. She was twinned with former Tullamore Garda Michael Dalton, who also has written a crime thriller The Groundsmans Secret, and both were featured in the Tullamore Tribune.

As cultural chair of the Chandler Tullamore Sister City, Fagen is also interested in meeting other Tullamore writers for a social media writing project that will bring writers of all ages from Tullamore and Chandler together as part of the organizations community art project, slated for spring 2021.

Retreat facilitator Shelton-Green is the first African American and third woman to be appointed as the North Carolina Poet Laureate. Her collegiate and professional experiences include currently teaching Documentary Poetry at the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies; Visiting Professor for the Carlow University MFA Program; Lenoir-Rhyne University Writer-in-Residence; Duke University Teaching for Equity Fellow; Taller Portobelo Artist Colony in Portobelo Panama, University of Panama; Department of Cultural Resources for Brazil; and North Carolina African America Cultural Heritage Commission.

For retreat pricing details and schedule, visit https://www.vertikalalliance.com/vertikal-creative-ventures/. The retreat fee, which includes accommodations, transportation and breakfasts, does not include air fare, and must be paid in full by April 15.

Pricing for local Tullamore or Ireland residents is available and can be obtained by emailing Duckworth at c.duckworth@vertikalmediagroup.com.

Fagen can be contacted via email at Laurie@ReadLaurieFagen.com or via Facebook Messenger at Read Laurie Fagen.

Duckworth is president and publisher of Vertical Life magazine, Vertikal Media Group, Living Vertikal Radio station and more. For more information, visit https://www.vertikalalliance.com/
A Federal high court sitting in Abuja has ordered that the deposed Emir of Kano state, Sanusi Lamido be released immediately following his dethronement on Monday.

Since his dethronement, reports claim that he has been held in Awe community, Nasarawa.

The presiding judge, Justice Anwuli Chikere while granting the prayers of the dethroned Emirs lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi ordered that the release of the deposed monarch be served on the respondents to the application.

Read Also: How Sanusis Rift With Ganduje Started 3 Years Ago  Report

The respondents to the application are the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Adamu; the Director-General of the Department of State Service, Yusuf Bichi; the Attorney-General of Kano State, Ibrahim Muktar; and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN).

The judge fixed March 26 for further hearing in the case.
Real estate market activity in February was almost as high as in the same month of 2019, with more than 13,000 sales conducted over the course of the month, real estate broker Duna House says.

Sales were nearly 2% higher compared to the same period in 2018, and 3% lower compared to February 2019.



Duna House expects the spring to bring about a slight increase in sales, which will result in a stable, balanced real estate market, unless the economic and epidemiological circumstances change the fundamental market conditions.



In terms of prices, brick apartments continue to show an upward trend in all regions. The price of panel apartments went down slightly in Eastern Hungary and Budapest. Homebuyers were able to get a discount of 8-10% compared to guide prices, higher than the previous month, according to Duna House.



Selling time is still higher than last year, as an average of three months are needed to successfully sell a property. The proportion of first-time homebuyers has increased both in Budapest and in the countryside. Their share currently stands at 24% in the capital and 28% in the countryside.
On the day Jyotiraditya Scindia was to officially join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was seen cracking jokes and laughing with a few fellow lawmakers in Parliament.

The message to his party colleagues was clear: that life moves on and he wasnt too perturbed by the turn of events.

For a large section of the Congress, however, there are lessons to be learnt from the recent developments in Madhya Pradesh politics  dont take too many chances and unnecessarily antagonise people when the chips are already down.

The first effects of the MP revolt sprouted in Haryana when Jat strongman Bhupinder Singh Hooda got his way and wrested a Rajya Sabha ticket for his son Deepender Hooda.

Left in the lurch were Randeep Surjewala  a close aide of Rahul Gandhi  and Kumari Selja, who was interim Congress president Sonia Gandhis choice.

But the Gandhis decided against taking any chances. Bhupinder Hooda made it amply clear that he would not take lying down any attempts to deny his son a Rajya Sabha berth.

The Congress hadnt fared too badly in the Haryana elections late last year and the credit was given to Hooda. While the party missed forming the government by a whisker, the feeling was that if the senior leader had been given the charge earlier perhaps the scenario would have been more favourable. Infighting within the Congress cost it a win.

With Scindias exit, the top Congress leadership was caught in a bind. Should it give a chance to allegiants like Surjewala who on Rahuls request contested from the Jind seat despite knowing that it was a BJP stronghold? The eventual loss cost him his constituency in Kaithal.

A worried party leadership decided not to take chances and buckled under Hoodas pressure. Rahul had to give up on his choice as the Gandhis realised that a loss in the Rajya Sabha polls and exit of other leaders would spell further doom. In fact, when Rahul was repeatedly asked on Thursday in Parliament why his team and people were losing out, he seemed upset and called it a nonsensical question, preferring to focus on the economy.

So, the Gandhis had to compromise on the same issue which led to the exit of Scindia. A lack of visible political future perhaps triggered the former union ministers exit, a point conceded by Rahul himself in his interaction with the media.

Rahul said that he (Scindia) saw no political future, so decided to accept the RSS ideology.

Like Scindia, many young leaders like Sachin Pilot, Jitin Prasada, and others are apparently frustrated and waiting in the wings. And this is something which the Gandhis want to address. Deepender Hooda is young too, but he has a veteran Congress leader in his father to back him. Left to them, the first choice of the Gandhis could have been Surjewala or Selja. But given the circumstances, its perhaps politically prudent to compromise on their ideology with the desire to keep the party intact. Scindia, in his exit, has put that fear in the Congress.
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A 33-year-old Poynette man was charged Wednesday with threatening and resisting a law enforcement officer.

Casey L. Halvorson faces more than six years in prison and $20,000 in fines if convicted of the charges. Columbia County Circuit Court officers set a signature bond of $2,000.

According to the criminal complaint, a Poynette police officer responded to a report Wednesday from a family member who was concerned about Halvorsons condition after consuming alcohol and pills. The family member reported that he was slurring his words and stumbling and that his eyes were rolling back into his head.

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The officer went to the residence. The complaint says Halvorson became upset and asked the officer, who noticed signs of intoxication, to leave. The officer said he would not leave until he made sure Halvorson was safe.

The complaint says Halvorson went further into the apartment and said the officer would need backup and said he was going to fight, threatening to beat up the officer. The officer said EMS responders needed to check Halvorsons condition due to the report. More officers arrived with a canine and Halvorson submitted to arrest.
Warned about serious drought this year, provinces in the western part of the southern region have spent hundreds of billion dong to build fresh water reservoirs. But this is just a temporary solution.

According to Cao Van Trong, chair of Ben Tre province, in addition to Ba Tri Reservoir with the capacity of 1 million cubic meters, Ba Lai River will turn into a 1 billion cubic meter reservoir which will provide fresh water to Ben Tre City and neighboring districts, industrial zones and hospitals.

Ba Tri Rservoir in Ben Tre province





Meanwhile, Kien Giang province has asked MARD to submit to the Prime Minister a plan to budget VND400 billion for the building of a reservoir on Nguyen Tan Thanh Canal.



Drought and saline intrusion are the most serious in Ca Mau, where many roads have subsided by hundreds of meters.



The province is also building a reservoir in the U Minh Ha Forest buffer zone, estimated to cost $10 million, with funding from the World Bank.



However, experts point out that building freshwater reservoirs is just a temporary solution. In the long term, if saline intrusion continues, even freshwater reservoirs will also become salty.

Warned about serious drought this year, provinces in the western part of the southern region have spent hundreds of billion dong to build fresh water reservoirs. But this is just a temporary solution.

Luu Hoang Ly, director of the Bac Lieu provincial agriculture department, said that it would be better to think of storing freshwater for the entire Mekong Delta, not only Bac Lieu or any other province, and that it is necessary to consider water sources from upstream.

For example, in order to effectively store water for Bac Lieu, it is necessary to set up reservoirs in Kien Giang or O Mon (Can Tho). At present, reservoirs built in some provinces can satisfy only part of the water demand.



The building of reservoirs to store water for the whole region was mentioned many years ago, but this was not implemented.



I believe that developing local reservoirs is a necessity, but this is not enough to satisfy demand, he explained.



If there are works for the whole region, each locality will not only have water, but also can decide which crops to farm, he said.



The prolonged drought and saline intrusion which began in late 2019 has caused serious damage to farms in Mekong Delta. The situation is expected to last until April.



Bac Lieu province reported that more than 5,400 hectares of the rice growing area north of Highway No 1 is seriously lacking fresh water. The early saline intrusion may cause damage to 5,000 hectares of shrimp farms.



Ca Mau reported that 16,000 hectares of cultivation land has been affected by saline intrusion and drought, while 3,500 households are lacking water.

Thien Nhien

Central hydropower plants' reservoirs lack water Many hydropower plant reservoirs in the central region are facing water shortages, impacting electricity generation and water reserves for the ongoing dry season from February until July.
Go ahead and be grateful for the good things in your life. Just don't think that a gratitude intervention will help you feel less depressed or anxious.

In a new study, researchers at The Ohio State University analyzed results from 27 separate studies that examined the effectiveness of gratitude interventions on reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression.

The results showed that such interventions had limited benefits at best.

"For years now, we have heard in the media and elsewhere about how finding ways to increase gratitude can help make us happier and healthier in so many ways," said David Cregg, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in psychology at Ohio State.

"But when it comes to one supposed benefit of these interventions -- helping with symptoms of anxiety and depression -- they really seem to have limited value."

Cregg conducted the study with Jennifer Cheavens, associate professor of psychology at Ohio State. Their results were published online recently in the Journal of Happiness Studies.

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There are two commonly recommended gratitude interventions, Cheavens said. One is the "Three Good Things" exercise: At the end of the day, a person thinks of three things that went well for them that day, then writes them down and reflects on them.

Another is a "gratitude visit," when a person writes a letter thanking someone who has made a difference in their life and then reads the letter to that person.

The 27 studies involved in this analysis often had participants do one of these exercises or something similar. The studies included 3,675 participants.

In many studies, participants who did the gratitude interventions were compared with people who performed a similar activity that was unrelated to gratitude. For example, instead of writing about what they were grateful about, a college student sample might write about their class schedule.

The gratitude intervention was not much better at relieving anxiety and depression than the seemingly unrelated activity.

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"There was a difference, but it was a small difference," Cheavens said. "It would not be something you would recommend as a treatment."

As an alternative, Cheavens and Cregg recommend people pursue treatments that have been shown to be effective with anxiety and depression, such as cognitive behavioral therapy.

The results suggest that it isn't helpful to tell people with symptoms of depression or anxiety to simply be more grateful for the good things they have, Cheavens said.

"Based on our results, telling people who are feeling depressed and anxious to be more grateful likely won't result in the kind of reductions in depression and anxiety we would want to see," she said.

"It might be that these sort of interventions, on their own, aren't powerful enough or that people have difficulty enacting them fully when they are feeling depressed and anxious."

The results don't mean that there are no benefits to being grateful or to using gratitude interventions, the researchers said. In fact, some studies show that such interventions are effective at improving relationships.

"It is good to be more grateful -- it has intrinsic virtue and there's evidence that people who have gratitude as a general trait have a lower incidence of mental health problems and better relationships," Cregg said.

"The problem is when we try to turn gratefulness into a self-help tool. Gratitude can't fix everything."
Chinese officials have sidestepped questions about whether Beijing blames Washington for the coronavirus outbreak after a foreign ministry spokesman suggested it could have been planted by the U.S. Army.

"When did patient zero begin in U.S.? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be U.S. army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan, Zhao Lijian tweeted in both Chinese and English on Thursday. Be transparent! Make public your data! U.S. owe us an explanation!"

His post was accompanied by a video of Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying that some Americans who had seemingly died from influenza later tested positive for the new coronavirus.

2/2 CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation! pic.twitter.com/vYNZRFPWo3  Lijian Zhao  (@zlj517) March 12, 2020

Zhao, who was based at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan before moving to the foreign ministry in February, is a prolific social media user; a hashtag referring to his posts was trending on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Friday with more than 89,000 mentions. He is known for being outspoken and for his sometimes outrageous comments.

His post came shortly after his boss and the ministry's top spokesperson Hua Chunying, retweeted the same video of Redfield, alongside a post which read: "It is absolutely WRONG and INAPPROPRIATE to call this the Chinese coronavirus."

@CDCDirector Dr. Robert Redfield: Some cases that were previously diagnosed as Flu in the US were actually #COVID19. It is absolutely WRONG and INAPPROPRIATE to call this the Chinese coronavirus. https://t.co/Mk4RB7XYq0  Hua Chunying  (@SpokespersonCHN) March 12, 2020

When their colleague Geng Shuang was asked if their comments reflected Beijings official views on the virus  which is believed to have been transferred to humans at a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan where the pathogen first broke out  he did not directly comment.

Story continues

The international community, including the U.S., have different opinions about the origin of the virus," he told the Reuters press agency, adding that the origin of the virus was a scientific matter and as such, scientific views should be listened to.

Image: Workers wearing protective gear prepare to disinfect a bus as part of measures against of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Shanghai (Hector Retamal / AFP - Getty Images)

Although Twitter is blocked in China, Chinese diplomats using the platform have appeared eager to float the idea that the virus did not necessarily start in their country at all, tweeting in English and aiming at a foreign audience.

Among them, Lin Songtian, Chinas ambassador to South Africa, who also tweeted that the virus might not have originated in China.

Inside China, a raft of conspiracy stories have appeared online, including that the contagion might have been brought in by American athletes staying in Wuhan during the Military World Games last year.

Check our live blog for all the latest updates.

Though these posts have been read by millions of people on Chinese social media sites, and been challenged by many of the same readers, that's not the most surprising thing about them, Steve Tsang, a professor at the China Institute at the SOAS University of London, told NBC News last week.

He said it was interesting that the posts have not been removed by China's strict internet censors, who regularly scrub out any conversation or topic that they do not want to spread.

This suggests that these conspiracy theories  perhaps more through accident than design  chime neatly with the goals of the Chinese government to distract.

"We know the Chinese government censor both the traditional media and the social media very, very tightly," Tsang said. "And practically nothing that the Chinese government terms unacceptable will be allowed to stay for any period of time. So if something stays, it's because it has been allowed to stay."

China is, of course, far from the only country whose social media users and officials are promoting unsubstantiated claims about the deadly outbreak.

Before he announced sweeping travel restrictions on 26 European countries and a raft of other measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, President Donald Trump called the virus a "hoax."

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., also promoted a fringe theory that the virus was linked to a laboratory in Wuhan, something he has since walked back.

Meanwhile on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, all of which are banned in China, conspiracy theories have racked up tens of millions of views and have been among the most popular results under certain search terms.
Man critically hurt after getting shot by KCMO police KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City police officer shot a man Thursday night. The man is being treated for life-threatening injuries. According to police, an officer tried to pull the man over for a traffic violation near 51st Street and Prospect Avenue.

Late night gunfire report and a local dude basically daring police to unload on him after a chase and charging at officers. Check the report:
Her state is critical as she appealed to the doctors too late

Open source

A woman from Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region, is put on artificial lung ventilation apparatus as 112 Ukraine correspondent reported.

Today in the morning, she was put on artificial lung ventilation apparatus and the state of a woman is critical. It happened so as she appealed to the doctors too late, the correspondent said.

On March 12, the Healthcare Ministry officially confirmed two new cases of Chinese coronavirus in Ukraine. Thus, currently, there are three coronavirus cases in Ukraine. Previously, a man in Chernivtsi was diagnosed with it; his current health state is satisfactory.

Later, the wife of a man from Chernivtsi was also diagnosed with Covid-19. Another case is spotted in Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region. A 71-year-old woman appealed to the hospital too late and attended the church since the moment of infection.

The local authorities of Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region (northern Ukraine) announced the emergency mode in this town. The decision takes effect on Friday, March 13.
 Flash

The All-China Journalists Association Thursday issued a statement voicing strong condemnation and firm opposition to the oppressive and discriminatory measures taken by the United States against Chinese journalists based in the country.

A series of discriminatory measures taken by the U.S. side against Chinese media organizations and journalists in the country have laid bare the fact that the U.S. side's so-called "freedom of the press" is bald-faced "double standards" and bullying, said the statement.

In recent years, the U.S. side has escalated its oppression against Chinese media organizations, taken discriminatory measures against visa applications of Chinese journalists, and imposed restrictions on their interviews in the United States with all sorts of excuses, it said.

These moves have severely infringed on the rights of Chinese journalists to conduct normal and legal news reporting and severely damaged the reputation of Chinese media organizations and journalists, said the statement.

The association urged the U.S. side to immediately stop the political oppression based on Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice, rectify the misdeeds that infringe on the legals rights and interests of Chinese journalists based in the country and provide guarantee for the normal operation of Chinese media organizations and the normal work of Chinese journalists.




A 26-year-old Japanese man, who is suspected of having novel coronavirus, has been quarantined at Anurag Magadh Medical Hospital here, an official said on Thursday.

The man has been identified as Skiya Inoue, a tourist from Japan.

"The Japanese tourist, who was travelling via train here, had developed symptoms like cough and running nose. Based on these symptoms, railway officials brought him to the hospital here," the hospital's medical superintendent Dr Vijay Krishna Prasad told reporters.

He said that this is the seventh suspected case of coronavirus in Gaya district, adding that the other six have tested negative for COVID-19.

"The patient has been admitted to an isolated ward and those who treat him will be wearing protection kit when near him. Samples have already been sent for a test," Dr Prasad said.

This comes when at least 73 people were tested positive for coronavirus in India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump said the UK may be added to the European travel ban he enacted Wednesday to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Mr Trump suggested the change during a press conference Friday afternoon at which he declared a national emergency and invoked the Stafford Act.

A reporter pointed out that the UK has more coronavirus cases than many other countries that were added to the travel ban, and asked the president why they were exempted.

There are 17 countries that are in the so-called Schengen zone that have fewer coronavirus cases than in the UK. Just in the past 24 hours the UK has added 208 coronavirus cases to their total, the reporter said. Why, Mr President, were they exempted and are you considering adding them to this travel ban list?

Mr Trump replied that the exemption was recommended to him by a group of professionals and that the White House is looking at it as a result of the increased number of coronavirus patients.

We may have to include them in the list of countries we will - you could say ban or whatever it is - during this period of time. But yeah, their numbers have gone up fairly precipitously over the last 24 hours, so we may be adding them and may be adding a couple of others, and we may frankly start about taking some off, Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump did not elaborate on which countries are being considered for addition or removal from the travel ban.

Following the announcement of the travel ban on Wednesday, White House staffers and Mr Trump himself spent more than an hour clarifying the presidents statements. Travellers stuck overseas scrambled to purchase tickets home, with some Americans paying as much as $20,000 for last-minute tickets out of Paris. People in shipping and trade industries panicked over Mr Trumps inclusion of the word cargo while talking about his ban.

Eventually corrections and clarifications were made to the presidents chaotic address, establishing that the ban would go into effect on Friday at midnight and would last for 30 days, and that Americans would be allowed to return home after the ban, so long as they were screened at one of 13 airports accepting foreign flights and self-quarantined if they showed symptoms of coronavirus.
JAMMU: Opposition leaders, cutting across party lines, on Friday welcomed the release of Dr Farooq Abdullah, president of the National Conference, three-time chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir and a sitting Lok Sabha member.

Revocation of Dr Abdullahs Public Safety Act [PSA] is a step to correct one wrong among many wrongs. Though late, the decision to revoke PSA of Dr Abdullah is welcome. The government must also release political leaders, activists and civil society members, who have been detained arbitrarily since August 5, said Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami.

The politicians have been detained because of political vendetta by the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre, he alleged.

The former J&K legislator said that some of the detainees were shifted to prisons outside the newly carved out Union Territory and they were still languishing there. The cases of all the detainees in Kashmir must be reviewed. The curbs on democratic activities, which have been going on since August 5, need to be lifted immediately, he said.

Panthers Party chairman and former education minister Harsh Dev Singh also welcomed Dr Abdullahs release.

He should not have been detained in the first place. He is always talking of India and has been used by successive governments for anti-Pakistan campaigns. He chants Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Who does this in Kashmir? Which other leader in Kashmir has the courage to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai? he asked.

Singh hoped that Dr Abdullah will contribute to restoring peace in the coming days.

He, however, also had a word of advice for the government. One should take opposition leaders into confidence rather than harassing them and muzzling their voice. I feel Dr Abdullah should work for the restoration of statehood. Article 370 is now gone and there is no use crying over spilt milk, he said.

J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president Ghulam Ahmad Mir said, Better late than never. But there was no logic behind Dr Abdullahs detention.

In the past few days, the BJP was embarrassed in Parliament and before the country for riots in north-east Delhi and for hate speeches of its ministers. Those in J&K who didnt speak anything were detained under the PSA. While Union minister [Anurag Thakur] and others [Kapil Mishra] who made hate speeches right under the nose of home minister Amit Shah were never taken to task. Had the government taken any action against them, it would have set an example. Double standards of the BJP wont work anymore. People are not ready to accept the BJP governments duplicity, Mir said.

J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina hoped that Dr Abdullah would work for the welfare of the people.

I hope that Dr Abdullah being an MP will work for the betterment of the people of J&K and will help in maintaining brotherhood and peace in Kashmir. I hope he will abide by the Constitution of India and will not instigate the youth against the nation, he said.

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A New York attorney who met with Jeffrey Epstein in jail in the days before his death says he does not believe the financier took his own life because he seemed 'upbeat and excited.'

David Schoen, a well-regarded criminal and civil attorney, was interviewed on Fox Nation's Deep Dive on Thursday, sharing details of his final interaction with Epstein in early August 2019, which he says has led him to believe that the convicted sex offender did not commit suicide.

Schoen said Epstein invited him to the Metropolitan Correction Center, where he was awaiting trial on newly filed federal sex trafficking charges, to talk about his defense strategy.

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Attorney David Schoen (left) said on Fox Nation's Deep Dive Thursday he last met Jeffrey Epstein on August 1, 2019, to discuss joining his defense team. He described the jailed financier as 'upbeat and excited'

Epstein had been lodged in Metropolitan Correction Center in July on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges

Epstein, 66, faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted of sex trafficking and conspiracy counts for allegedly bringing dozens of underage girls to his Florida mansion for sex.

On August 1, Schoen said he and Epstein met for five hours to map out their legal strategy to move his case forward.

Schoen said he told Epstein he would need to meet with his other lawyers and discuss with them the prospect of his joining their defense team.

'He was upbeat and excited about going forward,' Schoen said. 'The following day, I got a phone call from one of his lawyers saying he just met with him after I met with him. How excited he is about going forward with this.'

On August 10, Epstein was found hanging from a noose made out of bed sheets tied to the top bunk in his cell (pictured)

In a previous interview with the New York Times, Schoen recounted how at one point during their meeting, a female therapist entered the visitors' room and asked him to briefly step outside so that she could speak privately with Epstein.

The therapist said her checkup was part of the suicide watch protocol at the jail.

Schoen said at the time the therapist stayed with Epstein no more than five minutes.

Mill Marsey, a former inmate at MCC who spent hours with Epstein while he was on suicide watch as part of a program supporting at-risk prisoners, confirmed that the disgraced millionaire was not depressed.

Mersey, who is featured in Fox Nation's documentary 'The Final Hours of Jeffrey Epstein,' said he and the financier had many conversations about sports, crime, and how one should behave in prison.

'He was not depressed, although I would have conversations with him and every so often he'd sort of drift off and I'd go, 'Ah, he's thinking about the s---storm he's in the middle of.'

Bill Mersey met the sex offender in 2019 while they were incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correction Center (MCC) in New York City

Epstein first attempted suicide on July 23. He was found unconscious in his cell with marks on his neck at the time.

Contrary to some conspiracy theories, Mersey attested that there was enough space in Epstein's cell to hang himself using a bed sheet tied to the top of a set of bunk beds as a noose.

Judith Miller, Fox Nation contributor and former New York Times reporter, noted during her appearance on Deep Dive on Thursday that on the day of his apparent suicide, new criminal allegations emerged against him.

Miller said she has learned from several of Epstein's other lawyers that after learning of these new allegations, he became 'discouraged about the prospect of defeating the charges and winning his freedom.'
Israel: Arab parties key issue for Netanyahu-Gantz unity President Rivlin starts consultations Sunday

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MARCH 13 - Benyamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz spoke last night about the possibility of forming a government of national emergency to deal with coronavirus after the premier appeared to be open to the possibility. It is still unclear, however, whether the plan could become a reality given that the two are divided on the participation of Arab parties.



According to media reports, Netanyahu allegedly told Gantz that immediate talks need to start between the two parties to reach an agreement.



However - using a term that is often adopted by Likud to describe the Arab List or part of if - he specified that ''supporters of terrorism can't be part of a government, neither during normal times nor in an emergency''.



Such a step was not welcomed by Gantz who - although he is open to an emergency cabinet - stressed that the ''vast unity of government needs to include all parts'' of the common home.



On Sunday meanwhile President Reuven Rivlin will start consultations to form a new government that will end the same day. (ANSAmed)
Seoul, March 13 : North Korea's recent engine testing suggests that the country may be ready to test a more advanced inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could pose a greater threat to the US, an American General said.

Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, commander of the US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, offered the assessment in a written statement to the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces ahead of a hearing on fiscal year 2021 priorities for missile defence and missile defeat programs, reports the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency.

"Kim Jong-un has demonstrated the capability to threaten the US homeland with nuclear-armed ICBMs," he said.

"In 2017, North Korea successfully tested an apparent thermonuclear weapon as well as two ICBM designs capable of ranging most or all of North America -- feats only the five permanent members of the UN Security Council had previously achieved." O'Shaughnessy recalled that after the North's last ICBM test in November 2017, Kim declared the research and development phase of the country's strategic weapons program complete and vowed to begin serial production and deployment of these new systems.

In the past year, the General said, North Korea tested several new short-range missile systems and demonstrated advancing technologies that could eventually be incorporated into its strategic systems.

Last December, Kim had stated it was time to take offensive measures to ensure the country's sovereignty and security and threatened to soon unveil a new strategic weapon.

"While Kim did not specify what this new weapon would be, recent engine testing suggests North Korea may be prepared to flight test an even more capable ICBM design that could enhance Kim's ability to threaten our homeland during a crisis or conflict," Yonhap News Agency quoted O'Shaughnessy as saying.

Late last year, North Korea threatened to send an unwanted "Christmas gift" to the US in protest of stalled denuclearization negotiations between the countries.

Many expected the "gift" to be an ICBM launch in the wake of its presumed engine tests, but there was no major provocation around Christmas and there have not been any since.
What is a bookcase other than a treasure chest for curious minds? Thanks to one Dearborn Heights civic organization, several local youngsters are finding out for themselves.

Members of the Rotary Club of Dearborn Heights presented bookcases and bags of books to eager first-graders at Bedford Elementary School on March 9. The donations are part of the organizations commitment to promoting literacy, which is one of the six pillars of Rotary International.

Students and parents gathered in the schools gymnasium for the event, which was also attended by District 7 Board of Education President Mandy Diroff, Superintendent Jennifer Mast, and Assistant Superintendent Kevin Brock. Recipients attend classes taught by Doug Lessnau, Shelly Nichols, and Sarah Segerson.

Our students love to read and learn, and they were so excited to receive their bookcases and bags of books, said Kerri Moccio, the schools reading specialist. I cant thank the Rotary Club enough for promoting the joy of literacy here at Bedford. We are so grateful for their partnership with us in District 7. They do amazing work.

This is the third year Rotarians have visited Bedford for this purpose. The effort started in 2007 at Daly Elementary School in the Westwood Community School District, which includes southwest Dearborn Heights.

Michael McCaffery, the clubs project manager, said more nearly 100 bookcases were assembled this spring by Rotarians and other volunteer supporters for distribution to the two schools. The planned March 26 donation at Daly has been postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, he added. It will be rescheduled for later in the spring.

Rotary President Claude Curry said the project is meant to help students improve their reading skills, as well as encourage their parents to read with them. According to recent test results for fourth-graders, Michigan is among the bottom 12 performing states in the nation.

Estimates peg the cost of illiteracy to U.S. businesses and taxpayers at approximately $225-billion each year.

We were looking for a project in 2007 and I saw a newspaper article about a small Georgia town that was giving away bookcases to kids, and I thought it was a great idea, Curry said. We started with the third-graders at Daly School and its taken off. The kids love it and its one of our favorite projects.

For more information on the Rotary Club of Dearborn Heights, visit www.dearbornheightsrotary.org.
Americans are often optimistic almost to the point of magical thinking, but were also starting to realize that mayors want us to keep shopping at least in part because they dont want our economies to collapse, and they have little to no faith in the federal government to bail everyone out. We are told, by various agencies and officials, to look on the bright side: The young, children and pregnant women seem not to be that badly affected. But a perusal of the CDCs guidelines on pregnancy and the virus finds that they contain more we do not have information references than would allow us to feel truly reassured. Should we go on the subway or the bus? Theyre still running, after all. Should we go to the theater? Well, no, thats no longer allowed . Should we eat out or stay in? The restaurants all say theyre doing more cleaning. We are only beginning to see what some of the likely answers are, and at various points throughout each day, we ask ourselves: Are we overreacting and too afraid? Or are we not doing enough to keep ourselves, and the truly vulnerable, safe and healthy?
French airlines expect to lose business as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to suspend travel from Europe to the United States for a month because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Transatlantic flights are among the most profitable parts of Air France-KLM's business. Air France alone serves more than 20 American cities and operates more than 200 flights to the United States per week. The alliance between Air France-KLM, Delta and Virgin Atlantic produces combined annual revenue of $13 billion.

With the U.S. decision, hope vanishes for tourism officials who wanted to see a reverse in the travel decline from Asia and Europe to North America.

About 100,000 French nationals were set to travel to the U.S. in March and April.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With COVID-19 now declared a national emergency, The Salvation Army has significantly increased its preparation for an impending outbreak in the United States and has ramped up efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus, especially among the homeless and other vulnerable populations.

With one in six people living in poverty and over 550,000 people counted as homeless, a disproportionate number of Americans impacted by this outbreak possibly will be lower-income or experiencing homelessness. Although people experiencing homelessness can be more isolated, they also tend to have chronic medical issues and severely lack access to proper hygiene, updated information, medical resources, and care.

In our residential facilities, close living conditions mean infectious disease can easily spread among residents. Additional cleaning throughout the day, with elevated focus on high-traffic areas, and sanitation supplies are part of every location's infectious-disease protocol. If a resident or staff member gets sick, isolation/quarantine areas will be established, additional healthcare will be needed, and staff needs will increase.

Several industries are at risk of financial hardship, such as travel and hospitality. The Salvation Army anticipates a significant increase in emergency assistance for low-wage employees who may be temporarily laid off due to the coronavirus. Types of support include rent/mortgage, utility, and food assistance.

Ensuring the safety of those who depend on The Salvation Army's programs and services, along with the safety of staff and volunteers, is of utmost priority. The organization is working with health officials at the local, state, and federal levels  including participating in situation-awareness calls with federal partners such as FEMA, CDC, DHS, and HHS. Hygiene and prevention guidance in accordance with recommendations from CDC is being used and shared with staff, volunteers, and program participants. Additional protocols are being formed quickly across the U.S. should further restrictions be placed on our communities.

Salvation Army Efforts in High-Impact Areas

In Washington State

Housing programs and shelter programs will remain fully operational with precautionary measures, like daily resident communication, no congregate meetings, access to cleaning supplies, increased space between residents, etc.

In King , Snohomish , and Pierce Counties, all senior activities and gatherings have been suspended through the end of March, church services have been suspended for the next Sundays, and guests going to food banks will register at the door without entering.

In New York City

Rockland and Westchester Counties have suspended all activities related to school closure and government containment area decisions.

and Counties have suspended all activities related to school closure and government containment area decisions. Where possible, staff are developing plans for remote emotional and spiritual care and worship using live-stream tools or video calling.

We are participating in planning conversations with NYC Emergency Management around mobile food delivery (e.g., delivering prepared meals to seniors who depend on them at NYC Department for the Aging senior centers).

Each facility is screening visitors in advance and upon arrival for fever or signs of acute respiratory illness and assessing existing clients upon admission to the facility.

In Chicago

Our Emergency Disaster Services team has a standing seat on the Office of Emergency Management and Communication planning team.

Snacks and beverages have been provided to O'Hare International Airport for the past six weeks to personnel and passengers being tested for coronavirus.

Congregate senior lunch that was occurring daily is now providing meals in to-go boxes and food delivery as necessary.

In North Texas

Shelters are actively screening incoming residents and volunteers by asking about any symptoms. If anyone exhibits or reports coronavirus symptoms, staff immediately recommend medical treatment at a nearby county hospital.

If necessary, special quarantine areas will be set up inside the shelters, and noncritical services will be temporarily suspended.

Individuals we serve daily will feel the impacts of this crisis on a greater level. The Salvation Army needs support from local communities to be able to continue to provide these vulnerable populations with adequate support throughout this pandemic. As the situation evolves, the organization will work in close partnership to prepare and respond to meet the needs of the 23 million people we serve each year and the more than 63,000 employees of our organization.

To learn more and support The Salvation Army's efforts visit https://give.salvationarmyusa.org/give/276832/#!/donation/checkout.

About The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army annually helps nearly 23 million Americans overcome poverty, addiction, and economic hardships through a range of social services. By providing food for the hungry, emergency relief for disaster survivors, rehabilitation for those suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, and clothing and shelter for people in need, The Salvation Army is doing the most good at 7,600 centers of operation around the country. In the first-ever listing of "America's Favorite Charities" by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Salvation Army ranked as the country's largest privately funded, direct-service nonprofit. For more information, visit SalvationArmyUSA.org. Follow us on Twitter: @SalvationArmyUS and #DoingTheMostGood.

SOURCE Salvation Army

Related Links

www.salvationarmyusa.org


And the Illinois Republican Party, whats left of it, has neither capitalized upon the Democrats embarrassment nor tried to. Aside from a few finger-wagging news releases, the GOP has done very little to hold Madigan accountable. The GOP doesnt need gobs of money or resources to focus attention, every day, on the failures of Democrats to take meaningful steps to clean up corruption. Talk is, actually, cheap.
Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital. It's only natural to consider a company's balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often involved when a business collapses. We note that Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand Limited (NZSE:MCK) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

When Is Debt A Problem?

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. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. Of course, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

View our latest analysis for Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand

What Is Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand's Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at December 2019 Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand had debt of NZ$67.0m, up from NZ$64.0m in one year. But it also has NZ$165.2m in cash to offset that, meaning it has NZ$98.2m net cash.

NZSE:MCK Historical Debt, March 12th 2020

How Strong Is Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand's Balance Sheet?

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand had liabilities of NZ$34.9m falling due within a year, and liabilities of NZ$166.3m due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of NZ$165.2m as well as receivables valued at NZ$21.1m due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling NZ$14.8m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

Story continues

Since publicly traded Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand shares are worth a total of NZ$379.7m, it seems unlikely that this level of liabilities would be a major threat. Having said that, it's clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse. Despite its noteworthy liabilities, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!

While Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand doesn't seem to have gained much on the EBIT line, at least earnings remain stable for now. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. So when considering debt, it's definitely worth looking at the earnings trend. Click here for an interactive snapshot.

Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand 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. Looking at the most recent three years, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand recorded free cash flow of 47% of its EBIT, which is weaker than we'd expect. That's not great, when it comes to paying down debt.

Summing up

While it is always sensible to look at a company's total liabilities, it is very reassuring that Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand has NZ$98.2m in net cash. So we don't have any problem with Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand's use of debt. Given Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand has a strong balance sheet is profitable and pays a dividend, it would be good to know how fast its dividends are growing, if at all. You can find out instantly by clicking this link.

Of course, if you're the type of investor who prefers buying stocks without the burden of debt, then don't hesitate to discover our exclusive list of net cash growth stocks, today.

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.
An animal rescue group canceled its planned 700-person fundraiser featuring President Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump Friday - more than 24 hours after Florida's governor demanded large gatherings are stopped.

The Big Dog Ranch Rescue's annual Wine, Women & Shoes event had been scheduled to go ahead despite Florida's governor issuing a warning about large gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor called for events with more than 250 people to be called off in a statement Thursday.

And the same day it was revealed an aide to Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for the coronavirus. The White House has said so far that Trump will not get tested.

The president of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, Lauree Simmons, said: 'This morning it was revealed that there are now two cases of the Coronavirus in Palm Beach County.

'Based on that new information and updated recommendations from the Governor's office to limit crowd size to less than 250 people, Big Dog Ranch Rescue will postpone Saturday's Wine, Women and Shoes event to a date later this year that has yet to be determined.'

In fact the updated recommendations were made on Thursday. Organizers said they considered mass gatherings to be 1,000 until it was clarified Friday.

Trump daughter in law Lara Trump was scheduled to attend a Women Wine & Shoes benefit at Mar a Lago for an animal rescue charity. Here she is pictured at the 2019 event

Guests at the event were to have been encouraged to 'refrain from shaking hands, hugging or kissing,' the Palm Beach Post reported.

The report came after Bolsonaro's communications director, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive. Bolsonaro says he himself has tested negative for the virus.

'The Mar-a-lago Club meticulously follows all CDC recommendations including cleaning and sterilization of guest areas,' Chase Scott, an event planner told the paper in an email.

Two people who visited Mar-a-Lago March 7 have tested positive for the coronavirus

The annual benefit is called Women Win & Shoes

Trump shook hands with Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro

Trump flew to Mar-a-Lago amid the growing coronavirus outbreak last weekend

President Donald Trump (C) speaks with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (L) during a diner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 7, 2020

Trump attended a celebration for Donald Trump Jr's girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle Saturday

The event was to feature hand sanitizer stations and guests are being encouraged to avoid shaking hands, hugging, or kissing.

The president visited the club last weekend immediately after visiting the Centers for Disease Control.

He hosted a lavish party for Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle Saturday night. Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner all were there.
The Lagos State Ministry of Home Affairs said government was planning to review the Laws on money lending activities in the state.

Commissioner for Home Affairs Olanrewaju Elegushi made this known on Friday, during a stakeholders forum with money lenders in Ikeja.

Elegushi said there was need for the review as the laws guiding the operations of the lenders were obsolete.

You will all agree with me that some of the laws guiding our operations require total overhauling, while others have become obsolete and archaic.



We should therefore feel free to make our inputs and suggestions, as these will help us as we approach the State House of Assembly for a more robust and all encompassing amendment on the laws on money lending in Lagos State.

It is our expectation that the laws will have a friendly approach to the government, practitioners and the beneficiaries who constitute the larger picture of our society, he was quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria.

The commissioner said there was need for the ministry to have a befitting law and control the money lenders, bearing in mind, the great role money lending played in micro-economy of the state.

As regulators, we cannot be a judge in our own case, this is why we have called on all of you practitioners and would-be practitioners to look at the laws guiding our activities, discuss and agree on grey areas as they affect both regulators and practitioners in the state.

The governor is expecting that the outcome of this meeting will come up with a position that will ensure enabling environment for easy loan accessibility to citizens with an emphasis on pragmatic strategies for achieving positive and cost effective results in grassroots financing.

This will invariably help in achieving the Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy goal or the T.H.E.M.E.S. Agenda of this administration a reality, Elegushi said.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
South Korea plans to limit the amount of information it releases about coronavirus patients amid criticism that the details currently shared reveal too much personal information and exacerbate panic.

The director of South Korea's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Jung Eun-kyeong, on Friday said her agency is drafting a new guideline for local governments to prevent them from releasing details that are unnecessary for quarantine and prevention work.

She didn't say what specific recommendations would be included in the guideline.

South Korean health authorities have been actively using personal information including immigration, public transportation, credit card and smartphone GPS data to track patients and their contacts.

Details about the places patients visited before testing positive are posted online and shared through smartphone alerts to inform people who may have been in their vicinity.

South Korea's Human Rights Commission on Monday raised concerns about the release of the data, saying patients were being exposed to "criticism, ridicule and hate".

Some people have used the information to identify the patients and have publicly condemned them for moving around while sick.

There are concerns that the release of the detailed information is worsening panic and discouraging sick people from coming forward.

A recent survey by Seoul National University's Graduate School of Public Health found that many people were more afraid of being stigmatised as a virus patient than of catching the virus itself.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bexar Countys use of new voting machines and its rollout of centralized, open-to-all voting centers during a major election were far from flawless. But we are encouraged by efforts already underway to address the problems before the November general election.

Voters stood in lines at the more popular polling places far too long, and computer glitches kept election followers in suspense as they impatiently waited for vote tallies. But we see no proof the problems compromised the election process or the vote results, as two disgruntled candidates have alleged.

Bexar County Republican Chairwoman Cynthia Brehm, who faces a runoff in her bid for re-election, and former Constable Michelle Barrientes Vela, an unsuccessful candidate for sheriff who is facing felony charges, appeared before county commissioners this week to dispute the election results and ask for a recount or a new countywide primary vote. They offered no evidence of the irregularities they alleged.

Voter turnout in the Bexar County primaries was up, with 253,200 votes cast on March 3. That was 4,440 more votes than were cast during the 2016 primaries. This years 22 percent turnout was lower than that of 2016 primaries, but that's because more Bexar County residents are now registered to vote.

This election marked the second time the county has used the new $12.5 million voting system, which generates a paper record of votes cast. Voters appear to have adapted well. It was also the second time local voters werent restricted to voting at their home precinct on election day. Many teachers could vote where they worked if their school was a voting site.

The lines in Bexar County were a lot shorter than in some other urban counties that also adopted voting centers. Voters at Texas Southern University in Harris County were casting ballots after midnight on election day.

The decision by both local political parties to hold joint elections helped minimize problems. Republican Party leaders here considered separate elections, but fortunately for local voters, a last-minute agreement was reached. Other places that held separate primaries suffered delays and headaches because their voting equipment had to be spread out over a larger number of polling sites.

Perhaps the biggest complaint here was about the long delay in getting the official vote tallies. Early vote and mail-in ballot numbers are usually posted on the countys election website soon after the polls close. Election night, the countys computers crashed three times, and results arrived an hour later than usual.

Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said she is working with the countys vendor, Election Systems and Software, to pinpoint the problems. The computer crashes were not the countys only issue with the new voting equipment. The new system requires multiple printers at polling sites. Some of the printers were improperly connected, but that problem was quickly identified and corrected.

Addressing the long lines at some of the sites will require a review of voters polling habits. Callanen said her office will review where people chose to cast their election day ballots during the primary and use that information to determine how to allocate the equipment for the general election.

Regrettably, even making sure the equipment works properly and putting more machines at popular polling places wont fix the problems if voters dont do their homework. Novembers election will be the first major test of a new law that prevents voters from selecting a straight-party ticket. Theyll have to mark the ballot for each candidate. If they havent done their research, well again see long, slow-moving lines and seemingly endless delays.

As a state, we have made great strides in getting people to register to vote.

We now need to concentrate on getting registered voters to the polls  and having them cast informed votes.
The NI government has announced that the Environmental Farming Scheme's Tranches 3 and 4 will now proceed after the third Tranche was delayed and reviewed.

EFS supports Northern Irish farmers to implement environmentally beneficial actions and works on their land, such as enhancing biodiversity and water quality.

But the scheme was delayed and reviewed to ensure 'value for money', Northern Ireland's farming minister Edwin Poots said.

The refreshed Tranches contain some amendments in order for the scheme to 'continue to meet the objectives set out in the original business case'.

Amendments to the EFS include the Watercourse Stabilisation with Fencing (WSF) option within Tranche 3. This will be offered at a reduced grant rate of 80% (4.80 per metre).

The standard cost for Drinking Trough Pipework has been reviewed and revised to 3.91/m.

The WSF option will not be available in Tranche 4. However, the other options for the protection of watercourses  the 2m and 10m riparian buffer strips, both ungrazed or planted with trees, will be available in Tranche 4.

Mr Poots said: I am pleased to provide clarity to almost 3,000 farmers who applied for Tranche 3 of the scheme. I have now agreed to proceed with Tranche 3 and given the green light to open Tranche 4 for applications later in the year.

Several amendments to both Tranche 3 and 4 have been made to ensure that the scheme continues to provide value for money. While I appreciate that this may be disappointing for some, the approval of the revised scheme is welcome news and enables EFS to provide continued support for the farming sector to play its part in protecting our environment.

He added: EFS plays an important role in the protection and enhancement of biodiversity and water quality, and in climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration.

Due to the delay in issuing agreements, Mr Poots announced that Tranche 3 participants will have additional time to complete their Year 1 agreement works up to 31 December 2020, with the exception of arable options.

Applicants are encouraged to log on to DAERA Online Services to view and accept their agreement as soon as possible, and before the deadline of 27 March 2020.

The fourth Tranche of both EFS Levels is planned later in 2020, with Higher Level re-opening for applications in April and Wider Level re-opening mid-summer.
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Former RNC Communications Director Doug Heye praised Joe Bidens speech on the coronavirus as presidential and said it could be what people are looking for.

Heye tweeted:

Biden's speech was presidential, and totally normal. Demonstrated competence. Won't have staff or others explain what he really meant or what policies actually are. That just may be what people are looking for right now.  Doug Heye (@DougHeye) March 12, 2020

Bidens speech was impressive because it was more than a candidate standing on stage while trying to look presidential. Joe Biden had a plan, and he was able to reassure America that he could handle this crisis. Biden was able to provide details about how he would handle the crisis.

Joe Biden did more than offer America an eye test. He presented himself as an alternative to four more years of incompetence, corruption, and crazy. Biden was able to show Trumps weaknesses by highlighting his strengths.

The American people have been hungry for leadership since Trump took office. The nation has been exhausted by his lying, blustering, and bumbling.

Biden walked the walk in his coronavirus speech and provided the nation of a preview of what they could have if they elect him in November.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
Atanu Biswas By

In addition to yoga, another aspect of traditional Indian lifestylegreeting others with a namaste or namaskaris storming the globe. This is since the world has not been left with many options in the time of the deadly and contagious coronavirus epidemic. Physicians and world leaders are advising the people to minimise social contact. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, while advising people to avoid handshakes, even demonstrated how Indians greet each other with a namaste.

There are several traditional ways of greetingfrom tipping the hat, kissing the cheek, shaking hands to huggingin different countries of the world. Photos of the French President Emmanuel Macron greeting the US First Lady Melania Trump by kissing her hand, or some top political leader kissing the hand of the Pope have found place in the pages of newspapers. Special types of localised greetings include the snapping fingers handshake of Nigeria, the traditional Maori greeting of New Zealand called hongi (pressing nose and forehead to those of another person), pressing nose to nose as in the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Yemen.

The history of the handshake dates back to 5th century BCE in Greece, and it symbolises that both the persons are not holding any kind of weapon in their hands. Today, amid the outbreak of coronavirus, people are afraid of such physical contact as this might compromise their hygiene to a great extent. In early March, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while attending a summit in Berlin, approached her interior minister Horst Seehofer for a handshake. The minister smiled and refused to shake hands with the Chancellor and kept his hands to himself. Some were very cautious regarding hand contact even earlier. The New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote about how when she interviewed Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential race, the latter had a big hospital-strength bottle of hand sanitiser on the table.

Handshakes are known to spread a number of microbial pathogens, due to skin-to-skin contact. There are several academic studies in different parts of the globe to study how germs spread through handshakes. In a 2014 article in the journal American Journal of Infection Control, two researchersSara Mela and David E Whitworthillustrated that a handshake transfers an average of 124 million colony-forming units of Escherichia coli almost twice as high as that during high-fives and about 20 times more than in the case of fist bumps. In fact, handshakes cover a large contact area24.4 square inches, and also last longer (three seconds, on an average) than high-fives or fist bumps.

Earlier, during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, Thomas Feasby, the dean of medicine at the University of Calgary, Canada, suggested that fist bumps may be a nice replacement of the handshake to prevent transmission of the virus. In a 2009 article in BMJ, one of the worlds oldest general medical journals, Malvinder S Parmar of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine opined against handshakes by mentioning that it is time to re-think this form of greeting or salutation to avoid unnecessary physical contact and proximity among people. Parmar advocated the use of the Indian-style namaste instead, as an example of a greeting where close physical contact is avoided without causing insult or negative feelings among the parties involved.

Today, red billboards in Beijing are promoting the practice of clasping ones own hands in greeting. The traditional gong shou gesture of placing ones fist in ones palm is advised across China. The UAE and Qatar are all out to stop using the traditional nose to nose style of greeting. The UAE is recommending greeting each other by waving only. France is desperately advocating against any form of kissing to greet. Lifestyle expert Philippe Lichtfus has gone on to opine that even simply looking into a persons eyes can suffice as a greeting.

Is the triumph of namaste inevitable now? It certainly has competitors. The Japanese bow, for example. Depending on the angle of inclination, the bow is called eshaku (15 degree), keirei (30 degree) or saikeirei (45 to 70 degree). The Thai wai seems to be a combination of Indian namaste and Japanese bow, where the palms are placed together at the chest and the head is bowed so that the thumbs touch the chin and fingertips touch the forehead. The Cambodian style of greeting, called sampeah, is very similar to the Thai wai. In fact, both wai and sampeah are based on the Indian anjali mudra, which is again the basis of the Indian namaste. This has been propagated to Southeast Asia through the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism from India. Namaste is derived from Sanskrit, the term namas being found in the Rig Veda, while namahh means bow, obeisance, reverential salutation or adoration. Te, of course, means to you.The British newspaper The Guardian has already pronounced The end of the handshake. As the namaste culture spreads around the world, one wonders about the future of cultural gestures like touching the feet and hugging, amid fear of skin-to-skin transmission of microbes.

Atanu Biswas

Professor of Statistics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata Email: atanu@isical.ac.in
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 07:43:13|Editor: Liu

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STOCKHOLM, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Citing fear of the "foreign virus" spreading to the United States, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a ban on travels from most of mainland Europe, which incurred on Thursday widespread doubt, disapproval and condemnation from Europe.

"The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation. The European Union is taking strong action to limit the spread of the virus," said a joint statement issued by European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"Coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action," it said.

Britain's Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the U.S. ban was not the right thing to do, adding that "there isn't evidence that interventions like closing borders or travel bans are going to have a material effect on the spread of the infections."

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday warned against the "nationalist withdrawal" as a pitfall to avoid at international level in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

"Internationally, I appeal to the responsibility of the G7 and G20," said Macron. "As of tomorrow I will speak with President Trump to offer him an exceptional initiative."

"It is not the division that makes it possible to respond to what is today a global crisis, but rather our ability to act together," Macron added.

Though the U.S. State Department had assured the Finnish Embassy on Thursday that "the ban does not reflect hostility towards the EU or Europe", Ville Skinnari, the Finnish Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, said however the fact that the UK, not "immune to the coronavirus", has been left outside "gives rise to speculation".

Apart from political uproar, there has also been wide spread concern of the negative effect the ban will have on businesses.

Alain Battisti, president of French National Federation of Commercial Aviation, which represents 95 percent of French air transport sector, told French media LeParisien that it is "a political decision" and that French companies should lose "between one and two billion euros. "We are in an irrational crisis," he said.

Finnish business representatives noted to local media that travel to the U.S. had been restricted already, but that the total ban would be a real nuisance.

In the meantime, many think the ban will not only alienate transatlantic relations but also a diversion of U.S. domestic problems.

"In a time where the EU is challenged to its core, the U.S. is closing its borders and turning its back on allies," tweeted Benjamin Haddad, director of the Future Europe Initiative at Atlantic Council.

German government coordinator for transatlantic relations, Peter Beyer, accused Trump of politically abusing the coronavirus crisis. Beyer told the German Press Agency that the entry ban imposed by Trump is "excessive" for Europeans.

"It seems to be primarily a political decision," said Beyer. "Politically misusing the coronavirus epidemic is critical and questionable."

Beyer also criticized Trump for disseminating "misinformation to distract (attentions) from the weaknesses of the U.S. health system. In the U.S., the number of unreported cases of coronavirus is probably high because the people there have so far hardly been tested."

"He (Trump) called the virus a foreign virus. Viruses don't have passports, viruses don't have visas. Viruses cross borders, obviously without problem," Roland Lescure, French politician of La Republique En Marche (LREM) party told French media Franceinfo on Thursday.

Lescure accused Trump of diverting U.S. domestic issues by finding the European Union as an "ideal culprit".

"The health system in the United States obviously is much less general and organized than ours. This is going to be the real challenge for the United States to adapt to viruses. It's going to be a logistical nightmare," Lescure said.

(Ren Ke in Berlin, Gui Tao in London, Wang Zichen in Brussels, Chen Chen and Xu Yongchun and Tang Ji in Paris, Juhani Niinisto in Helsinki and Yang Xiaohong in Prague contributed to the story.)
(Newser)  Bernie Madoff, who disclosed last month that he is dying of kidney disease, wants to make a "final dying, personal plea" for freedom, the fraudster's lawyer said Thursday in a request for a new hearing. Attorney Brandon Sample said it would be "eminently reasonable" to schedule a hearing in which Madoff, 81, could speak to a judge in New York from the federal prison in North Carolina where he is 11 years into a 150-year sentence, reports Reuters.

story continues below

Sample said Madoff wants to tell the judge he has accepted responsibility for his crimes and feels genuine remorse. Prosecutors, who have argued against releasing Madoff, said his accepting responsibility at this point would be "self-serving." Sample said Madoff had found somebody who would let him stay at their home if he was granted compassionate release, but the individual does not want their identity to be public knowledge, reports the New York Post. (Read more Bernard Madoff stories.)
More than 1,000 school buildings in Northern Ireland currently contain asbestos, it has emerged.

The Education Minister confirmed there are 1,036 Education Authority (EA) properties which contain some type of the substance.

White, blue and brown asbestos are all potentially dangerous and have been banned in the UK.

The Department of Health has previously said asbestos that was not disturbed or damaged was not a significant health risk.

Asbestos was extensively used in building during the 1970s because of its strength and heat resistance.

If asbestos is damaged, however, the fine fibres become airborne and can be inhaled, causing serious diseases including lung cancer and asbestosis.

In an Assembly question, SDLP MLA Justin McNulty asked DUP Minister of Education Peter Weir to detail "the number of school buildings which have asbestos as part of the fabric of the school structure".

The Newry and Armagh MLA also asked Mr Weir to confirm "any planned works to remove asbestos from schools".

Mr Weir confirmed that 1,036 properties within the Education Authority (EA) estate "have some type of asbestos containing materials (ACM)", adding that the number "does not include schools within the voluntary grammar or grant maintained integrated estates".

The minister said the EA "is continually removing asbestos from its estate as part of its refurbishment and demolition programmes".

Mr Weir also said that "ACM is removed throughout the EA estate when the risk assessment dictates that removal is required", adding that "the approximate cost of asbestos removal is in the region of 3-5m annually".

He added: "Unfortunately, it is not possible to be absolutely certain all ACM have been removed from a building until that building is demolished, as ACM was used extensively in the structure of buildings constructed before the year 2000."

Jacquie White from the Ulster Teachers' Union said "the total removal of asbestos is the safest option".

"Nothing can be more important than the safety of children and teachers, so this is a worrying finding," she said.

"It is compounded by the fact that, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSENI), 77 people here died from asbestos-related conditions in 2017, the last figures available.

"In the UK as a whole over 200 teachers have died in the last decade from the effects of being exposed to asbestos, according to government statistics.

"Add to this that for each teacher fatality, nine ex-pupils can also be expected to fall victim to the silent killer, according to the American Environmental Protection Agency, and you can appreciate just how insidious the problem is." Ms White said "the deadliest form - 500 times more lethal than the commonest - was still present in 21 schools here, according to an audit in 2012" following a health scare in a Belfast secondary school.

"Asbestos truly is a hidden killer and as such it's easy for teachers and pupils not to realise the potential for harm," she said.

"Something as simple as stapling posters on to walls containing asbestos could release the harmful fibres, while some items, such as old gas masks used in history lessons, can also contain the material.

"Schools are required to hold an asbestos register and management plan and advice from the HSENI is that unless it is damaged, asbestos can be left in place and monitored.

"However, we believe the total removal of asbestos is the safest option, unless there is good reason not to do so."

Mr McNulty said the ongoing asbestos removal works is a step in the right direction.

"Only when asbestos is disturbed is it a danger, however, it shows that our school estate is aging and I think we need to seek further clarity from the minister," he said.

"I want to see a dedicated programme to have all asbestos removed from schools. We have to endeavour to do this."

The Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland website states: "Asbestos can be found in any building built before the year 2000, including houses, factories, offices, schools or hospitals, and causes around 5,000 deaths every year in the UK."

The Department of Education was contacted for comment.
BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The All-China Journalists Association Thursday issued a statement voicing strong condemnation and firm opposition to the oppressive and discriminatory measures taken by the United States against Chinese journalists based in the country.

A series of discriminatory measures taken by the U.S. side against Chinese media organizations and journalists in the country have laid bare the fact that the U.S. side's so-called "freedom of the press" is bald-faced "double standards" and bullying, said the statement.

In recent years, the U.S. side has escalated its oppression against Chinese media organizations, taken discriminatory measures against visa applications of Chinese journalists, and imposed restrictions on their interviews in the United States with all sorts of excuses, it said.

These moves have severely infringed on the rights of Chinese journalists to conduct normal and legal news reporting and severely damaged the reputation of Chinese media organizations and journalists, said the statement.

The association urged the U.S. side to immediately stop the political oppression based on Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice, rectify the misdeeds that infringe on the legals rights and interests of Chinese journalists based in the country and provide guarantee for the normal operation of Chinese media organizations and the normal work of Chinese journalists.
A top ULFA (Independent) militant managed to escape during an encounter with the Meghalaya Police in South Garo Hills district, police sources said on Friday.

Self-proclaimed deputy commander-in-chief of ULFA(I) Drishti Rajkhowa alias Manoj Rabha was among the militants who escaped during the exchange of fire at Bolbokgre village in the evening of March 11, they said.

A huge cache of arms and ammunition were left behind by the ULFA(I) militants, a senior police officer said.

Three rifles, three pistols, walkie talkie sets, camping gears and a large number of bullets, besides "demand pads" of the banned Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) outfit used in extorting money were seized, he said.

Acting on a tip-off about the presence of a group of militants near Bolbokgre, a police team was sent to nab them, district Superintendent of Police Priyangshu Pandey said.

"Seeing the police team, the militants fired indiscriminately leading to retaliatory action by the personnel. However, they were able to escape, leaving behind a huge cache of arms and ammunition. A search operation has been launched to nab them," Pandey said.

The SP said that investigation is on to find out the reason behind the presence of ULFA(I) militants in the area.

He said that since the death of GNLA leader Sohan D Shira, ULFA(I) militants have mostly fled to Bangladesh but they keep frequenting the bordering areas in India.

"We have found many GNLA demand pads that could still be used to extort money in the Garo Hills region," Pandey said.

The GNLA and the ULFA(I) worked in close coordination during the height of militancy in the Garo Hills, they said.

Both the outfits shared intelligence inputs, cadres, firearms and ammunition, the sources said.

However, militant activities in the region have come down since Shira was shot dead by the Meghalaya Police in February 2018, following which a large number of cadres of the outfit have either surrendered or were arrested, they added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
7 Indians kidnapped in Libya; govt in touch with Libyan authorities to rescue them: MEA

Two ships with 39 Indians on board not yet allowed to unload cargo by China: India

Funds of Indians in Swiss banks rise to Rs 20,700 cr, highest in 13 years; customer deposits down for 2nd year

Coronavirus outbreak: 120 Indians from Iran to come back today

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 13: About 120 Indians, being evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Iran in an Air India flight, will reach Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on Friday and will be quarantined at an Army facility, a Defence spokesperson said on Thursday.

"They will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility created under the aegis of Southern Command. The patients will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility under escort of civil administration," defence spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh said.

He said that another batch of approximately 250 people, to be airlifted from Iran on March 15, will also be quarantined at the Army facility in Jaisalmer.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

Coronavirus: More than 6,000 Indians stranded in Iran, efforts on to bring them back, says govt

The Ministry of Defence has set up seven more quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients, especially for Indian citizens being brought to back from coronavirus-hit countries.

The facilities have been set up at Jaisalmer, Suratgadh, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Deolali, Kolkata and Chennai.
ANN ARBOR, MI  A local muralist is facing deportation, prompting plans for a Friday rally in his support outside the U.S. immigration court in Detroit.

Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights co-founder Laura Sanders said Alejandro Chinchilla, 36, is an Ann Arbor artist, youth advocate and beloved community member who was arrested and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week, after 19 years of service to our community.

The rally to support the undocumented immigrant from Costa Rica is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. March 13 outside the McNamara Federal Building, 477 Michigan Ave.

Despite concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, the rally is still on, Sanders confirmed Friday morning.

According to WICIR, it will be a peaceful gathering and attendees are asked to bring signs of love and support.

Signs will feature Alejandro's amazing artwork that beautifies our community, Sanders wrote in an email, including a photo of a colorful mural he helped create in 2015, featuring a tree growing from planet Earth, held up by two hands, with the flags of different countries among the trees branches.

Chinchilla led a WICIR teen group to create this beautiful and powerful mural in Ypsilanti, Sanders said, indicating it was designed and executed by community youth affected by immigration enforcement  led by Alejandro, who is a gentle and loving person, as well as an inspired artist.

Faces of the deported: A look at lives torn apart amid immigration crackdown

An ICE spokesman did not immediately have a comment on Chinchillas case, saying the agency had more than one person by the name Alejandro Chinchilla.

Chinchilla learned his craft as an artist from watching videos of Bob Ross, the PBS TV artist known for his afro and penchant for painting "happy trees, The Ann Arbor News/MLive reported in 2015.

He has covered ugly graffiti with gorgeous landscapes and has worked with hundreds of residents and businesses in the area to beautify their properties, Sanders said.

What is also incredible is that Alejandro has been with us for 19 years and has never even received so much as a parking ticket, she said. We cannot understand the logic in disrupting his life, the lives of his family and the positive foundation of our community by deporting him.

Deportations, despair and big court backlogs amid Michigan immigration crackdown

Hes currently being detained by ICE at a facility in Monroe, Sanders said, adding she has been in contact with him and his family.

WICIR is asking an immigration judge to at least release Chinchilla on bond so he can prepare for his case and/or potential departure from the country.

Sanders argues Chinchillas case is one of many unjust detainments and deportations across the country being cruelly executed by President Donald Trumps administration.

We oppose these assaults on our immigrant community as they weaken families and have devastating effects on us all, she said.

MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:

A day in Michigans only immigration court, where 3 judges decide the fate of thousands

Mothers deportation means emotional goodbye for Ann Arbor family

Ypsilanti-area mother of fours deportation leaves void for family

After 30 years in U.S., Michigan mother of 6 deported to Mexico
Hikikomori.

Thats Japanese for extreme social withdrawal and is the label for those people, many of them in their 20s and 30s, who shut themselves off from society, live with their parents, refuse to work or attend college, and communicate, when they communicate at all, largely through social media. Up to half a million hikikomori live in Japan, which is a major problem in a land with a growing population of the elderly and a shortage of young workers.

The Japan Times reports that older hikikomori also exist in abundant numbers. Like their younger counterparts, many of them suffer from depression, are ashamed of their societal status, and fear meeting acquaintances who may ask why they are unemployed.

But are the hikikomori only a Japanese phenomenon?

A 2017 US Census Report reveals some startling statistics regarding our young people and their living conditions. In 2015, a third of adults ages 1835 lived with their parents, and 1 in 4 young people ages 2534 (2.2 million) neither worked nor attended a school of any kind. In 2016, more young adults lived with their parents than with a spouse.

This report contains comparisons that suggest our young people are taking much more time to grow up than their parents and grandparents did. In 2005, 35 states reported that the majority of young adults lived independently. Just 10 years later, only six states reported this same majority. From 19752016, the number of young women who were counted as homemakers fell from 43 percent14 percent. This same report reveals that many young adults consider education and employment opportunities important markers of adulthood, but over half believe that marrying and having children have little to do with becoming adults.

Given the boom in the last three years in employment, these statistics have surely changed, yet many of the young undoubtedly remain under their parents roof. There should be no onus attached to that situation; one could easily make the case that living together is a wise financial arrangement for parents and children.

But what of those who live with Mom and Dad, and who dont work or go to school?

Of all the young people I know, only three fit that description. One served as a Marine in the Middle East years ago, saw combat, returned home claiming he had PTSD, and took up residence in his parents basement, where to the best of my knowledge he remains, though his claims for government assistance were denied. Another woman won a suit for sexual harassment while serving in the military, and though she lives independently, she will lose the monies she receives from the government if she becomes gainfully employed. The third is a 22-year-old male with various personality disorders.

In Failure to Launch: Why Your Twentysomething Hasnt Grown Up  and What to Do About It, clinical psychologist Mark McConville introduces us to many more young people struggling with the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Nick does well in high school, heads off to college, parties and cuts classes, is suspended for his academic failures, returns home, resides in the basement, and refuses to find employment. Kaylee, an otherwise bright young woman, cant bring her spending habits under control and is constantly running up credit card bills.

Kyle is terrified of making the leap from high school to college.

Birdie leaves her parents home seeking independence, but financial self-reliance proves more than she can handle, and soon she was sleeping fourteen hours a day  and was severely neglecting basic self-care.

McConville believes that these young people and others are failing in three ways to grow upthey lack a sense of purpose, they fail at administrative responsibility, which means taking charge of their lives, and they are missing the social skills necessary to interact with other adults. Using these case histories and examples from his own experiences as a parent, McConville offers readers wise advice on easing adolescents into adulthood.

In Dear Twentysomething, a letter near the end of the Failure To Launch addressed directly to the young rather than their parents, McConville writes, Becoming an adult is harder than most of us ever want to acknowledge, and far more difficult than anyone dares to tell you in high school, then later adds, Youre human, and this is the crooked path we each follow to our quirky, imperfect, rewarding futures.

All of our young people might take heart from reading McConvilles wise reflections in this chapter.

Of course, the majority of young twentysomethings dont fit these statistics and descriptions. My own four children all graduated from college, were married by the age of 22, and have found rewarding employment. As a result, a platoon of grandchildren now owns my heart, and I can go to my grave reasonably assured that their parents will make their way in the world.

But two points from the above data are particularly dismaying.

First up are those young people who live at home but neither work nor attend school. Like love, workeven work that is drudgerycontributes to the greater good and should bring some personal satisfaction, if nothing more than a check on payday. To do no work, not even volunteering at the local soup kitchen or public library, takes away the opportunity to feel useful, to be a contributor, to connect with an enterprise larger than the solitary self. In the article from The Japan Times, we meet an older man who lives as a recluse with his elderly mother. She struggles with household chores, yet even there her son refuses to lend a hand, relying instead on government workers to come to the house and perform chores too difficult for her.

Even more troubling is the failure among the young to equate family and marriage with adulthood. This attitude reflects a sad narcissism, a desire for personal gaina solid education and lucrative workbut not a willingness to extend the definition of adulthood to the joys, responsibilities, and burdens of being a spouse and a parent.

Such a disregard for marriage and family doubtless has many contributing factors, among them fear of commitment, the failure to find a suitable partner, the inability to support a family, and a diminished regard for marriage, but there are consequences. Replacement level fertility rates are 2.1 births per woman. In Japan, the birth rate stands at about 1.44 babies per woman, a long-standing circumstance that haunts the Japanese as their aging population must rely on fewer and fewer young people for assistance. Though our situation here is less dire, the United States has for many years experienced a decline in birth rates. In 2016, the fertility level hovered around 1.80 births.

Marriage and child-rearing are major markers of adulthood. That so many of our young people consider them unimportant speaks volumes about the fallen state of matrimony and family life in our culture.

As for any hikikomori among us, if you are depressed, seek counseling. If you feel lost, get some help. Put down your electronic devices, step outside, and engage the world.

We need you.

Jeff Minick has four children and a growing platoon of grandchildren. For 20 years, he taught history, literature, and Latin to seminars of homeschooling students in Asheville, N.C., Today, he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va. See JeffMinick.com to follow his blog.
Curious just how far your dollar goes in Mid West?

According to Walk Score, this Houston neighborhood is somewhat walkable, has minimal bike infrastructure and offers many nearby public transportation options. Data from rental site Zumper shows that the median rent for a one bedroom in Mid West is currently hovering around $865.

So, what might you expect to find if you're on a budget of $1,300/month? Read on for a roundup of the latest rental listings, via Zumper and Apartment Guide. (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.

2828 Dunvale Road

Listed at $1,205/month, this 676-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment is located at 2828 Dunvale Road.

In the apartment, expect to see hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances and a walk-in closet. The building features garage parking and a swimming pool. Pet owners, rejoice: Cats and dogs are permitted.

(See the complete listing here.)

Fountain View Drive

Next, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment over at Fountain View Drive. It's listed for $1,225/month for its 720 square feet.

Amenities offered in the building include garage parking. Also, expect to find a dishwasher, in-unit laundry, hardwood flooring and a walk-in closet in the apartment. Both cats and dogs are welcome.

(See the complete listing here.)

2827 Dunvale Road

Check out this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment that's located at 2827 Dunvale Road. It's listed for $1,250/month.

The building features secured entry and garage parking. In the unit, expect to see hardwood flooring, a dishwasher, in-unit laundry and a walk-in closet. Pets are not welcome.

(See the complete listing here.)

9233 Westheimer Road

Then, located at 9233 Westheimer Road, here's a 753-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment that's listed for $1,280/month.

The apartment offers a walk-in closet, a balcony and a dishwasher. The building has a swimming pool. Luckily for pet owners, both dogs and cats are allowed. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

(Check out the complete listing here.)

8585 Woodway Drive

Finally, here's a 1,129-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment at 8585 Woodway Drive that's going for $1,284/month.

In the unit, you'll find hardwood flooring and stainless steel appliances. The building has garage parking and secured entry. When it comes to pets, both meows and barks are allowed.

(Take a look at 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 an agent or a broker, read on for real estate marketing ideas to promote your local listing.

Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
As Australia's information and privacy commissioner, Angelene Falk is doing a job that was originally intended to be three separate positions. This week, her already busy office went public with its most serious task yet: suing Facebook for privacy breaches in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Information and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk. Credit:AAP

Who is she?

Falk's full title is information commissioner and privacy commissioner. She took on her role in 2018, and comes to the position after more than 20 years in the law. She graduated from Monash University and has held a number of senior positions at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. In leading the office, she is charged with protecting Australians' privacy, policing freedom of information laws and overseeing government handling of information.

She took on her job just days before announcing the start of what would become a two-year investigation into Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. "So  it was a busy time," she said in a speech in November. "Theres nothing quite like opening an investigation into a global tech giant in your second week on the job. And the pace hasnt stopped."
TRAVERSE CITY, MI  A former California man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the slaying of a homeless man in Northern Michigan.

Joshua Vandehoef, 19, entered his plea Thursday, March 12, in 13th Circuit Court, according to the Associated Press.

James Chisholm, 62, was found May 29 by hikers about 15 yards from Boardman Lake in Traverse City. His throat had been slashed, AP reports.

Vandehoef, 19, was arrested in July. Police believe Chisholm had been in the area about three weeks and had been living in a tent.

GPS readings from Vandehoef's phone put him within meters of where Chisholm's body was found, AP reports.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 24.
The Paddock family from Olney, Illinois, arrived in Mobile Thursday for a cruise aboard the Carnival Fantasy wearing matching T-shirts that displayed a timely message about a pandemic that has disrupted social lives around the country.

Wash Yo Hands, Yall!

What prompted the T-shirts? Coronavirus, said 17-year-old MyLeah Paddock, the oldest of nine children who ran around Cooper Riverside Park on a sun-soaked afternoon in Mobile while awaiting the Carnival Fantasy cruise ship to arrive.

Are you concerned about the virus? No, Paddock said. Not really. (The shirt) was just a joke.

Outside the Alabama Cruise Terminal, cruisers waited on the arrival of the 2,056-passenger vessel to arrive into the Port of Mobile. It had been delayed for at least seven hours in the Mobile Bay awaiting a stubborn fog to lift. The ship didnt arrived until later in the evening, and departed after midnight, according to WKRG-TV.

The cruisers include mother-daughter and mother-son groups, some who were cruising out of Mobile for the first time and others who were more experienced.

None of the cruisers, however, have had to deal with the stepped up screening protocols implemented by Carnival Cruise Lines ahead of disembarking the cruise terminal for a four-day voyage to Progreso in Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula.

The Miami-based cruise company has been taking the temperatures of all guests and crews before they are allowed onto their ships. Guests are also required to fill out pre-boarding health screenings that includes questionnaires and participating in medical evaluations.

They gave us health screening paperwork to fill out and will give us more information when we go into the boat, said Jerry Murry, 23, a Clarksdale, Tennessee, resident who arrived in Mobile earlier in the day with his girlfriend, 21-year-old Desmond Parkin of Nashville.

Murry said he was concerned that the cruise would be canceled. Carnival Corp. announced earlier in the day it was suspending operations of the Princess Cruises line of ships after two of them became hotspots for the spread of COVID-19.

In addition, the U.S. Department of State has warned Americans against traveling on cruise ships in order to mitigate the risk of spreading the virus.

Alabama is one of a four states without a confirmed case of coronavirus. The state has tested about 50 people since March 5, with no positive results. As of Friday morning, 1,660 people in 46 states have tested positive for coronavirus, according to The New York Times database. At least 41 have died.

It was nerve wracking that we didnt know if they would keep the cruise or not, but with my job, its kind of hard to get days off said Murry, a paramedic. We had to be strategic with planning out our vacation. Im glad they are still here and (moving forward with the cruise).

Sherry Rain, 34, and her son, Aiden, 8, both of Slidell, Louisiana, arrived to Mobile in the morning in hopes of boarding the Carnival Fantasy early.

Rain, a travel agent, had booked the trip last night. She said she was unconcerned about COVID19.

She was more concerned and upset about why the cruise ship had been delayed for hours.

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, earlier in the day, confirmed that the cruise ships delay was related to fog, and not because of a COVID-19 scare.

Im not concerned at all (about coronavirus), said Rain, who recently was on a cruise for her sisters wedding aboard the Carnival Valor, which departs from New Orleans. She said there was hand sanitizing stations everywhere and that the crew had sanitized hand raisings and staircases repeatedly during that voyage.

Carnival posted their ship cleaning standards on their website giving assurances about frequent sanitizing of tables, chairs, menus and other surfaces in the restaurant, casinos, fitness areas, lobbies, medical centers, sun lounges and bars

The buffets are mostly being staffed by crew members who are serving cruisers wherever possible. In areas where its impossible to do so  such as condiment setups and salsa bars  personnel are monitoring the areas to make sure they are cleaned and sanitized in a timely manner.

Deep cleaning is occurring throughout the ship, and rooms and bathrooms are being cleaned twice daily.

In this photo provided by Michele Smith, a cruise ship worker cleans a railing on the Grand Princess Thursday, March 5, 2020, off the California coast. Carnival Cruise Lines has since suspended operations of the Princess cruise lines. (Michele Smith via AP)AP

Jean-Paul Rodrigue, a professor of global studies and geography at Hofstra University in New York, said he believes that other cruise ports could see a suspension of cruising soon amid cancellations throughout the industry.

They will certainly let the ongoing cruises run their itineraries since customers are already onboard, said Rodrigue, who told AL.com earlier this week that cruise ships are, by their nature, harbors of the main risk factors for virus transmissions.

He said the cancellation of certain cruise lines was the result of a rise in cancellations, and recommendations from federal agencies like the State Department to avoid taking a cruise.

Mobile has also seen a rise in cancellations, according to Dave Clark, president & CEO with Visit Mobile.

He said prior to the COVID19 scare, the cruise ships leaving Mobile had been 100 capacity. A voyage last week, though, saw 5% of its passengers cancel  approximately 135 cruisers.

The most recent voyage, which returns later today, saw a 24% cancellation rate, Clark said.

That was an uptick in cancellations we normally dont get, he said.

But it was hard to detect any cancellation of activities in downtown Mobile where the influx of cruisers and approximately 2,000 attendees of the American Choral Directors Associations annual conference converged into restaurants and hotels.

Clark said there hasnt been a convention cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 scare.

Other major cities have over a hundred convention cancellations, said Clark. Weve had calls from four to five groups considering delaying or rescheduling for future years. But so far, they have not.
On Friday, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath listed the measures undertaken by the state government to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. First, he talked about the provision for isolation wards and testing in Uttar Pradesh. Mentioning that 11 people in the state had tested positive for COVID-19, he stressed that the situation was totally under control. The UP CM also stressed the importance of awareness and prevention.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath: A total of 11 people have tested positive for #Coronavirus; seven are from Agra, two from Ghaziabad and one each from Noida and Lucknow. pic.twitter.com/tpCm2uuEXL  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 13, 2020

Read: Amid Coronavirus Scare Nepal Halts All Mountaineering Expeditions, Suspends Tourist Visas

Closure of schools and colleges announced

He announced that awareness campaigns to contain the spread of the pandemic would take place in schools and colleges. While maintaining that the government had not declared COVID-19 as an epidemic, he said that some provisions of the Epidemic Act had been invoked to ensure that suspected Coronavirus patients are admitted in the isolation ward. Moreover, Adityanath called upon people not to panic and not to wear masks unless it is necessary.

Highlighting that UP shares a long border with Nepal, he noted that thermal analyzers were being used apart from round-the-clock monitoring by a team of doctors. Later, he declared that all schools and colleges in UP would be closed till March 22, except where exams are underway. The situation in this regard will be reviewed on March 20.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath: All schools, colleges, technical and vocational education institutes will remain closed till March 22. We will review the situation on March 22 and will take a decision whether to extend it or not. pic.twitter.com/QjokinNb4m  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 13, 2020

Read: Amid Coronavirus Scare, Patna Hospital Cancels Leaves Of Doctors, Support Staff

Coronavirus crisis

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19- the novel coronavirus has affected nearly 123 countries in the world. Presently, there are 1,32,567 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of 4,947 people. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to deal 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.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak as 'pandemic'. Meanwhile, India that has nearly 79 confirmed cases of COVID-19 suspended all visas, barring for a few categories such as diplomatic and employment apart from keeping in abeyance the visa-free travel facility to OCI cardholders till April 15. Moreover, the Centre has strongly advised Indians to avoid all non-essential travel abroad.

Read: Odisha Govt Declares Coronavirus A 'disaster'; Shuts Down Schools, Colleges, Theatres

Read: 46 People Placed Under Quarantine In Kalaburagi After Coronavirus Claims Man's Life
Vietnams tourism industry was growing at lightening speed when it was hit by the Covid-19 epidemic.

Phung Quang Thang, deputy chair of the Vietnam Travel Association, said the industrys growth hit a record high in December 2019 and then tumbled in January 2020, and has fallen into crisis since then.





Travellers have cancelled tours, airline bookings and tour services. The loss to the tourism industry is estimated at tens of trillion of dong.



The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) several days ago organized a conference discussing solutions to cope with Covid-19. The participants were optimistic about recovery after the crisis.

According to Le Hong Ha, deputy CEO of Vietnam Airlines, 40 percent of passengers have cancelled tickets for domestic flights. About 40-50 percent of outbound travellers have cancelled flights. The figure is lower for European travellers planning to go to Vietnam  10-15 percent.

According to Le Hong Ha, deputy CEO of Vietnam Airlines, 40 percent of passengers have cancelled tickets for domestic flights. About 40-50 percent of outbound travellers have cancelled flights. The figure is lower for European travellers planning to go to Vietnam  10-15 percent.



The markets that have cancelled tours the most are China and Northeast Asia countries such as Hong Kong, Macau, Japan and South Korea (70-80 percent).



Vietnam Airlines is offering service adjustments within six months, especially applied to clients from epidemic affected areas.



Do Xuan Quang, deputy CEO of Vietjet Air, said while the air carrier has to stop all flights to China since February 1 as requested, it is moving ahead to open new air routes to attract passengers from potential markets such as India.



Vice president of Vingroup Le Khac Hiep said Vingroup wants to share difficulties with clients. It will reimburse most of the costs, or delay the service bookings of partners and travellers affected by the epidemic.



Vingroups accommodation facilities are ready to serve tourists who have to stay in Vietnam because of cancelled flights.



A representative of Sun Group said domestic clients account for 60 percent of total clients, therefore, the impact of the epidemic on the real estate firm is not too severe.

However, the group is planning to join forces with airlines to launch tourism products in sale promotion programs for the domestic market in March. Demand is expected to return quickly once the epidemic is controlled, he said.



Tran Trong Kien, chair of the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) said the market of international travelers will need more time to recover than the domestic market. He suggested creating demand stimulus programs for all international markets and new programs when the conditions become favorable. Western Europe and North America will be priority markets.



Le Ha
Kanpur, March 13 : Another addition in the postponement of events due to the corona scare is the annual technical and entrepreneurial festival of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K), Techkriti-2020.

Though there is no confirmed case of coronavirus in Kanpur but the IIT-K festival witnesses a huge footfall of students and visitors from across the country as well as abroad and in view of this, the IIT-Kanpur administration, on Thursday evening, decided to cancel the mega event which was to start from March 19.

'Techkriti' is one of the largest technical festivals held in engineering and management institutes of the country.

It witnesses participation of students from all IITs and top colleges of the country. A number of events, including competitions like Model United Nations, Tech Summit, Entrepreneurial Conclave, Technocruise are held every year.

Besides, workshops and talks by eminent speakers remain a major attraction.

Prominent artistes also give performances during the cultural evenings.

The cancellation of the festival has come as a setback for the students who had been preparing for the event for past many months.

Meanwhile, precautionary measures have been also put in place on the campus for protection against coronavirus spread without disturbing the academic atmosphere. The institute has also made the attendance of all postgraduate students optional till April 15.

The residents of IIT-Kanpur have also been advised to avoid international travel till April 15 and all outreach activities on the campus have also been suspended until April 15.

The institute stated that it is in constant touch with the district epidemiologist as well as the health department regarding COVID-19.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Detectives investigating the murder of a Norwegian student killed 12 years ago in London are renewing their appeals for a suspect to return to the UK.

Farouk Abdulhak, the son of a billionaire businessman, who is now aged 33, was quickly identified by the investigation team as a suspect for Martine Vik Magnussen's murder.

Abdulhak fled the UK within hours of Miss Vik Magnussen's death, travelling to Egypt and then on to Yemen.

Norwegian socialite, Miss Vik Magnussen

Norwegian socialite, Miss Vik Magnussen who was 23, was killed in central London after spending the night with friends on 14 March 2008.

On 16 March 2008, officers making enquiries to trace her visited the residential block where Abdulhak lived on Great Portland Street in Westminster, where they discovered her body at approximately 10:30 p.m. Attempts had been made to conceal her beneath rubble.

She was last seen with Abdulhak  son of billionaire sugar magnate Shaher Abdulhak  as the pair left the Maddox nightclub in Mayfair in the early hours of March 14.

The pair studied international business relations at the private Regent's Business School in Regent's Park.

She was last seen with Farouk Abdulhak (pictured)  son of billionaire sugar magnate Shaher Abdulhak  as the pair left the Maddox nightclub in Mayfair in the early hours of March 14

By the time 23-year-old Miss Vik Magnussen's remains were found, Abdulhak had fled to Egypt and on to Yemen.

A post-mortem examination gave her cause of death as compression to the neck. She had also been raped.

Farouk Abdulhak remains the only suspect in the death of Miss Vik Magnussen.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Partridge who leads the investigation into Miss Vik Magnussen's murder said:

'Over the past 12 years, Martine's family and my investigation team have kept this case in the public's thoughts, raising it again and again with each passing anniversary. It must be clear to Farouk Abdulhak, the person sought in connection with Martine's murder, that this matter is not going to go away and that his status as a wanted man will remain.

'The dignity, resolve and courage shown by the Magnussen family over the past 12 years has been in stark contrast to the conduct of Abdulhak. He has chosen to flee, chosen to hide, hoping this matter would all go away  the actions of a coward.

CCTV footage dated 14/3/2008 issued by Metropolitan Police of Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen and billionaire playboy Farouk Abdulhak leaving Maddox nightclub in Mayfair

'It must be clear to him now, 12 years later, that the studies he embarked upon in the UK, the plans he was making for his future, can never be realised whilst this matter is unresolved. I would appeal for him to return to the UK to assist this investigation. I appeal for anyone who has contact with Abdulhak to make him see sense and to advise him to return to the UK. He can never have a normal life whilst remaining wanted and in hiding.'

Anyone with any information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8358 0300. You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
ELK GROVE, Calif. (AP)  Kiyana Esco needs free school lunches and breakfasts to feed her six children. But with schools shutting down over coronavirus concerns, shes scrambling to pick up the meals, care for her kids and keep her job.

Esco, a single mother who was just promoted to manager at a Dollar Tree, fears she'll be fired because she can't work following school closures in Elk Grove, the fifth-largest district in California. She's among the parents who are relying on school leaders as they look for ways to keep millions of America's poorest children from going hungry.

While schools across the U.S. close their doors to try to prevent the spread of the new virus, they're cobbling together arrangements for grab-and-go lunch bags or setting up delivery routes. Congress is considering making it easier for school meals to be passed out at places like food banks as schools shut down in Ohio, Maryland, Michigan, Virginia, Oregon and New Mexico, and in major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, Seattle, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Even though most patients infected with the virus have only mild or moderate symptoms such as a fever or cold, school closures are widely accepted as a key way to slow the spread.

In Pennsylvania, children who qualify will still be able to get meals and snacks from their districts.

If schools in Pennsylvania close due to #COVID19, meals can continue to be served  pic.twitter.com/nZk69WGOgZ  PA Department of Education (@PADeptofEd) March 12, 2020

Some of the nation's largest districts, including New York City and Chicago, were open for now, with concerns over their mission to provide free or reduced-cost meals to hundreds of thousands of students from lower-income families.

"A substantial percentage of our students depend upon the schools for eating," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday. "They depend upon the schools for shelter and in some instances for where they get their clothing and other needs."

But others, like Los Angeles and San Diego, which had held out on closing for the same reasons, on Friday announced they would close.

"There is evidence the virus is already present in the communities we serve, and our efforts now must be aimed at preventing its spread," Los Angeles Superintendent Austin Beutner and San Diego Superintendent Cindy Marten said in a joint statement.

The urgent decisions have left schools and cities scrambling to figure out how to make sure students don't go hungry.

"It's been extremely stressful. Everything is evolving by the hour with new cases, new proclamations," said Michelle Price, a school administrator who oversees 29 districts in Washington state, where many schools are closed until April 24. "We haven't dealt with anything like this, so we're doing as we're learning."

In the U.S., more than two-thirds of the 31 million students who regularly eat school lunches, or 22 million, depend on a free or reduced-price school lunch as a main source of their daily nutrition, according to the School Nutrition Association.

The U.S. Agriculture Department oversees food programs in schools, but it has restrictions on how students can get their subsidized meals. Advocates and states are pressing the agency to ease some rules, but USDA leaders say it's up to lawmakers to loosen eligibility.

Several measures now pending in Congress would offer a nationwide waiver so school meals can be offered in a wide variety of settings, such as food banks, and allow the USDA to grant waiver requests expanding eligibility even if they resulted in added costs to the government.

The coronavirus aid package being negotiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Trump administration Friday was expected to give USDA authority to allow states to provide emergency food stamp assistance to families whose children could miss out on free or reduced-price meals if schools are closed. Under the current proposal, the child's school must be closed for no less than five consecutive days for families to be eligible.

Meanwhile, states and school districts are pushing forward with their own plans.

Seattle Public Schools set up tents to provide meals outside the first two schools it closed earlier this week. But after canceling classes at all 104 campuses Wednesday, the 55,000-student district won't be able to set up dozens of sites for "grab and go" sack lunches for all schools until Monday, spokesman Tim Robinson said.

In nearby Northshore School District in Washington state, officials also have been using school buses to deliver meals to homes, providing the service in limited cases when families are unable to travel.

And in Ohio, which is shutting down its schools for at least three weeks, the Cleveland district is considering how to provide bagged breakfasts and lunches for students over the next few weeks, most likely by designating pickup locations or using school buses, district CEO Eric Gordon said.

The District of Columbia said it would make meals available for students at several different school sites.

By CUNEYT DIL and HOPE YEN, The Associated Press
Air India on Friday cancelled all its flights to Italy, France, South Korea, Kuwait, Madrid and Colombo till April 30 over coronavirus outbreak.

The national carrier on Thursday decided to cancel all its flights to Kuwait till April 30 and curtail services to various other countries, including Spain, France and Sri Lanka.

The move comes a day after Air India announced temporary suspension of its services to Rome, Milan and Seoul, amid the coronavirus pandemic which has triggered imposition of travel restrictions by various countries across the globe.

An airline official said all flights operating to and from Kuwait have been cancelled till April 30.

The existing curtailment of services to Seoul (South Korea), Rome and Milan (Italy) too has been extended till April 30, he added.

A total of 16 foreign airlines have cancelled 492 international flights to India so far due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri informed Parliament on Thursday.

Domestic carriers have also taken a hit, as 93 flights have been cancelled per week by Vistara, SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir.

Fresh bookings and occupancy in domestic flights have dropped by 15-20% in the wake of the outbreak among passengers.

According to IndiGo, there has been a 15-20% week-on-week dip in daily bookings over the past few days.

In January and February, IndiGo experienced modest impact from the coronavirus. We cancelled all flights to China and Hong Kong and reduced frequency to certain other south-east Asian markets. This capacity was redeployed in other markets without having a material impact on our revenues, the airline said in a statement. The carrier is expecting quarterly earnings to be impacted because of the cancellations.
Oil pipes in an oil field

As far back as 2018, analysts were predicting another oil price collapse would occur in 2020. That moment has arrived with the international benchmark Brent price losing 46% for the year to date to be trading at US$35 per barrel. This triggered a sharp sell-off of energy stocks as investors stampeded for the exits. As a result, the largest industry ETF, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF, has lost 65% for the year to date with signs of further losses ahead.

A new price war

It isnt only the coronavirus that is responsible for the fear. A price war has erupted between Saudi Arabia and Russia after the disintegration of the production cuts deal that, since 2016, has supported higher oil. This occurred in an environment where there was an existing supply glut where higher prices were essentially the result of the production cuts agreed by OPEC and its allies, notably Russia, rather than a material change in supply and demand. The collapse of the deal saw Riyadh not only vow to boost its oil output by up to 28% to 12.5 million barrels daily but also slash oil prices to gain market share. Moscow responded by claiming it could lift oil output by up to 500,000 barrels daily. This sent prices into a tailspin, and there are signs it will take time for them to recover.

There are claims by some industry insiders, such as Continental Oil founder Harold Hamm, that the latest moves by Riyadh and Moscow constitute an attack on U.S. shale. This is because U.S. shale oil is far more price sensitive than Russian or Saudi production. This, however, may not be the case, because U.S. shale proved far more resilient than anticipated during the last oil price collapse, when Brent fell below US$30 per barrel. Despite sharply weaker oil, the industry was responsible for the substantial production growth that saw the U.S. overtake Saudi Arabia to become the worlds largest oil producer in late 2018.

Poor outlook

What is becoming clear is that it will take some time for the re-balancing of the oil market to occur, meaning there are further losses ahead for energy stocks. Attempts to control the coronavirus pandemic are significantly reducing economic activity, meaning that demand wont increase, even as oil prices fall. There is substantial uncertainty as to what the impact of the virus will be, despite moves by central banks to stimulate economic growth, and when the economy will finally rebound.

Story continues

However, global oil production and inventories will keep climbing because of the price war. That will apply considerable pressure to oil and create a highly uncertain operating environment for upstream oil producers. Many oil companies are slashing spending and cutting dividends to shore up their cash flow and balance sheets. Globally diversified upstream oil producer Vermilion (TSX:VET)(NYSE:VET) cut its supposedly safe dividend in half to $0.115 per share.

That  along with significantly weaker oil and growing anxiety over the fallout from the coronavirus  has caused Vermilion stock to plunge by 80% since the start of 2020. Even after management took a knife to Vermilions dividend, it still has a monster 34% yield because its stock has crashed to record lows. For these reasons, there could be additional cuts ahead, and Vermilion may even elect to cease paying dividends until greater certainty regarding the economy and oil prices emerges.

While recent events have triggered considerable alarm regarding the fate of upstream oil producers, Vermilion can survive the latest price collapse. It reported record oil reserves, production, and cash flow for 2019 in what was a challenging operating environment where Brent averaged US$64 per barrel. It finished 2019 with a solid balance sheet. This was illustrated by Vermilions debt being a modest two times 2019 EBITDA and an interest coverage ratio of 13.5. It also has $2.5 billion of credit capacity, endowing Vermilion with considerable financial flexibility.

Looking ahead

The outlook for crude remains poor for the foreseeable future. There is considerable uncertainty surrounding the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. This  along with the latest price war between Riyadh and Moscow  means that a rebound is a long way off. That will weigh heavily on oil stocks over coming months.

The post The Rout of Oil Stocks Is Far From Over appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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Fool contributor Matt Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020
Moscow court refuses to free attorney accused of obstructing justice from detention

 RAPSI

18:02 13/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 13 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by attorney Dagir Khasavov detained on charges of obstruction of justice to place him under house arrest, RAPSI was told in the courts press service.

The lawyer will remain in detention, according to the court s decision.

The defendant stands charged with obstruction of justice and graft or compulsion of evidence or avoidance of giving testimony.

His prosecution is connected with a criminal case against Deputy Prime Minister of Russias Republic of Dagestan Rayudin Yusufov. According to investigators, he threatened a witness of prosecution on social media inducing him to change testimony in court.

Khasavov was arrested on September 17 in the building of Moscows Lefortovsky District Court.
The International Development Secretary said she was one of the increasing number of MPs self-isolating for seven days in a bid to stem the spread of the disease int he heart of politics

Cabinet minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan has tested negative for coronavirus, she revealed today, as Parliament's decision-makers faced mounting pressure to ban visitors.

The International Development Secretary said she was one of the increasing number of MPs self-isolating for seven days in a bid to stem the spread of the disease in the heart of politics.

She was tested after coming into contact with health minister Nadine Dorries, who has tested positive for coronavirus, at the International Women's Day event hosted by Boris Johnson in Downing Street on March 5.

A spokesman for Ms Trevelyan said the test 'came back negative' on Friday morning, adding: 'On the advice of doctors, she is self-isolating for a further seven days as a precaution.'

It came as Home Office minister James Brokenshire said he was self-isolating after he had a meeting with an Australian minister in Washington last week who has now tested positive for coronavirus.

Mr Brokenshire said he is feeling 'fit and well' and has 'no obvious symptoms' but has opted to work from home next week as a precaution.

Meanwhile, two other Tory MPs have announced they are also now in self-isolation.

William Wragg and Alex Chalk said they were staying at home, joining a handful of other parliamentarians who have already taken themselves out of circulation in Westminster.

Mr Wragg said he had made the decision after developing symptoms while Mr Chalk, a junior justice minister, said he had been advised to self-isolate after having a conversation 'with an infected colleague last week'.

It means there are now five government ministers in self-isolation: Ms Trevelyan, Mr Brokenshire, Mr Chalk, Ms Dorries and health minister Edward Argar.

The growing number of MPs in self-isolation has increased calls for tougher action to be taken in Parliament amid demands for visitors and tourists to be barred from entering the estate.

Meanwhile, ministers are believed to be preparing for the prospect of having to work from home by trialling so-called 'electronic red boxes'.

There are growing calls for Parliament to ban visitors as the number of MPs self-isolating increases

Tory MP William Wragg said he was self-isolating after developing symptoms yesterday

Tory justice minister Alex Chalk said he was self-isolating after having a conversation with an 'infected colleague' last week

The red briefcases carried by ministers are an iconic part of British democracy and they are filled every day by officials with crucial documents which have to be read and signed off.

The government is reportedly rolling out a system which will allow ministers to access a digital version of their red box so that if they do have to self-isolate they can still work.

A Whitehall source told The Telegraph: 'It's like a normal day, except you get to do it in bed rather than the office.'

Boris Johnson yesterday announced that anyone who has a persistent cough or fever should self-isolate for seven days.

The number of MPs in self-isolation is now believed to be in double figures.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen yesterday confirmed he was self-isolating after he had lunch with Nadine Dorries, the health minister, who has tested positive for coronavirus.

Mr Wragg tweeted late last night: 'Given symptoms that have developed today, I'm following the up-to-date medical advice and will isolate myself for the next week.

'I will be using the NHS website to seek further advice and arrange to undertake any necessary tests.'

Meanwhile, Mr Chalk wrote on Facebook: 'Following a conversation I had with an infected colleague last week, Public Health England have advised me (and one or two others I understand) to self-isolate for a few days.

'The advice is given out of an abundance of caution, but I of course accept it.'

He added: 'I should say that I feel absolutely as right as rain, and will be able to carry on a great deal of my constituency and ministerial duties from here.'

Mr Bridgen told The Guardian he believed Parliament should have already moved to ban visitors.

'I said two weeks ago we should have closed parliament to visitors,' he said.

'Parliament is like an airport  we have got people coming in from all over the world.

'Security have said to me that they have to pat people down from all around the world. We should have stopped visitors coming here two weeks ago. It would only need to be temporary.'

Ministers are now believed to be trialling 'digital red boxes' so they can continue to work from home if they have to self-isolate

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons Leader, said yesterday that Parliament will remain open and must 'go ahead at the same pace as the rest of the country' when it comes to responding to the outbreak.

The government is expected to bring forward emergency coronavirus-related legislation next week.

Mr Rees-Mogg said: 'It is of fundamental importance that we keep this place open.

'But it is also important that we are treated and we treat ourselves in the same way as the rest of the country, and that we go ahead at the same pace as the rest of the country.

'There should not be a difference in how Parliament is behaving from the advice that is being given to our constituents and I think that is important  we shouldn't try and seek to be a special case for ourselves.'
Public health specialist Professor Ruairi Brugha has said that it is important that contact tracing and testing for the Covid-19 virus be ramped up.

The new measures introduced by the government on Thursday mean that people will be very focused, he told RTE radios Morning Ireland.

We have moved from the containment to the delay phase, there is early evidence of community transmission.

Community support for the new measures is very important, he said. There may be more small clusters of community transmission, he warned.

We need to ramp up early detection, it is important that people be highly responsive.

Prof. Brugha added that it was important to reduce the period of time from the first onset of symptoms to confirmation of the virus. That waiting time had been reduced in China from 10 days to three days.

We know there will be a spike. We need to make sure that spike doesnt grow too quickly and flattens out to make it manageable to health services.

Prof. Brugha suggested that large numbers of civil servants should be diverted to undertake contact tracing.

It is a relatively simple process.

He urged the Government not to relax on the initial measures and to be prepared to ramp them up if necessary.
Amid the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis across the globe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged the SAARC nations to chalk out strategy to fight it and set an example to the world.

In a series of tweets, Modi said, "Our planet is battling COVID-19. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it. South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population, should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy.

"I would like to propose that the leadership of the SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy. Together, we can set an example to the world and contribute to a healthier planet," he said.

Our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it.



South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 13, 2020

I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus.



We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy.



Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 13, 2020



His remarks came amid the COVID-19 outbreak, which has hit the health as well as the markets globally. On Thursday, Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson in a phone conversation stressed the need to coordinate international efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the government said Modi received a phone call from Johnson on Thursday. The two discussed the ongoing global pandemic that has hit some countries of Europe badly, apart from China, and decided to coordinate efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Modi also expressed concern over UK Health Minister Nadine Dorries testing positive for coronavirus and wished her a speedy recovery.

Both the leaders also agreed to further strengthen India-UK strategic partnership through the new decade. They concurred that it would be useful to formulate a comprehensive roadmap for the next ten years towards the objective of strengthening ties.

The leaders expressed their satisfaction at the cooperation between India and the UK in the field of climate change, especially with reference to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

On Thursday, India witnessed its first coronavirus death in Karnataka. State Health Minister B. Sriramulu confirmed that a 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi in the state's northern region died of Covid-19. The Union Health Ministry on Friday confirmed 75 coronavirus cases till 10 a.m. on its official website.
FRONT PAGE

An article on Thursday about Harvey Weinsteins sentencing misstated the date of his conviction. It was Feb. 24, not Feb. 25.

ARTS

An article on Thursday about the album We Are Sent Here by History described incorrectly the genre of music played by the band Batsumi. The group performs songs sung in southern African languages and includes influences from ethnic groups other than Zulu. It is not simply a Zulu jazz-rock band.

SPECIAL SECTION: MUSEUMS

EDITORS NOTE: The Museums section was printed before closures related to the coronavirus were announced, and some exhibition dates in the section could change.

An article on Page 32 about museums in New York that focus on immigration misstates the location of the Tenement Museums food stall. It is in the Market Line, under the Essex Market; it is not in the Essex Market itself.
By The Associated Press Mar. 13, 2020 | 11:18 AM | WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump's administration announced Friday it is awarding $1.3 million to two companies trying to develop rapid COVID-19 tests that could detect whether a person is positive for the new coronavirus within an hour.

The Department of Health and Human Services said it is awarding $679,000 to DiaSorin Molecular, of Cypress, California, and $598,000 to QIAGEN, of Germantown, Maryland, to accelerate development of their tests.

DiaSorin's test could be ready within six weeks for consideration by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the QIAGEN test could be ready within 12 weeks for FDA consideration, according to HHS.

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, about 81,000 people have been diagnosed and about 64,000 have recovered.
Parents will have to cancel work to stay home with their kids. Kids who normally eat at school wont be able to. School calendars will be disrupted.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer acknowledged all these things as she announced her order to close all K-12 school buildings in the state March 16, to be re-opened April 6. But its a move she said was necessary to protect public health.

This is going to be hard. But were going to get through this, Whitmer said in a press conference late Thursday night.

Related: All Michigan schools to close as coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

The announcement came after public health officials confirmed Michigan now has 12 presumptive positive tests for coronavirus, up from the first two announced on Tuesday, when the governor declared a state of emergency.

We had two cases yesterday, today we have 12. We expect more to come, Whitmer said.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Deputy for Health and Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said she expects there to be more cases, and expects there to be community spread. As for the number, I expect that there are more that we just dont know about yet, she said.

State Superintendent Michael Rice said it was a responsible decision to mitigate the spread of the virus and keep people safe, but acknowledged it would be challenging.

There are many children in Michigan that rely on our schools for meals. We will be working with our local school districts to provide guidance to help children access food during this time, Rice said.

Whitmer said the closure came out of an abundance of caution," and wasnt a decision she made lightly.

I know this will be a tough time for our parents and educators, and I urge businesses to do everything they can to support employees at this time. Some parents will need to stay home with their children, and not every parent will have the ability to do so. Not every parent has paid leave, though I think they should, Whitmer said, encouraging employers to step up and provide help if their employees need it.

She said she believed school employees should continue to be paid.

David Hecker, president of AFT Michigan, released a statement after the governors announcement.

While this is unfortunate news, we want to thank Gov. Whitmer for taking action," Hecker said.

"This health crisis deserves all necessary precautions to protect students, school employees and families across Michigan. We will be communicating with our members and elected and public health officials throughout this process to ensure it goes as smoothly as possible. This is a time to come together as schools and communities and do what we can to help one another and protect public health.

Peter Spadafore, associate executive director of the Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators, said in a statement: MASA stands behind the governors order and we will work to ensure that districts are supported during this public health crisis. It is a responsible decision to keep our communities safe to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect public health. This was not an easy decision, but its the right decision.

Whitmer encouraged people to wash their hands thoroughly, cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze and stay home if they feel sick.

Coronavirus symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus. They include fever, cough and shortness of breath. For most, the symptoms are mild, but it poses a serious danger to others.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus has sickened 1,215 people and resulted in 36 deaths, nationally.

Whitmer said Michiganders are tough and would get through the school closures. School are slated to re-start April 6, but Whitmer said that date could be re-evaluated as the situation evolves.

Michiganders are tough, and we stick together, Whitmer said.

Michiganders are some of the most resilient people in the nation and around the world, for that matter, Whitmer said.

We have faced and overcome many hardships throughout our state history. if we take appropriate and resp actions we can mitigate the spread of this virus and save lives.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

Read more on MLive:

All Michigan schools to close as coronavirus spreads, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces

Michigan governor asks Trump to open special Obamacare enrollment period during coronavirus threat

Heres a list of specific recommendations from state health officials

Huge Michigan tourist destination, The Henry Ford Museum, closing amid coronavirus

GM tells visitors to stay out of plants if theyve had cold or flu-like symptoms

Some Michigan jury trials, probation reporting canceled due to coronavirus outbreak

Senior Services of Southwest Michigan closes offices as coronavirus precaution

NHL suspends season as coronavirus precaution

Big Ten mens basketball tournament canceled due to coronavirus
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has dismissed claims by the Special Initiatives Ministry that the NDC visited uncompleted dams in the Northern region during its Moment of Truth press conference.



According to the NDC, all the dams visited by the party were dams that the government had declared completed and had been used by farmers during the rainy season in 2019.



The Ministry for Special Development Initiatives on Wednesday debunked assertions that dams built under governments One Village One Dam project are not fit for purpose.



It said claims by the NDC that the dams were not properly constructed were only meant to score cheap political points.



The response by the Ministry came after the NDC on Wednesday, March 12, 2020, toured three of the dam sites in Adibo and Nakpache in the Yendi constituency and at Zakpalsi in the Mion constituency.



The NDC said the dams in their current state would not be able to serve their intended objectives.



But the Ministry in a response said some of the sites toured by the NDC were dams that were yet to be completed.



In a statement, the NDC said for the avoidance of doubt, the 1V1D sites we visited, in the company of journalists, in the Adibo and Nakpachie communities in the Yendi constituency, are all completed 1V1D projects.



Contrary to governments claims, these so-called dams, which are part of several poorly constructed dugouts by government, harvested and retained water during the 2019 rainy season but quickly dried-up at the early stage of the dry season. This was confirmed by members of the two (2) communities.



Below is the full statement by the NDC



NDC responds to claims by the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives on fraudulent 1V1D Projects



The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has taken note of a response from the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives to our Moment of Truth press conference on governments fraudulent 1Village 1Dam projects.



We are not in the least surprised by the farcical response from the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives because President Nana Akufo-Addo and his appointees have demonstrated time and again that they have no respect for truth and for the people of Ghana. The penchant of the Akufo-Addo government to openly lie and spread falsehood even in the face of overwhelming and incontrovertible evidence is very well-known by Ghanaians.



We wish to state emphatically that claims in the press statement from the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives are nothing but barefaced lies and a desperate attempt to cover their shame relative to the fraudulent implementation of their much-vaunted 1V1D programme.



For the avoidance of doubt, the 1V1D sites we visited, in the company of journalists, in the Adibo and Nakpachie communities in the Yendi constituency, are all completed 1V1D projects.



Contrary to governments claims, these so-called dams, which are part of several poorly constructed dugouts by government, harvested and retained water during the 2019 rainy season but quickly dried-up at the early stage of the dry season. This was confirmed by members of the two (2) communities.



The NDC will in the coming days release additional evidence to buttress this fact, as well as evidence of several other completed but dried-up 1V1D projects in the five (5) northern regions of Ghana.



We wish to place on record that the Akufo-Addo government has not constructed a single meaningful small-scale irrigation dam anywhere in Ghana such as the ones constructed by President John Mahama and his government in areas such as Sakpe and Zakpasi, just to mention a few.



This fact is amply buttressed by the Minister of Special Initiatives Development, Hawa Koomsons own confession that the amount of GH256,000.00 allocated by the government for each 1V1D project is woefully inadequate to construct any meaningful Dam.



In the spirit of promoting a facts-driven and evidence-based public discourse on this important subject, the NDC demands that:



1. Government explains the basis of its claim that the 1V1D projects in the Nakpachie and Adibo communities are uncompleted. The government must tell the good people of Ghana in very specific terms, what makes the said 1V1D projects incomplete. Simply put, the government must explain to Ghanaians, what specific features these (2) projects lack and how different they are from completed 1V1D projects.



2. In line with the principle of transparency and accountability, the Akufo-Addo government should publish the full list of their so-called completed 1V1D projects so that the opposition, the media and Ghanaians at large can fact-check and ascertain the veracity of the claims being made by the Ministry.



It is an indisputable fact that President Akufo-Addo is serving the people of the North with poorly constructed dugouts instead of the small-scale irrigation dams he promised.

The NDC maintains that President Akufo-Addos 1V1D promise is the biggest scam ever to be perpetrated by any government on the people of the North.



The poorly constructed dugouts he has so-far delivered have failed to serve their intended purpose and have occasioned a huge financial loss to the state, for which reason the next NDC government will ensure that all those responsible for this stinking scam are prosecuted.



SIGNED

Sammy Gyamfi

National Communications Officer

Thursday March 12, 2020.





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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NEW YORK, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarifai, a Forrester New Wave computer vision leader, has received an AFWERX Phase I SBIR grant from the U.S. Department of Defense and Air Force. The grant will be used to explore the use of computer vision and machine learning algorithms to quickly identify and address potential aircraft defects and anomalies. The process, known as Predictive Maintenance (PMx), helps military and commercial aircraft operations by minimizing downtime and ensuring a mission-ready state.

"Receiving the SBIR award is an immense honor," said Matthew Zeiler, Ph.D., founder, and CEO of Clarifai. "The grant speaks to the hard work done at Clarifai to build a product that can be trusted by our military to enable the Department of Defense and civilian agencies. Furthermore, Predictive Maintenance has widespread application for commercial airlines and fleet cargo. In 2017, the Department of Defense maintenance cost was $78 billion and $33.7 billion of that was dedicated to aviation platforms. Our technology can preserve funds that can then be reallocated in a way that extends military excellence and this also applies to the commercial space."

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The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a highly competitive program that encourages domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) that has the potential for commercialization. Through a competitive awards-based program, SBIR enables small businesses to explore their technological potential and provides the incentive to profit from its commercialization. By including qualified small businesses in the nation's R&D arena, high-tech innovation is stimulated and the United States gains entrepreneurial spirit as it meets its specific research and development needs. For more information on SBIR, visit https://www.sbir.gov.

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Matthew Zeiler

Clarifai

Sean.Alger@clarifai.com

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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 13:26 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a58b44 1 Business COVID-19,coronavirus,fiscal-stimulus,tax-incentive,taxation,imports,manufacturing-industry,exports,Trade Free

The government announced on Friday that it would allocate Rp 120 trillion (US$8.1 billion) from the state budget to stimulate the economy by providing tax incentives and subsidies for workers, businesses and families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government's second stimulus package, worth Rp 22.9 trillion, includes individual and corporate tax breaks as well as the relaxation of loan disbursement and restructuring requirements.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said manufacturing workers with incomes below Rp 200 million per year would be exempted from paying income taxes for six months. The government has also cut the corporate income tax rate by 30 percent for six months and deferred import tax payments for six months for 19 manufacturing industries. It will also speed up repayments of overpaid tax without initial audits.

The government also unveiled a non-fiscal stimulus package that includes a reduction in the number of goods prohibited for import and the acceleration of export and import processing and licensing, especially for reputable traders.

Read also: Tax breaks, job training to combat virus impacts

In the financial sector, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) announced it would allow banks to issue new policies to stimulate economic growth, especially for borrowers affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, including MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises]. The policies include the relaxation of credit assessment and restructuring requirements.

This will not be the last announcement, as the developments have been extremely dynamic. We will assess the situation to mitigate and minimize the impacts. We cannot eradicate the impacts but we can minimize them for corporations and the public, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told a press briefing in Jakarta.

The announcement came as governments and central banks around the world announce fiscal stimulus and monetary easing policies, following the historic global financial market rout spurred by fears over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new measures add to the first Rp 10.3 trillion stimulus package announced on Feb. 25 that provided mortgage subsidies for low-income families and fiscal incentives for travel-related industries. The government will also speed up the disbursement of social spending in the first quarter and subsidies for the pre-employment card program this month.

Key elements of the second stimulus package announced on March 13

Fiscal stimulus measures

Government to exempt manufacturing workers with yearly incomes below Rp 200 million from income tax for six months.

Import taxes for raw materials waived for six months for 19 manufacturing industries.

Corporate tax rate cut by 30 percent for six months for 19 manufacturing industries.

Repayment of overpaid tax to be sped up without initial audits. No limit set for exporters, but Rp 5 billion limit set for non-exporters.

Non-fiscal measures

Import restrictions to be reduced for goods under the 749 HS code, including in the fisheries and forestry industries. Health certificate and V-legal documents will no longer be required.

Import restrictions to be simplified for raw materials, including steel and alloy steel as well as several food commodities including sugar. The government will also simplify regulations on animal, medicine and food imports.

Export-import processes to be sped up for reputable traders.

National logistics ecosystem development to be improved.

Financial sector

Relaxation of credit scoring requirements

Relaxation of loan restructuring requirements

Food

Issuance of import recommendations to be sped up to ensure sufficient supply and stabilize food prices.
YPSILANTI, MI -- Ypsilanti City Council will not have a special meeting Friday night to discuss the citys state of emergency plans, according to a public notice.

The special meeting was called Thursday following a state of emergency declaration from Mayor Beth Bashert in response to the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Michigan confirms four more coronavirus cases, bringing total to 16

She and Mayor Pro Tem Lois Richardson wanted to have the meeting, Bashert said, but other members of City Council felt the discussion could be held outside of a public meeting.

I did not want to force council to meet against their wishes under a stressful situation, she said.

Ypsilanti mayor declares state of emergency over coronavirus concerns

The state of emergency allows the city to request state aid if the local situation worsens beyond the citys control, according to city charter.

Under this state of emergency, we will be making choices to protect the health of all our residents and visitors, with special attention to our most vulnerable residents including our elderly and people with pre-existing health conditions, according to the public notice issued Thursday, March 12.

The city is not closing public buildings, but will re-evaluate daily, Bashert said. The Ypsilanti Fire Department will also not respond to non-emergency medical calls to limit firefighters exposure of potential spread. Huron Valley Ambulance will still respond.

City officials are working to ensure essential services continue, such as meals for K-12 students who rely on breakfast and lunch at school, and senior residents who are the most vulnerable to COVID-19.

At least three Washtenaw County residents were being treated for cases of COVID-19, health officials announced Friday. Another patient from Oakland County was being treated somewhere withing the University of Michigan Hospital System this week.

At least 16 people have tested positive for the disease in Michigan so far, health officials said. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered the closure of all Michgian K-12 schools Thursday night and on Friday called for the cancellation of all gatherings of more than 250 people to help fight the spread of the new virus.

More coverage here

2 people with coronavirus in Washtenaw County recovering at home, officials say

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer bans gatherings of more than 250 people as coronavirus spreads

Ann Arbor agencies aim to continue food-security programs amid coronavirus outbreak

Ann Arbor agencies aim to continue food-security programs amid coronavirus outbreak

Federal courts in eastern Michigan postponing nearly all court hearings amid coronavirus concerns

Ann Arbor Film Festival in-person events canceled due to coronavirus concerns

Michigan Flyer suspends bus services to Detroit Metro Airport through April 15

Big Ten puts Michigan State football spring practice on hold, Spartans pro day canceled

Monster Energy AMA Supercross at Ford Field cancelled, wont be rescheduled

Gilmore Keyboard Festival canceled amid risk of coronavirus

The Ark cancels nearly 20 concerts in Ann Arbor due to coronavirus outbreak

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) share price has dived 30% in the last thirty days. Indeed the recent decline has arguably caused some bitterness for shareholders who have held through the 47% drop over twelve months.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

Check out our latest analysis for Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile

How Does Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile's P/E of 20.64 indicates some degree of optimism towards the stock. As you can see below, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile has a higher P/E than the average company (16.0) in the chemicals industry.

NYSE:SQM Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 13th 2020

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile's P/E tells us that market participants think the company will perform better than its industry peers, going forward. Clearly the market expects growth, but it isn't guaranteed. So investors should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

If earnings fall then in the future the 'E' will be lower. That means unless the share price falls, the P/E will increase in a few years. A higher P/E should indicate the stock is expensive relative to others -- and that may encourage shareholders to sell.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile saw earnings per share decrease by 37% last year. But over the longer term (5 years) earnings per share have increased by 3.3%.

Story continues

A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank

The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

How Does Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile's Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?

Net debt totals 12% of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile's market cap. That's enough debt to impact the P/E ratio a little; so keep it in mind if you're comparing it to companies without debt.

The Verdict On Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile's P/E Ratio

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile's P/E is 20.6 which is above average (13.3) in its market. With modest debt but no EPS growth in the last year, it's fair to say the P/E implies some optimism about future earnings, from the market. Given Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile's P/E ratio has declined from 29.6 to 20.6 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is significantly less confident about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for a contrarian, it may signal opportunity.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. If the reality for a company is better than it expects, you can make money by buying and holding for the long term. 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.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf called for "non-essential" retail stores to close, but the state Liquor Control Board says that edict doesn't apply to them. Read more

Update: Liquor stores in Montgomery, Chester, Bucks and Delaware counties will close beginning March 16.

 READ MORE: Wine and spirits stores in Philly suburbs closing for 2 weeks because of coronavirus shutdown

State-run liquor stores will not close or limit hours in Montgomery County, a PLCB spokeswoman said.

Gov. Wolf on Thursday asked for all non-essential retailers to close for two weeks in the suburban Philadelphia county. He made allowances for grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations.

Yet the states own wine and spirits behemoth will not be following his request.

After consulting with the Governors Office, we have determined not to close any stores or limit hours at this time, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Brassell.

We will continue to monitor the situation, heeding guidance from the CDC, Department of Health and Wolf administration, and were taking proactive steps to protect our customers and employees, she said.

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has indefinitely suspended" all product tastings, bottle signings, educational seminars and other events.

Asked why any private retailer should close if Pennsylvanias own liquor chain is exempt, Brassell replied: We cant speak to how anyone else operates.

Last year, the PLCB set record profits on total sales of $2.67 billion, according to the agencies most recent quarterly report.

Montgomery County ranked third in the state with $222,612,635 in liquor sales, after Allegheny County ($309,592,819) and Philadelphia ($256,390,611).
OVER 130,000 people worldwide have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The outbreak, which began at a market in Wuhan in China, has now become what the World Health Organisation have classified a pandemic.

While there are now 70 confirmed cases in Ireland, 4,970 have died and the virus has caused significant disruption across the globe.

Here is the international round-up, so far.

The figures

China: 80,796 have tested positive, 3,169 have died. 62,826 have recovered

Italy: 15,113 have tested positive, 1,016 have died. 1,258 have recovered

Iran: 10,075 have tested positive, 429 have died. 3,276 have recovered

South Korea: 7,869 have tested positive, 66 have died and 333 have recovered

Spain: 3,146 have tested positive, 86 have died. 189 have recovered.

UK: 590 have tested positive, 10 have died. 18 have recovered

Netherlands: 614 have tested positive, five have died. Two patients have recovered

US: 1,658 have tested positive, 40 have died. 30 have recovered

Latest stories March 12 -

1. US President Donald Trump suspends travel from most European countries, while UK and Ireland remain unaffected

Mr Trump said all travel from Europe would be suspended for the next 30 days. But he said the "strong but necessary" restrictions would not apply to the UK.

The US Department of Homeland Security later issued guidance which said that the ban applied to members of the Schengen travel area which comprises of 26 European countries.

Ireland is not a member of the Schengen area which means it would appear not to be on the list of banned countries.

2. UK Prime Minister has called the COVID-19 outbreak the 'worst health crisis in a generation'

Boris Johnson said anyone with coronavirus symptoms, however mild, such as a continuous cough or high temperature, must now stay at home for seven days.

He said school trips abroad should be stopped, while people over 70 with serious medical conditions should not go on cruises.

But Mr Johnson said there was no need to close schools now as the scientific advice "is that this could do more harm than good".

He said this tactic may change at some point while in the future anybody living with somebody who is taken ill could be told to self-isolate for seven days.

3. Number of coronavirus cases in Madrid region rise above 1,000 with 31 deaths

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections jumped in the Madrid region overnight, testing the limits of the healthcare system, officials said on Wednesday, after a senior doctor warned intensive care units could be running out of beds.

Health authorities said known cases in the capital region had risen to 1,024 from 782 on Tuesday - about half of the nationwide total in Spain, one of the highest levels in Europe behind Italy. Spanish authorities have reported 47 deaths, 31 of them in Madrid.

It comes as Madrid's regional president Isabel Diaz Ayuso said on Wednesday evening that according to health specialists there would be a "sharp increase" in infections in Madrid this weekend and the worst of spreading of the virus would take place over the next three weeks.

4. No plans to shut UK parliament after health minister becomes first MP to test positive for Covid-19

Britain's parliament has no plans to shut over coronavirus, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday, after a minister tested positive for the virus and another MP was advised to stay at home as a precaution.

Junior health minister Nadine Dorries said she had tested positive for coronavirus and was self-isolating. An opposition lawmaker who met Dorries was also advised to isolate herself by health authorities.

"At present there are no plans to suspend parliament," a parliamentary spokeswoman said in a statement.

"We are closely following guidance from Public Health England in response to the situation and have been reassured that the measures we are taking are proportionate and appropriate."

5. Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson say they have the virus in Australia

The Oscar-winning actor (63) has been in Australia filming an upcoming Elvis Presley biopic and said he started experiencing symptoms of the virus. Hanks said he felt like he had a cold, while Wilson, also 63, suffered from chills.

They have both tested positive for coronavirus, Hanks said on Instagram.

Daily cases in Hubei, China - where outbreak began - reach new low.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Mar. 10, 2020 | HARDIN COUNTY / OBION COUNTY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 10, 2020 | 11:58 PM | HARDIN COUNTY / OBION COUNTY

A body believed to be the third missing boater from Obion County has been found in the Tennessee River.



The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency says the body was found about 7 am Thursday in the same area as the two previous bodies - near Shiloh National Military Park - about nine miles from Pickwick Dam. This body has also been sent to the Medical Examiner's office in Memphis for an autopsy and identification.



Hardin County officials have suspended their search and recovery efforts, pending results from the Medical Examiner.



Officials believe the three boaters, 43-year-old Kenneth Driver, his 15-year-old son, and another 15-year-old, were seen in surveillance video going through the floodgates of the dam on February 22. The boys were members of the Obion County Central Bass Fishing Team.





Previous Story:



The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency says a second body was recovered from the Tennessee River on Wednesday morning, and it is also thought to be one of the missing Obion County boaters.



KYTN reports that the second body was recovered around 8:00 am, near the Shiloh National Military Park in Hardin County, close to where the first body was discovered.



The bodies have been sent to Memphis for autopsies and identification.



A boat containing two 15-year-old boys, who were members of the Obion County Central Bass Fishing Team, along with 43-year-old Kenneth Driver, was seen in video surveillance going through the floodgates at Pickwick Dam on February 22nd.



During the past 18 days, numerous search crews have conducted surface and sonar scans in attempts to locate the missing boaters.
In the next few months, Ukraine will return all of its citizens who are being held in the occupied territories of Donbas.

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said this at a briefing on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

In the coming months, we will return all our citizens who are being held in the territory of the so-called ORDLO, Yermak said.

On March 11, a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on the peaceful settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine was held in Minsk. It was attended by Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak.

The Ukrainian Presidents Office reported that the parties at the meeting had agreed to submit to the TCG the agreed lists of prisoners to be exchanged.

ish
Georgia Northwestern Technical College suspends classes through March 22.

GNTC President Dr. Heidi K. Popham released the following letter:

"In light of the current health issues and concerns resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19), Georgia Northwestern Technical College has made the decision to suspend all instructional classes (credit courses, adult education, and continuing education), and activities on all campuses effective 4:15 p.m., Friday, March 13 through Sunday, March 22.

"Additional plans for instructional, academic, and operational activities beyond this period will be developed and communicated by March 20. It is imperative that students diligently check their student email and all previously stated forms of communication (student email, GNTC website, Blackboard, emergency notification alerts, text, and social media) to ensure they are aware of the academic plan for their particular program.



"All college personnel should report as usual on Monday, March 16, for individual departmental operational plans to be determined. For this period, the college will close all operations at all campuses at 4:15 p.m. Monday-Friday.

"While a variety of factors influenced this decision, be assured that the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff is always our primary concern. Georgia Northwestern Technical College will remain in consultation with the Georgia Department of Public Health and other state and local authorities as we evaluate this evolving situation.

"We ask that the entire GNTC community continue to follow the COVID-19 guidelines as shared by DPH and the CDC. This remains a rapidly evolving situation and we know that members of our community will have questions that this email does not yet answer. Students and employees should continue to monitor email and the Georgia Northwestern Technical College website, www.gntc.edu, for updated information and resources."
Customers on Amazon are raging about profiteering vendors as sanitising products with overinflated prices continue to flood the e-commerce site, despite efforts to remove the offending listings.

A 5-litre bottle of Carex hand soap that customers say is usually sold for around 13 was listed on Amazon for prices of 63.93 and upwards, prompting complaints.

One customer wrote a review titled What a ripoff hope the seller gets the virus, and added: I bought this months ago at 13ish. Now 89.99 robbing b*****d. Should be prosecuted for profiteering.

It is unclear at which point the product was being sold at 89.99, but other reviews suggest the price had been more than quadrupled compared to just a few weeks ago.

One person wrote: Supplier [is] just capitalising on your fear of the virus  Its doubtful if you will get what you order. I didnt.

Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK The usually busy Royal Mile in Edinburgh is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 13 March Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Ho bart's Amusement Arcade in Westward Ho!, Devon is offering toilet roll and soap as prizes in grabber machines Rob Braddick/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK An empty platform at Farringdon Station in London the morning after the Prime Minister said that Covid-19 "is the worst public health crisis for a generation" PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Shopkeepers Asiyah Javed and husband Jawad from Day Today Express, in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk are giving away facemasks, antibacterial hand wash and cleaning wipes to the elderly in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A usually busy street in Cambridge is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 2 March James Linsell-Clark/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitiser dispenser is seen inside the stadium during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on 8 March Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Maaya Indian Kitchen in Milton Keynes is offerig customers a free roll of toilet paper with every takeaway order SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Oliver Cooper[L], was sent home from school for selling spurts of handsanitiser to fellow pupils at 50p a time. He poses with mum Jenny Tompkins by their home in Leeds Ashley Pemberton/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in London on 12 March EPA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A member of the public is swabbed at a drive through Coronavirus testing site set up in a car park in Wolverhampton Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A passenger wears a protective face mask as she travels on a bus in the City of London AFP/Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A Southampton fan wears a face mask before the match against Newcastle United on 7 March Reuters Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A loudspeaker placed in grounds of St Mary's Catholic Church in Broughattin, Dundalk, County Louth ahead of funeral mass later this morning. The loudspeaker has been placed in the grounds after the Catholic Archdiocese said that funerals and weddings should not exceed 100 attendees within the church building PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitising station set up outside Cheltenham Racecourse during day four of the Cheltenham Festival on 13 March PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK People wearing protective face masks walk across London Bridge on 11 March AFP/Getty

Another said: You can get this exact size of bottle at Costco for 5.99. So this person selling is taking advantage with this price.

The product is just one of a raft of other hygiene-related products that have made their way onto Amazon at outrageous prices in recent weeks,with sellers accused of taking advantage of fears surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

For example, a 600ml bottle of Defendol hand sanitiser, priced in Superdrug at under 4, has been listed on Amazon for a whopping 86.

In another listing, a nine-roll pack of Andrex Supreme Quilts Toilet Tissue is priced at 45.99  nine times the price of the same product listed on Sainsburys website at 5.475.

Antibacterial surface wipes have also been price-gouged, from 16.99 for a 304-sheet pack of Kirkland Signature Household Surface Wipes on Costco up to 79.98 on Amazon.

Amazon has been trying to get the number of products attempting to price-gouge customers under control since February, when the virus began reaching almost every corner of the globe.

Last month, the site also barred more than a million products from sale that claimed to cure or defend against coronavirus, reported Reuters.

Defendol hand sanitising gel is usually sold for less than 4 in Superdrug, but is priced at over 80 on Amazon (Amazon)

In a statement, Amazon said: There is no place for price-gouging on Amazon. We are so disappointed that some sellers are attempting to artificially raise prices on basic need products during a global health crisis and, in line with our long-standing policy, have recently blocked or removed tens of thousands of offers. We proactively remove offers that violate our policies.

Not everyone is trying to make quick money out of the pandemic, which has infected more than 125,000 people and killed 4,6713 globally.

In Scotland, the owner of a corner shop, Asiyah Javed, and her husband Jawad, have been assembling coronavirus kits to hand out to vulnerable members of the community such as the elderly.

The kits contain a face mask, hand soap and hand sanitiser wipe, and the couple hand them out all over their village of Falkirk.
Who wields more political power  Mayor Lori Lightfoot or Gov. J.B. Pritzker? One gauge of that is the Democratic race in the 12th Illinois House District. The candidate Lightfoot has aggressively backed, Jonathan Yoni Pizer, faces Margaret Croke, who works in Pritzkers administration and is heavily supported by the governor. This lakefront seat is open now that incumbent Democrat Sara Feigenholtz replaces John Cullerton in the Illinois Senate. We like Pizers credentials  hes a onetime LBGT community liaison for U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley who preaches meaningful pension reform. But he also wants to find ways to conjure new sales taxes. Not the right approach. Croke also makes reining in Illinois pension debt a top priority. And she correctly prioritizes stemming the exodus of people from Illinois; she says convincing young people to attend college in Illinois and stay here afterward is vital to the states future. We give Croke the nod over Pizer.
Twenty-five more Egyptians in Saudi Arabia have tested positive for the new coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of Egyptians diagnosed with the virus in the kingdom to 48, The saudi health ministry saidon Twitter on Friday.

This means Egyptians now make up more than half of the total confirmed cases of the fast-spreading virus in Saudi Arabia - now 86.

The Egyptian patients were in close contact with an Egyptian visitor previously reported to have the coronavirus, the ministry said, adding that they are being isolated in quarantine in Mecca.



Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the worldwide outbreak of the new coronavirus to be a pandemic.



Saudi Arabias health ministry has advised those who had arrived from Egypt, South Korea and Lebanon and those who had had close contact with an infected person to remain at home in isolation even if they showed no symptoms.



Travel between Egypt and the Gulf kingdom has been suspended, with only limited flights operated between the two countries to bring their nationals back home.



Egypt now has 80 confirmed coronavirus cases, two of whom have died, an Egyptian woman and a German tourist. Of the total number, twenty people have since recovered, the health ministry said on Thursday.

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Linkedin Niruban Balachandran and William P. Tuchrello (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 14 2020

Indonesia has a high-potential, but time-sensitive opportunity to capitalize on its hard-won seats at United Nations Security and Human Rights Councils. The recent announcement of United States President Donald Trump administrations Mideast peace proposal, fluid domestic politics in the US and Europe, Israeli election uncertainties, and continued internecine Mideast regional rivalries all cry out for a new third-party mediator and bridge-builder between the Israelis and Palestinians.

There has been clear disappointment expressed by the 2019 election activists supporting both presidential candidates for significant change, as reflected in President Joko "Jokowi" Widodos second-term cabinet choices.

However, the choice of including senior opposition figures in Jokowis cabinet, as per classic Javanese consensus, offers an opportunity for innovation in foreign policy  particularly the impartial mediation and negotiations for the Israel-Palestinian peace process.

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If theres no immediate response online or by phone, a paper questionnaire will be sent via mail, and should arrive in mailboxes in early April. An envelope will be enclosed to mail back the completed paper questionnaire. If there is still no response, the Census Bureau will send out interviewers between May 13 and July 31 to knock on doors of people who havent responded in order to collect answers in person.
Increasing concerns for safety amid the COVID-19 outbreak prompted a media a group that includes MassLive on Friday to delay Tuesdays Democratic Senate primary debate in Springfield between Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III.

Western Mass News earlier this week announced that Tuesdays debate would no longer feature a live studio audience or allow outside press or protestors and supporters to gather due to coronavirus concerns. But the media group sponsoring the debate said Friday that it understood the changing landscape and uncertainty as the COVID-19 crisis grows."

The consortium plans to postpone the March 18 debate and will work with the campaigns to schedule a new time that will best benefit the voters of the Commonwealth, the group said in a statement.

Kennedy on Friday morning announced the temporary suspension of his campaign, noting staff would only work remotely and his offices would only communicate digitally and about COVID-19 updates.

Markey, in a conference call with medical professionals and reporters, said that he would be in Washington, D.C. next week, with the Senate in session. He said he would be solely focused on the coronavirus crisis.

State and local governments and private businesses across the country have shut down events, buildings and schools to help prevent the spread of the disease, which has killed more than three dozen in the U.S.

President Donald Trump, who announced sweeping travel restrictions from Europe to the U.S., a payroll tax cut and $8 billion boost to protect small businesses and workers, planned to announce a national emergency Friday afternoon.

The media group also has a debate scheduled for the Boston area on Aug. 18. Both debates will feature Spanish-language translation via the Univision stations, the group said.

The consortium organizing the debate includes MassLive & The Republican, Western Mass News, The Boston Globe, WBUR, WCVB NewsChannel 5, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at University of Massachusetts Boston, Entravision, New England Public Radio, UMass Amherst School of Public Policy, and WXXA-TV.

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Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon on Friday removed six ministers, supporters of Jyotiraditya Scindia, on the recommendation of Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

Amid the ongoing political crisis triggered by Scindia's exit from the Congress and rebellion of 22 MLAs whosupport him, Nath had, on March 10, written to Tandon seeking immediate removal of the six ministers.

Imarati Devi, Tulsi Silawat, Govind Singh Rajput, Mahendra Singh Sisodiya, Pradyumn Singh Tomar and Prabhuram Chaudhari were removed from the cabinet with immediate effect on Friday, said a Public Relations Department official.

Earlier in the day, Nath met the governor at 11 am and submitted a letter expressing his government's willingness to face a floor test in the Assembly.

Expressing the readiness of his government for a floor test in the Assembly, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of holding 22 Congress MLAs in captivity.

Nath said he will welcome a floor test in the assembly, whose budget session is beginning from March 16, on a date fixed by the speaker.

The chief minister made the statement after calling on Governor Lalji Tandon in Bhopal, his first meeting since rebellion by a section of Congress MLAs three days ago which pushed his government into crisis.

He also submitted to the Governor a three-page letter in which he accused the BJP of being involved in horse-trading and holding the rebel Congress MLAs in captivity.

The opposition BJP has consistently denied the Congress charge of poaching MLAs to topple its government.

The CM-governor meeting at Raj Bhavan, which began around 11 am, lasted for around half an hour.

I wished Governor on the occasion of Holi. Our 22 MLAs are being held captive. I have submitted a letter to him alleging horse-trading by the BJP.

"I have demanded that these MLAs be released immediately. Floor test can be held anytime," Nath told reporters after meeting Tandon.

Nath's letter said, As a responsible leader of Indian National Congress, I invite and would welcome a floor test of my government in the forthcoming session of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly already notified from March 16, 2020, on a date fixed by the Speaker.

"This is the minimum a constitutional authority can offer to address the ongoing turmoil."

Nath sought the governor's intervention for release of the captive Congress MLAs.

We request your excellency may use your good office as constitutional Head of the state with the Union Home Minister to ensure the release of MLAs held captive in

Bengaluru.

We expect enquiry and investigation in the resignation letters submitted by the BJP allegedly of the captive Congress MLAs and its timely completion, the letter said.

Nath mentioned the sequence of events from the intervening night of March 3-4 to March 10, and claimed there were incidents of horse-trading during this period.

'In the first attempt (of horse trading), on 3rd/4th of March 2020, the mid-night drama leading to whisking away the MLAs to Bengaluru is in public domain,' he said in the letter.

'Post failure of first attempt, the BJP, on March 8, 2020, arranged three chartered aircraft to whisk away 19 MLAs of the Congress to Bengaluru.

'Since then these 19 MLAs, of who six are cabinet ministers, are incommunicado in the resort arranged by the BJP,' the chief minister said.

'Nobody is allowed access and/or any sort of communication with the 19 captive MLAs,' he said.

Nath pointed out that senior BJP leaders reached the speakers residence at about 5.50 pm on March 10 to handover 19 resignation letters allegedly of these Congress MLAs.

None of these MLAs were present to tender their resignation, he said.

In a most unusual act and/or conduct, the resignation of 19 Congress MLAs are submitted by leaders of BJP and not by MLAs themselves.

This demonstrates the complicity of BJP leaders in entire conspiracy and illegal action, the letter stated.

The CM also mentioned about the incident on Thursday in Bengaluru where MP ministers Jitu Patwari and Lakhan Singh were allegedly manhandled by the police when they reached to meet Congress MLA Manoj Choudhary.

'In these circumstances, the very edifice of democracy is in danger,' Nath said in the letter.
The World Health Organization is considering changing the way it classifies and describes international epidemics, amid a protracted public debate over whether to call the outbreak of the new coronavirus a pandemic.

Officials at the Geneva-based WHO  who this week described it as a pandemic for the first time - are reviewing how the health agency communicates its risk assessment of disease outbreaks in the future, said two people familiar with the discussions. They said that included use of the term pandemic as well as PHEIC, which stands for public health emergency of international concern.

Among ideas that have been discussed is whether to use a more graded approach to capture different levels of severity, rather than binary terminology, the two people said. That would enable the WHO to dial up the severity of its messaging to prompt global cooperation on issues such as funding and drug development across the public health and scientific community, but without causing unnecessary public alarm.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has publicly signalled support for a more nuanced approach, saying the current system of declaring a public health emergency is too blunt.

Its either red or green, Tedros said during a Jan. 29 conference with news media. I think we have to now revise that. You cannot have just yes or no. There could be some intermediate situation. He suggested a yellow stage that could be a warningserious enough but not really red.

The agencys emergency committee on the new coronavirus, which is made up of independent experts, alluded to the internal discussions the following day. In a Jan. 30 statement following a meeting at which it declared a public health emergency, the panel said it recommended that the WHO continue to explore the advisability of creating an intermediate level of alert between PHEIC or no PHEIC.

WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said that currently the decision on declaring a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC, is binary. She said the WHOs emergency committee on coronavirus suggested, and the director general agreed, to meet to review whether the existing instrument is still fit for purpose.

The discussion around the agencys messaging on epidemics comes as it seeks to coordinate the global fight against an outbreak of infection with the newly identified coronavirus, which emerged in December. Now known as COVID-19, it has spread from China to more than 100 countries, killing thousands of people with more expected to die.

While many public health experts say the WHOs response to this epidemic has been timely and decisive, the agency has also drawn criticism from some commentators who say it has been too quick to heap praise on China  a criticism Tedros has strongly rejected, saying Chinas drastic measures have slowed the virus spread and allowed other countries to prepare. The agency also came under intense media scrutiny in recent weeks as it refrained from calling the infectious diseases spread a pandemic, even as it took grip in scores of countries around the world.

When the WHO did on Wednesday describe COVID-19 as a pandemic, Director General Tedros said the agency was concerned about the alarming levels of spread and severity of coronavirus. While the characterisation doesnt trigger any formal change in what the agency does or it recommends countries do, some public health experts said it might prompt governments to move more swiftly to make interventions, such as banning or restricting public gatherings or travel.

GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY

Under the WHOs International Health Regulations, the agency can formally declare a PHEIC (pronounced fake), or global health emergency, which it did with COVID-19 on Jan. 30. Such declarations are made when an epidemic meets two criteria: The outbreak poses a risk to more than one country and it requires a coordinated international response. The formal designation triggers various moves, including calls for increased funding and resources, recommendations to countries aimed at preventing or reducing cross-border spread of disease and boosting public health measures.

The WHO has declared PHEICs on five previous occasions, including the West Africa Ebola outbreak starting in 2014 and the 2016 Zika virus outbreak that spread from Brazil.

In 2009, the WHO declared the outbreak of H1N1 flu a pandemic. That move later drew criticism from some governments that it triggered some countries to take expensive measures, including stockpiling and prescribing anti-viral drugs and undertaking mass vaccinations against a flu that ultimately turn out to be milder than originally thought. The then-director general, Dr. Margaret Chan, has defended her decision as the right call.

How the WHO communicates around global epidemics was under review even before the COVID-19 outbreak began in December, according to the two people familiar with the discussions.

According to one of those people, the discussion was prompted in part by last years outbreak of Ebola in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which the WHO declared a PHEIC in July 2019. WHO officials wanted to sound an alarm and prompt a global response in terms of funding and vaccines, but there were questions among some officials at the WHO and member states about whether it was truly an international issue because the Ebola outbreak affected only Congo and neighbouring Uganda, the person said. They added that these questions focused discussion on whether a graded approach might be more appropriate.

When COVID-19 began spreading beyond China, global health officials and experts looked to the WHO to declare a PHEIC. Even after it did so in late January, the agency faced repeated questions from international media on whether or not the outbreak was a pandemic.

PANDEMIC CONTROL

Some WHO chiefs have expressed concern that using the label pandemic might signal to governments and the public that the coronavirus outbreak had developed to a level where there was no longer action they could take to control its spread.

That was a key part of the WHOs message when it did ultimately call the coronavirus as a pandemic. We cannot say this loudly enough, or clearly enough, or often enough: all countries can still change the course of this pandemic. This is the first pandemic that can be controlled, Tedros said in a tweet Wednesday.

WHO officials and some global health experts said the medias focus on the word pandemic was an unwanted distraction for them because, unlike the PHEIC classification, it doesnt trigger specific responses within countries.

There is an unhelpful alignment in peoples minds between this pandemic word and some sort of major shift in approach - but this is not the case, Mike Ryan, head of WHOs health emergencies programme, told reporters at a March 3 briefing for news media.

A sign of the WHOs frustration was visible during a news conference this week  one of around 30 hour-long briefings the WHO has held for international media since the COVID-19 outbreak began. A senior official who had been asked repeatedly by journalists about whether the disease constituted a pandemic gave a half-joking but tetchy response: This is a word you love, right? You just cant wait, can you?

Some specialists agree that the external focus on the label pandemic have been a distraction, including Lawrence Gostin, a global health expert at Georgetown University Law School in Washington. Gostin has been openly critical of the WHO in the past - in particular for what he considered to be moving too slowly to declare international emergencies over Ebola and Zika. With the COVID-19 outbreak, however, Gostin said the WHO was right to not describe it as a pandemic prematurely because the word tends to generate fear.

Global health specialists say that more subtleties in how WHO messages around epidemics could be useful, but say they doubt it will make much practical difference.

In the end if you move from a binary to a three or four stage process, youll always have these semantic arguments, said Jeremy Farrar, an expert in infectious disease epidemics and director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity. And is there really a difference between a global epidemic and a pandemic? And does it make a difference to what we do? he said. I dont think so.
Amid fear over the spreading coronavirus outbreak, Kelly Ripa lightened the mood with her dermatologist on Thursday.

The Live with Kelly and Ryan host jokingly applauded her 'brave' doctor Robert Anolik for treating her 'very serious medical problem' in New York City.

'Hi everyone, we're going to talk about a serious medical problem,' Ripa's doctor quipped on the talk show host's Instagram story. 'It's Botox deficiency, a lot of side effects, lines and wrinkles.

Making light: Kelly Ripa lightened the mood with her dermatologist on Thursday, while filming herself getting Botox in NYC

The humorous alum of All My Children added: 'In this time, there has been a lot of worrying, you can see it written all over my face, but Dr. Anolik decided to be brave today and fix it.'

During her appointment to smooth the lines on her forehead, she poked fun at her doctor for being 'afraid' to touch her, as they acknowledged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidance.

'Did I survive?' she asked dramatically after her injections. 'Is there any left for anyone else?'

Funny girl: The Live with Kelly and Ryan host jokingly applauded her 'brave' doctor Robert Anolik, who treated her 'very serious medical problem'

Anolik seemed amused by her jokes, as he laughed and responded, 'We used it all up, hopefully there won't be a shortage.'

Once Ripa got home, still rocking a black tank and layered gold necklaces, she shared a 'public service announcement' to all her 'girlfriends, whose kids just had their school cancelled.'

She called Obe Fitness videos 'the answer to their prayers' and encouraged them to try it, instead of working out around others.

Staying active: The fit host, who was working with weights on her Instagram Story, seemed especially perky, despite her show suspending live audiences over coronavirus on Wednesday

The fit host, who was working with weights on her Instagram Story, seemed especially perky, despite her show suspending live audiences over coronavirus on Wednesday.

'As you can see, things are a little different here today, given the developing situation in New York with the coronavirus, Ryan Seacrest said next to Ripa on Wednesday's episode. 'The decision was made to suspend audiences from our show.'

Ripa added: 'While we dont have our regular studio audience, except for some of our producersthat shouldnt stop everyone from watching at home. Because, lets face it: You cant go anywhere else!'

The popular program is one of many of Walt Disney Television's shows to stop having live studio, as networks take steep precautions to keep their talent, crews and the public safe.
With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring the ongoing Coronavirus spread a pandemic, and countries closing their borders to travellers, the travel and tourism industry across the world is facing serious setbacks. As per a report by Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the business travel sector is set to lose $820 billion in revenue. This number is a steep climb from the previously estimated $560 billion hit. GBTA states that China is expected to lose $404.1 billion in corporate travel, the highest; while Europe is set to lose $190.5 billion.

The Asia-Pacific region has taken the hardest hit in terms of business travel. As a precautionary measure, the Indian Government has placed visa restrictions for a month till April 15, 2020, which has put a further strain on the travel and tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourisms figures put foreign tourist arrivals at 1,103,380 in January 2019 as compared to 1,045,035 in January 2018, registering a growth of 5.6 per cent. In January 2020, the total foreign tourist arrivals stood at 1,118,150, registering a growth of 1.3 per cent.

Airlines, too, are seeing a spate of cancellations, making it even more difficult for an already struggling sector. InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of Indigo Airlines, mentioned in a release, Over the past few days, however, week-on-week, we have seen a 15-20 per cent decline in our daily bookings. There are news of various airlines slashing their airfares as demand drops. Last Friday, Turkish Airlines charged only 46,000 for a flight to London and back. Generally, a Mumbai-London flight costs around 80,000 this time of the year. A recent 256-seater Singapore flight from Mumbai had only 25 passengers.

Online travel sites such as Yatra.com, too, have been impacted. Speaking to Agully, Sabina Chopra, Co-Founder and COO, Corporate Travel & Head Industry Relations, Yatra.com, admitted, We have received close to 35 per cent cancellation queries from travellers planning their trips to foreign destinations. With few Indian airlines having suspended flight operations to destinations with high Coronavirus risk, airfares have dropped by 40 per cent to affected destinations. There has been about 18 per cent drop in hotel rates and we are receiving cancellation requests from various travellers, who are wary of taking up trips domestically as well.

An industry expert, who did not want to be named, told Adgully, We normally witness huge activity amongst the travel and tourism brands in media during this time of the year. But the sudden and unfortunate attack of Coronavirus has put the brake on spending and has made many travel brands to withhold their campaign activity. Right now, its a wait and watch situation for brands to take the next step.
Chhattisgarh government has announced that all public libraries, gyms, swimming pools, water parks in urban areas and Aanganwadis will remain closed till March 31 in the state in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic.

"To prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), all Anganwadis and Mini Anganwadis in the state will remain closed till March 31," a statement from Chhattisgarh government said on Friday.

Earlier on Thursday, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel reviewed the measures and preparation to tackle the spread of coronavirus and directed that schools and colleges in the state will remain closed till March 31.

In the meeting, held at the residence of Baghel after his return from New Delhi, a decision was taken to close all schools and colleges till March 31 in line with the Centre's advisory.

The schools and colleges, where examinations are underway, have been allowed to remain open, according to official statements from the state's School and Higher departments.

The Chief Minister also directed the Health Department to keep a close eye on the situation and take appropriate actions to prevent the spread of the infection in the state.

Baghel also directed the administration to raise awareness about coronavirus and advertise the advisory issued by the health ministry.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Banjul, Gambia (PANA)  The Gambian government on Friday announced the suspension of overseas travels by all public officials to check against the possible spread of the Coronavirus into the tiny West African country
Alabamas two most populous counties announced Thursday that they are suspending all jury trials for at least two weeks in an attempt to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Jefferson County courts will not be holding jury trials in the Birmingham Division from March 30 through April 13 and the Bessemer Division from Monday until April 13 while Mobile County courts is suspending such trials until the end of April. Lagniappe reported the Mobile County suspension announcement.

Starting Monday, the Jefferson County court system said it would ban anyone from entering a county courtroom who has been to China, Japan, South Korea, Italy and Iran within the past 14 days. Those countries have been the hardest hit with the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

Other categories of people who will be barred from entering a Jefferson County courtroom are:

People with close contact to people who have been to those five countries within the last two weeks

People who have been asked to self-quarantine by a doctor, hospital or health agency

People diagnosed or have been in contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19

Jurors affected by the suspensions in the Birmingham Division were asked to contact court administration at 205-325-5063 or 205-325-5064. Birmingham Division grand jurors were asked to call the court clerk at 205-325-5355.

Jurors or grand jurors in the Bessemer Division were asked to contact the Bessemer deputy court clerk at 205-497-8510.
Charlie Matter spotted the opportunity to start Case Energy Partners while working after college as a "landman"--someone who acquires mineral rights from landowners on behalf of large energy companies. After a few years, he came to recognize that the industry was woefully behind the times, and in 2012, at the age of 28, he struck out on his own with a mission to modernize the way things were done.

"We built a platform and our own proprietary process for identifying and acquiring these assets more efficiently," Matter says. "There are a lot of variables involved, and we look to mitigate risk and identify value."

Dallas-based Case Energy Partners identifies landowners whose mineral rights are potentially valuable to the oil and gas business, buys those rights at competitive prices, and then bundles them with others into diversified financial products that it can flip to larger, publicly traded companies. (Matter won't share the secret sauce that makes the company's platform work, but he allows that the technology evaluates patterns in the market to point to "undervalued" properties.)

Case Energy operates in a corner of the energy business that doesn't get a lot of press but that can be very lucrative. The companies that it sells to--Brigham Minerals, Kimbell Royalty Partners, and Viper Energy Partners, to name a few--enjoy yields from their portfolios that are, according to The Wall Street Journal, "upward of 10 percent."

The bar is high for Case to deliver great value to both the landowners it buys from and the companies it sells to--and it has worked. Case Energy, which invests funds from a few large family investment offices in Dallas, grew to nearly $27 million in 2018 revenue from $229,000 in 2016. That's a two-year growth rate of 11,653 percent, good for the No. 1 spot on the Inc. 5000 Series: Texas ranking.

The pitch to landowners is simple: Selling to Case is either a quick way to generate some cash or a smart way to diversify their holdings. "Let's say we value your property at a $1 million, and that is 60 percent of your net worth," Matter explains. "Any financial adviser would tell you not to rely that heavily on one stock. So we say, 'Why don't you divest all or part of that? Put the money in an index fund. It's diverse, it's easy to liquidate, and you don't have to worry about the price of oil.'"

Case Energy Partners, in turn, reduces its own risk by owning properties in oil- and gas-producing regions from Texas to North Dakota, Alaska to Pennsylvania--a total of more than 100,000 acres across 15 states. The company, which has been profitable since its first year in business, today has a team of 27, and Matter doesn't see any reason to tap the public markets or think about being acquired. "The goal is to have a sustainable private company that operates off its own cash flow for the next 20 or 25 years," he says. "It doesn't have to be massive."

It does have to keep evolving, though. "When oil is healthy, the business of flipping mineral rights works really well," says Stephens energy analyst Gail Nicholson Dodds. "But it ebbs and flows with the price of oil. They don't control their destiny."

Matter plans to be ready for the next bust in the cycle. For the foreseeable future, Case Energy will continue to invest in mineral rights, he says, but it is considering new ways to use its tech platform--such as finding properties it might hold longer term and operate.

Matter also has his eye on wind and solar energy, but doesn't plan to pivot in that direction until he believes they become viable investments. In the near-term, he still sees a bright future for oil and gas.
The Northfield center, which has operated for more than 10 years, offers crafts, events and activities. Clients also participate in community-based activities such as helping out at churches, taking trips to the movies and the boardwalk. They also participate in events such as the Special Olympics and science fairs.

Project Prom returns this weekend with free dresses NORTHFIELD  High school students in need of a prom dress can head to Kensington Furniture t

There are about 10 centers across the state, Drobnis said. The Northfield center serves 64 adults, who are broken up into groups of six.

This is where people go rather than a nursing home situation, or they sit at home in front of a television set, Drobnis said.

They look forward to coming here every single day, said Antonia Wright, day program manager for the center. This is what they do Monday through Friday. This is what their families look forward to. Youre here to try to enrich their lives, and its just hard to do that with limited funding.

And if the funding for these centers gets cut, theres a ripple effect, Drobnis said, as caregivers have to stay home from their jobs to care for the individual with a disability.
The sound of basketballs can be heard thumping the ground as a group of Gate Pa School children get coaching tips from Tall Black Tom Abercrombie.

Abercrombie is in Tauranga to launch the Hoops in Schools programme where 12 Bay of Plenty schools have received new basketball hoops.

The hoops at Gate Pa School have been in for six weeks and the children are already showing more interest in the sport, says Principal Rochelle Jensen.

The kids increase in use of the courts is huge and they play half court but when I leave work in the evening the community are using the courts as well.

She says the school will enter a team in the local little league competition because interest has been so high.

At the moment its reasonably unstructured and I think thats important just to let them experiment and I think theres some quite good natural talent coming through.

We will look towards a bit more structure but its good to see the community and our kids utilising this court.

Abercrombie says basketballs popularity is growing and it great to spend time with the kids.

Basketball is a sport that's on the rise and the popularity of it, it's just exploding. Kids need somewhere to play, especially in areas that don't have any facilities at the moment.



It's just a great sport to grab a ball and go out and play outside with your friends and to have hoops like this they're off to a pretty good start.

I had a great time this morning just mucking around with the kids and this is what it's all about, having fun outside and playing nothing too serious. Just shooting some hoops with your friends and enjoying the game of basketball at its purest.

This is where I started, this is where we all start, playing outside with our friends one-on-one pretending to be our favourite NBA player or NBL player. So it's awesome that these guys, it looks like a few of them [have] caught the bug and are going to be future hoopers.

Lyron Leach, 10.

Basketball New Zealand started Hoops in Schools in 2018 and 24 hoops were installed throughout South Auckland Schools

After seeing its success, Tauranga Basketball Association General Manager Mark Rogers approached Basketball New Zealand to see if they could get the programme going in the Bay of Plenty.

The whole objective is to get hoops into the schools. We really struggle with facilities in Tauranga and around the country, so its a way of getting more kids access to a basketball hoop.

We follow up after the hoops are installed with coaching sessions for the schools.

All the feedback so far has been really positive. Schools are loving the hoops and I think the kids are really enjoying themselves.

Were very thankful to the Lion Foundation and Basketball New Zealand for helping deliver this to our community.

The 12 schools receiving hoops are:
Oman Insurance Co. PSC is considering making a bid for the Middle Eastern operations of French insurer AXA SA, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company thats backed by Dubai-based bank Mashreq PSC is working with Barclays Plc as it weighs a potential offer for the business, which provides life, property and health insurance, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. No final decisions have been made and other suitors may also bid for the unit, the people said.

Representatives for AXA and Barclays declined to comment, while a representative for Oman Insurance didnt respond to a request for comment.

AXA Chief Executive Officer Thomas Buberl is moving to streamline the insurers operations by retreating from less profitable markets and pulling back from life insurance. The company, which is working with HSBC Holdings Plc on its strategic review in the Middle East, sold its operations in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia for about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to Austrias Uniqa Insurance Group AG in February.

Oman Insurance operates 12 branches in the United Arab Emirates and has businesses in Oman and Turkey. The company posted 3.6 billion dirhams ($980 million) in revenue and a net income of 190.5 million dirhams last year, according to its annual report.

Jean-Louis Laurent Josi became chief executive officer of Oman Insurance in 2018 after spending 12 years working at AXA.

Photograph: View of AXA headquarters in Paris on March 6, 2018, in Paris. Photographer: Christophe Morin / Bloomberg.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics AXA XL
Italy is one country that has had to accept quickly the need for drastic action. Just three weeks ago, it did not have much of a coronavirus problem. Now it has had more than 15,000 confirmed cases. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte extended a lockdown on a handful of small villages to wide swaths across northern Italy on Sunday morning and then to the entire country Monday night. On Wednesday, he went even further, with the announcement of a shutdown of most commercial activity.
He trained as an eye doctor. He likes high-tech gadgets and country music. And he may turn out to be one of the most barbarous political leaders of the 21st century.

The blood-soaked regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad  a tall, shy and, by all accounts, unlikely inheritor and conservator of Syrian sovereignty  has survived nearly a decade of political rebellion, virulent insurgency and international condemnation.

Assad has held on to power even as other despots in the Middle East fell, as world leaders aggressively pushed for his ouster and as the Syrian people begged for peace.

March 15 marked nine years since protests in Syria calling for democratic reforms and greater freedoms sparked a civil war that has spilled far outside its borders.

What began as a hopeful uprising ballooned into a devastating and intractable conflict that contributed to the most severe refugee crisis since World War II. Syria's war has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, displaced millions and helped spur the rise  and then entrenchment  of the Islamic State terrorist group.

It has also drawn the United States, Iran, Israel, Russia and Turkey into a complicated and potentially dangerous confrontation that lacks coherent Western oversight.

The story of Assad's survival  and Syria's disintegration  is part personal inhumanity, part international indifference. Five years ago, Assad admitted in a televised address that his army was tired and that his military was losing ground.

Now, most of Syria is back under Assads control as his military and its Russian allies pound the remaining patch of rebel-held territory into submission, although some well-connected Syrians living in exile believe Assad's rule is coming apart at the seams.

"He's a survivor. He's very, very tough," said Robert Ford, who was U.S. ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014 and engaged with Assad as part of that role. Ford described Assad as someone who "grew into the role" of butchering his own people.

Story continues

According to the United Nations, humanitarian groups and Syria watchdogs, Assad's violence has taken many forms: imposing starvation sieges on rebel-held areas; repeatedly bombing, with Russian assistance, hospitals and civilian infrastructure; arresting and torturing thousands of activists, bloggers and civilians, then holding them at secret prisons deep underground, where they languish without trial. He has also allegedly used chlorine bombs and sarin gas  chemical weapons  against opposition fighters, killing children and civilians.

"Everybody who knows Assad knows two things about him," said Ayman Abdel Nour, a former friend of Syria's leader from their college days studying medicine in Damascus. "First: He lies  about everything. Second: He's extremely jealous. If you have a nice watch or camera, he will be sure to go out and get a better one the next day."

Displaced Syrians flee the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib provinces towards Syria's northwestern Afrin district near the border with Turkey, as regime forces push on with their offensive in the country's northwest.

The Syrian government has consistently denied all the allegations lobbed at Assad by the West, opposition groups and by former regime insiders, such as Nour, who fled Syria in 2007 after Assad threatened to imprison him because of an online magazine he ran called "all4syria" that was critical of the regime. Assad's allies say the allegations reflect long-standing efforts to destabilize Syria and the wider Middle East region.

"Conspiracies, like germs, reproduce everywhere, every moment and they cannot be eradicated," Assad said in 2011. He claims to enjoy widespread support among Syrians inside and outside the country, even as he moves to crush the last pocket of resistance.

Tangled web of interests

The remaining Syrian rebel holdouts are in the Aleppo countryside and parts of neighboring Idlib province, in northwestern Syria. While the rebels are fiercely resisting, Assad's forces, backed by heavy Russian airstrikes, have sent nearly 1 million Syrian civilians fleeing toward the sealed border with Turkey, in what the United Nations fears could be the single worst displacement of the nine-year war so far.

Many fleeing families have no housing, no food or supplies, and they are dying in refugee camps from the cold, said Huzayfa al-Khateeb, a Syrian radio reporter who lives in Idlib. "There is no single town, no single area, you can live. And on the border, they are bombing us. The situation is so bad, more than I can explain to you," he said.

"The situation is fast turning into the biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st Century," said Hardin Lang, vice president for programs and policy at Refugees International, a Washington, D.C.-based humanitarian advocacy organization.

Syrian army soldiers deploy in the southern Idlib countryside March 4 in a photo released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency.

It has also brought Turkey and Syria to the brink of all-out war and entangled regional and foreign powers in a complex web of decision-making that risks wider hostilities.

Turkey has taken in 3.6 million Syrian refugees, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country can't handle any more. Turkey has intervened in Syria in part because it wants Syrian rebels to help maintain a buffer zone in northern Syria, near the border with Turkey. Erdogan considers that essential to guarding against attacks from Kurdish separatists, which Turkey views as terrorists.

On Feb. 27, at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in a Syrian military airstrike in Idlib province, escalating an already tense and volatile situation.

Russia has long inflamed the conflict by doing everything in its power to prop up Assad. Russia sees the Syrian war as a way to reassert itself as an international power broker amid the Trump administration's retreat from the global stage, experts say.

"Moscow views the Syrian civil war as a foreign-influenced crisis that threatens the broader Middle East region and its interests there and at home," said Osamah Khalil, a professor of Middle East history at Syracuse University in New York.

Iran has also been drawn into the fray, supporting the Assad regime with military intelligence and training. Iran's presence in Syria and support there for Hezbollah militants has alarmed the U.S. and its most important regional ally, Israel.

"Hezbollah has a well-trained and battle-hardened militia, as well as large stocks of missiles that Israel sees as a direct threat," Khalil said.

For the past few weeks, Idlib's skies have been relatively free of Russian and Syrian government warplanes for the first time in months amid a tense calm as a cease-fire deal brokered by Turkey and Russia appears to be holding in Syrias northwestern province.

But there are other looming complications.

Earlier this month, Turkey opened its frontiers with Greece and Bulgaria to allow fleeing Syrians and other migrants to enter the European Union  a move aimed at pressuring EU leaders to intervene in Syria amid the refugee crisis. Turkey's action revived memories of 2015, when more than 1 million asylum seekers fled to Europe from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict zones. It was a humanitarian train of people the continent had not witnessed since the ravages of the Holocaust.

USA TODAY Reporter's Notebook: Walking with migrants

Meanwhile, U.S. policy toward Assad's Syria has roller-coastered from intervention and airstrikes to resignation, inattention and downright confusion. Former President Barack Obama failed to enforce his own "red line" when Assad allegedly used chemical weapons in 2013, killing as many as 1,400 Syrians, including 400 children.

President Donald Trump, before taking office, said the U.S. should "stay the hell out of Syria" and warned that Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, wanted "to flood our country with Syrian immigrants."

But after Trump took office he soon found himself ordering a U.S. airstrike against Syrian targets after another suspected chemical weapons attack by Assad in April 2017. (The Syrian leader has denied using such weapons.) Trump has since blasted Assad as an "animal" and blamed Obama for not acting more aggressively.

Then, last year, Trump declared victory over the Islamic State group in Syria and moved to withdraw U.S. troops from the country, a move he has partly walked back.

Does Trump want out of Syria? Apparently, not so much.

"So the idea that America must do something, I just find that to be  I dont even see that as being a real argument," Robert O'Brien, Trump's national security adviser, said at an event in Washington, D.C., in mid-February, summing up one version of the U.S. position on Syria. "You've got Russian and Iranian and Syrian troops attacking Turks and their allies. And by the way, there are terrorists in Idlib as well. ... Were supposed to parachute in as a global policeman and hold up a stop sign and stay 'Stop this Turkey, Stop this Russia, Stop this Iran, Stop this Syria?"

'An age of impunity'

There is effectively "no unity or even clarity over Western policymaking" with respect to Syria, said David Miliband, a former British foreign secretary and now head of the International Rescue Committee, a global aid relief organization based in New York.

Miliband said there is no "short-, medium- or long-term" plan about what the international community wants to achieve beyond halting the humanitarian disaster.

"That means there's no cost-benefit calculations being done by Russia or Syria or Iran over what they're doing in Syria," he said. "What we're seeing in Syria now is really an age of impunity facilitated by Western division and dysfunction."

Still, there is one constant: Assad.

Firas Tlass, at one point one of Syria's richest men and a former close confidant of the Assad family, said in a phone interview from Dubai, where he lives in exile, that there is a "mood within Syria today suggesting the regime could soon collapse, that it can't continue economically, that it's ultimately lost without real international support."

He said that while Assad may have the upper hand territorially and militarily, it changes every few months, and everyday life, even for regime loyalists inside Syria, is hard: electricity blackouts, little access to health care, few supplies at the market.

"They had hoped that the regime would make sure there was money for salaries and goods and electricity. The opposite has happened," said Nour, Assad's friend from their college days, who now lives in the U.S., where he founded Syrian Christians for Peace, a pro-opposition humanitarian organization that distributes aid inside Syria.

Nour says Assad's military gains are disguising a regime in its dying days.

"It's really hurting. The regime is suffering," said Haid Haid, an expert on Syria at Chatham House, in a panel discussion March 11 at a conference about Syria hosted by the London-based global affairs think tank.

Zaki Lababidi, a Washington, D.C.-based president of the Syrian American Council, which advocates for a secular democracy in Syria, echoed that assessment, saying Assad is "definitely not a victor." Instead: "Hes a puppet of Russia, and he presides (over) a destroyed country, a destroyed economy," he said.

"To the Syrian people, your revolution succeeded. The Assad regime is done."

But Tlass cautioned against expecting that much could be done to accelerate Assad's ouster, unless Russia or Iran decide it is time for him to go. And he noted that even if Assad is forced from power, any new Syrian government would almost certainly be filled with officials and military apparatchiks implicated in Assad's crimes.

Afraid of the sight of blood

Assad was encouraged to become a doctor by his late father, who ruled Syria for three decades as a virtual police state. Hafez Assad was brutal is his crackdowns on dissent, perpetually paranoid, corrupt and willing to murder friends to retain his grip on power.

Hafez Assad viewed his second son as temperamentally unfit to be Syria's president awkward in company, a poor public speaker and afraid of the sight of blood, according to Sam Dagher, author of "Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria." But when his eldest son, Bassel, died in a high-speed car crash, Syria's leader, who had survived several assassination attempts and was credited with transforming his country into a regional power, turned to Bashar to succeed him.

At the time, this aloof and timid son was studying to be an eye doctor at London's prestigious Western Eye Hospital. It was a discipline he chose, Bashar Assad would later often say, according to Dagher, because ophthalmology involves little blood.

Once chosen by his father for the presidency, however, "he was on a quest to slay his inner demons," Dagher writes in his book. "Bashar set out to prove that he could be as cutthroat and ruthless as his father, if not more so."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Syria war: Bashar Assad prospers with 9 years of barbarity, confusion
- Waititu was among hundreds of leaders from Mt Kenya region who went to condole with Gideon following the death of his father, Mzee Daniel Arap Moi

- The ex Kiambu governor used the occasion to declare his support for the KANU leader's political ambitions

- Waititu also declared support for BBI report which he has been opposing

- The politician was unceremoniously removed from the seat after he was impeached following several accusations

Ousted Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu has embraced KANU leader Gideon Moi during a meeting held at the late president Daniel Arap Moi's Kabarak home on Friday, March 13.

Waititu was among hundreds of leaders from Mt. Kenya region who thronged Moi's rural home to condole with the family following the demise of the former president who was laid to rest on February 12, 2020.

READ ALSO: "No Ruto, No BBI": Uasin Gishu residents protest in Eldoret

Ferdinand Waititu shakes hands with KANU leader Gideon Moi. Photo: Ben Kerich.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Maina Njenga, Wamuchomba waongoza msafara wa Mt Kenya kukutana na Gideon Moi

The former governor, whose political star and fortunes have been dwindling ever since he was charged with corruption and subsequent ouster by the Senate, used the occasion to declare his support for Gideon ahead of 2022 presidential race.

"I am not lost, when others get lost I make a u-turn and come back home. When here I know the needs of my people are well taken care of. Gideon put on your shoes. I will walk around with you in Mt Kenya region. This a tsunami which will sweep many," said Waititu.

The former Embakasi MP said he was a strong grassroots mobiliser who had demonstrated his prowess by supporting successful politicians such as President Uhuru Kenyatta.

He hailed Gideon as a great leader who has always been conducting his politics on clean platforms and protected his name against traces of corruption "unlike some known politicians".

"I am a great foot soldier. Gideon you are a clean man, come we walk together. People will feel safe near you. I am safe near you. I am fighting lots of battles," he added.

The vocal Jubilee politician who has been in Deputy President William Ruto's camp that is opposed to the BBI report changed tune and declared full support for the initiative.

"I am here to declare support for BBI 100%. We must plan for our country and also strategise on how to win elections without chaos," said the embattled leader.

Other notable leaders who were part of the delegation included woman reps Sabina Chege (Murang'a) and Gathoni Wamuchomba (Kiambu) and Nyeri Senator Ephraim Maina.

Story By Ben Kerich: TUKO.co.ke correspondent.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly.

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One of Earths most endangered reptiles is getting an assist in its recovery by a team from Harrisburg University using some of the most cutting-edge wildlife-research technology.

Drones, trail cameras and thermal imaging are among the tools deployed to monitor results of recovery efforts for the blue iguana, which is native to the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean Sea. The three islands lie south of Cuba.

The islands population of blue iguana were driven to the brink of extinction by invasive species  the common green iguana, which has invaded ecosystems throughout the region, including Florida; feral domestic cats; and two non-native species of rats  and habitat destruction.

Albert Sarvis and Harrisburg University student Olivia Otstot prepare a done for an aerial survey for iguanas in the Cayman Islands.

The blue iguana was functionally extinct, with no breeding population in the wild. The International Union for Conservation of Nature includes the species on its red list of endangered species.

The green iguanas are highly successful invaders, taking advantage of their abilities to produce more young per clutch than other lizards in the ecosystems they invade. Native to Central and South America, they appear to have been introduced throughout the Caribbean as stowaways on cargo ships.

The rats  black rats and Norwegian rats  likely arrived via the same channel. The feral cats are descended from escaped pets.

A black rat scampers by a camera trap.

Cayman Islands officials engaged Harrisburg Universitys Christine Proctor, professor of biology and ecology, and Albert Sarvis, professor of geospatial technology, to bring the field techniques and technology they had perfected on the eastern massasauga rattlesnake in western Pennsylvania.

Camera traps are much more commonly in research on mammal species. Their 2017-19 work on the massasauga was the first time that thermal sensing had been applied to reptiles. They used drones to verify the images of the snakes they obtained, which sometimes turned out to be sticks, bare ground, bird nests or anthills.

Eastern massauga rattlesnake.

The Cayman Islands Department of Environments Terrestrial Resources Unit and the National Trust Blue Iguana Recovery Program connected with Proctor and Sarvis at a STEM conference in the Cayman Islands, where the Harrisburg University researchers showcased their innovative applications of technology in detecting the threatened rattlesnake species.

In their first project, Proctor, Sarvis and students used drones and thermal imaging to locate green iguanas as part of an effort to eradicate the invasive species, which grown from initial sightings on the islands in the 1990s to an estimated 1.2-1.3 million by 2018.

The island agencies went all in on the eradication program, paying a bounty of $5 Cayman (about $6 U.S.) for each green iguana killed, reducing a population estimated at 1.2-1.3 million to 100,000-200,000.

Christine Proctor, right, works in the field with Bernado Mesa and Joe Jaimeson.

As the remaining green iguanas became more difficult to locate, in December 2019 the HU team deployed drones equipped with thermal cameras, which provided more of a tactical approach to the effort, according to Sarvis.

He explained that green iguanas tend to climb up into the relatively short trees at night, allowing the researchers to fly their drones over areas of 20-30 acres to see these hotspots in the trees. The blue iguanas, which are rock-type iguanas, tend to stay out of the trees.

Following up on the initial success, the HU team was awarded a Harrisburg University Presidential Research Grant and are using remote camera traps to track the current population of blue iguanas released from captive-rearing programs as well as the population remaining threats. Drones are being used to map the habitat area and remote cameras are using motion and thermal heat to capture images of the blue iguanas.

Harrisburg University student Alyson Marshall sets a camera trap.

More than a thousand blue iguanas produced by captive populations in various zoos, including some in the U.S., and the national trust recovery program were released into a botanical park and two wilderness preserves.

The preserves have a habitat of tropical dry forest and shrubland, with a lot of agave, some cacti, palm trees, mahogany trees and similar species with trunks no more than 6 inches in diameter, adapted to a water-limited environment.

The overall recovery effort is 25 years old. Release of captive-reared blue iguanas began in 2006 and the eradication of green iguanas began in 2018.

An initial trip was made to the Caymans to set up camera traps. Another trip followed last month to shift the camera locations and carry out drone mapping flights of the study area.

Current goals for the HU team are to determine the number of blue iguanas now in the wild and if they are expanding beyond the preserve areas, said Proctor.

A feral cat passes one of the Harrisburg University camera traps.

We can already see that depredation pressure (on the blue iguanas by feral cats, and by dogs) is much higher than anticipated, noted Proctor.

A Geospatial Technology student helped develop a methodology and associated manual for processing the imagery. Two students joined Sarvis and Proctor on last months trip to the Cayman Islands to set up remote camera grids and collect high resolution habitat imagery using two different drones. Harrisburg University students also will be involved in post collection data processing. Camera image analysis, population modeling, and habitat mapping will take place through June.

Sarvis said they have thousands of images to examine and then to develop overlapping maps to correlate all the data theyve brought back from the field.

This project has provided Harrisburg University students many opportunities such as research experience, travel abroad opportunities and industry skill building, Proctor said. Using technology, statistical modeling, and on-the-ground field work, students are developing skills that will serve them well in their future careers.

A thermal image of green iguana in a tree.

The research has also led to other opportunities for HU, Sarvis added.

This research has been gaining international recognition resulting in invitations for HU faculty to present and provide workshops at several conferences, he said. This work has also resulted in the award of one external grant and will serve as a pilot study for additional grant applications. And as one of the most endangered lizards in the world, this work will help us monitor the success of the blue iguana reintroduction effort.

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Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.
Odion Ighalo has praised Bruno Fernandes' start to life at Manchester United but he believes the Portugal international will flourish once he settles in England.

Both players arrived at Old Trafford during the January transfer window with Ighalo sealing a short-term loan move from Shanghai Shenua and Fernandes signing a five-and-a-half year contract in a 68million transfer from Sporting Lisbon.

The pair previously played together at Serie A club Udinese and the Nigerian says Fernandes' passing ability will 'change the dynamic' of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer's side.

Odion Ighalo (centre right) has hailed Bruno Fernandes' start to his Manchester United career

'It's not my first time playing with Bruno. I played with him at Udinese back in 2010,' Ighalo told BBC Sport.

'He's a great player. He has vision. He's the guy who wants the ball because he can do something fantastic with it if you give him space. He's a good passer of the ball and he's what this team needs to score goals.

'You're still going to see more and better from him because he is still getting used to the Premier League. When he's finally settled Bruno Fernandes is going to do well in this team.

Ighalo celebrates with Fernandes (right) after scoring the opener in United's 5-0 win at LASK

'Before I came here I knew Manchester United were looking at him and I was hoping they would get him because he is a good player and I knew he was going to change the dynamic of the team.

'He's not going to have the best game every time but what he is going to bring to the team is going to be unbelievable.'

Ighalo has now netted four goals in eight United appearances after opening the scoring during the 5-0 hammering of LASK in the Europa League round of 16.

The first leg took place behind closed doors at Linzer Stadion to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. The second leg was scheduled to take place on Thursday 19 March, but the fixture has been suspended.
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As worries about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 mount, cybercriminals are racing to capitalize on those fears with phishing emails designed to steal your personal information and your money, security experts say.

The FBI, Secret Service, and World Health Organization have all recently issued warnings.

With more and more people working from home this month, cybercriminals eager to gain access to corporate computer systems have joined the fray, too.

Many of the emails, which often appear to be sent by WHO or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pretend to offer new information about the virus.

Some hint at the availability of a vaccine, and others claim to be from charitable organizations looking to raise money for victims. (Read about products touting false coronavirus claims.)

Although the ploys are depressingly familiar to those well-versed in phishing emails, they come at a time when people worldwide are particularly vulnerable, says Eric Howes, principal lab researcher for KnowBe4, a cybersecurity company focused on phishing prevention.

When people are distracted, concerned, and extremely motivated to get information," he says, "you cant count on them to notice things they might have in calmer times.

To complicate things, plenty of legitimate coronavirus-related emails are circulating right now, making it easier to float malicious ones without drawing attention. Human resources departments are reaching out to employees about working from home, schools are updating parents on precautions and canceled events, and businesses are trying to ease customer concerns.

In research shared by email, Tatyana Shcherbakova, senior web content analyst for the cybersecurity company Kaspersky, notes the phishing emails designed to mimic those from the WHO are particularly convincing.

So consumers need to be vigilant and use common sense before clicking on an email about the coronavirus outbreak. If a claim sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Story continues

"If you are promised a vaccine for the virus or some magic protective measures and the content of the email is making you worried, it has most likely come from cybercriminals," Shcherbakova writes.

Heres a closer look at how to avoid coronavirus phishing scams.

How the Phishing Scams Work

According to Howes, his company detected its first coronavirus-themed phishing emaila spoof on missives from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionin early February. A month later, a half-dozen versions of the email were circulating. All directed recipients to fake forms or a website designed to steal log-in credentials.

Cybercriminals have since crafted emails that appear to be from company HR departments. Like the CDC phishing emails, those also prompt the receiver to reveal log-in credentials.

For cybercriminals, captured log-ins and passwords are valuable, because they can be used to commit financial fraud or impersonate a legitimate user and access corporate computer networks.

Access to a consumer email address may be enough to reset key passwords for banking and other financial accounts.

Not all the emails seek credentials, though. Some distribute malware. In one version, discovered by KnowBe4 researchers, the author asks for help finding a cure for coronavirus, urging people to download software onto their computers to assist in the effort.

The download contains a virus capable of monitoring all activity on the device. And if that computer is logged into a business network, an attacker could, potentially, move throughout the system sweeping up information.

For many cybercriminals, gaining access to corporate computer systems is the chief goal. But, Howes says, consumer devices are enticing, too, noting that people have been keeping more of their most private information on personal computers these days, and cybercriminals are adept at monetizing that.

How to Avoid Getting Scammed

Here are some additional tips from digital security experts.

Think before you click. Howes says the best thing consumers can do to protect themselves is just slow down. If something doesnt seem right about an email, just delete itideally before you open it. Youre better off not taking the risk.

Examine the link. Before you click on a link, try hovering your mouse over it. This will reveal the full address, which can expose signs of fraud. A .ru on the end, for example, means the site was created in Russia; .br means Brazil.

Misspellings in URLs are another good tip-off to a fake website. If the URL says corronaviruss.com, it's best to avoid it. And if you get an email advertising a great deal on masks or hand sanitizer at a major retailer, open a window in your browser, search for the retailers web address, and compare it with the one in your email.

Dont assume that a website is legitimate just because its URL starts with https. Criminals like to use encryption, too.

Dont open attachments. They may contain malware. And you should never type confidential information into a form attached to an email. The sender can potentially track the info you enter.

Guard your financial information. Be wary of emails asking for account numbers, credit card numbers, wire transfers, and failed transactions. Theres no reason to share such info via message or an unsecure site.

Turn on auto updates. This goes for your computer, smartphone, and tablets. Up-to-date antivirus software goes a long way toward stopping malware.

Use security tools. Install an antivirus program on your device, and keep it up to date. You can also use a website reputation rating tool, which comes in the form of a browser plugin, to warn you if you try to go to potentially dangerous websites. Cybersecurity companies such as McAfee, Kaspersky, and NortonLifeLock offer them. But keep in mind that these tools arent foolproof.





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Countries across Central America have taken drastic steps to brace for a potential public health crisis from coronavirus even as the region has confirmed a small number of cases compared to other affected countries.

Leaders and experts worry the countries are doubly vulnerable because of weak, resource-stripped healthcare systems, leading them to take extreme preventive measures.

These decisions could affect the health of millions of citizens and the already struggling economies of small countries that get a boost from tourism dollars.

As of Thursday, Costa Ricas health ministry confirmed 23 cases of coronavirus, the most out of any country in Central America. Panama reported the first death from coronavirus in the region on Tuesday. At least 14 people in the country have tested positive for the virus. Honduras confirmed its first two cases on Wednesday of citizens who tested positive for coronavirus after returning from Europe. Guatemala on Friday reported its first case of the virus.

El Salvador, Nicaragua and Belize have yet to confirm any cases.

But the low number of confirmed cases has not prevented these countries from taking action, a move they say will prevent the virus from taking a deadly toll on their citizens as it has in China, South Korea, Italy and other countries.

Government response

On Wednesday, El Salvadors president Nayib Bukele introduced some of the most drastic isolation measures seen so far in a country without a single confirmed case of coronavirus. In a news conference, he ordered a nationwide quarantine that requires schools to close for 21 days. Only citizens and residents will be allowed in the country during this time, and they will have to quarantine for 30 days, regardless of their symptoms.

The surprise announcement sent the main airport into chaos on Wednesday night as foreigners were unexpectedly denied entry into the country and returning citizens were forced to wait for hours for medical exams. The situation grew so tense that some disgruntled passengers tried to force their way out of the airport, according to Salvadoran reporter Karla Arevalo.

Neighbouring Guatemala has also taken serious precautions against the virus. On Thursday, Guatemalan legislators voted in favour of a state of emergency to allow the government to contract more services to address the crisis. The day before, the country announced it would not allow the entry of anyone from Europe, China, Iran, South Korea or North Korea in an attempt to control the spread of the virus.

I apologise to those annoyed by the measures that I am taking, but my responsibility as president is to protect the residents of this country, President Alejandro Giammattei said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Other countries in the region have taken other less drastic preventive measures. Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez ordered a special screening protocol be put in place for travellers coming from Italy or China. On Thursday, Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada announced some schools would close and international travel would be restricted for government employees. The Nicaraguan health ministry said on Wednesday that it has taken extra steps to detect cases of anyone entering the country and is preparing hospitals for potential cases. Some universities in Panama have decided to suspend classes.

A passenger reacts as he arrives at a facility where travellers are to be quarantined as El Salvador enforces measures due to concerns over coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Jiquilisco, El Salvador [Jose Cabezas/Reuters]

Part of our obligation is to be responsible and take care of ourselves, said Soraye Castro Gonzalez, president of Costa Rican NGO Fundacion Adamas, which works with cancer patients, who are vulnerable to coronavirus because they are immunocompromised. She supports the measures taken by the Costa Rican government. It is a disease that can be contained and we must remain calm.

Collapsed healthcare systems

In countries with underfunded healthcare systems where limited resources are often further pilfered through corruption, there is serious concern that the spread of the virus could lead to many preventable deaths.

We are underdeveloped countries, and there is a lot of worry about the health system, said Katty Tobar de Rivas, national health adviser in El Salvador for NGO Fundacion EDUCO.

Tobar de Rivas said that isolating El Salvador could be a positive measure considering the limits of the countrys underfunded healthcare system.

In neighbouring Honduras, the healthcare system has been on the border of collapse for years, leading doctors and citizens to take to the streets last year in protest. In recent months, the country struggled to treat a dengue epidemic in which nearly 200 people have already died.

We have a health system that is collapsed with the normal attention in hospitals, said Suyapa Figueroa, the president of the Honduran Medical College. For us, this will be an incredibly difficult situation to handle because we are sure it will exceed the capacity that we have.

Travellers walk at the El Salvador International Airport Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez as El Salvador enacts measures due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) concerns, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador [Jose Cabezas/Reuters] Travellers walk at the El Salvador International Airport Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez as El Salvador enacts measures due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) concerns, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador [Jose Cabezas/Reuters]

Figueroa estimates the country only has about 60 medical ventilators in public hospitals, a wildly insufficient number in the case of the spread of coronavirus, which often causes respiratory problems. She criticised the governments response for being improvised and recommended a more coordinated response driven by the advice of health experts.

Corruption has also plagued Guatemalas healthcare system, and poor, rural, Indigenous Guatemalans often lack access to the public health system or face discrimination.

While preventative measures are meant to help these healthcare systems survive a public health crisis, they will likely have devastating effects on the economies of these small countries.

In El Salvador, for example, a national quarantine will likely affect local businesses. El Salvadors National Association of Private Enterprise urged businesses to take the necessary precautions to protect employees and asked for the government to adopt measures that are effective and proportionate to the evolution of the virus in the country, protecting the wellbeing of Salvadoran families and avoiding actions that provoke serious harm to the economy and employment, in a statement shared with Al Jazeera.

Salvadoran President Bukele has assured citizens he has weighed the economic impact of his decision.

The economic impact pales in comparison to the number of deaths and illnesses that we could have with a pandemic that even Italy, South Korea, and Germany are not prepared to stop, much less El Salvador or any other country in the region, Bukele said Wednesday.

Migration

In Central American countries that receive hundreds of deportees from the United States each week  mainly El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras  deportations pose a serious risk for the spread of coronavirus, leading some civil society organisations to call for the suspension of deportations if countries truly want to protect citizens.

In Guatemala, a 20-year-old deported from Miami this week was suspected of having coronavirus, but it turned out to be a false alarm. Still, the case highlighted the risk.

When we talk about migrants, we are talking about vulnerable people without resources, said Mauro Verzeletti, director of migrant shelter Casa del Migrante in Guatemala City, who said that migrants could be more likely to contract the disease after long, gruelling journeys to the US that weaken their immune systems and put them in tight, often unsanitary spaces in detention.

A representative of the Office of the Prosecutor for the Defence of Human Rights talks to a security guard at a facility where travellers are in quarantine as El Salvador enforces measures due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) concerns, in Tierra Blanca, El Salvador [Jose Cabezas/Reuters]

He called on the US to stop deportations to the country to prevent the potential spread of the disease  or to at the very least implement a rigorous screening process for all deportees.

In El Salvador, civil society made similar calls to suspend deportations. Cesar Rios, director of the Salvadoran Institute for Migration, called on President Bukele to ask the US to temporarily halt deportations given that migrants held in detention are a vulnerable population that could quickly catch and spread the disease. The organisation sent a formal letter to the foreign minister with this request, but has yet to receive a response.

On Tuesday, Honduras suspended deportation flights from Mexico citing an inability to quarantine people and fears that the public healthcare system cannot adequately handle the problem. But deportations continue from the US, which has more confirmed cases than Mexico.

On Thursday, US Customs and Border Protection chief Mark Morgan confirmed the US would continue deportations.

In this moment, the US should seek more solidarity instead of building more walls, Verzeletti said.
Europe's ski season is coming to an end months early as resorts are forced to close to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

Austrian resorts today announced they are closing just a day after Norway said all of its resorts were shutting down with immediate affect.

It includes all resorts in Tyrol, Salzburg and Vorarlberg.

French resorts are meeting today to plan whether they will also close early and Italy's have already closed as a result of the country-wide lockdown.

Austrian resorts (pictured) today announced they are closing just a day after Norway said all of its resorts were shutting down with immediate affect

Most of Austria's ski resorts were set to continue until the beginning of May and will now close seven weeks early.

Tyrol alone represents 90 resorts including St Anton, Solden, Kitzbuhel, Innsbruck, Westendorf, Ellmau, Serfaus, Soll, Mayrhofen and Obergurgl.

The resorts will all be closed from Sunday, March 15, and all hotels will close a day later on Monday, March 16.

A spokesman described it as a 'difficult decision' but added: 'The health of our visitors, our staff and of those who live here in Tyrol is the top priority.'

Tyrol has been harder hit than other regions in Austria from the virus with half of the cases in the region originating in the popular ski resort of Ischgl from visitors to the Kitzloch bar.

It will includes all resorts in Tyrol, Salzburg and Vorarlberg. French resorts are meeting today to plan whether they will also close early

Salzburg officials said the decision was based on the laws governing outbreaks and epidemics and as a result the last day they will be open will be Monday. They will then be planning an orderly withdrawal of the existing guests.

Salzburg governor Wilfried Haslauer from the conservative People's Party said: 'The decision was not easy for any of us but it was a necessary step in order to make sure we are doing everything to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.'

In Vorarlberg, lifts would stop running on Sunday, and on Monday hotels and restaurants will need to be closed, according to governor Markus Wallner also from the conservative People's party.

Governor of Tyrol Gunther Platter announced the closure of their resorts in an effort to stem the spread of Covid-19

He said: 'For us the health of our guests, our staff and the people of Vorarlberg is in first place.'

The Austrian decision came after local experts calculated that every person infected is passing on to around 1.62 other people. They believe that the virus is going to accelerate the rate of around 23.2 percent in the Alpine republic.

In other regions, the spread is slower including in the capital Vienna, where the number of infections is doubling roughly every 4.6 days.

In order to strengthen support for the lockdown, Austria has guaranteed financial help both for companies forced to close as well as for staff forced to stay home to look after children no longer able to attend school.
Sad Farewells in the Kerrytown area

Treasure Mart is for sale, and Hollander's is leaving.

by Micheline Maynard

From the March, 2020 issue

On a bleak mid-February day, Community High School senior Owen Kelley walked a couple of blocks down Detroit St. to Treasure Mart with his classmate Nathan Sprick.



It was their first visit there, says Kelley, who wanted to buy a simple ring for himself.



Instead, after perusing the jewelry cases, he bought a watch.



A few steps away, Charlotte O'Leary peeked over her daughter Kelly Trett's shoulder as she poked at a blue Brother portable typewriter.



The pair have shopped at the store "for years and years and years," says O'Leary, a former Ann Arbor resident who now lives in Tecumseh.



Trett, who lives in Ypsilanti, remembers being allowed as a child to buy one item during visits with her mother.



"You never know what you're going to see," she said, gesturing around her, where tables were filled with Waterford crystal, shelves held beer steins, and a rack displayed quilts.



O'Leary and Trett say they made this Treasure Mart trip after learning in late January that owners Elaine and Carl Johns had put the business up for sale.



The move was prompted by the worsening health of Elaine, who was diagnosed in 2018 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a degenerative illness known as Lou Gehrig's disease.



The Treasure Mart is listed with Southfield-based commercial realtor Tim Guest of CBRE, and there have been several serious inquiries from prospective buyers, the Johns say.



"I'm pretty confident that they're out there," says Carl Johns.



The couple hopes to find a buyer who will continue to run the shop in its current form and be "really truthful about what they are doing," he says. They do not want someone who will keep it open for months "and then turn it into condos."



The Johns have not set a price and do not have a deadline for the sale. But Elaine says she wants the transaction completed "sooner rather than later."



The consignment shop was opened in 1960 by Elaine Johns' mother, Demaris

...continued below...

Cash. She transformed a wood planing mill that later housed a fruit and vegetable business into a place where Ann Arborites could consign antiques and other collectibles for sale.Elaine, who was ten when the business opened, began working there in 1974. She took over when her mother died in 2000. Carl, who'd previously worked in construction, joined her twenty-eight years ago.With baby boomers clearing out big houses, and other consumers decluttering, these have been good years for consignment stores in general and the Treasure Mart in particular.There's so much demand to sell items at the Treasure Mart that appointments are booked through April, says Elaine.The store sets prices for each item, comparing notes with similar items for sale on Ebay and other auction sites. It takes a percentage of the sale and mails a check for the rest to the consignee.As the Johns chatted with a visitor, three sellers came into the office, bringing items that included green glass dishes, a tapestry, and fine china.Along with their regular sellers, the Johns say they see some local customers daily. Others are outpatients at Michigan Medicine who wander over for a break from their medical treatments."I like to say we're like their local bartender," Carl says. "We know their stories, and they come in and talk to us."---Meanwhile, in the Kerrytown Market & Shops a short walk away, another longtime Ann Arbor business is undergoing a major change.the book bindery and paper shop, plans to leave the center in June, just shy of its thirtieth anniversary.Owners Tom and Cindy Hollander will keep about one-third of the business going, including the book-binding business that operates on the lower level at Kerrytown.They plan to sell specialty papers and continue offering classes, working from a small space they are renting in a warehouse on Carpenter Rd. But, says Cindy, "No more weekends."Ann Arborites who are familiar with their retail store and book business may not realize how important the website has become, she says. Hollander's has three full-time employees filling orders that come from all over the country.Hollander's plans to begin a closing sale on April 1, and the store most likely will close in mid-June, she says, since they have to vacate their two floors at Kerrytown by June 30.Unlike the Johns, the Hollanders decided not to sell the business. "We wanted to take the name with us," Cindy says, "and that kind of sealed the deal [with brokers] in not pursuing it."The unusual nature of their business, a manufacturing and retail hybrid, was also a drawback."We kind of operate in a little bubble," Cindy says. "We wouldn't be able to do this in many small towns. Even New York doesn't have a paper store" that also crafts and prints books."It's pretty incredible that we've been able to survive here, with so much support. I think that's what we'll miss most. We'll miss the other merchants but the customers most of all."Like the Treasure Mart, which Elaine Johns says was swamped as word spread of its prospective sale, Cindy says shoppers have been pouring into Hollander's.Even before the sale begins, many are taking home stacks of greeting cards. "They tell me they don't know where else they are going to get them," she says, "and we're selling a lot of puzzles."Meanwhile, the Treasure Mart has found that the store's Facebook page has been a way to move merchandise quickly, especially higher-priced items.One recent post featured mid-century stainless steel furniture, which Carl Johns said he wasn't sure would find a customer. Almost immediately, the store got a phone call from a buyer who happily paid the $8,500 price."He drove out here from New York City, sight unseen, and picked it up," Carl says.Sprick, the Community High student, says he was impressed by what he found. "They definitely have some cool stuff," he nodded.Treasure Mart, 529 Detroit St. (734) 662-1363. Mon.-Sat. 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Closed Sun. treasuremart.com ___In a letter to customers posted on the shop door, Tom and Cindy Hollander said they would not reopen the store before their lease expired on June 30. The Hollanders ended curbside pickup for website orders on June 12. They plan to offer pickup for internet orders at their new warehouse location. However, they do not plan to do retail business there."We apologize that our store closing sales and the chance for us to see so many of our long-time local customers will not happen, at least at the Kerrytown location," they wrote. "Please be patient as we consider ways to sell our stationery and art supplies inventory after we move." [Originally published in March, 2020.]
UP: Elections not won on exit polls basis, results will be surprising: Kamal Nath

Madhya Pradesh govt crisis: CM Kamal Nath expresses readiness to face floor test

India

oi-PTI

Bhopal, Mar 13: Minutes after he expressed the readiness of his government for a floor test in the Assembly, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday accused the BJP of holding 22 Congress MLAs in captivity.

Kamal Nath met Governor Lalji Tandon and submitted a letter to him accusing the BJP of being involved in horse-trading and holding the Congress MLAs in captivity.

The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister met Tandon in the midst of political crisis in the state triggered by the resignation of the 22 Congress MLAs three days ago.

BJP to seek floor test in Madhya Pradesh Assembly on March 16

He met the governor at around 11 am and submitted the three-page letter to him.

In the letter, released by a Congress spokesman to the media, Nath expressed his readiness to hold the floor test during the budget session beginning from March 16.

He also mentioned the sequence of events from the intervening night of March 3 and March 4 to March 10, and claimed there were incidents of horse-trading during this period.

"In these circumstances, the very edifice of democracy is in danger," Nath wrote in the letter.

Nath also told the Governor to use his office to ensure the release of Congress MLAs held in captivity in Bengaluru. Nath, whose government is teetering on the brink of a collapse following the rebellion, reached Raj Bhavan to meet Tandon, who arrived on Thursday night from Lucknow.

The ruling Congress has alleged that 19 of the rebel Congress MLAs, including ministers, have been held "captive" by the BJP in a resort in Bengaluru, a charge denied by the opposition party.

13 of 22 rebel Cong MLAs won't quit Cong, confident of winning floor test: Digvijaya Singh

Nath's meeting with the governor comes amid unconfirmed reports that six ministers, said to be close to former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, will be coming to Bhopal from Bengaluru to hand over their resignation letters in person to the Assembly speaker.

Attempts to contact these ministers proved futile. Scindia joined the BJP on Wednesday, a day after quitting the Congress.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 13, 2020, 14:03 [IST]
A lawmaker wants answers from the Pentagon about whether coronavirus tests are being sent to military bases worldwide after he said troops in Afghanistan based miles from a town where people have contracted COVID-19 are showing symptoms.

Several U.S. troops in Afghanistan are experiencing flu-like symptoms but have tested negative for influenza, according to Rep. Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat. Now, there are concerns the troops, who are 75 miles from Iran where the coronavirus is rampant, could have COVID-19, he said.

The troops have not yet been tested for the sometimes-deadly virus though, Pocan added. The congressman said he learned of the situation after one of the service members' families contacted his office.

"If we're not providing proper health care to military personnel, especially so close to where there is a real flare of the pandemic near Iran ... that would be awful," Pocan told Military.com.

Related: Guard Activations in Response to Coronavirus Expected to Hit 1,000 by Weekend

The congressman declined to name the military base in Afghanistan where the troops are sick, citing concerns the service member's family had about coming forward. Herat province in Afghanistan has several positive cases of coronavirus, and the military has troops operating there.

The Defense Department did not respond to questions about the situation. Officials at U.S. Central Command referred questions to the public affairs office for NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. That office also did not respond to questions.

As of Thursday, Pocan said he hasn't received clarity from the Defense Department on whether test kits are being provided to troops overseas. He said he finds the fact that he can't get a basic answer to that question for troops serving in far-flung locations "very concerning."

"If anyone is putting their life on the line for us overseas in the military, we really should be providing the health care that they deserve," Pocan told Military.com. "We fear they're not [getting] that."

Coronavirus cases topped 125,000 worldwide on Friday. The National Guard is expected to mobilize 1,000 troops across six states by the weekend as President Donald Trump declared the pandemic a national emergency.

Pocan pointed to widespread concerns over the way the U.S. is administering coronavirus tests. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told members of Congress this week that was "a failing."

"The system is not really geared to what we need right now," he said. "... That is a failing. It is a failing. Let's admit it."

Pocan pointed to aggressive testing in South Korea, which was able to slow the spread of new cases. Military members and their families don't need the added stress of not having access to coronavirus tests, he said, especially when they're deployed.

Army Gen. Robert "Abe" Abrams, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, told reporters Friday that troops in South Korea have had access to coronavirus tests.

So far, 145 people connected to that command have been tested, including troops, family members, and civilian and contractor workers. Nine people have tested positive for coronavirus.

Abrams touted the efficacy of testing in that country, which quickly sped up how it could test for the virus. More than 189,000 South Korean citizens have now been tested at more than 100 testing centers.

"The Republic of Korea, learning from previous pandemic experience, revamped their system," he said. "Three weeks ago, they could do about 5,000 tests a day. Today, they can do about 18K tests a day.

"We can get as many tested as necessary," Abrams added.

In a press conference Trump held Friday, government and health industry leaders pledged to make coronavirus testing more readily available.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read more: Air Force Academy Dismisses Cadets amid Coronavirus Spread
BJD's Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sasmit Patra has urged the Central government to rejig its geopolitical approach in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the recently negotiated peace deal between the United States and the Taliban, which he described as geopolitical disadvantageous for India and with serious implications for its security.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour on Friday, Patra said that the signed agreement is a cause of major concern for India, given that the country has invested heavily in infrastructure and "have major interest in energy" in the country.

"We (India) are saying that we are a contiguous territory with Afghanistan, so they are a neighbour. Having said that, over the next 14 months as the united states will withdraw, there are large spaces of Afghanistan which are not controlled by the Taliban. Those spaces are susceptive for Pakistan to actually push terror groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad and LeT," he said.

"Further, we need to strengthen the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) policy. BIMSTEC has emerged as a major platform as compared to SAARC," he added.

Speaking in turn, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said that the government should take note of the US-Taliban Agreement in Afghanistan.

Representatives of the United States and the Taliban last month signed the long-awaited deal in Qatar's capital city of Doha, calling for a gradual withdrawal of US troops if the Taliban negotiates with the Afghan government and cuts ties with terrorist groups.

Reacting to the signing of the agreement, India had said that its consistent policy is to support all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan and lead to a lasting political settlement through an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan controlled process.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- With his Oval Office address on the U.S. response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, President Donald Trump had sought to instill confidence and trust in his prescription for the pandemic. Instead, President Trump projected incompetence with multiple inaccurate statements and glaring omissions.

Trump misspoke when announcing a ban on all travel from Europe and didnt speak as he should have about badly needed testing for Coronavirus. Immediately after the address, Trumps administration was quickly releasing corrections and clarifications on the new travel restrictions announced in the speech Trump had read off a teleprompter.

We will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight. These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground. There will be exemptions for Americans who had undergone appropriate screenings," Trump stated

While Trump noted the United Kingdom is not part of the travel ban, neither are Ireland, Russia, Belarus,Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Armenia, Montenegro,Cyprus, Romania, Croatia and Ukraine.

The travel ban just applies to 26 European nations with open borders in whats known as the Schengen Area, which the administration clarified after the address.

All U.S. citizens and permanent resident are actually totally exempt from any restrictions, as are some of their family members.

Trumps inaccurate announcement cause widespread chaos among passengers on departing flights and the airline industry that had been given no forewarning.

Politico is reporting that Trump and his advisors had sought to suppress the kind of testing that has been commonplace in other nations out of fears it would result in increasing the number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in the U.S., hurting his reelection campaign.

President Trump did not push to do aggressive additional testing in recent weeks, and thats partly because more testing might have led to more cases being discovered of coronavirus outbreak and the president had made clear the lower the number on coronavirus the better for the president, the better for his potential reelection this fall, " said Politico reporter Dan Diamond on NPR.

Trumps address on such an important matter was reportedly prepared on short notice and approved of by Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Hope Hicks

Instead of Wall Street and Main Street being reassured by Trumps response, the Dow had its worst drop since 1987.
OTTAWAThe Canadian government is defending its refusal to bar travellers from any country at the border, as fears related to the coronavirus pandemic hit the global economy.

The morning after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a ban on all European travellers entering the U.S. starting Friday at midnight, stock markets plunged, triggering a halt to trading. Trump had initially said hed bar travellers, goods and trade from Europe, not including the U.K., but the White House clarified the prohibition was on the movement of people only.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cancelled a visit to Canadas Public Health Agency Thursday morning and later announced he was self-isolating because his wife was exhibiting symptoms late Wednesday after returning from the U.K. He was reportedly meeting with a special cabinet subcommittee on the COVID-19 outbreak.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told CBC Radio Thursday morning that Canada was not advised of Trumps move.

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino told reporters in Ottawa the federal government would not comment on other countries policies and remains confident that its actions  which he stressed follow the advice of WHO and Canadian health experts  will ensure the health and wellness of Canadians.

Indeed, a couple of hours before Trumps drastic move, Canadas top public health officials had pushed back at suggestions they should take a tougher border approach at the border.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu rejected the idea travel restrictions at the Canadian border would help stop the virus spread.

It is much better to have targeted measures at the border that helps you identify people who are coming from severely affected areas, that will help you ensure you know whos coming in, that they have the information about what to do, and we can monitor them as they self-isolate, she said.

She said Ottawa has evidence there was a very high compliance rate with its public health recommendations to travellers who came back to Canada from Chinas Hubei province where the virus originated.

A virus does not know borders. We have over 100 countries now that have coronavirus in their country, she said. No country will be left unaffected by the time this is over.

We are certain that this is the right approach, Hajdu said.

And the health minister suggested now is not the time to take decisions based on politics.

We have to take decisions that are actually about protecting the health and safety of Canadians. We cant take them because it feels right, we cant take them despite the evidence. We have to use science and evidence. That is the primary responsibility I feel as a minister of health.

Canadas chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam underlined the idea that closing borders is ineffective.

Borders are not a solid wall, but one layer of protection, and it is never a perfect layer, she said. The more numbers of countries affected, you can imagine that trying to screen people at the borders becomes much more ineffective means of addressing the coronavirus outbreak.

Canada has warned Canadians against travel to China, Iran, all of Italy and some areas of Korea, but has not prevented any travellers from returning to this country, except for those who were stranded in hot zones, like Wuhan or on two cruise ships who tested positive ahead of government repatriation flights.

Now, the number of confirmed cases in Canada continues to climb.

Hajdu and Tam admitted Thursday Canada like all countries potentially could see an infection rate of between 30 to 70 per cent of the population, although Hajdu stressed the science is not clear.

On Thursday, Manitoba has announced its first confirmed case of COVID-19. That appears to bring the number of confirmed cases in Canada to 122, however the federal public health agencys report lagged behind the latest developments, listing 103 infections Thursday.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, speaking to reporters in Ottawa, chose his words carefully about Trumps actions.

President Trump has to make that decision for his country, said Ford.

He said Trumps border measures and Canadian border security would be discussed among first ministers Thursday, and noted that the situation is evolving daily.

Ford said that the federal government and premiers need to make sure we toughen up the border but declined to say what that meant, repeatedly stressing it is important to keep borders open to keep billions in trade moving with the United States.

Ford praised the federal government for its work on the COVID-19 outbreak, saying the prime minister and his deputy have been fully engaged with all provinces, and their ministers of health, and public health officers.

We have to be vigilant, and keep an eye on our borders, make sure that were doing proper screening but well be in discussions about this with the prime minister and the premiers, he said.

Ive all the confidence in the world in our border patrol, here and the U.S. and we have to look at this as North America, not just Canadaits absolutely critical we keep the borders open and have the trade moving back and forth.

Read more about:
KOLOLO  Military sources have indicated to PML Daily that presidential aspirant Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde, who has been arrested in a joint operation by Special Forces Command (SFC) and Uganda Police will be charged in General Court-Martial on Friday, March 13, 2020, on yet to be known charges.

An aide said on Thursday evening that Gen. Tumukunde, who last week declared his presidential bid was being slapped with treason charges.

Gen. Tumukunde last week announced he will run for president in 2021.

Media reports indicated that Gen. Tumukunde planned to announce his presidential bid in April  four months to the proposed nomination dates, but his plan was scuttled once the intelligence services got wind of it and alerted their commander-in-chief.

Mr. Museveni responded by ordering the withdrawal of all Gen. Tumukundes army guards, a strange president given that he is entitled to security as a retired general. Besides the military escorts and a UPDF lead car, Gen. Tumukunde also had military guards at home and office, along Impala Avenue, Kololo.

Gen. Tumukundes interest in the presidency is not new. In 2003, during a retreat at the National Leadership Institute Kyankwanzi, then a Brigadier, Tumukunde who also doubled as an Army MP infuriated President Museveni when he openly criticized the third-term project tailored largely to amend the Constitution and remove presidential term limits. That project handed Museveni a termless presidency.

His opposition to the amendment led Gen. Tumukunde to lose his seat in Parliament in May 2005, a month before MPs took the controversial vote to amend the Constitution.

In days that followed, Gen. Tumukunde was arrested and subsequently charged with abuse of office, military misconduct and spreading harmful propaganda.

The abuse of office charges was later dropped but the state maintained the other charges. The General Military Court-martial, which tried him till April 2013, later sentenced him to severe reprimand.

In September 2015, Gen. Tumukunde who was at the rank of Brigadier was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and subsequently retired from the army before Museveni deployed him to neutralize former prime minister John Patrick Amama Mbabazis 2016 presidential campaign network.

Museveni named Gen. Tumukunde in his post-2016 election cabinet as security minister giving him an opportunity to fell Police chief Gen Kale Kayihura who commanded the soldiers that arrested him (Tumukunde) in 2005. Both men were later dropped from the government in March 2018.

How Gen. Tumukunde was arrested:

Journalist Andrew Mwenda in a tweet said two roads were sealed off in Kololo near the offices of Multichoice Uganda along Impala Avenue, what used to be Lawns Restaurant.

Deployment along impala Avenue is heavy, a combination of heavily armed mean-looking SFC and JAT commandos brandishing automatic weapons have sealed off part of Impala Avenue with trucks and not allowing anyone to go through, Mwenda twitted.

He also claimed that Tumukunde by the time of filling this story was still at former Lawns, which he had turned into his offices and Police are searching the house before they take him off to custody.

Related
An average Rs 1 crore investment



can create only one job in the industrial sector, Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai told the Legislative Council on Friday.

With this finding, Desai sought to debunk the general understanding that higher investments can create more jobs in the industrial sector.

During a discussion in the upper house, Desai said, "Internal data crunching in my department has revealed that in big ticket projects, the average Rs 1 crore investment creates only one job, while in small-scale industries, Rs 1 lakh needs to be invested to create one job."



The amount of investment shrinks further to Rs 25,000 in micro scale industries for creation of one job, Desai added.

"We have also noticed that 40 per cent of our total exports comes from small and medium scale industries. If we assist and promote these industries, we can boost our exports and create more jobs," the minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the national health index released by NITI Aayog in 2019, Rajasthan has emerged as one of the top two states, which is making the most progress on healthcare indicators between 2015-16 and 2017-18. This assessment is based on strides on many indicators, that include reduced death-rates of newborns and children under five years of age, a falling share of low-birthweight babies, a surge in immunisation rates, and percentage of babies born in hospitals rather than homes. All these indicators have one thing in common - improvement in child health.

There is another area, where emerging evidence, though still in early stages, is showing that Rajasthan is scripting a success-story---in healing its children who are found severely malnourished. Children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) are eleven times likely to die, and lack immunity towards infection and diseases.

In attempting to cure children suffering from SAM, Rajasthan took the help of an approach that the world had learnt from humanitarian emergencies of Africa in 2000 -- called Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM). Once found effective in managing SAM children, it was adopted as a standard approach by the United Nation (UN) agencies in 2007 in emergency and developmental contexts. Two years later, Medecins sans Frontieres, an international humanitarian agency, partnered with the Bihar government, to use this as an emergency response to manage SAM children in Bihar during Kosi floods, and found a dramatic recovery rate of 88.4%. Since then, this evidence-based decentralised approach of CMAM has been implemented in more than 70 countries to manage and treat children under five with acute malnutrition.

Countries have been tweaking this model to suit their local needs, but a few of its central defining features are thus--- health-workers differentiate SAM children on whether they have any other medical complications and are they without medical complications. SAM children with medical complications and poor appetite are treated in facilities like Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres or Malnutrition Treatment Centre. Those without medical complications and with good appetite fall under uncomplicated cases and do not need in-patient care. Such uncomplicated SAM cases could be treated and managed at the community level using some form of energy-dense nutrition supplement with a weekly or bi-weekly visit to a nearby health facility. Most of this active case-finding is done at the community level by frontline health workers.

In India, many states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Odisha have implemented different models of CMAM on a small scale to treat SAM children.

In 2015, the government of Rajasthan under National Health Mission implemented CMAM by adopting POSHAN (Proactive and Optimum care of children through Social Household Approach for Nutrition) strategy to treat severely malnourished children without medical complication using Medical Nutrition Therapy Kit, a type of energy-dense nutrition supplement. The CMAM POSHAN-I was implemented in 2015-16 in ten high priority districts and three tribal districts of Rajasthan. Around 2.3 lakh children aged six-59 months were screened and 9640 children were enrolled under the program for treatment using this energy-dense nutrient supplement at the community level. During this intervention, these children reported to their subcentre every Tuesday, which was called the POSHAN Divas.

During their first week of intervention, SAM children were given a dose of antibiotic Amoxycillin and deworming medicine Albendazole according to their age and weight. On every Tuesday, a Auxillary Nurse Midwife (ANM) measured childs weight, height and mid-upper arm circumference. The food kit was then given to the caretaker or mother according to the weight of the child. The programme also involved ANM counselling the mother on the importance of feeding the food kit, and a host of other factors that affect malnutrition, such as adequate feeding practices, hygiene, handwashing and immunisation. If the child fell sick, the mother was advised to contact the health worker immediately. Similar counselling was repeated when the ASHAs made home visits to monitor the child. To incentivise mothers to not drop out of the programme, the ANMs, gave them compensation for transportation cost needed to reach the sub-center every Tuesday. After 12 weeks of intervention, a staggering 88% children had recovered from severe acute malnutrition.

Enthused by the success, which was in line with international experiences, CMAM approach was scaled up across 20 districts of Rajasthan in December 2018. As part of this POSHAN-II, around 3.7 lakh children were screened, and 10,344 SAM children were enrolled for intervention. It achieved high survival rates (the death among SAM children was only 0.1%), when compared with international levels (less than 10%), and reported a cure rate of 70.4% which was little lower than international levels ( more than 75%), but still impressive when compared with most states.

The frontline health workers ANM and ASHA acted as a pillar for the success of the intervention. The cured SAM children were followed up by ANM and ASHA for four months to monitor the sustainability of the nutritional status. The evidence from Rajasthan though early stage shows that the community-based approach of treating SAM children can be successfully implemented at a large scale with minimal additional resources and effort. One of the most important findings was this----a follow-up study of all recovered SAM children after four months of intervention, it was found that only three per cent of the recovered children had reverted to malnourished status, which testified to its long-term effect.

But experiences such as that of Rajasthan and other states should become part of a common pool of evidence gathering at the national level so that policymaking is informed by them.

To the shock of the public health community, in July 2019, the National Nutrition Mission reported that out of the total allocated funds for the year 2018-19, the states had utilized only 22 percent. This poor utilisation of allocated funds for the management of the malnutrition problem indicates lack of prioritising, planning and use of funds.

But is this acceptable in a country where international journals estimate that 68.4% of all child deaths can be attributed to various forms of malnutrition? Even our own national surveys, show that about 38.4% of our children under the age of five are stunted, 35.8% are underweight, 21% are wasted and 7.5% are severely wasted. Startlingly, in the last decade, severe wasting has increased from 6.4% (2005-06) to 7.5% (2015-16) in India, as per the National Family Health Survey.

It is the urgent need of the hour that we create a formal mechanism to measure and share the evidence from all states so that we can learn from each other and give a future of health to our children, that is not only our duty but also their right.

Daya Krishan Mangal is professor of public health and Shobana Sivaramanis senior research officer at IIHMR University

The views expressed are personal
Highlights Fresh CBI case against Rana Kapoor A Delhi bungalow at the centre of the case Bungalow underpriced in exchange for relaxations in loans

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday raided several premises including a posh Delhi bungalow and filed a fresh case against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor who is under investigation for suspected money laundering and alleged role in engendering massive non-performing assets that led to an RBI moratorium on the bank, said the agency.

Kapoor and his wife along with others have been named in the fresh case lodged on Friday. The CBI, which is probing the corruption and criminal conspiracy angles in the Yes Bank case, is also raiding Delhi and Mumbai residences of Kapoor and his family along with the premises of several other companies, the official added.

CBI has registered a case against Shri Rana Kapoor, the then MD and CEO of Yes Bank Ltd; Shri Gautam Thapar, Promoter Avantha Group companies; Smt. Bindu Rana (wife of Shri Rana Kapoor), Director M/s Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd and unknown others u/s 120 B & 420 of IPC and Section 7, 11 & 12 of PC Act, 1988, said an official release by the agency.

The fresh case pertains to Rana Kapoors property at Amrita Shergil Road and the CBI release alleged it was procured for less than the market value in return for loans.

It was alleged that Shri Rana Kapoor conspired with other FIR named accused to obtain illegal gratification in the form of a Bungalow at Amrita Shergill Marg, New Delhi by paying only Rs. 378 crore (approx.) through M/s Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd, where Shri Ranas wife was one of the two Directors. This property was immediately thereafter mortgaged to India Bulls Housing Finance Ltd for a loan of Rs. 685 crore (approx.). It was further alleged that much less consideration than the market value was paid to M/s Avantha Realty Ltd for relaxation in other existing loans of M/s Avantha Group of companies and for advancing new/additional loans to M/s Avantha Group of companies, the official statement said.

CBI confirmed that it was conducting searches on Friday in Mumbai, Delhi/NCR at the premises of the accused including Shri Rana Kapoor, Smt. Bindu Kapoor, office of M/s Avantha Realty Ltd.; M/s Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd & other private company.

Rana Kapoor is suspected of involvement in money laundering worth 4,300 crore, along with his family members, through 78 shell companies that are being probed for diversion of funds.

A firm controlled by his three daughters had also received 600 crore loan from troubled reality firm Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) which had been loaned a massive amount by the bank, which eventually turned into bad debt. It is being probed if the loan to Kapoors family firm was a quid pro quo by the firm for loans granted by Yes Bank.

According to ED documents, Yes Bank bought DHFL debentures worth 3,700 crore, which granted a 600-crore loan to Doit, a company in which Kapoors daughters are directors. The ED believes the loan to Doit was a kickback.

The central government cleared a draft resolution scheme for the troubled Yes Bank. Reserve Bank of India had proposed one scheme last week for Yes Banks reconstruction

As per the scheme, SBI and other lenders will invest fresh funds into the bank and in exchange for up to 49 per cent stake. The scheme also mandates that SBI maintains more than 26 per cent stake for three years from the date of investment.

The State Bank of India (SBI) yesterday announced an infusion of 7,250 crore into Yes Bank against 725 crore shares at a value of 10 each. Private lender ICICI banks board, too, decided on Thursday to invest 1000 crore in the bank. The decision was made public on Friday.

Yes Bank is currently under a month-long moratorium by the SBI which has led to the capping of all withdrawals to 50,000 till April 3 and suspension of its top management. The government has said that the moratorium will be withdrawn within three days of the reconstruction scheme coming into effect.
I was 10 years old when the pogrom against the Sikhs started in Delhi in the aftermath of Prime Minister Indira Gandhis assassination. Naturally, some of my early memories are of extreme violence. I saw houses being attacked, shops ransacked and men being killed. A nearby gurdwara in South Delhi was attacked and nearly burnt.

These memories are my prism to study what happened in Delhi in February this year, as parts of the city burnt and at last count left over 50 people dead and hundreds injured.

In 1984, after the Army was finally deployed, the next few nights as residents of a Delhi Development Authority colony, we were asked to take urgent measures. It was decided that the dominant Hindu Bengali and Punjabi families in the colony would ensure complete safety of the few Sikh families living in the complex. Patrolling duties were handed out to all males to ensure there was some form of resistance if any mob arrived at the gates. Stones were gathered up and placed at strategic points and rods and stout tree branches were distributed as weapons to the patrols.

My father, as a 10-year-old, had to leave his ancestral home in the newly-created East Pakistan. He had seen his share of violence during the 1947 Partition. His family had settled in a place called Sylhet, then part of undivided Assam and one of the two places in the subcontinent where a plebiscite was held. Assam, under then provincial leader Gopinath Bordoloi, was keen that the Bengali-speaking district of Sylhet was given off to East Pakistan.

The Muslims were a majority and voted largely on religious lines. Overnight, district boundaries became an international border. My fathers family packed up overnight and trudged through hills and crossed rivers to arrive in the new India and rebuilt their broken lives.

During the anti-Sikh riots, my fathers patrolling duty was between 1 am and 4 am. Every night, as soon as he would leave to keep watch, I would quietly get up and go to the window from where I could see him. I kept a khukri at hand, gifted by an uncle who was an officer with an Indian Army Gurkha battallion. In my mind, I felt responsible for my father and I was prepared to rush and fight alongside him, if he was attacked.

The few Sikh kids in the colony took haircuts to look like Hindus and we would go out and buy provisions for them whenever the curfew was lifted. One night the young men in the colony were dispatched to every house with an urgent missive. Every family was warned not to drink the water supplied by the municipal corporation. There was a rumour that the Sikhs had poisoned the water supply to Delhi and we couldnt drink it. The next day was spent trapped at home, thirsty and waiting for confirmation that the water was safe.

Days later we understood that this was a ploy to make us distrust the Sikhs.

Othering a community: This was long before fake news became fashionable, and we did not have WhatsApp to spread disinformation. Despite these obvious limitations, the rumour spread far across the city. While it added to the panic, it also seeded doubts about the Sikhs living amidst us. This was our first experience of how a community can be easily demonised and othered.

Ironically, the fear and the hatred of a Congress-led pogrom against a minority group led many people to become staunch opponents of the party. For years they proudly announced that they had voted for the BJP, even though the party had no hope of winning the polls. Many were convinced that the Congress had appeased one minority, while targeting the Sikhs. For many Hindu Bengalis living nearby, in a colony that was originally called the East Pakistan Displaced Persons Camp (later renamed as Chittaranjan Park), the BJP represented a party that would not appease a particular minority.

Ironically, the targeting of the Sikhs, a tiny minority, led to anger and the need for legitimacy to target another minority, Muslims. In living rooms, families spoke of how the BJP would end the reign of the Congress and endemic corruption, while also putting the Muslims in place. By the time the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992, many responded to news polls by pointing out that a major problem had been finally resolved.

The not appease is a euphemism for othering a minority. It now became a group that could be identified by their clothes, religious practices, food habits and names. They were now made to bear the brunt of insecurities and fears of the majority that stemmed from attacks on another minority in 1984.

Repeated systemic failures

Cut to the Delhi of 2020. The systemic political and bureaucratic failures that led to the riots of 1984 have remained exactly the same. The reports by the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) to the Delhi police were vague, and had no clue about a riot being planned. Most Cabinet ministers in the Narendra Modi government, including those directly responsible for law and order in the national capital, were in Gujarat planning for US President Donald Trumps visit.

The lieutenant-governor, appointed by the Central government to govern Delhi, held two meetings with top police officials who never asked for additional troops and did not anticipate the riots. A meeting held with the Union home secretary to review security preparations for Trumps visit had no discussion about a possible riot.

Then Delhi police commissioner Amulya Patnaik had failed to stand up for his constabulary when Delhis lawyers attacked them during an agitation in November last year. His constables had to stand with placards outside the police headquarters, watching hopelessly as their leadership dithered. Once again, Patnaiks leadership qualities failed to impress as the city burned.

The Congress Party never recovered from the genocide. But nor did we recover  those of us who witnessed it first hand. The same panic that we witnessed in 1984 is back on the streets of Delhi. The only difference is that we are now less tolerant and fear more. We know who and what has led us to that fear. But we cant understand why we have become afraid. We are now consumed by hate.

If India needs to aspire to be great, it will have to let go of its insecurities and fears. It will have to embrace the fact that we are one people. We will rise or fall as one. That choice is for us to make. Political parties will rise and fall. But future generations will thrive or perish depending upon what we do today.

The writer is a journalist based in New Delhi and a founding partner of CSDR Consulting.
The U.S. launched airstrikes Thursday in Iraq, targeting the Iranian-backed Shiite militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad, the Pentagon said. U.S. officials said multiple strikes by U.S. fighter jets hit five locations and mainly targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside Iraq.

Among the facilities attacked was Karbala airport. Two U.S. troops and one British service member were killed, and 14 other personnel were wounded when 18 rockets hit the base Wednesday.

The strikes marked a rapid escalation in tensions with Tehran and its proxy groups in Iraq, just two months after Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against American troops at a base in Iraq.
The new coronavirus thats forcing lockdowns and roiling economies is spurring a silent revolution in the field of telemedicine.

As COVID-19 spreads across Europe, leaving new patients in its wake, the fear of infection and a saturated health-care system are driving large numbers of people online for medical consultations. Startups like General Atlantic-backed Doctolib and insurer AXA SA-supported Qare in France, Swedish Kry International ABs unit Livi, the UKs Push Doctor and Germanys Compugroup Medical SE that offer up virtual doctors are raking it in.

Its unfortunate, but the current epidemic is pushing patients to make the leap, and it can accelerate a change in habits, said Olivier Thierry, chief executive officer of Qare, a French platform that offers video consultations with its team of doctors. Forecasts on growth are changing by the day.

The business of connecting doctors and patients through video consultations has had a slow start in Europe because of patient reticence, an unfriendly regulatory environment, disparities in health-care systems and insurance rules. Now, with hospitals struggling to cope with the virus, patients are turning to such services and governments are setting aside reservations about the risks of couch consultations to ease regulations.

The European Commission in 2018 estimated that the global telemedicine market would reach 37 billion euros ($42 billion) by 2021, with an annual growth rate of 14%. Those numbers may now be surpassed as virus concerns boost demand, making such consultations more routine and widely accepted.

Qares CEO sees telemedicine representing about 10% of Frances 400 million annual medical consultations by the end of 2021 from negligible numbers now. Qare, which takes a 20% fee for consultations, said that in the past couple of weeks it added 25% more bookings than usual. Last year, it had 80,000 appointments, up from 8,000 in its first full year of operation in 2018.

For Swedens Kry, consultations for virus-related infections  like colds, flu, cough and fever  and other general demands has jumped 41% week-on-week in markets outside its home base, Johannes Schildt, its co-founder said. The startup, which raised 140 million euros in January from the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, also operates in Norway, the U.K., Germany and France.

The jump came as health-care systems in our core markets struggle to cope with the Coronavirus-related strain, he said.

Doctolib, the top French startup helping set up medical appointments, says it saw a 40% increase in bookings last week. It clocked up 130,000 video consultations in its first year in that business last year.

The startups that manage to broaden their customer base during the virus crisis will find themselves in an increasingly crowded race.

In France alone, the market is spread between Qare, Livi, Mesdocteurs, HelloConsult, Medaviz, Hellocare, DoctoConsult and Doctolib. In the U.K. the business is shared by Babylon Health, which got funding from Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund, Push Doctor, askmyGP and Livi.

The current epidemic will show which players are equipped, scaled and have the ability to face the crisis, said Wais Shaifta, the CEO of Push Doctor, whose backers include Partech and Draper Venture Network. The U.K. company, which works with the NHS, has added 20% more consultations since the start of the year, with a bump since last week. Shaifta expects the virus to push numbers even higher.

Telemedicine includes consultations not only with general practitioners but also in specialized areas such mental health, cardiology, dermatology and others, depending on local regulations. Dutch startup Ksyos has invested in the business in the Netherlands, Italy and Austria, and helps patients with long-term ailments to consult doctors on a regular basis.

For all its growth, though, telemedicine is not without its detractors.

In April, PWC cited an American pediatric doctors analysis report, that telemedicine may benefit patients by making care more convenient and accessible, but new data suggests it may also contribute to the over-prescribing of antibiotics by physicians who arent able to physically examine their patients.

Health care is a serious thing and reliable treatments cannot be traded for the comfort of consultations from a couch, said Jean-Paul Hamon of the French doctors federation. Telemedicine must be used with more judgment and authorities must make sure its not spreading into a business. He said the coronavirus shouldnt be the excuse to market telemedicine.

At the December congress of the industry group called Telemedicine Society, Nicolas Revel, who heads Frances state health-insurance system, said he wasnt comfortable with the rise of patient-consumers.

Countries like Switzerland and Estonia have long used the system, initially with telephone consultations. Switzerland is starting to test video medicine with connected self-measurement devices that patients can use in their homes.

In the Netherlands, the government says people who want care and support at home should be able to communicate with their care provider 24 hours a day via a screen. A startup called BeterDichtbij, better-closer in Dutch, offers a Whatsapp-type consultation with doctors.

In Germany, the state has started relaxing rules on remote treatment, but the national culture around privacy and data protection remains a barriers. Doctolib, which entered the market with its appointment-booking offer, has yet to try telehealth in Europes biggest market, while Krys Livi is starting to make inroads.

Governments have been cautious about the spread of the practice, putting the brakes mainly through what theyre willing to reimburse and what is covered by health insurance. The French state, for instance, has been concerned about what it sees as the emergence of a parallel private health-care system.

Its not about our growth, but the government has put limits that dont allow people to access telemedicine in some remote areas, said Qares Thierry, calling such regulations a straitjacket.

The coronavirus may be changing that.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran this week said the government has published a decree easing reimbursement rules for patients using telemedicine.

Photograph: Medical teleconsultation with senior female patient. Photo credit: BSIP/Universal Images Group /Getty Images

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics COVID-19 Legislation InsurTech Europe Medical Professional Liability Startups Germany France
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Mar. 13, 2020 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 13, 2020 | 04:00 PM | PADUCAH

A Paducah woman was arrested Thursday on charges of trespassing and stolen property.



A homeowner on Jefferson Street reportedly saw 36-year-old Starr Foster on a surveillance camera as she entered a shed on the property. The homeowner called the police, confronted the woman and kept her there until officers arrived.



Officers say that the suspect was either unable or unwilling to answer questions, and appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.



Officers also said they found three bags of large caliber brass casings in Foster's purse, as well as a shipping document with an address on Monroe Street. Officers contacted the resident at that address, who verified that the casings belonged to him.



Foster was arrested on charges of third degree criminal trespass, public intoxication (controlled substance) and receiving stolen propery.



She was booked into the McCracken County Jail.
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Guests turned up the glamour as they celebrated the final day at the Cheltenham Festival in Gloucestershire today, brushing aside coronavirus fears.

Racegoers were seen in an array of stylish ensembles, matching hats and sky-scraper heels as they prepared for day four of the frivolities, which originated in 1860.

Not letting the cool weather rain on their parade, many female racegoers were pictured braving the chill to attend Gold Cup Day, where the 'cream of the crop' race each other, in style, before getting merry as festivities came to a close in the afternoon.

This week the World Health Organisation officially declared the outbreak a pandemic and the number of confirmed cases in the UK rising to 458 - an increase of 85 in a single day.

Hold onto your hats! Racegoers celebrate after the Gold Cup race on day 4 of the 2020 Cheltenham Festival

Revellers were seen getting increasingly merry as festivities came to a close in the afternoon - with men and women showing off their best moves

Racegoers were seen in an array of stylish ensembles, matching hats and sky-scraper heels as they prepared for day four of the frivolities, which originated in 1860

Guests turned up the glamour as they arrived for the final day at the Cheltenham Festival in Gloucestershire today, brushing aside coronavirus fears

Checks, tartan clashing fabrics and 90s inspired ensembles were the theme of the day, with glamorous guests channelling country chic.

Elsewhere royal guests were in attendance too, with separated couple Princess Anne's son Peter Phillips, 42, and his wife Autumn, 41, arriving for another day of festivities, proving they are on good terms despite recently announcing their split.

Princess Anne was pictured arriving in a stylish green hat and coat and ensemble and dark shades.

The four-day event is held just a short drive from Gatcombe Park, Princess Anne's Gloucestershire estate where Autumn and Peter continue to live while they co-parent their daughters, Savannah, nine, and Isla, seven.

It was reported last month that Peter and Autumn informed their families of their 'amicable' decision to divorce 'at the end of last year' after deciding it was 'the best course of action for their two children and ongoing friendship'.

On Monday a Cheltenham Racecourse spokesman confirmed there were no plans to postpone the event, saying: 'British Racing has been in close communication with the Government.

'We welcome the 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.'

Feeling blue! Many racegoers brightened up the grey day with shades of baby blue and soft greys in dresses, tartan and oversized blazers

Racegoers elsewhere showed off their best fascinators as they arrived for the final day of the festivities today

Country chic! Meanwhile others went for tweed and suede, clashing textures and patterns and completing their looks with a top hat

Amy Williams (left) and Victoria Pendleton (centre) arriving for day four of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse

This week the World Health Organisation officially declared the outbreak a pandemic and the number of confirmed cases in the UK rising to 458 - an increase of 85 in a single day - but guests still made the most of the day

Faux fur and fedora hats! Over the knee boots were another big theme to keep warm in style as the women descended on Cheltenham

The Princess Royal during day four of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse

Hats and feathers! Guests looked chic in tweed, suits and hats as they looked in good spirits ahead of the grand finale

Nick Knowles arriving for day four of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse

Peter and Autumn Phillips were seen getting on wonderfully as they watched the races today

Princess Anne was pictured arriving in a stylish green hat and coat and ensemble and dark shades (left) while Kirsty Gallacher looked chic during day four of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse

Racegoers cheer on a runner in the JCB Triumph Hurdle during day four of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse

Lily Allen was seen holding her head in despair as she watched a race at Cheltenham festival today

A woman seen wearing a mask looks at her cellphone during the final day of the Cheltenham Festival horse racing meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse

Hand sanitiser stations have also been installed at Cheltenham Racecourse in response to the Coronavirus outbreak.

The news comes after Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that events such as Cheltenham should go ahead as planned despite cancellations and postponements being made public in other European countries.

We are guided by the facts and we are guided by the evidence,' he told BBC Breakfast.

'At the moment the advice is clear from the chief medical officer: there isn't a need to cancel such events.'

The annual horse racing event, the first of the spring calender, ends on Friday.

Elsewhere royal guests were in attendance too, with separated couple Princess Anne's son Peter Phillips, 42, and his wife Autumn, 41, arriving for another day of festivities, proving they are on good terms despite recently announcing their split. Autumn wore a Really Wild coat and Camilla Rose hat, Maje boots and a William and son hat

Left: It was reported last month that Peter and Autumn (seen) informed their families of their 'amicable' decision to divorce 'at the end of last year'. Left: Right: Josh Cuthbert and Chloe Lloyd arriving for day four of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse

Racegoers using hand sanitiser dispensers due to the coronavirus outbreak during day four of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse

Joining the royal brigade! Mike and Zara Tindall were pictured arriving to the final day of Cheltenham, with Zara donning a purple Claire Mischevani coat, a Trilogy Stores dress, a Sarah Cant Millenary hat, Laurnce Coste earrings, and Aspinal bag and coordinating Kurt Geiger heels along with a matching hat while Mike looked dapper in an overcoat

Guests were seen going wild as they danced into the late afternoon after the final day of festivities came to an end

Racegoers celebrate after the Gold Cup race on day 4 of the 2020 Cheltenham Festival

At the 2018 festival there were six horse deaths, leading to a BHA review into equine safety and recommendations for reduced field size numbers at Cheltenham and a pre-race veterinary check for all runners at the festival.

At the 2019 festival there were three horse deaths, leading to another BHA review.

On Monday some horses had already arrived at the course by the time news of the latest case of coronavirus was made official, leading some racing fans to worry about the possibility of a last-minute change to the schedule.

Tragically, Copper Gone West was the first horse to die at the Cheltenham Festival this year, following a fatal injury.

Get wild! Guests were seen having a wild time as they saw out the festival in Cheltenham today

Georgia Toffolo was pictured taking a selfie with a racegoer as she enjoyed time at the Cheltenham Horse Racing Festival

Their best moves! One woman looked stylish while she cut shapes outside (left) while a dapper man enjoyed his beers as he shook his hips

Ollie Locke, Josh Cuthbert and Georgia Toffolo were seen having a flutter at the races as they cheered on horses at the races

Made in Chelsea stars Ollie Locke and Georgia Toffolo looked delighted as they checked a betting slip during day four of the Cheltenham Festival

Checkmate! Lily Allen (left) looked chic in a printed trench and suede boots, while fellow racegoers turned heads in stylish ensembles (right)

s Jockey Barry Geraghty celebrates on Saint Roi after winning the Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle during day four of the Cheltenham Festival

Hand sanitizers are put into place during day four of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecours
Colorado Politics senior political reporter

Joey Bunch is the senior correspondent and deputy managing editor of Colorado Politics. His 32-year career includes the last 16 in Colorado. He was part of the Denver Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 and he is a two-time finalist.
(Alliance News) - Global Petroleum Ltd on Friday reported a narrowed loss in the first half on lower exploration costs, as the company focused on unearthing seismic 2D data from its Namibian project.

In the six months to December 31, the Australia-based oil and gas, upstream exploration company recorded a pretax loss of USD748,541, narrowed from the USD916,390 loss seen the year before.

Global Petroleum's exploration & business development costs fell 45% year-on-year to USD64,577 from USD118,180. Administrative expenses were down 4.8% to USD494,003.

"The company's focus during the reporting period was continued interpretation of the existing data for PEL 0094, culminating in a prospective resources estimate being calculated," the company said.

In late November 2019, the firm unveiled a best estimate prospective resource at the licence of 964 million barrels. Within that, the Albian carbonate reservoir at Welwitschia Deep is estimated at 772 million barrels with a probability of success of 15%.

On Friday, Global Petroleum added: "Further work may increase the geological chance of success of the prospective resources. Updated prospective resources and their associated geological chances of success will be calculated once work has been completed."

The company said it remains committed to the project offshore Namibia, and will continue its work to finalise 3D data. After which, Global Petroleum will seek a farm-out partner to fund both PEL 0094 and PEL0029.

"The company notes the upcoming Venus well, operated by Total SA, and scheduled to be drilled offshore southern Namibia in 2020. The company also remains committed to pursuing its Italian applications, notwithstanding the recent European Court referral," Global Petroleum added.

Shares in Global Petroleum were down 3.2% in London on Friday morning at 0.92 pence each.

By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Advocates are calling for the release of a transgender woman who allegedly experienced sexual assault and harassment while detained at a male immigration facility in Arizona.

According to NBC, Alejandra Alor Reyes, who is from Mexico, is awaiting an appeal of her asylum case.

Ms Reyes said she fled after suffering abuse and discrimination due to being transgender and that she has remained in custody since seeking asylum in June.

A number of humanitarian groups including, ACLU of Arizona, Trans Queer Pueblo and Detention Watch Network are calling for her release according to the report.

The advocacy groups are saying that Ms Reyes is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and should be released on humanitarian grounds.

ICE continues to fail to address her needs and further harms her by keeping her in custody, Yvette Borja, an attorney with the ACLU of Arizona told NBC.

Ms Reyes is said to have served two terms in solitary confinement for an amount of time which the advocacy groups allege violated ICEs own policies.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement told a reporter they have offered Ms Reyes a transfer to housing for transgender detainees in August, but that she declined the provision.

ICE is committed to upholding an immigration detention system that prioritises the health, safety, and welfare of all of those in its care and custody, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex individuals, spokeswoman Yasmeen Pitts O'Keefe told NBC.

Advocates said that Ms Reyes case is indicative of the unsafe conditions that transgender immigrants face while in detention.

In 2018 asylum-seeker Roxana Hernandez died while in custody at a New Mexico transgender ICE housing facility.

An autopsy by the New Mexico medical examiner revealed that Ms Hernandez died due to a rare disorder that developed quickly due to AIDS, NBC reported.

Advocates told NBC that they believe transgender inmates face a lack of sufficient medical care and that staff are not trained to deal with their needs.

Reyes, who has known she was transgender since childhood, said she has spent her life fleeing abuse, according to Cyrina King, an immigrant advocate.

The groups have conveyed to NBC that they fear Ms Reyes safety and well-being is in jeopardy while she remains in detention.

We are concerned about her mental health because she has been diagnosed with PTSD. It will lead to mental health deterioration if she is not released, Ms Borja said.

NBC said Reyes and her advocates have publicly released her claims in the hope it will bring attention to her case.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
SAVANNAH, Ga. - Georgias highest court ruled Friday that an inmate serving a life sentence for a slaying 43 years ago deserves a new trial after recent DNA tests cast significant doubt on his guilt.

Johnny Lee Gates, 63, was convicted of murder, rape and robbery in the November 1976 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Katharina Wright in a Columbus apartment where she lived with her husband, an Army soldier at nearby Fort Benning. Wrights hands were bound with the white belt from her bathrobe, and black neckties were used as a gag and blindfold.

The state Supreme Courts ruling upholds a January 2019 decision by a lower court ordering a new trial for Gates, citing testing that showed Gates DNA was not on the fabric used to bind Wright. The judge also found that prosecutors at Gates trial purposely excluded black jurors, but said that evidence came too late for consideration as grounds for a new trial.

Attorneys for the state appealed the decision by Muscogee County Superior Court Judge John Allen. They argued the judge had abused his discretion by concluding the DNA evidence would likely have produced a different verdict.

The state Supreme Court found the judge had good reason to find the DNA evidence compelling. Justice Charles J. Bethel wrote in the high courts decision that prosecutors made a strong case at Gates 1977 trial, where evidence included two confessions by Gates  including one on videotape  and an eyewitness who placed Gates at the scene of the slaying.

Nevertheless, the newly discovered DNA evidence now available to Gates casts significant doubt on the States theory that Gates was the perpetrator, Bethel wrote. The decision said the DNA testing directly undermines Gates connection to a central assumption of the States case: that the person who bound Wrights hands was the same person who murdered her.

District Attorney Julia Slater did not immediately respond to an email and phone message seeking comment Friday.

We are incredibly grateful to the Georgia Supreme Court for todays ruling, said Clare Gilbert, executive director of the Georgia Innocence Project, one of the legal groups representing Gates.

Gates was convicted and sentenced to death in August 1977. The sentence was later changed to life in prison without parole because he was found to be intellectually disabled. Its against state and federal law to execute people with intellectual disability.

Gates long maintained his innocence in handwritten court filings.

Two interns with the Georgia Innocence Project went to the district attorneys office in July 2015 to review the case file. Police and prosecutors had previously said there was no physical evidence to test, and the interns expected to find documents saying the evidence in the case had been destroyed or to find nothing at all.

But one of them found a lumpy manila envelope that said it contained a bathrobe belt and neckties. Inside were pieces of white and black fabric.

Innocence Project lawyers asked a judge to allow the items to be tested, saying the killers DNA would have rubbed off on them while the killer was tying up Wright. After the testing, Gates lawyers presented evidence at a hearing last year that showed his DNA was not on the items.

The Southern Center for Human Rights, along with the Innocence Project, last year argued that Gates was also entitled to a new trial because prosecutors in the judicial circuit where he was tried purposely and systematically excluded black jurors from the trials of black men facing the death penalty in the late 1970s.

Gates, who is black, was convicted by an all-white jury. The court last year ordered the state to turn over prosecutors jury selection notes.

Gates attorneys discovered that prosecutors had written W next to the names of white prospective jurors and N next to the names of black prospective jurors and also put dots in the margins next to black prospective jurors names, they said in a court filing in March. Black prospective jurors were described in the notes as slow, old + ignorant, cocky, con artist, hostile and fat.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 13

Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:

The World Health Organization (WHO) mission in Azerbaijan has stated and welcomes the fact that Azerbaijan has stepped up its efforts against coronavirus (COVID-19), Trend reports.

In order to study the situation, a WHO expert group of five members visited Azerbaijan on March 9-13. WHO experts noted that coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Azerbaijan.



WHO is currently working with the national authorities to develop a response plan for the COVID-19 epidemic.

The WHO group is working to control and ensure the necessary health care services and its sustainability, to control the national test laboratories, the readiness of hospitals, prevention of infections, provision with necessary medicines, diagnostics and the necessary equipment, as well as sharing information and advising on measures recommended to minimize health risks.

WHO on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

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.

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.
ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's highest court overturned the acquittals of two officials from the country's biggest Islamic religious group and rejected a third's appeal of his conviction, in a case over videos that prosecutors say illegally glorified violence.

The Federal Court ordered an appellate court to rehear the cases of leaders of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS).

Prosecutors charged the three ICCS officials in 2017 over videos posted online in 2015 that included interviews with leaders of Jabhat al-Nusra, at the time al Qaeda's Syrian branch. The charges were made under a law that bans al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

One of the men was convicted, while two were found not guilty because the court held that prosecutors had failed to provide sufficient detail about the allegations.

In a ruling released on Friday, the Federal Court rejected the basis for the two acquittals. In the case of the man who was convicted, it rejected an appeal, holding that the lower court had not violated federal law by ruling that he had acted with intent.

Prosecutors say the 2015 videos were propaganda in which the filmmakers failed to explicitly distance themselves from al Qaeda activities in Syria. The ICCS contends the video was intended to shed light on a troubled region, not glorify extremists.

(Reporting by Michael Shields)
The Nepal side of Everest remains open to climbers for now. (Photo: AFP/Jewel SAMAD)

Last year's traffic-clogged spring window saw a record 885 people summit Everest, 644 of them from Nepal and 241 from the northern flank in Tibet.

The Nepal side remains open for now although some expedition operators have seen cancellations and climbers have been asked to submit a 14-day travel history and medical reports.

The Chinese authorities "have informed us that the mountain will close from the north side," Lukas Furtenbach of Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures told AFP.

Explore: Real-time interactive map of all the confirmed cases reported around the world Furtenbach said that he will be shifting his 11 clients to Nepal.

Tourist areas in Tibet have been closed since January, according to the local tourism office. The China Tibet Mountaineering Association, which issues permits for Everest, was not reachable.

Another company, Alpenglow Expeditions, has cancelled its Everest plans.

"I am in agreement with China's decision. It is responsible ... Climbing a mountain is not currently worth the transmission risk in the Base Camps, nor upon returning home," Adrian Ballinger of Alpenglow Expeditions said in a statement Wednesday.

Some companies in Nepal have also seen cancellations.

"We had bookings from 23 climbers, but two groups have already cancelled. We might have just 8 to 10 climbers this year," said Pasang Tenje Sherpa of Pioneer Adventure.

A Nepali team, specialised in fixing the climbing route, is currently on its way to the base camp to begin fixing ropes on Everest.

Everest attracts hundreds of mountaineers from all over the world each spring, when a window of good weather opens up between late April and the end of May, prompting a rush for the summit.

Nepal has so far seen only one confirmed case of the coronavirus.

It has suspended visas on arrival for visitors from eight countries badly hit, meaning they have to apply beforehand and submit a health certificate.
A multiplicity of errors and omissions led to Stormonts cash for ash green energy scandal not political corruption, a public inquiry has found.

The inquiry made some criticism of current DUP leader and First Minister Arlene Fosters role in developing the ill-fated Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme and also highlighted unacceptable behaviour by several of her partys special advisers.

But the probe, chaired by retired judge Patrick Coghlin, said it would be wrong to blame specific individuals or groups for the design flaws that saw applicants perversely incentivised to burn excess heat to turn a profit.

Corrupt or malicious activity on the part of officials, ministers or special advisers was not the cause of what went wrong

He said responsibility should be shared among a wide range of people and public bodies. The report was particularly critical of the Stormont department in charge of the scheme, the then named Department for Enterprise, Trade and investment (DETI).

Corrupt or malicious activity on the part of officials, ministers or special advisers was not the cause of what went wrong with the NI RHI scheme, albeit the inquiry has identified some instances where behaviour was unacceptable, stated the report.

Rather the vast majority of what went wrong was due to an accumulation an compounding of error and omissions over time and a failure of attention, on the part of all those involved in their differing roles to identify the existence, significance or implications of those errors and omissions.

It added: Responsibility for what went wrong lay not just with one individual or group but with abroad range of persons and organisations involved, across a variety of areas relating to the design, approval, management and administration of the NI RHI scheme through its life.

The RHI incentivised businesses and farmers to switch to eco-friendly boilers by paying them a subsidy for the wood pellet fuel required to run them.

But mistakes in its designs saw the subsidy rates set higher than the actual cost of the wood pellets  with applicants finding themselves able to burn to earn.

RHI report findings shine spotlight on failings in scheme

Here are some of the key findings from the RHI report:

 The overseeing Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment had previous experience of running a grant support scheme for renewable energy and was not starting completely from scratch.

 The inquiry did not believe it would have been impossible to agree wording which allowed Northern Ireland to be included in the Great Britain scheme or UK-wide version.

The Renewable Heat Incentive inquiry was led by Patrick Coghlin (RHI Inquiry/PA)

 A tension existed between whether to adopt a Northern Ireland-specific approach or be part of initiatives in Great Britain.

It would have been very difficult for officials to decide which of two differing directions to follow.

 The Treasury ought to have clearly informed the Stormont department which designed the scheme, Deti, of the basic structure of the method of funding employed, an annual allocation designed to be more flexible and reflect the unpredictable nature of the scheme.

That should have included the element of risk sharing with the devolved administrations budget whereby overspending would fall to Stormonts coffers to cover.

 The design of the RHI scheme should have included proper consideration of the controls needed to reflect the position of heightened financial risk.

 Resources to develop this novel and complicated scheme were inadequate.

The small team was simply not provided with the necessary knowledge or experience to carry out the necessary activities, to analyse the information it received, to make the necessary judgments nor was there any adequate effort to access expertise in other parts of the Northern Ireland Government.

DUP leader Arlene Foster was energy minister at the time (Jonathan Brady/PA)

 It is unlikely that official Fiona Hepper, former head of the renewable energy team, adequately and effectively explained to former energy minister Arlene Foster the potential risk to Stormonts budget caused by overspending.

Not ensuring that the minister clearly understood about the restricted comparison provided continuing misleading confidence about the value for money of the Northern Ireland RHI scheme.

Not ensuring that the minister clearly understood the risk to the departmental expenditure limit budget is likely to have significantly reduced the appreciation of the necessity for budget control mechanisms.

 Mrs Fosters then special adviser, Dr Andrew Crawford, should have sought summaries of a report which warned of the potential for overspend.

 Regulator Ofgem did not undertake a promised independent risk assessment which it had said would be carried out and failed to develop a fraud prevention strategy specific to Northern Ireland.

 Despite a submission to the minister assuring her that payments would only be made for useful heat, such a condition was not laid down in 2012 regulations underpinning the scheme.

 The false economy of the decision to prioritise the potential saving of a few million pounds in administrative costs over the potential saving of 200 million to 300 million in subsidy spend with a special Challenge Fund was not drawn to the ministers attention and should have been.

 The minister should have asked more questions and sought further reassurance in relation to some matters surrounding a ministerial submission in 2012.

 Mrs Fosters department should not have described a business case to Stormonts finance department as standard; contentious would have been more appropriate.

Important information was obscured by the sheer volume of data and a series of errors went unrecognised and important messages missed.

 Cost control warnings given by regulator Ofgem were not highlighted to Mrs Foster by an official.

The need for expediency and early delivery of a novel and volatile scheme cannot be used retrospectively to justify or explain the absence of a record of a conversation in which the minister was said to have been referred to the emphatic warning from Ofgem.

 The extent of staff turnover in 2013/14 at the division overseeing the scheme robbed it of skills and knowledge already acquired and should have been escalated to top management  suggesting lack of leadership.

 The very clear emerging picture within government jobs creation body Invest NI of a potential loophole allowing people to install multiple boilers to maximise the amount of subsidy was not communicated to the department overseeing the scheme.

Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle ONeill addressed the media over allegations made during the RHI Inquiry about Martin McGuinness, after Arlene Foster insisted he knew about RHI whistleblower concerns (Rebecca Black/PA)

 Officials seemed to believe that people would not abuse the scheme.

A culture which allows such blinkered belief in the correctness of their approach is of significant concern to the Inquiry and must not be allowed to continue, if such a situation is to be avoided in the future.

 When Jonathan Bell became energy minister he felt he had no choice but to accept the appointment of his special adviser, Tim Cairns, a situation that fundamentally undermined the personal nature of the appointment and the high degree of trust required.

 The inquiry found no objective evidence to support Mr Bells allegation that Mr Cairns intervened to keep RHI matters off the agenda at meetings.

 A proposal made by Mrs Fosters special adviser would have ensured the scheme remained over-generous to participants and poultry farmers in particular. His suggested amendment was not discussed with Mrs Foster.

 Dr Crawfords suggestion was aimed at benefiting poultry farmers, an industry in which his family was clearly involved.

 Ultimately Dr Crawford did not deliberately delay the introduction of cost controls.

 The extent of information passed on to some market participants by officials was wholly inappropriate.

 Officials appear to have had no commercial awareness about the potential impact of the information (about changes to the scheme) they were providing.

 The selective nature of officials contacts was capable of producing significant market distortion by providing commercially sensitive information to some parties but not others.

The inquiry finds it totally unacceptable that Dr Crawford provided confidential information to external parties, including his family.

 Submissions to close the scheme early in 2016 were discussed between energy minister Mr Bell and his special adviser. Collective lack of clear leadership led to unnecessary delay in clearing submissions.
Indian scientists who are stationed in Iran to establish a makeshift laboratory for testing stranded Indians for novel coronavirus have not been given permission by authorities to do so citing security reasons, official sources said.

Swab samples of around 1,200 Indians have been brought to India from Iran so far for carrying out laboratory tests and check whether they are infected with the deadly virus.

Four scientists from ICMR-NIV, Pune are stationed in Tehran and are collecting the samples.

"They said they could not set up a makeshift lab facility as authorities there said they will not be able to provide them security. They are still stationed in Tehran and are collecting swab samples," a source said.

Fifty-eight Indians were brought back home from coronavirus-hit Iran in a military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the first batch, while the second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims arrived from Iran's Qom on Friday.

An Iran Air flight carrying Indian pilgrims stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran landed at the airport in Mumbai on Friday afternoon, an official said.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working on plans to bring back the Indians stranded there.

India is preparing to set up a makeshift laboratory in Iran to test 1,200 of its citizens stuck in the country before evacuating them, officials said on Wednesday.

Those stranded in Iran are mostly students and pilgrims.

Also, there are 1,000 Indian fishermen who are stranded in Iran.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The scramble to contain the spread of the new coronavirus has thrown a big, unforeseen roadblock into many school districts efforts to drive down rates of student absences.

The uncertainty created by the virus eventually may be reflected in year-end data on chronic absenteeism rates that will be publicly reported and, for many schools, used in their states accountability systems that determine how well they performed.

Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia include measures of chronic absenteeism in their state accountability systems under the Every Student Succeeds Act , the federal education law that pushed states to look beyond traditional indicators like test scores and graduation rates in evaluating schools.

The U.S. Department of Education said in guidance it released March 12 that it would consider a targeted one-year waiver for schools that cant meet attendance benchmarks because of issues related to the virus.

See Also: Coronavirus and Schools

States define chronic absenteeism differently, but it generally includes students who miss a certain number of school days for whatever reason, including excused absences due to illness. Even in states that didnt include chronic absenteeism in their plans, districts must publicly report rates.

After ESSA was enacted, attendance advocates said tracking absenteeism would motivate schools to explore a range of factors that can keep students from showing upfrom poor classroom engagement to a lack of transportationand to find resources and strategies to meet those needs. Around the country, schools have worked with parents, coordinated services like food pantries and free laundry, and launched broad attendance campaigns.

Schools are our hub of community, said Hedy Chang, the executive director and president of Attendance Works, an organization that works with states and schools to promote school attendance. We dont have many community institutions left. Schools are one of them.

But its harder to meet those needs when things like the availability of supplies and the ability to gather in groups are limited by contagion concerns. And, even before the spread of the coronavirus, some critics of the absenteeism measure argued that many factors that affect student attendance are too far outside of schools control.

Mammoth Test

Some of the strategies schools have used to cut back on absenteeism are facing a mammoth test.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, has urged students and employees to stay home if they are sick or have a fever out of concern they may have undiagnosed cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. The agency also encouraged schools to suspend use of incentives like monthly perfect attendance awards that may motivate students to come to class with symptoms.

Also in question: the How Sick Is Too Sick for School? handouts some schools have sent to parents in past years to let them know they shouldnt keep their children home if they are fever-free and showing only minor symptoms, like a runny nose. Attendance Works, which makes a version of the handout, suspended its use.

And educators are also facing much more undefined and uncontrollable barriers to attendance: fear and confusion.

The CDC emphasizes that most cases of COVID-19 have been in adults, and that children appear less likely to become ill. But families face conflicting messages from employers, government officials, and a variety of media sources about the severity of the virus and how to control its spread.

In areas heavily affected by the new coronavirus, many businesses have asked employees to work from home to try to reduce transmission of the illness. But so far, most school districts have opted to remain open, taking advice from authorities like the CDC to consider the impact of disrupting students education and access to school meals many rely on.

Open doors dont always mean students show up, educators report. Some families have opted to keep their children home alongside parents, some have voluntarily quarantined because of possible exposure, and some are afraid their children may be particularly vulnerable. While most districts are excusing such absences, they still count toward chronic absenteeism rates.

After a student at a Hillsboro, Ore., middle school tested positive for the COVID-19 virus over the March 8 weekend, the school district deep cleaned the school, asked the student to remain home for two weeks, and wrote a letter to parents that classes would continue.

The unfortunate reality is that COVID-19 is in our community, Superintendent Mike Scott wrote. Updated guidance from [state and county health officials] is that closing schools may not be an effective method for stopping the spread of the virus.

Still attendance plummeted as the school reopened March 9. That day, 318 of the schools nearly 700 students stayed home, district spokesperson Elizabeth Graser told Education Week. The next day, 300 were absent, dwarfing absence rates of 30-40 in the previous week.

And concerns have affected other schools that didnt have cases. Across the 20,000 student district, there were 2,558 absences March 9, compared to around 1,200 the week before. We are excusing absences related to illness or if a parent excuses the absence out of concern, Graser said.

State Approaches

Absenteeism is perhaps the most likely [accountability indicator] to be impacted by COVID-19 due to school closures or student absences, the new federal guidance says.

Few state education departments address the chronic absenteeism directly in guidance to school administrators. More frequently, they outline the process for seeking a waiver from requirements for a 180-day school year.

AASA, the School Superintendents Association, has heard concern about chronic absenteeism related to the virus, said Noelle Ellerson Ng, the associate executive director of advocacy and governance for the organization. Those concerns could be addressed through waivers at the state and federal levels, she said.

I think part of the disconnect is that right now, district response to COVID-19 is evolving, emergent, and immediate, Ng said. The scope of any chronic absenteeism ... might almost be a lagging indicator, something districts dont feel the full scope of until later, and need to address at that time.

Chang, with Attendance Works, said the issue is among those she plans to discuss with a group of state administrators that lead attendance initiatives as they work through unique challenges presented by the coronavirus response. And chronic absenteeism alone isnt likely to sink a schools state rating, she said. Among states that include it in their accountability systems, most have made it worth less than 10 percent of a schools overall evaluation.

As schools have tracked absenteeism more thoroughly in recent years, unique local concerns are frequently reflected in their data, Chang said. Districts have seen distinct attendance dips related to wildfires, measles outbreaks, and teacher walkouts, for example.

And even when those factors seem out of a schools control, monitoring the data can help administrators identify students who need extra support or intervention, Chang said. And, in the time of concern about a contagious virus, the data may also be useful to health officials attempting to coordinate a response.

What I dont want is for folks to think they should quit monitoring chronic absenteeism, Chang said. In this case, chronic absenteeism is reflecting the challenges that are affecting families.
(Newser)  Not all the news on the coronavirus crisis is bleak. Most notable on that front is that the city of Wuhan, China, where this illness got its start, reported just five new cases on Friday, reports Reuters. That marks two days in a row with new cases in the single digits, and the rest of the nation saw no new locally transmitted infections. It's another sign the disease is ebbing in China, though Beijing must now worry about imported infections. In addition to the five locally transmitted cases in Wuhan, the nation saw two new cases in Shanghai and one in Beijing, and all of three of those were the result of infected people entering the country. Related:

Lessons: Not that things are all rosy in China: "Tens of millions of people are still under quarantine and much of the economy remains in a deep freeze," notes the Wall Street Journal. But the story notes that the government has crucially kept stores stocked with essentials and cracked down on hoarding and price gouging while its quarantine has been in effect. It was able to do so through mandates imposed by the central government, and "it isn't clear if other countries will want to go as far as China" on that front, writes Julie Wernau.

story continues below

The quarantine: China's quarantine is the largest in human history, affecting more than 60 million in 13 cities, writes Will Bedingfield at Wired. It may be wise to be skeptical of the numbers coming out of China, but the overall picture suggests the draconian efforts worked. Still, we don't have a clear picture of the "deprivation" being endured by those affected by the quarantine, or a sense of how long it can be sustained. One fear is that once all restrictions are lifted, cases will rise again.

China's quarantine is the largest in human history, affecting more than 60 million in 13 cities, writes Will Bedingfield at Wired. It may be wise to be skeptical of the numbers coming out of China, but the overall picture suggests the draconian efforts worked. Still, we don't have a clear picture of the "deprivation" being endured by those affected by the quarantine, or a sense of how long it can be sustained. One fear is that once all restrictions are lifted, cases will rise again. Hopeful sign: As of Friday, Apple has now reopened all of its 42 stores in China, notes the New York Post. They had been shuttered starting in February.

As of Friday, Apple has now reopened all of its 42 stores in China, notes the New York Post. They had been shuttered starting in February. Critical take: In a New York Times op-ed, Ian Johnson writes that China had no choice but to react to the outbreak. What he doesn't understand is that "for weeks now, the attitude toward the coronavirus outbreak in the United States and much of Europe has been bizarrely reactive, if not outright passive." The US and and other nations had weeks to get ready, and yet they seem blindsided.

(Read more coronavirus stories.)
The tumor Gov. Phil Murphy had surgically removed from his kidney earlier this month was deemed to be cancerous, his office told NJ Advance Media.

Tests showed it is clear cell renal cell cancer, the governors office said. Its not surprising news given there was more than a 90 percent chance ahead of surgery that it would be malignant.

People with kidney cancer that has not spread beyond the organ have a 93 percent chance of surviving at the five-year mark.

Murphy isnt expected to undergo any further treatment at this time other than having bloodwork done in three months and a CT scan in six months, his office said. After the initial CT scan, hell have two more within a year, then once a year for five years.

The governor made his first public appearance since the surgery on Friday at a news conference in Ewing to discuss the latest details on New Jersey coronavirus cases and actions.

Murphy, 62, disclosed last month he was diagnosed with a 3-centimeter tumor on his left kidney.

Murphy underwent a procedure called a partial nephrectomy on March 4 in which doctors remove part of the kidney but not the whole organ. The surgery involves doctors freezing the kidney to extract the tumor.

We caught it early, Murphy told NJ Advance Media in an interview last month. We consider ourselves incredibly lucky.

Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver served as acting governor while Murphy was in the hospital. He resumed his duties after being released Saturday night.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

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A man admitted to a Kottayam hospitals coronavirus isolation ward has died, a Kerala government official said on Friday. The district medical officer attributed the death to septicemia and underlined that the 72-year-old patient had not tested positive.

He had been kept in isolation as a precaution since he had come in contact with some coronavirus-infected people in Kottayam, district medical officer AN Sheeja said.

Kerala has reported 17 of Indias 81 confirmed coronavirus cases.

State government officials are awaiting the initial coronavirus test results for the person.

The development comes just a day after the central government confirmed the countrys first coronavirus-linked death in neighbouring Karnataka. The test results, which confirmed that the 76-year-old man who died two days earlier in the states Kalburgi district was coronavirus positive, had come in last night.

According to the Union health ministry communique issued late last night, the 76-year-old had spent a month in Saudi Arabia. He was a known case of hypertension and asthma, the health ministry had said, underlining that his death was caused due to comorbidity, a reference to more than one disorder in the same person.

All the precautionary measures as per protocol such as contact tracing, screening and home quarantine of the contacts have been initiated by the District Health and Family Welfare Department in Karnataka and being monitored continuously, the communique further said.

Though the rate of fatality is very low in case of coronavirus, it is very infectious. The virus starts from the upper respiratory system, and from the back of the throat moves to lower respiratory system like lungs, and finally to blood. Once inside the body, the virus uses a spike-like protein to bind with a receptor called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) found on the respiratory cells, entering it and replicating to spread the infection within.

As the virus keeps multiplying, it causes inflammation in the alveoli or lung sacs filling them fluid and pus causing pneumonia. The inflamed lungs make it difficult for the person to breathe leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome between day eight and day 15 of the onset of symptoms.

The government has put in place very stringent measures to stop the outbreak. In a partial shutdown of sorts, it has suspended almost all the visas for a month and is vigorously involved in contact tracing to identify who the Covid-19 patients came in contact with.

The government has also asked states to invoke the provisions of the 1897 Epidemics Act to stop the spread of virus.
As the novel coronavirus spreads in the Bay Area, an emotional support line will continue to operate all day, every day, according to the Mental Health Association of San Francisco.

The California Peer-Run Warm Line is a free, non-judgmental, emotional, non-emergency support line that allows people with mental health challenges to talk to a peer who is trained to help.

The phone number is (855) 845-7415. Chat is also available at https://www.mentalhealthsf.org/peer-run-warmline/.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, all group services and support and in-person, one-on-one support will be canceled and transitioned to virtual, telephonic, mobile and video methods to the extent possible.

An investigation is underway into the death of a 6-year-old Cupertino girl, though no foul play is suspected, Santa Clara County sheriff's officials said Thursday.

Deputies responded at 3:48 a.m. Thursday to a hospital after someone reported the death of Kaylee Chen. When they arrived, deputies met with medical staff and with Kaylee's family.

Detectives went to the family's home, conducted an investigation and based on the information so far, deputies believe no foul play was involved. Kaylee died after arriving at the hospital.

San Mateo County's health officer issued a legal order Thursday banning mass gatherings of 250 or more people because of the spreading coronavirus.

The legal order goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. Friday and will remain in effect until April 3 unless it is rescinded, superseded or the health officer or state health officer amends it.

San Mateo County Health Officer Scott Morrow said, "San Mateo County is following the guidance from Gov. Gavin Newsom and is in line with our neighboring counties.

"Limiting mass gatherings," he said, "is critical in slowing the spread of the disease and protecting the most vulnerable members of our community."

Overall though, Morrow recommends canceling all non-essential gatherings and staying at least six feet away from others. The cases of COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, numbers 20 in the county.

Napa County Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Relucio Thursday declared a local health emergency for the county in response to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

Napa County did not have a confirmed case of the virus as of Thursday, but the declaration will mobilize county resources, accelerate emergency planning and response and allow for future reimbursement by the state and federal governments. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to ratify the declaration on Tuesday.

Relucio also called for the cancellation of non-essential gatherings and events in the county in accordance with state guidelines.

Officials with the Napa County Public Health Division Thursday also restricted visitors to long-term care and skilled nursing facilities in the county to protect adults in the facilities who are particularly vulnerable to severe diseases and death from COVID-19.

The city of Santa Rosa is joining many other local jurisdictions in suspending or canceling most of its events and programs through the end of March because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

City officials said Thursday that all city-operated recreation programs and classes and all city-organized events or events at city-owned properties will be suspended, as well as all special event permits, park permits and picnic reservations.

The local closures come after the state Department of Public Health recommended Wednesday against any non-essential gatherings of more than 250 people, with gatherings limited to no more than 10 among those who are at higher risk of severe illness from the virus.

City officials said staff will contact people who registered for the various city programs to discuss rescheduling or reimbursement options when possible.

Berkeley Unified School District is canceling classes for its high schools effective Friday and the rest of its schools starting on Monday because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Superintendent Brent Stephens said the earlier closure for the high schools is so their staff can work on options for students' home learning programs. The schools are all tentatively set to reopen on April 6.

The district office will also be closed to the public during the next few weeks, although district staff will keep "essential operations" going including communications to the public, district officials said.

The West Contra Costa Unified School District will close schools for three weeks beginning Monday in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The district announced Thursday that although there are no confirmed cases of students or staff who have tested positive at its schools, several may have had contact with potential positive cases. Students will be dismissed at noon Friday while staff will work the whole day.

San Francisco Unified School District is among other districts around the country that decided Thursday to close schools due to the virus, which is also known as COVID-19.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Thursday announced an expanded fraud lawsuit against a civil and structural engineering company that includes new allegations of theft of $420,000 from clients through check fraud.

The amended lawsuit against Santos & Urrutia Associates Inc. and co-founders Rodrigo Santos and Albert Urrutia was filed on Jan. 22 and partially unsealed by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Samuel Feng on Thursday.

The original civil lawsuit filed publicly in 2018 accused the company of permit fraud in excavations underneath three San Francisco houses. The revised lawsuit alleges fraud in work on six additional properties as well as theft of $420,000 in 221 checks from clients who were told the checks were needed to pay city fees.

Instead, the checks were deposited to Santos's personal bank account, the lawsuit alleges. Santos is a former city Building Inspection Commission president, appointed to the post in 2004 by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom.

The lawsuit alleges that in some cases of check fraud, checks made out to agencies such as the Department of Building Inspection and Department of Public Works were endorsed on the back with the initials of the agency and then deposited in Santos's account.

Friday will be partly cloudy and breezy. Highs will be in the 50s to mid 60s. Southwest winds will be 10 to 20 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph in the afternoon.

Friday night will be partly cloudy before becoming mostly cloudy. There will be a slight chance of showers after midnight. Lows will be around 50 degrees. West winds will be 10 to 20 mph.

Saturday will be cloudy with showers likely. Highs will be in the 50s. West winds will be 5 to 10 mph.

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.
After being found out of compliance with drug court rules numerous times, Conley was sentenced to 20 years in the Indiana Department of Correction on the drug charge, with credit for time served. He later attempted to have his sentence modified, according to online court records, and was placed in problem solving court in late 2016.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 13

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Export of grain and legumes from Turkey to Azerbaijan increased by 28.7 percent in January-February 2020 compared to the same period of 2019, making up $15.4 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend on March 13.

Turkeys export of grains and legumes to Azerbaijan amounted to $9.2 million in February 2020, which is 20 percent more compared to February 2019, the ministry said.

In January-February 2020, Turkey's export of grain and legumes to world markets exceeded $1.1 billion, which is 4.7 percent more compared to the same period of 2019.

Turkey's export of these products makes up 4 percent of the countrys total export for January-February 2020.

In February 2020, Turkey exported grains and legumes worth $594.3 million to world markets, which is 5.2 percent more than in the same month of 2019.

Turkeys export of grain and legumes in February 2020 made up 4.1 percent of the countrys total export.

Over the last 12 months, i.e. from February 2019 through February 2020, Turkey has exported grains and legumes worth $6.8 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.

Turkeys foreign trade turnover in 2019 exceeded $374.2 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Scott Morrison's decision to ban mass gatherings has sparked accusations that the Prime Minister delayed the change until Monday to allow a Hillsong conference in Sydney and an NRL game featuring his favourite team to go ahead this weekend.

Mr Morrison announced the government would ban 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.

The government is making the decision in the wake of growing evidence that the coronavirus pandemic is spreading throughout the community.

Mr Morrison insisted he would still be attending the Cronulla Sharks game against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Saturday. 'It might be the last game (I get) to go to for a long time,' he said.

A spokesman from Mr Morrison's office defended the decision, saying the ban on gatherings was 'not actually necessary yet, but will be going forward'.

'It's very precautionary,' the spokesman said, adding the decision was based on the advice of all the chief medical officers to allow the federal government time to formulate protocols and guidelines.

The decision to introduce the ban from Monday was agreed upon by the Prime Minister, as well as state and territory leaders based on advice from Australia's chief medical officer Brendan Murphy.

'There's no immediacy about this, but we need to get ahead of the curve and so the recommendation was Monday and the Premiers and the Prime Minister agreed with that,' Mr Murphy said.

'It wouldn't have mattered if they'd made a decision one or two days either side. It was felt that that was a reasonable time to progress.'

Scott Morrison said he will still be attending the Cronulla Sharks game against the Rabbitohs on Saturday (pictured Mr Morrison at NRL game between Cronulla and Manly in May)

Many have speculated Scott Morrison's ban on mass gatherings will start from Monday because he wants to attend a Hillsong conference

Some have questioned Mr Morrison's motives for delaying the ban until Monday.

'The Morrison government has been advised by medical experts to ban public gatherings of more than 500 people. And will probably do so... as soon as the Hillsong Church's Colour Conference 2020 concludes in Sydney this Sunday!' a person tweeted.

'A journalist needs to come straight out and ask Morrison if his reluctance to stop large gatherings is related to the big Hillsong Church gathering with people from all over the world attending. Why only stop gatherings larger than 500 people Chief Medical Officer?' another said.

'Massive Hillsong conference over two weeks finishing this weekend in Sydney. Tens of thousands of people from all over the world tightly packed in. Millions of tax free dollars for our PM's best friend and mentor. No wonder there is no shut down of mass gatherings yet,' a third tweeted.

'BUT #slowmo can't agree to shut down large crowd events just yet. The Hillsong conference still has one day to go. Priorities here. Look after the Happy Clappers first. Cant spoil their party even if they infect each other,' wrote another.

A major Hillsong conference will wrap up on Sunday with many online speculating Mr Morrison will want to attend (pictured: Mr Morrison at Easter Sunday service at Horizon Church in Sydney)

An international Women's Hillsong meet, Colour Conference 2020, is expected to finish on Sunday with thousands due to attend.

The Morrison family have regularly been seen at Hillsong events and attended the opening of the Hillsong annual conference in July last year.

On Friday, Mr Morrison said the government wants people to go about their 'normal everyday business'.

The ban doesn't include schools, university lectures or public transport. The move will be critical to reducing the virus's spread, to prevent overloading hospital intensive care units.

The government is also now urging all Australians to reconsider the need to travel at all.

'Only essential travel should be considered if you're going overseas from this point onwards,' Mr Morrison said.

The nation's chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy, added: 'We're not suggesting people should interrupt their normal daily work'.

The government is making the drastic ban in the wake of growing evidence the coronavirus pandemic is spreading throughout the community
MATSAPHA  Finally, the suspended ESWACAA Director of Marketing and Communications, Sabelo Dlamini, has tendered his official plea to the SODV charge he is facing.



Dlamini stands accused of allegedly contravening Section 48 (1) (2) of the SODV Act of 15/2018 in that between August and November 2018, he allegedly sexually harassed *Titi, who is also employed by the Eswatini Civil Aviation Authority (ESWACAA).



The trial started yesterday and Dlamini pleaded not guilty to the charge and his plea was confirmed by his legal representative, Derrick Jele. The matter was before Magistrate Mthokozisi Dlamini.



Different



In fact, the accused persons lawyer argued that Titis statements, which she recorded with the police and said in court, were different from the one she said during his clients internal disciplinary hearing at work.



He said according to the applicants statement which was delivered before the court, Dlamini allegedly sexually abused her between August and November 2018, yet before the disciplinary committee, she claimed that nothing took place between this period (August and November 2018). He alleged that before the disciplinary committee she claimed that the alleged sexual abuse by Dlamini took place during the year 2017.



However, in court yesterday, Titi claimed that even though she reported the matter in November 2018, the alleged sexual abuse started in 2017 and had been happening until she took up the matter with the human resources (HR) office, which eventually suspended him.



Meanwhile, Jele told the court that Titi went to report the alleged sexual abuse after his client had reprimanded and reported her to her supervisors over poor work performance on November 7, 2018.



Harassment



However, Titi claimed that she was not even aware that she was reported for poor work performance to her supervisors as they never questioned her about it. On that note, Jele argued that during the internal hearing at ESWACAA, she agreed that she reported the alleged sexual harassment on November 21, 2018 after she was reprimanded by Dlamini for poor work performance.



It is during the internal disciplinary hearing report that you (Titi) reported Dlamini for alleged sexual harassment because he had laid a formal complaint about your poor work performance to your supervisors, Jele said as he cross examined Titi, who did not dispute that this was a fact which was in the report.

In fact, during the trial, Jele would from time to time refer both the court and the applicant to copies of the disciplinary hearing report, which he gave them.



On that note, Jele said one could easily conclude that his client was in court because he had allegedly shouted at her on November 7, 2018.

His argument was that it had been revealed during his clients internal disciplinary hearing that on December 4, 2017, ESWACAA staff members petitioned the administration where they complained about sexual harassment and public outbursts from the marketing department.

After this petition, the administration encouraged all staff members who were sexually and verbally abused to report, but you (Titi) kept quiet until my client reprimanded and reported you to your superiors for poor work performance in November 2018, which was about a year later, the lawyer said.

Outburst

Meanwhile, Titi did not dispute that management encouraged the workers to report any sexual abuse and public outburst cases. In fact, she concurred that she did not report Dlamini at the time, but eventually did so after he allegedly gave her a tongue lashing on November 7, 2018.

In addition, Titi was made to read page 103 of the disciplinary report, where she was asked if her complaint against Dlamini arose after he had complained about her poor work performance and her response in the report was to the positive.
Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have shared an update from quarantine after testing positive for coronavirus.

In a post on Instagram, Hanks wrote: Hello folks. @ritawilson and I want to thank everyone here Down Under who are taking such good care of us.

Hanks, 63, said he and Wilson are taking it one day at a time.

The beloved Hollywood star confirmed this week that he and Wilson had both tested positive for the illness. 

We have COVID-19 and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else, he explained in the update.

There are those for whom it could lead to a very serious illness. We are taking it one-day-at-a-time.

There are things we can all do to get through this by following the advice of experts and taking care of ourselves and each other, no?

The post showed the couple smiling, with Hanks putting his arm around Wilson.

Tom Hanks rapper son Chet Haze also recently assured fans that his parents are not trippin and not worried about their coronavirus diagnosis.

Hanks and his wife, the actor and musician Rita Wilson, were diagnosed with COVID-19 while working in Australia.

On his Instagram, Haze, otherwise known as Chester Hanks, recorded himself addressing fans concerned about the pairs well-being.

Its true, my parents got coronavirus, Haze said. Crazy.

He continued, Theyre both down in Australia right now, cos my dad was shooting a movie down there. I just got off the phone with them [and] they both are fine.
Hunger is a persistent problem in the United States. In 2018, 37.2 million people lived in food-insecure households, according to estimates from the Department of Agriculture, which also states that Americans waste about 30 percent of their food supply.

Last year, in an effort to deal with this disparity, the citys Sanitation Department set up a food donation portal. About 400 donors and recipients, which include businesses, community colleges, nonprofits and religious organizations, have signed up so far, helping to divert about 44 tons of food from being thrown out, said Kathryn Garcia, the Departments commissioner.

When people look at leftover food after an event and wonder if anyone wants it, the answer is always yes, Ms. Garcia said. A likely recipient, she said, is probably right around the corner from the event.

The demand is such that local emergency food aid programs are at or near capacity. More than half of the soup kitchens and pantries cited in a recent report by the Food Bank for New York City said that they would run out of food in any given month, and 85 percent of them noticed more first-time visitors.

Ryan OConnor, a program assistant at the Coalition for the Homeless, the nonprofit that runs the evening meal program at Crossroads, has helped run the soup kitchen for the past four years. He said he used to see a big increase around the 27th of the month from New Yorkers needing meals after they had used their paychecks to cover rent, transportation and utilities. Now its more like the 20th.

Jenique Jones, a senior director of City Harvest, which redistributes food from over 2,500 businesses and organizations, said that its 400 affiliated soup kitchens and pantries could receive two million more visits this year than last.
Yesterday, commentingon Russia's withdrawal from the OPEC + to Reuters, Russian Deputy Minister of Energy, 34-year-old Pavel Sorokin expressed the opinion that it is inappropriate to cut oil production "in a situation of falling demand, when the bottom is not obvious and it is not clear where it is located." Based on this, Russia has not accepted the proposal since April to increase the reduction in oil production under the OPEC + deal by another 1.5 million barrels per day.

Explaining the motives for Russias decision to withdraw from the transaction, the head of the Energy Department of the Institute of Energy and Finance Fund Alexey Gromov said that she did not want to continue to lose her market share: Since the start of the transaction from January 2017 to December 2019, demand oil prices rose around the world by 3.5-3.6 million barrels per day.One of the expert opinions is that 80% of these volumes were offset by the United States, providing an additional increase in demand; and this was irritating, among Russian exporters "

Alexey Gromov disagrees with this opinion, explaining his position by saying that approximately the same volumes of Venezuelan and Iranian oil left the market in three years: This oil was by no means due to the OPEC + transaction, but because of sanctions. to say that the United States was the only beneficiary to contain production was, at least, incorrect. "

The expert recalled that immediately after the formal termination of the OPEC + transaction in April, Saudi Arabia stated that in such conditions it would dramatically increase production: Indeed, Saudi Arabia is capable of doing this. It is able to increase production to 12 million barrels per day in the coming months and up to 13 million barrels per day until the end of this year. "

Alexei Gromov considers all the statements that followed immediately after the announcement of the decision on Russias withdrawal from the OPEC + deal as an element of psychological warfare: "There is no point in the relationship between the OPEC + member countries. A trial ball has now been launched - let's say let's try in the current situation to get out of the deal, let's see how the market will react to it. "

The expert recalled that initially the coronavirus influenced the oil market: It was believed that if the coronavirus is localized in China and neighboring Asian countries, the consequences for the world economy will be limited to a severe failure in the first quarter of 2020. Indeed, the Chinese economy will actually come to the end of March that the epidemic will decline there, but there are new introductory ones - an outbreak in Europe. The spread of the virus reduces economic activity in the eurozone countries and affects not only the first, but also the second quarter of this We cannot guarantee that this will end in the second quarter and will not continue throughout the year. Therefore, we cannot predict the entire negative effect of coronavirus on demand. If the negative effect intensifies, oil prices will fall below $ 30, and we will have a force majeure situation. Then all the same, it will be necessary to look for new parameters for an agreement between countries at the international level.

Alexei Gromov noted that the $ 35-36 failure is not the limit for the market: "The market froze in anticipation of how global demand will behave, how the consequences of the epidemic will develop, and how realistic the verbal threats voiced by Saudi Arabia will be by actually announcing the start of a new price war. "

Vyacheslav Kulagin, director of the Center for Energy Research at the Institute for Pricing and Regulation of Natural Monopolies at the Higher School of Economics, correlated expectations and reality: This year, growth was expected to be one and a half million barrels per day. It was expected that the Americans would add about one and a half million barrels and OPEC + million barrels of excess supply. What happened? There is no growth of one and a half million; this goes to the supply plus. Accordingly, the war of all against all, that is, the market free volume. The overproduction of oil on the market will exceed three million barrels by the time these plans will be realized. At the moment, our market is so far only reacted to the word. "

According to the expert, so far the situation has not changed from the point of view of the market from the point of view of the week ago. The changes will come later when the serious overproduction really begins. It is clear that there are trailing oil prices in the region of 40-50 dollars, and even on some projects its higher, but in conditions of oversupply this does not play any role. "

Speaking about what this means for Russia, Vyacheslav Kulagin assured: From the point of view of the oil market and oil companies, there is nothing super-negative here. After the fall in oil prices in 2014, the companies showed almost the best indicators for all previous years in ruble revenue ... Companies will withstand this and there will be nothing bad for domestic companies. Another question is how this will turn out for the budget. "

With regard to the situation on international markets, according to Kulagin, expensive projects are waiting for the main risks: "These are, first of all, American and Canadian shale projects, and deep-sea projects, including in European ones. However, those projects that have already been invested will be launched and "But its quite a serious chance that the main participants in the next few months will want to sit at the negotiating table and partially return the parameters of the transaction."

As for our domestic market, according to the expert, the budget will receive less revenue under both export duties and mineral extraction tax: The ruble has softened, so there will be a corresponding recount. For consumers on the column, people who come to refuel the car, despite the decline in oil prices, the price of gasoline has not fallen and will not fall. "
New Delhi, March 13 : The domestic automobile sales continued to decline in February with the overall sectoral off-take plunging 19.08 per cent on a year-on-year basis, data showed on Friday.

As per the data furnished by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the sector's total sales declined to 1,646,332 units in February from 2,034,597 units sold during the corresponding month of the previous year.

In January, the overall sectoral off-take had declined by 13.83 per cent to 17,39,975 units from 20,19,253 units in January 2019.

Segment wise, the domestic passenger vehicle sales slipped by 7.61 per cent to 251,516 units in February 2020 from 272,243 units sold during the corresponding period last year.
CRPF cancels 81st raising day celebrations due to coronavirus threat

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 13: The CRPF on Friday postponed its raising day celebrations planned to be held next week in view of the coronavirus outbreak. The 3.25 lakh central force was supposed to hold the main ceremonial parade and display of martial skills with the involvement of thousands of troops at its officers academy campus in Gurgaon on March 19 to mark its 81st raising day.

"Conforming to precautionary advisory to break the spread of COVID-19, all CRPF programs in connection with CRPF raising day and passing out parade of 51st batch DAGOs (directly appointed gazetted officers) have been postponed," the force said in a statement.

"CRPF has joined the national response against COVID-19 by gearing up its medical facilities," it said. The passing out parade of its latest batch of officers was scheduled to be held after the raising day event on March 21.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

CRPF jawans memorial inaugurated in Jammu-Kashmir; Umesh Gopinath Jadhav invited as special guest

Taking a similar action, the Central Industrial Security Force had last week postponed its anniversary day celebrations to be held on Friday. However, the CISF is now mulling to hold this event on March 28 after reviewing the threat posed by the disease that has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.

"The Union home ministry has explicitly asked all forces under its command to avoid large congregations like these events and the CISF raising day will be postponed further if the coronavirus situation does not improve," a senior official said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 13, 2020, 10:57 [IST]
G reta Thunbergs school climate strikes are the latest to be hit by coronavirus, as the teenage activist moved her campaigning online.

The Swedish 17-year-old has told her followers to conduct their weekly strikes online rather than hold large gatherings, in a bid to stem the Covid-19 outbreak.

Hundreds of young demonstrators shared photos of themselves using the hashtag #ClimateStrikeOnline to show they had missed school.

Thunberg tweeted: In a crisis we change our behaviour and adapt to the new circumstances for the greater good of society.

We young people are the least affected by this virus but its essential that we act in solidarity with the most vulnerable and that we act in the best interest of our common society.

Swedish activist Isabelle Axelsson posted a photo of herself holding a climate strike poster, saying: In the face of the novel coronavirus pandemic it is important that we all take care of ourselves and others and reduce risk.

That is why I am joining the Fridays For Future digital strike.

Brit climate campaigner Elijah Mckenzie-Jackson, 16, tweeted: Day 1 of my #climatestrikeonline ,Week 7 of my 2020 weekly climate strike. You may be by yourself striking today but you are never alone in the battle for climate justice!

Some countries including Italy have banned large gatherings and entered lockdown in a desperate bid to halt the pandemic, with France becoming the latest to shut down all schools on Thursday.

The UK has so far refused to implement any drastic social distancing measures, prompting a storm of criticism.

Boris Johnson insisted his prudence was based on scientific advice from the governments top medical advisers.
LACoFD COVID-19 Exposure

On March 9, 2020, the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) responded to a patient in cardiac arrest. Our personnel provided our standard excellent patient care and managed to resuscitate and transport the patient to a local area hospital. Unfortunately, the patient passed away. The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health (DPH) later confirmed that the patient had COVID-19. LACoFD expresses its deepest sympathies and condolences to the family and friends of the patient who sadly succumbed to this illness.

The safety and welfare of our first responders is of the utmost importance to our Department. Therefore, LACoFD personnel exposed to the patient have been isolated from work and are now undergoing active monitoring at home. Our personnel are currently symptom free and are being reviewed regularly for any developing symptoms.

In addition, LACoFD has existing protocol and procedures on protective equipment and safe patient handling in regards to COVID-19, which are consistent with guidelines set forth by DPH and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Further, our 9-1-1 dispatch protocols include recommendations from DPH to ensure the optimal handling of calls related to COVID-19. We will continue to adhere to these guidelines moving forward.

ADVERTISEMENT

All information regarding the medical status of patients and first responders is confidential and/or protected by HIPAA.

For additional information on COVID-19 please contact County of Los Angeles Public Health at (213) 240-8144, or visit their website publichealth.lacounty.gov.

LA County Fire Foundation supports lifesaving programs throughout the region. To be a part of our team learn more or donate at SupportLACountyFire.org

Addressing Todays Challenges and Planning for the Future

To learn more and share your thoughts, visit WeAreLACountyFire.org
Scottish Government awards Tarmac GBP1.49m to develop Dunbar freight rail

13 March 2020

The Scottish Government has allocated GBP1.49m to Tarmac's Dunbar cement plant in a Freight Facilities Grant.The fund is open to companies looking to move freight by the more sustainable modes of rail or water instead of road.

The grant will support the company's drive to enhance its rail capabilities at the plant which provides cement products for construction projects across Scotland and further into England.



Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson, said: "I am delighted to award GBP1.49m of funding from our Freight Facilities Grant to Tarmac towards expanding its Dunbar facility. Tarmac is a key user of rail and strong advocate for the industry.



"This award is the first Freight Facilities Grant for rail for a number of years and will help ensure that rail remains the key mode of transport for much of Tarmac's operations."



Chris Swan, head of rail, Tarmac said: "Were delighted to receive this funding from Transport Scotland which supports our commitment to developing our rail offering, reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality.



"The enhanced rail distribution capabilities at our Dunbar cement plant will support our commitment to transporting as much product as possible on the rail network and not the roads, providing essential construction materials to infrastructure projects both within Scotland and beyond."

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Some of you may remember hearing about Montevideo, Uruguay, in Sherlock Holmes's "The Woman in Green" or reading about Nazi leaders hiding there.

Other than that, Uruguay is a small nation of great "futbol" players and wonderful beef, and most people are of European descent.

Some call it "little Argentina," but the people of Uruguay naturally reject that. They believe in their identity, and they are correct to do so.

Last week, Uruguay inaugurated a new president, and he quickly rejected 21st-century socialism. This is from PanAm Post:

As of Sunday, March 1, there is a new president in Uruguay. The freshly elected Luis Lacalle Pou explicitly said that Nicolas Maduro, Raul Castro, and Daniel Ortega were not invited to the inauguration ceremony, and that is how it was. The anthem echoed with greater fury than usual, particularly the stanza "tyrants tremble."

It did not take long for the left to throw a temper tantrum when President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil was invited instead of Bolivia's former leader Evo Morales or the aforementioned "lefty trio" of Raul, Nicolas, and Daniel.

By the way, President Bolsonaro drives the left crazy  sort like President Trump up here.

A couple of Uruguayan friends told me on social media that their countrymen decided to end 15 years of complicity with Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.

It was more than a friendship. Some were angry that the left had allegedly taken money from the late Hugo Chavez.

They also added something interesting. The new president and beautiful first lady rode into town praising the nation's traditions and flag. In other words, they were rejecting the left's attacks on family values and traditions.

Yes, Uruguay is a small nation. However, it's nice to see people rise up and reclaim their heritage.

Congratulations to Uruguay!

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
CHICAGO  Chicago mom Rya Smith has no doubts about backing the top prosecutor in the nation's second-biggest county for another term, even while acknowledging the office fumbled a criminal case against Empire actor Jussie Smollett.

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's involvement in the Smollett case has dominated much of the attention in her reelection campaign, but Smith contends the focus instead should be on her record exonerating the innocent, tossing minor marijuana convictions and as the first black woman in the job.

Shes done a great many things, especially for minorities, Smith said. The Jussie Smollett case was a pebble in the giant boulder of her career. That shouldnt discredit her for one little mistake. She isnt getting a fair shake.

Foxx is counting on more voters like Smith as she seeks a second term against three Democratic primary challengers who've seized on the Smollett case and a fractured relationship with police. In what's likely the most expensive race of its kind, they've called it a bungled prosecution that benefited a politically-connected person and undermined public trust.

The controversial decision to dismiss charges against Smollett, who's accused of fabricating a racist, anti-gay attack, has haunted Foxx, something that's increasingly frustrated her.

Defeating Foxx will be tough with her establishment backing, union support and super PACs targeting her opponents. But challengers  including Navy veteran Bill Conway, whose first run for office is being fueled by his billionaire father  believe they've found an opening for Tuesday.

She just kept not telling the truth to the public, said Conway, 41, a former assistant state's attorney.

He's aired television ads since November, with far more money combined than all candidates  including two Republicans. About $10.5 million of the roughly $11.5 million hes raised, comes from William Conway, co-founder of Carlyle Group, a Washington D.C.-based investment firm. Foxx, 47, has raised nearly $3.5 million.

Foxx acknowledged missteps. She recused herself from the Smollett case, but questions linger about whether she acted improperly for speaking to a Smollett relative and aide to former first lady Michelle Obama before the charges were dismissed. A special prosecutor reinstated the charges last month, which Foxx blasted as political.

That we are continuing to talk about this in a city that continues to deal with gun violence, in a city that is continuing to reckon with police accountability, Foxx told the Chicago Sun-Times. That somehow this case has been elevated to one of the greatest criminal injustices in our time feels disingenuous.

Theres wide agreement she's made reforms.

Foxx's office was the first to dismiss low-level marijuana convictions as part of Illinois law legalizing recreational marijuana. She personally handed over roughly 1,000 petitions to a judge.

She ramped up a Conviction Integrity Unit with prosecutors vacating convictions of roughly 100 people linked to a former Chicago police sergeants scheme to shake down poor and black public housing residents.

Josh Tepfer of the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School called Foxxs office the most transparent hes worked with, noting she apologized to victims even though they were convicted before her tenure.

She speaks to the unfair treatment of people of color in ways that are very unique, he said.

That resonates with Tanya Watkins, who runs Soul in Action, a PAC that focuses on black candidates. Nearly one-quarter of Cook County's 5.1 million residents are black.

Watkins believes Foxx hasn't received fair treatment because of race. The other candidates are white.

She has no margin for error, Watkins said. The things Ive heard said about this black woman have reminded me how much more difficult it is to be a black woman in the public arena.

Defense attorneys note the easing up on charges for lower-level crimes and alternative punishments. Some also praise her cash bail reforms. Her office has allowed the release of detainees held on nonviolent charges who can't afford bonds up to $1,000.

But others arent so complimentary.

Foxx has a rocky relationship with police, who dislike her reforms, including for nonviolent crimes like shoplifting. Things worsened when the Smollett charges were dropped. The tensions hit a peak in April with dueling protests outside her office involving the police union.

Theres this attitude among law enforcement that this is a catch and release system, said Kulmeet Galhotra, who's retired as the head of the Cook County Public Defenders Homicide Task Force.

The sentiment is echoed by challenger former Chicago Alderman Bob Fioretti, 67. He and former federal prosecutor Donna More, 62, whos also running, say the office needs to be more independent.

Some defense attorneys are also critical of her office for inconsistencies, saying the policies aren't applied evenly.

Still, the Smollett case does resonate with some.

Chicagoan Demetrius Williams, 35, voted for Foxx before but thinks Smollett got off easy and will support Conway.

I believe he has enough money to take on Kim Foxx, said Williams, 35. Im not going to say that Im so Conway crazy. Ill take a chance. In four years, I can vote him out, too.

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VANCOUVERCanada is failing mainland Chinas minority Uighur population in the wake of a damning report detailing how interned members of the ethnic group are being used for forced labour to produce items being sold around the world including Canada, says a Canadian Representative for the World Uighur Congress.

Canadas lack of action comes as the United States prepares legislation meant to discourage the practice, said Mehmet Tohti of the WUC.

Theres no answer from Canada on the forced labour, Tohti said. That makes me sad.

Chinas Muslim Uighur minority mostly inhabits its far western Xinjiang autonomous region.

In the last two years well-documented reports, some based on leaked Chinese government documents, about massive internment camps holding up to two million Uighurs for re-education have emerged. Human rights activists say the move is aimed at wiping out their cultural identity.

China has denied the allegations, including on March 4 when its ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, called reports of the camps fake news at a defence conference in Ottawa. Cong said the camps were vocational training centres, according to media reports.

But nearly two weeks ago, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute released a comprehensive report titled Uighurs for Sale, detailing how more than 80,000 of those interned have been forced to work in factories throughout China, in some cases being part of supply chains used to make products for some of the worlds most popular brands. It said the 80,000 is a conservative figure.

Canadas Bombardier was on a list of 83 companies in the report whose supply chains are alleged to have included forced labour from Uighurs. The Montreal-based company has said it is investigating the allegations. Apple, Nike, Huawei, H&M, BMW and Sony are also on the list in the ASPI report.

The report specifically notes that technology for touch screens used in products made by Lenovo, Samsung and Huawei were produced by one manufacturer using Uighur labour. The same company, which says it makes these products on its website, also says it manufacture cameras for some iPhone models.

Companies using forced Uighur labour in their supply chains could find themselves in breach of laws which prohibit the importation of goods made with forced labour or mandate disclosure of forced labour supply chain risks, said the report.

The companies listed in this report should conduct immediate and thorough human rights due diligence on their factory labour in China, including robust and independent social audits and inspections.

Given the number of global brands on the list, Tohti said there is no way products made partly through Uighur forced labour are not being sold in Canada.

The lack of response from Ottawa in the wake of the report is shocking said Tohti. But he has also been disheartened that the Canadian business and political community has continued to pursue greater trade ties with China despite the revelations.

Tohti attended a luncheon in Ottawa Monday hosted by Global Affairs Canada. There, he spoke to the room about the internment and forced labour of Uighurs in China. At the same luncheon, he said, business people made a case for greater engagement and trade with mainland China.

Monday, Canadas ambassador to China, Dominic Barton, recorded a special message for the Canada China Business Council, which includes member companies owned directly by Beijing. Barton offered help to the councils members and praised their role in business with China as important for prosperity in Canada.

No one is disputing that theres a problem in China when it comes to human rights, Tohti said. But there are also some people basically saying, not openly, that we have to close our eyes and continue to do business.

Tohti said he spoke directly with Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Phillipe Champagne about the issue at the luncheon. Champagne listened, he said, but no firm commitment for action was made.

The Canada Border Services Agency said it has no role in preventing goods made from forced labour from entering the country, but legislative changes currently in review by Parliament would change the customs tariff to include prohibitions on such items.

Meanwhile, in the United States, bipartisan legislation was proposed Wednesday to ban imports coming from Xinjiang province in protest of the forced labour and other human rights abuses.

Titled the Uighur Forced Labour Prevention Act it aims to ensure that goods made with forced labour in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region do not enter the United States market and to encourage the international community to do the same.

The proposed legislation would use import controls, financial sanctions and export restrictions to help achieve its goals. It also lays out a plan to raise awareness to consumers about forced labour being used in Xinjiang.

The bill also addresses other human rights violations in Xinjiang, such as torture and forced internment. According to the act, it would not terminate until mainland China can prove it has ended forced labour and other human rights violations in the region.

Tohti would like to see similar legislation introduced in Canada to ban all products coming from forced labour in China and for Ottawa to make further opening Canada up to trade with the rest of the world a priority.

But, given Ottawas track record on pushing for engagement with China, despite years of human rights concerns and recent attacks on Canadas economy after the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, he said he isnt optimistic.

In the eyes of China, Canadas a good kid, Tohti said, a listening kid.

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BEIJING  From quarantining travelers from overseas to nabbing those sneaking in with fevers, China and other parts of Asia are scrambling to prevent the new coronavirus from coming back to where it first broke out.

Just as the spread of the disease is stabilizing in much of Asia, following a major outbreak in China and sizable ones in South Korea and Japan, it is popping up in new hot spots around the world.

Those three countries announced expanded border controls this week that mimic many of the bans and restrictions placed on China in the early days of the outbreak. China, which didnt have enough protective equipment for its medical workers a few weeks ago, is now donating supplies to Italy, Iran, South Korea and other affected places.

The outbreak is far from over in Asia and could well explode again when restrictions put in place to stymie it are lifted. But the panic that seized the region has shifted to the Mideast, Europe and the Americas as those areas deal with the rapid spread of the virus for the first time.

China reported Friday just eight new cases of the virus in the previous 24 hours, and three were imported from Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom. The number has dropped sharply from a month ago, when the daily figure was in the thousands. Nearly 90 imported cases have been identified in recent weeks.

National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng said this week that the peak of outbreak has passed in China, but that the fast development of the epidemic overseas has introduced uncertainties.

Just a week ago, South Korea was complaining about a global scurry to block or restrict visitors coming from the country. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, in a rare moment of bluntness, called the moves an unsophisticated reaction by nations with inept quarantine abilities.

Now, as new infections have eased at home, South Korea is stepping up border controls to prevent the virus from being reintroduced by travelers from overseas.

Starting Sunday, the country will extend special screening measures to passengers from France, Germany, Spain, Britain and the Netherlands, as well as those who have stopped in Dubai and Moscow in the previous two weeks.

Besides having their temperature checked and filling out health questionnaires, they will download a smartphone app to report their health status daily to authorities. The screening already applied to visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, Italy and Iran. South Korea also bans people coming from Hubei, the province in China with by far the most infections and deaths.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. Some, especially older adults and those with existing health problems, develop more severe illnesses such as 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.

Beijing, which has identified 18 imported cases in the past week, announced it would require anyone arriving from overseas to quarantine for 14 days. Previously, only those from places with serious outbreaks had to do so. Shanghai, with eight imported cases confirmed so far, said late Thursday that people coming from Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Iran, South Korea, Japan and the U.S. would have to do the same.

Police in Beijing say they are investigating a family of eight that returned home from Italy, four of whom had contracted the virus. They allegedly took cold medicine to lower their fevers and falsified their health declaration forms, police said.

The case is one of at least three in China under investigation. South of Shanghai in Zhejiang province, six people who worked in a restaurant in Italy and developed coughs, headaches and fevers before returning are under investigation for failing to report their health condition when entering China, according to Chinese media reports.

In the north, the Epidemic Prevention and Control Center in Zhengzhou city said a 30-year-old construction worker who had traveled to Milan via Abu Dhabi falsely reported his foreign travels. It didnt specify how he did so. He has been put in isolation with a fever and police are investigating.

China has begun evacuating its citizens from one virus-hit country, Iran, echoing earlier flights organized by other nations to bring back their nationals from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, after China cut off commercial air and rail service in a lockdown of the region to restrict the spread of the virus.

A charter flight with 164 passengers arrived in the city of Chengdu this week, following two flights bringing back 311 Chinese citizens to the city of Lanzhou in Gansu province last week. The earlier flights led to a spike in new cases, with Gansu reporting 36 imported ones since they landed.

We will  take all necessary measures to ensure the safety and legitimate rights and interests of overseas Chinese citizens, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said this week.

China has dispatched medical teams to Iran, Iraq and Italy and said it would contribute $20 million to the World Health Organization in support of its efforts to combat the virus. A nine-person medical team with nine cargo pallets of equipment including lung ventilators arrived in Rome on Thursday night.

China, which bristled at a blanket U.S. ban imposed on non-citizens arriving from China, has chosen to quarantine people rather than ban anyone. President Donald Trump has expanded that ban to several European countries, drawing sharp criticism from the European Union.

Japans moves to control the epidemic struck a raw nerve in South Korea, where resentment persists over Japans colonization of the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century.

After Japan imposed a 14-day quarantine on visitors from South Korea and China, South Korea responded by ending visa-free entry for Japanese citizens and putting them under special screening measures at points of entry.

South Korea has confirmed about 8,000 cases, the fourth highest in the world after China, Italy and Iran.

___

Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi and Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo and researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this story.

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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.
How can we be responsible to our audiences, and also go about our business, which involves bodies in proximity to one another? Though playwrights have always dreaded coughing patrons (it generally means we have induced boredom), now the cough is greeted with a different kind of dread. At the moment, most forward-thinking businesses are telling workers to work from home, to cancel all but essential travel and to have meetings by video.

But what if your business is presence?

During the 1590s plague, when the theaters were shut, William Shakespeare apparently chose to write poems instead. From his Venus and Adonis, penned while the playhouses were closed and writers were essentially quarantined, came this somewhat strange compliment: The plague is banished by thy breath. Should we theater people  writers, players and audiences alike  be staying home now and writing and reading poetry as a curative for the next month? Books, unlike group events, carry no germs.

My own childrens school has closed indefinitely, and Ive been encouraging them to learn a new poetic form every day they are at home. So far, only my son has written a sonnet, an ode to candy. The final couplet: Now I must eat you with a splendid grace/Remember how I put you in my solemn face. But they all just looked at me with raised eyebrows when I mentioned a villanelle.

Thomas Dekker, a not very well-known Elizabethan playwright eclipsed by the competition, wrote an account of the plague year called The Wonderfull Yeare, 1603 in which a seventh of Londons population died, despite shuttered theaters and quarantines. Dekker writes of the desolation and loneliness of that year, as well as of the triumphant reopening of the theaters, like a merry epilogue to a dull play.

This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it, he said.
Union Cabinet has approved the reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank proposed by the Reserve Bank of India. Talking to the media, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the RBI's moratorium on the beleaguered private lender will be lifted three days after the revival plan is notified. She assured that the revival scheme will be notified "as soon as possible".

"The notification shall come out, and the moratorium shall cease on the third working day at 1800 hours from the date of the notification. Office of the administrator shall stand vacated after seven calendar days from the cessation of the moratorium and a new board shall be constituted," said the Finance Minister.

The new Yes Bank board, comprising of new CEO and Chairman, will also have at least two directors from the State Bank of India (SBI), which has promised to acquire 49 per cent stake in the private sector bank, she further said.

ALSO READ: Cabinet briefing LIVE updates: Cabinet approves RBI's revival plan for Yes Bank

"State Bank of India will invest up to 49 per cent of the equity. Other investors are also being invited and quite a lot of engagement by the RBI is happening to bring in other investors. There will be a three-year lock-in period for SBI for up to only 26 per cent of the 49 per cent that they are investing. For the rest of the investors, it will be lock-in for three years of 75 per cent of their investment," Sitharaman said.

"The authorised capital itself has been raised from Rs 1,100 crore to Rs 6,200 crore, so that we can accommodate immediate and subsequent raising of capital requirements," Sitharaman further said.

On Thursday, SBI announced plans to pump in Rs 7,250 crore in Yes Bank by purchasing 725 crore shares at Rs 10 per share. The leading public sector lender has assured that its investment will adhere to the 49 per cent limit laid down in RBI's reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank. On Friday, ICICI Bank also revealed plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore in Yes Bank.

ALSO READ: 7th Pay Commission: Modi cabinet raises DA by 4% for central govt employees

Sitharaman clarified that Cabinet did not discuss investment by Life Corporation of India in Yes Bank. On AT-1 bonds of Yes Bank, Sitharaman said that she will not be able to comment on the matter as it is sub-judice.

On March 5, Yes Bank was put under moratorium by the RBI till April 3 due to deteriorating financial position, governance issues, false assurance on raising funds, non-serious investors, and outflow of liquidity. The government has limited withdrawals to Rs 50,000 for a month, superseded YES Bank board and appointed Prashant Kumar, former Deputy Managing Director and CFO of State Bank of India (SBI), as administrator.

On March 6, RBI had tabled the draft reconstruction scheme for reviving Yes Bank, where SBI had consented to willingness to invest in the troubled private bank.

ALSO READ: After SBI, ICICI Bank to pump in Rs 1,000 crore in YES Bank
Jaipur, March 13 : As many as 44 Indians evacuated from Iran will arrive at the Army camp in Jaisalmer on Friday, Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said.

"We have been informed by the central government that 44 Indians evacuated from Iran will arrive today at the Army camp in Jaislamer. All are tested negative. As per the protocol, they will be kept in isolation at the Army Hospital for 14 days. Collector Jaisalmer has been provided all requisite support and logistics by us and there is no need for any panic," he added.

Singh further said that testing facilities have started at three places in Rajasthan.

In SMS Hospital, Jaipur, overall 362 samples have been collected out of which three have tested positive while 354 have tested negative. In Jodhpur, three samples have been tested and all three have been negative.

Overall, 365 samples have been collected in Rajasthan out of which three have tested positive while 357 have tested negative while five are under process, he said.

As an 85-year-old Jaipur resident, who has come from Dubai, was tested positive this week, the passengers, who travelled along with him on the Spiecejet flight, were being traced.

35 passengers of this Spicejet flight have been traced while the rest are being traced, Singh said.

Meanwhile, Col Sombit Ghosh, PRO Defence Rajasthan on Thursday night said that Air India flight passengers will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility created under the aegis of Southern Command. The patients will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility under escort of civil administration.

Another batch of approximately 250 people being air evacuated from Iran on March 15 will also be landed and quarantined at the Army facility at Jaisalmer. The Army has also created quarantine facilities at Jodhpur and a number of other locations to assist the civil administration in their fight against the COVID19 pandemic, he said.

Meanwhile, the state government on Thursday night had issued the Rajasthan Epidemic Disease, COVID-19 regulations, 2020 and directed all the chief medical and health officers to follow the regulations related with the arrangements for checking the coronavirus spread.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
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A couple of years ago, Disconnect, a small tech company in San Francisco, was approached with an enticing offer: For every 100,000 people who used Disconnects apps, a company called Elephant Data promised to pay it $1,000 a month. All Disconnect had to do was to add a few lines of code into its apps.

Thousands of dollars a month is a tidy sum for a small app company, but Disconnect turned down the offer. It develops apps and research that promote digital privacyand occasionally collaborates with Consumer Reports on security investigations. Proposals like Elephant's often come from companies trying to collect user data for advertising, which could not be more at odds with Disconnect's mission.

As it turns out, what Elephant was doing was much worse. Last year, an investigation from Upstream, a mobile security company, found that Elephant Datas code secretly recruited consumers phones into a scheme that jacked up their phone bills and contributed to the tens of billions of dollars digital ad networks lose to fraud every year.

Elephant was shopping around a shady SDK, or software development kit. SDKs are important building blocks found in almost every kind of software, including phone apps, and they range from the utterly mundane to the explicitly malicious. In between these extremes lies an entire world of code supplied by data brokers and app analytics companies with cheery tech-startup names the average consumer has probably never heard of.

But these data companies have heard about you: They exist to trade in information about who you are, the things you like, everywhere you go, and what you do on your phone.

Making an app is a lot like putting together a Lego set. Rather than designing every element from scratch, developers spend much of their time assembling bits of code written by other people. SDKs and code libraries allow an app-maker to offer basic functions, like a login page or notifications, without having to cook them up anew. These software tools, which are usually licensed for a fee or at no charge, enable developers to run ads in their app, figure out whos downloading it, and know when it crashes.

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Making an app without these tools would be like building a house by first mining clay for bricks or felling lumber for beams. Novice and professional programmers alike by necessity only focus on a tiny fraction of the code in the final products they createfar less than 1 percent, says Cynthia Lee, a Stanford computer science lecturer.

For consumers worried about their data, that's both good and bad.

On one hand, you wouldnt want every last app developer to try making the most complex or sensitive parts of a program on its ownlike, say, the tools that encrypt personal information before sending it off over the internet. Unless it's a cryptography expert, it's liable to make a mistake that would leave your data vulnerable to hackers. Instead, a developer will usually rely on code from a trusted company for these difficult jobs.

On the other hand, the hodgepodge of various peoples code in any one app invites privacy perils. An app-maker that wants to add a new featurea chat function, saymay just choose one based on recommendations on an online forum without thinking too hard about what the new code will do with users data.

Were at this state now where a lot of developers are pulling in code that they couldn't even explain how it worksthey just know the end result, says Patrick Jackson, Disconnects chief technology officer. Thats dangerous, because if youre blindly just pulling in any [code] library and you dont know what its doing, youre putting your users at risk.

This means when you open up an app, youre not just dealing with the company that made it. Sensitive information about you gets shipped off to all sorts of other companies whose code is tucked into that app, too. Suddenly, youve entered a relationship with a dozen data brokers or marketing firms youve probably never heard of, without your knowledge or explicit consentor even good oversight by the app developer.

Some of these marketing-oriented SDKs have a shockingly expansive reach. Code by AppsFlyer, a marketing company, is found in more than 40 percent of the apps on the Google Play Store, according to data from AppFigures, a research firm. Chartboost, which makes software for displaying in-app ads, shows up in 21 percent of the apps in Apples App Store. The big players are omnipresent, too: Several Google and Facebook SDKs pop up in a commanding majority of apps.

Consumers are basically stuck, says Serge Egelman, a Berkeley computer science professor and CTO of the privacy research company AppCensus. If you download an app, theres absolutely no way for you to know if its going to send your data to Facebook or Braze or Flurry, he says, naming popular marketing and analytics companies.

(Consumer Reports has removed code from a number of third-party vendors, including Flurry, as we've worked on improving the privacy practices in our own mobile app. Our app does not use code from Facebook, but it does incorporate code from Google and Adobe Site Catalyst that gives us information such as how often each link gets clicked on.)

Bad Actors Hiding in the Code

For Elephant Data and similar SDKs, this opacity is valuable cover. Nobody would knowingly sign up for an international ad-fraud conspiracy, but they might stumble into one if they download an app quietly running Elephants code in the background.

Upstreams research focused on a popular file-sharing app called 4Shared that incorporated Elephant Datas SDK. The app was silently loading and clicking on invisible ads on peoples phones, apparently to defraud companies that pay to have their ads displayed. In some cases, Elephant Data even made fraudulent purchases on behalf of users. Upstream found 2 million devices in 17 countries (including the U.S.) that were behaving this way, and estimated it may have cost their owners as much as $150 million in data charges.

Over the years, Disconnect was contacted by other companies offering money in return for installing their code. One came from a company called AppJolt, which later became part of OneAudience, an app-analytics company. In February, Facebook sued OneAudience over an SDK it claimed was improperly harvesting user data. A spokeswoman from OneAudience's public relations firm tells CR that the company shut down in November and pointed to a statement that said the data was "never intended to be collected, never added to our database and never used."

It's unusual for a company to pay developers to use their SDKs. More often, the software is free or developers are charged for it. Offering to pay for placement isn't a sure sign that a company is engaging in fraud, but consumers still may not be comfortable with what the SDK provider is doing. For instance, a company called X-mode pays app developers to use its SDK, which collects users' location data to be aggregated and sold to other businesses.

A rogue SDK's bad behavior can be hard to detecteven for an app developer that's implemented the code, says Dimitris Maniantis, CEO of Upstream. Elephant Data presents itself as a market intelligence service that helps app developers understand more about their users. And it goes to lengths to hide its illicit activity: Its privacy policy makes no mention of it, and 4Shared's Irin Len tells CR that the company "knew nothing" of the Elephant Data SDK's alleged behavior. Len says 4Shared broke off its relationship with Elephant before the Upstream report was published, but would not say why.

Its not clear how many other apps are running Elephant Datas SDK. The company, which appears to be based in Hong Kong, did not respond to CRs repeated requests for comment.

Building From Scratch

Fraud aside, developers that want to build apps that respect their users' privacy can find it difficult to avoid participating in the legal third-party data economy.

Several years ago, one companyPerry Street Softwaremade the leap: It began stripping other companies SDKs out of its products, a pair of popular gay dating apps called Jackd and Scruff. The effort took a tremendous amount of time and money, says Perry Street CEO Eric Silverberg.

But for a company that caters to the gay community in the U.S. and abroadusers who, depending on their circumstances, could be fired, arrested, or assaulted if their identities leakedplugging those potential data leaks felt important. So the company pulled out vendors SDKs for analyzing app performance, tracking installs, and displaying advertisements bought on third-party networks. Now, marketers deal directly with Perry Street if they want to advertise in the dating apps. Facebook, too, got discarded, even though that meant Jackd and Scruff wouldnt be able to benefit from the companys powerful advertising platform.

Silverberg shared a scrap of business-school advice that has stayed with him: Be careful of the company you keep. Theres just a universe of actors all clamoring to get access to your data, and you need to be careful, he says.

For the average startup, going cold turkey probably isnt realistic. When we got our start, we were using third-party ad networks, and they were a critical source of revenue, Silverberg says. Wed never be here if it werent for that revenue. I completely understand an app starting today needing revenue from those networks.

That means the average consumer is constantly dealing with data-hungry companies operating just below the surface of their apps. Experts tell CR theres little a user can do to protect themselves, beyond avoiding sketchy apps from anonymous developers. I try to think: Is this developed by a company Ive heard of? So Im not just downloading random stuff from the App Store, says Cynthia Taylor, a computer science professor at Oberlin College.

But that's not much of a defense against abuse, experts say. Right now the issue is that the burden of determining whether an app is going to be behaving or not is shifted to the end user, says Berkeleys Egelman. Consumers just dont have the ability to make these decisions. And other stakeholders have abdicated their responsibility.





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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.
The coronavirus outbreak, which has been declared a 'pandemic' by the World Health Organisation, will expose the weaker borrowers of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), S&P Global Ratings has said.

In its report "Prolonged COVID-19 Disruption Could Expose The GCC's Weaker Borrowers' published on Ratings Direct, the S&P said recent revisions to our oil price assumptions are USD 40 per barrel in 2020 from USD 60 previously.

"Weaker global demand will strain GCC economies, and the effect will be amplified by key trading partner concentrations," said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Mohamed Damak.

"We estimate that the volume of vulnerable goods exports ranges from 53 per cent of total exports for Oman to about 17 per cent for Bahrain," the report said.

According to the financial research agency, the GCC's hospitality industry, which includes sectors like airlines, hotels, and retail, will see lower revenue because of decreased tourism and business flows as travel aversion and restrictions are enforced during the peak tourism season.

"Furthermore across most major bourses, prices have declined sharply and risk aversion has spiked. For the GCC region, this means issuers that have weaker credit quality or significant direct exposure to affected industries will find it difficult to access capital markets," Damak said.

The knock-on effects of lower economic growth and oil prices will further slow lending growth and increase the overall stock of problem assets, (stage 2 and stage 3 loans) at GCC banks.

At the same time, interest margins will decline. Combined, these shifts will weaken banks' profitability.

Capitalisation is unlikely to be affected by these changes and it should continue to support bank ratings.

On the funding side, the lower oil price is likely to slow deposit base growth. This report does not constitute a rating action.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Survey of India team was



detained by villagers in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district on suspicion that they were collecting data for the National Register of Citizens (NRC), officials said on Friday.

The incident happened in Bahirghanya village in Galsi 2 block on Thursday when the five-member team went there for fieldwork, they said.

Locals said that members of the team were taking photographs of places of worship, raising suspicion that they were in the village for the NRC exercise.

The surveyors told the locals that they were in the village to update the map of the area but it failed to convince them, officials said.

When the locals sought to see their identity cards, they refused, following which they were detained, officials said, adding that members of the team were then taken to the BDO's office.

Block Development Officer (BDO) Shankhya Bandyopadhyay said members of the team clicked photographs of temples and mosques in the village.

Since there is a panic over the NRC, the sudden visit by the team led to tension in the village, he added.

"They showed me an order relating to the survey exercise, but there was no prior information about it," Bandyopadhyay added.

The officer said that a meeting was held with the locals and they were told that the survey was not related to the NRC.

The team has been asked to not proceed with the survey till an official order was communicated to the local authorities, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Families are now barred from attending all four Defense Department branches' boot camp graduation ceremonies as the country grapples with new coronavirus fears.

The Marine Corps announced on Thursday that it would join the Navy and Air Force in closing its graduation ceremonies to the public. The new rules apply to both the East and West coast recruit training bases -- Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina and Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.

No end date was given on when the ban will lift.

"We understand the significance of this event to Marines and their families, but we must remain cautious and focused on public safety," a Facebook post announcing the change at Parris Island states.

Related: Air Force Cancels Liberty for Newly Graduated Airmen

The Army was the last of the four Defense Department services to announce it would no longer allow attendees at boot camp ceremonies. Army Training and Doctrine Command's Center for Initial Military Training decided Thursday afternoon that the coronavirus, or COVID-19, posed too high a risk at new soldiers' graduations.

"In order to protect the health of soldiers, civilians and their families, the U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training, has cancelled all graduation ceremonies and associated events across Initial Military Training, beginning March 13, 2020," Meg Reed, spokesman for the center, said in a statement.

The Marine Corps and Army have also canceled Family Day celebrations on entry-level training bases leading up to the ceremonies.

Both Marine Corps' recruit depots have graduation ceremonies scheduled for Friday. Parris Island canceled its ceremony, according to the base's Facebook post. The one in San Diego will still proceed without an audience. That ceremony will be recorded and shown online.

"We apologize for the inconvenience, and appreciate your frustration," MCRD San Diego's Facebook page states. "There are no cases of COVID-19 here at MCRD San Diego, and we must remain cautious and focused on the public's safety while continuing to Make Marines."

Entry-level training across the Army and Marine Corps continues.

"The health and safety of our Army family is our main priority, and our leadership will continue to take decisive measures to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases and adhere to the guidance outlined by the Center for Disease Control, and the Defense Health Agency," Reed said.

The decisions follow the Navy and Air Force's decisions earlier this week to stop public recruit training graduations. Those services also canceled liberty for new sailors and airmen, meaning they are no longer allowed to go home after completing boot camp. Instead, new graduates are required to report to their next schoolhouse or other assignments directly after graduation.

Marine recruits at both depots are still allowed to take liberty, according to the depots' Facebook pages.

The new restrictions on graduations follow new sweeping travel restrictions on military personnel. Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced the changes on Wednesday night, after President Donald Trump briefed the nation from the Oval Office on the ongoing threats surrounding the coronavirus.

The virus has continued to spread in the U.S. and other parts of the world. Countries such as Italy have imposed severe restrictions on its entire population after the virus quickly spread throughout that country.

During his address, Trump announced he would block Europeans from entering the U.S. to help slow the spread of the sometimes-fatal virus. Esper later announced a 60-day ban on travel to all countries where the virus remains widespread, including China, Italy, Iran and South Korea.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Read more: Some Military Travel Restrictions Now Global with New CDC Guidance
A Longford woman currently serving two and a half year sentence for robbery has been convicted of two separate assaults within hours of each other.

Frances OBrien (24), 4 Cluain Ard, Ardnacassa, Longford, pleaded guilty to both offences at last weeks sitting of Longford District Court.

The court heard how Ms OBrien, under the influence of an intoxicant, called to the home of an acquaintance and his partner on November 8 2018.

Despite her intoxicated state, the court heard Ms OBrien arrived at the premises on a motor chair which belonged to her partners father.

Upon knocking at their door, Sgt McGirl said Ms OBrien asked the couple if they had seen her partner before entering the property and making tea for herself.

A short time later, Ms OBrien asked to go to the toilet and for other woman to accompany her.

Within seconds, Sgt McGirl said the man followed the two women upstairs after hearing a commotion.

There, it was claimed, Ms OBrien was found holding a large kitchen knife in a threatening manner towards the woman.

At this point, the woman managed to escape back downstairs, leaving Ms OBrien and and the man upstairs.

Sgt McGirl said Ms OBrien then put the knife to the mans back and threatened to stab him unless he handed over his wallet.

After managing to take almost 50 from her victim, Ms OBrien fled the scene and dropped the knife in making her getaway.

The court was also informed of a second Section 2 assault which happened on the same day.

On that occasion, shortly before 8pm Ms OBrien and another person entered Lloyds Pharmacy, Longford Shopping Centre.

After quickly becoming suspicious of the pair, assistance from a security guard was sought and both left the premises.

A short time later, Sgt McGirl said Ms OBrien returned and approached a female pharmacist, becoming extremely confrontational and aggressive in the process.

Its alleged at that stage she headbutted her to the side of the head, said Sgt McGirl.

Though managing to avoid any major injuries, Sgt McGirl said the woman was severely shaken up by the ordeal.

Asked about her previous criminal record by Judge Seamus Hughes, Sgt McGirl said Ms OBrien had six prior convictions to her name.

Four of those were for theft related offences, the most current of which came in December 2018.

More recently, the court was informed Ms OBrien had been given a two and a half year prison term for robbery as well as two suspended sentences totalling up to six years.

In defence, solicitor Fiona Baxter said her client was originally from Portlaoise but had been residing in Longford for the past number of years.

She said Ms OBrien had been in custody since last September, but in that time has been attending counselling and hailed as an enhanced prisoner by authority bosses.

On medication for psychiatric issues, Ms Baxter said Ms OBriens immediate concern was for her three young children who she hasnt been able to see since her incarceration.

In summation, Judge Hughes said it was worth noting Ms OBrien was staring at serving most, or if not all, of the suspended prison term still hanging over her if she committed any further crimes upon her release.

She will have to watch her ps and qs going forward, he said.

Its a very serious matter to go into a persons home and rob them at knifepoint.

On the robbery charge, Judge Hughes sentenced Ms OBrien to eight months in prison and a further two months concurrent for the Section 2 assault.

Both terms, he ordered to run concurrently to the existing sentence already being served by Ms OBrien.
Hundreds of jubilant polling station executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) yesterday poured onto the streets of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Constituency of the Western Region to celebrate the qualification of Joycelyn Andoh to contest the upcoming parliamentary primaries in the area.

Joycelyn Andoh was one of the three persons who filed their nominations to contest the primaries and subsequently went for vetting.

The rest included the incumbent George Mireku Duker and Frimpomaa Ayensu, daughter of a former DCE for the area.

Before the vetting committee of the party came out with their verdict, it was rumoured that Joycelyn Andoh had been disqualified.

The assertion was reiterated by the Western Regional Chairman of the NPP, Ndede Siah, in a television interview.

However, the chairman of the vetting committee, F.F Anto, in a radio interview disclosed that Joycelyne Andoh has not been disqualified and that she would be contesting the primaries.

Mr. Antoh explained that it was rather Frimpomaa Ayensu who was disqualified from the primaries and not Joycelyn Andoh.

The supporters of Joycelyn Andoh, mainly polling station executives clad in NPP paraphernalia, organized a procession through the principal streets of Tarkwa amid brass band music yesterday to celebrate the approval of their candidate to contest in the race.

Some of them held placards with inscriptions such 'Joy Our Hope', 'With Joy NPPs Victory In Tarkwa Sure', 'Joy for the Youth', 'Vote Joy for Development', among others.

They finally gathered at the forecourt of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Tarkwa, where they were addressed by some polling station chairpersons in the constituency.

The Tamso Senyakrom polling station chairman, Kamara Tahidu, told DAILY GUIDE that the NPP needs to retain the Tarkwa seat in the December general election and that Joycelyn Andoh is the best candidate to help do that.

We are so happy our candidate has been approved. Now the party needs more capable women in Parliament that is why majority of the polling station executives want to see Joycelyn Andoh in the next Parliament, he said.

He said he was convinced that Joycelyne Andoh, when given the nod, would bring development to Tarkwa-Nsuaem to help improve the living standards of the residents.

He indicated that Joyce Andoh had already initiated some pro-poor policies in the constituency through her NGO and believed that she would do more when elected to Parliament.

---Daily Guide
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested negative for the coronavirus, after multiple reports claimed he tested positive for coronavirus.

The testing followed days after Mr Bolsonaro visited the United States, where he met with US president Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence at the American's Mar-a-Lago resort.

While a statement posted to Mr Bolsonaro's Facebook page claims he tested negative, his press secretary, who was also on the trip and pictured alongside Mr Trump, did testpositive for the virus, which has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation this week.

On Friday, Miami mayor Francis Suarez, who was also present during Mr Bolsonaro's visit to South Florida last week, said he had also tested positive after coming into contact with the Brazilian delegation.

Click here to follow The Independent's live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

"I'm not concerned," Mr Trump told reporters on Thursday after those coronavirus cases were reported. So far, Mr Trump and Mr Pence have not been tested for the virus, even as many other Republican officials have decided to self-isolate and get tested after similar potential exposures.

A source with knowledge of the White Houses response had earlier pushed back on the initial reports indicating Bolsonaro had tested positive for the virus, stressing the Brazilian government has yet to confirm he has tested positive.

Mr Bolsonaro, for his part, has downplayed the threat of Covid-19 recently, saying that he believes the worries are "oversized".

"Other flus kill more than this," Mr Bolsonaro said on Wednesday.
Pushpa Basnets Putali ko Ghar, Sushila Karkis Nyaya, Parijats Adhyayan Ra Sangharsha, and Jhamak Kumari Ghimires Jiwan Kaanda Ki Phoolthey all talk about women and their struggles in life, roads to success, morality for women, and their way of living from their own perspectives. However, such works of art have somehow been restricted to the Feminism section in a library in general.

Now, in Kathmandu, you have one such library that is entirely dedicated to the feminism section.

Marking the World Book Day, Junkiri: the feminist library was inaugurated in Makkhan on Kathmandu on March 5. The concept of a library is obviously not new, but the concept of a feminist library is, and the newly found organisation claims this is the first feminist library for Nepal. It is a library that includes books keeping women in the centre as writers or characters, or by incorporating women-centric issues and plots.

The vow of empowerment

The library is an initiative of Voice of Women (VOW) Media, an organisation registered in December 2015. It works for and with women with an objective of empowering and uplifting them and their voices through the means of art, media and education.

In one of the weekly meetings of the organisation a few months ago, when the team was brainstorming for ideas, it came up with the plan to open a feminist library. After assessing the need, it prepared a wishlist of over 200 must-read books on feminism so as to feature them in the library.

The initiative is named Junkiri [firefly] because it stands as a symbol of empowerment, according to the organisation. A firefly is self-sufficient; it illuminates and the light works as a guide for others. If nothing else, the light is sufficient for its survival and identity, the organisations office manager Anita Karmacharya explains, This insect fitted well with our vision for the library and for women we work with. Also, the number of libraries and fireflies are decreasing, so we introduced this so that neither of them goes extinct.

During our book collection phase, we saw lack of readiness in people to donate books on feminism, maybe because they were not familiar with the concept of book donation, maybe because they owned a rare copy of the books. However, they had a longing for a public space to sit and read, adds Bikkil Sthapit, the librarys coordinator.

Our working experiences have suggested that women especially homemakers do not visit the libraries. They do not have that space. Women struggle to have a balance between being a homemaker and making a career; or choosing one over another. It is hard for them to get time to sit and read, says Manju GC Bhandari, the librarian.

However, with access to the internet today, young women are not reading physical books anymore. Bhandari thinks it is because they do not find interesting books about their life, adding the new library addresses their concerns while empowering them.

The hope for change

With Junkiri, they intend to enlighten and enrich the knowledge of the young generation. For that, the team has plans to take the library to schools, in forms of book clubs and movie screenings to start a dialogue on feminist issues among the students. With that, they also hope that the number of books, on feminism or otherwise, written by Nepali writers will increase.

Some of the books here contain serious and controversial topics. Whereas adults can interpret and criticise such issues, children need guidance to explore, understand and learn from such topics. So more discussion is needed, and we plan to do so through book clubs, discussions, and movie screenings, adds Karmacharya.

Likewise, the team also wants to change the portrayal of women in the books. Some books have stereotypical perspectives on women, especially portraying them as victims. In both books and society, women have more substitute roles due to the patriarchal mindset we have. And hopefully, they can be changed, adds Sthapit.

The change they hope can be achieved by influencing and empowering the young generation. In Kathmandu, we have started and witnessed so many revolutions for women. But we still have a reactionary approach to everything, because of which, the revolutions stop midway and end with no results, no matter how much hope and crowd they had stirred. What we do today, as feminist leaders and activists, will have an impact on the new generation. So it is important to teach them and make them active today, from small, he explains.

Many in the Nepali society believe that only women can be feminists. Identifying himself as a feminist, Sthapit states feminism is not gender-specific. It is not new for people to not understand the concept and cringe at working on feminist issues. We hope to educate and make young students aware of this as well.

To promote reading culture, the library also wants to launch a campaign to gift books on birthdays and other occasions.

Giving shape to the library

Word-of-mouth was the organisations first approach to start collecting the books. From within the team and its close networks, the team members started collecting books. People donated books they had already read and owned. Some even purchased the books they liked and donated to the library. They also collaborated with several publication houses to collect the books.

So far, the library has collected over books from donations and economic support from 300 plus people. Out of them, it has selected and coded about 440 books and other reading materials that either have women writers or focus on women characters and women issues. The organising of the books is still underway.

In the library, the books have been categorised based on the language it is written in, under different sections including fiction, nonfiction, biography, sociology, etc. In the near future, it has a plan to open sections for children and queers.

Among the many contributors, Deuralee Chamling, a freelance journalist, collaborated with her network and took initiative to collect as many books as possible for the cause. Books enlighten us; they are the medium to learn and convey peoples life experiences. Feminism has different perspectives, but we joined and contributed to the cause for it talked about knowledge, empowerment, and upliftment, she says.

However, the library founders say that the books they have collected so far only cover about 10 to 15 per cent of books from their wishlist. They have also collected some books that are not available in Nepal.

We have collected almost every book we can find in Nepal and from outside, but they are very hard to find. We will continue to collect [or buy] even more books, from all over the world. One bulk is being transported from India within a week, informs Sthapit. Meanwhile, the books that the library will not use will be returned to the donors.

The library opens from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday. The founders say it will open on weekends too, very soon. The library has a cosy room with an extended rooftop space for the readers willing to sit and read. It has a provision for membership for Rs 100 per year. The membership is free for the students upon a recommendation of their school. One can borrow a book for 15 days, after which they can return or renew the borrowing. After 15 days, the library charges Rs 5 per day for delay. In case the book is lost, one will have to replace it with a new copy.

Meanwhile, the organisation has been crowdfunding to set up an offline server with e-versions of all the books, reports, (academic) papers for users to access. In the long run, it has a plan to expand the space within and outside Kathmandu.
Saga's Spirit of Discovery cruise ship. (PA)

Saga has scrapped all its cruises for the next seven weeks because of the coronavirus after the UK government warned older passengers to avoid cruise ships.

The company (SAGA.L) said it would take a profit hit of between 10m ($12.6m) and 15m after it announced the decision to suspend trips until 1 May.

Customers will be contacted and offered a full refund or credit for future trips, Saga said in a statement on Friday. It said cancellations had increased in recent weeks but remained low for upcoming trips in March and April.

The health and safety of customers and colleagues is our number one priority, the company said.

Read more: Norwegian says half its staff could face temporary lay-offs

It sought to reassure investors about its financial prospects despite the uncertain travel environment, however.

It said it has significant available liquidity, will try to cut costs and does not see the virus significantly impacting the performance of its insurance business.

Other operators have announced similar measures. Carnival-owned Princess Cruises, which had two ships quarantined by the virus, said on Thursday it would cancel all trips for its 18 vessels for the next two months. Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, called it perhaps the most difficult decision in our history."

In February the companys Diamond Princess cruise ship had the biggest concentration of confirmed cases outside China at the time, with around 700 people infected and six deaths, according to Reuters.

Carnival (CCL.L) was the second biggest faller on Britains FTSE 100 (^FTSE) at around 10.40am on Friday, trading 3.6% lower while most of the index leapt. It had slumped 18% on Thursday.

Read more: Stocks sell-off shows every company will feel cost of coronavirus

Richard Branson also announced this week that the first season of his new Virgin Voyages cruise line would be delayed.

It comes after the UK governments Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) advised against all cruise travel for anyone aged 70 and over. Anyone with high-risk conditions should do the same, with officials citing advice from Britains chief medical officer.

Story continues

A spokesperson said: Our first priority is the safety of British nationals. The nature and design of cruise ships  where passengers are contained and the virus can spread faster  makes them a particularly risky environment for vulnerable people.

Weve already seen the impact a coronavirus outbreak can have on board a cruise ship, and we have changed this advice with the safety of British nationals in mind.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK
CALGARY - Canada's oil and gas producers are continuing to cut billions of dollars from capital spending budgets and reduce payouts to investors in the wake of this week's sharp plunge in oil prices.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Husky Energy logo is shown at the company's annual meeting in Calgary, Alta., Friday, May 5, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY - Canada's oil and gas producers are continuing to cut billions of dollars from capital spending budgets and reduce payouts to investors in the wake of this week's sharp plunge in oil prices.

Calgary-based ARC Resources Ltd. said Friday it will chop its 2020 spending budget from $500 million to no more than $300 million and cut its monthly dividend to two cents from five cents.

"The rapid decline in global commodity prices has created a significant headwind for energy producers, and we feel it is prudent to adjust our spending levels in order to protect our balance sheet and to ensure the sustainability of our business," said ARC CEO Terry Anderson in a statement.

Late Thursday, Husky Energy Inc. announced it will cut capital spending this year by $900 million to about $2.4 billion, and said it will aim to find another $100 million in cost-saving measures.

The company slashed about 370 jobs last year and announced in December it would cut capital spending plans for 2020 and 2021 by about $500 million from previous guidance due to changing market conditions.

Investment in resource plays and conventional heavy oil projects in Western Canada has been halted, Husky said, adding it has also suspended drilling of sustaining pads at all thermal oilsands operations.

Oil producers have been trimming spending and focusing on cost cutting for several years after oil prices fell dramatically in 2015 and 2016.

The cuts come as the novel coronavirus outbreak erodes global energy demand and a price war between top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia threatens to flood the oil market with cheap barrels.

Smaller Calgary-based energy players are also cutting budgets and payouts.

Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"Total Energy (Services Inc.) expects that North American industry activity levels will decrease in the near term and remains focused on preserving its liquidity and balance sheet strength," said the Calgary-based supplier of drilling, production and processing equipment in a statement Friday.

"As such, the board of directors has determined to suspend payment of a dividend effective immediately and reduce the companys 2020 capital expenditure budget from $23 million to $10 million."

Work lodgings provider Horizon North Logistics Inc. announced it is cutting its dividend to zero and CES Energy Solutions Corp., which sells production chemicals and drilling fluid, slashed its shareholder payouts by 75 per cent.

Calgary-based Gran Tierra Energy Inc., which produces oil in Colombia and Ecuador, said it plans to shut down wells producing 1,000 to 1,500 barrels of oil per day as it cuts its 2020 spending plan from about US$185 million to a "maintenance range" of between US$60 million and US$80 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:ARX, TSX:CEU, TSX:HNL, TSX:HSE, TSE:TOT, TSX:GTE)
(Kitco News) - The coronavirus has forced Italy to quarantine the entire country of more than 60 million people, and and this may expedite an already slowing economy, said Ivo Pezzuto, professor of global economics at the International School of Management.

Last year, Italy was already teetering on the edge, 0.2% growth, really no growth at all, Pezzuto told Kitco News, noting that a shock like the coronavirus is enough to bring growth into negative territory.

Pezzutos comments come as President Donald Trump issued a travel ban to Europe earlier this week.

While tourism, which accounts for almost a fifth of Italys economy, is first to suffer, Pezzuto noted that other sectors would be hit hard as well.

Its not just tourism, its restaurants, museums, sport events, international fairs, even manufacturing because of the disruption to the supply chain from China and the other Asian markets, he said.

Additionally, the devastation in China, the source of the coronavirus, now has a much larger impact on the global economy than the SARS outbreak in 2003, Pezzuto noted.

China represents 17% of the global GDP, and its four times the percentage of GDP it used to be at the time of SARS in 2003. Their supply chain affects all regions of the world, so the disruption of supply is also a disruption to their trading partners, he said.
The CDx will support clinical trial enrollment globally

Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced that it has signed an agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, to co-develop a companion diagnostic (CDx) in oncology. The CDx will support clinical trial enrollment globally.

Under the agreement, Thermo Fisher Scientific will collaborate with Janssen Research & Development, LLC scientists to validate multiple biomarkers for use with Thermo Fisher's Oncomine Dx Target Test, which will be used to identify variant-positive patients for enrollment into clinical trials focused on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Additional indications in oncology may follow as part of the agreement.

Oncomine Dx Target Test is a next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay that contains 46 cancer-related biomarkers and a workflow that features a fast turnaround time and the lowest sample requirements on the market for detection of both DNA and RNA variants.
SEATTLE  On an overcast day in Seattle, a few dozen medical staff members, students and emergency workers with symptoms of the fast-spreading coronavirus spent their lunch break driving to a parking garage.

The UW Medicines Medical Center Northwest has turned part of the first floor of their four-story parking garage into a mobile testing clinic. Think fast-food drive-through, but instead of getting served a juicy burger, nurses come to take a nasal swab.

In about a day, patients find out whether they have the coronavirus.

Delays in testing have set back the United States response to containing the coronavirus, and the mobile clinic that has operated since March 6 is one attempt to identify cases earlier in Seattle, the center of the nations outbreak.

Its been a crazy couple of weeks, says Dr. Seth Cohen, who is leading the effort and is the medical director of infection prevention at the UW Medical Center.
A murder probe has been launched after a teenager was shot dead in a street in Coventry.

Officers were called to the Hillfields area of the city amid reports of a shooting and found a 19-year-old with a serious back injury.

The victim, who has not yet been named, was rushed to hospital but could not be saved.

His family are now being supported by specialist officers.

Police were called to the scene, pictured, just after 2.30pm today, after a teenager was shot dead

The shooting took place near Hillfields Children's Centre & Nursery School

The attack happened in Arnside Close near the junction of Clifton Street just after 2.30pm.

West Midlands Police are looking for information on a black VW Golf R with light coloured or silver wing mirrors and five spoke alloy wheels, which was 'acting suspiciously' in the area.

Chief Inspector Scott Griffiths from the homicide team said: 'I am appealing for anyone with information on today's shooting to get in touch with us as soon as possible.

'We are committed to finding those responsible and would urge anyone with dash-cam or phone footage of what happened before or after the incident to speak to us.

'We are interested in hearing from anyone who saw a black VW Golf R, with light coloured or silver wing mirrors and five spoke alloy wheels, in the area acting suspiciously too.'

Anyone with information is asked to get in touch via 101 quoting log 2362 of 13 March.

Alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Several evidence bags lie propped against a wall following the fatality

West Midlands Police have cordoned off the area which surrounds the nursery. They have asked motorists to 'avoid the area if possible'
Bengaluru: Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) ward and help desks have been set up for the people who have returned from China are under observation and some are getting checked by the doctors at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Disease, in Bengaluru on Jan 31, Image Source: PK

Bengaluru, March 13 : The fifth coronavirus positive case in Karnataka has emerged to be a 26-year-old Google employee, the company confirmed on Friday.

"We can confirm that an employee from our Bangalore (Bengaluru) office has been diagnosed with COVID-19. They were in one of our Bangalore offices for a few hours before developing any symptoms," a company spokesperson said in a statement.

The employee has been in quarantine since then, and Google has asked colleagues who were in close contact with the employee to quarantine themselves and monitor their health.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking employees in that Bengaluru office to work from home tomorrow (Friday)," said Google.

According to an internal email circulating on social media, the Google employee contracted the virus after travelling overseas (Greece) and attended the company's RMZ office on Monday.

When he returned from Greece, he did not immediately exhibit any coronavirus symptoms but successfully passed through the thermal screening at the airport which checks for fever in passengers.

But on Monday, after a few hours in office, he felt unwell and decided to return home.

The employee was confirmed as being infected by COVID-19 on Thursday.

The company is in touch with the employee and is offering support.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking that all those based in our RMZ office leave for home as soon as they are able and also work from home tomorrow (Saturday) while we conduct further sanitation," said Google's internal email to employees.

Google also requested its employees not to visit the RMZ office over the weekend.

"We will be stopping food service, and no meals will be served at the RMZ office starting tonight, and over the weekend," said the email.

Google will update the employees about operations at the RMZ office by Sunday.

Late on Thursday night, Karnataka Health Minister B. Sriramulu confirmed that a 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi in the state's northern region died of coronavirus.

When asked by IANS, real estate major RMZ, in whose property the Google office is located in Bengaluru, did not immediately reveal the safety measures taken or the response it is planning in the light of the positive coronavirus case.

After Dell India and Mindtree, this is the third case where an employee of a tech giant has been diagnosed with coronavirus in the country.

Earlier, one employee from software major Mindtree and Dell India each tested positive after returning from the US.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
GENEVA - A leading epidemiologist who heads a U.N.-backed alliance that helps get vaccines to developing countries said Friday the world is nowhere near proper readiness for outbreaks like the new coronavirus, insisting work is needed now to prepare for the next one.

Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of GAVI-The Vaccine Alliance, noted studies alluding to the existence of more than 30,000 coronaviruses, and said outbreaks like the COVID-19 pandemic could well become more likely.

With increasing population, with increasing environmental destruction, we are likely to see an accelerating rate of these types of outbreaks, he said from GAVI headquarters overlooking Geneva.

We are nowhere near where we need to be to be globally prepared for these types of outbreaks, said Berkley, whose organization brings together industry, governments, United Nations agencies like the World Health Organization and UNICEF, and charities like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

With the SARS and MERS coronavirus outbreaks earlier this century, initial interest in developing vaccines amid those crises ended up waning when the outbreaks faded  and some worry about a repeat with the new coronavirus down the road. Berkeley hopes this time will be different.

Given the magnitude of this outbreak, I would think it would be foolish for us not to complete vaccine development and make sure it was available for potential future outbreaks, he said.

Berkley said the best way to prepare would be to create platform technologies  a buzzword for preparations to scale and manufacture vaccines into a platform into which new pathogens can be inserted to speed up response.

From early on in the outbreak that first emerged in China, the World Health Organization has expressed concern that the new coronavirus might spread in developing countries with weaker health systems. So far, it has mostly hit richer countries like China, South Korea and Japan, and increasingly Italy and other European countries. Developing countries havent had big outbreaks.

It would be a fools errand if we assumed that in fact, its not going to go to these places, Berkley said, adding that epidemiology shows fast-moving outbreaks often settle in locations with weaker health systems.

He said 27 GAVI countries have recorded at least one case, and some have clusters, raising questions about whether testing abilities, weather, the age of population  mostly younger in those countries  or some other factor may be slowing the emergence of COVID-19 in those places.

It may be that by the time we see a larger outbreak in developing countries  if we do  we will have better and more rapid tools and test kits, and maybe a better understanding of therapeutics, or even other ways to deal with this, he said. Thats my hope.
C oronavirus is likely to return year on year and millions of Britons will need to become infected to control the impact of the disease, the governments chief scientific advisor has said.

Sir Patrick Vallance told Sky News around 60% of the UK population would need to contract the deadly COVID-19 in order for society to develop herd immunity from future outbreaks.

Sir Patrick also warned the UK was currently on a trajectory that was about four weeks behind Italy, which has become the epicentre of Europes outbreak.

Empty London during Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /50 Empty London during Coronavirus - In pictures Coronavirus  Tue Jan 5, 2021 PA Wire Londons streets standing deserted PA Archive Tube stations were also devoid of traffic Jeremy Selwyn An empty Piccadilly Circus on a quiet night in London PA King's Cross railway station PA An unusually quiet M25 motorway PA Trafalgar Square Getty Images Deserted check-in desks at Terminal Five of London's Heathrow Airport PA Empty pitches are seen on Hackney Marshes Reuters A sparsely-filled carriage on an Underground train in west London PA A person stands on the steps below the statue of Eros, in front of the signs in an empty Piccadilly Circus, London PA Empty car parking spaces are shown at level -3 at Westfield shopping centre Reuters A woman in a protective face mask stands outside of St. Paul's Cathedral Reuters The Euston Road entrance to King's Cross railway station PA Trafalgar Square, usually packed, was empty Jeremy Selwyn A commuter makes his way through Waterloo station at rush hour, Reuters A much less busy Oxford Circus in London PA Charing Cross station looked to have more trains than people for once Jeremy Selwyn Nelson stood alone in the capital's heart Jeremy Selwyn Restaurant seats stand empty in Covent Garden Reuters Platforms for the Bakerloo Line at Charing Cross were desolate Jeremy Selwyn West-end theatres stand on a sparsley populated street in London Reuters Jeremy Selwyn The Euston underpass in London's Congestion Charge zone Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn A quiet Regent Street Getty Images Tottenham Court Road looked sparse Jeremy Selwyn A man walks through a sparsely populated arcade in Covent Garden Reuters Buses that would usually have standing room only were full of empty seats Jeremy Selwyn Some commuters were still heading to work Jeremy Selwyn A sparsely populated Regents Street is seen in London Reuters Dawn breaks over London Jeremy Selwyn Paddington was also barren PA Jeremy Selwyn Ticket halls were sparse Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn A much less busy Oxford Street in London PA

"We think this virus is likely to be one that comes year on year, becomes like a seasonal virus," he told Sky News.

"Communities will become immune to it and that's going to be an important part of controlling this longer term.

"About 60% is the sort of figure you need to get herd immunity."

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Sir Patrick later told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that the Governments approach is also about flattening the broader peak of the epidemic.

What we dont want is everybody to end up getting it in a short period of time so we swamp and overwhelm NHS services  thats the flattening of the peak, he said.

You cant stop it, so you should end up with a broader peak during which time youd anticipate that more people would get immunity to this. That in itself becomes a protective part of this process.

Sir Patrick Vallance / AP

Asked why the UK has delayed shutting down schools, Sir Patrick said a closure now would see educational establishments shut down for many months.

He said it is not yet clear if any children have transmitted the illness and that most experience only mild Covid-19 symptoms.

Coronavirus update: What you need to know about the 'delay phase'

He added: Children, of course, arent going to separate for long periods, they are going to go and do other things together.

And they may go and stay with grandma, one of those in the most vulnerable group.

He told LBC radio that the pandemic would go on for months rather than weeks.

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We need to make sure we do the right thing at the right stage to have the biggest impact," he said.

And the measures that were announced yesterday, which were that anybody with mild symptoms, which are a fever, a raised temperature or a cough, should stay at home. Thats not a trivial change.

That is going to have a big impact of many people staying at home for a week.

It is one of the things that can have the biggest impact in terms of reducing the transmissibility and ability of the virus to spread quickly across the population.

Coronavirus hits tourist sites in Asia and Oceania - In pictures 1 /18 Coronavirus hits tourist sites in Asia and Oceania - In pictures Click through the gallery to see the decline in tourists at some of the world's most popular tourist destinations ... Getty Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, China Dates: September 20, 2019 (top) and March 6, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images Senso-ji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district, Japan Dates: April 16, 2019 (top) and March 9, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images Jakarta History Museum, Indonesia Dates: August 18, 2018 (top) and on March 7, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea Dates: May 3, 2017 (top) and March 6, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images The Old Quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam Dates: November 24, 2015 (top) and March 7, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images Victoria Peak, Hong Kong Dates: December 26, 2015 (top) and March 7, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand Dates: January 29, 2020 (top) and March 2, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images Sydney Opera House, Australia Dates: December 30, 2017 (top) and March 8, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images Angkor Wat Temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia Dates: March 16, 2019 (top) and March 5, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images The Huangpu River in Shanghai, China Dates: May 1, 2019 (top) and March 8, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia Dates: January 26, 2020 (top) and March 8, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand Dates: July 9, 2019 (top) and March 6, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images Merlion Park, Singapore Dates: August 13, 2019 (top) and March 6, 2020 (below). AFP via Getty Images

His comments come after the Prime Ministers response to the outbreak was criticised for not going far enough.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt questioned the Governments decision not to cancel large gatherings.

Asked on BBC Newsnight what he thought about the decision not to cancel large gatherings, Mr Hunt, chair of the House of Commons Health select committee, said: I think it is surprising and concerning that were not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.

You would have thought that every single thing we do in that four weeks would be designed to slow the spread of people catching the virus.

He added that he is personally surprised that were still allowing external visits to care homes.

Boris Johnson says families will continue to 'lose loved ones before their time' in coronavirus update

When asked about the lock-down measures deployed by Italy, Sir Patrick said that it was impossible for a country to attempt to self-isolate its entire population.

It is impossible, I think," he said. "And also, when youve got it inside the country, it would be difficult to stop that spread.

It comes as France became one of the latest European countries to close all schools, universities and nurseries, while in the US, all major sport has been suspended and Broadway performances have been stopped for a month.

On Thursday, Ireland announced the closure of all schools and childcare facilities and other public spaces such as museums, while Scotland banned gatherings of more than 500 people.

Mr Johnson told reporters at a press conference on Thursday: Weve all got to be clear: this is the worst public health crisis for a generation.

It is going to spread further and I must level with you, I must level with the British public: many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.

He said that from now on, people with even mild coronavirus symptoms, including a continuous cough or high temperature, must stay at home for at least seven days.

School trips abroad should be stopped, people over 70 with serious medical conditions are being told not to go on cruises, and officials warned the advice is likely to develop so that entire households could be told to self-isolate.

The Government said it would not move to close schools yet as the evidence for its effectiveness is lacking, though this will be kept under review.
[March 13, 2020] PCT LTD Adds International Distributor and Sells High-Volume Equipment to Existing Customer as a Result of Heightened Demand

PCT LTD (OTC Pink: PCTL) ("PCTL"), as the result of its wholly owned operating company's (PCT Corp.'s) growth, is pleased to announce a new distribution partner in Puerto Rico in addition to other ongoing expansion efforts. ABC Medical of San Juan, Puerto Rico (www.abcmedicalpr.com) has signed on to be a distributor and sub-registrant for PCT Corp. in Puerto Rico. Through a sub-registration licensing agreement, which includes royalty revenues to PCT Corp., ABC Medical will initially receive one large volume Hydrolyte System for the purpose of producing, bottling, and distributing Hydrolyte solution to their existing hospital and healthcare clients. The move signals the company's first distribution agreement in an area outside the continental United States. "We're excited to be able to expand into Puerto Rico," says Gary Grieco, CEO of PCT LTD. "Expanding into this market is good business for us and for ABC Medical, especially during this critical time when health and hygiene are at the forefront of people's minds," Grieco further commented. According to the Puerto Rico Hospital Association, Puerto Rico has a total of 63 hospitals managed by private and public sectors. The largest concentration of hospitals is in the San Juan metropolitan region (where ABC Medical is located) with a total of 26 hospitals (10 public hospitals and 16 private). As a result of increased demand, an existing customer, BioBlasting LLC of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey (www.bioblasting.com) has also purchased two of PCT Corp.'s large-volume Hydrolyte generators. "Our company has been growing exponentially over the past 2 years as our clients have discovered the benefits of our fluid solutions, which offer a high level of safety for both staff members and the general public," says BioBlasting CEO, Arthur Handson. "In light of the recent outbreak, our team has been working around the clock to ensure our products are accessible to all people and industries, particularly schools. Our goal is to minimize the effects of infectious disease outbreak by implementing proper preventive measures as well as assisting with eradication procedures as needed." "We've had a great relationship with BioBlasting for over two years," says PCT LTD CO, Gary Grieco. "As an existing sub-registrant, they have seen firsthand the safety and efficacy of our product. We're happy to take this next step with them and excited to support them in their growth and efforts to serve their customers and communities."



As a result of heightened demand, PCT Corp. is expediting plans to increase its distribution networks. "With everything going on in the world today, our demand has increased by leaps and bounds" says PCT Corp. President, Bill Prince. "Adding key distributors to our network will allow us to strengthen sales channels and accelerate revenue growth while at the same time providing a much-needed product and service during these critical times. We will strategically add additional distributors and "partners," both In the United States and abroad. This will allow us to keep up with the strong need for our products." The company also received a prestigious award as a Top Innovation of the Year for 2019 from The Infection Prevention Strategy (TIPS) https://infectioncontrol.tips/2019/07/26/top-of-the-year-2019/

The Infection Prevention Strategy (TIPS) is a not for profit that exists to advance innovations, ideas, and processes that make a difference in global health. TIPS extends to 30+ countries and is the key strategic partner for many notable organizations, initiatives, and events. As a result of heightened awareness from being a Top Innovation recipient, the company has and continues to actively engage in discussions with potential partners and distributors to aid in their strategic expansion. Those conversations are ongoing. Additionally, the efficacy and efficiency studies of PCT Corp.'s Annihilyzer Infection Control System, deployed in the United Kingdom, are slated to conclude soon. Upon completion, comprehensive results are expected within 2-4 weeks. To further explain PCT LTD's current activities and opportunities, CEO Gary Grieco will be appearing on the Stock Day Podcast to be aired during the week of March 16th. Grieco had previously appeared on the show earlier this year to discuss the company's international expansion and growth strategy for 2020. About PCT LTD: PCT LTD ("PCTL") focuses its business on acquiring, developing and providing sustainable, environmentally safe disinfecting, cleaning and tracking technologies. The company acquires and holds rights to innovative products and technologies, which are commercialized through its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, Paradigm Convergence (News - Alert) Technologies Corporation (PCT Corp). Currently trading on OTC, "PCTL" aspires to and is actively engaged in preparations for up-listing its common stock to a national securities exchange. The Company established entry into its target markets with commercially viable products in the United States and now continues to gain market share in the U.S. and U.K. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21B of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, goals, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Such statements are based on expectations, estimates and projections at the time the statements are made that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those presently anticipated. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: the success of its new distributors; the results of testing in the U.K; PCTL's and its subsidiary's business prospects; PCTL's ability to raise sufficient funds to satisfy its working capital requirements; the ability of PCTL to execute its business plan; any other effects resulting from the information disclosed above; risks and effects of legal and administrative proceedings and government regulation; future financial and operational results; competition; general economic conditions; and the ability to manage and continue growth. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual outcomes may vary materially from those indicated. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements PCTL makes in this press release include market conditions and those set forth in reports or documents it files from time to time with the SEC (News - Alert). PCTL undertakes no obligation to revise or update such statements to reflect current events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200313005307/en/

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"Invest SVG, the agency for the government that is responsible for attracting Foreign Direct Investment. (is) to start developing the export sector.





Annette Marks, Executive Director of Invest SVG, announced the imminent enhancements at this countrys primary investments promotion agency while addressing a networking event facilitated by Export St. Lucia and Invest SVG, held at the Beachcombers Hotel last Monday.





Mark, in fact, told the gathering, "Invest SVG will be restructuring our agency later on this year. Actually, by the end of March, we will start the restructuring process and we will officially make Invest SVG a trade and investment promotions agency.





Speaking exclusively with THE VINCENTIAN, the Executive Director further explained, "We are developing a five years strategic plan and we want to do it in line with the governments national plan, so we want to look at where we are and make sure that we are in keeping with what government has in the plan.





"And because we are also augmenting the export development department, we want to make sure that we set the agency in such a way that we have the right people for the right jobs. So, it would be the same staff but they would be trained .





Additionally, the Agency would also be setting in place a monitoring and evaluation system to evaluate the projects currently underway.





Mark was also confident that the restructuring process would roll out smoothly, providing all things remain equal.





"Were hoping that it starts at the end of March, the financing is already in place. Weve already gotten the funding for it and I believe that the consultants are already in place. Were just waiting now to do some paperwork in respect to that. The Caribbean Development Agency is the funding agency. Im saying that, but weve not yet signed the documents though theyve already indicated verbally that its going to happen. Mark said.





Meanwhile, the networking event, staged with the primary objective of bringing together St. Lucian and Vincentian businesses in the hope of forging new alliances and collaborations, featured a thirteen-member St. Lucian trade promotions contingent of export ready businesses, manning booths filled with samples, brochures or both of their products and/or services.





Both investment promotions entities are expected to remotely sign a delayed Memorandum of Understanding.

The St. Lucian contingents next stop is Grenada.




Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters marched on parliament in Bangkok on Friday, wearing black T-shirts to mourn the state of Thailand under an army-aligned government, in the first street protest for several years.

Discontent with the government of ex-army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha is seething, with a progressive opposition party disbanded and the country's economy faltering as the COVID-19 crisis batters the key tourism industry.

Protesters have met inside university campuses in recent weeks but are now edging back onto the streets of the capital, which has played host to rival -- and often deadly -- rounds of street over the last 14 years.

Thailand voted Prayut's conservative government into power a year ago.

It was the first election since a 2014 coup and held under an army-scripted constitution that critics say gave Prayut an unfair advantage.

The boisterous but peaceful 'Black Friday' rally, calling for the government to quit, is the latest reflection of his unpopularity.

"Our families are grassroots people and we're directly affected by government policy and the failing economy," 22-year-old student leader Thip Ubsorn said.

Thailand's pro-democracy movements -- usually led by students -- have often ended in bloody army crackdowns.

The powerful military has carried out 12 successful coups in nearly 90 years and remains lodged in the nation's

But now students -- organised on social media and also emboldened by Hong Kong's protest movement -- are slowly mobilising once again.

"We're not scared, we're a new generation," one 27-year-old post-graduate student who called herself BK told AFP.

"We're wearing black to mourn the death of the rule of law, justice and democracy in our country."



Thailand's constitutional court last month disbanded the Future Forward Party, a movement popular among millennials, which won over six million votes at last year's polls.

Its stridently anti-military agenda rattled the conservative establishment.

But the party's abolition and the ban from of its executive, including frontman Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, has enraged a public weary of rule by ex-generals and big business affiliates.

Thailand has one of Asia's highest income disparities.

The impact of coronavirus is forecast to hammer back growth to under two percent this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mohamed Gundarre, the man reported to have attacked President Muhammadu Buhari in Argungu, Kebbi State Thursday has denied the media report.

Addressing the media on Friday in Birnin Kebbi, Mr Gundarre, a graduate of Public Administration from Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto said he was emotionally attached to the presidents outstanding virtues of honesty and attempted to shake him when he was prevented by the security.

He apologised for the breach of protocol and also denied a media report that he was shot and tortured by the security operatives.

My name is Mohammed Jamilu Gunddare from Birnin Kebbi Local Government Area of Kebbi State.

Yesterday was a different day for me because as a graduate of Public Administration who graduated with 2nd Class Lower, it took me a lot of courage and dreams to attempt to get to Mr President despite the fact that there was tight security architecture within the venue.

I am sorry for the disturbances I caused. It was emotional love I have for Mr President the person whom I know is nurtured with integrity and honesty and he is incorruptible and right driven.

No Nigerian and even beyond has ever questioned the consistency, integrity, honesty and righteous disposition of the president on either national issue or even his own personal life.

He has worked as Military Administrator, Minister, Military Head of State and civilian President (and) by all accounts no case of corruption had been attributable to him.

From the time he became president, no one has ever questioned whether the national resources were squandered by the president, he said.

Mr Gundarre stressed that he had no ulterior motive when he attempted to move close to the president and shake him during a photo session at the agriculture show, one of the events for the 2020 Argungu fishing festival.

He said he was simply overwhelmed by the presidents virtues and moved to shake his hands.

Even if I died yesterday I would have been contented that I have achieved my mission to move close to Mr President and touch him one on one.

You know that emotional love can divert and taint your total faculty of reasoning and that was what really happened yesterday, he said in an emotion-laden tone.

Mr Gundarre clarified: I was told about the misinterpretation of my action in the media, although I was not opportune to view the clip.

Please, I am alive, the DSS did not torture me, nobody has tortured me apart from what happened at the venue when I was forced to the car.

He said he had met the Kebbi state Governor Atiku Bagudu in 2010 when he was a senator and it has not been easy for him to have access to the governor.

The 30-year-old Mr Gundarre also claimed that he was not a beggar, though currently unemployed.

He said he was comfortable and believed in working hard to fend for himself and the family.

When the DSS got to my house, they even asked me who built the house for me.

I have always believed that by struggle I can achieve anything, he said.

He appealed to the president not to derail in his good work at repositioning the country for the better.

READ ALSO:

Also speaking at the event, Mr Bagudu said it was a good thing that Mr Gundarre came out to clarify on what happened in Argungu.

I am glad that you have all heard from him and we are honoured to meet him.

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I want to assure him that the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and I will inform the President about him.

We will also beg the President to grant an audience for him, so that he can visit him and shake hands with him as one of his loyal supporters, he said.

The governor presented a book written in honour of the president to Mr Gundarre.

Speaking in the same vein, the minister said that Mr Gundarre is a young man who is passionate about the president.

From what you can see this is a gentleman who has followed the presidents political career for a long time and passionate about him.

He breached protocol yesterday, there is no doubt about that.

However, all the story about him trying to attack the President is false, even the story that he was shot by the security is false, the minister said.

Mr Gundarre was reported said to have beaten the presidents security during a photo session on Thursday after he (President) declared opened the 2020 Argungu international fishing and cultural festivals as well as an Agricultural show which forms part of the festival.

An eight second video clip which had gone viral was erroneously interpreted that the man charged at the president thereby raising questions about the safety of Nigerias number one citizen.

In a swift response to the claim, the Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, dismissed the incident as a storm in a teacup.

He said the man was an admirer and fan of the president and that the scenario was far from a heckling.

(NAN)
New Delhi, March 13 : With coronavirus impacting trade and business, the all-powerful GST Council headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to discuss the implications of the virus outbreak on revenue collection.

Seeking to correct the anomalies in the inverted duty structure, ease of doing business and lower compliance burden, the GST Council is also expected to rationalise rates of four key items -- footwear, mobile phones, fertiliser and man-made fibres, among other goods.

Official sources claimed that the increase in rates on various items would lead to "very marginal increase" in prices for the consumers.

"The increase in rates on chemical fertilisers from 5 per cent to 12 per cent would result in a little subsidy burden for the government. In case of other items, the impact on prices would be minor," an official said.

He noted that the move was in accordance with the recommendation of the fitment committee and was aimed at removing inverted duty anomalies.

Inverted duty refers to tax rates on inputs being higher than those levied on finished products. This results in higher input credit claims by goods besides several administrative and compliance issues.

Currently, chemical fertiliser attracts a GST of 12 per cent, while its inputs are taxed at 12 per cent. Similarly, mobile phones attract 12 per cent duty, but GST on their inputs is levied at 18 per cent.

The official quoted above said that Infosys would make a presentation on GST system related issues and fixing them to ensure that taxpayers' grievances are resolved in time.

Ahead of the GST Council meeting, a group of officials comprising Central and state governments met on Friday in the national capital to discuss various taxpayer issues.
Political leaders on Friday welcomed the revocation of the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) imposed on National Conference patron and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah.

While Abdullah's party, the National Conference (NC), termed his release a "step in the right direction towards restoring genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir", former Union minister and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said he welcomed Abdullah's "belated release".

"...I hope he will soon resume his rightful place on the front bench of the Lok Sabha, where he can address with his usual compelling vigour the issues facing his state and the state of the nation. His detention was a disgrace," Tharoor said in a tweet.

Iltija Mufti, daughter of incarcerated PDP president and former J and K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti demanded the release of all those detained following revocation of the special status of the erstwhile state under Article 370 of the Constitution.

"Time to release all detainees including thousands of young men languishing in jails outside J&K. This has gone on for far too long & must end now," Iltija tweeted.

Senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said Abdullah's release was long overdue. "The imposition of PSA on and detention of Dr Farooq Abdullah was illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional. We have all been concerned about his health and well being. His release was long overdue".

The CPI(M) in Jammu and Kashmir described Abdullah's release as a "step to correct one wrong among many wrongs".

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee said she prayed for the long life of Abdullah and hoped that the other two former chief ministers -- Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti -- will soon be released and "allowed to join the democratic process immediately."



Another senior Congress leader Saral Patel said Abdullah should have been released a long time back.

"...but nonetheless, better late than never, hoping that Omar too will be released soon. Democracy is about having dialogues, not about locking up people unilaterally just because they don't agree with you," Patel tweeted.

People's Conference also welcomed the release of the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar.

"We welcome the release of Dr Farroq Abdullah. And I take this opportunity to demand the release of our Chairman Mr Sajad Lone. He is under strict house arrest after being in detention at MLA hostel for six months. We also demand release of our workers who r detained under PSA," general secretary of PC and former minister Imran Reza Ansari said in a tweet.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday revoked the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, a five-time parliamentarian and a member of the present Lok Sabha, with immediate effect.

Abdullah was under preventive detention since August 5 last year, the day the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. He was the first chief minister against whom the PSA was invoked.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shares of Mallinckrodt plc MNK surged almost 40% on Wednesday amid sell-off in the broader S&P 500 Index, following the support of New York State Attorney General for the companys previously announced proposed global opioid settlement. Including New York, 48 states and territories are now supporting the proposed settlement.

The motion to remove Mallinckrodt LLC and SpecGx LLC from the New York State trial related to opioid-abuse is currently pending before the Supreme Court of New York. However, the trial has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus scare.

Mallinckrodts stock has slumped 86% in the past year compared with the industrys decline of 10.7%.

Last month, Mallinckrodt and its specialty generics-focused subsidiaries Mallinckrodt LLC, SpecGx LLC, and certain other affiliates proposed an agreement in principle on the terms of a global settlement that would resolve all opioid-related claims against the company, Specialty Generics, and other subsidiaries.

The agreement in principle has been reached with a court-appointed plaintiff executive committee, representing the interests of thousands of plaintiffs in the opioid multidistrict litigation. Mallinckrodt expects that Specialty Generics, which manufactures certain generic opioid products, among other products, will file voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the coming months. The settlement terms include structured payments of $1.3 billion over eight years and warrants for 19.99% of the company's outstanding shares. Additional $300 million will be paid to the plaintiffs upon Specialty Generics emergence from bankruptcy.

We note that Mallinckrodt has entered into a number of settlement agreements related to opioid abuse in 2019. A global settlement of the opioid litigation will remove a major overhang on the stock.

Apart from Mallinckrodt, many pharma companies like J&J JNJ Endo International ENDP and Teva Pharma TEVA are embroiled in multiple opioid litigations filed by several states, counties and political subdivisions in the United States regarding the abuse of opioid-based drugs. The industry players have been accused of faulty marketing practices, which downplayed addiction risks from these drugs and spurred their consumption instead.

Story continues

Per the National Institute of Drug Abuse, opioid overdose claimed lives of 47,000 Americans in 2017. Moreover, prescription opioid misuse alone creates a total economic burden of $78.5 billion every year. In the past two decades, 400,000 deaths occurred due to opioid-based drug abuse, per the estimate of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Mallinckrodt currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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The acquisition of Diamond Creek is the continuation of our journey into the greatest appellations in the world and our relentless quest to produce great wines with strong identity, states Frederic Rouzaud, President & CEO of Maison Louis Roederer.

The story of Maison Louis Roederers passion for unique terroirs of Cabernet Sauvignon dates back to the early 1990s with the purchase of Chateau de Pez in 1995 in the renowned Bordeaux appellation of Saint-Estephe. 2007 marked the entry of the family into the select group of 1855 Classified Grands Crus wines with the purchase of the iconic Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande.

The acquisition of Diamond Creek is the continuation of our journey into the greatest appellations in the world and our relentless quest to produce great wines with strong identity. Reflective of their pioneering characters, Al and Boots Brounstein built Diamond Creek from the ground up, producing some of the most celebrated and singular wines of the region. I am delighted that, once again, we have the opportunity to carry on the opus of an iconic family and embody its values and savoir-faire, states Frederic Rouzaud, President & CEO of Maison Louis Roederer.

Most important to my Mom, myself and the family was finding the right partner who would respect the legacy that she and Al built over the last 50 years, and who could even elevate that legacy. Frederic and his family are the perfect fit, says Phil Ross, Boots Brounstein son and Managing Partner.

The mutual respect and admiration between Roederer and Diamond Creek run deep  in 1997, Al and Boots Brounstein were among a small group of wine luminaries invited to Paris by Jean-Claude Rouzaud, Frederics father, to celebrate the 30 greatest wines in the world on his 30-year anniversary at the helm of Louis Roederer. Their friendly relationship endured until Als passing and Jean-Claudes retirement in 2006; it was carried on by Frederic and Boots who were exploring ways to partner until she passed in July 2019 at age 92.

Phil Ross has agreed to stay at the winery for a period of time. Winemaker Phil Steinschriber, who has been with Diamond Creek since 1991, has also agreed to stay. The majority of the employees, many of whom have worked at Diamond Creek for decades, will also continue there.

Maison Louis Roederer

Originally founded in 1776, Champagne Louis Roederer continues as one of the very rare Champagne houses to remain firmly in the hands of the same family, since 1832. For three centuries, seven successive generations have been responsible for building a reputation for unparalleled quality and continuity. Its focus on meticulous viticulture, best demonstrated with an ongoing conversion to organic and biodynamic vineyards, as well as precise winemaking, account for the House's enduring excellence and success.

Since 1990, Maison Louis Roederer has strategically acquired esteemed family-owned wineries with an approach centered around identical core values, long-term vision and continuity.

Ramos Pinto (1990), Champagne Deutz and Delas Freres (1993), Chateau de Pez (1995), Domaines Ott (2004), Scharffenberger Cellars (2004), Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (2007) and Merry Edwards (2019).

Roederer has also established new ventures: Roederer Estate (1982) and Domaine Anderson (2012) and owns Descaves, an historic wine merchant on the Place de Bordeaux.

Diamond Creek

Founded in 1968, Diamond Creek is California's first exclusively Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Vineyard. Visionary pioneer Al Brounstein assisted by his wife Boots defied modern conventions and planted Bordeaux varietals on secluded Diamond Mountain. The four vineyards  Red Rock Terrace, Volcanic Hill, Gravelly Meadow and Lake  produce a small amount of long-lived wines that are elegant with great depth and richness, honored and cherished by connoisseurs the world over.
D isney is shutting down its theme parks in Florida and Paris for just over a fortnight in addition to its iconic facility in Los Angeles over coronavirus fears.

The Walt Disney company said it was making the closures - which include suspending all new departures of its Cruise Line from Saturday until the end of the month - in the best interest of guests.

The Florida and Paris resorts will be temporarily shut from the close of business on Sunday.

Coronavirus fears continue to cause delays and cancellations within the tourism, film and events industry with many countries placing schools and social gatherings on lockdown.

The Covid-19 respiratory disease has infected more than 139,000 people around the world and killed more than 5,000 since it first emerged in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019. Seventy-thousand people have recovered.

The Walt Disney Company said: In an abundance of caution and in the best interest of our guests and employees, we are proceeding with the closure of our theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Paris Resort beginning at the close of business on Sunday, March 15, through the end of the month.

Disney Cruise Line will suspend all new departures beginning Saturday, March 14, though to the end of the month.

It added: The hotels at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris will remain open until further notice. The retail and dining complexes, Disney Springs at Walt Disney World and Disney Village at Disneyland Paris will remain open.

Cast members will be paid during the closure period and employees who are able to work from home are being asked to do so, including those at the Walt Disney Studio, Walt Disney Television, and ESPN.

In a previous statement, the company said it will work with guests who wish to change or cancel visits and will provide refund to those who have hotel bookings during this closure period.

We anticipate heavy call volume over the next few days and appreciate guest patience as we work hard to respond to all enquiries, it said.

Travel booking platform Klook said it is rare for Disney to close its parks and it will not have been an easy choice.

Marketing director Simon Llanos added: "As with the cancellation of any event or gathering right now, closing all Disney parks would have been a difficult decision and not one that would have been taken lightly. Its incredibly rare for Disney to close their parks, along with suspending new departures from its cruise line, and will not just impact anyone who had plans to attend the parks but also the merchant, making it a challenging call to make.

"The number of closures being announced, from high profile sporting events to festivals and gigs, shows the seriousness of the situation the world is in.

As a global travel platform we have been impressed with how the travel industry has rallied around the world to have positive steps to help offer greater flexibility and reassurance to travellers, given the uncertainty were in.

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"EasyJet dropping their change fee from today for both existing and new bookings is a welcome decision and will be widely appreciated.

Many countries around the world have enforced social isolating policy to combat the strain with Italy closing all its schools, and non-essentials shops and Ireland stopping childrens lessons and cancelling large events which will attack crowds. The UK has not employed the same measures.
Pakistan is working to protect its citizens from the novel coronavirus and is ready to provide assistance to neighbours if needed, a top government official said on Wednesday, a day after the country reported a new infection, taking the number of confirmed cases to 21.

Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said the government was monitoring the situation very closely to limit the spread of coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 5,000 people.

"On coronavirus, as I said before that the Government of Pakistan is monitoring the situation very closely and will take measures required for the citizens within Pakistan and any assistance we can provide to our neighbouring countries," she said.

Farooqui, however, did not comment on if Pakistan was ready to work with India to combat the deadly virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday characterised the COVID-19 outbreak as a "pandemic" and expressed deep concern over its "alarming levels" of "spread, severity, as well as inaction".

The virus has claimed 4,925 lives and infected 131,500 people across 116 countries and territories.

To a question why Pakistan, like other countries, was not taking strict measures such as issuing travel advisories to contain the virus, the spokesperson said each country was taking measures in order to ensure safety of their citizens.

"It is the primary responsibility of those countries to take appropriate measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Pakistan is also taking all the requisite steps at our borders and airports to ensure the safety of our people and control the spread of coronavirus," she was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has summoned a meeting of National Security Committee to discuss the threat of coronavirus.

The total number of cases in Pakistan rose to 21 after a 31-year-old resident of Gilgit Baltistan was tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday. Sindh has the highest 15 cases.

The Sindh government has announced that all educational institutions will remain closed till May 31 to curb the spread of coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Significant year-over-year sales growth in consumer and commercial products

Improving gross margins on operations

Continued lower overhead and administrative savings





Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 13, 2020) -International Zeolite Corp. (TSXV: IZ) (OTCQB: IZCFF) (FSE: ZEON) (the "Company") an international marketer and supplier of natural zeolite and zeolite products, is pleased to highlight the Company's sales for the first half of the current fiscal year following the Company's February 28, 2020 financial results posted on SEDAR.

The Company, led by flagship products ecoTraction and ecoTractionPRO, achieved a 25% year-over-year increase in sales for the first half of fiscal 2020 to $587,818 (F2019 - $468,804 and F2018 - $280,801). The Company is also pleased to highlight that net losses for the period have further decreased by 37% to $223,045 (F2019 - $358,090 and F2018 - $597,325). Management achieved a 16% improvement in gross sales margins over the previous period (F2020 - $285,336 vs F2019 - $245,030) and administrative costs were reduced by 36% (F2020 - $166,131 vs F2019 - $260,183).

International Zeolite continues to progress development of value-added products along with research and testing to support the launch of innovative, environmentally beneficial and economically contributive products in the commercial/industrial and agricultural sectors.

Additionally, the Company is pleased to announce that it has retained Grove Corporate Services Ltd. of Toronto to provide administrative and corporate secretarial support. Grove's Ms. Catherine Beckett has been appointed Corporate Secretary of the Company following the resignation of Dianne Szigety. The Company would like to thank Ms. Szigety for her many years of service and wishes her all the best.

On Behalf of the Board

"Ray Paquette"

President & CEO

604.684.3301

For further information, please visit www.internationalzeolite.com

For Investor Inquiries:

info@internationalzeolite.com

For Sales and Commercial Inquiries:

sales@earthinnovations.ca

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future expenditures. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, among others, the ability to complete contemplated work programs and the timing and amount of expenditures. International Zeolite does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53421
Once enforced, the EVFTA will facilitate Vietnam in transitioning to exports of more high-quality goods across various fields Photo: Le Toan

Last year, Vietnams manufacturing and processing sector experienced continued growth amid the US-China trade dispute, including exciting new investments. Arguably, the most notable drivers for the industrial sector last year included the signings of key free trade agreements.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership was officially set in motion in 2019 after years of negotiation and adjustments, and is expected to increase Vietnams GDP by 1.32 per cent by 2035. In addition, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was finalised in June and will eliminate 99 per cent of customs duties between the EU and Vietnam.

With these historic agreements taking place, the way other countries look at Vietnam is changing, resulting in a higher demand for skilled labour and education.

On February 12, we witnessed another huge milestone as the European Parliament ratified the EVFTA and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

Therefore, only one more step remains before the agreement comes into full effect  the ratification by the European Council and by Vietnams National Assembly, which is expected to take place in this summer.

Both the EVFTA and the EVIPA mark Europes most comprehensive trade pact with a developing country and signify its ongoing commitment to Asian markets. The impacts of the agreements are expected to be unparalleled.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, by the end of 2025 both agreements are estimated to increase Vietnams GDP by 4.6 per cent and its exports to the EU by 42.7 per cent.

On the other side, the European Commission forecasts that by 2035, the EUs GDP will rise by $29.5 billion and its exports to Vietnam by 29 per cent.

John Campbell, manager of Industrial Services from Savills Vietnam

Achieving access

After the ratification by the National Assembly, this agreement will be essential for the transition of the countrys industrial sector.

By enabling the latest production technologies and increasing workforce training, the Vietnamese government is actively easing qualms around viability, labour shortages, and rising costs. Moving to a more transparent business environment will help mitigate investors concerns and improve quality.

The EVFTA in particular enables Vietnams economy to move away from exporting low-value products and inputs to higher-value goods in high-tech, electronics, vehicles, and medical devices.

Global trade networks will give Vietnam access to a more diversified range of sourcing partners, allowing for cheaper imports of inputs or intermediate goods, which in turn will boost the competitiveness of Vietnams exports.

In addition, through more partnerships with foreign companies, Vietnam can reap the benefits of knowledge and technology transfer that comes with such investments.

As Vietnam opens its doors to EU manufacturers in industries such as food and beverage, fertilisers, ceramics, and building materials, the tariff elimination will also benefit the countrys key export industries to the EU, including the manufacturing of electronics and smartphones, textiles and garments, and agricultural products.

Since last June, more industrial developers in Vietnam are confident that the EVFTA will boost investment in manufacturing and diversify their occupiers base.

For example, general director Bruno Jaspaert of DEEP C Industrial Zones (IZ) believed the agreement has already instilled more confidence in European manufacturers in Vietnam, and new European investors have already visited DEEP C last year, seeking to open a manufacturing base in anticipation of the benefits the deal will bring.

In preparation for the finalisation of the agreement, as a European company itself, the IZ was already strategically targeting the European market last year, even welcoming the delegation of EU ambassadors to visit the companys site and present the strengths and uniqueness that the northern port city of Haiphong, Vietnams industrial sector, and the overall economy have to offer.

With the agreement being ratified this year, other respective IZ developers also expect to see a growing interest from European manufacturers in the next couple of years.

Jockeying for position

As demand continues to outpace supply, particularly in key industrial provinces, with occupancy rates reaching 75 per cent in operational IZs nationwide, the competition for well-located manufacturing plots near the countrys main cities and ports has increased.

This, coupled with an influx of new international manufacturers, gives developers the right opportunity to strategically choose their occupiers and lease it to multinational companies in high-value added industries.

The industrial sector is growing strongly with a 10-fold increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the last decade. Good land supply is facilitating upcoming manufacturing projects with a rise of rental options and many solutions.

Vietnam must be more selective with projects to move up the value chain, improve its competitiveness, and ensure sustainable growth. Low labour costs and government incentives, particularly preferential tax rates, will continue to be critical drivers of FDI.

However, to maintain the transition to higher-value industries, Vietnam must focus on the quality rather than the quantity of investments.

Amid a worldwide slowdown, 2019 was an exceptional year for Vietnams economic growth. In that time, the countrys impressive macro-economic indicators supported the strong performance of the real estate market, specifically the industrial real estate segment.

The amount of investment hit $24.56 billion, almost two-thirds of the total inflows. Vietnams economic outlook in the medium- to long-term is mostly positive, with the World Bank forecasting that real GDP growth will remain robust at 6.5 per cent in 2020 and 2021.

Last year marked 10 consecutive years of increasing FDI inflows in the country and by the end of the year, the manufacturing and processing industry attracted the highest.

This year also got off to a positive start. From January to February 20, Vietnam attracted over $5 billion in FDI, representing an on-year rise of 4.7 per cent, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Of this, $4.5 billion was poured directly into new related projects. Most inflows were in the production of electricity, water, and gas, with the manufacturing and processing sector in second place, attracting $856.3 million, or 16 per cent of total inflows in the first two months of the year.

Vietnams recent FTAs and superior trade networks will continue to push the country as a key destination for FDI, although it will also make the country more vulnerable to future slowdown in the global demand.
With many St. Patricks Day parades and events being canceled due to coronavirus concerns, one company is offering to pay someone $1,000 to watch Irish movies all day long.

Zippia, a career resource company based in San Francisco, is looking for someone who loves Irish culture enough to binge watch the best Irish movies ever made.

The company will provide links to watch 10 Irish Movies on St. Patrick's Day.

The movie list includes:

My Left Foot

The Crying Game

Far and Away

Circle of Friends

Hunger

The Departed

Leprechaun

Waking Ned Devine

Angelas Ashes

The Wind That Shakes The Barley

In return, Zippia will fork over $1,000, a McDonald's gift card (good for 4 LARGE Shamrock Shakes), a family-sized ready-to-go meal of corned beef and cabbage, a copy of your favorite U2 album and a family size box of Lucky Charms.

Applications are open now through 5 p.m. on March 15.

Interested candidates can apply here: https://www.zippia.com/movie-critic-jobs/#st-patricks-day-job

RELATED:

Here are 30 feel-good movies to make you smile during coronavirus outbreak
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 19:54:56|Editor: xuxin

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KAMPALA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan security agencies have arrested former Security Minister Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde and charged him with treason, police said Friday.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said in a statement that Tumukunde was arrested on Thursday night for calling on the support of a neighboring country to remove President Yoweri Museveni from power.

Tumukunde's arrest comes barely a week after he announced his intentions to challenge Museveni in the 2021 presidential polls.

"The arrest follows his utterances in a series of radio and television interviews, which seek to foster hatred that might lead to inter-community violence, fomenting and glorifying violence in general," said Enanga.

"He in addition, calls on the support of a neighboring country to support him in removing the current leadership with or without the ballot," Enanga said.

He said Tumukunde's arrest should act as a deterrent to others who would like to promote violence in the country.
Geo TV says the arrest of its chief was in retaliation to investigative pieces against the govt anti-corruption body.

Authorities in Pakistan arrested a media mogul on corruption charges on Thursday, in a decades-old case his representatives said was motivated by a desire to retaliate following the broadcast of several investigative programmes.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman  the editor-in-chief of the Jang Group that includes some of Pakistans biggest newspapers and the Geo television network  over a land transaction dating back to 1986, accusing him of scoring illegal concessions in the purchase of plots in the eastern city of Lahore.

In a statement, Geo denied the allegations against Rehman, saying all taxes and legal requirements pertaining to the property purchase had been fulfilled.

Geo said the NAB only arrested Rehman because of investigative pieces his channels had conducted into the bureau.

Over the past 18 months the NAB has sent our reporters, producers and editors  directly and indirectly  over a dozen threatening notices, the statement read, adding that the bureau had said it would shut down our channels  due to our reporting and our programmes about NAB.

NAB also has through several means tried to persuade us to go slow, to stop stories and to do others in its favour at the expense of the full truth.

Prime Minister, Imran Khan cant tolerate voice of dissent. He has recently expressed his displeasure aganist Jang/Geo and daily Dawn. Arrest of Mir Shakeel ur Rehman is the first step. Dawn can be the next.  Mazhar Abbas (@MazharAbbasGEO) March 12, 2020

In its defence, NAB has in writing said it is a constitutionally protected institution that cant be criticised, the statement continued.

NAB has rejected the allegations by the Jang Group as concocted, fabricated and baseless, Dawn news website reported.

CPJ calls for release of Rehman

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday called for the immediate release of Rehman.

Pakistans National Accountability Bureau should immediately release Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman and drop the obviously drummed-up case against him, said Steven Butler, CPJs Asia program coordinator in a statement.

This arrest over a 34-year-old land deal makes a mockery of Pakistans claim to be a democracy that upholds freedom of the press.

Pakistani media have been subjected to growing censorship and pressure following the election of Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2018.

The NAB was founded in 2000 by then-military ruler Pervez Musharraf to go after corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and entrepreneurs.

Read this show cause notice issued by Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority it is about @shazbkhanzdaGEO show about NAB Mir Shakeel ur Rehman was under pressure to stop raising questions about NAB when he refused he was illegally detained by NAB on March 12th 2020 pic.twitter.com/C1zMzA7DZb  Hamid Mir (@HamidMirPAK) March 12, 2020

However, it came under fire after Khan was elected, with leading opposition parties accusing it of being used for political ends.

In recent years the space for dissent has shrunk further in Pakistan, with the government announcing a crackdown on social networks.

Mainstream media houses have decried pressure from authorities that they say has resulted in widespread self-censorship.

Last year, a global watchdog criticised the government for brazen censorship of the media after three news channels were taken off air for covering an opposition news conference.

This is an absolutely unacceptable violation of the principles of media pluralism and independence during a revelation that was clearly in the Pakistani public interest, said Daniel Bastard, head of Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk in a statement last July.

We call on Prime Minister Imran Khans civilian government to take immediate steps to ensure that cable transmission of the three TV channels is restored. The recent surge in sudden acts of media censorship is exposing the current regimes increasingly dictatorial nature.
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In a series of interviews with Good Morning America and CBS This Morning, Fauci gave his bleak assessment of what is still to come

White House coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday morning that the current state of crisis in the US would last for two months and that 'it's all on the table' in terms of how much more severe things may become.

In a series of interviews with Good Morning America and CBS This Morning, Fauci gave his bleak assessment of what is still to come.

'It's certainly going to get worse before it gets better...there's no doubt we have not peaked yet,' he said.

Asked directly if America was heading towards a complete shutdown like China and Italy, he would not rule it out.

'I'm not sure we're going to get to that.

'I think that would be really rather dramatic, but I can tell you that all things are on the table.

'We just have to respond as things evolve over the days and the weeks,' he said.

There has been a dramatic shift in tone from the government in the last several days.

At the start of the week, President Trump was advising Americans not to panic and even said the virus would 'go away'.

He then shut the border to Europeans, and said on Thursday that even US citizens who test positive for the virus would not be allowed to come home.

Fauci's prediction was that there will be at least another several weeks of the current mode of crisis, but that it could last up to two months.

'It will be at least a matter of several weeks. It's unpredictable, but if you look at historically how these things work, it will likely be anywhere from a few weeks to up to eight weeks.

An elderly person is taken in an ambulance from Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington state, where several people died after contracting the virus

'I hope it's going to be in the earlier part, two, three, four weeks, but it's impossible to make an accurate prediction,' he said.

Later, in an interview with CBS, he said it was one of the worst things he had seen in his 36-year career.

'I mean, there have been an awful lot of challenges over the 36 years that I've been doing this.

It's like buying a printer without the ink: California receives COVID-19 tests that are MISSING PARTS California Gov. Gavin Newsom California Gov. Gavin Newsom fumed on Thursday that the CDC had sent hospitals and labs COVID-19 tests with some of the crucial parts missing. In a press conference, he said: 'The test kits do not include in every case the RNA extraction kits, the reagents, the chemicals, the solutions that are components of the broader tests. 'This is imperative that the federal government and labs across the United States, not just state of California, get the benefit of all the ingredients, the components of the test. 'I am surprised this is not more of the national conversation. 'I think its very much in line with your going to the store and purchasing a printer but forgetting to purchase the ink.' Fauci, addressing the disastrous testing blunder on Friday morning, said it was 'unfortunate'. Advertisement

'Obviously HIV/AIDS, that was a disruption for beginning a very selected demographic group in the country even though there was a lot of general fear.

'With regard to disruption of everyday life, we have not seen that before. We've not had this kind of a situation before.

'I mean, we've had pandemics, the 2009 H1N1 swine flu was a pandemic, but it was influenza.

'We were familiar with what influenza does. Familiar with its seasonal capability.

'Right now there are a lot of unknowns, I think that's the thing that's frightening people.'

Fauci told congress on Thursday that the healthcare system had was failing and that there were not enough tests to go around or get done fast enough.

On Friday, he was more optimistic and said 'very soon' there will be wider scope for testing but he did not give specifics of where these tests would be available and who was producing them.

Experts say one of the largest problems is that so many people who are not yet showing symptoms are continuing the spread the virus without knowing it.

Because of the lack of tests, only those who show symptoms and seem ill are being given them.

That will change soon, Fauci said.

'The system as it was designed, was designed for what it was designed for.

'Let's look ahead, and I believe what we're hearing at the task force that we are now getting into that phase where we'll be able to really scale it up a lot.

'I think in the next week or so, you're going to see an acceleration of availability of tests.

'Right now as I've mentioned many times and I'll stick by it, early on, the way the system was designed, as good a system as it was, it was not a design to approach that broad blanket testing.

'We're on our way to that now, and we'll be able to do it relatively soon,' he said.

To CBS, he added: 'It's not going to all happen tomorrow or the next day.

'It's going to start going like this -- that relatively soon that kind of issue that was just mentioned by the person who spoke hopefully will no longer be existing.'

As of midnight on Friday, 2,299 people in the United States had tested positive for coronavirus and 50 had died

There were barely any pedestrians outside the Ferry Building at a near empty Embarcadero in San Francisco on Thursday

The ordinarily mobbed Met Museum in New York City had only a handful of visitors. It will close on Friday night

However all the tests currently being used take several days to make a positive diagnosis.

'I WOULD LIKELY GET TESTED': FAUCI ON PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LINK TO BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT AND HIS COVID-19 AIDE Dr. Fauci refused to urge the president to get tested for COVID-19 after coming into contact with the Brazilian president and one of his aides who has the virus, but said if it were him, he likely would. Trump and President Jair Bolsonaro had dinner at Mar-a-Lago on March 7, a day after one of his key aides tested positive for the virus. Bolsonaro is now awaiting the results of his own test, but the White House says Trump has not had one. The Mirror claimed on Friday that he had tested positive for the virus. That is yet to be confirmed by Brazilian officials. Trump with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro shaking hands on March 7. The Mirror reports that Bolsonaro's first test for the virus came back positive. That is yet to be confirmed by officials Fauci said on Friday morning that he did not want to comment too strongly on the decision and that Trump and his doctors would know the best course of action. Ivanka Trump with Bill Barr (left) and Australian government minister Peter Dutton (right) on March 5. Dutton has tested positive for the virus But when pushed, Fauci admitted that he would likely have a test if it were him who had come into contact with the infected aide. 'I leave that to the president's white house physician who is an extremely competent individual who I know well, and the decisions there were between what would be a potential patient and the physician,' he said. When asked if he would get a test, he said: 'Likely I would, but I'm not sure. 'It depends on the circumstances. 'We should follow the guidelines of the CDC about when you are at a risk what you should do.' Ivanka Trump was also at the dinner on March 7 and she has another connection to the virus - two days earlier, on March 5, she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with an Australian government minister who has now tested positive for the virus. It is unclear whether or not she has been tested. Advertisement

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday night that the situation may remain like this for six months.

He has taken the extraordinary step of declaring a state of emergency and banning gatherings of 500 people or more in the city.

Any businesses that choose to remain open whose capacity is less than that has been told to operate at no more than 50 percent occupancy.

It puts an incredible strain on businesses.

'We're worried about people's livelihoods... we're worried about people being able to pay their rent,' de Blasio said on Thursday night.

Trump said on Thursday afternoon that any Americans who are overseas and who test positive for coronavirus will not be allowed back into the country.

There is grave concern over what is being done though to test people when they get back to the US, or even.

The stock market has tanked as a result of the pandemic, dropping 2,000 points on Thursday in the worst day of trading for decades.

The Federal Reserve Bank has injected $1.5 trillion into the market to stop them from falling again.

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche announced on Friday that it has received emergency approval from US regulators for a new and much faster coronavirus test.

On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted an 'emergency use authorization' to commercialize the test, which is 10 times faster than the American government's kit.

The test can be run in high volumes on fully automated equipment, Roche said, suggesting it could provide more results far faster than other tests available.

Widespread testing is essential in the race to rein in the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 134,000 people and killed more than 5,000 worldwide.

The new Roche tests, which will also now be available in markets that accept the European CE-mark certification, can provide results within about three-and-a-half hours, the company said.

In a 24-hour period, the largest machines can reportedly process up to 4,128 tests.

'It is important to quickly and reliably detect whether a patient is infected' with the virus,' Schinecker said, insisting that speeding up the process of providing reliable diagnostics was 'crucial to combat this serious disease.'

Roche said it would have millions of tests available each month, and that it was committed to pushing the limits of its production capacity and delivering as many tests as possible.

Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the FDA, praised the news on Twitter, saying it would 'significantly improve' the capacity to test patients across all labs.

In the US, more than 2,000 people have been infected and 43 people have died, but Gottlieb said the figures are probably lower than the true number.

'We are likely to find that spread is far more distributed in communities across US and while total case count may still be in high thousands or probably low ten thousands, the widespread seeding make an epidemic inevitable,' he tweeted.

'We must focus on slowing spread through tough mitigation steps and reducing the scope and severity of the epidemic by good medical planning.

'Every day, every hour, is critical to preparedness.'
It probably began with an accident thousands of years ago. According to one legend, rain washed the fat and ash from frequent animal sacrifices into a nearby river, where they formed a lather with a remarkable ability to clean skin and clothes. Perhaps the inspiration had a vegetal origin in the frothy solutions produced by boiling or mashing certain plants. However it happened, the ancient discovery of soap altered human history. Although our ancestors could not have foreseen it, soap would ultimately become one of our most effective defenses against invisible pathogens.

People typically think of soap as gentle and soothing, but from the perspective of microorganisms, it is often extremely destructive. A drop of ordinary soap diluted in water is sufficient to rupture and kill many types of bacteria and viruses, including the new coronavirus that is currently circling the globe. The secret to soaps impressive might is its hybrid structure.

Soap is made of pin-shaped molecules, each of which has a hydrophilic head  it readily bonds with water  and a hydrophobic tail, which shuns water and prefers to link up with oils and fats. These molecules, when suspended in water, alternately float about as solitary units, interact with other molecules in the solution and assemble themselves into little bubbles called micelles, with heads pointing outward and tails tucked inside.

Some bacteria and viruses have lipid membranes that resemble double-layered micelles with two bands of hydrophobic tails sandwiched between two rings of hydrophilic heads. These membranes are studded with important proteins that allow viruses to infect cells and perform vital tasks that keep bacteria alive. Pathogens wrapped in lipid membranes include coronaviruses, H.I.V., the viruses that cause hepatitis B and C, herpes, Ebola, Zika, dengue, and numerous bacteria that attack the intestines and respiratory tract.
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Linkedin Gisela Swaragita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 12:45 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a531a1 1 Health COVID-19,elbow-bump,namaste-greetings,Wuhan-shake,Sri-Mulyani-Indrawati,jusuf-kalla Free

When meeting others, it is only natural to hold out your hand for a handshake, or even to bump cheeks, colloquially known in Indonesia as cipika cipiki.

However, the recent global outbreak of COVID-19 has forced people to avoid touching other peoples hands, not to mention their faces.

People have had to invent new ways to greet others without touching, but that still carry the same level of warmth and politeness.

Below are a few greetings that are quickly replacing the handshake.

Elbow bump

High-level state officials have to meet important people on a daily basis. When Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati met with former vice president Jusuf Kalla on Thursday, they greeted each other by touching elbows instead of shaking hands.

The elbow bump allows people to interact physically in a safe ways, as you cant touch your own face with your own elbow.

Read also: Think you know how to wash your hands? Doctors say use this method at 9 specific times

Health experts have advised people not to touch their face, as COVID-19 spreads through droplets entering our bodies through the mouth, nose and eyes.

Namaste

The unique Hindu greeting is being widely used to avoid shaking hands. Prince Harry and Prince Charles of the United Kingdom have been seen greeting others with their hands pressed together, palms touching, fingers pointing upwards and with their thumbs close to their chest, accompanied by a slight bow.

The namaste is a great way to avoid physical contact.

Foot-to-foot Wuhan shake

People in China found another way to greet since they can't shake hands.



The Wuhan Shake.



I love how people can adapt and keep a sense of humor about stressful situations. pic.twitter.com/P8MSfOdJ2H  **.***.* (@V_actually) February 29, 2020

In February 2020, when the world was beginning to realize that COVID-19 was spreading across the globe, Chinese people invented a foot-to-foot greeting known as the Wuhan shake.

In a video posted on Twitter that propelled the greeting to popularity, a group of face-masked men can be seen greeting each other by quickly tapping their feet together.

With only their feet touching, it is a great way to greet others without risking virus transmission. (gis)
None of the passengers who arrived



here by a Dubai-Pune flight on Friday have travelled to any of the seven "high-risk" coronavirus-hit countries in the last few weeks, an official said.

More than 125 passengers were on-board the flight operated by SpiceJet.

The "high-risk nations", which have reported a large number of positive cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), are China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain and Germany.

The district administration had on Thursday announced that passengers of Dubai-Pune flights would be placed under "institutional quarantine", irrespective of whether they show any symptoms of the virus, if it is found they had visited any of the high-risk countries after February 15.

"The SpiceJet flight from Dubai arrived at the Pune International Airport with 129 passengers on board. On checking their travel history, we found that none of the passengers had travelled to the seven high-risks countries after February 15," the official said.

However, a woman passenger and her one-year-old baby, who had mild cough, have been quarantined at civic-run Naidu Hospital, he said.

"Except these two persons, no other passengers showed any symptoms. However, all passengers have been asked to remain under "house quarantine" and their health will be monitored for the next few days," the official said.

So far, nine Pune residents, including a couple who had returned from Dubai, have tested positive for coronavirus, whose symptoms include high fever, severe cough and shortness of breath.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By PTI

SYDNEY: A senior Australian politician tested positive for the new coronavirus and entered hospital quarantine on Friday, days after returning from a meeting in Washington attended by US Attorney General William Barr.

"This morning I woke up with a temperature and sore throat," said Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, an influential member of the government and a key architect of Australia's controversial immigration laws.

"It is the policy of Queensland Health that anyone who tests positive is to be admitted into hospital and I have complied with their advice."

Dutton said he feels "fine" but his diagnosis will raise concerns about whether other members of the cabinet and Prime Minister Scott Morrison may have been infected.

It is not yet known when Dutton contracted the virus. He recently returned from the United States.

ALSO READ: Australia's Kane Richardson quarantined, to miss first ODI against New Zealand

Dutton was in Washinton last week to attend a conference of the FiveEyes intelligence alliance, which includes Australia, the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand. He met President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and US Attorney General William Barr on March 6.

His counterparts there included US Attorney General William Barr.

Australia has seen around 184 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and three fatalities.
The first batch of 120 Indians will reach Jaisalmer today from Iran. The evacuees will be quarantined at the Army facility, a defence spokesperson said. Another batch of 250 people will be airlifted on March 15 and will be quarantined at the Army facility in Jaisalmer.

"They will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility created under the aegis of Southern Command. The patients will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility under escort of civil administration," defence spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh said.

The Ministry of Defence has set up seven more quarantine facilities for coronavirus patients. These facilities have been set up in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Chennai, Suratgadh, Jhansi and Deolali.

Spokesperson of Indian Army Col Aman Anand said that there are 265 citizens in two military facilities in Hindon and Manesar. "We are expecting more to be brought back to India in the next 2-3 days," he added.

Also read: Coronavirus Live Updates: COVID-19 claims first life in India; global death toll touches 4,600

Speaking at the Lok Sabha on Thursday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the initial focus of the government is to bring back Indian pilgrims who are stranded in Iran. He called the coronavirus outbreak a "matter of concern" and said that it needs to be responded to responsibly.

The minister also said that around 6,000 Indians are stranded in Iran, out of which 1,100 are pilgrims from Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir. He also said that around 300 students are also stranded.

Iran has been one of the most severely impacted countries in the world. On Thursday, Iran reported 75 new deaths taking the death toll to 429. The health ministry said that they identified 1,075 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the number of infected to 10.075 in the country. For the first time since 1962, Iran requested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $5 billion in emergency funding.

Also read: Coronavirus outbreak: 76-yr-old Karnataka man becomes India's first COVID-19 death

Also read: Coronavirus bites into wealth of richest Indians; Ambani, Damani, Adani lose billions
New Delhi, March 13 : The Health Ministry has uploaded data showing state-wise breakup of COVID cases on its official website. The data took into account cases compiled till 5 p.m. on Friday .

According to the ministry, there are at least 64 Indian nationals and 17 foreigners who are confirmed COVID-19 cases. One person died in Karnataka on Thursday.

Delhi has six cases, all are Indians, while in Haryana there are 14 confirmed cases and all the patients are foreign nationals. Kerala reported most cases: 19 (including 3 who recovered).

After Kerala, Maharashtra has confirmed most cases, at least 14.

In Uttar Pradesh 11 cases have been reported, of which, 10 patients are Indians and 1 is a foreigner.

There are six cases in Karnataka, including first death reported in India due to COVID-19.

Rajasthan has reported three cases, of which one patient is an Indian national and two are foreigners.

At least one confirmed case has been reported from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab.

Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir also reported one confirmed case while Union Territory of Ladakh confirmed three cases.

Of the total 81 cases of coronavirus in India on Friday, 10 have so been cured.

"Three persons from Kerala have recovered from the disease earlier. Seven more persons have recovered at the Safdarjung hospital today," Joint Health Secretary Lav Agarwal told media.

According to the health ministry, there are at least 64 Indian nationals and 17 foreigners who are confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
KAMPALA  President Museveni has urged foreign tourists coming to Uganda to consider the current world crisis caused by the spread of Coronavirus, and stay away as the country joins international efforts to combat the pandemic to stabilize the crisis.

The World Health Organisation declared the Coronavirus  COVID-19 a pandemic, indicating that it was out of control.

Theres no shortcut about Coronavirus, the President said.

Lets loose the money and save lives, Mr. Museveni said, cautioning companies and those dealing with foreign tourists already in the country to follow precautions put in place to avoid catching and spreading the deadly virus.

The President was talking during a meeting with investors and the business community at Entebbe on Thursday, March 12.

The pandemic:

The formal declaration by the WHO of COVID-19 or any other infectious disease as pandemic tells governments, agencies and aid organizations worldwide to shift efforts from containment to mitigation. It has economic, political and societal impacts on a global scale and the WHO takes extreme care when making this determination.

Quick Facts about Coronavirus:

As of March 13, the official numbers count excess of 120,000 cases in at least 114 countries. Eight countries, including the U.S., have more than 1,000 cases each, with China the most hit.

Precautions for the Public:

UNICEF and WHO emphasize:

Avoid touching surfaces unnecessarily. Wash hands with soap often. Sneeze responsibly in tissue and get rid of them immediately. Use sanitizers.

Related
The lawful interception market is expected to grow by USD 1.95 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/20200313005094/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Lawful Interception Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The rapid development in communications infrastructure has encouraged lawbreakers to find new areas of exploitation and shift toward online exploitation activities. Electronic communications are taking on new forms and are broadening into larger audiences, and data volumes are soaring. This creates opportunities for cybercrime, in turn, intensifying the challenge for law enforcement agencies and service providers to protect security breaches. With the increase in security threats, lawful interception has become a priority. The use of lawful interception helps to counteract crime and terrorism. Moreover, also it helps to ease and improve the investigation process for collecting evidence and aids in better inspection. Such factors are likely to fuel the demand for lawful interception during the forecast period.

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR41531

As per Technavio, vendor compliance with standards and regulations governing lawful interception will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyses other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024.

Lawful Interception Market: Vendor Compliance with Standards and Regulations Governing Lawful Interception

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) offers standards such as ETSI TS 101 331, which guides the lawful interception of telecommunications in the area of co-operation by network operators, access providers, and service providers. It allows systematic and extensible communication between network operators and law enforcement agencies over defined interfaces, in compliance with national legislation. Also, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) together define a number of standards such as J-STD-025-A/B (Voice, CDMA), T1.678v2 (VoIP), ATIS-1000013.a.2009 (IAS), and ATIS-0700005 (VoIP, MM), which help network operators and service providers comply with CALEA. Some of the major vendors of lawful interception solutions, such as Utimaco GmbH and IPS S.p.A. offer products that are compliant with ANSI/ATIS and ETSI standards. Thus, adherence to the standards will eventually help in increasing the sale of the lawful interception solutions.

"The increasing number of government initiatives supporting lawful interception will be a major factor that will boost market growth during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio.

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Lawful Interception Market: Segmentation Analysis

This market research report segments the lawful interception market by application (services, devices, communication content and network technology), and geographic segmentation (North America, APAC, Europe, South America and MEA).

The North America region led the lawful interception market in 2019, followed by Europe, APAC, MEA and South America. During the forecast period, the North America region is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to factors such as the rise in the number of criminal activities.

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:

Application

Services

Devices

Communication content

Network technology

Geographic Segmentation

North America

APAC

Europe

South America

MEA

Market Drivers

Market Challenges

Market Trends

Vendor Landscape

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Competitive scenario

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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No confirmed case of the



coronavirus has been found in Madhya Pradesh so far, an official said on Friday.

Of the 25 persons whose swab samples have been tested so far, none tested positive for the infection, Health Department's Additional Director Dr Veena Sinha said.

Reports of two samples were awaited, she added.

As many as 751 people who had returned to the state from the countries hit by the coronavirus were identified and screened, she said.

As many as 342 persons have been put in home isolation, while the observation period of 358 persons was over, Sinha said.

Passengers landing at Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur airports from the countries affected by the virus are being screened, she said.

As a precautionary measure, the government on Friday ordered closure of schools as well as cinema halls.

While schools, both government and private, will remain closed indefinitely till further order, cinema halls will remain closed till March 31, or as per further order.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany in partnership with the first lady of Namibia and Ambassador of Merck More than a Mother, HE Monica Geingos together with Ministry of Health and Social Service and Ministry of Education launched an inspiring child storybook of Paulus and Nangula for children to strengthen family values of love and respect from young ages. The book has a special message from HE Monica Geingos, the first lady of Namibia and Ambassador of Merck More Than a Mother and Dr RashaKelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President, Merck More Than a Mother addressed to the young readers. "I am very happy to launch together with the first lady of Namibia, HE Monica Geingos and Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health & Social Service, Merck Foundation's children storybook to emphasize strong family values of love and respect from a young age which will reflect on eliminating the stigma of infertility and the resulted domestic violence in the future," said Dr RashaKelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President, Merck More Than a Mother.

"The story of Paulus and Nangula is a story of a husband and wife who couldn't have children, but they never lost love or respect for each other, the husband supported his wife during the fertility treatment journey and acknowledged that he too can be the cause of infertility, he went for treatment to have a lovely baby and lived happily ever after. He also acknowledged that even if they both couldn't bring children for any reason that they will still love and respect each other's because they are more than parents," he added. HE Monica Geingos said: "I believe we must prepare our children for tomorrow with the right family values of love and respect. Childless women still suffer from discrimination and ostracism."

"The storybook speaks against stigmatization. Therefore, I am happy to work closely with Merck Foundation to empower women and raise awareness among communities with special focus on the youth (both and girls) through this story. Women are not just mothers; they are productive members of society and should be respected. This book will help to disseminate this message to the children and youth of our nation," she added. Dr Rasha Kelej further said: "It's important for parents and caregivers to start teaching respect and nurturing empathy from a very young age. We should teach boys these qualities at their schools and through media. I believe both boys and girls need the same kind of guidance. Just like girls, young boys gradually learn how to control their behaviour during their pre-school and elementary school years. This story is our way to empower our boys to develop a true respect for women and know few facts about Infertility and how it affects both men and women equally." "Reading Paulus's story will teach our children to respect and value all people regardless of being parents or not. It will also help to prepare our children for tomorrow with the right family values of love and respect. Everyone deserves respect and love, and should never ever be overlooked or, worse, abused --even if they are childless," said HE Monica Geingos. The storybook was launched in a school in Windhoek, where a theatre group enacted the story for the audience. Merck Foundation launched their programs in partnership with the first lady of Namibia together with Ministry of Health & Social Service and Ministry of Education to build equitable healthcare capacity, empower women and young girls and break the infertility stigma in the country. Merck Foundation has been providing and will continue to provide training in the fields of Fertility, Diabetes and Cancer to Namibian doctors to build healthcare capacity in the country, Moreover, they will continue to train media to be able to sensitize the communities about breaking infertility stigma and empower childless women by providing information and awareness about the topic.

About 'Merck More Than a Mother' campaign "Merck More Than a Mother" is a strong movement that aims to empower infertile women through access to information, education and change of mind-sets. This powerful campaign supports governments in defining policies to enhance access to regulated, safe and effective fertility care. It defines interventions to break the stigma around infertile women and raises awareness about infertility prevention, management and male infertility. In partnership with African First Ladies, Ministries of Health, Information, Education & Gender, academia, policymakers, International fertility societies, media and art, the initiative also provides training for fertility specialists and embryologists to build and advance fertility care capacity in Africa and developing countries. With "Merck More Than a Mother", we have initiated a cultural shift to de-stigmatize infertility on all levels: By improving awareness, training local experts in the fields of fertility care and media, building advocacy in cooperation with African First Ladies and women leaders and by supporting childless women in starting their own small businesses. It's all about giving every woman the respect and the help she deserves to live a fulfilling life, with or without a child.

Merck Foundation is making history in many African countries where they never had fertility specialists or specialized fertility clinics before 'Merck More Than a Mother' intervention, to train the first fertility specialists such as; in Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Niger, Chad, Guinea, Ethiopia and Uganda.

Merck Foundation launched new innovative initiatives to sensitize local communities about infertility prevention, male infertility with the aim to break the stigma of infertility and empowering infertile women as part of Merck More than a Mother community awareness campaign, such as:

* 'Merck More than a Mother' Media Recognition Awards and Health Media Training

* 'Merck More than a Mother' Fashion Awards

* 'Merck More than a Mother' Film Awards

* Local songs with local artists to address the cultural perception of infertility and how to change it

* Children storybook, localized for each country

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. 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.)
Louisiana on Friday became the first state in the United States to postpone a scheduled presidential primary election because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Voters in Louisiana were due to vote on April 4 in both Democratic and Republican primaries to select candidates for the November general election. Secretary of State of Lousiana Kyle Ardoin said the vote will now take place on June 20.

A spokeswoman for the Democratic governor of the state, John Bel Edwards, said state law allows such measures to be taken in the event of an emergency. She called the move extraordinary, but prudent.

Were one of the few states that is supposed to have an election in early April, which we think could potentially be the height of some of this in Louisiana, spokeswoman Christina Stephens said. Our poll workers are by large elderly  over the age of 70  and we think it is unsafe for them to be monitoring the election. We dont think we would have enough poll workers  and we think we should be discouraging people from congregating in that way.

As of Friday morning, Louisiana had tested 94 people with 33 presumptive positive results for the coronavirus.

Observers said they other states may follow Louisianas lead. Florida, Ohio, Arizona, and Illinois are scheduled to hold primary elections next week on March 17, and Georgia is scheduled to hold its vote on March 24. Several other key states, among them New York and Pennsylvania, have primaries at the end of April.

In a joint statement issued Friday, the secretaries of state of the four states voting March 17 insisted that the vote will go forward and that voters can be confident that voting is safe.

Americans have participated in elections during challenging times in the past, and based on the best information that we have from public health officials, we are confident that voters in our states can safely and securely cast their ballots in this election, and that otherwise healthy poll workers can and should carry out their patriotic duties on Tuesday, the statement said.

The pandemic already has irrevocably altered the face of the 2020 presidential campaign, with rallies and in-person events  so-called retail politicking  cancelled by both Democratic candidates and President Donald Trump.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, currently the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, has instructed all campaign employees across the country to work from home beginning Saturday. The edict will remain in effect for at least two weeks, the campaign said.

In a memo to staff, campaign officials said the Biden campaign may continue to hold smaller events unless current guidance from public officials changes, but fundraisers would become virtual indefinitely.

The campaign of challenger Bernie Sanders issued the same orders to its staff on Thursday. Future events would be evaluated for safety on a case-by-case basis, the campaign said.

After initially hesitating, the presidents campaign officials said they were cancelling his trademark rallies, as well as all fundraisers and other events, for at least the next week. Trump was slated to fly west on Thursday night for events in Nevada and Colorado, a trip that was cancelled after his Oval Office address to the nation on Wednesday night about the severity of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Trump campaign also canceled a Catholics for Trump coalition event, which Trump planned to attend, that had been scheduled for Milwaukee next week. Vice President Mike Pence also planned to stop all campaign activity for two weeks, a White House official said.
Island Eyes Are Smilin Courtesy The Golden Tiki

The Golden Tiki, Las Vegas world renowned tiki bar experience, will celebrate St. Patricks Day with its typical over-the-top flair, offering not one but two special concoctions for the occasion.

Beginning March 16 through the end of the month, head bartender Adam Rains and his shipwrecked crew will offer Island Eyes are Smilin a creamy treat from the Irish lsle made with Jameson Caskmates, Dole Whip, Coconut Cream, Pineapple, OJ. Also on St Patricks day only, the Golden Tiki will feature Irish Fire with Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey, Mahina Coco, Chardonnay Syrup, Pineapple Puree, Citrus & Chocolate Bitters. Both, $12. Shots of Jameson Caskmates are also available for $10.



About The Golden Tiki

Located in Chinatown, Las Vegas, The Golden Tiki is the vision of Managing Partner Branden Powerswhose experience in the Tiki world dates back 25+ years to the Islands lounge in San Diegos Hanalei Hotel. The Golden Tiki spared no expense in recreating the classic mid-century tiki bar, reminiscent of the legendary Don the Beachcombers and Trader Vics. The hand crafted cocktail menu features nostalgic classics and new creations, alongside a massive list of rum selections and craft beer. Featuring the work of renowned artists Tiki Bosko, Billy the Crud, Bill Collins and Oceanic Arts, the one-of-a-kind decor also boasts a unique collection of celebrity shrunken heads, an astounding array of artifacts, and Bud n Als Oasis, the worlds only adult animatronic bird show.

Open 24 hours a day. Visit thegoldentiki.com.

Facebook: @TheGoldenTikiVegas Instagram @goldentiki Twitter: @GoldenTikiVegas
At the briefing by senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Home Affairs, the envoys and representatives of international organisations were also provided clarifications related to government advisories

New Delhi: India briefed the representatives of more than 130 countries and international organisations, including over 100 envoys, on Friday about the proactive steps taken by it to combat coronavirus.

At the briefing by senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Home Affairs, the envoys and representatives of international organisations were also provided clarifications related to government advisories.

"Together in this fight! Representatives of 130+ countries and international organisations, including 100 Heads of Mission, attended a briefing by senior officials from MEA, MOHFW and MHA on proactive steps taken by Government of India to combat COVID-19 pandemic and provide clarifications related to government advisory," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

India reported on Thursday its first death due to coronavirus as the number of positive cases soared to 75, with authorities taking emergency measures to contain its spread like shutting down schools, colleges and cinema halls in the national capital and some other places.

Follow LIVE updates on Coronavirus Outbreak

The Centre and the states have ramped up their efforts to tackle novel coronavirus, which has claimed at least 4,600 lives globally and affected over 1,25,000 people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the citizens not to panic and asserted that the government was fully vigilant.

Apart from directing the Union ministers not to travel abroad in the coming days, Modi also urged people to avoid non-essential travel, saying,"We can break the chain of spread and ensure safety of all by avoiding large gatherings."

The government has also suspended all visas, except a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, till 15 April.
As political gladiators begin permutations on the likely geopolitical zones of the country that the presidency should shift to, come 2023, the Niger Delta Youth Coalition (NDYC) says South South and South East remain the best options for the nation.

NDYC National Coordinator, Prince Emmanuel Ogba stated this yesterday in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt.

He expressed the opinion that Presidency should return to the South South to enable the zone complete it's remaining four years cut short by President Muhammadu Buhari's administration under the former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said: " Let South South complete it's second tenure just like other geopolitical zones.

" That is the only way to be fair to the oil-rich Niger Delta. Goodluck Jonathan with his wealth of experience is the best bet. If allowed to complete the process, and with his enviable record of experience, there would be peace, accelerated development and sense of belonging".

The youth leader who further presented another alternative noted that the power could shift to the South East since that remains the only zone that had not taken a shot at the presidency.

" The South East has never occupied the presidency since whistle blew on the second republic till today.

" This injustice meted on the South East is inexplicable. It is beginning to look like a stigma. Let the zone take the presidency in 2023 and be allowed to go it's two tenures of eight years.

" South East prides of such materials as Ogbonnaya Onu, Orji Uzor Kalu and some other leaders with good experience in governance".

The NDYC boss explained that the nation has passed through enough hard times and time has come for some past mistakes which were glaringly obvious to bec orrected.

He emphasised that inordinate ambition and unnecessary sentiments should not be allowed to becloud the view of the present crop of Nigerians as we approach 2023 and who becomes the next President of the country.
As imports begin to fall in place for Indian pharma sector, there is a huge cloud of uncertainty on the exports front, especially to the markets in US and Europe. With travel restrictions between Europe and the US, Indian pharma companies are unsure of product offtake in these regions.

"We are seeing things getting back to normal in the inward supply chain leading upto drug manufacture. However, the situation has turned a bit uncertain on the onward sales of these products given that normal activity in major parts of Europe, US and in some emerging markets is getting disrupted in the light of more coronavirus cases emerging and the World Health Organisation calling it a pandemic," says Kedar Upadhye, global chief financial officer at Cipla.

He does not rule restrictions on the travel of medical representatives in local markets as well as expats working abroad. Other than wait and watch approach, most feel, companies need to focus on safety of employees, facilitate their safe return.

Industry insiders believe it's time for prudent management, which would typically include not extending credit, keeping cash handy and postponing new initiatives with constant eye on cost control amid unclear revenues prospects.

Meanwhile, the Ministry Of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has issued an official memorandum to the Central Pollution Control Board and other connected government entities, in order to ensure drug availability, that clearances should be granted expeditiously to projects related to active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug intermediates.

Some of the head honchos of Indian pharmaceutical companies Business Today spoke to confirmed that shipments from China had started and, in case of high value items, airlift has also been done.

Concerns over the uncertainty in global market and the nature of impact that it could have on exports linger, beyond the response of Indian government and possibility of export curbs.

Also read: Coronavirus fallout: China-controlled Penicillin G sees over 50% price rise

Also read: Coronavirus: Paracetamol prices rise by 40% amid outbreak of deadly virus
Irish Life was entitled to refuse to pay 250,000 life insurance for murdered gangster Eamon Dunne over his failure to disclose drug/alcohol misuse and depression when taking the policy out, the High Court has heard.

Dunne (42) was shot six times in the head and back in April 2010 while attending a birthday party in a pub Cabra, Dublin. He was linked to a number of gang murders, drug trafficking and was on bail awaiting trial at the time of his death for the robbery of a cash-in-transit van in Kildare.

He had taken out the Irish Life Insurance policy, costing 103 a month, with his partner Georgina Saunders two years before his death.

Mr Saunders, with an address in Lanesborough Avenue, Finglas, Dublin, claims Irish Life failed to make payment wrongfully and in breach of the terms and conditions of the life insurance contract.

Irish Life denies the claims and says the policy was void by reason of non-disclosure of material facts about Dunne when the policy was taken out.

These included that in 2003 he had attended his GP who noted he was suffering from a number of problems including cocaine and ecstasy use, that he was depressed, had feelings of paranoia and was drinking excessively.

His GP told the court that his initial attendance at the surgery was in 2001 after a break-up with a previous girlfriend and he expressed suicidal thoughts. He was prescribed sleeping pills and anti-depressants.

He attended the GP a number of times in 2003 when it was noted he was "drinking eight cans a night" and snorting substantial amounts of cocaine.

He was no longer suicidal but was still depressed and had trouble sleeping and he was referred to the psychiatrist in Grangegorman, Dublin.

Irish Life says in his insurance proposal form, Dunne had stated he drank six units of alcohol a week, never suffered from a mental or nervous disorder or had treatment for such a disorder in the last five years. He also said he was not taking prescribed medication and did not take non-prescribed drugs.

The information he provided in the proposal form was entirely misleading and if disclosed it would have led to the policy being declined, Irish Life says.

Martin Duffy, Irish Life's head of underwriting and protection of claims, told the court on Friday that because Mr Dunne was just 42 and died of multiple gunshot wounds the company sought his medical records.

It was also learned Mr Dunne had two life policies with Zurich which had also refused to pay out on them, Mr Duffy said.

Asked by Mairead McKenna BL, for Irish Life, would there have been a loading on the policy if his medical history had been disclosed, Mr Duffy said that would have been inappropriate. It would be "completely unacceptable form an insurance point of view" to accept him as a policy holder given the extent of illicit drug use and concerns about his mental health, he said.

Ms Saunders was recalled to the witness box on Friday at the request of the defence to address answers she gave for preparatory work on her legal action in relation to certain questions which the defence claimed should have been answered when the policy was taken out.

She told Remy Farrell SC, for Irish Life, she thought there was a misunderstanding in relation to these questions in the legal papers, known as "interrogatories", as she was "literally confirming" the information.

"Maybe I did not understand it, I am not sure, but there were details about mental health issues and I did not know him back then and every answer was 'yes'", she said.

Mr Justice Tony O'Connor adjourned the case to May for legal submissions.
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday (March 13) declared the COVID-19 a 'contagious epidemic' and directed all educational institutions in the state to remain closed till March 22 to deal with the lethal infection.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, " all schools, colleges, technical and vocational education institutes will remain closed till March 22. We will review the situation on March 22 and will take a decision whether to extend it or not." The Chief Minister further announced that while exams which are going on in school and colleges will continue but the ones which are set to start will be postponed.

He added that the state had issued an advisory in this regard in the past.

The Chief Minister assured that the state government had been taking all necessary precautionary measures to deal with the crisis and informed that every district in the state has an isolation ward with 820 beds.

He said that so far, at least 11 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported from Uttar Pradesh, out of which 10 are being treated in Delhi while one is in Lucknow's King George's Medical University (KGMU).
Coriolanus (Crucible, Sheffield)

Rating:

Verdict: Alpha Bateman, beta production

Tom Bateman is a burgeoning alpha male of stage and screen who's been tipped by some to be the next James Bond.

Before that, though, there's the small matter of this modern-day take on Shakespeare's most testosterone-fuelled action man.

He's a warlike Roman general who winds up just about everyone he comes near  except his mother.

Roman warrior: Tom Bateman as Coriolanus, and Stella Gonet as his mother. She alone is allowed to bash Coriolanus's ears and, when she does, under Stella Gonet's slightly too friendly fire, his lip quivers and his eyes mist up

Being a mother's boy turns out to be Coriolanus's weakness as well as his redeeming feature, and yet it's also what makes him funny as a prototype of Rocky Balboa.

He may be a snarling tough guy, but he's also a whimpering pup in his mother's dictatorial bosom.

Any actor taking him on has to navigate between these poles, and Bateman doesn't so much navigate as career between them. At times he even looks a little dazed.

To be fair to Bateman, this is not a part you should take on if you want to showcase your subtlety.

He starts by single-handedly storming the town of Corioli, securing his name and nomination to be consul of the Roman Senate.

But to win this role he must grovel to sneering commoners. Unable to stomach this, he antagonises them and is sent into exile, where he joins forces with his deadly foes.

To show us his nuance, the former Beecham House star has to settle for doting on his simpering wife, played by deaf actor Hermon Berhane.

It's a nice touch  and quite unusual  having Bateman communicating with her in sign language while their dialogue appears over the stage in text, but it's incidental to the main action.

His mother is well known for being off her trolley. She alone is allowed to bash Coriolanus's ears and, when she does, under Stella Gonet's slightly too friendly fire, his lip quivers and his eyes mist up.

Luckily it's not long before he's back in action. There's a gloriously improbable fight at the end where he uses kung-fu as if he were Keanu Reeves in The Matrix.

Yet Robert Hastie's production also wants us to see the play as a meditation on today's disconnect between politicians and the people.

He's recycled Ben Stones's set for his 2017 production of Julius Caesar.

The Roman Senate is presented like the European Parliament, with grey carpet and beige Charles Eames chairs. I found all this a bit bloodless.

Also, rough and varied acting styles aren't up to the complexities of Roman rhetoric. One actor turns British Sign Language into a form of tai chi, while Coriolanus's enemy Aufidius (Theo Ogundipe) is rendered with a fire-and-brimstone performance worthy of voice-quavering 19th-century actors, and Malcolm Sinclair as a William Rees-Mogg-ish ally is a model of theatrical probity.

Even so, scenes of fire-fighting and blubbing for Mummy are far more fun.

To achieve consistency in such high-concept productions of Shakespeare, the director needs to be as bossy as Coriolanus.

But while Hastie's political mission goes astray, I was content to bask in Bateman's histrionic glory  qualities which may yet serve him well as 007.

Ravens flies high in triple masterpiece

Talking Heads (Watford Palace)

Rating:

Verdict: A Bennett classic

Shoe Lady (Royal Court)

Rating:

Verdict: Cobblers

What a treat to catch this fine revival of three Alan Bennett monologues first seen on TV in 1987 and '88.

The first and last are performed by Dead Ringers impressionist Jan Ravens and Julia Watson from Casualty stars in the second. Both had me transfixed with their tender handling of Bennett's wry wit.

Ravens may have been tempted to play her busybody from Bradford in the manner of Patricia Routledge, and the posh lady from Suffolk with the voice of Theresa May. But she wisely eschews pastiche.

The first and last are performed by Dead Ringers impressionist Jan Ravens (pictured above), and Julia Watson from Casualty stars in the second

A more sinister reality lurks behind the letter writer who spies on her neighbours, and there's pathos in the tale of the wealthy lady fleeced by her son.

Watson reveals the yearnings of a vicar's alcoholic wife who takes up with an Asian shopkeeper in Leeds from whom she buys her sherry.

Peppered with digs at Church of England social climbers, it's not just her introduction to the Kama Sutra that fascinates Bennett  his story is a cri de coeur at her loss of faith in God and her husband.

If the plays feel dated, it's only because they're now classics. They celebrate dying English manners and euphemisms that mask pain. Brigid Larmour's production gets this beautifully, presenting the women in front of curtains that finally open to reveal the sea  like flashing a bit of leg.

Shoe Lady is a 65-minute play about a woman who's lost a shoe.

'Is it actually?' sniggered my 15-year-old daughter. Yes it is, actually.

Risibly trivial as that may be, it does also star the very watchable Katherine Parkinson from The IT Crowd.

And, to be fair to author E. V. Crowe, there are strong precedents for this kind of tale. Cinderella is one.

Crowe's play is a parable of social estrangement in which Parkinson appears to be cheerfully losing her marbles.

The trouble is, it's only half a night out. Parkinson is soon to be seen as Barbara Good in The Good Life in Bath.

Exchanging a single shoe for a pair of wellies  it already sounds twice as good. I'd save my money for that.

Stirling's tour de force is simply AbFab

Love, Love, Love (Lyric Hammersmith)

Rating:

Verdict: Welcome revival

Love, Love, Love, Mike Bartlett's play about the divide between the generations, is now a decade old.

It shows the progress (if that's the right word) of a disgraceful pair of 1960s hippies, from their youth in 1967, to the dissolution of their marriage in 1990, to their disreputable old age in 2011.

Does it still work in its current production at the Lyric Hammersmith? Yes. If anything it's acquired an additional frisson in the era of Greta Thunberg  'You've stolen our future!'  and the generational divide between cushy, propertied boomers and their Generation Rent children.

Love it: Rachael Stirling, Nicholas Burns and Isabella Laughland

In 1967, all the angst was far away, in an era when the young and optimistic got worked up about Vietnam and the Bomb (actually far greater threats than climate change) through a haze of pot.

Such are Sandra and Ken, who don't have to worry about much because they're on a grant at Oxford  though she's just been sacked from her job in a boutique for blowing pot smoke at a customer. Outrage!

Their relationship starts as they mean to go on, by sidelining manual worker Henry, Ken's brother, who fancies Sandra but is elbowed aside by this gilded pair.

As Sandra, Rachael Stirling simply steals the show, every act of it.

Though I did admire Patrick Knowles's menacing Henry, who seems perpetually on the brink of murdering his layabout sibling.

Stirling is in her element as the fabulously selfish hippy in a mini. There's more than a bit of Absolutely Fabulous about her in middle age, as the pair live in dull prosperity.

'Look at us,' wails Nicholas Burns's Ken. 'We're living in Reading!' (The play must go down a storm there.)

In fact, the last act, where the couple's daughter reads them the riot act, is AbFab in a nutshell.

And it all comes down to money, which 37-year-old Rose (Isabella Laughland) takes more seriously than the hippies, on account of not having any.

The play still strikes a chord. My 13-year-old daughter came over all Greta Thunberg on the way home from it. I'm with Sandra.
Vineet Upadhyay By

Express News Service

DEHRADUN: Enthused by its landslide victory in the Delhi assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced a new Uttarakhand state unit with an eye on the 2022 state assembly elections.

Dinesh Mohaniya, the MLA from Delhi's Sangam Vihar, has been appointed chief of the Uttarakhand unit.

We aim to work with honesty and dedication for the people of Uttarakhand as we did for the people of Delhi. We promise to cease corruption in Uttarakhand and provide every essential facility to the people such as power, water, health and education, said Mohaniya speaking over the phone from Delhi.

The party has also launched a membership campaign through a missed call to make members. We have received an overwhelming response with lakhs of missed calls and hope people trust us to form the government in Uttarakhand, said the three-time MLA.

Experts dubbed the move a red flag for both the BJP and Congress as the AAP can eat into the vote share of both the parties, becoming a decisive factor in 2022.

Adhir Yadav, a political commentator from Dehradun, said, People from the entire nation have witnessed the work of the AAP in Delhi. This has created credibility for the party which may translate into votes, no matter the volume. Those votes will be from the vote share of the BJP and Congress.

However, the BJP and Congress both termed the party insignificant in the state.

Congress state vice president Suryakant Dhasmana said, The state has always favoured either the Congress or the BJP. There is no space for regional parties in Uttarakhand. The electoral history of the state explains that clearly.

Devendra Bhasin, BJP state vice president, said, People of the state trust our party and the government and the AAP is not going to affect us at all.

After the 2014 general elections, it will be the first time the party will contest elections in the hill state. The party fielded candidates in all five Lok Sabha constituencies but failed to win any of them.

Following the electoral disaster, the party decided not to contest the 2017 state assembly elections in which the BJP scored a landslide victory. In 2018, it fielded a transgender candidate Rajni Rawat for the mayoral post of Dehradun who stood a distant third behind the BJP and Congress.
PM Modi's tips against coronavirus is a Namaste'

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to get into the habit of greeting each other with a "namaste" instead of a regular handshake as one of the measures to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

"The whole world is making a habit of namaste. If for some reason we have given up this habit, then instead of joining hands, it is also the right time to reintroduce this habit," the Prime Minister said.

Trump, Varadkar greet each other with 'Namaste'

US President Donald Trump and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar greeted each other with 'namaste', a traditional Indian way, which is necessary in the current times of coronavirus.

"We (him and PM of Ireland) didn't shake hands today&we looked at each other&said what are we going to do?Sort of a weird feeling. We did this (joined hands). I just got back from India and I didn't shake any hands there. It was easy, " Trump told reporters.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 13th, 2020

Prince Charles greets guest with 'Namaste'

A video of Prince Charles greeting people with "Namaste" has gone viral on social media.

Parveen Kaswan, an Indian Forest Service (IFC) officer, shared the video on his Twitter handle with the caption: "Namaste... See we Indians told to do this to world many many years ago. Now just a class on how to do namaste properly."

Benjamin Netanyahu bats for 'Namaste'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also encouraged his citizens to adopt namaste instead of the handshake as a way to stop the spread of coronavirus.

"Simple measures like avoiding the normal handshake while greeting people may possibly be replaced with other forms of greetings like the Indian namaste," he said.

Emmanuel Macron adopts Indian style

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed King Felipe of Spain and his wife in Paris by greeting with Namaste and bowing slightly.

Salman Khan urges fans to stick to namaste and salaam

Bollywood actor Salman Khan asked his fans to stick to namaste and salaam until the coronavirus outbreak is under control.

"Namashkaar... Hamari sabhyata mein namaste aur salaam hai! Jab #coronavirus Khatam ho jaye tab Haath milao aur gale lago," he tweeted.

The UN health body has announced coronavirus "is a controllable pandemic". The number of COVID-19 cases in the world stands at 125,293, with over 4,600 deaths.
NASHVILLE - Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Friday halted all non-essential business travel for state employees, banned visitors and tours from the state capitol and heavily discouraged groups of 250 or more from gathering.

The guidance is the latest development in Tennessees handling of the spread of the new coronavirus.

COVID-19 is an evolving situation but we urge vulnerable populations, including those over age 60 and with chronic medical conditions to limit participation in mass gatherings and to take extra precautions for personal well-being like increased hand-washing, the Republican governor said in a statement.

Lees administration has also advised school districts to exercise discretion when cancelling school for K-12 students, but held off from mandating any closures as some other states have already done.

The governors office added that school-provided meals will still continue regardless of closures.

Along with the Capitol, top lawmakers have also agreed to close the states legislative office building to the public beginning Monday.

As of Friday, Tennessee had 26 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Ten cases in Davidson County, nine cases in Williamson County and two in Shelby County have been confirmed. Single cases have been found in Hamilton, Jefferson, Knox, Rutherford and Sullivan counties.

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.

Lees order comes after Tennessees highest court on Friday suspended all in-person judicial proceedings until the end of the month due to the spread of the new coronavirus.

The Supreme Court order applies to state and local courts, including appellate, trial, general session, juvenile and municipal courts.

Each day across the State of Tennessee, thousands of people attend court proceedings in-person when they come to the courthouse as jurors, witnesses, litigants, or in another capacity, said Chief Justice Jeff Bivins in a statement. Public spaces in courthouses tend to be small, tightly packed bench seats that provide the type of situations public health officials have encouraged people to avoid during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Bivins noted that judges, court clerks and other essential constitutional functions will continue to proceed. Likewise, court proceedings by telephone, video, teleconference and email will continue to be allowed.

Bivins decision also includes several exceptions ranging from emergency child custody orders, emergency mental health orders to COVID-19 public health emergency proceedings.

Other closures continued to ripple across the state on Friday.

The U.S. attorneys office in Memphis said in a statement that all jury trials and jury selections in the Western District of Tennessee scheduled through March 27 are delayed until further notice.

Federal courts in the Eastern District of Tennessee, which includes Knoxville and Chattanooga, and the Middle District, which includes Nashville, have not changed normal operations, according to statements posted on their websites.

Meanwhile, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke announced a state of emergency for the city Friday. The decision comes after Lee filed a statewide emergency declaration the day before.

With one confirmed case of COVID-19 in Chattanoogas Hamilton County, Berkes decision allows the city to take certain preventive actions. This includes cancelling city-sponsored senior activities and suspending public access and activities at the citys youth centres and library branches.

In Nashville, the public library has also suspended its programming starting March 16 until April 16.

Also Friday, movie theatre chain Malco said it is limiting seating in each auditorium to a maximum of 50% of capacity.

This seating arrangement reduces crowded auditoriums, allowing for guests to practice healthy social distancing, said Karen Melton, vice-president and marketing director of the Memphis-based chain, in a statement. Malco has 35 locations in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Louisiana.

Department of Human Services Commissioner Danielle Barnes told lawmakers this week that her agency had asked the federal government to provide cash assistance to COVID-19 patients but had not received permission as of Friday.

We do anticipate and we are preparing for an increase in customers in all of our programs across the entire state because we know businesses will close, schools will close and the loss of income associated with those closures, Barnes said.

Dolly Partons East Tennessee theme park is delaying its season opening for two weeks. The theme park in Pigeon Forge announced Friday that it will not open to the public as planned on Saturday, but will open on March 28. The theme park had previously announced that a media day on Friday was also cancelled.

Two of her dinner show restaurants, Dolly Partons Stampede and Pirates Voyage, will close starting on Monday.

We have been following the coronavirus crisis very closely and based on developments within the last 24 hours and in consultation with health experts, we are going to delay our season opening until March 28, Craig Ross, Dollywood president said in a statement. Despite the delay in opening, we are committed to taking care of our hosts while the park remains closed.

In Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum closed Friday and will remain closed through March 31. The museum, which calls itself the Smithsonian of country music, is one of the Nashvilles biggest tourist draws, bringing in a record 1.3 million visitors last year. Also to close will be Hatch Show Print, RCA Studio B and the museums CMA Theater.

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Associated Press writers Kristin Hall in Nashville and Adrian Sainz in Memphis contributed to this report.

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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
For once, the conversation over closing the US-Mexico border is being driven b Mexican health officials who say they are considering shutting out Americans to keep coronavirus out of their country.

There are currently more than 2,000 cases of the virus in the US and it is spreading rapidly. Forty-three people have died from it.

By contrast in Mexico, there have only been 16 confirmed cases and no deaths.

At a press conference on Friday, health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said: 'Mexico wouldn't bring the virus to the United States, rather the United States would bring it here.

'The possible flow of coronavirus would come from the north to the south.

'If it were technically necessary, we would consider mechanisms of restriction or stronger surveillance,' he said.

Health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said: 'Mexico wouldn't bring the virus to the United States, rather the United States would bring it here.

There are now 1,930 cases of coronavirus in the US and 42 people have died

Trump has said little on the subject of coronavirus in Mexico.

Unlike several Latin American countries, Mexico has yet to take measures such as closing schools or banning entry to people coming from places with high numbers of coronavirus cases.

However, the private Tecnologico de Monterrey university said on Thursday it would suspend academic and classes from next week until further notice, while Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM) said it would tighten preventative measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

On Friday, Trump tweeted: 'To this point, and because we have had a very strong border policy, we have had 40 deaths related to CoronaVirus.

'If we had weak or open borders, that number would be many times higher!'

Both he and Vice President Mike Pence have blamed the spread of the virus first on China, then on Europe which they now believe is the 'epicenter' of the outbreak.

Trump has suspended all travel from Europe to the US on Friday night at midnight.

On Thursday, he said Americans who were overseas would be tested before they got on their planes and that they would not be allowed to board them if they tested positive for the virus.

Trump tweeted on Friday that his strong stance on borders had stifled the virus somewhat

President Donald Trump shaking hands with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night; Bolsonaro's condition remains unknown - there are reports that he has tested positive and negative for coronavirus

Mike Pence said earlier in the day that any American would be able to come back 'regardless' of their condition.

He said they would be funneled through one of 13 airports once they landed back in the US and that they would be screened.

There have however been mixed reports on the extent to which people are being screened, questioned and tested when they arrive back in the US.

Some say they have been able to saunter through customs and have only been asked if they have flu symptoms.

The president will answer questions at the 3 p.m. presser as the House prepares to vote on a coronavirus package, the stock market tries to recover from its worst day since the 1987 economic recession, and schools across the country have closed out of fears of spreading the virus.

Nearly 2,000 people have contracted the virus in the US. Above, a patient is put in an ambulance at a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington

He will likely be peppered with questions about his health, whether he should be tested, and why he hasn't into voluntary self-quarantine, despite CDC guidelines describing someone in his situation as 'medium risk' for infection.

The president announced the press conference after reports out of Brazil said the Bolsonaro tested positive for coronavirus. One of the major newspapers in Rio de Janeiro, Journal O Dia, noted The Guardian's Tom Phillips, reported the news of Bolsonaro's positive test.

Bolsonaro, 64, was checked for the disease after his aide Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for it.

But a second test that came back on Friday showed the president tested negative, according to a statement on Bolsonaro's official Facebook page, which is adding to the questions and confusion.
The official order to abandon gatherings of more than 500 people adds to the growing economic cost of the coronavirus outbreak.

Sydney will feel the new restrictions more than most other regions because it hosts a disproportionate share of major events including sporting fixtures, festivals and conferences.

Abandoning mass gatherings will have a disproportionate economic impact on Sydney. Credit:AAP

Several major industries in Sydney, especially tourism and international education, have already been hard-hit by the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

The decision to effectively ban mass gatherings is a further blow to economic demand in the city that will eventually affect jobs.
OKLAHOMA CITY - Two servicemen killed in an Iraqi rocket attack on a U.S. base in Iraq were an Oklahoman and a Californian, the U.S. Department of Defence said Friday.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Marshal Roberts, 28, of Owasso, and Army Spc. Juan Miguel Mendez Covarrubias, 27, of Hanford, California, died in the Wednesday attack that also killed a British service member.

The U.S. has launched retaliatory airstrikes against militants in Iraq following the attack on Camp Taji.

The department said Roberts was a member of the 219th Engineering Installation Squadron of the Oklahoma Air National Guard and Covarrubias was assigned to 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas.

Roberts served selflessly and with honour, Maj. Gen. Michael Thompson, Oklahomas adjutant general, said in a statement.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Sens. James Lankford and Jim Inhofe and Rep. Kevin Hern of Tulsa, where the Oklahoma squadron is based, issued statements of condolence, calling Roberts a hero.
MIAMI  Florida has never been known as a place of stability, especially in its politics.

And yet stability is what has been on the minds of many Democrats in the state who say theyll vote for former Vice President Joe Biden in Tuesdays presidential primary instead of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

I like some of Sanders ideas, but hes a little too extreme for me, said Jeanne Hilburn, a 76-year-old retired teacher who lives in the suburbs of Tampa. A lot of Democrats are like me  we want stability.

As the race for the Democratic nomination enters a critical phase, with Sanders campaign on the brink of collapse and Bidens ascendant, attention is turning to places like Florida, which is holding its primary Tuesday along with Ohio, Illinois and Arizona. Florida has 219 delegates, the biggest prize.

Few places hold the electoral cachet of Florida, which has been among the most coveted swing states in the last three decades, including during the contentious, chaotic recount of 2000. It is a vital state for President Trump, who would have almost no path to re-election without it.

Bidens advisers are banking on a decisive Florida victory that sends a clear message that he is much better positioned to win the state and deny Trump a second term. In 2016, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton here by 1.2 percentage points.

Florida, as always, is pivotal in the outcome, said Nikki Fried, who is the states agriculture commissioner and top elected Democrat and who endorsed Biden. We are the ultimate swing state.

Sanders support in Florida has always been tenuous. In the 2016 primary, he lost to Clinton by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. This year, Sanders angered a potentially large voting bloc  Cuban Americans  by praising Fidel Castro for implementing a literacy program in the communist nation.

There is nothing positive you can say about the conditions in Cuba. If he doesnt understand that, it is hard to conceive that he will get any votes, said Xavier Suarez, who was the first Cuban-born mayor of Miami and is now running as an independent in the county mayoral race. Its gonna be a massacre.

A strong turnout in the Florida primary could give hope to Democrats, though it would be difficult to draw any conclusions for November given the states high number of independents. The coronavirus outbreak could also keep some voters away from the polls.

Tamara Lush and Adriana Gomez Licon are Associated Press writers.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 15:07:30|Editor: xuxin

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CANBERRA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- When first ray of the sun came to the Australian capital, Canberra woke up to see colorful balloons in different shapes decorating the sky.

Many pilots steered their balloons across Lake Burley Griffin, while some others were making final preparation before taking off.

This year, the Canberra Balloon Spectacular runs from last Saturday till the upcoming Sunday (7-15), attracting visitors and pilots from across the world.

Some of the visitors even arrived before dawn, with a cup of hot coffee in their hands, and waited with their families while the balloons were being inflated.

"It is such a magical experience to come out, before the sun has even come up in often quite chilly mornings, and to watch the balloons take shape," said Sarah Boyd, assistant director of event delivery, about the charm of Balloon Spectacular.

"It's a magical experience listening to the sounds of the burners as they put the hot air into the balloons, and seeing them stand up ... and float off into the air," she said.

About 50 pilots took part in the event this year, with 35 balloons. Boyd said they expected to have a total of 50,000 to 60,000 visitors to the event.

"Many more people take up vantage points around the lake and even actually out on the lake in kayaks and row boats and paddle boards to enjoy the balloons," she said.

She told Xinhua that the event had been running for more than 30 years, from a community event to the drawcard of Canberra nowadays.

John Wallington, flight director of Canberra Balloon Spectacular, was a pilot himself who had been flying for 35 years around the world. He noted that for balloon competition, pilots should fly to a predetermined target.

"But this is just a fiesta and everybody is having fun," he said.

However, the festival did has some requirement: pilots must have a minimum number of 50 flying hours, and the wind is no more than 10 to 15 kilometers an hour.

"In the city we're landing in parks or very small places. So we need quite calm winds," he said.

Among all the pilots Chen Changling was from China. He had been flying balloon in Japan last month and was thus able to enter Australia after the coronavirus travel ban.

"I come here every year since 2015," said the 56-year-old pilot. "The event is among a few of its kind in which we could fly over the parliament house in a country's capital."

Chen said he was attracted by the scenery. "With mountains and lake, it is such a wonderful experience," he said, adding that after 20 minutes' preparation, the fuel could enable him to fly for a maximum of two hours.

Lyle Roberts watched the balloons taking off with his son. What interested him were the special balloons each year. "Last year they had a big dog," he said. This year's highlight was a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex) from Canada.

Roberts' son, three and a half years' old, was wearing a green dinosaur one-piece pajama. Sitting on his father's shoulders, the boy was excited to see the T-Rex balloon being inflated.

In fact, the 30-year-old father had the same childhood experience. "I grew up in Canberra, and have been coming to the festival since I was a kid ... perhaps a bit older than him," he said. "It's nice to get out in the morning and just see all the people come up."
'Should the Congress take Jyotiraditya's departure as good riddance?', asks Mohammad Sajjad.

IMAGE: Bharatiya Janata Party President Jagat Prakash Nadda, right, welcomes Jyotiraditya into the BJP at the BJP's national headquarters in New Delhi, March 12, 2020. Photograph: Arun Sharma/PTI Photo

With Jyotiraditya Scindia's dramatic switch from the Congress to the BJP, recent and distant histories of the erstwhile royal dynasty to which he belongs have started to emerge.

This is not happening for the first time.

Before a by-election in May 2017, then Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Kailash Vijayvargiya, then the BJP's national secretary, accused the Sindhia dynasty of Gwalior for having joined hands with the British and contributing to the defeat in the First War of Independence.

The BJP stalwarts had chosen to forget that every other Scindia scion was with the BJP -- Vasundhra Raje and her sister Yashodhra Raje, younger sisters of Jyotiraditya's father Madhavrao Scindia.

In 1857, the Scindia ruler was Jayajirao (1834-1886).

Hindutva icon Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, in his 1909 book, Indian War of Independence, 1857, was much more unrestrained than Chouhan and Vijayvargiya; he referred to Jayajirao as a cobra, traitor, coward...

Referring to the relationship between Jayajirao and the Jhansi queen Laxmibai, Savarkar wrote, 'the cobra shows not such rage when it is trodden upon as Laxmi showed at the sight of this traitor'.

Savarkar is equally harsh against Scindia's minister Dinkar Rao who ditched the peshwa, Tatya Tope.

In another significant essay, historian Iqtidar Alam Khan notes that Gwalior's defeat at Dholpur in 1844 brought the Scindia army under British control. With the outbreak of the Sepoy Mutiny in May 1857, the British used Scindia contingents to suppress the rebels at Agra and Etawah.

For this, Major Macpherson paid Rs 4.5 lakhs to Scindia.

When Jhansi rose in revolt on June 7, 1857, Scindia took over the administration of parts of Jhansi.

This created some anger among the Scindia's sepoys.

Scindia was much concerned about his rebellious chiefs of Chanderi, Raigarh and other provinces and approached Brigadier Ramsay to help him suppress them.

By June 14, 1857, the carefully planned rebellion of Scindia's sepoys became prominent.

Based on Macpherson's report and on other contemporary primary evidence, Iqtidar Khan records that Jayajirao 'Scindia was not at all sincere' in helping out the rebel sepoys; 'he was all the time in league with the British', and assured Macpherson that till September he would keep his army tied down to Gwalior, rather than letting them join the rebel sepoys of north India.

This is how Scindia contributed to suppressing the 1857 revolt.

'Scindia was too clever as well as too resourceful a person to be handled in the same manner in which the sepoy leaders were able to handle Bahadur Shah at Delhi'.

Khan further writes, 'For the next four months [June-September 1857] that the contingent was still at Gwalior, there continued a war of wits between Scindia and the rebel leaders.'

'While the rebel leaders again and again pressed Scindia to lead them against the British, he went on putting them off on various pretexts.'

Scindia went on to instigating sepoys and their priests to keep their ranks divided, thereby extending substantial help to the British by not letting the sepoys join the rebel sepoys in Agra, Delhi, Kanpur and vicinities.

The sepoys, on November 27, 1857, at Kanpur, inflicted a humiliating defeat upon General Windham, the hero of the Crimean War.

This victory was celebrated by Frederick Engels in his column in the New York Daily Tribune (February 20, 1858).

The sepoys eventually lost Kanpur to British General Campbell on December 6, 1858.

This defeat is apparently attributed partly, at least, to Jayajirao Scindia's role.

Interestingly, Savarkar pays glowing tribute to Bahadur Shah Zafar, who according to Savarkar, made an ardent appeal to all the native rulers to unite against the British, and for which the Mughal emperor was also 'willing to resign from all Imperial powers and authority'.

Fast forward to post-Independence history!

Jivajirao Scindia (1916-1961), the second last ruler of Gwalior, was more inclined towards the Hindu Mahasabha, but the Congress persuaded him to contest the 1957 election.

Eventually, his wife Vijaya Raje Scindia (1919-2001), contested from Guna and won by defeating the Hindu Mahasabha's V G Deshpande by a big margin.

In 1967, she contested the Lok Sabha election as a nominee of C Rajagopalachari (1878-1972)'s Swatantra Party.

Simultaneously, she also contested the Vidhan Sabha election in Madhya Pradesh as a nominee of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (the parent of the BJP; the Rajmata was a founder vice-president of the BJP).

The Gold Control Act and abolition of privy purses were said to have been the reasons for her quitting the Congress.

But her decision was 'mainly because of her ideological commitment to right-wing politics,' Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay writes in his latest book, The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right.

In 1966, Vijay Raje was snubbed by Indira Gandhi and denied a ministership. In 1967, she took away 36 Congress MLAs, leading to fall of the Dwarka Prasad Mishra-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.

In her autobiography, Rajpath se Lokpath Par, Vijaya Raje absolved her husband's ancestor Jayajirao by painting him as a 'patriot' rather than as a 'traitor'.

From May 1968, she began to take active interest in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and helped it spread across MP, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Her daughter Vasundhara Raje, then Rajasthan chief minister, had Subhadra Kumari Chauhan's celebrated Hindi poem Jhansi Ki Rani removed from school textbooks in the state as one line of this poem refers to Jhansi and the Marathas having been ditched by Scindia in 1857.

In all fairness, the present generation of Scindias should not be held accountable for the (mis)deeds of their ancestors!

In 1971, Vijaya Raje contested the Lok Sabha election from Bhind whereas her son Madhavrao contested the Lok Sabha election from Guna, both of them as Jana Sangh nominees.

In 1980, Madhavrao joined the Congress and handled portfolios like railways, civil aviation and human resources development.

In 1989, when Arjun Singh had to step down as MP chief minister, Madhavrao was a hopeful candidate, but Motilal Vora eventually got the top seat.

In 1996, Madhavrao quit the Congress and formed a regional outfit, the Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress.

When Sonia Gandhi assumed the helm of Congress affairs, after P V Narasimha Rao was marginalised and Sitaram Kesri passed away, Madhavrao came back to the Congress.

Jyotiraditya could have launched a regional outfit if he felt marginalised within the Congress.

Does he have that capability of running his own regional outfit like Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar have done? Perhaps, not! He owes his political rise only to the dynasty he is a scion of, and to the Congress which offered him ministerial berths thrice.

Yet, he apparently could not develop enough clout to take away a significant number of Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh.

As per reports, he barely has 17 MLAs with him.

Thus, given this thin clout, and given the 'charisma' of Narendra Damodardas Modi and Amit Anilchandra Shah built up with heightened majoritarian muscular nationalism of minority persecution, aided with brazen misuse of State power in connivance with crony capitalism and Deep State surveillance and vendetta against political opponents, one would hardly expect that Jyotiraditya will get a respectable position within the BJP and its government, more so, when he does not come from the RSS.

His political switch therefore smacks of self-serving opportunism rather than any ideological content deriving either from the pluralist Congress or of the exclusionary, divisive BJP.

Jyotiraditya's lack of ideological conviction manifested in his approval of the BJP's abrogation of Article 370 and imposition of ruthless persecution in Kashmir.

Jyotiraditya has maintained a silence on contentious and oppressive legislation and decisions issued by the Modi regime such as the CAA-NPR.

Given these, should the Congress take Jyotiraditya's departure as good riddance?

Professor Mohammad Sajjad teaches history at the Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University.
T he actors' union Equity has issued an apology to Laurence Fox after a social media post from its minority ethnic committee branded the Lewis star a "disgrace."

All members of Equity's Race Equality Committee have since resigned as committee members, saying that felt they had "no choice" but to do so.

Equity's original post came after Fox claimed that a Question Time audience member was being "racist" when she labelled him a "white privileged male" during a discussion about media coverage of Meghan Markle.

When academic Rachel Boyle said that some sections of the media had treated the Duchess of Sussex in a "racist" manner, Fox, 41, claimed that the UK is "the most tolerant, lovely country in Europe" and said that the "charge of racism" was "starting to get boring now."

In their official statement this morning, the union said that it was a "mistake for Equity as an organisation to criticise him in this way."

"On 17 January a series of tweets were posted by the @EquityMEM Twitter account about Laurence Fox's appearance on BBC Question Time," the post read.

"We are sorry that in the tweets he was called a 'disgrace' by Equity. It was a mistake for Equity as an organisation to criticise him in this way. Nothing in Equity's later statement was intended as a slur on his character or views or to suggest that he should be denied the ability to work.

"We would like to make that clear. Equity and Laurence Fox condemn prejudice unequivocally in all its forms."

Ahead of the announcement this morning, Fox returned to Twitter after a "19 day" break to tell fans: "I thought I'd let you know that I have an update in regards to my situation that I will share with you at around 9am."

Question Time: Laurence Fox labels audience member 'racist' in Duchess of Sussex row

A source close to Fox told Standard Online that the star is "pleased and grateful to Equity" after the apology and "looks forward now to moving on in his professional and personal life after what has been a very difficult period for him and his family."

Following the statement, Equity's Race Equality Committee (formerly known as the Equity Minority Ethnic Members Committee) said that felt they "have no choice but to resign as committee members."

The original posts claimed that Fox had been given a platform to "berate and bully women of colour attempting to discuss issues of race and gender discrimination."

The tweets went on to describe Fox, who is best known for his role as Hathaway in ITV's Inspector Morse spin-off Lewis, as "a disgrace to our industry" and said he had "occupied a highly advantaged position" while seeming to "damn any recognition of that privilege as the very racism he claims is exaggerated when people of colour try to discuss it."

The union later removed the posts from Twitter, explaining that they were "sent out by two committee members without consultation with the committee as a whole or Equity staff.

"Equity has asked for the tweets to be taken down while a more considered response to the issue is discussed."

In February, Fox revealed that he was taking an "extended break from social media" following the backlash to his Question Time remarks.
It's been suggested by experts for some time now that the COVID-19 situation is far more dire in Iran than the nation's government has been willing to admit. According to Iran, 10,000 of its citizens have been infected with the novel coronavirus, of which 429 have died. However, satellite images that appear to show mass graves being dug outside of the city of Qom are a bad sign that the number of dead may be far higher.

From The Guardian:

The pictures, first published by the New York Times, show the excavation of a new section in a cemetery on the northern fringe of Iran's holy city in late February, and two long trenches dug, of a total length of 100 yards, by the end of the month. They confirm the worst fears about the extent of the epidemic and the government's subsequent cover-up. On 24 February, at the time the trenches were being dug, a legislator from Qom, 75 miles (120 km) south of Tehran, accused the health ministry of lying about the scale of the outbreak, saying there had already been 50 deaths in the city, at a time when the ministry was claiming only 12 people had died from the virus nationwide.

According to The Guardian, it's believed that, as China is Iran's primary trade partner, the Iranian government wasn't thrilled with the idea of halting travel to one of the few big international players who will still do business with them. This, combined with the Iranian government's reluctance to order social distancing or quarantine measures for its nation's citizens allowed the virus to spread faster than shit through a goose.

Things are getting spooky. Everywhere.

Image via U.S. Army
New Delhi: Full-service carrier Vistara on Friday (March 13) barred stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra from flying till April 27. The decision to this effect was taken after investigation of the internal committee of Indigo concluded. A flying ban on Kamra was imposed on January 28 this year for heckling journalist Arnab Goswami on a flight.

According to Vistara spokesperson, "Based on the Order passed by an internal committee constituted by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. in compliance with the respective CAR and following due process, we have placed the passenger on our no-fly list until 27 April 2020."

On January 28, the stand-up comedian was banned by IndiGo from flying with the airline for six months for allegedly heckling journalist Arnab Goswami. Kamra had posted a video of him confronting senior Goswami, with whom he shared an IndiGo flight to Lucknow on January 28.

Soon after IndiGo's ban, other carriers including Air India, GoAir and SpiceJet also announced travel restrictions on the comedian. Notably, Vistara had not banned him from travelling in its flight.

On February 27, Kunal Kamra failed to respite from the Delhi High Court, as it disposed of his plea against flying ban imposed on him by several airlines. The single judge HC bench of Justice Navin Chawla had directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to decide Kamra's representation within eight weeks.

Kamra had filed the representation before the DGCA on February 20, prior to approaching the High Court.

He pleaded that the travel ban imposed on him was in violation of the Civil Aviation Rules, while contending that punishment was imposed without following due process, as no Internal Committee was formed and no complaint was made in accordance with the law.
India takes first COVID-19 toll as 76-year-old dies in Karnataka

India recorded its first COVID-19 toll with a 76-year-old man who died in north Karnataka's Kalaburagi district on Tuesday testing positive for novel coronavirus, even as the state reported a fifth case of novel coronavirus with a 26-year-old man who had travelled to Greece also testing positive for the virus.

"The 76-year-old man from Kalburgi who passed away and was a suspected COVID-19 patient and has since been confirmed for COVID-19, state health minister B Sriramulu said. Adding that health authorities are in the process of contact tracing of family members and others he came in contact with, isolation and other measures, as per protocol.

The victim, Siddiq, had returned to India on 29 February after a month-long stay in Saudi Arabia and had been screened on arrival at Hyderabad airport. He had displayed no symptoms at that time.

On 5 March the man went to a private hospital in the district and was admitted the following day with fever and cough. He had other health issues as well, including asthma and hypertension. Three days later he was shifted to a hospital in Hyderabad, where his samples were sent for testing.

But, on 9 March, the symptoms got aggravated and he was shifted to a private hospital in Kalaburgi. In this private hospital he was provisionally diagnosed with mid zone Viral Pneumonia" and suspected COVID-19."

Though his samples were taken only on 9 March, the hospital authorities discharged the patient on the insistence of the family and took him to Hyderabad.

According to the government, the man's family got him discharged before receiving test results and against medical advice. As per instructions of Kalaburgi Deputy Commissioner, health officers tried to persuade them to admit the patient to an isolation ward at the Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences.

The family refused and transferred him to another hospital, where he was treated and discharged. He died while being brought back to the hospital in Gulbarga.

All other patients who have been admitted to various hospitals in the state are stable, the government has said

Meanwhile, several people from the state are among the hundreds of Indians stranded at airports in Italy, one of the worst-hit countries in the world.

Thousands more are also stranded in Iran. On Tuesday an Air Force plane brought back 58 Indians from Iran, with more expected to evacuated soon.
The first cases of community transmission have been confirmed in Northern Ireland (Jane Barlow/PA)

The Public Health Agency has issued new guidance on self-isolation due to coronavirus, as the first cases of community transmission in Northern Ireland have been confirmed.

It comes as health authorities have moved from the containment to the delay phase of dealing with the virus.

Three of the nine new cases in Northern Ireland confirmed on Friday resulted from community transmission.

The Public Health Agency (PHA) said the implication of the first cases of community transmission is that those who display specific symptoms should self-isolate, regardless of whether they have travelled from an affected area.

Dr Jackie Hyland, consultant in health protection at the PHA, said: This significant change in how Covid-19 is being handled affects everyone, so it is important that people are clear what to look out for and what they should do.

The most common symptoms of Covid-19 are a new, continuous cough and/or high temperature. If you have any of these symptoms, however mild, stay at home and do not leave your house for seven days from when your symptoms started. This applies to everyone.

If you develop symptoms common with coronavirus, this action will help protect those close to you such as older family members, those with underlying health conditions or a weakened immune system, and others in our community.

Those experiencing a continuous cough and/or a high temperature should stay at home for seven days from the onset of the symptoms.

Dr Hyland said that, while self-isolation can be frustrating, there are certain steps that can be followed to make the process easier.

These include:

Plan ahead and think about what you will need in order to be able to stay at home for the full seven days should you be required to.

Talk to your employer, friends and family to ask for their help to access the things you will need in order to successfully stay at home.

If there are other people living in your home, stay at least two metres (about three steps) away from them and use your own bathroom facilities if possible and sleep alone.

If your symptoms worsen during home isolation or are no better after seven days, seek medical advice by phone.

The PHA has stated that those who are self-isolation with mild symptoms will not be tested.
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Detroit, March 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In support of Gov. Gretchen Whitmers emergency declaration and to safeguard the health and safety of DTE Energy employees, customers and communities, DTE Energy has activated company-wide plans to address the implications of a coronavirus outbreak in Michigan while ensuring reliable energy service.

DTEs business continuity and pandemic plans are designed to protect people and ensure energy operations and infrastructure are supported properly. The company will take additional precautions to protect the public and employees when work is required at local businesses and residences.

We care deeply about the communities in which we live and serve  our top priority is the health and safety of our employees and customers, said Jerry Norcia, president and chief executive officer. We are working with state officials and local authorities to support the communities we serve in our collective efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Pandemic planning is one of 96 such plans DTE has in place to ensure public safety and uninterrupted energy service during a crisis or other unforeseen scenarios.

To protect employees DTE is taking the following protocols:

Cancelling non-essential business travel

Asking employees to self-identify, if they have travelled to a high-impact area

Reinforcing good hygiene practice

Restricting all visitors and suppliers to DTE facilities

Using technology for meetings and cancelling all large assemblies

Directing employees, who can, to work remotely when possible

In addition, when on site with customers, DTE employees will taking the following precautions:

Wearing nitrile gloves to prevent hand contact with home or office surfaces;

Wiping down and disinfecting areas where work is done; and

Applying the recommended social distancing of six feet from others to prevent person-to-person transmission.

DTE is in direct and continuous contact with state of Michigans Emergency Operations Center and local health officials in Michigan and other states where the company operates.

Story continues

About DTE Energy

DTE Energy (DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include an electric company serving 2.2 million customers in Southeast Michigan and a natural gas company serving 1.3 million customers in Michigan. The DTE portfolio includes energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects; renewable natural gas; natural gas pipelines, gathering and storage; and energy marketing and trading. As an environmental leader, DTE utility operations will reduce carbon dioxide and methane emissions by more than 80% by 2040 to produce cleaner energy while keeping it safe, reliable and affordable. DTE Electric aspires to achieve net zero carbon by 2050. DTE is committed to serving with its energy through volunteerism, education and employment initiatives, philanthropy and economic progress. Information about DTE is available at dteenergy.com, empoweringmichigan.com, twitter.com/dte_energy and facebook.com.

Pete Ternes

DTE Energy

313.235.5555


Now that we know Fiesta has been postponed until November amid coronavirus concerns, people want to know what to do with the tickets they have already purchased.

The Fiesta Commission and participating organizations have been selling tickets, some of which are non-refundable, to large events for months.
Trump to address country at 19:00 GMT on Topic: CoronaVirus! as he faces growing pressure to ramp up response.

US President Donald Trump is preparing to invoke emergency powers as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, according to two people familiar with the planning who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It was still unclear on Friday, however, precisely what mechanism Trump would use to free up additional federal resources for testing and treatment as well as help those struggling with the economic effects.

Trump is expected to speak at 3pm (19:00 GMT) at the White House. Topic: CoronaVirus! he tweeted.

The move comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Trump administration are labouring to finish a coronavirus aid package on Friday that would fast-track federal aid to anxious Americans and calm teetering financial markets amid the global crisis.

Central to the effort is free testing for the virus and guaranteed sick pay for workers who are taking time away from jobs, along with an infusion of dollars to handle unemployment benefits and boost food programmes for children, families and seniors.

Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated a deal was within reach after days of around-the-clock negotiations, with expectations of a Friday announcement. The House could then swiftly vote. Republican leaders are reviewing the details.

Pelosi exchanges an elbow bump, exhibiting caution amid coronavirus concerns, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at a Friends of Ireland luncheon on Capitol Hill [Tom Brenner/Reuters]

Republican leaders in Congress want to be sure that Trump publicly supports the package before they sign off on it ahead of any vote, according to a top congressional aide unauthorised to discuss the private talks and speaking on condition of anonymity.

Earlier on Friday, Mnuchin sounded an optimistic note. I think were very close to getting this done, he said in an appearance on CNBC.

On the COVID-19 illness, Mnuchin cautioned that people should understand the numbers are going to go up before they go down.

Sick pay for workers

Providing sick pay for workers is a crucial element of federal efforts to stop the rapid spread of the infection. Officials warn that the nations healthcare system could quickly become overwhelmed with gravely sick patients, as it suddenly happened in Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by the virus.

The ability to ensure paycheques will keep flowing  for people who stay home as a preventive measure or because they are feeling ill or caring for others  can help assure Americans they will not fall into financial hardship.

Were in an emergency, and were trying to respond as fast as we can, said House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, a Democrat, as lawmakers filed in and out of Pelosis office on Friday.

Late on Thursday, Pelosi said an agreement on an aid package was near. She said a deal was subject to an exchange of paper and we hope to have an announcement tomorrow. Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke again on early Friday.

A healthcare worker holding a completed test with patient samples at a drive-through testing site for coronavirus, flu and RSV in Seattle, Washington state [Lindsey Wasson/Reuters]

The potential deal between Congress and the White House would cap a tumultuous week in which Washington strained for a comprehensive response to an outbreak that is testing the nations political, financial and healthcare systems.

Trump has struggled to show he is on top of the crisis, after giving conflicting descriptions of what the US is doing to combat the virus. Classes, sport events, concerts and conferences have been cancelled across the nation, and the financial markets have been cratering.

In one welcome announcement, the administration said on Friday it is awarding $1.3m to two companies trying to develop rapid COVID-19 tests that could detect within an hour whether a person is positive for the new coronavirus.

The House aid package builds on an emergency $8.3bn measure approved last week and is aimed at providing additional health and financial resources to arrest the sudden spread of the pandemic and the kind of economic fallout unseen in a generation. Pelosi promised in a letter to colleagues that a third package was yet to come.

The new sick leave benefit would require businesses to provide up to 14 days of paid leave, with the federal government reimbursing them through tax credits. The bill facilitates unemployment benefits for those laid off during the crisis and boosts food and nutrition programmes for working families, students and seniors. Work requirements for food stamps would be suspended, and states would be given additional Medicaid funds to cope with the crisis.

We felt that putting together something that the American people can see cooperation on between the two parties in this difficult moment would be a confidence builder, said Democratic Representative Richard Neal, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives for a briefing by the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health [File: Joshua Roberts/Reuters]

Pelosi promised a third coronavirus package will follow soon, though the House is leaving Washington, DC on Friday for a previously scheduled recess. That measure will include more aggressive steps to boost the US economy, which economists fear has already slipped into recession.

But there is little appetite within either party for Trumps proposal to suspend collection of the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax, and Democratic economic stimulus ideas like more generous food stamp benefits are not favoured by Republicans, while Democrats are not very friendly to Republican ideas like easing business regulations. States are already clamouring for fiscal relief from Washington as the virus threatens their budgets.

Mnuchin, however, said on Friday the president remains committed to pursuing the payroll tax cut. It is a giant stimulus.

Disruptions from the virus spread throughout the Washington metropolitan area, as the Capitol, White House and the Supreme Court declared themselves off-limits to the public for now, symbols of a nation hunkering down. And schools in the District of Columbia announced they would close, starting Monday, until April 1.

The storied Smithsonian said it was cancelling all public events and will temporarily close its network of museums and the National Zoo, starting Saturday. And Trump proposed postponing this summers Olympics in Japan for a year, too.

Trump said he will halt his signature campaign rallies, telling reporters he needs a little separation until such time as this goes away. Democratic presidential rivals Joe Biden and rival Senator Bernie Sanders said they would no longer hold large political gatherings and their staff would work from home as the race for the presidency moved online.

Politicians hit with virus

The coronavirus crisis also got personal for Trump and some members of Congress.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was in isolation at a hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus. He returned to Australia on Sunday from Washington, DC, where he met Attorney General William Barr and Trumps daughter, Ivanka, last week.

White House officials, including representatives for Ivanka Trump, have not responded to questions about whether they intend to be tested or self-quarantine.

The White House has insisted officials are following CDC guidelines and that there is currently no indication to test patients without symptoms, and only people with prolonged close exposure to confirmed positive cases should self-quarantine.

Barr, meanwhile, was staying home on Friday, though he felt great and wasnt showing any symptoms, according to his spokeswoman Kerri Kupec. She said the CDC did not recommend testing at this point.

Brazils Communications Secretary Fabio Wajngarten posing with US President Donald Trump [Courtesy: Instagram/Fabio Wajngarten]

In addition, just days after meeting Trump and Republican Senator Rick Scott, the communications chief for Brazils president, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive for coronavirus. A photo of the president, the senator and Wajngarten shows the trio shoulder-to-shoulder at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort last weekend. Scott said he was isolating himself. Trump, 73, said he was unworried.

We had dinner in Florida at Mar-a-Lago with the entire delegation, Trump told reporters at the White House. But we did nothing very unusual. We sat next to each other for a period of time. Asked whether he should be tested, Trump replied, I am not concerned.

White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said the White House is aware of public reports that a member of the Brazilian delegation tested positive. Confirmatory testing is pending.

Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time, Grisham said in a statement. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who was also at Trumps club on the weekend, joined a growing list of politicians who have chosen to isolate themselves as a precaution. He announced Friday that he also met the Australian official who has now tested positive.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who had previously isolated himself after a potential exposure at a conservative conference in Washington, said on Friday he met a Spanish official and is now self-quarantining.

Flying blind

Legislators from both parties expressed alarm at the US response, and especially over how few patients have been tested.

Were basically, in my opinion, flying blind, said Democratic Representative Susie Lee.

Dr Anthony Fauci, infectious diseases chief at the National Institutes of Health, in several television interviews on Friday, said more tests would be available over the next week, but that officials should not wait before trying to mitigate the viruss effects.

Vehicle Maintenance Utility Service Worker Thiphavanh Loui Thepvongsa wipes down an off-duty bus with a disinfectant during a routine cleaning at the King County Metro Atlantic and Central Base in Seattle, Washington [File: Jason Redmond/Reuters]

We will have considerably more testing in the future, but you dont wait for testing, Fauci said on CBS This Morning. He said school closing and similar measures are generally an appropriate approach.

Were at a critical point now as we seek to blunt the rise in cases to make sure its a hill, not a mountain, Fauci said on ABCs Good Morning America.

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 severe illnesses, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with severer illness may take three to six weeks to be over it. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, about 81,000 people have been diagnosed and about 64,000 have recovered.
WHITESBORO, N.Y. -- A Whitesboro middle school employee was in contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus, Whitesboro district officials said today.

Superintendent Brian Bellair said on the districts website that officials immediately consulted with the Oneida County health department and the school physician and were informed that due to the timing of the exposure, school could continue as usual.

Middle school students were held on buses temporarily, and those who were brought to school or walked were held in the auditorium until officials determined school could could be held today.

Bellair said schools are behind schedule this morning due to the delay.

Some parents on social media said they are keeping their children home just in case.

There are no coronavirus cases in Oneida County as of Friday morning. Neighboring Herkimer County has reported one case.

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party in Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), and the opposition clashed on Friday over project worth 200-crore being approved.

Taking advantage of the absence of the BJP members at the standing committee meeting that had been preponed, the opposition approved proposals worth around 200 crore. The ruling party has alleged conspiracy by the civic secretary and demanded her suspension.

The standing committee meeting that is usually held at 11am was preponed to 10am by the civic administration. While the opposition members, including a BJP rebel corporator reached on time, the BJP claimed that its members had not been informed. The opposition got a member Ranganath Auti to chair the meeting and took up the proposals which were approved within 10 minutes.

Taking objection, standing committee chairman Navin Gavte said, We were not informed about the change of timing. We came as per the 11am meeting and that can be checked on CCTV cameras. There are some signatures of our members on the attendance sheet which are forged.

Gavte added that they have written to the municipal commissioner complaining about civic secretary Chitra Baviskar, demanding her suspension.

NMMC secretary Chitra Baviskar said, The information on the meeting had been given to all as usual. The quorum was also as per the norm.

Gavte said, We have asked for the standing committee meeting to be held on Tuesday to take up the same proposals on the agenda as this meeting was illegal.

Refuting the allegations of the ruling party, Shiv Sena opposition leader Vijay Chougule said, The changed timing had been communicated to all members through WhatsApp. Everyone had seen the message and it is on record. Even former mayor Sagar Naik was present in the civic headquarters.

Chougule said the meeting was conducted as per law in the presence of eight standing committee members. Several of the proposals had been stalled as there were demands of cuts and commissions. Today, all proposals, including those of the ruling party members, were passed.
North Macedonia on Friday sealed off two regions in the country's west, near the border with Albania, after four people tested positive for the new coronavirus.

According to health minister Venko Filipce, two municipalities in the region - town of Debar and Centar Zhupa - have now been declared in a state of crises.

North Macedonia has recorded total 13 cases of people infected with the virus, nine of them from the western region.

North Macedonia's government has announced earlier this week the temporary closure of schools and universities for two weeks, as part of efforts to try to contain the spread of new coronavirus.

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.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow: disinfect the icons, kissed for devotion; beware of blessed drinks. For some priests, communion, being a sign of God's love, cannot bring us sickness and death. The Greek Church is more cautious. The long lines to kiss the relics of Saint John the Baptist in Saint Petersburg. But Russia is more concerned with Putin's "crown".

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Moscow Patriarchate has also decided to recommend compliance with certain rules of conduct in the face of the spread of the coronavirus. Russia actually appears rather immune to the spread of the virus, recording a few dozen cases. Some suspect that perhaps the government is not distributing credible statistics.

National attention is on another "crown", the presidential one, linked to the approval of the various changes to the Constitution and above all to the proposal of the deputy Valentina Tereshkova (the first female astronaut), which at the end of the discussions on Constitutional reform proposed the law limiting presidential mandates be eliminated allowing Vladimir Putins continued mandate to ensure stability to the country".

The Duma president, Vjaceslav Volodin, immediately supported the proposal, asking the parliamentarians to defend Putin as Russia's "prerogative and excellence". The president himself accepted the proposal, revealing the true purpose of all constitutional maneuvers: to remain in power in any way possible. Under the proposed amendments, he could remain president until 2036, approaching the reigning record of Ivan the Terrible (50 years) and Peter the Great (40 years).

However, the patriarchal synod met on March 11, issuing a declaration expressing the "condolences for the relatives an of the coronavirus victims in China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, Germany, Spain and other states. ". Blessing the work of doctors and volunteers, the synod recalls that "during epidemics the Russian Orthodox Church has always fulfilled its ministry of testimony, not refusing spiritual assistance to anyone and full participation in the sacraments". We invite moderation and common sense, "tranquility in prayer" not ceding to panic and fears about the spread of the pandemic.

The Synod recommends that prophylactic hygiene and health measures in parishes and monasteries be observed in a consistent and inflexible way, especially in regions where epidemiological conditions are officially recognized as critical, using solutions to disinfect icons exposed to veneration, which the faithful they kiss by bowing, and to use disposable glasses for devotional drinks. " In Orthodox rites, apart from the Eucharistic communion, the intake of blessed water and wine is in fact used, as part of devotional participation in the community liturgy.

The issue of Eucharistic communion has provoked several perplexities which the Synod has decided to overlook. The Orthodox faithful receive the Eucharist in the form of fragments of bread dipped in wine, and distributed to the faithful with a golden spoon from the priest's hands directly into their mouth, while the deacons dry the face of the communicant with red manutergi (of the color of the wine) . Those who do not receive communion (for which it is mandatory to confess during the liturgy), that is, the majority of the faithful, limit themselves to drinking the water and wine blessed at the sides of the altar. All these procedures are stirring apprehension, with fewer and fewer faithful participating in sacramental and devotional communion.

Some priests, such as Archimandrite Filipp (Ryabikh), representative of the Russian Church to the European institutions in Strasbourg, believe that "although it is terrible to get sick of this serious virus, which can also lead to death, it would be even more serious if for this reason to deprive ourselves of sacred communion or of the liturgy itself, the great gift of God. Father Filipp recalled the words of the fathers of the Church, according to which "the world stands on the celebration of the liturgy and the Eucharist", and compared the closing of the churches in these days with the Soviet period, when the churches were closed or destroyed by the regime.

Even the Greek Orthodox Church, in the meeting of the Synod of March 9, had declared that "Holy Communion cannot be the cause of transmission of the coronavirus, because it is a handing over of the of God into the hands person and a manifestation of His love".

It is also true that, compared to the Russians, the Greeks are less "imposing" in the sacramental gesture, rather leaving the faithful the opportunity to adapt to the reception of the consecrated bread and wine, as also happens in the Coptic Church. The Old Believers, the ancient traditionalist Russian Church, on the other hand, warned about the risk of infection at the act of communion, calling for stricter measures right up to the suspension of liturgical celebrations.

In St. Petersburg, regardless of the risk of infection, masses of faithful are flocking to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, in the center of the "capital of the north", where the relics of St. John the Baptist are exposed (see photo). Thousands of people are queuing in rows outside and inside the church, to finally come to kiss the relics, an act certainly devoted and perhaps salvific, but clearly unhygienic during the coronavirus period.
The municipality of Knokke in Belgium has taken a "drastic" measure to shield itself from coronavirus: the city is on lockdown until 30 April.

The measure will see most leisure activities suspended and a multitude of places presenting a risk of spreading the virus closed.

According to Belgian media, all indoor and outdoor activities will be prohibited. Pools, beach bars. and libraries are closed. Religious activities are also banned.

Mayor Leopold Lippens told local newspaper Nieuwsblad that "while the federal government continues to argue endlessly, we intervene ourselves." The drastic measure does not exclude the possibility that shops and restaurants will also have to close soon.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday proposed formulation of a joint strategy by SAARC nations to fight the coronavirus, a suggestion backed by all member states.

Calling on SAARC members to set an example for the world, Modi reached out to the eight-member regional grouping and pitched for a video conference among the leaders to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus, which has killed nearly 5,000 people globally.

His appeal got a prompt response from Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Afghan government, all of whom welcomed the proposal.

Pakistan's response to the proposal came late in the night with the country's Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui saying that the threat of COVID-19 requires coordinated efforts at the global and regional levels.

"We have communicated that SAPM (Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister) on Health (Zafar Mirza) will be available to participate in the video conference of SAARC member countries on the issue," she said.

In a series of tweets, Modi said,"our planet is battling the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. At various levels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it. South Asia, which is home to a significant number of the global population should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy."



He further said, "I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy.Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet."



Welcoming the proposal, Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka was ready to join the discussion, share its learning and best practices as well as to learn from other SAARC members.

"Thank you for the great initiative Narendra Modi -- Lanka is ready to join the discussion and share our learnings and best practices and to learn from other SAARC members. Let's unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe," Rajapaksa said in a tweet.

Nepalese Prime Minister Oli also tweeted "I welcome the idea advanced by Prime Minister Modiji for chalking out a strong strategy by the leadership of the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus. My government is ready to work closely with SAARC member states to protect our citizens from this deadly disease," Oli tweeted.

"Thank you PM Narendra Modi for taking the initiative on this important endeavour. COVID-19 requires collective effort to defeat it. The Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort," Maldivian PM Solih said.

The Bhutanese prime minister said, "This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times."



"Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference," he said.

Bangladesh's minister of state for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam said Prime Minister Hasina welcomes the proposal and looks forward to a constructive dialogue with Modi, Solih, Oli, Tsering, Rajapaksa and Heads of state and government who already consented to discuss the way forward at this testing time for the region and the world.

Spokesperson for the President of Afghanistan Sediq Sediqqi said the Afghan government strongly welcomes the proposal of Modi and the readiness of the other SAARC members to work together devising a unified strategy to fight the coronavirus in the region.

Afghanistan Embassy's Charg d'Affaires here Tahir Qadiry said, "In response to the timely call of Prime Minister Modi to create a robust strategy for SAARC aiming at tackling COVID2019, I would like to acknowledge his call. United we stand, divided we fall!"



The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday that the coronavirus outbreak could be characterised as pandemic. The number of infection cases globally stood at 1,33,970, with over 5,000 deaths across 120 countries and territories.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organization that comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2020 / Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc. ("Margaret Lake" or the "Company") (TSXV:DIA)(FKT:M85)(OTC:DIAFF) pleased to announce it has extended its joint venture closing with KORID Energy of Korea for an additional 60 days from March 11, 2020, to give time for Toronto Venture Exchange Review.Joint Venture TransactionFor more information, refer to the Company's news release dated January 23, 2020. This press release refers to a joint venture to construct a factory (the "Factory") in the United States for the purpose of producing Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries and energy storage systems. The joint venture is between the Company and KORID Energy of Korea; KORID is partially owned by DST Inc. (KOSDAQ: 033430). There is a risk that the transaction will not be accepted or that the terms of the transaction may change substantially prior to acceptance final acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.Remarks regarding the Joint Venture by Former Maine Secretary of Energy John Kerry and former New York Governor George Pataki are available at https://youtu.be/KIre7TMNb5k About KORID Energy and DST Inc.KORID Energy is partially owned by DST Inc., a publicly traded company listed on the KOSDAQ Exchange in South Korea. It operates the following businesses: Automation Machinery, Mining and Metals Development and Processing, along with other diversified businesses. Its products and services include energy storage technologies, equipment for the automobile components industry, food processing equipment, mineral development and processing, rental services, and others. The company was founded on May 11, 1995 and is headquartered in Changwon-si, South Korea. For more information visit www.ds-t.co.kr About Margaret Lake DiamondsMargaret Lake Diamonds Inc. ( TSX.V: DIA) is a Canadian technology and strategic metals exploration company focused on construction of Vanadium Redox Flow Battery Factory in the United States and Vanadium Exploration Globally. The Company continues to maintain an interest in the Diagras Diamond property located approximately 50km from the Diavik and Ekati Diamond Mines.Contact InformationJared LazersonPresident and CEOjared@ margaretlakediamonds.com Web: www.margaretlakediamonds.com System Integrators ContactNeil ForanCFOneil@ margaretlakediamonds.com Neither the TSX Venture nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potentially" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com SOURCE: Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc.
India on Friday announced the suspension of cross-border passenger bus and train services with Bangladesh till April 15 and the closure of 18 immigration checkposts with four neighbouring countries as part of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Officials said the government is taking more steps to bring back Indians from coronavirus-affected Iran and Italy who have tested negative for the virus, including the operation of at least three flights to these countries over the weekend.

The travel of Indian pilgrims through the Kartarpur Corridor to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan will continue, though the matter is still under consideration, additional secretary Anil Malik of the home ministry told a news briefing. Some 300 to 400 people use the corridor on weekdays and the figure doubles on weekends.

Cross-border passenger bus and train services to Bangladesh will be suspended from March 15 to April 15, though freight train services will continue. Border markets along the Bangladeshi frontier in northeastern states will be suspended till further orders, he said.

The government will allow international passenger traffic only through 19 of the 37 land immigration checkposts, and the rest will be closed from midnight on Saturday, Malik said. This measure is aimed at facilitating the better screening of people entering India through checkposts. Among the 18 checkposts being closed is the Wagah-Attari crossing with Pakistan.

The 19 checkposts that will remain open are in Assam, Bihar, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal along the borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar. Visa-free entry for Nepalese and Bhutanese citizens will continue, though medical screening at checkposts will be of the same standards as at airports, Malik said.

Checkposts along the frontiers with these four countries are aimed at facilitating cheap and easy travel by residents of border regions and people-to-people contacts.

Additional secretary Dammu Ravi, the external affairs ministrys pointperson for all COVID-19-related matters, said the government is making strong efforts to evacuate Indians from Iran and Italy, with the priority being the return of 220 students from Milan.

So far, India has evacuated 1,031 people from Coronavirus-affected countries, mainly China, and this includes 48 nationals of the Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, the US, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru.

Of them, 819 have been discharged after spending a fortnight in quarantine. Another 236 people evacuated from Japan and China will be discharged from Friday, officials said.

While 58 Indian pilgrims were evacuated from Iran by an Indian Air Force aircraft on March 10, an Iran Air flight ferried 44 people to Mumbai on Friday, and they were quarantined in an Indian Navy facility.

A flight of Irans Mahan Air will bring back some Indians to Delhi on Saturday, and Air India is prepared to fly to Tehran to evacuate more Indians. An Air India flight will go to Milan on Saturday afternoon and return the following day with Indian nationals. A team of four doctors reached Rome on Friday to collect samples for the screening of Indians wishing to return, the officials said.

Meanwhile, external affairs minister S Jaishankar told Lok Sabha on Thursday the COVID-19 pandemic is a matter of utmost concern for India as its citizens are spread across the world. At the same time, it is absolutely essential that we react responsibly and soberly, he said.

The government has made specific interventions where required, including the evacuation of Indians from Wuhan in China, the Diamond Princess crew from Japan or pilgrims from Iran, Jaishankar said.

Referring to the 6,000 Indians in the different provinces of Iran, he said their return will be sequenced while taking into account their location and exposure. The initial focus is on pilgrims, many of whom are in Qom, where the incidence of Coronavirus has been high.

The government is also focusing on Indian students in Iran, many of whom are studying medicine, while the region where most Indian fishermen are located hasnt been affected severely, Jaishankar said.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 00:08:34|Editor: yan

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LONDON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Britain reached 798 Friday, an increase of 208 over 24 hours, according to the British Department of Health and Social Care.

It is by far the highest rise in cases of COVID-19 in a single day. As of Friday morning, a total of 32,771 people have been tested for COVID-19. Of those, 31,973 tested negative. It is also the first time the day-on-day increase has been higher than 200.

Also on Friday, a London Underground driver tested positive for the novel coronavirus and at least 11 MPs were in self-isolation following advice from public health authorities.

According to health authorities, the true figure for people infected with the novel coronavirus in Britain might be between 5,000 and 10,000.

The British government announced Thursday that the country has switched from the "containment" phase to "delay" in response to the spread of virus in the country, a move to encourage more "social distancing" among the Britons.

Earlier Friday, a Foreign Minister spokesperson issued travel advice to Spain, saying that "we are advising against all but essential travel to the regions of Madrid, La Rioja and the municipalities of La Bastida, Vitoria and Miranda de Ebro."

"The travel advice has been updated because these areas have been designated by the Spanish authorities as 'areas of community transmission'," the spokesperson said. "We are not advising those in Spain to leave as transport routes out of the country remain open."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the British public Thursday to prepare to "lose loved ones before their time."

The prime minister described the threat of coronavirus as "the worst public health crisis in a generation," but he would not follow the example of other countries to close schools.

Johnson insisted that his government was being guided by scientific advice, saying closing schools "could do more harm than good."

Patrick Vallance, the British government's chief scientific adviser, said it is hoped that the government's approach to tackling coronavirus will create a "herd immunity" to the disease.

Vallance said some of the social distancing measures put in place by the government, including self-isolating for seven days if symptoms develop, are "actually quite extreme."

He said millions of the British people, around 60 percent, would need to contract the disease to lessen the impact of what is likely to become an "annual virus."

However, Jeremy Hunt, the former British health secretary, called for more aggressive steps, including closing elderly care homes to outside visitors.

Meanwhile, experts criticized the measures as too limited to have a major effect and inadequate given the scale of the looming threat to health.

"I can't see that any of these measures are going to have a big impact...None of that is really going to affect transmission in the UK," Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, was quoted as saying by The Guardian newspaper Friday.

The prime minister is expected to hold talks with world leaders about the international response to the coronavirus outbreak, Downing Street said.

The prime minister's official spokesman said Johnson has spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau and will be talking to other leaders.

"The prime minister thinks that this crisis affects countries around the globe and it requires a global response," the spokesman added.
In the first punishment awarded in the notorious Pehlu Khan lynching case of 2017, Alwar's Juvenile Justice Board sentenced two teenagers to three years in a special or safe home on Friday.

"The board sentenced both of them to three years in a 'vishesh' or 'surakshit grah' (special or safe home) in Jaipur," case officer sub-inspector Ram Kishore said.

He added that the two were minors when the crime was committed but were in the age group of 18-21 years now.

They were part of the mob that lynched Khan, a 55-year-old dairy farmer, in 2017, and were convicted last week.

The Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections under which they were held guilty are 302 (murder), 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 341 (wrongful restrain), according to Inspector General of Police, Jaipur, S Sengathir.

The case officer said video footage of the scene of crime, which confirmed the presence of the two in the mob, and other evidence formed the grounds of the judgment.

He added that a total of three minors were involved in the case.

A court set up under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act is hearing the case of the third accused, who is in the age group of 16-18 years.

In August last year, six men accused of lynching Khan were acquitted by a court in Alwar.

The six men -- Vipin Yadav, Ravindra Kumar, Kaluram, Dayanand, Yogesh Kumar and Bheem Rathi -- were given the benefit of doubt and acquitted.

The Rajasthan government filed an appeal against the lower court order in the high court in October last year.

Khan, his two sons and a few others were transporting cattle from Jaipur when they were intercepted and thrashed by cow vigilantes near Alwar's Behror on April 1, 2017.

On April 3, Khan died in a hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Given the coronavirus, SEPTA Regional Rail riders have raised questions about how Key cards are scanned. Read more

Brian Gralnick, 40, of Elkins Park, is taking precautionary measures when using his SEPTA Key card on Regional Rail.

He was worried about the possibility of illness spreading through the authoritys smart fare system even before coronavirus cases appeared in the Philadelphia region. Now, the questions are pressing. Most of the regions confirmed cases so far are in Montgomery County, where he gets on a train.

Ive been sort of sanitizing my Key card as well, said Gralnick, who travels to Suburban Station from Elkins Park. Sort of when I get into the office, or get home from work.

SEPTA is encouraging its TAP.RIDE.TAP system on Regional Rail, but conductors aboard the trains are also scanning riders Keys on handheld readers to validate trips, sometimes making direct contact with the face of the card. Another rider contacted The Inquirer with concerns over hand-to-hand ticket collecting.

SEPTA is in the process of reinforcing best practices with its conductors and workers from Edens Corp., who act as ambassadors and ticket agents on the Regional Rail system, said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.

For their safety and the safety of riders, theyll be asked to hole-punch tickets without grabbing them from passengers and be reminded to just hover over Key cards with the validators.

Weather permitting, SEPTA is considering propping open doors into stations where possible to limit handle grabbing.

Were kind of figuring out more things that we can do to move forward to hopefully help with these mitigation efforts, Busch said.

COVID-19, which has so many unknowns, has raised lots of questions about cleanliness and caution. More people are sanitizing their cell phones, while restaurants are removing salt and pepper shakers or trading utensils for disposable forks and knives, in addition to larger precautionary measure such as the suspension of professional sports seasons.

Seattles Sound Transit is taking social distancing measures. This week, its fare enforcement officers have been directed to limit hand-to-hand and close interactions with passengers. Washington state has seen the most reported cases in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SEPTA has boosted cleaning efforts on transit and Regional Rail. On the authoritys coronavirus update page, it touts the hygienic benefits of a contactless card.

SEPTA has seen a dip in transit ridership this week amid the coronavirus, though its unclear if thats because people are avoiding public transportation, are directed to work from home, or if mounting event cancellations are keeping them inside. Regional Rail ridership was down 16 percent Friday, compared to weekday averages through last week.

Bernard Norwood, head of the SEPTA conductors union, made note of a lighter load, too. Though, he had not heard the concern over the handheld validators. The cards can be scanned from a distance, and passengers holding the card steady makes the process faster for conductors, he said.

The problem could be how the passenger is presenting the card. Having it wrapped in a plastic cover, in a wallet, or next to another magnetic card could make it more difficult to scan from a distance.

But if they just have the naked Key card itself, you can get within inches of it and it would read it, he said.
Highlights Anand Mahindra has shared a tweet about a special face mask sent to him Mahindra has called it the best gift for these times Following the novel coronavirus outbreak, a shortage of hand sanitizers and face masks have been reported

Two days after tweeting a tutorial for a DIY face mask, Anand Mahindra has received a present from his friend. Mahindra has now tweeted about the present calling it the best gift for these times! A picture posted along with the tweet shows a special face mask sent to him.

In his tweet, the business tycoon explains what makes the mask great. Proud to learn that an Indian inventors Swiss company has come out with these washable, reusable masks that destroy viruses, he wrote on Twitter, thanking his friend Ashok Kurien for the gift. Mahindra also added that the company, called Livinguard, is stepping up production in India.

 to my friend Ashok Kurien, who sent me the best gift for these times! Proud to learn that an Indian inventors Swiss company has come out with these washable,reusable masks that destroy viruses. Theyre stepping up production in India. https://t.co/uZv23cAM7j pic.twitter.com/YFawmDhvcY  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) March 13, 2020

As the cases of the novel coronavirus have increased, a shortage of hand sanitizers, toilet paper and face masks have been reported. Thats probably why Mahindras tweet has collected over 2,900 likes and more than 400 retweets within two hours of being shared.

Two days earlier, Mahindra tweeted a video of woman making a face mask using a square piece of tissue paper and rubber bands. Mahindras tweet on these DIY face masks also collected a ton of reactions.
The results of a federal lawsuit raise questions about the quality of science the CDC relies on for its vaccine programs. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Federal Court Case Reveals CDC Lacks Evidence to Claim Vaccines Dont Cause Autism, Watchdog Groups Assert

After FOIA requests ignored, nonprofits use lawsuit to compel CDC to reveal research used to inform several public vaccination programs

A recent lawsuit to force the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to respond to six Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests has revealed that claims that several vaccines dont cause autism have no scientific basis, vaccine watchdog groups assert.

The only study that the CDC provided that specifically examined the questions raised by the lawsuit found a possible link to autism, according to the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), one of the groups that filed the suit.

Autism is a developmental disability that can cause significant social and behavioral challenges, and the number of cases of autism has grown exponentially in the past few decades. Recent data finds that 1 in 36 children born in the United States this year will have autism (up from 1 in 10,000 in 1980). While there are many theories, an official cause for the sharp rise hasnt been determined.

Concern that vaccines are responsible for the rise in autism comes largely from thousands of parents of autistic children who attest to an immediate and dramatic change in their developmentally normal children immediately following vaccination. This anecdotal evidence has been dismissed by health officials as unreliable.

Vaccine activists worry there is a connection between the concurrent rise of autism and the increase in immunizations that U.S. children are required to receive. Health authorities have dismissed this link, claiming it to be a thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory. The FDA, which is responsible for approving vaccines, and the CDC, which is the major U.S. purchaser and reseller of vaccines, have repeatedly assured the public that exhaustive research shows no such link.

But that claim is now in question after the CDC provided only 20 studies in response to the ICAN and Institute for Autism Science suit and only after being taken to court; none of the studies appear to resolve the fundamental question.



On June 21, 2019, the two nonprofits filed six FOIA requests with the CDC to obtain evidence that federal health authorities used to prove vaccine safety. The requests sought studies on a handful of vaccines given in the first six months in a childs life: DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis), Engerix-B, Recombivax HB, Prevnar 13, Hib, and polio (IPV) vaccines. The FOIA also requested the CDC provide studies to support the claim that cumulative exposure to these vaccines during the first six months of life doesnt cause autism.

Six months later, the two nonprofits filed a 36-page complaint on Dec. 19, 2019, in a federal court that accused the CDC of falsely claiming that vaccines dont cause autism, asserting that studies used to make this claim dont exist.

In response, the CDC provided 20 studies, and the plaintiffs settled, allowing the suit to be voluntarily dismissed. The groups say the studies from the CDC didnt provide the evidence health officials say they do. The groups describe the provided studies as including 18 that didnt produce evidence relevant to the requests (13 were related to the vaccine ingredient thimerosal and five related to both MMR and thimerosal), one related to the MMR vaccine, and one related to antigen exposure, not vaccines.

The only studies relevant to the FOIA requests came from a recent review by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) paid for by the CDC, examining research related to the DTaP vaccine. But the IOM states that it was unable to identify a study to support the claim that DTaP doesnt cause autism.

The evidence is inadequate to accept or reject a causal relationship between diphtheria toxoid-, tetanus toxoid-, or acellular pertussis-containing vaccine and autism, the report states.

However, the IOM did identify one study showing a causal relationship between DTaP and autism, but said it was not considered in the weight of epidemiological evidence because it provided data from a passive surveillance system and lacked an unvaccinated comparison population.

That passive surveillance system is the CDCs own follow-up mechanism, put in place to ensure post-market vaccine safety. This mechanism is particularly important for vaccines because of the relatively rapid approval process compared to drugs, the results for which are compared to non-drugged (placebo) populations to reveal side effects.

The lack of studies that compare vaccinated and unvaccinated populations is a sore spot for vaccine safety activists and researchers who say such studies are the only way to discover potential side effects from a vaccine.

The lack of research is unexpected, especially in regards to DTaP, given the National Childhood Injury Act of 1986 stipulated that a study on the DTaP should be conducted. That act was the result of intense lobbying from vaccine makers who successfully argued that they could not be held financially liable for their products because mounting lawsuits would ruin their businesses and jeopardize the nations vaccine supply. Lawsuits over vaccine injury are now handled in a special court that critics say is stacked against plaintiffs and limits payouts to $250,000.

The act states that the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall complete a review of all relevant medical and scientific information  on the nature, circumstances, and extent of the relationship, if any, between vaccines containing pertussis  and the following illnesses and conditions. The list of 11 conditions includes autism.

In a press release, Del Bigtree, ICAN founder and producer of the documentary Vaxxed, says that when it comes to autism, vaccines are the one suspected culprit the CDC claims to have exhaustively investigated. But when asked to back up this claim, the agency could produce nothing substantial, and only did so under duress, he said.

If the CDC had spent the same resources studying vaccines and autism as it did waging a media campaign against parents that claim vaccines caused their childs autism, the world would be a better place for everyone, Bigtree stated.

ICANs victories against federal health agencies regarding vaccine safety include getting the Department of Health and Human Services to concede that it couldnt provide a single vaccine safety report to Congress as required by the Mandate for Safer Childhood Vaccines in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. The nonprofit also got the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to concede that it doesnt have any clinical trials to support injecting the flu shot or DTaP vaccines into pregnant women, getting the National Institutes of Health to concede that the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines has not made a single recommendation for improving vaccine safety during the period at issue, and got the FDA to produce, via FOIA request, the clinical trials it relied upon to license the current MMR vaccine, which revealed that these clinical trials had in total less than 1,000 participants and far more adverse reactions than previously acknowledged.

The CDC hasnt responded to a request by The Epoch Times about how the public should interpret the ruling; the FDA has declined to comment, saying the case involves CDC litigation. While the CDC website still claims that vaccines dont cause autism, ICAN says its next step is to get the agency to remove this claim.

Despite ICANs win, some still say the case lacks credibility because it doesnt provide proof that vaccines cause autism. During a March 5 episode of his internet talk show HighWire, Bigtree addressed that question.

In a court of law, an eyewitness is the best evidence you can get, Bigtree said. And we have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of eyewitness testimony to the destruction of their child and their regression into autism right after DTaP vaccines.

Update: The FDA has declined to comment, noting the case involves CDC litigation.
Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal to leadership of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for a common strategy to fight coronavirus, several leaders from the bloc said that they support the initiative.



This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference. https://t.co/2RnokAJQOs

 PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) March 13, 2020



Thank you PM @narendramodi for taking the initiative on this important endeavor. Covid 19 requires collective effort to defeat it. Maldives welcomes this proposal and would fully support such a regional effort. https://t.co/2fxQxe9w1h

 Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (@ibusolih) March 13, 2020



Thank you for the great initiative Shri @narendramodi - #LKA is ready to join the discussion & share our learnings & best practices and to learn from other #SAARC members. Lets unite in solidarity during these trying times and keep our citizens safe. https://t.co/fAiT5w3O8D

 Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) March 13, 2020

"This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference," the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lotay Tshering, said in a tweet.President of the Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, thanked PM Modi for the initiative and said that COVID-19 requires "collective effort to defeat it".Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, meanwhile said that it is a "great initiative".

Echoing the other leaders from the bloc, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said he "welcomes the idea" and said his government is "ready to work closely with SAARC Member States".

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

"I welcome the idea advanced by PM Modi ji for chalking out a strong strategy by the leadership of the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus. My government is ready to work closely with SAARC Member States to protect our citizens from this deadly disease," Oli said.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is A regional intergovernmental organization that comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 11:52:11|Editor: huaxia

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SYDNEY, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Eleven people including three children were killed after violence flared between warring tribes in the Porgera area of Papua New Guinea (PNG)'s Highlands.

Local newspaper Post Courier reported on Thursday that among the adults slaughtered on Wednesday, there were three females and five males.

Local authorities said the massacre was the latest development in a long lasting war between Miape tribe and Okiru tribe and that the 11 people were innocents killed by warlords from Okiru tribe.

The tribal fight has claimed many lives, including a policeman, recently.

Paiela-Hewa local government president Sailas Ayeila is calling on the national government to declare a state of emergency in the area and hunt down two warlords responsible.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister



Ajit Pawar on Friday rejected opposition's allegation of a 'regional imbalance' in the state budget presented by him.

Replying to the debate on the budget in the Assembly, he said the government has made provisions forall regions.

"We reject the criticism that the budget is biased and does injustice to Marathwada, Vidarbha, North Maharashtra and Konkan. We don't commit such a sin," Pawar said.

"The budget has funds not just for all regions of the state but also earmarked Rs 10 crore for Marathi-speaking areas of Karnataka," he said.

Cotton being the main crop ofVidarbha and Marathwada, the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government has given a Rs 1,100 crore guaranteefor cotton procurement and Rs 2,800 crore have been deposited in farmers' accounts, Pawar said.

"The government wants to assure cotton growers that it is firmly with them," he added.

For Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddi corridor, the government has provided equity of Rs 8,500 crore, the finance minister noted.

New medical colleges will be set up at Amravati and Nandurbar and airport development work at Akola and Amravati is also being taken up, he said.

"Agriculture colleges are also being set up in Vidarbha and North Maharashtra," Pawar mentioned, assuring that there will be no shortage of funds for any part of the state.

The government's loan waiver scheme benefited maximum number of farmers from Marathwada, Vidarbha and North Maharashtra, and as many as17.80 lakhfarmersgot Rs 11,340 crore intheir bank accountsin 15 days, Pawar claimed.

The government has made a provision of Rs 22,000 crore to cover farmers whose loans exceed Rs 2 lakh and those who paytheirdues regularly, Pawar said.

Giving region-wise figures, Pawar said 3,23,632 farmers in Vidarbha gotRs 2,575 crore,3,08,700 farmers in North Maharashtra gotRs 2,375 crore, 6 lakh farmers in Marathawada got Rs 6,000 crore while in western Maharashtra, 3.43 lakh farmers got Rs 2,400 crore.

"How can then you say the budget encourages regional imbalance?" Pawar, who hails from western Maharashtra's Pune district, asked.

As to Konkan, Pawar saidfunds have been provided forstrengthening infrastructure and developing tourism hubs in the region.

"Why are you angry about land allocation for tourism centre at Worli? Isn't Worli in Mumbai? What about the land worth crores of rupees in BKC area (of Mumbai) that you wanted to give for Bullet train project?" he asked BJP MLAs.

He also announced thatlegislators will get loans upto Rs 30 lakh to purchase vehicles, and for five years the government will pay the interest on these loans.

He accused the BJP of providing meager funds to several districts when it was in power, and said the present government has done the allocation as per area, population and human development index of each district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After keeping everyone guessing back home in Madhya Pradesh, 19 MLAs primarily belonging to the Jyotriaditya Scindia camp did not return to Bhopal on Friday even as Governor Lalji Tandon sacked six ministers on the recommendation of Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

The expelled ministers -- Imarti Devi, Govind Singh Rajput, Pradyumn Singh Tomar, Tulsi Silawat, Prabhuram Chaudhary and Mahendra Singh Sisodia  are Scindia loyalists. The portfolios held by them were re-allotted to senior ministers of the cabinet.

Earlier on Friday, it was rumoured that the Congress MLAs holed up at a resort in Bengaluru would land at the Raja Bhoj Airport here in a chartered plane.

BJP leaders and workers arrived at the airport in two buses ostensibly meant to take the MLAs away with them. Heavy police force was deployed at the airport.

Soon after, Congress leaders and workers in large numbers gathered at the airport and got into heated arguments with their BJP counterparts. With the scuffle heating up, the district administration invoked Section 144 of CrPC at the airport and the BJP cadre was forced away from the scene.

Fresh police deployment also was sent to airport.

A few Congress MLAs were also spotted at Bengaluru airport.

However, as the drama continued for hours at Raja Bhoj airport, it turned out that the MLAs were not coming back to Bhopal on Friday.

In between, Congress workers armed with black balloons and flags gathered to protest the attitude of missing MLAs at several places across the Madhya Pradesh capital.

Speaker NP Prajapati, who had served notices to six MLAs to present themselves before him to endorse their resignations, left the assembly after waiting for three hours.

I waited for the MLAs for three hours and I would be meeting those whom I have offered appointment on Saturday, he said. On being asked when he would meet the MLAs he had summoned on Friday, Prajapati said he would offer them a fresh date.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leaders such as Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar called Tandon and discussed the political scenario in the state.
With almost 559,000 patients waiting for their first hospital outpatient appointment, it is clear that the health authorities never got on top of the issue, says patient advocate, Stephen McMahon.

Mr McMahon, chairman and co-founder of the Irish Patients Association, is concerned that public hospital waiting lists could become even worse because of the coronavirus crisis.

Going into this crisis we never got on top of normal demand such as waiting lists for operations or to see a consultant, he said.

The latest public hospital waiting list data published by the National Treatment Purchase Fund shows that 558,554 patients were waiting for a first outpatient consultation last month. In January 556,770 were waiting.

Last month 66,705 patients were waiting for an appointment for their inpatient or day-case treatment, a slight decrease from the 67,303 waiting in January.

The normal resources to treat patients with coronavirus have been sucked out of the system to deal with normal demand; this means that waiting lists will rise until the system stabilises, said Mr McMahon.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]

President of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, Dr Donal OHanlon, said there is work to do both acutely and in the long term to look after the patients.

 In these unpredictable and unprecedented times, we are supporting our front-line staff who may have to curtail usual operations to look after urgently sick patients.

The focus understandably is on freeing up bed capacity to allow for the coronavirus surge, so the cancellation of non-essential surgery is necessary given the scale of the challenge we are facing.

For now, we have to all work together to create capacity in the immediate term and we welcome the contingency steps taken so far by the Department of Health and the HSE.

Dr OHanlon said hospital consultants are focused on supporting all patients at this time and urged the public to abide by the official guidance on hand washing and social distancing.
The Indiana State School Music Association has canceled student music events for one month to protect attendees from COVID-19, the organization announced in a news release Thursday.

"After consultation with the Indiana State Department of Health, it has been decided by the ISSMA Executive Committee that to help protect students, schools and communities from the spread of the COVID-19/Coronavirus, all ISSMA sponsored music events will be canceled through April 11," the release states. "This would include all Junior/Middle/Elementary Concert Organization Festivals and the ISSMA State Show Choir and Jazz Finals."

More than 35,000 students from over 300 schools participate at more than 30 different school facilities throughout the state. The organization is working on a plan to allow video recordings to be submitted for evaluation.

"In keeping with the ISSMA mission to provide educationally evaluated music performance opportunities, a process is being developed to allow directors of registered Junior/Middle/Elementary Ensembles to submit video recordings for evaluation," the release states.

The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic Wednesday.
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  March 13, 2020  Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Cenovus Energy Inc. CVE, Matador Resources Co. MTDR, Valero Energy Corp. VLO, Phillips 66 PSX and Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM.

Here are highlights from Thursdays Analyst Blog:

Refiners to Gain from Oil Crash, Coronavirus Lockdown Eases

Oil prices have witnessed a massive tumble this week, steepest since the 1991 Gulf War, which dealt a huge blow to the already scuffled upstream industry. The WTI Crude price index is currently trading around the $31 per barrel mark compared with $51.42 on Feb 13. A similar trend has been witnessed for Brent Crude, which tumbled nearly 65% in the past month to $33.45 per barrel. While this weak price environment is deadly for the upstream energy industry, we expect some downstream companies to thrive in this situation.

The oil price crash came on the heels of the OPEC+ meeting, which saw a Saudi Arabia-Russia disagreement over deeper production cuts to boost oil market fundamentals. As Saudi Arabia failed to secure Russias support for additional cuts, it threatened to flood the oil market by boosting production. That was enough to trigger the oil price plunge, which was already in a panic mode due to the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19).

Early Responses

Reacting to the market situation, Cenovus Energy Inc. decided to cut its 2020 capital spending and production guidance by 32% and 5%, respectively. In a similar move, Matador Resources Co., an exploration and production company, decided to operate half of its current drilling rigs. While these companies were the first to respond to the oil price crash, more upstream companies are expected to follow suit in the coming days.

Companies to Gain

Story continues

Low crude price is always good for refining and marketing companies as it reduces production costs and expenses. Valero Energy Corp. and Phillips 66 are two of the companies that can take advantage of the low crude price. Moreover, there are some integrated energy mammoths like Exxon Mobil Corp. with ample international exposure. Their refining and marketing operations are expected to gain from weak oil prices. All of these four companies have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Notably, the international refining market suffered in the last two months as fuel demand growth declined following the coronavirus outbreak. However, things are improving for the second biggest economy in the world, which was also the epicenter of the outbreak.

China's Fuel Market Showing Improvement

Chinas new daily cases of infections have been declining in the past two weeks. The country is now easing lockdowns and quarantine zones in some areas, which have put industrial activities on a recovery mode. While the economy is slowly recovering, oil imports are reportedly increasing and fuel demand is expected to go up. This will act as a positive catalyst for the overall fuel market and refining companies will likely gain.

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Wole Soyinka, playwright and Nobel laureate, says Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state, lack friends who could have advised him a...





Wole Soyinka, playwright and Nobel laureate, says Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state, lack friends who could have advised him against the dethronement of Muhammadu Sanusi II.





On Monday, the government of Kano sacked Sanusi as emir of Kano, and also sent him into exile in Awe, Nasarawa state.





Reacting, Soyinka narrated how a monarch in his home state of Ogun was almost removed but for the intervention of the governors friends who pleaded with him to give a second thought over the move.





Making a comparison of both cases, Soyinka described Gandujes approach as crude and authoritarian.

I was a participant, albeit on the sidelines, when a similar scenario began to unfold in my own state, Ogun some years ago. The then governor, on account of an imagined slight by one of the monarchs in his domain, was actually poised  not virtually but physically  poised to sign the dethronement and banishment order on that traditional ruler, he said.





His office was invaded by some of the panicked chiefs and stalwarts of Ogun state who rushed to ward off the impending order. One of them stopped at my home after the pacification session to narrate what had transpired, and how some of them had actually gone on their knees to plead with that governor to stay action. I was furious. I knew every detail of that affair, had listened to a recording of the speech that was supposed to have given this mighty offence. It was pure piffle!





Why did you people plead with him? Dont you realise you were making him feel a god? You should have let him carry on, then we would see what a cataclysm he had launched on the state!





The man, an independent businessman of absolute integrity, and one of that governors intimate circle, smiled and said, No, we couldnt do that. We are his friends. We were pleading with him to save him from himself.





What a pity Ganduje lacked friends who could have saved him from himself! Insofar as one can acknowledge certain valued elements in traditional institutions, the man he thinks he has humiliated has demonstrated that he is one of the greatest reformers even of the feudal order.





That is beyond question, a position publicly manifested in both act and pronouncements. By contrast, Gandujes conduct, apart from the innate travesty of justice in this recent move, is on a par with the repudiated colonial order, one that out-feudalized feudalism itself, and is synonymous with authoritarianism of the crudest temper. The record shows, in this particular instance, that it is one that embodies modernised cronyism and alienated pomp and power  never mind the cosmetic gestures such as almajiri reformation. It has proved one of the worst examples of a system that enables even the least deserving to exercise arbitrary, unmerited authority that beggars even the despotism of the most feudalistic traditional arrangements.





Soyinka hailed Sanusi as an economist who sanitised the banking sector when he was governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He said as an Islamic scholar, Sanusi was also one of the early warning voices against religious extremism.





He said in a conversation about his visit to the palace, Sanusi had sounded much aware of the impending fall of the axe of vengefulness and power primitivism. I can testify that he remained totally unfazed.





He added I do have the feeling that the palace gates of the Kano emirate are not yet definitively slammed against this Islamic scholar, royal scion and seasoned economist. It is just a feeling. Closed and bared, or merely shut however, the doors of enlightened society remain wide open to Muhammad Sanusi.




She's following in the footsteps of Heidi Klum on one of television's most popular reality competition series.

And Bravo's new Project Runway host Karlie Kloss looked effortlessly gorgeous and stylish as usual on Thursday, when she was spotted stepping out in New York City.

The 27-year-old catwalker made the street her personal runway, as she chatted and laughed while on a phone call, holding onto her chic black leather Christian Dior-monogrammed tote bag.

Strutter: Supermodel Karlie Kloss looked effortlessly gorgeous and stylish as usual on Thursday, when she was spotted stepping out in New York City

Kloss wore a thick taupe trench-style jacket for the outing, with overlarge breast pockets and a fabric sash belt tied around her waist.

She paired this with slightly ripped classic bluejeans that ended just above her ankles as well as a black t-shirt, and she slipped her feet into rather cute slip-on black pumps.

The model wore her blond hair down in a casual style, and she popped on thick black rectangular sunglasses fit for her celebrity status.

Karlie accented her tasteful day look with some layered necklaces and small gold hoop earrings.

Chatty: The catwalker made the street her personal runway, as she chatted and laughed while on a phone call, holding onto her chic black leather Christian Dior-monogrammed tote bag

Head-turner: Kloss wore a thick taupe trench-style jacket for the outing, with overlarge breast pockets and a fabric sash belt tied around her waist

Since last year, Kloss has been the new host of Project Runway, a position previously held by supermodel Heidi Klum for well over a decade.

Karlie is accompanied in this endeavor by previous PR winner Christian Siriano, who in turn is stepping in for Tim Gunn as the resident fashion adviser to the competing designers.

Gunn and Klum are gearing up to launch a new fashion design competition series entitled Making The Cut, which will premiere on March 27th on Amazon Prime.

New role: Since last year, Kloss has been the new host of Project Runway, a position previously held by supermodel Heidi Klum for well over a decade

As for Karlie, the Chicago-born beauty is also founder of Kode With Klossy, a nonprofit organization which hosts free coding camps for young women to learn important STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills.

In addition to being an in-demand supermodel and fledgling TV personality, Kloss is also herself a coder.

And on top of it all, she also found time to work her runway skills as a model during Paris Fashion Week last month, when she strutted for the Off-White show.
Woman accused

of exploiting elderly

CARROLLTON  A Greenfield woman is being accused of making more than $5,000 in unauthorized purchases and cash withdrawals from the account of an elderly person.

Theresa Ann Jett, 63, of Greenfield was booked into the Greene County Jail at 1:57 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of financial exploitation of an elderly person.

Greene County States Attorney Caleb L. Briscoe said she is accused of obtaining the debit card and bank account information of a woman who is over the age of 80 and using them to make purchases and ATM withdrawals throughout Greene County from September 2018 through September 2019.

 Darren Iozia



Calhoun County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Karla Jean Johnes, 37, of Hardin was booked into Greene County Jail at 12:04 p.m. Tuesday on an aggravated assault charge.

 Mary E. Church, 45, of Hardin was booked into Greene County Jail at 5:14 p.m. Saturday on a warrant accusing her of violating probation.

Greene County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Paul M. Shaffer, 59, of St. Louis was booked into Greene County Jail at 8:43 p.m. Saturday on charges of speeding and driving while license is revoked or suspended.

 Jerry J. Howe, 43, of New London, Missouri, was booked into Greene County Jail at 6:41 p.m. Saturday on a speeding charge.

 Matthew L. Hill, 37, of Carrollton was booked into the Greene County Jail at 11:16 p.m. March 6 on charges of speeding and driving under the influence.

Carrollton Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Joshua T. Riley, 35, of Carrollton was booked into Greene County Jail at 10:16 p.m. March 5 on a charge of driving while license is suspended.

Greenfield Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Zane T. Orr, 25, of Greenfield was booked into Greene County Jail at 12:45 a.m. Saturday on charges of speeding and driving under the influence.

 Tia Lynn Pedersen, 38, of Greenfield was booked into Greene County Jail at 8:38 p.m. March 6 on charges of driving under the influence and having an expired registration.

Roodhouse Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Terry P. Gibson, 29, of Roodhouse was booked into Greene County Jail at 10:20 a.m. Saturday on a warrant accusing him of burglary and possession of a hypodermic needle.

 Mathew G. Dubois, 20, of Roodhouse was booked into Greene County Jail at 8:55 a.m. March 6 on a domestic battery charge.

 Jennifer R. Hall, 47, of White Hall was booked into Greene County Jail at 8:21 p.m. March 5 on a disorderly conduct charge.

State police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Valerie L. Stubblefield, 59, of Florissant, Missouri, was booked into Greene County Jail at 2:38 a.m. Saturday on charges of driving under the influence and driving while license is revoked or suspended.

Compiled by David C.L. Bauer and Darren Iozia
Amid uncertainty over the fate of the Kamal Nath government following revolt by Jyotiraditya Scindia and his supporters, assembly speaker NP Prajapati on Thursday issued notices to 19 rebel Congress MLAs, who had sent their resignation from a resort in Bengaluru last week, to appear before him in two days.

The speaker said in the notice that he wants to satisfy himself whether the MLAs resigned on their own accord or under external pressure.

He has summoned six of the rebels on Friday, seven on Saturday and remaining on Sunday.

Meanwhile, former BJP minister Bhupedra Singh called on the speaker and urged him to accept the resignation of two other Congress MLAs Bisahu Lal Singh and Manoj Choudhary. These two MLAs were in Bhopal and were not a part of the rebels camping in Bengaluru. They had joined the revolt against the Congress government a day later.

Dismissing the media query whether the Kamal Nath government is reduced to a minority, the speaker snapped, dont ask hypothetical question.

I have issued notices to 19 MLAs and acting as per the rules. I am bound by rules and procedures, he told the media.

Former chief minister Digvijaya Singh said the Kamal Nath government was prepared for a floor test but not before the decision on the resignations of the MLAs is taken.

On the other hand, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the government has lost majority but added that the BJP has nothing to do in this internal matter of the Congress.

He raised the question of propriety on the minority government summoning budget session and requesting the governor to address the house.

Supreme Court lawyer and Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha warned of moving court for the rescue of the rebel MLAs held captive in Bengaluru. He accused the BJP of holding the rebels hostage, saying this is against the law.
The royal family reunited for the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey last March 9. For the first time since their "declaration of independence" two months ago, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joined the rest of the Firm in their last engagement as senior royals.

Their subdued greetings to each other, however, were notable.

Stealing the Spotlight

The rift between the royal couples has even influenced Kate's sister, Pippa.

In December 2018, a correspondent of The Sun revealed that Pippa Middleton was reluctant to invite Meghan to her wedding.

"Meghan faced some opposition from the Middleton family, who didn't want to have her at Pippa's wedding last May," journalist Emily Andrews wrote. They feared that her first public appearance as a member of the royal family would be the focus and would only overshadow the bride on her very special day.

The Middleton family wanted to keep the event simple and give Pippa a great time. Their fear then was that the media would make the whole event about Meghan.

Despite the opposition from the Middleton family, Meghan was welcomed to the evening reception held at Pippa's home village in Bucklebury. Prince Harry discretely left and traveled 50 miles to pick up Meghan and drove 50 miles back, as he wanted them to know how serious he is of her.

Budding Romance

The presence of Prince Harry at Pippa's wedding came as a surprise, too. Many speculated that a romance was budding between the two at the time of Prince William and Kate's wedding in 2011.

In an interview with The Sun, royal insider Duncan Larcombe said that there was a "discussion of a romance between Harry and Pippa."

"But it's quite funny how Harry seems to have found himself a replica of Pippa Middleton in his wife Meghan. Both are comparably similar in terms of personality, temperament, and bubbliness," Larcombe said./

The royal insider added that both women are passionate about "celebrity work," and many are guessing that Meghan would be back at it now that she is not tied with the royal family.

Falling Out

Their "Megxit '' announcement in January surprised everyone, even the royal family. Reports of the royal falling out between Kate, William, Meghan, and Harry have already been circulating months before, and the Sussexes' decision to leave the family did not help.

Some critics claimed that the previously close relationship between Harry and Kate have been seriously affected by the friction between the couples.

Although it remains a mystery why the royals are not as welcoming to Meghan as they were with Kate, the news of their falling out came as if it were expected to happen.

Harry and Meghan started dating in 2016, but they were able to keep their relationship a secret. Word of them being a couple came out in May 2017 -- though the two were yet to be photographed together at that time.

The future Duke and Duchess of Sussex, at that time, were at the Invictus Games opening in Toronto. It has been a home for the former "Suits" actress, so it seemed like the perfect spot to come out and tell the world that they were together.

Canada became even more significant to the royal couple as they picked it to be their second home. At the moment, Prince Harry, Meghan, and their son Prince Archie are residing in Canada as they start a new life away from the pressures of the royal family.
How much money the village will be asked to provide is still under negotiation and will be part of a redevelopment agreement that comes to the village board for a vote, Melaniphy said. If the agreement is approved by the board, the plan is to use tax increment financing district funds to cover the expense, he added.
The wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his office said late Thursday.

Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau was tested for COVID-19 today. The test came back positive, the Prime Ministers office said in a statement.

Following medical advice, she will remain in isolation for the time being. She is feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild, it said.

The Prime Minister is in good health with no symptoms. As a precautionary measure and following the advice of doctors, he will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days, but will not be tested.

Watch l Canadian PM Justin Trudeaus wife tests positive for coronavirus

The Prime Minister will continue to fully assume his duties and will address Canadians tomorrow.

Trudeau and his wife had announced earlier Thursday they were self-isolating while she underwent tests for the COVID-19 illness after returning from a speaking engagement.

Gregoire-Trudeaus symptoms, after returning from Britain, had included a low fever late last night, an earlier statement said. She immediately sought medical advice and testing.
NEW HAVEN  Five men, including three New Haven residents, were indicted Friday after allegedly defrauding seniors and other individuals of more than $4 million, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for Connecticut.

Farouq Fasasi, 25, Rodney Thomas Jr., 29, Ralph Pierre, 30, all New Haven residents; Stanley Pierre, 32, of Bridgeport; and Montrell Dobbs Jr., 27, of Ansonia, Hamden and New Haven were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, officials said in a release. All of the men other than Thomas were charged with one count of money laundering. Fasasi and Thomas were also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and one count of mail fraud.

Stanley Pierre has not yet been arrested, officials said. The other four men pleaded not guilty to the charges levied against them Friday, according to the release.

According to the release, the indictment alleges that, since August 2015, Fasasi, Thomas and their co-conspirators have used lottery scams, romance scams and other fraudulent means to induce elderly victims to provide them with money, gifts and personal details.

Victims sent cash, money orders or checks through the mail to various addresses in Connecticut, and also wired or deposited money into bank accounts in Connecticut controlled by conspiracy members and their associates, officials said in the release. It is alleged that members of the conspiracy defrauded numerous victims across the U.S. of more than $4 million. One Connecticut victim lost more than $1 million.

U.S. Attorney John Durham stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt in the release, as charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, but condemmed the alleged actions of the five men in the release.

The financial victimization of seniors is as reprehensible as it is cruel, and the Justice Department has made it a priority to root out those who commit these crimes, said Durham in the statement. Numerous victims in this scheme gave thousands of dollars to these alleged predators. I urge all to think twice, and then to think again, before providing any money to individuals who they have never met in person. As soon as you are asked for money, call your local police department, or 833-FRAUD-11, for assistance.

Other officials also shared their displeasure with the alleged scheme in the release.

Scammers use promises of large financial gains or sometimes even romantic relationships to lure victims in, only to manipulate them into giving their life savings away, said Inspector in Charge Joseph W. Cronin of the U.S. Postal Inspection Services Boston Division. They prey on those individuals who are more susceptible to falling for a phony promotion or offer, most times, our elder population. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to protecting our citizens and working hard to prevent more people from becoming further victimized by these types of schemes.

These charges demonstrate the commitment of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to investigate and bring to justice those that victimize the American taxpayer, said J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. These defendants are alleged to have engaged in schemes resulting in millions of dollars in fraud, often targeting the most vulnerable members of society. The success of this investigation is the result of a collaborative effort between multiple federal law enforcement agencies and the dedicated staff at the U.S. Attorneys Office.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Friday, said his administration has appropriated N3.4 billion in the 2020 budget for the establishment of a Small/Medium-sized Industry in each of the 17 local government areas of the state.

Mr Ugwuanyi, who spoke during the opening ceremony of the 31st Enugu International Trade Fair, held at the Trade Fair Arena, Enugu, disclosed that an average sum of N200 million was appropriated for the project in each of the 17 LGAs.

The governor explained that the rural development cum job creation initiative is both government-driven and stakeholder-participatory, adding that the choice of the industry will depend on each of the local governments comparative advantage.

He also disclosed that his administration has registered eight (8) agricultural products brand trademarks including the Coal City Rice which will be launched soon, all in a bid to make the difference and give back to our people.

Speaking on the theme of the Trade Fair, Advancing the growth of SMEs through corporate governance for rapid economic development, the governor pointed out that it was very apt as it captured the mood of the nation as an emerging economy. He maintained that Small and Medium-sized Enterprises /Businesses (SME) are the most potent drivers of the economy, especially in developing countries.

READ ALSO:

While disclosing that the state government has invested a lot of time and energy to position Enugu as a destination of choice for genuine investors, the governor stated that our administration has continued to function as business and investment enabler through the provision of secure operating environment for business/investment, consistent and favourable policies, facilitation of all bureaucratic processes for starting and doing business, friendly tax regime, professional regulatory oversight role etc.

According to him, our progress in this direction is self-evident in the leapfrogging of our state from its 2014 World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking as 27th out of 37 states (including FCT Abuja), to an enviable ranking as the 2nd State in Ease of Starting Business and 3rd State in Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria in the 2018 World Bank Ease of Doing Business sub-national ranking.

The governor, who welcomed the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mariam Katagum, and her entourage to the event, commended the President of Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agricultu re (ECCIMA), Emeka Nwandu, and other members of the Chamber for organizing the 31st edition of the annual business programme and showing the right sensitivity to the economic grasp of our country.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia has announced that it suspends railway traffic with the Slovak Republic due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In connection with the declaration of a state of emergency in the Slovak Republic, we temporarily suspended passenger train connections with this country [from 7:00 a.m. March 13]," the companys press service reported.

The Slovak government declared a state of emergency throughout the country, which entered into force at 7:00 a.m on March 12, Prime Minister of Slovakia Peter Pellegrini said.

ish
A new study describing the outcome of a clinical trial of two malaria treatment protocols involving the use of triple therapies based on artemisinin reports their high efficacy and low adverse effects.

Release of malaria parasites from red blood cell. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock

The study

The trial is the first of its kind, covering about 1,100 people in 8 countries, aged 2-64 years, all suffering from uncomplicated falciparum malaria (either alone or mixed with other species of plasmodium). The researchers assigned them to receive the current first-line treatment consisting of two drugs, or either of two triple artemisinin-based combination therapies  (TACTs).

The first TACT comprises dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine plus mefloquine and the second, artemether-lumefantrine plus amodiaquine. The regimen was assigned to each patient based on the drugs used as first-line ACTs (artemisinin-based combination therapies) in his or her country. If the first-line ACT had changed during the study period, because of the emergence of resistance, the researchers also changed the comparison treatment around.

Of the whole group, 17% received dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine, 25% the first TACT, 7% artesunate-mefloquine, 26% artemether-lumefantrine, and 26% the second TACT.

The treatment was evaluated for effectiveness based on the complete absence of malaria parasites and clinical features after 42 days of follow-up, which was recorded as a complete cure. Adverse effects were also documented at this time.

Why TACTs?

The rationale behind the testing of TACTs is the combination of ACTs with another drug to prolong the antimalarial activity of the combination in the blood.

ACTs have long been the backbone of global antimalarial efforts. Nonetheless, resistance to artemisinin as well as its partners is rapidly gaining ground in southeast Asia.

Many scientists have tried to address such resistance, typically to the action of multiple drugs targeting malaria, by changing around the treatment guidelines. The downside is that there is a smaller number of drugs to treat this condition, while the development of new antimalarials is currently on the backburner. As a result, there is a crying need for better and newer antimalarials in the places that struggle with antimalarial resistance. These include sub-Saharan Africa and India.

The TACT just adds to the ability of the ACT to act against the parasite while helping the combination to protect each other. Not only could this be an effective treatment for malaria, but it could also carry the possibility of staving off the emergence of drug resistance to antimalarial drugs. As researcher Chanaki Amaratung says, Deployment of TACTs is expected to extend the useful life of the few effective available and affordable antimalarial drugs. Fortunately, to date, artemisinin resistance has not worsened in southeast Asia and has not spread to sub-Saharan Africa. To ensure we reduce resistance as much as possible, it is important that we avoid waiting for resistance to emerge and spread before changing malaria therapies.

The findings

The researchers found that the first TACT was 98% effective compared with the first ACT at 48% in three countries in Southeast Asia. However, in Myanmar, both TACT and ACT had similar efficacy.

When the second TACT and the second ACT were compared, in five countries, similar efficacy was achieved.

At three sites in Cambodia, the drugs were changed due to national policy changes, and comparable results were obtained with the revised ACT and TACT.

Vomiting within an hour of treatment was more common with the first TACT than with the first ACT, but overall, both TACTs were safe and well-tolerated. Both ACTs and TACTs had the same incidence of serious adverse effects.

Implications

Expert commentator Philip Rosenthal says the results indicate the use of TACTs instead of ACTs in places where the latter is unacceptably low in efficacy. The use of mefloquine in the TACT could prevent piperaquine resistance from emerging. According to Rosenthal, If safety and tolerability remain acceptable in follow-up studies, the use of optimally dosed and formulated TACTs to treat P falciparum malaria might soon be appropriate in regions with artemisinin resistance.

However, in places where artemisinin is still effective, which coincides with the hotspots for falciparum malaria, the usefulness of TACTs is still uncertain, he says. In his view, In any event, TACTs should be seen as a stopgap; novel combination therapies to treat malaria are greatly needed.

Researcher Arjen Dondorp explains, With the increasing failure of conventional ACTs, the use of TACTs might soon become essential for the treatment of malaria in the Greater Mekong subregion in southeast Asia. This region is aiming for accelerated malaria elimination before the growing drug resistance renders Plasmodium falciparum malaria close to untreatable. The TACTs we studied here could prevent a resurgence of malaria that often accompanies spreading antimalarial drug resistance.
While there may be a few dream clients who arent confined to a budget, most will have to stick to some parameters. We asked eight designersCharlotte Barnes, Laurie Blumenfeld-Russo, Everick Brown, Matthew Carter, Emily Davis, Elena Phillips, Lisa Sherry and Kaitlin Smithhow they address clients when a project is going over budget.

Charlotte Barnes Courtesy of Charlotte Barnes

All about options

Budgets help us to present the right thing. Recently, we had a living room we were doing, and the client was very clear that they wanted a beautiful rug, but also wanted to keep everything within a budget. We presented them with three rugsone that fit the bill of what she was looking for, but was a bit over budget, and two that were very close to what she wanted at a lower priceand let the client decide which one would work best for them. This is why its so important that a client at least gives us a ballpark of their budget. The best thing we can do is spend their money wisely. All great houses have a mix of high and low. Charlotte Barnes, Greenwich, Connecticut

Kaitlin Smith Courtesy of Kaitlin Smith

Mix it up

Its impossible to anticipate every cost, and often a client may decide to go out of their budget on a particular item. It is the designers job to communicate that break in the budget and make sure they understand that the item may push them over the projected total. If a client decides to splurge on a sofa or dining room table, I do my best to find some other items within the room where we can save. It is always my goal to stay within a budget for my client, but often that special item may be worth breaking the bank a bit! Kaitlin Smith, Highpoint Home, Watch Hill, Rhode Island

Emily Davis Courtesy of Emily Davis



Whats yours is mine

Our business is so personal that I always try to think of my clients money as my own and to be the best steward possible. Being your clients advocate and walking them through why certain issues cost more is something that we as designers can bring to the table. Clients really value that expertise! Emily Davis, Emily Davis Interiors, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Everick Brown Courtesy of Everick Brown

Plan and Adapt

The best way to navigate a project in jeopardy of going over plan is to have a cohesive budget, maintain transparency and provide good communication. I provide a budget for my clients from start to finish; this way, we can anticipate any problem areas as we go through the design process. Once the project moves into the procurement phase, I revise the initial budget and discuss any changes with the client. Everick Brown, Everick Brown Design, New York

Elena Phillips Courtesy of Elena Phillips

live up to expectations

During my initial conversation with a client, I try to get an understanding, not only of design expectations, but also of budget expectations. I clearly outline my fee structure in a contract and if requested, provide a high-low estimate, which can be used as a guide. Additionally, the client signs off on every item I purchase on their behalf. This creates accountability on both sides. At its simplest, an open dialogue and game plan helps the client feel comfortable and reduces unexpected budget surprises. Elena Phillips, Elena Phillips Interiors, Rowayton, Connecticut

Matthew Carter Courtesy of Matthew Carter

Straight shooter

I am a firm believer in being completely straightforward with clients on the subject. Were fortunate to work with people who understand quality and what it takes for a successful end result. I always say I would much rather explain the cost of something up front than have to explain mediocre quality after the fact. We make a firm proposal for all the curtains, rugs, upholstered furniture, etcetera, but I like to go out and shop for a lot of interesting antiques and objects that make rooms feel more personal and collected. If the perfect thing comes along and is more than our budget, they will almost always say yes. In the end, it is more about making comfortable and beautiful rooms than about a specific dollar amount. Matthew Carter, Matthew Carter Interiors, Lexington, Kentucky

Lisa Sherry Courtesy of Lisa Sherry

Continuing education

Very often, clients dont know what things cost. Theyll ask if a chair is $500 or $5,000. So part of my process is education and syncing up on financials and aesthetics. The two need to pair, and thats all about communication. Now, if we find something fabulous thats over budget, the client decides how much they love it. I always have on-budget options, and really good ones at that. As it unfolds, I like a project to feel like a wonderful revelation, a surprisebut never a financial one! Lisa Sherry, Lisa Sherry Interieurs, Charlotte, North Carolina

Laurie Blumenfeld-Russo Courtesy of Laurie Blumenfeld-Russo

Happily ever after

We try very hard to stay within the clients comfort zone on price points. I always communicate along the way how the numbers are coming in and keep an open dialogue. As long as the client feels in-the-know and in control of how the numbers are adding up, its unlikely there will be any drama. All that said, if we do go over budget, I am honest and calmly explain the circumstances. I also reassure them that once the work is done they will be so happy, they will forget the pain of spending more than they anticipated. Laurie Blumenfeld-Russo, Laurie Blumenfeld Design, New York

Homepage photo: A living room by Matthew Carter | Maura McEvoy
Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said police talk to many people over the counter every day and there was no concern the attacker was presenting "any kind of terror threat" when he spoke to officers in 2018. Police are now searching Ibrahim's home, computer and phone, and talking to his family and friends to ascertain a motive. They are also gathering CCTV to trace his movements prior to the attacks. Forensic police inspect the scene in Walpole Street, Kew. Credit:Jason South Ibrahim was noticed by two PSOs at Jolimont station after making a loud noise at the end of the platform. They had a short conversation and the officers offered to help him with directions before he stabbed one of them with a kitchen knife. The PSO was due to have surgery on Thursday. Ibrahim ran off through Yarra Park and police are trying to establish whether he boarded a train at Richmond train station, or got on a tram near Punt Road to reach Hawthorn.

Shortly after, two women were arriving at their Hawthorn home on Coppin Grove when the man approached them. He spoke briefly to the pair before attacking them with a knife. One woman, 30, died at the scene. The scene at Coppin Grove in Hawthorn where two women were stabbed, one fatally. Credit:Jason South The other woman, 31, screamed, alerting neighbours who called police, but Ibrahim had already fled. Soon after, Ibrahim approached a 59-year-old man walking along Cotham Road in Kew. Similar to his two earlier attacks, Ibrahim struck up a brief conversation with the 59-year-old man before stabbing him.

The victim staggered to a tram stop where he dialled triple zero, which Mr Ashton described as a "very brave act". "He made the call because obviously he is worried about the community more than himself. He is worried about what else this guy is going to do," he said. "I think it's a tremendously brave act." The 59-year-old man died in hospital. Police at a tram stop in Kew, near where a 59-year-old man was stabbed to death. Credit:Jason South

Critical Incident Response Team officers found Ibrahim walking on nearby Walpole Street a short time later and used a Taser to try to subdue him, before three of the elite officers shot him on Walton Street. "He was called on to surrender by police and refused to do so," Mr Weir said. "The ball was in his court. He's made the decision and our members have acted accordingly, in my view. Forensic police inspect the scene in Walpole Street, Kew, where police found the attacker. Credit:Jason South Georgia Sassi, 21, was about to fall asleep when she heard aggressive shouting. "It got heated very quickly ... then I heard a police officer say 'put your hands up', then three loud gunshots," she said. "It was so scary."

Two men, believed to have witnessed part of the attack on Coppin Grove, returned to the crime scene late on Thursday morning and were comforted on the street by police. Two men who lived in the same unit block as the two woman attacked overnight return to the scene. Credit:Jason South Mr Ashton said Victoria Police's Counter-Terrorism Command had combed through their intel and had not found any links to terrorism. "In fact, we are short of motivation at this time as to why he has done what he's done and committed such very serious offending against the community." Police are awaiting toxicology reports to determine whether Ibrahim was drug-affected.
Across the country, governors are making the difficult decision to close all schools or at least public schools to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But not in Pennsylvania, at least not yet.

Instead, state Department of Education spokesman Eric Levis said, Were currently tracking and monitoring cases in Pennsylvania but are also examining whats happening in Ohio, Maryland and other neighboring states.

As of Friday morning, Ohio, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, Michigan, and District of Columbia have closed schools for at least the next two weeks, if not longer. Kentuckys governor has recommended that all public and private schools cease in-person classes but hasnt mandated that to happen, according to the Washington Post.

State Education Secretary Pedro Rivera and Dr. Rachel Levine, the state Health secretary, held a webinar with superintendents on Friday morning that is now posted on the departments website.

Some who listened in to that online conference said there was no immediate indication that Pennsylvania would be following the lead of other states in ordering a statewide shuttering of schools but said there was a reference made about closing schools if there has been a case of exposure to the virus.

In fact, several school districts in Pennsylvania have already done that. Lancaster School District closed on Friday due to possible exposure at two of its schools. Southern York County and Allentown also have made decisions to close their schools, along with Wyomissing and Wilson school districts in Berks County and Philadelphia schools.

On Thursday, Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the closing of all schools in Montgomery County along with other facilities, which is seen as the epicenter of Pennsylvanias outbreak of COVID-19 cases, starting today.

On Friday, Sen. Lyndsay Williams, D-Allegheny County, called on the governor to close the schools "to help slow the spread of COVID-19. I understand that this is going to be a struggle for many families and that we are going to need to do work as a State to minimize this impact. Right now, the health and safety of our community must take precedence, she said.

Lower Dauphin School District spokesman Jim Hazen said after the morning webinar, district officials there are examining all of our options. A couple of activities planned for Friday were postponed.

Unlike other districts that had received the education departments approval to have up to five flexible instruction days that allow students to receive instruction online and have the days count toward the states 180 instructional days mandate, Lower Dauphin did not apply by the deadline.

Hazen said the district is waiting to see if the state relaxes that regulation to allows districts like his to consider that option. In the meantime, he said, we are looking at ways for continuity of instruction.

Cumberland Valley School District, meanwhile, posted on its website it is considering a student day on March 20 but a final decision would be made by today. If it appears that school may be closed for a length of time after March 20, 2020, we would likely have students attend on the 20th of March. A specific notification related to this will be sent to families and staff by the end of the day on Friday, March 13, 2020, the website states.

West Shore School District Superintendent Todd Stoltz issued a statement on Thursday, stating he was heeding Wolfs directive and cancelling or postponing after-school events expected to attract 250+ attendees for the next two weeks. Additionally, we are reviewing all trips planned in the upcoming weeks, including their destination and number of attendees, to determine if students will be permitted to attend.

Other school districts have directed teachers to begin making lesson preparations in the event school closures become necessary.

The state education department did send out a notice on social media that in the event of school closures, meals can continue to be served to low-income students.

If schools in Pennsylvania close due to #COVID19, meals can continue to be served  pic.twitter.com/nZk69WGOgZ  PA Department of Education (@PADeptofEd) March 12, 2020

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



*This post was updated to include Sen. Williams call for schools to close.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

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Moroccan government has earmarked $5.7 million to help farmers protect their livestock and ease their concern over the delay of rainfall.

The funds will be used for the purchase and transportation of fodder to rural zones and remote villages to enable farmers to keep their cattle.

These emergency measures were announced lately by minister of Agriculture Aziz Akhannouch at a meeting with Moroccan MPs.

Despite the current rainfall deficit, it is too early to describe this season as a drought year, said the minister, noting that he is still upbeat as some rainfall may occur in the coming days.

Moroccos agricultural sector accounts for 19 pc of the GNP. It employs more than 4 million rural people and plays an important social role as 80 pc of the rural inhabitants depend on revenues from agriculture.

To counter global warming affecting its agricultural sector, which plays a key role in the countrys food security, Morocco deployed a new farming strategy elaborated in line with the royal guidance calling for the creation of jobs, income generating activities in rural areas and for the emergence of an agricultural middle class.

To secure its water needs over the next seven years, Morocco worked out a strategy aimed at diversifying drinking and irrigation water supply notably through the building of more small and large dams with a view of bringing up Moroccos water storage capacity to 27.3 billion m3.

The 2020-2027 national water plan also provides for better management of water consumption, increasing supply to rural areas, building desalination plants and exploration of ground water.
After being in home detention for over seven months, Farooq Abdullah was released on Friday with the government revoking the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) against the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister.

The 82-year-old National Conference(NC) leader was initially taken into preventive detention on August 5 last, the day the Centre abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and later slapped with the PSA.

Walking out of his Gupkar road residence in Srinagar where he was kept under detention, Abdullah demanded that his son and former chief minister Omar and PDP's Mehbooba Mufti, also a former CM, and other politicians lodged in various prisons in the union territory and outside should be released at the earliest to allow political activities.

"Today, I am free but this freedom is not complete. It will be complete when other leaders like Omar, Mehbooba Mufti and others in outside jails are released," a frail looking Abdullah said, appearing before reporters at the lawns of his home after spending 220 days in detention.

According to an order issued by the Union Territory's home secretary Shaleen Kabra, the PSA ordered by the district magistrate of Srinagar on September 15 and subsequently extended for three months each on December 13 and March 11 this year, stands revoked.

Abdullah was booked under 'public order' of the PSA, a provision that allows authorities to detain a person for three months without trial. This can be extended up to two years.

Officials said District Magistrate Shahid Iqbal Choudhary visited the residence of Abdullah and handed over the release order to him.

Abdullah, a Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, was the first chief minister to have been booked under the PSA.

"I would also like to express gratitude to every individual who prayed for us ... I will not speak on any political matter till others are released," Abdullah said.

The NC leader, who was flanked by his family members including his wife Molie Abdullah, daughter Safia and grandson Adeem, did not take any questions from the media.

Abdullah, who underwent an eye surgery earlier this week, expressed the hope that he would be able to attend Parliament so that he can raise the voice of the people there.

Immediately after his release, the NC issued a statement welcoming the decision and also urged the Union Territory administration to release other political leaders including Omar Abdullah, who is party vice president.

The NC said the release of its patron from detention was the right step towards restoration of a genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir.

It said the process would receive further fillip when Omar Abdullah and other political detainees are set free. "We urge the government to do so at the earliest," it said.

"As the pre-eminent political party of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference has played a key role in strengthening the voice of the people through democracy and will continue to do so," the statement added.

Omar as well as Mehbooba Mufti were slapped with the PSA on February 6, the day when their six-month term of preventive detention was to end.

Abdullah's release was hailed by political leaders who also hoped other politicians under detention would be released.

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said Abdullah's release was "belated".

Tharoor hoped the NC stalwart will soon resume his "rightful place" on the front benches of the Lok Sabha, where he can address with his usual compelling vigour the issues facing his state and the state of the nation. "His detention was a disgrace."



Iltija Mufti, daughter of Mehbooba Mufti, demanded the release of all those detained following revocation of the special status of the erstwhile state.

"Time to release all detainees including thousands of young men languishing in jails outside J&K. This has gone on for far too long & must end now," Iltija tweeted.

Senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said Abdullah's release was long overdue.

"The imposition of PSA on and detention of Dr Farooq Abdullah was illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional. We have all been concerned about his health and well being. His release was long overdue".

The CPI(M) unit in Jammu and Kashmir described Abdullah's release as a "step to correct one wrong among many wrongs".

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee said she prayed for the long life of Abdullah and hoped that the other two former chief ministers -- Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti -- will soon be released and "allowed to join the democratic process immediately."



Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram hit out at the Modi government for keeping Abdullah under detention for seven months, alleging that "despotism and arbitrariness" constitute the rule of law in the Union Territory.

"Dr Farooq Abdullah, welcome to freedom. What was the justification to keep him in detention without charges for 7 months? If there was justification (there was none), what is the reason for releasing him today?" Chidambaram said.

"Despotism and arbitrariness constitute the Rule of Law in J&K. And this virus is spreading to many states in India," the former home minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kyiv authorities have ordered 100,000 coronavirus test kits, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said.

He said this live on Radio NV, the press service of the city authorities reported.

"If the number of patients in the capital is great, we have already ordered 100,000 rapid tests that will soon be in Kyiv so that we were prepared and able to perform diagnostics promptly if need be," Klitschko said.

He noted that no case of coronavirus had been reported in Kyiv so far.

Klitschko said Kyiv was taking all possible precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

In particular, a plan of anti-epidemic measures and restrictions was introduced in the city from March 12 and will be in force until the end of March.

Special attention is also paid to safety in public transport. All rolling stock of the city's public transport, including the subway, is disinfected twice a day - before being sent to the routes and at the end of the shift.

Klitschko also asked the Infrastructure Ministry and Boryspil Airport's management to cancel flights to countries where the coronavirus epidemic is spreading.

Three cases of coronavirus have been reported in Ukraine so far: two in Chernivtsi region and one in Zhytomyr region.

According to the COVID-19 Interactive Map-19 of the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, 135,318 people were infected with coronavirus worldwide as of March 13. Some 4,981 people died and 69,645 recovered.

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The United States is conducting retaliation airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in response to the fatal rocket attack on Camp Taji in Iraq that killed three coalition troops, Fox News reported citing a US military source.

The military official said on Thursday (local time) that the US is targeting multiple locations used by Iran-backed Shia militias in Iraq and along the Syrian border, according to Fox News.

The US-led coalition forces said that more than 15 small rockets hit Iraq's Taji military base, which hosts its troops, spokesperson Myles Coggins said in a statement on Wednesday.

Two Americans and one British personnel were killed in the attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a hotel room somewhere in the world, Zanele Muholi is composing a portrait. Make-up is applied, lightening lids and lips. Everyday objects start to make their way into the picture: a crown of wooden clothes pegs could be paired with a rag-rug cape, a fringe of cable ties draped around shoulders, paper currency might form a makeshift wig, or perhaps a collapsible stool will stand in for a bustier. The subjects gaze pierces through these accoutrements  accusatory, vulnerable, questioning, fed-up.

The South African visual activist, born under the apartheid regime in 1972, uses photography to record the black LGBTQI communitys difficult journey towards acceptance in that country. Muholis work, on show at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art as part of NIRIN, the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, and in Melbourne for PHOTO 2020 from April 23, gives visibility to these people and their stories, exploring the politics of race, gender and sexuality.

Professor Zanele Muholi in front of their work MaID IV, New York, at the MCA. Credit:Nick Moir

Some of them are activists, some of them are poets, some of them are writers, they are filmmakers, they are photographers, they are many things in our community [and] they then become contributors to the constitution, Muholi says. Not everyone gets the chance to write their story, so I think, if given a chance, we have a responsibility as a community to [make] sure that that narrative is out there, and its accessible  So each and every person, each and everybody that is featured, thats that persons biography  they count as part and parcel of South African democracy.

While LGBTQI people have equal rights under South Africas 1996 post-apartheid constitution (same-sex civil unions were later legalised in 2006), this is not reflected in the reality of everyday life. Black lesbians in particular are frequent targets for hate crimes including murder and corrective or curative rape. Muholi has documented survivors, funerals, and couples in intimate moments, countering the prevailing narratives of black LGBTQI people as anonymous victims, and in 2006 began a project called Faces and Phases, an ongoing series of more than 500 portraits of LBTQI people in which participants reappear, and in some tragic cases disappear  a testament to the strengths and vulnerabilities of the community.
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Linkedin Gemma Holliani Cahya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 14, 2020 08:17 668 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a784ed 1 National referral-center,referral-hospitals,community-transmission,Achmad-Yurianto,Terawan-Agus-Putranto,Jokowi,death-toll,COVID-19,novel-coronavirus Free

The government announced three new deaths and 35 new COVID-19 cases, including two toddlers, on Friday as it scrambles to contain community spread and get referral hospitals ready to face the pandemic. President Joko Jokowi Widodo said the government had established a fast-response team, led by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

Under the coordination of the BNPB, the Health Ministry, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police, the team was tasked with, among other things, spearheading the measures to trace the movement of COVID-19 patients and those who had come in contact with them.

"We know that this virus spreads rapidly. Thus we should carry out prevention and mitigation efforts simultaneously," Jokowi said on Friday, "The government has and will continue to carry out tracing of contacts in this case."

The fast-response team is also responsible for handling surveillance and isolation of suspected COVID-19 patients and coordinating with relevant stakeholders to ensure effective containment measures to curb possible wider contagion, including at the country's airports and sea ports.

Commuters on a train from Jakarta to Bogor on March 12. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)

Jokowi reiterated that the government had prepared 132 referral hospitals across the country. The Health Minister said there were 132 referral hospitals, from 100 previously. We will add more: 108 TNI hospitals, 53 hospitals under the National Police and 64 hospitals under state-owned enterprises, he said.

A leaked document obtained by The Jakarta Post on Friday, however, showed that out of the list of 132 hospitals, only 49 were ready. The document is the minutes of a meeting between several institutions including the BNPB, Health Ministry, Executive Office of the President and the offices of the Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister and Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister on March 10.

BNPB head Doni Monardo did not confirm the information in the document to the Post, nor did he deny the content.

A source who requested anonymity told the Post that in the meeting it was revealed that out of 132 hospitals designated as referral facilities only 49 hospitals are really ready for COVID-19, while the other 83 were in the preparation stage.

Read also: COVID-19: Referral hospitals in West Java lack protective gear, medical equipment

Some referral hospitals for COVID-19 in West Java have reported a lack of protective gear for medical personnel who handle patients suspected of having been infected with the virus.

Eight out of 52 hospitals in the province have been appointed as referral hospitals for COVID-19 patients, including Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung  the largest hospital in the province  and Dr. Slamet Hospital in Garut.

West Java Health Agency head Berli Hamdani Gelung Sakti said the medical team at Dr. Slamet Hospital had to transfer a patient because of a lack of protective gear, although the hospital had an adequate isolation room and other medical equipment.

"The Health Ministry responded by saying it was ready to supply all the necessary protective gear requested by the referral hospitals. We are still calculating whether we have sufficient equipment [to handle COVID-19 cases], Berli told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The agency head said he hoped the ministry could send protective gear soon to COVID-19 referral hospitals across the province because the isolation room at Hasan Sadikin Hospital was full.

Raden Rara Diah Handayani, a pulmonologist at Persahabatan Hospital in Jakarta, one of the referral hospitals, said that when COVID-19 patients suffered from light pneumonia they could be cured faster. However, when they have developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), that means the patient's lungs are already infected, causing respiratory failure, then they really need the ventilators to breathe.

And now the hospitals treating the confirmed cases of COVID-19 are facing a crisis because ventilators are expensive, but we really need this technology and equipment. This is what we are thinking right now, hospitals need more ventilators and [isolation] rooms, Diah said in a discussion on Wednesday.

And we dont only need the equipment but also the human resources. We need medical workers who are experienced and understand infection control, she added.

She also said the government must pay attention and protect the medical workers treating COVID-19 patients.

This disease is highly contagious. We must not only save the sick ones but also the healthy ones. We need healthy medical workers. They must be equipped with a protective suit when they treat patients. We must protect them because medical workers are the front line in this fight against the disease, she said.

In West Java, due to the limited availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as hazmat suits, medical personnel of a public hospital in Tasikmalaya, West Java were forced to wear thin plastic raincoats, costing Rp 10,000 (70 US cents) apiece, when transporting patients under observation for COVID-19.

Yes, its true that our staff were wearing just raincoats, Tasikmalaya Health Agency head Uus Supangat said on Wednesday as reported by tribunnews.com. The city [administration] bought 100 plastic raincoats at the store for a total of Rp 1 million.

Read also: COVID-19: West Java medical personnel forced to use raincoats in lieu of hazmat suits

Some of the main referral hospitals have also reported that they have only a few isolation rooms. With growing numbers of positive patients, Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital (RSPI Sulianti Saroso) in North Jakarta, for example, only has 11 isolation rooms for COVID-19 patients.)

On Friday, Jokowi also stated that they were going to immediately finish the construction of a health facility specializing in treating COVID-19 patients on Galang Island in Batam, Riau Islands.

However, the plan to build a health facility in Galang was criticized by epidemiology experts.

Syahrizal Syarief, an epidemiology expert at the University of Indonesia, said building a new hospital would be a waste of money that would have been better allocated for ventilators and protective suits for medical workers.

Thats also what we really need right now. I hope the government think thoroughly when they make policies like this, he said.

Arya Dipa contributed to this story from Bandung.
Victoria Police is under intense pressure to suspend all roadside drug and alcohol testing over fears it could potentially hasten the spread of coronavirus among the public and poses a serious health risk to its officers.

The Police Association has escalated its concerns about random breath testing to Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton, who is yet to respond to warnings from the powerful union.

Victoria Police may cancel roadside alcohol and drug testing to protect officers from coronavirus. Credit:Paul Rovere

Police union secretary Wayne Gatt said the testing brought officers within close proximity of thousands of motorists every week and had the potential to further transmit the virus.

"I'm not a virologist, but this would appear to be an extremely risky practice in the current environment," Mr Gatt told The Age.
Family of Four Punished for Organizing Poker Game Despite Coronavirus Quarantine

A family of four in Anlu City, Hubei Province, was publicly humiliated and paraded through the streets by police on February 14th for playing poker at home. Police also ordered them to publicly read out a repentance letter afterwards.

A video posted online shows the family standing in front of a government building, with a man holding the repentance letter and leading the other three family members in reading it word by word: Our family of four played poker in our house this afternoon, which is in violation of the order not to gather or play poker during this emergency period. We were wrong! After reading the statement, they were made to stand there for a long time, before being allowed to go home.
Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna state has explained that following court ruling which orders the immediate release of Muhammadu Sanusi II, the deposed Emir is now free to go to anywhere in the country, including Kano state.

The governor made this known while fielding questions from journalists in Awe, Nasarawa state, on Friday.

El-rufai made the comment following reports that the dethroned Emir would not be allowed into Kano state for at least three months.

Read Also: Dethroned Emir Sanusi Leads Jumat Prayer; Departs Awe With El-Rufai

The high court ruled that he can go anywhere, including Kano, but I think he wants to go to Lagos to reunite with his family.
William J. Tutlewski, 72, of Dune Acres, IN died on Sunday, March 8, 2020. His passing was sudden, after an exquisite evening enjoying what he loved most, time with friends to savor sunset from his home high over Lake Michigan. He leaves a void in the small beach town he called home for the past 13 years, a place where he loved life and will be remembered as a good neighbor and a great friend whose signature saying was "Every day is Saturday". He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Sharon (Frey) Tutlewski; son, William J. Tutlewski Jr.; stepdaughters, Lori Ann (Herb) Fitzgerald and Michelle (Eric) Hansen; grandchildren, Stephen, Lucas, Mikenzie, Lorraine, Kayla and Michael; brother, Robert (Delores) Tutlewski; and nephews, Robbie (Kaleigh) Tutlewski and John (Mandy) Tutlewski. He was preceded in death by his parents and niece, Jill Tutlewski. Bill was born April 15, 1947 in Gary, IN to Walter and Donna (Wranish) Tutlewski. His Polish father and Serbian mother met at Chicago's lively east side polka lounge, the old Club 505, dancing with the Smith Sisters, whose last name was actually Dabalski. His parents' ethnic influences assured Bill's childhood home in Gary was always full with the 3 p's: Perch, Pierogi and Polish Sausage, along with Serbian strudel pie and Palatschinke for good measure. A lifelong resident of Northwest Indiana, Bill embodied the best qualities of the "Region Rat" stereotype, manifesting in a lifetime of hard work and an unwavering commitment to his friends and family. His brother Bobby has said: "Sometimes you have the privilege of knowing a person who is truly unique, a rare individual who you always want in your corner. Bill was one of those people. He was someone you could look up to, and someone who was always there to offer help and guidance when the chips were down. To the day he died, even when times were tough, you would never hear him complain. Bill was a family man, a restaurant owner, an accountant and much more throughout his life. But beyond all that, he was a genuinely great human being who will be sorely missed." A mass of Christian burial will be held Saturday, March 14, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 638 N. Calumet Rd., Chesterton, IN 46304. Visitation will follow from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at EDMONDS & EVANS FUNERAL HOME, 517 Broadway, Chesterton, IN 46304. A light lunch will be served and an afternoon of memories shared at he Dune Acres Clubhouse between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.
The South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) provides the principal water supply for over a billion people. In good monsoon years, farmers reap a rich harvest, while in bad monsoon years, severe droughts wipe out crops. And heavy rains during monsoon season cause floods and hit economy badly. Policy-makers and stakeholders urgently need projection of SASM for the coming 15-30 years --usually termed as "near future" in climate research community. Unfortunately, there are large uncertainties in current projection due to climate internal variability.

"Internal variability refers to variations in the mean state due to natural internal processes within the climate system. It is usually regarded as 'noise' in climate projection." Said Xin Huang, the lead author of a new study published in Science Advances on March 13, 2020. Huang is a doctoral student with the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Huang, along with her mentor Prof. Tianjun Zhou and collaborators from USA and Germany, identify the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) -- a large-scale long period oscillation influencing climate variability over the Pacific Basin -- as one of the key internal variability modes that reduce the uncertainties and improve projections.

The team used a 100-member ensemble of simulations by the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM) and a 50-member ensemble of simulations by the Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2) to quantify the uncertainty caused by internal variability in the near-future projection of SASM rainfall.

"We found that internal variability can eclipse the externally forced SASM rainfall change, leading to very different rainfall trends for next 15-30 years", explained Huang, "So we wanted to further identify the key internal mode responsible for the spread in the projected SASM rainfall".

After analyzing the similarities and differences among the 150-member model projections, the team found a linkage between different realizations of the IPO phase and the spread in the SASM rainfall projection. Different IPO phase transitions can modulate the magnitude or even reverse the sign of the SASM rainfall trends. Thus, the IPO is identified as one of the leading internal modes influencing the near-term projection of SASM rainfall.

"Historical data have already shown the signal of IPO in SASM change, but the climate projection community usually regarded the signal as noise in the projection. We show evidences that accounting for future IPO phase evolution helps effectively reduce the projection uncertainty of near-term SASM rainfall; in particular, it improves the projection of an extreme wetting or drying trend for the next 15-30 years", said Huang.

The findings highlight the urgent need to predict IPO evolution for the next few decades.

"A large part of climate change adaptation and mitigation activities is based on prognoses delivered by climate models, so a highly robust and reliable climate prediction is the base of policy decision making. This research provides a practical way of more reliably projecting near-term South Asian summer monsoon changes", the corresponding author Prof. Tianjun Zhou explained the importance of the study.

Zhou is a member of CLIVAR (Climate and Ocean: Variability, Predictability and Change) / GEWEX (Global Water and Energy Exchanges) Monsoons Panel of World Climate Research Program (WCRP), and co-chair of Global Monsoons Model Intercomparison Project (GMMIP), which is a coordinated multi-model investigation into decadal variability of monsoons.

According to Zhou, the study is part of GMMIP efforts devoting to improving the predictive skill for monsoons for the upcoming decades, which in turn will help policy-makers and stakeholders develop better climate strategies.

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(TNS)  It was largely a formality, but the California Public Utilities Commission has officially certified San Diego Community Power, the five-city community choice aggregation program that plans to launch next year as an alternative to San Diego Gas & Electric when it comes to purchasing power for customers in San Diego, Chula Vista, La Mesa, Imperial Beach and Encinitas."We kind of expected it because we've had third parties look at our implementation plan and all of our documents," said Joe Mosca, an Encinitas City Council member and the chair for San Diego Community Power, known as SDCP for short. "Even though it was expected, we certainly feel good about this first step and I think it bodes well for all the other steps that we have coming up."Under the community choice aggregation, or CCA, model, local governments can form entities that assume an important function that had always been reserved for investor-owned utilities  what sources of power to buy. SDCP anticipates offering a default program consisting of 50 to 60 percent renewable energy sources at rates 2 percent to 4 percent cheaper than San Diego Gas & Electric.SDCP's customer base in the five cities is expected to come to 920,000, which would make it the second-largest CCA in the state.Last month, SDCP's board members  made up of one city council member from each of the five cities  unanimously voted to approve a three-year, $1.15 million contract with Pacific Energy Advisors, a Folsom-based consulting group, to advise the board on wholesale power services that include energy planning, purchasing, risk management and rate design.Pacific Energy Advisors "is really well-respected" among California CCAs, Mosca said. The firm's website counts at least nine community choice energy programs as clients, including Marin Clean Energy that launched in 2010 as the first CCA in the Golden State.SDCP is also moving forward to recruit a CEO. Mosca said he expects the names of three or four candidates will be submitted to the board by the latter part of May or early June. He did not disclose the salary range. "We will offer competitive salary and benefits and so we're expecting a really positive response," Mosca said.While CCAs purchase power for a given community, that does not mean they replace utilities. The power companies still perform all their other responsibilities, such as transmission and distribution of energy, as well as customer billing and services.The revenue generated by a CCA can be used to build up financial reserves to ensure the program can offer rates that are lower than or the same as the incumbent utility. The money can also be used to invest in renewable energy programs and establish clean energy projects, such as building electric vehicle charging stations in a CCA's territory.As per state rules, electricity customers are automatically enrolled in a newly created CCA. If customers want to remain with their traditional utility, they can opt out by going through the CCA.Critics have questioned the long-term financial prospects of CCAs and point to financial mishaps on the municipal government level, such as the San Diego pension crisis of the early 2000s, as warning signs. Proponents of community energy say none of the 19 CCAs in the state have gone broke and say the joint powers agreements the cities have put in place will protect their respective general funds should the program go south.SDCP plans to start phasing in its commercial customers in March 2021 and hopes to migrate all of its residential customers by November 2021.The city of Solana Beach unveiled the first CCA in the county last year  the Solana Energy Alliance, a stand-alone entity with about 4,300 customers. The CAA there offers a default program made up of energy sources that are 50 percent renewable and 75 percent carbon-free while charging a rate 3 percent cheaper than SDG&E.But Solana Beach is considering reducing the discount to as low as zero after a combination of regulatory changes and higher costs reduced the CCA's expected cash reserves.Does that give Mosca pause?"For me personally, the promise of (CCAs) is a lot more than just a discount from the local utility," he said, referring to local control of power purchases and the prospect of investing revenue on clean energy projects. "But I understand that's an important aspect for many, many ratepayers and many of my fellow board members."Going forward, we're going to be working with our energy purchasers and we're looking at what we can purchase and how fast we can purchase  all of that has to be balanced," Mosca said. "But I see the goal of a 2 to 4 percent discount as a very important goal and one that the board intends on keeping."SDCP's next board meeting will be March 26 at the City of San Diego's Council Chambers on the 12th floor at 202 C Street.


MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - Wirecard AG (WRCDF.PK) said auditing firm KPMG did not find any manipulation in its audit of the company's operations in India, Singapore, the Merchant Cash Advance and Digital Lending division. But, the investigation of third-party partner business is still ongoing.



Accordingly, the company has decided to postpone publication of the annual financial statements to April 30, 2020 from April 8, 2020.



The largely completed special investigation has not produced any substantial findings that would lead to a need for correction of the annual financial statements for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 investigation periods, the company said in a statement.



The investigation of third-party partner business (TPA) is still ongoing and is currently expected to be completed by 22 April 2020. The time frame of the special investigation must also be extended due to current corona virus-related travel restrictions, especially in Asian countries.



Since October 2019, KPMG has been conducting a special audit on behalf of Wirecard AG in order to clarify the accusations of balance sheet manipulation made against the company by media.



The accusations made against the business activities of Wirecard AG on Indian territory (EMIF1A / Hermes i-Tickets Private Ltd), in the city-state of Singapore as well as the business segments of pre-financing of receivables (Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) / Digital Lending) and third-party partner business (3rd Party Acquiring / TPA) are being investigated.



Wirecard said it will publish the complete KPMG investigation report on its homepage in the 'Transparency' section immediately upon receipt.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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EDWARDSVILLE  In response to multiple area colleges and universities, including Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), closing for different periods of time due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Lewis & Clark interim president issued a statement Thursday afternoon.

Lewis & Clark Community Colleges interim president, Lori Artis released a statement saying the college is not closing, fully, but will follow suit with SIUEs decision.

Although Lewis and Clark Community College wants to express that it is not closing, we do recognize the need to make modifications that will mitigate our risk of exposure and potential spread of COVID-19, the college is planning to extend spring break by an additional week, Artis said.

She explained that on-campus attendance will resume on March 30 with assessments by the administration to continue through the end of the semester.

She added that as many large gatherings on campus will begin to be canceled as possible. Any third party meetings and gatherings will be assessed.

Artis explained that, where possible, the college is prepared to move courses to E-learning.

For any college employees and students that have traveled to level two and three countries, they are asked by Artis to be self-quarantined for 14 days from the day of departure back to the United States.

This statement also applies to the colleges N.O. Nelson Edwardsville campus.
From Up to Inside Out to the Toy Story series, it's not unusual to have a little cry at a Pixar film. And you should definitely have tissues at the ready when watching their latest animation Onward.

Set in a suburban fantasy world, it follows two teenage elf brothers, Ian (voiced by Tom Holland) and Barley (Chris Pratt).

It's Ian's 16th birthday and mum Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) gives her sons a present from their late father, who died before Ian was born and when Barley was a young boy.

It turns out there's a spell which could bring their dad back for 24 hours, but they need a magic gem to complete it.

This sets the siblings off on an extraordinary quest.

The touching story is loosely based on writer and director Dan Scanlon's experiences.

"My father passed away when I was a year old and my brother was three," he says.

"We don't remember him. We always wondered who he was and it led to this idea of, 'What if we could meet him, and what would we do in a day?'"

The film beautifully explores the theme of grief , "or even, in some ways, the lack of grief",

"When you don't remember someone, it's a unique form of loss," says Scanlon (43).

"I think what you're searching for is, 'What was that love I lost? 'What does he think of me?', and trying to find that."

The film is packed with funny, empowering characters, in particular Laurel, who we see will go to great lengths to protect her sons.

Her most memorable line is when she cries, "I am a mighty warrior",

"It's also loosely based on my mum," says Scanlon, who has worked at Pixar since 2001 and also wrote and directed Monsters University.

"My mum raised us and supported us and protected us, she was our mighty warrior.

She's also very, very funny and that's why Julia Louis-Dreyfus is perfect for her."

We see Laurel team up with the Manticore (Octavia Spencer), a once-fierce warrior who has lost her fighting spirit.

"All families, I think, have supportive friends and family, which is what the Manticore is to me," explains Scanlon.

"She's this great warrior who's lost a little of her confidence and has succumbed to the fears that come with success.

"Sometimes fears of taking risks, wanting to keep things easy and simple and the way you like them ... I think that's a unique kind of fear that the Manticore represents."

Discussing the character of Ian, Holland (23) says he related to how he comes out of his shell as the film progresses, becoming "this confident person by the end of the film".

"When I first started in my career at Billy Elliot (in the West End), I wasn't an introvert, but I was quite a nervous kid and I wasn't particularly confident," adds the star, who was born in Kingston-upon-Thames.

Expand Close Life lessons: Barley Lightfoot (voiced by Chris Pratt) and Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland) in Onward / Facebook

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"That process taught me to have good presence in a room and to hold yourself on a stage and to project to the back of the room. I think for me that similarity is where I meet Ian in the middle."

The two brothers at the centre of the film couldn't be more different. While Ian is shy and awkward when we first meet him, Barley is loud and seems so sure of who he is, although it becomes apparent he is perhaps a bit lost himself when it comes to the future.

What were dynamic duo Holland and Pratt like as teens at school?

"Not very good," admits Holland, best known for playing Spider-Man (Pratt plays fellow Marvel superhero Star-Lord in the Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise).

"I mean, I tried my best. I worked really hard and my parents made sure of that, but I was a bit of a class clown."

"I was literally the class clown - they (fellow pupils) voted me the class clown," adds Virginia-born Pratt, chuckling.

"I think if I hadn't become an actor, I would have been one of those guys who peaked in high school," continues the 40-year-old, also known for US sitcom Parks And Recreation.

"I loved sports, I loved my teachers and I'm still great friends with all my teachers.

"I was one of the very few people in America who looks at his public school experiences and says, 'God, I loved that. I really had a great time in school.'"

During the moving, action-packed adventure, Ian overcomes a lot of fears.

It's something the film-makers had to do themselves throughout the process of bringing Onward to life.

"We all had to be vulnerable in this process. Because it's such a personal story, we wanted to share each of our own stories to kind of help fill out Dan's personal story," recalls American producer Kori Rae, who worked with Scanlon on Monsters University.

"We needed to be vulnerable and take risks, and that's what Ian is trying to do. He's trying to get over his lack of confidence and take risks.

"Film-making is scary and we had to face this on a daily basis."

"A big part of the movie is about trusting your gut and I think that's something I learned on the process of the film - and I'm always learning on every film - the balance between trusting your gut and listening," adds Scanlon.

It's certainly a film that will make you think. If you could spend 24 hours with someone who is no longer with us, who would you choose?

Asked this question, Pratt decides on Einstein.

"I just think it would be interesting to show him the world and be like, 'Can you believe this? This is so futuristic.'

"Because it's a slow boil for us - we're in the year 2020 now - apart from flying cars it's like truly living in the future."

Holland, meanwhile, gives a much more personal answer.

"Do you know what? I would like to bring back my grandad Bob's dad because he never met his dad," he says.

"He died when he was 18 months old, so it would be amazing for my grandad Bob to meet his dad.

"He would love that."

Onward is in cinemas now
US president Donald Trump is preparing to invoke emergency powers over the coronavirus outbreak, an emerging development Friday as an aid package teetered in Congress without his full public support

Washington: US president Donald Trump is preparing to invoke emergency powers over the coronavirus outbreak, an emerging development Friday as an aid package teetered in Congress without his full public support.

The president's decision to move ahead was confirmed by two people familiar with the planning who spoke on condition of anonymity. It was still unclear, however, what mechanism Trump would use to free up additional federal resources for testing and treatment as well as for helping those struggling with the economic fallout.

Trump is poised to speak at 3 pm local time at the White House. Topic: CoronaVirus! he tweeted.

The abrupt move comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Trump administration are labouring to finish the coronavirus aid package. Central to that effort is free testing for the virus and guaranteed sick pay for workers who are taking time away from jobs, along with an infusion of dollars to handle unemployment benefits and boost food programmes for children, families and seniors.

Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, whom Trump tapped to negotiate, both indicated a deal was within reach after days of around-the-clock negotiations, with expectations of a Friday announcement. The House was poised for a swift vote.

But Republican leaders in Congress slowed the deal, wanting assurances that Trump would publicly support the agreement before signing off on it ahead of any vote, according to a top congressional aide unauthorised to discuss the private talks and speaking on condition of anonymity.

GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California, the House minority leader, was huddled with Mnuchin and Trump at the White House.

The White House is under enormous pressure, dealing with the crisis on multiple fronts as it encroached ever closer on the president.

The virus has swept in alarming ways across American life, sending the financial markets into a dangerous slide and shuttering schools and sporting events and limiting everyday interactions in communities across the country.

The administration's federal task force managing the crisis was working furiously to break a bottleneck in the nation's ability to test for the new virus, and weighing what sort of emergency powers Trump would need to invoke to provide needed aid to overwhelmed state and local governments.

And a personal health scare intensified as White House officials worked to determine the level of exposure by the president and senior aides to several foreign officials who have since tested positive for the virus.

In one welcome announcement, the administration said Friday it was awarding $1.3 million to two companies trying to develop rapid COVID-19 tests that could detect within an hour whether a person is positive for the new coronavirus.

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. 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 be over it.

Earlier Friday, Mnuchin sounded an optimistic note. I think we're very close to getting this done, he said in an appearance on CNBC.

On the COVID-19 illness, Mnuchin cautioned that people should understand the numbers are going to go up before they go down.

Pelosi and Mnuchin continued their constant cross-town phone calls throughout a tense morning of negotiations to firm up and salvage the emerging deal that has widespread support from Democrats and some in the business community seeking certainty.

Providing sick pay for workers is a crucial element of federal efforts to stop the rapid spread of the infection. Officials warn that the nation's healthcare system could quickly become overwhelmed with gravely sick patients, as suddenly happened in Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by the virus.

The ability to ensure paychecks will keep flowing  for people who stay home as a preventative measure or because they're feeling ill or caring for others  can help assure Americans they will not fall into financial hardship.

We're in an emergency, and we're trying to respond as fast as we can," said House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., as lawmakers filed in and out of Pelosi's office on Friday.

The potential deal between Congress and the White House would cap a tumultuous week in which Washington strained for a comprehensive response to an outbreak that is testing the nation's political, financial and health care systems.

Trump has struggled to show he's on top of the crisis, after giving conflicting descriptions of what the U.S. is doing to combat the virus.

The House aid package builds on an emergency $8.3 billion measure approved last week.

Pelosi promised a third coronavirus package will follow soon, though the House is leaving Washington on Friday for a previously scheduled recess. That measure will include more aggressive steps to boost the U.S. economy, which economists fear has already slipped into recession.

But there's little appetite within either party for Trump's proposal to suspend collection of the 6.2% Social Security payroll tax. States are already clamoring for fiscal relief from Washington as the virus threatens their budgets.

The coronavirus crisis also got personal for Trump and some members of Congress.

The president, his daughter Ivanka, Attorney General WIlliam Barr and lawmakers are among those who have been in contact with others who have now tested positive for the coronavirus.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, now in isolation at a hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus, had returned to Sydney from Washington, where he met Barr and Ivanka Trump last week.

White House officials have not responded to questions about whether the administration officials intend to be tested or self-quarantine.

Barr, meanwhile, was staying home Friday, though he felt great and wasn't showing any symptoms, according to his spokeswoman Kerri Kupec. She said the CDC did not recommend testing at this point.

In addition, just days after meeting Trump and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., at the president's Mar-a-Lago resort, the communications chief for Brazil's president, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive for coronavirus. Scott said he was isolating himself. Trump, 73, said he was not concerned.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was also at Trumps club on the weekend, joined a growing list of lawmakers who have chosen to isolate themselves as a precaution. He announced Friday that he also met with the Australian official who has now tested positive. And GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who had previously isolated himself after a potential exposure at a conservative conference in Washington, said Friday he met with a Spanish official and is now self-quarantining.

Lawmakers from both parties expressed alarm at the U.S. response, and especially over how few patients have been tested.

Were basically, in my opinion, flying blind," said Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health, in several television interviews Friday, said more tests would be available over the next week, but that officials should not wait before trying to mitigate the virus' effects.

We will have considerably more testing in the future, but you don't wait for testing, Fauci said on CBS This Morning." He said school closings and similar measures are "generally an appropriate approach.

We're at a critical point now as we seek to blunt the rise in cases to make sure it's a hill, not a mountain, Fauci said on ABC's Good Morning America."
The UK's chief scientific adviser has revealed that around 40million people could be left to catch the coronavirus as part of a controversial Government plan for the country to develop herd immunity.

Sir Patrick Vallance said around 60 per cent of the population will need to catch the virus to build up a national tolerance strong enough to stop the virus circulating.

Chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, did not say how many people could die during the time this takes to work, but the current global death rate  around three per cent  suggests it could be 1.2million people in a worst-case scenario.

But officials expect it to be considerably lower  Professor Whitty said even one per cent  400,000 people  would be an overestimate.

The Government is now aiming to control the speed of the UK's epidemic and predicts the worst of it could come in around 12 weeks' time  mid-June  suggesting it could taper off to levels similar to the current situation by September.

It will attempt to slow down the spread by gradually introducing stricter measures, such as potentially banning large gatherings or closing schools in future, as the outbreak speeds up.

Sir Patrick admitted trying to stop the virus completely would be more dangerous in the long run.

He said: 'All of the evidence from previous epidemics suggests that when you do that and then you release it, it all comes back again... this is to make sure we don't end up with a sudden peak again in the winter, which is even larger, which causes even more problems.'

Sir Patrick Vallance said millions fighting off the virus that has killed ten in Britain and almost 5,000 worldwide will 'help' in the long run because it is likely to become an 'annual virus'

Former Tory Minister Rory Stewart has described the concept of herd immunity as eccentric, having helped tackle the Ebola outbreak in Africa as International Development Secretary in 2019.

He told CNN last night: 'This is a very eccentric policy and I am troubled by it on a number of different levels.

'One of them is if the UK, with all its resources as a major economy is one of the only countries to actually allow this virus to spread quickly that will pose huge strains for the rest of the world system.

WHAT IS HERD IMMUNITY AND WILL IT EVEN WORK? Herd immunity is a situation in which a population of people is protected from a disease because so many of them are unaffected by it that it cannot spread. To cause an outbreak a disease-causing bacteria or virus must have a continuous supply of potential victims who are not immune to it. Immunity is when your body knows exactly how to fight off a certain type of infection because it has encountered it before, either by having the illness in the past or through a vaccine. When a virus or bacteria enters the body the immune system creates substances called antibodies, which are designed to destroy one specific type of bug. When these have been created once, some of them remain in the body and the body also remembers how to make them again. This provides long-term protection, or immunity, against an illness. If nobody is immune to an illness  as was the case at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak  it can spread like wildfire. However, if, for example, half of people have developed immunity  from a past infection or a vaccine  there are only half as many people the illness can spread to. As more and more people become immune the bug finds it harder and harder to spread until its pool of victims becomes so small it can no longer spread at all. The threshold for herd immunity is different for various illnesses, depending on how contagious they are  for measles, around 95 per cent of people must be vaccinated to it spreading. For polio, which is less contagious, the threshold is about 80-85 per cent, according to the Oxford Vaccine Group. Advertisement

'Secondly this problem is this theory is based on very, very complex modelling and they are putting a lot of faith in the mathematical modelling to be able to land their peak in the summer.

'And thirdly I think they underestimating the impact that I think is going to hit our health system if they allow it to go in this direction.'

Today, when asked about the lock-down measures deployed by Italy and Ireland, Sir Patrick said that it was 'impossible' for a country to attempt to self-isolate its entire population.

He said: 'We want to suppress it, not get rid of it completely, which you can't do anyway, and also allow enough of us who are going to get mild illness to become immune to this to help with the sort of whole population response which would protect everybody.'

Sir Patrick continued: 'We think that this virus is likely to be one that comes back year on year, become like a seasonal virus, and communities will become immune to it, and that's going to be an important part of controlling this longer term.

Controversially the British Government appears to be pursuing a policy of 'herd immunity' - where the majority of the healthy population will get and fight off the virus so that the disease cannot be spread easily any more. The elderly and ill will be 'cocooned' from the outside world to protect them for weeks or even months.

Critics have warned the policy is high risk because there have been multiple reports in China of people getting it twice - and concerns from experts that coronavirus could mutate and infect hundreds of thousands again in the coming years unless there is a vaccine.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the Government's approach is about flattening the 'broader peak' of the epidemic and developing an immunity among the population.

'What we don't want is everybody to end up getting it in a short period of time so we swamp and overwhelm NHS services - that's the flattening of the peak,' he said.

'You can't stop it, so you should end up with a broader peak during which time you'd anticipate that more people would get immunity to this. That in itself becomes a protective part of this process.

'This is quite likely, I think, to become an annual virus, an annual seasonal infection.'

The UK now has 798 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, 11 people have died and more than 31,000 people have been tested (Figures accurate on Friday March 13)

The official number of coronavirus cases in the UK yesterday jumped by 134 to 596 with 10 deaths - but the Government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick said yesterday the true number was probably up to 10,000 cases and growing rapidly.

But Mr Johnson has still held off drastic measures enforced across Europe such as banning mass gatherings and closing schools, telling Britons that the most important measure remains to wash hands for 20 seconds - and told people to stay at home for seven days if they have a new persistent cough or a high temperature. A Trump-style ban on flights to and from Europe was also dismissed by the Government yesterday.

Asked why the UK has delayed shutting down schools, Sir Patrick said a closure now would see educational establishments shut down for 'many months'.

He said it is not yet clear if any children have transmitted the illness and that most experience only mild Covid-19 symptoms.

'Because of the nature of this disease and the way it spreads and its duration, we would have to close schools for many months, not just a few weeks,' he told LBC.

'Schools would need to be shut for a very prolonged period.

'Children, of course, aren't going to separate for long periods, they are going to go and do other things together.

'And they may go and stay with grandma, one of those in the most vulnerable group.'

He said the Government had issued new advice on dealing with coronavirus that would have a 'big impact' on the public.

He told LBC radio: 'This isn't an epidemic that is going to last a couple of weeks, it is going to go on for months.

'We need to make sure we do the right thing at the right stage to have the biggest impact.

'And the measures that were announced yesterday, which were that anybody with mild symptoms, which are a fever, a raised temperature or a cough, should stay at home. That's not a trivial change.

'That is going to have a big impact of many people staying at home for a week.

'It is one of the things that can have the biggest impact in terms of reducing the transmissability and ability of the virus to spread quickly across the population.'
It's known to be a star-studded occasion.

And Georgia Toffolo was having a whale of a time with her Made In Chelsea co-star Ollie Locke, as they screamed their horse across the line at The Cheltenham Festival on Friday.

The reality star, 25, was effortlessly chic in a stylish tartan cape as she watched on the races from the balcony with Ollie, 32.

Good day out: Georgia Toffolo was having a whale of a time with her Made In Chelsea co-star Ollie Locke, as they screamed their horse across the line at The Cheltenham Festival on Friday

Georgia proudly displayed her cute sense of style in her pretty printed cape and a cream blouse as she watched the races from a balcony.

The I'm A Celebrity winner finished her look with a dark green braided beret as she larked about with her pals.

As Ollie showed off his latest bet, it seemed that one of his horses sped past the finish line first as he and Georgia screamed with delight.

Having fun? The pair couldn't contain their excitement as they watched the races unfold during the final day of the festival

Gorgeous: Georgia cut a chic figure in a black tartan cape and a cream frilled blouse as she watched the races unfold from the balcony

She won! Georgia and Ollie's fiance Gareth were elated as they watched the horse cross the finish line

Joining the pair on the balcony was Ollie's fiance Gareth Locke, along with Union J star Josh Cuthbert.

The fourth day of the Cheltenham Festival also marks the day of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is one of the biggest days in the racing calendar.

Ollie's outing comes after it was confirmed that he would be returning to Made In Chelsea for its 19th series along with close pal Binky Felstead.

Girly: Georgia showed off her flirty sense of style in a dark green braided beret as she placed some bets during the races

Giddy: Georgia rose to prominence on Made On Chelsea, and went onto be crowned the winner of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here in 2017

Pals: It comes as Ollie confirmed that he would be returning to Made In Chelsea for its 19th series later this year

Ollie said of returning: 'I couldnt be happier to be back home in Chelsea and even more special to be alongside my Binky.

'Its the start of a new adventure as Gareth and I plan our wedding and Im so excited everyone has the opportunity to watch the process. I cant wait to see where this year takes us!'

Georgia suffered a recent spate of bad luck which began after she was detained at an immigration detention at Male airport in the Maldives in December last year.

Go on my son! Gareth got into the spirit as he cheered his horse over the line.The fourth and final day of the Cheltenham Festival is also the day of the coveted Cheltenham Gold Cup

Elated: They seemed overjoyed to see one of their horses cross the finish line, while Ollie was disappointed with his choice

The distressed star pleaded for help on social media after being banned from catching further flights after a page fell out of her passport.

The media personality later expressed her gratitude towards her fans and the British government for their support after she was finally allowed to leave several hours later.

To make matters worse Georgia revealed she had her car broken into and her handbag stolen on New Year's Eve.
As Governor Whitmer issued orders on March 13 canceling all assemblages with 250 people or more now through April 5, local theaters continue to cancel programing.

The Fisher Theatre has canceled all remaining performances of Fiddler on the Roof. By Friday afternoon a decision has not been made regarding the musical Dear Evan Hansen.

The Players Guild of Dearborn has canceled the March 13 to March 15 performances of The Glass Menagerie.

Wayne State University Department of Theatre has canceled performances of Bus Stop and Mary Poppins  The Broadway Musical.
On February 2, the United States banned all travel from China, except for journeys by its own citizens. Australia and a few other countries have since followed suit.

On March 10, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed 1,000. The increase of 297 in one day was its largest increase yet; indeed, the number of new cases has increased daily since the beginning of March.

These figures are only those of confirmed cases, however. The true number is much higher, but the United States does not have the testing capacity to test more than a fraction of those who might have contracted the virus.

Clearly, banning travel did not work. The World Health Organization, former Customs and Border Protection officials, and many, many experts have all come out to declare travel bans do not work. By now the virus has spread to over 100 countries, along with cases spread across many nationalities aboard cruise ships.

Up until March 11, the United States had only banned travel from China and Iran. You may feel it curious that, for weeks, the only countries from which the American president banned travel were in Asia with which it is involved in a geopolitical conflict, when many European countries are facing crises just as bad. Finally, on March 11, Trump announced a 30-day ban on travelers from all EU countries.

Italy has reported more cases than Iran and, in fact, many more cases as a proportion of total population than China ever did. South Korea, Spain, France, and Germany also all have over 1,000 cases. The response of banning travel from China and Iran was very prompt after the case numbers in those countries increased, but it took a much longer time for this travel ban to touch Europe.

Yet, there will still be many people coming from other countries where the virus is present. And the ban will do nothing to stop people already in the U.S. from spreading it to others.

Journalist, Julia Lindau, wrote about her experience of returning to the U.S. from Italy. She had just left from nearby a hot zone and yet upon arrival at the Chicago O'Hare Airport she did not have her temperature checked or have to answer questions about her travel. Yet, I recently returned from China, and I had my temperature checked and had to fill out multiple forms.

Meanwhile, China has not banned travel from the U.S. or any other countries. The number of new cases has declined drastically in China, with even fewer cases outside of Hubei province, the original epicenter. China's response proves the virus can be controlled without using overly broad measures like travel bans.

China took a proactive response, waging a "people's war", which included closing public places, closing businesses and then slowly allowing them to reopen after a cooldown period, teaching classes online, and establishing checkpoints across the country. Cases are being tracked closely, and people who potentially have had a contact with a virus source are being duly informed. People returning to cities are accepting self-isolation. Temperature checks are common before entering residential neighborhoods, shopping malls, and other spaces. Different provinces and cities also have different levels of local measures they are taking as necessary.

Since the virus began spreading quickly in South Korea, China stepped up measures on travelers (including Chinese expats) entering the country. It established a self-isolation policy and greeted travelers at some airports in Shandong province, handling a large number of flights from South Korea, with dedicated buses to transport them to a quarantine site. Travelers from Italy, Japan, the United States, and other high-risk countries are also being quarantined.

Yet, China has not banned travel.

The U.S. did ban travel, but without adopting a unified effort to fight the virus in the country. It did not take advantage of the one month when there were few cases to develop tests. It has not put forth any unified policy on how to handle travel and events. Many large-scale events have been canceled now, but others are still going on.

Where is leadership or guidance in all this? Democratic presidential frontrunners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have canceled campaign rallies, but Trump has not. In fact, it was reported by Politico on March 11 that Trump refuses to declare a national emergency because, "an emergency declaration contradicts his message that this is [just an outbreak of] flu."

This epidemic poses a multi-faceted challenge that requires a multi-faceted response. Simple solutions like banning travel don't work. Governments and their leaders must take it seriously and must come up with better, wide-ranging plans.

Mitchell Blatt is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/MitchellBlatt.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn.
- Raila Odinga called on Kenyans to cooperate with government agencies in a bid to counter coronavirus spread in the country

- Health CS Kagwe made a decision to suspend all public gatherings including inter- school events, prison visits, church crusades and all other public meetings

- The first COVID-19 case confirmed in the country involved a Kenyan student who traveled from USA via a London flight

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga has called on Kenyans to cooperate with government agencies in a bid to counter coronavirus spread in the country.

This came after Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in Kenya on Friday, March 13.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus in Kenya: 5 quick things to do to prevent spread of virus

ODM leader Raila Odinga has asked Kenyans to cooperate with the government in a bid to curb spread of coronavirus. Photo: Raila Odinga.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Eldoret: Wakazi waandamana, watishia kuzima mkutano wa BBI

In a statement, Raila reminded Kenyans that the whole nation was united in containing the virus and ensuring Kenyans's safety thus there was no reason to be worried or be afraid.

"As a country, we are in this together and we appeal to our citizens not to panic but instead cooperate with the government which has factual and science based advice on how we must proceed," he stated.

Health CS Kagwe announcing government's decision to suspend all public gatherings. Photo: Ministry of Health.

Source: Facebook

Whereas the government was doing everything within its means in regards to the infection, the ODM boss noted the measures would definitely cause disruptions across the nation.

"A raft of measures has been announced by the government...These measures will cause disruptions but we must adhere to them as the best scientific advices that we can rely on to overcome the danger," he added.

An isolation facility at Mbagathi Hospitals for treatment of coronavirus patients. Kenya has such isolation level five hospitals. Photo: Kenyatta National Hospital.

Source: Facebook

Earlier in the day, Kagwe announced a government's decision to suspend all public gatherings including inter- school events, prison visits, church crusades and all other public meetings.

He, however, exempted normal churches as long the congregants are provided with hand sanitisers.

We have suspended all public gatherings, meetings, religious crusades, games and all events that are of a huge public nature. Normal church service can go on, provided they provide hand sanitisers s people go into the worship areas, he directed.

The patient, a 27-year-old student traveled in from the USA via a London flight.

She had been tested in Chicago and Ohio but all results were negative.

This was a lady who was living on her own, I want to thank because she has put citizen responsibility to the test. Because the minute she started feeling unwell and she said to us having read what you have been publishing she thought that she took her herself to the hospital," the CS said.

With the confirmation, Kenya became the first country in Eastern Africa to report the first case.

By Friday, March 13, at least 5,082 people out of 138,252 cases had died.

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.

Where is our son? Our only child after six miscarriages is missing, help us find him |Tuko TV.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Stormzy has been romantically linked to Victoria's Secret model Yasmine Aisha Khalifa Holmgren, after meeting her backstage at his recent gig in Stockholm.

The rapper, 26, had been performing at the Annexet arena in Stockholm and reportedly crossed paths with Yasmine backstage, with sources claiming the pair then spent two days together in a hotel in the city.

They told The Sun Stormzy is determined to keep the pair's blossoming romance under wraps as he's keen to forge a 'lasting relationship' with the Swedish fashion star.

New romance? Stormzy has reportedly been 'bowled over' by Victoria's Secret model Yasmine Aisha Khalifa Holmgren, after meeting her backstage at his recent gig in Stockholm

Insiders told the paper: 'Stormzy is bowled over. As soon as he met Yasmine backstage, he knew he wanted to spend quality time with her.

'He has been desperate to keep it under wraps in the hope they can forge a lasting relationship. Yasmine caught his eye straight away, within minutes they were [inseparable].'

Yasmine is said to have talked her way backstage following Stormzy's gig.

Besotted already? Stormzy is determined to keep the pair's blossoming romance under wraps and insiders say he's keen to forge a 'lasting relationship' with the Swedish fashion star

He had to fly out to Germany the night after his performance, but reportedly flew back to Stockholm to reunite with Yasmine, where they spent two days 'holed up' together in a suite at Stockholm's Hotel Six.

Stormzy is currently touring and is due to perform across the US in May, with Yasmine said to be joining him.

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Stormzy for comment.

News of their supposed romance comes after Stormzy was seen declaring that he wants to reunite with ex-girlfriend Maya Jama.

The former couple had dated for four years, but split in August 2019 with Stormzy going on to release a track, titled Lessons, where he raps about their relationship.

On the track, Stormzy says the way he treated Maya was his 'biggest of regrets' and admitted he poured the greatest love he ever knew down the drain when they split.

In January, Stormzy admitted he has 'never loved anyone how I've loved [Maya]' in a new YouTube interview with Charlamagne tha God.

'She's a f***ing G, bro,' the grime star said of his ex. 'I love her wholeheartedly. I've never loved anyone how I've loved her.'

Asked whether they could reconcile, Stormzy said: 'I would love for that to happen but I don't know... I would love to be the man who she needs, I would love to do all the things that make this work. I want to marry her, I want to have her children.

Secret fling: Yasmine is said to have talked her way backstage following Stormzy's gig and the pair then spent two days together at a hotel suite in Stockholm's Hotel Six

All over: It comes after Stormzy recently declared he wants to marry and have children with ex-girlfriend Maya Jama, who he split from last year after four years together (pictured 2018)

'I was pacing around my kitchen, I was pacing up and down for days thinking... f**** sake bruv... this one reckless night. You... all of those things brother; marriage, kids, the love of my life.

'You have put all of those things at [risk], and now look you probably won't ever... you've lost that. You know what I mean? You've lost that.'

Speaking on BBC Radio 1Xtra Breakfast Show about why he wanted to apologise publicly to Maya over their emotional break up, Stormzy said: 'It was a public disrespect. It was a public disrespect that needed a public apology.

'That girl gave me the world. I will wholeheartedly say that's a phenomenal woman that loved man wholeheartedly and was man's everything.

'And I disrespected and was inconsiderate  a big disrespect. The least I can do is come out and say, come on.

'I will say it 100 per cent loud and clear that's a brilliant woman  we shared something very deep and she loved me wholeheartedly. And man went out and disrespected.'

Stormzy has denied cheating on Maya, but says he had been 'disrespectful' to his ex. He and Maya first began dating in 2015.
Theres a theory that all the best cars have names that are fun to say. FerrrRRRRari. (Use your hands.) MUS-tang. (Say it with a growl.) Cor-VETTE. (It forces your mouth into a smile, even as you say it.) The same applies to Bizzarrini, the obscure Italian marque that produced fewer than 200 cars for four years in the 1960s.

Conceived by the same man who engineered the now multimillion-dollar 1950s racing Ferraris that form the pinnacle of the blue-chip collectable car world, Giotto Bizzarrinis eponymous brand stands among the greats. Experts call it the evolution of ...
For weeks the coronavirus has been circling the Trump administration metaphorically, now it is literally inching closer to the White House with a spate of interactions by the president and his advisers with individuals who have gone on to test positive for the virus. Among the recent cases is the press secretary of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who tested positive for coronavirus days after meetings with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Fabio Wajngarten accompanied the Bolsonaro delegation and posed for photos standing shoulder to shoulder with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

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The guy standing to Trumps left just tested positive for coronavirus, according to Brazilian media. Fabio Wajngarten posted this photo, taken during meetings at Mar-a-Lago, five days ago. pic.twitter.com/qioU4qIlxl  Gabriel Stargardter (@gabstargardter) March 12, 2020

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Wajngarten, the man in the glasses behind Trumps left shoulder, was also shown in a video standing in close proximity to Trump, as the two leaders spoke to a crowd, implying that the Brazilian aide spent an extended period of time in Trumps immediate orbit.

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In addition, Wajngarten attended a birthday party for Trump campaign advise Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is also Donald Trump Jr.s girlfriend. Both the president and Trump Jr. attended the party. The populist Brazilian leader, like Trump, had cast doubt on the severity of the coronavirus. Some reports have said that Bolsonaro tested positive for coronavirus Friday, but Bolsonaro says he does not have the virus. The White House maintains that neither Trump nor Pence have been tested. Two Republican senators that attended the meetings, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, said they will both be self-quarantining in response to their potential contact with Wajngarten.

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Elsewhere in the administration, a member of the Australian Cabinet, Peter Dutton, tested positive for the virus Friday, a week after conducting high-profile meetings in D.C. with Attorney General William Barr and Ivanka Trump.

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Yesterday  Home Affairs @PeterDutton_MP joins @IvankaTrump, Attorney General Barr & our five eyes partners  to fight online child exploitation. We heard from 9 brave survivors & announced principles that technology companies should implement to protect children online pic.twitter.com/3ifeJnGJPI  Australia in the US  (@AusintheUS) March 6, 2020

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he will go into isolation for 14 days after his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, tested positive for the coronavirus following a recent trip to London. The prime minister is not showing symptoms.
The federal government has so far released N285 billion to some agencies for capital projects captured in the 2020 budget and another $220 million as counterpart fund for railway projects in the country.

Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, made this known when she fielded questions from State House Correspondents after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister, who was in the State House in the company of members of the Presidential Committee on the impact of COVID 19 on Nigerias economy, updated the president on the activities of the committee.

She listed the Ministries of Education, Health, Transport, Works and Housing and the Niger-Delta as beneficiaries of the N285billion capital fund.

The minister said government prioritised agencies handling critical infrastructure projects as beneficiaries of the first tranche of releases.

As at Tuesday this week, we have released N285 billion to a number of agencies. We prioritised the releases to the critical infrastructure agencies.

We also made releases to education as well as health so the ministries of transport, works and housing, Niger-Delta; a number of ministries and agencies that have important infrastructure projects have got their funds, she added.

The minister further disclosed that $220 million has so far been released as counterpart funding for railway projects in the country.

Also this week, we have been able to release to the Ministry of Transport the counterpart funding provided for in our budget that is required for the important railway projects that are currently ongoing, with financing form the China-Exim Bank so there are funds that have been released this week.

In addition to the N285 billion there is up to about 220 million dollars that has been released for railway projects, she said.

(NAN

)
Every delay, every concession, and every failure to fulfill the sustainable development goals will cost the lives of the vulnerable, writes Emtithal Mahmoud.

AT A recent private dinner at the World Economic Forum held to discuss climate change, the primatologist Jane Goodall opened the proceedings with a rendition of the universal greeting call of Gombe chimpanzees, the subject of her lifes work.

With a few simple sounds, Goodall underscored the all-encompassing nature of the climate crisis. The threat posed by climate change affects every living being on the planet, even if not everyone is aware of it yet.

As Goodall noted in her speech, people are at the heart of climate change: people caused it, people are harmed by it, and it is people who can address it.

The same is true for many other global challenges, from extreme poverty to the refugee crisis. The problem is that the people with the most power to address global problems are often not only the same people who helped to cause them, but also are among the last to be harmed by them.

This was the case with the violence in Sudans western Darfur region.

When I was only one year old, my family was forced to flee, finding refuge first in Yemen, and then in the United States via the visa lottery. Within a decade, the conflict had turned into genocide. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed, millions were displaced, and millions more were affected in myriad other ways.

Government forces and their militia allies, known as the Janjaweed, were able to carry out these atrocities with impunity, thanks largely to a tactic that sounds all too familiar today: calling stories of the atrocities fake news.

And well-meaning and not-so-well-meaning individuals alike constantly talked about the people most affected, while those most affected were nowhere to be found.

When the most vulnerable people are constantly relegated to the periphery of the discussion, it becomes far easier to downplay the urgency of the problem.

A similar mistake was made in Sudan last year, when courageous young people led large-scale protests against Omar al-Bashirs regime.

Their efforts were successful: Bashir, who had ruled Sudan for 30 years, was toppled, and may yet be handed over to the International Criminal Court to face charges of war crimes and genocide in Darfur.

But, with the most vulnerable left to fend for themselves against the most powerful in the protests, many lives  including that of my 15-year-old cousin Mohamed  were needlessly lost.

His death, like the deaths that followed, was completely preventable. It broke our entire family to know that after decades of fighting for our lives, the youngest among us were still dying.

The same dynamic is apparent in the global fight against forces like poverty, gender inequality, and climate change. Consider the refugee crisis: there are currently 70.8m displaced people worldwide  the highest number in recorded history  and far too little is being done to protect them.

These are not short-term disruptions. On the contrary, 78% of refugees remain refugees for upwards of five years  and some as long as 20 years. Entire generations are being born into conflict and instability, forced to make homes in new countries if theyre lucky, or languishing in overcrowded refugee camps if theyre not.

Under such conditions, the quality education, economic opportunity, and healthy living conditions promised by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have become virtually impossible to deliver.

The SDGs, agreed by 193 countries in 2015, could be a game-changer, dramatically reducing global inequality and improving standards of living by 2030. But efforts to implement the SDG agenda are largely failing to engage those who are suffering the most.

With those who are supposedly leading the charge often isolated from the real-world experiences of the most vulnerable, it should be no surprise they are doing far too little  and avoiding accountability for their failures.

This is where activists come in. Supporting the implementation of the SDGs requires not only drawing attention to the plight of those who are at the greatest risk, but also highlighting the voices of the worlds most vulnerable people.

If we are to achieve the SDGs, we must focus on the people who are most directly and immediately affected by the worlds greatest challenges, and we must hold accountable those who are most capable of and responsible for solving said challenges: our leaders.

With a decade left to achieve the SDGs, this must be the year when world leaders finally take decisive action.

This means fulfilling the objective, championed by Goodall, of planting a trillion trees by 2030, and heeding the calls of Alaa Murabit, a medical doctor and SDG advocate, for an inclusive approach to security. It means supporting Jaha Dukureh, an advocate fighting female genital mutilation who works tirelessly to protect girls and women from that and other acts of violence. And it means ensuring that those who are most vulnerable are at the forefront of the process, every step of the way.

If there is anything I have learned in the years I have spent fighting for justice  whether for the people of Darfur or the worlds refugees  it is that the most vulnerable people cannot afford to wait for change. The world must be made aware of the stakes: every delay, every concession, and every failure costs lives.

Emtithal Mahmoud, named one of BBCs 100 Most Inspirational Women, is a UNHCR goodwill ambassador and the author of Sisters Entrance
OAKLAND COUNTY, MIA state of emergency has been declared in Oakland County after three cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the area.

Officials announced the state of emergency at a Friday, March 13 press conference, noting the decision will allow the county to access more resources quicker.

This also allows us to get federal funding if it becomes available, said Oakland County Executive David Coulter. Weve fully activated all of our emergency operation centers.

The state of emergency must be renewed every seven days by county officials, Coulter said. It was announced three people in Oakland County have been confirmed to have COVID-19 Thursday night.

One of the three people confirmed is a teacher at Hillel Day School, an Oakland County Jewish Day school.

The Oakland County Health Division identified the teacher as a Washtenaw County woman at a Friday conference. Health officials said she was at the school this week.

The two people who were confirmed to have the disease are males. One person has a history of domestic travel and the second person doesnt have a history of travel.

One person is hospitalized, and two people are being isolated at home, according to Coulter. The person who is hospitalized is in good condition.

Since Friday, the state has 12 presumptive positive coronavirus cases. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer closed all K-12 schools and banned large events and gatherings of more than 250 people through April 6.

Besides the Oakland County cases, positive cases also include:

 An adult female from Ingham County with history of travel on a cruise.

 Two adult females from Kent County and one adult male, all with history of international travel.

 An adult female from Montcalm with history of international travel.

 An adult male from St. Clair County with history of domestic travel.

 One adult female and one adult male from Washtenaw County; one with history of domestic travel and one with history of international travel. According to the Washtenaw County Healthy Department, one traveled to Europe and the other to New York.

The virus is new, but our response is not, Coulter said. As we fight this pandemic, we need more tests. South Korea is administering 10,000 tests a day. We have 1,300 kits in the state today, thats not enough. We need to do a better job of arming our state and communities.

The county is also providing residents with a health hotline, (248)858-1000, for questions relating to COVID-19. There is an on-call nurse available to speak to residents who arent feeling well.

Coulter advised residents to seek help from their family physician or the hotline before going to hospitals with concerns over COVID-19.

We will take all necessary steps to slow the spread of this virus, Coulter said. The effects of this public health emergency are still unfolding. We want to ensure people with immediate needs get help as quickly as possible.

The county also released details about where the people who are confirmed to have the disease visited while experiencing symptoms. Oakland County Health Officer Leigh-Anne Stafford said the number of residents being monitored changes several times a day.

Well continue to push these details out as we get more information, Stafford said.

The county is also working on providing residents with resources such as food and daycare now that school has been cancelled, Coulter said. Beginning Monday, only essential personnel will be allowed in the county building.

We encourage every employee in Oakland County to stay home if theyre feeling sick, Coulter said.

The county is also working closely with senior centers and nursing homes to prevent an outbreak, Coulter.

We know seniors are going to be the most affected. Well be discussing a public health order around our senior soon, Coulter said. The earlier we take these measures, the less likely well expose people.

The situation is ever-evolving, Coulter said. The public should be alert for symptoms of COVID-19 which include fever, cough, and shortness of breath.

This is a disruption in our lives but it wont last forever, Coulter said.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread.

It has shared the following tips: What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

 Always cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.

 Stay home if you are sick and advise others to do the same.

 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 warm water for at least 20 seconds.

 Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, if soap and warm water are not available.

 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces (computers, keyboards, desks, etc.).

 Its not too late to get your flu shot ! While the influenza vaccine does not protect against COVID-19 infection, it can help keep you healthy during the flu season.

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

Read more on MLive:

MLive.com/coronavirus

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One was a teen girl visiting from New York, and another a police officer in Montgomery County. Both attended the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo before testing presumptive positive for COVID-19.

The two were among the Houston regions 18 novel coronavirus cases, as of Thursday night, that Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo pointed to to explain the difficulty in tracking down where a presumptive patient has been.

The number of cases was an increase from Wednesdays 15, when city officials forced the famed Houston Rodeo, about halfway into its run, to come to a close. Since then, multiple counties have signed state declarations of disaster and school districts are opting to keep students home to tackle the quickly-spreading illness. Late Thursday, Houston ISD said it would begin Spring Break early and canceled classes through March 30.

Hidalgo cited the lack of testing as the primary obstacle in preventing new cases but she said there was also a lack of cooperation. A man in his 40s, who became Montgomery Countys first confirmed case, is not cooperating, Hidalgo said Thursday at a news conference where she gave an update on how Harris County was responding to the pandemic. He would not divulge to Harris County officials which barbecue cook-off tent he was at on Feb. 29.

Patton Village Police Chief Shannon Sharp confirmed that the man is an officer with his Splendora-area department.

The officer  tasked with administrative duty  had been out of the office and outside Patton Village since Feb. 27, Sharp said in a news release, later saying that he was off-the-clock on comp time. He said the officer has had no recent contact with the public, such as calls for service and arrests.

The officer called Sharp on Friday to say he was not feeling well, the chief said.

We have been in constant contact with the Montgomery County Public Health Department, Sharp said. None of us are in any danger, none of us are symptomatic. We are following regular protocol the CDC put out.

On Wednesday, Montgomery County Judge Mark Keoughs chief of staff, Jason Millsap, said the man was well enough to explain to them where he had been.

The officer remains hospitalized, Sharp continued.

Memory was also a problem, Hidalgo said. The New Yorker came into contact with a positive case back home before flying to Texas. She attended the Houston Rodeo but could not remember which part of the grounds she was at, Hidaldo said.

The same visitor may have also had contact with members of Houstons Jewish community, forcing the closure of three schools  the Torah Girls Academy, Yeshiva Torat Emet and Torah Day School  for the rest of Thursday as a precaution.

The three new presumptive positive cases reported Thursday included another man and a woman, both in their 40s, in Montgomery County. Few details were known about their recent whereabouts in Houston. The woman recently traveled to New Orleans, La. and the man recently went to Florida.

The third, in Harris County, involved a man who recently traveled and made contact with another presumptive positive case. Members of a Jesus Christ Church of Latter-day Saints in Spring were alerted of his diagnosis, county officials said.

The uptick in Gulf Coast cases prompted officials in Harris, Montgomery and Fort Bend counties to sign off on state of disaster declarations to secure funding to tackle the local outbreaks.

Hidalgo encouraged people to distance themselves from each other, by canceling or postponing large gatherings that would bring more than 250 people together, while Keough, the Montgomery County judge, signed an order prohibiting people of that number from gathering in private and public.

Hidalgo also encouraged schools to remain open but that did not stop officials at HISD, Cypress-Fairbanks, Fort Bend, Conroe, Spring, Dickinson, Texas City, Alvin and Sheldon ISDs from closing their doors to students through at least next week.

The goal in keeping large groups apart is to prevent a large increase in hospital visits, Hidalgo explained.

Based on county estimates, if 30 percent of Harris County were to become sick, and 20 percent of those people wind up in the hospital, it would overload medical infrastructure.

We simply do not have enough hospital capacity to assume all of those people, she said. We cant afford to have a sudden spike in cases.

The judicial system was also feeling the impact of the coronavirus cases as officials suspended jury summons for Harris County civil and criminal trials through March 20. In Montgomery County, cases were expected to proceed normally.

Catherine Dominguez and Robert Downen contributed.
A former Arcola police officer facing sexual assault charges allegedly threatened in one case to have the female victim deported if she did not comply with his demands, court records reveal.

Fort Bend County prosecutors allege that the ex-officer, 24-year-old Hector Aaron Ruiz, made the threat before sexually assaulting a woman at her home on the evening of Aug. 11. The officer had given the woman and her 8-year-old son a ride home after her husband was arrested for drunken driving.

The woman came forward after Ruiz was charged in November with sexually assaulting another woman during a traffic stop. Ruiz, who was fired last year, now faces two charges of sexual assault and official oppression.

Ruiz, 24, of Rosharon, is currently out on $250,000 bond and is due to appear in court on April 2. Those charged with sexual assault face up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Official oppression carries a sentence of up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

Ruiz attorney, David McClure, couldnt be reached for comment.

The new accusations were included in court papers filed earlier this year. Prosecutors say the womans husband was pulled over for drunken driving at FM 521 and Renfro Burford Road, and Ruiz was providing Spanish translations to her and her husband.

After giving the woman and her son a ride back to their home, prosecutors allege, Ruiz asked to use the restroom, then asked to speak with the woman in her bedroom.

Court filings allege that Ruiz locked the woman inside and demanded oral sex. When she refused, he allegedly told her if she did not comply, he would attempt to have her deported. Prosecutors said Ruiz then forced the woman on the bed and performed a sexual act.

The womans daughter arrived home at some point and reported seeing her mother and Ruiz there. She saw him carrying a cell phone before leaving the home, prosecutors say.

Cell phone data could provide evidence that Ruiz was at the house for an extended period of time, according to court documents.

In the second case, in November, prosecutors alleged that Ruiz pulled over a woman, directed her to follow him to a remote location and pressured her into performing oral sex. She reported the incident to Manvel police that day.

Authorities believe there may be other female victims. Terese Buess, chief public integrity prosecutor at the Fort Bend County District Attorney's office, is encouraging anyone with information about Ruiz to come forward, regardless of the persons immigration status.

brooke.lewis@chron.com
The central government on Friday suspended cross-border trade and movement of passengers through the Attari integrated check-post (ICP) near Amritsar till April 15 as a precautionary measure against the outbreak of coronavirus.

This comes two days after India suspended all visas, barring a few categories such as diplomatic and employment, till April 15 in a bid to contain the spread of the deadly virus or Covid-19.

No foreigner, including Pakistani or Afghan Hindus, will be allowed to enter India through the check-post, officials said. The ban, however, will not affect the Indian travellers returning home. But those coming back via Pakistan from seven worst-hit countries  China, Iran, Italy, Korea, France, Germany and Spainwill be quarantined for at least 15 days. All the returnees will be screened.

As per the order issued by the Union home ministry, the movement of people has been barred through the border from 5:30pm on Friday. Diplomats, officials of the United Nations (UN) and other international organisations, employment and project visas holders are excluded from the ban, says the order.

We have received a communication from the Centre in this regard. As per the order, trade has been suspended at the ICP. No foreigner will be allowed to enter India through the check-post till April 15, said ICP in-charge Sukhdev Singh.

According to information, around 100 passengers, including Pakistani and Afghan Hindu pilgrims and the families divided across the Redcliffe Line, are arriving in India via the Attari-Wagah border every day.

The volume of trade at the ICP, which facilitates India trade with Pakistan and Afghanistan, is already low.

In wake of the Pulwama attack in February 2019, the Indian government had revoked the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status given to Pakistan and raised customs duty on every item being imported from Pakistan to 200%.

Following this, import from Pakistan dipped drastically as Indian traders stopped buying goods, except low-priced commodities like rock salt.

Also, Pakistani had shut trade with India after India abrogated Article 370 that granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir.

Since October, only a few truckloads of dry fruits come from Afghanistan through the ICP.

Anil Mehra, president of the Federation of Karyana and Dry Fruit Commercial Association said, Though the move will affect our business, we are with the country first. Everyone should help the government in containing the spread of the virus.
ASHLAND, Ore.  As many universities transition to holding classes online or adding other restrictions in response to the new coronavirus, Southern Oregon University announced on Thursday what it intends to do to help protect the community.

"The global COVID-19 pandemic requires us to act in new ways," said SOU president Linda Schott. "We received guidance from the governor and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission today, and are working to ensure alignment with that guidance. We already have implemented a variety of policies, recommendations and guidelines, and today we are announcing additional measures. The governor and health authorities are currently recommending schools stay open."

The school will continue to hold finals week as scheduled, making remote option available to faculty "where feasible." When exams are held in-person, officials will be enforcing social distancing.

SOU's spring break is going to be extended an extra week. Spring break begins Monday, March 23 and spring term classes will now begin on Monday, April 6. Residence halls and the Hawk dining commons will remain open through the break for students who stay on campus.

"Our goal is to allow additional time for the curve of the viruss spread to flatten and also to give our faculty members an opportunity to plan and develop options for spring term remote course delivery," Schott said.

Meanwhile, faculty have been asked to work on remote teaching Spring term courses where they can through online, video conferencing, or other means.

The Spring term will still finish before commencement on Saturday, June 13.

The school is also eliminating all non-essential travel and activities, events, or gatherings that do not allow people to keep a distance of three feet or more between them. NAIA has already cancelled all currently scheduled events.

All SOU-sponsored international programs and trips are being suspended until further notice.

"Our hope is that these additional steps will help to slow the progression of the virus in our region and onto our campus, enabling health care professionals to keep pace and gain an upper hand," Schott said. "We will continue to keep our campus community informed of developments that may affect SOU."
With the exception of Hendricks County, which has two cases, and Johnson Countys three cases, the other counties  Adams, Boone, Hendricks, Marion and Noble  have one case each. The state Department of Health said 43 people in Indiana have been tested for the virus, either by that agency or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said that all malls, theatres, gyms, swimming pools in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur, Pimpri Chinchwad will be closed till March 30 to help contain the spread of coronavirus.

"All malls, theaters, gyms, swimming pools in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur, Pimpri Chinchwad to be closed starting midnight today till March 3o. All schools in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad will be closed till further notice except for class 10th and 12th examination," Thackeray told reporters during a press conference.

Earlier today, the Indian Navy said that 44 Indian citizens who have been evacuated from Iran, have been shifted to the Naval quarantine facility at Mumbai.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday said that so far 81 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in India out of which 64 are Indians, and the rest are foreign nationals.

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city, has so far spread to more than 100 countries infecting over 1,20,000 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The fallout spreading from the coronavirus is putting pressure on businesses to evaluate sick leave policies and break out their remote work and potential office closure plans  steps that many companies in a hurricane-prone state stand ready to implement at any time.

The pressure intensified Friday on businesses employing working parents after the announcement that Louisiana is shuttering K-12 schools until April 13. While the order does not apply to them, private schools might decide to close as well, officials said.

The executive order does not apply to the state's roughly 1,700 early learning centers, which serve children from birth through pre-kindergarten, providing working parents with younger children and the businesses who employ them some relief.

Some businesses are preparing to make accommodations and are following contingency plans they've used for hurricanes and floods that caused extensive, lengthy power outages or property damage that displaced workers and are now adapting those to the global coronavirus outbreak that hit parts of Louisiana this week.

We have to be able to work from everywhere as part of our disaster recovery, and weve been running those tests pretty consistently, said James DuBos, chief executive officer of Transformyx.

We went through the 2016 (flood) and its a different type of event, but we learned a lot of lessons, he said of a natural disaster that impacted 15% of the company's workforce.

Taking care of employees, who then in turn are able to focus on taking care of customers, is one key lesson, he said.

Most Transformyx employees already have the capability to work remotely.

For employees who may be facing childcare burdens as a result of school closures, the company is creating a directory of those who may need help and plans to connect them with resources.

Louisiana's presidential primary election to be delayed because of coronavirus The presidential primary elections in Louisiana slated for April will be delayed by two months, the latest in a series of dramatic steps gover

We have some employees who have children with disabilities or those who need 24-hour care or aging grandparents in the home with them  there are a lot of scenarios of how people may be impacted, DuBos said.

Other employers are taking into account similar considerations. They also are looking at how cross-trained employees can fill in for each other as needed, and in the case of big petrochemical plants who might be willing to stay on-site long term to avoid disruptions in operations.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, Transformyx, which has fewer than 100 employees, developed a series of formal COVID-19 policies after consulting with health care providers. The company doesnt expect to have any disruption of service for customers and may have to increase workloads to support K-12 schools it has contracts with providing technology services.

Even without the students being present, administrative teams need support. Were also trying to help school districts who need remote educational communication capabilities, DuBos said, because some schools it serves might elect to have online classes.

Baton Rouge-based Investar Bank, which has nearly 30 bank branches across south Louisiana and into Texas and Alabama, is already implementing a pandemic disaster plan.

"Throughout the years of testing the plan both in hypothetical and actual disasters, we have learned how to better position resources albeit remote or otherwise to continue delivering service to our customers effectively," John J. D'Angelo, CEO of Investar Bank, said in an email.

U.S. is preparing for community spread of coronavirus. It's already happening in New Orleans. As the criteria for who can get tested for the new coronavirus loosens, cities around the country are bracing for community spread in their re

The bank expects to see an uptick of business clients who are trying to navigate periods of low cash flow if their business drops off.

The bank has about 285 employees, the majority of whom work in Louisiana. It has identified internally which employees may be impacted by K-12 school closures and reached out to help.

"We will work with our parents and key staff to ensure that those who can work will have what they need and where they need it in order to provide continuity of service," D'Angelo said. "We have great teams at the bank with very skilled employees who are cross-trained to help support each other when needed."

If an employee at the bank were to contract COVID-19, the employee would be quarantined as well as any individuals who came into close contact with the individual.

"The location of an infected employee would potentially close until it can be verified as safe to conduct business again," he said.

Rachael Higginbotham, a spokeswoman for Postlethwaite & Netterville, said the Baton Rouge accounting firm has a longstanding practice of using technology and processes to support remote work, but the business is prepared to widen work-from-home procedures if necessary. It also has offices in New Orleans, Metairie, Lafayette, Gonzales, St. Francisville, Donaldsonville and Houston.

All of our team members have laptop computers, and we use cloud-based software, virtual communication tools, and electronic data storage as standard practices, Higginbotham said. Across the firm, we feel confident in our ability to continue to work during this time.

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From toilet paper to pasta sauce, Rouses CEO says coronavirus buying outpacing hurricane prep From toilet paper to Italian pasta sauce, the CEO of Rouses grocery stores says he's seen a rapid increase in buying all types of goods amid t

Likewise, the Lumpkin Agency which sells group and individual insurance benefits among its services, isn't closing its office, even temporarily.

"We need to be readily available to our clients in case they have questions involving their insurance plans," said Courtney Waters, spokeswoman for Lumpkin Agency.

The company is reducing any in-person meetings and doing more work remotely. Employees are encouraged to self-isolate if they feel ill, whether they are able to be tested for coronavirus or not.

Human Resources consultant and marketing business owner Mary Ellen Slayter has been offering advice to clients remotely as she herself is self-isolating due to travel and potential exposure.

"Start thinking about this not as something to hurry up and get through, but how this could make your business more resilient," Slayter said. "Everybody going home right now should assume they won't be coming back (physically) to the office for a month."

It's also a good time to assess how valuable a company is when it can't meet with clients face-to-face at conferences or meetings.

"You could host a virtual event," she said.

Her advice for bigger companies with small business contractors? Be generous about up-front deposits for future work and prompt invoicing as cash flow may get tight.

"This is going to be a rough year but we can work together in the business community and take care of each other," she said. "I made it through 9/11 in Washington, D.C., but I think that this is going to be more disruptive than that was."

In the petrochemical industry, companies are implementing emergency pandemic plans, said Jim Harris, a media consultant who spoke with five different facilities across Louisiana.

The recent escalation in the number of coronavirus cases in Louisiana has resulted in facilities stepping up preparations to deal with the situation, Harris said. They are setting up systems to send non-essential personnel home if and when that becomes necessary.

There is a difference between hurricane preparedness plans and those for pandemics, which are more complex and may deal with long-term impacts to operations rather than one-time events.

In some ways its similar.

Like hurricane preparations, they are all considering what is known in the industry as ride-out plans, where essential personnel would volunteer to stay on-site for a long period of time to maintain operations, he said.

Some smaller facilities may have to idle operations temporarily as part of the response.

At ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge facility, the company already has an infectious disease outbreak plan.

"Our focus right now is on ensuring the safety and health of our entire workforce and to do our part to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus in the community," said Rory Denicola, spokesman for ExxonMobil.

ExxonMobil already has a 14-day work-from-home policy for any employees who traveled internationally or spent time in communities where there has been organic spread of the virus.

To support workers while schools are closed, the company already has a back-up care program, which offers temporary care options for family members of employees when primary care breaks down or is unavailable.

Boyer Derise, owner of Good Eats Kitchen, said the is weighing numerous options on how to deal with the pandemic. The company has four locations, one in Lafayette and three in Baton Rouge, and he said customers using its website to order meals for pickup and delivery may allow them to weather the storm.

"Right now, we want to focus on being able to get good food to people who can't come to us," Derise said. "If they start closing schools and people are forced to stay home, then it becomes a real challenge to the community ."

Business disruption precautions were outlined Friday by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, which also said it is setting up an online survey to see how businesses are responding to the spread of the disease and evaluate the impact of the pandemic on the regional economy. The business survey is at www.brac.org/recovery and a link has been posted on the organization's Facebook page. A link of the best business preparation guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also is posted there.

Were making sure that were aggregating a lot of the guidance were getting in a single location, said Adam Knapp, president and chief executive officer of BRAC, who said the business guidance came about while he was meeting with his staff this week, trying to prepare for all eventualities from the coronavirus pandemic.

The chamber also noted that the U.S. Small Business Administration will make targeted, low-interest disaster loans to small businesses and nonprofits severely impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program can provide working capital loans of up to $2 million. Information can be found at https://www.sba.gov/disaster-assistance/coronavirus-covid-19.
Oncotarget Volume 11, Issue 10 reported that dysregulation of noncoding micro RNA molecules has been associated with immune cell activation in the context of Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric inflammation as well as carcinogenesis, but also with downreg

Oncotarget Volume 11, Issue 10 reported that dysregulation of noncoding micro RNA molecules has been associated with immune cell activation in the context of Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric inflammation as well as carcinogenesis, but also with downregulation of mismatch repair genes, and may interfere with immune checkpoint proteins that lead to the overexpression of antigens on gastric tumor cells.

Among the many micro RNAs involved in gastric inflammation, adenocarcinoma development and immune checkpoint regulation, mi R-155 is notable in that its upregulation is considered a key marker of chronic gastric inflammation that predisposes a patient to gastric carcinogenesis.

Dr. Christian Prinz from the Lehrstuhl fur Innere Medizin1, University of Witten gGmbH, Helios Universitatsklinikum said, "Increasing evidence suggests that microRNA (miRNA) dysregulation has critical impacts on development, as well as inflammation and cancer development"

"Increasing evidence suggests that microRNA (miRNA) dysregulation has critical impacts on development, as well as inflammation and cancer development"



- Dr. Christian Prinz, Lehrstuhl fur Innere Medizin1, University of Witten gGmbH, Helios Universitatsklinikum

Notably, it seems that human gastrointestinal cancer can be better classified using mi RNA expression profiles than mRNA or protein expression profiles.

Using a new bead-based flow cytometric mi RNA expression profiling method, they performed a systematic expression analysis of 217 mammalian mi RNAs from 334 samples, including multiple human cancers.

Furthermore, they successfully identified poorly differentiated tumors based on mi RNA expression profiles, whereas the classification of the same samples using messenger RNA profiles was highly inaccurate.

Many mi RNAs exhibit differential regulation in cancer, for example, mi R-34a is involved in p53-mediated apoptosis in pancreatic cancer, and nine mi RNAs are upregulated in primary breast cancer, including mi R-21, mi R-181b, and mi R-155.

The Prinz Research Team concluded in their Oncotarget Research Perspective, "clinical strategies aiming to prevent miR-155 overexpression (i. e., via silencer RNAs) may thus represent a promising method of controlling cancer growth (e. g., by allowing DNA repair), especially in pre-malignant lesions or during the early stages of gastric cancer."

###

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DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.27520

Full text - http://www.oncotarget.com/index.php?journal=oncotarget&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=27520&path%5B%5D=90024

Correspondence to - Christian Prinz - christian.prinz@helios-kliniken.de

Keywords - Helicobacter pylori, gastric inflammation, gastric cancer, microRNA, miR-155

About Oncotarget

Oncotarget is a weekly, peer-reviewed, open access biomedical journal covering research on all aspects of oncology.

To learn more about Oncotarget, please visit http://www.oncotarget.com or connect with:

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Oncotarget is published by Impact Journals, LLC please visit http://www.ImpactJournals.com or connect with @ImpactJrnls

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A Birmingham man has pleaded guilty in a DUI crash that killed a 62-year-old woman who sitting on her front porch.

Eddie King, 61, issued his plea to reckless manslaughter this week in Jefferson County. He was charged in the 2018 Easter weekend death of Daisy Lee Bell.

King faced anywhere between 10 years to life in prison. Under the plea agreement, he was sentenced to 20 years. He was booked into the Jefferson County Jail Monday to await transfer to the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Daisy Bell

The crash happened just before 3 p.m. on March 31, 2018 at the intersection of Pearson Avenue and 31st Street S.W. Authorities said a Dodge Caravan driven by King plowed through the intersection and Bells yard before hitting the porch. The front wall of the house was damaged and there was a crushed lawn chair in the yard.

Bell was taken to UAB where she was pronounced dead.

Police previously said Kings passenger told them he was passed out when his foot hit the gas pedal of the van and slammed into Bell.

The first officer on the scene reported that King was slurring his speech, and admitted he had a couple of beers. When tested, his blood alcohol content was .233-- three times the legal limit-- and also showed traces of cocaine. The tests on the liquor bottle showed the DNA of two people, one of them being male.
Kenyan health minister Mutahi Kagwe on Friday confirmed the country's first positive coronavirus case - a woman who recently returned to Nairobi after visiting the United States. According to Kagwe, the woman's return journey earlier in March included a stop in London, United Kingdom.

Briefing reporters in Nairobi, Kagwe said the patient, a Kenyan citizen, was in a stable condition in hospital.

"Her temperature has gone down to normal, she is behaving normally, she is eating," Kagwe said, adding "but she cannot be released until the tests continue - until she tests negative."

He stressed, "as far as her state is concerned, the lady is okay. And therefore, there really is no need for alarm in our nation."

For most people, the virus 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 illnesses, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the virus in a matter of weeks.
An Aer Lingus passenger who made cabin crew cry by lying that his mum had coronavirus has been jailed for two months.



Job van den Broek, 30, while on an Aer Lingus flight, caused pandemonium among passengers when he told cabin crew that he was talking to his mum on phone who had coronavirus and he had contracted the disease from her.



Broek, on March 11, made the claim after he refused putting his phone down so staff could perform a safety demonstration and delayed flight for over ten minutes. Cabin crew cried upon hearing him say he had contracted the virus when in reality he just wanted to delay the flight.



Broek from Netherlands intended to travel from Amsterdam to LA to propose to his girlfriend but was arrested at Dublin Airport and kept in a police cell over night. He has now pleaded guilty to an air rage charge at Dublin District Court today.



While in court, Broek said he was incredibly remorseful for his stupidity and thought it was a joke and wanted to have his photo taken with Health Safety Executive staff.



The Judge, Conal Gibbons, admonished him saying he shouldn't have lied knowing the world was in a state of fear and anxiety because of coronavirus.



He has now been sentenced to two months in jail pending an appeal.









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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Watch out Uranus, NASA might be planning a visit with the assistance of a rare planetary alignment in 2030. Sending a probe to visit the large planet will provide scientists on earth with information inlcuding a confirmation about how much gas it is made of. One problem with Uranus and Neptune is the distance needed to travel there since it is not as easy voyage as well.

Why is it such a big deal going to Uranus

In the solar system, most other planets have been visited by our robotic probes, but Uranus and Neptune are not as accessible as other planets in our small corner in the universe. So far, the only visit from human civilizations robotic emissary, like NASA's Voyager 2 flyby during the 80's.

There's an ambitious plan concocted by NASA that will use a peculiar cosmic alignment, driving a NASA craft on a beeline to see these gas giants that lay in the solar divide before. Technically, the greater travelling distances are what keeps NASA from sending probes.

Fast facts about Uranus

Comparatively, the Sun's photons will travel 8-minutes before reaching the earth, the duration for light to reach Uranus is 2.7-hours, and 4.2-hours for photonic light to touch Neptune. These are differences in how long light travels in the inner to outer solar systems. One method is to chart a flight path based on the gravity of other planets to slingshot spacecraft to higher speeds.

Also read: NASA Insight Mission Detects 450 Earthquakes on Mars

How did Voyager reach Jupiter and Saturn

The flybys of Voyager 2 was enabled by charting a launch trajectory that was programmed by scientists to reach Neptune in 12 years of its launch date. Using the same principle in 2030, Jupiter will be in the right point to shoot any probe gravitationally towards Uranus and Neptune. Calculations show that a probe sent on that trajectory will reach Neptune or Uranus from 12 to 13 years, ETA in 2040 A.D.

How to step on the brakes when reaching Neptune or Uranus

Speed is important to make up the long-distance but knowing how to keep these probes from overshooting their destination is crucial. It is important to know how to hit a trajectory that will allow them to orbit Uranus or Neptune by carefully planned flight path. For one thing, Voyager 2 flew past the objectives, but the next probes should hang around the orbit, and study these extraterrestrial environments.

Orbiter spacecraft are the best ones suited for this mission configuration. One reason is that Uranus and Neptune are enigmas that should be studied since little is known about them. For instance, solar winds are on Neptune, and Uranus seems to have collided with it. Uranus has an odd axial tilt to it, both have moons, and ring systems for a surface landing for probes.

What is needed to return to these planets

A deadline exists to reach the launch date within a decade or miss the rendezvous at the exact point in time. Approval from all sectors that are relevant to giving the project a go signal, for deep space exploration is crucial. Scientists are now expectant and advocating the mission's priority for science too.

NASA's impending return to Uranus or Neptune will be a small corridor to decide on. Whatever happens in 2030 is anyone's wild guess, but space is waiting.

Related article: Scientists Still Trying to Find Life Existence in Mars

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WILTON  A man who works with Wilton High School students at a tutoring business is concerned he may have COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, but claims hes been turned away from getting tested.

The 28-year-old Fairfield man said he developed a cough on March 8 and later developed a fever of 100.3 and shortness of breath. Not having a regular doctor to call seeking advice  and concerned about the fact the first Connecticut person to test presumptive positive is from Wilton  he tried to get tested.

Over the last couple of weeks, several of my students have had coughs, or other flu-like symptoms as is common for kids this time of year, he said. He said he has not been out of the country and he took normal precautions like washing his hands and not touching his face, but in light of recent events he became concerned.

On Monday, he began working from home and on Friday morning he said he had an appointment for drive-thru testing at Murphy Medical Associates in Stratford. The practice has been doing the tests at its offices in Greenwich, Stamford and Stratford beginning on Tuesday. Its website is still allowing people to register for the tests. A call to the office seeking comment was not returned.

When the man arrived, he claimed there was no testing in the parking lot, so he put on his respirator mask and went to the door.

What he found, he said, were numerous signs on the door that said No testing for COVID-19 is done in this building. Do not enter this building if you are here for COVID-19 testing.

He alleged two men saw him, drove up to him, and told him the building owners would not allow testing to be done on the property. They advised him, he said, to go to the Greenwich office, where testing also is not allowed.

The man said he plans to reaching out to a health department for further guidance. He said he is not so concerned about himself since he is young and generally healthy, but he is concerned about others.

Its tragic. People are going to die because they (building owners) are selfish. What about everyone else people interact with before they self-quarantine?
A leading group of China's COVID-19 response Thursday called for more targeted prevention measures to stem the cross-border spread of the novel coronavirus and promised help for overseas fight against the pandemic.



The group, led by Premier Li Keqiang, called for efforts to closely follow the overseas situation of the pandemic, and to take into consideration the latest assessment made by the World Health Organization and international practice, according to a meeting of the group held Thursday.

More precise and targeted measures should be taken to guard against import and export of cases of infection, according to the meeting, which was presided over by Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The group called for efforts to further promote international joint prevention and control, stressing better data sharing, border quarantine and other virus prevention work.

The group also stressed helping relevant countries and international organizations in fighting the virus to the best of China's capabilities.

Domestic enterprises with adequate capacity were urged to produce more materials and goods for the virus control. After fulfilling domestic needs, enterprises should work to meet the demands of overseas commercial procurement based on market-oriented principles, according to the meeting.

After having made major progress in the current stage, Hubei Province and its capital city of Wuhan should give priority to medical treatment and strengthen the treatment of severely ill patients, according to the meeting.

The group urged more supportive measures to people in need amid the outbreak, stressing help for poor people, disabled people, children without guardians due to the outbreak and other vulnerable groups.

After taking effective measures to prevent a rebound of the epidemic, various regions, especially those with low virus risks, should quicken their pace to restore normal business, production and life, according to the meeting.

Wang Huning, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the leading group, attended the meeting.
Faculty and staff at Montana Tech will work intensively over the coming spring break week to transition courses to online in an in effort to combat the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.

All of Montanas public universities, including Montana Tech and Highlands College in Butte and flagships in Missoula and Bozeman, will halt in-person classes and shift all instruction in every instance possible online by March 23 because of the virus, the Office of Higher Education announced Thursday.

The move does not close campuses or force students to stay away, and some services will still be offered to students on campuses. Officials framed it as an early step aimed at preventing the local spread of coronavirus instead of reacting to an outbreak.

The announcement from Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian does not set a date for a return to in-person classes, but instead refers to "if and when" such courses resume. It follows similar decisions in universities across the country, both in states with significant outbreaks and states with only a handful of cases.

Montana Tech will be working to make the transition as quick and smooth as possible while maintaining our commitment to academic excellence, with intense work on that front done over spring break next week, said Tech Provost Steve Gammon.

We will be determining which classes cannot be taught online and will be determining the best way to deliver those classes, Gammon said. This is of course subject to change if we receive a directive that all courses need to move online.

We are in the process of gathering resources and creating plans to support faculty in transitioning their classes to online, he said. We anticipate running workshops led by faculty who have experience and expertise in online course delivery. We are also exploring our software options for online delivery.

The Tech campus and others in Montanas system will remain open and operational for students, including residence halls and dining services, computer labs and most other campus services.

At Tech, those include the business office, career services, enrollment services, payroll, administration, parking, library, HPER, disability services, counseling services, departmental offices, and advising.

Christian said across the whole system, the vast majority of coursework will be delivered remotely and many students will choose to complete their courses that way and not return immediately after spring break. The exceptions will be courses that require equipment or software that is only available on campus such as welding or pharmacy programs.

Gammon said research experiences at Tech are generally very small group or individual activities so they will likely continue in person.

The nice part about lab classes is that they are capped, so classes are small and the majority of the labs are in rooms with excellent vent systems, he said.

To protect public health, all Montana campuses will implement appropriate social distancing measures in line with guidelines from Centers of Disease Control. That includes restrictions on large lectures, theater performances, academic conferences, and other large gatherings.

Gammon said Tech officials were currently determining guidelines for those events and when they know more, will share more details. There were no plans on Thursday to close the dorms.

Students and employees across the system were asked to monitor their official email addresses for more communication and planning details between now and March 23.

We appreciate everyones flexibility in these unprecedented circumstances, Gammon said. The wellbeing of our students, faculty and staff is our top priority and well make this transition as smooth as possible.

The other two-year and four-year institutions affected by the moves are:

 Montana State University and Gallatin College

 University of Montana and Missoula College

 Montana State University Billings and City College

 University of Montana Western in Dillon

 Montana State University Northern in Havre

 Great Falls College

 Bitterroot College in Hamilton

 Helena College

 Dawson Community College in Glendive

 Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell

 Miles Community College in Miles City

Matt Hoffman of The Billings Gazette contributed to this story.

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CLEVELAND -- In times of crisis, the United States historically sets aside political disputes and petty differences, and comes together to seek solutions and battle the common foe.

But the deep divide that exists in this country has restructured our customary expectation of common purpose and vacated virtually all our rules of etiquette and civility. So, to those who might wonder: Even now? Even as we face a common unseen enemy that threatens to decimate our older population and derail our thriving economy?  the sad answer is Yes. Even now.

So there are those who took President Donald Trumps prime-time address to the nation Wednesday night as a call to action and tried to heed his plea to park their partisan politics at the door, and there were those who saw it only as a means to make political hay with an eye toward the November election by undercutting and ridiculing his message. (See The New York Times news story on the speech, shot through with little personal digs at the president, and the politicized Nancy Pelosi/Chuck Schumer response to his speech, attempting to use the crisis to expand entitlements).

There were those who innocently if naively (but accurately) referred to the pandemic at the beginning as the China coronavirus, and those who decided to concentrate their outrage on the term, calling those who used it racists (is everyone who refers to the Spanish flu a racist?). China is where this coronavirus began, isnt it?

There are those medical and health care professionals who are working hard to prepare the country for the onslaught everyone knows is coming and to diminish it, and those who are heeding former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuels infamous advice that you never want a serious crisis to go to waste. People like the Florida lawyers who are suing the Princess Cruise Line for failing to prevent people who had coronavirus from boarding their ships, and the miscreants who are clearing store shelves of hand sanitizer and then selling bottles at outrageous prices online.

Lets be clear: President Trump has not done a good job  or even an adequate job  of leadership or of preparing the country for what surely will be a dangerous and disruptive time over the next months. Its safe to say that any other president since Franklin Roosevelt would have been more straightforward and more in command in the weeks leading up to today. But criticizing Trump for not having a crystal ball is ridiculous.

Trump is the president we have, at least until next January, and there will be plenty of time to second-guess and point fingers after we know the full extent of the situation and whether the reaction to it was sufficient. Sniping and posturing and ridicule solves nothing; name-calling on social media serves only to foment anger. The people who enjoy such things accomplish nothing positive  they only drive us apart and hamper efforts to defend ourselves.

On the ground, as they say, there is a more subtle divide that has broken the population into two sides. Let us call them the Camp of Complacency and, for lack of a better term, the OWADs (Omigod! Were All Doomed!).

The Complacent can be generalized as those who believed President Trumps early comments, that there was nothing to worry about and wed soon have the virus on the run. Or the ones who are young, fit, healthy  or none of those, but uninformed. They are the ones who say, Bring it on! Its just a bad (or not so bad) case of the flu! I can handle it!

Perhaps so. But I call their attention to an essay from a doctor in western Europe that they can find on the Newsweek website. The title says it all: Young and unafraid of the coronavirus pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people. The doctor preferred to remain unnamed, but there is no reason to doubt his or her warning that even if the virus only gives you the sniffles, it could kill somebody who catches it from you.

The OWADs are those who are overreacting on the other side, clearing everything from canned soup to toilet paper off the store shelves, and preparing to hide in their homes until the thing blows over.

These are the people who stopped buying Corona beer, and refuse to eat at Chinese restaurants.

Heres a personal example: The church I attend has a long-standing commitment to a Cuyahoga County elementary school of providing snack bags for the students to take home as they depart for spring break each year. As we were gearing up to pack the many hundreds of bags came the word: Due to the coronavirus, the school asked that we suspend the program this year.

Caution is one thing, but do the people who made that decision believe that the kids are not going to eat over spring break? Or that their parents arent going to go grocery shopping? How would a bunch of church people packing bags be more dangerous than grocery clerks stocking shelves?

I suspect that most people are somewhere in the middle of these two extremes, but that over time, as the virus spreads across the country, more and more will migrate from the Complacent to the OWAD side. Then one day well be finished with it, and well have to find something else to fight about.

As for me, I intend to stay away from crowds and wash my hands more, but try to live as normal a life as possible and not waste energy and good spirit fighting with people. That last might include taking a vow of silence on Facebook for the duration, which might be the smartest thing of all.

Ted Diadiun is a member of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

To reach Ted Diadiun: tdiadiun@cleveland.com

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* Email general questions, comments or corrections regarding this opinion article to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.
People across Michigan are heading to stores for things like toilet paper and hand sanitizer in preparation for the coronavirus, and retailers are having trouble keeping shelves stocked.

Don Jost, of Holt, went to a Kroger in East Lansing for some of his regular groceries, like fruit, and a few things they didnt have: toilet paper, distilled water, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer.

Its not surprising to see the shelves are empty of those very things, he said.

He wanted small amounts of each.

Im not a panic person," Jost said. Just trying to be prudent without having extraordinary amounts of things.

Grocery stores across the state have seen purchases of some items spike after the states first two presumptive positive cases of coronavirus were reported Tuesday night.

Bottled water, hand sanitizer, hand soap, cold/flu, household cleaning, paper, as well as boxed dinners, soups, and other at-home meal products are in high demand. We are working closely with our suppliers to replenish our inventories, said Rachel Hurst, corporate affairs manager for The Kroger Co. of Michigan.

Related: Toilet paper, cleaning supplies running low at Washtenaw County stores amid coronavirus fears

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency and issued recommendations to control the spread of the virus, including avoiding gatherings of 100 or more people, staying home when sick and practicing good hygiene.

But some people are also preparing by shopping.

Meegan Holland, Vice President of Communications and Marketing for the Michigan Retailers Association, said stores are seeing customers panic, but they dont need to.

Stores do plan to stay open and our members are taking extra measures to clean and sanitize surfaces to keep customers and employees safe, Holland said.

Theyre also encouraging shoppers to use credit and debit cards, she said, as cash is dirty and changes hands.

She said it wasnt just grocery stores having supply issues.

Its not just toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Its electronics, really pretty much anything manufactured in China, Holland said.

Josh St. Clair, a manager at Holly Foods in Holly, said people are shopping for bleach, sanitizer, disinfectant and toilet paper.

Were definitely getting shortages on some stuff, he said, and the store was out of hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes on Thursday afternoon.

Were getting limited by our suppliers, too. What theyre doing is theyre limiting us so everybody in the state can get the same amount. . . theyre just trying to make sure that everybody gets their fair share, St. Clair said.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

Read more on MLive:

Michigan governor asks Trump to open special Obamacare enrollment period during coronavirus threat

Heres a list of specific recommendations from state health officials

Huge Michigan tourist destination, The Henry Ford Museum, closing amid coronavirus

GM tells visitors to stay out of plants if theyve had cold or flu-like symptoms

Some Michigan jury trials, probation reporting canceled due to coronavirus outbreak

Senior Services of Southwest Michigan closes offices as coronavirus precaution

NHL suspends season as coronavirus precaution

Big Ten mens basketball tournament canceled due to coronavirus
The Portland Police Bureau announced Friday that it will reduce the number of calls that officers respond to in person. It will instead direct officers to use the phone to contact people who have reported some types of non-life-threatening crimes.

The new policy is meant to reduce officers exposure to the new coronavirus circulating in the community and to decrease the chances of having many officers at once stricken by the virus. Police say they need to retain the ability to respond to life-threatening emergencies, their number one priority.

The bureau said its encouraging people to go online to make reports that arent about crimes in progress or life safety issues that necessitate an in-person response. Online reports can be made at www.portlandoregon.gov/police/cor/ and police said each one of those reports will be reviewed by a sworn police officer. The bureau stressed the importance of reporting crime.

Non-emergency reports can be made by phone at 503-823-3333. People reporting emergencies still should call 911.

After Friday afternoons initial announcement and some public confusion over what it meant, police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen clarified that police will still send officers to many calls -- including sexual assaults, armed robberies, violence involving weapons, fistfights, home burglaries, business burglaries and many car crashes.

Allen said police will be unlikely to respond to car thefts or car break-ins if theyre not in progress and there are no suspects to pursue. The same goes for identity theft or burglaries of a shed next to someones home, for example, he said.

Were talking about lower level stuff, Allen said. The bigger stuff, of course were going to respond. ... Were just going to be looking for any opportunity we can to use the phone to do our job.

Police Chief Jami Resch told The Oregonian/OregonLive that police will be there when needed.

If there is any potential that anyone could get hurt, officers will still go to that call, Resch said.

In addition to keeping officers healthy, Resch said, the bureau is making the changes over concern that officers might unknowingly come into contact with someone who is infected, then spread the virus to people at higher risk for a severe bout of the disease.

Thank you for your understanding and patience as we work through this unprecedented situation," Resch said in a video announcement to the city.

Portland Police Bureau members are working collaboratively with our partners to prepare for and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Resch said in a written statement. "We value our face-to-face interactions with the public, but recognize the need to do our part to protect the public and our members.

Other police agencies are considering similar changes or have already acted, including Vancouver, Salem and Newberg-Dundee.

Newberg-Dundee police said Friday that they will try to do their work by phone whenever possible, but an officer will respond in person for those wishing personal contact.

During personal contacts we are encouraging social distancing guidelines be followed, the department said.

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee

Subscribe to our Oregon Coronavirus newsletter:
Two aircraft carriers -- the Eisenhower and the Truman -- will remain in the Persian Gulf region as a warning to Iran against retaliation for U.S. airstrikes that "effectively destroyed" five weapons depots belonging to an Iranian proxy militia in Iraq, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said Friday.

"We're going to keep [the carriers] for a while" to signal to Iran that retaliation would bring a massive response, Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said at a Pentagon news conference.

He also said that the U.S. is in the process of moving Patriot anti-missile batteries into Iraq, adding it will be "some days" before they became operational.

There were no Patriot batteries in Iraq when Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq's Anbar province on Jan. 8, resulting in traumatic brain injuries to more than 100 U.S. troops, U.S. officials said at the time.

Related: US Strikes Iran-Backed Group Believed Responsible for Hit on Iraq Base: Pentagon

McKenzie did not discuss the types of aircraft that conducted the airstrikes or where they were based, describing their targets as five facilities used by the Kata'ib Hezbollah militia for storing weapons. No unmanned systems, or drones, were used, he said.

The weapons stored at the depots included 107mm Katyusha rockets of the type used Wednesday in an attack on Camp Taji in Iraq that killed two U.S. troops and a British medic, he said. Fourteen others were wounded.

The Defense Department on Friday identified the two U.S. troops killed as Army Spc. Juan Miguel Mendez Covarrubias, 27, of Hanford, California, and Air Force Staff Sgt. Marshal D. Roberts, 28, of Owasso, Oklahoma.

The British casualty was identified as Royal Army Medical Corps Lance Cpl. Brodie Gillon, 26, described by her commanding officer as "a larger-than-life soldier," according to the BBC.

Since October, U.S. positions in Iraq, including Camp Taji, located about 20 miles north of Baghdad, and the "Green Zone" in Baghdad, which houses the U.S. Embassy, have been hit more than 20 times by rocket attacks, according to U.S. and Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve officials.

McKenzie said at least 12 of the attacks were attributable to Kata'ib Hezbollah, which is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces and nominally affiliated with the Iraqi security forces.

The rockets that hit Camp Taji came from a truck launcher that was later found by Iraqi security forces, but none of those responsible was apprehended, McKenzie said.

"You set the timer" for the rocket launches "and run away," he said. "Had we seen that truck, we would've taken action."

The airstrikes are expected to limit Kata'ib Hezbollah's ability to conduct future attacks, McKenzie said, adding "I would caution Iran and its proxies against an attempted response."

"We don't look for opportunities to attack," he said, but the U.S. "will respond to aggression."

McKenzie said it is his assessment that Iran does not seek a direct confrontation with the U.S. but will continue provocations through proxy groups in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

"I think the threat remains very high," he said.

In another warning, McKenzie said U.S intelligence has a good fix on where the proxy groups are located. "We think we know where most of them are," he said. "There are plenty more places where we can go to work."

McKenzie said he has no way of knowing whether the Camp Taji attack may have been related to what would have been the 63rd birthday of Iranian Quds Force leader Qasem Soleiman, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike at Baghdad International Airport on Jan. 3.

He described Soleimani as a ruthless and effective terrorist leader who was difficult to replace by the Iran regime. "He's not there, and they miss him," McKenzie said.

He also noted that the coronavirus outbreak in Iran has taken a toll on the regime's leadership. "It's going to make it a lot harder for them to make decisions," he said.

On Friday, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini, has shown symptoms of coronavirus and is quarantined.

Also on Friday, Iran's Health Ministry said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has passed 10,000, Tasnim reported.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Read more: Guard Activations in Response to Coronavirus Expected to Hit 1,000 by Weekend
When Cyclone Idai struck Mozambique a year ago, fisherman Jose Martinho fled to higher ground. He saved his life, but lost everything he owned. The government resettled him and his family inland, but he regularly goes back to his old neighbourhood, where he works fixing fishing nets, despite his fears.

I lost my fishing nets and my canoe. I was left with nothing. My home was destroyed, he said, his eyes fixed warily on the sea just metres from a shack he rebuilt with old, rusty iron sheets left scattered by the cyclone.

But I am here because I need to take care of my family.

Idai struck Mozambique on last March 14, and more than 600 people died in that country, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Cyclone Kenneth struck weeks later, and in all about 2.2. million people were displaced. Climate change and the countrys long coast along the Indian Ocean make Mozambique even more prone to cyclones.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, stepped in to help with the response, working closely with other aid agencies. Jose and his family were eventually transferred some 54 kilometres from Beira, the capital of the Sofala province, to Mutua resettlement site, one of six across the region most affected by the cyclone.

The world must not forget the people affected by Cyclone Idai."

Over 93,000 people were moved to these sites where UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies continue to help them. UNHCR provided shelter and relief items and monitored and counselled survivors, particularly children, women and the elderly. The emergency is over, but the refugee agency says more needs to be done if they are to recover fully.

The world must not forget the people affected by Cyclone Idai. Yes, they received assistance, but they still need more help. They still need jobs, they need to rebuild their lives  their homes and they need their children to go to school, said Ivone Kachidza, UNHCRs Senior Protection Assistant based in Beira.

Most of these people lost everything, she said. For now, conditions at the resettlement sites are tough. There are no hospitals nearby, only basic health centres. Women give birth in tents and children must walk long distances to school.

"Life was good before the cyclone."

Amelia Elias, a mother of three who lives in one of the sites, knows the problems firsthand. Before Idai, she and her family rented a house in Beira with furniture and a television and they were saving to buy their own place. She had a business and her husband also worked.

Life was good before the cyclone, said the 26-year-old. Life here in the settlement is difficult because we cant work, we have no means to live.

Jose Martinho, 43, poses with his wife Angelina, 31, and their daughters Laura, 12, and Luiza, 14, in front of their tent in Mutua settlement, which hosts some 700 people. They were relocated there after Cyclone Idai a year ago.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

Jose Martinho, 43, repairs his fishing nets in Nova Praia neighbourhood, in front of his home. He and his family were severely affected by Cyclone Idai a year ago.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

Angelina, 31, works on the piece of land the government attributed to her and her husband in Mutua settlement.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

Amelia, her husband Almeida Juoa, 34, and their children Rosa, 8, Elias, 4 and Alsofina, who is one year old, pose in front of their home in Savane settlement. They were relocated there by the government after Cyclone Idai a year ago.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

Amelia and her daughter Alsofina, 1,5 year-old, in Savane settlement. They were relocated there by the government after cyclone Idai severely hit Beira in March 2019 and damaged their home.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

Amelia's daughter Rosa, 8, washes clothes in Savane settlement. The family was relocated there by the government after Cyclone Idai hit a year ago.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

Memories of what happened are still fresh.

Jose remembers how it began, with a radio announcement warning residents about the cyclone. Rain fell and the wind blew stronger than he had ever seen, but he said people were skeptical because they had survived cyclones before.

"If the cyclone comes back again I will try to run."

I was at home when it started at around 7 pm. It got worse and worse, he said. Then, he added, water was coming fast from the sea. Roofing sheets were blown from houses.

Jose grabbed his family and joined others running from the storm, seeking higher ground. They spent the night at a school before being transferred to the Samora Machel accommodation centre where they received hot food and shelter.

See also: Cyclone Idai survivors say face hardships

Jose is happy that his family is safe, but faces a dilemma as he stitches his nets a few meters from the ocean.

Living conditions in Mutua are very difficult. Being here by the sea is where I can manage to get something for my children, he said. I am scared. If the cyclone comes back again, I will try to run.
Jenna McDonald, a financially strapped carer who is battling her own medical issues, says Alinta Energy shamed and embarrassed her then threatened to disconnect her after she missed a payment on her plan.

Another customer, a single mother with an autistic daughter grieving the death of her brother, said she felt humiliated and ridiculed after she rang up Alinta to sort out a late payment after being threatened with disconnection unless she spoke to a financial counsellor.

Alinta Energy plays hardball with financially strapped customers, potentially breaching the Energy Retail Code in Victoria. Credit:

"I rang Alinta and the person on the line knew my financial situation and that I wasnt paying on time and told me about the companys pay on time plan. I was told it was for my own good, then laughed then hung up on me," she said.

According to the Consumer Action Law Centre (CALC), which takes the majority of calls to the National Debt Helpline in Victoria, Alinta has been telling customers struggling to pay their bills that they must speak to a financial counsellor before they will provide hardship arrangements. They are given a short window of 13 days in some cases, or face being disconnected.
A n architectural intervention by British artist Conrad Shawcross has arrived on the Greenwich Peninsula in south-east London, bringing a jagged 49-metre slice of perforated aluminium to Londons skyline.

The Optic Cloak is on a scale to rival Antony Gormleys Angel of the North, but the gigantic sculpture has a practical function far beyond being purely decorative.

Designed in collaboration with the architectural practice CF Mller Architects, the 49-metre high by 20-metre wide building will house an energy centre providing hot water and heating for 15,000 homes.

The eye-catching metallic chimney flue covered in aluminium cladding is sited in Europes largest-single urban regeneration area covering 160 acres.

When the Greenwich Peninsula mega-district regeneration is completed it will include seven new neighbourhoods, 15,000 residences as well as 3.5m square foot of commercial space  all of which will be heated and served hot water by the low carbon energy centre housed within The Optic Cloak saving an estimated 15-20,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

Shawcross said he wanted to "celebrate" the sculpture's function as part of the energy centre's flue (Marc Wilmot, courtesy of Greenwich Peninsula) / Marc Wilmot_Greenwich Peninsula

The undulating surface of Shawcross creation serves to reflect the light differently during daylight to give the impression it is gradually changing shape.

IMAGE GALLERY: TAKE A TOUR AROUND GREENWICH PENINSULA 1 /20 IMAGE GALLERY: TAKE A TOUR AROUND GREENWICH PENINSULA Greenwich Peninsula Greenwich Peninsula is the site of London's biggest single regeneration project. This riverside district has plans for a lively 24-hour community with 15,000 new homes. City dweller Matthew Ma, 33, is a fan of this emerging district. He works for a Canary Wharf bank and was quick to buy a two-bedroom flat on the 24th floor of a new tower.



The location, the quality of the architecture and the landscaping and all the restaurants and leisure places are coming together nicely", he says. Family appeal Sanjeev and Sharmilee Nellicherry decided to buy a three-bedroom duplex with views across one of the new parks at Greenwich Peninsula.



With two children, the couple wanted to live in a safe, clean neighbourhood buzzing with activity  and with good investment prospects. The Waterman The Waterman, part of the Lower Riverside district, has flats with corner balconies providing dual-aspect views, plus a communal roof garden and residents club with a cinema (scroll right...) The Waterman The residents' club also features a lot of shared space with private workstations (scroll right...) The Waterman The interiors are designed by Conran + Partners, inspired by the vibrancy of the Watermans river and parkside (scroll right...) The Waterman The apartment colour palette creates bold monochrome contrasts, using brass and timber. Call 020 3713 6153 Upper Riverside Leading British designer Tom Dixon has put his name to a limited edition of flats and double-height, loft-style apartments at Upper Riverside, one of the five quarters (scroll right...) Upper Riverside The towering combination of glass and stone facades at Upper Riverside created by architects SOM, have been designed to maximise light and views across London in every apartment (scroll right...) Upper Riverside These homes include penthouses with up to 2,385sq ft of space and 2,350sq ft of terracing (scroll right...) Upper Riverside The interiors strike a contemporary balance combining natural and warm materials like copper, leather and wood with bold sculptural forms (scroll right...) Upper Riverside Weve tried to bring in some warmth and realness, and make the apartments less international-looking and a bit more British, says Dixon, who has come up with custom-made copper kitchens and anodised rolled steel baths (scroll right...) Upper Riverside Residents will be able to use Londons highest swimming pool, part of a glass-walled spa with views of Canary Wharf (scroll right...) Upper Riverside There is a cardio and separate weight-training gym, steam room, changing rooms and a rooftop sun terrace overlooking the river (scroll right...) Upper Riverside The stunning lobby provides a sociable meeting place with dedicated concierge, meeting rooms and a bookable private dining room. Call 020 3713 6153

Shawcross was inspired by Cubism and Op Art movements, but also by military techniques. I became particularly interested in a type of maritime camouflage called Dazzle Camo which was used on ships during the First World War, he said.

The idea is to break up the surface of the object, creating false perspectives and vanishing points. I thought it was important to give [it] a dynamic quality. For those passing, it will evolve radically as you pan by and under it.

This is the first time Royal Academician Shawcross has created a work embedded into a piece of architecture. He was commissioned by Richard Margree, CEO of Greenwich Peninsula developer Knight Dragon.

The Optic Cloak will be visible to thousands of people as they approach London by car daily (Marc Wilmot, courtesy of Greenwich Peninsula)

The external structure of The Optic Cloak will be completed this week but the actual energy station will not be up-and-running until later this Autumn.

The low carbon energy centre means the homes and buildings under development will not be fitted with individual boilers.
Did Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex make a huge mistake when they criticized the media? One royal expert claims that the Sussexes were riding high with the positive press coverage during their tour of Africa and then they threw that all away with their emotional documentary interviews.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan had been enjoying some positive headlines

Despite a steady stream of critics attacking the couple, they began to enjoy some positive press while on their royal tour of Africa. They ditched the royal formalities and interacted with everyone they met  and even showed off baby Archie during the trip.

Meghans biggest critic, Piers Morgan, even gave them high praise, writing on the Daily Mail at the time that their tour of South Africa has been an unqualified success. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex havent put a foot wrong as theyve toured the country shining an important light on many issues from gender violence to poverty and education.

Theyve behaved like royals should behave  with dignity, grace, good humor and empathy, he added.

The couple made a big mistake, however

One royal expert believes that the Sussexes ruined it for themselves when they spoke of how difficult it was to deal with the medias constant criticism.

There were positive headlines when they went to South Africa and unfortunately they ruined it on the penultimate day by criticizing the press, former press spokesman to the Palace Dickie Arbiter told ITV Good Morning Britain.

He continued, And coming out at the same time that they were suing one of the British tabloids. Everything theyve done in terms of engagements has been brilliant. Theyve been welcomed everywhere.

Prince Harry and Meghan squashed the favorable press

During Prince Harry and Markles Africa tour, there was very little negative press directed at them, as even their toughest critics were thrilled to see the pair abandoning formalities and connecting with everyone they encountered.

At the height of their popularity, they announced theyd be suing a tabloid, then they openly spoke about their struggles with life in the spotlight. They each gave emotional interviews for the documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, in which they shared how difficult it had been to endure the media scrutiny.

Prince Harry shared during an interview at the time: My mum clearly taught me a certain set of values of which I always try and uphold, despite the role and the job I think I will always protect my family, and now I have a family to protect.

Everything that she went through and what happened to her is incredibly raw every single day, and that is not being me being paranoid. Thats just me not wanting a repeat of the past, he added.

If anybody else knew what I knew, be it a father or be it a husband, be it anyone, he continued, you would probably be doing exactly what I am doing as well.

Many believed those very candid interviews damaged the good press they had been receiving during the trip.

PR expert Mark Borkowski believes that their documentary broke the royal rule of never complain, never explain. He told The Guardian: You should just say, thats off limits. But he made a story. The documentary, according to Borkowski, was a complete and utter disaster.
Cancer Support Community Central New Jersey While there may be a lot going on in the community and reported through the media, our participants are still worried about their cancer diagnosis and the stressors that come along with it. Its our job to support our participants through the various programs and services we offer.

In the midst of a media firestorm where seemingly every story is centered on COVID-19, there are thousands of individuals and families coping with a cancer diagnosis. Cancer Support Community Central NJ (CSCCNJ) is creating a model for dealing with emergencies that participants feel may or may not be bigger than the cancer diagnosis on their family.

The CSCCNJ social workers and allied health professionals provide vital psychosocial support and services to people who never expected that they or a loved one would be facing a life threatening health crisis. The cancer diagnosis is the primary stressor in their lives. In an effort to get ahead of the COVID-19 emergency, it is important to check in with the community to ensure that they feel supported and informed. To understand the needs of participants, CSCCNJ sent out a survey asking questions such as: how concerned are you about COVID-19? what would make you change your mind about coming to our programs? and would you be interested in participating in virtual programs? The results of this survey were impactful, with over half of respondents stating that they are waiting to see how the situation unfolds. One participant in particular said, Gathering together at CSCCNJ falls into necessary trips for me.

This solidifies that even in emergency situations like COVID-19, cancer is the primary stressor in their lives, says Amy Sutton, CEO of CSCCNJ. While there may be a lot going on in the community and reported through the media, our participants are still worried about their cancer diagnosis and the stressors that come along with it. Its our job to support our participants through the various programs and services we offer.

The Institute of Medicine has said psychosocial support is crucial in the delivery of quality cancer care. Distress caused by cancer, and the inability to connect with support and resources, causes disruptions at work and home. Working family members may need to become caregivers, impacting their income and potentially their entire workplace, and putting a familyand their colleagues familiesfurther at risk. With this in mind, communities must plan ahead and prepare themselves before, during, or after a disaster. Thoughtful and enlightened planning makes a tremendous difference in readiness.

The organization also shared tips recommended by the CDC and other reputable sources for preparedness. Sutton says, As a mental health resource in the community, it is important for our organization to inform our participants as well as check in with their stressors to determine what the best course of action is for them and the organization.

My experience tells me there is hope, if we are prepared and walk through life with one eye on the risks, so that the other eye can be open to live life fully. For now, however, the time is to focus all of our resources on joining together and doing whats necessary to ensure we all come through the COVID-19 situation with resilience and better preparation for future crises, Sutton concludes.

To learn more about preparedness during a cancer diagnosis in the face of COVID-19, visit http://www.cancersupportcnj.org/covid.

About Cancer Support Community Central New Jersey:

Cancer Support Community Central New Jersey (CSCCNJ) is a registered 501c(3) and an independently licensed affiliate of Cancer Support Community, an international nonprofit organization. As experts in oncology mental health, the organization provides support, education, and hope to all people with cancer and their loved ones, So That No One Faces Cancer Alone. Backed by evidence that the best cancer care includes social and emotional support, CSCCNJ creates a caring community to help individuals live with, through, and beyond cancer. At no cost to patients, family members and caregivers, the organization delivers essential programs and services including individual and group support; educational workshops; hands-on nutrition and healthy cooking education; classes to enhance health and wellness; and social activities for the entire family. For more information please visit their website at cancersupportcnj.org or call (908) 658-5400.
23 new patients who were tested positive to the Covid-19 are improving and recovering, according to the Ministry of Health.

Doctors at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi



Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son said that experts had held an online meeting on March 11 about treatment for the patients in various hospitals in Hanoi, Danang, Hue, and HCM City. The ministry gave high regards to the preparedness and quick results in checking and tests.

Some patients have had symptoms of pneumonia but the situation was under control. The Hanoi-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases said they were treating 11 patients and all are in good condition. They haven't had any worsening case and no one has to use invasive ventilation methods yet. The 17th patient has not had a fever for the last three days.

According to Son, there is no specific medicine for SARS-CoV-2 yet. The ministry has provided all the necessary treatments to the hospitals.

The ministry is also managing the online management and administration centre for supporting SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis and treatment. The centre will connect with all major hospitals for fast data transferring and experience exchange so that difficult cases can be consulted quickly.

Son said Vietnam had basically tracked, monitored and quarantined all cases.

As of March 12, Vietnam has a total of 39 Covid-19 cases, of which 16 people have been cured and released.

HCM City refuses cruise ship over Covid-19 concerns

HCM City has turned down a Bahamas-flagged cruise ship with Italians on board due to concerns over Covid-19 infection.

The decision was made following the proposal by the municipal Health Department.

The ship carries 826 people, including 423 passengers and 403 crew, including some Italians.

The ship wants to dock in HCM City today, March 14, so that its passengers could explore the citys tourist sites.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health said late March 12 that five more people had tested positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country so far to 44.

Ho Chi Minh City adds 21,000 beds in quarantine zones

Amid intensifying measures to inspect new arrivals in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern metropolis has simultaneously been preparing additional isolation zones and field hospitals in a bid to cope with the increasingly complicated situation regarding the COVID-19 outbreak.

During an online meeting held on March 12 between the Municipal Party Committee, the HCM City People's Committee, and districts, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee Le Thanh Liem said the city has been preparing for a range of scenarios in order to be ready to deal with the complicated developments of the COVID-19 epidemic.

There are currently 30 isolation zones containing a total of 3,251 beds, with plans to add a further 21,000 beds at different hospitals throughout HCM City, bringing the total number of beds up to approximately 24,000.

With districts moving to implement strict isolation activities at homes and residential areas for 3,720 cases. A total of 3,126 cases have already had their isolation period ended.

At present, the southern city has two agencies capable of conducting tests for the COVID-19, including the Pasteur Institute and the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases. More than 3,000 test kits have been prepared, while the city has also invested in an additional 20,000 test kits for future use.

The citys Department of Health has organised four training courses for health care workers in a bid to improve their diagnosis and treatment skills as a means of preventing the further spread of the disease.

With the effective implementation of preventive measures, the city has so far only recorded four cases of infection, with no cases spreading to the wider community. Most notably, three of the cases have been successfully cured.

The southern city has also requested that local authorities prepare medical logistics options, whilst also setting up further isolation areas and field hospitals so they are fully prepared to cope with any future developments of the epidemic.

Two streets in Binh Thuan quarantined following Covid-19 cases

Two streets in the southern central province of Binh Thuans Phan Thiet City have been quarantined after more local residents tested positive for Covid-19.

Many households on Hoang Van Thu and Ngo Si Lien streets have been isolated.

Fences have been set up to cover the streets with three checkpoints. People in the isolated area can only go out in very necessary cases.

On Thursday, Binh Thuan announced five new Covid-19 patients who are living in Phan Thiet City. They are all linked to Patient 34, a Vietnamese woman returning from the US early this month.

Five new positive cases have taken the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in Vietnam to 44, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

The five are all linked to Patient 34, a Vietnamese woman returning from the US early this month. The five are residents of Phan Thiet City.

Patient 34 was confirmed as Vietnams 34th COVID-19 patient on Tuesday after returning to the country from the US and transiting in South Korea and Qatar.

Local authorities have continued tracking down people who had been close contact with Patient 34 and the other local Covid-19 cases for quarantine.

London-HCM City flight passengers quarantined

All crew members and passengers of a flight from London to HCM City have been quarantined because of a young woman with Covid-19 symptoms.

The woman who is a Vietnamese student in the UK took Vietnam Airlines VN50 which arrived in HCM Citys Tan Son Nhat International Airport at around 5 am yesterday morning.

The information about her suspected Covid-19 symptoms such as cough and fever was reported to Tan Son Nhat International Airports Disease Control Centre by her parents after she was already in the air for two hours.

According to her parents, she had come to a hospital in the UK for examination, but was diagnosed with seasonal flu. She did not have a Covid-19 test.

She then developed symptoms such as cough and fever and still decided to return to Vietnam.

After hearing the report, the flight captain decided to move the woman to the last seat row of the plane to be quarantined from the other passengers.

As soon as the flight landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the woman was taken to HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases. Meanwhile, the crew and passengers were sent to a quarantine area in Cu Chi.

A separate area was also arranged for the flight to land to ensure safety. The aeroplane was sterilised.

Official highlights peoples role in COVID-19 fight

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Tran Thanh Man has stressed the importance of the engagement of the entire political system, especially the whole people, in the fight against COVID-19.

At a national teleconference held by the committee in Hanoi on March 11, Man said over the last two months, the entire political system has got involved in the COVID-19 prevention and control, which has received support from all people.

The Party Central Committees Secretariat, the cabinet, relevant agencies and localities have taken prompt and drastic actions to combat the disease, he said.

The VFF and its member organisations have carried out communications plans to encourage the publics participation in the work, the official said, adding that the fronts staff in localities like Hanoi, HCM City, Da Nang, Vinh Phuc, Thanh Hoa and Khanh Hoa has even met each resident to disseminate information.

Pointing out complex developments of the outbreak, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long described each people as a soldier protecting themselves and the community and also a helper in the detection of those returning from COVID-19-affected areas.

He also asked socio-political organisations like the youth, women and war veterans unions to be more active in mobilising all peoples contribution to anti-coronavirus efforts.

Man said numerous challenges are lying in the path ahead, but also stressed that with peoples active and drastic engagement, the fight against the outbreak will definitely be a success.

He requested VFF committees and member organisations at all levels to better coordinate with authorities in the COVID-19 prevention and control while keep fulfilling their specific tasks so as to help achieve targets set for 2020 and the following years.

So far, Vietnam has recorded 39 cases of COVID-19 infection, 16 of them have fully recovered.

Centre for Disease Control in Can Tho to conduct tests for SARS-CoV-2

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho will begin testing for SARS-CoV-2 after March 15.

The HCM City Pasteur Institute designated the Can Tho centre as one with sufficient capacity and ability to conduct tests of the virus. All machines and equipment have been installed and staff are fully prepared.

Nguyen Quang Thong, head of the centre, said the institute had checked its facilities, equipment and personnel to ensure compliance.

The tests in the Can Tho centre will help shorten the time for detection and implementation of preventive measures in the Mekong Delta region.

In the past, the centre had to send samples to the HCM City Pasteur Institute for testing, and results took at least one day. It will continue to send samples to the institute until March 15.

The Ministry of Health on March 3 also approved testing at Thai Nguyen National Hospital, whose lab has sufficient conditions to satisfy biological safety level 2.

The hospital has a stable supply of chemicals and biological products, and has established standard practices before, during and after tests.

Tests of the virus are being conducted nationwide at 30 institutes, hospitals and centres for disease control and prevention.

They include the National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology, Bach Mai Hospital, Viet Nam National Childrens Hospital in Ha Noi, Pasteur institutes in HCM City and Nha Trang, Central Highland Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology, Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City, and centres for disease control and prevention in the provinces of Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Ha Tinh and Lao Cai, and in cities of Ha Noi and a Nang. Dtinews/VietNamNet/VOV/VNA/VNS

Compiled by T. Van
Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at Texas A&M University and the University of Georgia may have discovered a way to treat deadly foal pneumonia without promoting multi-drug resistant bacteria. In a clinical trial, they found that gallium maltolate (GaM), a semi-metal compound with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, could be a viable alternative to overprescribed antibiotics. The team published their findings in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of disease and death in foals and there is currently no effective vaccine licensed. The bacterium Rhodococcus equi (R. equi), a naturally occurring bacterium in soil, is implicated in the most severe cases in horses. Unfortunately, current methods to screen for R. equi are imprecise and many foals are treated with antibiotics, such as the combination of a macrolide antimicrobial (e.g. azithromycin, the antibiotic in the commonly prescribed Z-pack for human use) with rifampin (MaR), even though they would not have developed pneumonia.

"While that treatment strategy saves lives in the short term, it's really driving this resistance problem because for every one foal that needs treatment, you treat several foals that don't need treatment," said Dr. Noah Cohen, the Patsy Link Chair in Equine Research at Texas A&M University, a primary investigator of the study, along with his colleague Steeve Giguere (deceased). "For the sake of foals, we want to offer veterinarians a better, nontraditional option."

For the study, the team screened 57 foals from four farms in central Kentucky for subclinical pneumonia, then divided the foals into three equal groups. Two groups contained foals with subclinical pneumonia, meaning ultrasounds found lesions on their lungs but the foals had no clinical signs. The foals also all lived on farms with positive cases of R. equi pneumonia that year. Those groups were given either MaR or GaM for two weeks.

The third group served as a control group and was made up of foals that were the same age as the subclinical foals, but were healthy. They were monitored and not given any treatment.

After two weeks, researchers analyzed fecal samples from each foal. DNA tests revealed that the MaR treated group had an increase in both the number and diversity of antibiotic-resistant genes in the bacteria. Most alarming was the discovery that the bacteria were resistant to multiple drugs and antibiotics. The GaM treated and control groups showed no change in the number or diversity of resistance genes, a positive finding.

The team also experimentally infected soil plots with resistant and nonresistant strains of R. equi to see how foals might contaminate their environment with their excrement that can contain unabsorbed and metabolized antibiotics. MaR tended to reduce the number of bacteria in a plot's soil but increase the proportion that were resistant.

Dr. Cohen said one of his team's next steps is to test the effectiveness of GaM on foals that are clinically infected with R. equi.

"The widespread use of antibiotics has consequences and we really need to be prudent in prescribing them," said Dr. Janet Patterson-Kane, Morris Animal Foundation Chief Scientific Officer. "Gallium maltonate may be an excellent alternative and we hope, if proven fully effective, that it could be put into regular use."

###

The Foundation also funded a companion paper to this study where researchers compared three techniques to monitor antimicrobial activity and the spread of antimicrobial resistant R. equi.

Morris Animal Foundation, headquartered in Denver, is one of the largest nonprofit animal health research organizations in the world, funding more than $155 million in studies across a broad range of species.

About Morris Animal Foundation

Morris Animal Foundation's mission is to bridge science and resources to advance the health of animals. Founded by a veterinarian in 1948, we fund and conduct critical health studies for the benefit of all animals. Learn more at morrisanimalfoundation.org.
A bill that will help to improve transportation options for disabled and aging Tennesseans unanimously passed the House and Senate chambers of General Assembly on March 12.

State Rep. Dan Howell is the sponsor of the Tennessee Accessible Transportation and Mobility Act of 2020 (HB1596/SB1612). At no cost to the state, Rep. Howells bill uses federal dollars to create an office within the Tennessee Department of Transportation dedicated to expanding and improving accessible transportation.

Public transportation is a challenge in certain areas across the state and especially difficult to access for the disabled and aging, said Rep. Howell, who serves as chair of the House Transportation Committee.

This law will help eliminate barriers to accessible transportation for our disabled and aging population. Better access to public transportation means improved mobility and greater opportunities to be out in the community, engaged and leading more independent lives. Rep. Howell said. I applaud the members of the General Assembly for their strong, bipartisan support of this bill.

House Bill 1596 was co-sponsored by Rep. Darren Jernigan from Old Hickory.

The bill now heads to the governors desk for approval.

For full details of House Bill 1596 click here.
REDONDO BEACH, Calif., March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kids culinary subscription kit Raddish Kids is lending a helping hand to families seeking fun, educational and entertaining activities for their children while schools are closed and extracurricular activities are restricted.

Each thematic Raddish kit is designed by educators and chefs to nurture kids' confidence in the kitchen, expand their palates, and make learning delicious. The complimentary Raddish kit is called Swedish Eats and celebrates traditions and flavors from Sweden. Though families may be restricted in their travel, they can explore other cultures and countries in their own homes.

Beginning today, families can visit Raddishkids.com/SuddenlyHomeschooling to order their free kit (shipping is included), and also access free content including an at-home cooking camp program, recipes your kids can make with pantry staples and additional learning extensions across science, geography, language arts, and more.

"As a working mom, I know firsthand the impact that school closures have on families," said Raddish Kids Founder Samantha Barnes. "We hope these free kits are a helpful resource for parents and inspire family togetherness during this period of social distancing."

The complimentary Raddish kit is called Swedish Eats and celebrates traditions and flavors from Sweden. Though families may be restricted in their travel, they can explore other cultures and countries in their own homes. Geared towards kids in elementary and middle grades, the kit features three laminated illustrated recipe guides for Swedish Meatballs , Scandinavian Smorgasbord and Nordic Cinnamon Buns. Additionally, each kit includes a kid-size cooking tool, apron patch and fun learning activity.

"The kitchen is the perfect place to cultivate academic skills like math, science, geography, culture, reading, among other subjects outside of the traditional classroom," said Barnes who is a former educator as well as a mother who has homeschooled her kids. "Our kits weave in these subjects alongside key culinary skills that nourish the mind, expand the palate and empower kids in the kitchen and beyond."

To order a free Raddish kit, visit www.raddishkids.com/suddenlyhomeschooling .

ABOUT RADDISH KIDS

Founded by Samantha Barnes, Raddish Kids is the leading, award-winning monthly subscription kit and cooking club for kids that delivers a new culinary adventure to families each month. Each thematic kit is designed by educators and chefs to nurture kids' confidence in the kitchen, expand their palates, and make learning delicious. Raddish cooking kits entice kids into the kitchen with beautifully illustrated recipes, culinary tools, and fun activities, and take the guesswork out of teaching kids to cook. Science, math, geography, STEAM, and other subjects are intricately woven into each themed kit, making the kitchen the tastiest place to learn. Raddish has been recognized as an Inc. 500 fastest growing company in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine as well as honored with a Parents' Choice Gold Award and CUBE Best Customer Experience Award. www.raddishkids.com .

Media Contact:

Jennifer Parnell

[email protected]

720-515-3651

SOURCE Raddish
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 21:47:15|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Chief of Staff of Iran Armed Forces Hossein Baqeri said on Friday that public places across the country will be emptied of people's unnecessary presence soon amid the rampant growth of infections of the coronavirus, official IRNA news agency reported.

"The process of emptying the roads, streets and shopping centers from the people will start by the national decision (of authorities) within the next 24 hours," Baqeri was quoted as saying.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday ordered the Iranian armed forces to form the "Health and Medical Headquarters" to enhance efforts fighting against COVID-19.

Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education on Friday announced that 11,364 people in the country have contracted the COVID-19, of whom 514 have died.
( From L) Queen Letizia of Spain, King Felipe VI of Spain, French President Emmanuel Macron and French first lady Brigitte Macron applaud during a ceremony to honour victims of terrorism, on March 11, 2020 at the Esplanade du Trocadero in Paris, on France's first national day of tribute to the victims of terrorism. (Photo by GONZALO FUENTES / POOL / AFP) (

Netherland's King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima arrive at Kalibata Heroes Cemetery complex during their visit in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (2nd R) and Queen Maxima (L) wave as they visit the village of Lintong Nihuta in Toba, North Sumatra on March 12, 2020

Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia attend a ceremony to honour victims of terror attacks in Europe, on the 16th anniversary of Madrid attacks, at the Trocadero in Paris, France March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool

King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia of Spain receive the Diplomatic Corps at the Zarzuela Palace on February 05, 2020 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

Spain's Queen Letizia and King Felipe have been tested for Coronavirus, their communications team has confirmed.

The royal couple are taking "preventative measures" due to the public facing nature of their roles.

"Based on the recent public activities of HM the Queen and the information transmitted by the Government, as a preventive measure indicated by the health authorities, their Majesties have carried out the corresponding COVID detection test this morning," statement released by the Spanish Royal Palace said on Thursday.

"The results of these tests will be publicly communicated. Thank you."

Expand Close ( From L) Queen Letizia of Spain, King Felipe VI of Spain, French President Emmanuel Macron and French first lady Brigitte Macron applaud during a ceremony to honour victims of terrorism, on March 11, 2020 at the Esplanade du Trocadero in Paris, on France's first national day of tribute to the victims of terrorism. (Photo by GONZALO FUENTES / POOL / AFP) ( / Facebook

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Whatsapp ( From L) Queen Letizia of Spain, King Felipe VI of Spain, French President Emmanuel Macron and French first lady Brigitte Macron applaud during a ceremony to honour victims of terrorism, on March 11, 2020 at the Esplanade du Trocadero in Paris, on France's first national day of tribute to the victims of terrorism. (Photo by GONZALO FUENTES / POOL / AFP) (

Felipe was due to make a public appearance on Thursday, which was cancelled. They have recently returned to Madrid after an official visit to Paris where they met with President Emmanuel Macron and first lady Brigitte Macron to mark the European Day of Victims of Terrorism.

Both parties kept the recommended two-metre distance from one another and did not touch.

Their decision to test for COVID-19 comes after a number of high profile Spanish government officials have been quarantined. The Minister for Equality Irene Montero tested positive, and Letizia with her last week. Ms Montero's partner Pablo Iglesias, is being isolated.

Meanwhile, Europe's royal families are adapting to their new normal after the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic earlier this week.

Denmark's Crown Princess Mary and husband Crown Prince Frederik have returned home to Copenhagen after spending a number of months abroad in Switzerland, where their children were enrolled at the Lemania-Verbier International School.

In a statement, the Danish royal court said: "In light of the worsening situation in Denmark in connection with the handling of the spread of COVID-19, the Crown Prince couple has decided that the family will leave home from Switzerland.

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"The Crown Prince couple find it most natural to return home and stand with the Danes in a time that requires a lot of everyone and where there is a shared responsibility for looking after each other."

Holland's Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander are still continuing their five-day tour of Indonesia, despite The Netherlands being put on lockdown. Neither have engaged with hand shaking with individuals, instead waving and smiling from a distance and using a prayer bow as an alternative greeting.

Expand Close Netherland's King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima arrive at Kalibata Heroes Cemetery complex during their visit in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana / Facebook

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Whatsapp Netherland's King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima arrive at Kalibata Heroes Cemetery complex during their visit in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana

As for the British royals, including Kate Middleton and Prince William who were shaking hands with hundreds of well-wishers in Ireland just last week, each has adopted a personality-driven method of introduction.

Prince Harry, before finalising his royal duties, engaged in an elbow bump, Prince Charles bowed with his hands clasped together, while Queen Elizabeth has been shaking hands while alternating the use of gloves.

Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria's Name Day has been cancelled as per the guidelines set out by WHO about mass gatherings.

The celebrations were due to take part yesterday at Stockholm's Royal Palace, but was cancelled at the advice of the Public Health Authority.
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Linkedin Endy M. Bayuni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 07:25 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a3634f 1 Opinion omnibus-bill,omnibus-bill-on-job-creation,Jokowi,Jokowi-administration,#commentary Free

Like a professional chess player, President Joko Jokowi Widodo early in his second term in office has opened his move with a gambit: introducing a highly controversial bill on job creation that is already meeting stiff opposition, even from those who had helped him get reelected last April.

Its a risky move that that could go either way.

This being his last term in office  the Constitution bars him from running again in 2024  he has nothing to lose but his shirt.

Jokowi is doing exactly what many political observers tell presidents serving their last term: Without reelection worries, do whatever needs to be done, even if it is unpopular, and leave a legacy that people will remember you for.

Jokowi has never spelled out clearly what legacy he wants to build for when he leaves the political stage in 2024, but the omnibus bill on job creation and what it means for the economy seems like a good bet.

The governments omnibus bill on job creation, a 1,028-page document now in the hands of the House of Representatives, has sparked fierce objections from many quarters, and there is a possibility that they may unravel Jokowis gambit, and with it, his legacy plan.

Labor unions, environmental activists and human rights and democracy activists  many of whom were loyal supporters of Jokowi going back to the 2014 and 2019 elections  are now campaigning to foil his move, either fighting against selected articles, or opposing the bill in its entirety.

Should they succeed, Jokowi would squander his second term, and like his predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, will leave no real legacy worthy of note in the countrys history books.

Although the job creation omnibus bill had been discussed in the political corridors for several months, the final draft submitted to the House last month took many people by surprise because of its enormity and the far reaching effects it would have if implemented.

Unions say it is antilabor, environmental activists say it would lead to more environmental degradation by industries and human rights activists are worried it would give overriding power to the president with little checks and balances. Even businesses, which helped write the draft, are concerned about some articles in the bill. Regional administrations are wary the bill would take away some of their autonomous power.

The bill, if passed, will revoke more than 1,000 articles in 80 laws, but then that is the rational for the omnibus label in the first place. Jokowi says reforming individual laws would take 50 years.

The idea behind the bill is that Indonesia needs to get out of the middle-income trap predicament in which annual economic growth rates have been struggling to stay above 5 percent.

Indonesia is in the middle of a demographic dividend era, when the size of the working-age population outstrips dependants. The country needs to create as many jobs as possible to turn this dividend into economic benefits.

Currently, the official unemployment rate is 5.3 percent of the 130 million-strong workforce, but this figure conceals the fact that as many as 40 percent are underemployed and vulnerable to being condemned to poverty when the economy slows down.

Jokowi knows that if he fails to bring in investment, he will not be able to create the number of jobs needed to absorb this ever growing workforce. He could go down in history as the president who squandered the demographic dividend, which will end in 2036.

Can he pull it off?

Politically, Jokowi today is at his most powerful since he became president in 2014.

He won a 55 percent mandate in the April presidential election and also brought his 2014 and 2019 contender, Prabowo Subianto, into his Cabinet. The ruling coalition of six political parties includes the three largest  the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Golkar and Prabowos Gerindra  and control 75 percent of House seats.

He has the support of conservative Muslims, who had been his Achilles heel, thanks to his new Vice President Maruf Amin, a respected cleric from Nahdlatul Ulama, the countrys largest Islamic organization.

He counts on the support of business and is very much in command of the military and the police.

He turned his back on the more progressive segments of society, who had been his ardent supporters in the last two elections. But they have always been a minority, easily dispensable.

A survey by Indo Barometer last month on his first 100 days shows he commands a more than 70 percent public approval rating.

But Jokowi is far from being the lame duck final-term president many assumed he would be.

Many people have consistently underestimated Jokowi ever since he plunged into national politics in 2014. The former furniture salesman who began his political career as mayor of Surakarta, a small city in Central Java, has time again outsmarted his detractors and opponents, winning the Jakarta gubernatorial election in 2012, and the presidential elections in 2014 and 2019.

In the chess world, he could be a grandmaster of Indonesian politics.

This chess game, however, is far from over. Jokowi has made his gambit. Now it is up to anyone who cares to challenge him to make their move.
Bank of America has sent more than 100 employees to work in a backup office in Connecticut. Tetra Images | Getty

As the coronavirus pandemic disrupts routine working around the world, companies across the financial sector are having to find more agile ways of operating. While many global companies are telling all staff to work from home, for some banking roles, this isn't possible. Traders, for example, often deal with sensitive data, requiring workstations and technology that meet certain compliance standards and cannot be used at home.

Goldman Sachs' blue and white teams

In an office memo sent to employees Thursday, seen by CNBC, investment bank Goldman Sachs said it was fully activating its "business continuity planning" (BCP) strategies on a global basis from next week. Some employees would be working from an "assigned fixed location," meaning they would either work in one of its main buildings or a BCP site without rotation, until further notice. Other workers at the bank would be assigned to either a "blue or white" team that would alternate weekly between working from home and in one of its main offices. In addition to other protective hygiene measures, Goldman Sachs also recommended that staff limit the size of gatherings with colleagues to no more than 20 people. This follows the news last week that the investment bank had sent around 200 employees in its London office to test out a contingency site in Croydon, on the outskirts of the U.K. capital.

JPMorgan, Citi, Bank of America

Group lunch deliveries
Air trips to the Sudanese capital Khartoum will be cancelled as of Friday and until further notice, the airline said in a statement.

Sudan announced on Thursday it had stopped visa issuances and flight services to eight countries, including Egypt, in a bid to stem the spread of the new virus.

The Sudanese government said it would also halt bus trips to Egypt.Egypt has confirmed 80 coronavirus cases, two of whom have died, an Egyptian woman and a German tourist.Of the total number, twenty people have since recovered, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The virus, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, has so far infected over 135,000 people and killed more than 4,900 globally.
Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov has informed that foreigners from the occupied territories will be banned from entering Ukraine due to coronavirus.

We suggest introducing a 100-percent regime of restriction for foreigners at checkpoints [when leaving the occupied territories]. We suggest allowing Ukrainian citizens registered in the unoccupied territory [to enter the government-controlled territory] to have more control, Avakov said at the Cabinets meeting on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

In addition, he said, separate decisions will be approved regarding the OSCE SMM and the Red Cross representatives who stay in the occupied territories.

Earlier, Avakov reported on 12 cases of coronavirus in the occupied city of Horlivka in Donetsk region.

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What is the coronavirus?

A coronavirus is a type of virus which can cause illness in animals and people. Viruses break into cells inside their host and use them to reproduce itself and disrupt the body's normal functions. Coronaviruses are named after the Latin word 'corona', which means crown, because they are encased by a spiked shell which resembles a royal crown.

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

Experts say the bug, which has killed around one in 50 patients since the outbreak began in December, is a 'sister' of the SARS illness which hit China in 2002, so has been named after it.

The disease that the virus causes has been named COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.

Dr Helena Maier, from the Pirbright Institute, said: 'Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals.

'Until this new coronavirus was identified, there were only six different coronaviruses known to infect humans. Four of these cause a mild common cold-type illness, but since 2002 there has been the emergence of two new coronaviruses that can infect humans and result in more severe disease (Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses).

'Coronaviruses are known to be able to occasionally jump from one species to another and that is what happened in the case of SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus. The animal origin of the new coronavirus is not yet known.'

The first human cases were publicly reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where approximately 11million people live, after medics first started publicly reporting infections on December 31.

By January 8, 59 suspected cases had been reported and seven people were in critical condition. Tests were developed for the new virus and recorded cases started to surge.

The first person died that week and, by January 16, two were dead and 41 cases were confirmed. The next day, scientists predicted that 1,700 people had become infected, possibly up to 7,000.

Where does the virus come from?

According to scientists, the virus almost certainly came from bats. Coronaviruses in general tend to originate in animals  the similar SARS and MERS viruses are believed to have originated in civet cats and camels, respectively.

The first cases of COVID-19 came from people visiting or working in a live animal market in Wuhan, which has since been closed down for investigation.

Although the market is officially a seafood market, other dead and living animals were being sold there, including wolf cubs, salamanders, snakes, peacocks, porcupines and camel meat.

A study by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, published in February 2020 in the scientific journal Nature, found that the genetic make-up virus samples found in patients in China is 96 per cent identical to a coronavirus they found in bats.

However, there were not many bats at the market so scientists say it was likely there was an animal which acted as a middle-man, contracting it from a bat before then transmitting it to a human. It has not yet been confirmed what type of animal this was.

Dr Michael Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London, was not involved with the research but said: 'The discovery definitely places the origin of nCoV in bats in China.

'We still do not know whether another species served as an intermediate host to amplify the virus, and possibly even to bring it to the market, nor what species that host might have been.'

So far the fatalities are quite low. Why are health experts so worried about it?

Experts say the international community is concerned about the virus because so little is known about it and it appears to be spreading quickly.

It is similar to SARS, which infected 8,000 people and killed nearly 800 in an outbreak in Asia in 2003, in that it is a type of coronavirus which infects humans' lungs. It is less deadly than SARS, however, which killed around one in 10 people, compared to approximately one in 50 for COVID-19.

Another reason for concern is that nobody has any immunity to the virus because they've never encountered it before. This means it may be able to cause more damage than viruses we come across often, like the flu or common cold.

Speaking at a briefing in January, Oxford University professor, Dr Peter Horby, said: 'Novel viruses can spread much faster through the population than viruses which circulate all the time because we have no immunity to them.

'Most seasonal flu viruses have a case fatality rate of less than one in 1,000 people. Here we're talking about a virus where we don't understand fully the severity spectrum but it's possible the case fatality rate could be as high as two per cent.'

If the death rate is truly two per cent, that means two out of every 100 patients who get it will die.

'My feeling is it's lower,' Dr Horby added. 'We're probably missing this iceberg of milder cases. But that's the current circumstance we're in.

'Two per cent case fatality rate is comparable to the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 so it is a significant concern globally.'

How does the virus spread?

The illness can spread between people just through coughs and sneezes, making it an extremely contagious infection. And it may also spread even before someone has symptoms.

It is believed to travel in the saliva and even through water in the eyes, therefore close contact, kissing, and sharing cutlery or utensils are all risky. It can also live on surfaces, such as plastic and steel, for up to 72 hours, meaning people can catch it by touching contaminated surfaces.

Originally, people were thought to be catching it from a live animal market in Wuhan city. But cases soon began to emerge in people who had never been there, which forced medics to realise it was spreading from person to person.

What does the virus do to you? What are the symptoms?

Once someone has caught the COVID-19 virus it may take between two and 14 days, or even longer, for them to show any symptoms  but they may still be contagious during this time.

If and when they do become ill, typical signs include a runny nose, a cough, sore throat and a fever (high temperature). The vast majority of patients will recover from these without any issues, and many will need no medical help at all.

In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people.

Figures are showing that young children do not seem to be particularly badly affected by the virus, which they say is peculiar considering their susceptibility to flu, but it is not clear why.

What have genetic tests revealed about the virus?

Scientists in China have recorded the genetic sequences of around 19 strains of the virus and released them to experts working around the world.

This allows others to study them, develop tests and potentially look into treating the illness they cause.

Examinations have revealed the coronavirus did not change much  changing is known as mutating  much during the early stages of its spread.

However, the director-general of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, said the virus was mutating and adapting as it spread through people.

This means efforts to study the virus and to potentially control it may be made extra difficult because the virus might look different every time scientists analyse it.

More study may be able to reveal whether the virus first infected a small number of people then change and spread from them, or whether there were various versions of the virus coming from animals which have developed separately.

How dangerous is the virus?

The virus has a death rate of around two per cent. This is a similar death rate to the Spanish Flu outbreak which, in 1918, went on to kill around 50million people.

Experts have been conflicted since the beginning of the outbreak about whether the true number of people who are infected is significantly higher than the official numbers of recorded cases. Some people are expected to have such mild symptoms that they never even realise they are ill unless they're tested, so only the more serious cases get discovered, making the death toll seem higher than it really is.

However, an investigation into government surveillance in China said it had found no reason to believe this was true.

Dr Bruce Aylward, a World Health Organization official who went on a mission to China, said there was no evidence that figures were only showing the tip of the iceberg, and said recording appeared to be accurate, Stat News reported.

Can the virus be cured?

The COVID-19 virus cannot be cured and it is proving difficult to contain.

Antibiotics do not work against viruses, so they are out of the question. Antiviral drugs can work, but the process of understanding a virus then developing and producing drugs to treat it would take years and huge amounts of money.

No vaccine exists for the coronavirus yet and it's not likely one will be developed in time to be of any use in this outbreak, for similar reasons to the above.

The National Institutes of Health in the US, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, say they are working on a vaccine based on what they know about coronaviruses in general, using information from the SARS outbreak. But this may take a year or more to develop, according to Pharmaceutical Technology.

Currently, governments and health authorities are working to contain the virus and to care for patients who are sick and stop them infecting other people.

People who catch the illness are being quarantined in hospitals, where their symptoms can be treated and they will be away from the uninfected public.

And airports around the world are putting in place screening measures such as having doctors on-site, taking people's temperatures to check for fevers and using thermal screening to spot those who might be ill (infection causes a raised temperature).

However, it can take weeks for symptoms to appear, so there is only a small likelihood that patients will be spotted up in an airport.

Is this outbreak an epidemic or a pandemic?

The outbreak was declared a pandemic on March 11. A pandemic is defined by the World Health Organization as the 'worldwide spread of a new disease'.

Previously, the UN agency said most cases outside of Hubei had been 'spillover' from the epicentre, so the disease wasn't actually spreading actively around the world.
TRAVERSE CITY, MI  A Northern Michigan man was sentenced this week for killing a woman and then dumping her body in a field in December.

On Thursday, March 12, a Traverse City judge sentenced Frank Supal to 30 to 50 years in prison for the Dec. 10 slaying of 62-year-old Wanda Lyons, The Associated Press reports.

Supal, 50, was arraigned on open murder charges in December and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February, the report said. Supal told authorities that he and Lyons had been drinking together the night she was murder at a Traverse City motel.

Lyons body was discovered the morning of Dec. 11 when a passing motorist noticed drag marks in the snow in a field south of Maple City in Leelanau County, police said. Lyons husband reported her missing later that day. An autopsy later showed Lyons had neck fractures and was beaten, stabbed and strangled.

Supal left a trail of evidence that quickly led investigators to suspect him, including bloodied bed sheets found in a dumpster; cell phone location data; blood in a motel room, vehicle and on clothing; surveillance video and tire marks. He was in custody within two days of the murder.

Lyons and her husband were living at the motel where she died; they had moved from the Chicago area. Supal lived next door and was the only other tenant. Lyons and Supal were known to smoke and chat together outside their rooms.

READ MORE:

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Friday, March 13

Sedona: Through the Lens, Eyes and Mind of Ted Grussing: 4-5:30 p.m. Mary D. Fisher Theatre, 2030 W. State Route 89A, Sedona. Join Ted as he guides you through the wonders and beauty of Sedona and Northern Arizona from a perspective that few have ever seen. www.SedonaFilmFestival.org.

Visiting Ceramic Artist: Michal Puszczynski at CCC: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Coconino Community College, 2800 S. Lone Tree Rd. Live demonstration and lecture from Michal Puszczynski. Free and open to the public. Michal Puszczynski, P.D. (b.1976), is one of the leading Polish ceramic artists, work at Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw, Poland. He creates large scale sculptures and installations, using clay and other ceramic materials. Puszczynski was the first artist to introduce Poland to ceramic wood-firing techniques originating from the Far East. He has participated in the number of exhibitions, conferences, and artistic projects throughout Europe, Asia, and the USA. Member of international Academy of Ceramics (IAC) awarded numerous scholarships and grants, including Fulbright Award 2019/2020. Currently, he is at Northern Arizona University completing research over the modern approach to wood-firing ceramics.

2020 Curious Edition Submission Deadline: 5 p.m. Calling all Northern Arizona writers and artists. CCC's Own College Publication is extending their deadline for creative submissions until March 13 at 5 p.m. for the 2020 Curios Edition Magazine. Submissions may include poems, short stories, images of artwork, photography, plays and all things creative. Submit any work to curiosccc@gmail.com.

Writers Who Lunch: 12-1:30 p.m. Flagstaff City-Coconino County Public Library, 300 West Aspen Ave. Many authors have day jobs--the trick is fitting in your writing between the shifts. Come feed your writing with the support and company of other Flagstaff writers! Join us at the Writer's Table in the northwest corner of the Downtown Library. www.flagstaffpubliclibrary.org/.

Fall Prevention/Arthritis Tai Chi: 10-11 a.m. Jay Montoya Community Center, 245 N Thorpe Rd. Fall Prevention & Arthritis Tai Chi classes. This style of Tai Chi is a slow, gentle way of maintaining balance and ease of movement. Perfect for those with mobility issues. All movements can be done from a chair or standing. http://coconino.az.gov.

Ryan Chrys & The Roughcuts: 9-11:30 p.m. The Museum Club, 3404 E Route 66. Ryan Chrys & The Rough Cuts w/Roe Tate and Patric Todd. Modern outlaw country from Denver. www.roughcutsband.com.

Ezra Bell in concert: 8 p.m. The Green Room, 15 N Agassiz St, Flagstaff. Americana Folk Rock band out of Portland, OREzra Bell's first full-length debut features ebullient soul twang, flowing and leaping like the music of a late 60s/early 70s recording of well-trained freaks dabbling in various genres. This Portland band sounds like they effortlessly recorded one of those forgotten-gem "cult albums", despite it being early 2018. $10 adv/$12 day of. https://www.greenhouseproductions.net/.

Scotty J's 45th Birthday Party: 8 p.m. The Orpheum Theater, 15 W. Aspen Ave. The Orpheum Theater's Master of Sound, Scotty J, turns 45 and we're celebrating with a huge concert featuring three of Flagstaff's homegrown bands. Proud Mother, Sap Dabblers and Pass the Butter. www.orpheumflagstaff.com.

Whole Can O' Beans with DJ Bear Cole: 10 p.m.-2 a.m. The McMillan, 2 Historic Rte. 66. Are you the type of person who likes music old and new of all genres? The Whole Can O' Beans Music Night at The McMillan with DJ Bear Cole is all that and more. https://DJBearCole.com.

"A Lie of the Mind" by Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival: 7-9 p.m. Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 N Fort Valley Rd. Flagstaff Shakespeare presents "A Lie of the Mind" by Sam Shepard. Performances are at the Coconino Center for the Arts Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 p.m. www.flagshakes.org.

Saturday, March 14

STEAM Second Saturdays Archaeology Day: 2-3 p.m. Museum Of Northern Arizona, 2920 Creekside Drive. Local archaeologists and demonstrators will be at MNA for an afternoon of exploring how prehistoric people lived. Try out ancient technology and weapons and create your own pinch pot. Part of Archaeology Awareness month. 928-774-5211.www.musnaz.org.

Inspiration on Tap: 3-5 p.m. Come get your write on with the Flagstaff Public Library's community of writers the second Saturday of each month at various locations around town.Dedicate some time to your craft, and tap into new inspiration while you enjoy the company of other writers, use library resources on the town, & investigate Flagstaff's fabulously quirky locations. www.flagstaffpubliclibrary.org/.

Shamrock Shuffle Pub Crawl: 2-6 p.m. 'Tis the season shake your shamrock. Join for Downtown Flagstaff AZ's first annual Shamrock Shuffle Pub Crawl. General Admission is $15. Group pricing is $10 each for a group of 5 ($50 total). Purchase of a ticket includes discounts/drink specials at participating restaurants and bars, a t-shirt (while supplies last) and lanyard. Check in at the Market Bar & Kitchen anytime between 1:30-2:30 p.m.www.facebook.com/events/158352965589828/.

A Life of Less Worry Free Public Talk: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. International Kadampa Retreat Center Grand Canyon, 6701 E. Mountain Ranch Rd, Williams. Worry and anxiety are becoming increasingly common in our modern society. However, if we understand their true causes, it is possible to gradually reduce and eventually overcome them through controlling and transforming our mind. In this way we can enjoy mental peace and a happy life. 928-637-6232. www.meditationinnorthernarizona.org/public-talks-1.

Ringside Unified Fighting LIVE MMA at Twin Arrows Casino Resort: 7-10:30 p.m. Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort, 22181 Resort Blvd Exit 219 I 40. Northern Arizona's Premiere Fight Card returns to Twin with RUF39 "Battle at the Arrows!" The Main Event features Efrain "Hecho En Mexico" Escudero vs Zack "Juice" Juusola. The Co-Main Event features, Jared Vanderaa vs current RUF HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION Tony Lopez . Catch all the action inside the Dine Event Center. Tickets are now on sale at http://www.twinarrows.com/entertainment.

The Force Is With Our People Exhibition: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Museum Of Northern Arizona, 3101 N Fort Valley Rd. Star Wars has had a strong influence on many contemporary Native artists, whose art reflects the images and themes of the popular series. This exhibition features work by more than 20 different contemporary Native artists, including paintings, prints, posters, t-shirts, jewelry, figures, carvings and pottery, and explores the reasons Star Wars resonates with them.http://musnaz.org.

St. Patrick's Day in Ireland: 6 p.m. The Orpheum Theater, 15 W. Aspen Ave. Featuring principal dancers Connor Reider (The Chieftains, Celtic Fyre, Celtic Wings) and Billy Kanaly (Riverdance, An Irish Christmas, St. Patrick's Day in Ireland) and multi-instrumentalists from the Kerry Traditional Band led by the great Ryan McKasson on fiddle. www.orpheumflagstaff.com/e/st-patrick-s-day-in-ireland--90061591645/.

Flagstaff Writers Connection: 12 a.m. Continental Country Club, 2380 N. Oakmont Dr. Flagstaff Writers Connection is sponsoring playwriting workshops by Laurie Brooks, award-winning playwright. To register or for more information, go to FlagstaffWritersConnection.com. The Connection is a group of volunteers dedicated to connecting writers of all levels through events, lectures, workshops, and writing groups.

Codependent Anonymous: 9:30-10:30 a.m. Northern Arizona University Eastburn Education Building, Eastburn Education Bldg. Room #208 , Flagstaff. We welcome you to Codependents Anonymous, a 12-step program that steers us from a path of self-defeating behaviors towards healthy, loving relationships with our spirituality, ourselves and others. http://coda.org.

"A Lie of the Mind" by Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival: 7-9 p.m. Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 N Fort Valley Rd. Flagstaff Shakespeare presents "A Lie of the Mind" by Sam Shepard, a gritty play set in the American west. The story follows two families connected by the marriage of their children. After a severe episode of domestic abuse, the families' lives are changed forever, and they must navigate familial dysfunction and mental illness simultaneously. Performances are at the Coconino Center for the Arts Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. March 13-March 21. Go to flagshakes.org for more info.

Prenatal Yoga: 9-10 a.m. Flagstaff Doulas, 2708 N. 4th St. Suite D4. Prenatal Yoga with Alessandra. Relaxation, meditation and gentle yoga for your prenatal body. 10$ drop-in fee. Every Saturday. ww.flagstaffdoulas.com.

Kaibab National Forest Archaeology Month Petroglyph Hikes to Keyhole Sink: 2-4 p.m. Oak Hill Snowplay area, Route 66, Parks. Kaibab National Forest archaeologists and volunteers will lead educational hikes to the Keyhole Sink Petroglyph site. The hike is approximately 3/4-mile walk each way, and the terrain is rocky and can be muddy. Wear cold and wet weather apparel, appropriate hiking shoes, hat, and sunscreen; also bring water. Be prepared to get wet as a waterfall often cascades off the lava flow requiring crossing in ankle deep water to access the petroglyphs. From Flagstaff, take I-40 west to Exit 178, turn right at top of ramp and then left on to Rt. 66. Drive west on Rt. 66 about 4 miles to the Oak Hill Snow Play Area. From Williams, drive east on I-40 to Exit 171, and at top of ramp make a left and then a quick right onto Rt. 66. Drive east on Rt. 66 about 2 miles to the Oak Hill Snow Play Area. Free. (928) 635-5600.

Call for Presenters: Restoring Hozho: Multimedia Artists Respond to Bordertown Violence: To establish a projection of wholeness (Hozho), there must first be a coming together. Restoring Hozho is the gathering of people, voices, and wisdom.On April 20, Northern Arizona University's Creative Writing Program, partnering with the Native American Cultural Center, will host an evening of discussions, storytelling, and sharing of art with the goal of raising awareness and fostering Hozho in response to the ongoing crisis of bordertown violence. Writers, artists, and educators interested in serving on panels, as speakers, and/or showcasing their art are invited to participate. We especially encourage Native/Indigenous individuals to submit an application. Email restoringhozho2020@gmail.com by March 15.

Kids Capoeira Angola Class: 5:30-6:15 p.m. The Boys & Girls Club of Flagstaff, 301 S Paseo del Flag. Our biweekly kids class happens every Thursday. No previous experience is needed  capoeira is for anybody, at any age! We welcome and invite beginners to any of our kids classes.Capoeira Angola is an art form that combines and draws elements from dance, martial arts, acrobatics, and music. $15. http://capoeiraflagstaff.org/.

Night In Day Dance Party- Every Saturday Morning: 10-11:30 a.m. Momentum Aerial, 1802 W Kaibab Ln Studio C. Adult Dance Party every Saturday morning. This is an opportunity to experience the energy and mood of a dance club within a healthy fitness framework, away from intoxicants and late nights. It will be a space for adults to move, thrive and express themselves through dance, in a dark yet sparkly environment. Music will vary, with emphasis on danceable classics from 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond. www.facebook.com/Night-In-Day-Dance-Party-110954260500377/.

Raffle for Rebuilding Outdoor Classroom at Red Rock State Park: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Red Rock State Park, 4050 Red Rock Loop Rd, Sedona. Benefactors of Red Rock State Park is holding a raffle to raise funds for building a new outdoor classroom to replace the one that washed away in the flood a year ago, on February 16, 2019. This new classroom, to be built on safe higher ground will host educational events for all ages, but particularly for young students. The Park's School Connection Program introduces over 1,500 area students each year to the wonders of the natural world. Since the old classroom was destroyed, the Park has lacked an outdoor classroom for this valuable educational program. www.benefactorsrrsp.org.

The EastSide Show: 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Flagstaff School of Music , 2213 E. 7th Ave. Community Art Market & Music Fest. In support of Flagstaff School of Music students, local musicians and artists, we have created a monthly event for the whole community to participate and enjoy. We promote and support local musicians, artists, and independently owned businesses, as well as service agencies in our area. The Community Art Market is found inside Flagstaff School of Music while the Music Fest is found inside the White Dove Coffee Shop. www.flagstaffmusicschool.com/.

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Former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning has attempted suicide in jail and been hospitalised days before a federal judge is scheduled to hear a motion to release her from custody.

Prison officers responded to an incident at the Alexandria Adult Detention Centre, Virginia, a statement by Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne said. "It was handled appropriately by our professional staff and Ms Manning is safe," Mr Lawhorne's statement continued.

Ms Manning - who leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks in 2010 - has been held for about a year by US authorities for refusing to testify to a federal grand jury investigating the anti-secrecy website. ( Washington Post)

 Washington Post
A man in his 40s is Hobokens first known coronavirus patient, Mayor Ravi Bhalla announced Friday.

The individual is in isolation at home and is experiencing mild symptoms, Bhalla said.

Hobokens health department is notifying people who have been in contact with the patient so that they can self-quarantine, he added. Residents are encouraged to call the health department at 201-420-2000 ext. 5211 if they believe they have been exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19.

To be clear, we unfortunately anticipate the likelihood of additional positive COVID-19 cases to be confirmed in the days and weeks ahead, which have not yet been discovered, Bhalla said. However, we are doing everything possible to limit the spread of COVID-19 through proactive measures and regulations. I greatly appreciate the communitys cooperation during this challenging time.

The Hoboken case is Hudson Countys third reported case of the coronavirus. Jersey City announced its first presumptive positive case Friday morning, a 41-year-old woman who lives Downtown. The countys first patient was a 32-year-old resident of West New York.
Liberal Florin Citu said on Friday that his mandate as prime minister has been to maintain the prospect of early elections and that he would not have accepted the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) votes.

"The PSD has behaved irresponsibly throughout this period. I have asked them for four months not to vote in Parliament for populist laws that blow up the budget. Yesterday they passed such a law. How can one negotiate with these people? These people are toxic and when I said "Romania without PSD", this is how it should be. You have to keep in mind that my mandate was to maintain the early elections. It was a draft that I accepted with all the partners in the Opposition. Some opposition partners with whom we should talk some more, who have changed their minds in the meantime," Citu told Parliament, before the PNL Executive Bureau meeting.

Asked if the option to take over the government was considered, Florin Citu said: "But not with the PSD and ALDE votes".

AGERPRES
To complete work on the Lake Shore Drive bridge, there also will be a new traffic configuration on lower Lake Shore Drive, starting Monday. Northbound vehicle traffic, currently moving on the east side of the bridge, will be moved to the center of the bridge. Northbound vehicles on lower Lake Shore Drive will be able to access upper Lake Shore Drive, but will no longer be able get to Illinois Street and Grand Avenue, according to city officials.
Burma Myanmar Military Still Wields Veto on Charter Change as NLD Reform Attempt Fails

Military-appointed lawmakers cast their ballots on constitutional amendments on March 11. / Thiha Lwin / The Irrawaddy

YANGONThe Myanmar military will still wield the power to veto any changes to the countrys undemocratic Constitution as a proposal by the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) to amend the related charter provision was voted down on Friday.

Under Article 436 of the Constitution, changes to the charter require the approval of more than 75 percent of lawmakers in Parliament. As 25 percent of lawmakers are appointed by the military, it is impossible to make any changes without the militarys approval.

The ruling NLD party, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, proposed to lower the threshold for approving a charter amendment from more than 75 percent to two-thirds of elected representatives, which would exclude military appointees.

The military opposed the move to revoke its veto power and the amendment failed to pass.

Over the past two weeks of charter reform debates in Parliament, military-appointed lawmakers have strongly opposed the proposal, saying that the NLDs move to exclude them constitutes discrimination.

Military lawmakers also said that the NLDs proposal harms civil-military relations and could therefore hamper national reconciliation and the countrys democratic transition.

On Friday, about 64 percent of lawmakers cast their secret ballots in favor of the proposal to amend Article 436. As the attempt to reform the provision has failed, the military will continue to enjoy its power to block constitutional reforms.

The proposal was one of the two most fundamental amendments out of 114 proposed changes to the Constitution submitted by the NLD, as it would remove the main hurdle for constitutional reform and the countrys political reform as a whole. The other key proposal from the NLD was a gradual reduction of the militarys share of seats in Parliament and was rejected on Tuesday.

The NLDs long push to amend Article 436 has garnered wide support from ethnic political parties as well as from the general public.

Prior to the 2015 general election, the NLD collected about 5 million signatures through a nationwide petition to amend the undemocratic provision.

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Joaquin Phoenix recently won best actor at the Oscars for his performance as the Joker, but it appears he has the chops to fend off would-be assailants in real life too as DailyMail.com can reveal he has become a black belt in karate.

The notoriously private actor, 45, was spotted barefoot as he left karate class on Tuesday clutching his black belt - the martial art's highest achievement.

He was dressed in all black and wore sunglasses as he held on to his white karate uniform and black and white Converse gym shoes.

Joaquin Phoenix was spotted Tuesday leaving karate class barefoot and clutching a black belt

Sources confirmed the DailyMail.com that Phoenix has earned his black belt - the martial art's highest achievements

Joaquin Phoenix trains at the Rokah Karate Dojo in Beverly Hills, California

The actor was seen puffing on a cigarette before heading into class on Tuesday

Despite losing 52lbs to prepare for his role as Batman's arch enemy the Joker, committed vegan Joaquin appears to have put much of it back on again.

The actor is trained by 8TH Dan black belt sensei Avi Rokah

A source confirmed to DailyMail.com that the star  who was also awarded a Golden Globe for portraying party clown Arthur Fleck's transformation into the psychopathic Joker  has become a black belt.

Previously Joaquin had been spotted in December 2017 sporting a brown belt  one rung below the coveted black belt rank.

Before heading to class at the Rokah Karate Dojo in Beverly Hills, Joaquin was seen puffing on a cigarette in his car.

He is trained by 8TH Dan black belt sensei Avi Rokah, a former world and five-time US karate champion who has taught more than 100 black belts.

The karate master, 59, set up his dojo in 1982 after moving from his native Israel to Los Angeles.

The actor lost 52lbs for his Oscar-winning performance in Joker and appears to have put the healthy weight back on

The actor took home his first Oscar last month for portraying party clown Arthur Fleck's transformation into the psychopathic Joker

Joaquin has been known to train alongside actress fiancee Rooney Mara at the dojo

Father-of-four Rokah runs the gym with his wife Ruth, who is also a sensei karate teacher.

Asked about Joaquin's progress through the karate ranks, Rokah told DailyMail.com: 'I can't talk about that.'

Joaquin has been known to train alongside actress fiancee Rooney Mara at the dojo.

The 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' star, 34, has become a keen martial arts enthusiast since getting together with Joaquin in 2017.

The couple first met on set in 2012 when Rooney played Joaquin's ex-wife in the movie Her before teaming up again to film Mary Magdalene four years later.
* Analysts slash 2020 oil price forecasts - survey

* Virus outbreak means fewer travel, slower business

* Saudi, UAE offer more crude in oversupplied market

* Interactive graphic on pandemic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2GVwIyw

(Adds comment and survey on prices, updates prices)

By Ron Bousso

LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - Oil prices were set for their

biggest weekly slide since the 2008 financial crisis despite a

5% bounce on Friday, as the coronavirus outbreak threatened

demand and crude producers promised more supply.

Brent crude was up $1.83, or 5.5 on the day%, at

$35.05 per barrel by 1100 GMT but were still 23% lower on the

week - the biggest weekly drop since December 2008.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $1.54

cents, or 4.9%, at $33.05 per barrel but was also on track to

lose a fifth of its value over the week.

"It's been a very rough week and so it's not impossible

people are locking in ahead of the weekend," said Michael

McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.

World stocks were also set for their worst week since 2008,

with the coronavirus sparking panic selling across markets.

Adding to pressure on oil prices, already knocked by the

virus as fewer people travel and business events are scrapped,

major oil producers were pumping more crude into the market.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter, and the United

Arab Emirates offered more to customers OPEC's talks with Russia

and others on supply restraint collapsed last week.

Russia, the world's second-largest producer, has shown no

interest in agreeing to further output curbs with the

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Russian oil producers met Energy Minister Alexander Novak on

Thursday but did not discuss a return to the deal. The head of

Gazprom Neft said it planned to hike production in April,

following the talks.

"It's a problem of an oil price war in the middle of a

constricting market when the walls are closing in," U.S. energy

historian Daniel Yergin said.

Goldman Sachs said it now expected a record high oil surplus

of 6 million barrels per day (bpd) by April, in a global market

that usually consumes about 100 million bpd.

A Reuters survey showed analysts slashed their forecasts of

Brent crude prices to $42 a barrel on average in 2020, compared

to the $60.63 consensus in a February poll.

"The avenues for a quick off-ramp to the Saudi/Russia price

war appear to be closing," RBC Capital Markets analyst Helima

Croft said.

But the price slump may reduce some supply, by forcing out

more costly producers.

Energy companies in the United States, which has surged to

become the world's biggest crude producer because of a boom in

pricier shale oil, are preparing to cut investment and drilling

plans due to plunging prices.

(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; additional reporting

by Jane Chung in Seoul; Editing by Jason Neely and Edmund Blair)
A glamorous great-grandmother of 18 celebrates her birthday every year by posing for playful photo shoots taken by her granddaughter.

Florence Knapp, 78, from Des Moines, Iowa, has rung in her past three birthdays in front of the camera after almost dying from kidney failure in January 2018.

Her granddaughter Kourtney Knapp, 32, buys her new outfits and pays for her to get her hair, nails, and makeup done to match each year's theme.

Strike a pose! Florence Knapp, 78, from Des Moines, Iowa, celebrates her birthday each year by posing for cheeky photo shoot organized by her granddaughter Kourtney Knapp, 32

Roaring '20s: Kourtney Knapp buys her new outfits and pays for her to get her hair, nails, and makeup done to match each year's theme

Say cheese! Kourtney admitted to egging on her grandmother during the birthday shoots, but she insists that she 'loves it'

Family: Florence is pictured with her daughter Kim Knapp (far left) and granddaughter Kourtney (center)

'Just before my grandma's 76th birthday she was really sick and they said her kidneys were failing,' Kourtney recalled. 'I realized I needed to start making more memories with her and taking more photos.

'She recovered just in time for her birthday so I decided we would start doing birthday photo shoots every year.'

Florence celebrated her 76th birthday with a Pepsi-themed cake smash, and in the playful photos, she can be seen modeling a printed T-shirt and a blue tutu.

'Everyone thought we were being patriotic but it was actually because my grandma has always loved Pepsi,' Kourtney explained.

Theme: Florence celebrated her 76th birthday with a Pepsi-themed cake smash

Going for it: Kourtney photographed her taking a big bite out of a red, white, and blue cake

Glam grandma: In another image, she is modeling a white lace top and a blue tutu while sipping on a Pepsi

Reasoning: 'Everyone thought we were being patriotic but it was actually because my grandma has always loved Pepsi,' Kourtney explained

Florence dressed up as a 1920s flapper to hit the casino for her 77th birthday, and she donned rose gold sequins when she turned 78.

Kourtney admitted that she eggs on her grandmother and urges her to adopt cheeky poses and coquettish smiles during the birthday shoots, but she insists that she enjoys the attention.

'My grandma loves it. She gives me a hard time about it  she is so stubborn  but I know she loves it. She loves getting all dressed up and being pampered,' the mother of six said.

'She thinks it's so funny doing the photo shoots. She probably thinks I'm crazy,' she added. 'She laughs and smiles the whole time. She is a really good trooper with it; she always does such a good job.'

Looking good: Florence dressed up as a 1920s flapper to hit the casino for her 77th birthday

Going all out: The great-grandma's hair was dyed purple, and she donned a sequin dress, a fur, and pearls

Turning 78: For her most recent birthday, she modeled rose gold sequins and a fur shrug

Glitz and glam: Florence was all smiles while posing with number balloons

Stunning: The great-grandmother's hair was dyed pink to match her sparkly dress

Living it up: Kourtney said her grandmother 'loves getting all dressed up and being pampered'

Kourtney noted that her grandfather passed away when she was pregnant with her oldest son, and she didn't have 'any good pictures of him' because she wasn't a photographer at the time.

'It makes such a huge difference having nice photos to hold onto so I'm just glad I can do that for her and for my family,' she said.

The photographer, who started her business Kourtney Klick Photography eight years ago, also arranges full family photos shoots with Florence every Christmas.

Kourtney gathers Florence's five children, 19 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren for both group and individual pictures with her over the holidays.

Three generations: Kourtney is pictured with her mother Kim and grandmother Florence when she was a baby

Scared straight: Kourtney was inspired to start taking photos of Florence after her grandmother almost died from kidney failure in January 2018

Smile: Kourtney also takes family photos of Florence with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She is pictured with her great-grandsons Tristan (left) and Jonas (right)

Family: Florence posed with her five children during a recent family photo shoot

'The first year I took photos of all my grandmas kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids it was a surprise Christmas present for her,' she said.

'She was so happy, she loved it. She was showing everyone the photos. Now I get her involved with the pictures every year.

'It's a long process and it's always crazy, but it makes my grandma happy for Christmas and that's all that matters,' she added.

'Everyone loves my grandma. All of our family, all my friends, they all love her. She has all her great-grandkids wrapped around her little finger.

'My kids love her so much. My oldest son, she is his favorite person ever. It's amazing for them having their great-grandma around and she still acts like a young person.'
The Interregional Maritime Security Institute (ISMI) in Abidjan has trained maritime and sector officials in charge of targeting and controlling containers with focus on the fight against trafficking in fake medicines.

About 20 auditors which include customs officers, police officers, maritime affairs administrators, naval officers - from 10 countries in the Gulf of Guinea participated.

This training, which took place from 10 to 13 March 2020 at the campus of the Regional Academy of Marine Science and Technology (ARSTM) in Yopougon, Abidjan.

The training is supported by the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire and organized by the French Cooperation (DCSD), in partnership with the French Directorate General of Customs and Indirect Rights (DGDDI) and the post of regional customs Attache.

Speaking at the opening ceremony in Abidjan, the Director of ISMI, who spoke on behalf of the Director-General of ARSTM, Abe Ake Lazare said the effectiveness of a global security strategy obviously depends on operational means and the adoption of an adequate legal framework, but also on the capacity of the various actors to collect, analyse and disseminate information in order to target risks, define control strategies and guide interventions.

According to him, it is on the strength of this perception that the Yaounde Summit resolutions placed emphasis, certainly on training and coordination of interventions, but also on information sharing and intelligence.

Abe Ake Lazare indicated that the organization of this seminar is in line with this perspective, i.e. to provide a framework for capacity building of the structures and services in charge of collecting, analyzing and processing intelligence with a view to targeting high-risk operations on containers.

He added that the seminar is a follow-up to the one organized in 2018 and is intended to help professionals master the techniques for controlling the flow of containers that feed our economies.

The Regional Coordinator For State Action At Sea Guillaume de BEAUREGARD noted that containerisation has become the main vehicle for transporting goods around the world.

He indicated that fraudulent traffic of all kinds is adapting at an impressive rate to the containerisation of goods flows, starting with the trafficking of fake medicines.

For example, 67 tons of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and 200 tons of fake medicines were seized in Lome and Abidjan respectively between June 2018 and November 2019, he stressed.

According to him, 80% of the world's goods transport is carried by containers. I recently read that 50 ships in the world already have the capacity to carry more than 20,000 containers (for a single ship!).

He added that a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), reveals that trafficking in fake medicines is the cause of 100,000 deaths a year in Africa.

That is why on 17 and 18 January 2020, seven African heads of state met in Lome, Togo, to find a solution to this scourge. As part of this meeting, a "framework agreement" should be signed shortly to criminalize this illegal trade, he emphasized.

He urges participants to identify the threats and risks of port crime specific to the Gulf of Guinea.

According to him, the training seeks to strengthen the capacities of the teams dedicated to targeting high-risk operations on containers, and of the teams dedicated to container control and search.

And of course this course will provide an opportunity to take stock of the existing control mechanisms, the legal framework in place, the existing structures for sharing information and coordinating the action of the services, with a particular focus on the trafficking of fake medicines, he intimated.

In terms of maritime safety, and in a globalised world, he posited that controlling the flow of goods is a vital issue that requires close attention and immediate action to combat fraudulent trafficking.
In yet another shocking twist, it's over between The Bachelor's Peter Weber and Madison Prewett.

The couple, who had a dramatic reunion on the live finale of the ABC series earlier this week (after Weber's abrupt split from Hannah Ann Sluss) has broken up, both confirmed on Instagram Thursday.

'Madi and I have mutually decided to not pursue our relationship any further,' the star of season 24 of the ABC show said on the site. 'Believe me this was not easy for either of us to be ok with, but after a lot of honest conversations, we have agreed that this is what makes most sense for the two of us.'

It's over: The Bachelor's Peter Weber, 29, and Madison Prewett, 23, have broken up, both confirmed on Instagram Thursday. The split comes after a dramatic finale on the ABC show Thursday after his mother criticized Prewett

The Virginia native, 29, added that the 'love and respect' he has for Prewett 'will continue to endure.'

Earlier in the post, he opened up about his strong feelings for Prewett and her character - specifically, her 'patience and unconditional love'

Weber, a pilot by trade, said: 'You're the epitome of a woman who carries herself with grace, stands by what she believes in, and loves whole heartedly. That love is something I feel so grateful to have felt and will take a piece of that with me always going forward.'

Prewett was equally warm in a post she shared to the site on Thursday evening, saying she 'will always love and respect' him.

Introspective: The Virginia-born pilot revealed the news in a social media post

Fond: Madison made clear she remains very fond of Weber following the split

The 23-year-old Alabama-born beauty said, 'As Peter and I have decided to go our separate ways, I am confident that we will both move in the direction of our purpose and never forget that God has a plan in all things.'

She said she believes their 'paths were meant to cross and [they] are both better because they did.'

Prewett addressed Weber: 'You are an amazing guy and Im thankful for you. I will always be your biggest fan.'

The announcement came just two days after fans were in shock after a tense finale of The Bachelor on Tuesday night, as the show's long-running host, Chris Harrison, admitted that the After The Final Rose production even took a toll on Weber.

The 48-year-old Bachelor patriarch told Us Weekly that the pilot was 'visibly upset' backstage after watching his mother verbally spar with new girlfriend Prewett following an awkward confrontation from ex-fiancee Hannah Ann.

Difficult: The show's long-running host, Chris Harrison, admitted that the After The Final Rose production even took a toll on Peter Weber

Ongoing: The Virginia native added that the 'love and respect' he has for Prewett 'will continue to endure'

Peter announced to the world that he had broken up with Hannah Ann after a televised proposal and was interested in pursuing a new relationship with runner-up Madison, much to his mother's dismay.

'He was backstage standing next to Madison, visibly upset, venting to producers, just shaken,' Harrison said. 'His world got kind shaken on live TV. That's something I don't wish on anybody.

'It was uncomfortable, and he was probably embarrassed - probably angry and rightfully so.'

During the second part of the finale, Barbara applauded when Hannah Ann confronted her son, and even asked her husband in Spanish to join in on slamming Madison.

'In life - and I am a parent - you only want what's best for your kids. But there's a time when you can be right and be wrong. And was she right? Maybe,' Harrison said. 'But did she need to make that statement at that time? Was the timing there in the way she expressed herself, could it have been a little better, a little different?

'Do you ever need to say to your kid, "I told you so?" I just thought, in that moment, maybe it could've been a little better timing.'

Not pleased: Peter announced to the world that he had broken up with Hannah Ann after a televised proposal and was interested in pursuing a new relationship with runner-up Madison, much to his mother's dismay

Tell him! During the second part of the finale, Barbara applauded when Hannah Ann confronted her son, and even asked her husband in Spanish to join in on slamming Madison

'It was uncomfortable, and he was probably embarrassed  probably angry and rightfully so,' Harrison said

Lovers: Despite the tense situation, Peter seemed pleased to have Madison by his side, but the rekindled romance was short-lived

Harrison attempted to quell the tense situation with Peter and his mother, but to no avail.

'I tried to fix it. I was trying to, like, extend an olive branch and I was hopefully trying to leave on a good note and just couldn't get there. There was animosity built up,' Harrison said.

He added: 'People have to understand, when I left Australia, I thought we had this amazing show that would've been half of tonight. In that moment, I really think he was all in, but he just couldn't get Madison out of his head.'
Over the last nine months, journalists in Hong Kong have faced obstruction, interference, violence, verbal abuse and humiliation by the police while reporting. Despite numerous calls by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), the situation has not improved. The IFJ strongly condemns police brutality against journalists and demands the Hong Kong government ensure journalists safety.

On 2 March, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) issued an open letter to Commissioner for Police, Chris Tang Ping-Keung, raising their concern that the use of force, violence, verbal abuses and humiliation by police against journalists continues to worsen, despite reassurances by the Commissioner and the government that it would be resolved. Even in recent days, after the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19), with drastically fewer protesters and a less tense environment, the anti-riot police officers still kept targeting reporters at the scene. Some sprayed pepper spray directly at reporters and their lenses. That has become a norm.

On March 8, two journalists from Now TV were reportedly pepper sprayed by police, while another journalist from Cable TV was suddenly pushed by police causing her to fall to the ground, according to a statement by Cable TV.

Since June 2019, the IFJ has recorded over 200 violations against the media in Hong Kong, many of which include situations where the police harassed, threatened, and even attacked journalists intentionally, most of which did not comply with the international standard of use of force, including pointing non-lethal weapons above the leg area. In September 2019, an Indonesian journalistMs. Veby Mega Indah was shot by police in her face causing permanent injuries to her right eye. Till now, the police have not been held accountable. Connected to this, there is currently no proper archive law in Hong Kong to prevent important government records from being destroyed and ensure they are made public in due course.

The IFJ said: It is imperative that the Hong Kong Commissioner for Police ensure that frontline officers stop targeting journalists. The government must end police impunity and hold police officers that injure journalists accountable for their actions. A proper archive law is necessary to prevent such impunity and guarantee the publics right to access information. The IFJ urges the Hong Kong government to take immediate actions on the aforementioned issues.
The paranoid schizophrenic woman, Odessa Carey, 36-years old, was found guilty of beheading her mother by a jury of peers.

Authorities found the mother's body gruesomely mutilated at the neck. The headless body of the mother who is also named Odessa was discovered at the pensioner's home in Ashington, Northumberland.

Carey was arrested shortly when the police located her in the loft of another house in Guide Post. While looking around for the despoiled head, police officers found the head under the sink.

As an evidence of her crime, the police released two clips showing Odessa on the street with a shopping bag containing her mum's head.

In another footage, she was hiding out in the loft as police found her.

Nicholas Lumley, the prosecutor during her trial, said that Odessa went to a friend of her late father but she had blood all over her arms and hands when she visited him.

"In the bag, she had with her, was the mangled head of her mother, that she exposed to the allotment holder. She kissed the severed head in front of him," the QC told Newcastle Crown Court.

According to prosecutor Lumley, the witness to the exposure of the mum's head, he had no mobile so he did not call the police. Instead, he told someone at the local pub of the gruesome sight. The second witness reported the incident of seeing a woman bringing her mom's head in a bag.

Also read: Russian Serial Killer Brutally Murders 78 Victims, Targeting 'Immoral' Women

Somebody else did report the deranged daughter of the deceased. The next day, the daughter was tracked down while she was in hiding, and the authorities promptly arrested her.

The jurors overseeing the case and findings, Judge Paul Sloan said,"The evidence which I heard before you were empanelled confirms that the defendant is acutely psychotic."

It can be concluded that Odessa has a likely diagnosis of schizophrenia, and paranoid delusional beliefs manifesting that she is not of the right mind.

The accused does not think the body of the beheaded is not her mother's. Odessa is unwell and treatment to correct her psychotic tendencies is not successful.

According to the presiding Judge Sloan, the defendant will be getting treated at Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire. Because of her condition, she will be sentenced on the basis of the Mental Health.

The judge stated that pleading cannot avoid punishment which is not very appropriate according to him.

Treating the disturb defendant is important and the should also find ways to keep the defendant from harming someone else for public protection.

During the magistrates court hearing, Odessa told the judge that the head does not belong to her mother and that is is that of another person.

When the hearing was ending, she then asked the magistrate to investigate her mother's disappearance four years ago.

Out of the court, her family said that their mother will be missed by everyone, especially by all their family members.

One of the elder children said that the grisly beheading by their younger sister was caused by mental health problems, which she suffered for many years.

Related article: Lab Pays Volunteers $4500 to Be Infected With Coronavirus, Any Takers?

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MBABANE  There are calls for government to consider banning foreign nationals from coming into the country and shut down the ports of entry to minimise the risk of spreading coronavirus (Covid-19).



These were submissions made by the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) stakeholders who included the Health, Water and Sanitation, Education and Agriculture Food Security clusters.

They noted that there was a possibility of the virus being proliferated through the ports of entry and the best solution was for the country to close the borders to protect the nation.



Some of the stakeholders said the country was facing the threat of recording increased cases of Covid-19 as most of emaSwati travelled to South Africa (SA) on a daily basis and vice versa, yet cases were rapidly escalating in the neighbouring country.



Confirmed



Of note is that the country registered two suspected Covid-19 cases. The cases were confirmed by the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, in a statement that was released on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the first case was that of a 39-year-old woman who has a history of taking trips outside the country. Signs are said to have started 14 days after her return to the kingdom on March 7, 2020. Her last travel was to Denmark. The second patient, according to the statement, was a 38-year-old female who had visitors from Germany about two weeks ago. During their stay in the country, the visitors are said to have reported respiratory issues and left thereafter.



Both the suspected patients have been isolated, according to Nkosi.

Another option, according to the stakeholders, was for surveillance to be strengthened in the various ports of entry.

They said it was prudent for everyone to be thoroughly screened before being allowed to enter the kingdom. In that way, they said the spread of the virus could be minimised. Further, they noted that there was a need for informative messages to be run on radio and television for those who were in rural areas and did not have access to information.



Statement



Sicelile Zwane, from the National Emergency Response Council on HIV and AIDS (NERCHA), said the ministry needed to issue a statement on public gatherings. Zwane said her organisation was also ready to assist using their HIV and AIDS expertise.



Responding, Vusi Lokotfwako, from the Ministry of Health, said banning foreign nationals and closing the various ports of entry would have serious implications for the country. Lokotfwako said they had been advised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) office not to shut down borders but instead strengthen surveillance and scale up health communication at community level.



Foreigners



Health Promotion Officer at WHO Dr Kevin Makadzange said viruses were spread by foreigners. Makadzange said it was the locals who contracted the viruses during their travel. He said government should be ready to protect citizens, especially because Covid-19 was hitting everywhere and it was a global challenge. At the moment we are facing a global crisis and it is important that everyone is in an emergency mode by doing things differently.



This, he said, included washing hands often to effectively curb the virus and germs among other precautionary measures.

He said the country was still at a pre-epidemic phase of the Covid-19 and it was important to strengthen surveillance at ports of entry.




My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak with you about our nation's unprecedented response to the coronavirus outbreak that started in China and is now spreading throughout the world. Today, the World Health Organization officially announced that this is a global pandemic.



We have been in frequent contact with our allies and we are marshaling the full power of the government and the private sector to protect the American people. This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history.



I am confident that by counting and continuing to take these tough measures, we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens, and we will ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus.



From the beginning of time, nations and people have faced unforeseen challenges including large-scale and very dangerous health threats. This is the way it always was and always will be. It only matters how you respond, and we are responding with great speed and professionalism.



Our team is the best anywhere in the world. At the very start of the outbreak, we instituted sweeping travel restrictions on China and put in place the first federally mandated quarantine in over 50 years. We declared a public health emergency and issued the highest level of travel warning on other countries as the virus spread its horrible infection. And taking early, intense action, we have seen dramatically fewer cases of the virus in the United States than are now present in Europe.



The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hotspots. As a result, a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travelers from Europe.



After consulting with our top government health professionals, I've decided to take several strong but necessary actions to protect the health and well-being of all Americans.



To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight. These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground. There will be exceptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings, and these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo but various other things as we get approval.



Anything coming from Europe to the United States is what we are discussing. These restrictions will also not apply to the United Kingdom. At the same time, we are monitoring the situation in China and the South Korea. As their situation improves, we will reevaluate the restrictions and warnings that are currently in place for a possible early opening.



Earlier this week, I met with the leaders of health insurance industry who have agreed to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatments, extend insurance coverage to these treatments, and to prevent surprise medical billing.



We are cutting massive amounts of red tape to make antiviral therapies available in record time. These treatments will significantly reduce the impact and reach of the virus. Additionally, last week I signed into law an $8.3 billion funding bill to help CDC and other government agencies fight the virus and support vaccines, treatments, and distribution of medical supplies.



Testing and testing capabilities are expanding rapidly, day by day we are moving very quickly. The vast majority of Americans, the risk is very, very low. Young and healthy people can expect to recover fully and quickly if they should get the virus.



The highest risk is for elderly population with underlying health conditions. The elderly population must be very, very careful. In particular, we are strongly advising that nursing homes for the elderly suspend all medically unnecessary visits. In general, older Americans should avoid nonessential travel in crowded areas.



My administration is coordinating directly with communities with largest outbreaks and we have issued guidance on school closures, social distancing, and reducing large gatherings.



Smart action today will prevent the spread of the virus tomorrow. Every community faces different risks, and it is critical for you to follow the guidelines of your local officials who are working closely with our federal health experts, and they are the best.



For all Americans, it is essential that everyone take extra precautions and practice good hygiene. Each of us has a role to play in defeating the virus. Wash your hands, clean often used surfaces, cover your face and mouth if you sneeze or cough, and most of all, if you are sick or not feeling well, stay home.



To ensure that working Americans impacted by the virus can stay home without fear of financial hardship, I will soon be taking emergency action which is unprecedented to provide financial relief. This will be targeted for workers who are ill, quarantined, or caring for others due to coronavirus. I will be asking Congress to take legislative action to extend this relief.



Because of the economic policies that we have put into place, over the last three years, we have the greatest economy anywhere in the world by far. Our banks and financial institutions are fully capitalized and incredibly strong. Our unemployment is at a historic low. This vast economic prosperity gives us flexibility, reserves, and resources to handle any threat that comes our way.



This is not a financial crisis. This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world; however, to provide extra support for American workers, families, and businesses, tonight I'm announcing the following additional actions.



I'm instructing the Small Business Administration to exercise available authority to provide capital and liquidity to firms affected by the coronavirus. Effective immediately, the SBA will begin providing economic loans in affected states and territories. These low-interest loans will help small businesses overcome temporary economic disruptions caused by the virus.



To this end, I'm asking Congress to increase funding for this program by an additional $50 billion. Using emergency authority, I will be instructing the treasury department to defer tax payments without interest or penalties for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted.



This action will provide more than $200 billion of additional liquidity to the economy. Finally I am calling on Congress to provide Americans with immediate payroll tax relief. Hopefully, they will consider this very strongly. We are at a critical time in the fight against the virus.



We made a life-saving move with early action on China. Now we must take the same action with Europe. We will not delay. I will never hesitate to take any necessary steps to protect the lives, health, and safety of the American people. I will always put the well-being of America first.



If we are vigilant and we can reduce the chance of infection, which we will, we will significantly impede the transmission of the virus. The virus will not have a chance against us. No nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States. We have the best economy, the most advanced health care, and the most talented doctors and resources anywhere in the world. We are all in this together. We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship, and unify together as one nation and one family.



As history has proven time and time again, Americans always rise to the challenge and overcome adversity. Our future remains brighter than anyone can imagine. Acting with compassionate love, we will heal the sick, care for those in need, help our fellow citizens, and emerge from this challenge stronger and more unified than ever before. God bless you and god bless America. Thank you.
Some parents said they pulled their kids out of school not to protect their own families, but to protect others in their community. Katherine Bollinger, a writer in Manhattan, kept her 3-year-old daughter home from preschool when she had a runny nose. Even though I do not think my toddler has Covid-19, I also dont want her out spreading any variety of germs to her classmates or causing other parents additional stress, she explained.

Im personally not worried about my children, said Alexis Madrigal, a father of a 3-year-old who lives in Oakland, Calif., and who has been reporting on the coronavirus outbreak for The Atlantic. But his family has an upstairs neighbor who has health problems and another neighbor who is a single mother with an infant who has asthma. So he and several of his neighbors  who together have six kids between the ages of 3 and 7  decided to pull their children out of school on Thursday and organized a neighborhood homeschooling co-op. Madrigal acknowledged that many Americans arent in the position to make choices like this. But for him, it was the right decision. As much privilege as youve got, thats how much you should be using to try and help your community, he said.

As with most details about the new coronavirus, experts dont know for sure if pulling kids out of schools and day cares will have an actual impact on their families and communities. But according to Dr. Eli Perencevich, M.D., an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, the more that people can distance themselves and their children from others, the more it will likely help to slow transmission of the virus. It will take longer to hop through the community, he said. The overall effect is likely to depend on how many parents keep their kids home in a given community and how large their school is, but its possible that these decisions could, collectively, slow the spread of the disease.

The parents I spoke with said that school administrators have largely been accepting and compassionate and that no one has been given any pushback. I received a nice email from the principal, thanking me for letting them know of our plans, McFarlane recalled. My daughters teacher said my daughter would be missed but that she understood. Some teachers have provided parents with materials so the students could continue to do schoolwork at home.

But such concessions dont necessarily mean that keeping kids home will be without consequences. Unless state policies shift in light of the outbreak, these kinds of absences will likely be counted as unexcused, said Dan Domenech, executive director of the School Superintendents Association. And while state laws can vary, school-aged kids who accrue more than a certain number of unexcused absences might fail to receive credit for their classes. In extreme cases, their parents could be fined or they could even get referred to juvenile or domestic family court.

Celeste Fernandez Busser, a senior media strategist at the National Education Association  a labor union that represents U.S. public schoolteachers  said that the organization does not have a position on these kinds of absences right now. That likely will be determined at a local level, district by district, she said. That said, everything is moving, and all of our leaders are constantly talking. We may end up taking positions on things we havent had to before.

Domenech agreed: This is an unprecedented time for schools and school administrators. We are quickly approaching, if not already past, situations that are clearly different from anything weve ever encountered before, he said.
When Jenny Harrell Catron boarded a cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last week, the Fredericksburg woman was told she had a better chance of falling out of a moving car hijacked by gang members than of coming into contact with someone that had the virus.

Those odds were changed irrevocably when a fellow passenger aboard the Costa Luminosa became ill, was hospitalized in Puerto Rico and tested for the coronavirus.

The passenger was from northern Italy, and while its not known if she had the disease, the incident started a downhill spiral for Catron and others on the 20-day transatlantic venture. The ship was denied entry at its next port in Antigua, and the Costa Cruise line eventually cut short its trip, which included stops at several ports in Italy.

As of Thursday, it had canceled all activities on board the ship, as well, Catron said through email.

At this point, there is no reason to separate us, as we have all been around each other for almost a week, she wrote.
After sustained pressure from campaigners the government introduced emergency legislation on Wednesday preventing tenants from being evicted from their homes during the coronavirus crisis.

Under the new legislation, all new evictions will be suspended and no new possession proceedings will be permitted during the period of national emergency.

But the government has been urged to more, including introducing "rent holidays" for tenants who struggle financially because of Covid-19.

More than a fifth of UK households live in privately rented accommodation and many will see their incomes hit if they have to take an extended time off work due to illness, school closures or other caring responsibilities.

But most renters in the UK are on what are known as assured shorthold tenancy agreements which give them less protections than tenants in many other European countries.

Statutory sick pay in the UK is also among the lowest in Europe at just 94.25 per week, meaning some people may find it difficult to pay their rent. The government has stepped in to cover 80 per cent of wages for employees who are kept on company pay rolls but do not have any work during the crisis. Benefits to help those out of work completely have also been increased, helping to reverse years of cuts.

What rights do private renters have?

Assured shorthold tenants can usually be evicted at short notice. A landlord can serve a tenant with what's known as a section 8 eviction notice as soon as they are eight weeks behind with rent. Normally, you will then have 14 days notice, according to Citizens Advice.

A different kind of notice called a section 21 can be served without giving a reason. The tenant usually has two months to leave the property but the notice period can be longer.

A landlord cannot begin either of these types of eviction until the period of national emergency ends.

Announcing the new legislation, Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary, said: "The government is clear  no renter who has lost income due to coronavirus will be forced out of their home, nor will any landlord face unmanageable debts."

However, rent will still be due as normal so tenants may find themselves with a large bill if they cannot pay up for an extended period. Landlords may be willing to make arrangements with tenants to delay or reduce rent payments but they are under no obligation to do so.

Matt Downie, director of policy and external affairs at Crisis, said: We appreciate that this needs to be a workable solution for renters and landlords, but would stress that any repayment plan must be affordable for tenants.

"If someone loses their job because of the outbreak and has no income coming in, they cannot be faced with intolerable levels of debt once these emergency measures are lifted.

What should you do?

If youre struggling to pay rent, talk to your landlord straight away," says Rachael Gore, senior housing expert at Citizens Advice.

You should explain the situation and could ask for more time to pay or ask to catch up any missed payments by instalments.

"If you cant come to an agreement with your landlord, its a good idea to pay what you can afford and keep a record of what you offered. You should get advice if you cant reach an agreement because there is a risk that your landlord might try to evict you."

A repayment plan means you'll make smaller payments to your landlord over a longer period of time. Youll still have to pay everything back - but it could be easier than paying the full amount in one go.

Dont offer to pay more than you can realistically afford, Citizens Advice says. You could make the problem worse if you cant keep up with your payments.

What more could be done?

Several proposals have been made including a "rent holiday" for people struggling to pay their rent. It would be up to the landlord to decide whether or not to grant one.

Under the new legislation buy-to-let landlords can negotiate a mortgage repayment holiday of up to three months from their lender. They will be under pressure to pass it on so that their tenants do not have to pay rent during the period that the mortgage payments are suspended.

Charities and unions have called for significant increases to benefit payments and statutory sick pay to help people cope with bills if they cannot work.

Eviction

Outside the period of national emergency, your landlord would have to give you notice of eviction and then get a court order in order to make you leave.

If you decide to stay in the property past the notice period your landlord will need to ask a court to order you to leave your home. It is not known how a court would deal with case of renters who have fallen behind because of coronavirus.

When the notice period ends, your landlord can apply for a possession order. They must apply to court within a year of giving you the notice. If they don't, the notice will expire and the landlord can't use it.

Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK The usually busy Royal Mile in Edinburgh is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 13 March Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Ho bart's Amusement Arcade in Westward Ho!, Devon is offering toilet roll and soap as prizes in grabber machines Rob Braddick/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK An empty platform at Farringdon Station in London the morning after the Prime Minister said that Covid-19 "is the worst public health crisis for a generation" PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Shopkeepers Asiyah Javed and husband Jawad from Day Today Express, in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk are giving away facemasks, antibacterial hand wash and cleaning wipes to the elderly in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A usually busy street in Cambridge is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 2 March James Linsell-Clark/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitiser dispenser is seen inside the stadium during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on 8 March Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Maaya Indian Kitchen in Milton Keynes is offerig customers a free roll of toilet paper with every takeaway order SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Oliver Cooper[L], was sent home from school for selling spurts of handsanitiser to fellow pupils at 50p a time. He poses with mum Jenny Tompkins by their home in Leeds Ashley Pemberton/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in London on 12 March EPA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A member of the public is swabbed at a drive through Coronavirus testing site set up in a car park in Wolverhampton Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A passenger wears a protective face mask as she travels on a bus in the City of London AFP/Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A Southampton fan wears a face mask before the match against Newcastle United on 7 March Reuters Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A loudspeaker placed in grounds of St Mary's Catholic Church in Broughattin, Dundalk, County Louth ahead of funeral mass later this morning. The loudspeaker has been placed in the grounds after the Catholic Archdiocese said that funerals and weddings should not exceed 100 attendees within the church building PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitising station set up outside Cheltenham Racecourse during day four of the Cheltenham Festival on 13 March PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK People wearing protective face masks walk across London Bridge on 11 March AFP/Getty

The court will send you papers which include a form for you to outline your defence, details of the court hearing date and any evidence your landlord has submitted.

After reviewing all of the evidence the court will make a decision on whether or not the eviction can go ahead. If the court orders you to leave, it usually gives you 2 weeks but can allow up to 6 weeks. You will probably also have to pay your landlord's legal costs.

Only bailiffs appointed by the court can evict you from your home.

Benefits

If you have to take time off work and are not paid, or receive sick pay that is less than your usual wages, you might be entitled to claim benefits, or your existing benefits might increase. Seek advice if you currently receive housing benefit or tax credits, for example.

If you are employed and cant work at home and you follow NHS guidance to stay at home for 7 or 14 days because of coronavirus youll be considered unfit for work," says Kate Smith, senior benefits expert at Citizens Advice. "You will qualify for statutory sick pay (SSP) if you usually get it when off work sick."

Statutory sick pay is paid for up to 28 weeks.

The government has said new claimants suffering from coronavirus or required to stay at home can be paid from day one of the absence from work. Employers with up to 250 staff will be refunded by the government for up to 14 days of sick pay for employees off work because of coronavirus.

You cant get SSP if youre self-employed, but if you have paid national insurance contributions regularly for the last couple of years you should qualify for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the government has increased the basic level of unemployment benefit by 20 per week to the same level as SSP- 94.25.

The Local Housing Allowance has also been modified so that it is sufficient to cover the cost of 30 per cent of rental properties in the local area. Previously this had been as low as 15 per cent.

What have landlords said about the situation?

The National Landlords Association said: We understand and sympathise that some tenants may struggle to pay their rent where they are seeing a temporary drop in their income if they cant work because of the coronavirus.

In such cases it is essential that they inform their landlord at the earliest opportunity and try to work out future payment arrangements.

Where this creates problems for landlords with their mortgage repayments we would hope that lenders give landlords the same flexibility with payment holidays that they are offering to home owners.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords association, said: Landlord groups welcomes government support.

"We recognise the exceptional circumstances and we will work collaboratively with government to ensure these measures protect both landlords and tenants."

For more information visit Shelter's website: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice

Or Citizens' Advice: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/
Underfire local brewer Keroche Breweries has accused the Kenyan taxman of favoring foreign investors over local manufacturers.

Speaking after the Tax Appeals Tribunal ordered the brewer to pay Ksh 9 billion in taxes, Keroche CEO Tabitha Karanja on Thursday told the media that the ruling has crippled their operations.

Today in the morning, we woke up to an agency notice issued by KRA directed to our banks to collect Sh9 billion. This means Keroche Breweries cannot withdraw any more money or transact any business from their accounts until KRA collects the alleged Sh 9 billion. In short, as we speak, they have halted all the operations, she said.

She added: As a law-abiding company, we expected that KRA would abide by the process in which we had 30 days by law to appeal the tax appeals tribunal decision. We are shocked that KRA has no intention of respecting the legal process.

Karanja said KRA was wrong to mislead the public yet the company still has 30 days to appeal.

The tax appeals tribunal decision is not the final verdict. It is important that the public understands how this process works. If you have any dispute with KRA, the first step is to take the matter to the tax appeals tribunal. Only when this fails is one allowed to go to court, she said.

With Danish Brewing Company E.A Limited, a subsidiary of Bounty Global Management DWC LLC, set to set up operations in the country, Karanja said the beer maker will come with over 60 percent of workers from a foreign country.

Keroche has 99 percent of locals. We need an enabling environment, she said adding that local companies must be supported.

Why are they destroying the manufacturing agenda that we claim is one of our economic pillars? Does this country only favour foreign investors?

This injustice cannot be allowed to stand. Our lawyers are currently in court to stay this order, she said.
After some convincing, Feruz stood up and walked slowly towards the small dog sitting patiently at the front of the classroom. She presented her hand for a sniff before placing it gently on the animals back  a wide smile extending across her face as she made contact.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/3/2020 (669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After some convincing, Feruz stood up and walked slowly towards the small dog sitting patiently at the front of the classroom. She presented her hand for a sniff before placing it gently on the animals back  a wide smile extending across her face as she made contact.

Its something she never would have dared to do in her homeland, where dogs run wild and dangerous.

The 11-year-old from Eritrea touched a dog for the first time in her life on Monday morning during a workshop hosted by the Winnipeg Animal Services Agency at the Newcomers Employment and Education Development Services (NEEDS) centre on Notre Dame Avenue.

"I was afraid at the beginning and then it was good," Feruz said, still grinning and speaking in Arabic through a translator.

Gemma, a two-year-old brindle-boxer mix, is helping newcomers to Canada learn how to socialize with dogs. In many of the newcomers homelands, dogs are wild and bite. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

Feruz has been in Winnipeg for less than a month and is a participant in NEEDS Introduction to the Canadian Education Program, which provides transitional education for newly arrived refugees aged six to 17 while they await placement in a Winnipeg school. The Free Press is following the organizations client confidentiality policy by not disclosing the surnames of program participants.

Dogs were something to be avoided as Feruz grew up in Eritrea.

"Back home, the dogs are loose dogs, so thats why people dont get close to them because they bite," Feruz said.

This reality is what prompted Animal Services to start offering classes on animal behaviour and pet ownership for newcomers several years ago.

"Sometimes people in their home countries have had lousy experiences or no experiences," said Leland Gordon, chief operating officer of Animal Services. "It improves the health and safety of our communities by having residents who know how to safely interact around dogs."

Nasri, 15, pets Gemma in the NEEDS class. (Mikaelal MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

On Monday, about a dozen NEEDS students and a handful of teachers took part in the 45-minute presentation. The excitement was palpable when Gordon and Austin Olek, an animal resources officer, entered the classroom with Gemma, a petite two-year-old brindle-boxer mix with a perma-smile.

Agency staff are selective about which dogs they bring into a classroom  especially when the audience may be meeting a dog for the first time.

"The dog has to be super, duper, duper friendly and be able to have little kids come up to it and show no fear whatsoever," Gordon said.

Gemma, who has been adopted but was waiting to get spayed before heading to her new home, checked all those boxes.

Gordon started the class by going over the parts of a dog and asking students to identify Gemmas nose, paws and tail. Next, he explained the role of the Animal Services department before getting to the crux of the lesson: learning how to properly and safely interact with an unfamiliar dog.

Austin Olek, animal resources officer, and dog Gemma visit the NEEDS class to introduce dogs and pet ownership to the newcomers. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

When it came to practising the interaction  asking for permission, letting Gemma sniff their hand and then petting her on the side or back  some students were eager to give it a try and others, like Feruz, needed a bit of coaxing.

"It took a lot for some of those kids to actually go up and pet the really friendly dog that we brought in, but that was probably very helpful for those kids as they grow older theyll understand that dogs can be a very positive addition to our community and a household," Gordon said.

Animal Services has held classes for adults through the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba in the past and has visited NEEDS twice in the last few months. Fifteen-year-old Nasri was attending the class for the second time on Monday.

"There was a dog coming today, thats why I came," he said.

That attitude is an about face for Nasri, who says he was afraid of dogs before coming to Winnipeg from Somalia four months ago.

Rami, six, pets Gemma. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

"In Somalia, people dont have pets. There are dogs but they are wild dogs," he said. "If I were to pet them before I would have (been bitten)."

His first class with Animal Services helped him overcome those fears.

"That was the first time I pet a dog... it was a little scary but I did it," Nasri said. "I do like dogs now."

Instead of focusing on subjects such as math and science, the youth education program at NEEDS provides an introduction to Canadian society with units on education, employment, health, nutrition, safety, laws and community. Students attend the school Monday to Friday  some for two weeks, others for up to two months.

Alejandra Cano is the assistant manager of the introduction program and says the collaboration with Animal Services fits the schools overall mission.

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.

Leland Gordon, CEO of Winnipeg Animal Services, and Gemma share a moment. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

"We just want to better prepare them for whats next to come," Cano said. "They will be out in the community and they will see dogs and we want to make sure its not a scary thing for them and they also know how to be safe if that does happen."

The newcomer class is part of Animal Services wider education efforts that see staff and dogs visit schools and attend more than 30 community events annually.

Gordon says community outreach, social media and the agencys Doggie Dates program  which allows residents to take a dog home for a day, or even up to a week  have helped spread the word about the dogs up for adoption at the kennel on Logan Avenue.

"Theres still people that dont know that Animal Services has dogs for adoption," Gordon said. "Our dogs have gone on over 500 doggie dates in just a few years and that is incredibly improving the sociability of those dogs, its getting the community to know what we do."

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney
The Maharashtra Government on



Friday lodged a complaint with Cyber Police about a fake central government 'notification' about closure of colleges, schools and offices in view of coronavirus.

The so-called notification, doing rounds on social media, claimed that it was issued by the Union Health and Family Welfare ministry.

It purportedly declared holiday for educational institutions and other organizations which have more than ten employees from March 14 to 21, and said a fine of Rs 5,000 per day will be imposed if the order was violated.

It claimed to be applicable to Maharashtra, Gujarat Utter Pradesh and Sikkim.

This notification was completely fake, and a police complaint has been registered, the Chief Minister's Office said.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced earlier on Friday that in view of coronavirus outbreak, schools and colleges in Pune and neighbouring twin industrial towns of Pimpri and Chinchwad will remain closed till further orders.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Photo credit: Matthew Horwood - Getty Images

From Esquire

This week, I caved. I bought a box of face masks, delivered next day by Amazon (which for now at least seems to be resisting the urge to add an idiot surcharge to its panic-buy producs). I know that, in protecting you from coronavirus, wearing a face mask on your commute is basically useless . I also know that, if used improperly, they can actually increase your odds of contracting the disease . And yet here I am, awaiting the arrival of 20 of the things. I'm just glad I resisted the urge to get the ones with a plastic visor.

I'm not normally the kind of man to be panicked by a pandemic. I'm not a hypochondriac, nor a germophobe. I don't hallucinate deadly bacteria dancing across my keyboard, like I've stepped into some post-apocalyptic Dettol ad. In fact, I've got so much misplaced confidence in the rigours of my immune system that, in more normal times, I'd be comfortable licking the handrails on public escalators, if you asked me nicely enough and had a breath mint to hand. I once fished a three-day old prawn curry out of a bin because I thought that, actually, it would probably be fine if I microwaved it (spoiler: it wasn't).

But these aren't normal times and I no longer feel normal about the world around me. Covid-19, the novel coronavirus, has had a novel impact on the way that I, and all the other normally level-headed people I know, think about threat. Unlike SARs or swine flu or bird flu or BSE  or any of the myriad other international health scares that inspire 'Old Testament predicts CORONAGEDDON' headlines in the Daily Express  this one has precipitated a kind of thrumming anxiety that's impossible to switch off, ignore or reason with.

Perhaps it's because this post-Brexit, post-Trump world is one in which anxiety is the norm. In which the president's nuclear brinksmanship with North Korea and Iran has nudged the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight than ever before . In which Russia and Saudi Arabia commit extrajudicial murder on foreign soil with no repercussions. In which governments still seem more concerned about protecting coal industry jobs than stopping our planet from setting on fire. Everything is grim all the time at the moment. Coronavirus  with its Hollywood transmission speeds and entire-country-on-quarantine response requirements  has dragged that background fear into the light. "If you thought you were scared before, then take a look at this."



Story continues

Photo credit: Anadolu Agency - Getty Images

My response, much as try to restrain it, has been to let animal panic tear toothily into logic. Every time someone on a train coughs, or sneezes, or brushes my hand with theirs while reaching for the door opening button, I wish a slow, drawn-out death upon them because THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THEY'VE JUST SENTENCED ME TO. In my mind, every sniffle is yet another step on the path to Racoon City, even though I know (because I've Googled, twice today) that a runny nose is not a coronavirus symptom.

I also know that, even if I don't show any symptoms, that I'll be self-isolating within the fortnight. The process has already begun  I've cancelled plans, stopped going into the office, quit the gym (the latter wisely, after erupting at some poor, almost definitely corona-free man who had the gall to touch one of my weights, which I then bathed in so much disinfectant it became impossible to pick up). I'm afraid of strangers, of colleagues, of friends and family. After reading about someone who gave coronavirus to their dog, I'm now suspicious of mine, in case he's been leaving the house at night and licking the patients at Lewisham Hospital.

The reality is that I'm fine, and that even if I'm not fine, I'll still be fine, since I'm lucky enough to be comparatively young, comparatively healthy and to live in a comparatively prepared, medically advanced country. It's the at-risk that I should be worried about, yet here I am, holed up at home, in a fortress built from bulk-bought risotto rice and loo roll and surgical masks (I lied, I did get the ones with the special plastic shield), spraying disinfectant at my cat every time he tries to creep his way inside. It's lonely in here, and at the moment, it's a hell of a lot more poisonous than the world it's supposed to be protecting me from.

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The trial of a former British soldier over a fatal shooting during the Northern Ireland Troubles may take place over Skype, a court has heard.

A lawyer for Dennis Hutchings applied for an adjournment over concerns that the 79-year-old would not be able to attend his trial in person for health reasons.

Belfast Crown Court was told that Hutchings is receiving medical treatment and his doctor said it is not safe for him to travel.

Hutchings, from Cawsand in Cornwall, a former member of the Life Guards regiment, has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of John Pat Cunningham in Co Tyrone in 1974.

Mr Cunningham, a 27-year-old man with learning difficulties, was shot in the back as he ran away from an Army patrol near Benburb.

Hutchings, who is on dialysis twice a week for renal failure, is facing charges of attempted murder and attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.

Former British soldier Dennis Hutchings is on dialysis twice a week for renal failure and is concerned about the coronavirus (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Judge Mr Justice OHara told the court on Friday that a video-link will allow Hutchings to participate fully in the trial and that the court could sit two days a week if the accused is willing to participate in the trial by Skype.

Defence lawyer Ian Turkington said however that there could be a visibility challenge.

He said his client wants to be present in court for his trial, adding that there is no suggestion that the pensioner is using his illness as a tool to delay the proceedings.

Mr Justice OHara said: Lets get on with it.

Mr Turkington told the court: Its not safe for him to travel. The consultant said he should not travel and the reason for that is clear  between buses, trains, airports, airplanes and hotels, and backwards and forwards.

He would prefer to be here for his trial. If the court insists that (Skype) is the way forward  but it is not his expressed wish.

The trial was also delayed last week over concerns for Hutchings health and the threat of coronavirus.

Mr Justice OHara said on Friday that the country is potentially weeks away from the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak and asking for further delay could see the trial put back to September.

The judge added that a few months delay is significant as the defendant is 79 and the shooting happened decades ago.

To face these in his living room somewhere in England is not the preferred method of standing trial. We are in uncharted territoryDefence lawyer Ian Turkington

The defence lawyer said the court would have to look at all eventualities and possibilities.

These are serious allegation against a man of good character, Mr Turkington added.

To face these in his living room somewhere in England is not the preferred method of standing trial.

We are in uncharted territory.

Mr Turkington asked the judge for a delay to consider the steps needed for his client to participate in a trial through Skype.

The judge adjourned the case to Monday March 23.

Meanwhile, the case of two former paratroopers accused of shooting an Official IRA man in Belfast in 1972 has been put back.

Soldiers A and C have been charged with murdering Joe McCann, who died close to his home in the Markets area of Belfast.

The case has been adjourned until April 3 for arraignment.
In 2006, the average online shopper expected a page to load in four seconds; todays shopper expects a page to load in two seconds or less. Organizations have realized that delivering a consistently high online performance is very difficult to ensure. Even with the advanced hardware and service additions in place, site performance can be mediocre at best due o the inefficiencies in page construction and rendering.

According to a PhoCus Wright research, up to 57 percent of shoppers will abandon a site after waiting three seconds for a page to load, and 8 out of 10 people will not return to a site after a disappointing page load experience. Almost one third of these dissatisfied users will go on to tell others about their disappointing experience. Almost 60 percent of mobile web users expect sites to perform as quickly on their handheld devices as they do on their home computers, and about the same number of mobile users say they would be unlikely to visit a site again after a poor mobile web experience.

Companies that depend on web-based applications to generate revenue soon realize that site performance directly correlates with increased conversions, increased shopping cart size for ecommerce, increased page views for advertising, and higher search rankings. We found that successful companies tackle web performance challenges by following a course of action that directly has a bearing on business metrics:

Recording and analyzing site traffic: Despite the advances in technology and increased bandwidth availability, page rendering on a browser is not possible without making a number of requestsor roundtripsto the server. An average web page is a staggering 965k in size and contains 85 objects. This means that it takes dozens of requests to the server to retrieve the pages content, making the overall page load time slower. Web savvy companies identify the need for resource consolidation and caching. They invest in clever systems that detect patterns of resource usage and formulate rules for resource consolidation and caching, grouping resources according to the pages that request them.

1. Modifying site responses in real time: How best can companies quickly gauge audience interests and preferences will determine their strike rate. They know the importance of changing the behavior of web pages without altering their appearance to the user. This helps them in devising fail-proof customer engagement plans.

2. Working towards a higher SEO ranking means more visits: Google and other search engines allocate either a set period of time or a set quantity of data for crawling each site. Increasing the number of crawled pages directly affects rankings and traffic. So by implementing a clever set of site optimization measures, the companies ensure that the Googlebot web crawler covers approximately twice as many pages than other unaccelerated sites.

3. Increasing the page speed brings in more people: Eighty percent of performance issues happen at the front end, at the browser level. AOL conducted studies in which they measured site performance and page views. They found that visitors to the top 10 percent best performing sites viewed 50 percent more pages than visitors to sites in the bottom 10 percent.

4. Predicting where visitors are likely to go: Successful companies keep learning about how visitors use the site and predict what pages they would most likely want to see next. Relying less on widgets and snippets: Third-party scripts such as ads, social media widgets, and analytics tags block pages from rendering until all the scripts are loaded. This delay in page loading time affects the overall user experience, leading to low conversion and revenue. Microsofts Bing site conducted a study wherein they slowed page load times by 2 seconds. As a result of the slowdown, users ran approximately 2 percent fewer queries and clicked 3.75 percent less often. Conversely, speeding up the site by 2 seconds resulted in a 5 percent revenue increase. Prudent companies make use of expert systems that increase performance by improving the utilization of browser cache.

5. Recognizing that not all browsers are created equal: The days of being able to create websites that are optimized for only one or two browsers are clearly behind us. Each browser type has its own preference as to how it renders pages, how many connections are opened, etc. Techniques that work for one browser type can slow down, or even break, pages in a different browser.

Performance optimization is an essential business driver. Website performance has a direct correlation with revenue in both ecommerce and advertiser-supported applications.
The Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Thursday decided to verify facts afresh in a complaint against former Union minister and his family, where they are accused of falsifying a property document while selling land.

The development came after Scindia quit the and joined the on Wednesday. Twenty-two MLAs who belong to his camp also tendered their resignations, threatening the survival of the government in the state.

"Yes, an order has been given for re-verification of facts in the complaint filed by Surendra Shrivastava," an EOW official told PTI.

An EOW release said Shrivastava on Thursday filed a new complaint against Scindia and his family, alleging that by falsifying a registry document, they sold him a piece of land at Mahalgaon which was smaller by 6,000 sq feet than the original agreement in 2009.

He had lodged the complaint first on March 26, 2014. But it was investigated and closed in 2018, the EOW official said. "As he again petitioned us today, we will re-verify the facts," the officer said.

Scindia's close aide Pankaj Chaturvedi alleged that it was political vendetta.

"The case had been closed for want of evidence. Now for vengeance, it is being reopened. We have full faith in the Constitution and law. We will get justice and government a befitting reply," Chaturvedi said.
(Natural News) Thymus capitatus, also known as conehead thyme or Spanish oregano, is a plant native to the Mediterranean region. It is commonly used as food, medicine and as a source of raw materials. The most useful parts of conehead thyme are its leaves and essential oil. The latter, in particular, is used not only as a food flavoring, but also as an antiseptic.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Essential Oil Research, researchers from Tunisia examined the essential oils of conehead thyme collected from four Tunisian regions. They focused on the biochemical components and anti-microbial activities of the essential oils and found that these oils are particularly effective against two microorganisms  a bacterium and a fungus  that are known to cause diseases in humans.

Essential oils from T. capitatus have anti-microbial properties

To characterize the essential oils extracted from the aerial parts of conehead thyme, the Tunisian researchers performed chromatographic analysis using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The thyme samples they used came from four Tunisian regions, namely, Kef, Bizerte, Boukornine and Grombalia.

The researchers reported that carvacrol is the predominant compound present in the essential oils, particularly the oil derived from conehead thyme from the Boukornine region. Carvacrol is a compound commonly found in the essential oil of medicinal herbs like oregano, pepperwort and wild bergamot. According to studies, carvacrol has many beneficial properties, such as anti-microbial, anti-tumor, anti-mutagenic, analgesic, anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic and hepatoprotective activities, among others.

When the researchers analyzed the anti-microbial activities of conehead thyme essential oils, they found that the oils antibacterial effects are related to their organoleptic quality  that is, their ability to act on the senses. The essential oils also exerted a strong inhibitory effect on the growth of two microorganisms, namely, Bacillus cereus and Fusarium solani. B. cereus is a toxin-producing bacterium that causes food poisoning, while F. solani is a common soil fungus that can cause skin infections.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that conehead thyme essential oil can be used to treat microbial infections and could serve as a pharmaceutical and preservative agent. (Related: Thyme essential oil has many uses in alternative medicine, as an antimicrobial, antispasmodic, and antioxidant.)

The many uses of conehead thyme

T. capitatus is a powerfully pungent, evergreen shrub whose flowers are rich in nectar and are very attractive to honey bees. It has a long history of use as a culinary herb and as a beneficial companion plant.

The leaves of conehead thyme are great for salads or as a condiment for cooked foods. They can also be harvested and dried before their flowers open and made into an aromatic herbal tea.

The essential oil from conehead thyme  also called Spanish oregano oil  is used to flavor foods, such as baked goods, beverages and ice creams. On its own, it can also be used as an antiseptic, a deodorant and a disinfectant.

The essential oil extracted from conehead thyme leaves can sometimes be found in soaps, perfumes and mouth washes. However, this essential oil is often considered not suitable for aromatherapy as it can irritate the mucous membranes.

In Tunisia, conehead thyme is used as an aphrodisiac, a blood stimulant and as a folk medicine for whooping cough. It is also known as a stomachic (promotes appetite), diaphoretic (induces perspiration) and anti-spasmodic agent.

Discover other medicinal herbs and what they can do for your health at Herbs.news.

Sources include:

Science.news

EurekaSelect.com

TAndFOnline.com

Temperate.TheFerns.info

JNSciences.org
The frame and images looked old, but there was something about the artwork in the thrift store that struck Wendy Hawkins as remarkable.

So Ms. Hawkins, a volunteer at the Hotline Pink Thrift Shop in Kitty Hawk, N.C., acted on her hunch. She removed the piece from the pile of donations waiting to be sorted and priced, and took it to Melanie Smith, a local art dealer and appraiser.

After a week of scrutiny, Ms. Smith had made up her mind: The piece was a wood block print based on the Divine Comedy watercolors of Salvador Dali, the Spanish surrealist.

We have no idea who donated it or exactly when, Ms. Smith, the owner of the Seaside Art Gallery in Nags Head, N.C., said in an interview. Luckily, it was saved, instead of going by the by, she said.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor has issued the 'Delhi Epidemic Diseases, COVID-19 Regulations, 2020' on Friday which aims at containing the spread of coronavirus.

The directive states that action would be taken against patients or suspected cases who refuse to undertake preventive measures or treatment for the disease.

"Action will be taken against any suspect/confirmed case if they refuse to take measures for prevention/treatment," it said.

The total number of persons infected from coronavirus has climbed to 81 in India. A 76-year-old man from Karnataka, who passed away recently, had tested positive for COVID-19.

The virus, which originated in the Wuhan city of China, has spread to more than 100 countries globally, infecting over 1,30,000 people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This is an issue that is close to my heart. Through a new grassroots network of young black legal professionals that Ive formed called the Young Black Lawyers Organizing Coalition, I recently led a voter protection initiative in South Carolina in the run-up to their primary last month. In South Carolina, there are nearly 100,000 black voters on the inactive election rolls  many merely because they havent voted in the last two general elections  putting them at risk of voter suppression when they go to the polls. Our goal was to engage as many of these voters as possible with one important message: check your voter registration status and know your rights.
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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 13, 2020 14:05 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a5b22a 1 Business COVID-19,face-mask,exports,Trade-Minister-Agus-Suparmanto,Sri-Mulyani,coronavirus Free

Indonesia is set to temporarily ban exports of face masks to ensure there is a sufficient domestic supply amid the COVID-19 outbreak, Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto said on Friday.

We will issue a temporary export ban for face masks so the needs of companies and consumers are met, Agus told a news conference in Jakarta. The ban will be effective until we have a sufficient stock of face masks.

Prices of face masks have skyrocketed in several parts of the country, as people stockpile protective supplies, such as masks and hand sanitizer liquid, to protect themselves from the virus.

If we have any excess supply [in the future], we will resume exports, Agus said.

Read also: Two Malaysians arrested for alleged attempt to smuggle face masks from North Sumatra

He previously urged mask producers to halt exports of masks and prioritize domestic consumers amid a spike in demand in Indonesia. State-owned pharmaceutical company PT Kimia Farma has implemented rationing for face masks and hand sanitizer to ensure the products are available at all of its 1,300 stores nationwide.

The government has so far announced 34 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with one death. Globally, the pneumonia-like illness has infected more than 128,000 people and taken at least 4,700 lives.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said during the same news conference that the government had prepared Rp 1 trillion (US$67.63 million) for medical needs, including hospital preparation costs, laboratory tests and to cover medical costs for infected persons.

The Finance Ministry will provide the necessary funds for COVID-19 handling, including for case tracking, coordination between the central government and regional administrations and the provision of face masks and hand sanitizer, Sri Mulyani told reporters.

The government announced on Friday that it was allocating Rp 120 trillion from the state budget to stimulate the economy through tax incentives and subsidies for workers, businesses and families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read also: Indonesia advances pre-employment card program to tackle pandemic impacts

It also announced a second stimulus package, worth Rp 22.9 trillion, that includes individual and corporate tax breaks as well as the relaxation of loan disbursement and restructuring requirements.

This is in addition to the first Rp 10.3 trillion stimulus package announced on Feb. 25, which was aimed at boosting household spending and provided mortgage subsidies for low-income families and fiscal incentives for travel-related industries.

The government will also speed up disbursement of social spending and funds for the pre-employment card program in the first quarter of this year.
Disqualified Uttar Pradesh MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar was on Friday handed down 10 years rigorous imprisonment, besides imposition of a fine of Rs 10 lakh, by a Delhi court for the death of Unnao rape victim's father in custody, saying "no leniency" can be shown for killing a family's "sole bread earner".

Sengar, who has already been sentenced to the "remainder of his natural biological life" for raping the minor Unnao girl, was stripped of his membership on February 25 as the lawmaker of the Uttar Pradesh assembly following his conviction in the rape case.

Pronouncing the sentence in a packed courtroom, District Judge Dharmesh Sharma also awarded 10 years jail term to Sengar's brother Atul Singh Sengar and five others for their role in the custodial killing of the father of the rape victim.

The court, which did not hold the accused guilty of murder under the IPC, awarded maximum sentence for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder to convicts under section 304 of the IPC after holding that there was not intention to kill.

Sengar and his brother will have to pay Rs 10 lakh each as fine within three months to legal heirs of the deceased, including the rape victim, as compensation.

"Considering the minor children (of the deceased) losing their father who was sole bread winner of the family and keeping in mind the fact that the victim's family has been uprooted from their native place, all the convicts in the case are being sentenced to maximum punishment," the court said in its order.

The court further said Sengar and the co-convicts, two police officials, being public servants were supposed to uphold the law but there was no denying the fact that they broke the rule of law.

"The way crime has been committed, the victim's father was beaten up and paraded, no leniency can be given to the convicts and therefore, I am sentencing all the convicts to the maximum punishment," the judge said.

The court also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to take appropriate disciplinary proceedings for medical negligence against doctors who had treated the father when he was injured and in judicial custody.

The father of the rape victim was arrested at the behest of Sengar in the Arms Act and had died in custody on April 9, 2018 owing police brutalities in custody.

On March 4, Sengar, his brother and five others were convicted for the death of the victim's father in judicial custody.

The court, which sentenced all the convicts to maximum punishment under Indian Penal Code section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and some other offences under the penal laws, also said that the four daughters and a son of the deceased has lost the protective cover of their father.

Besides ten years in prison for culpable homicide, Sengar, his brother, the then in-charge of Makhi Police Station in Unnao Ashok Singh Bhadauria and then sub-inspector K P Singh, Vineet Mishra, Birendra Singh and Shashi Pratap Singh have been also sentenced for other offences as well.

They have been sentenced under the following sections of IPC: five years under 120 B (criminal conspiracy), seven years under 193 (Punishment for false evidence), two years under 203 (giving false information respecting an offence committed), two years under 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), seven years under 211 (false charge of offence made with intent to injure), one year under 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), one month under 341 (wrongful restraint) and three years under Section 25 of the Arms Act.

While awarding the sentence, the court made it clear that all the jail terms to the convicts shall run "concurrently".

The court had earlier acquitted other accused -- constable Amir Khan, Shailendra Singh, Ram Sharan Singh and Sharadveer Singh -- giving them the benefit of doubt in the custodial death case.

On December 20 last year, Sengar was sentenced to jail for "remainder of his natural biological life" in a separate case for raping the minor daughter of the deceased in 2017.

The Central Bureua of Investigation had examined 55 witnesses in support of the case and the defence had examined nine witnesses. The court had recorded the statements of the rape victim's uncle, mother, sister and one of her father's colleague who had claimed to be an eyewitness to the incident.

According to the CBI, on April 3, 2018, there was an altercation between the rape victim's father and one Shashi Pratap Singh.

The chargesheet filed on July 13, 2018, said the victim's father and his co-worker were returning to their village, Makhi, when they asked Shashi for a lift.

Shashi denied them the lift, triggering an altercation among them, the CBI had alleged adding that Shashi called his associates, following which Kuldeep's brother Atul Singh Sengar reached the spot along with others and beat up the woman's father and his co-worker.

The woman's father was subsequently taken to the police station by them where an FIR was lodged against him and he was arrested for allegedly possessing illegal fire arms.

The chargesheet said that all this while, Kuldeep Sengar was in touch with the district police superintendent and Makhi police station in-charge Ashok Singh Bhadauria.

Later, he also spoke to the doctor who examined the rape victim's father.

The case was transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the directions of the Supreme Court on August 1 last year.
A local woman appeared to be infected with the virus; it's one of the three cases currently confirmed by the Healthcare Ministry

The local authorities of Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region (northern Ukraine) announced the emergency mode in this town. The decision takes effect on Friday, March 13.

The reason is that a local woman turned out to be infected with the Covid-19, the Chinese coronavirus. It's one of the three cases currently confirmed by the Healthcare Ministry of Ukraine. Vitaliy Bunechko, the head of Zhytomyr regional state administration posted that on Facebook.

"This is of a local nature; it will include shutting down of all malls and education facilities (...)", he wrote. That is, the emergency mode willl only concern this particular town.

On March 12, Zhytomyr regional lab centre received the necessary amount of tests for coronavirus infection.

All citizens are required to report to their doctors in case of slightest suspicions of the infection.

Earlier, we reported that President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda decided to delay his visit to Ukraine because of the spreading Chinese coronavirus. The visit was scheduled for March 18-20.
This weekends Masses are canceled in New Jerseys largest Catholic diocese and the faithful are not obliged to go to church on Sundays until further notice, Cardinal Joseph Tobin said late Thursday.

The Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Newark will also be closed next week as the state tries to combat the coronavirus pandemic, church officials said.

The celebration of daily Mass will continue. Churches of the Archdiocese will remain open and the faithful are encouraged to pray while maintaining a prudent distance from each other, the archdiocese said in a statement.

The decision to suspend weekend Masses will be reviewed daily and any new guidance will be announced next week.

.@CardinalJWTobin suspends weekend Masses and week of Catholic Schools in proactive response to Coronavirus (COVID-19): https://t.co/nPyKBwJM1b  Newark Archdiocese (@NwkArchdiocese) March 13, 2020

New Jersey has one of the highest percentage of Catholic residents in the nation. The Archdiocese of Newark has 1.6 million Catholics in more than 200 parishes in Bergen, Union, Hudson and Essex counties.

Gov. Phil Murphy requested Thursday that any gathering of more than 250 people be canceled, triggering a wave of canceled sporting events, theater performances and other events.

The Archdiocese of Newark is New Jerseys largest Catholic diocese. It is has not been announced if New Jerseys other dioceses -- Metuchen, Paterson, Trenton and Camden -- will follow Tobins lead and suspend weekend services.

The Diocese of Trenton announced earlier Thursday that it planned to hold weekend Masses, as scheduled. But Catholics are not obliged to go, said Bishop David M. OConnell.

I am granting a dispensation from the obligation to attend weekend/ Sunday Mass to all the Catholic faithful until further notice. Mass will still be offered in parishes for those who choose or who are able to attend. Otherwise, I recommend that the faithful pray and take advantage of/participate in Holy Mass that is broadcast on television, OConnell said for parishioners in the Trenton diocese.

In the Archdiocese of Newark, Tobin said funerals and previously scheduled celebrations such as weddings and baptisms will be permitted, but attendance should be limited to immediate family members only.

Other sacraments, including the Anointing of the Sick and Reconciliation, will remain available, as needed. Religious education classes, known as CCD, will be canceled for the week.

Our dedicated teams continue to actively monitor the unfolding pandemic and will continue to meet daily to assess changing circumstances in order to protect the faithful and support its parishes and schools, said Tobin. We encourage pastors to think about necessary activities and to postpone non-essential gatherings, keeping in mind the common good.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.
Male survivors of the deadly new coronavirus are being urged by their doctors to take fertility tests. This is due to the possibility of the coronavirus damaging the testicle's normal function, says an article. However, there is still no research proving that coronavirus reduces a man's fertility or sexual potency.

Read this too: Coronavirus Pandemic: Reasons to NOT Panic

What Does Wuhan Medical Professionals Have to Say?

However, medical professionals in Wuhan have revealed that the coronavirus infection can affect sperm production and the creation of male sex hormones.

According to Tongji Hospital at Wuhan, the coronavirus primarily targets the lungs and immune system of a person. However, they theorized that the deadly virus can negatively affect the ability of a man to reproduce.

These comments were given on March 11 by Professor Li Yufeng and his team of professionals at the Center for Reproductive Medicine of the hospital.

Tongji Hospital is associated with Huazhong University of Science and Technology. It is one of the medical centers assigned by the government to treat patients who were infected by the novel coronavirus. It was given the designation since the beginning of the outbreak in Wuhan in January.

The Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2

Based on the statement given by experts, the novel coronavirus or the SARS-CoV-2 attack human cells. Upon its entry within human cells, it damages tissues through sticking protein to the cell membrane protein called the protein angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 or the ACE2.

ACE2 is known to exist in other organs of a human body aside from the lungs. Also, this enzyme is abundantly present in a man's testes. The enzyme is thought to be in large numbers in many cells. These cells are in direct relation to male reproductive functions. It includes supporting cells, Leydig cells, and germ cells, says the team of Li Yufeng.

The SARS Outbreak in 2002 and 2003

During the SARS outbreak that occurred in 2002 and 2003, medical professionals had observed significant damage to the immune system in the testicles of some male patients.

The SARS coronavirus was not found by doctors on the testicles of their male patients. However, male patients were reported to have suffered from inflamed sexual organs.

The deadly coronavirus is highly similar to the SARS coronavirus. Also, the two viruses share a similar host cell receptor called the ACE2. Therefore, the team was able to conclude that in theory, the new coronavirus can damage men's testicles.

Being Advised to Take Fertility Tests

Men who had contracted the illness, especially those who are planning to reproduce, are advised to take fertility tests. These tests include sperm quality and hormone level tests. This is advisable to male survivors of the disease for the early detection of problems.

The Global Fight

More than 100 nations in the world are combating the fast-paced spread of the COVID-19.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus as a pandemic. The announcement was due to the "alarming levels of inaction" by different governments in the world.

China had recently declared the peak of the COVID-19 in their country had passed.

The novel coronavirus had ended the lives of thousands of people with infected people totaling up to 126,000 across the globe.
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More than a thousand Muslims, including many travelling Australians, have gathered for a prayer service in Christchurch to mark a year since the mosque massacre.

On March 15 last year, 51 worshippers from the Al Noor and Linwood Islamic Centre mosques were killed in an attack that shocked the world.

Images of mourners gathering at the Horncastle Arena on Friday showed men and women standing with their arms stretched out as security scanned them for weapons.

Muslims gathered in their thousands for a special prayer service to mark one year since the Christchurch massacre

Images of mourners gathering at the Horncastle Arena on Friday showed men and women standing with their arms stretched out as security staff scanned them for weapons

The Imam of the Al Noor mosque, Gamal Fouda (pictured), was seen laughing with a security guard as he was scanned

Despite the security measures and the sombre occasion, New Zealand police officers and security staff were seen embracing church-goers as they smiled and laughed together.

The Imam of the Al Noor mosque, Gamal Fouda, could even be seen seen laughing with a security guard as he was scanned.

Among those gathered on the day was Abdul Aziz, who rushed the shooter when they entered the Linwood Islamic Centre.

Tony Green, a worshipper from the Al Noor mosque, said the gathering was spiritual but not emotional.

'We accept life and we accept death. So there was a calmness, but a profound calmness,' he said.

Despite the security measures and the sombre reason for the occasion, New Zealand police officers and security staff were seen embracing church-goers in their arms as they smiled and laughed together. Pictured right is survivor Abdul Aziz

Among those gathered on the day was Abdul Aziz, who rushed the Australian-born shooter when they entered the Linwood Islamic Centre

Farid Ahmad, a survivor who lost his wife in the attack, said it was only after the service that the attendees became emotional.

'Our prayers are peaceful. We were trying to connect with God and so it was very peaceful,' he said.

'When we came outside it was emotional because everyone was showing their sympathy.'

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was among those in attendance, her head covered with a scarf.

She met with female worshippers before observing the service from a hospitality suite.

Tony Green, a worshipper from the Al Noor mosque, said the gathering was spiritual but not emotional

Feroze Mohammed Ditta, who was shot in the leg during the attack, attended the prayer service with his daughter Zahra Ditta.

Ms Ditta said she felt anxious and overwhelmed about attending the service and said there was still work to be done to combat racism in New Zealand.

Imam Fouda addressed the congregation on Friday with a message of the importance of charity.

Survivor Feroze Mohammed Ditta, who was shot in the leg during the attack, attended the prayer service with his daughter Zahra Ditta

JACINDA ARDERN'S MEMORIES OF THE ATTACK Jacinda Ardern remembers plainly what she was doing when the first reports of a shooting in Christchurch began filtering in last March. 'I was in a van travelling to visit a school in New Plymouth,' she said. 'I was handed the phone and started getting briefings initially from the Minister of Police. 'At that point we knew there was a shooting. We didn't know how many. We didn't know if it was a coordinated attack. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was among those in attendance at the prayers today 'I recall being told maybe two or three fatalities. 'I remember saying I need to get back to Wellington. 'The magnitude (became clear) when I managed to get to a space where I could switch on the news and I saw the images of the St John ambulances rolling in. 'The scale of it and the numbers then were becoming clearer. 'And it was devastating.' Advertisement

'We must strive to be a blessing,' Mr Green said of Imam Fouda's central message.

'Every person has an obligation to do charity.

'Charity is not just dispersement of wealth from wealthy people, but supporting the blind. Offering good words. Helping the weak.

'He called on us to practise goodness and follow a path of healing.

'The people who died last year have to have died for a purpose. And that's an invitation to everybody.'

The occasion drew plenty of outsiders from around New Zealand and Australia, with journalist Waleed Aly among those in attendance.

Imam Fouda addressed the combined congregations on Friday with a message of the importance of charity. Pictured is survivor Taj Mohammed Kamra

The killer, Brenton Tarrant, will face court for 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of terrorism in a Christchurch court on June 2, 2020

Another was Sydneysider Shazil Rehman, who travelled as part of Muslim Aid Australia, to offer support to survivors and their families.

'A considerable amount of Aussies have come down, not just today but last year when the event happened,' Mr Rehman said.

He said Imam Fouda's message of charity and understanding was powerful.

'Whatever it takes to bring people together, to get an understanding out there, we need to do it,' he said.

'That's what caused this tragedy in the first place. A lack of understanding, of awareness.

'Together we can make the world a better place, like Michael Jackson said.'

The alleged killer, Brenton Tarrant, will face court for 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of terrorism in a Christchurch court on June 2, 2020.
An alleged criminal involved in multiple cases of loot in Delhi-NCR was held here on Friday evening, following a gunfight with the Noida police, officials said.

The accused, in his 20s, was on a motorcycle along with another man when they were intercepted around 7.30 pm near Sector 119, within the Phase 3 police station limits, for routine checking, but they tried to flee, a senior police officer said.

"They were on a motorcycle, which did not have a number plate and looked suspicious. When gestured to stop, they sped away towards the service road and opened fire on the police team that followed them," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Ankur Aggarwal said.

"Accused Sadiq was injured in the retaliatory firing by the police and was held, while his partner, Surjeet, managed to escape. A search is on for him," he added.

Aggarwal said Sadiq, a native of Shahjahanpur district in Uttar Pradesh and a current resident of Ghaziabad, was taken to a hospital for treatment.

There were at least five cases of loot registered against Sadiq in Delhi and Noida and a background check was being done, he added.

A countrymade pistol was seized from the possession of the accused, while the motorcycle was impounded, the police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Religious communities have to be careful not to love people to death. Photo: Keith Bedford/Boston Globe via Getty Images

One of the great scriptural foundations of Christianity as an organized religion was Jesuss saying (in Matthew 18:20): Whenever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. But in a public health crisis like the one currently posed by COVID-19, whenever two or more Christians gather to share prayers, hugs, meals or the bread and wine of communion, there among them could also be coronavirus. And Christians form just one of the U.S. religious communities that are struggling to stay true to their traditions and serve those who depend on them without loving people to death.

Celebrations of the festive Jewish holiday of Purim were curtailed by many synagogues earlier this week, as the Washington Post reported:

Washington, D.C.s Adas Israel Congregation on Friday canceled its Purim carnival and the party scheduled for after services Monday night. Elsewhere in the United States, Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle shelved its plans for a Star Wars-themed Purim program, and a massive Purim party was reportedly canceled in Lakewood, N.J. Celebrations in places like Israel and Italy also have been canceled.

The practice of Islam has been hit even harder, obviously in coronavirus-stricken Iran  where Friday prayers have been canceled in more than 20 cities  but also in Saudi Arabia, where the issuance of tourist visas for the annual Umrah pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina were abruptly halted.

Initial concerns among Christians in the U.S. have often centered on the Eucharist, or communion, particularly in those denominations that practice it at least weekly and distribute it by hand, by drinking from a common cup, or by intinction (dipping a communion wafer into the cup of wine or juice, which usually means multiple fingers are touching the liquid). As NPR reports, a lot of churches are changing ancient practices, at least temporarily:

The Episcopal Dioceses of Los Angeles this week told its congregations to stop offering Communion wine. Christian religious leaders at the regional level of various denominations in Chicago, Seattle, Houston, San Francisco and elsewhere have taken similar actions. Some, like the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, are asking clergy not to use the shared Communion cup.

The Greek Orthodox Church, by contrast, has announced as a matter of doctrine that it does not believe the coronavirus can be transmitted via communion wine or wafer. To put it mildly, thats a controversial position.

But as Voxs Emily Todd Van Der Werff explains, ecclesiastical concerns go far beyond the communion table:

[E]ven beyond communion rituals, most churches practice some variation of the passing of the peace  in which congregants shake hands and wish each other peace be with you. During Holy Week, which directly precedes Easter, many churches traditionally wash parishioners feet, to replicate a moment from the Bible.

But even outside of official forms of worship, most churches are spaces where there are plenty of handshakes and hugs, before and after services. And thats to say nothing of other gatherings churches might host, like coffee hours after services, fish fries during Lent, or soup kitchens for those in need.

So some churches are taking more extreme measures, like suspending regular worship services altogether, notes the New York Times:

In a dramatic move to slow the spread of the coronavirus in one of the most affected regions of the country, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle suspended all public celebration of Mass, effective immediately, becoming the first Catholic archdiocese in the country to do so.

It was the most significant example of how the coronavirus is increasingly disrupting religious life across the United States, from a mosque in the Seattle area that canceled traditional Friday prayer services last week to Kentucky, where the governor on Wednesday urged all churches to cancel services.

Also on Wednesday, the Episcopal bishops in Virginia and Washington, D.C., announced that all churches in the dioceses would be closed for two weeks, including the Washington National Cathedral, which has held presidential funerals and is a focal point of Christian life in the capital.

In some areas, believers of all types are probably paying attention to declarations by public health experts and elected officials urging avoidance of religious or non-religious events involving large audiences. But theres often fine print that may not be so carefully heard or observed, as in California, where Governor Gavin Newsom has called for the suspension of gatherings of more than 250 people. Public health officials added this warning:

The California recommendations say small events at venues that do not allow 6 feet of space between people should be postponed or canceled. Gatherings of people at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 should be limited to no more than 10.

My own little church in California only has about 50 active members, but a majority are probably at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19 and they love to hug each other and break bread together, both during and after worship services.

As Van Der Werff observes, there are ways to maintain religious communities with far less physical contact; some churches in hard-hit Washington State are already going there:

A lot of us are ramping up ways to keep and hold community in the midst of this, either by Facetime, Googling, Zoom calls, Facebook Live, all those forms of media that can help keep and hold a community together, [Rev. Patty] Baker told me. St. Clare [Episcopal Church]s most recent service was streamed on Zoom, a videoconferencing application thats similar to Skype, for anyone who couldnt attend Mass in person.

These changes are being adopted with different levels of rigorousness in different parts of the country. Many churches in the center of the US, where coronavirus is not yet as prevalent, have not taken any such measures, while churches in densely populated areas are already stepping up precautions.

Precautions also affect services that churches offer to people who are more vulnerable than sick or elderly parishioners, as Bishop Marianne Edgar Budde observed in announcing the new regime at the National Cathedral:

Bishop Budde encouraged worshipers to join the National Cathedral for online services on the next two Sundays. She said that parish schools would be allowed to make their own decisions about whether to close, and that ministries that largely serve people who are hungry or homeless would continue to do so.

We will err on the side of our compassion, but we want to make sure that our volunteers and all who come to receive those necessary services are safe, Bishop Budde said at a news conference.

Safety is compassionate, too. And believers of all stripes know that God helps those who help themselves with thoughtful prudence.
A memorial colloquium was on Thursday held in honour of Bjorn Beckman, a Marxist scholar who died in November 2019.

The memorial was organised by friends, former students and colleagues of the scholar.

The theme of the lecture in memory of the 81-year old Marxist scholar was The Future of Democracy in Nigeria.

The late Mr Beckman, whom many described as a a comrade, scholar, internationalist and a friend of Nigeria, was also a celebrated Swedish political economist. He was a lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Many present at the even took turns to eulogise the late scholar.

The chairman of Daily Trust newspapers and chairman of the event, Kabiru Yusuf, described the late scholar as one who taught common values of decency and public spiritedness.

This is even as he called for sustenance of the ideas of the late Mr Beckman.

Chairman of the planning committee of the event, Kole Shettima, said Mr Beckman believed in peoples development and showed it in his lifestyle by interacting and giving audience to all.

Mr Shettima who spoke on behalf of the Special Guest of Honour, Muhamad Sanusi II, recalled how Mr Beckman was deeply involved in debate within Maxist theory with the late Yusufu Bala Usman.

We have lost another gem. All of these towering intellectuals were active participants in that vibrant debate the likes of which have now disappeared from Nigerian academic circles- a real tragedy, he said.

On his part, Jibo Ibrahim, senior fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development, said the late scholar electrified the learning of Marxist political economy with his vast knowledge of the classics and current literature.

He was above all a profoundly knowledgeable Marxist theoretician with deep knowledge of its methodology. This enabled him to make all of us better students and teachers of the discipline. He had the capacity to guide his students to do research that was both empirically grounded and theoretically sound.

For four decades, he said, Mr Beckman played the role of revolutionary mentor, academic supervisor, guide for rigorous Marxist-Leninist analysis and link to Africanist and internationalist radical scholarship and action.

He described him as an excellent academic supervisor who never limited himself to that role.

Professor Bjorn Beckman was important to us because of his deep commitment to African development. He immersed himself in the successive radical struggles of the 1980s and 1990s and beyond. He was a central pillar in the coterie of comrades that defined pathways for resistance to imperialism, neo-colonial and national exploitation and oppression, he added.

In a goodwill message from the Department of Political Science and International Studies, A.B.U, Zaria, Rauf Dunmoye described the late Mr Beckman as a brilliant scholar whose contribution to the department and the school, was exemplary.

He, therefore, hoped that Mr Beckmans past intellectual contributions will be part of the theoretical and empirical bases for consolidating sustainable democracy in Nigeria  which will pay high premium on equity and national development.

Also present at the event was Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi; President and delegates from the Nigerian Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, his wife, Gunilla Andrae; and children; delegates of National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria and Amino Kano Centre for Democratic Research and Training.

A book of condolence was opened and signed by attendees. There was an exhibition of late Mr Beckmans works.
New Delhi [India], Mar 13 (ANI): The Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday said that India-Bangladesh passenger buses and trains will remain suspended till April 15 due to coronavirus outbreak.



"India-Bangladesh passenger buses and trains will remain suspended till April 15. Along the India-Nepal border, four check posts will remain operational. For Bhutan and Nepal nationals visa-free entry will continue," said Anil Malik, an MHA official, during a press briefing here.

The Union Ministry of Health said that so far, 890 evacuees from coronavirus affected countries have been discharged after 14 days of isolation and having tested negative as per the protocols.

"654 evacuees from Wuhan, China, on February 1 and 3 were discharged on February 18. 124 evacuees from Japan and 112 evacuees from China were discharged today after having tested negative for coronavirus in the second round of tests," said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry.

The Health Ministry said the government is even prepared to operate special flights to bring back Indians, who have tested negative and are coordinating treatment of positive people in Iran as per the protocols.

The government has sent a team of four doctors from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to Rome. They have just reached Rome with sufficient material and reagents to collect samples of Indians there for onward testing in India, said Agarwal.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India has risen to 81. The country has also reported its first coronavirus death in Karnataka, the Health Ministry had stated earlier. (ANI)
KALAMAZOO, MI  The city of Kalamazoo is not currently planning to cancel or postpone any additional City Commission meetings, which are required by law to be open to the public. But Kalamazoo officials are waiting for further direction from state and federal authorities and health officials, and watching as coronavirus cases are confirmed elsewhere in Michigan.

We, at this time, do not have any plans to cancel city commission meetings, but it is a very rapidly changing situation and we are looking to our partners, the state and local county health officials, to give us direction on gatherings," Deputy City Manager Jeff Chamberlain said on March 13.

The city canceled all non-essential meetings and is focused on safety and continuing to provide services like water, sewer, and public safety amid the spread of COVID-19, which has now been confirmed in 12 Michigan patients.

No COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Kalamazoo County as of the morning of March 13.

Related: Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

We are frankly in uncharted territory right now, Chamberlain said, talking about how government business will be handled amid the threat.

Already-announced cancellations include two meetings scheduled for this week to gather input on proposed changes to the housing ordinance, and neighborhood meetings for a recreational marijuana ordinance.

The process of considering both proposals was impacted by the cancellations, Chamberlain said, and city staff is trying to move the projects forward to best the best of their ability. The city is also preparing other arrangements to share information and solicit feedback.

The priority is to ensure the public is safe," Chamberlain said. "All departments are focused on safety and keeping essential services running.

He noted the governor recommended earlier this week that event organizers stop holding any gatherings of 100 or more people.

While discussing the issue Friday afternoon, a new order from the governor hit his email inbox, banning all group gatherings of 250 people or more. That new order does not impact plans for Kalamazoo City Commission meetings, he said, but could force the cancellation of other events held in the city.

Were just going to have to make calls down the road as the situation either improves or changes, Chamberlain said.

Like other businesses and government entities, the city of Kalamazoo is also dealing with the impact on employees with children at home after the governor shut down all K-12 schools for the next three weeks.

The city is urging the public not to overreact, Chamberlain said, and to follow CDC guidelines to for healthy hygiene to help stop the spread of the virus.

Read more:

Michigan confirms 12 total coronavirus cases

Preschools face difficult decisions on whether to remain open

Kalamazoos first recreational marijuana shop opens despite coronavirus
'All the Congress MLAs support Scindiaji and whenever he signals, they will jump ship.'

IMAGE: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, right, with Jyotiraditya Scindia at an earlier event. Photograph: @samdeshmukh/Twitter

Rampal Singh, the BJP MLA from Silwani, tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore that Shivraj Singh Chouhan will soon return as Madhya Pradesh chief minister.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had blamed Rampal Singh along with BJP leader Dr Narottam Mishra and Chouhan of engineering a split in the Congress.

"He (Kamal Nath, the Congress chief minister) should not stay as CM even for a minute," says Rampal Singh.

There are reports about infighting between supporters of Dr Narottam Mishra and Shivraj Singh Chouhan about who should be the next chief minister if the BJP forms the government...

This is baseless news. We (BJP MLAs) have always been united and shall remain united in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress is deliberately spreading such rumours.

We are staunch party loyalists and believe in the party's ideology. Soon, everybody will come to know that these are just baseless rumours being spread to divert the attention of the people from how untenable the Kamal Nath government has become.

Dr Mishra and all the BJP MLAs were at the airport to receive Scindiaji. There is no rift at all.

Are all the Congress MLAs, who have apparently resigned, still with the BJP? There are reports that some of these 20-odd Congress MLAs are planning 'ghar wapsi'?

What more do you want when these 22-23 MLAs have resigned as legislators?

If you were in Bhopal this (March 12) evening, you would see most of them with Jyotiraditya Scindiaji joining him in the huge roadshow that the BJP has organised.

Once we form the government you will see more (Congress) MLAs joining the BJP.

How are you sure that Kamal Nath government will go?

Isn't that so evident now? What is remaining (of his government now) now?

When so many Congress MLAs have resigned and will be joining the BJP soon, how can his government survive?

Will Shivraj Singh Chouhan become chief minister?

Bilkul (Absolutely). Understand one thing (that only Shivraj Singh Chouhan can become the state's next CM) clearly.

As for the rest of us, we are loyal soldiers of the BJP and whatever role the party assigns to us we will fulfill our duties sincerely. The party's top leadership will decide about that and we will go with the party's decision.

How soon do you think will the BJP form the next government?

Very soon. Looking at the situation, he should resign as Madhya Pradesh chief minister on the grounds of morality and ethics. He (Kamal Nath) should not stay as CM even for a minute.

The party's top leadership will take a decision soon (The BJP has called for a floor test in the MP assembly on March 16).

The picture is so clear now that this (the whole process of a floor test and the subsequent BJP claim staking to form the next government) should not take too long.

The original Congress has joined the BJP now.

The Congress fought the Madhya Pradesh assembly election with Scindiaji's face and now that he is with the BJP, expect a flood (of Congress MLAs joining the BJP) soon to the BJP.

All the Congress MLAs support Scindiaji and whenever he signals, they will jump ship.
Scientists have dismissed a dangerous list of coronavirus tips floating on social media as being 'totally bogus'.

The list, being shared on WhatsApp and other social networks, claims to be information from an expert from Stanford Medicine  a claim the US university has denied.

Its fake prevention tips include drinking water to wash the virus into the stomach, where it is wiped out by acid, and were described as 'absolute b******s' by an academic.

The post recommends people self-test for COVID-19 by attempting to hold their breath for 10 seconds without coughing, which has been deemed 'inaccurate' by the British government.

Social media giants are working to monitor misinformation, which can be dangerous because it can lead to people 'taking greater risks' than if they were following official guidance.

Experts have warned about a dangerous list of coronavirus tips that falsely claim to be from Stanford University. The bogus list, being shared on WhatsApp and other social apps

The Department of Health and Social Care said urged to watch out for false guidance about coronavirus online in light of the anonymous posts (pictured right)

The Department of Health and Social Care urged people to watch out for false guidance about coronavirus online in light of the anonymous posts.

'We're aware of inaccurate advice circulating on #COVID19,' the department tweeted.

'Anonymous posts, claiming to be from Stanford Hospital or Japanese doctors, are suggesting you can self-check for #coronavirus by holding your breath.

WHAT ARE THE MESSAGES' CLAIMS AND WHAT DO SCIENTISTS SAY ABOUT THEM? 1. 'Drink water to wash the virus away' Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at University of East Anglia said: 'Absolutely b****cks. There is no evidence for that whatsoever. Even if the water did wash it off your throat. Viruses bind onto cells in the body very strongly and are taken in. So just washing water over it wont do anything.' Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health, University of Southampton, said: 'To cause infection, the coronavirus invades the lungs, and so washing away the virus by drinking water is simply not going to work.' 2. 'Hold your breath for 10 seconds to check for the disease' Professor Hunter said: 'Thats rubbish because a lot of people who are incubating the infection wont necessarily have any effects on their lungs at all. Ive never heard that.' 3. 'The virus hates the sun' Professor Hunter said: 'Heat does kill viruses. If you heat something up to about 60F (15.5C), it's likely to die in minutes. Similarly UV light will inactivate the virus and we do know if you look at the survival of these viruses on surfaces, the death increase as temperate increases. 'But you cant rely on that to protect you. Your lungs are about 37C degrees, and with a temperature its a little higher. If the virus was killed by heat, we wouldnt get ill.' Dr Head said: 'There has been plenty of discussion around whether coronavirus cases will decline as we head into the UK spring and summer. 'There are also plenty of cases in south-east Asia and the Middle East, where there is high heat and humidity. 'So, we do not yet know if cases will decline as the summer comes, but I think this is unlikely to happen. ' 4. 'If you have a runny nose, it's only a common cold' Professor Hunter said: 'The symptoms [of COVID-19] that are far more common are fever and a cough leading to shortness of breath. Those are the classic symptoms.' Dr Head said: 'A high temperature (fever) and a cough are the keen signs to focus on. Look at the NHS website for more detailed guidance.' 5. 'Gargle salt water as prevention' Dr Head said: 'Theres no evidence at all that salt water will protect yourself from coronavirus infection, so do not rely on this approach.' 6. 'It lasts on the hands for 5-10 minutes' Dr Head said: ' We know that the virus can last on some hard surfaces for a few days, and it is likely the virus can survive for at least a few hours on a persons hands. This is why regular and thorough hand-washing is so important.' Advertisement

'This is not accurate.'

It pointed towards nhs.uk/coronavirus for official advice on the outbreak.

Stanford University said in a statement emailed to The Verge: 'A widely distributed email about COVID-19 that is attributed to a "Stanford Hospital board member" contains inaccurate information. It did not come from Stanford Medicine.'

A chain message forwarded via WhatsApp said the virus could be prevented by drinking 'plenty of water' - at least every 15 minutes.

It claimed water and other liquids were needed to wash the virus down the throat to the stomach.

Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at University of East Anglia said: 'Absolutely b******s. There is no evidence for that whatsoever.

'First off, it doesnt just go into your throat. You can inhale it directly into the lungs.'

Loren Rauch, an emergency room doctor in Los Angeles with a masters degree in epidemiology, told Mother Jones: 'Totally bogus. Thats not real.'

The incorrect post also suggested that if an infected person sneezes, anyone within 10 metres is at risk of catching it.

Professor Hunter said: 'Droplets are made of saliva, snot or sputum. They tend to fall out of the air quite quickly. If you are more than a metre away, you didnt generally get the infection.'

Public Health England (PHE) usually trace suspected COVID-19 patients as anyone who has been within two metres of a confirmed case.

'That is a very good cut off point', Professor Hunter said.

The writer claims the virus 'hates the sun' and warm temperatures, a topic being debated by scientists.

Professor Hunter said 'heat does kill viruses', and UV light 'will inactivate it'. But it can't be relied on as a prevention method.

Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health, University of Southampton, said: 'There are also plenty of cases in south-east Asia and the Middle East, where there is high heat and humidity. So, we do not yet know if cases will decline as the summer comes, but I think this is unlikely to happen.'

One of the myths peddled by the post says gargling salt water can prevent catching the disease, much like the old wives tale that says rinsing the nose with saline can protect against coronaviruses.

Some evidence shows it can help people recover more quickly from the common cold. But there is nothing supporting the method against other respiratory infections, the World Health Organization has previously said.

Washing hands with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds, has been advised 'often' by the NHS to avoid catching coronavirus.

A cross-Government counter-disinformation unit was set up in a bid to deal with the potential extent, scope and impact of misleading and false details.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport-led team will engage with social media companies to monitor interference with the aim of limiting the spread coronavirus-related fake news.

Official NHS guidance is now being displayed at the top of internet search results as part of a crackdown.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: 'These changes will ensure the latest trusted NHS guidance sits at the very top of Google search lists, so people can be reassured they are reading official, up-to-date Government advice.'

Steve Hatch, Facebook's vice president for northern Europe, said: 'Anyone who searches for coronavirus or related terms on Facebook, or clicks on a hashtag on Instagram, is also shown a pop-up pointing them to the latest information from the NHS.

'We're also removing false claims and conspiracy theories which have been flagged by leading health organisations and that could cause harm to people who believe them.'

It comes after a fake account posing as a hospital was suspended on Twitter for posting inaccurate information about coronavirus cases.

The account, claiming to be a hospital in Andover, Hampshire, falsely posted it had received a number of patients with coronavirus-like symptoms before it was suspended by Twitter.

Facebook has also stepped up its efforts, temporarily banning adverts and listings selling medical face masks, as well as addressing posts that promote fake cures, such as false suggestions drinking bleach is a solution.

Earlier this month, the Prime Minister said social media has a 'very important role' in preventing conspiracy theories being shared online.

On Wednesday, tech companies including Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple were invited to Downing Street to discuss how they can help.
Welcome to Money Diaries, where were tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. Were asking women how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period  and were tracking every last dollar.



Today: an Unpaid Researcher who gets a $2,300 a month allowance and spends some of her money this week on a Moscow mule.

Occupation: Unpaid Researcher

Industry: Psychology

Age: 23

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Salary: $0 (I cant make money from my job right now because Im on a student visa, but my parents send me $1,000 a month and pay my rent. Right now my parents pay for everything as I graduated from undergrad in December and can no longer receive scholarship money from my undergrad. Their generosity is why I can focus on research for the 4 months I spend in the US postgrad, which hopefully helps me walk into a Ph.D. program with more potential publications and collaborators, which may translate into more funding in the long run. I am currently applying for a $10,000 scholarship for pre-grad students like me who are doing research.)

Paycheck Amount: $0

Gender: gender-nonconforming female



Monthly Expenses

Rent: $1,295 (I live alone in a studio by my university, paid for by my parents)

Student Loans: $0

Netflix: $8.99

Amazon Student Prime: $59/year

Spotify: $4.99

Cell Phone: $60 (prepaid plan)

Day One

12 p.m.  I make a pitcher of kale strawberry smoothie for lunch. While I eat I read a paper to prep for an upcoming meeting. I stayed up late because I was rushing a poster that I am presenting at a research conference this weekend, so I have not had time to prep for this meeting. Wish me luck!

1:30 p.m.  I head out to meet my collaborator. Background on my employment status: I graduated one semester early from college two and half months ago, which was also when I submitted my graduate applications. Because I am a foreigner, I am not allowed to work in the United States. Since I am going to grad school this fall, it is also hard to find employment in China, my home country, given that most standard employers require a two-year commitment. I am looking into online freelance work this month. I write short stories, know three programming languages, and used to be a statistics tutor, so I am focusing on work that requires those skills. My parents agreed to financially support me in between college and grad school since I graduated early and had multiple scholarships that helped with my undergrad costs.

Story continues

3 p.m.  Our meeting is a success! We go over her data set and I gain a good understanding of our research variables. She is also a woman of color in academia, and we share similar struggles in trying to be assertive, so we talk about that as well. There is a clear hierarchy in my field, in that undergrads are below postgrads, who are below Ph.D. students, and so on. But she is very down-to-earth and has become a role model/mentor for me in many ways.

4 p.m.  I stop by my universitys bookstore and browse for souvenirs for my parents. They really wanted to visit me this May and attend my graduation, but the US government imposed a travel ban on all Chinese citizens. This means they are unable to get a visa to visit. I moved to the US on my own when I was 16, left for two years to study in Europe in between, and ultimately graduated college in the US. I feel close to this country, but its situations like these that remind me that I may not belong here. I buy two of those mom and dad shirts with my universitys logo on them, a mug, two highlighters, and a ream of printer paper. The only thing I did not need was the mug, but I have a weird obsession with mugs. $74.26

5 p.m.  I get out of the bookstore and text my close friend, R., to see if she wants to get coffee. I pick her up at home and we walk over to the neighborhood coffee shop. I get a lavender latte and a vegan bureka. She talks me through my grad school decision. I am deciding between two institutions to attend this fall. We also catch up on her crazy week with three midterms coming up and her indecision about doing a Ph.D. Shes crazy smart and dedicated with original thoughts, but shes also a woman of color, and her field is very male-dominated, so she isnt sure that she truly belongs. $16.10

6 p.m.  We walk over to Trader Joes together and get groceries. I stock up on a few items that dont go bad quickly, like Tofurky sausages and tofu. I also get a bunch of green-ish bananas that should be just brown enough for my smoothies when I get back from New Orleans, a few boxes of dark chocolates, brown rice, bagels, and vegan chocolate chip cookies. I freeze the cookies and microwave them when I eat them, but they usually only last 2 or 3 days. My sugar addiction is back by popular demand. $56.89

8 p.m.  I see that I was billed for a German learning website subscription. This is for the whole year. I made it a 2020 New Year goal to improve my German (which I spoke well when living in Europe) and actually hope to get my C1 certificate at the end of the year. So far, I havent put much effort into it other than just listening to podcasts and reading German news again, and I hope this subscription will motivate me to learn more. I enjoyed the trial period of this website a lot, so Im glad I committed to a whole year. $99.95

2 a.m.  The last few hours flew by. I journaled about my day and my feelings, binged The Good Place, made tofu scrambled eggs for dinner, and smoked a bowl before brushing my teeth and knocking out. I dont read my book but scroll on my phone. I think my reading habit is falling off, as Im too addicted to my phone these days because I had a viral post that got 27k likes, so I keep checking that. This is probably my biggest accomplishment in a while.

Daily Total: $247.20

Day Two

12 p.m.  I clean up my apartment and do laundry. One load of laundry costs $3.25 in my building. I also check-in for my flight to New Orleans. R. texts if I want to get coffee and the answer is yes. I motivate myself to finish up quickly, as it usually takes me two hours to do everything. $3.25

2:30 p.m.  I take a quick shower and meet R. downstairs. We walk over to the neighborhood coffee shop and talk about my upcoming conference. I get a cold brew because it is so hot. More conversation about my grad school decision and her upcoming midterms. $4.26

3:30 p.m.  I finish up a few random things before I leave, like clearing out my fridge and taking out the trash. An hour before Im supposed to head to the airport, I finally hop online to see whos attending this conference. Its one of the biggest conventions in my field, so everyones going. I realize my prospective supervisors from both schools will be there along with several other academics whose work I admire. Nerd energy pulses through me and Im too excited now. I force myself to take a shower before I leave.

4 p.m.  I get a shared ride to LAX thats surprisingly cheap. I travel a lot, and usually have to shell out $25 for a ride to the airport, so this is nice. $16.16

8:50 p.m.  I get a latte at the airport Starbucks after customs. I brought my laptop with me to work on the plane, so coffee is mandatory. I give them my Hydro Flask because it is also a New Years goal to reduce my waste, although I hear Starbucks employees are required to measure the drink in a plastic cup anyways. I have a planning spreadsheet for my yearly goals, which my therapist says is too controlling, but all my friends think is smart (i.e. are willing to entertain me when I shove my spreadsheet in their face proudly like its my baby). Seriously, its color-coded and everything. So beautiful. $6.70

9 p.m.  I decide to pay for an all-day wifi pass for my flights. I received funding for this conference, so my flights and hotel are both paid for. However, I booked my flight too late, and all direct flights were sold out, so they routed me through Atlanta to New Orleans. This is a red-eye and I land at 8 a.m in New Orleans, then I have a whole day of the conference to get to. In retrospect, I probably shouldnt have planned to work through the flights, but I already got coffee and Im in game mode. $16

9:43 p.m.  I buy a wireless portable charger because my phone charger stopped working. I think about buying something cheaper in New Orleans, but decide against it. My friend from the lab flew in yesterday and doesnt know anybody, so I want to find her as soon as I can and unite. We are both presenting our research projects at this conference, and are the only two people from this lab that went, probably because we are the only two with funding to cover our expenses. Again, academia is elitist. There is no way I could afford it without funding. $65.69

10:30 p.m.  We finally take off. I take out my laptop and begin working on this non-profit initiative I started with a friend, who I met while studying abroad and who is also a student/researcher. She grew up in the Middle East and moved to the states for college, so we bond over our ambiguous cultural identity. We started this initiative a few months ago. We start airing podcasts next month, so busy times. Its been a humbling experience as we are small fishes in a vast ocean, but we are both pretty dedicated.

Daily Total: $112.06

Day Three

7:30 a.m.  I forgot about the time difference and I actually land at 7. I take my duffel bag and meet someone whos doing an MD/Ph.D. at another elitist west coast university and we briefly chat about that. I wonder if I should have applied to MD/Ph.D. programs and think I would have if I were more confident, but they take at least seven years to complete on a minimal stipend. Theres no way I can afford it, even with my parents help. I remind myself that what I do is also important and I shouldnt compare myself to others. Anyways, I call a Lyft to the hotel and wow its expensive. $34.30

8:30 a.m.  I duck into the bathroom and change out of my plane clothes, comb my hair, put on makeup, and get into business attire (i.e. a turtleneck and linen pants). Im a pretty casual person and generally look like Im in middle school with the way I dress down, but I want to fit in at this conference, so I dutifully change my looks. I didnt bring a blazer because I want to be comfortable, but once I get out, I see that everyone is wearing a blazer. Damn.

10:30 a.m.  The conference started before I got in and I already missed the keynote speaker, who is actually the entire reason I signed up for this conference. Hes a pioneer on racial bias research in my field, and I read his works in textbooks as an undergrad. I see him walk by me as he sneaks out of the room and want to scream and ask for his signature, but I suppress my inner groupie self. I leave the room, too, and sneak into another conference where a feminist psychologist whose work I greatly admire is giving a speech. Shes amazing in person! I talk to her afterward but am very flustered. Still, she agrees to a phone interview for my podcast.

12 p.m.  It is lunchtime, and the hotel provides free boxed lunches for us. There is one veggie option, and it is a spinach and mushroom wrap that literally tastes like nothing. I take my lunch outside to meet my friend, Z., from my lab and run into one of my prospective supervisors. We say hi, and she tells me not to commit to the other school yet. I want to get coffee with her, but none of my questions feel totally appropriate. I know her university is dominated by old white men, so thats my primary concern.

12:30 p.m.  I cant find Z, and she texts that she had to rush back to a conference that started early, so I ask the hotel if I can check-in early. The only room available right now is a special view kinda room and requires me to pay an extra $40, so I ask them to put it on my card rather than my universitys card. I decide its worth it since Im paying $0 for the hotel, and could really use a nap before tonights kickoff party. $40

1 p.m.  I take my tasteless spinach wrap to my room, take a long, hot shower, brush my teeth again, stretch out on my giant king bed, and eat chips. I watch The Good Place and pass out for a few hours. Its a nice room with a view of the Mercedes Benz center, so I take photos for my parents. Im the first in my family to have a bachelors degree, so my parents are amazed by all of this and think Ive made it, which I find hilarious and heartwarming.

4 p.m.  Z. and I finally meet up. We go to a conference just for the free snacks. I see no appealing options because Im just not satisfied with pretzel chips and hummus. Its a luxury hotel, so I expect a full buffet of dim sum because thats how it would go in Asia. Alas, she raids the snack bar, and we catch up on life. She did not get into grad school this round but has an amazing job opportunity lined up, so Im very excited for her.

5:30 p.m.  Z. and I finally make our way to the hotel lobby, where she calls an Uber to the kickoff party. I Venmo her half. It is only a 10-minute drive, and I follow the tradition of always showing up two hours late to a party (yeah, my friends complain about this sometimes), so I complain that we are leaving too early. But she has the good sense that there will be a line, so Im okay with it. $4.12

7 p.m.  After chatting with a British postdoc for a long time about what its like doing a Ph.D. in the UK, the entire table has lost interest. He essentially does methodological research, which is important, but not very interesting to me. However, I eat three bowls of bread things (I forget what its called, but this was the only meat-free option I found at this party, and I think theres butter in it). I get a beer and it hits me hard, because I dont normally drink (but take other substances, *wink wink*, as a trade-off).

10 p.m.  Z. and I call an Uber back to the hotel. Its only 10 and the place is clearing out, which amazes me. They must have exemplary self-discipline. I feel nostalgic about my old days in Europe where everyone gets shitfaced at home and shows up at a party past 2 a.m., and then in the morning, we all hit up a Turkish bakery for a semit. Quite the bonding experience. $4.14

12 a.m.  I text my ex-partner, V., asking if we can talk, which is not a good decision. I ended this four-year relationship because our respective insecurities were spilling over into our relationship, causing frequent fights in the past year. It was an amicable and mutual ending. We both know we are in love, but that right now we must grow on our own. I hope to find my way back to him because we are incredibly compatible most of the time. Its complicated so I wont go into it here. He doesnt reply, so I knock out.

Daily Total: $82.56

Day Four

9 a.m.  I wake up two hours later than intended and see that I missed my alarm. I see that V. texted back and said he was at work (hes in Europe, so there is a big time difference), but that he misses me and wishes me luck on my presentation. We text for a bit, and he reveals that he Googled when my presentation would be even though he feels its creepy. I find it rather sweet and only slightly creepy.

10 a.m.  I take a shower, pack up my laptop and miscellaneous items, drink lots of water, and leave my room. The hotel is very noisy. Who knew researchers had social skills? Maybe everyones just anxiously blabbing. Academics are notoriously awkward. The portrayal of Chidi on The Good Place is pretty accurate. JK, Im just too socially awkward and all this noise is frightening.

6 p.m.  I finish a whole day of back-to-back conferences and go back to my hotel, where I pay rent so I can check it off my to-do list and feel productive. I did nothing else today. In a state of false optimism, I made a to-do list last week for my time in New Orleans, which obviously is not going to work now that Im here and eager to do anything but these things.

6:30 p.m.  I meet Z. downstairs and go to a place known for gumbo. I call the Uber this time and Z. will call the Uber back, because weve gotten closer now and dont need to Venmo each other right away. Friendship goals. She even Googles best vegan gumbo in New Orleans for me. What a saint! $8.55

10 p.m.  Z. and I pay our bills and walk to Bourbon Street. We walk into a voodoo shop and see voodoo dolls for good fortune, and because Im ignorant, I ask the shop owner why we are wishing our enemies good fortune. He educates me on the history of voodoo as a religion and its roots in Haiti. Verdict: the idea that voodoo dolls are for cursing is a Hollywood sensation. I apologize and leave the shop with Z. in shame because I couldve Googled this before I spoke. $20

10:50 p.m.  Z. and I go back to the hotel bar and drink some more. They have tasty cocktails and I want to try them all. I also get miso soup because it is so good with cocktails, like jumping into a cold lake in summer heat. Would recommend. $15.26

12 a.m.  I cant believe I brought my book on this trip. I havent read a page, but the novel is also at a turning point where Im not sure Im ready for whats to come. I take a hot shower, brush my teeth, put on an overnight gel face mask (Pacifica, I think the brand is), and watch The Good Place until I pass out. Did you know that Kristen Bell voiced Gossip Girl?!

Daily Total: $43.81

Day Five

7 a.m.  I wake up late again. My prospective supervisor is giving a talk at the ungodly hour of 7 a.m., so I drag myself out of bed, usher myself into a hot shower and then put on a business-looking sweater and my Doc Martens. Someone compliments my pants in the elevator and I excitedly tell her I thrifted them for $5. I show up at the talk for the final segment because these conferences have several speakers per session, so Im in time for the last speaker but missed my supervisors talk. I look at another girls notes (so dutiful) and see that my supervisor cited another researcher I admire, which is cool.

11 a.m.  I meet my peer mentor, a third-year Ph.D. student from the east coast, for coffee. Shes also a woman of color and first-gen, so we talk about the hidden barriers in academia and how she dealt with them. We are both terrible at directions, but manage to find a hipster coffee shop with breezy decor and overpriced lattes that virtually transports me back to L.A. Shes so down-to-earth and driven, I feel inspired talking to her. $6.70

12 p.m.  We head back to the hotel for a first-gen academic meetup. A white man talks about how people think just because hes an old white man, he must have a privileged life, but hes actually first-gen. Its a room with primarily women and POC, but only the two or three white men in the room speak about their struggles, which I find concerning. I put the feelers out for anyone whos willing to write about their experiences in academia for my initiative as a way to encourage underrepresented communities in academia, and a girl comes up to me with interest. Its a small win.

1 p.m.  I attend a mentoring lunch with a professor and a few other students. We talk about our struggles in academia. Imposter syndrome and depression are real issues many students face in grad school and beyond. This is probably so much worse for women and POC. I also broadcast about my initiative and ask the students if they would want to submit anything for us. The professor gives me her card and asks me to send her information so she could share our platform within her network of 400+ psychologists, yay!

2 p.m.  I present my poster! A Ph.D. student from my undergrad university shows up. I took a grad course last semester, and he was in my class, but he was my nemesis. Im a competitive person. My nemesis seems to flirt with me (?!) and gives me his number. I tell him Z. and I would love to hang with the grad students later tonight. I then stop by his poster, too.

6 p.m.  The grad students are going to an indoor market hall, so Z. and I Uber over. Same deal: I get the ride there, she gets the ride back. I dont find anything appealing at the market hall except for beet juice (Im curious because of Dwight from The Office), but nobody is at the stall, so I give up. Z. and I share two cocktails and talk about our research. $6.82

11 p.m.  Z. and I head back to the hotel and the grad students head back to their Airbnb (theres less conference funding for them). We continue our conversation at the hotel bar. We have different political standpoints, but we debate the hell out of it. In the end, we are both able to see each others perspectives, and we both appreciated each other for speaking our truths. That said, neither of us changes our perspective. I get a Moscow mule, a beer, miso soup, fries, and a small avocado roll. $30

Daily Total: $43.52

Day Six

1 p.m.  I wake up without an alarm in my hotel room. Z. flew back to LA on an early flight, and I text her to let me know when she lands. I text a conference poster thats relevant to my undergrad supervisors research to her, and she says shes so jealous I get to be here because this poster is so cool. Z. also shares photos of us at the conference in our lab group chat, and our supervisor congratulates us.

2 p.m.  I take a shower, brush my teeth, put on face lotion, a sweater, and jeans, and get an uber to a vegan brunch place. Im taking myself out on a date, yay! They supposedly make the best vegan poboy in New Orleans. $7.26

2:15 p.m.  I get their famous kelp poboy and a pink cocktail, and it is so good but also very strong. Tipsy me wants to get tofu nuggets, but I know the drink is expensive and I want to save $$ for whatever I do later. I eat while reading travel blogs on my phone and decide I want to go thrifting and check out a coffee shop in the neighborhood. $32

3:30 p.m.  I walk to a thrift store where everything is at least $200, which is unexpected. I see an artsy t-shirt with a New Orleans scene on it and decide to buy it. It doesnt have a price tag, which should have been a warning sign. Its over $50! Alas, I should have asked about the price, but the store lady followed my every move around the shop, which makes me want to retreat from talking to her at all. $50.35

4:30 p.m.  I see a thrift popup in the neighborhood and spot a woven handbag. I have been meaning to buy a woven handbag for a while now, but never feel it is worth it. This one is a good size and would fit my essentials, and I currently only own one small handbag. I browse other shops, but they are all overpriced. Maybe this is just an expensive neighborhood. $12

5 p.m.  Are coffee shops just as overpriced in New Orleans as they are in L.A.? I stop in a coffee shop I find on Google Maps and get a standard latte. I complain about the price in my head, but when I take a sip of the latte, it is heaven. I instantly feel the price is worth it. I sit down and debate if I want to check out a market that closes in an hour, but decide Im tired from all the walking. $7.61

5:30 p.m.  I call an Uber back to the hotel. The driver is very chatty but not in a good way. I give short answers and get out in front of the hotel. I take another hot shower and brush my teeth again. Then I get in bed, call my parents, and we talk about my conference experience so far. I should mention that it ended yesterday, so today is just my free day. I negotiated to have my funding cover an extra night so I could explore New Orleans, which apparently meant brunch and thrifting. $6.86

6:30 p.m.  I start packing. This is when I realize I lost my Hydro Flask. I call the hotel front desk and security, but nobody has found it. I cry inside  it is so pink and so pretty! I finish packing up and browse Hydro Flask mugs on Amazon. I dont order any yet, because this is still a mourning period.

8 p.m.  I try to fall asleep because I have to get up in the middle of the night and leave for the airport. However, someone is playing the Titanic theme song on repeat. Its stuck in my head now. It is so loud and from my bed, it sounds like its coming from all directions. Finally, three hours later, I call the front desk to inquire about the music, but nobody picks up. I try every other line. Someone finally picks up, and I tell them about it, so they send someone up. I tell the security guy that someones playing it on repeat for three hours and Id like for them to not; he tries hard to suppress his laughter and takes care of it, its my next-door neighbor. I would have gone over myself if I knew.

11 p.m.  The Titanic music has stopped. I finally fall asleep.

Daily Total: $116.08

Day Seven

3 a.m.  My day begins! I hum the Titanic theme song without the lyrics because I dont know the lyrics, take a shower, and pack up my toiletries. I take one last look at this fancy hotel room and decide I have everything I need. I get an automated email from the hotel that I can just check out online (what?!) so I do that. I drop off my key card at a retrieval box by the elevator, and they send me a bill, which is billed to my undergrad universitys card directly.

4 a.m.  I call an Uber to the airport. It is, again, expensive. Uber also only offers four-person rides in New Orleans, so I cant get a shared ride. $34.25

6 a.m.  I try to get a veggie sandwich from one of the places at the airport, but they refuse to put it in my reusable container. I go to another place for a veggie wrap, and they say its a safety issue so they cant take my container, but they can put it in a cardboard box. Paper can be decomposed so I say yes. It takes over half an hour for them to make it, though. $14.50

6:30 a.m.  I know I said I wouldnt work on the flight anymore, but whatever, I want to work. I pay $16 for an all-day pass just in case I want to work through my two flights because again, flights were sold out so Im flying through Minneapolis. $16

10 a.m.  I land in Minnesota. It takes me a minute to find the metro that takes me to the Mall of America, and when I get there, I see that I can spend about half an hour. This is good enough for me since I only wanted to get out of the airport.

10:30 a.m.  I get an unsweetened lavender green tea at the mall. It is so good! I think about visiting the aquarium, but it costs $24 to go, and half an hour isnt worth it. I browse Zara and Victorias Secret but dont get anything. I then head back to the airport. $6.29

11 a.m.  Im back at the airport. I go to the bathroom, wash my face, and brush my teeth. I do these routines when I travel because they help me feel a little more grounded and refreshed. I then wait at my gate while reading the news.

3:30 p.m.  I make it back to L.A. and go through the baggage claim pretty quickly. International customs at LAX take a long time, and I was held for eight hours last time. They literally told me to wait at the detention center, and then handed me my passport back eight hours later without explaining anything. Anyways, I get through the airport quickly because this is a domestic flight, and I call an Uber home. $22.40

6 p.m.  I go to Trader Joes with R. I pick up pineapples, oat milk, edamame, kale, spinach, and golden berries. Im making pineapple fried rice this week. I made nothing but fried rice for the past two years, but for the past two weeks, Ive been experimenting with pasta and curry. I nope-d out of it and now Im going back to fried rice, but Im adding pineapples because Im fancy. $26.10

8 p.m.  I heat up a frozen brown rice and tofu scramble that I made before I left L.A. I eat that with a handful of spinach, then eat two chocolate chip cookies and make tea. I go on Netflix and decide binge Gossip Girl to satisfy my 12-year-old self. Now I cant tell if this show is actually so problematic (Blair tells Dorota shes going to call immigration services on her and say shes undocumented?!) or if its actually a social satire. I have some Asperger symptoms (and hope to get diagnosed in the future), so this is hard for me to interpret. Fun fact: autism research is primarily based on white men, so for women of color to receive a diagnosis is very difficult as we may manifest different symptoms and are much better at social masking.

12 a.m.  I take a shower and go to bed exhausted from a half-day of travels.

Daily Total: $119.54

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Erika Jayne's stint as leading lady Roxie Hart in the iconic stage musical Chicago will come to an early close.

'Well this is not the way I wanted to say goodbye to Roxie and my Chicago family but I have no choice,' wrote the The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills alum to her 1.9million Instagram followers.

Erika's announcement came after the New York Post confirmed Broadway would 'shut down' from March 12 through April 12 'in wake of the coronavirus situation.'

Gone too soon: Erika Jayne took to Instagram on Thursday afternoon to announce that her departure from Chicago production as Broadway 'shuts down' due to coronavirus fears

Jayne continued: 'THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to everyone that came to the shows. I leave NYC feeling like my mission is incomplete but I will treasure this time always.'

Chicago, which began with Jayne in the leading role back in early January, was expected to finish out its run on March 29.

Following her announcement, the reality-turned-Broadway star received an influx of love for her RHOBH castmates.

'Oh noooo,' wrote Yolanda Hadid, who attached a heart emoji to her regretful reply.

Well this is not the way I wanted to say goodbye to Roxie and my Chicago family but I have no choice,' wrote Erika to her 1.9million Instagram followers on Thursday; Jayne pictured at the 2019 E! People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles in November

Short lifespan: Chicago was expected to run until March 29, but will now come to an abrupt end following Thursday's news

Lisa Rina left a passionate response encouraging Jayne to relish in all she had accomplished during her time as Roxie.

'YOU DID IT AND YOU KILLED IT!!! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!! SO PROUD OF YOU!!! YOU ARE A TRUE STAR MY FRIEND!!!!'

The Real Housewives Of Potomac star Gizelle Bryant wrote: 'You killed it as long as you could.'

The Broadway shutdown was furiously egged on by the Actors' Equity Association, which has been vocalizing the concerns of union members regarding contracting the potentially deadly virus.

All the support: Even though Jayne is saddened by the early close, many of her RHOBH castmates flooded her comment section with love and support; Jayne performing as Roxie Hart in NYC

A source revealed to the New York Post that 'Equity is driving [the shutdown]' and that 'if actors dont feel safe, they dont have to perform.'

Aside from Chicago, many plays were set to make their Broadway debuts in the coming weeks, such as Tracy Letts' The Minutes and Martin McDonagh's 'Hangman.'

Many shows are attempting to delay their debuts 'until the fall,' but many newly budding productions will likely 'close and never return.'
The ongoing Spain shoot of the upcoming comedy feature 'Official Competition', starring Spanish actors Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas, has been temporarily suspended due to coronavirus pandemic.

The Mediapro Studio issued a statement as reported by Deadline: "The implementation of safety measures and responsibility towards our filming crew, faced with the uncertainty expressed by some members and to enable them to attend to family needs, especially the closure of all schools in Madrid."

The production company further stated that it "can reconvene as soon as possible," once the safety of the production crews can be guaranteed, cited Deadline.

The feature is helmed by Mariano Cohn and Gaston Duprat, and will have Penelope Cruz as renowned filmmaker Lola Cuevas, who is recruited by a billionaire entrepreneur who in a haste decides to create an iconic movie.

Meanwhile, Banderas will star as Hollywood heartthrob Felix Rivero, and will be joined by Argentine actor Oscar Martinez, who plays radical theater actor Ivan Torres.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
State health officials announced two new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, bringing the total for the county to 15, a day after officials closed all 75 public school districts and shifted them to online classes for at least two weeks to combat the virus spread.

New Jersey now has 50 cases, including three new positive tests in Jersey City, Hoboken and Morristown, which were revealed earlier Friday. Governor Phil Murphy announced 21 new presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus at a Friday afternoon press conference.

No additional information about the new Bergen cases was immediately made public.

The previously disclosed cases in Bergen County include:

A 69-year-old man from Little Ferry who died Tuesday morning. His health history included diabetes, hypertension, gastro-intestinal bleeding and emphysema. He came down with a fever and cough that were treated with antibiotics and Tamiflu. When his condition didnt improve he was admitted to Hackensack University Medical Center on March 6.

 A 16-year-old girl from Englewood. This positive test was performed through Labcorp, rather than at the state lab. She is being treated at Englewood Health Hospital.

 A woman, age unknown, from Teaneck. She was exposed to a confirmed case at a synagogue carnival on March 1.

 A 33-year-old man from Teaneck.

 A 30-year-old man from Teaneck.

 A 30-year-old from Teaneck began showing symptoms on March 3 and was hospitalized at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.

 A 44-year-old Teaneck man tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus Tuesday.

 A 70-year-old Teaneck man, who is a healthcare worker had an onset of symptoms Feb. 28, officials said.

 An Englewood woman in her 30s who got treatment at Englewood Health Hospital. Officials said she was released from the hospital and is self-quarantined at her home.

 A 55-year-old Englewood man who was admitted to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center on March 4 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 29-year-old man from Bergenfield.

 A 35-year-old man from Bergenfield.

 A 32-year-old man who lives in an apartment in Fort Lee and works in New York City, where he maintains another residence, and was being treated for the coronavirus in Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack.

The decision to close Bergen schools was made when the countys risk factor changed to moderate, county Executive JamesTedesco said. The 75 districts have 170,000 students, 16,0000 teachers and hundreds of administrators and support staff, Tedesco said. Closures were scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Friday.

On Friday afternoon, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that all of the states public school districts would likely eventually close, but did not mandate that at the press conference, but said it was inevitable.

Bergen County has continued to have the most coronavirus cases in the state since the first person tested positive for COVID-19 was a 32-year-old Fort Lee man who works and lives in New York, but maintained an apartment in Fort Lee.

The states first casualty from the virus, a 69-year-old Little Ferry man, is also from Bergen County. Although his name was not released by state health officials, the man who died was identified by several media outlets as John Brennan, a horse trainer.

With the viral outbreak coursing its way through the county, Tedesco previously declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, following Gov. Phil Murphys declaration for the state on Monday.

He also announced that visitation at the Bergen County Health Care Center, in Rockleigh, and the Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, in Paramus, was suspended.

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Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.

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Whats the deal with toilet paper?

As the coronavirus continues its fear-inducing spread, retailers across the region have begun to place limits on the bathroom staple to prevent panicked shoppers from clearing their shelves.

Retailers and manufacturers say there is no threat of a toilet paper shortage. The paper has no impact on the coronavirus, and health officials have generally recommended against stockpiling items. So why is toilet paper the go-to purchase for panic-induced buyers?

Social media and viral videos of people fighting over packages might have something to do with it.

People, being social creatures, we look to each other for cues for what is safe and what is dangerous, Steven Taylor, a British psychologist and author, told CNN. And when you see someone in the store, panic buying, that can cause a fear contagion effect.

So calm down, stop hoarding, and stick to buying the products you normally purchase. And dont forget to wipe.

Other recent coronavirus cartoons:

For more editorial cartoons, visit inquirer.com/opinion/cartoons/.
BISHOP of Limerick Brendan Leahy urges solidarity and creativity in meeting the coronavirus challenge head-on as Mass is cancelled for next three weeks

Bishop Leahy has said that care for one another, solidarity, creativity and prayer will "guide us through the unprecedented challenge of modern times that the coronavirus is".

Confirming that all Sunday Masses across the diocese will be cancelled for the next three Sundays or until further notice beyond that, Bishop Leahy said that the measure is necessary as the Church puts its shoulder behind the national effort to protect the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.

In addition to the cancellation of Sunday Masses in parishes, Bishop Leahy also confirmed that a range of other measures announced by the Irish Bishops Conference on Thursday would apply to the diocese of Limerick. They are:

All non-essential pastoral gatherings and meetings, such as formation gatherings, retreats and seminars are cancelled

All Confirmations are postponed until further notice

Every Catholic is entitled to a dignified Christian burial. Attendance at Funeral services and Masses should be limited to close relatives and must not exceed 100 attendees within the Church building

Similarly, Church weddings and baptisms may be celebrated on condition that the attendance in Church does not exceed 100 people

Bishop Leahy, who said that the situation will be monitored on an ongoing basis and amended as appropriate, stated that: "Everyone has a role to play in this national effort and that by working together we can and will overcome this unchartered modern-day territory."

He continued: "These are worrying and stressful times for everyone. They are so especially for the elderly, for those who are vulnerable to the virus due to underlying conditions, for all those who care dearly for these people and also for the healthcare workers who are so courageously out there on the frontline.

"As a nation we have met and got beyond challenges before but have done so with some pain and sacrifice. There will be pain and sacrifice in this instance too. There will be disruption and, sadly, there will be loss. But if we stick together, if we observe the measures outlined yesterday, we will minimise that loss.

"We will achieve this through applying the proper care, by sticking together in solidarity with those we are trying to protect, by applying the discipline thats needed now, by being creative in helping one another in this time of stress and, indeed, by prayer."

Regarding the cancellation of Sunday Mass, he said: "I appreciate that the measures we have taken around Sunday Mass will be difficult for many people. However, its important to remember what the Church calls spiritual communion, that we can be united spiritually with one another wherever we are through our prayer, Christian love and keeping hope alive.

"We can be spiritually united with the Mass. Thankfully, through technology, there are options online for people to get their Mass at home. Some parishes have webcam or radio facilities, said Bishop Leahy, who will celebrate the noon Mass each Sunday at the cathedral.

People can tune into that on the St Johns Cathedral webcam https://www.churchservices.tv/limerickcathedral as they can the Saturday evening Mass at 6pm or the Sunday Masses at 10:30am at St. Johns.

"I am conscious that it might be hard for some to get their head around certain decisions such as the cancellation of Sunday Mass and the challenges around funerals. This is going to be particularly sensitive for bereaved families, of course, and we all have a duty to support them through this time but in a different way.

"In the current circumstances, we cannot all attend funerals but can find ways to express our condolences through a written note, a text message, a WhatsApp personal video perhaps or across other platforms.

"All of this is something that must be lived as part of the wider sacrifice for this new and hopefully short-term norm. It is to help lessen the risk of the spreading the disease, particularly among our older citizens and those who are unwell. I am conscious, too, of the extremely difficult time that business faces and I would ask that we support them as much as we can while still, of course, observing the HSE guidelines.

Bishop Leahy said that isolation alone will bring challenges.

"We will have more time with family arising from this and that is as a positive. Parents will get to spend more time with their children, siblings with each other but there will also be challenges with isolation. We will need to know how to be creative.

"People will find themselves in self-isolation, families suddenly together all day without much previous planning for long periods of time, people will find their work and social patterns totally disrupted. The elderly will be suffering anxiety, loneliness and this, in particular, needs to very closely managed and they must be supported.

"All of this will require creativity in how to keep contact through e-mail, WhatsApp, skype etc. and also creativity in how we organise our personal and family calendar in creative, healthy and supportive activities, tasks and exercise. I believe it is also very important that we watch how we view or speak of those who contract the virus. Its possible for any one of us to contract it and our language must be one of support for these people and not of a kind that would further isolate them.

I am very conscious of healthcare workers at this time. They are offering us a wonderful selfless service and need our prayer and support. Lets be creative in the ways we send them messages of encouragement and thanks.

"I also think of our priests across the diocese, for whom this is also a very difficult time as they struggle with trying and wanting to meet their pastoral requirements and yet wanting to meet the government measures as laid down yesterday. They will have very sensitive situations to deal with throughout this period, not least funerals but also First Friday calls to the elderly or sick and other pastoral requirements. I am conscious of the stress that this will place on our priests, on the faithful and on parishes. It will require patience, care and understanding as we meet this new normal, for however long it lasts.

It is a time for us to come together as a community and I know for our faithful it is a time for prayer. It might also be a time to check out catholic websites that provide material for prayer and reflection.

Such websites include the Jesuit sacred space (www.sacredspace.ie) or the Limerick Dioceses own Facebook (www.facebook.com/ dioceseoflimerick) or the Bishops Conference website (www.catholicbishops.ie) and more.

Bishop Leahy concluded: My prayers and thoughts are with everyone across the diocese and beyond that we can unite and overcome and yet look after those most vulnerable. It is our calling on this day and we will meet it with courage and creativity in the light of trust in God.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Director Anthony Perlatti said his office is short 500 poll workers for the March 17 presidential primary, an increase from previous years caused by competition with the 2020 Census for workers coupled with an increase in dropouts because of worry over the spread of coronavirus.

Just this week, 650 poll workers called off, though Perlatti said his office was able to replace 150 of them. But the 500 total is still an increase from the same point in 2016 when the board was down 300 workers.

The shortage could cause delays on Election Day, he said.

Potentially, it may mean you have to wait a little longer to check in, but everyone will be processed, Perlatti said. No one will be turned away. Especially in our larger locations, we have so many poll workers that we assign to those locations that if we are short there, we are able to get by. There will be sufficient staff there.

Officials across the state are keeping tabs on the poll worker shortage as Ohio forges ahead with its primary election this coming Tuesday after shutting down nearly every other mass gathering in the state. Elections officials also have been strained after the state ordered them to find new homes for polling places in nursing homes as a health precaution for residents there. Cuyahoga County finalized the list of 38 new polling places on Friday.

All Voting is Local, a voter-advocacy group, on Friday wrote a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Frank, asking them to take actions to address long lines or disruptions caused by COVID-19, such as extending early voting hours or loosening requirements for accepting absentee ballots.

The group also has paid for Facebook advertising trying to recruit poll workers to cut down on the possibility of long lines.

Its a major concern heading into Election Day, Mike Brickner, All Voting is Locals Ohio director, said of the poll-worker shortages. Even with the number of people coming in, what were hearing from board of elections workers is that its not making up the deficit from what theyre expecting in losses right now.

Aaron Ockerman, executive director of the Ohio Association of Election Officials, said county boards are willing to expedite typical training requirements to make sure precincts have enough workers.

He said it varies by county, but typically, poll workers are paid $125 for the day.

We need poll workers. We want you to come out. Well train you, and were going through extraordinary lengths to make sure were staffed on Tuesday .Well accommodate anyone who wants to serve, he said.

LaRose in a Twitter post Friday morning touted an uptick in people who have signed up at the states recruitment website, https://www.ohiosos.gov/defenddemocracy, doubling from 557 on Thursday to 1,223. The number didnt include local county recruitment efforts, he said.

WOW! This number has MORE than doubled in less than a day.

Just since Tuesday, 1,223 Ohioans have now signed up to be poll workers! And that doesnt even include those who signed up directly with their county.



Keep it going, Ohio! We need you!https://t.co/yLIyfcl3Dv https://t.co/yfLyIKSpnX  Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) March 13, 2020

LaRose spokeswoman Maggie Sheehan didnt elaborate on how many more poll workers might be needed to address any shortages.

We need as many as we can, and its incredible to see so many Ohioans stepping up, she said.

State Auditor Keith Faber announced Friday hed implemented a new policy that would allow his offices roughly 800 employees to get their full state pay if they agreed to serve as poll workers on Election Day, similar to jury duty.

As of Friday, six people had agreed to sign up, spokeswoman Allie Dumski said.

As Ohioans, part of our civic responsibility is ensuring on election day that all Ohioans can participate in afair and efficient manner, Faber said in a statement. To help relieve high-risk election workers on election day, we are encouraging our team to assist at the polls.

Numerous factors contributed to the shortage in Cuyahoga County, Perlatti said. The 2020 Census has been recruiting workers and pays better, leading to an already smaller pool of workers who signed up. The primary being in March instead of May means some older people, who more often work the polls, may still be south for the winter, he said.

Rob Frost, chairman of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party and a county board of elections member, said colleges letting out  a preventive measure to curb the spread of coronavirus  accounted for 100 of the worker dropouts.

To try and quell some of the concerns, as well as combat the spread of the disease, Perlatti said his office is sending supplies  hand sanitizer, cleaning wipes and tissues  to every polling location in the county. A roving team will also head to each site periodically on Tuesday to clean the equipment.

Perlatti said he wanted to stress polling sites were safe for workers. Voters are usually in their polling locations for a short period of time, lessening the chance of exposure, he said.

When individuals come in, really, its a short period of time that theyre at the polls, Perlatti said. So usually theyre in and out within 10 minutes. Theyre not there for a long period of time.

Ohio law states there must be four workers per precinct, but gives latitude to county boards of elections to reduce that number at multi-precinct locations. Right now, Cuyahoga County does not have enough workers to meet the four-per-precinct requirement, Perlatti said.

If the shortage remains by Monday, the board will likely meet to lower the required amount at multi-precinct locations and reassign workers from some of the larger polling sites to smaller polling sites, Perlatti said.

We can accommodate a large number of voters in the biggest of locations with less than four workers per precinct, Perlatti said.

The board is still recruiting and training workers through Monday, including a training session with LaRose this weekend.

Frost said the board is also working with high schools to recruit students who will be home because of cancellations.

Perlatti said the board is also short workers for the Election Night tabulation center. Results and reporting shouldnt be delayed, Perlatti said, since that is handled by full-time staff. However, counting of provisional ballots and storing paper ballots for recounts may take longer.

Perlatti said anyone interested in being a poll worker should sign up at the the boards website, www.443vote.us.

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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine suggests parents find day care alternatives in case of closings because of coronavirus

Heres what Ohio college students need to know about voting in the March 17 primary

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THE Mayor of the City and County of Limerick, Councillor Michael Sheahan, hosted the Implementation Advisory Group for the directly elected mayor of Limerick in Newcastle West, earlier this week.

Last year, voters in Limerick voted yes in a plebiscite proposing the creation of the new position, with the holder of the office having certain executive functions.

The Implementation Advisory Group is acutely aware that, when established, the new directly elected Mayor will be a Mayor for all of county Limerick, rural and urban. The Group is meeting in Newcastle West so that we all gain a very clear perspective of this area and the issues affecting the people of this part of County Limerick, said the Mayor.

The chairman of the Implementation Advisory Group, Tim OConnor, added: Since the Implementation Advisory Group was launched on December 2 last year, the Newcastle West meeting was our fourth and we were delighted to be here at the Newcastle West Municipal District Offices. Though this is our first meeting outside of Council head in Limerick, we intend to visit all of the Municipal Districts in the coming months as our work intensifies.

Read also: Advisory group revealed as plans for directly elected mayor of Limerick are progressed

The Group discussed a number of matters at the Newcastle West meeting, including: the scope of the role of directly- elected Mayor; identifying substantive new functions and powers, and matching resources, that could be assigned to the new Mayor.

Lessons that be learned from international case studies were also discussed as was a public consultation exercise.

The Group has already agreed that we should consult as fully as possible with the people of Limerick about what they would like and expect from their new directly elected Mayor. That consultation process will begin shortly, said the Mayor.

Mr OConnor added: The Implementation Advisory Group is taking the approach that local government in Limerick must be improved through the directly elected mayor project. We are therefore being ambitious in imagining the potential of the role of directly elected Mayor for Limerick.
A bill that seeks to strip vice-presidents, governors and deputy governors of immunity when found guilty of fraud or electoral crimes, has scaled second reading at the Senate.

The legislation however, excludes the president.

The bill, sponsored by the deputy senate president, Ovie Omo-Agege, was one of 10 constitutional amendment bills read for the second time on Thursday. The bills were referred to the Senate committee on constitution review for further legislative work.

The bill seeks to alter Section 308 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which deals with immunity.

It is titled: A Bill for an Act to alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to qualify criminal liability for certain public officers under Section 308.

The explanatory memorandum of the bill states: This act provides for qualification of the immunity clause to exclude immunity for Public Officers referred to in Section 308 from criminal liability where the offence involves misappropriation of funds belonging to the Federal, State or Local Government and also the use of thugs to foment violence.

Currently, Section 308 of the reads: (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Constitution, but subject to subsection (2) of this section 

(a) no civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against a person to whom this section applies during his period of office;

(b) a person to whom this section applies shall not be arrested or imprisoned during that period either in pursuance of the process of any court or otherwise; and

(c) no process of any court requiring or compelling the appearance of a person to whom this section applies, shall be applied for or issued:

Provided that in ascertaining whether any period of limitation has expired for the purposes of any proceedings against a person to whom this section applies, no account shall be taken of his period of office.

(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to civil proceedings against a person to whom this section applies in his official capacity or to civil or criminal proceedings in which such a person is only a nominal party.

(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of President or Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor; and the reference in this section to period of office is a reference to the period during which the person holding such office is required to perform the functions of the office.

READ ALSO:

But the amendment provides that the vice-president, governors and deputy governors shall lose their immunity if they are indicted by security and anti-graft agencies, including the courts.

The bill seeks that: Section 308 of the Principal Act is altered by Substituting for subsection (2), a new subsection (2) 

(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply 

(a) to civil proceedings against a person to whom this section applies in his official capacity or to civil or criminal proceedings in which such a person is only a nominal party; and

(b) to persons who hold the office of Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor, if it is determined either by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, Nigerian Police and State Security Service through a collaborative investigation that the said person is indicted by a court of competent jurisdiction for:

(i) Financial misappropriation of funds belonging to the Federal, State or Local Government; or

(ii) Sponsoring of thugs to perpetrate violence that cause injury or death of political opponent, a member of his family, agent or personal representative.

Having been referred to the constitution review committee, a report will be brought before the Senate after which the lawmakers will vote electronically for or against the proposed amemndments.
The spokesman of President Hassan Rouhani's administration has once again been forced to deny that his boss is going to step down.

Since a Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) passenger plane was hit by two missiles on January 8, over Tehran killing all 176 on board, rumors about Rouhani's resignation have become a mantra in political circles in Iran.

"Rumors about President Rouhani's resignation are unfounded," Ali Rabiei said on Wednesday, February 12, adding, "As I have already written, President Rouhani will be at the service of the people until the end of his term on August 3, 2021. Furthermore, I deny any forthcoming reports concerning his resignation."

Rumors about Rouhani's resignation initially reverberated among so-called reformists in Iran who support the President.

In an interview with Seda Weekly last December, a reformist politician, Abbas Abdi insisted, "No administration or government can or should continue its workwith this level of tension [among the various elements of the state]" and called on Rouhani to resign."

Hardliner allies of the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei immediately accused the proponents of Rouhani's resignation of trying to destabilize the country. At the same time, they barred the candidacy of many prominent reformist for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Now, Rouhani will be left with few allies in the next parliament.

However, since the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' (IRGC) anti-air missiles downed the Ukrainian airliner amid heightened tension between Tehran and Washington, the rumor about Rouhani's resignation has gained momentum.

Immediately after the disaster rumors emerged saying that Rouhani had threatened to step down if the IRGC or its chief commander, Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei did not accept responsibility.

It took three days until the Islamic Republic authorities formally accepted responsibility insisting that IRGC missiles "mistakenly" hit the passenger plane.

Nonetheless, none of the officials responsible for the tragedy have resigned so far.
Iran said Friday the security forces will clear the streets nationwide within 24 hours so all citizens can be checked for coronavirus -- its toughest measure yet to combat the outbreak.

The COVID-19 epidemic in Iran -- a nation of more than 80 million people -- has now claimed over 500 lives and infected more than 11,000.

Since it announced the first deaths last month, Iran has shut schools, postponed events and discouraged travel ahead of Nowrouz, the country's New Year holidays.

But despite those and other measures including the cancellation of the main weekly Friday prayers, the official number of deaths and infections has continued to grow exponentially.

Iran's supreme leader on Thursday ordered the armed forces to lead the battle against the outbreak.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei instructed the security forces to bring their services together and expand efforts to combat the virus.

Acting on those orders, armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri chaired a meeting on Friday that included Revolutionary Guard commander Hossein Salami and police chief Hossein Ashtari.

Among other top brass at the gathering was Gholamreza Soleimani, who heads the Basij, a volunteer militia loyal to the establishment, as was Defence Minister Amir Hatami.

Bagheri appeared in front of the cameras later to say a newly formed commission had been charged with overseeing the "emptying of shops, streets and roads" within the next 24 hours.

"During the next 10 days, the entire Iranian nation will be monitored once through cyberspace, by phone and, if necessary, in person, and those suspected of being ill will be fully identified," he said.

It was difficult to estimate on Friday the real extent of the measures announced by the general.

of the lockdown came as Iran said the novel coronavirus had claimed another 85 lives, its highest single-day toll since the first deaths were announced on February 19.

"Sadly, 85 people infected with the COVID-19 disease have died in the past 24 hours," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said.

"Across the country, at least 1,289 infected people have been added to the list of confirmed patients." In all, the ministry says 514 people have been killed by the illness out of 11,364 confirmed cases of infection in Iran.

Several politicians and officials have been infected, with some dying from the illness.

The latest suspected case was Ali Akbar Velayati, who advises Iran's supreme leader on foreign policy.

Velayati fell ill with "mild symptoms" on Wednesday and has been placed in quarantine, according to Tasnim agency.

Iran on Thursday said it asked the International Monetary Fund for its first loan in decades to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged the IMF to "stand on the right side of history".

Zarif also appealed to the United Nations for an end to US sanctions, which he said were "undermining our efforts to fight the COVID-19 epidemic in Iran".

The United States is currently pursuing a policy of "maximum pressure" aimed at crippling the Iranian government's finances.

President Donald Trump launched the campaign in 2018 after unilaterally withdrawing the US from a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimposing sanctions.

In theory, humanitarian items are exempt from the US sanctions, but in reality banks tend to turn down transactions involving Iran to avoid being exposed to potential litigation.

The World Health Organization praised Iran as a delegation of WHO and public health experts left the country after a five-day mission.

"We see that Iran's strategies and priorities to control COVID-19 are evolving in the right direction," said Richard Brennan, WHO regional emergency director.

"But more needs to be done," he said in a statement.

"We agreed on several priority areas for scale-up with the national health authorities, based on informed experiences in China and elsewhere.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In response, Chinese officials and state news media have stepped up their criticism of American officials comments.

Only days before Mr. Zhaos latest post, the Xinhua news agency published a commentary denouncing Washingtons poisonous coronavirus politics and warning that spreading rumors simply encouraged fear, division and hate.

Their dangerously irresponsible statements are highly counterproductive at this drastic hour that demands solidarity and cooperation, the commentary, written by Gao Wencheng, said, and could be much more menacing than the virus itself.

The coronavirus, according to all evidence, emanated from Wuhan, China, in late December. Scientists have not yet identified a patient zero or a precise source of the virus, though preliminary studies have linked it to a virus in bats that passed through another mammal before infecting humans.

A senior official of Chinas National Health Commission, Liang Wannian, said at a briefing in Beijing last month that the likely carrier was a pangolin, an endangered species that is trafficked almost exclusively to China for its meat and for its scales, which are prized for use in traditional medicine.

The first cluster of patients was reported at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, and studies have since suggested that the virus could have been introduced there by someone already infected. Wuhan and the surrounding province of Hubei account for the overwhelming amount of cases and deaths, so there is no scientific reason to believe the virus began elsewhere.

Mr. Zhaos assertion began with a post linking to a video of the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert R. Redfield, testifying before the House on Wednesday and suggesting that some flu deaths might have been caused by the coronavirus.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 19:26:08|Editor: huaxia

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by Zhang Miao, Jamal Hashim

BAGHDAD, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese team of seven health experts is providing guidance and medical assistance to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraq.

The experts are helping Iraqi health authorities prioritize response strategies, fill testing gaps and bring China's experience to benefit the worn-torn country.

PRIORITIZE RESPONSE STRATEGIES

Iraq's first detected case is an Iranian student who tested positive on Feb. 24. Most confirmed cases in Iraq have a travel history in neighboring Iran, an epicenter of the outbreak of the coronavirus in the Middle East.

Iraqi Health Ministry on Thursday confirmed that there are a total of 83 COVID-19 cases across the country, of whom eight have died and 24 recovered.

Baghdad, the worst affected area in the country, has reported 32 confirmed cases. Iraqi authorities have tightened precautionary measures, including closure of schools, restaurants and malls and suspension of Friday prayers for Muslims.

However, concerns mount because Iraq's fragile health system has been racked by decades of conflicts and sanctions. The country now faces severe shortages of medical supplies, such as masks and personal protective equipment.

Furthermore, health authorities have struggled to update daily confirmed numbers and assess the overall situation because of a lack of a nation-wide infectious disease prevention and control plan and a digital surveillance system.

Sent by the Red Cross Society of China, seven Chinese health experts, including epidemiologist, nucleic-acid testing expert, critical-care specialist and other medical experts, arrived at Baghdad International Airport on Saturday night.

Based on preliminary assessment by the team, Han Mengjie, expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that Iraq is still in the early stages of the epidemic of COVID-19.

However, he warned that further spread is possible because cross-border travelers are still being smuggled into Iraq from the sprawling border with Iran.

Han said that Iraq needs to implement a national strategy to fight against COVID-19, and community-based prevention measures should be given priority.

In addition, religious and tribal leaders should encourage the public to focus on practicing hand sanitation, avoiding mass gathering and wearing masks, he added.

FILL TESTING GAPS

According to a COVID-19 situation report issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), local transmission has been recorded in Iraq.

However, the Central Public Health Laboratory in Baghdad is the only place that has equipment to conduct PCR testing in Iraq, with an inadequate number of diagnostic kits donated by WHO. So far, the lab has tested some 700 suspected cases with symptoms, of which approximately 10 percent tested positive.

"We don't know the situation on the ground," said Assad Mahdi, deputy director general of Iraqi Health Ministry's Public Health Department. He told Xinhua that Iraq needs to widen surveillance and expand testing.

Early testing paves way for early detection and treatment, said Tao Zhongquan, leader of the Chinese medical team, highlighting that China donated lab equipment, PCR machines and 50,000 fast diagnostic kits to Iraq.

Adham Abdel-Moneim, WHO representative in Iraq, said that with China's donation, the country can implement a broader testing strategy to test more samples.

BENEFIT FROM CHINESE EXPERIENCE

As WHO declared that COVID-19 is characterized as pandemic, international community should demonstrate solidarity to contain the spread of the virus.

The Chinese team not only brings medical equipment to Iraq but also its experience in clinical guidelines, case management as well as infection prevention and control that are required at this stage in Iraq.

By visiting local hospitals and carrying out technical briefing with Iraqi health officials and experts, the Chinese medical team shares their expertise in combating the virus.

Rana Hajjeh, deputy director for WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, led a six-member team working in Iraq to assess the preparedness and response in the country.

"I think the experience from China is extremely helpful to us including its large database and the experience in managing to decrease the number of the infected cases," Hajjeh said.

"I do believe the experience of China in terms of clinical management is a wealth for this country to benefit from," Abdel-Moneim noted.
New Delhi, March 13 : The armed forces need more funds to procure state-of-the-art weapons, but the Budget for 2020-21 has provided 35 per cent less than the projected demand, said a standing committee report on Demands for Grants for capital outlay for defence services. The report was tabled in Rajya Sabha on Friday.

The panel said there was a "considerable shortage" of funds and that such a situation was a dampener in a modern-day warfare.

The parliamentary panel said a shortage in capital outlay will affect acquisition of latest weaponry, aircraft, ships, tanks and capital intensive projects such as land, building and other infrastructure.

"The committee feels and desires that to develop and acquire the most modern state-of-the-art fighting platforms, which can match northern and western neighbours, the requisite allocation is very essential," the report said.

This is happening when Pakistan and China are ramping up their military prowess.

Observing that since 2015-16, none of the services got the matching allocation as per the projection, the parliamentary panel said in modern war, possession of capital intensive weapons is "prerequisite for not only tilting the result in our favour but also having a credible deterrence capabilities."" The total capital allocation for the next fiscal as reflected in the budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 stands at 1,13, 734 crores. However, the projection by the armed forces was Rs 1,75, 702.06 crores which amounts to a shortage of Rs 61, 968.06crores.

While approving the allocations for the Defence budget, the Ministry of Defence should take up the matter with the Ministry of Finance explaining them the importance of capital works which are done to maintain the ideal ratio of 60:40 between the Revenue and Capital heads, the panel stated.
(Bloomberg) -- Airbnb Inc. added the U.S. to its coronavirus refund policy after President Donald Trump limited travel to the country from most of Europe this week.

The San Francisco-based company announced Friday that guests would now be eligible for full refunds for reservations in the U.S. booked on or before Friday with a check-in date of April 1 or earlier.

The policy was also extended to travelers coming from the U.S. who have reservations in the Schengen Area of Europe, which includes 26 countries such as France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. This applies to reservations made on or before March 11 for travel from March 13 to April 13, the company said.

As Covid-19 brings travel to a grinding halt across the world, Airbnb has been under mounting pressure to extend its refund policy beyond China, Italy and South Korea. The late-stage startup has been fielding complaints from angry guests who have been forced to cancel travel plans beyond these three countries and have been denied a refund.

Airbnb Refuses Scores of Refunds Amid Coronavirus Frenzy

Unlike big hotel chains, Airbnb is a two-way platform, which means for every guest cancellation it approves there is a host at the other end who winds up out of pocket. As the company tries to strike a balance between the two, many guests have been left to negotiate over refunds with their hosts, who are not always willing to be flexible.

Airbnb takes a cut of reservations, so cancellations eat into its revenue at a time when the company is seeking to list its stock on the public market. The U.S. is Airbnbs biggest market.

Airbnb Had Problems Even Before Coronavirus: Fully Charged

We will continue to assess the situation and will provide further information as matters progress, the company said in a statement on Friday. We strongly advise all travelers to carefully review and select appropriate cancellation policies according to personal needs and the outlook on COVID-19.

Story continues

Airbnb, Expedia Face Room Tax Collection Rule in West Virginia

To contact the reporter on this story: Olivia Carville in New York at ocarville1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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Technavio has been monitoring the fitness app market 2020-2024 and it is poised to grow by USD 1.68 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 12% 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/20200313005277/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Fitness App Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Google LLC, Nike Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Under Armour Inc. and YAZIO GmbH. are some of the major market participants. The demand for wearable devices will offer immense growth opportunities. 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.

Demand for wearable devices has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Fitness App Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Fitness App Market 2020-2024 is segmented as below:

Gender

Female

Male

Application

Lifestyle Monitoring

Health Monitoring

Others

Geographic segmentation

APAC

Europe

MEA

North America

South America

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40200

Fitness App 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 fitness app market 2020-2024 report covers the following areas:

Fitness App Market 2020-2024 size

Fitness App Market 2020-2024 trends

Fitness App Market 2020-2024 industry analysis

This study identifies proliferation of a variety of fitness apps as one of the prime reasons driving the fitness app market growth during the next few years.

Fitness App Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the fitness app market, including some of the vendors such as Google LLC, Nike Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Under Armour Inc. and YAZIO GmbH. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the fitness app market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Fitness App Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist fitness app market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the fitness app market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behaviour

The growth of the fitness app market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of fitness app market vendors

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

Market segmentation analysis

Value Chain Analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market outlook

Market sizing 2019

Market size and forecast 2019-2024

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY APPLICATION

Market segmentation by application

Comparison by application

Lifestyle monitoring Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Health monitoring Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by application

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY GENDER

Market segmentation by gender

Comparison by gender

Female Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Male Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by gender

PART 10: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 11: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 12: MARKET TRENDS

Increasing number of M&A

Rising investments

Proliferation of fitness apps

PART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 14: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

adidas AG

ASICS Digital Inc.

Azumio Inc.

BetterME.

FitNow Inc.

Google LLC

Nike Inc.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Under Armour Inc.

YAZIO GmbH

PART 15: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

Definition of market positioning of vendors

PART 16: 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/20200313005277/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
- Additional reporting by Vivienne Clarke

The Minister for Health, Simon Harris, has said that people coming back to Ireland from Spain and Italy will be asked to restrict their movements.

Mr Harris told RTE radio One's Morning Ireland that the Department of Foreign Affairs is advising people not to travel to Spain, except in exceptional circumstances - including the Balearic and Canary Islands.

A significant number of cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Spain. The highest incidences are in Madrid, Vitoria and Labastida in the Basque Country, Catalonia and the Rioja region.

"If you are in Spain, you should monitor developments regularly and follow the advice of local authorities. In what is an evolving situation, additional measures may be announced," said the Department.

Spain is the most popular tourist destination for Irish holidaymakers, with over two million Irish people flying there every year.

The Minister met the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) last night and and they decided between them on the advice.

He added that people should restrict their movements for two weeks, which includes not going to work, and they are being given information on what to do when they arrive at airports.

Anyone returning from Italy and Spain will be met by environmental health workers on their return at the airport and told to restrict their movements.

They will be asked "not quite to self isolate, but to restrict their movements."

Minister Harris has said that whatever support is necessary for the HSE to combat the spread of Covid-19 will be provided. We can't stop the virus coming to Ireland but we can try to flatten the curve.

Mr Harris told RTE radios Morning Ireland we are more likely to get the virus through bad hygiene practice. He urged people to take heed of the advice they have been given.

People will have to alter their behaviour and there is still a long way to go with dealing with the virus. There is still a long way to go. There is a huge amount we are still learning.

The absolute reality is that this is something that could be with us for many months.

The country needs to keep functioning, he said. This is not a storm that will go away in a few days.

There is a suite of measures that can be implemented at the right time, he added.

There will be no strong macho man political response, we will be following medical advice.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. We are asking people to live their lives a little bit differently.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 22:46:33|Editor: huaxia

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KUWAIT CITY, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait reported 20 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 100, the Ministry of Health said Friday in a statement.

A total of 15 new cases are Kuwaiti citizens who travelled back from Iran, while one citizen was related to travel to Britain and anther returned from the United State, the statement said.

The other three cases are a Spanish citizen who recently returned from Spain and two Egyptians who were in contact with a person from Azerbaijan, it said.

Kuwait decided on Wednesday to suspend all commercial flights starting Friday to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Li Minggang, Chinese ambassador to Kuwait, said on Tuesday that Kuwaiti health officials had expressed willingness to send medical teams to learn from China's experience in fighting the pandemic after it ends.
The enemy opened fire, employing proscribed 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms.

Russia's hybrid military forces on March 12 mounted four attacks on Ukrainian Army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as wounded in action.

Read alsoRussian snipers deployed in Ukraine's Donbas to "pass exams" aiming at Ukrainian troops

"The Russian Federation's armed forces violated the ceasefire four times on March 12. One Ukrainian soldier was 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 13.

The enemy opened fire, employing proscribed 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms. In addition, snipers were active.

Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the villages of Vodiane, Pisky, Zaitseve, and Luhanske.

"Since Friday midnight, Russia-led forces have attacked Ukrainian positions near the village of Lebedynske, using 82mm mortars," the update said.

No casualties were reported among Ukrainian troops Friday morning.
Bishop Ronald Gainer has granted the faithful Catholics of the Harrisburg Diocese dispensation from attending Sunday Mass, the diocese announced Thursday.

The decision was made in connection with the Bishops of Pennsylvania, according to the diocese statement.

While the obligation is gone to attend Sunday Mass, all regularly scheduled Masses will remain open to the public, the diocese said.

Bishop Gainer made this move out of great concern for the health and well-being of the faithful, their families, our clergy and parish staff, given the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the diocese said in a statement.

For people who still want to attend Mass, the diocese asks that they are careful with their contact with others and recommends that people who are currently sick, the elderly and people with comprised immune systems stay home.

The diocese has also requested that all parishes suspend the sign of peace, the use of holy water fonts and the distribution of the Precious Blood through the chalice. Parishioners should be careful when separating the Holy Eucharist into separate vessels by pouring the hosts from one vessel to another. And of course, washing hands frequently is recommended, especially for priests, deacons and extraordinary ministers holy communion.

Doorknobs, pews and other places frequently in contact with people will be regularly washed and disinfected.

Currently, the preferred method of reception of the Holy Communion is in the hand.

The diocese previously adopted some of these measures when the coronavirus first started making headlines, but now is furthering its efforts to protect parishioners.

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Brussels, Belgium  Fri, March 13, 2020 08:35 669 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206a3d596 2 World Belgium,school,closure,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19,outbreak,health Free

Belgium will close schools, cancel all cultural events and shutter bars and restaurants to stave off the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, the government said on Thursday.

Announced by Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes after a meeting of the national security council, the measures will come into force at midnight on Saturday (2300 GMT on Friday).

"This is not a lockdown," Wilmes said. "We want to avoid situations like Italy. These measures must prevent lockdowns."

Wilmes said at the press conference that "all recreational events: sporting, cultural or folkloric" are cancelled, "regardless of size and whether it is a private or public meeting."

The closure of schools at national level will be effective until April 3, the day before the Easter holidays, effectively keeping students out of school for a month.

The government said that parents with no option for child care would be helped by authorities. This was an effort to avoid citizens resorting to retired people, the age group most vulnerable to the virus.

"The idea is not for children to be looked after by their grandparents," she said.

Nurseries or creches can remain open, Wilmes added.

Beginning Saturday, only stores that provide essential services -- such as pharmacies and grocery stores-- will remain open under normal conditions. All other stores will remain open during the week, but closed at weekends.

The government asked Belgians to work from home as much as possible.

Wilmes said those heading to the office should stagger their shifts to keep public transport uncongested.

If followed, Wiles said the measures could allow Belgium to avoid an uncontrollable epidemic such as seen in Italy, where more than 1,000 people have died.

Neighboring Luxembourg also closed schools for at least two weeks and closed all retirement homes to visitors.
Holbein and Hillygus find that young voters arent apathetic about politics and political life. Just the opposite. By multiple metrics, most young people are politically interested and motivated, they write. And, despite the increased rancor in American politics, some measures find young people to be even more interested in politics in recent years than in the past.

The issue isnt interest, its structure. It is difficult to get anyone to do anything for the first time, and thats especially true for voting, which isnt an easy process in the United States. Worse, many states are making it harder, with specific efforts to keep young people, and students in particular, away from the polls.

Last spring, for example, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature outlawed any polling location that wasnt open for the states 12-day early-voting period, a move that forced a number of colleges and universities to close temporary voting sites on their campuses. Republicans in Florida, likewise, effectively banned early voting at state universities with a law requiring sufficient non-permitted parking at all early voting sites. Thats an easy-to-meet requirement for rural and suburban locations, but its difficult for sites on densely constructed college campuses.

Even states that dont target students and young people for voter suppression still require prospective voters to register if they want to cast a ballot. And that, Holbein said, is a real problem. When you take away an arbitrary obstacle like voter registration, youth turnout goes up quite a bit.

If you take a broader view of obstacles to the vote  if you look beyond administrative burdens like registration and voter identification  theres the simple fact that being young is difficult. Young people are coming into their own, Holbein said. They are leaving home, they are learning to be adults, and in that experience of managing their lives, voting is one of the things that falls by the wayside.

Without experience and familiarity, young people lack the confidence to vote, to say nothing of other forms of political participation like canvassing or working the polls. They dont think they know enough and dont feel the kind of efficacy that drives older voters to the polls at high rates. The solution, Holbein and Hillygus argue, is comprehensive civics education that provides knowledge and experience grounded in awareness of the factors that shape voter participation. Young people, in other words, need to learn how to be citizens. And the extent to which we dont teach those skills greatly depresses youth participation in politics.

Liberalizing voting laws and improving civics education are long-term projects. In the meantime, there are things a campaign like Sanderss can do to improve youth turnout and bring those supporters to the polls. In addition to stoking interest, a campaign like Sanderss can educate young voters about the process  not just by telling them to register, but also by walking them through the process itself and doing the work a civics curriculum should have already done.
GREENWICH  Greenwich police have been working with health authorities to ensure public safety after coronavirus made its first appearance at Greenwich Hospital with a patient transported from New York state this week.

At police headquarters, spokesman Lt. Mark Zuccerella said the command staff has been meeting daily with health officials and the Board of Selectmen about the coronavirus outbreak.

We are ready to address it, and we have contingencies in place, he said.

The public should not be alarmed if they see officers wearing masks on medical calls - theyre precautionary, he said.

Zuccerella said that residents calling the emergency dispatch center for medical assistance might expect to answer a few more questions than usual  about recent travel, or other risk factors that might indicate an exposure to coronavirus.

All of the officers in the Greenwich Police Department have advanced medical training, or are receiving it, so they are fully aware of risk exposure to pathogens, he said. Theyre going to take extra steps and precautions, he said.

The department is following all guidelines implemented by health authorities at the state and local level, the lieutenant said.

Like other departments in the region, finger-printing for civilians who require the service for jobs in education, child-care or other employment  as well as checks for criminal history for any reason  may be reduced at the Greenwich police station.

We are not halting fingerprinting. We continue to fingerprint those who require it for criminal history checks and/or employment reasons, Capt. Robert L. Berry said in an email. .

We may be reducing the number of days or hours we provide the service and/or requiring appointments to be made in advance, Berry said.

Police are asking visitors coming to the departments headquarters for finger-printing to reschedule if they have a fever, shortness of breath or other flu-like syndromes.

These measures are expected to be temporary and are being made due to prioritization of providing critical public safety services to the community and in conjunction with the Greenwich Department of Health, Berry said.
Youre reading this weeks At War newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Friday. Email us at atwar@nytimes.com.

More than 15 years ago, about a year after the American invasion of Iraq, as violence had escalated and the occupation was clearly going in bad directions for Iraqis and Americans alike, I had dinner with a book editor in New York City. The editor wanted to brainstorm ideas for covering the war at book-length.

It was a dreary, uncertain and deeply dishonest time. The patterns of bloodshed and escalating fighting indicated Iraqs painful slide, and yet American officials in Washington and Baghdad were still acting, in public at least, as if the violence could be quelled and occupied Iraq would emerge as a stable, functioning state.

Over the course of our conversation, we came to a decision neither of us expected at the outset: to forgo doing a book. It was simply too soon to expect an element we craved: official candor. The ground-level participants were still too close to their actions, too bound by career concerns and the restrictions of their employment or simply too young to speak with openness, understanding and moral rigor at any scale. Newspapers, with their shorter formats, might be able to find pockets of candor, but could we round up enough insight to sustain 300 or 400 pages while people were still enmeshed in the confusion and ugliness of a war that had turned out nothing like its organizers predicted? We decided to keep working and wait.
LaFayette, N.Y.  In 2000, Diane Walsh thought she might be getting jewelry for her 40th birthday, instead she received the fulfillment of a lifetime wish.

I had requested a ring for my special birthday, she said, but instead of a ring I could wear in my finger, I got one in which I could ride my horses!
AUTO LAB TALK RADIO FROM NYC, Saturday March 14, 2020; WNYM Radio AM 970 7-9 AM





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Auto Lab is also about the automotive industry, its history, and its culture, presenting the ideas and advice of leading college faculty, authors, and automotive practitioners in a relaxed, conversational interactive format.

Listeners can find audio recordings of the past 20 years of archived Auto Lab shows as simulcast on The Auto Channel; The Auto Lab Index Page includes; Audio-on-Demand Archives, Community College Auto Program Database, Guests Pictures

This Weeks Show: March 14, 2020

In Studio Expert Automotive Panel

Harold Bendell - Major World

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"GREAT DESIGN - BACK TO THE FUTURE-IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE!"

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A 34-year-old man allegedly involved in a petrol bomb attack on a Co Tyrone home while children were inside must remain in custody, a High Court judge has ruled.

Colm Murray was refused bail amid claims he accompanied a youth who threw a device into the house as the family were packing to leave.

Prosecutors contended that one of those who targeted the property at Killymaddy Hill in Dungannon said: "F*** it, lets kill the kids."

Murray, of Windmill Court in the town, denies charges of arson and possessing a petrol bomb in suspicious circumstances over incidents on February 9.

He is also accused of threats to kill and damage property, having an offensive weapon - namely a screwdriver - criminal damage to a car, and assault on police.

It was alleged that threats were issued to a woman during a first visit to the house.

Hours later, according to the prosecution, Murray returned with a 15-year-old youth.

Comments about burning the property down were said to have been made at this stage, the court heard.

A window was smashed and a petrol bomb thrown into the hallway. Items were set alight but subsequently extinguished.

Defence counsel stressed Murray denies making any threats to burn the occupants out.

He argued that the only person allegedly identified throwing a petrol bomb was the teenage co-accused.

But Mr Justice O'Hara cited the allegations that Murray was present when the first threats were made, and then returned while the family were getting ready to leave.

"Even more seriously, knowing there were children in the house, a petrol bomb was thrown into it," he said.

"There would have to be extraordinary circumstances for Mr Murray to be granted bail. None exists, and bail is refused."
A man who was in close contact with an infected person was confirmed to catch the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Friday, according to Vietnams Ministry of Health.

The 25-year-old patient lives in Ward 7, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, the ministry said in a statement.

He is Vietnams 45th COVID-19 patient.

He had dinner with patient No. 34 and her husband in Binh Thuan Province, located in south-central Vietnam, on March 3.

He returned to Ho Chi Minh City in a personal vehicle with three other people on March 4.

On March 10, the man self-isolated at home when hearing news of patient No. 34 being infected with the virus.

He showed symptoms of a stuffy nose and sore throat on March 12 so he was sent to a quarantine camp in Tan Binh District, before being transferred to a makeshift hospital in Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City.

His samples were tested by the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday and Friday, all returning positive.

He is in stable health now.

Authorities are tracing those in contact with patient No. 45 for quarantine.

A total of nine people in Binh Thuan have been diagnosed with COVID-19 after having close contact with patient No. 34, a 51-year-old Vietnamese woman.

Patient No. 34 was confirmed as Vietnams 34th COVID-19 patient on Tuesday.

She left Vietnam for the U.S. on February 22 and came back to the Southeast Asian country on March 2.

She transited Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea, and Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar during her respective departure and return flight trips.

Her return flight landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on the morning of March 2.

The woman was admitted to the Binh Thuan General Hospital on Tuesday morning and tested positive for the novel coronavirus there.

She is currently quarantined and treated at the hospital.

Vietnam has confirmed 45 infections so far, 16 of them having fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26.

The other patients are being treated, with no fatality having been reported to date.

Patient No. 17, a 26-year-old Vietnamese woman, was diagnosed on Friday last week after the country had reported no infection since February 13.

The woman arrived in Hanoi on March 2 on board a flight carrying 216 passengers and crew members from London.

At least a dozen infected people, mostly Britons, have been linked to this woman, who had visited Milan and Paris before entering Vietnam.

Vietnamese officials are tracking the passengers and have isolated those involved, including the crew members.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Attorney General William Barr voiced his support on March 11 for the passage of the House bill reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The attorney general said that the bill plugs the gaps in the current law, which allows for the surveillance abuses identified in the DOJ inspector general report on the departments spying on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

The bill contains an array of new requirements and compliance provisions that will protect against abuse and misuse in the future while ensuring that this critical tool is available when appropriate to protect the safety of the American people, Barr said in a statement.

Barr said the bill includes several provisions put forth by himself and FBI Director Christopher Wray in response to the inspector generals report. The FBI is already implementing a range of reforms in response to an order by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

President Donald Trump told Republican lawmakers earlier this month that he would not support a reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) without reforms to prevent the abuses that took place during the 2016 presidential election. It is not clear if the reforms the House FISA bill includes would be satisfactory to Trump, who has said he wants to make sure that the surveillance operation used on his campaign doesnt happen to a future candidate or president. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

A pair of conservative Republican lawmakers close to the president slammed the House bill on March 11, leaving open the possibility that Trump may eventually oppose it.

The Deal on FISA is weak sauce diluted & made impotent by A.G. Barr, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wrote on Twitter. None of the reforms prevent secret FISA court from abusing the rights of Americans. None of the reforms prevent a President of either party from a politically motivated investigation. Big Disappointment!

The House FISA deal doesnt fix whats wrong with FISA, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote on Twitter. It would not have stopped the spying that occurred against [the president]. I will do everything I can to oppose it in the Senate. If it passes [Trump] should veto it.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz unearthed a battery of significant errors and omissions in the four applications to surveil Page. The FBI omitted crucial information while casting Page as an agent of Russia, including the fact that Page was an operational contact for the CIA and that Page had reported his contacts with Russians to the agency. In one blatant example, an FBI attorney altered an email, adding that Page was not a source for the CIA, even though the bureau was in possession of several pieces of evidence to the contrary.

In addition to the numerous omissions and misstatements, key FBI officials conducting the investigation of the Trump campaign had expressed intense bias against Trump and in favor of Hillary Clinton. The inspector general, however, did not find any evidence to establish that the bias was the reason for the significant errors.

From The Epoch Times
Conor Looney - Chief Executive Officer, LDM Global  I' am honored to have the opportunity to collaborate with such an outstanding group of thought leaders on the EDRM's Global Advisory Council. I'm excited to see what we can achieve as a team in 2020," said Mr. Looney.

LDM Global is pleased to announce that Chief Executive Officer Conor Looney has been appointed to serve as an advisor to the Electronic Discovery Reference Model's (EDRM) 2020 Global Advisory Council. Conor has held leadership roles in companies in the USA, Europe, the Caribbean and Central America. He has 25 years' experience in the legal, outsourcing, technology and FMCG industries and joins a group of the brightest industry thought leaders across six continents.

EDRM creates global practical resources to improve e-discovery, privacy, security, and information governance. With a global footprint in 113 countries, EDRM is recognized for its innovative reference model that is used as a global standard for e-discovery and the recovery of digital data. Through innovation and collaboration, the EDRM global community shares tools, knowledge, and best practices to improve the practice and provision of data and legal discovery, guided by the EDRM Global Advisory Council.

"I'm honored to have the opportunity to collaborate with such an outstanding group of thought leaders on the EDRM's Global Advisory Council, said Mr. Looney. It's a pleasure to share my experience and learn from some of the brightest minds in e-discovery. I'm excited to see what we can achieve as a team in 2020."

Kaylee Walstad, Chief Strategy Officer at EDRM welcomed Mr. Looney to the Council Conor Looney and his team have been consistent supporters exhibited by their commitment to community education and events. We are thrilled to have Conor join our multidisciplinary council of leaders.

About LDM Global

Founded in 1996, LDM Global is an information management, data solutions and litigation support firm. The company is an international provider of eDiscovery, AI Solutions, Forensics, and Managed Review to Am Law 200 law firms and Fortune 500 corporations. Clients are supported 24 hours a day, seven days a week from five secure data centers, in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Australia, and the Caribbean; operations hubs in the USA and an ISO:27001-certified Operations Center in India.


Iraqi authorities are decrying U.S. air strikes that they say killed at least three Iraqi army soldiers, two policemen, and a civilian worker, as a breach of their sovereignty.

American aircraft hit a number of positions overnight into Friday, said to be storage facilities used by a powerful militia supported by Iran.

It was done without Baghdad's approval, though, and Iraq's military says that some of the sites housed both militia fighters as well regular Iraqi soldiers and police units.

The air strikes were targeting Kataib Hezbollah, which Washington says is responsible for many attacks on U.S. led-forces.

Most recently the massive rocket attack on Wednesday that killed two American soldiers and a British soldier at an Iraqi base, although no group has claimed responsbility.

This was American general Kenneth McKenzie on Friday:

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. MARINE GENERAL KENNETH MCKENZIE, SAYING:

"We believe that the collateral damage is going to be very low. We expect there are going to be fatalities on the objective but I don't have those numbers for you right now. We'll work to get those out here in the in the in the future, in the near future, as we as we continue."

This was the third time in recent months the U.S. has targeted Kataib Hezbollah, most notably the air strike at Baghdad airport that killed Iran's Major General Qassem Soleimani in January.

He was the second most powerful man in Iran at the time.

Iraq's president says continued breaches of their sovereignty undermine the government and risk turning Iraq into a failed state.
For a political campaign, its not enough to pull together an army of bright-eyed, venti-caffeinated canvassersyouve got to tell them which doors to knock on. In Texas, the Democratic party is spearheading a data experiment that, if it works, could turn an emerging battleground states electoral outlook indigo by doing just that.

In other states, parties rely on imperfect national datasets to determine who might become a Democratic voter, a critical function that optimizes the valuable time volunteers and coordinators spend convincing would-be voters to show up to the polls. But for a state like Texas, the normal models dont work very welland in true Texas fashion, the Lone Star State is going its own way.

Texas Democratic Party Targeting Director Hudson Cavanagh told TechCrunch that his small team of strategists will leverage a new home-brewed machine learning model to mobilize the new voters the party views as mission critical.

We're working on registering literally millions of voters across the state, Cavanagh said.

Lauren Pully, the state partys data and analytics director, began bringing together resources for a better way of targeting voters in 2018. Cavanagh was brought into the mix fresh out of a New York startup early last fall to build it out and by primary season, the pair had their own proprietary model ready to go.

Known as the Texas model, the data science project blends insights on the states unique voter makeup with a machine learning algorithm that can learn as it goes. The model helps coordinators determine a given persons likely partisanship, a critical piece of knowledge for allocating campaign resources.

Powered by open source Python packages developed at Google and other machine learning hubs, the project eschews the normal path for state parties, which generally hire expensive outside data firms that come up with cookie cutter models trained on national datasets.

Its kind of a data scientists dream, Cavanagh told TechCrunch. We build models and they're immediately tested in fields all across the state."

Story continues

According to Cavanagh, normal partisanship models arent flexible and cant be retrained to keep up with changes to state voter files and new data collected by campaign workers. Instead, We're using Texas to predict Texas, Cavanagh told TechCrunch. And we're already outperforming any of the national models.

From a voter registration standpoint, a few things make Texas unique (likely more if you ask a Texan). For one, the state holds an open primary, meaning that Texas voters can cast a vote in either partys primary, but not both. That fact, coupled with a massive influx of people moving into the state presents a logistical challenge for the Texas Democratic Party as it tracks potential voters.

Now in action, the Texas model has already flagged 600,000 additional potential Democratic voters, people the traditional off-the-shelf model missed. Party representatives believe that somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of the 600,000 are likely Democrats, many of them new Texas residents, young voters and people of color. The new model fits hand-in-glove with the Texas Democrats newly announced initiative to register 2.6 million new voters.

"We think it's going to be the X-factor turning Texas blue, Abhi Rahman, communications director for the Texas Democrats, told TechCrunch.

According to Hudson, the states campaign stakeholders are also on board, proud to have a uniquely Texan secret weapon in the quest for a blue Texas. Hudson theyve shown tremendous level of engagement with the tool.

In Texas, the Republican electoral base, which skews older and whiter, has not blossomed along with the states population numbers. For Democrats, that presents a uniquely Texas-sized opportunityand one not far out of reach. In 2018, Texas Senator Ted Cruz narrowly survived a Democratic challenge from Beto ORourke, hanging on by a remarkable 215,000 votes.

Once blood red, the states shifting demographics make Texas a glittering prize for Democrats eager to see their state run blue. For a scrappy machine learning experiment seeking to shift the Lone Star state's political fortunes, the proof will be in the pudding later in 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 19:48:58|Editor: xuxin

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COPENHAGEN, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Danish parliament passed emergency epidemic legislation before midnight on Thursday, giving the government far-reaching powers to contain the COVID-19 spread.

According to the new legislation, the authorities are able to ban all public gatherings of more than 100 people in the country.

The new law also empowers the authorities to enforce the treatment of people suspected of infection, so that hospitals can prioritize treatment of COVID-19 cases.

Moreover, it gives authorities the right to further restrict public transportation if necessary, and close public institutions, supermarkets, other stores and elderly care homes and hospitals.

"Now we can get started with the things here that our experts say we need to get started, and which the whole of Europe is now also working on," said Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke to the parliament.

The law was passed with 95 of the 179 members of parliament present because of the restriction on gatherings.

"It is a very far-reaching law, and it has been a very serious day where we have had to make some difficult decisions, because the country is in a serious situation, which has also called for some drastic decisions," Spokesman on Health for the Liberal Party (Venstre) Martin Geertsen said to the press immediately after the vote.

As of Thursday, there have been 674 confirmed cases in Denmark, including two in the Faroe Islands.
After two years of litigation, Apple has agreed to pay up to US$500 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging it slowed down older iPhones in order to push consumers into buying its later, more expensive models.

The devices covered in the agreement are iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, and iPhone SE models that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later, and iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models that ran iOS 11.2 or later before Dec. 21, 2017.

Consumers complained that their iPhones performance suffered after they installed the Apple software updates. This misled them into believing their phones were near the end of their lifecycles, requiring replacements or new batteries.

Apple blamed the problems on temperature changes, high usage and other issues, and claimed its engineers worked quickly and successfully to address the problems.

In December 2017 it slashed the price of iPhone replacement batteries from $79 to $29. It had planned to make the new pricing applicable in January but apparently in response to customer outrage, it moved up the date to December. The program ended Dec. 31, 2018.

What the Settlement Entails

The settlement, based upon a mediators proposal, was reached after extensive aggressive litigation and prolonged, well-informed and extensive arms-length negotiations, including several in-person mediation sessions and additional negotiations  between experienced and knowledgeable counsel facilitated by mediator Judge Layn R. Phillips (Ret.) of Philips ADR.

It provides for a non-reversionary minimum class settlement amount of $310 million in cash for the settlement class. Non-reversionary means excess funds will not revert back to Apple. The maximum class settlement amount is pegged at $500 million cash. The proposed settlement class consists of all former or current iPhone owners in the United States.

Settlement class members could receive $25 for each iPhone owned. The actual amount they receive will depend on the amount of any attorneys fees and expenses, named plaintiff service awards, notice expenses, and the aggregate value of approved claims.

If the $25 payout plus the cost of the other fees, expenses and awards does not come up to $310 million, the excess will be allocated according to the stipulation, including pro rata increased payments to settlement class members up to $500.

If the payouts, expenses and costs exceed $500 million, however, the cash payment for each iPhone will be reduced on a pro rata basis.

Class counsel will seek up to 30 percent of the minimum settlement amount, or $93 million, for attorneys fees, and up to $1.5 million for expenses. Named plaintiffs also will seek service awards ranging from $1,500 to $3,500 each.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The proposed settlement requires approval by Judge Edward Davila of the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California in San Jose.

Apple has denied wrongdoing, and has agreed to settle to avoid the burdens and costs of litigation.

Views on the Proposed Settlement

Good to see Apple correcting their wrong after denying it for a long time, said Holger Mueller, principal analyst at Constellation Research.

However, the settlement comes cheap for Apple, as most customers bought new iPhones due to the throttling, he told TechNewsWorld.

Loyalty in the Apple user base remains high no matter what the issues, none of which Apple has dealt with in an honest fashion, Mueller said. One can only hope Apple will be more upfront and honest with its customer base moving forward.

That adherence to Apples products really is based on OS dependence, maintained Liz Miller, principal analyst at Constellation.

Their households are connected through the OS from work to home to the sound bar someones husband just installed, she told TechNewsWorld. So they overlook the B.S. caused by operating system dependence. The mere thought of switching off iMessage sends shockwaves through my family  and we know better.

Loyalists are frustrated by the lack of transparency stemming from Apples arrogance, Miller said. It isnt the act of throttling thats the issue. Its the utter lack of authenticity and transparency that flies in the face of what people perceive to be the Apple brand.

Milking the Cash Cow

Apple treats its base like an owned asset to be mined for money, and this behavior is consistent with that, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

Recall they also throttled the Qualcomm-based versions of their phones to conceal the fact that the Intel-based versions were underperforming, he told TechNewsWorld.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Apples days of innovation appear to be over, along with their days of out-marketing everyone else, and their efforts appear to be mostly focused on driving down costs and finding ways to mine customers for more and more money, Enderle said. This isnt indefinitely sustainable, as IBM discovered in the 1980s when they almost went under.

The Art of Control

Apple has always taken a highly managed approach to contractors, customers and its supply chain, said Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research.

Consumers choose Apple for its user interface, operating system and apps store ecosystem, he told TechNewsWorld.

On the corporate side, most surveys show that existing companies are wary of switching, Wang said. They have too much invested in the iOS ecosystem.

The ecosystem is at the root of Apples difficulties, according to Larry Chiagouris, professor of marketing at Pace University.

As Apple broadened its offerings from personal computers to smartphones to music content to tablets and now on to a wide variety of all kinds of content, the challenge to deliver to its loyal customer base has become more difficult, he told TechNewsWorld.

Its customer base has broadened considerably on the one hand, and its competitive set has also broadened as well, noted Chiagouris.

Clouds in the Future

Apple has been fined in France and Italy for throttling iPhones.

Meanwhile, Huawei, Xiaomi and Samsung are challenging its dominance fiercely in overseas markets.

Apple remains king of the hill, but many others are now shooting at them from several vantage points, and its hold on its leadership is now threatened more than ever before, remarked Chiagouris.

Given that Apple uses a lock-in model, Enderle said, it will take a considerable effort by competitors or visible excess by Apple against its customers to induce significant numbers of them to consider other vendors smartphones.
Councilman Curren Price, Mayor Eric Garcetti and Supervisor Hilda Solis Bring Hope to Hope Street With New Homeless Shelter

It was a great day to have hope in Los Angeles as Councilman Curren Price, Mayor Eric Garcetti and Supervisor Hilda Solis celebrated the completion of the first Bridge Home in District 9.

Coining the term, Bringing Hope to Hope Street, many gathered on March 5, to support the new temporary housing unit located on 2817 S. Hope Street. This specific location will now be the twelfth to open in LA as part of the citys homeless shelter program.

The new shelter will house 100 homeless men and women from the community and help them transition into permanent supportive housing. Volunteers of America has also lent their assistance to the project, offering onsite case management, aid with finding their next step in housing and more.

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We couldnt cross the finish line without the collaboration, the unique leverage between the city and the county, Councilman Price said. Through the collaboration, the latest Bridge Home project that was formerly a parking lot for the H. Claude Hudson Comprehensive Health Center is now County-owned property, which the County agreed to lease to the City of Los Angeles at no cost.

This is not the end-all its just a step. But its an important step getting people off the corners off the streets, out of their cars, he continued.

Recalling several homeless LA residents, Councilman Price describes the job and fulfillment this temporary housing will bring, The burden was obviously heavy on their shoulders, and its going to take time so it takes some patience. Its going to take a lot of love, but we are determined to help them feel whole again.

Theyre looking forward to putting their past behind them and receiving the services that they need to get back on their feet, but one thing is for certain they found hope on Hope Street.

Mayor Garcetti also shared a word with those in celebration, A few years ago, were housing half as many people a day. Today its 133 Angelenos coming off the streets, thanks to the amazing organizations. Referring to the Councilmans story of a man who spent 20 years on the streets, This didnt happen overnight my friends, but overnight it can change for somebody.

Angelenos are coming together to confront the homelessness crisis by providing housing, healing and hope, Mayor Garcetti said in a statement. The opening of Bringing Hope to Hope Street is the latest reminder that we are deploying resources and forging partnerships to bring our unhoused neighbors indoors now.

You know, for me, it was a no brainer, Supervisor Solis stated, When I heard that we could start using parking lots and space that we had, I immediately thought, heres this acreage that we have and want to repurpose, but meanwhile why cant we use that parking space here?

This couple of acres that wont just be a parking spot, but help people park for a short time in their life while they get their life back together.

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Supervisor Solis full of excitement shared positive messages and wishes over the next few years, Hope has come here today and it will remain here for three years.

As it is a temporary solution, the Bridge Home is set to remain in the once vacant parking lot for the next three years providing an array of services, giving those without a place to build, feel respect and dignity and well-deserved human rights.

We have many, many things that we want to be doing. This is just one of many collaborative partnerships that were going to be working with the city on, and Im very excited, she said.

St. Johns Well Child and Family Center will also provide and serve as the medical home for the residents of the Bridge Home. In collaboration with the various forces and organizations, they will offer a full range of medical, dental, behavioral health and pharmacy services through its mobile clinic or at the 18 sites in South LA.

Its really key that everyones all in fighting homelessness, Jim Mangia, President and CEO of St. Johns Well Child and Family Center stated. We believe that health is a human right. Housing is a human right. We have to band together and fight to tackle this problem as we are today.
Emily Ratajkowski has been known to show off some risque looks during her frequent outings.

But the I Feel Pretty actress isn't taking any risks amid the growing coronavirus pandemic.

She enjoyed some quality time Thursday with husband Sebastian Bear-McClard and their dog Colombo while self-quarantining.

Self-quarantine: Emily Ratajkowski enjoyed some quality time Thursday with husband Sebastian Bear-McClard and their dog Colombo while self-quarantining

The 28-year-old took to her Instagram story as they got comfortable at home in New York City.

She posted a snap of Sebastian and Colombo looking out their window, writing: 'Self quarantined with my babies.'

Ratajkowski also shared some photos of their growing dog cuddled up to her on the floor, captioned: 'This boy is almost 1.'

Colombo laid his head on his mom's lap as they watched TV: 'Colombo is a huge Love Is Blind stan (Lauren & Cameron forever).'

Quality time: She posted a snap of Sebastian and Colombo looking out their window, writing: 'Self quarantined with my babies'

Big boy: Ratajkowski also shared some photos of their growing dog cuddled up to her on the floor, captioned: 'This boy is almost 1'

Binge buddies: Colombo laid his head on his mom's lap as they watched TV: 'Colombo is a huge Love Is Blind stan (Lauren & Cameron forever)'

Ratajkowski debuted the pup back in May during her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The next month, she referred to the dog as 'my actual son' in a photo posted to Twitter.

Colombo's mom and dad celebrated their second wedding anniversary last month.

Ratajkowski took to Instagram to mark the occasion with some photos from their wedding day.

The Inamorata founder tied the knot with the Uncut Gems producer at a New York City courthouse on February 23, 2018.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 00:44:51|Editor: yan

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KIEV, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A 71-year-old woman who was hospitalized on Thursday after tested positive for COVID-19 has become Ukraine's first death case of the virus, Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a telegram channel on Friday.

"A 71-year-old woman from Zhytomyr region who was hospitalized on March 12 with a laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 case has died today. The MOH of Ukraine expresses condolences to her family," the statement read.

Ukraine's first COVID-19 patient, who was confirmed in the Chernivtsi region on March 3, is now in a stable condition.

On March 11, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved a plan to fight the COVID-19 in the country, including a three-week nationwide closure of educational institutions and a ban on mass gatherings.
The Union County Prosecutors Office on Friday dismissed the charges against a 25-year-old Roselle man who worked as an armored car security guard and was arrested in February on weapons offenses.

The man, a Brinks employee, was stopped by Roselle Park police for having tinted windows on Feb. 8 and he had a loaded handgun along with two additional magazines, the prosecutors office said. He had a permit for the gun with certain limitations, the prosecutors office said.

The man, who NJ Advance Media is not naming since his charges were dropped, was charged with unlawful transportation of a firearm and possession of hollow-point ammunition. His attorney, Evan Nappen, said the case showed the need to reform New Jerseys firearm laws.

At this time, were just glad that the criminal charges were dismissed and were looking to work on the other issues here to restore his reputation, Nappen told NJ Advance Media, adding that hes working to get his clients firearm back.

The man was also suspended from his armored car security guard job after he was charged.

Nappen told NJ Advance Media that his client was initially pulled over on a tinted windows charge, which is still in court. He was arrested and taken down to the station, Nappen said, and later released. He was never indicted.

The defense attorney said his client is considering suing. Nappen fell short of saying racial profiling played a role in his clients arrest when asked by NJ Advance Media.

He is a young black male and he put on a hoodie driving home because it was his jacket, Nappen said. Hes driving home and he gets stopped by three white officers. Its definitely a question when you look at those circumstances.

The mans permit, authorities said, was limited to the time he was on-duty with Brinks, but he had just clocked out 16 minutes before the stop. Police at the time believed the ammunition he carried were hollow-point rounds, but they were actually legal hollow nose ammunition with polymer filling inside, the prosecutors office said.

The prosecutors office noted that he was cooperative with police. If his gun was placed inside the box that was found in his car, it would have made it legal for him to transport the firearm home too.

In light of that investigation, this Office has concluded that, although probable cause existed to arrest and charge (him) at the time of his arrest, it is not in the interests of justice to continue his prosecution, the prosecutors office said in a statement.

Roselle Park Police Chief Daniel McCaffery noted that the prosecutors office stated that officers were correct in making the original arrest.

As noted in the press release from the Union County Prosecutors Office, the officers were correct in making the arrest, McCaffery told NJ Advance Media. "The prosecutor exercised prosecutorial discretion in dismissing the charge of improper transportation of a firearm. Our officers did, in fact, make a lawful arrest as indicated by the prosecutors office.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Friday that New Zealanders have become more engaged with the Muslim community in the year since a gunman killed 51 people at two mosques.

Ardern was in Christchurch attending events to mark the anniversary of last years March 15 massacre, which she has described as one of New Zealands darkest days. On Friday she attended a special joint prayer with members of both mosques that were attacked, and on Sunday she plans to attend a national memorial.

Among those speaking during the prayer service was Al Noor mosque survivor Farid Ahmed, whose wife Husna was killed in the attacks.

Hate does not achieve any gain for the hater, or for anyone, he said afterward. If there are any differences, there is another way, and that way is the peaceful way. We should talk, we should dialogue, we should ask one another questions, and we should not be afraid of one another.

Ardern said people had told her they had visited mosques for the first time in the wake of the attacks and had found themselves more openly discussing differences of faith.

A year on, I believe New Zealand and its people have fundamentally changed. I cant see how you could have an event like this and not, Ardern said. But the challenge for us will be ensuring that in our everyday actions  and in every opportunity where we see bullying, harassment, racism, discrimination  calling it out as a nation.

Some questioned why the memorial event on Sunday, which would pack thousands of people into an arena, was still going ahead after Ardern and other officials chose to cancel a festival in Auckland celebrating Pacific culture due to fears over coronavirus.

Ardern said that with only five confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand, there were no signs yet of a community outbreak. She said the Pasifika Festival was cancelled out of a specific concern the virus could spread to Pacific islands that dont have the health infrastructure to cope with an outbreak.

Ardern drew attention to laws changed in response to the attacks. The deadliest types of semi-automatics are now banned, and in a nationwide buyback, gun owners turned in about 60,000 of their newly outlawed weapons for cash.

She also talked about her work on trying to eliminate terror attacks from being shown online, after the gunman livestreamed the Christchurch attacks. Ardern brought some nations and tech companies together to work on the issue in what she named the Christchurch Call, which she said had helped start a new crisis response protocol.

As a result of the protocol and that co-ordination in those events where social media platforms have been used to broadcast attacks, the circulation of those videos had been far, far diminished, she said.

Arderns empathetic response after the attacks and her message of unity resonated around the world last year. Images of her wearing a hijab and embracing members of the Muslim community created a lasting impression for many.

The man accused of the attacks, 29-year-old Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, is due to stand trial in June on charges of terrorism, murder and attempted murder. If found guilty, he would face a sentence of life imprisonment.
A JetBlue Airbus 320.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

A JetBlue passenger who flew Wednesday tested positive for the coronavirus.

Local news reports said passengers were allowed to leave the plane without medical tests after it landed in West Palm Beach.

Airlines have been walloped by flight cancellations due to the spreading coronavirus, with many stocks losing half their value in a matter of weeks.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A passenger on a JetBlue flight from New York City to West Palm Beach, Florida on Wednesday night has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to local news reports.

ABC News reported that the 114 passengers aboard JetBlue flight 253, which landed just before 9pm, remained on the plane for nearly two hours following landing to be given information by local health officials.

"Passengers in the vicinity of the positive patient were advised of monitoring procedures," Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said in a statement to ABC news.

"The rest of the passengers were released to go home," and instructed to call the local health department with any other concern, the statement continued.

Passenger Scott Rodman told WPTV that the was wearing masks and gloves. His wife was sitting in the same row as me and mentioned to others that he wasn't feeling well. She said he had gotten a phone call with his test results right before we had taken off, implying that he had a positive test but not actually saying it."

JetBlue representative Derek Dombrowski sent the following statement to Business Insider:

"The health and safety of our customers and crewmembers is our top priority. We're asking customers who do not feel well or are concerned they may have coronavirus to not fly until cleared to travel by a doctor or health professional. JetBlue is currently waiving change and cancellation fees to allow customers the opportunity to change or pause their travel plans should they need to.



"In last night's case, our crewmembers did an incredible job coordinating with health authorities. After health officials allowed customers to disembark, we conducted a thorough sanitizing of the aircraft according to CDC guidance. We have also sanitized common areas in both airport terminals involved. We will continue to coordinate closely with health officials and provide them any additional information required.

Story continues

Earlier this week, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said the coronavirus outbreak and resulting airline selloff is "probably worse" than the post 9/11 dip in air travel. Shares of JetBlue have fallen more than 44% since mid-February as flight cancellations to affected regions and new travel bans wreak havoc on the entire industry. The company also withdrew its 2020 financial guidance in the face of uncertainty.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 30-day travel ban for foreign nationals arriving from most European countries. As of Thursday morning, 127,000 cases of the viruses had been confirmed globally with 1,323 of those in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University's tracker.

"We remain focused on safety and taking actions to manage the near-term challenges and the headwinds that we face," Hayes said at a conference hosted by JPMorgan on Wednesday. "And we will stay flexible as the impact of the coronavirus unfolds."

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Chhattisgarh forest



department has arrested a former official of the joint venture of NMDC and CMDC for alleged illegal felling of trees in a forest area for the proposed mining at Bailadila iron ore in Dantewada district early last year, officials said on Friday.

V S Prabhakar, former CEO of NCL, a joint venture of National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC), was arrested on Thursday, a forest official said here.

Prabhakar, who is currently the Executive Director at Hyderabad-based office of NMDC, was granted bail by a district court, he said.

According to officials, a 10 MTPA-capacity Bailadila Iron Ore Deposit-13 is being developed by NCL.

A contract for excavation and mine development was awarded to Adani Enterprises Ltd in 2018 when the BJP was in power in Chhattisgarh, they said.

"Investigation into the alleged deforestation in this area that took place early last year, revealed that Prabahakar, the then CEO of NCL, allegedly issued tender for pruning of trees in an unauthorised manner," the official said.

The NCL had sought permission for felling of trees for approach road to the mining site and the forest department's head office in Raipur had granted permission for cutting of 25,400 trees in the area, which was to be carried out as per the rules, he said.

"However, Prabhakar himself allegedly issued a tender in newspapers for carrying out deforestation of forest land and handed over the task to one private contractor, B K Lala, in January last year," he said.

Total 582 trees were allegedly chopped off in this area, due to which caused a loss of Rs 4,57,830 tothe department, the official said.

In May last year, a case was registered under sections of the Indian Forest Act 1927, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act 1984, Wildlife Protection Act 1972 in this connection and a probe was launched, he said.

"On Thursday, Prabhakar, who had come to record his statement in Dantewada, was arrested and produced in a local court. He was later granted bail," the official said.

When asked about the issue, an NMDC official claimed that the tree felling was carried out in compliance with the instructions of the forest department.

"After getting the forest and clearance for the project, tree felling permission was sought from local forest authority in 2018. The permission was later granted by forest head office in Raipur to then local DFO. Despite after a year of permission, they did not take up tree felling," he said.

"When we approached then DFO requesting him to take up the task, he cited Maoist activities as reason for the delay," he said.

In June last year, the Chhattisgarh government had halted all works related to proposed iron ore mining at Deposit-13 in Bailadila hill range, around 450km from state capital Raipur, amid protest by tribals against excavation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
London: Prince Charles has described Australia's catastrophic bushfires as "an apocalyptic vision of hell" at a fundraising event which raised more than half a million dollars for the Red Cross in just four hours.

The heir to the throne was the guest of honour at the charity dinner at Mansion House.

During his 10-minute speech, Prince Charles singled out Australia's firefighters, saying their helmet sat alongside the slouch hat of the diggers "as a powerful symbol of the courage, resilience and generosity for which Australians are renowned".

The prince, a prominent climate change campaigner of decades did not mention the issue specifically but spoke of the "new reality" of hotter, drier summers and more bushfires that scientists say Australia will face as the result of global warming, noting the "truly alarming" temperature of 48.9 degrees that had been recorded in the Sydney suburb of Penrith in January.
Shortly after a speech announcing a series of measures undertaken by the US government to combat the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump took the unusual step of shaking the hands of several American CEOs as he invited them to talk about how their corporations are pitching in to combat the crisis that has sent markets spiralling and workers into self-isolation.

The president said that he was declaring a national emergency, which includes a lift on regulations and the establishment of drive-through testing centres in the parking lots of big box stores like Walmart and Target.

And then, while praising the work of the private sector to bring a coronavirus test to market weeks after other countries implemented widespread testing, Mr Trump disregarded basic health guidelines that urge people to avoid personal contact, including handshakes.

Why is Trump shaking all the CEOs hands? wrote Anthony Wright, the director of Health Access California, on Twitter, mirroring a question posed by countless others as they watched Mr Trump glad hand with the CEOs of Target, Walmart, and Roche, the company that recently received Food and Drug Administration approval to bring a coronavirus test to market.

US health officials have urged Americans to avoid large gatherings, and to self-isolate when possible.

Why is Trump shaking all the CEOs hands?  Anthony Wright (@aewright) March 13, 2020

Why. So. Many. Handshakes. At. A. Coronavirus. Press. Conference.  James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) March 13, 2020 Doctors have also said that people should avoid handshakes when possible, and to wash hands frequently and thoroughly. Read more Pelosi introduces evidence based coronavirus response plan

The presidents announcement, in the White House Rose Garden, also drew outrage from critics who claimed that his inclusion of several business leaders who he praised at length amounted to the use of a presidential platform to advertise American corporations during an address that was sure to be played on televisions across the country.

Donald Trump has turned the announcement of a national emergency into a corporate infomercial, wrote Matt McDermott, a pollster in Washington, DC. This is truly insane.

Donald Trump has turned the announcement of a national emergency into a corporate infomercial. This is truly insane.  Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) March 13, 2020

Trump just turned a press conference declaring a national emergency into an infomercial for corporations. Amazing.  Shawn Fluharty (@WVUFLU) March 13, 2020

The United States has tested just over 11,000 samples for coronavirus since January, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, in spite of the growing concern that the outbreak is spreading at the community level across the country. Thats in comparison to other countries that have reported testing nearly that much on a daily basis.

Mr Trump, for his part, encouraged the press to ask the CEOs questions during his Rose Garden speech, but was largely ignored: If you have any business questions for these geniuses up here, even a business question, Mr Trump implored.




Dutch shrimp firm Telson files for bankruptcy

The Netherlands-based firm Telson, which produces machine-peeled North Sea shrimp, has filed for bankruptcy, according to the Leeuwarder Courant.

The company was purchased by Morubel in 2016. Morubel's owner, Bencis Capital Partners, reorganised the operations of its shrimp holdings in 2017 so that Telson came under the umbrella of Shore, an Ostend, Belgium-based conglomerate of shrimp processors that includes Belgium-based Morubel, German firm Ristic, Dutch company Telson, and Rainbow Export Processing in Costa Rica.

After the creation of Shore, Telson began processing the entire chilled seafood range sold by Morubel and Ristic, and it moved into a new facility, shifting from sending it shrimp to Morocco for peeling to peeling them locally via machines made by GPC Kant, which shares its headquarters with Telson in the same building in Lauwersoog.

However, an abundance of North Sea shrimp in 2019 led to low prices, hurting Telson's bottom line. Then, in early 2020, a series of storms forced the local shrimp-fishing fleet to stay in port, leading to a shortage of shrimp and causing Telson to fall further into financial distress, according to RTV Noord.

Last month, Telson's management applied for a deferral of payment on a EUR1 million (US$1.1 million) debt. But the Dutch court hearing the appeal appointed an administrator to steward the company through a financial settlement. That administrator, Pieter Lettinga, decided the company's financial situation was too grave to salvage, and decided to file for bankruptcy on 10 March, according to the Courant. Lettinga told the newspaper the company owed significant value-added tax payments in addition to its other debts.

Lettinga told RTV Noord he valued Telson's annual sales at between EUR10 million and EUR20 million (US$11.2 million and US$22.5 million). As a result of the company's shutdown, 11 employees have been laid off.

Lettinga said he was unsure if Telson would emerge from bankruptcy in its current form, or whether it would be sold and its assets stripped. He said the company had trouble competing against larger companies also involved in the processing and sale of North Sea shrimp, such as Heiploeg and Klaas Puul.

"Of course you are going to see if there are parties who want to take over such a company," Lettinga told the Courant. "Maybe they are only interested in Telson's packaging machines. That remains to be seen."
An eight-year-old boy was badly injured on Tuesday, March 10, when his friend accidentally threw acid on him, as the two were celebrating Holi.

The incident happened in Sangvi and the boy, who sustained 15 per cent burn injuries, is now undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

According to the Sangvi police, the families of both the boys are neighbours.

On Tuesday morning at 8am, the boys were playing with colour near a construction site in the area. There was a bucket with liquid on the floor, which the 11-year-old boy picked up and threw on the 8-year-old. The liquid in the bucket was cleaning acid.

The injured boy was immediately rushed to hospital and the Sangvi police have lodged a complaint under section 285 and 337 of the Indian Penal Code.

Both the minors live next to each other in Old Sangvi. It was an acid-like substance and the eight-year-old boy got burnt. We have lodged an FIR and our investigation is on, said Dnyaneshwar Sable, senior police inspector, Sangvi police station.
Remember the song about Simple Simon? The one were he says and you do?

Well, if you live in Northern Ireland, when it comes to the coronavirus it is not so easy to follow what Simon says. We have two Simons - one in the form of Boris Johnson and the other, Leo Varadkar.

To my mind, the Taoiseach has the edge. He is a former non-consultant hospital doctor and a qualified GP.

The Prime Minister, on the other hand, has a Health Minister already laid low by the virus.

The decision by the Irish Government to close schools is immense.

After all, Ireland is not North Korea or China. Telling Irish parents to keep children at home and enforcing it is akin to trying to herd cats at a crossroads. The Prime Minister has said the time is not right to close schools. But at the same time, he is saying if you as much as sneeze, stay at home.

It is not a matter about who is right and who is wrong; it's all about land borders and islands. And of course scale. Size really does matter!

Whilst throughout history Britain imported most of its royals from Europe, as an island it has not been invaded since 1066.

Which is really quite impressive. In some ways this frames the British view not just towards the EU but any external threat like coronavirus.

Put simply: Britain likes to do things the British way.

Ireland, on the other hand, has been serially invaded by the Vikings, the Anglo Normans and the English - not to mention the Scottish planters. More recently the Irish political outlook has been more distinctly European.

So, Ireland tends to adapt and learn from European experience, rather than any Westminster dictate. Of course, I exaggerate but there are gems of truth in this - especially in a post-Brexit, ignore-experts world.

Scale is what is really important. Ireland, as a small island with a porous border, cannot afford to have a separate approach to the coronavirus. What the Brexit debate could not prove, this contagious virus will.

Ireland as an island needs to dovetail many policy areas - on economy, infrastructure, education, climate change, the environment and now health.

It is neither sane, sensible nor safe not to have a common approach to the threat of coronavirus on the island of Ireland.

So, the Prime Minister is completely wrong. The one Union solution does not fit all UK regions, but particularly not Northern Ireland.

As someone who lives in a border community and has done for half a century, the border is simply invisible. The sun shines on Carlingford Lough - not on half of it!

Across Northern Ireland and the border counties there are shared pharma and medical services. Children from Louth, Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan go to schools in Northern Ireland, as do students from Down, Armagh and Derry attend regional colleges in Dundalk and Letterkenny. Thousands commute from the North to Dublin every day with Translink for business.

Coronavirus, like the clouds, will move across Ireland. It will not recognise borders. The UK Government is not ready for widespread shutdown. They are simply buying time. The Irish Government knows that contagion within a smaller community is inevitable.

At best the different approaches are days apart. The bigger question is whether or not the Northern Ireland Executive collectively acknowledges that this virus won't distinguish between unionist or nationalist, or North or South.

If they do, then they need to point this out to the Simple Simon in Downing Street and ask for collaboration with the other Simon in Merrion Square. British money and Irish knowhow. A sort of vorsprung durch technik.

Tom Kelly is a political commentator and writer
Amid escalating concern over the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Kate Brown and state health officials offered contradictory and confusing claims Thursday about the availability of testing and how quickly more Oregonians can get tested.

They defended their decision to limit the states testing to only the most at-risk people and repeatedly declared that commercial labs are already providing tests in Oregon and that five local hospital systems would soon begin testing to meet growing demand.

But those claims appear ambitious if not altogether dubious, The Oregonian/OregonLive found.

Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the states health officer and epidemiologist, said at a news conference in Portland that commercial labs are supporting our clinicians out in the community right now to offer testing.

We anticipate these additional hospital systems should be up and running in the next week, he added, and that will provide even more flexibility and opportunities to test here in Oregon.

The newsroom, however, contacted a half-dozen of the states largest hospital chains, plus their lobbying arm, and found that only one would provide detailed information about how many tests would be available or promise testing capabilities by next week. Three others said they are participating in talks but shared no timeline for starting testing.

The newsroom also reached out to the nations two largest commercial labs that are processing coronavirus tests ordered by physicians. Both said they are currently performing only several thousand tests  across the entire nation  although availability would ramp up in the weeks ahead.

Neither Quest Diagnostics nor LabCorp would make specific commitments about access to tests in Oregon, although the newsroom has confirmed limited testing is available in the state.

Confusion over Oregons testing capacity could have life-and-death consequences as individuals who are infected with mild symptoms unknowingly pass the virus to others and as medical professionals try to decide who is eligible to be checked with a limited supply.

Oregon has now reported 30 individuals with COVID-19 out of more than 340 people tested, although none have died. Sidelinger said health officials believe 150 to 250 Oregonians actually may have the disease and that it could spread to 75,000 people by mid-May without measures like social distancing that the governor has instituted.

Testing shortages are a huge problem across the nation, not only in Oregon, creating a dramatic undercount of how many people actually are infected with the virus.

Ongoing problems with testing prompted Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infection disease expert at the National Institutes of Health, to say publicly Thursday: That is a failing. It is a failing, lets admit it.

At the Portland news conference, Brown at one point said the state had an adequate amount of coronavirus tests for the people most in need, only to say minutes later we are concerned, frankly, about our testing capacity to extend testing to other groups.

Oregons testing crunch has come under heightened scrutiny after Wednesdays announcement that two elderly men at a veterans nursing home in Linn County tested positive for the virus. Those tests were quickly conducted by the state lab, but only after state officials learned they were set to be directed to the University of Washington.

Under strict guidelines for testing at the state lab, neither man appeared to qualify. Confusion remained a day later, with state officials saying they did not originally deny access to the state lab while hospital officials declined to say if they were routing specimens to Washington out of fear Oregon wouldnt run tests. (Six more men at the nursing home tested positive Thursday, bringing the total to eight.)

Meanwhile, state, political and hospital officials could not provide clarity on which local hospital systems might soon offer coronavirus testing in response to repeated questions from The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Browns office issued a statement earlier this week saying state health officials have agreements with five hospital systems to conduct COVID-19 testing but on Thursday her office wouldnt provide the list.

The governors office referred questions to the health authority, which referred questions to the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, which said in a statement it was not involved in negotiations and cannot confirm the names of those hospitals at this time.

Officials privately said theyre worried publicizing the names might lead people seeking testing to line up outside hospital or lab facilities.

The four hospital systems that confirmed that theyre working toward testing are: Legacy Health, Kaiser Permanente, Providence Health & Services and OHSU Hospital. Officials for Asante, in southern Oregon, and PeaceHealth, in the Eugene area, said theyre not involved.

But three were noncommittal about timing and testing capacity.

This is something that is under discussion but at this point in time, no decisions have been made, Brian Terrett, a spokesman for Legacy Health, said in a statement.

As for Kaiser Permanente Northwest: We will have more information next week on the date lab processing will begin and capacity, spokesman Michael Foley said in a statement. But Foley cautioned: This lab capability will not immediately change the priority criteria for which patients will be tested.

Providence is ramping up to meet the needs of our communities, spokesman Gary Walker said in a statement. We expect to have additional information about testing next week.

OHSU said it could begin testing 40 to 150 specimens per day as soon as next Tuesday or Wednesday if it has adequate supplies to support specimen collection and testing, spokeswoman Tamara Hargens-Bradley said in a statement.

Assuming that happens, OHSU will scale up in subsequent weeks, in anticipation of a significant influx of critically ill patients requiring testing.

Michael Cox, a spokesman for the hospital association, declined to identify the specific hospitals pursuing testing but said in a statement that testing capacity will come on line in the coming weeks.

Nik Blosser, the governors chief of staff, said he spent Thursday afternoon speaking with hospital officials and confirmed to The Oregonian/OregonLive that he was aware of a single hospital system that was ready to test quickly.

Theres only one that seems like theyll be ready to go next week, he said, adding that state officials are providing the best information they can in a rapidly evolving situation.

The Oregonian/OregonLive also contacted the nations largest commercial labs to understand capacity to increase testing in the state. The inquiries came after Sidelinger, the state health officer, said: If you want to know the exact numbers, youd need to talk to them.

LabCorp said in a statement that it nationally is now able to perform several thousand tests per day and is rapidly adding new equipment and staff to create additional capacity.

Quest Diagnostics hopes to triple its national capacity by expanding testing to two labs on the East Coast but is awaiting federal authorization.

We expect to be able to perform tens of thousands of tests a week, Quest said in a statement, within the next six weeks.

-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 6

Trend:

Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Azerbaijani women on the occasion of 8 March  International Women's Day.

Dear women!

I sincerely congratulate you, all Azerbaijani women, on the International Women's Day and wish you good health, happiness and success in your future endeavors.

Azerbaijani women have been the moral pillar of our society at all stages in our history. They have made invaluable contributions to preserving the rich national and cultural values of our people that have shaped up over the centuries and passed down the highest universal human qualities from one generation to another.

The enhanced public activity of Azerbaijani women at the time of construction of a new society, their direct participation in the social and cultural life are evidence of their high intellectual level. Azerbaijani women stood out for their social activity after Azerbaijan restored its state independence, achieved numerous successes in the field of education, healthcare, science and culture. At a time when the wave of globalization constantly changes the system of traditional values, our women, having turned the unity of national and modern values into an integral part of their inner world, succeeded in preserving the principles of continuity of generations and are committed to the path of their predecessors and enlighteners, who left their mark on the annals of literary, public, scientific and cultural thought.

There are favorable conditions in our republic for creative women to materialize their potential. By their activities aimed at strengthening the foundations of our statehood, they play an important part in ensuring the harmonious progress of our renewing country. The current status and business authority of our women is one of the important realities of our society, which is united around a single ideology.

Dear women!

I am sure that you will, as always, continue to pay great attention to the education of our children in the spirit of respect for national and spiritual values and love of the motherland and write bright pages in the chronicles of Azerbaijans development.

Happy holiday!
'Like everyone else addicted to Kremlin politics, I too have a thesis.'

'Foreign policy is known to be Putin's forte -- and Russia's stability his obsession.'

'As we enter the 2020s, it is clear that an extraordinary turbulent decade lies ahead in world politics and it casts dark shadows on Russia's future,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

IMAGE: Russia's President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the Duma, the Russian parliament to consider constitutional changes, Moscow, March 10, 2020. Photograph: Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik/Reuters

What happened in the Russian parliament on March 10 wore the look of a pantomime, but took everyone by surprise.

President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the Russian Duma and in his very presence, a constitutional amendment (external link) was mooted which was passed on the same day which limits the presidential terms to two, but allows the incumbent to start from a clean slate and have two more terms.

The logic is, as Valentina Tereshkova, the iconic first woman in space who at 83 has become a lawmaker, put it, while proposing the constitutional change that gives Putin, if he so wishes, two more 6-year terms as president: 'Ordinary people simply asked for it. They asked [that Putin remained president even beyond 2024 when his present terms ends].'

This amendment becomes part of the earlier package of amendments that will be put before the electorate for a vote on April 22 for approval.

If it gets approval and becomes law, it is conceivable that Putin remains in power till 2036.

Of course, the high drama drew derisive criticism in the West from those who wouldn't miss an opportunity to demonise Putin, and even some Russian commentators feel embarrassed and angry.

Alexander Bauvnov at the Carnegie Moscow Center is absolutely certain that the 'Tereshkova Amendment' has been a carefully choreographed plan that carried Putin's imprimatur.

He wrote (external link), 'One thing is clear. The new decision changes the face of the Russian regime. The era of dissembling is over.'

'The leitmotif of the first period of Putin's rule was that Russia was still a rules-based European country... A new Russia is taking shape which is more disdainful of democracy... Undemocratic but stable China is now openly deemed a more powerful model than Europe. In this different global context, Putin has seen a chance to distance himself still further from Europe.'

The independent daily Novaya Gazeta was even harsher in its denunciation: 'It was obvious to any person with a functioning brain that Putin would never leave power.'

'This was the reason for the amendments to the constitution: it wasn't for the sake of the amendments themselves, which they drafted just to create discussion, but for the sake of the possibility of canceling the presidential term [limits].'

However, when it comes to the enigma that is Putin, there is always more than a single way of fathoming his inscrutable mind.

For a start, the option for Putin to remain president for two more terms does not necessarily mean that he will actually run in 2024 when his present term ends.

Conceivably, Putin is making sure that the aura of power envelops him all the way up to 2024 and he won't face the ignominy of being a 'lame duck' for the remaining 4-year period of the present term.

Having said that, Putin is a master tactician who keeps his options open, retaining the maximum freedom of political maneuver and wields the maximum power in his own hands.

He will keep folks guessing how exactly he will use this godly power to navigate his own future plans.

If Putin does remain in power till 2036, he is still short of the record of Peter the Great ruled Russia for 42 years, but he catches up with Ivan the Terrible who also had a 36-year term as tsar and would outstrip Catherine the Great (34 years) and, indeed, Josef Stalin himself (29 years.)

It is impossible to figure out whether Tereshkova was put up to it -- or Putin was blindsided by her proposal.

After all, Putin could as well have included this latest amendment in the package of measures already outlined in January.

The intriguing part is that Putin himself has been signalling oft and on through the past several weeks that he planned to leave the Kremlin in 2024.

Although Putin's personal popularity remains at about 68 percent, according to the most recent independent survey of pollster the Levada Center, Russians have also made it clear in other polls that they are ready for a change at the end of his current two terms in office in 2024.

According to Levada, 44 percent of voters want Putin to quit in 2024, while 45 percent believe he should stay.

And Putin is known to be highly sensitive to public opinion.

Like everyone else addicted to Kremlin politics, I too have a thesis.

Foreign policy is known to be Putin's forte -- and Russia's stability his obsession.

No doubt, Putin lifted Russia from its knees and is a man of history.

But, as we enter the 2020s, it is clear that an extraordinary turbulent decade lies ahead in world politics and it casts dark shadows on Russia's future course.

The US is once again on the prowl destabilising unfriendly governments abroad, many of them Russia's partners.

The worsening US-China relations have deep and far-reaching implications for Russia's 'pivot' to China.

Meanwhile, Qassem Soleimani's assassination in January was a shocking event for Moscow.

It was Soleimani, reportedly, who on a visit to Moscow in mid-2015 convinced the Kremlin about the imperative need of Russian military intervention in Syria to salvage the Assad government which was with its back against the wall.

Contrary to the general impression, the Russian position on the ground in Syria has become vulnerable.

There are incipient signs that the US is striving to set a bear trap in Syria.

Equally, US interference in Ukraine continues.

Not only are there are no prospects of a US-Russia detente or a lifting of Western sanctions against Russia, arms control talks remain elusive.

Worse still, the Deep State in America has succeeded in institutionalising anti-Russian policies, no matter who wins the presidential election in November.

In such an increasingly unstable and dangerous world beyond Russia's borders, Putin would have rethought his own position.

Aleksey Mukhin, the head of Moscow's Centre for Political Information, put it this way: 'It's a very delicate trolling of our Western partners. [Putin has] left [the option to run again] open for himself so that our Western partners remain on their toes.'

'It's a very slick move, which will cause a strong negative reaction that will, however, be absolutely in vain.'

Indeed, if the impression gains ground that Putin is quitting, there would be high probability of US interference in Russian domestic politics to ensure that his successor in the 2024 is a 'Westernist' -- preferably, in the Boris Yeltsin mould.

Whereas, the 'Tereshkova Amendment' signals far and wide that all options are on Putin's table.

The crux of the matter is that the US has 'relentlessly interfered in Russia's internal affairs' through the past century, as the noted American academic, author and journalist Stephen Kinzer wrote recently (external link) in a fascinating piece dwelling on the 'centenary' of the execution of Alexander Kolchak by the Bolsheviks, the White Russian admiral whom the Americans had hand-picked and promoted as Vladimir Lenin's replacement in the Kremlin.

Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar served the Indian Foreign Service for more than 29 years. He has served as India's ambassador to Turkey and Uzbekistan and has been a contributor to Rediff.com for well over a decade.
Venezuela is in discussions with OPEC and Russia about the current oil price collapse, Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday at a press conference shown on Twitter, according to Russian news agency TASS. According to Maduro, Venezuela reached out to its partners to take steps toward opening up a new dialogue between OPEC and non-OPEC nations, Oil Price writes in the article Venezuela Looks To Play Mediator Between OPEC And Russia.

Venezuela, an oil-dependent economy that has seen its production drop by half over the last couple of years, has already been dealing with low oil prices, with the price of its Merey falling almost $20 per barrel month on month in February, or 35%, mostly from lower demand in China, according to OPECs most recent Monthly Oil Market Report.

It is particularly susceptible to even lower oil prices of today and is motivated to bring the two spatting parties together.

Venezuela continues to suffer under the weight of US sanctions and today, the United States added another subsidiary of RosneftTNK Trading International SA (TTI)for supporting Maduros regime, according to a Thursday statement from the US Department of Treasury.

TTI took over the handling of Venezuelas oil trade after the US sanctioned another Rosneft subsidiary, Rosneft Trading SA (RTSA) for brokering the sanctioned countrys crude. According to the US Department of Treasury TTI purchased 14 million barrels of crude from PdVSA.

The sanctions block all property and interests in property of TTI that are in the US or in the possession or control of US persons, as well as any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by the designated individuals and entity.

The sanctions will include a wind-down period until May 20, for both RTSA and TTI. The US reiterated its intention of lifting the sanctions for those who take concrete, meaningful, and verifiable actions to support democratic order in Venezuela.

The Trump administration has in the past referred to Rosneft Trading as the gravest violator of the imposed limits on Maduro as much of the Western world wants him ousted.
India is part of a US-led global initiative to share information on integrating science into coronavirus response, according to a White House statement.

Besides the US and India, the UK, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea are part of the initiative.

The second conference call by the science ministers and chief advisors of these countries was held on Wednesday and it was convened by the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Dr Kelvin Droegemeier.

"Following the first (conference) call last week, we'll continue ongoing frequent scientific diplomacy, the White House said in the statement.

During the second conference call, participants supported efforts to make available COVID-19 (coronavirus diseases) relevant peer-reviewed publications, data, and related research in PubMed Central and other publicly accessible repositories immediately.

The countries under the initiative also agreed to make available timely data and publications for addressing emerging infectious disease outbreaks.

Noting that artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to organise and synthesise certain data and information to expedite this process, the participants asserted that to ensure accessibility, ideally, data should be disseminated in machine and human readable formats, with broad rights for re-use and secondary analyses.

According to the White House, AI tools and analyses should also be made publicly available in a timely manner, the participants said.

Science leaders discussed opportunities to promote and strengthen common data repositories, such as the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), the White House said.

Participants discussed responses to their stages of disease management and updated the group on cases from their countries.

"Each of us has an important role and obligation to play in addressing the global outbreak of COVID-19," Droegemeier, who is also a member of President Donald Trump's Task Force on Coronavirus, said.

He said that "as chief science advisors, we have a firm understanding as to how critical it is for public health to bring the best available science and data to the forefront to assist in the development of solutions.

This series of international collaboration efforts on science has led to actions on data sharing, access to COVID-19-related data and publications, and global unification for the health and safety, Droegemeier said.

From this international dialogue, the United States can build on the whole-of-government approach being led by Vice President Mike Pence and the great work of the Trump administration, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A New Jersey father of four is being praised as a hero after he helped rescue a family of seven from their burning home by catching their young children from a second-story window.

Mario Reyes stepped up early Tuesday morning after his neighbors two-story home caught fire in Piscataway, according to a Facebook post from Piscataway Township.

Reyes, who lives across the street, not only caught two children who were tossed from a window, but went into the burning house at risk of his life to save others, bringing one adult out of the house, the post said.

Angel Gomez, who lived in the home, said the window was the only way out, and that she called down to Reyes below before dropping the children.

I said, Im gonna throw them downstairs, Im gonna throw them to you. I sent all my kids down and he was catching them. Every throw, he would catch them, she told WLNY. Thank God for him, because he didnt drop them at all. He was just catching them, catching them, catching them.

Neighbor Bianca Clark Muhammad was the one to call 911, and told the outlet that Reyes at one point used a sledgehammer to knock down bars on the basement window, from which a man inside the house emerged.

This man is an absolute hero, she said. Like, he caught babies, he broke down bars. And if they didnt react the way they did, Im certain that no one wouldve survived that.

RELATED: 4 Teens Rush Into Burning Home to Save 90-Year-Old Neighbor: The Smoke Was So Bad

She said she went into her home to find clothing for the displaced family, which includes two babies and a toddler, as they took refuge in Reyes home.

RELATED VIDEO: Toddler Tragically Dies in Fire After Running Into His Burning Home to Try and Save His Puppy

Toddler Tragically Dies in Fire After Running Into His Burning Home to Try and Save His Puppy

A mother and father in Arkansas are experiencing an unimaginable loss after their son died in a house fire while attempting to rescue his beloved pet puppy

Story continues

He really saved us, he saved our lives, Gomez told WLNY.

Reyes told the outlet, using his son as a translator, that as a father of four he didnt think twice about helping.

RELATED: Uncle Who Saved Niece, 8, by Running Into Burning House Would Do It Again Despite Severe Burns

The family members were all taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for examination and treatment, according to the Facebook post.

Multiple agencies, including the New Market Fire Department and the North Stelton Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad, responded to the scene. The house was entirely destroyed.
Plans for remote learning or to-go lunch service at Catholic schools throughout the New Orleans metro area are "still to unfold" as the Archdiocese of New Orleans tries to prepare for schools closing for the next 30 days because of coronavirus, according to New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

Aymond and other officials with the church had announced Friday afternoon that Catholic schools throughout the state would also be following Gov. John Bel Edward's proclamation, which ordered the shuttering K-12 schools across the state until April 13 and banning public gatherings of more than 250 people.

The Office of Catholic Schools has about 34,180 students in 75 schools throughout the eight civil parishes of Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany and Washington.

The announcement caught some districts, parochial and private schools off-guard where officials had vowed to keep the institutions open as long as possible, or until a person at an individual school became infected with coronavirus.

"In preparation for this order to close schools, which is now in effect for the upcoming 30 days, the Superintendent of Catholic Schools asked that schools begin to create contingency plans to prepare for this reality," Aymond said.

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

"What these plans look like for individual schools will vary from site to site," Aymond continued. "I encourage you to work cooperatively and patiently with your school leaders as these plans unfold."

Some private and state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education-authorized schools in the New Orleans metro area had already announced plans to close.

The Jewish Community Day School, a private school in Metairie, had announced plans to shut its doors and transition to "distance learning plans" for at least 14 days starting Monday in the face of a growing number of coronavirus cases.

Earlier in the week, BESE schools Lycee Francais de la Nouvelle-Orleans and New Harmony High School had announced plans to at least temporarily close amid concerns of potential community, off-campus exposure of coronavirus.

By Friday afternoon, three more people had tested presumptive positive for the virus, bringing the number of cases in the state to 36, according to Louisianas Department of Health.

The vast majority of presumed positive COVID-19 cases are in the greater New Orleans area: 26 are in Orleans Parish, three are in neighboring Jefferson Parish, two are in St. Tammany Parish and one each are in St. Bernard Parish and St. Charles Parish.
F ormer Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has been accused of grabbing a woman by the buttocks as they posed for a photo, a court heard.

The woman, a former civil servant in the Scottish Government known as Woman K, said Salmond "reached down and grabbed... the right hand side of my buttocks quite forcibly with his full hand" during the event in November 2014.

She said that the incident made her feel "mortified" and added: "I just wanted to do my job, I wanted to be proud of myself coming in and doing my job and it felt like I was demeaned, that it was unprofessional, that there was nothing I could do about it.

The woman said that she did not believe the incident could have been an accident.

Alex Salmond / Getty Images

Salmond, who was first minister from 2007-2014 and leader of the SNP from 2004, has pleaded not guilty to 14 charges of sexual assault against ten women.

All of the assaults are alleged to have taken place between 2008 and 2014, during his time as Scotland's first minister and SNP leader.

His trial is taking place at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Alex Salmond / PA

The court also heard on Friday how Salmond "stretched his arms out" and "did an impression of a zombie" before kissing an SNP employee known as Woman J on both cheeks and then the lips.

Woman J said she was scared by the incident, which she described as "an awful nightmare."

Salmond's lawyers denied that the incident took place and previously lodged special defences of consent and alibi in response to other allegations.

Other allegations against Mr Salmond include the attempted rape of a woman in 2014 at Bute House, the official residence of the Scottish first minister.

The trial continues.
Images and a video from Wilfred Upkong's dramatic staged narrative "BC-1: Niger-Delta/Future Cosmos" create one of the most dramatic installations within FotoFest's "African Cosmologies" exhibition at Winter Street Studios. Photo: Molly Glentzer / Houston Chronicle Photo: Molly Glentzer / Houston Chronicle

Mark Sealy is jazzing on the idea of the FotoFest 2020 biennials big show as an African version of A Love Supreme, saxophonist John Coltranes riff-rich, avant-garde album of 1965.

That would be lovely, says Sealy, the exhibitions curator. That would be a big ask! He gives it a hearty laugh but hes serious about the resonances he wants to create with African Cosmologies: Photography, Time and the Other.

Sealy, who is from London, is tired but giddy, pleased by all he sees around him. Were with FotoFest director Steven Evans at Silver Street and Winter Street Studios, where the show hangs in broad hallways and a few gallery spaces. I lose count of the times Sealy says, with sincere good nature, Brilliant! or I love this!

As the director of Autograph ABP, a renowned photographic institution in London, Sealy has been a key figure in discussions about de-colonizing the camera for 30 years. At the age of 60, its nice to have the opportunity to unpack some of the things I thought were important, he says.

More Information "African Cosmologies: Photography, Time and the Other" When: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through March 29; 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays, April 1-19 Where: Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards, and Winter Street Studios, 2101 Winter Details: Free; 713-223-5522, fotofest.org

Early in his career, he recognized that the invention of photography in 1839 had given Westerners yet another tool for oppression. The new medium created perfect conditions for racializing an exotic and inferior Other, he says. When we say Africa its still completely loaded. Why? Its what images have done - film, Hollywood. Africa in the Western imagination has not been made by the African subject. Thats what were trying to undo.

Some of the shows 32 diverse artists live in Africa. Some were born there but live elsewhere. Some were born elsewhere, of African descent. A few are quite young. A few are senior citizens. A few are dead. Many are women. Sealy has known most of them a long time.

If we look through the art history books, when European artists have been brought together, we dont necessarily think of them as European. Theyre just Modernists, or whatever, Sealy says. This just happens to be a conversation with people from all over the world who share a geneology, possibly.

A show about ideas

Some concentrate on universal issues around identity and human rights. Others quietly evoke memory and the passage of time. Some are reflective, some are audacious, some are radically imaginary. This is not a show about African geography, in the way a number of previous FotoFest biennials has presented images that represent trends and issues focused on a particular part of the world. Its more openly a show about ideas.

Evans says he has been nudging FotoFest in that direction for several years, but he also noticed when he arrived in 2014 that the organization had worked more deeply in some areas of the world than others during its several decades. Ideas around Africa or blackness were one area I thought where we could expand the conversation, he says.

Several of the artists have appeared in previous FotoFest biennials or museum shows here, but not in the same way. Among the familiar names are Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Carrie Mae Weems, Lyle Ashton Harris and Zina Saro-Wiwa, as well as Houstonian Jamal Cyrus.

Evans sees conversations moving forward, not only between the artists and the audience but also between the artists themselves. Its looking at things from multiple vantage points and perspectives; giving a faceted idea, he says.

Sealys concept based on the origin of a universe makes perfect sense. With a few exceptions, he is presenting bodies of work - not scattershot images here and there - that encourage defined yet related galaxies of thought.

Difficult to Decode

Sealy could care less about photographys technical aspects and history. Im only interested in the work images do in culture, he says.

He gets goosebumps standing next to Fani-Kayodes dramatic, symbolic nude self-portraits and gazing down a long hallway toward an equally confrontational, large vinyl self-portrait by the young Zanele Muholi. Fani-Koyode, who died in 1989, was gay and politically exiled in London. The still-young Muholi, a binary, South African queer rights activist, is a direct descendant.

When I was working with Rotimi back in the day, his work was simply dismissed as derivative of Robert Mapplethorpes, Sealy says. He doesnt think Euro-centric art historians got the connection between Fani-Kayodes art practice and his Yoruba ancestry. Unless you understand the cultural space, its very difficult to decode, he says.

Muholi poses topless as a South African miner, connecting queer identity with the most brutalized populace of the apartheid regime. Its an incredibly, complex, layered image which invites us to do a huge amount of work around the rainbow nation, around identity politics in South Africa, around the history of South Africa, Sealy says.

In his seminal African Spirits series from 2008, Samuel Fasso impersonates historical figures associated with the Pan-Africanism liberation movement of the 1960s and 70s. Theres much more to the show than self-portraiture, but that mode of expression suggests a lot of questioning at a personal level.

Across much of the work, theres a good sense of circular breathing  another musical reference Sealy uses to talk about sustained notes over time. Viewers might notice, for example, how Ernest Coles image of a line of naked South African miners with hands up against a wall in a bathroom, from his famous 1960s series House of Bondage, echoes in the layered prints of Sammy Balojis 2006 series Memoire, examining the colonial legacies of black Congolese peoples in Lubumbashi, Togo.

The Other refers to a lot of things, not just queer identities, encompassing many populations that have been forced to migrate or persecuted by political regimes.

Figures fade to haze in Aida Silvestris touching, recent series Even This Will Pass. Each image is punctured with color-coded thread, marking the path of a journey to escape Eritreas repressive, totalitarian government in the early 1990s; and accompanied by a poetic written narrative. All those paths converge in a mixed-media map. Helene A. Amouzous ghostly self-portraits of herself as baggage in a suitcase, about her struggles emigrating to Belgium, also strike poignant notes.

Sealy and Evans have displayed all 48 pages of a photographic diary by the young Lindokuhle Sobekwa in specially-built cases, so viewers can absorb the full experience. The diary concerns Sobekwas heartbreaking search for his sister. Hes a young, contemporary South African, born in the post-Mandela age, dealing with all the complexities of domestic and international violence, Sealy says. Theres so much pain and so much lament in that space, and so much healing that needs to be done.

That kind of intimacy contrasts starkly with the performance activism of another young artist, Sethembile Msezane, who costumes herself as a bird reclaiming spiritual spaces against a backdrop of falling colonial monuments.

Taken as a whole, the show is mostly reflective and often celebratory. Dawit L. Petros beautiful series The Strangers Notebook places figures in landscapes, holding mirrors that obcure their heads and show the environment behind them, prompting questions about who is seeing who as well as ruminations on memory and place. Sealy speaks of a journey to a new identity in these images as well as more buoyant ones.

Hes included a classic archive of free-spirited, nighclub-hopping poseurs by Jean Depara. A selection of James Barnors 1960s fashion photography for Drum Magazine includes Drum cover girl Erlin Ibreck at Trafalgar Square, London  which Sealy counts among his favorite images of all time. It captures a complex moment, pulling viewers not to the central subject, whose eyelashes catch the sunlight, but to the white man behind her who is licking his lips salaciously. (A sort of #metoo nightmare with pigeons, as Alfred Hitchcock might have portrayed it.)

Not an African fantasy

I lean toward the ambitious, fantastical bodies of work and installations in the Winter Street spaces, where the chords intensify. Afro-futurism stars here.

The surreal, staged images of Aida Mulunehs graphically powerful, jump-off-the-wall-colorful series Water Life question how water use and access disproportionately affects women. Theyre Magritte on steroids. Wilfred Ukpong creates a mesmerizing narrative about social issues in the Niger Delta, developed with young people in marginalized communities. His film and large prints framed in black plastic garbage bags feature terrifically-costumed characters in an epic story thats part of a much larger project, Blazing Century. I could see it becoming the next Game of Thrones.

More delight comes in the darkened gallery where Faisal AbduAllahs golden barbers chair gleams like a throne in a mysterious environment overseen by a trio of Duppy Conquerer self portraits, conjuring Jamaican spirits who are enforces of historical memory. Santu Mofokengs The Black Photo Album: 1890-1950 also occupies a room, with projected slides that question images of Africans in European clothing. The short films of Samson Kambalu also have a room to themselves.

Quotations from many influential thinkers (including Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Frantz Fanon, a pioneering philosopher of post-colonial studies) appear on walls throughout both buildings. Theyre not meant to describe anything but to kind of locate you somewhere, Sealy says. The quotations operate like whispers, adding more layers to Sealys stream of consciousness stew.

Id be very surprised if people liked all the work, Sealy says. But there are parts of the rhythm that well dance with much easier.We didnt want to create an African fantasy. We wanted to create an African cosmology, influenced by the idea that the impact of Africa is global. We understand fundamentally, whether its through great artists like Picasso or great musicians like Coltrane, Africa has influenced every one of us, whether we like it or not.

molly.glentzer@chron.com
[March 12, 2020] Avaya Offers Complimentary Work from Anywhere Contact Center Solutions to Help Address COVID-19 Challenges

Avaya (News - Alert) Holdings Corp. (NYSE:AVYA), a global leader in solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration, today announced that it will provide additional help for contact center clients around the world who are challenged with maintaining high levels of customer engagement while they adapt to a remote workforce in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Available immediately, Avaya clients can request a 90-day complimentary access license to convert their existing office-based contact center agents to remote workers. In addition, at the end of the 90-day complimentary period, users have the option to convert those licenses to a monthly subscription, to offer more agility and improve availability of services for customers. Avaya has also announced the launch of global COVID-19 technical hotlines for customers and partners who are looking for 24x7 support and guidance to help transition to remote workforce deployment models. Avaya contact center solutions for remote agents are designed to help address the health and safety concerns for contact center staff while ensuring business continuity in the face of unprecedented challenges. These offers span multiple Avaya contact center platforms in use by its customers today. "Avaya, with software deployed to support over 5 million contact center agents, has moved rapidly to enable more than 150,000 remote agents as our customers address the challenges of COVID-19," said Jim Chirico, Avaya President and CEO. "We continue to actively engage with organizations worldwide to help them transition their operations to a flexible, remote model, enabling agents to stay productive and provide customers the experience they have come to expect. Millions of users around the world depend on our unified communications, collaboration and contact center products, so we continue to look for ways we can step up and help." Avaya has also donated its audio and video equipment and has committed resources to install and deploy it at hospitals, medical facilities and other organizations that need it most. Additionally, the company is working with government health departments to quickly stand up emergency contact centers to address the urgent need to communicate and share information with citizens. Avaya previously announced it is offering Avaya Spaces collaboration software free with no obligation to education institutions and eligible non-profit organizations worldwide.



To learn how to sign-up for the complementary Avaya contact center solutions offers, eligible organizations are asked to visit this web page. The Avaya COVID-19 Technical Hotlines will be available beginning Monday, March 16 at 6:00PM GMT and the contact numbers will be posted on avaya.com

About Avaya Businesses are built on the experiences they provide, and everyday millions of those experiences are built by Avaya (NYSE: AVYA). For over one hundred years, we've enabled organizations around the globe to win - by creating intelligent communications experiences for customers and employees. Avaya builds open, converged and innovative solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration - in the cloud, on-premise or a hybrid of both. To grow your business, we're committed to innovation, partnership, and a relentless focus on what's next. We're the technology company you trust to help you deliver Experiences that Matter. Visit us at http://www.avaya.com. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This document contains certain "forward-looking statements." All statements other than statements of historical fact are "forward-looking" statements for purposes of the U.S. federal and state securities laws. These statements may be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "our vision," "plan," "potential," "preliminary," "predict," "should," "will," or "would" or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While the Company believes these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond its control. The factors are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC (News - Alert)") available at www.sec.gov, and may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The Company cautions you that the list of important factors included in the Company's SEC filings may not contain all of the material factors that are important to you. In addition, in light of these risks and uncertainties, the matters referred to in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release may not in fact occur. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. Source (News - Alert): Avaya Newsroom View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200312005881/en/

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How has President Donald Trump done so far when it comes to responding to the coronavirus pandemic and its spread across America? How concerned are Americans overall when it comes to catching the disease personally?

According to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Friday, neither question offers optimistic answers that this administration was probably hoping for.

The poll found that two-thirds of voters (66 percent) have concerns over possibly getting infected themselves, while only 34 percent say theyre not that worried about it. Interestingly, Republicans are less likely to be concerned than the general public, with about 44 percent saying theyre not concerned.

BREAKING: Two-thirds of Americans are concerned that they or someone they know will be infected with the novel coronavirus, according to new @ABC News/Ipsos poll. https://t.co/Cz0WQ1ZXoi pic.twitter.com/C9YNf26lbA  ABC News (@ABC) March 13, 2020

When it comes to Trumps job performance, the president has, as recently as Thursday, touted a separate poll that said he had a 78 percent approval rating on the matter.

But that statement is highly misleading  Trump is citing a poll from over a month ago, when there was only one case of coronavirus identified in the United States. And, that polls question didnt even ask about him specifically, questioning participants to respond to whether they were generally confident in the federal governments ability to handle a potential coronavirus outbreak.

The ABC News/Ipsos poll, meanwhile, found a very different outcome, when actually asking respondents what they thought of Trumps handling of the outbreak. Only 43 percent approved of how hes gone about addressing coronavirus in the U.S., while 54 percent said they had reason to disapprove of his job performance.

NEW: A majority of Americans disapprove of Pres. Trumps handling of the response to the coronavirus, per new @ABC News/Ipsos poll. https://t.co/DGCgCofO5y pic.twitter.com/UJL7yMUGjD  ABC News (@ABC) March 13, 2020

Much of the negative attention toward the Trump administration over its handling of the pandemic rests in the fact that there are shortages in testing kits to determine who exactly has the disease to begin with.

Only a little more than 11,000 tests have been conducted so far by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since the outbreak began, a dismally low number in comparison to other nations like South Korea, which conducts 20,000 tests daily, according to NBC News.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, and who also serves on the administrations COVID-19 task force, testified before Congress about the test shortages, admitting that there were problems.

The system is not really geared to what we need right now with regards to coronavirus testing, Fauci explained. That is a failing. It is a failing. Lets admit it.

Less than an hour after Dr. Fauci warned about problems with coronavirus testing, President Trump said the testing has been going very smooth. This is President Trumps #DailyLie. It just isnt true. The Trump administration needs to get a handle on testing Now. pic.twitter.com/T47tcT6GzA  Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 12, 2020

Just an hour after Fauci made those comments, Trump himself suggested that testing in the U.S. had been going very smooth.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2020) - Discovery Harbour Resources Corp. (TSXV: DHR) (the "Company" or "Discovery Harbour") announces that, due to the recent extraordinary downturn of global financial market conditions associated with the novel coronavirus outbreak, it is suspending the Company's non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") announced on February 3, 2020 for 30 days, during which time the Company will reassess market conditions to determine whether the Offering will continue. The Company closed the initial tranche of the Offering in the amount of $187,500 pursuant to a news release dated February 25, 2020. Management is hopeful that market conditions will stabilize over the coming weeks so that it can complete the balance of the Offering. However, Management can provide no assurance it can complete the balance of the Offering within the next 30 days given that the market downturn and events which may have caused it are beyond the Company's control.

About Discovery Harbour Resources Corp.

Discovery Harbour is a Canadian TSX Venture Exchange listed company (TSXV: DHR) focused on sourcing, exploring and developing mineral properties, with a strategic focus on gold projects, in order to enhance shareholder value. Its current focus is the Caldera low sulphidation epithermal gold project in southern Nevada.

For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.discoveryharbour.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DISCOVERY HARBOUR RESOURCES CORP.

"Mark Fields"

Mark Fields

President and Chief Executive Officer

Discovery Harbour Resources Corp.

Tel: (604) 681-3170

Fax: (604) 681-3552

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the expectations of management regarding possible future financings and TSX Venture Exchange approval. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements including that: the Company may not proceed with future financings; the TSX Venture Exchange may not approve possible financings; and those additional risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Story continues

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.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53415
Most of the 19 rebel Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh, including six ministers, have left Bengaluru, where they had been camping, and are expected to reach Bhopal by Friday evening, sources said.

Twenty-two Congress legislators in the state resigned after senior party leader and former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress earlier this week. Nineteen of them have been camping in Bengaluru.

Assembly Speaker N P Prajapati had issued notices to the 22 Congress MLAs, asking them to appear before him and clarify whether they have quit voluntarily or under pressure.

"Most of the 19 MLAs, including six ministers, have left Bengaluru where they were staying. They are flying from Bengaluru and are expected to reach here by evening," a Scindia loyalist told PTI.

"On their arrival, the six ministers will meet the speaker, who had summoned them to verify their resignations," he said.

The six ministers are- Tulsi Silavat, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Govind Singh Rajput, Pradyumna Singh Tomar, Prabhuram Choudhary and Imarti Devi.

A legislature official said on Friday that the speaker has asked seven of the rebel MLAs to appear before him on Saturday and the remaining ones on Sunday in order to verify their resignations.

"The speaker will also seek to know that whether they have resigned voluntarily or under duress as the Congress has alleged that they had been held hostage," he said.

Meanwhile, security at the Bhopal airport has been beefed up in view of the scheduled arrival of the legislators.

Heavy police force has also been deployed at the residence of the speaker in Char Imli locality here.

The 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led government has been facing deep crisis following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs after Scindia quit the party on Tuesday. He joined the BJP a day later.

The Congress has a wafer thin majority in the 228- member Assembly. Before the rebellion, its tally was 114.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Kamal Nath met state Governor Lalji Tandon and expressed his government's readiness for a floor test in the Assembly.

Nath also submitted a letter to him accusing the BJP of being involved in horse-trading and holding the Congress MLAs in captivity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By ANI

NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday said that so far 81 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in India out of which 64 are Indians, and the rest are foreign nationals.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Ministry, while briefing media here, said: "Till now, there are 81 confirmed cases of coronavirus in India, out of which 64 are Indians, 16 Italians and one Canadian national."

"Contact tracing of these cases is being actively pursued. So far, this has led to the identification of more than 4,000 contacts, who have been put under surveillance," he added.

FOLLOW CORONAVIRUS INDIA UPDATES HERE

The government has brought 42,296 passengers under community surveillance, out of which 2,559 were symptomatic and 522 hospitalised including 17 foreign nationals.

"So far the Government of India has evacuated 1,031 persons including 48 nationals from countries such as Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, United States, America, Madagascar, Srilanka, Nepal, South Africa, and Peru," said Agarwal.
(Natural News) There are now six confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) in Western Australia, and several of them involve people who traveled internationally via commercial air and presumably spread it all around before being identified.

One case in particular is a woman in her 70s who reportedly traveled from Cuba to London, then on to Perth where she lives, and where she tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19).

This woman visited with her friends and family, attended a Western Australian Symphony Orchestra concert at the Perth Concert Hall, and probably shopped, interacted with strangers, and maybe even prepared meals for herself and others  you know, normal human activities for someone who think shes healthy.

But in this case, she was not healthy, and this was only discovered after she had already gone about her business, traveling from here to there and everywhere, once again demonstrating how quickly a pandemic virus has the potential to spread without proper containment.

We are now tracing all of the places and events that she went to so we can publish that information and make sure people are informed, stated Premier Mark McGowan.

The government of Western Australian is also working to identify every person this individual may have talked to, sat near, or otherwise engaged with in close proximity  a monumental and likely impossible task, if were really being honest with ourselves.

But thats not all. A second woman also did the same thing, traveling from Jakarta, Indonesia to Perth and stayed there for several days before traveling on to Melbourne. Like the first woman, this second one did all sorts of things before being diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), and authorities are now trying to pick up the pieces.

Listen below as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, interviews Stewart Rhodes from Oath Keepers about the ongoing Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) crisis:

Special CoVid clinics are now opening across Australia

Both of these women have since gone into self-isolation, but the damage is likely already done. Other people who came in contact with them could be carrying around the virus as we speak and not even know it, considering the incubation period can be as long as almost a month.

If youre being tested for the coronavirus  you need to exercise some common sense and precaution, stated Health Minister Roger Cook about these two cases, describing the necessary response as a community effort.

Even if youre a low-risk case, its important that we all take important steps to ensure that together we can get through this difficult issue.

Australia is starting to open up special CoVid clinics to handle potential cases involving people who recently traveled overseas and are now experiencing symptoms. Western Australia Health is urging everyone who fits these criteria to call their medical providers and seek advice about how to proceed.

On the other side of Australia in New South Wales (NSW), authorities are now reporting more than 60 confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), along with a visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Australia is also said to be working on the soon launch of a $30 million public health campaign against the novel disease, which officials claim will help to curb its continued spread.

New South Wales and Sydney [are] still the significantly biggest part of our outbreak in Australia, and clearly New South Wales Health is doing a huge amount of work to track and control the outbreak, said Professor Brendan Murphy, Australias chief medical officer, in a recent statement.

At the moment, we are not recommending people with acute, cold, flu-like symptoms, unless they are a returned traveler, or unless they are a contact of a confirmed case, be tested, he added.

To keep up with the latest Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) news, be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

7news.com.au

TheEpochTimes.com

ABC.net.au
Norwegian jobs are at risk over the coronavirus as flights are scrapped. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Norwegian has announced up to half its workforce could face temporary layoffs as it cancelled 4,000 flights over the coronavirus pandemic.

The airline (NAS.OL) grounded 40% of its long-haul fleet on Friday, highlighting the impact of the outbreak and US ban on travel from most European countries. Up to a quarter of short-haul flights will also be cancelled until the end of May.

Its chief executive Jacob Schram said new travel restrictions imposed further pressure on an already difficult situation as booking numbers have fallen.

The Oslo-listed company said a dramatic drop in customers had forced it to cut costs. It said as many as 50% of employees would be temporarily laid off, without giving further details. It does not mean affected staff face redundancy, but rather they will be forced into an uncertain period of unpaid leave.

A statement released late on Thursday said the majority of its long-haul flights to the US from Amsterdam, Madrid, Oslo, Stockholm, Barcelona and Paris would be cancelled.

But its routes between London Gatwick and the US will continue to operate as normal, with the UK not affected by US president Donald Trumps European travel ban. Norwegian will aim to reroute as many customers as possible through London.

It suggests Norwegians more than 1,200 pilots and cabin crew based in the UK may be less at risk than colleagues in much of Europe. A breakdown by country was not available.

This is an unprecedented situation and our main priority continues to be the care and safety of our customers and colleagues, said Schram.

We urge international governments to act now to ensure that the aviation industry can protect jobs and continue to be a vital part of the global economic recovery.

It comes amid warnings that up to 50 million travel and tourism jobs could be at risk worldwide as a result of the pandemic.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) warned global travel could sink by 25% this year, threatening up to 14% of jobs in the industtry.
Clark County public health officials have advised residents to cancel all gatherings of more than 250 people, citing an abundance of caution to minimize the risk of contracting or spreading coronavirus.

The health department on Thursday urged residents in the Southwest Washington county to limit contact with large groups of people at places such as concerts, festivals, conferences, religious services and sporting events. They said the recommendation does not apply to schools, businesses, grocery and retail stores.

Were making these recommendations in an effort to help slow the spread of the virus in our community, said Dr. Alan Melnick, Clark Countys director of public health and health officer. By slowing the spread of the virus, we can protect those in our community who are at risk for severe illness and lessen the impact to our health care system.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Wednesday ordered a statewide ban on gatherings of more than 250 people for four weeks. The ban has not yet extended to schools. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has issued a similar ban in northwestern Washington, but has so far not issued a statewide ban.

Clark County officials described their advisory as a recommendation. The countys announcement came just hours after Inslee ordered all public and private schools in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties to be closed through April 24, to prevent further spread of the virus.

Clark County health officials said theyve made the recommendation to be careful  so far, theres just confirmed case of the illness in Clark County. But officials said the infected person had not traveled to any high-risk areas, which implies that the person picked it up from someone else in the community.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Kirit Pradyot Debbarman believes it was wrong of his cousin Jyotiraditya Scindia to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Jumping on to the BJP bandwagon is not the right option, he said. We should sit down and find ways as to how we can contribute for the country in a situation where the Congress leadership seems unwilling to give space to the youth."

The former Tripura Congress chief and member of Manikya dynastys comment came hours after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had earlier said that it was the Gwalior royals concerns for his political future that prompted him to switch. Debbarman also said that, by virtue of his long-standing rapport with Scindia, he is certain that his ideologies do not align with that of the saffron party.

Debbarman, who himself quit the Congress and stepped down from the position of the Tripura Congress chief, exhorted the need for Rahul Gandhi to connect with young leaders of the party.

A News18 report quoting IANS stated that the Tripura royal alleged that the senior Congress leaders had refused to give a chance to the young guns and systematically side-line them.

Admonishing his cousins move, he said: Jumping on to the BJP bandwagon was not right. We should sit down and find ways as to how we can contribute to the country in a situation where the Congress leadership seems unwilling to give space to the youth.

Debbarman further said it was time for all the young leaders of Congress party to work together to find ways to give the country an effective Opposition, naming Sachin Pilot and Ajoy Kumar as leaders who would be able to take on the task.

Throwing caution to the air, the miffed leader said the formation of another Centrist party might be in the offing if the Congress did not already wake up to fight the BJP.

Claiming that he was only echoing the thoughts of the Gandhi scion, Debbarman reminded how Rahul had mentioned in his resignation letter that the senior Congress leaders were indulging abundantly in favouritism instead of thinking about the welfare of the party.

Scindia ended his 18-year-long allegiance to the Congress party rather unceremoniously earlier this week to join hands with the BJP. As the optics laid out, the rift within Madhya Pradesh Congress became apparent, with Scindia and Chief Minister Kamal Nath challenging each other to welfare duels.
EU court refuses to hear case of Christian midwives who refused to perform abortions

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The European Court of Human Rights has refused to take up the case of two Swedish nurses who were denied midwife jobs because they were not willing to perform abortions. A Christian law firm called it a dangerous departure from the Courts purpose in protecting fundamental freedoms.

The court said the case of the nurses, Ellinor Grimmark and Linda Steen, who were retrained as midwives but were not given jobs due to their religious beliefs against carrying out abortions, was inadmissible to be heard by the EHRC, according to Reuters.

The Christian midwives had claimed that authorities violated the European Convention on Human Rights by refusing jobs to them.

The courts decision cannot be appealed.

We are very disappointed by the Courts decision not to take up the cases of Ms. Grimmark and Ms Steen, Robert Clarke, deputy director of Alliance Defending Freedom International, said in a statement, according to Premier. A positive judgment from the Court would have been an important step in the protection of the right to freedom of conscience.

Clarke added, Medical professionals should be able to work without being forced to choose between their deeply held convictions and their careers. Although freedom of conscience is protected as a fundamental right in almost every other European country, the decision today marks a missed opportunity to uphold this important protection in Sweden. In its short written decision, the Court agreed that Sweden had interfered with the rights of these midwives.

A Swedish pro-choice group, RFSU, celebrated the rejection of the case. It is not a human right for nursing staff to refuse to provide care, said RFSUs Hans Linde. This is an important decision that in the long term will help to protect womens health, right to good quality care and to be treated with respect when seeking an abortion.

However, Grimmark said she chose to become a midwife because I wanted to help bring life into this world.

I cannot understand why the Swedish government refuses to accommodate my conscientious convictions, she said. I am now working in Norway, where my conscience is respected, but no one can explain why Sweden cannot do the same.

In 2017, a labor court said that "there had not been any violation" of her freedom of expression and opinion, despite the practice of abortion going directly against her religious beliefs.

The court also found that Jonkoping County was within its rights to refuse Grimmark employment, as it has a requirement that all midwives working at women's clinics carry out assigned duties, including abortion.

The U.N.s special rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief recently spoke against restrictions on abortion access.

The Special Rapporteur notes that in a number of countries around the world, governments continue to maintain partial or total bans on access to abortion, and religious figures have both encouraged these measures and advocated against efforts to reform the laws, the rapporteur said in a report. One area of particular concern regarding accommodations to national law for religious beliefs is the use of conscientious objection by healthcare providers and institutions unwilling to perform abortions or provide access to contraception on religious grounds.

In response to the report, the World Evangelical Alliance last week urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to recognize the right to conscientious objection for medical practitioners.

The WEA agreed in a statement that violence, coercion and discrimination in the name of religion are never justified nor should they be condoned, but expressed concern at the reports suggestion that religious individuals are engaging in harmful conduct by supporting policies and legislation that limit abortion. The report also appears to question the right to conscientious objection by health-care providers and institutions unwilling to perform abortions.

It added, Indeed, we believe that the full recognition of religious freedom, as well as several other fundamental human rights, must include recognition of the right to protect life in the womb, and to advocate against its termination both in words and deeds.
Good Morning, welcome to Information Nigerias Newspaper headlines for today, 13th March 2020.

Here are the major headlines.

Senate Approves HND As Minimum Requirement For Office

A bill seeking to raise the academic qualifications of Presidents and Governor in Nigeria has scaled the second reading on the floor of the Senate. The bill was sponsored by by Gyang Istifanus, senator representing Plateau north.

Coronavirus: FG Not Considering Travel Ban For Now

Nigerias Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehinare has expressed that the government is not contemplating the imposition of a travel ban on travelers from any country over the spread of the deadly Coronavirus.

Nnamdi Kanu Alleges Secret Alliance Between Igbo Leaders, Soldiers, Killer Herdsmen

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has accused the South-East governors of having a secret alliance with men of the Nigerian army and Fulani herdsmen  wreaking havoc in the region.

as, however, passed its first reading at plenary on Wednesday. The bill states that anyone who imports or sells generators into the country may go to prison for at least ten years.

SERAP Demands Immediate Release Of Sanusi

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called for the immediate release of former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi from detention. Recall that Sanusi was dethroned on Monday by Governor Umar Ganduje-led administration and he was banished to Awe village in Nasarawa State where he will not be allowed to have visitors until further notice.

How Sanusis Rift With Ganduje Started Three Years Ago

Salihu Yakasi, the special assistant to Kano state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on media and publicity has revealed that the deposed Emir of Kano state, Sanusi Lamido fell out with the state government three years ago.

Coronavirus: CBN Urges Nigerians To Go Cashless To Avoid Spread

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has urged Nigerians to use payment methods like electronic transfers in order to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

Sanusis Banishment, Dethronement Is Illegal  Femi Falana

Human right activist, Femi Falana has stated that the dethronement of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the Emir of Kano and subsequent banishment is illegal.

Coronavirus: MURIC Calls For Postponement Of NYSC Excercise

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has urged the federal government to postpone the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Batch A orientation camp due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.

Former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has pointed out that most State Governors in Nigeria dont tolerate criticisms.
Prosecutors have filed a total of 16 sex trafficking charges in federal court in Billings.

The two cases, each involving multiple defendants, list a total of 18 female victims allegedly forced or coerced into commercial sex work, although it was not immediately clear whether the two cases shared victims.

In one case, William Maurice Newkirk, Djavon Lamont King and Mario Juan Drake are accused of trafficking seven female victims in the Billings area. Newkirk is accused of trafficking one victim between Montana and Wyoming.

Three of the alleged victims in the case were younger than 18.

Newkirk, 39, and King, 29, have both pleaded not guilty, while Drake has not yet entered a plea.

In the second case, Louis Gregory Venning is accused of trafficking nine female victims across state lines, including Montana, Wyoming, Tennessee, Georgia and Missouri.

Venning has yet to enter a plea. A co-defendant in his case, 26-year-old Destiny Lachelle Nilsen, has pleaded not guilty to a single count of transportation of a person with intent to engage in prostitution.

In Venning's case, one of the alleged victims was younger than 18.

Drake and Venning were not in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service midday Friday, and their ages were not immediately available.

Both cases also contain a string of drug charges.

Venning is accused of distribution or possession with intent to distribute ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin.

A co-defendant in the first case who was not charged with sex trafficking or any prostitution-related offense is facing charges of distributing ecstasy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, among other charges. That co-defendant, Dejon Anthony Duncan, has yet to enter a plea.

The sex crimes alleged in both cases span 2018 to 2019.

Several of the charges carry mandatory minimum sentences. Sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years. Newkirk, King, Drake and Venning are all charged with that crime.

Newkirk is facing a rape charge in state court, after a woman alleged he raped her and sexually trafficked her in Missoula. She said the rapes began when she was 17 years old. Newkirk has pleaded not guilty in that case.

Proving the elements of a federal sex trafficking charge can be challenging, according to one of the primary investigators in Montana.

"I have to prove force, fraud or coercion" in order for the case to hold up in court, said FBI Special Agent Brandon Walter in a 2019 interview. "That's the most difficult thing I have to prove."

Walter said that many women or girls he believes are victims of sex trafficking do not see themselves as victims, and may choose not to cooperate on the case.

Sometimes those cases are charged with crimes other than trafficking, that carry lesser penalties and a lower burden of proof.

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YPSILANTI, MI -- Phone calls were pouring in on Friday morning at Ypsilantis Tap Room after officials began listing possible sites that may have had exposure to the new coronovirus.

The Washtenaw County Health Department called bar owner Brian Brickley to let him know that a patient who tested positive for COVID-19 was at the Tap Room at 201 W Michigan Ave. in Ypsilanti on Saturday, March 7, and to be aware of possible exposure.

Possible coronavirus exposure locations named across Michigan

The tricky part was it was a week ago ... so much time has elapsed since they were here, Brickley said.

The bar will remain open and Brickley said the staff already thoroughly cleans surfaces, tables, door knobs and more with bleach and water as normal procedure.

The health department emailed me the procedures, basically to clean all surfaces, which we do multiple times a day. They did not recommend we close, Brickley said, adding no employees or customers have reported any symptoms.

Were moving forward optimistically with an abundance of caution, Brickley said.

State officials announced late Thursday there were 12 presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Michigan.

Amid the new coronavirus concerns, another Ypsilanti business is offering a community sink for hand-washing. GO! Ice Cream at 10 N Washington St. has a sink in its overflow seating area thats open to everyone, including non-customers.

Anyone with questions or concerns can call the Washtenaw County Health Department at 734-544-6700.

Ypsilanti ice cream shop offers community sink amid coronavirus concerns

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

Were going to get through this,' says Gov. Whitmer as she orders K-12 schools closed over coronavirus

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Michigan Medicine limits visitors to reduce risk of coronavirus spread

8 things to know about coronavirus now that its in Michigan
A brawl erupted in a pharmacy as a woman allegedly caught shop lifting savagely punched a sobbing employee who shoved her into a wall of products.

The astonishing incident took place at a Rite Aid store in Detroit, Michigan, and was filmed by an onlooker earlier this month.

It comes amid wide-spread stockpiling after the rapid spread of coronavirus across the country, as 1,700 cases and 41 deaths from the killer bug are confirmed in the US alone.

A Rite-Aid pharmacy worker shoves an alleged shopkeeper into a wall of products in Detroit, Michigan (left). The woman then pins the worker to the ground and punches her head in retaliation (right)

In the clip, the employee shoves the woman, sending her flying into a wall of products and crashing to the floor.

The employee storms away as the alleged shoplifter slowly gets to her feet and pursues her.

The filmer follows the pair and says: 'Now you can't just keep putting your hands on her now.'

As the camera rounds the corner into another aisle, the woman has the employee pinned to the floor and is punching her head

The alleged shoplifter swings punches at the employee who is held to the ground by her hair. The employee lets out a desperate sob

The woman - who is now almost sat on the worker's shoulders - replies: 'Don't cry now because this is what the f*** you wanted'

The employee replies: 'She can't keep putting her f****** hands in my face.'

As the camera rounds the corner into another aisle, the woman has the employee pinned to the floor and is punching her head.

The filmer says: 'You should have just left her alone now.'

The alleged shoplifter then climbs onto the woman's back and starts swinging punches at her head.

Someone shouts 'oh my god' and another says 'cops are on the way'.

The woman continues to punch the shoplifter - who she has trapped to the floor - before the woman lets out a desperate sob.

The woman - who is now almost sat on the worker's shoulders - replies: 'Don't cry now because this is what the f*** you wanted.'

The alleged shoplifter lets the employee go as the worker is escorted to the back by concerned onlookers.

The woman adds: 'This is what the f*** you wanted, I gave you what the f*** you wanted.'
A resource pack has been developed for schools to help students understand Ireland's history of Magdalene Laundries.

Waterford Institute of Technology has created the project which will be available for senior cycle students.
An employee at Fiat Chrysler's Windsor Assembly Plant works inside the chassis of the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid in December 2016.

Fiat Chrysler's minivan plant in Canada has halted production following workers refusing to work amid concerns of an employee contracting the coronavirus.

There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the plant, however there is an employee "out on self-quarantine as a precaution because of possible secondary contact," Fiat Chrysler said in an emailed statement Friday.

Windsor Assembly plant workers walked out mid-afternoon Thursday, and the facility was idled until about 3 p.m. Friday, according to the company and Canadian union Unifor, which represents the workers.

"People are nervous," Unifor President Jerry Dias told CNBC. "The unfortunate reality is, and I'm praying that I'm wrong, but, we're going to be seeing a lot more of this  Things are changing so quickly  Every day you wake up and it's worse."

Dias said the union stands behind its members' decision to not work if they don't feel it's safe. "People are afraid to catch something at work at take it home to their children," he said. "I understand why people are nervous."

Fiat Chrysler said Canada's Ministry of Labor visited the plant on Thursday to investigate and determined its "protocols and work environment to be safe."
A barber in Beijing is supporting his wife and child by charging food and other expenses to a credit card while he waits for his employers shop to reopen. A waiter at a barbecue restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, washes his hands more often and hopes for the best. A parcel delivery driver in Britain worries about getting sick from the people who sign for their packages.

While white collar workers trying to avoid contagion can work from home or call in sick if they experience symptoms of the virus, thats not an option for the millions of waiters, delivery workers, cashiers, ride-hailing drivers, museum attendants and countless others who routinely come into contact with the public.

Their dilemma is often compounded by spotty sick leave policies or inadequate health insurance coverage, leaving them vulnerable to the fast-spreading coronavirus that has already claimed thousands of lives and put them in a financially precarious position.

The recommendations on what people should be doing to protect themselves really gives a sharp indication of the divide between white collar and blue collar workers, said Shannon Liss-Reardon, a workers rights attorney in Boston. Our social safety net is just not equipped at this moment to deal with a crisis like this, and it will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable low wage workers.

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. 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 outbreak emerged in December, almost three-fourths of more than 80,000 patients have recovered.

Work From Home

While tech companies like Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft have implemented work-from-home policies, only 29% of U.S. workers have that option, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That means retail workers like Mendy Hughes must fend for themselves. The Walmart cashier in Malvern, Arkansas, serves hundreds of people a day and her big worry is what will happen to her income if she catches the virus or comes in contact with someone whos had it and must self-quarantine for 14 days.

If I cant go to work, I could try to take a leave but it will be unpaid, said Hughes, who earns $11.60 an hour. I dont know what I would be doing about taking care of my family.

Hughes, a diabetic and mother of four, gets 48 hours of sick leave a year but she fears it wouldnt be nearly enough time to recover.

On Tuesday, Walmart announced a new policy that might offer her some relief: employees who work in a region that is required to quarantine by the government or by the retailer, as well as those who have a confirmed case of the new virus, will receive two weeks of pay. If they are not able to return to work after that time, additional pay may be provided for up to 26 weeks for both full-time and part-time hourly workers.

In the United States, about 27% of private sector workers dont have access to paid sick leave, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some countries, like Britain, are looking into helping out non-permanent workers. There is no federal sick leave policy in the U.S., but 12 of the 50 states and Washington D.C. require employers to offer paid sick leave.

Congressional Action

Some House and Senate Democrats have been pushing legislation that would require employers to allow workers to accrue seven days of paid sick leave and to provide an additional 14 days in the event of any public health emergency, including the current coronavirus crisis. President Donald Trump said he was seeking help for hourly-wage workers to ensure theyre not going to miss a paycheck, and he would outline the proposals Tuesday.

In Britain, parcel delivery driver Ed Cross worries about catching the virus from the machine he hands people who sign for their packages.

People have coughed on their hand and then got hold of my machine and you sort of make a joke of it trying to point it out, Cross, 53, said. But yeah, its what we face daily.

We only have to go to the wrong house and we could catch it, as simple as that, said Cross, who on a recent day handed packages to 110 people on his route in Whitby, northern England.

The British government last week made it easier to collect statutory sick pay and is working on changes to help millions of non-permanent workers like Cross who arent eligible for it. In a sign the industry is waking up to the problem, his parcel company, Hermes, announced a 1 million pound ($1.3 million) fund to help couriers who need to self-isolate.

Uber, meanwhile, said it would compensate drivers and couriers for up to 14 days if they get sick or have to be quarantined.

The viral outbreak has revealed gaping holes in health care coverage at a time when people may need it most. Most European countries and Canada have universal healthcare systems, but the U.S. relies on a patchwork of public and private insurance. About 69% of private industry workers in the U.S. have access to healthcare benefits, but that drops to 43% of service workers. U.S. employers with 50 or more employees are required to offer health insurance. But the same protection isnt provided to part-time workers or independent contractors.

Waiter Joey Ingham, who works at a barbecue restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, popular with business travelers, says he doesnt have insurance. His protection? Washing his hands more often.

If I wasnt able to come into work, it would be hard to make ends meet, said Ingham, who waits on 80 to 120 people a shift. If he felt sick, hed probably talk to a manager about what to do, but noted management hasnt yet outlined any policies.

Gig Workers

Liss-Reardon said most gig workers  independent or temporary contractors  she represents dont have health insurance.

We wont have a fully insured population until we get universal healthcare, he said. There are going to be these huge gaps. The burden is falling on the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. This is just another example.

The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends workers without insurance contact a local health department or community health center for help. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends emergency room visits only for patients who are very sick.

In France, where people have the right not to work and get full pay when they consider their workplaces to be dangerous, some service staff briefly stayed home because of contagion concerns. Workers at the Louvre, the worlds most-visited museum, refused to work for two days and were only coaxed back after management introduced a raft of new anti-virus measures.

We are asking for gloves. We are asking for disinfectant gels, and masks for the drivers, said Bastien Berthier, of the Paris metros UNSA union.

In China, where the outbreak has been raging for two months, many service industry workers have it far worse, with business evaporating as people are forced to hunker down at home.

A barber in Beijing who would give only his surname, Long, said he is supporting his wife and child by charging food and other expenses to a credit card while he waits for his employer to reopen.

I can ask for sick leave or compassionate leave, but I get nothing without working, said Long, 33.

Jiang Yanlin, a tour guide in eastern Chinas Huangshan region, said she hasnt earned anything since mid-January and doesnt have any social welfare benefits to fall back on. Usually she can earn up 300 yuan ($42) a day during the normally busy Lunar New Year holiday.

If I dont work, I dont get paid. Everyone here in the Huangshan tourist zone is like this, said Jiang, 33. No one is coming to travel. Everyone is so scared.

Photo: A waitress of the Chinese restaurant Hot Pot serves customers in London. While white collar workers trying to avoid contagion can work from home or call in sick if they experience symptoms of the virus, such precautions are not an options for the millions of waiters, delivery workers, cashiers, ride-hailing drivers, museum attendants and countless others who routinely come into contact with the public. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

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.

Anderson reported from New York. Associated Press writers John Leicester in Paris, Jill Lawless in London, AP researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics COVID-19 USA China Uk
North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un has reportedly fled his country's capital Pyongyang for the coast in a bid to escape coronavirus.



An insider in neighboring South Korea revealed to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper that the Supreme Leader fled Pyongyang for Wonsan, a beach resort town.



'Intelligence analysis suggests that Kim Jong-un has been away from Pyongyang for a considerable time,' the source told Chosun Ilbo. 'This appears to be connected with the coronavirus outbreak.'



This comes after it was revealed that roughly 180 soldiers have died after contracting COVID-19 in the secretive state.



A source in the Norths military leaked the death-toll to South Koreas Daily NK newspaper and said that most occurred close to the border with China. The insider also claimed that a further 3,700 soldiers were under quarantine.



North Korea have repeatedly denied they have any case of COVID-19 within its borders.













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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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) declined multiple pleas from the Bernie Sanders campaign to stump for the Vermont senators candidacy after the Iowa caucuses, according to HuffPost.

Ocasio-Cortez was heavily involved in the campaigns buildup to Iowa, headlining seven rallies for Sanders in Iowa over the weekend of January 24 to January 26.

But the progressive New York representative disagreed with the campaign over its decision to promote the endorsement of Joe Rogan, the popular podcaster who has been criticized by LGBT activists for opposing puberty blockers for gender-confused children. He has also spoken out against the participation of biological males competing in womens sports.

Faiz Shakir, Sanders campaign manager, also reportedly criticized Ocasio-Cortez for a polarizing speech in which she advocated for those in attendance to help illegal aliens to avoid ICE. She also failed to mention Sanderss name in the January 25th speech  a fact highlighted by Fox News.

When the campaign attempted the same strategy of touting Ocasio Cortez for Sanders in New Hampshire, she refused multiple times before ultimately speaking the day before the February 12 primary at a Sanders rally.

It was like pulling teeth to get her to New Hampshire, a source told HuffPost.

Then, from February 11 to March 8, Ocasio-Cortez rejected numerous invitations from the campaign to speak on Sanderss behalf in Nevada, South Carolina, and the 14 states that voted on Super Tuesday.

She finally agreed to speak at a get-out-the-vote rally on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor on Sunday, which was an apparent last-minute decision, forcing the campaign to release a revised media advisory about the rally the night before the event.

HuffPost reported that neither the Sanders campaign nor the Ocasio-Cortezs campaign office denied the facts of the story.

Senator Sanders and our campaign will never forget that in one of the most difficult moments for us, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez gave us a boost with her strong endorsement, Shakir said in a praising statement. And she has remained a steady and consistent ally, supporter, surrogate and adviser to the senator ever since.

Story continues

In an interview in January, Ocasio-Cortez bashed the Democratic Party for being too big of a tent.

In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party, but in America, we are, she said.

But Sanderss campaign used the same tent language to defend the Rogan endorsement, saying in a statement that sharing a big tent requires including those who do not share every one of our beliefs, while always making clear that we will never compromise our values.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden slammed the comments, saying on January 27 that there was no room for compromise and calling transgender equality . . . the civil rights issue of our time.

Ocasio-Cortez then said in an interview released February 2 that Democrats must rally behind the eventual nominee, no matter who it is  despite calling Biden not a pragmatic choice last June.

More from National Review
SAN CARLOS (BCN)

San Carlos officials answered some questions residents might have following an announcement by state officials Wednesday that some passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship, which was carrying people with the coronavirus, will temporarily stay at a San Carlos hotel.

City officials said in a statement Thursday that it was "highly unexpected" that the passengers would be arriving in San Carlos. They're staying at Fairfield Inn and Suites at 555 Skyway Road, right next to the San Carlos Airport.

The passengers are Americans who have been screened by medical professionals and have mild symptoms of coronavirus, though none were confirmed to have contracted the virus as of Thursday. They will be released after a minimum quarantine of 14 days if they test negative for the virus twice.

All information regarding the quarantined passengers is located at https://www.cityofsancarlos.org/residents/coronavirus-covid-19-updates, and the city said it will share updates in a timely manner as the situation develops.

"San Carlos did not seek this role, nevertheless, we find ourselves in the position to temporarily house patients, stranded far from home and isolated," the city's statement said. "And so it is our duty, not just as San Carlans but as fellow human beings, to embrace our core principles of fostering a safe, welcoming, inclusive community that values family, diversity, and safety."

According to the city, the proximity of San Carlos to multiple airports, including San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport, was a deciding factor in hosting the passengers at the hotel. This will make it easier for passengers to return home after testing negative. The city said the hotel will rely on state services instead of local 911 or emergency services during their stay.

The passengers are not being taken to a military base because bases are considered a "first-level" response for people without symptoms, according to the city.

The Grand Princess arrived at the Port of Oakland on Monday carrying more than 3,500 passengers and crewmembers, including 21 who had tested positive for coronavirus. Of the cruise ship passengers, over 650 were taken to Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield and the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego for 14-day quarantines.

"As your city officials, we pledge to protect our community as we serve as host of a designated site assigned by the State and Federal governments to provide shelter and a safe haven for those currently in a much less fortunate situation than we," city officials said. "We hope that you will join us in welcoming and be accepting of those in need."

The full list of questions is available at https://www.cityofsancarlos.org/home/showdocument?id=5695.

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.
They call it the Wuhan virus.

As a lethal pandemic races across the world, overwhelming health systems and upending entire societies, President Donald Trumps top aides and allies see an opening to weaken a vulnerable adversary.

The Trump teams escalating drumbeat against China is worrying some public health experts, who say the attempts to blame Beijing for the coronavirus outbreak could harm efforts to combat the spreading contagion, while winning praise from others.

And its come amid conspiracy theories and counteraccusations from Chinese officials, some of whom are alleging the viruss true origins lie outside China, in what U.S. officials say is a malicious effort to shift blame.

National Security Adviser Robert OBrien has accused China of covering up the health crisis. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly labeled the illness the Wuhan coronavirus  a reference to the Chinese city that is the epicenter of the disease.

Hawkish pro-Trump lawmakers in Congress, meanwhile, have raised alarms about Chinas outsized role in global supply chains for key medicines. And thats on top of other anti-Beijing moves that have nothing to do with the virus at all.

The Chinese are fighting back with their own harsh rhetoric, all while signaling that their herculean effort to eradicate the virus means the world should look to them  and not the United States  as a leader and role model.

As for the president, he has largely stayed above the fray, limiting his criticism to noting the viruss geographical roots and labeling it a foreign virus during an Oval Office address on Wednesday. Hes even praised Chinese leader Xi Jinpings stewardship of the crisis, tweeting that Xi is strong, sharp and powerfully focused on leading the counterattack on the Coronavirus.

The Trump administrations hardline reaction to Beijings handling of the coronavirus is in many ways par for the course: Its foreign policy relies more on sticks than carrots, and it has flatly declared the ruling Chinese Communist Party a long-term global threat.

Story continues

That dim view of China is shared increasingly across the political spectrum in Washington. Few in either party will defend Chinas management of the virus, or call to emulate its draconian methods.

But some former U.S. officials say that by kicking China while its down, the Trump team is wasting a golden opportunity to build trust with an increasingly powerful country whose cooperation it will need to tackle future transnational challenges, including pandemics.

A lot of these emotional and punishment policies will over time come back to bite us, warned Paul Haenle, a former National Security Council official who dealt with China under the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.

Within the Cabinet, Americas top diplomat has been Chinas most expansive critic. The secretary of state is arguing to anyone who will listen that Chinas lack of transparency, especially early on, has damaged global efforts to halt the virus.

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, Pompeo told CNBC last week.

But Pompeos attempts to rebrand COVID-19 as the Wuhan virus or the Wuhan coronavirus are drawing a furious backlash from Chinese officials and semi-official pundits, who say the terms are xenophobic.

State Department officials insist that Pompeo is using the term to counter Chinese disinformation  prevalent on internet forums and voiced by some Chinese officials  that the virus might have actually sprung from the United States.

OBrien sent a similar critical message on Wednesday, asserting that authorities in China had covered up the initial outbreak. As a result, the national security adviser said, "it probably cost the world community two months to respond."

National security adviser Robert O'Brien arrives at a signing ceremony with President Donald Trump for a trade agreement with Japan in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Monday, Oct. 7, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Other Trump aides have suggested the virus offers the U.S. economic opportunity.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the outbreak could accelerate the return of jobs to North America, although that was before the virus was detected in large numbers inside the United States. Peter Navarro, a strident anti-China voice within the executive branch, has used the outbreak to push for ways to decrease U.S. reliance on China for the manufacturing of key drugs and medical equipment.

Some of Trumps most vocal supporters in Congress have expressed similar concerns about dependence on Chinese manufacturers. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida on Thursday chaired a hearing titled The Coronavirus and Americas Small Business Supply Chain to highlight U.S. vulnerabilities.

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas has been among the harshest anti-China critics as the coronavirus has spread. He, like Pompeo, refers to it as the Wuhan virus and has floated the unsubstantiated theory that the virus was manufactured by the Chinese in a bioweapons lab, a claim scientists dismiss as conspiratorial and implausible.

Even as Cotton announced Thursday that he was temporarily closing his Washington, D.C., office after a Senate staffer tested positive for the virus, he hinted at unspecified moves to retaliate against an unnamed culprit, presumably Beijing.

We will emerge stronger from this challenge, we will hold accountable those who inflicted it on the world, and we will prosper in the new day, he said.

The virus-related rhetoric and actions have been coupled by other anti-China moves large and small, many of them led by Pompeo and the State Department.

During the Munich Security Conference in February, Pompeo launched several broadsides at Beijing. He accused it of fostering maritime disputes, undermining pro-democracy movements and trying to co-opt local and state officials in the United States. He also warned other countries that Huawei and other Chinese state-backed tech companies are Trojan horses for Chinese intelligence.

In recent weeks, the State Department has designated five Chinese media outlets as foreign missions, effectively declaring them extensions of Chinas government. Those outlets now have to get U.S. federal government permission for various actions, such as leasing office space.

Shortly afterward, China expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters, a move it linked to its unhappiness over a headline in the Journals opinion pages that described China as the sick man of Asia. In apparent response, the Trump administration said it was imposing caps on the number of Chinese citizens allowed to work for Chinese media outlets in the United States.

"President Trump has made clear that the United States will establish long-overdue reciprocity in our relations with China," a State Department spokesperson said. "We urge the Chinese Communist Party to immediately uphold its international commitments to respect freedom of expression, including for members of the press."

On Wednesday, Pompeo singled out China and a handful of other countries  Iran, Cuba and Venezuela  as he unveiled the State Departments annual human rights report. China, Pompeo said, is imprisoning citizens because of their religious beliefs and Chinese citizens who want a better future are met with violence.

Former U.S. officials and analysts in the China and global health fields offered mixed reactions to the Trump administrations handling of the diplomatic side of the crisis.

Some said that Pompeo and others tough commentary has been helpful by raising pressure on China to be more open about developments on its soil. In mid-February, China finally allowed in a team from the World Health Organization that included Americans.

Clobbering the Chinese on some of the things they need to be clobbered on is not a bad thing at all, said Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at Center for Strategic and International Studies. The WHO has been super deferential toward the Chinese, and we were getting stiffed and stonewalled for weeks and weeks.

But Morrison and others agreed that other U.S. moves have probably done more to degrade trust than build it  including using labels like the Wuhan coronavirus.

Naming a disease after a place stigmatizes that place and thats why theres been an intentional move away from that, said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former Obama administration official who help lead the U.S. response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Africa. Ultimately, diseases are about biology, not geography.

Konyndyk added that initial U.S. offers to send specialists to China to examine the outbreak came across as demands more than genuine friendly offers, turning off Chinese officials already wary of any U.S. presence on the ground.

The way that the administration [was] framing it and talking about it was really about us getting visibility on their situation rather than us helping them, he said.

The analysts and former officials didnt doubt the reasoning behind some of the U.S. moves  Chinese media outlets, for one, are widely considered propaganda operations. But the timing of the U.S. moves sent a poor signal, they argued.

That being said, given the downturn in U.S.-Chinese relations in recent years  predating Trump  theres no guarantee that China would have reacted any differently on the coronavirus outbreak had the U.S. not been making such moves.

In a recent essay, Haenle and co-author Lucas Tcheyan noted that epidemics have typically been seen as non-sensitive areas for U.S.-China cooperation. One result of 2002-2003 outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in China was more U.S.-Chinese collaboration in the field of global health, the authors said.

In the nearly two decades following SARS, in which other global health crises involving the H1N1 influenza strain and the Ebola virus unfolded, Washington and Beijing demonstrated a growing willingness to manage threats to global health, stability, and economic growth together, they wrote. The coronavirus, however, has demonstrated just how low bilateral ties have sunk.

State Department officials point out that the U.S. has delivered some 18 tons of supplies and pledged up to $100 million to help China and other countries battle the coronavirus. According to some media accounts, the Chinese have quietly accepted much of the aid.

In public, however, some Chinese officials are not showing much gratitude.

Lijian Zhao, a spokesman for Chinas Foreign Ministry, is among the most outspoken critics. On Friday, he used his Twitter account, which is infamous for its mean-spirited rhetoric, to link to clips of a recent Capitol Hill appearance by Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

When did patient zero begin in US? Zhao asked in one tweet, implying without evidence that the outbreak began in the United States. How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!

Perhaps the most intriguing development on the geopolitical side of the coronavirus crisis is Chinas attempt to capitalize on it diplomatically.

Thanks to quarantines, lockdowns of entire regions and other stringent measures, the Chinese appear to have brought the outbreak to heel -- albeit after it killed more than 3,000 of their citizens. Earlier this week, Xi, the Chinese leader, visited Wuhan in a show of confidence.

At the same time, China is increasingly offering expertise and aid to other countries struggling to contain the illness. A group of Chinese experts headed to Italy this week to help combat the virus in that badly hit European country; Italy has put its entire 60 million population under quarantine.

Chinese propaganda organs, meanwhile, have painted Xi as taking heroic steps to arrest the outbreak. The argument, pushed over and over in state-run media, is that Chinas authoritarian system is uniquely capable of solving such crises.

The state-controlled outlets also paint the U.S. political system as incompetent in its response.

Political virus puts US behind the curve of infection control, read one headline in China's Global Times, a tabloid that often pushes the views of anti-U.S. voices within the Chinese system.


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Budget airline IndiGo is offering domestic fares starting at Rs 986. The offer is open till March 15 for travel between March 27 and September 30, according to IndiGo's website. The offer began on March 9.

Customers will receive complimentary seat selection as a part of the offer. The offer is applicable on one-way, round-trip and multi-city bookings on domestic routes.

The airline, operated by InterGlobe Aviation, said the flight tickets need to be booked at least 15 days in advance.

The lowest fare for a Delhi-Mumbai flight is Rs 2,133, according to the airline's website. "The airfare offer is not applicable to airport fees and charges and government levied taxes," IndiGo said.
Italys Coronavirus Outbreak Puts Spotlight on China Ties

The worsening coronavirus outbreak in Italy has led its government to re-evaluate its relationship with Beijing and align more with Washington, an expert said.

Almost a year after Italy became the first G-7 country to sign on to the Chinese regimes flagship foreign policy project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, also known as One Belt, One Road)drawing criticism from its Western alliesthe countrys initial handling of the outbreak indicated a shift in relations.

The outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan has led the Italian government to reassess its approach to China, while also sending a message to the Trump administration, Nicola Casarini, senior fellow and head of research for Asia at Rome-based think tank Istituto Affari Internazionali, told The Epoch Times in an email.

Casarini said the current center-left Italian administration, which is different from the populist government that signed up for the BRI in March 2019, has utilized the outbreak to further its ties with Washington. Italy was the first Western government to announce a halt of flights from China, and its flight ban is currently set for the longest period among Western countries, lasting until April 28, he said.

This measure can be explained by the willingness of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and the Health Minister Roberto Speranza to present themselves as trusted transatlantic alliessomething that traditionally helps in Italy if someone wants to make a political career, Casarini said.

Despite this early effort to contain the disease, Italy has since found itself to be the worst-hit country outside of China, where the outbreak originated. In February, it was found that the virus had been circulating unnoticed in northern Italy. From there, the virus spread to the entire country. Italy now has more than 12,000 infections and 800 deaths, and the country has been placed under lockdown.

ItalyChina Ties

Italys decision to join the BRI in March 2019 sparked concern from the United States and Western allies.

Beijings BRI, a massive infrastructure investment project aimed to connect Asia, Africa, and Europe through a network of railways, ports, and roads, has been criticized for saddling developing countries with debt burdens they cannot repay. Meanwhile, Washington worries that the plan is also designed to strengthen Chinas military influence and spread technologies capable of spying on the West.

The White House National Security Council warned Italy at the time that endorsing the BRI lends legitimacy to Chinas predatory approach to investment and will bring no benefits to the Italian people.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas echoed that sentiment, saying at the time that some countries that think they can do clever deals with the Chinese, they will come down to earth with a bump and find themselves dependent on China.

Italy has defended its decision, with Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio last month saying that it signed on to the initiative for commercial reasons and economic advantages, Bloomberg reported.

But according to data compiled by the RWR Belt and Road Monitor, which tracks Chinese investments under the initiative, Italy hasnt attracted many projects in the past year, with the exception of a deal between Jetion Solar (China) Co. and Eni SpA to invest about $2.2 billion and develop new solar projects.

A Chinese plan to develop the port at Trieste also hasnt gotten off the ground, Bloomberg stated.

Meanwhile, Italy also has continued to run a trade deficit with China, which in January stood at $2.4 billion euros ($2.7 billion), according to preliminary data released in February by Italys statistics agency Istat.

Since the outbreak, economists expect the countrys already struggling economy to head into a recession by the end of the first quarter, with critical tourism and luxury industries particularly hard hit.

Regimes PR Push

Recently, the Beijing regime has donated medical supplies to Italy and sent a team of medical experts to assist in local containment measures.

These measures, analysts say, form part of a campaign by the regime to frame itself as a global leader in disease control efforts and detract attention from criticism that its initial cover-up of the outbreak allowed the virus to spread abroad. This positive propaganda push includes recent statements by Chinese officials suggesting that the virus didnt originate from China and merely first broke out there.

Casarini believed that after the crisis subsides in Italy, the Chinese regime will begin pouring money (through investments) in Italy, in particular in the industrialized north more affected by the epidemic, in an attempt to boost bilateral relations.

In the medium-to-longer term, however, Rome-Beijing relations will continue to go through highs and lows, depending not only on their bilateral ties, but more importantly on the evolution of Italy-USA relations, he added.

Casarini suggested that how Italy and other European countries will approach relations with the Chinese regime in the wake of the outbreak depends on how politicians and the media present the case.

He said that if the blame is put on China and its regime which has withheld critical information at the beginning of the outbreak, thus allowing the virus to spread worldwide, then European countries are likely to harden their stance toward the regime. However, if the regime-promoted narrative of fighting together the common enemy takes off, then the reverse may happen.

Admittedly quite remarkable to countenance at this stage, but it could indeed happen, especially if China begins pouring more money into Europe, Casarini said.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) will close its two public venues, the Cleveland History Center and Hale Farm & Village, from March 14 until at least April 5, in a response to the coronavirus outbreak in Northeast Ohio.

The announcement comes after Gov. Mike DeWine banned large gatherings of more than 100 people in the state of Ohio on Thursday, March 12.

WRHS hopes to reopen both centers on April 6, but may remain closed if coronavirus threats are still ongoing, according to a statement from the organization.

Officials from the Ohio Department of Health are stating that proactive measures taken today will save lives tomorrow. The facts, as presented by Governor DeWine and health officials, made our decision an easy one, Kelly Falcone-Hall, the president and CEO of WRHS, said in the statement.

Along with closing off the centers, WRHS will cancel its Maple Sugar Festival and Pancake Breakfast on March 14, 15, 21 and 22 at Hale Farm & Village.

Cleveland History Center events will also be postponed, including language lessons, workshops, and talks.

You can find more information about the closure at wrhs.org/covid-19.

Read more coronavirus coverage:
Under the deal, Unilever's Indian arm, HUL is acquiring GSKCH India via an all-equity merger, valuing the total business of the latter at Rs 31,700 crore.

New Delhi: Hindustan Unilever on Friday said its board will meet on 1 April to declare that the merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) will be effective from that day.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) and GSKCH have received approval from the Mumbai and Chandigarh bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), respectively for the merger, HUL said in a regulatory filing.

"In this regard we further wish to inform you that in accordance with the terms of the scheme, a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, 1 April 2020, to take on record the sanction of the scheme by the Mumbai NCLT and Chandigarh NCLT and to declare the Scheme effective from 1 April 2020," it said.

On 3 December 2018, Anglo-Dutch FMCG giant Unilever announced the acquisition of health food portfolio, including popular brands Horlicks and Boost, from GSKCH India and over 20 other markets for 3.1 billion pounds (about Rs 27,750 crore).

Under the deal, Unilever's Indian arm, HUL is acquiring GSKCH India via an all-equity merger, valuing the total business of the latter at Rs 31,700 crore.

GSKCH India is the market leader in the health food drinks (HFD) category, with popular brands such as Horlicks and Boost.

HUL stock settled at Rs 2033.20, down 1.27 percent from its previous close, on the BSE.
A person who returned from Italy was tested positive for coronavirus at the Indian Army's quarantine facility in Manesar.

In the backdrop of coronavirus threat, the Indian Army has postponed its recruitment rallies for a month.

"At the Indian Army's Manesar quarantine facility, one male individual who had returned from Italy on March 11, 2020, has been tested positive. The individual was employed in one of the restaurants in Italy since last 14 years," Indian Army said on Friday.

As per the procedure, man has been shifted to an isolation facility at Safdarjung Hospital for further medical examination and recovery.

Army has also issued instructions to all concerned to keep an adequate focus on health security.Further, travel has been restricted to essential duties only.

The Indian Army Command headquarters have been instructed to establish adequate quarantine facilities at - Manesar (300), Jodhpur (1000), Jaisalmer (1000), Jhansi (1000), Binnaguri (WB) (300), Gaya (300) to support the quarantine plans of the government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New York: Seward Johnson, a sculptor who may be responsible for more double takes than anyone in history thanks to his countless lifelike creations in public places  a businessman in downtown Manhattan, surfers at a Florida beach, a student eating a sandwich on a curb in Princeton, New Jersey  has died at his home in Key West, Florida. He was 89.

His family said through a spokesman he had died on Wednesday (US time) of cancer.

A dust covered bronze statue of a man with his briefcase titled "Double Check," by Seward Johnson, rests in the rubble of the World Trade Centre towers in New York after 9/11. Credit:AP

Johnson had another distinction besides his art. As a member of the family that founded Johnson & Johnson, the pharmaceutical and consumer products giant, he was one of six siblings who, in a high-profile court case in the 1980s, sought to overturn his father's will. Johnson snr had left his vast fortune to a former maid, Barbara Piasecka Johnson, whom he had married late in life. A settlement was reached just before the case went to the jury, giving the children a share of the estate but leaving most of it to Barbara.

But more enduring were the sculptures, which often caught passers-by unawares; many would pause for a closer look and, in the mobile phone age, a picture. One sculpture, in particular, became something more than a curiosity. It was a work Johnson called Double Check: a seated businessman reviewing the contents of his briefcase.
CITY HALL -- As New Yorkers brace for as many as 1,000 positive coronavirus (COVID-19) cases by next week, Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in New York City Thursday to respond to the growing outbreak.

The mayors decision comes as the Coronavirus has forced school closures, the banning of public gatherings over 500 people and the postponement of major events like Manhattans iconic St. Patricks Day Parade.

Under current projections, the mayor said the city anticipates the coronavirus could be a six-month crisis stretching on through September.

We will be at this for months and months  we are going into a long battle," de Blasio told reporters at a press conference at City Hall Thursday. "It is the opposite of when youre told dont worry it will all be over soon.

This is going to be a tough battle,'' he said. "We are going to lose some of fellow New Yorkers. That, unfortunately, is inevitable.

Under the state of emergency, the mayor has the power to close down public transportation, restrict New Yorkers from going on streets and into public places, establish a citywide curfew, ration supplies and impose restrictions on supplies, as well as regulate when vehicles and individuals can enter or leave the city.

The mayors announcement followed Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiling a ban on public gatherings attended by more than 500 people starting Friday evening and Broadway theaters starting Thursday evening. Venues with an occupancy of 500 or less will be required to reduce their capacity by 50%.

But despite the growing concern over the virus, the mayor vowed to preserve the citys public schools, mass transit and healthcare system at all costs, and cautioned against a full shut down of the city.

The danger of going to a full shutdown is it will degrade not only peoples lives on a host of levels, but its unrealistic in some very powerful ways,'' he said. "For example, where would our children go?

If our children have nowhere to go, then their parents cant go to work,'' he said. "That includes a lot of parents we depend on -- first responders, healthcare professionals. Its a very slippery slope. If our transit system is not working, how will people get to those healthcare jobs?

*** CLICK HERE FOR FULL COVERAGE OF THE CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Though there are no plans for citywide public school closures, the mayor said all non-essential, non-instructional school activities will be canceled or moved online, if possible.

By Thursday, the mayor said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New York City jumped to 95 -- 42 more cases since Wednesday, including five confirmed on Staten Island.

As of Thursday, de Blasio said 29 New Yorkers were in mandatory quarantine and at least 1,784 people were in voluntary quarantine.

Officials said 80% of those who have tested positive for the virus will be fine, but at least 1% will result in severe cases in the ICU.

Meanwhile, Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said the citys public health labs could run up to 60 tests a day, but are trying to increase that capacity to 100 to 120, while commercial labs can test thousands per day.

Before announcing the state of emergency, the mayor met with 13 top business executives in a closed-door meeting to discuss the coronavirus. Those executives included the president of the New York Stock Exchange, Stacey Cunningham; John Waldron, the president and COO of Goldman Sachs; Jeff Gennette, the chairman and CEO of Macys, and Linda Kirkpatrick, the president of U.S. issuers at Mastercard.

Earlier in the day, Rep. Max Rose and Borough President James Oddo called on officials to ban visitors to nursing homes, temporarily close all senior centers and cancel or postpone any event for more than 100 people.

On Thursday, the governor also said the state would restrict visiting protocols for nursing homes across the state.

To maximize the hospital space for patients, Cuomo said elective surgeries could be nixed  which account for anywhere between 25% and 35% of total occupied hospital beds across the state.

Additionally, patients can be transferred between upstate and downstate hospitals depending on current capacity.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-13 21:55:25|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, March 13 (Xinhua) -- At least five security members and a civilian were killed in overnight U.S. airstrikes on military bases housing paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces in south of capital Baghdad, the Iraqi military said on Friday.

The airstrikes were carried out at around 1:00 a.m. local time (2200 GMT Thursday), the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a brief statement.

The airstrikes targeted the headquarters of Iraqi army's 19th Division, 46th brigade of Hashd Shaabi as well as emergency regiments and commandos in several areas located in the northern part of Babil province in addition to the under-construction airport of Karbala, it added.

The attacks resulted in the killing of five security members and a civilian worker in Karbala airport and the wounding of 11 security members, including five Hashd Shaabi members, the statement said.

The airstrikes also destroyed the buildings of the targeted headquarters as well as their equipment and weapons.

The JOC condemned the attack which violated the principle of partnership between the Iraqi security forces and the coalition forces, and is a violation to the sovereignty of the Iraqi state, according to the statement.

The airstrikes came after Wednesday's rocket attack on Camp Taji in north of Baghdad that killed two U.S. soldiers and one British service member and wounded a dozen others.

The military bases housing U.S. troops across Iraq and the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad have been frequently targeted by insurgent mortar and rocket attacks.

The Iraqi parliament passed a resolution on Jan. 5, requiring the government to end the presence of foreign forces in Iraq, just two days after a U.S. drone strike on a convoy at Baghdad airport.

The strike killed Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Hashd Shaabi forces.

Over 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support Iraqi forces in battles against the Islamic State, mainly for training and advisory purposes.
WEST SPRINGFIELD  State police are reporting that a suspect has been injured in an officer-involved shooting Friday morning at the Express Inn on Riverdale Street.

Information is limited at the moment, but state police spokesman David Procopio in a preliminary statement said the shooting occurred during a state police operation at the hotel.

During engagement with the target of that operation, a weapon or weapons were discharged, resulting in injury to the suspect. Preliminary information indicates no troopers were injured, he said.

More information is expected to be released this afternoon, he said.
FILE PHOTO: Employees of Fiat SpA work on new car "Panda" at the Fiat plant in Pomigliano D'Arco, near Naples, Italy

(Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV <FCHA.MI> <FCAU.N> said production at its assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, which was halted for 24 hours over fears of an employee being possibly exposed to the coronavirus, has resumed on Friday afternoon.

"There currently is one employee out on self-quarantine as a precaution because of possible secondary contact," the company said in a statement.

Starting Thursday afternoon, employees at the plant had refused to work. The company said the Ministry of Labour found the environment to be safe after visiting the plant and there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus at the location.

Fiat said on Thursday an employee had tested positive for COVID-19 at its Kokomo, Indiana transmission plant, but the location would remain open.

The company will delay the reopening of two plants in southern Italy by two days until next Wednesday, having closed them this week to complete actions in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

(This story corrects paragraph 1 to say the employee was "possibly exposed to" the virus, and not "contracted")

(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit and Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
'Coronavirus is a respiratory disease, causing mild symptoms ranging from a fever and a dry cough to more serious conditions such as severe pneumonia, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.'

Q. Exactly what is coronavirus, or Covid-19?

A. Coronavirus is a respiratory disease, causing mild symptoms ranging from a fever and a dry cough to more serious conditions such as severe pneumonia, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

These symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness.

They are similar to those for much more common viruses, such as colds and flu.

Generally, coronavirus can cause more severe symptoms in people with pre-existing medical conditions or weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer, heart and chronic lung disease.

Q. Where did coronavirus come from?

A. A new strain of coronavirus (Covid-19) was first identified in Wuhan City, China in December 2019, which has now spread to 111 other countries and territories around the world.

Read More

Q. What are the risks?

A. The UK Chief Medical Officers have declared the risk to the public to be low to moderate.

Q. What areas are most at risk?

A. If you have recently been travelling outside of the UK, you may be at an increased risk of Covid-19.

Areas of risk are China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Macau, Italy, Iran, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Q. What should I do if I have been to these countries?

A. Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people if you've travelled to the UK from the above named places in the last 14 days, even if you do not have symptoms.

Q. How long does it take for the symptoms to show up?

A. The incubation period - between infection and showing any symptoms - lasts up to 14 days, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. But some researchers say it may be up to 24 days.

Q. How deadly is coronavirus?

A. Four out of five people who contract coronavirus will only experience mild symptoms, a WHO examination of data from 56,000 patients has shown.

The proportion of people dying from the disease appears low (between 1% and 2%) - but the figures are unreliable.

Q. How does coronavirus spread?

A. It is not yet known exactly how coronavirus spreads.

However, similar viruses are spread via droplets, such as those produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

So, coughing and sneezing into tissues, not touching your face with unwashed hands, and trying to avoid close contact with infected people are important.

Q. How can I protect myself and stop coronavirus spreading?

A. Always carry tissues with you and use them to catch your cough or sneeze. Then bin the tissue, and wash your hands, or use a sanitiser gel.

Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after using public transport. Use a sanitiser gel if soap and water is not available.

Don't touch your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands. Avoid close contact with people who are unwell.

Q. What is the treatment?

A. There is no specific treatment for Covid-19.

For patients with the disease, treatment has involved "supportive care," such as fluids and medication to relieve symptoms like shortness of breath.

Q. Should I be avoiding public places?

A. Most people can continue to go to work, school and other public places.

The current government advice states mass events and public gatherings should not be cancelled, and people should continue to act normally for now.

People only need to stay at home and self-isolate if they are advised to do so by NHS 111 or a health professional.

Q. How fast is it spreading?

A. Hundreds of new cases are being reported worldwide each day. However, it is thought health agencies may be unaware of many cases.

After starting in China, coronavirus is now spreading fast in countries like South Korea, Italy and Iran.

Q. Should I wear a face mask?

A. Face masks for the general public are not recommended to protect from infection, as there is no evidence of benefit from their use outside healthcare environments

Q. What should I do if I think I have contracted coronavirus?

A. Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. In Northern Ireland call the NHS 111 phone service for further advice.

Q. Where can I get tested for coronavirus?

A. Testing can take place at hospital, in a drive through facility based at Antrim Area Hospital or at home - but only if there's a high chance you have the virus.

Q. What does the coronavirus test entail?

A: If a health professional decides that you need to be tested, they will take some samples to test for coronavirus. This may include samples of: mucus from your nose; throat or lungs; blood or a stool sample.

Q. What about a vaccine?

Vaccines have been developed and researchers are starting to test them on animals, but tests can take months to see if any potential vaccine can be used on humans and there will then have to be trials on humans.

The WHO has convened a group of experts to fast-track promising tests, drugs and vaccines, but few believe one will be ready for at least another year.

Q. What is the current advice for travellers?

A. While the Public Health Agency (PHA) does not issue travel advice, if you're concerned about the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on your existing travel plans, check with your airline, tour operator, cruise line or other transport and accommodation providers as applicable.

People who plan to travel should check the latest government travel advice.

Q. Will my travel insurance cover me if I want to cancel my trip due to the coronavirus?

A. 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. It is important to check your travel insurance policy for the scope of cover.

Q. What is the risk to children?

A. In general, children appear to be relatively unaffected by coronavirus, according to data from China.

This may be because they are able to shake off the infection or have no symptoms or only very mild ones similar to a cold.

However, children with underlying lung problems, such as asthma, may have to be more careful, as the virus could trigger an attack.

Q. Will the warmer weather bring any relief?

A. Some observers have pointed to the fact that Africa has relatively few cases of Covid-19 which may be a response to hotter conditions there.

The virus cannot take the heat, in other words.

Q. Can the virus be spread on banknotes?

A. The Chinese government has said that cash received by all banks must be sterilised before being released to customers, in order to reduce the spread of the disease.

Using contactless cards can minimise the risk of handling cash but these cards can also harbour germs and viruses.

The best practice is to wash your hands thoroughly after handling banknotes, cards or coins.

Q. Can animals get Covid-19?

A. The WHO says at present, there is no evidence that companion animals/pets such as dogs or cats can be infected with the new coronavirus.

The WHO has advised pet owners to maintain good hygiene, like washing their hands with soap and water after contact with their pets.

Q. How are exam boards preparing in case schools have to close?

A. Exam boards across the UK currently say there are no changes to timetables and that students, schools and colleges should prepare for exams as normal in early May.

The CCEA in Northern Ireland say they are monitoring the situation closely.

Q. Will I get paid by my employer if I have to self-isolate?

A. Provisions for sick leave vary from company to company.

Many employees will have contracts that allow them their normal pay while they are unable to work because they are sick.

Q. Should I be disinfecting my phone?

A. Coronavirus is believed to be transferred between people in droplets from coughs and sneezes.

But experts think that it can survive on surfaces, possibly for days. So it's important that your phone - at home, mobile or at work - is cleaned thoroughly and often.

Q. Is stockpiling of food and cleaning items a good idea?

A. Official guidance says no, stock piling is not a good idea.

The British Retail Consortium - representing most British supermarkets - said it was working "as hard as they can" to ensure people have access to products.

It assured the public retailers are well-versed in providing effective measures to keep things "running smoothly".
Most of the 19 rebel Congress



MLAs from Madhya Pradesh, including six ministers, who have been camping in Bengaluru, are expected to reach Bhopal on Friday evening, party sources said.

After former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress, 22 party MLAs, including six ministers - most of them said to be his supporters - resigned from the assembly earlier this week, pushing the Nath government in major crisis.

Of the 22 rebel MLAs, 19 lawmakers, including half a dozen ministers, had e-mailed their resignation letters to Governor Lalji Tandon.

"Most of the 19 MLAs have left Bengaluru where they were staying. They will travel by air and are expected to reach here," a Scindia loyalist told PTI.

In view of their expected arrival, security at the Bhopal airport has been beefed up.

The ruling Congress has alleged that 19 of the rebel Congress MLAs, including ministers, have been held "captive" by the BJP in a resort in Bengaluru, a charge denied by the opposition party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MSI CEO David Mosena said in a statement, As an institution rooted in science, we are proactively taking this step based upon the facts. While we have no known cases connected to MSI, we are closing to minimize the spread of this virus and to help ensure the safety and health of our students, guests, employees and their families... The available data indicate that taking early and decisive steps to reduce group interactions is critical to controlling the spread of the virus.
A court here granted bail on Friday to three alleged members of the Popular Front of India (PFI), including its Delhi president and state secretary, arrested for their "involvement" in anti-CAA protests and the communal riots in northeast Delhi.

Metropolitan Magistrate Prabh Deep Kaur granted bail to Mohammad Danish, Parvez Alam, PFI Delhi president, and its state secretary Mohammad Ilyas, and asked the investigating officer (IO) to explain by March 17 as to why they were not granted bail, despite the alleged offences being bailable.

"It is a settled principle that in bailable offences, it is the duty of the IO to offer bail to the accused persons at the first instance.

"There is no explanation by the IO as to why he had not offered bail to the accused persons at the first instance as per the constitutional as well as procedural mandate and therefore, let a written explanation be called from the IO concerned with respect to his failure to offer bail to the accused persons in bailable offences as per the constitutional and procedural mandate returnable on March 17," the court said.

It granted bail to the accused on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 30,000 each.

Alam and Ilyas were sent to a seven-day police remand last Thursday, whereas Danish was sent to a four-day police custody on Monday for interrogation in connection with last month's communal violence in northeast Delhi.

Alam and Ilyas were arrested by the Delhi Police's Special Cell last Thursday.

The bail order came after the police sought further custodial interrogation of the accused.
Jakson Group, India's leading diversified energy and EPC Solutions company announced the signing of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) for a 70 MW solar power plant at Amguri, Sivasagar District in Assam.

The agreement signing ceremony was held at the CM Secretariat and presided by the Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal in the presence of other senior government officials and dignitaries.

Jakson had won the bid to develop this 70 MW grid-connected solar power plant in the state based on a Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by Assam Power Generation Corporation Ltd (APGCL) last year.

Sundeep Gupta, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Jakson Group said: "As one of India's leading solar power developers, Jakson is proud to set up another milestone solar power plant in the state of Assam. The project will be the biggest solar power plant in Assam and contribute towards achieving India's ambitious solar energy target of 100 GW by 2022."

Atul Gupta, Assistant Vice President - IPP Business, Jakson Group said: "With this project, our solar IPP portfolio now stands at 300 MW, of which 80 MW is operational and 220 MW is under various stage of execution. We plan to scale this to 1 GW in the next 2-3 years."

In addition to the PPA, Jakson also signed a land lease and project implementation support agreement with APDCL for the project.

"With the support of APDCL, we are confident of completing this project on schedule in the next 12-14 months," Gupta added.

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. 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.)
13.03.2020 LISTEN

A mother whose seven-year-old son lives with a condition called Brain Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) has expressed her strongest desire that she wish his son could go to school.

Brain Arteriovenous Malformation is a tangle of abnormal and poorly formed blood vessels. Brain AVMs are of special concern because of the damage they cause when they bleed. They are rare and occur in less than one per cent of the general population, according to the Toronto Brain Vascular malformation study group.

Ms Antoinette Sinzogah, Mother of seven year old Benjamin Dotu who lives with AVM, said Benjamin is her fourth child. Benjamin has a slightly bigger head, sits without support, talks eloquently, he is able to express himself and he is intelligent.

Ms Sinzogah told the Special Mothers Project, an advocacy and awareness creation programme on cerebral palsy and issues affecting families raising children with Special Needs, that she was a French teacher in a private school when she gave birth to Benjamin but had to stop working because of her sons condition to become a stay-at-home mother and primary caregiver.

I wish my son could go to school, I am even willing to work in any school that would admit my son so that I can help attend to children with special needs in the school. I trained as a professional teacher, she said.

Ms Sinzogah said she had a seemingly normal pregnancy except that she had Malaria when she was four months into the pregnancy, and was induced into labour when she was due delivery.

My son had jaundice in the first week of life but he was put under phototherapy to clear it, as he grew, I noticed his neck wasnt getting stable, I complained to the healthcare professionals but they told me to give it sometime.

When my son was six months old, I went back to the hospital where I was told to start physiotherapy, doctors said they could not operate him because of where the malformation is, she said

Ms Sinzogah said her family is forced to live on one income, that is her husbands income and it is woefully inadequate given that they have four children and her income as a teacher was of great help to the family.

She appealed to the government to establish facilities that accommodate and educate children with special needs and also to employ especially mothers to work in such facilities.

I am ever ready to work in a special needs facility or school should my son have the opportunity to go to school, Ms Sinzogah added.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Union government is considering barring private vendors and agents from booking train tickets for passengers, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal told Lok Sabha on Friday.

Replying to a discussion on the demand for grants of the Railway Ministry, he spoke about his ministry's crackdown on touts, including arrests, and asserted that private agents are no longer needed when most people can book tickets on mobiles.

Those who need help can go to "common service centres" which are run by government, he said.

The touts used to book tickets in large numbers within moments of their availability using certain softwares, he said, adding that his ministry has taken action against them.
For Bordeaux reds, it is simplistic but useful to look at a map of the region and divide it mentally by its rivers. The Dordogne and Garonne flow northwest and join at Bordeaux city to form the Gironde estuary, which flows northward to the Atlantic. The Left Bank is the region closest to the ocean. Here, cabernet sauvignon tends to dominate the blends. On the Right Bank, farther inland, merlot and cabernet franc are the main grapes. These preferences grew over time for reasons of climate and geology.
T he US has launched air strikes in Iraq in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed three people including a British servicewoman.

The response targeted the Iranian-backed militia believed to be responsible for in Iraq that killed Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon and two others.

Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon, who served as a Reserve with the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry, died after a dozen missiles were fired at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad.

Two US servicemen were also killed in the attack on Wednesday, and another 12 military personnel were injured.

Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon was among the three who died after a dozen missiles were fired at Camp Taji / Ministry of Defence/PA Wire

A US official said multiple strikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside Iraq. The strikes were a joint operation with the British, the official said.

The strikes marked a rapid escalation in tensions with Tehran and its proxy groups in Iraq, just two months after Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against American troops at another base in Iraq.

They came just hours after top US defence officials threatened retaliation for the Wednesday rocket attack, making clear that they knew who did it and that the attackers would be held accountable.

Officials said Karbala Province and Jurf al Sakhar were two of the locations.

Defence Secretary Mark Esper told reporters at the Pentagon earlier on Thursday that President Donald Trump had given him the authority to take whatever action he deemed necessary.

"We're going to take this one step at a time, but we've got to hold the perpetrators accountable," Mr Esper said. "You don't get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it."

At the White House, Mr Trump also hinted that a US counter-punch could be coming, telling reporters: "We'll see what the response is."

Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters the US knows "with a high degree of certainty" who launched the attack.

On Capitol Hill earlier in the day, Frank McKenzie, the top US commander for the Middle East, told senators the deaths of US and coalition troops created a "red line" for the US but said he did not think Iran has "a good understanding of where our red line is".

Asked if any counterattack could include a strike inside Iran, Mr Esper said: "We are focused on the group that we believe perpetrated this in Iraq."

The US military said the 107mm Katyusha rockets were fired from a truck launcher that was found by Iraqi security forces near the base after the attack.

Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for a late December rocket attack on a military base in Kirkuk that killed a US contractor, prompting American military strikes in response.

That in turn led to protests at the US Embassy in Baghdad.

They were followed on January 3 by a US air strike that killed Iran's most powerful military officer, General Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, of which Kataib Hezbollah is a member.
Amererullah praised the Canadian Mortgage Awards for highlighting the role of women in the industry with its annual Home Trust Award for Woman of Distinction. She also credited the women in the mortgage profession of creating a support network for giving advice, sharing feedback, helping each other build themselves up and look good, and stressed this was a profession where women could thrive.

I think across the board, there are opportunities, she continued. From underwriting, to business development to regional managers. I would say, on average, 30% to 50% of our business development managers are women, which is really great.

But she also pointed out areas in the mortgage profession where women appear to be underrepresented, particularly in the development of mortgage-focused technology, and she raised concern that many young women entering the profession after graduating from college are pushed into mostly administration roles and clerical duties rather than being introduced into other aspects of the field. In related fields, she also observed a gender disparity within the home building and real estate development leadership ranks.

For the next generation of women coming into the mortgage profession, Ameerullah advised tomorrows female leadership to put down roots among people and offices that are supportive of their career growth.

I would say to find a strong mentor within an environment that is positive and not toxic, she said. Work with someone who has been through the work and is standing tall in the business. And they should not think about how much commission they're going to make on a deal. Because a lot of times, you find new agents go where they get a better commission split, instead of looking to working with a good team.
The European Commission is switching all staff in "non-critical functions" to remote working from next Monday in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an email sent to staff today the Commission writes that president Ursula von der Leyen has activated a business continuity plan that requires all but those in "critical functions" to telework from next Monday.

Previously the EU's executive body had been implementing limited teleworking for high risk employees such as those returning from Italy for 14 days after their return.

It's not clear how many Commission staff are defined as carrying out "critical" functions -- but it seems likely that thousands will be working from home or remotely next week. In all, the Commission employs around 32,000 people.

Per the email, staff deemed to be carrying out a critical function will already have been informed they are expected to continue to present at work, with "modalities" and "guidelines" to explain working arrangement slated to follow "soon".

Earlier this week the European Parliament also told staff to prep for mass remote working Monday. Initially vulnerable staff with pre-existing health conditions had been told to telework to limit their risk of being exposed to the novel coronavirus.

The Commission had also already been instructing staff to switch to videoconferencing for missions, meetings and committees where possible.

Belgium, where the Commission is mainly based, has been reporting rising numbers of cases of COVID-19. Today its federal health authority reported 85 new cases today -- bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 399.

The Commission itself reported the first cases (two) of COVID-19 among staff earlier this month.

In recent weeks a number of politicians in countries across Europe have also been confirmed as having contracted the novel coronavirus.
Chef and restaurateur Michel Roux has been remembered as a "humble genius" after his death at the age of 78.

The founder of Le Gavroche and part of the Roux culinary dynasty died surrounded by his family at home in Bray-on-Thames, Berkshire, UK, after a long battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

A statement on behalf of the family said: "We are grateful to have shared our lives with this extraordinary man and we're so proud of all he's achieved. A humble genius, legendary chef, popular author and charismatic teacher, Michel leaves the world reeling in his wake."
13.03.2020 LISTEN

Award-winning Ghanaian milliner, Velma Owusu-Bempah of Velmas Millinery & Accessories is set to make Ghana and the African continent proud at the 2020 London Hat Week in the United Kingdom.

In January, the X Terrace fashion platform who are the organizers of the London Hat Week exhibition and Preview catwalk show announced Velmas piece as part of the official selection for the 2020 exhibition.

This selection makes the Ghanaian millinery and accessories designer a third time participant in the show which attracts scores of guests including top designers from across the globe, high profile personalities, editors and members of the Royal Ascot to the hat-related events.

This years event would take place from the 16-24 April under the Theme To the Future and Back and would be preceded by the famous Preview catwalk show on March 16 at the Shard in London.

Established in 2004, Velmas Millinery and Accessories has been making hats and its related accessories for women of colour who have a panache for looking good. Her exceptional style and intricate skill has caught the eyes of Ghanaian first lady, Rebecca Akuffo-Addo who wears her pieces religiously. Other public figures who wear Velmas pieces include Joselyn Dumas, Samira Bawumia, Nicole Ari-Parker, Sandra Ankobiah, Naa Ashorkor, Dentaa Amoateng, Juliet Ibrahim and quite recently, mother of Beyonce, Ms.Tina Knowles.

London, a city that is noted for its love affair with hats was once Velmas home when she was a student at the prestigious Central St.Martins, a constituent of the University of the Arts and graduated with a diploma in millinery.

Theres a famous saying that third time's a charm and it goes to show that the work were doing in Accra, Ghana is noble, artistic and critical to the fashion industry both locally and internationally. Velma Owusu-Bempah, Creative Director of the eponymous brand explained.

According to her, the selection was not just for her brand but was also going to bring the spotlight on the industry in Ghana.

As the first Ghanaian to be selected for this exhibition, it is an exciting and patriotic experience representing Ghana and Africa in London to celebrate the arts of hat making. It promotes our industry and boosts the potential of our artisans. This year promises to be bigger and better as we are attending the preview and exhibitions, she added.
By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 32 times, 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.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
An Armenian opposition leader has called on the authorities to postpone a constitutional referendum scheduled for April 5 because of the risks posed by the spread of the new coronavirus infection in the country.

The situation tends to get worse rather than better, Edmon Marukian, the leader of the parliamentary Bright Armenia party, warned on March 13.

The number of those infected is increasing, so it will be impossible to hold the ballot, and decisions in this regard must be made now.

Marukian also said he was in favor of introducing a state of emergency for at least 14 days in order to shut down all public and private institutions and stop all mass events.

Armenia has reported 13 confirmed coronavirus infections.

Election authorities in Armenia have not yet spoken about any plans to postpone the current referendum.

Earlier on March 13, Armenia's government decided to close all schools, universities, and kindergartens until at least March 23.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has suspended campaigning for the referendum and called on citizens, especially those exhibiting coronavirus-like symptoms, to refrain from participating in mass events.

If approved, the constitutional amendments would lead to the dismissal of seven of the courts nine members installed before nationwide protests swept Pashinian to power in 2018.

The seven would be replaced by judges to be confirmed by the National Assembly, in which Pashinians My Step bloc holds a majority.

Armenian Vice-Premier Tigran Avinian announced late on March 13 that, under a mutual agreement between Yerevan and Tbilisi, beginning early on March 14, Armenia and Georgia will suspend movements of the two countries citizens across the border for a period of 10 days.

Earlier this month Armenia also reintroduced a visa regime and tightened controls at the border with neighboring Iran over coronavirus-related risks.
For the novel coronavirus, data doesnt yet exist indicating that bathrooms, specifically, are a place where the virus spreads. What we do know is that air blowers in the bathroom circulate all the germs and air particles around, and we know that is not a good thing, said Christina Johns, senior medical adviser and spokeswoman for PM Pediatrics. Certainly, any type of microbe that has increased longevity on surfaces is always concerning when you have big motors on, especially particles that have settled and are not yet wiped down with a bleach wipe. When a motor blows particles in the air, they become aerosolized particles. Then you inhale or touch your face with your hand, and theres now an entry into your body, Johns said.
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Washington: The US has launched air strikes in Iraq targeting the Iranian-backed Shiite militia members believed responsible for a rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops in Camp Taji on Thursday, military officials have confirmed.

One US official said multiple strikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside Iraq late on Thursday (Friday morning AEDT). The strikes were a partnered operation with the British, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because operations were still ongoing.

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said the US would hold the perpetrators of the attack accountable. Credit:AP

The US strikes followed the attack on the Taji military base in Iraq, north of Baghdad, where two American personnel and one from Britain were killed and about a dozen people were wounded.

No Australians were injured in the attack on Wednesday and it is unknown whether Australian Defence Force troops were in the vicinity when the 18 small rockets hit the camp.
Dr. Theodora Hatziioannou, also a virologist and professor at Rockefeller, supports closures, but agreed that they would have to come with clear guidelines in order to be effective. This doesnt mean you roam around, it means you stay home.

The potential domino effect of mass school closures in New York is staggering.

The mayor said on Thursday that the three things the city was most concerned about preserving were its schools, mass transit and health care, which provide essential lifelines for the citys most vulnerable, in particular, and are tightly linked.

A public hospital nurse, for example, would likely not be able to stay home from work even if her child was home from school. And home health aides who have children enrolled in public schools provide crucial support for elderly New Yorkers, who are particularly vulnerable to the virus.

The downsides are very well known: We know kids will miss meals, we know parents will have to stay home, including health care workers, said Mark Levine, a Manhattan city councilman who chairs the Councils health committee. Mr. Levine said he had spoken to hospital presidents who have said they are worried about a potential staffing shortage if public schools are shut.

Experts agreed that it would be difficult to shut schools without other severe restrictions on city life, including strong encouragement or even a requirement to keep children at home, rather than simply excusing them from school.

The vulnerabilities of closings without strict social distancing measures are on display in Scarsdale, a New York City suburb where schools are closed until at least next week after a middle schoolteacher tested positive for the virus.

The district was receiving reports of students gathering in large numbers and some posting their disregard for the risks associated with the current outbreak, said Scarsdales school superintendent, Thomas Hagerman, in an email to parents on Wednesday. Preventative measures are only effective if we embrace and implement them as a community.
When Jose Ramon Zambrano and his pregnant wife crossed the Rio Grande to apply for asylum in the U.S., they were looking for a fresh start far away from a certain arrest in his native Venezuela, where his mother is a prominent government opponent.

Instead, he spent six months locked up in Texas, separated from a newborn son.

Crossing the border in search of protection isnt a crime, Zambrano said from a detention center near Houston. We do it because we need to.

Zambrano is one of hundreds of Venezuelans fleeing the socialist regime of Nicolas Maduro and showing up at the U.S.-Mexico border in larger numbers in recent months, only to encounter President Donald Trumps hard-line immigration policies.

But unlike even larger waves of migrants from Mexico and Central America, the Venezuelans at the border have put the Trump administration in a tight spot.

Most of them have been jailed for extended periods or sent back to Mexico to languish in dangerous border towns while awaiting their immigration cases in the U.S., despite proclamations from the Trump administration that it supports people escaping brutal conditions under Maduro.

While Trump has been leading the campaign to oust Maduro  praising opposition leader Juan Guaido as a very brave man who carries with him the hopes, dreams and aspirations of all Venezuelans as his guest at the State of the Union address  critics say hes done little to shield Venezuelans from his immigration policies.

Specifically, hes rejected calls by Democrats and even some Republican allies like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to grant humanitarian protections to those escaping political and economic turmoil.

Venezuelans come to the US seeking security, and although many find it, others encounter a new nightmare and are met with detention, said Julio Henriquez, a Boston-based immigration lawyer from Venezuela who handles asylum cases for his compatriots. Its a very different narrative than the one about Trumps support for the victims of Maduro.

Nationwide some 850 Venezuelans remain behind bars, held in detention centers as the Trump administration has no way of handing them over to the heavily-sanctioned socialist government of Maduro, which it no longer recognizes. More than 2,000 were returned across the border as part of the Trump administrations Remain in Mexico program.

The number of Venezuelans entering the U.S. is rising as part of a mass wave that has seen almost 5 million leave the oil rich-nation, the bulk to neighboring Latin American countries. Although many are fleeing economic chaos, not political persecution, the United Nations has urged countries to grant them refugee status.

In the past year, Venezuelans have made up 30% of all 82,807 asylum claims by people entering the U.S. Arrests of Venezuelans for entering the country illegally on the Mexican border spiked to 2,202 during the 2019 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up from 62 during the previous 12-month period, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Venezuelans are also among the nationalities with the highest number of people who overstay their visas.

The issue has become a political hot potato for Guaido as well.

Critics say Guaido, whom Trump recognizes as Venezuelas rightful leader, is covering for the U.S. president so as not to risk valuable political support in his sputtering, year-old campaign against Maduro. They point out that Guaido didnt publicly raise the issue in his recent week-long trip to the U.S.

The job of a government is to take care of its citizens, not make political favors, said Edinson Calderon, a LGBTQ immigrant activist in New York who fled Venezuela in 2015 after being tortured by security forces who brutally quashed anti-government protests.

Like most migrants, Calderon was at first an enthusiastic supporter of Guaido, hoping the young lawmaker could pave the way for him to return home and be reunited with his mother, whom he hasnt seen in five years.

But hes since turned into a fierce critic, appearing on the talk show of Patricia Poleo, a journalist popular with hardliner exiles in Miami, to denounce what he considers Guaidos neglect of detainees, some of whom have been held for 18 months.

Among the more than 208 detainees cases hes documented is that of a 65-year-old pizza parlor owner who received death threats after feeding pro-government vigilantes. Hes also found five inmates who are HIV positive and complained of not receiving proper medical treatment.

Like Zambrano, all of them have deportation orders. But with all flights to Venezuela banned since May, they are unlikely to be removed any time soon. Meanwhile, they remain in jail, in a sort of legal limbo, suffering what they say is frequent verbal abuse by guards.

On Saturday, a group of some 50 exiles responding to a call by Poleo gathered at an arepa stand in the Miami suburb of Doral to write letters to Venezuelan prisoners. One by one, they pulled the names and federal inmate numbers of their compatriots out of a hat at random.

Guaidos small team in Washington has argued its doing all it can to assist detainees and block their eventual deportation without interfering in what are sovereign U.S. migration proceedings. They claim that as a result of their involvement, the number of detainees has declined from a peak of 1,300 last year.

This month, Carlos Vecchio, who is recognized by the U.S. as Venezuelas ambassador, began visiting detention centers around the country, hearing firsthand the dramatic tales of Venezuelan prisoners who had been forced to leave their homes.

At the end of the day were all victims, said Vecchio, who fled Venezuela himself to escape what were widely seen as made-up charges of inciting violence during 2014 anti-government protests. All that we Venezuelans are suffering has a cause: the dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro, which has forced millions of Venezuelans to leave their country.

Still, the outlook for some sort of protection is bleak.

Despite having urged Americans to avoid travel to Venezuela, and frequent criticism of Maduros human rights record, the Trump administration deported 327 Venezuelans last year, according to ICE. With the flight ban in place, most are being carried out through third countries. Meanwhile, the length of detention for Venezuelans is growing longer, to an average 82 days from 56 in 2019.

Trump in 2019 also tried to end so-called temporary protected status past U.S. administrations have provided to 400,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti fleeing catastrophic events like natural disasters.

Among those Vecchio met at a detention center near Houston was Zambrano.

His mother, Cioly Zambrano, a jurist, scattered into exile after being appointed to the Supreme Court by the Guaido-controlled legislature.

On April 30, 2018, police raided a hotel the family owns. In a split second, he bolted for the third floor and flung himself from the roof as a gunshot was fired. He miraculously survived the fall, landing on a neighbors zinc roof, and that night was shuttled in the trunk of a car across the border into Colombia.

With his wife and a child on the way, he entered the U.S. illegally in August 2009 and applied for asylum. But when he appeared before a judge, without an attorney and struggling to understand the proceedings in English, his request was rejected.

He was detained for six months and was granted parole this week, allowing him to quickly travel to Orlando to meet his 4-month-old son Matthew for the first time.

Until her sons surprise release Wednesday, his wife would make the heartbreaking journey to see him every few weeks for a single hour. She credits Vecchios pressure to securing her sons release, but his future remains uncertain: his deportation order hasnt been lifted and theres no hope of returning to Venezuela.

We Venezuelans have a moral debt to President Trump and all American families, said Cioly Zambrano, holding back tears as she recalls the long nights worrying about her son. But we also need their help.
Amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, scientists are asking for healthy volunteers to help in the development of the vaccine. Volunteers will be infected with the two strains of the common coronavirus.

As the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is propagating rapidly across the globe, scientists race to find a potential vaccine to halt the spread. The virus has so far infected more than 126,000, with an average of a thousand infections per day. The death toll has reached more than 4,600.

The hardest-hit countries are China, Italy, Iran, and South Korea, while several other countries have reported increasing local transmission of the virus.

A laboratory in East London is recruiting up to 24 people and will be paid $7,000 each for the clinical trial. They will be infected with a less harmful form of COVID-19 as part of a global experiment.

The participants will be regularly monitored by doctors, who will be equipped with personal protective equipment, and they will be placed in isolation for 14 days.

The novel coronavirus is a new coronavirus that has not been previously identified. The virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is not the same as the coronaviruses that commonly circulate among humans and cause mild illness, like the common cold.

The job

For the volunteers, the task is offered by the hVIVO, a quarantine laboratory at Queen Mary Bio Enterprises Innovation Center in London, in a program called FluCamp. It is one of the companies hoping to find and develop a vaccine to fight against the coronavirus.

Image Credit: FluCamp

The scientists will expose the volunteer to two common strains of the human coronaviruses  0C43 and 229E, which cause mild respiratory disease. The volunteers might experience flu-like symptoms, such as a cough or cold.

A diagnosis with coronavirus 229E, NL63, OC43, or HKU1 is not the same as a COVID-19 diagnosis.

If the vaccine developed by the company will work on the weaker 0C43 and 229E viruses, it may work on the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, now officially declared a global pandemic. However, the volunteers need to pass a health screening, including tests on their heart, urine, and blood.

They will undergo a medical interview to ensure that they do not have underlying health conditions. Further, the tests and interviews will make sure the patient does not have the antibodies against coronavirus.

The clinical trial called a controlled human infection model would be conducted in hVIVOs clinic, which has a 24-bedroom facility at the Queen Mary Innovation Center in Whitechapel, London. The study aims to produce data that aids in providing a compelling selection of the products that should be fast-tracked for field testing.

FluCamp is all about improving the health of the population, through increasing understanding around common viral illnesses  like the common cold and flu, FluCamp said on its website.

Ultimately, the more that we understand about how viruses affect the human immune system, the more quickly we can find and test better ways to treat them. The end goal of clinical trials like those we conduct at FluCamp is to potentially eradicate these common illnesses completely  or at least make treatment of them as easy and effective as possible, it added.

What is COVID-19?

COVID-19 is an illness caused by the coronavirus, which has been tied to other epidemics, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in 2012.

COVID-19 is a respiratory disease that causes difficulty in breathing, fever, and cough. In most cases, the symptoms can be mild to moderate, but in people who are more than 60 years old and those with underlying medical conditions, the disease can be dangerous.

It affects the lungs and causes inflammation, which will later progress to pneumonia. Pneumonia is often the cause of death of infected patients with COVID-19 since it can lead to acute respiratory distress.

Human coronaviruses can sometimes cause lower-respiratory tract illnesses, such as bronchitis. This is more common in people with cardiopulmonary disease, people with weakened immune systems, infants, and older adults.

The best way to prevent infection is to practice good hygiene, wash the hands regularly with soap and water, disinfect common areas, avoid going to crowded places, and practice social distancing.

Source:
Yesterday, the coronavirus pandemic killed both the Frozen Dead Guy Days festival in Nederland, Colorado, and the annual convention for the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA). Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death, was scheduled to speak at both events.

Frozen Dead Guy Days was scheduled to take place March 13-15, 2020 in Nederland, Colorado. Gail Rubin was going to present the humorous documentary "Grandpa's in the TUFF SHED," which tells the weird but true story of how the Frozen Dead Guy came to be there. She was also going to conduct The Newly-Dead Game, which she created specifically for this festival.

Here is the official news release from Nederland's Board of Trustees about the cancellation sent last night:

"Tonight the Board of Trustees approved Resolution 2020-10 cancelling the 2020 Frozen Dead Guy Days following Boulder County Public Health's recommendations to cancel all large event activities. FDGD will faithfully follow the towns direction and decision on this. We are devastated to share this news with you.

This is the first time in our 18 years that we have had to cancel the entirety of the festival. Governor Jared Polis has declared a state of emergency in Colorado. Mountain resort communities are at highest risk, and we must be stewards of community health and safety.

We are working through the ramifications of this global pandemic and we understand the enormity and seriousness of the situation not just for FDGD LLC, but for our sponsors, vendors, musicians, staff, volunteers, production, community at large and other partners we have worked with over the past 18 years. We understand the impact this will have on our vulnerable population, business community of Nederland and the service industry staff that has worked so diligently with FDGD over the years.

Be aware this is not a postponement, this is a cancellation. There will be no activities in Nederland this weekend that are associated in any way with FDGD. We will put up a FAQ on our website to answer cancellation questions. We do not know what the future holds. We, as well as town leaders, are going to need some time to assess the situation and ask for your patience with the process. We are in uncharted icy waters, and appreciate your understanding and years of support."

The showings of "Grandpa's in the TUFF SHED" were going to include this preview reel, featuring a trailer for the independent TV series, Frozen Dead, and sponsors AquamationInfo.com and A Good Goodbye. You can still enjoy this video in the comfort of your own self-isolation:

ICCFA Convention & Expo Cancellation

Gail Rubin was scheduled to present "How to Grow Your Sales with Before I Die Festivals" at the 2020 ICCFA Annual Convention and Expo in San Antonio later this month.

However, the coronavirus killed this event too, announced yesterday with this email:

"After much thought, consideration and discussion with exhibitors and attendees, we regretfully must cancel the upcoming Annual Convention & Exposition that was set for March 30 to April 2 in San Antonio, Texas due to public health and safety concerns.

This was not a decision that was taken lightly and is based on safeguarding the health of our attendees, exhibitors, speakers, staff, and our communities. The ICCFA has taken into consideration the recommendations of public health authorities about limiting large public gatherings and non-essential travel. We also want to ensure that industry professionals are available to the families they serve in their respective communities during this time.

Please know that we are currently handling the logistics of cancelling an event of this size and want to provide you the best information and service possible. A FAQ list for exhibitors will be forthcoming on our website  https://iccfa.com/coronavirus/."

Houston Before I Die Still Scheduled

Syd Waldman, Waldman Funeral Care, is still planning on holding these Before I Die events in Houston March 27 to 29, 2020, after the one-week Health Emergency that has been declared there expires. Here is the schedule:

March 27th: Friday 7:15pm RSVP $5.00 Dinner



Congregation Emanu El RSVP link: https://www.emanuelhouston.org/event/beforeidie2020

Kicking the Bucket List: Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die: Do you plan to live forever? Do you ever plan to move? Depending on where you're going, you can't take it with you. This talk focuses on practical ways to downsize excess goods without being overwhelmed by the job, what you need to know to organize your information for your executor, and how to plan for end-of-life issues. Film clips add to the wealth of information in this talk.

March 28: Saturday Afternoon 2:00-4:30pm



National Museum of Funeral History, 415 Barren Springs Drive, Houston

The Funeral Director on Film: By watching scenes from films and television shows, learn the history of undertaking in the U.S. and how funeral service has changed over 150 years. In The Funeral Director on Film, pioneering death educator Gail Rubin entertains and educates with insights from Hollywood portrayals of "the last man to let you down." Your $10.00 ticket provides all day access to the National Museum of Funeral History, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Purchase tickets through EventBrite or at the door.

March 29: Sunday Morning 10:00-11:30am

Light Brunch at Congregation Emanu El

RSVP Link: https://www.emanuelhouston.org/event/beforeidie2020

Estate Planning: Hollywood Myth versus Facts: The way the movies portray it, wills are supposed to cover funeral plans in addition to the distribution of assets. Unfortunately, family members may die before doing any estate planning. Even with a will, plans can go awry. Clips from comedies and dramas illustrate the need to do estate planning TODAY.

The Newly-Dead Game: Based on the classic television program, The Newlywed Game, The Newly-Dead Game tests couples on how well they know their partner's last wishes. Gail Rubin also created an Individuals Edition so that everyone, not just couples, plus the audience can play along. It's an upbeat way to start end-of-life planning conversations.

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Indian shares collapsed in the opening trade after the Nifty hit a 10 percent lower circuit--a fall of more than 1,000 points-- as the bears tightened grip over Dalal Street on March 13 after an overnight steep correction of up to 10 percent in US benchmark indices amid coronavirus panic.

After trading was stopped for 45 minutes, markets reopened with stability and recouped losses to return in the green in late morning deals. At the time of writing this copy, the benchmark indices were trading at the day's high.

The BSE Sensex was up 1,501.49 points, or 4.58 percent, at 34,279.63 after falling more than 3,000 points on opening. The Nifty was trading 430.15 points, or 4.49 percent, higher at 10,020.30 at 1315 hours.

Experts say the market started compounding the fall very quickly on the news available across media segments, but considering the fall of more than 30 percent from record highs in two months, the recovery is on expected lines.

They, however, are cautious on the market as coronavirus cases outside China continue to rise. Once these stabilise or positive news flow starts coming in, there could be a sharp recovery in the market, they say.

Global infections top 1.28 lakh and more than 4,600 people have died, though China, from where the outbreak began, has seen a sharp drop in new cases.

"The markets opened lower on the back of weak global cues by hitting lower circuit, thereafter bargain hunting has pulled up the index from lower levels. We believe the volatility will continue for another few days.

Currently, the market has made a bottom near 8,555 levels. This is a strong support for the Nifty 50 index from current levels," Vikas Jain, Senior Research Analyst, Reliance Securities, told Moneycontrol.

According to him, there could be a time-wise correction and he expects the markets to trade in a broad range. "Investors should start picking quality midcap and largecap stocks from a long-term perspective," he said.Here are the 10 biggest single-day intraday falls seen by the Nifty50:

he advised.

Here are top 10 biggest ever single-day intraday falls seen by the Nifty50:
Three Turkish men were sentenced this week to 125 years in jail for their part in the drowning of a boy whose death in 2015 became a worldwide symbol of the suffering caused by the Syrian war and the European refugee crisis it triggered.

A photograph of the tiny body of Alan Kurdi, 2, facedown on a Turkish beach appeared on the front pages of newspapers across Europe and around the world, fueling an upsurge in public sympathy and anger at the plight of refugees.

Alan, whose forename appeared in initial reports with its Turkish spelling, Aylan, died with his brother, Galip, 5; their mother, Rihan; and two other refugees when a dinghy carrying 14 migrants toward the Greek island of Kos capsized. From his immediate family, only the father survived.

In 2016, two Syrians, Muwafaka Alabash, 36, and Asem Alfrhad, 35, were convicted of smuggling refugees in the case. A separate investigation was initiated into the organizers of the illegal crossing.